Stronger Not Smaller

Come and listen to our Host, Tina Spoletini, as she chats with today's guest, Sharleen Cheung, for our “End of Year, Beginning of Me” Podcast Series.
A powerfully themed mini-series helping women close the year with clarity and step into the next one with grounded self-love and vision.

Sharleen Cheung is a Certified Macro Nutrition Coach specializing in perimenopause health and sustainable fat loss. She’s the coach women over 35 turn to when they’re done with diet culture and done being told to just “try harder” during perimenopause. After leaving the corporate grind, she set out to call out the nonsense, bring the science, and help women build real strength and real results without the toxic shortcuts. Her work blends personalized nutrition, strength training, and deep-dive functional testing to uncover the root of stubborn symptoms no one else seems to take seriously. Backed by a powerhouse team of functional practitioners, she’s on a mission to make sure women stop settling for confusion and finally get answers that change everything.

We share why perimenopause isn’t a sentence to “push through” and how eating enough, building muscle, and using functional testing can calm symptoms and restore energy. Sharleen Cheung brings a no-nonsense plan to ditch diet culture and create sustainable fat loss without burnout.

• letting go of perfection and the “shoulds”
• defining the next version of you with vision work
• biggest myths about perimenopause and what actually helps
• under eating, cortisol, and why cardio stops working
• strength training as the midlife multiplier
• functional testing for metabolic, GI, and hormones
• personalized protocols and supplement support
• tracking for awareness, not shame
• protein targets, macro guardrails, and balanced meals
• scale as data, not a verdict
• flexible holiday choices without guilt

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Website: http://www.designedbyshar.com/

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
It's Divas The Care Radio.
Stories, strategies, and ideasto inspire positive change.
Welcome to Divas That Care, anetwork of women committed to
making our world a better placefor everyone.
This is a global movement forwomen by women engaged in a
collaborative effort to create abetter world for future
generations.

(00:20):
To find out more about themovement, visit divas that
care.com after the show.
Right now, though, stay tunedfor another jaunt of
inspiration.

SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Welcome to Confidence in Bloom, the podcast
that reminds you that confidenceisn't about becoming someone
new.
It's about coming home toyourself.
I'm your host, Tina Spellettini,and this season we're embracing
the theme End of Year, Beginningof Me.
A time to pause, reflect, andlet go of what no longer serves

(00:52):
you.
Together we'll explore realstories and soulful insights to
help you quiet that itty bittyshitty committee, release the
shoulds that weigh you down, andstep into the new year grounded
in self-love, clarity, andconfidence.
Today's conversation is withCharlene Chiang.
Charlene is a certifiedmacronutrition coach

(01:14):
specializing in perimenopausehealth and sustainable fat loss.
She's the coach women over 35turn to when they're done with
diet culture and done being toldto just try harder during
perimenopause.
After leaving the corporateblind, she set out to call out
the nonsense, bring the science,and help women build real

(01:35):
strength and real resultswithout the toxic shortcuts.
Her work lends personalizednutrition, strength training,
and deep dive functional testingto uncover the root of stubborn
symptoms no one else seems totake seriously.
Backed by a powerhouse team offunctional practitioners, she's
on a mission to make sure womenstop settling for confusion and

(01:58):
finally get answers that changeeverything.
Okay, welcome, Char.
Thank you.
I'm so excited because I knowyou're gonna just give us like
all this juicy, juicyinformation today.
So let's start with.
So um, as 2025 is coming to aclose, what are you the most
proud of for releasing,redefining, or finally saying no

(02:22):
to in your own life or health?

SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
This is a big one.
I love this question because Ifind like I'm a burnt out IT
project manager, turnedmacronutrition coach.
And so this year, I think Ifinally released the idea that I
had to do everything the rightway and to be successful, right?
You were so conditioned to docertain things the right way,
and you know, sometimes it worksand sometimes it doesn't.

(02:46):
And so I've just finally come toterms like, hey, you know what?
I'm new, kind of in newer tothis entrepreneurial ship world,
and I'm learning a lot.
So I stopped trying to fit intothis wellness industry mold and
really just doubled down on whatactually works for women in real
life.
And I also redefined whatbalance looks like for me as a

(03:07):
coach because I'm a mom, I'm anentrepreneur.
So instead of always chasingthat perfection, I built systems
and boundaries that support myenergy so I can show up stronger
for the women I serve.
Because I have that ITbackground, I'm really all about
systems to make my job a loteasier.
So even incorporating AI where Ican and just really setting that

(03:28):
up so that this year was justlike learning a lot of it, and
next year just kind of releasingthat it has to, it doesn't
always have to be perfectbecause I am a bit of a
perfectionist, and that one'shard to release as well.

SPEAKER_02 (03:40):
It is, but also okay, so you there's like a few
things that you say said therethat I loved.
So the first thing is theperfectionism, like it depends,
like we all define perfection asdifferent, right?
Like it's all different to everysingle person.
So what you find perfect may notwork for me, right?
And so you know, redefiningperfectionism is really what

(04:02):
you're saying, right?
Because I mean, yes, I wantthings perfect, but that doesn't
mean it has to be perfect theway it was when I was working in
IT.
Exactly.
Right.
And then I love how you said,you know, working in IT, you're
a systems person.
So this is one thing that Iteach my kids all the time, you
know, or tell my kids, whateveryou do today, you may think,

(04:25):
like you may look at it and go,I'm never gonna do anything with
this again.
But the reality is 20 years downthe road, right, you're starting
to do things that you learnedbecause you learned what you
learned today.
Yes.
Yeah right, like customerservice.
Like there's so many people thatsay, Oh, I'm terrible.
I don't like customer service, Idon't want to work in customer,
but we're doing customer serviceevery single day with ourselves,

(04:48):
with our partners, with ourkids, with our neighbors, like
that.
It's a relationship-building umstrength that we all need to
build, right?
Yes, yeah, yeah, exactly.
I love that.
I and I I love systems, and solike I like to be organized and
you know, know that this isgonna happen because this I'm
gonna do it this way.
And so I love the whole systemsidea.

SPEAKER_01 (05:11):
Like, yeah, and I do have ADHD.
So without certain systems, Ifind it triggers my ADHD.
Like for me, everything has aplace, and if it's not in its
place, then I go a little craycray.

SPEAKER_02 (05:22):
Right, and and it's there's a bit of a domino
effect, don't you find that likeokay, so this now is out of
place, but you always seem tolet everything else around you
go.
Yes, yeah, I see that with mydaughter, right?
She can keep things in order,but as soon as she lets one
thing slide, everything slides.
Yes, right, and then she's achaotic mess.
Yeah, right.

(05:44):
It's so true.
Yeah, it's so true.
Yeah, and I'm sure I mean Idon't know a whole lot about
ADHD.
Like I kind of refuse to admitthat she is ADHD.
I think that it's just her, youknow, her her type, right?
Because I know I can I know thatshe's capable.
She just, you know, like likeeveryone in the world, we're so

(06:05):
relaxed.

SPEAKER_01 (06:06):
Yes, right.

SPEAKER_02 (06:07):
Yeah, it's that self-discipline that I think
that she doesn't have.
So women often carry a lot ofshoulds.
Yeah.
Uh, which ones do you let haveyou let go of personally?
And which ones do you see likeyour clients finally dropping
after they work with you?

SPEAKER_01 (06:26):
Yeah.
So for me personally, you know,getting into this space of
entrepreneurship, like I'm anintrovert, and a lot of people
that meet me, they're like, Idon't see you as an introvert,
but getting on social media andand you have to, you know, as an
entrepreneur, that's how peopleget to know me is through social
media.
That's how they get to trust me.
So I really had to let go of theshoulds that women and even

(06:47):
myself need to stay small orquiet or agreeable when talking
about their bodies, right?
I stopped entertaining the ideathat I should like tone down my
voice or soften the truth tomake it more palatable.
I'm now like, I'm just gonna saylike it is because people need
to hear the truth.
So I'm done with the belief thatyou have to overwork also to

(07:08):
earn success.
Because that's how I kind of gotinto my burnout in IT corporate
project management, is just likethe more hours you work, the
more successful you were, andthe more money you earn.
But I kind of released that aswell.
So this past year really taughtme to kind of trust my
authority, trust the science,and trust women to handle the

(07:29):
truth about their own health aswell.
So the women that I work with,you know, they kind of like my
kind of no nonsense BS sort ofcoaching that I bring to them
because quite often that's themessage that they need to hear,
right?

