Perimenopause: How to Make Yourself a Priority with
Dr. Mariza Snyder

Dr. Mindy Pelz 0:02 On this episode of the Resetter Podcast, we're gonna talk all things perimenopause. Now, I've been doing a lot of episodes on menopause, all different versions. I'm really hopefully you are seeing that. I'm trying to give you a wide perspective, because it's a little bit of the wild wild west out there when it comes to everything from hormone replacement therapy to libido to weight loss, menopausal belly, weight like everybody's got an opinion these days, and it can be a little crazy. So what I've been trying to do with these podcasts is really niche down a topic so you can understand how to best control a certain aspect of your menopausal journey, whether you are 80 or you are 30, I'm hoping that each topic that I'm dialing down into you are gleaning some inspiration and understanding of what's best for you. In this particular episode, I brought a dear friend, Dr Mariza Snyder, to you all, and she has written a book called The perimenopause revolution. And what you're going to hear in this conversation is, what is perimenopause? When does it start? What are some of the first symptoms of perimenopause. How can you manage those symptoms? And we're going to really take this conversation through the lens of lifestyle. Now, at the back end of the conversation, we talk about hsormone replacement therapy, which is a very common thing that everybody wants to talk about. But why I wanted to have this conversation with Dr Mariza was that she brings up some incredibly valid points about lifestyle that we cannot overlook So simple things like what you eat, when you eat, movement. We talk a lot about the importance of movement for managing your symptoms, learning how to prioritize ourselves, learning how to set boundaries and stick to them. So it's a really dense lifestyle conversation that I'm I feel very honored to have had with her and to bring to you all. And what I'm hoping you're seeing, if you're coming back to my podcast week after week, is that I'm I'm open to it all, and I really believe that each one of us, whether we are deep into our post menopausal experience or just about to enter our perimenopausal experience, we need to listen to all the experts and when we need to make a decision for ourselves. You know, the old healthcare system used to be one where we showed up at the doctor's office, the doctor told us what to do, and we did that. That is not the healthcare environment we are living in today. So I'm excited to bring you what may appear as opposing pieces of information experts that disagree with each other, but most importantly, I am trying to open up the menopause conversation as wide as I can, so we can look at it from a new lens, and that you can understand that you have more control than it can feel some days. So the perimenopause revolution is really such a powerful book and a powerful idea, and I love what Dr Maritza has to say about it is the window of vulnerability, and I can tell you, as a 55 year old woman who's three years post menopausal, she is absolutely right. That perimenopause is that moment in which we need to make sure that we're doing the right lifestyle changes that we're starting to shift and transform ourselves and and the way we behave, because our neurochemical system is transforming and changing, and a part of that might be doing HRT as well. So it's a really good lifestyle conversation with a little HRT twist at the end, go. If you resonate with what we talk about, please go get Dr Maritz book. You know, it takes a lot out of an author to write a book you're getting the deepest perspective in their heart. So this books are the greatest long format to gather this information. So Dr Maritza Snyder, super excited to bring her to you, and as always, I hope it inspires you and moves the needle forward on your health. Welcome to the resetter podcast. This podcast is all about empowering you to believe in yourself again, if you have a passion for learning, if you're looking to be in control of your health and take your power back. This is the podcast for you. Dr. Mindy Pelz 4:51 So welcome, and I can't wait to have this conversation with you. Dr. Mariza Snyder 4:55 Oh, Mindy honey. I have been looking forward to this four weeks, getting to see your. Smile, getting to have this conversation, getting to move the needle for women in a really profound way. Dr. Mindy Pelz 5:05 Yeah, thank you. It's funny. Anybody who knows me knows that I love a deep conversation. I my i had my mother, my in laws were in town this weekend, and my mother in law moved her chair right next to me, and she's like Mindy. I know you like a deep conversation. Let me, let me tell you what I've been thinking about. I'm was like, Oh my God, thank you for knowing me so well. So I want to with that, that lens. I want to bring a deep conversation to perimenopause, because I think we've gone from a time where nobody was talking about menopause to everybody's talking about menopause, and I feel like we're settling in on this idea that the word menopause is a general term, and that actually perimenopausal transition and post menopause has to be treated very differently, even though they all say menopause. So I'm super happy you wrote this book, because I think we need to double down on perimenopause being this really pivotal time. So for our listeners that don't know, can you explain? When does perimenopause start? Like, how do we know we're in perimenopause. Dr. Mariza Snyder 6:22 I love this question, Mindy, and yes, this is the number one question I get from patients and my community all the time, because the symptoms begin to start. And for some it's subtle. For some it's a, like, a, like, a Mack truck moment. And they're like, is this, is this perimenopause? Like, and I feel like there's so many of us that are a little scared, you know, coming into it like, is this actually what it is? So I want to just quickly define menopause, and we'll go from there. So menopause, natural menopause, is anywhere between 45 years old and 55 years old. So somewhere we're going to fall somewhere in the middle of that. The average age of menopause is 51 years old. I know my mom went into menopause at 53 and you know, I'm expecting somewhere in my early 50s. That's where I'm going to land as well. Now, perimenopause is the transition where our ovaries are winding down and our hormones are radically declining without permission. Mind you, I always say this is without permission, and this is anywhere between four and 10 plus years a dear friend of ours, Dr Sarah Godfrey. I was just talking to her recently, and she was talking about how she's been in perimenopause for 15 years. Wait, she's still Unknown Speaker 7:30 in perimenopause. I'm Unknown Speaker 7:32 still holding on. I'm talking about good reproductive Dr. Mindy Pelz 7:35 life. She hasn't let me in on that secret. That's amazing. And the point is, is that it's Dr. Mariza Snyder 7:41 continuum. It is a massive continuum, and it's actually broken in to different stages as well. Because you can imagine, I've been joking recently and saying, that's not a transition. That is a freaking career, like 10 years of your life, yeah, that's a long time. Some of us have multiple careers in a 10 year span, and I think about in a lifetime. Gosh, how much can happen in 10 years for any one of us. Gosh, how much can happen in one year for any one of us, especially women who are going through the gauntlet of hormones, shifting in the time where we are taking care of everybody else. So that is perimenopause. It is that four to 10 plus year transition. It can happen as early as our mid 30s, because you can imagine, if someone goes into menopause naturally at 4647 I know many friends of mine who went into Perry went into menopause at 47 and 48 years old, and they were experiencing symptoms in their mid to late 30s. But again, because we weren't talking about it because we were telling women that, no, there's no way they're too young. Often those symptoms, these are even functional doctors. These are medical doctors who were who were dismissed in their own experience. Dr. Mindy Pelz 8:53 Yeah, so I go back to my own perimenopause experience, and it really hit me hard at about 43 and my first symptom was I wasn't sleeping, and I became very, like, agitated, like I could, you know, somebody, somebody would do one thing, like, I always think about the day that I got