Fight, Flight, or Fat. How Stress is Impacting Your Weight with Kerri Hallman

Feeling stressed and watching your waistline expand? It's not your imagination!

In this episode, we're joined by Kerri Hallman, a Stress-Reduced Fat Loss Practitioner, who reveals how stress might be secretly sabotaging your body, especially during perimenopause.

Kerri shares game-changing strategies for reducing stress and shedding those stubborn pounds (spoiler alert: it's not about eating less and exercising more). 

You'll discover:

• The link between your stress levels and that stubborn muffin top
• How your body's 'fight or flight' mode is working against your weight loss efforts
• Practical tips and tricks to slash stress and boost your overall well-being
• The real way for women to eat and move to keep their hormones in check
• Simple lifestyle tweaks that'll have you feeling like a brand new woman

This isn't just another 'drink more water and think positive' pep talk. Kerri's sharing proven strategies that actually work for women like us.

Connect with Kerri
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Kerri Hallman Bio

Kerri Hallman is a Stress-Reduced Fat Loss Practitioner, focused on empowering women over 35 who face challenges like low energy, unexplained weight gain, and poor sleep. With a deep understanding of the complexities of women's health, especially during perimenopause, Kerri’s Balanced Bodies program is designed to simplify life, reduce stress, and help women feel their best, proving that menopause doesn’t have to be a struggle.

Kerri brings not only her professional expertise but also personal experience to her work, resonating deeply with the challenges her clients face. Outside of her practice, Kerri is a mother of two adult children and a recent dog mom, embracing life outdoors with her family. Whether it’s walking, hiking, cycling, or enjoying their family cottage, Kerri thrives in nature. She’s also an avid skier and enjoys annual trips south to soak up the sun.

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Transcript

Kerri: 0:00

This is where strength training comes in. Like this is the reason why we lift weights. Sure, aesthetically it looks great, but the whole reason behind it is so that we don't break our bodies as we age, because as we age our bones get more brittle, we slip and fall because our equilibrium is off. By having that muscle you're stronger, your core will be stronger. So if you slip on the ice, you're not going to flip over and break your back. You're able to, like, carry your groceries in, Like this is why we do these things right. And the reason why you know muscles get pulled out or get strained and afraid of getting hurt is because we're not. We're not strong enough.

Michelle: 0:33

Welcome to. This is Perimenopause, the podcast where we delve into the transformative journey of perimenopause and beyond. I'm one of your hosts, Michele.

Mikelle: 0:42

And I'm your other host, Michelle, and we know firsthand how confusing, overwhelming and downright lonely this phase of life can be.

Michelle: 0:50

Join us as we share real-life stories and expert advice to help you navigate this journey and advocate for your best health.

Mikelle: 0:57

We used to think menopause signaled an end, but really it's just the beginning. Welcome to a discussion that could change the way you handle stress, and that's why we're thrilled to have this conversation today with Keri Hallman. Keri is an expert in stress-reduced fat loss. She specializes in supporting women who struggle with low energy, unexplained weight gain, poor sleep and generally feeling uncomfortable in their skin. I'm guessing many of us can relate. As a personal trainer who's navigated the challenges of perimenopause. Keri emphasizes deeply with her clients. She's here to explain how stress impacts the body and can worsen perimenopause symptoms. Plus, she's sharing her top strategies for making life easier to help you regain control of your stress so that you can feel amazing again. Welcome to the show, keri. We're thrilled to have you with us. Hey, welcome to the show, keri.

Mikelle: 1:49

Hi we're so happy to have you here. Thanks, thanks for having me. We haven't met face to face, but I'm Michelle and you know Amy very well. Yes, and then this is Mikkel. Hi, keri, hi, mikkel. Mikkel is in Alberta. Well, she's actually in Toronto right now, but she's normally in Alberta. And then Carrie, as you know, mikkel's done some research on you, so she knows all about you. But what do you want to know about Mikkel before we start?

Kerri: 2:15

Well, how did you guys start this podcast together? What did it come from?

Michelle: 2:20

Commiseration, largely Michelle and I and I and another um very close friend we met uh in university at Wolford Laurier and uh have been friends ever since and we were. I think it was summer of 2020 and Michelle and I were bitterly complaining about perimenopause and how challenging it had been for us to date and how there was so little information and we couldn't find a doctor who would help. And our friend Jill said well, we can do something about that. And here we are, nice.

Mikelle: 2:52

So, carrie, can you please tell us about your career and how you came to be a stress reduced fat loss practitioner, and what does this certification mean?

