Back in November I was lucky enough to attend the MNU Live talk about the Menstrual Cycle and the Menopause.

There were two really good chats by some very smart people, Dr Alyssa Olenick and Dr Nicky Keay.

They gave us some really interesting talks about training through the menstrual cycle and supporting the perimenopausal period with nutrition and lifestyle factors.

Now the latter is what I want to talk about.

I have spoke about the importance of strength training throughout this period and you can read more on that here.

However, I want to run through the main key points that can only help with getting through this stage of life.

As a woman there isn’t much you can do you will end up going through this at some stage, so how can you make it easier for yourself.

Training – We all know about the importance of strength training for women, especially around the menopause, once again if you don’t know why then click the above, have a read and come back to this. You also need to be doing your cardio though. One of the biggest killers of women post menopause is cardiovascular disease. So, how to counteract that is to do some exercise that is going to help that improve, so do your cardio alongside your strength, just do a combination of the two, whether 2-3 strength and 1-2 cardio or vice versa, just do it.

Food – As we age, we tend to lose lean muscle mass over the years, this happens it is just part and parcel of aging, however, we can help to reduce this by making sure you are eating right, as we age out protein needs increase, which tends to go against the trend as people tend to eat less as they age. Your diet really needs to be centred around protein and vegetables and adding in decent unrefined carbs and healthy fats. To be honest, if you were to aim for more of a Mediterranean diet then you won’t go to far off course.

Lifestyle Changes – This is something we do hear, I’m putting on weight and my belly is getting bigger, and I haven’t changed what I’m doing, now I don’t want to break it to you but you may not have changed what you are doing, but you have changed. Your body is changing, so you need to change with it, maybe not have those glasses of wine every night, stop staying up until late watching the latest streaming episodes, you can enjoy life and have fun it’s not about being totally restrictive, but it is about standing up and being an adult and taking responsibility for what is going on.

Now, go back and read those again.

If you stick with that, then it will certainly help with it all, nothing can stop it so you can only try to make it easier to cope with.