MENOMORPHOSIS
MENOMORPHOSIS is the go-to podcast for midlife women who are ready to stop feeling like a stranger in their own body — and start feeling calm, energised, and back in charge.
If you're navigating peri/menopause or the messy middle of midlife, you’ll find grounded support, science-backed tools, and compassionate conversations to help you feel more like yourself again — only wiser.
Hosted by Breath & Wellness Coach Polly Warren, each episode blends real-life insight with nervous system know-how to help you navigate hormones, emotions, energy, and identity with more ease — and a lot less pressure.
So take a deep breath. And when you’re ready…
Let the beautiful Menomorphosis begin.
MENOMORPHOSIS
#129: 7 Essential Habits to Move Through Menopause with More Ease
Midlife doesn’t have to be a crisis — it can be a genuine metamorphosis.
In this episode, I’m not talking about just surviving menopause.
I’m talking about moving through it with more ease, clarity, and actual calm.
You’ll hear a segment from a training I recently ran, where I shared seven essential habits that helped me feel more like myself again — and can do the same for you.
They’re rooted in science, backed by real results, and designed to work with your body, not against it.
This isn’t about overhauling your life overnight.
It’s about understanding your body’s new language — and responding with choices that actually support it.
Here’s what we cover:
➡️ The one habit that helped me stop spiralling and reclaim a sense of control
➡️ How just 10 minutes a day can improve your sleep and steady your nervous system
➡️ What the science really says about food, muscle, and mood in perimenopause
➡️ The conversation around HRT and breast cancer risk — without fear or fluff
➡️ Why reconnection (with others and yourself) is non-negotiable at this time
✨ Whether you’re deep in the menopause transition or just beginning to notice changes, this episode is here to remind you:
You’re not alone. And you’re not powerless.
Small shifts. Big difference.
You’ve got this.
Download The Breath Check-Up - your FREE guide to understanding how well you're breathing right now.
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To find out more about my membership The Inner Space go to: https://www.pollywarren.com/theinnerspace
Email me at: info@pollywarren.com
https://www.pollywarren.com/
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Are you, like me, riding the roller coaster of midlife and menopause and eager to get back to living your best life? Are you tired of low energy, a short temper and endless self-doubt? Well, it's time to stress less and shine more. It's time to ditch the worry, reclaim your mojo and tap back into the incredible woman you already are, because midlife isn't the end of anything. It's the beginning of becoming more you, more grounded, more radiant, more powerful than ever before. Join me each week for real, uplifting conversations to help you feel better, think clearer and live with more joy, purpose and ease, because it's never too late and you're certainly menomorphosis. Thank you for joining me as I record this.
Speaker 1:It's so warm and sunny here in Brighton, on the south coast, or Hove I should actually say Hove. I don't live in Brighton anymore, I live in Hove, a little bit further down the coast, and this week has been gorgeous. I've been in the sea first thing every single day and yes, I'm not, I am quite a fair weather in the sea. I like to think that I'm in the sea during midwinter because there's always people in the sea, but if I'm totally honest, I am not. It takes a lot, doesn't it, to get in a freezing cold sea, but it takes more, I think, to get out and then get your clothes back on, and then that is the part I really, really struggle with. Anyway, I'm enjoying getting into the sea at the moment because it's gorgeous outside and it really does set you up for a great day. I really do appreciate being so close to the sea. Anyway, today's episode is another episode, actually following on from last week's episode, which was with Laura Lam about menopause. Today's also an episode about menopause.
Speaker 1:I recently presented an online presentation. I do a few of these now and again all about menopause. They're often to different workplaces, and so I thought I would take a section of this particular presentation and share it with you, because what I've done here is I'm sharing seven habits which really help you to thrive through menopause, to feel as good as possible through menopause. They're not rocket science, but actually they are the ground. They're the grounding to what everybody really should I hate that word should but can be doing for themselves to feel as good as possible. I think for me, my favourite ones are number one and number seven, although they're all super important, but those are the ones perhaps we don't talk about as much as we should. So I really do hate. You enjoy this.
