The Holly Perkins Health Podcast

Mental Health for Women: Fitness and Nutrition Tips That Work

Episode Summary

Have you ever wondered how physical health can profoundly impact mental health for women? As a seasoned women's strength coach with over 30 years of experience, I am here to share insights that can transform your well-being and health after 50. In this episode of The Holly Perkins Health Podcast, I delve into the essential connection between mental health and physical fitness, particularly for women over 35 navigating life's transitions, such as menopause. Did you know that regular exercise is proven to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety? It’s true! I emphasize how crucial it is to embrace fitness as a powerful tool for enhancing mental health, and womens health in general.

Episode Notes

Have you ever wondered how physical health can profoundly impact your mental health? As a seasoned women's strength coach with over 30 years of experience, I am here to share insights that can transform your well-being and health after 50. In this episode of The Holly Perkins Health Podcast, I delve into the essential connection between mental health and physical fitness, particularly for women over 35 navigating life's transitions, such as menopause. Did you know that regular exercise is proven to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety? It’s true! I emphasize how crucial it is to embrace fitness as a powerful tool for enhancing mental health, and womens health in general. 

Throughout our conversation, I address the unique mental health challenges many women face, especially during significant life changes. I share three essential fitness and nutrition tips designed to boost your mental health: first, the importance of maintaining a consistent exercise routine that not only builds lean muscle for women but also elevates energy levels. Second, I encourage you to focus on a balanced intake of macronutrients instead of labeling foods as good or bad. This mindset shift can drastically improve your relationship with food and wellness. Lastly, I discuss the necessity of eating regularly to stabilize blood sugar levels, which is crucial for maintaining mental clarity and emotional balance. 

As I share personal anecdotes and actionable advice, my goal is to motivate you to prioritize your mental health through physical activity and mindful eating. Remember, you are not alone in this journey! I conclude the episode by urging anyone struggling with mental health issues to seek professional support while implementing these strategies. Together, we can foster resilience and happiness in our lives. 

Tune in to discover how you can take charge of your mental health and well-being today!


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Episode Transcription

Speaker #0 After over 30 years in practice as a women's strength coach, there is one thing I know very well. Many women struggle to feel their best both mentally and physically. Sometimes, for some of us, the struggle is real. And for most of my life, I have been diligent with my fitness and nutrition habits so that I stay on the good side of this conversation. So this is a topic that I know well. And if you want to hear my best tips for mental health for women, keep listening. Hello, and thank you for being here. If you are new, welcome. I'm Holly Perkins, and I help women improve your body composition to at least 70% lean mass so that you can reduce your risk of disease, stay in the game of life and out of the rocking chair, and look fabulous along the way. And while this conversation is usually fitness and nutrition related for women, I believe that when you get your physical body into fighting shape through the practices that I teach here every single week, your mind, body, and spirit really do change. At the end of the day, I believe I am here to help women stop the suffering that's so common for a lot of us. so that you can be empowered and resilient and happy and optimistic, so that you can go out into the world and do good things. And so I would be remiss to not include some topics along the line of mental health. This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. If you know me and you've been in my community, you know that mental health has been a very persistent companion for the majority of my life. And it's something that I know very well. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, women are more likely than men to experience depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, mood disturbances tied to hormonal transitions, such as perimenopause and menopause. And I almost laughed at those statistics because we know this, right? Part of me was like, yeah, well, no, duh. But also, according to the CDC, about one in five U.S. adults have been diagnosed with depression at some point in their life, and women are diagnosed at a significantly higher rate than men. Research suggests that the menopausal transition is a particularly vulnerable time for mental health, And one large meta-analysis found that nearly one in three women experience depression. symptoms during perimenopause. Anxiety symptoms affect roughly 29 to 39% of women during menopause transition years. And insomnia affects up to 42% of postmenopausal women. The statistics are sobering. And while it's not a surprise to me at all, it might be for you. If you're struggling to feel great. or keep a positive outlook in general, or like me, have moved into midlife and noticed that your confidence has taken a hit. You're in the right place and this is the perfect episode for you. In this episode, you'll learn three powerful fitness and nutrition tips that work that you must be doing if you want to improve mental