Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe - Erin Oprea | From Peptides to Perimenopause: What Your Wellness Routine Might Be Missing!

Episode Date: May 1, 2025

#837. Erin Oprea is back and breaking down all things wellness—from peptides and nicotine patches to why lifting weights is a must. She shares how there’s practically a peptide for everything these days and how she’s using them in her own routine. We also dig into the unexpected benefits of nicotine patches (yes, really!) for focus and mood support. Erin explains why strength training is essential for long-term health—especially for women approaching menopause. This episode is full of tips to help you simplify your health routine and feel your best! Click Here to join Erin's Lean Down Challenge!If you’re LOVING this podcast, please follow and leave a rating and review below! PLUS, FOLLOW OUR PODCAST INSTAGRAM HERE!Thank you to our Sponsors! Check out these deals!Covergirl: Superboost your lashes with NEW Lash Blast Supercloud Mascara from COVERGIRL! Clump-free, smudge-free, and lasts up to 24 hours—perfect for any look! Only from Easy, Breezy, Beautiful COVERGIRL.Nutrafol: Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off any order! Enjoy free shipping when you subscribe. Go to https://Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code VINEGIFT.Apartments.com: The Place to find a place! EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:(11:02) – Why Strength Training is Non-Negotiable(36:09)– Surprising Benefits of Nicotine Patches(45:15) – Insight into PeptidesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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So whether it's your first time experiencing Pride and Prejudice or you've read it a million times, you're going to fall absolutely in love all over again. So go listen to Pride and Prejudice now at audible.ca slash Jane Austen. You're listening to Off the Vine with Caitlin Bristow. Hey, Vinoes, real quick, if you are listening right now, which obviously you are or you wouldn't be hearing this, can you hit the subscribe or follow button on whatever platform you're on? please that one simple thing helps more than you even realize it allows me to keep growing on this podcast and making these episodes the best they can possibly be obviously for you that's the only favorite i'm going to ever ask okay it truly means the world to me thank you now let's get into it hey everybody welcome to off the vine podcast i'm your host kately bristow and today we are welcoming uh total powerhouse to the pod she is a fitness expert a u.s marine a mom a trainer to the stars Aaron Oprah, you've been on the podcast a couple times and we love having you because we dive into all things. Is cellulate hereditary? Is there a way to get rid of it? Peptides? We dive into peptides

even though she said she could talk about it for an hour and a half more. Hormones, nutrition, movement, everything that can make you physically, mentally stronger and better and live your longest life. So please enjoy my conversation with Aaron Oprea. Okay, well, thank you for doing the podcast today. Always easy to talk to you and you're just a ball of knowledge. not only a ball of muscle, but you're also a ball of knowledge. You do your research. Yes. That I will say.

Yes. Because I was thinking about this. There's so much information out there about so many different things in the health and wellness space. Like it's getting so crazy. And I'm such a consumer. And a lot of people, I've been saying this a lot lately, where people believe what they're told and it could be from anyone.

But you take it to the next time and you're like, okay, I'm intrigued by this. And then your brain can like soak it up and you can just do all the research. study all angles. That's the thing is I don't stick with just one angle. You have to look at both sides of any discussion. Yeah. And then you do critical thinking and make your own educated decision of what you believe. And I always say, look, anyone listening to me, they shouldn't believe me either. Yeah. Take what I'm saying and then go research and make your own decision of what you believe. You should never believe one person. I'm just a person speaking. But that's where I'm out. I'm like, I don't have time to do all this research and here in two

different sites. Like, you listen to podcasts. Books, a lot of books. You do it all. Let's just rewind to how you got into this space of health, wellness, fitness. Oh, gosh. So when I was 18, I got certified to train at 18. 18 years old. I'm 47, almost 48. Yeah. And September. September. Yeah, I'm pushing 50 now. Big five, oh, let's go, baby. Is that the neck? No, it's so. I'm on the downhill side to it. I'm on the downhill side of my 30s. I'm 40 and like, A month, two months. I'm so excited to be 50s. I think 50s are going to be the best years.

50s are like the new 30s. You can make me look forward to 50s because right now I'm just like, I'm actually excited about 40s. It's been great. Yeah. It's been great. All right. So yeah, so I got certified at 18, started training and then went in the Marine Corps at 20

and did nine years in there. That is, I still, every time you tell me that, I'm like, I, of course, believe it. But nine years is wild. Yeah, it was a long time. While you were a mom. Yeah. My kids were young. So I had both my kids while I was in the Marine Corps.

I did deploy two years of that to Iraq. So I did one year and they came home for six months and then gone the second year. The best news about that is I never had to potty train a kid. Both were potty trained while I was gone. You're like actually I would rather go to war than potty train. You got to look at the bright side, right? So I have two children that like if you asked me how to Patrick,

I don't know, I didn't do that. That's amazing. That is so wild. And what like inspired you to go do that? Because I know we've had you on the, was it really? Yeah, G. Yeah, G. I think I remember you telling me that. Yeah. It's literally my own, I don't idolize any people. Yeah. Like people I have no idols in my life. Except for the character. Demi. I'm sure she's great. I know nothing about her. But the character G.I. Jane was my only huge influence on my life. Wow. And I was like, I want to be just like her. And then you did. Well, kind of. I think you did it a little better than her. She crushed it. Like I'm like, I'm going to go in the Navy Seals. Well, when I went in, women couldn't do a lot of things that they can do now. A lot of stuff was close to women.

And now it's, since then, it's opened up. I actually was a first woman to ever lead an all-female platoon and the first woman to ever be on the front, like to be attached to the infantry in the Marine Corps in Fallujah, Iraq. How did you do that? Like, how? Like, did you just say, put me in? Like, I got paid for it.

I didn't know. Really? Yeah, they just said, you're going to be in charge of this. Well, so it was really, they needed women to search women. Yeah. And men couldn't do it. Well, my job was a field MP. Like, I shot cruiser of weapons,

prisoner war camps, all that kind of stuff. So that was my actual job. And so searching was my job. So they formed this platoon of women that came from all different jobs. It's called MOSs. And they formed this platoon of women. And I trained them. And then that's what we did.

