Welcome And Why This Matters

SPEAKER_03 0:17

Well, hello, this is Kipperly. It's episode three hundred and thirty-six, and I am so glad that you are here today because you are in for a treat. I have a very special guest on the show. Her name is Cam Allen. She's a holistic health coach. And she's here to give all you ladies out there some wonderful and valuable tips for strength training and how you should be eating during perimenopause and menopause and postmenopause. I know this is a topic that we don't talk about that often, like how you should actually be handling your workouts and food that you're eating all the time, but it's very important to your health and your sanity and your life and your body and your longevity and all that good stuff. And so I've got Cam on the show today. She's going to explain all about it and how she had to go through medical menopause and she was immediately thrown into it. So one day she was like kind of perimenopause, pre-menopause, and then she was, you know, thrown into full-blown menopause. And so she's sharing both sides of it for you today. I think these are such valuable tips. And we just have a fun conversation talking about all of this. And by the way, she's a holistic health and fitness coach, and she is wonderful. All of her information is down below. You'll hear her talk about her strength training, you know, mini strength training workouts and things like that that I think would be super helpful for you along your journey. And this whole conversation was super enlightening to me because I think it takes the pressure off of all of us. It's like, we've got to be doing all these crazy workouts and we've got to be, you know, eating a certain exact regimen of food. And I think she breaks the chains of that and really helps us feel free to listen to our body and do the right things for what's going to give us the longest, most healthy and happy life. So I hope you enjoy the conversation. All our information is down below. And I've got a bonus episode that I'm going to be posting right after this too. So make sure you listen to the next one, which is part two, where we talk about kind of behind the scenes of our business a little bit and we go into just talking about what it's like to be a health coach and starting a business, doing that. So I divided it up in two episodes because it would have been super long. So I just thought this one's going to be all about health and fitness and how you eat and all that. And then the other next episode is going to be about all the business side of it. And Cam shares all of that. And so I love it. So, anyways, okay, here it is. On to the episode. Well, hello, Cam. I am so happy to have you here today. My audience is going to love this conversation. I can't even tell you. And we are all struggling. Well, let me say not all of us, but we all will struggle with menopause at some point. And you are here to save us and help us as I know you're on a mission. So will you introduce yourself and share about why this mission means so much to you?

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Hi, I'm so glad to be here. It's an honor. My name is Cam Allen, and I went through surgical menopause and the wheels fell off. And I was like, what happened? I was almost, I was like a few weeks before 50, and I realized the way I was before was way different after. So that is part of my mission to help women understand the transition. Because honestly, I grew up in a house where it was taboo to talk about periods and you know, menopause things. No, you weren't allowed to talk about it. Or it was just taboo. I'm not really sure. So I'm on a mission to help women understand what's happening to their body. It's like their body, you deserve to understand it. This is well, this is amazing.

SPEAKER_03 4:02

I love your story. And I just thought it would be so cool for everyone to hear how you went from teaching to now coaching, because you were a teacher, and then you're now coaching women and helping them. You're a holistic coach and to help them with their fitness and their hormones and everything. And it's just, it's wonderful. So I'd love if you could share just a little bit about your story and what you went from and where you are today.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Yeah. So I was a math and science teacher for 18 years. Most of my 18 years was spent in math and science. So I love that kind of thing. I've always loved experimenting with things. So now I experiment with myself. Yeah. Um, so that was for 18 years. And then when I turned 40, that's when I left the classroom. And I went, I became a CrossFit athlete and coach. And through my 40s, and I think it was probably in my mid-40s, I was in a ranked athlete and I was doing really well as far as the competitions go. And at the end of my 40s, I started having strange injuries, slow recovery. Um, I went to the doctor and I was diagnosed with fibroids, which resulted in um erradical hysterectomy, meaning they took my uterus and my ovaries. So basically overnight, I went from not really sure what was happening to my body. I knew I was over-exercising for my ability at the time, to a place where I lost my hormones. When you lose your ovaries, you lose your little hormone makers. And on the other side of uh of that was quite shocking. And when I tried to return to exercise the way I always did, it I was exhausted. Um, it was very emotional. You know, when part of your identity is tied into what you do, how you exercise, and then that's all taken away. And then because you lose your hormones, very emotional. Like I would cry at the drop of a bat, you know, I didn't understand what was happening to my body. So that's a little bit of how I got to where I am. It was, it was really interesting when I look back. The week I had my surgery was the same week I applied and started health coaching school. So part of me knew that this was the wrong decision. Like I should not be having this surgery. Part of me knew there was more to my health. It was an interesting combination. Yet I went through with it because the doctor was the authority and this was the solution to my problem, which I don't know if that's really true.

SPEAKER_03 6:29

Well, this is interesting. So I I didn't realize this that you were kind of you you were rushed. Do you feel like you were rushed into the surgery? And it wasn't something you planned on. But then now are you saying you're questioning that decision or no?

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Yeah. So it was the end of the year. I had met my deductible. So there was that insurance thing, you know, having surgery is expensive. So there was that. It was literally like December 27th. It wasn't near the end of the year. It was like one of the last surgeries of the year. So there was that. In hindsight, I think there's other ways to treat fibroids that does not include taking out body parts. In general, I don't think you should take out body parts. That would be my um my general blanket recommendation. However, I will say that I've made the most of it because I understand very um innately, I guess, in my body what it feels like to have no hormones on the other side of menopause.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

You just went through it faster than what 100%. Okay. So that's the difference for for everyone listening. Some of us are just gonna go through it. Like I feel like I'm just like for me, I'm in my early 50s and I'm going through what they would call probably perimenopause. And many, many listeners may be going through that. But um, it's happening to me naturally over time, over months. And you're saying you were kind of thrown into it and you were all of a sudden on the other side. And that's why you have to help people because you're like, oh my gosh, when you get to the other side, even though yours was like way quicker than a lot of people's, but uh that this is what's gonna happen, and this is the reality of it.

