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Hope Moves You

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Johnston, IA
Hope Moves You

My reason for starting this page is to help others that have been touched by cancer.

This page is for those that have risk factors, have been recently diagnosed, just recently completed therapy and are in survivorship.

08/27/2025

Ashwagandha, an adaptogenic herb, may help women in menopause by addressing symptoms through its stress-reducing, hormone-balancing, and anti-inflammatory properties. Here’s a breakdown of its potential benefits based on available evidence:
1. Reduces Stress and Anxiety: Menopause often brings mood swings, anxiety, and stress due to hormonal fluctuations. Ashwagandha lowers cortisol levels, a stress hormone, promoting relaxation. A 2012 study in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine found that ashwagandha significantly reduced stress and anxiety in adults, which could benefit menopausal women experiencing emotional challenges.
2. Improves Sleep Quality: Sleep disturbances like insomnia are common during menopause. Ashwagandha has calming effects that may improve sleep. A 2020 study in Sleep Medicine showed ashwagandha root extract improved sleep quality and reduced sleep latency in participants, potentially helping menopausal women with insomnia.
3. Alleviates Hot Flashes and Night Sweats: While direct evidence is limited, ashwagandha’s adaptogenic properties may help regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which influences temperature regulation and hormonal balance. Some anecdotal reports and small studies, like one from 2019 in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, suggest it may reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes.
4. Supports Hormonal Balance: Menopause involves declining estrogen and progesterone levels, leading to various symptoms. Ashwagandha may support hormonal balance by modulating the HPA axis and reducing cortisol, which can indirectly influence s*x hormone regulation. A 2021 study in Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Research indicated ashwagandha improved menopausal symptoms in women, including mood and hormonal imbalances.
5. Boosts Energy and Reduces Fatigue: Fatigue is a common menopausal complaint. Ashwagandha may enhance energy levels and reduce fatigue by supporting adrenal function and improving mitochondrial efficiency.

07/28/2025

Dopamine, a neurotransmitter often associated with pleasure and reward, plays a critical role in various aspects of health and well-being. Here are the key benefits of dopamine:
1. Enhanced Mood and Motivation: Dopamine regulates the brain’s reward system, creating feelings of pleasure and driving motivation. Higher dopamine levels are linked to improved mood and reduced symptoms of depression, as noted in a 2018 study in Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
2. Improved Focus and Cognitive Function: Dopamine supports attention, learning, and memory by enhancing communication between neurons. Research, such as a 2020 study in Journal of Neuroscience, shows optimal dopamine levels improve concentration and problem-solving abilities.
3. Movement and Coordination: Dopamine is essential for smooth motor function. It helps regulate muscle movements, and low levels are associated with conditions like Parkinson’s disease, according to studies in Movement Disorders (2019).
4. Increased Drive and Goal-Oriented Behavior: Dopamine fuels motivation to pursue goals, whether fitness-related or professional. A 2017 Psychopharmacology study found that dopamine release during rewarding activities (e.g., exercise or achieving milestones) reinforces persistence.
5. Stress Regulation: Balanced dopamine levels help buffer the effects of stress by modulating the brain’s response to challenges. Research in Frontiers in Psychiatry (2016) indicates dopamine can mitigate feelings of overwhelm during stressful tasks.
6. Support for Healthy Habits: Dopamine reinforces positive behaviors by making them feel rewarding. For example, exercise with a significant other can boost dopamine through social bonding and physical activity, encouraging consistency, as seen in studies on exercise adherence (Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2020).

07/10/2025

Plyometrics can be beneficial for menopausal women due to the physiological changes during menopause, such as decreased bone density, muscle mass loss, and reduced metabolic rate. Here’s why plyometrics can help, based on available information:
1. Improves Bone Health: Menopause often leads to reduced estrogen levels, which accelerates bone loss and increases osteoporosis risk. Plyometric exercises, like jump squats or box jumps, are high-impact and stimulate bone remodeling. Studies indicate that high-impact exercises can improve bone mineral density in postmenopausal women, particularly in the hips and spine, reducing fracture risk.
2. Preserves Muscle Mass and Strength: Sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) accelerates during menopause. Plyometrics engage fast-twitch muscle fibers, helping maintain muscle mass and strength. This supports functional independence and reduces fall risk, which is critical as balance declines with age.
3. Boosts Metabolism and Weight Management: Menopause can slow metabolism, leading to weight gain. Plyometric exercises are high-intensity, increasing calorie burn and improving insulin sensitivity. This helps manage body composition, countering the tendency for increased visceral fat during menopause.
4. Enhances Cardiovascular Health: Plyometrics elevate heart rate, improving cardiovascular fitness. This is important for menopausal women, as declining estrogen levels increase cardiovascular disease risk. Regular high-intensity exercise can improve heart health and lipid profiles.
5. Improves Balance and Coordination: Plyometrics require coordination and proprioception, which can decline with age. Training these skills reduces fall risk, a significant concern for menopausal women due to weaker bones and muscles.
6. Supports Mental Health: Exercise, including plyometrics, releases endorphins, which can alleviate mood swings, anxiety, or depression often experienced during menopause. The intensity of plyometrics may also boost confidence and energy levels.

