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#141: Catherine O'Keeffe: What Every Woman Needs to Know About Menopause
512 Plays7 days ago
If menopause has ever left you feeling confused, overwhelmed, or like you’re losing touch with yourself - this episode is for you.
I’m joined by the incredible Catherine O’Keeffe, Ireland’s first menopause coach and founder of Wellness Warrior, for a powerful and deeply relatable conversation. Catherine shares her personal experience with perimenopause, the misinformation she had to untangle, and how that journey led her to become a leading voice in menopause support.
We chat about the early warning signs, the emotional rollercoaster, and the real-life strategies every woman deserves to know - whether you’re in perimenopause or fully in the thick of menopause. We also discuss how workplaces can step up to support women better and why reframing menopause as a time of empowerment and renewal can be life-changing.
This is an honest, hope-filled episode that cuts through the confusion and delivers clarity, compassion, and confidence.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
[0:17] Meet Catherine O’Keeffe: Ireland’s first menopause coach and founder of Wellness Warrior
[1:18] Busting myths: The most common menopause symptoms and misconceptions
[2:57] Catherine’s personal story through perimenopause and how it changed everything
[10:40] Real, practical advice for managing symptoms and feeling empowered
[12:46] Why your doctor may not have the full picture—and what to do about it
[21:45] Early signs of perimenopause you should never ignore
[28:21] Understanding blood tests, hormone levels, and what they really tell you
[34:46] The truth about the coil, HRT, and personalized treatment options
[37:15] Lifestyle shifts that can dramatically improve your menopause experience
[52:29] Mental health, compassion, and how to take care of your emotional wellbeing
[1:03:15] Reframing menopause: It's not the end, it's a powerful new beginning
Links & Resources:
- Connect with me on Instagram here
- Connect with Catherine on Instagram here
- Learn more about KHH coaching here
- Download Catherine’s symptom tracker here
- Find out more about Catherine’s book here
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with friends who might benefit. For more health and fitness tips, follow me on Instagram and TikTok @katehamiltonhealth.
Music b LiQWYD Free download: hypeddit.com/link/xxtopb [http://hypeddit.com/link/xxtopb] Promoted by FreeMusicPromo [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbycji-eySnM3WD8mbxPUSQ] / @freemusicpromo
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Transcript
Introduction to Catherine O'Keefe
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Kate Hamilton Health Podcast. So have I got a menopause treat for you today. Today I interview Catherine O'Keefe.
00:00:21
Speaker
Catherine is Ireland's first menopause coach, a workplace wellness consultant and the founder of Wellness Warrior, a platform dedicated to changing the conversation around perimenopause and menopause.
00:00:33
Speaker
She's also the creator of the annual Menopause Success Summit, author of the bestselling book, All You Need to Know About Menopause and host of the Menopause Uprising podcast. With a background in banking before retraining and health and wellness, Catherine brings a unique mix of corporate insight,
00:00:50
Speaker
evidence-based health expertise and lived experience.
Empowering Women Through Menopause
00:00:53
Speaker
She works with women in a group setting and has advised her hundreds of organisations on creating effective workplace menopause policies, bridging the gap between awareness and real support.
00:01:04
Speaker
Her advice is grounded, practical and empowering. focusing on evidence, lifestyle and open conversation to help women navigate menopause with confidence, clarity and choice.
00:01:15
Speaker
This was just such an empowering conversation. We really kind of get into the depths of symptoms, you know, those early symptoms, what we should be talking to our doctor about, what we should be knowledgeable on,
00:01:27
Speaker
who we should be listening to in relation to this narrative. We talk about like the misinformation that's out there around menopause. We talk about a lot of the fear, you know, that comes with the impending thoughts of menopause.
00:01:38
Speaker
We talk a lot about what to do and what to focus on as you are experiencing menopause symptoms. And we talk a lot about empowering side as well. What perimenopause forces you to do.
00:01:50
Speaker
As Catherine says, it's about getting in under the bonnet, stopping... giving yourself the time, the space to really look at what is going on in your life, what is going on in your body and what is the first step to take.
00:02:05
Speaker
And she talks a lot of about not overwhelming yourself with too much. What is the biggest obstacle? Let's deal with that. Then move on to the next. I loved every minute of this conversation. I'm so excited to share this with you because I really genuinely believe that this is going to help so many people.
Personal Experiences and Advocacy
00:02:21
Speaker
And Catherine is so, excited passionate about what she does and I'm just so grateful to her for the work that she has done around menopause and I'm so excited to share this with you so enjoy.
00:02:35
Speaker
Hi Catherine, welcome the podcast. Hi Kate, thanks for inviting me on. Thank you for coming on and I know you're going to share a lot of expertise that you have around perimenopause and menopause and i really can't wait to pick your brain about everything surrounding this topic but before we get into it would you like to just share a little bit for anyone who doesn't know who you are, what you do and a little bit of background what's what's got you there?
00:02:57
Speaker
Sure. So yeah I guess really it's my own experience of perimenopause that brought me to the work that I do now. And when i went head first into perimenopause back and got a good few number of years ago now,
00:03:15
Speaker
Like nobody, there was very few voices talking about menopause at the time. And I remember like probably one story I share a lot. I did a TEDx on is I was away with some of my college friends. We went away for a weekend to Copenhagen's, the Christmas markets.
00:03:33
Speaker
And I was only, what was I, 44, 43, 44 at the time. And I kind of felt I had a bit of spotting before we left Ireland and didn't think too much of it. You know, yourself, I kind of had my my sanitary pads, tampax, whatever. Like on the first night we went out to dinner, it's this really cool restaurant, very, you know, Danish kind of white and very pristine.
00:03:58
Speaker
And I was kind of feeling, oh, God, there's something not right here. And literally, I'd say, oh, God, I don't know if I'd even eaten the starter. I flooded out in the restaurant. The flooding is very, very common in perimenopause in particular.
00:04:13
Speaker
And that's where your period comes on really quickly. So you can imagine now, like, you know, four girls out, kind of dressed up nicely. i kind of, ah you know, we were in a restaurant.
00:04:24
Speaker
I had a top on me and I had to put my jacket around my waist to cover his cover my trousers because I was absolutely destroyed. But then it was like, you know, even then I came back, I had scans and everything done. Absolutely nothing wrong with me. It was full on perimenopause and my periods were just getting a lot heavier.
00:04:44
Speaker
But what I found was like at that time, loads my friends were like, no, sure, we're too young. Like, and you know, that's hot flushes and it's not all
Improving Menopause Awareness in Ireland
00:04:53
Speaker
of this other stuff. And I had gone back to college. I'd studied natural medicine. So women's health was really, i guess, something I was really passionate about.
00:05:02
Speaker
So that was it. I really embarked on kind of, OK, like what has got what is going on here? i was working in the bank at the time. You know, the flooding was a real issue. The following three, four months after that incident, I went nowhere. I mean, nowhere, like not even to the supermarket without having towels in the car, a backup in case something happened. I was petrified it had happened again.
00:05:27
Speaker
Now, I was lucky it stopped. I did that intensive acupuncture. It stopped within three to four months. But it's so common. And like when I'm in workplaces, that's the one thing, you know, women will always say to me, oh, my God, that's happened me or, you know, whatever.
