November 11, 2024 • 31 mins
Let’s be honest - amidst the deadlines, commitments, and responsibilities, it's your health that often takes a backseat. But pause for a moment and consider this: your health is your most valuable asset, and it's worth protecting at all costs.
Seriously, without your health, what do you have?
No amount of wealth, success, or material possessions can replace the vitality and well-being that comes from being in good health. Your health is the foundation upon which everything else in your life is built. It's the key that unlocks the door to a life of joy, fulfilment, and limitless possibilities.
So, how do you protect this precious asset?
After receiving a diagnosis of osteopenia, I found myself on a journey to prioritize self-care and well-being, especially as I navigate the hormonal changes of perimenopause and menopause. Join me in this episode of the Ageless and Awesome podcast as I share how proactive steps like proper nutrition and maintaining healthy habits can be transformative. Together, we'll explore how self-care not only helps regulate the nervous system but also ensures a fulfilling and active future. With personal insights and practical tips, you'll discover the importance of taking charge of your health and happiness amidst life’s many responsibilities.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Susie Garden and this is the Ageless and
Awesome podcast.
I'm an age-defying naturopathand clinical nutritionist and
I'm here to bust myths aroundwomen's health and aging so that
you can be ageless and awesomein your 40s, 50s and beyond.
The Ageless and Awesome podcastis dedicated to helping women
(00:24):
through perimenopause andmenopause with great health, a
positive mindset and outrageousconfidence.
Hit, subscribe or follow nowand let's get started.
Hello, gorgeous one, andwelcome to this week's episode
of the Ageless and Awesomepodcast.
This week, I'm going to talkabout something that is dear to
(00:47):
my heart, and that is the powerof self-care and particularly
how it can impact our hormonesin peri and post-menopause.
So the thing is, let's be honestwith ourselves.
We are all pretty busy peopleand amidst the deadlines, the
(01:10):
commitments, theresponsibilities that we all
have, often it's our health thattakes a back seat.
Am I right?
I'm pretty sure that I am.
How many times have you put offa mammogram or a pap smear, or
have you eaten takeaway becauseyou haven't had time to go
(01:30):
shopping or to do meal prep?
You know all of these sorts ofthings that can really
contribute to our own self-careand our health long-term.
So, when you think about it.
If you ask the richest personin the world, you know what is
important.
Many of them will say theirhealth.
(01:51):
Because without your health,you could be the richest person
in the world and have access toanything you want to do at any
time.
And if your health is not great, you're not going to be able to
do all of the things that youwant to do in your life.
And even though you may not bethe richest person in the world
I certainly am not I want tomake sure I'm going into this
(02:14):
last sort of third, probablylonger.
Actually, women in my familylive into their nineties.
So you know I've got more thana third of my life still to go
and I don't want to live it in astate of poor health.
So I know that the things I doright now while I've been in my
forties and now in my fifties, Iknow that these things are
(02:37):
absolutely critical for myfuture health and that the
things I do now or don't do aregoing to impact my health and my
mobility and my ability to dothings that are fun, that I
enjoy.
It's going to impact that bigtime, big time If I don't take
(03:00):
steps now to really make surethat I'm prioritizing my health,
because without your health,what do you have?
And that really came home to mewhen I was diagnosed earlier
this year with osteopenia and itwas like man, I didn't think I
was at risk for osteoporosis.
And now I'm like, okay, I don'twant.
(03:21):
I'm a pretty active person.
I don't want my body to limitme in the things that I can do
in the future.
When I'm in my sixties, I stillwant to be traveling.
In my seventies, I still wantto be traveling, I still want to
be doing fun things going onbushwalks.
You know I don't want to belimited by my mobility, so fun
and fulfilled as I want it to be.
But yeah, you need to actuallydo the work to make sure that
(03:53):
you're in that place physically,mentally, emotionally,
spiritually later on in life.
And you're never too young tostart to put these things in
place, because the more you canbuild good habits once you build
the habits, it's so easy tomaintain that much more easy
(04:17):
than trying to build that.
And seriously, no amount ofwealth success and seriously no
amount of wealth success,material possessions, can
replace the vitality andwell-being that comes from being
in good health.
Your health is the foundationupon which everything else in
your life is built.
(04:37):
It's the key, really.
It's the key that unlocks thedoor to a life full of limitless
possibilities, and it'ssomething that I see a lot in my
program, the Glow Protocol.
When women are coming to mefeeling flat, unwell, gut health
issues, maybe weight thatthey're not wanting to carry
(05:00):
anymore, and when they usuallyand this is usually happens in
the first two to three weeksthey suddenly feel so much
better and they're sleeping.
They don't realize how bad theywere feeling until they
actually start feeling normal,back to our getting our health,
back to our baseline level.
Often you do not realize howbad you're feeling, so if you
(05:23):
think, oh no, this isn't me,really have a think about what
are the things that you areconsciously and intentionally
doing to help bring yourselfinto a great state of health,
and what habits are you bringingin that are going to continue
that as you live your life forthe next decades?
(05:44):
So what are some of the thingsyou can do?
Actually, before I go into whatare some of the things, I do
actually want to say, there isscience behind what I'm about to
talk about.
What I'm about to talk about is, of course, self-care.
There is so much science tosupport self-care.
This is not just about doingsomething fun to support
(06:06):
self-care.
This is not just about doingsomething fun.
It's not fluff.
The basis of the science isaround regulating and supporting
your nervous system.
I'm going to go a little bitbeyond that today in the podcast
, but that's when we talk aboutself-care generally.
That's what we're meaning Doingthings that are going to
support your nervous system,things like things that just are
fun for you for a start.
I mean, we know that thingssuch as mindfulness, meditation,
(06:32):
that sort of stuff, that'sdefinitely going to be helpful
and that's where there is a lotof science.
But just generally speaking,anything you can do that makes
you feel good is going to helpregulate your nervous system.
