Dear Pamela,
I’m looking for any tips and tricks you have to prevent or delay perimenopause. The more I hear about it, the scarier it is.
I’ll do anything I can to avoid it.
My own mother was an absolute disaster when she went through “the change”. We were all in high school and she would be raging and stewing and sweating as she drove us around.
My friends who are going through it are all complaining about weight gain and not sleeping. These are the last things I need right now.
Help me delay the inevitable. Please!
Sincerely,
The Perimenopause Procrastinator
Dear Perimenopause Procrastinator,
Girl, if there were a trick to this, I wouldn’t be sitting here waxing poetic about health in menopause. I would be counting my cash after selling that secret across every internet on the planet.
Nope.
This train is coming whether you like it or not.
When Menopause will strike for YOU
Just like you had no control over when you started your period when you were young, this one’s out of your hands too.
One day you will have your last period. At the one year anniversary of that last period, you are officially post-menopausal.
The timing of that last period is controlled by genetics and has to do with the number of eggs your body is going to drop over a lifetime.
Why Perimenopause is a Rough Go
The parts of your brain that regulate your hormones lose the plot for 8ish years around this last period, making your estrogen and progestogen levels read like a seismograph during a 9.2 quake.
This is the window of time that had your mom raging when you were in high school and your buddies are fighting through right now.
Let’s spin the wheel of misery and toss out some random symptoms of perimenopause:
- Brain Fog
- Vaginal Dryness
- Yeast Infections
- Tearfulness
- Incontinence
- Irritability
- Weight Gain
- The feeling of ants crawling on your skin (???!!)
- Feeling “Tired but Wired”
- Depression / anxiety
- The list goes on for DAYS.
You don’t even have time to read the list, because you’re trying to balance a career and family on top of the unpredictable shit-storm of symptoms that decided to show up today, and with the brain fog coming in strong, you won’t remember it anyway.
The worst part is, aside from entering a mental state that that would have had us burned at the stake in the 16th century, we lose bone and muscle while gaining belly fat, which makes us frail and at-risk of cardiovascular disease.
How to be a Perimenopause PREPPER
You can’t control your hormones, but you can control your behaviors and set the stage for success.
Here is the secret sauce:
Lift weights, eat real food, and get your cute buns to bed.
Lift weights like it is your JOB!
The sooner you make strength training a 3+ times weekly part of your life, the more bone and muscle tissue you will have. Resistance workouts are the only type that will move this needle. Also, these workouts will boost your mood on low days and improve your cardiovascular health, which can help minimize hot flashes.
Eat real foods.
Processed crap, alcohol, added sugars, and refined grains will pour fuel on bloating and digestive issues, make your joints achey and inflamed, and bless you with poor sleep. No thanks. Eat real foods with a focus on veggies and protein. Period.
Make sleep sacred.
Excellent sleep hygiene might not guarantee a good night of sleep when hormones are wacky, but they are the best defensive tools. If you make sleep a low priority on top of whack hormones, you will enter a zombie-state where you will REALLY hate your husband, skip your workouts, and fall face-first into a bowl of chips and guacamole.
Give yourself Patience and Grace.
Understand your body is going through something….BIG. You will need to care for it, and that care might mean taking a nap or saying no to extra commitments.
This letter was not what you were hoping to hear.
Since menopause is inevitable, make it your mission to fight the good fight right now. It will be tough, but it’s possible come out the other end in your best health.
Wishing you many more menstrual years. Godspeed,
Coach Pamela
