Pursuit of Wellness - Paige Lindgren on Thyroid Health, Cycle Syncing, Menstrual Phases, Protein at Breakfast, Fight or Flight, Blue Light & Cortisol, BPA’s and Microplastics, Healthy Sleep Habits, and more.

Episode Date: September 4, 2023

Ep. #37 On today’s episode, I’m chatting with Paige Lindgren, a Certified Hormone Specialist and Pilates Instructor who is passionate about helping women feel their best and find balance, hormone health optimization, and healthy lifestyle choices. Paige also co-founded From Force to Flow, a cycle syncing platform that's full of hormone knowledge and tips for each phase of the menstrual cycle. Together we discuss the different phases of the menstrual cycle & optimization for each one, hormone imbalances and conditions (PCOS, Hashimotos, etc.) and how to test for them/manage symptoms, the impact that cortisol has on feeling safe in our bodies, why getting more protein is so important, long-term effects of blue light exposure, social media & screentime breaks, healthy sleep patterns, the difference between a healthy and dysfunctional thyroid, why over-exercising can cause more harm than good, managing environmental stress, natural vs. hormonal birth control options, exposure to elevated amounts of BPAs and microplastics, honoring cravings during menstruation, and so much more! I love how Paige presents these findings in a way that's both approachable and easy to understand, while creating a safe space for women with shared experiences to discuss their journeys. If you love this episode, please share with anyone who might benefit and continue to subscribe, rate, and review! For Mari’s Instagram click here! For Pursuit of Wellness Podcast’s Instagram click here! For Paige’s Instagram click here! For Paige’s TikTok click here! For Paige’s From Force to Flow program click here! To shop Bloom Nutrition Greens click here!  To download Mari’s workout plan & recipes click here!  Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode. Go to www.trybite.com/POW to get 20% off your first order Go to www.carawayhome.com/POW to get 10% off At Westin hotels, there’s amenities and offerings aimed to help you move well, eat well, and sleep well, so you can keep your well - being close, while away. Fi nd wellness on your next stay at Westin. Go to www.juneshine.com/POW But 1 JuneShine package and get the 2nd for only a penny just text them a photo of your receipt and they will Venmo you. Go to www.hellofresh.com/50POW and use code 50POW for 50% off plus 15% off the next 2 months Produced by Dear Media See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. Mari has grown her to fitness and nutrition brand. Co-founder of Bloom Nutrition. Forbes 30 under 30 list. A successful entrepreneur. Someone who has lost 90 pounds. Today's guest is Mari Llewellyn. Mari Llewellyn.

My friend Mari. Welcome to the Pursuit of Wellness. Hi guys, welcome back to POW. Today on the show, I'm chatting with my friend Paige Lindgren. She is a certified hormone specialist and a Pilates instructor, someone you may have seen on TikTok, where she educates more than 260,000 followers on hormone health, optimization, and healthy lifestyle choices. Paige also co-founded From Force to Flow, a cycle syncing platform that's full of hormone balancing recipes for each phase of the menstrual cycle, plus hormone knowledge and tips, grocery

store lists, journal prompts, a workout library, and more. So this episode was so full of information. You guys are going to absolutely love it. So many takeaways. We talk about the different phases of the menstrual cycle and how to optimize during each one, hormone imbalances and illnesses such as PCOS, Hashimoto's and more, how to test for them and how to manage symptoms, the impact of cortisol and living in fight or flight and the impact it has on our bodies, the importance of protein at breakfast, long-term effects of blue light exposure, taking breaks from social media, the importance of protein at breakfast, long-term effects of blue light exposure, taking breaks from social media, the importance of healthy sleep patterns, the difference between a healthy

and dysfunctional thyroid, why over-exercising can cause more harm than good, managing stress in our environment, birth control, including natural options such as cycle tracking, the impact of elevated BPAs and microplastics, and why it's important to not always fight cravings during menstruation, and so much more. I love how Paige presents these findings in a way that's both approachable and easy to understand while creating a safe space for women with shared experiences to talk about, especially in a world where we can be overwhelmed with information on things we shouldn't do. I thought Paige did a really nice job providing a manageable roadmap for small changes we can make to optimize our lives and create a personalized plan to support our hormones that fits our

individual needs and lifestyle. Lastly, before we hop into the episode, I want to thank you guys so, so much for taking the time to subscribe, rate and review the show. It really goes a long way. I see all of your feedback. I am listening and it really helps us improve the show and continue to grow as a community. Love you all so much. I hope you enjoy the episode. Please share with a girlfriend, mom, aunt, sister, anyone who might benefit. With that, let's hop into the show and welcome Paige. So Paige, welcome to the show. Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here. Everyone was so pumped when I said you were coming on. I was so pumped when you told me I was coming on. Well, I feel like hormones are like the topic of conversation right now.

They really are. Which they should be. It's the most exciting thing that like this isn't a trend. Once you learn about it, like this is going to stick. So the fact that it feels like it's kind of a trend right now, like, OK, feel good. And like this is going to last. Yeah, you're thriving right now. So happy. Where did your initial interest in hormones begin?

