Nicole Cheak (00:09.774)
If healthy eating feels impossible in perimenopause, it's not your hormones. And I'm about to show you the three lies the food industry tells women like us that kept me stuck and exhausted and confused until I figured out what they don't want you to know. By the end of this video, you're gonna know exactly how to see through their marketing.
Nicole Cheak (01:06.926)
If healthy eating feels impossible in perimenopause, it's not your hormones. I'm about to show you the three lies the food industry tells women like us that kept me exhausted and confused until I figured out what they don't want you to know. By the end of this video, you're going to know exactly how to see through their marketing tricks in 30 seconds and why clean eating isn't working. Look, I am 45. Look, I'm 43. I have three very active boys and
I want to say that I used to have this figure out and then perimenopause hit and suddenly I'm standing in the grocery store, probably having a meltdown because nothing makes sense anymore. Organic everything, clean labels, doing all of the right things. And honestly, I was feeling worse than ever. And it turns out there's a reason for that. And it has nothing to do with your age, your hormones or the ability to take care of yourself. Here are the three lies everyone believes about eating in perimenopause.
Nicole Cheak (02:09.386)
Everyone thinks this is about hormones. Look, I get it. Your doctor probably told you, welcome to perimenopause. This is just how it is now. And your friends are all saying the same thing. I can't eat like I used to. My metabolism is shot and everything makes me way more bloated now. And I want to share a little bit of my story because I used to think that feeling exhausted by the afternoon and tossing and turning at night was just my new normal. And
I'd wake up feeling like I got hit by a truck or I would just drag myself through the day. And by the evening, I was either too tired to cook or so hangry that I would eat whatever was easiest. And then I'd beat myself up because I should know better. Then something shifted and I started focusing on real food, actual protein, fiber, and nutrients that my body could recognize. And on days I slip up,
Nicole Cheak (03:06.806)
And on the days I slip up, because I'm human and I sometimes eat kids leftovers mac and cheese too, I don't automatically blame my hormones anymore. I noticed what I ate that day and I think, okay, well, no wonder I feel like garbage. That's not fuel. That's just food shaped stuff. It's not judgment. It's just awareness. Like, when I eat real food, I have energy. And when I eat processed stuff all day, I feel like crap. Revolutionary, right?
But here's what blew my mind. Studies show that your body becomes more sensitive to stress than it does sugar. And most women think that the cookie...
And most women think it's the cookie that's making them feel terrible, but it's usually at the cortisol from the chaotic day combined with not eating enough real nutrients to support your body through the stress. So it's not your hormones feeling you, it's your hormones doing exactly what they're supposed to. And it's your body's way of responding to what you're feeding it, or more importantly, what you're not feeding it. And when you're stressed and undernourished, of course you're going to crave quick energy and
Of course you're going to feel exhausted because your body is just trying to survive. So look, everyone thinks that clean eating equals complete, right? And this one had me for years. I was eating healthy protein bars, thinking I was absolutely nailing my protein goals and they were organic and they had clean ingredients and no artificial sweeteners. So I felt good about
So I felt good about grabbing these things, especially because they were super expensive, thinking, hey, look at me. I'm being so healthy and prepared. And then one day I actually looked, I mean, really looked at the sugar content. The bar that I thought was amazing and it was like...
Nicole Cheak (05:04.406)
The bar that I thought was amazing.
Nicole Cheak (05:09.13)
The bar that I thought was this amazing protein source had like 12 grams of sugar and nine grams of protein.
Nicole Cheak (05:19.042)
The bar that I thought was this amazing protein source had 12 grams of added sugar. And so I was basically eating candy with some protein in it. And I was calling that health food. But it wasn't just the bars. It was also the organic granola that had 20 ingredients that made me starving an hour later. The healthy snacks that were really just processed food with better marketing. The clean yogurts that were still loaded with sugar.
And I was so focused on avoiding the bad stuff that I completely missed what my body actually needed. A protein bar is still processed food, no matter how clean the label looks. Real protein is eggs, chicken, and food that comes from the ground or has a mother. And it doesn't need a marketing team. And so that's what your perimenopause body is craving. Not sugar with the label.
