Mari Holistic Wellness Blog

  Menopause brain fog and burnout: how stress and your gut leave you mentally exhausted Mary Canales, MHS · Functional Nutrition Practitioner · Level 1 Ayurveda Practitioner You walk into a room and forget why you're there. You reread the same email three times. You lose words mid-sentence. By 3 PM you're running on fumes, and by bedtime your mind won't shut off. 😩 If that sounds familiar, you're not losing your mind, and you're not just getting older. This is brain fog. Perimenopause and menopause brain fog is one of the most common things women tell me about, and it often starts years before your periods stop. I've been where you are. During my own perimenopause, I was exhausted, couldn't sleep and didn't feel like myself. After 25 years in women's health, I knew the science, but living it was different. What helped me most was understanding that my brain wasn't the only problem. My stress response and my gut were part of the picture too. Brai...

  Hey friend 👋 Let me guess. It's mid-afternoon, you're at your desk (or sitting in the car line), and suddenly your eyelids feel like they weigh ten pounds. You reach for a cookie, a latte, or honestly both. Then that night you fall asleep just fine... only to pop wide awake at 3 a.m., mind racing, staring at the ceiling until the alarm goes off. 😩 If that sounds like your life lately, I want you to hear this first: you're not lazy, and you're not imagining it. The afternoon energy crash and waking at 3 a.m. are two of the most common perimenopause symptoms I hear about. And here's the part most of us never get told. They're often connected. I spent 25 years in women's health, and now as a functional nutrition practitioner I look for the "why" behind symptoms instead of just covering them up. So grab your tea ☕ and let's chat about what's really going on, and what you can start doing this week. Why perimenopause changes your ener...

  How to Build Muscle in Menopause (and Why It’s Harder) 💪🌿 “Mary, I’m lifting weights, I’m trying so hard, and I still feel weaker than I did five years ago. Why is it so hard to build muscle now?” I hear this question all the time, and I want to start by saying this: you’re not lazy, and you’re not imagining it. 💛 Building muscle really does get harder in perimenopause and menopause. Your body is going through one of the biggest hormonal shifts of your life, and the way your muscles respond to food, movement and rest changes right along with it. I know this one personally too. When I went through perimenopause, I felt my strength and stamina slipping away, and the things that used to work for me just stopped working. It was frustrating, and honestly a little scary. Here’s the good news I want you to hold onto: your muscles can still grow and get stronger at any age. Research has shown women in their 60s, 70s and even 80s gaining real strength with the right approach. ...

4 reasons losing weight feels harder in perimenopause and menopause Mary Canales, MHS · Functional Nutrition Practitioner · Level 1 Ayurveda Practitioner If you're eating less than you used to and the scale still won't move, you're not imagining it. It's also not a willpower problem. I went through this myself. In perimenopause I gained weight, stopped sleeping well, and had joint pain I couldn't explain. I had spent 25 years working in women's health, and I still didn't recognize my own body. What finally helped wasn't another diet. It was understanding what had changed, then adjusting how I ate, slept, moved and handled stress. These are the four reasons I see most often, in my own experience and in the women I talk with, along with what actually helps. 🌿 1. Your hormones changed how your body handles carbs Estrogen helps your body respond to insulin, the hormone that moves sugar out of your blood and into your cells. As estrogen drops, ma...

  🌿 YOUR LIVER’S NATURAL DETOX PROCESS🌿 Understanding Phase 1 & Phase 2 in simple terms ✨ COULD YOUR BODY BE CARRYING A TOXIC BURDEN? ✨ Every day, our bodies encounter substances from our environment—including air pollution, pesticides, plastics, certain chemicals, alcohol, medications, highly processed foods, seed oils, and other environmental compounds. Some substances are fat-soluble , meaning they can be stored more readily in fatty tissues and may remain in the body longer than water-soluble compounds. Your body has incredible systems for processing and eliminating these substances, but ongoing exposure can add to the body's overall toxicant burden. Over time, certain environmental exposures may contribute to oxidative stress, inflammation, cellular damage, and processes associated with premature aging. eeek!😲 🧟‍♀️ AND THEN THERE ARE “ZOMBIE CELLS” The scientific term is senescent cells . These are cells that have stopped dividing but don't always get removed right...

  🌿 WOMEN’S HEALTH & YOUR BODY’S NATURAL DETOXIFICATION SYSTEM🌿 What does detoxification have to do with women’s hormones, energy, aging, and overall wellness? Your body is exposed to environmental compounds every day—from air pollution and pesticides to plastics, personal-care products, alcohol, medications, and other chemicals. Some compounds are fat-soluble , meaning they can be stored more readily in fatty tissues and may remain in the body longer. Your body has sophisticated systems for processing and eliminating these compounds, and your liver plays a major role. Supporting these natural pathways is an important part of a functional nutrition approach to women's wellness. 🧹 PHASE 1 — BREAK IT DOWN Think of Phase 1 as the “breakdown” stage. Your liver uses enzymes to transform substances such as hormones, medications, alcohol, and environmental compounds into forms that can move through the next stage. This process can create reactive compounds , which is why your body...