Like most women, my menopause started when I was 47 or 48, but I had no clue
I didn’t see any signs to watch out for, and I didn’t even know that anxiety or insomnia was a symptom. Falling asleep is no longer a form of rest, so it’s like being sucked into a black hole.
As we live in an age-discriminatory society where we are washed away and invisible, you begin to feel that you are no longer in control of your life. But when I finally met a female gynecologist in her 50s and explained to her how I felt, she said, “No doubt, you are experiencing menopause.” ..
And, in fact, it was very reassuring to have someone finally put their finger on what I was experiencing. I had already done some blood tests-it’s the only way to diagnose menopause at the moment-but they weren’t all definitive.
We still don’t know everything about menopause, as a society we really just hurt the surface
But while examining our book “Cracking Menopause,” Alice Smerry and I told you that if you were healthy and healthy when you entered a period of turbulent hormonal changes, it would be you. I have found that it really helps with the type of symptoms I get. In my 40s, after having all my children, I went to Pilates and continued yoga.
For me, I also love walking, which is a form of meditation and a place to develop my thoughts. I also started a running group with my mother from several schools. There you can find more productive ways to chat. It’s really time in my life to take care of myself, which is why I spend 20 minutes of weight training twice a week at Kettlebell. It was the savior.
I didn’t always have a healthy lifestyle
I had a period of great fall in my twenties and thirties. I smoked, drank, and did that, but I was restless, so I was always exercising. I like the promise with her because I can’t help when I have to do it myself. I wish I could be lonely running through the hills. It sounds good, but I make excuses. I was in my twenties and didn’t exercise much. But by the time I was in my thirties, I went to the gym three times a week.
I hated team sports at school
But when I was a kid, I lived in the country and ran around for hours outside and walked to school with my friends, so I was always active, but not sporty.
When it comes to sports, especially physical education, I was scared at school. Comparing the facility to most schools in the UK, I was pretty lucky because I was encouraged to move. If you want to be lazy, you can escape with it.
We were playing this Irish hockey, but I was the one in the team running in the opposite direction of the ball. Because it was a very hard ball and I was really scared.
I thought it was pretty gorgeous, so I played tennis. I went to Jamaica’s two-week immersion tennis camp for lessons, but it didn’t help at all. I couldn’t serve and no one wanted to play with me.
There was a lot of fashionable diets in the 80’s and people loved aerobics, but I was always starting to think about food so it wasn’t their prey.
But I’m 59 years old and have done all sorts of exercises you can think of. When I was in step class with my sister in the 90’s, I remember it was at Portobello Studios under Westway in London. My sister is a very good dancer and has coordination, but I was hopeless. So I didn’t do it for a long time.
I also tried aerobics classes. But I really don’t like to sweat hot in a crowded room. My best friend took me to this spin class in the basement once. There, all lights were turned off, except for the colorfully flashing lights at 7am in the morning. Not my tea.
From a young age, I think it’s important for us to start preaching the positiveness of the body
Not all of us are perfect, but we are more perfect than ever. I have focused on being strong in my life and body. I think it helped the bones get through the tip of healthy osteopenia. Not just menstruation, but the entire life cycle of a woman’s body is important.
Craking the Menopause by Mariella Frostrup and Alice Smellie will be available in paperback next month (Bluebird, £ 9.99)
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