I almost quit on my sourdough starter yesterday

Not because it was hard, but because it's extremely messy, and I got impatient. We're not there yet, it's not perfect, and I let frustration get the best of me.

We saw some great activity recently with our starter showing signs of overflow but it has yet to pass the float test (IYKYK). But now we feel like progress has gone backwards since starting double day feedings with it hardly doubling in size overnight like it used to.

(To our dear clients... does this sound familiar? Read on...)

We’re coming up on three weeks, and I had that familiar thought that creeps in when something doesn’t look the way you expected it to:

I must be doing something wrong.

It doesn’t match the bubbly, happy starters I’ve seen all over curated social media feeds, optimized for algorithms.

It doesn’t resemble the romantic videos of women in peasant dresses, lovingly tending to their sourdough while holding young babies and never seeming to be emotionally rattled by anything.

What I haven’t seen much of is the real-life version (similar to my life) shown in real-time of what to expect.

I want to see a woman in her mid-40s managing two-a-day sourdough starter…

feeds while working full-time, cooking healthy macro-friendly meals, cleaning, exercising, getting in her steps, consciously parenting, holding space for her children, keeping up with school emails, managing emotions, healing generational trauma, building generational wealth, navigating hormonal changes, staying informed but not consumed, in gym clothes, no makeup, and dirty hair, and doing all of it during a low-hormone luteal phase, when everything already feels harder. 

After an era of curated digital content showing only perfect outcomes that has brainwashed us all, I want unapologetically raw, messy, relatable human expression and communication.

Tell me about the messy middle. 

We’re still feeding our sourdough starter twice a day, and while the process itself is simple, the aftermath is not, at least not for me.

Sticky flour paste finds its way onto the jar, the counter, the sink, my hands, and somehow everywhere else.

No matter how careful I am, it feels like I’m constantly cleaning, wiping, and resetting. And that’s when I noticed what was really getting under my skin.

I’ve always needed systems, clean lines, and a sense of containment to feel grounded and focused. As I’ve moved through my 40s, that need hasn’t become rigid, but it has become clearer.

The way I care for my body mirrors the way I care for my home, and when things feel chaotic around me, my nervous system responds.

So every feeding turned into a small attempt to restore order: New jar. Clean rim. Wiped counter. Reset.

And somewhere in that loop, I found myself wondering if the process was actually worth it.

That question felt familiar. Partly because learning anything new often reaches this point, the stage where the novelty wears off and the inconvenience of a new habit becomes obvious.

And my immediate problem-solving response also felt familiar: I started looking into how to fast-track results. 

I almost purchased a $300+ sourdough starter warming pad and temperature band, and spent way too many hours reading reviews and comparing models.

Then I thought, to hell with it, I'll just buy someone else's 118-year old starter I found online and be done with this mess!

Just like we try to outsource our body composition to supplements, the next new shiny object (diet, workout, etc.), or other quick fix. 

What I realized is that this also felt like a quitting point because I’m currently in my luteal phase... the phase of the cycle where everything feels more difficult, overwhelm comes faster, and the urge to stop trying shows up more easily.

This is the phase where I see so many women question themselves... their nutrition. Their routines. Their commitment.

Not because they’re doing anything wrong, but because this phase simply asks for more support, more rest, and more compassion. 

Ladies, I'm here to tell you the honest truth that as you enter your 40s, this becomes a non-negotiable as your estrogen declines and your tolerance for stress declines with it.

When women don’t understand these hormonal changes, they tend to personalize it. They assume they’re failing and/or quit. And then they repeat the cycle again the next month. 

When women do understand it, the transformation is inevitable.

They stop fighting their bodies.
They adjust their expectations.
They work with themselves instead of against themselves.

And that ability alone builds a deep, steady resilience. 

Back in the kitchen, instead of quietly abandoning the sourdough experiment, I did something different: 

I asked for help.