Kerri: 3:01

Sure, so I will start with how I became that, like my path to that. So let's rewind a couple years. I was personal trainer, fitness instructor, for many years, where I met Amy and we. I then went from that to owning the gym that I was working at, so it was Fitness 360 for Women. I owned that for about eight years and during COVID, I was closed and sitting by myself in the gym and I was pondering you know my clients and the women that I was working with and going there's just something like over the years that have been nagging at me about why aren't these women getting the results that I want and they want like they're happy because they have more energy and they're working out, but I was like I want a transformation. How do I get that?

Kerri: 3:45

So I had met some gentlemen in 2016 that did stress reduce fat loss, and they then decided to do a mentorship to teach people their protocols, so I jumped right on it. So stress reduce fat loss is basically working with your body to reduce the stress so weight can leave, and it's holistic. So working with our body, working with our food to reduce the stress so weight can leave, and it's holistic. So working with our body working with our food, our movement, outside supplements if needed, right. And then, a couple years after I got that, I was still at the gym, still closed, still sitting there by myself. And then my lease was up, so I decided to close the gym and go exclusively online was up, so I decided to close the gym and go exclusively online. And I was super scared because I had no idea what I was doing and ended up with a coach that taught me how to build my online program. And here we are today.

Michelle: 4:34

Carrie, in your experience, what are some common misconceptions about weight gain and fat loss during perimenopause?

Kerri: 4:41

The common misconceptions is that you can't lose weight during menopause perimenopause Really, Because it feels that way. To me it's a total misconception. The problem is is that we're trying. A lot of women are just we're taught a certain way when we're 20 and when we're 30, and from our parents and our grandparents. So let's just say, our mom and our grandmas right, the way they did things is not what we need to do. So it's a relearning phase at when we hit perimenopause and it could be any time, Like there's a big span of when perimenopause can hit.

Kerri: 5:16

So the misconception is that, oh, during this time I'm just going to feel lousy, I'm going to gain weight around my stomach and it's going to suck, and that's wrong. So that's what I'm trying to educate on. But I have had so many people come to me and they're like I went to my doctor and they said, oh, you're 44. Good luck trying to get that off. Like these are words that the doctors have said to them. That's cruel, I know. And they're like it's just menopause, you just have to deal with it. And I'm like that's not true, though, Like in it. And the problem is they just don't know. They haven't been. There's not enough education for doctors on women's health. So the misconception. The other misconception is going to your doctor for weight loss help. They can't help you.

Mikelle: 6:05

Well, I don't think they also have a lot of nutrition education as well, right no?

Kerri: 6:14

I think in their. I read somewhere that in their eight years of schooling they might get eight weeks of nutrition, and it's literally by the old food pyramid.

Mikelle: 6:19

Well, and four hours of menopause, yeah, but yes, as I understand it, they're still going by guidelines from back in the day, when, when they were trying to promote, when the cereal companies were trying to promote us to all eat their you know, sugary grains, and that's what these are good for you.

Kerri: 6:37

Yes, eat the cereal and you'll like. You know you think of the slogans like Tony the tiger, like what, what? What energy are you getting from sugary frosted flakes? Nothing.

Michelle: 6:49

Maybe we can talk a little bit about the link between stress and weight gain, because I think that is. We know stress is bad for us, but I don't think many of us understand the correlation between stress and weight gain, particularly in perimenopause and beyond.

Kerri: 7:06

So stress is the main driver of weight. And the reason is is that when you let's paint a picture here so you're in the jungle and you're being chased by a tiger, right, your body is going to go into fight or flight and it's going to like take off to get away from this tiger. That's a stress response, a natural stress response. Your body is like keeping you safe. That's what its job is to do, that's what cortisol's job is to do. Then that tiger goes away, or you get away. The stress response goes away. We all go back to normal. La, la, la, la, so fun.

Kerri: 7:40

What's happening now is with our work schedules, our life schedules, things that are going on inside of us, our bodies are in this constant state of stress, feeling like we're being chased by a tiger. So if you have gut imbalances, or if you have hormone imbalances, or if you have work stress, or if you have inflammation, your body doesn't know the difference between a tiger and gut stress. So it's just going to put you in this chronic state of stress. And then, when you're in a chronic state of stress, your body is not thinking of digestion, it's not thinking of releasing weight, it's literally thinking of keeping you safe. That's the only job that it has. So when your body is stressed, what happens is everything you eat, everything you do or don't do, is kind of like stored in the fat cells and unfortunately those go around your midsection and that's why everyone in perimenopause goes. I have this spare tire all of a sudden because belly fat and cortisol are related.

Mikelle: 8:42

And then with that belly fat, many of us become more prone to type two diabetes. Yes, no.

Kerri: 8:49

Yeah, and like type two diabetes. Then we get into like insulin resistance, but with the stress this is the thing is like stress, it gets compounded with everything we do. So if you are insulin resistant and your body's stressed but you keep eating things that are bothering your insulin, your stress is going to stay high as well, so you're going to accumulate fat on your body. And then women go oh my gosh, I need to eat less or I need to stop eating fats or I need to go work out more, and this is actually causing more stress on their body. So what we were taught before this eat less, exercise more model is causing more stress.

