62. Hormone Health, Nutrition, and Menopause with Amanda Hinman
Are you struggling with unexplained weight gain, afternoon energy crashes, or brain fog? These symptoms might be connected to your hormones, especially if you're in your 40s or 50s. As our hormone levels shift during perimenopause and menopause, our bodies require different approaches to nutrition, movement, and stress management.
In this episode, we chat with Amanda Hinman, a health coach specializing in integrative nutrition and applied functional medicine. Amanda is the author of "The Thyroid and Hormone Solution" and helps women uplevel their health during hormonal transitions. She shares practical, actionable strategies that don't require hours at the gym or restrictive diets.
Amanda introduces her simple "one hand meal plan" approach and explains why many ambitious women are actually under-eating rather than overeating. She also reveals why your morning coffee routine might be sabotaging your energy levels and how consistent movement throughout the day is more effective than a single workout. These small, strategic changes can lead to significant improvements in energy, mental clarity, and weight management in just a few months.
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What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
How to time your morning caffeine consumption to prevent afternoon energy crashes.
Why protein becomes increasingly important after age 40, and how to use the "PFFV" hand method for balanced meals.
How consistent movement throughout the day impacts hormone health more effectively than a single workout.
Why lifting heavy weights becomes crucial for women in perimenopause and menopause.
How your thoughts and stress responses directly impact your hormonal cascade through the hypothalamus.
Why many ambitious women are actually under-eating rather than overeating.
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Full Episode Transcript:
Nina Lynch: Okay, listen up, today’s guest is about to transform how you experience perimenopause and menopause and reclaim your energy, focus, and confidence. Amanda Hinman turned her family’s health crisis into a mission that’s now helping high-achieving women just like you, just like us, in perimenopause and menopause, who are just done with being told that the hot flashes, the brain fog, and the bone-crushing fatigue are just your new normal.
We recorded this episode with Amanda a few weeks ago, and since then, I’ve personally implemented what she talks about with us, and I have felt so much better. Like, I was blown away at how much I did not know. Namely, I had no idea I wasn’t eating enough calories throughout the day. And it’s been a game-changer. It’s been just life-changing.
So this is an episode you’re going to want to forward to your friends. The ones you love who are navigating the confusion around perimenopause and menopause. Because listen, this starts as early as age 35, people. Yeah, I mean, at home, at work, in your relationships. This episode unpacks a lot of the whys behind your newfound lack of confidence, that unwanted weight gain, the brain fog and confusion that wake up your self-doubt, and so much more.
Amanda’s not just a fellow coach, but a functional medicine powerhouse, and she will blow your mind as she breaks it all down with us in really simple, easy-to-understand ways. Okay, this was such a good one. Thanks again to Amanda for spending her time with us. Let’s get going. This is Ambitious-ish.
Burnout? Check. Daily overwhelm? Check. Resentment rash, stress, and a complete lack of well-being? Check, check, check! You’re not alone. We’re your hosts, Kelle & Nina, and we are here to help you feel calm, balanced, and empowered so you can redefine success, make choices that feel authentic, and ACTUALLY enjoy the life you work so hard to create. You ready? Let’s go.
Kelle Cobble: Hey, I'm Kelle.
Nina Lynch: And I'm Nina. I am so pumped today for our guest, Kelle. This is going to be a fun one.
Kelle: So pumped.
Nina: Yeah. Right? So, Amanda Hinman is our guest today on Ambitious-Ish. A new friend and expert. She is a health coach focusing on integrative nutrition and applied functional medicine. She's the bestselling author of The Thyroid and Hormone Solution. And we're going to talk all about this book today. And there's so much more to talk about just beyond the book.
Kelle: So much. Yes.
Nina: Yeah, Amanda's a mom, just a regular rock star. And so, let's jump in. Amanda, welcome to Ambitious-Ish. How are we finding you today?
Amanda Hinman: Thank you. Fabulous. I'm excited to be here and have this conversation and just get to share hopefully some good takeaways and bite sized nuggets for your listeners.
Kelle: Amanda, you're coming off spring break. How are you feeling?
Amanda: Admittedly, I'm a little tired today because I, like I said, our flight was delayed yesterday. It was supposed to be like a 7:00 p.m. flight last night and it was cancelled. So we took a 5:00 a.m. flight this morning, my daughter and I. So, kind of like, okay, do the things that we do and get up and get rolling and luggage was checked already. So we had an overnight bag with just our toothbrush. Thankfully, I had my toothbrush in my carry-on. But yes, you know, it's kind of back into the groove and starting off the week and a little bit of a shifted around schedule.
Nina: We make it work. We've been eager to have someone on the show to talk to us a little bit about hormone health and of course, our thyroid is a huge part of that. But specifically, you know, I think our listeners, we're all sort of hearing the perimenopause and menopause buzz and, you know, it's sort of clickbait right now on the internet and beyond. So tell us, Amanda, just a little bit about like what's on your plate and how you came to this work.
Amanda: Yes. So right now, I mean, my passion is what I do each and every day. So I help women between the ages of 40 and 60 to uplevel their health. And what that looks like, because this is the time, just like you said, perimenopause, menopause, season of life is when a lot of things have changed in our bodies. Hormone levels start to decline as we approach menopause. And even the five to ten years before officially reaching menopause, which is considered once you have 12 consecutive months without a menstrual cycle.
So during that phase, things are shifting around a lot. And that's when we kind of lose this buffer, this bandwidth of those sex hormones. And so symptoms seem to crop up more. You know, I support women who are struggling with getting restful sleep. They feel like they just kind of wake up already feeling a little depleted or have extra love handles that have kind of creeped on around the edges, you know, putting on those extra couple of pounds. And can't seem to, no matter what I do, no matter how strict I am with my food, even get into the gym, and getting my steps in, it doesn't seem to move the needle from a weight perspective.
Also other things like really, really excessively dry skin, increase in allergies. That's usually an unknown linkage. Sometimes when we have more nasal congestion, post nasal drip, sensitivity with different allergy symptoms, that can also be linked to changes with hormone health. So all the different things that tend to become more prevalent when our hormone levels change. That's what I help support women with.
Kelle: You're describing like everything that's going on with me right now and then some.
Nina: Question though, among those symptoms, is there, I don't want to call it like perimenopause brain fog, but is there a brain fog component here too with your sex hormones changing?
Amanda: Yes. Well, okay, so I'm actually glad you said this. Speaking of brain fog, because that's that's probably the third most common symptom that I hear women describe. And let's be honest, like this is going to affect especially when we think about career-driven, ambitious women. This has a huge impact on your performance and also your inner confidence of feeling capable and feeling equipped to execute at a high level, right?
Nina: Yeah, I think a lot of our clients come to us and they're like, I don't know if it's my hormones. I don't know if it's my ability. I don't know if it's the millennials in the office, you know, making me feel so insecure. Like all of a sudden, I'm these are badass women in their 40s and 50s at the peak of their everything, and they start doubting themselves. So, yeah.
Amanda: And there is definitely, I would say it's not as simple as always being one thing, but there certainly is a hormonal and a physiological effect that we look at. So really quickly, I'll explain. Adenosine is a chemical compound that's created in the body from ATP, which is the cycle that metabolism, it’s happening all the time. And as we're awake, the levels of adenosine are building up in our body. Adenosine essentially acts as a pressure for sleep. The more adenosine build up we have in the body, the more fatigue we'll feel, the more like brain fog, the more like mental fatigue, and desire to rest, to go to sleep.
So it's it's meant to be this really beautiful cycle that supports wake and sleep cycles back and forth. The challenge for many women is bifold. They don't necessarily have really strong, consistent adenosine recycling happen during sleeping hours. That's when it's ideally your brain's recycling and clearing out the adenosine so that when you wake up in the morning, you get this nice cortisol peak, this cortisol awakening response.
Nina: Fresh as a daisy.
Amanda: Yeah, you feel alive, you feel ready to go. And your adenosine levels are at the lowest in the morning and then they build up throughout the day so that you're prepared to sleep at the end of the day. However, a couple of things can really kind of interfere with that natural cycle. The first being caffeine. Caffeine is a natural adenosine blocker, which isn't inherently a problem. It's just, I think about it like being strategic with how you're utilizing caffeine. Because if we start to consume caffeine, especially early in the day, within the first 60 to 90 minutes of waking up, and your adenosine hasn't been fully cleared, because maybe you didn't have a really, truly restorative period of sleep. So you already have some adenosine in the system, and then you drink caffeine. Caffeine is a natural adenosine blocker.
