I'm Hormonal | PCOS, periods, gut + hormone health insights

Building Habits for Hormone & Gut Health Success | Ep. 73

• Bridget Walton, Women's Hormone Coach • Episode 73

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This episode focuses on the mindset, planning, and practical strategies needed to achieve hormone health goals while addressing common obstacles and promoting habit formation. Listeners will discover how to set realistic goals, incorporate accountability, and implement practical changes for better hormone health.

• Exploring the importance of mindset and motivation for health goals
• Identifying and addressing potential obstacles to progress
• Strategies for habit stacking and automating new routines
• The role of accountability and community in achieving goals
• Understanding personal motivations and subconscious blocks
• Encouragement to take imperfect actions towards goals
• Specific hormone health goals addressing PMS, irregular cycles, and bloating 
• Tips for managing heavy periods and tracking ovulation
• A motivational call to take charge of one's health journey

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to I'm Hormonal, your source of information about women's hormone health and how to support your body. Naturally, I'm your host, bridget Walton, and I'm a certified functional hormone specialist and menstrual cycle coach. I am on a mission to hold these hormone conversations with as many menstruators as possible because you deserve easier access to accurate information about what's up with your unruly menstrual cycle and with your fertility mysteries. Don't you think it's time that we figure this out once and for all? Hey, out there, welcome, welcome, welcome to today's episode of I'm Hormonal. This is episode number 72. I'm your host, bridget Walton. I'm so grateful that you're here listening. If this is your first time listening to the podcast, then I'm so glad that you found me.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes I do episodes, like I will today, where it's just me talking to you. I do episodes like I will today, where it's just me talking to you, just a solo episode, and other times I will have somebody else on an interview or have a conversation with another professional in the space. But today, solo episode, I'm going to be talking to you about kind of the mindset and what is needed from the perspective, motivation, planning side of things when it comes to whatever your hormone health goals are, whatever your gut health goals are, of course it is the start of a new year. Right now you might be somebody who has set a new year's resolution, or, if that's not you, you might be somebody who perhaps has a health-related goal. Maybe that's why you're listening to the podcast today. So, anyway, what I'm going to cover today is well part of my learned experience as a human being on planet Earth who has goals, but also I have a front row seat to what obstacles can come up when my clients are trying to implement new or different changes that we walk through with our hormones. So hopefully I'll be able to translate to you what some of those obstacles are, so that you can well navigate around them or safely over through them. As always, the information that I share with you today is for educational purposes only, should not be used as a replacement for any sort of medical diagnosis or advice or other one-on-one support from a certified practitioner. But, that being said, if you are in the market for one-on-one support, if you are in the market for one-on-one support, if you are looking for that extra layer of accountability and expertise, then I would love for you to take me up on my offer for the free consult calls that I have, you can check out a link in the show notes to pick a time for our call. Or if you're on Instagram and you want to connect with me there which, even if you're not ready for a console call, I would still love to connect with you on Instagram you can find me at Bridget Walton and shoot me a DM. We'll pick a time to chat.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so when I'm working with a client and we've identified a couple of changes that we want to make, let's just say their goal for the week is to incorporate one new food, or let's say it's a fermented food. Their other goal is to incorporate apple cider vinegar ahead of one meal a day. Let's just go with that, for example's sake. What is so important is to really think through the like how is this going to happen? How am I going to actually make this happen? It's easy to say, oh, I'm just going to drink. You know my apple cider vinegar drink beforehand. But in real life, what you actually need to do when you're forming a new habit is to say, okay, bridget, well, do I have apple cider vinegar? If not, where do I get it and when am I going to get it? Am I going to put that on my grocery list? I should probably do that right now. Or is it saying okay, well, maybe what I need to do is keep my apple cider vinegar on the table or on the counter so that it's really easy for me to reach. You know that if it's right there in front of you, then it's going to be a lot easier to remember and just like more convenient, not to say that we need to keep everything on our counters by any means. But you see where I'm going with this too.

Speaker 1:

The same can be said for supplements, right? If you maybe you're a girly who is not consistent about taking supplements, or at least you haven't been consistent about it so far Well, how can you automate supplements? How can you put it in your lunchbox when you go to work so that you there's no way you can miss it. It's in there with your food. Or maybe it's a supplement that you need to take after you eat food. So when you leave for your lunch break, you put your supplement on your keyboard, so that when you get back to your computer after lunch, it's right there. You can't start working without it.

