Wendy Valentine welcomes fitness expert Desi Bartlett to midlife makeover

Wendy Valentine: M welcome back to another episode of the midlife Makeover show. I’m Wendy Valentine, and today we have an incredible guest who’s here to help us navigate one of the most important transitions in a woman’s life. It starts with minnow, and it ends with paws. With over 30 years of experience in the fitness and yoga industry, Desi Bartlett is an internationally published author, women’s empowerment retreat leader, content creator, and celebrity trainer. She’s basically a badass. Desi is passionate about giving women the tools they need to feel strong and confident as they go through the menopausal transition. Today, we’re diving into the big three challenges many women face during menopause. Hot flashes, sleep disturbances, and weight gain. And Desi is going to share her expert advice on how to navigate these changes and feel better in our bodies. Oh, yes. Get ready for an empowering and insightful conversation. Let’s give a warm welcome to Devi.

Desi Bartlett: Aloha, Wendy.

I’m curious about your experiences going through perimenopause and menopause

I’m so happy to be here with you and talk, about this huge transition in a woman’s life. I’m a woman of a certain age. I’ll just share. I’m 53, and so all of these things are in the forefront of my mind, and I am kind of selfish in the sense that I want to know how to fix what’s going on in my own body, but super generous in the sense that I want to share that information with every woman so that each woman can feel better from the inside out.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, exactly. I was going to ask you how young you are, but, you know, you’re not supposed to ask those things because I. And I wanted to ask you because it’s like, as you go through those last, you know, 20 years, I was curious because you’ve obviously been doing this for 30 years. And how has that helped you, do you think, going through perimenopause and menopause as you get into your fifties?

Desi Bartlett: Well, way more information than anyone needs to know about me, but I have not actually hit menopause. Menopause is the day that marks the twelve month anniversary of not having a cycle. So it’s almost like a birthday, like one day in time. Everything before that or the seven to eight years before that are, perimenopause, and then the time after that is post menopause. And what I find is that women don’t even understand all of the different terms because we’re not taught what these terms are. And if you don’t know what they are, it’s all good. That’s why I’m here. I love to educate and to share the information. And if you already do, and you’re like, no, no, no, I got it. Then we can absolutely dig into what each of these phases look like and what they feel like in your body, because there’s so much to take in and think about, like, sex ed in. In high school, nobody talked about menopause. You know, they talked about, like, getting your cycle, not getting pregnant, and that was it. So it’s time. It’s time to share the info.

Wendy Valentine: I know, and I’ve shared on the show before, but I went through perimenopause in my forties. I’m already post menopause. Some people don’t like that term, post menopause, but I’m like, post menopause. and I didn’t know. I mean, we weren’t talking about it even that much eight years ago. It was just not talked about very much. I was like, oh, I needed, like, I needed you eight years ago, you know, like, but. And I didn’t know what was going on in my body. I had the hot flashes, the sleep disturbances. I had migraines. I had the weight gain. I, mean, you name the symptom. I had it, like, all at once. and it’s overwhelming to go through it and not. And you’re, you know, I jumped from doctor to doctor not knowing what was going on with me, and then it was finally was like, oh, is this perimenopause? You know, like, I had no idea.

