True Patriot Love - From Pain to Purpose： Her Hypothyroidism Journey ft. Kat Ostroumova

00:00:00.000 Kat Ostronova is a multi-hour winning women's wellness coach, hormonal imbalance specialist

00:00:06.300 and keynote speaker dedicated to helping women take back control of their health and lives.

00:00:13.340 After battling hypothyroidism for over a decade, Kat transformed her own life through science-based

00:00:20.180 nutrition, fitness and mindset work, fueling her mission to help other women do the same.

00:00:26.440 As the founder and CEO of CAT International Wellness, she leads a global coaching platform offering personalized programs that support women with hypothyroidism, PMOS, and metabolic imbalances.

00:00:40.800 Kat's holistic, results-driven approach has earned her multiple awards, including Toronto's People's Choice Award in Health and Fitness, Canada's Top Fitness Trainer, North America's Women of Inspiration Award, and Canadian Choice Award.

00:00:58.560 Kat's expertise has been featured on national television, radio, and in major publications.

00:01:05.420 Her work continues to empower women worldwide to heal, thrive, and redefine what wellness truly means.

00:01:18.380 Today as GPL Media, I'm lucky enough to have Kat Ostromova.

00:01:23.160 Welcome to the show.

00:01:24.320 Thank you so much for having me.

00:01:25.820 So good to see you.

00:01:26.860 Good to see you.

00:01:27.640 We met last year at International Women's Day.

00:01:30.780 Yes, at a conference, and we were on a business panel together.

00:01:34.000 That's right.

00:01:34.380 it was amazing yeah very inspiring yeah so talking about inspiration i'm gonna dive into the soul

00:01:42.700 right away what inspired you to pursue women's health coaching as a career well i can truly say

00:01:50.220 that i have turned my pain into purpose it was never a goal of mine to get into fitness and

00:01:56.460 wellness and i was very much deep into my corporate job in the corporate world and that's

00:02:02.300 where i thought i was going to stay forever but uh it dates back to really when i was 17 years old

00:02:08.860 i was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism which is an overactive thyroid condition i never heard of that

00:02:16.700 yeah not many people have but believe it or not one in three canadians alone are affected by it

00:02:21.980 and 50 have no idea that they have a thyroid condition when i was going through your bio

00:02:26.860 and i read hypothyroidism i'm like it is interesting so that's what i said okay let's

00:02:32.380 talk about it right absolutely we have to talk about we have to raise awareness because it is

00:02:36.140 so common especially in women but again there's not enough awareness and education around it

00:02:41.180 and so that hyperthyroidism disease morphed into hypothyroidism at the age of 19 which is under

00:02:49.420 active thyroid condition because of a double dose of radioactive iodine treatment that i had to

00:02:54.700 receive in order to treat hyperthyroidism so i went from one extreme to the next in a span of

00:03:01.820 two years and my thyroid went into a thyroid storm as we call it and symptoms like fatigue depression

00:03:08.380 hair loss anxiety infertility um heavy periods inability to lose weight that i gained and the

00:03:15.740 weight gain was uncontrollable all came pretty much at once and at the age of 29 i've hit rock

00:03:23.020 bottom where i felt like i was losing who i am i was constantly doing blood work and my blood work

00:03:30.220 was constantly coming back normal as the doctors were saying and i said to my doctor you know i

00:03:35.740 feel like i'm trapped in someone else's body and mind at this point and she said to me well your

00:03:40.380 labs are normal so do continue doing what you're doing eat less work out more and here's a

00:03:46.780 prescription for antidepressants and off you go and so after struggling with that for 10 years

00:03:52.460 i said enough is enough and i ended up taking matters into my own hands and i took a very

00:03:57.500 holistic approach to wellness and i was able to slowly but surely start to transform my life and

00:04:03.100 start to feel better and when i started to feel better i said okay there's another goal that i

00:04:08.780 need to set for myself because i feel like when you go through a very deep transformation journey

00:04:14.860 whether it's in your wellness or fitness or business there's always that little bit of a

00:04:19.420 fear of what if you go back to your old self you constantly need to evolve and level up and strive

