(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hello and welcome to season three of Sweet Insights. We are so excited to kick off this chapter diving deep into the world of hormones. Whether you're navigating perimenopause, menopause, or simply just curious about what's ahead, this season is for you. We'll be sharing personal stories, expert insights, and practical strategies to help you feel empowered during life's transitions. Amy, I'm so excited. I know, it's so nice to be back. Season three, we took a little break for Christmas and we kind of revamped a little and yeah, here we are. And I don't know what's doing there for you and what our listeners weather is like, but it's cold and snowy here. Yes, Ontario is snowy as well. Today we are being blessed with some beautiful sunshine coming in my window. And it's funny because one of Kenzie's coaches, two of her coaches are from Calgary and they had heard that Ontario doesn't get as much snow and we've been getting dumped on this season. So they're like, what the heck? But that is the one thing that they've commented is that they miss the Calgary sunshine. And so Calgary gets tons of snow, but lots of sunshine. And so we have had a lot of gloomy days. So this sunshine feels so good. I bet it does. So starting out, I mean, since we're going to be talking more about hormones and the world of hormones, I think you should share a little bit about your own journey and your family history. I guess a little bit of your family history, but like some of the reason why we're talking about hormones this season. Yeah. And I mean, you and I have both had personal conversations with each other about our own hormone journeys. And we've both commented that lots of people in our lives are kind of at the start or in this journey or it's coming. And there's so much information out there that we thought this would be a great opportunity to share some of the information that we've learned along the way, some of our own experiences. Now through this season, we do want to kind of put an exclaimer out there that neither of us are doctors. And so you should definitely seek your own doctor's medical advice, work with a naturopath, a doctor, a nurse practitioner, whoever, but definitely work with someone. We're sharing our own journeys and our own experiences and stuff that we have done and people we might follow. And so we want this to be a great resource for you, but it doesn't replace medical advice. So just to kind of caveat that in case we don't remember to say it on all episodes, definitely do know that. And if you do need some referrals or something, reach out to us, we can probably help you that way as well. But yeah, so my journey, my mom went through a horrible perimenopause menopause journey. She was very reluctant and is still reluctant to do any type of hormone therapy. Her generation, my mom's in her seventies. It was not something that, that she wanted to do. Her own mother died of breast cancer at 40. So lots of warnings and red flags there, but my poor mom actually had a horrible time and actually finally broke down with the doctors in tears after bleeding for an entire year straight. Like she had sores from pads like awful. And then they eventually gave her a hysterectomy, but really had to go through a lot before anyone really took her seriously. And even telling the doctor that she was bleeding all the time, you know, not until she broke down crying, did they go, Oh, like we should do something for you. And I always kind of look back and wonder, like, were there other options if she had, you know, and it's really unfortunate that it got to the event. Like, why did she have to cry in the doctor's office before they did something? And, you know, we really seem to have to advocate really strongly for ourselves. So I truly believe that the more information you have, the more you're equipped with so that you can push for your own care and, you know, get to the answers that you need and your own journey, I think is very much that way too, that, you know, doing your own research, getting that information. So for me, I am going through perimenopause fairly early compared to most people. I mean, they are saying that menopause happens for most women in their 50s. Now, I am turning 44 this year, this month, actually. And I have been suffering from massive changes in my hormones, massive night sweats. I can literally clock it 10 days before my period. I am sopping wet in the middle of my sleep. Like I sleep in a nightgown. Again, I'm an oversharer. I used to sleep naked and now I can't because I need to absorb the water because it's that extreme. And the funny thing is, is that I, you know, when I went to see my own family doctor, he was like, oh no, you're not in perimenopause, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, well, obviously something is wrong with my hormones because a similar thing happened to me when I was pregnant. Like I had wicked night sweats when I was pregnant. And so obviously something changed in my hormones and something is changing again in my hormones when I'm dripping in a pool of sweat. Like that's not normal sleeping at 40. So that's kind of how I really started to dive in and notice brain fog. Like as I started to research some of the symptoms, like my ability, like, like I was like, should I get tested for like brain issues? Because I would start a sentence and not remember the end of the sentence. I can't find things. And all of those things, like I had to do some mindset work because when I forget where I put something like that triggers, you know, some demons inside of me and some really negative self talk, self talk. And I did a program positive intelligence that, you know, talked about getting rid of some of those anger and rage emotions. And again, all stemming through hormones. So anyway, to shorten my story a little bit I did start hormone