3 Perimenopause Tips with Rita Johnson

Sarah sits with Catholic Health and Hormones expert Rita Johnson of Divine Mercy Nutritional Care to discuss how to thrive in perimenopause. 

Inspired by a conversation with the Lord in Adoration, Rita created "The Perimenopause Toolkit" a week-long workshop with a talk each day featuring the expertise of one of five Catholic women's health experts who gather to share about exercise, hormone replacement therapy considerations, hormonal knowledge, and marital intimacy through this season of change in a woman's life.

God's design for your body is beautiful and good--even as your body changes.

Register at https://healthandhormones.org/perimenopause-toolkit/

Sarah asked Rita to share three tips to help women thrive in perimenopause. They are:

1. Calm down your nervous system. The same emotional regulation and nervous system calming measures that can help your libido thrive can also help you feel better through perimenopause. Things you can try to keep your nervous system regulated include protecting sleep so that you get at 7-9 hours. At Sarah's request, Rita shares her own nighttime wind-down routine that prepares her for her nine-hour-a-night sleep. 

2. Eat a good breakfast with protein within an hour of waking up. Women's hormones thrive when blood sugar is stabilized with morning protein, especially when perimenopause hormone shifts remove some of the blood sugar protection that women may have had earlier. Rita shares how this can look like adding collagen to your coffee or tea in the morning or adding sausage to breakfast.

3. Get intentional about movement and exercise to work your muscles for strength, however you can fit that into your days.  This can look like a short walk after meals, or doing ten bodyweight squats, or trying to get up from your chair without using any assistance, and see if you can do that ten times in a row. 

Want to learn more about thriving in perimenopause from multiple Catholic women experts?  Sign up for the workshop hear from experts. 

If you can't make each daily session live, don't worry, as the recordings will be available for those who register. 

Sign up here:

