SPEAKER_01 0:01

Menopause is actually one day. It's the day, the last day of like when you've actually, let's say you you had your last period, it should be a year, counting from that day forward to a year. That's so menopause is one day. Perimenopause can go on for 15 years.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

That is a snippet of our podcast today. Hey there, Maureen Cherna here, founder of the Mindsight Academy, neurocoach to executives, leaders, entrepreneurs, and a neuroleadership trainer using insights from neuroscience to help you deliver results by learning to work smarter, be in control of your brain, manage yours and others' emotions, change behaviors, flourish, and exceed expectations. Welcome back to another episode of Lead to Excel Podcast. I am so thrilled to be with you today because we have a special guest. But before we get into that, remember to subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to it, because it will help other people find it and give them the opportunity to understand how they can rewire their own brain to enable them to achieve their goals. So without wasting any more time, grab your cup of coffee or your drink or whatever that might be, put your feet up and listen in. I am excited again to be back with Jill Cruz on this episode of Lead to Excel Podcast. Jill is not new to this podcast because we've done two previously. And I keep coming back to Jill for more and more and more. And today's episode is really close to my heart, and you guys will understand why in a second. So before we get on, Jill, I want to say thank you once again for coming onto this podcast. And, you know, I really appreciate you and your expertise in this subject we're talking about, which I'm not even mentioning yet, because once we get in, you guys will understand. So thank you for coming on to this podcast again.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Well, thank you for having me, Maureen. I always love, love, love talking to you because you're you're so inquisitive and you're so smart. So it's always a great conversation.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

So thanks, Jill. So I'm going to just read a quick bio about Jill and then I'll let you just get you to introduce yourself quickly. So Jill is the CEO and founder of Work with Your Nature Weight Loss. She and her team help women over 40 that are fed up with yo-yo dieting to lose weight in a sustainable, healthy, and joyous way. Wow. I'll read that again. She helps women over 40 who are fed up with yo-yo dieting to lose weight in a sustainable, healthy, and joyous way. And I really want to emphasize that. She has a Master of Science degree in human nutrition, and she's a board certified nutrition specialist and certified big lip coach. She is on a mission to guide women to achieve their wildest dreams for their health while loving the food they eat and the life they live. And I know I've asked you this before. Is it possible to actually get to the stage whereby you're really loving, you're eating the food you love to eat and living that life you want and actually having the right weight? Is it possible, Jill?

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Oh, I think it's possible. I think that when we talk about what the right weight is, that needs to be personalized. I think that our society, I know you're in the UK, I'm in the US, but our societies, I think, are equally committed to um defining what beauty is for women, and that is um not necessarily going to fit all of the wonderful, beautiful different body types that we have in this world. And if, you know, being a young girl growing up in the United States and maybe being a little bit heavier than the magazines show you or some of your friends, that can I do a lot of our clients have kind of come from that background where they've always wanted to be thin and they never were able to be thin. So sometimes I think it does take an adjustment in that perspective because not all women are going to be skinny, little tiny little things. And not everybody wants to be that way. So I think it's about defining what feels good for you. When do you feel you're most confident, your most beautiful, your most sexy? And it it that's not a number that I can decide. Everybody has to determine that for themselves. But I do if as long with that within that context, yes, I do think it's possible for all of us to enjoy the food that we eat and and feel healthy and strong and sexy.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Yeah, thank you. I think that's so important. It really comes back to the individuals, it really comes back to you defining what is right for you. And I love the fact that we actually started with that because that is really what it boils down to. So, Jill, thank you again, like I said, for coming back on. And today, one of the key things that I really wanted us to talk about was really you know linking nutrition to menopause. Now, before I get to we start getting into the topic, could you just tell us briefly what who you work with, what you do, and how you do it? And the I know I've read your bio a bit, but if you just kind of expand on that a bit, then we can just um segue into the real into talking about menopause.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Okay, so the I am the founder of the company Work with Your Nature Weight Loss, and we have a couple of programs that I've designed. Well, some of them I've designed with the nutritionists who work for me, some I designed on my own, but our main focus is helping women, predominantly women over 40, to lose weight, but um it's wellness first. Our big um sort of motto is weight loss is a byproduct of improved health. So our focus is health, vitality, energy, feeling good. And then if you lose weight, great. So, but many of the women that we work with have a history of yo-yo dieting where they've either thought about food a lot and done nothing, or they've been on many different diets and they've lost weight and then gained it back. Some of our clients multiple times. I we have clients that we work with who've lost 100 pounds and gained back 120. Uh, so there's a lot of there's a lot of that that's prevalent in our society, especially by the time you're 50, 55, 60 years old. And so a lot of our clients are just tired of the whole gimmicky fad diet, you know, uh extreme restrictions, all of that. So we take a very moderate approach, a very an approach that comes from a place of self-love and forgiveness. And I liked the term radical acceptance. I didn't make it up, but I love that term. So accepting and loving yourself first, and then um eating well and moving and sleeping and you know, taking care of your body because you want to, simply because you want to, not because you feel like there's a number on the scale that's waiting for you somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 8:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

