Ep. 69 Hormone Balance + Testing with Functional Practitioner Alicia - Part 2

We're back this week with MMC coach and functional practitioner, Alicia! We dive deeper into the last 2 phases of our cycles, as well as some other great tips to help you understand your hormones. If you feel overwhelmed with all the hormone talk or just want to learn more in general, this episode is for you!

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Where fitness and outdoors meet. In this space we chat all things hiking, exercise, wellness, adventure, motherhood, and metabolic health from a female perspective! Get ready to learn + be inspired to live your fullest, most adventurous life!

Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a longtime fitness professional and Midwest girl turned mountain living hiking addict. In combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism, motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discussed here. If you are outdoorsy and active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential, and become inspired to live your most vibrant life, you're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for Hiking podcast. Hello and welcome back to the fit for Hiking podcast. Today we are getting into part two of our Hormone Mini series with hormone expert Alicia. So if you missed part one, Alicia is a functional practitioner who specializes in hormone and gut health for women. She is one of our wonderful mountain metabolic coaches who works with clients who have symptoms that point to underlying hormone imbalances or gut issues. So today is part two of our little mini series on the menstrual cycle to help us as women better understand what's going on with our bodies throughout the different phases of each month, and how we can ultimately optimize our hormone health to feel our best. So thanks so much for being here, Alicia. Yeah. Thanks, Brady, for having me again. I'm excited to talk about these last two phases. Yes. Okay. So let's start off by just kind of going over what the second two phases of our cycle are when they occur. What we're going to feel all of that. Yeah for sure. Um, so the third phase of the cycle probably would be your ovulation phase. This typically is days 14 to 16. It only lasts about 12 to 24 hours. That's why typically when people are trying to get pregnant, you always hear like, I only have a window between my ovulation phase to like get pregnant. That's what they're referring to. Um, usually you have a peak in your estrogen, and then that's when that one mature egg is ready to be released. And hopefully that is what will create an embryo for your pregnancy. Um, symptoms during this time is normally a high sex drive, high energy. You're feeling really social and confident. Um, exercises during this time would probably be like hit workouts or anything that's more social, like group settings. Um, Zumba? I don't know what people do now, but things of that nature. Um, just to keep that social interaction and again, like you're just feeling confident in your body and ready to mingle kind of. Yeah. And then I would say during that time, a lot of people just really focus on like balanced meals, make sure you're getting enough protein, high fiber, and then maybe some antioxidants like nuts and berries. Okay. Um, and then after that it's kind of the ending phase. So the luteal phase luteal is kind of from post ovulation to day one of your next menstrual cycle. Um, if you're pregnant, normally your progesterone stays risen. So that way you can maintain the pregnancy. If you're not pregnant, then that progesterone and estrogen will typically decrease and just get you ready for that next cycle. Um, symptoms. During these times, you're a little moody, bloated. Maybe some PMS two weeks into the luteal phase. So exercising is a it's a moderate combination between like strength training. And then maybe some like gentle stretching yoga, Pilates. Um, during this time a lot of people like to do like, magnesium rich foods. So like that dark chocolate that we talked about to help reduce some of that bloating. Again, I do think it's a old wives tale, but I mean, dark chocolate tastes amazing. Um, some sweet potatoes. So like some carbs and maybe like some bananas or like chickpeas just to support that vitamin B6. So I would say that like summarizes the ovulation and the luteal phases. Okay. So the luteal phase would be kind of when you start to feel the symptoms of PMS. I feel like every month as women were like, why do I hate everything? Why is everything the biggest deal in the world? And then you start your period and you're like, oh, obviously that's why. Yeah. So luteal phase is like, not when we're feeling our best. No probably not. Um, but unfortunately it is part of the cycle. Um, but it does ensure that, you know, our hormones are being regulated monthly, so it is a positive sign. Yeah. It's also so interesting to me that ovulation is so short, because I feel like a lot of women don't think about the fact that we really are only able to get pregnant and ovulate for, like you said, like 12 to 24 hours. It's not that long of a window. No. And it sadly it makes it really stressful, especially for women who can't get pregnant because you're really on a time clock. Um, and everyone does ovulate differently. Like, yes, I said 