SPEAKER_02 (07:43):
And we're all tired of the BS, right?
How many times do we go to adoctor and say, you know, this
is my issue?
Oh, it's just part of aging,like get used to it.
No, it's why?
Why does it have to be that way?
Don't bullshit with me, right?
If you don't know, tell me.
I don't know, right?

SPEAKER_01 (08:02):
It's okay.
And and you know, I do haveclients that'll ask me certain
questions, and if I don't know,I'll say, I don't know, but I'm
gonna find out for you, and thenI'll go do the research and come
back with you know the knowledgethat they that they were looking
for.
But yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_02 (08:15):
I love that, and that's what's gonna bring
clients to you, right?
Is that that no BS, you know,but I will find out the truth.
Or is at least maybe not the youknow, you don't know that you
can find out everything theywant to know, right?
But you can at least find outwhy it's happening to them.
Yes, exactly, exactly.
Yep, yep.

(08:36):
Oh, that's awesome.
I love that.
What does stepping into the nextversion of you look like for
women in perimenopause?
And how are you stepping into2026 differently?

SPEAKER_01 (08:48):
So I'll talk about me first.
So I'm stepping and I like thetiming of this podcast because
we're nearing the end of thethis year, right?
So for myself, I'm reallystepping into this new year with
a sharper mission.
For a while, I was like, youknow, who am I helping?
Who am I serving?
But I'm 100% clear on who I'mhelping based on my own journey.
So it's people who havestruggled just like me, and I'm

(09:10):
doing this with a lot lesshesitation.
I'm confident in what I do, andI need to show that with the
world and share that with theworld.
I always say, like, be thelighthouse, not the tugboat,
right?
I love that.
The next version of me is gonnalead with clarity, stronger
boundaries, and a biggerplatform to advocate for women's
health.
For so for long, I was like, oh,should I say this?

(09:32):
And I don't really give a shit.
And I don't know if it's likeyou know, when you hit
perimetopause, you don't givetwo shits anymore.
That's kind of where I'm at.
Because if if sharing my ownstruggles and my journey with
people are gonna bring light tosomebody else's journey who was
struggling, then I know that I'mdoing the right thing.
Absolutely.
I'm looking forward to bringingjust more fire, more simplicity,

(09:53):
and just more solutions forwomen who are tired of feeling
dismissed because that's whatthat's how I was.
So this year, this current year,my word was expansion.
And I did that successfully bygrowing my team.
Um, so I have a team offunctional practitioners, and I
also work with a localprescribing pharmacist here in
Edmonton.
Um, but she can prescribe withinAlberta.

(10:16):
So um that's been amazing.
And I did that successfully umby also building systems and
leveraging AI uh where possibleso that next year I can have a
bigger impact, right?
And making sure women stopsuffering through perimenopause
alone.

SPEAKER_02 (10:34):
I love that.
I love that.
And I can feel in your energyand in your voice that you are
determined and you're gonna getit done.

SPEAKER_01 (10:43):
100%.
100% love that.
I've been doing I've been doinga lot of work in uh human design
more recently.
I don't know if you're familiarwith human human design.

SPEAKER_02 (10:52):
A little bit, a little bit, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (10:53):
So it's how you know our energy or how we should show
up in the world based on ourenergies.
And it is like when I tappedinto it, it was like somebody
was reading like who I am at thecore, and I'm like, I need to
learn more about this.
So it's it's quite interesting.
And that's it.

SPEAKER_02 (11:08):
It's so isn't it?
It's so cool.
I know it's off topic, but it'sso cool how like a piece of
paper seems to know more aboutmyself than I do, right?
I remember the first time myhusband answered a question for
me.
I think we were married just ayou know a year or two, and I
remember thinking, how the helldoes he know me better than I
know myself?

(11:29):
Right.
But it's funny how I mean thehuman design is more, it's more
about your like your blueprintthat from before you were here.
But it's so like it's so um, Idon't know what the word is.
It's kind of it's fascinatinghow you know you were your
purpose was made before youwere, kind of.

SPEAKER_01 (11:49):
Yes, right?
Yeah, yeah.
And it's so like I used to, I Icall it the woo-woo stuff, and I
was so like at a point in mylife, so not really against the
woo-woo, but thought it was likewoo-woo.
But the more I've been on my ownpersonal development journey,
the more in tune I am with thewoo-woo.
And it's just it's just sotransformative.

(12:10):
And so I bring that into mycoaching as well.
And so, you know, we just had ahuman design reader come into
our community yesterday to sharethat with my community because I
just for me, it's had such aprofound effect and I know it
can for others as well.

SPEAKER_02 (12:23):
Right.
I love that.
I love that.
So I don't know that youanswered the question.
What does like, you know, thethe stepping into the next
version of you look like yourfor your clients?

SPEAKER_01 (12:33):
Yeah.
So the very, very first thing Iget them to do with any client
that works with me is to definewho you are and what does that
look like in a year from now.
Not like, oh, I just want tolose or release like 25 pounds
or whatever.
Like that's that's a byproduct.
But when you when you close youreyes and you think of you think
about in a year from now, how doyou want to live?

(12:55):
What kind of energy do you wantto capture in yourself and get
100% clarity on that?
The second one is to have beliefthat you can do it.
So many women don't believe theycan they can do it because of
old conditioning, generationalpatterns, whatever it is.
So it's breaking through thoselimiting beliefs.
So I think the biggest thing forwomen in perimenopause is to

(13:18):
understand you don't have tojust um survive through this
phase that you can actually getsupport so that you can feel
like yourself again.
I was on a journey with with myown perimenopause journey that
started back when I was 39 yearsold.
I'm 47 now, and it started withrecurring yeast infections for
one full year.
It was the worst year ever.

(13:39):
And um that was started the kindof the shift for me.
And then it then it came thecrime scene periods, uh,
depression where I was um, I wastold I was clinically depressed,
they wanted to put me onantidepressants, uh, anxiety out
of nowhere where I was likegoing like batshit crazy, brain
fog was crazy.
So I and this just seemed likeit was building on top of each

(14:02):
other.
And I knew something was wrong.
Like I just knew because thiswasn't my typical self, but yet
anytime I went to the doctor,they'd say everything was
normal.
And it wasn't until I startedworking with my functional
practitioners when we did somesaliva hormone testing that it
was showing I was full-blownperimenopause.
So I think for women in thisphase two is just understanding

(14:22):
themselves, how do they want tofeel, and then working towards
that goal.
It's it doesn't happenovernight.
And I think your health journey,it's it's never ending.
We're gonna always be working onour health no matter what.
Oh, yeah, lifelong journey.

SPEAKER_02 (14:35):
And I think being like, I want to use the word
open-minded, but I think there'smore to it than being
open-minded.
I think being prepared for whatcould come next.
Yes, right.
Like I had a lady, I don'tremember who it was, but she was
57.
So she's three years older thanme.
And she said, once you hit 20 or55, the pains and aches change.

(15:00):
Right.
And I was like, that's onlythree years.
You're we're only three yearsdifferent.
Like I know three years ago thelittle pains and aches that I
have today I didn't have then.
Like I get that.
Yeah, but I and I'm but I'm alsothinking, like, we need to be
prepared for, you know, whenwe're in our 70s, right?
Like, like our parents, and youknow, like they, I mean, the

(15:23):
pains and aches that they have.
I know that there's a lot thatthey could have done at the
time, you know, like when theywere our age to avoid that, but
they didn't.
They didn't know how to or thatthey could, right?
So we we also need to beprepared for that, right?
Because we don't know, we don'tknow that you know what we do
today is gonna help us or hinderus in the future.

