The Perimenopause Show with Jennifer Woodward
Hey there, it's Jennifer Woodward, and welcome to The Perimenopause Show – the go-to spot for all things perimenopause. I'm on a mission to demystify this wild ride, sharing stories, laughs, and maybe a few eye-rolling moments. Whether you're knee-deep in hot flashes or just curious, we've got you covered. Expect real talk, expert guests, and a sprinkle of humor because, let's face it, we could all use a laugh during perimenopause. So, grab your favorite drink, get comfy, and let's navigate this rollercoaster together. This is The Perimenopause Show, where we're turning perimenopause into a conversation, not a crisis.
Learn how to gracefully sail through perimenopause with tips on diet, exercise, stress management, sleep, and supplements.
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Reach out to me on my Instagram: @jennifer_woodward_wellness
The Perimenopause Show with Jennifer Woodward
Functional Testing and Holistic Changes in the Perimenopausal Years with Tina Haupert
Ever wondered why calorie counting and excessive cardio might not be yielding the results you want? We dive deep into the pitfalls of these common practices, especially for women in their late thirties and forties, and how they often lead to frustration and depletion. Discover the importance of comprehensive testing to identify mineral imbalances and how setting boundaries and making holistic lifestyle changes can radically improve your well-being. Our conversation also highlights the trials of turning 40 during the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessity of managing stress for long-term health. Packed with actionable insights and real-life stories, this episode is your guide to balancing health and happiness during perimenopause.
Hey, there, it's Jennifer Woodward, and welcome to the perimenopause show, the go-to spot for all things perimenopause. I'm on a mission to demystify this wild ride sharing stories, laughs and maybe a few eye rolling moments, whether you're knee deep in hot flashes or just curious, we've got you covered. Expect real talk, expert guests and a sprinkle of humor, because, let's face it, we could all use a laugh during perimenopause. So grab your favorite drink, get comfy and let's navigate this rollercoaster together. This is the Perimenopause Show, where we're turning perimenopause into a conversation, not a crisis. Where we're turning perimenopause into a conversation, not a crisis. Hello and welcome back to the Perimenopause Show. I'm Jennifer Woodward and in today's episode you get to hear from my friend and colleague in real life, tina Halpert, fdnp. I've been working on Tina's team as one of her FDNs for the past two and a half years and have enjoyed every second of learning from her. You are also going to enjoy hearing her tips and her story from her own perimenopause journey. So have a listen. I can't wait for you to dig in.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to the perimenopause show. I'm Jennifer Woodward and we are talking all things perimenopause how to make this transition in your life as easy and smooth as possible. I am so excited to welcome my friend, tina Halpert, to the show today. Tina is a colleague of mine and I work for her on her team at Carrots and Cake. I have to say she is one of the best bosses ever. I've learned a lot from Tina with regards to perimenopause and I am thrilled to get to have her share her story today about what has worked for her through this confusing time of life. So, tina, welcome to the show, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1:I am excited too. I just want to check and see if we were recording. We are good. So, tina, tell me a little bit about yourself. What brought you into the functional space to begin with? You are one of the OGs, I think. When I reached out to you to apply for your team, I told you I've been following you for like six or seven years, so that was just my introduction to you, but I think you've been in the space for 16 or 17 years at this point. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:Yep, I've been on the internet a long time, so yeah, I will share that story. I'll give you guys like the cliff notes, cause it is a long story. I mean 16 years on the internet, like I've done a lot of different things. But it really started with this whole idea of carrots and cake and that has very much been the theme for all these many years. But I was engaged to be married and I think, like a lot of women, I just wanted to shape up, look great, feel great and I started documenting my meals and my workouts and recipes and all the meal planning, all the wedding planning. I was doing probably some meal planning too, but I just put it out there on the internet and really it was supposed to be a hobby, it was just to keep me motivated and it just transitioned into something more. But at the heart of it was this idea of, you know, having your carrots and cake too. And that's still much, still very much my mentality, because I just knew myself and I knew I wanted to shape up but I wasn't willing to give up all the fun foods in life as far as like the cookies and the nachos and the glass of wine and things like that and that has pervaded everything I've done, for you know however many years it's been online. But really, what brought me to the functional space was my own health journey. I mean, I was online doing this blogger, influencer thing. I was a healthy living blogger and then I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2011. So it really was a shock. I was just, you know, living this healthy life and sharing it with the world and then, all of a sudden, I had an autoimmune disease and at that time I thought it came out of nowhere. But knowing what I know now about autoimmune disease doesn't just come out of nowhere and a lot of things brought me to that point. But I really struggled with just the conventional system of healthcare goes, and I think the conventional system is wonderful and amazing, but what we do as far as the functional approach, it's just different toolboxes and different approaches and I think we're best when we can coexist together.
