Hello, and welcome to the chaos to calm podcast episode number 69. I'm Sarah, the perimenopause naturopath, your guide through this wonderful journey of perimenopause. If you're over 40 and feeling like you're changing, hormones are hijacking your mood, energy, and weight. And you want to change that in a holistic way, then this is the place for you because each episode I share with you my views on what is happening in your body, why you're feeling the way you are.

And how you can manage that with actionable advice to help you move from chaos to calm and feel more comfortable in your body. So thank you for joining me. Let's get right into today's topic, which hate to break it to you. I'm talking about the holidays because it is not very far away at all before we are into in Australia summer, summer holidays, schools out.

Christmas, new year, all of that, it's coming, it's not very far away. And so it's full of lots of wonderful things, lots of joy, lots of laughter, but there's always lots of exhaustion, overwhelm, there's just a lot mental load is exponential for most women especially in this phase of life.

It can feel harder because of the changes in our hormones in our bodies as well. Lots of late nights, indulgent meals, busy social calendar, lots on for your whole family. You're juggling all of that. Who's going where, who's dropping off, who's picking up, all of the things. You can really, I think many women underestimate how long this period of time lasts for.

Like a lot of you might be dealing with kids in year 12, finishing school, exams, all those sorts of things. So, and end of year, formals, events, dinners, all that sort of thing. So you're, you're really starting now and I think you underestimate that and wind up getting to Christmas Day feeling quite burnt out.

And yeah, I've done so certainly not alone. Lots of women feeling that way. And as I said, it feels more heightened in perimenopause and menopause. Because of the hormone changes, particularly around progesterone, and it's hard to keep your energy levels up. So for the next six weeks leading into Christmas and the new year podcast episodes are going to focus on what, how to survive, how to more than survive, actually, how to thrive.

Today, we're talking about energy. So yeah, you don't have to just cancel all of your social events and be a hermit for this period of time to make it through without being burnt out. There's lots of simple, actionable things that you can do to keep your energy up and make the most of the holiday season.

So think always, I like to start with why, why you're feeling this way. So you can understand what's going on in your body. And it might help you identify some of the triggers or the things that are draining your energy there as well. So some of the things that might be zapping your energy right now, over committing, yeah, overscheduling of that's the obvious place to start.

There's too much on, and it can give you that sense of social exhaustion, it's just too much there as well. So maybe. Yeah. We'll talk about things to do at the end, but just thinking about it, have you actually just got too much on? Is it just ridiculous for one person? Lots of rich food, but really lots of sugar.

And a bit of sugar overload, and that really impacts your body's energy production, your blood glucose levels. I've talked a bit about that in previous podcasts on insulin, and that rollercoaster that your blood glucose levels can go on and that the change from high to low can really wreak havoc on your energy there as well.

So you get energy spikes and then crashes afterwards. And if the food is too carbohydrate rich or your meal is too carbohydrate rich and you have insulin issues, you might even feel really sleepy after your meal as well. So another reason that you might be feeling low energy is less sleep or poor sleep.

Now you might notice I've talked about this in another earlier episode. I can't remember the number. I'm sorry. It was about alcohol intolerance and I covered a bit about histamine there as well. So you might be someone in perimenopause or menopause who finds that if you have a glass of wine, you can say goodbye to sleeping well for the night.

And so as well as just maybe being up later more often and not having your usual routine or coming home from an event and it's late and you want to kind of go straight to sleep, but it's hard for your body to unwind and get straight into sleep. So for example, last Friday night, I needed to get to sleep early because I had to get up at 5 a. m. to go be in that like Christmas pageant. I played boxercross on Friday night, which is a contact sport. So by the time I got home, it was quarter 10. I still had quite a bit of adrenaline going through my body. I was still a bit razzed. So I was in bed by 10, 11:30, quarter 12. I was still just lying there with my eyes wide open going, Oh, I just need to get to sleep.

And my, because I hadn't had an opportunity to clear out that cortisol and adrenaline from the the excitement. playing and contact sport, you definitely get, spikes in that adrenaline there as well from make contact with your body, even if it is expected. So yeah, so changes in your routine can throw out your body's rhythm.

