Special Dr. L Lounge ‘Menopause Awareness Event’ with Dr. LaReesa

Menopause Awareness Introduction 0:00

foreign I am so excited to be here today and most importantly we are bringing awareness to menopause so I think it's very interesting that we have to have specific days to make sure we become aware and it's become so multitude and multifaceted where I feel like there's a pretty much a day for everything but you know what we're going to take advantage of that because if that's going to help any woman out there I'm all for it because I truly believe in heal women Heal the World I am Dr Larisa Ferdman I am an integrative gynecologist and a menopause health expert and what I am most of all I'm on a mission I'm on a mission to help women not only heal through an integrative approach but to understand that through Mind Body Spirit healing on top of understanding what the heck is going on with your body body is one way that in one step to get closer to living Better Living stronger and definitely getting your mojo back and so today I have with me two wonderful guests so I often talk about being the CEO of your health and what do I mean by that so you know how you have a company is run by a top-notch who says to their board who basically helps with running this company or running this as a good systemized machine so the one thing about your body your body is adaptable it's made by God it's a beautiful tool but guess what you are in charge of it and that means you have to be accountable you have to be very intentional and most importantly you need to surround yourself with the right people who are willing to be on your team and support your goals and I think that's important and it definitely is against what we consider in our typical Health Care system because it may not necessarily navigate the same but it serves a purpose and I'm never going to disagree with that at the same time the accountability as women and bringing awareness to this day is so important because 6 000 women a day are going to go through menopause in the U.S and guess what we make up 51 of the population we make up 20 of the workforce I'm gonna say that we need to pay attention to our bodies and most importantly pay attention to our healing because we are response possible for major production trillions of dollars and we are our most important asset so let me not belabor any longer and let me introduce what I consider part of my board of directors because I I feel all women should have some kind of consistency as far as those those people who not only have your back but have those intentions of goals of what you have for your health and wellness and your overall healing thanks for viewing just know that you can pop some questions or comments definitely share tell your buddy like join me here and Dr Elle's Lounge so we can talk about menopause so the first person I want to bring on board is Miss Tammy Austin and Tammy specializes in women's issues especially when it comes to trauma uh and Trauma attachment mood disorders and what I like and I can't wait to hear about um because I don't think it's disgusting enough how she integrates cognitive behavioral therapy in helping women and I think this is a underutilized tool and certain things that I feel like you need to go out and ask about completely um she also embodies the power of relationships right and so she provides marriage and family counseling as well as emotionally focused therapy and this promotes healing and connection it's so many things that Tammy does she pretty much can give a whole gamut of how she works with women especially in this period of time and so Tammy welcome and and say hello to everyone well hello and thank you for inviting me to join you tonight I really look forward to discussing this very interesting but uh very interesting and at times probably pretty scary topic so yes absolutely for some people right yes all right and our next uh advisor one of my board advisors is uh coach Bridget Bridget Joy of key Life Fitness training in health and wellness and I want you to kind of lift up your shirt there and it says I'm enough Bridget is all about not only training women and men but she definitely serves a large um women's population or females population but it's so extensive she has 12 years of experience and not only that she's got degrees on this stuff like she has like all this information and education but she lives the truth and she activates inspirational um things not only in my life when I work with Coach Bridget but she lives it and she walks the talk she provides corporate wellness and workshops personal group fitness online training meal planning CPR training um and just basically those keys of Health and Wellness that all women need and want and I thought it would be beautiful to bring not only a personal trainer someone who's very into the intrinsics of the female body and also the one who's very much intrinsic into the female mood and mental health and then I'm like that person in between that's going to mold some of these connections together to help you understand how the physio theology the biology all these things and menopause all right so say hi Bridget to everyone tonight good evening good evening a pleasure to be here can't wait for the discussion we're going to have so awesome and we thank Bridget because she's just coming out of a class and making some buns burn and some other things and melted away some belly fat so I can't wait till she kind of hops on and tells us a couple of things as well

