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 not your fault you are putting on weight! There are so many factors fighting against you. Here are just two examples:

1. You 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 awake night after night, this means that your glucose-carrying hormone called insulin, remains higher than usual overnight. So too, does your 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 our 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, our 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 our fat cells and this ‘dominates’ the internal environment

If we don’t put the brakes on our 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 you are gaining weight and explore the 12-week MyMT™ Transform Me Programme here. 

Are you noticing lots of changes going on in your body? Perhaps, you 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 in 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 my 12 week programmes, I have bonus information which helps you understand and manage these symptoms. 

Inflammation in the body makes our 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 as we 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 we 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 menopause symptoms, not only can you experience relief from your symptoms, but you can reduce inflammation, setting you up for better health in your older years.

This is what you learn on the MyMT™ programmes – all the scientifically evidenced, step by step lifestyle strategies to help you to understand how to reduce your symptoms and take back control of your health. Read more about How it Works here. 

Every day I get emails from women who are thinking about joining me on the MyMT™ programmes, because they feel overwhelmed with night sweats and hot flushes which may also be continuing or returning now that they are beyond menopause.

Understandably, hot flashes have a huge impact on their quality of life, so finding an effective treatment option is paramount for them. However, I am surprised by how many women are already on various hormonal treatments and supplements already.

Clearly, these interventions are not working for them. It’s so perplexing, but as I had this experience too, I now better understand why. So, if this sounds like you, then my BLOG gives you the reasons why your hot flushes aren’t stopping  – and most importantly, 8 lifestyle solutions to try as well.

In the Beyond Menopause Program I also explain to you how turning around our cardiovascular health can reduce our Hot Flushes in post-menopause. 

No matter whether you are on Menopause Hormonal Therapy (MHT) or not, then the MyMT™ programs have lifestyle solutions that help to reduce your hot flushes, improve your sleep, turn around sore joints and muscles, and for those of you who are overweight, the Transform Me program teaches you how to turn around your oestrogen dominance, which is the cause of your 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 you are on MHT, then this is a decision that you have made with your 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 your hormone therapy is a decision that you must make with your medical specialist.

To help you reduce your symptoms and/or weight gain, I teach you how to get to the heart of your cellular health with evidenced lifestyle solutions. These ‘health behaviours’ are designed to help your hormones stop fighting each other and adjust to their new hormonal normal.  

For example, did you know that the liver changes in volume by up to 40% in menopause? The liver is a critical organ that is responsible for a variety of functions that help support metabolism, immunity, digestion, detoxification and vitamin storage. That’s why I have a whole module dedicated to turning around your liver health. 

If we are going to remain healthy throughout our post-menopause years, we need solutions that are easily incorporated into our daily lives. That’s why I take a progressive approach, sending you a module each fortnight with a video explaining the ‘WHY’ and an action plan showing you the ‘HOW’. And I’m here to support you every step of the way in my Coaching Community. This is what women tell me sets MyMT™ apart. You can ask me questions about your personal experiences or symptoms, and I help you to problem solve. 
Read more about How the Programs Work here. 

“For more than a year of feeling like I was falling apart with no sleep and no explanation as to why I couldn’t handle things the way I used to. Then I discovered Wendy’s program. To say it gave me hope is an understatement.” – Melanie, Australia. 

If you are confused about whether you have reached menopause or what stage you are in then please start by taking the MyMT™ Symptoms Quiz. With over 500,000 women completing this quiz, I can help you to understand whether your symptoms are menopause related and whether they are severe compared to others. 

Do you want to learn a bit more about this stage of life? Including what the scientific evidence says about the importance of getting on top of your symptoms? If so, then my 2-hour online Masterclass on Menopause* is for you. This is my presentation that I was sharing across the globe before the pandemic. I have now recorded it for you, and yes you can pause me and come back to me any time. 

Price reduced to NZ$15 (*  approx. AU$14, UK£8, €14, US$11, CAD$14) from my live ticket-price.
Unlimited 90 days access.

Ready to choose your program? Read about How it Works.