August 26, 2025 • 13 mins
Bloating doesn't always stem from what we eat. Despite cutting out dairy, wheat, or fibrous vegetables, there are three surprisingly simple factors you might be overlooking that could make a big difference without further dietary restrictions.
• Hydration matters – aim for about 64 ounces daily, sipping consistently throughout the day
• Include electrolytes by adding citrus and sea salt to water to prevent water retention
• Avoid drinking large amounts before or during meals to maintain stomach acid levels
• Pay attention to posture – hunching compresses digestive organs and tightens fascia
• Imagine being pulled up by a string from the crown of your head for better alignment
• Movement throughout the day provides a gentle massage for intestinal organs
• Take short walks after meals or do gentle stretches even while seated
• Combine hydration, posture, and movement for maximum relief from bloating
• Proper breathing techniques also aid digestion and reduce bloating
Visit movingthroughmidlife.com for free guides on breathing for better digestion and the Midlife Core Reset program that blends posture, core strength, movement, and daily habits into a manageable process.
Head to www.movingthroughmidlife. com to learn more
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome back to Moving Through Midlife.
Today we're talking aboutsomething so many of us deal
with and that is bloating.
And if you have been dealingwith bloating, you probably have
tried changing what you eat.
I mean, many times I'll hearstop eating dairy, stop eating
wheat, stop eating fibrousvegetables and beans and things
(00:33):
like that.
They're leading to your bloat.
But here's the thing it's notalways about what we eat.
In fact, there are somesurprisingly simple things you
might be overlooking that couldmake a big difference in how
your belly feels without youfeeling like you're restricting
(00:53):
even more in your diet.
So today we are diving intothree reasons you might still be
bloated and what you can doabout it, starting now.
The first one has to do withhydration.
Now I know you've been told youneed to make sure that you're
drinking water.
Here's the thing.
(01:14):
There's a couple of things whenit comes to water and I know if
you've listened to me and mypodcast over the years, you've
probably heard me preach certainthings with water and
unfortunately, or fortunately astime goes on, we tend to learn
more and things change,information changes, and this is
(01:35):
one area that I have noticed achange, and it may be because,
as a midlife woman and it may bebecause, as a midlife woman,
I'm not moving quite as much asI used to, so therefore I may
not need as much water as I usedto.
The other thing is is I don'tspend as much time outside as I
(01:58):
used to.
You know, when you have littlekids you tend to spend more time
running around outside, playing, going to parks and things like
that, so you may not need quiteas much water as you used to.
I have noticed for myself about60, that eight glasses, eight
ounces a day works really nicely.
(02:20):
If I drink about 64 ounces aday, I feel really good.
My answer always to you is testit out on yourself, see what
feels right.
Make sure that you haveelectrolytes.
So we want to make sure thatyou are not just drinking too
much fluids, because if yourelectrolyte balance is off, so
(02:44):
that's your sodium, potassium,magnesium which can happen.
If you're doing all of yourconsumption of fluid intake
through water rather than likefruits and vegetables, if your
electrolyte balance is off, yourbody may hold onto water,
(03:05):
especially around the abdomen.
So we want to make sure that wehave the electrolyte balance
and this is one of those thingswhere you're making sure that
you squirt like lemon juice Ialways do like a lemon,
grapefruit or orange.
(03:26):
Just squeeze a little bit ofthat into a glass and a little
bit of sea salt.
I like Redmond's real salt.
That would be my recommendation.
So that is what you can do tohelp ensure that your
electrolytes are not off.
When we think about this, theother thing that we want to
(03:48):
think about is making sure thatwe're sipping consistently
throughout the day, because ifnot, your digestion will slow
down right.
So the less water in yoursystem, in your body, the slower
your digestion will be.
So just, it doesn't meanchugging water.
It just means drinking a littlebit throughout the day.
(04:13):
When you feel thirsty, justhave a little bit of water.
Sometimes, even if you feelhungry and you're like, well, I
just ate like two hours ago, Ishouldn't be feeling hungry.
