Owning Your Menopause Through Movement, Nutrition and Empowerment

In today's episode of Menopause Uprising, I am thrilled to have Kate Rowe-Ham join me as my guest. Kate is not only a personal trainer but also the visionary behind Owning Your Menopause, an empowering online community designed to guide women through the journey of midlife with confidence and positivity. Through her work, Kate emphasizes the transformative power of movement and nutrition in alleviating the various symptoms of menopause. Tune in as Kate shares her expertise and passion for educating women on the importance of holistic approaches to managing this significant stage of life.

Transcript -Automatically Generated

Welcome to another week of Menopause Uprising with me, your host, Catherine O'Keeffe. And today, I know you're going to love this conversation. Today, I am joined by Kate Rowe, who is a personal trainer who is passionate about women's health and fitness. This is Menopause Uprising. Like me, utterly passionate, straightforward, says it as it is when it comes to menopause and is also an author of, uh, Fantastic book, which we will delve into and is also the founder of Menopause App.

So welcome Kate, and it is lovely to have you with us today. And let's just chat about, I guess, straight off Kate, how or where did your journey in relation to women's health start? Oh, Catherine, thank you so much for having me. I love what you do and, you know, your, your honesty in this space is very much, uh, valuable to all of us.

So, uh, thank you. Um, I guess my own, my own journey, and I'll try and keep it short, um, to talking menopause through my, has come through my own, um, not so brilliant experiences, um, and finding myself in the throes of a rather miserable perimenopause with a severe lack of. information, um, out there to support what, um, you know, with, with what I didn't know was happening to my body.

Um, I went to the GP on a number of occasions. To be absolutely fair to the NHS, it was a time, um, when we were in lockdown, so, you know, there weren't face to face appointments, which, as we know, are, you know, it's pretty hard when they are face to face, so let alone over the phone. Um, and actually for me, my, my symptoms being depression, anxiety, breathlessness, heart palpitations, and just an overwhelming, um, sense of not really needing to be here anymore, um, Um, at a time when we were in lockdown, you know, more, the GP was looking more at depression.

Um, which again, I know, you know, I'm sort of a statistic now, um, that very many women are diagnosed with depression rather than, uh, menopause, but I knew it wasn't, um, I had a few other red flags. Um, I had night sweats, I had joint aches and pains, um, and so there were a few other things. I just. Uh, knew weren't, weren't me and I set about, I guess, finding out what it was and, um, I slowly began to realize that 42 wasn't too young to be experiencing the symptoms of menopause, that actually stress and things like that can potentially exacerbate them or, you know, speed up that process and I, I was going through a lot of stress at the time.

Um, But I wasn't getting help via my GP. Um, so like, like many women have to, and I was fortunate enough. I, I went privately to get myself a diagnosis. Um, but HRT was by no means this magic bullet that was going to solve all of these problems the next day. And that for me is really, I guess, where my journey here has started because, um, we really need to give women the opportunity to know that they have the power to start managing their menopause a before they maybe get there, if we can get the education out there, but, but more importantly, you know, if they can't get HRT or all of those things that that really isn't.

The only thing that should be in your toolkit and there are other things to do well before we get to that stage that can really help you manage your menopause. And that's where I found myself. Um, and for me, it was exercise. It was diet. It was giving up alcohol. It was eating the right foods. It was just working out all of these things, um, that I could do.

That wasn't HRT, not because I was against it, but just because, as I say, it didn't work overnight. And let's just talk about that for a minute, because the media headlines that we so often see out there, and it is absolutely fantastic that we've so much conversation, awareness, around menopause, not just in the UK and Ireland.

But the media headlines, the one that gets my back up the most is, I started HRT, I felt amazing the next day. That's not normal, Kate. Right. And I think, you know, I think that's a part of the conversation that I think we support each other because we're all going through it together by actually, you know, opening up the fact that, listen, it's not normal.

