What Are You Missing In Order To Support Yourself Well Through The Menopause Years?

Ok, ok, ok....."true confession" time ;) Here are a couple facts about me that hurdled me headlong into navigating how in the world do I support my body during this chapter of my life?
#1 I never expected to go through menopause at age 47. I thought I had a good 10 years left of my perimenopause years (Actually, I'm very thankful perimenopause did NOT last that long. In my experience, perimenopause was MUCH worse than menopause is for me and I think it's all because of what I am going to share with you.
#2 Because I never really gave much thought to what I was putting into my body until I was forced to at age 35 (more about my 6-year run with doctors every 3 months in another blog post)--but let's just say that I thought I could live on Ramen Noodles, Chinese take-out (Mu-Shu Pork can be addicting--just sayin'), and chocolate frosted Entemann's doughnuts (do they even make those anymore?) during both of my pregnancies and beyond while plopping myself down on the couch for hours on end.
#3 Don't put off what the experts (AKA your Mom) tell you to do--like make sure you do the exercises prescribed after each pregnancy to get your abdominal muscles back and to not forget to eat well--yes, it's a "thing" you tend to forget to do amidst taking care of your family ;)
I can definitely list a WHOLE lot more about the lessons I learned along the way. But here's my point (are you listening?...no, I mean seriously listening?)--if you Google "does a woman's body go through a change every 7 years" you will find LOTS on this topic to consider. In this post I want to give you not only my personal experience, but also clinical research on this important topic of supporting ourselves well through the menopause years. If I hadn't been my own health advocate and hadn't researched this topic for myself, as well as put it all into practice (not perfectly, but progressively) I don't think the menopause years would have gotten off to such a great start (yes, actually they have been the best years for me healthwise!)

So if you're still reading this, congrats! Because it's time to buckle up and get on the train to "Lisa's Turning The Big 5-0 Next Year Rant" ;) Here's a SHOCKER (not!)--it all begins with what you put into your mouth and how you move throughout the week--YEP DIET AND EXERCISE LADIES!

I created a picture dictionary for you of most of my "go-to" everyday foods. It's a simple and short menu of sorts and that is precisely the point. Keep it simple! Keep it nutrient dense! Keep your body in motion! So here we go.....

Starting with the most important meal of the day--MORNING COFFEE ;) LOL! I have found that with menopause came a dairy intolerance. So this is my yummy new dairy free creamer. You'll notice it has NO ADDED SUGAR. This is a HUGE component to staying well and supporting my body through menopause. Here is a quote from a research study published by Public Library of Science: "The analysis of the metabolic risk factors revealed that women after menopause were characterized by greater adiposity, worse lipid profile and a more frequent MetS occurrence and its components compared to women before menopause." Adiposity and MetS are scientific terms basically meaning "high health risk factors".

Ok, so the REAL BREAKFAST of choice for me is a smoothie because I can get in TONS of nutrient dense foods all in one meal. I have a "pumped up" smoothie early in day because of its high caloric content. This gives me time to burn it off because, as I stated earlier, as a menopausal woman you need to MOVE THAT BODY. More on that later. I created a video for 2 versions of a "menopause friendly" smoothie for you here

As far as the base for my smoothie, I choose a high protein, high fiber, low fat combo. I linked all the products and foods for my smoothies in the description box of the video . Collagen is not only good for hair, skin and nails but also for joints and gut health. More on gut health as you read on--something that I definitely noticed was changing as menopause came about for me--slower digestion.

For sipping on hot cocoa or even adding cocoa in my smoothies, I go for the FERMENTED version of cacao powder and pure stevia mixed with homemade nut milk (both linked and explained in my video here). Be choosy about your stevia because manufacturers sneak in artificial sweeteners. I have fallen in love with tempeh, which is a fermented soy. I add it to my daily dark leafy green salad. Here's the thing about FERMENTED FOODS--they are easily digested! YAY! Even the SunWarrior protein powder pictured above is made with fermented pea protein. I have noticed a DEFINITE decrease in bloating since adding this fermented version (actually, SILTCH, NADA, NO bloating--WHOOP!)

As you'll see in my video I mention adding dark leafy baby spinach to my smoothies. Here, I have a picture of my lunch. Dark, namely bitter, leafy greens are not only high in calcium but also stave off hot flashes. In my experience, when I eat a lot of high carbohydrate foods (including sugary foods) I get night sweats. So now I use large Swiss chard leaves as "buns" for my burgers. It is SO YUMMY and I don't miss the bun at all! In the Journal of Food Science & Technology it is quoted: "Clearly, functional components in food will play an important role in health maintenance in the future as a result of their medicinal properties" 

Now for the EXERCISE piece of the "menopause puzzle". DO IT. There's not much more to say about exercise LOL Just get your body MOVING. Now ladies, I'm not talking about a stroll through the shopping mall ;) Here's what is needed to support our bodies well through menopause--150 minutes per week of moderate intensity exercise. That means a good variety of cardio (your heart is a muscle too!), resistance training, and stretch/balance work. My answer to all of this is Barre. My new "menopausal best friend". I created a blog post all about Barre and a corresponding video if you want to take a look. A BioMed Central Musculoskeletal Disorders research article states: "Muscle strength is the highest predictor of walking balance and has a significant positive regression weight, indicating that postmenopausal women with greater muscle strength were expected to have better walking balance" 

Not only is the physical aspect of exercise important during years of change (any change during our life is benefited by some type of movement), but also the social aspect of exercise is important. If you don't belong to a gym where you can engage in group fitness classes, don't let that stop you from moving your body. There are times that I love to go for a BRISK walk at the park by myself. It gives me time to pray and meditate on God's Word. If you are looking for ways to move your body at home, I have two videos you might like. I developed an ACTIVE AGER RESISTANCE BAND EXERCISE SEGMENT and a STANDING STRETCH FOR ACTIVE AGERS EXERCISE SEGMENT both on my online store . Don't let the verbiage "Active Ager" deter you--its meant to edify and encourage. Oh yes, I am only 1 year away from being a full-fledged "ACTIVE AGER" (this stage of life begins at age 50) and I'm GRATEFUL.