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Welcome to "No F**ks Given," where we redefine menopause as a superpower. Hosted by Holly Lamb, a women's health coach, who is navigating early menopause. This podcast offers empowering guidance on women's health and navigating perimenopause with confidence. From nutrition tips to fitness advice and mindfulness practices, we cover it all. But here's the twist: it's all about embracing your most authentic, unapologetic self. We're here to help you reclaim your power, say goodbye to societal norms, and live life on your own terms—no f**ks given. Welcome to the revolution!
Holly Lamb (00:00.654)
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the No Fucks Given podcast with me, your host Holly Lamb. This episode, I've decided to do a bit about me. Like, who am I? I'm on episode 33 of the podcast and obviously I will have done an introduction at the start, but it's always nice to have a little refresher and kind of get to know me a bit more for...
my new listeners, I've had lots of new subscribers, lots of new downloads. So welcome to all the new women who are following me. And I really appreciate every single one of you for been on this journey with me. So I thought I'd kind of explain who I am and how I got into this work and my story that's led me to where I am now. So.
Back at the end of 2022, I got diagnosed with early menopause. Now I started having symptoms probably six months before this. Irregular cycles were one of my first red flags because since coming off the pill about five years before that, I had always had a regular cycle. It was around the 28 day mark and things started to go a haywire.
different, I felt different. And then the next thing that happened was my skin started to flare up. Now, yes, women have skin issues, people can have issues with skin, but this was horrendous. Like there was sores around my nose, around my mouth. It was dry, it was painful. I was wearing makeup to cover it up because I felt so embarrassed and I just hated it because I'd always had such...
lovely clear skin and I was like what the friggin L is going on and When I went to the doctor, I just got dismissed I got given steroids and basically told that I have skin issues because I'm a woman and I wear makeup and That was it. That was as far as he went. He gave me steroids, which I didn't want to use and I didn't I didn't use for a long time I actually went to see a naturopath who? helped
Holly Lamb (02:20.438)
with some of it, some of the stuff that he gave me did help, but it didn't fully clear up. However, he was the first person who said this is hormonal. I did end up using the steroids in the end because it got so severe, I literally didn't know what to do. And yes, it absolutely helped to clear it up, but it's not a long-term solution and they absolutely ruin your skin. It ruins your...
got microbiome as well because it's absorbing into the skin and it's going into all areas of your body. yes, you can absolutely use them as a stepping stone, but it's not a long-term fix. And then that's when I discovered Zoe Bee Creams, a charcoal and oat cream, and that has been my savior. And that is basically the only thing I use on my skin as well as organic castor oil. But apart from those two things, I don't use anything else.
I just clean my face in the morning with a cloth. The minimal things, the better for me now, just because I wanna keep my skin as clear as I can. But then also with the skin issues, then that's when the anxiety started to overwhelm me. And the overwhelm, I felt like a completely different person. I didn't wanna leave the house, I was struggling. This was when I was still in an office job.
struggling to go into work, struggling to concentrate, to do the job that I knew how to do. And I just felt disconnected from friends and people at work. And it was this very weird feeling that unless you're going through it, it's really difficult to describe to. And it's really difficult for people to understand.
Then the next thing was my libido was on the floor, which was definitely not fun, especially not for my partner. But it's really difficult then to explain what's going on for them to understand. mean, obviously now it's a completely different story, but back then, you know, it can put a strain on the relationship and for them to understand that it's not them, it's something that's going on in your body, it's hormonal.
Holly Lamb (04:42.142)
And at the time I didn't have all the tools I have now that helped me to thrive through this, through this phase.
Holly Lamb (05:01.641)
you
So I wanted to share a couple of things that happened to me and maybe some of these resonate with you. Maybe you're not anywhere near menopause. Maybe you're just having menstrual issues, but these can be relevant. Anything hormonal can cause changes to your skin, your hair, your body, your mental state. So I wanna share how I've got to this point where I feel quite secure with
how I look, how I feel, my lifestyle. And if you're on a similar path where you wanna understand your body and live a more holistic lifestyle, then this is exactly the right episode for you.
Holly Lamb (06:10.158)
So getting back to my diagnosis, I went to see another doctor. I'd been tracking for three months, my cycle. I had tracked on and off for years, but not as in depth as with mental cycle awareness like I do now. But...
