Why Insulin Resistance in Menopause is So Important

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Good night. How do you know you're experiencing insulin resistance in menopause? How would you know that weight gain or belly fat may be a result of your insulin resistance? My guest today has type 1 diabetes, and if you don't, stay put. This is still really relevant to you, and you might want to think of it as this. So she's got type 1, and she's got some ideas, she's got some strategies and methods to work with type 1 diabetics. She's also a trainer, she's got a background in nutrition, and she's got tools and strategies that can also help to prevent because she learned it the hard way from school of hard knocks. My guest today has type 1 diabetes, shares today the nuances of how to deal with midlife hormonal changes at the same time as dealing with blood sugar and insulin levels. How is it all integrated? That's today. Melissa Slump is a certified nutritional and hormone health coach and personal trainer, founder and CEO of Abundant Health with Melissa. She helps women 40 and over diagnosed with type 1 diabetes to feel more empowered and to live their best life despite their diagnosis. Melissa has lived with type 1 diabetes since she was 14 years old, and she's experienced how a strong foundation of health and happiness supports our relationships, career, and our beliefs to nurture us emotionally and spiritually so we can thrive with diabetes. Or for the rest of you, without. Stay tuned. I'm Debra Atkinson. You're listening to Flipping 50. I started this podcast over a decade ago to answer questions about fitness in menopause and beyond before you knew to ask them. The goal to to help accelerate your results with science and the practical application of proven protocols while living your best life. There's no more powerful health influencer in the world than a midlife woman, and it's not just about you but the 3 generations that you influence. My unique 40-year career, including being a university senior lecturer in kinesiology, an industry subject matter expert, and an international speaker, to founder of the first and the only exclusively made-for-menopause and beyond fitness membership in the world. Every week I interview experts behind the scenes and the science of optimal hormone balancing, fitness, and longevity, and share answers to our community's questions so you can have the vitality and the energy that you want, need, and deserve. Melissa, thanks so much for being here.

Well, hello, Debra. This is a pleasure to get to speak to you and your listeners. Yes.

So before we go any further in talking about insulin resistance, diving into the connection between belly fat, blood sugar levels, tell us a little bit about your story.

Well, I am definitely a good example of somebody— I live with type 1 diabetes. And just to kind of over— just to kind of over— kind of explain that, so insulin dependent. And there's a lot of confusion with diabetes. You know, you hear diabetes out there and everybody thinks it's the same thing. Not really. So insulin independent. So when I was 14, I was diagnosed. So that was 42 years ago. And we in the diabetes space actually do celebrate these, and we call them diaversaries because it is quite the thing that we have to do every single day. So 14 years old and diagnosed with this, and this was back in 1982. Not a whole lot going on back there. No internet, no, you know, we were still reading from, you know, encyclopedias and, you know, whatever kind of magazine that we could get some sort of resources from. So I really walked pretty blindly back in those days, which is kind of a pun because when I was 25, I was diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy, which is really just a result of controlled blood sugar for over 10 years. It just led to that complication. So it really forced me, obviously, you know, when the doctor tells you you could go blind if you don't get the blood sugar in check. So I did a complete 360, not just a 180, but a 360, and really had to learn about this disease. And that has really been my passion, not only for myself and my own health. And then I went on to study nutritional health, holistic nutrition, and then coaching, and then hormone health, not only obviously to help myself, but to help those that I wanted to coach and to, you know, to mentor later on.

Very cool. So What kind of changes did you yourself experience as you're— so you start, you're a 14-year-old girl, you're probably either entering or in puberty, hormonal changes. If you have children, obviously pregnancy, postnatal, again influencing hormones, blood sugar levels, and then perimenopause, postmenopause. So all those changes, how have you— how is that uniquely affected you in terms of, okay, you've already got type 1 diabetes, so you're dealing with a hormone, you know, and insulin is very tied to cortisol levels. So you've got those two going for you, as does everybody, but it's going to be unique in your situation. So tell me how the management of type 1 was different for you.