So yeah, not because you have to, but because you want to. I like that the focus is on self-love and radical acceptance, and I think that that is so important because that immediately gives you the responsibility for yourself in a way, and it actually, I kind of say it helps you rewire your brain because you take the focus off what the expectation is of how you should look or what you should do. So, what you're doing is bringing it to actually, who am I? What do I like? What you know, how do I want to be? And yeah, that is so powerful, and and that is why it's sustainable. And I love it because in your bio, that is the key word there's sustainable is one of the first things you mentioned. And for and to come away from the weight loss to really making it sustainable, that's it has to be about self-love and that's acceptance. Oh, I love that. Right now, let's talk about menopause because anyone that knows me will always know that, oh gosh, Maureen always has her fan around her neck. Some people actually think they're headphones, but no, it's a fan, it's a neck fan. I, you know, it's kind of my signature thing. I've been going through menopause for quite a few years, and one of the things that really come out for me is that hot flush. And I as I was saying to you just before we came on that one of the things I've noticed is there's some kinds of food that I eat that really bring it on more and really aggravate it. So, can you just talk to us quickly about nutrition, eating, and menopause? Because I think it's just so important to be able to really identify, because one, our bodies, our body shape changes once we get to that stage. So, what can we do to really help us maintain that body that we want?

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Well, I I think that um maybe that's not the right question, the last part, because what we really should be asking, because our bodies do change. And I was on a discussion yesterday, and somebody referred to menopause as more like pregnancy, like in terms of the in the workplace. And and a lot of your listeners maybe maybe will appreciate that, but there's a movement to treat menopause, it's actually more in the UK, to treat menopause more like pregnancy for for women when you're going through this tumultuous time, to not just say, oh, well, you know, yeah. So I think there's an inevitable change, just like when you go through pregnancy, your body does change no matter what, right? So I think maybe first off, again, that radical acceptance, which is not always easy, but to say, you know what, my body is changing, and that's okay. That's part of accepts that, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 12:01

I love that.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

And and acceptance doesn't mean that you do nothing and you just give up and and let it all go. It means saying, okay, this is part of the normal process of being a woman. And you know, so but the other thing that's a very important distinction, but maybe it's semantics, but uh menopause is actually one day. It's the day, the last day of like when you've actually let's say you you had your last period, it should be a year, counting from that day forward to a year. That's so menopause is one day, perimenopause can go on for 15 years. So a lot of times what we're really talking about is perimenopause.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Yeah, true.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

And so that can go on before that one day of menopause, and it can go on after that a lot of people don't talk about that. I've had clients in their late 60s still having hot flashes occasionally. Yeah, so I think so, you know, it there's a lot you can do like pre before you have that menopausal event, there's a lot you can do more naturally. And then afterwards, I'm I'm actually a fan of bringing in a little help in terms of bioidentical hormones. So, because once you do pass through menopause, um, your body's just not producing the same level of estrogen and and and progesterone as as it used to. So those types of things can help. So I kind of would divide it into like pre-menopause and post-menopause.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Because and and food is very, very important, obviously. I mean, you've you've literally you've experienced it. I uh the one food that I've seen, or not food, but food ingredient that I've seen is is sugar. I don't, I don't know. I'd like to hear what foods you know aggravate your symptoms, but I've had a lot of clients who say that if they eat like a lot of sweets, they will get hot flashes.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

