Menopause, and how I deal with it.

So anyway.

This post could be a bit of a trigger so if weight loss or weight gain conversations do that then please don’t read on.

I am a member of a website with workouts on it, and the website also has a private Facebook page.

One of the the most common comments I read on this have the following:

I am doing all the workouts, and I can’t lose weight.

I’m eating really healthy and I can’t lose weight

I’m feeling so down because I’m working out so hard and I step on the scales and nothing has changed.

It truly is one of the most awful things about menopause. The unexplained weight gain, and it’s definitely top of the list when I think about the ‘things that made me cry the most’ list. The reason for that being that the weight gain directly impacted my confidence as well, and I seriously didn’t know how to dress.

Recently, a good friend in her early 40s commented to me that her appetite had gone through the roof, and she couldn’t stop eating, and I thought ‘oh oh’, I know this one too well.

How awful to try and think how to explain to my gorgeous friend that this was because The Cookie Monster has moved into her brain. It really is a nasty thing to think about, saying to a woman that she needs to watch her food consumption. The best way I could think of wording was ‘well… 52 year old me, would tell 40 year old me to think about whether it was hunger or hormones’. That really is what it comes down to.

As women get older, 2 hormones in our body start having a party.

Ghrelin tells your body to keep eating, Leptin tell the brain that you are full up and to stop eating.

What happens in menopause is that Leptin goes on holiday ,and leaves Ghrelin in charge.

The best thing you can do is to keep your fluid intake up, and when you feel hungry, have good think about whether you ARE hungry or if its just your brain playing tricks on you.

What an awful thing to say I know, but having this information now will save you a lot of scrolling and ugly crying later on, I promise.

One of the best things I can say, is follow an eating plan, and don’t starve yourself.

I cook from the slimming world magazine, and make all my own lunches and dinners because it keeps me out of Greggs at lunchtime. Also, the more protein I eat, the less sugar I crave.

I get my chocolate fix from protein chocolate shakes. Winner.

I went through an awful time with bloating and sweating and not fitting into my clothes which would increase my stress, and make sweat a lot more. It was the worst 18 months ever. I'm telling you all this to help spare you from that ordeal, or at least make it a bit easier to bear.

I host menopause workshops, and I also have a menopause workbook on my website here . I don’t give advice about medication, thats for your GP to do, but what I concentrate on is reducing stress which ultimately is the best thing you can do for yourself full stop.

Please get in touch if I can help you further with any menopause advice. If I don’t have the answer, I can signpost you where you need to go.

Onward!

Elizabeth

It's all change with 'the change'.

So anyway.

After a few years of studying and researching menopause, turns out I need to listen to myself more often.

Oh boy.

Like everything in life, I think I have worked something out, then the plot twist happens.

Don’t worry, it’s nothing more than simply overeating, but its amazing how it can get out of control.

My amazing 50 something body has changed tack again, going in another direction that seems to be very fond of making all my cloths feel a bit nipped.

Lockdown has affected us all, in many different ways. I have started wearing my fitness tracker again as I was more than aware of not moving enough, over the last couple of months, especially not working at the moment.

The overeating was very subtle, and it took my sister to flag it up to me.

Would you believe that having a period actually uses up a lot of energy, so when in menopause, and your period stops, the amount of calories you need daily/weekly/monthly drops too. It does’t help that during this process, our leptin levels also drop. Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating as you are full, so the menopausal munching continues! Oh my!

I also noticed that I wasn’t doing myself any favours at all, by eating light during the day, then having an enormous dinner. So have switched it up, and am now making my evening meal lighter.

So I really have had to go back to basics. Get outside walking daily for at least an hour. Revisit my beloved Toned in 10 Davina McCall DVD, and start eating delicious homemade soups in the evening.

If you are trawling the internet looking for menopause advice, look no further than my Menopause Workbook, available for £4.99 from my website. I wrote it, and it’s jam packed full of helpful information to help you take steps towards better menopause management.

There is no magic pill to make the symptoms completely disappear, but there is great deal you can do, to turn the volume down, including a focus on stress reduction.

