There is no reason why a woman should not feel her best during perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause. Menopause comes with a host of symptoms, including hot flashes, weight gain, brain fog, poor sleep, low libido, and increased anxiety. Healthy lifestyle interventions are the first lines of defense in helping women support themselves through this transitional stage and beyond. We will explore how to build a better nutritional plate, emphasizing the importance of protein, how to reduce incoming environmental toxins (which act as hormone disruptors), what types of exercise are optimal during midlife, and how to optimize your sleep.
Meet our speaker
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In developing a deep connection and interest in improving her health and wellness, Jill started her evidence-based health journey at age 16. She ate based on the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.), feeling zero consequences for eating anything she wanted, without regard to nutrition. Jill began researching various dietary theories to improve her overall health and sports performance. She experimented with many different eating methods to support a healthy lifestyle, including vegan, vegetarian, macrobiotic, gluten-free, paleo, keto, and carnivore and finally landed on an animal-based diet.
In 2000, after giving birth to her 4th of 5 children, Jill had a partial thyroidectomy (removing half of the thyroid gland), which was the beginning of a cascade of chronic health conditions for decades. Sleep disturbances, hormonal fluctuations, low energy and libido, cognition issues, hair loss, weight gain, weight loss, and heart palpitations were just some of the chronic health issues she faced.
Later, Jill discovered that she was homozygous for the MTHFR C677t genetic SNP (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase single nucleotide polymorphism), which indicates the MTHFR gene is operating at a 30% capacity. This placed her at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, neurological disorders, and methylation issues. For the past 24 years, Jill has focused on integrative nutrition and holistic lifestyle practices to optimize her health, improve lab results, maintain lean muscle mass, and personalize her nutrition and supplementation. This created a unique health equation that supported her thriving hair growth, optimal thyroid function, maintaining ideal body composition, consistent restorative sleep, and navigating peri-menopause, and menopause, while mitigating chronic symptoms.
Jill received a B.A. in Psychology from The George Washington University, where she began mastering her coaching skills, including the psychology of changing lifestyle habits. She completed the Institute for Integrative Nutrition Health Coach program in 2018, the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy program in 2019, and in October 2021, she passed the National Board of Health & Wellness Coaches exam, collaborating with the National Board of Medical Examiners, representing the training, education, and assessment skills needed to help support her clients at the highest level.
She is the founder of Jill Foos Wellness, a private health coaching business in Chicago that virtually serves individuals worldwide. Jill helps her clients achieve their health and wellness goals through functional medicine, nutritional strategies, and integrative health practices. Her clients achieve dramatic health and lifestyle results thanks to the individualized consultative partnership they develop. Jill also hosts the Health Trip Podcast, featuring medical doctors, and like-minded practitioners, to share their expertise on the current science around optimal health and longevity for midlife women.