Overreaching And Slower Recovery Signs

SPEAKER_00 8:09

100%. Usually it takes like a 10 to 12 year re I call it the ovary retirement party. Wait, it takes a long time. What the ovary retirement party. Yeah. Like sometimes you ovulate and make progesterone and have a period, and sometimes you have a period, but you didn't release an egg, so you didn't make progesterone. There's a whole bunch of stuff that's going on in the perimenopause period. And I just skipped all that. Or or at least I think I did. I probably had perimenopause symptoms, but nothing extreme. I knew I was having weird injuries, I knew I was overreaching, I was doing more exercise. Then, you know, after 10 years, my body's like, lady, yeah, what do you do to dial it back?

SPEAKER_03 8:53

Yeah, and you're not the first person that I've heard this from about the over-exercising, which in my 40s, I was doing a lot more. Many of my listeners know after COVID in 2022, I got an autoimmune and all this other stuff's going on, and I haven't been able to work out like I used to. But when I was working out really heavily, I was doing orange theory, F45, and all that. And the thought of over-exercising, I'm gonna be honest, I thought that was kind of a joke. I I literally thought that was kind of a joke. I'm like, I'm not over exercised, I'm working out an hour a day, I'm doing HIT, I'm doing training, I'm doing weights. And so when you are saying this, is this actually real that we're over exercising? And what does that actually look like? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Well, if yeah. So the official term is overreaching. You're overreaching your body's capability if you were to look in the science, like in the science part. But we'll just say over-exercising. Okay. So that means maybe you're not allowing enough recovery between your workouts. Maybe that means you're not surrounding your workouts with enough nutrition, enough calories. Okay. Um, back in the day, there was like fasted workouts, which I'm a hundred percent against. 100% against fasted workouts.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

That was a thing to go. I know. I remember trying that a few times at Orchards. And what just happened, I feel horrendous. I felt absolutely had to sit down and ask them for a candy bar at they had somebody, a girl that worked there, had one in her pocket. I was like, I can't function. Okay, continue. I just had to interject that.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

No, it's totally, and I'm glad that you had that experience and also redirected really fast. Like you realize that was not for you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Yeah. So the diet culture we grew up with, eat less, exercise more, kind of backfires. Let's be honest. And one of those like fasted workouts I would put in that bucket, like, oh, you're just gonna burn more fat if you go to the gym and act like a jerk to yourself and not nourish yourself. Right. So the way I think about it now is if you're trying to build muscle, which is the key to longevity and I believe health and menopause, you need calories for that. You need energy and protein for that. You cannot build muscle when you're in a calorie deficit or when you haven't eaten. So they're opposites that you can't, they don't, they don't coexist.

SPEAKER_03 11:08

Yeah, you can't have two things at once. So you're saying you have to eat well before, and then in recovery, you also have to nourish yourself. So, what what does that look like for normal people like us who don't know all of this? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

So I like to the general just surround your workouts with nutrition and hydration. So usually I like, I don't know, 100, 200 calories before you work out. You don't want to be in that like fasted state. Okay. You want to have enough nutrition on board that you actually can work out and feel good and be strong. And then afterwards, that's when you can really get your nutrition in, you know, you're getting your protein in, get some carbs in there to help your muscles recover. And in general, the biggest notice, the biggest change I noticed post-menopause after the surgery was recovery took longer. So I was working out five days a week in the CrossFit gym, too. And that was like, yeah, that doesn't work anymore. Usually, like even Monday, Wednesday, Friday might be too much on the post-menopause side. Maybe a Tuesday, maybe like a Monday, Friday or a Monday-Thursday, having two days of rest between your workouts, you may find that necessary. That's one of the things that happens.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

Okay. So you're saying on the postmenopausal side, what about the pre-menopausal side?

SPEAKER_00 12:27

That's just something to be aware of. I actually had a conversation with a client yesterday. She is doing hot yoga and she's strength training and she's also a nurse. So she's trying to balance, and you know, they have crazy 12-hour schedules. Right. And she's trying to balance all that and she's in perimenopause. So that was her question. So, what to look for is recovery slows, your sleep turns to trash. Um, you stop seeing progress in the mirror. Like you're working out hard, but you're not seeing your body composition change. Maybe you'll feel more bloated or inflamed. Those are some of the signs to look for when you're in the perimenopause. Like I'm doing too much. Like another thing. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. You maybe you just feel like you're running on fumes. Okay. But I think really what it is is paying attention instead of just gaslighting yourself saying, no, I have to work out Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Um, you know, maybe you need something. If you're not sleeping, if you're waking up at 3 a.m. and you're not fully rested, how in the world is that workout going to benefit your muscles in the long run?

unknown 13:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Are you in a breakdown mode or are you in a build-up mode?

Carbs Keto Stress And Blood Sugar

SPEAKER_03 13:33

Yeah, that's so true. Cause I'm trying to think back. Like when I thought, like, can you really? I mean, and I and let me clarify too. When I was saying I thought that was a joke about overworking out. Yeah. You know, I'm just working out for an hour a day. I'm just not like I'm working out five hours a day. Okay, that you could probably do too much. But I was just like, what? Why are why are they saying this? And then it kind of starts making sense because I did start getting just kind of like I wasn't seeing any additional muscle. And I was feeling tired. And I'm like, what's happening? Am I wearing out my body? Like, what is going on? So I think you don't realize, like, and if you're not eating the right nutrition, and at the time, so this was what, you know, six years ago, whatever everyone was talking about keto, everyone's talking about don't have carbs and don't do all that. And I never could do that. And I got shamed. I literally would get shamed by people I know, like, well, this is why. And it's not like I'm overweight. I wasn't overweight or anything, but they're like, you're you're eating carbs, and that's so terrible for you. I'm like, how do people function? Like, how do your brains function? Number one. My brain doesn't function if I don't have carbohydrates. I I know everybody's uh biology is different. So what is your take on that? I would I would love to know your take on carbohydrates, protein, all that for all of us women.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

For first of all, keto is one of those fasted workouts that doesn't work for most women. Keto is a no for most women. Our pref our brain's preferred energy source is carbs. So that makes sense because I thought that. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. And so when you're in the gym working out, your energy is coming from carbohydrates. So when you go into a workout fasted, you have no energy on board. But like, yeah, you're gonna feel like trash. Right. And the same thing if you're on keto, because your carbs are so low. Right. And I want to bring this in. I've seen this happen over and over. So maybe you're really low carb and you think you're controlling your blood sugar and you're controlling your health. But actually, if you're too low carb, I've seen this actually spike blood sugar, which is like, wait a minute, how does that work? Because of the stress, because of the burden on the body, the body releases blood sugar, the glucose rises. So you can actually have high blood sugar not related to food. What? I did not know that.

