May 30, 2025 • 38 mins
What if those persistent symptoms you've been struggling with – the stubborn weight gain, disrupted sleep, skin problems, or irregular periods – aren't just "normal aging" but signs your body is desperately trying to communicate with you? In this eye-opening conversation, certified integrative health practitioner Chelsea McLeod reveals why four out of five women battle hormone imbalances and, more importantly, how these issues can be resolved by addressing their root causes.
Chelsea shares her personal journey from corporate executive to hormone health expert after discovering that what she thought were inevitable "female problems" were actually fixable imbalances. Her transformation was so dramatic that colleagues, friends, and family members began seeking her help – leading to her current mission helping high-performing women recover their health, energy, and vitality.
You'll discover why those well-intentioned health habits might be working against you: morning coffee on an empty stomach, frequent small meals, excessive cardio, and even staying hydrated too close to bedtime. Chelsea breaks down simple yet powerful adjustments that can dramatically shift your hormonal landscape without deprivation or complicated protocols.
Most compelling are the stories of transformation – women who not only shed weight quickly (often 5-10 pounds in the first two weeks) but also experience profound improvements in sleep quality, skin clarity, joint pain, and overall energy. As Chelsea poignantly notes, "Women come to me to lose 15 pounds but often leave with 15 more years on their life."
This conversation is especially valuable for women navigating perimenopause and menopause who've been told their symptoms are just an inevitable part of aging. If you're tired of feeling like your body is working against you, Chelsea's practical wisdom offers a refreshing alternative – a path to not just surviving midlife but truly thriving through what should be one of life's most vibrant chapters.
Ready to reclaim your hormonal health? This episode provides the roadmap you've been searching for.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, beautiful friend , it's Marni.
Today we're talking abouthormones, Specifically
imbalances that can wreak havocon our skin, our sleep, our
well-being, our eating habitsand so much more.
Did you know that four out ofevery five women struggle with
some type of hormone imbalance,but that, although it's quite
(00:21):
common, it's definitely notnormal, and that hormone
imbalance is often a symptom ofsomething more complex going on?
Today we're talking withChelsea McLeod, a certified
integrative health practitionerand the founder of the Healthy
Hustle Method, a holistic healthcoaching program designed to
(00:41):
deliver rapid results by fixingthe root causes of these
imbalances in the body that arevery common in high-performing
women and women in stressfulroles, which is almost all of us
.
Her clients literally dropmultiple dress sizes, sleep
through the night for the firsttime in a long time, clear their
skin, reverse autoimmuneconditions, heal adrenal fatigue
(01:05):
and reverse diagnosedconditions such as PCOS and
endometriosis.
So if you've ever struggledwith or wondered about any of
these concerns, then stickaround, because you're not going
to want to miss this.
Welcome to this episode of Lifeis Delicious.
I'm Marni Martin and I'm soglad you're here.
(01:26):
And if this is your first timehere, welcome to the Life is
Delicious family.
This podcast isn't aboutsurviving midlife.
It's about crafting your nextchapter, life overflowing with
purpose, joy and deliciouspossibilities.
Listen, midlife doesn't have tobe a crisis.
It can be a beautifulinvitation to remember who we
(01:49):
are, to rediscover a new versionof ourself, or to completely
reinvent our life to reflect whowe are becoming now.
So if you're tired of beingexhausted, living life on
autopilot and putting everyoneelse first, then you are in the
right place.
Each week, we'll bring youthought-provoking ideas and
(02:10):
practical strategies, as well asinspiration to help you
prioritize yourself again.
It's time to take back yourjoie de vivre.
So grab a notebook and pen andpop in those earbuds and let's
go get it.
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(02:31):
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(02:51):
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(03:12):
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(03:59):
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DELICIOUS2025.
Welcome to the show.
I'm so grateful to have youhere.
So good to be here.
Thank you for having me, marnie.
(04:20):
Part of the reason I wanted tohave you on the show is because
you work with a lot of peoplethat are in my age group
Probably most of my listenersare somewhere between 45 and 65.
And I know you work with a lotof issues in regarding hormones
and menopause, and I also knowyou have a story as to how you
kind of got into this work tobegin with.
So let's maybe start with thatTell our listeners a little bit
(04:43):
about you and how you came tothis particular work.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So I never sought out to be a hormone practitioner.
In fact, I came up through theranks of corporate, so I'm a
corporate dropout.
For you know, 10 years I washeading up e-commerce teams at
publicly traded companies andmanaging big teams, spending a
lot of time on the road, and Ihad been struggling with
hormonal imbalance since I was ateenager.
I just didn't really realize it.
(05:07):
I thought all of these symptomsof issues with energy
exhaustion, skin issues, gutissues I thought they were just
kind of part of being a woman.
Having irregular periods,painful periods, missing periods
, I just thought that was justkind of part and parcel of being
a woman, right, and what Ilearned later as I began to heal
was that these were very commonbut they weren't normal.
(05:30):
And it's just that I wassurrounded by so many other high
performers and high functioningwomen that we all had the same
issues, and so we thought it wasnormal.
But it really wasn't.
And so for me it really took tothe point where I went to go
see a holistic skin practitionerwho you know I was going for my
skin but I left with a holisticplan to balance my hormones
that actually resulted in melosing weight, fixing my decades
(05:53):
long of insomnia and reallyfixing a lot of those root cause
issues that I didn't know Icould solve in the first place.
So sometimes it you know, for alot of my clients it takes
going in for something veryspecific and getting a result
that's not even related to whatyou originally thought, what you
were going in for, isn't thatsomething?
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And I find it so interesting, even with my
friends, that so often, becausewe're all dealing with sort of
this myriad of differentsymptoms, but kind of all the
same that you do, you feel like,oh, that's just part of going
through it, right, that's justwhat happens, right.
So we stop really looking forsolutions and I think we get to
a point sometimes where it'slike, okay, you know what?
This doesn't feel normal and Iwant my life back, exactly yeah.
(06:33):
So how did you go about fixingyour particular situation and
how did you kind of end upworking with other women?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
While I was still in my corporate job, I worked with
this skin practitioner who Ialways say she kind of Trojan
horsed her way into my life asfar as wellness, because, you
know, I thought I was doing allthe right things right, I
thought I was eating well, Ithought I was doing the
exercises right, I thought I wastaking the right supplements.
And it just turns out that,even though I was, you know, I
worked at Reebok headquarters,which is known it's a fitness
(07:04):
hub.
Everyone's super healthy, we'reeating salads for lunch.
I thought I had it figured out,but the reality is I didn't.
And once I started working withthis practitioner, she kind of
changed the way I thought aboutfood.
She helped me understand how tobalance my blood sugar, she got
me on the right supplements andI just saw results so quickly
that people were asking me whatI was doing.
(07:26):
They were like why does yourskin look so good?
You look so rested.
Your mood has changed, yourbody shape has changed.
You know, I was pulling outbelts that I hadn't worn in
years.
All the clothes that kind ofwent away during COVID were
coming out of.
I didn't think I'd ever fit inthem again and I was lower than
you know my college weight, andit didn't make any sense, and so
that's kind of where I started.
And once the results started tocome through, people asked me
(07:49):
how I did it and I startedhelping them.
And then I helped my mom whohad just gone through menopause
and she was carrying some extraweight around the belly.
I call it the inner tube bellyyou know she had these long
skinny arms and this belly and Ibasically had her do what I did
(08:11):
and she lost 15 pounds in threeweeks and just crazy.
And so and she started fixing.
You know we both beeninsomniacs as long as we can
remember, but you know shestarted sleeping better and
feeling better and you know herperformance at work improved.
And so after that happened,word got out to her friends,
word got out to her friends andword got out to my friends and I
started working with a lot ofcolleagues, a lot of my high
school and college friends.
(08:31):
I played college field hockeyand some of my teammates were
coming around and they would seelittle messages that I would
post on social media ofdifferent results that some of
my clients were getting.
And before I knew it, I hadthis massive client base and I
was still working full time,like I was working 60 hours a
week in my corporate job inbetween Australia, the US and
Asia in a given month.
(08:52):
And it just got to the pointwhere I had too many clients
where I was like I think I needto.
If I'm going to really givethis a shot and really scale
this and help women heal, then Ineed to leave my job and really
give this a good shot.
So last July I left mycorporate job, which was really
scary, because you spend yourwhole life training for
something and working towardssomething, and to walk away from
an extremely lucrative careerwas really scary.
