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Personal Trainer Michelle McIntyre is here to bring you the motivation, affirmation, and love you need to unleash your most powerful self. Always real and deeply personal, Michelle and her guests offer up experiences that will help you navigate the worlds of fitness, health, and wellness. Join her on this journey and discover that You Can Be A Fit Bitch Too!
00:13
Hey there and welcome back to You Can Be a Fit Bitch 2, the rising series. Today's yummy topic is all about hot flashes, hair growth, belly fat, hormonal fluctuations, not giving flying fucks about anything and all of the different fun things that no one talks about in perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause. Welcome, I'm Michelle and I'm so excited that you're here because we're about to
00:42
dig into all the things that this new joyous chapter brings. Oh my God, and it's gonna be funny. Okay, ladies, can we just talk about how absolutely bat shit menopause is for a second? Like one day I'm minding my own business, drinking a coffee, living my best confident queen life, and the next I'm sweating like I just ran a marathon, screaming at my toaster.
01:11
and carrying emergency crotch rockets, tampons, and every single purse because absolutely, apparently, my period now pops up like a damn jump scare. No, like with no warning, no, oh, here it comes, just an absolute gusher. Yeah, that happens. Oh my God. And then there's the smell. I don't mean to...
01:38
I don't mean I smell great and lovely and flowery. I mean, I smell like a gym locker room. I'm looking around thinking like, who is it? Like who? And nobody warned me about that. And also, when did my face decide to sprout 15 fucking chin whiskers? I mean, I'm plucking out little baby hairs all the time. It's like eyelashes are going, hairs changing.
02:07
Eyebrows are gone. I mean, what the flying fuck, really? And oh, let's not forget about the Menno rage. I mean, at this point in life, I'm 51 and I am in post menopause. I've not had a period for almost God, a year and a half now. And you think he would be like, oh yay, joy, no period. But what?
02:37
comes along with that, no one talks about. You still get the hormonal fluctuation without any warning, without any period to tell you that you're in that cycle or that phase. And it is so absolutely outrageous. uh It's like not a party in my pants anymore. Things are drying up down there too. Don't get me wrong, being single, trying to get back.
03:05
on the day he seen me. And then menopause or post menopause, I mean, oh my God, I'm a hot flash waiting to happen. I'm sweaty, but I'm not slickery. I'm just telling you, it's such a wild ride. Yeah, so if any of you have been encountering any of these things, I just wanted to debunk Perimenopause and menopause today with you.
03:32
through my experience and some of the things that I've done to kind of help me get through some of these crazy times when you feel like you're about to self combust in the grocery store. You feel like you need to carry around a portable fucking fan because you never know when you're about to just sweat through your clothes. Perimenopause usually starts around, it can start anywhere in your forties and then menopause into your fifties.
03:57
and then post after. So for me, I started actually really young, I think because I didn't have kids. There's a difference between everyone's experience. I'm going to say that not everybody gets all of these like wild and wonderful symptoms, but I'm just going to kind of unpack what happened for me. So I was perimenopause in my forties for sure. Still.
04:20
Pretty level, but I know I would wake up some nights and in my 40s, my late 40s, and I would have been drenched in sweat. Like literally beads of sweat all over my body. My clothes would be wet. The sheets would be just soaking. And I would be like, what the fuck is this? And waking up at like three o'clock in the morning in this state and then
04:49
absolutely freezing feeling like I had to like bundle up afterwards. Like literally peeling clothes off that were so soaked. It's pretty crazy. For me, that was like the worst. It definitely interrupted my sleep pattern. And what happens is when we get those like big estrogen drops, a lot of the stuff comes out. Yay! How much fun do we have in this time? And
05:18
There was a summer in my forties in Kerry where I literally was like, what the fuck is wrong with me? I was scratching my arms. My arms were so itchy. Like my forearms were itching, itchy, itchy. And I remember for that whole summer, was like scratching my arms. was like, do I have scabies? Like, do I have bugs curling all over my arms? Like what is going on? I mean, I went out and I bought.
05:47
bun creams and things to put on my arms, anti-itch stuff. And then I thought, oh no, maybe it's just because I'm using a lot of pepper.
05:56
I was eating a lot of this like pepper chicken at the time. And I thought, no, I think I might be allergic to pepper. And that's why I'm itching. And that's why I like feel like I have bugs crawling all over my arms. No, but he told me that there is a symptom with menopause that some women get and it's like this insane itchy skin. And bing, now I know it's a real thing.