So let's talk about some otherthings.
So nourishing your body from anutritional point of view is
paramount to keep yourinflammation in your body low.
(06:56):
We know that inflammation isthe root cause of pretty much
every physical and mental healthcondition cause of pretty much
every physical and mental healthcondition, from anxiety and
depression to cancer to heartdisease.
So many medical conditionscaused by inflammation.
(07:16):
And our whole environment isinflammatory in our modern
lifestyle.
So whatever you can do in termsof, from a food point of view,
to reduce inflammation.
That is important.
I'll get into that shortly.
But yeah, nourishing your bodywith nutritional meals is super
(07:36):
important and that means alsoavoiding foods that are not
great for you Because, for astart, they fill you up.
So you know if most, for mostof us, if you put down a I don't
know a bowl of steamed broccolior a bowl of chips or sorry,
(07:57):
and a bowl of chips, I knowwhich one most of us would be
attracted to, including myself.
But if you have the bowl ofchips, you're not going to have
necessarily room for thebroccoli.
So it's kind of important toreally prioritize nutrition,
have treat foods, absolutely.
I'm not saying not have fun andnot have treat foods, but make
sure you're getting thatnourishment in first, so that
you minimize your intake of thenot so great foods for you and
(08:24):
you're getting that nourishmentthat your body needs.
So I think I don't think I'velisted yet the kind of foods.
I might as well just go therenow.
So the kind of foods you'rewanting to include obviously
lots of whole foods, freshfruits, veggies, grains, healthy
, sorry quality proteins, allthat sort of stuff.
(08:45):
That's all the good stuff Plushydration, super duper important
and avoiding things like yourhigh sugar, your trans fats,
your saturated fats, processedfoods, all of those things.
We all know this.
None of this is new information, I'm sure, but I think it's
really important to keepbringing that into your mind,
(09:06):
because we have such greataccess to food beyond.
What we need and I think that'sprobably one of the major issues
for many people is that,because we have so much choice,
our ancestors did not.
They really didn't.
They had the basics andgenerally that was home-cooked
(09:26):
foods that were not from a box.
That's where we've really, Ithink, gone too far in the other
direction, where we're eatinglots of foods in boxes, which is
great because it's convenientand, let's face it, a lot of us
are time poor.
But even just building simplehabits like double cooking when
you're cooking a meal, cooktwice as much and freeze half
and then you've got, you know,you can start building up a
(09:48):
fantastic stock of frozen mealsin your freezer and that way
you're not getting caught outbecause you're too busy Just
little habits like that make amassive difference to your
health and to your self-care.
So, nourishing your body withnutritious foods, finding
movement that you love I'm notsomeone who love or rather I
(10:09):
used to be someone who did notlove exercise.
I actually quite like moving mybody now, I think because I sit
a lot Like when I started mycareer.
I was a nurse, so I was on myfeet all day, every day, and so
I the last thing I felt likedoing was exercise when I
finished work.
But now that I spend my dayspretty much sitting, I really
(10:31):
love going to Reforma, I lovegoing to yoga, I love walking my
dogs, I love all swimming inthe ocean, all of that stuff.
So moving your body in waysthat you enjoy is really
important, because not only areyou going to get the benefit of
that movement, which is improvedbone density, improved muscle
mass, improve flexibility, etcetera You're also going to get
(10:56):
the regulation of your nervoussystem.
That happens when you're doingsomething that you enjoy, and
when you do move your body, youdo release endorphins.
It does feel really good andfor you you may not want to go
to anything sort of organized interms of movements or even just
dancing, going for a walk.
(11:18):
All of that sort of stuff willreally help.
I think that's probably all Iwant to say about that.
Prioritizing sleep.
That's another really importantthing, particularly in peri and
post menopause.
All of us during that time oflife often sorry, not all of us,
I would say.
The majority of women, though,that I speak to at that time of
(11:39):
life really struggle with sleep.
I know for me I've talked a lotabout my struggle with insomnia
, and probably for some of theyears of this podcast, when it
was in its previous iteration,the Wellness Glow I struggled
with insomnia.
I had no idea I was inperimenopause and that was
probably one of the biggestdrivers of my insomnia.
(12:00):
And so you know, reallyprioritizing a good sleep
routine, and that can be thingslike removing screens a couple
of hours before you go to bed,that can be wearing blue blocker
glasses during the day Now theycan be in your prescription
glasses or you can actually justbuy blue blocker glasses that
(12:22):
look like prescription glassesthat you can use when you're on
your screen.
Things like, you know, usingbeautiful essential oils that
relax you, perhaps doingsomething like reading, maybe
have a deep breathing practiceor a meditation practice, having
a shower or a bath, justsomething like a routine that
(12:42):
starts to tell your mind oh,we're getting ready to go to bed
.
Like anything building thehabit starts to build a neural
pathway that is going to promotesleep.
And making sure your room iscool, making sure that you have
the comfort in whether it's yourbed, your sheets, what you're
(13:03):
wearing to bed if you're wearinganything all of those sorts of
things.
Maybe you know we talk.
I've talked a little bit aboutgratitude.
It's something I'm starting towork more with personally, and
having a gratitude practice justbefore you go to bed can be
very powerful and just helprelax your nervous system before
(13:27):
you go to bed.
So there's lots of things youcan do.
I think it's a very personalthing as to what helps you with
your sleep and, of course, thereare some beautiful herbal
medicines.
I would always recommend to myclients magnesium in a form that
helps promote sleep, andgenerally that's going to be
(13:49):
magnesium glycinate or magnesiumthreonate.
They're probably the two betterones to have and having a
decent dose of that to make surethat your muscles are nice and
relaxed and it starts to relaxyour brain as well.
So, yeah, as I said, it's goingto be really very personal what
your sleep hygiene is, or yoursleep routine we tend to call it
(14:13):
now, but actually having oneand starting to develop one,
working out what works for you,will serve you well for many,
many years.
