In this episode, we're thrilled to welcome Michelle Bailey, the "Well-being Queen." Michelle is a Functional Lifestyle Practitioner specializing in helping middle-aged women reclaim their health and happiness through her unique 360° coaching approach.
From functional movement to mindset shifts and nutrition strategies, Michelle shares actionable tips to support women navigating peri-menopause challenges. Drawing on her personal journey with endometriosis and her mother's health struggles, she reveals how her experiences inspired her to found Functional Well-being LLC.
If you're ready to embrace a holistic approach to well-being and unlock a healthier, happier version of yourself, this is the episode for you! 🎙️
[00:00:03] After over 25 years of marriage, we've learned that successful couples have great friendships, put each other first, and focus on light just as much as love. We believe marriage should be fun and easy.
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[00:01:41] Now, on with the show.
[00:01:56] Welcome back to the Beyond I Do podcast.
[00:01:58] We have a special guest with us.
[00:02:01] Joining us from Indianapolis by way of Trinidad is Michelle Bailey, also known as the Wellbeing Queen.
[00:02:13] And she helps middle-aged women improve their well-being through 360-degree coaching.
[00:02:20] So welcome, Michelle.
[00:02:23] Thank you for joining us.
[00:02:25] And as a newly middle-aged official middle-aged woman, I look forward to our interview and for learning some things to help me as I move through this transition of life.
[00:02:41] So thank you.
[00:02:41] How good was that?
[00:02:42] It's one day.
[00:02:44] I turned 50 yesterday.
[00:02:48] It might be that you've been in the Middle East area and you don't even know it.
[00:02:53] Right.
[00:02:54] You're right.
[00:02:55] Right.
[00:02:56] Blaming that on my attitude.
[00:03:00] Blaming it on my attitude.
[00:03:01] And who knows?
[00:03:02] May have been hormones.
[00:03:03] All right.
[00:03:04] Thank you for joining us.
[00:03:05] And if you would tell us a little bit about yourself, a little bit about your journey and a little bit about what it is that you do.
[00:03:13] Well, thank you guys so much for having me on your podcast today.
[00:03:18] It is an honor to be able to speak to your audience.
[00:03:22] And it's a privilege to share who I am and my journey in this field of well-being.
[00:03:29] I am Michelle Bailey.
[00:03:32] And yes, I am from Trinidad and Tobago, but I'm in Indianapolis, Indiana.
[00:03:38] Been here about 10, 11 years now.
[00:03:45] I still do not like the weather, but I am still here.
[00:03:49] God has a purpose for me, so I'm still here.
[00:03:53] I am your well-being queen.
[00:03:55] And you might ask yourself, what is she talking about?
[00:03:58] If you are looking to regain your fountain of youth, ladies, in your 30s, 40s, 50s, even 60s, I have something special for you.
[00:04:12] And it's individualistic.
[00:04:15] So 360 well-being coaching is all what I do.
[00:04:21] I am trying to get the whole you to become the well-you through looking at functional nutrition, functional movement or physical activity, looking at mindset building.
[00:04:35] All in a community of like-minded women to help us move forward.
[00:04:42] Why I say we?
[00:04:43] Because I'm in that era.
[00:04:45] I am middle age as well.
[00:04:48] I may not look it, but I am in my middle age.
[00:04:53] And I've been an athlete since 2002 in the bodybuilding field.
[00:05:00] I've been lifting weights since I was 16.
[00:05:02] I started working out when I was 11.
[00:05:05] And all the time, I saw it fit to try to change what was going on with me.
[00:05:14] It was born out of more so trying to stay healthy from and also not being sick with endometriosis.
[00:05:23] Mm-hmm.
[00:05:24] Right.
[00:05:25] And that kind of propelled me to always wanting to be better in whatever field I got into.
[00:05:31] So for instance, I started working out because it just didn't feel right in my pre-menopause stage.
[00:05:41] So when we talk about perimenopause and we'll get a little bit into that later on, that's middle age.
[00:05:49] And I am a middle age lady, but we all ladies go through different stages of the menopause cycle.
[00:05:57] And the pre-menopause is when you, you in the reproductive years, just started your period.
[00:06:04] And you know, you have normally it's easy for most people.
[00:06:09] Mm-hmm.
[00:06:09] If you have a medical issue, AKA hormone imbalance, you have problems.
[00:06:16] And I've had one of those problems of endometriosis.
[00:06:20] Mm-hmm.
[00:06:20] So for me early in the stage, I did not like being a lady.
[00:06:26] And I had to figure out how can I live through this and still feel and look good.
[00:06:34] Mm-hmm.
[00:06:34] I got into working out.
[00:06:36] I started lifting and I decided I'm never going to stop because it helped me to be able to battle what I was going through.
[00:06:45] That's good.
[00:06:45] But some ladies, when they reached the perimenopause, that's when their issues start.
[00:06:49] If they had a real smooth sailing pre-menopausal life, when we reach in perimenopause where you see some people lose their hair.
[00:06:58] Some people may even have the mood swings that we were talking about earlier on.
[00:07:05] You know, when these things start to happen, it seems like, okay, what's going on here?
[00:07:11] Why is all these things happening?
[00:07:14] And they realize that something is wrong, but they can't pinpoint it.
[00:07:18] And you may not be able to pinpoint it because there are a mirage of things that can be occurring because of hormone imbalance.
[00:07:27] Mm-hmm.
[00:07:28] When you reach that stage, there are things that you need to do to help yourself.
[00:07:34] Right.
[00:07:34] To make better.
[00:07:35] And that is my lifestyle.
[00:07:38] I've been into that phase and have been through different stages within that phase because I was, I'm still, I was still lifting, still an athlete doing bodybuilding on stage, trying to get a certain weight.
[00:07:53] So for me, dieting and exercising was a lifestyle.
[00:07:57] Mm-hmm .
[00:07:58] But now at this stage, after having a particular surgery, it kind of propelled me into having the various symptoms just happening or snowballing on me.
[00:08:11] Mm-hmm .
[00:08:11] And one after the other.
[00:08:13] And I realized something had to change.
[00:08:15] Mm-hmm .
[00:08:16] So my background in, in being with endometriosis all my life, that kind of taught me that I needed to reset, look at what's going on, go back into my knowledge base, learn even more things.
[00:08:32] I got into functional nutrition, which helped a whole lot in me being able to decipher what was going on with me.
[00:08:40] Mm-hmm .
[00:08:41] When you learn things, you want to share things.
[00:08:44] So that's how I got into being functional wellbeing, wellbeing queen.
[00:08:48] So we take into consideration all the things that had happened before and then run with it, trying to teach others how you could change yourself similarly.
[00:09:00] It may not be the same symptoms or issues that I may have with other than another lady, but we can figure it out.
[00:09:10] Right.
[00:09:10] So it's not a cookie cutter thing.
[00:09:12] It's not just talking about protocols.
[00:09:15] Right.
[00:09:15] It's learning who you are and understanding what's going on with you.
[00:09:19] And if you realize for my own self, I had different stages.
[00:09:23] Guess what?
[00:09:24] You as another lady will have different stages in your life cycle too.
[00:09:28] Right.
[00:09:28] So it's learning the individual and being able to help this individual in different modalities, in different ways.
[00:09:36] When we're looking at nutrition, when we're looking at levels of physical activity, whether we're looking at triggers, what may have causes and things to be happening.
[00:09:45] Mm-hmm .
[00:09:45] And just, you know, learning about yourself and being able to help yourself.
[00:09:50] So that's where wellbeing comes in for me.
[00:09:54] All about wellbeing.
[00:09:56] And, and you've used the term functional nutrition and functional wellbeing.
[00:10:02] Mm-hmm .
[00:10:02] So what does that functional mean at the beginning?
[00:10:06] Right.
[00:10:06] So when you think of function, it has to do with something that can be workable.
[00:10:13] Mm-hmm .
[00:10:14] Mm-hmm .
[00:10:14] Okay.
[00:10:16] So we can have a nutritionist and a nutritionist will learn and teach you all about your macros, how much food you should be eating, what types of food you should be eating.
[00:10:28] They could, uh, look to you, for example, um, what can cause diabetes, things that you should be away from.
[00:10:35] Um, but when I started talking about functional, it is looking at you as an individual and looking at what is going on with you holistically.
[00:10:46] And this holistical is for example, not just yourself, but what happened to your mother?
[00:10:54] Uh, what has happened to you?
