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Menopause Dinners
Menopause is nasty but when you get a group of women together, you get laughter, tears and togetherness which makes it a whole lot easier. In this podcast each week I tackle a different symptom of the Menopause, not just on my own but with some amazing guests too. The title also mentions Dinners, there will be food, which we eat, score and discuss the benefits to support. I share my knowledge so you can learn about your body and understand why things happen the way they do. And last but not least there is an audience of other menopausal women, like a support group, around the podcasters while talking.
Come and be part of this menopausal ride!
Menopause Dinners
Functioning in Perimenopause part 2
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In part two I am rejoined by Imogen, a Health Coach that focuses on Perimenopause. In today's episode we discuss all things from lifestyle, cravings, having phone free time, food and much more.
I also have the wonderful Carol and Julia back with me and they have got some questions for Imogen!
It wouldn't be menopause dinners without food, today our guest Imogen has kindly supplied the recipe of breakfast granola which I have made. It gets scored and you can see the full recipe on our you tube channel.
Please get in touch if you would like to be on the podcast, either as a guest or in the audience. There is absolutely no experience needed, no professional talking, I am looking for the average female who is going through their menopause and would like to talk openly about it. If this sounds like you or you would like to be around other women to feel supported, then please get in touch through any of the details below. This can be online, in person or at IG6 3HD
Email - menopausedinners@gmail.com
Website: https://www.menopausedinners.co.uk
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Sponsored by: Fitness Therapy 4 you: https://www.fitnesstherapy4you.co.uk
Imogen details: Instagram Imogen_healthcoaching
Welcome to Metaphost Dennis. My name is Sarah, and I'm your host. Not an isn't me, but I have some incredible guests for me today. You can expect new stories, laughter, a few tears, and some facts to help you throw online in this tip storm called Metaphose. So sit time and let's ride this storm together. Welcome to Metaphose Dennis. Welcome back everyone. This is part two. We are back to discuss this subject. Function in Perry Metapoles. That's right. Oh, that's right. We are back to discuss that. And we have got Imogen back in the past. You've come back. You've come back, Imogen. I've come back. Hi, nice to be back. Nice to have you back. I've really enjoyed part one. So part two, uh slightly different for anyone that's not been with us before. It wouldn't be Manipoul's dinners without us talking about food. So we're going to be doing that shortly. And then we're opening up to our audience. They've got some questions, and then we'll finish off with some lifestyle tips if we don't go through it with our guests. So Imogen, tell us about your food recipe. Because normally I'm the one who does all the creating. But when we have guests, I kindly ask them to give me a recipe and then I then I will make it for them and and then score it. So Imogen, tell me tell me what it is that you sent me. What was the recipe?
SPEAKER_02Okay, I sent you um something linked to my favourite topic, which is breakfast. So I sent you my super quick granola recipe. I may have called it something else, but it is super quick. Um so this is a do you want me to describe it a little bit? Yeah, yeah, tell us about it. Yeah, sure. It's a very easy recipe. I am notoriously bad at following a recipe. It's a thing in our house that um if there's a recipe, I I just you know substitute the ingredients for something else. Terrible at it. So that's so I had to actually write down the um the amounts for you into a proper thing because what I will do for my granola is I get a baking tray, put some oats in, nuts, seeds, a bit of olive oil, um whatever is in the house, peanut butter, perhaps a bit of honey, and then I cook it. And then that, you know, that's it. I cook it for a little bit, perhaps add some dried fruit at the end, have it with some Greek yogurt and some fruit. I have it every morning, and that is breakfast for me sorted. So hopefully you may have enjoyed it. It's a very flexible recipe.
SPEAKER_01It is, it is, and um, yeah, it's very tasty. It's very tasty. Are there many benefits to it?
SPEAKER_02There are lots of benefits. I mean, it depends what you put in it, but um, you know, you've got your oats, you've got your nuts and seeds, so much, you know, so much protein in there. Um, you've got your peanut butter, which is a good fat. So that helps that. And it having it's with some Greek yogurt, especially if it's a good protein yogurt, a bit of fruit. Um, it's a great, great way to start the day. And I don't know if you've ever noticed, but if you have, oh, I don't know, a bowl of cornflakes and that hunger level sets in. When I have my granola, I'm not hungry for um for the rest of the day. So there's just so much goodness in there. I mean, it's it's got the nuts, it's got the fat in it, but it is the good fat that's in there. Um, and you can put add in as much as you want, alter it to, you know, your own taste. A bit like I'm on a granola um selling advert here, but you know, it's the same.
