I remember my emails to Kaye. I would think of her working away in Cairns as our emails whizzed across the Tasman Ocean, the body of water that separates New Zealand from Australia. It seemed to me very unfair that Kaye was living in a really hot climate and working hard as a hotel cleaner and going through menopause. Oh, the hot flushes and night sweats she was experiencing!
As she said to me before she came onto the on-line MyMT™ programme, “I feel exhausted. I’ve recently moved into a new apartment as well as started a new job and my stress levels have been through the roof. I have been going to work with as little as 3-4 hours sleep some days. I’m housekeeping in a hotel so my job is very physical. And then I walk 35 minutes home afterward in the heat. I don’t like being 51! My weight is going UP not down. I cry a lot!”
No wonder she constantly feel tired and her body ached. After being told to go on a restrictive diet Kaye learnt that with all the energy she was expending she needed to eat more, not less. Part of the reason for her hot flushes was that her blood sugar levels kept crashing.
This happens because the hormone which controls blood sugar levels, is also affected by changing oestrogen levels as well as stress. But as Kaye discovered, the other issue was not sleeping well.
When we sleep, our body heals and recovers and this wasn’t happening for Kaye. So, this is why her weight was going up not down. She wasn’t getting the lovely, healing sleep overnight which helps our body to burn fat. It’s why I always explain to women on my programmes, ‘if you aren’t sleeping, then you aren’t recovering or losing fat.’
It’s also why the first module that I have for women like Kaye is simply called ‘Sleep All Night’. This is because our gut health is also on a 24 hour circadian rhythm and when we don’t sleep, we don’t metabolise our fat properly. It becomes a constant struggle to manage weight the more we can’t sleep.
For six months, Kaye worked her way through the MyMT on-line modules. She loved being able to do this at her own pace, fitting it around her shift work. So, imagine my surprise when she sent me this :
“The last time I weighed myself I’d lost over 10 kgs. That was a few weeks ago now…..I don’t own any scales just go by how my clothes fit…or not! Before MyMT, I was advised to have less than 1200 calories a day…..walking for an hour a day (not sleeping) and l didn’t lose any weight.
I thought I was never going to be able to get rid of those awful hips! I was feeling quite depressed and spent a lot of time in tears which I was putting down to menopause! Thank heavens I’m feeling much better now. On the up side I have been sleeping much better. Manage 7-8 hours most nights. My energy has returned and my moods are better too. Anyway just wanted to let you know all that. I can’t thank you and your programme enough.
On another note, I also moved back home to New Zealand and recently climbed Mt Taranaki after doing your fantastic ‘Rebuild My Fitness’ programme.
If someone had told me a year ago, that I would have the energy to climb a mountain, there is no way I would have believed them!”
What an amazing woman you are Kaye and I thank you so much for sharing your story with other women who might have given up on any chance of restoring their energy levels and changing health and weight during their menopause transition.
Wendy Sweet [PhD] / MyMT™ Founder & Lifestyle Coach