Mikelle: 9:29

So we're fucked. No, no, no, you've got the answer. No, no, no, no, we're not. No, okay, so I do want to hear all about how we can reduce and get our stress under control Before we go there. You said a couple of things that pinged for me. You talked a bit about gut imbalances and gut stress. How does our gut health?

Kerri: 9:53

impact our weight and our stress, and how is it all connected? Okay, so if your gut is imbalanced, if you have any sort of dysbiosis in your gut, it's going to be causing stress to your body because it's not functioning properly. So if you've got gut imbalances that are year after year after year going untreated, this is causing stress, stress, stress. So gut imbalances could be anything from like you rely on coffee to go to the bathroom every morning, or you think it's normal to only go to the bathroom poo once a day, or even like once a week. Right, it could be that you go to the bathroom a thousand times a day, but it's all loose, like there's different variations.

Kerri: 10:35

A lot of the times I hear people talk about the belly, like I feel like I have a bloated belly all the time or it's hard to touch. Those are gut imbalances. So if you have a chronic stress, you probably have some form of gut dysbiosis. So they go hand in hand. Not very often do I have someone that has a high stress, like dysregulated cortisol because it could be high or low right, that doesn't have some form of gut problems. So, so they are hand in hand.

Michelle: 11:04

Can we touch on why, like what it was about the, the intense or extreme or large amount of exercise that was making it worse?

Kerri: 11:13

So when we exercise, our body produces cortisol, which is good. We all need cortisol right. But if you have dysregulated cortisol, where you are like in burnout or you're in exhaustive phase, which are two areas of cortisol that are hard to get out of your body is like burnt out, it's done Like it's like shutting everything down, right. If you go and exercise like do a spin class and go like burn 400 calories, um, if you go do a hit class or if you go for a run, right, these are all things that are increasing your cortisol. But if your cortisol is already up here, you're just adding more to it. You're not making the situation better.

Kerri: 11:53

The best thing that someone could have taught me now what I've listened, I don't know, but would have been slow down and go for a walk, because walking I need the cardio. My body needed the cardio, but I didn't need as intense as I was going and I was the like sweat till you die person. Like if my clothes weren't wet, right, amy? Like I was, like wet, I had to be soaked, like that was my thing and I made my classes that way, and now I feel terrible because I was teaching these women that were like the wrong way to do it, but I wasn't. I wasn't educated on it either.

Mikelle: 12:26

Nobody, nobody knew back then. Right Like cardio has a really bad rap these days.

Michelle: 12:31

We've been hearing and reading that intense cardio is not as beneficial as we all once thought. Can you tell us about what healthy cardio looks like and maybe, in particular, what kind of walking we should be doing?

Kerri: 12:44

Sure. So walking, there's two different ways to walk. So, and it sounds silly, but there's that like nature walk, like take your dog, go sniffing. I have a 16 week old puppy. We don't walk very fast. That's more of like a decompression walk for him and for me. Right, we're outside in nature, we're getting the benefits of the fresh air, we're moving our body a little bit. Then there's the kind where you go for an intentional walk, that's you know 20, 30 minutes, whatever you can do. You that's you know 20, 30 minutes, whatever you can do. You may be like in the winter, you might start off cold, but you warm up. At the end You're able to have a conversation with your partner. If you're walking with somebody, we don't need that high intense cardio. I was a spin instructor for years and I'd be like go, go, go, go, right, we don't need that, we just need to walk. And both are good, like the faster pace walking right, where you get your heart rate up a little bit, and that decompression nature walk. We need both of those.

Mikelle: 13:43

You've mentioned low cortisol, and whenever I think of cortisol dysregulation, I always think it's high. So does low cortisol have the same effects on our body and the same negative impact as high cortisol, or what does it do so?

Kerri: 13:58

you can be in a state where you've got more, you've got low cortisol, and there's a state where you have high cortisol and sometimes people, um, they wake up with super low cortisol and wonder, why can't I get out of bed? Well, it's because your body's not producing that cortisol that gets you out of bed. And then some people are like I'm so wired at night, like I'm so tired, but I can't go to bed. It's because your cortisol levels are too high at night.

Mikelle: 14:26

So, carrie, wow. What can women do then to get their stress under control and their cortisol?

Kerri: 14:32

Drink your water. Most women are dehydrated, which is causing stress on their body. So if you don't drink enough water, yeah, have a drink. If you don't drink enough water, then that's causing stress on your body. The rule of thumb is half of your body weight in ounces of water per day. So if you're 200 pounds, it's 100 ounces of water every day. It's just a really good rule to stick to. Two would be eat more food, but like real food, so let's get away from packaged food. There's a misconception I think I said it earlier of eating less and we've been told that our entire life, because Weight Watchers and our moms were like dieting queens right.

