Creating a training protocol for menopausal and postmenopausal women
Calling all women 40 and over.
I don’t need to tell you that belly fat is a problem that literally grows from this time onwards, I’m sure your clothes remind you everyday.
I’m a big advocate of loving your body and accepting it as it is (and how hard is that to do!), but I’m also a big advocate of improving your health and wellbeing, and that means taking an honest but not too harsh look at your body status quo.
This time of menopause, whenever it occurs, brings a flood of wonderful experiences. Hot flushes, depression, anxiety, intolerance, tiredness, night sweats loss of sex drive, mental confusion, mood swings… the list goes on …
….and on
…….and on.
You know already your hormones are taking a beating, they are up, mainly down, and suddenly you realise how much impact hormone levels have on your quality of life.
One of the things we notice is that belly fat comes on quickly and appears to really stick there and previous ways of getting rid of it don’t seem to work.
It’s not your imagination.
Ageing is unfortunately associated with increased belly fat (interestingly it corresponds with a decrease in the legs) in women (Ambikairajah et. al. 2019), a decrease in lean muscle, less fat oxidation during exercise and increase in intramuscular fat deposits (Abildgaard et. al. 2013, Isacco & Miles-Chan 2018, Kapoor et. al. 2017, Anahita 2018).
And all this is not necessarily triggered at menopause but menopause absolutely hastens this and thus the risk for chronic and metabolic diseases after menopause is greatly elevated.
It’s not nice, but if a doctor said they had a pill that would increase your energy, firm your body, lose you fat, make you feel more normal and will greatly reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia and metabolic diseases such as insulin resistance, diabetes, you would probably leap over their desk in your haste for a lifetime prescription.
Well, there kind of is.
…….. It’s exercise.
Study upon study upon study is now available that shows, beyond doubt, that exercise achieves all those things.
I know you know this already
You do don’t you?
Menopause is a great time to reevaluate life. You probably have a little more freedom with family now and it’s a perfect time to build your life and body up for this new era that could last another third to half of your life.
It’s all up to you.
What you do with yourself now will have direct repercussions on your lifestyle now and later.
The average woman 45 years onwards has a diet low in vegetables, low in protein, high in high glycemic foods and becomes less and less physical activie
Is that you?
Imagine that woman I described.
What will she look like in 20 years? 30 years? 40 years?
Imagine another woman, who regardless of what she has been doing, starts today living a life where her diet is 80% on point (so has plenty of room for fun foods) and is filled with daily movement and lifting heavy things.
What will she look like in 20 years? 30 years? 40 years? Hey, even 50 years? What could her life look like compared to the other woman?
Minimal medical care ….. more money and time for fun things
Not restricted by an immobile, tired body
Think of any woman you know over 80. Is she mobile? Why yes, why no?
Which one do you want to be?
……… Settled.
There are many factors to creating this wonderful postmenopausal life, and if you are postmenopausal, you are included in this too. We need to address diet, physical activity, mind/ stress.
Today we deal with physical activity.
Adding a regular exercise regime into your daily life will have a very positive effect on your body composition and thereby lowering your risk factors, PLUS adding immensely to your quality of life (Anahita 2018, Dugan et. al. 2010, Kapoor et. al. 2017).
Today we are going to go through a potentially ‘ultimate’ training protocol. Rashti et. al. (2019) went searching for the ultimate plan for postmenopausal women. They found that both moderate aerobic training combined with resistance training, and high intensity interval training with resistance training, compared with a control group, improved all body measurements. Out of both methods, the exercise regime that lost the most visceral fat and body fat was the interval combination group.
They are not alone finding this occurrence.
So let’s look at our plan.
We need 3 x a week of full body resistance training. The protocol used by Rashti et al. (2019) used 2-3 sets of 8-10 repetitions of each.
Try:
GYM:
Leg Press
Chest Press
Deadlift
Latpulldown
Bicep curls DB
Tricep extensions
HOME:
Squat
Pushup
Banded Row
Banded Deadlift
Bicep curls (Band or DB)
Tricep dips
Note muscle growth happens with training more to fatigue, so don’t be afraid with going heavier than normal at the gym or in the case of bodyweight training at home, doing your reps to fatigue will mean you will probably do more repetitions.
3 x week High intensity interval training.
Warmup gently for 5-10 minutes and then go all out. Breathing heavily. Feel you are giving it around a 9/10. This lasts 4 minutes. Take 4 minutes break. Easing down and feeling you are working around 5-6/10.
Repeat the 4 minute work load 3 more times with the rest in between. So 4 workloads in total.
Cooldown for 5-10 minutes.
This can be quite confronting if you are not used to it. Use heart rate as a guide if you can. Heart rate used in the study was 85-95% of max. This can be very uncomfortable so don’t worry if you can’t get there or maintain it long. The subjects were able to sustain their heart rate at that level during the 4 minute intense session for about 2 minutes. Do what you can and trust the body will adapt.
Heart rate max for a 50 year old is 173 bpm (age x 0.7; subtract answer from 208). 85% is about 147 bpm. Make your rest intervals around 65%, which is 112 bpm; for a 60 year old 166 bpm is max, 85% = 141 bpm and 65% = 108 bpm.