into bed, and I swear I could hear my son eat, chewing his cereal downstairs in the kitchen. And I went downstairs, and I was like, Wait, yo Joan, it's so loud down here, and he's like, Mom, I was just eating cereal after soccer practice, and that was about 43 and I didn't have we didn't weren't talking about menopause. Then we didn't have language for it. So help, help our listeners understand what those early symptoms are. Because I feel like they I felt like the symptoms of menopause in general, side swiped me. It was like, Yeah, whoa. I was this way one day, and then boom, all of a sudden, I'm yelling at my son for chewing cereal too, too loudly, Dr. Mariza Snyder 9:52 having a snack after this, right? Exactly, exactly, Mom, I'm just trying to have a snack kitchen. I'm like. Your existence currently, right now, Unknown Speaker 10:02 that's right, you said step out of this house. Dr. Mariza Snyder 10:05 Yep, yeah. I mean, 43 years old was the year that I was blindsided by perimenopause as well. And I was just coming out of postpartum. My son was barely two years old, and I think for so many of us, especially the brain related thumbs, can feel like an exacerbation of the daily pain points of everyday life. And so for me, I thought I was like, Oh, this must be my thyroid or Oh, I must not have recovered well from the postpartum experience. Maybe my stress response system is over activated again. So I feel like that is so often it's a yes. And for women in Peri where as we start to lose these protective shield hormones that, by the way, are full body hormones, and as that they become they just start to crumble. Right? All of a sudden, we see these exacerbation of symptoms. Sometimes things that we had been managing the whole time that we had had under control until these hormones began to drop. Other times, I feel like things were simmering under, kind of under the surface, and are finally up for a review. But the big thing that I hear from women, including myself, it sounds like YouTube Mindy, is the brain related symptoms, because this is a neuro endocrine transition, just like puberty, just like postpartum, the brain is under massive reconstruction. I call it like a massive remodel, and it is happening when we have so much I call this the higher stakes game, because now our careers are happening. We are running households, we are managing families. We are in a sandwich generation. This is very much the messy middle and we don't have a lot of bandwidth to begin with. Like we kind of need it all to run well, and when all of a sudden, sleep begins to go to the wayside, we are more irritable than than normal. We have brain fog and cognitive issues. We cannot remember the words that we were trying to say. We don't even know why we walked into the room that we deliberately walked into. All of this begins to help us feel like we're losing it, like we're crazy, like we don't know what's going on with our bodies. I would say the brain related symptoms are the most common symptoms, and for so many women, the most destabilizing symptoms, because when we are having to operate at a high level, like most of the women I've always taken care of, are very high functioning, and when you start to pull the rug from under them in terms of their cognitive and their emotional resilience. It's like, they're thinking, is this early dementia? Like, what is going on with me? Dr. Mindy Pelz 12:28 Yeah, yeah. And I think that's the hardest, especially when you're used to keeping lists in your mind and so all the tabs. Yeah, you're not writing stuff, but you can do it, Dr. Mariza Snyder 12:38 right? You can you and then then you can't, yeah, I agree. It's the end of we don't have the support in place, or the your the knowing that this is going to happen. It can just feel like a reckoning. I call this the Dr. Mindy Pelz 12:51 reckoning I love that I know, and in the book, you talk about it being per perimenopause, being a personal Catalyst, and this is something that is super like near and dear to my heart, because I think in the zeitgeist right now, we have so much of a conversation about, you're suffering, take HRT, and I'm not dismissing that, and we should definitely talk about that, but what I am really thinking through at a deeper level is this is actually a transformational moment. So when those symptoms appear, when that brain is remodeling, there is an opportunity for you to change yourself. And I know you talk about this in the book, so talk to me a little bit like, like I'm a 3839 year old woman, and I'm just feeling those symptoms. What? What advice would you give about the brain symptoms that I'm feeling? Dr. Mariza Snyder 13:50 I would say number one is that right now is the time where you get to decide whether you're going to prioritize yourself or not. This is where the body is calling for a new level of support, because what got us here isn't going to get us to the next level, especially the next level of health and emotional well being. So I think that that's the first step, is deciding that you deserve to feel amazing and that you deserve to thrive, that this is going to be a transition, but that you get to level up your self care, your sleep, your all of the strategies, the health strategies that maybe you fought you could get away with up until now. You know you just, you know we don't get to get away with that anymore. Also, it's this is an opportunity if things are shifting and they feels like it's happening without permission, because there's nothing worse than something than something being taken away from you or feeling like it's getting taken away from you, and you weren't given a warning sign for it. You weren't warned. And there have been moments where I have even grieved my my earlier version of myself. Me too. Yeah, so the woman who could just like full out sprint and not have to negotiate with herself whether she's got. Capacity later on that day or the next day or the next week. And now I'm having to really shore up, you know, and ask myself, what you have capacity for? Yeah, what? What do you have energy for? And then the next piece I always tell women is, this is the opportunity for you to establish your boundaries, your non negotiables, your relationships, the things that are going to move you forward in the next half of your life. And so if there are relationships, maybe it's familial, maybe it's friendships that have not been serving it's time to add up even the relationship with yourself. If things are coming up for review that you have kept you've been running from, or you've been pushing away. Now is the time to address it. Now is the time to look in the mirror and get clear with what version of you you want to take into the second half of your life. And then number three, I think that big one, is anchoring yourself to the health habits and being consistent with those health habits so that you are thriving, not just surviving in this transition, but also in the next Dr. Mindy Pelz 16:04 I love that list. I would agree 1,000% with it. I can again going back to where I was. And it's interesting, because at 55 I feel like I'm looking back at perimenopause, and I'm like, oh, that's where I got stuck a little bit there, and I got stuck a little bit there. Now the 3940 year old version of me would have said, I'm too exhausted to start to set boundaries and and and disappoint people like I can't like I'm just trying to work and handle it, handle my family life. And now I need to stand up and tell people I'm not doing this anymore. I need to hold boundaries. I need to prioritize my wants. I haven't even been taught what my wants are. I think that that is like that awakening that and I love you, called the Book of the perimenopausal revolution, because I don't know if you use the revolution in this way. But the way I read it is like, it's a revolution to start to take care of yourself first. But that transition as, you know, as Dr. Mariza Snyder 17:10 a mother, it's messy. It's yeah, my my son is sick calm today. At, you know, four years old, and we debated. There was such a big part of me that wanted to just send him to school. He's not super sick, right? But my husband and I sat down and we were like, we just, we have to make this work. We have to make I've heard him, like, four times. Girl, oh, you Unknown Speaker 17:29 know it's okay. My Dr. Mindy Pelz 17:31 heart hurts for you. Dr. Mariza Snyder 17:32 And it's, it's the messy middle. This is, this is the