Feeling better in perimenopause has less to do with doing more and more to do with finally giving your female body what it needs.

In this episode, Louise Valentine, one of the world’s leading health, fitness and performance experts for ambitious active women who love to run, sits down with Stacey, a health education specialist and longtime runner, to share her journey from restrictive dieting, excessive fasting, poor sleep, headaches, injuries, and frustrating hormonal symptoms to a much simpler approach to health and performance. Stacey explains how learning when and how to fuel with her female physiology changed the way she sleeps, runs, recovers, and feels day to day.

They discuss why more cardio and longer workouts are not always better, especially as women move through perimenopause, and why strategic strength training, female-specific fueling, and recovery can make a bigger difference.

Stacey also shares how she stopped letting the scale dictate her progress and began focusing more on strength, energy, fewer injuries, and overall well-being.

Her biggest lessons are refreshingly simple: be patient, stay consistent, keep things flexible, and stop expecting overnight results.

RESOURCES + LINKS

Learn & level up with my free nutrition guide & award-winning 1:1 Academy to thrive through perimenopause with less stress: https://www.breakingthroughwellness.com

Take advantage of our podcast listener discount & save 20% off Kion’s science-backed clean products, like Kion Aminos mentioned in this episode. Code "LOUISE" saves on all future orders: https://www.getkion.com/pages/maximizing

Check out my FullScript here where you can see my curated supplement picks, by topic, to address your concerns & save 25% off! A small portion of EACH sale goes back to support BTW. Thank you!

Learn, laugh & level up with a Breaking Through Wellness masterclass here.

Link to check out Function Health & save $25 off comprehensive, proactive blood work using code “LVALENTINE11” here. $25 goes back to support BTW with each new sign up! Thank you!

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(3:09) Stacey’s perimenopause success story
(9:46) Feeling stuck with hormonal symptoms
(15:25) How nutrition changed sleep and headaches
(22:05) Why less running can be more
(31:00) Simple tools that made a difference
(44:26) Improving physical and mental health
(47:31) Looking beyond the number on the scale
(53:26) Why women need different strategies
(55:39) Turning overwhelm into sustainable habits
(1:00:04) Building consistency for long-term results
(1:04:56) Patience, simplicity, and Stacey’s final advice
(1:08:29) Outro

Tune in weekly to "Maximizing Hormones, Physique, and Running Through Perimenopause" for our simple female-specific science-based revolution. Let's unlock our best with less stress!

I'd love to connect!

Email 💬 support@breakingthroughwellness.com

Please note if you want to be a podcast guest, there is a fee and interview process. This is safe space and curated Community exclusively for women who love to feel, look and run our best without B.S. noise, endless pills, extreme diets or misleading fads.

At Breaking Through Wellness, taking more strategic care of yourself also means making more room for joy-filled experiences with the people you love. In fact, it may be the most important factor in thriving through perimenopause with optimal health, hormones, fitness, and holistic happiness!

In this episode, Louise Valentine, a leading functional women's health, exercise physiologist, and female-specific fitness expert, shares a personal look at how health, changing hormones, fitness, relationships, and stress all intersect during perimenopause. After noticing how demanding this season of life has become for herself and her clients, she realized that reconnecting with her husband needed to become a top priority, not something left for when life finally slowed down.

Louise shares why she and clients in her private practice are making intentional connection part of their wellness goals, including planning regular date nights and finding simple ways to bring back fun, conversation, and intimacy. She also walks through how she approached an adventurous weekend getaway, including hacks for alcohol, nutrient timing, and fun meals out, while still supporting her best training, recovery, and overall health.

The conversation goes deeper as Louise opens up about family stress, resilience, changing priorities, and the importance of having a strong community around you when life feels heavy.

The takeaway is simple: wellness is bigger than workouts and nutrition. Sometimes feeling your best also means protecting your relationships, making space for joy, and remembering what matters most.

RESOURCES + LINKS

Learn & level up with my free nutrition guide & award-winning 1:1 Academy to thrive through perimenopause with less stress: https://www.breakingthroughwellness.com

Take advantage of our podcast listener discount & save 20% off Kion’s science-backed clean products. Code "LOUISE" saves on all future orders: https://www.getkion.com/pages/maximizing

Check out my FullScript here where you can see curated supplement picks, by topic, to address your concerns & save 25% off! A small portion of EACH sale goes back to support BTW. Thank you!

