A few of my favourite things!

Woohoo!

Happy new year and happy new whatever else you are trying out for the first time.

I have had a couple of clients ask me what products I have been using and loving, so I thought I would share it with you.

Making a small change or an incremental upgrade can make a huge difference if you practice consistently.

So here’s my best of the best.

Body moisturisers and treatments

Garnier body cream is just a great all rounder and not too greasy after use.

If you want to go high end, and maybe have a special event to prepare for Bum Bum Creme is for the win. It really does what it says on the tin, literally. Both creams are great and make a huge difference to the skin, but i suppose it'‘s the smell of the Bum Bum Cream (pronounced Boom boom apparently)!

Face!

Step away from the wet wipes when cleansing your face! Ok, use them in an emergency, but not for your long term skincare regime. My favourites are Neals Yard Calendula cleanser, and take it off with a hot damp face cloth. It smells just divine.

Toners are a good way to boost your skin and if you use one with a glycolic acid of 5% it can really help to clear up skin that is prone to breakouts. My favourite is Pixi. Do your own reading into what you find is best for your skin! These are just my favourites.

My favourite ever moisturiser for my face is Ultimate sleep cream from Marks and Spencer. It’s one I keep going back to. I venture out and try other but it’s definitely my favourite. Not really in the ‘natural’ skin care bracket, it’s more of a throw everything and the kitchen sink at it, cream. In menopause my skin craves anything that feels like cream cheese. Another one in a different price bracket is Super drug vitamin E cream. This one leaves a bit of a glow radiance wise, and also has an SPF in it.

A good idea to ramp up any face cream is to add a facial oil to it, a couple of drops makes a difference. One I love using is Ermana. It is a brand local to Glasgow and I have been using it for years. Don’t be afraid of using a facial oil, it’s such a great stand alone treatment as well if you feel like your skin needs an extra drink.

Self tanning

I don’t really dip into full body fake tans at all but I am all about the facial tan though!

A new favourite is Utan in collaboration with Jamie Genevieve. There are 2 shades, one a bit darker, so be careful which one you get!

Now is the time to start thinking about getting spring ready so, get ahead of the game and start moisturising you legs, and feet, and using beard oil if there’s any men reading this! You are totally included in the looking after your skin scheme of things!

We all need to make sure our feet are flip flop ready, even if you have no plans to go abroad, Scotland does get the weather good sometimes!

My go to podiatrist in Glasgow is Andi Black. He is just fantastic and keep my feet match fit for life and work. If you are looking for a nail spruce up, my go to’s are Sacha and also Naf!.

So there you go! Get stuck in with the self care!

1% upgrade. Footcream on before bed every night. This is what I am off to do.

Onward!

Groundhog day/month/year.

Oh boy. Here we go again.

That’s what it feels like a wee bit doesn’t it? I’ve said it before and yup, I’m about to repeat myself, August started off feeling so positive, then the OMG news cycle started with Afghanistan and what that nation was having to cope with, and it just felt we were all on a slip slide with them.

So here we are again, coming up for Christmas, and we have a new bloody variant of this b**tarding virus, as i call it, going about, and our news cycle is full of it. Now, more than ever, it’s important to stand guard to your mind, and not let feelings of hopelessness take over.

So, here is my action plan to help out during this trying time.

Create healthy news habits

Notice how many times you are picking up your phone during the day, and if you are simply doom scrolling, I choose to get my news (I’m a poet and I don’t know it), from listening to the radio in the morning, and then at lunchtime have a quick scroll on Twitter, and then I watch the 10pm news at night, if I feel like it. That’s it. Oh, and speaking to my Mum.

I’m not really on Facebook that much, so thankfully I am not getting targeted by others with either adverts or their content, but what I would say, with kindness, is, if you have people in your life who share a lot of content about covid 19 on their social media, and you find it triggering, maybe try muting it for a while.

