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How Hormonal Changes In Perimenopause Can Fuel Your Desire To Drink with Bria Gadd

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

perimenopause, hormones, body, women, drink, feel, talk, month, eat, period, alcohol, puberty, energy, work, sleep, symptoms, good, great, soothe, self-soothe, self-soothing, day, hormones, navigate these hormonal changes without giving in to cravings to drink and to finding other ways to manage, balancing and healing

SPEAKERS: Casey McGuire Davidson + Bria Gadd

00:02

Welcome to the Hello Someday Podcast, the podcast for busy women who are ready to drink less and live more. I’m Casey McGuire Davidson, ex-red wine girl turned life coach helping women create lives they love without alcohol. But it wasn’t that long ago that I was anxious, overwhelmed, and drinking a bottle of wine and night to unwind. I thought that wine was the glue, holding my life together, helping me cope with my kids, my stressful job and my busy life. I didn’t realize that my love affair with drinking was making me more anxious and less able to manage my responsibilities.

In this podcast, my goal is to teach you the tried and true secrets of creating and living a life you don’t want to escape from.

Each week, I’ll bring you tools, lessons and conversations to help you drink less and live more. I’ll teach you how to navigate our drinking obsessed culture without a buzz, how to sit with your emotions when you’re lonely or angry, frustrated or overwhelmed, how to self soothe without a drink, and how to turn the decision to stop drinking from your worst case scenario to the best decision of your life.

I am so glad you’re here. Now let’s get started.

All right. Today we are talking about

how hormonal changes in perimenopause impact your desire to drink.

And I have been so wanting to have this conversation because this topic came up 3 days ago in my course membership community.

And all these women were talking about

how to deal with getting their period, being about to get their period, how much harder it is to not drink, when that’s happening. How a lot of times, the cravings come on, and they don’t even realize or remember that this is why they’re having those cravings and that they are used to checking out with wine and even being like, Oh my God, the only thing that works when I feel the way I feel is to drink and so everybody was training in with really helpful suggestions of what may be worked for them.

But I have an expert here today to talk about it.

So, Bria Gadd is an integrative nutritionist, a holistic health coach and a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach. She specializes in female hormones and that is why I wanted to bring her on today to help all of us navigate these hormonal changes without giving in to cravings to drink and to finding other ways to manage.

Her podcast, The period Whisperer is a top 2.5% wellness podcast in the world with an Instagram following of over 17,000. Bria has been featured in Fox News, Women’s Health, and top women’s podcasts such as the Midlife Makeover show. So, I’m so glad you’re here. And I really want to dive into this topic.

Bria Gadd  03:11

Thank you, Casey, I’m so pumped to be here. I’m super fangirling over here.

Casey McGuire Davidson  03:13

Thank you for saying that. So cool. So yeah. And I’m curious, can I just read you something that someone said in my membership community, literally 2 days ago?

Do it.

He said, hi, team. So, I realized that my cravings are beyond belief. When I have my period. I just turned 44 And my cycle hits hard and heavy if you know what I mean. Crime scene that’s occurred terrible cramps, emotional irritability, weird sensory irritability, skin, hair, eyes, you name it. I know this is perimenopause. But still, the only thing that helps me feel even remotely human. During this three to five day insane period of every month is wine. Has anyone else experienced this? I have said so many times. I’m drinking for medicinal purposes, which feels very true. What can I do other than Advil, hot pads, heating pads, gentle movement. Help me.

Bria Gadd  04:13

I love that and I would you know one she is so not alone. First of all, like I hear this, of course all the time. This is what I talk about with people. You know, I have a student who is like, I used to just get in the shower and let her rip – was her way of saying, like, just pouring blood and I’m like, This is not normal.

You know, and anyone who’s telling you this is normal is wrong. But you know, I would say to your client and anyone else who’s you know, going through is that although yes, you know, so let’s talk about before perimenopause. So, in the normal cycle, it, you know, obviously hormones chips. So yes, we’re going to experience some changes. But the luteal phase, which is our PMS phase, which gets a really bad rap. And we’ve been really kind of taught to accept that this is just how it is. Like, you’re going to have crazy cravings like, Oh, she’s cranky, she’s on her period. Oh, she’s having, you know, chocolate cravings. She’s on her period, oh, she’s bitchy. She’s on her, you know, like, this is what we’re what’s normalized in in our culture.

And I love talking with you about this, because it’s something you do so well, and your content, your podcast is kind of debunking what’s normalized around these conversations. But ultimately, what we should have been taught when we were 13. Going through this for the first time is that after ovulation, when we head into this like, PMS zone, our body our metabolism ramps up 250 to 350 more calories per day.

So, the real moral of the story is, and our cortisol elevates up, which adds a workload to the body. The moral of the story is that our energy supply and demand balance changes. So now all of a sudden, the demand for energy in our body goes way up, and no one’s adding more supply. And so, when our energy demand goes up, the brain when we’re not slowing down in any other way automatically, just like I need energy fast. So, where does the typically look for it? In sugar, specifically, most of the time, and sugars and alcohol, so that’s going to be a real knife, that’s where we get our sugar, it’s going to absolutely crave these things, along with the other great benefits that we feel like are great when we drink you know, like just that subduing calmness. And you know, if we don’t provide that, then we get cranky, because we’re tired because our energy supply and demand is off. So that alone is what happens every month inside of us, which we’ve never been taught to deal with properly.

And then you add to that the hormonal shifts of perimenopause, which is kind of like going through puberty or pregnancy, like remember in that first trimester of pregnancy when your dog tired?

Yeah.

Casey McGuire Davidson  06:47

And it’s like you have seen out on the couch at 6pm. Because you’re creating life. It’s like running a marathon every day, right?