https://healthandhormones.org/perimenopause-toolkit

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Transcript

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I'm so thankful to have my wonderful friend Rita Johnson join me as a guest today. Rita is a nutritionist with Divine Mercy Nutrition, and she has a real heart and understanding for helping women understand how to thrive more in that perimenopause transition. So welcome, Rita Thank you, Sarah. I'm so excited to be here. Can you talk a little bit about the conference that you're putting together that I'm so, I'm thankful to be part of as well, and learn sort of what inspired this and the vision for it? Yeah. So, truly it was, I started in adoration. I was praying, and I was like, "Lord, what do you want me to tell your people?" And, he said, I want you to talk to my women, and I want you to help them see the beauty of the way that I made them." And he gave me this idea for hosting these workshops, I love talking to women as they navigate through this perimenopausal transition time. And so this is like the place that I love to come back to again and again. But I felt really called out by him to not have to be the jack of all trades in this, but to have a workshop where I could bring in other women that are doing amazing things, like yourself, Sarah, and speak to these different aspects of what we're going through as we're navigating through these different things like perimenopause. So this workshop will be five days, and we have five different speakers. My talk will be Perimenopause by Design, so what the Lord intended for us in this time, and how we can support our body through it. There'll be a day on cycle tracking, what happens in your cycles as you're navigating through perimenopause. One day dedicated to HRT, so questions about hormone replacement therapy, what that looks like, how that could be supportive or not, and things we have to be sure we're doing in addition to HRT support. I'm so excited to have you join, Sarah, to talk about marital intimacy in this time, and how that can change and shift, but still be so beautiful. Yes. And then, we're also going to have a fitness instructor who, really works on helping women through this, navigating perimenopause and into menopause time as well. She is wonderful. I've recently made her acquaintance, and, I'm so excited to share all of these women. And we just, I feel like, are bringing what the Lord has brought us to in this world. I'm super excited about this workshop. What a gift, because there are different aspects to caring for yourself, as you go through the transition of perimenopause, and understanding what the different stages are, and what different symptoms might be, and then how you can address them and support yourself. So that's really wonderful that it was Jesus, who cares so much about his wonderful women, women in Christ, and put this on your heart to offer this. So thank you for doing that, and listening to his call, and for inviting me to be part of it as well. Yes, of course. So thank you. I think more than anything, this workshop is just to help demystify, this time that can feel very scary, confusing, and there's not a lot of answers. If you find yourself navigating that, that's exactly what this workshop is for. Given your expertise as a functional nutritionist, and you're also really well-versed in hormones and fertility through your training as a Creighton Model NFP instructor, what are three tips that you would give women going through perimenopause to have the best experience and the most thriving possible? Yes. So the first thing I would say is to lean into what Sarah is teaching you because the exact same things that are helping you to be prepared to be intimate with your husband are also helping your body to calm down, right? So the nervous system responses, the ways that we can engage in self-care, the ways that we can calm our body down and say to it that it's okay, that at the end of the day, we're going to be okay. All of those things are leading us to be open, to be intimate, as much as they are supporting our body's ability to navigate through this time with less of that hormonal buffer, if you will, right? Because that's essentially what's happening. We're losing the benefits of high estrogen, high progesterone, that has become a mainstay for so long. And so then calming your body down, it can take a little more, external effort in this time because we're losing some of those benefits of those hormones. It's not impossible, and so we just need to take those very active steps. A second thing I would say is, you know, just to do the things in your day-to-day, and I'll kind of, branch this one out, into a few different things in case you're like, "Well, I'm already doing that," like, "but what else could I try?" If you're not doing any of these, don't be overwhelmed. Just like, "Okay, maybe someday I can try, or I can grab one of these things and try it." But I would say, like, the physical support of your body, right? So be sure that you're protecting sleep if and how you can. Right? So, I find that most women, we need somewhere from seven to nine hours. Personally, I'm a nine-hour girl. And I used to feel guilty about that, and now I don't. I don't care at all. I'm like, "Nope, that's just what I need. I'm gonna go to bed now." Rita, do you mind sharing how you get your nine hours? Yeah. I really just, I shut it down when the kids shut it down. I, like, the little ones are going to bed, and it'll probably be 30 minutes to 45 minutes later that I'll head upstairs. Right. And I just kind of park it in my room. I'm not watching something. I'm not usually on my phone. I'll sit down and read my book. The toddler's usually climbing around me reading his books. sometimes the teenagers climb in the bed and come talk to me about their day. Aw. Right? Sometimes my husband does. He'll climb in and we'll talk and play with the toddler, or he'll read him books while I read my books. But it's just a time that I, like, carve out. Like, "No, now I'm gonna start to unwind." Mm-hmm. And then I will kick people out when I need to go to bed, you know? When it's, like, 9:00 to 10:00. Right now it's a little closer to the 9:00 'cause, I'm expecting. Really? And so I just know, like, I'm not gonna sleep super great through the night, so I'm gonna go to bed even earlier. But if I wasn't pregnant, if I was sleeping okay- It would