SPEAKER_01I think granola's really nice actually. I mean, um yeah, I haven't had cornflakes since I was about 20.
SPEAKER_02Maybe no one has cornflakes, but I mean the shop book granolas, they are rammed full of sugar. There is so much in there. Um so this, you know, you you just know what's in it.
SPEAKER_01It's a it's a very basic and can I just ask you, when after someone makes it, how long can it stay in a container for?
SPEAKER_02I would say, I mean it I think it I think the recipe I originally took and and messed with said a couple of weeks. That's good. An airtight container, yeah. You can keep it for if it's airtight, you can keep it for a while.
SPEAKER_01That's really good because a lot of people um struggle that where they're always making excuses. I don't have anything, but if you have if you've prepped something, that's a really good thing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. And if you haven't got all the things in, just substitute it with something else.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Moment of truth.
SPEAKER_02Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01You can't see it. I gave it an eight. An eight? Oh, okay. That's how a ten. Yeah, yeah, sorry, out of ten. I'm going like that because it keeps disappearing. I gave it an eight. I do love granola. I do be honest, I'm not I love cooking granola. Um, but it's it's not always for me. But I gave you an eight because it's very tasty, it's very quick, it's easy, it's full of nutrients, and I gave it to my husband as well, and he actually gave you a 10. Ah, well. And he's more of a granola fan. So there you go. If I haven't had another one of these paddles, which will appear in a minute, I'd give you a 10. So well done. Thank you. Thank you for being sport with that because it's not.
SPEAKER_02I like to spread the granola word.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you're definitely gonna spread. And I just want to tell everyone that recipe will be on our YouTube channel. So when this part drops, that granola recipe will appear so you can see me cooking it and see what it looks like. And yeah, the rest of the full recipe details will be on there as well. Thanks to Imogen. So thank you very much for that.
SPEAKER_02Oh no, but it's all that's great.
SPEAKER_01So you've done alright, you've done alright. I I think I told you I got a zero on one of mine once, so don't so anything above above zero is good. I'll take my eight. Take your eight, take it, take it. Um, okay, so that's that's really great. Uh so we've done the food. So, what I want to do now is ask Carol to kindly unmute. So she's unmuting now. There she is. Hi, Carol. Hi. So Hi Imogen. Hi. Carol's a regular on our podcast. If you can hear the voice, you'll know it's Carol. I've got some you've got a question you'd like to ask Imogen or questions.
SPEAKER_00Imogen, I've been a diabetic for about comfortably over 30 years. Um, I've recently started using insulin. And I think the biggest reason why I was always pushing back on the insulin because I remember the doctor said to me around my mid-refree, that would start to um expand because of the insulin taking and everything else. I'm menopausal now, and um I have I have noticed that it is expanding more, but I have periods where it goes up and down, like my stomach will feel like it's flat, and there'll be other times when it feels excessively loated.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00So um I take my insulin through my stomach, but there are times when the stomach is so tender that I have to start injecting in my thigh.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00So I'm wondering, because I'm gonna go back to my doctors in regards to this, because um, yes, I'm menopausal, I'm taking the insulin, I'm finding I'm struggling with my stomach and the tenderness and everything else. But um, I wanted to ask you is there anything that I could do in terms of my menopause to help to stop that bloating? Because I think I'm getting the bloating more from the menopause than it has to do with the insulin taking.
SPEAKER_02Oh, okay. Um I would probably, as a health coach, first suggest you have a chat to your GP. Okay, you know, just to look at the bloating and just to see if there is anything else going on. Um, you know, you may they may need to investigate it from a medical point of view. So absolutely, you know, go back to your GP and speak to that. Have you noticed any foods that trigger bloating? There may be one area you could look at, whether there's milk, gluten, those kinds of things.