health. You'll learn about the intricate link between your digestive system and your mental state, the gut-brain axis, and how diet influences this crucial connection. how resistance exercise can regulate hormones, reduce anxiety, and boost self-esteem, and some simple effective strategies for incorporating brain-boosting foods into your daily routine without feeling overwhelmed. Did you know that even if you have struggled with mental health your entire life, it's actually not your authentic operating system? And that symptoms of depression, anxiety, worry, sadness, or even negative self-image really are a response. It's not who you are. And there are so many things that you can do to improve your mental outlook. Listen, these things are complex and I am not a doctor or a trained mental health professional, but I do know that when you improve your physical well-being and your health, The brain responds just like your muscles or your heart or your blood vessels do. Because the brain is an organ and it influences your mind. How you think and how you feel. And the right diet and exercise habits make a huge difference. In fact, it's a very big reason why I do what I do today. because at a... Very young age, I discovered happiness and positivity and confidence and joy after every dance aerobics class. In fact, it was the only time that I truly felt like the best version of me. When I was in elementary school, my best friend at the time, Jeannie, invited me to take dance aerobics classes with her at our small town YMCA. And You have to understand that this was the height of the 80s, like pink spandex and leg warmers and loud music, and I absolutely fell in love. To this day, those classes are still some of my happiest memories of all. And looking back now, I realize that was the beginning. of my lifelong passion for fitness and exercise and just movement in general. It was also one of the few times in my childhood when I truly felt great. There was something about moving my body that just unlocked this sense of joy and freedom and energy in me that I had never experienced before. That experience really sparked an obsession with fitness that has carried me through my entire life. And in hindsight, I now understand something I couldn't have known back then. For many years, fitness was my antidepressant. Movement made me feel alive and hopeful and connected to myself, and I think even connected to something greater than myself. And that's why I loved it so deeply and still do. Movement is medicine for your heart, literally, your mind, literally, and your soul. And therefore, it's no surprise that exercise is one of the three powerful fitness and nutrition tips that work that you must be doing. You must be doing. if you want to improve your mental health. Your body's chemistry is wildly and infinitely complex and while the mind has a mind of its own and psychology is a very real science, I also know with every fiber of my being and have linked some research that you can influence the health and the chemistry of your brain by manipulating your physical body's chemistry through food and exercise. I know this to be true. The benefits of smart nutrition and wise fitness extend way beyond just mental and psychological. The benefits are biological and chemical, so much so that we can measure it. So there are three specific fitness and nutrition tips that you must be doing if you want to improve your mental health. The first is that you must, must exercise. Now, since you're a listener of this podcast, I'm going to assume that you already do exercise in general. So great job. But every week I have new listeners, so I'm not going to make that assumption. but regular exercise or being someone who exercises in general is the first box that you need to check. And if you happen to be struggling with this piece of the puzzle, I will give you some actionable tips so that you can start making workouts more of a consistent habit. But that really is number one. You have to exercise. Then, even if you do consider yourself someone like me who exercises regularly, and it's a given in your life, there is a nuance to this specifically during. certain times or seasons when your mental health can cause you to get inconsistent with your exercise. And there are two angles here depending on your situation. So the first is that there's a tendency to miss workouts when you're in an episode of upset. Those windows of time when you are feeling sadness or the blues or you Symptoms of depression or spells of anxiety for any reason. Now, remember, I am speaking from experience here personally, but also as a coach. And the pattern I see most often is it's really hard to rally for a workout if you're feeling depressed or anxious, when you're tired or exhausted, and you just want to hide in bed and eat ice cream. So let me throw some science at you. A systematic review found that exercise produces moderate to large mental health benefits overall, and that when comparing aerobic exercise to resistance training, they found that both forms of exercise improved depression and anxiety symptoms. So let this be your proof that any exercise is better than none, especially when you don't wanna. Another study found that resistance training, quote, meaningfully reduces depressive symptoms in adults with clinically diagnosed depression. So much so that some studies proved exercise is as powerful an antidepressant as antidepressants are in people who are mildly or moderately clinically. depressed. Now, I'm certainly not telling you to get on antidepressants or get off antidepressants, but the research does show exercise is a powerful antidepressant if you're someone who wants to go in that direction. Now, you may not need me to tell you that exercise is