Do you know, I always relate that to a bit like, I remember when my kids were small and they weren't sleeping, you'd go down to the park, you might meet another mom and they're like, Oh, my, my kids sleep all through the night and you're left there thinking, Oh my God, why is it just me?

No, totally, totally. And I, and actually, you know, I also think kind of on that point is that it is, it is great that the pendulum has swung and it is great that we're making it more accessible, but we are by default stopping people from embarking on a wellness routine that is going to help them regardless of their HRT status, regardless of where they are in life.

And that's a really good example to the, to the kids, kids in the house that they've got them. Um, and actually, you know, picking up on your point, I think. I saw a post the other day by a younger person in the wellness space, who's brilliant, but it sort of said, you know, unless you're taking HRT, you're not going to build muscle.

Now you and I both know, we've got wonderful, wonderful Amanda Thieb. We know where she stands on that, you know, there's me, there's lots of other women out there that are flying the flag for women that don't want to take HRT or can't take HRT. And messaging like that, in my opinion, is really irresponsible because.

Um, if we just take the HRT out, we need to be exercising anyway for our bone health, our heart health, our joint health, our brain health, our muscle health, whether we're a man or a woman really. So the HRT status kind of doesn't even come into that. I totally understand that there are some women who are unable to move.

They have crippling joint aches and pains and, and they really don't know where to start. And I absolutely agree. think, great, if you have to get HRT to get yourself there, that's fine. But let's not just, you know, say to women, well, it's not going to work unless you do it. Um, because you're not, you're setting people up for failure before they've even begun.

And Kate, I think you're leaving respect out because you're not actually respecting the individual experience of menopause that somebody will go through. And, you know, like you, I mean, I wholeheartedly, you know, support the use of HRT where it is supportive of someone, uh, you know, and, and severe symptoms, et cetera.

But I think what we've got to be very mindful of the fact, it isn't a magic bullet. It's not a cure all for, uh, life's issues. And. No matter what medication you're on, whether it's HRT, antidepressants, whatever the medication, you still have to try and incorporate the lifestyle aspects into your life, right?

And I think that's what, that's what you, uh, really delve into in your book, Owning Your Menopause, which is a 30 day, oh my Lord, I love the idea of that, a 30 day, way of getting on top of your, your menopause. And in that it's the principles of what you believe. So maybe do you want to just talk us through, you know, how that looks in terms of, you know, what are these, what are these everyday parts of life that we all need to be looking at?

Yeah, thank you, Catherine. It's funny because, um, sort of writing the book, um, you know, it's not about me or my experience. Obviously, that is in there, um, and it felt really daunting doing it because I am not a doctor of science. I haven't done sports science. I am, I am well educated, but I probably could have paid more attention in biology and it would have been a lot easier being in this space with lots of eloquent women who sort of band about big words.

But, um, what I hope the book is, is it's just a really lovely manual from a like minded woman to woman. And that it's not confusing, it's not overcomplicating it. Um, it basically tells you how it is, because I think That's the one thing that women can get so caught up on. Um, all these words and insulin and, you know, sarcopenia and hypertrophy.

And you're like, Oh my Lord, where do I go? All women want to know is, you know, my blood glucose level, stop snacking. How do I feel better? How can I move better? Um, and that's really what the book has brought together and kind of in that 30 day plan. Um, what I hope that by the end of it is that women have found a love actually really of lifting weights.

Um, so, um, you know, drawing on my, that, that my own experience, it wasn't for me until I started lifting weights. I really noticed the difference. Um, I have a history of disordered eating, which I think many women can resonate. I also have at the time when I came into this. space, I had no idea how to eat anymore.

It was like, was I doing low fat or low carbs? Or was I cutting calories or was I going to juice? Or was I going to do keto? Um, because everyone was telling me, do this and this is going to happen. And I just think we're dealing with so much. We don't know where to turn anymore. And, and whilst I think it's great that the information is there, it's actually filtering through it, that can be really overwhelming and, um, um, And so it literally is a really simple, lovely 30 day plan.

