What I’m actually doing right now for strength, hormones, nervous system health, and feeling like myself again.
Spring officially starts on Friday, March 20th. Spring always feels like a deep breath, there is something about the light coming back that wakes your body up again. More daylight, more energy, more motivation to move, walk outside, run outside.
I have always felt this shift. When I was younger it meant playing outside after school the first warm day of the year. Now, in midlife, it feels a little different. Spring still brings that same excitement, but it also brings a desire to reset, not in a punishing way, not some detox, or in a way that is about fixing yourself. But more in a return to the basics.
A reminder that feeling good usually comes back to the same simple things:
- Movement/Exercise
- Real food
- Sleep/Rest
- Stress management
- Connection
- And giving your nervous system a break
Lately I’ve also been thinking a lot about how confusing the wellness world has become. There’s always a new protocol and some new trend or “biohack”, a new supplement stack, a new rule about what you should or shouldn’t eat. I think the truth is that most women in their 40s and 50s don’t need more rules. We need less noise. So today I want to share what my spring reset actually looks like. I believe in bio-individuality, what works for one person, won’t work for everyone. So my reset might not work for you. This is what is helping me feel stronger, calmer, and more like myself this season. Take what resonates, leave the rest.
What I’m Eating Right Now
One of the biggest shifts I made over the last few years is moving away from rigid food rules. For a long time the wellness world convinced women that if they just ate “clean enough” they would feel amazing, but that mindset can quietly turn into stress, and stress affects digestion, hormones, and energy more than people realize. So for me that was not good becoming too obsessed with “clean” eating. When something stresses you out it isn’t health and wellness anymore.
Right now my focus is very simple.
- Fiber
- Plants
- Fruit
- Protein but not in an obsessive way. I am vegan so I will have protein smoothies but I don’t obsess about it in the way the wellness world is all about protein.
Like I just said, I’m vegan, but my coaching and philosophy around food is inclusive of everyone. I care more about helping women develop a healthy relationship with food than about telling anyone exactly what they should and shouldn’t eat.
For me lately that looks like meals built around plants that are filling, balanced, and satisfying. In the winter I eat more pastas, soups, stews, potatoes, bagels. When the weather starts to get warmer and the sun is shining more I naturally start back to gravitating to eating more fruits again. While I will never tell you what I eat in a day or do a “what I eat in a day post.” ( I think those are extremely harmful for some women and teenagers) I will share some breakfast ideas.
Breakfast:
- Oatmeal with chia seeds and berries
- A smoothie with protein powder, frozen fruit, spinach, and flax
- Avocado toast with hemp seeds and fruit on the side
- Scrambled tofu and toast
Fiber has become a huge focus for me recently. Research continues to show that fiber supports gut health, blood sugar regulation, hormone health, and long term disease prevention, yet most people aren’t getting enough.
Movement That Supports My Body in Midlife
If you followed fitness culture in the early late 90’s and early 2000s like I did, you probably remember when the message was simple, more exercise, harder workouts, no days off. I lived in that world for a long time.
But midlife changes your relationship with movement. Your body becomes more sensitive to stress, my wrists have started to hurt and I have a bad low back from overuse when I was younger ( my spine surgeon and my spinal specialist have told me this.) Now add on hormones fluctuate and migraines. Something I never really did when I was younger are rest and recovery days, but recovery matters more. Now my movement routine is about strength, mobility, and nervous system regulation.
Exercise isn’t about punishment because I ate or drank too much over the weekend or because it is the holidays and I will be eating more sweets.
A typical week for me includes:
- Strength training 1-2 times a week
- Pilates or barre style movement
- Yoga for mobility and breath
- Daily walking and I am back to running too. I try for 2-3 times a week of running.
Walking is one of the most underrated forms of movement. It improves mood, supports metabolic health, and reduces stress.
One of the biggest mistakes I see women making is thinking they need extreme workouts to see results. In reality, the body responds best to consistency and recovery.
The one question I get asked the most is which type of exercise is the best and it’s the one you love doing and have fun doing it. You will stick to it. If you dread something and hate it, you will not stick with it.
The Wellness Shift That Matters Most
For years wellness culture focused almost entirely on food and exercise. However, research now shows that chronic stress affects nearly every system in the body.
- Hormones
- Digestion
- Inflammation
- Immune function
- Sleep
- Mental health
Many women in midlife aren’t actually struggling because they’re eating the wrong foods. They’re struggling because their nervous system is constantly activated. Work stress, family responsibilities, mental load, technology, constant information. Your body can’t thrive in a constant stress response. Which is why nervous system support has become one of the biggest priorities in my life and in my coaching.
Meditation
Activations
Breathwork
Walking
Time outside
Reducing digital noise
These aren’t trendy wellness hacks, they’re foundational.
If there is one thing that has changed my health more than anything else recently, it is this. I stopped trying to optimize everything. For a while I found myself pulled into the biohacking side of wellness. Tracking everything, taking all the supplements, reading about every new protocol. At one point I looked around and realized I was spending hundreds of dollars a month on supplements and still not feeling better.
Instead of adding more things, I started simplifying. I focused on rest, I started protecting my nervous system more intentionally, I also made the decision to go back on anti anxiety medication and start medication for my migraines again. For me personally, that was the right decision in this season of life. I also take magnesium daily, which has helped support my sleep and migraines.
This is not medical advice and it is not a prescription for anyone else. It is simply part of my story. Wellness doesn’t have to mean doing everything naturally at all costs. Sometimes wellness means asking for support, sometimes it means medication, sometimes it means therapy, sometimes it means admitting that your nervous system has been running on empty for a long time, and then slowly rebuilding from there.
That is what this spring reset has really been about for me. Not fixing my body. Not chasing the perfect routine. Just returning to the basics that actually help me feel like myself again. Spring always reminds me that our bodies know how to reset. Sometimes they just need space to do it.
Nikki Lanigan
Nikki Lanigan is a yoga, HIIT, and Barre instructor, she is also a Holistic Health Coach through Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Nikki is trained in Yoga Shred, Yoga Psychology, meditation, chakra balancing, and EFT/Tapping. She has done trainings with Sadie Nardini and Ashley Turner. She got her 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2017 at the Carrie Treister School Of Yoga. Nikki takes a holistic view of health, helping her students and clients reach a place of self-love not just through movement, but with mindset and lifestyle guidance as well. Nikki is also show prep writer for The McVay Media Show Prep and host of the podcast Fit, Fun, and Frazzled. Connect with Nikki on Instagram. www.instagram.com/nikkilanigan.yogaandwellness www.instagram.com/fitfunandfrazzledpodcast
