Are there benefits to microdosing GLP1s in perimenopause? What should you look for when shopping for a creatine supplement? And what’s the best way to adjust your macronutrient equation when you’re emphasizing proteins – and therefore the fat that goes along with it? Get ready to learn about all of these questions, and even get a peek into my personal life, in this episode! Q: Are there benefits to microdosing GLP1s in perimenopause?The truth is, adjusting your nutrition and committing to regular strength workouts will do more for you than a microdose ever could. Getting your protein, fats, and carbs in balance is the fastest and easiest way to improve glucose regulation, which is the essence of what GLP1s do. Your body has a sophisticated operating system that is super effective when you provide it with what it needs. Start treating it right, and your biology will work beautifully. I recognize that a therapeutic dose helps diabetics improve glucoregulatory control; therefore, it is absolutely plausible that a microdose could be helpful. Improving your muscle mass through strength training is what will really work, guaranteed, and that’s where I suggest focusing. Q: When shopping for a creatine supplement, are there specific things we can look for on the label to help identify a quality product? When it comes to supplements in general, I believe that less is more, and we should turn to food first. When it comes to creatine, it’s pretty straightforward, actually: buy a product that has creatine monohydrate, read the label, and buy from a reputable brand. For me, foundational supplements include creatine, fish oil, vitamin C, probiotics, and magnesium. Q: How do I get the right macronutrient balance? You regularly repeat that 25% protein and fat and 50% carb is the ideal macronutrient split. You've mentioned that some people can do 45% carbs if needed. Can you address the issue of fats needing to be lower in this scenario of 50/25/ 25?Let's calculate this out if a woman is eating 1400 calories a day, and really and truly, if you are a normal-sized woman and you are strength training, you need at least 1400 calories. if you're a normal-sized woman, 1400 calories is the bare minimum in my world. And honestly, 1400 calories is pretty low. So at that number a 5025, 25 split, which is what I teach.If you're getting at least 1400 calories, you're hitting that bare minimum 50 grams of fat. It's pretty hard actually to get through a day and not get at least 50 grams of fat. A person would have to be trying really hard to not get that bare minimum. My bigger concern is that most people are getting way more than that amount of fat in a given day! This is why I love eating according to macros because you get to choose how nd when you’d like to get what you need throughout the day. Remember you don’t need to be super precise every day. That’s not how the human body works!Q: How did you meet your husband?I love to share the story of how my husband, Dave, and I met! After getting super clear on what I wanted in a life partner, brushing up on my manifestation techniques, and getting back on the apps, wouldn’t you know it, I met my guy almost instantly. We pretty much clicked instantly and have been together ever since!I hope you enjoyed this episode! You can get FREE access to my 4-week Strength Without Stress program right now! This program will help you reduce the systemic inflammation that’s caused by overly intense or lengthy workouts. It’ll help you build and maintain valuable lean muscle without the fatigue from other programsTo get free access to Strength Without Stress, post a Review wherever you’re...
Are there benefits to microdosing GLP1s in perimenopause? What should you look for when shopping for a creatine supplement? And what’s the best way to adjust your macronutrient equation when you’re emphasizing proteins – and therefore the fat that goes along with it? Get ready to learn about all of these questions, and even get a peek into my personal life, in this episode!
Q: Are there benefits to microdosing GLP1s in perimenopause?
The truth is, adjusting your nutrition and committing to regular strength workouts will do more for you than a microdose ever could. Getting your protein, fats, and carbs in balance is the fastest and easiest way to improve glucose regulation, which is the essence of what GLP1s do. Your body has a sophisticated operating system that is super effective when you provide it with what it needs. Start treating it right, and your biology will work beautifully.
I recognize that a therapeutic dose helps diabetics improve glucoregulatory control; therefore, it is absolutely plausible that a microdose could be helpful. Improving your muscle mass through strength training is what will really work, guaranteed, and that’s where I suggest focusing.
Q: When shopping for a creatine supplement, are there specific things we can look for on the label to help identify a quality product?
When it comes to supplements in general, I believe that less is more, and we should turn to food first. When it comes to creatine, it’s pretty straightforward, actually: buy a product that has creatine monohydrate, read the label, and buy from a reputable brand. For me, foundational supplements include creatine, fish oil, vitamin C, probiotics, and magnesium.