Bria Gadd  06:51

So, in perimenopause, on top of this other shift, you know, a regular hormonal shift. Now, there’s more things going on. And we can talk about that. And so ultimately, all that culminates in a massive energy supply and demand deficit. So, what we need to do, you know, I want to hug your student, because I’ve been there, we need to recognize that we need more energy. So that means, like, really like having more sleep, like in that week leading up to our period, or even before that, being proactive about being like Sorry, I’m going to need more sleep right now, having more downtime, or self-care practices, you know, and eating more. And when we don’t do these things, you’re always setting yourself up for failure, because you’re fighting with the like survival mechanisms of your body, which is I need energy to keep up this massive to do less do you have going here? Does that make sense?

Casey McGuire Davidson  07:44

Yeah, but yes, and irritability? What do you do about that? And just emotional sadness, or whatever it is? You’re feeling right? For? Sure.

Bria Gadd  07:58

And I would say, so you’re, I mean, again, I think while we have more energy, we’re less irritable. We have more patients. So, we so when we start to preempt that, and we actually eat more like eating more like people are always like, I shouldn’t eat carbohydrates. I’m like, eat the carbohydrates create one that we need them in our cycle. We need them in perimenopause, but they create serotonin in our bodies. So, they bring us that more sense of ease. So, eating more food is going to help first of all, but second, I think, understanding the phases that way. And what the challenge that happens even more in perimenopause for women. So, I’m going to have to get into it to explain it. I hope that’s okay.

Casey McGuire Davidson  08:36

Yeah. And I want you to tell us what perimenopause is, and when it hits. And what happens, and I’ll tell you later, but I feel like, I know I’m in it. I’m 48. And yeah, I don’t know I’m in it. I feel like I mean, I’m very lucky. I’ve had like three hot flashes. I have an IUD. So, I almost never get my period, like literally in the last decade. And I’m like, Why the fuck did no one tell me about this when I was 17 years old? I’m sure there’s a reason. So, I don’t have the information of how to deal with it. Or Honestly, how it feels. I used to have really heavy flow a week of every month. I know it sucks. But that was 15 years ago. Yeah.

Bria Gadd  09:20

Yeah. It’s a great question. And you’re not alone. Right? Like 50% of women don’t know the difference between perimenopause and menopause. I was one of them not that long ago. So, it’s, you know, really anything. Ultimately, we have menopause, which is one day, 365 days after we finish having a period basically, our hormones, you know, get so low that we no longer actually are reproductively capable anymore. Around 35. And that usually happens around in our 50s Sometimes. So around 35 is when hairy menopause begins and it’s not a diagnosable condition. So, you really can’t go to your doctor and get a test and have them say you’re in it, they can just look at your hormone levels but it’s like it’s essentially a reverse puberty. So, just like puberty begins as early as 8 in teenagers, right? We don’t see those changes right away, you know, but it all kind of culminates in breasts and hips and a period that allows us to actually be able to have babies. perimenopause is just like puberty but in reverse. So, we start at 35. And fucking loose, the hips are wrapping none of that. No, those don’t get to go backwards, unfortunately, right? They just stay in that blood area. So, this is what perimenopause is, it’s a time that’s a transitional period of time. And it can be smooth, or it can be terrible. You know, there’s always going to be some changes. That’s kind of an inevitable part, just like puberty.

But ultimately, 3 things are happening in the body while maybe so to answer your question. You’re over 35. You haven’t. I mean, we don’t know officially if you’ve achieved menopause because you have an IUD. But yeah, 40. You said 48? You’re likely not. So, you’re likely in perimenopause. Yes. So, anyone who’s listening who’s over 35, you’re in it, it’s a transition, it just is what it is. But what 3 things are happening, I think this really helps kind of explain it for people.

One, the role of our hormones as being passed from our ovaries to our adrenals, which is important to understand, because, you know, kind of like if you ever work in a corporate job, and all of a sudden someone goes on not leave or goes on a leave, and you just get dropped with all this extra work, and you’re not getting paid more and you don’t have more time, like shit gets slipped through the cracks, right? Like, you dropped some socks along the way. So one, we know this is happening. And of course, the state of our adrenals at that time, is really going to make a difference as to the experience that we’re having. So that’s the first thing. We’re already overworked, the adrenals are full, they’re a little bit like, um, what do you want me to do? So, there’s that.

The second is the amount of hormones are decreasing. And I think this is, you know, a good myth to debunk. Our hormones are main sex hormones are symbiotic, meaning that when there’s too much of one, there’s not enough of the other. So, when we go through this transitional period, if we keep them balanced, if we’re aware of our hormones, then we keep them fairly balanced, we can have you know, more like gentle rolling weightings instead of tsunami style experiences like your poor student there. So, if we can keep them balanced, that’s a you know, a really good, so there’s hope. That’s important, but there’s going to be changed.

And the third one and I think this is where it really starts to come in with this irritation. Like obviously, this greater workload is happening, or energy demand is up there. But the third one that is I don’t think is talked about enough is, what’s going on in our brain.

So, during perimenopause, our hippocampus and amygdala, which are our memory encoders and retrievers of the brain, they’re really sensitive to the shifting of these hormones. So, if we’re kind of imbalanced, if things are coming all over the place, we get really aware of things that are bothering us that maybe we used to sweep under a rug. And like, that’s the, you know, the physiological side of it.

Like, I think a real simple way of looking at it is, since we were 13. Until now, we’ve been subconsciously driven to reproduce. It is so that the world cheats, so that women are actually going to want to have sex with you and have babies. We have this, you know, this beautiful fog of estrogen that comes over us every month. It’s like, oh, everything’s fine, everything’s great, I love you. And now, that’s going away. But so, I think ultimately, what we become, we can become really aware of not just the things now that are annoying us more. Like, how we might feel, or dishes left in the sink, or, you know, or you like your husband breathing or someone breathing too loudly like, but also past traumas, like stuff that we haven’t dealt with starts to come up now. And we’re kind of like, Damn, I’m dealing with this now. Like, I’m aware of it now.