00:05:42
Speaker
So that was the start, really. And I found, you know, as I said, the conversation around men, of course, was nonexistent. So I started blogging and then, you know, one thing led to the next. I left the bank, basically set up my own business and really concentrated on helping and educating women in Ireland and in other countries as well. But I guess a big role then for me was the advocacy work that I did in Ireland in terms of progressing menopause you know with the government you know the national campaign that happened that was part of the women's task force all of that so you know where we are now compared to where we were 10 years ago is night and day menopause you know it doesn't raise an eyebrow as much in some circles it still does but we have made a great leap forward in terms of that education piece but we've a lot to do though still have a lot to do
00:06:38
Speaker
Yeah, and it is actually amazing how much things have come on in recent years, like 10 years ago. And I know 10 years ago, I was 10 years younger and it wouldn't have been on my radar, I suppose. But like, you know, the work that you do and that that others have been doing as well, it's just such an amazing service to women to be able to be like, we have this, we've access to this information now.
00:06:58
Speaker
We've access to the support. But what I'll say here is you've actually blown my mind. This flooding out, I've never heard of it. Oh, yeah. One in 10, one in 10, Kate, one in 10 women will experience flooding. And flooding is really common in perimenopause because that's where things all start to go askew.
00:07:18
Speaker
So the periods, maybe you're going six weeks, then you're going maybe seven weeks, then it's three weeks. that It's all over the place. Yeah. Obviously what happens then, the longer you're going without a period, the lining of the uterus is just going to keep building up. And then that has to shed. It has to go somewhere.
00:07:37
Speaker
So what would have happened to me was that the the the lining was building up and then it shed. But it got to a stage where it was just a very quick shed. Obviously, that leads to issues with iron. It can lead to you being anemic, which, as you know yourself, tiredness, exhaustion, dry skin. There's loads of symptoms of being anemic that look very similar to perimenopause as well. But it's really
Workplace Support for Menopausal Women
00:08:01
Speaker
common.
00:08:02
Speaker
Perimenopause, really, it's like a tornado in terms of what happens in the body. But once it starts that whirl, it can just impact so many other parts of the body, like, you know, from pain.
00:08:15
Speaker
As I said, iron, B12, then course all the symptoms that come along with it. But flooding is a big one and it's ah it's a huge challenge in workplaces. It will be the one the one symptom that anyone who is having heavy periods you know, will be very, very conscious in work that they have backup, as in, you know, they have extra clothes, they have loads sanitary products. And that's why I would, you know, all the workplaces I work with, the majority of them now would have free sanitary products. But of course, the free sanitary products are fantastic. But, you know, there's a continuum there because what might work for a woman in her 20s or 30s can be very different for what you might need when you're in your 40s and into your 50s. you know and that's something that's it there's there can be an education piece there as well in workplaces so we're talking about a significant amount of bleeding all in one go that a sanitary towel or even a night one or whatever nothing is going to know to hold it yeah it will not hold it like you're talking major clots you're talking heavy bleeding when that happened me i destroyed the seat i was sitting on i destroyed my clothes you It happened me another time.
00:09:26
Speaker
I remember I was getting out of the car. I was luckily, I was just coming home from work and the slots were so big. It was like lumps coming down through my trousers. it was that It was that heavy. The thing is, you do have to be very careful there. You have to make sure that you're kind of, you are having scans. that there Sometimes it could be fibroids. It could be something else going on there. But Heavy periods are so, so common in perimenopause. And a key part is like when you look at the hormones of menopause, you know, oestrogen, progesterone, I kind of park testosterone on its own, but oestrogen, progesterone, progesterone is declining, but progesterone is the trigger for the uterine lining to shed. So if you're not having that balanced supply of progesterone to oestrogen, then you are going to run into issues.
00:10:19
Speaker
What can happen is it can it can lead to endometrial hyperplasia. And that's basically where the lining of the uterus just thickens and it becomes too thick. And that can be where many women might go in and they'd have a DNC done to clear it out. Maybe then afterwards, the recommendation might be marine acoyle, something like that.
00:10:39
Speaker
Yeah. Thank you for sharing that information because I think back to what you're saying about that story of you being out with your friends, that must've been absolutely terrifying in the moment. Like would have ruined your holiday and be like, oh my God, I'm dying. There's something serious wrong here.
00:10:53
Speaker
Well, I know for now I'm a little bit of a catastrophizer, but if that was to happen to me and I didn't know, yeah my mind would go, yeah oh my God, something is seriously wrong. And I know it's really important that we go and we get everything checked to anyway.
00:11:06
Speaker
But to be able to rationalize, okay, deep breath, we'll go get this looked at. And this could be something that that is parcel to parcel. Yeah, I mean, i'm I'm a very practical person in terms of if you have a pain, get it checked out. I not i don't want to spend time you know worrying, thinking, oh my God, is it X, Y, or Z? I'm like, no, just get checked out.
00:11:28
Speaker
As in, you know, get the scan done, rule out. So I ruled out there was no fibroids. There was absolutely nothing. And so it is really important that you're you're doing that. And that's where it's very, very important for all women to have a doctor on board who's part of their team.
00:11:48
Speaker
Like, i don't I don't mean a doctor who's going to talk down to you. I want a doctor who's basically, who's my doctor. who's going to support me in my journey. Because if you look at perimenopause all the way through to postmenopause, it's years, Kate. It's years. You're going anywhere from 8 10 to 12 years.
00:12:08
Speaker
So, you know, you need support there that is is' with you for that whole journey. So I'm very, very lucky. I don't have a menopause specialist, just my regular local doctor. She
Misinformation and Evidence-Based Resources
00:12:21
Speaker
is excellent in relation to women's health.
00:12:24
Speaker
And we have a fabulous relationship, which she's been with me all the way along. So she would be very much like, okay, we just get a scandal. we you know So it's very much to me, there's enough worry, fear, anxiety in our lives.
00:12:39
Speaker
And I always kind of think if you can take a practical step that will reduce that, then go for it. I'm all for that. I couldn't agree more. And I'm so glad that you've said this because I've spoken to a lot of women on this topic, ah a lot of experts on this topic. And one common theme that seems to shine through is that a lot of women don't feel heard.
00:12:59
Speaker
yeah And, oh, it's just perimenopause. Oh, it's just, you know, and that they have to really advocate for themselves. And unless you really know what you're talking about, like you can question yourself. Be like, am I being a bit of a drama queen? Am I actually okay? Am I, you know i mean? And a lot of women like who already look after everyone else except but and leave themselves to last.
00:13:17
Speaker
they brush off these symptoms that really they they shouldn't. 100%. mean, we talk about the caring role in a minute, but where we were 10 years ago, oh my God, like I would get emails on the hour from women who weren't being listened to by their doctors.
00:13:34
Speaker
That has reduced... It's not gone. It's definitely not gone. It's still there as an issue. I think we have a lot more doctors now who are trained. We've got an active Irish menopause society headed by Dr. Brendan Moore and Dr. Cueva Hartley, who are amazing in this space.
00:13:52
Speaker
But there's a cohort of doctors there who are fabulous, but they're a group. And then there's so many other doctors that have to have the right training. Now, it is happening, but a lot more does need to happen. Is there a woman right now who's sitting in a doctor's surgery and she's not being listened to? 100% there is, 100%.