Focus on the present

Sounds easy doesn’t it? Focusing on the present really does mean having a word with yourself and putting down your phone. Today, I have made a list of things I’d like to get done, this blog post being one of them, and I don’t know what’s going on in this mornings news yet, I am choosing to focus on my writing this morning. And coffee.

I am such a fan of a list. I made a one a couple of nights ago of all the things I keep forgetting to do, and also a list of Christmas stuff to get through and I’m feeling productive AF. For me, the more organised I am, the less stressed I am. That also includes leaving the house a lot earlier if I need to go out, it really makes difference.

Continue with your self care

Oh wow. It’s that self care phrase again. Whatever yours is, do it. I KNOW I feel heaps better when I have done a pilates or barre class online, and I always feel better after my cycling commute to work, unless it’s Thursday, because Thursday is ‘drive like a bam’ day in Glasgow. I have NO idea why, but if I get a close pass or someone who is literally just off my back wheel, way too close, it’s a Thursday.

What is your go to feel good stuff to do? Here is mine.

Facial massage when I cleanse my face

Chamomile tea with a splash of apple cider vinegar

Going to bed early with a book

Making an effort to moisturise my hands, especially with all the handwashing we are doing

Pilates and barre for the win. Sarah Gorman is a favourite

And, of late, making a hot chocolate with a slug of Baileys in it.

Keep yourself safe.

I am doing all that I can to keep myself safe. I do all that I can and stay away from others who are maybe not so bothered. I can’t police the world.

It really is down to just doing everything that we have been doing over the last 18 months or so.

Good ventilation has always been our first line of defence, then face covers, and hand washing. I don’t think i’ll get back to the stage mentally where i was disinfecting my shopping and my outdoor shoes (please tell me I wasn’t the only one), but I must admit I still do my steering wheel when I get back from the shops. I have no idea why. There are effective hygiene measures, then there is hygiene theatre. I just stick with the sensible basics. A definite hygiene theatre moment for me, was , last year, when i got back from the shops, I would undress at my front door and stick everything in washing machine.

We really don’t know what we were dealing with, but why was I acting like I was Karen Silkwood. It made me feel better.

Try to avoid worst case scenario thinking.

This is pretty rich coming from me. I have really had to work on this. I must admit though, my catastrophic thinking is greatly influenced by other people in my life. If someone continuously is doom gloom despair and despondency when they are around you, you can get pulled into that line of thinking.

I used to have someone in my life like that until recently, when I just decided pommes des terre, sur la cotes. Tatties over the side. I feel so much better about life now. I have breathing space.

It all goes back to controlling what you can control, and being present in the NOW instead of trying to forecast what will happen. Here is a good website for you, if you feel that covid 19 is taking up way too much space in your head.

Also, remember to talk to your friends and family, and keep an ear out for anyone who is being a bit quiet.

Anyway, I hope you found this useful.

What we are going through now, can’t be any worse than what we experienced last March 2020 when we really really didn’t know what on earth was going on. Now we kind of do. Ish.

Stand guard to your mind.

Elizabeth x

Perimenopause - don't think 'I've got heaps of time'.

So Anyway… Don’t wait to plan your health and wellbeing.

I’m not trying to be the harbringer of doom, but if you a woman, and even if you think you are NOWHERE near menopause or perimenopause, please up the ante on how much notice you give to your periods, cramps, and any other kind of hormonal upheaval you experience during the month.

Keep a health diary, make a note in your phone, or actually have a small paper diary that you use to mark things in that are worthy of remark. When I was a teenager, my periods would absolutely cripple me with cramps and feeling as if my legs both had air pressure pumps attached to them. In my 20s it was only every 3rd of 4th period that would do that, then in my 30s, my period would arrive and I wouldn’t have known any better.

When I hit 40, that’s when the ugly crying and feelings of doom started, but it was like a 2 week lead up to it, and it was the emotional side of it that would cripple me, and then all of a sudden it was permanent feelings of low confidence, not knowing how to dress, 4 changes of clothes before leaving the house, and excessive sweating due to that. Stress was a major factor.

