HeraSphere #24: Become the CEO of Your Health

Hi friends,

Last week, I attended an incredible women’s health conference in LA—YPO's Women's Wellness Summit—where leading experts in women's health shared insights that reframed how I think about aging, hormones, burnout, and longevity. Every expert kept circling back to the same foundations: community, sleep, exercise, nutrition, mental health - and a new one for me, pelvic health.

The other thing I realized was that the number of things we're supposed to learn and do for our health is truly endless. New supplements. New tests. New protocols. New devices. The wellness industry is so highly complex—and it really feels impossible to keep up!

My conclusion was that we each need to figure out our WHY and what is best for us individually. Wellness routines require daily or at least semi-regular effort—like brushing your teeth. The key for me is finding enjoyable, stackable habits that can become part of my routine. Otherwise, it just becomes an expensive trial and error hamster wheel filled with passing trends that won't achieve any measurable results (likely due to my own lack of adherence).

The TL;DR

• After listening to leading women's health experts with different specialties, I’ve updated my 6 foundations for women's health:

  • Community (start here—it's the lowest hanging fruit)

  • Sleep (your brain's cleaning crew)

  • Exercise (strength training is survival)

  • Nutrition (protein + rainbow foods, less sugar/UPFs)

  • Mental health (calm your nervous system)

  • Pelvic health (the one we’ve all been ignoring)

• The wellness industry can be overwhelming; finding your WHY can help you become the CEO of your health

• Finding stackable habits that work for YOU is much more sustainable than chasing every new trend

• Modern medicine is disease care, not health optimization. It’s time to take control

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The Mental Shift: Becoming the CEO of Your Own Health

• Modern medicine is disease care, not health optimization, our inimitable conference champion Lizanne Falsetto shared.

• Dr. Mary Clare Haver challenged us to reflect: "Are you the CEO of your health?" Most of us aren't. We're reactive, not proactive. We wait until something breaks before we pay attention.

• What if we treated our health like the business (or the household) that we're running—where prevention, optimization, and strategic investment are the priority?

• Being the CEO of your health means starting with six non-negotiable foundations.

Foundation #1: Community—The Lowest Hanging Fruit

• "Community is everything, especially now. For women not to have friends is more dangerous than smoking" was sound advice offered by the one and only Jane Fonda: She cited Harvard research showing that friendship is the best medicine in the world.

• Healthy relationships are "with you and for you." Anything less drains your energy, reinfoced burnout expert Dr. Neha Sangwan 

• Community is the most accessible foundation to start with. You don't need equipment. You don't need a prescription. You just need to reach out. Call a friend. Ask for help. Show up for someone else.

• What this means for you: Stop waiting. Text that friend you've been meaning to connect with. Schedule the coffee date. Prioritize your relationships like the medicine they are.

Foundation #2: Sleep—Your Body's Night Shift

• Dr. Wendy Troxel, a sleep psychologist, shared that “deep sleep is when your brain goes full Marie Kondo” to clean out tau and amyloid beta—the proteins linked to Alzheimer's

• 60% of women struggle with sleep during the menopausal transition, but chasing perfect sleep creates stress

• The glymphatic system is your brain's night shift worker. And if you're not getting enough deep sleep, your brain can't clear the debris that accumulates during the day

• Neuropsychologist Dr. Louisa Nicola emphasized that a 45-year-old woman has a 2x higher risk for developing Alzheimers than a man because of estrogen's role in glucose management. When estrogen declines, the brain can't use glucose efficiently, leading to what some call "type 3 diabetes" or brain fog. Alzheimer's is a disease that begins in midlife, and sleep is a critical element in managing risk

• What this means for you: Prioritize sleep regularity. Your body thrives on predictability and consistency. As Dr. Troxel recommends, treat sleep like a dear friend you prioritize without abandoning yourself to anxiety about it.

Foundation #3: Exercise—Strength is Medicine

• Dr. Vonda Wright shared that muscle is a metablic powerhouse that produces myokines—anti-inflammatory compounds that regulate metabolism, support bone density, and slow aging

• But muscle is only as good as the foundation it's built on—and that foundation is bone. Longevity for women is also dependent on our structural integrity.

• If you break your femur, you have a 30% chance of dying. And we start losing bone density rapidly during perimenopause—15-20% due to estrogen loss.