What else can be termed aself-care thing?
Well, as I said, anything thatbrings you joy.
So hanging out with friends, Ithink, is one of, as I said,
anything that brings you joy.
(14:33):
So hanging out with friends, Ithink, is one of probably one of
the better self-care activitiesthat you can do.
Surrounding yourself withlike-minded people who will
support you, who will be thereto uplift you, to empower you,
to listen to you, to you know,not judge you those having a
support system around you,whether that's family, whether
(14:55):
it's friends, whether it'sthrough a club or something like
that, whatever your interestsare.
If you've got that supportthere, it makes a huge
difference to how you feel aboutyourself.
It makes a huge difference toyour nervous system, to your
nervous system, and that isabsolutely a part of self care.
So this is the thing whenyou're looking at this sort of
(15:24):
stuff.
It's not selfish.
It is not selfish to look afteryourself.
I often have to have discussionswith clients when they talk
about well, how am I going tofit all of this in?
I've got all of these otherthings to do.
I don't want to feel like andthis is the powerful sentence I
don't want to feel like I'mneglecting my family because I
am looking after myself.
Can I just assure you, when themother looks after themselves,
the rest of the family benefits.
(15:45):
They get the better version ofyou.
They're not getting the tiredyou, the stressed you, the
anxious you.
They're getting the well-rested, the relaxed, the engaged, the
empowered you, and a lot ofthese habits that I'm talking
about are not going to take alot of additional time.
You have to eat anyway.
So you know, making time for anourishing meal you've got to
(16:09):
eat and I know obviously it'squicker to get takeaway.
Sometimes Depends, I can whipup a nutritious meal in less
than half an hour and generallyfor takeaway you're looking at
around that length of time andif you've got frozen meals ready
to go that you've cooked, bang.
That's way, way cheaper andquicker than takeaway and so so
(16:29):
much better for you and so somuch better for you.
So, yeah, it's really try andturn around your mindset around
self-care.
Looking after yourself actuallybenefits your family and if
they have to wait an extraminute or two for you to be
available because you're doingsome deep breathing or you're
having a shower or you whateverit is, then they wait, you know
(16:49):
it's okay.
It's okay, give yourselfpermission to look after
yourself.
So that is self-care.
I did actually also want totouch on healthcare,
preventative healthcare, becausethat is a part of the self-care
.
I believe the self-care modeland that is the things that the
(17:10):
sorry the, the testing and thatsort of thing that can really
help prevent health problems inthe future.
So you know, are you on trackwith your mammograms, your DEXA
scan if you're in that age group, that's, your bone density scan
, your pap smears, your bloodtests?
If you're not having bloodsdone every year, particularly in
(17:31):
Australia, I will be.
I know I have a lot oflisteners from around the world
and your healthcare systems maynot cover you, but certainly in
Australia you can get underMedicare pretty good selection
of blood tests, just generally,without being sick, just as a
checkup to make sure that yourcholesterol's within range, to
make sure that your blood healthis good, that you're not iron
(17:53):
deficient, You're not vitamin Ddeficient, maybe testing your
hormones if you need to, all ofthat sort of thing.
So make the time go to thatappointment If you've got pain
in your body, such as neckissues, shoulder issues, all of
that sort of thing.
Are you seeing someone about it?
I talk to so many women thathave got injuries or pain in
(18:15):
their body that they've neverhad assessed.
I'm like what?
What is going on here?
You can so easily get thatassessed, whether it's at your
GP, whether it's at an osteopath, a chiropractor, a physio,
whatever massage therapist.
Be proactive about these things.
Don't wait until it gets to apoint that you're really
(18:35):
struggling to complete basictasks because your shoulder's so
sore.
You can't get sleep becauseyour hips are so sore.
Prevention is always betterthan cure, but management early
will help prevent that pain fromlingering on and on and on.
So these are the sort of thingslistening to your body taking
(18:58):
that time to go.
You know, even something Istarted for myself a little
while ago probably a year, yearand a half ago was actually
rating Cause this is something Ido with my clients all the time
.
Is I, every every consult Ihave with my clients, I'll ask
them what's your energy out of10?
What's your stress out of 10?
So I went through a littleperiod of time and I still do it
(19:20):
from time to time where I askmyself every day for a period of
time.
What's my energy today out of10?
What's my stress?
Out of 10?
And if I start looking at aweek and it's on like six out of
10 for energy, six out of 10for energy, I'm like that's not
good.
Why is that?
And you know, putting somethings in place to make sure
that I'm hydrated.
(19:41):
I've got my foods?
Okay, that, am I getting out innature enough, am I?
What's my stress?
Like stress and energy areclosely interlinked, which is
why I always ask those twoquestions, and usually, if my
energy is down, my stress willbe up.
So then, yeah, it's what.
What can I do?
Easy things deep breathing atmy desk while I'm working so
(20:01):
easy it doesn't take any extratime.
I have to breathe anyway.
Um, making sure I get to myclasses every week, cause that
is something that I absolutelylove.
Making sure when I walk my dogs, I am present.
I never, ever, take my phonewith me.
I'm not someone that walksaround looking at my phone.
I see people, you know, everyday that are going on their
morning walk and they literallyare looking down at their phone
(20:24):
while they're walking.
I find that crazy.
And so, yeah, being engaged inyour surroundings, that is going
to regulate your nervous system.
That is a perfect example ofself-care.
So I hope actually no.
Before I sign off, one morething I do want to talk about is
(20:48):
a digital detox I mentionedbefore, when it comes to sleep,
getting rid of your screens.
I actually, from about 6 pm, myphone is in another room from
where I am, I probably shouldjust turn it off, but I do like
to just double check before I goto bed that I haven't had any
calls or any messages I need todeal with.
But I never look at email.
I will rarely look at an SMS.
I will often look at, like, mymessages on Facebook, just
(21:11):
because I know that that's how alot of my friends will
communicate with me.
