Menopause Mastery: Managing Symptoms and Celebrating Life's Shifts

Have you ever considered throwing a menopause party? It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately! Join me, Sarah McLachlan, in this episode as we venture through my personal journey of transitioning from perimenopause into menopause and discuss ways to embrace this significant life change, including the fun idea of hosting a menopause party!

We'll also delve into valuable strategies and tips to manage symptoms and maintain a high quality of life during this transformative time.

We'll explore the power of self-care during menopause, touching on the importance of nourishing food, enjoyable exercise, and community support. I'll share my experiences with perimenopause and what helped me.

So, tune in and let's talk about how perimenopause doesn’t have to be horrific! You can make it to menopause without it wrecking your life or relationships.

And don't forget to share your menopause party ideas with me by emailing me at info@akesohealthcare.com.au

Main topics covered in this episode:

• Acknowledging the transition and embracing menopause
• The importance of grieving and letting go of hormones
• The idea of a menopause party and celebrating this new phase of life
• Sarah's personal journey through perimenopause and menopause
• The benefits of personalized nutrition and self-care
• Changing perceptions of motherhood and the significance of self-care

Find out more about Sarah, her services and the Freebies mentioned in this episode at https://www.ThePerimenopauseNaturopath.com.au

• COMING SOON: Discover how to use food as your most powerful medicine, smoothing hormonal fluctuations and easing perimenopause symptoms naturally. (Yes, you have more options than hormone therapy!) Say goodbye to feeling out of control and hello to feeling more like your old self every day, with PerimenoGO (because who wants to pause anyway?!)
• The Perimenopause Decoder is the ultimate guide to understanding if perimenopause hormone fluctuations are behind your changing mood, metabolism and energy after 40, what phase of perimenopause you're in and how much longer you may be on this roller coaster for.
• Been told your blood test results are "normal" or "fine" while you feel far from your best? Discover the power of optimal blood test analysis with The Blood Test Decoder: Optimal Ranges for Women Over 40.
• For more, follow on Instagram at @theperimenopausenaturopath.

Transcript

Sarah McLachlan: 0:03

Hey there, I'm Sarah McLachlan. Thanks for joining me on the Chaos to Calm podcast, a podcast designed for women over 40 who think that changing hormones might be messing with their mood, metabolism and energy and want to change that in a healthy, sustainable and permanent way. Each episode will explore topics related to health and wellness for women in their 40s, like what the heck is happening to your hormones, what to do about it with nutrition, lifestyle and stress management, and inspiring conversations with guests sharing their insights and tips on how to live your best life in your 40s and beyond. So if you're feeling like you're in the midst of a hormonal storm and don't want perimenopause to be horrific, then join me on Chaos to Calm, as I share with you how to make it to menopause without it wrecking your relationships and life. Hello and welcome to Chaos to Calm, where we explore the transformative journey that is perimenopause. I am Sarah McLachlan, the perimenopause naturopath, your host, and in this episode, number 15, i'm actually reflecting on my personal experiences moving into menopause. So I'm going to be sharing what worked, what didn't, the key strategies, key things that I thought about and some that I still use religiously for supporting and optimizing my health. So thank you for joining me today and I hope you'll stay with me as we navigate the highs and lows for me and I'll uncover lots of practical tips, because if you've hung around here for 15 episodes so far, hopefully you realize that I'm pretty pragmatic and I love a good practical tip. And, yeah, i'll talk you through what worked for me in terms of managing the symptoms there as well. So let's dive in, shall we?

Sarah McLachlan: 2:00

First of all, i wanted to start with thinking about acknowledging the transition and embracing menopause, because I am the perimenopause naturopath, i'm talking about it a lot and I thought that when I got to menopause, i'd be like whoo, i'll shout it, shout it out on the streets. I made it, i'm here, like I am in my crone phase. I think there must be some mid phase before we get to there, you know, menopause phase before I move into crone phase. But anyway, i thought that I would be really like shouting it out. But actually I became menopausal pretty nearly two months ago, so not long after I started recording the podcast and yeah, i haven't mentioned it, i haven't really talked about it with anyone and I was reflecting on that. Well, what? what's the problem? Because it's not that I feel, you know, I don't feel any shame about it, i don't feel old, i don't. You know, i don't attach perimenopause and the transition to menopauses being old or aging me, because we know that it can start mid-30s and some women go into menopause early 40s, i think.