00:04:26.020 for more so I set a goal for myself to compete with the WBFF in a bikini competition and that

00:04:32.700 was the next thing I prepped for wow and that opened up the door into the fitness world and

00:04:38.500 that opened up the door to their social media platform and they ended up sharing my before and 0.97

00:04:43.100 after on their socials which attracted women on a global level to say i actually recognize myself

00:04:50.060 and you're before i hear what you're saying with the symptoms that you are experiencing

00:04:54.540 how did you do it can you help me my doctor's saying the same thing and so very quickly i

00:05:00.220 realized that there's such a gap in the health and fitness industry back then and even so now

00:05:05.580 we're we're told so much if you want to lose weight eat clean and eat less and exercise more

00:05:13.100 But it's such a different ballgame when it comes to women's health in general, but especially those that are suffering from a hormonal imbalance like hypothyroidism.

00:05:21.380 And so I thought, you know what? I am no one special. I'm an ordinary girl. I'm an immigrant.

00:05:26.040 And if I can do this, any woman can do this, too.

00:05:29.640 And so that has become now my mission to help other women that are struggling with hormonal imbalances and their wellness journeys.

00:05:37.720 I have one favor to ask. Many of you have not subscribed yet.

00:05:41.820 If you enjoy our content, debates, and interesting conversations, then click the subscribe button at tplmedia.ca.

00:05:50.560 It takes only a few seconds, and it's free.

00:05:53.740 I promise we'll continue to do our very best to bring you the souls you enjoy.

00:06:00.000 All of a sudden, you find out, like, not only you, thousands of other women are.

00:06:05.780 Yeah, millions of them are in your shoes.

00:06:08.720 Exactly. Exactly.

00:06:10.360 So talking about women's health, how about women's health, how it's interesting to work with? 1.00

00:06:19.300 Well, I mean, women's bodies are extremely complex.

00:06:23.340 And I mean this in the best way possible, right? 1.00

00:06:27.940 So what happens is when we introduce a one-size-fits-all approach, it doesn't work.

00:06:35.520 It is not sustainable. 0.97

00:06:36.680 So I'm fascinated with seeing changes in every woman.

00:06:39.940 but no body is the same no everybody is different you and me it's totally up exactly exactly and

00:06:47.620 beyond the body itself everyone's life is different it is everyone's lifestyle is different stress is

00:06:55.460 different families jobs right so that all needs to be taken into consideration when we're dealing

00:07:01.860 with women's health it's not just about being on a medication or following a proper certain diet

00:07:08.340 it's an entire lifestyle that needs to be looked at for these women and so i think it's absolutely

00:07:14.420 fantastic and interesting to work in that sphere and to see women take control of their lives you're

00:07:20.100 basically treating women from top to bottom 100 percent in and out and you know experience and 1.00

00:07:27.700 everything everything right i on my calls with my clients or potential clients i even ask them

00:07:32.980 take me through your daily routine not just your symptoms not what the blood work shows but

00:07:37.940 how about you as a person what happens when you wake up what do you do first thing right

00:07:42.340 what happens during lunch time what are you eating during lunch what happens when you get home who's

00:07:46.260 stressing you out in life and who is your biggest supporter all of those contribute to the way that

00:07:52.340 she feels day to day so when you treat the people like that you do ask them about their past life

00:07:59.860 absolutely it impacts right everything is impacted everything right it's traumas yeah traumas that

00:08:05.780 happened prior to them being this version of themselves has the trauma been dealt with or

00:08:10.900 are we carrying it into this new era that you're in yeah there are how we gonna resolve that is

00:08:17.460 trauma is still in her head inside her brain exactly are we gonna treat the trauma first

00:08:23.060 before you're treating something else yeah and i do believe that everything starts with your

00:08:27.380 mindset before we get into any of the nutrition aspect of it and fitness part of it and introducing

00:08:33.540 support vitamins and supplements all that is fantastic but it has to start with your mindset 1.00

00:08:38.040 that's right so our common complaint from women about our health care system is that women's

00:08:44.720 health struggles aren't taken seriously what do you have to say about that i hear this very very

