Weight Loss in Perimenopause Part 3: Stress, Sleep, and Supplements—The final pieces

By now, you’ve learned how hormones change in perimenopause, why diet and strength training matter, and how to eat and move to support your hormones instead of fighting against them.   Now we’re going to address stress, sleep, and smart supplementation — often overlooked but highly impactful areas.

1.Manage Stress — Expand Your Window of Tolerance

Ok, I’m not going to sugar-coat it — these two can be tougher than diet or exercise.  

As a single mom running a business with an aging dog needing lots of care, aging parents, a car on it’s last leg, and a to-do list 2 miles long, I get it.  My teenager is eating me out of house and home, enrolled at a rigorous magnet school, and “learning” to drive.  I’m at the grocery store every 2 days spending another $100, and my nervous system is dysregulated every time he’s behind the wheel.  And the fact that he’ll be gone in less than 3 years is equally stressful and depressing.   

I’m sure you’re also consumed with daily stressors — let alone prioritizing 8 hr sleep, lifting, zone 2 cardio & meal prep (especially challenging when your hormones make you feel sub-human.)  And now I’m telling you to do more to manage your stress!  

I can appreciate how hard this is.  In my previous life in sales, I couldn’t have fathomed doing half what I’m doing for my health now.  But when I burned my life  and health to the ground, I had to make big changes, and they trickled down.  The more time I spend on my own health and wellness, the healthier, happier, and more well-adjusted my son is, and the more bandwidth I have to show up for my clients.  

I only suggest strategies I consistently practice myself, so I know they are possible.  I also acknowledge that I didn’t do everything overnight.   It’s been a journey of self discovery, experimentation, and cultivating one or two habits at a time.  And the benefits I receive are worth every second of time and every dollar spent.

Stress is a huge driver of cortisol, cravings, inflammation & fat storage. We can’t always remove the stressor or self-care our way out of it.  But we can expand our ability to tolerate it, minimizing the impact it has on our hormones. Your hormones respond how your nervous system responds — When you’re in sympathetic overdrive (fight/flight/fawn/freeze), you’re cranking out cortisol and dysregulating blood sugar, minimizing the impact of your effort in the kitchen and the gym.

Here are some of the daily practices I incorporate.  Habit stack to save time. 

• Journaling

  → gratitude, intentions, emotion dumps, or dream reflection

I resisted for a long time, but I’m finally a believer.  There is something magical about consistently putting your thoughts on paper.  

Awareness sharpens and integrates as you see more patterns and connect more dots, and dumping “brain swirlings” on paper frees up space for more creativity, curiosity, and life-enriching content.  

✨ You can habit stack this with your wind-down time at night to help improve sleep (see below sleep hygiene habits)

• Breathwork

  → One of the most undervalued/ least time-consuming habits 

✨The hardest part is remembering to do it.  Set an alarm on your phone or stack with other habits (before/after meals).  

✨I use Dr. Weil’s 4-7-8 technique, but most breath patterns work.  Try to emphasize a longer exhale than inhale.  This encourages parasympathetic to take over the fight/flight responses of sympathetic. They can’t coexist.

• Meditation

  → even 5 minutes/day builds continuity and resilience.  

→ Meditation has profound effects on physiological markers of stress including blood pressure, respiratory rate, inflammatory cytokines, cortisol and adrenaline levels.

→ Short but consistent practices matter more than total time.  Start with 5 minutes or however long you can commit to doing every day. Then add incrementally. When you fall off, start back.  Consistency is the key!

→ Insight Timer is my favorite free meditation app.  You can search by time or any topic, and the list is endless. 

✨Some days its active breathwork instead of guided meditation.  Other days I listen to a lesson on the Mind Valley app or spend additional time journaling. It varies, but I always prioritize at least 20 minutes of stillness to go inward.   

✨ I like to lay on my Bon Charge mini PEMF mat during meditation and/or at bedtime to wind down.  Use code alisaturnerhealth for 15% off.

• Community

  → supportive community improves stress tolerance 

→ Your stress response is impacted by the energy of others, be it positive or negative.  Heavy emotions tend to feel heavier alone.  There’s a saying I love: “Sharing joy doubles it. Sharing pain cuts it in half”

I recently went through a rough season which I knew I needed to fully feel, so I created plenty of space to process emotions in ways I never have before.  But there’s a fine line between processing and rumination.  Friends provided a reprieve — their positive energy lifted mine just long enough to get through the next wave of grief.  

