MyMT™ Blog

I still remember three years ago at Christmas, when everyone around me was looking forward to it, all I could think of, was ‘oh no, I really can’t be bothered’. I had no energy for shopping, no motivation for social events and with my belly-fat weight going up and up and Christmas drinks setting off endless hot flushes, all I wanted to do was to hide! How differently I feel this Christmas, now that I’ve lost 15 kgs of menopause fat and I now know how to manage my eating, drinking, exercising and stress management to match my new hormonal environment now that I’m in menopause. I love understanding how to manage my menopause hot flushes, moods and motivation with Christmas festivities just around the corner.

What about you? Is Christmas a crazy time for you? I don’t know about you, but I always feel like I am rushing around and my brain is full of work that still needs to be closed off as well as trying to get my head around Christmas organisation … but I was reflecting this morning, how MUCH WORSE I felt when peri-menopause arrived during Christmas celebrations a few years ago. 

Oh, what a difference a couple of years of my menopause-research makes! I realise now that my changing oestrogen and progesterone hormones in PERI-MENOPAUSE were also causing my BRAIN HORMONES that control mood, energy and motivation to decrease as well. What also makes this decrease in brain hormones worse, is increased stress, poor sleep, not eating properly, temperature problems and doing too much exercise. When I figured out the connection between all of these factors, the fact that I had lost my ‘Christmas Cheer’ made so much sense. Oestrogen exerts a powerful effect on it’s opposing hormone called PROGESTERONE, which is one of your ‘happy hormones’, but here’s the kicker …. how you are feeling is also dependent on the connection that oestrogen and progesterone has on other hormones in your body too. Your BRAIN is produces MASTER HORMONES which control all of the organs in your body. The hormones that control MOTIVATION and MOOD become affected in peri-menopause because OESTROGEN is involved in the production of some of these hormones  too. As well, certain NUTRIENTS help to make these hormones, so they are crucial to get into your diet at this time of your life and more importantly, this time of year.

Some women on the MyMT programmes  have been put on ANTI-DEPRESSANTS during their menopause transition. Whilst this gives them enormous relief, I also want them to come off these at some time. In this regard, I concur with Dr Kelly Brogan in the USA, a clinical psychologist, who, in her book, ‘A Mind of Your Own’ – says that this is unnecessary because anti-depressants affect liver function as well and can make menopause symptoms worse. I agree, because my own doctoral research indicates that there are specific reasons for this.

If your moods and motivation are all over the place, particularly at this crazy time of year, when everyone expects you to have lots of Christmas Cheer then here’s why:

1. Low oestrogen causes your mood hormone, called serotonin, to decrease too. This then has a spiral effect on your sleep hormone called melatonin. It’s also why, when you aren’t sleeping, it’s hard to stay motivated. But what’s worse, when your serotonin levels are low and you can’t sleep, then your brain craves more sugar. So, at Christmas drinks, that glass or two of wine, simply goes down a treat at this time of year!
2. Your diet may not be optimal for your changing hormones in peri-menopause and you may not be getting the right nutrients for turning around your ‘happy-hormone’ production. You need to EAT FOODS that BOOST MOOD and turn around any poor gut health or irritable bowel syndrome problems, which many women have at this time of life. For example, if you have GUT HEALTH issues, then you may not be able to absorb a type of protein called Tryptophan. This protein is needed to help make both serotonin and melatonin. How to do this is all in the 12 week MyMT programmes. I have also researched the best way to restore our gut health at this time of life and how to do this, is in an optional MyMT GUT REHAB programme.
3. If you are continually busy (and who isn’t at this time of year?), then your ADRENAL GLANDS where your stress hormones are produced, stay in over-drive. This affects the production and use of PROGESTERONE, which gets ‘stolen’ to make more of your stress hormones. The result? This valuable hormone is then NOT AVAILABLE to make your happy-hormones in your brain, because it’s needed all day long to make your stress hormones. No wonder you might be feeling ‘wired and tired’ at this time of year!

Can you see why I am so passionate about you understanding that your menopause transition requires a whole new way of learning to live your life? Because we are going into a new hormonal environment then we have to do things a bit differently. This includes helping our mood hormones and our sleep hormones to re-balance their production to our changing hormonal environment. I now realise that it’s not normal to feel down, or moody, or have low motivation or be on anti-depressants if you don’t have any clinical medical problem (these are only a band-aid in peri-menopause anyway). But for so many of us, we just ‘accept’ that this is ‘our lot’ during menoapuse. But it doesn’t have to be! Your 50’s are the time in your life when we should all feel energised, motivated, vibrant and healthy. Especially at Christmas time when others are relying on us.

Check out Merridy’s story on the HOME PAGE of the website. I feel so privileged that Merridy trusted me with her menopause transformation. The 12 week MyMT programme I designed from my research, helped her to get off anti-depressants and HRT. I love that she has the energy to enjoy every day now. So, if you’ve been feeling a bit down this year and for those of you putting on weight, I invite you into my special discount for the ‘Transform Me’ programme. This is the weight loss programme, but for you girls’ who aren’t overweight but are still feeling a bit helpless during your menopause transition, then you can also use the promotional code for my other foundation programme, called ‘Circuit-Breaker’. You choose which programme might suit your needs. Both offers will kick-off from January 1st, 2018. Hundreds of women are discovering what I discovered too…. that you can get back control of your health and hormones through lifestyle solutions, not endless supplements and medications and at this time of year when we are all still so busy, then it’s important to get back your Christmas Cheer.

“Please don’t despair. Let me help you turn around your symptoms in menopause with my fabulous non-hormonal 12 week programmes. Both of these programmes are on-line and on-demand. Enjoy Christmas but if you need help to learn what to do to adjust your day-to-day living to match your changing hormones in menopause, then I invite you to have a look at the MyMT programmes and then look out for my SPECIAL JANUARY, 2018 PROMO CODE on the facebook page. Together, let’s make 2018, the year that you discover how to adjust your lifestyle to match the ‘new-you’ in menopause.   [Wendy Sweet]