12 to 24 hours. Yes. I said, um, days 14 to 16. But if you have an irregular cycle, it's really hard to predict what days actually your 14, 15 or 16. So just something to keep in mind. Yeah. Along that line, like for someone who does have irregular cycles, maybe they aren't every 28 days and they maybe they get their period like once every few months because they've been weaning off of birth control and things are just off for whatever reason. How can they know exactly when they're in each phase, like we've been talking about these phases being these certain days, but if you're a regular, how do you really know? Yeah. Um, that's a great question. So I would basically start with keeping a symptom journal for like over the next three months. And you really want to start testing your body temperature upon awakening before you get out of bed, see what your body temperature is. Um, you could buy ovulation prediction kits. They sell them at pharmacies or like Walgreens, CVS, um, and cycle tracking apps. Those are helpful to, um, if you really wanted to splurge a bit, I hear the aura ring is where it's at, especially if you're trying to get pregnant or have irregular cycles because it keeps all of that on your phone and stored without you having to go to the store, without you having to take your body temperature every morning. It's doing it for you. Um, so yes, I've heard really good things for hormone wise. Um, the aura ring is great. Yeah, I have to. Yeah. So I've heard a little bit about the temperature taking. What would that tell you exactly. Like if you're someone who's taking your temperature and I've heard that you should do it, like, first thing in the morning before you get out of bed, before you, like, get moving in all of that, what would you be looking for? Yeah. So typically kind of like when you're messing and you're just always hot. Yeah something like that. So like you really want your body temperature to rise. So something is happening with your hormones if you're too low, it's kind of like Matt, nothing's really happening. I'm not feeling any symptoms. But when you're on your PMS or your cycle, you're like, God, I'm hot. I can't stop sweating. I'm just. Uncomfortable. I know it sucks for us as women, but it's normally a good indicator that a hormone is rising and that you're on the right trend. Yeah, that's so interesting. So your body temperature will rise kind of starting into your luteal phase and then into menstruation. Yeah I would say two weeks into your luteal. And then menstruation typically happens two weeks after that. Um so that gives you like that full month. So yes. Interesting. Okay. Very cool. Yeah. So there are ways that you can figure it out until things are more regular again. Yeah. Holistically I mean we're assuming that this is like an average, I don't know, 30, 35 year old women with irregular periods and no significant medical history. Yeah, yeah, yeah for sure. Okay, so now that we've discussed all four phases and the complexities of the female cycle, could we get into how women can actually know if it's time to get tested? Because I think that, like, you know, there's so much going on with social media and all the social platforms about like hormone imbalance. And I feel like it's just a thing that we just like slap a label and it's like, if anything's wrong, it's because your hormones are in balance, which might be true, but it also might not be true. So it can be really confusing. Like how do you actually know if you should get tested or if you maybe just need to make some general, healthier lifestyle changes? Yeah. Um, so the advice I give this is assuming again, um, you're not like, post-menopausal and, um, assuming you're just like an average woman. Um, it would probably be irregular periods for three or more months. So whether that's a missed period or extremely heavy periods, um, you're unable to get pregnant again for three or more months, no matter how many times you have sex. Ovulation. During ovulation, not during ovulation. Um, and then I would say like unusual hair growth. It's normally excessive hair growth, a lot of acne, um, irritability and I don't know, some people cravings as well. Like if your cravings are super high, like I would want to look into, like, what your blood sugar is. Um, tell me more about your thyroid. Have you have any significant history with that? Um, your stress levels again. So I think all of that does play a factor because. I mean, just what life in general, whether it's a new job or you lost your job or unfortunately, a death in the family or loss of a loved one, you know, all those things do contribute to sometimes your hormones can shift, understandably, just due to life, you know? Yeah. Um, so I would say if it's three months or more of those top symptoms, I would definitely consider further testing. Okay. And is there anything that someone maybe with symptoms like that could do before going straight to testing, like from a holistic standpoint, are there anything, anything that you would recommend to just do on your own to make sure that you need to get tested? Yeah. Um, I would say the number one key would be a symptom tracker journal. Um, and include in there like again, if you did have a life change, mark it down because it is part of like what's maybe throwing off your cycle or your hormones. Um, just