#104 Reaching Peak Performance in Perimenopause

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Kylie: Welcome back to episode of the Hormone Hub Podcast, where we talk all things perimenopause, menopause, and have the conversations no one else is having. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode.

Hello. Hello ladies. And welcome back to the Hormone Hub podcast. I’m your host, Kylie Pinwill. And today we have a very special guest on the podcast. We have got Vesna Hrsto. So for the past two decades, Vesna has made a name for herself as an executive wellbeing coach. She’s a naturopath and a mind body peak performance specialist.
She’s worked with thousands of high achieving women around the country to help them experience elevated energy, mental clarity, and peak. Physical wellness so they can reach their highest potential. Welcome Vesna. [00:01:00] I’m so excited to have you on the show today.

Vesna: Thank you so much. I’m so happy to be here.

Kylie: Yes. So Vesna and I are cross paths. So we were just trying to work it out. It was back in about 2018. We were both sort of working in the space of women’s health, women’s mental well being, hormonal well being, and came together. So I’ve sort of been watching Vesna’s progression as to specialise in peak performance for women, which has just been amazing. And of course, something that I’m really interested in as well. So we’re going to dive into that today, which will be great. All right. Tell us a bit about you, about your journey and how you got into working in peak performance for women.

Vesna: Yeah. So I. I’m a naturopath. So I did have done this for over 20 years. So I first started in a clinic. I did that for about 10 years. And then I moved into the online space and I was, [00:02:00] I was seeing the recurring problem with people. So my clinic, it was men and women. And then online I specialised with women, but it was the same recurring theme.

That was excessive stress. Creating, you know, excessive burden on hormones and gut health and so that people became exhausted, anxious, depressed, burnt out gaining weight, like had a lot of these similar issues. And so when I came online, I thought I’m going to specialise in this because I was having the same conversations over and over and over again.

Yeah. We said this just before. Right. Yeah. So I made a program. I had that conversation in the program and then, you know, so people join the program. But then to go into peak performance, I really love working with driven women. I really love working with women who, you know, kind of push, want to push out of their, their limitations, who have a lot that they want to do.

They really value their health as well, but it has been. Accidentally sacrificed and taken a back seat because they are so busy achieving.[00:03:00] And so I love helping them to get back on track because one, there is that, they do take an interest in their health to they’re very much implementers, right?

They really love that. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it. Right. And thirdly, just seeing their transformation because they’re already high achievers. And by the end of it, you know, they are just doing so much more. Right. So they go from this place of feeling burnt out to peak performance.

Kylie: Yeah. Yeah. I think you have as well, I’ve been to burnout and it’s, it’s not fun. So, how would someone know, or what, what would the signs be that, they’ve kind of hit that burnout stage?

Vesna: Well, the number one telltale sign is that you’re fatigue is not relieved by sleep, so you’ll have a couple of good night’s sleep, you’re still tired, you’ll, after a weekend, come Monday morning, you’re still tired, or if you have a break or a holiday or something, you come back and within a week you’re exhausted again.

So that’s a really telltale sign that your rest is not [00:04:00] rejuvenating you, so your body is heading into burnout, so it’s definitely one of the warning signs. And then the other symptoms are like anxiety or agitation. So it changes to your mood. So whether it be anxiety or a low mood, like kind of dipping into depression, and there’s also a loss of passion in your work or in your life, right?

Even for me. When I went through burnout years ago, like I’d always wanted to be a naturopath. I knew when I was about 13 that I wanted to be a naturopath. And then when I was burnt out, I was like, I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t think I want to do this anymore.
Right. And so I really lost that passion in my work. And my work was so much of was a calling for me. Right. And I lost so much passion in it. And that’s a really total sign of burnout, right? So people say my life is great. I don’t know why, but I’m just not happy. Like there’s, I’ve just got no spark, no zest, no vitality, no passion, no fire.

Kylie: Yeah. I definitely can relate to that because it was my sort of dance and I think, it was my dance with [00:05:00] burnout that sort of led me down the whole perimenopause path as well, because it’s sort of like, well, what’s, what’s going on. And I think, once you’ve hit burnout before, and I always describe it to my clients, is you then do a dance with it.

So it’s something that never 100 percent you can recover from it, but you’re also very susceptible to falling down that rabbit hole again, unless you take the steps to manage it well and just have the awareness of.
Vesna: Yeah. So like I say to my clients, cause I work very hard and it’s not about having this perfect work life balance.

Like it doesn’t exist. It doesn’t even exist in my life. Right. There’ll be times where I really have to put my foot on the gas and get a lot of work done. And then it balanced out in other times. Right. And so, but it’s just the, you know, you get to a point where, like, you’re working, working, working, and you’re like I know if I keep going like this, I’m tipping into that exhaustion phase.

