If you’re experiencing the symptoms of the perimenopause or the menopause, then you could benefit from making this new year all about you
It might be a cliché but the start of a brand new year really is an ideal time for making the changes you need in order to feel better and more confident in yourself.
You might find some of our tips easier to implement than others and it’s important to realise that we’re all uniquely and beautifully different
So take a few minutes to carry on reading and see which of these new year self-care tips might be of benefit to you.
- Make the most of the Great Outdoors – it might be freezing and frosty, but spending time in nature boosts our natural feel-good chemicals called endorphins. Incidentally, so does exercise, so combining the two is a feel-good double whammy! Endorphins help to lift the mood, which can be helpful if we’re struggling with a low mood and anxiety. Take a brisk walk, taking real notice of your surroundings and see how it makes you feel.
- Reduce your alcohol intake – at the end of a testing day, there can be no better feeling than a well-deserved glass of wine. But drinking alcohol on a regular basis can interfere with our sleep patterns and cause us to retain fat around our middles. Since menopausal symptoms include disrupted sleep and weight gain, especially around our middles, try limiting your alcohol intake to one or two nights a week (avoiding the temptation to binge).
- Try weight lifting – weights can be intimidating, but unless we’re using them excessively for years, they’re not going to turn us into muscle-bound strength trainers. Instead, they’ll help us to add tone and definition as well as increase our bone strength – important as we get older and become more prone to breaks and fractures.
- Reap the rewards of positive mantras – a mantra is a word or short sentence that we repeat over and over to help us believe and manifest good things. “I am beautiful”, “I deserve good things”, “I am a good friend/wife/mother” and “I am good at my job” are all examples of positive mantras. You can also write them out and stick them around the house!
- Don’t neglect your fat intake – not all fats are created equal, and despite fat being calorific, we need some level of fat in our diet. “Bad” fats are the ones we find in cakes, biscuits, crisps and fast foods. But good, beneficial fats are found in oily fish, nuts, seeds, olive oil and avocadoes.
We know only too well that managing the symptoms of the perimenopause and the menopause isn’t easy and they won’t magically disappear simply because we’ve followed these tips. But we can help ourselves by looking after our physical and emotional health as much as we can.
If you’re struggling, then speaking to your doctor to see what help is available may help.
Remember, you’re not alone, and we’re always here to help with guidance and support.