Desi Bartlett: Yeah, it’s absolutely something that people don’t really talk about. And then the other thing that I see is that women, until now, didn’t really speak with each other about it. And it was kind of, It’s like we experienced it alone in a silo. Like, I’m over here having my experience. You’re over there. And I feel like our generation Gen X, we tell the truth now, that we’ve all hit that age. We’re like, all right, how do we tackle this? What can we do? How can we share the information, but also, how can we do it ourselves? Because I think a lot of us were like latchkey kids, and we’re so independent, and we’re mavericks and pioneers. We want to be able to figure it out in our own bodies. To your point about symptoms, up to 75% of women can have hot flashes, whether that’s a hot flash during the day or night sweats. If you’ve ever woken up and you’re like, oh, I got to change these sheets, then you know what I’m talking about. What I’ve become really passionate about is figuring out, okay, well, what can we do for this? I know that pharmaceuticals can help some women, but they can’t help every woman. And in some women, it can actually make the symptoms worse, or you can experience different symptoms. So how can we mitigate the symptoms and not make you feel worse is where I’m really going. So, to that end, I’ve gone back to school. After 25 years of being out of school. I’m in school now. I’m four months out for my PhD, and I am just a big old science nerd. And I immerse myself in the research about vasomotor symptoms, sleep disturbances, and belly fat. And the way that these three work together, Wendy, is it’s a cascade. So think about it. Like, you wake up, I don’t know, three in the morning, sweating, and you’re like, oh, my gosh, I got to change my sheets. So now we’ve had vasomotor symptom, which led to the sleep disturbance. Perhaps that happens several times throughout the night. Oh, my goodness. Now, you’re not set up for success. When you wake up in the morning, wake up in the morning, what do you do? I didn’t have enough sleep. I need some quick energy. I need caffeine. I need sugar. And then a year, a year and a half in, all of a sudden, I look down, and my tummy’s like. It looks like I’m three months pregnant. So these are all really, really common. But common doesn’t have to be normal. And we can change this together through yoga, through fitness, through meditation, through a combination of all of these things. So that, again, you can feel strong from the inside out and not just like you’re surviving.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, exactly.

Yoga can help ease stress during perimenopause and menopause

And how do you feel that with movement? How much that helps? I mean, even specifically yoga, how much that can help going through perimenopause and menopause, it can help so much.

Desi Bartlett: It can help you to feel more comfortable in your own body, but it can also help, for example, restorative yoga can help to kind of take the edge off of our, frazzled nerves. Because if you’ve gone through that whole cascade of waking up and then not being able to get back to sleep and then having to go to work and then reaching for sugar and then realizing that maybe your pants don’t fit the same, like, how are you going to soothe your nervous system? Because at that point, you’re going to be in that parasympathetic pardon me? You’re going to be in the sympathetic nervous system response. You’re going to be like, oh, my gosh, what do I do? And then the cortisol starts to course through the body and it compounds.

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

Desi Bartlett: So it’s my job to kind of look at, well, where can we help you chill out? Where can we help you? To breathe deeply, to find a deep sense of center and reconnect to the voice within. And then I recognize, of course, we got to get you to work out, too, right? We need to lift some weights. We got to keep your bones and muscles strong. So it’s finding that perfect combination of weight training, yoga, and then I add in meditation as well, because for me, that’s really the key to waking up every day and feeling excited about the day and being able to listen to the dream of your life without the outside world just rushing in and telling you what you’re supposed to think.

Wendy Valentine: I know you know this, but yoga means the union of body, mind, and spirit, right? And when I, when I got certified in yoga, I was so fascinated by that, and I hadn’t really, like, thought about it much, but as I kind of went through the whole program, I started to realize more and more of that, especially when you’re on the mata and it’s like you’re in your own little world. It’s like a little magic carpet ride. And you really can. I it’s so, it is very meditative. Right. Yoga in itself, it’s a different form of meditation, and you can kind of tap more into not just what you’re thinking, but even what your body is feeling. And that’s what I love most about that. And as many women, we’re like, go, go, go. And then when we get hit by perimenopause and menopause, it’s hard. Like there, it’s, our bodies are screaming at us, our bosses and society, and everything is like shouting at us. And what I love about yoga is that time to just be with yourself. You can hear what your body is telling you, you can hear your thoughts, and it’s just such a magical, magical time with yourself. It’s great. I mean, that to me, that is self care.