Q: How do I get the right macronutrient balance? You regularly repeat that 25% protein and fat and 50% carb is the ideal macronutrient split. You've mentioned that some people can do 45% carbs if needed. Can you address the issue of fats needing to be lower in this scenario of 50/25/ 25?
Let's calculate this out if a woman is eating 1400 calories a day, and really and truly, if you are a normal-sized woman and you are strength training, you need at least 1400 calories. if you're a normal-sized woman, 1400 calories is the bare minimum in my world. And honestly, 1400 calories is pretty low. So at that number a 5025, 25 split, which is what I teach.
If you're getting at least 1400 calories, you're hitting that bare minimum 50 grams of fat. It's pretty hard actually to get through a day and not get at least 50 grams of fat. A person would have to be trying really hard to not get that bare minimum. My bigger concern is that most people are getting way more than that amount of fat in a given day! This is why I love eating according to macros because you get to choose how nd when you’d like to get what you need throughout the day. Remember you don’t need to be super precise every day. That’s not how the human body works!
Q: How did you meet your husband?
I love to share the story of how my husband, Dave, and I met! After getting super clear on what I wanted in a life partner, brushing up on my manifestation techniques, and getting back on the apps, wouldn’t you know it, I met my guy almost instantly. We pretty much clicked instantly and have been together ever since!
I hope you enjoyed this episode!
You can get FREE access to my 4-week Strength Without Stress program right now! This program will help you reduce the systemic inflammation that’s caused by overly intense or lengthy workouts. It’ll help you build and maintain valuable lean muscle without the fatigue from other programs
To get free access to Strength Without Stress, post a Review wherever you’re listening. Grab a screenshot of your review before you post it and upload at: https://www.hollyperkins.com/review
This is a limited-time offer before it sells for $197–grab it while you can for lifetime access.
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Holly Perkins 0:00[Text Wrapping Break]Are there benefits to micro-dosing GLP-1s in perimenopause? What should you look for when shopping for a creatine supplement? And what's the best way to adjust your macronutrient equation when you're emphasizing proteins and therefore the fat that goes along with it? If you're curious about these questions and the scoop on my personal life, and want to hear my thoughts, keep listening.
Holly Perkins 0:25[Text Wrapping Break]Welcome to the Holly Perkins Health Podcast. If you're a woman over the age of 35 and have health, fitness, or nutrition questions for your body, you're in the right place. I'm Holly Perkins, a women's strength and nutrition expert with over 30 years of experience helping thousands of women transform their bodies to be stronger, more resilient, and more energetic—inside and out. Every week, you'll walk away with a real plan for improving your body composition so you can feel better now, reduce inflammation, and create lasting health. So if you're ready to create the body that you need to keep up with the life that you love, let's dive in.
Holly Perkins 1:15[Text Wrapping Break]Hello and thank you for being here. If you are new, welcome! A great place to get started is by taking my Strong Muscle and Bone Assessment, because this will guide you in terms of knowing what topics are most important for your body at the stage that you're at. I created this free assessment to help you determine if your current nutrition and fitness habits are actually moving you forward toward a lean, strong, resilient body, or if your habits are actually hurting you. It's important to know, and you'll get some of my best suggestions for improving your current level of health and fitness so that you can become a true powerhouse with powerful muscle, a lean physique, and the strong bones that you need.
Holly Perkins 2:06[Text Wrapping Break]So if you're new, come on over to hollyperkins.com/quiz to find out your strength score now and get my tips for what to do next. Because the truth is, feeling unwell is a real burden, right? The truth is, life is already hard enough on some days for some of us, and no one needs the added stress of feeling tired or run down, or hungry all the time, or even beholden to food cravings, or to even be preoccupied by what you're going to eat next. And beyond how you feel today, no one wants to live out their years ahead stuck in a rocking chair and dependent on other people just to get through the day.
Holly Perkins 2:57[Text Wrapping Break]So I'm committed to helping women improve their body composition to at least 70% lean muscle, so that you can reduce your risk of disease and stay in the game of life—and feel great and look great while you're doing it. And today's episode will help you do just that. Lately, I have been getting more questions than usual. I don't know if it's because it's summer or what, but many of them have been really, really good, and I know that my answers to these questions should be shared. No gatekeeping here. So thank you to everyone sending in your Ask Holly questions, because they are going to help a lot of women who maybe haven't even had a chance to ask, or maybe are a bit shy. Some of my best topics come from my community.