SPEAKER_00I've I've noticed all those shot cakes, like in our big stores and things like that, because they use a starch stabilizer, that was killing me in terms of causing the bloatiness. So I had to stop all of those, all of those type of things. I cannot buy shop cakes, anything like that, because they've got stabilizer in. And they've got the preservatives in to make it be a little bit longer on shelf life. Oh, okay. I have found that I don't know if I'm gluten tolerant because I must have a test for that, because that might be another now that you've said it, yeah, gluten. I must have a look at that.
SPEAKER_02I would probably, I mean, uh speak to your GP, see if there's anything else happening, but I would probably keep a food diary as well, and just have and just have a look at writing down what you eat in the day and then how you feel straight after, um, you know, whether a couple of hours later, if there's anything happening, and just and just keeping a real note of sort of the effect of different foods that have on. You you know, I often as a coach sometimes get people to do a food and mood diary, and that might be to look at how certain foods affect their mood and how their mood is when they're eating. But if this is about bloating, certainly looking at what you're having each day and perhaps keep it for a week and just see if any days are particularly worse than another, and then um, you know, seeing what the what the impact is on that, because I'm no expert on it, but I do know that some people do become more intolerant to um dairy and to gluten as as they sort of progress through the menopause. So if you're looking at it from a food angle, then yeah, the food diary would be a really and then the GP may well ask for that as well. So if you've already got it beforehand, that that could be really helpful to take in with you.
SPEAKER_00Okay. I think that's a good idea with a food diary.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, just just see what those triggers are, if if any. See if it is a food-related, food-related thing. Yeah. Worth a try.
SPEAKER_01Unmute yourself, Julia.
SPEAKER_04Unleash unleash the beast and that. Um I yeah, Carol, can I just say about the bloating? I've had quite significant episodes where I bloat very easily. Um and you think, oh, I haven't eaten anything different or anything strange. Um, but I think um I I know I've become much more sensitive to like processed, like you say, processed um bread. So highly processed bread that's got like a long shelf life. Um, and you know, I know at some some days I've even looked quite heavily pregnant where I've really, you know, my stomach has really, really expanded. Um certain vegetables will do it to me. Um, and you think, oh, veg is you know meant to be great and whatever. Um, but things like onions, garlic, even though they're really good for you, um certain veg I've become a lot less tolerant of, and I've never been like that. Um and another thing I've noticed is pasta. I can't um so I'm myself and my daughter both known as pasta queens. We would eat pasta every single day virtually. Um, and now I eat it maybe once a month because I think uh something's definitely changed and my tolerance to it is very, very low. Um we would eat it by the bucket load. Um can't do that anymore. And sweeteners, so um different different sweeteners in food, so sober, um aspartamine um have also had an effect on me. So I don't know if any of that resonates with you. Um the other thing as well I notice is that the more water I drink, the that I'm a lot less bloated. So I don't know if that might help as well. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Julia, can I just ask you, do you actually eat anything?
SPEAKER_03Anything at all?
SPEAKER_01It's a lot of food. There's a lot of food there.
SPEAKER_04I think I buy I've I buy so much um I got a local market to me, um, and so I buy a lot of my food from there. So um, like Imogen was saying earlier about knowing what's in your food, we can't control everything, I know that. Um but I try and limit um the the processed stuff as as much as I'm able to, you know. Um and also Imogen, I was just gonna ask you, um, how long do you cook the recipe for when you say you put it all on a tray and oh yes.
SPEAKER_02Um I would probably I think I said about ten minutes. Oh right. Okay. Just keep your eye on it um until it goes brown.
SPEAKER_04Okay. So do you you use you said olive oil, you don't put honey in it or anything like that?
SPEAKER_02I do. I I I do put honey in. I I use either peanut butter, um so a bit of olive oil kind of to get it, you know, get it cooking, and then either something like peanut butter, um, honey, and also using some um, you know, like mixed spice or cinnamon or ginger ginger, quite like a ginger in there. Um just to sweeten it up a little bit, a bit natural sweetener in there.
SPEAKER_04So um and isn't cinnamon good for blood sugar as well? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So um I I do breakfast very similar to yours, Imogen. So I I do Wheatabix instead of the granola bit, and then I do all the sort of nuts and seeds and peanut butter and yogurt and all the rest of it. But um I'd I'd read about cinnamon for menopause women and like a good good whack of that in with it as well. Yeah, and that apparently helps with blood sugar as well. So you your cravings aren't as bad.