You know, I first learned, and this is something that I continue to live and to practice, I learned more about food when I was pregnant with my daughter. So I got pregnant with her and I was about 26. This was soon after that retinopathy diagnosis. And I was able to go on and get some laser surgery in my eyes. And my eyes have been stable since, thank goodness. Very thankful for that. But learning the balanced— I call it, you know, you've heard the term balanced macros. There's all kinds of terms out there, but it's, it's really, it goes back to just understanding food and how food responds and how insulin and blood sugar responds. And then, of course, you throw in the cortisol, the stress. That's another whole layer, depending on our days and our time in life. And then how hormones, you know, throughout our cycles when we're still in our reproductive years, how that impacts insulin sensitivity. But you know what? I didn't know any of that back in those days. I continue to learn. But if I had known then what I know now, it sure would have been a smoother ride. And I know you spent a lot of time— I think it's just amazing what you do here in your community— is educating and awareness, knowing what to expect, what to ask, you know, what to talk to the doctor about. Because I really think— and I know you could say this as well— the women we meet, whether or not they're clients or just friends, there's just a— there's a disconnect with really what their body is going through. And they don't even know what to ask in order to kind of pull out a solution. That's what I wished I had back in my 30s and 40s, to be honest. I'm now post-menopause and, yay, I felt a lot more equipped going through that time. But it was still a lot of learning as I was going through it. Just talking about, and yet, you know, we're seeing a lot more in this space now, which is amazing. Menopause is now a word we're saying out loud. Right. It's actually a phrase. Then, you know, there's a lot of attention on it, thank goodness, but there's still a lot of confusion around it too, right?

Yeah, for sure. So, you know, we're all wearing— and this is apparently healthy people wearing continuous blood glucose monitors now. It's so much easier. But what were you doing on a day-to-day basis? Were you finger pricking, or how were you monitoring your insulin levels?

Yeah, well, it's actually glucose levels, right? So, and the need for the insulin. Exactly. Exactly.

Yeah.

Yeah. So, and again, and, you know, just to back up too, because insulin is a, it is a hormone that is needed by the body to turn food into energy, basically. So it's a transporter and it's a very necessary hormone and it interacts with so many other hormones. But back in those days, yes, it was finger pricks. And now I wear the CGMs as well. Boy, what a life changer that is when you can get that, you know, that data that's coming in, because data is so, so important, especially with glucose. And I love the trend that's going on now, you know, different people, different walks of life that are interested in really what their, you know, what their sugar is, you know, what their blood sugar response is to certain foods. But, you know, there are other things besides food that impacts our blood sugar. So everything.

Yes, it's about everything.

Yeah.

So let's give an example, because I think to our listeners, they're like, what do you mean, what do they mean everything?

Yeah. And you've already mentioned cortisol too. And I, you know, that is— luckily that is getting more and more even talked about within the type 1 diabetes community, that connection between stress and how the liver is going to, and it's a response, you know, our body wants to protect us, to keep us alive and surviving. And to do that, it takes glucose as energy for the body. But if we are in chronic stress, then we are, in some cases, we are pumping out that cortisol, or I should say the cortisol is indicating to the liver to pump out extra glucose. And that is just compounding the impact of what we're just trying to do. Again, if we're type, diabetic, it's something that we have to monitor with our own insulin dosages. If you're not living with type 1, which is probably the majority of your listeners, it's just that awareness as to how stress is impacting those numbers.