Holly Perkins 3:52[Text Wrapping Break]So in this episode, you'll learn if micro-dosing GLP-1s during perimenopause is beneficial, what to look for when purchasing supplements, how to adjust your daily macronutrients when you're choosing high-protein meats that usually come with more fat. Oh, and I am crawling out of my comfort zone today to share a bit about my personal life, because someone asked how I met my husband, and it is a great story. I have the chills right now. You might want to hear, so I'm actually sharing something pretty personal for once. But I will do that last, so stay to the end if you want to hear the divine intervention that was at play bringing my husband and me together. Be sure to follow me on Instagram @hollyperkins, because I would love to hear from you, and I'd like to learn the topics and questions that you would like me to discuss here on the podcast.
Holly Perkins 4:57[Text Wrapping Break]Recently, "Give Me All Your Tots" asked: Are there benefits to micro-dosing GLP-1s in perimenopause? Let's jump in. This one is loaded. So as an expert in my field with over 30 years of experience, I often answer questions like these based on my research-dominant brain. So I'm going to share my opinion through that lens in a moment, because it's counter to what I would say if you and I sat down for coffee—just two friends, me talking openly and honestly—and that answer is a bit different.
Holly Perkins 5:41[Text Wrapping Break]I'll be honest. What I would say is that adjusting your nutrition and getting committed to regular strength workouts is going to do more for you than a micro-dose of any medication ever could. Getting your protein, fats, and carbs in balance is the fastest, the easiest, and—oh, by the way—the cheapest way to improve glucose regulation, which is the essence of what GLP-1s do. Your body has a very sophisticated operating system that is super effective when you give it what it needs. I personally don't believe in biohacking. I think it's a crock, because when you give your body what it's designed for, you don't need to biohack anything. In fact, the concept of biohacking is simply a response when a person's body is out of balance. And in my opinion, your body gets out of balance because of how you treat it.
Holly Perkins 6:53[Text Wrapping Break]So if you start treating it right, your biology works beautifully. So there's no reason to biohack and adopt strange or unusual behaviors that are either expensive or super uncomfortable. You would be blown away if I could bring you to Camp Holly, feed you the way I know you should be fed, and see how quickly your body changes and how you feel. When I've experimented with this—either with myself or with my willing clients—in as little as three to five days, eating the way that I teach, you're going to feel very different. I have had community members follow along with what I teach for free and reach out to me via email to tell me that in as little as about 14 days, they've lost weight, dropped body fat to the tune of like eight to ten pounds (believe it or not), and also radically changed how they feel.
Holly Perkins 8:05[Text Wrapping Break]Nutrition is powerful because it changes your biology, and a lot of that is rooted in glucoregulatory control. I talk about it all the time here on the podcast. It's really everything, in my opinion. Now yes, calories in, calories out—the amount of energy that you're bringing into your body—matters, because if you are way over the energy you need in a given day, it makes it harder to release body fat. But if what we're talking about here is to feel better, we're less concerned about a calorie deficit. Now, if you're wondering exactly what that means when I say "eat the way I would want you to eat," please study my podcast, because I pretty much give everything away if you were to listen to every single episode, with an emphasis on the first ten. So there's nothing I teach my clients that you haven't heard for free here on the podcast. The key is the personal adjustments—the nuances, the tweaking, the helping you apply what I teach. But I'll be honest, it's really pretty simple.
Holly Perkins 9:12[Text Wrapping Break]Now, counter to that, the scientist in me also says this: if a therapeutic dose of a GLP-1 works to help improve a diabetic’s glucoregulatory control, wouldn’t a little help a little too? You tracking me? There's something to be said for—let's say—a little bit of Vitamin C is better than none, even if you're not getting 1,000 milligrams per day, right? A little bit of fish oil each day is better than none. So there's a part of my brain that also says it's completely plausible that this could work—micro-dosing any medication. But keep in mind, there is an established, documented therapeutic dose, and in my firsthand experience coaching women on GLP-1s, I do see that a little works a little, and a lot works a lot.