replacement therapy. I saw a nurse practitioner got prescribed hormone replacement therapy. I was given the option between the patch, the pill or the gel. And you know, again, it's really important to research the differences and the risks of each one and know what you're getting yourself into. Because I do feel like doctors and so forth, they're really giving you the options, they don't want to tell you one is better than the other because they don't want liability. So knowing that, and I started following a doctor, Mary someone, I want to say it's Mary Carver, but I don't think it is. I think that's the minimalist I follow. Is it Mary Claire? Do you know who I'm talking about? I don't. But it's funny, because we had the same conversation the other day. And I still didn't look her up. So I follow this lady on Instagram, and she's wonderful. And I know that everyone follows Dr. Mary Claire. She is an MD who is a New York time best selling author of the new menopause. And she's basically a gynecologist who got asked to do a podcast about hormone replacement therapy. And she kept saying no, because she didn't feel knowledgeable enough to do it. And then once she did this massive research in order to do this podcast, she turned around and said, I've been doing a disservice to my patients. And she has drastically changed the view of hormone replacement therapy. Again, hormone replacement therapy is not for everyone. It's actually if you're 60 or above, it's actually has health concerns. And they some of the research supports the earlier you start HRT, the better health benefits you'll have for cardiovascular health and different things. So there is some research that now is supporting that. I encourage people to follow her, listen to some of her talks to gain research, right? Like it's if we're if we're absorbing as much information as we can, you know, absorb from us. But again, she's a doctor, so she's going to give you some great information. And there are probably some doctors who tell you it's not good. So you know, listen, figure it out. But be empowered. That's really what I want people to feel is to feel empowered. So again, back to my journey, I am taking the patch, I take an estrogen patch, which is a low dose estrogen. The way that it was explained to me is that I have high estrogen naturally in my body. So it's part of the reasons why I eat certain foods to help detoxify my body. But what happens is when you have when you have sweats, when you're having hot flashes, you're actually your estrogen is tanking. So it's one of the reasons why sometimes when you have your hormones tested, depending on when you get them tested, your hormone levels fluctuate frequently. So that can be a challenge. But, but having a low dose of estrogen helps me to maintain a level so that I don't get the massive dips that I was getting that was causing the night sweats. Do I still sometimes get night sweats? Absolutely. They are not near as extreme. And I get them for less days. So I might get them one or two days before my period instead of like 10 solid days. And I don't get that the day sweats like I did before either. And then because I still have a menstruating cycle, I do progesterone capsules before bed for 14 days. And then that will change as I get further in menopause into perimenopause when my cycle starts decreasing. But because I have a cycle, we actually support that and continue it. And we're not altering that natural hormone state. So you just gave us a ton of information, but I think we need to step back for one second because some of our listeners may like still be kind of early stages, not even knowing that they're in perimenopause. So maybe we should explain what perimenopause is. And I'm kind of putting you on the spot a little bit, but I know you've done lots of research. So just to clarify the difference between perimenopause and menopause, um, for people who are in their late thirties, early forties, who maybe are going into it a bit early, maybe. Yeah. So the actual definition as it's been explained to me is that menopause is the timeframe when you've actually had your period stop. And there's a certain timeframe and I forget what it is, but you are in menopause when your period hasn't happened monthly for a certain period of time. And I think it's a year. So it's a solid year without your period, you are now in menopause. And so perimenopause is the stage before, and it can last up to 15 years where you are in the stages of your period, your hormones are transitioning. And so you might end up in a period where maybe your period is coming more, more regular, more frequently. You might be in a stage where your period is coming more distant apart. And through that stage, some people will go through perimenopause for a year, for five years, for 10 years, for 15 years. So things are changing during that timeframe. And so some people will, you know, you have more symptoms, we'll have symptoms faster. And there's a boatload of symptoms that, um, that people will experience, you know, um, itchy ear, um, changes in mood, uh, changes in their menstrual cycle itself, whether it's that it's lighter, that it's heavier, that it's clottier, that it's shortened or longer, you know, a boatload of things, uh, fatigue, hot sweats, changes in sleep patterns, like it is, um, you know, I think we'll kind of list them all out. Maybe we'll make a post or we'll talk about it in the next episode a little bit deeper, but definitely changes, um, you know, kind of all over that way. And so that is the difference. The perimenopause is the stage of transition and menopause is that time when you no longer have a period. And sometimes people will not have a period for six months and then it'll pop up again. But that menopause phase is after, um, is defined in the medical world from my understanding as the absence of a period menstrual cycle for a year is