(09:14):
But I just knew that this wassomething special because it was
helping so many women.
So I've given it a shot and Ihave not looked back and I have
absolutely no regrets, because Ialways find that around the
next corner is a woman who needsmy help and I have the answers
for her, and these women are nothard to come by because this is
such a prevalent issue, and sofor me there's really an endless
(09:38):
opportunity here to help womenheal women heal.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
That's amazing and you know what.
It is really necessary.
And you're right, there's somany of us that are struggling
and the more I talk with mylisteners and the more I bring
these topics up, I realize howmany more people come out of the
woodwork and go me too, andit's crazy.
So what do you think is sort ofthe most common cause of
hormone imbalance?
Is that the main thing thatpeople struggle with as they
enter into menopause?
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Yeah, and it's interesting because the root
cause of hormone imbalance isdifferent for everyone, right?
So hormone imbalance is kind ofthe symptom, but there's always
a deeper reason for it in thefirst place.
And what I typically tell womenis we have to audit this from
an entire full life, holisticperspective, because what
happens is when you go to adoctor, they're looking to
(10:28):
diagnose disease and there's noshade to doctors here, like
they're very good at savinglives and treating disease, but
what I do is I'm not looking fordisease.
Like a lot of the times,menopause is not a disease.
You know what I mean Like it'san imbalance that explains or I
shouldn't say menopause.
But menopausal symptoms arejust a sign that there's
something in your life that'sout of alignment and your body
(10:49):
has too much of one thing andnot enough of another thing.
And we have to go look at allthese different pillars to say,
okay, how do you?
How do you rank in this one?
How do you rank in this one?
Like, where is this imbalancecoming from?
And sometimes it's emotional,sometimes it's a gut issue,
sometimes it's this person'snervous system has been on edge
for 30 years and we need tobring that back into balance.
(11:11):
And other times it's.
You know they think they'reeating the right things but
they're not, or their mineralsare low, or chronic stress, like
there's just so many differentcauses of hormonal imbalance.
So we have to go like I have toget my magnifying glass out and
just ask an abusive amount ofquestions to these women to
figure out where is this comingfrom and why.
Because that's the questionthat doctors won't ask is well,
(11:34):
why are you getting the hotflashes?
Why is the weight not shedding?
Like this is not just inherentto getting older.
Like obviously there is ahormonal shift that we work with
and that we plan for.
But the transition to menopauseis not meant to be
uncomfortable and to have crazysymptoms.
It's meant to just be this timewhere you start losing your
(11:54):
cycle and more time lapses inbetween cycles and the symptoms
are really a sign that there'ssomething going on and we have
to figure out what that is.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
That's interesting, yeah, for you.
What do you find that yourecommend for people that are
going through different sort ofhot flashes and things like that
?
Like, do you have a specificprotocol?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
What I always say is women come to me and they're
like I'm perimenopausal, what'sthe protocol?
And I'm like well, there is noperimenopausal protocol.
There's a protocol specificallyfor you, based on exactly
what's going on in your life,exactly what your symptoms are
and exactly what we think theproblem is.
So for everyone, the root causeis going to be different.
So, generally, if someone doescome to me with hot flashes,
(12:35):
it's a sign that their estrogenis either dropping or it's
erratic, or it's missing.
So we have to say, okay, let'srun your functional medicine lab
tests, see what's going on here, see what might be causing it,
look at your estrogen levels,look at your estrogen to
progesterone ratio and, based onthat, you're going to get a
customized list of hey, here'sthe food recommendations, here's
(12:56):
the food timing.
Here are some supplements thatare going to help get those
hormones back into balance.
And here's what I wouldrecommend for exercise, based on
where your your hormones aredoing, and it's not just
exercise and food.
There's all sorts of otherstuff, like nurturing your
nervous system, making sure thatyou're getting enough rest.
Um, if they're not sleepingthrough the night because of the
(13:17):
hot flashes, there aresupplements that we can use to
to really improve the sleepquality and get estrogen up a
little bit higher without doingHRT.
Obviously, I'm not a doctor, soI don't work with HRT but
there's so many naturaltherapies that we can use to
help make sure that your body'sproducing estrogen in the
amounts that you should be foryour age, Awesome, I know.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I just went through about two and a half years of
transitioning my parents notwell and into assisted living
and, of course, taking overtheir finances and then moving
them from the family home and Ididn't realize how much my body
had gone into fight or flight, Ishould say until I came home
after that whole session and myshoulders were aching and my
(14:01):
joints were aching and my gutwas in really weird shape and I
was eating salad but I wasbloated all the time and there
were just so many things.
So what do you advise forpeople who are kind of going
through those really hard,stressful times and maybe you
aren't in a situation where youcan step away from it yet but
what can you do to transitionyourself, to keep yourself as
(14:24):
balanced as possible when you'regoing through those things?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
First of all, that's incredibly hard and I'm sorry
you had to go through that.
It's actually really common.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
It is, yeah, we all get a turn for sure.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
We all do, and sometimes it looks like
transitioning parents, and othertimes it's having a baby and
work stress and whatever it isfor you it's, we have to figure
out how to help you navigatethat transition as best you can.
And so for a lot of women wegrew up in this very toxic diet
culture where it's like you knowit's all or nothing and it's
(14:57):
either I'm eating kale or I'mhaving donuts and it's like
that's so true.
What I work with women on islike let's get out of that
bilateral thinking where it'seither one or the other and we
have to look at it at a spectrum.
So typically when clients cometo me, weight loss is almost
always an element.
No one's buying a high tickethealth coaching program just for
fun, because you know they'rehaving trouble sleeping, like
(15:20):
there's typically a biggerreason.
And so when they come in, wehave to figure out, number one,
what's what's their goal?
Like what's the goal weightthat they're trying to get to?
But number two, what is theirlife actually look like right
now?
Because for someone like you,who's going through something
really difficult, your protocolis not going to look the same as
someone who's maybe just youknow they're, they've healed
(15:42):
from a divorce.
They're ready for their glow up.
They have a lot of time ontheir hands.
Maybe they've just retired.
You know, I have one clientwho's 65.
She just retired.
She's got a lot of time on herhands because the kids are gone
and she's like this is my year.
It's like she's glowing up,she's got the time.
So she, you know her protocolis more robust than someone
who's like I'm just trying toget by but I want to make some
(16:04):
layer of progress.
And for that person it's likelet's set some non-negotiables
Like can you get up and get somelight on your face?
Can you follow the nutritionplan to like maybe 70% of what
you usually would and just doyour absolute best?
Can you do these emotionalprotocols to make sure that
you're really feeling yourfeelings and allowing yourself
(16:25):
to get clear on what your needsare during this time, because
you're going to need a littlebit more supplementation, you're
going to need a little bit morenutritional support.
You're going to need a littlebit more rest when things are
really stressful.
So maybe we scale back theexercise but make sure that
you're getting at least two outof the three meals a day are
really high vibe.
I call them high vibe, like.
This isn't about caloriereduction, this is about adding
(16:47):
nutrition, so making sure thatthat woman is getting you know.
For someone like you, it's likecan we follow the list of high
vibe foods to 70% and then onemeal?
You're just not going to worryabout it, you're just going to
do do the best you can,especially if you're on the road
, if you're um traveling to yourparents' house, whatever that
is like.
You're just going to make thebest possible choice, because
(17:08):
during each phase of life, wehave to make the plan make sense
.
So for someone who's goingthrough high stress, it's not
going to be this has to beperfect and we need to shed all
this weight.
It's like we just need to meetourselves where we're at, be as
consistent as we possibly can beand make the best possible
(17:29):
choice in every scenario.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, and I love that , because I think so often we do
feel like it's all or nothing,and I think sometimes we need to
be kind to ourselves,especially when we're going
through those stressful moments,because we can't always put
ourselves first.
We can't always put ourselvesfirst, and that can happen
whether it's somebody's dealingwith an illness or, like you say
, you're going through a divorce, or you're dealing with
caregiving for, whether it'schildren or elderly parents, and
(17:54):
sometimes you have to take abit of a back seat.
But that doesn't mean you putyourself, you know, under the
pile of everybody.
You have to find the balance ofall of it.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I'm so glad you said that, because it's just
brilliant.
