My Menopause Transformation

Are you a land or aqua group fitness instructor looking for new ideas and knowledge to stay inspired and inspire your classes? It is well known in physical activity research that women significantly reduce regular exercise during middle-age by up to 40%. Lack of time and lack of energy are just two of the challenges faced by women who are juggling work and family commitments, but so too is the exhaustion they feel during their menopause transition as muscles and joints are ageing and changing with the decline in both oestrogen and progesterone. But midlife is also the time when women should be exercising - not only to help alleviate their symptoms, but also to improve basal metabolic rate and reduce loss of lean muscle. I didn’t know any of this when I taught group-fitness classes back in the 1980s and 1990s. I never even knew what menopause was, nor how it might affect midlife and older women attending my classes. However, looking back, I distinctly remember some of the midlife women only attending intermittently. Some would also hobble out of classes, not because they didn’t enjoy it, but simply because they had muscle aches and ligament strains that they couldn’t make sense of, as they had been doing the same classes for years without problems. Knowledge about the menopause transition and how it affects the exercising woman, is crucial for all Group Fitness Instructors. That’s why it gives me great pleasure to support My Group Move and two of Australasia’s most experienced Exercise-to-Music Educators, Marietta Mehanni and Maria-Theresa Stone, with the fabulous, virtual GROUP FITNESS conference, which is on THIS SUNDAY. You can register for it on this link below - copy and paste it into your browser. https://lnkd.in/eWzrqB3E There will be so much valuable information which you will be able to bring to life in your classes right away. I can’t wait to ‘see’ you online. Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD)

❤️❤️🫐Looking after our heart health has never been more important than in our midlife years. While women and their Doctors are focused on only HRT for menopause, I’m focusing the women in my lifestyle programmes and the Practitioners who join me on my lifestyle science for menopause courses, on the incredible role of betalains in beetroot (beets) for cardiovascular health. Our vascular (blood vessel) health depends on optimal endothelial function (the inside of your blood vessels) and during and after menopause, arterial stiffness, and the presence of atherosclerotic plaques may increase with the decline in oestrogen. This is when HRT may be helpful but some cardiac studies in post-menopausal women suggest otherwise. This is where purple foods come in, especially beetroot which contains a compound called betalain. These are known to improve cardiac and blood vessel health, including having anti-inflammatory effects. In a 2021 a paper from Massey University here in New Zealand 🇳🇿, exploring the effects of beetroot, blackcurrants and juices of these foods on health, found that both beetroot and blackcurrants are rich in dietary nitrates, which play a pivotal role in regulating blood vessel tone, reducing blood pressure and improving glucose and fat metabolism. [Haswell et al, 2021] The same benefits that hormone medications are purported to achieve too. For women not able to take HRT, please take note. 👏🏻 Beetroot contains micronutrients in varying abundance, depending on the soil and its exposure to light (the less light exposure the better when storing beetroot). 100gms of beetroot contains good quantities of thiamine (Vit. B1), riboflavin (Vit. B2), folate (Vit. B9) and iron. Rocket, radish, beets and celery, are some of the foods most abundant in nitrate. Adding any of these foods to your diet, along with purple berries, means that you will be doing your heart health a favour. Especially those of you with busy lifestyles and stress-filled days. My old juicer is cracked and leaks, but these days it’s the most important appliance in my kitchen. 😊 Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) #hearthealth #mymenopausetransformation

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Does Menopause need a new (lifestyle) narrative in the Workplace? That’s the topic New Zealand company Tuatahi Fibre had at their workplace today. Marie organised the entire company to have this as their wellness-at-work theme this month and I felt so privileged to be invited to share some of the midlife lifestyle evidence with women and men, young and old. Menopause is such a great topic to share in the workplace as it affects everyone, wherever there are midlife women. But it’s not just in the workplace either. It’s at home as well. As I said to the peeps at Tuatahi Fibre, ‘knowledge and understanding are power’ when it comes to acknowledging this wonderful stage of life. Thank you Marie for being such a champion of this important workplace topic which got lots of people talking afterwards over the sandwiches 🥪 and fruit 🍎 🍉. Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) #menopauseatwork

🌺❤️🌏 Over the past 10 years, thousands of women from around the world have joined me on the My Menopause Transformation programmes. It’s such a privilege to share my knowledge on lifestyle science and menopause with them as they discover how to take a systematic and integrated approach to feeling healthier again. With the explosion in HRT and supplements promotion to western women, lifestyle change is often the ‘forgotten medicine’ for them and I’m often ‘the last resort’. As many move into post menopause, their symptoms return, despite the medications and this is because internally, the organs and tissues are ageing and this increases inflammatory changes in the body. “I’ve tried everything!” they tell me. But in reality they haven’t, because they are just looking at their menopause symptoms and weight gain through the lens of pharmaceutical solutions and looking at symptoms in isolation of the rest of the body, as many Doctors do too. But with oestrogen receptors around the body, there is so much more that women can do to reduce their symptoms and weight through specific changes to their lifestyle. This is the problem-solving I do with women as they work through my programmes. Unlike many online programmes, you aren’t left to your own interpretations of my advice. You can ask me questions specific to your needs. On May 1st, for the first time in a decade, my prices for these World-class programmes are increasing. Until Tuesday, you can purchase any of them for NZ$249 with monthly payments for 3 months. If you aren’t quite ready to focus on your health, you can also place your programme on hold for up to 3 months. Apply the promo code LASTCHANCE to the programme that best suits you, via the ‘programmes link’ on the My Menopause Transformation website. Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) #menopausesymtoms #perimenopause #menopause #lifestylesolutionsformenopause #mymenopausetransformation #womenshealth