We went out with infantry and searched in Fallujah. Oh, my God. That is absolutely bonkers. And then what and how did you make the decision to leave? Well, I didn't make the decision really. I mean, yes, it was a choice. But I didn't plan on ever getting out. I planned on retiring, but my ex-husband at the time was, I had full custody and he was going to take custody.

And you're like, my lawyer's like, you'll never get full custody back. So that was the best option. So the day I got out, I went right back into training. And that's, I've done health, fitness, basically my whole life. Marine Corps is health and fitness, too. So that's all I've ever really known. Wow. Yeah.

When you were done and you went back into training, did you miss the Marine? Oh, yeah. I still miss it. You do? Yeah, Sean and I talked about, like, I think I'm going to go to the Marine. Corps bald again this year. I'm going to put on my blues and go again. Really? Yeah. I think it'd be fun to go and just see the world of Marine Corps. I still stay in touch with those guys. I went to my reunion, my 20-year reunion of the guys I deployed with my first tour. That was in 2003. So I went

into Iraq on day one. So I sat in Kuwait a month before, it was about a month before we actually went to war. And it was like, we're going to war. We're not going to war. We're going to war. We're not going to war. And then they come in and they're like, hey, we're going in right now. Everybody put your chemical suits on. And it's called your mop gear. And you live in that with 66, 66 days, no shower. Yeah. Oh my God.

We live in fighting holes. We dig in every day. So when you dig a hole and live there? Like I know you're, of course, so physically healthy. But like mentally, how do you recover from that? Like what? How is your mental health after that? That's the craziest thing.

So I went to my reunion and Sean's like, why are they all still struggling so much? And what's different? And I don't know. But I did go as soon as I came. home because I you are a different breed altogether but I did have I mean I had issues like I've done some stuff I wasn't so proud of and my family put me in counseling I have done some stuff that I wasn't proud of and I didn't know I did it because I was blacked out I didn't not drinking I wasn't drinking no just mentally blocked yeah yeah I had no recollection of it PTSD obviously and so I went

through a lot of counseling and I feel like I don't struggle I did struggle with like fireworks for a while oh interesting way back in the day it's been a long time Why did I see it interesting? That makes so much sense. Yeah. But I don't, yeah, I don't really have any anymore. But I still, I saw so many of the guys I was with still struggling. I was like, that's terrible.

I hate that for them because they're like, what do you, what's your physical issues? I was like, I tore an ACL from soccer. Actually, just retore it again. No, you didn't. Three weeks ago. But I'm running. I just ran sprints today. And they're like, my doctor's like, we have no idea.

I have a bone bruise, breaking up a dog fight. I got a really bad bone bruise. He said it should take about six months to heal and tore my ACL and my arthritis is like, he's like, your knee is done. You need knee replacement. I was like, I'm fine. And you were doing sprints today. They need to study your body when you leave this earth.

They can't figure it out. My PT text me. He's like, hey, do you want to come in? I was like, I actually have no pain like zero. I can't feel that anything ever happened. He said, weird. We have no idea what's going on. You really are like a freak of nature in somebody in the best way.

Like I wish I had a little bit of you. I'm like. But I, so the day it happened. I was like, I know it's gone. Like I, I know it. I know it's gone. Yeah. Because I've done it five times. Yeah. I was going to say how many times now have you done this? And I've also broken my kneecap and have screws in it. And so I was like, I know it. It swelled up. I was like, damn it, there it goes again. Shoot. And so I started injecting BPC, TB 500, which I've done for a long time. Yeah. But lower dosage. And I was like, I'm going to do a mega dose. And don't ask me dosing because I'm not going to give my

dosing. Yeah. Because I don't. Everyone's different. Everyone's different. And I I'm willing to play guinea pig on myself. There you go. And so I was like, I'm going to megadose it and just see what happens. That's the only reason I can say that I don't have any pain. So I dose inject in my knee. And for people who don't know what that is. Those are peptides.

Peptides. Yeah. Okay. So the BPC and TB 500, well, BPC is great for gut health. It's great for inflammation. It's great for injuries. Okay. And anyone can be doing peptides.

Anybody can. Anybody can. Okay. Let's jump into the questions then. we're going to get there. When I put up my question box, I was like, wow, I think health and wellness is really making a big, like, splash right now. Splash, it is.

Which is great for, like, everybody's longevity and people being curious more about their health and wellness. I think that's exciting. I think it's super exciting. So people were very intrigued and had a lot of questions. We're going to get into everything. Somebody wanted to know tips for gaining muscle while you're, like, if you haven't been lifting weights,

You're in your 40s premenopaus or you're going through menopause and you want to gain muscle. What would you say? So there's a couple things. Creatine's a great one. I actually personally hate it. You do. I don't take it. Tell me why.

It bloats you? No, it doesn't bloat me. Oh. It makes me puffy everywhere. Everywhere. My face I can look down and see it. And I, and people are like, well, you do the wrong one. No, no, no, no.

I've done every type, clean ones. Like, it's not like I was just ordering off. am like I had really and I had some bodybuilder that's really big in that world and he's like try this try this and we tried different dosing no it was terrible for me and I did a whole post on why I don't take creatine anymore am I saying creatine's bad absolutely not right I'm saying it did not work for me right but it does work for a lot of people and do you notice right away from taking it or was it after a certain amount of time? No for me it was quick oh okay it was it was yeah it was within a week or two and I was like but you do think that could be an option for people to try it

want to gain muscle. And I think everyone should try creatine. And then if it doesn't, if it doesn't work for you, take, go out of it. That's the easiest thing. If you feel like, but if you feel puffy right away, it does, you retain water on it. There's no question, but that should kind of level out. Yeah. And so try it for a little while.

Give it time. Yeah. Don't do it one week and then be like, okay, I'm out. Because there's a lot of brain health stuff for it too. It's not just muscle, but it is great for muscle. There's brain health. Like, because one of my other questions is pros and cons. of creatine. Is that how you say?

Creatine. But you can get creatine through red meat too. You don't have to take it. Most people can't eat enough red meat to get the creatine that you would need. Got it. But you have to be lifting muscle to be taking it. Okay. So you can't take creatine and think it's going to put muscle on if you're not doing weights. Right. And ladies, if you're not doing weights at this point in your life and you haven't heard that you should be doing weights, you are so far behind the time and I'm here to tell you that there is nothing going to change your life more than doing some strength training.