Guest Introductions and Board of Advisors 6:29

all right so I wanted to make sure to go over some since this is um menopause World menopause awareness day um one of the particular themes of this year and it's so interesting I don't know who comes up with the things like somewhere there's someone that says this is the thing but I like it because cognition and mood and if anyone who works with me or talks to me I'm very into brain health I'm very into how can we live longer live stronger but how do we go about doing it other than saying okay I went in to see my doctor I got a Pap I got a mammogram I'm all good I'm supposed to be healthy to me that's normal and mediocre thinking we need to start thinking about Optimal Health and one of those things is really tying in how does brain health cognition and move bring into these things so I thought that the physical well-being as well as the mental well-being that definitely couples the spiritual well-being um comes together and understanding what are what is menopause so I wanted to at least as we use these terms tonight because I'm going to tell you I'm not telling no one's age but I'll tell mine I'm in my 40s and I'm the Perry representative tonight but I do want to change the conversation out there I want it to be where we already know what we're heading into in each of these reproductive stages so we have a little bit of pre Perry minnowish on and on Beyond represented today I think that's really important at this point to make sure intergenerational conversations and especially the diversity that we have on our group handled part of my board of directors so I think that's that's awesome um so menopause so let's just get you know get some covered umbrella definitions menopause is usually the excuse me is the definition of the absence of a cycle for 12 months however for those who have had hysterectomies or um or had surgery where or had premature ovarian failure for for whatever reason sometimes you're not quite sure do am I fit in this particular um definition so oftentimes I like to talk about the transitional changes from one reproductive stage to the next so we talk about just the blanket biological definition yes absence of a cycle for for 12 months however there's a bigger transitional period where I I always talk about the the M's so you feel like did I become that crazy with your moves did you have some kind of change in your mental health that you have some changes with your moisture down there or is it your momentum or your movement or any of these type of things where you feel like your body has broken up with you like a bad boyfriend and with that Detachment you often feel like off you feel very often that's oftentimes within your 40s where you feel these major um major changes and these are fluctuations of your hormones one thing I like about hormones they're your Regulators they're your negotiators they're your repair functions they play Vital roles in many parts of your body so in menopause you have a significant decrease like a a bottom drop oftentimes I like to call it where you just feel that shift in some major hormones specifically estrogen progesterone what people are aware about but there's some other things that you need to understand DH ta and testosterone that's a whole other live within itself and then perimenopause we have fluctuations of these particular hormones and guess what the one thing I like about hormones are like women we're the negotiators where The Regulators we're the ones that clean up everything come and restore happiness again and so oftentimes um in this time of transition in either one of these stages of reproduction and post-reproduction we need to understand what our bodies are going through so with that I'm going to put out there Tammy this is our Icebreaker question when did you first hear about menopause okay I actually heard about menopause I'm going to date myself but I heard about menopause when I was probably about 12 and I was watching an episode of All in the Family and in this particular episode Edith was Archie's wife Edith was going through this like these mood changes she was crying one minute she was yelling at her family the next minute she would cry and run out of the room um just just really unusual behavior for her character and when the daughter finally told Archie what was going on mom's going through the change and that was the word and finally Archie decided he had had enough and he said to Edith just change already change already so again I'm 12 watching this episode and I'm thinking oh my gosh is this is this what this is and is this something you know so I'm like looking like is this something that's going to happen to me one day but that was sort of The Benchmark in my mind of what what menopause menopause is like [Music] how about you Bridget did I know you're not there yet you don't have to say that when did you first hear about menopause um I I can't remember when I first heard it probably would be on TV as well but I would say that my first experience with it is me being you know a little bit younger than I am now um and my mother would like be sweating all the time and the I would see episodes of people on TV like sticking their head in the freezer so that was my correlation like she would stand in front of the freezer and be like I'm hot and then she'll try to take like garlic pills and try to figure out all of these things and I'm just like that's a lot I've got a lot going on um so that would probably be my first experience I don't remember exactly the first time I actually you know heard about it but that was the first experience for me okay yeah honestly um it's like I vaguely remember hearing about menopause um honestly I think it was one of those words where I didn't really know it until like probably college and you know going through certain educational things um it was always called the change so for the longest I thought it was defined as the change I didn't know it had a term that was more I guess scientific per se and then with that of course with time and education like understanding what it is but now in this space that I hold knowing that this is a time where um there are many changes right they're not only physical changes they're emotional changes um most of us are having oscillating changes of our career or peaking our career taking care of Aging parents or watching kids grow up or exit homes you know it becomes more of a lifestyle thing a purpose-driven thing and some of the areas that have to do with uh Workforce Workforce changes and so which brings up a question that I have for you um Tammy what are some of the most common things or you can name one that women may have approach you in your services when they're going to menopause well actually feeling feeling different feeling off not feeling like themselves um I think too and I was just making some notes it's it's emptiness it's loss it's um in some cases divorce in addition to um but just just just loss and and and trying to figure out who they are in this season I love the word season that's my that's my thing for 2022 like literally sewing and whatever season that is for you um and I think that's important so Bridget that brings me to okay what are some of the common things and uh tell me about the age group or your your common age group of women who seek your services and why or what is what are some of those trouble spot areas that they may come to you for um 18 to 45 you're probably the book of my women right now or between the ages of 30 30 and 50 for the most part um common areas um usually belly fat um lower body a lot of women want arms um so they're like I want these bat wings or chicken wings to go away uh um definitely belly fat is probably the main one that people want to get rid of and then also just a lot of women want to feel more confident as they go through body changes and things they don't have the confidence they need or they feel um that they should have so just being able to do more than they thought they could is is a big part of why they come to you yeah I love I think that's really important and I um through an integrative approach that I use with working with women it's not only that problem because we always talk about the problem whether it's the solution but why and I love how you said that because sometimes it's just all about the confidence that's behind it or the fact that I can go to this Nook of clothes that I haven't seen in my closet for a minute and I want to wear that dress again or I want to stand in front of people and know that I'm not wondering is my spanxion or can they see my girdle you know you know it's it's a why behind it and not to be ashamed about it and so that's huge right now of not having shame around these transitions beautiful times that our life is around um and so I have to ask Bridget okay so belly fat so if you had to choose like three core movements that women should do um and then you can talk about what those moves are frequency or you know the balance of it all how do you what is your approach to that um when we talk about belly fat as a twofold thing as with anything mainly are your nutrition is going to decrease your belly fat so you can't crunch away belly fat you can't plank away belly fat but when we talk about belly fat we're talking about complete core strength and