I was tracking my cycle for three months and then I went in to see a doctor and luckily she was extremely understanding and actually wanted to understand me and get to know me. And she was a trainee GP. So she's qualified doctor, but she was training to be a GP and I cannot be more thankful that I got to see her because she was the one that got me to this place of.
kind of giving me an answer about what, what this was. So it was already training menopausal clients at this time, but sometimes when you're in it, you don't always put two and two together and click that, hang on, is this, is this what I'm going through as well? And been younger and I was like, no, this, this can't be right. Because as we know, the narrative around menopause is that it's women in their fifties when we clearly know that's not correct. The average age for menopause is 51 in the UK. So
If you can have symptoms up to 10 years before, it's no surprise that women in their 40s and late 30s start having symptoms. So I was just super grateful that I got her and we got to the bottom of what was, what was happening. So initially she wanted to put me back on the pill and I, I didn't want to do that because I know how I felt when I was on the pill. I literally felt like a completely different person. I also felt like.
I was like a bystander in my own life. life was passing me by and I was just here in the moment, not interacting with it. It's a very strange feeling, like almost in a bubble. That's how I felt when I was on the pill. So then she offered HRT, which I did take. I took for about six months and absolutely it helped my symptoms. It helped me manage the...
Holly Lamb (08:24.652)
mental symptoms more than anything, because the physical symptoms I could absolutely deal with. It was the mental side for me because it's not something that I'd ever experienced before. So I took HRT for six months, but then again, that feeling of being back on the pill started to creep in and I didn't feel like myself and I felt really disconnected. And especially at this time, I was practicing menstrual cycle awareness.
I felt like I was numb to my intuition. I felt like I wasn't able to connect to my higher self and my inner knowing had been lost. So that's when I decided to come off HRT.
Holly Lamb (09:12.632)
And honestly, it's the best thing that I ever did because then it's led me down this path to find the tools that work for women going through menopause, but also with menstrual issues as well, because they're still hormonal things. We're still connected in the same way. With menopause, obviously, it's the decline of your sex hormones, but women can have low estrogen, low progesterone or estrogen dominance.
And these can affect your cycle and how you're feeling. So the two do come together and you can use the same tools for both.
Holly Lamb (09:55.736)
And this is what I've started to do with my clients. It's a combination of menstrual health work as well as the lifestyle changes in order to see a real difference in your health and doing it holistically and not taking any medication.
Holly Lamb (10:21.678)
So when I came off HRT, I thought, right, okay, I'm a personal trainer already. I had already started to do more qualifications around menopause and menstrual health on a more holistic side. I'm a menopause support coach. I've done the menstruality leadership program and various other qualifications that interlink with lifestyle and hormones.
And I was like, right, I'm not, I'm not going to take HRT. I'm going to do this holistically and find what works for me. So that's what I did. I started on my own personal journey to discover what worked and
Holly Lamb (11:38.926)
So when I came off... Bloody throat.
So when I came off HRT, decided that I was going to really deep dive into what actually works and just try this on myself to start with and see what the best route is. So obviously I was already a personal trainer. I was already strength training, working out four days a week. And I knew about nutrition. I made sure I was eating adequate protein, eating healthy fats.
no low fat stuff, we need healthy fats in our diet as women, eating lots of vegetables, you know, a balanced high protein diet.
making sure that my sleep schedule blah blah blah blah.
Holly Lamb (12:42.698)
making sure I was getting adequate sleep and also bringing joy and fun back into my life because it can, well, it is portrayed in the media as something negative that is happening to us. And I even heard a doctor described it as a disease. And I was like, absolutely not. Menopause is not a disease. It's a natural transition that women go through as the decline of their sex hormones happen over
usually their 40s and their 50s until they are postmenopause. So to describe it as a disease is giving women this different view that is extremely negative. as well as all the nutrition, the diet, the sleep, the mindfulness practices, breath work, cold water therapy, all the things that help me.
menstrual cycle awareness was then that last missing piece of the puzzle. Because even if you aren't cycling anymore, even if you're postmenopause, you can still live cyclically and work with the ebbs and the flows of our natural cycles. Because you can cycle with the moon. So when the moon is
dark, so when it's the new moon, that's when you would be bleeding. And when the moon is full, that is when you would be ovulating. And that's how we did used to cycle with the moon. So, menstrual cycle awareness and tapping back into my cycle and listening to my body and understanding it has really been that game changer. And with anything to do with menstrual health or to do with menopause, it is a full
whole woman approach. Like there's so many women I see on groups, especially on Facebook.
Holly Lamb (14:39.192)
who are saying, what supplement can I take? I'm on HRT, but it's not helping this and this and this. And I just want to say, because you need to be looking at every aspect, every aspect of your lifestyle and seeing what needs to be tweaked. If you know you're very sedentary, you're overweight, you eat a lot of processed food, you don't sleep very well, then the changes are going to have to be more drastic than someone who is already working out, eating a balanced diet, getting
most of the week getting a good night's sleep, then there's probably just gonna be little tweaks that need to happen. So it completely differs from each woman and you really have to take a good hard look in the mirror and say, right, what do I need to do in order to feel better? And it's not just to feel better, it's in order to age proof your body as you go through this transition in life. Because as we age, our...