Desi Bartlett: I agree completely. And the body and the mind, as you know, are interconnected. And so when our body needs something, we often, we experience it in our thoughts and it reflects there and vice versa. So, for example, if I’m not honoring my own boundaries and I’m going, and I’m doing everything for everyone else around me and not taking the time to take care of myself, it can’t manifest in my body. It can show up as anything from, like, a skin irritation, which is a reflection of the irritation that I’m feeling inside to, if you’ve ever heard someone’s voice kind of do that because they’re not using their voice to speak up for themselves.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Desi Bartlett: And so over the years, I’ve just started to notice all of these connections, and I’m like, oh, my goodness, why are we separating mental health and physical health? They are one in the same, and we need to honor them as such.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. And, I mean, for me, I always think of my body as it’s the vehicle that carries my soul through this lifetime. Right. It’s like, why wouldn’t I take care of it, you know, and baby it? But I think yoga is such a, great opportunity to do that and to get more connected to your body and to hear what it’s telling you again, like, when you’re having symptoms. I mean, I am like, the worst art, the guess it’s the worst at, like, if I’m going through something or something physically, if I’m having pain, I’m like, oh, yeah, yeah. Ignore it. And yoga gets me to slow down and hear those symptoms that my body is trying to tell me.

Desi Bartlett: We’ve been taught to ignore it in many cases, you know, you’re tired. Here, have some, stimulant, some kind of drink with a lot of caffeine.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Desi Bartlett: you can’t sleep. Okay. Take all of these supplements so that you can go to sleep. You’re feeling a little bit anxious. Here, take this. And it’s always, like, this quick fix kind of approach, and it’s for symptoms.

Yoga can help reduce cortisol, which can lead to belly fat

Well, I want to just step way back and look at. Okay, what is the dream of your life?

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Desi Bartlett: Are you happy? What can I do to help serve you so that your body, your vessel for your soul is so strong that you can wake up every day and create this dream. And we’re all here with our unique dreams inside, and we need to be able to hear that soul voice. And that has absolutely been so clear for me through the practice of yoga. Yoga’s been in my life since I was about six years old. My mother was a hippie, and she was a disciple of Goswami Kriananda. And so I’m able to, tap into this rich history of millennia, of thousands of years, and in my own life, 53 years of yoga, and share this message of, like, the world’s a little crazy.

Wendy Valentine: Yes, exactly.

Desi Bartlett: Yeah, that’s okay. If we can spend a few minutes each morning centering, breathing, and really focusing on what the clear intention is, because the world’s going to come in fast and furious, whether it’s social media or the news or, oh my goodness, I’m in the states right now, the election, it’s chaotic. And so where do we find that peace?

Wendy Valentine: And what about meditation? How do we incorporate all that into it?

Desi Bartlett: So the way that I like to work is I like to start out with meditation as the opportunity to set a clear intention. So what I’ve done is I’ve created a platform this year, desi, body mind, and I’ve created something called the body mind workout. And what I ask you to do is simply choose one word of how you’d like to feel today. So is it strong, balanced, flexible, peaceful? Just pick a word. And then we start out with a, very sweet meditation to get us into that space that segues into yoga. And we warm up the body, we connect the body and the breath. We kind of remind them that they work together in case we’ve been holding our breath because there’s so much going on around us. And then we do need to challenge the musculoskeletal system to keep you strong. So I like to bring them all together and I really find the potency in the combination of the three.

Wendy Valentine: Mm. Now, tying this all back into good old menopause. Yeah, like, good old menopause. How, how would, how does all that, those practices really help that? Like if you’re not doing anything as far as like, supplements, or any of that, how can that help with alleviating some of those symptoms of menopause?

