Often, the reason we're exhausted, struggling to recover, fat loss resistant, seeing rapid hormone decline, or noticing frustrating changes in our body isn't just "inevitable" perimenopause, but rather it's the stress our body is carrying every day and how it impacts our daily hormonal rhythm.

In this episode, Louise Valentine, one of the world’s leading health, fitness and performance experts, welcomes back Jen for part one of a mini masterclass on adrenal, stress and cortisol regulation, and how everyday habits affect active women over 35. Louise explains the body's stress response, the three stages of HPA axis dysfunction, and why feeling fine doesn't always mean your body is recovering or functioning well. They discuss how running, intense workouts, caffeine, poor sleep, and underfueling can add to your body's overall stress load.

Jen shares her own experience recognizing energy fluctuations and making small changes to her daily routine. The conversation also covers DHEA, optimizing hormone health, and why supplements require professional guidance.

For female runners navigating perimenopause, this episode offers a chance to reassess training, fueling, and recovery habits. The biggest takeaway? Supporting your body isn't always about doing more. More often, it's about learning what our female body needs to recover, build optimal hormones, stay strong, and mitigate expedited perimenopause decline.

RESOURCES + LINKS

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

Link to podcast episode #124B with our Daily Pause Practice, how & why it works is here.

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!

Take advantage of our podcast listener discount & save 20% off Kion’s science-backed clean products here. Code "LOUISE" saves on all future orders.

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

Track your biomarkers with Function Health & save $25 using code “LVALENTINE11” here. $25 goes back to support BTW with each new sign up! Thank you!

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(2:41) Important precautions about DHEA and supplements
(8:40) Understanding adrenal stress and cortisol regulation
(11:21) Why daily stress check-ins matter
(18:09) The connection between stress and hormone health
(20:07) Why cortisol isn't always the enemy
(21:15) Understanding cortisol testing and DHEA levels
(28:51) Three stages of HPA axis dysfunction
(30:06) Stage one: Feeling tired but wired
(30:27) Stage two: Energy crashes and cortisol fluctuations
(33:42) Stage three: Exhaustion, burnout, and poor recovery
(36:39) Everyday habits that affect your stress response
(39:19) How underfueling impacts active women
(41:52) Why consistent morning fueling matters
(44:27) Morning sunlight, sleep, and cortisol regulation
(45:54) How excessive exercise affects recovery
(50:59) Final takeaways and what's coming in part two
(51:53) 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.

What if the health strategies you are learning for yourself could also help your husband feel better, sleep better, and stay stronger as he ages?

In this episode, Louise Valentine, one of the world’s leading integrative health and fitness practitioners, explains why many of the foundational habits she teaches women can also support men. She covers protein and amino acids, hydration, vitamin D, omega-3s, creatine, magnesium, blood sugar balance, and better supplement choices. She also explains why dosage matters and why taking more supplements does not necessarily lead to better results.

Louise shares how simple science-backed routines like eating a specific nourishing breakfast, strategic hydrating first thing in the morning, purposeful walking after dinner, and strategic caffeine timing can support energy, recovery, mood, cognition, mental, and hormone health. She also discusses cortisol dysregulation, especially in high-achieving people who may not realize that ambition, overworking, and constant mental stimulation can still create physiological stress.

The takeaway is simple: most health, fitness, and longevity improvements do not require complicated protocols. Small, consistent habits tailored to the individual can help couples and families build healthier routines together.

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

Link to podcast episode #70 “The Ultimate Female-Specific Supplement Guide: Strategies, Timing & Type” here

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

Take advantage of our podcast listener discount & save 20% off Kion’s science-backed clean products here. Code "LOUISE" saves on all future orders.

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

Track your biomarkers with Function Health & save $25 using code “LVALENTINE11” here. $25 goes back to support BTW with each new sign up! Thank you!

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(2:51) Can these strategies help your husband too?
(3:45) Nutrition principles that support men and women
(5:49) Why amino acids matter as we age
(11:20) Building a smarter supplement foundation
(13:52) Choosing an effective multivitamin
(16:27) Morning hydration for energy and cognition
(20:27) Vitamin D testing and supplementation
(25:07) Omega-3s, triglycerides, and metabolic health
(28:59) Creatine and supplement efficiency
(31:13) Why walking after dinner works
(34:41) Magnesium and better sleep
(36:28) Clinically effective supplement dosing
(39:29) Cortisol dysregulation in high achievers
(42:47) Waking at night with a racing mind
(44:35) Sleep, recovery, and brain health
(47:59) One health strategy to share with your husband
(48:39) 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.