Resistance and interval training can be done on the same day or different days. Put them in when it works for you. Doing something nearly everyday is probably the optimal way to go if possible.
So that’s it.
Does that intrigue you? Inspire you? I hope so. Imagine if you changed nothing else about your diet and lifestyle but added the above in. What would you look like? What would you feel like?
It will change your outer appearance definitely, but your inner appearance that your soul cares about will be stronger and far more disease resistant. This is the kind of body that moves as we want it to through the day and doesn’t complain (sore muscles aside!).
I must add that regardless of what I have talked about today, the key will always be movement and consistency. There will be days you don’t want high intensity. In fact you may even feel right now that that is way too hard, but 30 minute walks is something you could do instead. Do that.
The universal rule that outweighs everything is:
Any exercise you like to do and you actually do, is the best one.
Pick exercise styles you like and do them.
Do them regularly, and voila, magic, you will achieve that healthy, strong body that will lessen greatly the inevitable breakdowns of ageing.
Much love, Vashti :-)
References:
Abildgaard, J, Pedersen, AT, Green, CJ, Harder-Lauridsen, NM, Solomon, TP, Thomsen, C, Juul, A, Pedersen, M, Pedersen, JT, Mortensen, OH, Pilegaard, H, Pedersen, BK & Lindegaard, B 2013, ‘Menopause is associated with decreased whole body fat oxidation during exercise’, American Journal Physiology Endocrinology Metabolism, 301, pp. E1227-E1236, viewed 12 July 2020.
Ambikairajah, A, Walsh, E, Tabatabaei-Jafari, H & Cherbuin, N 2019, ‘Fat mass changes during menopause: a metaanalysis’, American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Centre for research on Ageing, Health and Wellbeing, Australian National University, Canberra, vol. 221, iss. 5, pp. 393-402, viewed 11 July 2020.
Anahita, S, Ramin, S, Setila, D & Rad Afagh, H 2018, ‘The effect of concurrent endurance and resistance training on cardio-respiratory capacity and cardiovascular risk markers among sedentary overweight or obese post-menopausal women’, vol. 6, iss. 4, pp. 123-129, viewed 14 July 2020.
Dugan SA, Everson-Rose SA, Karavolos K, Avery EF, Wesley DE & Powell LH 2010, ‘Physical activity and reduced intra-abdominal fat in midlife African-American and white women’, Obesity (Silver Spring). vol.18(6):1260-5, viewed 30 August 2020, <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139333/#!po=86.1111>.
Isacco, L & Miles-Chan, JL 2018, “Gender-specific considerations in physical activity, thermogenesis and fat oxidation: implications for obesity management’, Obesity reviews, World Obesity Federation, Suppl. 1, pp. 76-80, viewed 12 July 2020.
Kapoor, E, Collazo-Clavell, M & Faubion, S 2017, ‘Weight Gain in Women at Midlife: A Conise Review of the Pathophysiology and Strategies for Management’, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 92(10, pp. 1552-1558, viewed 12 July 2020
Rashti BA, Mehrabani J, Damirchi A & Babaei P 2019, ‘The influence of concurrent training intensity on serum irisin and abdominal fat in postmenopausal women’, Menopause Review, vol.18(3), pp. 166-173, viewed 30 August 2020, <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6970417/#!po=30.5556>.
Corona Virus Information Page
Welcome
This is a page I am going to provide the links to the most useful bits of information and expert interviews on this world stopping virus. I thought it would be handy having all this on one page…even if it is just for me :-)
I’ll always put the dates of the information next to the links so you can be current
Always Current Links
John’s Hopkins University - This site is the desktop live statistics on the virus and it’s global effect everywhere. Addictive!
For the Australians:
Here is a fabulous site that is pretty update with stats and explains and breaks things down well, at least as well as the government site…if not better
.This is a daily short podcast of all the current information as it comes through. Just knowledge, Q&A, no fear-mongering, just quality. Go CoronaCast!
Signs/ Symptoms
From Business Insider Article 16 March 2020
Fantastic Expert Interviews
Don’t get the information from the governments or their people in charge who are restricted by the powers that be in what they can say. Better to know where we all stand.
14 March 2020
Peter Attia Interview with expert Peter Hoetz. This link has show notes you can read through if you don’t want to listen to the hour of talk…which is excellent.
10 March 2020
Joe Rogan interviews Michael Osterholm . This is a youtube link but he also has this on his podcast. Listen to at least 20 minutes. This is gold
Articles or websites
David Sinclair’s Corona Virus page. This one will probably be a brilliant always updated reference site to the scientific information about the virus and also with practical tips I imagine. It’s full of links too. This guy is fabulous.
Ben Greenfield on immunity and ideas to help yourself get through this time.
Please comment below if I can supply other information relevant to this issue or if you found something particularly helpful.
Thanks :-)
Now is the PERFECT Time ...
It is February!
Where did January go!? ARGH!