Speaker 2:But I was not getting answers from my traditional doctors. We were running blood work, everything came back normal and I did not feel normal. I felt miserable. I had all of the hormone symptoms heavy periods, headaches, acne I gained weight. I had no energy. I was in a bad mood. All the time. I was anxious, I wasn't sleeping, I was getting weird infections. Like I had every symptom in the book and every time I went to my doctor I just wasn't getting answers. Like I would go in there with a list of questions, ask all my questions, leave and not feel any better about what was happening. Like I didn't feel like I had any answers or I had a referral to an endocrinologist and a GI specialist and an allergist and it just I just felt like I was jumping through hoops.
Speaker 2:So in 2019, decided to go to school to become an FDN practitioner which Jennifer is as well and FDN stands for functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner, and what we do is use functional testing and nutrition to really help the body rebalance itself and become healthy enough to heal itself.
Speaker 2:Essentially, so became an FDN actually in 2020 is when I graduated but ever since then have been using functional testing and a very personalized approach to help women and I just feel like, with my own struggle, I just don't want anybody else to go through that. Because there were some dark times in there. I think I was probably spinning my wheels for like a good 10 years and I just felt hopeless. I just felt so shameful and negative about myself and my body and I just knew there had to be a better way. So it's kind of the short long version of all of this, but that's essentially who I am, where I've come from, and, yeah, now I'm just really passionate about making it easier for women and giving them answers, because I just think there's so much we can do on the nutrition and lifestyle front that a traditional doctor is not going to be able to give you recommendations on, or they just simply don't have the time or the tools as far as just helping you out.
Speaker 2:So obviously our approach is just different over here.
Speaker 1:But that's who I am Love it. That is fantastic. I knew a little bit of your story, but, yes, that's who I am Love it. That is fantastic. I knew a little bit of your story, but not all of that I didn't know. It was like the wedding planning that kind of got you into it to begin with. I am curious, though you said you were doing all the healthy things your meal planning you're working out. What do you feel like were some of the quote unquote healthy things that you were doing in your twenties, maybe your thirties, that ended up serving you poorly once you got into the perimenopausal years?
Speaker 2:Oh yes, things are so different now, but yes, I thought I was the healthiest, healthiest, healthy living blogger that there ever was, you know, on the internet, and I think I was just focusing on the wrong things. I think at that time it made sense and that was very popular and whatnot. But I was really all about calories calories in, calories out and I would definitely search out the lowest calorie food and I felt like I was doing the right thing or being good when I was eating all these like super processed diet foods. So I always joke, I eat light and fit yogurt and kashi cereal and quest bars and the like low calorie noodles. You know, all these foods were low calorie but they weren't necessarily nutritious, they weren't nourishing my body, and then I added in a ton of cardio on top of that.
Speaker 2:So I did the marathon thing, the half marathons. I did that type of exercise for a really long time where it was just burning calories, like I would spend 90 minutes on the elliptical most days of the week with like a magazine. You know what I mean. Nothing wrong with that, but it was all about calories in, calories out, and I just feel like by the end of my twenties, even into my early thirties, my body was just so depleted like nourishment wise lost all those minerals and vitamins and I was just stressing out my body with tons and tons of cardio, so I think I was just focused on the wrong things, essentially.
Speaker 1:Okay, I think so many of us relate to that. I was literally just talking to a brand new client right before we hopped on and I asked her what do you do for stress management? And she said well, I get on my Peloton four to five times a week. Um, I take another class from Peloton on the weekends. I was like, oh, I love you, I love, I know that that feels like it's relieving stress for so many of us, cause it does.
Speaker 1:You know, we get that cortisol surge after a workout, but long-term, especially for women, you know, late thirties and forties that is just so depleting for our nourishment, for our minerals, like you said, for our hormones for sure. So I think your story is very common for a lot of women who think they're doing the right thing. They're like I go to the gym, I work out, I'm like choosing, you know, foods that aren't from McDonald's, right, like I'm doing all these things, why is my body feeling so poorly? Like why is my body rebelling against me?