One of the things that we haveto remember is that when we are
healthy and when we take care ofourselves, everyone else
benefits, and one of theconsistent themes that I see
with women who are experiencingperimenopause symptoms is
they're not putting themselvesfirst.
They're putting everyone aheadof themselves self first.
(18:28):
They're putting everyone aheadof themselves, including their
health, and they suffer as aresult.
And helping a woman get to thebottom of what that's really
about for them.
Oftentimes it's feelings ofinadequacy or unworthiness where
they're just putting everyone'sneeds ahead of their own, and
that's where I see things likeestrogen imbalances or thyroid
issues.
I'm seeing this physicalmanifestation of these emotional
issues in their physical body,and once they give themselves
(18:52):
permission to rest, givethemselves permission to
prioritize their health, thingsstart to change so fast.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yeah, and it's kind of.
I always tell you know, with mylisteners we talk a lot about
balance and creating healthyboundaries and I always go back
to that metaphor of putting yourown oxygen mask on first,
because you can't really helpanybody if you're completely
depleted.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
That's right, like pouring from the overflow, not
the bottom of the teacup, rightExactly.
And people sense that in yourenergy as well, like when you're
giving from a place ofdepletion.
People know like, people cansense that, and it comes across
in your behavior, it comesacross in your energy.
And so for women who areworking and they have, you know
(19:36):
they have a side hustle and apodcast and a full-time job and
a kid and it's like when they'renot replenished, their kid is
very aware of that.
It's just permission to heal,permission to rest, permission
to nourish is one of the biggesthurdles that some women
sometimes have to overtake.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Yeah, because nourishment is so much more than
just food.
It's sleep and well-being andself-talk and all of those
things, and not over peoplepleasing and all of those things
.
So I know I did look at yourwebsite and you have some really
great tips on there about howto just like some of the myths
(20:18):
that we go through, like eatingsmall, frequent meals all the
time, and how that's notsomething that you know we
necessarily need to do if we'retrying to balance things out.
So what would you recommendinstead?
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Sometimes this depends on the body type, right,
and it depends on where peopleare trying to go.
But in general, one of thebiggest mistakes I see women
make, especially women who are,you know, 40, 45, 50 plus, is
frequent snacking.
And I think this is kind ofdrilled into us since the 90s
where it's like let's have aspecial K-bar every two hours
(20:53):
and that's how you get skinny.
And the reality is, when we caneat high quality whole foods
three, max, four times a day atregularly scheduled intervals,
so our body knows when the foodis coming, it makes such a
difference and there's a coupleof reasons for that.
Obviously, um allows us torelease more weight, more
inflammation.
Um, these are not hyperpalatable foods, so they're much
harder to overeat.
(21:14):
But also when we're eating them.
You know, if we're havingbreakfast, lunch and dinner with
a small snack and we're pullingforward dinner and making sure
that dinner is our lightest mealof the day and we're getting a
majority of our nutrients duringthe day, Like that, lunch
should really be the biggestmeal, right, that's where the
weight starts to come off,because most women will they'll
under eat at breakfast or skipbreakfast.
(21:35):
Do a coffee, have maybe a saladfor lunch without proper protein
, without proper healthy fats,and then they're completely
strung out by dinner.
They're eating like a rat overa kitchen sink at 9 pm and
opening all their cupboards andcompletely unraveling any
progress they've made.
And so what we have to do is wekind of have to flip it.
(21:55):
We got to get that highnourishment for breakfast,
making sure we're having protein, fat and carb at every single
meal to balance our blood sugar.
Having a nice big lunch withplenty of protein and then
usually a snack in the afternoonis totally fine, and then just
a nice light dinner.
That's one of the best thingsthat perimenopausal women can do
for getting results.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Yeah, I think the balancing of the blood sugar is
such an important piece and Iknow you also talked a little
bit about fasting and is it the12-hour fast I think you said is
that?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I think you said it's not intermittent fasting per se
, but speak to us a little bitabout that Intermittent fasting
is really an interesting andquite nuanced topic because it
is highly effective and Irecommend it to women with
caveats.
Number one we have to plan itbased on what's going on in your
body.
If someone has a known hormonalimbalance or a known insulin
(22:49):
issue, their fasting plan isgoing to look a lot different
than someone who's quitebalanced right.
And so for the average woman inAmerica who comes to me she
typically has high fastinginsulin, she has high hemoglobin
A1C because she's reallystressed, she's probably eating
too much processed food, she'snot sleeping great and so her
body's kind of in fight orflight all the time that's going
(23:09):
to be a very different plan.
Like I would not recommendintermittent fasting straight
off the bat for a woman likethat, but as she starts to heal
it's a tool that we can use formore fat burning.
That said, in general a 12 hourfast is always a good idea for
pretty much everyone, and I saythat because that's really just
fasting from 8 PM to 8 AM.
(23:31):
Like that is very realistic.
So even as a you know, a verybeginner with intermittent
fasting, if you could close thekitchen at you know 7 PM and
then make sure, or 7 or 8 PM ispretty realistic for some people
and then have your breakfast at8 am.
That's 12 hours where your bodyis resting, your digestion is
(23:51):
resting.
This isn't just about caloriereduction.
This is allowing your body totake all the energy that it
would otherwise spend ondigestion and putting it towards
healing and burning fat andremoving stuff in the body that
it doesn't need, so letting yourother processes in your body
work, which also has benefits tofat burning.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Interesting.
I heard somewhere that when youactually stop eating several
hours before bedtime, that itactually affects how I think
it's something to do with bodytemperature and how you can get
into your REM sleep a littledeeper, because maybe it's
because you're not digesting, Idon't know.
Could you explain that?
Speaker 2 (24:31):
You're absolutely right.
So I always tell clients threehours before lights go out
should be when the kitchen isclosed, so that allows your body
to really digest everythingbefore you sleep and that's
going to allow you to havedeeper sleep.
So you're going to hit thatdeeper sleep, higher heart rate
variability, which helps withrecovery, and more REM sleep as
(24:53):
well.
And it's exactly right, becauseyour blood sugar is not all
over the place.
Your food is digested, soyou're spending more time
repairing, resting, gettingthose deep levels of sleep, than
you are in the actual digestionprocess, which requires a
tremendous amount of energy.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
One of the other things you talked about is
having coffee after breakfast,and I'm curious about this one.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
This is probably the hardest, I would say, especially
in America and Australia, wherepeople just love having their
coffee, and I'm not here to tellpeople that they need to remove
coffee.
However, if you are having aweight issue, if you don't look
and feel the way you want to,one of the easiest things you
can do today is moving yourcoffee after breakfast.
(25:33):
So for most of my menopausal orperimenopausal clients, they'll
do a smoothie for breakfast andthen they'll do their coffee
afterwards, and a lot of themfind that you know, some of them
even sign they don't, theydon't need the coffee.
After they get healthy, oncethey get their nutrients up,
once they're sleeping better,they're like I like having the
coffee but I don't need it, andI know that's hard to believe
(25:55):
for most people who like wake upin zombie mode and go straight
for the coffee.
But for most of those women,they're spiking their cortisol
straight off the bat, likethey're shot out of a cannon in
the morning, which is going tobe really difficult when it
comes to burning body fat andalso with the belly fat as well.
So that's a super easy one thatpeople can change straight away
.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
It's interesting I never really thought about that
spike of caffeine reallyaffecting cortisol right before
we even do anything else in ourday.
That's crazy, exactly.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
And people don't know this right Like, this isn't
obvious stuff, it's not stuffwe're taught, and so that's why,
you know, in my six monthprogram it's these women are
learning skills and stuff thatthey just never thought about
and they're like, oh well, itmakes so much sense now, but you
know we don't have a healthclass that teaches us this, so
it's almost like they'reinvesting in outsourcing
learning these kind of skillsalmost like they're investing in
(26:48):
outsourcing learning these kindof skills.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, and I think it is sometimes just those little
small tweaks when we don'trealize, because a lot of us are
even we've talked about this onmultiple episodes as well where
we lean over first thing in themorning and what's the first
thing we do is grab our phone,which also spikes our cortisol,
and so like we're kind ofshooting ourself in the foot all
morning before we even get theday started.
So it's not really helpingRight.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Exactly.
And no one likes to get thatlecture where it's like you
shouldn't look at your phone andyou can't drink coffee, like no
one wants to hear that.
But generally when clients workwith me they're just like take
my money, take my body, justtell me what to do.
