April 15, 2025 • 32 mins
Postpartum weight loss isn’t what you think it is.
We’re pulling back the curtain on one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented topics in postpartum health: women’s weight. Dr. Beth Westie is here to set the record straight and blow your mind. If you’re a provider still talking about “getting your body back” or encouraging calorie restriction after birth—stop what you’re doing and listen in.
In this episode, we talk about the difference between healing and shrinking, why the weight loss industry fails postpartum women, and how most “health advice” is based on studies done on men. You’ll hear how under-eating, fat restriction, and stress can derail hormone health for years, and why functional medicine and body literacy are the future of postpartum care. This is a conversation every provider needs to be part of.
Check out the episode on the blog: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/why-women-need-fat-the-truth-about-hormones-weight-loss-dr-beth-westie-ep-211/
Key Time Stamps:
00:00 – Intro: Breaking the postpartum weight stigma
01:11 – Meet Dr. Beth Westie and her work in hormone-based healing
02:00 – Differentiating real support from toxic weight loss advice
04:36 – The male bias in nutrition, fitness, and medical research
08:25 – Why postpartum women need more fat, not less
12:23 – The role of stress, depletion, and unmet needs in healing
16:30 – Why most OBs aren't trained in hormones or root cause care
19:04 – Hyperthyroidism, nutrient deficiencies, and missed diagnoses
27:15 – The normalization of postpartum dysfunction
28:48 – How we shift from symptom acceptance to real prevention
29:32 – Dr. Beth’s work in hormone testing and functional care
30:49 – Where to find Dr. Beth + bonus podcast episode link
NEXT STEPS:
🎒Download the free Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool & Guide for Providers
🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
📱Connect on Instagram!
📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training & Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
The postpartum care system is failing, leaving
countless mothers strugglingwith depression, anxiety and
autoimmune conditions.
I'm Miranda Bauer and I'vehelped thousands of providers
use holistic care practices toheal their clients at the root.
Subscribe now and join us inaddressing what modern medicine
(00:22):
overlooks, so that you can giveyour clients real, lasting
solutions for lifelongwell-being.
Hey, hey, everyone, welcome tothe podcast.
I have Dr Beth Westy here.
She is the author of thebestselling book the Female Fat
Solution, the creator of the12-Week Female Fat Solution
(00:44):
Challenge and Eat for your CycleMethod and the host of the
Female Health Solution Podcastso many things.
She has made it her mission tochange the way women view their
health.
She's traveling the country toeducate and empower women to
take their health into their ownhands so that they can use
nutrition to help women workwith their natural cycle of
(01:07):
their bodies to achieve lastingweight loss results.
I am so glad that you are hereand we're having this
conversation because, I willtell you, it's probably one of
the hardest conversations that Ifeel like I have, because we're
talking about women and weightloss, which is like this
(01:28):
societal stigma.
There's so much pain behind it.
We have all of this pressure,and so usually, when I approach
this, I'm like nope, nada, I'mnot having this conversation
because we're just contributingto that.
But you're not doing that and Iwant to talk to you a little
bit about how are youdifferentiating your content so
(01:51):
well so that you're not addingto that stigma, but rather
supporting the mothers who justneed to be supported and what it
is that they want, which istotally normal and fine.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yes, yes, I first up, thank you, thank you for having
me here.
Like I love talking about thisstuff and I love deep diving
into this because this is, Ifeel like, such an important
conversation because of, justlike you said, the stigma around
it.
I feel like we're brainwashed,almost you know to to think, oh,
this is going to happen to mybody at this age, or this thing
(02:24):
happens, or this celebritybounced back, blah, blah, blah,
and it's like, oh, this is goingto happen to my body at this
age, or this thing happens, orthis celebrity bounced back,
blah, blah, blah, and it's like,yeah, that celebrity has a
nanny, a chef, a trainer thatcome to her house, like, like,
come on, and that's not a normalresponse.
So when I talk about you know,especially like the title of my
book, the Female Fat Solutionit's talking about how our body
(02:46):
composition is, how we're built,how we're meant to work and
function.
And when women feel likesomething's off I've gained
weight and my hormones are offso often they're only told to
focus on we'll just lose weight,lose weight, lose weight, lose
weight.
Then everything else will fixitself.
And really, especially for thefemale body, our body
(03:09):
composition is a response to ourhormones, our stressors,
everything else.
So we approach it in a verydifferent way.
Where and again after havingkids or at different points in
your life with differentstressors, things like that,
your body can shift and changeto adjust to what's going on in
your environment and that'snormal.
(03:30):
So not to think of it like, oh,I had three kids, I should
still fit in the same pants Iwore in high school.
It's like your bones weren'teven done growing in high school
.
You know it's not the same andit's okay that it's different.
And to embrace yourself at yourhealthiest body, when you feel
(03:50):
the best, when you feel mostvibrant.
That's your new body that youlive in and that's that's a good
place to be in.
And then for women as well,right, like it's not just having
kids and going through thatprocess and everything else.
Then we go through a wholeother process perimenopause and
menopause right, where yourbody's going to change again.
So to acknowledge there's thiswhole section in my book where I
(04:14):
call it the seven bodies of Eve, acknowledging the different
bodies that women live inthroughout our lives.
And to understand that yourbody physically will change and
that's an okay thing to have,right, and it's designed that
way on purpose you know, Justhearing you talk, I did not
intend on asking you thisquestion, but this just came up.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Like what, if all of that we know about weight loss
was really just there for menweight loss Like?
Is that real?
Is that a thing that all ofthese dietary plans and you know
fad diets where they built formen?
Yes, Not women?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yes, A hundred percent.
A hundred percent there's, andwhat's funny is that I've gotten
in.
This is in the past.
I don't do those as muchanymore, but I used to get in
like online arguments withpeople you know in the comments.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
So easy to do, so easy to get.
You just have to exist intoday's world.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Right, and I would have.
I'm going to throw out astereotype here.
Like dude bro, trainer, likeit's calories in, calories out.
This is how it works.
Blah, blah, blah.
I'm like, yeah, for a male,because you have the same
hormones every 24 hours.
Super easy, right.
There's a couple of great booksthat I always love to reference
(05:36):
Whenever we start having thisconversation.
I'm like, if you want to deepdive on it, the book Doing Harm
by Maya Doonesbury and then thebook Invisible Women.
Those two the doing harm isspecific to medical and then to
medical stuff and research andthe pharmaceutical research and
all that stuff and how it's donemostly on men.
It's still done mostly on men.
All those other things, evenmedications that are designed
for women, testing is done onmen.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Why those are incredible books.
I love them.
I was obsessed with them.
I talked about those books forsix months after reading them.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
No joke, it will.
It will really.
