Category Archives: perimenopause

Menopause and Adrenal Fatigue

June 23, 2014Adrenal Fatigue, Health, menopause, Migraines, perimenopause, Weight LossWeight loss | Weight Management | Diabetes | Menopause | Type II Diabetesadmin

Adrenal Fatigue and menopause are becoming more prevalent as we busy women are doing way too much and multi-tasking. OK, did you hear me? The key word here is over doing while the body is going through a natural state of hormonal change. We as women are so much more in tune with our bodies then men. It’s just the way God created us. I was unaware that there are three stages to adrenal fatigue. It has stage 1, 2 and 3 and then Adrenal failure. “But how could I have adrenal fatigue? I don’t feel bad. I’m not overweight. I eat healthy. I exercise.

From a simple Google search, you’ll find that the topic of adrenal fatigue is HUGE and could not be contained in one simple article. So for the sake of your time today, I will get right to the bottom line. I am not a doctor so this is just my thoughts and opinions on this subject.

Some Not so Obvious Signs:

Getting so tired you feel like crying.
Being very angry (on the inside) or crying when someone asks you to get up early for something or stay up late, etc…
Not being able to function past 9pm, which may be made into a joke…”oh I turn into a pumpkin at 9 o clock.”
Being easily frustrated by silly things like…people chewing, someone bumping into you, etc…
HATING loud noises with a passion.

Getting Professional Help

This is where your preference for the type of doctor will be a personal choice. I would encourage you to find a naturopath physician. I prefer to have a professional that will encourage the use of natural solutions, nutrition, and the whole body for healing, not just treat symptoms. I so enjoy Dr. Christiane Northrup, MD. In my opinion, she gets it and explains it in preschool terms and tells you how to get the help you need. She is the ultimate professional MD. Most insurance will cover this now!

Getting Natural Help

STOP drinking Coffee. This was so important for me. Nearly all adrenal help sources agree that getting off coffee is important for adrenal healing. Coffee simulates your adrenals—which isn’t always a bad thing. Coffee has many great benefits. But for adrenal fatigue sufferers, drinking coffee may mask just how bad you feel. You need to hear what your body it telling you.

Tulsi Tea is a great way to support energy levels without stimulants. You can start with drinking 1-3 cups of Tulsi Tea each day. Do a Google search, you’ll find lots of great info on this fabulous product. I am a tea drinker so I try lots of different ones!

More Sleep is kind of a duh—but it’s a really big piece of healing your adrenals. Just like everyone else says; get to bed by 10, sleep as late as life allows in the morning, and nap when needed. This is a restoration period so use essential oils for sleep!

Sea Salt Water is another big help for the adrenals. Some say it helps others say it doesn’t. I always say try it and keep doing it if you see improvement or just stop if you don’t.

Herbal Supplements like Licorice Root, Adrenal Herb Blends, and Essential oils such as bail, rosemary, clove and elevation are recommended. As well as high quality supplements like Life Long Vitality. Ultimately, the best thing you can do is get professional help so that you can choose the correct supplements for you. But these are general things that usually help most people.

Stop the Emotional Stress

Step out of stressful situations. Take up yoga or Pilates. Listen to relaxing music. Read a good book. Get a massage. Learn how to dial it down and pay attention to your body and mind.

Learn to say “no” to more things, people, etc… This isn’t being mean or selfish. I used to think it was mean for me to tell someone “no” –but I’ve learned that it’s not. It’s actually mean to my family if I keep saying “yes” to everyone else.

So there you go–just the tip of the iceberg but hopefully something to get your mind thinking! I help people who are stuck, broke and unhealthy to create balance, time freedom and healthy thriving lives! You can find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or via email susano@livinglifeholistic.com

Your Skin and Summer Sun

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) just published their 2014 guide to safe sunscreens. They reviewed over 2000 sunscreens and over 257 brands. They found more than 75% of the sunscreens contained toxic chemicals that can increase your risk of cancer and other health issues. That’s alarming in and of itself! It’s important to remember that what you are lathering on your body is going into your body. Those chemicals are penetrating the barrier and entering into the cells. Think about your babies and children and all the chemicals you are putting on their heads and bodies with those baby products!

Here’s a fact that should scare you and tell you how far behind the US is to the European countries. Sunscreens haven’t been regulated since 1978 in the US, and the SPF factor only tells you how effective a sunscreen is against UVB rays which cause sunburn. I recently learned that the higher SPF really doesn’t protect more as opposed to a lower SPF. The difference is only a few minutes longer in the sun before having to reapply.

In truth, the sun doesn’t cause cancer, it is essential for your health. Without the sun, most plants couldn’t grow and we would perish from lack of Vitamin D3. It’s recommended that we get 20 minutes of direct sunlight everyday if possible. It boosts the immune system, helps fight cancer and improves the moods.

A recent study published in Environmental Science Technology has also shown the common sunscreen ingredients oxybenzone, methoxycinnamate, and PABA are estrogenic chemicals linked to cancer. That’s right, I read the labels on not only my food products, but on anything I’m putting on or near my body, and you should too! If your sunscreen contains any of these chemicals I’d throw it away right now! Some ingredients may absorb into the blood, release free radicals in sunlight, act like estrogen, disrupt hormones (huge for those of us in perimenopause or menopause), cause allergic reactions (some severe), cause skin irritation or rash. Para amino benzoic acid, Octyl salicyclate, Oxybenzone, Cinoxate, Dioxybenzone, Phenylbenzimidazole, Homosalate, Menthyl anthranilate, Octocrylene, Methoxycinnamate, and last but most dangerous is Parabens. Stay clear of these ingredients!