SPEAKER_02Yep. Yeah. So that's the beauty of the granola, you can add in, you know, wherever's wherever's going.
SPEAKER_01Carol, can I just talk to you about the bloating? Because what I found, uh, if I get it, depends on what kind of bloating, whether it's a full belly or whether it's a lower belly can mean different things for me. So where do you get your bloating? Is it is it a full belly? So when I say full, I mean like above the above the belly button or is it or is it lower?
SPEAKER_00It's above the belly button.
SPEAKER_01So that's something that you've eaten on the day. So if it's above the belly button, it's normally stuff something that you've eaten that day that's giving you gas. And if it's un if it's under the the belly button, then that's a digestive issue, meaning that maybe you've not had in a lot of water enough water to m to move it along. Oh, okay. So what Imogen said was brilliant about the food diary. Um I'd write on there what time you get your bloating. Yeah, because then you can link the time of the bloating according to the time that you you eat. So for instance, if I was to eat um some some yeah, if I can't tolerate bread to be fair, if I ate bread, I would definitely look like I was gonna pass a bowling ball within within about three hours, I reckon. Yeah, it would hit. And then let's say it wasn't uh bread the next day. I would have wind, yeah, second half. So there's definitely something in in uh food in writing stuff down. So write down when you get your bloat or call it on your diary when you get it as well. What do you think, Imogen?
SPEAKER_02I think that's a great idea. Yeah, I think the more information you can you can get down then um the better. And yeah, just just really sort of looking at the gaps as well between when you're eating and when that's happening. Um but I'm sure that would be really helpful to a GP to have to do.
SPEAKER_00Did you mention, Imogen, about not fasting?
SPEAKER_02I didn't I didn't really I'm yeah, I wasn't suggesting people shouldn't fast. It's just not something that I tend to to do, largely because I know I really suffer from hanger, um, you know, hungry, hungry anger. Um I know for some people it they it really works for them, particularly that sort of night fast and then then then missing, you know, having use for brunch um at 11 o'clock. Um, but yeah, personally I I couldn't do fasting. I just I just I believe the longer you know if you practice it it just sort of get get become the norm.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Because that's I think that's what's happened with me, because I don't tend to have breakfast. I've it's something I've really struggled with throughout the years. I don't have breakfast. But I always and what I used to do was have lunch, but I would be having lunch at three o'clock in the afternoon, which is too late.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So now I really do try and force myself to make sure I've had something by about one, two o'clock.
SPEAKER_02So what time would you be having your evening meal if you were having lunch at three?
SPEAKER_00And then that's what was happening when I would have my lunch at three. I wasn't hungry again until about nine.
SPEAKER_03Wow, okay.
SPEAKER_00And that's late.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's another problem because it then it started messing with my sleep pattern.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I I kind of very much you have to clockwatch in terms of my diet and what I'm eating and things like that. And I just seem to be suffering with this insomnia. I cannot go to bed. Last night I went to bed at 4 30. Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Okay. While my brain was still alive, like to say it was 10 o'clock in the afternoon, 10 o'clock in the evening. And that's only just started.
SPEAKER_02Okay. And so I said, did you say you've got your evening meals earlier now?
SPEAKER_00Well, I'm trying to have my evening meals no later than about 7.30.
SPEAKER_027.30. Because there is a general recommendation to leave about 12 hours between your evening meal and your breakfast. So, you know, if you're having an evening meal at 7.30, that's but you're not having breakfast. But you know, that would be a normal kind of time to be having an evening meal. But yeah, if you're eating your evening meal at 9, that is going to impact your your sleep as well. So so um so you're quite sort of wired until sometimes 4.30 in the morning yet to sleep.
SPEAKER_00But I still get up and function very, very well. But I'm thinking this must have a burnout part coming.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because yeah.
SPEAKER_02So what's happening in your evenings? What what are you doing in the run-up to sort of a normal bedtime? What what's what's happening? What are you doing? And I'm not doing anything excessive.
SPEAKER_00So I'm usually at home. I am kind of very busy in terms of different things outside of work. Uh I would say that I don't have a lot of stress, but I think there are things going on at work that I think don't impact me, but they clearly must be. In terms of the home and the home life, children are all grown up, all doing well, so I haven't got that added burden because they're growing up now and they're all doing their own thing and doing very well. So I'm just meant to be looking at myself, and maybe the impact is that I'm looking at myself.
