So often at the beginning of the year we feel a push change. A push towards healthy eating choices and a pull towards familiar habit patterns. When both happen at the same time we get stuck in the middle. The body is a complicated system of networks and they all communicate and work with each other, pushing and pulling to some kind of balance. Understanding the push and pull can set us up for success or struggle and that’s our Work IN today. We’ll be looking at how we can simplify and personalize our approach to nutrition and nourishment to give us the kind of results we can live with.

Motivation is an unsustainable myth. At least in the sense that most of us understand it. The idea that we need to feel some kind of way in order to take action toward our goals is BS. We shouldn’t be reliant on a fleeting sensation for anything, especially not our health and fitness. It’s time to be the grown-up in this mind-body relationship.That’s our work IN this week. We’re looking at why we do what we do and how understanding the myth of motivation can help us take radical responsibility for our actions and enjoy the long term consequences of our health choices.

Nothing changes until something changes. Welcome back to The Work IN podcast. At the time of this recording it is a brand new year. 2025. And just like every year  there are a lot of “New year new you” challenges kicking off. Are you bored with them yet? Frankly what I want to know is why do we offer the same thing every year? Why not focus on making permanent changes that last beyond the next 3 months? So that’s our work IN today as we celebrate our 200th episode and 5th season. I’m going to teach you the 8 essential things you need to do to make any health and wellness change last a lifetime.

Today we’re talking about the gut and gut health. We have discussed the importance of the gut microbiome in previous podcasts but never in relation to perimenopause and menopause. And that’s because no one really knew that was a thing until very recently. But it makes sense though since our gut and the biodiversity of the microbiome affects every other aspect of our health why wouldn’t our hormone balance be involved in some way.

Menopause brain…We say it like it’s a bad thing. We laugh it off as if it’s a joke when deep down we wonder if we’re losing our mind. It’s not a joke. And it’s not a loss either. It’s actually an update. During perimenopause and menopause every system in our body gets a giant hormonal update over the course of a decade or so. And just like when we update our computers or our phones, it takes time to learn the new systems. Things might look a little different on the home page than what we’re used to. The drop down menus change. That’s our Work IN today. We’re looking at how and why a woman’s brain changes through menopause.

If our purpose is to reduce frailty in the bones and build strength overall in the body we need to choose challenge to make that connection between the mind and body. The mind will tell you to quit long before the body needs to. If we’re going to build strength and bone mass and change the way we age we need to ask the body for more than what we already know we can do. That’s our Work IN.