Caring for Yourself Through Perimenopause with Laura Viale

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi everyone, this is Wendy, and I am the host of Wellness and Wealth. Today the topic is caring for yourself during peri postmenopause. And our special guest is Laura Weil. I'm going to read her bio and then we'll get right into it. Laura is a functional nutrition counselor and an Aerobic lifestyle coach, specializing in hormone balance for women in peri postmenopaur. She's been in love with all things wellness since starting the Sodge Therapy School in 2001, since entering the wellness industry over 20 years ago and owned a thriving wellness center with 10 health professionals over a period of 10 years. Laura has watched countless clients change their health and their lives using everything from massage, acupuncture, yoga, and most notably food. And she's been especially curious about the power of food and how it impacts our hormones for better or worse for decades. When Laura started experience symptoms of perimenopause herself and could feel her body was slowing her down, she knew it was time to follow her passion for nutrition and hormone balance and pursue training in functional nutrition and Aervita. Between her extensive training and vast experience, both professionally and personally, Laura created a set of natural and effective strategies that completely alter the internal environment of our bodies and allow our hormones to come to balance and our symptoms to fade. Now she works with women experience symptoms like fatigue, anxiety, brain bag, heavy period hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, and night sweats, and help them implement natural strategies to balance their hormones so they can get back to living happy, active lives, doing what they love. Welcome to the show, Laura. Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

I'm so excited to be here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

I'm like, oh, this is this has been a slightly different time of my life. So

The Three Stages Explained

SPEAKER_00 1:55

I'd love for you to explain the different stages of menopause.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Yeah. So not a lot of women know the different stages of menopause. So I'm happy to explain that. So perimenopause refers to the stage that it's a transition stage. So this is when we go from being able to reproduce and make babies to not being able to reproduce and make babies. And so what happens during the perimenopause phase is our ovaries slowly decline and eventually stop the production of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. So then once that is done, we hit menopause. So menopause is one day. So menopause is one day, and it is the 12-month anniversary of your last period. So menopause is a day. It's something that you go through the transition phase of perimenopause, then you reach menopause, and everything after that is post-menopause. So that's in a nutshell, those are the stages.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

So I'm gonna be honest, I was definitely one of those women who have never in my life, actually, my husband knows when I'm gonna get my period before I do. I'm just saying it's just never been anything that I've tracked. And it's so funny that I like so I'm I'm wondering how many people don't know that they pass from perimetopause to menopause, if there's somebody like me who doesn't really, I mean, I did know that I didn't get it for six months, and I thought, well, I'm well on my way, this is a good thing. And then I started to get it again, and I was like, ah, oh, I'm so disappointed, but it yeah. But I wonder if people, if there's a lot of women then who don't know that when they pass through from perimenopause to menopause.

Fertility Surprises In Perimenopause

SPEAKER_01 3:44

One of the reasons I was excited to come on this show is because even though some of us are taught about puberty, but women are not taught what to expect during the perimenopause phase. They don't know when to expect it, they don't know how long it lasts for, or some of the common symptoms. We typically are looking for period changes, skipped periods and things like that, and hot flashes. But beyond that, I feel like we're all in the dark.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

I think there is too some misgivings, too, because on the other side of that, women are as you get older, they're like, don't have children, won't be able to. But really, you can have children through the perimetopolis page, I'm assuming, as I hope, because these are not conversations that most of us have.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Yeah. Yeah. So that's a great question. And you know, as long as you're cycling and you're getting your period, even though you may or may not be ovulating, you may be ovulating, in which case you could get pregnant. So yeah, and that's likely one of the reasons that the menopause happens 12, you know, it's official when it's been 12 months since your last period.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Yeah, and that's a thing, because you hear about this older people the women who are older, they're having babies, which is wonderful. But do you have some women who are having babies and they're like, no, I didn't even think it, you know what I mean? And they're shocked. Yeah, I know, suddenly pregnant again.

Why A Holistic Path Works

SPEAKER_00 5:21

So I for those who don't know and don't understand it, there are different approaches to treating perimenopause. There is obviously medical ones, a lot of times, you know, it's medication or on top of medication, you're treating symptoms. So you chose a more holistic approach. So I'd love to share, have you share with us why you chose that path and how you got kind of got there.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