SPEAKER_02Um one suggestion. Have you tried magnesium?
SPEAKER_00Oh yes, I've got magnesium with calcium and vitamin E. Okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Magnesium is a nice one for some people. Um, it really helps with sleep. You can it can just give you that nice sleepy feeling. Um, there's some some really good um like foot butters that you can rub on, you know, if you don't want to take something for your on your stomach, if it's a bit heavy on your stomach, um, getting like a cream or a foot butter to rub in at bedtime, often got lavender in. They're really nice, um, really nice ways just to just to try. If if if medically, you know, it it doesn't interact with anything else that you're taking. Um do you are you on your phone much in the evening? Is that is that happening?
SPEAKER_00I did notice that it that was one of the reasons why it was messing with my sleep because of being on the phone and then trying to go to sleep afterwards. Yeah, the the brain is just alive. Um I've since cut that down.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so now I don't I'll try and cut it down, cut myself off by about nine, eight, nine o'clock.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Phones are showing up a lot at the moment in terms of um, you know, I know.
SPEAKER_04there's there's obviously a lot around teenagers and and social media and but for a lot of my clients phones phones are becoming a real problem and and it's difficult for them but you know of as you say um cutting off about nine o'clock trying to put it in another room leaving it upstairs and maybe watching TV it's really helpful um and not having them in bedrooms at night as well just just if you can find another place to have it so not next to your bed um but yeah that that sounds that sounds good to have that cut off point to just try to um and being aware again it's like the foods are it's being aware being aware of the impact that you know if you have an evening doing your life admin whether that has an impact on sleep as well Carol I've I've used the ma I've I've used the I use the triple magnesium and that I take that before bed so I was going through periods where I'd be really quite anxious um perhaps going to sleep or waking in the night and then worrying about the stupidest things like oh have I oh when am I gonna clean up the fridge and oh um you know oh those socks the socks and the bed oh oh I should have picked those you know the stupidest things and I'm like what are you thinking about that for it's harvest three in the morning you know so it's just crazy stuff you know um and when you're awake you perhaps wouldn't even think about it but it harvest three in the morning seems like the best time to think about it um so I found that helps me loads it really does um is that a bottom embarrassing that we can get that in yeah you can get them online I've I've got them from a company I don't know if you recommend them um Imageum but I found them quite good is Nutrition Geeks. Oh don't know those ones and okay and they've got and they've they're br they're British owned and um they um they've got usually got good offers on online um and they come they you know they came sort of recommended to me. Um the other thing I'm wondering as well is have you ever done meditation? Ah yeah I was gonna just say that that's a good idea. No I haven't are you on Spotify? Yes yes so on Spotify all you i even if you you weren't sure about doing it is just you can have literally a five minute meditation type in five minute meditation for go you can literally type in five minute meditation for going to sleep and then just see what you think about that. Um and again if I'm having a bumpy ride either during the day or the night then I find it's quite a good like reset thing for me and even just five minutes where I'm just like conked out of my bed I may not be sleeping but I'm I'm I'm resting I'm not in sort of a wired state and um if you feel okay with five minutes and then you can progress to like a 10 or 15 um but again that's personally I find that's great.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah I think that's a really great idea and there's another one called Insight Timer that's actually just it's just meditations and but it has different categories so you you know you perhaps don't need to um go through Spotify as much. So it will have things like sleep breath work um meditation sleep stories that there's quite a few on there as well so I mean they're utterly boring but they can they knock you out okay and so that's a nice one just uh just have it all in one place and it remembers you know what you don't want them too interesting though otherwise you won't sleep yeah it's not a big time story for eight hours long that I I you you can't always go back to where you were so you end up listening to the same bit over and over again never get to the end.
SPEAKER_01Um can I just say we've got a meditation podcast coming up actually in a couple of weeks' time. Oh yes we've got a lady I think where she's gonna do meditation with us which you you could do I think I don't think I could do because everything will just I'd be like that but yeah we're gonna do that in a few weeks' time to watch out for so do come back for that.