But it's the same thing when wetalk about exercise and
nutrition and weight loss andthat whole thing, they.
So there was, um, a gal Iworked with and she was like
well, my trainer told me I needto take these supplements before
and after I work out and that Ishould see this amount of fat
loss in this timeframe becausethat's what this research has
(06:30):
shown.
And I was like, send me theresearch, I'm going to read the
study, like I.
You know I have sciencebackground.
I spent a lot of time readingresearch and studies and things
like that.
So I went and found the originof the study of when they tested
, tested these, you know,products like before and after
workouts to get you to fatburning, and all that stuff.
I was like, oh, you realizethat they tested this on
(06:52):
division one male collegeathletes between the ages of 18
and 22.
And they did it for like threeweeks.
So they did like a body fatpercentage.
They had them take thesesupplements and then they tested
them again afterwards and theysaid, oh, they lost 5% body fat
because of these supplements.
And I was like you are a 48 yearold woman who is in
(07:14):
perimenopause.
It is not going to work thesame for you.
So you're not doing it wrong,you're not screwing up, you have
.
You have a different body rightand different stress levels and
everything.
So of course all that stuff isnot going to.
It's not going to be the same.
I'm not saying it's wrong to do, but to have the same
expectation that I should losethat much body fat in three
weeks Nope, right it's.
(07:37):
You can't measure your successusing someone else's ruler.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Would you say that women's bodies require more fat
in order to function well than aman's?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
A hundred percent.
Oh, a hundred percent.
That's a baseline when you talkabout minimum body fat
percentage and this has beentrue and people don't realize
the male body can get down to 4%body fat and still function
really, really well, right.
But for women, if you get below, what happens Like your period
(08:09):
can stop.
It disrupts your entireendocrine system and your body
goes into a survival mode.
And there are some women whoare in that restrictive state
for so long that it can causelasting damage on their organs
and hormone production.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Okay, let's talk about this because this is
something that I see sofrequently, especially in
postpartum, where it's like,okay, I got to get my body back,
I got to lose the baby weight,right, we see and hear all of
those terms quite regularly, andso one of the first things that
they do is they startrestricting their diet and, of
course, fat has always been, youknow, considered, the thing
(08:48):
that makes you fat.
I think for a lot of peoplethat still exist and a lot of
people still not take in theamount of fat that they need,
especially during these diets.
Then lots of things happen.
There's a cascade effect ofnegative symptoms that occur.
So let's talk really quicklyabout, like, what happens when a
(09:11):
woman, particularly in thefirst several months or maybe in
even the breastfeeding yearsmaybe she's not breastfeeding
and she's, like, in the firstcouple of years postpartum, what
fat is she needing in order forher body to function?
And then what happens to herwhen she doesn't get that I know
, huge question.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah, I love this.
I think there's a lot offactors that go into this, so
I'll talk about some of the,I'll say, generalized nutrient
recommendations or things tothink about for yourself
specifically.
But the other thing that I wantto mention here is especially
the female body's response tostress and how our, how our
hormones change, our nutrientlevels are going to be different
(09:55):
, and what our body requireswith stress Now, birthing
another human and however thatfashion happens for you, stress,
right.
And then the postpartumexperience and what type of
support do you have and you knoware?
Is it?
Are you having your first oryour fifth babe, right, like
what's you know are?
Is it?
Are you having your first oryour fifth babe, right, like
what's?
You know what's going on inyour life that?
(10:16):
Do you still have the sameamount of support to have a good
postpartum?
I mean, I did a talk at my almamater recently and I said that
one of the biggest things I seeis that in other cultures women
will be so supported after birthand we are just not here Like.
There's cultures where theywomen give birth and they lay in
bed for 40 days, four zero 40,over a month.
(10:38):
You're in bed, you get up tobathe and go to the bathroom.
You have food brought to you,the baby's brought to you,
somebody else's changing thediaper.
You hang out, you feed the babe, you hand it off.
You know 40.
Do you know anybody that's hadthat like in real life Do?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
you know anybody that's had that like in real
life Only in other cultures?
Because I have relentlesslystudied anthropological, yeah,
it's, it only happens elsewhere.
And you look at, like thestudies of women in, say,
(11:15):
malaysia who have depressionrates of like three percent
because they take care of theirbodies and have these rests and
they have a government thatsupports them and paid leave and
like all the things Right.
Yeah, Amazing, like we have theanswers.
Yeah, we do, we really do.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yes, it's just this like.
So I really think that that's abig part of this.
I really really do so.
But in our Western world herethen, how do we navigate that?
How do we?
Whatever, and I'm going to justsay this up front, I was no
better.
I was in graduate school when Ihad my first two kids and I was
back in classes two weeks laterafter C-sections, like I.
(11:48):
So I wonder why I was sonutrient depleted or struggled
so much.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
I think we can all.
We all have those stories right, like whether by choice or
whether we felt like pushedright Because there's a lot of
women out there who don't have achoice, they have to return
back to work or whatever it isthat they're doing Right.
I think we all have thosestories on some level where we
feel like we were pushed into,you know, the system and not
(12:18):
able to rest and recover as weshould have.
Yeah, yes, so.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
so, with that in mind and getting enough healthy fats
and an overall nutrients, a bigpiece of it also is that being
pregnant and the hormones andeverything that shifts and
changes in your body, bodycomposition changing right, your
body fat percentage is going togo up and a lot of times, just
because you're strength I meanyou can still be active, lift
(12:43):
weights, all that stuff whileyou're pregnant.
It's just not going to be a mainfocus for your system, if you
know what I mean, right?
So it's very normal for womenwho are, I'll say, generally
active and they work out andthey're like, yeah, I feel like
my strength has come down orjust, especially during the
(13:06):
third trimester, not being ableto do certain physical exertion
that they could before, whichmeans your muscle mass goes down
and that body fat percentagegoes up, naturally.
So then postpartum it's a slowprocess to, because the female
body doesn't build muscle asquickly as the male body does,
it doesn't repair, it doesn'tall that stuff.
And again, if you're nursing,if you're all this other stuff,
(13:26):
it's not going to be a mainpriority again, which is okay.
But then give your brain thetimeframe of of.
You know people say year in,year out for a kid right.
I mean at least, if not more.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
really it's two right , it's the amount of fat that
the brain needs to complete itsrewiring process, which takes
two solid years, is massive,just that alone.
So like that mom brain, which Ifully believe never ends, ever.
My oldest is five.
(14:04):
I don't think that ever goesaway.
I've talked to so many momslike, and I am.
I am a huge proponent ofnutrition and the best health
and of course, I am in no wayshape, form or fashion perfect
in anything that I do.
But like it's a thing, right,but at the same time, like it
was so much more in those firsttwo years, right, which was a
(14:26):
biological, normal response tohaving a baby and just simply
needing more fat.
