October is Menopause Awareness Month, and in honour of this, we are diving deep into all things hormones, midlife, and menopause. Whether you’re approaching perimenopause, in the thick of it, or supporting someone who is, this series is for you. Understanding how our hormones shift over time isn’t just about surviving menopause—it’s about thriving through every stage of life. The earlier we learn to recognise these changes and make positive lifestyle shifts, the better our health, energy, and overall well-being will be. Gain valuable insights, not just for yourself, but for the women around you too. Let’s take charge of our health, together.
- Understand your cycle
- Perimenopause explained
- Common signs of Perimenopause
- The symptoms we don’t talk about
1. Harness the power of your inner seasons
When you understand the four phases of your menstrual cycle, you can optimise your diet and lifestyle. Each woman is different, but we all follow the same basic four cycles. Once you understand how your hormones fluctuate and the impact they have it can be empowering and powerful to adapt for those changes.
- Winter (menstruation) – day 1 to 5 of your cycle. This is a time for calm and reflection. All your hormones will be at their lowest. You probably won’t want to do too much, and if you do exercise make it gentle and calming.
- Spring (follicular phase) days 6-12 of your cycle. Oestrogen starts to rise and your follicles start to grow. Your brain focus is great and this is a fabulous time to study or take on new projects. If you are a fan of cardio or HiiT this is a great time to enjoy them.
- Summer (ovulation) days 12-15 of your cycle. These are your fertile days. You will feel at your most confident and social. Its a perfect time to arrange to meet up with friends, go networking or schedule any interviews or presentations.
- Autum (luteal phase) days 16 to 28 of your cycle. Progesterone starts to rise during this phase and you will start to get those nesting vibes. You might tackle those tasks you’ve been putting off, and it’s a great time for organisation or filing. Exercise that is focused on mobility and strenght are perfect during this phase. Towards the end of the luteal phase you may find you crave more carbohydrate rich foods and eat slightly more than usual.
Understanding and aligning with the different phases of your cycle empowers you to recognise subtle shifts when perimenopause begins. There’s incredible power in adapting your diet, exercise, and lifestyle to optimise your unique hormonal ebb and flow. By tuning into your body’s natural rhythms, you can harness each phase to live with more energy, balance, and vitality.
When you’re truly in tune with your cycle, you’ll start to notice the early signs of change. Small shifts in your energy levels, mood, or even how your body responds to stress can be early indicators. This awareness allows you to make proactive adjustments to support your body through this transition with greater ease and confidence.
*Please note – the days are approximate and should be used as a guide only.
To listen to this podcast episode 217 released on 2nd October click the link below
html libsyn code2. Perimenopause & Menopause explained
Whilst we might use the term menopause to describe the mid-life hormone journey there are three distinct phases, perimenopause, menopause and post menopause.
Permimenopause
Perimenopause can last anything from a couple of years to more than ten years. This is partly due to it still being very misunderstood, but also down to each individual woman’s journey. Symptoms can start to show from the late 30’s and the earlier you are able to recognise the symptoms the more opportunity you have to make changes to positively impact those symptoms.
As women approach the end of their fertile years their cycle will change and eventually stop. Whilst there has been a fairly regular ebb and flow of hormones through each monthly cycle, during perimenopause these can become disrupted and irregularity is more of a common theme. Both oestrogen and progesterone levels reduce it can cause an imbalance in our bodies, this might be low oestrogen but could also be oestrogen dominance due to lower progesterone. As women approach the end of their fertile years their cycle will change and eventually stop.
Menopause
Menopause is just a single day. It is the day that you have not had a menstrual bleed for 12 months. So if your last period was 31st December 2022 your menopause day would be 1st January 2024.
In reality we use the term menopause and perimenopause interchangeably to describe the mid-life period of change.
Post-menopause
After your menopause day, you are in post-menopause. This does not mean that everything simply stops, you can still feel some hormonal changes, and it’s important to understand that you body has gone through a change and that you won’t necessarily be the same as you were before.
Mid-life rebalance
During the perimenopause years it is an opportunity to reset and work out what is and what isn’t working well for us. We are only about halfway through our lives, and we should consider this to be a wonderful chance to re-set the clock and have the chance to make changes that will positively impact the next stage of life.
To listen to this podcast episode 218 released on 9th October click the link below
3. Managing perimenopause symptoms
As women can be in perimenopause for up to 12 years it’s helpful to understand what the signs and symptoms are. Part of the problem with mis-diagnosis and un-diagnosis is that there is such a wide and broad range of symptoms. If you feel you are in perimenopause then please download my menopause checker to help you workout if that’s the case.
What are the common perimenopause symptoms?
It’s not just hot sweats and brain fog there are numerous symptoms that we can experience during the perimenopause years. I find that my clients start to feel emotional changes before anything physical happens. This can often be anxiety and a lack of motivation, a feeling that you are not enjoying things that used to bring you joy. Which in turn can lead to isolation, and we know that social interaction and spending time with friends and family is a key factor in helping improve our overall health status at any stage of life.