SPEAKER_04The other thing about the meditation one is that you can have a meditation for say you wanted a little bit of boost of energy during the day or um like meditation for clarification or um meditation for anxiety or so you can specify exactly what you want it for and then it'll choose a particular meditation for you.
SPEAKER_01That's really good.
SPEAKER_04That's really goodful well done very cheap for that Julie yeah well done Julia I'll give you a little there you go you've got a quick one um any other questions for Imogen um oh yeah what I wanted to ask Imogen is um the clients that you see are they referred to by a GP or are they self-referred or how where do they come from if you see what I mean?
SPEAKER_02Yeah they tend to be self-referred at the minute um just and I've got a few links in locally people refer me through you know I've got local chiropractor clinic she often refers um clients to me so yeah I I I would love to be referred by the GP um but that is a kind of a case of of getting in there getting in with the GPs so at the moment people come to me people come to me when they think they need some support which is um is it like face to face or is it like Zoom or it's Zoom yeah I do online I do online and um I tend to make my packages flexible so that I can work with how much time somebody has. So it may be that they want one-to-one one hour sessions you know chatting through what's happening.
SPEAKER_01Others might want a you know a one-to-one session and then a little bit of online you know just messaging check-in seeing how things are going you know checking in that way and then catching up you know in person but online um in different ways so I I tend to do it flexibly because I totally appreciate that not everyone has one hour a week to come and have an hour Zoom call but they need support and accountability so we we work in in flexible ways or I do anyway just to brilliant okay thanks brilliant thanks ladies okay I think we covered quite a bit though actually they was they was very gentle with you um Imogen very gentle very gentle so let's have a look um at some lifestyle tips I know some of them we've talked about already but let's talk about uh just go over it again mental wellbeing and anxiety I know we said um meditation but uh have you got any other suggestions that you mention to your clients meditation is um is such a nice one and and think like uh Julianne and Carol sort of saying uh in the mornings nice get you going in the morning or then yeah having it as a sort of something to go to for sleep um another one is breathwork and that's um becoming really popular now and I I've got a couple of um breathwork practitioners who I'm kind of linked in with but they have sessions that it's almost like a yoga class you can go to and you do a guided breath with them and that's that might be something else that Carol could look at for sleep as well perhaps getting getting into the you know the calming breath and it can be used to energize as well um and there's a really um very clued up doctor called Dr.
SPEAKER_02Oliver Dr. Louise Oliver and she looks a lot at how we breathe in sleep and you know how that can affect your waking up your quality of sleep like mouth breathing when we're stressed and we've got you know our mouth wide open we're hyperventilating um so yeah so looking at breath work kind of keeping things calm for yourself and we've talked a lot about nutrition I think exercise and exercise yes and I'll just ask you about that because I think if I'm remember right you're starting something where you live are you doing some sort of outdoor activity yes yes talk about that for a little bit I'm setting up something called um I forgot what it's called brain fog connection and calm connection and calm something fog don't worry brain fogal connection and calm like that yes um and so when I um spoke to those perimenopausal women recently when I was doing some research for my programs and as I think I said a lot of them said it's really hard to meet other perimenopausal women at this stage of life in their 30s 40s um so I'm setting up like a kind of networking event but it's not sitting around having a chat having a coffee because they said they don't want to do that no one to sit and chat about paramenopause they want to be doing something and using that time say if they come out of they're working at home got outs for lunch they want to actually go and do something rather than sit and chat somebody they don't know so so the first one is like a walk just in our local park and try to get some women together have like an hour's walk um just part of that lunch hour and uh and you know just connect with people but in different ways so I've got some nice ideas for other things that we might do as part of that and one of them would be strength training um which I know so many people say you must do strength training in your 40s um but a lot of people don't know what that involves or you know where to where do you start do you just get a kettlebell and swing it and a difficult one it's a difficult one it's a really difficult breathwork lady as well there's lots of different ideas for getting people together to actually do an activity that is good for them.
SPEAKER_01Really like that yeah breath work's been around a very long time but it's a like a lot of these things they've they've been around and they're just being accepted if you like being accepted. But yeah strength training is very important because of the glucose because that can help with your sugar levels as well strength training because of the way that it stores the glucose so basically when when muscle starts to decline in menopause because of estrogen glucose doesn't get stored properly so that's why again we get all the blood sugar problems.