Speaker 1:I was about to say so without further ado, and I was about to say here is me. So here we go. Let's now think, look at what we can do to really thrive, to help ourselves, to take charge of our menopause, because the earlier we start the better. As I've've said, everyone is going to have their own unique experience of it, and so you know, you may sail through it, you may not experience any of those symptoms, which would be fantastic but here, knowledge is power. Well, it's potential power. It's how you then use it, which is the real power. Okay, so the first habit we have here is about staying informed and empowered. So I have talked a bit about this already, but I can't stress it enough.
Speaker 1:This really is an opportunity to tune in with yourself, to start to put yourself first. We're all so good at putting everybody else first. Now it's your time. If you're experiencing changes, then that really is your body's way of communicating that something needs to change now. So you could start by adopting a positive mindset and reframe metaphors as a transformative life stage rather than a decline. There was a very interesting study in 2023 in the Journal of Aging. That suggested that women who adopt a positive mindset about menopause report better quality of life and reduced symptoms. It does make a difference. It's the power of the placebo.
Speaker 1:So educate yourself about menopause through books, through podcasts. There is so much information out there compared to 10 years ago, so just find the thing which you want to tune into. My podcast, menomorphosis, has got a whole backlog of really brilliant conversations looking at all different ways of managing menopause. And be open. Be open to new approaches. What might have worked for your friend or your mom or your sister might not work for you. So just keep a really open mind and try different solutions.
Speaker 1:Finding what works for you and understanding your body and tracking your changes is so powerful. It helps you feel more in control and prepared for what's ahead. So I really do recommend tracking your cycle if you still have one, tracking any symptoms you're experiencing. So this is so helpful when you go and see a healthcare professional, if you do, because you can then explain quite clearly what's going on. So there are lots of different ways of tracking. I really like the Balance app because you can put in you can track your cycle, you can put in how you're feeling, you can track your sleep, what you're eating, and then what you can actually do. You can put in a date range and then click a button and it creates this brilliant report which looks a bit like this, and you can take that to a healthcare professional and say this is what has been going on for the last three months and so it's all there. It's also a great way to track, have a baseline, know where your starting point was. So when you start trying something, you can see has it made a difference as well? As.
Speaker 1:What I really like about this is often we're all very good at going. Oh my gosh, I feel exhausted all of the time, but actually if you look back at the data of what you've tracked, you might realise actually it wasn't all of the time. There were some days where you felt okay. So it's about really noticing the patterns and understanding your body. It is so empowering when we do this. So track, track, track. I can't reiterate that enough. Okay, number two habit for good, uh, for thriving.
Speaker 1:Now I know this isn't reinventing the wheel. You probably know this, but sleep is a real issue. As Zoe research said, 80% of us report sleep disturbances during perimenopause. Now I know this is really hard when you are not sleeping well and I appreciate that because I have suffered with this as well. When you're in the middle of the night, you're waking up, you're worrying about being tired the next day at work, you can't go back to sleep. But there are still some really good habits to instill to ensure you really are giving yourself the best possible opportunity to getting a good night's sleep, because we all know how crucial sleep is for managing ourselves day to day, particularly for helping us manage our menopause symptoms like mood swings and brain fog. So track again, track, track your sleep, identify any patterns and any disruptors. So I noticed that whenever I was having a glass or two of wine, it just I always woke up. So it's not saying don't drink the wine, but it's just understanding what the effects are of certain triggers so that you can then weigh up Is it worth the glass of wine and sometimes it is. Sometimes it is, but sometimes it's not.
Speaker 1:Maintain a consistent bedtime and wake up routine if you can, and I would say focus more on consistent wake up time. If anything, this really helps to set your circadian rhythm. So even if you've had a bad sleep, try and get up at the same time, because when you get up, you know it just at the same time. You're going to be, know it just at the same time. You're going to be tired by the time, more tired by the time you go to bed.
Speaker 1:Really think about your caffeine if you are struggling to sleep. This is something I cut out totally for me. I've slept, I've let it slip back in recently and I've been okay, and then more recently I've noticed I've been not sleeping so well. So I'm going to cut it out again. Caffeine blocks something called adenosine, which is what makes you feel sleepy. So if you're having caffeine, it can stop you from feeling tired. So if you really have to drink caffeine, limit it to before midday. But if you are really struggling with sleep, do consider cutting it out. Ensure you get some sort of morning light exposure into your eyes that really improves your sleep-wake cycle. So melatonin is produced from that morning light and when we get it in our eyes it's then released at night and helps us to sleep. And, of course, creating a nice environment goes without saying to go to sleep and screens we all know that. But really do consider it, particularly if you're having poor sleep. I know, we know this, but these are things we've just got to keep focusing on.