Like, what's your story? Yeah, my own little health journey. I have Hashimoto's disease. It's an autoimmune thing. Got diagnosed when I was Hashimoto's disease. It's an autoimmune thing. Got diagnosed when I was nine, like young. So kind of my whole life been struggling with the autoimmune stuff. And then once I got my period, it started affecting my hormones and weren't really putting the pieces together as to what was making me feel bad. I'm like, I'm medicated

for my autoimmune disease. Everything's fine. I shouldn't be feeling this way. Weren't looking at my hormones. Years, years, years, years, years go by. Skip a lot of stories. We test my hormones and we're like, you have none. Your hormones are so low. No wonder you feel bad. And then once I started working on that naturally and I felt like a person I've never felt in my life, I'm like, this is just like the missing piece that no one's talking about. I feel like this is everyone can relate to this. And there's no way that everyone's hormones are balanced. Yeah. So then I started learning about it.

How did you initially know you had Hashimoto's? Like, what are the symptoms? For me personally, I got lucky because my whole family has it. So my sister, two years older than me, had a big lump on her throat. And her doctor's like, go get tested. Like, what is that? Awful levels, Hashimoto's. So then they're like, you might as well get tested.

And I was like, off the rail as well. But luckily, we caught it early. But the main symptoms is like such extreme fatigue, weight fluctuations, slow metabolism, bad digestion issues, slow digestion, mood. Wow. So that can show up as early as age nine. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Interesting. I've never honestly met. I've met one person who was diagnosed really young. Maybe they're just not testing people that young but yeah you definitely can be affected that young if you want to get tested what kind of test would you go in and ask for for Hashimoto's you any doctor can run it it's the most basic test

but you want t3 t4 and then this is something not all doctors will run, but you want to get your reverse T3 tested. Basically shows how you're absorbed. Like you need all three of those. Most conventional doctors are just testing T3, T4. Do also reverse T3. Just ask your doctor. That's useful because I've heard a lot of people question whether they have it or not. I think it's a question for a lot of people in their minds.

I yeah, I think the other thing like I haven't talked about much but blood tests aren't always like the like you have it or you don't like it can be helpful but they're testing people with imbalances it's not like that's like what the base level is. They're comparing it to people who have messed up levels. You can have symptoms and be struggling even if your levels are showing up. Oh, OK. So it can kind of also get tricky there. 100%. I was someone who thought blood tests were the be all end all.

And then I recently found out that that's not the case. So I did the Dutch test, which is basically you take samples of spit and urine all day long at various hours of the day. And that was able to show me such specific details on my hormones and even my cortisol. It was incredible. Did you like kind of compare it to your blood work and did it kind of show different things or? It was way more specific in terms of my like estrogen and testosterone levels. So I have low, low to estrogen and high testosterone. So that's what I'm focused on right now. Yes.

Trying to balance that out. And then my cortisol showed, and this was interesting because I thought having high cortisol would mean that I am a stressed individual, but I essentially was making none. Okay. And my naturopath was like, you're so stressed all day that it took it all out. And you're at low cortisol, adrenal fatigue. Yeah. Been there with the no estrogen and the no cortisol. Stop. Feels awful. Okay. I'm surprised that you can keep such a busy lifestyle. I think here's the thing she said. I think because I'm so healthy other than that, I eat really clean. I exercise. I was kind of able to make up for it. But like there's definitely things that, you know, my skin,

things I've noticed that I'm like, what am I doing wrong? And then I have the answers now. Yeah. What do I do next? Like literally those two little things that like if you're not testing your cortisol or your hormone levels, you can try everything else for energy, for skin. Nothing's going to connect. Yeah. The thing of low cortisol is you get there after you're just high for too long. So it's like you definitely were high for some time and then your body just gives up and crashes. I'm curious what your doctor or your naturopath is suggesting for low estrogen. So initially, we're going to take licorice supplements and cortisol management. Okay.

But I was curious what you would recommend, like food, lifestyle, anything. I'll take all of it. Yeah. Honestly, I think working on cortisol for any single human living in this world is needed. I don't think there's like a single person who's just like got it unless they live in a really far away place. I don't know. Switzerland. Switzerland. It's really focusing on the basics and getting back to that. And that's something I think we've really drifted far from, especially when we're like focused on living a healthy

lifestyle. We can forget the basics and supplements are so great. And I think, you know, that's so individual. The main basics, though, are that I would suggest to anyone nutrition wise is more protein at every meal, especially, especially breakfast, especially with just that low, your cortisol is highest in the morning as a woman. And where I'm speaking to right now, this is for women, people who identify as a woman and yeah, cause things tested with men, it's different. So high protein breakfast, we should be eating it because our cortisol is highest in the morning. If we're not eating breakfast, we're letting it get higher and higher and higher. Then there will just be this big crash and roller coaster. So high protein

breakfast, morning sun, so important. Regulates our HPA access. It also lowers our cortisol. It boosts our serotonin. Also regulate ourin. I love that you said that. We'll help us sleep better at night, which we know what sleep does. So more protein in breakfast, morning sun. And then this is obviously something that we're now just experiencing in the past few years. But with all of the electronics and the blue light and the constant stimulation, our body is living kind of in this fight or flight, but it doesn't know because it thinks we're experiencing what we're watching, which is just like this weird thing, right? Like we don't realize it because this is so new, but we need more disconnection from that in order for our body to be grounded and safe. Because when you're

