Menopause and Macronutrients

Nourishing your Body from the Inside Out

My personal commitment to health and wellness started at the age of 45. I had unconsciously become the heaviest I had ever been. I was eating what I fancied when I fancied it. I was replacing my clothes regularly with the next size up. It’s only now with hindsight that I realise I was probably experiencing the effects of perimenopause.

I was working as a Clinical Nurse Manager in Community Nursing, supporting a team and visiting patients in their home. We delivered a Hospital in the Home program, and I was visiting women who were experiencing serious, acute health events which were potentially preventable.

I noticed that many of the women were just like me, they were busy looking after everyone, except for themselves! Until they had a serious medical event! It was a huge wake-up call for me, I knew I was heading in the wrong direction, so I joined a weight loss program.

The program involved 1 coaching session per week, a few days of exercising and macro-counting. Macro-counting was new to me and although it was a challenge at first, I soon became comfortable making food choices based on the macros my coach recommended. I stuck with the plan and lost 12kg over 12 months and felt great.

Then just I was feeling great, I found out I needed to have both of my ovaries and uterus removed! I had to stop the training program to give myself the best recovery, but I continued with macro-counting as I was seriously worried about all the weight coming back on.

Back then, when I started macro-counting, I just did what I was told and didn’t really understand why I was eating particular quantities of carbohydrates, proteins and fat. I just knew it worked.

Macronutrients and the Menopause

With a determination to understand what I needed to do to maintain the weight loss as a post-menopausal woman, I started to study menopause health and menopause physiology. What I learnt blew my mind. I could not believe that after 3 decades of working as a nurse I was completely unaware that menopause caused so many changes to our anatomy and physiology! Little did I realise it was the start of a journey on the path to become a menopause educator and health and wellness coach for midlife women!

Over the course of the last 10 years, I have studied and experienced the profound impact nutrition and specifically macronutrients have on our physiology. I have maintained macro-focused nutrition and macro-counting whilst dealing with a myriad of menopause symptoms. I am now on a mission to help other women understand why understanding the basics of macronutrients in midlife is so important.

Macronutrients Influence Weight

We probably all appreciate that it’s harder to lose weight when we are post-menopausal, and we tend to gain weight easily. It’s extremely frustrating to put on weight without doing anything different and finding that the weight loss strategies we used previously have no impact!

It impacts our self-esteem and confidence, but equally concerning is that the weight we have on our tummy is a risk factor for many serious acute and chronic medical conditions. Our macro-nutrients play a huge role in our future health, and when we understand how our body uses the food we give it, we can adjust our macronutrients to moderate the ongoing weight gain.

Macronutrients Influence Cardiovascular Health

The most common cause of death in midlife women is cardiovascular disease and our nutrition is a significant contributor to heart health. A diet high in refined carbohydrates and saturated fats can contribute to elevated cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease, especially for midlife women.

Macronutrients Influence Blood Sugar

Having less oestrogen makes us less efficient at managing blood glucose and we can end up putting our body on a constant blood-sugar roller-coaster. Not only does this impact our emotional wellbeing, our brain function, and our energy, we may be eating ourselves into a metabolic disorder and a diagnosis of Type II diabetes.

Macronutrients Influence Bone Health, Strength & Future Frailty

Many midlife women now appreciate the risk of bone density and muscle mass loss in our post-menopausal years. The evidence suggests that most women are not meeting the recommendations of macronutrients (specifically protein) in their diet to support bone health and strength, increasing their risk of future frailty.

Macronutrients Influence Longevity

We have an opportunity to influence how we age and how well we function as we age; the window of opportunity is now. Understanding and modifying macronutrients to nurture our body reduces our risk of chronic diseases and enhances immune function and gut health.

Healthy in the Middle Macros for Midlife Program

I am not advocating that we all count every gram of food to hit specific macro-goals, I appreciate this approach is not for everyone! However, I truly believe that with fundamental macronutrient knowledge women in midlife can make more informed decisions about targeted nutrition, to optimise current and future health and well-being.

I am excited to introduce the ‘Macros for Midlife’ program. Over 4 virtual group sessions we will delve into the basics of macronutrients and explore how they affect our midlife body and metabolism. We will identify how our body uses the macronutrients we provide it and explore how we can nourish our body from the inside out in alignment with our changing physiology. You will also have an opportunity to explore a new approach of targeting your nutrition through exploring your own unique macronutrient requirements.

We each have an extraordinary vessel that has served us for decades, at this stage of life we begin to appreciate more than ever what our body does. Midlife is the time to nourish and care for it with intention, through more conscious and informed care and nourishment.

If you’re curious to learn more, contact me via the contact page and sign up for the Macros for Midlife program. The next program starts on January 30^th, 2024, places are limited.