Holly Perkins 10:23[Text Wrapping Break]And so I'm a bit skeptical in terms of this notion of micro-dosing—especially when the micro-dosing benefits can come from simply pairing your protein and your carbohydrates every single time you eat. I would argue you're going to get a lot farther ahead simply by doing that. But I'm not naive enough to say it's a waste of time, and so it's worth the experiment. And I think conceptually, it makes sense that a small amount would help to a small degree. But is that really worth it? Now, to layer in the concept of perimenopause, I would say this: everything that I just said stands. And most perimenopausal symptoms come from the fluctuation or loss of estrogen. We all know this. And yes, of course, there could be a disruption in your other hormones.
Holly Perkins 11:25[Text Wrapping Break]So again, estrogen is anti-inflammatory, and it is a powerful regulator of blood sugar. And so this underscores even more so the importance of prioritizing your habits to support stable blood sugar. If you are not diabetic, if your A1C levels are relatively normal, if you don't have insulin sensitivity issues, then I would say the payoff might not be worth the cost. What I do know for sure is that your life will be far better in all ways if you were to take the road less traveled and make the tough choice to do the work yourself—because there are so many benefits, far more than we can even imagine, to improving your muscle mass through strength training.
Holly Perkins 12:32[Text Wrapping Break]It really is the panacea, and strength training and building muscle, in my opinion, is the answer to all of life's problems. I realize that is quite the statement, but I literally believe it. It's going to improve your energy. It's going to improve your mood. Regular strength training workouts will improve your insulin regulation. It will improve how your body handles carbohydrates. It regulates appetite hormones. It helps you to sleep better. It improves your inflammation response. It reduces your risk of disease. I could go on and on and on. If you look at the list of benefits of the GLP-1 inhibitors and then you go look at the benefits of strength training, you might giggle, because they are exactly the same—but of course, said in a different way. GLP-1s are going to be reported more from a medical perspective, but if you look beneath the surface at what those medical statements are, it's the same exact mechanism of the benefits that you get from strength training.
Holly Perkins 13:42[Text Wrapping Break]So, Give Me All Your Tots, my wish for you is that you'll download and take advantage of my free six-week strength and cardio plan. I know you've been in my community for a while. You might already have it, but I'm curious—have you used it? Have you committed to it? Because what good is it if you haven't? Try it. Stick with it. Stay with it for eight weeks, because then you won't need a visit to the doctor, spending your time, energy, and money on something like a medication that really does have limited potential.
Holly Perkins 14:22[Text Wrapping Break]Up next, you're going to get my answer to what to look for when purchasing supplements and how to adjust your daily macronutrients when you're choosing higher-protein meats that usually come with more dietary fat. But first, the next awesome question comes from one of my longtime community members, Christine H., and she asks, “When shopping for a creatine supplement, are there specific things to look for on the label to help identify a quality product? It can be so tough to tell which supplements are actually well-made versus those that are just marketing hype.” Awesome question, Christine. I love this, and I want to answer this from two angles because this can extend to supplements in general. And yes, I will answer your question specifically about creatine, because it is a bit more unique. But let's talk about supplements in general.
Holly Perkins 15:23[Text Wrapping Break]So first and foremost, as the years have continued, I have very significantly reduced the number of supplements I take. I take probably half now of what I did in my 30s and 40s. In general, I really do believe that food can do a lot, and there's no sense in spending a lot of money on supplements if you're not first addressing your nutrition. Hit your macronutrients every day. Eat high-quality food. The healthier you eat, the less need there is for supplements. And even the most perfect diet in the world can often cause holes. There are also unique biochemical factors at play in your body and genetics, and so there is a time and place for supplements—but you should really fill in the holes with food first. Then, I say your symptoms should guide the supplements you're seeking.