Speaker 1:

Now, those are just a couple of examples, and I'll give you a couple more just to really hammer home the point that, thinking through, how exactly am I going to do this Like? What exactly is this new thing going to look like for me? So maybe one of your goals is to move your body a little bit more this year. Good for your hormones, good for so many facets of health. You probably already know that, but let's think about that. If your goal is to move your body more well, let's be more specific about that. Is your goal to? Maybe you're going to start using ClassPass or pick a specific studio that you want to go to and you will go three times a week.

Speaker 1:

Well, who's going to do? Is there a childcare picture that needs to be kind of solved? Is there? What are you going to do about meals? Right, if you want to go right after work, do you need to bring a snack so that you can go right from work to your workout and not be famished? And then maybe will that require you to pack your bag the night before and pack all of your clothes, because then, when you get up in the morning, you've got it, it's ready to go, it's sitting by the door for you, and that's not another potential thing that could hold you back from accomplishing your goal? Also, love and accountability, buddy, right, do you have a friend who can help you accomplish your goal? Or even just verbalizing, maybe, to your partner, to your kiddos, to your best friend at work who you're always going for a midday walk with, verbalizing to them exactly what your goal is? That will make you so much more likely to accomplish your goal. So I hope that was helpful. Or, you know, maybe probably you have a different goal than the ones I just mentioned. Maybe you want to pause me real quick so you can think about okay, as it relates to your goal again, how exactly are you going to do this thing? That might seem very simple, and it is simple, but it's new to you. So you want to make sure that you are removing or mitigating as many potential obstacles as you can so that you're making it as easy as possible to accomplish your goal.

Speaker 1:

Now another thing, and I kind of mentioned this maybe you've heard the term habit stacking before. I think this is just a really clutch move when it comes to trying to remember to do something new. So if you've read the book Atomic Habits, then you surely have heard of this, or actually I don't know if that guy and by that guy I mean the author invented habit stacking or something, but anyway, if you haven't heard of habit stacking, what is it? It's just, if there's something that you already do every day, then just add your new habit onto that, like, into that routine and then voila, semi easy peasy, that's a part of your routine now. So today I was working with a client and we went through this conversation of okay, like, what is a routine that you have every day? And she says, well, when I get home from work, every day I let the dogs out and that's the first thing I do. So we said, okay, every day when you get home, you let the dogs out, and that's the first thing I do. So we said, okay, every day when you get home, you let the dogs out. Well, why can't we like, how can we incorporate this next activity of, in her case, logging her food, which wasn't something that, like, came naturally to her, that she was naturally drawn to? How can we make that a part of your get home, let the dogs out, log your food routine, because then it's just automatic.

Speaker 1:

Another example and with a slight twist on it, could be. You know what is something that you really love to do every day? Well, for me, one of the things I love to do is wear my red light mask, and so what I used to do when I was going to this chiropractor, they would have me, like at home, kind of lay on these blocks to help my neck, and so what I would do was I would only let myself wear my red light mask while I was laying on my blocks. Since it was like 10 minutes for the mask, 10 minutes I was supposed to be laying on the blocks, and it's not like it was a punishment, you know. It was like absolutely easy, there was no difference, there was no negative to me, but it was just like okay, well, while I lay on my blocks, this other thing that I need to do, that's that's the time for me to wear my mask. So it's a win win.

Speaker 1:

Is there anything in your life that you already do like this, like what else do you have at stack already? You're probably doing some of these things, naturally, right, it's not rocket science, but thinking critically about how you can implement it in new ways. It just makes life easier. I mentioned an accountability buddy before, but I want to come back to this and really reiterate it because it's so important and it's such a helpful tool. If you've ever had a friend that you work out with if you have ever had, I mean just expressing your goals, or maybe it's. If you want to start moving your body, is there a run group or at different, maybe you go to a Pilates studio that has different challenges? Right, being a part of a community that can motivate you to accomplish whatever your goal is is, like, totally understated, and if that isn't something that you've explored yet, I would really encourage you to do so.

Speaker 1:

On this note, too, there's this idea of like what actually motivates you, and I read this book recently called the Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin, and it's like, not a personality quiz, but you know those different types of quizzes where you're one of X numbers of dang what is the word that I want? Anyway, people as a whole are broken up generally into four categories and, per this book, what it's really talking about is identifying what motivates you. Is it your inner expectations of yourself? Is it outer expectations and those expectations that others have of you, and do you resist those expectations or can you more easily meet them. So why am I saying this? What does this mean? What I'm just thinking and what I would encourage you to consider is are you motivated by somebody else in your family? If you, for example, commit to your partner that you're going to make dinner because you whatever, because you want to make dinner, is that going to make you more likely to do it than if you just decided for yourself that you were going to make dinner? Or, on the other side of things, does that make you less likely to make a nutritious, healthy dinner, because some people are just more naturally inclined to resist outer expectations.

