Wellness Wednesday Issue #145

🎯 Feeling stuck? Learn to let go of unrealistic goals.

☕️ Wondering if that AM caffeine hit is hurting your gut?

💸 Offering a 401(k) isn’t your only option. Help your team start saving smarter.

👖 Denim trends taking over fall wardrobes.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Day, let’s talk about something that affects everyone: mental health.

Just like annual checkups keep your body healthy, mental health maintenance keeps your mind and emotions in balance. It’s something everyone needs — not just those diagnosed with mental illness.

The good news? Stigma is fading. The Mental Health Coalition advocates for awareness and policy change. Initiatives like Make Sure Your Friends Are Okay remind us to check in on each other. Pash is using its platform to fund mental health causes. Even NFL teams are joining the conversation, helping normalize discussions around mental wellness.

What Is Mental Health?

Your mental health shapes how you think, feel, and act. It’s a state of well-being that helps you cope with stress, realize your potential, and contribute to your community.

It’s dynamic, and shifts with life’s challenges, experiences, and support systems.

The Three Components

Emotional well-being: Managing emotions, both the highs and lows.

Psychological well-being: How you view yourself and find meaning.

Social well-being: Building healthy relationships and connection.

When one area struggles, the others feel it too.

Mental Health vs. Mental Illness

Mental health is something everyone has and can strengthen.

Mental illness refers to specific conditions, like depression or anxiety, that affect mood, thought, or behavior.

You can have good mental health while managing a mental illness, and vice versa. Treatment, self-care, and support can help both coexist.

Sometimes, what looks like a mental health issue is something else entirely — undiagnosed ADHD, vitamin deficiencies, or thyroid problems can mimic anxiety or depression. Professional evaluation helps you treat the root cause, not just the symptoms.

Why Maintenance Matters

You don’t wait until you’re sick to see a doctor, and you shouldn’t wait until you’re in crisis to care for your mental health.

Regular maintenance looks like:

• Checking in with yourself often
• Building connections and boundaries
• Managing stress in healthy ways
• Prioritizing sleep and nutrition
• Seeking therapy or support when needed

Taking ActionCheck in with your people, and yourself.

Needing help isn’t weakness. Talk to a healthcare provider, reach out to a therapist, or contact a mental health hotline. Your mind deserves the same care you give your body.

Most of us aren’t drowning in work because we’re bad at time management.

We’re drowning because we’re doing too much manually, with too little support.

Let’s fix that with a few smart shifts:

1. You’re the default “project manager”… but no one made that official.

People are constantly asking you for updates, timelines, and who’s doing what, and it’s all in your head or scattered across messages.

Try:

🛠️ monday.com – Drag-and-drop visual boards that make it easy to assign tasks, track deadlines, and keep everyone on the same page.

📊 Smartsheet – For spreadsheet lovers who want automation, dashboards, and clean reporting without the chaos.

2. You’re managing schedules, PTO, and availability manually.

Team members double-book, deadlines are missed, and somehow you end up chasing everyone down.

Try:

📅 Resource Guru – A team scheduler that lets you see who’s booked, who’s free, and who’s drowning.

🔧 Zoho Projects – Budget-friendly planning software with built-in time tracking, milestones, and team visibility.

3. Admin tasks are eating your brain.

Invoices, payroll, taxes, insurance, and expense tracking shouldn’t take hours or cost your sanity.

Try:

💰 Paychex – Handles payroll, tax filing, and benefits admin, so you can stop living in your inbox.

📈 Xero – A user-friendly accounting platform with real-time dashboards, invoicing, and easy expense tracking.

🛡️ biBerk – Simple, small biz insurance you can actually understand (without calling five agents).

4. You’re switching tabs like it’s a sport.

One for chat. One for files. One for socials. One for payments. And you still can’t find what you need.

Try:

💬 Slack – Centralize conversations, files, approvals, and updates—all in one searchable place.

💳 Square – Make selling (online or IRL) easy, and sync it with tools like Xero for fewer accounting headaches.

5. You want to work smarter, but you’re stuck in the weeds.

You’ve outgrown your scrappy setup, but finding time to upgrade feels impossible.

Try:

🧹 Start small. Pick one area that causes daily friction and solve that first. Automate a task. Streamline a process.

Every little upgrade = less stress, more space to think big.

Forget “peaking” in your 20s. True strength (physical and mental) compounds with age. Your 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond can all be performance decades when you know how to train and fuel a woman’s body through each phase.