I, okay, response to having ababy and just simply needing
more fat, okay, I really wantyou to tell everybody, like,
what kind of doctor you are anddid you ever, in your training
as that kind of doctor, get anysort of female hormonal health
(14:46):
education?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah, so I'm a chiropractor by training, that's
what my doctorate is in andthen I also did a program for
acupuncture and Chinese medicine.
So I'm licensed in acupunctureand Chinese medicine and that is
where I did all of my extensivetraining, work in female
hormones and everything else,and then also with the
functional medicine trainingthat I have.
(15:09):
So I'm also a functionalmedicine practitioner, also with
the functional medicinetraining that I have.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
So I'm also a functional medicine practitioner
, so one of the things that Ithat I normally see, and I see
quite frequently, is like thisexpectation that especially
obese, right At that six weekcheckup that we're just going to
, they're going to have thatinformation, they're going to
know about female hormones,they're going to know about our
pelvic floor, they're going toknow about a perinatal mental
health, and it's like y'all youhave to understand that that is
(15:34):
not part of their training.
They are not trained for that.
They are trained for acutepostpartum care within the first
couple of days.
Nurses are as well likepostpartum nurses.
They have your back and canhelp you in those first couple
of days after having a baby.
Outside of that is not withintheir scope.
Yeah, at all.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
A hundred percent.
A hundred percent and this issomething and I'll share this as
a like anecdotal story thatgoes along with this that a lot
of times people think my OBGYN,they see this all the time, this
is what they trained in women,hormones, all that stuff.
They are looking for the bigbad things, right?
They're not looking for let'sget you functioning at your best
, let's get you feeling better,functioning better.
(16:15):
All those basic things, nope,they are looking for like are
you bleeding out or are you ableto actually survive?
If you are breathing and have apulse, you're good to go see
you later, right, it's sodifferent.
So my first kid, when I went infor my six week checkup for
(16:36):
everything, they took a look atme and I had a C-section.
He was a breach and I had someother complications.
So I had a C-section, theychecked me, they checked all the
things.
They were like oh, you look,you look good, you know how are
you doing?
And I was like I am reallytired.
I'm like I'm like really tired.
And they were like well, is hesleeping?
I was like he's, he's a goodsleeper, he's a good eater, he's
(16:57):
like off the charts for height,weight growth.
All the things were fantasticwith him.
I was like, but I'm reallystruggling.
And they're like well, you're anew mom, that's normal, you
know, that's normal, that's fine, okay, okay.
And then I went in to getadjusted.
It was literally like two dayslater and I was actually at the
(17:19):
student clinic at my school itwas because I was still a
student there and I went in withmy son and his little carrier
and I walked in and, on my wayin, like, so I parked the car
and I've got to bring him in histhe baby carrier into the
clinic.
I had to stop halfway to puthim down Cause I couldn't.
(17:40):
I was so fatigued when I saytired, like I was physically
fatigued I couldn't carry himand I've been an athlete my
whole life.
I did it like lifting weights,all this stuff I worked out
through my pregnancy, right, Iwas so exhausted so could not
even carry him 30 feet withouthaving to stop and put him down.
(18:00):
I get into the clinic, theycheck me in, they look at stuff,
right, they're talking aboutthings, you know and then they
ask me the same question likehow are you feeling?
You know, and I was like I'mjust real fatigued, I'm real
tired, but they continue to askmore questions how tired?
Is this different than before?
What are your other symptoms?
Do you have dry eyes?
Do you have like dry skinanywhere?
(18:21):
Do you have this, this and this?
And they started askingquestions about my diet,
nutrition, all these things.
Then they sent me for a bloodpanel immediately.
They were like something'swrong If you can't walk from the
car to the clinic withoutputting him down, something's
wrong.
Or they were like oh yeah,because the other um, I had lost
all my baby weight by six weeks.
(18:41):
That was another thing.
My OB was like great job,that's what she told me, great
job.
And at the other clinic theywere like you, you're like like
literally two pounds from yourpre-baby weight.
Or like huh, huh, okay, let's,let's take you for some labs
right now.
Like go upstairs to the lab,get blood drawn, and then you
know we'll run the labs the nextday.
My labs cause.
(19:02):
They were like are you irondeficient?
Is something wrong?
Right, they did a whole panelof things.
I had hyperthyroidism.
My thyroid went completelykazoo, which is why I lost the
weight, which is why I was sofatigued.
I my hair was falling out likecrazy.
But again they were saying oh,it's postpartum, this is normal.
You're a new mom.
Of course you're going to betired.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Isn't it so crazy that we we say things like that
and I, you know, having thoseinitial skills of like or not
initial, like those importantskills of like, are you bleeding
out?
You know those very specificlike.
That's the traditional, and noteven traditional I'm going to
that ER.
Right, if there is a majorinfection that I am not able to
(19:57):
fight at home, we're going tothe ER.
There's emergency scenario inwhich I'm going to show up and
receive that kind of care, butthe long-term care, the, the
care that's going to help uskeep us healthy, has to come
elsewhere, or at least from aprovider who said, hey, I want
to provide this and so,therefore, I'm going to go get
(20:19):
that additional training so thatI learn these things and that
I'm not just, you know,practicing this in a way of
modern medicine, because itdoesn't work in that, in that
way whatsoever.
Yes, it's a crazy experience.
I will tell you that after my Idon't even remember was it
(20:40):
second or was it third, I thinkit was, I think it was second
after my second Yep, um, I, uh,right around the seven month
mark, I hit 82 pounds, and I hadno idea, cause I am, I've
always been like a super tinyperson in my life, always very,
very tiny.
(21:00):
Like the only times that I'veever broken a hundred pounds, so
just for reference, um, wasbecause I was pregnant, right,
just like itty bitty tiny person.
And so I've never kept a scalein my like it was just never a
necessary thing for me andbecause I had always beaten
myself up.
I've spent, you know, all of myhigh school years trying to
(21:23):
gain weight right and trying to,and I was like no, never am I
going to have a scale to gainweight right and trying to, and
I was like no, never am I goingto have a scale.
So I had no earthly idea untilmy body, like was literally I
say literally internally,literally falling apart, Like
things were just not functioningand my guts were inside out, as
at least they felt like it was,when I was diagnosed with
(21:45):
ulcerative colitis and all ofthese things because of
postpartum and so many thingswhere people were saying, oh
yeah, it's just motherhood, ohyeah, like, yeah, you're going
to feel crappy.
Yeah, your hair's going to fallout, yep, yep, yep, yep, you're
tired.
Of course, yeah, you know, Igot all of these food allergies
(22:05):
after having a baby too.
Like totally normal.
I feel you sucks, you know.