Desi Bartlett: So what worked in our twenties doesn’t usually work now, right? Yeah, a little extra cardio, a little like calorie restriction, it doesn’t work anymore. So with yoga, it can help with that, sympathetic nervous system response. It can chill us out. And what does that do? That helps to prevent that onslaught of cortisol that can lead to even more belly fat. So during menopause, we have a redistribution of the fat pattern and it tends to be abdominal fat. So you can weigh the same exact amount or maybe just a pound or two more. But again, all of a sudden it’s like, why do I look three months pregnant? I have two kids. I remember what I looked like then. So yoga can help to reduce that cortisol response, which can, can, I’m going to use that word because it doesn’t mean it’s always going to work for everyone. We’re all individuals, and I honor that. But it can help to reduce abdominal fat with weight training. Again, now we need to look at your bones, your muscles. This is the time when we’re most at risk for things like osteopenia, which is the step before osteoporosis. Now, a lot of us are not getting the macronutrients that we need or the micronutrients that we need. So we do need to bring some food and nutrition into the equation. Your macros, fat, carb, protein. We’ve heard this and we’re like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I need protein. But then I see a lot of women try to squeeze it all in at dinner, and I’m like, no, no, no. We need to kind of dose this out throughout the day, and we need that to stabilize our blood sugar levels so that we’re not constantly reaching for the sugar in the caffeine bombs.

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

Desi Bartlett: So we want to think about. With weight training, there’s something called the fit principle. M, frequency, intensity, time and tempo. This m is what we can manipulate. Right. How many days a week do you work out? How intense is it? How long does it last? How much time do you rest between sets? So when I work with clients one on one, then we dig really deep into a personalized system that’s the right system for you at that time of your life, because what you do, again at 2030, 40, 50, it’s going to change a little bit.

Desi Bartlett: And finally, meditation. So meditation is going to help again just to. Just to chill out. My goodness, this is such an impactful time. And when we have perhaps. Let me go back for a second. There’s up to 77 symptoms, right? So one symptom or 77 symptoms, it’s a lot. If all of a sudden you’re sweating or your skin is itching or you’ve put on some abdominal, fat or you can’t sleep or all of the things, your nervous system is going to be shot, it’s going to be stressed out and just what’s going to happen next? My hair is falling out and all the things. So if I can get you to a place where you feel really balanced and present and able to listen to your inner voice, that that’s what I’m here for. And that’s where we bring in the meditation.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, we think about it, too. It’s like, well, what is it? The same. We’re, Your attention goes, is where energy flows. And since everything is energy. It’s like if you’re focusing on all those right things and calming your body, calming your mind, like you were saying, too, thinking about the dreams of your future, who you want to be, and the life that you want to live, that is actually, it’s taking that focus off of, oh, my gosh, I had, you know, another night sweat. oh, my gosh, I’m gaining weight, and, oh, my gosh, I’m not doing this right or that right. When you focus your thoughts on those right things, then it’s amazing. I mean, even for myself, when I’ve done that, when I’m happy in my life and I’m focusing my thoughts on the right things, I’m losing the weight naturally because I’m not stressed about it. It’s like we get stressed about gaining weight or we get stressed about going through menopause and we just make it worse by stressing about it.

Desi Bartlett: Exactly. And we.

I see a lot of these drugs being misused in the sense

We should probably bring up, GLP one and different kinds of medications that are being used right now. And I understand if someone’s facing the challenge of obesity and or diabetes and they need a specific medication, I have no problem with that whatsoever. But I see a lot of these drugs being misused in the sense that I see women using them for the last five to ten pounds, and I’m like, oh, my goodness gracious. This is not designed for that.

Wendy Valentine: Right.

Desi Bartlett: And if you use it in that way, it’s not going to change what’s going on in your heart and your mind. It’s not going to make you necessarily any happier. It can feel like that. And getting back to Gen X, you know, what did we grow up with? We grew up with, like, the skinniest models in the world.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. All those fad of, diets in the eighties. Oh, my gosh. Like, it’s crazy.

Desi Bartlett: Like dexatrim and.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, all of those. It’s nuts.

Desi Bartlett: Right? And my mother was actually told to smoke to lose weight. But we glorify skinny as though skinny equals happy. And I. I’ve seen it too many times. It’s just not true.

Wendy Valentine: Right.

Desi Bartlett: But one thing that I’ve seen that is true is strong. Can certainly help with happy.

