Menopause usually starts in our mid-40s and this is known as peri-menopause. Periods start to fluctuate as reproductive hormones decline. 

Women are considered to be in menopause when their periods cease.  From my database of 500,000+ women who have completed the MyMT™ Symptoms Quiz I can tell you that on average this happens at 51 years of age. 

After one year of periods ending, women enter post-menopause where they remain for the rest of their lives. We live nearly half of our life in a completely different hormonal environment, so we need to know how to adjust to this. 

Research suggests that the menopausal transition period is strongly associated with weight gain, which in up to 70% of women, is now a known symptom. The data I have collected over the years confirms this. 

But, here’s the thing. It’s often not a woman’s fault that they are putting on weight! There are so many factors fighting against them. Here are just two examples:

1. They may not be sleeping – Incredibly, because of our changing hormone levels in menopause, we can add 1-2 kg a week during menopause when we can’t sleep (Theorell-Haglow et al, 2010). 
   When you’re client’s are awake night after night, this means that their glucose-carrying hormone called insulin, remains higher than usual overnight. So too, does their stress hormone called cortisol. When this happens, this interferes with both melatonin and another sleep hormone called Adenosine. All of these hormones play a role in fat cell physiology. 
2. Oestrogen Dominance – Did you know that fat cells are known to produce their own oestrogen?

   When menopause hormonal changes arrive and women don’t adjust their lifestyle to suit these changes,  fat cells can turn towards storing any excess oestrogen that arrives from our diet and hormone-agents in the environment. When this happens, there is more oestrogen stored in fat cells and this ‘dominates’ the internal environment

If we don’t support our clients to put the brakes on their weight gain during menopause, then this can be a slippery slope towards joint issues, cardiovascular issues and for some, Type 2 Diabetes. 

Learn more about why and how women gain weight in the Menopause Weight Loss Coach Course. 

Are your client’s noticing lots of changes going on in their body? Perhaps, they are like Kellie from New Zealand, who told me…

“I think without this programme I would have gone crazy, I had no idea a lot of my symptoms were menopause related. I am now sleeping through the night, no more insomnia or hot flushes keeping me awake, my blood pressure is back to normal, no more heart palpitations and my feet no longer burn at night.”

The common symptoms that are known about in research include: 

• Interrupted sleep
• Low energy
• Night sweats / hot flushes
• Loss of muscle
• Weight Gain
• Irritability
• Depression
• Lack of Motivation
• Worsening prolapse
• Burning joints / weak bones
• Low libido
• Dry skin

But the research is still within its early days.  Women on my programmes are surprised to find that the following symptoms are also likely menopause related:

• Heart palpitations
• Dizziness
• Burning tongues 
• Hair loss
• Reflux

With oestrogen receptors located all around the body, I am not surprised that there are so many symptoms that women don’t realise are related to menopause. In all three MyMT™ Education Courses, I have bonus information which helps you understand and manage these symptoms. 

Inflammation in the body makes symptoms worse. 

The term ‘inflammaging’ refers to chronic, low-grade inflammation that characterises ageing. And as I keep reminding women, even though we feel young perhaps compared to our mother’s generation at the same age, we must also remember that inside our body, our cells are ageing. Furthermore, when we aren’t sleeping, we aren’t healing from all the stress that we are under.

And I don’t just mean emotional stress. I often talk about women who are undertaking lots of high-intensity exercise most days of the week (as I used to as well). This can increase physical or oxidative stress inside our cells and tissues when we aren’t sleeping well. Like over-trained athletes, we fail to heal properly when we don’t sleep. Inflammation builds up, and this begins to affect some tissues and organs, including the gut microbiota and fat cells. 

If we think about a woman’s experiences over her lifetime that may have caused inflammation, coupled with the fact that peri-menopause and ageing are known to be inflammatory themselves, menopause is the perfect storm for symptom chaos and health changes.

Menopause symptoms, when unresolved can create worsening health problems for women as they age.  I’m talking about things like joint issues, cardiovascular issues and for some, Type 2 Diabetes.