00:08:51.860 often and it's interesting that you're asking me this because just a few days ago i posted a reel

00:08:56.620 on my instagram and it went viral and it was about how uh the labs keep coming back normal

00:09:03.480 but i'm still feeling like everything is wrong with me and so we have to again look beyond the

00:09:10.460 labs you know and actually consider everything else is going on yes labs are important but also

00:09:17.880 are symptoms and whenever you're experiencing certain symptoms that is your body's way of

00:09:23.620 communicating with you to say something is wrong so advocating for yourself and going beyond just

00:09:30.480 looking at the numbers or the range that it's in is where you're supposed to start and once you

00:09:36.340 build from that then you start to understand exactly what your body needs asking questions

00:09:41.740 seeking second opinion and knowing that you are allowed to get that extra support you don't just

00:09:47.740 have to settle for okay well here are your labs yeah here it's normal and then you're going to 0.94

00:09:51.940 feel stuck and in silence and alone knowing that you're not alone again millions of women are

00:09:56.880 affected by one of them talking about second opinion i'm gonna go take second opinion for

00:10:01.880 myself good as you should because my i i went to my doctor she said everything is normal i said i

00:10:07.580 don't i i don't feel good but how can it be normal can you do estrogen tests oh you don't need

00:10:13.640 estrogen tests i'm like on what base you saying i don't need it oh i see your blood report so

00:10:20.520 she doesn't want me to do it so yes i'm going for the second opinion exactly yeah and you should go

00:10:26.320 until you get that estrogen test because you know your body more than anyone you can feel it right

00:10:33.620 some women are not as tuned with it quite yet and others are very in tune with it i'm telling you

00:10:39.120 our bodies communicate with us anytime you have a headache you know that's a communication maybe

00:10:44.440 you're a little tired maybe you're a little stressed maybe you didn't get enough sleep you

00:10:47.640 eat properly right that that's a symptom so why are we completely neglecting all of the other 1.00

00:10:53.640 ones that are going on internally and settling for just labs or normal exactly so what women do you

00:11:01.240 personally look up to well i look up to a lot of women i mean my main two favorite ones are

00:11:07.880 my mom and my grandmother survivors and independent and just such great role models i also look up to

00:11:16.440 women who are building their dream life and their careers and their businesses but they're staying

00:11:22.520 true to themselves and they're being authentic because lately i've been seeing that it's very

00:11:27.240 it's becoming rare to see that authenticity and to see that real and raw person in there

00:11:33.640 um and genuinely i'm so inspired by my clients so my why in this journey started for me with

00:11:40.840 hypothyroidism but now my why every single day as to why i do what i do and how much i love it

00:11:46.280 are the women that i get to work with every day these are executives and business professionals

00:11:51.640 and entrepreneurs and wives and mothers and it is so inspiring to see them coming back

00:11:57.560 to themselves finally and choosing themselves and and understanding that self-love is the best

00:12:04.520 kind of love and feeling empowered and getting their power back there's nothing more rewarding

00:12:09.720 than that yeah talking about your mom i see the poster the day about your mom it was amazing

00:12:16.440 can you tell us a little bit about her yes so she has been a wife and a mom pretty much all her life

00:12:25.560 and that's all she knows and when you're in that role and that's all you know you tend to neglect

00:12:33.400 yourself a little bit and fall back and go on the last spot right you serve your husband you serve

00:12:38.760 your child which is me then you eat last right you go to bed last you get ready last and so that

00:12:45.640 started to transpire in all the aspects of her life and then when my dad got really sick he was

00:12:51.400 diagnosed with alzheimer's she refused to get any help because they've been married for 43 years

00:12:57.080 and you know for her that's her number one and only love and um she wanted to take care of him

00:13:03.640 until his last breath but when you are take your caregiver to somebody that's really sick and if

00:13:08.920 you've ever been through that experience you know how draining that is and you know that there's no

00:13:14.440 time for yourself and your mental health also starts to deteriorate in the process of all of

00:13:20.680 that and so it wasn't until my dad ended up passing away in january 2021 that my mom slowly but surely