Learn, laugh & level up with a Breaking Through Wellness masterclass here.

Link to check out Function Health & save $25 off comprehensive, proactive blood work using code “LVALENTINE11” here. $25 goes back to support BTW with each new sign up! Thank you!

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(3:30) Why Louise is running less
(7:15) Reconnecting with your spouse
(9:35) Focusing on what matters most
(11:08) The monthly date night challenge
(15:04) Navigating a healthy date night
(18:02) Fueling before drinking alcohol
(20:24) Creating space for real connection
(26:17) Hormones, alcohol, and recovery
(29:25) Facing a high-stress season
(33:29) Protecting relationships through hard seasons
(38:36) Finding your own date-night style
(40:25) Outro

Tune in weekly to "Maximizing Hormones, Physique, and Running Through Perimenopause" for our simple female-specific science-based revolution. Let's unlock our best with less stress!

I'd love to connect!

Email 💬 support@breakingthroughwellness.com

Please note if you want to be a podcast guest, there is a fee and interview process. This is safe space and curated Community exclusively for women who love to feel, look and run our best without B.S. noise, endless pills, extreme diets or misleading fads.

Perimenopause changes how your body responds to training, nutrition, caffeine, sleep, recovery, and many supplements, making it feel like the things you always did to support your health and fitness are no longer working. And those shifts can begin as early as your 30s.

In this episode, Louise Valentine, a leading women's integrative health and fitness expert for perimenopausal active women and female runners, shares real-life conversations with women who were doing many things “right” but still dealing with injuries, poor sleep, anxiety, cravings, body composition changes, and frustrating fitness setbacks.

She explains why creatine quality, mode of delivery, and timing matter, why the right type of strength training becomes increasingly important for protecting muscle and reducing injury risk, and why protein quality deserves closer attention as women age.

Louise also breaks down how late-day caffeine, poor fueling, and sugar before bed can affect cortisol, sleep, digestion, and next-day energy. Finally, she explains why extreme programs like 75 Hard may deliver short-term results but are nearly impossible to sustain due to the impacts on hormones, metabolic health, and working against time tested principles like progressive overload of exercise and nutrition strategies.

The main message is simple: learn how your body is changing before problems pile up. As you will learn, working with your changing female physiology should not be complicated or confusing. Sustainable, female-specific strategies can help you stay strong, energized, and vibrantly active through perimenopause and beyond.

RESOURCES + LINKS

Learn & level up with my free nutrition guide & award-winning 1:1 Academy to thrive through perimenopause with less stress: https://www.breakingthroughwellness.com

Take advantage of our podcast listener discount & save 20% off Kion’s science-backed clean products. Code "LOUISE" saves on all future orders: https://www.getkion.com/pages/maximizing

Check out my FullScript here where you can see my curated supplement picks, by topic, to address your concerns & save 25% off! A small portion of EACH sale goes back to support BTW. Thank you!

Learn, laugh & level up with a Breaking Through Wellness masterclass here.

Link to check out Function Health & save $25 off comprehensive, proactive blood work using code “LVALENTINE11” here. $25 goes back to support BTW with each new sign up! Thank you!

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
3:03) Simplifying fitness during perimenopause
(8:35) Creatine benefits, quality, and dosage
(11:49) Why creatine gummies may fall short
(15:19) Perimenopause, injuries, and strength training
(20:19) Hormonal changes and common injuries
(25:26) Caffeine, cravings, sleep, and cortisol
(31:44) Why extreme fitness plans backfire
(34:59) Building sustainable fitness with progressive overload
(37:39) Get educated before problems escalate
(39:57) Simple strategies for lasting results
(41:23) Outro

Tune in weekly to "Maximizing Hormones, Physique, and Running Through Perimenopause" for our simple female-specific science-based revolution. Let's unlock our best with less stress!

I'd love to connect!

Email 💬 support@breakingthroughwellness.com

Please note if you want to be a podcast guest, there is a fee and interview process. This is safe space and curated Community exclusively for women who love to feel, look and run our best without B.S. noise, endless pills, extreme diets or misleading fads.