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Welcome friends to this [00:01:00] episode of the Sync Your Life podcast. Today we’re diving into the topic of menopause. This is hands down one of the biggest questions that I get, so I figured it would be best to cover it right here on the show. So many women ask me to teach them more about menopause. What’s best for their workouts, their nutrition, their supplementation, proper testing, and so on.

In reality, most women don’t realize that menopause is really just a birthday. And what they really want to know more about is perimenopause. I have several podcast episodes on perimenopause, so feel free to check those out as well. I’ll link some up in the show notes for you as always. But for today, let’s touch on the differences between the two perimenopause and menopause.

We’ll talk about what happens when menopause comes early or if it’s forced due to cancer or hysterectomy and how to navigate the waters of fitness and nutrition after the fact. Now I do go way deeper on this in my sync digital course. I cover menopause and brain health, what testing needs to be done in menopause, supplements that [00:02:00] I recommend for various issues, and so much more.

But here on this show, we’ll cover the basics today to help you get a better understanding of what’s going on. So let’s start with what is menopause. Like I mentioned, menopause is technically just a birthday. It’s a moment in time when you are 12 months from your last official period. The average age for this, and remember, health is individual, so it’s not everyone, right?

It could be younger or older, but the average age for this is 51. Once you have ceased having periods for 12 months, you’re officially in menopause. If you bleed in month 10 or 11, guess what? That clock starts right back over again until you hit the 12 month mark. Does that make sense? So the decade leading up to menopause, however, that’s when a lot of women have questions.

This is what we call perimenopause. Again, lots of episodes on that, I’ll link them up for you, but this is when most women I find complain of things like hot flashes, anxiety, weight gain or weight loss resistance, [00:03:00] trouble sleeping. So many things can pop up during perimenopause. So what happens during this decade of life?

Well, I’ll tell you, progesterone declines first. Progesterone has a lot of superpowers. I kind of liken it to a cruise ship slowly leaving the dock as your ovaries wave a long eight to 10 year farewell. to progesterone production. Toward the end of that decade, as we near menopause, estrogen follows suit, and it also begins to decline.

But let me ask you this, this is sort of a pop quiz. Does your body still produce sex hormones after menopause? Yes. The answer is yes. This surprises most women. So how does your body produce sex hormones after the ovaries have said nope, it’s not on us anymore? Well, the answer there is your adrenal glands.

Your adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys. They’re these little tiny glands that sit right on top of your kidneys. And they are in charge of one major role up until perimenopause. [00:04:00] And that is survival. You’re right, they produce cortisol, which is our survival hormone, fight or flight hormone, whatever you want to call it.

But during perimenopause, all of a sudden the adrenals become extra taxed as they take on the responsibility of more sex hormone production. This is precisely why when women come to me in their forties and they’re saying things like nothing’s working for me anymore, these women tend to struggle because what they start doing is they start working out harder and eating less and their body goes into revolt.

It goes into survival mode. Now remember, our bodies must feel safe in order to reach maximum energy. In order to lose the weight, in order to live optimally, our bodies have to feel safe. So before I go any further, let’s address this. The total cessation of periods before the age of 45 is known as premature menopause.

And the total cessation of periods before the age of 40 is also known as premature menopause. Now if you’re in one of [00:05:00] these boats, you’re going to want to pay attention to this as well. This is not just for my 50 plus crowd. All females will undergo menopause, whether you’re forced due to medical issues or you just reach the age where the time has come.

So how do we navigate these different eras of perimenopause and menopause? Well, it all comes back to the phrase that I say the most. Health is individual. Getting proper testing done, supplementing yourself accordingly, that’s queen. Then we can focus on the nutritional and exercise elements that put the icing on the cake.

My first tip for you if you’re in perimenopause is this. Stop working harder and eating less. Let’s work smarter, not harder. I’ll link up a podcast episode all about this that I’ve done so that you can go deeper on the topic. But seriously, your adrenal glands will thank you. Do this by paying attention to your energy.

Will your workouts each day give you energy or deplete it? And are you eating enough? Let me assure you, anything below 1, 700 calories for a training [00:06:00] female is too little. And remember, most women are under eating protein significantly. I did a podcast on this a while ago, but just to mention the statistic again, most women are consuming 40 50 grams of protein per day, when they should be consuming at least 1 gram per pound of body weight.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t know any woman who weighs 40 50 pounds. So making these small shifts will add up to make a big difference. Also something that matters is your protein timing. Consuming 10 15 grams of pre workout protein and 20 30 grams of post workout protein within 30 minutes of exercise is key.

Also important is lifting heavy weight and focusing on our mobility. While 6 packs still sound fun, mobility as we age and functionality in our fitness is what we’re after. So what about women in actual menopause? Women who’ve crossed that birthday. The same thing goes for paying attention to your energy.

The same thing goes for lifting heavy and mobility. But just know this, your body [00:07:00] may do better with two to three consecutive days of high intensity exercise followed by a rest day. If you used to do six consecutive days of workouts before a rest day, maybe reconsider that structure. Tap into the energy to see what’s best for you.

Ask yourself the same question. Will this workout give me energy or deplete it? Now, nutritionally, your protein needs are much higher. As we age, our protein needs are much higher as women. We still want to stick with 10 15 grams of protein pre workout. But we’re going to up the post workout protein calories to 30 40 grams of protein within that 30 minute window of exercise.

Testing is another question that I get. Testing is still key for you post menopause, but now we no longer have to worry about the timing with your cycle, because that no longer applies. But you still have thyroid, blood sugar, cortisol, and sex hormones, those four legs of the chair. If you haven’t listened to my episode called The Four Legged Hormone Chair, I will link it up for you, but just know that you still have all of [00:08:00] that, even post menopause.

So don’t assume that because menopause has happened for you that you’re done gauging these things. Testing is still key. So the bottom line is this. We want to remain fit and healthy well into our 80s and 90s.

We know that women lose four to six pounds of muscle per decade on average after the age of 30. This is why we focus on the strength training. We know that our adrenal glands become extra taxed in our 30s and 40s during perimenopause. This is also why we focus on sleep and mastering recovery. We know that calming and regulating our nervous system plays a huge role in how we age.

So, I hope that you’ll dive deeper into your individual health because after all, as I’ve said, health is individual. What might work for you in perimenopause and menopause may not work for me. But if you’re not there yet, just know it is coming someday. It’s gonna happen to you if you are female.

Women need to talk about these things way more than we do. We don’t have to suffer through this. In fact, we can actually make [00:09:00] it our best eras yet. If you have any questions for me about anything I’ve mentioned today, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I will link up some articles for you about protein intake for women, some references to Dr.

Stacey Sim’s blog, if you want to learn more and dig deeper. But just know this, I love hearing from you. So if you have questions or feedback, please reach out. And if you’re craving more, I would love to have a conversation with you about my Sync digital course. It might be the right time for you to dive in.

As always, my friends, thank you so much for tuning into this episode. I hope this was helpful. Go back and listen, take notes, share it with a friend, and of course, leave a review. It all helps the podcast in this mission to help women become more body literate. And that’s what it’s all about. Take care of my friends until next time.

We’ll talk soon. Bye bye.

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