If you’re working on building strength, preserving lean muscle, or recovering faster between workouts (hello sore legs), creatine is worth your attention.

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What Creatine Can Do for You:
• Boost strength and workout performance
• Help preserve lean muscle as we age (muscle loss accelerates after 30 — and even more post-40)
• Support better recovery and reduced soreness
• Enhance brain health and cognitive function (yes, it’s backed by science)
• Hydrate your muscle cells for better energy, endurance, and performance

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Let’s bust the biggest myth real quick.

MYTH: Creatine will make you gain weight or look bloated.
TRUTH: Creatine helps your muscles store more water inside the cell — not under your skin. This improves function and performance.
Will the scale go up a pound or two? Maybe. But it’s good weight — it means your muscles are well-fueled and functioning. Not fat. Not bloat. Not a reason to panic.

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REAL TALK:
I avoided creatine for way too long because I didn’t “want to get big.” Spoiler alert: you don’t just wake up bulky. What I did get?
Stronger. More toned. More confident.
My lifts improved. My endurance lasted longer. And the number of times I needed to lay on the floor post-leg day? Down.

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Bonus: Some studies even show that creatine can help support mood, cognition, and memory — especially helpful for women in perimenopause and menopause when estrogen drops can affect mental clarity and motivation.

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How to Use It:
Just 5g of creatine monohydrate daily — that’s it.
No loading. No cycling. No fancy blends. Just pure creatine.
Mix it into water, your greens, or your protein shake. It’s flavorless and mixes best with warm or room temp liquids.

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This is the creatine that I use…

Sports Research Creatine Monohydrate
• 5g per scoop
• Vegan, gluten-free, Informed Sport certified
• Mixes easily, no weird taste
Grab it here (ad)

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Bottom line: If you’re lifting, walking, or just wanting to feel stronger and protect your muscle as you age, creatine can absolutely be a part of your routine.

SOUND OFF:
Are you using creatine? Thinking about it?
Have questions? Drop them below — I’m happy to share what’s worked for me!

Let’s start here — because if you’re feeling exhausted, flat, or just not yourself after weight loss… it might not be “just life.”

It might be your hormones waving a white flag.
I didn’t realize how off mine were until I got them checked.
I thought I was just tired.
I thought my low sex drive was stress.
I thought my brain fog, poor recovery, and “blah” mood were part of getting older.

Turns out?

It was my hormones. And once I started addressing that? Everything changed.

Here are some hormone imbalance symptoms no one talks about enough:

• Low (or nonexistent) sex drive
• Exhaustion even after a full night of sleep
• Weight gain or stubborn fat (especially belly or back)
• Mood swings or irritability
• Brain fog and forgetfulness
• Anxiety or depression that feels hormonal, not situational
• Dry skin or brittle hair
• Night sweats or hot flashes
• Insomnia or trouble staying asleep
• Poor recovery from workouts
• Feeling “puffy” or inflamed
• No motivation or drive
• Lack of muscle tone despite lifting
• Sluggish digestion
• Irregular periods (or none at all)
• Feeling disconnected from your body or identity

If any of this sounds familiar — you’re not crazy, lazy, or broken. Your body might be telling you something.

So what did I do?

I got my hormones checked. Bloodwork. Full panels. And I looked beyond just my thyroid.

Key hormones to check:

• Estrogen
• Progesterone
• Testosterone (yes, women need it too!)
• DHEA
• Cortisol
• Thyroid (TSH, Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, and antibodies)
• Vitamin D and iron (can impact hormone symptoms too)

Treatment options might include:

• HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) – Bioidentical or traditional
• Topical creams or patches – Common for estrogen/progesterone
• Pellets or injections – Long-lasting support (often testosterone)
• Lifestyle shifts – Sleep, stress, movement, nutrition
• Supplements – Magnesium, DIM, Vit D, Omega-3s, adaptogens
• Thyroid medication – If needed for hypo or Hashimoto’s

You don’t have to choose one path — but you do deserve to be informed.

Real talk?

Your goal weight doesn’t mean much if you’re dragging through your days, avoiding intimacy, and feeling like a shell of yourself. Getting strong again meant checking my hormones, getting real about what I needed, and letting go of the idea that I could “tough it out.” Strength isn’t just about muscle. It’s about advocating for your health — and that starts here.