Wendy Valentine: Yes, exactly. So for a woman that’s, you know, experiencing a lot of the symptoms, and, I mean, it’s great that we’re all talking about it now. I mean, you see it on social media, it’s on tv, etcetera, but it’s also overwhelming. So it’s like, oh, my God, what do I do? Who do I turn to. So, what do you recommend? How do they. How do they. Where do they start?

Desi Bartlett: Start with my book.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. Yeah. What is that? What’s the name of your book?

Desi Bartlett: So I’ve written two books. my second book is called Total Body Secrets to looking and feeling your best after age 35. I wrote this with two amazing co authors, with Nicole Stewart, who is a pilates instructor, and Andrea Orbach, who is a personal trainer. And then I came in with yoga. So we each came in with our individual formats, but then we added on top of that, mental health and emotional health as well. And we wrote this book sort of as a love letter to all of the women out there during the pandemic. So each of us is a celebrity trainer. We’ve all worked with names that everyone’s heard of, and we got together, and we’re like, how do we bring all of this information to women everywhere so that it’s not, again, just siloed off? over here. It’s not just over in Hollywood. It’s everywhere. And we came together as, as a group of women supporting one another to support women all around the world. I will say that if you feel like you need more one on one support beyond just a book, I get it. And if that’s the case, and you have the ability to come join me on retreat. So I also lead international retreats with my best friend, who is a naturopathic doctor. And she does your blood work, and she looks at things like micronutrients, things like iron and magnesium and calcium levels, so that we can see what’s happening on the inside, like on the cellular level. And then I teach yoga and meditation and, sacred circle and all the things.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, I want to go. I want to go.

Desi Bartlett: I’d love to have you there.

Wendy Valentine: I’m sorry. Continue. Go ahead.

Desi Bartlett: So there’s something for everyone. Whether you join me on my platform or you’ve got the book, or you come with me on retreat, I really try to be mindful of. I know what’s going on economically for a lot of people. I’m not just here to sell you something or to make a quick buck. This is something I wake, up with every day as my mission. How can I empower women with the tools that they need for whatever phase of life they’re in, whether it’s pregnancy, new motherhood, perimenopause, and beyond that? That’s my joy and my inspiration and why I get up every morning to share this info.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. You know what’s nice, too? Though, it’s like you have the book, you’ve got retreats, you’ve got, is it doesie? body mind, the platform. So you’ve got all that for, so there’s something for everyone, right? It’s like if somebody just wants to get the information from a book, you can do that, you can do the retreat, you can do the online platform. There’s, and that’s what’s so cool nowadays, that like even you and I right now are on Zoom, right? I’m in Portugal, you’re in Hawaii, which is just nuts that we’re getting to have this conversation, right? And even for me, I do, I do yoga online and it’s great. I just roll up my mat. Even when I’m in the rv, I roll up my mat in the rv. That was a requirement when I bought that thing. I was like, I have to be able to do yoga, but I do it online. And, so it’s like, you don’t have to join a fancy gym. It’s like there’s so many different ways that you can take care of your body nowadays.

Desi Bartlett: So I would never choose for us to live through a global pandemic, but I did choose to see the silver lining. And I think, that the silver lining is the ability to recognize we don’t need to be in an office nine to five to work, we don’t need to go, you know, half an hour to a fancy gym and put on the $200 outfit and then spend another half an hour afterwards showering and getting home before we can even get to work. You can create this space in your rv, in your home, in a hotel room, on the road, wherever you are within the size of a yoga mat.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. And do it according to your schedule. Which I love. And you know, I think about it too. It’s like no matter if you’re in your forties, fifties, sixties, you’re preparing for your, you know, your last stage in life in your seventies and eighties, you want to be able to walk with the grandkids, you want to be able to go to the grocery store and do all those things. So the more that you can take care of your body today, the better your body will be tomorrow.

Desi Bartlett: We’re living longer than ever. Yeah, yeah.