Speaker 1:

If somebody were to ask you to do something, I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't make sense, though, just think about generally for you. Are you more likely to meet your goals if you share them with somebody else, if somebody else tells you to do it, if you feel like you have this kind of homework assignment I'm totally a teacher's pet, so if I tell somebody that I'm going to do something, I'm, like absolutely for sure going to do it, and so maybe that's a good reminder, maybe a little light bulb went off for you, and that could be a good way to keep yourself accountable to your goals. Actually, one thought too, and I wonder if I got this from the atomic habits book that I mentioned. Um, I think he mentions an example where you know somebody's trying to meet a certain goal and what they did was actually. I wish I remembered if this was a real example or just well, the made-up example, same effect either. But what they did was they said to their friend or somebody hey, let me give you $200. And if I don't accomplish my goal, like if I don't exercise eight times out of the next 14 days, then donate this money to, like, a really horrible organization that you absolutely don't support. Because if you don't want your money to go to this horrible organization, then you're maybe more likely to accomplish your goal.

Speaker 1:

Now, I'm not saying that that's a good fit for everybody. I guess I just thought that was interesting. I wonder well, I've thought about doing it. I've never actually done it, but just one example of how you can be kind of creative and really reflect on what motivates you. What would keep you from doing something that you don't maybe want to do, or what would keep you consistent with the goals that you're trying to reach? Consistent with the goals that you're trying to reach. Now there's also this question, kind of moving on to this next subcategory of is there something that is kind of subconsciously blocking you from reaching your goal? Now, there are many, many, many podcasts out there who can help you deep dive, looking at your limiting beliefs and subconscious reprogramming, much better than I can here. But suffice it to say, or suffice it to suggest to you this idea of doing some reflecting and thinking about.

Speaker 1:

Now let's come back to this example of maybe having a hard time logging your food. Is it that you just can't remember to log your food Like you, genuinely you're just busy moving, moving, moving. You're like I just forget, and that's totally valid, that's totally possible. Maybe is there another flavor of this, though, where you are kind of subconsciously thinking to yourself well, if I do log my food, then maybe I'm going to find out that I'm not doing a great job at meeting my goals and then maybe I'm going to feel bad about myself. Or if I log my food, then maybe that, you know, subconsciously, is reminding you of a time when you were younger and logging your food was really triggering for you. Maybe that's a more obvious example, but you see where I'm coming from with these, where subconscious thoughts, subconscious programming around something is well sub below the surface. It's not going to be obvious to you, and so this extra thought and inquiry is going to be really essential.

Speaker 1:

So if you have something you know you've been maybe trying to reach a certain goal for a while. You've been trying to implement a new habit for a while now. It hasn't been working. Take a minute to think okay, is there something in the back of my mind, a consequence that I would experience, a negative consequence? I should say If I do something, achieve this goal, like what would be the downside of me accomplishing this? So think on that and maybe something will come up for you. Or maybe not. Maybe it is just you need to figure out how to automate it and make it a regular part of your day.

Speaker 1:

Now I've got one more thought here about organizing your mindset to achieve your goals, and then I'll move on to giving you a couple of actual like if I had this certain symptom, what would my goal be? To kind of bring it home, if that's relevant to you. But that's what we've got left here. So the last thing I want to leave you with on the mindset piece is I would really encourage you to start right away, whatever it is, whether it's right now, because you have this new goal to be consistent with your supplements, or it's in a couple of months, when you realize, oh, I'm not getting enough protein, okay, I need to start now in prioritizing my protein. Getting enough protein? Okay, I need to start now in prioritizing my protein. It will just serve you so much better to take some imperfect action now. We don't have to be perfect. You don't have to wait until okay, this will be perfect when I get back from my trip to Italy. That's when I will start to eat healthy, or that's when I will I mean, that's so broad. That's when I will start to minimize processed foods.

Speaker 1:

Now, it's great to enjoy yourself while you're on vacation or even while you're not on vacation, but this is all to say. I would really encourage you to say, instead of waiting until quote, unquote the perfect time, how can you take action now? Start to make some of these habits and practices more a part of your lifestyle instead of like a therapeutic intervention, if that makes sense. There's no better time than now. It's so cliche, but this really is the biggest area where I see clients foregoing progress, because every small change adds on top. It's all cumulative, you know this, but it's so easy to say, okay, I'm going to start doing this next month, or I'm going to start doing this next month, or I'm going to start doing this whenever. I would encourage you, the next time that thought pops up in your mind, to say, okay, well, let me actually acknowledge this thought and instead I'm going to start taking action now to accomplish my goal. And it's okay if I don't do it. Perfect, because these small incremental changes overall will better serve me in the long run. So chew on that one for a little bit.