But yeah, I don't want toreceive news or just any sort of
issue that's going to nudge mynervous system before I go to
sleep.
And I think it's a really goodpractice, particularly if you
have family at home, that youare focused on them and you're
not having a dinner where all ofyou have got your devices out
(21:33):
and you just engage with yourdevice and not with each other.
Because, let's face it, when welook at how many hours there
are in a day and look at howmuch time we actually get with
our loved ones.
It's a very short period oftime relative to the 24-hour
period.
If you really nail it down,particularly if you have kids,
(21:53):
you think, okay, well, they'reat school or uni or whatever, or
not even living with youanymore.
You're, you know, at work.
You've got a spouse.
Perhaps that's at work, it canjust be.
When you really look at howmany minutes sometimes a day you
get together be present witheach other rather than looking
(22:15):
at your screens.
So as well as that aspect of it, there's obviously the blue
light aspect, which is theproblem with, you know,
interfering with your circadianrhythm and therefore your sleep
quality.
So I think that was the onlyother thing I wanted to mention
there.
So I hope this has been helpful.
This is a bit of a softerepisode.
I tend to go for stuff that's alittle bit more tangible
(22:39):
Self-care can be a littleintangible and have a think
about well, what are the thingsthat you like to do?
What have you not done for along time?
I was actually in the car Ithink it was yesterday and I saw
an ad on the side of a bus orsomething for indoor climbing.
Now.
I've done that a couple oftimes.
I haven't done it for a reallylong time, but I really enjoyed
(22:59):
it every time.
I did it because I'm quitescared of heights, but I don't
mind that, because it feels verycontrolled and it makes me feel
really good.
I probably just get this hugeadrenaline rush when I do it and
it was like God, I haven't donethat for so long.
I'm going to go and do that.
So I have a think about what arethe things that you've done,
that you've enjoyed, that youhaven't done for a really long
(23:20):
time.
Maybe it's as simple as goingfor a picnic.
Maybe it's as simple as goingto the beach.
I'm so fortunate because I livenear a beautiful beach and
where I walk every day with mydogs is right next to a nature
reserve, so I get the sound ofthe waves, I get sunrise, which
is beautiful, I get lots oftrees.
Sometimes I see koalas, I seelots of birds, and that is just
(23:43):
the best way to start a day.
So have a think about what arethe things that bring you joy
that you're not doing.
That you could probably do,even if it means you have to get
up half an hour earlier, evenif it means you have to plan a
trip to the beach or somethinglike that.
And then notice how you feel inyour body and your mind when
(24:05):
you actually go and do one ofthese things, and I bet you feel
good and I bet you say toyourself or your friend or your
partner or your kid or whoeveryou're with we should do this
more often.
How many times have you saidthat?
And there's really probablynothing stopping you from doing
it more often, from planning it,putting it in your diary, you
know, and as we're coming,starting to really head into the
(24:27):
end of the year, have a realthink about, well, what are the
habits that I've got now thataren't serving me, that I don't
want to take into 2025 or intothe next year?
If you're listening to thispodcast later and don't wait
until the 1st of January tostart, do it now, just start.
It's not difficult, it's justabout taking that first step.
(24:51):
And if you do struggle withthat, here's two, or no one,
piece of advice I'm going togive you.
Whenever I'm thinking aboutstuff like this and I'm thinking
, oh, I just can't be botheredsitting down and doing something
about it, I ask myself to give10 minutes to it, 10 minutes of
whatever the task is.
(25:11):
Now, this can be a task, can be, I don't know, cleaning.
It can be sitting down anddoing a business plan or
whatever it is I say to myselfokay, you can do it, you've got
10 minutes.
After that 10 minutes, if youwould like to stop, just stop.
You have permission to stop.
I give myself permission tostop.
I'll guarantee you you'll keepgoing, because once you get in
(25:33):
that flow, it is just I don'tknow, it's just easier to keep
going.
So if you think, okay, I'm goingto sit and I'm going to write
down a few things I can do, andmaybe I'm going to plan it in my
diary to really start lookingafter myself, looking after my
body, looking after my mind youknow, whether it's making
doctor's appointments, whetherit is all healthcare
(25:54):
professional appointments,whether it's going okay, I'm
going to do a walk three days aweek or something.
If even the thought of doingall of this, like say, okay, 10
minutes, I'm going to sit with apad and pen and I'm just going
to write it down.
And after 10 minutes, if I wantto stop and I want to stop this
plan or whatever, I'm justgoing to stop, do that and see
(26:14):
how it works for you, because Ifind it really helpful, because
10 minutes is a pretty you knowit's enough time to get into the
task, um and, but it's a shortenough period of time that it
feels super manageable.
And when I say give yourselfpermission, really truly give
yourself permission, like if youdon't want to keep going after
10 minutes, stop, absolutelystop, okay, and just try it
(26:34):
again another time.
Anyway, I hope this has beenhelpful.
I don't know whether podcastepisodes like this are useful.
I will know from the number ofdownloads, because I do get to
see.
I get to see what's popular andwhat's not so popular.
But yeah, if you found this ofinterest, please share it.
Maybe take a little screenshot,stick it in your social media.
(26:55):
I would absolutely love thatyou could tag me.
This is the way my stuff getsout there.
I don't have a big advertisingbudget.
It's just little old me sittingin my room at home in my what I
call my clinic room.
It's my online clinic room.
I've got one of my dogs at myfeet as I'm recording this
little Daisy.
And yeah, I don'm recordingthis little Daisy.
(27:15):
And yeah, I don't have a bigadvertising budget.
I don't have anyone elsepromoting me except you, so feel
free to share hope.
You have a great rest of theweek.
I'll be back on Thursday withQ&A.
Thanks so much for joining metoday on the Ageless and Awesome
podcast.
