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Are you letting stress throw you off your stride?

It’s been Stress Awareness week this week, did you know? Well, today I went to the gym. But I didn’t on Wednesday.

Stay with me here.

In menopause, our body’s ability to handle stress is changed, such that we become more susceptible to its effects. (You may remember my explaining this a couple of weeks ago)

High levels of chronic ongoing stress (and stress hormones) can have a huge impact on your health.

1. Increased risk for heart disease and diabetes. Stress can increase the risk for heart disease and diabetes by promoting chronic inflammation, affecting your blood “thickness,” as well as how well your cells respond to insulin. Also, oestrogen plays a role in reducing inflammation, and it also helps insulin sensitivity, so falling oestrogen levels that come with the menopause can contribute to increased risk.
2. Reducing your immunity. Stress hormones affect the chemical messengers (cytokines) secreted by immune cells. As a result, they are less able to do their jobs effectively. Wound healing can slow down, and susceptibility to illness can increase.
3. Causing “leaky gut”. Stress can contribute to leaky gut, otherwise known as “increased intestinal permeability.” Cortisol (stress hormone) can open up tiny holes in your gut by loosening the grip that the cells in your intestinal tract have on each other. These “leaks” can then allow partially digested food, bacteria or other things to be absorbed into your body, triggering food sensitivities and low grade inflammation.
4. Disrupting your sleep. Stress and sleep go hand-in-hand and more and more research is showing just how important sleep is for our health, which is why it’s always a topic I discuss with clients. It’s often difficult to sleep when you have very important (and stressful) things on your mind. I know that you already know, that when you don’t get enough sleep, it affects your energy level, memory, ability to think, and mood. Our bodies repair and rejuvenate while we sleep, and a lack of sleep impairs our ability to regulate our blood sugar levels, and makes it difficult to lose fat.
5. Reducing muscle mass and bone mass. Cortisol can break down muscle and/or bone in order to free up amino acids (units of protein) for use as energy. At menopausal age, activity levels tend to drop, and the corresponding lack of activity can lead to loss of muscle and bone mass. But over-exercising can do the opposite, by increasing cortisol levels. That’s why some women may find it difficult to build muscle.

Now, all that said, stress (or cortisol) actually isn’t all bad. Cortisol naturally goes up in the mornings to kick-start us awake. It increases our blood sugar levels to give us the energy we need to get going for the day. So it won’t come as a surprise then, that too little cortisol isn’t good either, because we can lose our get up and go.

With the body, there is always a “Goldilocks” range, within which our health and vitality are at their best.

But when our lives get crazy busy or our stress levels hike right up, guess what the first thing is to go out the window?

Self-care, sleep, healthy eating, movement, relaxation…. the very things that support our health. Then the downward spiral starts. Cravings. Lack of sleep. Poor eating. Tiredness. Feeling irritable. Hangry (the combination of hungry and angry).

And each of those things add even further to the stress.

Now, let’s pile on the menopause. Menopause itself is a stressful event for your body. And it lasts for several years.

What’s more, your adrenal glands, which are responsible for producing your stress hormones, are also responsible for producing oestrogen and testosterone (women have some of that too), taking over as the main sex hormone producer post-menopause. Even more burden on these little glands.

That’s why it’s extra important to continue to look after yourself in any small way, and not throw it all out of the window.

I missed going for my work-out on Wednesday. I was intending to, but I indulged in a brownie before I went to bed the night before, and the increased sugar in my system meant that I had a terrible night’s sleep (4½ hours according to my Oura ring when it was time to get up).

Needless to say, I felt terrible. So, instead of going to the gym, I slept for another hour. The next night (last night), I went to bed earlier than usual, and slept just over 7½ hours.

It was back to the gym this morning. And it felt good.

Life is a continuum. And so is health.

Doing something is better than nothing. And doing something a little better is better than nothing too. If something has to give, be conscious about what that is and why.