[00:10:57] If you've had any traumas, um, how early was your menstrual?
[00:11:03] Or were you even, uh, a C-section birth versus a vaginal birth?
[00:11:10] All these things.
[00:11:11] Mm-hmm .
[00:11:12] How much stress you're under in your workplace.
[00:11:15] Mm-hmm .
[00:11:16] Mm-hmm .
[00:11:18] Worrying about finances.
[00:11:20] Right.
[00:11:22] Your environment, a minor environment where there is always smoke in the environment.
[00:11:27] Mm-hmm .
[00:11:28] Right.
[00:11:29] All these things affect you.
[00:11:32] Now we have to look at, okay, for example, nutrition.
[00:11:36] How can I help this person with a example of what they should be eating to help them relieve themselves functionally?
[00:11:50] So it should be working for me.
[00:11:52] So I always, I always say something like this.
[00:11:55] All healthy foods are not healthy foods for everyone.
[00:11:58] Okay.
[00:12:00] Okay.
[00:12:01] So it's what's going on with you.
[00:12:03] And for example, both of you, it, it differs.
[00:12:07] Right.
[00:12:07] For example, male versus female.
[00:12:09] Mm-hmm .
[00:12:10] How you deal with stress versus how your husband deal with stress.
[00:12:14] Mm-hmm .
[00:12:15] And, and, and ladies have a tendency to deal with stress.
[00:12:19] They go out with the other ladies.
[00:12:21] Mm-hmm .
[00:12:22] Or they pray or they, you know, they find themselves a way of doing certain things versus a male might decide I ain't talking to nobody.
[00:12:30] I'm gonna try to figure this out myself.
[00:12:33] Right.
[00:12:33] All right.
[00:12:34] All right.
[00:12:35] And, and, and half of the times males keep it inward.
[00:12:39] Right.
[00:12:39] And, and bluss.
[00:12:41] Right.
[00:12:42] Right.
[00:12:43] Right.
[00:12:43] Or they, um, a lot of men, there are a lot of statistics showing within the last 20 years, for example, a lot of men are dying in their sleep, getting strokes because of high stress levels.
[00:12:55] Right.
[00:12:56] Yeah.
[00:12:56] And they have nobody to talk to.
[00:12:58] Right.
[00:12:59] You know what I mean?
[00:13:00] Right.
[00:13:00] And sometimes it's this persona being macho.
[00:13:03] We say that back home, or, you know, you, you don't, cause I am a man.
[00:13:08] Right.
[00:13:08] Right.
[00:13:09] Talk about this.
[00:13:09] But mental health is a thing for both men and women.
[00:13:14] And we need to be able to understand that this can affect us in different ways.
[00:13:19] Right.
[00:13:20] So when we say functional, how am I going to do something to help you work with you?
[00:13:26] And it's going to work with you throughout a timeframe because it might work now at 50, but it might work the same at 60 because our bodies are changing.
[00:13:40] Right.
[00:13:41] Right.
[00:13:41] That's when, when I say functional, that's what I mean by functional.
[00:13:45] Right.
[00:13:46] It must work for you at that point in time.
[00:13:48] It's just like, if I tell you, go do some blood work for me, your blood work is for that particular day and point in time.
[00:13:55] Right.
[00:13:56] Right.
[00:13:56] It is not the same.
[00:13:59] Two weeks after.
[00:14:00] Right.
[00:14:01] Right.
[00:14:01] Especially if you was working on it for two weeks.
[00:14:05] Right.
[00:14:05] Right.
[00:14:06] Right.
[00:14:07] So it's learning about who you are, what's going on with you and being able to correlate that to what I should be doing to help me get better and stay healthy.
[00:14:20] Right.
[00:14:21] And a long term.
[00:14:22] And then the, the, the other part of that with the working out and the being active, I'm guessing that's just as individualized as the nutrition.
[00:14:36] Yes.
[00:14:36] Correct.
[00:14:37] So for someone who's diabetic, their protocol of training, for instance, is different than someone who doesn't have any medical issues.
[00:14:45] Somebody who has fatty liver syndrome, they have issues that actually most women who in perimenopause and menopause might have like the adispose fat around their stomach.
[00:14:58] So all of a sudden we have bloating all the time.
[00:15:00] So their protocol of how to train is different than somebody who doesn't have that problem.
[00:15:06] Someone who never worked out before.
[00:15:09] Mm-hmm.
[00:15:09] Their workout is going to be totally different than someone who has been active all their life.
[00:15:15] Say for example, if for you, for example, were you active during school?
[00:15:21] Were you in sports or anything?
[00:15:22] Any one of you?
[00:15:24] I was in marching band.
[00:15:27] Okay.
[00:15:28] That was about as active as I was going to get.
[00:15:31] Yeah.
[00:15:31] I did football, basketball.
[00:15:35] Okay.
[00:15:36] Through elementary, middle school years.
[00:15:39] Yeah.
[00:15:39] High school.
[00:15:41] High school.
[00:15:42] That's when my regular activity, well, my school and that too, but I did do stuff, you know, at home.
[00:15:49] Right.
[00:15:49] So for instance, for both of you, if I say I want to help you out with some physical activity
[00:15:56] to guide you throughout, and we're doing squats, push-ups, and pull-ups.
[00:16:03] Right.
[00:16:04] Mm-hmm.
[00:16:06] Yeah, you're laughing, right?
[00:16:08] Yeah.
[00:16:09] Right.
[00:16:10] Who say I'm going to be doing that?
[00:16:13] And when?
[00:16:13] And how?
[00:16:14] I can squat.
[00:16:16] Uh-huh.
[00:16:17] So we could modify it.
[00:16:19] Mm-hmm.
[00:16:20] So to make it functional, for you, my dear, I would tell you, stand up and sit down from
[00:16:27] a chair.
[00:16:28] Mm-hmm.
[00:16:28] Okay.
[00:16:30] Versus for you, sir, young dear sir, I will make you squat.
[00:16:37] I will make you go down.
[00:16:39] I gotta do the hard work.
[00:16:41] Yes.
[00:16:41] I can sit up from a chair too.
[00:16:44] I can make it harder if you sit up from a chair, I will rest weight.
[00:16:48] And I might make you use the weight and bring it up above your head.
[00:16:52] Mm-hmm.
[00:16:53] Right?
[00:16:54] Right, right.
[00:16:54] Same thing with a push-up, for instance.
[00:16:56] My dear, if you have not done a push-up in years, I would not put you on the ground
[00:17:01] to give me a full military push-up.
[00:17:03] Right.
[00:17:04] I would not do you that.
[00:17:06] All right, Margaret.
[00:17:07] You could both be disappointed.
[00:17:08] Correct.
[00:17:10] Versus the wall right behind you, Margaret.
[00:17:13] You can't do a push-up off of the wall.
[00:17:15] Right.
[00:17:15] Byron, sir, you hit the floor.
[00:17:18] And I will make it hard.
[00:17:23] That's what I want to slide to today.
[00:17:26] Everybody looking at the man trying to make your work on it.
[00:17:29] And that's why you...
[00:17:29] No, but okay.
[00:17:30] So for example, Byron, this is, for example, if it is, did you ever had any injuries
[00:17:35] with your arms, legs, any injuries?
[00:17:38] No.
[00:17:38] No, just sprains if you ever had a sprain or anything like that?
[00:17:42] Yeah, any sprains.
[00:17:43] Okay.
[00:17:43] No knee problem or anything.
[00:17:45] But if you did have, for example, wrists broken at some point.
[00:17:51] Right.
[00:17:51] The way I give you a push-up might be different.
[00:17:54] Right.
[00:17:54] Okay.
[00:17:55] But I will still make it challenging for you.
[00:17:57] Right.
[00:17:58] So it's knowing what's going on with the person.
[00:18:00] So we come right back to that.
[00:18:02] You must assess the individual, know what's going on with them before you can give them something to do.
[00:18:08] Right.
[00:18:09] So I'm making it functional and workable for the individual.
[00:18:13] Right.
[00:18:14] And that brings us to the point of wellbeing.
[00:18:19] Right.
[00:18:19] Because when you look at it, it's how can this person feel better inside out?
[00:18:28] Because it's not just about the outside.
[00:18:30] How can this person feel better from the inside out?
[00:18:34] And then now they can exude that feeling and that mindfulness and that mindset to someone else.
[00:18:41] Right.
[00:18:41] So that they too can enjoy having an enhanced wellbeing.