SPEAKER_03 15:49

I mean, I knew it was like diabetes and things like that, but like, what in the world?

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Yeah. So we're hardwired to have energy. So when we were cave ladies back in the day and there was an emergency, our body and we had an emergency, we had to respond to our muscles, release, our cells release the blood sugar. So we have energy to run away. But today we're not running away from a tiger, we're running away from an email or a text message that we didn't like, or we post on social media. Maybe there's some nasty something on social media. Anytime we're raising our stress, our perceived stress, our body releases uh glucose and it raises your blood sugar.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

I did not realize that. Uh I think it was 2021. I was wearing a glucose monitor just to be an experiment of one because I've got that science brain. And my dog Maverick was barking at me. And Kimberly, I had a glucose spike. I was working on my computer. What? Minding my own business. He was a big angry barker, and I was annoyed. And lo and behold, I looked at the chart and I had spiked my glucose from being upset and angry at him, frustrated. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:02

Is this common knowledge? Like, I mean, I know they always say lower your stress, right? It's healthier. We know the concept of lowering stress, but to realize that it affects that, I had no idea. I really had no idea.

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Wow, that is enlightening. We can, yeah, we can change our hormones by our thoughts. We can change our hormones by our thoughts, whether that be positive or negative. Yeah. Here's an example. There's a milkshake study. This is crazy. So the group was given a milkshake. It was like 380 calories. One time they were given the milkshake and they were told it was like 700 calories. It's indulgent milkshake. Right. It's horrible for you. You know, like, ugh, that's what they that's what they thought. It changed their hung their hunger hormone, ghrelin. Their ghrelin, which is their hunger hormone, actually increased and they were satisfied. And the next time they were given the milkshake, same milkshake, and they were told it was low calorie, and their hormones did not do the same thing. Just by believing it was indulgent and had more calories, their hormones changed. Their hunger hormone ghrelin changed.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

Wow. Yeah. This is so enlightening. Am I the only one that doesn't kind of know this stuff? I'm like, wait, what? I feel like I'm pretty up to date with stuff, but wow. That is I want to go back to blood sugar for a second, too.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Oh, yeah, yeah. When we have elevated blood sugar for a long time, then our pancreas sends out insulin. Insulin, and insulin's job is to clear the blood sugar. And if it can't clear the bud blood sugar, you may have heard of insulin resistance. And insulin is a storage hormone and it loves to store around your belly. Stores energy, aka belly fat around your midsection. Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:53

But I I mean, so you probably agree, right? Like some people will say, oh, well, everything turns to sugar. I shouldn't be having any carbohydrates. I shouldn't be having foods. I shouldn't be having rice. I shouldn't be having beans. But what is your take on all of that? Like obviously, we know eating table sugar is terrible and drinking coke is terrible. Right. So what is your thought? So we can clarify for the people listening, what actually are carbohydrates that are good that don't affect our insulin so bad and don't give us all these reactions.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Yes. So it goes back to whole real foods. So I'm not one that avoids fruit. I think that's crazy. That's keto, avoiding fruit, for example. But um, veggies have fiber, and fiber is going to slow the glucose uptake. It's going to slow down your body turning it into sugar. Um, like for example, raspberries is one of my favorite. All berries in general tend to have a lower sugar response. It's called the glycemic index. And raspberries in particular are really high in fiber. So if the veggie or the fruit is high in fiber, that's going to be less of a blood sugar response to your body. Right. So yeah. If it's a whole real food, it's a go.

SPEAKER_03 20:04

It's a go if it's a real food. I mean, like, I've always loved potatoes. I don't overeat them. I don't eat 10 potatoes a day. But like they are so satisfying to me. I feel full. I can have a smaller meal because I eat a little potato and this protein and this and this, but I got shamed for that too. I got shamed and I'm I think I have CTSD from last year's of keto and all that. Finally, it's, I feel it's waning some, um, which is good. But um, I was just like, I don't understand this. It never felt right. Like you talk about listening to your body. I'm like, this never ever feel felt right to me at all. It didn't.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

And also, you had the experience that you knew it didn't feel right and you changed your ways. But many women get stuck in the rut and they get shamed into eating a certain way or exercising a certain way, like the fasted workouts, for example. Um, I don't feel like I hear fasted workouts as much as I used to, but I was like, no, that's a no. Yeah, you're like, that's a no. We're trying to build our body, not break it.