Muscle mass declines and when our muscle mass declines, we put on weight easier because the more muscle we have, the more calories we burn at rest. But also our bones are more susceptible to osteopenia and osteoporosis if we don't have the muscle there to protect it. So when women have osteoporosis, they don't know until they fall and they break a hip, they break a bone. And then a lot of women, unfortunately, don't come out of hospital if it's a hip fracture. So.
You want to think of it as, yes, I want to feel amazing and look amazing, but also I'm doing this for my long-term health.
Thank
Holly Lamb (16:24.142)
So as I said, menstrual cycle awareness has been that missing piece of the puzzle. And it seems to be the missing piece of the puzzle for all the clients that I'm currently working with at the moment. You know, it's varying levels. Some women are already exercising quite a lot, eating quite a good diet. Sometimes we just need to increase the protein, but a lot of what we're doing is connecting them back to their bodies and getting them in tune with their bodies again.
because that's what's been lost over the years. So if you want to get into mental cycle awareness, it's about tracking your cycle, but it's not just getting an app and tracking your cycle. Like there is a really good app called Stardust, which is quite nice. And it talks about the moon phases and it's quite comical in there, but really, mental cycle awareness is journaling every single day on what day of your cycle your app.
how you're feeling, your sexual energies, your moods, anything that's happened, any synchronicities, dreams, just been aware. Like I know when I'm ovulating because I can feel it in my stomach. And I know when I'm gonna come on period because I can feel the changes. And sometimes all you need to do is just take a breath and just.
pause and listen because your body is always telling you things. You just have to be able to slow down enough and tune in. And that's why when we start heading into the second half of our cycle, our luteal phase, which is our inner autumn, this is a time to start slowing down. So you can start to listen to the changes. And then when you're in your inner winter, that really is the time to rest. So usually day one of your period, day two sometimes, or even sometimes the day before.
That's when you really want to slow down and listen to what she's telling you. Because this is when we can access the heightened intuition. This is when we can connect more to our higher self and listen to the guidance that she's giving you. Because every month she's there, she's chatting away and she's giving you the guidance, but you just have to slow down enough in order to listen.
Holly Lamb (18:36.618)
And I think that's what as women we struggle with and in this society we struggle with anyway, because we live in a 24 hour male dominated go, go, go lifestyle. And if you're not doing that, then it seems as though you're failing when you're actually not. Because women have this 28 day cycle. We have the ebbs and flows, we have the outer energy and we have the inner energy. And when we are in our bleed, we are definitely in introspection and we need to slow down.
It doesn't mean you have to completely stop. women want to, some women can, but it's just about taking everything slower. Like even the way you speak, you'll find, maybe just notice that next time when you're in a winter, do you speak slower? Do you slow down? Does everything seem to take a little bit longer? And that's okay because you're supposed to be taking this time to reconnect back to you.
Holly Lamb (19:44.11)
And when you start to understand the four phases of the cycle and how to honor each one, how each one has a different energy, how you can lean into that, it can literally change your life. And the women that I'm currently working with at the moment, this is what they're seeing. They're seeing those changes just from reconnecting back to their bodies.
I have a client which, has heavy periods and she started to talk to her wound when she's bleeding to say, you know, it's okay. I'm safe. This bleed will be light. And, know, she's had problems with this for, many, many years. And she just has had this light bulb moment where connecting back to your body has been the game changer for her.
And it sounds so simple, but I cannot get over how powerful connecting back to you is, because this is what has been lost over the years. And this is what the powers that be want us to be disconnected, more focused on our outer reality, arguing about things, know, distracting us with the news and the media. Whereas at this time, especially in your inner autumn and your inner winter.
It's time to go inwards and to listen to your body and to reconnect back to her.
Okay.
Holly Lamb (21:29.08)
So for me personally, what I found has worked is eating a balanced high protein diet. I still have takeaways. I still go out. I still enjoy myself. I very rarely have a glass of red wine once in a blue moon. But if you still want to have a drink, that's absolutely fine. Again, it's about balance and finding what works for you. I go to the gym two to three times per week and then I will run in between as well.
As the weather is changing, it becomes a little bit more difficult, but I can always run at the gym if I want to. As long as I'm getting three sessions in a week, then that's, that's good for me. but also embracing the time where I want to slow down. So maybe I'm doing more yoga at that time. So as I start heading into autumn, like this morning, I did a yoga session instead of going to the gym, but then I'll go to the gym tomorrow morning because I felt tired this morning. So I just listened to my body and gave it what.
it needed. And then for me, another great tool is intermittent fasting. So intermittent fasting has really, really helped with brain fog for me and for concentration and just feeling better because I used to suffer with IBS before I went into early menopause. And when you go into menopause, IBS can start to flare up again.