[00:18:47] Right.
[00:18:47] And wellbeing is not just about the physical.
[00:18:50] Right.
[00:18:50] It's about the social.
[00:18:51] And how we come together doing this, you know.
[00:18:54] And the mental.
[00:18:55] It's about for somebody to even decide, because when we, I said, okay, pushups, squats, pull-ups.
[00:19:02] I saw your facial expression change one time.
[00:19:04] I'm like, I don't know what she talking about.
[00:19:09] So the way I battled that was, I gave you the alternatives.
[00:19:14] Right.
[00:19:14] In terms of what would be the modifications.
[00:19:17] The face relax a little bit.
[00:19:19] So your mindset change.
[00:19:20] Right.
[00:19:21] Yeah.
[00:19:21] That's why I talk about mindset as well.
[00:19:24] It's learning what is right for you.
[00:19:27] And most of the times we always come with one kind of consideration.
[00:19:31] We, we have one type of thinking unless somebody influences otherwise.
[00:19:36] Right.
[00:19:36] And the only way we could influence somebody is by teaching what you know.
[00:19:41] Right.
[00:19:42] Right.
[00:19:43] So, so that is what I try to, to relate to my clients, to anybody that I meet.
[00:19:50] When you look at wellbeing is learning about the whole you and being able to help the whole you.
[00:19:57] And it's not only just about physical or social wellbeing or mental wellbeing.
[00:20:03] It's also relating to others.
[00:20:05] So I also like to encourage people to come together, for instance, in retreats, for example, we get to learn each other, learn what's going on with us.
[00:20:16] Yes.
[00:20:17] We're talking online, but you know, come together as a people learn even more.
[00:20:21] Um, say for example, about emotional wellbeing, you know, get the people in to talk about spiritual and emotional wellbeing, because it all ties into who you are.
[00:20:32] And who you would want to beat with everyone else.
[00:20:35] Right.
[00:20:36] Yeah.
[00:20:38] When your clients come to you, do you set up, um, is there a set amount of time and then you check in to see where they are?
[00:20:48] Because I know for me, like you said, you list the things and I'm like, no, thank you.
[00:20:54] But then with modifications, okay, I know I can do that, but eventually I will get to the regular and then I can do more.
[00:21:04] So is there like a timeframe and then you come together?
[00:21:08] So I do have an online business, but I also work as a person, Trina doing one-on-one with persons.
[00:21:15] So it's, it's really interesting when I have persons in front of me versus online.
[00:21:24] It's a trusting thing because again, it's up to the individual, whether it's a person in front of me or online, it's really up to you to make the choice.
[00:21:34] Right.
[00:21:34] Right.
[00:21:35] Right.
[00:21:35] Now, if you pay me money, I hope you make the choice.
[00:21:38] Right.
[00:21:38] But some people will pay the money and still be, you know, deterring.
[00:21:43] Right.
[00:21:43] They don't want to do this.
[00:21:45] Right.
[00:21:45] I know.
[00:21:46] We're not going to judge those people.
[00:21:47] You have to convince me.
[00:21:50] Because I might be those people sometime.
[00:21:52] We're not going to judge them.
[00:21:53] Well, you know, I would think that.
[00:21:54] We have good intentions though.
[00:21:56] I would think that, you know, as long as you're not like, hey, look here, give me 50 more.
[00:22:02] I thought you got 50 more in you, you know.
[00:22:04] I don't know.
[00:22:05] Well, I might even ask for 50.
[00:22:07] I might ask for three.
[00:22:08] Ask for three.
[00:22:09] Okay.
[00:22:09] There was a moment where you seemed to slip into that mode.
[00:22:14] And I don't know if I would want to be in person.
[00:22:19] Well, I did do it a minute ago.
[00:22:22] I did, didn't I?
[00:22:23] I'm sweating myself.
[00:22:24] I don't know.
[00:22:25] I can see her now.
[00:22:26] Get close to the screen.
[00:22:27] Look at him.
[00:22:28] Right.
[00:22:29] Three, two, five more.
[00:22:31] I can see you still.
[00:22:32] I can see you still.
[00:22:35] I always say to my in-person clients.
[00:22:39] So for example, I might be at the gym and I'm training about four different people.
[00:22:43] And they will be like, how is she even seeing me do that?
[00:22:49] I'm like, I can see you.
[00:22:51] I know what you are doing.
[00:22:55] But seriously, what I try to do is my first encounter with my online or in-person clients,
[00:23:04] I try to talk about mindset and relate to that first because I don't want to force anybody into doing anything.
[00:23:14] Right.
[00:23:16] So I try to relate, this is being mindful why you're doing what you're doing.
[00:23:24] Right.
[00:23:25] Somebody might say, well, I just come to the gym because I need to lose weight.
[00:23:29] Versus somebody else might say, I come to the gym because I have diabetes.
[00:23:34] So finding out what is the real root problem for someone is always good.
[00:23:40] And if they don't even realize what it is, I try to bring that out.
[00:23:45] This.
[00:23:46] Right.
[00:23:46] So that we go back to that.
[00:23:48] So even though the goal might be, I want to lose 10 pounds.
[00:23:52] Is it really that we just need to lose 10 pounds or rather, I want to be a healthier person.
[00:23:57] And the outcome will be losing 10 pounds.
[00:24:00] Right.
[00:24:01] Yeah.
[00:24:01] You know, and I have something against scales for all my life being a bodybuilder, being on the scale,
[00:24:09] but also knowing that that is not the only way to measure my performance.
[00:24:15] Right.
[00:24:15] Yeah.
[00:24:15] So changing the mindset again, because a lot of people will run to the scale.
[00:24:21] Right.
[00:24:21] And you want to change that mindset that this is not what we're using as a measurement.
[00:24:26] Right.
[00:24:26] I would use a measurement such as circumferences.
[00:24:30] I may use a measurement of your mood.
[00:24:33] I have a tracker.
[00:24:34] Mm-hmm.
[00:24:35] When you poop, people will be like, why are you looking at my stool?
[00:24:38] Well, it helps me understand what's going on with you inside.
[00:24:42] Right.
[00:24:43] As well as inside.
[00:24:44] And just all wrong symptoms.
[00:24:47] So I have, I brought this out.
[00:24:50] I have like a 20-page, if you can see it.
[00:24:54] If you can't, it's my green screen.
[00:24:57] But I have like a 20-page client intake form.
[00:25:00] Okay.
[00:25:00] And it's everything I'm asking you.
[00:25:03] I'm asking you from your birth to now.
[00:25:06] What's going on with you?
[00:25:08] What your parents have?
[00:25:09] Your health history?
[00:25:11] What are some of your triggers from before?
[00:25:13] What I'm asking you?
[00:25:15] Everything.
[00:25:16] So that now informs me, how can I look at helping?
[00:25:21] What action plan can I create for this individual?
[00:25:24] Wow.
[00:25:25] And sometimes it might be less of gym workout, but rather more so a mindset share.
[00:25:33] Right.
[00:25:34] Right.
[00:25:35] Okay.
[00:25:36] Or learning about your environment and learning about different things you can use to help you if you have high stress levels.
[00:25:43] Right.
[00:25:44] Because yes, exercise does help with stress.
[00:25:48] Right.
[00:25:48] But also deep breathing does.
[00:25:51] Yes.
[00:25:51] And if you don't have the time to come to the gym to do the workout, I'd rather you go deep breathe to get rid of some stress.
[00:25:58] Right.
[00:25:59] Right.
[00:25:59] Right.
[00:25:59] Right.
[00:26:00] So it's learning about the individual, learning about the environment, learning about all the different things that affect this individual.
[00:26:07] Because it's a package.
[00:26:09] The person is an individual, yes, but they have a whole host of different things that affect them why they are at this state right now.
[00:26:18] Right.
[00:26:18] Learning what that is helps a lot to be able to decide, okay, what type of programming I give somebody, the level at which I would give that individual.
[00:26:29] Right.
[00:26:29] When to change it.
[00:26:30] So I may have online, I have a six week program for instance, and persons might say, I did not do half the exercises on here.
[00:26:40] It was too hard for me.
[00:26:42] Michelle, you crazy to be giving me all these squats.
[00:26:45] I did it.
[00:26:46] But what I try to do is modify it.
[00:26:49] Right.
[00:26:50] Because when you give me the intake form information, now I can know, okay, I know I cannot give this person all these boopies.