when you were crazy. Like that was a lot of information. And I don't even think that I knew all of that. And we've been talking about this for a bit and I feel like I still didn't know all about myself. I was like, yay, yay for us in 15 years. And like, oh, if we haven't scared away all our listeners yet, we probably will. I think it's so important that we talk about it and we get support because like, I don't think my mom talked about it with anybody. And we, and I feel two things here. I feel that when I became a mom, I had a whole new appreciation for my own mother. And now in perimenopause, I have a whole new appreciation for my mother because I feel like it was a taboo subject, but we were like, oh, she's going through the change. And so we were like, she was moody and all the things that we were like, oh yeah, she's going through the change. Like, uh, she's like, and we just kind of like labeled it like that and like blamed my mom's mood or she was angry or whatever. And now I'm like, I'm so sorry. Like, I just want to give you a hug and tell you I'm so sorry because that wasn't fair. And that wasn't nice. And how cringy of us like to, I say us, I mean a society in general to treat it that way, especially now that we are at that stage where we're going to be going through it or are going through it. And I would hate if my kids did that to me, I feel like I would not speak to them for a week or longer. I mean, maybe that would be a vacation for me. Maybe we should try this. Well, and I have more than once apologized to my mom because I'm like, I am so sorry. Here I am now. And weight gain, that's what weight gain, like, Holy Hannah, weight gain. I am a, I coach weight loss for one of the naturopaths I work for and my own weight gain journey, my cortisol changes. Holy man. And one of the nicest things my mom said to me now that she's in her seventies and weight loss is easy. She's like, honey, when you go through this phase, don't be so hard on yourself. So like, don't let yourself go and like exactly gain weight. She's like, but you are going to gain weight. You are going to be heavier. You're going to feel differently in your body and know that this is part of it. It's not that you like suddenly did something wrong. It's that everything in your body is changing and it's affecting everything. Oh, and we're going to dive deeper into that in our episodes coming up in this season, because there is so much to talk about. And again, like you said, everybody goes through this differently. Um, we kind of want to break the stigma that you can't talk about it. And so we're going to talk all about it and we're going to tell our stories. We're going to just talk about other facts and things, and hopefully give you some ways to, to help your journey through it, but also, um, hopefully help you laugh about it as well. And like, realize that this is normal. Everyone goes through it as not normal as it is. Like, I mean, it's not normal to gain weight. Like we all realize this, but now that we know we're in this stage of life, unfortunately it is normal. And so we will definitely be chatting more about that. Yes. And the, the one thing that I didn't say that I think is really important, like I shared my journey with, with starting HRT and I want to say I started eight months ago. Um, but that isn't the sole answer, right? Like, and so it's not the answer for many people. Some people can't be on HRT. Some people can, some people don't want to totally fair, but it's not the only thing, right? We need to look at our mindset. We need to look at stress management. We need to look at, you know, our nutrition, our supplementation. Like it is a, it's not a, you take HRT and everything's better. It is. Let's look at all of these components because they're all going to contribute. And, you know, HRT is a component. It's a tool that will work for some and not for others. And some will choose and some won't, but there is also the rest of that holistic approach with the food, the supplements, stress management, all of that. And so with that, Amy, I want you to, um, you know, cause I could talk about myself and everything I know about forever. And, um, we know that I like to overtake the conversation. So I want to hear your story and I want to hear about like where you're at in, in our whole hormone journey. Okay. So I have a totally different, um, approach to where I'm at right now. I wouldn't say I'm in perimenopause, but then at times I feel like I am. Um, I know like sometimes you feel like you're going crazy and you're like, this has to be perimenopause because there can't be any other reason for going crazy in life. But I would say that I started with issues, obviously, as long as I've known you. So like probably back, I'd say we'd be looking at seven years or so right now that I've been dealing with myself and everything that I'm going through, um, life journeys in general. Um, but basically one of the things that happened, um, where my journey started is I'd gone through a stressful situation. Um, my job is very stressful. It's very high, high risk, high reward, but like stressful. Um, I had gained 20 pounds in a month and I, so just for those who don't already know you, you are a real estate agent. Um, so that is the stressful job just so they can put it into context. Yeah. So real estate agent, I do own my own business on the side as well. I have two kids, um, two dogs partner, like, you know, life, right. Um, but I had gained 20 pounds out of nowhere and I was working out, um, summer regularly. It would have been like pre COVID kind of era, like going into that a bit, I think. And so basically, um, I was like freaking out because I was like, I'm not pregnant. I don't know what's going on. Like, why, why is this happening? And so I started going down the road with my doctors of what could be happening. They checked my thyroid. They like, he