Strength Training Minimums That Work

SPEAKER_03 21:03

Yeah, because you need fuel to build your body. So speaking of that, for strength training, help us with this and what this means in our 40s and 50s.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

I'm gonna give you the general guidelines. And so I kind of the analogy is have you ever played or gone bowling with the bumper lanes, with the bumper lanes building? But I've seen those. Yes, okay. So these are the guidelines. So some days you may jump the course and go, or some weeks go and you know, do more. But in general, for postmenopause, about 60 minutes of strength training a week is like a really good guideline. Okay. So that could be I prefer to do short little mini workouts. That's what I like to do. So it's a daily habit and I'm moving my body. And when I do that, I notice I have more energy for the rest of the day. I'm more likely to walk. I'm less likely to sit all day at my computer. Um, I'm more likely to walk the dogs, stuff like that. So, or like two full body workouts that are longer. Okay. But about Around 60 minutes. That's a good amount. Okay. That's a week. Yeah, it's 100% doable. Okay. Then the next big category as far as your metabolism goes would be your non-exercise activity. So every day we have three things that can change on our metabolism. One is exercise, which is only about 5% of our calorie burn a day. It's the tiniest piece of our changeable metabolism. The second, the biggest section is the non-exercise activity. So that would be walking, standing at your desk, walking your dog, letting your dog sniff, not like walking to get steps. That's different. We're just moving more. We're going up and down the steps. We're doing things around the house. We're standing and doing a walking. I have a walking pad. Sometimes I'll stand at my desk and walk instead of sit all day. So just being an active human, that is a huge style mover. And I would be honest, honestly, I would say in my 40s, I didn't really think walking or moving really mattered. Totally matters. It's part of the, it's part of the formula, if you will. And then the third part of your changeable metabolism is actually your food. So about 10% of your daily calorie burn is what you choose to eat. And you know this innately. There are some foods you eat and you get hungry faster. Right. They're probably a carb. Carbs burn energy very fast and use the least amount of calories to digest. Whereas protein, for example, takes more energy for your body to turn it into fuel. So it's going to burn more energy during that process of digestion. So not all foods are created equal. You know, 200 calories of Oreos is way different than 200 calories of filet or salmon or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Yeah. Your body's going to burn more energy digesting the protein than it would the Oreos, for example.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

Yeah, you don't really think about that. I mean, how much calorie difference really is that, though? Just from like a skeptic of someone's going, oh, well, is that real is that burning two more calories that No, it's 30.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

You're the um the protein burns like 30% of the calories in digestion. What? Yeah. Yeah. So let's say it's we'll just make it easy math. A hundred calories of protein. 30 of those calories out of the hundred is going to be used by your body to digest it and turn it into Yeah. So that's how you get in a yeah. That's how you get in a calorie deficit with like not but still eating food.

SPEAKER_03 24:27

Like your body needs very interesting.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah.

Protein Quality And Muscle Building Basics

SPEAKER_03 24:32

Yeah. Wow. I thought it was like some minuscule amount, like what's significant.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Okay. Yeah. No, it's it's very significant. So you see women who are not eating protein in midlife start eating more protein, their body composition is going to change. I've seen studies where they actually have more muscle just by increasing their protein and not changing their exercise, which is mind-blowing to me. So if you're adding more protein, isn't it? Yes.

SPEAKER_03 25:01

Yeah. And then does the type of protein, like we have protein, or gain as a brand my husband gets for like protein for protein shakes. It's plant-based. Okay. So how does that compare to like eating a steak?

SPEAKER_00 25:13

Like if you have animal animal protein would be the queen here. Okay. Okay. Okay. And I'm saying that as a form of vegetarian. So I did not start eating meat again until I was probably six months post-hysterectomy. And my whole body knew that I needed to change my ways because it was really hard. The first six months was really a train wreck, honestly. Exercise was off. My emotions were crazy. And I was like, what am I? Who am I? I've lost all my identity. Oh yeah. That's so that's so hard. So hard. And so I would say the first animal product I introduced was collagen. I had this innate knowing that I needed to work on my gut health. And collagen is animal proteins. That was my first. Bone broth was my second, and filet and filet was my third. So I slowly introduced animal products back in. Okay, got it.

SPEAKER_03 26:06

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Collagen. Okay, duh. Yeah. I just didn't really think about it that way that it's animal, animal versus plant. So why, why do you say the animal is better than the plant protein?

SPEAKER_00 26:18

So amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and we need leucine to build muscle. So sometimes you'll look on the side of a protein mix or whatever, and they'll have the amino acid breakdown. You're looking for leucine and leucine 2.5 grams after you work out is like, you know, like optimal for women. So you animal protein is where you get the leucine. Okay. Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:44

Okay, that's eye-opening. Okay. And so just when when you were talking, I just was like reflecting back. Like, I didn't mean to bash keto because I know there are keto people out there that have lost a lot of weight. And so do you think who is it better for? Is it better? Like if someone is going to eat low carb, even though we just talked about how it's good for your brain and everything else, not just your way your body looks. But um, are there certain people maybe if they're not working out and they're not doing something and they're just simply trying to lose weight, is that good for them? Or I mean, obviously it works because I know people that have done it, but it's just to me, it's not sustainable for your life. Correct.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

But what what are your thoughts on that for people that are so we do like prescribe keto in certain situations? So an autoimmune situation, or if you're healing your gut, there are times when keto is completely appropriate and you are right, it's not long term. The diet I call it's called the you diet. It's you, it's your diet. That's the diet I prescribe all the time. There are certainly times when you need to have a certain diet like keto, if you're healing from something. There's also the autoimmune protocol diet, which is great for like Hashimoto's, which is the thyroid, the autoimmune thyroid. So there are times when you need a specific diet. I'm talking about just everyday lifestyle. Keto, I don't feel as sustainable. And I certainly don't believe like eventually it's going to affect your sleep. You're eventually going to feel it in your workouts. You're not going to have enough get up and go to actually feel good. I don't know how you have that.

SPEAKER_03 28:18

Well, it's very, very interesting to talk about all that because I feel like the diet protocols out there come in phases. It's like style, curly hair, straight hair. Uh is purple in, purple is out. Uh, you know, and now it's like it went from like Adkins, you know, low calories in the 80s, manufactured food, Atkins, keto. I'm trying to think through them real fast in my head, but it's like, and and then Weight Watchers was kind of a good, I think did did you think that Weight Watchers used to have a good protocol?

SPEAKER_00 28:50

Was it more just well-rounded meal or I don't really know, but after my son was born in 1997, I did do Atkins to lose weight. That was the first time I'd ever like done a diet. I was like, wow, this I mean I also remember Kimberly drinking coffee all day and eating salami. I'm like, well, wait, where's the green stuff? There's no green stuff. That's an interesting combo. Coffee and salami. Yeah, I don't know. You're like, it works because I yeah, I re just remember looking. If it had zero carbs and I would eat it. Oh. And did it work? It totally worked. That was the first my my first experience with a diet. So I was like 28 or 29 when that happened. And I was like, oh, this really works.