Mikelle: 15:16

Oh my God, my mother was always like oh, michelle, are you going to eat that? Like I think you should put that down. Like I lived since about 10, like I was under strict supervision of what I could put into my mouth.

Kerri: 15:28

Yeah. So that programming has taught you, oh, I can't eat that much, right. But when we get to be this age, we've probably depleted our nutrients so much that this is why we're in the state that we're in. So the way I teach my women are three meals and two snacks every day. And some people go, oh, my gosh, like, oh, how am I going to fit that all in right, but what we have to do is get your body working like a well-oiled machine.

Kerri: 15:56

So for the blood sugar, you start low and you want to even it out right, and then drop off by the end of the night. Let's say you wake up and you don't eat breakfast. Your cortisol, like your blood sugar, is staying low. And then you eat something and it's usually a coffee, it's not food and you go whoop. And then you were, you were like, oh, I don't have time. And then you don't eat lunch and it goes all the way back down. And then all of a sudden at night it goes all the way back up because when you're starving, and so you eat everything in the house, namely crackers, bread, cookies, all that stuff that's gonna give you yeah, give you that quick hit of dopamine and like energy and then you continue until you go to bed. Right, because you haven't eaten all day.

Kerri: 16:36

What we want is to even out that blood sugar, like look at one ingredient foods and if you look at a box and you don't know what something is, don't eat it, because your body probably doesn't know what it is either. So, one ingredient foods drink your water and move your body. Like walk ingredient foods drink your water and move your body. Like walk, right, just get up. Um, smartwatches, right? Mine tells me when I've been sitting too long, so I get up and walk around my house or whatever.

Kerri: 17:05

Um, and I have a big thing where I like to hit my goals every day. So I always try and aim for 10,000 steps a day. So that either equals like an hour of walking total. So I split mine up with two 30 minute walks. One is always outside. It's rain or shine, snow or sleet. I'm outside because I need that for myself, I need the fresh air and I just need that movement and to like de-stress, and I find the fresh air is the best place to do that. So those would be the top three and they sound so simple, right? It's not like I'm saying you have to do blah, blah, blah, it's you just just go back to basics. There's a whole bunch of layers on top of that, but, like for a starting point, this is where we would start.

Mikelle: 17:48

I love that because it's easy and it's something it doesn't cost any money and it's not overwhelming to implement Because I feel like so many, you know, you go online and what should I do? What should I do? And it's like layers and layers and steps and steps and it's a lot.

Kerri: 18:03

Yeah, like we overcomplicate life, like that's just it. We overcomplicate things. So when you look at it and go she's telling me to drink water, move my body and eat one ingredient foods Like really, that sounds like a scam. And it's like no, no, it's not, it's just, we're not used to it. We're used to so complicating. Right, only eat fruit before two. Or like don't have carbs before bed. Or make sure when you have protein, blah, blah, blah. Like all these rules like just eat.

Mikelle: 18:39

That's all I love it.

Michelle: 18:41

Yeah, eat good food. Yeah, eat good food, yeah. So, carrie, it sounds like if women can get their stress under control, that's the key to get their weight under control. Is that fair to say?

Kerri: 18:55

Yeah, I would say that cortisol is a driving factor. Now, having said that, like it depends on the state of the cortisol, which phase of cortisol you're in and then what gut imbalances you have. But there's like layers to it as well. So the starting point would be the things that I just mentioned, and do those for three months and then see what you feel like. Are you sleeping better? Are you pooping better or is your energy better? Can you wake up without snoozing in the morning? Right, Can you do? You sleep all night? Like how many women don't sleep all night? And that's mostly because our body's under stress and going wake up.

Michelle: 19:36

So would it be fair then, to say it's not really about getting it? Managing stress is important, but it's not about getting the stressors in your life under control. It's about understanding how you're inadvertently creating stress in your body because you're not drinking enough water, you're not eating enough food and enough of the right kind of food, and the third, the end you're not getting enough movement in your day.

Kerri: 20:04

Yeah, and there's the. The thing is we can control the stress that happens inside our body, like that's the stuff we can control. So that's the stuff we work on getting under control, because you can't. You can't control what happens at your kid's school, you can't control what happens, like at work. That's external stress, that's always going to be there and that's where, like, the stress response comes. It comes and then it goes away. But when your insides are chronically stressed, this stuff out here is 1000 times worse, because it's like doubling up right. So, if you can, if we can get the insides healthy, the outside stuff won't be as traumatic on our body. Does that make sense?