I agree. You get you're going to age like a mofo if you're not doing weight. You're going to have saggy, creepy skin. Listen to this. I feel like I'm going to play this for you because it sounds like something that you would enjoy and I feel like my listeners could appreciate and it's on the same topic as this. What happens when you lift heavy shit consistently. Oh, I like that guy.

Your bones thicken up like a goddamn tank making them harder to break than your shitty ex's emotional walls, which means osteoporosis can go for itself. Your metabolism starts firing like a goddamn furnace, earning calories, Even while you sit on your lazy ass, tendons and ligaments, they toughen the fuck up. Making sure your joints don't snap like a dry twig when you're throwing around serious weight. Your body pumps out more testosterone and growth hormone, basically turning you into a walking muscle building machine. Your nervous system gets smarter so you stop moving like a drunk toddler. Your heart gets stronger and your fat takes a hike.

Follow Dr. Curses to learn more about the human body. That's fantastic. And it's all true. Yeah. It's all true. My muscle is, I know it's a fat. like muscles longevity but it seriously is like how many women do you hear they fall they break their hip and they go downhill after that that's the end yes and if you have strength and you have muscle

well i'm muscle strength go together if you have that yeah then your longevity is going to be better you're just going to have quality of life there's more than just being skinny right which is it's more than just physical appearance it's mental it's like bone density it's like longevity brain, everything. That's actually one thing the doctor said, you know what, your quad and hamstring strength is so strong that that could be a huge part of the knee too. Oh, that makes sense, actually.

Because it's supporting my knee. But I still am able to run, which it doesn't make sense. That doesn't add up. But you say like, and you're speaking truth, like ladies, if you're not lifting muscles, like, is it too late for somebody to start? No, it's never too late. Okay.

Never. I don't care if you're 80 years old. It's never too late. Yeah. That's a fun thing about it is we can put on muscle at any age. Yeah. Your mom. Yeah, like your mom, she's a size eight.

That is bananas, like she, and she works so hard and how old was she when she started? I mean, she had just before 70. And is she comfortable talking about what her weight was before? Yeah, she was over 300. Yeah. We were size 26. Wow. Size 26 and she's a size 8.

And she must, how does she feel? She feels good. So I want her now, we're trying to put on more muscle. I was like you, mom, there's so much more than being thin. It's muscle, muscle, muscle. Yes. But, I mean, I saw her on, I feel like your Instagram, she was doing weights. Yeah, she does.

She just needs to go heavier maybe? Yeah, I need to have her a little bit. And we've got to step it up a little bit more. What if people are lifting, they're eating all the protein, and they're not gaining muscle? What could that be? If you're lifting the weights, you're eating the protein, you're probably gaining muscle, but you might have a layer of fat on top. So it's not that if, I bet if they did a dexas scan, they would see that their muscle is actually there.

Yeah. It's actually going up, but they have a layer of fat on top. Got it. I like to call a layer of fluff. A layer of fluff. So you might not see it. Right. And the myth that muscle weighs more than fat is incorrect.

Because a pound is a pound. So like if you have a pound of muscle and a pound of fat, they both equal a pound. Yeah. A pound of fat is a bigger size. So it's going to take up more room. A pound of muscle is a small size. So you're saying that is like what did you say muscle? A lot of people say muscle weighs more in fat.

That's incorrect. I see what you're saying. So they're both weigh the same. Yeah. It's just a pound of muscle is going to. to be this big. A pound of fat's going to be much larger. Got it. So that's why you can weigh the same amount and be a lot leaner if you have more muscle. Fastest way to lose that fluff.

Well, nutrition. Hands down. Nutrition is king. Okay. Second is working out. And I'm going to go against all the science here and all the social media, which don't run, don't run, don't run, running. Yeah. Why are people saying, and is it true that you should be doing cardio after lifting? Or what is? You do whatever one you want to get the most out of first. Really? So if you want the most out of your cardio, you do cardio. It's like if you're an endurance athlete, I would suggest you do cardio, your cardio and then do your strength. Why are people saying don't run? Because of cortisol. Oh, what does that do? Cortisol spikes? Well, cortisol is great. It's not, cortisol is not bad. The problem is when you can't bring your cortisol level down. When you

work out, your cortisol level goes up. When you get up in the morning, your cortisol level goes up. You stress your cortisol level goes up. The problem isn't cortisol. The problem is when you can't control your cortisol and you can't bring it back down. What about people who are vegetarians? Oh, that's a hard one. Yeah, because you're a wrong person to talk to for vegetarians. Okay. I mean, they got to get their protein in. Yeah.

And that's, yeah. You still can. It's just you're not. You can. Yeah. You can. But I'm, yeah, I, um, I think there's more educated people that can go into the vegetarian conversation than me.

Fair enough. Because I, I just have seen. I used to not eat red meat. Like I just have seen the biggest change in my life, my hormones, my mental, my body, everything when I changed flip the switch I used to eat mostly veggies with some protein yeah and then I up my protein and did a lot of like turkey and tickin and then I really like you know I had all my hormones done I was like I think I need to make some changes yeah and those changes changed my life what hormone test do you have the one that you believe in do you have like tested so I go to my

gyno for that okay and not all gynos are educated in that topic that is a problem I know that's what's scary is a lot of the alternative medicines not what are they called they're not call alternative medicine but you know what I mean like but you have to pay for them they're not covered by insurance thankfully mine is covered by insurance and never if i feel like my hormones are off i just text her say hey let's run another panel how often should people check their hormones i mean they changed quite a bit yeah i would do it at least i mean for me i'm doing like six months yeah okay they change i would say i do that i i i just got a whole panel done on hormones and the only thing my testosterone is so low what was it mine was a three oh i don't i'd have to look i don't i just remember

that was like the one thing that stood out my everything else was really great my testosterone was low and my iron was high pcOS hormones all that like what is your thought on you know how people are like don't drink out of plastic water bottles like don't wrap your food in plastic don't put Like, are you on that level, too? I am, but I'm not. Okay. It's like, yes, but they're, I have to draw a line too. It's so overwhelming.