There are two types of sunscreen, non-mineral and mineral, and some that are both. The non- mineral penetrate the skin and are potentially disruptive to hormones. Mineral contain zinc or titanium. This type does not breakdown in sunlight, and are usually not absorbed so as not to disrupt the body’s hormones, non-allergenic and more effective at blocking the UVA rays. I highly recommend this type especially for babies and children.

The best sunscreen is a hat and a shirt. No chemicals for the skin to absorb, no questions about whether the product works and no bogus claims like “sunblock.” (No conventional product blocks out all rays. Which is why the FDA is trying to ban the term.) But I also use my own made with zinc and essential oils, Kiss My Face SPF 30 and Melaleuca Mineral SPF 30.

So, let’s recap:

Get 20+ minutes of sunshine daily
Cover up with light clothing before you get burnt
Wear natural sunscreen if you’re going to stay out for a long period of time, reapply often
Eat a diet high in anti-oxidants to protect your skin
If you get burnt, use a mixture of aloe, coconut oil and vitamin E on your skin or a natural after sun product free of chemicals. Essential oils are a must for my home and family!

I help people overcome their limiting beliefs that are keeping them stuck, broke and unhealthy to create balance, time freedom and health in their lives!

Find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or emailsusano@livinglifeholistic.com

Do You Suffer from Lack of Sleep!

May 12, 2014menopause, perimenopauseadmin

We all know that lack of sleep makes you cranky and irritable. It can also make you fat. I am a person who likes her sleep. I sleep 7-8 hours every night. There are many studies out there on sleep and perimenopause and menopause. Here are some of the other less-well-known reasons you need to sleep 7-8 hours:

Lack of sleep gives you brain fog. Sleep plays a critical role in thinking and learning. Lack of sleep interrupts these processes. First, it impairs attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning, and problem solving. This makes it more difficult to learn efficiently. We have various sleep cycles and lack of sleep can cause memory loss, and learning disorders.
Your sex drive decreases. Sleep-deprived men and women report lower libidos and less interest in sex. Depleted energy, sleepiness, and amped-up crankiness may be largely to blame. This can be a killer in a marriage!
It’s depressing. Over time, lack of sleep and sleep disorders can contribute to the symptoms of depression. In one survey, people who were diagnosed with depression or anxiety were more likely to sleep less than six hours at night. Hot flashes and night sweats lead to sleep disruption. This can lead to those unwanted prescriptions for sleeping aids. It’s a viscous cycle, don’t get on the wheel.
It makes you look old seriously. Most people have experienced eye bags after a few nights of missed sleep. But, chronic sleep loss can lead to dull skin, fine lines, and dark circles under the eyes. This can also be from allergies.
It can kill you before your time. British researchers looked at how sleep patterns affected the mortality of more than 10,000 British civil servants over two decades. The results, published in 2007, showed that those who had cut their sleep from seven to five hours or fewer a night nearly doubled their risk of death from all causes. Cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer of post-menopausal women. I don’t know about you but I want to live a long life. You only get one temple so take of it!

Your judgment suffers due to lack of sleep, which can affect our interpretation of events. Sleep-deprived people seem to be especially prone to poor judgment. Our society keeps giving mixed messages about too little sleep. We are not super human and we cannot function on too little sleep. Have you ever drove home and when you pulled in the driveway can’t remember how you got there? Now, that’s not only scary but sleep deprivation.

When I’m working with clients I do an overall assessment of the whole health picture and sleep is usually an area that I focus on the most. Making a change in this area alone can affect the rest of your health wellness, both physical and mental. I am a holistic health coach specializing in essential oils and menopause. You can find more information about me and my coaching on my website at www.livinglifeholistic.com and be sure to sign up for my free smoothie recipes, tips and recipes!

Living Debt Free and Healthy

May 8, 2014debt Free, Featured, Financial, Health, menopause, Migraines, perimenopause, Weight Lossadmin

I can remember to this day the phone call I received at work. I answered the phone, “This is Susan, how may I help you?” The person identified themselves as the emergency room of the hospital, “Is this Susan? Is your husband Michael?”. I answered “yes” and then the next words rocked my world, “your presence is required at the emergency room”, and I sat down quickly. What, what did you just say to me? They would not disclose what had happened, or whether my husband was dead or alive, just that my presence was required. When I arrived at the emergency room, they quickly brought me back without telling me anything. When they opened the door I saw my husband, bloody, dirty and hooked up to a ton of monitors. He was not dead, thank God, but they didn’t know if he had broken his back, neck or both. After a CAT scan it was a C-4 neck fracture. A halo and one year to heal, followed by 3 years of disability and retraining. That year was 1986. Doctors said he was either dead or paralyzed when they saw his file, but we serve a great big awesome God and he was neither!

All this to preface that we were young, with two small boys, living paycheck to paycheck. We had bought our first home, had some credit card debt, and some school loans. You learn what a priority is quickly when you have a major trauma in your life. We learned how to live on much less very quickly. Later we went to a class called Financial Peace University (Dave Ramsey) and War on Debt (Dani Johnson). We learned to become debt free and never turned back. I can tell you that our health was fully altered due to the debilitating migraines my husband suffered that could not be stopped by medications but only with natural medicine, proper exercise, low glycemic eating, sleep, and essential oils. He now has one occasionally, a far cry from daily. This is why I became a holistic health coach to help others get where we are today. Do you want financial freedom? Time freedom? Do you want true health? You can find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com

I would love to connect with you for a free 15 minute consultation to see how I can help you! To your health!