That's kind of like a key signto drink some water.
We tend to not understand ourbody signals and a lot of times
when you feel hungry, it isactually a thirst signal.
(04:36):
Note, you know, it's a key toyourself that you're thirsty.
So first drink some water tosee if that helps.
The other thing is is we don'twant to be drinking a big glass
right before or during a meal,because this is going to dilute
stomach acid and make digestionless efficient.
One thing that you can do istry to sip water throughout the
(05:00):
day small amounts, consistentlyRoom temperature water is the
easiest for your body to absorband it helps to keep things
moving throughout your systemand then pair it with mindful
pauses during your day.
It's an easy habit thatsupports digestion in a way most
people overlook.
(05:20):
That supports digestion in away most people overlook.
And this whole mindful pausethroughout the day is one thing
that I am really trying to takeinto account more.
Because we rush so much, it'snice to just calm down, take a
deep breath and then grab alittle bit of water.
So the next one is your postureand alignment.
(05:41):
This is one that you willalways hear me talk about,
because it is imperative to somuch more than the way you look.
So think about how often we'rehunched over our phones or
slouching at our desks.
That compression can actuallyslow digestion because it puts
(06:03):
pressure on the organs in yourbelly, so our fascia, which is
the connective tissue thatsurrounds the muscles and organs
I believe I have a wholeepisode on fascia in this
podcast, but that is verysensitive to posture as well.
That is very sensitive toposture as well.
(06:26):
When your fascia is tight orpulled, it can contribute to
that bloated, uncomfortablefeeling.
So you want to make sure thatyou are one drinking water,
because your fascia should glidealong your muscles and water
helps keep that fascial systemmoving and gliding.
But then also paying attentionto your posture throughout the
(06:47):
day, making sure that you're notin that rounded forward posture
where you're compressing downon your organs.
A simple check-in for you isthink about this is one that I
always recommend.
I feel like this helps me a lotand it makes sure that you're
not like pulling your shouldersback, because when you pull your
(07:08):
shoulders back, you can createa different change within the
shoulder blade.
But what we're going to doinstead sorry, I seem to go down
these rabbit holes what we'regoing to do instead is I want
you just to imagine someonepulling a string from the crown
of your head.
So the crown of your head isslightly back in the back, where
if you were to do a highponytail on your head, that's
(07:32):
exactly where it would be.
So you want to imagine someonepulling a string from that area
and just lengthening you up tohelp you sit really tall.
Your shoulders should feelrelaxed.
You're going to want to take afew deep breaths.
These small adjustmentsthroughout the day can make a
(07:52):
difference.
And if you're honestly, ifyou're struggling with your
posture and alignment, jump overinto movingthroughmidlifecom.
You will see.
I have the midlife core reset.
I just updated it to includecentral nervous system stuff as
well.
So it's all about calming yourbody down.
But this is going to help withposture and alignment and it
(08:15):
won't be overwhelming.
But if you start to work onthis, this will start to.
So once you start working onyour posture and alignment, you
are naturally starting to workyour core.
Our core is not meant to do 500crunches a day.
Just think about like in yourday-to-day life, are you laying
on the bed and crunching up?
(08:36):
No, you're standing up, you'removing around.
So we want to work onfunctional movements that help
build core strength, and a lotof it is just standing,
balancing, sometimes liftingheavy things, but not always but
just learning how to use thosedeep core muscles to help you
(08:59):
sit tall, sit tall, stand talland move in better alignment.
Okay, yes, we're still talkingabout bloating.
I know it seems like we're not,but it does affect all the
intestinal organs, the bladder,the colon all of that is
affected due to our posture.
(09:19):
And then the last one ismovement and core engagement.
So movement always does notmean intense workouts.
I know people cringe when I saymovement, but movement, please
understand that.
My goal is to help you move morethroughout the day.
(09:40):
My goal is not to help youexercise, okay, I want to help
you find ways to move morethroughout the day.
These little nudges that youfeel in everyday life, that are
kind of like I'm feelinguncomfortable, are your
opportunities to listen to whatyour body needs and move into a
different position.