journey that we're in. And so, yeah, if you're, if you're a woman who's listening, and you're in your late 30s, early 40s, and you just heard me rattle off that list of like, massive empowerment and stepping into your yourself as a priority. And you're thinking to yourself, I'm just trying to have I'm trying, I'm just trying to pee by myself. Dr. Mindy Pelz 17:54 Right? Exactly, right? Because I can't. That doesn't happen for me in my household. Peeing by yourself is a definite luxury, or Dr. Mariza Snyder 18:04 even sleeping by myself right night of the week like that's where I'm at. How many women have little children like me that? I mean, my son's in TK right now, not even kindergarten. We're not even there yet. And so that's, that's where I'm at. And so where I started one, I had to reconcile when the when the changes began to happen, there was a bit of a denial. At first. I kept thinking like, maybe I could fix this. Maybe I can clean this up. And there's a lot of things that I've done to do so absolutely and some days are better than others. I wish. I wish all the hormone replacement therapy and all the lifestyle strategies and all the things are going to make every single one of your months, that last week of your luteal phase, magical and incredible, and make it feel like it did back in your 20s. I cannot guarantee that, right? But what I can guarantee is if you even carve out 20 minutes for you, 20 minutes walking, 20 minutes breathing, 20 minutes reading a good fiction book, or maybe it's a non fiction book, whatever brings you joy. The question I always love to ask myself is, what would help you feel good right now? Or how would you love to feel in the next 30 days? Like just asking, I think those types of questions, and I have embedded those questions throughout the book, in the mindset chapter, in the movement chapter, and because it's, I think, when we start to ask ourselves the potent questions that we have to answer for ourselves, that's when we start to make those decisions about you're like, you know what? I'm not going to tolerate anymore. I'm not going to continue this way. And it doesn't have to be a big thing. It can just be a small thing, but it can be profound. Not all of these shifts need to be massive to make a difference. Some of them can be very, very small. It was my birthday over the weekend. Hi, my son. Happy birthday. Thank you. I turned 46 years old. Ah, nice. And Kingston sick, and so we canceled all the things, you know, mainly because I knew I had this beautiful interview with you. I've gotten a bunch of interview but the one thing I was really clear on was time by myself. I wanted I wanted time to journal, I wanted time to go to the ocean. I wanted time to go get my own freaking matcha by myself. That is what I was clear on. And so I think getting having that clarity about what's going to move the needle for you, even if, again, it's just a morning routine, or it's an evening routine, or it's 20 minutes during the day, whatever allows you to reset your system. I think is a really great place to start. Dr. Mindy Pelz 20:28 Yeah, it's Have you time by yourself? Is that fairly new, as you've gotten into deeper into perimenopause? Dr. Mariza Snyder 20:35 Yeah, oh, yeah. And it's probably the most sacred thing you can do for me. Dr. Mindy Pelz 20:39 Yeah, I have the same thing, and I pushed against it and pushed against it until I broke. So I just want to point out that one of the things I'm an extrovert. I like being around people. I like human connection. But one of the things that I noticed as I got deeper and deeper into my perimenopause years is nothing calmed me or made me feel more peaceful than being by myself, and I think that a lot of that is because as these hormones shift, it's almost like our nervous system is raw, and if we get around the wrong people, the wrong situation, stressful events, it's Very difficult to to manage it, because we don't have the same capacity that we had in our younger years. Is that, is that how you feel as well? Dr. Mariza Snyder 21:28 I think most women, there's no break. There's no break from work to home, unless you've got a bit of a community, but you're in your fighting traffic, so that doesn't feel like a break either. Your nervous system is just on hyper vigilant mode. You're running from one thing to the next, whether that's packing lunches or making sure their socks washed. You know what I'm saying? That the list is constant and endless, and I'll tell you what I can if I'm in my house, even alone, there's always things yelling at oh yeah, oh yeah. Always. I can't go downstairs without seeing everything out of place. I you know, dishes that need to be handled. I went downstairs in the kitchen, and I tried to put dishes on the dishwasher, and the dishwasher was clean, and I was just like, because I was like, I didn't that, I didn't plan for that five minutes, yeah? Dr. Mindy Pelz 22:09 So Right, exactly. The interesting thing to me about perimenopause is I do feel like it sideswipes you, yeah? Because you're just like, kind of going along normal life, and then all of a sudden, there's you can't sleep, and then all of a sudden, every little things are annoying you, and the next thing you know, you're sweating, and then all of a sudden, you're gaining weight, but you didn't really change anything. And it's like year after year, there's just another symptom, another symptom. You talk about, silent shifts. Can you explain a little more what that means, because of all the menopausal phases, I think this is the sneakiest one, which, again, is why I think it's your book is so important, because we need to, if we could catch it in this moment, it would make the rest of the menopausal experience so much better. Dr. Mariza Snyder 22:55 This is the window of opportunity, because it's the window of vulnerability. It's, you know, women are calling this a zone of chaos, or like the transition of chaos. The reason why we're calling it that is because the symptoms are so loud, they are so disruptive. And while I think about the silent shifts that are happening behind the scenes, I think it's important to note that, as you and Dr Stacy Sims and so many of us have said over the years, that we are not small men. This isn't bikini medicine, where hormones are only impacting our boobs and our ovaries and our uterus. They are, they are they are neuromodulators. They are immune system modulators. They are changing the gut microbiome. They are helping the bone to remodel. They are helping muscles to grow and build. They are affecting our insulin levels, our blood glucose variability. I'm talking every single system in the body is reliant on these chemical messages, and so when they begin to erratically decline, for some of us, it is more severe than others, depending on when it starts. For us, note that there are silent shifts happening that we are not necessarily paying attention to, and our doctors often aren't looking at as well, including we know that as estrogen drops, insulin resistance goes up. We know that glucose variability becomes more variable, and we women, more women get diagnosed with pre diabetes in perimenopause than any other transition. Right? We know that blood pressure is changing again. Unless you're looking at your blood pressure regularly, you're not going to see that silent creep towards hypertension. Yeah, we also know that lipids are going up unfavorably as we start to lose estrogen, because cholesterol helps to make our hormones, right? We're not making them anymore, right? So that is shifting. Inflammation is increasing, particularly in the brain and in the gut and in the body. We know that our stress response system is more more deregulated than ever before, like there's the silent shifts of inflammation, of loss of bone, loss of muscle, metabolic changes, inflammation in the brain that puts our cardio metabolic health at risk. And a lot of this is happening well before we get into menopause, although we're not looking at. At these biomarkers. We're not looking at the DEXA scan. We're not looking at a lot of these shifts happening until after our period has ceased for more than 12 months. Dr. Mindy Pelz 25:09 So would you say that the metabolic piece is the first one to work on? I like this. Prioritize yourself and create boundaries and start to create health habits. Do you feel like the metabolic health habits should be the first door in once you got your self care under