800 women, one dance floor, and the light thing that’s wrecking your hormones

20 Mar 800 women, one dance floor, and the light thing that’s wrecking your hormones

💌 Notes from Natalie

OK friends. I am writing this from a hotel room in Las Vegas at an unreasonable hour because this newsletter almost didn’t happen.

I just spent two days with 800 absolutely incredible thriving midlife women at my friend Chalene Johnson’s Camp Be More and my brain is still buzzing. Like full-body buzzing. The kind where you ugly cry during a keynote and then somehow end up on a dance floor three hours later in shoes you should not have packed.

What happens in Vegas was almost going to stay in Vegas because I genuinely forgot what day it was 🫢 But here I am…in yesterday’s mascara. Writing you a note. Because I love you and also because I have SO much to share from this week.

Let’s get into it.

🎤 Camp Be More Recap (the short version because I could write a novel)

If you’ve been following along, you know I spoke at Chalene’s event this week on how to look amazing in photos AND fat loss in midlife. Two stages. 800 women. Zero teleprompters. Just me, a microphone, and the dress Chalene made me buy.

The energy in that room was something I can’t fully describe. Women in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond who are DONE accepting that midlife means slowing down. Women who are asking real questions and demanding real answers. Women who danced until their feet hurt and then kept dancing.

I met so many of you there and if you came up and told me you read these notes every week, just know I held onto that all day. That means the world to me.

More on what I learned and experienced coming soon. But for now just know: if you ever get the chance to be in a room full of women who are choosing MORE instead of less? Go. It will change you.

💡 Your Hormones Might Be Broken Because of Your LIGHTS

OK this is the big one this week.

I sat down with quantum biology expert Sarah Kleiner on the podcast and what she shared genuinely rewired how I think about hormone health. I keep going back to this episode. I’ve listened to it three times now.

Here’s the thing nobody is talking about: before you fix your supplements, before you fix your diet, before you even think about HRT… you need to fix your light environment.

I know. LIGHTS? Really? Yes. Really.

Every cell in your body runs on a circadian clock. Your brain, your thyroid, your gut, your ovaries. They all rely on light signals to know what time it is and what to do. When those signals get scrambled (hi, phone at 6am, LED lights at 10pm), your hormones don’t stand a chance.

Here’s what blew my mind:

That phone you grab first thing in the morning? It sends 200 lux of blue light to your brain. Sunrise sends over 10,000. Your brain reads the phone and thinks “something is off” and your entire hormonal cascade starts wrong before you even get out of bed.

For every hour you delay getting outside in morning light, your BMI goes up. Not because of calories. Because of signals. Your body literally doesn’t know what time it is.

Artificial light after dark triggers a pathway that lowers your progesterone, promotes estrogen dominance, and blocks melatonin production. And here’s the wild part: your photoreceptors REMEMBER that light for 1 to 3 hours after you turn it off. So scrolling in bed and then turning the phone off doesn’t mean your brain got the memo.

Sarah’s recommended order of operations:

1. Fix your light environment

2. Dial in meal timing

3. Then supplements

4. Then hormones/HRT

Most of us have been starting at number 4 and skipping number 1 entirely. 🤯

The simple shifts you can start today:

• 5 minutes outside before you look at a screen. No sunglasses first thing.

• Blue blockers in the evening (she recommends Chroma or  Viva Rays (use code NATALIEJILL for 10% off)

• Swap one LED bulb for incandescent Strainless Lighting (use code NATALIEJILL)

• Download the My Circadian app and check your actual lux levels

• Keep your environment under 10 lux for 3 hours before bed

Sarah’s personal story is also wild. Irregular cycles at 39. Two miscarriages. Two failed IVF rounds. She rebuilt her health through circadian biology and had a healthy baby at 43. If that doesn’t make you want to listen to this episode, I don’t know what will.

👉 Listen on Apple here, Spotify here, watch on YouTube here, or get the full blog breakdown here.

📸 The Photo Hack That Changed Everything (From Vegas, Obviously)

Speaking of Camp Be More. My girl Jen Delvaux and I discovered something in Vegas that I need every single one of you to try immediately.

Stop. Posing.

Seriously. The chin tilt, the hand on hip, the “which is my good side” internal debate? Done. Over. Retired.

Here’s what actually works:

Put on something flowy. Hit record on your phone. Dance like the restaurant is playing your song. Spin. Laugh. Be completely ridiculous with your favorite person. Then scroll back through the video and screenshot the best frame.

THAT is the photo. Every single time.

No photographer needed. No ring light. No 47 takes where you hate all of them. Just two women in their 50s who decided looking perfect is boring and having fun is the whole point.

Tag the friend you need to try this with. I’m serious.

👉 Watch the reel here

💪 My Comeback Story (Because Some of You Need to Hear This)

I shared something really personal this week and the response floored me.