be a little closer to 10:00, but I'm hard and fast. Wow "Oh, yep, it's my time. I need to to go out." and that way too then I know, like, I'm usually waking up with the toddler in the morning- Uh-huh or a little before him. If my body just wakes me up, then I'm like, "Great, I can go pray by myself." Otherwise, I'll pray while I'm feeding him breakfast or- That works too while he eats, and I grab a book and sit, you know, nearby. So that's something that's very important to me. I really appreciate you sharing- yeah the specifics of, like, how you make that work. And you just set a boundary. Mm-hmm. Carve out that time, and you have an authentic wind-down at the end of the day. Then you're popping open your laptop and trying to get stuff done for work or household or p- bill paying or any of that. You, that's, like, daytime stuff. Mm-hmm. And now you have this nighttime mode. And I love how you can have connections with other family members who come in, 'cause they're seeking you out. They know that you're like, "Hmm, it's cozy and quiet, and maybe I'll go hang out with Mom." That's so nice. Yes. Yes, It's been really, life-giving for me. Aw. And, you know, if nobody comes, I get to read. Ooh. I get to just, you know, get lost in my... Usually, that's my, classic reading time. That's, my novel time, right? Ooh, nice. Like, it's not necessarily my, philosophical reading. That's by my bed. Another thing I would say is, eating within an hour of waking up, ideally some good, quality protein at that time. It is amazing how much of a needle mover this is for women. And I think part of it is because we're not prioritizing getting protein in the mornings. Now, if you don't feel good eating protein in the morning, if you're like, "I'm someone that can't eat in the morning," that's a sign we need to support your body. We need to support your digestive processes. And so I think it's just important. Tuck that away. Know that there is support that can be had for your body. But if you're like, "Maybe I could try that," I encourage you to just try it. And even doing something like protein powder or collagen in coffee. Those things sometimes are gentler than, like, trying to eat three sausage patties. Something that's a bit more dense, especially if you're not typically doing that. And then the third tip I would really say for, the woman that's dealing with some issues with navigating perimenopause and into menopause is move your body. It doesn't have to be heavy, hard, and crazy. You don't need to start by going to the gym and picking up, some really heavy weights. You just need to start by getting some more intentional movement in. It might just be a short walk after each meal. It might be do 10 body weight squats or try to stand up from your chair without using anything and sit back down and see, can I do this 10 times? You might ease into 10 times, right? It might not be something you can bite off right at the beginning. But the more that we're moving our body, we're challenging our muscles, the more then we're also going to have a buffer for other systems in the body that need support as we're navigating through perimenopause. Because again, we've lost that protective layer that the hormones were giving us for even things like balancing our blood sugar and, being able to metabolize our cholesterol and supporting our cardiovascular health. And so all of these things really do play back into how can we help support those hormonal imbalances at this time? I love that. Thank you. Yeah, I've... Since I've been, hearing this message from you and from Ginny Noci, the women's health RN, about- eat within an hour of waking up for your- Yeah hormones, to, to, to thrive as best as possible. I've been doing it and, and yeah, to have lots of protein, and it makes such a difference. I can go through my day just feeling fueled and capable and less like, how do I wanna say? Like, less like the rollercoaster ride through the day- and more like- Yeah all right, we're cruising. It's so good. Yeah, and I've found different ways. Mm-hmm. I like... I don't drink coffee, but I have tea. I'll have collagen tea- Yeah and eggs or egg whites and eggs with breakfast and... Yeah, I've found lots of different ways now to get in the protein. Yeah. And it's really good. I really wanna encourage it. Because I think... 'Cause I, like many other women, had heard intermittent fasting earlier- Mm-hmm and had been trying to do that. Mm-hmm. And I felt terrible, absolutely terrible- Yes if I didn't eat anything- Yeah till late in the morning or midday. So it was very freeing to not try to... You know, to hear that actually the opposite- Yeah Yeah what we need as women, and to not try to force that, morning fasting. Yes, totally. Yeah. Yeah, I think that, intermittent fasting and keto, I, I hear more often than anything else, those two things make women feel terrible, and it makes perfect sense to me, that that would be the case- Yeah In large part because it's the exact opposite of what we actually want you to do. Wow. Well, and I love your first tip too about calming your nervous system being what can help you go through perimenopause with more thriving, and that totally dovetails and overlaps with my message to women to thrive in your sexuality more. So much of it is our nervous system, and can we learn- Mm-hmm to relax and self-soothe and get into that rest and digest state more frequently- Yeah throughout the day? And, that, yeah, that's just gonna really help you with, with both our specialties here with- Yeah wellbeing and with, enjoying intimacy more. So thank you so much for sharing these- Oh, yes Rita. And where can women find out more about your work and, But yeah, just- Yeah where can we find you? Yeah, for sure. So, I'm on YouTube, my podcast and socials as Health and Hormones. So Health and Hormones, just look up Rita, and you'll find me there. And I do have a freebie I have the functional lab ranges. So if you've ever gone to the doctor, and they did a bunch of blood work, and everything looks normal, but you feel like not normal, not optimal, this is a really great way to kind of look at your labs and see where could some of that dysfunction be coming from. Fantastic. I'll link that in the show notes, the functional lab f- ranges freebie. Well, thank you so much, Rita. Thank you, Sarah. God bless you, ladies, and may you enjoy the... share the joy of love today. See you in the next episode.