(10:00):
So these gentle, intentionalmovements can help stimulate
digestion and get things movingin your belly.
You can do the short walksafter meals, but you can even do
a few twists or stretches inyour seat if you've sat down to
go back to work or something.
These twists and stretches canhelp get the almost like the
(10:26):
massaging of the intestines bycreating these little movements,
and it will also help you toengage your core during daily
activities.
These things can make a bigimpact to how your belly feels
throughout the day.
So think about if you aremoving like the stretching that
(10:49):
I mentioned.
Every time you stretch or yousit up tall, how that creates
like this dynamic movementwithin that midsection.
We want to think about thesemovements in a way that are
massaging your abdomen and yourintestines, and all of these
(11:09):
things are going to help keepall of those, keep everything,
moving through your system.
When you focus on weaving thesethings together, these three
things together the movement,the posture and the hydration
you'll likely notice a big shiftin bloating and overall comfort
.
There is also breathing, whichalso aids in digestion as well,
(11:34):
which I actually have a freeguide.
If you're interested, just goto movingthroughmidlifecom.
You're going to click onfreebies and it's going to be
there.
I'll put that in there.
I'm not going to go into detail, because I do have I believe I
have a whole podcast on that aswell Breathing for Better
(11:55):
Digestion.
So you can grab that or you cangrab the free guide.
Either way, both of those willprovide you some information
about how that can also affectyour bloating.
So, to recap, bloating is notalways about the food you eat.
Yes, sometimes it is, but ifyou've tried all of that stuff
(12:16):
and you still are dealing withbloating, gassiness, all of that
stuff and you still are dealingwith bloating, gassiness, all
the rest.
Pay attention to your hydration, check your posture and make
sure you are movingintentionally throughout the day
.
These three tools.
They're simple but when doneconsistently they will, I
promise you, make a difference.
(12:37):
If you are looking for a morestructured way to put all of
these types of things intopractice, I do want to remind
you that I do have the MidlifeCore Recept program that's going
to take you through eightphases that blend posture, core
strength, movement and dailyhabits all into a manageable
step-by-step process.
(12:58):
Let me know if you have anyquestions.
You can join me over in myMoving Through Midlife community
over on Facebook.
Again, everything is at mywebsite.
If you go to the website, clickon podcast, you'll get to the
community.
You can see the freebies, youcan see the programs.
All of that is there and justmake sure to practice these
(13:22):
three things and let me know inthe community if this tends to
make a difference for that bloat.
Welcome back to Moving Through Midlife.
Today we're talking aboutsomething so many of us deal
with and that is bloating.
And if you have been dealingwith bloating, you probably have
tried changing what you eat.
I mean, many times I'll hearstop eating dairy, stop eating
wheat, stop eating fibrousvegetables and beans and things
(00:33):
like that.
They're leading to your bloat.
But here's the thing it's notalways about what we eat.
In fact, there are somesurprisingly simple things you
might be overlooking that couldmake a big difference in how
your belly feels without youfeeling like you're restricting
(00:53):
even more in your diet.
So today we are diving intothree reasons you might still be
bloated and what you can doabout it, starting now.
The first one has to do withhydration.
Now I know you've been told youneed to make sure that you're
drinking water.
Here's the thing.
(01:14):
There's a couple of things whenit comes to water and I know if
you've listened to me and mypodcast over the years, you've
probably heard me preach certainthings with water and
unfortunately, or fortunately astime goes on, we tend to learn
more and things change,information changes, and this is
(01:35):
one area that I have noticed achange, and it may be because,
as a midlife woman and it may bebecause, as a midlife woman,
I'm not moving quite as much asI used to, so therefore I may
not need as much water as I usedto.
The other thing is is I don'tspend as much time outside as I
(01:58):
used to.
You know, when you have littlekids you tend to spend more time
running around outside, playing, going to parks and things like
that, so you may not need quiteas much water as you used to.