00:13:28.680 started to get her spark back and started to come back to herself with the help of you and she you

00:13:35.000 know she well i'm i'm eastern european i'm russian right so in our culture there's no such thing as

00:13:41.720 i'm depressed or i have anxiety or maybe i should go see therapists there's no such thing if you say

00:13:47.880 that it means you're bored you know that's the meaning right that's the culture you i grew up

00:13:52.760 and in the household so she would never admit that right but through conversation and i know

00:13:58.840 how to deal with it because i deal with clients all the time you know i talked to her and i said

00:14:02.920 mom maybe we can implement this and maybe we can do these things and let's go on a walk together

00:14:07.160 and how about you know i'm meal prep when you eat what i'm eating and she slowly started to 0.97

00:14:12.280 see that she is feeling better um i also started to get her out of the house a little bit more

00:14:17.640 often you know um even things like spa appointments like those are so important too you know they

00:14:23.960 could be counted as superficial but they're not because these are all acts of self-care and self

00:14:28.920 love and so her coming back to herself was incredible and well you saw her transformation

00:14:33.720 oh yeah her skin like just her skin alone was glowing she went from being dull to glow i see

00:14:40.360 before and after i'm like yeah it's amazing yeah yeah and she was actually it's the glow that you

00:14:45.880 get on the inside that transpires onto the outside yeah so she's doing really well now so thank you

00:14:52.040 for asking nice so what health struggle have you dealt with as a woman yourself so my biggest one

00:15:00.040 has been hypothyroidism um and i do think it's important to define that as well as you said you

00:15:06.440 you haven't really even heard of it so the thyroid itself is a butterfly shaped gland in the middle

00:15:12.040 of our necks yeah everybody heard of thyroid but hypothyroidism that first thing yes yes so that's

00:15:19.900 that's a medical name for under active thyroid right and so the thyroid gland is responsible

00:15:26.100 for the production of the thyroid hormone and how our body uses its energy and so when the

00:15:31.940 production of that hormone either halts completely or slows down our body's systems and energy also

00:15:37.920 slows down so this is where you get that anxiety and depression everybody's talking about overactive

00:15:43.520 thyroid yes and nobody talks about and overactive is when it's in overdrive right so you're again

00:15:49.800 very anxious you're irritable you can't focus properly right so i was again as i said on both

00:15:55.600 sides of the spectrum um and also with hypothyroidism comes a lot of weight gain and that inability to

00:16:02.020 lose that weight too and so that has been the biggest struggle for me but it's also been a

00:16:06.300 blessing in disguise right because if I haven't experienced that and gone through that whole

00:16:12.520 situation in 10 years of struggle it wouldn't have brought me to be here and be on this mission to

00:16:18.460 help other women you know I also think that it's it's something that you can never stop showing up

00:16:27.040 for because there's no cure for a condition like this I cannot let go of this lifestyle that I'm

00:16:34.160 living right because if I do I will go back to the way I looked before and probably even worse

00:16:40.520 I will go back to how I felt and probably even worse because the older you get the harder it is

00:16:46.460 to to start something new and to make any kind of changes and for your body to get in through

00:16:51.540 those changes um so that has been um a struggle in the beginning but now I am very very grateful

00:16:57.900 for it and um I don't even see it anymore as a punishment like wellness is not a punishment

00:17:03.520 anymore for me it's a reward right it's it's self-care and showing up for myself and discipline

00:17:10.320 is the greatest act of self-love now yeah i even told you with the discipline i lost 20 pounds

00:17:15.440 and i'm sure you lost more than 40 pounds right yes exactly but it feels great it is discipline

00:17:22.260 is very important it's getting up early in the morning and going to bed early exactly i'm glad

00:17:28.920 you said that yeah because i don't believe in the 5 a.m club if you don't get enough sleep that's

00:17:34.760 right so as long as you're going to bed early the night before then you can get up early in the

00:17:39.960 morning but if you're not getting those enough sleep and women need more sleep than men especially

00:17:44.360 those that have hormonal imbalances you don't want to burn yourself out because at the end of the day