So it makes you feel more alert and more awake, and more alive temporarily for typically about five to six hours. That's about the half-life of caffeine. However, during that time, the adenosine is continuing to build up in the system because you are awake. And then all of a sudden, you hit this 2:00 p.m. crash. And it's because the adenosine wasn't fully cleared, and then it would continue to build up. And now all of a sudden the caffeine is wore off. So you hit this 2:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. That's like the typical crash time for a lot of women.
Kelle: Is that I'm wondering if that's, as I take another sip of my coffee here. I'm wondering if that's like the need for snacking later on in the day? Like, what's your take on that?
Amanda: Mm hmm. Well, usually when we feel fatigue, it's like a sense of, you know, the body's looking for some source of energy to stimulate, to give you that glucose, to give you some quick fuel, right? So sometimes there can be a desire for, you know, like almost like snacky foods, not necessarily nutrient-dense foods, but something that's going to give you that little quick pick-me-up type of a thing. So that can certainly be linked. So what do we do about that, right?
I guess, I guess the two strategies that I often like to share or, you know, introduce to women is first and foremost, see if at all possible to create a window of opportunity at least 60 minutes from the time that you wake up until you start consuming caffeine. Because that gives you a little bit buffer of window to have that adenosine level get at its absolute lowest. Make sure you've done as much recycling as possible before you're going to block it, and it's going to start to build up and compound. So if you can wait that 60 minutes, 90 would be ideal, but 60 minutes at a minimum is great.
And then, if you want to put a cherry on top to really support this chemical balance in the body is to get access to morning sunlight. It could be sit out on your back patio and just meditate or just do some journaling, whatever it is, go for a morning walk, take the dog out. You know, that's what I do. My husband's gotten in the routine now. He's like, okay, it's time to take the dog for around the, you know, it doesn't even have to be that long. But the cue of that full-spectrum light on the retina is a very potent, again, circadian rhythm regulator. So it helps to give you that cortisol awakening response in the morning, and it also helps to support adenosine recycling that next night when you go to sleep. So those two things rcan be eally helpful.
Kelle: Okay. I have a question. So there's all this stuff about you should drink lemon water in the morning or lime water for those Ayurvedic, you know, minded people, that I've heard lime water is better than lemon water. But does that impact what you're talking about?
Amanda: Yep. So that would be great if you want to start with a hot lemon and water or lime and water. If you want to start with your water first, that would be ideal because you're getting hydration in. It's not going to have the caffeine because it's the caffeine that's going to block the adenosine.
Kelle: Okay. It's the caffeine. Got it.
Amanda: Mm hmm. Yep. So that would be great is to get outside, have a couple minutes of morning sunlight, have your first hydration with some water and lemon or lime, and then wait 60 to 90 minutes and have your cup of coffee.
Kelle: I'm already hearing Nina, our people that just love their coffee, and they're just like, seriously? Wait?
Nina: Well, so I'm thinking of my morning routine, and I have to think about really, in order to create change like this, right? Like, what's the why? Right? We have to, you know, this is a big… the first thing I do in the morning is have a cup of coffee. So I'm like, okay, why is this important, Nina? I've I feel like I'm absolutely going through this. The symptoms that you described a couple minutes ago, I mean, all of a sudden I have like this fluff around my waist. I'm like, what's this fluffy? You know? And the energy and the brain fog. And this is really important to me to feel good in my body and to feel confident in myself right now in life. And so I'm like, okay, why is this important? Like, why is not reaching for the coffee first and reaching for the water, right? There's some mindset work here, too.
Amanda: Yes. Well, and again, coffee can, coffee is a really powerful agent. Like, I'm not against like, no coffee ever. It's just a matter to me, it'sa matter of like, what would it look like to do a two-week trial to say, I'm just going to be strategic with my timing of it?
Nina: Amanda, I'm just going to do one day. I'm going to start tomorrow. Let's do it for one day. And whoever wants to join me, join me. Like we'll do it together. Let's do one day first. But no, totally. Let's do a trial and just see how it goes. Yeah.
Kelle: And we're talking about coffee here, but I am a former and still matcha addict, and also chai. But not the syrupy chai at Starbucks or whatever. It's like the homemade chai.
Nina: But it's all caffeine.
Kelle: But it's all caffeine, right? So it all that counts.
Amanda: Yeah, it's all caffeine. It's caffeine is the component.
Nina: Okay, so this is awesome. This is how we're I'm taking notes. This is how I'm going to start my day. I love it, especially with the time change and everything. I'll get out into the sunlight. How about diet? What do we need to be or start paying attention to differently for this sort of stubborn or unexpected weight gain and our energy and our brain situation, and our thinking and everything? So what needs to shift there right now?
Amanda: Yes. So for especially after age 40, again, a beautiful emphasis on protein. And you probably hear this a lot because more and more people are now speaking about this, which I'm I'm thankful for and glad. The reality is women, on average, lose lean muscle tissue every year after age 40. And that's some of that's going to be a natural, you know, just shifting around as hormone levels change.
Yet, the quality of and the amount of lean muscle that we can maintain on the body is going to have one of the most incremental impacts on your overall quality of longevity. So when we think about mobility, mobility is even more highly rated than smoking now in terms of a detriment to health, a comorbidity, if you will. So keeping lean muscle on your body is absolutely critical. And we need amino acids, which are found in protein, to be able to do that.
So I have this super simple, I call my one-hand meal plan approach. And it's all about practicality. And what's a way that I can create a system that's a repeatable system, whether I'm eating at home, I'm out on the road, I'm traveling, and I can start to think about like, think about like plugging in the buckets. So think of PFFV for each meal. P as in protein, F as in fiber, F as in healthy fat, and then V for vegetable. So we'll talk about quantity. What does that look like? Protein, at a minimum, for each meal. So, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, minimum is a palm-sized serving of protein.
Nina: Okay, I love this because I don't know what grams are. So this is cool. I don't understand any.
Amanda: It’s like, how many grams of this? How many grams minimum?
Nina: Cool. Okay.
Amanda: One hand per meal of protein. That's your P. Your F is fiber-rich food. So these are things like, I mean, my favorite fiber-rich foods are like legumes and beans and whole grains, quinoa, nuts and seeds too have fiber. So think about a scoop. Like if you were to take your hand and scoop it out, that's about the approximate serving size for fiber. Again, at each meal. So consistency with these is really powerful.
Fat, healthy fat, ideally omega-3 fatty acids. We need those for healthy cell membranes, to have hormone communication, and a variety of different things. So a thumb of healthy fat. Now, this could be a drizzle of olive oil over a salad. This can be a couple of walnuts that you, you know, eat on as a snack or on the side. It can be a couple slices of avocado. But you want some good, healthy fat for each meal.
And then a full fist of veggies at each meal. Now, these are minimums. I will say most of my clients when we look at more specific on their nutrient needs for their lifestyle demands, they need even more above and beyond that. But this is that as a baseline foundation, PFFV, use your hand and look at like, am I hitting all of these buckets on my plate?
Nina: Yes, that's so cool. So that kind of sounds like to me, and maybe I'm under-eating, but that sounds like a lot of food right now. I'm not a huge breakfast eater. Lunch is later in the day, and then dinner's later in the day. And so it kind of does sound like a lot of food.
Amanda: I mean, I will tell you, I would say 85% of the women that I work with that come to me to improve their energy, to increase their sleep so that it's more restful, and to lose weight, which is usually a top desire. They're actually not consuming enough quality food. Think about this. If your body is in a chronic state of, you know, like depletion, the signal is to hold on to whatever we have, not to utilize it effectively and release it. So from a metabolic standpoint, many women are like chronically almost like suppressed metabolism because they're not consuming enough whole healthy nutrients.
Nina: That's so interesting. And that's not uncommon.
Kelle: Yeah. What I'm hearing you say is that this is really not for weight loss, but a lot of people want to lose weight and I feel like if they just followed these simple things, they probably would lose weight, right? Am I right, or not?
Amanda: It's almost universal. I will say majority of my clients, they want to lose weight. That's not their top goal because it is about performance, and they recognize like, I want to have quality of life. I want to be mentally sharp, I want to be clear, I want to feel peaceful and grounded, and not anxious. I want to feel well-rested and energized. But of course, I want to lose those extra 12 pounds too. That's what happens when we have good metabolic function, right? Your body naturally comes into balance when there's a strong robust metabolism and digestive capability. But when there's sluggish digestion, when there's slow metabolism, or when the cells aren't getting… here's another key thing for metabolism is what I call consistent muscle contraction.