It's got meals, um, meals, menu, recipe suggestions alongside it. It's not 30 days of working out. We've got stretch and mobility in there. We've got a couple of mindfulness sessions in there. Um, and it is, it's. The great thing about it, Catherine, is it's not me just saying to you, go over there and do it. So this was my brilliant idea at the time, which in hindsight has been a lot of work, but absolutely worth it, is that within the book, you stand a QR code and it takes you to a 30 day beginner plan or a 30 day intermediate plan.

So the workouts are all live. They're all follow along and they're all on demand. And I am there with you. I am sweating. I am not breathing at the times when, because I think that that was important. And do you know what? There were times when I was doing like an overhead lunge and I lost my balance and I, and I sort of topple and I think to myself, Oh no, what do I do?

And I'm like, do you know what guys are toppled? I lost my balance. I'm not re recording it. This isn't perfect. Life is not perfect. Um, and so for me, it was very much about unfiltering the filtered and, and just getting on with the workouts. And if it goes wrong, Doesn't matter. Let's, let's kick, let's crack on.

I love that because, you know, I do, as you know, I do a lot of work in workplaces. And so often I forget a word. I forget what I'm talking about. And I just say, sorry, that's my brain fog. And you know, and it's just kind of like, you know, now it doesn't bother me at all. Generally people just laugh or they nod or, you know, as in they understand, but I think it is, listen, we're all human.

There's, and you know, I think, um, I think that's fantastic. The idea to be able to scan the code is brilliant. And let's just talk about that for a minute because I only started strength training this year and what I did was I first off had my DEXA scan done because I was nervous. My sister had been diagnosed with osteopenia and I really, because you know yourself, you don't know what's going on unless you have a break or Something but anyway, I had my DEXA scan done and thankfully came back very good and no sign of osteopenia or osteoporosis So I kind of I was very much saying okay.

I have a benchmark now So now I really know that I really want to concentrate on on strength training and weight bearing exercises. And, uh, I was definitely nervous, Kate, uh, when I started, but my Lord, oh my God, is it addictive or what? Oh, yes. Oh, I love you. How, how it makes you feel. You come out of there.

Like, I'll give you a really good example. I left, I'm going to be, there's a really honest life story. Can't let my sons listen to this one. I left the house this morning after one of my testosterone driven sons having a pretty narky moment. I left to go to the gym and I was like, Oh, you know, but anyway, I was talking to the guy in the gym and I was, you know, venting and then he said, okay, I'm going to get you to do the, I don't know if there's an exercise called, but it's like a pounding a really heavy ball.

Oh my God. Brilliant. The slam ball. That's it. The slam ball. And I left there and I felt so different. To how I felt when I went in now. I'm only talk about I am using a gym It works for me, but you can use it at home, right? But can you just talk a little bit about how important how important it is? I mean, you know, I love that you say that because I think you've, you've touched on a, on a really good point that, that a, you've given yourself time to vent, um, you know, by kind of walking away from the situation and you felt strong and it's given you back that element of control that I think we all feel that we slightly lose when we, we get to this life stage, you know, there's so many things thrown at us that sometimes we don't know, uh, which way to turn, but in terms of kind of the physiological reasons for that strength training, you know, without adding, um, resistance and weight to your workouts, you are not really going to be able to help yourself build muscle mass and muscle strength, which essentially helps you move.

every day. It supports your whole system. It supports your bones and your joints. So again, bringing it then to your bone health and your joints and your bones, really important for the resistance training. I think for many women that sometimes doesn't, uh, Not, uh, give them a good reason to move, but I think when I say to people, actually, the more muscle mass you have, the more you burn calories.