Our bodies are really cyclical circadian rhythm, which guides our hormone release and how we sleep in that. It really loves us to do things at a similar time each day, whether that's eating or going to bed and waking up. And you noticed as you get older. You might be able to sleep in on a Sunday morning, but you're still waking up at six o'clock.

Like it's a work day because that's your circadian rhythm at play. So when this gets out of whack when there's lots of social events or coming and going at different times, it can impact the quality of your sleep and leave you sleep deprived or in a sleep deficit. And that can be quite expensive for you in terms of fat storage and, and your cravings and how you move through the day.

And talked about that quite a bit in the free training that I did recently on why you gain weight after 40. So if you're interested in viewing that, let me know and I'll send you the link to watch it. Increase stress levels. So, it, I think this relates to your mental load. You've gotta shop for gifts.

We don't go to, but we do gotta, we tend to be the person, the rememberer who remembers all the things and the events, and also the purchaser and who prepare. So we have to remember all the events. We prep for the events. We go do the things and buy the things. And it might not necessarily be stressful.

It's fun to buy gifts for people to some extent and degree, but it can give some financial stress. It's just another thing to fit in. So it ties back into that being sort of overscheduled too much on, and can increase your cortisol levels there, draining and leave you to feeling tired and making your sleep quality less there as well.

I feel tired talking about it. And let's not things like travel. So you might have to drive long distances to visit your family, or maybe you're going away, going to get to the airport or just generally driving more, more people on the roads, this is a stressor for us as well.

So I guess we can see an increase in our stressors in, mental load and the physical aspect of getting to and from places. Maybe kids have got more stuff on as well. So you're just in the car in and out more often rushing around. And that rushing is actually a stressor on our body, whether we, mentally clock it or emotionally clock it.

It's a stressor for us, for our body. I've talked about the mental load, but also there's an emotional load as well, because the holidays, the festive season, it brings up a lot for a lot of us, and it might not necessarily be you having the complex emotions, but your at an event or you're with people or spending more time with people who might be having very complex emotions and not be able to deal with them or in a healthy, in a healthy way.

And yeah, lots of conflict, interesting family dynamics, and it's a strain, you might be, and it's hard to stay cheerful through some of that stuff as well. So yeah, it's a lot of mental load, emotional load, physical load, and let's not forget the constant stimulation. I don't know about you, but when I, if I have to go to the shops, it's so noisy, there's music everywhere, there's people talking, it's really loud.

And the same when you go to an event. And I don't get me wrong. I love going and socializing. I'm like an extroverted introvert. I need a lot of time to unwind afterwards as well and soothe my senses. And I think, at this time of year or leading into this time of year, we may not get the opportunity to have that wind down time or that quiet time.

And humans our bodies, our brains, we do need some solitude and quiet. It's true. So yeah, don't forget that sensory overload. Even if you're neurotypical, and then it can still become too much for you, even more so if you're neurodivergent and more sensitive to those high energy and, high stimulant, highly stimulating environments.

Don't forget to factor that into your calendar, that downtime. So let's talk about some strategies to keep your energy up and self care is really crucial for this and, but I am going to be talking, I'm going to do a whole episode specifically on self care. So, we're not going to talk about that so much today.

I just want to talk about more food stuff and those sort of physical aspects there as well. So first of all, I want you to prioritize protein and your healthy fats and eating early in the day. So we really want to fuel you up ready for a good day. It doesn't have to be a huge meal, but it does need to be a nice balanced meal.

So start your day with a breakfast that has some protein, has some healthy fats, and it'll give you some slow burning energy across the day. And, then please don't skip lunch cause you're busy. So, Lunch is still kind of early in the day. If we're looking at the 24 hours, I want you to eat breakfast and lunch, please.

And that's going to help you avoid that afternoon crash in your energy and those cravings that follow and there or, and after dinner as well. So remembering that protein and fats take longer to digest. They help even if you've got carbohydrate rich food in that meal, it'll help slow the release of that glucose or carbohydrate steadily into your bloodstream and it keeps protein and fat slow down the movement of food in your digestive system.