a powerful antidepressant because I think for a lot of us these days, it's pretty obvious, right? But it's important to remember that. In those moments when you're struggling and you would rather just not, and you have a tendency to skip a workout. The workout is the very thing that's going to boost your mood. The second nuance is a tendency to miss your workouts because of seasons or chapters of busyness or travel or even joy. So thankfully, I experience far fewer episodes of upset and darkness these days. But instead, I have seasons of busyness and fun and travel and good stuff. And if I don't keep myself on track with my consistent workouts and nutrition, the blues can very quickly start to creep back in. And so I have to stay on top of my exercise practices. So that I keep my mental health at its peak. And I've learned that just because I'm feeling good right now, or I'm in a stretch where I feel awesome, it doesn't mean that I can skip my workouts. Because I'm feeling good today because of my workout yesterday and the day before and last week, right? And that took me a while to get that straight because in years past, I kind of always felt... terrible and felt symptoms of depression. And so that kept me honest and it kept me motivated on some level. But when I started feeling better most days, it was easy to lose that motivation. So I had to experience a few setbacks that really revealed to me the importance of exercising even when you don't want to or when it's inconvenient. or when you feel you don't need it, or even during the times when things are good. You still have to stay on top of your practices preemptively so that you feel great tomorrow. So here are some actionable workout tips to keep you consistent so that you can get the mental health benefits from exercise. The first tip is to get specific about the various types and modes of exercise that you engage in each week. It's really important to include different activities and don't just rely on the same thing over and over and over. Getting your steps in is great, but it's not enough to keep you optimal or If you love your yoga class, but that's all you do all the time, it's not enough. Or you may get a great workout in your spinning class, but that doesn't mean you should do it every day. In general, I break out exercise sessions into four different categories, and I think it's really important to include each of these in different amounts each week. Number one, resistance strength training. of course, and more specifically, progressive resistance strength training. Number two, cardio. And this is more specific than you would assume. This includes two different kinds of cardio. There's steady state, like walking or getting your steps in or a slow jog. And then there's intervals. Both are essential. The third is rehab or rejuvenate or restore activities. And this could be yoga or Pilates or any other kind of activity that moves you towards feeling great, not depleted. And then fourth, what I categorize as kind of joy activities. These are the things that you do because they lift your spirit or you just love them in general. And that's things like pickleball or tennis or dance or any activity that you just love. The goal is to include as many of these as possible, but for sure including strength training and cardio because the research consistently shows that these both have antidepressant effects even before major physical changes occur. Now, personally, I believe all activity leads to a boost in mental health, but we don't have enough of the research to truly prove it. I personally do think there's a time and a place for anecdotal evidence. And when you've been in practice for 30 years, like I have, I've got lots of anecdotal evidence, but we do know that strength training and aerobic activity are key. Your first target is two strength sessions a week. at a minimum. I prefer three, but on a bad week, you might only be able to get two in. And it's important to do it right, not to exhaustion, because that has been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression comparable to medication in several studies. This type of strength training gives you hormonal regulation, sharper cognition, and that just quiet confidence. that comes from being physically capable. That is really worth something. You don't have to feel it to believe it. The biology is working whether or not you're motivated. The key is that you've got to show up. Now, intensity is important. And the key here is moderate intensity with progressive overload, not grinding yourself into the ground. And here is what that looks like in practice. Two to three sessions. per week, 45 minutes-ish or so, more or less depending on your energy. But you don't need 90 minute to two hour strength sessions for mental health. And depending on where you are, what season you're in or what cycle, sometimes less is more. You want to focus on full body compound movements. So think squats and hip hinges, upper body rows, upper body pressing amidst other single joint exercises because the compound movements really activate the most muscle and trigger the biggest hormonal response. And so even if you do just a few, those exercises are key. You want to leave a couple of reps in the tank. Training to failure has a tendency to chronically elevate cortisol. which really does work against you, especially if you're in a season of a mental health struggle, or you really want to make sure you keep cortisol in check so that you stay in a good place. And lastly, consistency is way more important than intensity. As I always say, anything is better than nothing. And so even if you got to drag yourself to the gym and just do a few sets or do something that's lower intensity, the consistency. is