Because as we have reductions in estrogen and progesterone, that makes women incrementally more at risk for insulin resistance and diabetes. Because estrogen and progesterone, they're like insulin modulators. They help to yeah, regulate. They help to regulate insulin. Well, when we have less of that, our insulin levels can become skewed. And so watching how we're using blood sugar becomes even more important. And one of the most important aspects of getting that glucose from our food, even if we're eating healthy foods, sometimes we have elevated levels of blood glucose because that glucose isn't being used at the cellular level. It just continues to circulate.
Part of the reason it can be utilized is by having muscle contraction, which just simply means movement. Any kind of movement. There was there was several studies that were done a couple years back that showed individuals, not just not just women, but men and women, individuals who walked 7,000 steps in a day had over 50% morbidity across the board from all cause morbidity, whether it be Alzheimer's, whether it be cancer, whether it be osteoporosis, and all cause morbidity across the board. So just movement consistently.
But even more profound was the study that had, it measured, okay, if we have participants over 3,000 participants and they're going to do a 20 minute walk after breakfast, lunch, and dinner, how is that different than if they were 60 minute walk one, point during the day. And metabolically speaking, those were night and day different because it's about the consistency of movement rather than the total number of steps or the total number of minutes being active. So a lot of times we have women who will go to the gym for 45 minutes, an hour, get their workout on, and then sit at a desk job all day long. So metabolically, this is going to lead to a higher likelihood of insulin resistance.
What we want to do instead is build in, use your standing desk, right? Build in movement breaks. I have a cue in my door because I have a door that walks in my office. Every time I get up to go use the restroom throughout the day, because I drink a lot of water, I come in and it's 20 body weight squats and 10 push-ups. It's just movement. It's like there's a cue as you're walking in and out just of what you naturally do.
Nina: Yeah, I do have a question. So, and maybe you're familiar with Stacy Sims, Dr. Stacy Sims. She is a high-performance coach and PhD. And her focus has been on kind of elite female athletes. And her research is all about how women are not small men. So she's all, she you're singing to me because I've studied her. And she actually, from what I've learned, and I'm not an elite athlete by any means, but she talks about what she calls LHS, lifting heavy shit.
So when we get into our 40s and 50s, remember the fat burner weights? They used to call them fat burner weights at the gym, which is just a joke because they don't burn fat, they just build muscle endurance. This is that low-weight, high-rep exercise, which is lovely for mobility. But when we get to a point where our hormones are shifting like this, she was explaining again, to help with your metabolism to lift a lot of weight to exhaustion, right? So we're talking six sets of four reps of really heavy weight. We're not we're not Arnold Schwarzeneggering. But can you talk a little bit about that? Because that just helps create or change our body mass. Body composition.
Amanda: Yes. It makes a big difference. Yes, exactly. In terms of the way that it affects that lean muscle mass that we're talking about, maintaining lean muscle mass, we need to have a really compelling demand on the muscle in order to break it down and have it grow, to have it expand. Another thing that's also really critical too, and she Stacy talks about this as well, is impact. So having where you're actually having impact, jumping, you know, exercises where you're…
Nina: Like rebounding?
Amanda: Yes, rebounding or not well, not necessarily like on a trampoline rebounding, where you actually have impact on the ground, like where you're like, side to side lunging, or even standing and jumping. And it doesn't need to be necessarily very long, about 10 minutes
Nina: Yeah, cause some people, we can't do jumping jacks anymore, right? So some women, yeah.
Amanda: But these types of things are what is important to have in the conversation because it is a different way of moving our bodies than what we historically had seen, you know, in the Jane Fonda years of like, oh, light lifts and leg warmers.
Kelle: It's all about like crazy amounts of cardio and light weights. Yeah.
Nina: Cardio and light weights. Yeah, it's different now that we're in this different hormonal phase.
Amanda: The cool part is, I feel like if you're intentional and strategic, it doesn't necessarily have to be massively time-consuming. It's really about building in very targeted pockets of activity and movement as part of your routine in a way that's going to be more effective, if that makes sense.
Kelle: Yes. I really love what you're saying here because it's not like you have to find an hour and a half to get to the gym, right? So you can build in these little things. And also, I love how you're saying to add in foods versus depriving yourselves and taking things out. And it goes back to, so I was a health coach before I started doing this. And I went to IIN, Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
Nina: I think Amanda did too, right? Are you IIN?
Amanda: Yeah.
Kelle: Okay. Awesome. And you know how they talk about crowding out? Like you're crowding out by adding in all of these like good for you foods. And you just kind of, when you're nourished and your body is accepting all of those nutrients, you need less of that processed, we're just going to say it, crap. Yeah.
Nina: Put in the crap bucket. Yeah.
Amanda: Yes. Yes, absolutely. It is. And you know what? I love that you said that Kelle because I remember that was my earlier journey. So when I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, I remember, you know, being the type of, I'm just, like you ladies, I'm an action taker like, okay, this is the issue. I'm going to solve it. What do what needs to be done? And went to work with a functional medicine doctor who was amazing. Like I don't, there's many amazing professionals out there who have really great resources.
Yet, the way that I was supported at that time was, okay, we're going to run a bunch of tests to see where your body, you know, stool tests and blood tests, and see where things are physically. And then I was given a list of about 18 supplements to start taking and foods to eliminate and to cut out. First, it was like, okay, at least I have a game plan here, and let's go. Let's make this happen. What I found out over time is that for me became unsustainable and was not actually creating, it wasn't building health.
If anything, it at the time was leading to like a feeling of frustration and resentment because I felt like I couldn't live my life anywhere... I wasn't being taught the skill set or the tools to really know how to make appropriate substitutions or to allow this to work within my other family. Like I have four daughters and a husband who were not eating very strict the way I was eating with all those food eliminations and stuff. So like I'm making like two different meals. It became very overwhelming. And it also didn't have, I had a little bit of a change in my symptoms, but it wasn't notable enough that it was worthwhile. Like it was like this is not working.
So I think the key to an approach of upleveling health, like I do with all my clients that I work with is yes, we do want to look at the data. We do want to see where your hormone levels are. We do want to look at your micronutrient status. Do your cells getting what they need from a baseline to work well. But there's so much more around the neuroscience of rewiring your brain and having a new skill set where you really have a systemic approach to make changes going to last, and that's going to be able to fit in your life. Because health is ultimately about what you do repeatedly for decades, not what you do for two months, not what you do for…
Nina: Before spring break, right? Yeah.
Amanda: Yes, exactly. Exactly.
Nina: It's not like a boot camp, right? Like I got to get into a bikini in a month. That's not health. Yeah, that's really, really true. Yeah. So, tell us where someone might start if they're if they're noticing these symptoms, if they're even as young as 35, right? You can be in your 30s and start noticing some of this. Where might someone begin? Yeah, let's start there.
Amanda: I think the first piece is becoming curious and starting to take your symptoms seriously. So notice what your symptoms are and then learn what they're pointing to. Because your symptoms are like the little red flares of the body saying, hey, look over here. Look over here, right? I need some support.
Nina: Indicators. Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah, indicators. And I'm happy to share with your audience, if it would be useful, my free hormone assessment. So it's a quick eight-minute assessment.
Nina: We'll link to this in the show notes. Yep.
Amanda: Yes. When you can map, okay, am I having brain fog? Do I have energy crashes in the afternoon? Am I having difficulty falling asleep, or weight gain, or different symptoms are going to kind of track to, you know, is it more likely an insulin imbalance? Is it more likely a thyroid issue? Is it going to be estrogen and progesterone? What are the areas? We look at the top six metabolic hormones and which symptoms are most commonly associated with those. So that's step number one is like, okay, which direction am I looking, and where am I focusing here?
The next piece, if I always talk about this, is step number two is replenishing nutrients, because every single cell in the body is nutrient-driven. So looking at that very simple PFFV process. And maybe for, you know, two days, do a little double check of like eat like you normally do. And then notice, am I hitting all of these boxes, you know, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or am I falling short? And if so, that's step number one is let's make sure we're getting the raw materials in so that your cells can have what they need, right? It's like, I think about like putting gas in the car. You wouldn't expect your car to drive you across the country if there's no gas in the tank.
Kelle: And it's really that like food is medicine, right? So PFFV. Yes, got it.
Amanda: Love it. PFFV. Mm hmm. So that's a good starting point. The next piece that we go deeper is to look at digestion. And this is where we go deeper into the microbiome. Like, once we know like, okay, you're consuming, you're taking in the basic food groups that are important on a regular basis. Now, is your body able to adequately break those foods down to digest them and to absorb them effectively? Believe it or not, that is a really surprising challenge for many of us, especially when we're running in that fight or flight, sympathetic side of the nervous system.