SPEAKER_03 29:30

Because it's green again. I mean, is it calorie reduction?

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Is that what I just think it's how the what you're what you're burning? Yes. What your body's burning is changing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's interesting. So But it wasn't sustainable. Like there was not a green thing in my diet.

SPEAKER_03 29:46

It's just not, you've got to be able to go out to dinner, know what to order. Like you've got to be able to have a way you can live and be social. It just to me, it's not sustainable. But I I do like your idea of like you're trying to heal from something. Maybe you are trying to get that initial weight off and do that. But then we got to start incorporating what's our strength exercise, what's our exercise, and how are we having a well-rounded diet? Is that what you 100%? 100% on this, and I'm like, I'm not a health professional, but that's what I feel like.

Fasting Sleep And Midlife Biofeedback

SPEAKER_00 30:15

That's what the you diet is. It's like fits your your life. I'm gonna use that.

SPEAKER_03 30:20

I'm gonna use that with my family because you know we all are like looking at each other's plates and what they're doing. And I'm like, everybody just do the you diet. Like what feels good? Because my husband swears that when he like yesterday he fasted because he hadn't fasted in a long time. But he was like, I just and he felt good. He didn't yawn all day. He's been yawning other days, and I'm like, okay, maybe it kicked something into gear. He just fasted for yesterday. Today he was kind of back to normal. But what what what do you think about that?

SPEAKER_00 30:49

We can talk about that because I have a husband who will do two, three-day fast. Yeah. So fasting like that and keto work well for men, not so well for women, unless you're healing from something. Okay. Yeah, there's a difference. We are not the same. Okay. Okay. We are different. Yeah. I would say maybe five or six years ago, he was doing this fasted something, and I was like, I'll try it. No, it was crazy. No, I can't even go without breakfast.

SPEAKER_03 31:17

Like, I'm like, what? I'm gonna eat in the first hour that I get up. I have to. I have to have something.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

The strangest thing, like physically, I felt actually bloated. You know, some mornings you wake up and you feel lean and your digestion feels good. And I didn't feel that way the next morning when I woke up and I was like, yeah, this isn't serving me. And I I do have hypothyroids. So that was one of my diagnosed before um diagnosis is before the hysterectomy. Like within 18 months, I had a lot of stuff go on, and that was one of them. That was the first one. And I know that when you have thyroid things, like that's the driver of your metabolism. Right. Right, right, right, right. The wiggle room, as far as thyroid goes, there isn't much wiggle room. So I noticed I felt bloated and I did not feel good at all. And I was like, this is not for me. Yeah. So I love that. That was the end of that. I love that.

SPEAKER_03 32:09

I feel like your whole concept too is to listen to yourself and how your body reacts. And I thought, this is so true that we have to listen to ourselves.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

And and I would say from personal experience, I wasn't taught to listen until my body like literally screamed at me and I had to listen. So that's part of like what I teach is biofeedback. That's your sleep, rest, recovery, exercise, digestion. Um, we talk about poop. That's your biofunction snap. My husband's like, You talk about that? I'm like, absolutely, we do. We do talk about that. And then also, like, if you don't have energy for your day, then there's something wrong. Like, what's going on? So it's your biofeedback. How are you responding? How is your body responding? And I feel like for me, I had to learn that. I had to learn that the hard way. Like life smacked me in the face with the hysterectomy, and I was like, okay, this, I thought I was healthy. I thought I was invincible. And that is not the case.

SPEAKER_03 33:11

Yeah, that's not the case. So I would love to hear like you're you're now on the other side of menopause. I'm parry or whatever. So, what would you tell me is coming? What is coming for me and those of us out there who haven't gone through menopause? And then for the women that are have gone through menopause to make them feel better that we know that they're not crazy, that this is what it is.

SPEAKER_00 33:33

No, it's not, you're not crazy at all. It's not in your mind. But I think really what we were just talking about biofeedback, like this is happening. Pay attention to how you feel after you exercise. Are you recovering? Are you still seeing progress in the mirror? Um, notice your digestion. I feel like that goes offline really fast. Um, if you have a flat belly in the morning, but then you notice you look like four months pregnant in the afternoon, like what is happening there? What you know, digestion goes offline first, like as far as body systems. And if you're sleeping, not sleeping, and you're just pushing through, pushing through. The way I see it is it's like the burden on the body. And the burden can be a thought, like we talked about earlier, that can has the power to change your hormones, but it also can be like um hormonal changes, or it could be like doing too much for your body, like overreaching or over-exercising, like we spoke about earlier. So all that pressure is putting pressure on your body. And when women talk about stress, I don't know. And maybe you're like this, I thought stress was like a badge of honor, like multitasking. I've got all the things, I can do all the things. And when you get to midlife, it's okay not to do all the things. It's okay to say no to things that don't light you up, that don't give you energy, and just like really super paying attention how you respond because your body will tell you yes or no if we if we listen. Yeah. That's the whole thing. Like, yeah, just have to slow down enough to listen.