SPEAKER_01 (15:44):
And I always like to think of it as like it's
compounding interest.
So the little actions that youtake today are gonna compound
each other further and furtherdown the road.
So my my lifelong vision is Iand it's so everyone's like,
what do you mean?
But I want to die young, but asold as possible.
I mean, I want to feel young,but in my 80s, you know?

(16:04):
So the things that I do todayare gonna set me up for that
long-term vision of myself.

SPEAKER_02 (16:09):
Right now, I I I understand that because I have
said that all my life too.
Like I want to live to be athousand, right?
But I want to feel like I'm 20,right?
So I mean, that's impossible.
I'm 55, I don't feel 20, right?
Like, I mean, sometimes, I mean,there are days where I'm like,
shit, I feel pretty good today,right?
Do I feel 20?
Probably not, but I feel good,right?

(16:30):
And I think that's the gist ofit, right?
Like we want to feel good in ourold age.
But do we want to die feelinggood?
I don't think so.
Right?
Like, I don't think so becausethen we're like, you know, it's
kind of like, you know, when youhear these young people are
dying.
Oh, anybody was so young, right?
But the reality is if you feelyoung, you're not ready to die.

(16:53):
That's true, right?
Right?
Not does that mean I want tofeel old?
Absolutely not, right?
But when I'm ready to go, I wantto feel ready to go.
True, yes, right.
So we can, I guess we can lookat it either way, either way,
yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (17:08):
Yeah, I just want to I want to be able to do the
things in my 80s, and maybe Iwon't be doing box jumps in my
80s, but I still want to feelgood, I guess.
Yes, to be able to still do thethings that I enjoy, like
golfing.

SPEAKER_02 (17:20):
Exactly, yeah, exactly.
Yeah, you still want to be doingall the fun things.
So I was I heard on the radiothat um oh what's Mick Jagger.
He's I think 82 and he stillexercises six days a week and he
does all kinds of exercise,weightlifting, boxing, he does
ballet, like he does alldifferent kinds, right?

(17:42):
Like, but he feels good.
Yeah, to me, that's inspiring.
Yeah, it's really inspiring tome.
Yeah, I'm like, no wonder thatguy can strut his stuff.
He works at it, right?
Like he's not like he's not likeyou know, oh, I'm in my 80s now.
I need to like sit back and makelife easy.
He wants, he wants to be here.

SPEAKER_01 (18:00):
Well, that's the thing.
A lot of women are totally likeduring perimenopause, they're
like, oh, this is just part of anatural aging, just slow down
your life.
No, bullshit.
I'm gonna keep going, right?

SPEAKER_02 (18:09):
Because that's what's gonna kill us, right?
That's what's going to kill usis if we slow down.
I love that.
Yeah, see that, yeah.
I think it's just a matter ofhow we're gonna define our old
age, right?
Yeah, I love that.
So I I know we kind of touchedon this, but tell me what are
the like the biggest lies womenare told about perimenopause?

(18:30):
I know like the whole I did thewhole antidepressant thing,
right?
I they had me on these stupidpills for I think nine years,
and I regret ever even going tothe doctor because of that,
right?
So tell me like like tell mewhat the lies are so that our
listeners know, and then I wantyou to maybe, you know, tell us

(18:51):
a little bit about like what thetruth will like what the truth
really is, what it actually isto help them feel better.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (18:59):
So I think one of the biggest lies, and this comes
from my own truth, it comes froma lot of the women that I work
with, is that this isperimenopause just something
they just have to push through.
And this is even coming fromfemale doctors, right?
So women are constantly toldthat their symptoms are normal,
it's inevitable, something thatthey should just tough out.
And but the truth is our bodiesare changing, but you're not

(19:23):
powerless.
So, what actually works isunderstanding how your hormones
are impacting those changes, andthat's where that my team of
functional practitioners areamazing at linking your symptoms
to your different hormonelevels.
This is a big one eating enoughto support your mentabolism.
95% of the women I work with areunder eating.

(19:43):
They think that they're eatingenough because they keep gaining
the weight.
But here's what actually happensif you're under eating, and then
all of a sudden you're hit withthe hormone changes through
perimenopause, this is what Icall the perfect hormone
hormonal shitstorm.
You're gonna collide.
So If you're under-ating, yoursymptoms of perimenopause are
going to be tenfold.

(20:04):
You're going to feel it so muchmore.
So the foundation for womenshould always start with your
nutrition first.
Look at your nutrition.
How can we support yournutrition so that your
metabolism is optimized?
Another one is lifting weightsto build muscle.
I was doing everything wrong.
I and I was going to spinclasses, I was doing the group

(20:26):
fitness classes, like the HITclasses, everything that was
high cardio.
I had to shift that because aswe age and go through these
changes, our cortisol levels aregoing to naturally rise because
of the lower levels of estrogenand progesterone.
So when you add cardio ontothat, that also increases your
cortisol.
So the way that you work out hasto shift.

(20:48):
So I went from all mycardio-based workouts, which I
actually hate cardio anyways,but I would do it because that's
what I thought I had to do.
And I shifted to liftingweights.
Now you can make significantlike I'm not at the gym six days
a week.
I go three to four times a weekand that's it.
I was going five to six times aweek before with all the cardio.
So shifting how we look atexercise during this phase is

(21:11):
going to also be key.
And getting real data throughfunctional testing so that you
know exactly what your bodyneeds.
So when women finally get theright information instead of
like fear-based messaging,everything's really starts to
shift for you.

SPEAKER_02 (21:28):
Wow.
Well, you just made my day, youknow, knowing that I don't have
to do cardio, like I am sohappy.
Yeah.
Right.
Not that I'm I mean, I'm notgonna say I'm gonna go to the
gym now and I'm gonna, you know,lift weights for two hours, that
I'm not gonna do that.
But at least knowing that Idon't have to do cardio.
I mean, walking, I don't knowthat cardio is considered like

(21:48):
walking is considered cardio.
I think walking is just good forus.

SPEAKER_01 (21:51):
It is good for us.
I mean, it can be a form ofcardio if you're doing uh like
an incline on a treadmill orsomething to get your heart rate
up there.
It is it is good.
I mean, you should still includesome form of cardio, but it
doesn't have to be the the mainfocus, right?
Right.
And it doesn't have to be like ahit class, like you said.
No, yeah, no, no, it could belike uh five, 10 minute jog,

(22:12):
run, just something to get youryour heart rate up there.

SPEAKER_02 (22:15):
Right, right.
Well, I love that.
And that was one of myquestions, right?
Because I and I know thatthere's lots of women, not my
age, but in their 40s, so closerto your age, where they're
they're still doing the, youknow, the the calorie reduction
and they're really like forcingthemselves to go to the gym and
then they're coming home andthey're feeling more like crap

(22:37):
than they were before they gotthere, and still dealing with
life because they still haveteenagers at home and they're
gaining the weight and reallydown on themselves.
So you just sort of like youknow, you you spread that all
out and say, stop doing whatyou're doing.

SPEAKER_01 (22:51):
Yep.
And I have told so many clientsthis because and and it's and
again, this is where I come withthe no BS kind of attitude where
I have clients that arecontinually going to the gym,
gym, gym, gym, gym, and thenthey're neglecting their
nutrition.
I said, Stop going to the gym.
I said, you need to stop this.
I would rather you take thattime that you're spending at the
gym and prioritize it yournutrition and then go to the

(23:14):
gym.
So foundational to everythingthat we do.
Everything.

SPEAKER_02 (23:19):
Yeah.
I mean, the the reality is thenutrition should be, you know,
maybe not top of the list foreverybody, but we should be
focusing more on nutrition,especially today when we have
all this junk food, right?
We should be spending more ofour energy into planning better
meals.
Yep.
Yeah.
So you talk a lot aboutfunctional testing.
I mean, I know that we can havea conversation alone just on

(23:42):
this functional testing, but Iwant to know like the basics for
now.
Um, how does it change like thegain that for us women who are
struggling so much with stubbornsymptoms or you know, the
unexplained fatigue mainly?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (23:57):
So uh when I was working with my medical doctor,
like I was, you know, I hadpretty much every symptom you
could think of withperimetopause.
And we would do testing andeverything would come back
normal.
I'm like, well, this I'm I don'tfeel normal.
Like this something else isgoing on.
And every time I would ask her,is this perimetapause?
she'd look at my chart and belike, no, you're too young.