Through undertaking my PhD, I discovered that symptoms are reversible when women have a focus on lifestyle changes which are specific to the menopause transition. How we look after ourselves helps our body to adapt to our changing hormonal environment. By addressing the underlying cause of your client’s menopause symptoms, not only can they experience relief from their symptoms, but they can reduce inflammation, setting them up for better health in their older years.

This is what you learn on the MyMT™ Education CPD Courses – all the scientifically evidenced, step by step lifestyle strategies to help you to understand how to support your clients to reduce their symptoms and take back control of their health. 

No matter whether your clients are on Menopause Hormonal Therapy (MHT) or not, then their are lifestyle solutions that help them to reduce their hot flushes, improve their sleep, turn around sore joints and muscles, and turn around  oestrogen dominance, which may be the cause of their menopause weight gain.

My women’s healthy ageing research led me to position menopause in our biological ageing. It’s a natural life-event that all women go through. When I struggled with my own symptoms in menopause, despite taking endless supplements and MHT, I learnt that many women in other cultures don’t experience the symptoms that many women living in western societies experience. 

If women are on MHT, then this is a decision between them and their Doctor. Many women go on MHT for reasons other than hot flush management (e.g. to manage osteoporosis risk or heart disease risk or depression), so the decision to go on or even come off their hormone therapy is a decision that they must make with their medical specialist.

Change women’s lives

How do I know you can do this? Because women tell me what a difference the MyMT™ programmes have made to their lives. Not only are they losing weight, but their sore joints, sleepless nights, mood swings, brain fog, tiredness and hot flushes are gone. Read their testimonials here. 

Gain clarity and confidence with menopause discussions

Are you confused by the abundance of conflicting evidence and opinions about menopause? Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) cuts through the chaos, providing you with the latest, evidenced women’s healthy aging research, presented in a way that is easy to understand and follow with your own clients.  

Grow your business

You’ll expand your knowledge about women’s mid-life health, enabling you to better help your existing clients, deliver new offerings and retain clients for longer. All of the information in this course is suitable for women in both their menopause and post-menopause years, so your clients can be confident that you have the skills to help them as they age. 

Exclusive insights 

Throughout the course I will share the insights gained from the 500,000+ women who have completed the MyMT™ Symptoms Quiz and the 15,000+ women who have participated in MyMT™ programmes. This will put you a step ahead of your competition by enabling you to prepare for the questions you could get from your own clients.

Currently MyMT™ has three courses for Health Professionals: 

1.The MyMT™ Menopause Practitioner Course is a 12 week course, with dedicated intakes. This is because there is a live component to this course whereby your class meets with Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) on a zoom call to review the modules. 
This course dives deep into the science and physiology of menopause, menopause risk screening, and how to turn around your client’s sleep, hot flushes, sore joints, liver health, energy, anxiety and more, through evidenced lifestyle solutions. There is also information on menopause supplements, behaviour change coaching and the business of menopause. **Does not cover exercise prescription (see below).

2. The MyMT™ Menopause Weight Loss Coach Course is a self-learning, on-demand course which runs for 6 weeks. There is no live element so you can start it at any time and complete it at your own pace.
Research suggests that the menopausal transition period is strongly associated with weight gain, which in up to 70% of women, is now a known symptom. Through this course, you will come away with an understanding of the unique differences in women’s weight gain at this age and stage of life, and easy to implement, exercise, nutrition and behaviour change solutions. 

3.  MyMT™’s brand new course for Health Coaches is now available. An Introduction to the Science of Menopause for Health Coaches is a self-learning, on-demand course which runs for 3 weeks. You can complete it at any time, at your own pace. 
This introductory course explores the physiology and psychology of midlife women, providing you with client-centered behaviour change strategies specific to this stage of life. 

If you aren’t sure if these courses are right for you, get started with our free Masterclass on Menopause for Health Professionals. This is your 90 minute webinar where Wendy introduces you to her research into menopause, ageing and lifestyle science.