DO YOU FOCUS ON THE NUTRITIONAL NEEDS SPECIFIC TO MIDLIFE AND OLDER WOMEN? 🍎🍏🍅🍅 The emphasis on the menopause transition has exploded over the past decade since I set up MyMT, but with the dominant focus on medications and supplements by medical experts and nutraceutical companies, there is very little emphasis on an integrated lifestyle approach. This includes the need for an emphasis on women’s heart health. Over half a million Australian women had 1 or more heart, stroke and vascular diseases in 2017–18 and 1 in 20 die every day from cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of illness and death among Australian women. Heart disease is also the number one killer of New Zealand women, killing more than 55 women every week. May 6th – 12th is Heart Health Awareness Week in Australia and the reason why I’m going to have a focus on Heart Health throughout May in the MyMT Education newsletter. If you aren’t signed up, then come join me via the My Menopause Transformation website, Practitioner link. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, and this powerful bioactive ingredient is good for heart health. Lycopene is a potent antioxidant that fights oxidative stress in blood vessels, reducing blood pressure and lowering cholesterol levels [Bin-Jumah et al, 2022]. After a busy week doing presentations for my next group of Health Practitioners, welcoming new women on board with me from my April sale, presenting to the Australian Deaf Association (through fabulous AUSLAN Interpreters) and spending a day filming for my website, the week got a bit crazy! This is why these foods will be part of my diet today. Apples have beneficial effects on blood vessel function, blood pressure, lipids (blood fats), inflammation and hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar). [Bondonno et al, 2017]. If you aren’t telling your midlife clients to have an apple a day, then perhaps you should. Our menopause to post-menopause transition is the time of our life when numerous changes occur to the heart and blood vessel walls, contributing to changing blood pressure. Changes with ageing to the liver also impacts cholesterol production, which can then change the structure and function of the lining of the blood vessels, contributing to strokes. A growing body of research suggests that the risk for heart disease changes over the life-course, especially for women, when stress levels are higher than normal. So, if you are a Coach to midlife women, don’t you think it’s time to educate them to turn this risk around? I know I do. I hope you can join me throughout May for a focus on heart health with MyMT™ Education where I focus on evidenced lifestyle solutions that you can share with your midlife and older female clients. Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) #hearthealth #menopausehearthealth #bloodpressure #nutritionforhearthealth #mymenopausetransformation #lifestylescienceformenopause.

“I think the future is getting brighter for women in menopause with Fibromyalgia.” [Sharon, USA] International Fibromyalgia Awareness Day is May 12 and Sharon from Michigan reminded me to remind you that this is an important topic to share for women in their menopause transition. I agree. The story of Fibromyalgia is also the story of women in menopause. It was over 30 years ago in 1990, that the American College of Rheumatology set classification standards for fibromyalgia. It included numerous tender points and chronic widespread pain in various locations around the body. In 1994, it was identified as a disorder of the Musculo-skeletal system and connective tissue. [Nageen et al, 2022] “Fibromyalgia is a complex chronic pain illness that researchers believe is rooted in changes to the central nervous system” says Sharon. “But it involves much more than just pain. Other symptoms include severe fatigue, sleep disorders, cognitive dysfunction, depression or anxiety, migraines or tension headaches, digestive issues, irritable bladder, pelvic pain, and jaw pain. You will notice that some of the symptoms are identical to menopause symptoms. This makes it challenging to determine if a woman may be developing fibromyalgia.“ My latest article is on the My Menopause Transformation website and features Sharon, who has just completed the MyMT Practitioner Course on lifestyle science for menopause. You can click through below. There is also a link to her webinar for World Fibromyalgia Day. Whether you have muscle aches and pains or not, I hope you can have a read. Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) #fibromylagia #menopause #sorejoints #lifestylemedicine

Are you a Practitioner working with midlife women transitioning menopause? Sleep has been on my mind this week. Not only because I've travelled halfway around the world, but also because I arrived home to autumn leaves falling in my driveway. The vivid colours on the trees at the top of my property are striking ... that's them in the picture above. It was Hippocrates who believed that weather and climate strongly influenced human health, and he was correct. With climate change research only just emerging, we are yet to learn the full impact of extreme weather events on specific menopause symptoms. However, health scientists already know that daylight saving changes and seasonal changes affect sleep, mood and temperature regulation - and these are all issues for women transitioning menopause. Seasonal changes also affect gut health, melatonin production, migraines and joint health. Furthermore, it is known that physical activity levels tend to be lower in winter than in summer, mediating effects on health-related fitness. [Reilly & Peiser, 2006] It's important to help your midlife clients understand the impact of seasonal change on their symptoms and it's why, at the start of autumn/fall here in New Zealand, and the start of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, I'm bringing this important topic to your attention this week if you are a Practitioner working with midlife menopausal women. https://lnkd.in/ghdxb6BW