[00:26:56] So I switched the program up.
[00:26:58] Right.
[00:26:59] Right.
[00:26:59] But eventually we will get there.
[00:27:02] Eventually we will get to the point where you're going to be doing all these squats.
[00:27:05] Because you would have aggressively gotten better.
[00:27:09] I don't get to keep you in the chair.
[00:27:11] You have to look forward to it.
[00:27:11] You have to look forward to it.
[00:27:13] I don't get to keep you in the chair.
[00:27:15] Okay.
[00:27:16] We didn't use a chair, but we just modified even more.
[00:27:19] And we get a little harder.
[00:27:21] A little harder.
[00:27:22] And the more you speak, the more I realize why you are the well-being queen and not just a nutritionist or a personal trainer.
[00:27:32] Because there's so much that goes into it.
[00:27:36] Yes.
[00:27:37] It is.
[00:27:37] It's a multifaceted type of training.
[00:27:41] I call it a lifestyle practitioner.
[00:27:45] Because it's looking at your lifestyle.
[00:27:48] But also looking at how to functionally help you, the individual, in your lifestyle to be better.
[00:27:55] So, for example, right now we have a cleanse going on.
[00:27:59] It's a five to ten day cleanse.
[00:28:01] And I tell you the head nods I get.
[00:28:07] The Michelle, you got to be crazy.
[00:28:11] The what's wrong with you?
[00:28:13] We're not eating enough food.
[00:28:16] Versus by the third day, oh, I quit.
[00:28:20] Versus by the fifth day, this actually worked really good, Michelle.
[00:28:25] I was like, oh, okay.
[00:28:28] And you wanted to quit?
[00:28:29] No?
[00:28:32] Again, I could suggest it, but it's all up to the individual.
[00:28:36] Right.
[00:28:37] It's always up to the individual to do what is necessary for them.
[00:28:41] And it's not like I'm hard and fast.
[00:28:44] I'm not military or anything.
[00:28:45] Some people, if they can't make it through three days of the cleanse, that's okay.
[00:28:52] Don't feel bad.
[00:28:53] This is what your body could tolerate.
[00:28:56] Now, and that's just giving me more signs and understanding of what's going on with you inside.
[00:29:01] You may be having more issues than you think you do.
[00:29:05] Right.
[00:29:06] Right.
[00:29:07] Because sometimes that's what happens.
[00:29:09] Right.
[00:29:09] When I get people on a cleanse.
[00:29:11] It might be that it's more things going on with you and you didn't even know.
[00:29:17] Right.
[00:29:18] Wow.
[00:29:18] Right?
[00:29:19] But we get back into it.
[00:29:20] So I do my cleanse every quarter.
[00:29:22] So I bring the same people back on.
[00:29:24] I'm like, you got to do this cleanse.
[00:29:25] And when they do do it, the five days, they're like, Michelle, this is the best thing I've ever done before.
[00:29:30] I could try the 10 days now.
[00:29:33] Go for it.
[00:29:35] It's really, it's you got to do it to feel the difference.
[00:29:39] Right.
[00:29:40] Right.
[00:29:41] I'm one that I've done the roller coaster.
[00:29:43] I've tried every eating plan, be it a trademarked eating program or just at one point I did, I stopped eating meat and just all types of things.
[00:29:59] But one of my issues was consistency or the lack of consistency.
[00:30:04] But each time I put better things in, I felt better.
[00:30:11] Yes.
[00:30:11] And I would love for that to be enough motivation.
[00:30:15] But for whatever reason, life gets in the way sometimes.
[00:30:19] But usually the summers, I try to reset everything and try to build habits so that coming into the school year, I'm good to go.
[00:30:28] And we'll see how that works this year.
[00:30:30] Yeah.
[00:30:31] Well, I'm a little scared.
[00:30:36] I don't know.
[00:30:39] I'm intrigued.
[00:30:40] I'm intrigued.
[00:30:41] I mean, I'm definitely intrigued because like I said, everything like you, you've talked about all of the pieces.
[00:30:48] And throughout the years, it's bits and pieces that I've taken and done.
[00:30:53] At one point, I was very active at the gym, working out.
[00:30:58] And I felt better, not just physically, but I felt the emotional and mental benefits from it.
[00:31:07] And so I know that that's something I need to start again, not just for the physical, but for the emotional and mental well-being also.
[00:31:17] So all of these things I'm hearing and I'm receiving.
[00:31:23] We're going to see what I do with it.
[00:31:27] Well, what I would say here is, for example, if you were a client of mine, what I would encourage you to do is not only look at it at this level, but look at it at a spiritual level.
[00:31:42] Because your body is a temple of God.
[00:31:46] And that is not to tell you it to fear you, to be in fear, but rather to tell you that you are the temple of God.
[00:31:55] Right.
[00:31:55] And if you're housing God in you, you want to have a good temple for him.
[00:32:04] Right.
[00:32:04] Right.
[00:32:04] Right.
[00:32:05] And whatever we do, it adds up.
[00:32:08] That's a simple thing like you do five minutes of cardio intermittently throughout the day and you do it five times.
[00:32:16] Five times five is 25.
[00:32:18] That's 25 minutes of cardio.
[00:32:20] Right.
[00:32:20] The same thing applies.
[00:32:21] Whatever you do spiritually to help yourself, it helps everything else mentally.
[00:32:30] Right.
[00:32:30] Because your thoughts change.
[00:32:32] And now if your thoughts change and your mindset change, then you'll have a different framework going into the physical.
[00:32:40] Right.
[00:32:41] Right.
[00:32:41] It's not that I'm just doing it for me, but I'm doing it because I am the temple of God.
[00:32:48] Right.
[00:32:49] Right.
[00:32:50] Right.
[00:32:50] So it's a different mindset and it then applies to, okay, what do I eat and how do I eat?
[00:32:58] And there's one saying I always hear, when you learn something, you can't stop learning it because it's already there.
[00:33:07] Right.
[00:33:07] So it's like, okay, well, now I learned, oh, I really shouldn't be eating so much meat.
[00:33:14] Right.
[00:33:16] Versus it.
[00:33:17] Yeah.
[00:33:17] I would say sometimes you do not need to eat meat.
[00:33:20] That's why I put people on a cleanse.
[00:33:22] The week we do in the cleanse, we're not eating meat.
[00:33:24] Right.
[00:33:25] Right.
[00:33:25] But I would not.
[00:33:27] I need you to decide that.
[00:33:29] I wouldn't force you.
[00:33:31] You won't eat meat all the time.
[00:33:33] Right.
[00:33:33] You know what?
[00:33:34] But if you're doing a cleanse, yes, we're not eating meat.
[00:33:37] For my cleanse time, we're not eating meat.
[00:33:39] But that timeframe, you're giving your body a time to reset.
[00:33:43] Right.
[00:33:44] Right.
[00:33:45] Allow for your body to reset.
[00:33:46] Again, the mindset changes.
[00:33:49] Mm-hmm.
[00:33:49] So you see how it all ties in.
[00:33:51] Mm-hmm.
[00:33:52] Yes.
[00:33:53] Right.
[00:33:53] So it ties in.
[00:33:55] If you look at it from that perspective versus a dogmatic way of doing things.
[00:34:01] Right.
[00:34:01] It changes the need to want to do it.
[00:34:04] Mm-hmm.
[00:34:05] Yeah.
[00:34:06] And I like, too, that you're saying, you know, it doesn't have to be these big changes all
[00:34:12] at once.
[00:34:13] Yeah.
[00:34:14] To start small.
[00:34:15] I struggle with that in many areas.
[00:34:18] And we were talking about that earlier.
[00:34:21] So I need, that mindset needs to shift.
[00:34:24] Mm-hmm.
[00:34:25] And I need the value in those small changes and building from that.
[00:34:31] You're trying to reduce stress.
[00:34:33] Because now if we try to stress ourselves all saying, I need to lose 10 pounds in 10 days,
[00:34:39] it ain't going to happen.
[00:34:41] That's me.
[00:34:41] So now it's already unrealistic.
[00:34:44] Right.
[00:34:45] So now you're stressing yourself out even more.
[00:34:47] So you're wasting time.
[00:34:49] Right.
[00:34:49] So you're causing more stress.
[00:34:52] Mm-hmm.
[00:34:52] Versus if I say, I want to feel better.
[00:34:56] I want to reduce bloating.
[00:34:59] I want to be able to sleep good.