control? Dr. Mariza Snyder 25:28 Always, you know, I always thought about this book, you know, Dr Casey means is a dear friend of both of ours. I was like, this book is, it's perimenopause meets good energy. That's what this book because cellular energy is everything Mindy. It's allowing you and me to have this conversation. It's allowing us to think, to feel, to do and without the integrity of our cellular energy, what do we have right? And if the integrity of our cellular energy is becoming more compromised throughout the perimenopause transition, the more that we can shore that up in early Peri or at any time in perimenopause, it is going to set us up for a more thriving, more energized version of ourselves in the second half of our lives. And so, you know, I think about how many of us, how many women is what is it? One in five have polycystic ovarian syndrome. How many women are coming into perimenopause with some level of insulin resistance or some level of, you know, mitochondrial dysfunction. What I will say is that if we're coming into perimenopause with that, if we don't make changes that shore up our metabolic health and our cellular energy, we are going to be spit out on the other side into menopause, less resilient, less energized and less able to function. This is where the chronic conditions become, begin to arise. Although they are developing in perimenopause, it's not until you literally are our late 50s, early 60s, do we really begin to see them present. But by then it's a little too late. Dr. Mindy Pelz 26:55 Yeah, yeah. So if I'm 40 and all of a sudden I just notice, gosh, I'm gaining belly weight. What would you recommend? Like, what? What I'm hope people are getting is, like, these early signs are massively important. So I've in 20s and 30s. I rocked my fitness 40 all of a sudden. What's that belly doing? Why is that showing up? What? How do I What? What would your advice be when you see the subtle signs of of that metabolic Dr. Mariza Snyder 27:23 dysfunction? Yeah, because let's, let's call belly fat. When it is, it's a subtle sign of metabolic dysfunction. It is a sign of insulin resistance. I would say first thing is, let's get your blood sugar balanced, because your blood sugar is your biggest barometer for your cellular energy. Now I get that body composition changes, no fun. So there's some things that we can do about that, but I'm always thinking from that metabolic perspective of like, how do we ensure that we walk back that creep towards pre BTS? Because that's that, that belly fat that especially the visceral belly fat, in a lot of ways, it's its own endocrine organ with its own cytokines, its own inflammation, and it's spiraling even more insulin resistance. So let's start with the meals. Let's start with protein, fiber, healthy fats, eliminating liquid sugars, eliminating Ultra processed foods. I think we can, no matter what you know in like, what you've been indoctrinated into with terms of nutrition advice, I think we can all agree that getting rid of ultra processed foods is one of the first things that we need to do. And I get how easy it is, especially in perimenopause, when you're like I'm just trying to get by, but cooking real food, giving yourself gaps, giving yourself, you know, honor your circadian rhythm, making sure that you're doing at least a 12 hour fast at night, so that you are ending dinner three hours before bed, and then you're breaking your fast with, again, protein, healthy fats and fiber, so that you are staying sedated until you are getting to lunch like that's gonna be one of the first things that you can do next. A big part of this book, two chapters devoted to the perimenopause revolution, is movement. I've always believed that movement is life, but one of the things that I've walked away from in my own experience this journey, and also helping so many women walk through it. Call it walking through the fire, is that we need to build our lives around movement. That's what we need to do, especially after meals. We know that new research just came out that if you were to walk only 10 to 15 minutes after meals, it is actually more effective at supporting your cellular energy than a 60 minute walk some other time during the day. So just those micro movements after meals make a profound difference, probably one of the biggest ways that we can balance our blood sugar. So that's the number one thing I tell people. One, eat to balance your blood sugar. Two, move to balance your blood sugar, and then three sleep. Like, it's a million dollar meeting. Dr. Mindy Pelz 29:43 That's that's a good one, except for, how do you get there? How do you get to sleep? How do you get there? I mean, like, I've tried, but pre op prioritizing it for years, and I've have come up with, finally, some strategies. But before we go into sleep, I want to go back to the what you said about. The Western standard diet. And I don't want people to miss this. What, what I hear you saying is that those habits of going through McDonald's at midnight or Dr. Mariza Snyder 30:15 the Poli for, for, you know, it doesn't even have to it can be less insidious, Dr. Mindy Pelz 30:19 yes, yeah, okay. Or I, you know, I got it. I finally got my soda habit down from 10 sodas a day to one soda a day. All those and a lot of I've sat and read a lot of Dutch tests and blood work of people who are have just been eating out all the time. And even eating out at good restaurants, you're getting the bad oils and you're not getting the organic ingredients. So what I heard you say is that habit might have worked for you up until 40 but when you go into perimenopause, that needs to be something you stop, or Dr. Mariza Snyder 30:51 it needs to be something you're adjusting very quickly. Yeah, yeah, I would say, you know, I get it. I'm a mom who works. We've talked a little bit about that already. I'm a mom who's, I'm going to go straight into mom mode after this interview is done, like, there's no buffer for me today, and one way or the other, we're we're cooking. I'm cooking. I'm in the kitchen cooking. Like, if there's, if there's time spent away from my son, away from doing whatever else I'm doing in life, it is in the kitchen cooking real food for my family and cooking with my family. I mean, if that's and I get that it is a time suck, I get that it is, you know, taking away from also all the other things. But I don't know if there is anything else more invaluable to your health than actually knowing the food that you're preparing for you and your family and committing to the time to cook it. Yeah, and we can get strategic about batch cooking, about, you know, getting roasting and sauteing. I mean, there's a lot of ways to kind of even cheat making healthy foods in your kitchen, but time in our kitchens probably was some of the best bent for ourselves and our family. Dr. Mindy Pelz 31:53 Yeah, you know, a couple thoughts on that. First, a little mama advice to you. I made sure with my son that he was going to be in the kitchen with me all the time. I was like, You're not going to grow up and be like, I don't know how to make a meal. And so we cooked all the time. And do you know now he's a professional chef. He chose that as a career. And I, I feel so like, validated. I'm like, Yeah, because from two and three and years old, I was like, you're going to be know how to work, you know, be in the kitchen. So the second thing I want to say, and I always go back to this idea that maybe we got menopause wrong, because the modern world has really taken us out of alignment with our evolutionary design. And one of the things we did, evolutionary wise, is we used our hands a lot, you know, they they had to muddle things, and they because they didn't have, you know, as sharp a knives, and they had to dig. And I, one of my favorite interviews on this podcast was with a movement expert, Katie Bowman, and she was saying that we got to look at being in the kitchen as a, as a, as a form of fitness, because you have to whisk and you have to knead and you have to use your hands. And when we look at the studies on grip strength and longevity, we know that people have stronger hand strength and live longer lives. So I think it's pretty cool what you're saying of like, go into the kitchen, like at 40, it might be like, put the door down, take the DoorDash app off your phone and start to get yourself into the kitchen and start moving being in there, not just for connection and relationship with