So, standing up for some of the time while working at your desk, is better than nothing. Eating a snack of roasted and salted nuts is better than a bag of crisps, if you just cannot bring yourself to having the unroasted and unsalted nuts which are better. And for me, skipping the gym was better than going, to get the extra sleep I clearly needed.

Getting it perfect is not the name of the game. It’s about doing something. Some days, you can dial it up. Other days, you may need to dial it down. But, don’t let it all go.

Thinking this through ahead of time can help. What strategies can you come up with now, when you don’t need it, so you can then draw on it when you do, without having to use up precious energy thinking about it then?

Take some time for yourself and put a list together.

The yin yang challenge

“What I see is a depletion in yin and just yang yang yang everywhere! No wonder the hot flushes and the inability to sleep properly for so many women in menopause.”

So said Kyla, the acupuncturist I met up with over a coffee this week.

We both agreed that it boiled down to an imbalance – too much of something and too little of another.

The trouble with our modern culture, is that we’ve primarily latched on to just one side. So we have a highly linear way of looking at things. If this isn’t right, then let’s fix that one thing, right here where it appears to not be right, and that should fix it.

Or we want to know the exact formula – exactly how much exercise should I do and how many times a week. Then, there’s the other piece of linear thinking – if a little is good for me, then a lot must be a lot better. And if works for you, then it must surely work for me.

Do you know what I’m talking about?

Guilty?

So pause for a moment, take a deep breath and hear this.

Your body isn’t linear. Instead, it’s a multi-system of inter-related systems. Tweak one thing, and it has an impact on another.

For example, if you’re overly stressed for a prolonged period, this can put a strain on the adrenal system. Over time, your body will attempt to balance that.

One example of how your body might do this, is to reduce the level of active thyroid hormones. Yhyroid hormones regulate our metabolism, and it is thought that the body does this in an attempt to slow you down, to reduce the overall level of stress. But this can also slow down all other bodily processes.

Now, depending on your own genetic susceptibility, and your health, diet and lifestyle history (we call these “antecedents”, “triggers” or “mediators” in Functional Medicine), different symptoms can show up.

For one woman, this could be joint aches and pains, from a slowed down immune system. For another, a reduced metabolism could mean weight gain. For yet another, slower functioning of the liver and/or gut could lead to excess oestrogen not being effectively cleared from the body, which may then show up as symptoms of oestrogen dominance, such as anxiety, bloating, brain fog, insomnia. And some women may get a combination of symptoms.

That is why every single woman’s menopause is unique.

While you may experience similar symptoms to your best friend, how your body may have got there is different. Because your biochemistry is individual.

The good news is, there are foundational principles that you can build on, to bring your body closer back to balance. I call these principles my Six Elements of Menopause Balance. Balancing each element progressively helps the body to rebalance and diminish menopausal symptoms. If the symptoms still persist afterwards, then there’s something else deeper going on (and that’s where personalised nutritional therapy comes into its own).

Now back to the yin and yang Kyla and I were talking about. Yin is a representation of the feminine energy, and yang the masculine. Yin is allowing, cool, receptive, nurturing, relaxed. Yang is logical, linear, fast, restless, expansive. We need a balance between both.

But our world is more yang focused. We look for the quick fix or the big fix, moving from one thing to the next before the first thing has had a chance to take root. Yet seemingly small changes can make a significant difference.

So this week, my challenge for you is to help your body to de-stress by sending it a message that all is well in your world. When you sit down to eat, take the time to really enjoy your food. Smell it more and fully focus on the taste of it. Slow down and fully chew your food.

Remember how I said, “Tweak one thing and it has an impact on another”? This is you, tweaking.

Rushing through a meal sends stress signals to your body, and you now know at least one way in which your biochemistry can change and translate into symptoms. And the seemingly simple change of slowing down to eat, can have profound and far-reaching effects on your digestion, sleep, stress levels and more.