Then you realize, oh, that's because of this. So what causes stress? So everyone, just so that you understand that, too little sleep, causes stress. Exercise causes stress. Any exercise. So there's positive or there's negative stress, but any exercise is probably going to make your blood sugar levels go up. You may see them skyrocket if you're doing high-intensity interval training, which it should. They're supposed to— it's being released. That's your fuel. And yet if we don't see that bounce back, we don't see that come down, then something else is going on. But you can have an argument, you cannot have the argument and have that all going on inside of your head swirling around, still get the cortisol. So there are lots of ways to win, and that was pun intended. You're not trying to get the cortisol scorecard up, but all of those things. And then if you respond in a certain way to certain foods, most of the time that may be amplified when you're under the influence of cortisol. And notice I use those words wisely, right? On purpose. Under the influence.

Under the influence.

Yeah, it's almost like being drunk, right? You— whatever mood you were in before you got under the influence of alcohol is amplified when you are in it. And your response to certain foods may be the same. You may handle an apple and nut butter really well when you're not stressed or not sleep deprived, but have it be a very different response that you have when you are sleep deprived. So there's that, you know, in that set of rules that you play with every day of your life. I mean, I think that gives a listener a new appreciation for what it is you're doing, what it is you're juggling, you Hey, it's Debra. Can you think of one person who would benefit from this episode? Will you pause right now and share it? Send it directly to an individual or share it to your social media. This is how we, you and I, get a movement going and surround ourselves with women who are doing and thinking exactly what we want to do and think. The greatest work we have to do is in believing that it's possible, believing what it can look like now, in 10 years, in 20 years, and beyond. We are the first generation that collectively will strength train our entire lives, and that can change the way we all age. When you surround yourself with other women who are creating strong futures, we all win. You were 14, so maybe you were very active as a youth and maybe you weren't, but now you're a personal trainer. Obviously, you're very aware of benefits of fitness, and I'm sure you're very regularly active. When you first got started. What was that like though? That had to have been also a dance, like, do I need more insulin, less insulin, and what's the timing of my exercise? Take us down that path.

Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. Yeah, I've luckily— I have always been active, always enjoyed sports, and, you know, just doing different types of fitness solo. It's, you know, I use exercise as another tool to control my blood sugar. Or I don't like the word control, but to just kind of keep it in balance. It is one of, it's in my toolbox and it's not in everybody that lives with type 1's toolbox, but I would rather, I would rather lean on slow, steady or steady state type of exercise really does help. Burn glucose. And just like you said, you know, the high intensity, the weight training. And this is a funny story because anytime I go to the gym, I hop on it, let's say a StairMaster or the stairs or whatever, that, you know, that generally is my first thing just to warm up. That always just kind of keeps me level. It might drop me down 20 points or so on my glucose. But as soon as I go into the weight room and start doing, you know, say a round of, you know, back and biceps, pretty intense, you know, I do some heavy weights, I'm starting to creep up, you know, I'm starting to go up 30, 40, 50 points. And I know that's normal. It's amazing to watch on a CGM because you can see it in action. But, you know, your first reaction might be, "Oh, well, I need to run and get some insulin to cover this spike." But I've learned, not only is that activity going to make those muscles more responsive to insulin eventually, You know, within that point of time, it's doing what it's supposed to do, which is to protect you. But again, within the hour, I'm back down to level again. And what it does is that it makes me more sensitive to insulin all the time. I'll tell you, it is the number one thing I talk to my clients about. We've got to keep the muscles strong. We've got to do some resistance training. It's a metabolic Oregon. That is what these muscles do for us, especially living with diabetes. So, if I can rely more on the steady state and the resistance training, that's what I want to lean on. I don't want to lean on too much insulin. And I'm not beating up insulin because we definitely need it, but I would rather rely on those natural things that I do have control over, right? Than having to lean on insulin to bring that blood glucose down. And this is not even in any relation. We haven't even talked about how food is factored in there. But that is just something that I love that fact. And it's taken me time. It's, you know, it's always been a style of lifestyle for me. So it's not something that I've ever had to really change or add in. But I've just grown more appreciative of that process. And especially as I'm aging, as we're aging, you know, we've got to keep those muscles strong and maintained and all of that, especially when we have type 1 diabetes or any sort of threat of a metabolic disease. You know, that is something that we can lean on and point to, and it's definitely going to help us.

