How To Prepare Your Body For Winter: 3 Habits For Your Metabolism, Mood & Energy | E297

What if the thing that makes your January feel better is a 10-minute walk you take in October?

This episode is a night walk recording, in the dark, with two skunks hanging around my backyard. If the audio suddenly cuts off, you know how my story ends.

Here's the backstory. I'm coming out of a season of stress, burnout, and overwhelm, and I've been rebuilding my circadian rhythm one boring, consistent habit at a time. I'm also learning to trust myself again, because it's hard to feel good about yourself when you say you'll do something and then the day gets away from you for a bunch of mostly good reasons. Anyone else been ghosting yourself lately? Me too.

So today I'm letting you in on how I'm actually looking after my health this fall, and giving you the 3 habits I'm leaning on to support my immune system, my metabolism, and my nervous system before winter shows up and the holidays do their thing.

Here's what you'll hear:

• The one habit I'd keep if I could only keep one this fall, and why chilly mornings make it easier to stick with
• What your body is asking the second you wake up (hint: it wants to know what day it is and whether you're safe, which is a lot to figure out first thing in the morning)
• The 30-a-week goal that sounds like a lot until you find out what counts (yes, your spices are on the list)
• How a little more variety on your plate supports your gut, your estrogen detox, and your progesterone
• 3 easy ways to charge your battery that don't need a gym membership or a free Saturday
• The treat swaps I'm making this holiday season, so I'm not feeling awful by January (plus why my homemade marshmallows have me feeling a little smug)

Let's be honest about winter. For a lot of us, it's the least healthy season of the year. We're stuck inside, we're eating differently, we're probably drinking more, and the stress comes from every direction, including the bank account. Then January shows up, and you're sitting on the couch feeling low energy and puffy, thinking, "I was doing so well in September, where did it all go?" You were doing well. And you can do it again, with way less effort than you think.

If you're a mom, I know your time is already spoken for. Your calendar is a game of Tetris, and somebody just texted that there's a class party and you're on snacks. That's why I made these habits bang for your buck. Each one works on your hormones, your blood sugar, your mood, and your energy all at once, and none of them need a perfect routine or a big budget. Fall is a great time to invest your time and your intention, and I promise that costs less than another trip down the supplement aisle.

Maybe your PMS gets louder every winter. Maybe your cravings go from a polite request to a full takeover the minute the Halloween candy walks in the door. Maybe you feel wired and tired at the same time, and nobody can tell you why. Your body has been working with mixed signals, and some of the simplest fixes are the ones we skip because they seem way too basic to matter. I skipped them too, and I'm the one who teaches this stuff.

I'm also honest in this episode about how many excuses I've collected this season. My favorite so far is "it's dark now so I can't be on my computer." These 3 habits gave me something small enough to keep a promise to myself again, and that did more for my stress than any new plan I could've written.

Then there's the holiday stretch, which kicks off with candy in October and somehow includes about 4 Thanksgivings. I love a treat, and I'm not about to tell you to skip them. I'm sharing the swaps that let me enjoy my hot chocolate and my s'mores and still feel like myself in January. We've all walked the feel-bad-by-January trail before, and we can skip it this year.

Want a preview of the walking part? Your body wakes up every morning looking for signals. Are we safe? Do we have what we need? What day is it? What time is it? The first real light you see answers a lot of that, and it shapes how your cortisol, insulin, and blood sugar behave all day long. When those settle down, your mood steadies, your hunger and fullness cues start making sense, and keeping your weight steady feels way less like a fight. I've seen this change my own progesterone, mood, and energy, which is why I'm so loud about it.

I'll also tell you the one thing I'd leave at home on that walk, and it's probably in your hand right now. Five or 10 minutes is all you need, and I will happily stand on that hill.

On the gut side, I've been deep in gut protocols with my clients, and I caught myself stuck in the apples, bananas, and oranges rut. I've even promoted that rut by accident for years, so no judgment here. More variety in your week feeds your good gut bacteria, calms inflammation, and gives your body the vitamins it needs to make progesterone. Spices, potatoes, and sweet potatoes all count, so it's a lot more doable than it sounds, and counting with your family makes grocery shopping weirdly fun.

Charging your battery can look really simple, too. I have a standing evening walk with a friend, everyone at home is fine for an hour, and we get our movement, our evening light, and a good chat. A little midday sun counts as well, even if it's 10 minutes with a book or your lunch.

My kids have been recruited into the morning outside routine, whether they like it or not. They do like it, after about 2 minutes in the dirt pile.

Press play on your way to the grocery store, then see how many different fruits and veggies you can fit in your cart. I want to hear your final count!

Update from the walk: zero skunks, circadian rhythm intact, dignity intact.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Clearstem

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Disclaimer: Nothing in this podcast is to be taken as medical advice, please take informed accountability and speak to your provider before making changes to your health routine.

This podcast is for women and moms to learn how to balance hormones naturally in motherhood, to have pain-free periods, increased fertility, to decrease PMS mood swings, and to increase energy without restrictive diet plans. You'll learn how to balance blood sugar, increase progesterone naturally, understand the root cause of estrogen dominance, irregular periods, PCOS, insulin resistance, hormonal acne, post birth-control syndrome, and conceive naturally. We use a pro-metabolic, whole food, root cause approach to functional women's health and focus on truly holistic health and mind-body connection.

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