And because they know they'regoing to get the result if they
do right, because they see thatthe results are so good that
they're like Chelsea, just tellme what to do.
(27:34):
Like Jesus, take the wheel.
Yeah, I'm willing to do it.
I just I want the result.
Just give me the playbook.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
And I'm like here you go Well, and a lot of times, I
think, when we don't realizethat we're actually harming
ourselves, like it's.
It's not like for me, my phone.
I've been very conscious once Ilearned that, having my phone
the first thing I do.
I'm really careful now not todo that, and I try not to do it
right before bed too.
So they are little small tweaks, but you know those little tiny
(27:57):
things, if they add up, if youadd a few of them over and over
now, you start to get some realresults.
Right, that's right.
Yeah, it's definitely acompounding thing.
So another thing you mentionedthat I thought was fascinating,
which I've heard a few times,but there's one part I didn't.
So walking first thing in themorning and 10 minutes after
meals.
So what is that about and howdoes that affect the way we
(28:18):
metabolize?
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Now this one is really important for
perimenopause because as youstart to produce fewer sex
hormones, you are not as insulinsensitive, and so meaning that
women who like, as we age, wejust don't need quite as many
carbs.
Now this doesn't mean we gocompletely low carb and we cut
out all the carbs that's notwhat this means.
(28:41):
But it just means because weare not producing progesterone
in the same volumes that we werewhen we were younger, we don't
need as many carbs, and so for alot of women, just adding
non-exercise movement to soak upglucose after meals is really
going to help with weight loss.
So I always tell clients, youknow, after those meals, if you
have a home walking pad is ahuge one, especially if it's
(29:04):
cold or if the weather isn'tgood, or just taking a little
walk around the block, movingaround the house doing cleanup
is a really good way to justkind of balance your blood sugar
and make sure that you are notstoring it as fat.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Awesome, I love that.
Talk to us a little bit aboutworking out and I think you talk
about less cardio and morestrength.
So I've heard that a few timestoo, and the link between cardio
and cortisol is huge.
But maybe explain that to mylisteners.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
So for every woman, their workout recommendations
are going to look different,right?
So when someone's in survivalmode, they're super stressed,
they clearly need to let theirbody rest and their adrenals
rest.
We cut out the cardio, we cutout the strength, even, and we
just focus on walking.
So this totally depends onsomeone's symptoms, how they
present with someone.
(29:55):
But the goal that I would loveto recommend for every single
woman eventually, after they'vedone the deeper levels of
healing and done the couplemonths of protocols, is we want
to get to a point where we'redoing two things.
Well, actually three things.
Number one we're buildingmuscle.
Muscle is a metabolic organ, sothe more muscle you have, the
more you can eat and the fasteryou metabolize food right, and
(30:18):
so obviously that's just from aweight loss perspective, but we
also need that for bone densityand longevity, like we need to
build that muscle, and so that'sthrough very heavy strength
training where you're failingreps.
So the biggest mistake I seewith women is just going light
little dumbbells and just doingthem until kingdom come.
But if they can get in and do abody pump class of you know
(30:39):
heavy lifts where they'regetting trained by a personal
trainer on how to lift, um, sothey're building that muscle.
That's key Now, once they'rehealthy, depending on their body
type as well, we can add somecardio, we can add some, you
know, some very brief but quickkind of like sprint intervals
almost is what I recommend forthose women and then also just
(30:59):
focusing on non-exercisemovements.
So just getting in the habit ofjust walking more, being more
active, less sitting, moremoving is what women really see
results with.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Fascinating.
I love that.
All right, and the last one Iwant to talk about is sleep.
Can you give the listeners sometips on how they can actually
just be better with their sleephygiene?
Speaker 2 (31:25):
So I have a full kind of like protocol of what I
recommend in my free ebook,which people can find on
Instagram, and I'm sure it'llprobably be in the show notes as
well.
So you don't need to get out apen and write all this down, but
I always tell women the 3-2-1method is foolproof.
So three hours before you go tobed, kitchen is closed.
(31:45):
Two hours before, no more water, and this is really important
because I get so many clientsover 30 who are like I pee every
single night and it wakes me upand then I can't fall asleep.
So, moving all your fluids twohours before and then one hour
before cutting out blue lightand that's easier said than done
for some people.
(32:07):
But if we do things like bluelight blocking bulbs in our
house after dark and maybe bluelight blocking glasses, or just
switching off any devices rightbefore we're getting into bed
and keeping the phone outside ofthe bedroom, it makes a huge
difference in ability to falland stay asleep.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Oh, that's amazing.
I have had such a good timetalking with you and we could
talk about.
I can tell there's so much more,so we will probably have you
back on the show and we will gointo more detail on some other
topics, because this is it's adeep and complex subject and all
of my listeners could reallybenefit from learning a little
(32:42):
bit more from you.
Could really benefit fromlearning a little bit more from
you.
Chelsea does have a programthat she has available, which we
will put into the show notes.
Tell us a little bit about whatpeople could expect if they
decide to work with you.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
The Healthy Hustle is a six-month group coaching
program for women who are readyfor results.
These are women who are readyfor the protocols, the roadmaps,
to lose.
I mean, the average clientloses anywhere from five to 10
pounds in the first two weeksand that's not from a massive
calorie reduction, that's fromreally working with inflammation
, working with hormones, workingwith very targeted, very
(33:18):
effective nutrition strategiesto really move some of this
weight quickly.
So if you're the type of personwho wants to shift weight fast,
if you want to start feelingbetter, looking better at speed,
this is the place for you.
Obviously, you know, most ofthose results come in the first
two to 10 weeks and then theremainder of the program is
helping you become the personwho can make those results
(33:40):
permanent.
So this isn't you know, it's nota fad diet, it's not a cleanse,
it's not a bootcamp.
It's really for women who wantthat level of result.
They kind of want the cheatcodes, they want the, they want
the hacks and the protocols, andthen they also they want that
lifestyle change to make thispermanent, to live longer.
I mean, I always say women cometo me to lose 15 pounds, but
(34:01):
they often leave with 15 moreyears on their life, just
because this is the foundationof hormone balance and
integrative health.
It's such a game changer andI'm so passionate about it
because number one the physicalresults are amazing and women
are really happy with them.
I have one client named Kate,who is 65.
(34:21):
She is just moving intoretirement and she's lost 30
pounds in three and a halfmonths and she's still going.
And so she was about 200 poundsand now she she's down to 160.
And so she's she's just keepgoing and she's feeling amazing.
She's never been better.
She's crushing it on thepickleball court, she's you know
(34:43):
, her skin looks amazing.
It's starting to tighten up.
Like she's just lookingincredible.
That coupled with a decrease ininflammation and joint pain,
and she's rolling around on thefloor with her grandkids without
worrying about it.
Like her life looks verydifferent than it did just three
months ago.
And the results for her camefast.
Like she lost the first 10pounds actually 12 pounds in the
(35:06):
first two weeks, so thisdoesn't have to take long for
women who are really ready toinvest in a transformation.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
I just wanted to comment on.
I loved earlier in the show youtalked about a glow up and
that's one of the things I do onthis podcast is I'm trying to
inspire people to not want tojust, you know, go through the
motions of midlife, but tothrive, and so I love that
you're not only helping peoplefeel better and look better, but
to actually change everything,even from your mental state of
(35:34):
how to create a lifestyle thatis a pattern you're going to
stick with for life.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
That's exactly right.
You know, this doesn't have tobe something where you have to
suffer and go on a crazy dietLike.
This process is meant to behealing and enjoyable and you're
meant to be able to see resultsquickly.
And so there's for women whowant a different experience and
who are ready for that, it's notas far away as you think.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Oh, that's amazing.
So tell people where we canfind you, give us your socials
and where they can get ahold ofyou if they want to learn more.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
You can find me on Instagram at healthywithchelse.
I give tons of free tips away.
I also have a podcast calledit's Not you, it's your Hormones
, and there's one in particularthat would resonate.
That's really on menopause.
So if you just type in thetitle and then menopause, you'll
be able to find that one.
And I have a free ebook as wellBusy Girl's Guide to Weight
(36:30):
Loss.
That really gives you thosefirst steps to move the scale.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Awesome.
Well, we'll make sure we putthose all in the show notes and
thank you again for being herewith me and all of our listeners
, and we will definitely do thisagain.
Thanks, marnie, I appreciateyou.