Speaker 1:So you've gone through the traditional medical route. You kind of felt gaslighted, you kind of felt failed, and so you went and found yourself a different way. So I know, as an FDN2, going through the program, we get to run laps on ourself, and that was one of the big draws for me. I was like I want to know what's wrong with my body. So when you ran your first round of laps, what were some of the things that were maybe eye-opening for you, where you're like, oh, this data is really onto something here.
Speaker 2:Oh my all of it. Like really it was a turning point for me because I had run so much blood work, I had done stool tests and saliva tests and all of that with my traditional doctor. Everything was quote, unquote, normal and it just made no sense. I was like my hair is falling out, I have no energy, I can't get out of bed in the morning. And then, yeah, did some of those foundational tests with FDN and so many things were out of whack and I think at that point I was just like, oh my gosh, I'm not crazy.
Speaker 2:Here it is on paper that says my cortisol is through the roof, my estrogen is super, duper high. I had all those neurotransmitters on my first Dutch, like my GI map was a hot mess. You know what I mean. It just all of this data came back and I was like, oh my gosh, there are things that are wrong with my body and I have a game plan. I have something that I can actually do instead of just throwing a medication at it or just having a non-answer, like leaving my doctor's office so many times with no answers.
Speaker 2:So I love the testing right off the bat and I still run tests on myself.
Speaker 2:I mean, I don't run them as often, but probably like every six months, once a year, I'm still running testing. Like I just I think it's so helpful and so actionable, like you can actually change your, your lifestyle and your habits and your nutrition and you can start feeling better. So I don't know, I think they're really empowering. I know like a lot of clients come to us and they get these results and they feel like really bad and they're just like, oh, my health is such a mess. I feel like if you can get past that initial shock of like seeing those tests results, it is really empowering and it's really exciting too, because now you have a game plan to go after, you know your health and progress, like you know what you need to do and you know that that part's a little bit challenging and that's why it's nice to have a coach, because you need to make these changes long-term and be consistent. But at least you have some sort of plan instead of just no answers and just you know doing what you're doing, spinning your wheels.
Speaker 1:Man a hundred percent on that. There are so many times where I myself have felt this way and then I hear clients say like almost these exact words I feel so validated, like I knew there was something wrong with me. But you know, my doctor said my labs are normal. Or my doctor said you're just getting older or you're in perimenopause. And then we'll run, you know, the GI map, the Dutch test, the HTMA, and they're like, oh my gosh, like I knew it. You know women they'll start crying because they just feel so validated and heard. Finally, that is one of the reasons I definitely run the like love running the labs.
Speaker 1:I know you just re-ran your HTMA. I saw you fix your thyroid ratio, which is awesome. I just shared my GI map with you. My H pylori is gone, my parasites are gone, and so it is nice to do the retesting too, to verify. You know that, man, what you're doing, these protocols, they're working. So tell me about your HTMA, maybe introduce the HTMA a little bit and tell us about the thyroid ratio, particularly because I know that's your area of expertise.
Speaker 2:You love minerals, I love minerals and I think I love the HTMA so much is because, like I was saying, it's so actionable. Like you have to eat, you have to plan meals and feed yourself, so why not focus on the minerals that your body needs, you know? So I really love the HTMA. I think it's also really easy. All you have to do is cut a little piece of hair and I just I cut it from back here, because I do dye the top but just a natural piece of hair and we're actually looking at your cells and your cellular activity, because our cells are really the spark plugs of our bodies and they're involved in everything that our bodies do. And if you don't have that spark and your cells aren't working properly, you're going to be exhausted, your hormones are going to be out of balance, your thyroid's going to be low. There's so many things that go hand in hand with minerals. And just being women at this age of life, we've probably been through a lot as far as stress goes I mean mental, emotional, physical but then you add in some pregnancies and some breastfeeding and I just think a lot of ladies are left depleted and literally exhausted, like their cells and their bodies just aren't working properly. And so I have to think back to my first, my very first HTMA. I had the calcium shell, which made a lot of sense at the time, and that's where calcium is really high on the test. Potassium is really low and it can be related to thyroid issues, emotional issues. I think. At that point things were a lot was going on a little bit of turmoil, just not feeling my best about things, probably needed some talk therapy in my life and then over the years I've seen those minerals really change and I think one of the big things that a lot of our clients start on as far as this mineral balancing goes, it's really trying to get more potassium into your diet, because potassium actually makes ourselves more sensitive to thyroid hormone and I think sorry this is going to get very rambly but a lot of women who come to us I think they're experiencing low thyroid symptoms and thyroid could be a whole episode for a different day, but a lot of times it's. It could be because your body's not making enough thyroid, it could be because it's not being converted to the active form, or maybe your cells aren't simply sensitive enough to that thyroid hormone. So I think a lot of times like that, low hanging fruit is trying to get more potassium into our diet.