Next in the series: Creatine — what it is, why I was scared to try it, and how it changed my body + brain.

AKA the week everything changed — and not all of it was pretty.
I remember staring at that little vial like it was some kind of forbidden treasure.

August 4, 2022. I had finally tracked down a reputable source for semaglutide after what felt like a full-time job worth of deep dives into peptide forums, Facebook groups, and sketchy Google rabbit holes. I knew this wasn’t the “traditional” route. I wasn’t walking into a clinic with a white-coat doctor holding my hand. I was DIY-ing my way through this, carefully and cautiously — but also determined.

Was it ideal? No.
Was I monitored? Kind of — my hormone doctor was still checking my labs regularly.
Was I terrified? Absolutely.
But I was also ready.

I had reconstituted the vial myself (shoutout to the peptide calculator app that got me through it), figured out a starting dose so low it barely counted, and took my first shot.

And then… I waited.

The First Symptom: Pure Exhaustion

Let me tell you — the first few days absolutely wiped me out. I don’t mean “Oh, I could use a nap.” I mean full-body, can’t-get-out-of-bed, who-swapped-my-energy-for-a-brick feeling. And while that scared me a little, it didn’t stop me.

Because underneath the fatigue, there was something else happening.

Something quiet.

The Food Noise Was… Gone.

This is the part that still makes me emotional.

For the first time in decades, my brain wasn’t obsessed with food.

I wasn’t calculating carbs. I wasn’t counting down minutes until I could eat.

I wasn’t mentally arguing with myself about what I “should” want versus what I really wanted.

It was just… quiet.

And that silence felt like freedom.

I wasn’t hungry, but more than that — I wasn’t haunted.

The Numbers That Shocked Me

I started at 180.7 lbs on August 4.

By August 9? I was already down 3.5 lbs.

By the end of August? I had dropped over 10 lbs.

Ten. Pounds. In. Three. Weeks.

I’d never seen my body respond that quickly — even at my most disciplined. I was ecstatic… and also? A little naïve.

What I Wish I’d Known

The weight was falling off, but I wasn’t fueling properly. I wasn’t working out. I wasn’t prioritizing protein. I was so caught up in finally seeing progress that I didn’t stop to ask if I was doing it in a healthy way.

That came back to bite me.

By September, the hair loss started. Nothing drastic at first — but every shower left more hair in the drain. My ponytail shrank. I panicked. But I didn’t connect the dots right away: low protein, low nutrients, barely any resistance training. My body was shrinking… and struggling.

Still — I Had Hope

Despite the missteps, the exhaustion, and the learning curve…

Something had shifted. For real, this time.

This wasn’t just another diet.

This wasn’t me white-knuckling it through another 30-day challenge.

This was the first time I felt like maybe I wasn’t broken.

Maybe I just needed the right tool — and a better plan.

I wish I could go back and whisper to that girl on Day One:

“You’re not cheating. You’re choosing help.
But don’t forget — your health isn’t just about weight.
Fuel yourself. Move your body. And please… eat the damn protein.”

Up next in Blog Post 4: How I stabilized, built better habits, and finally found a groove that actually felt like a lifestyle — not just a sprint to skinny.

After a couple of years on keto and finally getting my thyroid hormone levels balanced, I was… better. But not well.

That might sound strange, but if you’ve ever been in that in-between space — not rock bottom, but definitely not thriving — then you know what I mean. I was managing. Getting by. But I didn’t feel good. And I was so sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.

There were a lot of turning points on this journey, but one that stands out clearly in my mind? The monkey bars at the park near my house.

These weren’t the straight-across kind. They angled up, then back down — a real challenge. And I couldn’t even hold my own body weight. I was out of shape, overweight, and honestly? I was just over it. I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. I didn’t like how I felt in my own body. I was surviving, not living.

Somewhere around that time, I started hearing whispers about something called GLP-1s. I don’t remember where exactly — maybe a podcast, maybe a Facebook group. But what stuck with me was this phrase:
“It reduces food noise.”

And that hit me like a freight train.

Because no matter what diet I’d tried — Weight Watchers, intermittent fasting, keto — the food noise was always there.