So I don't know if you've experienced that. Yeah, I think I would I will agree with that for me personally. Um, mine is sugar, alcohol, I know definitely aggravates mine. And then I think when I used to take um Coca-Cola, that did as well. Um, if I have coffee in the evening, you know, close to when I go to bed, then I get night sweats badly. I've noticed that as well. So I tend to stop taking coffee quite early, or if I have my last cup of coffee, if I would take it, will be about 2 p.m. and I won't take coffee after that, then I'm fine. If not, um I'll you know, I would definitely have bad hot sweats at night.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

So what's what happens is when we hit really for a lot of women, our late 30s, early 40s, the production of the hormone progesterone starts to go down. So estrogen and progesterone are sister hormones. They they balance each other out. So um if if your progesterone is low and your estrogen is high, you are gonna have start having a lot of those types of night sweats, um hot flashes. You you may feel like you're a teenager again. Acne and you know, sore breasts and even cramping, you know, those sorts of things. So um it's it's more about the balance of the two. Yes, it's about the actual amounts that you're producing, but it's also about the balance. So you could have normal levels of estrogen, but if your progesterone is low, it's gonna feel like estrogen dominance. So um there are different foods that can affect the it sounds to me like this isn't more of an estrogen surge, what's happening with you due to the caffeine, probably. Um, so if you get that estrogen surge like a tidal wave hitting you, night sweat. Um so the goal during perimenopause is to increase progesterone and to keep estrogen um stable, not jumping up and down, you know, three days a week you're going crazy, and then the next set four days you're fine. Like that, you know, you'll get these jumpy estrogen surges. And so, how do we level it out? Yeah, but um, and some women have low estrogen, so they want to increase it, and some women have high and so they want to decrease it, so it gets a little bit complicated.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

So, how do you know if you've got high or low estrogen?

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Well, there's certain features of high estrogen that are very um extreme. For example, if someone has fibroids, that's like a very extreme uh condition. Uh, if you have a lot of night sweats and breast pain, it could be high estrogen. The only way to really know is to get tested.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

But there are a few botanical supplements that anybody can take. And I would shout this from the rooftops. What are they? They're because they're pretty, you know, they're pretty benign. Like anybody who's going to take a supplement, especially after hearing a podcast, please consult with your healthcare professional before taking any supplement because the botanicals can be powerful, and you know, we have to be careful. But chaste tree is it's also known as vitex, but the you know, you'll see the supplement called chaste tree. And that is a botanical herb that you can take that will help your body naturally increase the production of progesterone. And that is the first one that I would usually introduce to most people because it's it's very, very common that people have low progesterone. Progesterone. It's it's probably the most common thing that occurs. So it's totally benign, you know, it's safe and and it works really well.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Interesting. Interesting. Again, you know, like you said, before you take anything, it's so important to consult your physician before you do it. But um, coming back to this, um, so apart from the supplements, um, what else or is it are there foods that people can take or things that people can do as well to help increase progesterone? To help increase progesterone, are the only one that I know balance, or to even balance them.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Well, I think a lot of time, so what one of the most common issues is that uh a lot of women are not getting rid of the body, is not clearing out estrogen properly, and that's something that can be addressed in the liver and it can be addressed in the gastrointestinal tract.

SPEAKER_00 19:44

What do you mean, though, by they're not clearing out estrogen? What does that mean?