just, I mean, obviously, I love TikTok. I'm on it way too much. But when you're just watching all of this stimulation and listening to things and never taking a moment to be grounded, your body thinks you're experiencing what you're watching and listening to. And then it's like tense and tight and it puts you in fight or flight. you can't heal when you're in fight or flight. That's such a valid point and something that's such an issue right now. Yeah. Two questions about what you just said. What is your ideal breakfast that's high in protein? Okay. Recently, because I do well with dairy. So that's actually not something I always did

well with. By the way, I probably did like eight years without it. But for me, it's the easiest way to get high protein in without protein powders because I don't always I love protein powders, but not every day. My stomach's just not always. So Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, like a cup of that and you get like 20 grams of protein. Easy way for me to sneak in protein. I think that's also because I don't do well with eggs. But if you do do well with eggs, a few eggs, turkey bacon, regular bacon. I personally have seen with other people and myself that animal protein in the morning works best with me.

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How do I get more protein in my chia pudding i personally add collagen in it collagen peptides great idea i've done protein powders in it too i like how collagen just kind of like mixes in it because it doesn't make it as thick as some protein powders okay and for anyone listening we do have collagen peptides at Bloom. And I feel like the unflavored one or the vanilla would be perfect in a chia pudding. Yeah. I love like a flavored one in there. So I do protein powder in there,

collagen, hemp seeds. But yeah, it on its own, chia pudding on its own, like if I did it with almond milk, not going to keep me well. When I do it with coconut milk, it gives that little boost because now you have the healthy fats. But then I do coconut milk and collagen or protein. Good for hours. How do you go about setting boundaries with your phone?

Like, do you have any guidelines or like rules that the listeners can try? Yeah, honestly, this is a newer thing for me because I'm like, I great at giving advice I'm not taking it so this really was not like an awakening but I had like an aha moment when I got my screen time a few months ago like popped up what it was tell us what it was please I don't I really want to hear do you know what yours is or no I do it was really freaking bad recently I just don't understand how it was that it was nine hours okay mine was like eight and a half okay and it was like a few weeks of nine hours I just don't get it but you also work on your phone I work on my phone but yeah I work on my phone so it can kind of validate some of it yeah I feel the same way I'm like but at a

certain point yeah we should be able to condense the work into an hour or two on the phone right what am I doing for the additional six right I'm like okay I'm sleeping for like eight of those hours and I'm on the phone for nine like what I have like three hours that I'm driving or showering like what are those hours that I'm not on it? So it was kind of this thing where I had this aha moment. And then it had me kind of thinking about discipline and like where I'm disciplined in my life. And I was like, honestly, I'm not like full transparency. I live alone. I work for myself. Like, where do I have discipline? And I'm like, if I'm going to start somewhere, it's going to be this.

And I have the thing on your phone where you can stop TikTok. It will let you know once you've spent a certain amount of time on an app. Do you know that? How do I do that? Because I have the nighttime thing that turns the app off. But then it gives me the option to ignore it. And I often will just ignore it. Okay, daily. I'm not good. We don we don't look at mine wasn't far off okay but also here's the thing recently I've been falling asleep to YouTube meditations that are like six hours yep so I'm like I think that's counting

okay so basically you go to your settings you go to screen time and then you go to app limits and then you can add limits for like you'll go to social and you can add limits like for TikTok. And then like what I've been trying to do is an hour and a half on TikTok. Nice. And then it will tell you once you hit that limit. And I've had these limits on before where I'm like, OK, cool. And then I just like keep doing it. But where I'm holding discipline to myself right now is when that comes up, I'm done. Wow. I'm done. So I try to do that with TikTok and Instagram. And those are really where I spend my time. And then also my morning walk. That's my like joy time. The past many months, I've been getting back to my emails on

my morning walk and just going through TikTok and editing my videos. Feels very like productive. But no, if I'm going on my morning walk, phone away. And if I can't focus, I listen to a walking meditation, like if I need some type of stimulation. So that's where I've been starting. Well, I think that's huge because that's going to have an impact on your entire day. You know, it's not just that moment. You're going to be so much more mindful leading into your entire day. You can be more productive. Why are these things so important for hormones? I know. I honestly, these things I almost feel are more important for hormones than even like food sometimes. The state that our body is in, it controls everything. You can be eating the perfect diet exercising the perfect amount

but if you're consumed like if you're in that fight or flight state like how I explained what these stimulation things can do to us if you're in an unhealthy relationship all of that it goes back to our cortisol, our adrenal glands, our body not feeling safe. And when our body doesn't feel safe or grounded, all it's doing is putting all its work into trying to just keep your body running rather than letting it repair. 100%. And I would assume that sleep is a huge part of that too, right? Huge part of it. And people don't realize how screens or stress or bad relationships affect our sleep, even if you're sleeping at night. Any sleep tips for better sleep hygiene overall, hormone health when it comes to sleep? Yeah. Sleep, so important. It's another thing like I need. It's not like my sleep's perfect