Speaker 1:I just want to talk briefly about something called sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder where your breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep, and symptoms often include snoring or maybe like gasping for air during sleep and feeling particularly tired during the day. And the reason I mention it is there is a three times greater risk of moderate or worse obstructive sleep apnea in post-menopausal women compared to pre-menopausal women, and the reason being is that lower levels of oestrogen cause us to lose muscle tone, which is your airway. Your airway, essentially, is a muscle, so it can cause our airways to collapse more easily. So this is something just to be aware of, because it is a serious condition and it can really increase quite a few serious health issues.
Speaker 1:So something you can do to really help yourself with that now is to focus on how you breathe during the day, because how we breathe during the day does impact how we breathe whilst we're sleeping. So if you don't know how we should be, breathing during the day is through our noses. Our breath should be really gentle. We shouldn't hear ourselves breathing during at all. When we're at rest, it should be slow and we should be using our rib cage. So our diaphragm, so our belly, gently expands, as does our rib cage. We shouldn't be breathing from up here, which many of us do. So if you're concerned at all with your breathing or your night breathing, I've got something called a breath checkup, which is just a short amount of videos which you can take yourself through to and I'll just let you know how your breathing is. So maybe, if you're interested in that, let me know afterwards and I can send that to you. Okay, I'm sure you knew this was going to be in here.
Speaker 1:So what we eat really does directly affect how you feel. So this is something we have to double down with at perimenopause and menopause. A nourishing diet does support hormonal balance. It supports your bone health and your overall vitality raw vitality. You know too many of us nowadays and it's too easy to eat a processed diet because the supermarkets are full of it, but the problem is we don't get enough of the nutrients we really need to help us during this phase of our lives. So even if you don't eat a mountain of fried food or takeaways or have loads of sugary drinks, it's still very easy to eat a low diet in vitamins and minerals and essential fatty acids and phytonutrients, because it's the lower levels of micronutrients that means your body isn't running as efficiently as it should do, particularly during this stage.
Speaker 1:So what do we want to eat? Well, we want to eat a whole foods, varied diet as much as we possibly can, limiting ultra processed foods, just keeping it really, really simple. If there was ever a time to go back to basics, it is now. So it's about eating diversity and a diverse diet. So the recommendation is to eat 30 different plants every week, and that includes things like nuts, seeds, grains, herbs, spices, as well as fruit and veg. So this is about trying to cook as much as you can. I know we're all busy, but try and cook as much as you can from scratch and eat as many whole foods as you possible can can, because the wholeness of the food, that's what keeps in all the goodness. All of these foods are going to support your gut bugs, provide the micronutrients you need, and remembering that the majority of our happy hormone, serotonin, is made in the gut 70, so we need to keep our gut bugs happy, our microbiome happy. So a diverse diet with limited processed foods is the answer. So these are guide, these are obviously guidelines, but these do make a difference.
Speaker 1:And again, the zoe study research was really conclusive on this. So they asked women who had followed a healthy, plant based diet with an increased intake of whole grains and legumes and plant-based I mean a whole foods diet. So they were eating um meat and fish. But they reported a 35 percent drop in mood changes, anxiety, depression in perimenopausal women, 44% in postmenopausal women. Issues such as fatigue, weight gain, memory loss, sleep disturbances were reduced by 32% perimenopausal women, more in postmenopausal, and hot flashes, night sweats were reduced by 30%. So it works, this stuff, stuff works. If you're suffering with symptoms, it really is.
Speaker 1:One of the first places to go is to really look at your diet. So how much of what should we be eating? This just gives you a quick overview of of what we should be eating. So half your plate, ideally, is fruit and veg. About a quarter of your plate ideally, is some sort of protein. Protein is really important because it's the building block of the body and at midlife it particularly. It really helps to sustain energy levels and support lean muscle. And you know, we might experience up to three to eight percent of muscle mass per decade after the age of 40. So it's really important.