SPEAKER_01 19:49

So estrogen is produced in the body, and by the way, cholesterol is a an ingredient. You can think of it as an ingredient. It it you we need cholesterol to produce our hormones. So if you're eating a very low-fat diet, sex hormones can tank. Uh, and we haven't talked about testosterone, but you know, even testosterone is very important for women. Yeah. We don't we don't eat a lot of it, but we need some.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Oh, we need it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Yeah. So if you're eating a low saturated fat or a low cholesterol diet, you may see hormonal imbalances start to happen. So that's one way to address it completely with food is you know, eat a little bit more, eat some good pasture-based eggs. Um, you know, maybe if you if you can do dairy, uh, you don't have to do a lot, but that can really um that can make a difference if you have a low cholesterol. Um, but the body makes these hormones, right? And they're manufactured, but the hormones then will go and do their work, stimulating all kinds of receptors in the body. But after that's done, they need to be recycled or just removed from the body. And that is done in the liver. And so if you have fatty liver disease, which is actually quite common in, especially in people who have overweight or obesity, you people are not very often there. Let's put it this way, there are a lot of people walking around with mild fatty liver disease who are not diagnosed. And it may just be a very mild case, but it kind of can disrupt the breakdown of hormones and and other toxins as well. So definitely, I mean, I'll just say across the board, we want to eat a clean diet. I mean, if you're go, if you're having a hard time with perimenopausal symptoms, take out the sugar, take out the alcohol and see what happens. Drink coffee, stop drinking coffee at 2 p.m. I mean, I know this is not always easy, but those three things that you mentioned, those are usually will take a person very far.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

Um, the the other thing too is uh, and and you may have heard about this, but uh cruciferous vegetables, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts, there's a bunch of different cruciferous vegetables. Those contain natural compounds that actually help your body uh take the estrogen and put it in the right place to break it down properly. Because if it's if it's not broken down properly, estrogen can. Be a little ugly in the body. It's kind of like this mutated, sort of mean little form of estrogen that can be, doesn't cause cancer. Estrogen does not cause cancer, but it can instigate it more. Like if someone has a little bit of cancerous activity going on, that mean little estrogen byproduct can go in and start, you know, and and most people listening, I'm sure you're aware that there, you know, our estrogen-based breast cancer is a very, very common, very, very common. So we don't just want to think about our hormonal, you know, symptoms of hot flashes, but also um, you know, staying healthy. So uh, and and one food, very simple food way to do that is to eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables. Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi. Um, and there are different types of cruciferous vegetables. Uh, cabbage is another one. Uh, you know, cabbage, kale, broccoli and cauliflower, people eat a lot. I think those are pretty common. Uh, Brussels sprouts. Um, there's quite a there's probably about 10 or 15 cruciferous vegetables. A lot of people haven't heard of kohlrabi. It's this like this delicious, crunchy vegetable. What is it called? Kolrabi. It's it's K-O-H-L-R-A-B-I. I think kolrabi is delicious. It's the it's a little hard to peel, but once you peel it, you can eat it like an apple almost. So you can eat it raw. You can eat it raw, you can dice it and throw it in a salad, or you can, or you can cook it. You know, you can cook it. So, um, yeah, and anybody listening, you know, you can just look up a list of cruciferous vegetables. Uh, though I probably named the most common ones. Um, I'm trying to think if there is some, you know, um uh watercress is another one too that's quite tasty in salads. So those foods contain these compounds that help your body get properly break down the estrogen. Um, and also B vitamins are very important for that process as well. So again, you know, it's you know, you could take a simple B complex or a good multi and you're gonna get your B vitamins. It's the methyl, the methylated B vitamins are very important for that liver breakdown. So that alone, if you remove, you know, a couple of those things that are obvious instigators, and you add in a lot of vegetables. The other thing, too, that's very important is fiber. Yeah. Fiber, because fiber actually binds with estrogen in the gut and you'll poop it out.

unknown 25:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

So, you know, less sugar, less alcohol, maybe managing your coffee, more cruciferous vegetables, and more fiber.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Those five things, uh, that'll take you a long, long way. That is something to really look into. And I've I've made lots of notes here. Definitely, yeah. The cruciferous vegetables, you're so right. That's that's so I've heard about that actually, but completely forgot about it. So that's true. And I'm definitely going to be, I'm gonna look for that call cold rugby, isn't it? Cold Robbie, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

I'm well known for it.