what's important. The psychological benefits compound over weeks, not days, not individual workouts, and showing up matters more than how hard you go. Regardless of your current fitness level, this structure really works. Beginners benefit just as much as advanced lifters because the brain doesn't really care how much weight is on the bar. It cares that you are showing up, staying consistent, and challenging yourself where you are. Now that you know what kinds of exercise are important and how much you need, There's going to be work on... you to keep yourself showing up during the times when you're struggling. And in many ways, this is the actual work because the truth is it is just hard when you don't want to, but you've got to. You've got to show up so that you can move forward into a better frame of mind. The hard work is making yourself show up. And this was always the hardest. part for me, but now it's not because no matter what, I will show up if I know that my mental health rides on it. And so I've had to just cultivate the practice that no matter what, I've got to hit my minimums every single week. And when I do, I stay on the right side of happy. Up next, I've got two nutrition tips for you to support optimal mental health. But before that, I want to tell you about one of my favorite topics and products that is so important to optimal mental health, and that is sleep. Sleep is such a powerful part of optimal health, and especially mental health. When I finally got my sleep habits dialed in in my 40s, I noticed an immediate shift in my mental outlook, my mood, and even my self-image. And during the times when my sleep took a hit, either from travel or late nights working or even just too much caffeine sometimes, I noticed the old familiar mood states coming back. And it was clear to me that quality sleep makes a huge difference in my mental health. So when I was looking for sleep support, I didn't want something that would knock me out or something that would leave me groggy in the morning. I needed to feel fresh. I just wanted real restorative d***. deep, awesome sleep. And that's when I discovered Dream. Beam's Dream Sleep Powder Supplement is made with a powerful blend of all natural ingredients, reishi, magnesium, L-theanine, epigenin, and melatonin. I have been using Dream for months now, and I can honestly say that I feel sharper and calmer and more focused. I just get better sleep. And I finally feel like I can tackle life head-on instead of just trying to get through to the next time to go to bed. And I'm not the only one. Beam has already improved over 28 million nights of sleep, helping people across the country wake up and feel their best. If you're in that stage of life where you notice that bad sleep has a negative impact on your health, this is exactly what you need to be trying. Go to shopbeam.com. forward slash holly p and use code holly p and take advantage of my exclusive offer for up to 40% off beam's dream powder this is the best discount that beam gives out so tell your friends too even if they don't listen to my show if they want to fix their sleep they've gotta try dream so remember go to shopbeam.com forward slash holly p use code holly p and with my code Holly P you can grab Dream for up to 40% off. Try it today. The second fitness and nutrition tip that you must be doing if you want to improve mental health is that you must stop thinking of foods as good or bad and start categorizing them into the three macronutrients, carbohydrates, protein, and fats. When you do this and you start to aim for a strategic blend need to of all three, every time you eat, all throughout the day, you'll improve what's called the gut-brain axis. This is the intricate link between your digestive system and your mental state because diet influences this crucial connection. Largely by regulating blood sugar, but it's actually quite complex and gives your brain the nutrients and the resources it needs to be supported. This gives you the cognitive clarity, the emotional steadiness, and the real energy that resists energy crashes. One of the wildest things that my clients learn is that they are a lot less emotionally volatile. They are a lot more calm and even keel. when they eat to regulate their blood sugar by learning this categorization of the macronutrients. And the truth is, it really makes a lot of sense because if your blood sugar is bottoming out, your brain won't have the fuel it prefers to function fully. So a variety of SOS signals get sent out into your body in order to procure the resources that your brain needs. And one of those intricate and interesting SOS signals is your emotions. Because emotions are powerful and they often drive us to eat. Think about it. When you're tired or sad or anxious or just don't feel good, do you often experience a desire to eat? Most of the time, yes. And that is a sneaky way that your physiology protects you. It drives you to eat so that your brain and your body can have the resources it needs. When you choose the foods that you eat based on their macronutrient category, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, and you combine them to achieve an intentional balance, You're nearly guaranteed better blood sugar regulation. That is, of course, provided you're choosing healthy foods, right? Like that goes without saying. When I make these statements, it's under the belief that you're choosing really healthy, optimal, whole foods that you know you need to be eating. Stable blood sugar happens at the intersection of protein and carbohydrates when insulin and glucagon meet and they keep each other in check. This is how your body regulates blood sugar. It is a sophisticated system of balance and it works beautifully so that your