"I guess perimenopause is just going to suck!"
I hear this all the time from friends I meet for coffee to social media reels to strangers in line at the pharmacy! Peri/menopause seems to be a hot topic of discussion right now women are all over the map when it comes to what they believe!
So what about you? Have you ever sat down and thought about where you are in this season of life?
What are some of the thoughts going through your mind? What things have you heard or do you believe about the midlife transition? Any of this sound familiar?
This is just going to suck…..
I will just have to suffer through it and life will be better on the other side……
I guess I’ll just have to deal with it…..
There’s nothing I can do about it….
I guess it’s just part of getting older…….
Although it’s common to have these thoughts about this time of transition, I want to ask you something important to help put things into perspective. Would you have these same thoughts about other medical conditions like Thyroid disease or autoimmune conditions? Would you sit back and just suffer through or would you search for ways to improve your health and everyday wellness so that you could live your life with energy and vitality? Would you want to just wait and see or would you want to take control of your own health and learn to advocate for yourself?
I don’t know about you but if I were diagnosed with a medical condition I would want to know as much about that condition as possible AND take action to improve my health and my chances at overcoming it.
Have you ever considered that the transition from your cycling years to post menopause (the transition called perimenopause) is actually a state of disease? You see, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone are primary sex hormones that don’t just serve the function of getting pregnant, carrying babies and having a great libido. These hormones help keep our immune system functioning, our mood stable, our sleep regulated, and they even impact our bone density, detoxification, energy systems and so much more. Perimenopause is a season of declining hormones while menopause is the season of ovarian failure---- the cessation of hormones.
If you think perimenopause is just about surviving having wacky periods and hot flashes I want you to know , it's so much more than that. In fact, this is a CRITICIAL time pause and pay attention. The slow decline of hormones across nearly a decade of time prior to the onset of actual menopause is MOST concerning because the slow and gradual decline of hormones also impacts ALL of your systems and organs and metabolic functions and leads to chronic disease.
If you are in perimenopause right now, you may be wondering why it feels like you wake up each day and something else is “broken” in your body. It starts with sleep issues, then mood changes. And before you know it, you can’t eat a meal without bloating and burping and your joints ache and hair falls out in clumps. Your once beautiful blood work is now borderline for everything: pre-diabetes and high cholesterol and your blood pressure is creeping up.
Many people blame these shifts in their health during this season on the natural aging process but there is a clear connection to the decline of these key hormones and metabolic health. Unfortunately, there is a double whammy happening here. For most women, their hormones are declining AND they are aging at the same time, something men do not have to fight against quite as hard! If women want to avoid advanced disease states of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, dementia and cancer in their 60’s and 70’s, it’s critical to learn more about their body, their hormones and metabolic health in their 40’s.
Here's the bottom line: We don’t want to wait until we are post-menopausal (12 months without a period) before we take action. The time to take action is as early as your late 30’s and early 40’s. The more action we take earlier, the healthier the body will be throughout the transition and long into menopause.
I know it’s hard to think about the future sometimes. I find it so ironic that most women who are transitioning into menopause are also raising teenagers, busy building their career and even taking care of their aging parents all while suffering with hormonal symptoms. This is a busy season of life that adds stressors to an already stressed-out body which is a recipe for disaster.
Here are a few things you can start doing TODAY to start being your own Hormone Health Boss!
👉🏼 Learn more about your body, your hormones and your metabolic health so that you can take action. This includes getting your hormones tested and journaling your symptoms. The more you know, the better you can do!
👉🏼 Focus on metabolic health. This is a season to stop worrying so much about the number on the scale and focus on more on supporting your overall metabolic health. There are strategic ways to exercise and nourish your body in this season that is DIFFERENT from past seasons!
👉🏼Give yourself grace but don’t make excuses! This is a biggie! Many women get overwhelmed with all the changes that seem to have snowballed while they didn’t know how to take care of themselves. It’s important to give yourself grace during this transition but also don’t sit back and do nothing. Take action but be patient!
👉🏼Work with a knowledgeable functional health practitioner! This is HUGE. The internet is full of LOTS of information, and it can make you feel like you have all the information at your finger tips but honestly, it’s just confusing and distracting. Working with a trained functional health practitioner who specializes in hormone and metabolic health is going to not only empower you with the knowledge to get your hormone health moving in the right direction, they will also help you remain accountable to the commitments you make to yourself!
If you are curious about ways you can learn how to be your own hormone health boss and take control of your health, I would love to empower you in this season and help you THRIVE instead of survive! My mission is to help midlife women reduce their peri/menopausal symptoms, improve their metabolic health and be their own hormone health boss!
It simply starts with making the decision to take control. I would love to chat with you and see how I can help you take control of your health and live life well! If you have made the decision to take action and learn more about how to be your own hormone health boss, click here to schedule your complimentary discovery call with me today!
Katie Redding is a Board Certified Holistic Health Coach and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner on a mission to empower midlife women to take control and advocate for hormone health, improve their metabolic health and learn to live life well.
After over 12 years as a licensed nurse, Katie opened her wellness practice to help rescue her clients from the sick care model and empowered them to improve their metabolic health through weight loss. Thirteen years later she continues to empower her clients with knowledge and resources to take control of their health but has shifted her approach to focus on helping midlife women transition well and have a better "second act". As a functional health practitioner, she blends her 20 years of nursing knowledge, 13 years of coaching experience, and functional medicine training and lab testing to be the personal health detective you've been searching for to discover the root cause of your symptoms and identify healing opportunities to rebalance your hormones naturally! Katie believes every woman can learn to be their own Hormone Health Boss and take control of their body so they can live life well into their 70's and 80's. The body has an amazing capacity to heal when you know how to support it! Katie lives in Maryland with her husband of 23 years and her three teenagers. When Katie isn't helping people take charge of their health, she can be found on the ballroom dance floor or the golf course!