I have blinked and am suddenly fully into this new year of 2020…. a year which is going to prove to be a big one globally and locally. A lot of political global and local action that we are all aware of, viruses now declared a global crisis, locally fires are a big issue, and oh my goodness, I put on weight whilst on holiday!
Which one is bothering me the most? (This is where you can picture me hiding my head in shame)
Let me reassure you, my lovely reader (and thank you so much for that), that I am very aware it is a first-world problem, and a pretty good one to have. So I am lucky.
Now back to my soft round body.
A complete result of being out of my comfortable routines and habits. I’ve slipped out of these healthy habits for 4 weeks, I’m feeing it and I need to get back on track. Easily said, not easily done, not without some plans anyway. Thank goodness we are still close enough to our new year to feel that now is a wonderful time to make a few little changes. Whether it is your body, your health, your mind, your spirit, I’m sure that there is something in your life that is less than perfect AND completely in your ability to change. Write a list.
First 2 columns:
What you want In your Life
What you don’t want in your life
Have a look at those 2 columns.
Do any of the things listed marry up and reflect the other?
Mine sure did.
I was listening to the wonderful Terry Gilliam the other day and he stated that he started off years ago working out what he didn’t want before he worked out what he did want, and this really got me thinking. I’m not sure about you but ideally, I would like to grow and better myself every year and I KNOW, this will NEVER happen if I don’t make plans and stick to them. The trick is to make them short, quantifiable and easy, easy, easy!
Are you worth this self-centred approach?
Absolutely!
Just imagine yourself really happy. You are really happy and walking down the street near you and you are feeling successful, you are feeling a deep inner happiness and confidence that you are terrific and valuable to others. People pass you and smile because they can see the light in your eyes and sense the happy energy that surrounds you. That energy naturally ‘gives’ to others. They smile and they feel better and maybe even pass that on…who knows…. Feel this as you picture this. Happy, successful, valuable. You are useful to others and loved by others. You know some people can’t see this though and they are the ones that might growl at you or be unhappy ‘with’ you. That’s ok, when you walk past them you feel fine and smile anyway because they really need the extra support, and off you continue.
Wonderful feeling isn’t it.
Is a better version of yourself, more intelligent, multilingual, has a great body?
What is a couple of traits this person has? Write them down. I bet they have something to do with what you want and are the opposite of what you don’t want.
Now some actions. Write down one or more things (no matter how unrealistic), that you can do to begin to open yourself to be that person. If it’s intelligence you may want to do a course, read more books, etc. Just free think. You are not beholden to any action. The next steps are really picking an action and breaking it down into easy to do bits. Say learning a language. What if I learned one new word a day….that sounds so easy and so simple and so doable. One word a day, 365 days in a year. This time next year I could know 365 words in Spanish! Think about that. How amazing that would be. You would be you, but a you with 365 words that you know very well. That’s just in one year. The mind boggles to think how your world could look if you did this for the rest of your life. What a truly incredible person you would be and you would have so much more to offer the people in your world.
Wow
With my Active Owls groups, we pick something to do every day of the month. Last year we did x amount of squats daily, another we stretched our hamstrings daily, and the results were great. This month we are enjoying a simple pushup challenge (any variety) to start the year off. We mark off this sheet each time we do this and compare results at the end. Feel free to download this sheet and join in with us :-)
So what do you think? What do you think you will do? I have started small with a walk around the block every morning, not negotiable. I can run it, make it longer, but I have to at least walk it. It is not long as I know what I am like at the moment, lazy! So I keep it reasonable and will add on to it in a few weeks. I like to work this way with clients too. I even thought of getting a coach just to provide me a kick start and make me more accountable. Coaches and fitness challenges are a great way to start this, AND they can all be done online these days. The gym I am in has a terrific 8 week challenge starting soon. Check it out if fitness is your goal and you need some motivation.
So it can be anything. The sky’s the limit!
What COULD you do?
What WILL you do?
…….. I’d love to know :-)
Self sabotage - It's a real thing!
Are you achieving your body composition goals? No matter whether its a lean body or more muscle, you should be noticing positive changes already if you have been doing the workouts as directed and eating in the suggested manner using the hand sizes for portion control and eating the recommended number of each daily.
Yes no?
If yes, FANTASTIC! Free pass from this blog…but if no…just read on…I’ll be kind I promise 🙂
Do you feel out of control in your diet at times…even regular times during the day? Do you have enough energy for your workouts? Are you reading too many self proclaimed experts on the internet that seem to know ‘the secret’ and that’s making you second guess yourself and your choices? I certainly do and that’s my job! Honestly, it's very easy and common after the first couple of weeks of any kind of change to your old habits and routine for some of those things to slip back in there. VERY NORMAL…VERY…I feel that really needs to be stated. That’s why we are all in this together.
The following are a few common ways we sabotage ourselves:
Eating too few calories during the day and bingeing later:
This is probably the most common sabotage of all. Has this happened to you? Often it is a case of willpower. It is interesting that we have a certain amount of daily will power and if that is used up on stress or decisions earlier in the day, you have nothing to hold you back from the nightly binge. You are tired, flat and that bread is calling your name loudly.