Nina: Who's raising their hand? All day long. Who's in fight or flight all day long? Like high achievers, right? Yeah. Just busy, ambitious, smart,t driven women. Yep. Mm hmm.
Amanda: Right. So it's looking at like, okay, first, you know, we have ways that we can assess that, like what is that digestion? Looking at micronutrient status, what's actually getting absorbed at a cellular level? Not just necessarily circulating in the blood, but what made it inside the cell to be utilized effectively. And how can we test our stomach digestive capability?
So looking at that piece and then supporting where necessary, but most importantly, looking at the, how can we create patterns and systems, simple choices throughout the day that are consistently activating parasympathetic, that vagus nerve, right? Because that's how you're going to teach the body to get out of fight or flight by practicing parasympathetic regulation more often, right? So looking at patterns of, okay, what is it? Is it a bandwidth trigger at my work? Is it a threshold trigger? Is it a relationship? Like, hey, there's a friction in this relationship.
Nina: That's what I was just thinking, yeah.
Amanda: You know, there's we have a lot of triggers. We all do. I do, right? And it's doing a lot of work. I mean, that's why I love this stuff, is like inner work on your own thoughts and perceptions, because it's more about what you think about a situation than it is the absolute hard and set truth about a situation. It's your interpretation that's going to send that whole HPTG access of connection. We talk about hypothalamus is that first signaling in the brain, and that is picking up your thoughts and your perceptions about circumstances in your life. That's going to signal through the pituitary, which is going to regulate hormones and send off different cascade of events. And then signals to the adrenal gland, whether we're in fight or flight, we are releasing cortisol, we're releasing epinephrine, and then that signals to the thyroid and helps to regulate or slow down metabolism. But they all start with what's happening in the hypothalamus with our thoughts and our perceptions.
Nina: We talk a lot about thought work with our clients and on the show. And so that's what this is. It's becoming aware of the thoughts you're thinking and how that affects your physical chemistry and your mood and eventually, you know, behavior and results.
Amanda: Exactly. It's all connected.
Nina: Yeah. Yeah. And so what I love here too, we are not poo-pooing synthetic hormone or medication, but we love this approach kind of first, right? We love taking this approach first to kind of see if we can work with our chemistry instead of against it. Is that what I'm hearing you say?
Amanda: Yes. Yes, absolutely. And I do think it's important to understand different hormone replacement strategies can be super helpful for some women. It's also helpful to know how your body is going to process those hormones. Because sometimes when I've had clients that have come when they've had pellets inserted and actually it intensified certain symptoms in a way that was undesirable. So knowing how your body is able to process and detoxify and work with those hormones is going to be important before we just kind of put a whole bunch of hormones into the body. And we need nutrients in order to metabolize hormones.
So if the first problem is like we said, we're not hitting those PFFV or the nutrient requirements because it's a high demand, adding more work on the plate isn't necessarily going to be a useful thing for your body to navigate. Because now in addition to the catecholamine hormones and norepinephrine and epinephrine and adrenaline, and cortisol, we're going to add a whole bunch of additional sex hormones. Now we just increased the demand that we're asking the body to do. And if we don't have the nutrients to meet the demand, that can become problematic. Does that make sense?
Nina: That sounds like a crazy party, hormone party. That's like a lot of chemicals. It's like a lot going on. Hormone party. So let me ask you this, if someone were to start this process kind of the way you've mapped it out, when do we check in? Do we give ourselves three weeks? This is me personally asking, to be honest. Like, when do we check in? When do we start? Like we're practicing awareness the whole time, and curiosity and all the things and giving ourselves grace and loving on the whole process, right? So when might we check in or yeah, how might that work?
Amanda: So you're saying like if I did a hormone assessment and I saw that I had some imbalances and certain areas, and then I made some changes. Maybe it's like, okay, for example, I'll think about one of my clients know right now, right? So, so Debbie, she's like, for me, the really hard thing is like that afternoon, and she's running four businesses. I mean, super on point dialed in all day long. And she's like, I hit 4 o'clock and I just absolutely crash, right? And so looking at for her, it was really about that sustainability of like, how are we nourishing your body?
She was admittedly, she was like, I'm starting my day with a cup of coffee, skipping breakfast, plowing right into my meetings. And then go, go, go. I'm lucky if I grab lunch as I'm shifting in between one zoom call and another meeting. Totally, this is common and there's no judgment there. It's just also recognized like, well, is it even reasonable to ask your body to continue to perform at that level at 4 p.m. when yeah, when you put like no gas in the tank, right?
So it was helping her to kind of build in, okay, so what are some simple things that you can do differently in the morning preceding that to get a morning smoothie in, to get your PFFV, build it all into one meal, make sure that we have a five minute break to reset and do some breath work right around the 10:00, 10:30 hour, just to help that nervous system regulation.
And she's literally like, I mean, these are simple things, but building that in and to assess. She's like, I can't even tell you, Amanda, how profound this has actually elevated my leadership because I'm not scattered in the way that I was. I didn't realize I was busy. Yes, my appointment was so busy, my daily calendar was so busy. But when I forced myself to take make these little adjustments that were somewhat were like, like I said, five minutes, 15 minute adjustments, it created the space that she was more clear and focused and better able to communicate with her team, had less back and forth coming back with, you know, kind of I have to relay this message again and then have a troubleshoot and go back and forth again. And not only that, she's like, now my husband is like, who is this new woman? That literally, she's she's released 10 pounds. She feels lighter.
Nina: I love how you say that you release weight. I think that's a lovely way to put it. Go ahead. Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah. And he's just like, you're a different person after work. She's just more present and I think feels more intentional. It's more on purpose. She is more on purpose with her choices to support her health, which allows her to feel and experience more intentionality across the board, whether it be with her team in communication, whether it be with her husband at the end of the day.
Nina: And just knowing that every body is different, right? Did it take, you know, a year for her to notice changes?
Amanda: Two and a half months.
Nina: Oh my gosh. What? Good for her.
Kelle: What? It's amazing. Whoa.
Amanda: Wow. It's amazing. Yeah.
Nina: With your guidance and leadership and with this system and..
Amanda: Yes, with this system. And we did, we did look at specifically, we did, we put the puzzle pieces together to look at her micronutrients then and say like, okay, where specifically are we picking foods that your body needs, right? So it's it wasn't just kind of broad and general. But I guess where I was going is, how do we know? I would say the first step is like really get reflective of what is my pattern? What are some things that I can start to shift? And if it's not moving the needle, get some support to get even more yourself.
Kelle: Yeah. That awareness. Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah, because there's no lack of health information out there. What I find is usually a bigger deterrent is that it's not customized, and that general information, women, my clients don't necessarily see like, okay, but what is the area that I should focus on? Like, what's the most helpful for my body right now? And that's why having some guidance and support can internalize the process for you.
Kelle: A thousand percent. And I think that's what is really telling for people. Like I was in college when they had the fat-free craze, where as long as we ate everything fat-free.
Nina: Remember SnackWells?
Kelle: SnackWells, we could eat bagels with fat free cream cheese and cake, those SnackWells cookies, all the things. And I think like all that blanket, like, oh, just do this and you'll lose weight and you'll feel good and your body is just such BS. And having a personalized approach like yours is key. It's absolutely key.
Nina: So Amanda, where can our people find you? Tell us everything.
Amanda: Yes, you can find me at HinmanHolistic.com. That's HinmanHolistic.com. And at the very top of the website…
Kelle: We’ll link all this in the show notes, too.
Amanda: Yeah, you can see, you know, where you can get access to my book, The Thyroid Hormone Solution, as well as I have a lot of gifted resources, the hormone assessment, and some other resources of some trainings in there as well. If you put in your information to request those resources.
And if anyone's interested in learning more about how I work with women, typically I work with women for a minimum of five months to really step them through this five step process one month at a time, hold your hand, give that customization, that accountability and allow it to be a collaborative, hey, I'm going to challenge you. I'm your coach, and I'm going to challenge you to really stretch and to step forward, but it gives you a targeted plan so you don't feel like you're spinning your wheels and you're wasting your time. It's going to save you so much time and energy and really create amazing results. I mean, most of the, I think our benchmark minimum is a 72% symptom improvement over five months that we work together.
Nina: Oh, killer. This is a no-brainer.
Amanda: Well, it's part of the documentation is like we do a symptom checklist in the beginning and then again after every three months so you can see evidence of progress, right? That's part of what allows us to stay the course is to know that what we're doing is effective.
Nina: Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. Oh gosh. Okay. We will link to all of this in the show notes. This was such a treat. Thank you so much for being here today with us.
Kelle: Such a treat. Yes.
Amanda: Yes. My pleasure.