SPEAKER_00 26:02

Yeah, with the cake, yeah, I'll definitely look for that. I think, like you said, it all comes back again to really people identifying themselves, you know, basically what works for you, what doesn't. It's paying attention to our bodies. And I think you said this in the previous podcast we did. It's really paying attention to yourself, to your body. And actually, Jill, I must say that it was after we did that podcast that I started paying attention to my body that actually noticed the um caffeine. Because before then I hadn't linked it at all. And so it was after the podcast, I started paying attention to, you know, the way my body responds to different things I eat. And that was when I noticed it. And I went, oh wow, okay, that's interesting. So now I don't take coffee um, you know, beyond that 2 p.m. ish. And if I if I've not had it, I ain't having it again. So, and it and I would say a lot of other things I've started noticing. So I also stopped eating after 6 p.m. And that was also after that podcast. So that podcast really helped me a lot um because I noticed that when I did, and I think it's something you mentioned that um, and I noticed it was happening to me when I did, I didn't sleep properly. And it was something you mentioned about um the metabolism as well, um, actually at night. Um, so I don't know if that's also, I suppose it's the same principle of really paying attention to yourself, to your body. And um, so if you just talk a bit about metabolism, right.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

Well, um just a side note to what you were talking about. Uh if if someone gets hungry, because ending at 6 p.m. is great, but that may be hard for some people. If you think in terms of I like I'm teased endlessly in my family because uh, you know, I don't know if in the UK, but in the United States, we have like the early bird special, which is basically when elderly people they move to Florida and they all go and they eat dinner at like 4:30. Okay. So I'm I'm often teased because I like to eat dinner at 4:35 o'clock. Oh and I the same thing for me that I noticed that my sleep was better when I ate my meal, my dinner, which is a you know, a meal, a real meal, earlier. And then what I do because I will get hungry, is I'll have a snack.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

Yes, that's what I do. If yeah, exactly. So if I eat dinner about five, which happens sometimes, six is my cutoff, but if I have it about five or even four sometimes, then I'll have a snack, but I don't eat at all after six thirty. I wouldn't, you know, not even a snack. So that's fantastic. Um you're so right though, that it might not work for you. So, what do you do if you can't do that? Which is what you were about to say, isn't it? So if you can eat earlier, what can people then do?

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Well, I I would say that, you know, it just do the best you can in terms of not eating a lot. So uh it the the general, and this is coming from sleep research, not nutrition research. The general recommendation is three hours before bedtime, no heavy meals.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

Right. Three hours.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

Yes, and it will disrupt. I mean, there's a lot of research around how that will disrupt your sleep if you eat a lot, you know, a heavy meal. And and the other key point of this is it becomes a little bit of a vicious cycle because if you get poor sleep because you ate too much food, that's going to affect your hormones. So, hormones are not only affected by how you eat and your liver function, everything, it's affected by your sleep and your stress, you know, and your physical activity as well. So prioritize sleep in order to have better hormonal balance.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:16

Um, and I would say, you know, I have a client, she really was struggling with this of like um actually she spends part of the year in Europe, but she's American, and she said in Europe, everybody's eating at like 10 o'clock at night, you know. And and so what we designed for her was she would actually eat a meal at four or five o'clock, and then she would have a very light, she would eat very lightly because she wanted to be part of the yes, exactly. Social, you know, the social. Yeah. So then she would just eat very lightly like vegetables, like whatever vegetables were served. And that worked for her. So, you know, working around it, I'm sure there are going to be people who just simply cannot. And then, you know, you just have to do the best you can. And if you have to eat dinner at eight or nine o'clock, try to make it as light as possible. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:06

I like that. And uh, in fact, I'm smiling because I'm kind of impressed with myself because I started doing that. If I go out for dinner with friends or we have a meal and it's dinner and it's past that six o'clock, I stick to salads. You know, I just look for the best salad they have and have that. So it's just something really light. Um, I started doing that as well. And um it's so you, I think it's it's just that whole thing of looking after yourself. And it just becomes so it's fun. And now I can see why you say that you make it fun, you make it a thing of joy for people. Because it's so true. It really is true, because you feel better. And you know, talking about the vicious circle, when you when you don't sleep well, you wake up stressed, that has an impact on your hormones and your actions and your productivity, and it just carries on. So it's um it comes back to that self-love, self-care, totally. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