(24:19):
I don't think it is.
You know, so functional testing.
So there's different types offunctional testing.
What we focus on is yourmetabolic, your GI, so your
gastrointestinal, and thenlastly your hormone.
We always start with metabolicbecause each system feeds into
each other.
So if you're neglecting yourmetabolic and GI and you just
jump right to hormone, you'remissing a big piece of the

(24:40):
puzzle.
So metabolically, we have tomake sure that you're sound so
that any, you know, anythingthat you are doing, we have to
make sure that your body's evencapable of, you know, the work
that you are doing.
Otherwise, you're gonna havesome really expensive pee.
That's what we say, is anysupplements that you're taking,
you're probably just peeingright out.
So functional testing reallytakes the guesswork out of our

(25:01):
midlife health and our stubbornsymptoms.
So women will come to me,they're exhausted, they continue
gaining weight, they haveinflammation, maybe, brain fog
is a big one, and they thinkit's normal or they think it's
just perimenopause.
What testing often reveals isdeeper issues, like maybe
there's some thyroid dysfunctionthat was not ever covered with

(25:23):
your medical doctor, cortisolimbalance, we see this quite
often.
So this causes your exhaustion,right?
Um, gut problems or nutrientdeficiencies.
So once you know the root cause,you stop throwing these random
solutions at the wall.
And that's why in myperimenopause program, um, this
is kind of what we test forinitially, and we and we

(25:45):
personalize everything to thatperson because everyone is
different.
Data gives you that clarity, andguessing kind of keeps you
stuck.

SPEAKER_02 (25:55):
Okay, that's cool.
So when you say that you takethese results and you create
like a personalized program foreach person, what does that look
like?
Are we talking like you're gonnatell me what to eat, what
exercises to do, what I can dofor not necessarily relaxation,
but something that's gonna keepmy mind sort of, you know, not

(26:18):
stressed.

SPEAKER_01 (26:19):
So I come in from a perspective or from the lens
from your nutrition lifestylechoices, could be strength
training.
Um, my functional practitionersare gonna come up with a
supplement protocol to supportyour body.
So these are these are not aforever protocol, it's just to
support your body because yourbody is struggling at some
capacity.
We need to support it to get itback to its homeostasis.

(26:42):
Our body should be able to justrun normally, but our
environments, the toxins thatwe're uh that are around in
products, just in ourenvironment, whatever, all that
has an impact on our bodies.
So understanding where that rootdysfunction is, we can build a
personalized protocol for you.
And it's with the functionalpractitioner, it's it's

(27:02):
supplement-based.

SPEAKER_02 (27:04):
Okay, so I have a question for you that I'm not
sure you have an answer for, butI have heard, and I don't know
if it's true or not, but inJapan, there's no such thing as
perimenopause.
Like, first of all, you don'thave to say it's true or not,
because that I don't, you know,that's not really the important
part.
But if it is true, why whatwhat's the difference between

(27:25):
North America and Japan?

SPEAKER_01 (27:28):
Okay, I don't know about that one, but I'm going, I
something is clicking for methat when I was in my
certification, there was a studyon Japan, and I just can't
remember the details, but I'mgonna write this down because I
wanted I want to know more aboutit.
Um I and I can't for myself, Ican't um say the the the answer
right now.
What's coming to mind though isthey they have a completely

(27:51):
different lifestyle than than wedo.

SPEAKER_02 (27:53):
Well, and I think and that's kind of I think where
I was going, right?
Like we eat a lot of okay, nowwhen I say we, I don't mean you
and me.
I mean general like in oursociety, we eat a lot of junk
food, right?
We are always at the Tim Hortonsdrive-thru.
You cannot go buy a Tim Hortonsand there's not a lineup in the
drive-thru, right?
McDonald's is very similar.

(28:14):
And if we're eating this stuff,now I know it's not always the
same cars, and I'm not gonna saythat we are all doing it every
single day, but we're doing itto some degree, right?
We're bringing home stuff thatwe are not making ourselves.
I mean, that's just the way oursociety is.
But it makes me wonder, youknow, if if in Japan they're not

(28:35):
doing that and we're doing ithere, that's a big indication of
why we are so out of whack.

SPEAKER_01 (28:42):
Yeah, yeah.
I'm gonna do some more researchon that.
I have traveled in Japan,fortunately, like gratefully,
I've I've spent six weeks there,and just going there and eating
their foods and justexperiencing their different
lifestyle, it's completelydifferent than here in North
America.
We have so much convenience,right?
Like so much processed foods,convenience foods, we're

(29:04):
neglecting what our bodiesactually are craving, are whole
foods.

SPEAKER_02 (29:08):
Yeah, right.
Exactly, exactly.
And even even whole foods,they're telling us, are not
really the whole foods that ourbody wants.
Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 (29:17):
So yeah, we're we're looking at but whole foods is a
is a fantastic place to start,especially if you're conditioned
to having a lot of processedfoods and like the convenience
foods of fast foods.
Once you start transitioning,and I don't ever tell my clients
to go here to here, it's it'slike a food evolution journey,
right?
Oh, yeah.
Eat out a lot, I'm gonna I'mgonna tell you you got to stop

(29:39):
eating out forever.
It's like pick one or two mealsthat you want to eat out or
whatever that looks like foryou, and then plan the rest
around whole foods, but payattention to how your body feels
from a 1800-calorie McDonald'smeal versus an 1800-calorie or
like per day.
Like I can eat, I can fill mymacros because I'm uh my uh
certification is based onmacronutrition, which is

(30:00):
protein, carbs, and fats.
I can feel my day by eating fastfood all day, or I can have
home-cooked meals.
And sometimes I'll do this withmyself just to remind myself why
my body craves this.
Like I just feel much better,but it doesn't mean I have to
like demonize these foodsbecause honestly, some days I
don't, I'm maybe not as plannedor prepared.
I'm gonna be going toMcDonald's, or I'm gonna be I

(30:22):
love the junior baconcheeseburgers at Wendy's, you
know.
So there are times and I and Inever demonize it because there
are some some instances whereI'm just not as planned and I'm
have to go through thedrive-thru.

SPEAKER_02 (30:34):
Right.
And and the thing is, let's faceit, some of those foods taste
kind of good.

SPEAKER_01 (30:38):
Yeah, well, they're they're marketed to taste good,
right?

SPEAKER_02 (30:41):
So I mean you need to enjoy that sometimes, you
just can't make it your everydaymenu, right?
Exactly, yeah.
Yeah, so now having gone throughPerigon menopause myself, so I'm
not I don't think that I'mactually in menopause yet or I
haven't reached that, but Ithink I'm pretty close because
like I said, I'm 54.

(31:02):
I'm you know, the time's coming.
Yeah, um, I know myself I feltbroken, and I know broken is a
bad word, but I did.
I felt like I was broken in manydifferent places.
So tell me what's really behindthat feeling, and what is the
the first step for women to likeget back their control?

SPEAKER_01 (31:23):
Yeah, so thanks for sharing that, Tina, because I
felt broken too.
Like I I went through thisjourney for nine months seeing
different, I saw six or sevendifferent specialists, and they
all told me, nope, you'renormal.
I think you just need to be onantidepressant.
And don't get me wrong, SSRIs,which are like a form of
antidepressant, they're I'm nottrying to say that they're bad,

(31:45):
they have their place, but forme, it just didn't feel right.
Like I really go with myintuition and my gut feeling,
and I just knew that that wasn'tright.
So I get you when you say thatyou felt broken and dismissed.
So women, they feel brokenbecause they've been dismissed
for years.
For me, it was a long ninemonths, and by the end of it,
like I they literally made mefeel like I was going batshit

(32:08):
crazy and I had early on send ofAlzheimer's.
Like that's how bad it was.
So we're told that our symptomsare in my head, or they just
need to try harder, eat less,uh, be more disciplined.
Like my doctor, she's like,Well, now you have high
cholesterol and high bloodpressure, you should really
check your nutrition.
I'm like, she didn't know I wasa nutrition coach, but I just
like grin and beared it.