And I hate making it about weight related thing, but that sadly, I think for so many women does seem to be a way of drawing them in and getting them moving. Um, you know, the more muscle mass you have, you will burn more calories. Um, and so, you know, that is a kind of way to suggest go and try lifting weights Because I think it's fear so much for so many women that they don't know where to start They don't know how to start.

They think it's too late. They have to go to a gym like there are so many Um reasons to to not go Um, I mean there but there but there are more reasons to go And like you're saying, you started from scratch and you can also build strength really, really quickly and a lot quicker than we think. Um, and you can do that from home.

Um, you know, I have the book obviously where you can start. I have the app. So on my app, owning your menopause, that also has like a four week beginner's guide to lifting weights. Um, which people can do at home, um, and I, and I get, you know, there, there always is that concern for me when people are coming into lifting, um, for correct form, because equally we are going to be more prone to injury, uh, with that decline in oestrogen, you know, we're sort of, Setting ourselves up with that, uh, the, the process that we're already against when it, when, when it's coming to aging.

Um, and I also worry that when people sometimes start, they set really unrealistic expectations. Um, and I think that's where people can either fall off an exercise regime or they may not start because they put too much pressure on themselves. Um, but, but really, you know, What you touched on back there in terms of managing stress and mental health.

I think for me, that's been my, my biggest win when it's come to lifting weights. Yes, of course, you know, it's helped with my muscle mass and I have built muscle. And yes, it has helped with my bones. I actually myself have a diagnosis of osteopenia in both my hips and my lower spine. So weight lifting weights is a non negotiable.

Um, for me, but it's the anxiety that it's really helped with. Um, we talk a lot or women say a lot of the time we don't have any time to exercise, but you know what? I would love people to know that That 10 minutes, 15 minutes, which you can do it in lifting weights, um, is so productive for their mental health.

And instead of perhaps thinking, oh, sit and watch a Netflix, something to wind down, 'cause that's gonna help, that's not gonna help because your brain is still worrying about the worry and the, the, the stress. Forget that Netflix thing and go and do waits instead. And I think, I think he's with that. I mean, like, you know, like you mentioned earlier with symptoms of anxiety, that was one of my earlier symptoms in perimenopause as well.

It's the, it's one of the most crippling symptoms of menopause is anxiety. And I think like that, the difference, like I will do stretches now at home and like that, I will get so much more. Out of doing 10, 15 minutes of arm stretches, legs stretches, whatever it is, then, you know, yes, we all need to kick back and watch a bit of TV or, you know, whatever, but depending on the mood you're in, these are little tools that can just really change the trajectory of your day.

I can tell you from my experience just this morning. That completely changed my day, because, you know, it just changed my mindset, it just changed where I was at, and you know yourself, when you're slamming a ball, which is heavy, you have to concentrate on the ball, so you're not thinking about anything else, you know.

And I, and I also think it's like, it's really important to think about how you want to live the next chapter of your life. Um, you know, I want to be the person that walks into a room and I mean, Angela Rippon, let's take her for an example. Um, you know, and she's there and she's dancing and she's mobile and she's strong.

Like that for me is, is what I, what I would like to be. And I think, and I, and I guess, you know, having lost maybe a parent as well, really puts all of that into perspective because you do begin to realize like life is short. You, you have to make of it what you can and, you know, bringing it to that, that if you don't start owning a menopause, if you don't start trying to manage many of the symptoms that show up through diet and exercise, regardless of your HRT status, you know, You have got less of a chance at having a, uh, more fruitful, um, second half.

And I know Dr. Lisa Moscone, she's done loads of research on that recently. I mean, definitely in terms of the brain, but I think she mentioned something in a post yesterday about how you live your midlife very much dictates. Um, you know the next section of of your life and it and it makes me chuckle though Catherine because I saw a couple of comments there going.

Oh, well, I'm I'm screwed then and you just kind of like Why are people so defeatist about this? I said, I I'm just like you're not It's never too late to take control of your future health Um, and I don't know if it's because people are scared Perhaps, um, there aren't enough conversations at the moment still about, about this.