I have noticed for myself about60, that eight glasses, eight
ounces a day works really nicely.
(02:20):
If I drink about 64 ounces aday, I feel really good.
My answer always to you is testit out on yourself, see what
feels right.
Make sure that you haveelectrolytes.
So we want to make sure thatyou are not just drinking too
much fluids, because if yourelectrolyte balance is off, so
(02:44):
that's your sodium, potassium,magnesium which can happen.
If you're doing all of yourconsumption of fluid intake
through water rather than likefruits and vegetables, if your
electrolyte balance is off, yourbody may hold onto water,
(03:05):
especially around the abdomen.
So we want to make sure that wehave the electrolyte balance
and this is one of those thingswhere you're making sure that
you squirt like lemon juice Ialways do like a lemon,
grapefruit or orange.
(03:26):
Just squeeze a little bit ofthat into a glass and a little
bit of sea salt.
I like Redmond's real salt.
That would be my recommendation.
So that is what you can do tohelp ensure that your
electrolytes are not off.
When we think about this, theother thing that we want to
(03:48):
think about is making sure thatwe're sipping consistently
throughout the day, because ifnot, your digestion will slow
down right.
So the less water in yoursystem, in your body, the slower
your digestion will be.
So just, it doesn't meanchugging water.
It just means drinking a littlebit throughout the day.
(04:13):
When you feel thirsty, justhave a little bit of water.
Sometimes, even if you feelhungry and you're like, well, I
just ate like two hours ago, Ishouldn't be feeling hungry.
That's kind of like a key signto drink some water.
We tend to not understand ourbody signals and a lot of times
when you feel hungry, it isactually a thirst signal.
(04:36):
Note, you know, it's a key toyourself that you're thirsty.
So first drink some water tosee if that helps.
The other thing is is we don'twant to be drinking a big glass
right before or during a meal,because this is going to dilute
stomach acid and make digestionless efficient.
One thing that you can do istry to sip water throughout the
(05:00):
day small amounts, consistentlyRoom temperature water is the
easiest for your body to absorband it helps to keep things
moving throughout your systemand then pair it with mindful
pauses during your day.
It's an easy habit thatsupports digestion in a way most
people overlook.
(05:20):
That supports digestion in away most people overlook.
And this whole mindful pausethroughout the day is one thing
that I am really trying to takeinto account more.
Because we rush so much, it'snice to just calm down, take a
deep breath and then grab alittle bit of water.
So the next one is your postureand alignment.
(05:41):
This is one that you willalways hear me talk about,
because it is imperative to somuch more than the way you look.
So think about how often we'rehunched over our phones or
slouching at our desks.
That compression can actuallyslow digestion because it puts
(06:03):
pressure on the organs in yourbelly, so our fascia, which is
the connective tissue thatsurrounds the muscles and organs
I believe I have a wholeepisode on fascia in this
podcast, but that is verysensitive to posture as well.
That is very sensitive toposture as well.
(06:26):
When your fascia is tight orpulled, it can contribute to
that bloated, uncomfortablefeeling.
So you want to make sure thatyou are one drinking water,
because your fascia should glidealong your muscles and water
helps keep that fascial systemmoving and gliding.
But then also paying attentionto your posture throughout the
(06:47):
day, making sure that you're notin that rounded forward posture
where you're compressing downon your organs.
A simple check-in for you isthink about this is one that I
always recommend.
I feel like this helps me a lotand it makes sure that you're
not like pulling your shouldersback, because when you pull your
(07:08):
shoulders back, you can createa different change within the
shoulder blade.
But what we're going to doinstead sorry, I seem to go down
these rabbit holes what we'regoing to do instead is I want
you just to imagine someonepulling a string from the crown
of your head.
So the crown of your head isslightly back in the back, where
if you were to do a highponytail on your head, that's
(07:32):
exactly where it would be.
So you want to imagine someonepulling a string from that area
and just lengthening you up tohelp you sit really tall.
Your shoulders should feelrelaxed.
You're going to want to take afew deep breaths.