So, we’re just more exposed to the things that used to bother us. We’re not more sensitive, we’re just more aware. And we’ve been kind of, you know, we’ve kind of been tricked our whole lives a little bit to, like, these rose colored glasses have been put on us. And then they come off and then they get put on, they come off and now they’re just kind of off. And I think a lot of the times we’re a little bit like, how did I get here? Like, I’m here, and I don’t like it here right now.

Casey McGuire Davidson 

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Casey McGuire Davidson  14:28

Yeah, you know, that’s funny, because right before we jumped on it and I hit record, I was telling you that like, just for the past couple days, I have been especially this morning just like, so overwhelmed and irritated and like, to the point where half an hour ago, I was just screaming like, ah, and that I was like, oh shit.

We have a tenant who lives downstairs. I couldn’t hear it. And just running around swearing which is not me. And you know, I am not normally like that. It’s just the it’s like an internal aggravated feeling I can’t get out. And of course, you said to me like, alright, what point in your psych, are you? And I was like, I don’t know. Okay. Yeah, when you’re describing it, I’m like, yeah, that’s how I feel. And I’m like, do I need to exercise? Do I need to scream? Do I need to fucking vacation? I don’t, probably all of them.

Bria Gadd  15:23

But I mean, most likely to vacation is the biggest one. Like, I think we need we’re, you know, as our estrogen decreases. It’s sort of like our social hormone. It’s the one that kind of comes around again, it peaks in ovulation so that we’re like, I’m here at the party, you know, I’m ready to be here. And yet, we’re having a bit less of it. And maybe it’s dysregulated for like, 73% of women are dealing with symptoms in perimenopause. So significant, it’s impacting their life like your student and aren’t getting any help for it. So, we’re, you know, we’re more susceptible to these things right now. And there are ways to feel better about it. But I think the first is awareness, always.

Casey McGuire Davidson  16:06

Yeah, to be like, This is normal. This is what’s happening in my body, there is nothing wrong with me. And at least during cravings to alcohol is just, you know, in my mind to just remember that it will not last forever, the way you feel in this moment will not last. That’s the main thing I always try to help people remember.

And the other thing that’s really hard is that the symptoms that people describe for perimenopause and for what happens when you’re getting your period or when you have your period really mimic a lot of the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.

So, you know, you’re less able to cope with things like you said about serotonin and needing to eat carbs. Your serotonin is a naturally suppressed if you’re in the drinking cycle, you’re, you’re more irritable, when you’re in withdrawal, you’re more sensitive, everything feels too loud, too much too fast. So, it’s almost like you’re making it worse. And yet, as this woman in my group chatted about, the only thing that makes her feel even remotely, quote unquote, human is why. And so, the question is, we know that’s a maladaptive coping strategy. we know that actually makes you feel worse, you know, go on your period, feeling those emotions with a brutal hangover. Oh, my God, that’s terrible. But like, what you’re aware of it, you know what’s happening? You know, it won’t last forever, and yet a week of every month, Jesus Christ, that’s a lot of your life.

Bria Gadd  17:41

What do you do? Yeah, I love this question. So, one, we always want to look at kind of where we’re at, right?

If you’re having this every single month, and there’s often there’s like, 38 known symptoms of perimenopause, there’s probably way more than that.

Right. So, if you’re having a 30.

Casey McGuire Davidson  18:00

Okay, yeah, so it’s somehow last for like, a freaking decade. Right?

Bria Gadd  18:03

Yeah. But the thing is, I think what I’m, you know, what I’m trying to bust here is that it doesn’t we don’t have to suffer. It’s just that the culture we’ve been raised in has really kind of shoved us down a path. And we haven’t even thought to ask the questions, right, because ever, we’ve just been told, this is normal. And the same way that you know, again, I love when you always talk about, like, just the normalcy. The normalizing of drinking in our culture, especially for women, like, culture has just taught us like, Oh, you’re just going to be cranky, once a month, when you hit, you know, menopause, you’re just going to be dried up and getting old and you’re going to have hot flashes. And this is what it is, like, except it. And so, we have, because we’re good little girls, or whatever the reason you even asked it, but it’s bullshit. Like it doesn’t, you know, yes, there are some things that are going to change. But most of it can be navigated fairly well, if we can, you know, if we can understand what our body actually is, and stop trying to be small men, which is really how we’ve been taught to be.

Casey McGuire Davidson  19:04

Yeah. And so, we there were all these strategies by lovely women, that they suggested everything from a sock filled with rice and fresh lavender to soothe and numb the pain of cramps, talking to your doctor, various prescriptions, all the things, but can you give us just some ideas? What do you do?

Bria Gadd  19:32

Okay, so I would say like, so there’s relief, right, which is what we’re talking about, like where I’m already in it. It’s kind of like how a really, you know, good night’s sleep sort of begins at the beginning of the day before like we say really great cycle is going to begin the cycle before, so there’s that kind of you know, corrected piece that we can get to but you’re asking about is like, Where’s the relief? You know, what do I do? I’m in it right now.

Casey McGuire Davidson  19:55

I’m feeling this way, without being like, I just want to knock myself over the head with a bottle of wine and beer. The unconscious, you know.

Bria Gadd  20:03

I think there are some things that we can do, you know, immediately right to, you know, just to try to survive these tough moments. Like, if you’re in the depths of. Kind of like, when you talk about how, when you’re removing alcohol. Don’t try to also remove sugar and all of these things, you know, like, let’s, let’s have something even though maybe it’s not the best thing for us, but let’s try to bridge this gap.

So, you know, if in those moments and you like want to lose that, like, go to bed, go curl up in your room binge watched, you know, the latest amazing Netflix or Apple TV or whatever it is, if you can, and take that time, because ultimately, that’s what your body is needing, it needs a damn break, it needs more energy and more rest, and you’re probably not sleeping that well right now anyway, so let’s just have a little bit more rest. So, I think it’s fully like, full permission to go and like just take that time and break so that you can have a little bit more energy to handle what life is throwing at you right now, as a quick fix.

