the truth about midlife gut struggles & 5 must-do gut healing habits

Aug 29

If you’re a woman in your 40s or 50s dealing with IBS symptoms, chronic bloating, constipation, or food sensitivities that seem to come out of nowhere — and you’ve tried eating clean, going gluten-free, taking probiotics and other gut cleanses and yet you’re still bloated and reacting to everything you eat — this post is for you.

Here’s the truth: you can’t heal your gut by fixating on diet and supplements.

Why?

Because it’s not how your body works!

Your gut is connected to every part of your body including your brain, you have to dig deeper and heal both with top-down and bottom-up approaches:

Top-down: Improving the gut-brain connection through nervous system regulation
Bottom-up: Balancing the gut microbiome through realistic, non-restrictive nutrition

These five pillars of gut healing are what I call the Foundational Five — and without them, your gut can’t fully heal, no matter how many probiotics you take.

Wait, adding MORE healthy habits to my already packed day? Impossible. No thanks. I’ll just reach for another supplement.

Well then, my friend, be prepared to be stuck avoiding your favourite “trigger” foods for life - because as soon as you try to add them back in without doing the deeper healing, you’ll have a reaction again.

I get it - how do you have time to exercise, cook healthy meals and meditate when your to do list is never ending?

By saying "NO." and setting boundaries.

Saying "no" allows you to say "yes" to yourself more often - and that's the first step in healing - knowing you're worthy of optimal health and happiness.

It also allows you the time and energy to devote to the things that will actually move the needle on your health - movement, meal prep and mindfulness practices.

Believe me when I say, I see you, and no matter how you feel today, you ARE worth it!

If you're ready to say "yes" to you, I'm here to guide you through getting your health & happiness back.

Let’s break down exactly what these life changing Foundational Five gut healing habits are and how they work:

1. Meal Planning & Prep:

When your meals are inconsistent, blood sugar crashes and stress levels spike — putting your body into “survival mode.” That’s when digestion slows down, leading to bloating, constipation, and gut pain.

But meal planning isn’t just about eating the “right” foods or avoiding the “wrong” foods — it’s about keeping your body nourished and calm.

Instead it’s about

Planning ahead: simple, nourishing meals
Giving up the “gut healing diets”: focusing more on healing foods than on foods that are “off limits”
Learning how to stay fueled during busy days to prevent cravings and digestive flare-ups

Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean spending hours in the kitchen every night or buying expensive ingredients.

I just requires a little planning ahead!

It’s easier than you think, and it saves you time and money - no more stressing about what’s for dinner!

And once it becomes a weekly habit, it’s automatic!

Balanced meals keep your body out of fight-or-flight mode — a key to better digestion and regular bowel movements.

But what is a balanced meal? There’s so much overwhelming and conflicting information out there these days.

My top meal planning tips (especially for women in midlife):

Focus on protein: protein is critical for keeping you fueled and focused. It also helps keep you full longer and keeps your body and mind out of “survival mode”. Aim to get at least 30 g per meal and 10 to 15 per snack.

This might look like:

Breakfast: 3 eggs with a whole grain bagel and fruit or greek yogourt or a smoothie with protein powder.
Snack: protein bar or smoothie, 2 boiled eggs with nuts
Lunch: quinoa salad with chicken breast

Get Your Fibre: fibre is critical, not just for regular bowel movements (which help keep the “bloat” away!) but also for balancing your blood sugar (so you aren’t crashing at 3 pm and reaching for that donut or chips), keeping inflammation low, mood and focus high and even reducing cholesterol and your risk for fatty liver and diabetes.

Plate model: 1/2 your plate vegetables, 1/4 plate protein, 1/4 plate high fiber carbs.

Avoid known food sensitivities like gluten: instead of pasta or bread, choose a high fibre gluten free option like brown rice, quinoa, legumes, root veggies or a whole grain GF pasta.

Keep it simple and work with your schedule: plan leftovers or grab a rotisserie chicken and bag salad for busy nights.

2. Nervous System Regulation: Heal the Gut-Brain Connection

Did you know your brain and gut are in constant communication? In fact, IBS has been characterized as a functional disorder of gut-brain communication.

That means, if your nervous system is dysregulated from overwhelm, stress or burnout, or even constant negative self talk, your brain sends the wrong signals to your gut, causing any number of gut symptoms - anything from bloating to diarrhea, stomach pain and heartburn.

This is called top-down gut healing, and it’s a critical piece of the puzzle that most gut programs miss.

In the Fix Your Gut App, we guide you through tools like:

Breathwork and vagus nerve activation
Gut directly hypnotherapy sessions: clinically proven to help with IBS
Meditations, affirmations and visualizations
Mindfulness stress-reduction techniques for real life
Learning to slow down and take the emphasis off being productive

When practiced regularly, these practices help restore calm, activate your parasympathetic “rest and digest” system, and rewire your gut-brain connection for smoother digestion.

3. Microbiome Balancing (without antibiotics or harsh cleanses)

What is the gut microbiome? It’s the community of microbes including bacteria, yeasts viruses and parasites that live in your gut and are critical not just for digestion but also for:

nutrient absorption
immune system function (and dysfunction - ie autoimmunity)
energy production
brain function: production of bran chemicals (ie serotonin, dopamine)

This delicate ecosystem can easily become imbalanced (dysbiosis), leading to leaky gut, food sensitivities, inflammation, brain fog and bowel movement issues.

Factors that throw off the balance of the microbiome include:

restrictive or low calorie diets
medications
pesticides and herbicides on food
stress
chronic constipation

Over time, this can lead to inflammation and leaky gut - a state in which the normally microscopic holes in your intestine that allow only nutrients through into your bloodstream become larger, allowing particles of food and bacteria into the bloodstream mounting an immune response. This triggers the development of food sensitivities, chronic inflammation, fatigue, brain fog and more.