Holly Perkins 16:27[Text Wrapping Break]These days, we are bombarded with brands telling you you need their product. It's very easy to start taking a supplement because you heard it was good for you. And what I say—I’ve always said—is: What symptoms are you struggling with? What are you seeking a solution for? Because that should direct what supplements a person chooses. In general, then, once you've got your list of symptoms that you're struggling with, I also think it's really smart to get some labs done. Go to a doctor or even an online functional nutritionist, or someone that can run the order for lab work. Taking a look at your actual blood—your blood or a hair mineral tissue analysis—should tell us what your body actually needs before you buy an arsenal of supplements. In general, what I say when buying any kind of supplement is: Number one, look for quality brands—brands that have been around for a long time, brands that have high reviews wherever you're shopping, brands that have a long history of what they're focusing on, recognizable brands. And now, you might not know what those are, and I don't want to throw out specific brands here because I don't want it to compete with any of my sponsors in the future. But I will say, if you do some digging around and looking around—even if you just go to Amazon—
Holly Perkins 17:59[Text Wrapping Break]You're going to see which brands are used more and reviewed more. In general, when it comes to supplements, I think less is more. So once you have an indication of where your health is, what your symptoms are, and/or some lab work, there are some foundational supplements that are worth considering for most people, that I think are good prophylactically—that most of us can benefit from. And those basics are: number one, creatine. Without a doubt. I've done several podcast episodes on that, and a blood-level test isn't really going to tell you if you could benefit from creatine. It's just one of those supplements, like vitamin C, that I think pretty much everyone would benefit from.
Holly Perkins 18:44[Text Wrapping Break]So, the second one on my list is vitamin C. And I have an anecdotal story, which is: At the age of—I think I'm 53, I'll be turning 54 this year, at the end of the year—I do not have a single gray hair. And my husband comments on it all the time—how beautiful my hair is. He's so amazing. But he always asks why it is I don't have a single gray hair. And while there could be a million answers, I actually believe—because my entire life I've supplemented with vitamin C—there have been very few days in the past, call it 30 years, that I have not supplemented with a high-quality vitamin C. And it's anecdotal, of course, but I believe that could be at play. And so I believe vitamin C is one of those things—it’s a really smart thing to supplement with, because it's a very delicate vitamin that is water-soluble, that gets broken down very easily. Even if you are eating high-quality fruits and vegetables, it's really hard to get enough vitamin C in your day.
Holly Perkins 19:50[Text Wrapping Break]The next foundational supplement I think is worth considering is fish oil. That's another one that is really hard to get in our diet unless you are eating wild salmon several times per week. It's really hard to get enough of the Omega-3s from actual food sources, and so I think fish oil is a great one to consider. And then also, probiotics. I think rounds of probiotics from time to time can be very helpful, especially if a person has any gut dysbiosis. I think cycling through different brands of probiotics from time to time, alongside eating prebiotic foods, can be super beneficial.
Holly Perkins 20:32[Text Wrapping Break]And then lastly, if there was a general supplement that I am inclined to recommend to women, it might be magnesium. Now, there are also a lot of functional supplements out there in the world, but it's too vast to cover. And so I say, select those things based on what your needs are—whether it's mental acuity or you need help with energy or sleep or recovery. But more specifically, to Christine's question—what to look for in creatine—here's what I say: Just buy creatine monohydrate. You don't need anything else. And there are a lot of brands that are offering that single ingredient in their supplement, and you almost can't go wrong here if that is the only ingredient.
Holly Perkins 21:18[Text Wrapping Break]Now, if you're looking at a product that has other things included—a combination product—that's a different story. And personally, I don't go there, because I'm recommending creatine monohydrate, full stop. And like I said, it is a supplement that you kind of can't get wrong. Check the reviews, talk to people, talk to friends, and choose a brand that's reputable. Again, I don't want to make a statement in terms of the brand that I choose here publicly, but if you want to send me a DM on Instagram and ask me my favorite brand at this current time, I will let you know there. Christine, I hope this helps.
Holly Perkins 22:04[Text Wrapping Break]Up next, we're going to talk about macronutrient balance and—oh hey—if you have a question for me that you want me to cover here on the podcast, you can submit your questions to me over at hollyperkins.com/askholly.
So this next question comes from Colleen:
Holly, you regularly repeat that 25% protein and fat, and 50% carb is the ideal macronutrient split. You've mentioned that some people can do 45% carbs if needed. I'm not afraid of carbs—in fact, I love them—and I think they help me perform and feel better. Can you address the issue of fats needing to be lower in this scenario of 50/25/25? I understand women need at least 50 grams of fat for hormones, and I also know that eating lean proteins is ideal, especially for fat loss. How does a person have steak and 80/20 burgers, etc., on occasion in these scenarios?
