The Truth About Exercise and Healthy Aging

Your body didn’t suddenly “fail” you in your 40s, but it also can’t be trained like it’s still 25. We sit down with Heather Smith, an exercise physiologist and health coach, to talk about what actually changes in midlife and why so many women feel overwhelmed by wellness advice that ignores real schedules, real stress, and real recovery needs.

We get practical about midlife fitness for busy women: letting go of perfect hour-long workouts, building consistency with shorter strength sessions, and using “bite-sized workouts” and walking to keep momentum even on your worst day. Heather shares how she uses calendaring, cues, and accountability to turn intentions into routines, and why support matters when you’ve been carrying everyone else for years.

Then we dig into the metabolism conversation so many of us are craving, including how decades of yo-yo dieting and calorie restriction can slow progress, why protein and lean muscle are central to a healthy metabolism, and how blood sugar stability affects energy, mood, and hormones. We also talk sleep as the hidden lever, bedtime routines that feel doable, and simple ideas for middle-of-the-night wakeups. Finally, Heather explains how she supports clients on GLP-1 medications with nutrition, strength training, and habit-building so results are healthier and more sustainable.

Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a midlife reset, and leave a review with the one change you’re committing to this week.

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com

Transcript

Women Over 40 Need Answers

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Special guest today. This is so exciting. We haven't had a guest on for a hot minute, and she is going to help us sort of weed through all of our questions and information that is just I don't want to say clouding our heads because there's so much information about health and wellness. And I was walking with my girlfriend this morning, and we were talking about thank God that we're talking about women's bodies post-40, right? Like this was not a conversation, at least that I knew of, that my mom was having in her 40s with her friends. And but also how frustrating that like all these symptoms and things that we experience were just deemed normal for so long. It's like, oh, that's normal for your age. But like, no, it's not normal to feel this way and to accept all of these changes without um without any kind of understanding about what's going on. And so we talk a lot about health and fitness and how it relates to our mental health on this podcast. And so we're very excited to welcome a special guest, an exercise physiologist. I knew I was gonna mess that up, uh, and health coach. We have Heather Smith. So welcome, Heather.

SPEAKER_03 1:23

Thank you. I'm excited to be here. Thanks for inviting me. And I love your podcast. I'm a big fan already. I've only listened uh for a few episodes, but I'm a big fan. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Yeah, we have a good time with it for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

But tell us a little bit about yourself, what how you got into this work and really how you got um got started in exercise and health and wellness.

Heather Story And Coaching Approach

SPEAKER_03 1:47

Yeah, I mean, so I've always loved fitness and activity. And I think I always say I was born like with get in shape girl leggings on, if you know what I mean, like the live warmers, the sweatband. Like I had the Barbie workout vinyl. Um, we didn't call it vinyls, it was just my record collection, you know. But so I was born wanting to leave people in health. I mean, I really do want to say that kind of to be silly, but really, for really, it's true. Um, and so I always love to ride my bike, like lead workouts for my baby dolls and my stuffed animals. And I don't know, where I don't know. When I was a kid, when I was really little, my mom used to take me to the church basement to the aerobics class, where you know, we would wear like tights and um leotards for our workouts. And I was hop around and like I just love the environment. I sponged shit up. And my parents kind of taught me like, okay, like you need to take care of yourself. It's so you know, it's important, and um, you don't have to be fanatical, but you need to have good habits. And so I that was instilled in me young, which is kind of rare for an Appalachian. Like, usually we're like, yeah, just forget about it, like all the sugar, like who cares about our weight? I mean, I you know, I can say that because it's my people, right? But a little I'm a little bit of an odd one there, I think. When I went to school for exercise physiology, I said, This is my jam. I am so convicted about helping people. Um, I had a career in uh campus recreation, uh, worked in corporate wellness for a little while.

SPEAKER_04 3:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:18

And then really at some point, I just felt like I was a little bit helpless. I needed something more, something different to be able to get personal with people to really help, especially women, um, to dial into their bodies and to feel their best. I just felt like I had a calling, honestly, to connect with people and help make a difference in their health, which we know has a ripple effect in every other area of our lives. And when I became a mother, um, two daughters, 11 and 14, um, that was a game changer for me because I knew a couple things needed to happen. I needed to transition my career so I could have more flexibility, more autonomy. Um, needed to step away from full-time work because we know babies don't keep, right? That's right. Girls are moms. Yes. Um, so I needed to make that change for myself, but I also still felt really convicted about staying in the wellness space and helping people. So that's when I started my coaching business. It's been 10, wow, gosh, over 10 years now. I've been coaching and I really do love it.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

So it's really independent private practice, right? You you just opened up your own private consulting kind of like I guess not consulting, but yeah, wellness.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

I just do lifestyle coaching, wellness coaching. And so some people come for weight loss, some people come because they feel like crap, some people come to me because they're working out um and they need to dial in. A lot of people to me because they are so dang busy that the traditional uh workouts that are an hour long and you have to drive to the gym and you have to dress in your workout gear just aren't fitting anymore. And then so they get in sort of a cycle of inconsistency and then sort of shame and blame that they're not doing enough and they're not, you know, they're not home with the kids enough. They feel guilty, they're they're dipping out of work to try to get a workout in. Um, and then they uh they also are tired because they're burning the candle at both ends, and so they're eating like crap and they need someone to help to add a little structure and accountability with nutrition. So um, those are the are the kind of the reasons that people come to me. So I don't know if that answered your question. It does. Just gotta help people.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

I love how you describe yourself as always being within that space and then recognizing that when you were at a point of transition, that you needed to kind of take that leap uh for yourself and for your family, and that your passion was able to grow even brighter because you were able to craft it, giving your skills, your desires, your motivation to reach people. And I just think that that's a beautiful thing that you were willing to do, even though it was probably pretty scary at first. We always talk about taking jumps and making changes in our lives. And whenever I get an opportunity to hear that, I'm always like, wow, great job.

