Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
I’m here to guide and accompany you to your greatest potential and give you the tools to create a life beyond your wildest dreams. You will change your life’s narrative, transform your limiting beliefs, and you will fully own your magnificent power. So that you can go from lack, to making your life one big authentically yours mind-blowing story.
I know you want more than your current reality. So, let’s unleash your inner badassery. Let’s explore the Intersection of Pain, Passion and Power. You don’t know how? I do. I have been where you are now. I suffered, learned, awakened and succeeded so that I can show you how.
With me, you get an unapologetic, powerful sister and guide with exceptional skills and a fearless attitude, all in one. Think "Sistuoso Maestro".
So, welcome to your POWER LIFE!!
Let’s do this. You have waited way too long already.
I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about one topic in particular. It’s a little different than what I usually talk about, but it is something that – I would say – the majority of us in midlife have in common and that we are struggling with: gaining weight in midlife and trying to lose that weight. Those additional pounds around the midsection, you know? Those things that are ironically called love handles. During midlife, this challenge has definitely gotten even harder than in the first half of our lives.
Now that I am not training professionally anymore for bodybuilding, I am facing this dilemma just like anyone of you. It’s like my body just woke up and realized “Oh wait a second, it’s menopause time.” I swear, I gain weight just thinking about food. I am not a nutrition coach or menopause coach. But I have common sense and I am not afraid to disrupt or ruffle some feathers here. I am sharing this with you, because what I’ve been experiencing the last three months has frustrated the heck out of me and judging by your inquiries, many of you are challenged by this as well.
There is a bunch of BS out there and I wanna cut through this crap. Because this is what I do with life in general and bullshit in particular. It pisses me off, when people take advantage of desperate people. So let’s get to the bottom of some of this, get some clarity and change it.
Number one: whether it is diets, workout plans, books on menopause, or magic pills, all of it makes somewhat sense, but anybody who is trying to sell you a one size fits all solution is trying to rip you off. Don’t fall for it. Their #1 goal is to make money off your problem.
I ordered this book from a menopause specialist who is a doctor I found on LinkedIn. One of the things she suggested was a macro diet. I worked with macro diets for years while I was training. I like them. It’s easy. It’s straight forward. You use an app to enter what you eat. It counts your calories and within those calories, you can eat pretty much whatever you want. I put her suggested numbers into my app and the result was a 900 calories a day diet. That’s so low. It’s totally unrealistic, unhealthy and unsustainable. I contacted her and whoever got back to me, told me to contact a nutritionist. Really? I feel ripped off. What did I buy a book for, if they can’t answer the most simplest question pertaining to the information they gave me in their book?
The other thing, many experts suggest is intermittent fasting. Generally, I like intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting means that you don't eat for a period of time each day. Around 14 hours of not eating is kind of my preferred window for fasting. But a lot of them suggest 16-18 hours of intermittent fasting and to make it a daily routine. And also, to do a dinner to dinner fast once a week – so to eat only once per day – and once we have mastered that, to do regular 36 hour fasts. I don’t know about you, but to me, this does not feel good. Their comment on that: if you can’t go without food, you are probably diabetic. Which I am not. But I am active. I don’t lay around all day. And to me, eating so sparingly is seriously debilitating and unhealthy.
Now let’s get to what to eat. There, the experts don’t agree either. There seems to be no consensus. Some say eat lots of protein and others say reduce protein and increase healthy fats. My menopause doctor expert says that 60% of all calories should be coming from fats. That’s a lot of fat.
Then there are menopause pills or gummies: they give you a 60 day money back guarantee. However, the fine print says that you wont see results for 2-3 months. Haaaaa?! That math does not add up.
Now, don’t get me started on exercise. I work out hard. I lift weights. Heavy weights. And that’s what you are supposed to do. I am aware that lifting weights turns up our metabolism, which burns fat, much more effectively than cardio does. It’s time to lift weights and crank up that internal fire. Right,…, I’ve been trying that and at this point, my body does not seem to agree with this. No fat loss. And if you are still used to doing cardio, because that’s what we grew up with, that’s definitely out the window. Our generation grew up on aerobics and running our little buts off. That in itself requires quite a mindset shift.