* With Weight Watchers, I was counting points.
* With fasting, I was counting the minutes.
* With keto, I was counting carbs.

No matter the method, I was constantly thinking about food. What I could eat. What I couldn’t. When I’d get to eat again. What I’d already eaten and whether it “fit.”
It was exhausting. And I was ready to be done with all of it.

But at the time — this was July 2022 — GLP-1s were controversial. No local clinics carried them. You couldn’t just walk in and ask about it. It was all very hush-hush and hard to get, especially if you weren’t a Type 2 diabetic.

But something you should probably know about me? I don’t always wait around for permission. I’m not reckless — but I do my own research, and I trust myself enough to take action when I feel something might be right for me.

So I went down the rabbit hole — hard.
I joined peptide forums, scoured Facebook groups, and eventually found a reputable source where I could order it myself. Was it ideal? No. Was it technically supervised? Not exactly — but I did have a hormone doctor who was checking my labs regularly, and I stayed on top of every change in my body from day one.

I didn’t tell anyone at first.
Not my friends. Not my family. Only my husband knew. Because at the time, people were calling it “cheating” or “the easy way out.” But here’s the truth:
I needed a miracle.
And I was willing to try something different to find it.

Up next in Blog Post 3:
The first shot, the first symptoms, and the very first moment I realized this might actually work for me. I’ll also share my exact starting weight, how quickly things shifted, and the one thing I wish I’d done differently in those first few months.

Coming tomorrow…

I guess if I had to pinpoint when things really started shifting for me—it wasn’t a Monday, or a “new year, new me” kind of moment. It started with a root canal. Yep. A dang root canal.

Back then, I’d had four babies in five years, each one nursed for at least 18 months. My body had done a lot, and I wasn’t bouncing back the way I used to. I was always athletic growing up—never skinny, but strong and thick in the best way. But this was different.

After the root canal, something changed. I was exhausted all the time. I couldn’t stay awake past 3 p.m. I’d lie down with my kids for “nap time” and barely make it through the day. I went to doctor after doctor, and every time, they’d tell me my labs were “normal.” But I knew something was off.

Finally, someone told me to try a functional doctor—and that changed everything. She looked at my labs through a different lens and quickly diagnosed me with hypothyroidism. Turns out, my thyroid had been dragging for years, and it explained so much.

I was in survival mode for a long time. I tried every plan under the sun: Weight Watchers, Trim Healthy Mama, intermittent fasting. Each one taught me something—but none of them fixed it.

Then my husband was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. That moment changed our whole household. We dove headfirst into learning how to manage blood sugar—for him, for me, and eventually for our kids too. That’s when we found keto.

At first, keto worked. I cut carbs and sugar completely, lost 20 pounds, and felt a little more like myself again. But over time, I got stuck. I was doing “dirty keto”—lots of treats, low on nutrients—and my weight hovered around 175–180 for years.

Was I thinner? Yes.

Was I healthy and thriving? Not quite.

Was I frustrated? 1000%.

But that’s just the beginning. This journey has layers—and I’m finally ready to share what worked, what didn’t, and what I’d do differently if I had to start over.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing “everything right” and still stuck, you’re not alone.

If you’re trying to piece together your energy, your confidence, and your health—you’re in the right place.

This is just part one. More coming soon.

“Who do I think I am?”
“What if people roll their eyes?”
“What if they think I’m trying to act like an expert?”

And don’t even get me started on picking the name. I’d overanalyze everything — “Is it too much? Too bold? Will people get the wrong idea?” At one point I nearly scrapped the whole thing because I was afraid people would misread my confidence as cockiness.

But here’s what I came back to every time:

This isn’t about being perfect. It’s not about pretending to have all the answers.
It’s about creating the space I wished existed when I was trying to figure it all out. A space where you don’t have to shrink. Where you can talk about GLP-1s and lifting and mindset without shame.Where you can own your glow-up — even  if it’s messy and still in progress. Where showing up — consistently, honestly, unapologetically — is enough.

So here we are.
Not because I have it all figured out.
But because I’ve been through enough to know this:
Hot is a habit. And confidence? It’s built, not gifted.

If you’re here, you belong here.
Let’s do this — together.