Brooke Luise Surtees

2023: You were magnificent 🩶

2024: The frequency of more 🙌🏼

One simple change with HUGE benefits👇🏼

A recent study* shows the hierarchy of nutritional needs for female athlete (where an athlete is any female who exercises or trains)

🥇And the MOST important consideration for any female is energy availability (and hydration)

Meaning, the number #1 priority is ensuring we are eating enough, every day, to support our body’s needs

🥈Priority #2 is ensuring we eat appropriate amounts of the macro, and micro, nutrients: protein, carbs, fat, vitamins, minerals

Health and nutrition get to be easy

Far too often we want to jump ahead to the minuscule, specialised details without having a solid foundation in place

🧱Yes, some consider it boring, but the foundations are foundational because EVERYTHING builds from there

🥳For most females, once we get consistent adequate energy (calories) in every day, and the appropriate macro and micro nutrients, the majority of our goals become (fairly) easily achievable - no crazy hacks or fads required

✅Performance improves, recovery improves, muscle gain and/or fat loss can occur, symptoms disappear, life becomes GOOD (and easy!)

🚙Think of it this way - you only fill up half your fuel tank in your car. How far are you going to be able to go? Only half as far as you are actually capable of going

Now consider the quality of that fuel. Low quality fuel will create wear and tear on your car over time, and impact your car’s performance. Top quality fuel will look after your engine, and allow maximum performance with minimal damage, and ultimate longevity

You are the car. Make sure you are fuelling correctly

🙋‍♀️Want to learn how to do just that? My new course, coming in Jan 2024, will teach you exactly what, when and how to eat for stable, balanced hormones naturally (bye bye PMS and period pain!) and a powerful metabolism - without spending hours in the kitchen!

➡️DM or comment COURSE to go on the waitlist and get access to early bird specials

*“Recommendations and Nutritional Considerations for Female Athletes: Health and Performance” - Holtzman, Bryan & Ackerman, Kathryn. (2021). Recommendations and Nutritional Considerations for Female Athletes: Health and Performance. Sports Medicine. 51. 1-15. 10.1007/s40279-021-01508-8.

I’m just going to say it 👇🏼

‼️Cortisol is f**king up your progesterone!

🙈(And lots of your other hormones too - more on this later!)

👆🏼👇🏼Cortisol and progesterone have an inverse relationship:

When cortisol levels are elevated, production of progesterone decreases

And when there is not enough progesterone, cortisol production increases (thanks for kicking me while I’m down, Karen)

🛟Progesterone is an incredibly protective, anti-stress hormone, that plays vital roles not just in our menstrual cycle, but also for the thyroid (and therefore metabolism), our bones, our mood, blood sugar balance, inflammation and sleep

Progesterone is also the hormone that opposes (balances) estrogen – when we don’t have enough progesterone, we develop a hormone imbalance of estrogen excess (dominance), which causes symptoms such as weight gain and inability to lose weight, PMS, heavy, painful periods, tender, swollen breasts & water retention

⚠️Cortisol is a powerful, and necessary, hormone – in fact, we’d die without it – but issues arise when cortisol levels become unbalanced (generally due to excessive or chronic stress)

Want to heal your hormone and/or thyroid issues?
Want pain and PMS free menstruation?
Want an easy perimenopause/menopause?
Don’t want to have to take hormone replacement therapy?
Want good fertility?

👉🏼You gotta deal with your stress!

🤹‍♀️There are many different ways to dramatically decrease stress on and in our body, and not all of them involve mediating and journaling (thank goodness, otherwise I’d be f**ked 🤣) - this is a HUGE part of the work I do with my one on one clients, and will be covered in depth in my upcoming 2024 courses

📣Comment or DM COURSE to get on the waitlist!