Nina: And we will definitely circle back for like a round two here because I have, you know, a million more questions. Yeah, no, just like another layer of curiosity. But we love what happened here today. So thank you so much, Amanda. And we'll talk soon.
Amanda: My pleasure. Thank you.
Kelle: Alright. Thank you. Thanks so much for listening.
Nina: Yeah, thanks for being here. We'll see you next time.
Nina: Hey everyone, if you want more live access to me and Kelle, you have to join our email list.
Kelle: Yes, we’ll come to your email box every Tuesday and Thursday.
Nina: You can ask us questions, get clarity, and get coached.
Kelle: We offer monthly free email coaching when you’re on our list and you’re the first to know about trainings, events, and other free coaching opportunities.
Nina: Just go to KelleAndNina.com to sign up.
Kelle: Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of Ambitious-Ish.
Nina: If you’re ready to align your ambitions with your heart and feel more calm, balanced, and connected, visit KelleAndNina.com for more information about how to work with us and make sure you get on our list.
Kelle: See you in the next episode!
We recorded this episode with Amanda a few weeks ago, and since then, I’ve personally implemented what she talks about with us, and I have felt so much better. Like, I was blown away at how much I did not know. Namely, I had no idea I wasn’t eating enough calories throughout the day. And it’s been a game-changer. It’s been just life-changing.
So this is an episode you’re going to want to forward to your friends. The ones you love who are navigating the confusion around perimenopause and menopause. Because listen, this starts as early as age 35, people. Yeah, I mean, at home, at work, in your relationships. This episode unpacks a lot of the whys behind your newfound lack of confidence, that unwanted weight gain, the brain fog and confusion that wake up your self-doubt, and so much more.
Amanda’s not just a fellow coach, but a functional medicine powerhouse, and she will blow your mind as she breaks it all down with us in really simple, easy-to-understand ways. Okay, this was such a good one. Thanks again to Amanda for spending her time with us. Let’s get going. This is Ambitious-ish.
Burnout? Check. Daily overwhelm? Check. Resentment rash, stress, and a complete lack of well-being? Check, check, check! You’re not alone. We’re your hosts, Kelle & Nina, and we are here to help you feel calm, balanced, and empowered so you can redefine success, make choices that feel authentic, and ACTUALLY enjoy the life you work so hard to create. You ready? Let’s go.
Kelle Cobble: Hey, I'm Kelle.
Nina Lynch: And I'm Nina. I am so pumped today for our guest, Kelle. This is going to be a fun one.
Kelle: So pumped.
Nina: Yeah. Right? So, Amanda Hinman is our guest today on Ambitious-Ish. A new friend and expert. She is a health coach focusing on integrative nutrition and applied functional medicine. She's the bestselling author of The Thyroid and Hormone Solution. And we're going to talk all about this book today. And there's so much more to talk about just beyond the book.
Kelle: So much. Yes.
Nina: Yeah, Amanda's a mom, just a regular rock star. And so, let's jump in. Amanda, welcome to Ambitious-Ish. How are we finding you today?
Amanda Hinman: Thank you. Fabulous. I'm excited to be here and have this conversation and just get to share hopefully some good takeaways and bite sized nuggets for your listeners.
Kelle: Amanda, you're coming off spring break. How are you feeling?
Amanda: Admittedly, I'm a little tired today because I, like I said, our flight was delayed yesterday. It was supposed to be like a 7:00 p.m. flight last night and it was cancelled. So we took a 5:00 a.m. flight this morning, my daughter and I. So, kind of like, okay, do the things that we do and get up and get rolling and luggage was checked already. So we had an overnight bag with just our toothbrush. Thankfully, I had my toothbrush in my carry-on. But yes, you know, it's kind of back into the groove and starting off the week and a little bit of a shifted around schedule.
Nina: We make it work. We've been eager to have someone on the show to talk to us a little bit about hormone health and of course, our thyroid is a huge part of that. But specifically, you know, I think our listeners, we're all sort of hearing the perimenopause and menopause buzz and, you know, it's sort of clickbait right now on the internet and beyond. So tell us, Amanda, just a little bit about like what's on your plate and how you came to this work.
Amanda: Yes. So right now, I mean, my passion is what I do each and every day. So I help women between the ages of 40 and 60 to uplevel their health. And what that looks like, because this is the time, just like you said, perimenopause, menopause, season of life is when a lot of things have changed in our bodies. Hormone levels start to decline as we approach menopause. And even the five to ten years before officially reaching menopause, which is considered once you have 12 consecutive months without a menstrual cycle.
So during that phase, things are shifting around a lot. And that's when we kind of lose this buffer, this bandwidth of those sex hormones. And so symptoms seem to crop up more. You know, I support women who are struggling with getting restful sleep. They feel like they just kind of wake up already feeling a little depleted or have extra love handles that have kind of creeped on around the edges, you know, putting on those extra couple of pounds. And can't seem to, no matter what I do, no matter how strict I am with my food, even get into the gym, and getting my steps in, it doesn't seem to move the needle from a weight perspective.
Also other things like really, really excessively dry skin, increase in allergies. That's usually an unknown linkage. Sometimes when we have more nasal congestion, post nasal drip, sensitivity with different allergy symptoms, that can also be linked to changes with hormone health. So all the different things that tend to become more prevalent when our hormone levels change. That's what I help support women with.
Kelle: You're describing like everything that's going on with me right now and then some.
Nina: Question though, among those symptoms, is there, I don't want to call it like perimenopause brain fog, but is there a brain fog component here too with your sex hormones changing?
Amanda: Yes. Well, okay, so I'm actually glad you said this. Speaking of brain fog, because that's that's probably the third most common symptom that I hear women describe. And let's be honest, like this is going to affect especially when we think about career-driven, ambitious women. This has a huge impact on your performance and also your inner confidence of feeling capable and feeling equipped to execute at a high level, right?
Nina: Yeah, I think a lot of our clients come to us and they're like, I don't know if it's my hormones. I don't know if it's my ability. I don't know if it's the millennials in the office, you know, making me feel so insecure. Like all of a sudden, I'm these are badass women in their 40s and 50s at the peak of their everything, and they start doubting themselves. So, yeah.
Amanda: And there is definitely, I would say it's not as simple as always being one thing, but there certainly is a hormonal and a physiological effect that we look at. So really quickly, I'll explain. Adenosine is a chemical compound that's created in the body from ATP, which is the cycle that metabolism, it’s happening all the time. And as we're awake, the levels of adenosine are building up in our body. Adenosine essentially acts as a pressure for sleep. The more adenosine build up we have in the body, the more fatigue we'll feel, the more like brain fog, the more like mental fatigue, and desire to rest, to go to sleep.
So it's it's meant to be this really beautiful cycle that supports wake and sleep cycles back and forth. The challenge for many women is bifold. They don't necessarily have really strong, consistent adenosine recycling happen during sleeping hours. That's when it's ideally your brain's recycling and clearing out the adenosine so that when you wake up in the morning, you get this nice cortisol peak, this cortisol awakening response.
Nina: Fresh as a daisy.
Amanda: Yeah, you feel alive, you feel ready to go. And your adenosine levels are at the lowest in the morning and then they build up throughout the day so that you're prepared to sleep at the end of the day. However, a couple of things can really kind of interfere with that natural cycle. The first being caffeine. Caffeine is a natural adenosine blocker, which isn't inherently a problem. It's just, I think about it like being strategic with how you're utilizing caffeine. Because if we start to consume caffeine, especially early in the day, within the first 60 to 90 minutes of waking up, and your adenosine hasn't been fully cleared, because maybe you didn't have a really, truly restorative period of sleep. So you already have some adenosine in the system, and then you drink caffeine. Caffeine is a natural adenosine blocker.
So it makes you feel more alert and more awake, and more alive temporarily for typically about five to six hours. That's about the half-life of caffeine. However, during that time, the adenosine is continuing to build up in the system because you are awake. And then all of a sudden, you hit this 2:00 p.m. crash. And it's because the adenosine wasn't fully cleared, and then it would continue to build up. And now all of a sudden the caffeine is wore off. So you hit this 2:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. That's like the typical crash time for a lot of women.
Kelle: Is that I'm wondering if that's, as I take another sip of my coffee here. I'm wondering if that's like the need for snacking later on in the day? Like, what's your take on that?
Amanda: Mm hmm. Well, usually when we feel fatigue, it's like a sense of, you know, the body's looking for some source of energy to stimulate, to give you that glucose, to give you some quick fuel, right? So sometimes there can be a desire for, you know, like almost like snacky foods, not necessarily nutrient-dense foods, but something that's going to give you that little quick pick-me-up type of a thing. So that can certainly be linked. So what do we do about that, right?