00:14:11
Speaker
hundred percent And the only way i encourage women to kind of get over that hurdle is be empowered, have the knowledge, have the education, because once you know what you're talking about, you can't let anyone fob you off.
00:14:26
Speaker
You have to be able to to stand your ground. Now, that's very easy for me to say, but I know it's... you're in the troughs of perimenopause symptoms and you're being hit by sleep, anxiety, rage, frustration.
00:14:38
Speaker
You might go into a doctor's surgery and you're like, oh my God, I just can't be bothered because you don't have the energy. But it is really important to muster up that energy and fight for yourself because you know your body better than anybody else.
00:14:53
Speaker
and And you have to make sure that you are being listened to. It's like in this day and age, no woman should be suffering in silence going through menopause, not given the the resources we have now, the management options we have now, and the medical aspect of it, that's only one part of it. you know There's no magic bullet to perimenopause, to the whole journey.
00:15:18
Speaker
it's ah it's a matter of bringing it all together into, I always say, it's developing your own menopause toolkit that works best for you. But a key part of that is going to be your doctor. Now, if it is that you're not having, you're not going down, you know, non-hormonal medications or HRT, your doctor is still a key part of your journey because you still have to keep on top of other nutrients in your body, etc. Blood tests, you know, your overall health, your DEXA scan for your bones, because otherwise, like, you really don't know what's happening. And the chances are any woman, majority of women going through at some stage will come to a stage where blood pressure goes up, where cholesterol goes up as well.
00:16:02
Speaker
And these are all conversations that you should be having with a doctor who's part your team. Yeah, no, i I couldn't agree more. And I think, you know, we don't have an excuse of not having access to the information anymore.
00:16:15
Speaker
Like the information is out there. There are amazing people like yourself out there offering free education, free information all the time. There's podcasts, there's articles, that you know, everything is there and it's really accessible. Just one thing on that, though.
00:16:28
Speaker
There is also, and I think it's important to acknowledge this for your and your listeners, is there's a huge amount of misinformation. There's a huge amount of overwhelm.
00:16:38
Speaker
So what i see now is there's a lot of, and these are even, there are doctors out there who, don't agree with other doctors and this creates argy-bargy on global social media. That's very, very prominent.
00:16:54
Speaker
Obviously, i would know, you know, the global players, i colleagues, friends in all you know countries that are supporting menopause. So I have an insight into what's happening globally, but not everybody does.
00:17:10
Speaker
And that is actually dangerous because there's so much misinformation at the moment in relation to menopause. And what that leads to is overwhelm. So I would see huge amount of women who are just overwhelmed by the information. Like, like is testosterone good or bad for me? ah What should I do? Should I take it? Shouldn't I?
00:17:33
Speaker
HRT, what are body body identical, bio-identical, what do these mean? It's all of this. Partly jargon, but it's partly messaging that's being created from certain accounts too that, you know, can be very, very dangerous. And just because somebody is certified, like is a doctor, it has a medical background, et cetera, I'm not talking about any of our Irish doctors, that doesn't mean...
00:18:00
Speaker
You cannot question the information that they are presenting. And it's really, really important we stick to evidence-based information, particularly at this point in time, because there's so much misinformation out there. Two great examples of that would be number one is dementia.
00:18:20
Speaker
So my mom passed away just a couple of months ago from Alzheimer's. So it's an aspect I'm hugely interested in. You know, i know Dr. Lisa Moscone. I reviewed two of her books for her before they were published. She is a forerunner in this work.
00:18:38
Speaker
But what's really important is that, you know, the work that they that Lisa and her team are doing, it's a work in progress. She still has a lot of work to do to get to her goal in terms of the impact of estrogen on dementia. We know it impacts, but both we do not know, there is no strong ongoing large scale study research out there that tells us that HRT prevents dementia. It does not exist.
00:19:10
Speaker
It doesn't exist. Now, I could go on to Google and I could probably find some small randomized study that might indicate something. It's too small.
00:19:21
Speaker
It needs to be something bigger that would really kind of say, yes, hrt prevents dementia but at this point in time we do not know that the research that's been done by lisa and many others it's not there right now and that's something we really have to be mind flop like i i always say to people look i'm a daughter of alzheimer's if the first mention of anything i'll be sharing it with everybody you know once that research is there it isn't there
00:19:52
Speaker
Similarly, if you look at testosterone, there's a lot of, sometimes it comes across and again misinformation that testosterone is the wonder drug.
00:20:03
Speaker
That, okay, estrogen, progesterone maybe didn't resolve all your problems, your symptoms. ah Sure, you know move on to testosterone. And then someone takes testosterone, and they're like, well, that did nothing.
00:20:15
Speaker
You know, so for some people, testosterone can show improvements, but for others, it doesn't do anything.
Women's Health Underfunding and Research Needs
00:20:23
Speaker
And the clinical evidence, again, behind testosterone is that it should only be used for incidences of low libido.
00:20:32
Speaker
Anecdotally, some women might say it helps with energy and tiredness and maybe brain fog. It's anecdotal. The studies behind that, the research is not big enough.
00:20:43
Speaker
So as you know yourself, women's health is an area that has been massively underfunded, under-researched for years. So only until we kind of catch up on that will we really be in a place to, you know, kind of dispel all of these questions around, you know, different aspects of menopause.
00:21:03
Speaker
That's such a good point because I think it's a huge issue across the board with social media, with access to information. You know, like if I look at, if like when you're talking about it in relation to menopause, I'm thinking about it relation to nutrition. I'm being like, yeah, there's a hell of a lot of misinformation out there. And what people will do is they'll take little snippets of certain studies and they'll create it into their own narrative. It's a really, really good point that your source, that yes, you can take in information, but scrolling through,
00:21:30
Speaker
TikTok, which might be how people find and found myself or yourself, you know, isn't necessarily the best way to find your trusted source that you can take in information and but that you need to when you're doing your research, it needs to come from a trusted source that is, as you said, evidence based.
00:21:45
Speaker
If there's a woman listening now and they're like, look, I think I have a few symptoms going on. I really want to do a little bit more research. I want to find out what what I should be expecting, what I should be doing, what are the options before I go to my doctor?
00:21:56
Speaker
Where is the best place for them to source this information where they can they can feel comfortable that they're not being misled? misled Well, i would say my own accounts because it's the one thing I am very, very passionate about is that the information is evidence-based and, you know, 100% as up-to-date as possible as it can be.
00:22:20
Speaker
You know, so that's certainly a starting point. I think after that, we don't have... uh in ireland we don't have great resources that you can kind of look to there is information on the hse websites and actually i think there might be a booklet on the hse website that could be you know worth looking at but i think the starting point i would say is a symptom checker now you can either download that from my website you can add it to your show notes case
00:22:52
Speaker
Or, you know, it's a copy of my book, which is the A to Z of menopause, basically. But I would say you're not sure what's going on. Start with a symptom checker, because once you look at the symptom checker, which generally you're looking at 50 plus symptoms of perimenopause all the way through to postmenopause, that will give you a fair indicator.
00:23:13
Speaker
OK, there's something going on here. But and what you then have to be really mindful of is you do have to look at what age are you, for example. If you're 40, 41, which wouldn't be the average age of perimenopause, but we are seeing a lot of people going through into perimenopause earlier. The average age is 45.