So, you know, I've always had a core belief that my body is smarter than I am. And that was all sort of confirmed when I started my training in Ayurveda. Deepak Chopra has a quote that I don't have the exact quote with me, but it goes along the lines of for all the scientific and medical advances that we've achieved so far, we really only understand a fraction of the body's innate intelligence. So the body is really smart and it always made sense to me that if I give my body what it needs, like healthy food and relaxation and exercise and quality sleep, that it'll know what to do and keep me healthy and strong and energetic and all of that. When it came to perimenopausal, I didn't know that that's what I was going through because I hadn't had my training yet and no one taught me what to expect. I didn't know, but I did know that my body was trying to communicate with me and that I needed to do something to take action. I've always had the quickest results when I start with food and what I'm eating, because that's sort of the only source of materials our body has to produce hormones and keep them balanced and keep our immune system strong and all of that. So I kind of went that route and then sort of organically learned and taught myself and then eventually took some training to more clearly understand what was going on with my symptoms. And I feel great. I don't have the big swings. And so it's worked, it's worked for me.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Yeah, and I think that's important to know what works for you because that's what I really think that we don't share enough is like finding what works for you as opposed to what somebody else will tell you. I mean, I'm not that suggestions aren't great, but based on experience, I think that's fabulous. I think that's really super important, but really finding out what your body kind of

Trial And Error With Symptoms

SPEAKER_00 7:41

needs. And so while you were going through this process, was it like a trial and error? Because, first of all, not knowing what it was, and then kind of doing the research, was it all trial and error to figure out what really worked for you?

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Yeah, a little bit. My symptoms started with dead digestion, skin breakouts, insomnia, anxiety. So those were some of my symptoms. The anxiety one was certainly new. Digestion wasn't new. That had been a thing for me all along. But as I got more and more trained, I started understanding the root causes of hormone imbalance, understand what symptoms of hormone imbalance were, and that all of the things that I just said are related to hormones. I also started getting this real understanding that hormone balance is about the supporting the systems in the body that support hormone balance. So there's always going to be an underlying cause. So, gut health, for example, is one of those root causes. So if your gut is inflamed and not able to break down food and not able to extract the nutrients that your body needs to produce hormones and keep them in balance, that's got to be corrected before you can expect your hormones to just bounce back, you know. So that's just one example of, you know, the trial and error, but uh simultaneously getting trained in all of this stuff. So I was able to study and apply real time.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Yeah.

Why Anxiety Spikes So Fast

SPEAKER_00 9:19

And you know, it's so interesting that you mentioned anxiety because that alone with my paramedic, I have never been as anxious as I have been, probably in the last two years. Like I've had anxiety before, but and I was like, what is this? Like, and it it can stop you in your attracts anxiety. And I'm like, this is not normal. So I'd love to hear, especially in that realm, what that looks like or why we have that when we go through these hormone imbalances, because that one, you know, physical symptoms you're kind of expect, but that one was I really had no idea I was going to go through anxiety like that.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

Yeah, and you're not alone. That's one of the very, very top ones. In fact, I did an informal poll in a group that at the time had about 25,000 women in this group. It's a perimenopause support group. Anyway, I did this informal poll, and by far, anxiety blew all the other symptoms out of the water when I did that poll. So you are not alone. The anxiety certainly ramps up. That can happen when estrogen goes too high or estrogen goes too low. And estrogen is the hormone that's sort of, you know, causes most of the problems in perimenopause and most of the symptoms. Because as progesterone starts to decline, it does so slowly and steadily, but estrogen declines kind of by going up and down and swinging quite a bit. And so when it's too much, because there's not enough progesterone to balance it out and support it, then we can get anxiety. And if it dips down too low, then that can happen too. So yeah, so there's that. And then on top of that, there's the gut health. So there's a gut brain connection, right? So if there's any underlying gut stuff going on that you might need to address, that can also certainly be a cause of anxiety or at least make it worse. Because I don't know if you notice with your anxiety, I know I do, that some months it's crazy. And then some months you're good. And it's like, okay. So, you know, then it's just learning like, okay, what tools do I need to apply to help calm this down, balance the hormone? Is my gut okay? You know, how am I sleeping, exercising, all the tools?

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Yeah, and absolutely. And I it really did. When I went through it, I was like, what is I really was surprised. Even my husband was like, I've never quite annually said why this is happening. And it's so easy to kind of push it to other things, saying, Well, it's maybe this and it may be this, and really to understand that it's really part of the metal parametropolis symptoms, it makes you one, it helps you feel like you're not going slightly insane. And totally, and and two, then you can feel like you can have a you can start working on a solution because you kind of know what the issue is of the pri like instead of trying to piecemeal going, well, what could it

Warning Signs For Entrepreneurs

SPEAKER_00 12:36

be? Could it be? So when it comes to female entrepreneurship, what are the warning signs that they are struggling with perimenopause? Obviously, we talked about anxiety, but what are other things that they could be facing that they don't realize is part of those symptoms?