I guess, I guess the two strategies that I often like to share or, you know, introduce to women is first and foremost, see if at all possible to create a window of opportunity at least 60 minutes from the time that you wake up until you start consuming caffeine. Because that gives you a little bit buffer of window to have that adenosine level get at its absolute lowest. Make sure you've done as much recycling as possible before you're going to block it, and it's going to start to build up and compound. So if you can wait that 60 minutes, 90 would be ideal, but 60 minutes at a minimum is great.
And then, if you want to put a cherry on top to really support this chemical balance in the body is to get access to morning sunlight. It could be sit out on your back patio and just meditate or just do some journaling, whatever it is, go for a morning walk, take the dog out. You know, that's what I do. My husband's gotten in the routine now. He's like, okay, it's time to take the dog for around the, you know, it doesn't even have to be that long. But the cue of that full-spectrum light on the retina is a very potent, again, circadian rhythm regulator. So it helps to give you that cortisol awakening response in the morning, and it also helps to support adenosine recycling that next night when you go to sleep. So those two things rcan be eally helpful.
Kelle: Okay. I have a question. So there's all this stuff about you should drink lemon water in the morning or lime water for those Ayurvedic, you know, minded people, that I've heard lime water is better than lemon water. But does that impact what you're talking about?
Amanda: Yep. So that would be great if you want to start with a hot lemon and water or lime and water. If you want to start with your water first, that would be ideal because you're getting hydration in. It's not going to have the caffeine because it's the caffeine that's going to block the adenosine.
Kelle: Okay. It's the caffeine. Got it.
Amanda: Mm hmm. Yep. So that would be great is to get outside, have a couple minutes of morning sunlight, have your first hydration with some water and lemon or lime, and then wait 60 to 90 minutes and have your cup of coffee.
Kelle: I'm already hearing Nina, our people that just love their coffee, and they're just like, seriously? Wait?
Nina: Well, so I'm thinking of my morning routine, and I have to think about really, in order to create change like this, right? Like, what's the why? Right? We have to, you know, this is a big… the first thing I do in the morning is have a cup of coffee. So I'm like, okay, why is this important, Nina? I've I feel like I'm absolutely going through this. The symptoms that you described a couple minutes ago, I mean, all of a sudden I have like this fluff around my waist. I'm like, what's this fluffy? You know? And the energy and the brain fog. And this is really important to me to feel good in my body and to feel confident in myself right now in life. And so I'm like, okay, why is this important? Like, why is not reaching for the coffee first and reaching for the water, right? There's some mindset work here, too.
Amanda: Yes. Well, and again, coffee can, coffee is a really powerful agent. Like, I'm not against like, no coffee ever. It's just a matter to me, it'sa matter of like, what would it look like to do a two-week trial to say, I'm just going to be strategic with my timing of it?
Nina: Amanda, I'm just going to do one day. I'm going to start tomorrow. Let's do it for one day. And whoever wants to join me, join me. Like we'll do it together. Let's do one day first. But no, totally. Let's do a trial and just see how it goes. Yeah.
Kelle: And we're talking about coffee here, but I am a former and still matcha addict, and also chai. But not the syrupy chai at Starbucks or whatever. It's like the homemade chai.
Nina: But it's all caffeine.
Kelle: But it's all caffeine, right? So it all that counts.
Amanda: Yeah, it's all caffeine. It's caffeine is the component.
Nina: Okay, so this is awesome. This is how we're I'm taking notes. This is how I'm going to start my day. I love it, especially with the time change and everything. I'll get out into the sunlight. How about diet? What do we need to be or start paying attention to differently for this sort of stubborn or unexpected weight gain and our energy and our brain situation, and our thinking and everything? So what needs to shift there right now?
Amanda: Yes. So for especially after age 40, again, a beautiful emphasis on protein. And you probably hear this a lot because more and more people are now speaking about this, which I'm I'm thankful for and glad. The reality is women, on average, lose lean muscle tissue every year after age 40. And that's some of that's going to be a natural, you know, just shifting around as hormone levels change.
Yet, the quality of and the amount of lean muscle that we can maintain on the body is going to have one of the most incremental impacts on your overall quality of longevity. So when we think about mobility, mobility is even more highly rated than smoking now in terms of a detriment to health, a comorbidity, if you will. So keeping lean muscle on your body is absolutely critical. And we need amino acids, which are found in protein, to be able to do that.
So I have this super simple, I call my one-hand meal plan approach. And it's all about practicality. And what's a way that I can create a system that's a repeatable system, whether I'm eating at home, I'm out on the road, I'm traveling, and I can start to think about like, think about like plugging in the buckets. So think of PFFV for each meal. P as in protein, F as in fiber, F as in healthy fat, and then V for vegetable. So we'll talk about quantity. What does that look like? Protein, at a minimum, for each meal. So, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, minimum is a palm-sized serving of protein.
Nina: Okay, I love this because I don't know what grams are. So this is cool. I don't understand any.
Amanda: It’s like, how many grams of this? How many grams minimum?
Nina: Cool. Okay.
Amanda: One hand per meal of protein. That's your P. Your F is fiber-rich food. So these are things like, I mean, my favorite fiber-rich foods are like legumes and beans and whole grains, quinoa, nuts and seeds too have fiber. So think about a scoop. Like if you were to take your hand and scoop it out, that's about the approximate serving size for fiber. Again, at each meal. So consistency with these is really powerful.
Fat, healthy fat, ideally omega-3 fatty acids. We need those for healthy cell membranes, to have hormone communication, and a variety of different things. So a thumb of healthy fat. Now, this could be a drizzle of olive oil over a salad. This can be a couple of walnuts that you, you know, eat on as a snack or on the side. It can be a couple slices of avocado. But you want some good, healthy fat for each meal.
And then a full fist of veggies at each meal. Now, these are minimums. I will say most of my clients when we look at more specific on their nutrient needs for their lifestyle demands, they need even more above and beyond that. But this is that as a baseline foundation, PFFV, use your hand and look at like, am I hitting all of these buckets on my plate?
Nina: Yes, that's so cool. So that kind of sounds like to me, and maybe I'm under-eating, but that sounds like a lot of food right now. I'm not a huge breakfast eater. Lunch is later in the day, and then dinner's later in the day. And so it kind of does sound like a lot of food.
Amanda: I mean, I will tell you, I would say 85% of the women that I work with that come to me to improve their energy, to increase their sleep so that it's more restful, and to lose weight, which is usually a top desire. They're actually not consuming enough quality food. Think about this. If your body is in a chronic state of, you know, like depletion, the signal is to hold on to whatever we have, not to utilize it effectively and release it. So from a metabolic standpoint, many women are like chronically almost like suppressed metabolism because they're not consuming enough whole healthy nutrients.
Nina: That's so interesting. And that's not uncommon.
Kelle: Yeah. What I'm hearing you say is that this is really not for weight loss, but a lot of people want to lose weight and I feel like if they just followed these simple things, they probably would lose weight, right? Am I right, or not?
Amanda: It's almost universal. I will say majority of my clients, they want to lose weight. That's not their top goal because it is about performance, and they recognize like, I want to have quality of life. I want to be mentally sharp, I want to be clear, I want to feel peaceful and grounded, and not anxious. I want to feel well-rested and energized. But of course, I want to lose those extra 12 pounds too. That's what happens when we have good metabolic function, right? Your body naturally comes into balance when there's a strong robust metabolism and digestive capability. But when there's sluggish digestion, when there's slow metabolism, or when the cells aren't getting… here's another key thing for metabolism is what I call consistent muscle contraction.
Because as we have reductions in estrogen and progesterone, that makes women incrementally more at risk for insulin resistance and diabetes. Because estrogen and progesterone, they're like insulin modulators. They help to yeah, regulate. They help to regulate insulin. Well, when we have less of that, our insulin levels can become skewed. And so watching how we're using blood sugar becomes even more important. And one of the most important aspects of getting that glucose from our food, even if we're eating healthy foods, sometimes we have elevated levels of blood glucose because that glucose isn't being used at the cellular level. It just continues to circulate.
Part of the reason it can be utilized is by having muscle contraction, which just simply means movement. Any kind of movement. There was there was several studies that were done a couple years back that showed individuals, not just not just women, but men and women, individuals who walked 7,000 steps in a day had over 50% morbidity across the board from all cause morbidity, whether it be Alzheimer's, whether it be cancer, whether it be osteoporosis, and all cause morbidity across the board. So just movement consistently.
