This post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Looking for a fun beach read this summer? Well, I have something better for you. It will give you useful tips as well as make you laugh out loud. Personal Trainer Amanda Thebe recounts her horrific perimenopause experience in Menopocalypse: How I Learned to Thrive During Menopause and How You Can Too. Amanda does not hold back in this book. She is brutally honest about her lived experience and also her very real feelings about it. If you haven’t yet gone through the menopause transition, this book might scare the hell out of you. Amanda’s symptoms were quite terrible. If you have already gone through the transition, then you might be relieved that yours wasn’t so bad, at least in comparison. In the first half of the book, she defines the different stages of menopause and lists the common symptoms one might have. These range from the well-known hot flash to the lesser-known burning tongue. (Why must so many things in menopause make us feel like we're on fire?) She also discusses Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), both her personal experience with it and what to watch out for, like compounded hormones and pellets. This was refreshing to read since there is so much misinformation out there directed at women in menopause. It made me happy to know that she takes a science-based approach in her menopause management. By this point in the book, I hadn’t really learned much that I didn’t already know about menopause, but I’ve been studying this in depth for the past several years. It was, however, quite validating to read her first-hand account to make me feel like I wasn’t the only one experiencing these less common issues. She reveals some very personal details of her life, and in doing so, makes you feel like you can trust her. This is important, especially because the second half of the book consists of her advice. We don't usually take advice from those we don't trust. In the second half of the book, she outlines what she calls her menopause “hacks.” Her chapter about how to eat wasn’t revolutionary, but that’s what made it so great. It was solid, reasonable advice. It’s what I recommend to my clients when asked. She doesn’t promote low calorie diets or intermittent fasting or avoiding carbs. She does suggest prioritizing protein, complex carbs, healthy fats and limiting alcohol. She seems to subscribe to my philosophy: Live the healthiest life you can enjoy! I can respect that. She has several pages of workouts that she calls “Menopause Metabolic Resistance workouts.” There are pictures of each exercise, as well as a prescribed set and repetition range. Her workouts incorporate the basic movement patterns that I outlined in my blog post “The 6 Most Important Exercises.” If you’re in need of a strength training starter workout, this is excellent. If you’re a client of mine, these moves will look very familiar to you. No self-respecting book about how to take care of yourself during menopause would be complete without a chapter on sleep and stress-reduction. Sleep is just as important as nutrition and exercise. 61% of postmenopausal women suffer from insomnia, which is a damn shame. Estrogen and progesterone play a huge part in helping us fall asleep and stay asleep, so without them, we struggle. Will this book cure your insomnia? You might find some helpful advice in there, but it won’t do so by putting you to sleep. It’s quite entertaining, actually. Amanda is funny, irreverent and doesn’t hold back. If you need a good read to know what’s coming or to learn more about what you’re in the thick of, I recommend Menopocalypse.
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When training my clients, I focus on the following 6 exercises:
These are the 6 basic patterns of human movement and therefore, the most important exercises we can focus on. By teaching my clients to perform these movements well, then adding resistance little by little, they are learning how to move properly and safely while becoming strong at the same time. These are movements that we use in our everyday lives. It’s important to know how to do these well to not only avoid injury but to make life easier. Don’t get me wrong. There can be a time and place for muscle isolation exercises. You may have a knee injury, for example, that requires us to work each muscle surrounding the knee joint individually until we get those muscles strong enough to keep your knee in alignment so that you can squat or lunge. And yes, we need to be able to squat. In fact, you already do by standing up from a chair. It may just not be done easily...yet. How many sets and repetitions of these movements should you do? That depends on your starting point. For beginners, I recommend starting with just one or two sets of 15 reps with just your body weight to prep your connective tissue to add load later on, especially if you’re over 40. Do this twice a week with at least 48 hours in between workouts. After a couple of weeks, then you can add light loads. The rate of progression beyond that is highly individual. There are also countless variations that you can do with the 6 basic movement patterns in order to best develop your strength safely. I sometimes hear, "I just want to get more toned." Well, “toned” isn’t really a thing. In order to achieve a “toned” look, you need to grow the muscles and lose subcutaneous body fat. This is where certain muscle isolation exercises could play a role in your training program, but the majority of it will be spent on the 6 most important exercises. While I understand most people hire a personal trainer to achieve a certain aesthetic, my main goal is to help you move through life easier: by being strong, remaining insulin-sensitive, keeping your joints pain-free, feeling your best, and most importantly, having the energy to do what you want to do when you want to do it. The body's appearance just happens to be a nice side effect. If you would like to get strong to make moving through life easier, but you just don’t know where to start, send me a message. I can create a plan for you to do on your own. Hiring a personal trainer doesn’t always mean I have to be present at every one of your workouts. We might just need to meet for a very brief period until you feel confident enough to navigate your own training plan. We can always touch base later when you're ready to progress your plan. Are you ready to move through life easier?