If you like today's episode,please make sure you click the
little plus button if you're onApple Podcasts or the follow
(27:37):
button if you're on Spotify, sothat you get each new episode
delivered to you every week.
If you like free stuff, thenhead to the show notes and click
the link to receive my freeRadiant Reset.
Hormone Detox Guide forperimenopausal women.
Or, if you'd like to continuethe discussion, hormone detox
guide for perimenopausal women.
Or if you'd like to continuethe discussion, head over to
(28:00):
Instagram and DM me at SusieGarden Wellness.
I'd love to connect with you.
Hi, I'm Susie Garden and this is the Ageless and
Awesome podcast.
I'm an age-defying naturopathand clinical nutritionist and
I'm here to bust myths aroundwomen's health and aging so that
you can be ageless and awesomein your 40s, 50s and beyond.
The Ageless and Awesome podcastis dedicated to helping women
(00:24):
through perimenopause andmenopause with great health, a
positive mindset and outrageousconfidence.
Hit, subscribe or follow nowand let's get started.
Hello, gorgeous one, andwelcome to this week's episode
of the Ageless and Awesomepodcast.
This week, I'm going to talkabout something that is dear to
(00:47):
my heart, and that is the powerof self-care and particularly
how it can impact our hormonesin peri and post-menopause.
So the thing is, let's be honestwith ourselves.
We are all pretty busy peopleand amidst the deadlines, the
(01:10):
commitments, theresponsibilities that we all
have, often it's our health thattakes a back seat.
Am I right?
I'm pretty sure that I am.
How many times have you put offa mammogram or a pap smear, or
have you eaten takeaway becauseyou haven't had time to go
(01:30):
shopping or to do meal prep?
You know all of these sorts ofthings that can really
contribute to our own self-careand our health long-term.
So, when you think about it.
If you ask the richest personin the world, you know what is
important.
Many of them will say theirhealth.
(01:51):
Because without your health,you could be the richest person
in the world and have access toanything you want to do at any
time.
And if your health is not great, you're not going to be able to
do all of the things that youwant to do in your life.
And even though you may not bethe richest person in the world
I certainly am not I want tomake sure I'm going into this
(02:14):
last sort of third, probablylonger.
Actually, women in my familylive into their nineties.
So you know I've got more thana third of my life still to go
and I don't want to live it in astate of poor health.
So I know that the things I doright now while I've been in my
forties and now in my fifties, Iknow that these things are
(02:37):
absolutely critical for myfuture health and that the
things I do now or don't do aregoing to impact my health and my
mobility and my ability to dothings that are fun, that I
enjoy.
It's going to impact that bigtime, big time If I don't take
(03:00):
steps now to really make surethat I'm prioritizing my health,
because without your health,what do you have?
And that really came home to mewhen I was diagnosed earlier
this year with osteopenia and itwas like man, I didn't think I
was at risk for osteoporosis.
And now I'm like, okay, I don'twant.
(03:21):
I'm a pretty active person.
I don't want my body to limitme in the things that I can do
in the future.
When I'm in my sixties, I stillwant to be traveling.
In my seventies, I still wantto be traveling, I still want to
be doing fun things going onbushwalks.
You know I don't want to belimited by my mobility, so fun
and fulfilled as I want it to be.
But yeah, you need to actuallydo the work to make sure that
(03:53):
you're in that place physically,mentally, emotionally,
spiritually later on in life.
And you're never too young tostart to put these things in
place, because the more you canbuild good habits once you build
the habits, it's so easy tomaintain that much more easy
(04:17):
than trying to build that.
And seriously, no amount ofwealth success and seriously no
amount of wealth success,material possessions, can
replace the vitality andwell-being that comes from being
in good health.
Your health is the foundationupon which everything else in
your life is built.
(04:37):
It's the key, really.
It's the key that unlocks thedoor to a life full of limitless
possibilities, and it'ssomething that I see a lot in my
program, the Glow Protocol.
When women are coming to mefeeling flat, unwell, gut health
issues, maybe weight thatthey're not wanting to carry
(05:00):
anymore, and when they usuallyand this is usually happens in
the first two to three weeksthey suddenly feel so much
better and they're sleeping.
They don't realize how bad theywere feeling until they
actually start feeling normal,back to our getting our health,
back to our baseline level.
Often you do not realize howbad you're feeling, so if you
(05:23):
think, oh no, this isn't me,really have a think about what
are the things that you areconsciously and intentionally
doing to help bring yourselfinto a great state of health,
and what habits are you bringingin that are going to continue
that as you live your life forthe next decades?
(05:44):
So what are some of the thingsyou can do?
Actually, before I go into whatare some of the things, I do
actually want to say, there isscience behind what I'm about to
talk about.
What I'm about to talk about is, of course, self-care.
There is so much science tosupport self-care.
This is not just about doingsomething fun to support
(06:06):
self-care.
This is not just about doingsomething fun.
It's not fluff.
The basis of the science isaround regulating and supporting
your nervous system.
I'm going to go a little bitbeyond that today in the podcast
, but that's when we talk aboutself-care generally.
That's what we're meaning Doingthings that are going to
support your nervous system,things like things that just are
fun for you for a start.
I mean, we know that thingssuch as mindfulness, meditation,
(06:32):
that sort of stuff, that'sdefinitely going to be helpful
and that's where there is a lotof science.
But just generally speaking,anything you can do that makes
you feel good is going to helpregulate your nervous system.
So let's talk about some otherthings.
So nourishing your body from anutritional point of view is
paramount to keep yourinflammation in your body low.
(06:56):
We know that inflammation isthe root cause of pretty much
every physical and mental healthcondition cause of pretty much
every physical and mental healthcondition, from anxiety and
depression to cancer to heartdisease.
So many medical conditionscaused by inflammation.
(07:16):
And our whole environment isinflammatory in our modern
lifestyle.
So whatever you can do in termsof, from a food point of view,
to reduce inflammation.