Yeah, yeah, so true. And just to kind of recap and maybe reframe the idea of burning calories and burning blood sugar in a stable way regularly, that's the aftereffect, that's the benefit, like the side benefit of strength training. So yes, to get stronger, yes, to gain more lean muscle so that we're re-body compositioning. But the purpose of having more lean muscle is so that you're going for a walk, you're going about your daily activities, you're sitting at your desk your body is burning more blood sugar to do its job because that muscle requires it. It's a sponge for blood sugar. So essentially that's fueling it, and the more muscle you have, the more that's true. So the less those roller coasters are big spikes and they're just gentle hills. So you're not really spiking terribly and having those valleys of no energy, poor energy. Can you tell us?

Yeah.

So I'm sure that every type 1 has probably, and maybe type 2s as well, but you've had a scary moment or two. Like, what was that for you? When did— when were you taken by surprise by a reaction?

And as far as low blood sugar, you know, it can go low or higher, but, you know, can both be scary. I will say, after, you know, again, when I was in my mid-20s into my 30s, and this was in my first marriage, I was extremely tight with my control, meaning I was trying to keep those levels in a very normal range. Again, fear of going blind. So that was my fear. So I reacted to it in a very strict way, and that was causing a lot of low blood sugar issues. And I cannot count on two hands how many of those I've had in the years. 911 calls in the middle of the night. Sitting at my desk at work and suddenly I've got 911 over me because I wasn't even paying enough attention to my numbers as I was working throughout the day. And, you know, unfortunately my coworkers were not as in tune with picking up maybe the body language and it was too late. It was just very humbling. You know, it was something— it's like, I got to get this straightened out. It was causing too much stress. And it was backfiring with relationships, just my relationship with diabetes, but also my relationships around me, you know, my family, my husband at the time, it was definitely a driver to our divorce. It created quite the stress and he didn't really know how to handle that. And that just created a wedge that did lead to divorce. Yeah, I mean, it's just all about awareness and having a support system and having people that you can trust and talk to. Again, this was many years ago. This was even when, again, internet was still very new. So there was still not really that much community to really lean on and to ask these questions to. So I felt very isolated. And that's what happens when we're isolated. We don't tend to stay close to really to what's best for us. We think we know it all and we don't tend to know it all or never will.

Yeah.

No.

And maybe we'll learn that lesson, but maybe not.

Maybe not.

Not every woman in perimenopause knows she is yet, but to all listeners, probably any woman over 40, we can almost bet you're, you're in perimenopause, even if you're not one of those experiencing a lot of negative impact through symptoms. We know that under the hood, we know what's happening. I was a lucky one as well. I know until actually into early mid-50s, thought, oh, I'm just gonna skate through this. And then, you know, until you don't. That's the way that works. That's the way that game works. But yeah, so talk about the connection when, when you either, number one, have a heightened awareness that, you know, hey, I have a lot going on, you know, weight changes, I'm not feeling like myself, or your, you know, belly fat weight gain, or you do have type 1 diabetes, why is hormone testing so important, or might it be more so?