I would love for you to delve deeper into this topic. I often feel more satiated with higher-fat yogurts, for example, but tend to choose non-fat to save my fats but get the protein.
Holly Perkins 23:06[Text Wrapping Break]Colleen, fabulous question, and I've got a really simple answer for you.
First, I want to talk about this "50 grams of fat for hormones." Let's calculate this out. If a woman is eating 1400 calories a day—and really and truly, if you are a normal-sized woman and you are strength training, you need at least 1400 calories. And when I say normal-sized woman, I mean I've got some women in my community that are under five feet tall, and they're lean, and they weigh 112 pounds or less, right? If you're a smaller person, your daily caloric intake should reflect that.
Most women are not that size. So if you're a normal-sized woman, 1400 calories is the bare minimum in my world. And honestly, 1400 calories is pretty low.
So at that number, a 50/25/25 split—which is what I teach—if you're new to my podcast or new to my community, what that means is: 50% of your daily calories are coming from carbohydrates, and 25% of your calories are coming from protein and fat.
Holly Perkins 24:35[Text Wrapping Break]That split would provide 87.5 grams of fat if you're getting at least 1400 calories.
So Colleen, you're hitting that bare minimum 50 grams of fat.
By the way, it's pretty hard to get through a day and not get at least 50 grams of fat. A person would have to be trying really hard to not get that bare minimum.
My bigger concern is, if you're not paying attention, most people are getting way more than that amount of fat in a given day.
So you can see that my approach—50/25/25—isn't low, as you're kind of suggesting here. 25% of a person's calories coming from fat is actually very reasonable, and in my experience, it's the perfect place for most women who are active.
Holly Perkins 25:30[Text Wrapping Break]But the world has been so fat-forward that this number now seems low.
Anything above 30% of your daily calories coming from fat is actually pretty high. And if you are eating more than 30% of your daily calories from fat, you really need to be following a specific diet structure for that. Otherwise, you're in no man's land.
And this is where a lot of women come to me. A lot of women come to me around 35% fat in a given day, and that is no man's land because it's not ketogenic and it's not high-protein. It's just high-fat, moderate-carbs, and moderate-protein.
Holly Perkins 26:15[Text Wrapping Break]It's kind of like not committing to a specific structure. And this is why I have found that 50/25/25 works so well for pretty much everyone.
Start there. Do that. Follow it. Then make adjustments as needed.
Now, Colleen, how does a person have steak—which is higher fat—or something like burgers, even if it was 80/20?
It's really simple: you just adjust the rest of your day.
And I know that's what you're doing—case in point, the lower-fat or non-fat yogurt—so that you can have a higher-fat food later. It's really simple, and that is the way to do it.
It's a big reason why I love eating according to macros: because you get to decide where you want your protein, your fat, and your carbs to come from, and that can be different each day.
Holly Perkins 27:13[Text Wrapping Break]It's okay if two or even three days a week, you would rather have a higher-fat protein.
I'm personally a fan of beef and bison and even lower-fat lamb. I personally believe that these red meats can be very, very healthy for the human body—provided you're sourcing them well, keeping them in check, not overeating them, and you've got some real intention in that.
Now, for those of you that don't eat animal meat or don't eat red meat, I honor and I respect that as well.
That's exactly why I love eating according to macronutrients—because don't choose that as your protein then.
I'm not saying everyone needs to eat red meat. But I will say, if you don't have a reason for avoiding it, I do believe most people will feel better if they are incorporating some red meat into their diet.
Holly Perkins 27:50[Text Wrapping Break]Colleen, if you notice that you feel more satisfied with higher fats, that makes perfect sense, and that is absolutely okay.
This is that territory where I talk about deviating from my 50/25/25.
This is generally why I recommend that people land between 25% and 30% coming from fat.
So maybe, Colleen, you'd be better at a 40/30/30 split or even a 45/25/30 split.
Holly Perkins 28:42[Text Wrapping Break]And this is one of the reasons why I love eating according to macros: because it allows you to budget for the foods that you want on the days that you want.
If you want more fat later in the day, choose lower-fat items earlier in the day. Or you can even adjust your macronutrient distribution based on the day.