So it'll keep you full for longer there. So you have more fuel available to your body for longer. And of course, protein and fats useful for making your hormones and your hormone detoxification and elimination and helps smooth out those massive fluctuations that we can get in perimenopause. So it doesn't have to be complex.

If you're a smoothie lover, use some sheep or goats yogurt, maybe a bit of collagen powder some flax seeds, some fruit, or if you don't want to do yogurt, a bit of almonds or, and some sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds or some almond butter. And some water and fruit again I love mango or blueberries are in season now.

So they're lovely frozen or fresh, whatever works for you. You could add some leafy greens if you want, or a bit of avocado to make it creamy. So that's nice and balanced there. Or if you don't want to have a smoothie, whack all of that into a bowl, we'll have some almond butter on toast. If you want something really quick, and a piece of fruit on the side, simple.

Now let's not underestimate the power of the basics, hydration, drink your water. Because actually dehydration is a major culprit behind fatigue, brain fog, all of those things. And when you're rushing about and you're busy or you're doing lots of driving, it can be easy to forget to drink water or you might want to not drink as much because you think, Oh, I've got to go, then I'll have to go to the toilet.

And I don't know where a toilet is there. And maybe you'll actually just then drink more coffee or caffeinated drinks which are not going to hydrate you. So proper hydration is really essential for your energy production and your brain function. And. I do have a blog on water and hydration and I'll link to that in the show notes for you there as well.

So you can see sort of what amount you should be drinking each day and it, it doesn't have to be plain, but we don't want to be drinking too much sweetness, but if you maybe put a slice of citrus or some fresh herbs like mint and just tear up some mint and pop that in that can be really lovely.

cucumber. It's actually remarkably refreshing and helps you absorb the water into your cells. So if you're maybe you've had some holiday celebrations with a bit of alcohol and you're feeling a bit rusty the next day, then you can add some electrolytes into your drink. I'm not talking about having, Parade or Gatorade or something like that.

It's full of colors and flavors. Disgusting. Have some coconut water or just have some plain water with a pinch of salt and a little squeeze of lemon. Make your own electrolytes there. If you want to mix it up, have some soda water. I love my soda stream, especially if it's a hot day. It's that cold fizzy plain water is so refreshing.

And maybe if you are drinking alcohol, during any celebrations or festivities, try and have a water, plain water or soda water or something like that in between each alcoholic drink. And if you're having things like gin and tonic, maybe have half tonic, half soda just to cut the sugar down from that. Or if you're having like vodka, lime and soda, have it with soda rather than lemonade or something like that. Just to reducing the sugar helps increase your hydration and, yeah, it reduces the negative impact of that alcohol somewhat. I mean, you still, I just still don't want you to have a bunch every night.

I follow the government guidelines, which are usually about two standard drinks. Actually I think they just changed it recently. It used to be two and have it like two or three alcohol free nights, per week. But I think they've actually reduced it down to one max per day. Anyway, I'll link to the government guidelines in the show notes as well.

Now one thing that can feel harder to do. Actually, let's talk about here with caffeine. So this is the time of year when you think you might need more of it. And caffeine can be your best friend in this time, but it can also be your worst enemy when it comes to energy. So have you ever, I don't know if you've ever drunk so much, like had coffee.

It's actually made you more tired. So that can happen. And also you don't want to drink it too late in the day. I always say before midday, okay, just one or two. After that, it's going to mess with your sleep. Even if you don't feel like it's messing with your sleep, it's going to impact the quality of your sleep and how much deep or REM sleep that you get.

So, yeah, stick with one or two, not between your meals, have food first. All my usual guidelines take, I do have a lovely blog on caffeine, so I'll link that in the show notes as well. So yeah, have coffee in the morning, avoid it after midday. If you need an afternoon, pick me up, try some herbal teas like peppermint is really great or ginger, or the two together is a really lovely zingy boost there for you.