These small adjustmentsthroughout the day can make a
(07:52):
difference.
And if you're honestly, ifyou're struggling with your
posture and alignment, jump overinto movingthroughmidlifecom.
You will see.
I have the midlife core reset.
I just updated it to includecentral nervous system stuff as
well.
So it's all about calming yourbody down.
But this is going to help withposture and alignment and it
(08:15):
won't be overwhelming.
But if you start to work onthis, this will start to.
So once you start working onyour posture and alignment, you
are naturally starting to workyour core.
Our core is not meant to do 500crunches a day.
Just think about like in yourday-to-day life, are you laying
on the bed and crunching up?
(08:36):
No, you're standing up, you'removing around.
So we want to work onfunctional movements that help
build core strength, and a lotof it is just standing,
balancing, sometimes liftingheavy things, but not always but
just learning how to use thosedeep core muscles to help you
(08:59):
sit tall, sit tall, stand talland move in better alignment.
Okay, yes, we're still talkingabout bloating.
I know it seems like we're not,but it does affect all the
intestinal organs, the bladder,the colon all of that is
affected due to our posture.
(09:19):
And then the last one ismovement and core engagement.
So movement always does notmean intense workouts.
I know people cringe when I saymovement, but movement, please
understand that.
My goal is to help you move morethroughout the day.
(09:40):
My goal is not to help youexercise, okay, I want to help
you find ways to move morethroughout the day.
These little nudges that youfeel in everyday life, that are
kind of like I'm feelinguncomfortable, are your
opportunities to listen to whatyour body needs and move into a
different position.
(10:00):
So these gentle, intentionalmovements can help stimulate
digestion and get things movingin your belly.
You can do the short walksafter meals, but you can even do
a few twists or stretches inyour seat if you've sat down to
go back to work or something.
These twists and stretches canhelp get the almost like the
(10:26):
massaging of the intestines bycreating these little movements,
and it will also help you toengage your core during daily
activities.
These things can make a bigimpact to how your belly feels
throughout the day.
So think about if you aremoving like the stretching that
(10:49):
I mentioned.
Every time you stretch or yousit up tall, how that creates
like this dynamic movementwithin that midsection.
We want to think about thesemovements in a way that are
massaging your abdomen and yourintestines, and all of these
(11:09):
things are going to help keepall of those, keep everything,
moving through your system.
When you focus on weaving thesethings together, these three
things together the movement,the posture and the hydration
you'll likely notice a big shiftin bloating and overall comfort
.
There is also breathing, whichalso aids in digestion as well,
(11:34):
which I actually have a freeguide.
If you're interested, just goto movingthroughmidlifecom.
You're going to click onfreebies and it's going to be
there.
I'll put that in there.
I'm not going to go into detail, because I do have I believe I
have a whole podcast on that aswell Breathing for Better
(11:55):
Digestion.
So you can grab that or you cangrab the free guide.
Either way, both of those willprovide you some information
about how that can also affectyour bloating.
So, to recap, bloating is notalways about the food you eat.
Yes, sometimes it is, but ifyou've tried all of that stuff
(12:16):
and you still are dealing withbloating, gassiness, all of that
stuff and you still are dealingwith bloating, gassiness, all
the rest.
Pay attention to your hydration, check your posture and make
sure you are movingintentionally throughout the day
.
These three tools.
They're simple but when doneconsistently they will, I
promise you, make a difference.
(12:37):
If you are looking for a morestructured way to put all of
these types of things intopractice, I do want to remind
you that I do have the MidlifeCore Recept program that's going
to take you through eightphases that blend posture, core
strength, movement and dailyhabits all into a manageable
step-by-step process.
(12:58):
Let me know if you have anyquestions.
You can join me over in myMoving Through Midlife community
over on Facebook.
Again, everything is at mywebsite.
If you go to the website, clickon podcast, you'll get to the
community.
You can see the freebies, youcan see the programs.
All of that is there and justmake sure to practice these
(13:22):
three things and let me know inthe community if this tends to
make a difference for that bloat.
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