This post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I frequently get asked, “What do you eat at breakfast for protein? Eggs? Bacon? Sausage?” You certainly could eat these typical-American breakfast staples to get your protein. But since I aim for about 30 grams of protein at each meal, I would have to eat either 5 eggs or 10 slices of bacon or 8 sausage patties to get to 30 grams of protein. That’s way more fat (and salt) than I want to eat on a daily basis. I don’t think my heart and arteries would make it very long if I ate that way all the time (vacations don’t count). I love oatmeal in the morning, but my 1/3 cup serving only yields about 4 grams of protein. To boost the protein content, I tried adding hemp hearts because they’re a good plant source of protein, but I discovered I’m allergic. Sunflower seeds were my next best option. While not as protein dense as hemp hearts, they added a good crunch, so I kept them in. I considered other nuts that have a decent amount of protein (peanuts, almonds, pistachios), but since I often eat those nuts later in the day, I didn’t want to overdo it on the nuts just trying to get more protein. Maybe a protein powder would work? Whey protein is the most widely available. It’s a complete protein, meaning it contains all of the essential amino acids. It blended right into the oatmeal, making it creamy and smooth. I used an unflavored version, so it didn’t negatively alter the taste. The drawback was… it made my nose run like a 4 year old’s. (Dairy products can do this to some people.) Next, I tried soy protein powder. It turned my oatmeal into cement. Then I tried pea protein powder. It elevated my oatmeal somewhat from cement to gruel, but I still didn’t want to eat it. Then I thought maybe I would ditch the American-style breakfast and just eat lunch and dinner foods in the morning, like they do in other countries. Nobody says you have to eat breakfast foods for breakfast. You could eat chicken, steak, fish, etc. But I didn’t want to do that. I like breakfast food for breakfast, so I kept looking. I finally found an unflavored pea protein-brown rice blend that didn’t make my oatmeal taste bad or turn it into concrete. The pea protein is mixed with the brown rice to provide a complete amino acid profile. It blends right in and thickens the oatmeal but not too much. Between a scoop of that (20g) plus the protein naturally occurring in the oats (4g), flax seeds (1g), sunflower seeds (2g) and walnuts (1g), my oatmeal comes in at about 28 grams of protein. Add to that the soy milk I put in my coffee, and my total breakfast protein count is just over 30 grams. I also add cinnamon and raisins for flavor. This is the one I like (paid link) My breakfast is not a low-calorie meal, but that is not my goal. Calories = energy. I wake up hungry, and I need energy to start my day. Also, I don’t bother counting calories because I obsessed over those in my younger years and have since realized that’s no way to live, but I do try to hit around 125 grams of protein every day. Once I figured out my breakfast, I only had to count my protein grams once and now I pretty much have it down. I don’t like to obsess over numbers because life is short, so some days I reach that goal and some days I just come close. It’s not a big deal. I am not a Registered Dietician Nutritionist (RDN), so I do not tell my clients what to eat. I’m just telling you what works for me – what I eat to maintain my lean mass, healthy bones, a functioning digestive system, and what makes me feel my best. And just as important, what tastes good! Do you eat protein at breakfast? If so, what’s your favorite? I cook a big batch of oatmeal to last about 5 days. Every morning, I take 1/5 of it, heat it in the microwave until it's warm and creamy again, then add all my goodies: protein powder, cinnamon, flax seed, raisins, sunflower seeds and walnuts.
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AuthorPaige Balius - a personal trainer in Austin, Texas, helping women live their best lives! Archives
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