SPEAKER_02So if that's not another reason to strength train because of your bone density blood sugars blood sugars is and I think a lot of people don't understand the connection between the two it's um it's important but that I really like what you're trying to do the connection the walking love it so let's talk about um cravings so someone's got a craving for a bit of chocolate what can we get women to do what so if you want some cravings if you have cravings for chocolate I if you really have to have chocolate you get some dark chocolate that would be um a good place to go or it's not as appealing but you know things like nuts just having a few nuts you could even have nuts with a little bit of dark chocolate just to sort of dampen that down um find it is finding a snack that you can go to that isn't just a biscuit. So um anything with a little bit of protein in even if you you know if even if you have some fruit but you have it with say a bit of cheese just to kind of look dampen down those those blood sugar cravings the blood sugar effect on the body as well um that would be good. Greek yogurt with a bit of fruit that's that's a sweet thing you know could I even add a bit of honey and but it's not that sugary chocolatey biscuit treat that you you're after um and also just looking like go back in the day as well and just think you know what have I eaten did I have a a white bread sandwich with some cheese on at lunchtime is that affecting my cravings later and or could I have some nice cedar bread with lots of protein on it some avocado as well you know a bit of good fat in there is that going to affect my can that help me stop the cravings later yeah um but yeah just having a bank it's really I I find it really difficult in in this country I think we go into the shops and there's just a wall of chocolate and crisps and pop um and it's very difficult until you sort of educate yourself in what else you could eat it's difficult to know what to grab. But yeah berries they have they're nice and sweet if we can get some of those um like a an oat cake with a bit of cream cheese on there's there's lots of ideas but the main sort of theory around it is to try and have a little bit of protein when you're having a snack. Okay. Just to dump and down.
SPEAKER_01So let's say someone had a I'm not talking about myself here I'll just make that clear let's just say someone reached for a bit of chocolate it would be okay for them to then have a little bit of protein to s to help the the sugar levels a little bit rather than just go excuse my French fuck it I'm gonna eat the whole packet yeah I could go right to try and balance things out I'll just reach for a little bit of protein I've still had my chocolate it's fine but at that point there's no kind of up and down wave.
SPEAKER_02It depends I guess what chocolate you're having I mean if you can have dark chocolate that's the the sugar content is going to be less. So if you can try and get into dark chocolate and also I think with dark chocolate you don't feel inclined to eat as much it's it's something that you can have a small square of and not think I just want to devour the whole bar.
SPEAKER_01Yeah it's quite bitter isn't it the dark chocolate what kind of percent are we talking about do you think? I think the higher the better if you the higher you can tolerate the better.
SPEAKER_02Because I think we all know you know when you start an Easter egg you want to eat the whole blend new thing. It's gone. It's gone and it costs you like 10 quid if you uh if you have your dark chocolate you can just you can just nip that that cranium in in the bud and you know it's um it's gone. Bit of dried fruit that's sometimes dried fruit nuts you know get some get some good fats in there as well um but yeah yes it's it's I think it is hard it is hard but having a little you know a bit of knowledge about some other other snacks that you can get in there's the glucose goddess I don't know if you've if you've come across her just in papi I think it's just called she talks a lot about putting clothes on your carbs so if you're having um I like that I like that that's such a good that's just such a good way to explain it.
SPEAKER_01Clothes on your carbs.