by any means, but I know how important it is I've been trying it's not happening every night but to keep my phone out of my room because it's easy to just start scrolling and then you're all of a sudden an hour in and then you're like wait it's midnight trying to do that and then something that's really helped me is keeping my room at 68 degrees because I like to fall asleep warm, but then I wake up like four or five times throughout the night with like hot sweats. So I'm really trying to like that's helped so much for me, just not falling asleep, but just staying asleep. And then I try to fall asleep too. And this is when my phone's in my room. Meditations. It can just like put me to sleep

and stops my mind from doing its own thing and like has something to focus on that takes me down the 68 degrees i think is key i do the same thing i feel like that moment where you're about to get into bed and you're kind of uncomfortable and a little too cold is perfect perfect because then you're going to warm up when you're in the covers and you do you know you'll get that in turn you get heated up yeah exactly and then i think red light bulbs are huge yes very do you have those in your bedroom i do i put them in my lamps so smart and it's kind of a vibe like it's very relaxing with the blue light glasses on no i look like a psychopath when i go to bed i look like I'm like in a club. I need to get those

for yeah my room. I have a little just like red light. It's like just like a light bulb but then it's in this little thing that I can just like shine on my face. I got it from Amazon. I honestly don't know like about all the rays or like how it is compared to some of the really great ones but yeah I try to just like shine it on my face shine shine it on my thyroid. Wait, how do you shine on your thyroid? What does that mean? Basically, you know, red light can lower inflammation. Amazing. They say doctors have tested when you put red light like over your thyroid gland, which is in the middle of your throat, it can lower your TPO antibodies, which basically is something that you have too much or too little of when you struggle with thyroid problems and it can lower the inflammation in your thyroid. Even just five minutes of that

every single day has been shown to majorly support thyroid levels. Speaking of thyroid, we had a lot of questions about thyroid. What does having a dysfunctional thyroid look like symptoms wise? So there's hypothyroid and that's when you get more towards Hashimoto's. And then there's hyperthyroid, which is too much of the thyroid hormone. Hypothyroid is more common. That is when you're not producing enough thyroid hormone and your thyroid is what's responsible for your metabolism, your energy, your digestion,

how you feel. Were you asking symptoms? Yes. Symptoms for both, I guess. So that's when I'd really say, like, you know how you're supposed to feel. And if you're feeling like I'm doing everything right, why am I just like not in my body? And why is the laxatives not working and the B vitamins not helping my energy? Why aren't any of these working? Probably your thyroid or your hormones. For hyperthyroid, you're producing too much. And that's when you have really fast heartbeats. It's really hard to keep on weight. You're very anxious and get more anxiety prone rather than Hashimoto's. You're more depression prone. It'simoto's, you're more depression prone. It's crazy really how it affects mood and mental health when you look at those studies as

well. And then the other thing with hyperthyroid is that leans more towards Graves' disease and really big eyeballs. It's like one of the ways that you can physically see it on someone, when their eyeballs are just kind of like, they look like they've been up for like four nights in a row and they're just zombies. You're leaning more towards hyper hyperthyroid. Is it genetic or is it something that you can cause over time? It's both. So from my personal story, my sister has it, my mom, my grandma. We're all affected so differently. My grandma barely feels it. My sister's not even on medication. I'm on so much. It's so different, but definitely has to be genetic if we all have it.

And it is. But a lot of other people, they can get it through excess stress, through lifestyle, through like I've heard this a little bit and not to get in it too much, but all of the chemicals and toxins we're exposed to now in it too much, but all of the chemicals and toxins we're exposed to now, it does have impact on our thyroid glands and pesticides and all of that. So amount of people that have Hashimoto's now compared to 20 years ago, it's a crazy number. I don't know the stat and I need to remember it because I tell people this all the time, but I remember when I was reading it, blown away. Wow. Like we can't say that the lifestyle that has just started in the past 20 years isn't affecting

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Find wellness on your next day at Westin. Welcome to Barely Filtered, hosted by us. I'm Aurora Culpo, star of the HBO Max show, The Culpo Sisters. Don't tell my sisters I said so. I'm a recently divorced mom of two living in Los Angeles with my ex-husband. I'm part granola mom, part glamorous jet setter. I'm Kristen Gaffney, also a mom, a startup nerd who modeled for Sports Illustrated's Swim Suit and the founder and CEO of Super True. I always like to microdose my coffee before I hit up Carpool. Welcome to Barely Filtered, our safe space. Here, we discuss health and wellness, becoming a grown ass woman and what's going on in this crazy world. And while we don't agree on everything, we do agree on this.