And, you know, because we know that the trouble with our hormones is you know, and I would probably say if alcohol if you’re going through the alcohol piece, like we also know, like alcohol and sugar specifically are so hard on our hormones during this time, it just kind of, you know, and it’s less about even the calories is so much more about the workload, it adds to the body at this stage. It’s just like, we’ve already we’re all like I’ve already headed up to here, this is what our body is saying, like, I’ve headed up to here, like, what do you want me to do? And so, if we pile our workload on them, by things, you know, things that aren’t good for us, then, you know, things start slipping through the cracks. And that’s where we slide into things like dysfunction, or greater, you know, greater issues like this, or thyroid issues, or whatever else we might be experiencing.

So, we want to, I would say like, if you’re in it right there, if it’s going to sue you to have some sugar when you’re pulling away from alcohol, like absolutely do it to get through that hump of the difficult time, so that we can get to the point where we are back in our follicular phase, and then we can look at calmly and say, Okay, what’s my plan for this month? Right? What is my to preempt to these symptoms, because you kind of have to get ahead of it.

Casey McGuire Davidson  22:08

So, you really do have to plan in advance for, you know, the entire three weeks. Okay, one more question. Yeah. Do you feel all these symptoms before your period starts? Or during your period? Do you know what I mean?

Bria Gadd  22:23

Yeah, it’s really dependent on your hormone imbalance. So, if you’re, you know, because obviously, if she’s struggling with this many symptoms, we know there’s dysfunction in the body. So, and some people can have dysfunction and not have a lot of symptoms. So, it is nice to start to, you know, work on these things and be aware of what’s going on. But you know, to be more specific on that is that it really is going to depend, some people have a lot of issues around ovulation when they have a hormone imbalance, because we’re getting all these hormones coming to the party, we can have raised anxiety, which might drive us to want to have a drink, you know, and then all of a sudden, our progesterone kind of drops right out right after that. And then we don’t, we’re missing that sort of soothing hormone. And, and then that’s when we can also want a drink to sort of feel better like to, you know, manage this anxiety. And so, it can happen at pretty much any point in time in the cycle, any of these symptoms, but anytime we’re having symptoms, we know there’s, you know, dysfunction or an imbalance somewhere in there.

Casey McGuire Davidson  23:26

And it’s time to look at it. So, how do you figure it out? If there’s a hormonal imbalance? And how do you try to adjust for that? Yeah, good.

Bria Gadd  23:35

So, I would say, you know, if your symptoms are impacting your life, like where you’re thinking about your body, more than 10% a day, like more than I’m just, I’m going to put this on my body, then likely, there’s a problem. Because I always say this, like women are magic, like, well we can accomplish in this world is, is huge. And if we’re spending more than 10% a day being consumed by how we feel in our body, we’re not getting to put that out to the world. So, it’s time to work on whatever that thing is.

And you know, I think, for your clients, it’s like, let’s move through this hump of, of, you know, drinking. For sure, you know, once you get through that hump. If you need to move through a different hump, then we want to look at what that is so that we’re not being held back from what’s possible. So, that’s how I would say is a really easy thing.

I mean, there’s other signs and symptoms, like if you are trying to lose weight, and it’s not going anywhere. If you’re gaining weight, and it doesn’t make any sense if you’re having these murder scene periods, not normal.

You know, if you’re right, if you’re having a lot of bloating and indigestion if you are having anxiety or night sweats or hot flashes, you can’t sleep through the night like what are some others you know, lots of like incontinence, things like that. Those are all signs from your body that it’s not happy that something’s not right. And that’s how we know it’s time to do something about it. And I would say, and then we’ll talk about what you can do further. But I would say, like, we, the story we’re told is that, oh, we’re just getting old and deal with it. And the truth is, is that perimenopause doesn’t happen to you. It happens for you. Like, this is your body’s time being like, “hello”. 👋

I think Brené Brown says, talks about, the universe coming in, like shaking you by the shoulders, it left unraveling.

She called that. it just blew my mind when I read it. But it’s like, it really is your body kind of being like, dude, like, what are you doing over here? Like this, I’m telling you in so many ways that something’s not right. And if you can ignore it, and self-soothe within, I think this is why we are driven off into things like alcohol is socially acceptable.

So, you can self-soothe with all of these things, but it’s going to get worse. Or you can finally do the work and pay attention and deal with it. And, and the beautiful gift of it, I think, is that when we do, because we no longer have this subconscious drive to reproduce, we now have the rest of our lives to be more confident to have more clarity, to be more creative. This is the gift of perimenopause and menopause. But we need to be brave enough to do it.

Casey McGuire Davidson  26:17

yeah. And so then, what do you what do you do you talked about like the solution? Or how to actually rebalance those hormones. By the way, when you’re like, if you’re thinking about your body more than 10% of the time and how happy or unhappy or comfortable or not you are with it. I’m like, Oh, Christ, I don’t know a single. Who does that doesn’t apply to her at least I’m certainly not one of them. So yes, solutions.

Bria Gadd  26:49

Well, I love that you say that, because I remember when I was 20, sitting around some girlfriends, and some was like complaining about bodies. And someone’s like, well, no one really loves their body. And my, one of my friend was like, I do. And I was blown away by that. And I think I spent the last 20 years figuring out, like, if that even, if that was like a unicorn situation, or if that’s possible. But I will tell you, now at 42, that I don’t think about my body even 10% of the day, you know. Unless it’s to be like, I think if we’re like an old friend that I really love, and maybe I’m like, oh, I should message her and be tell her I love her and check in you know. Ot’s like, it’s, it is possible, I guess – that is a part of coming home to your body.

But I would say, the path back looks like this. And I think it’s an important analogy to understand, because I think our hormones can often feel like a mental health thing where we don’t really look at it the same as like the physical health, because it’s kind of out there, you know, a tangible thing.

So, I like to look at it like imagine your hormones and health of your body, like you broke your ankle, right, if you break your ankle, what do we do, we got to go and put a cast on the ankle until the inflammation goes down, and the brake heals. If you don’t do that, you’re walking around bashing your foot around, it’s going to get worse. It’s going to get more painful. So, we have to do that piece and that cast is on for 4 to 6 weeks.