But even more profound was the study that had, it measured, okay, if we have participants over 3,000 participants and they're going to do a 20 minute walk after breakfast, lunch, and dinner, how is that different than if they were 60 minute walk one, point during the day. And metabolically speaking, those were night and day different because it's about the consistency of movement rather than the total number of steps or the total number of minutes being active. So a lot of times we have women who will go to the gym for 45 minutes, an hour, get their workout on, and then sit at a desk job all day long. So metabolically, this is going to lead to a higher likelihood of insulin resistance.
What we want to do instead is build in, use your standing desk, right? Build in movement breaks. I have a cue in my door because I have a door that walks in my office. Every time I get up to go use the restroom throughout the day, because I drink a lot of water, I come in and it's 20 body weight squats and 10 push-ups. It's just movement. It's like there's a cue as you're walking in and out just of what you naturally do.
Nina: Yeah, I do have a question. So, and maybe you're familiar with Stacy Sims, Dr. Stacy Sims. She is a high-performance coach and PhD. And her focus has been on kind of elite female athletes. And her research is all about how women are not small men. So she's all, she you're singing to me because I've studied her. And she actually, from what I've learned, and I'm not an elite athlete by any means, but she talks about what she calls LHS, lifting heavy shit.
So when we get into our 40s and 50s, remember the fat burner weights? They used to call them fat burner weights at the gym, which is just a joke because they don't burn fat, they just build muscle endurance. This is that low-weight, high-rep exercise, which is lovely for mobility. But when we get to a point where our hormones are shifting like this, she was explaining again, to help with your metabolism to lift a lot of weight to exhaustion, right? So we're talking six sets of four reps of really heavy weight. We're not we're not Arnold Schwarzeneggering. But can you talk a little bit about that? Because that just helps create or change our body mass. Body composition.
Amanda: Yes. It makes a big difference. Yes, exactly. In terms of the way that it affects that lean muscle mass that we're talking about, maintaining lean muscle mass, we need to have a really compelling demand on the muscle in order to break it down and have it grow, to have it expand. Another thing that's also really critical too, and she Stacy talks about this as well, is impact. So having where you're actually having impact, jumping, you know, exercises where you're…
Nina: Like rebounding?
Amanda: Yes, rebounding or not well, not necessarily like on a trampoline rebounding, where you actually have impact on the ground, like where you're like, side to side lunging, or even standing and jumping. And it doesn't need to be necessarily very long, about 10 minutes
Nina: Yeah, cause some people, we can't do jumping jacks anymore, right? So some women, yeah.
Amanda: But these types of things are what is important to have in the conversation because it is a different way of moving our bodies than what we historically had seen, you know, in the Jane Fonda years of like, oh, light lifts and leg warmers.
Kelle: It's all about like crazy amounts of cardio and light weights. Yeah.
Nina: Cardio and light weights. Yeah, it's different now that we're in this different hormonal phase.
Amanda: The cool part is, I feel like if you're intentional and strategic, it doesn't necessarily have to be massively time-consuming. It's really about building in very targeted pockets of activity and movement as part of your routine in a way that's going to be more effective, if that makes sense.
Kelle: Yes. I really love what you're saying here because it's not like you have to find an hour and a half to get to the gym, right? So you can build in these little things. And also, I love how you're saying to add in foods versus depriving yourselves and taking things out. And it goes back to, so I was a health coach before I started doing this. And I went to IIN, Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
Nina: I think Amanda did too, right? Are you IIN?
Amanda: Yeah.
Kelle: Okay. Awesome. And you know how they talk about crowding out? Like you're crowding out by adding in all of these like good for you foods. And you just kind of, when you're nourished and your body is accepting all of those nutrients, you need less of that processed, we're just going to say it, crap. Yeah.
Nina: Put in the crap bucket. Yeah.
Amanda: Yes. Yes, absolutely. It is. And you know what? I love that you said that Kelle because I remember that was my earlier journey. So when I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, I remember, you know, being the type of, I'm just, like you ladies, I'm an action taker like, okay, this is the issue. I'm going to solve it. What do what needs to be done? And went to work with a functional medicine doctor who was amazing. Like I don't, there's many amazing professionals out there who have really great resources.
Yet, the way that I was supported at that time was, okay, we're going to run a bunch of tests to see where your body, you know, stool tests and blood tests, and see where things are physically. And then I was given a list of about 18 supplements to start taking and foods to eliminate and to cut out. First, it was like, okay, at least I have a game plan here, and let's go. Let's make this happen. What I found out over time is that for me became unsustainable and was not actually creating, it wasn't building health.
If anything, it at the time was leading to like a feeling of frustration and resentment because I felt like I couldn't live my life anywhere... I wasn't being taught the skill set or the tools to really know how to make appropriate substitutions or to allow this to work within my other family. Like I have four daughters and a husband who were not eating very strict the way I was eating with all those food eliminations and stuff. So like I'm making like two different meals. It became very overwhelming. And it also didn't have, I had a little bit of a change in my symptoms, but it wasn't notable enough that it was worthwhile. Like it was like this is not working.
So I think the key to an approach of upleveling health, like I do with all my clients that I work with is yes, we do want to look at the data. We do want to see where your hormone levels are. We do want to look at your micronutrient status. Do your cells getting what they need from a baseline to work well. But there's so much more around the neuroscience of rewiring your brain and having a new skill set where you really have a systemic approach to make changes going to last, and that's going to be able to fit in your life. Because health is ultimately about what you do repeatedly for decades, not what you do for two months, not what you do for…
Nina: Before spring break, right? Yeah.
Amanda: Yes, exactly. Exactly.
Nina: It's not like a boot camp, right? Like I got to get into a bikini in a month. That's not health. Yeah, that's really, really true. Yeah. So, tell us where someone might start if they're if they're noticing these symptoms, if they're even as young as 35, right? You can be in your 30s and start noticing some of this. Where might someone begin? Yeah, let's start there.
Amanda: I think the first piece is becoming curious and starting to take your symptoms seriously. So notice what your symptoms are and then learn what they're pointing to. Because your symptoms are like the little red flares of the body saying, hey, look over here. Look over here, right? I need some support.
Nina: Indicators. Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah, indicators. And I'm happy to share with your audience, if it would be useful, my free hormone assessment. So it's a quick eight-minute assessment.
Nina: We'll link to this in the show notes. Yep.
Amanda: Yes. When you can map, okay, am I having brain fog? Do I have energy crashes in the afternoon? Am I having difficulty falling asleep, or weight gain, or different symptoms are going to kind of track to, you know, is it more likely an insulin imbalance? Is it more likely a thyroid issue? Is it going to be estrogen and progesterone? What are the areas? We look at the top six metabolic hormones and which symptoms are most commonly associated with those. So that's step number one is like, okay, which direction am I looking, and where am I focusing here?
The next piece, if I always talk about this, is step number two is replenishing nutrients, because every single cell in the body is nutrient-driven. So looking at that very simple PFFV process. And maybe for, you know, two days, do a little double check of like eat like you normally do. And then notice, am I hitting all of these boxes, you know, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or am I falling short? And if so, that's step number one is let's make sure we're getting the raw materials in so that your cells can have what they need, right? It's like, I think about like putting gas in the car. You wouldn't expect your car to drive you across the country if there's no gas in the tank.
Kelle: And it's really that like food is medicine, right? So PFFV. Yes, got it.
Amanda: Love it. PFFV. Mm hmm. So that's a good starting point. The next piece that we go deeper is to look at digestion. And this is where we go deeper into the microbiome. Like, once we know like, okay, you're consuming, you're taking in the basic food groups that are important on a regular basis. Now, is your body able to adequately break those foods down to digest them and to absorb them effectively? Believe it or not, that is a really surprising challenge for many of us, especially when we're running in that fight or flight, sympathetic side of the nervous system.
Nina: Who's raising their hand? All day long. Who's in fight or flight all day long? Like high achievers, right? Yeah. Just busy, ambitious, smart,t driven women. Yep. Mm hmm.
Amanda: Right. So it's looking at like, okay, first, you know, we have ways that we can assess that, like what is that digestion? Looking at micronutrient status, what's actually getting absorbed at a cellular level? Not just necessarily circulating in the blood, but what made it inside the cell to be utilized effectively. And how can we test our stomach digestive capability?
So looking at that piece and then supporting where necessary, but most importantly, looking at the, how can we create patterns and systems, simple choices throughout the day that are consistently activating parasympathetic, that vagus nerve, right? Because that's how you're going to teach the body to get out of fight or flight by practicing parasympathetic regulation more often, right? So looking at patterns of, okay, what is it? Is it a bandwidth trigger at my work? Is it a threshold trigger? Is it a relationship? Like, hey, there's a friction in this relationship.