Oh gosh, it's so important. And you know, this is going to maybe surprise some of your listeners, something that they're starting to be more aware of, the testing doctors, I mean, and that is getting your fasting insulin levels checked. So not your glucose levels, but this is really telling your body, it's really the bigger picture of the metabolic function. So that's what's going on. So obviously, just like I was just talking about how ideally we don't want to rely on as much insulin, we want to again rely on the food, we want to rely on the activity and the muscle. So when we get into the older ages, past 40, so all those other hormones like you just mentioned, estrogen is the most, most notable driver of this. When estrogen starts to drop, and I can speak from this myself. This is what happened with me when I was entering perimenopause, late 40s. I was all the things that I've always done to stay on target, blood sugar in check, weight was in check. Suddenly it all changed. Estrogen was dropping again. This was prior to even getting any of these tests done and prior to me even knowing that this was a factor. So this is definitely something that women need to be aware of. And, you know, most diagnosis of it starts with that pre-diabetic stage. So again, you know, that's when our fasting glucose starts to head closer to 100 milligrams per deciliter. And that is a marker that doctors will look at and say, you know, we need to start looking at, you know, this fasting number. But the most important number is that insulin level, because in other words, your body is having to pump out a lot more insulin And even if that fasting glucose is not a bad number, how much insulin is it taking to reach those goal blood sugars or that A1C, however they're measuring it? So that is the missing most valuable piece. And again, those are all impacted by estrogen. Estrogen drops, insulin resistance goes up. Very common with midlife women. And just so much. Yeah, it's like putting the pieces to the puzzle together, for sure. Yeah.

And so many women are not thinking about it before it happens, but thinking about it in that moment. They're in the doctor's office and they're told you're insulin resistant. And it's a woman, very likely, who might be listening to the show who's already very aware, you know, and feels like, I've been eating healthy my whole life, I've been exercising, I've been health conscious my whole life, how could this be happening to me. And you pointed out and began this with the sentence, you know, maybe surprised to know because testing is a little bit behind, that it's really necessary for us to be advocates for our own health. Yeah. To listen, to read as much as possible, and be careful of reading and where your sources are. Knowing that it's on the internet is not enough. Knowing a social influencer said it may not be enough. You know, if she's talking about her own experience, it's a door opener, but not necessarily where you want to stop your search or research. But I love that you pointed that out. So in terms of your testing, so the connection between estrogen dropping and insulin changing, so are you? Did you opt to do hormone replacement therapy? Or, you know, what did you do? Or what would you do differently now?

Yeah, great questions. I started with some herbal add-ons to my, to my regimen when I'm realizing I was going through this again. This has been the earlier times, but I got my— I went ahead and pursued my doctor and said, again, doctors are not they don't generally know what to test, how to test, how to interpret the test, and what to do with the results, unfortunately. So you have to be— you know, there are many hormone specialists out there, OB-GYNs that we tend to always rely on. They're not always the first ones to ask, and if they are, definitely go in prepared. But for me, I got my levels tested. It's important to know where our foundation is. You know, you got to know where you are now. And then with me, obviously, I've got these other— this other data, my A1C my weight, you know, I gained 8, 9 pounds out of the blue. It made absolutely no sense. So there were obvious things that were changing, yet all the variables that I'd always turned to were no longer working or enough. And this is so common for, for many, many women, diabetes or not. So for me, it was really just getting, you know, getting that full panel just to see where my estrogen, progesterone, testosterone testosterone, the ones that they change, or the ones that they check. And I did. I chose to get on hormone replacement therapy. I sure did. I've been doing that for a little over 4 years now. And immediately, and as you may or may not know, it takes a little bit to get that dialed in, and your body has to adjust. Insulin has to— again, all these hormones are in sync. They should be in sync. And until they are, again, you're still going to feel some of these symptoms, whether it's the weight gain, the sleeplessness, the insulin resistance. But with time, I got it all dialed right back in.

So good. Yeah. And I think that's a valuable distinction to make, is looking at— they all play in an integrative way, not in isolation. So if one or more of your hormones change midlife, which is, you know, it is always estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, those changes have gotten our attention when it actually may be insulin, cortisol, or something else that always are present and were there. But because we're, we're experiencing this rapid decline in others, there's a domino effect in so many other areas of our lives— our ability to gain or maintain lean muscle, bone density, our immune system, our gut health, so many things. As well as blood sugar levels. So, Melissa, you have some expertise in so many different areas, you know, related directly to type 1, but to really any woman. So, you know, I mentioned in the opener, you know, if you don't have type 1, you still belong here. There's still great information for you. So talk a little bit about practices, strategies that you recommend that help support insulin sensitivity when it comes to eating and eating mindfully. I think eating during midlife just becomes a hassle.