• Dr. Wright’s prescription? Lift heavy. 5 reps, 5 sets, 3 times per week. Jump 20x daily because it puts 4x your body weight in force on your bones. Don’t use the "mambi-pambi pink weights" we've been sold. Use weights heavy enough to challenge your bones.

• Exercise is the best thing for your brain. Studies show the hippocampus—where we store memories—actually grew in rats that exercised.

• What this means for you: Strength training is critical for women for brain, bone and heart health. Start now, not when something breaks.

Foundation #4: Nutrition—What Your Body Needs Now

• Dr. Rocio Salas-Whalen reminded us that body composition may be more important for longevity than your bloodwork. This is because visceral fat (the fat around your organs) promotes insulin resistance and inflammation—and that's where metabolic dysfunction begins.

• Perimenopause is a cardiovascular risk factor, and menopausal women have 2x the risk of heart disease according to Dr. Jayne Morgan. Nutrition is an important foundation for heart health

• Protein is essential. This is not a diet trend—it's filling, regulates glucose and insulin, and is critical for maintaining muscle mass. Women need high-quality protein with leucine to activate muscle protein synthesis.

• Eat the rainbow. Prioritize colorful fruits and vegetables to support your gut microbiome and reduce inflammation. Your gut bugs need diversity to thrive.

• Reduce sugar and ultra-processed foods (UPFs). High sugar, salt, and fat drive inflammation. When patients GLP-1s, inflammation drops almost immediately—partly because their cravings for pro-inflammatory food decreases to zero.

• What this means for you: Stop restricting. Start nourishing. Prioritize protein, eat the rainbow, and cut the junk.

Foundation #5: Mental Health—Calm Your Nervous System

• Stress causes or exacerbates over 80% of all illnesses, explained burnout expert Dr. Neha Singwan. Your body keeps score. Racing heart, shallow breathing, stomach turning—these are early warning signs, not things to ignore.

• You only have one bucket of energy that fuels everything—your physical body, mental clarity, emotional resilience, social connections, and spiritual purpose.

• Burnout is chronic stress that hasn't been successfully managed—and it's not your fault. Burned-out people are often the highest performers.

• Burnout happens when you have a net drain of energy on one or more of five levels: physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual. You can't just rest your way out of it if the drain is emotional or social. You have to identify where you're bleeding energy and address it there.

• What this means for you: Pay attention to your body's signals. Stop waiting until you're at the exhaustion phase. Where are you experiencing a net drain of energy right now—physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, or spiritually? Start there.

Foundation #6: Pelvic Health—The Foundation You're Probably Ignoring

• Dr. Kelly Casperson put it bluntly: "Your vagina knows more about how you're aging than your driver's license."

• Kim Vopni, aka The Vagina Coach, added that 80% of women have some level of bladder prolapse—and most don't even know it. Pelvic floor health affects everything from bladder control to sexual function to core stability.

• See a pelvic floor physical therapist once a year. Think of it like a dental checkup—preventive, not reactive.

• If you're experiencing symptoms like pain, dryness, or frequent UTIs? Vaginal estrogen is a game-changer. It's local, safe, and solves problems that systemic hormone replacement can't touch.

• What this means for you: Stop suffering in silence. Pelvic health is integral to aging well. Get evaluated, use vaginal moisturizers with hyaluronic acid, and see a pelvic floor PT annual (I’m finding one this week!)

The Bottom Line: Make It Stackable

What I took away from the conference was: You don't need to do everything. You need to find the things that work for you—and stack them into your routine.

The wellness industry getting increasingly complex. But the foundations are simple. Community, sleep, exercise, nutrition, mental health…and pelvic health for women. Not sexy. Not new. But they only work if you do them consistently—like brushing your teeth.

Which of these six foundations needs your attention first? Start there. Build from there. And remember: you're the CEO of your health. You know more about your body (and perhaps more about menopause) than your doctor. No one else is coming to run this business for you.

Coming up next: I'll be diving deep into a few critical topics from this conference:

• Bone and muscle health with Dr. Vonda Wright

• Brain health and Alzheimer's prevention with Dr. Louisa Nicola

• Pelvic floor health and GSM with Dr. Kelly Casperson and Kim Vopni

• Burnout and energy management with Dr. Neha Sangwan

• GLP-1s and metabolic health with Dr. Rocio Salas-Whalen

Stay tuned! Do you have a friend who needs to become the CEO of her health? Please share this newsletter with her.

Stay warm if you are in the path of this snow storm weekend!

Lilly