[00:35:01] Right.
[00:35:02] Right.
[00:35:02] Then I will go work up.
[00:35:05] Right.
[00:35:05] Because now my cortisol levels will reduce.
[00:35:09] That reduces bloating.
[00:35:10] Now I can go to sleep good in the night and sleep a restful night.
[00:35:14] Mm-hmm.
[00:35:15] So it's learning that it's, don't look at the 10 pounds as the outcome.
[00:35:19] Right.
[00:35:19] Just look at the 10 pounds as a residual.
[00:35:23] Right.
[00:35:24] Right.
[00:35:24] Yeah.
[00:35:24] Seeing everything else.
[00:35:26] Right.
[00:35:27] That makes sense.
[00:35:27] Yeah.
[00:35:28] That makes sense.
[00:35:28] Because I think a lot of times we focus on the results that we want.
[00:35:33] Mm-hmm.
[00:35:34] And the results are the motivation.
[00:35:36] And not necessarily, okay, like you said, if I focus on sleeping better or I focus on,
[00:35:43] you know, losing a few energy.
[00:35:44] Sleeper better.
[00:35:45] Yeah.
[00:35:46] Coming down either way.
[00:35:48] You know.
[00:35:48] Mm-hmm.
[00:35:49] It's just a focus.
[00:35:50] So I think the problem that a lot of people have is when they fall off, it's hard to get
[00:35:55] back up.
[00:35:56] Because it's like.
[00:35:57] Right.
[00:35:57] I mean, I used to go to gym five days a week, went on vacation, and I can't even make it
[00:36:02] but one day, you know.
[00:36:03] Right.
[00:36:05] Well, I just spoke with someone to deal with that situation.
[00:36:08] He said that I was doing it real good, real hard, and five months, and now it's like
[00:36:14] I don't know what to do.
[00:36:17] And again, it goes right back to the mindset.
[00:36:20] Mm-hmm.
[00:36:21] Because then, as we said, if we only look at the results of losing weight, and I'm going
[00:36:25] hard, and I was feeling good then, and then we bring down ourselves because we're not there.
[00:36:32] Yep.
[00:36:32] Yep.
[00:36:32] Then we would not step forward.
[00:36:36] Right.
[00:36:36] Mm-hmm.
[00:36:37] And it's just the same thing with each step, you get better, right?
[00:36:41] So if you make that mindset shift, that's a step right there.
[00:36:46] I want to go back to the gym.
[00:36:48] Right.
[00:36:49] Or I want to eat better.
[00:36:51] Right.
[00:36:52] Then you have the other stage.
[00:36:55] How am I going to do this?
[00:36:56] Do I make this big leap and then say, oh, I'm going back to the gym hard five times?
[00:37:01] Or, yeah, I'm doing this diet, and I'm doing this keto diet, and I'm doing this.
[00:37:06] You might just set yourself back.
[00:37:08] Right.
[00:37:09] Versus if you do it progressively, like, okay, today I am going to take a walk.
[00:37:15] Mm-hmm.
[00:37:16] This week I'm going to try to do as many different little activities I could do around my house,
[00:37:21] whether I'm gardening, whether I'm going outside and walking with the kids or walk the dog outside,
[00:37:26] or I just want to go in the park and sit.
[00:37:30] Sometimes just sitting down in nature alone can help you de-stress.
[00:37:34] Yes.
[00:37:35] It might seem really simple, but it works wonders.
[00:37:40] Right.
[00:37:40] Some of the simpler things.
[00:37:41] That now changes your mind, and you feel more comfortable and more relaxed.
[00:37:46] Then you go to the other step of, okay, this next week I am going to do a workout.
[00:37:52] I'm going to work out at least twice for the week.
[00:37:54] I am going to incorporate those functional movements of squats, push-ups, and pull-ups.
[00:38:00] Yeah.
[00:38:01] Get it done.
[00:38:04] All right, I'm going to do at least two sets of 10, and you know, you just start right there.
[00:38:09] Right.
[00:38:11] Then you follow the next week or the two weeks later, you say, oh, I think I could do more than this now.
[00:38:17] Versus just trying to jump from, I wasn't going to the gym to going high.
[00:38:22] You're going to fall off again.
[00:38:23] Right.
[00:38:24] Right.
[00:38:25] That's another issue of mine.
[00:38:28] I don't know what it is about me and baby steps, but I don't believe in them.
[00:38:33] Hey, guess what?
[00:38:35] It's baby steps the week that's come on too, eh?
[00:38:37] It doesn't look like that.
[00:38:38] Right.
[00:38:39] But it's baby steps that come on.
[00:38:41] I don't know what it is.
[00:38:41] I feel like it.
[00:38:42] But that's something that, like I said, in every area of life that I need to work on.
[00:38:48] And I keep getting that same message in different forms for different things.
[00:38:54] So I hear it.
[00:38:56] I receive it.
[00:38:57] The only thing is, I've said it before.
[00:39:00] I was saying it's different places.
[00:39:01] She didn't want to receive it when I said it.
[00:39:03] I was like, look, as long as you're doing a little bit.
[00:39:06] One of the places.
[00:39:07] As long as you're doing a little bit, that's better than nothing at all.
[00:39:09] She was like, that don't make sense to me.
[00:39:11] I don't know.
[00:39:12] I'm just telling you.
[00:39:13] A little bit is a day or two.
[00:39:16] Can you build yourself up?
[00:39:18] I said, I think I say different places.
[00:39:20] She was one of them.
[00:39:22] She ready to go from straight off the couch to five miles.
[00:39:30] Oh, by the time she reached half the miles, she was really like,
[00:39:32] I keep that in my heart.
[00:39:34] That ain't going to happen.
[00:39:36] And that, now there have been, and I guess because,
[00:39:40] so I used to smoke.
[00:39:43] I used to smoke cigarettes.
[00:39:44] And when I wanted to quit, I just quit.
[00:39:48] Right.
[00:39:49] So in my brain, I guess I'm trying to transfer that.
[00:39:54] But it doesn't work that way.
[00:39:56] Right.
[00:39:57] It doesn't work that way.
[00:39:58] Well, I thank God you did that.
[00:40:01] Because I've known a lot of people who just quit and that's it.
[00:40:05] Thank God.
[00:40:07] Because it's very hard to quit.
[00:40:10] Right.
[00:40:10] I know it's.
[00:40:11] I've never smoked before, but I know it's very hard to quit.
[00:40:14] Right.
[00:40:15] To struggle.
[00:40:16] And I've done it more than once.
[00:40:17] So that's there again.
[00:40:18] I just feel like I should be able to do this.
[00:40:23] But I'm hearing, I'm hearing, I'm receiving, and I know that things need to be done differently
[00:40:29] because I'm not pleased with the outcome.
[00:40:34] Well, I'm glad you're not pleased.
[00:40:36] So you're realizing, that's the first step right there.
[00:40:38] You're realizing that something needs to change.
[00:40:41] Mm-hmm.
[00:40:42] So moving forward is learning that, okay, I tried so many different things before, it didn't work.
[00:40:50] I maybe need help.
[00:40:52] Right.
[00:40:54] So I would say this, being in the fitness field for most of my life, everybody out there,
[00:41:02] there's so much information out there.
[00:41:04] Mm-hmm.
[00:41:05] There is so much information out there.
[00:41:06] You learn so much from different people out there.
[00:41:10] You see so many different trainers and there's everything.
[00:41:14] You could go on Instagram and you'd find a workout.
[00:41:17] Mm-hmm.
[00:41:17] But is it right for you?
[00:41:19] Right.
[00:41:19] You would find a diet, but is it right for you?
[00:41:23] Right.
[00:41:24] We have to come full circle back to what's going on with you, with your triggers, what's
[00:41:30] going on with you in your household, what's going on with you in your environment, what's
[00:41:35] going on with you internally, with your organs, for instance.
[00:41:40] Right.
[00:41:41] Realizing that, hey, yeah, I don't think I'm supposed to be doing rowing right now because
[00:41:47] I have a rotator cuff problem.
[00:41:49] Right.
[00:41:49] Right.
[00:41:50] Right.
[00:41:50] Or a past injury.
[00:41:52] You know what I mean?
[00:41:54] And I never really got that resolved.
[00:41:57] Right.
[00:41:57] So I'm just using an example.
[00:41:59] So it's learning what's going on with you.
[00:42:01] You might need guidance there.
[00:42:03] Mm-hmm.