Notice what you notice. Don’t leave anything to do with your health down to chance, or , I’ll deal with that later. Have a note of what your numbers are. Do you know what your blood pressure last was? Smart watches are brilliant for keeping an eye on heart rates etc aren’t they? When was your last smear test? Are you due another one? Has your GP even spoken about perimenopause with you, or asked you about your period?

I think as people these days, we are always aware of what everyone else is up to, and sometimes not paying enough attention to ourselves. Keep a note on your own wellness. I live on my own and have more than enough time to take care of myself, but a Mum or Dad with kids, possibly only eating their leftovers and not having a proper meal themselves, I see you.

That’s why we have thousands of women up and down the country in tears ( I read it on community facebook groups) in tears because they don’t understand why they have put on weight or just feel worn out all the time.

It’s an honour to get old, and we are the first generation of women to be able to talk about periods and menopause because most of us are lucky enough to have Mums or Aunties still alive. My own mother lost her Mum when she was 29. My Grandma was only 54. No age at all. What that meant though was my Mum had nothing to compare it to when she experienced it. No one to talk to. I’m lucky that I can talk to her.

What I would urge you to look out for as a fabulously maturing lady are:

Crying a the drop of a hat

Not feeling comfortable in your own skin and losing confidence

Explosive rage, which is basically fear and feelings of not being able to control your surroundings (why would you want to control other people anyway? We can’t police the world. It’s a difficult one)

Your period being like playing the lottery 26 days, 46, 33, 23…

I don’t have the scientific background but I do have the ‘back to the future’ mind. I do think in the next couple of years, we will have devices at your front doors to breathe on and tell us whether we are virus free, and also a little pad we can wear that will tell us daily whether we need more carbs, protein, hydration, when our cycle is due, what levels our oestrogen is at.

I’m not suggesting for a moment that we promote health anxiety, but what I am saying is that, I have been upright for 52 years now. I look after myself physically, and mentally as best as I can. To be honest the mental side of it, is the bigger struggle, just watching the news, I feel like I need a cushion to hide behind.

Start taking notice of yourself. If you knew as much about yourself, as you knew about Harry Styles (just me?), or what so and so on Instagram is up to, it would give us a massive heads up.

Onward!

Elizabeth

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

Can life get any worse? (A short blog about coping)

Nothing like a cheery headline to grab your attention!

So here we are. Can life get any worse?

Whats bad? One thing? Several things? Or absolutely everything. It’s tempting to saying EVERYTHING right now isn’t it?

I’m sitting writing this looking out onto my garden, and I can see a few things that are good. My plants, a lovely pink glow in the sky from sunset, a cat sitting on my shed eying me up. If you take a deep breath, there are small, but good things around us.

My car works when I turn it on, win.

I feel like I have hay fever, not so good, but fixable with a piriton.

I got a lovely new book from a pal for my birthday to get stuck into, win.

I’ve had mini birthday celebrations over the last week including cheese and biscuits and immense cake, WIN.

The little GOOD things mount up.

At the risk of sounding like a complete bumper sticker, you can always find the good, somewhere.

I can remember all the passwords for my computer and debit cards, another win.

There is no getting away from it right now though, life in general in challenging. I have had clients coming in to see me this week feeling scunnered. it’s like there are normal ish life stresses through illness, family illness, job worries, job hunting, and watching the news just now (July 2021) seems to put an extra layer of woe ontop of life.

I am convinced we will all get good news soon, I have NO idea what that will be, but lets just make sure we are getting out basics right, starting from scratch.

Get a good nights sleep

Drink water (and reaaaallly good coffee)

Speak to a best pal - some people just need a really good listening to (that’s a Kirsty Mac ism, I use it a lot)

If you are working from home, set a timer for 45 minutes and do interruption free work for that time, and see what you get done.

Remember to eat fruit and vegetables.

Watch a feel good movie, sorry but mine is Pretty in Pink. I'm about to have a late evening Brat Pack binge when i’ve finished this.

That’s it.

G’night John-Boy.

x