Eight years of back pain. A ruptured disc. A distal bicep tear. A broken foot. Setback after setback. Days I couldn’t get out of bed. I’m not going to pretend there weren’t times I wanted to quit. There were. Many of them.

But something in me said: not yet. You’re not done.

I stopped trying to be who I was before. I started building who I could become. I became my own health detective.

I learned about tools that helped. Infrared therapy. Red light therapy. Infrared sauna. Hydrogen therapy. HBOT. And eventually the disc replacement at L5-S1 that changed everything.

At 54 I am stronger, healthier, and more at peace than I was at 40. And I mean that.

If you’re in that dark chapter right now? Keep going. Your comeback is not behind you. It’s ahead of you.

👉 Watch the full reel here

🦴 Bone Loss + The Flat Belly Truth + 3 Things Aging You

I went on a bit of a content spree this week (Vegas energy is real) so here’s your quick roundup:

Bone loss is still my whole personality. 1 in 2 women over 50 will break a bone from osteoporosis. More common than heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer combined. I shared what I actually do about it: lift heavy, vibration plate, impact training, protein, minerals, and AlgaeCal every single day. This is my bone insurance policy and I’m not being dramatic. (OK maybe a little.)

👉 Watch the bone loss reel

“I do ab exercises every day but my belly won’t flatten.” I hear this ALL the time. And the answer is always the same: 100 crunches a day will not give you a flat belly. Not at 40, 50, or beyond. Most ab exercises only work the surface muscles. The real blockers? Cortisol and stress belly fat, insulin resistance, hormonal shifts, and doing the wrong exercises. What actually works: deep core work (not crunches), anti-inflammatory nutrition, managing cortisol, and movement that matches how your body works NOW.

👉 Read the full post

3 things aging you faster than you think and most women have no idea. I won’t spoil it but if you haven’t watched this one yet, go. It ties into everything we’ve been talking about.

👉 Watch the reel

54. Stronger than I was at 34. Not because of genetics. Because I stopped following advice that was never meant for midlife women. Started lifting heavy and doing deep core work instead.

👉 Watch here

Nobody told me menopause would do this. 7 things I wish someone had warned me about, from the anxiety that shows up out of nowhere to the weight gain that happens when you’re doing everything “right.” This carousel hit 1.6K likes and 255 comments because apparently ALL of us needed to hear it. You are not broken. You are in menopause. And once you understand what’s happening, you can fix the symptoms.

👉 See the full carousel

💕 What I’m Loving This Week

MassZymes by BiOptimizers.OK let me talk about this for a second because if bloating is part of your daily life, this might be the thing that changes it.

Here’s what nobody tells you about midlife digestion: your enzyme production drops as you age. Like, significantly. So you’re eating the right foods, hitting your protein, doing all the things… and your body is sitting there going “cool, I can digest about 40% of this, good luck with the rest.” And the rest? That becomes bloating. Gas. That lovely 4pm food baby situation where you look 5 months pregnant after a salad. Adorable.

MassZymes are full-spectrum digestive enzymes that actually break down your food so your body can USE it. Protein, fats, carbs, fiber, all of it. I take them with every single meal and the difference in how my stomach feels is not subtle. We’re talking flatter belly, less bloating, more energy from the food I’m already eating, and honestly just feeling like my gut is actually doing its job instead of staging a quiet protest.

This is especially important if you’re in midlife because here’s the connection: your gut is a circadian organ (shoutout to Sarah Kleiner for that fun fact I will never un-know). When your digestion is struggling, it’s not just uncomfortable. It messes with your hormones, your sleep, your inflammation levels, everything.

I need you to go grab multiple bottles. I’m serious. This is not a “try one and see” situation. This is your new BFF. You will take these every meal, you will wonder how you lived without them, and you will text me to say “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THESE SOONER.” I’m telling you now. Go.

👉 Grab MassZymes here

Morning sunlight. I know this sounds ridiculous as a “product rec” but after the Sarah Kleiner episode I have been outside within five minutes of waking up every single morning this week. No phone. No sunglasses. Just me and the sky looking slightly confused in my pajamas. The neighbors are thrilled, I’m sure.

Viva Rays blue blockers for evening. Use code NATALIEJILL for 10% off. After learning what artificial light does to progesterone and melatonin, these are now non-negotiable after sunset.

Strainless Lighting incandescent bulbs because apparently my house has been slowly wrecking my hormones one LED at a time. Swapped my bedroom lamp first. Use code NATALIEJILL.

🔥 What’s Next

I’m heading home from Vegas with a full heart, a slightly raspy voice, and about 400 new ideas. More Camp Be More content and behind-the-scenes coming. More bone health experts on the podcast. And I’m already working on something new based on what I heard from so many of you this week.

Love you guys. Talk soon. 💕

Natalie Jill