And so this idea that wasreinforced over and over and
over again.
It wasn't until I went to mydaughter got sick and I ended up
having to take her in becauseshe was struggling to recover to
her provider.
And her provider looked at meand was like no, no, no, no, no,
(22:26):
no, no, like something's up.
When was the last time you hadtests and I was like tests, what
do you mean?
They said.
They said I was okay and shewas like uh, no, no, we should
get you in.
I was like okay, I'll do it,yeah, whatever you want.
You know, every abnormal testcoming back, I was so depleted,
(22:50):
I was so deficient, I was anemic.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I would like everything, everything anemic,
all those things, right, I had ahorrific thyroid storm, right.
And how did these things justlike happen and I want to say,
(23:14):
almost go unnoticed for so long,right, like.
Just my theory on this right isthat it goes back to the like
what we talked about earlierwith the weight loss stuff, or
like expecting us to likebouncing back or all these
things, restrictive things, andI'm going to call it being
(23:37):
brainwashed by a lot of thesemessages.
Growing up, you know magazines,tv shows, movies, the way
people talk, the way people youknow in your family might say
things about your body or howyou look or whatever that are
not helpful.
And then we lose touch with howwe should be feeling about
(24:01):
ourselves and reallyunderstanding Because that's one
of the number one things thatyou know when I do hormone
testing for women at alldifferent stages of their life,
they're getting a hormone,they're getting a urine test for
hormones, because they eitherhave gone in, already gotten a
blood panel and their resultswere normal, right, and or
(24:21):
they've been like, yeah, youdon't need it, or I think you
need an anti-anxiety med.
I don't think it's your hormones, I think you need an
anti-anxiety med.
I don't think it's yourhormones, I think it's.
You must have anxiety, you know, or something, or depression,
and they're searching for ananswer.
Yeah, and we see it on a Dutchtest versus you know anything
else.
But it's because we doubtourselves and so we're looking
for, like like there's somethingwrong.
There's got to be somethingwrong.
(24:42):
I don't feel right.
No matter what I do, I can'tshift and change it.
All this stuff like what theheck is wrong with me and it
plays with your mind, becausethen you feel kind of nuts, you
know, because you're not, youdon't trust yourself almost.
But we've not been told, yeah,we've been not told to lean into
that, we've been told to like,ignore that.
No pain, no gain.
(25:03):
You know, brr, sweat is fat,crying brr.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
You know, for me too.
I mean, my first kid I had 15years ago and any conversation
around postpartum was fairlytaboo.
It wasn't something that yousaid.
You did not talk aboutpostpartum, and I remember this
specifically because I went alittle crazy, because I started
to discover all of the thingsthat I thought I knew about
postpartum.
Because I was to discover allof the things that I thought I
knew about postpartum because Iwas in deep postpartum
(25:31):
depression and anxiety.
And then I was like, readingthings online, I was like what
do you mean?
So many women experiencedepression, like this is just,
and it was very much like thisis how it is.
Go to your provider, get yourpills, get your therapy.
And I was like okay, okay, butso many women experience this
and like why do I feel so alone?
(25:52):
So I became that crazy personwho would go like I'd see
another mom in the grocery storeand I'd be like hey, hey, like
you have a kid, like look, we'vegot a kid, a kid right.
Like you got a kid, I got a kid.
Cool, how are you?
Are you feeling okay?
Like, are you feeling like nuts?
Like I'm feeling nuts and theywould like me.
Like, okay, can I have thisconversation Are you sane, right
(26:14):
.
And then it was like, yeah, Ifeel insane, like I feel crazy
and I, this is happening and II'm going through this
depression.
I think it's depression, Idon't, I don't even know, right,
and like it was, it was soeyeopening for me and so I think
15 years ago, like nobody washaving these conversations, they
were very taboo.
And now we live in a world whereit's like everybody's having
(26:36):
the conversation aboutpostpartum, but it's all about
and this is the stage that we'rein right, the pendulum swings.
And now we're talking about,yeah, everybody loses their hair
Depression and anxiety sopopular it's, you know,
normalized to feel anxiety.
And normalized, you know, we'venormalized is what we've done.
We've normalized all of thesesymptoms.
(26:57):
Yep, your hormones are out ofbalance.
Yep, your thyroid is probablygonna crap out on you, and guess
what Everybody's does.
Because we're all talking aboutit and this is super important
and again, these conversationsare so necessary.
But it needs to move into waita second, we're all experiencing
this and we've recognizing thatwe're all experiencing this.
(27:18):
Now we have to move into howare we going to stop this from
happening, because, guess what?
It's actually not normal.
And so in our, in today's world, it's normal, right, and 15
years ago it was taboo.
And so now we have to shift theconversation and continue
talking about it, like not endthe conversation, but start the
conversation of how are we goingto make this better, how do we
(27:41):
prevent this from happening inthe first place?
What?
What can we do for providers togive them the education?
What can we do for moms toensure that they don't even get
to this place in the, you know,in the first place?
And those I feel like sometimesI'm like always like 10 to 15
years ahead of the game, just asI was, like you know, having
(28:02):
those taboo conversations at thegrocery store.
And now it's like you know, I'mhaving those conversations and
there's a lot of people who arelike you're crazy, you can't see
things like that.
And then, you know, there'speople who are listening in here
and people like you who arelike nope, these are the
conversations that we're havingand I think the tides are
shifting, where the pendulum isswinging.
(28:23):
We're moving into thatdirection, albeit slow.
We'll be there in 15 years andthen I'll be thinking of
something else, right?
So, yeah, yeah, it's a crazything, but I I'm so grateful for
all of the work that you do andeverything that you have shared
here and your experiences andall of that and you do an
amazing amount of work for moms.
(28:46):
Can you share a little bitabout what it is that you do and
where people can find you?
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Yeah, yeah.
So I work with people virtuallyall over the world and we do a
lot of hormone testing, which isa Dutch test it stands for
dried urine test forcomprehensive hormones and then
make natural recommendations offof that.
Sometimes it's nutrientrecommendations, supplemental
exercise, lifestyle changes allthose things that really help
your body function better so youcan get back to feeling like
(29:13):
you at whatever stage of lifethat you are in.
And we'll also do like GImapping, some other testing like
that as well, but that's ourreal main focus.
I have a team of doctors that Iwork with and, yeah, you can
find me on the interwebs.
You know websitedrbethwestiecom and you know
(29:37):
Facebook, instagram, youtube,tiktok it's all Dr Beth Westie.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
So yeah, beautiful.
And of course, we are going tohave all of that linked here as
well, and we did a podcastepisode for your podcast as well
.
So I am on your podcast, you'reon my podcast, so check in,
because she has a podcast aswell.
It's absolutely amazing.