Speaker 2:So a lot of times we start with women there and for me, I've been a crazy lunatic about the potassium, like I really make it a priority and I do feel better and that ratio the thyroid ratio, which is the calcium potassium ratio started to improve. It's actually been a lot more normal over the years and, of course, when you get your thyroid working properly, it very much impacts your metabolism, your ability to lose weight, your energy levels, hair loss, dry skin a lot of the issues I was dealing with. So you know I don't want to say it was like just the potassium. There was probably a few different things I did as far as improving my thyroid, but I think that was something that I did feel empowered by. You know, I can start drinking more coconut water and eat more bananas and add more potatoes and have an avocado every day. So there were so many things I could do nutritionally to improve that ratio and just how my thyroid worked. I love that. What?
Speaker 1:you brought up, there was whole food quote supplements to raise your potassium. You weren't like, oh, I took this potassium powder every day, or I took a potassium pill. You were like I added whole foods into my diet, knowing that these foods are high in minerals and minerals are way more bioavailable in food we eat rather than supplements we take. So I love that too. Like how can you seek to eat in a way every single day that's not necessarily, you know, calorically low, but nutritionally dense? And yes, potassium is one of the best places to start Like. I think we talked about this in our episode with Marty where the RDA used to be. I mean, the RDA has actually changed right, they took away our potassium already in the last couple of years but used to be 4,700 milligrams per day. And when I work with your ladies on your team, tina, I'm like let's track and see. Like, how much potassium are you getting? I work with my own clients how much potassium are you getting? It's between like a thousand and 3000 milligrams a day on a good day. So no wonder so many of us are feeling so cruddy and no wonder so many of us have, you know, these quote thyroid problems which we see, you know, when our line of work is really uh, you know not to be reductionist but almost like a potassium deficiency, a mineral deficiency. It's not a synthroid deficiency, you know. It's not a T3 deficiency. It's like you're not getting enough nutrients into the cell where it belongs. So I love that.
Speaker 1:As you did that, you know, your lab started to look better, you started to feel better and that was a good transition. For my next question, you know, in 2020, you were putting pictures up on the internet where you were not feeling your best. You were not, you know, you felt like you weren't looking your best. I thought you always look great, but you know, you putting some of these principles into place and really dialing in minerals and macros and effective workouts. You lost 15 pounds in, you know, a couple of months and you are looking and feeling great.
Speaker 1:And you guys, I just met Tina in real life a couple of months ago. She walks the talk Like she looks great. You know, if you look at her Instagram, you're seeing her doing doing muscle ups, you know, like dead lifting a ton of weight. So clearly, what she is doing is is working, but it took a while for you to get that right. So what was that transition for you? What did it look like during those few years where you were really transitioning from your your perimenopause years where you didn't feel best to really rocking it in perimenopause?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was quite the transition and, again, this could be a long story but I'll try to condense it. But yeah, I think just COVID was like really hard on me in the sense. You know, I think it was harder all of us but you know, I was at home, I was snacking a lot more, drinking a lot more wine, I was working a ton because internet business really exploded during COVID just because everybody was home. So it really was kind of like a lifestyle change for me. But I turned 40 in 2020 and I wanted to ring in my 40th birthday feeling my best and being super in shape and all the great things.
