Female Patients Over 35—Cortisol Imbalances, Sleep Disruption, and Cascading Health Effects

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Ever wonder why you feel terrible even when your doctor says your test results are "normal"? In this eye-opening conversation with Michelle, owner of Footsteps to Wellness, we explore the gap between traditional medical approaches and true wellness optimization.

Michelle shares her fascinating 20-year evolution from massage therapist to board-certified nurse practitioner, driven by her passion for addressing root causes rather than symptoms. Her practice philosophy centers on a radical concept: listening to what patients are experiencing rather than focusing solely on numerical ranges from lab tests.

We dive deep into the often-misunderstood world of hormone therapy for both men and women. Michelle explains how even patients with "normal" testosterone levels can experience significant symptoms, and how women suffering through perimenopause often find little help from conventional medicine. She reveals alarming patterns she's seeing in female patients over 35—cortisol imbalances, sleep disruption, and cascading health effects including high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and weight gain.

The conversation offers practical wisdom too. Michelle shares her foundational advice for weight management: proper hydration with plain water, adequate protein intake, and the critical importance of 7+ hours of deep, restorative sleep. She explains the fascinating connection between sleep deprivation, elevated cortisol, and those unstoppable cravings for salty and sugary foods that sabotage weight loss efforts.

Ready to redefine your relationship with healthcare? Discover how Footsteps to Wellness is transforming medicine from "sick care" to true "healthcare and wellness." Whether you're struggling with unexplained symptoms, weight management challenges, or simply want to optimize your health, this conversation will change how you think about your wellbeing. Connect with Michelle for a free consultation and take your first step toward genuine wellness today.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back everyone to Business Talk, the show,
where we dive into theindustries that keep our world
moving.
I'm your host, dda, and intoday's episode I'll be speaking
with Ms Michelle.
She's a nurse practitioner andshe owns a company called
Footsteps to Wellness.
How you doing, michelle?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm great, DDA.
Thank you so much for theinvitation.
How are you I?

Speaker 1 (00:25):
am doing awesome.
Thanks for asking as well.
So, listeners, each episode, wesit down with experts such as
Michelle, innovators, businessowners to uncover the real
stories and insider knowledge.
Plus, we will discuss someimportant topics as it relates
to their industry.
If you enjoy this content andwant to hear more, be sure to

(00:45):
hit the subscribe and likebutton.
So, with that being said, we'regonna dive right in.
We're gonna go ahead and talkto Ms Michelle her background.
Go ahead, michelle.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
All right, so my background I've been in the
medical field for over 20 years.
I started out actually as amassage therapist.
Then I went to LPN school.
I got my associate's degree,became a registered nurse,
continued on and got mybachelor's degree and got my

(01:18):
master's degree and now I'm aboard certified family nurse
practitioner.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
Well, congratulations .
And I know you said you startedoff as a massage therapist.
Yes, why did you choose goingdown that road in the beginning?
And then it led you to?
You know all the differentservices that we'll talk about
briefly in this episode.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
I was more interested in a natural way of healthcare,
and massage therapy was a wayat the time to do that.
It helps people to relievestress and, as we know, so many
chronic illnesses evolve fromchronic stress.
So that was an avenue that Itook at the time to help clients

(02:04):
with stress management, also tohelp with chronic issues that
they had or chronic shoulderpain recovering from motor
vehicle accidents.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Very interesting.
So there's, like you mentioned,the word chronic is prevalent
among all the different services, you know, in one shape form or
another, correct?

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Absolutely absolutely .

Speaker 1 (02:28):
And you know, when I was looking at your website, ms
Michelle, it kind of shares.
You know you offer so manydifferent services, from weight
loss to functional medicine, topeptide therapy, vitamin therapy
, sexual wellness, hormonetherapy.
There's just so much that youoffer.
Of all the services that youkind of offer, what is a couple

(02:53):
of those that really stand out?
You're smiling.
I'm sure there's some top ofmind right.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
It's hard to say.
There isn't particularly oneservice that stands out.
The most popular services I cansay are hormone replacement
therapy, weight loss andfunctional medicine.
Take care of my clients.

(03:28):
So we start off with a what Icall is functional wellness.
So initially we uncover theroot cause of a person's health
concern and then, depending onwhat that is and their goals of
care and mine as well depends onwhat the treatment would be.
So I don't prescribe generalmainstream medication.
I prescribe more of a lifestylemedicine and treatments that

(03:51):
help to optimize a person'shealth usually in an area that
they may be deficient in, andthat's usually with the services
that you had mentioned earlier.
So whether it be weight loss, away to help them prevent and
reverse disease or managechronic health conditions that
way, or be peptide therapy orhormone therapy, so when it

(04:14):
comes to weight loss, you knowI'm sure there are people out
there that are everybody istrying to lose weight in some
form or fashion.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
Is that that could be a correct statement, right?

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Sure absolutely.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
So, with that being said, is there kind of any type
of advice, like things that theycan do ahead of time, prior to
you know, maybe, and then, ofcourse, speaking with you as a
professional, you make surethey're on the right track.
Is there anything that, anykind of tips, you can give our

(04:50):
listeners?