SPEAKER_03 35:07

Yeah, I think it's so important. And I do think you have to honor your unique biology for this time in your life. Like you even said about the fasting, too, like it can work for men better than for women. And I think that's interesting because I don't, I'm gonna be honest, I don't hear that a lot. I don't hear that. I hear fasting. It's good. You do this, it activates all these cells and you hear all the benefits of fasting. But I don't really feel like in my circles and my algorithms and all that, because we know we're all in different, you know, we're gonna be fed different things. But I don't get that. And I think that is actually really important for people to realize.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

I I will say our digestion works on daylight hours. So my version of fasting is to eat during daylight hours. So therefore, I'm not eating when the sun goes down. So that's my fasting. That's when my body is getting good, good, good, good quality sleep, going to bed on time for my body. Um, I know personally, if I go to bed between nine and 10, then I'm gonna get my deep sleep and then I'm gonna sleep through the night, and then the next day I'm gonna make better choices. Yeah, the mood's gonna be better. It's easier to pick the right things in the kitchen. It feels good to go work out. Yes. And if I'm not sleeping, that's not good. If you choose to eat late, your body or drink alcohol, either one of those, or go to bed past your window, all three of those things are gonna disrupt your sleep. Your body's gonna choose digestion over sleep. Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 36:39

Yeah, you don't think about the ripple effects of your choices like the night before going to bed for your next day. I know I'm kind of like one of those people like, no, it's my bedtime, even if it's the middle of a movie. My husband and my daughter, we were watching a movie the other night. And I'm like, we're only gonna be able to watch one hour of it because it's going to be bedtime, one hour into it. And they looked at me like I was the biggest buzzkill ever. And then it came to like a stopping point about an hour in. I'm like, well, there it is. Tomorrow, tomorrow we will watch that. And they both were sitting there just staring at me like, you are the biggest buzzkill ever. But I'm like, you know what? I got I'm staying on my schedule because then I know I can wake up at seven, feel good, work out. My days, I'm not gonna then wake up at eight and everything's delayed and I don't exercise or I don't get some 100%.

Menopause Minis And Coaching Options

SPEAKER_00 37:28

100%. My body works on daylight. It does. Yeah. But it didn't used to. I mean, it does for the last seven years, but I use daylight for eating and exercising and sleeping and all the things. Soon as the sun goes down, I want to get cozy and it's time to wash my face and get ready for yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

So for people that are listening right now and they're like, yeah, I need some direction for my health, my hormones, my workouts. Just tell us a little bit about what you offer. I thought maybe you could just share that real quick that could really help these women listening.

SPEAKER_00 38:01

If you are looking to get ready for strength training, I definitely would suggest the menopause minis, their 10-minute-ish strength workouts. It's a great way to get started. Um, the way they're written, like one day it'll be lower body, one day it'll be upper body, the third day would be core. So some days I'll go down there and I'll do maybe two of them in a row. If if you do them in a row, you're not like over-exercising body parts. Right. Right. Um, so that's an example for sure. I mean, I offer one-on-one coaching and then I have a group as well online. So my group meets twice a month. I love them. We met yesterday. It was just, you know, it's a chance to like be in a group of other women from all over the United States and Canada. Canada represent get your questions asked because you do see crazy things on uh the internet. Yes, you're like, well, does that apply to me? Right. You know?

SPEAKER_03 38:53

Right. Uh-huh. Right. So you help women, you've got your your minis that help 10 minutes a day with strength workout. And like you said, like if you can do an hour a week or 10, 10 minutes a day, you have the little minis that people should have no excuse for not doing. Yeah. There's no excuse. You can fit in 10 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

And that's exactly why they exist. Because I would say at the end of 2024, me personally, after being in the exercise world since 2010, I had a bad year 2024. I was like, I was in a car accident, I couldn't lift, we moved, lots of stress. You know, there was I had, yeah. Anyway, whiplash, you know, on that. That's terrible. Yeah. And by December of 24, I looked in the mirror. There was a picture at Christmas, and I was like, who is that woman? You're like, who's that? I don't know that woman. And I remember having a client call and she was using my, I had many cardio workouts. And she's like, she said on the call, I just love them. I just go and I just do them and then I'm done. And I thought, hmm, that's what I need. So I reworked everything into strength workouts because your brain can get on board with 10 minutes, like, oh, I got 10 minutes. Come on. I don't have an hour, but I got 10 minutes. And you have the energy for 10 minutes. And what happens is then you notice you have more energy for the rest of the day and you make better choices. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_03 40:13

And so when you say strength workouts, what are we talking? Huge dumbbells? Are we talking 10 pound weights? Whatever you have. It isn't.

SPEAKER_00 40:21

It really doesn't matter. Like, um, my husband does them too. He calls them the manopause workouts. I just want you to know what a good husband. He's jumping on in. He went skiing last week, side note. Um, and he would only bench press Kimberly. Like, that's all he would do. It's like chest. And he likes to bend every day. Every day. Biceps, chest. Um, and he reported that they skied in veil and like he felt amazing. He didn't feel winded, his legs felt strong. And I'm like, yeah, it's those man-paws, minis.

SPEAKER_01 40:51

The minis.

unknown 40:52

See?

SPEAKER_00 40:53

Yeah. So and again, for him, it's like, oh, I can go do that. And then a bench press. But I mean, so yeah, yeah, it's more balanced for him. But you can use the weights that you have.

SPEAKER_03 41:03

So you're just in whatever. Like, you can use the weights and you can do them at home. And it's a video, video of you demonstrating.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

It's a demonstrating video. Okay. 100%. And I want to explain why. And then there's a written description. So my teacherness catches in. Like I, the video, the demo video explains it how I would coach you in person and then the written description for those people that like more details. And the reason why there are demo workouts is because we need more rest than we used to. And day to day, for even for me, like the amount of rest I need is based on me. It's based on me.

SPEAKER_03 41:40

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 41:41

Um, and also like the comparison. I think when you are comparing yourself to someone on the screen, like, no, that's not really like, oh, what weight's she using? Oh, is she moving too fast? I'm not moving that fast. Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 41:52

Forget that. That's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Forget that. So they are demo style workouts. And then you get to be in love with you. You get to move your body and feel how you feel and decide how much rest you need. So it's like this self-discovery, if you will. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 42:08

While you're getting stronger. So yes. Well, that's amazing. So you help women with the with the menopause minis and their little 10-minute strength workouts. What about for health and hormones? What do you offer for that?