It can be overwhelming. I mean, just don't microwave your stuff in plastic. And yes, I still use a microwave. Like, I still live. That's the choice I've decided. I will go to a point that I'm still comfortable in life too. Yeah, like I actually can't believe the level I'm getting to with certain things, but then I'm so far off on other things.

Sugar, for example. Oh, okay. Are you off of it? No. Oh, we got, that's like the number one thing that you have to change. Well, this is where I'm going with this because I'm so, I've been so weird, like, even ordering takeout if it comes in plastic and not like a box, I'm weird about like hot food being in plastic.

Like, I'm so crazy on that stuff, but then I will like drink wine. How do you cut back on sugar and not lose your ever loving mind? I mean, it's a challenge in the beginning. It's a challenge for everybody because we all have that, that feel good that comes with sugar. But once you break it, if you can do it, everyone. can do it. How long does it take to break it? I mean, they say 21 days, but I say a little bit longer, but if you can do it, but there's, if you eat enough fat and you're actually satiated,

if you eat enough fat, it really helps. So like when you came over that one night and you brought your, they were having take-o. I was like, and I don't, and I don't do it to be offensive either. No, I loved it because I got to reap the benefits of this delicious meat. But we were having sushi and you're like, I'm bringing my meat. And it was so good. You like, you like, grill it with the best spices and everything was so good, but there was a lot of fat on it, which was so delicious, and you're saying that's not a bad thing. No. Fat is what feeds your hormones also fat is your brain health.

Yes. Really? Women, so it's unfortunate. Obviously good fats. Good fats, right. I'm not talking about like cheeseburgers. No, I am talking cheeseburgers if you take the bun off. Love a cheeseburger.

I eat cheeseburger. I eat sometimes I eat six smash burgers a day. What? And bacon with it. Six smash burgers. Now, do you believe in not using the seed oil or using seed oil? I don't use steas burglow. Okay.

Oh, you do, beef tallow. Okay. So you can, okay, wow. So that's also good fat. Why was I thinking? And I, I want the fat to be as, I want the meat to be as fatty as possible, like 75 or 80% and I'll get it from my butcher. Yeah, I remember you saying something like, don't do the 90% lean. No, get fat.

Okay. We need fat. So it's, it's unfortunate that our generation, like even the 50s, not even 60s, I don't remember exactly here it started. They went to fat-free. And that's destroyed this generation of women's hormones and, brain health. I'm going to blame my depression anxiety on that. Well, you can change it. I, yeah, because everything, I've been so brainwashed by the fat-free industry. I was too. Yeah, yeah, okay. I raised my kids that way. Now I change that. I'm like, Hunter, I'm like, you have to add fat.

Yeah. Yeah. Because that was, I mean, that was our generation. So do you think we make it more complicated than it has to be? 150%. Yeah. My life is actually so unbelievably simple. My meals take me one minute. Yeah. Literally one minute. I don't think about it. I put it. I know some people would be like, oh my God, you use the microwave.

I don't really care, honestly. So you guys just smash me out you want. Literally don't care. But yes, so I cook a whole bunch for three days. Yeah. And I cook pounds of meat. Yeah. My husband and I would just warm them up for three days.

Yeah. And then I cook it again. I use my flat top and it's amazing. It's all so tasty. It's delicious. I don't, the only side I have with it is sourcrow. I love. I am on a sourcrow kick.

Does it not make you tootie? No. Oh, yeah. I go to my, I go to, uh, really? No, not at all. Oh my God, sourcrown. I am, I was like crushing sourcrow and somebody was like, oh my God, are you so farty? And then I realized like, actually yes, I am really.

But I'm already a to dody girl. Oh, I used to fart up a storm. I was like Dutch oven heaven in our house. So what? Is that bad? Is farting bad? I mean, there might be something going on with your digestive system. Right.

If you're, like, I don't fart anymore. What? My kids used to say, mom, you made the whole. drive home without the fart, but I'd roll all the windows up and play Dutch oven in the car on the way home from soccer. And I mean, I'm telling I could gas out the whole house. It was so bad. And you don't anymore? Not really at all. What? Yeah, Sean, my husband, he's like, you really never fart anymore, ever. And I used to fart all the time. So that must be something with gut and digestion. Absolutely. And BPC is really good for that. What is it? BPC 157. That's a peptide.

It is really good to help with your gut health. And if you want, so I inject all mine. So you can either inject that one, which is really good. That's what I injected my knee is really good for joint health. But if you just want it for gut health, you can do it orally. Now, if people are curious about this and want more information, what podcast, what book, like what's your favorite way to get your information? I think you should listen to lots of different.

You've got to listen to all angles. Yeah. Because if you just listen to one person, then you aren't well-rounded in a topic. Right. And so I believe you listen to the good, the bad, the ugly. you make your decision of what you believe on that there's a couple there's j campbell who i like hunter williams is really good and there's a guy named hack smith and he's good on go to ticot for him the other two are on instagram really good i actually brought hacksmith's book this book is the

game changer book so i have a lot of peptide books i don't work with him i think you sent me a link for this one i don't work with him i got it the day it came out i ordered it the day it came out because i was so excited about it he breaks it down so simple i do have a bunch of peptide books i like Okay. This one I love. What's the other game? We have all the notes in there. Oh my God.

I love it. I have all notes. It's called The Complete Guide of Peptides by Hacksmith. Okay. And that is like the game changer book. And it tells you if you're new to peptides, so when you get a peptide, it comes in a powder form. Unless you order it from doctors, then it comes what's called reconstituted. Okay.

That means they added the BAC water before they sent it to you. There's a couple reasons why I like it not reconstituted before I get it because peptides are fragile. They're not nearly as fragile as they thought they were at one time. They're starting to kind of pull back a little bit on that, but they are fragile. Like you don't want to shake a peptide. Oh, okay. So what do you think it does when it goes in the mail? It's already reconstituted.

It's just been shaking. Yeah, it's been shaking all over the place. So I like to reconstitute it when you get them. It's super easy. You take it from one container and you put it in the other one and you kind of just swirl it just a little bit. I'm like, I feel like I could do this because I froze my eggs. I'd inject myself all the time. But it's an easier injectin.