SPEAKER_03 6:06

Well, I'm not gonna lie, I was scared to death. Like, really, I'm gonna walk away from you know, a 401k and a consistent, reliable job, and you know, a big team of people that relied on me. Like that was really freaking scary.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

Um, but I knew and I had a couple of um special people in my life, and one was a mentor who said, I believe in you and you can do this. Um, and so I'll I'll give a lot of credit to those people. Um, a couple of women specifically that spoke into me and said, like, there's more for you. You can do more. And I needed that push. So I think it, you know, hopefully the woman listening to this who needs a push will hear her sign um and just stop being freaking afraid and and get out of her way and and just forget about the doubt and just you got to jump sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

100%. I so relate to that. And I mean, if you've listened to this, I did something similar. I worked in public education for nearly 20 years. So it is if you are somebody that's listening to this and you're one, you know, if you don't have that team of friends or girlfriends or people that are are telling you you can do it, hopefully you hear this and and hear that you can because it it takes so much guts to walk away and to to start out on your own or to reinvent yourself or whatever you want to call it, like takes so much courage. But once you do it, man, on the other side, it's just so much better in so many ways.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Well,

Train Smarter After 40

SPEAKER_01 7:32

I mean, tell us now, because you know, Ginny and I have talked about our own experiences with exercise fitness. We each have our own routines that we kind of do. But like she was saying, there is just so much misconception out there about what exercise is, especially for women in midlife. So can you give us like some examples of what that looks like and how it does fit into who we are today with all the kids, the jobs, the whatever else, the dogs um going on? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

One thing that I want to be really clear about is that, and I'm 46, so I can speak to this real well, I think. I hope, um, is that our bodies cannot be treated the same way we treated them in our 20s and 30s. Okay. Like you wouldn't treat your teenager's body like you did when she was an infant, right? So we have to realize our bodies are going through a transition. There's nothing wrong with us, right? It's normal and healthy to go through this aging process, aging, whatever you want to call that.

SPEAKER_04 8:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:35

And so we just have to pivot. We have to adapt. So our bodies respond to stress differently right now. Okay. So as we transition out of our 30s, think about like your 22-year-old self and how you could like bounce around all week and then Friday night and then Saturday night and then Sunday morning, you could wake up and like go hang with your friends and you'd be fine, right? So we can't do that anymore. We have different response times in our body. So we require a little more sleep. We require um time to unwind and de-stress so our bodies can recover from our workouts. That that often goes unnoticed. And that's hard to do, right? Because the kids want you to go and do things and you know, your spouse expects of you and um the job demands. And so your time, we used to have all this time, your window of time, free time to take care of yourself shrinks. So, um, what I think I just want to make sure everyone understands is that you have to treat your body differently and you have to get efficient with your workouts. So I I used to do these hour-long workouts at the gym, and they were polished and balanced and perfect and and all the things. And we have to release the perfection idea in in our fitness and wellness now, and we have to replace it with uh consistency. And so I'm telling people if you don't have time for all the cardio, great, you don't have to do all that cardio anymore. Release it. Yeah. Okay. Um, we need to be doing strength training and we need to support it with protein. And we need to get dang consistent. It doesn't have to be um every single day, and it shouldn't, because your body needs recovery more than ever. Um, we need three to five good workouts in a week. And you know what? If you're overwhelmed, let's make them 10-minute workouts, 10 minutes because what I see all the time is there's this huge barrier to success um from women putting this pressure on themselves to do long workouts still. And we don't have the time. And then so there's a cycle of um, gosh, I'm trying to get to my, you know, my class, for example, and it's an hour long and it's 15 minutes to drive there and park and have to change, and then then I have to like get changed back and like drive home or drive to the office or pick up the kids. And then by the time it's all said and done, we've spent two hours on our workout when we could have just gotten it done and moved on. Um, and then so we get sick of that cycle. It's exhausting to put that much time in every day. And then we don't recover well and we don't fuel our bodies well afterwards, and so we feel like crap, we're sore, we're tired. Hormones are wacky because we're again not letting our muscles recover. And then so we don't like it. We don't feel good and we don't do it anymore. So we're not consistent, so we feel like failures.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

So that's the biggest thing. Pivot. Thousand percent. I yeah, I you just described exactly. I used to be that person that went to the orange theory, did the hour class, and it was great for that time in my life because it provided structure. It was five minutes from my house, it was a way to get out of the house, quite honestly. At the time I needed that, it does not serve me anymore. And so I a couple years ago, I transitioned to just working out at home using my iPad and the weights and things that we have here. And people all the time, and I'm I mean, Sarah will tell you, I'm pretty consistent with it. And um, people all the time say, How do you do that? And I'm like, because I don't want to spend two hours navigating an hour-long gym class. Like I the time is so precious right now that if I can knock it out in 30 minutes between 6:30 and 7 in the morning, I'm done. And I've just set the whole day up for success. I mean, that's sort of my mindset around um movement first thing in the morning. And so it, but it is like I think it's it's so important that we realize that just because that served us at one point in our life, that doesn't mean that we have to do that forever in order to achieve whatever look we're going for, right? That that was right for that time in our life. And now it might be time to do something different.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