brain has the glucose, the fats, and the amino acids it needs to function fully. The first step is to start to learn what category your common go-to foods fit into. Are they a carbohydrate, a protein, or a fat? Now, in reality, most foods have a combination of two or three of these macronutrients. Some foods are 100% fat, some are 99% protein, 99% carbohydrate. So some foods, let's say like nuts, are a mixture of all three macronutrients. That being said, every individual food that you eat falls into one macronutrient category. that's based on its predominant macronutrients. So for example, nuts. Some people think nuts are a protein, right? Now, nuts have a significant amount of protein in them, but calorically, they have way more fat. Nuts even have carbohydrate in them. They actually have almost a blend of all three macronutrients, but they are definitely predominantly a fat. So nuts fall into the macronutrient category of fat. Carbs are usually fruits and vegetables, grains, potatoes, beans, and sugars like honey and maple syrup and even white table sugar or fruit juice. Fats tend to be your nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, olive oil, butter, full-fat dairy. And proteins are often animal meats. cottage cheese, greek yogurt, protein powders, and egg whites.The first step is to look at the foods in your refrigerator and identify that's a protein, that's a carb, they play nice together. Then you're going to want to use some kind of a diet tracking app and mix and match your favorite go-to foods each day so that you end each day between 40 and 50% of your total daily calories. Coming from carbohydrates, it's really as simple as that. Now, this means 50 to 60% of your daily calories are going to come from protein and fats. And I say, split it equally. And remember, it's super important to pair your carbohydrates with your protein every time you eat, because that is that important intersection where insulin and glucagon balance each other out. Some other key nutrients to prioritize for optimal mental health. Protein at every single meal. Now, you may have heard me say that we are in what I call the protein preoccupation right now. And so many people are leaning on protein a bit too much. Protein is important, but it's no more important than carbohydrates or fats. It's important to get it balanced. And amino acids are the precursors to serotonin. and dopamine. And it's important to aim for about a palm-sized serving of protein at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I think it's smart to include protein at every meal or snack. Omega-3 fatty acids. These are found in fatty fish like salmon and sardines, mackerel, and halibut. Walnuts and ground flax seeds. Two servings of fatty fish per week is a meaningful starting point and of course you could supplement with omega-3 fatty acids because it is really hard to get them naturally from foods. In many ways fish really are the only pure source of omega-3 fatty acids and they are so important for optimal brain health. Magnesium, this is called the calming mineral and it is depleted by stress. And we're finding that women tend to have lower natural levels of magnesium as compared to men. And so if you're not getting enough from your diet, you may need to supplement. I do. Supplementing with the right kind of magnesium has been a massive game changer for me. And of course, you can get it from foods. Magnesium is found in dark leafy greens, pumpkin seeds, and thankfully, dark chocolate. B vitamins are super, super helpful, especially B6 and B12, because it's critical for neurotransmitter production. You'll get B vitamins from whole eggs, meat, legumes, and leafy greens. And lastly, fiber-rich carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are so important, and they're really complex and very interesting. The right carbohydrates feed your gut microbiome, and that is where 90% of your serotonin is produced. Here you want to think beans and whole oats, sweet potato, and a variety of vegetables. Some meal planning strategies without overwhelm are something I call the protein first rule. So before you plan anything else that you're eating for your meal, first identify your protein source. Build your carbohydrates around it, then check your fat. Remember, you want to aim for about 40 to 50% of your meal's calories coming from carbohydrates, and then 25 to 30% of your meal's calories coming from protein and fat. The two fish per week rule. Aim to put two dinners together with fatty fish on your weekly calendar. Plan for it and see it out. That could be salmon on Tuesday and halibut on the weekend. Piece of cake, plan for it, and it's done. The greens default. Keep one bag of pre-washed greens in your fridge at all time and add it to whatever you're already eating. It could be eggs or soups or stir fries. I even throw frozen spinach into my smoothies. I will often just take a big box of the pre-washed spinach or kale or any leafy greens, put it in my freezer, and it's always at the ready. And lastly, Catch cook one brain food each week. Think cook a pot of beans or hard-boiled eggs or prep a tray of roasted vegetables and just have it ready. You're not necessarily just meal prepping. You're just making one smart thing available when you need to grab and go. And remember, the goal is never perfection. It's really just consistency to make sure that you've got a handful of... high leverage foods that your brain will notice immediately. The third fitness and nutrition tip that you must be doing if you want to improve mental health is that you must eat regularly and stop fasting and stop low carb eating. Now listen, if you truly feel 100% that you are successful eating low carb and or intermittent fasting, and you have