I called for an informal family meeting, shared where I was at, lightly and honestly, and the response was immediate

My husband — my rock — was the first to respond. We're watching Ted Lasso right now, and as I told him, he is a real life Ted Lasso but less cheesy and more handsome, so SCORE for me!

He is sometimes annoyingly optimistic, and it's exactly what my brain needs.

He reached out to friends who have been long in the sourdough game before it was a 2020 trend and they shared what actually mattered and what didn’t.

We had phone calls, text conversations, exchanged notes, and even received instructional PDFs!

I also posted online and people who were further along in the sourdough game — including many of you! — offered reassurance and practical guidance.

All of it over bread.

And yet, this story isn't really just about bread.

It's a reminder of something I see every single day in our work at The Green Door Life.

People don’t always struggle because they lack discipline or effort. They often struggle because the information available is overwhelming + conflicting, and they're trying to do it all alone.

Whether it’s nutrition, energy, hormones, or habit change, the turning point almost always comes when someone allows themselves to reach out and receive support from the right mentor.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed right now, especially if things feel messier than usual, let this be your reminder.

Now is not the time to quit. It's time to get curious.

And you don’t need to do it alone. 

Beyond that, the entire point of stewarding the care and health of your physical body (or creating a sourdough starter) is who you become in the process of it. 

You re-wire your brain to identify as someone who can move through challenge with resiliency.

Like a caterpillar moving through the chrysalis builds necessary strength, humans must embrace challenge and let go of the old self in order to evolve.

When we try to bypass the process, we get fixated on the outcome, and that misses the entire point.

That's why we created The Green Door Life: to simplify health, spread the education to all, and to not do it alone.

We intentionally offer two different pathways for nutrition support, because different seasons require different containers.

Awaken Foundations is a 4-week, non-immersive experience designed to simplify the basics.

No workouts required. No long educational course. No tracking.

Just live calls, one clear PDF, and practical guidance around nutrition, hormones, circadian rhythm, movement, and mindset, including how to adjust during your luteal phase so you stop mistaking biology for failure. 

This is for the people who have been following The Green Door Life for months, maybe even years, waiting for the right moment to step in.

It’s also for alumni who want a reset, a refresher, or a supportive container to reconnect with the basics without diving back into something intensive.

This is our lowest ticket, highest value offer yet, designed in mind for those with limited time and budget. Take advantage of this opportunity now as we may not repeat this again.

Your support includes:

• One PDF with all the information you need to implement the foundations of health

• Weekly live group coaching calls with me (Lisa) for Q&A and accountability

• Private group chat for questions, support, and honest feedback

• Daily prompts to keep you focused and consistent (and off your phone)

During onboarding, you'll get the one PDF that tells you everything you need to know. Then, we'll cover the following topics more in-depth each week:

• Week 1: Circadian Rhythm (hormones)

• Week 2: Nutrition (easy meal framework)

• Week 3: Movement (no gym required)

• Week 4: Mindset (how to actually sustain change)

Awaken Foundations begins January 26 and runs through February 27 (we have an extra bonus week to get up and running).

Early enrollment is $333 through January 23, after which the investment increases to $555.

In less than a week, 19 people have said YES to foundations. Are you next?

👉 Click here to join Awaken Foundations by January 23rd for just $333

Awaken Your Nutrition is our signature 12-week program and offers deeper, customized, VIP support. It’s for people who need more than information; who want accountability, structure, and guidance through long-standing patterns and habit change. 

👉 Click here to apply for Awaken Your Nutrition before our next cohort starts in February

Both paths are intentional.
Both are supportive.
And neither requires perfection.

Sometimes the only thing standing between you and momentum is support at the right moment. 

Support is available to you now, and now budget and time do not have to be a factor 🥰

With care,

Lisa Kirby | Co-Founder of The Green Door Life | NAMS Certified Nutrition Consultant | Quantum Biology and Hormones Specialist