So, the first step for any woman to kind of reset their hormones so that they’re not having this drive constantly to do I you know, do these other things to self-soothe. Like, drinking is to take a look at their lifestyle and eliminate inflammation in their nutrition, in their workouts, you know, and really focus on rest which is a hard thing for women because they’re like, I can’t work out. I’m like, you should not be working out during this time. You should actually be doing like, yes, you should walk yes, you should do some yoga. That’s it. Like, that’s what we should be focused on.

So, are really, you know, clear to do is like, to take 4 to 6 weeks and cut out the inflammatory foods which of course is going to be alcohol, sugar, caffeine. I’d say, at least you know, never have caffeine on an empty stomach. You can have one a day with breakfast or after breakfast but having it on an empty stomach just pisses your hormones right off. And remember, they’ve already had it up to here like there’s no more wiggle room, you know. It’s like Oh, I’m just annoyed now I’ve already irritated I’ve in this space and ideally you know cutting out some of the known inflammatory foods just for that time phase which would be you know, your process flowers and gluten. Your conventionally raised non organic dairy from cows specifically, and you know, GMO corn and soy, which nobody seems to care about. Everyone’s like, I don’t need that.

Casey McGuire Davidson  29:33

This is when you’re on your period. So, for like, What the hell do you eat?

Bria Gadd  29:40

What do I want? What do you eat when you eat chips? You’re cutting now.

Casey McGuire Davidson  29:44

All the things so this is what I be issues to work for. But um, yeah,

Bria Gadd  29:53

because we don’t want and to try to give a little perspective. We don’t want to piss the body off more every time you it’s like you’re walking around. Every time you start to eat an inflammatory thing when you’re already inflamed, you’re just bashing your broken on casted foot up against a thing. And it’s just making things worse somewhere in the body. But so, what do you eat? And this is what sets definitely an area that I love to talk about and work on.

So, first of all, I would not start a healing protocol on your period. It’s a powerful time to start probably the week after your period, that’s our follicular phase, we have the most tolerance, we’ve got the lowest metabolism during that time. So, we can handle a lot more during that phase.

So, the first goal would be like, I need to eat 3 times a day, no more skipping meals. And I need to make sure the food in that is good quality foods. So, we can be eating, and it depends a little bit on your metabolic type. But like for me, for example, I eat fried eggs, and like as the sprouted grain toast or like, you know bread that’s appropriate for sprouted grain toast. I really love with like peanut butter and banana on it. I eat it almost every day because I love it.

Casey McGuire Davidson  31:09

You know, we’ve got gluten-free oats. You could have with like, nobody knows this. But I highly recommend putting eggs in your oatmeal, It like makes it really creamy to the really powerful way to get your protein beforehand.

Bria Gadd  31:10

Or you when you’re cooking the oatmeal, you crack the egg in and stir it in and it cooks so it’s not raw, but you don’t taste it. And now all of a sudden, you’ve got this great protein, which is a big part of the women’s hormones, we need that protein at this stage.

Casey McGuire Davidson  31:24

No. And I appreciate that. Because literally, I was just editing my episode, which is coming out tomorrow that’s about, how to eat to change how you drink. And I’ve been talking about this for years, but protein at every meal is so important, especially at 4 to 6pm. Because that low blood sugar and hunger is a huge trigger to drink. And it’s really hard to overcome that just with willpower. So, I completely appreciate that. And it makes a lot of sense to me.

Bria Gadd  31:55

Yeah, like no matter what your metabolic type is eating 30 grams of protein per meal for a woman who’s going to be you know, probably in our height range is really where we should be at like more if it feels good, and you’re hungry. And if not, but like 30 grams can sound like a lot, but you get there pretty quickly. Okay, so we want to you know, the two big things are, we want to pull the inflammatory foods, we want to sleep as much as we can. So, no more waking up for early workouts. And, yeah, you don’t need to just take go for a walk. If you like that endorphins in the morning, get the sunlight in your eyes, if it even is like that early, and never work out.

Casey McGuire Davidson  32:31

But the past couple nights, I’ve been up to like midnight, and then my alarm goes off at 5:15 and I’m just like, I’m so fucking tired. But if I don’t work out, I’ll be more irritated and annoyed and frustrated that I don’t do anything for myself. eye opening, I have to tell you, this is not me. I’m glad we’re friends because I am like, spicy today. And I’m like, What is wrong with me?

Bria Gadd  32:56

So, it’s good, good because it’s challenges me and you know, you should know like when, like I in my past life I was you know, a fitness and nutrition coach and that’s how I spent my life building this business. And at 37 I got slammed like my life sounded a lot like your clients who was telling you know, saying that, and it was an you know, it was it just rocked me, and I was up every day always like getting in a 60 minute workout like high intensity workout 6 days a week.

You know, like I gained 15 pounds without changing anything. And that was like really nothing compared to the fact that I was so uncomfortable that I was putting my bed next to myself to bed every night by drinking and waking up every morning to caffeine and still pushing myself through these workouts and I couldn’t sleep anymore I didn’t know you did we talked about you doing dry January right with your sister.

Casey McGuire Davidson  33:43

But I had no idea that you still like put yourself to bed with alcohol like Romaine it?

Bria Gadd  33:53

Oh yeah. Like how was my survival mechanism, so self-soothe. That was how it was how I got through the childbearing years. And like I remember after my second was born, being like, Hi drank every day, the last 6 months, like I haven’t gone so because of you. You’ve inspired me and I’m a big fan of going like a month here and there to kind of in the name of my hormone.

Casey McGuire Davidson  34:23

But I am on day 24 of my 100 days and I’m feeling your days. Yeah, all right. Yeah, that day. I love it.

Bria Gadd  34:29

My sister’s feeling amazing. My wife’s feeling amazing. Like we talked about it. We’re all in it. My mom’s in on it, although she had a hard heart. Yeah, but this is all because of you. So, thank you.