Can I just say that? You said it out loud.

Yeah, it's confusing. It's the foods I used to eat that worked for me don't work anymore. It's the foods I love I'm afraid of, you know. It's, well, can I eat dairy, or can I eat bread, or can I not? Yeah, can I You know, are eggs good or, or they're not good? You know, it's, it's very confusing, I think, for women to figure out. So, I mean, this is really important. How do you— I know you've got some techniques and strategies, but what would you recommend to somebody who's in that moment of, geez, you know, I don't even know. I can go into a grocery store but still really know not what to buy.

Yeah, and you know, this is a, this is a question that we almost have to ask ourselves because we're all so unique. I think a lot of my clients will come to me and yeah, they, they pretty much just want me to tell them what to eat. I can't, I can't do that. I mean, I'm not a registered dietitian. I said, I will, I will show you some things, I will introduce some things, and again, you still got to listen to your body and how your body's responding to it. So what might work on my plate may not be enough or work on someone else's plate. But generally speaking, I'm, I'm all about real whole foods. So again, natural, good source vegetables, fruit, quality protein. I do happen to be a meat eater, so I eat all foods really— fish, eggs, meat, and all of that. Grains for me and carbohydrates, again, I think there's a mis— sometimes there's a confusion with carbs because we think that carbs are just bread and rice, but obviously vegetables are different types of carbs. And the non-starchy are obviously the best. They're full of vitamins and nutrients and beautiful colors, and they give our body what, what it needs. And it is a less stress on the body when it comes to insulin needs. So that is something that I definitely lean on. But we also need to, um, and if, and if we're active, you know, we still need to bring in that glucose.. But I'm just all about quality. You know, it's about, you know, the sweet potatoes, black rice, farro, you know, those are some of the grains that I like to make. And, you know, some things that you can make at home just to kind of round out a balanced plate of food, but rich in color, real whole food ingredients. That's always, that's always my first advice. And to not skip the fat. Gosh, back in the day, I used to think this was our generation, wasn't it? Low fat, low sugar, you know, all the fake foods. We didn't know, you know, we didn't know what we didn't know, but our body, our muscles, our joints, our brains need those healthy fats. So I'm a big advocate of good quality olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds, and all stuff like that. I hope that answered your question. Basically, that's kind of the way I eat, and that's kind of where I try to guide people. And then around that, you, you have to look closer at what maybe certain types of micronutrients might be kind of aggravating your system or not agreeing with you. And I do, and I have to agree with you about the different times in life. Dairy is something that I used to tolerate. Now I just stay away from it. And I think a lot of that is just the quality, you know, the quality of the food is not something that we can necessarily rely on. So for me, it's just easier to avoid what used you know, it now seems to be a trigger.

So good. Do you notice a dramatic difference among clients that you might be working with? Say, you know, what works for an ideal snack or meal for one working so very differently for someone else. Any examples that you can share of that?

Yeah, that's, that's really good. You know, I actually have some recipes. I have it on my website, so I've got a beautiful website or I should say a software that builds recipes that I bring into my site and, you know, share with anybody that visits it. And what's nice about these recipes, and this goes into the snacks and the desserts and those things that we can kind of make, I'm all about making things at home. We don't want to rely on packaged food or things that, you know, that, you know, we have to kind of guess at the ingredients or guess at how our body's going to respond to it. But, you know, things like apple and nut butter, I know that's just like a, you know, that's a go-to, right? Things like, you know, like a bed of greens with a hard-boiled egg with some sauerkraut on top. I know that sounds funny, but I love eggs and sauerkraut. How about that? So, yeah.

So, so are you saying that someone responds— you've had the experience where somebody responds well to that, somebody else responds poorly to it?