Find out more here.

Onward!

Elizabeth

A Beginners Guide to Menopause.

This is a blog post for anyone who wants to know about menopause.

Whether you are a spring chicken and no where near menopause, or maybe you are a spring chicken and menopause has arrived earlier because of a medical situation. This is also a blog post if you are a man, with a wife/partner, or maybe you have best female chums. I feel it’s important to know how you can support someone who is going through, because take it from me, it is RUBBISH (again, trying not to swear).

Respond with kindness.

If someone is unexpectedly snappy with you, don’t snap back. ( I know this is difficult)

If someone unexpectedly forgets something or they struggle to find the words when talking, don’t make fun of them.

If someone gets upset for the most minor thing, and ends up in floods of tears, don’t be impatient.

This is so so difficult in so many ways. Menopause drags everyone around a person with it. Family, friends, and in the workplace or work from home place.

Menopause also means that the people around someone going through it, have to gain a level of patience and understanding that may not come naturally to them.

I’m going to do a series of posts on this subject as it’s all about information in bit size chunks.

First up, I’m going to speak about hot flushes. Oh joy, oh rapture, not.

I have been reading A LOT of comments on social media from ladies not knowing how to handle hot flushes, why they are happening, and what can be done. I’m really going to try not to bunny on too much as quite frankly, give me a soap box and you could leave me there all day. Specialist subject.

Lets just get this out of the way. Hot flushes are crap. There is no sugar coating this. It just really is crap. I’m actually using stronger language than this, but I’m trying not to swear in a blog! There is no cure, there is only ways of managing it, and being kinder to yourself.

Don’t go looking for some kind of magic pill or supplement to help, outside of your GPs advice, because you may just get upset when they don’t work.

For the sake of clarity and bite size chunks of information that are easy to digest, I will bullet point my tried and tested advice. Out of everything I list, there will be one or two points that will stand out for you. Even if there is just one, that’s a win win as far as I am concerned.

The BIG THING to remember here is Stress = Sweat.

Anything we can do to reduce stress is key here.

• Organise your day, the night before. Get your bullet journal out (get one if you don’t have one) and write down everything you want to do, and everything have you to do.

• Have your showers a little cooler than you normally would.

• Give yourself plenty time to do everything. If some says they’ll pick you up at midday, be ready for 1130am. Don’t rush yourself - you’ll end up trashing your outfit and make up!

• When using a hair dryer, open a window or a door!

• Don’t beat yourself up at the gym, or starve yourself. Lots of colourful veg and fruit, take your time with your meals

• Watch out for food triggers that will make your sweat. You will have them! Mine are tea, not coffee funnily enough, white wine (vitamin red is ok), and anything that has a high GI index and causes an insulin spike, white bread, white pasta, potatoes.

• Have a great bedtime routine. T shirts and shorts for the win. A great Aussie pal recently gave me the gem of putting a damp cold face cloth on your stomach to fall asleep. This works because your abdomen contains some pretty bad ass veins and arteries, as well as vital organs, so it really does help in cooling down the core. Don’t just fit sleep into your day, make it a priority. Don’t have anything in your bedroom charging. When you turn the lights off, it shouldn’t resemble the DeathStar.

• Try not to fidget in bed. It actually increases your body temperature!

• Before you go to bed, get a bullet journal out, and plan your next day.

I hope you have found this useful.

The reason I am writing this is because:

• I’ve been through perimenopause, and menopause.

• I’ve tried every trick in the book and this is most comprehensive list i can give you to manage this stage of life better.

• I haven’t had a hot flush aaaaalll through lockdown, until 2 weeks ago. Great. Not. I have been through the main show, so I know how to help myself. Confirmation of this was sitting have a cup of tea and then WOOOOOOSH! Tea set the hot flush off before so I know to what to do

I hope you found this useful, and if you think of anyone that would also benefit from this, please pass it on!

It is so important to start conversation around it, and know what to do for yourself, and also others in your life.

Please get in touch if you have any questions. There’s nothing I enjoy more than a menopausal rant.

In best health

Elizabeth