Menopause Madness
We, as women, run on stress. Between being a wife, mom, work and daily activities, I don’t even have to go into the demands on us let alone the demands we put on ourselves. There is a point in time that you cannot be everything for everybody and if you are in this phase in life, …NOW is the time. When I say stress, think cortisol as it is the main stress hormone in your body. Estrogen and progesterone help protect you from fat gain due to high cortisol. Cortisol levels are at an all time high at this time in our world. If you cannot control your cortisol levels, you will not have the ability to lose weight.
A female’s body is hyper-reactive to stress due to the fact that we are the species that reproduces. From your reproductive years on, it’s job is to measure and react to stress to see if it is a safe environment to reproduce and have a baby.
Chronic stress affects the brain and changes in behavior and physiology, including hunger and cravings usually along the lines of sweets and fatty foods. It can increase the binge eating and overeating the wrong foods. It also causes us to store fat.
Exercise also causes stress to the body, it raises cortisol levels. Sounds contradictive, but it is true so there are few really important key elements I would like you to be aware of and practice.
Workouts should be 45-50 min at max with no more that 20-30 minutes at a very high intensity. Longer is not better, more is not better. Worked in our 20s and 30s but it is proven to be detrimental to your results in late 40s and over.
Working out and being in the gray zone (moderate heart rate) is not beneficial for women in menopause WHEN the goal is to change your body composition.
Workout range for 15-30 minutes should be at 87-94% of you max HR. This is where the my zone belts are key, if you don’t have one, please consider buying one. It is THE best tool for you (and me) to determine your intensity level. If you are super conditioned, this may be hard to cut back on but if you are working at your true max, you honestly should not be able to do more than 30 minutes in your top zone.
You NEED rest days, low exercise days. Moving every day is key, getting your steps in every day is key and light exercise on rest days is fine. If you do 2 hard days in a row, you are doing more damage to your cortisol levels by adding a third. REST is more important than the actual exercise itself.
Walking, even for 20 minutes after high intensity is THE best way to lower your cortisol levels. Jogging defeats the purpose.
So being mindful and managing stress is a BIG factor. That means chilling out and taking care of you, doing things you love to do and getting rid of any stress you can in your life. Having quality girl time, laughing and catching up, meeting a friend for lunch, walking, taking a nap. Quality family time with those that really matter. Say NO more often. Meditate. All these things relieve stress.
Until you get rid of the guilt that you are not enough or that you HAVE to be the one that does it all, being a people pleaser to your own dismay…you will not get the results that you are looking for out of any program. You WILL hold onto unwanted fat.
Some key ways to help reduce stress:
WALK. Try to get at least 10,000 steps a day. Take 15-20 minute YOU breaks when you can and walk…get fresh air.
Schedule massage, manicure or pedicure once or 2 times a month
Make a date with friends, meet to walk, get coffee, breakfast, lunch, have a glass of wine together.
Meditate or shut down for 5-10 minutes a day (try to do this everyday)
First thing in the morning (before you pick up your phone or get your coffee) practice gratitude. Name 3 things you are grateful for, 3 people you are grateful for and why. One step further, text these people. This will start your day off positive and proven to reduce stress.