I, I, I live, we live in a bubble, right? We are in a slight bubble. So we need to make progress. I did a post the other day, cause I'm going to do this little challenge. Sorry. And I said to people, if you had a hundred pounds, To spend in a year, sort of thing, on yourself. Would you buy a handbag or a pair of shoes or a top or a jumper that you'd really been wanting?

Or would you spend it on your future health? And it was 50 50. And I was gobsmacked by that, because I thought, actually, more people listening to what I'm trying to share with them would have gone for their future health. But they were like, no, we'll go for the handbag. And I'm like, fools, you're all fools.

But I think that's, you know, that's where we, we live, we live in, we live, I won't say we live in the moment because I don't think we do enough of that because I think we worry and ruminate, etc. But we live in the moment. in the period as in we're not thinking about the future proofing and it's something I talk about the whole time because, you know, um, like my mom has Alzheimer's, so I'm very conscious of, um, cognitive health.

And Lisa has, uh, I just finished reviewing Lisa's new book, which is coming out next year. And I mean, it's just going to be so helpful for so many women in relation to cognitive function. But it's like, you know, We have to start thinking about, in our 40s through to our 60s, this is when we have to be thinking about the future proofing aspects.

And that is, that is our bones, that is our muscle, that is our cognitive health, that it is our heart health. And we're kicking the can down the road if we're not actually realizing that everything we do now today will influence how we feel down the line, right? Because that, that is where we make change.

Yeah, no, I agree. I think the worrying, not the worrying thing, cause obviously I don't want to sort of send a message out there that it's too late, but our, our bone mass peaks at the age of 30. So, um, you know, it then is, we are breaking down bone at a bigger rate than we're building it up from the age of 30.

So, You know, in fact, in all these conversations that we're having, I would like to reach women well before 30 to say, you know, this is what we need to be doing. And don't get me wrong. I mean, I led the most colorful, colorful past drinking, smoking, running, not eating, you know, having a great time, but that I'm now paying the price for that.

Really with that diagnosis of osteopenia because when I went for that Dexter scan the questions were How much do you drink? Have you drunk heavily? Yes in the past. Have you taken drugs? Yes in the past. Are you a smoker? Yes in the past. Have you had disordered eating? Yes in the past So I'm I'm literally red flag red flag red flag red flag and you know, I can say that to my kids now I have teenagers, you know, and they're all you know, They're all maybe vaping or they're all starting to drink.

And I can sit there and say, just please be mindful of this now, because da, da, da, da, and da, da, da, da, when you're in it and when you're that age, you think you're invincible. And so I sit there and it's that sort of thing. When, if I had told my 25 year old self that at 47, I might have osteopenia, I've gone, ah.

Shut up. What do you do? Like we, you know, it's so difficult, you know, but equally on that note, it isn't too late. Right. And I think that that is that that is the key that regardless of your past, you have this whole really colorful, amazing future. Like right there, like this is a, and, and the wealth of information that we are trying to share and give to women.

This is a gift. This is free information that we didn't have really. You know, it wasn't there. We weren't told about this and we are trying to, you know, as wonderful Diane says, you know, we will be the generation to make menopause matter. And she's spot on. We've got a long way to go, but this wealth of information about how to help ourselves, you know, with all of these incredible women in this space.

driving for change, hopefully in a collaborative manner, can really make an impact. Yeah, no, look, I think like that's, that's, that's what we're about, right? But I, I, and I, I think a key part of that though is, you know, trying to keep it, Keep the clarity in the conversation and stop the overwhelm and I see probably every single day I see overwhelm, you know, just yesterday I was on site and working with a group and the conversations we have about but I see this and then I see something else in the country indicates what I saw there and Who do I go to?

And where do I go to? And you're just kind of trying to say, you know, it's so important to stick to the evidence based information and stick to trusted resources so that you can then make an informed choice in terms of owning your own menopause, right? Because I see, I think across social media, I think everywhere, there's a huge amount of confusion.

