I have way too much food right now, so I’m skipping the recipe this week. 

I thought about topic for this week’s post, and I remembered living through perimenopause and how it affected my workouts and keeping my weight in check. It was definitely a wild ride and very challenging indeed.

What is perimenopause? According to Johns Hopkins Medicine:

Perimenopause is a natural process caused when your ovaries gradually stop working. Ovulation may become erratic and then stop. The menstrual cycle lengthens and flow may become irregular before your final period.

Symptoms are caused by the changing levels of hormones in the body. When estrogen is higher, you may have symptoms like you might have with PMS. When estrogen is low, you may have hot flashes or night sweats. These hormone changes may be mixed with normal cycles.

Johns Hopkins Medicine – Perimenopause

Perimenopause can last a while. Up to 10 years. Some may experience terrible symptoms or mild symptoms. Mine occurred early (probably in my late 30’s, but was having full blown symptoms at 41). I had terrible symptoms. Not just hot flashes, but running like a blast furnace on 24/7. Living in the nightmare of 24/7 panic. Sleeping was a luxury I only experienced when it was cold. I was in hell from 2017 until September of 2023. I did everything I could to cope. Including alcohol and in the later years marijuana. I made it through and I want to give you some tips to keep healthy.

First, give yourself permission to do the best you can. Don’t sweat the fact that you aren’t living as disciplined as you normally would. I had to remind myself that I had to get through this time and not sweat some weight gain and undisciplined behavior.

Do your best to exercise. Don’t expect the best workouts of your life. Just keep going. Exercise does help in many ways. It can help improve your mood and keep weight gain at bay.

Be careful with marijuana. This helped probably the most, but it had some major consequences. My blood work was awful. The bad stuff was all off the charts. I’m not saying don’t use it, just make sure you are not paving the way for a heart attack.

Get help from your doctor for the symptoms. I had medication adjusted and stayed on birth control to help. You don’t have to suffer. If your doctor is blowing you off, get someone who will listen.

Above all else, you are not alone. Talk with others. I have helped many women who needed advice. Perimenopause is not a something you have to fight without a support network. More women are not afraid to talk about it. Gone are the days where it was swept under the rug.