Michelle: 20:52

Yeah, absolutely Building resilience really right, like make us healthy and having the foundation to be able to withstand not so much withstand, but I think you know something that I think disappears for a lot of women in perimenopause is their coping skills right, because they're hitting peak life stress, their hormones are doing wonky, crazy things and I know that I felt over the last God, what is it now, michelle? Like a fricking decade, at least I'm like. What is wrong with me? This used to be water off a duck's back. This should not be as big a deal as it feels like. And yet I rationally know that. But I just, you know, don't have the coping skills I once did, I do. It's coming back again because now that I know what's going on and I know what the triggers are and I know how to better take care of my health in this stage of life, my old self is resurfacing. But yeah, the not being able to cope is a big thing and we're fueling that fire, sadly, every day without realizing it, when we don't know.

Kerri: 22:02

Exactly, exactly, and it's because we've been taught a certain way or social media or media alone like they're just selling us crap, and there were, we're feeding into it. Like Starbucks when they do the Red Cup day. I'm like no, no, and I see everyone on my social media. Oh my God, I woke up at 3 am to get in line and I'm like, no, don't like. First of all, you're disrupting your sleep. Then you're going to buy, like a sugar filled drink. That's going to like throw everything off Things like that. Right, that's the things that we need to like. Throw everything off things like that. Right, that's the things that we need to like. Okay, it sounds cool, but it's probably not the best for me.

Mikelle: 22:40

Clearly I'm not on social media enough. What is the red cup day?

Kerri: 22:43

Okay, I don't know if it's called red cup day. My daughter's a big Starbucks person and they have new cups come out every so often, but then they have a limited supply, like a collector cup like you can hang onto it.

Mikelle: 22:55

It doesn't. Oh, it's not Okay.

Kerri: 22:57

So my house is full of them, and I actually told her the last time you're not allowed Like I'm done, I'm done with the cups, one in, one out. Throw one out or throw 10 of them out, like um, but they're like collector's items. And then they're like special time, like limited time only and things like that, and people want the cup.

Mikelle: 23:14

Yeah, oh, wow, my goodness I'm old, I didn't know about that. Yeah, carrie, I've heard that for women in their 40s or in perimenopause that we should be doing strength training. And yet strength training is a stressor on our body. That's essentially how we're building the muscle. So why is that strength Like? Why is that stress okay, when I'm supposed to be, just, you know, reducing the stress in my life?

Kerri: 23:42

Yeah, good question. It's a different kind of stress, okay, so so as we age, we lose muscle mass, and when we lose muscle mass it's a stressor on our body. Oh, okay.

Kerri: 23:57

So it's a catch-22,. Right, women love cardio. It's just a thing. I don't know why we just love our cardio and then we always think and another misconception is, if you lift weights, you're going to look like a man, right? You can't look like a man unless you take like a man. Right, you can't look like a man unless you take steroids or something to enhance those muscles. It's just not possible. And so building the strength, yes, it's a stressor, but it's a different stressor to your body that's not going to affect your cortisol the way cardio or high intensity exercise will do.

Mikelle: 24:29

So it's a good stress.

Kerri: 24:31

Yeah, it's good stress, because it's not. It's not high intense, that sounds intense to me.

Mikelle: 24:38

Amy's worked out with me recently. She knows how, how heavy I quote, unquote, lift, and it's not a lot.

Kerri: 24:44

Yeah, like, and that's the thing. So my question would be why, like, why don't you want to lift heavy?

Mikelle: 24:49

I, just I, I don't want to hurt my shoulders, I just like I. I think that's the biggest part is I and I don't, I don't like hurting too much. The next day, okay.

Kerri: 24:58

So if you don't want to hurt your shoulders by not lifting heavy, you're probably going to fall and hurt them because they're not going to be strong, right? So this whole thing of, like you know, I don't want to get old and be in a retirement home or, sorry, a nursing home, I don't want to break a hip. This is where strength training comes in. Like this is the reason why we lift weights. Sure, aesthetically it looks great, but the whole reason behind it is so that we don't break our bodies as we age, because as we age, our bones get more brittle. We slip and fall because our equilibrium's off and you, by having that muscle, you're stronger, your core will be stronger.

Kerri: 25:31

So if you slip on the ice, you're not going to flip over and break your back. You're able to, like, carry your groceries in, like this is why we do these things right. And the reason why you know, muscles get pulled out or get strained and afraid of getting hurt is because we're not. We're not strong enough. So I would encourage you to lift those heavier weights. Put away the eight pounds we don't need eight pounds anymore and go a little heavier. And that that muscle soreness that you feel after lifting a heavier weight is good. Right, like it's good and you're not going to feel it every time, it's just going to be like once in a while.

