Hello Meno’s! I hope you enjoyed your summer, today has definatly got that autum chill in the air
My next blog was going to be on how I had been living it up in Ibiza with 25 fabulous new friends and how I managed to keep up (to a point, anyway!) with most of them – they were 11 years my junior!
However, on my return from Ibiza I was struck down by THE most horrible bug, like tummy flu and while feeling sorry for myself it made me think about how far I have come.
If someone had said to me 5/6 years ago that I would spend a weekend living it up in Ibiza with a bunch of people I had not met before I would not have believed them as I felt so rubbish due to the menopause, just my anxiety alone would have held me back, not to mention all the physical symptoms. Yes that is me on a paddle board!
So, in this blog I want to share how feeling good over looking good is more important to me, along with many menopausal women, and in my other blogs show what we can do to achieve this.
Being ill really made me realise how good I have been feeling recently and how bad I had felt for such a long time and struggled with my menopause symptoms.
Those of you who follow me onInstagramand especially on my Insta stories (circles on the top of Instagram – stays up for 24 hours) know I am honest about how I am feeling on any particular day. I like to share! I am sent a lot of direct messages from other Meno’s thanking me on my honesty.
Recently I was sent direct message by one of my followers saying how impressed she was with how I coped with my menopause symptoms, and that she really must scroll through my feed to see how I did it as she also wants to come out the other side.
I then realised that I have a lot of new followers on Instagram and on this blog, so after today I will go back to the beginning and share my journey with you and how I managed to enjoy a mad few days in Ibiza, which a friend and I described was more like the “Hangover 3 than a 40th birthday celebration!”
I have written many blogs but I know its hard scrolling through them, plus back then, I was in a different “head space” shall we say and perhaps now would be the best time to go back and pick each symptom and see how I dealt with it.
I have talked a lot, on social media, about the benefits on physical activity during menopause and in the summer Women in Sport released a study on how menopausal women feel empowered if they undertook physical activity.
They also looked at women in modern day Britain and looked at 6 core values that are important to women. These 6 core values change over time, ie relationships, savings, job, family etc.
The study found that when women hit menopause the top core value is feeling good followed by looking good. Please see list below for the other 4 core values. (This is one of the slides of my decks that I presented at Meg Mathews Menopause conference back in May – thank you WIS for allowing me this information before publication.)
From a personal perspective, I know that by looking back on photos of myself from a few years ago and compare to now, wow, I see such a difference! I looked tired, weary, not very happy and in pain; which is exactly how I felt.
So, my next few blogs will take you through my journey – I will intermix some blogs with some nagging/advice on exercise, food and lifestyle, as this is just what I do!
It is my job to help you with your symptoms, keep or become healthy in menopause, smile and to help you find your mojo again.
Next month is World Menopause day on the 18th and I have asked some guest bloggers to come on to share their journeys and experience, so apologies if you see me pop up in your inbox more than usual!
If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask, as it will help me with content for my blogs and Instagram which will help other women who might have thought about a subject but too afraid to ask.
Remember, I am here to help and we are here to help each other.
Thank you for reading team Meno’s.
Hugs. xx