I will never do this again!👇🏼

I couldn’t even tell you how much money, time, effort and energy I’ve spent over the years chasing the perfect diet

Every time a new approach came out, I was straight on it, all guns blazing

I’ve tried everything; the cabbage soup diet, Atkins diet, the south beach diet, the raw food diet vegan, vegetarian, juice fasting, intermittent fasting, bullet-proof fasting, the zone diet, Paleo, keto….not to mention supplements so dangerous they were illegal here and I had to get them through the black market 😳

❌And literally, none of them worked

😭Yes, I lost weight on all of them and yes, when they all became too restrictive and unsustainable, I “fell off the wagon”, had huge blowouts and gained it all back again plus guilt, shame, frustration, and disappointment

I felt like a failure. I thought I lacked willpower, and if I could only be more strict, try harder, eat less and exercise more, then I would get where I wanted to be

🙅‍♀️This simply doesn’t work. It has never worked, and it never will work

It was never about willpower

My relationship with food changed when I stopped chasing fads and trends and learnt how the female body functions and what she requires in order to do so

🙌🏼When I started working with my body, to nourish her rather than deplete her, things started to change quickly and dramatically

My cravings disappeared
I stopped binging and emotionally eating
My period pain disappeared
My mood stabilised
My energy increased and was more consistent
My training improved
I got stronger and recovered faster

✅I was calmer, happier and it became so easy to maintain my weight…all the while I never once deprived myself of food I love (pizza, burgers, ice cream, chocolate)

….obviously, I didn’t eat them all the time, but there was a place for them so I never felt deprived, or guilt, or the need to punish myself, when I did enjoy them….

🥰I got my life, and my sanity, back

Learning to eat in this way works. It’s sustainable. It works with your lifestyle. It’s enjoyable. And most of all, it is what your body, and your soul, craves

💃And it’s everything I’ll be teaching in my new course, beginning January 2024 (It’s so new it doesn’t have a name yet!)

It it, you’ll learn what, when and how to eat for;

Pain-free, regular periods
No PMS
A powerful metabolism
And a peaceful perimenopause to menopause

🙅‍♀️No BS or fads in sight

🫶🏼It’s the nutrition education you never got, but always wanted

If you’re ready to ditch the diet dogma (this is one of the name options!), DM or comment EAT to go on the waitlist for when early bird pricing is released (trust me, you want to be on early bird!!)

You are ruining your hormones and your metabolism if you are doing these 👇🏼

🥩Cutting out meat and other animal products

Unlike plant sources, animal protein is highly bioavailable, meaning we are able to easily access this protein and use it for its intended use

Therefore, it has a much more powerful positive effect on stabilising our blood sugar, which is necessary for hormone balance

It provides amino acids in quantities and ratios that you cannot find in plant based foods, as well as hormonally and metabolically vital vitamins and minerals

An example of this is retinol, the bioavailable form of vitamin A, which is ONLY found in animal products

Retinol is vital for effective thyroid function, which is the ruler of metabolism and determines hormone production throughout the body

👃Wearing perfume

Perfume, and other fragranced products, are highly toxic, hormone disrupting chemicals

Did you know, if you sprayed your perfume on a w**d, you’ll kill it just as fast as w**d killer will. Imagine what that’s doing to your insides….

🥛Going dairy free

Dairy provides valuable macro and micronutrients that are metabolically supportive

Yes, I know you have an intolerance AND I also know that, in almost all cases, that intolerance has everything to do with the state of your gut and the quality of the dairy you’re consuming

Most people’s gut lining and microbiome is absolutely trashed after years of stress, sh*tty food and lifestyle choices and environmental toxins

When this is healed, and when quality dairy (organic, full fat, raw if you can get it) is consumed, all of a sudden we can digest dairy

🥖Eating low carb

Your body will only produce adequate progesterone when she is properly resourced, aka, she has the energy she needs to function

That energy comes from carbs

Glucose is the preferred fuel source for the thyroid. Guess where we get that glucose? Yep. Carbs

Not enough carbs = poor thyroid function = slow metabolism = poor hormone production

🥵F45, HIIT, CrossFit

Even though they feel intense, these are all actually examples of moderate intensity exercise, which greatly increases adrenaline, cortisol and oxidative stress within the body - all of which negatively impact progesterone and thyroid hormone production

True high intensity is an all-out effort which is only sustainable for 10-40 secs maximum, and then requires a 3-4minute recovery before being able to go again. This is a much more hormone friendly approach, and it has shown to have powerful effects on body composition/fat loss with way less stress and inflammation (and time!)