Michelle: 26:10

Okay, Okay, Carrie. So for listeners who don't lift weights, or they're lifting five pounds, eight pounds what is the path to getting, safely getting to be able to lift heavier weights and what you know for the? I don't know if you can generalize this, but for the average woman in perimenopause, what should be a goal Like? So it's not eight pounds, so what should we be lifting and how?

Kerri: 26:35

So that is very individualized. Um, a good rule of thumb is let's say you're doing like it depends on the program that you're doing, but let's just go with the number 10. So you're going to do 10 reps of an exercise. If you're doing 10 bicep curls and you get to 10 and you're like and that was like super easy. And you're like like what now Right. Or if you're like you know like you can't get to 10 and you're struggling, that's great Cause, then you know that you're at the right weight, so you should be tired at the end of the 10 reps.

Kerri: 27:13

You should be tired and you should actually fail. Strength training is one of those ones that it's okay to fail. So if your goal is 10 and you only get to five, that's okay. Oh, I like these new parameters. Yeah, this is a hard thing for women to wrap their head around, right? I have many women that are fixated on the number and they're like I got to get to 10. I'm going to go lower. I'm like no, no, just get to where you can. Like I would rather you lift it heavier where your body is like I can't do this. That's going to build the muscle. That's what's going to make you strong.

Mikelle: 27:44

Because I've always thought I'd rather do 15 reps at a lower weight than 10. Oh, okay, okay.

Kerri: 27:49

No, so change that. Change that idea in your head for sure, Because it's it's another misconception. It's something that we've been taught along the way as women.

Michelle: 28:05

For someone who's not done this approach before, it would be important to maybe hire a trainer for a couple of sessions or join a class, because you also do run the risk of hurting yourself.

Kerri: 28:10

Yes, so definitely hire a trainer if you're brand new to this and try and get one. That's your age, so it's very, you know, like a lot of trainers are in their twenties I mean, I was there, right. They don't understand unless they are educated on women's health over 40, they're not going to understand and they're probably going to like do the bootcamp style. A class is good. If you're going to attend a class, I would go to the instructor and specifically say you're new. When people used to come and say that to me, I would focus more on them and my wording would be more centered to them than to Molly, who was here every day. I like that. That's what I would suggest. But definitely go with some instruction. Even doing YouTube videos if you don't really know what you're doing, that could cause injury Because, yeah, there's different ways. Like you could be standing all wrong, you could be deadlifts oh my gosh.

Mikelle: 29:10

Like doing a deadlift if you do it wrong. I've yet to figure out how to do those properly.

Kerri: 29:13

Yeah, there's a, there's a way for sure.

Michelle: 29:15

Carrie. What is a stress? Reduced fat loss practitioner.

Kerri: 29:19

Okay. So there is like. There's nutritionists, there's people that can take you through like a meal plan. Um, there's like I don't I'm not trying to think of the name of like what I'm thinking of, but like. I'm not trying to think of the name of like what I'm thinking of, but like if you hire a coach and they're like taking you through macros, let's say, okay, they're going to take you through a program. That's like you know, this is your weight, this is how much protein you should have, this is how many carbs, but then you have to fit it into your day. Okay, that's one way of doing it, but what this, what that doesn't do is focus on the stress on the body.

Kerri: 29:55

So my whole work, everything I do, is stress reducing. So I don't calorie count, I don't macro count. I log food because I need to like my. My clients need to log food because I need to see what they're eating. If you're eating garbage food, it's going to add stress to your body. So everything in my program is related to stress. So, instead of like like we were talking about the hardest workout, go, go, go, cause you need to burn that, burn it off. We don't actually like. Our bodies need that nutrients and most women aren't getting enough food and calories anyway. So if we go and we burn it off, you're actually adding more stress to your body because there's calorie, there's way low calorie deficit, but then you're going to eat all the wrong foods because you're hungry and all that kind of stuff, and this is what is missing. And this is why when women do intermittent fasting or weight watchers or keto, why weight usually ends up coming back on because they haven't addressed the stress that's in and on their body.

Mikelle: 30:55

And also they've been deprived sorry, they've been depriving themselves. And so when they start to eat normally again, because most of those diets aren't sustainable, again you're like okay, I remember this and I need to store it because she was going without it for so long.

Kerri: 31:10

Yes, yes. And oftentimes, when women are dieting and restricting, once they start eating normal again, they're eating more inflammatory foods. They're eating more of the foods that they were deprived of, because their bodies are like think about, if you don't eat for a day, you want just anything to fill that void and it's like well, I missed those calories yesterday, so I can load up on them today. That's what we want to avoid, because that causes a lot of stress. So my son just got his wisdom teeth out and I took a picture big, chubby cheeks and I was like this is a great indication of what inflammation is. So he didn't gain 15 pounds in his mouth. This is all just swelling and that's what's happening inside your body. And when your body's inflamed, it's stressed out and your body is trying to save you and keep you safe. So if we're constantly eating these inflammatory foods, we're constantly stressed, our body's constantly trying to save us.