Sarah McLachlan: 3:16

Actually, and you know, on reflecting more, the issue for me was that some grief around the end of those hormones for myself and what that means for my body. So certainly not grief around not having any more babies or kids. I mean, oh my gosh, i've got four. The first thing I said when I had my fourth child, after I'd birthed her, was well, i don't have to do that ever again. So yeah, it was certainly no grief around that by the time she weaned from breastfeeding like I was so done with any aspect of that. So it's certainly not grieving.

Sarah McLachlan: 3:55

Those reproductive years, though I understand that can be very big and real thing for many women if they haven't had the opportunity to sort of play out to their max or max out their reproductive capacity. So yeah, so certainly not any of that for me. But I think, because I know how important and how beneficial these hormones are for my body, my bones, my brain, my cardiovascular system, my muscle. You know so much I actually feel quite grief and denial about it. Maybe I'll have another period. You know, i could say I'm menopausal and then if I have a period, well then what? Yeah, it's been well over 12 months since I had a period, so it's not going to happen, sarah. Time to face that, so time to embrace that there.

Sarah McLachlan: 4:46

Then I was thinking I should have a menopause party. So wouldn't that be cool? Wouldn't you love that, to come along to someone's menopause party? It's like the party you didn't want to have when you're going through puberty and you got your period And now I'm like, yes, give me a party. For any reason, i'll have a party And I think that would be fun.

Sarah McLachlan: 5:07

So I'm keen to hear what would you do at a menopause party. Where would you go? Where would you have it? Would you have cake? How do we celebrate this? So I would love it if you would share with me your ideas. Feel free to either share them on social media and tag me on Instagram I am at the perimenopause naturopath or feel free to drop me an email. You can do that via my show notes at wwwchaostocalmpodcast. com, so you know any way that you listen to your podcast from you can access me and send me a message or email from there. I want to know what would you do if your menopause party Who would you invite, would you have, like your teens and younger kids there as well, or you know girls, boys, so that you know they can see is celebrating hormones and menstruation and all of those things and the next phase of life? I don't know. I kind of feel like I would like to have my young girls there so that they can see that. But yeah, i don't know, i can't think of what to do. So I really want your ideas around that, please, please, share.

Sarah McLachlan: 6:21

So let's talk about what worked well and what didn't work well for me through my perimenopause journey, now to menopause as well. So first up, i want to say I did not realize I was in perimenopause until you know. I was like midway through. It was probably just over a few years ago. I was like, oh, i actually think I'm in perimenopause because it had so much disruption to my cycle with pregnancy, breastfeeding and then lots of stress, high stress and trauma. It was a bit muddled So it wasn't really until I got. I started getting really heavy periods and flooding And then I was like, oh right, i think this might be it. I'm in perimenopause, so I hadn't taken the deep dive into learning more about perimenopause and menopause and supporting women in that phase of life. I was supporting women, but more on stress and that angle there.

