My 5 top tips to get through menopause

There are things you can do when you are going through menopause which will help. About 25 percent of women have a truly terrible experience in the years leading up to their last period (peri menopause and menopause) and then for some time after (post menopause). It is estimated that another 50 percent of women also have some annoying or unpleasant side effects to deal with during this time. There are some lucky women who seem to sail through this time with no ill effects.

If you are one of the women who is experiencing all or some of the myriad of “symptoms” or issues associated with menopause, there are some things you can do to put yourself in the best position possible. My top 5 are:

1. Fix up your sleep

You do not have to accept that you are not sleeping well. You might not be getting enough sleep or you might feel like the quality of your sleep is poor. Once you have made sure that you have “sleep hygiene” under control and you are still not sleeping well there are a lot of things you can systematically try to FIX your sleep. For me the remedy was HRT (I know this is not an option for everyone) and slow release melatonin. Total game changer. I also made more of an effort to get to bed on time and I placed more priority on sleep. Read here for a list of things you can try to make your sleep better. This will have so many flow on effects, including making it easier to control your weight, concentrate properly and regulate your moods.

2. Eat more protein

As you age you need to make more of an effort to maintain and build muscle mass and protein is essential for this. You should be having at a minimum 1 gram of protein for every kg of bodyweight. Here is a list of sources of protein you can build into your day. It should be on hand so that it is easy to include.

3. Choose your carbohydrates carefully

Avoid large quantities of white bread, white pasta, white rice, refined sugar. Choose fibrous vegetables, oats, buckwheat, brown rice, quinoa and fruit such as bananas, berries, oranges, apples and grapefruit as your carb source. Also have less carbs than you may be used to having. You do not have to eat carbs with every meal. Do not give up carbs completely though as you will inevitably binge or end up feeling very miserable and deprived. You also benefit from the fibre contained in carb rich foods. You need carbs but you need to choose the right ones and avoid others and watch your portions. Why? High sugar intake stimulates high insulin (your fat storage hormone). Blood sugar spikes will make you crave more carbs and leave you feeling like you want to eat more.

4. Resistance training

Including a form of exercise which is weight bearing is incredibly important for women in mid life. The natural tendency is for your muscle mass to decrease (and your bodyfat to increase) and resistance training helps to counteract that. You want to remain strong with strong muscles and strong bones (good bone density). Weight training is also very good for improving your sleep and your mood. Read about the benefits here.

5. Walk more

Walking is underrated. It is a great way to increase your overall energy consumption without driving up hunger. It also helps with stress which is associated with the hormone cortisol which can lead to weight gain. You don’t have to exercise vigorously every day or doing resistance training every day but you should be walking every single day.

My second top 5 will be coming soon……