What a great conversation.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand if you felt the information
was healing and helpful, I hopeyou'll share this with someone
you love who might be strugglingwith her hormones as well.
(36:59):
The more we share, the morewomen we can help to feel better
.
And if you felt inspired byChelsea's wisdom and you feel
ready to want to dive deeper,I'm going to post a link in the
show notes for you to get accessto Chelsea's six-month Healthy
Hustle coaching program, whereshe will help you to decode
what's going on in your own bodyand get you on the right track
(37:21):
to feeling better, losing weightand looking your best as you
glow up from the inside out.
Thank you for being here todayand if you haven't already
subscribed, I hope you'llsubscribe so that the next time
an episode drops, they'll bequeued up and ready for you.
And if no one has told youtoday, there's not one person on
(37:41):
this planet that is exactlylike you, and the world is a
better place because you're here, so thank you for being here.
I'll be back next week withsome more great midlife
conversation, and I hope you'lljoin me right here on Life is
Delicious.
Hey, beautiful friend , it's Marni.
Today we're talking abouthormones, Specifically
imbalances that can wreak havocon our skin, our sleep, our
well-being, our eating habitsand so much more.
Did you know that four out ofevery five women struggle with
some type of hormone imbalance,but that, although it's quite
(00:21):
common, it's definitely notnormal, and that hormone
imbalance is often a symptom ofsomething more complex going on?
Today we're talking withChelsea McLeod, a certified
integrative health practitionerand the founder of the Healthy
Hustle Method, a holistic healthcoaching program designed to
(00:41):
deliver rapid results by fixingthe root causes of these
imbalances in the body that arevery common in high-performing
women and women in stressfulroles, which is almost all of us
.
Her clients literally dropmultiple dress sizes, sleep
through the night for the firsttime in a long time, clear their
skin, reverse autoimmuneconditions, heal adrenal fatigue
(01:05):
and reverse diagnosedconditions such as PCOS and
endometriosis.
So if you've ever struggledwith or wondered about any of
these concerns, then stickaround, because you're not going
to want to miss this.
Welcome to this episode of Lifeis Delicious.
I'm Marni Martin and I'm soglad you're here.
(01:26):
And if this is your first timehere, welcome to the Life is
Delicious family.
This podcast isn't aboutsurviving midlife.
It's about crafting your nextchapter, life overflowing with
purpose, joy and deliciouspossibilities.
Listen, midlife doesn't have tobe a crisis.
It can be a beautifulinvitation to remember who we
(01:49):
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reinvent our life to reflect whowe are becoming now.
So if you're tired of beingexhausted, living life on
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right place.
Each week, we'll bring youthought-provoking ideas and
(02:10):
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prioritize yourself again.
It's time to take back yourjoie de vivre.
So grab a notebook and pen andpop in those earbuds and let's
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Welcome to the show.
I'm so grateful to have youhere.
So good to be here.
Thank you for having me, marnie.
(04:20):
Part of the reason I wanted tohave you on the show is because
you work with a lot of peoplethat are in my age group
Probably most of my listenersare somewhere between 45 and 65.
And I know you work with a lotof issues in regarding hormones
and menopause, and I also knowyou have a story as to how you
kind of got into this work tobegin with.
So let's maybe start with thatTell our listeners a little bit
(04:43):
about you and how you came tothis particular work.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So I never sought out to be a hormone practitioner.
In fact, I came up through theranks of corporate, so I'm a
corporate dropout.
For you know, 10 years I washeading up e-commerce teams at
publicly traded companies andmanaging big teams, spending a
lot of time on the road, and Ihad been struggling with
hormonal imbalance since I was ateenager.
I just didn't really realize it.
(05:07):
I thought all of these symptomsof issues with energy
exhaustion, skin issues, gutissues I thought they were just
kind of part of being a woman.
Having irregular periods,painful periods, missing periods
, I just thought that was justkind of part and parcel of being
a woman, right, and what Ilearned later as I began to heal
was that these were very commonbut they weren't normal.
(05:30):
And it's just that I wassurrounded by so many other high
performers and high functioningwomen that we all had the same
issues, and so we thought it wasnormal.
But it really wasn't.
And so for me it really took tothe point where I went to go
see a holistic skin practitionerwho you know I was going for my
skin but I left with a holisticplan to balance my hormones
that actually resulted in melosing weight, fixing my decades
(05:53):
long of insomnia and reallyfixing a lot of those root cause
issues that I didn't know Icould solve in the first place.
So sometimes it you know, for alot of my clients it takes
going in for something veryspecific and getting a result
that's not even related to whatyou originally thought, what you
were going in for, isn't thatsomething?
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And I find it so interesting, even with my
friends, that so often, becausewe're all dealing with sort of
this myriad of differentsymptoms, but kind of all the
same that you do, you feel like,oh, that's just part of going
through it, right, that's justwhat happens, right.
So we stop really looking forsolutions and I think we get to
a point sometimes where it'slike, okay, you know what?
This doesn't feel normal and Iwant my life back, exactly yeah.
(06:33):
So how did you go about fixingyour particular situation and
how did you kind of end upworking with other women?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
While I was still in my corporate job, I worked with
this skin practitioner who Ialways say she kind of Trojan
horsed her way into my life asfar as wellness, because, you
know, I thought I was doing allthe right things right, I
thought I was eating well, Ithought I was doing the
exercises right, I thought I wastaking the right supplements.
And it just turns out that,even though I was, you know, I
worked at Reebok headquarters,which is known it's a fitness
(07:04):
hub.
Everyone's super healthy, we'reeating salads for lunch.
I thought I had it figured out,but the reality is I didn't.
And once I started working withthis practitioner, she kind of
changed the way I thought aboutfood.
She helped me understand how tobalance my blood sugar, she got
me on the right supplements andI just saw results so quickly
that people were asking me whatI was doing.
(07:26):
They were like why does yourskin look so good?
You look so rested.
Your mood has changed, yourbody shape has changed.
You know, I was pulling outbelts that I hadn't worn in
years.
All the clothes that kind ofwent away during COVID were
coming out of.
I didn't think I'd ever fit inthem again and I was lower than
you know my college weight, andit didn't make any sense, and so
that's kind of where I started.
And once the results started tocome through, people asked me
(07:49):
how I did it and I startedhelping them.
And then I helped my mom whohad just gone through menopause
and she was carrying some extraweight around the belly.
I call it the inner tube bellyyou know she had these long
skinny arms and this belly and Ibasically had her do what I did
(08:11):
and she lost 15 pounds in threeweeks and just crazy.
And so and she started fixing.
You know we both beeninsomniacs as long as we can
remember, but you know shestarted sleeping better and
feeling better and you know herperformance at work improved.
And so after that happened,word got out to her friends,
word got out to her friends andword got out to my friends and I
started working with a lot ofcolleagues, a lot of my high
school and college friends.
(08:31):
I played college field hockeyand some of my teammates were
coming around and they would seelittle messages that I would
post on social media ofdifferent results that some of
my clients were getting.
And before I knew it, I hadthis massive client base and I
was still working full time,like I was working 60 hours a
week in my corporate job inbetween Australia, the US and
Asia in a given month.
(08:52):
And it just got to the pointwhere I had too many clients
where I was like I think I needto.
If I'm going to really givethis a shot and really scale
this and help women heal, then Ineed to leave my job and really
give this a good shot.
So last July I left mycorporate job, which was really
scary, because you spend yourwhole life training for
something and working towardssomething, and to walk away from
an extremely lucrative careerwas really scary.
(09:14):
But I just knew that this wassomething special because it was
helping so many women.
So I've given it a shot and Ihave not looked back and I have
absolutely no regrets, because Ialways find that around the
next corner is a woman who needsmy help and I have the answers
for her, and these women are nothard to come by because this is
such a prevalent issue, and sofor me there's really an endless
(09:38):
opportunity here to help womenheal women heal.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
That's amazing and you know what.
It is really necessary.
And you're right, there's somany of us that are struggling
and the more I talk with mylisteners and the more I bring
these topics up, I realize howmany more people come out of the
woodwork and go me too, andit's crazy.
So what do you think is sort ofthe most common cause of
hormone imbalance?
Is that the main thing thatpeople struggle with as they
enter into menopause?
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Yeah, and it's interesting because the root
cause of hormone imbalance isdifferent for everyone, right?
So hormone imbalance is kind ofthe symptom, but there's always
a deeper reason for it in thefirst place.