00:23:35
Speaker
But let's say you are 40, 41 or maybe even 39 and you feel you're taking a lot of the symptoms on the symptom checker. Then it might be that you go to your doctor and, you know, like you have a conversation with your doctor. But one of the things, the first thing you should be doing is ruling out any other underlying condition.
00:23:58
Speaker
Because you could have B12 deficiency. You could have a thyroid issue. You could have an iron issue. You could have a vitamin D deficiency. You could have fully, I mean, the list is endless. There could be many other underlying conditions that look like perimenopause and all of the ones I mentioned are ones that have symptoms that are very similar to perimenopause.
00:24:20
Speaker
So due diligence really is just ruling out, okay, there's nothing else there. Okay, well then you are looking at, it walks, it talks, this is perimenopause, you know? Yeah.
00:24:32
Speaker
Yeah, and so important. to it it it It does all start with that research of getting the bloods, what actually is going on if you feel off at all. Like interesting that you say that, like I'm 39. So like i at the minute, I'm still like on a personal level, if we're talking about myself as an example, my periods would still be very regular, which is great. But I've noticed little changes in the past year where I never really suffered with PMS beforehand.
00:24:55
Speaker
I now find myself quite emotional, quite up and down, quite low a couple of days, that kind of week before my period, which I never, never experienced before in all my years. Another thing is, you know, getting little chin hairs here and there where I'm having to start to think out and I'm like, oh great, so it's starting.
00:25:10
Speaker
But, you know, in general, you know, and I know in general I feel well and, you know, and but i and I'm lucky that I'm in a position. I talk to a lot of people. I interview a lot of people around this. i I study as much as I can around this that I know, like I'll know when it's time
Kate's Coaching Services
00:25:23
Speaker
to go to the doctor. But,
00:25:25
Speaker
For anyone listening that is kind of in the position I am, you know, 39, 40, up to, you know, under 45, let's say, might be starting to notice few symptoms. What tend to be, I know this is ah such a general question. I know as I say it, you're going to be like, how long is piece of string? What kind of things do people experience? What are the first early signs for a lot of people?
00:25:42
Speaker
I just wanted to interrupt the podcast for a moment to talk to you a little bit about Kate Hamilton Health online coaching. So we have two coaching options available.
00:25:53
Speaker
We have our elite coaching and we have our group coaching service. Our elite coaching service is bespoke individualized coaching, which will help you to finally break free from diet culture with one-to-one anytime support from your coach and with access to a safe, supportive community.
00:26:12
Speaker
This is a higher ticket coaching option and the coaching is by application only. If you go to my website, KateHamiltonHealth.com, you will be able to apply for elite coaching through there and we will be in touch to organise a call and to get you up and running.
00:26:27
Speaker
In relation to our group coaching, our group coaching starts on the first Monday of every month. When it's full each month, we do close the doors. With the group, coaching is about building the habits, body and energy of the healthiest version of yourself and finally make it stick.
00:26:45
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:27:24
Speaker
We have weekly group Zoom calls with myself and the team, regular guest seminars where we get experts on to talk more to you about different topics that we need experts on for.
00:27:35
Speaker
And then we have in-person events twice a year that you will get at a major discount as being a member of the Kate Hamilton Health community. So as I said, this starts the first Monday of every month. If you go to my website, KateHamiltonHealth.com, you will see when the next group coaching intake is starting for you.
00:27:55
Speaker
So we close the doors as soon as that intake is full or the Monday before the group coaching starts. So usually that last Monday of the previous month. So if you head over to Kate Hamilton health.com, all of that information that I've talked through is on the website.
00:28:12
Speaker
You'll be able to book your spot for the next intake there. And I will chat to you all then. No, that's a good question. Just one thing to say, read the bloods.
00:28:24
Speaker
And I mentioned quite a few things on the bloods, just to be very careful, because this is hot right this week on social media, is you don't need to get your blood tests to measure your estradiol, your progesterone, your testosterone at this stage.
00:28:42
Speaker
The only time that really you're delving into that, if it really is if there's an absorption issue with whatever form of HRT possibly you're on and you're not seeing a relief of symptoms.
00:28:53
Speaker
It's just to clarify that because at the moment there's a lot of conversation around the Dutch hormone tests that can be done. I'm not a supporter of it at all. because hormones like kids are hormones from eight o'clock this morning to eight o'clock tonight they're going to be different they're going to be different on a monday to a wednesday to a friday so just to clarify that in relation to blood so when i'm looking at the bloods i'm really looking at nutritional mineral kind of vitamin deficiencies that might be there so what are you looking for i would basically say if you're coming into that terrain of 39 40
00:29:30
Speaker
This is where I would start to pay attention to your bloods. This is where I would get into the habit of having regular bloods done. Maybe it's you get it done one year, then it's two years after whatever.
00:29:42
Speaker
Sorry to interrupt.
Understanding Menopause Symptoms
00:29:43
Speaker
Are the GP bloods, do we have to ask for anything specific or if I just go to my GP, which I do once a year in the past couple of years and be like, I just want to get my bloods done. Will they test for all of this automatically or do I need to specifically ask for anything?
00:29:55
Speaker
They should test for everything. The only one which is unfortunate at the moment that GPs don't aren't testing for is vitamin D because they're assuming we're all low. But it's a really good thing to know your vitamin D level because it's a massive range. So if I'm in my 50s and my vitamin D level is 20, sure, that's rubbish.
00:30:16
Speaker
In my 50s, I need my vitamin D level to be much higher. I need to be looking at 60, 70. So understanding that kind of range and personalizing it, individualizing it back to you is really important. But a lot of the doctors aren't doing vitamin d You can certainly ask, but all one of the others should be included as standards. OK, so, you know, I would get into the habit of know your bloods, understand your bloods, because then you'll start to see the changes when they happen.
00:30:44
Speaker
Now, really good points you said, for you were saying there is like your periods are still regular. So the first thing I would say to anybody listening, please don't just look at your periods.
00:30:57
Speaker
Way more is happening before the period starts change. So everything you said there, Kate, is very a very clear indicator your progesterone is starting to decline because you're getting the PMS, you're getting those PMT-like symptoms beforehand, the mood changes,
00:31:15
Speaker
etc so that's happening just before the period comes on it's very classic in perimenopause that PMS like symptoms return if you had them before or they start to make an appearance and that's where you can maybe you feel that your breasts are a little bit more tender a couple of days your periods there might be other things that come into play I would certainly be either first place I always look how are you How am i
00:31:45
Speaker
How are you feeling? Because progesterone decline will impact your mood. It will impact how you're feeling. And at the same time, like you've oestrogen there, which is giving us this lovely energy and vitality. So as the two of them start to go out of kilter, that's where everything hits the fan. I was going to use the word but I won't. You can't use whatever word you want. It's the fan like because they go out of kilter.
00:32:12
Speaker
They're not happy because they're vying for attention the whole time in our menstrual cycle. So you're seeing youre you're seeing what I would say is probably unless there's any B12 deficiency or anything else going on there. Which there isn't because I've just had bloods done.
00:32:27
Speaker
Okay, well, yeah, and so I would definitely say you're starting to see that that waiver that starts to happen in early perimenopause. And in a lot of cases, you many women won't be aware of that.
00:32:40
Speaker
But it's it's so you're looking at You're looking at what's happening before my period. What's happening around then? Then how quick is my period coming on? am i finding Am I spotting for a day or two more than I did before?