My gosh, yeah. And there are seasons of life too where you need to be in a gym or in a class because the socialization is crucial. Absolutely. Because you don't have kids under your feet or that you're chasing after and or need to need to spend quality time with anymore. So I think that's important too. I mean, just like a professional athlete, they they cycle right through their career and also through the the year, through the seasonal year. You know, they have seasons where they're training, seasons where it's off season, they're in, you know, game season. So being able to recognize I have to have a different expectation for myself in this season, like where you are right now, where you do the home workouts that are short, that's what is efficient for you in this stage of life. And so we have to like release the expectation that it has to always be the same forever, and we have to get to orange theory or you know, the gym the hardest class out there, the hot yoga or Pilata, you know, like that's great if that is serving you.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Um, but it doesn't, it doesn't fit everybody's needs.

SPEAKER_03 13:41

Not always, not all the time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Love Orange Theory. No hate, no shade. Love it.

SPEAKER_03 13:45

I know, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:46

I do, I love them too. I love all my fitness instructor friends, all my hot yoga friends. Oh, much love. We can be back, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:54

That's right. Yeah. I'm the studio girl still. I still have I I can work out at home, but for me, it is having that socialization piece. But whenever we're talking about this stuff, like how do you then work with somebody that just feels like they don't have the time for themselves to reframe their mind and find that time?

Bite Sized Movement And Accountability

SPEAKER_01 14:13

And what specifically do you kind of encourage them to do with that? So we get really granular.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

I say, what can you do on your worst day? You know, the day that you feel like you have not an inch to breathe. We have to find that baseline level of activity and the baseline habits that we can keep in place, right? So for some people, uh, I was just working with a successful woman the other day. She's a business owner. She is, she really hates exercise. So that's a barrier in itself.

SPEAKER_04 14:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:43

But also she knows because of some health risks that she has, it's not really an option. She has to do something, but she doesn't want her business to suffer and she doesn't want her home life to suffer. And so we made some really slight changes. We parked her car uh a block away so that she has to walk into the office. We got her a walking pad in her office so that she can um, when she has a call with a client that can be a walking meeting, she can just stand up and walk slow in the walking pad and get some extra movement into the day. Um, we put some small dumbbells beside her desk so that when she has a break between patients, between clients, she can grab the dumbbells. And I gave her just a few simple little one-minute workouts that she can do kind of sprinkled throughout the day. I call them bite-sized workouts. Sometimes we just need a bite, right? Um and so that's pretty good. And so I I like to personalize every client's routine so that it fits their need and fits their routine because everybody's a little different, especially in in 2026. Like some people work hybrid, some people work from home, some people are in an office all day or in a classroom or in a hospital. And so everybody's routine is different. So we gotta get really, really basic sometimes. And sometimes it starts with a bite-sized workout.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

And do you give like a schedule of like, okay, you're gonna do this bite-sized workout three times a week and have them like actually write it on a calendar? Is that part of the the process?

SPEAKER_03 16:11

Yes, and quite often calendaring the workout is the first step. They just think, oh, I'm gonna get the workout done at some point during this week. And we stop right there and we open the calendar and I say, okay, where's the time slot? Put it in right now. Put it on the calendar because if it's not there, it's not an appointment, it's not a meeting, it's not a priority. Everything that's a priority is written down in your calendar, whether it be on your refrigerator or in your, you know, on your phone, prioritize the workout. So block the time. And then from there, sometimes we need to set an alarm. Sometimes we need to set, you know, get up in the morning and set the alarm. That workout is happening at eight, 8 a.m. or noon or 6 p.m., whatever. And we need some cues, we need some triggers that are gonna shake us out of our, you know, our busyness. And so, you know, those those are big things. And sometimes I'll give a very specific um list of workouts for the week. And other times they're gonna commit to, okay, I want to go to my yoga class, like Sarah. I wanna, I love those yoga people. I want to get in there with them or Pilates, you know, once or twice a week. So we calendar those and I hold them accountable for actually showing up for those classes. Um, I do phone coaching sessions each week with my clients. And so um, they know I'm gonna call and say, Did you get to those classes you committed to?

SPEAKER_04 17:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

And in between times, did you go out and do your 20-minute walk by yourself or with your husband or whatever? Yeah. And also, did you do your bite-sized workout? I also have a 10-minute video library so they can pull a 10-minute workout and watch it on their computer and follow along with me. So they have that option too. So no excuses, no excuses, lots of options.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

And what a great resource for people. Just that accountability. If you don't, I'm very fortunate to have a husband, husband that's very into health and fitness as well. And so we kind of are we're that accountability. We're like, did you, you know, he gets home from the gym usually by 6 30, and I press play by 6 30 because I'll be damned if he's gonna walk in from his workout and I haven't even started mine, right? Like, ain't happening. And so, you know, but not everybody has that situation. And so, like to have somebody that is going to say, Hey, did you press play? Did you get the walk-in? Because it really just is about starting. And I'm gonna guess you kind of get people starting, you get the momentum going. And then once it becomes part of their lifestyle, they may not need the constant check-ins or the accountability, but you have it's no different than how we shape behavior in children or animal. I mean, it's saying that you're building a habit, you're building a behavior. Once it's established, you can sort of back off a little bit. It's not like they need that forever. Is that right?