Speaker 1:

Okay, now that we've gone through some of this mindset stuff, I hope that that was helpful for you and I want to round out the conversation by sharing, like I mentioned, some top goals that might apply to you if you have PMS, irregular cycles, bloating, heavy periods if you want to conceive this year. This is, while there are many things that could be helpful for any of those experiences that I just mentioned, I'll just mention one that comes top of mind. So done with my disclaimers, let's get into it Now. If you're somebody who experiences some real PMS and that's something that you want to get under control this year, pms being symptoms in that week to 10 days before your period starts, where you have bloating, breast tenderness, maybe your mood is different than normal or you're more irritable.

Speaker 1:

I would make my goal be to eat more cruciferous veggies. So, cruciferous veggies we're talking about broccoli, bok choy, broccoli, sprouts, cauliflower Wow, there are so many more, I think, radishes. Check out a list of cruciferous veggies and increase those in your diet. Why? Because cruciferous veggies are going to be helpful for you, rather helpful for your liver, and your liver processes out your extra estrogen. So, tldr, if you have PMS, if that's something that affects you each month, I would really encourage you to say okay, the first thing I can do, get more cruciferous veggies into my diet. Might not be a save all, but I think that's a good place to start.

Speaker 1:

Second, if you have irregular cycles, what I would make my goal be is building my meals around protein and shooting for at least 30 grams of protein per meal. This is important because you're setting up your blood sugar for success throughout your day and blood sugar can really have a big impact on cycle irregularity, on stress, on just overall psychohormonal weirdness. So irregular cycles shoot for building your meals around the protein source and ideally 30 grams of protein. If that sounds like a lot, still shoot for it, because what worst case scenario? You fall short and you've still got more protein than maybe you would otherwise. So keep that in mind.

Speaker 1:

If you are a girly who experiences a lot of bloating and digestive discomfort, my goal, if I were in your situation, would be to prioritize relaxing and sitting down while I eat. This is because when we are calm, when we eat, our stomach is going to produce more stomach acid, which is really important in one of these first steps of digestion to helping you digest everything properly, helping to prime your digestive system for the food and nutrients that are about to come through it. So, relaxing, sitting down, taking a couple of deep breaths, having a moment for gratitude or prayer, whatever resonates with you that's what I would incorporate if I was a bloated gal and in the past when I have had my bouts of bloating. All right, next, heavy periods.

Speaker 1:

If you are somebody who has really heavy periods, I would encourage you to find out if you are ovulating Now. How do we do that? Okay, the actual goal would be to determine this by taking your temperature. Now. If you are not ovulating, then that's going to be a good sign. That's going to be a good indicator for why you have a heavy period. So that'll be a good clue to understand. And as you implement some other like steps or interventions to get your cycle regulated, then understanding if you're ovulating will be even more helpful for you to track your change in the progress. So, if you have heavy periods, I would encourage you to start taking your temperature so that you can confirm ovulation and really make ovulation be your goal in confirming it and ovulating regularly. Now, this is a similar goal to what I would encourage you if you are somebody who wants to conceive this year or conceive in whatever amount of time really understanding if you are ovulating, especially if you've been trying to conceive for a little while and you're not sure what the holdup is, then doing some investigating, starting to take your temperature, starting to become aware of what are the signs of fertile cervical mucus like, if your cervical mucus is more sticky, stretchy and I have an episode on this, actually, if you want to dive deeper into that but that will be really helpful in getting you to where you want to be with your pregnancy. All right, gang, that's it for today. I hope this was helpful for you to really well hear a little bit about how I work with my clients on the mindset side and planning side, and I hope you feel encouraged to legit make a plan for what you need to do and what you want to accomplish.

Speaker 1:

How can you bring somebody else into the picture, into the conversation with you? Is it a partner? Is it your friend? Is it somebody else in a support group for something? A partner? Is it your friend? Is it somebody else in a support group for something that you know? They have this the same thing going on. And, of course, if you're looking for support one-on-one from a coach, then I would love to support you and would love to connect with you, either through Instagram at Bridget Walton, or again you can check out the link in the show notes here where you can schedule a free consult call with me and we can chat through what your goals are and how one-on-one coaching could be a good asset for you. So I hope that you have a absolutely lovely start to your year and I will look forward to seeing you on the next one. Thank you so much for listening today.