And then we have a completelydifferent conversation over
(30:01):
there.
So if you love this, go take alook at that as well.
We'll make sure to link that inthe comments or in the show
notes for you as well.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
So, yeah, perfect, yeah, in the comments or in the
show notes for you as well.
So yeah, perfect, yeah, thankyou again.
There's so many things right.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I know so many pieces .
Well, I appreciate you so much.
Thank you again for for beinghere.
This has been amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Thanks so much for being a part of this crucial
conversation.
I know you're dedicated toadvancing postpartum care and if
you're ready to dig deeper,come join us on our newsletter,
where I share exclusive insights, resources and the latest tools
to help you make a lastingimpact on postpartum health.
(30:44):
Sign up at postpartumu theletter ucom which is in the show
notes, and if you found today'sepisode valuable, please leave
a review to help us reach moreproviders like you.
The postpartum care system is failing, leaving
countless mothers strugglingwith depression, anxiety and
autoimmune conditions.
I'm Miranda Bauer and I'vehelped thousands of providers
use holistic care practices toheal their clients at the root.
Subscribe now and join us inaddressing what modern medicine
(00:22):
overlooks, so that you can giveyour clients real, lasting
solutions for lifelongwell-being.
Hey, hey, everyone, welcome tothe podcast.
I have Dr Beth Westy here.
She is the author of thebestselling book the Female Fat
Solution, the creator of the12-Week Female Fat Solution
(00:44):
Challenge and Eat for your CycleMethod and the host of the
Female Health Solution Podcastso many things.
She has made it her mission tochange the way women view their
health.
She's traveling the country toeducate and empower women to
take their health into their ownhands so that they can use
nutrition to help women workwith their natural cycle of
(01:07):
their bodies to achieve lastingweight loss results.
I am so glad that you are hereand we're having this
conversation because, I willtell you, it's probably one of
the hardest conversations that Ifeel like I have, because we're
talking about women and weightloss, which is like this
(01:28):
societal stigma.
There's so much pain behind it.
We have all of this pressure,and so usually, when I approach
this, I'm like nope, nada, I'mnot having this conversation
because we're just contributingto that.
But you're not doing that and Iwant to talk to you a little
bit about how are youdifferentiating your content so
(01:51):
well so that you're not addingto that stigma, but rather
supporting the mothers who justneed to be supported and what it
is that they want, which istotally normal and fine.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yes, yes, I first up, thank you, thank you for having
me here.
Like I love talking about thisstuff and I love deep diving
into this because this is, Ifeel like, such an important
conversation because of, justlike you said, the stigma around
it.
I feel like we're brainwashed,almost you know to to think, oh,
this is going to happen to mybody at this age, or this thing
(02:24):
happens, or this celebritybounced back, blah, blah, blah,
and it's like, oh, this is goingto happen to my body at this
age, or this thing happens, orthis celebrity bounced back,
blah, blah, blah, and it's like,yeah, that celebrity has a
nanny, a chef, a trainer thatcome to her house, like, like,
come on, and that's not a normalresponse.
So when I talk about you know,especially like the title of my
book, the Female Fat Solutionit's talking about how our body
(02:46):
composition is, how we're built,how we're meant to work and
function.
And when women feel likesomething's off I've gained
weight and my hormones are offso often they're only told to
focus on we'll just lose weight,lose weight, lose weight, lose
weight.
Then everything else will fixitself.
And really, especially for thefemale body, our body
(03:09):
composition is a response to ourhormones, our stressors,
everything else.
So we approach it in a verydifferent way.
Where and again after havingkids or at different points in
your life with differentstressors, things like that,
your body can shift and changeto adjust to what's going on in
your environment and that'snormal.
(03:30):
So not to think of it like, oh,I had three kids, I should
still fit in the same pants Iwore in high school.
It's like your bones weren'teven done growing in high school
.
You know it's not the same andit's okay that it's different.
And to embrace yourself at yourhealthiest body, when you feel
(03:50):
the best, when you feel mostvibrant.
That's your new body that youlive in and that's that's a good
place to be in.
And then for women as well,right, like it's not just having
kids and going through thatprocess and everything else.
Then we go through a wholeother process perimenopause and
menopause right, where yourbody's going to change again.
So to acknowledge there's thiswhole section in my book where I
(04:14):
call it the seven bodies of Eve, acknowledging the different
bodies that women live inthroughout our lives.
And to understand that yourbody physically will change and
that's an okay thing to have,right, and it's designed that
way on purpose you know, Justhearing you talk, I did not
intend on asking you thisquestion, but this just came up.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Like what, if all of that we know about weight loss
was really just there for menweight loss Like?
Is that real?
Is that a thing that all ofthese dietary plans and you know
fad diets where they built formen?
Yes, Not women?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yes, A hundred percent.
A hundred percent there's, andwhat's funny is that I've gotten
in.
This is in the past.
I don't do those as muchanymore, but I used to get in
like online arguments withpeople you know in the comments.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
So easy to do, so easy to get.
You just have to exist intoday's world.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Right, and I would have.
I'm going to throw out astereotype here.
Like dude bro, trainer, likeit's calories in, calories out.
This is how it works.
Blah, blah, blah.
I'm like, yeah, for a male,because you have the same
hormones every 24 hours.
Super easy, right.
There's a couple of great booksthat I always love to reference
(05:36):
Whenever we start having thisconversation.
I'm like, if you want to deepdive on it, the book Doing Harm
by Maya Doonesbury and then thebook Invisible Women.
Those two the doing harm isspecific to medical and then to
medical stuff and research andthe pharmaceutical research and
all that stuff and how it's donemostly on men.
It's still done mostly on men.
All those other things, evenmedications that are designed
for women, testing is done onmen.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Why those are incredible books.
I love them.
I was obsessed with them.
I talked about those books forsix months after reading them.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
No joke, it will.
It will really.
But it's the same thing when wetalk about exercise and
nutrition and weight loss andthat whole thing, they.
So there was, um, a gal Iworked with and she was like
well, my trainer told me I needto take these supplements before
and after I work out and that Ishould see this amount of fat
loss in this timeframe becausethat's what this research has
(06:30):
shown.
And I was like, send me theresearch, I'm going to read the
study, like I.
You know I have sciencebackground.
I spent a lot of time readingresearch and studies and things
like that.
So I went and found the originof the study of when they tested
, tested these, you know,products like before and after
workouts to get you to fatburning, and all that stuff.
I was like, oh, you realizethat they tested this on
(06:52):
division one male collegeathletes between the ages of 18
and 22.
And they did it for like threeweeks.
So they did like a body fatpercentage.
They had them take thesesupplements and then they tested
them again afterwards and theysaid, oh, they lost 5% body fat
because of these supplements.