So one other thing, or two other things actually, I was scheduling in downtime. So I know you feel really busy and you're like, well, when am I going to do that? Even if it's just five minutes, just have some intentional breaks throughout the day. If you're feeling tired, I think like go outside, get some fresh air and take a five minute walk around the block because that, when you use your body, use your muscles. It actually stimulates your energy factories in your cells, your mitochondria to make more energy. So yeah, if you're feeling tired, sleepy, yawny, get up from your desk or get up from whatever it is you're doing, go outside, take a little short walk. It'll be. Really great for your energy and helps calm your nervous system as well.

Oxygenates all your cells and wakes your body and your brain up there as well. So yeah, when I say schedule some breaks, that doesn't have to be a giant like session of sit down and read your book for an hour. It can just be five or 10 minutes, but they are really important. And I would like, don't be, don't take a break and go on your phone.

And even when you're going for that walk around the block, try not to put something in your ears and try not to listen to stuff, just enjoy the sound of nature and what's around you and tune in and be mindful to where you're at and what you're doing. Even just five minutes to sit down and drink a cup of herb your herbal tea, hot, sit outside in the sun, safe sun exposure, of course, a disclaimer.

But that can be really lovely to boost your energy there as well. Just take a break. The world's not going to stop if we take a five minute break. It might feel like it, but it's not going to. And we all know that. Now moving your body. So I mentioned about going outside and have a little five minute walk.

Exercise is a fantastic way to boost your energy levels, but don't make it too overtaxing, especially in the holidays. You want to keep gentle and restorative. Think of your movement as a way to recharge rather than exhausting yourself because you're probably already tired enough. So things like a brisk walk, like stretching, maybe yoga, Pilates, doing some weights.

And that sort of thing is really lovely. When I was saying before, like go take a walk, if you can't do a walk, have a five or 10 minute stretching session, do a little yoga, some salutes, sun salutations or something like that. That's a really lovely way to help bring your energy up. But also we're increasing our oxygen with the breathing and moving our body and our muscles, but we're not overtaxing ourselves.

I don't want you to go and put in another high intensity exercise class or, I don't even know what they're called anymore these days, spin glasses and those sorts of things. I don't want to do more of that. I want you to just do some more gentle restorative stuff. All right. So let's talk about managing holiday treats without the energy crash.

Cause there's a lot around. It's not the holidays without pudding, mince pies, candy canes, chocolate, pavlova, like it's all there. It's all around. And they're really tasty. And definitely you should enjoy those treats without guilt, no judgment there at all of yourself or anyone else, but do it mindfully and also do it smart.

So what I suggest is that always food. Eat a meal before you have the treats. It's the problem happens in that impact your blood sugar levels more significantly. If you're just grazing on sweets throughout the day, or having morning tea and we're just having cakes and stuff like that on its own cake and coffee, and there's no protein.

To be seen in there as well. So maybe have some nuts or some seeds before you have your dessert there, or switch out the lollies and put dark chocolate in dark chocolate with, nuts. Amazing. Great. It's got less sugar, more fat and some protein in those nuts there as well.

Maybe have some fresh fruit as part of your dessert, but also again, we're having a meal that's balanced first of all in there and, or maybe split the dessert with someone else that's there too. So, just because it's there and it someone might be offering you a giant slab of cake or something.

You don't have to have that. You can still enjoy it and savor it without having a giant serve of it. And so eating mindfully through this, if you're feeling full stop, put it down. You don't have to finish everything that's on your plate at all. So yeah, so sweet treats, keep the food first. Same goes with alcohol.

And that's my next advice for you. How to manage that treat or that it's not really a treat anymore, is it? It's just something people do all the time. It can be fun in the moment, but it's going to leave you dehydrated. It's going to leave you tired. You live has got more to do. So you can feel quite flat.

And if you have alcohol a few nights in a row or more, you can find yourself by the end of it feeling really lethargic and flat and really sluggish and your liver just wants you to crawl into the corner of the cave and be quiet and not add anything else in because it's already got enough to do. 

So, yeah, I've talked recently all about the liver as well and how to tell when it's overwhelmed. So you might want to go and listen to that episode if you haven't already. So I mentioned before, alternate your alcoholic beverages with water or choose the lower sugar drinks. I don't mean artificially sweetened.