(32:28):
I'm like, okay, I'll look at mynutrition.
I knew it had nothing to do withthat because I have a good
handle on my nutrition, right?
None of that is true.
Your hormones are shifting.
Quite often, women at thisstage, their stress load is
high.
We have maybe teenage kids,maybe some of us, if we if we
had kids that are younger,they're leaving, so we have this
empty nest feeling.

(32:49):
Um, your metabolism needssupport, not punishment.
So taking control really startswith understanding what's
happening in your body, learninghow to fuel it properly,
strength training to continue tobuild that resilience and
getting answers through propertesting, right?
So when women finally learn howtheir body works, the kind of

(33:10):
that shame disappears.
Because for so long, it's like,well, what like maybe it is all
me, right?
And I was blaming myself.

SPEAKER_03 (33:17):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (33:17):
And that's when when you get the test and you
understand how your body works,that's kind of how you bring
that power back to yourself.

SPEAKER_02 (33:23):
Yeah.
And I it's like empowerment,right?
Like once you get control of it,right?
Like, you know, taking a vitaminmight not be the answer, but
there's other supplements outthere that will get you like
feel at least feeling like youhave the strength to get through
it.
And that alone is empowering.

SPEAKER_01 (33:42):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I can't tell you the amount ofclients that we've had where
they've had their, you know,they do their test and then we
book the consultation.
The great thing is like when yougo to your doctor, you have like
10 minutes.
I remember when I went to mydoctor, I went in with like a
checklist like this.
And she's like, Well, I can onlytalk about one or two of your
symptoms.
I'm like, Are you kidding me?

(34:02):
So the good that when we meetwith our functional
practitioners to review yourresults, we're there for at
least an hour going througheverything because we want you
to leave, like, oh, now thismakes sense.

SPEAKER_02 (34:14):
Yeah, and there's so many, like, yeah, I might have a
question for you, but when youanswer it, I might have another
question and another question ontop of that.
So that's I need the time.
Yeah.
Oh, that's crazy.
Yeah, you're right.
They only give you like, youknow, 10 or 15 minutes, and then
they they'll tell you to leave.
Yep, pretty much whether youhave your question.

(34:35):
Yeah, that's ridiculous.
Absolutely ridiculous.
I there's so much to be saidabout our healthcare system to
begin with, you know.
But when it comes to, and thething is, our problem we're
talking perimenopause today, butthe reality is there's so many
different things people aregoing to the doctors for.

SPEAKER_01 (34:55):
Yes, right.

SPEAKER_02 (34:56):
And if you don't have the support that you need
to find the answers, thoseproblems just multiply.
They don't get, they don't goaway.
You can't brush them under thecarpet.

SPEAKER_01 (35:06):
Yeah.
And I just I just want to saythis because I know it sounds
like I'm I'm what's the word?
I can't lose the word, likecoming down really hard on the
medical system.
It's not really a fault of themedical system.
They were never taught this tobegin with.
With what all the past studieswere done on men, right until
more recently, there's morestudies on women.
So there is just this gap thatcurrently exists in our

(35:27):
healthcare system, right?
And part of what I do and mypractitioners is we're trying to
bridge that gap.

SPEAKER_02 (35:33):
And you're focusing on one.

SPEAKER_01 (35:34):
Yes, and it is getting better, yeah, but
there's still a lot of work tobe done.

SPEAKER_02 (35:38):
Yeah, yeah.
I I mean I say that the systembecause I think it's the system
that's not working, it's not thedoctors.
The doctors are only doing whatthey can do with what they know.

SPEAKER_03 (35:48):
Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 (35:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I totally agree there.
Um, but our system does needhelp.
That's our system, like here inAlberta.
I don't know the rest of theworld, right?
Because I'm only worried aboutour own, but you know there's so
much more that we can learn.
I mean, you're doing an awesomejob of sharing to the world what
you know, right?

(36:10):
If we all do that, you know, ittakes a load off the doctors as
well, right?
And and that is maybe somethingthat the healthcare system can
take into effect, right?
Like, you know, our doctorsmight not be able to help you,
but our coaches can, yes, right?
I mean, there's no, I don'tthink that there's anything
wrong with that.

SPEAKER_01 (36:29):
No, I don't.
I don't, yeah, because we're allcapable of learning.
We are, we are, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
It just I think here in Canada,especially, not so much in the
US, because I've got clients allover, but in Canada, though,
we're so accustomed to freehealth care, right?
Yeah, I do view it more as likesick care because they really
don't look at the root cause ofwhy are you experiencing these

(36:52):
symptoms, right?
I'm just gonna give yousomething to mask kind of the
root cause, right?

SPEAKER_02 (36:57):
That's very true.

SPEAKER_01 (36:58):
Sure, that might be okay, but what we really do is
we take a deep dive into who youare, you know, your health
history, and really look at theroot cause of why you're feeling
the way you are.
And you sometimes you have topay for that, or most of the pay
for that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (37:13):
But we're used to paying for everything else.
Why can't we pay for our health?
Right?
Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (37:17):
I would say like you can't put a price say on your
health, like yeah, becausewithout my health, the money's
no good to me.

SPEAKER_02 (37:24):
Yep, right?
I always say health buy anythingelse, yeah.
Health is your wealth, right?
Yeah, exactly.
So tell me what does sustainablefat loss actually look like when
you're not wrecking yourhormones or hustling yourself
into burnout.

SPEAKER_01 (37:38):
Yeah, so this is kind of our talking about
earlier the perfect hormonalshit storm where if you're under
eating and then you come in withthese perimenopause changes as
well.
So for sustainable fat lossduring perimenopause, it's a
build it's about building ahealthier metabolism, not
shrinking your calories tonothing.
So many, because that's that'sthe old diet culture.

(37:58):
Like I'm 47, so you we kind ofgrew up in the same sort of era,
um, in that it was like work outmore, eat less, right?
Yeah.
We need protein, we need muscle,consistent meals, and a nervous
system that isn't constantly inthis kind of survival mode.
So if you're if I would say ifyour fat loss strategy leaves

(38:19):
you exhausted, irritable, andreliant on willpower or strict
meal plans, it's not sustainableand it's not good for your
hormones.
Um, the goal is really torelease fat in a way that makes
you feel stronger, more stable,um, not depleted.
A lot of the programs that I didin the past left me felt
depleted because they theydidn't have enough calories to

(38:41):
support myself.
Or a lot of these strict mealplans are very cookie cookie
cutters.
So, Tina, if if we joined a likea meal plan challenge, they'd
give you the same meal plan asme.
We're called two completelydifferent people.
Exactly.
And we burn, yeah, we burndifferently, differently, yeah.
You know, and and that's theentire approach inside my
empowered macronutrition programis building plans specific to

(39:03):
you, your lifestyle, what youcan, what, what your your body
needs at this point.

SPEAKER_02 (39:08):
Right, right.
So it it is possible thenbecause I mean, not that I doubt
you, I I don't doubt you in anyway, but you know, like you
said, we grew up in that erawhere you know we it was
ingrained in every single cellof our body that we need to eat
a certain way to lose weight.

(39:29):
Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (39:30):
Like I I on I seriously, until I learned more
about this, like when Itransitioned out of IT corporate
and into macronutrition, I wasstill in the mind frame that I
only needed to eat 1200calories.
And that was not enough.
That's not that's not evenenough for a toddler.
So there's two numbers that Ialways say people should should
know is one is your basalmetabolic rate.