It's just an insulin syringe. It's the easiest injection. Okay. And some people put their stomach. Like the book will tell you where to inject. It tells you all the different sites you can inject. It tells you how to reconstitute. It tells you how to dose.

It tells you a peptide calculator to use. It's so simple. But if you're doing all that, can you still be, are they like cut the sugar, cut everything? So peptides are only going to optimize. They're not going to fix. That's a lie. They can fix. But they work better on me.

because I'm optimized, right? Yeah, that makes sense. So I'm going to thrive off something because I have, I've optimized my health. And so now it's just going to take me to the next level. Right. If you are a unhealthy person, then obviously the weight loss ones will still work. But some of the other ones might not work as well until your cellular level health starts, your mitochondria health, which I'm sure you've heard about.

Yeah. Gets better. Okay. So are there any cons to peptides? I mean, there's cons to everything, but a lot of it's in the dosing. Okay. I always say slow and steady. like I know you everyone thinks when I say oh yeah these peptides are amazing they think all they can

think is ozimic I was like yes that is a peptide insulin is also a peptide did you know that yes yes only because of you oh yeah it's a peptide so people have no idea that like these peptides aren't new they've been around for years yeah and they're just small chains of amino acids okay that's what they are and ozimic the way doctors do it I think it's terrible because it's such high dosing yeah And that's why people get all the side effects from it. If you do a small dose, and I'm not going to give any dosing. Yeah. So what are you saying like when people overdose or maybe doing too much dosing on OZPic,

then they get the OZEPIC face and the extreme weight. Well, you get sick. Yeah. You can get the nauseous. You can get this. But if you do it in tiny dosage, start a small. Yeah. You don't need to lose weight super fast.

You didn't put it on overweight. Do it slow. Slow and steady winds race. And that's a myth that OZMPIC makes your muscles go away. That's not true. What is true is Zemphic makes you not hungry so you don't eat. And what happens when you don't eat? You don't build muscle.

If you're anorexic, what happens? You lose your muscle. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. And so basically if you're on a higher dose and you're not eating and you're at the anorexic level of eating, then that's what happens. So are the doctors just in the like the big pharma world just trying to sell the

Ozempic and saying to do it? I mean, they just have a certain graph that they have to follow. Yeah. Start here. And then so many weeks go to this. this one, so many weeks go to this one. So I personally haven't done them, but if I was going to do one, actually just did, I did a live with Hacksmith on my Instagram, which people should go watch this hour and a half, and it was all about peptides.

Wait, it's on your, it's on my grid. It's on my grid. Yeah, it's on my grid. Is you're at just Aaronopria? Yeah. Okay. But I did a live with him. We talked all about these. He's personally on one, so it's a third one that's now come out. So there was Ozympic and then it went to Tresepetide. And obviously there's other names mixed in there that are all kind of thing and now it's on red at true tide okay and but the thing about red of true tide is it doesn't make you not as hungry so you still eat and burn fat so that's the benefit to that one so if i was going to do one that would be the one i do because i get out all the time scare me and probably trigger my body dysmorphia and disordered eating if i was not going to like i'm i just love eating now

i'm in such a good place with it that i'm like i don't want to go backwards i know i eat so much not that I would, I just, I'm like, I'm intrigued by peptides, I think. Oh, they're so interesting. There's, when you start going down the rabbit hole and studying them, because there's a peptide for everything. Would you say, like, cutting alcohol completely? Or for people like me who love wine, is it okay to just have a glass? No, I think when you're actually trying to cut the sugar, you go a month with zero.

Okay. So you do, you cut out fruit, you cut out honey, you cut out all the sugar. Anything that has a sweet taste. Even natural sugars. Yep. For the first month, cut it all. Cut it all. That means carbs, too.

Because those are all, as soon as they get into your body, they're sugar. Cut it all. Actually, I have a challenge starting on Monday, and it's all cutting sugar. It's a meal plan, full meal plan. And then I'll start, after like three weeks, I'll start reintroducing berries and honey and things like that. So it's okay to cut, because obviously people should not cut carbs forever. So it's...

I did. What? Yeah, I don't eat any. You don't eat carbs? I have a handful of berries and I have one cup of sauerkraut and avocado. Oh, that's it. I don't have an ebb zero. And I do Iron Man training without any. Oh, Lord. A little bit of honey. But that's it. I haven't in years now.

Like, to me, I don't even know what a carb is. I'm like, I don't know, bread. Yeah, that's it. Bread, quinoa, pasta, pasta, I mean, all of it. And you don't miss it? Not even a little bit. Okay, this weekend, this is the craziest thing. My son had a high rocks race. So he was like, I want pizza afterwards. And usually I just do a cauliflower crust. Yeah. This place had a thick crust. And I was like, oh, I'll have a slice. Oh, you felt like shit? Well, yeah, there's still a gas bubble that will not go out of my stomach.

Even running today, I was like, if I could just rip one, like it won't. Like, it's like a ever since, today's Wednesday. That was Sunday and it's still there. And I have not had one single gas bubble anything. And it's still staying. And I was like, I will not. There's no amount of food that is worth feeling like shit for. I just hate it because I don't think, I don't feel like I could cut that out.

I mean, I always said the same thing. You know oatmeal is my favorite food. Yeah. Yeah, I would, my whole goal was for years. I mean, I ate oatmeal. That was, my whole dream was to eat the whole crock pot in one sitting. And I have never done it. But I love oatmeal so much.

Yeah. And now, no interest. But I had to train myself. It took time. Yeah. But man, the energy I get from it, the energy, my hormones, my body frame, everything. So many people say that like you can't cut carbs and then once you reintroduce them, you're going to gain it all back.

Well, you, I mean, it all depends on how I reintroduce them. Well, and I guess, so is avocado a carb? I mean, it's label is a fat, but it has good fiber in it. A lot of people have no idea of that. Is it 12 grams of fiber, I think, in avocado? I eat avocado every day. So it's got carbs and fiber in it, too. It's got a good amount of fiber.

What do you think about cottage cheese? I think it's great in moderation. I don't personally eat it, but I think it's great. I literally eat meat, sourcrow, avocado, handful of berries, maybe some honey. Maybe some honey. You just nailed it. That's what I eat. Gosh.