And then you’ve got to pull back no matter what’s going on, right? Because otherwise you can’t sustain your workload. You can’t sustain your success. You can’t sustain [00:06:00] your day to day responsibilities.

Kylie: Yeah. No. A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Just recognising the signs. Yeah. All right. So if we sort of like, if that’s sort of like what burnout looks like, and then we’re, what does sort of like peak performance look like?

Vesna: Yeah. Peak performance is having energy on tap. This is having this unlimited energy where you are really engaged in your work and you seek challenges, right? So when you’re burnt out, the last thing that you want to do is put anything more on your plate. If anything, I have women say, I’m working less in my business, you know, I’m just doing the basics or people want to go work part time because it’s so exhaustive.
Whereas peak performance is they are actively seeking challenges because they use it to stretch and grow.

Kylie: Let’s go run a summit.

Vesna: Yeah. Let’s go run a summit. Let’s go do something we haven’t done. Let’s just pack the schedule. Right. Because there’s a lot of energy there. There’s a lot of head spaces, a lot of clarity and they’re not caught up in that day to day anxiety of [00:07:00] things, or the stress of things, and so there’s a lot more capacity to get stuff done. And so they’re, they’re really is, yeah, they’re thriving on challenges.

Kylie: Okay, so for all my tired, exhausted, burnt out ladies who are listening, we can turn that around.
Absolutely. And, I know Vesna’s program, my program, you know, this is what we do. It’s all about, helping you restore, nourish, replenish yourself, and then give you the tools to be able to sustain that and achieve that peak performance, but also sustain it as well, long term.

Vesna: I think it’s also important to mention that it. Cause some people might be listening and go, Oh, I’ve never been like that. Like that’s not, you know, but it is like everybody has that capacity. It’s like our human capacity to have peak performance, but it’s just about removing those, you know, those blocks to peak performance is the only thing that you have to look at.

Kylie: Yeah, absolutely. And I think we, we’re meant to have lots of energy. We’re meant to have vitality, we’re not meant to drag ourselves through every day and then just push [00:08:00] through to get the stuff done.

** Hormone Hub episode is sponsored by our free hormone help call book in your call today with one of our experienced advisors, and we’ll give you some clarity around what’s causing your symptoms and some simple steps you can use straight away to improve your menopause experience. If you’re ready to take the next step book in a call and find out more about how we can help you have a smoother transition through perimenopause and menopause, let us help you balance out your hormones, reset your metabolism, and get your confidence back so you can live the life you’re meant to.
The link with all the details is in our show notes or over at kyliepinwill.com/hormonehelpcall. **

Kylie: So I know, you know, you and I sort of work similarly, but we also work quite differently as well.

And, I love what you do inside, your programs [00:09:00] you know, and it’s, Beautiful. And I’ve sort of thought, think, Oh, maybe I should do that in my programs. And then I’m like, actually, no, my programs work, but, I think, you’ve got some great, great tools that you work with your clients.

So do you want to sort of go sort of through how your program works in the peak performance program?
Vesna: Yeah, so my peak performance program is Peak Revival, and it’s a three month program, and we take women from whether they’re burnt out or exhausted and so normally they come through, they’re feeling pretty tired, right?

They’re feeling exhausted, very anxious, very stressed, very overwhelmed and don’t have a lot of head space to even take anything on, but they know that they need to do something because they’re not coping with where they’re at. And they often have a lot of metabolic issues as well. So there’s, you know, weight gain, there’s insulin resistance, there’s disruption to their hormones and so forth.

So what we do in Peak Revive was we, one of the tools that we use, so we always do pathology testing. We go quite deep into that. But we also use another tool called a continuous [00:10:00] glucose monitor. And so what that does it you know, you stick it on your arm and we get access to your data. So it is a little bit big brother because we are looking at everyone’s data and it shows data for like 24/7. So what you eat when you’re sleeping when you don’t eat, when you’re stressed, right? So we pick up stress triggers on this and then we can coach people around on that. Right. Because we have noticed stress peaks, the glucose levels. So fast and so much that, you know, so people come into the program and be like, I don’t know why I’ve got these extra weight around my belly because I really don’t eat that badly.
And then when we stick the glucose monitor on, they’re like, Oh yeah. Okay, I see it now. And so it’s a really great tool to one, bring their glucose levels to a stable point, reducing so much insulin and insulin resistance, which affects energy, weight, and our mood.[00:11:00]
You know, it’s a really good accountability tool and it’s a really great tool for people to be so aware of what they put into their body because you can’t ignore it. It’s either beeping at you if it’s gone too high to say you’re out of the zone. Right.