And what I typically tell womenis we have to audit this from
an entire full life, holisticperspective, because what
happens is when you go to adoctor, they're looking to
(10:28):
diagnose disease and there's noshade to doctors here, like
they're very good at savinglives and treating disease, but
what I do is I'm not looking fordisease.
Like a lot of the times,menopause is not a disease.
You know what I mean Like it'san imbalance that explains or I
shouldn't say menopause.
But menopausal symptoms arejust a sign that there's
something in your life that'sout of alignment and your body
(10:49):
has too much of one thing andnot enough of another thing.
And we have to go look at allthese different pillars to say,
okay, how do you?
How do you rank in this one?
How do you rank in this one?
Like, where is this imbalancecoming from?
And sometimes it's emotional,sometimes it's a gut issue,
sometimes it's this person'snervous system has been on edge
for 30 years and we need tobring that back into balance.
(11:11):
And other times it's.
You know they think they'reeating the right things but
they're not, or their mineralsare low, or chronic stress, like
there's just so many differentcauses of hormonal imbalance.
So we have to go like I have toget my magnifying glass out and
just ask an abusive amount ofquestions to these women to
figure out where is this comingfrom and why.
Because that's the questionthat doctors won't ask is well,
(11:34):
why are you getting the hotflashes?
Why is the weight not shedding?
Like this is not just inherentto getting older.
Like obviously there is ahormonal shift that we work with
and that we plan for.
But the transition to menopauseis not meant to be
uncomfortable and to have crazysymptoms.
It's meant to just be this timewhere you start losing your
(11:54):
cycle and more time lapses inbetween cycles and the symptoms
are really a sign that there'ssomething going on and we have
to figure out what that is.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
That's interesting, yeah, for you.
What do you find that yourecommend for people that are
going through different sort ofhot flashes and things like that
?
Like, do you have a specificprotocol?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
What I always say is women come to me and they're
like I'm perimenopausal, what'sthe protocol?
And I'm like well, there is noperimenopausal protocol.
There's a protocol specificallyfor you, based on exactly
what's going on in your life,exactly what your symptoms are
and exactly what we think theproblem is.
So for everyone, the root causeis going to be different.
So, generally, if someone doescome to me with hot flashes,
(12:35):
it's a sign that their estrogenis either dropping or it's
erratic, or it's missing.
So we have to say, okay, let'srun your functional medicine lab
tests, see what's going on here, see what might be causing it,
look at your estrogen levels,look at your estrogen to
progesterone ratio and, based onthat, you're going to get a
customized list of hey, here'sthe food recommendations, here's
(12:56):
the food timing.
Here are some supplements thatare going to help get those
hormones back into balance.
And here's what I wouldrecommend for exercise, based on
where your your hormones aredoing, and it's not just
exercise and food.
There's all sorts of otherstuff, like nurturing your
nervous system, making sure thatyou're getting enough rest.
Um, if they're not sleepingthrough the night because of the
(13:17):
hot flashes, there aresupplements that we can use to
to really improve the sleepquality and get estrogen up a
little bit higher without doingHRT.
Obviously, I'm not a doctor, soI don't work with HRT but
there's so many naturaltherapies that we can use to
help make sure that your body'sproducing estrogen in the
amounts that you should be foryour age, Awesome, I know.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I just went through about two and a half years of
transitioning my parents notwell and into assisted living
and, of course, taking overtheir finances and then moving
them from the family home and Ididn't realize how much my body
had gone into fight or flight, Ishould say until I came home
after that whole session and myshoulders were aching and my
(14:01):
joints were aching and my gutwas in really weird shape and I
was eating salad but I wasbloated all the time and there
were just so many things.
So what do you advise forpeople who are kind of going
through those really hard,stressful times and maybe you
aren't in a situation where youcan step away from it yet but
what can you do to transitionyourself, to keep yourself as
(14:24):
balanced as possible when you'regoing through those things?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
First of all, that's incredibly hard and I'm sorry
you had to go through that.
It's actually really common.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
It is, yeah, we all get a turn for sure.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
We all do, and sometimes it looks like
transitioning parents, and othertimes it's having a baby and
work stress and whatever it isfor you it's, we have to figure
out how to help you navigatethat transition as best you can.
And so for a lot of women wegrew up in this very toxic diet
culture where it's like you knowit's all or nothing and it's
(14:57):
either I'm eating kale or I'mhaving donuts and it's like
that's so true.
What I work with women on islike let's get out of that
bilateral thinking where it'seither one or the other and we
have to look at it at a spectrum.
So typically when clients cometo me, weight loss is almost
always an element.
No one's buying a high tickethealth coaching program just for
fun, because you know they'rehaving trouble sleeping, like
(15:20):
there's typically a biggerreason.
And so when they come in, wehave to figure out, number one,
what's what's their goal?
Like what's the goal weightthat they're trying to get to?
But number two, what is theirlife actually look like right
now?
Because for someone like you,who's going through something
really difficult, your protocolis not going to look the same as
someone who's maybe just youknow they're, they've healed
(15:42):
from a divorce.
They're ready for their glow up.
They have a lot of time ontheir hands.
Maybe they've just retired.
You know, I have one clientwho's 65.
She just retired.
She's got a lot of time on herhands because the kids are gone
and she's like this is my year.
It's like she's glowing up,she's got the time.
So she, you know her protocolis more robust than someone
who's like I'm just trying toget by but I want to make some
(16:04):
layer of progress.
And for that person it's likelet's set some non-negotiables
Like can you get up and get somelight on your face?
Can you follow the nutritionplan to like maybe 70% of what
you usually would and just doyour absolute best?
Can you do these emotionalprotocols to make sure that
you're really feeling yourfeelings and allowing yourself
(16:25):
to get clear on what your needsare during this time, because
you're going to need a littlebit more supplementation, you're
going to need a little bit morenutritional support.
You're going to need a littlebit more rest when things are
really stressful.
So maybe we scale back theexercise but make sure that
you're getting at least two outof the three meals a day are
really high vibe.
I call them high vibe, like.
This isn't about caloriereduction, this is about adding
(16:47):
nutrition, so making sure thatthat woman is getting you know.
For someone like you, it's likecan we follow the list of high
vibe foods to 70% and then onemeal?
You're just not going to worryabout it, you're just going to
do do the best you can,especially if you're on the road
, if you're um traveling to yourparents' house, whatever that
is like.
You're just going to make thebest possible choice, because
(17:08):
during each phase of life, wehave to make the plan make sense
.
So for someone who's goingthrough high stress, it's not
going to be this has to beperfect and we need to shed all
this weight.
It's like we just need to meetourselves where we're at, be as
consistent as we possibly can beand make the best possible
(17:29):
choice in every scenario.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, and I love that , because I think so often we do
feel like it's all or nothing,and I think sometimes we need to
be kind to ourselves,especially when we're going
through those stressful moments,because we can't always put
ourselves first.
We can't always put ourselvesfirst, and that can happen
whether it's somebody's dealingwith an illness or, like you say
, you're going through a divorce, or you're dealing with
caregiving for, whether it'schildren or elderly parents, and
(17:54):
sometimes you have to take abit of a back seat.
But that doesn't mean you putyourself, you know, under the
pile of everybody.
You have to find the balance ofall of it.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I'm so glad you said that, because it's just
brilliant.
One of the things that we haveto remember is that when we are
healthy and when we take care ofourselves, everyone else
benefits, and one of theconsistent themes that I see
with women who are experiencingperimenopause symptoms is
they're not putting themselvesfirst.
They're putting everyone aheadof themselves self first.
(18:28):
They're putting everyone aheadof themselves, including their
health, and they suffer as aresult.
And helping a woman get to thebottom of what that's really
about for them.
Oftentimes it's feelings ofinadequacy or unworthiness where
they're just putting everyone'sneeds ahead of their own, and
that's where I see things likeestrogen imbalances or thyroid
issues.
I'm seeing this physicalmanifestation of these emotional
issues in their physical body,and once they give themselves
(18:52):
permission to rest, givethemselves permission to
prioritize their health, thingsstart to change so fast.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yeah, and it's kind of.
I always tell you know, with mylisteners we talk a lot about
balance and creating healthyboundaries and I always go back
to that metaphor of putting yourown oxygen mask on first,
because you can't really helpanybody if you're completely
depleted.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
That's right, like pouring from the overflow, not
the bottom of the teacup, rightExactly.