SPEAKER_03 18:51

Well, so I mean I have a mix, but here's the thing like I want to work with them on a consistent weekly basis until they just start automatically doing the thing, right? Like you said. The reinforcement starts with I'm calling you and we're celebrating. You did the things this week. I send them an electronic tracker each week so I can see what they're they they they're typing in, you know, what they're doing each week, how consistent they feel, anything that's giving them trouble, um, any wins that they want to celebrate, do our calls. So I can kind of see what's going on through the through their week, but then that call is about celebrating them. And I find especially women just don't do that, like they have a hard time prioritizing it. So and not everybody has a supportive spouse who's like, yeah, babe, you gotta make time for this. Yeah. A lot of women don't, which frustrates the crap out of me. It's really hard. So um having the call with me is huge. Um, and then once they start to feel better, once they start to notice their blood sugar is a little more balanced, the energy is a little more level through the day, clothes are starting to fit a bit looser, they feel more confident, they feel sexier.

SPEAKER_04 19:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

When they get those rewards, they don't need me as much. Yeah. So I do have some people who need a little more ongoing accountability to try to sort of win them. Um, but yeah, my goal is that the the actions that are good for them become habits, and then you know, they get their um really intrinsic reward so that they don't have to be uh celebrated quite so often intentionally with a phone call. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

It's so similar to shaping behavior. It really is. I think about how we shape behaviors in kids, like in the school setting, for example, and very similar, right? It's a lot of reinforcement in the beginning, but then once it's established, you sort of peel back that reinforcement because then you want that intrinsic motivation. That's so hard for people to understand. The external rewards does it does eventually lead to intrinsic motivation. Um, but that's really hard for people to understand that.

SPEAKER_03 20:48

That's the question I have with my daughters, because we just do a little bit, a little one-minute workout in the mornings together. Yeah. And my 14-year-old the other day, she said, um, because we had we had missed it, which is really rare for us. We got busy and we're, you know, our hair was on fire and we were trying to get to school on time. And and the next day she was like, Oh my gosh, like I noticed that I feel like so much more energized when I get to school in the morning. You know, we do our morning 50. We that's what you call it. And so I said, Isn't that amazing? Like how much a little bit of exercise can boost your mood in the morning. And I mean, girl, you need a good mood for middle school. I mean, come on, like amen.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

We gotta go in there strong and fortify. That's not an easy place to exist, right? For anybody.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

So yeah, so that's what I want to teach, you know, my girls, just like teaching my clients. Like, we have got to like pause and notice this is how I feel when I do this good thing for me and reinforce that, be mindful of that moment when it's like, oh, so much better. Or I don't feel good when I miss that healthy behavior. So yeah, it gotta be reinforced.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

I'm gonna use that with my own kids because it is about I mean. Like my kids had track this morning. So I'll be curious to know like this, they're getting back into track season, but they do it before school. So I am curious like, did is your day better? Are you, you know, um, have more energy, those types of things. But I want to ask you two big questions that I had.

Metabolism Blood Sugar Protein

SPEAKER_00 22:16

We'll kind of pivot a little bit from exercise and talk about diet and metabolism, because I think you do like a third, like some sort of metabolism reset. I've admittedly tried all the diets. I mean, I mean, very similar to you. I mean, I was working out as a child, as a teenager, and then not really dieting. But then as I became a young adult, lots of diets, lots of whole 30s, um, you know, plant-based diets. Like I've I've tried it all. If it's on the market, I've probably tried it, right? I've yo-yo dieted to main remain relatively consistent in my weight. So I'm genuinely curious: can we reset a metabolism that has been yo-yo'd for three decades?

SPEAKER_03 22:57

So the real answer is yes, but it's not like flipping a light switch.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:02

Some people think I can just like wake up one day and and uh start doing everything perfectly for my health, and then I'll just feel amazing. So what happens is oftentimes when we've been through a cycle, even years and years, decades and decades of maybe calorie restriction or a certain macro restriction, our bodies are real smart and they will adapt. So if you've been, especially if you've been restricting calories, your metabolism will naturally try to um slow down a conserved energy. So that's a big thing that we have to do, is we just have to to reset our metabolism, we have to fuel our bodies well and fuel our bodies consistently. And so when people notice, so I work with a lot of people and um from the nutrition side too, just from a metabolic standpoint. When people notice, oh, okay, well, I eat low glycemic foods and nutrient-dense foods frequently throughout the day and more small meals, um, I notice that my blood sugar stays more balanced. I don't have the, you know, the highs and the crashes. Uh, when we can just do that simple act, we feel so much better. Our energy is more level and and we're more efficiently and more efficient. And the other big thing is just consuming enough protein fortifies our muscles. Um, and our muscles being um, you know, quality is not the right word, but when we have enough lean muscle mass, our metabolism goes up. And so that's another big thing. Of a lot of times, diets that are very restrictive or or even exercise programs that are restrictive can eat away at our lean, lean muscle mass. And so that naturally drops the metabolisms. But guess what? We can we can rebound those muscles. So, you know, I'm not sure if this answers your question exactly, but we really just need to make sure we're protecting our muscles. And that will just that alone will kick start the metabolism. And then also if we're carrying extra body fat, um, specifically uh visceral body fat, then we really have to make sure that we help to get that back into a healthy range so that our hormones can function properly.

