Menopodcast - Menopause for the 21st Century Menopodcast - Menopause For The 21st Century

We start the episode chatting about our Clarity and how it feels. It feels GOOD. Julia feels good about where she is, where she wants to go. “Clarity on the NO.” We coined a new phrase! Sarah feels clear about a few things she does NOT want to do - and what she wants to focus on. We are looking ahead to 2019 and our Menopodcast Empire - or Menopyre, if you will. We’re planning to use the 12-week Year to achieve our goals - check out the book. It’s a super-detailed system for how to get things done. We quote Dr. Phil: What’s the story you’re going to tell yourself when you don’t achieve this thing?
Bible Study: Chapters 7, 8, & 9 Menopause Confidential by Dr. Tara Allmen - you can buy it - we love this book!
Chapter 7 of the book is called “What’s the Skinny on Weight Gain?” According to the book, it’s about aging, not about menopause. Boom. It’s about our metabolism has slowed down. The Dr. wants us to talk about gaining better health, and not losing weight. Sarah wishes she could lose weight, but would not care about the Number, if she FELT thin and her clothes fit better. Julia lost 15 pounds in the first part of the year, and has gained back 7. She’s struggling with her food choices. Julia realizes there’s no point wearing clothes that don’t fit - so she got a pair of comfy jeans. We discuss how uncomfortable Spanx are. Sarah announces that she has a goal of running a 5K by the end of Q1. It’s a question of endurance for her. And her flexibility is lacking as well. Fitness goals! According to the book, it’s not rocket science - weight loss is a question of the way you eat, not the way you work out. Note - not all calories are created equal. Dr. Allmen calls it a “pattern of eating” instead of a diet. She mentions Weight Watchers as a method, because it helps teach you a good pattern of eating. She mentions a sad statistic - 52% of the vegetables Americans consume are potatoes and tomatoes, in the form of French fries, potato chips, ketchup and pizza sauce. We reminisce about foods from the 70s, like Banquet Fried Chicken and Swanson Frozen Dinners.
Chapter 8 - “To Pee or Not to Pee?” Turns out not everyone who gets old needs to use Depends. Do your Kegels! It’s really important to have a strong Pelvic floor. Not just for the urinary incontinence… There are two types: Stress and Urge. Like laughing or coughing - and getting on a trampoline. But it can be related to a medical problem as well, so get that checked out. And then the Dr. mentions something called a Pessary, which we had never heard of, which is something that can help prevent stress incontinence. It’s kind of like a diaphragm, but it supports your urethra. Plus there are apparently physical therapists who can help with pelvic floor biofeedback - to help you teach yourself to strengthen those muscles. And we mention the dreaded bladder infections. Keep it clean!
Chapter 9 - “Who is that Wrinkly Old Woman in the Mirror?” Sarah has sadly looked in the mirror and said that to herself recently. It feels like the wrinkles came on not that long ago and are exponentially multiplying. But both Sarah and Julia are bothered more by the age spots than the wrinkles. Ugh. Growing up in Hawaii, sunblock was when the cloud went overhead. We never used any, so we did damage to our skin years ago. Neither of us like to Tan anymore. Dr. Allmen mentions she has had some Botox. Julia and Sarah would like to get the eye lift probably because the droopy-ness bothers us. Sarah has researched getting her age spots removed, but isn’t interested in getting Botox. Sarah wants the age spots removed from her hands and has seen a new spot on her face. Double ugh. And smoking is very bad for your skin! Julia admits she’s a little judgy about smoking and wishes people would save their $$ and their health by not doing it. And the chapter also mentions how, as we age, our skins heals more slowly from wounds, too. It’s the lack of Est