Why keeping fit in our Midlife is so important It's no surprise that to hear that exercise is important at any age. However, for us ladies going through peri/menopause, the need to exercise becomes greater. This is because of hormone changes that we are experiencing, that directly impact on our physical health.  Estrogen, is required for preserving bone density, so is basically a key regulator in maintaining bone metabolism. Bones are a living, growing tissue in the body and to enable their continued healthy functioning, they require Estrogen. During peri/menopause, we produce less Estrogen resulting in increased risk of bone density and risk of developing osteoporosis.  Women going through peri/menopause may also experience muscle loss and general joint pain and stiffness, all due to these hormone changes. Although peri/menopause is an inevitable process that all women will go through, there's step we can take to maintain our bone health. Ensuring a well balance diet with hig...

 Living a more eco friendly sustainable life As I've got older, I have definitely become more consciously aware of the impact that our everyday, convenient lifestyles, have on the environment. I'm not here to preach about being more eco friendly, I'm just here to share the small steps I've made to try to contribute to some elements of greener living. By no means be under any illusion that I am the worlds top eco warrior, or anywhere close to that but I have certainly made some small changes that haven't been too difficult or arduous to implement, to do my bit. Plus, I genuinely do care about the state of the planet and all it's habitants which motivates me to want to make change.  What changes have I made: Food I decided to give up meat several years ago now. This was mainly driven by my horror in learning more about animal welfare in relation to food production. I've wrote a little about my dietary changes in a previous post. Not only was I disturbed by the...

Hair loss in Peri/Menopause It's well recognised how reduction in estrogen and progesterone can cause hair to  thin and reduce new growth.  Hormonal imbalance at any stage of life can cause hair loss. For instance, with each of my 3 pregnancies, my hair thinned every time. In all honesty, it never really fully re-grew. It did of course grow back a little but remained very fine. My hairdressers used to always state I had thin hair but a lot of it!!  That's not the case now. Since going through perimenopause, the little bit of regrowth I had after each pregnancy has vanished. There's certain patches on my head that really struggle to grow. These are mainly the top sides of my forehead area and more recently noticed it feels very thin on the back of my head (midway).  The thought of losing my hair is very distressing and with each handful coming out after each wash...that stress just heightens. What a vicious circle....ironic that stress also increases risk of hair loss...

  Dietary Changes in Midlife Over the last 4 years, I’ve made significant changes to my diet. There have been varied reasons for this. 1)      I felt I was becoming more conscious of ‘food’ production and did not like what I was learning 2)      I was becoming more ‘in-tune’ with what my body did and did not like (we all have unique chemical make up and what 1 person tolerates well, another may not)!! 3)      My personal ethics and values, shifted in relation to animal welfare 4)       I am trying to live more economically 5)      I am learning more and more about the impact that our ‘food fuel’ has on the way our brain and body functions So what were the changes I made…… Meat Free I stopped eating meat. Once my decision was made, that was it….done!! My decision was based purely around appalling animal welfare….bred for slaughter and often living in disgraceful and ...

  Empty Nest, or… Full Inhabitant of Life? I’ve been a mother for nearly 32 years now. I have 3 grown up children and 3 grandchildren. Although my youngest son is still at home, he has 1 foot out the door and to be honest, even though we share a house, I barely see him. The concept of ‘empty nest’ previously had me filled with absolute dread and with each child leaving the family home, that ‘fear’ seemed to get even more profound. Being a mum, is all I’ve ever known and although filled with the expected strains and stresses of parenting, I love being a mum (….actually, I should say ‘mam’, being from the north east of England)!! However, my mindset on this has altered dramatically over the past year or so. What I was not expecting with my children leaving, was the new lease of life that I have embraced. This has not been by conscious design nor by accident. As my children became less dependent on me, I gradually filled my time with new hobbies, making time for friends and sp...

Daily Niggles Lets get straight to it…..every day, there’s a new ache or pain. Often in the most random places. Sometimes, these little joys just suddenly appear at anytime of the day, with no rhyme or reason to why! Some of these niggles can be explained away by my perimenopausal symptoms. For instance joint pain, which I seem to predominantly experience in my fingers and toes (weird I know)! The generalised pain Then there’s the more unusual pains!! In the past year, I’ve had random pains in my, neck, collar bones, ribs and in my sternum…I can only associate these pains with previous fractures but that was 25 years ago and I’ve never had any issues with these areas until now! The Cyst There’s also been the sudden development of a ganglion cyst on the outside of my knee. I know this is not directly related to middle age but it does feel like just another deteriorating aspect of general wear and tear on my body. I must admit, this cyst is giving me the most awful pains and discomfort a...

My midlife journey to the wonderful tribe of grey My hair is one of the most significant changes I've experienced to date (amongst the multitude of other CHANGES that is going on in my midlife). Around 3 years ago, I decided I was no longer going to dye my hair and just embrace my au natural, grey fox vibes. Let me tell you this decision was met with some fierce objections that I don’t think I was prepared for. Less than supportive….many people tried to talk me out of it, telling me it would age me and ‘you will look like an OLD lady’ and ‘you're making a mistake…don’t do it’. Well….anyone who knows me well, will know that these type of comments just add fuel to my fiery feminist values and would result in the total opposite to their “friendly” advice. I had started to see grey in my hair in my 20s but had always dyed it, so wasn’t sure how it would look coming through…but I felt confident, that by now….it would be totally grey. I was not wrong. Although, there's stil...