We want you to live your best life. Yeah. And I want to point out, I guess, for anyone listening who follows me or knows my story, I'm definitely someone who's super health conscious. I work out a ton. I went through a big weight loss journey and I have issues with my thyroid. Now I have low thyroid numbers and I was told, you know, it's probably better to get on a thyroid armor. Is thyroid armor natural? It's not. It's not natural, but it's not not natural. OK, if that makes sense. Yeah, it is the more natural route to go as far as thyroid medication because it's basically giving you thyroid from excess sources. It's kind of hard to explain. I think it's from pig thyroid. Yeah. Love that. That's what I take to help my

thyroid. Okay. And it did make a big difference, honestly, because I felt like I was working myself into the ground. And I think it's largely because I was maybe over exercising for a while. I do have chronic stress. So you can be, as you said, checking all the boxes when it comes to health, but still having these issues. Absolutely. I actually think it's really interesting because not saying that the people who are health conscious are more prone to this, not true at all, because we all have our thing. But what I can say as far as this is just like a self-observed study, me, my friends, obviously, I live in L.A. near Erewhon, near all

the gyms. My friends who are, and this was me, killing ourselves at the gym, you know, trying the like very long fasting and not like doing too much, ended up in a big crash for almost all of us. And a lot of my friends' thyroids have slown down because of doing too much or because of not eating enough or because of whatever. And I think it is interesting the people who, and it's probably the people listening to this podcast as well, like the people who are into this, less can be more. It's like, I'm really seeing that because it takes a while to recover after you get to that point of low cortisol, of low thyroid. You don't just snap back. It takes your body a while to recover. And that's what I love about your content. I feel like you promote kind of taking a step back when you need to. Like, I love the fact that you're like, embrace the stillness,

do slower workouts sometimes, because that's kind of what our bodies need at different phases. Absolutely. We're not supposed to do the same thing every single day for 30 days when our body goes through extreme changes in energy and mood and how hard it's working. Can't have the same day every day. Why do you think so many women are having hormonal issues nowadays? I think it will go to some of the things we talked about as far as stress. Obviously, our body's trying to keep us safe. And if you're under a ton of stress,

it's not going to want you to have a pregnancy, right? Like that's when your body is super safe. So when you're under a ton of stress and stress doesn't just mean emotional stress, stress can be from overexercising. Stress can be from living in a toxic environment, from living near mold, whatever. Stress can be so many things. And then again, going to the toxins, toxins from plastics, pesticides, there's huge correlation with that affecting our estrogen and estrogen dominance, things that we were exposed to or things that we weren't exposed to back then that are newer now. And then I think birth control, it's given a little too easily. I'm not anti-birth control. I'm, let's be realistic here, but I am kind of anti, let's give birth control as a band-aid

to fix acne when you're 15, you know? Yeah. And when you're getting put on this at anywhere from like 13 to 16 and you're going to stay on it until you're 26, 27, 28, not meant to be on it for 10 years. And I think that's causing some problems for people as well. Major. I'm seeing so many women come off birth control.

And me personally, I haven't had my period back for six months after stopping because my body's confused. So confused. The doctors prescribing this medication don't speak about the implications that may happen later on when we do want to have kids. They don't. Not at all. Are there any good alternatives to regular birth control? What should people do? I think there's different ways to look at it. So if you're going on birth control for, and what most people I feel like at 15, 16 are going on it for is the I'm bloated. I have acne. If you're going on it for symptoms, I would just say don't because there's obviously a

root cause. And when you do get off of it, eventually all those are going to come back up. So if you're going on it for symptoms, for acne, for headaches, for your PMS, look to a root cause and get your hormone levels tested, likely estrogen dominance or a testosterone issue. Tons of things you can do with that as far as supplements, nutrition, acupuncture. To prevent pregnancy, that's where it gets a little bit tricky. Going back to the old fashioned way, it's you can really track your cycle. That's like obviously one thing and learn the days to not have sex. Truthfully, you can't get pregnant every single day of the

month. So it's really learning about your cycle and the days that you can that you can't and being extra protective around that period of time where it's like a little more iffy. Don't psych yourself out on being it on it if it's for a short period iffy, don't psych yourself out on being on it if it's for a short period of time. Like it can serve its purpose. The copper IUD seems to be, if you're really wanting to go on birth control, the better option as far as what our body can handle. But also it's so individual where I have some friends who had really bad responses with the copper IUD it's going to be such an individual journey but you have to choose if it's the path you want to go down if so like put a few year limit on it otherwise really

learning your cycle and doing what they did for thousands of years before I know you just did a January hormone challenge where you gave weekly kind of assignments for people to try to heal their hormones. Yes. For anyone who wants to heal their hormones naturally, what are some of the tips you can give us right off the bat? The first thing would be what we've talked about as far as cortisol today and those little tips of that. Can't have healthy hormones with wacky cortisol. So things we talked about earlier, as far as that goes. Yeah. With that hormone challenge, I gave just little, like the littlest things. And I got so many messages at the end of the month of people so surprised how much better they were feeling from like having a smoothie for a snack with like certain ingredients and having more protein and sun and doing a meditation.

What were some of the little things we can try? Some of the things that I put in there was like do a yoga class once a week. Have breakfast within an hour of waking up. Try that. Even when you're not hungry, just try it for a week and just see how your body feels. Walk in the morning without your phone not just protein at breakfast I really think everyone will be feeling better if they have protein at every meal because having blood sugar spikes and drops does put a lot of stress on our hormones you can be eating the healthiest

meal in front of you but you might not be absorbing it if you're eating it in a stressed state. So something that I tell a lot of people is take like 10 good deep breaths before eating. You need to separate from your whole day. Otherwise, you're not even absorbing the nutrients fully. Your body's just like taking it and leaving it. You want to absorb the nutrients. And then also chewing more. I got to chew more. I saw you said that. Why does that help?