It also one of the the biggest kept secrets out there, because most of the uh programs and books and diet approaches that you see for weight loss or for you know hormonal balancing, they're all uh under the assumption that you're gonna fix everything in a month or three months or six months. Let that concept go, let it fly out away from you because that's why it's not fun. Because you're trying to fix all of these habits that maybe you've been doing for 30, 40 years. You can't fix all of that in six months. So, of course, you can do it for a month, you can do it for two, people do it, and then they just fall back into their old habits and they feel like a failure. So the goal is like you did, like, oh, I'm just gonna observe. And oh, I notice that coffee affects me. Okay, so I'm just gonna do that one thing, yeah. And then, oh, I notice that if I stop eating earlier, my sleep is better. So I'm just gonna do if you just kind of slowly do one thing at a time, it even if it takes you five years, who cares? Because five years later, you have 10 new habits that are amazing, yeah, and it was never you never suffered, you know, you just kind of enjoyed the process. You you feel proud, like you said, you're smiling because you're proud. Yeah, and you should be you should be proud of that. So that's part of the secret of making it joyful is gradual, gradual change.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Yeah, I think that's that's a very important message, actually, because if you don't and you're and you keep putting pressure on yourself, it it doesn't work, it won't even last. So I love that gradual and it takes time, you know. I always say that even when rewiring your brain to create these new habits, it takes time. And there's a saying that goes, it's repetition that rewires the brain. So you just keep doing it, keep going. Even if you fall off the back the wagon, get back on and just keep going. You know, that's that's so true. Jill, um, I know we're coming to the end now, but one question is there a link? Because people have asked me this so many times between having carbohydrates, you know, a lot of carbohydrates or carbohydrates, because you see, as an African, our meals are really carbohydrate heavy. And um you tend to find it's it's always a struggle for so many people to give those up. Is there a link between that and pre-menopause, the symptoms that we get in pre-menopause, like the the hot flashes and you know, the the Tommy and all that?

SPEAKER_01 34:59

Yeah, that's a whole nother. So I was thinking of the you know, the the weight gain and also the sleep disruption are two two things that happen that we haven't talked about, but I'm not I am not in the camp of people who demonize carbohydrates. I think it's ridiculous. Um, I think that as well, I don't think, I know that as we age, we kind of have to earn the carbs a little bit more. So if so, if you think about, I mean, part of it is climate. Um, you know, uh depending on where you are in Africa, but you're from Nigeria, is that Nigeria, yes, Nigeria. So the climate is hot. And so when you're in a hotter climate, your body does uh better. Most people will do better with more carbohydrates, but now you live in the UK. So there's a lot of genetic stuff going on that maybe your body is better equipped to deal with carbohydrates than somebody who their ancestors are from England. So, you know, it again it becomes per very personalized. My main emphasis that I tell people is whenever you have carbs, make sure there's some fiber. So a donut, no, not good. Not the right, not to say you never eat donuts, but they're probably not the best thing. But um, you know, it are you're eating beans, you're eating wild rice, you're eating vegetables, you're eating fruit, the whole fruit, right? Not fruit juice, you're getting the fiber with those carbohydrates. That's a completely different situation. So I think that, but and that being said, if you're not active and you're eating a lot of carbs, you're eating a lot of carbs, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, yeah, you're probably gonna gain some weight because you're not 20 anymore, you know, but like the activity level is just not the same, the body is not functioning as optimally. Um, and and I just want to also dispel a myth. Um, as far as we understand right now, um, the metabolism that you're thinking of, the metabolism doesn't slow down until about age 60, 65.

SPEAKER_00 37:23

Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Yes, interesting.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

So if you're 50 and you're going through menopause, you know, you're in that perimenopause phase and you're getting a belly, it's not because of your age.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

Really?

SPEAKER_01 37:39

It's not because of your age.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

So why is my belly bigger?