And I, I just think the best we can do. for each other is to collaboratively keep things clear, keep a clarity and a practicality. around menopause and I'm very passionate about the fact the dogma of, you know, literally every woman should be on HRT has to change because not every woman can take HRT by medical circumstances or by choice, you know, and that's something we, you know, we have to respect each other on that one.

No, totally. I totally agree with you. And actually in the book, like I wanted my book to be really credible and I know that I can't write about every topic about every subject, so I pulled in some amazing people, um, to who have contributed to the book and, you know, they're not well known people, but they're people that I respect and I value their opinion.

I didn't want to go for, you know, Ooh, look, they've got loads of followers. Let's bring them in. Because actually, as you and I both know, you can have a gazillion followers and still talk shit. Um, so I have got, I've got. Wonderful nutritionist, Katie, who works with me anyway, you know, she's done the nutrition.

I even asked a Pilates instructor to write about why Pilates was good for midlife women, um, because I don't teach Pilates. So I could go and find out, but actually why not ask someone who, who teaches women that? I've got lovely Claire Bourne, um, who talks about pelvic health to come and talk about pelvic health and menopause.

Um, because I can give that information, but I just think if it comes from somebody, a trusted source, like you're saying, then women are going to get the right help. Um, but, but it is that, and I will always try and caveat anything I do by saying, I'm not a nutritionist or I'm not this, but actually Catherine, I imagine the wealth of knowledge that you and I both have.

We probably could be, we probably could diagnose someone with perimenopause and we probably would know how to guide them and what prescription to give them, but we wouldn't do it because, you know, it's not in our, it's not in our remit to do so, but we would sign post them to the right person in the right place to go and get that help.

Exactly. And that's where I, you know, it's the staying in your own lane is so important, isn't it? Because, you know, we can definitely be the, the conduits to signpost and the conduits for providing evidence based, clear, practical information. You know, I think that's, that's so important. Just Kate, when you mentioned their Pilates, what other, you know, we talked about weight bearing exercise, resistance training, um, and on top of that Pilates, what other exercises or do you cover other exercises?

Yeah, I mean, well, so on, uh, in the book I go through practically everything. So I just, or I just give an idea of different types of movement. Um, because I think the most important thing regardless of trying to make sure we have strength training is that women find something they enjoy because ultimately, um, that's the most important thing.

The most important thing is that we're moving and you know what, for some women that might be an hour's walk a day. Brilliant. Keep doing it. That's extraordinary. And you're wonderful. Um, it might be someone that wants to, they want to swim and they swim for half an hour a day. That's equally brilliant. It just would be good if they could add some resistance just to optimize it a little bit.

Um, you know, and I'm not saying that anything's bad. I think the one thing we do want to be mindful of when we come to this life stage are things that might stress our body a little bit more and elevate an already elevated cortisol body. Um, not because cortisol is bad. We need cortisol, but because if our levels are too high, that can come around with sort of numerous symptoms that actually replicate menopause symptoms.

Um, and, um, But that if we are that person just to kind of get a gauge on it, pull it back a little bit. Like I said, we still want to have that, but you know, a level of cortisol. But for example, I get a lot of women who come to me. They're anxious, they're stressed, they've got mostly joint aches and pains actually, and I'll say, well, what are you doing?

And they're like, well, I'm doing HIIT every day. And I'm like, well, there we go. There's your answer. You are, you are stressing an already stressed body. Um, so for me, HIIT, those high intensity workouts would be something just to pull back on. Definitely not something to, you know, ideally start in mid middle age.

Um, uh, you know, and again on the app, we do one hit class a week because everybody loves it. Um, but yoga, we have lovely Libby Stevenson who does our yoga. Um, Pilates, we've got dance, incredible dance teacher called Claudia, because again, that's an upbeat lifting, you know, so, so I think that's really important for women to find Joy in movement and, and, and I, and I do talk about that in the book as well.