Speaker 1:We don't install, we don't store protein in the body like we do fat and like we do glucose, so a steady flow of it is needed with every meal from sources which are like the oily fish, organic meats, legumes, pulses, tofu, tempeh. All of these things give you a steady flow of protein. And then, not forgetting healthy fats. Fat is your friend. Always go for full fat options rather than low fat, because low fat options generally have more sugar in them or will create more sugar or make you want to eat more. So always go for full fat. And when we're talking about carbs, carbs again are very important. But if you can go for the complex carbs, the grains, the legumes, the root vegetables, starchy vegetables, things like squashes are really really good.
Speaker 1:Most people, yeah nearly all of you, have experienced some of these cravings that sort of afternoon slump, that real hangry feeling where you just got to eat something. Now, if you have experienced any of these, it could well be down to your blood sugar levels. You might well be on the blood sugar roller coaster. Now what we want is for our blood sugar to be within this nice green. Be within this nice green, stable space here. But what happens is that when we eat particularly sugary foods or very refined carbohydrates, what happens? It causes your blood sugar to rise very quickly and it prompts your body to release more insulin that really than it needs to.
Speaker 1:Insulin is is a great. It does move the sugar into your cells for energy, but if too much of it is released, what happens is your blood sugar then takes a massive nosedive and it drops very low and your body at this point thinks it's in danger. So it releases stress hormones cortisol, adrenaline and that is when you can get those feelings of feeling really tired, irritable, really hangry. You get signals in your body to go you've got to go and grab a snack, a sugary snack, and that then makes you have another spike. Plus, your body releases glucose quickly when you have a big crash because it thinks it needs it's in danger and it needs some energy. So you just stay on this terrible up and downy blood sugar roller coaster. During perimenopause and menopause, however, as well, lower oestrogen levels makes the insulin less effective, so this means that your body struggles more to regulate the blood sugar levels to bring it back into this green zone. So you may experience higher spikes and even lower crashes afterwards. So that kind of results in stronger cravings, bigger mood swings and energy dips.
Speaker 1:And the more our blood sugar is out of whack, the greater need for stress hormones. And you're we're going to talk about that in a minute you know, which is not a great thing. So I kind of think of this as the sugar and the refined carbs is like pouring petrol onto a fire. The flames burn really, really, really brightly for a moment. They kick out a lot of heat. We've got this high blood sugar, which gives us a sense of energy short term, but after a short spike the flames become smaller than they were before. So this is where we get the blood sugar crash. When we eat well and we eat lots of protein, we eat good fats it's a bit like putting coal on the fire. The flames don't burn as brightly, we don't get so many highs and lows, but we get a really good drip feed of energy. We feel fuller for longer and we get fewer cravings. So that's really another reason why we need to really keep in mind how much you know eating enough protein. Okay, let's move on to number four.
Speaker 1:So this is all about building and maintaining strength. I mean really maintaining strength is the key here. It's recommended that women over 40 engage in strength training exercises at least two to three days per week. Why is this so important? Well, it helps to maintain our bone density. Now, as our oestrogen levels decline, as we move through perimenopause, we start to lose bone density. In fact, we can lose up to 20% of our bone mass in the five to seven years after menopause, which is a lot, and this can cause an increased risk of osteoporosis, which is a condition where your bones become more brittle, and the research says currently that one in three of us over the age of 50 will experience some kind of fracture. But this is something that we can really take control of, we can prevent and it's something we need to really take very, very seriously. So strengthening our bones through this sort of exercise can really prevent this from happening.
Speaker 1:And strengthening our muscles is also super important because, again, as we age, we begin to lose muscle mass as well, and that can lead to a condition called sarcopenia. So we've just got to keep them strong, and this isn't about bulking up and getting muscly. This is literally about just maintaining what we already have. So it really is a non-negotiable we need to be doing some sort of weight and resistance work and even if you have a job which allows that, fantastic, but otherwise we need to make time to put something in place. Also, the great news that when you do do this, it has a real, significant impact on slowing down on metabolism, because muscles use more energy than fat. The more muscle a person has, the higher their resting metabolic rate, so that's the amount of energy that your body burns at rest. Also, it really helps to regulate your blood sugar when we strength training. So which is, as we've just learned, is a really positive thing. So when you strength train, your muscles use glucose as fuel and the even better thing is, after your workout, your muscles continue to absorb glucose to replenish the energy stores. So it really helps to keep those blood sugar levels really nice and balanced. And let's not forget, when we work out, it makes us feel good, we get a release of endorphins and you never feel bad after a workout. So just start small. There are so many classes out there. Now on apps online, you can go to the gym, and this is about really again just tuning into what is right for you.