Casey McGuire Davidson  34:38

Oh my gosh. Yay. Yeah, so you’re inspiring me now. It’s been on my mind I need to freaking change my nutrition and you’re shocking me with the do not get up early to work out. So, I need to wrap my head around that because it sounds so cool, are intuitive. But I have. So, I am on day 24 of like not freaking eating ice cream after dinner and all the cakes and the cookies and the like 4pm Hershey’s Kisses because it has been since Halloween of just all the sugar, and I have a 9 year old and a 15 year old. My freaking son you probably would not approve but he is six one.

And like, you can see every rib and he plays basketball and baseball. He’s always like, he needs to gain weight. He’s a center and he’s up against these guys that look like men who are 6, 7.

And so, at night after dinner, he does like a protein shake but like with ice cream in it so there’s constantly ice cream in his house because he’s just like, I need calories. Fat. I need fat. I need calories. I need muscle. I need something.

Bria Gadd  35:57

So, well you know when they’re young, like youth is forgiving, right? Like you can you know, it’s, is that ideal for his body? No. Can he get away with it right now? Yes. Will he probably pay the piper for it later? Totally. But you know, we can’t really tell him like,

Casey McGuire Davidson  36:09

does that help at all? Should I tell him to cut out the damn ice cream? Because it’s not helping him get buff?

Bria Gadd  36:14

Absolutely. For him, it’s like, you know.

Casey McGuire Davidson  36:19

I want to tell them.

Bria Gadd  36:21

Yeah, sugar, like alcohol, like sugar, processed sugar like that. That’s going to be an aspirin. Alcohol automatically creates inflammation. It’s like it’s an automatic response. You put it in inflammation, cortisol, and then the body can’t perform. It’s got to stop doing what it’s doing and deal with the inflammatory response, like build with the soul.

Casey McGuire Davidson  36:39

Despite it, he should just stick with the protein powder and whatever else.

Bria Gadd  36:43

Yeah, he’s just making it harder on himself. You’d be way better. If you need the high fat calories. Just stick a whole avocado in the smoothie, you won’t taste it, and it’s going to give him just as many calories. But at least his body can use those tools. I like to say, it’s like, the food we eat is like, it’s like the difference between buying Walmart leggings. And like Spanx or Lulu leggings, there is a difference is leggings. There’s you put it on, and you know the difference. Like that’s what it is when we look at the ingredients in our food that way, right? Like when we start to when we start to pick up the better tools than the body’s like, Oh, hey, now look at me.

Casey McGuire Davidson  37:19

Like, I’m totally going to tell him that tonight and he’s going to be so upset. But I literally bought him a scale for Christmas and wrapped it up because he just kept stealing art because he wants to gateway which like, cracks me up so much because you know, I mean, I’m 48 I’m like dammit, I just gaining weight at a at a no reason. But yeah, someone like him.

Bria Gadd  37:42

Like, with that lien, that’s trying so hard because probably what we call like a fast metabolizer. So, we want to really slow burning fuel, which means like he is better off eating, like Yeah, high fat, lots of heavy protein. Like if he’d sit down with eating animal like, you know, bring on the meat bring on the like, that’s what you should be eating to bulk.

Casey McGuire Davidson  38:02

It’ll be you know, wait better for him and he’ll feel better about ice cream in your protein powder smoothie at 9pm is what I’m hearing.

Bria Gadd  38:08

Yeah, but there he’s our kids. Probably not going to listen. Sorry. I could talk forever about this stuff. So yeah, so try to give some real tangibles for people listening. We want it to be this example, the you know, you’re in this inflammatory, we can tell you’re having all these symptoms, we know you’re there. You know, and for you, Casey, like, if you can’t stop eating sugar, your body’s desperate for energy. That’s what’s happening. And when you only slept five hours last night, then you got up this morning and did a hard workout. I mean, that’s just the for me that’s like the it’s just highlighted Big Red. Like this is why that’s the first start anyway, right? Is like you just don’t have enough energy to accommodate for your energy demand.

Casey McGuire Davidson  38:52

So, so many random adjustments I told you before I was like working till 9pm the past like four nights so then when I finally put my computer away at 930. Then I’m like, I’ve had no time you know, so then I want to stay up till midnight. Then I’m like, I got to get my work at it and Christ. Alright, I need I need you to just completely rewire my life.

Bria Gadd  39:13

So, we want to take a month in the name of healing like think of it that casting out kind of thing and release it you know, some simple ways to do that are one really focus on getting like eight to 10 hours of sleep a night like at least being in your bed for eight to 10 hours. We can’t always control sleep.

We want to pull the inflammatory foods and we want to eat really regularly. Like, I wake up and I eat within 2 hours of waking. I eat 4 to 5 hours later and just not worry about the composition. Just eat enough to be full and satisfied until the next meal. So, eat whatever you want that’s not those inflammatory foods.

Eat as much as you want. It’s not those inflammatory foods. Just eat enough, so that you’re full until the next meal because we need to give the body consistency and we need to give her the opportunity to not be folk. Just on dealing with dealing with crap all the time and like and be able to get back to what we want, which is hormone balancing and healing. And the last piece in that inflammatory phase, I would say is like, yep, pulling those workouts, because walking is the functional movement, yoga functional movement, like sure some gentle cycling, okay? But wait, like lifting weights is for what we call a luxury body. And it’s like, that’s great. But if your foundational health isn’t there, you’re just wasting your time. You’re putting this effort in, and you can’t even recover. Like, if you didn’t sleep s7 hours last night, you’re not going to be able to recover from an intense workout this morning. So, you just wasted more time.

And now, you’re probably more frustrated. And then, you’re going to be hungry, or you’re never going to be able to say no to that sugar. So, it’s just by being like, wait a second, what does my body need, it needs a break, it needs a rest. And it’s got to be able to have the energy to deal with the transition, you’re going through to deal with the, you know, the healing that we need in order for you to kind of get back in the black. Does that make sense?