It's like joy of movement, um, is really important. Um, and I think in order to make it sustainable, it's like finding your why. I think for so many of us are, why is always determined by, you know, a number or, um, a season, you know, I've got a summer holiday. I want to look good, uh, or, or, or an occasion. And I think that we need to give ourselves.

a really sort of a bit, a bit of a check. And my why for exercising and getting up and stretching and recovery and mobility and fueling my body is because I want to give myself the best possible chance of fighting any disease that might come along. And if I'm in optimal wellness, I have a better chance of doing that.

And because I want to be able to run around after my grandchildren. I am so sad my dad will not get to see, you know, so much of their life. Now I'm not saying that he could have prevented that or, or any of that, but actually, you know, he was fit, but he didn't do, I guess what we all look at what we kind of should be doing, if that makes sense.

Um, yeah, but so, so I guess, I guess I'm very much of that, that, that mindset. And I want to influence my children as well. to, to know the power of movement, um, you know, for their mental health. We're living in the most crazy world at the moment. And, you know, especially now when we're obviously doing this, um, this podcast.

And, um, I think that, that we, we, if we. Stop for a minute and think about the really positive benefits of exercise on our mental health and just on getting through the day. Um, I think that that outweighs any weight goal, any nice dress for a party. Um, you know, in my personal opinion. A hundred percent, a hundred percent.

And just when you mentioned dance, I read a brilliant paper recently, and it was basically saying how dance was one of the number one lifestyle aspects that we should look at when it comes to Alzheimer's because, and there was two reasons for that. One was because you have the movement, but the other, and you have the movement, the physical movement, but you've also got to think.

about the movement. So your brain has to think about, am I going left, right? I always go the wrong direction. But what way are you going? Then on top of that, you have the social part of it because you're in a group, you're connected together. So yeah, dance is a, or even on your own though, it's, it's, it's great.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think also with Alzheimer's is it repetition as well, because then it's, um, it's, it's more repetition, repetition, repetition. Um, I'm not entirely sure if that is a thing, but, but it is that thing again, that with that, the strength remain or the strength is there because, It's like with your muscle, um, you know, if you repeat the move and repeat the move, you're going to build that strength.

And so obviously someone with Alzheimer's who, um, you know, is, is suffering all different, um, symptoms actually that repetition will build that strength. Um, and that, that, that, I guess what I say the memory, because it's, it's recognized the brain kind of body recognizes it and, and can remember. Yeah, and that's probably why someone who's in quite advanced stages of Alzheimer's, they may not talk much, but if you play a song that they know very well, they might sing the song.

So it's obviously connected to that. Um, just one other quick thing before we finish. Just food, okay? Now I know we could spend an hour talking about food, but could we just talk about protein and carbs? Because they get, again, mixed messages. And poor carbs, they get a terrible bad press. Um, but you know, what are your thoughts?

on protein and carbs and particularly, I guess, just in relation to everyday health, but also, you know, in relation to training, exercise, movement, weight bearing, etc. Yeah, I'm going to caveat this very quickly. I am not a registered nutritionist. So anything I say is my own personal, uh, personal learnings.

Um, and if I get it wrong, I'm sorry. As I say, I make sure you consults a nutritionist or a dietitian. Um, it's interesting that as well, funnily enough, having done my audio book recently, uh, because you just said protein and carbs, and I think there's another little group of foods that's getting really forgotten at the moment, and that's fats.

So, you know, we've got our macronutrients, which are protein, carbs, and fats. And I was only saying the other day to somebody that gut health, which is obviously intrinsically linked to, um, you know, brain health to, to, to most things. It's a real mind brain connection, but your gut health is really important is that we're going so gut health.

