Many women are familiar with the idea of menopause. Your period stops…
Few women understand that:
Menopause is only one day and that
Perimenopause is 4-14 years before menopause
and involves various natural and unnatural hormone fluctuations that can affect major areas of your life and well being.
Perimenopause can start as early as your mid-thirties and last up to 14 years before your last period. When you have gone 12 months with no period, that is what is officially Menopause. (Are you tracking your period?).
4 – 14 Years is a long time to experience perimenopause symptoms like:
- Weight gain
- Moodiness
- Fatigue and sleep issues
- Period Problems and PMS
- Brain fog
- Headaches
- Water retention
- Hair loss and skin sag
- Low or no libido
- Premature aging
- And so on…
These do not have to be your future!! You can affect them!
Stats say that 33 million women (in the U.S.) are in Perimenopause right now.
9 of the women above are in Perimenopause👆👆👆 (My Olympic Teammates 😍) More about that here
So 33,000,000 women are dealing with hormone imbalances every day, who may not even realize it and don’t know they can do something about it! You are a lucky one because you are here.
Stress, uninformed dietary choices, toxin build up and poor sleep may contribute to dysregulated cortisol, unnaturally low progesterone, estrogen dominance, and flat testosterone (all humans require testosterone).
What YOU NEED TO KNOW→ There are many ways to balance hormones and FEEL LIKE YOURSELF AGAIN.
So the truth is that it is not one thing, there is no magic pill (though for some people, bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is very effective). It is a combination of many things that get you to the place of wondering if you are ever going to be “normal” again. Or if it’s all down hill from here on – IT’S NOT.
Below are 9 Perimenopause hacks that can give you ideas of what to do to make a difference in Perimenopause
9 Perimenopause hacks
1. Increase your fiber two weeks before your period. Why? Perimenopause your Estrogen levels are exacerbated by progesterone that’s fine. Fiber helps detox excess estrogen or estrogen that needs to be processed through and out the body.
2. Vitamin D the sunshine vitamin. Get your levels to the optimal ranges. Which are in 60 – 80. Now the reference range from the USDA is 30-100, but there is an optimal range, at which vitamin D behaves like a hormone which is 1000x stronger than a vitamin. Vitamin D affects every part of your Perimenopause journey. Moods, sleep, detox, skin, digestion, hormone balance, do I need to keep going isn’t that already enough? Get your vitamin D optimal ladies most of us are not getting enough from sunshine and stress it’s through vitamin D. Supplement with a D3 and K2 mix.
3. Let’s talk about progesterone, a.k.a. nature’s valium. Love up your progesterone ladies in the second half of your cycle. It’s what keeps the bloating and water away, estrogen in check, moods stable and calm, uterus lining appropriate – not too much – our progesterone naturally declines in Perimenopause as part of a normal function, but it also a naturally declines because of stress. That is what most women’s earliest symptoms are all about. The #1 hack would be to relieve stress on all fronts. #2 is Chaste tree/ Berry/ VITEX – all the same thing- it’s an herbal you can get at most places as a capsule or tincture. Progesterone is your friend.
4. More protein, less sugar – why? As we get older, stomach acid can decrease and the body is less efficient at assimilating protein. Insulin is less sensitive too and more easily agitated resulting in insulin resistance. So keep in mind to have more protein and less sugar.
5. Sleep earlier because it’s wise. Did anyone else hear the old rhyme – “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a person happy, healthy, wealthy and wise.”
6. Toxic relationships – face the truth of what they are – live in your truth. Get help, counseling or tell them that it’s you not them. It really is. You are changing now, they don’t have to.
7. Move your ass. Why? Because your lymph system requires it to move the cellular toxins and waste out of your body. Your heart is the pump for your blood vessels, but you wanna know what’s tricky? Your lymph system has more vessels than your blood system. But with no pump. What!? Why doesn’t it have a pump too? Well every time you move your muscles, that’s your pump. So really, exercise is not just about losing weight, or keeping your heart healthy, it’s the manual pump for your cellular waste system. VERY IMPORTANT. It doesn’t require you to train five days a week two hours a day. No. It requires that you move in all ways on a regular basis. Walking helps, squishing your joints helps, stretching helps, yoga, bending over doing the laundry, sex (big help).
8. Have sex at least once a week. If that’s shocking for you, Look for next weeks blog. It’s for very good reasons.
9. Do you pee when you sneeze? Your vajayjay is a –use it or lose it– part of your body. It is very important to maintain (or gain) tone, function and blood flow through your pelvis and pelvic floor. Because all of that is necessary for pelvic health as you get into your glory years. Just like your other muscles, your pelvic floor can atrophy, which can lead to incontinence. If you pee when you sneeze, it’s time to look into strengthening your pelvic floor. Check out one of my favorite Pelvic floor coaches here.
9. Oxytocin it up lady! Oxytocin is our other best friend besides progesterone because it’s a happy hormone, a bonding hormone, and a cortisol flushing hormone. Who doesn’t want all those things? How do we get it? Orgasm is the biggest oxytocin rush. But long hugs and talking with our ladies also increases oxytocin. If you need a reason to go to coffee or wine with your friends, this is it.
Do you want more like this? My Perimenopause community is here for you to learn more and engage with women who are journeying through perimenopause too!