your family and not just for your health, but because there's a fitness level you can you can create in the kitchen. Dr. Mariza Snyder 33:34 Lutely. I mean, we're talking about neat, right, not exercise activity, thermogenesis, which is a big part of this book, because, let's be honest, 66% of Americans, adult Americans, are not even meeting the movement requirements, right? Most of us are very sedentary. I think the average adult clocks less than 4500 steps a day and when. So that's how I started the first the first of the two movement chapters was talking about neat, because we can easily increase our neat with folding clothes, standing up, being in the kitchen, more, doing chores around the kitchen, cleaning up after we make dinner in the kitchen. You know, it's, it's those types of things that add up over time that improve our fitness, or at least improve our physical activity. You know, I look at the research from the Blue Zones. They're not in the gym, they're not going to hit classes. They're not doing power yoga. No, they are just moving. They are needing they are gardening. They are walking to the grocery store and grabbing bread and milk and veggies. They do that every single day. That is just a part of the fabric of their every single day lives, is that they are constantly physically active. And so I think we need to be thinking about our life in a way of, how can I stay in movement? So when I was talking about building life around movement, I didn't necessarily mean building your life around jump squats. I mean not that you can't do that, by all means, after this, I'm going to do a couple jump squats and then I'm going to go downstairs. But I mean, how can we be in the kitchen, unloading the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, being in the in the kitchen with our family? Be cooking meals, prepping meals. That's the type of movement, you know, again, folding laundry or sweeping the floors, all those types of things that adds up over time. And I get that's not necessarily, if that's not where you want to always spend your time. It could be a walk with your family. It could be a solo walk, a voice memo in your bestie. There's a lot of ways that we can move our body in a meaningful way that is not a hit class or time in the gym, not that there isn't. I love being in the gym as well. I was already in the gym today, but that is helping you to be more physically Dr. Mindy Pelz 35:29 active. Do you feel like there's a movement shift that needs to happen as you go into perimenopause, as your hormones like, like, if you're a cross fitter and you're a CrossFit champion, like, do you? Can you say being a CrossFit champion through your whole perimenopausal experience? Dr. Mariza Snyder 35:48 I can't, you know, and I and you know, what? Amen to the CrossFit champions out there that are making work, or the sprint champions out there that are making it work. I would say, like, getting where you fit in. For me, I was burning out of HIIT workouts in my 30s, well before 43 became, became my new normal, before perimenopause was really avail, like really able to me and all of its changes. So I would say, I mean, for me, it's I love lifting weights. So I think lifting weights and maintaining that muscle is super important. That is your Metabolic sync. But no, let's look at movement in terms of walking, yoga, mobility, again, meat, you know, just moving your body in a meaningful way. I think that's where it's at. Keep, maintain your muscle, but move, move your body. And if you don't love I don't want anyone moving in a way that they're just like, this is awful. I don't want to do this like it should be, in the meaningful, in the sense that you enjoy it. So for me, you know, I don't there's some types of movement that are just for me, but others that I really love. And I think as long as you're loving what you're doing, and it involves you moving your body, I'm a full body, yes, if you are a puddle on the floor after a workout in the morning, and you're not able to function for the rest of your day, or show up in a way that that you want to show up for with the people that matter to you, with the work that matters to you, then you really need to renegotiate the type of movement you're doing, right? Dr. Mindy Pelz 37:13 Okay? And so what do you think of these things like wrecking? Wrecking has become so freaking controversial, which just I, even my best friend messaged me because I got her wrecking she's a couple of years older than me, and she's like, sending me all these articles. Like, I'm so confused now I don't know if I should rock or not ruck, and I feel like, why are we why are we attacking rocking? Talk to me Dr. Mariza Snyder 37:40 about it. Love this. I mean, we invest in wrecking it's become the thing. Anytime something becomes the thing, right, then it's up for discussion, up for debate. I think what's really up for debate is the claims that are being made that we cannot substantiate fully with research. So for example, we also have people using wrecking vest while they're working out, and, you know, just doing a lot of things. And so it's, you know what? It's interesting, particularly us as women. I think what I really, what I, what I always point to, is how we as women, man, we know how to overdo Unknown Speaker 38:15 it, yeah, yeah. We know Dr. Mariza Snyder 38:18 how to take something and then take it to the max. God forbid we don't go all the frequent way with something. So when it comes to weighted vest or wrecking, I think that there's a lot of benefits, but I think you have to know your body or is it hurting your knees? Are you finding yourself with more joint pain, more inflammation in your joints? If that's the case, then I would maybe minimize the amount of rocky doing, and it's specifically for bone density. I think that's the big argument, is that we just don't have enough research to substantiate that it's actually helping us to build bone you are better off actually jumping and hopping and weight training when it comes to bone density. So I think those are the things that are under fire, is that we're making a lot of claims around it, and it's we're kind of blowing it up. And I think women are actually overdoing it and getting a little bit injured. And so I would just maybe take it back a notch, walking for, you know, 20 minutes, 30 minutes with a wreck, with a wrecking backpack, or with a weighted vest, I think is great, and if it gets you to move more, even better still. But if you're doing it as your own way of helping to preserve muscle and bone. I don't want it to negate the fact that you've got to be like weights and you've got to be training in a meaningful way at least a couple times a week. Dr. Mindy Pelz 39:28 Yeah, yeah. Well, Said, really. Well. Said, I What talked, let's talk about sleep, because I would say, I'll tell you something really interesting. And my my followers probably don't even know this from doing over 2000 videos on YouTube. We get a lot of data on what people are watching, what they're not watching, and who's watching what they're watching. It, yeah, exactly so that. So the two things that I see are are challenging women the most during perimenopause is. Menopausal belly weight and not being able to sleep, and I recently came went down a rabbit hole of understanding why can't we sleep. I originally thought it was because we are losing progesterone, and then I found some really interesting research that showed that estradiol actually went up into the brain and helped the part of the brain that was the internal clock. Keep time keeper. Understand where you were in the day. So when Estrada dial declines, now the clock Dr. Mariza Snyder 40:28 is off, your circadian rhythm is off. Dr. Mindy Pelz 40:31 Yeah. So, so that's another one. My 40 year old self should have known. Why didn't? Why didn't somebody tell me that at 40 I might have not yelled at my son when he was chewing his cereal too loud. So what do we need to know about resetting our circadian rhythm during these years? Dr. Mariza Snyder 40:46 Yeah, I just want to say, you know, estrogen she needs, she needs all the accolades. Yeah, she was what was keeping she was keeping the tummy tight. Yep, she was keeping your sleep going. She was keeping your brain sharp. She was keeping you stable and just having that well being. Now, mind you, she isn't the only hormone declining, but she is the master CEO of the brain. Yeah. And I always joke, let's say for 