SPEAKER_00 42:21

Yeah, those are mostly the one-on-one clients where we work, like, yeah. In my group too, though, because they'll ask different questions about their health. Like, for example, somebody is getting their blood work done. So we talked about the blood markers for your blood sugar. Make sure you ask for these three things. Right. Because many times your doctor may pull the fasting glucose, but they didn't do the fasting insulin. I am seeing A1C more often now, but just like education, like be an advocate for yourself. When you go to the doctor, ask for these things. And so that's kind of I'm not a medical doctor. I know a ton of stuff about hormones and supplements. And so I feel like a lot of times I'm the middle person between you and your practitioner. Right. Right. Very interesting.

SPEAKER_03 43:06

That is awesome. So everyone today will have you know that Cam has a special for all of my listeners. So I'd love for you to share that.

SPEAKER_00 43:15

Yeah. So the menopause minis are normally 97, but we have a Kimberly discount. So they'll be 27. So exciting. Yay! Only 27. Yeah. And there's like eight over 800 women in this program. So it's like that's awesome. Cam. Yeah. That's amazing. I and I love hearing from them. I'll get these emails and like they just, yeah, people are doing it. And they're getting out of their own way, which is the most exciting part. Yes. They're figuring out where can I fit these 10 minutes? Most women I are doing it in the morning, which I agree with hormonally. Like that would be best. And then you have the rest of your day. You've taken care of you first versus maybe younger you took care of everyone else first. I know I did. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:00

Right. I love that you said that about the morning too, because I've always been that way where I'm like even this morning before our podcast, I was like, I have to fit in a workout or I won't feel as alive and good. Like, and it's not like I'm doing anything super hard or anything, but just enough to like feel good. I go on walks regularly or I have pelotons and I just like a bike easily and and and walk and do some little uphill and stuff like that. But I love this idea of adding in the strength because I do some, but I don't really know exactly what I should be doing. So I think that that sounds really cool to have that and know that you're covering the muscles that are important.

CrossFit Intensity And Evening Cortisol

SPEAKER_00 44:38

100%. And I teach you how to use heavy for you weights because let me tell you, in menopause, every day is a little different. So, you know, maybe you use a 20, you know, this day, but maybe this day you need a 25, or maybe you need a lighter weight. So I teach you heavy for you, which just simply means the last few reps should feel challenging. Your form's always important, that always comes first. And then the last few reps feel challenging. You're like, okay, I'm working hard. Like, yeah, this is it. That's the edge. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:09

Yeah. And you said you used to do CrossFit a lot. I did. So how do you feel about that? Like, I know we're wrapping up talking about this, but I just was like, I want to hear your thoughts because so many people were involved in CrossFit and it was such a great program to get you strong. But I know there are some dangers to it, not to be like the that, but there are some we have to watch out, especially in 40s and 50s. So what's your your kind of thought on that?

SPEAKER_00 45:35

Yeah, well, I noticed when I tried to return after my hysterectomy, obviously healing after surgery. I went back, I coached until 2021. So my surgery was in December of 18. So I didn't give it a away. I didn't give it up so fast. I was like, it was big time. Um, I just didn't have the engine for it anymore. So I feel like for especially at my end of my CrossFit career, I was part of the problem and not the solution. So women were coming in being stressed work at work all day, and it goes back to the burden on the body. And then they're coming in at 7 p.m. and doing an intense workout, which is going to raise your cortisol and not allow your melatonin, your sleep hormone to come out because those work opposite of each other. Cortisol rises naturally in the morning, melatonin decreases in the morning, and they switch places in the evening. So I was being part of the problem. They're stressed from work, they're doing a stressful workout. When are they eating dinner? What the heck's happening to their sleep? Right. And it was, it's too much. It was too much intensity. It was too much intensity. And I was part of the problem. So um, I love CrossFit because I learned how to lift weights and I learned how to move my body through and like through time, space, and gravity. I'm very grateful. And I'm still great friends with people. Like we had a coach's dinner, I don't know, last week. And we have we from 2010. These are my friends from 2010. Yeah. So we still get together, but we don't do CrossFit anymore. Yeah, it's just too.

SPEAKER_03 47:08

And is that more because of our age? Or do what what are your thoughts on the age?

SPEAKER_00 47:12

I don't know. I don't know if it's age or the hormone factor. I'm not really sure. Or was it just the phase of life? Right. Um, you know, that phase of life, personally, I was going through a separation and a divorce. My kids were going to college, so there was empty nest. And so it was a way to feel strong and you know, good about myself in a time of life where other stuff was going offline. Right, right. And it's so true.

Sauna Red Light And Cold Plunge Cautions

SPEAKER_03 47:37

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know it's hard. And it and it's interesting to see too how workouts and everything morph over time. Like I'm seeing here locally more like Pilates places and variations of Pilates and then all kinds of recovery and wellness with the red light therapy, the saunas, the all the stuff. I'm seeing that too. It's quite interesting to see.

SPEAKER_00 48:01

Yeah, and I'm a huge fan of red light and sauna. Sauna was the first thing I bought was in 2020, right before the pandemic, which I was it got delivered during the shutdowns. And I was like, this is perfect. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 48:13

Yeah, that's amazing. Your timing has been kind of impeccable on all these things. That's that's pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_00 48:19

I would say the first year or two of menopause, I was like, I have got to figure this out. This is not, I'm not, this isn't it. But my life is not over. I'm going to figure out how to feel healthy and vibrant. And um the red light was the red light, it was a newer thing, but the sauna was part of like detoxing. So I mentioned I had this instinct that I needed to work to my gut health. And then the second thing was what, well, if I'm not doing CrossFit and the gyms were open and closed and all kinds of crazy stuff in 2020, even in, I think just during 2020, I think 2021 is when I left the gym. I'm like, this doesn't fit me anymore. I need to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

SPEAKER_03 48:59

Right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 49:01

And I think sweating is a normal way that we detox. So that was part of my thought with getting a sauna was using the sweat that I used to sweat during CrossFit. Now I'm gonna sweat intentionally in a sauna as part of my detox protocol. Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 49:17