The same is true for less traumatic daily stress.  Sometimes you just need to escape the minutiae of your life. Friends can empathize, call you out on your bullshit, offer different perspectives, make you laugh, or simply provide space to love you through it.  

✨I like to combine friend dates with other health habits.  Walking, yoga, or the gym checks community AND  physical activity boxes.  Sound healing and sauna/cold plunge double as meditation/spiritual growth.    

• Boundaries

  → Start saying “No.”; protect your time & energy.

→ Honor yourself.  What do you REALLY want to commit to vs. what society says is important.   If it doesn’t light you up, is the “obligation” worth it?  Some are.  Others are not. Be led by your heart, not your ego.  

→ How much are you doing for your kids that they can do for themselves? I’m really working on empowering my son to do more for himself.  Not only is this important for him, it has freed up more space for me.  He packs his lunch, does his laundry, rides his bike to the gym, mows the lawn, and is responsible for keeping his room, playroom, and garage gym clean & tidy.  

✨What can you remove or delegate from your regular obligations?

• Vagus nerve stimulation

  → simple techniques like neck massage, humming, or coreageous ball exercises can calm the nervous system.

Here’s links to the ball and a handout with a complete set of exercises. 

✨When I’m short on time, or don’t have access to the ball, I just do the 4th one — Sternocleidomastoid Skin Pinch & Roll.

• Media

  → Be mindful of content you’re allowing into your consciousness

→ Listening to personal/spiritual growth books on a walk or in the car helps keep me focused on the larger picture (like my purpose and responsibility here on earth) and less fixated on mundane, stressful details that lower my vibration and mood.  

 ✨News.  I don’t watch it.  Ever.  My heart rate accelerates & my body does this frenetic buzzing.  Current events that I really need to know have a way of finding me through friends and family, so I trust that my body knows best.

• Professional Support

→ Remember, you can’t self-care your way out of stress.  The tools above are only meant to expand your window of tolerance for it.  

→ Sometimes a molehill becomes a mountain.  Or a mountain crashes into you.  Heavy grief.  Job loss.  Acute health crisis.  Divorce.  You can still use the tools, but sometimes you also need professional support.

2. Sleep — Non-Negotiable Hormone Support

Quality sleep is crucial for cortisol regulation, muscle repair, and insulin sensitivity. In perimenopause, low progesterone, night sweats, and high cortisol can disrupt sleep.

Tips for Better Sleep:

• Morning sunlight & consistent sleep/wake times 

→ helps regulate circadian rhythm, mood, hormones (cravings) & metabolism.  Go to bed and wake up within the same 30-min window (yes…weekends too) 

• Reduce screen, EMF, and bright light exposure at night 

→ Blue light interferes with melatonin.  

→ Wear blue light blocking glasses and set boundaries on screen time, incrementally reducing it so the changes are less dramatic/more sustainable.

→ Dim your lights in the evening.  

→ You can even buy special bulbs and EMF blocking accessories here.  Use code alisaturnerhealth for 15% off.

• Wind-down routine 

→ 30–60 minutes of quiet, restorative activities (reading, journaling, gentle stretching, a bath).  Even folding laundry can be meditative and relaxing if you set the intention.

✨ I like to lay on my Bon Charge mini PEMF mat during meditation and/or at bedtime to wind down.  Use code alisaturnerhealth for 15% off.

• Optimize environment 

→ cool (I sleep at 69 degrees), dark, quiet, comfortable bedding

• Support with supplements when needed 

→ we’ll cover specifics below

✨Sleep is the foundation for your metabolism, cravings, mood, and recovery. Skimping here can undo all your diet and exercise efforts.

3. Supplements — Support, Don’t Replace

Supplements can supercharge your efforts, but you’ll be wasting your money until diet, exercise, stress, and sleep habits are addressed. 

→ What works for one person may not for another — Supplements are personalized tools, requiring experimentation, not magic pills.  I have some listed below that I take, but my recommendations for clients will depend on their global health landscape, not isolated symptoms.

✨Aside from the progesterone, you can find them here on my Fullscript under the “hormone” category for a discount.  Once you set up a username and password, you’ll see my favorites categorized on the left.  