to see if there's any consistency or any patterns. Um. Because the medical terminology hormone literally means a chemical messenger. So think about it like your body is literally trying to tell you something. So listen to it. Um, you know, it's just expressed different ways for everyone. But typically when your body's out of sync, it will tell you and it will probably be persistent again for three or more months to say, like, hey, there's nothing you're doing right now is working, and I need more help than what you've been doing. Yeah, yeah, the body keeps score. Like I always think about that phrase because it's so true. Like, our bodies will hold on to certain life events, trauma, stress, things like that. And if you're experiencing symptoms just like slapping a Band-Aid over it, trying to outwork it or, you know, just medicated or whatever is not always the best route because you're not really looking at like, why is my body reacting this way? What is the underlying cause that's actually creating this symptom? Yeah, I think that's really important to point out. Um, because I think nowadays with medicine between like even ozempic like I hear primary care pushing ozempic now and it's really disappointing as a medical provider because what happened to like, dietary changes, lifestyle changes, you know, even easy to moderate exercise. How about just walking after dinner? You know, like so can you imagine if you went to your gynecologist or OB and they just put you on birth control without even asking you? Like, how long has this been going on? Or have you tried anything? You know, that's pretty scary. And unfortunately, like, I've had that happen where it's just like, oh, you're not getting your period, let's just put you on birth control. To me, that's like perpetuating a potential issue. Yeah it is. It is pretty wild. And I'm sure working in that space, it just makes you want to bang your head against the wall. Yeah, definitely. Like I still work in the urgent care now, and I definitely still see such a contrast between the urgent care setting and then the approach to functional medicine, which is why I went back to school, because I'm like, man, people need so much more education about their symptoms and how to fix them outside of like pushing a pill or an injection. Yeah. Which is why I love being a functional practitioner. It really does help me to like, connect with people on a deeper level and make. Lifelong changes holistically without putting them on a diabetes medication or high blood pressure medication or birth control, you know? Yeah. And it also kind of shows why it's so hard to kind of get people bought into the long term lifestyle changes, because there's this other side of the coin that's like all about the quick fix and like, well, there's a pill for that. There's just, you know, an injection that you can take to help you lose all the weight completely suppresses your appetite. And it's not teaching you anything for like long term maintenance. So it is it is hard trying to be on the other end of the spectrum. Yeah. Yeah. But that's why um, like with Mountain Metabolic, like you really have to find a coach that supports your goals. So that's why I love working with you guys, because you guys are not pushing ozempic or a pill or fasting. You know, you're like, no, let's let's make lifelong changes to help support and optimal health for you long term. Yeah. And I think one rule of thumb is like, if you're listening to this and you're thinking, should I do this or that? Like, is this something that you could realistically continue a year from now. Could you still be doing it? Is it extreme enough that you can't even keep up with it for a month? If so, then probably not the best method to get you. Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. Um, okay, so as far as testing, I feel like there's just so many questions that I have about getting hormone tests and thyroid tests and things like that. So what are the top tests that you recommend based on, like the different symptoms that are pretty common for women? Yeah. So to simplify it would be two options. It would either be a blood test or a urine test. The blood test will only test your hormones in that moment of time. Um, and it's not as in-depth as the urine test. So the urine test is typically the Dutch test. And it gives you a window over 24 hours of your, of your hormones to see what exactly is going on in those 24 hours versus that two minute that you got that but that blood draw. Okay. Yes, I would probably say those are like the top two most effective, most insightful tests. And so with those cover kind of the full range of hormones that you'd want to look at. Yeah. Um, specifically because I can order whatever I want. So I kind of know what I'm looking for as opposed to, like, oh, just a general complete metabolic panel. When really? Like, what if I want more in-depth testing about your thyroid? What if I want more in-depth testing about certain vitamin deficiencies? Um, there's three different types of estrogens. Like there's so many different layers to this that when you have someone who has the medical knowledge and background that can order whatever tests they want to help meet you where you're at and give you relief of your symptoms, it's really helpful. Um, as opposed to just like a general practitioner who's just going to do like annual things go over that and by. Yeah. And man, that's like such a perfect example of why it's so helpful to work with someone like you within Mountain Metabolic, like having someone who can order the right tests to advocate for you based on what you are seeing as their coach versus it being a random medical professional who's not taking into consideration a lot of different like lifestyle factors. Yeah. Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah, that's that's huge. Okay. Um, so I've heard this a lot and I'm curious about your your thoughts on this. So what if your doctor reports back that everything is within normal range on your testing, but you're still, like, experiencing these symptoms and you're like, okay, am I crazy? What's going on? Yeah, totally. And sadly, I hear that a lot too. So again, like I said before. So hormones are literally chemical messengers. They present differently for everyone. But it is a way of your body telling you like, hey, something is off. Listen to that. And I would probably get a second opinion and not from another general practitioner, probably a specialist like myself, a functional practitioner, or an OB or Diane, depending on what your hormones are. Maybe endocrinology if you feel like it's more like thyroid focused, there's many different options, but I would definitely say hands down, do not ignore those symptoms. Like that would be my number one advice. Like you're not crazy. Your body is speaking to you. Listen to it like your body wants what's best for you. Your brain is what's telling you. Like, no, just keep going. Like, no, this is fine. It's okay that I only eat, I don't know, a cookie and a cup of coffee a day. I'm okay and really know your stress levels are probably through the roof. You're probably not sleeping. Probably really anxious. You now probably don't have a consistent period. Those are all signs of an unhealthy lifestyle that no one should continue to live. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so it could be possible that things are missed. Or maybe like things are within a normal range, but not necessarily like optimal. Yeah, that's a great point actually. Yes. Because some people, let's say for your thyroid on the low end is considered 0.8 and maybe your result came back 0.9. So on paper you considered low. No you're actually considered within normal limits. But if your thyroid level is 0.9 and you're having hair loss and you're having your cold all the time and you're losing weight like there's no tomorrow, you're not able to put on any muscle or mass, then your thyroid is too low despite you being quote unquote within the normal limit. Mhm. Yes. Okay. That's a super helpful point that like it's not going to necessarily cover things in a thorough way or tell you, hey you're like right on the cusp right. Not even say that. They're just like nope you're normal. You're good right. Yeah. And I mean even for me it is provider dependent. Some providers will treat that and some will say, no, we're not going to treat it because you're still within normal limits. So kind of like a coach, you kind of have to find a provider that supports where you're at and is willing to listen to you and not just dismiss you. Yeah, and that's hard to do. I feel like it really is hard to find medical professionals like you who like genuinely, I hate to say it because I'm, you know, it's not this way for everyone. But in my experience, that has been the case. And I've heard so many other ladies who have come through Mountain Metabolic and Just friends, other experiences of like not having doctors who do advocate for them and they do just want to like slap you on birth control and call it a day or whatever. And that is so frustrating. It's hard to find a medical professional sometimes who will advocate for you. Yeah, I 1,000% agree. Um, and I mean, just like if you don't really have a lot of knowledge about it, respectfully, because we all didn't go to medical school, you kind of are timid to speak up like, you know, and you don't you don't want to challenge them, but then you also don't want to be ignored. And maybe you just need a further explanation. Or yes, in fact, maybe you do need further testing. Um, and I think both options should be available to all patients. Yeah. And I think just even having, like, conversations like this is helpful for women to hear so that they know what to maybe stand up for or ask the right questions so that they can feel confident and educated. If they are getting results back, they can say, hey, was I like on the low end for any of these? Like, I would love to hear like the exact numbers or can I look at it with you or something like that? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So I'd love to hear if you have like an example of a client who has come to you in the past, what their symptoms were, what tests maybe that you did, and then what you ultimately implemented together. Yeah. Of course. Um, so I have a client. I'm actually still working with her. I've been working here with her for about six months now. Um, she's a 32 year old female. When she first came to me, she had irregular periods, moody fatigue and some acne on her chin. Um, first and foremost, my initial approach to anyone who I work with is an assessment of, like, their full big picture life. Okay? Not just like diet and exercise, but like, tell me about your work life. Tell me about your bedtime routine. Your morning routine. Um, relationship status? Kids? No kids. I want to know all of it because it all matters. Um, we ended up starting a tracking journal, like I mentioned before. Like, for the next three months, I want you to start tracking your symptoms. Um, especially because she was having irregular periods. And then we ended up doing the urine test. So the Dutch test, um, again, it's that Dutch test that does the 24 hour window of your hormones in that cycle. And we found out that her estrogen was really low and her cortisol was really high. So layman's terms, kind of she was in adrenal fatigue syndrome is what it's called. Um, but what we ended up doing is I customized a six month plan for her, and we made some dietary changes. So we started to include more foods with like B-6. So more salmon or avocado. Um, we increased her magnesium because she was a little deficient in it. Um, spoke heavily about stress management practice. More like mindfulness. Um, and then we did some couple supplements just to kind of boost some of her other minerals that needed, um, higher levels, I would say. And then we kept checking in month after month after month. Um, and now she has more energy. She has a higher sex drive. She's ovulating regularly, which is amazing compared to where she came from. Um, definitely more self-awareness and more confidence. Just like in her body. And knowing that, like, she didn't just need to be on birth control. We haven't even touched birth control yet. And she's ovulating regularly, which is awesome. And she has less and she's less moody. Um, so I consider all those things a very big one holistically, with just, like, lifestyle changes, maybe some supplements. Um, and listening to your body, handling some stress management and just looking at, like, the big picture. Yeah. And the key there too is like, she's been consistent, I'm sure. Like it wasn't like a one month thing. And now she's good. Like, you guys have been working together, you know, consistently for months now. And oftentimes I think with these big lifestyle changes when we're looking at hormones or gut health or metabolic health, it does take a bit of time. And. Unfortunately, some people are frustrated by that. Obviously, we all want fast results, right? All of us. No one's immune to that, to that desire. But it is so helpful when you can go into something like that with the proper expectations of we're doing things a right way to set the foundation for long term. So it's going to take more than a month. Yep, exactly. Um, I would say at minimum three months for anything, whether it's weight loss, hormone changes, diabetes, blood pressure management, I would say for all of those at least three months, bare minimum. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, and that too is such a good example of why working with a coach who can order labs and then look at that and know what to do with the information is so, so helpful. So for anybody who's listening and they're like, oh, I resonate with some of the symptoms of the client that she was talking about or some of the things that we've talked about on this series. Um, and you want to go a holistic route. You don't want to just like, try to cover up these symptoms. If you are interested in working with Alisha within our Mountain Metabolic Coaching DMA's at the Fit Underscore for Hiking Instagram page, it's just fit underscore for hiking and you can DM us hormones and we'll get you headed in the right direction to start working with her. And keep in mind that if you mention that you listen to the podcast, your first month will be half off too, so get a little bonus there. So if this has been helpful for you and you'd like to chat a little bit more about. If you feel like you could benefit from coaching, definitely send us a DM. Or you could go straight to the application, um, process, which is in the show notes, and you can just let us know that you're coming from this podcast episode, and we'll give you the discount and hook you up with Alicia. Um, also, Coach Alicia's 28 day hormone balance reset guide is linked in the show notes of this episode. I told you guys last week, we give you a little special bonus here, and if you go to that link, you will automatically receive 50% off at checkout. So definitely check that out. If you're looking for kind of more of like a self paced approach or just wanting to get started on something. Yeah for sure. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. This has been such a helpful mini series for Our Lady listeners. Yes. Thank you Brady. It was amazing. Yes. All right you guys, we will see you in the next episode. Thanks so much for being here. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the fit for hiking podcast. As always, I hope it leaves you feeling inspired and informed on how to take your health and adventure into your own hands. For more content like this, be sure to follow along with my daily posts at Ponytail Underscore. On a trail that's ponytail underscore on a trail. You can also stay up to date on my new episodes being released at Fit Underscore for hiking, and find more free resources at Pony Tail on a trail.com. Happy and healthy trails.