But this time it was different.

For weeks before it was almost routine; 2:30 to nearly 6:00 am lying awake, agitated and profusely sweating. Knowing how exhausted I’d be all day because I couldn’t sleep. . .Every. . . single. . . night.

But all that had ended when I started on the bioidentical hormone creams weeks ago.

Indeed it was one of the main reasons I had consented to the hormones . . . 

Hormones that my medical doctor and colleague had convinced me were safe. . . 

Hormones that my research would later tell a different story about. . . 

Yet, here I was, wide awake again. But I wasn’t profusely sweating and I wasn’t agitated. Though I was anxious and scared.  . . at least I knew why. . . 

Over the past several weeks, the hormones had done the trick . . .the hot flashes were gone. . . I felt more even-keeled. . .I wasn’t blowing up at the kids over little things as much.

My brain & my memory were even working better. Gosh, I could even remember why I walked into a room!  

But now there was a new problem. . .the one that had me anxious and scared.

. . .I had gained 20 lbs. in the past 2 months! The result of the hormone cream I was using. 20 lbs. on my petite 5’4” body! At this rate, I’d weigh 200lbs. by year’s end. 

Images of ‘fat Leslie’ danced in my head. I know that sounds vain. But as someone who struggled, mostly successfully with her weight for her entire life; this was NOT an option I was willing to entertain! 

Add to that, the sluggishness I already felt and how much worse it would be. . .

And the joint aches I didn’t want. . .  the result of the excess weight. . . 

And the negative health consequences I knew being nearly double my ideal weight would likely bring. . .

There HAD to be a way I could resolve this without drugs. I resolved to start doing my research the next day. 

That research, over the next several weeks, led me to an understanding of the relationship between food, the gut and hormone balance. Then, as I instituted diet changes, and increased my exercise, the weight began to come off.

. . .My research revealed much. . .a lot of that, I won’t get into right now. . .

Just to say, it turns out that ‘minor side effects’ like weight gain are NOT less common with bioidentical hormones creams.

So eventually, I resolved the issues and put together a food & lifestyle-based approach to balancing hormones and addressing weight and chronic disease. 

A simple approach that’s easily adaptable to multiple health issues and body types.

Now I’m bringing that simple approach to my new Empowered Wellness Membership Program.

The new program is free till February 1st with no obligation. Check it out here:

The post Resolve Menopause Madness appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

A lot of times, I talk to people about the things they know they need to do for their health and they make such a big deal out of the cacophony of things they ‘should’ do that they never seem to get started. Sound familiar?

I’d like to offer an alternative approach: Don’t commit to never eating a chocolate chip cookie ever again! Don’t tell yourself, “This is gonna be it.”

Just simply take a first simple step: before you go to bed, TONIGHT make sure you have a healthy breakfast available in the morning. I suggest oatmeal. You can even do overnight refrigerator oatmeal. Mix it all up before bed, toss it in the frig & viola! It’s done in the morning!

Now you’ve had a good nutritious breakfast and you can pat yourself on the back for having done something good for yourself (Hint: you CAN eat this if you’re diabetic, and it’s GOOD for you! I’ll explain it all later). Now take it a step further and have a healthy salad for lunch (No, don’t load it up a couple ounces of high fat dressing; just a sprinkle of a high quality of balsamic vinegar.) Pat yourself on the back again and continue your progress.

Maybe you need to clean all the junk that calls your name out of cupboards, dig the walking or running shoes out from the back of the closet or more. Acknowledge what you ARE doing, put plans in place and let that be the fuel for your progress.

And I’ll help you out!

Maybe you know (or suspect) your hormones are off balance, maybe you’re overweight or your out of shape or all of the above.

Beginning October 7^th, I’m offering a FREE 5-DAY Jump-Start Your Weight-Loss & Hormone Balance Program. Here’s how it works: When you register, you’ll get a little booklet that will detail a shopping & stocking up guide to help you prepare. Then before the event starts, I’ll also send you out some simple recipes. On October 7^th, we hit the ground running, literally and figuratively. Each day, you’ll get a video in your email in-box where I’ll address a key area about balancing hormones without pills and potions, how the world’s healthiest people eat, starting an exercise program and more.

There will also be a private Facebook group where you can get support & ask questions.

This is a plant-based program that is modeled after the way the World’s healthiest cultures eat; a program that is supported by the best science. No, we won’t balance your hormones or reverse disease in 5 days, but we;ll get you’on the road’ and give you ideas and options about where to go from there.

I hope you’ll join me!

In addition, for those of you who are local & want to add a short outdoor aerobic workout to your routine, you can join me for 2 morning hikes & 2 morning bicycle rides in the Los Osos/Morro Bay area, October 7-10. These will be quick 40-50 minute hikes or rides that will start at a designated meeting place promptly at 7:30AM and get you started for your day.

Read more      Register      

The post Start Simply or Simply Start appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

It had been a solution that seemed easy; I was having physical symptoms of menopause (hot flashes, night sweats, etc.); mental-emotional symptoms too (feeling stressed, flying ‘off the handle’ at insignificant things, etc.). Bio-identicals, I reasoned, should be less dangerous than commercial preparations, should have less side-effects, should keep me more even-keeled and handle the physical symptoms as well. A local M.D. who is into “Anti-Aging Medicine” concurred that this was a good choice. 