Not only does it can help two different things. It helps our digestion because we produce digestive enzymes in our saliva. I don't know many girls who don't have digestion issues right now or complain about bloating after eating, but that's really just going to break down the food for you. Like you have to do no work. Your enzymes are doing that for you. But then also it goes back to the absorption. Nutrients from food, from supplements, whatever, it's one thing to take them, but your body might not be absorbing it. And those are the things that help support us. All the vitamins, the minerals, the protein. That's what can help heal hormones

and help them not only nourish, but feel safe. But there's no point if you're not absorbing it. And chewing helps you absorb it. Because again, it's helping you break down. Your body's not breaking things down when you're just eating in a stressed out state. Even when you think you're not stressed, you're stressed. You need to separate.

Such a good reminder. I am like a salad shover. I will just funnel that thing into my mouth. And I think what you said about also taking deep breaths and making it a moment and putting it on a plate and sitting down. So crucial. So crucial. And no one would think that helps your hormones.

When you look into what it does for your digestion and what your digestion does for your hormones and what nutrients do, it really does. I think I also saw you recommend blueberries. Yes, blueberries. Super food. Hey, I actually saw that on your TikTok and I've been putting blueberries in my every breakfast.

Amazing. Every day. I don't say super food often and blueberries are a superfood. And then another tip you had was no plastic. Yes. Which is hard. It really is when everything really is in plastic. But we can do the best we can when we're at home. We can't control outside of our life. And I think stressing about what's outside that we don't have control over adds more stress. It does the opposite. But in our house, you have your Stanley cup right there, your metal water bottle. Never microwave things on a plastic plate or microwave in plastic

Tupperware. Replace all of that with glass. When you do get takeout food, you know, especially if it's warm and it's put in plastic, some of the plastic can be seeping into your food. And personally, this is like a big thing for me because I was not cautious of that at all most of my life growing up. Super high levels of BPA and plastics in my blood and urine test when I did it. And that was one of the reasons that my estrogen was so messed up. Yeah. So it's like a big thing for me. No way. And our body knows how to detox it out on its own. It's like you don't need to totally worry about it. That's our liver's job. Obviously, supporting our liver is going to help, but it can't heal if it's constantly being exposed. So it's really replacing all of

that stuff. And like even my cleaning supplies I do branch basics like natural cleaner but they have a glass bottle I'm like I'm just gonna put it in that you know that's key crazy you you just like think to trust what's out there right and you think like if it's being put in plastic like it's fine then how is it hurting so many people's bodies especially in our homes I think being mindful of the products we're using because we're breathing that in all day all day and then when you're out and about grabbing a glass bottle instead of the plastic I think is a great a great point do you have any feelings on candles yes Personally, I'm like the I love candles and like what it does for my sanity. But I'm also very sensitive. Like my doctor explained me as like I could just be like a

mold test or like a sensitivity test. Like I could go in a room and as soon as I get a headache, I'll be like something's wrong here. Yeah. I get awful headaches from fragrances. Awful. Same. Awful. But it kills me because I love candles. I don't know the name of this one brand, but there's a brand and it's so pricey. You can get it on Amazon. I'll send it to you. That's like all natural? All natural.

And it is like so worth the splurge for me. But fragrances, again, like you think you can trust it, right? Whatever is out there unfortunately it it's been shown not only like you can feel it but what it's doing inside your body and really has an impact on your estrogen as well the girls on the bloom team i walk into the office and they all grab yankee candles lit with like cotton candy flavor. And I'm like, you guys are going to die. Blow out your candles. I'm confiscating them for their well-being.

Yes. It's for their well-being. I don't want them breathing in crap. No, I'm the same. When I go to my parents' house and they have candles, I'm like, I'm doing this for you guys. And I throw them out. It's sad, though, because people will send gifts with like crazy scented candles. I'm like like that's such

a nice thought but I have to remove this from my entire vicinity right now no it's I'm the same when I go to my parents it's I take I confiscate their candles I bring my own laundry detergent and I really try to get them to use it they just like the smell of their own and like whatever but I wash my own stuff in the natural stuff because again the blankets and the pillowcases that you sleep on most people are not putting the connection that any of that is getting to us and like I really wish that it wasn't you know but unfortunately it is do you know what brand you use detergent wise uh yes is it seven generation yes I use seven generation.

OK. And like we're not looking for perfect. We're looking for better. You know what I mean? Yeah. We don't need to be perfect. Our body is strong. We do have a liver.

Like do what we can to just make it better. Think of ourselves as a bucket and like our buckets already 75% full just because of the life we're living and where we live and whatever. That other like 25%, don't fill it up on your own. You know what I mean? Like do what you can to like keep the bucket minimized. Let's talk cycle syncing.