Defining Menopause and Perimenopause 16:58

your core is your stomach your back your obliques all the above and that helps you stay upright as you get older so concentration is more so on like doing dead bugs which you actually look like a bug a dead bug on the ground and you're welding your arms and legs but you're engaging your core which means your stomach and your back um planks are a good exercise because it doesn't cause too much stress on your body um and then full body exercises like push-ups or squats you're gonna Target arms Target legs but also engage your core um while toning because as you get older we know that we have to continue to do strength and resistance to prevent osteoporosis and going into menopause so all three of those things help us to tone your core but the number one thing is food because you can crunch all day but your core will not will not get smaller it will not tighten if you you don't concentrate on food I like I like that you can crunch all day and that can be used as you can crunch all day yeah yeah this is true right right so I I love that uh specifically and everything and uh and I and that's something that commonly someone will come to me about and I I'm always coming and say well I'm not only going to help treat the common problem what's going on but I want you to live longer and I want your quality of life you know when I think about Alzheimer's disease affecting women more than men and especially black women uh twice as much as well these type of Statistics scare me a little bit because we are the caregivers we are the ones over time taking over so many micro and macro aggressions over time and that and that and that wears down on our body and the utility of how we're able to serve ourselves and serve others and I think that's definitely important so um and just one more question about that um Bridget when we're talking about these key areas of um which you mentioned nutrition of course um I like the dead bugs and then some kind of uh full body exercises or what have you do you feel like when you see a lot of the different uh I feel like there's so many different um how can uh I guess systems out there companies like there's a lot of stuff out there is there something that you usually like to redirect women um you know from not saying that that may not be with you but how can they balance maybe this particular membership that you may have somewhere but to really have an overall balance of some of the needs around this time with your body's redistributing belly fat or fat period your bone structure and everything is different um I think that to answer that question again that's that's a challenge because someone might like orange theory or somebody when they like CrossFit or something like you know at 45 but um the most thing that we have to understand as a woman that is aging is that as your body changes you have to do different things in order to create your goal you can't just do the same thing over a period of time your body gets used to that so for example if we use Orange Theory I'm running every day so I'm pounding on those joints I'm pounding on those muscles so over time I'm going to get injury and once I get injury I get discouraged and then we it's a cycle so a lot of times people don't understand if I'm doing cardio running I need to do strength training if I'm doing both of those I also have to stretch I also may need to do yoga so just being able to make sure that you're hitting all of the points that your body needs like you you can't do strength training five days a week or hit five days a week and not stretch you're going to feel it your body's gonna break down and then you also have to add nutrition to that because your body can't recover if we don't eat right so there's not one specific thing that I would try away from I would just shy away from only doing one thing if that means so what I'm hearing is no one size fits all right I mean and I think that's important yeah I love what you said it's it's so true because over time and bringing that biology in it some of these programs they're increasing that cortisol amount so much and if you have overproduction of this what we call the sympathetic drive or the nervous system you can end up with a little bit more anxiety you can end up with a little bit more mood uh disturbance less sleep I mean that's a whole nother conversation because I believe sleep is the new sexy within itself and then on top of that excess cortisol um and quartos is always not a bad thing I mean it's the overproduction of anything can end up wearing down on those joints causing more belly fat and then breaking and and distorting some immune function and therefore causing more inflammatory cycle so paying attention to those type of things is really important um so Tammy back to you as far as women of this beautiful age and this transition whether we are pre-menopausal Perry or menopausal and Beyond what is so unique about your approach with women to help them through these transitional stages well actually you were talking about the cognitive behavior therapy I also use dialectical behavior therapy which is really a bit of a more more of an emphasis on self-awareness mindfulness presence and really just helping people to kind of check in and learn how to listen to themselves it incorporates breath work and just allowing you you know allowing an individual to kind of push out all the noise and and and find their peace which is you know say it again dialectical behavior therapy okay now I'm gonna really uh test how my spelling melted away in med school long term it's referred to as DBT and so you know I incorporate that that in as well but really just about helping people check in with themselves and learning how to check in and pay attention to what they're thinking about and you know I like to talk about the who versus the do and and who do you think you are because as we know our thoughts control and affect so much of how we show up and how we present ourselves in this world and so that's a lot of what I like to do with people is just helping them to pay attention so that the mindset shifts that need to occur can begin to take place and we do talk about diet and exercise and I feel like I'm a living proof of the body the Mind thinks sometimes the Mind thinks it's one age and then the body says oh I don't know about that but but I always tell people the things that you do the things that you do in your 30s and 40s you will reap the benefits in your 50s and 60s and so getting people to move and one of the other things that I do with um my clients is we walk and talk and so when we can when I can I'll meet people and we do the we walk and talk instead of sitting during the sessions because I think that movement helps so much as well so yeah and I think you've we've done that once together haven't we yeah around this nice little Pond and then um it's interesting because I remember an exercise um because I'm such a high functioning kind of high you know kind of performance type person I can you know I just kind of can you know keep driving at things at times and um but that can lead to kind of ruminations of certain things and not recognizing that I was climbing we did a ladder exercise right a ladder exercise of how those driven moments I guess um of that sympathetic drive or something um but still we coordinated that with the thoughts that I was having at the time of what those triggers were and being very self-aware and so that's another thing about you know being the CEO of your body you become you think you know your body but you you transition into these areas where no matter what you