06:26
I am not joking you like I did spend a whole summer itching my arms and trying to lather it up with creams and then come to find out that that is actually one of the symptoms that comes along with perimenopause menopause. The other wonderful thing that happens too is this lovely frozen shoulder. What? I know. God, we get all the fun things as women, don't we? That's why we're the stronger species. um
06:55
We have to put up with so much stuff. Yes. There's also a thing called frozen shoulder that happens when you are in perimenopause or menopause. And it can usually be for me, it was my last shoulder. It would just like seize up and I couldn't lift it. And that again, I did not know Kim with this beautiful face of life. It doesn't last for a long time, but it does last for enough that it can be really, really uncomfortable.
07:22
And very mysterious things start to happen in these crazy times for us. A lot of things that people don't talk about, some people get through really easy. My mom had a really easy time in menopause, but for me, I did gain a lot of very different symptoms. Another one is like sleep disturbance, constantly like waking up in the middle of the night, trying to get back to sleep. Stress hormones increase at this time too, which
07:52
doesn't really help with the mental rage because there's a thing that comes along with this phase in life. And a lot of my girlfriends and I just laugh about it. It's like, we don't give a flying fuck. It's kind of liberating, but at the same time, it's a little bit scary because you could go from like zero to a hundred in five seconds and you don't give a flying fuck about it. You're this like, you know.
08:19
sipping your coffee, doing great, and then all of a sudden you're screaming at your fridge, like it owes you money. The other thing that I really found, not the funnest, is the brain fog that comes with this. It is a real thing. You get this like clouded head where you think you're losing your mind, you're walking around in some kind of haze and daze, and
08:49
It lifts, but it comes back. doesn't just lift like the fog. It comes back in and it covers your brain over and you forget where you put your keys. You forget what you were doing. You feel like you got ADHD because you're trying to do 10 million things at once. And then you leave them all because you forgot what the fuck you were doing. Honestly. Oh, so glorious. Oh yeah. And then let's...
09:16
Talk about that lovely cortisol spike. So there's a lot of things that come along with this too. So we get higher cortisol, higher stress hormones in the body. get, well, we just get it all. We just get all the fun things and trying to manage them all at once if they're coming at you all at once. Well, let me tell you, you feel like you're going insane. The brain fog is real.
09:42
It really is. feel really disoriented. You feel like you can't keep things together. You feel like you are moving through life at a snail's pace. And sometimes you just feel like you're gridlocked on the couch because you don't know what the flying fuck to do. And let's talk about that other thing. This really happened to me a lot and I was, was really concerned about it. I still, I'm still moving through this, but you'd get a lot more anxiety. Unfortunately, if you're not an anxious person, you might start to feel like you're anxious.
10:11
things are more stressful, you don't feel like you can handle as much. You're trying to juggle all these balls and then they're all like dropping on the floor and you're like, oh, oh great. Yeah, just high functioning year in this mellow land and anxiety, depression. I've never really been a depressed kind of person, but in these last couple of years, there's a couple of times there where I was like, I gotta get it on my own way. Like, I don't know what is going on with me. I'm not motivated.
10:41
I'm not myself. Like, who am I? I'm looking in the mirror and I'm like, what happened to my face? Who are you? What is going on, Michelle? Hello? And silence. Oh, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. In there, you're looking at your wrinkles and you're looking at your new like double chin and your new whiskers and you're thinking, oh, fuck, that's sexy.
11:09
Jesus Christ, don't let me scare you. Oh my God, I just wanna have some fun with this because I think if we don't laugh about it, we think we are going crazy and we get really hard on ourselves at this point in time because a lot of times I've had a number of girlfriends in the same sort of phase and scenario and you get higher blood pressure, higher cholesterol happens, you start to get the midline thickening.
11:39
Oh yeah, that one's a fun one, especially for someone as body conscious as me, but that goes for all women. Here I am putting on my cute outfits that I thought were cute and I'm like trying to get the zipper up and I'm like, holy. And then the rage. I'm like, I'm not going out to buy a whole new wardrobe because of this friggin belly. I call it my donut.
12:09
And I've always been relatively lean. I fluctuate a bit, you know, I, like if you had me or heard up me on other previous podcasts, I usually have this like one or two pairs of clothes that I judge my weight by. And if I can't get into them, then I know I'm in the red zone. Well, let me tell you, I'm deep in the red zone right now and I'm not happy about that. So I wanted to talk about a few awesome things that we can do to help.