did the blood work, did all the normal things that doctors should do. In my opinion, I'm not a doctor, but I feel they should do that for you when you don't know what's going on. When you have significant changes, whether it's increased weight, decreased weight, like unless you're specifically doing something to know why that's happening, you should probably get checked out. Um, at least poke around and figure out what's going on. Um, but I had been having consistent, what I thought were yeast infections and they weren't being cured. Like I would go to the doctor and she's like, well, I'll just give you a prescription. You can take this whenever you need. Like, so you go get the pill or the, um, capsules or whatever you need anyway. And it was terrible. Never had a yeast infection. They are horrible. Absolutely. Like, yeah, there's no coming back. Like they're, they're one of the worst things that you can get. And so when they're compounded and continuous, I was like, there is something wrong. This is not normal. I shouldn't, I was, I stopped eating. Like I was going so far as to change my diet. So I was taking out anything that had sugars in it, anything. And then I was looking at like vinegars, alcohols, anything that could cause Candida. And so it was so terrible. I was going to go on the Candida diet before I met you. And it was like, everything was so terrible. Anyway, long story short, my doctor was like, well, I think you need estrogen because you're probably impairing menopause. Now I'm only 43. The doctor said this. Yep. And I'm only 43. I was only 38, 37. Like it's possible. It is so possible. Like you said, 15 years, you could go through it. Um, but I was like, this is crazy. So I did get the gel and I was using that and it was helping slightly, but really not fixing the problem come to find out. I didn't meet Alison and went through her metabolic reset program that she coaches for. And, um, overall I was able to reduce my cortisol. I had very, what, without having blood work done at that time, what we can associate would have been high cortisol. The moment I went through the program and I lowered my weight, lowered my cortisol and was able to get a grip on my stress, everything changed. So what I learned from going through that was that stress can mimic a lot of different issues in your body. Stress can mimic heart attacks. It can cause heart attacks. It can mimic yeast infections. It can do so many things. And it causes weight gain. It does so many things. So like when you're stressed out one binge more and you eat more, of course, if you're like me and I want all the comfort food, so that would have been a problem anyway, but then I'm storing fat and my cortisol was high. So if I was exercising, I was then causing my cortisol to go up even higher. So I would go on these exercises. You were having hot flashes too, weren't you? I was having the worst hot flashes. Like I would be, I would wake up drenched in the middle of the night. And like you over share, I slept naked and I was like, okay, this is like fine. Like I'm naked. So it should be not as hot, but I found wearing, actually I did some research on that too, by wearing pajamas, your body actually can regulate the temperature better. Um, and I don't know why that is, but I just wanted it to absorb the water because I didn't like it. Yeah, I think there's more to it than that. That's definitely a good reason. Um, but I was having these hot flashes and by going through and reducing my cortisol, like reducing my stress in my life, reducing, although I couldn't change my job, I was learning how to better cope and manage with it. So I was able to get rid of the night sweats. I was able to get rid of the yeast infections, well, yeast infections, quote unquote, because they weren't really that, but it was mimicking all the symptoms of that. So for me, it was different and I didn't need the extra gel. Um, whether or not like I will in the future or not, I don't know. I can't say that, but like, I have not, since I've been able to do this and figure it out and keep my cortisol low, I've never had that problem again. Now, every now and then, I mean, I had pneumonia for forever. It feels like, but I had high fever, so definitely was sweating. So this isn't going to completely cure sweats. You're still going to have night sweats every now and then, like Allie said, like you don't get them as frequently. You don't get as many and for as long, but they still will happen. Um, so there's no cure all for that. But the fact that I have been able to do that and go through life now a little bit more comfortable, um, I can see that there's such a bigger problem that we have overall that we're trying to immediately suggest that one thing fixes everyone when you and I have similar symptoms and similar, um, issues we're going through, but we have very different needs to how we need to fix them. And it doesn't mean that I won't need HRT or something like that. But for me, what I needed to fix, whatever stage of life I'm going through, even if it is perimenopause for me, just fixing the issues that I got down to the root cause and was able to like alleviate it for now. So awesome. That's so awesome. Thank you for sharing that. And it's, it's important because like, if you, depending on what stage of this process that you're in, you could be doing one of the things and the symptoms come back. And it's not that that's not working anymore, but it's like, what about the other things, right? What about the nutrition component? What about the, you know, and, and, you know, we're going to go through this and things are going to change over time. Um, I find it interesting. I have a girlfriend who her doctor's solution to her, uh, perimenopause was an IUD. And so when I went in and met with the nurse practitioner, I specifically asked, I said, you know, what is the strategy here of doing an IUD