Generic protein advice can sound simple, but for ambitious active women and runners in perimenopause, it misses what our female body actually needs.

In this episode, Louise Valentine, a leading expert for perimenopausal active women and runners, challenges the recommendation of eating 100 grams of protein per day and explains why protein needs should reflect our unique body weight, training volume, recovery demands, hormonal shifts, and body composition goals. She discusses how active women, especially runners and endurance athletes, often require more protein to support muscle, hormones, stress resilience, injury prevention, and recovery.

Louise also breaks down the importance of protein timing, post-workout fueling, pairing protein with carbohydrates, and spreading protein intake throughout the day rather than relying on large servings. She shares practical examples for breakfast, snacks, and meals while emphasizing that nutrition should adjust as training and goals change.

The bigger takeaway: It's time to ditch one-size-fits-all nutrition rules. Your fueling strategy should support your activity level, recovery, hormones, and long-term health, not just hit a generic number. When we want optimal results to thrive and not just survive as active women, it takes a much more specific, female-specific science-backed, and logic-driven approach.

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

Check out my FullScript here where you can see curated supplement picks under “Collection” to address specific concerns & save 25%! A small portion of EACH sale goes back to support BTW. Thank you!

Take advantage of our podcast listener discount & save 20% off Kion’s science-backed clean products here. Code "LOUISE" saves on all future orders.

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

Track your biomarkers with Function Health & save $25 using code “LVALENTINE11” here. $25 goes back to support BTW with each new sign up! Thank you!

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(3:01) Why 100 grams of protein may fall short
(5:36) Problems with generalized nutrition advice
(8:20) Choosing better sources of fiber
(13:52) Protein needs based on body weight
(15:31) Protein for fat loss and body recomposition
(16:17) Post-workout protein and nutrient timing
(19:40) Building a higher-protein breakfast
(21:28) Pairing protein and carbohydrates
(25:42) Why protein pacing matters
(29:10) Spreading protein throughout the day
(36:33) Active women have different fueling needs
(39:22) A starting point for daily protein intake
(39:41) Using BUN as one piece of context
(42:39) 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.

“Normal” and basic blood work does not tell us the whole story.

In this episode, Louise Valentine, a multi-award-winning women's integrative health practitioner and exercise physiologist, shares why understanding which biomarkers to track and what they mean can be especially important for runners, active women, and their families. Using her daughter’s first blood draw as an example, Louise explains how she teaches her children to see health data as empowering, useful information rather than something to fear.

She discusses the difference between standard and optimal lab ranges, cutting-edge female-specific lab ranges, why tracking trends over time matters, and several markers she watches closely, including advanced cholesterol markers, liver enzymes, and ferritin. Louise also shares how under-fueling can affect recovery, energy, performance, hormones, injury-risk, and long-term bone health in endurance athletes.

Along the way, she offers practical tips for making blood draws less stressful and shares lessons from her own family’s health, fitness, and running journeys. The bigger message is simple: learning what your body needs today can help you make better decisions before small warning signs become bigger problems.

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

Learn, laugh & level up with a Breaking Through Wellness masterclass, including “How to Confidently Support Optimal Ferritin” here.

Track your biomarkers with Function Health & save $25 using code “LVALENTINE11” here. $25 goes back to support BTW with each new sign up! Thank you!

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!

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

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(2:50) Why blood work matters for active women
(4:40) Standard vs. optimal lab ranges
(5:46) Teaching kids about blood work
(7:22) Making blood draws less stressful
(13:54) Health testing for young endurance athletes
(14:41) Advanced cholesterol biomarkers to consider
(17:02) Under-fueling risks for active girls
(20:15) Teaching children healthy habits early
(22:13) Using biomarkers to guide health decisions
(29:02) Tracking blood work trends over time
(31:05) Ferritin and iron needs for runners
(34:00) Long-term consequences of chronic under-fueling
(35:36) Key biomarkers and baseline health scans

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.

What happens when the treatment offered to quiet your symptoms also quiets the hormonal signals you are trying to understand and working hard to support?

In this episode, Louise Valentine, a leading functional health and fitness expert for perimenopausal active women and recreational runners, shares why she decided not to use birth control as a way to manage perimenopause symptoms. As an example of things to consider, she walks through her complicated health history, including periods of underfueling, overtraining, gut issues, hormone challenges, and the difficulty of navigating fragmented women’s healthcare.

Louise explains why she wants to address root cause factors first, such as gut health imbalances, stress, cortisol regulation, and adjusting nutrition, lifestyle, and training. She clarifies why hormone suppression therapy is not the right next step for her. You will learn the importance of tracking symptoms, asking questions about testing and scans, and understanding that what works for one woman may not work for another.

