5 Quick Tips to Help Master Menopause

Guest blog post by Corby Campbell Shields.

Let’s face it, we know things.

We can count back change from a five-dollar bill because of that summer job, long ago.

We can get everything to the family dinner table, hot, and at the same time. We can quiet a fussing baby, and we know where everyone in the house has dropped their shoes.

We also understand that there is a boatload of us dealing with menopause. Right now about 100 million women, worldwide. And just think, daily, that number is increased, because, like death and taxes, menopause is inevitable.

If you are in your late 30’s or early 40’s, small signs of “the change” may already be affecting your daily routine, as well as your sleeping habits.

Here are a couple more things to think about. The most common symptom on menopause, and peri-menopause is weight gain, and the change in the overall shape of your body. Many times this change is the new and disturbing presents of a spare tire around your middle.

90% of menopausal and pre-menopausal women gain weight and the average women gains 10-15 pounds.

Women who enter early menopause, (the average age of menopause, which is defined by not having a period for one year, is 51) or surgical menopause, (due to cancer treatments or hysterectomies) may experience more rapid and extreme weight gain.

Here’s the sad news. You might be eating the exact things, and exercising like you always have, and you may still be continuing to gain weight. You my also feel hotter than anyone else in your house, sweat at night, cry, have no patience for little things and continue to loose your waist line. There are as many symptoms of menopause as were are Starbuck coffee combinations.

Fluctuating Hormones, Insulin resistance, stress and changes in your Thyroid are all culprits in the assault on your mind and body.

So, what can you do?

1) Take charge

Know that you can do something about your weight and your shape. You can also deal head-on with, as well as enhance your self-esteem due to these mind and body issues you are facing.

2) Take your time

Expect the change to take more than 3 days, (unlike what you did in college when you want to loose 5 pounds to get in your favorite skinny jeans for the party).

3) Invest in yourself

Keep in mind that you need to have a healthy, working body for the next 30 to 50 years, so this is truly an investment in yourself.

4) Take baby steps

Start with baby steps. It might be a walk around the block, parking your car a little further from the entrance door, or taking the stairs. It might be adding weight training to your daily run. Each of us will need to deal with this different and changing body individually.

5) Set goals

Set small daily goals, and remember that some action is better than no action. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and back then no one lived past 40 years old anyway. This fact alone makes you a seasoned gladiator. You know you have the strength and power to do this, and you alone can make your life and your journey, yours.

We really do want this thing called life to be our journey. We learn that we are stronger than we think, we are so very special and like I said, we know stuff.

Finding and having confidence through battling this beast within is about choices and all those little steps.

After all, this is our choice. It’s our choice whether we are happy in our new changing body, or if we need to change it to be happier and more confident. It’s our choice whether we are happy in larger looser clothes, or if we want to fit back into our other sizes. It’s our choice to be happy in our own skin. That is what this journey is all about.

In the long run we will still die and we will still need to pay taxes. But everything else in between, like your own personal journey in menopause is your choice.

Corby Campbell Shields is the Co- Author of Menopause Master Plan.