Speaker 1:You have to obviously listen to your body in perimenopause Well, at any time really, because here we've got some, I've got put some training recommendations to work with. If you have a regular cycle, we really it's a really positive thing to work with your cycle if you are still cycling. So, for example, lift heavy in the first half of your cycle. This is when you've got the higher oestrogen think that Beyonce moment. You know this is where you've got better muscle growth. Reduce, however, the high impact workouts before you have your period and really prioritize recovery and nutrition and hydration in that luteal phase and then during perimenopause and postmenopause. Again, just thinking about how we train is important. So can we add in, you know, you know, running, jumping we need to try and keep the bone strength as strong as we can, and these are all really positive things to do. For that, doing pilates, yoga, that's those sorts of exercise also really help with our balance and flexibility as we age and obviously, keeping low intensity cardio is going to be really fantastic as well. So, yes, protein is important. So the recommendation is that we should be including a little bit of protein into every meal to try and keep our bones everything as strong as we can.
Speaker 1:So number five is about stress. It's about reducing our cortisol levels. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that nowadays we are more stressed than ever, particularly as midlife women. Going through menopause itself is stressful. We have that societal narrative of getting older as something which is perhaps not as positive as it could be, and many of us are now just operating from a place of chronic stress. Our nervous systems have got stuck in this fight or flight mode and I mean this is a massive topic. We could do a whole hour on this alone, but I just want to bring it back to menopause and why it is more important than ever that we really focus on our stress levels at menopause.
Speaker 1:So when our ovaries stop producing oestrogen when we go through menopause, our adrenal glands, which are on top of our kidneys they take over as the backup system, because we still do make some a small amount of oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Now, these small glands are super important during menopause because, as I said, we keep producing those hormones. However, when we are super stressed, these hormones also produce cortisol and adrenaline. They're too busy doing that. Our oestrogen production and our other testosterone production doesn't even get a look in, because your body always prioritizes survival. So if you are suffering with a high level of stress, then the chances are that your menopausal symptoms will be significantly worse, and this is also another reason for weight gain at this stage of lives. Oestrogen can also be produced by fat cells, and if your body senses that the backup system of the adrenals isn't available to produce oestrogen, it's going to start storing your food as fat, particularly around the belly, and this becomes really difficult to shift because it's hormonal and also stress causes the body to continually pump out glucose in case you need to run away from a tiger. It's not quite updated since those times and if that's not used, then it gets stored as belly fat. So reducing stress levels is very important.
Speaker 1:Something you can do is become aware of where your stress levels are. So this is the window of tolerance. It's a concept that describes your optimal zone of arousal. So you can see, this is where we want to sit within our window of tolerance. This is when we can manage everyday stresses effectively. When you're in this place, this is when you're calm, you're balanced, you can regulate, you remain calm, you don't lose your shit. Basically, now, when we're all going to go out of it because we have stress, stress is going to happen. But it's the flexibility of our nervous system which is important here. How easily do we bring ourselves back into this window of tolerance? So something you can start to do to help build your awareness of this is just to notice where you fall on that, on that window of tolerance.
Speaker 1:I recommend to a lot of my clients to set an alarm to sound on their phone, to go off at regular intervals throughout the day and when it goes off, just to notice where am I on that window of tolerance. Am I in the right in the green zone? If I'm not, what can I do to bring myself back there? Can I take a breath? Can I question that thought I'm having? Is it true? Is this something I need to worry about? Am I ruminating on something? We have a ridiculous number of thoughts every day something like 90,000 apparently every day and they just go round and round in our head. Many of them I think it's 80% go round and round and often they're very negative. So just questioning and becoming aware of those thoughts can really really help.
