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Has sleep been your friend or foe since you hit your perimenopause and menopause years? Maybe you’ve struggled since childhood, or maybe this is a whole new symptom that is messing with you.

I wish I had a magic pill that would give you a solid eight hours every night—shoot, if I did, I’d be the first in line to swallow it! But while you may not find answers right away, there are reasons why you need to keep trying to get more sleep in midlife and ways to support your body during this time.

Sleep can hold the key to not only feeling rejuvenated but also to weight management, hormonal balance, and overall well-being.

Why is Sleep Important?

Midlife introduces many challenges, including sleep, which is primarily driven by hormonal changes. As estrogen levels decline, sleep disturbances become more prevalent, leading to midnight awakenings, racing thoughts, and hormonal...

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Let’s unlock the puzzle and confusion hormones can cause and dive into the actionable strategies you need after 50 to support your hormones, fuel your fat-burning journey, and navigate the twists of menopause. 

This isn't just about weight loss; it's a common-sense approach to living your best second half-life. 

The Hormonal Impact of White Sugar, White Flour, and Seed Oils: A Menopause Menace

It's not just about what you eat; it's about what you avoid. 

White sugar, white flour, and seed oils can wreak havoc on your hormones. They trigger weight gain, mess with cholesterol, and throw blood sugar off balance. Choose nutrient-dense Whole Foods, with lots of plant options. 

Prioritize gut health with prebiotics and probiotics, focusing on vegetables,...

https://www.purple-planet.com/ 

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When I hit menopause I felt like my body spiraled out of control. Everything fit differently, I lost my waist, and the jeans I grabbed out of my closet wouldn’t even button.

Can you believe this happened to someone consistently eating the Trim Healthy plan and exercising?

So, you might ask, if it can happen to you is there any hope for me?

The answer is yes!

Midlife weight gain and its stubbornness have less to do with eating perfectly and exercising daily than you might think. 

In fact, if you’re in your forties or above, there is a whole bunch of evidence pointing to your hormones being the root cause of extra fat around your belly than anything else.

Weight gain in midlife is not inevitable. 

But what you’ve been doing to lose weight in your twenties and thirties won’t work anymore!

Belly Fat after 50:...

Music provided by: https://www.purple-planet.com/ 

Apple Podcast - Spotify

If you are in midlife, perimenopause, menopause, or postmenopause, and you've said this to yourself, “I feel like I'm going crazy.”

You are not alone.

Let me tell you about a lady, just like you, I’ll call her Eleanor. 

Eleanor prided herself on her ability to handle life's ups and downs with grace. 

But as she entered her late forties, something inside began to shift. It started with subtle changes, forgetting where she placed her car keys, struggling to concentrate on reading a book, and things like that. 

However, over time, the lapses became more frequent.

One evening while she was cooking dinner, she couldn't remember the recipe for her signature pasta dish. The dish she’d made hundreds of times. Frustration boiled within her and tears rolled up unexpectedly. She felt like she was losing control. Her best friend, Tina, noticed the changes...

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Is hormone replacement therapy for every woman? 

Aren't there more "natural" options? 

The answer is yes, and yes. 

Some women are not good candidates for hormone replacement therapy or aren't comfortable taking it; this might be due to a lack of education about the safety and protective benefits or availability.

But that doesn't mean you can't reduce or eliminate suffering from hormonal symptoms during menopause. You still have a lot to say about how you feel by implementing four ways to treat menopause. 

But you won't get the protective benefits when you're not using bioidentical hormone therapy. Bioidentical hormone therapy can help treat menopause symptoms, providing protective benefits to you. 

Menopause is a natural biological process. It marks...

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There are days the constant bombardment of questions has me ready to catch the next ride to crazy town.

I'm not talking about big, scary decisions but the daily ones. The decisions you need to make every single day.

What's for dinner? When should I exercise? How many meals should I eat? When am I going to walk? What should I eat for a snack? Is this enough protein? What trim healthy fuel should I eat next?

The level of panic that starts to set in makes me feel like Lucille Ball in "I Love Lucy" trying to deal with too much candy on the conveyor belt.

It's all too much!

via GIPHY

DECISION FATIGUE & BELLY FAT

When you live in this state of panic and constant decision-making, you are setting yourself up physiologically for increased cortisol levels. Those cortisol levels trigger your body to store fat at your waistline and create an uptick in inflammation.

By leaving multiple decisions...

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Are you seeking that ray of hope to finally conquer your weight loss journey and maintain a healthier you?

Ready to leave behind the feeling of hopelessness and embrace the chance to shed those stubborn pounds for good?

Let's take the confusion out of this process and get super simple on what works in menopause to shrink your waistline and regain your vibrant health; what you put on the end of your fork everyday matters. Making choices of good foods, whole foods, healing foods, and hormone-supporting foods will bring positive change in your body, but that's not all. Strength training twice weekly is essential to shrinking fat cells and increasing your metabolic rate. But a few more critical areas in your life are needle movers. Once you have created your fat-loss food plan and have a routine for strength training, you can start working on lifestyle factors. ...

What’s for dinner?

When should I exercise?

How many E meals have I had today?

When am I going to walk?

What should I eat for a snack?

Is this enough protein?

What Trim Healthy fuel should I eat next?

Can you feel your increased heart-rate? Or the sweat beading along your hairline? Maybe you’ve found a nice quiet corner to hide in until all these questions go away.

Has freestyling your Trim Healthy eating plan turned into a recipe for stress?

Do you feel like you might just explode if you have to field one more question or make one more decision?

While we don’t want to live in calorie counting land, living without a plan is a sure recipe for hormonal disaster.

Let’s take a 30,000 foot view to see what is going on in your body when you try freestyling decisions every day.

Estrogen serves as your main hormone to counter cortisol and works as a powerful anti-inflammatory agent. 

Cortisol is your primary stress...

Do you have some super-friendly fat cells hanging out in places you don’t want? 

I know you’ve been told to starve those fat cells and exercise the heck out of them but what if that advice doesn’t actually work? 

Let’s look at the best ways you can shrink those fat cells while boosting your metabolism.

>Exercise the right way 

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has been shown to increase fat burning even at rest. But it is important how you exercise during this season. No more than 2-3 intense workouts per week for a total of around 40 minutes is the recommendation for Wise Women. Too much intense exercise can cause what the body perceives as stress and increase cortisol levels (fat storage). Protein after a workout is essential for muscle repair and blood sugar stabilization. Along with HIIT (low impact counts), strength training is important for reducing bone loss and increasing muscle mass which increases fat...

Decreasing belly fat isn't about one factor. Take a look at each area and choose what to implement to see the results you want.

1. Reduce cortisol

Cortisol is the primary stress hormone. Cortisol imbalances cause weight gain, and weight gain causes cortisol imbalance. This is a crazy hamster wheel that you have to jump off of to find balance.

Choose one area to focus on: 

>>Get more sleep

>>Try an adaptogenic herb like Ashwagandha

>>Find simple ways to reduce your daily stress, and try asking for help.

2. Avoid dehydration

3. Reduce alcohol and caffeine 

4. Focus on anti-inflammatory foods 

Choose foods like clean grass-fed protein, wild-caught fish, free-range chicken, green leafy vegetables, low glycemic fruits, nuts, seeds, natural oils, butter, olive oil, and whole grains. 

5. Avoid insulin spikes 

Keeping your blood sugar balanced is key to decreasing belly fat and increasing your...