It may also not be as simple as willpower. You may be under-eating during the day and expecting your body to produce enough energy for workouts, recovery, daily tasks and stresses and be a normal functioning member of the family……. Not possible and a classic setup for disaster.
Whatever way it may hit you, this happens with ominous regularity each afternoon or evening and undoes all the good you may have done up till that point. Often the reason we are behaving like this is to fast track results. Yes, it is possible it will, but to the utter detriment of your life, family, friends and health. Pulling back and accepting it will take a little longer than a few days, and eating consistently with whole foods will enable the transformations to take place quick enough and sustainably.
Not prioritising sleep:
No sleep equals high cortisol (stress), high ghrelin (hunger), and basically encourages your body to hold onto its fat stores. No matter what your goal is, I doubt it is to increase your fat percentage. Not only does it hold on to fat but the body also does NOT want to build muscle. Muscle is energetically expensive and if you under eat or sleep poorly the body will place muscle building and muscle maintenance dead last. It is horrible when you work hard in the gym, see no results and have a body that is sore and aching from a lack of proper recovery.
Food choices:
Using the suggested amounts and numbers of macro servings you really can’t go wrong. Just try this and trust. When I first started eating this way many years ago I was sure I would put on weight, I was so used to thinking I had to eat nothing to lose fat…it was scary to eat, but low and behold it worked and I am no outlier, trust me.
Are you eating whole foods?
Be honest here. Are you eating whole foods…. Really? Personally I LOVE my processed foods….damn…they really aren’t good for us…even my beloved protein bars. Give yourself a challenge and try to only eat whole foods for one day this week (more if you can). Here is a link to a sheet of great ones. Whole foods satisfy your hunger more and supply nutrients at the right ratios for maximal uptake in your body.
Little bit of trivia:
How’s your breathing?
Did you know that when we exercise and diet, causing adipose tissue to breakdown and release stored fatty acids, these circulate throughout the body and unless we excrete them somehow, they will just pop back into adipose tissue again. Excretion is done through the liver and kidneys, so we need those guys healthy and hydrated BUT the main way to release the fat is through oxidation….. breath.
Do you breathe deeply regularly? Many of us are shallow breathers…. Make time to focus on deep breaths in and longer breaths out. Try a 4 count in, 7 count hold and 8 count release.
To finish:
I may not have addressed a concern you have, so let me know if thats the case, but otherwise, today is a perfect day to regroup and plan for success by addressing the obstacles you hit. The biggest problem I see constantly is those that don’t do this. Have look at this PDF. Print it out, stick it on the fridge and try to eat as much as possible from the green section suggestions.
If you feel overwhelmed or hopeless please book in to see me or another nutrition specialist. It won’t take much to guide you to a better and easier way to eat, a ways that fits in with your daily life and will make the transition to a healthier, stronger, fitter you a reality not just a dream.
Why you should exercise MORE as you age, NOT less
Where do we start? Why should YOU include exercise into your daily life?
The benefits of moving your body everyday is extensive. We all know it increases well being and its “healthy” and “good for you”…….but in what way is it really? There are plenty of studies. Let's go to a small list of what some have shown.
National Cancer Institute finds exercise, anytime and level , can extend your life by up to 4.5 years. Even low intensity exercises got a life extension, although those moderate to high intensity and frequency gained the longest time.
Exercise lowers mortality in this study. It lessens mobility problems and stops tendon breakdown in older adults. It also lowers or prevents joint problems in later life.
This study found that exercise can protect against neural dysfunction, particularly the deterioration associated with aging.
HIIT and weight lifting increases mitochondria by up to 69% in older adults and in some cases actually reversing the aging of muscle mitochondria
"Sedentary aging can lead to a stiffening of the muscle in the heart's left ventricle, the chamber that pumps oxygen-rich blood back out to the body”
Exercise is very cardio protective and can even reverse damage in the heart cells, preventing future heart failure. This study showed this is particularly the case if started before the age of 65 and done 4-5 x a week for 30 mins
Now the thing with exercise is that it is a broad and vague term. Exercise is not just walking. To get the full health and longevity benefits of it you need to address the following several times a week:
Strength
Mobility
Flexibility
No Excuses
“But it hurts my back/ knees/ hands/ (insert body part) if I try to do that .."
Oh yes! Absolutely, and who wants to move and lift things and stretch the way this young 40 something (cough, cough) woman is telling me I should.
Let's think to the things you do everyday that.
Everyday you sit down and stand up …..
thats a squat,
thats a squat with a fair bit of body weight.
If you squat like this with weak muscles and let the knees and back try to perform it for you, its going to hurt. Do it several times a day with poor form and it becomes a daily chronic painful issue.…. You carry shopping bags, your own bags daily, or at least you SHOULD be able to do that. Thats 3-8 kilos right there. You may lift luggage into overhead compartments, shopping into the car, jars onto high shelves and here we have an overhead press. Shoulder muscles that should be performing their duty and not the unsupported joint which will hurt. We drop things, we should be able to pick it up with out looking at it for a while deciding whether its worth it. We want to be able to bend down and pick up kids and grandkids. Many play golf or other sports, even walking, gardening and would like to be able to do this pain free….a fair thing I think!