And people sense that in yourenergy as well, like when you're
giving from a place ofdepletion.
People know like, people cansense that, and it comes across
in your behavior, it comesacross in your energy.
And so for women who areworking and they have, you know
(19:36):
they have a side hustle and apodcast and a full-time job and
a kid and it's like when they'renot replenished, their kid is
very aware of that.
It's just permission to heal,permission to rest, permission
to nourish is one of the biggesthurdles that some women
sometimes have to overtake.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Yeah, because nourishment is so much more than
just food.
It's sleep and well-being andself-talk and all of those
things, and not over peoplepleasing and all of those things
.
So I know I did look at yourwebsite and you have some really
great tips on there about howto just like some of the myths
(20:18):
that we go through, like eatingsmall, frequent meals all the
time, and how that's notsomething that you know we
necessarily need to do if we'retrying to balance things out.
So what would you recommendinstead?
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Sometimes this depends on the body type, right,
and it depends on where peopleare trying to go.
But in general, one of thebiggest mistakes I see women
make, especially women who are,you know, 40, 45, 50 plus, is
frequent snacking.
And I think this is kind ofdrilled into us since the 90s
where it's like let's have aspecial K-bar every two hours
(20:53):
and that's how you get skinny.
And the reality is, when we caneat high quality whole foods
three, max, four times a day atregularly scheduled intervals,
so our body knows when the foodis coming, it makes such a
difference and there's a coupleof reasons for that.
Obviously, um allows us torelease more weight, more
inflammation.
Um, these are not hyperpalatable foods, so they're much
harder to overeat.
(21:14):
But also when we're eating them.
You know, if we're havingbreakfast, lunch and dinner with
a small snack and we're pullingforward dinner and making sure
that dinner is our lightest mealof the day and we're getting a
majority of our nutrients duringthe day, Like that, lunch
should really be the biggestmeal, right, that's where the
weight starts to come off,because most women will they'll
under eat at breakfast or skipbreakfast.
(21:35):
Do a coffee, have maybe a saladfor lunch without proper protein
, without proper healthy fats,and then they're completely
strung out by dinner.
They're eating like a rat overa kitchen sink at 9 pm and
opening all their cupboards andcompletely unraveling any
progress they've made.
And so what we have to do is wekind of have to flip it.
(21:55):
We got to get that highnourishment for breakfast,
making sure we're having protein, fat and carb at every single
meal to balance our blood sugar.
Having a nice big lunch withplenty of protein and then
usually a snack in the afternoonis totally fine, and then just
a nice light dinner.
That's one of the best thingsthat perimenopausal women can do
for getting results.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Yeah, I think the balancing of the blood sugar is
such an important piece and Iknow you also talked a little
bit about fasting and is it the12-hour fast I think you said is
that?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I think you said it's not intermittent fasting per se
, but speak to us a little bitabout that Intermittent fasting
is really an interesting andquite nuanced topic because it
is highly effective and Irecommend it to women with
caveats.
Number one we have to plan itbased on what's going on in your
body.
If someone has a known hormonalimbalance or a known insulin
(22:49):
issue, their fasting plan isgoing to look a lot different
than someone who's quitebalanced right.
And so for the average woman inAmerica who comes to me she
typically has high fastinginsulin, she has high hemoglobin
A1C because she's reallystressed, she's probably eating
too much processed food, she'snot sleeping great and so her
body's kind of in fight orflight all the time that's going
(23:09):
to be a very different plan.
Like I would not recommendintermittent fasting straight
off the bat for a woman likethat, but as she starts to heal
it's a tool that we can use formore fat burning.
That said, in general a 12 hourfast is always a good idea for
pretty much everyone, and I saythat because that's really just
fasting from 8 PM to 8 AM.
(23:31):
Like that is very realistic.
So even as a you know, a verybeginner with intermittent
fasting, if you could close thekitchen at you know 7 PM and
then make sure, or 7 or 8 PM ispretty realistic for some people
and then have your breakfast at8 am.
That's 12 hours where your bodyis resting, your digestion is
(23:51):
resting.
This isn't just about caloriereduction.
This is allowing your body totake all the energy that it
would otherwise spend ondigestion and putting it towards
healing and burning fat andremoving stuff in the body that
it doesn't need, so letting yourother processes in your body
work, which also has benefits tofat burning.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Interesting.
I heard somewhere that when youactually stop eating several
hours before bedtime, that itactually affects how I think
it's something to do with bodytemperature and how you can get
into your REM sleep a littledeeper, because maybe it's
because you're not digesting, Idon't know.
Could you explain that?
Speaker 2 (24:31):
You're absolutely right.
So I always tell clients threehours before lights go out
should be when the kitchen isclosed, so that allows your body
to really digest everythingbefore you sleep and that's
going to allow you to havedeeper sleep.
So you're going to hit thatdeeper sleep, higher heart rate
variability, which helps withrecovery, and more REM sleep as
(24:53):
well.
And it's exactly right, becauseyour blood sugar is not all
over the place.
Your food is digested, soyou're spending more time
repairing, resting, gettingthose deep levels of sleep, than
you are in the actual digestionprocess, which requires a
tremendous amount of energy.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
One of the other things you talked about is
having coffee after breakfast,and I'm curious about this one.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
This is probably the hardest, I would say, especially
in America and Australia, wherepeople just love having their
coffee, and I'm not here to tellpeople that they need to remove
coffee.
However, if you are having aweight issue, if you don't look
and feel the way you want to,one of the easiest things you
can do today is moving yourcoffee after breakfast.
(25:33):
So for most of my menopausal orperimenopausal clients, they'll
do a smoothie for breakfast andthen they'll do their coffee
afterwards, and a lot of themfind that you know, some of them
even sign they don't, theydon't need the coffee.
After they get healthy, oncethey get their nutrients up,
once they're sleeping better,they're like I like having the
coffee but I don't need it, andI know that's hard to believe
(25:55):
for most people who like wake upin zombie mode and go straight
for the coffee.
But for most of those women,they're spiking their cortisol
straight off the bat, likethey're shot out of a cannon in
the morning, which is going tobe really difficult when it
comes to burning body fat andalso with the belly fat as well.
So that's a super easy one thatpeople can change straight away
.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
It's interesting I never really thought about that
spike of caffeine reallyaffecting cortisol right before
we even do anything else in ourday.
That's crazy, exactly.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
And people don't know this right Like, this isn't
obvious stuff, it's not stuffwe're taught, and so that's why,
you know, in my six monthprogram it's these women are
learning skills and stuff thatthey just never thought about
and they're like, oh well, itmakes so much sense now, but you
know we don't have a healthclass that teaches us this, so
it's almost like they'reinvesting in outsourcing
learning these kind of skillsalmost like they're investing in
(26:48):
outsourcing learning these kindof skills.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, and I think it is sometimes just those little
small tweaks when we don'trealize, because a lot of us are
even we've talked about this onmultiple episodes as well where
we lean over first thing in themorning and what's the first
thing we do is grab our phone,which also spikes our cortisol,
and so like we're kind ofshooting ourself in the foot all
morning before we even get theday started.
So it's not really helpingRight.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Exactly.
And no one likes to get thatlecture where it's like you
shouldn't look at your phone andyou can't drink coffee, like no
one wants to hear that.
But generally when clients workwith me they're just like take
my money, take my body, justtell me what to do.
And because they know they'regoing to get the result if they
do right, because they see thatthe results are so good that
they're like Chelsea, just tellme what to do.
(27:34):
Like Jesus, take the wheel.
Yeah, I'm willing to do it.
I just I want the result.
Just give me the playbook.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
And I'm like here you go Well, and a lot of times, I
think, when we don't realizethat we're actually harming
ourselves, like it's.
It's not like for me, my phone.
I've been very conscious once Ilearned that, having my phone
the first thing I do.
I'm really careful now not todo that, and I try not to do it
right before bed too.
So they are little small tweaks, but you know those little tiny
(27:57):
things, if they add up, if youadd a few of them over and over
now, you start to get some realresults.
Right, that's right.
Yeah, it's definitely acompounding thing.
So another thing you mentionedthat I thought was fascinating,
which I've heard a few times,but there's one part I didn't.
So walking first thing in themorning and 10 minutes after
meals.
So what is that about and howdoes that affect the way we
(28:18):
metabolize?