It does, it does. Yeah.

So, just take the time walk. I love you know, to focus on seven to 10,000 steps today, like there’s a reason that came, you know, a popular thing. You know, we can queue some intense yoga, like hot yoga, you know, some good mat Pilates, if you really feel like you need those endorphins. But like walking first thing in the morning and after meals is one of the most powerful things that you can do for your blood sugar for your hormones for your body for your brain. It’s just simple movement. And once you get over that hump of like, this isn’t moving the needle, you’ll be like, Wow, I really liked walking.

Now I know why old people walk. Yeah, it’s really, really nice. It’s really easy. Very cool. So, that’s phase one. And then to try to give you, you know, once you move through that piece, you’re going to notice you have more energy, you’re going to sleep better, you’re going to stop having these cravings, and life’s going to get a little easier. And so, that cast comes off. And then we want to go to physio, and everyone wants to skip this physio piece, but we really need to take a month to like, make sure we’re getting full range of motion of that joint or, you know, in the body, we’re healing and repairing the metabolism that we’re giving the body the space now that it’s no longer focused on keeping you alive, because of our energy supply and demand issue, it can focus on healing and repairing the things that have been damaged. And that’s when we can get, you know, further into the composition of your nutrition and, and also look at the other areas of your life, right.

And I think, as a Coach who focuses on you know, sort of the food, but alcohol is something I talk about, and I hear you talk about it, it’s like when alcohol is your only source of joy, it’s probably time to look at other areas of your life, right, we’re missing the here. So, then we take that time in there, and then we can move into optimizing hormones. So, it’s, you know, without going in taking an hour more to tell you everything, it’s that’s really how it looks, you want to just that healing pieces, the first piece of the puzzle, and then it gets a whole lot easier after that.

Casey McGuire Davidson  43:06

You know, what’s interesting is what I’m hearing you saying is very similar to what I say to women, when they stopped drinking, which is, it’s counterintuitive, but you have to actually slow down before you can spring forward, right? Everybody wants to stop drinking, and they’re like, why am I not sleeping better? I’m not drinking, why don’t I have crazy energy? Why do I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus and I’m so tired. And you know, why aren’t I instantly happier. And it takes a month, two months to rebalance your body to rebalance your dopamine and your serotonin and you probably haven’t slept well and years and sort of to do all of those things. And we all want the quick fix, or we all want the Okay, I’m finally fed up with the way I look in the way I feel. And therefore, I need to switch everything all at once. And you’re saying take a month and slow down which is so counterintuitive to the Yeah, I don’t like the way I look. I don’t like the way I feel I don’t you know, like, I’m going to immediately change everything about my life.

Bria Gadd  44:17

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, completely what you’re what you’re saying there and when is one of the best analogies ever heard is like, your body is not a vending machine. You don’t get to put something in and pull something out immediately. And at 40 something, where we all are, like we didn’t get here overnight.

Did we? Yeah. So, it’s going to take a minute like, and we want to just try to enjoy that path. And I think that’s sort of the goal is, how do we enjoy the path in the process?

And I mean, I think what you do so well for women is you create space for women to come together and enjoy the path of the uncomfortable part, which is that part where we’re exposed and vulnerable and that’s what I try to do in perimenopause, it’s like I want to create space in all the noise that everyone else is telling us of how we should do things. Great space for this to actually not be to at least be fun if it’s going to be hard.

Casey McGuire Davidson  45:10

Yeah, and it totally, I have to say, you know, it makes such a difference to actually talk about all of this stuff, to talk to other women who are in this space who get it. And I mean, I remember it, you know, how freeing it was to actually be like, Oh, my God, this is fucking nightmare. And these people are irritating me. And I’m overwhelmed. I feel like I’m not keeping it together. And you know, it, it annoys the hell out of me when sometimes you get these ads, or these programs for these women who are like, you know, you’re going to look amazing, and just do this and just eat that. And I’m like, You’re freaking 26, I looked amazing to when I was talking to you that they’re like, shut up. You know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely.

Bria Gadd  45:58

I totally, you know, it’s just, you know, I hear you say this in your pockets, you talked about kind of that first month, you know, don’t be afraid to bubble up, like, bubble yourself up into a place because change is hard. It requires energy. This is the issue we’re dealing with right now is not having enough energy. So just bubble up for the month, and it’s okay to like, Hibernate away and just do whatever is self-soothing to get through it. But yeah, take that time, because we’re just not in that place where youth is forgiven. They have no idea 21.

Casey McGuire Davidson  46:27

Ah, yeah, I look back and I’m just like, Oh, my God, why was I so hard on myself back in the day when I like three sports and working out for two hours a day and all that good stuff. But I guess it was because I was in puberty and like, it’s so unfair, men have no idea.

Bria Gadd  46:50

Then don’t and I know we get to give birth that we get to, that’s fun, isn’t it?

Casey McGuire Davidson  46:55

It’s really great caring human in your guts for nine months feeling so damn uncomfortable. And then great. We like, go through puberty. I mean, I know.

You, I see my son and all that stuff. But like, then we get to have like, a week of every freaking month like bleeding and feeling like shit. And then we get to go through a decade of transition out of it. And somewhere in between, you’re probably having babies and like, so physically and emotionally taxing. So, yeah, like I said, I feel spicy. But I am committed to taking better care of myself.

And I liked the vending machine analogy, because, you know, it’s, it’s so easy to want that like easy button quick fix, and we’re so used to doing that with alcohol. And it is extremely difficult to sit through. Really not feeling well. And feeling those are emotions and all over the place and the ups and downs in that. Regardless of whether you’re going through burnout or perimenopause or removing alcohol and for a lot of us in midlife, it’s like every freaking one at once. Yeah.

Bria Gadd  48:05

Yeah, yeah, it’s true. It’s a lot. And, and again, like, I’m with you on the frustration around, like, look what we have to go through. But it’s made worse by the fact that we have been very in a man’s world still. And you know, what, don’t dismiss women, right?

