3 Things I Would Do If I Were Starting My Perimenopause Health Journey Again
If you’re in the middle of your perimenopause health journey and you’re anything like most of my clients, you probably feel like you’ve tried everything to help ease your symptoms.
Maybe you’ve tried eating more protein and taking supplements, but you’re still struggling with symptoms.
Or maybe you’re at a complete loss as to what to do and where to even start!
With so much conflicting information out there, it can be hard to know what the ‘right’ thing to do is to ease your frustrating perimenopause symptoms.
I’ve been where you are before! On my own perimenopause health journey, I struggled with weight gain and brain fog before I figured out exactly how to support myself and my symptoms.
In this blog post, I’ll share exactly what I would do if I were starting my perimenopause health journey again.
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Tip #1: Support Metabolic Health Through Nutrition
The first thing I would do if I were starting my perimenopause health journey again would be to support metabolic health through nutrition.
This is so important because during perimenopause, a woman’s metabolic health can be greatly impacted by fluctuating hormones!
Metabolic health is how well your body converts food into energy and uses it.
Here are some other ways that supporting metabolic health through nutrition is beneficial:
Insulin Resistance - Lower estrogen levels occur during the later stages of perimenopause and post menopause. This can lead to decreased insulin sensitivity which makes it harder to maintain healthy blood sugar levels and can contribute to insulin resistance. Proper nutrition for midlife women is the first step to combat insulin resistance.
Weight Management - Despite not making any changes to their diet and exercise plans, many women in perimenopause find it difficult to maintain their weight. Fluctuating hormones can lead to metabolic shifts which impact our weight. Women in midlife have different nutritional markers that should be met to maintain metabolic health and weight management.
Cardiovascular Health - Post menopausal women have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Perimenopause is a time when you may notice changes in your cholesterol levels even without changing your eating habits. Nutrition during your perimenopause health journey is essential for your cardiovascular health as you age.
Here are some tips to support metabolic health through nutrition right now:
Prioritize protein – Aim for 30-40 grams of protein per meal. This is a good starting point but can be fine-tuned based on weight and fitness goals. Eating adequate protein helps balance blood sugar and build and repair muscle and bones. It is essential in midlife because adequate protein and resistance training are the only things that can combat muscle loss in midlife.
All meals should contain quality protein, healthy fats, and fiber – Having well-balanced meals helps stabilize blood sugar and ensure you are getting the nutrients you need to support hormones. Processed carbohydrates lead to gut imbalances, increased weight, and insulin resistance.
Avoid skipping meals (especially breakfast) - You should wake up hungry! This is a sign that you are metabolically healthy. Eating a well-balanced breakfast with adequate protein will help stabilize your blood sugar for the day and reduce cravings.
Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep – Getting adequate sleep allows for your body to detoxify and repair. Getting less than 7-8 hours can increase blood sugar levels and cause cravings.
Remember that what works for one person may not work for another, so it’s important to do a bit of trial and error to find out exactly what works for you!
Tip #2: Take Advantage of Lab Testing
Another thing I would do if I were starting my perimenopause health journey again would be to take advantage of lab testing.
Taking advantage of lab testing is an important step on your perimenopause health journey because it takes the guesswork out of why you’re having perimenopause symptoms!
I always recommend working with a skilled practitioner to help develop a customized protocol based on the lab results and symptoms you are experiencing.
Taking advantage of lab testing is important because:
Cardiovascular levels like lipids and blood sugar markers can increase during perimenopause and beyond. These are markers that can indicate metabolic disease. With frequent testing it is possible to monitor these numbers and correct imbalances before they become disease.
The health of your gut microbiome can diminish with the decrease of sex hormones. All disease begins in the gut so ensuring that your gut microbiome is robust and healthy is an important part of your perimenopause health journey. You can ensure that your gut microbiome is robust by testing and not guessing!
Testing hormones is needed to determine the status of sex hormones as well as how the adrenals are functioning. Before starting hormone replacement therapy, hormones should be tested as a baseline and to see where there are imbalances and should be tested after to ensure levels are optimal.
One of the most asked questions I get about lab testing for perimenopause is “when should I start doing lab testing”?
It’s important to keep up with regular lab testing, but also make sure to test if your symptoms start flaring up!
Here are some examples of markers to check when having your labs tested:
Blood Sugar Markers – Fasting glucose, Hemoglobin A1C, and fasting insulin all provide a picture of one’s metabolic health. Keeping track of these markers over time can be important to monitor for signs of insulin resistance. The decline of sex hormones during our perimenopause health journey can make it harder to keep blood sugar markers in a healthy range. When tracking these numbers over time, it is easy to see if they are trending upward and make nutrition and lifestyle changes needed to keep these in range.
Lipid Panel – As with blood sugar, cholesterol and lipids can become imbalanced and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Monitoring triglycerides, HDL, LDL, and other cardiovascular markers and watching for a change in these numbers can indicate if imbalances are occurring. Eating healthy fats is an important part of hormone production and I don’t recommend low-fat or avoiding animal protein to keep your cholesterol in balance.
GI Microbiome Testing – My favorite microbiome test is the GI-MAP. This test shows us the strength of the microbiome, if there are any overgrowths of bacteria, how digestion is functioning, immune status, and more. Gut health changes during your perimenopause health journey and beyond, so I recommend testing the gut microbiome every year or two.
Hormone testing – I love the DUTCH Complete hormone test for a comprehensive look at sex hormones, adrenal function, metabolites, and methylation pathways. This test provides a more complete hormone picture than blood serum hormone testing.
Tip #3: Prioritize Nervous System Regulation
The last thing I would do if I were starting my perimenopause health journey again would be to prioritize nervous system regulation.
On my own journey, I wasted so much energy, time, and money trying to support myself through my perimenopause health journey, without much progress.
When I finally decided to reach out for help with learning how to regulate my nervous system, I finally started to notice some huge differences!
Here are things that I started doing to help regulate my nervous system:
Daily meditation
Yoga and breathwork
Start a gratitude journal
And I finally started to lose some of the perimenopause weight I gained and feel more confident in my body in my perimenopause health journey!
By regulating my nervous system, I was able to:
Improve my stress handling
Optimize my sleep
Manage my mood swings
And I want that for you too!
When it comes to your perimenopause health journey, there are definitely things you can start doing today to help ease your symptoms.
By supporting metabolic health through nutrition, taking advantage of lab testing, and prioritizing nervous system regulation at the beginning of your perimenopause health journey, you’ll set yourself up for success and relief from your symptoms!
If you need more support on your perimenopause health journey, join me inside Nourish and Flourish, my 5-month one-on-one signature program to help you say goodbye to your frustrating perimenopause symptoms and thrive!
Click the button to book a free 30 minute consult call, so we can start getting clarity on your perimenopause journey today!