00:17:49.000 your body will give up that's right yeah so let's talk about your coaching in your coaching what do

00:17:55.480 you help women with well my goal in my coaching in any kind of medical condition if a woman has 0.51

00:18:01.960 one or not is to get the woman to take control of her life and thrive and feel empowered now

00:18:10.200 diving deeper into it we help women who struggle with thyroid conditions like hypothyroidism and

00:18:16.680 Hashimoto's which is an autoimmune disease PMOS formerly known as PCOS polycystic metabolic

00:18:24.120 ovarian syndrome um and um postpartum perimenopause postmenopause um and also glp1 support and helping

00:18:34.680 women before they started glp1 if that's the route that they choose during and also the exit strategy

00:18:40.440 to help them build those habits as well um and then the actual program itself is not a cookie 1.00

00:18:45.960 cutter approach because again i don't believe in you know one size fits all so every single woman 0.97

00:18:51.640 get support with customized nutrition customized routine and scheduling custom strength training 1.00

00:18:58.200 protocol support vitamins and supplements if they need to be added in there they don't always 1.00

00:19:03.720 need to be added in i know women just sometimes take them by the handful but you actually know

00:19:11.000 and of course accountability and 24 7 support i think the reason why this business this program

00:19:18.520 has been so successful and has gotten awards for it is that accountability portion of it because we

00:19:25.000 have such an easy time showing up for everyone else and tend to neglect ourselves as women now

00:19:32.120 they have somebody in their corner on top of them 24 7 keeping them accountable so now they don't

00:19:38.440 just have to show up for themselves on this journey they also have to show up for their coach

00:19:43.080 who's checking in on a daily basis and also knowing and having that support that you're not

00:19:47.560 alone and that 24 7 support as part of the customized premium training um was implemented

00:19:54.440 for me because when i was struggling with hypothyroidism it felt like a very silent

00:19:59.560 condition because nobody really gets it they look at you and they feel like okay well you're a little

00:20:04.120 overweight but there's nothing else wrong with you but they have no idea what's happening inside

00:20:09.080 so you feel very lonely and you feel like you're struggling alone and in silence and so for me i

00:20:14.520 really wanted to bring that into my program to help them understand that they're not alone and

00:20:19.240 they have us as coaches to support us and i have women messaging day night evening weekends doesn't

00:20:26.200 matter you are available 24 7 i know that 24 7 i am i am because that's what they need right

00:20:32.440 sometimes it's easier to talk to a coach than it is to a family member because there's a risk-free

00:20:38.280 safe judgment-free environment because i don't know anything about you beyond what you tell me

00:20:42.440 right and that's that creates a very very safe and you can trust the coach correct yeah correct

00:20:50.000 you course can keep secrets all the secrets i know yeah and will never tell that's right okay

00:20:58.120 so what step can women take in their everyday lives to be overall healthier and happier

00:21:04.420 i think that's a great question and lately there has been such an overwhelming amount of information

00:21:11.360 on wellness and on trends buy this thing do this add this into your diet take this one out add this

00:21:19.440 supplement wear this ring like there's so much happening and my advice is stick to the basics

00:21:26.340 and don't forget the foundations because that is what's going to keep it sustainable everything

00:21:31.960 else those are add-ons and you can add them in take them out but can you actually sustain that

00:21:37.380 but you have to know what you're doing without clothes you can you do have to know and it's it's

00:21:43.480 you know what it's very unfortunate that you need a coach for basic knowledge like that because

00:21:49.520 there are no secrets like there is no secret to it it's whole foods and balanced meals you know

00:21:56.280 instead of running out the door with a protein bar and a coffee filled with cream and sugar

00:22:01.160 right let's sit down for a second and just have some breakfast yeah that's balanced in the morning

00:22:06.120 that's one of the things right so prioritizing your nutrition prioritizing movement but it doesn't

00:22:11.420 need to be killing yourself at the gym for two hours every single day right two times a week

00:22:17.460 three times a week strength training from home maybe resistance bands body weight even just to

00:22:22.120 start right getting outside for a walk fresh air sunshine to help you manage stress and lower your