SPEAKER_01 37:46

Well, part of it is hormonal imbalances, yeah. Right? So it's not that it's not a um a prescription. You're it's not necessarily going to happen, but if your hormones are out of balance, then it could. So estrogen dominance can cause sometimes that belly fat and a lot of other issues that we've already discussed. It can also cause a little bit of that sleep because we haven't talked about this, but a lot of times women will express during the perimenopause and post-menopause period uh, oh, I wake up at two o'clock in the morning and I can't fall back asleep.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Yes, I hear that comment. That doesn't happen to me, but I hear that so much. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 38:29

Yeah, it's you're lucky it doesn't. And so that's usually uh actually sometimes people find that a little bit of carbs at night helps them sleep better at night. You know, not having a little bit of carbohydrates with your dinner, um, again, it depends on it. Actually helps. Yes. Interesting. Okay. But um ultimately, if that's the case, sleep disruption is very complicated. Um, you know, it's probably that that person needs more progesterone because progesterone is a more of a calming kind of hormone. Um, but the the belly fat is a usually it's kind of like a perfect storm, hormonal imbalances, less activity, more stress, sleep disruption. Oh that's and you got someone who's gaining weight, maybe more inflammation in the body. So um again, I I like to go back to the basics eat more fiber, drink more water, eat more vegetables, eat less sugar and drink less alcohol. This is actually not rocket science. It's not, is it? Yeah, it's more of a habit thing.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

Yeah, right. It is, yeah, it is. It is wow. It's interesting though, because it's really come back to the basics. Yep. What we know. It always does.

SPEAKER_01 39:53

It always does, every single time. I don't care if you're talking about cancer, perimenopause, um, childhood obesity, it always comes back to the basics. And the and the single biggest thing that anybody can do to be healthier is to eat less processed foods. That is huge, huge, huge problem. In particular, because the oils that they use in processed foods are such poor quality, and they they they're a lot of the oils that are used in processed foods are not well uh burnt for for energy. They're they're not good energy sources, so the body wants to store them. So if you eat less processed foods, you're gonna eat less sugar and you're gonna eat less of those poor fats.

SPEAKER_00 40:46

It can make a huge difference. Yeah, that's that's great advice, actually. That is great. Wow, thank you, Jill. We've just oh my god, we've we've yeah, no, that's great, and I just love the fact that it all comes back to those three things: water, fiber, just you know, yeah, avoid things that you that your body doesn't like, basically. Yes, yes, no, that's great. So, Jill, now that we're at the end, what advice, final word of wisdom, anything you want to tell we women that are going through perimenopause or even postmenopause, what to do in terms of um nutrition? I know we've talked about a lot and you've given us so much, but any final words?

SPEAKER_01 41:35

I I'm torn between a couple of things, but I will always have to revert back to just accept and love yourself for who you are and where you are first. If you can just do that, as as I I was speaking to a woman on my podcast and she said, Count your blessings. And I was like, I love it, it's so simple. Count your blessings. Count your blessings. Appreciate, appreciate the all the wonderful, healthy things that are going on in your body. And and you know, that acceptance is so important. I I think all that mindset stuff is is way more important than anything we could talk about, fiber or progesterone or whatever. It's it's about the mindset.

SPEAKER_00 42:19

That is true, and I love that acceptance in particular because I resonate with that a lot because I started going through menopause quite early. I think I lost my mom and it just came, or the doctor said it was the shock. And then there were a lot of things flying around at the time. You know, you'd be anxious, you'd be depressed, you'd be there's a fear, the, you know, the lots of things people were telling me to make me afraid. I had to stop and then go, you know what? This is a normal process. This is just a normal transition. So I have got to accept this as a normal transition, just like I started my periods, you know, just like I was when I was when I was pregnant. I just felt, and I, and I just thought back, see, I know my mom, unfortunately, she didn't have that discussion with me, but she went through it and I never even heard her talk about it. So in a way, she had accepted it, even though I would have preferred her telling me about it, so I would have been prepared. Um, but I just had to accept it. And I've got two sons, and I've made sure that they've come on this journey with me so that they understand it, so that when they get married and their wives are going through it, it won't be new to them, you know, because they've they've they've kind of lived it with me. So acceptance is really important. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:41