And so therefore, you know, I remember when I first used it and I put it on and I was like, Oh, I have to eat something.

I want to see what it does. Right. So I’m going to eat. Whatever. I just had like rice crackers, which sent it up. Right. And then I remember my partner got a bubble tea and I drank that and that just went sky high. I was going to do coke and I just was like, I didn’t even want to put that in my body. Right.

Kylie: I don’t think I could.

Vesna: But yeah, but it makes you really aware when you look at food, you think, Oh no, I know that’s going to spike. Right. And he’s just, there’s something about that where you’re just like, I don’t want to put that in my body. Right.

Kylie: Glass of wine.

Vesna: Glass of wine.
Yeah. Well, surprisingly, not always. No. Okay. So one can keep, yeah. Keep it stable. But it will crash. Well, it’s not without side effects because what we find is that if people [00:12:00] drink overnight, their glucose levels really drop and then they spike again. So you’re getting this complete disruption during this, during the sleep, which is affecting also glucose and insulin and their metabolism. So, yeah.

Kylie: Yeah, yeah. And I think, we’re data nerds, right? So all information is good information.

Vesna: Yeah, I think when you can really customize what that person needs. So. You know, I would be able to eat something that doesn’t alter my glucose levels, but it does for somebody else. And so that food doesn’t agree with them.

Kylie: Yeah. And I wonder too, like, does that impact where you’re at in your cycle? Does that impact?
Vesna: Sometimes it can’t, doesn’t, we haven’t seen a great huge impact. I’ll be honest, unless, you know, there’s cravings and then they give into those cravings and then obviously but we haven’t really seen that pop up and in enough people, I think one person, we noticed some shit, but that’s about it.

Kylie: Yeah. I guess, yeah. Like all things with women’s cycles, there would be no research on no, let’s just, [00:13:00] assume that there’s no research on that, but yeah, it’s super interesting. And I think, you know, giving people the ownership of, it’s your results, we can see them and…

Vesna: Yeah, it makes them much more accountable. So for us, it’s been a really great tool for our clients has been a great tool. And I think anything that can give you accountability and make you take ownership, because at the end of the day, like, I mean, I know like you would think this as a practitioner, someone comes to you.

I think we get into these roles because we just want to make people feel better. And not have them suffering and to just go on and live their best life. But sometimes we can end up taking accountability for that. Where really that power lies in the person, right? To take that ownership and accountability.

Kylie: A hundred percent. And yeah, I think we want them, want the results for them, but unless they take ownership over their own success. And I think, gosh, I’ve been guilty of that too. I’ve sort of stepped back and gone, Oh, what’s wrong with my program? Why is it [00:14:00] broken? Why is it not working for this woman?

And then I have an honest chat with this woman and it’s sort of like, okay, well, she had a bad week and she was tired and, things weren’t as good as they could have been and it’s not to say that she’s failed or I’ve failed or anything like that, but, it was life. It is what it is.

So what can we put in place? So when things get busy and stressed, we’ve got easy options, for her to sort of use and, you know, giving her those tools in her toolkit so, she can make better choices. That is still easy because at the end of the day, when we’re busy and we’re stressed, we want easy.

Vesna: Yeah, yeah, I think it’s not about doing it perfectly. I never think that. I think it’s always about getting back on, getting back on, just getting back on.

Kylie: Instancy. Yeah, yeah, for sure. All right, so Vesna, you’ve also got a little freebie for our audience. Do you want to tell us about the Peak Revival Kit?

Vesna: So the Peak Revival Kit goes through an [00:15:00] assessment.
So it kind of has a look at where your energy is at. Because of a lot of the markers, a lot of the things that we associate with normal life is actually low energy. And so it helps you to clarify where your energy is at. And then what are the next steps that you can take? So it’s a good little starter kit.

Kylie: Perfect. All right. And we will be putting the link to the peak revival kit in the show notes. So you can access that. And then we’ll also put business contact details in there as well. So it has been fabulous having you on the show. Thank you so much. Yeah, really interesting. And I think, yeah, if anyone is interested in peak performance or peak performance revival, you can certainly reach out to Vesna because I’ve been. watching Vesna and what she’s been doing for years. And I think you would be in very good hands. Thank you. All right. Well, thanks for listening everyone. And we will see you in the next episode.


Thank you for taking the time to listen [00:16:00] today. You can head on over to the show notes at kyliepinwill.com/podcast where you’ll find all the links. Now, before we go, it would mean the world to me if you’d head on over to your favorite podcast channel, subscribe and leave a review. Don’t forget to share it with your friends.
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