In this episode, I sat down with Sabrina Sarabella, a clinical nutritionist, fitness expert, and mind-body coach who helps women navigate perimenopause through a blend of nutrition, movement, and subconscious work. With over two decades of experience, she brings a really integrated approach that connects metabolism, hormones, gut health, mindset, and behavior change in a way that feels practical and sustainable for real life.
Sabrina works with women 1:1 and blends functional nutrition with tools like NLP, EFT, hypnotherapy, meditation, and coaching to help women rebuild energy, improve metabolic health, and feel more in control of their bodies again.
Sabrina Sarabella
Website: https://sabrinasarabella.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/SabrinaSarabella_nutritionist
What we talked about
We unpacked what people often call “adrenal fatigue” and burnout in a clinical context, and how these terms actually fit (or don’t fit) into modern medical understanding. Sabrina breaks down what’s really happening in the body when chronic stress builds over time, especially through the lens of the stress response system.
We also dug into cortisol—what it actually does, why it’s essential, and how it becomes problematic only when the pattern of stress is prolonged without recovery.
From there, we shifted into perimenopause and how hormonal changes can completely reshape how a woman experiences stress, energy, sleep, and resilience. Many women assume they’re “doing something wrong,” when in reality their physiology is changing underneath them.
We also explored:
- How to recognize signs of chronic stress versus normal life fatigue
- Why so many women feel more reactive, tired, or depleted in midlife
- The overlap between perimenopause symptoms and stress physiology
- Common mistakes that can keep women stuck (like overtraining, under-eating, and pushing through exhaustion)
- What recovery actually looks like when the nervous system is overloaded
Key takeaways
One of the biggest themes is that cortisol isn’t the enemy—it’s about timing, rhythm, and recovery. When the body no longer gets enough downtime between stress signals, everything from sleep to metabolism to mood can start to feel off.
Another major insight is how often perimenopause and chronic stress amplify each other. Hormonal shifts can lower resilience to stress, while chronic stress can intensify perimenopausal symptoms.
Who this episode is for
This conversation is for any woman who feels like her body isn’t responding the way it used to—especially if she’s noticing changes in energy, sleep, weight distribution, mood, or recovery from stress.
A question to sit with
If your symptoms could be a mix of both hormonal shifts and stress load… how much of what you’ve been told is “just aging” might actually be your body asking for a different approach?