What to know before Menopause

The beauty and the curse of Menopause is that we all know it’s coming. Cue the Jaws soundtrack.

Ahhhhhhh…..noooooo!

It’s an inescapable part of having a female body, but it’s not a stage we have to dread. 

Whether you hit this change prematurely or gracefully transition into a sexy bombshell like Sophia Loren, you don’t have to give up your health and vitality in your wiser years.

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What to do for dry labia

So, what is happening that tanks our libido and instead dishes out plenty of hot flashes, night sweats, unexplained weight gain that won’t leave for the love of god, and dry labia that are seriously so painful they feel like two shaved Pitbulls fighting their way between your legs

The funniest example of this is in the TV sitcom Arrested Development. The aging woman is getting ready for her conjugal visit with her elderly husband and she is near tears when she stops herself abruptly to say, “I wanna cry so bad, but I don’t think I can spare the moisture.” 🎯 Too dry to cry! 😂

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The biggest problem is that you have to start planning yesterday if you want to cruise through menopause in a less than chaotic fashion. In case you’re on the “after the fact” train, just grab this amazing, completely holistic lubricant now, you won’t regret it.

Women are in menopause for a lot longer now as we live to be much older and there are many steps that you can take right now in preparation for a smooth transition.

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What to eat to prevent menopause symptoms

Step 1 Eat for Sustainable Energy

When you eat the right foods to fuel your body like a high-performance machine, you will feel 10 years younger. 

When you eat the wrong foods for your body you light the fire of inflammation. In the brain, inflammation feels like brain fog – “where the hell are my keys?” – and zero energy. 

Inflammation in the cells breaks the assembly line of energy and feels like you constantly need to take a nap. Inflammation in the gut causes massive indigestion and feels like you need to throw up in your mouth if you eat fatty foods, or you feel like you have to hold your farts in for days if you accidentally eat the wrong thing. 

These are not normal symptoms and nobody should have to deal with them on a daily basis. Changing your diet to the foods that fuel you feels like you traded in your body for a newer model. No more “sorry honey, I have a headache”, but more like “catch me if you can.” 😉

I’ve been working in an OB/Gyn clinic for 8 years now and the one nutrient every couple struggling with fertility, every woman trying to lose weight after the birth of a child, and every woman in a horrible menopausal state is suffering from is low essential fats. 

My advice to prevent a rough menopause is to eat more high-quality fats with every meal.

A body that needs fat will store fat.

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Why do I have high cholesterol?

Step 2 Understand your labs 

Does your doctor have a contemporary understanding of cholesterol?

Do they take the time to help you understand that Total Cholesterol is a terrible marker for judging the risk of cardiovascular health and that some women are perfectly healthy with a number between 200 and 300?

Or is your practitioner still using the cut-off range of 200 that was developed from a panel of men (who were chosen in this 1984 panel). That study decided cholesterol of 180 was adequate for anyone under age 30 and 200 for someone 30+ years old. Is your doctor still holding you to this old number even though very good research has proven this debate wrong over the last 20 years?

As Stacy Sims, PhD researcher from Stanford in women’s health points out, “women are not small men” so stop comparing us to them!

It’s critical to understand what the cholesterol marker is trying to tell you. It’s an antioxidant that’s released when there’s a lack of hormones, a need for repair in the body, and most often to reduce inflammation. 

So the real questions with high cholesterol are: 

• Do you have low hormones?
• Is there something to repair in your body?
• What the heck is causing inflammation?

The question should never be “why isn’t your cholesterol like the men in that panel from the 80s? Did you know we have a drug for that?”

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What foods will lower my cholesterol?

A body that is lacking in the necessary cholesterol will raise the production of cholesterol.

If you want to improve your cholesterol, eat fewer foods that cause inflammation such as alcohol, sugar, processed foods, and vegetable oils and eat enough foods with healthy amounts of essential fats and cholesterol in them for you.

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Step 3 Create sustainable healthy habits

Why is it so damn hard to change the way we eat? Eating is a comfort when you're sad, and if you don’t believe me try stopping halfway through a pint of Ben & Jerry’s after a breakup.

Eating is a celebration, otherwise, we wouldn't have enough food to feed an army every time your 16 family members get together for the most recent birthday party.

Eating is punishment… is there any other explanation why our generation had to sit at the table until we finished every last bite. It’s no wonder we overeat or make our kids whatever they want even if it means making three different dinners because that makes us feel like we are doing a better job than our parents. 

Eating is reward, I know I think I deserve a glass of wine and dark chocolate at the end of the night.

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How should I accomplish all this?

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Change is hard! 

I know, but having someone there by your side who has had to make all of the same changes works. Don’t try to do this alone, it takes a village. And don’t try to shame yourself into thinking that you should be good at this.

How in hell can anyone keep up with the changes and know what diet, exercise, meditation, sauna, vitamin, and probiotic is right for them with all of the confusing information out there? 

You literally have to research everything to untangle the good advice from the studies that were paid for by big pharma to sell a drug and it’s a life’s work that I have taken on because I love it.

Now, I want you to have a trusted resource so that you don’t have to waste your time reading through the white papers, filtering out the big money, and making sure everything you put in your body is safe for you.

Let’s stay connected so I can make it easy for you, explain the science in easy terms, and yeah probably make a bunch of jokes along the way. Humor me healthy I like to say, it just doesn’t have to sound so damn pretentious. We all need a little less talking over our heads and a little more truth behind the words.

Whether you are trying to figure out your cycles, looking to get pregnant, in the middle of motherhood, or anticipating the dreaded menopause, the time to start working on these healthy habits is always now!

I promise to share the truth with you, on how to eat to get more energy, with less effort, feel 10 years younger, and not by giving up your favorite comfort foods.

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With so much love and support,

Jessica

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