Mood, Mental Health, and Relationship Changes 25:48

um you tend to be more inclined to pick up these type of things and you just tend to cope better you tend to be at ease you know you you tend to be someone that can um weather storms a little bit better because your anxiety or your moods 50 of women over a little over 50 of women are going to express it as a problem in perimenopause and menopause when they feel like they feel erratic they feel like they've disconnected with themselves and their environment and their moves are off the chain um and so I want to talk about how that mental health uh Game Changer plays into our relationships and what you have encountered especially when this is around a peak time where women are either dealing with divorce or death and like I said earlier just loss and and you know one of the biggest things is this isn't the way I thought my life would be but this isn't where I thought I would be at this point in time and so helping people to be able to make peace and and and forgive themselves and release and reset expectations because it's not over I mean you know and I I heard someone say one day that they weren't retiring they were re-firing and I said I'm going to take them I'm going to use that and that's what I've told myself is okay I mean I've crossed I've crossed over 60 Now 60 plus and and I and I said you know in my mind I'm not I'm not over 60.

in my mind and so I said you know I'm giving myself permission to re-fire and so I like because I also think you know even as a therapist we can't take people farther than we've been and so I you know find myself challenging certain you know being challenged by certain things and so the best way to to keep it is to give it away and so you know encouraging people to kind of think Beyond but also to be able to like I said make peace with the past and sometimes that means releasing people releasing things that you know that we've been holding on to because this is a different this is our next chapter and just like you said we're the CEO of our bodies we're the CEOs of our minds as well Amen to that Amen to that and so I'm gathering you know that mindset shift and a lot of that is old behaviors what I've learned is that even in a cultural standpoint even things that I learned as an African-American woman and then still dealing with those things even as a physician um moving on Beyond in different circles things that I've carried that are just not true you know just mirrors that are are not true have their things that have built me made me the person I am absolutely and I thank God for that um but some of that you know um things that I might have thought in my 20s 30s just do not you know make sense anymore and sometimes it's those old um those old beliefs or systems that honestly make us um a little bit more moodier a little bit more off our game a little bit more like second guessing or fearing you know or not really being able to step into our power right stepping into our being and this is a time to do it uh specifically in a time where your body feels like it's disconnecting but actually it's a new connection I love talking about new language I love talking about when we're when we are entering this transition or phase in our life it is more of a new connection like you said a new purpose in redirecting that energy in such a good way that you're not concentrating on what we lost let's focus on what we're gaining in this time and so I think I think that's a beautiful thing um so uh Bridget there's uh there's a couple things that I wanted to ask you when we're talking about the the physique or the the fitness model of a woman and especially during this time um and it's something I get um a couple of times when it comes to those who might have back trouble or back pain um there was something that someone actually had sent me today asking specifically about this shortly before we came on um what are what are probably some areas that people can navigate some of these challenges if they have a potential disability I think that the biggest thing because if we talk about what you guys were just saying about mindset um being able to look at things differently um so we have a disability or something that's limiting what you can do um we have to appreciate where we are what our bodies can do right now in this moment and we capitalize on that and so if we're not focused on what the disability is it helps us to create a change in our bodies so let's say if someone has for instance back pain or maybe trauma to their back or they've had back surgery Etc there are ways to be able to build the muscles around the spine build the muscles around the joints to be able to correct you know correct posture or to alleviate some of the pain will it go completely away it really depends on the circumstance it depends on the injury but can we do things or exercises to that are modified maybe not as intense as someone with Outback pain or without the disability but we can do or can create a program that fits you that still gets you in the best shape of where you are right now um and I think that's the key of like let's you know I'm not I'm 37 right and so through my through my years like this last couple years I'm like you know the body ain't body in like it's supposed to you know what I mean and so now I'm here and I'm like okay let's appreciate where you are and not try to compare yourself to who you are 20 at 20 because it's not going to be there you may not ever get back there and that's okay and so with the injuries with the things that are