07/09/2025

Urinary leakage during weight lifting in menopause is often due to stress urinary incontinence (SUI), which is common during this life stage. Here are the key causes:
1. Declining Estrogen Levels: Menopause reduces estrogen levels, which weakens the pelvic floor muscles and connective tissues that support the bladder and urethra. This makes it harder for the urethra to stay closed during high-pressure activities like lifting weights.
2. Pelvic Floor Muscle Weakness: Aging, childbirth, and a sedentary lifestyle can weaken pelvic floor muscles, which are critical in maintaining continence during physical exertion. Lifting weights increases intra-abdominal pressure, and weak pelvic floor muscles may not counteract this pressure effectively, leading to leaks.
3. Increased Intra-Abdominal Pressure: Heavy lifting engages the core and increases pressure in the abdominal cavity, which can put stress on the bladder. If the pelvic floor isn’t strong enough, this pressure can cause involuntary urine leakage.
4. Changes in Bladder and Urethral Function: Menopause can lead to reduced bladder elasticity and urethral sphincter strength, making it easier for urine to escape during sudden pressure increases, like during a lift.
5. Body Composition Changes: Menopause often shifts fat distribution toward the abdomen, adding pressure to the pelvic organs and exacerbating incontinence risk.
What You Can Do:
• Strengthen Pelvic Floor Muscles: Practice Kegel exercises regularly (3 sets of 10-15 contractions daily) to improve pelvic floor strength. Ensure proper technique by consulting a pelvic floor physical therapist if needed.
• Modify Lifting Technique: Engage your core and exhale during the exertion phase of a lift to reduce intra-abdominal pressure. Avoid holding your breath (Valsalva maneuver), which increases pressure.
• Start with Lighter Weights: Gradually build strength to avoid overloading the pelvic floor.
• Address Lifestyle Factors: Maintain a healthy weight, stay hydrated, and avoid bladder irritants like caffeine or spicy foods.

07/08/2025

Sprint Interval Training (SIT) offers several benefits for menopausal women, addressing both physical and psychological challenges associated with this life stage. Here’s a concise overview based on available research:
1. Improved Cardiovascular Health: SIT, characterized by short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by rest, enhances cardiovascular fitness. Studies show it improves aerobic capacity (VO2 max) and reduces cardiovascular disease risk, which is critical as menopause increases this risk due to hormonal changes.
2. Better Body Composition: SIT promotes fat loss and preserves lean muscle mass. For menopausal women, who often experience increased visceral fat due to declining estrogen, SIT can help manage weight and reduce abdominal fat more effectively than moderate-intensity exercise.
3. Enhanced Insulin Sensitivity: SIT improves insulin sensitivity, reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, which becomes more prevalent during menopause due to metabolic changes.
4. Bone Health Support: High-intensity exercises like SIT stimulate bone remodeling, potentially mitigating bone density loss, a concern for menopausal women at risk of osteoporosis. While not as effective as resistance training, SIT’s impact loading can still contribute.
5. Mental Health Benefits: SIT boosts endorphin release, improving mood and reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, which are common during menopause. Its time-efficient nature also makes it easier to stick with, supporting mental well-being.
6. Hormonal and Symptom Relief: SIT may help alleviate menopausal symptoms like hot flashes by improving thermoregulation and reducing stress hormones. It also supports energy levels, combating fatigue often reported during menopause.
7. Time Efficiency: SIT requires less time than traditional endurance workouts (e.g., 20-30 minutes per session), making it practical for busy women while delivering comparable or superior health benefits.