Brain fog and forgetfulness is soemthing that many women suffer with during menopause, but interestingly we now beleive that this may just be a subjective thing. And that as women outperform men in memory, that the drop may be quite insignificant and only to the same level as men. If this is something that interests you I recommend reading The Menopause Brain by Lisa Mosconi.
Severity of symptoms.
Everyones journey is different, with up to 70 potential associated symptoms it can be overwhelming. While we can’t control everythign, we can influence the the severity of them by focusing on key lifestyle choices:
- Diet – prioritising protein, avoiding junk processed foods, and reducing sugar to support hormone balance and energy levels
- Exercise – focusing more on weight-bearing exercise and low-impact exercise such as yoga or pilates will strengthen your body and calm your mind
- Sleep – Sleep disruptions are common, but by prioritising rest, you support your body’s ability to repair and reset
- Toxins – alcohol, caffeine, and environmental toxins can wreak havoc on your endocrine system. Reducing these can help rebalance your hormones.
Life may well have got away from you, but by taking control of these areas, allows you to feel more stable, empowered, and in charge of your health and well-being.
To listen to this podcast episode released on 3rd January click the link below
4. The things we don’t discuss about menopause
And we should!
There are some key side-effects of perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause that we don’t tend to discuss. This may be because they are not seen to be suitable for polite conversation and also because they are topics that we don’t want to address.
Low mood & loneliness
When you don’t feel like yourself you don’t want to socialise as much. Combine that low energy and low mood and it’s a recipe for loneliness.
Many women find that during perimenopause things that used to bring them joy no longer interest them or excite them in the same way. They can often end up spending less time with friends than previously, just at a time when support of your peers becomes vital. Recognising this, and making a bigger effort to meet up with friends can make a huge difference to your mental wellbeing.
Vaginal dryness, thrush and UTI’s
UTI’s are urinary tract infections, commonly known as cystitis is usually as a result of bacteria travelling up the urethra into the bladder. This causes an infection and irritation. However it can also be caused by irritation from hygiene products, underwear, sex and some medications. The symptoms include:
- strong and persistant urge to urinate
- burining or pain when urinating
- passing small amounts of urine regularly
- cloudy, strong smelling uring
- blood in the urine
- pelvic discomfort -often pressure in the lower abdomen
- mild fever
Vulvovaginal Candidas is commonly known as thrush and is caused by an overgrowth of Candida albicans in the vagina. Due to the lower levels of oestrogen and dryness that is associated with menopause, some women experience recurrent vaginal thrush. It is commonly treated with antibiotics, however, if the vaginal microbiome is not addressed then the antibiotics can actually make things worse in the long term.
Vaginal dryness can be eased by oestrogen pessaries available from your doctor and the pharmacist. Creams and gels can be used everyday and also during intercourse or foreplay, be careful as some brands contain unnecessary chemicals so choose natural brands such as Yes or Sutil.
It is important to seek the advice of an expert such as a nutritional therapist to help support you if this is part of your menopause picture. We are all different and need targeted advice and support.
To listen to this podcast episode 220 released on 23rd October click the link below
As part of our menopause month we have a special guest expert Dr Sarah Ball – link to her episode
Did you enjoy the topic of these episodes, have you got any feedback or questions? Please reach out to me via my social media channels, I’d love to hear from you. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so that you don’t miss an episode.
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Want to know more about ways to work with me?
There are many ways that you can work with me to balance your hormones and improve your health and wellbeing.
On Facebook the Fab Female Nutrition Club is a wonderful FREE community where I offer lots of support and advice on female health and wellbeing. I also love to cook and create recipes and I’ll often be seen in the group cooking live and sharing all the wonderful health benefits of the ingredients used.
My Fab Female Nutrition Membership sits alongside the free club, but offers you lots of resources and group coaching with me. The hub has the full recipe book that is constantly being updated, the 5 elements of health containing resources and guides to help support you in your health journey. And 6 group coaching calls a year, plus access to other member benefits such as discounts from group programs.
A few times a year I work with groups of ladies to transform their health and wellbeing. Appropriately called The Transformation Program it can help with many differing issues and we have had hugely impressive results – including up to 100% reduction in symptoms. If you suffer with IBS, fatigue, inflammation, hormonal imbalances or just want to spend some time concentrating on your health and wellbeing they are fabulous value and great fun.
If you feel like you need a more bespoke option, then my 1:1 coaching and testing is for you. We will concentrate on your specific needs creating nutritional protocols that support your health goals. We take a full health history, then tailor testing to help create and refine protocols so that you learn about your body and how to support it. I will be with you every step of the way to guide you and ensure that you realise your true health potential. Find out more here.