Yeah. I mean, it seems like it's a great thing. We were on vacation in Canada a week ago, and they had a whole outdoor like recovery center, and it had different hot tubs at different levels, waterfalls of cold plunges, um, quiet rooms with glass where you could read and relax, and steam rooms and saunas and all of it. It was so fascinating. It was so pretty, and it was on the side of a mountain. Did you enjoy it? Oh my gosh, we loved it. My husband had heard we heard someone do it, and my husband's like, I want to do that. I looked at him, I'm like, what? He has never been like, I want to go to like a spa or a thing. He's like, we can get massages and we can like detox out there. And I thought, and it was like no phones, no one talks. So like even the workers there, they walk around their little puffer jackets because it's in Whistler, Canada, and their puffer jackets helping and refilling and doing all the stuff, refilling the hot or I guess the the steam for the saunas and stuff, um, or the water. But, anyways, on the back it says whisper, quiet, like no one talks about silence, you know, and it's just funny because it was this whole concept of digital detox, and then everything quiet. You could hear the sound of the cold plunge waters going over, and then you go into the hot tub and you give it. It was pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_00 50:32

Yeah, it was I do want to mention um cold plunges. Yes, cold plunges for women tend to be on the same bucket as fasted workouts and keto.

SPEAKER_03 50:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 50:43

So I just want to put that out there. I'm glad you did. Yeah. So what's your thought on that? So well, a couple years ago, my husband got a wild hair and bought one. So we we also have a cold blend. Never gotten in it. There's no, there's no way in hell I'm getting in that. All called digels, do you know? Um, you put ice in it, so it's whatever, it's ice water. You're like in a ice water bucket. Um yes. Currently it's taken apart because he was cleaning it. So I'm like, there's I'm not getting it. I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. Yeah. And it goes back to the bird on the body. So like keto fasting and cold plunges tend to be too much stress for the midlife body. Now, if you get in a cold plunge and you absolutely love it, go for it. But I'm just saying, in general, for most women, it's a no. It's a no. It's just too much stress on the bed.

SPEAKER_03 51:30

Yeah, I got in it for like 15 seconds. And it wasn't, they had three different cold plunges. You could pick like there was a 62 degree one, then a 54, and then a 52 or something like that. They had different ones. So I was like, oh, I'm going in the warm one, whatever says 63. I'll get in that one. But it was and how did you feel? I mean, I felt good. I got in it. So we had been in a hot tub, and they say their protocol there was do the hot tub for 10 to 15 minutes and then go and get in. You could do it for five seconds, you get in the cold budge for five seconds up to like, I forgot what they said. It wasn't that long. But like, of course, being the man that my husband is, and most men are, they're like, I'm gonna be in here for two or three minutes, you know. And they do I just did it for like 15 seconds. It was super cold, and I got out and it felt good, but I I don't know. I I don't know what I think. You do you never know. Like, is this real? Is this actually doing something for me? But I did anyways, and I felt relaxed and I wasn't talking and I wasn't on my phone. And all of the things worked together to make it for a great afternoon of detox, you know.

SPEAKER_00 52:33

And I love and you were with your husband. Yeah, I know. It was so fun. Yeah, it was health is way more than your food and your exercise. It also includes what you just did, having the experience with your husband. Like that's also helps. Yes, yeah. Yeah, and we he loved it. He was like all into it.

SPEAKER_03 52:48

I was like, what just happened to you?

SPEAKER_00 52:50

Like you I've also tried cryotherapy. We have a place, we have restores here, which have like they have the red light, the sauna, cryotherapy. Um, and I did try that for like I had a membership for a while, and um, I was thinking because I read it was good for belly fat, but it at some point it was just too cold for me and I felt too stressed out. And there was one time we were visiting my mom in St. Louis side story, and I went to the restore there and I went in the cold in the cryotherapy and I felt like I couldn't breathe. And I was like, okay, I'm done. You're like, that's not okay. This is not okay.

Discount Reminder And Final Takeaways

SPEAKER_03 53:26

Yeah. But I love again, you you, you know, do what you preach, right? You walk you walk the talk because you actually were like listening to your body and saying, I know I'm being told that this is great, and it is probably great for certain people, but maybe it's just not for me. It was not for me. You know, I decided it was not for me. Yeah, that's kind of where we have to be sometimes with all of that. Well, this has been awesome. Oh my gosh, Cam, you are you are so knowledgeable. I could sit here all day and ask you 80 bazillion questions about it's been a joy. Yeah. Yeah. Gosh. But I think the menopause minis are genius. So for anyone listening, you can fit 10 minutes in your day to do the strength training that it's gonna help you because I I'm actually shocked that you only need 60 minutes in a week to do strength training or it's like 10, 15 minutes a day. And it's so encouraging that we can do this. Ladies, we can do this. We can see 100% into our life. And it would and we can see a physical difference and feel the difference and all of that.

SPEAKER_00 54:24

So yeah, and what happens is it ripples out into oh, I want to drink more water. Oh, I care about what's on my plate. Oh, I feel like going for a walk. And then also what I notice is like your posture changes, the how you walk literally physically walk through life. You have more confidence in your body. I love that. It just ripples out, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:44

Yeah, it ripples out everything you do. So I hope everyone listening can take advantage of her promo. Again, can you share the link, the full link? And we'll have it down below, but just to share that again. Yeah, so I will have a link because I don't know what the link will be, but it will just be down below with the coupon, the Kimberly coupon that will give everybody 70%$70 off.

SPEAKER_00 55:06

$70 off$70, which is yes, yes. So that's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 55:10

Yeah, that's awesome. So well again, yeah, just say yes. Just say yes, just do it. Just do it. We know we all need to do it. Yes, I think it's awesome. So, well, thank you, Cam, so much for this. This has been such a fun conversation and a very important conversation for for all my listeners.

SPEAKER_00 55:27

Total honor. If you have any questions, reach out because I'm happy to help. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 56:10

Head on over to Kimberlybrock.com, and yes, you can get more valuable information for your journey. And you know what? You don't need to go through this alone. I would love to help. Thank you so much and have a great day. Bye.