Yes. Okay. I have my sheet here of the four phases. I'm honestly embarrassed about how little I know about cycle syn about how little I know about cycle syncing. And I know this is a big topic of yours on TikTok and your content. It's kind of what you're known for. Yeah. What is cycle syncing? Cycle syncing is living in alignment with your cycle. We have four phases in our cycle and our hormones rise and drop like very drastically throughout the month. And it's doing certain nutritional lifestyle changes that can help not make your hormones not move at all, but to help stabilize that a little bit because every rise and drop of our hormones correlate to symptoms.

And that's when we don't feel like ourself one week and feel too much like ourselves another week and all of that and it's really helping doing these little lifestyle changes to minimize all the changes that happen throughout the month so every week you're living a bit differently when you can but don't put stress on like being perfect with it because it does the opposite so can i just start from the top mental menstrual phase how are we living menstrual phase that's when you're bleeding that's when honestly once you lose your period which like i know you did i have to it finally becomes a blessing which like you will never think that it would but that's your body's shedding a lot. This is a time to not push itself to its extreme. This is a time to let it go. And when it's letting everything go, you can kind of take it like

mentally too and let everything go in your life and focus on the shedding of the past and what you want to drop. But yogaates walking more mindfulness this is a time to really like journal and focus on yourself and like write things to let things go you're bleeding some more iron in your food more warming foods because warming foods can help not only our blood flow, which can help with cramps. It's easier to digest. Hot Epsom salt baths, magnesium supplements. Those are all things for your menstrual phase. Let your body just like let go. Okay. That's self-care week. Love that. Self-care week. I'm going to write that down. Okay. Olicular phase. That is when you're going to start to feel like yourself again. That's when your energy levels are going to rise a little bit because

your estrogen's rising and estrogen correlates with energy, like confidence even. So that's when it's going to start to come back. The beginning of your... So your ovulatory phase falls into your follicular phase. So you can kind of think of it as one. When you get to your ovulatory phase falls into your follicular phase. So you can kind of think of it as one. When you get to your ovulatory phase, though, those few days of the month where you're just like crushing it, you're likely in your ovulatory phase. Is that when you look better too?

Yes, you look better. Weird things happen with your pheromones where you attract more people. Like you're living. Single ladies, go out during your ovulatory phase ladies go out during your ovulatory phase. If you can plan it, like plan your date for ovulatory phase week. Foods to focus on then is your estrogen is a little bit higher. So to make it not be a huge like swing and drop once you get to your luteal phase. Foods that really support your liver because your liver is what takes out your estrogen.

So leafy greens, this is when you have way more fiber, chia seeds, flax seeds, way more salads. I say during your follicular phase, a salad a day. Like I said, you're going to have more energy. You're actually able to store muscle easier during these two weeks or during these two phases. Push yourself. That's when you like really go to the HIIT class and pick up a little higher set of weights. And you know that you can push yourself because your body is wanting you to. And it's going to be supporting your body. Yeah. Fiber, push yourself, plan your date nights. You're going to be feeling creative. Write down all the ideas that you have because your body is like really working with you at this time. Okay. So sounds like those are our two favorite phases. Okay. Luteal phase. So that is the longest phase that we have. But again, all of our phases are different. Like some people have a 28 day cycle, 35. It's going to

obviously be different for everyone. So we can't say exact days, but the beginning of this phase, you're slowly tapering off of that like great high that we just had in your ovulatory phase. You can still be pushing yourself, but you'll start to slow it down because at the end of your luteal phase, that's when PMS occurs. And that's the week before your period. So your estrogens dropping again, your progesterone's dropping, your hormones are getting so low. And when we don't have hormones, our energy is low. So we're preparing for the big letting go and shedding again. So the like five days, six, you'll feel it. Like as soon as you start feeling that,

just like tiredness almost and wanting to be relaxed, that's when you know that it's the time to start preparing yourself for the menstrual phase again., that's when you know that it's the time to start preparing yourself for the menstrual phase again. And that's when you start going back into yoga, Pilates, walking. Strength training is fine, but it's not the time to like, you know, pick up an extra 30 pounds and just kill yourself. And then you'll start wanting to focus on the warming foods again, but really large focus on magnesium because when your progesterone levels aren't perfect you store a lot more water weight and magnesium can help kind of counter that it can also help you go to the bathroom which a lot of people don't

do like right before their period you have one or the other. Red leaf tea is really great. Raspberry tea is great. And then dandelion root tea is great. And then it starts over again. So it's really, I like to say, our body knows what to do, but we're just so programmed to live every day the same. And starting a few months of like purposely trying some of these tweaks will help your body reconnect to what it already knows. And then your body's just going to give you signals like, hey, I have energy. Let's do this.