35 years or 2025 to 35 years, that CEO showed up at 9am every day, and she went home at 6pm every single day, like clockwork, rhythmically your body. If it was one thing that it could rely on, it was estrogen showing up consistently. And then one day, she doesn't, yep, she doesn't show up to work until two in the afternoon, doesn't call in, doesn't tell anybody she's running late, doesn't doesn't show up till two, doesn't leave till 11, then doesn't come to work until till 11 the next day, and then stays until 2am and then doesn't come to work the next so it's just this inconsistency. The brain is doing its very best to try to recalibrate at a time where it just it doesn't even know if estrogen is going to show up to the party or not. That's what's going on. And so circadian rhythm is a major part here. You know neurogenesis, so the development of neurons in the brain is being random, modulated by our estrogen, also our mood, our sleep, our our even how, even our hunger centers are being being modulated by adult and it's not the only hormone, unfortunately, that is declining or or changing. We know that cortisol is deregulating and that can keep us up, especially those 3am, 4am 5am wakes where it's it's that little cortisol peak that shouldn't be enough to wake us up, but it is waking us up, especially if our other sleep hormones like melatonin didn't, didn't show up significantly as well. So we know melatonin is declining, progesterone is declining, estrogen is declining. All of these hormones are significant to the brain and to our sleep wake cycle. Dr. Mindy Pelz 42:50 So how do I bring it back? I mean, that's besides HRT, yeah, besides HRT. Like, how do we bring it back? Dr. Mariza Snyder 42:57 I would say one. Number one, it's getting really, really disciplined about our sleep routine. And I think that's going to be foundational. Just like movement is foundational. Just like eating metabolically healthy foods is foundational. Just like having a circadian fast every single night is foundational. These things are foundational. And So gone are the days where you can just run into bed and expect that to just fall asleep that's gone. Are the days where you could have your TV on in your room while you go to bed at night. It none of this stuff that work anymore. So I say, I mean, it's about consistency. It's about honoring a routine that works for you. So for some of us, it's going to start eight o'clock in the in the evening. Some of us can be at nine o'clock in the evening, but please, like, set the temperature for the room, set the lights appropriately. Wear blue blockers if you have to retire the screens an hour before bed. Take Take your sleepy tea, take your magnesium, take your sleep supplements, take all the things like, do it all, like, 45 minutes to an hour before bed, and just honor that time, like, for me, it's a book. If there's something about reading lines on a page, my brain is like, okay, I get it. Dr. Mindy Pelz 44:08 You have to say what kind of book you read, because you are like, You're the queen of this genre. And I love it. I love how you're like, you're so it's such a fan. Dr. Mariza Snyder 44:17 I am i Well, I'm right now it's the fall, winter. What kind of, kind of, well, we just turned everything over this weekend to fall, all the things in my house. So I am reading a whitaries. It's called the Discovery of Witches. It actually was a TV show developed. It's a trilogy. So it's a, it's a witchy I'm in my, I'm in my witchy era right now, reading my witchy books. So that's what I'm reading about. A romantic see is, I hope so better be because if I'm committing to three books, if there better be something in these books. I'm guessing there is because they wouldn't have made it into Dr. Mindy Pelz 44:50 a series. I actually one thing I noticed in perimenopause is I couldn't read non fiction before I went to bed, because it got my brain to Dr. Mariza Snyder 44:58 brain. Yeah. A sudden, we're already trying to solve the world's problems. It's already our responsibility to begin with. So, yeah, don't. Don't give yourself a lot of things to have to think about. Don't, don't, don't try to solve whatever that situation is, or especially the personal maybe it's like, oh my gosh, I really need to set those boundaries with my mother in law, whatever that way. Don't like about read something, yeah, in the morning, I think that leads to be a part of the sleep routine. I I used your mother in law sitting next to you, saying she didn't even ask. She's like, listen, we're gonna have a deep conversation right now. No, okay, Dr. Mindy Pelz 45:33 well, but it was good. It was a good one. This conversation. So, but, Dr. Mariza Snyder 45:37 yeah, but with these personal development books, they can be a little bit they can require too much of your brain working. So pick a good fiction book. There's so many great fiction books out there. I could rattle off a bunch of my thing now that are just really lovely and don't require a lot of brain effort, but or as a sleep routine in terms of breath work, meditation, whatever, like experiment what works for you, but the one thing I will say is being consistent, and the thing that has been the most game changing for me, that I was just really sloppy and messy with up until this last year or two, it's I go to bed the exact same time every single night. I get up at the same time every single day. If your circadian rhythm is all over the place, you've got social jet lag, I don't even even progesterone, ain't gonna get the job done like you've got to be consistent. You deserve that consistency. You deserve and you need that sleep to function. I don't know about you, Mindy, sleep is going to make or break me any day of the week, for sure, I can't afford it. Also stop the wind down in terms of wine and alcohol, like I know you may think that it's helping you get to sleep. I have a feeling that this group of women, you're not doing it, but just in case you are, and you think it's helpful, man, put on a Fitbit or a whoop strap or an oar ring. Let me tell you, everything is in the garbage the next day, your heart rate variability, your resting heart rate, your sleep score. I mean, even how you feel. I mean, got there are nights where my sleep, whatever's going on with it, it. I already feel hung over in the morning as it is, like, I don't need alcohol to do that for me. Dr. Mindy Pelz 47:05 Yep, you know one couple tricks I've done on alcohol that I think, just to throw it out there, is, have it earlier, have a glass, one glass, maybe at five, but let three, four hours go away. Be like, let it get metabolized through your system, because it's interesting that it'll raise your core temperature, and then all of a sudden, at two in the morning, you Dr. Mariza Snyder 47:26 money sweats. I mean, you want some of those alcohol will do it for Dr. Mindy Pelz 47:29 right? You know, yeah. And then the other thing is, have it with a really big meal, so it gets, like, absorbed. Dr. Mariza Snyder 47:35 So yeah, I say Have it with dinner. Have dinner early. Yeah, you know, this is gone. Are the days I oh yeah, gosh, I got a dinner invite for 8pm and I was like, what? Dr. Mindy Pelz 47:44 Yeah, what, yep, all my friends, I love it, like all my friends that are in perimenopause and menopause, and when we make dinner plans, I'm like, five o'clock, right. Five o'clock, Speaker 1 47:54 yeah, right. Five o'clock. Everybody can all be back by 730 Can Dr. Mariza Snyder 48:00 we just be back home. Yeah, I just so, yeah. So eating one our blood sugar, we can I can feel it if I eat too late, my body's like, what are you what are we doing, right? What's going on? I was just in Mexico City two weeks ago, and we were at dinner at five o'clock. Nobody. Nobody was at the restaurant. Like, everyone eats at eight o'clock or later. And I'm like, how do people do this, but that's Dr. Mindy Pelz 48:22 how you get a reservation at a really good restaurant. I we have, like, so many times we've been like, oh, we should go here on a Saturday night. I'm like, five o'clock at my husband. My husband be like, Yeah, I got a reservation. And then we go in and people, the restaurants just packed as we sit there. I'm like, Yeah, because we're five o'clock, but I don't understand how that's possible. There are Dr. Mariza Snyder 48:41 20, there's 75 million women in perimenopause and menopause. I know we all got the memo. Yeah, right, right, exactly. So I'm so amazed that these