Always consult your physician before beginning any new diet, exercise, or supplement protocol.  I am not a physician.

Commonly Helpful in Perimenopause:

• Oral Micronized Progesterone → improves sleep, mood, and anxiety

I was told I shouldn’t need this because I have an IUD, but I persisted, and my body thanked me!  It’s been a game changer for my sleep, anxiety, and focus.  Find a doctor who will hear you and co-create a plan with you.

• Sleep Support by Klaire Labs (GABA, L-Theanine, herbs) – I’ve tried countless sleep supplements — most don’t seem to have enough of any key ingredient to make a difference for me.   But this one has 500 mg GABA/400 mg L-Theanine & calming herbs like Passionflower and Valerian.
• Adrenal Support by Vital Nutrients (Ashwagandha, adaptogens, whole adrenal/cortex) → helps balance cortisol
• Omega-3s / Cod Liver Oil → anti-inflammatory, supports insulin sensitivity

If you’re already lacking motivation for the gym due to declining dopamine, joint/muscle pain won’t help!  I love cod liver oil best because you also get Vitamin A and D as a free bonus!  There’s no “guideline” for DHA/EPA – I take 700 mg (that’s 3 of the Jigsaw brand capsules)

• Probiotics → maintain microbiome diversity, support digestion, mood, and visceral fat management

→ As estrogen declines, so does microbiome diversity which can contribute to visceral fat, mood instability, digestive distress, etc.

→ I rotate through probiotics to encourage diversity (several great options on my Fullscript.)  I’m currently taking a spore-based probiotic called MegaSpore in conjunction with Mega prebiotic and Mega Mucosa.  

→ Probiotics with lactobacillus rhamnosus and akkermansia can help with visceral fat but again, my recommendations for clients will depend on their global health landscape.

• Hormone Advantage by Thorne — DIM (Diindolylmethane)

→ helps balance estrogen metabolism

I’ve taken some form of DIM for years.  It has seemed to help with any hormonal related acne for me.

• Estrovera by Metagenics — I was soaking through my sheets multiple times a night which hasn’t happened once since adding this product.
• B-vitamins (whole food is key — not synthetic) 

→ support energy production and nervous system function

→ B vitamins are critical for nearly every system in the body, so I think of them as a safety net filling in any gap in the diet.   

→ Synthetic B-Vitamins are not very bioavailable so be mindful of where you source them.   

• Creatine Monohydrate

→ Helps preserves lean mass and cognitive function

→ Vital role in the production of cellular energy

• Other options I’ve taken at dosages indicated below but are not in my current stack: 

→ Rhodiola (100-200 mg in am), Myo-inositol (~2000 mg), Phosphatidylserine (50-100 mg) for sleep/cortisol, Holy Basil

→ Chromium (200-1000 mg)  / Myo-inositol / Green Tea Extract (100-500 mg) — insulin response 

→ BCAAs 

✨Start low, track response, and adjust carefully. Supplements should always complement a solid foundation of diet, movement, sleep, and stress management.

✅ Key Takeaways

• Stress management and nervous system regulation protect your hormones and energy

• Sleep is essential — treat it as non-negotiable for metabolism, mood, and weight management

• Supplement wisely — use targeted tools to enhance what your lifestyle already supports.Stress management and nervous system regulation protect your hormones and energy

• Always consult your physician before beginning any new diet, exercise, or supplement protocol.

Bringing It All Together

Perimenopause doesn’t have to feel like a battle against your own body. By addressing hormones, diet, strength, stress, sleep, and thoughtful supplementation, you can:

• Regain energy and mental clarity

• Reduce cravings and bloating

• Preserve or build lean muscle

• Support healthy weight management

• Feel more like yourself again

These are the same strategies I use regularly for myself and my clients.  They work.  So, if you’re concerned about perimenopause weight gain, start prioritizing one at a time — stay the course for at least 30 days before deciding if it aligns.  And remember, just because you don’t feel meaningful improvement in 30 days, doesn’t mean it’s not working behind the scenes. You may just need to add the next habit on top of it — there is magical synergy between them all. 

If this feels overwhelming, or if you’ve tried everything and are still stuck, I offer 1:1 coaching. You can book a free 15-minute consultation here.