Speaker 2:And I got to my 40th birthday and I felt awful, like I had too much weight, I hadn't lost any weight, like my skin looked terrible, just like tired and sunken and I was getting acne and I just did not feel great on my 40th birthday. So, like, looking back, thank God we didn't have a big celebration because we were just at home hanging out, because it was middle of COVID. But yeah, I just knew something needed to change and I think the biggest thing for me which I know is so annoying to hear it was really reducing that stress and I'm kind of the type A workaholic I would spend all day working in front of a computer up late, checking my phone, checking my email, and I had no boundaries around work and what I was doing. And I think I was just so wrapped up in the doing, doing, doing, going, going, going that I didn't realize, like how I was living my life and how that stress was impacting me. Also going, you know, with the workouts, I was doing a ton of orange theory at that point too. And there's nothing wrong with orange theory, like it's a lovely workout, it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:But for somebody like me, very type a perfectionism or perfectionist, working a million hours, super stressed out, adding that orange theory I think just put things over the edge. Because then I was dealing with hunger cravings, sugar craving, carb cravings. It got to a point where I was waking up in the middle of the night just starving, like I just had such low blood sugar to have to get out of bed and like eat a bowl of cereal or something like that. So I put on 15 pounds during COVID and I think a lot of it was this lifestyle stuff. I don't doubt that my thyroid was a little pissed off and like getting a little bit out of whack and everything. So I finally just got to that point I almost feel like it was kind of that like low, no-transcript Um, started focusing on sleeping more.
Speaker 2:That was a big thing. I was definitely that person that was like, oh, five hours of sleep, that's plenty, I can deal with that. And I wasn't sleeping. Oh, I went five hours for like my whole life. Like it's so crazy. Yeah, I remember in high school.
Speaker 2:I'd be like, oh, I got four hours, that's good. Like it was just so bad. I never slept so like it, just it made sense, like why I gained weight, why I had blood sugar problems and all of that. Um, but yeah, it was literally like the lifestyle change and then also focusing on this idea of nourishing my body and eating foods that were loaded with vitamins and minerals and macros and all the good things that our bodies need, and I'm sure that probably contributed a little bit too to that weight gain Cause I started eating very differently, um, but it was, you know, focusing on those good foods.
Speaker 2:And then eventually, when things were more balanced, I put myself into a fat loss phase and this is something we do at carrots and cake, where we really do plan our nutrition into distinct phases. And it took me a couple years to get my balance, my body, balanced enough that it made sense for me to go into a fat loss phase. And you know, that's when I lost. I think I only lost seven or eight pounds during that fat loss phase, but the weight loss was slowly coming off, you know, prior to that too. But it wasn't one thing, it wasn't just tracking my macros, it wasn't cutting calories. I can tell you that I eat a lot of food now but it was a very holistic approach and also the lifestyle approach, like I had to change my life in order to lose that weight and keep it off.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and I love that. That is part of just that functional picture of not just calories, not just food, necessarily, but, like you said you know, actively managing your stress. I think that is so powerful and so hard for so many of our women. I noticed that on your team, you know, at carrots and cake, and then also my own practice. Like we attract a lot of type a.
Speaker 1:Women like these are women who tend to be a little bit sicker, they tend to be a little bit more out of their element because they have focused so hard on performing and doing all of the things and they're really really really damn good at it, and so success begets success and they are at the top of their game professionally. They're at the top of the game personally. Meanwhile, their health is just falling apart. Their sleep is falling apart, their weight management is falling apart. Their sleep is falling apart, their weight management is falling apart, their mood is falling apart, their hormones are falling apart.
Speaker 1:So really going in and having to reteach those women how to care for themselves and nourish themselves is something I think both you and I are very passionate about, because we had to do it ourselves. Like we know it, we live it Right. Um, and and I love that you said too that that was probably the biggest driver of real and lasting change. And now for you, it's been years. You know you're working out consistently, but not overly so like I know you walked to the 10,000 steps a day. You're in the gym training two to three times a week, and then you know, working on other ways you manage stress. What are some of those other ways that you manage stress?
Speaker 2:The boundary thing is huge because just having an internet job, having clients, I just I really do care a lot. I feel like when somebody signs onto our program I want them to succeed. So bad that I feel like I have to have my hands in everything and making sure everybody's okay and doing what they need to do. So for me, like my son gets off the bus at three 30 and besides maybe a few messages from my team that I might respond to after three 30, like I just cut myself off. I always kind of joke I die on the internet at night because I need some boundaries and I mean I think it's really good for me because I definitely have that brain, that like monkey brain, that just keeps thinking of things and, you know, questioning things and ideas for tomorrow and to do lists and like all of that. So for me it really is setting some boundaries and I'm a lot less active on Instagram on the weekends and things like that.