Speaker 2 (04:52):
uh, generally speaking, um, hydration is key.
So making sure that you'redrinking enough water and that's
not the water in diet soda orcoffee or tea, that is plain
water.
Making sure that you prioritizesleep and make sure that you're
prioritizing having enoughprotein in your diet those are

(05:14):
mainstays anyway, but outside ofa consultation with myself,
those are things that I wouldrecommend.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
Interesting.
And when you talk about sleep,you know we always hear that
sleep is so important andgetting a minimum of eight hours
.
How does that relate to weightloss?

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Not only weight loss but weight management.
So not only just eight hours ofsleep, but at least seven hours
of deep, restorative sleep.
That's when your body restoresitself Over time.
When you're not getting deep,restorative sleep, or under
chronic stress, and your bodyrepairs itself during the sleep

(05:52):
cycle.
So if you're not getting propersleep, adequate sleep, it can
increase your cortisol level.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
When your cortisol levels are increased.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
You generally have more cravings for salty foods,
sugary foods, which can lenditself to weight gain.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
Wow, that's well stated, Very good information.
And let's kind of jump over tohormone therapy.
Can you kind of share a littlebit about what that looks like
in your world?

Speaker 2 (06:21):
share a little bit about what that looks like in
your world.
So I see men and women, bothfor hormone replacement and
hormone optimization.
So a lot of my clients will seetheir primary care provider.
For example, a male will gettestosterone testing, where
they're only testing one portionof the panel and their levels
may be in range.

(06:41):
However, they still havesymptoms.
So where I come in is I help tooptimize a man's health and
wellness, even though they stillmay be in the normal range, but
they're probably closer to thelower range.
So everyone is not just anumber or a range.
I pay more attention to what myclients tell me and their
symptoms.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
I pay more attention to what my clients tell me and
their symptoms.
And then I guess, from awoman's, point of view.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Can you elaborate or go a little bit into that as
well?
Absolutely so.
Some women will come in andthey may not be menopausal
meaning that they're stillhaving periods but they have
symptoms that we would call inthe perimenopausal phase that
are very similar to menopauseand they are just miserable.
So they may be having weightgain, they may be having

(07:31):
irregular periods, they may behaving brain fog, their mood is
just off, they don't feel likethemselves or they have low
libido where it's affectingtheir life.
In mainstream medicine thereisn't a pill for perimenopause,
so I can help a woman alleviatethose symptoms so that she can
live the best life that she canlive, even though she's not

(07:53):
menopausal.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
That's great information.
Ms Michelle, you know there arelisteners here that are wanting
to kind of get an idea of maybeyou have a story or can share.
Don't mention their name, ofcourse, but can you share maybe
a patient story?
That just was an aha moment,not only for the patient but for

(08:18):
you as well.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
Oh, so many, so many.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
Just pick out one.

Speaker 2 (08:25):
For example, for females.
I find that over the past Iwould say since January or so
I'm getting more and morefemales roughly in the ages of
35 and up wanting to get theirhormones checked.
They're getting more informedthat the way they're feeling.

(08:45):
They're not getting answersfrom their primary care doctor
and they're looking for answers.
They're becoming more educatedand they want more of a wellness
approach and finding out whatis the root cause as to why they
feel the way they do.
What I'm seeing a lot is womenhaving a lot of cortisol
imbalances.

(09:06):
They're not getting restorativesleep.
They're working, they're takingcare of their families and
their bodies are not responding.
They are not having healthylibido, so they're suffering in
their romantic relationships.
They're suffering in theirhealth.
Their blood pressure is gettinghigher, they're having insulin
resistance, their weight isgetting higher, and it's more

(09:28):
and more and more of this thatI'm seeing over and over again,
with different faces, slightlydifferent stories, but same
underlying problems.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
Wow, that is a lot, and it seems like there's so
much that goes to hormonereplacement therapy, correct?
Absolutely, absolutely, and Iwas looking at your website and
I take this away from itFootsteps to Wellness is
redefining medicine, moving fromsick care to healthcare and

(09:59):
wellness, and I love thatbecause it kind of puts
everything into perspective ofthe services that you provide
for your patients.
Well, michelle, ms Michelle,thank you so much for taking
time out of your busy scheduleto share with our listeners
about your service and howyou're helping your patients.
You know, see the light at theend of the tunnel, if you might

(10:21):
say, and hopefully we can haveyou back on again in the near
future.
Before of the tunnel, if youmight say and hopefully we can
have you back on again in thenear future.
Before we do that, would youmind providing your phone number
as well as a website for ourlisteners to get a hold of you?

Speaker 2 (10:31):
Absolutely.
Our phone number is352-388-7075.
We are located in Claremont,Florida, and we do offer a
complimentary consultation withmyself.
It can be done in the office orit can be done virtually, and
you can book a free consultationat FootstepToWellnesscom.

(10:55):
We're also social.
We're on Facebook, Instagram,TikTok and YouTube.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
Awesome.
Well, again, thank you so muchfor taking time out of your busy
schedule to speak with ourlisteners and hopefully we can
have you back again in the nearfuture.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
My pleasure.
Thank you for the opportunity.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
You're very welcome.
Thank you for tuning in toFirst Media Consulting Podcast.
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