00:22:28.260 cortisol or starting with a meditation or yoga for half hour exactly it's the basics and

00:22:33.840 understanding too that you don't have to overhaul your entire life overnight it's not going to work

00:22:39.180 that's not going to be sustainable but it's picking and choosing small little things that

00:22:43.900 you can do on a daily basis and then stack them one on top of another as a habit stacker to help

00:22:49.580 you um create that right and boundaries creating and setting boundaries is huge really analyzing

00:22:57.100 who and what is draining your energy because that's huge and that is a huge contributor to

00:23:02.640 a lot of these hormonal imbalances many of you are not following us yet if you enjoy our content

00:23:10.480 debates and interesting conversations then click the follow button at tplmedia.ca it takes only

00:23:17.360 a few seconds and it's free i promise we'll continue to do our very best to bring you the

00:23:23.600 sauce you enjoy for myself i bought vibration plate for my birthday gift for myself so it's

00:23:32.640 been a while i'm using it so in my mind every morning i get up get down i have to stand on

00:23:39.440 the vibration plate for 10 minutes in the morning 10 minutes at night good that's my goal so and if

00:23:45.040 that works for you that's what you implemented that's fantastic but i also know that you did

00:23:51.120 do the basics first you talked you had an episode here about fasting and how great it worked and

00:23:55.680 you're sustaining i'm still going on correct yeah you talked about how you lost the 20 pounds and

00:23:59.840 you're maintaining it so you are still following the basics and that's exactly what i'm saying

00:24:04.960 get with the basics first build that foundation first and then you can add on the trends and the

00:24:10.320 gimmicks and shop for yourself and do all those things but nothing is going to replace that

00:24:15.040 foundation no you have to eat right you have to eat healthy exactly if you can you eat all organic

00:24:20.480 food yeah if you cannot just try to eat healthier exactly right yeah on top of meals balance protein

00:24:27.760 fiber complex carbs lots of veggies yeah yeah on top of the virus and plate i do my workout 20

00:24:35.200 minutes workout sometimes it goes to 30 minutes but i do every day movement that's a discipline

00:24:40.240 right it is discipline and also understanding and getting into the mindset that you're not moving

00:24:44.560 your body for aesthetics yes that's fantastic that what the result that comes with it that's

00:24:49.600 physical that's great but it's so much more than that it's your mental health right it's preventing

00:24:55.920 your muscle mass and bone density especially when we're going into perimenopause and postmenopause

00:25:01.360 right so these are and of course discipline and active self-love and that's your time for you

00:25:07.200 to create that shield around you and get those endorphins going which are happy hormones that's

00:25:12.720 right and all the stressors of the life in the world that are happening you have that bubble

00:25:16.880 around you yeah and you're happy and positive and it's like come at me whatever you're gonna throw

00:25:21.200 at me i'm good everything is positive everything is every day yeah you're regulating your nervous

00:25:26.080 system that's right so let's talk about what's the best time to pursue the healthier lifestyle

00:25:32.800 when you think it's the best time today right now right right now right now not next monday

00:25:41.440 not let me start on january 1st there is really never the right time to start because you're

00:25:48.420 always thinking i'll do it when life is less busy when is that ever going to happen then you have

00:25:53.680 new year's then you have valentine's day then you have march break then the kids are sick then you

00:25:58.380 get sick then you're going to go on vacation all the summers are out on the corner then we have

00:26:02.760 long weekends and cottages and then it's never going to happen you have to decide that you're

00:26:07.560 ready and then you go because ready is not a feeling it's a decision when you talk to someone

00:26:13.100 when you're gonna start this they're gonna say tomorrow I said tomorrow never comes tomorrow

00:26:16.940 never comes and it's so true yeah it's so true my biggest success stories with my clients and even

00:26:23.680 with myself are the ones that have the deepest why why do you want this how bad do you want this

00:26:30.780 what is the reason why you want to start on your health journey when the why is so deep and so big

00:26:37.060 like i have hypothyroidism and i hit rock bottom if i don't make some changes now i may not be alive

00:26:44.180 in the next few months like that's a deep why right there right i have some women with for