have changed over time with injuries and things of that nature we just got to adjust we can modify we can create and it's like a recreation it's more of a lifestyle transformation and change not just a boom it's a quick easy diet pill so yeah I love it transformation that's always a very key thing transformation uh for sure um so uh Tammy back to you about this is a time where people may have had a previous Health diagnosis um especially when it comes to anxiety depression bipolar um disorder these are some of the common things and um I call it I've gotten this from an influencer out there pink slime you know how I feel that we will throw pink slime on people well I don't understand why she couldn't take it why she had to end up taking medications and I get that on the side of whether people decide to do hormone therapy or antidepressants and I always tell people um you know look at it as this is part of your solution and if you look at it as far as that and not necessarily this is what I've had to take are there certain solutions that need to be readdressed or redirected and not continue to do the same thing expecting different results absolutely but when we have someone who has you know some of these common disorders entering into menopause what are some of the things that you may approach a little differently and how to help navigate that space um under those circumstances well we talk about medication and oftentimes I'll see women they're probably perimenopausal actually and you know they've been struggling for years with you know moodiness or just you know irritability or you know unsometimes uncontrollable anxiety and so the idea of taking medication again having to to be okay with that and so we talk about that and I give them the example if we were talking about hypertension if we were talking about diabetes would there be an issue well no okay so let's remove the stigma or in some cases people have their experience is they had family members that were on medication and what they saw was a family member who was and I use the word like a zombie and so it's kind of like well I don't want to be like that so I don't want to be on medication so we have to kind of work through that however I always tell my clients we're going to do some things first and we're going to see if we can get some mood Improvement by doing some behavioral things by doing some mood shift things some mindset shifts and things like that but after a couple of weeks if you're still pretty much down in the dumps or I'm having to take every session to bring you down and try to regulate then we most likely are talking about medication because you're not getting what you came here for if all I'm doing is putting out the fire and I've had people say well I feel so great after a session you know probably for the first three days after the session and then my mood drops again you know things like that because you know that's not the way it goes and so um but talking about that and my suggestion to people is always start with the lowest dosage you can always go up you always want to start with the lowest dosage you know and the other piece is just being okay with that being okay with it because if you find yourself feeling better in a in in two to three weeks you know is it is it not worth it if to feel better to feel more in control now on the flip side I will say women going through menopause are often told or in the past we're told that they were just depressed and they were given medication that they probably didn't need and so we have that conversation about at least from from my my understanding of the of the world of menopause and talking about what some of those changes might look like and trying to implement and teach people skills I like to teach people skills that they can do because my job is to work myself out of a job so to teach people skills that they can take and so if again giving you skills giving you tools helping you with self-advocacy helping you with insight and self-awareness and then if we need to add medication to that so that you have the whole package if that's what's needed and so that's that's my take on the medication piece but there are times when it's absolutely needed yeah yeah and I agree because I always get a common question about uh what supplements I need to take and first I feel like it's a mindset shift like okay are we just gonna take the supplements and everything's just supposed to disappear you know like are we really gonna be working on the issue at hand and I think it's an uphill battle sometimes because it's a psychology that microwave um mentality or just um you know trying to get to the next thing and um and it ends up kind of working against us oftentimes because it'll work but in many times that magic pill in the bottle may not do it now are there certain go-to's you know no matter what I'm putting someone on a special when they have cognitive or brain foggy type things I tend to always make sure of course we're dressing nutrition and you know doing a complete metabolic reset is what I call it um to really Revitalize some tissue and some hormone hormones in an area where you're not you know putting some in an environmental burdens um but I'm a big believer not you know a good sound multivitamin if you're gonna do anything to supplement a probiotic because the brain gut connection is so important so once you have that piece of the nutrition and then also making sure that you're addressing gut issues and it may not just be that probiotic you might have to really dig a little deeper in