But truth be told, I hadn’t done the research I now recommend my clients routinely do (or hire me to do) to get all the facts on the table before making a decision about medications or procedures. When I later DID the research I found that (1) There is some limited information that suggests bio-identical hormone creams MAY be less hazardous but there are no large research studies proving it is so. (2) There is little or no science to support what is considered to be a ‘therapeutic level.’ (The levels are really only a guess, based on blood tests. However, there is NO level that could be considered correct since  peri-menopausal and menopausal women have naturally occurring hormone levels that are far lower than what doctors are trying to achieve to control symptoms.). Thus the amount I was getting MAY have been too high but there was no way to know if lowering it would make a difference or if I’d maybe even continue to gain weight and have the symptoms return too! (3) Research indicates that many of the “minor side effects,” such as the 20 lb. weight gain I experienced, also happen with bio-identical hormone creams.

Long story short, I stopped the therapy. It was also during this time that I made the decision to stop eating poultry and dairy and convert to the whole-food plant-based eating I now recommend to others. Over the next several weeks, my symptoms initially returned when I went off the hormones but then abated, for the most part and I began losing the weight I had gained and my hormone balance began to return.

I also had more “side-effects” of my new diet: (1) My cholesterol level decreased from 205 to 137 in just about 6 weeks. (2) Chronic congestion & post-nasal drip was eliminated when I went off of dairy. (3) The natural hormone balancing effects of being off of dairy and almost all animal feeds (all of which have naturally occurring estrogens) also helped relieve some of the mental-emotional symptoms I was having. (A large portion of this was also related to family & business stressors. This needed to be, and was addressed in other ways.)

I can’t say that losing the weight was easy but I can say it worked. Here are the bullet points of what got me through and what I now recommend and coach others in:

1. Whole food plant-based eating with emphasis of minimal fats.
2. Increasing exercise.
3. Working to restore gut microbiome (thus the hormone balance it brings).
4. Working on the causes of mental-emotional stress along with the use of meditation or mindfulness strategies.
5. Eating some specific foods to naturally balance hormones.
6. Specific tweaks to the diet to keep it low calorie, high energy.

The great thing about all this is that this way of eating is far easier to maintain than a diet like Keto or ultra-low calorie where you’re either starving yourself or changing your diet so much that you can never maintain it. People typically can only sustain keto or other diets over a finite period and often regain the weight afterward. In contrast, this way of eating can become a way of life that is far easier to maintain. At this point, I’ve been eating this way for more than 8 years and have not regained significant weight.

Intrigued about all this? Would you jump in & try it for just 5 DAYS?? NOW; before the holidays & get yourself set up to look FABULOUS this holiday season?! Join my FREE “Jumpstart Your Weight Loss & Hormone Balance” 5 day program October 7-11! You can do ANYTHING for 5 days. Give it a try. Watch for more upcoming info here on my blog and on social media SOON!

The post “How Did THAT Happen?” A Story of Weight-Control appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

She dreads seeing her doctor; who she dutifully visits yearly. She understands the inherent dangers of the medications they prescribe. Medications that she has, thus far avoided. She wanted some diet & lifestyle advice.

“Did you know that the ‘big breakthrough study’ of the Mediterranean Diet from a few years ago has been retracted?” I inquired. I got a blank stare.

Yes, the study, originally published in 2013, was retracted in June of 2018 because it came out that the randomization process was not random at all! Couples who signed up were put on the same diet as was a full village of people! So now they can only say there appears to be a correlation between the diet and less strokes or heart attacks; not that the diet diminishes the likelihood of either.

“And further, did you know that the study REALLY only showed a 1% difference in outcome; not a 30% as reported in the media?” Another blank stare.

A total of 288 primary-outcome events occurred: 96 in the group assigned to a Mediterranean diet with extra-virgin olive oil (3.8%), 83 in the group assigned to a Mediterranean diet with nuts (3.4%), and 109 in the control group (4.4%). (NEJM)

“How do they get away with saying that was 30%?” She asked.

 It has to do with “relative difference” (3.8 vs.4.4) rather than absolute difference (less than 1%). This is a slight-of-hand used in medicine all the time. The relative risk of something can be 2% and a drug lowers it to 1%; the actual difference is only 1%, yet it is usually reported as 50%! This is a key consideration for almost all procedures & drugs; a consideration YOU, as the patient never hear about!

“So, what can you tell me about the diet you recommend and how that’s likely to change things for me?” She asked.

Well, there are no guarantees. What we can say is that people, world-wide who eat a whole food plant-based diet with little to no added fat (Blue zones areas of the world) have extremely low rates of heart disease, cancer and most of the other diseases that plague Western societies. We can also say that studies of these people show they DO eat animal flesh but eat less than 10% calories from protein daily (they use small amounts of meat for flavoring). The majority of their diet is made up of complex carbohydrate (sweet potatoes, yams, quinoa, millet, brown rice, beans, etc.) and lots of fruits & veggies.

The other things that I assured my client: (1) When you eat low fat plant-based, you’ll likely lose weight without counting calories as long as you limit nuts & seeds and move your body regularly. (2) When you cut out dairy, eat enough fiber and add a little minimally processed (organic) soy (Edamame, tofu or tempe) you’ll help your body better process and balance your hormones and the hot flashes are more likely to subside naturally. (And if not, there is far more we can do that doesn’t require hormones, even if they are called ‘natural.’)

She left with a commitment to make the changes I recommended. One more small victory.  

(Note: The above is a compilation of several women; not one specific person.) 

The post Mediterranean Diet Exposé(d) appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.