🫒🫒 I’ve been known to call it a “women’s natural HRT” and there’s a reason for this. As oestrogen levels decline in women during their menopause transition, there are a number of inflammatory changes that occur in cells and tissues. This includes within our powerful mitochondrial organelles – those tiny structures that produce our energy. Research on the role of HRT suggests that it helps to reduce oxidative stress through actions on mitochondria, thus reducing inflammation in the brain mitochondria and other tissues such as bone. (Henderson & Brinton, 2010). As such, oestrogen has a role to play in mitochondrial membrane function, thus improving the transfer of substances into the mitochondria for energy production. It is known that oxidative stress which increases with age is the main reason of mitochondrial dysfunction. The fascinating thing I found when exploring the role of HRT on inflammation and mitochondrial function, was that there are compounds in Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), which attach to the oestrogen receptors, thus working in a similar way to synthetic HRT. Furthermore, it’s because of these compounds that epidemiological studies have implicated that the incidence of breast cancers are found to be the lowest in Mediterranean women (La Vecchia and Bosetti, 2006). EVOO helps to provide additional fatty acids to the body. These are important for energy and are also known as building blocks of skin, retina, nervous system, lipoproteins and biological membranes. The structure of the fats in EVOO is rich in oleic acid. This compound is known to have anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, antioxidant, antimicrobial properties and have positive effects on cancer, diabetes, skin diseases, neurological and cardiovascular diseases – all conditions which accelerate as women move through menopause into post-menopause. I was reminded of the power of EVOO when grocery shopping over here in Switzerland. I love how the large containers of EVOO are prominently displayed and I’ve seen numerous middle-age and older women filling up their containers. Today I was one of them too. If you are struggling with your symptoms or weight gain in menopause, then come and find me on https://lnkd.in/e5kKDZak – over the 12 weeks with me, you will love what you will learn! Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) #menopausesymptoms #alternativetohrt #lifestylescienceformenopause

🧠🧠 NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE MIDDLE AGEING BRAIN Middle age (roughly 40-65 yrs), has historically been understudied compared to more advanced age, but is now emerging as marking a possible shift in brain ageing that is predictive of future cognitive health, mentions new neuroscience research (Dohm-Hansen et al., Trends in Neuroscience, 2024). Middle age is now seen as an important time for brain health as it is still amenable to intervention. For women in their menopause transition, this is important research. Many women feel that with their brain fog, it’s almost like dementia is setting in early. This new research reiterates what I tell women on my programmes, and that is that menopause is a time for change, in more ways than one. Dementia risk is associated with weight gain/ obesity, high blood pressure, alcohol intake and poor diet, inflammation and low aerobic exercise levels. These risk factors have been identified by the 2020 Lancet Commission report on dementia prevention as being especially relevant during middle age and proposed as life stage-specific modifiable risk factors. One of the most important interventions that women can achieve for improved brain health during menopause, according to the research, is not taking endless medications but to do aerobic exercise. This type of exercise slows down age-related volume loss and improves white matter integrity in the frontal and temporal brain 🧠. This is all important information for women but global physical activity research on midlife women, consistently suggests that lack of time, poor joint health, overweight status, poor sleep and fatigue are key obstacles to women’s exercise capabilities in midlife. Turning around these concerns is the purpose of the MyMT programmes. I used to feel this way myself. But understanding the step-by-step strategies to put in place was crucial to advancing my sleep quality, turning around sore joints, losing weight and getting on top of my health. Thousands of women have joined me over the years. It’s my privilege to teach them how to step through their ‘middle-ageing’ years through a focus on the science of ‘how to’ improve their midlife wellness. Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) #mymenopausetransformation #brainhealth #menopause #menopauseweightloss #sleep #lifestylescienceformenopause 🧠🧠

❓❓Are you ready to lead change in the menopause space? This is Georgia, the Course Convenor of MyMT Education, which provides certified menopause and lifestyle science courses for Health Professionals. Georgia is an integral part of the success of these courses, which bring evidenced lifestyle science information, specific to the menopause and post-menopause transition to the attention of Health Practitioners from a range of disciplines, including medicine. As Georgia lives in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 and I live in New Zealand 🇳🇿, what better place to meet than in one of our favourite locations in Switzerland 🇨🇭. We are working on new materials and course PDFs that we provide for our Practitioners and Affiliate Practitioners, to hand-out to their clients, so that the Practitioners can help their clients to help themselves with lifestyle solutions which are just as important as any hormone pills and supplements, as women move through menopause- a known inflammatory event in their life-course. 🧠🥵😴 Wendy #mymenopausetransformation #lifestylescienceformenopause #menopausecourses #practitionertrainingformenopause #menopause