Nina: That's what I was just thinking, yeah.
Amanda: You know, there's we have a lot of triggers. We all do. I do, right? And it's doing a lot of work. I mean, that's why I love this stuff, is like inner work on your own thoughts and perceptions, because it's more about what you think about a situation than it is the absolute hard and set truth about a situation. It's your interpretation that's going to send that whole HPTG access of connection. We talk about hypothalamus is that first signaling in the brain, and that is picking up your thoughts and your perceptions about circumstances in your life. That's going to signal through the pituitary, which is going to regulate hormones and send off different cascade of events. And then signals to the adrenal gland, whether we're in fight or flight, we are releasing cortisol, we're releasing epinephrine, and then that signals to the thyroid and helps to regulate or slow down metabolism. But they all start with what's happening in the hypothalamus with our thoughts and our perceptions.
Nina: We talk a lot about thought work with our clients and on the show. And so that's what this is. It's becoming aware of the thoughts you're thinking and how that affects your physical chemistry and your mood and eventually, you know, behavior and results.
Amanda: Exactly. It's all connected.
Nina: Yeah. Yeah. And so what I love here too, we are not poo-pooing synthetic hormone or medication, but we love this approach kind of first, right? We love taking this approach first to kind of see if we can work with our chemistry instead of against it. Is that what I'm hearing you say?
Amanda: Yes. Yes, absolutely. And I do think it's important to understand different hormone replacement strategies can be super helpful for some women. It's also helpful to know how your body is going to process those hormones. Because sometimes when I've had clients that have come when they've had pellets inserted and actually it intensified certain symptoms in a way that was undesirable. So knowing how your body is able to process and detoxify and work with those hormones is going to be important before we just kind of put a whole bunch of hormones into the body. And we need nutrients in order to metabolize hormones.
So if the first problem is like we said, we're not hitting those PFFV or the nutrient requirements because it's a high demand, adding more work on the plate isn't necessarily going to be a useful thing for your body to navigate. Because now in addition to the catecholamine hormones and norepinephrine and epinephrine and adrenaline, and cortisol, we're going to add a whole bunch of additional sex hormones. Now we just increased the demand that we're asking the body to do. And if we don't have the nutrients to meet the demand, that can become problematic. Does that make sense?
Nina: That sounds like a crazy party, hormone party. That's like a lot of chemicals. It's like a lot going on. Hormone party. So let me ask you this, if someone were to start this process kind of the way you've mapped it out, when do we check in? Do we give ourselves three weeks? This is me personally asking, to be honest. Like, when do we check in? When do we start? Like we're practicing awareness the whole time, and curiosity and all the things and giving ourselves grace and loving on the whole process, right? So when might we check in or yeah, how might that work?
Amanda: So you're saying like if I did a hormone assessment and I saw that I had some imbalances and certain areas, and then I made some changes. Maybe it's like, okay, for example, I'll think about one of my clients know right now, right? So, so Debbie, she's like, for me, the really hard thing is like that afternoon, and she's running four businesses. I mean, super on point dialed in all day long. And she's like, I hit 4 o'clock and I just absolutely crash, right? And so looking at for her, it was really about that sustainability of like, how are we nourishing your body?
She was admittedly, she was like, I'm starting my day with a cup of coffee, skipping breakfast, plowing right into my meetings. And then go, go, go. I'm lucky if I grab lunch as I'm shifting in between one zoom call and another meeting. Totally, this is common and there's no judgment there. It's just also recognized like, well, is it even reasonable to ask your body to continue to perform at that level at 4 p.m. when yeah, when you put like no gas in the tank, right?
So it was helping her to kind of build in, okay, so what are some simple things that you can do differently in the morning preceding that to get a morning smoothie in, to get your PFFV, build it all into one meal, make sure that we have a five minute break to reset and do some breath work right around the 10:00, 10:30 hour, just to help that nervous system regulation.
And she's literally like, I mean, these are simple things, but building that in and to assess. She's like, I can't even tell you, Amanda, how profound this has actually elevated my leadership because I'm not scattered in the way that I was. I didn't realize I was busy. Yes, my appointment was so busy, my daily calendar was so busy. But when I forced myself to take make these little adjustments that were somewhat were like, like I said, five minutes, 15 minute adjustments, it created the space that she was more clear and focused and better able to communicate with her team, had less back and forth coming back with, you know, kind of I have to relay this message again and then have a troubleshoot and go back and forth again. And not only that, she's like, now my husband is like, who is this new woman? That literally, she's she's released 10 pounds. She feels lighter.
Nina: I love how you say that you release weight. I think that's a lovely way to put it. Go ahead. Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah. And he's just like, you're a different person after work. She's just more present and I think feels more intentional. It's more on purpose. She is more on purpose with her choices to support her health, which allows her to feel and experience more intentionality across the board, whether it be with her team in communication, whether it be with her husband at the end of the day.
Nina: And just knowing that every body is different, right? Did it take, you know, a year for her to notice changes?
Amanda: Two and a half months.
Nina: Oh my gosh. What? Good for her.
Kelle: What? It's amazing. Whoa.
Amanda: Wow. It's amazing. Yeah.
Nina: With your guidance and leadership and with this system and..
Amanda: Yes, with this system. And we did, we did look at specifically, we did, we put the puzzle pieces together to look at her micronutrients then and say like, okay, where specifically are we picking foods that your body needs, right? So it's it wasn't just kind of broad and general. But I guess where I was going is, how do we know? I would say the first step is like really get reflective of what is my pattern? What are some things that I can start to shift? And if it's not moving the needle, get some support to get even more yourself.
Kelle: Yeah. That awareness. Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah, because there's no lack of health information out there. What I find is usually a bigger deterrent is that it's not customized, and that general information, women, my clients don't necessarily see like, okay, but what is the area that I should focus on? Like, what's the most helpful for my body right now? And that's why having some guidance and support can internalize the process for you.
Kelle: A thousand percent. And I think that's what is really telling for people. Like I was in college when they had the fat-free craze, where as long as we ate everything fat-free.
Nina: Remember SnackWells?
Kelle: SnackWells, we could eat bagels with fat free cream cheese and cake, those SnackWells cookies, all the things. And I think like all that blanket, like, oh, just do this and you'll lose weight and you'll feel good and your body is just such BS. And having a personalized approach like yours is key. It's absolutely key.
Nina: So Amanda, where can our people find you? Tell us everything.
Amanda: Yes, you can find me at HinmanHolistic.com. That's HinmanHolistic.com. And at the very top of the website…
Kelle: We’ll link all this in the show notes, too.
Amanda: Yeah, you can see, you know, where you can get access to my book, The Thyroid Hormone Solution, as well as I have a lot of gifted resources, the hormone assessment, and some other resources of some trainings in there as well. If you put in your information to request those resources.
And if anyone's interested in learning more about how I work with women, typically I work with women for a minimum of five months to really step them through this five step process one month at a time, hold your hand, give that customization, that accountability and allow it to be a collaborative, hey, I'm going to challenge you. I'm your coach, and I'm going to challenge you to really stretch and to step forward, but it gives you a targeted plan so you don't feel like you're spinning your wheels and you're wasting your time. It's going to save you so much time and energy and really create amazing results. I mean, most of the, I think our benchmark minimum is a 72% symptom improvement over five months that we work together.
Nina: Oh, killer. This is a no-brainer.
Amanda: Well, it's part of the documentation is like we do a symptom checklist in the beginning and then again after every three months so you can see evidence of progress, right? That's part of what allows us to stay the course is to know that what we're doing is effective.
Nina: Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. Oh gosh. Okay. We will link to all of this in the show notes. This was such a treat. Thank you so much for being here today with us.
Kelle: Such a treat. Yes.
Amanda: Yes. My pleasure.
Nina: And we will definitely circle back for like a round two here because I have, you know, a million more questions. Yeah, no, just like another layer of curiosity. But we love what happened here today. So thank you so much, Amanda. And we'll talk soon.
Amanda: My pleasure. Thank you.
Kelle: Alright. Thank you. Thanks so much for listening.
Nina: Yeah, thanks for being here. We'll see you next time.
Nina: Hey everyone, if you want more live access to me and Kelle, you have to join our email list.
Kelle: Yes, we’ll come to your email box every Tuesday and Thursday.
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Nina: Just go to KelleAndNina.com to sign up.
Kelle: Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of Ambitious-Ish.
Nina: If you’re ready to align your ambitions with your heart and feel more calm, balanced, and connected, visit KelleAndNina.com for more information about how to work with us and make sure you get on our list.
Kelle: See you in the next episode!
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