The good news is, we can balance the gut microbiome to restore optimal digestive, and overall health, but it’s not as simple as just taking a probiotic.

In some cases we need to use antimicrobial suplements to kill off infections or overgrowths of bacteria.

We also need to heal up leaky gut.

We also need to ensure the bowels are working normally, because any constipation will mess things up again.

We also need to address any underlying inflammation.

We need to optimize stomach and and digestive enzyme output.

And we need to ensure your liver and gallbladder are working optimally and producing enough bile that helps you digest and absorb fat, supports detoxification and keeps your bowels moving.

There is a lot of moving parts with gut healing, which is why a probiotic, or even “eating clean” isn’t enough.

So how do we balance the gut microbiome?

We use a 2-phase gut healing protocol based on the 4R functional medicine protocol (Remove, Replace, Repair, Restore) that allows you to:
✅ Balance your gut bacteria
✅ Heal leaky gut
✅ Reduce food sensitivities
✅ Stop fearing food

This is bottom-up gut healing, where we gently reset the microbiome using my two phase Reset & Restore protocol including:

Simple, achievable food shifts (no restrictive diets!)
Targeted supplements for each phase of gut healing, based on your gut health type
Anti-inflammatory support to repair your gut lining

You’ll learn how to build a resilient microbiome so you can enjoy food again — without the constant bloating and gut reactions, and as a bonus, boost your mood, energy, immunity, conquer inflammation and brain fog and more!

4. Movement for Gut Health

Movement is often overlooked when it comes to gut health — but it’s a powerful tool for gut healing, especially for women in midlife.

Here’s why:

supports a deeper, quality sleep - this means a happy brain/ nervous system = happy gut
improves mood - less cravings and a calmer nervous system.
regulates blood sugar: reduces inflammation and keeps your body out of “survival mode”
supports balanced hormones: estrogen has a massive impact on gut function and immune reactivity

In the app, our movement coaches Andrea and Abbey helps you:

Learn how gentle movement can relieve constipation and reduce gas and bloating
Build strength (especially important in perimenopause and menopause to balance blood sugar and prevent bone loss)
Improve sleep, regulate cravings, and support metabolism
Understand the connection between pelvic floor tension and constipation, and find out how to release tight muscles and strengthen the ones that matter (ie no more peeing yourself)

You’ll have access to low-impact strength classes that fit into your busy life — and help you feel better in your body, fast.

5. restorative Sleep

Another sleepless night? I get it, because I’ve been there - for a good part of my life actually - and you’re not alone.

When you’re tired the day just drags on, you’re tired and moody craving all the things - chocolate, bread, chips - all the things that probably set your gut off - it’s a vicious cycle!

Many women notice sleep becomes elusive during perimenopause and menopause, as well as before their period, or during periods of high stress — and poor sleep equals poor digestion.

This is often due to hormonal shifts, which can be managed naturally, but hormone replacement therapy isn’t always the answer (and often isn’t enough if stress, mental wellness and blood sugar and inflammation aren’t also addressed)

When sleep suffers, your gut suffers too:

The brain struggles to regulate digestion: the communication between the brain and gut becomes disrupted
More cravings for processed and high sugar foods
Inflammation rises
Your body becomes more reactive to food
Your gut microbiome becomes imbalanced, setting you up for more leaky gut and food sensitivities and inflammation

Inside the Fix Your Gut App, we teach you how to get a deeper, quality sleep by:

Improving sleep hygiene: your bedtime routine
Foods & nutrition strategies to support deeper sleep
Balance hormones and brain chemicals that affect sleep and digestion (including cortisol, blood sugar/insulin and serotonin)
Support your circadian rhythm naturally
Supplements for sleep support based on your unique root causes

A good night’s sleep can change everything — including your digestion, mood, focus, and food cravings.

Why Supplements Aren’t Enough for Gut Healing

Here’s the truth: supplements can support the process, but they don’t actually heal your gut - they’re just a band aid to a deeper problem.

Without these Foundational Five gut healing habits, you’re only managing symptoms, not addressing the root causes of your digestive issues, and you will continue to have to stay on a restricted diet and take fistfulls of supplements to manage your bloating, gas, stomach pain, heartburn and constipation or diarrhea!

Inside the Fix Your Gut App I coach you through these 5 gut healing habits with:

Recipe inspiration every week inside our support community, The Healing Grove, and you get instant access to a giant gut friendly recipe collection with hundreds of recipes!
Strategies for bloat-free dining out and travel
Breathwork and vagus nerve activation tools for a calmer, centered you and a happy gut
Gut directly hypnotherapy sessions: clinically proven to help with IBS
Meditations, affirmations and visualizations
Mindfulness stress-reduction techniques for real life
Learning to slow down and take the emphasis off being productive

What if you could have food freedom - go out for dinner, travel and eat what you want and not worry about paying for it later?

What if you could feel confident in your most fitted dresses, high waisted shorts and tops?

The Fix Your Gut App was built for women just like you — navigating midlife, hormones, busy schedules, and unpredictable digestion.

Instant access to:

The step-by-step gut healing (science-based) plan that I use with clients to prevent & manage gut flares and conquer chronic gut symptoms in as little as 1-3 months
Gut microbiome balancing plans specific to your gut type
Nervous system regulation classes to harness the power of the gut-brain connection, feel calmer and sleep like a baby.
24/7 support and guidance from Holly and a community of women just like you who get it!

And most importantly, you can stop fearing “random” gut flare ups when you finally understand what’s happening to your body and why!

👉 Start your free 7-day trial now and feel confident in your body again — whether you’re at home, traveling, or juggling a million things.