[Mini] Nourishment Strategies for Busy Days | Ep. 93

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Unpredictable cycles can severely impact your schedule, quality of life, and family planning goals. Today we explore how proper nourishment during busy workdays can support hormonal balance and help regulate your cycle.

• Recap of three common causes of irregular periods: stress, perimenopause, and PCOS
• Additional factors include elevated prolactin levels and medication effects
• Many women are unknowingly undernourished, creating hormonal stress
• Chia pudding cups provide excellent protein, fiber, and versatility for meal prep
• Protein-forward smoothies with minimal sugar help maintain stable blood sugar
• Trail mix with nuts and seeds offers portable nutrition without sugar crashes
• Quality protein/superfood bars provide sustained energy during busy days
• Fat-forward options like guacamole offer satiating nutrition on-the-go
• Creating habits around proper eating prevents the stress of day-long fasting
• Regular nourishment helps prevent blood sugar spikes that impact mood and hormones

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to episode number 93 of I'm
Hormonal.
I'm your host, bridget Walton,and on today's episode we're
gonna be talking a little bitmore about unpredictable cycles.
If you can ever anticipate whenyour period is showing up, if
it feels like it is just allover the place and it is
impacting your schedule, it'simpacting your quality of life,

(00:23):
it's impacting your ability togrow your family the way that
you want it to, then this week'scontent is for you.
On Tuesday, in the longer formepisode, I covered what are
three of the common reasons orcauses behind irregular periods.
I'll recap those in just amoment for you.
But also, what I really want toget into today is how you can

(00:47):
nourish yourself during busyback-to-back days of meetings,
or rather, days of busyback-to-back meetings.
Now, this relates to cycleregularity, because it is
surprisingly common that we arenot properly nourishing our
bodies.
When I'm working one-on-onewith clients, we will often do a

(01:09):
food log and it is, I mean, socommon that my clients will
realize like, oh my gosh, Ithought that I was eating enough
, or I thought that I wasgetting enough protein, but
actually it turns out I'm not.
I'm eating the same thing everyday and it's not enough.
So that's why I want to focuson easy ways, a couple of just

(01:30):
things to chew on.
Well, I meant thatmetaphorically, but also
literally some ideas for youwhen it comes to what is good to
sustain you between meetings,like kind of quick things to go
to during the day with, again,this goal that if you are
properly nourishing your body,if you are preventing your body
from experiencing the stress ofbeing undernourished or the

(01:55):
stress of blood sugar spikesthroughout the day, that's also
going to be a little bit betterfor your mood If you're, like
you know, most people out therewho are kind of hangry when
their blood sugar is low andthey're stressed on back-to-back
meetings.
So, anyway, this is a bunch ofword salad.
What I mean to say is, if youhave your regular cycles and you

(02:16):
want to figure out how to getthem back in shape, this is
absolutely something that can'thurt and that is a great start,
using the foundations ofnutrition to get things back in
shape.
So let's first take a quickreview from Tuesday's Longer
Form episode and if you haven'tlistened to it, go back and
listen to it.
The main reasons or causesbehind irregular cycles that I

(02:41):
mentioned were one stress,stress in its many forms, but
number one stress.
Two is perimenopause what'scausing your irregular cycles?
And three we talked about PCOS,a couple of honorable mentions
is prolactin high?
Is that hormone, prolactin high?
Maybe, if you're investigatingwith a doctor or with a

(03:03):
practitioner right, and you'reseeing, oh okay, that's high,
well, that explains it.
Also, just remembering thatmedication can certainly impact
what's going on with ovulation.
So have you started taking adifferent or new medication or a
different amount of amedication since you started
seeing these changes in yourcycle?
That could be a good, good, bigclue that you don't want to

(03:26):
ignore.
Now, for today, again, I want towalk you through.
I've got one, two, three, four,five easy snack ideas that are
going to be good for you forback-to-back meetings.
Now, it's not rocket science.
We'll walk through things thatyou've surely seen before on
Pinterest or elsewhere, but I'malso going to walk you through

(03:47):
why I would pick that, becausehopefully that context will help
you, of course, to make betterselections for your midday meals
.
It's also worth mentioning too.
Ideally you would be eatingreally full, savory, robust
meals for breakfast, lunch anddinner.
But like I get it, this isplanet earth.

(04:08):
This is not an ideal world allthe time, and sometimes
schedules are packed.
So if you can't block out sometime for lunch, you can't block
out some time to, you know, mealprep or otherwise.
Have that robust meal for you,then these are for you.
Now, the first thing I want tosuggest to you is spending a

(04:30):
couple minutes early in the weekto put together a handful of
chia pudding cups.
This is one that I think isreally good, because chia seeds
are actually relatively prettyhigh in protein, also great on
fiber, which is going to begreat for your gut health.
But not Coming back to theprotein right, what we know

(04:51):
about protein and fat sources isthat those keep you more
satiated.
They're not necessarily goingto spike your blood sugar, and
so chia seeds, I think, are theunsung hero of your pantry, or
at least I hope they're in yourpantry.
It's totally a make it whateverway you want to make it kind of

(05:11):
thing.
If you've seen these before onPinterest, you'll see 87,000
different varieties.
Get some frozen berries, putsome almond butter in it.
You can make ones that are likecarrot cake, you know.
Shred some carrots If you wantto get some extra vegetables in
there.
Put some nutmeg and cinnamon.
You can use dairy milk,non-dairy milk.

(05:33):
You can use yogurt instead,right?
Yogurt would be great to getsome more probiotics in.
You could even use a bananaI've seen some people do instead
of a milk or yogurt, if youjust mash it up.
So chia pudding or chia seedpudding, super flexible.
Make it with what you've got inthe fridge, in the freezer.