00:26:48.980 example pmos who cannot get pregnant they just can't and because that's one of the main symptoms

00:26:55.620 of it and that's a huge why because they want a family right so then they're like i'm gonna do 0.97

00:27:01.140 everything possible to get to my goal and have a baby so that's a huge why but you know there are

00:27:07.860 people that are saying i'm just i need to fit into a bikini by next summer or i have a wedding to go

00:27:13.300 to in italy i want to wear a pretty dress that's not bad but that's not going to be sustainable

00:27:18.500 you're not going to show up for yourself and stay disciplined if things are happening around you and

00:27:23.860 stressors are coming your way and no matter what's happening you're still going to show up for

00:27:28.260 yourself it's not going to work like that so when the why is big and deep enough that is when you

00:27:34.260 can make it sustainable and also getting into your mindset that your health deserves attention before

00:27:39.220 it makes you give it you need to start to love yourself you do yeah you do but self-love happens

00:27:45.300 from acts of self-care you have to take the action to do so yeah true so let's talk about menopause

00:27:52.420 so many menopause symptoms like the weight gain the exhaustion and brain fog feel exactly like

00:27:59.060 thyroid crash but that's not a thyroid for our women viewers how can they actually tell the

00:28:06.020 difference what's the tighter crash or which one is the menopause crash well i think first of all

00:28:11.620 it's very important to define what menopause means because you'll be surprised how many people don't

00:28:19.220 know true so the menopause is the anniversary of one year so 12 consecutive months of when you

00:28:28.740 stopped getting your periods right so if you stop getting your periods for 12 months and that day is

00:28:35.940 your 12 months anniversary congratulations you're in menopause the following day is actually called

00:28:43.300 post-menopause so really menopause is one day wow one day i didn't know about that yeah so but with

00:28:51.460 the terminology that we use all the time we say menopause menopause menopause i thought it was

00:28:56.500 an ongoing journey after it starts like after what starts menopause it's just like i have a

00:29:04.580 people around me say i'm on menopause i'm like okay how long it is for she keeps telling me

00:29:09.540 he says on menopause so I don't know yeah so I think the correct terminology for that means

00:29:14.180 perimenopause right so everything that leads up to that very first day in the for the beginning

00:29:21.480 of the 12 months when there's no period at all so that's the definition of it and everything

00:29:27.060 prior is perimenopause now perimenopause can start as early as age 35 35 that's what I'm

00:29:35.300 talking about i said i said to my doctor maybe i'm on perimenopause and see things i'm not

00:29:41.460 but i think my body is telling me and and based on what what is her on labs labs yeah so

00:29:48.680 unfortunately labs are not always going to give you the entire picture and labs are not always

00:29:54.300 going to show everything that's actually happening in your body now with perimenopause this is

00:29:59.020 actually wild and unbelievable but there are over a hundred symptoms of it a hundred right now the

00:30:05.700 question that you asked me prior to this was about thyroid so with your thyroid if the labs are done

00:30:12.020 properly and it's the proper test that the doctor runs you can tell that if you have a sluggish

00:30:17.900 thyroid or not so brain fog and anxiety and hair loss and feeling cold and exhaustion um all of

00:30:25.580 that can be linked to hypothyroidism. And if you do all of the thyroid panel, you can see that in

00:30:32.080 there. Now, with perimenopause, as I said, you won't be able to see it directly, yes or no. So

00:30:38.340 this is where it's really important to track your symptoms and to start tracking them early. So for

00:30:45.020 me, for example, I'm almost 40 and I can really feel a shift in the last year, I would say. And

00:30:53.060 And I'm feeling some of these symptoms as well.

00:30:56.180 Now I for a fact know that it's not my thyroid because my thyroid has been under control

00:31:00.460 now.

00:31:01.540 And I constantly get my things tested, my entire thyroid panel tested, all of my vitamins

00:31:07.180 and my body tested, D's and B's and ferritin and everything else.

00:31:10.980 And so I know that it's perimenopause coming on.

00:31:18.160 So what's the biggest lie or myth women are still being told about menopause today?