1. Your muscle is your longevity organ

Starting as early as your 30s, women lose 3–8% of muscle per decade, and up to 30% by 80.

That loss affects everything: balance, metabolism, insulin sensitivity, mood, and confidence.

Take action:

• Prioritize resistance training (2–4x/week).
• Focus on compound moves (squats, rows, pushups, hinges).
• Track strength, not just body weight.

2. Hormones change, so your recovery habits should too

Estrogen helps preserve muscle and bone density, so as levels dip in perimenopause and menopause, your body’s “repair” rate slows.

Take action:

• Build in “super recovery days” after heavy sessions.
• Add low-impact cardio (walking, Pilates, swimming) between lifting days.
• Support your repair pathways with creatine, collagen, and consistent protein — they literally help replace what hormonal changes take away.

3. Creatine isn’t just for athletes, it’s also for brains

Newer studies show creatine helps with cognition, fatigue, and mood regulation during perimenopause and menopause.

It increases ATP (cellular energy), supports brain performance, and improves recovery.

Take action:

• 3–5g daily of creatine monohydrate (no cycling needed).
• Mix it into water or your protein shake — consistency is key.

⭐ We love this NSF-certified creatine because it dissolves cleanly and it’s perfect for daily use.

4. Collagen is your joint-care insurance

By your 40s and 50s, collagen production naturally drops by up to 25%. That’s why joints feel creakier, recovery takes longer, and skin loses elasticity.

Supplemental collagen can help maintain joint integrity, connective tissue, and bone strength.

Take action:

• Take collagen daily, ideally with vitamin C (for absorption).
• Great time: morning coffee or post-workout smoothie.
• Think of it as skincare for your joints.

5. Protein timing > protein panic

Instead of one big dinner, spread protein throughout the day. Research shows evenly distributing protein (20–35g per meal) boosts muscle protein synthesis, especially as women age.

Take action:

• Front-load breakfast with protein (Greek yogurt, eggs, or turkey bacon).
• Add 20g to lunch and dinner.
• A slow-digesting protein before bed can help with overnight recovery.

An easy way to add protein to your day? Making a quick protein shake.

6. Sleep is your hidden anabolic window

Sleep deprivation tanks growth hormone and increases cortisol (the stress hormone that breaks down muscle). Just one week of <6 hours a night can cut your muscle repair efficiency by over 60%.

Take action:

• Wind down with magnesium glycinate or L-theanine (shown to extend deep sleep).
• Keep caffeine cutoffs early.
• Treat sleep like part of your training, not a reward for finishing it.

⭐ Try this blend of magnesium + L-Threonate + L-Theanine + Apigenin to support real rest.

7. Think “stacked health,” not quick fixes

Your body’s designed to adapt. The right habits just remind it how.

When you combine movement, protein, collagen, creatine, vitamins, and sleep consistently, you create a stack effect: each habit amplifies the others.

Stack it like this:

• Morning: collagen in coffee + vitamin stack
• Midday: creatine with lunch
• Post-workout: protein shake
• Evening: magnesium or sleep support

Every decade can be a strong one. Stay consistent, stay curious, stay kind to your body. That’s the real definition of peak performance.

If you’ve been feeling “off” — mood swings, sleep struggles, brain fog, or unexplained weight changes—you’re not imagining it.

It could be perimenopause. And you deserve real answers, not guesswork.

Midi Health helps women navigate this hormonal transition with personalized, clinician-led care that meets you where you are.

Here’s what you’ll get:

• 💖 A custom care plan built around your symptoms and goals
• 💊 Access to FDA-approved prescriptions and supplements
• 👩‍⚕️ Expert guidance on hormone balance and lifestyle changes
• 💸 Virtual visits covered by insurance

Perimenopause can be confusing, but it’s also a chance to understand your body better than ever. You just need the right support to feel like you again.

👉 Book your first visit today.

💄 This travel makeup case fits everything and keeps it organized.

🍗 Never overcook chicken again with this instant-read thermometer.

🧶 This cropped cardi is giving cozy-without-trying vibes.

🧪 Obsessed: this jelly mask is glass skin in a jar.

• JD Finish Line is hiring for an Accounts Payable Clerk (Indianapolis, IN).
• Entyre Care is hiring for a Senior Talent Partner (Chicago, IL).
• BD Capital is hiring for a Loan Processor (Warren, NJ).
• Morton Williams – The Fresh Marketplace is hiring for a Finance Manager (Bronx, NY).
• Moroccanoil is hiring for a Quality Assurance Specialist (New York, NY).

⭐ View more jobs here >

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