I just mean choose say a dry wine or have a spirit mixed with soda water, moderation, minimizing alcohol intake is really key. I know it's, a really normalized drug for us to do. And it's hard when you're not doing it. People are like, why aren't you drinking? You've got to explain yourself, but there's so many reasons not to drink alcohol or not, and not to drink lots of alcohol, it is a carcinogen.

We know that it contributes or increases your risk of cancer, particularly breast cancer for women. So again, I encourage you, I challenge you to really consider your alcohol intake in this time period and ongoing as well. So, when, if you're starting to feel tired, I like to tell my clients to check in with themselves in their body every day.

And when you wake up in the morning is a really great time to do that because ideally you'd be waking up feeling refreshed, ready to get out of bed and get on with the day. So check in with yourself. How are you feeling? Any aches, pains? Are you feeling tired still? Are you feeling anxious, worried, overwhelmed?

Any of those things. Adjust your plans if you need to. It's totally okay to say no or scale back if it means protecting your well being and your ability to get through to Christmas and beyond without being burnt out. I suggest also carrying some healthy, simple snacks. My clients in PerimenoGO, they get their emergency snacks.

Teaching, I teach them like what makes up a great snack if you're, if you have to find yourself out. You don't have anything with you, what I would buy, but also I suggest that you carry on your person in your bag. We have these giant handbags, why not put stuff in it? So some nuts or some seeds or a protein bar, that sort of thing.

Now protein bars, it's hard to pick one that's actually just not a dessert in disguise, but pick the one with the least amount of sugar and the least amount of ingredients in it that you can. And I wouldn't consume them daily for sure. As I said, I will be covering more on self care, managing stress, setting boundaries in upcoming episodes.

So they're all things that we'll add to this toolkit, but for this week, why not start with tweaking your meals, getting them nice and balanced, thinking about your alcohol intake. You don't have to drink at every event. That's something that you can plan ahead and choose which one are you going to drink at, which one are you not going to drink at.

And stick with the plan, so that you can enjoy the holiday season more because it should really it's a great time to have experienced joy and build the joy in our lives and connect with our family, our friends and everyone celebrate the end of year and reflect on it. It's wonderful, but it can be really exhausting, but I think if you can prioritize this looking after yourself, literally putting your oxygen mask on for yourself, thinking about your breakie, your lunch if you're going to be busy dashing in and out, pack a lunch box for yourself, just like you would have with your kids do that for yourself as well, such a gift and you deserve to be looked after.

Sometimes we have to look after ourselves. No one's going to come in and do that for us. We tend, we need to do that for ourselves, but we seem to be really averse to it, but it'll make a huge difference to how you move through to the end of the year. So thinking about your water and your water intake, get those basics in place there, your brekkie, your lunch, make sure there's some nice, a nice amount of protein in it there as well.

I've just closed the doors to PerimenoGO, but that's a really lovely way to have, it sort of laid out for you of what to do to support your energy and your mood and your overall wellbeing and make it through to Christmas and beyond without being burnt out. It is designed to help you feel your best in perimenopause and get rid of those perimenopause symptoms and particularly the hormonal weight gain.

So if you are interested in knowing more about that, send me a message. And we can perhaps talk about sneaking him through the back door while the doors are shut. And I'd love to know, yeah, let me know which energy boosting tip you're going to try, what you've been doing to survive Build your health in readiness for that holiday, silly season.

As I mentioned, you'll I'll put in the show notes, the links to those other episodes, the other blogs on hydration and things like that. And while you're there, I'd encourage you to please subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an update. And I'd also love it if you could leave a quick rating or review, because that helps more women find the podcast and, have some other alternative solutions to their perimenopause problems.

And of course, if you'd know someone who would benefit from this content, please do share it with them. But that today is all for this episode, my friend, thank you so much for listening and sharing your time with me. In the next episode, I will be talking about setting boundaries without guilt. So I hope you join me for that episode.

They're really important for the holiday survival guide until next time, keep transforming your perimenopause journey from chaos to calm.