(39:51):
That's the base amount of numb,not base amount of calories that
your body needs just to getthrough the day.
That doesn't include anyactivity or anything, that's
just digestion, sleep, orwhatever.
So my BMR is like 1368 or closeto 1400.
So I was undereating my basiccalorie needs.
So what happens over time, yourmetabolism is going to adapt to

(40:12):
this because it's like, oh mygosh, Char's not feeding me.
So I need to conserve all thosecalories for her basic
functions, for like sleeping,digesting.
Um, and then what this starts tohappen is then there then I'd
have days where I ate a littlebit more.
Well, now, because my metabolismhas adapted, it thinks I'm
eating now in a surplus, but intheory I'm not.
And it's gonna store thosecalories as fat on my body

(40:35):
because it thinks I only feed it1200 calories, right?
Because that's what it's that'swhat it was I trained to do.
So your metabolism is a directmirror of your actions.
So 95% of the women I work withare under eating.
In some cases, we have increasedtheir caloric intake up to seven
to 800 calories, and guess whatstarts to happen?

(40:56):
They start releasing the fat.
But there's a lot of mindsetwork because we're so
conditioned to like, oh my gosh,if I eat more, I'm gonna gain
weight because that's what wethink.
But you need to regain thattrust with your body.
And I'm not saying you go from1200 to eating 2200 calories a
day.
You slowly get there because youhave to regain that trust.
So we just slowly add like eachweek, and and every client is is

(41:18):
different because every clientis gonna experience different
mindset blocks.
Some are like they're just likelaying back and like, Shar, I
trust you, I'm gonna go with theprocess, and we get them there
right away.
Others are like, I don't know,Shar, like you want me to eat
this amount of food, it doesn'tfeel right.
I'm like, I do like and I and Iand then I say to them, like,
what evidence do you have thatyou're actually gonna gain the
fat?

(41:39):
And they're like, none.
I'm like, good, keep going.
Right, yeah, it's so magical.
Like, I have so many clienttestimonials where we've
increased their caloric intakeand they've lost the weight or
lost the fat.
It's it's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 (41:52):
Oh my gosh, I want that.
I've been looking for thatmiracle, you know, all my life.
And you know, when I I did theDr.
Bernstein diet, yeah uh backwhen I was in my 30s.
And oh my god, I regret that forlike since day one, right?
Like, I mean, at the time itworked, right?
I lost so much weight soquickly, right?

(42:14):
And I felt I really did feelgreat.
Everybody always like, you know,they kind of argue with me,
like, how could you have feltgreat?
You weren't eating.
I did feel good until I didn't.
Yes, right.
And then it was like my bloodpressure went out of whack, and
you know, 800 calories.
I mean, I had I I think thetwins were two or three at the

(42:36):
time.
They were eating more than Iwas, yes, right?
And I when I looked at that,when it finally hit me, I was
like, what am I doing?
Yes, right, like crazy, likeabsolutely crazy.
But Tina, we all do that.
I've been there too.
I know, I know I've we've alldone that because we're do we're
we believe, like you said, eatless, move more.

(42:59):
Yeah, right.
And and I don't, I've neverliked exercise.
So for me, it was perfect.
Yeah, I can live off 800calories if that means I don't
have to go to the gym and workout, yes, right?
So until I couldn't, and then itwas like, now what?
Right?
Exactly.
So to get my body back was itwas crazy.
I mean, I put the weight backon, but feeling like shit was

(43:22):
like that was, you know, how areyou feeling today?
Oh, today's a darker shit thanit was yesterday, right?
Like right, but that's what wedo to ourselves.
Why?
Like, you know, and then ofcourse you learn how to love
yourself because you're like,you know what?
This is ridiculous.
I am doing the wrong thing forthe wrong reasons.

SPEAKER_01 (43:42):
Yes, yeah, and we get it, we get our energy from
our food.
So if you're not eating enough,it's just conserving that energy
for your main function.
So as soon as you start to eatwhat your body needs, so many
women are like, oh my gosh, Ihave all this energy I never
thought I had.
I'm like, Yes, because food isour energy, but we've been so
conditioned to demonize food orcarbs are bad, or you know, like

(44:04):
just all these things that wehave about it.
And I really clear out thatbullshit with with all of my
clients, and it's still like Istill want my clients to have
fun with life, so it's not so Ihad a client like her guilty
pleasure was wagon wheels.
Wow, you know, you know, it'slike chocolate, and she was so
scared to eat them.

(44:24):
I said, You know what?
I want you to go out and buyyourself two boxes of wagon
wheels, and I want you to enjoyone every single day.
And she did.
She's like, Oh my gosh, she'slike, You changed the way I view
food.
I'm like, there's nothing wrongwith a wagon wheel, it's just
some carbs and fats, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (44:39):
Like, yes, I mean, if you pulled it apart, yeah,
it's not good stuff, right?
No, we know that, but if you ifit's a pleasure for you, why
would you take that away?

SPEAKER_01 (44:48):
Yes, because as soon as you take it away, you're
gonna probably binge on it atone point in your life.
But if you allow yourself to belike, give yourself the
permission, like, hey, I canhave this whenever I want, it
really shifts things in yourmind.

SPEAKER_02 (45:01):
Yeah, yeah.
You know, it's so true.
And I and I you we all have donethis, you know.
Oh, it's Christmas time, andnow, you know, all the goodies
are gonna be out, I'm gonna beovereating, and so what, right?
Like, this is the way I see it,right?
I think Christmas time is a timeof celebration, right?
You're with your family, you'reenjoying their company, you're

(45:24):
enjoying the foods that you grewup with.
Like, enjoy them now.
Okay, you don't want to like eatfor two weeks straight, going to
bed feeling like a balloon.
No, you don't want to do that,but your body will stop you.
Like your body's gonna say,you've had enough, right?

SPEAKER_01 (45:38):
Yeah, yeah, Tina, I find it so fascinating, you
know, where I'm havingconversations with women who
want to work with me, andthey're like, Well, maybe I'll
just wait until the new yearbecause Christmas is coming.
I'm like, Christmas is not thewhole month of December.
Yes, we probably have maybemaybe seven, five to seven,
maybe eight, you know, functionsthat we need to go to.
What about the rest of the 20days?

(45:58):
And and of those seven or eightfunctions that you go to, pick
maybe three or four where you'rejust like not gonna give two
shits and you go and enjoyyourself.
But on the other functions,you're more intentional with
your food choices, yeah.
So like the you know, we love tohost, right?
So then maybe I opt for more ofthe veggies and and the protein
choice choices, and then I, youknow, fill up with maybe some of

(46:20):
the sweets, but on other events,I'm a free-for-all, right?
Right, see how you feel, and itand it really removes this kind
of restriction, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 (46:29):
And I'm learning a lot about like intuitive eating,
and sometimes we're eatingthings because it's there, yeah,
not because we want it.
So listen to your body, likeyou, you know, okay, fine, you
might not see it for anotheryear, but so what?
If you don't want it, you don'twant it, yeah, right?

SPEAKER_01 (46:46):
Yeah, I used to have that with mini eggs, so I know
freaking Cadbury mini eggs, itcan't be the Hershey eggs, it
has to be Cadbury.
Cadbury, yeah.
Every Easter, I would buy a big,like Costco size bag of mini
eggs, and I would just binge onthem.
And then I said to myself, I'mlike, Shar, you can literally
buy mini eggs all year round atDollarama.
They sell them.
Why do I have to feel likethey're only available at

(47:08):
Easter?

SPEAKER_02 (47:09):
Yeah, right, exactly.
And don't you find that you themore you eat them, by the time
you're done that bag, you'relike, oh my god, I don't want to
look at another mini egg for ayear.
Yeah, you're totally been there,done that.
Yeah, and then the next thenwhen they come out again in this
in the spring, you're like, oh,goody, goody, right?
And you start the cycle all overagain.

(47:30):
Go to Dolorama in July, have alittle bag and be done with it.
Yeah, exactly, right?

SPEAKER_01 (47:36):
Yes, I hear you.
I hear it.
It's just so funny when you whenyou actually pay attention to
the stories that you tellyourselves, and like most of
them is just it's beliefsystems, which I say is BS,
right?
So it was a belief system that Ihad that I could only get mini
eggs at Easter.