If you love these, limit them to 2x/wk and include sprints and strength training on your other days

You gotta stop doing this!👇🏼

🍊Your body needs food, actual, real life food

🕰️She needs it consistently, every few hours in fact, every single day

Your body never ceases to function (until the end, obviously), and as such, She never ceases needing food

☕️We often think we’re too busy to stop and eat, especially at work, and so we’ll grab a coffee and soldier on

🚧This is a huge mistake! When we are stressed (aka “too busy”), our energy needs actually increase

And whilst coffee feels like it gives us energy, it’s not the type of energy (calories + macro and micro nutrients) that our body needs to function

Plus, when we’re busy/stressed, our adrenaline and cortisol are already elevated

😳If we don’t eat, our blood sugar drops and our body releases more cortisol to increase our blood sugar

Then we have coffee on an empty stomach, which further increases the energetic demands of the body, resulting in more stress

Stress on stress on stress on stress, with NO energetic (food) support for the body

☠️This is the guaranteed path to hormone imbalance, high estrogen, low progesterone, diminished ovulation, PMS, leaky gut, food intolerances, increased inflammation, anxiety and low mood and a slow metabolism

Coffee is not a substitute for a proper meal, no matter how short on time you are

✅For those times you need something on the go or in a rush, try the following instead:

Protein shake/smoothie + piece of fruit
Jerky + fruit
Greek yoghurt + fruit
Leg ham/turkey + fruit
Pre boiled eggs + fruit

These are lighter meals and won’t sustain you for 3 or more hours, but they will provide a balanced snack that will support your body, and your hormones until you can eat a more decent meal

And you can always have your coffee afterwards, without totally sabotaging your results ✌🏼

This one simple mistake could be sabotaging your results in the gym, and your hormones 👇🏼

Our physiology changes as we age

❗️What we could get away with in our 20’s, just doesn’t cut it in our 40’s and beyond

This doesn’t mean we need to wrap ourselves in cotton wool, but it does mean we have to adapt to these changes

🚨Perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms are a result of stress

📈The greater the stress, and the longer we’ve been under it, the more intense these symptoms are

In order to reduce these symptoms, we need to reduce the stress on our body

Exercise is a form of stress, and like all stress, some can be good, but too much is very bad

🙅‍♀️Intense exercise 5-7 days a week, or multiple times in one day, doesn’t give the body time to recover adequately, and overloads the body with stress, on top of stress, on top of stress…..

🙌🏼We want to train hard, no matter our age, but we also need to ensure our recovery matches our training. The “harder” we recover, the harder we can train

✅What works well for many females in their 40’s and 50’s, is 3 days of pure strength training a week, with at least one day between sessions, 1-2 sprint sessions each week and a minimum of 10,000 steps/day

Sprints have been shown to have an extremely powerful effect on fat loss and lean body mass, without the excess cortisol, and oxidative stress that longer distance running/jogging promotes.

The Wingate protocol is the one to follow, which consists of sprinting all out, total max effort for 30s, followed by 4 mins recovery, repeated 4-6 times (ONLY)

🥇Females who couple this with adequate, quality nutrition, good sleep and stress reduction in other life areas, show really powerful body composition results, and rebalancing of hormones, and they’re not spending their life in the gym and depleting their body to get there

Our 40’s are meant to be fabulous, and no one’s life is fabulous if they’re living in the gym and running themselves into the ground so they are so depleted they have nothing left to give to being fabulous

❤️This is the time to get smart. Less is more. Smart is more. Get in, do what works, and get out and go live your fabulous life

You won’t like it but it’s true👇🏼

🪴I love herbs and medicinal mushrooms

🙌🏼They are natural, they are powerful and they are supportive

BUT

❗️They are not the answer to your problems, they are only a small part of the solution

I like to use adaptogens to provide relief and support whilst we make the necessary and vital life changes that will result in the reduction of stress, it’s hormones and it’s effects within and on the body

✅The actual healing happens, and is only possible, through these life changes

These changes take effort on our behalf. We need to create and maintain new habits, and we need to cultivate, and continually practise, the courage and willingness to ride out the discomfort of these changes. We need to be devoted to our healing especially when it’s inconvenient

😌One of the simplest ways to start is to create some space in our life

Let go of some things

Say no to other things

Don’t over schedule

Slow down

Do less

Instead of constantly filling the spaces in our life with things - supplements, adaptogens, programs, diets, busy-ness - start to empty out some things

Create space and then give yourself the gift of sitting in that space, of BEING in that space, enjoying that space and seeing what comes through

✨I promise it’ll be magic