(05:54):
Make them on Sundays so youhave them for a couple of days
that week and it's really easyfor you to go ahead and grab
while you're working from homeand it will keep you feeling
satiated and it's not going toleave you with just a drop in
energy, a drop in blood sugarafter an hour or two once you're

(06:15):
done eating.
So number one chia seed pudding.
Number two, also for whileyou're at home working from the
home office I think that asavory protein forward smoothie
is really underrated.
This is also something that youcan make ahead.
Maybe you make it the nightbefore and you put everything,

(06:36):
except for the liquid, into yourblender cup in the freezer.
Maybe it's something that youpre-package and put into little
zip bags and put into thefreezer so you can grab them out
throughout the week wheneveryou're ready for them.
But the main thing I want youto think about when you're
putting a smoothie together ishow you can grab them out
throughout the week wheneveryou're ready for them.
But the main thing I want youto think about when you're
putting a smoothie together ishow you can no surprise here

(06:59):
minimize the sugar content,maximize the protein and fat
content.
For me personally, when I make asmoothie because at least when
it's warm out here, I'm a bigsmoothie gal I like to include a
frozen banana, frozenblueberries, some protein powder
.
Sometimes I'll put collagen inthere, and then I'll put chia

(07:19):
seeds in it.
At the end.
Shout out to chia seeds.
Again.
You can also certainly put inspinach or avocado or hemp seeds
, right?
The main thing, though,thinking what are you going to
put in there for protein sourceand or fat source?
So, going back through thatlist that I just mentioned, I'm
looking at the protein powder,the collagen, the chia seeds,

(07:43):
hemp seeds and avocado.
There are a lot of goodadditives.
If you're like, oh gosh, whyare you putting an avocado in
there?
It's really neutral in flavor.
It'll make the smoothie reallycreamy.
So it's not going to be as weirdas you think it is, and I know
that when I'm stressed andrunning from meeting to meeting.

(08:04):
I'm not thinking about, like,okay, how can I make sure I'm
getting my good variety in mydiet this week?
But if you're making aheadthese baggies of ingredients to
throw into your smoothies, thenyou're doing that work ahead of
time.
So it's not so much as a chore,right?
This is just an easy thing tothrow into the blender.

(08:25):
Now if you are thinking, okay,cool, well, I am on the road a
lot and that's mainly when I'mfinding myself without food,
then these are the three thingsthat I would really kind of
focus on First, trail mix.
Next, what is the right proteinbar or superfood bar that you

(08:45):
like?
And then, third, I'm thinkingof what's something really fat
forward that I can incorporateor kind of keep on hand, which
is, for me, guacamole, becauseI'm like a huge Chipotle gal.
Let me go through one by one.
Let's start with Chipotle, withguacamole, because you're
probably like Bridget, explainthis, but really right, focusing

(09:06):
on something that's satiating,not going to spike your blood
sugar.
Spike your blood sugar.
That's why guacamole is greatif you want to maybe grab it
with the chips, depending on howyou feel about fried foods, but
sometimes, you know, just keephalf your chipotle bowl I know
this is so niche.
What are all of the otherplaces that serve guacamole,

(09:26):
though, too?
And can you just save a littlepart of your bowl?
Save a taco, save whatever itis for later, if you know that
you're not going to have thechance to eat a full, proper
meal?
Now let's get past that kind ofniche one and come back to
trail mix.
Focus on getting a trail mixthat has a lot of seeds, has a
lot of nuts, not a lot of sugarycandy in it.

(09:48):
Sometimes those dried fruitsare also really laden with sugar
, so just finding one that isnot as sweet, okay, you guys see
the trend there.
And then, last but not least, Iknow that protein bars it's not
that life-changing, but justkeeping in mind what is a
protein bar that you like?
I see these superfood bars fromPaleo Valley.

(10:09):
They have a great amount ofprotein, fat, different
superfoods.
They're going to keep youfeeling good for a long time.
So I think that is justwhatever it is for you that
works.
Maybe it's not Paleo Valley,but maybe it is the option that
Trader Joe's has on theirshelves, or whatever is your
other local grocery store.
If you put in the work and bywork I mean not that much work,

(10:33):
just intentional time to look atthe options available to you,
look at what actually tastesgood to you and try a couple
things, if you're just keepingthose on hand, so whenever
you're about to run out for ameeting, great, this is on my
checklist.
I'm gonna bring this with me.
You are going to thank yourselfand it will be so worth it.

(10:56):
Now I'll just close out on thatsame note of how can you really
make this a habit instead of achore.
And so, coming back to thatpacking list, do you have a note
in your notes app that has okay, license, corporate card,

(11:16):
laptop charger, et cetera, andput your snacks on that list?
Don't allow yourself this is aseparate item don't allow
yourself to go all day withouteating, right, if you are
repeatedly waiting until 4 pm tohave your first meal because
you're having a really busy day,like, take yourself seriously

(11:37):
and you know plan ahead for that, because that's not going to
best serve your overall health.
Okay, that's all I've got foryou today.
I hope this was helpful.
I hope this was just quick foodfor thought and something that
will help you in the next coupleof days here.
Put one of these into practicethis week and let me know on

(11:59):
Instagram, at Bridget Walton,how you felt about it.
Okay, thanks, guys, we'll seeyou on the next one.
If you loved today's episode andgot something good out of it,
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Let's put it on autopilot.
As always, I need to give youmy reminder that the information

(12:22):
I share with you here is foreducational purposes only, and
it should not be used as areplacement for medical advice
or diagnosis.
Now, if you are, on the otherhand, in the market for some
one-on-one support, then I wouldlove for you to take me up on
my offer for a free strategycall.
You can find these links andmore in the show notes.