Speaker 2:But that boundaries piece was huge for me. And then also I've been getting into fiction, so reading books, not for education or not for nutrition or business, just reading books for fun. Or my husband actually bought me a subscription to national geographic. So I've been getting those issues once a month and I get in bed early and I read my national geographic and I learned some new things. So I guess I'm learning things, but it's not nutrition and business and hormones like I'm trying to do, but those two things, I think, have been really good, but really just separating myself from work has been really helpful.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, I think so many women can hear that and resonate with them for sure. Oh, I love it. So thank you, tina, for being here. I told you I'd take maybe 30 minutes of your time. I really wanted women to hear your story. Like you live what you preach right, you've. You've been here. You're very vulnerable and open. Like you document your progress online, which I love. Everyone can see it and everyone can see now that what you're doing works right, like the functional lab testing helps you. You know, be resilient enough to make the right choices day in and day out, and there are no quick fixes, right, that is definitely what we teach our clients at Carrots and Cake and you know, just being consistent, like having the energy, having the resilience to make those choices, I think is very, very powerful. So where can women find you? I know we alluded to Carrots and Cake. I know you're on Instagram and Facebook. You've got your blog still, so where can everybody find you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm pretty much Carrots and cake everywhere. So it's carrots, a letter N and then cake. But I would say I'm most active on Instagram and then my podcast. I put out a weekly episode and I'm on YouTube and Facebook. You can find the other places, but I'm carrots and cake everywhere.
Speaker 1:She is everywhere. You guys go look her up. And then, Tina, what would you? What three tips would you leave for the average perimenopausal woman before we hop off today?
Speaker 2:Oh, three tips I would say. Number one see if I can sum this up quickly is stop being so hard on yourself and that's probably me speaking to myself Um, by my mom has literally said that to me my whole life. But I think, just in women in general, like we have a lot on our plates and I think we just expect so much out of ourselves and if we don't do it perfectly, we just feel like we're failing all the time, and I think a lot of times we're actually doing better than we think we're doing. So that would be number one. It's just to cut yourself some slack, like you don't have to do it perfect. I feel like I'm the perfect example of not doing it perfect and like things working out, but just practicing a little bit more of that kindness which, honestly, in the beginning of my journey, if you had told me that I'd be like, whatever you know, just tell me what to eat and what supplements to take. But it is so important, it is so important to practice some, you know kindness to yourself.
Speaker 2:Number two would be build muscle. This is the hill I will die on as far as building muscle goes. It just, it's good for everything, and I think so many ladies when they get to perimetopause, they probably do struggle with their weight, blood sugar issues, insulin issues, things like that. And the best way to maintain your weight and to be physically capable and healthy and be insulin sensitive is to have muscle on your body. And I always joke the more muscle you have, the more cookies you can eat and I just feel like that, you know, makes for a really happy life. So muscle, if it's not your priority, it should be, and then I think that kind of goes hand in hand, is just I want. I want to give you like a million nutritional recommendations, but if I had to break it down, it was just you know, eat whole foods, read ingredient labels, um, and just make sure you're getting enough protein. Wrap that all up together. There's so many things I would say, but I think those would probably be like the three most important.
Speaker 1:I love it. Very, very helpful for women. Yes, protein and muscles, and cut yourself some slack and give yourself some grace. Tomorrow's a new day. All right, tina. Thank you so, so much for being on the show today. I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to chat with our audience and I cannot wait to see you tomorrow for our meeting at 8 30 AM.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you for having me. This was a lot of fun, All right everybody, take care, Bye.
Speaker 1:Well, that's a wrap for today's episode. I hope you enjoyed our candid chat about perimenopause the good, the challenging and everything in between. If you found this episode as enlightening and entertaining as I did, be sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a dose of perimenopausal realness. Before you go, Remember that you're not alone in this journey. We're building a community of kick-ass women embracing the changes and supporting each other. Connect with us on social media, share your stories and let's keep this conversation going. And hey, if you have a burning question, a topic you'd love us to tackle, or just want to say hello, shoot us a message. Your feedback keeps this podcast fueled and fabulous. Thanks for hanging out with us today. Until next time, take care, stay fabulous and remember perimenopause is just another chapter in the adventure of being a woman. Catch you on the flip side.