SPEAKER_02Yeah so rather than just having a piece of bread and butter if you're gonna have bread get things on it you know get some sliced meats get some salad on there get some egg a boiled egg is a really good snack if you can uh if you can tolerate a cold boiled egg on the go and well I think anyone can tolerate a boiled egg but the people around you can't because it stinks doesn't it about them oh my god there's something about boiled egg I love boiled eggs but good god they stink in your bag so blood sugar levels um I've heard that 10 minutes after eating is a good time to go out for a small walk to get moving to stop the blood sugar levels rising uh is that true yes I would I would I think um it's worth definitely worth a go some yeah if you find you've had a a sugary lunch and I I think when we're talking about sugar we're not just talking about chocolate and biscuits it is those it's those fast carbs they're known as so it's things like your white rice and you know those processed white breads which we've sort of chatted a little bit about the processed foods the cakes the all those things they would be classed as the fast carbs and which release the sugar into the blood the bloodstream so yeah so getting out for a walk after lunch um if you're gonna have say a pudding try and make sure that it's at the end of a meal rather than just a pudding in the middle of the day it's little tips like that that you can just sort of think about when you're having your sugar and you know if you're having the bread get the protein on which we've talked about um get out for a walk would help and and and think about your snacks and and drinks as well you know what what am I drinking in the day people often forget about drinks and a lot of people want to drink during the day want to get on the old vodka. That's amazing so we've talked about exercise we've talked about med uh medica medication medication meditation we've talked about breath work snacks uh what to kind of do to help your blood sugar levels the the whole mind body experience is what we're all about here and is what you're all about imaging that's if if I'm right this is what you like so someone that comes to you this is really what you're looking at the whole 360 yeah to understand what's going on and everyone's different right everyone has a different story absolutely yeah yeah yeah I see all sorts I see all sorts but it does all really boil down to you know what is happening in that day-to-day life and what can be improved and what is the impact of you know sleeping badly having on the rest of the day the rest of the week so it's really drilling down on you know what's important for someone to to help them to feel better to feel to feel more in control and to feel like themselves again they're no imperimenopause it's so easy to just think I don't feel like me anymore yeah you know I I'm not sure where where I am I'm I'm just it's like being that swan isn't it you just you're just going through it but you underneath you're just feeling awful so um it's refining yourself re-embracing this stage of life in a way is the same and and I think that's why it's so important is that to have that community and to have that friend or that group whether it's online you know whether it's someone you can meet whether you come to one of my events um but those those people that you can say I feel a bit shit today and this is happening to me and to be open about those symptoms and to not sort of you know say I'm sorry is this a bit too much information or am I oversharing um just people who get it who can say yeah I've had that you know this is what happened this is what worked for me and so yeah there's there's a lot to be said for community through perimenopause I think because it can be a very confusing time.
SPEAKER_01I think so yeah definitely um Imogen I just want to say thank you very much thank you so much for today I think it's been a treat and I think our listeners are really gonna really understand and like what you're saying um and hopefully if there's one thing that they've learned from today and part one and part two that would be incredible.
SPEAKER_02Tell people how they can reach you it really would so I am at ijhealthcoach.co dot uk um and there's lots of information on my website there and if people want to come along and have a 30 minute consultation for free I can offer that we just have a chat see how I can help you see if you like me we may not you know we may not blend but um please that's available to anybody so you can book that through the website and anybody who has listened today if they just uh get in touch quote menopause dinners I can offer them a 10% off any of my programs as well likey likey thank you very much Imogen that's really really lovely thank you to hear from them oh I'm sure yeah no that's really great and uh your details will be on all of our platforms don't don't worry if you forget okay Imogen's everything will be on our Insta our Facebook our YouTube so you can reach out to Imogen um and find out more.
SPEAKER_01So it's been an eventful night and I just want to say one more time to Imogen thank you very much for coming on we've absolutely enjoyed having you please come back again please come back again.
SPEAKER_02Thank you I'd love to really enjoy it.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much so I am gonna wrap up part two now and um first of all if anyone wants to come on to menopause dinners you can okay so the way that we work is that sometimes we get people like Imogen to come in that obviously have a skill and expertise uh but you don't have to have that you can be just you know a lady going through the menopause whatever stage you are and if there's something that you want to share with us then we'll be happy to have you. And as you know from today this is online. So normally we do our recordings in Redbridge Sports and Leisure which is IG63HD but we're also online as well so there's no getting away from us. You can you can do it if you want to so uh we've got loads of things coming up uh for season two we've got a few more episodes coming up we've got loads meditation we've got ADHD before we finish season two so don't forget to come back and also please like rate or subscribe with any of the platforms you're listening on. Did you know you can also send us a text now via the podcast why not let us know how we're doing that'd be really lovely or get in touch on the social. There's also now a monetisation button as we are non-profit so every little bit helps but before you go and leave it my final thought for you is Manipour's sucks but with Fray to get sucks a whole lot less. We'll see you next time on Manipouse Dinners do take care Manipul's Dinners is sponsored by fitness therapy for you we'd like to remind you that any food supplement Advice that we've given today if you are suffering from a medical condition, please do get advice from your GPU.