Casey McGuire Davidson  48:20

There’s all this data around like, a man can come in with a complaint, and there will be X percent more work done and time spent with him to solve his issue than a woman.

Bria Gadd  48:34

Absolutely. And that is absolutely true. There’s like statistics around it. And women were not required to be a part of medical or wellness research until the mid 1990s, which I held up, right. And even then, like, it’s like, well, what percentage and then they would try to get women who are like postmenopausal or like, you know, but you know, are menstruating yet so we can balance that out, because we’re an entirely different area that needs to be studied. And it’s vastly under research.

But that means, anyone, especially in our age box, who lives alongside now in the man’s world, where we, you know, we share, we have big careers, and we do all of these things. We’ve been taught to be small men, and we’re just so no wonder our bodies are pissed off at us every single month, because they’re like, Oh, this is not working for me. And that’s really I think I’m convinced that you know, through all their research, that’s why we have PNS that’s why we’re so frustrated right now is because we have been going along thinking this is the right thing for us because that’s what we’ve been told.

Casey McGuire Davidson  49:36

But yeah, I almost always tried to go to a woman doctor or nurse practitioner or whatever because it was crazy. I had literally a torn and detached hip labrum still do. And for a year I was like, I feel like we have a really high pain tolerance. Women have a really and I know women who drink for years have a really high pain tolerance because you know how the hell What else would you keep going through that? But here I was like, What’s wrong with me? Why am I a wimp? It’s probably in my head, whatever, I finally got an MRI, and they were like, holy shit, how have you been trying to walk around with this forever? And then I went to a pain doctor, like, you know, to, like, how do you deal with this? And it gave me something did not work, cortisol shot didn’t work came back, literally in tears, because I finally was like, I can’t live like this. It is radiating up and down my leg for hours, like whatever it is. And he was such a condescending Dickey, I think he was trying to pretend that he was like, on my side, but he was like, I don’t think you’re crazy. You know, just see, you know, and I’m like, Yeah, no shit. I’m like, yeah, like, he was like some people, some women really, you know, just very emotional, but I don’t think you’re crazy. Shake it. I’m never going to see you again in my life.

Bria Gadd  51:01

That’s unbelievable. And there’s so many stories of that. And I also think women, because we get so used to that we also start to dismiss it ourselves, right? We go in and we’re like, oh, actually, I’m okay. It’s not that bad. Or depending on our phase of our cycle. We might also say that, so there’s a lot of there’s a lot going on there. But absolutely, women are dismissed, and it’s a problem.

Casey McGuire Davidson  51:22

All right. So, there is so much more to learn. And I want to have everyone know where to get in touch with you? Where to learn more about your work. I need to go there. 100% Yeah, let me see.

Bria Gadd  51:36

Let me help you. Thank you, guys. So, you can come absolutely come hang out with me on Instagram @bria_period_whisperer or check out The Period Whisperer podcast. And or you can of course, go in and find me on my website briatheperiodwhisperer.com.

You know, we’ve got I’ve got some great quiz out right now that is to help you understand like, is it my hormones so that we can stop that, you know, answer that question, at least get a daily hormone checklist? So come check out reach out, let me know that this is where you came from, and that you’re on your 100 days.

Casey McGuire Davidson  52:10

Okay, that is awesome. And by the way, how did you, I just think it’s funny, like, how did you get the name? The period whisperer?

Bria Gadd  52:20

Hmmm.. yeah. So. So ultimately, you know, I think our, you know, two ways.

One, I really think one of the foundational ways for health in our body is like, really simple. We need to eat, we need to move, we need to sleep, and we need to have personal time. And I learned that from the baby whisperer, when I was desperately trying to get a child to sleep. It was a terrible sleeper. And she had this easy method, which I thought was amazing. And that works, obviously, because we’re all humans. So, it works for us, too. So, that was part of what inspired it. But ultimately, it’s like learning the whispers of your body. Like, before they turn into screens, which is where we’re at right now. Because when you hear your body and then you start to trust her, and you work with her life gets really good. Yeah.

Casey McGuire Davidson  53:05

Yeah, you know what’s funny? I’m really glad I asked that question because I didn’t know that. And I also remember when I had a baby, oh my god, it’s so physically hard. And it’s very similar to early sobriety. And I’m sure perimenopause, too. I remember sitting at home in front of a like, you know, postnatal yoga workout and that was just sitting on the floor and the woman on the DVD because this was back in the day was literally like, you’ve gone through so much. Your body is healing. This is hard. I was literally by myself in my house. My baby was napping, crying, I was like, it’s really that and then, you know, when your baby, I always thought of it as like feeding the meter in this endless cycle, right? So, it was like, food, play, sleep, whatever, and then do it again, just feed the meter and actually so true for our own bodies as well, right? And we just override what our body needs.

You know, you’re in early sobriety, and these women are like, me, too. I’m like, oh my god, I really want to drink because I’m so fucking tired. And I’m like, Oh my God, that means rest. Take a nap. Go like your body is tired. Don’t override your nervous system and your body’s needs by ingesting this chemical.

Bria Gadd  54:32

Absolutely. Like yeah, if you’re tired, sleep. If you’re hungry, eat. Like, hey, we yeah, we treat our babies like this. Look out into the wild at any wild animal. What do they do every day, they eat, they sleep, they move and they like play or have sex or deal with stress. Like, it’s all there. That’s it. That’s what we do if you can lock those pieces in and never override them. I mean, you’re really going to be head and shoulders above everyone else in this world in your health because it’s up sample.

Casey McGuire Davidson  55:00

Well, thank you so much. You’ve given me a ton to talk about and to think about I know that a lot of my listeners, probably all of them because it’s almost all women in midlife one yes, uh, yeah, absolutely. So, thank you so much.

Bria Gadd  55:18

Thank you, Casey, thank you so much for having me. I’m just so grateful to be here today.

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