That is important.
I'll get into that shortly.
But yeah, nourishing your bodywith nutritional meals is super
(07:36):
important and that means alsoavoiding foods that are not
great for you Because, for astart, they fill you up.
So you know if most, for mostof us, if you put down a I don't
know a bowl of steamed broccolior a bowl of chips or sorry,
(07:57):
and a bowl of chips, I knowwhich one most of us would be
attracted to, including myself.
But if you have the bowl ofchips, you're not going to have
necessarily room for thebroccoli.
So it's kind of important toreally prioritize nutrition,
have treat foods, absolutely.
I'm not saying not have fun andnot have treat foods, but make
sure you're getting thatnourishment in first, so that
you minimize your intake of thenot so great foods for you and
(08:24):
you're getting that nourishmentthat your body needs.
So I think I don't think I'velisted yet the kind of foods.
I might as well just go therenow.
So the kind of foods you'rewanting to include obviously
lots of whole foods, freshfruits, veggies, grains, healthy
, sorry quality proteins, allthat sort of stuff.
(08:45):
That's all the good stuff Plushydration, super duper important
and avoiding things like yourhigh sugar, your trans fats,
your saturated fats, processedfoods, all of those things.
We all know this.
None of this is new information, I'm sure, but I think it's
really important to keepbringing that into your mind,
(09:06):
because we have such greataccess to food beyond.
What we need and I think that'sprobably one of the major issues
for many people is that,because we have so much choice,
our ancestors did not.
They really didn't.
They had the basics andgenerally that was home-cooked
(09:26):
foods that were not from a box.
That's where we've really, Ithink, gone too far in the other
direction, where we're eatinglots of foods in boxes, which is
great because it's convenientand, let's face it, a lot of us
are time poor.
But even just building simplehabits like double cooking when
you're cooking a meal, cooktwice as much and freeze half
and then you've got, you know,you can start building up a
(09:48):
fantastic stock of frozen mealsin your freezer and that way
you're not getting caught outbecause you're too busy Just
little habits like that make amassive difference to your
health and to your self-care.
So, nourishing your body withnutritious foods, finding
movement that you love I'm notsomeone who love or rather I
(10:09):
used to be someone who did notlove exercise.
I actually quite like moving mybody now, I think because I sit
a lot Like when I started mycareer.
I was a nurse, so I was on myfeet all day, every day, and so
I the last thing I felt likedoing was exercise when I
finished work.
But now that I spend my dayspretty much sitting, I really
(10:31):
love going to Reforma, I lovegoing to yoga, I love walking my
dogs, I love all swimming inthe ocean, all of that stuff.
So moving your body in waysthat you enjoy is really
important, because not only areyou going to get the benefit of
that movement, which is improvedbone density, improved muscle
mass, improve flexibility, etcetera You're also going to get
(10:56):
the regulation of your nervoussystem.
That happens when you're doingsomething that you enjoy, and
when you do move your body, youdo release endorphins.
It does feel really good andfor you you may not want to go
to anything sort of organized interms of movements or even just
dancing, going for a walk.
(11:18):
All of that sort of stuff willreally help.
I think that's probably all Iwant to say about that.
Prioritizing sleep.
That's another really importantthing, particularly in peri and
post menopause.
All of us during that time oflife often sorry, not all of us,
I would say.
The majority of women, though,that I speak to at that time of
(11:39):
life really struggle with sleep.
I know for me I've talked a lotabout my struggle with insomnia
, and probably for some of theyears of this podcast, when it
was in its previous iteration,the Wellness Glow I struggled
with insomnia.
I had no idea I was inperimenopause and that was
probably one of the biggestdrivers of my insomnia.
(12:00):
And so you know, reallyprioritizing a good sleep
routine, and that can be thingslike removing screens a couple
of hours before you go to bed,that can be wearing blue blocker
glasses during the day Now theycan be in your prescription
glasses or you can actually justbuy blue blocker glasses that
(12:22):
look like prescription glassesthat you can use when you're on
your screen.
Things like, you know, usingbeautiful essential oils that
relax you, perhaps doingsomething like reading, maybe
have a deep breathing practiceor a meditation practice, having
a shower or a bath, justsomething like a routine that
(12:42):
starts to tell your mind oh,we're getting ready to go to bed
.
Like anything building thehabit starts to build a neural
pathway that is going to promotesleep.
And making sure your room iscool, making sure that you have
the comfort in whether it's yourbed, your sheets, what you're
(13:03):
wearing to bed if you're wearinganything all of those sorts of
things.
Maybe you know we talk.
I've talked a little bit aboutgratitude.
It's something I'm starting towork more with personally, and
having a gratitude practice justbefore you go to bed can be
very powerful and just helprelax your nervous system before
(13:27):
you go to bed.
So there's lots of things youcan do.
I think it's a very personalthing as to what helps you with
your sleep and, of course, thereare some beautiful herbal
medicines.
I would always recommend to myclients magnesium in a form that
helps promote sleep, andgenerally that's going to be
(13:49):
magnesium glycinate or magnesiumthreonate.
They're probably the two betterones to have and having a
decent dose of that to make surethat your muscles are nice and
relaxed and it starts to relaxyour brain as well.
So, yeah, as I said, it's goingto be really very personal what
your sleep hygiene is, or yoursleep routine we tend to call it
(14:13):
now, but actually having oneand starting to develop one,
working out what works for you,will serve you well for many,
many years.
What else can be termed aself-care thing?
Well, as I said, anything thatbrings you joy.
So hanging out with friends, Ithink, is one of, as I said,
anything that brings you joy.
(14:33):
So hanging out with friends, Ithink, is one of probably one of
the better self-care activitiesthat you can do.
Surrounding yourself withlike-minded people who will
support you, who will be thereto uplift you, to empower you,
to listen to you, to you know,not judge you those having a
support system around you,whether that's family, whether
(14:55):
it's friends, whether it'sthrough a club or something like
that, whatever your interestsare.