no other health issues, no other problems, no other complaints, then you can disregard this section. But in my experience, which is extensive at this point, when women come to me for coaching and I probe deep enough, most of the time they are suffering in some way, shape, or form because of these outdated ideas that low carb eating burns fat, It improves insulin sensitivity and it leads to weight loss. And that intermittent fasting somehow hacks your body and your brain into better function. Now I know on paper, these are very compelling ideas, but the time has come that we are now realizing these practices are really out of balance with what the human body actually prefers. And the truth is, these ideas were introduced as... use biohacking methods as a short-term strategy to get you back to balance. And in my experience, these biohacking efforts tend to lead to more problems down the line than they're actually worth. And again, if they're actually working for you, that's fine. Keep doing it. I'm not saying, I'm not here to say stop if it's working for you. I'm not really even here to debate it. I'm here to say, this is what I'm seeing in my practice with the you women that I coach and the thousands of people that I've worked with in the past 30 years. So let this be a prompt to check in with yourself. If you're living a low carb lifestyle or doing intermittent fasting or fasted workouts, is it actually working for you? Are you actually sure that intermittent fasting is making you better? Are you actually sure that your low carb lifestyle video. isn't causing food cravings and belly fat. Because in my experience, these things are linked. And in my experience, there could be a time and a place for these practices, maybe. But if so, they really are usually short-lived and they're not intended to become your ongoing lifestyle. Your natural-born operating system works great when you give it you what it's designed to receive. Your brain, your adrenal glands, your blood sugar, and your muscles all need carbohydrates to function optimally, especially if you're someone who works out regularly. And when you eat fiber-rich, diverse, whole food carbohydrates alongside enough protein to balance them. You are literally building a serotonin factory inside of your own body in your gut. And this gives you the mood stability, reduced anxiety, and a brain that doesn't malfunction. This isn't supplementing your mental health care. This is mental health care. If you struggle with food cravings, persistent hunger, energy swings, or energy crashes, There is a very good chance that you are not getting the right carbohydrates at the right time in the right amount. Carbohydrates are like medicine. You need to dose them out regularly and throughout the day. And this is one reason why I'm not a fan of extended intermittent fasting. Yes, I do think there's a time and a place for a 12-hour fast overnight. It can be good for digestive health and insulin sensitivity. Some women report their energy is better in the morning, but that fast needs to end when you get out of bed, when your heart rate rises and your brain comes online because your muscles and your brain need glucose from the carbohydrates that you eat. Going too long without fuel causes all kinds of alternate pathways of metabolism, all with one central theme, to provide your brain with the resources it needs. So why go through all of the bio-hacking, hoop-jumping, and just cut straight to the chase? Give your brain what it was designed to receive. glucose amino acids, and fatty acids on the regular. And do that regularly so that your blood sugar stays stable, providing your brain with the glucose it needs. Did you know that if you don't eat frequently enough or if you don't eat enough carbs, your brain has to hard shift gears in order to create the glucose. it needs. It's not that it doesn't need the glucose if you stop eating it. Your brain still needs it. If you don't get enough carbohydrates to produce the glucose, your brain is going to go out into your body and find it and demand it and steal it from other organs. And if your brain is already struggling to stay strong, why on earth would you ask it to drive you 80 miles an hour in first gear. Instead, give your brain what mother nature intended. Balanced macronutrients every four to five hours max during waking hours. This means watching the clock to ensure that you eat a meal or a snack regularly every four to five hours without skipping meals. And if you start giving your body the fuel it needs, you free up the bandwidth so that all of your organs can do what they do best, support you, your brain, and your health. So there you have it, my top fitness and nutrition tips for mental health. Of course, listen, if you're really struggling with mental health, these suggestions will absolutely help. And I encourage you to seek support through a trusted medical professional. You don't have to suffer, and there are varying degrees of mental health. Sometimes you may simply need to eat and exercise more regularly, and sometimes you might need a bit more help. For me, I noticed a radical shift in my mood and my mental health as soon as I learned and applied these principles. And I hope that they help you too. Your next step is to listen to my podcast episode, The Top Fitness and Nutrition Topics for Women's Health in 2026, to keep the momentum going and to hear other tips to help you create the body that you need to keep up with the life that you love. That episode is linked in the show notes here, or you can come to my website, hollyperkins.com, and search for it on the blog. You've got this. I hope you enjoyed this episode and stay tuned for another brand new one on Tuesday of next week. Stay strong, my friend.