00:31:25.840 Well, there's many, but I think the one that stands out the most for me is just eat less

00:31:31.580 and work out more to lose weight during menopause or perimenopause or postmenopause.

00:31:37.960 And that is such a myth.

00:31:40.780 Again, we're dealing with hormonal changes and estrogen and progesterone changes.

00:31:45.860 And so eating less...

00:31:47.400 nothing to do with food nothing well I mean you some of it some of it yes definitely there are

00:31:52.260 certain foods that can cause inflammation in the body and blood sugar imbalances but when it comes 0.95

00:31:59.600 to actual weight loss and if you have a woman who's trying and is eating right and nothing's

00:32:05.180 shifting we got to look at the bigger picture here and actually what is really happening with

00:32:09.080 her and her symptoms and is she in menopause so let's talk about your fitness competitor you are

00:32:17.300 a fierce fitness competitor when you were younger honestly how has your own training and eating

00:32:24.380 changed now compared to what you did in your 20s and 30s yeah so I've that's another shift I've

00:32:31.360 noticed I've noticed that I cannot go and fast for long periods of time I used to do intermittent

00:32:39.200 fasting I'm still a huge fan of it I still do it but I can no longer do more than 14 hours I'm doing

00:32:45.040 18 hours yeah which i wouldn't recommend to women i would definitely recommend to men men can do

00:32:51.120 like even 24. i heard about that yeah because their hormones are different i mean men can cut

00:32:55.520 out one group food group out of their food and they're losing like 20 pounds in a week we can't 0.99

00:33:00.640 do that it doesn't work for us like that but um for women because our body will go into stress

00:33:07.200 right and our our cortisol which is our stress hormone is going to rise and when it rises it 0.99

00:33:11.280 causes inflammation and when it causes inflammation body starts to hold on to the food that you put

00:33:16.720 into it and instead of converting it into energy it will store it as fat and so fasting for me i

00:33:22.800 couldn't do more than 14 hours that's one thing i really noticed i also noticed that i can't handle

00:33:28.800 caffeine as much anymore at all i can only have you're laughing because you probably i do i do

00:33:35.680 one cup a day yeah so i'm able to do one cup a day and i don't even really do coffee anymore

00:33:40.800 I just do my pre-workout, which is the powder I take to give it that nice energy and taste great

00:33:45.840 for my workout. And that's it. In terms of workouts too, I used to be able to do fasted cardio

00:33:52.360 first thing in the morning, never hit because again, that raises my cortisol level. So I always

00:33:58.660 do low intensity steady state and I always have because of my thyroid condition. But I've noticed

00:34:03.960 that I can't do that anymore as much because I burn out. I really burn out. So I actually shifted

00:34:09.380 my focus on my training into strength training more and then cardio i actually cut it down to

00:34:16.580 three times a week that that's a good idea yeah yeah so it was just wearing me out more and with

00:34:23.220 food too i started to notice that i can't tolerate certain foods as much anymore more spicy yeah more

00:34:28.500 spicy i feel a little bit more bloated right if i have um a little bit more carb than i should i

00:34:34.500 i even feel bloated and very sluggish and those have been the changes you know and also just even

00:34:39.860 sleep wise sleep wise in my 20s and 30s i could be up all night and then go and train in the

00:34:46.500 morning and then go out and have drinks and with my friends and then go do it all over again right

00:34:52.260 absolutely not can't tolerate alcohol as much anymore at all and i need my my sleep my sleep is 1.00

00:34:58.100 like my my everything right my everything yeah it's protected yeah yeah sleep for women is they

00:35:08.020 said six to eight hours i actually need nine i need nine and um because again of my situation 1.00

00:35:16.020 with hypothyroidism i need to have way more rest than a regular person right and again women in

00:35:22.740 general more than men need that but especially those that suffer with hormonal imbalances

00:35:26.900 yeah yeah good yeah thank you for sharing your journey of course yeah and thank you

00:35:33.380 for coming to the show thank you for having me thank you

True Patriot Love - October 21, 2026

From Pain to Purpose： Her Hypothyroidism Journey ft. Kat Ostroumova

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