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Yeah, along with anxiety, another big one. So uh a little bit of data here. There was a poll taken in the UK, and 70% of the women in perimenopause reported that they had brain fog. So that's another one that kind of takes people by surprise. And if we're a female entrepreneur and we have brain fog, that's not great. That's really, really hard. Makes an already hard career even harder, right? So that's one for sure. Fatigue is another big one, insomnia is another big one. But I think some, I think the more commonly known ones would be like menopausal weight gain. Everybody hears that phrase. Other women, this would be more in the beginning of the perimenopause journey, but some women can get some very heavy, heavy periods with clots. That's definitely a clue to get checked out. But yeah, I think I went through everything. Of course, there's hot flashes and night sweats and all that stuff. But yeah, there's a few that are, and then there's some super weird obscure ones like burning mouth and wringing of the ears and things like that. And I guess what I want people to think about and take away is that your body really only has one way to communicate with you. I think as busy women, women who are strong and powerful and motivated and ambitious and have things to do and a mission to accomplish, we tend to push away or push off the more minor symptoms. And I do the same thing. And while that maybe is admirable, my train of thought, if you're anything like me, is well, it's not slowing me down. Like I can feel that thing, whatever it is, and I know it's there, but it's not slowing me down. So I'm moving forward. I'm just gonna push it aside and keep going with my day. And the problem with that is that that's the only way your body has to communicate with you. So the more we kind of ignore and push those things aside, the louder your body's gonna try to get your attention. And so then the symptoms start to get a little bit more disruptive. And so what I like to teach my clients is to tune in to get to know how your body communicates with you. Learn the tools to bring your body back to balance when it's minor stuff, because then it's usually a quick, easy, you know, the tools and the corrections that you can make are simple. It could be like, all right, for the next couple days, I'm gonna eat this way, you know, and really nourish myself. And then the thing will resolve. But the more we push it away, the louder our body tends to get.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

Yeah, and I completely agree with that. I have done that in the course of my life once or twice where I'm like, this is nothing. I'm fine. I have a high tolerance for pain. And then I'm like, why, you know. And it's usually then the doctors are like, How did you wait so long? And I'm like, Oh, well, I you know, I just I had stuff to do, and and it's you know, it's taken me going through life, going, I only have one me, so I've got to pay attention to it. And but it it sometimes is a hard struggle for women to get there when they think there's so much to do for everybody else. But if they're not there for everybody else, just like if you're not show up for yourself, you can't show up for your business, the same thing goes for everybody else.

Getting Energy Back With Basics

SPEAKER_00 16:27

So the final kind of question is like, what's the first step for female entrepreneurs to get the energy back during their perimenopause stage because that's fatigue and because of the lack of sleep. And you were talking about insomnia, which again, but what is a what's some way to get energy back? Because I think that especially as a business female entrepreneur where you want to get some stuff done and you're like, I don't function like I did five years ago. Yeah, what could that look like?

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Yeah, so you know, it depends. I know that's not like the best answer, but but here's some things to think about because it is probably likely gonna look different for for every woman. So, you know, we want to think about sleep. Are you sleeping for seven, eight hours a night? Are you going to bed on time or are you sort of burning the midnight candle and working super late? And then, you know, so you know, maybe an obvious thing, but our bodies are designed to be sleeping by 10 o'clock. That's when you're gonna feel the most rested. Maybe you're doing that and your body's waking you up every morning at two, three o'clock in the morning. So that's like another thing, right? So we want to try to figure that out. So maybe we look at you know cortisol levels and do things to try to calm your stress levels and support your adrenal glands. So, another thing for energy, we always want to look at the thyroid and iron levels too. So when women tell me that they're really fatigued and having trouble with their energy, you know, the first question I have is have you had your thyroid checked? So just good to rule it out. And then if something is found, okay, then we can support the thyroid. Let's do that. Let's, you know, eat foods that are high in the nutrients that the thyroid needs and make sure that your cells are getting that thyroid hormone in them. And then, you know, more things that we can do right away would be, you know, really the stress-relieving things, I think have the biggest effect on our energy levels. Do you have routines and rituals in place that help you relax and unwind? I get it. Like this is tough for a female entrepreneur to take time out for herself. But as you just said, if you don't take time for yourself, you're likely going to be struggling with your energy, and that's gonna translate to your business, right? Are you eating foods that fuel your energy, or are you eating foods that drain your energy? That's a big thing too, because I know that when we're tired and we're stressed, we go for the foods that are comfort foods, right? But unfortunately, those foods can often just drain us and cause inflammation. So we want to be focusing on the foods that fuel our energy. So those hopefully some things that people can can take away and do.

Free Brain Fog Guide And Wrap

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Well, I want to thank you so much. I know you have an offer for our audience. I'd love for you to share about that now. And of course, I'll have the link in the show notes.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Yeah, of course. So I wanted to give everybody a free guide to beating brain fog. So this is uh a short, quick guide that explains what might be going on if you're experiencing any brain fog and some tips that you can start right away to help your body out and bring it back to balance and clear the brain fog.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

I wanna thank you so much for being on the show today, Laura. I think it's so important to continue to talk about this about parameters and menopause and what it looks like and how we can achieve our best self during it. So thank you so much for being on the show today. I am so thrilled to be here. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. If you love what you heard today, please subscribe to the show and leave a review. Otherwise, have a blessed and abundant week, and we'll see you next show.