[00:42:04] And sometimes it just might be a few things that you need guidance on because, as I said,
[00:42:09] there's a lot of information out there.
[00:42:12] But you need to know what is right for you.
[00:42:14] Right.
[00:42:14] You need to track you.
[00:42:15] What has been going on with you?
[00:42:17] Oh, I've been bloated this time of the month.
[00:42:19] This time of the month.
[00:42:20] I don't know what's going on.
[00:42:21] My mood swings at this time of the month.
[00:42:23] I've craven this, this time of the month.
[00:42:25] But I'm not supposed to see my period already in perimenopause.
[00:42:28] What's going on?
[00:42:29] Or I'm having hot flashes going on right now.
[00:42:33] Mm-hmm.
[00:42:34] But if you don't track that, you can't fix that.
[00:42:38] Okay.
[00:42:39] Okay.
[00:42:40] You understand?
[00:42:41] So it's the same concept with fitness, with anything, your nutrition, with life.
[00:42:48] You got to track it.
[00:42:49] Right.
[00:42:50] Right.
[00:42:51] Right.
[00:42:51] And, you know, just understanding, well, why it is these things are happening now and how
[00:42:57] can I get help for it?
[00:42:59] Most of the times, if we have a marriage health issue, right?
[00:43:02] If you have something that's going on between you and Byron, when they say go get counseling,
[00:43:08] go get, go to the pastor, go up.
[00:43:10] They're there to help you.
[00:43:12] Now, we can go Google and listen to all the coaches out there, which is good.
[00:43:16] You will get some good information.
[00:43:18] Right.
[00:43:18] But then you need to figure out, if you go to this pastor that you're trusting and you're
[00:43:25] sharing more personal information.
[00:43:28] Right.
[00:43:28] Right.
[00:43:29] Then they will be able to help you and direct you.
[00:43:32] Right.
[00:43:33] And that doesn't mean the information you're learning from the coaches online, on Instagram
[00:43:39] or Facebook saying anything bad, but what is specific to you?
[00:43:45] Right.
[00:43:46] That's the difference.
[00:43:47] And a lot of people just think, you know, well, okay, it's not too much information out
[00:43:52] there for fitness.
[00:43:53] I can go just Google.
[00:43:55] And no, don't get me wrong.
[00:43:57] The belly teas and them, the people drinking, it working, you know, it working and getting
[00:44:01] the belly down.
[00:44:02] But you come back to me next 10, 15 years and tell me what's going on with you inside.
[00:44:07] Right.
[00:44:07] Do you have, have you been getting enough nutrition in you?
[00:44:10] Are you getting your micronutrients?
[00:44:12] Are you getting the right amount of vitamins?
[00:44:14] Are you getting the right amount of polythenos?
[00:44:16] Why does you all of a sudden have cancer?
[00:44:18] How come you have gastric problems right now?
[00:44:22] You know, why are you having IBS in your fifties and you never had it before?
[00:44:27] Yeah.
[00:44:28] But the tea work to get the belly down.
[00:44:30] Right.
[00:44:31] Right.
[00:44:31] Right.
[00:44:32] Right.
[00:44:32] Right.
[00:44:33] Most of the times, again, we look at the outside, but we're not looking at what's going on inside.
[00:44:37] Right.
[00:44:38] Right.
[00:44:38] I have nothing against the teas.
[00:44:40] As a matter of fact, we use teas in my cleanse, but I don't go there first.
[00:44:44] I need you to eat.
[00:44:45] If you're not eating, then you're not going to figure out what's going on with you.
[00:44:50] Right.
[00:44:50] Most of the times my clients have come to me in the gym, I'm like, you do not come to my training without eating because you will pass out.
[00:44:58] And every time I say it, every time I had somebody vomiting, pass out, stomach upset, because you're not eating.
[00:45:05] Right.
[00:45:05] If you can just eat first so we can know what's going on with you.
[00:45:09] Yes.
[00:45:10] And we could help you further on.
[00:45:12] Okay.
[00:45:13] Okay.
[00:45:13] So it's just really understanding yourself.
[00:45:16] It's the same thing.
[00:45:17] You know, if you look at any aspect of life is understanding you, what's going on with you in the environment in which you're in so that now you can help yourself and help the ones around you.
[00:45:30] Right.
[00:45:31] Because if you're better and you're positive, obviously your partner, everybody else in the house would be positive and we won't have stomping of feet and quarreling.
[00:45:41] Right.
[00:45:41] Right.
[00:45:42] Or we won't act up because we're, we're hangry.
[00:45:45] Yeah.
[00:45:46] Yeah.
[00:45:47] Because we're starving ourselves.
[00:45:48] Yeah.
[00:45:49] Yeah.
[00:45:50] So it's, it's, it is a holistic approach that I try to use.
[00:45:55] And it's more so from even just learning for myself.
[00:46:01] Right.
[00:46:01] I have had coaches.
[00:46:02] They have taught me a lot as an athlete.
[00:46:05] I have been a bodybuilding athlete since 2002.
[00:46:09] Went to Arnold's.
[00:46:11] If you ever heard of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
[00:46:13] So he has a competition that normally we have amateur Arnold's and I represented my country,
[00:46:20] placed fifth in my class.
[00:46:22] And once I won twice, I won in my class.
[00:46:26] It's a lifestyle.
[00:46:28] I couldn't win that if I didn't do a whole host of different things.
[00:46:33] Right.
[00:46:34] All the years coming up.
[00:46:35] Right.
[00:46:36] Right.
[00:46:36] Exactly.
[00:46:37] Given being and having endometriosis, always in pain.
[00:46:42] And knowing that my hormones was out the wazoo going crazy.
[00:46:48] Right.
[00:46:48] Learning.
[00:46:49] I had to learn my body.
[00:46:51] I had to learn what was going on with me all these years.
[00:46:54] Even the big coaches out there that I was paying big bucks for, they didn't know what
[00:46:58] was going on.
[00:46:59] Right.
[00:46:59] I had to figure it out.
[00:47:01] Yeah.
[00:47:02] Right.
[00:47:03] But it doesn't mean anything.
[00:47:05] I'm not discrediting the coaches, but you have to know what's going on with you to get help.
[00:47:11] Right.
[00:47:11] Right.
[00:47:12] Right.
[00:47:13] I took that time to figure that out.
[00:47:15] Most people wouldn't take that time.
[00:47:17] Yeah.
[00:47:18] They might need the help to figure that out.
[00:47:21] Right.
[00:47:21] And that's why I'm stepping in.
[00:47:22] Right.
[00:47:23] For most ladies, for example.
[00:47:24] Yeah.
[00:47:25] I think a lot of times when, you know, y'all, I'm not saying y'all women in a negative
[00:47:30] light, but when women are talking to their friends and their friends, girl, I took this
[00:47:37] product and girl, I'm all such and such.
[00:47:40] Well, girl, we ain't doing that for me.
[00:47:41] And then y'all, you know, so I think that everybody thinks, well, if it helped her, I
[00:47:45] know it'll help me.
[00:47:46] Right.
[00:47:47] Nope.
[00:47:49] I'm not as fat as her.
[00:47:50] You know what I'm saying?
[00:47:51] You know what I'm saying?
[00:47:53] That'll be the thought process.
[00:47:55] And then when it doesn't work, it's like, well, where are my results?
[00:47:58] Why it didn't work for me?
[00:47:59] Right.
[00:48:00] Right.
[00:48:00] Yeah.
[00:48:00] You know, everything works for each individual in their life, but you have to know your body.
[00:48:07] You have to know your lifestyle, what you eat.
[00:48:10] You have to know how your rest pattern, all of that comes into play.
[00:48:15] And that makes a lot of sense now.
[00:48:17] Right.
[00:48:18] Yeah.
[00:48:19] So you could live, Margaret.
[00:48:22] You can live in perimenopause without having problems.
[00:48:28] Guess what?
[00:48:28] This stage not going anywhere.
[00:48:30] That's just what it is.
[00:48:31] We have four stages of menopause.
[00:48:33] Perimenopause is one of them.
[00:48:35] Menopause is one of them.
[00:48:37] That's just what it is.
[00:48:38] But it's learning how to live balancing your life in this stage.
[00:48:45] And the balance required requires not just about what you eat and how you exercise, but more of a holistic approach.
[00:48:54] Your lifestyle.
[00:48:55] It's a lifestyle.
[00:48:57] The whole you becoming the well you.