If you've got that supportthere, it makes a huge
difference to how you feel aboutyourself.
It makes a huge difference toyour nervous system, to your
nervous system, and that isabsolutely a part of self care.
So this is the thing whenyou're looking at this sort of
(15:24):
stuff.
It's not selfish.
It is not selfish to look afteryourself.
I often have to have discussionswith clients when they talk
about well, how am I going tofit all of this in?
I've got all of these otherthings to do.
I don't want to feel like andthis is the powerful sentence I
don't want to feel like I'mneglecting my family because I
am looking after myself.
Can I just assure you, when themother looks after themselves,
the rest of the family benefits.
(15:45):
They get the better version ofyou.
They're not getting the tiredyou, the stressed you, the
anxious you.
They're getting the well-rested, the relaxed, the engaged, the
empowered you, and a lot ofthese habits that I'm talking
about are not going to take alot of additional time.
You have to eat anyway.
So you know, making time for anourishing meal you've got to
(16:09):
eat and I know obviously it'squicker to get takeaway.
Sometimes Depends, I can whipup a nutritious meal in less
than half an hour and generallyfor takeaway you're looking at
around that length of time andif you've got frozen meals ready
to go that you've cooked, bang.
That's way, way cheaper andquicker than takeaway and so so
(16:29):
much better for you and so somuch better for you.
So, yeah, it's really try andturn around your mindset around
self-care.
Looking after yourself actuallybenefits your family and if
they have to wait an extraminute or two for you to be
available because you're doingsome deep breathing or you're
having a shower or you whateverit is, then they wait, you know
(16:49):
it's okay.
It's okay, give yourselfpermission to look after
yourself.
So that is self-care.
I did actually also want totouch on healthcare,
preventative healthcare, becausethat is a part of the self-care
.
I believe the self-care modeland that is the things that the
(17:10):
sorry the, the testing and thatsort of thing that can really
help prevent health problems inthe future.
So you know, are you on trackwith your mammograms, your DEXA
scan if you're in that age group, that's, your bone density scan
, your pap smears, your bloodtests?
If you're not having bloodsdone every year, particularly in
(17:31):
Australia, I will be.
I know I have a lot oflisteners from around the world
and your healthcare systems maynot cover you, but certainly in
Australia you can get underMedicare pretty good selection
of blood tests, just generally,without being sick, just as a
checkup to make sure that yourcholesterol's within range, to
make sure that your blood healthis good, that you're not iron
(17:53):
deficient, You're not vitamin Ddeficient, maybe testing your
hormones if you need to, all ofthat sort of thing.
So make the time go to thatappointment If you've got pain
in your body, such as neckissues, shoulder issues, all of
that sort of thing.
Are you seeing someone about it?
I talk to so many women thathave got injuries or pain in
(18:15):
their body that they've neverhad assessed.
I'm like what?
What is going on here?
You can so easily get thatassessed, whether it's at your
GP, whether it's at an osteopath, a chiropractor, a physio,
whatever massage therapist.
Be proactive about these things.
Don't wait until it gets to apoint that you're really
(18:35):
struggling to complete basictasks because your shoulder's so
sore.
You can't get sleep becauseyour hips are so sore.
Prevention is always betterthan cure, but management early
will help prevent that pain fromlingering on and on and on.
So these are the sort of thingslistening to your body taking
(18:58):
that time to go.
You know, even something Istarted for myself a little
while ago probably a year, yearand a half ago was actually
rating Cause this is something Ido with my clients all the time
.
Is I, every every consult Ihave with my clients, I'll ask
them what's your energy out of10?
What's your stress out of 10?
So I went through a littleperiod of time and I still do it
(19:20):
from time to time where I askmyself every day for a period of
time.
What's my energy today out of10?
What's my stress?
Out of 10?
And if I start looking at aweek and it's on like six out of
10 for energy, six out of 10for energy, I'm like that's not
good.
Why is that?
And you know, putting somethings in place to make sure
that I'm hydrated.
(19:41):
I've got my foods?
Okay, that, am I getting out innature enough, am I?
What's my stress?
Like stress and energy areclosely interlinked, which is
why I always ask those twoquestions, and usually, if my
energy is down, my stress willbe up.
So then, yeah, it's what.
What can I do?
Easy things deep breathing atmy desk while I'm working so
(20:01):
easy it doesn't take any extratime.
I have to breathe anyway.
Um, making sure I get to myclasses every week, cause that
is something that I absolutelylove.
Making sure when I walk my dogs, I am present.
I never, ever, take my phonewith me.
I'm not someone that walksaround looking at my phone.
I see people, you know, everyday that are going on their
morning walk and they literallyare looking down at their phone
(20:24):
while they're walking.
I find that crazy.
And so, yeah, being engaged inyour surroundings, that is going
to regulate your nervous system.
That is a perfect example ofself-care.
So I hope actually no.
Before I sign off, one morething I do want to talk about is
(20:48):
a digital detox I mentionedbefore, when it comes to sleep,
getting rid of your screens.
I actually, from about 6 pm, myphone is in another room from
where I am, I probably shouldjust turn it off, but I do like
to just double check before I goto bed that I haven't had any
calls or any messages I need todeal with.
But I never look at email.
I will rarely look at an SMS.
I will often look at, like, mymessages on Facebook, just
(21:11):
because I know that that's how alot of my friends will
communicate with me.
But yeah, I don't want toreceive news or just any sort of
issue that's going to nudge mynervous system before I go to
sleep.
And I think it's a really goodpractice, particularly if you
have family at home, that youare focused on them and you're
not having a dinner where all ofyou have got your devices out
(21:33):
and you just engage with yourdevice and not with each other.
Because, let's face it, when welook at how many hours there
are in a day and look at howmuch time we actually get with
our loved ones.
It's a very short period oftime relative to the 24-hour
period.
