While the average age of the onset of menopause is about 51, some women can experience menopausal symptoms as early as their thirties or as late as their sixties.  Exercising on a regular basis can help manage many of the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause.  It can help to reduce and prevent joint pain, anxiety, irritability, depression, heart palpitations, insomnia and hot flashes.

Most women don't exercise because they claim they can't find the time or feel it is too late to get started with an exercise program.  The truth is, it is never too late to get healthy and it doesn't have to take a lot of time.  The most important thing is to find a form of exercise that you love to do.  If walking is something you enjoy, start walking a little every day.  Ideally, you should do some form of weight bearing aerobic activity like walking 3-5 days a week for at least 30 minutes.  If walking isn't something you enjoy, try dancing, roller blading, hiking, anything that gets you moving. 

To increase your muscular strength, bone density, and lower your body fat, you can do strength training with your own body weight, weights, resistance bands, machines, or taking a class like Pilates.  The key with strength training is to fatigue each muscle group with the exercises you do.  It can be done in as little as 10 minutes, 2-3 times a week.

Stretching will keep you agile, balanced, improve your range of motion and posture, prevent injuries, and help relieve stress.  The more time you spend stretching, the more you will gain from it.  Ideally you should try to stretch every day for 5-10 minutes. Be sure to stretch after each exercise session.  A yoga class is also an excellent way to work on your flexibility.

Exercise plays a key role in making the transition through menopause easier and helps to enhance your health and happiness during the second half of your life.  If you would like some guidance or support in getting started, please let me know.

Hot flashes are characterized by a sudden feeling of intense heat typically confined to the upper half of the body followed by sweating. They affect not only 85 percent of menopausal women but also men and non-menopausal women. Reduce the likelihood or frequency of hot flashes by following the list below.

Alcohol
Alcohol increases blood levels of estrogen. After alcohol digests and leaves the blood stream, there is a severe drop of estrogen. This extreme drop in estrogen, especially in menopausal women, may trigger hot flashes. In addition, drinking alcohol increases the blood flow in the heat regulating center of the brain. When the brain detects a temperature increase, a signal is sent to release chemicals that cause the skin's blood vessels to dilate and dissipate the surplus of heat. Therefore, reducing the amount of alcohol consumed will help to reduce the likelihood of hot flashes.

Caffeine
Foods and drinks containing caffeine, such as chocolate and coffee, can trigger a hot flash. Caffeine is a stimulant that when consumed, increases the body's blood pressure and heart rate.

Hot Beverages
Hot drinks, such as soup, tea or coffee, heat up the body's core temperature. If you are prone to hot flashes, drinking a hot beverage can trigger a sudden elevation in the body's core temperature sending a message to release the heat through sweating. Consume cool water throughout the day to help keep the body temperature level.

Refined Sugar
Consuming too much sugar or simple carbohydrates can trigger hot flashes. When you ingest sugar, there is a spike in blood sugar which then elevates the body's temperature. In addition, sugar has a vasoconstriction effect, increasing the heart rate. This increase in body temperature and heart rate can trigger hot flashes.

Spicy Foods
Spicy foods, such as hot pepper, curry and chili, can cause a rapid outbreak of a hot flash. The pepper, for example, directly stimulates nerve endings that affect and dilate the blood vessels, leading to a hot flash.

Keep a food journal and note when you are experiencing hot flashes. You will be surprised to see the connection between what you are eating and drinking and the frequency of hot flashes.

Stacey Whittle, RD, CPT and Dorothy Bernet, MS, RD, CPT are Registered Dietitians and Co-Founders of Healthy by Design Nutrition Specialists in Santa Monica, CA. For more information visit their website at:  www.healthybydesignnutrition.com

• Regular exercise decreases your risk of heart disease by raising the level of good HDL and lowering bad LDL.  Sedentary women are three times more likely to die of heart attacks than women who exercise on a regular basis. 

• Exercise can often be as good as medication for lowering high blood pressure. 

• Exercise can lower your risk of breast cancer.  Premenopausal women who exercise 3.8 hours a week will decrease their risk of breast cancer by 70% if they have had full term pregnancies and by 30% if they haven't.  Physically active women also have less ovarian, uterine, and colon cancer than sedentary women.

• Researchers in St. Louis found that in less than 22 months women who exercised at least three times a week increased their bone density 5.2%, while sedentary women actually lost 1.2% of their bone density. 

From Dr. Susan Love's Hormone Book,
Making Informed Choices About Menopause, by Susan Love, MD

Fed Up With Diets And Exercise Programs That Don't Work?

Call (310) 200-6223 for help!

Get Better Results With Fitness Coaching!

You will never again be alone in your fitness journey
with 24-7 access to your fitness coach via phone, fax or email.