Building Your Physical Foundation in Menopause

00:00 Nourishing body in menopause; holistic health overview.

03:26 Track eating habits for better health nourishment.

06:50 Daily movement and manageable exercise promote health.

In this episode, you'll hear: 

• Prioritize Nourishment: Shift focus from restrictive dieting to nourishing your body with diverse, colorful whole foods. Eating enough calories and getting the right nutrients are essential for maintaining energy levels and supporting hormonal balance during menopause.
• Strength Training for Longevity: Building muscle through strength training not only improves physical appearance but also enhances resilience, controls blood sugar, and boosts bone density. It's like making a deposit into your "health savings account."
• Movement Matters: Incorporate nonexercise activities into your daily routine for optimal health. Simple movements like walking can significantly impact your calorie burn and improve mental well-being.

Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to the menopause method. My name is Cam Allen, and this podcast is all about cutting through the noise that we are bombarded with day in and day out about menopause in our bodies. Thanks for being here. If you're new to the podcast and you love it, make sure you leave a 5 star review. It helps us reach more women, and that is the entire purpose of this. Today's topic is we're gonna talk about building your physical foundation in menopause. We're gonna talk about your body, and we're gonna approach this in three points of view. Obviously, nutrition, strength training, and movement. So those are the three ways we are going to talk about our physical body in menopause. But I also want you to realize that I believe that true health comes in all forms, your mind, your body, and your spirit. And so today, we're just taking a small glance at just one little piece of what I feel like holistic health stands for. In fact, next week, I want you to join us. We're gonna talk about how true balance comes when we connect to what's beyond ourselves, understanding our motivation in life, our purpose, our why, connecting to something greater than ourselves. So come back next week for that. But let's get on to this show. Today, we're gonna talk about nourishing your your physical body in menopause. So we're gonna start with nourishment. We're gonna talk about food. And I'm pretty sure that all of us, including myself, have gone to some kind of extreme diet before. Whether it was after my son was born, I did the Atkins diet, and I survived on salami and coffee, and the weight came off. But, really, where's the nourishment in that? What we wanna talk about today is not restrictive dieting. We're talking about personal nourishment of our body, which holds our soul, which is way more than eating salami and drinking coffee to fit in a certain size bikini. Like, come on. So one of the number one mistakes I see with women is they're not eating enough calories. And I know that's shocking because we think we're overeating because in menopause, our body composition changes on a whim. Right? You look in the mirror and you're like, where did my muscles go, and where did this extra roll come from? Right? Can you go agree with that? Really, what happens is we're not eating enough calories. Maybe you have a history of chronic dieting. I cannot tell you how many women think that 1200 calories is enough for their body to function. And I'm here to tell you, no. It's not. It's not. If you were to take your ideal body weight in times of by 10, this is a rough estimate. Let me hear that. You know, say that again. A rough estimate of how many calories your body needs to function, not to thrive, but just to function, like the bare minimum. So 1200 calories is, like, really for a 5 year old, and I really don't know where that came from other than we are a 100% victims of diet culture. So when we're thinking about nourishing ourselves in menopause, I truly want you to eat as many calories as you can and keep your body composition. The goal is to eat as much as you can, not as little as you can. We want foods that support our activity, our levels of hormones, and our energy levels. That's what we want. So if you're interested, why don't you keep a food log for a few days? Why don't you really be brutally honest with how much your food you're eating? And send me an email because I know you're eating not enough calories. That's my yes for you. And I know that you think that it's not true, that you think that you're supposed to eat like a bird and exercise like a crazy lady, but I'm telling you that true health comes in the form of nourishment. Eating diverse, colorful, whole foods will make you feel alive and vibrant. And I'm pretty sure that's your goal in menopause. I know that's mine. Okay. That's enough about nourishing your body with food. Let's talk about strength training because strength training is not just about looking good. Yes, it is nice to look in the mirror and say, oh, look at those muscles and feel good about your body. You deserve to feel good about your body. But strength training is really about building resilience, and increasing your energy and your overall vitality. That's what it really comes down to. We know that having muscle on your frame is an indicator of longevity. It helps you control your blood sugar. Working out helps with heart disease, which is the number one killer of women. Strong muscles, healthy bones, all that stuff. Wanna talk about bones for a second. You know, when we look in the mirror, we can tell that our body composition's changing as far as muscles go. But when it comes to bones, like, you're not really sure what's happening. Now we know that we lose 1 to 2% of our bone density a year after menopause. That is shocking to me, and strength training is the best way to counteract that bone density problem. To keep your muscles and keep your bones strong, strength training is the way. And I think I want you to think about it as, like, feeling strong and capable. When you lift weights, you that's what you're doing. You're building into your longevity. You are literally depositing into your health savings account. And also, the more muscle you have, we'll go back to point number 1, the more food you can eat. That is amazing. Muscle makes your body work optimally, and I think that's what you want. I know that's what I want for my people and myself is to have optimal health and optimal energy. I wanna be strong. And if I were to fall, I wanna bounce right back. That's my goal. Strength training is the key that unlocks all of that. Okay. So strength training is like a foundational part of what I believe in as far as fitness goes. But there's another part that's also important, and it has to do with movement. And let me be clear that movement and exercise are not the same thing. I saw that in social media the other day, and I was like, that's wrong. So exercise accounts for about 5% of your daily calorie energy burn. Okay? So exercise would mean changing your shoes, being intentional, going for a run, going for, lifting weights, doing a cardio workout. It is intentional. Your heart rate gets elevated. Maybe you get sweaty. It is different than movement. Movement falls into a bucket called nonexercise activity, and it accounts for 15% of your daily calorie burn. Did you hear that? 15%. That is taking a walk with your husband after dinner or walking your dog around the block or going up and down the stairs at work or parking further away. Daily movement like walking and stretching is essential part of midlife health. And, again, it's 15% of your daily calorie burn. Now let's go back to the strength training. Oh, I'm a former CrossFitter and there were days when I was still trying to do CrossFit, even though I was in menopause and it was not working. And what happens to me, I would be on the couch for days. So sore, I couldn't even really move, and I felt like horrible. When you do that to yourself, you are not tapping into the nonexercise activity. You are not tapping into that 15% of your daily calorie burn. You're leaving it on the table or in this case, on the couch. So it is essential that you are moving your body. Movement is not about growing workouts. It is a great way to boost your mood and maintain your mobility. It's also good for your bones. It's a very gentle low impact way to keep your bones strong. In fact, walking just 30 minutes a day can reduce your risk of, developing diabetes by 30%. That's amazing. It can lower your blood pressure and reduce symptoms of depression and mental health and mood things. Like today in Kentucky, we have sunshine, and I am willing to bet that your mood changes on days that it's sunny. On days that it's sunny, get that body out there and take a nice walk, not to check it off your to do list, but actually to take the burden away from your body and move your body because you have a beautiful body to move. The mindset is a little bit different there. Okay. So we're gonna eat more food. We're gonna lift weights because we wanna be strong and resilient and look good in our clothes. And then we're gonna walk and move and do things like that because we know it's a huge calorie burner. Okay. Next week, we're gonna talk about how to connect beyond yourself. So today was about your body. And, again, my view of holistic health is your mind, body, and your soul. So tune in next week, and we're gonna talk about connecting to your purpose in midlife. Like, what lights you up? Okay. Again, thanks for being here on the menopause method, and I'll see you next week.