Speaker 1:And breathing I am going to say this as a breath coach. But our breath is like a remote control of our nervous system. When we're stressed, we tend to breathe high up in our chests, short, shallow breaths, and that then signals to our nervous system that we're stressed, like we're preparing to run away. So we just stay in that loop. So just breaking that pattern by breathing through your nose slow, gentle, expansive breaths, it really helps to remind your nervous system how to come back into that your window of tolerance, come back into that, your window of tolerance.
Speaker 1:So this is something now which needs to be prioritized. We all are very good at saying I don't have time, I don't have time to journal, I don't have time to meditate, but actually this is something which I would say is actually something you need to make time for. We all have the same amount of time. It's about again finding what works for you, what is your thing. You might not want to meditate, you might want to do some breath work, you might not want to do yoga, but just a little bit of simple distraction. Find your thing. Okay, now this one number six explore, hr, hrt. Now I've put the word explore here because, again, this is a personal choice.
Speaker 1:Hormone replacement therapy can work wonders for some people. It could be a lifesaver. It was for me at one point, but it cannot, but not so well for others. Some people want to try it. Other people would rather go a holistic route. Some people can take it, but others are recommended not to, particularly if you have a history of breast cancer, for example. So this is an area that you need to research yourself so that you can make an informed decision for yourself. And particularly this is an area where you've got to think what is best for me. Again, try and ignore the noise from your friends or your mother or your sister, because we are all very different. Keep a very open mind. Hormone replacement therapy is available on prescription here in the uk anyway and I'm talking again from what I know from here in the UK. Where you are might be different it's on available in prescription.
Speaker 1:It always contains oestrogen, pretty much often progesterone and sometimes testosterone. Whether you take oestrogen on its own or oestrogen plus progesterone depends on whether you've still got your uterus. So if you've had a hysterectomy, you don't need to take the progesterone, you would just need to take the oestrogen. Hrt comes in a variety of forms these days, so patches, gels, sprays you can still get pills, but each can each come with your pros and cons, and some people prefer patches, other people prefer sprays. Again, it's up to finding what works best for you. Sprays again it's up to finding what works best for you.
Speaker 1:Nowadays, it is thought that the safest way to take oestrogen is through the skin, rather, although it can be taken orally. But the old type of HRT was very much taken through a pill, but that often needs to get metabolized through your liver, but through the skin it goes straight into your, your blood. The, the modern HRT is generally made from wild yams and it's known as body identical, which means it's the same chemical structure as the hormones in your body. So this is similar to micronized progesterone as well, so it's basically very similar to the progesterone available in your body. Testosterone is, as we've discussed, is also quite important, particularly for things like libido, cognition, concentration. Currently here in the UK you can get it prescribed, but it's not currently licensed. So I think that's about to change. But again, for some women it has been a real lifesaver, so it's definitely something to bear in mind.
Speaker 1:Now a lot of people still have a fear of hormone replacement therapy and that is probably because back in 2002, there was a big study by the Women's Health Initiative and it was very controversial because its results were actually very misleading and caused widespread fear about HRT. The study initially claimed that HRT increased the risk of breast cancer quite significantly and it led to many women stopping taking it, lots of doctors avoiding prescribing it. However, since then it has been realised that the results were skewed because the study mostly the study included mostly the older form of HRT, so the tablet form, it wasn't the body identical form. Plus the study included mostly older women, so the average age was about 63 and many of those women already had underlying health issues. So this meant that the findings which they found really were not very accurate and it didn't accurately reflect the effects of HRT on younger, healthier women going through menopause and actually later. Research has since showed that for most women starting HRT before 60, the benefits outweigh the risks. Okay, so it really can help with a lot of the symptoms.
Speaker 1:So here is a good comparison of lifestyle risks versus HRT and breast cancer. So up here at the top you can see this is in a thousand women, the. The average is that we're, you know, 23 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed. This is in the uk general population with hormone replacement therapy. There is an extra four. There are extra four cases confirmed of breast cancer, which is exactly the same as someone who is on the hormone reception on a hormonal contraceptive pills.