SPEAKER_00 25:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 25:09

So those are kind of kind of the big things that impact our our metabolic reset when we're needing that.

Sleep Routines And 3 AM Wakeups

SPEAKER_03 25:16

Yeah. Good news.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Yeah, doesn't sleep also play a pretty big role within our metabolism as well? And I think that that's one of the things I've heard you talk about as well is the importance of consistency and then finding a good way to get quality sleep.

SPEAKER_03 25:33

Yes. And some people say to me, Should I just add more workouts? Or should I just like, you know, cut calories, cut carbs even more? And oftentimes I'll come back with, can we just get to bed 30 minutes earlier? You know, can we just get some sleep so that you can recover? And and so just for starters off the bat, that extra sleep can allow you to make better decisions, can clear some brain fog, can help to um provide more energy throughout the day. If you're not super fatigued, your mental clarity is so much better. And then also your muscles have time to recover. We we don't recover as quickly, especially women in in perimenopause and menopause. We have to give a little extra time for muscle recovery. And so when we sleep, our bodies do that best. That's the time when they're healing and restoring. And so if we don't give enough time, you'll notice if you do a hard workout and then you have poor sleep for even just a night, you will be more sore the next day. Because that's when that recover, that muscle recovery happens. And so for some people, I can tell them I want you to go to bed 30 minutes earlier, and they will do that. But for many of us, we need a routine. We need to create a uh a literal bedtime routine for ourselves, like we did for our babies, right? Yeah. And that's that's a great thing to do. So if someone's like a little overwhelmed right now, like where should I even start? Start by getting a bedtime routine in place so you can get to bed. Like we knew it was great for the health of our kids when they were tiny, even now when they're a little older. It's no different for us. We need to give ourselves a bedtime routine. We need to have a wind down period where we get off a screen. We need to have a time where we maybe do some gentle stretching or deep breathing. We need to, I always like to read something affirming, um, you know, and it can be spiritual or it can just be something relaxing that just lets your mind, you know, go. And uh maybe do a dump list. The things that are I'm worried about today and that are on my mind for tomorrow, I'm just gonna dump them in a piece of paper and you know, shove it to the side so I don't have to go to bed worrying. There are lots of things you can do to implement a really strong bedtime routine, and that will improve the quality of your sleep. And even if 30 minutes sounds daunting, I know, especially if you have little ones, it's hard to get to bed. Then back in up 10 minutes, 15 minutes whenever you're getting yourself in bed. And yeah, create a bedtime for yourself because it will make everything work more efficiently the next day in your health, in your health habits and in in your physiology.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

And so I am a lover of sleep, always have been. And this is something that we talk about a lot. Like my girlfriends and I will talk about this because we all sort of went through this. I think I was about 38 when I started to experience it. I can sleep with the best of them. I can go to bed at eight. I can take a three-hour nap and still go to bed at 8 p.m. Like I, if there was an Olympic sport for sleeping, I could win a gold medal. But around 38, you know, I could fall asleep, but I would wake up at 2, 3 a.m. and then I couldn't fall back asleep. And so naturally I was getting, you know, I'm used to sleeping nine to five is like my golden sleep time. Um, but I was getting, you know, two to three hours less sleep just from that natural um wake up and then you're sort of ruminating and you can't fall back, you're trying to fall back asleep and you can't fall back asleep. For me personally, I definitely think that um going on progesterone as a hormone replacement has been helpful with that. I still wake up, but I do fall back asleep. But is that some do you have any other besides somebody that maybe isn't ready to look at HRT? Is there anything, any other sort of tricks that you have for waking up and not being able to fall back asleep?

SPEAKER_03 29:10

So a simple thing that anyone can try is just consuming a protein snack before bed.

unknown 29:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

Um just having just or any small snack, because oftentimes we go to bed and it's the drop in blood sugar that naturally happens in the middle of the night that will wake us. That's like a survival mechanism. Um so oftentimes we need to say, okay, let me give myself a bedtime snack, and then you'll have a little more blood sugar um balance throughout the night. And that should help to improve, you know, the waking, um, the middle of the night waking as well. And I also let people know they need to really be mindful, especially later in life, of the caffeine consumption. So I mean, I love coffee like real, real a lot. Like I just love it. Okay. So me there. You could drink it all day, but you have got to cut yourself off earlier, oftentimes as our bodies change. And so that's a thing too, um, so that you can get better quality sleep. And sometimes too, if you wake up, because let's be honest, when we're um 46 years old, we have a lot on our mind. We have a lot of full plate, you know, kids to work, worry about, parents to worry about, um, jobs and health changing and all the things. So you might just need to take a minute to get up out of bed and write down a couple of things that are worrying you or a couple of intentions for the next day that can get you um put you back at ease. You know, sometimes I like to write what my wins are gonna be for tomorrow. You know, just to keep it worried and I'll just yep. And I'll just say, okay, like let's screw the worries. Let's just say, here's what I intend to accomplish tomorrow. Here's what I'm gonna be real proud of if I can get done. And so sometimes you can just shift your brain to a calmer state by doing that. Actual writing it out, seeing it on paper. I'm not like talking about on your phone. I think that's that's detrimental if you wake up in the middle of the night and you grab the phone and you start scrolling. Oh my gosh, game over.

SPEAKER_00 31:04

You're never going back to sleep. Right?