12:38
sort of counteract all of that business because there is health out there. I do have a lifeline for you guys. I do have some things that I am working on myself right now and I'm with in tools to help get you through all of this ridiculousness. I mean, come up, we're resilient. This isn't we're dumb and it's over. This is just a new phase that we have to get through as women.
13:07
It is a new chapter and we do get it out over onto the other side, feeling better. And it is not the end, promise. It might feel like it at 3 a.m. when you're sweating your face off and you're getting up and you can't get back to sleep and your brain is racing and you're like, my life is over. This is it. It's not, it's not. I've got, I've come to you today with some great tools and some great things that you can do to help.
13:36
kind of alleviate some of the symptoms. We are so lucky right now to live in this day and age where perimenopause and menopause and women's health issues are coming more and more to the forefront, which I love. There's more information out there than ever for us. There's more help out there for us than ever from previous generations, which I think is just absolutely astounding. And I am going to tell you this right now. You do not need to suffer.
14:03
through any of this any longer. is help. There is HRT, self hormone replacement therapy. If you are eligible to do that through getting your blood work done and your doctor approves it for you, there's also an antidepressant that can be taken. It's a mild one that does help with menopause symptoms. So I've been looking into those two things and I have a couple of my clients who are on HRT and it really, really does help.
14:32
You know, we suffer in silence enough as women going through our periods and our hormonal fluctuations, just plowing through life. Like everything is all right when things feel fucking weird in our bodies. Our bodies are so sensitive and we need to honor that. We need to honor that we are very complex as women and that there is help for us now. And I want to encourage everyone to seek out.
14:59
what might be right for them, whether that be natural supplements. Some of those natural supplements that you can take is evening primrose oil, black cohosh, vitamin B is a really good one, magnesium really helps with sleep. Just make sure you get the right magnesium because some magnesiums will have you on the toilet 24-7. So there are some great natural things that you can do for yourself. Progesterone cream is one that you can get.
15:29
a done up for you that you can, whoa, slather that on your body. And it helps to alleviate hot flashes and night sweats. One of the biggest things for me was experiencing that hormonal drop and that the hot flashes. I remember I was at a party. It was a house party with a bunch of friends and I was sitting.
15:57
at the bar counter chatting away. And all of a sudden I was like, I have to go to the bathroom right now. I could feel the inside of my body turning up the heat. Like I was in fucking Dante's Inferno and I had on, thank God it was black, like a black blouse. And I could feel it.
16:26
coming, you can feel it, it just starts and it starts to build and build and build. then all of a sudden you're tingling and all of a sudden your body is on fire. And the sweat, literally I could feel the sweat starting to come at the top of my head and all down the front of my body. And I was like, I'm just going to go excuse myself. Just
16:53
look normal, Michelle, you just go to the bathroom. And I mean, full on sweat. I was like, oh my God, I ran my hands under cold water in the tap and I was like, just breathe, just breathe, like give myself a fan. And I am telling you, it was so intense and they are intense and they definitely.
17:15
They out of nowhere, they come out of left field. It's like you got some kind of stalker that you don't know is there. And all of a sudden they're showing up at your door and you're like in flames. Oh yeah, that was, I'm still getting them even though I am like a year and a half without a period. And I find another one that really helps for all of this stuff is ashwagandha. It really does dumb down the cortisol in your body and helps you to kind of alleviate.
17:42
that stress hormone, which really does add an extra layer to this phase. And I just found like a number of those things really help. I'm really excited to get on the list for HRT for myself. My friend Julie's had great success with that. And I know a number of other women who have found that that just, they're like, oh my God, thank you. I feel normal. Like I said, again, there's no need for us to.
18:09
suffer through this phase, I think we need to laugh through it. And I am so thrilled that my girlfriends and I are finding some humor in this, you know, sharing little tips and words of wisdom. And the fact that we've got each other to talk about it with is really great because we're not in the dark. We're not like, why am I going fucking crazy? And everybody else seems normal. I used to think I was cute and I really wanted to try to be sexy. And now all I can think about is like,
18:38
wearing clothes that are cool and I'm not sweating through. Oh, for real. The other wonderful, wonderful tools I wanna bring to you to help you with this is that yeah, the joint pain is real. The hips do start to ache and you get aches and pains where you never had them before and your muscles start to feel weaker, that drop in hormonal levels for us. And I've got some real gems for you.
