The Wellness Edit: Everything I’m Taking, Trying, and Sending to Bobby
Real products, real results, one very bald husband
Nobody warned me about this part.
Not the friends who are a few years ahead of me, not the doctors I visited for twenty years, not a single person in my orbit sat me down and said: around your mid-40s, your body may start doing things that feel completely foreign to you, and the wellness industry you have mostly ignored until now is about to become very relevant very quickly.
So I did what any reasonable person does. I started researching at midnight. I compared ingredient labels. I read PubMed abstracts. I fell down rabbit holes I could not explain to my husband. I became, against my will, a supplement person. (I am a supplement person. I love my supplements!)
What follows is everything that has actually earned a permanent spot in my routine. Things I am taking, repurchasing and, in one case, sneaking onto Bobby’s bathroom shelf without warning.
Let’s start with the word nobody says out loud.
Perimenopause. I’m going to say it, and I am going to say it without lowering my voice. Because the number of women who have messaged me since I started mentioning this on Stories, the sheer volume of “me too” and “nobody told me either” in my DMs, made it very clear that we are all navigating this in complete silence when we absolutely do not have to be.
Needed came into my life through a friend from Pilates. What convinced me is that this brand is built on clinical research, which matters to me more than almost anything else given twenty years in pharmaceuticals. Their perimenopause formulas ( they have prenatal and daily vitamins as well) are designed specifically for this life stage, not adapted from something originally formulated for a 25-year-old body. There is a meaningful difference. I’ve been taking these vitamins for a few months now (powder form if you hate pills) and they are helping. I took these ritual vitamins (Bobby loves them too) for over 7 years but I need this type of support right now I think.
And while we are in this chapter of life.
Here is another thing nobody tells you: your metabolism in perimenopause is not the same metabolism you had at 35. I know this intimately and personally and with some frustration. Veracity was on my radar for a while from my nutritionist before I finally ordered their protein powder and Metabolism Ignite, and I am genuinely glad I did. I drink 1-2 protein shakes a day on the reg and I love trying out different ones as variety is the spice of life. When I find good ones, I like to share them with you all and my friends. This protein powder helps with muscle building and energy and who doesn’t need additional metabolism ignite on any given sunday?!
For everything else the internet calls “bloat.” And also, creatine.
Can we talk about this? You eat a completely normal dinner, maybe one glass of wine, and then you feel like a different person. I have been there. I am sometimes still there. Arrae’s Bloat gummies are what I reach for before anything even remotely indulgent, which in my life means most dinners and all travel days. These never leave my suitcase.
What I appreciate about her is the ingredient integrity: no fillers, nothing you have to squint at. After enough supplement phases (we’re talking years of trial and error), I have learned that what is not in a product matters as much as what is. I am on my third order and I have no plans to stop.
And then there is Arrae Tone, which is their creatine gummy, and I need you to know that I take four of these a day like they are a treat I have earned. Two in the morning, two sometime in the afternoon or evening, and genuinely, they taste like dessert. The watermelon and apple flavors are wonderful. (The berry? Skip her. I am telling you this as a friend.) If you have been hearing the conversation about creatine for women, especially in perimenopause, and wondering where to start, start here. Try holley15 15% off.
The snack that changed everything.
A friend pulled a Paleovalley beef stick out of her purse at coffee. She had them for herself and for her kid, just a snack for on the go, and she handed me one to try. I was hooked before I finished it. Ordered on the spot, right there at the table, phone in hand.
Here is the thing: we all want more protein and we all hate being hangry. That is not a niche problem, that is just being a person with a schedule. These are the answer. Clean ingredients, real food sourcing, no weird aftertaste, and they come in chicken and other proteins too, not just beef. I keep them in my [bag, car, desk] now and I will never go back to whatever I was doing before. (String cheese, if I am being completely honest. And sometimes I failed to remember to remove them from my bag. I blame the brain fog. I have come a long way with these beef snacks.)
The quiet upgrade nobody warned me about either.
This one is less about supplements and more about the daily comfort of feeling good in your own skin. We do not talk enough about the fact that most lingerie was not designed with women like us in mind. EBY changed that conversation for me. My go to is the pain free relief bra with no underwire. It still shapes and supports. She fits beautifully, she holds everything where you want it held (without the structural engineering of a space suit), and I have quietly replaced a significant portion of my bra drawer. This is one of those discoveries that makes every single day slightly better. I no longer come home and yank off my bra. Then you all told me about the sheer bra for summer and it really does keep me and my girls cool. Truly the prettiest bras that I own.
And one for the men in our lives who will absolutely not do this for themselves.
I have been taking Nutrafol for a while now. Millions of us do. But I recently had a moment where I realized I had never once looked at whether they made something for men, which, it turns out, they absolutely do.
A friend’s husband has become completely devoted to Nutrafol for Men, and when she told me how serious he was about it I had two thoughts. The first was genuine admiration. The second was we have to help our guys!!! I wish there was something like this for Bobby in his 30s. (Bobby is bald. Fully, confidently, committedly bald. Unfortunately we are a little past the treatment window on that one. We move on to others.)
But here is why I am telling you about this: the men who are not Bobby. The husbands and sons and dads who are noticing something in the mirror and doing absolutely nothing about it because they are men and that is what they do. This is where we come in. We are the ones who remind them to go to the dentist, schedule their physicals, and take their vitamins. Add this to the list.
My derm background makes me want to say this louder. If there is a man in your life who is shedding or thinning help him! Especially if he is not doing anything yet. This is where to start. Staying ahead of it is always the move for men and women. It will happen to all of us.
Pick it up for your husband, your son, your dad. They will not do it for themselves. We know this. That is why they have us. Lol.
So this is the actual shelf. The things I take each day, the things I reorder before I run out, the things I recommend when someone messages me asking what I am doing differently. I hope something here clicks for you. Sure, there is more and if you liked this we can get into another layer of it all.
And if you are in the perimenopause research spiral with me, I genuinely want to know what else you are trying. Leave me a comment. I read every one and we are clearly all figuring this out together.
If you found this helpful, please tap the little heart below. It helps more people find The Fine Print, and I truly notice and appreciate every single one.
Merci! xo, Holley
Love this!!!!!