Women now are living to their eighties, nineties, and God bless the people

Women now are living to their eighties, nineties, and God bless the people who are living into their hundreds again. I’m 53, so if I’ve got 30, 40 years ahead of me, I need to plan for that and I need to invest into my own body and make sure that I put in the time. I’m not just saying investment in terms of finances, I’m talking about the time. Your time is precious. And if you can get in a little bit of yoga, a little bit of weight training, a little bit of meditation time with female friends to bond over what, what’s happening in your bodies, that’s, that’s going to pay off. The, the ROI is like off the charts.

Wendy Valentine: Yes. You can even do yoga with your friends. I used to, yes. Like, okay, every Saturday morning at 09:00 we would do a yoga together, you know. Great.

So that takes us into another topic, which is exercise adherence

Desi Bartlett: So that takes us into another topic, which is exercise adherence. And people fall off the, they fall off the exercise wagon. You know, everyone like, joins the gym or they buy the subscription for the online platform in January and they’re like, all right, fresh start, new page. And then six weeks later, 25% are gone. Three months later, 50% are gone. And by the way, our Yden, our industry, the gym industry counts on that. We know that half of y’all are going to be gone in three months. So how do we make sure that we stick with it? That’s exercise adherence, just a fancy term for sticking with it. M, if you have an appointment, you’re up to 50% more likely to show up. Now, that appointment can be with a trainer, it can be with a yoga teacher, it can be with your best friend, it can be with a group. But knowing that there’s someone there waiting for you and expecting you to show up is what causes us to be motivated and to go. So please make an appointment with your friends. Say, I’d like it if you could hold me accountable. If you don’t see me Saturday morning at nine, can you just shoot me a quick text and I’ll do the same for you? And then we can lift one another in that way.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, that’s such a good point. Yeah, I know it. For me. Yeah, it makes a huge difference. Sometimes it’s lonely, like, just doing it by yourself.

Desi Bartlett: But then also as women, if our kids need us or if, I don’t know, if we realize that there’s five loads of laundry that are calling our name, we might say, oh, I’ll just work out later. But if we know that somebody’s waiting for us, we honor that. So what we want to get eventually is honoring ourselves and our own time enough where we can make the appointment with ourselves. But to your point, yeah, it’s way more fun with a bestie and somebody you can giggle with. And I’m thinking of a friend that I work out with. And we’re like, pardon me, but it’s true. We’re like beavis and butthead together. Like, if music comes on with a naughty lyric, we’re like.

Wendy Valentine: Well, and you know what, too, I mean, for many of us at this stage in life, we’re empty nesters, and so we do have a little extra time. We’re not running around after little kids anymore. And it’s such a great way to incorporate yoga and, oh, that was something else I was thinking of earlier, is that, I mean, really perimenopause or menopause, it’s, it’s a season, it doesn’t last forever. And so you’ll get through it. But definitely, like you said earlier, I think you said the word thrive. You know, it’s like you want to thrive through it and you can definitely do that. And these symptoms will pass, you’ll move through it. And then what’s so great? If you take care of your body while you’re going through it, by the time you get on the other side, you’re going to be like, boom. You’re going to be so healthy and so strong for the rest of your life.

Desi Bartlett: Absolutely. I, ah, worked with this wonderful woman. Her name is Donna Hollerin in Santa Monica when I had my babies. And she runs a group called Baby group. And what she taught us was, to end every sentence in the words, for now, my baby walks sleep. For now, my baby’s teething. For now. But to your point, it applies to what’s happening in our own bodies. You know, I’m sweating every night for now.

Wendy Valentine: I know. Yeah, exactly. You know, it’s so true, though. I mean, even for me, I still have some symptoms that creep up every now and then, but I’m like, oh, this will pass. Whereas before, in the beginning, it was so stressful to me because I didn’t know what was happening, but now I’m like, ah, it’s not a big deal. I’m sure I’ll probably sleep tomorrow just fine. You know, it’s. I don’t, I don’t stress about it as much as I used to knowing, I mean, I learned so much, obviously, just on this podcast, so it’s great. I’m like, oh, yeah, not a big deal, I’ll get through it. But I also have, like, the tools in my toolbox now, doing yoga, doing my meditation. Okay, maybe I need to eat more greens today to counteract the, acidity, you know, that I had the day before. Whatever. So you kind of learn, you learn more about your body, what your body needs, and you get through it.