Most of these movements we are going to perform everyday regardless of our fitness status, so why not do some strength and mobility work and be able to breeze through those movements and not let them restrict you and take your brain power that can now be used for other more interesting things.
The thing is, most aches, pains and injuries are the result of poor posture and poor movement patterns. Add years and years of moving and lifting and carrying this way and you have chronic patterns that aren’t serving you in anyway. What is fantastic about our bodies is that it wants to be healthy and strong. Start correcting posture and rebuilding poor movement patterns and the body will almost immediately give you positive feedback with a flood of wellbeing and less pain. You sleep better, move easier and suddenly you find you have the brain space to want to do more things in life and the energy to do them. It really only takes a little bit of time out of everyday. 30 mins everyday is not a big amount of time when the payoff is so profound.
Things you can do right now
Try to do:
Grab a broomstick and use it to circle the head and open your posture up every morning (broom stick video)
30 mins of exercise everyday
10, 000 steps a day
Include big movements for your legs like squatting and step ups, for improved brain cognition, all over strength and weight control
Try a group session for the social benefit (study showing greater benefits in older adults when working out in a group)
The beauty of exercise is that it is cost free. Out you go and walk, deeply breathe in that fresh air and take a look up, see that beautiful blue sky and tree tops. Or at least I hope thats what you can see :-). In my suburb there are still trees and birds. Walk around the city, again glancing up and notice the details on the top of these buildings. This reminds me when I’m in the middle of Adelaide, Melbourne or Sydney…..Above the trendy new facades there is still the imprint of the old buildings originally built. Fascinating to see….just look down occasionally and mind the cracks!
Having a good look at the blue sky does many things, Its great for the posture and perfect to set the circadian rhythm of your body. Certain neural processes happen when we look at the sky, particularly first thing in the morning. As long as there is nothing in the way of your gaze and the sky, such as glasses and windows, the body sets up a certain sun protection for your skin and also activates melatonin production for that night. Producing melatonin is essential for sleep, glucose control and brain health.
More free things.
As you are walking, sit and stand at every bench you find, 10 times.
Set yourself a daily routine. Move while the coffee is boiling, stretch while you brush your teeth. Set yourself a squatting goal of 100 for the day and bit by bit knock it off, grab a friend and walk to and from a coffee shop.
*bonus - a 20 min walk after eating while increase your insulin sensitivity and therefore blood glucose control. Increase that = fat burning, also the glucose control has a cascading series of benefits to reduce obesity, activate our immune system, increase brain health
These are examples of things you can do when you do not have a routine and are nervous about beginning one. Just start, just do. The only exercise that works is the one you do, not the one you think about. Get a coach/trainer (let me help you. We can set a day to day routine for you.) Coaches are great. You can use us for workout sessions or if you are shy or strapped for cash, just ask for a routine that you can do on your own. Have a look at my youtube channel or website for some short easy ideas to mobilise the body.
All the very best,
Vash :-)
10 Tips To Kickstart Your Fat-loss
Fat loss is an ongoing concern for many of us.
We often feel its a choice between a fun life and good times with friends then being overweight OR an intense workout everyday and a diet that leaves us hangry as all hell, hopefully we are slimmer ……. until we inevitably relax and straight back to the old us
Fat loss really isn’t that hard, BUT it's easy to panic and make it hard. I work with people who want to lose fat all the time. Clients get a good eating plan, recommendations and guidance through workouts that will improve shape/ strength/ tone. You don’t need a coach though. It is easier to initiate change with a coach, but what if you can’t afford it or feel you are beyond help.
Be consistent - this is actually a first and last rule.
Pick one of the below and stick with it EVERYDAY. The people who don’t achieve their goals (and this applies in everything), are the ones that don’t do something everyday towards it.
Its always the 80/20% rule, there is no need to be perfect. Fat loss WILL occur if you are consistent.
Thats it.
It really is that easy, but of course we don’t tend to do what needs to be done. Sometimes we start a massive change. All in. That lasts about 2-6 weeks, and then we are back to where we were or worse. So lets start small. Its not as satisfying but it works and it lasts.
Consistency is the key, but it doesn’t just happen. We need a plan and we need rules. We are training that goodnatured and lazy Labrador that lurks inside of us.
Your first task is to pick one of the rules below and do it everyday for a week. Keep it simple and easy.
Then add another thing and do that everyday, and so on.
These are habits below are shown time and again what all successfully slim people do. Once you have done it enough, you will be one of those people too.
Lets Go!
10 - 15,000 steps a day - It’s not necessary to count steps but it is a really good way to see how active you are during each day and it will encourage you to move more
Weights- Lift weights 3 -4 x a week. Muscle burns fat. Full stop. We can build bulky muscle or lean muscle BUT we must build muscle for a strong, youthful body and mind.
Water- 2-3 litres a day (yes tea and coffee do count, but fresh is best. Do NOT count soft drinks, even diet ones)
No Soft drinks - diet or otherwise. Diet soft drinks still trigger insulin responses and that will lead to fat gain.