Fitness, Core Strength, and Body Changes 38:18

how to really understand how the body and the kinetics work with it um I and you know magnesium is one of those things too that I may often recommend like if I had to choose you know one of those three things if someone's coming in for particular issues as cognitive and mood because I want them to rest better um and I know if I heal within a mindset within um the gut this uh the gut function and rest and sleep and do more restorative type things then I know that that mood is going to get better you know but it may not necessarily be overnight but once again just really taking a look at the person and what they're trying to achieve and the goals and what is that Optimal Health they want to create and I think that makes um a good a good difference um someone mentioned um they started running at 40 and it's part of my weekly routine I think that's awesome you know which is you know which is something I want to talk about thank you um for bringing that up because what is part of your each of your daily routines that really add to uplifting your mood and also you what you feel contributes to your health I'll go with Bridget first I would have to have a doing my devotion before I start my day is huge um if I don't do that then things are chaotic um checking my planner in the morning to know exactly where I need to be or what time I need to be there and what I'm supposed to be doing is essential otherwise Monday is it's not a day because it just goes by so quickly and then working out um working out making sure I'm drinking enough water to stay hydrated and hydrating as best as possible and making sure I get at least 30 minutes of working out a day and stretching um those are my essentials everything else just kind of comes after them it's beautiful beautiful how about you Tammy those are some good ones yes I would say here here to those um I I've started back doing Pilates I do hot yoga and um one of the things about Hot Yoga is I sit in there and I always give God all the glory that I can sit in it 120 plus degree thing and fill my body and stretch and feel really good if I do that I cycle um I walk and I do weights and all kinds of things um but one of the things I think that's important is is gratefulness you know to just have the gratefulness and I do spend time with my devotional I try to talk to God all through the day and put make sure I'm listening as well um and just really try to I may have a plan for the day but also try to listen and be mindful in case you know I'm supposed to be doing some other things as well but but certainly trying to live with purpose trying to live with purpose that's beautiful I was sick excuse me I would say I am I've done a I do a little bit of everything that you all have mentioned um because I recognize that I'm a complete morning person um so like even now it's just like okay all the things that I know I have to do before I wrote this is gonna be a late night for me but still I know that this is I'm a definitely a morning person but part of my routine is reducing the stress of making sure that I get my hydration for the day so I drink two tall glasses of water I'm a type of person I love to drink water in a glass when I can and uh and I take um five to ten mL of liposomal vitamin C that's my thing every morning um and I use liposomal vitamin C and liquid so it can absorb better and have more functionality in the body instead of just adding tablets and sugar and um but with that and I I re usually a Rick Warren devotional or journal and then if I'm reading a book so I have a seven-year-old and you know it's all about teaching your kids to read 20 to 30 minutes a day and if you want to get me in a happy spot I mean I would love to just know that I could read a book from cover to cover you know and just snuggle up somewhere so part of my routine has to do with reducing those things that may cause triggers of stress for me like not being able to get hydration or not being able to connect to a book or read something and so that's what I've done for myself I have not only meditate I meditate gratitude devotional but I'm like okay can I spend 20 minutes reading you know because that's my happy place uh not every morning happens but I would say okay maybe three days out of the week I'm able to connect there because that means something to me and putting that placeholder there for that in the morning and then working out is one of those um but I had to get somebody accountable to make sure I did it you know that was the thing that was part of adding that extra Board of advisor of my health was um okay I can't make it to gym because I got little littles and all this and I'm not by the time we do drop off and all this I've already started my task list of so many other things so how can I make sure that I needed accountability because I was being unfair to myself so making those decisions as a CEO could mean that how am I going to invest and I think we need to start using that word how can I invest in this time period because as you said when you are in your 30s or 40s you really are planning a lot of things that are going to help you for the quality of life that you seek later on and some of that is creating the boundaries and investing in yourself other than Nail Care or massage so um makes a big big difference um for those out there listing or if you share please if you have any questions we're wrapping up soon in our last 15 minutes and so please drop them here or at least say you know hey comment on how was your first experience of someone talking to you about menopause or what are those things that are plaguing you or interest points and so I wanna I wanna bust some myths out there um so uh and I'll start with You Bridget in this unique age group especially when you have a good majority of women falling into those perimenopausal going into menopause phase um what are some common myths that exist that you feel like you have to bust all the time wow um one would have to be that you have to starve yourself um um yeah to be able to get to how you think you should look or want to appear you have to starve that's that is a myth we must eat you must feel your body it's essential to daily living um second one would be that you'll always have um you know pain or a mommy pouch like all of these things are not or not being able to be fixed or modified um like you don't have to stay where you are just because of where you are you can always change that your body can always change over time um and that you you can't do like a lot of women kind of say like if I'm 50 I've never lifted weights before I can't do it if I'm 50 I've never worked out I can't do it and so that's a myth you can start by walking you can start by doing yoga and you can increase your weight up um but our bodies are designed to move so if you don't move you're gonna lose it and so um yeah those are those are probably the top three I love how you say movement sometimes I feel like we have to take out the word exercise because the minute you say exercise people are like oh or I don't want to do it but you know the factor of movement is I don't know it just takes a whole different connotation you know it just sounds better you know like okay I can move yeah I mean I think a lot of people don't realize how much we sit during the day so just driving to and fro or eating dinner or going here like or even at the office in meetings so if you're sitting for maybe 80 of the day you have to move like you you have to your body's gonna function vertically so yeah if you think about it it's a lot of sitting I think I drive a lot so yeah yeah me too and yeah just from something with family pickup or something I was just like yeah I'm in the car sitting down has to be about three three and a half hours every day given definitely um what are some of the myths you feel like you come across Tammy this is the way I am