Sarah McLachlan: 7:21

So what didn't work well for me was not having my own practitioner, and what didn't work well for me at that time which is also what works for well for me now was not having my own metabolic balance, personalised nutrition plan, like seriously, three years ago when I discovered that it's like the thing that I'd been looking for. You know, i wanted to be able to help people learn how to eat. You know, learn food as medicine. When I was at uni studying to be a naturopath, i just wanted to learn how to teach people to eat and I didn't feel like I had that fully nailed when I left college or uni. And when I discovered metabolic balance, you know I was really at a low point health-wise and so many allergies and just feeling rubbish all the time that I was like stuff it. I reckon it's gonna work for me if I never use it with clients whatever. I just feel like it's gonna work for. Do something for me and it did So. Eating that you know, at least 80% of the time eating the whole foods that nourish my body, that are optimal for me, you know that work really well for me. That was the thing that really lifted my health back up and got me back up and also got rid of things like flushes and sweats and and help me sleep better and just have better energy across the day, not be a cranky, grumpy version of myself, which I hated as much as my kids hated there as well. So I would have would have been great to have my own practitioner to tell me what to do and help me get out of my own way, because you know what we're like as humans. We can sabotage ourselves or we can put speed bumps in the road for ourselves so that, you know, just make it hard generally. But we also can't see objectively like someone outside can, and I'm often you know that's often what I am for my clients asking questions, you know, just prodding and poking them in the right direction so that they can see what they're doing and how they're getting in their own way. But I would have liked that something I should have invested for myself, although so, yeah, i wish I had done that too and maintain that as well, because it's nice to have someone on the outside looking in to say, hey, why don't you tweak your herbs or do this or do that? so that would have been really useful. But definitely changing my food and how I approach food, moving my coffee to after breakfast that was. That was huge than what you might think it might be, and if you're not doing that, i challenge you to do it and see what difference it makes over a couple of weeks time hat to your energy across the day. So I did that because I had my metabolic balance personalized nutrition plan. I was eating more phytoestrogen rich foods flaxseeds, legumes, lentils, flaxseed oil really anti-inflammatory blood glucose level balancing got me out of insulin resistance, which has a massive effect on your female hormones, so that was really good.

Sarah McLachlan: 10:35

Talking about perimenopause, you know so many women like you come and talk to me or tell me oh, i listen to your podcast, or oh, i follow you on socials and I love that or they message me. I get lots of messages from women like you telling me their experience or how they've benefited from us talking about it. So having a community is really lovely and I guess the benefit of being in this phase and my clients also being in this phase and when I do our coaching calls each week it's you know I'm with women and get to talk with women that are understanding and we're all in the same phase there together. So that's really nice to learn, you know, and sometimes I work with women who are postmenopause they're getting their insights as well is really nice too.

Sarah McLachlan: 11:24

And lots of reading, you know, glen and Doyle, brené Brown, gay Hendricks, lots of reading as Kirsten Neff, self compassion. That was one of the best books I've ever read. I really encourage you to read it because it just helped me embrace self care and looking after myself. So, alongside of those nourishing foods and you know, decreasing my coffee and I didn't drink much already and I still don't drink much alcohol and I don't eat much sugar and never really have but, yeah, eating those wholesome, nourishing foods that work really well for me They're personalised nutrition plant that works for me and my phytoestrogens and self care was the other thing, massive, massive, changing my perception and of what it is to be a good mother.

Sarah McLachlan: 12:18

What does that mean? It's not what we've been told. It's not being a martyr, it's not putting yourself last, it's actually putting yourself first. We can't serve if we don't look after ourselves. We've got nothing left to give and then we're just cranky, aggravated, agitated, irritated versions of ourselves and we're not helpful for anyone. You know the negative talk comes and you verbally, you know internally abusing yourself because you're just being so harsh and unkind to yourself. So self care Now, self care for me is not many petties and massages all the time.

Sarah McLachlan: 12:54

Don't get me wrong. I book myself in for a facial every month. I do it when I'm there, book the next one. So there's no excuses. And you know what It always seems to come around at the best time. I'm like feeling a bit overworked or things that you know stuff's happening. And I look at my calendar and I go, oh, i got a facial with Jade next week, awesome. So I have it. Just over an hour. Facial and massage. It's the highlight of my month And I like to book those things in in advance and that is self care as well. Or book in a catch up with a friend or making sure that. You know I go to my lacrosse training and I see my friends and I have dinner with them afterwards, or you know things like that. I put that into my calendar regularly and make time for that, because I'm a much nicer person when I have time away from my family. I'm much nicer to them. We homeschool, you know. We're together a lot, so it's really important for us to have some time apart from each other as well, because that gives us the solitude and space to breathe and think there as well. So self care for me is that kind of stuff.

Sarah McLachlan: 14:02

It's going to bed and getting, you know, my seven to eight hours sleep that I need to be working well and that helps a lot. Like I noticed, i was saying to my mum the other day hi, mum, if you're listening. I know mum listens And so, yeah, we're saying to her. Like I noticed, if I don't have my sleep, if I sabotage myself and think, oh, i just need some more alone time, i'm just going to keep scrolling here on my phone while I'm watching Netflix at like 11 o'clock at night, i feel terrible the next day and I can't remember words. So that is one of the symptoms that's come up for me in the last, probably at 12 to 18 months.