versus, you know, what I'm going to do, uh, or what she was recommending for me of doing the patch with the progesterone. And she said, the difference is, is that down the road, we can change your dose. So as opposed to the IUD, which might give you relief right now, she said with this in six months, as your hormones change, we can say, okay, it's time to maybe increase the estrogen because this is changing or this is changing. Um, or, I mean, I know myself, and that's not something I'm going to get from the nurse practitioner per se, but I know to watch from your experience, I know to watch my stress levels. So if I'm having a month where, you know, my, um, uh, you know, my stress and my cortisol is higher, you know, that is, it might be a key indicator to me that, oh, the hot sweats have kicked back in, you know, Hey, where am I at with my stress level? Where, where am I managing that? What am I doing with that? Similarly, I do that with food, my period changes based on my vegetable consumption. And as you know, through doing the metabolic reset program, you know, there are certain vegetables that are going to detoxify, um, your hormones. There are, there are certain things. And so I can tell you when my period shows up, I can tell you, oh, poop, Ali didn't do very good on her vegetables this month, but I use that as a tool because then I'm like, I'm going to up my vegetable game. Um, and that knowledge even helps my, my almost 11 year old daughter, because I am trying to get her. She's not a great eater, but I am promoting certain vegetables because you know, her hormones are going to be through the roof soon when she starts getting a cycle. And tons of my friends talk about how their daughters, the year before they started menstruating weren't fun. And I'm not looking forward to that. Those things in there. Um, so this is where like all of this knowledge is so transfer trends, trends, virtual and, and you know what I'm trying? Yes. Thank you. And it's formidable. Um, and that's what makes me so excited about this season. Absolutely. And some of the things that you would touch on too, like the brain fog and, um, speaking of brain fog, I feel like I'm having a moment here, but like we talked about these things and my journey wasn't just like as simple as what it just sounded. Like I went through having an IUD to taking my idea to going on the pill to having nothing to going back to IUD, um, because same reasons, exact same reasons, like the doctors are like, well, how do we know it's your hormones until we play around with them basically. Um, and ended up back on an IUD. And again, I feel pretty balanced, whether my family thinks I am or not, I feel pretty balanced right now, but either way, like same thing, the brain fog, like that was probably one of the first things that hit me along with the waking, the brain fog that hit me was so unbearable. Like I had my mom out there buying me Omega threes. I had her buying this and this and that. And I was like, Hey, if you're going to Costco, get me the huge Costco size. Cause I obviously need this. And I couldn't figure it out. And going through the whole journey I've gone through, there are days where I have brain fog and I panic a little because I'm like, Oh no, I don't want this to happen again. But the good news is, is because I've gone through the journey and I've educated myself in which we are trying to help you guys do. Um, I know that sometimes brain fog is because I have lack of iodine in my system. So as we go through this journey, sometimes you need more, um, vitamins and things like that. And we're table salt. We just need all a little table salt and no, no. Um, but all joking aside, like things like that, like sometimes it's, I know I'm very sleepy. Sometimes I know I didn't get enough sleep. So all these things are important and we've always been told, get enough sleep, but as an adult, we just don't. And there's times where, like you said, if you know, your period's coming, um, you need more broccoli. Like it's, I do the same. Like I, I load my daughter up on broccoli. I load myself up on broccoli. And so there are lots of tips and tricks and hopefully we can uncover a lot of those this season. Awesome. So, um, preview of stuff to come. Um, some of our plans, we, um, are going to talk about the role of food and hormone balance. We're going to talk about stress, cortisol, and their impact on hormones, sleep struggles and solutions. Um, how to advocate for yourself with your healthcare providers, holistic approaches, like we talked about supplements, exercise mindset shifts. So this season is going to be the most valuable. So we encourage you all to not just listen to our episodes this season, but share them with your friends, because I guarantee you, if you're having these thoughts, your friends are having these thoughts, we're all very curious. Um, and so help us send this message to other women. Let's be women who support other women. And, um, we're going to do another thing that because we talk and we babble and we do all these things so much that we're, I want to close off with what we're going to call, because we are sweet insights. I want to close off with some sweet takeaways. And so Amy, will you tell us the sweet takeaways for the day? Absolutely. So our sweet takeaways for today, um, one is hormonal health is deeply personal. We all go through something slightly different with it. Um, maybe you go through a greatly different, but it requires a holistic approach. Um, and again, everything we said on the program, we just want to make sure like, if you are having concerns or you are having questions, reach out to your doctor, nurse, practitioner, um, naturopath, whoever you deal with, um, because we're just bringing awareness to it, but they're the ones who are really going to probably walk you through the journey. Um, accurate testing and understanding your body.