07/03/2025

Doing 10-minute bouts of exercise periodically throughout the day offers several benefits, especially for people who can’t dedicate a full hour to a single workout:
1. Improved Health Outcomes: Short bursts of exercise, like brisk walking, bodyweight circuits, or stretching, can improve cardiovascular health, boost metabolism, and enhance mood. Studies show that accumulating 30 minutes of moderate activity daily in smaller chunks (e.g., 3 x 10 minutes) provides similar health benefits to a single 30-minute session, including reduced risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
2. Time Efficiency: For busy individuals, 10-minute sessions are easier to fit into a packed schedule, such as during lunch breaks, between meetings, or after waking up. This approach eliminates the barrier of needing a large, uninterrupted block of time.
3. Increased Consistency: Shorter sessions are less daunting, making it easier to stick to a routine. Consistency is key for long-term fitness gains, and frequent mini-workouts can build a habit more effectively than sporadic longer sessions.
4. Energy and Productivity Boost: Brief exercise breaks can reduce fatigue, improve mental focus, and enhance productivity. Physical activity increases blood flow and releases endorphins, helping you stay alert and energized throughout the day.
5. Reduced Sedentary Behavior: Breaking up prolonged sitting with short activity bursts counters the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle, such as poor posture, muscle stiffness, and increased risk of obesity.
6. Flexibility and Variety: You can mix different activities (e.g., strength training, yoga, or high-intensity intervals) to target various fitness goals without needing specialized equipment or a gym.
For example, three 10-minute sessions of brisk walking, jumping jacks, or desk-based stretches can add up to the recommended 150 minutes of weekly moderate aerobic activity. This approach is practical, sustainable, and effective for maintaining health and fitness without requiring a large time commitment.

10/29/2023

Aromatase inhibitors are given to women with hormone positive breast cancer to prevent reoccurrence. Most women are on these medications for 5 to 10 years. It basically puts women in a chemical menopause.

Unfortunately these medications are not without side effects. These side effects cause many women to stop the medication before the required time frame.

Side effects are:
Hot flashes
Joint pain
Muscle pain
Blood clots
Stroke risk
Osteoporosis
Night sweats
Weight gain

Management of these side effects is possible with nutrition and exercise. Probably the last thing you would think of when your muscles and joints ache! You can lose weight and body fat on and aromatase inhibitor.

Fat cells cause inflammation by releasing cytokines. Cytokines are signaling proteins that help control inflammation in your body. They allow your immune system to mount a defense if germs or other substances that can make you sick enter your body. Too many cytokines can lead to excess inflammation and conditions like autoimmune diseases.

Dr William Li author of “How to beat disease”describes how you can use food to control inflammation, eat foods to decrease risk of cancer , foods to heal, and foods to increase immune system. I read his book during chemo and used many of his suggestions of foods to stop cancer growth, boost immune system and to heal. Great book!

If you are looking for help to lose body fat, decrease your risk of breast cancer and decrease inflammation, let’s talk. I have a degree in pharmaceutical health sciences so I do know these medications.

08/11/2023

If Snoop Dogg was advocating for cancer fighters and survivors to exercise, it might sound like this 😂

06/04/2023

Side effects of chemotherapy are sometimes thought of as a necessary means to life saving treatment. So we know that after chemotherapy 60% of people will have a side effect that they believe they just have to live with because they had cancer. A quarter of those people aren't even told that physical therapy or exercise is an option to help their pain.⁣
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You don't have to stand by and watch life pass you by. You don't have to wish that you can do something that you once loved to do but can't because of side effects. ⁣
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The best thing you can do is ask for help. Exercise and physical therapy will get you feeling more like yourself again. Do nothing and you will miss out on so much life.⁣
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Let me help and include exercise in the continuum of care that is on going after treatment is over. My program is simple and easy on the body to make sure it heals inside and out.

05/29/2023

You always have options.⁣
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You can have the pity party and woah is me or you can change your mindset and know that it's up to you how you live your life. You can live your life with the pain and side effects that chemo and radiation left you or you can say "I want to live life without pain". Do something about it!⁣
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As I see it, Cancer tried to kick my A$$ and I told it "no way". You are not about to take my quality of life. Cancer didn't take my life, so I will take every day forward as a gift and live my life on my terms.⁣
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Fight every day to make it a better day!
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Do I have bad days? Absolutely! Some days the neuropathy in my feet makes them so sore. Some days, my shoulder and chest are so stiff from the radiated tissue. I move on and know that the next day will be better. I'm almost 4 years out and I feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve been in 5 years!

⁣Who wants their life back? Let me know what you are going to do to get there.

Address

8711 Windsor Pkwy
Johnston, IA
50311

Opening Hours

Monday	7am - 5pm
Tuesday	7am - 5pm
Wednesday	7am - 5pm
Thursday	7am - 5pm
Friday	7am - 5pm

Telephone

+15152100819

Website

http://www.activewellnessonline.com/

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