SPEAKER_03 31:06

It's not okay. Uh-uh. So, yeah, grab a piece of paper and write down a few thoughts and then try to reset yourself back to sleep. But yeah, grab a snack before bed.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Uh you never hear, I've never heard that advice, or if I have it, didn't stick. Um, but that makes so much sense. And just listening to what you've said so far and what little bit I know, and Sarah is an expert on blood sugar. Obviously, she she constantly has to pay attention to hers. But if you don't have diabetes, um, it's not something that we're thinking about is like, I mean, other than when I become a raging lunatic because I'm hungry, I'm not like, oh, is my blood sugar low? Like in the middle of the day, or um, maybe I'm waking up. Like, that's not something that's ever entered my thought, my, you know, my thought process with that. So um it really does seem to be a huge uh piece to the puzzle is keeping the blood sugar level. Um which I never really thought about that.

SPEAKER_03 32:03

And a lot of folks are using non-diabetics are using continuous glucose monitors to change their habits. You can Google that. There's a whole whole world out there. People are using the monitors to be able to become mindful of foods that spike the blood sugar so that they can keep the blood sugar stable. It stabilizes mood, it stabilizes weight. Lots of really cool benefits. It's not something I'm currently doing, but I have clients who are experimenting with that.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

I do, I did read a book once. Um, there's this glucose goddess, Jessie, a French woman. Anyway um, I did read her book, and it does talk a lot about it's it was more about like prevention of like health issues by like maintaining your blood sugar. And she did talk about like drinking apple cider vinegar before you eat a meal or eating like your vegetables on your plate before you eat your, you know, it was like vegetables and then protein and then carbohydrates, or maybe I got those backwards. But, you know, I haven't that was what, five years ago, Sarah, I think when I was talking about that. I haven't revisited that, but that seems to be coming up a lot in conversations lately about blood sugar and how it relates to our hormones. Like you said that earlier, your hormones are more efficient, or maybe they're more effective if your blood sugar is remaining fairly stable.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

Well, I have some fun rapid-fire questions, if we can get to this.

Strength Training Myths And GLP 1 Support

SPEAKER_01 33:24

Um all right. So, what is something that we think is healthy but isn't?

SPEAKER_03 33:30

Um excessive cardio, that's a big one. Oh my gosh. Excessive fasted cardio. Oh my gosh, it makes me cringe. Um, so if if you're busy on short on time, you're a busy person, especially, and you can just pick one form of exercise, just do some strength training. You know, I love cardio. Fill in walking anywhere you can. If you love to run, you know, do some running, that's fine. I'm not saying that that's bad, but prioritizing the cardio and and and making it excessive, that is a common problem. And a lot of people don't allow rest after, they don't allow enough rest after cardio. And so you're just really you're not you're not recovering and your body cannot efficiently benefit from the cardio. So take it easy. And and eat some protein. Oh my gosh. Have a little protein before, a little protein after, and you can get more out of your workout.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Such a mindset shift for our age group, don't you? I mean, do you all agree? I feel like we were just bombarded with cardio or nothing. And uh it's like now it's totally different. It's like absolute, you know, yes, cardio is important, but like walking can fulfill that. You don't need to go run a marathon or be on an elliptical for an hour. Because I was that person doing the elliptical for an hour. Right.

SPEAKER_03 34:49

Well, it's really not best for our body or our mind. Because then we again circle back, we shame and guilt ourselves because we're doing these long workouts and we're away from our kids, and then we run out of time, and then we skip it, and then we feel bad because we skipped a workout. So for a lot of different reasons, it's it's not best for most women.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

And I don't know about y'all, but cardio makes me insanely hungry. If I go for a run versus if I do 30 minutes of strength training, I'm gonna eat all day after that run. I don't know if that's just me personally or or that's how everyone feels, but it makes me hungry. I hear that a lot.

SPEAKER_04 35:27

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

Yeah. Okay, well, here's another one. What is the most common thing that you see that derails somebody off of their wellness or health and fitness routine?

SPEAKER_03 35:38

Um, I'll go back to um probably not asking for accountability. So that's where I come in. When someone has the best intentions and they start doing their own thing without declaring it to either a success buddy, you know, maybe just a friend or a neighbor, even if it's someone who lives four states away, um, your likelihood of staying consistent is so much lower. So when I'm working with someone, I am checking in to make sure they do the thing they tell me they're gonna do and make sure the things they're doing all week align with their goals they shared with me. So I think that's a huge mistake. If you try to do it in the dark, you're not gonna be as successful. Like shine some light on your goals so that you can be held accountable. Don't be afraid, don't be embarrassed, don't be um, don't hate yourself. Put it out there. This is where I am in my health, own it. Here's where I want to be in my health, and share it so people can help you get there.

SPEAKER_01 36:36

We are not meant to do it alone. That's such great advice. Um, and yeah, you just get so much out of having that person there, the support, the venting, the problem solving, uh, the cheerleader. The total package comes whenever you have that accountability partner for sure. All right, another question. We've I've been hearing this a lot, reading a lot, and I don't quite understand it. So I'm totally dependent upon your expertise on this. I see that doing strength-based training is so important for women who are in perimenopause or menopause, more so than maybe other periods of our life. Why?