Nicole Cheak (06:14.42)
not sugar with a protein label slapped on it. And here's the one thing about perimenopause that no one tells you. Your protein needs actually go up, not down. And most women are eating half of what they actually need. But instead of eating real protein, we're eating these fake protein products and wondering why we're still hungry and still tired and still not feeling like ourselves. So if you're sitting there and you're thinking, wait, I might actually be doing this all wrong. I totally get it.
And that's why I created my five days to finally know what to eat in perimenopause because it's not another diet plan or list of foods to avoid. It's the simple framework that helped me stop guessing and actually start nourishing my body. And you can grab it in the description below. Most people.
Nicole Cheak (07:06.07)
Most people don't know that the food system is rigged. It's designed to keep you confused and coming back for more. I used to grab the protein bars that screamed high protein on the front of the package, like I was talking about, because the marketing was so good, right? Had clean fonts, natural colors, words like nourishing and wholesome. And I thought I was being so smart and so health conscious. Then I learned this trick that changed everything.
If a product has nine grams of protein, I want you to add a zero to it. That's 90. And if the calories are 180, that and that 90 is less than 180. Then the protein is not even making up half the calories in the product. So it's truly not actually a good protein source. And the marketing on the front makes it seem like it's this amazing high protein food, but they're literally counting on you not doing the math because most people don't know this.
So the front of the packaging is always marketing and the back of the packaging is always the truth. And this is just one small example of how the food system is rigged. But the big one is that ultra processed foods are designed to make you hungrier. Not hungrier because you're weak or lack of self control, but because the food system is literally engineered to override all of your natural hunger.
Nicole Cheak (08:30.082)
but because the food system is literally.
but because the food system is literally engineered to override all of your natural hunger signals. Studies show that people eat naturally 500 more calories a day when they're eating mostly ultra processed foods. 500 extra calories. Not because they can't control themselves, but because the food is designed to make them want more. So I want you to think about this. You can eat an entire bag of chips and still want dinner, but try eating the equivalent calories in steak and vegetables.
and you're probably gonna be satisfied for hours. I want you to think about this because that is not a coincidence. That is food science working exactly as intended. And the companies making these products have teams of food scientists whose entire job is to find the bliss point, okay? And that is the exact combination of sugar, salt, and fat that is going to want you to crave more. And they study your brain.
and they study your brain chemistry. They run focus groups. They spend millions of dollars figuring out how to make food that's impossible to stop eating. So I want you to remember this because you're not failing at anything. You are fighting against a multi-billion dollar industry that has weaponized food science against your biology. And then they turn it around and sell you a solution. More products, more programs, and more things to buy the fix for the problem they actually created in the first place.
So I wanna really be clear about what's happening here because it's not about hormones making healthy eating impossible. Your hormones are actually trying to help you navigate a food environment that is completely different from what they evolved to handle.
Nicole Cheak (10:18.338)
Your hormones are actually trying to help you navigate this food environment that is completely different from what they were evolved to handle. It just doesn't make sense.
your hormones are actually trying to help you navigate this food environment that is just sometimes completely impossible. And I want you to also remember it's not your age. Yes, your body's needs change in perimenopause, but that doesn't mean that you're broken, which I don't love that word, but it doesn't mean that you're failing or...
Nicole Cheak (10:56.63)
Yes, your body's needs change in perimenopause, but that doesn't mean that you're failing. Okay. Or that feeling good is off the table forever. And it's definitely not your fault because you are not lacking willpower or discipline or whatever garbage the diet industry wants to sell you. You're navigating a system that's literally designed to keep you confused, hungry, and coming back for more. And the good news, once you see it, you can't unsee it. Once you know the tricks, you can't be fooled by them anymore.
So now that you know what the food system is trying, so now that you know the food system is trying,
So now that you know the food system is designed to confuse you, the next thing you'll need to learn is how to see through all of that marketing in about 30 seconds. I'm going to show you the exact three things I look for on every label so you never get fooled by fancy packaging again. It's honestly become like a superpower. I can walk through the grocery store and immediately know what's real food and what's just marketing. Watch that video right here and I'll teach you how to do the same thing.