SPEAKER_02 (47:50):
Yes, yes, you're because there was a time where
that was the case, yes, yeah,right.
But we didn't have to be Costcosized bags all the time.
I know now Costco brings inthese oversized bags and we
overindulge.
Just you only need a handful.

SPEAKER_01 (48:05):
You do, you do to satisfy the craving.
You just need that littlehandful.
So I stopped buying theoversized bags and I just buy
the mini bags from Dollarama orwherever, and that satisfies
that's enough, yeah.
You might keep one in your purseand in your car.

SPEAKER_02 (48:17):
Yes, I do, yeah, just for that.
If I need something sweet, yeah,and I those those are perfect
for that kind of craving.
So we kind of talked about dietculture.
Um, and and I think most womenin our age group have come to
the realization that you knowit's it's a it's a culture that
we don't need, right?
It doesn't serve us.

(48:39):
What do you wish that more womencould understand about food like
programs, right?
I know that your program is notreally um focused on weight loss
necessarily, it's more aboutbalancing the the body, like you
said, homeostasis.
But what do you wish womenreally understood more?

SPEAKER_01 (49:01):
Yeah, so 100% of the clients I work with come to me
for weight for weight loss.
Wow.
They do.
They want to work with mebecause they want to release the
weight.
And I always say release theweight, because if you lose the
weight, what happens when you golose something?

SPEAKER_02 (49:15):
Yeah, you're looking for it, right?
And it's gonna come find you.

SPEAKER_01 (49:17):
Yeah, it's gonna come find you.
So we always say release theweight.
You you so even though 100% ofthe women come to me for weight
loss, I always get them tothat's not what we're focusing
on.
Like I know that's what youwant, but what's more important
is the habits, the standards,and the lifestyle that we need.
And this is a byproduct of whatyou're doing.

(49:38):
Yeah, so but diet culture,here's the thing it's built on
deprivation, shame, quick fixes.
Like we want Amazon Primeresults, you know, and and we've
all been there.
I heard you say it, like youwere doing the Barenstein diet,
you got quick results, but thenthey don't last.
I've done so many fad diets thatI got quick results, but then it
doesn't last.

(49:58):
Yeah, so none of that alignswith midlife like midlife female
physiology.
So that needs we neednourishment, we need strength.
Diet culture teaches women toshrink.
Midlife requires women to build,right?
Build muscle, build energy,build this resilience.
So diet culture also ignoreshormones completely, which is

(50:20):
why women, when women hit 40 andsuddenly nothing starts working
anymore, because they have thatold mentality.
So women in midlife need asmarter approach that respects
their biology, not outdatedrules they were taught in their
20s.
So my program does, we do focuson on weight release, um, but

(50:41):
that as a byproduct.
I'm more about setting this upas a lifestyle for you and
teaching you.
And we go from like, I do getall my clients to track their
food because it brings so muchawareness.
I don't get you to track forshame or to for judgment, it
brings awareness because onceyou have that awareness of your
current eating habits, then weknow where we need to tweak it

(51:03):
to get you to your goal ofweight loss.

SPEAKER_02 (51:06):
Right.
And and I mean it brings shamebecause of the diet culture that
we're all used to.
Right.
When you look back and say,okay, what did I eat today?
Why do I feel bloated?
And you see, well, look at that.
I had a chocolate bar afterbreakfast, and then I had coffee
with my friend and I had adonut, right?
Like when you look at that, youfeel ashamed, but not because
you've done wrong.

(51:26):
Like you feel it's wrong at themoment, but it's that's not
wrong.
It's just that you look at thatand you go, Well, that's what I
need to be aware of, right?
It's that combination of allthat sugar along with the stuff
that you know I was supposed tobe eating or replacing what I
should have been eating.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (51:44):
My guilt, yeah.
So my guilty pleasure, I lovecinnamon buns and coffee and
bailey's.
Like I absolutely enjoy that.
Oh, but now I know I'm gonnacrave that all day.
I know, but I will still enjoythat, but now I'll pair like a
protein with it.

SPEAKER_02 (51:59):
So then it's more balanced because it's okay.
So I've okay, I'm gonna cut youoff there for a second.
I have been told this before.
Pair a protein now.
Yes, I'm sorry, but I have aproblem with that.
Okay, if I'm gonna sit and havea cup of coffee and a cinnamon
bun, right?
And there was something elsethat you said with that.
How do I pair a protein withthat?

(52:21):
Because a protein to me is likea piece of meat, a piece of
cheese.
Like that doesn't go with acinnamon bun and a coffee.

SPEAKER_01 (52:28):
Oh, so for me, I will have a side, I'll either
have like maybe a fair lifeshake or some sort of shake, or
uh quite often I have plainGreek yogurt and I mix protein
powder in there.
So it's like a little side ofyogurt with my because it's
still kind of breakfasty food,my yogurt.
And sometimes I'll put berriesin there for the fiber.
I still enjoy my cinnamon bunnow, guilt-free, and my coffee

(52:49):
and bailey's if it's Christmastime.

SPEAKER_02 (52:51):
Right.
Okay, so I for always forget theshake part because I'm not
really a shake person.
I don't like to drink mycalories.
I prefer either.
Yeah.
But I do have like now that yousay that, I do have like a
chocolate shake that I, youknow, I'd like to keep them on
hand just in case.
You know, my son had a problemwith eating breakfast.
And so I thought, well, maybe ifhe drinks a protein shake,

(53:11):
that'll help him get anappetite, right?
And so I kind of always havethem around, but I never thought
about that.
So I could have like, you know,throw in a powder into my
coffee, even if it's unflavored.
Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 (53:24):
Yep, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (53:25):
Yeah, so you can even be a good idea.

SPEAKER_01 (53:27):
Yeah, you can even, yeah, a lot of people drink
protein coffees as well.

SPEAKER_02 (53:31):
So are they filling?
Like, will that make your coffeemore heavy to make you more full
faster?

SPEAKER_01 (53:37):
Well, protein, protein will make you more
satiated, yeah.
So it's yeah, not necessarilythe coffee, but it's the
protein.

SPEAKER_02 (53:43):
Yeah.
So my daughter's been stayingwith us, and so she eats a big
breakfast.
Like she has cottage cheese, twopoached eggs, a piece of toast
with ham.
And so one day she goes, Mom,you want me to make you
breakfast?
I'm like, sure, right?
Who's not gonna take that up?
Right.
So I oh my gosh, two or threedays in a row, I was like, Oh my
god, my stomach can't handlethis.

(54:04):
And I love to eat eat, right?

SPEAKER_01 (54:06):
Like, but you're probably your body's just not
used to eating that amount offood at first thing in the
morning, probably.

SPEAKER_02 (54:12):
No, especially all that protein, because protein,
like it keeps you hungry or itkeeps you full longer.

SPEAKER_01 (54:18):
Yes, right.

SPEAKER_02 (54:19):
So I was finding like, oh my gosh, my stomach
feels so heavy, which is not abad thing, right?
But I I can't function when Ifeel heavy.

SPEAKER_01 (54:28):
Right, that's right.
Yeah, yeah.
So you have to build that up.
Your body has to learn to enjoybreakfast again.
Because so many of the women Iwork with, they have still have
coffee for breakfast.
So they're not waking up hungry,they're not hungry.
So, but as soon as you startfeeding yourself in the morning,
then your body's like, Oh mygosh, she's actually feeding me.
You're gonna have more energy,and maybe you just start off

(54:50):
small.
Because I've had this withclients where she all she had
was coffee for breakfast and shestruggled eating breakfast.
So we started smaller and thenwe built up, and now she wakes
up and she's like, Oh my gosh,I'm hungry.

SPEAKER_02 (55:01):
Yeah, well, but I've always had breakfast.
I'm I like breakfast.
Um, there was a time where I wastrying to do intermittent
fasting, and so I was havingmore of a brunch, which I could
do the bigger breakfast, butthat was at 10:30 in the
morning.
It wasn't at 7:38, right?
So now I can't do it.
I'm like, I'm done, right?
Yeah, okay.
So I have one more question.

(55:22):
Um uh so the beginning of me isour theme.
So, what I would like to know iswhat is one powerful shift that
our listeners can make this weekto feel stronger, clearer, and
more in control of their health.