Medication, Supplements, and Self-Care Routines 47:48

I've always been like this that's strong um again is this all there is this all is this all there is so I like to infuse spirituality and faith into the therapy because people need something more people need to be able to believe in something Beyond Today Beyond you know what it's it's been up to this point that it can because you know it's easy for us to believe blessings and wonderful things for everybody else than it is sometimes for ourselves or to get stuck on our lived experiences and believe that this is the way it's going to always be so such a your voice is so soothing I just want to lay on the couch at this point yeah okay I thought it was just me yeah I did want to mention One One supplement um l-theanine that's that's pretty good um I I said I was going to try it I said I'm going to try it first before I started telling you know my the people I work with about it but the thing for me that Drew me in because I feel like I have so many things I want to do and it said oh can help improve help with Focus okay it sounds like help with Focus so it was like you had me at help with Focus okay uh I can get more done okay so one thing I have noticed I've been taking the l-theani along with the rest of the vitamins and things that I take and I noticed that the The Angst sometimes that I find myself feeling or that feeling of just overwhelm like oh I have all these things to do like I'm waiting for the feeling to come and it doesn't come and so instead I'm like okay we're going to do this first it will do this and it's okay it's okay it's okay if I don't just Embrace everything and say I got to do it all so again maybe it's just in my head but that's something that I've noticed so I would suggest talk with your doctor but healthy and you know and I've had good results without Banning um as far as a supplement and as you said help people focus stuff with kind of like that relaxing oftentimes if you're looking at a sleep aid bottle it might be one of those additional ingredients that they put in there um and this is also where I like to put a plug-in about individualized or personalize Health regimens uh one of the key areas that I've learned to embrace or um that I like to do on most women that I work with now is epigenetics and so that's really understanding um how you're basically your genomic blueprint behaves in that environment and what I have learned through that process is that certain women um that I work with are triggered and it's different in a certain way where in their pathway they're more apt to produce um certain certain anxiety driven neural chemicals and if that's the case a lot of people may take lvnn and be like they didn't do anything for me so you know what have you but recognize that they probably needed to be on a different regimen anyway and it's not like it's a bad supplement it's it's not what's Driven or personalized it's going to be the best fit for you so if you had that spectrum of 10 Okay this may be more of a forest type thing you know and you don't want to necessarily maximize on the amount um but definitely something that could be utilized oftentimes especially if we're talking about cognition and mood and restoration or you know preserving some kind of rest at night as well because you could be just so amped you know you just don't think now and it does work well with coffee again I'm a coffee file so again if I was in my happy place it works with coffee okay right right right right right yeah yeah so I I think that's uh that's a good that's a good one uh for those who might be in that in that category for for sure so as we're kind of wrapping up I wanted to um get you know what is your number one major takeaway um individually uh for Tammy you can take it from the cusp of mood mental health what do you want to share with women um on this menopause awareness day or for those heading into menopause or most importantly I'm all about changing the conversation where we're going to have this a generational conversation right so telling women out there that one takeaway when it comes to mood and mental health and menopause what would you like to share well again I think it's it's individualized but I think um if if one can do what they need to do to have all of the supports on board and come prepared and this I'm going to say in this season of Life come prepared to do the necessary work because I think that's sometimes what we have to do we have to dig in and do the necessary work for the next chapter um and that this isn't the end this is not the end this is this is the next chapter the next chapter I just heard in Yama and my do your work you get worked and you do because there is no Magic Bullet and so you have to do the work and prepare to do the work but this is the next chapter you are the CEO you hold the pen absolutely I like that that's a shirt you hold the pen I got one that says that actually I made one but you hold the pen yes yes I like that I'm enough now I'm encouraged okay Coach Bridget what you got to say what's your number one takeaway number one takeaway is that I mean I have to piggyback off of what Tammy said every season is different every chapter is different and so as you continue to go from book to book chapter to chapter you have to continuously be on course meaning consistently doing the work consistently showing up for yourself um because if you don't show up nobody else will um and I think that the big takeaway is that never just you know never doubt how far you can go because you can always be better or you can always do you know more to pour into yourself and so being able to be self selfish in the aspect of taking care of your body because we we as women can't take care of anyone else unless we're taking care of and so just being able to pour into your body holistically you know mentally physically spiritually is important in every chapter so absolutely absolutely um I think my number one takeaway is um no matter what um and that and this obviously connects the dot with what you all are saying um connect with someone who can be that right person to help you out so as I brought together connecting guys so people I consider part of my Board of Health uh or my board of advisors because no matter you know what in the community I guess as Physicians we're kind of considered okay we should know so much but we're human too um we're going through similar challenges and even as a high functioning High performing individual or at least I consider myself as such um I I still Encompass some of the same challenges just like someone else um and you know life is not going to just stop just because I decided to be a doctor you know or I decided to help women or I'm on a mission to make sure that we we do these type of things and so I always um heat that warning even for myself that Grace you know give yourself Grace in this period um give yourself Grace to understand that um you are an overcomer you are a Victor um so whatever trauma or anything that you've experienced in your life this can still be a purposeful a Purpose Driven and a very fulfilling part of your life that can just illuminate new things that you didn't know um whether it's something you gave up on or you wanted to reconnect with or relationship you want to restore I always I I mentioned to people a lot a lot of times on someone's benefit they they put it you know usually someone talking about what they didn't do or what they did not uh restore or tell someone not about what's taking them away from this life so um this is the time to definitely renew those types of relationships and most importantly the relationship to yourself you are your biggest asset um so with that being said I wanted to make sure to share um what's going on in coach Bridget and