If you really nail it down,particularly if you have kids,
(21:53):
you think, okay, well, they'reat school or uni or whatever, or
not even living with youanymore.
You're, you know, at work.
You've got a spouse.
Perhaps that's at work, it canjust be.
When you really look at howmany minutes sometimes a day you
get together be present witheach other rather than looking
(22:15):
at your screens.
So as well as that aspect of it, there's obviously the blue
light aspect, which is theproblem with, you know,
interfering with your circadianrhythm and therefore your sleep
quality.
So I think that was the onlyother thing I wanted to mention
there.
So I hope this has been helpful.
This is a bit of a softerepisode.
I tend to go for stuff that's alittle bit more tangible
(22:39):
Self-care can be a littleintangible and have a think
about well, what are the thingsthat you like to do?
What have you not done for along time?
I was actually in the car Ithink it was yesterday and I saw
an ad on the side of a bus orsomething for indoor climbing.
Now.
I've done that a couple oftimes.
I haven't done it for a reallylong time, but I really enjoyed
(22:59):
it every time.
I did it because I'm quitescared of heights, but I don't
mind that, because it feels verycontrolled and it makes me feel
really good.
I probably just get this hugeadrenaline rush when I do it and
it was like God, I haven't donethat for so long.
I'm going to go and do that.
So I have a think about what arethe things that you've done,
that you've enjoyed, that youhaven't done for a really long
(23:20):
time.
Maybe it's as simple as goingfor a picnic.
Maybe it's as simple as goingto the beach.
I'm so fortunate because I livenear a beautiful beach and
where I walk every day with mydogs is right next to a nature
reserve, so I get the sound ofthe waves, I get sunrise, which
is beautiful, I get lots oftrees.
Sometimes I see koalas, I seelots of birds, and that is just
(23:43):
the best way to start a day.
So have a think about what arethe things that bring you joy
that you're not doing.
That you could probably do,even if it means you have to get
up half an hour earlier, evenif it means you have to plan a
trip to the beach or somethinglike that.
And then notice how you feel inyour body and your mind when
(24:05):
you actually go and do one ofthese things, and I bet you feel
good and I bet you say toyourself or your friend or your
partner or your kid or whoeveryou're with we should do this
more often.
How many times have you saidthat?
And there's really probablynothing stopping you from doing
it more often, from planning it,putting it in your diary, you
know, and as we're coming,starting to really head into the
(24:27):
end of the year, have a realthink about, well, what are the
habits that I've got now thataren't serving me, that I don't
want to take into 2025 or intothe next year?
If you're listening to thispodcast later and don't wait
until the 1st of January tostart, do it now, just start.
It's not difficult, it's justabout taking that first step.
(24:51):
And if you do struggle withthat, here's two, or no one,
piece of advice I'm going togive you.
Whenever I'm thinking aboutstuff like this and I'm thinking
, oh, I just can't be botheredsitting down and doing something
about it, I ask myself to give10 minutes to it, 10 minutes of
whatever the task is.
(25:11):
Now, this can be a task, can be, I don't know, cleaning.
It can be sitting down anddoing a business plan or
whatever it is I say to myselfokay, you can do it, you've got
10 minutes.
After that 10 minutes, if youwould like to stop, just stop.
You have permission to stop.
I give myself permission tostop.
I'll guarantee you you'll keepgoing, because once you get in
(25:33):
that flow, it is just I don'tknow, it's just easier to keep
going.
So if you think, okay, I'm goingto sit and I'm going to write
down a few things I can do, andmaybe I'm going to plan it in my
diary to really start lookingafter myself, looking after my
body, looking after my mind youknow, whether it's making
doctor's appointments, whetherit is all healthcare
(25:54):
professional appointments,whether it's going okay, I'm
going to do a walk three days aweek or something.
If even the thought of doingall of this, like say, okay, 10
minutes, I'm going to sit with apad and pen and I'm just going
to write it down.
And after 10 minutes, if I wantto stop and I want to stop this
plan or whatever, I'm justgoing to stop, do that and see
(26:14):
how it works for you, because Ifind it really helpful, because
10 minutes is a pretty you knowit's enough time to get into the
task, um and, but it's a shortenough period of time that it
feels super manageable.
And when I say give yourselfpermission, really truly give
yourself permission, like if youdon't want to keep going after
10 minutes, stop, absolutelystop, okay, and just try it
(26:34):
again another time.
Anyway, I hope this has beenhelpful.
I don't know whether podcastepisodes like this are useful.
I will know from the number ofdownloads, because I do get to
see.
I get to see what's popular andwhat's not so popular.
But yeah, if you found this ofinterest, please share it.
Maybe take a little screenshot,stick it in your social media.
(26:55):
I would absolutely love thatyou could tag me.
This is the way my stuff getsout there.
I don't have a big advertisingbudget.
It's just little old me sittingin my room at home in my what I
call my clinic room.
It's my online clinic room.
I've got one of my dogs at myfeet as I'm recording this
little Daisy.
And yeah, I don'm recordingthis little Daisy.
(27:15):
And yeah, I don't have a bigadvertising budget.
I don't have anyone elsepromoting me except you, so feel
free to share hope.
You have a great rest of theweek.
I'll be back on Thursday withQ&A.
Thanks so much for joining metoday on the Ageless and Awesome
podcast.
If you like today's episode,please make sure you click the
little plus button if you're onApple Podcasts or the follow
(27:37):
button if you're on Spotify, sothat you get each new episode
delivered to you every week.
If you like free stuff, thenhead to the show notes and click
the link to receive my freeRadiant Reset.
Hormone Detox Guide forperimenopausal women.
Or, if you'd like to continuethe discussion, hormone detox
guide for perimenopausal women.
Or if you'd like to continuethe discussion, head over to
(28:00):
Instagram and DM me at SusieGarden Wellness.
I'd love to connect with you.
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