00:32:57
Speaker
Again, a clear indicator progesterone is declining. Or am I going straight into a period? That's kind of your normal menstrual flow. is you go straight into a period, maybe a spot for a day or something, but you shouldn't be spotting for four or five days.
00:33:12
Speaker
That's kind of that, you know, that shouldn't be happening. You should be going into a full flow period for a couple of days and then coming out the other end. So that all starts to shift when you come into perimenopause.
00:33:24
Speaker
And it's a bit like, um you know, taking the foot off the brakes, everything kind of stalls, starts again, stalls, starts again, that type thing. But remember, that's going to happen so slowly.
00:33:35
Speaker
over weeks and months. And that's why in a lot of cases, a lot of women might not even think anything of it, but it's all happening in the background. More often than not, what is starting to happen though, is there's there starts to be a little increase in anxiety.
00:33:51
Speaker
It's that maybe you're nervous a little bit more. Maybe you're fearful about things. You're worrying a little bit more than you did before. Maybe your sleep isn't as deep and refreshing as it was before.
00:34:03
Speaker
They would tend to be the real indicators that... things are starting to shift. And then of course, that will be subtle for a while, but then it can become very obvious.
00:34:18
Speaker
Now that will differ if you have anyone who's on the Mirena coil, they will be getting progesterone. So you might find for someone on the Mirena coil, the average age of perimenopause is 45 to start.
00:34:30
Speaker
They might notice anything till 46, 47. They could be that little bit older. So again, it's very individual. no two people on the planet are going to have the same experience of menopause because we're all different. Yeah.
00:34:43
Speaker
And it's the same with the symptoms, you know? Yeah. That's so interesting. And in relation to the coil, because actually this is something that I've thought about. i don't have the coil and I've thought about it. I'm like, Oh, if this symptoms are starting to happen, is that something that I should introduce now? Or am I better to feel like I'm very in tune with my cycle. I'm very like, I'm honest. Like I know what's happening in my body. Am I better to stay kind of connected with that? Or am I better to, to like get the coil early and you know, that's a great, that's a great question. Cause that leads me to, you know, another aspect I find now we're hopping on to HRT very quickly.
00:35:28
Speaker
Very quickly. And listen, i will I'm a supporter of HRT, 100%. I take transdermal, I use transdermal oestrogen myself, but I only started to use it probably, God, 52 maybe or something like that, 53 even maybe, no, 52 I think.
00:35:47
Speaker
What I'm seeing now is that a lot of women are going straight onto HRT very, very quickly. Whereas what I would say is I'd like to see what's happening first.
00:36:02
Speaker
So for example, like for you, You don't know how your body, remember 25%, one in four women will go through menopause with no symptoms.
00:36:13
Speaker
I meet them the whole time, Kate, so they do exist. I'm not making them up. My mother claims to be one of those women, but I don't think she is. I think, because you know the way people will say, ask your mother her experience, when did she start?
00:36:24
Speaker
like, when I asked my mother when she started going through menopause, she'd be like, oh, I didn't notice until my periods were gone. I was grand. And me and my sister are like, yeah, course you were. I remember those crazy years. I do hear that a lot as well. I'm like, yeah, right. But a lot of women do go through with no symptoms. So it's important to remember that you don't know what's going to happen. I think there are, I think there's an aspect where and maybe it's social media. I don't, I don't have the answer to this yet, but I do think there's an aspect where women are are feeling like the minute they experience anything, they have to go straight on to HRT.
00:37:02
Speaker
And that's not the case. Not every woman should or will need to be on HRT. That's a fact. That's a fact. So it's really important to kind of understand how am I doing?
00:37:15
Speaker
come You know, I always kind of say, depending on how you're feeling, maybe it's every six months, maybe it's once a year. It's a full check in with yourself. Maybe it's printing off your symptom.
00:37:27
Speaker
check or going through it. How am I actually doing? If you're doing and your bloods and whatever, if you're doing great, then fantastic. Keep going. If you're starting to see, okay, things are shifting. Okay. Well then how are they shifting? Are my symptoms mild?
00:37:40
Speaker
Are they moderate or the severe? But if they're mild, then I want think, okay, what will I do with my lifestyle? How's my sleep? How's my food? How's my energy, my movement? Look at that first.
00:37:52
Speaker
And any good menopause trained doctor will be having that conversation with you too if your symptoms are mild. yeah And this is where I slot the likes of me slot in. This is this is the work that I do around lifestyle.
00:38:04
Speaker
and you know And it'll take you a certain amount. of the way. And for not all in women, but for many women, it may be that it's just lifestyle, but it's you have to you have to remember, it's like so many women, it's not just about what they eat or their movement or their sleep or anything. It's also what's going on in my life.
00:38:28
Speaker
So many women will think that HRT is the magic cure. It is not. There is no magic solution to menopause. It does not exist. We'd be billionaires if it did. It doesn't exist.
00:38:42
Speaker
You have to individualize it to what's going on in a person's life. And then it's bringing it all together. So it's the lifestyle piece. It's the medication if you need it. It's the complementary therapies.
00:38:54
Speaker
It's what works best for you. And there's no right or wrong way to support yourself through perimenopause. It's about finding what works for you. It's not what works for your mom.
00:39:06
Speaker
It's not what works for your best friend or your sister. It's what works for you. And that's really, really important because we can get lost in the, oh, and so-and-so so said I must do this and so-and-so said I must do X, Y, z It has to be about you as an individual.
00:39:23
Speaker
I am so passionate about that in all the work that I do. It's understanding the individual experience of menopause. And if you look at that and you go back to, you know, how do I know I'm starting perimenopause?
00:39:38
Speaker
Take time to know your body. Take time to understand what is your mental and emotional health like, you know, Do you know when you're like, oh, God, I'm just not myself. Maybe I'm a bit, I lack in joy. I've lost a bit of zest.
00:39:55
Speaker
If that starts to happen, please don't
Balancing Life and Menopause Challenges
00:39:58
Speaker
ignore it. Like I i am such a believer in, you know, i'm I'm merely walking a journey ah through life. I have this incredible opportunity.
00:40:10
Speaker
to be on Earth. and My husband's obsessed with space and I think it's hilarious because I'm like, I have no interest in ever going to Mars. He'd go in the morning. But Earth is so beautiful. Anyway, I'm digressing there. But my point is, we have only one chance to live our lives here.
00:40:30
Speaker
And it really saddens me. and And look, I talk to women every day, but it really saddens me when I meet a woman who is suffering, who feels that, you know, they used to be vibrant and all of a sudden that kind of spark is gone and they haven't got the right supports in place.
00:40:48
Speaker
That's a shame. And it shouldn't happen. It really shouldn't happen. that I see it all the time as well, Catherine. And I think you know some of it obviously will be to do with perimenopause. But a lot of it then is to do with lifestyle in general. I think that we you know when you say that we need to check in with ourselves or you know that some women wouldn't notice you know, those early symptoms and it's because we're so busy, we're so stressed. We're looking, we're raising kids.
00:41:13
Speaker
Usually by the we hit perimenopause, we've got teenagers, which are like ah i'm learning are like more stressful than to toddlers in a lot of ways. And then, you know, elderly parents. yeah So a lot of of women are raising teenagers and help and caring for their parents or dealing with grief or, you know, so there's a lot of both going on at the same time, which adds to the stress and anxiety that is going to happen with the hormone imbalances.