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Now this one is really important for
perimenopause because as youstart to produce fewer sex
hormones, you are not as insulinsensitive, and so meaning that
women who like, as we age, wejust don't need quite as many
carbs.
Now this doesn't mean we gocompletely low carb and we cut
out all the carbs that's notwhat this means.
(28:41):
But it just means because weare not producing progesterone
in the same volumes that we werewhen we were younger, we don't
need as many carbs, and so for alot of women, just adding
non-exercise movement to soak upglucose after meals is really
going to help with weight loss.
So I always tell clients, youknow, after those meals, if you
have a home walking pad is ahuge one, especially if it's
(29:04):
cold or if the weather isn'tgood, or just taking a little
walk around the block, movingaround the house doing cleanup
is a really good way to justkind of balance your blood sugar
and make sure that you are notstoring it as fat.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Awesome, I love that.
Talk to us a little bit aboutworking out and I think you talk
about less cardio and morestrength.
So I've heard that a few timestoo, and the link between cardio
and cortisol is huge.
But maybe explain that to mylisteners.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
So for every woman, their workout recommendations
are going to look different,right?
So when someone's in survivalmode, they're super stressed,
they clearly need to let theirbody rest and their adrenals
rest.
We cut out the cardio, we cutout the strength, even, and we
just focus on walking.
So this totally depends onsomeone's symptoms, how they
present with someone.
(29:55):
But the goal that I would loveto recommend for every single
woman eventually, after they'vedone the deeper levels of
healing and done the couplemonths of protocols, is we want
to get to a point where we'redoing two things.
Well, actually three things.
Number one we're buildingmuscle.
Muscle is a metabolic organ, sothe more muscle you have, the
more you can eat and the fasteryou metabolize food right, and
(30:18):
so obviously that's just from aweight loss perspective, but we
also need that for bone densityand longevity, like we need to
build that muscle, and so that'sthrough very heavy strength
training where you're failingreps.
So the biggest mistake I seewith women is just going light
little dumbbells and just doingthem until kingdom come.
But if they can get in and do abody pump class of you know
(30:39):
heavy lifts where they'regetting trained by a personal
trainer on how to lift, um, sothey're building that muscle.
That's key Now, once they'rehealthy, depending on their body
type as well, we can add somecardio, we can add some, you
know, some very brief but quickkind of like sprint intervals
almost is what I recommend forthose women and then also just
(30:59):
focusing on non-exercisemovements.
So just getting in the habit ofjust walking more, being more
active, less sitting, moremoving is what women really see
results with.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Fascinating.
I love that.
All right, and the last one Iwant to talk about is sleep.
Can you give the listeners sometips on how they can actually
just be better with their sleephygiene?
Speaker 2 (31:25):
So I have a full kind of like protocol of what I
recommend in my free ebook,which people can find on
Instagram, and I'm sure it'llprobably be in the show notes as
well.
So you don't need to get out apen and write all this down, but
I always tell women the 3-2-1method is foolproof.
So three hours before you go tobed, kitchen is closed.
(31:45):
Two hours before, no more water, and this is really important
because I get so many clientsover 30 who are like I pee every
single night and it wakes me upand then I can't fall asleep.
So, moving all your fluids twohours before and then one hour
before cutting out blue lightand that's easier said than done
for some people.
(32:07):
But if we do things like bluelight blocking bulbs in our
house after dark and maybe bluelight blocking glasses, or just
switching off any devices rightbefore we're getting into bed
and keeping the phone outside ofthe bedroom, it makes a huge
difference in ability to falland stay asleep.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Oh, that's amazing.
I have had such a good timetalking with you and we could
talk about.
I can tell there's so much more,so we will probably have you
back on the show and we will gointo more detail on some other
topics, because this is it's adeep and complex subject and all
of my listeners could reallybenefit from learning a little
(32:42):
bit more from you.
Could really benefit fromlearning a little bit more from
you.
Chelsea does have a programthat she has available, which we
will put into the show notes.
Tell us a little bit about whatpeople could expect if they
decide to work with you.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
The Healthy Hustle is a six-month group coaching
program for women who are readyfor results.
These are women who are readyfor the protocols, the roadmaps,
to lose.
I mean, the average clientloses anywhere from five to 10
pounds in the first two weeksand that's not from a massive
calorie reduction, that's fromreally working with inflammation
, working with hormones, workingwith very targeted, very
(33:18):
effective nutrition strategiesto really move some of this
weight quickly.
So if you're the type of personwho wants to shift weight fast,
if you want to start feelingbetter, looking better at speed,
this is the place for you.
Obviously, you know, most ofthose results come in the first
two to 10 weeks and then theremainder of the program is
helping you become the personwho can make those results
(33:40):
permanent.
So this isn't you know, it's nota fad diet, it's not a cleanse,
it's not a bootcamp.
It's really for women who wantthat level of result.
They kind of want the cheatcodes, they want the, they want
the hacks and the protocols, andthen they also they want that
lifestyle change to make thispermanent, to live longer.
I mean, I always say women cometo me to lose 15 pounds, but
(34:01):
they often leave with 15 moreyears on their life, just
because this is the foundationof hormone balance and
integrative health.
It's such a game changer andI'm so passionate about it
because number one the physicalresults are amazing and women
are really happy with them.
I have one client named Kate,who is 65.
(34:21):
She is just moving intoretirement and she's lost 30
pounds in three and a halfmonths and she's still going.
And so she was about 200 poundsand now she she's down to 160.
And so she's she's just keepgoing and she's feeling amazing.
She's never been better.
She's crushing it on thepickleball court, she's you know
(34:43):
, her skin looks amazing.
It's starting to tighten up.
Like she's just lookingincredible.
That coupled with a decrease ininflammation and joint pain,
and she's rolling around on thefloor with her grandkids without
worrying about it.
Like her life looks verydifferent than it did just three
months ago.
And the results for her camefast.
Like she lost the first 10pounds actually 12 pounds in the
(35:06):
first two weeks, so thisdoesn't have to take long for
women who are really ready toinvest in a transformation.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
I just wanted to comment on.
I loved earlier in the show youtalked about a glow up and
that's one of the things I do onthis podcast is I'm trying to
inspire people to not want tojust, you know, go through the
motions of midlife, but tothrive, and so I love that
you're not only helping peoplefeel better and look better, but
to actually change everything,even from your mental state of
(35:34):
how to create a lifestyle thatis a pattern you're going to
stick with for life.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
That's exactly right.
You know, this doesn't have tobe something where you have to
suffer and go on a crazy dietLike.
This process is meant to behealing and enjoyable and you're
meant to be able to see resultsquickly.
And so there's for women whowant a different experience and
who are ready for that, it's notas far away as you think.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Oh, that's amazing.
So tell people where we canfind you, give us your socials
and where they can get ahold ofyou if they want to learn more.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
You can find me on Instagram at healthywithchelse.
I give tons of free tips away.
I also have a podcast calledit's Not you, it's your Hormones
, and there's one in particularthat would resonate.
That's really on menopause.
So if you just type in thetitle and then menopause, you'll
be able to find that one.
And I have a free ebook as wellBusy Girl's Guide to Weight
(36:30):
Loss.
That really gives you thosefirst steps to move the scale.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Awesome.
Well, we'll make sure we putthose all in the show notes and
thank you again for being herewith me and all of our listeners
, and we will definitely do thisagain.
Thanks, marnie, I appreciateyou.
What a great conversation.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand if you felt the information
was healing and helpful, I hopeyou'll share this with someone
you love who might be strugglingwith her hormones as well.
(36:59):
The more we share, the morewomen we can help to feel better
.
And if you felt inspired byChelsea's wisdom and you feel
ready to want to dive deeper,I'm going to post a link in the
show notes for you to get accessto Chelsea's six-month Healthy
Hustle coaching program, whereshe will help you to decode
what's going on in your own bodyand get you on the right track
(37:21):
to feeling better, losing weightand looking your best as you
glow up from the inside out.
Thank you for being here todayand if you haven't already
subscribed, I hope you'llsubscribe so that the next time
an episode drops, they'll bequeued up and ready for you.
And if no one has told youtoday, there's not one person on
(37:41):
this planet that is exactlylike you, and the world is a
better place because you're here, so thank you for being here.
I'll be back next week withsome more great midlife
conversation, and I hope you'lljoin me right here on Life is
Delicious.
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