Ready to become an informed participant and fierce advocate in your own care? The bottomline is: Symptoms can provide useful information about our body's individual needs, and women deserve conversations that consider their individual health history, goals, and options rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all or outdated approaches.

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

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!

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

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(2:46) Why Louise declined birth control
(5:14) Her complicated hormone and health history
(8:32) How fueling can affect female hormones
(11:08) Rebuilding hormone health naturally
(13:33) Challenges with fragmented healthcare
(15:30) Stress, cortisol, and hormone production
(18:28) Why she is delaying HRT
(19:13) Being offered hormone suppression therapy
(20:06) Birth control for symptom management
(23:55) When hormone suppression may have a place
(24:22) Why symptoms can provide useful data
(28:45) Navigating gaps in women’s healthcare
(32:32) Advocating for further testing and scans
(34:37) Stress, DHEA, and hormone health
(36:45) 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.

Waiting until life gets easier may be the very thing keeping you stuck. In this short episode, Louise Valentine shares a simple reminder for women navigating perimenopause, changing hormones, fitness struggles, and the pressures of midlife: there is no perfect time. There is only a decision.

Louise, one of the world’s leading integrative health practitioners, explains how she sees women delay getting support even when their symptoms, lab trends, or daily energy suggest something needs attention. She shares why understanding the full picture, health history, stress, nutrition, training, hormones, and lifestyle, can help create a more personalized path forward instead of relying on endless supplements or quick fixes.

She also opens up about her own challenges, continued functional medicine training, and why she chose to keep learning even during a difficult season of life. Louise emphasizes the importance of community, individualized support, and recognizing that needing help, including medical support when appropriate, is not a failure.

The takeaway is simple: lean in, learn from what is not working, make adjustments, and keep moving forward.

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

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!

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.

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(3:01) Why these bonus episodes matter
(4:13) Readiness is a decision
(5:21) Looking deeper for root causes
(9:12) Connecting your complete health history
(13:36) Stop waiting for perfect timing
(15:23) Louise’s own health decision
(17:19) Why community matters in midlife
(20:34) Lifestyle before endless supplements
(24:22) Adapting support to real life
(27:23) Needing medication is not failure
(30:13) Lean in, learn, and level up
(31:38) 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.

As our hormones and female physiology change, running a bit less and more strategic is essential to feel stronger, healthier, and even faster.

Louise Valentine, a leading expert for perimenopausal active women and runners, sits down with Jen to look back on their four-month training cycle and share what happened when they reduced running mileage, focused more on the Breaking Through Wellness female-specific strength training and fitness methods, and stopped forcing their bodies to keep up with demanding race goals.

One of their biggest lessons was once again learning to recognize a bioindividual “stress tipping point”, a science-backed theory that Louise teaches us to thrive through perimenopause. For example, more training is not always better, especially when sleep, recovery, hormones, hunger, mood, and body composition start to suffer. Louise shares how stepping away from half-marathon training helped improve her sleep, libido, strength, physique, recovery, and hormone markers while still allowing her to run faster. Jen also discovered that shorter runs brought her faster physique changes, more joy, improved energy, and made training easier to fit into her busy family life.

They also discuss excessive cardio, hunger hormones, female-specific strength training, ditching social media pressure, and the empowering freedom that comes from changing goals without feeling like you failed.

The takeaway is simple: your healthiest and most effective training plan looks a lot different in midlife as your hormones and female physiology change.

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

Blog post mentioned in this episode, “Trying to find your sweet spot with running & fitness in perimenopause? This is for you!“ is found here.

Previous podcast episode #133 on choosing to shift training goals mid-training plan: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maximizing-hormones-physique-running-through-perimenopause/id1716725195?i=1000767715477

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!

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.

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(3:31) Why they changed their training approach
(5:31) Understanding your stress tipping point
(7:08) Choosing health over race performance
(8:39) When long runs stopped working
(10:28) Finding your joyful running distance
(12:18) High mileage and hormone health
(14:00) Health, happiness, or harder training
(19:27) Finding balance between running and strength
(22:32) Leptin, hunger, and excessive cardio
(25:25) What happened after running less
(29:17) Hormone improvements after changing training
(32:19) Is the half marathon worth it?
(35:26) More training balance, more family time
(38:44) Life after stepping away from social media
(41:07) Choosing family over outside pressure
(47:32) Freedom from having a race scheduled
(50:09) 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.

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.