Myths, Takeaways, and Closing Announcements 57:18

Co and um and what your coach to in a way to Tammy right please um as you hold your PIN right so with that you have a new something coming out that you want to share with us so why don't you talk about briefly what uh what's on the horizon for you and how you're helping women to heal okay what's on the horizon for me is I have a new therapy workbook slash Journal that's coming out it's a 90-day customizable Journey Journal Therapy Journal and actually it has it's the equivalent of 12 therapy sessions it has material and questions and things that I actually do with my patients it has actually journaling sheets it has observation sheets and it has these daily awareness sheets that can be filled out and then in the back section of it it has a lot of different resources that can be used so I'm really excited about it it is my um heart's desire to share and it will be available on Amazon in November okay awesome www dot their unchained.com um all right Bridget you had a new facility coming don't you yeah but I'm writing on this website standby okay got it okay I am in Saint Cloud Florida which is close to Orlando close to Kissimmee Central Park um and I am opening our first facility uh gem for a group fitness personal training and the grand opening is November 5th um and so I'm like you know excited scared sighted we're all the things but we're excited to reach so many people um with personal training group training CPR training family seminars education so uh November 5th is our um grand opening day okay so that is for the base but at the same time we still be will be offering virtual solutions for women as well is that right correct I do virtual personal training and Group Training we have a group that currently meets two to three times a week virtually and then I also do personal virtual training yeah and Bridge is very popular she would burn you okay [Laughter] because one of the reasons why I did enjoy it was um transformational but also you're very well versed in understanding a lot of things about the female physique and body um where even when we work I just feel like I feel everything you know like no matter what I'm like I don't think I've worked that system today Bridget um and um it's just amazing so um I really do love that um and then for those who are wondering where to find me um you can find me on Dr larisa.com um and visit me on the website uh most importantly on my website right now I am going to start a focus group like I said I'm on a mission to not only help women understand uh improving hormone balance but most importantly how to heal from from an integrative approach but also understanding how to define what that looks like after you discover your needs and how to dominate and how to understand how modern technology and the things and Technology are going to fit in that puzzle for you because that's how you're going to measure and understand your kpis which are key performance indicators as well as understanding what trends and biomarkers are going to help you individualize your your personal care I say that mouthful to say I am offering a focus group because I want to hear back from you women out there and what you're experiencing with your health care provider or with your with your own particular experiences and how can we start changing this um this uh our particular way of how medicine or how our health care is delivered and what are some of the things that you've experienced number one and then number two what are some things on The Horizon that I can share with you and how do you navigate with it how does that resonate with you and what do you want those people out there who are creating for you to understand about what you want what your desires in a very much a diversified plane so if you go to my website there's somewhere where you can um enter a form so you can be a part of the upcoming um focus group so I'm really excited about that um any any last words or anything else to share I did want to put out there this is us not only menopause awareness day but I am dedicating this uh episode to my mother rest in peace uh who most recently passed away um and um being here in this moment I feel like no matter what I am her child so um in this moment that's what I share and um and as we celebrate this day and celebrate a life anything else you ladies like to share as we sign off now well thank you so much for being here I appreciate you I appreciate you being part of my board of advisors and for those out there who need that little off as well in their life so I appreciate all those who have joined us tonight please share this with a friend um or your daughter your sisters remember this is a generational conversation so thanks for being alone with us tonight bye-bye foreign [Music]