Not, not poorly or bad. You know what, I think it always starts with the taste and the convenience and just what they're willing to try. I think that does tend to be the first barrier that we kind of walk through, you know, when we're talking about what they're eating and what to bring in. I'm all about adding in, not necessarily, you know, taking out, you know, because when you bring in better foods, it kind of crowds out what you used to lean on or point to or buy at the grocery store. So I'm all about just kind of bringing in some new options. But snacks is just definitely— and I And I don't know what you think, but I, I don't know that we necessarily need snacks. It just depends on really how our day rolls and what our energy needs are that day. I know I tend to bring in more protein-rich snacks just so I can get my protein levels up to par every day. That's one thing that I do focus on and something I definitely work with my clients on too, you know, to get creative with, you know, the different ways to pull in some more protein.

Yeah, and similarly, so ideally, you know, in terms of a very low-level intermittent fasting, I'm a big fan of 3 meals, no snacks, and then we try to get at least a minimum of 12 hours overnight for an intermittent fast. That's just reasonable. However, your activity level is high, you're going to need a snack, and you're going to need potentially a 4th mini meal, you know, if that's not a smoothie or recovery shake after might be something else. But what I've noticed is a dramatic difference in response to, say, apple and nut butter works well for one, terrible for another. So blood sugar levels will spike, you know, not what you want. And/or if it's, say, mid-afternoon prior to a workout, that might be okay. If it's just mid-afternoon and it's an apple and nut butter and there's a spike that's not what we want, right? So we don't have anywhere for that to go other than, you know, to storage, which is, you know, what ends up happening. So I think another play for everybody, you know, continuous blood glucose monitors— if you're not aware of what's happening and you feel like you're doing everything you can but not seeing change, it may help you to see exactly what is your reaction what's going on here. We can give, I think, easily give a list of things to do or try or follow. And then each of us has this different stuck point where I'm not willing to do that because often we just need some hard evidence, you know. And when you've got the continuous blood glucose monitor, you have it right there. Your body's telling you, here's how I'm reacting to this. So at least your informed decision, I think, is easier to make. And let's face it, with all the decisions all of us have, if we can make decisions easier to make, right, just reduces the overall stress load that we've got during the course of a day.

Absolutely. Thank you.

This has been so very helpful.

Oh, it's wonderful to share this with your audience.

Absolutely. Thanks. And I know you have something special for the audience in terms of handouts. So point them to where they can get that.

Yes, and I'm assuming you will probably link this here. I do have a free download. It's a 3-step guide of how to navigate blood sugar in menopause. So again, that's a free, free load. And you know, just to mention too, I have a podcast. It's Type 1 in Midlife. So if this speaks to some of your listeners, just hop over to Apple and find me there.

Very good. Awesome. So thank you again for being here. And everybody listening, we've got you covered with all the links, how to connect with Melissa, get that download, where to find her on social as well as the podcast. And it will all be here at flipping50.com/insulinresistanceinmenopause. And what are you waiting for? Let's start flipping 50 today. Thank you for listening. To listen to a decade of episodes and to get the show notes, visit flipping50.com where you'll be able to find all the previous episodes. And I made it super easy to make the most of your listening time and get exactly what you want to listen to as top priority. By getting the top 10 episodes in the areas you most care about, like how much protein do you need, weight loss, and other 3 ultra important topics we've identified as our community's top 5. There's no more powerful health influencer in the world than you, midlife woman. So go and listen right now. Do you have a question for a podcast? A question you would love to ask, or maybe a story you want to tell? Did you know we have a special group just for podcast question roundups and the answers? My community coaches and I provide answers daily inside of of this group, but it's also where I go when I occasionally say, okay, open call for podcast questions or tell your story. Would you like to be a guest? So if you're looking for a community of women who are also interested in optimizing their health, strengthening their mindset, and looking forward to every new year, join the Flipping 50 Insiders group. That's Flipping 50 Insiders. Insiders on Facebook.