12 Weeks to 40: My Health Reset Starts Here
DISCLAIMER: I’m not a doctor, and this isn’t medical advice. It’s my personal experience and what I’m learning. Please check with your own healthcare provider before changing your diet, exercise or supplements. I’m not affiliated with any experts or podcasts mentioned, and I used AI to help organize and fact-check my research. This post may contain affiliate links to products I use, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
If you’re a woman on either side of 40, you may be able to relate to the number of shifts that start to take place.
For me, I couldn’t differentiate any potential age-related changes from postpartum, since my last son was born when I was 35. I thought postpartum was normal, but I haven’t felt “normal” since. And if I’m being honest, it goes back further than that…
I first suspected I had postpartum depression when my first born was about 2 months old. It has hung around in varying degrees ever since. Throw 3 kids in under 3 years into the mix, and yeah, my body was clearly trying to tell me to “chill the F out”.
The things I was experiencing—brain fog and focus, mood swings and executive dysfunction—became so frustrating, I thought I was going insane. Finally, I asked my doctors if I was entering perimenopause—at the time, I was freshly 38. But my labs didn’t show I was in perimenopause. Enter more frustration and still no answers.
I felt like such a lesser version of myself. Incapable, where I had felt so capable before. I needed there to be a reason—an explanation—for why I felt this way.
Looking Back: The Signs I Missed
Looking back, my symptoms were screaming at me. Not just then at 38, but throughout my life. In subtle ways, as they do for many women diagnosed later in life.
I was the little girl daydreaming instead of paying attention in school. Zoning out or talking over others because I didn’t want to lose my thought (or maybe was just a little too impatient). And later, creating complex organizational systems to not fall behind. I just thought that math wasn’t my subject. That I had to study harder. Or rather, re-read the same page five times, because my brain kept floating off somewhere else.
I became really good at coping with what I now know are tell-tale signs of inattentive ADHD. My younger brother was diagnosed with ADHD young and because his symptoms were so apparent, my behaviors as a child were invisible to my parents. And they wouldn’t have known any better. Back in the early 90’s, people saw ADHD as an outwardly hyperactive disorder.
As I got older, I got better at managing my symptoms, even being successful—getting my undergrad and graduate degrees—though it took a bit longer than most. Even into adulthood I got really good at masking, not only my symptoms of ADHD, but also depression and anxiety—until I couldn’t.
After finding how many of the perimenopause and ADHD symptoms overlap—brain fog and poor focus, memory issues, executive dysfunction, emotional dysregulation and sleep issues—I decided to take things into my own hands.
A Diagnosis, but Only Part of the Puzzle
Last January, after I felt like my psychiatrist wasn’t hearing me, I sought out an unbiased assessment for ADHD. Lo and behold, I received the diagnosis of Inattentive ADHD. You may think this diagnosis would be earth shattering, but for me, a weight lifted. I finally had an answer. You’ll come to learn I really, really need to know the why behind things. So although I felt happiness to finally know why I felt the way I did, it was only a part of the puzzle.
I had been seeing my primary care physician and psychiatrist for years looking for answers. Even after the ADHD diagnosis, I found a women’s health specialist to possibly shed some light on some of the perimenopause symptoms I was experiencing that didn’t apply to my neurodivergent diagnosis. But still, I felt like I was being offered bandaids for my symptoms… You need to lose weight? Let’s get you on a weight loss drug. My gut was telling me that wasn’t the answer.
So, yet again, I decided to take things into my own hands… with the help of Ai.
When Things Started to Fall Into Place
A few things began to serendipitously fall into place.
I compiled all the lab work I had access to over the past 5 years and asked ChatGPT to create a spreadsheet for me: organizing everything by category, finding “normal ranges” to see where my results fell, and providing layman’s definitions for each test.
I started coming across a lot of functional health—hello, algorithm! After feeling like I was hitting dead ends with my other physicians, I came to the conclusion that a functional doctor might be the next best step. I dug into their websites, researching local and online clinics, and even joined webinars to find out what they were testing and why. I pulled together those resources and finally got a pretty comprehensive list of what markers they look for, but wasn’t prepared to pay the out-of-pocket price some of them were requiring.
In a moment where I felt I had hit an impasse yet again, all the sleuthing was about to pay off.
Something about Vitamin D on Instagram stopped my doom scroll. It was a teaser for The Diary of a CEO podcast featuring Dr. Stasha Gominak. Knowing my Vitamin D levels were one point into the normal range, without hesitation I jumped into the episode.
My bloodwork from May 2026 showed my Vitamin D was 31. The reference range provided by the lab is 30-100. So as healthcare goes, I was normal enough. Of all things, Vitamin D would start my deep dive into better understanding my health. It also made me more motivated than ever to advocate for myself and find the answers I was truly looking for.
Hooked on Vitamin D
As soon as I started listening, I was hooked. What I thought was a vitamin linked to sunlight was actually an essential compound linked to sleep, memory, mood, hormones and so much more. She even discussed the link between women and Vitamin D, and how pregnancy and breastfeeding can deplete our reserves (ding, ding, ding!). What was remarkably interesting to me: Vitamin D acts more like a hormone than a vitamin.