Come on over and join us in the Facebook group – The Menopause Reset Club. I’d love for you to share how you’ve got on with this, and let’s carry on the conversation there.

The worst thing about this time next year

“Show me where you’re spending your time, and I’ll tell you your values.”

I was reminded of that this week.

A dear friend from the community radio station where I used to be a presenter, passed away this week from cancer. We are at that age when our health risks escalate. If we don’t change things and focus on what’s truly important.

I can be as guilty as anyone on that front. When we were living in Malaysia, I worked with a personal trainer three times a week, and got plenty of steps in every single day. Then I came back to the UK and it dropped off the side of a cliff, even though there was a gym and swimming pool just yards from my front door.

If you’d looked at how I was spending my time then, you’d see that I spent most of my time on my clinical reports and dissertation. No prizes for guessing that my studies were topmost in my list of what I considered most important.

I have a habit of putting my work and others, ahead of myself. So the things that I know are good for me are usually pushed aside, even though I know that when I do those things, I feel and show up better in the other aspects of my life too.

Do you find the same?

Why is it that we don’t put ourselves right at the top of our own values list? Why is it that we usually value work and others more than we value ourselves?

I know that habit change is tough. It’s tough to change in the beginning, and then, even when the new habit is no longer new, other things can pull you off your focus. All kinds of things, from supposedly well-meaning friends who say, “Go on, you can start tomorrow,” to the workload that seemingly cannot wait, to your own mind saying, “I have to do this thing for [someone else], I’ll start tomorrow.” And then, before you know it, a whole year of tomorrows has gone by.

Will you wait until “something happens” before you evaluate and reprioritise what is truly important? If you knew exactly how much time you had left, would you reprioritise?

Here’s what I know. It’s not about reprioritising as such. It’s not about moving things around on a list of to dos, so that changing to healthier habits goes to the top of the list. If it was that, you’d have done it by now.

It’s about finding the meaning behind “that thing” that you keep meaning to do. It’s that meaning that is so meaningful to you and you alone, that you’ll do “that thing”.

The biggest mistake that we are prone to making is trying to change too much all at the same time, whether it’s the number of things we’re trying to change or the size of the thing we’re trying to change. It overwhelms us and we end up doing nothing.

Instead, we need to focus on doing only one thing. Consistently. For 66 days. 66 days because the research shows that that’s how long it takes for a habit to become automatic. That’s just over two months.

And that one thing needs to be small enough for it to be what I call a “slam dunk” action – an action that is 10 out of 10, no question, it’s done, and it’s done every day.

It could be committing to 10 minutes of guided meditation every day or even 5, doing half an hour of movement every day, going to bed ten minutes earlier every day, drinking an extra glass of water every day…

It’s not how big or how small the action is. It’s an action that’s good for you and one that you will do.

This is key, because your mind, helpful as it is, has a tendency to point out your failures. You know what I’m talking about? So you must show it that you can.

Then, get some support. Maybe you can ask a friend to send you a daily text message asking if you’ve done your habit that day, because that will help to keep you focused. Or maybe you’d like to know a favourite podcast of theirs that they know you’d love to listen to while doing your habit?

Ironically, we often shy away from asking for help and support for ourselves. Yet, support, accountability and community are powerful.

In fact, it’s so powerful that I’ve started up a Facebook Group to help with exactly that. I’ve called it The Menopause Reset Club. In it, I’m going to show up and teach and share what I know works, from the last 20 years of coaching and the last 5 years focused on nutrition (and biochemistry, of course!). It’s a private group, just for you. And please invite your girlfriends too. Let’s support each other through this time of our lives.

I think we’ll kick it off with a single habit challenge. What do you think?

Come and join me in the Facebook Group here.

One year from now, you could have made five different habit changes. Each of these can have a positive ripple effect on the different facets of your life. The worst thing about this time next year is wishing you’d started now.

What will you have started now that will make you so proud of yourself in one year’s time?

You are worth it.