Mikelle: 32:09

And then the whole thing we just talked about so you take them out for a while and then do they get to slowly add them back in, or is that like forever and always gone?

Kerri: 32:20

So it doesn't mean that you can't ever have them. What I teach is a lifestyle. So, for instance, right now it's almost Easter and I made up. I said to my group what are some things that you're wanting to have this week that I can help change the recipe for? So some people are like oh, we usually have cinnamon buns or dressing right, how to make these things inflammatory free? So I'll give them a recipe.

Kerri: 32:50

So it doesn't mean you can't have the thing, you just have to make it differently. I have chocolate every day, but I make my own, but it's like coconut oil, cocoa powder and whatever else. I said almond butter, right, like. And then you freeze it and it's like this deliciousness. It's just a new way of thinking. It's not like you have to give it up, it's just a different way of looking at things. Okay, and then a lot of people are like, oh, but I can't give up my chips. Well, let's get the inflammation out of your body, right? So let's say we remove it for three months. Get it out of your body, and I'll say to you what are you missing the most? And oftentimes it's wine, or it's chocolate or it's chips. So sure, have that thing. But I want you to report back to me how you felt.

Kerri: 33:30

And I've had a client. Wine was her thing, so she had wine and she's like, oh my gosh, I didn't sleep last night. I was bloated, I felt terrible. She's like, oh my gosh, I felt like this every day and had no idea. So then, going forward, once her body had healed, she chose when she was going to have it. So it was like I know I'm going to sleep terrible if I have this, so maybe I'll have one glass, but I also am going to make sure I eat my meals that day and have inflammatory, anti-inflammatory foods, like things like that. For me, dairy is a no, an absolute no. But gluten I can have it and be okay once in a while, but we have to heal the body first before we get to that point. So is it going to be? Can I go back to having a Subway sandwich every day? Probably not, because you're probably just going to end up with inflammation.

Mikelle: 34:19

Diarrhea and all kinds of grossness.

Michelle: 34:24

Carrie, where do you land on alcohol consumption?

Kerri: 34:27

It's not good, like it's not. And I know I get lots of haters for this and people are like it's one of those things that, like they see my reel that says something about alcohol and it's like swipe, like I don't want to. I it's like I don't want to. I don't want to know what you have to say about it. Alcohol is an inflammatory food. It is a toxin that's entering your body. Okay, so lots of women and I'm gonna get all fired up here so a lot of women say I just need my glass of wine every night to unwind. Or I need my glass of wine Friday night or my wine nights with my girls to unwind.

Kerri: 35:01

It's literally doing the exact opposite of what you think it's doing because we've been marketed to that. This is a thing to relax, but what it's actually doing is throwing your hormones out of balance. It's causing inflammation in your body, which increases the stress. You can't sleep, which increases the stress. Your appetite goes to shit, so you increase stress and it's just this bad cycle. Alcohol takes like two weeks to get out of your system. So even if you're like, oh, I only drink on the weekends, you're still inflaming your body and there's no time to heal. So my take on is it's bad. Right, like it's bad, it's a toxin, it's a chemical you're putting in your body Like would you drink bleach?

Kerri: 35:44

No, I gave up alcohol like 12 years ago and it was one of those things where I drank it because I wanted to have fun with my friends. And I remember waking up one morning and I remember exercise a holic over here, right, I couldn't work out, I couldn't get out of bed, I was sick, I felt terrible and I'm like that's it. I'm done, like I would rather have a good day than be on the couch for one night of fun. I can still have fun, I don't need to drink. So I've been very strong in my conviction ever since then on myself, carrie.

Mikelle: 36:17

We actually have a podcast coming up about sober curiosity, so that'll be tie in nicely to this conversation. Yes, yes, and I got it right, mikkel, not alcohol curiosity. I said today something about alcohol curiosity. Maybe I'll ask those questions.

Michelle: 36:37

Yeah, I know you're alcohol curious. That's not the right thing.

Kerri: 36:42

My son is alcohol curious. People don't get it. People don't get that you don't drink and it's like no, how do you drink? That's that's my angle of like how do you?

Mikelle: 36:54

Mikkel doesn't really drink either.

Kerri: 36:55

No same it just no longer was worth it.

Mikelle: 36:59

Now, you two, no, I'm just kidding, Now we'll just. Yeah, I'm not talking about me, Carrie, can you tell us a little bit about your program Balanced Bodies?