But Dr. Stasha just piqued my interest. If you’ve ever heard someone describe ADHD as a superpower, they are probably referring to hyper focus. While we are easily distracted by mundane tasks, anything that we are invested in can create a state of intense, prolonged concentration. For me, I can become completely absorbed in an engaging activity to the point where I lose track of time and my surroundings.
When that episode ended, I jumped into the next. And the next. By the end of the day, I had watched a handful of these health podcasts, covering varying topics of human health—but I noticed a thread forming.
The Ah-Ha Moment
I suddenly had an ah-ha moment. Maybe I am not dealing with a bunch of different issues. In fact, I may be able to fix my brain fog, my sleep, my mood, my energy and focus—everything—with these changes.
Because I was struggling physically and mentally, I assumed I had to handle those issues separately. I began looking for answers from multiple resources, just hoping I’d find an answer to one thing. But unfortunately, that just added to the chaos my brain was already experiencing. Instead of finding one answer, I ended up with more questions.
These podcasts spoke to my current symptoms and addressed specific factors I was looking to improve. They also opened my eyes to what my life could potentially look like at 40 and beyond. On the flip side, also what things would look like if I didn’t start making changes.
Procrastination is another lovely side effect of ADHD (I am a pro at this point). Often waiting until the last minute gives me the terrifying motivation to get something done… now! With that said, I often push current problems to tomorrow. So, it was just a matter of perfect timing I suppose, that as I approach my 40th birthday, I also coincidentally found all of this information.
The Part That Worried Me Most
What became really apparent and concerning is that the symptoms I am experiencing may be only half of the problem. Whether they contribute or work independently, underlying health conditions I haven’t been paying attention to may be putting my health at the most risk. Risk factors like high cholesterol, insulin resistance, visceral fat, etc.
Now, I don’t think I’m necessarily unhealthy, but I ain’t no spring chicken. And my bloodwork proves there is room for improvement. My cholesterol is not great, my ferritin dropped by half and my liver enzymes are slightly elevated. The information I was accumulating made it clear that how I was treating my body was not doing me any favors, and time is not on my side in terms of it getting any easier.
Who Overhauls Their Lifestyle Based on Some Podcasts?
Now, you may be wondering “who overhauls their lifestyle based on some podcasts”? I would be the person that jumps two feet in. And because of that, I got my Ai besties involved to fact check—and trust me, they are being much more critical than I am.
I studied psychology + neuroscience in undergrad, so I have a deep interest in science and how the body works. But in order to digest the big words, fact check the information I’m finding and see how it relates to me, I’m utilizing Ai. In my opinion, if you want to nerd out with this stuff and understand WHY your choices are impacting your body, you have to be able to at least piece together the general functions and pathways.
Clipboard in Hand
After digging through multiple functional medicine protocols, I created a few spreadsheets with the help of ChatGPT. They included my current bloodwork, the tests I wanted to add or I felt were missing and the hypotheses behind each one. In August, clipboard in hand, I met with my new PCP. After reviewing my pages of information, I was pleasantly surprised to hear her not fight me on all the tests. I think she was equally surprised that I came so prepared.
In the days leading up to my blood draw, I got a handful of health devices to track my progress. I put on a continuous glucose monitor the day before so I could track how my body would adjust from my old diet to the new. It only stayed on for about a week, so I also got a glucose and ketone reader. And with more recent concerns about blood pressure, I got an inexpensive cuff to track that too.
September 1st was my “baseline” blood draw—I got 16 tubes of blood drawn! About two weeks later, I got another 6 tubes of blood drawn for a hormone panel. 22 tubes of blood in total.
September 2nd was the first day of my new journey—and it wasn’t even a Monday (iykyk).
Turning 20 Hours of Podcasts Into a Plan
Ai was a huge component in being able to distill and organize the information from the podcasts. Listening to 20 hours of podcasts was a great motivator to get started, but knowing how all that information works together and can be applied was essential. I wanted to understand what is going to push the needle towards ideal health and where I can improve.
Did you know ChatGPT can actually go extract the transcripts from YouTube podcasts? I shared the episodes, one by one, creating a database of information from these experts featured. I asked it to fact check against peer reviewed articles, so it could differentiate between strong research or just clinical observation the experts shared. Based on my past lab results and health goals, it allowed me to assign specific adjustments I can make to begin making improvements.
That ultimately led me to create four pillars of general focus: sleep, movement, nutrition and mindset.
For me, I knew I had to jump into the most accessible first—nutrition. I immediately changed my diet and I started feeling improvements after the first week—trust me, that first week is HARD. Pushing through and looking forward to the better side of health is my WHY. I am such an information seeker, and I know now, that’s the motivation I was missing before.
Throughout this series, I will be sharing all of the details—what I am eating, how I’m moving my body, what supplements I am starting and more. I am an open book, so if you have a question, don’t be afraid to ask it!
Thank you so much for being here, and stay tuned!