5-8 Serves of vegetables a day- Most of us don’t eat nearly enough.
Protein with every meal- protein is filling, no doubt about it. Add healthy proteins to every meal and snack and try even to eat them first.
Carb free days- It's true, excess carbs turn convert to fats (so do proteins by the way, but that’s a little harder). Minimising or eliminating carbs is a brilliant way to pull your body towards greater health and that always means burning excess fat. Try a day without breads, pasta, rice, all grains, low fruit, and no sugar. See how that feels. Make sure to add healthy organic olive oil, fish oils, avocados, oily fish etc, to feed your body and keep you satisfied.
Intermittent fasting- There are so many styles of intermittent fasting and they can be extremely effective. The 5 and 2 days and the daily 12 hour eating window is among the easiest and most common. Fasting can be overdone and females are a little more sensitive to hormonal fluctuations that they can cause, so read up before you dive into it hard.
Chew slowly - Try for 20 chews per mouthful and watch how satiated you feel and less prone to look for more. Its also a great mindfulness exercise.
Sleep- The best for last. Sleep is vital for our body to function properly and ‘good’ sleep is imperative. There are 3 basic phases to sleep and that is a cycle from light sleep to deep sleep to REM (dream state generally speaking). We need a good dose of all 3 to maintain a healthy body and mind. Fat wise, poor sleep will lead to elevated cortisol and more chronically high insulin levels and these guys equal fat gain and also fat burning resistance. Put sleep quality first on your list of priorities.
So what do you think?
Which one will you try first?
Please don’t over analyse, Just pick one (I can do that for you if you contact me). Share with me how you go. Don’t be shy, just do it. Consistency is the key to miracles.
I have only briefly described the above 10 tips to start losing fat. Please email me if you have any questions regarding them. I’m available for bookings, in person and online, if you wish to get a personal program created for you that will incorporate fitness, nutrition and lifestyle enhancements to fit your personal situation.
All the best to you and your health!
Vashti :-)
Menopause and Weight Gain; Inevitable?
““It is fairly brutal and you go through all the accompanying side effects: hot flushes, weight gain, a sense of mourning for lost youth, sexiness and somehow the point in anything. I became depressed, which I ended up getting help with.” ”
Have you hit that time in your life where your cycles are fluctuating, your brain is foggy, energy at an all time low, maybe night sweats, flushes and just generally feeling miserable? Me too!
A positive aspect of this age of oversharing, is that we can talk more freely about previously taboo subjects, and menopause is one of them. It was not so long ago women were regularly put into mental institutions because men didn’t understand what was happening…and neither did they!
However it's still, like most female issues, not widely talked about apart from many comedienne’s routines and with coffee (or wine) at your friends.
Its great to laugh at our cycles whether pmt or menopause but when you are actually living and breathing it day in day out, then it becomes a little less funny and more frustrating.
Although there are many facets to menopause and what happens to us, I want to tackle just one thing predominantly today. This is something I hear about a lot (and concerns me too!).
Weight gain
A woman will gain weight during and after menopause and there's nothing we can do about it.
Does that worry you? Are you resigned to the inevitability of it?
““You thicken up around the waist… you just change shape… you gain a little more weight but it’s just placed differently. It’s like you almost lose your waistline.
“Your chest, your décolletage, sort of wrinkles, and you think ‘What’s that?
“I think you start to dress differently because you think, ‘Right, that doesn’t make me look at my best… Stick to skinny legs and baggy tops.’” ”
This thought is quite frightening in all honesty. Loving your body ala naturalle is all very well, but I don’t know anyone who actually likes being overweight…honestly…
.. and the reason for not liking excess weight is not just aesthetics, (although thats a lot of it, lets be honest), but either consciously or subconsciously we know the real reason for keeping our weight down is health and longevity related….. your body knows this even if you are not yet aware…. If you want the best chance for a healthy, full, long life then keeping your fat levels on the lower side is a very important factor.
During perimenopause the female body starts slowing the reproduction cycle down. Progesterone production slows years before oestrogen declines, leading to
Breast swelling and tenderness
Mood swings
“Fuzzy thinking”
Irritability
Trouble sleeping
Water retention
PMS
Weight gain
Testosterone also decreases and it shows often with these symptoms:
Loss of sex drive
Decreased sexual response
Decreased sensitivity in your erogenous zones
Decreased sense of well-being, energy, and ambition
Depression
Loss of or thinning pubic hair
Resting metabolic rate lowers, muscle is broken down at a faster rate, bones become brittle and insulin sensitivity decreases.
Estrogen levels drop towards the end of menopause and this has its own list of symptoms including:
Creator: Diane Diederich
Hot flashes
Night sweats
Vaginal dryness
Decreased energy and ambition
Depression or mood swings
Dizziness
Headaches
Mental confusion
Urinary incontinence
Recurrent urinary tract infections
Increased susceptibility to vaginal infections
When menopause hits, a year after your last period, these issues tend settle as the hormonal holocaust subsides and steadies out.