Speaker 1:What's interesting is for those women who can take an estrogen only HRT. Actually, there's four fewer cases of breast cancer. Of breast cancer If you were to drink two or more units of alcohol per day. The additional cases is five. If you smoke, additional is three. This is the one to really pay attention to. For women who are overweight or obese 24 extra cases of breast cancer confirmed. This is the one I really like. So for people who take at least two and a half hours of moderate exercise per week, there are seven fewer cases of breast cancer in women. So I think that's just really interesting, something to really bear in mind. So I'm just again just to reiterate every country, every doctor's practice's practice, everyone is it's all quite different. So this really is something you need to to research and speak to a healthcare provider with.
Speaker 1:Hrt isn't a magic pill. It can be amazing, but it does work best alongside lifestyle changes. So really do just do your research, find out what for you, but do the lifestyle changes as well. I just want to note as well here.
Speaker 1:There are certain foods called phytoestrogens, which are a natural compound found in plants, and these types of plants are structurally very similar to oestrogel, which is the type of oestrogen in our body. When these foods are eaten, actually, they can affect people in a very similar way to oestrogen, although at a lower level. So these types of foods are super helpful to help balance your hormones. So some people really swear by these. So take note anything which is like soy, tofu, tempeh all of those are so useful. Flaxseed I have a constant supply of ground flaxseed which I get fresh from somewhere called the Linseed Farm, which you can buy online, always in the fridge. I sprinkle it on yogurt, I sprinkle it in smoothies, in salads. It's really powerful to help with hormone balance. So, yes, lots of broccoli. Think Japanese food. Okay, final one. So final habit here stay socially connected.
Speaker 1:So this is about really cultivating meaningful, meaningful connections with others, but also with yourself. So, as we know, menopause can actually feel really like you're. You're navigating this on your own, your body's changing, you're dealing with lots of emotional ups and downs and it really can feel like you're alone. But that's where your friends, your family, support groups come in. You don't need to do this all on your own, okay, and when you share what's going on for you, everything suddenly feels better. The moment I opened up, after I held this for four years, the moment I opened up, my goodness, everything felt better. So connect with others. Surround yourself with people who really lift you up. No more toxic relationships. Really surround yourself with people who listen, who support you without judgment, who make you laugh. Laughter really is the best medicine. Really make time for quality relationships and, if you want to, you know, think about joining communities or support groups, especially with other women who are going through menopause too. You'll be surprised at how much a shared experience can make you feel heard, can make you feel validated. So, whether that's online or in person, and finally, connecting with yourself is important at this time.
Speaker 1:This is a huge time of change. It's kind of like the reverse of puberty we go through puberty, we're finding our identity. Verse of puberty we go through puberty, we're finding our identity. It all feels quite chaotic and difficult, and this is kind of the same. So this is about really taking time for yourself, for really discovering the woman you are becoming, and I really do see it like that. So take time for yourself journal, be kind to yourself, really do and everyone says it but talk to yourself as if you would a best friend. And this is also a time to really start reminding yourself of all the things that you love to do. So explore those things you love to do or used to do and start to do them again. Find what lights you, you up, have fun Ultimately.
Speaker 1:I think we get so serious sometimes in midlife we forget to have fun. We forget who we are. So this is about really finding, rediscovering the woman that you are. So prioritize yourself. It is so important. You know, the more we connect with ourselves, with others, the more resilient, the more empowered we feel during this stage of life, and just remembering you're not alone in this.
Speaker 1:Half of the population are going to go through this. So these, I'm hoping, are going to really help you thrive in your menopause journey. It's not not something to be feared. It's an opportunity to really start living your best life and remembering that even the smallest, tiniest changes eventually add up to huge results. You don't have to do everything all in one go small changes. I really hope that you got something out of this and have something to take away with.
Speaker 1:Perhaps you've already heard most of what I've said before, but sometimes I think it's just good to hear it again, because the more we know this stuff, the more likely we are to actually put it into action. As I finish there, it is about those small steps that we take every day, those small actions. For me, that is about moving my body every day, it's about spending some time being still, being quiet every day, eating as many whole foods as I can, etc. Etc. These small changes, these small little things that we do every day, they do all add up and for me, it's worked. You know, I've never felt as good as I do at the moment, at the age of 51. Thank you so much for listening and if you've enjoyed this episode, please do hit those stars to rate and also subscribe to this podcast. And if you've enjoyed it, please do take a moment to write a review. It really, really does help. Thanks again for listening. Take lots of care, have a fantastic week and I will speak to you next time. Lots of love, bye.