And it's easy. And, oh, wait, eggs. But why do I get so hyped to go out for dinner and have a glass of wine and a bowl of pasta? Like, I'm scared to not have that anymore. If I train my body to not do that, it's such a joy in my life. Okay. So train your body to not crave it and then go do it occasionally. It doesn't matter.

Like, I could go do it. Like, that's what I'm saying. So the first little bit you train your body, you don't do any. So that's how you can break the cravings. Okay. Once you break the cravings, you can have little bits here and there. Got it. you just won't your body won't need it as bad as it does before right so i know it's going to go

against a lot of what the hormone people at my age say yeah so i do the different the opposite way yeah and i've had the most amount of success i've ever had in my body shape my body composition my skin my hair yeah you look amazing and everything i feel like everything is better now than i was when i thought i was eating really clean because i mean you've been with me i eat i eat clean always Always. Yeah. No, I've known you for 10 years, and we would go out to restaurants and you would just order like 10 eggs. Yeah.

Yeah. And I would eat. Everything. It all changed. You're like, everything changed. You're like, Benjamin buttoning over here. But I always, I keep looking. I was like, okay, my gray hair reversed.

You said that. I had a gray patch right here. And I was so excited. I would video it and be like, I can't wait. You wanted that. I wanted gray. I couldn't wait. I had a lot of gray mix.

I was like, I can't wait for it to go gray. I can't wait. I can't wait. And then it went. And that is So I actually have been doing some dissecting on it There's a combination So you said it was going to go against

No, what I was saying was going against What most people say is my nutrition Because a lot of people will say In our 40s and 50s And perimenopause, you have to have your carbs And they need to be clean carbs Hey, if that's what you want to do, do it I'm only sharing what I've seen works for me

And a lot of people I know So it's not just me I've researched and I decided to go this route I mean, it's been almost three years now. Yeah, two years. And never felt better. The highest energy I've ever had. Wow.

Sex drive. Is it back? No, I don't know. I don't care about sex. I just don't care about sex. I know. Have you always been like that? Like when we first got dating.

Yeah. I think it really stopped right when we got married. Like within the first probably six months. You were like, I'm done. Yeah. And I really. But I was like, look, don't feel bad. I don't have sex with anybody.

It's not just you. Yeah, this is not personal. It's not personal. It's me. It's not you. I literally don't care about sex. And I know that's actually a bad symptom. I think I just get fulfilled through fitness.

And I think that's why. And I'm sure if I cut back in some of that areas, the good thing is he's training for an Iron Man too. So guess what he doesn't want him to do? He's like, I'm good. Are you doing, when's your next Iron Man? So I pulled out from injury. Yeah.

Because I was dealing with Planner for a long time. But that's completely gone. And I got back to running and then I tore my ACL again. And that was two and a half weeks ago. Yeah. And so I thought, oh, I got to pull out again. And then I just started back this week. I was like, well, it doesn't hurt.

I'm back. I'm back. Actually, yesterday. Do you train with swimming too? Yeah, I'm going to the lake this weekend. Yeah. Oh, fun. Put my wetsuit on.

Go swim in the lake. I love swimming, but I can't do it. I love water. That's what I should say. I love being in the water. I love lakes. I love it. Well, you got to learn.

Sean couldn't swim. Did you see the pool? I'm building in my backyard. I know. Maybe I'll learn how to swim some laps. swim some laps put a good swim cap on so you save your hair i know that's also what scares me well no you just put so i talk to my hair lady and she's like wet your hair put good conditioner in it and then put the swim cap on and i've never had it turn colors or anything oh yeah that's a good

that's a good idea and then i get out and i wash it right away people want to know about the nicotine patch oh i have it on right now do you want to see it yeah everyone has this idea that nicotine is obviously bad bad bad i know but you wear a nicotine patch right as like the most healthiest person i've ever met my life. I know. I get all the time, oh my gosh, are you quitting smoking? I was like, yeah, that's what I'm doing. Just say yes, it's easier. But I have only smoked one cigarette in my life. And so the people that still say, oh, I knew you were a closet smoker. I'm not a closet smoker. I've only smoked one cigarette my life when I was 16. I threw up and I would never touch another cigarette. So I learned about it. And then I started researching and researching and

researching. And I was like, this is insane. And then I started going down the rabbit hole of why it was banned starting in 94. And when you go down that rabbit hole, all I was saying, is go listen to Dr. Artists. Go to YouTube and listen to it's like a podcast about it's very slow. It's like two and a half hours long. Yeah. But if you make it through the whole thing, it's slow in the beginning. And then you're like, wait, that's insane.

So like cliff notes. Clip notes. So basically they had to ban it because nicotine was a huge cure for COVID. What? Yeah. They banned it because it was. I mean, it all depends on what you believe. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.

I mean, I didn't believe any of that stuff either, but I was like, oh, my God, COVID, COVID, COVID. And then now I'm like, holy shit, this is kind of crazy. But besides that, the nicotine patch is for so, there's so many benefits to it in low dosage. Okay. Right? So if you smoke a cigarette, it's between 10 to 25 milligrams of nicotine. But the nicotine, there's a bunch of other carcinogens in it. Yeah, you're like inhaling.

So it's, okay. I would never say smoke. I would never say dip. I wouldn't even, a lot of people are. doing the Zen. I wouldn't even do those because I don't want any other additives. I don't anything else. I like simple. I just want nicotine gum. A lot of people do that. I don't want anything because I think it's flavored. I don't do any artificial. Got it. So I don't do any of that. So I'm very, I like my ingredients to be one word. Okay. So I just went the patch. I went super,

I'm doing three and a half milligrams and I've never changed. Like I'm not going up. I'm just staying the same. And what are the benefits? So I have really bad ADD, ADHD. I've never taken anything for it. I've exercised always been my outlet. I was diagnosed at five tried to put me on Ritalin. My parents, like, no way. And so I've never taken anything, which I'm super thankful for you. I could have gotten in the military if I would have been on Ritalin. Right. But I was like, one day I was like, well, I wonder what difference it would make. Since I've never done any of the ADD drugs, what would, because nicotine is really good for anything brain health. Yeah. From Alzheimer's, huge for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's. Yeah. Depression. All of them.