Sarah McLachlan: 14:42

It's so much worse for stress and lack of sleep and when I'm not eating well if I'm eating too much refined carbs like bread and crackers and things like that and chips and all this stuff. I forget the words. You know, the other day I forgot feature. I was sitting there trying to text to someone and I'm like what is the word? It came to me, i got excited, wrote it down, but I forget names. You know people places things, just random words, and that happens a lot for women as we move through to menopause and it can take a couple of years to settle down. I know for me because I've paid attention to it. It's definitely worse when I've got too much on and I'm overworked or stressed or overwhelmed and not sleeping enough or well enough. So you know it's a go to bed earlier. Switch off the devices Like the more time that I spend on them it gets worse for that as well And make sure I move my body as well.

Sarah McLachlan: 15:44

So that's like my self care basics. I stick with them religiously. I eat three meals a day. I do not snack. I have my coffee after my meal and I don't drink caffeinated beverages after midday. In fact, i don't even have any after breakfast these days because that interrupts my sleep. I try to move my body multiple times a week in a way that I enjoy and that builds strength and muscle mass. And I, 80% of the time I probably 90% of the time actually I eat foods that are wholesome and nourishing for my body and that work really well for me And I don't deviate from them.

Sarah McLachlan: 16:24

But I don't feel like I miss out. You know, i have a glass of wine when I want to, and or a gin or whatever it might be. At Easter time I had chocolate, i had gluten free hot crust buns. I don't miss out at all, let me tell you that. But I feel great and I have energy to do all the different things that I need to do in my life. And I haven't had any flushes, i haven't had any sweats, i haven't had any joint pain or discomfort. That isn't just directly related to me thinking I'm 25 and playing full contact version of La Crosse or something like that. I think I'm 25, not 48 and a half. So those things I stick with because they work really well for me and they keep those symptoms at bay. So, like my perimenopause, literally, was not horrific Yay, because I'm always telling you well, it does not have to be horrific And I'm like to think I'm living proof that it isn't, and so are many of my clients there as well. So that wraps up my menopause journey update.

Sarah McLachlan: 17:37

I hope my insights and experiences have provided you with some information and inspiration for your own journey to menopause and beyond. And please remember that you're not alone in this and we do have our community. There's that you can connect with the Chaos To Calm community and continue the conversation in our Facebook group. Actually, that's a really great place to go and tell me what you think about the menopause party. So I want you, I would love you, to go into Chaos To Calm community community on Facebook and tell me what you would do for your menopause party. Who would you invite? What would you do? You know, don't be limited by money or anything practical, just like go grand on this one, sister. Yeah, and it's also a place that you can share your story and your insights as well. I'd love to hear from you and your experience and what you've learned or what works really well for you as well as you're moving through to menopause.

Sarah McLachlan: 18:35

So you know, we can get to menopause and beyond.

Sarah McLachlan: 18:38

We can feel energetic, enthusiastic, loving life, like it really is the best phase of my life. I think now it's just such a you know, a great space that I'm at, that I'm in. My kids are getting older. We can do more with them. We can do more without them. We you know I love my work. I feel blessed that I get to do what I was really passionate about and, you know, financially comfortable We just it's a great phase in space. I know what I want. I'm not afraid to set boundaries. That's also something that worked really well for me and that I've learned in this time in perimenopause to menopause That you know how to set boundaries and lovingly and kindly hold them.

Sarah McLachlan: 19:26

So, yeah, i hope that my experience is helpful to you and inspiring to you as well, and thank you so much for joining me and sharing your time with me today, as always. I really value and appreciate it And I encourage you to stay tuned for the next episode on Chaos to Calm And until that time, please remember that perimenopause does not have to be horrific. It's really common for women over 40 to experience the chaos of changing hormones, mood, metabolism and energy, but I hope you know now that common doesn't have to equal normal for you or them. You can help others understand they aren't alone in feeling this way and that perimenopause doesn't have to be horrific. By subscribing, leaving a review and sharing this podcast with other women in their 40s and beyond. Thanks so much for listening and sharing your time with me today in this Chaos to Calm conversation.