19:08
Okay, so definitely strength training. This, if you have not started, is gonna be one of the most critical keys to your success in surviving this. But also it's gonna make you healthy, strong, and fucking sexy. So let's get on that ladies. There is no need for us to go down the tubes at this. We got it this far. Let's keep going. You guys are sexy, beautiful, amazing women.
19:37
and you deserve to feel like that in your bodies. And I am just wanting to encourage you, if you are not already, get into weight training, weight lifting, get that muscle building action happening. You need to up your protein. This isn't just for weight training. This is for your body and your hormonal levels as well. So I know, everyone's like more protein, more protein, but yes, it really is a defining factor and a key in this phase of our life.
20:07
So more protein, yes, weight lifting and really good strategic weight lifting. It's really important to get that in. Creatine is gonna help you. That is such a great supplement to get in right now to start that. It will help your muscle strength because your muscles do start to feel weaker. Honestly, a collagen is really important as well just for body composition.
20:36
Yes, collagen, body composition and your skin. We all want to look our best and we sailed through, you know, our twenties and our thirties and we hit our forties and we're in our stride. We're feeling sexy and awesome. And we're not really thinking about this stuff, you know? And then it's like a fucking hit by a macro. All of a sudden it's like you wake up one day and you're like wrinkles, baggy skin, spare tire.
21:06
mood swings, hot flashes, no gibs's of a fuck, tampons in every pocket, because that's the other thing. I didn't experience this as much as some women, but when your period starts to go and you don't think you've got it anymore, and then all of a sudden you're getting it out of the blue, you got emergency crotch rockets on you everywhere, and they are doozies. Yeah, it's like the floodgates open,
21:37
And you're like, was that just a murder scene?
21:42
Oh yes, carry them around or carry them around for your friends, for your other girls, even if you're like me and you're done. I always have a couple spare ones in my purse just in case I get somebody's having an emergency. Those are all really normal parts of this process, but we can do a lot of things to help ourselves in these phases and working out. Somatic release is another one I cannot.
22:12
tell you enough about. ah Not only does it regulate your nervous system, it helps to release stored stress in the body, stored trauma. You know, when you're in your 50s or you're in your 40s, we've gone through a lot of life experiences and we've been through a lot of great things. We've been through a lot of not so great things. We carry a lot in our bodies, especially as women, we carry a lot around. We carry a lot on our shoulders, hence a frozen shoulder.
22:40
But the somatic release, I now have a somatic release class on Zoom on Tuesday nights at seven, a somatic release and mobility. And it really, really helps to heal the body naturally, to release that stress, to help you not seize up like you're 90 when you're not freaking 90. You still have all this life left to live and you know that you want to feel great and amazing and not like grumpy.
23:10
fucking... Cobra Cunt.
23:15
Seriously, for Godzilla. So somatic release is one of the ones that has really helped me keep my body really mobile and my hips don't hurt. It does regulate my nervous system where, you know, I got a lot of real bouts of anxiety and depression. It really has helped me to regulate that, release the cortisol. I can't say enough about that work. So please join me, reach out to me if you do want to be a part of that class. First class is always free. I would love.
23:44
to have you beautiful ladies in that and see what you think. The more you do it, the better it becomes for your body. The other thing is mindful breathing, not rage breathing, which I myself doing a lot. Thank God I live alone right now on Kandemash. Holy shit balls, really. And I'm thinking about getting on Hinge and I'm thinking, oh my God.
24:08
Okay, Dayton in our 50s. That's going be another episode. got a whole lot of tales to tell you about that one. It's a, ooh, it's a doozy. Anyway, yes. Mindful breathing is another one that if you can get into some meditation, even if it's just a guided meditation on Spotify, that really helps to bring all of that stress level down and really help you ground yourself and focus and think about the version of you that you would like to be.
24:37
Not the one yelling at the fridge at 3 a.m. because you don't have any snacks in there. Yeah, so that is another wonderful tool to put in your toolbox for this phase in life. The other thing is that metabolic switch, which will come with your weightlifting. It does help to pare down the body, body composition, help you re-comp with weights.
25:03
And you can get your rage out with that really good. Write some good, and then just start throwing those weights around like you're training for mortal combat. Really is a thing. It does help. Oh my God, you get sweat and rage all at once. It's great. And build muscle. Very, very important. The other thing that I think is really important is get out and reset your circadian rhythms at this time.