This hormonal madness you have experienced is basically responsible for that spare tyre and more. Many women gain fat during peri menopause, and it doesn’t often change with time. The older you get, the faster the muscle loss etc. Not only do these factors mean our body doesn’t look and act like it used to but it also impacts our neural networks, weight gain and loss of muscle mean the brain is unable to repair and grow new nerve cells and connections like it used to.
This doesn’t sound good does it?
Is it out of your control?
NO
Thank goodness!
Although women have been taught to dread menopause, this life stage ushers in the springtime of the second half of life and is often accompanied by surges in creativity, vitality, newfound ambition, and the need to be of meaningful service to the community in a larger way. Dr Christiane Northrup
From the Mayo Clinic:
The hormonal changes of menopause might make you more likely to gain weight around your abdomen than around your hips and thighs. But, hormonal changes alone don't necessarily cause menopause weight gain. Instead, the weight gain is usually related to aging, as well as lifestyle and genetic factors.
Lets tackle those factors that will make a difference
Sleep
Sleep is also another staple that is affected during this time. Even if you weren’t going through a hormonal upheaval, lacking restorative sleep alone will prevent that weight from going and encourage more fat storage. When we don’t sleep well our cortisol levels are generally unreasonably high and stay high for much of the day when they should be naturally lowering. Living in this high stress world doesn’t help this either. With high cortisol, and increases in blood glucose and insulin insensitivity, it is no wonder that weight gain tends to be a standard part of menopause.
Fortunately there’s power in knowledge.
We know these things occur so let's look at what will balance them out.
Try Maca and black cohosh to balance the sex hormones (menopause combination tablets generally have a mix of these in them and I have spoken to some women who swear this reduced their night sweats)
Other herbs for cortisol balancing:
Rhodiola
Ashwagandha
Blood sugar balancing:
Berberine
Bitter Melon
Apple Cider Vinegar
““If you deal with it in a healthy fashion then I think you come out the other side a better person. I’ve got so much more energy now than I ever had in my early 50s before the menopause.” ”
Exercise
Exercise is one of the best things that anyone can do to improve everything. It will help you sleep well, balance hormones, slow bone loss, improve cognitive health and reduce fat and inflammation. Best of all you only need around 20 minutes daily to gain these benefits
We have higher morning cortisol so adding a walk every morning will use this cortisol and leave you with energy for the day. You don’t really want to thrash yourself, using up the energetic cortisol first thing in the morning. Maximise the fatty oxidation by doing the light exercise on an empty stomach. Deep breaths also are shown to be important.
In the afternoon try a little intensity with weights or a tabata workout. You don’t want to over fatigue but you do want to work hard enough to create a temporary lift in cortisol, that can then subside for evening.
To HRT or not?
I wanted to put in a mention regarding hormone replacement therapy.
Is HRT safe?
When I was first aware of HRT many years ago, it was apparently the miracle product and women around the globe raced to their doctors to demand this pill that promised balanced hormones (younger skin!) and more energy. Several years later there was a swing in the opposite direction. Suddenly HRT caused breast cancer and was ‘bad’. Add a few more years, more studies and importantly, longer studies, and there seems to be decent evidence to say that its very helpful and if you maintain your body in a healthy state you should not be of extra risk for the negative effects.
After listening to a wise woman who prescribes them to her very happy patients and self, I decided to take the plunge and ask my doctor whether it was worth going on it. So I am now trying it. For me so far the effects have been minimal. Other women I have spoken to are extremely adamant about how much it has benefited them, their lives and their happier families (anecdotally it seems particularly for those experiencing night sweats)
““So many women I’ve talked to see menopause as an ending. But I’ve discovered this is your moment to reinvent yourself after years of focusing on the needs of everyone else. It’s your opportunity to get clear about what matters to you and then to pursue that with all of your energy, time and talent.” ”
One thing I was very worried about was gaining weight, as if I might blow up over night. Fortunately their are plenty of studies showing no weight gain on the HRT (such as here, here and here). So when I started mine I watched myself carefully. I found when I started mine that my hunger or more precisely, my urge to eat, increased a bit. Not huge, but enough to worry me. I wrestled with this for a few days and then thought logically about it The tablet itself will not magically put weight on me. More food = weight gain. I was able to temper this urge completely by increasing my vegetable and fibre intake. For example I added psyllium husk or glucomanann to my vegetable soups. What a huge difference that made! A daily serve of this keeps my bowels regular and also eliminates my urge to over eat. In full disclosure, I don’t limit the amount of soup at all and some days I need more than on others. I still snack, but I can keep it from becoming a daily habit with this technique.
ROSEMARY CONLEY, 55-year-old diet and fitness guru: from this article
I started taking HRT four years ago and can honestly say it's one the best decisions I've ever made.Before I started going through the menopause I was convinced it wouldn't affect me.
I was fit, ate healthily and had an extremely positive outlook so I presumed I was mentally and physically equipped to deal with it.
I was wrong.
Like most women, my menopausal symptoms really started to affect my life. I became tired, lethargic and miserable.
It was such a horrible feeling knowing I was firing on two cylinders.
I knew I couldn't live that way so I went to my doctor to enquire about HRT.