Hey, can we take a little slower? And why am I craving chocolate? Like, you can just lean into it, basically. Yeah, I really like that concept of being able to kind of mix things up and listen to our bodies and adjust accordingly. Yeah. What tips do you have during these phases for any like bloating or mood swings or anything like that? Yeah, our hormones really do affect all of that. I'd say, so obviously every phase is different. I feel my best in the ovulatory phase. Some people maybe don't. Most people have the most digestion issues in the luteal beginning of menstrual phase. And as I mentioned, magnesium,

that's going to help a lot. You kind of fall like one of two ways. Magnesium, charcoal away from other supplements because it can kind of bind to supplements, but it's also going to bind to whatever is not making you feel well. So those as far as supplements, the Epsom salt baths, because that sends blood flow to your cramps, can release all the tightness, keep things going, more fiber, but don't go crazy with it at first, like taper it up and then digestive enzymes with it, I think can be super helpful for people who struggle with bloating, probiotics, you know, but eating whole real foods also at the end of the day is going to give your body. And when your body is craving something severely, like if it is craving dark chocolate, it likely is for the iron and magnesium. Like listen to your cravings

because your cravings are probably telling you what nutrient you need to help fix what you're feeling. Makes a lot of sense. So the bloom greens probably are the best to take during the luteal phase, I would assume. Yeah. Because they have digestive enzymes and probiotics. Oh, 100%. But I also feel like they'd be good with your ovulatory phase if it's like, because greens are great during that phase. Yeah. So they're good for any phase. Pretty great for any phase, if I do say so. What is the best way to keep track of our phases? They're honestly nowadays are just apps that do it for you. So I have the Flow app. You do have to pay for it. I think it's $35 a month, but I love it

because you just like, say I started my period the day you start your period. And then it's going to say you're in your luteal phase. You're in your follicular phase. Just tells you for you. You can also track it on a calendar. And that's like how we did it before smartphones, but every cycle is different. You'll start to get the hang of it as soon as your menstrual cycle is done. As soon as it's done, you're right into the follicular phase. You're in that like if you want to guess in your head until you feel about or you're in it until you're like feeling like that crazy push, you're ovulating. And then as soon as you feel that drop of energy, the bloating come on, you're in your luteal. And then just like write it on the calendar when you feel that way and track it that way.

But I think it's easier. I see you have the aura ring. I do. So do you use your aura ring at all? I do. Especially to track sleep has given such great insight. But do you use it for menstrual tracking one of the main reasons i got it is because it works with natural cycles and tracks your

honestly i'm just not in the habit of like doing it but it does track it like i always go and put in the app when i check my temperature it's so crazy but i'll need to check in with you in a few months once i like yeah really actually start using that feature because that really is the main reason I got it. I know I haven't used it either. I just use it for sleep for the most part. That's what I use it for. I'm like, I know such great insight to what our body's going through. Yeah. Let's both do it and then we'll touch base and see how it goes. We'll do it. So I think it's incredible that you are so passionate about sharing when it comes to hormone health. You're a young woman. I think there's not a lot of young people talking about this from personal experience. And also you have a certification. You clearly understand what's

happening here. Do you feel like women are starting to have a better understanding of their own hormone health or do you feel like there's still a gap? I do really feel like people are starting to have a better understanding. And I think that's one of the best things of social media. It's really hard to hit such a wide audience with information. And because TikTok can hit someone, you know, thousands of miles away, it's so easy to share information and get things talked about. I mean, I didn't learn about the four phases of the cycle, honestly, until I became certified, which I think is crazy because I think you should learn that in health class when you're learning about like puberty, you know? So I'm really hoping that as it's being talked about now and talked about on podcasts and social media and going viral in some places, schools start to pick up on it and

families start to pick up on it. And it can be part of just the education of your body that you're learning about as a young girl. Let's do a quick community Q&A. Tips for PCOS was a big one. Oh, I'm sure. So many people have PCOS. Low intensity movement, work on your thyroid health, high protein breakfast. And honestly, everyone has it so different. Blood sugar balance, like not just high protein breakfast, high protein and fiber during every meal. Great tips. What's on intermittent fasting? Personally, if you are, if you're a woman through her, I'd say if you're a woman up until age like 40, 45, probably not the best for you. It's been studied on men or

older women, the studies that have like positive benefits. But when you're in your fertility years. No. Pilates or weightlifting? Both. Both. Yeah. I think Pilates works the small muscles, like weights work the bigger ones. You got to do both. I agree.

I'm a fan of doing weightlifting like three to four times a week and then throwing in a Pilates session on like a relaxed day. Yes. Best exercise when you feel like you have high cortisol. That's a time to focus on the lower impact movement and realize that it's not forever.

When you're healing a certain thing, it's not like this needs to be forever, but it's less hit because hit raises cortisol and just take it as a period of time to walk, do yoga, Pilates, lift weights, but just don't do the HIIT with it. Love it. Okay. Now it's time for the question we ask every guest. I started this podcast because I believe everyone's pursuit of wellness looks different. What does wellness mean to you?

Wellness to me means having your body, mind, and spirit all content. I'd say that makes sense. Perfect. Love it. Yes, I would agree. Where can people find you and your healthy hormone recipes online? Yes. On Instagram, it's page.lindgren. And on TikTok, it's just page.lindgren. Thank you, Paige. This was amazing.

Thank you. This was amazing thank you this was so much fun thank you for listening to today's episode go comment on my last instagram at marie llewellyn with the guest you want to see next i'll be picking one person from the comments to send our bloom greens to make sure you hit follow so you never miss my weekly episodes if you enjoyed the conversation be sure to share and leave a review. See you next week.