SPEAKER_03 37:12

Well, because our bodies naturally have less lean muscle as we age. Like, that's just a result. Like, I mean, look at your grandma, your great grandma. Like, they get like small and soft, right? So if we're not doing anything to counteract that, then we're in trouble. Because again, it goes back to metabolism. Less lean muscle means lower metabolism. So we are just naturally losing lean muscle, period. And also, as we're busier, we many people don't work out as much, you know. So if you're not strength training to stimulate the muscle to build, and I'm not talking about bodybuilding, I'm talking about just staying lean and strong. Yeah, if that muscle's not stimulated, then it's gonna decline. So, I mean, I went through a period with my second daughter where I went several months after she was born, I think it was six months before I did a workout. Um, and that was really, you know, part of it was where I was in my career needing to break away so that I could pray to his family. Yeah. Um, but I remember thinking, oh, this is how do people live like this? This is a thing. Like a lot of people just go months and months and never work out. And for me, I got, you know, got back in again. I had to give myself a little bit extra grease period because I was so busy and I also had a toddler and I was overwhelmed. And so, you know, I can see how someone gets in that period of just that season or that rut of just sitting a lot.

SPEAKER_05 38:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:44

And then so, yeah, the muscles get less, like literally physiologically less muscle on our body, and then metabol metabolism goes down, and and then so we've we're weaker and our energy is lower, so then we don't we don't feel the motivation to get up and move and run and play with the kids or you know, take the walk or go to the class.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

So it's a cycle. Absolutely. And uh to that same like on that same note, I'm thinking about and we could do a whole podcast on this conversation alone, but like I know a lot of people that are on GLP ones currently. And I think that sometimes like my observation from the outset is that like that's the only thing that is they're doing to lose weight, right? They're not doing some sort of weight-bearing exercise or or lift it or any kind of like heavy lifting or anything like that. And so do you my question is do you work with people that are on GLP1s? And if you do, are you recommending weight training? I mean, I'm I'm guessing probably cardio is not necessary, but like, are you are you working with people that are on GLP1s? Let's start with that.

SPEAKER_03 39:50

Yes, I have a whole program for that. You do because it's so commonplace these days. Yeah. And it's it when I do a health assessment with someone brand new comes to me and he's curious about working with me and and wonders about my services. Um, I do a health assessment call and we talk about like where are you in your health right now? What are your habits? What are you know concerns that your doctor has, what kind of medications you're on. And I ask that question standard across the board now because it's so, so commonplace. And so um, there's no shame in it. Um, it is a pretty um amazing medication that has a lot of uses. And so, you know, what we do is we prioritize that person getting enough protein because a lot of people do try to do it without lifestyle intervention, and it does not work long term and it is not healthy. Um, it gets them out of that critical place of, you know, typically the blood pressure is high, um, you know, maybe morbid obesity, they can't move, right, and uh, you know, maybe high cholesterol, A1Cs everywhere. And so it can get them out of that, like it can triage, right? But it's not, it's not a long-term fix for their health. Right. And so what we do is we talk about getting enough nutrition because it's hard when your brain is saying, I'm not hungry, it's hard to make sure you eat, right? Even if you're a person who have chronically doesn't have a great relationship with food. So we get them on a structured nutrition plan and you know, create mindful choices around healthy eating. And then also we start doing some street training.

SPEAKER_04 41:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:20

And often it is, you know, I I just I've not been motivated because I haven't felt good about myself. Yeah. And so we've got to get over that mental barrier. And then also I feel I've always felt awkward in the gym or I haven't gone to the gym in a long time because I've been too busy. And so tell me what to do then. What? You know, what do I do in the gym or at home so I don't have to go to the gym and get, you know, uncomfortable there. So yeah, definitely some strength training, definitely prioritize all the health habits. You know, let's get you on a good sleep routine so your your body can recover because we're gonna stimulate with all these workouts and with more food. And so, um, yeah, coach a lot of people on GLPs. And sometimes they're scared to tell me that they're doing that. And I'm no, listen, girl, you are not taking the easy way out. No, it's not easy to take a GLP. So you we just need to shore you up to fortify you so you can get the most out of it. You know, you're already doing it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:16

What a great option for people that are accessing that medication because we've we've had people or we've had someone on the the podcast talking about GLP once, and we both agree, like it's great. And I've seen it impact neighbors and friends and and have positive impact. But I we always go back to you still have to at some point make some real lifestyle changes, and a lot of it is the same stuff that we're kind of talking about and doing day in and day out.

SPEAKER_01 42:45

Well, and you mentioned this, and so I think it's important for the listeners to know about you is that they don't have to have a referral to get to you for your services.

Health Span Mindset And How To Connect

SPEAKER_01 42:53

Like I see your videos that you post on like social media, you do these fun little clips and things like that. So, how do if someone is listening and wants to reach out, they found this is to be like their tool, they needed that accountability partner, how do they find you?

SPEAKER_03 43:06

Yeah, so I love social media for that purpose. Um, I always say you can use it for good when you want to, right? When you really try hard. And so I get a lot of um just messages on Instagram or Facebook, and someone says, I've been following you and I'm kind of curious, and I want to ask um what for more information. So I always welcome that. Um, yeah, don't just scroll, like stop and have a conversation with me. Always just have a conversation, even if it's your it might not be a fit. And then um I have a website so they can go to my website, subscribe to my newsletter I send each week with some health tips, or they can, you know, sign up for my services there. But oftentimes, you know, the best thing to do is just shoot me a message and just say, Hey, like here are my questions. Here, you know, is this for me? Is it not? And um, and that's a great way to connect for sure. Yeah. What's the website? It's heather for health.podia.com. So for as an FOR Heatherfor Health dot podia.com.