00:41:35
Speaker
And then we're climbing the ladder. We're trying to pay. We're still paying mortgages. There's a lot at that stage of life, isn't there? yeah There's a lot that needs to be peeled back. When I talk about, you know, eating nourishing foods and, you know, moving your body every day. And, you know, everyone, everyone,
00:41:50
Speaker
knows that you know what i mean but it's actually being able to implement it which is where where i i love what where my work comes in helping women navigate like peeling peeling things back and getting back to basics and creating that space not making time because there is no extra time creating space in the chaos for you because you have to because like your life does depend on it really doesn't it 100 and i think like That in a way, and I know you're you're you're you're equally as passionate about your the work you do as as as I am. And I think I find it very humbling when I get to work with women and like that, it's just guiding them through the small changes that can help them navigate this journey because the caring role
00:42:35
Speaker
is huge. Women are the encumbered workforce. You know, if you look at it, the majority, I'm not saying all, but the majority of men are the unencumbered workforce.
00:42:50
Speaker
And that is basically they go home and they don't have a second job. Whereas the majority of women go home and they do have a second job. They are looking after children. It's the caring role, whether it's aging parents, teenagers, toddlers, whatever it is.
00:43:05
Speaker
And, you know, and I think particularly in perimenopause, because a lot of women are having children later as well, which means the chances are you can be hitting perimenopause and you might have young children. And course, yeah all of that comes in and because it it is a perfect storm.
00:43:21
Speaker
When you look at the whole, journey perimenopause and postmenopause being just as important. It's a deeply psychological chapter in a person's life.
00:43:34
Speaker
And that is probably i love that aspect of menopause, but I know it can also be very scary for people. Because it's like you have, it's like, think of it like a house. You have your foundations.
00:43:49
Speaker
You know what's in each room. You know what's happening every day. You're juggling it all. And it's hectic. And it's full on. And symptoms start to come in. You're not sleeping. Brain fog, vaginal dryness, libido, everything. And you're like...
00:44:04
Speaker
oh my God, this is so much. But then on top of that, an earthquake starts to happen and the foundations of the house start to shake. And all of a sudden you're like, Who am I?
00:44:16
Speaker
What am I doing? what what What have I done with my life? but Like, you know, wait what's this about? Because you haven't, for the majority of women, they may not have had time to actually stop and think think about themselves for a long time.
00:44:31
Speaker
And then, you know, perimenopause comes in and it's coming in with this mission. I'm going to stir things up. I'm going to make you. I'm going to make you look in the mirror. I'm going to make you look and assess Am I looking after myself? Am I doing right by myself?
00:44:48
Speaker
It's a wake up 100%. The amount of women you talk at any stage and particularly coming close to menopause, post menopause, who will say, I'm a stronger, freer version of myself because you know what you want.
00:45:04
Speaker
And because you're like, no, I don't want to do that. So it's like, no. And you're very firm in your no. relationships change everything because of that destabilization in the surface that happens, everything's up for grabs.
00:45:18
Speaker
And that can, it as I said, it can be very scary, but it can be very empowering and it can be very free when you get to the other side of it.
00:45:29
Speaker
Now, I guess one of the, one of the big things with that is getting a handle on the symptoms. And I always say that, you know, there is ah freeing part of this chapter, but, you know, the underlying part is depending on the severity of your symptoms.
00:45:46
Speaker
Once you get a handle on those symptoms, if I'm exhausted and I'm not sleeping, Am I going to want to look at my emotions and think about how I'm handling different situations? No way. I want of the energy. I'd be like, go away.
00:45:59
Speaker
But if you get a handle on the symptoms and you have more energy, then it's like, OK, I can dedicate a little bit of time. to look after myself and maybe that is sitting, pondering, journaling, meditating and my energy starts to come up so okay now i can go for my walk, I can go for my cycle, I can go from to the gym, I can do whatever because things start to shift but it's It's like in those perimenopause years in particular, it's a bit like you're treading swamp.
00:46:33
Speaker
It's tough. It's really tough until you get your toolkit together and you kind of understand this is what I need. This is what works for me. And now I know what works for me. Now I'm going to, you know, work on enhance, bring in this lifestyle piece.
00:46:49
Speaker
And I'm going to really go for this. And this is something i do a lot with women that I work with is the future proofing aspect of this journey of perimenopause, because everything we're doing, all the work you do with your clients in terms of lifestyle, everything that I'm asking women to focus on is because I'm looking down to when they're 80 and 90.
00:47:13
Speaker
And I want them to have strong bones. I want them to have clear brains. I want the coic cognition to be good. You know, I want the heart to be good. So everything we do in the perimenopause years gives us an opportunity for future-proofing our health for the later years.
00:47:32
Speaker
One of the greatest benefits of perimenopause is that opportunity. That's so true. When it comes to like, you know, you, if you're like in the depths of it and you realize, oh God, my symptoms, I think, you know, I'm probably in the moderate to extreme range, you know, and then you're hearing all these things, whether it be for me or from anyone, you know, being like, oh, you need to be getting your daily walk and you need to be this. And you're like, ah like, and it's just overwhelmed.
00:47:57
Speaker
I think, and even if, you know, perimenopause aside, even if I'm just talking with someone who's starting on a weight loss journey, if you're feeling overwhelmed, you're trying to do too much. It's literally just what like, so in relation to, when were as we're talking about perimenopause, what's your first big obstacle? What is causing the most disruption in your life first and deal with that and then onto the next, I would imagine. Would you agree? hundred percent. Yeah. i I like someone would come to me. These are, they'll say to me, here's three, five symptoms. I'm like, no, no, no one let's go with one.
00:48:28
Speaker
If you pick your, give me your three top symptoms. Now let's pick one and we work on one first. So for example, if you saw one and they might say to me, it's brain fog, it's libido, it's sleep.
00:48:41
Speaker
I'd start with sleep because that is the foundation of everything. So it's going to help with the brain fog a little bit anyway. anyway winport If you're not sleeping, you're not going to feel up for it. So it will help with libido as well. you know But it's really, do not, you know don't overwhelm yourself by trying to tackle more than one symptom at a time.
00:49:03
Speaker
If you tackle one at a time, you could be lucky that it will have a domino impact on onto other symptoms. and Because a lot of them are are intertwined, really, aren't they? Once you start tackling, they can't be.
00:49:15
Speaker
particularly sleep, energy, and so forth. Some of the others then, like the GSM, the genitory urinary symptoms of menopause, they're not. They would tend to be way more localized, like vaginal dryness, urinary, stress incontinence, all that kind of stuff.
00:49:30
Speaker
They're going to be different, but it's not to say... Some things won't indirectly help as well, but I think, ah you know, the physical side is one aspect, but it's the psychological that's the most challenging. The majority of women I talk to, they'll always say to me, give me a hot flush any day over the anxiety of menopause and the, you know, the emotional upheaval that comes with the rage and frustration, the rage and frustration. I remember,
00:50:00
Speaker
myself case in the early perimenopause years like I would never have been I'd be quite a calm person all of a sudden it was like geez who's that it's just that frustration and the frustration comes from when you're juggling too much and you're trying that caring role comes into play and then you have all of the hormones and all it's like I don't know where to start. And that's frustration.