And I was like you are a 48 yearold woman who is in
(07:14):
perimenopause.
It is not going to work thesame for you.
So you're not doing it wrong,you're not screwing up, you have
.
You have a different body rightand different stress levels and
everything.
So of course all that stuff isnot going to.
It's not going to be the same.
I'm not saying it's wrong to do, but to have the same
expectation that I should losethat much body fat in three
weeks Nope, right it's.
(07:37):
You can't measure your successusing someone else's ruler.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Would you say that women's bodies require more fat
in order to function well than aman's?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
A hundred percent.
Oh, a hundred percent.
That's a baseline when you talkabout minimum body fat
percentage and this has beentrue and people don't realize
the male body can get down to 4%body fat and still function
really, really well, right.
But for women, if you get below, what happens Like your period
(08:09):
can stop.
It disrupts your entireendocrine system and your body
goes into a survival mode.
And there are some women whoare in that restrictive state
for so long that it can causelasting damage on their organs
and hormone production.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Okay, let's talk about this because this is
something that I see sofrequently, especially in
postpartum, where it's like,okay, I got to get my body back,
I got to lose the baby weight,right, we see and hear all of
those terms quite regularly, andso one of the first things that
they do is they startrestricting their diet and, of
course, fat has always been, youknow, considered, the thing
(08:48):
that makes you fat.
I think for a lot of peoplethat still exist and a lot of
people still not take in theamount of fat that they need,
especially during these diets.
Then lots of things happen.
There's a cascade effect ofnegative symptoms that occur.
So let's talk really quicklyabout, like, what happens when a
(09:11):
woman, particularly in thefirst several months or maybe in
even the breastfeeding yearsmaybe she's not breastfeeding
and she's, like, in the firstcouple of years postpartum, what
fat is she needing in order forher body to function?
And then what happens to herwhen she doesn't get that I know
, huge question.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah, I love this.
I think there's a lot offactors that go into this, so
I'll talk about some of the,I'll say, generalized nutrient
recommendations or things tothink about for yourself
specifically.
But the other thing that I wantto mention here is especially
the female body's response tostress and how our, how our
hormones change, our nutrientlevels are going to be different
(09:55):
, and what our body requireswith stress Now, birthing
another human and however thatfashion happens for you, stress,
right.
And then the postpartumexperience and what type of
support do you have and you knoware?
Is it?
Are you having your first oryour fifth babe, right, like
what's you know are?
Is it?
Are you having your first oryour fifth babe, right, like
what's?
You know what's going on inyour life that?
(10:16):
Do you still have the sameamount of support to have a good
postpartum?
I mean, I did a talk at my almamater recently and I said that
one of the biggest things I seeis that in other cultures women
will be so supported after birthand we are just not here Like.
There's cultures where theywomen give birth and they lay in
bed for 40 days, four zero 40,over a month.
(10:38):
You're in bed, you get up tobathe and go to the bathroom.
You have food brought to you,the baby's brought to you,
somebody else's changing thediaper.
You hang out, you feed the babe, you hand it off.
You know 40.
Do you know anybody that's hadthat like in real life Do?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
you know anybody that's had that like in real
life Only in other cultures?
Because I have relentlesslystudied anthropological, yeah,
it's, it only happens elsewhere.
And you look at, like thestudies of women in, say,
(11:15):
malaysia who have depressionrates of like three percent
because they take care of theirbodies and have these rests and
they have a government thatsupports them and paid leave and
like all the things Right.
Yeah, Amazing, like we have theanswers.
Yeah, we do, we really do.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yes, it's just this like.
So I really think that that's abig part of this.
I really really do so.
But in our Western world herethen, how do we navigate that?
How do we?
Whatever, and I'm going to justsay this up front, I was no
better.
I was in graduate school when Ihad my first two kids and I was
back in classes two weeks laterafter C-sections, like I.
(11:48):
So I wonder why I was sonutrient depleted or struggled
so much.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
I think we can all.
We all have those stories right, like whether by choice or
whether we felt like pushedright Because there's a lot of
women out there who don't have achoice, they have to return
back to work or whatever it isthat they're doing Right.
I think we all have thosestories on some level where we
feel like we were pushed into,you know, the system and not
(12:18):
able to rest and recover as weshould have.
Yeah, yes, so.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
so, with that in mind and getting enough healthy fats
and an overall nutrients, a bigpiece of it also is that being
pregnant and the hormones andeverything that shifts and
changes in your body, bodycomposition changing right, your
body fat percentage is going togo up and a lot of times, just
because you're strength I meanyou can still be active, lift
(12:43):
weights, all that stuff whileyou're pregnant.
It's just not going to be a mainfocus for your system, if you
know what I mean, right?
So it's very normal for womenwho are, I'll say, generally
active and they work out andthey're like, yeah, I feel like
my strength has come down orjust, especially during the
(13:06):
third trimester, not being ableto do certain physical exertion
that they could before, whichmeans your muscle mass goes down
and that body fat percentagegoes up, naturally.
So then postpartum it's a slowprocess to, because the female
body doesn't build muscle asquickly as the male body does,
it doesn't repair, it doesn'tall that stuff.
And again, if you're nursing,if you're all this other stuff,
(13:26):
it's not going to be a mainpriority again, which is okay.
But then give your brain thetimeframe of of.
You know people say year in,year out for a kid right.
I mean at least, if not more.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
really it's two right , it's the amount of fat that
the brain needs to complete itsrewiring process, which takes
two solid years, is massive,just that alone.
So like that mom brain, which Ifully believe never ends, ever.
My oldest is five.
(14:04):
I don't think that ever goesaway.
I've talked to so many momslike, and I am.
I am a huge proponent ofnutrition and the best health
and of course, I am in no wayshape, form or fashion perfect
in anything that I do.
But like it's a thing, right,but at the same time, like it
was so much more in those firsttwo years, right, which was a
(14:26):
biological, normal response tohaving a baby and just simply
needing more fat.
I, okay, response to having ababy and just simply needing
more fat, okay, I really wantyou to tell everybody, like,
what kind of doctor you are anddid you ever, in your training
as that kind of doctor, get anysort of female hormonal health
(14:46):
education?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah, so I'm a chiropractor by training, that's
what my doctorate is in andthen I also did a program for
acupuncture and Chinese medicine.
So I'm licensed in acupunctureand Chinese medicine and that is
where I did all of my extensivetraining, work in female
hormones and everything else,and then also with the
functional medicine trainingthat I have.