Now, I don’t know about you, but to me, all of this is very confusing. There is no transparency and in my opinion, there are too many people trying to make an easy penny off us. Especially now, that menopause is no longer a taboo topic, it has unfortunately become a cash cow.
I am happy that we can openly talk about this. My mother suffered in silence. So this is much better. But of course, at the same time, it creates a business opportunity for the sharks out there. Most social media platforms are seriously blood infested waters.
So here is my two no agenda, no bs cents on this. Because this is not coming from anybody who has any skin in this game, except my own love handles that I am trying to get rid off.
1) There is no one size fits all solution. So don’t buy into any of this. Save yourself some money and go see a doctor. Have your blood drawn and get the facts about your own personal hormones. How messed up are they? Then go from there. Find a solution that works for YOU and that you are comfortable with. It’s out there. But it is not on Amazon or social media.
2) Take a step back. Take a deep breath and get back to basics. What has happened to being intuitive. I can tell you. It has fallen victim to our need for instant gratification and miracle band aids. Instead, listen to your body. Nurture it with healthy food that feels good to YOU. Again, everybody is different. What might feel good to me, might not feel good to you. Get back to wholesome clean basics. Which also includes
keeping yourself hydrated and well rested. Get your 7-8 hours of sleep.
3) Change your mindset and expectations. As children of the 60s, 70s and 80s, we were programmed to think thin as our goal. All of our cardio exercises like aerobics, step and running, were about being thin. At this point, the goal shouldn’t’ be to be skinny. We need to move our body to be strong, not skinny. The goal should be to be strong, happy and healthy. Cardio is chipping away at our muscle and bone strength that we need particularly during midlife. Let go of the notion that thin is the way to be. Instead, be a little rounder and strong. It will serve us way better – emotionally and physically.
4) And that brings me to the most important point: avoid or eliminate the #1 enemy!! Stress!! Funny enough, nobody talks about that. Honestly, because no money can be made with this. Do you know what stress has to do with weight? Everything! When you are stressed, your stress hormone, which is cortisol, increases and that causes your body to produce more fat. Producing fat is a stress response. So, the more frustrated you are with all of this, the more weight you will gain.
So bottom line: address your hormonal issues professionally. But at the same time, I want you to realize that all the other issues you are dealing with that come with midlife are adding love handles to your midsection. Your babies leaving the nest. Divorce. Losing parents or grandparents. Being unhappy in your own body. Stress or unhappiness at work. Feeling disconnected from your partner. Sleepless nights tossing and turning. Anxiety, restlessness, dissatisfaction with life, and that urge for some significant life changes.
From my own experience, I can tell you with certainty that all this stress is real and it needs to be addressed. Just as important as we need to get a clear understanding of what is going on with our hormones, we also need to figure out what is going on emotionally. What is keeping us awake at night? I take a holistic approach to wellness for myself and my clients – for me it is all connected – it’s the physical, emotional and spiritual aspect. If just one of these is out of balance, it will take everything else down with it. Just like a three legged stool. One leg is shorter than the other two, this thing is not standing up. That means, we need to dig deep, below the surface of what can be remedied with a magical pill or a diet from a stranger who knows nothing about you, what is going on in your life, what keeps you up at night or makes you want to wolf down a pot of ice cream.
So, do yourself a favor and talk to somebody who will do the digging with you. We don’t have to do this alone. Actually, we can’t even do this alone. We’ve been around the block a few times by now and there are a bunch of things that have either accumulated and been ignored over the years, as well as those typical midlife challenges that we need to deal with. It’s a lot. And getting help with this is a necessity. If you want to feel good and look good, ignoring this is not an option. Find somebody who gets you, who vibes like you, who is professional and knowledgeable, who is holistic in their approach and who doesn’t just give you a pill to put a bandaid over your symptoms, so they can make an easy buck. You need somebody who is excited to roll up their sleeves and dig deep with you. Wouldn’t that feel awesome to not be alone in this anymore? You owe it to yourself.
Ok, until next week. Don’t stress it. Instead, address it. And keep sharing your thoughts with me.