SPEAKER_01 (55:39):
So honestly, I would say track two or three days of
your food to see where yourcurrent eating habits are.
Are you fueling yourself?
Because I still am of the beliefthat nutrition is foundational.
Right.
And and I channel, and I knowthere's a lot of resistance with
like, I don't want to track myfood all the time.

(55:59):
Well, you don't, and in myprogram, I teach you how you go
from tracking to intuitiveeating, right?
So you shouldn't have to track.
But my I think understandingyour current eating habits gives
you a starting point of whereyou need to start.
Wow, I love that.

SPEAKER_02 (56:16):
I was not expecting that.
I truly wasn't, I don't knowwhat I was expecting, but that
was not it.
So I'm I'm one of those ladiesthat I don't like to track my
food.
And but I also think that a lotof that has to do with like the
shame and the judgment that wewere saying, right?
Because when I look back and Isee that I was, you know,

(56:38):
walking through the pantry andstealing a cookie, I don't want
to see that, right?
Because the reality is if ittouches your your lips in any
way, it is considered eaten,right?
No matter what it is.
Yeah, right.
Now, I also know that you know,standing or walking while eating
is not good for our digestivesystem because our body is not

(56:58):
in digestive mode, it's in fightor flight, right?
This is why they say sit downand eat, right?
Because your body's relaxed andit'll absorb the nutrition.
That's right.
So I I know that, but yet Istill catch myself doing it.
It doesn't happen a lot, but itdoes still happen.
And it makes me so mad when Icatch myself because I'm like,

(57:18):
you know better.

SPEAKER_01 (57:20):
Yeah, but that's a that's the whole part of this
journey, is just bringingawareness.
And that's why I say, like, as astarting point, start track your
food.
And I use I use macros first.
You can use my fitness palette,whatever you're you're familiar
with.
If you're not familiar withanyone, then I would choose
macros first.
It's just a um more of auser-friendly kind of interface
for you.
Um, and it I mean the foodtracking apps make it so easy

(57:41):
for you to track your food now.

SPEAKER_02 (57:42):
Yeah, because you can just take a picture of it
and source it out.

SPEAKER_01 (57:45):
Some of them you can take a picture.
You do have to check some of theingredients, maybe are a little
bit off, but it's pretty, it'sit's decent.

SPEAKER_02 (57:51):
Yeah, yeah.
And if you're only doing it forthis purpose so that you can
keep track of what you'reeating, it doesn't really matter
what the calories are.
Am I right?
That's right.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (58:02):
At the beginning, no, just just get awareness.
See where your protein's landingfor the day, see where your
carbs are landing for the day,see where your fats are landing
for the day.

SPEAKER_02 (58:11):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so uh I we're I just want toask you a quick question.
I know that that was my lastquestion, but when you're
tracking your macros and yourlike your fat, your carbs, and
your protein, they're not equal,am I right?
Like I know that we need to havemore fat and more protein and
carbs are less.
Is that right?
Uh no, well, it depends.
It depends on who you are.

(58:32):
Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (58:33):
So so um protein is generally calculated at 0.8
grams per pound.
Now, most women are eating under0.5 grams per pound.
So if you go, if you go, but nomore than 160 grams a day for a
woman, because there's noscientific evidence or research
shows that eating more than 160grams a day is beneficial for

(58:53):
women.

SPEAKER_03 (58:54):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (58:55):
So, but if you go, if you go away now, our
listeners go away now and theytrack their food and say they
should be eating, say, 120 gramsa day, and they're only eating
maybe 60 grams.
Please do yourself a favor anddon't try to get to 120 off the
bat.
Like I'm type A and I would tryto get 120 off the bat, and I'll

(59:15):
be like, oh my god, it feelslike I'm I'm at uh K-Day's
eating a big turkey leg.

SPEAKER_02 (59:22):
Yeah, so you're gonna feel heavy and
constipated.

SPEAKER_01 (59:25):
Yes, because your body needs to adjust.
So start at where you're at, andfor the first week, add 10
grams.
The second week, you know, addanother 20.
This is where a coach can reallyhelp you because a lot of women
they'll just you know get theirmacros or calculated for them,
and then they don't really knowwhere to start, and they'll try
and hit where they should be,and they feel unsuccessful

(59:48):
because they struggle andthey're like, Oh my god, I can't
do it.
Macros is so hard.
Well, it's so hard becauseyou're not being taught the
right way to reach those.
And so, what another rule ofthumb I like to do is when you
know what your macros.
Targets are take that number anddivide by four, meaning everyone
should be eating three meals andthen your snacks.

(01:00:09):
And this is kind of yourgoalpost of creating balanced
meals throughout the day.
So I have goalposts for everymeal.
So every meal, you know, forprotein, I'm aiming between 30
to 40 grams of protein at eachmeal.
You know, in a fat loss phase,it's about the same for carbs
and a little bit less for fat.
It's about, I think, 15 to 20grams per fat.
With if I'm in maintenance,those numbers kind of bump up.

(01:00:31):
But having those goalpostsreally help you develop those
balanced meals throughout theday so that you're regulating
your blood sugars as well,because that's really important
in perimenopause.
And and so then protein youcalculate first.
Fats, that really depends on theperson.
So if they have any autoimmuneconditions, um, like
hypothyroidism, um, Hashimoto's,um, what's another one?

(01:00:55):
Or perimen and perimenopause, weneed higher fat diets.
So then I would start at 35% ofyour total caloric intake should
be fats, and then the rest goesto carbs.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:05):
Okay.
Wow.
Okay, so there's actually quitea big formula there.
I thought it was a little bitmore simpler than that, but that
sounds, I mean, it doesn't sounddifficult, but it there's a lot
of like um calculationsinvolved.
There is, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:18):
Considerations, right?
Health history, autoimmuneconditions, your phase of life,
all of that takes takes intoconsideration.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:24):
Right.
So another reason why we shouldbe calling you.
Yeah.
Right?
Let you do the hard work.
You just tell me what to eat andhow much of it to eat, and yeah,
and I'll do the rest.
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:36):
And in the program, like I teach, I teach because in
my program, I want you to feelso empowered that I mean, I love
all my clients, and I've hadsome that work with me for like
two or three years, but my wholegoal is like you know enough
that you can go out and do thison your own so that you never
have to go go do another diet orfeel like you're doing another
diet.
This becomes a lifestyle foryou, yeah.
Right.
So I teach you how to calculateyour own, how what to look for,

(01:02:00):
why the scale fluctuates,because we can get really
triggered up on the scale too.
I know we're we're continuingon, but there's so much I could
talk to.
I can talk about this all day.
I know I feel like I don't wantto hit the you know the stop
button here because I don't butyeah, the scale is a big
trigger.
But when you link the scalefluctuations to choices in your
day, you kind of release itreleases that emotion, right?

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:21):
Yeah.
And it's because it's justnumbers, right?
It's just numbers, just data.
It's data, it's data, data,data.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Well, thank you so, so much.
I know I'm gonna have you back.
I mean to be honest with you.
We're gonna do this again.
Yeah, we're gonna not talk aboutthe same things, we're gonna
talk about you know, the moredetailed stuff, but we are gonna
do this again because I thinkyou have so much to share, and

(01:02:44):
there's so many of us that needto hear what you have to share.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:47):
Yes, yes, thank you.
I appreciate it.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I really enjoyed thisconversation.
It was awesome.
Me too.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:54):
Thank you so much for tuning in to Confidence in
Bloom.
I hope today's conversationreminded you that you're not
alone on this journey.
And that your confidence growsevery time you tell that itty
bitty shitty committee to hush.
If you're ready to take thiseven deeper, I'd love to invite
you to the Bloom Room, anurturing community where women

(01:03:16):
come together to releaseself-doubt, reconnect with
themselves, and bloom into thetruest version of who they're
meant to be.
Until next time, remember,confidence isn't something you
find, it's something that bloomsfrom within.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:32):
Thanks for listening.
This show was brought to you byDivas That Care.
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