(15:09):
So I'm also a functionalmedicine practitioner, also with
the functional medicinetraining that I have.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
So I'm also a functional medicine practitioner
, so one of the things that Ithat I normally see, and I see
quite frequently, is like thisexpectation that especially
obese, right At that six weekcheckup that we're just going to
, they're going to have thatinformation, they're going to
know about female hormones,they're going to know about our
pelvic floor, they're going toknow about a perinatal mental
health, and it's like y'all youhave to understand that that is
(15:34):
not part of their training.
They are not trained for that.
They are trained for acutepostpartum care within the first
couple of days.
Nurses are as well likepostpartum nurses.
They have your back and canhelp you in those first couple
of days after having a baby.
Outside of that is not withintheir scope.
Yeah, at all.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
A hundred percent.
A hundred percent and this issomething and I'll share this as
a like anecdotal story thatgoes along with this that a lot
of times people think my OBGYN,they see this all the time, this
is what they trained in women,hormones, all that stuff.
They are looking for the bigbad things, right?
They're not looking for let'sget you functioning at your best
, let's get you feeling better,functioning better.
(16:15):
All those basic things, nope,they are looking for like are
you bleeding out or are you ableto actually survive?
If you are breathing and have apulse, you're good to go see
you later, right, it's sodifferent.
So my first kid, when I went infor my six week checkup for
(16:36):
everything, they took a look atme and I had a C-section.
He was a breach and I had someother complications.
So I had a C-section, theychecked me, they checked all the
things.
They were like oh, you look,you look good, you know how are
you doing?
And I was like I am reallytired.
I'm like I'm like really tired.
And they were like well, is hesleeping?
I was like he's, he's a goodsleeper, he's a good eater, he's
(16:57):
like off the charts for height,weight growth.
All the things were fantasticwith him.
I was like, but I'm reallystruggling.
And they're like well, you're anew mom, that's normal, you
know, that's normal, that's fine, okay, okay.
And then I went in to getadjusted.
It was literally like two dayslater and I was actually at the
(17:19):
student clinic at my school itwas because I was still a
student there and I went in withmy son and his little carrier
and I walked in and, on my wayin, like, so I parked the car
and I've got to bring him in histhe baby carrier into the
clinic.
I had to stop halfway to puthim down Cause I couldn't.
(17:40):
I was so fatigued when I saytired, like I was physically
fatigued I couldn't carry himand I've been an athlete my
whole life.
I did it like lifting weights,all this stuff I worked out
through my pregnancy, right, Iwas so exhausted so could not
even carry him 30 feet withouthaving to stop and put him down.
(18:00):
I get into the clinic, theycheck me in, they look at stuff,
right, they're talking aboutthings, you know and then they
ask me the same question likehow are you feeling?
You know, and I was like I'mjust real fatigued, I'm real
tired, but they continue to askmore questions how tired?
Is this different than before?
What are your other symptoms?
Do you have dry eyes?
Do you have like dry skinanywhere?
(18:21):
Do you have this, this and this?
And they started askingquestions about my diet,
nutrition, all these things.
Then they sent me for a bloodpanel immediately.
They were like something'swrong If you can't walk from the
car to the clinic withoutputting him down, something's
wrong.
Or they were like oh yeah,because the other um, I had lost
all my baby weight by six weeks.
(18:41):
That was another thing.
My OB was like great job,that's what she told me, great
job.
And at the other clinic theywere like you, you're like like
literally two pounds from yourpre-baby weight.
Or like huh, huh, okay, let's,let's take you for some labs
right now.
Like go upstairs to the lab,get blood drawn, and then you
know we'll run the labs the nextday.
My labs cause.
(19:02):
They were like are you irondeficient?
Is something wrong?
Right, they did a whole panelof things.
I had hyperthyroidism.
My thyroid went completelykazoo, which is why I lost the
weight, which is why I was sofatigued.
I my hair was falling out likecrazy.
But again they were saying oh,it's postpartum, this is normal.
You're a new mom.
Of course you're going to betired.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Isn't it so crazy that we we say things like that
and I, you know, having thoseinitial skills of like or not
initial, like those importantskills of like, are you bleeding
out?
You know those very specificlike.
That's the traditional, and noteven traditional I'm going to
that ER.
Right, if there is a majorinfection that I am not able to
(19:57):
fight at home, we're going tothe ER.
There's emergency scenario inwhich I'm going to show up and
receive that kind of care, butthe long-term care, the, the
care that's going to help uskeep us healthy, has to come
elsewhere, or at least from aprovider who said, hey, I want
to provide this and so,therefore, I'm going to go get
(20:19):
that additional training so thatI learn these things and that
I'm not just, you know,practicing this in a way of
modern medicine, because itdoesn't work in that, in that
way whatsoever.
Yes, it's a crazy experience.
I will tell you that after my Idon't even remember was it
(20:40):
second or was it third, I thinkit was, I think it was second
after my second Yep, um, I, uh,right around the seven month
mark, I hit 82 pounds, and I hadno idea, cause I am, I've
always been like a super tinyperson in my life, always very,
very tiny.
(21:00):
Like the only times that I'veever broken a hundred pounds, so
just for reference, um, wasbecause I was pregnant, right,
just like itty bitty tiny person.
And so I've never kept a scalein my like it was just never a
necessary thing for me andbecause I had always beaten
myself up.
I've spent, you know, all of myhigh school years trying to
(21:23):
gain weight right and trying to,and I was like no, never am I
going to have a scale to gainweight right and trying to, and
I was like no, never am I goingto have a scale.
So I had no earthly idea untilmy body, like was literally I
say literally internally,literally falling apart, Like
things were just not functioningand my guts were inside out, as
at least they felt like it was,when I was diagnosed with
(21:45):
ulcerative colitis and all ofthese things because of
postpartum and so many thingswhere people were saying, oh
yeah, it's just motherhood, ohyeah, like, yeah, you're going
to feel crappy.
Yeah, your hair's going to fallout, yep, yep, yep, yep, you're
tired.
Of course, yeah, you know, Igot all of these food allergies
(22:05):
after having a baby too.
Like totally normal.
I feel you sucks, you know.
And so this idea that wasreinforced over and over and
over again.
It wasn't until I went to mydaughter got sick and I ended up
having to take her in becauseshe was struggling to recover to
her provider.
And her provider looked at meand was like no, no, no, no, no,
(22:26):
no, no, like something's up.
When was the last time you hadtests and I was like tests, what
do you mean?
They said.
They said I was okay and shewas like uh, no, no, we should
get you in.
I was like okay, I'll do it,yeah, whatever you want.
You know, every abnormal testcoming back, I was so depleted,
(22:50):
I was so deficient, I was anemic.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I would like everything, everything anemic,
all those things, right, I had ahorrific thyroid storm, right.
And how did these things justlike happen and I want to say,
(23:14):
almost go unnoticed for so long,right, like.