00:50:28
Speaker
And then the rage is like, you know, that can come, you can have the calmest person, like, and all of a sudden you can go from zero to a hundred nanoseconds. And you're like, after it, you're like, what just happens?
00:50:41
Speaker
And that's really scary, really scary if it's never happened to you before. And for the majority of women. What do we do when something like that happens? Oh, we load it on. We load the guilt on. The minute that happens afterwards, we just load the guilt on.
00:50:55
Speaker
And it's like, oh, I shouldn't have done that. Why did I do that? Why did I say that? And it's losing trust in yourself, isn't it? Like, it's kind of like, I can't i can't trust my body anymore. I can't trust my emotions. I can't trust myself.
00:51:07
Speaker
And it's funny, like, I can relate to that as someone who, in my early 20s, suffered with really bad chronic anxiety, like daily panic attacks, Did a lot of CBT around it. Was on serotonin enhance and enhancing drugs for um a good couple of years as well to help to get, you know, get those symptoms managed.
00:51:23
Speaker
And, you know, thankfully, i you know, i was through the CBT, I was able to move forward stronger than ever in my life. But I remember just feeling like I just couldn't trust my body anymore. I couldn't trust me. And I just felt so weak Now, I know it's a really the extreme example. I'm talking about mental health disorder here, but in relation to anxiety.
00:51:42
Speaker
So first of all, what my point there is, you know, but in menopause, when you know, when you have those kind of mood swings or really low moments or, you know, things that are that you feel really out of control with, that like I can really relate to that feeling of just like, you know, fuck you to your body and to your mind, like, you know, and that just that frustration.
00:52:00
Speaker
but also in relation to menopause anxiety. It's interesting. i I'm noticing little things starting to come back and I'm like, oh, great. Do I look forward to going through all of that again now in my 40s?
00:52:11
Speaker
That'll be fun. yeah and And that is, unfortunately, we know that if you had a kind of history of mood disorders in the past, there is, you know, there is that chance that that will kind of destabilize again when you come into perimenopause.
Emotional Growth and Self-Understanding
00:52:29
Speaker
I think what's real, compassion is is underrated, but it is so important. And like, you know, I talk a lot about weight and compassion because it's a huge part of...
00:52:43
Speaker
the menopause journey and you know like when it comes to our emotions they can be so scary but one of the most freeing things I did in my experience through perimenopause was actually just really going under the bonnet I went back I did counseling and I really started to look at okay what what's going on with me here and I found that really freeing and I found that You know, it really brought me to a place where I feel very confident in myself from a mental and emotional perspective.
00:53:18
Speaker
And I don't fear my emotions like I would not have been an anxious person, but perimenopause brought anxiety and. ah That really shook my foundations because I was kind of like, geez, what's this about? i've I've never been anxious before.
00:53:35
Speaker
And that really impacted me at work. I always kind of say taking the bull by the horns and back to, you know, it's being practical. I was like, OK, what's going on here? I need to understand what's going on here. And instead of running away from the emotions, I really started to kind of understand, OK, I'm I'm angry now. I'm sad. you know, why? And going underneath and just kind of you know, getting to understand what's happening there. And initially that can take time and initially it's, it's can be scary, but once you get into the habit of doing it, it's enormously freeing.
00:54:08
Speaker
It's really just, it really is. It's probably for me, it would be that and boundary work will be one, you know, another of the two great gifts I believe perimenopause has given me, you know, but it's, I guess it's, it's very different. It's very different for each of us and it's always understanding the individual nature of the journey is really important. And, you know, that's a huge part of like,
00:54:33
Speaker
If we look at any of the symptoms, if we look at the psychological symptoms, if we look at, you know, and if we look at it from a weight aspect, you know, we're in a very different, well, I hope, I like to think we're in a different, we're moving towards maybe a different landscape in relation to how we talk about body and body image. And I i struggle and I get really hyped off when I see, you know, women on social media who are, you know, maybe people promoting themselves as menopause advocates and so forth but yet maybe their bodies aren't I don't think their bodies are what we should be portraying our healthy happy content bodies in in menopause because for me it's any body size and it's not the job to be working out
00:55:20
Speaker
in the gym 50 hours a week and you have to have a super toned body, you know, to me, yes, it's important for your bones and everything. Don't get me wrong. But I think, you know, I think we also happiness being, being content in your body to me is far more important than any of us.
00:55:39
Speaker
Catherine, I am ah so glad you said that because I am like blue in the face talking about this. And it is a real epidemic on social media where women are being fed this picture, of this perfectly sculpted woman.
00:55:52
Speaker
And I am someone who moves my body every day. I do go to the gym three or four times a week. I enjoy lifting weights. I do believe it's hugely empowering. I believe in eating a healthy, balanced diet, having a bit of things we enjoy in our lives.
00:56:05
Speaker
And that looks like a normal sized body. I don't look like someone who's, you know, ready for some sort of fitness photo shoot because, and I know people who are ready for fitness photo shoots.
00:56:17
Speaker
And they are not healthy. I know a lot of women with no periods. I know ah like that. that Sorry, let me rephrase. A lot of women in their 20s and 30s with no periods. A lot of really, really unhappy women.
00:56:27
Speaker
Huge issues around food. So a lot of what we're seeing on social media is not health. It is actually an eating disorder. and so hundred and And mental health issues. Like a lot of it. And I i be like try not to...
00:56:40
Speaker
I try not to be too mean about it, but it it that is what it is. And I think the sooner we can move away from that and look at what real health actually is. And it looks different on everyone. Exactly. Exactly. I mean, i anyone who knows me, I love food.
00:56:55
Speaker
mean, know I am. i just love food. I'm a huge foodie. I love and appreciate good food. So for me, like, i you know, when I talk about weight and stuff, I'm always kind of saying, listen, if you're looking for that, you can't eat the carrot cake and you can't eat the 99 or whatever, don't follow me.
00:57:17
Speaker
Because, you know, to me, it's like it's everything in moderation. But, you know, food is Food is so important. that Food is so much more than weight. Food is community. Food is love. Food is family. Food is, you know, loving your body, giving your body, you know, nice food. Yeah.
00:57:37
Speaker
And we do need to check our goals on that. And it's funny that I did an event there in May and I had Beatrice Caffrey come and talk about menopause. She's fantastic. she's She's a coach like myself. She's been through it herself.
00:57:49
Speaker
She's now in her fifties, but what she will always say to clients, like she works with them health and fitness and and fat loss. If you only have five kilos to lose and you are heading towards menopause, you don't need to lose body fat. You need to lift weights.
00:58:02
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's what it is. You know, it's not, you need to eat at maintenance and you need to lift weights and your body will take good, healthy shape. And you will probably lose body fat as you're gaining muscle, but you don't need to be going into a calorie deficit. no And I just thought that was, wow, so true.
00:58:19
Speaker
Like i I started in the gym, i think I'm nearly two years now and the change in my body, oh my God, I mean, I just love it. I absolutely love it. now I'm not saying everyone needs to go to the gym. There's lot of exercises you can do at home, but I do it because obviously like you, I work in this space. I'm very conscious of how important weight-bearing and strengthening exercises for my bones, but also for my cognitive health as well.