Kerri: 37:10

Yes, absolutely. The program is designed with women in perimetopause in mind. So it brings all of my protocols from stress-reduced fat loss, and I walk through step-by-step how to make these lifestyle changes. If someone signed up today, tomorrow their life's not going to be overhauled. I'm going to do it step-by-step to ease the stress right, because that's the whole idea of it. But I'm going to teach you how to build out this lifestyle to make it lasting.

Kerri: 37:39

There's work to it, like anything we're overhauling, probably years and years of misconceptions, myths that you've been taught. So there's a lot of things that we have to work through, a lot of layers that we have to go through. So there's one on one coaching. There's group coaching. I bring guests in to help, like, bring on that message, because sometimes just listening to me is a lot, but I use my method of the three R methods. So reset, recharge and rebalance, and that's like the whole basis of my program. What we're missing is balance in our body because with all of the inflammation and all of the stress and hormones out of whack and eating this or not eating that, we've been out of balance. So my whole protocols bring you back into balance and then you just feel so much better. The stage of life is always evolving, it's always changing. So just be like.

Kerri: 38:35

What I teach is for now, but it doesn't mean that you're not going to go on to do more later on. It doesn't mean that you can stop doing what I've taught you because, like anything, if you stop doing it you're going to revert back. So my program is three, six or 12 months. I prefer to six to 12 months because the longer you're held accountable, the longer you're in it, the longer you're surrounded by people who are doing the same thing and you feel connected to, the better you're going to be in the long run.

Kerri: 39:11

And when we're talking about habits that have been great for 20 years, we need time to get through that. So I have a community of support. Women are in there. They're all going through the same thing and they just help each other. Right. There's recipe sharing, there's guys I don't, I don't know how to get to bed earlier, what do you guys do? Or you know any kind of question. So we we like to be with people that are like minded, and sometimes our friends aren't those people. They're friends that do other things with us. But if we're on a health journey where you know you don't feel good when you wake up in the morning. I want to be with other people that feel the same and are actually doing the work and getting better, so I can see that happening.

Mikelle: 39:50

That's amazing. It sounds like an amazing community. Yeah, I love it.

Michelle: 39:55

Keri, what's the one thing you want every woman to know about perimenopause?

Kerri: 39:59

Doesn't have to suck Like it doesn't. We just need to learn a new way of living in this body, and you know, I grew up hearing menopause sucks, so just wait till you get to menopause and all this stuff. And I was like why, though? Like can I just help myself through this? So a lot of it is like just defunking them, defunking whatever the myths, defunking, debunking, debunking, thank you, debunking the myths that we've been taught for so long, debunking the myths that we've been taught for so long, and unfortunately, you're going to have to go somewhere other than your general practitioner and you'll have to get support from someone who's been trained on women in their 40s, 50s and 60s, because it's a whole different ballgame than just eat from the food pyramid.

Michelle: 40:51

Can you start the balanced bodies program anytime, Carrie.

Kerri: 40:55

Yes, I honestly don't believe in. Yeah, that's awesome that you want to get started. My next cohort is in six weeks from now. When a woman is ready, they're ready, Like they want to do it right now. They've reached out, they've raised their hand. They're like I'm in distress or I don't feel good. They've reached out, They've raised their hand. They're like I'm in distress or I don't feel good. I want to start.

Kerri: 41:16

So I have like ongoing enrollment. So whenever that person's ready, they're ready. So we we start at any time. So in the program there are people at different stages, which is amazing as well, because they can help the newbies that are like oh my gosh, what do I put in my coffee if I can't put cream and sugar? And then people like, oh, I was like that too and I tried this, Try to give this a try. So I really like how there's people at different stages, because they end up helping and pulling along the new ones, and then the new ones give the old ones perspective of how far they've come. So I really like having the good balance of people in there. So, yeah, anytime.

Michelle: 41:57

Oh, that's cool, Carrie. Thank you so much. This has been really fun and we're excited to share this with our listeners.

Kerri: 42:06

Thank you so much for having me on here. I just I love the idea of this podcast. I think it's wonderful. We need to spread the word on perimenopause, so you guys are doing a great job Well, thank you for helping us.

Mikelle: 42:16

Thanks so much for listening to the show. If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate and subscribe to our podcast. When you do this, it helps to raise our podcast profile so more women can find us and get a little better understanding of what to expect in perimenopause.

Michelle: 42:32

We also read all the reviews the good, the bad and the ugly to help us continuously improve our show. We would love to hear from you. You can connect with us through the podcast, on social media or through our website. Our information, as well as links and details from our conversation today, can be found in the show notes. This podcast is for general information only. It's designed to educate, inspire and support you on your personal journey through perimenopause. The information and opinions on this podcast are not intended to be a substitution for primary care diagnosis or treatment. The information on this podcast does not replace professional healthcare advice. The use of the information discussed is at the sole discretion of the listener. If you are suffering from symptoms or have questions, please consult a qualified healthcare practitioner.