I I often say almost all of our suffering and unhappiness in life comes from not accepting reality, not accepting what is. It's not always easy, but sometimes we we have to fight against it a little bit just to feel those emotions, that sadness, that grief. There's a grief there, right? A loss of youth. True. Yeah. Feel those feelings. Don't don't deny them. Yeah. But then but then, okay. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

There's nothing I can do about my age at this point. Exactly. Exactly. You're right, though, because I remember when I started, one of the for me, the loss was so I'm not going to be able to have kids again. That some people, when they get to their 40s, they still can, but that does that mean that I can. So for me, it was that feeling of loss, that's something I can't. Yeah, it was, you know, something beyond my control. But you're right, it's going through, let those emotions have go through them, but then say, okay, it is what it is. I'll have to let how what do I now do to live with this? Yeah. Wow. That is powerful. That is powerful. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. So, can you tell people how they can work with you, what you do, you know, how they can find you, and how you can, if you just kind of maybe how you work with people and um all that because I think people need to, like we said, we can go through it. So for it to be sustainable, it's take it slowly. But a lot of times, to be honest, we need someone guiding us, we need someone you know, um supporting us, we need someone to help us get back up when we fall. A lot of times we can't do it on our own. So, how can they reach out to you and how can you help them, please?

SPEAKER_01 45:45

So, the best way to the two best ways to learn about me is to go to my website, which is winweightloss.com, and that's spelled W Y N for with your nature. So it's winweightloss.com, and I have a blog, and there are hundreds of articles there that a person could read and educate yourself on. And I'm also on LinkedIn, so I have a newsletter on LinkedIn. So either, you know, just Jill Cruz on LinkedIn. Uh, so those are two ways to connect and find and learn, you know, get more information. Um, we do monthly free lunch and learns for people who can attend and just, you know, get to know me and or our way of doing things. Um the way I have it set up is we have a program and it's a six-month program. That's sort of our signature way of working with people. And so we take people on this journey where they're the guide holding their hand every step of the way. And um, you know, you work with a nutritionist, we have group calls, we have a ton of videos and modules and all of that stuff. So it's it's a really an organized program. But the goal is after six months, okay, you know, you've learned a lot, right? You've learned about hormones, you've learned about fitness and stress management and sleep and nutrition. Now, now we want you to be able to function on your own, but we also have ongoing support as that's more not as, you know, it's more light touch, uh, because people do need that support. And sometimes clients are stay with us in that form for a year or two. And some don't. Some people, six months, they're like, wow, I I got this, I got this. So it really depends on the person. And we have two other programs that are geared uh less for weight loss and more about overall health, um, building muscle and uh longevity, living a long, healthy life. So we have a couple of different ways that we work with people, but it's the all all of it is very comprehensive in giving people, I don't believe most people who yo-yo dieted or who are you know are really struggling, they can't really do it on their own, like you said. So all of our programs include one-on-one coaching, yeah, and guidance.

SPEAKER_00 48:02

Yeah. So that's what we do. I know that's great. That's great. Honestly, please, if you're listening to this, reach out to Jill. She is amazing, she really is. You know, I've been um what you know, I've known Jill for a few years now, and she really is, you know, she's great. So please reach out to her, Shelley. You ladies listening to this that need help and support to get through. And sometimes it might just, like she said, it might just be the first six months to really get you started, then you're fine on your own. But the the honest truth is a lot of times we can't do this ourselves. We really can. We need that support. So thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Gil. And I know this will not be the last time you'll be on this podcast. Sounds good to me. I will bring you back again to have another chat. But thank you. Thank you so much, okay. Three things before we finish today. Have you subscribed to this podcast? If you haven't, make sure you click that subscribe button wherever you listen to this podcast. Because once you subscribe, you will not miss an episode. And as usual, if you have a topic you would love me to speak about or bring a guest on, do let me know by leaving a review. Finally, do have a fantastic week and remember that you are limitless. So I look forward to seeing you in our next episode. Bye for now.