He was really helpful and suggested that I try an HRT patch which is stuck on the lower abdomen.
He did warn me there was a minute risk of developing breast cancer but I felt that the benefits - a normal happy lifestyle - outweighed the dangers.
HRT has had a really good effect on my life.
Not only is it helping lower my risk of heart disease, it is also maintaining the health of my bones which lowers my chances of developing osteoporosis.
I weigh less than I did before I started wearing the patches even though I haven't changed my diet or exercise regime.
Before my menopause I really felt my age. But now I've recaptured the energy I had in my youth and feel 20 again.
So is weight gain inevitable?
I hope you can see now that it really isn’t.
Is it harder? Well, the body is going through or has gone through huge changes and unfortunately it slows all the pathways that make weight loss easier. However, it does NOT make it impossible or unbelievably hard. Feeding your body the right foods, avoiding sugar and moving everyday is the key to life long health, and doing that fortunately results in a healthy lean body. Consult your doctor, your naturopath, your fitness trainer, be proactive and embrace this inevitable change and make these following years the best of your life.
““All of a sudden I don’t mind saying to people, ‘You know what? Get out of my life. You’re not right for me.’ It’s wonderful and liberating.” ”
Making Movement a Daily Thing
Movements for the elderly or less mobile
Body tune ups for Active Owls
We are Older, Wiser and Living Stronger for a reason, and that reason is that we do something most days to make our body healthier. Now if you are not yet an Active Owl, don’t despair! The following is all you need to do to create more physical health and wellness for yourself. Commit to doing something everyday. Do as much or as little as you like. The most important thing is to just do something everyday. The habit is the true secret to success, so I don’t care at all whether you can do 20 minutes or 1 minute of the following movements, and neither will your body. Your body will be so happy you did something, that you will immediately feel a reward of wellbeing flood your body. Honest.
Go from this
To THIS!!
first thing in the morning, before or after a glass of water.
Cat/cow spinal stretch
Thread the needle
Plank ( hands or elbows)
Rolling twist
Superman
Rolling twist
Crab lift and release
Seated forward bend
Start with 3 repetitions (or 3 breaths) and work your way gradually over weeks and months to 10 of each. It won’t take long. Here is a video showing you the movements. It is on the floor and shortly I’ll attach a routine for those needing a chair and to stand. In the meantime, do check out my youtube page. I have many videos that are aimed for the less mobile person. (remember, only less mobile for now. You just wait!)
What next?
Now that you have spent a few minutes waking the body up, activating the nervous system, especially those of the spine, moving the blood and lymphatic flow, I want to give you some other options you can use to make it more specific to your needs.
You will almost definitely have sore and tight areas in your body. Maybe some old injuries or just pain that has snuck up to you and become a resident in your muscles and joints.
With the following I’d preference you to warming the body up as above and THEN adding one of the following series after. Add it whenever you like during the day. The next day, try a different one.
Always do a quick body scan during a deep breath before you start the exercises and then finish with a deep breath and another inner scan and note the differences you are feeling.
Each focus below has stretches and mobility for each area and then a strength section. All you need is some elastic bands that are light, medium and heavy resistance.
Only do the exercises that cause no pain. Aches can be ok if its stimulating an underactive area.
Consult your health professional if you are not sure. Contact me too, I can help in person and online. Use the bands as necessary to make something more challenging but don’t overdo it, that will make things worse.
Shoulder focus
Shoulder circles with stick
Twist with stick
Neck stretch looking front on and then angle upwards
With stick, elbows together and high. Hands wide
With roller, pressure under arms and on shoulder head
Pec minor stretch
Shoulder Strength
Rotator cuff against wall
Angled raises
Elbow wall press
Band around hand and wall walks with elbows. Hands remain parallel and wide.
All fours shoulder shrugs
Hip focus (this helps your back)
(try to squeeze bottom while doing. Use the bottom squeeze to open the knees and hips further)
Hip circles
Hip open hold
Lunge wide knees hold
Leg swings side
Sumo lunge hold
Windmills
Hip Strength
Standing leg pulses front, side and behind
Seated clams
Standing clams
Side walks with band
Lateral lunges
Single toe touch and up
Hip hikes on step
Core focus
Side plank
Superman
Calf/ Ankle/ Foot focus
Calf stretch
Achilles stretch
Ankle circles
Toe spread
Standing toe spread
Calf/ Ankle Foot Strength
Calf raises (feet neutral, wide and pigeon)
March wide and centre
Tap toes front, to sides and behind (standing leg bent)
Towel scrunches with feet
I hope you’ve gotten some ideas of how to start building your new stronger and more mobile body. Its easy to become overwhelmed if you are not used to it so just start with one or two moves and build only as you feel keen to. ANY movement and exercise is going to work and make you feel better.
I’m always reaffirming it but contact me for help.
I’ll happily reply.
If it requires extra time to answer, I’ll recommend a short consult via email (or Skype if you wish) to give me some personal details and I can write you up some specific exercises, and even include a video if necessary. My fees are very reasonable and I’ll always try to work in with you.
Have a wonderful day!
Vashti x