restaurants are packed at five and six o'clock. Dr. Mindy Pelz 48:53 I mean, they need a menopausal hour. They need, like a perimenopausal like, not like a happy hour, but like perimenopause with Dr. Mariza Snyder 49:00 a blood sugar friendly mocktail, because, yeah, I mean, we, you feel it. I always say, anything after 7pm is late night evening. Let's just call it. I mean, it's only going to my butt. Yeah, you know, like it's all I'm not, I'm not working that off in the gym. I'm, you know, like we're winding down at that point. So I say, you know, in dinner, have that, mean, if you want the red wine on a Friday night with your Italian dinner, by all means, but Dr. Mindy Pelz 49:24 do it at three in the afternoon. Exactly. Dr. Mariza Snyder 49:26 You take three five exactly, always go for a walk after that meal. So you're metabolizing that so that your body is really ready for sleep. So when I think about sleep, I mean, I'm reverse engineering it from as early as the morning, yeah, like I get up, and within the first hour, I wake up before my Son, because, God forbid, if I want any time to myself, but has to be before he's awake. I go outside, I get my feet in the grass. You know, if you want to raise your heart rate variability, get your feet in in ground. And that's going to be the number one way that I know how to do it. Like if I want to see five. Points on my heart rate variability, I just make sure that I'm grounding every morning and every evening, be outside, get in nature. Yes, have your coffee too at the same time, it's a yes. And I'm not saying you have to do wonderful there, and that is helping to reset your circadian rhythm as well. So honoring that circadian rhythm is so important if you're still struggling again, there's some pretty crazy. I mean, there's some pretty crazy sleepy teeth out there, some pretty crazy sleepy you know what? I have supplements that I take personally that help with sleep and also I cycle progesterone. I mean, I do do those things. Luckily, I haven't had sleep issues yet in outside of just motherhood, I feel like motherhood. Dr. Mindy Pelz 50:39 Okay, where? So? So there's a discussion that's going on in the culture right now that that I feel very conflicted on, and it's really the resurgence of HRT. And here's why I feel conflicted on it is I feel like it's overshadowing the lifestyle changes that we need to make, and like all medication. Yeah, exactly. And, I mean, and I'm just gonna be really transparent, I had a meeting with my OB. You know her Dr, Felice Gersh, she's mine. She's yours too. She's my she's the best OB. In fact, we I hate sending people to her, because then I can't get an appointment. I know Dr. Mariza Snyder 51:17 I met with her at 730 in the morning on a Saturday. No, she, which, I mean, a mentor her Amen to her, yeah, being willing to see me on a Saturday at 730 in the Dr. Mindy Pelz 51:28 morning. Yes, she's like, iconic. She's in her 70s, and I tell her she can never, ever leave practice, because we're all, you know, benefiting from what she what she's saying. But the other we, what we do with HRT with me is that she puts me on the on the lowest dose, and then every 90 days we check like we're still trying to get the dose down. And so the other day, we were talking about HRT, and she said to me, Well, you know the big pharma playbook, right? And I was like, What's the big pharma playbook? And she said that she goes, I've been in practice for so long. I can see it is they put health influencers out there, you know, and before it was authors, and then it was, you know, magazine people in magazines. Now it's social media. They put books out there like, Hey, this is there. You really need to be on HRT. And they create a demand for it, and as they create a demand for it, then all of a sudden, everybody listens to the demand, and they go rushing to their doctors, and they ask for it. And this is how we start to get big, you know, big pharma starts to make money. They did this with ozempic. They've done this with antidepressants. They've done it with statins, like you put somebody out there saying we need it, and then they create the demand for it. I'm not saying that the people that are talking about it are bad or being paid. I really want to make sure I'm I'm clear on that. But where I'm confused and where I may be a little bit sad is that what's happening is we're slowly as the HRT conversation is getting louder and louder is lifestyle is disappearing. And I brought Dr, Mary Claire haver on here a couple years ago, and asked her, if you take HRT, is that a free pass from lifestyle? And she was like, Absolutely not. And so I just so we can keep I feel like the the PR agency for lifestyle, and I know you're a part of this. Where do you see this balance of HRT and lifestyle? How do we ride both both channels and and use it to our perimenopausal benefit? Dr. Mariza Snyder 53:36 First, want to say that I believe wholeheartedly that women deserve all the tools in the toolbox. Yeah, well, and that we have been denied many of those tools for too long. And as a result, 66 million women are on SSRIs and anti anxiety medications, and lot of us are on all kinds of other medication as a result of both a combination of lifestyle and not having access to hormone replacer B. Of all the pillars in the book, this is the last pillar, because it's an optimizer, because I will say I'm on HRT. I'm obviously working with Felice. That's what she does. You know, I'm on HRT, Dr. Mindy Pelz 54:16 pro Me and Me too. I just want to say, Me too, yes. Dr. Mariza Snyder 54:20 And I will tell you that when it comes to mitigating my symptoms, it is not HRT that's mitigating my symptoms. Dr. Mindy Pelz 54:29 Well said, so well said, Tell me lifestyle. Unknown Speaker 54:31 Yeah, kids like Dr. Mindy Pelz 54:33 that when you give an example of that. Because I was actually, and again, I'm just being really transparent. I was talking to my agent this morning, and she's in her 60s, and she was telling me that a lot of her friends who are so enamored with HRT are starting to become disillusioned because they were putting patches on and rubbing creams and thinking it's not Dr. Mariza Snyder 54:51 working, that all they're not going exactly. We think it's this, this catch all Band Aid. I mean, that's exactly what we're in a lot of ways. That's the marketing around. Did is that it's the thing that we've been denied, and it's the thing that's going to solve all of our problems. And it's not, you know, and I do talk, I mean, it's interesting kind of writing the line, because that's literally what this book is all about. Is one showing you, demonstrating how mission critical these hormones are, because they are, and we can feel it when we begin to erratically decline. And I think the reason why we really feel it is that it's so erratic. It's not this isn't a linear decline. It isn't a slow retirement out. It is like a train wreck, you know, a roller coaster ride. It's a roller coaster ride. It can feel so destabilizing. I always want to honor that, and I want women to understand why. Because the fact that women keep getting gas lit and dismissed when they are going through the subjective brain related and body physical symptoms just it just angers me so much. And with that said, you know, I'm not going to pretend like I was doing all the right things heading into perimenopause. There was definitely some work to be, had some cleanup, but most importantly for me, a lot of it was regulating my nervous system, my stress response system was on overdrive. And let me tell you, that doesn't lend to any of those other symptoms leveling out like it makes them worse. I would say that the silent saboteur of all of this is often a deregulated stress response system, and I guess so many of us are, but let me tell you what doesn't fix a deregulated nervous system? Dr. Mindy Pelz 56:26 HRT so well said. Thank you. Thank you. And I want to say that, and I want everybody to hear this like I've tried everything, done everything. I'm like a human guinea pig, and the one thing that I know exacerbates my menopausal symptoms. Even three years post menopausal is when I am my nervous system is dysregulated. So thank you for saying that, because this is where we're setting women up for failure. Dr. Mariza Snyder 56:55 That stress response system that is overdoing it, it is causing the sleep issues as well. Yeah, it is causing the the exhaustion, the burnout, the mood swings, the