25:32
more than ever, get out in nature, get out and get in a walk, get in some steps, get in the steps, change up your eating habits. Very important now to that's the other thing that I found so weird. Certain things, certain smells, certain foods that I used to love. just like do not want anymore. It's almost like I want to gag at certain things that I used to love. Cut.
26:02
down on the sugar, really. I know we say this in life about everything, but you're not going to go wrong with cutting out caffeine or cutting down on caffeine. Alcohol is another one that is, I know it's hard for people, but to get that out is really important and cut it way back because that is one of the menopause spikers. Same with caffeine, same with sugar, carbs.
26:31
processed foods, you know, all of that stuff. I know it sounds like a no-brainer, but really. And it's not easy, you know, it's not easy to change in this way. And I get that. It's almost like you just want to rage even more because you're like, oh, great. Now I'm here and I got to take out all the things that I love and enjoy. But you know what? It's worth it. Even just cutting back on it.
26:58
It's very important to do that because it will help with your symptoms and it will, I'm not saying cut it all out. I'm just saying cut it back. Just try, see what that does for you. See if that helps in any way. Cause it's real. It does trigger the body to overheat. It does trigger emotion. It does trigger us to, you know, not be able to sleep. And that's the other big thing is that sleep disturbance is real, man.
27:26
Oh my God. And then when we can't get enough sleep in our bodies, especially in a phase like this where there, you know, things are spiking, things are dropping. One of the biggest things you need is good sleep so that you can come through the brain fog. You can come through the mood swings, the emotional upset of like crying at a Kleenex commercial or on Instagram. Like, and I'm like, why am I doing this to myself?
27:56
looking at like dog posts and then all of sudden bursting into tears and I'm like, what is wrong with me? Yeah, wow, what a fun ride. So those really, really help and to have a community of women around you who are going through the same thing, to talk about it, share about it. Everybody's different. I found for me, the biggest things were like the weird, was like, why does my body smell weird?
28:26
Okay. Yeah. Great. Awesome. Why am I growing whiskers? Oh Jesus. Anyway, ah it's all very different for everybody, but if you can kind of get a good protocol for yourself, it will definitely help you through this time. You know, it's not over. You're still sexy. I see you. I know it feels like we're invisible at the age of 50. You know, a lot of my girlfriends are saying, you know, we could be like some kind of
28:55
secret agents right now, because nobody notices you anymore. And you know what? Not true. I think women in their 50s and 60s, 70s, 80s are beautiful. I think we need to celebrate the life that we've lived, the things that our bodies have been through on this journey in our 20s and our 30s and our 40s and into our 50s, 60s and 70s. And we can keep it.
29:23
exciting and healthy and be beautiful and get dressed up and embrace all of the changes that happen for us. You know, it's not about aging gracefully. It really isn't. It's, I'm not talking about fighting some kind of crazy battle, but if we continue to embrace who we are as women and love our bodies and treat them kindly and appreciate everything that they have done for us in this lifetime. And if you are privileged,
29:53
enough to be in your 50s to have had a life that has had 50 laps around the world. That is something to be celebrated. Your body, you, your life, your journey. And I want you to get excited about this next phase in life. I want you to get excited about the years to come. I want you to get excited about who you are transforming into and who you are becoming.
30:23
because we do shed the bullshit. No lies, man. We shed it. We don't put up with what we would have put up with before. We get stronger in who we are becoming as women. You know, we gain more boundaries. We say no. You know, we say, fuck off. Well, we used to say, oh, fuck yeah, sure. You know, then roll our eyes. So there's something so powerful about coming into this phase.
30:52
even though we have to get through a lot of these speed bumps. Embrace the ride, embrace it. Go with it, celebrate it, laugh about it, share it. And that's how we're gonna get through this together as women. And I want you to know that I love and believe in you and I'm having a hot flash right now. I'm gonna.
31:21
I'm gonna sign off until next time. I want you to know that you're loved, you're supported, you're seen, you're heard. I see you. I see you at every phase. And I want you to know to just celebrate you as a woman. Stand tall, stand proud. Stand with a fan if you have to. Bring it in your bag, you know?
31:50
Uh, mwah, I love you. Until next time. Thanks for listening. To connect with Michelle, you can email her at ignitefusionfitmichelle at gmail.com or visit her on Instagram at Diva Delight 911. Support the show by subscribing or sharing it with friends or anyone you think would benefit from hearing it. You Can Be a Fit Bitch 2 is produced by Haunted Mouse Productions.
32:17
This has been a Honda Mouse Production. Cut that out.