Desi Bartlett: Absolutely. And, when it comes to food, food is so personal. So I’m very mindful not to go super deep into nutrition. In my books or on videos, I do it m more so one on one because I do work with vegans and vegetarians and lacto ovo and all the things. So I love to encourage people to listen to their body, but also to look at the amount of output that you have in a given day. So if today is like heavy leg day and you’re deadlifting like a champ, we’re going to up, your protein a little bit. But if today is like just a travel day and you’re going to be on a plane for 6 hours, maybe we’re going to adjust for that. So really, you know, whether you’re working with a coach or you’re working on your own, look at what the activity is for the day and ask yourself, what do I need today? And don’t be afraid to let the intuition help guide you. It doesn’t always have to be, you know, like a, 20 chapter scientific research on whatever. Sometimes it’s just listening to our own bodies. And, you know, if you’re craving orange juice, maybe there’s a reason, maybe you need some extra vitamin C. But staying receptive to the feedback of your body and trusting your body is something that we’ve kind of lost a little bit as a society because we’ve been taught by this, by that reach for this reach for that, reach for what’s inside.

You shouldn’t eat the same exact thing every single day because your activity changes

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, that’s such a good point. And just about the output. Output. Especially because not every day is going to be the exact same. So you shouldn’t, always be eating like the same exact thing every single day because your activity is going to change.

Desi Bartlett: Absolutely. Yeah. And if I’m traveling, for example, we went to Europe this summer, and the food that was available in the airports was not optimal. So maybe that day I have a little mini fast and that’s how I clear out my system. And rather than eating something that’s so full of sodium that I know that my rings aren’t going to fit on my fingers anymore.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I know. That’s me. Yeah. Such a good point. You might as well take advantage of it. Like, well, I guess I’ll just do a fast while I’m traveling.

Desi Bartlett: Exactly. It’s, it’s one day. It’s good for me mentally and physically. I can cleanse, I can flush, I can drink a ton of water, and I can begin again tomorrow.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, exactly like you said before. For now, like I want to do. I’m, going through this for now. So where can we find you?

Desi Bartlett: So you can find me on my website, which is desibodymind.com. and that’s where the body mind workout is for your listeners. If they use the code podcast, they’ll get a, discount. It’s already really economical, though, and you can find me on insta. My Instagram handle is mothers into living fit, and I’m super active on there, and I really just love to connect with people all over the world. And I’m available. And if you have a question and you’re like, okay, I listen to your podcast with Wendy, and I get it, but I’m not sure, you know, like, how much protein am I actually supposed to have? And how much calcium am I actually supposed to have? Just email me my email is my name desibartletmail.com, because if you have the question, most likely at least a thousand other women have the question. I can turn it into a blog, and we can share this information.

Wendy Valentine: Ah, you’re so smart. And you have just a few weeks left till you’re a PhD now, right?

Desi Bartlett: Oh, my goodness, yes. So, so exciting. 2025. I will officially be doctor Desi. I’m so excited.

Wendy Valentine: that’s such a big accomplishment. You’ve already done so much. Oh, my gosh. You’re killing it. I love it.

Desi Bartlett: Thank you. Thank you. It’s. Again, it’s really. It’s my passion and my joy to share this information. It’s what wakes me up. Super excited every single morning to, like, go, go and connect with people all over the world.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, it’s so good to have you here.

Desi Bartlett: Oh, thank you so much. And you are a bright light, and your energy is so fun. And thank you so much for everything that you’re sharing with the world, and I can’t wait for your book to launch.

Wendy Valentine: I’m so excited. 2025 is going to be a big year for us. Oh, my gosh. All right, thank you so much, everyone. Have a great day.