If there's a day where you are exercising more or harder, or you've got a big strength training workout, that's an argument for a 50/25/25 split.
Holly Perkins 29:12[Text Wrapping Break]Then, if there's a day where you're maybe more sedentary, or you're not working out, then maybe that day you do eat a 40/30/30 split.
It's okay if you are changing up your strategy based on the day.
And so, Colleen, let's say you like to eat steak on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Maybe those are the days that you do 40/30/30, and those are the days you don't work out.
It's absolutely okay to budget and adjust for where you're getting your fat and where you're getting your proteins.
You just stay flexible, and you adjust on the fly. But this is one of the reasons why I like this approach—because it gives each person the ability to decide what they want.
As long as you're hitting your calories that are what are needed for your day, and as long as you are staying within this 40–50% carbohydrates, 25–30% fat and protein—you've got a lot of wiggle room.
And you don't have to stay super precise every single day forever.
Holly Perkins 30:26[Text Wrapping Break]The human body doesn't work that way. We don't have to be rigid—you really don't.
And as long as you are following a strategy about 80% of the time, you've got 20% to play with.
If you're eating higher-fat meats a few times a week, it really doesn't matter.
It's what you do 80% of the time that does.
And as long as you're ending your day with balanced macronutrients, you'll be good to go. I hope that helps.
Holly Perkins 30:58[Text Wrapping Break]All right, I may have saved the best question for last.
We're getting a bit personal, and I gotta be honest—it definitely makes me feel a little uncomfortable.
In general, I don't like to talk a lot about my personal life. I like to focus on you. I like to focus on supporting you. I love science. That's what I like to talk about.
But from time to time, I do get the questions from my community that ask more about me, and I can certainly understand for those of you that are just kind of curious about Holly behind the scenes, or a little bit about my personal life.
Holly Perkins 31:35[Text Wrapping Break]And so Cassandra T. on Instagram asked,
"If you don't mind, I'd love to hear more about how you met your husband and that story."
And so I actually talked to my husband Dave about it and asked if he would be okay if I shared the story, because it is quite personal.
But I will tell you, it is such an incredible divine intervention of a story that it's too good not to share.
And of course, those in my personal life all know it, and I love to tell this story.
So Cassandra, you got it.
I was single for a number of years—I would say a good four to five years.
Around the COVID times, I was hunkered down in Pennsylvania for a number of reasons, and I'm in very, very rural Pennsylvania.
I had a lot on my plate. I needed to focus on myself. I needed to focus on my health. I was focusing on my business.
And my priorities in my life shifted—that dating was not at the top of the list.
But also, during that time, I really took the quiet opportunity of COVID to look inside, and to go deep, and to really ask myself: for real, real, do I want a partner in life?
Holly Perkins 32:56[Text Wrapping Break]And up until then, I wasn't so sure if I did, and I wasn't so sure what the answer was. And so I was kind of one foot in, one foot out the door in my dating life. So no surprise that I hadn't found my life partner. And so I decided, after a lot of introspection, that what I really, really wanted was to find my perfect partner—my perfect person that was the perfect match for me and my life. And I had a list of qualities that I wanted in this person. I actually had a physical list of qualities. I actually went through a manifestation course to bring towards me this perfect match.
Holly Perkins 33:43[Text Wrapping Break]And so once I got crystal clear on what he looked like, the type of person that he was, the qualities of this human, I was scheduled for a trip to LA, and I was going to be out there for, I think, two months. At this point, it was at the end of COVID. So I got out there at the start of this two-month stretch, and I was staying with my best friend. She said, “Hey, now that you're here, do you think that you'll get back to dating?” And I said, “Huh, that's interesting. I hadn't really thought about it,” but the world was opening up. I was clearer on who I wanted to attract. I had had some experience in the past being on dating apps, and while I didn't find my person, I always had really great experiences on the dating apps—really, one of them in particular.