[00:49:00] I'm going to ask you another question before we wrap it up.
[00:49:04] But so for me, I had a hysterectomy in early 30s.
[00:49:12] The my thinking had always been menopause.
[00:49:15] You'll know when you're in menopause because you don't have your period anymore.
[00:49:18] So for those of us who have had a hysterectomy early, what are some things that I need to look for to know that I've made it from perimenopause and I'm moving into menopause?
[00:49:33] Well, newsflash.
[00:49:36] You've already been there.
[00:49:38] Okay, then check.
[00:49:40] I'm done.
[00:49:43] So most women, when you have a hysterectomy, they always put you on hormone pills.
[00:49:48] Not so?
[00:49:48] So they left.
[00:49:50] It's a partial hysterectomy.
[00:49:52] Okay.
[00:49:52] I still have my, and I still, it produces hormones.
[00:49:57] Yes.
[00:49:58] Yes.
[00:49:59] However, it's not working to full capacity.
[00:50:02] Right.
[00:50:02] Because you're not having a period, but you're still having your cycle.
[00:50:07] It's still, right.
[00:50:08] So technically you are probably in perimenopause because if you still could feel that cycle, so now you have to think through it.
[00:50:19] If I'm still having the cycle, I'm technically in perimenopause.
[00:50:24] The only way one is in full menopause is one full year of not seeing your period.
[00:50:32] Okay.
[00:50:33] So now the concept of having a hysterectomy blurs that.
[00:50:40] Right.
[00:50:40] Because you're not sure.
[00:50:42] Right.
[00:50:43] So what happens to some ladies, by the time they have the hysterectomy, months later, they're having hot flashes.
[00:50:50] Or they might have mood swings.
[00:50:53] For me, I was the total opposite.
[00:50:57] I have cold.
[00:50:59] I don't get hot flashes.
[00:51:02] I get cold flashes because I've been anemic.
[00:51:05] Being with endometriosis, I was an anemic before.
[00:51:08] So I'm always cold.
[00:51:10] And I never see a hot flash in my life.
[00:51:12] I wish I could.
[00:51:13] But everybody's symptoms vary.
[00:51:17] And then time frame varies too.
[00:51:20] So that's why some people, if they've had a hysterectomy in their 30s, sometimes it brings on the onset of perimenopause phase.
[00:51:32] And it may last longer.
[00:51:35] Okay.
[00:51:37] So it's learning now, okay, while I'm living in this phase, and I may not know when I'm in menopause.
[00:51:46] Because actually some ladies who are in menopause still have these different symptoms showing up.
[00:51:52] Because it's a hormonal imbalance.
[00:51:56] Right.
[00:51:57] So learning how to control that hormone imbalance is what's important.
[00:52:02] Okay.
[00:52:02] Some people end up having thyroid problems.
[00:52:05] That's a hormone thing.
[00:52:06] Some people get diabetes all of a sudden.
[00:52:08] That's a hormone thing.
[00:52:10] Because of insulin levels.
[00:52:12] All right?
[00:52:13] Some people might be always bloated.
[00:52:17] It's a hormone thing.
[00:52:19] Because of estrogen levels.
[00:52:21] Estrogen less.
[00:52:23] So it's just learning that, okay, I am in this stage.
[00:52:27] How can I help myself feel better during this stage?
[00:52:33] Because of the hysterectomy, you don't know when that stage is actually going to end to be in menopause.
[00:52:39] Right.
[00:52:40] Okay.
[00:52:41] That's interesting.
[00:52:42] And there was someone else that we had spoken with, but I know now when I go get my annual checkup in July, I need to ask for blood work for all of my levels.
[00:52:53] For level.
[00:52:54] Okay.
[00:52:55] Yeah.
[00:52:56] It does help.
[00:52:57] Because you want to make sure that if you know what's going on periodically, get the blood work.
[00:53:03] But sometimes you don't even need the blood work.
[00:53:05] A simple thing like knowing digestive issues.
[00:53:11] If you're having acid reflux.
[00:53:14] So this week, I'm going to start talking about gut health and perimenopause.
[00:53:18] So for instance, if it is you always have an acid reflux, you're always feeling bloated, you constipated, or the opposite diarrhea.
[00:53:28] Most of the times, digestive issues show up during perimenopause.
[00:53:31] And knowing that there are certain foods that can interfere with the health of your gut.
[00:53:39] And knowing what is your non-negotiable, some of the things that you shouldn't be eating, helps for you to control that.
[00:53:48] Because if your gut is inflamed, if your stomach acids are going in different places where it shouldn't be, that is.
[00:53:57] So in your GI tract, each section has a certain pH level of acidity.
[00:54:03] So if it is in the stomach, suppose it's the most acidic area.
[00:54:07] But if above that, you're esophagus and you're always feeling heartburn, people call it heartburn.
[00:54:12] Then that's a problem.
[00:54:14] Versus going down, if it is you're not digesting your food properly, so your liver is not being able to detoxify your body and strip away what is the necessary nutrients that you need.
[00:54:25] If your body cannot absorb the right nutrients or it can't break down the right nutrients, then you're going to have gut issues as well.
[00:54:34] But it might start to go upstream.
[00:54:36] So now if you have the wrong, if you can't get the food to break down the right way and it's passing through your lining of your small intestines where that's where your food actually goes through the bloodstream.
[00:54:50] If it is, it's not broken down in the right way.
[00:54:53] It's an invader.
[00:54:55] And your body is telling you, this is an invader.
[00:54:59] I don't think it should be in here.
[00:55:01] It's like on alert.
[00:55:02] And then it goes towards it.
[00:55:04] Think of if you get a cut.
[00:55:06] The first thing that happens to the cut is it swells up and turns red.
[00:55:10] That's what's happening inside your body if the food hasn't broken down properly.
[00:55:15] So it's in the wrong component level.
[00:55:18] In your bloodstream, your blood, your T cells are attacking it because it's an invader.
[00:55:25] It's the wrong thing in your system.
[00:55:26] Hence the reason why most of the times one of the root cause of a lot of people's problem is some type of inflammatory disease.
[00:55:35] But it's autoimmune.
[00:55:37] You can call it rheumatoid arthritis, any type of arthritis, for instance.
[00:55:42] Or they say that Alzheimer's, that's an inflammatory disease.
[00:55:50] It's autoimmune.
[00:55:51] All right.
[00:55:52] So it's learning that the organs are going to get attacked.
[00:55:58] If you're not getting nutrients, it's going to be deficient.
[00:56:05] So your organs cannot work.
[00:56:06] If the nutrients going in and it's the wrong, broken down food, it's being attacked.
[00:56:12] Inflammation is going to happen no matter what.
[00:56:15] So knowing that this is happening to your body, that then speaks to what's going on with you.
[00:56:21] Whether you're in perimenopause, menopause, whatever stage you're in.
[00:56:26] Right.
[00:56:26] Right.
[00:56:27] Right?
[00:56:28] So it's being able to understand that what we put inside of us.
[00:56:33] So if you're having that issue, what do I eat to help that issue?
[00:56:38] To help qualify you.
[00:56:42] In the same time, your lifestyle, you need to be physical.
[00:56:46] Because physical activity helps detoxify your body too because you're sweating.
[00:56:51] Right.
[00:56:51] Coming off the skin.
[00:56:52] So it's just learning that they all work together to help you.
[00:56:56] And if you, whether you're in perimenopause, menopause, which post-menopause, knowing that
[00:57:03] you need to be balanced in your lifestyle, it helps you change what's going on inside
[00:57:08] out.
[00:57:09] Okay.
[00:57:10] So the blood work you needed, yes, it helps.
[00:57:14] It does help.
[00:57:15] But just how you feel, that's one of my trackers, your mood.
[00:57:21] What's going on today?
[00:57:23] And every day we're tracking for 30 days what's going on.
[00:57:26] And we do that all the time.
[00:57:27] We check your poop.
[00:57:28] The color of your poop determines what's going on inside of you.
[00:57:34] This form of your poop could tell you what's going on inside of you.
[00:57:39] If you're deficient in certain things.
[00:57:41] The lack of one.
[00:57:43] Yes, ma'am.
[00:57:45] Yes, lack of two.
[00:57:46] Right.
[00:57:47] Because then it's telling me that, oh, your colon is backed up.
[00:57:50] That means you have toxins inside your body.
[00:57:53] So now you're creating more of a terrible environment inside.