Just my theory on this right isthat it goes back to the like
what we talked about earlierwith the weight loss stuff, or
like expecting us to likebouncing back or all these
things, restrictive things, andI'm going to call it being
(23:37):
brainwashed by a lot of thesemessages.
Growing up, you know magazines,tv shows, movies, the way
people talk, the way people youknow in your family might say
things about your body or howyou look or whatever that are
not helpful.
And then we lose touch with howwe should be feeling about
(24:01):
ourselves and reallyunderstanding Because that's one
of the number one things thatyou know when I do hormone
testing for women at alldifferent stages of their life,
they're getting a hormone,they're getting a urine test for
hormones, because they eitherhave gone in, already gotten a
blood panel and their resultswere normal, right, and or
(24:21):
they've been like, yeah, youdon't need it, or I think you
need an anti-anxiety med.
I don't think it's your hormones, I think you need an
anti-anxiety med.
I don't think it's yourhormones, I think it's.
You must have anxiety, you know, or something, or depression,
and they're searching for ananswer.
Yeah, and we see it on a Dutchtest versus you know anything
else.
But it's because we doubtourselves and so we're looking
for, like like there's somethingwrong.
There's got to be somethingwrong.
(24:42):
I don't feel right.
No matter what I do, I can'tshift and change it.
All this stuff like what theheck is wrong with me and it
plays with your mind, becausethen you feel kind of nuts, you
know, because you're not, youdon't trust yourself almost.
But we've not been told, yeah,we've been not told to lean into
that, we've been told to like,ignore that.
No pain, no gain.
(25:03):
You know, brr, sweat is fat,crying brr.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
You know, for me too.
I mean, my first kid I had 15years ago and any conversation
around postpartum was fairlytaboo.
It wasn't something that yousaid.
You did not talk aboutpostpartum, and I remember this
specifically because I went alittle crazy, because I started
to discover all of the thingsthat I thought I knew about
postpartum.
Because I was to discover allof the things that I thought I
knew about postpartum because Iwas in deep postpartum
(25:31):
depression and anxiety.
And then I was like, readingthings online, I was like what
do you mean?
So many women experiencedepression, like this is just,
and it was very much like thisis how it is.
Go to your provider, get yourpills, get your therapy.
And I was like okay, okay, butso many women experience this
and like why do I feel so alone?
(25:52):
So I became that crazy personwho would go like I'd see
another mom in the grocery storeand I'd be like hey, hey, like
you have a kid, like look, we'vegot a kid, a kid right.
Like you got a kid, I got a kid.
Cool, how are you?
Are you feeling okay?
Like, are you feeling like nuts?
Like I'm feeling nuts and theywould like me.
Like, okay, can I have thisconversation Are you sane, right
(26:14):
.
And then it was like, yeah, Ifeel insane, like I feel crazy
and I, this is happening and II'm going through this
depression.
I think it's depression, Idon't, I don't even know, right,
and like it was, it was soeyeopening for me and so I think
15 years ago, like nobody washaving these conversations, they
were very taboo.
And now we live in a world whereit's like everybody's having
(26:36):
the conversation aboutpostpartum, but it's all about
and this is the stage that we'rein right, the pendulum swings.
And now we're talking about,yeah, everybody loses their hair
Depression and anxiety sopopular it's, you know,
normalized to feel anxiety.
And normalized, you know, we'venormalized is what we've done.
We've normalized all of thesesymptoms.
(26:57):
Yep, your hormones are out ofbalance.
Yep, your thyroid is probablygonna crap out on you, and guess
what Everybody's does.
Because we're all talking aboutit and this is super important
and again, these conversationsare so necessary.
But it needs to move into waita second, we're all experiencing
this and we've recognizing thatwe're all experiencing this.
(27:18):
Now we have to move into howare we going to stop this from
happening, because, guess what?
It's actually not normal.
And so in our, in today's world, it's normal, right, and 15
years ago it was taboo.
And so now we have to shift theconversation and continue
talking about it, like not endthe conversation, but start the
conversation of how are we goingto make this better, how do we
(27:41):
prevent this from happening inthe first place?
What?
What can we do for providers togive them the education?
What can we do for moms toensure that they don't even get
to this place in the, you know,in the first place?
And those I feel like sometimesI'm like always like 10 to 15
years ahead of the game, just asI was, like you know, having
(28:02):
those taboo conversations at thegrocery store.
And now it's like you know, I'mhaving those conversations and
there's a lot of people who arelike you're crazy, you can't see
things like that.
And then, you know, there'speople who are listening in here
and people like you who arelike nope, these are the
conversations that we're havingand I think the tides are
shifting, where the pendulum isswinging.
(28:23):
We're moving into thatdirection, albeit slow.
We'll be there in 15 years andthen I'll be thinking of
something else, right?
So, yeah, yeah, it's a crazything, but I I'm so grateful for
all of the work that you do andeverything that you have shared
here and your experiences andall of that and you do an
amazing amount of work for moms.
(28:46):
Can you share a little bitabout what it is that you do and
where people can find you?
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Yeah, yeah.
So I work with people virtuallyall over the world and we do a
lot of hormone testing, which isa Dutch test it stands for
dried urine test forcomprehensive hormones and then
make natural recommendations offof that.
Sometimes it's nutrientrecommendations, supplemental
exercise, lifestyle changes allthose things that really help
your body function better so youcan get back to feeling like
(29:13):
you at whatever stage of lifethat you are in.
And we'll also do like GImapping, some other testing like
that as well, but that's ourreal main focus.
I have a team of doctors that Iwork with and, yeah, you can
find me on the interwebs.
You know websitedrbethwestiecom and you know
(29:37):
Facebook, instagram, youtube,tiktok it's all Dr Beth Westie.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
So yeah, beautiful.
And of course, we are going tohave all of that linked here as
well, and we did a podcastepisode for your podcast as well
.
So I am on your podcast, you'reon my podcast, so check in,
because she has a podcast aswell.
It's absolutely amazing.
And then we have a completelydifferent conversation over
(30:01):
there.
So if you love this, go take alook at that as well.
We'll make sure to link that inthe comments or in the show
notes for you as well.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
So, yeah, perfect, yeah, in the comments or in the
show notes for you as well.
So yeah, perfect, yeah, thankyou again.
There's so many things right.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I know so many pieces .
Well, I appreciate you so much.
Thank you again for for beinghere.
This has been amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Thanks so much for being a part of this crucial
conversation.
I know you're dedicated toadvancing postpartum care and if
you're ready to dig deeper,come join us on our newsletter,
where I share exclusive insights, resources and the latest tools
to help you make a lastingimpact on postpartum health.
(30:44):
Sign up at postpartumu theletter ucom which is in the show
notes, and if you found today'sepisode valuable, please leave
a review to help us reach moreproviders like you.
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