SPEAKER_00 44:05

Being consistent is hard work. And um I don't ever want to like make it seem like, oh, just do this and do that. Like it's so easy, right? Like, no, it is hard to be consistent as much as we try. Like that's the work, in my opinion. It's not the workout. It's that's the work, is the consistency. And um yeah, I I mean it always boils back to blood sugar, being consistent and protein. Protein.

SPEAKER_03 44:41

And releasing perfection. Yes. Right? Release perfection. Health coaches' orders, like stop the shame and the blame and ask for help. Ask for accountability. If you if your brain is so fried that you can't like even think of what structure would look like in your health habits, you need someone to help you. Yeah. You need a guidance. That's that's okay. There's no shame in being vulnerable and saying, I'm a mess. Help me to get organized, help me to get my mind right, you know, and hold me accountable for my healthy actions.

SPEAKER_00 45:16

I could see that being particularly hard for somebody who maybe was like an athlete in their youth or even like in college and like they were like the picture of health. And then maybe like they went through, you know, childbearing and things like that. And then like to then admit you need help at something you used to be really, really strong and diligent at, I could see that like I could see that being hard.

SPEAKER_03 45:38

Well, and a lot of women, caregivers, caretakers, they're you know, in a role where they're prioritizing other people. And so I find that a lot of women are are just saying, I don't even know how to like look after myself and treat myself as a priority. And I'm like, guess what? If you are not strong, then I mean, think about all these moving parts in your life, all these people who rely on you. Yeah, what's gonna happen to them? Have that that come to Jesus with women a lot. I'm like, what is gonna happen to your kids, your husband, your grandkids, your coworkers, your employees? Yeah if you end up in the hospital with a heart attack. Yeah, or if you end up like so weak and frail that you can't even get up out of your chair. Like, let's fast forward, let's think about, let's prepare today these habits that are gonna sustain you to continue to be the rock for the people that expect you to be the rock, right? Right for years to come. 70 when we're 80. I mean, come on, like we gotta we gotta think health span, not just like our bubble of our 40s right now.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

I like that. Health span is important and having that base too. Let's say worst to worst happens and you have to have knee replacement surgery. Just because you have a good solid base, your recovery time is going to not be as long. You're not gonna have as complicated of an issue because you have a good base. And so thinking now is preventative for later. Maybe not from having something happen, but maybe in making sure that if it does, then your recovery time is gonna be so much quicker just because you have done the work. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 47:17

Absolutely. And if you have to have a surgery, your risk of infection is lower. If you're in a healthy body fat range, I mean, being healthy could save your life. Your immune system is stronger.

SPEAKER_00 47:29

And we're we're the example for all these daughters that we're raising, right? We all have a daughter, and we are the example. And you, Heather, were so lucky to grow up with parents that were showing you the way. I didn't grow up in that environment, right? And so I really look at it as my opportunity to sort of like show her this is what health looks like, this is what taking care of yourself looks like. And um, you know, it's not restricting your calories and and doing all these things that I spent decades doing, right? It's it's truly about treating yourself kindly and um and taking care of yourself, just like we try to take care of everybody around us.

SPEAKER_03 48:09

For sure. Yeah, that's something I talk to my daughters about a lot. You've got to um look out for yourself, you have to honor your body. You're lucky you were born with a healthy, healthy body. You're so fortunate. So, you know, I don't I don't care it's if you're skinny, it's not about that. Um, I mean, I'm not saying that aesthetics don't have a place. We need to feel confident and sexy, right? Like that's important.

SPEAKER_04 48:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:32

But when I'm talking to my daughters, I say you need to be capable. You need to, your body is a tool, you know, it houses your brain, which is big and strong, and you can accomplish great things in this world, but you gotta have this vehicle. You've got to serviced on a regular basis. You've got to put the right fuel in it. Right. You know, you gotta make sure that you come fine-tuned, it's got great tires. Like, you have to be strong. This is your house.

SPEAKER_00 48:58

Well, I feel like I could talk to you all day, Heather, just because this is something we feel very passionately about, but also something, I mean, like I said, these are conversations that I'm having with my friends day in and day out. Like we're still trying to figure it all out, um, but so uh helpful and knowledgeable, and just to know that that you're available. People can can use your services and can um can come to you for that accountability because that is like that's how we start is holding people accountable, um, holding each other accountable. So if you don't have that, make sure you check out Heather Smith. You can find her on Facebook or at heatherforhealth.podia.com.podia.com. We'll also link that on the website so that you can find that easily. Um, thank you so much for coming on today. Yes. Chatting with uh with Sarah and I.

SPEAKER_03 49:49

You're welcome. It's fun. This has been great. It's a really good conversation. It's always more fun when you you've already got some actual believers in the room. Right. The willing coalition. That's right. It's good stuff. I love it. Thank you guys so much.

SPEAKER_01 50:07

Really. You're helping a lot of work. Thanks. We have a lot of fun with it. If not, we're helping ourselves and each other, right, Jen.

SPEAKER_00 50:13

That's right. It's our mental health and wellness podcast for each other. Um, if you don't already know, you can find us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube at Liless Podcasts, um, or on our website at LilessPodcast.com. Uh, that's all we got for this week, y'all. Until next week, Liless. We're out.