Anything brain health-wise is brain fog, long-haul COVID. I definitely have long COVID. Yep. It's a huge, they can heal it in like seven days. What? And do you wear it every day? I don't. I mean, you can, I feel like the protocol is whatever you want it to be.

And you feel it like you put it on and you feel something? I don't feel it instantly. It's not like I put it on and it's like I just drink a cup of coffee, something that. But I would say, so here's an example. I had Sean do I said, Sean, I need you put this on and tell me exactly how you feel all day long. I'm like, you're so dumb. he's like my guinea pig yeah and he's like he always needs a nap in the afternoon yeah he doesn't necessarily get it but he wants one really bad he's like that's me he's like no I talk to my stem cell

doctor who I love him and I are big peptides conversationals I asked him I said have you gone down the rabbit hole nicotine yet and he's like no he's like but I will tonight and then he he started on it and he's like holy shit this is great do you sleep okay yeah I sleep like a champ well I'll take a peptide for that too oh but I don't do it every night I I don't do that every night. You don't take a peptide for sleep. What is the peptide for sleep? It's called de-sip.

And it doesn't help you go to sleep. Like, I don't have any problem falling asleep. But sometimes, like, I don't always stay asleep. That's a lot of times, cortisol, right? Yeah. But it allows quality of sleep. So it's going to up your deep sleep by quite a bit. So, like, the efficiency of your sleep is going to be greater.

I've really prioritized sleep. I used to, you know, me, I never slept. I go back and forth. Sometimes I'm, like, a champ at sleeping. And other times, like, last night, I was awake with the worst anxiety. What do you think triggered it? Hormones I'm thinking, it's like getting close to my period.

I feel like I do this. I like sweat the bed. I start like getting anxiety. I used to get that so bad. Not anymore. Mm-mm. I used to night sweat. Yeah, that's what happens to me.

Like to the point that I had to get up and lay a towel down because the sheets were soaked. That happens to me. Yeah. I literally could like scoop up a thing of water off my chest. I'd go change pajama, like my pajama bottoms there. So, yeah. And I don't get, I used to have terrible period symptoms.

Like when I say terrible And then so I'm 47 So mine's kind of like Not anymore though I brought it back It tells me my garment tells me the day It's going to start And it starts on that day

And I have zero feelings of it I have no symptoms My like last year even I called my hormone doctor I was like man I'm like a raging bitch Like I the week before I'm period I was like I hate myself I hate my husband literally like a demon

coming out of me And I was like What is going on She's like your hormones are out of whack And so she's like, let's get tested. But then I really hyper-focused on just my nutrition. Yeah, yeah. So this was the beginning of the year.

And my period went to, my boobs hurt like almost sometimes up to two weeks before my period. Like so bad, especially the week before. So I, and I was super crampy a couple days before. And then I'd have a period and then not have a period. And then it'd be long, it'd be short, it'd be heavy. And then it would skip a couple months. Yeah, skip a couple months changing the nutrition. it is clockwork and I have zero symptoms.

I look at my watch. I was like, what day is I? Oh, I'm starting tomorrow. Zero symptoms. I have none of the, no hormone symptoms, not a single one for my period anymore. God. Sean is like how you've always had hormone. Like they got worse, right?

But hallelujah. Not only for Sean, for you. Like for everyone. Like it's such a bit is awful to go through. How high cholesterol is not a bad thing. High cholesterol. So I want my cholesterol to be high. So it's not necessarily the cholesterol.

You've got to look at your triglycerides and look at the ratio of that to your bad cholesterol. So there's a lot of things that go into it. And I don't want a deep dive on it because I want people to say, oh, cholesterol is not bad. I want them to hear this. And then I want them to start researching and listen to both sides of that and then make a decision of what they believe and then take it to your doctor. But I know what your doctor is going to tell you. that you need to lower your cholesterol.

That's what doctor's day. Freaking doctors are so confusing. They have certain things. Like they can't talk about, most doctors can't talk about peptides. They can't. Why? Because they won't get the paycheck? They just can't.

Ew. Like my knee doctor is Aaron Obria. No, I'm not your doctor. Like my knee doctor, he's amazing. He's a super talented. He's one of the best in Nashville. He's amazing. He doesn't believe in peptides.

And I said, okay, if you don't believe in peptides, can you tell me why I'm tan when I inject Molana tan? right as a peptide and that stuff works wonders oh you and i don't really lay out this i mean i lay out for like lay out i mean morning sun every morning yeah so like 15 20 minutes maybe 30 minutes and i'm tan so tell me i didn't just term tan magically right it's a peptide another thing i wanted to ask you about was cellulite because when i take photos i want to like embrace and be like okay like everybody has cellulite but then i'm like but i also want i don't want it is there is it genetic So cellulite, so I actually have done some research on the cellulite and insulin resistance.

Okay. Insulin resistance is really the root of everything. Okay. And most all women have it to some level. And I look back at where I was in my early 40s and 30s, 100% I had it. If you can fix that, everything changes in your body. And that goes for cellarite. Could your stretch marks even start to fade?

That's castor oil, yes. That's castor oil? Castor oil. Yeah. No, they didn't just fade. They almost are disappeared. you remember how bad they used to be well and someone said oh that's a nice tummy tuck you had I was like wow that's the best compliment I've ever had thank you oh my gosh I was like I've never

had a tummy tuck but I'll take that as a compliment I want to do anything that reduces wrinkles that makes my hair grow so I have so I have a peptide for you you should start injecting GHK yes to you start injecting that people get scared when they hear injecting too and everyone does yeah and they'll all say research peptides on them yeah that's what they're going to say this is not human consumption of this research. And I have a whole post. I can't dive into it here, but I do have a whole post on my Instagram. Why it says that? Why does it say that? They have to. Got it. Because it's an injection. So that has to say that. Really? Yes. So when you're like, it says not for human consumption. Yeah, I know. Okay. Well, I'm going to go look at your Instagram after this.

If there was one form of exercise you would pick. If you could only pick one for the rest of your life, what would be? It would. Yeah. Just like, it's hard because I really love to run. I know you do. I would pick weights and running. You would pick. I'd pick two. Yeah. Waits and running. But let's go back to insulin resistant.