[00:57:56] Right.
[00:57:57] It causes more problems for the other organs of your body.
[00:58:01] Right.
[00:58:02] So.
[00:58:03] Yeah, a lot of work.
[00:58:04] It's a lot of things put together.
[00:58:07] Right.
[00:58:07] But I tell people this to fear that what I try to tell, I tell them this because it's not
[00:58:11] just giving somebody a protocol to do.
[00:58:15] Right.
[00:58:16] Right.
[00:58:16] Right.
[00:58:16] It's not just going on Instagram and doing what they say to do.
[00:58:20] Right.
[00:58:21] You need to find out what's going on with you first.
[00:58:24] Right.
[00:58:24] That individualistic thing.
[00:58:26] Right.
[00:58:26] That makes a lot of sense.
[00:58:28] It does.
[00:58:29] That makes a lot of sense.
[00:58:31] Yeah.
[00:58:32] You have just given us some great information.
[00:58:36] Stepped on my toes a little bit, but it's okay.
[00:58:38] Toes hurt.
[00:58:40] I'm a man of my toes hurt.
[00:58:42] I want to see the call me out.
[00:58:44] It's okay.
[00:58:44] I'm good.
[00:58:45] It's okay.
[00:58:47] It's okay.
[00:58:47] Well, I am happy to share information because it's important for us to know, yes.
[00:58:56] Right.
[00:58:56] But it's also important for us to consider how does this affect me?
[00:59:01] Right.
[00:59:02] Right.
[00:59:03] And how can I help myself be better?
[00:59:06] Mm-hmm.
[00:59:07] Because you want to do something to help yourself to be better for the others around you.
[00:59:13] Right.
[00:59:14] You're right.
[00:59:15] Yes, that's true.
[00:59:16] Right.
[00:59:16] He was telling me as I was coming up to 50, I struggled.
[00:59:20] And the closer I got, I was having little breakdowns.
[00:59:24] Mm-hmm.
[00:59:24] And he would hit me one day because I've always told him, I said, we're going to live to be 100 and 101.
[00:59:29] Mm-hmm.
[00:59:30] We're going to ride out together.
[00:59:32] Mm-hmm.
[00:59:32] Good.
[00:59:33] How are we going to get to 100 if you don't want to get past 50?
[00:59:37] Yeah.
[00:59:40] You're right.
[00:59:41] Yeah.
[00:59:41] And get past 50.
[00:59:42] So, and I want the quality of life as well as the quantity.
[00:59:47] So, I know that there are some changes that need to be made.
[00:59:52] Well, if you want that in your heart, then you start to think that.
[00:59:57] Right.
[00:59:58] Right.
[00:59:58] Right.
[00:59:59] And it's good that you guys talk about it because now you can help her, Byron, you know, encourage her, which you're doing.
[01:00:10] And, you know, you set the goal.
[01:00:12] You set 101.
[01:00:14] Right.
[01:00:14] You're the one.
[01:00:15] Margaret set the goal.
[01:00:16] I did.
[01:00:16] I did.
[01:00:17] Just going along with you.
[01:00:19] Right.
[01:00:20] Right.
[01:00:20] That's right.
[01:00:22] Right.
[01:00:22] So, you know, and that means, you know, taking control of what's going on with you.
[01:00:28] Right.
[01:00:29] And as you said, oh, you did quit.
[01:00:33] You did quit.
[01:00:34] You took control of that.
[01:00:35] But you may need help to take control of the other parts.
[01:00:38] And that's okay.
[01:00:39] Sometimes we have to humble ourselves to get the goals that we want to attain.
[01:00:44] Right.
[01:00:45] Right.
[01:00:45] Right.
[01:00:46] Right.
[01:00:46] So, yeah.
[01:00:48] All right.
[01:00:49] That is powerful.
[01:00:51] I'm so grateful.
[01:00:54] Thank you.
[01:00:54] Miss Wellness Queen.
[01:00:56] Miss.
[01:00:56] Sorry.
[01:00:57] Wellbeing Queen.
[01:00:58] Wellbeing.
[01:00:59] Uh-huh.
[01:00:59] I want to call you.
[01:01:00] Sorry.
[01:01:01] So, for our listeners.
[01:01:04] Well, let me say this.
[01:01:06] You have, you know, some great amount of information that I needed.
[01:01:11] I need to hear everything you said.
[01:01:13] And, you know, so I know it's going to help me.
[01:01:17] For our listeners who are listening.
[01:01:19] Um, how can they contact you if they want to get more information from you?
[01:01:25] Um, maybe set up a session.
[01:01:27] Become a, become client.
[01:01:29] Uh, how can they get in contact with you?
[01:01:31] Well, uh, if you look behind me, you see that little yellow and green butterfly?
[01:01:37] It says FXWB.
[01:01:39] Oh.
[01:01:40] You can go on Google or Apple Store and download my app.
[01:01:44] Oh.
[01:01:45] Okay.
[01:01:45] You got an app.
[01:01:46] Yeah.
[01:01:47] Oh.
[01:01:47] I have an app.
[01:01:48] All right.
[01:01:51] What's the new one for?
[01:01:52] You can also find me on, um, so the same app, you can use the website, um, information.
[01:02:01] HT, I normally type it H-S-T-T-P-S.
[01:02:06] Yes.
[01:02:09] FXWB.passion.io.
[01:02:11] Okay.
[01:02:11] I think you should be able to see that behind me somewhere.
[01:02:14] Um, you can also find me on Facebook as Functional Wellbeing by Michelle.
[01:02:21] That's my Facebook page.
[01:02:24] Mm-hmm.
[01:02:26] Instagram.
[01:02:27] It's at Functional Wellbeing LLC.
[01:02:32] Okay.
[01:02:32] Yes.
[01:02:33] And YouTube is also that Functional Wellbeing LLC.
[01:02:38] Awesome.
[01:02:39] Yeah.
[01:02:40] On YouTube, I, every Monday.
[01:02:41] So if you want to check out this month, every Monday, I have a workout.
[01:02:46] I do like a 10 to 15 minute workout in my kitchen.
[01:02:50] Okay.
[01:02:51] And I do a workout for everybody.
[01:02:52] You can do at home.
[01:02:54] Okay.
[01:02:54] So it's, I try to share as much information with others so that they can learn about helping
[01:03:02] themselves to live better.
[01:03:04] Yeah.
[01:03:05] Well, thank you so much.
[01:03:06] Yes.
[01:03:07] Thank you so much.
[01:03:08] Thank you for sharing the information.
[01:03:11] Um, thank you for letting me know that baby steps are okay.
[01:03:16] Yeah.
[01:03:16] And he said it and now I can believe him.
[01:03:19] Yeah.
[01:03:21] I know.
[01:03:22] Because somebody else had to say it.
[01:03:23] Because somebody else, that's right.
[01:03:25] It's, it's cement.
[01:03:26] That's right.
[01:03:27] That's right.
[01:03:28] We appreciate your time though.
[01:03:31] I appreciate my opportunity to be on your platform and thank you so much for this opportunity
[01:03:39] to share how we can live better.
[01:03:42] Baby steps do work.
[01:03:45] Yes.
[01:03:45] I've got it now.
[01:03:47] I've heard it enough.
[01:03:48] I've got it now.
[01:03:49] And you know what?
[01:03:50] I'm going to have to keep you updated on my baby steps.
[01:03:57] Well, this is the thing.
[01:03:59] Once I meet someone, I'm always connected with you now.
[01:04:04] So you might see me up in your DM.
[01:04:07] I'm trying to find out if you're doing okay.
[01:04:10] And I definitely will need something good to tell you.
[01:04:15] Well, right.
[01:04:17] It's all.
[01:04:17] No.
[01:04:18] It's accountability.
[01:04:20] I'm going to.
[01:04:20] I'm going to pull you into it too.
[01:04:22] Oh, yeah.
[01:04:23] Byron, you not left out.
[01:04:25] That's right.
[01:04:27] So thank you again.
[01:04:29] We appreciate your time.
[01:04:32] You're welcome.
[01:04:33] Thank you so much guys for having me on here.
[01:04:36] Thank you.
[01:04:37] Thanks for joining us on this episode of the Beyond I Do podcast.
[01:04:51] Please make sure to like this episode and also subscribe to our podcast.
[01:04:56] You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at the Beyond I Do podcast.
[01:05:03] And until next time, we will holler at y'all.
[01:05:07] Bye.