So by intermittent fasting and doing longer fasts between 24 hours and 36, you can start to reset the gut. So if you are struggling with anything like that, then intermittent fasting can be the tool to use. It's not the be all and end all, but again, it's another tool in your toolbox. The only time I don't fast is the week before my period because progesterone is building at that time. And I don't want anything to affect.
the progesterone building because progesterone is that relaxation hormone that brings you back to you. And we don't want anything to affect that because then the irritability can start coming in, the rage, the, don't wanna see you, I don't wanna talk to you, I wish someone had mugged me because I'm so irritable. And we wanna avoid that as much as possible. We don't want those PMS symptoms coming in and ruining our lives.
Holly Lamb (23:56.526)
You
Holly Lamb (24:02.572)
And then of course, menstrual cycle awareness has been that last missing piece of the puzzle to connect back to myself, my body, to understand me more and to clean up anything before I start heading into full-blown menopause because our cycle gives us the chance every month to face the things that maybe we don't want to face.
So when we're in our inner autumn and our inner critic comes up, that's the time to do that shadow work and to move through it. And I spoke on the podcast a few weeks ago about how one of my bleeds was really tumultuous.
Holly Lamb (24:50.626)
how one of my bleeds was not great and my inner autumn was not nice and my critic came up and I felt quite ill with it. And that was showing me something that I had to work on, something I needed to work through. So we're always on this learning and growth path and...
Mentional cycle awareness helps you do that every single month. So if you can start to practice this before you even get to menopause, you're going to be making your menopause journey so, so, so, so much easier.
And you know, doing this work has really helped me feel empowered and it has lifted my confidence. You know, I'm able to let go of those people pleasing tendencies. I'm able to say, no, set boundaries, put myself first and not feel selfish about it because you should be able to put yourself first. You should be able to do things for you and not feel guilty. Like what, at what point did that?
become something that we should be ashamed of, putting ourselves first instead of everybody else, especially if you have a family and a full-time job. Like how many times are you putting other people first? So you can use your cycle and your menopause journey to set those clear boundaries and to say no and to put you first. And what's better than that?
Holly Lamb (26:34.968)
So then learning all these things has helped me to become the coach that I am today and why I want to help women on this journey, whatever stage they're at. You know, whether they have debilitating PMS symptoms, extremely heavy periods, whether they're struggling with their perimenopause journey or their postmenopause journey. I have clients of all different ages at the moment that I am guiding through.
this menstrual cycle awareness work to be able to tap into their body. And this is why I'm so passionate about this work because I've seen the changes that happened in me and the women that I have collaborated with within the menstruality leadership program, how life-changing it's been for them. And then seeing that with my own clients now in such a matter of short weeks, like within two or three weeks, they're starting to see differences.
in how they feel, how they're connecting to their body, just things that they never noticed before. And for me, that's why I do this work because this has been forgotten over the years. And I'm so grateful for Alexandra and Sharni at the Red School who have put this work out into the ether and for women to know about this. And then it's down to us to spread the word and to...
get women to a place where we bleed and it's sacred and it's honored and it's not dirty and it's not laughed about and get to this place where we embrace our bleed because it's really sad that so many women are struggling with these issues when...
All you really need to do is look inwards and it can really start to change how you feel. Now there's obviously going to be, you know, other things that need to go along with this. This is why the work that I do is a full lifestyle approach. But I know how fucking life changing this work is, and this is why I do it. So if you are listening to this thinking
Holly Lamb (28:58.292)
Yes, I absolutely want to learn more about my body, connect to my higher self, chat away to her, learn what she has to tell me. I want to not feel these symptoms anymore. I want to be ready for menopause. I just want to feel better. And this is where I can help. My cyclical power program.
You know, we can either do a quick, like four weeks sprint where you get all the information about menstrual cycle awareness. You understand it, you start implementing it and you start seeing the changes, which is what's happening with the three women that had jumped in last time who were seeing. Or if you're like, right, I need a fucking lifestyle overhaul. I need to get this sorted. Then you can work with me for three months where we really deep dive into you and get you feeling.
fucking awesome and radiating confidence because that's all I want for every single woman. I want them to feel confident in their own skin, no matter what that is. So if you want some more information on the full week sprint or the three month deep dive, then drop me a message on Instagram, hormone harmony coach, or click the link in the show notes. There's information there about the program or just
know send me a message and we can have a chat because it's always nice to have a chat through and see what's going to be the right fit for you and if you know this is something that's going to work for you. And as always if you love this episode I would love to hear from you and what your biggest takeaways have been and if you have any questions and if you can subscribe that would be amazing because that really really helps me as well. So thank you so much for joining me this week and I will see you all next week.