Holly Perkins 34:39[Text Wrapping Break]And so I said, you know, my account had been shut down for a number of years. And I said, “Hmm, I wonder what would happen if I reinstated my account.” And I, on a whim, said, “Oh heck, why not?” So that day, I reinstated my account on a dating app. I put my phone down, I walked away, I did something else. And a few hours later, I came back and I said, “Hey, I wonder if there have been any connections,” or, “Let's go see what's happening on this dating app.” And I opened it up, and the first profile that came on my phone was this handsome fella by the name of Dave with a cute little puppy by the name of Bear. And it came up, and I instantly got the chills, and I said, “Well, hello. That is my type of guy.” Super handsome, incredible profile—which I will share in a moment.
Holly Perkins 35:36[Text Wrapping Break]So on paper, he was real impressive. Age-appropriate. Had an incredible resume as a 20-year fighter pilot officer in the Marines, then went on to become the presidential aide to two U.S. Presidents, carrying the nuclear codes for both Bush and Obama. He then went to Harvard and eventually went into the private sector as a tech executive. So on paper, I was like, wow, this guy is too good to be true. And I said yes, and we connected immediately, and I literally never looked back. We connected, we texted, we chatted over a period of maybe a week or 10 days, and it was too good to be true—way too good to be true.
Holly Perkins 36:26[Text Wrapping Break]So I decided he had to be a catfish. Had to be. Now, if you don't know what that means, it's when a person is impersonating someone else, and they're putting up a profile to attract people, and it's not really their true identity. This guy, Dave, was way too good to be true, and I decided without a doubt he was a catfish. I made a bet with my best friend that he was—it was a $10 bet—and she said he wasn't. So we made a date to have coffee one Tuesday—Tuesday, March 7, 2022—and I said, “I'm positive this guy's not going to show up. I'm positive he's a catfish.” And to be safe, I was going to set our date for coffee at a coffee shop I know nearby to where I was staying, so that Jill could be nearby to support me, so that it was a public place.
Holly Perkins 37:26[Text Wrapping Break]I wanted to make sure that I was safe. But also, I love an afternoon coffee, and so if he didn't show up, and he was a catfish, I kind of didn't care. I was going to go about my day, positive he wouldn't show up. So I showed up for our date. He was about 20 minutes late, and I said, “You know, I knew it. This guy's a catfish.” And a minute later, this handsome guy walked up to my table, and it was him. And I knew from that minute—it was my guy. We never looked back after that. We jumped into dating, and it was appropriate. We took, you know, we took some time to get to know each other for sure, but it was exactly the person I knew that was so perfect for me.
Holly Perkins 38:14[Text Wrapping Break]And when I went back to that list of qualities, every single quality that I was looking for in my perfect match—Dave embodied perfectly. It's, to me, like the most incredible love story ever. And we've now been together for three years, and we're very simpatico, and we're on the same page, and I know without a doubt he is my soulmate. Now, some people have opinions about dating apps, and I will say this: I believe us meeting on that dating app was simply a divine orchestration, because I was living in rural Pennsylvania, he was living outside of Los Angeles in a neighborhood that I would never go to. Neither one of us frequented the bars, or, you know, played pickleball where we could meet each other naturally. And so there was no way we would have found each other had there not been a dating app.
Holly Perkins 39:14[Text Wrapping Break]And so I do believe that that was simply the path that brought us together in the way that it had to be, because I will say the world is different. And I personally know several people who have met their current partner on dating apps. I personally have a very positive experience with dating apps. And I think that if you are single or you're looking for your person, I will always encourage people to try out a dating app. Now, that being said, they are getting riskier.
Holly Perkins 39:49[Text Wrapping Break]There are some nefarious people out there in the world, and you do have to protect yourself. You do have to be smart, and you have to take it with a grain of salt. And so I would say, it's a great place to be if you are looking to find your person—just make sure you go into it with your eyes wide open, as my mom would say. That is my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Holly Perkins 40:13[Text Wrapping Break]I hope you enjoyed this episode. Thank you for being here, and remember, if you have a question for me, come over to my website: hollyperkins.com/askholly. All one word—A-S-K-H-O-L-L-Y. Let me know what your questions are, and I will answer it on an upcoming episode here. And stay tuned for another brand new episode on Tuesday of next week. Stay strong, my friend. Thank you so much for tuning into this week's episode. I am so happy that you're here, and I hope you loved it. If you did, please take a moment to subscribe, share with your friends, and leave a review. And if you want more from me, check out my blog and coaching programs over at hollyperkins.com. That's all for now. I'll see you next week.