00:58:48
Speaker
Women lose on average 1.5 kg per year in perimenopause. So by the time you get to menopause itself, you're looking at 10 kg. And like you just said, exercise like the weight-bearing and stuff, that it's it's very different in terms of what it does to your body fat. and But most importantly,
00:59:09
Speaker
Women, we tend to be very weak upper body compared to men. And we don't tend to, we how often do you see women doing exercises for their arms? Like not as much as we should be doing the average woman.
00:59:24
Speaker
And that's where it's a game changer when you start to get that strength. And it's like, I just love the fact, just seeing how my body has changed, you know, particularly I think in the last year.
00:59:37
Speaker
Yeah, no, and it makes such a difference. And to finish off on this point then, with the women that I work i work with that you know are going through perimenopause and you know they're getting really frustrated with the scales. you know even Even someone who's got a big long journey and has about three or four stone to lose and the the weighing scales can just be, particularly I find over the age of 40, 45, depending on the woman,
01:00:00
Speaker
the weighing scales is just really, really slow and they get so fixated on it. I have seen women in the space of about three months lose about four pounds on the scales and they they've dropped two dress sizes. Yeah. Yeah.
01:00:11
Speaker
Yeah. And I don't know whether you have anything you want to say in relation to that because I'm always trying to convince people just because the scales isn't moving doesn't mean you're not dropping body fat in that you're not getting healthier and like, just look at your photos, yeah try look at those loose jeans, yeah you know, and. 100%.
01:00:27
Speaker
I'm all for go by the genes, the weighing skills. It's just data. It's just information. Use it how it supports you. i don't know if he ever read the Gina Ford baby book that we read whenever there were babies. I remember I'd slung mine out the window in despair one day. It drove me so.
01:00:44
Speaker
It was literally only seven o'clock. Get up, have your shower. 7.15, eat your breakfast. 7.30, feed the baby. was like, I remember I slung it out the window.
01:00:55
Speaker
But, ah you know, It's the same with the weighing scales. Some people love it, some people don't. What i really, really saddens me is when I talk to those women who will say they hop on the weighing scales, it ruins their day, ruins their week, it makes them feel shame, or it just impacts their mood.
01:01:14
Speaker
No time for throw downs. Just please don't do it to yourself. It's just data. It means nothing.
Lifestyle's Role in Menopause Management
01:01:20
Speaker
it It's much better go by your jeans. That's what I do. I literally go by, i have two or three favorite pairs of jeans. As soon as they're getting tight, I know i have to cut down on the car kick.
01:01:32
Speaker
And like also, yeah, like we're looking at our jeans, like our clothes, but like it's everything we've talked about in this whole episode. How do you feel? And actually a lot of, you know, and anyone who's not yet quite like a bit like myself, kind of getting closer to it, not quite there yet.
01:01:46
Speaker
Get all these habits in place now to really give yourself a solid foundation. Doesn't mean that you're not going to, you know, to experience like you have your whole world, you know, turned upside down. You you may, you may ask not cause me know You may not, you may not, but you may. But, you know, or if you are experiencing symptoms and you are, you know, seeking help from your doctor, the lifestyle stuff is also going to help with what what you can manage, you know, and focus like when you're measuring your progress, get away from the scales, focus on how you feel.
01:02:14
Speaker
Do you have more energy? Do your genes fit better? Do you have more yeah zest for life? And all of these things, like it's amazing how much women dismiss how much marker of progress that is actually is.
01:02:27
Speaker
And what's really important there is you have to remember no medication, no complementary therapy, acupuncture, or reflexology, whatever it is, HRT, non-hormonal medication, none of them.
01:02:45
Speaker
None of them are get out of get out a jail card for lifestyle. None of them. You have to do the lifestyle on top of it. If you want to stay healthy now and you want to stay healthy in your 70s, 80s, 90s, 100s, you have to do the lifestyle. It's a non-negotiable.
01:03:04
Speaker
And one thing I would just say, when we look at perimenopause all the way through, it can feel frightening, particularly if you're at the beginning, you might think, oh, my God, what's ahead?
Cultural Perspectives and Continuous Learning
01:03:15
Speaker
But let's take a leaf from the Japanese way of looking at menopause. And they don't have a dictionary translation for the term menopause. They have a phrase called kinenkai.
01:03:27
Speaker
I'm a huge fan of Japanese way of thinking. Knenkai loosely translates as renewal years and energy. In China, they talk about it as the second spring.
01:03:39
Speaker
So if we can look, reframe how we look at perimenopause, if we can start off and be proactive and kind of say, look, I'm going to roll up my sleeves.
01:03:50
Speaker
I'm going to do everything I can to support my body, to support myself through this chapter. Be empowered going through it. Have the knowledge, have the information.
01:04:02
Speaker
And look at it the way the Japanese do. It is a renewal. it It is a shedding of old skin. Remember what I said, the deeply psychological nature of menopause.
01:04:12
Speaker
You are being pushed to shed, to shed maybe different things in your lives or just to come out into a whole new you. The renewal years.
01:04:25
Speaker
of menopause. And that that is where we can really reframe and have a much more, my experience of perimenopause up to days, I'm getting closer. I'm still in perimenopause. I'm getting closer to menopause.
01:04:38
Speaker
Yes, it's been a roller coaster. Yes, it's been challenging, but at every single junction, I've looked at it. What can I learn? What can I do? How can I tweak? How can I support myself? What does my body need?
01:04:52
Speaker
Constantly, constantly revisiting what's needed at every single turn, because what's needed in year one of perimenopause would be very different to year six or year seven.
01:05:04
Speaker
Yeah. That's hugely empowering. Thank you so much for for sharing that. And thank you so much for coming on today and talking about everything that you've shared. Like, I think this has just been such a hugely beneficial conversation.
Resources and Workplace Education
01:05:16
Speaker
I'd like, there's so much more I could have talked to you about, but we'll wrap it there. For anyone who would like to, you know, see what you have to offer and, know, have a look at the know the work that you have done for menopause. And I believe you have a book as well. Where's the best place? Bibo website where you can find everything in one spot.
01:05:32
Speaker
and My website is wellnesswarrior.ie. Everything is there. I'm very active on Instagram and TikTok as well. And LinkedIn, I do more i do a lot of work in workplaces, but that would be LinkedIn. I'm Catherine O'Keefe.
01:05:46
Speaker
All of the others, I'm wellnesswarrior.ie. so Perfect. And we'll share all of that. We'll share all of those in the in the show notes as well so that people will be able to to access, reach out.
01:05:56
Speaker
And good to know as well that you would do work in in workplaces around ah creating supportive environments. It is, yeah. I do a lot around the education and awareness for employees and then also manager and HR training as well. So it's you know it's great. More and more workplaces are opening up to not just menopause, but to menstruation and women's health as well.
01:06:20
Speaker
So that's an area I've been in since 2018 and i've I've worked with over 400 companies now, workplaces at this stage. So it's fabulous and it's fantastic to see the different journeys.
01:06:31
Speaker
And it's brilliant. Look, it's brilliant to see women getting the support that's needed in workplaces. Yeah, that's amazing. Thank you so much, Catherine. Thanks, Kate. Lovely to chat to Thank
01:06:49
Speaker
I just want to say thank you so much for listening to the podcast. And i would just ask for one thing from you, if at all possible, could you make sure that you subscribe to the podcast? It really does make such a difference.
01:07:03
Speaker
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