irritability, the rage, that is all kind of being, I would say, like it's like a tornado, right? It's, it's, it's making things worse. It's exacerbating those symptoms. And so if your nervous system is deregulated, and goodness knows that there was a time for your nervous system to be on the fritz. It is during perimenopause, and I have not found any HRT solution at all to address it. And so for me, you know, I was, I was just being interviewed with by a dear friend a couple days ago, and she said, you know, this interview should just be about walking. She's, yeah, that is your solution to everything, and I was like, It's then I walk by myself. I walk multiple times a day more so because in perimenopause, I have felt like I am always at a tipping point with my stress. Yep, it's always kind of at, like at the break of tipping over. And one of the most free of four, like free, easy, effective things that will regulate me and balance my blood sugar and help support my circadian rhythms. It's going to be movement. Yep, it's walking, and so it's, it's eating to reduce inflammation and to fuel my body. It's moving my body. It's protecting my sleep, and it is, is carving out time for myself and community. Yeah, those are the needle movers that hormone replacement therapy is not taken care of Dr. Mindy Pelz 58:27 for me. Yeah. Oh, that was so well said. And you know, when you break down walking that bilateral stimulation, right, left, right, left, that helps to actually calm the brain, because the brain knows it's like, oh, you're moving away from the stressor. I When, when the during the pandemic, I became like a walking nut. I literally, like, anytime I got and I was so during the pandemic, I was like, in my late 40s, so I was in the thick of perimenopause, and every time I was like, Oh my god. Am I going to be able to keep my office afloat? Oh, my God. Or is my son had a he was in his senior year in high school, and he lost all the coaches that were gonna sign him for soccer were completely gone, and I was watching his whole future completely fall apart. I would just put my AirPods in, and I'd be like, out the door, and my husband would be like, you're going again? I'm like, Yeah, I know this is my 10th walk today, but this is the only thing that calms my brain, Dr. Mariza Snyder 59:24 especially being in nature, yeah, just having that time to yourself. And it can be by yourself. It can be listening to a podcast. It can be listening to a book. For me, where I where the juice is really worth the squeeze is sending voice memos to my besties, Speaker 1 59:37 yeah, you do that? Voice Memos to Mindy, Yeah, you're good. I'm gonna, I'll send you some back when I walk. Dr. Mariza Snyder 59:44 It's just, you know, and that even if you're not able to talk to that person one on one, right, thin air in that moment, just even reaching out to ask how a friend is doing. Because, let me tell you, we are in it together, whether you're in perimenopause or menopause or post menopause, wherever you find yourself in this. Journey. Having people that you get to do this journey with helps you to feel more just more well in your body, more well in your emotional wellbeing. Helps you feel like you're not alone, you're not crazy, you're in this with a team of people that are supporting you, who totally get it. And so that to me move. There's the benefits of movement are so great. I mean, if I could bottle it, I would, you know, because it, it's so it's so profound. And, you know, I will say that one of the things I said recently to a friend of mine was that HRT isn't going to lift the weights for you. It's not going to walk you, you know. But I know that some women are struggling emotionally and mentally, and they're struggling with the motivation, they're struggling with the confidence and the joy, and they just feel flat, and sometimes hormone replacement therapy can can get them back to a state of equilibrium, especially with their brain that moves them out the door. So I'm not saying that HT can't provide a win, but leverage that win towards lifestyle. Lifestyle is the only thing that is going to guarantee that you are not negotiating with yourself later in life. It's going to guarantee that you have the freedom to travel and to get out of your car and to get off the toilet seat and to get off the floor with your grandchild. That's what lifestyle is going to give you. HT isn't going to give you that. So I think it's important that, although it's a beautiful optimizer, thank God it's a tool that we can use. Please do not stop being consistent with your lifestyle. Do not stop being consistent with the pillars that are going to move the needle in the most meaningful way, and that is movement that is eating, that is optimizing your circadian rhythm, that is community, that is protecting your mental health, like it's the most important thing ever that is building in self care, that is honoring and prioritizing you. Those are the needle movers. Those are what's going to help you feel more alive stepping into the second half of your life. Boom. Dr. Mindy Pelz 1:01:52 That was a mic drop that was so good. So thank you so much. I really, you know, I've done a lot of conversations on my podcast about HRT of all kinds, the pros, the cons. I've done a lot of lifestyle I'm really trying to help people, women, specifically, obviously, think for themselves. And I just really appreciate the fact that you are really doubling down on these lifestyle tools. So so thank you for that, and I also appreciate that we're now writing books that are separating out perimenopause, because it is such a vulnerable time, and as people are waking up to it, they need to not just start to search for the right doctor, but they need to books like yours, where they can understand how to start living a different lifestyle. So with So, thank you. And yes, with that in mind, how do people find your book? I'm sure you've got some, like, giveaways and things. Oh yes, talked Dr. Mariza Snyder 1:02:50 about big giveaways. So, yeah. So I mean, the book is available right now, I'm guessing for pre order. But here's the thing, the way that I stacked the bonuses, I call it the perimenopause power toolkit, it's all of my workout videos, all of my extra exercise, snack routines, meal plans, recipes, self care, morning and evening routine, all the things that you need to move the needle today so that you feel like a different person in 10 days from now. I built them all into the bonuses. You don't have to wait for the book to get started. You can literally start today. And that one thing, if you had to walk away with, one thing today to start with, is just carving out an extra five to 10 minutes for your morning routine and your evening routine, just for you, because you deserve it. You deserve to prioritize you. And if that means a little walk in the morning before everyone wakes up, then do it. If that means reading a really good fantasy book before going to bed, you get to have that. It's yours. So all of the bonuses are there. You can get the book anywhere books are sold, but go to Dr Mariza.com forward slash book to get all the bonuses. And I read the book for Audible. It's going to be available for book. And you can find me also on energized with Dr Mariza. I'm sure I'm going to be have Dr having Dr Mindy Pelz back on really, and you can find me on Instagram at Dr Mariza. D, R, M, A, R, I, Z, a, I Dr. Mindy Pelz 1:04:11 just adore You. You. I feel more energized after this conversation than when I started. So thank you for everything you're doing. And everybody go get the book, and let's all start working on the principles and and come together on what's working, what's what we need help on. And I just appreciate you, and I hope, I hope you get a little break. You don't have to go back to a four year old That's sick. Go, go do something for five minutes before that happens. Dr. Mariza Snyder 1:04:38 So I am I'm just gonna lock myself in the office. Yeah, good idea. I'm in here. Good fine. Good idea. Dr. Mindy Pelz 1:04:44 So, so appreciate you. We'll leave all those links and good luck with with everything around the book. Thank you so much for joining me in today's episode. I love bringing thoughtful discussions about all things health to you. If you enjoyed it, we'd love. Love to know about it, so please leave us a review. Share it with your friends and let me know what your biggest takeaway is. You. Transcribed by https://otter.ai