I know we have to grab that. No, no. But I want women to start realizing they have to fix this. Yeah. And the younger you start doing it, it's in your 30s. It's in your 30s. It's not just 40s, 50s. Like it's all of us. So I'm 39.

I can start now. Please do. Okay. So we got to start watching our blood sugar is obviously playing a role. So you could do a bunch of spiking as bad. Sleep. Sleep is number one. Yeah.

Like you don't. Did you know in the morning you could wake up with, you're not going to be diabetic, but you could wake up with the blood sugar of a pre-diabetic with bad sleep? Really? Yeah. See, I, it's when I travel, everything gets thrown off for me. My diet, my sleep, my anxiety, my everything gets thrown off when I travel, and I travel a lot. When I'm home and I am so dialed, I'm going to bed at like 8 p.m.

I'm waking up at 8 a.m. And I'm like so in the zone with sleep and all these things. And then I throw, everything's thrown off when I travel. So you need to try. So, I mean, it's all about structure. Sleep is so important. Sleep is your recovery. It's everything for you.

That's, it's everything. So you need to go to bed at a certain time, get up at a certain time. Even on weekends, it needs to be, you need to stay on the same plan. Yeah. Changing your nutrition is an absolute must. You've got to get rid of the sugar and your nutrition. You have to. Everyone needs to.

Strength training, super important. Yeah. Movement, all day movement really helps. Yeah. I do struggle with the midday now. Stress. That was the one. Oh, stress is huge. Yeah.

So I'm always in fight or flight. Yeah, but I used to be like that too. And I have changed my lifestyle so much. God. And I'm just like, deep breath is fine. Yeah. Just roll with it. And it has made a big difference.

Yeah. When you start just letting go. Yeah. And don't be like this over everything. Oh my God, I am. I honestly, like my niece just got her learners to drive. And I'm like, I think that's why I was up last night.

I'm going, she's going to get in an accident. I'm like spiral. I know. What a waste of time. I know. And I try. I physically got up and started shaking my body because that helps me.

Release the anxiety. Yes. And I just was like shaking. I was like, stop, Caitlin. And that actually did help. People I think, think like, okay, fight through this and just go back to sleep. I actually get up and like move.

And I'll put on like a meditation after. and I like getting my body really cold, and then I get back under the covers, and then I'll go back to sleep. Wow. I know. So tell us what you have coming up. I know you have a challenge.

Oh, yeah. Something's really cool. So on May 5th, which is Monday, I have this. It's basically called a lean-down challenge. It's going to be six weeks long. Okay. It's going to have the daily workouts, of course.

And each workout will be a different length. Is it on your app? It will be on the pretty much of the app. Just pick, it will have you pick monthly or annual. Okay. But it won't charge you unless you stay on the app afterwards. Okay.

So you don't have to be a member. But it's going to have daily workouts. Each workout is going to be a different length depending on the day. And that's so you can move around to make it work for your schedule. I have three levels, super beginner all the way to advance. But the coolest thing on this one is the meal plan. The meal plan is going to be freaking amazing. So it's going to be the no sugar.

And then we're going to cut it. It's going to be the same style as my eating. And then we'll just start reintroducing stuff, reintroducing stuff throughout the challenge. And I do have a link on my bio to join the Pretty Muscles Facebook group too. It's private. So just ask in. They'll let people in. Just because a lot of people post a lot of pictures and they don't want, I don't want to make it public.

It's going to be cool. And then also, so like I have this stretching mobility. I do every night. I'm very structured. It's like I do my stretching. I get in the sauna. Yep. No, my red lights in the morning.

I mean, I do. Yeah, my red lights in the morning, but my sonnas at night. And so this 30 minute stretching, I swear, it's what, I mean, I work out so much and I don't get sore. Yeah. Because you stretch? I think it's the stretching mobility. I think it's everything. And people always ask me like, hey, we share it.

And I've never filmed the whole thing, but I filmed the whole thing. it's going to be part of this challenge. Cool. That people can do it. May 5th. May 5th, yeah. And the link is in your bio. We'll also post it in the show notes.

Yeah. So my goal for everybody is to start cutting the sugar down. Okay. And I think it will be a game changer. Wow. It's six weeks long. What do I got coming up? Why do I, I'm like trying to like be like, Caitlin, you don't have to drink because you're going to this event.

Like I'm really trying to. I go to events too. I don't drink. Why do you feel like you have to drink? I truly have thought about this and even talked in depth with my therapy. about my relationship with alcohol, I actually just enjoy only up to two. I don't like feeling drunk. I don't like getting drunk.

I like having two drinks. I like that I feel free. Yeah, but I also can go to an event and not drink and feel like I'm the exact same person. I don't know why I enjoy it the way I do. And I'm not saying that somebody should never drink either. I chose not to drink anymore. I did drink.

I drank tequila. Yeah. I mean, that was just last year. and Sean drinks and I'm not against drinking and I don't care if anyone else drinks. Well, you are the least judgmental person. I literally don't care. I'm like, they hide their alcohol around.

I was like, I could care less what you do. Oh my God, I would never hide my alcohol. I was like, nobody should ever hide anything around me. If you're hiding alcohol, that's a problem. That's where there's a problem. Yeah. And then peptides, we didn't really dive much into the peptides because I have to, I know.

But like the big ones that I really think people should start looking at are the BPC 157. You can do oral or injectable. If you want it for an injury, then you need to do the injectable if you want it just for gut health, which is pretty much everybody needs of some sorts. Our guts are so messed up. You could do the oral one.

Okay. And then GHK, which we did hit on, which is an injectable, and then I do it topically too. But you buy them from two separate places. So don't take the topical one and inject it. Oh. They're two separate. Okay.

That needs to make sure people know that that's a separate thing. And read the book. Yeah, the book has everything in here. It has literally everything in there. Please, everybody look at the topical ones. Those are really good. I'm excited. I can give you a link if you want them.

I do. I do. For the, if you want to, I think the topical ones, people will be really interested because they don't have to inject. But they're really good. Okay. Well, you inspire me. Thank you for coming on the podcast.