It's almost like HRT, but going so gut health. We're forgetting. Protein. Well, actually protein is still up there, but we're forgetting carbs and fats and they paint a massive picture in energy and nourishing our body. Um, you know, good healthy carbs, um, fuel your body. That's the petrol. Um, you know, that's going to help you, uh, stay energized.

It's going to help you build lean muscle protein, obviously, again, massively important for that same thing, building muscle for repair. Um, again, for staying fuller for I think a lot of women, um, I was going to say midlife, but I think a lot of women, regardless of life stages, um, find that, that them, that they snack a lot.

And obviously we're snacking a lot because I think many of us aren't eating three wholesome meals a day. We're not eating enough on that plate because we might be thinking, if I eat all of that, I'm going to put on weight, but actually that can count, be counterintuitive. Um, but yeah, So what I say is imagine three delicious, wholesome meals a day.

Protein, protein, protein. You don't want to have all your protein in one meal because your body finds it really difficult to digest. Um, and actually in my book I have little guidance on how, if you're out and about, you can use your hands to measure, uh, your protein, your carbs, your fat. what should be on your plate.

Um, because again, I don't want people weighing food, you know, it's that, Oh, you better have time to go. Okay. It's the percentage here, percentage there. Um, so what, what I would say is absolutely, we need to really be eating, um, protein rich. Low, um, you know, um, healthy carbs and not low fat fun enough. I was in the supermarket and someone was saying, Oh, should I get the 0%?

And I went, no, we need those healthy fats, um, again, to help our bodies and protect our bodies. So, um, I think the problem we've got is obviously we have this fasting thing. We have keto, we have juicing. Look at the end of the day, all of those ways, again, in my own personal. opinion and experience are ways of cutting calories.

So the intermittent fasting thing is just you're not eating in the morning. And so then you're cutting calories. I do know that it's a lot more scientific than that, um, as well, and that it can be good for inflammation. Um, lovely Mandy Peltz has done some really good stuff on that. And I love listening to her about her, uh, the, the intermittent fasting and how that can have a really good, um, effect on a woman's bench.

But again, I'm not equipped to go into the depth of science in that. But what I would say is that for some women it works and some women it doesn't. Um, so I think again, like, I guess, like with HRT, we're all individual. We have to find what works for us as an individual. Um, and I, and I think that that is the, I mean, we could talk for hours, but I think that's the other terrifying thing.

Is that on social media, it really does allow the floodgates to open in terms of self comparison. And so we'll see these images and we'll think, okay, well, so she's doing that. So that's what I'm going to do. And it reminds me of, of being 13, actually, when I used to think that I'd be able to look like Cindy Crawford.

And that was kind of fundamentally flawed from day one, because I was only five foot three and she's six foot. So if I, if anyone ever said to me, what do you wish you could tell your younger self, like it would be. That I'm never going to be somebody else. And I, and I think that that is really important for women at this time is that you are, you are, we are so unique and what works for us is not going to work for anybody else.

So however much we, um, are told do this, do that. There is a certain element of trial and error, um, to finding what works for you and to tweaking that. And I think if we were all given that piece of information and we all really believed it from a young age, we could save ourselves a lot of heartache and believing a lot of crap that is out there.

Well said, well said, Kate. It is, it is, it's, look, it's, We're individual, you know, you and I both are having a different experience. We're both, we'll have different things in our personal menopause toolkit. I think what we both are passionate about is empowering women to give them the information so that they can decide what goes into your toolkit.

Congratulations, huge congratulations on your book. I know what it's like writing a book. The, the, the, the mammoth, uh, project that it is, but, um, huge congratulations. I do know it will help so, so many women and the practical, I think the practical approach that it has is just fantastic. So, um, I'm certainly looking forward to scanning, scanning for additional exercises.

Yeah, definitely. And, um, we'll share, I'll put all the links in the show notes, uh, to your book, to your website, and everything, and everyone can connect, can connect with you on Instagram as well. Thank you so much. It's been so lovely to chat. Thank you for having me. Thank you for listening to Menopause Uprising.