Your body, your temple
Christmas believes in treating your diet like you treat your bank account: Be meticulous about what you choose to put into it and how you spend your calories.
“My friends and family refer to me as a ‘food snob.’ If it can live in a vending machine for years and still be considered fresh, I don’t put it in my body,” she said via email.
Christmas also advises against going too heavy on the meat. “Michael Pollan said it best: ‘Eat real food, not too much, and mostly plants.’ He’s so right,” she said. “Whenever we think of people as ‘aging backwards,’ they are usually vegetarians or close to it. Adhering to a plant-forward diet, filled with anti-inflammatory foods (like those found in the Mediterranean diet) and avoiding highly processed foods containing sodium, sugar and trans fats is the best gift you can give yourself.”
This doesn’t mean that you can’t ever have a treat. “If you do indulge in something decadent, scale back later,” she said.
Exercise is key to maintaining a healthy weight and combating the muscle loss that comes with aging and can put older adults at higher risk of disability.
“The adage ‘use it or lose it’ could not be truer during the menopause transition,” Christmas said.
“Specifically, what we are losing: our muscle tone, flat tummy, trim waistline — I’ll stop here because I’m depressing myself,” she said. “Experts recommend 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two days of muscle strengthening per week.”
She is often asked what the best type of exercise is. “My response is always the same: ‘the one that you will do,’” she said. “I love walking with a combination of yoga and Pilates. However, the options are endless: hip-hop aerobics, spin class, biking, hiking, tennis, swimming, step class, Jazzercise, lining dancing, boxing, pole dancing, weightlifting, barre. The point is to be intentional; find something you like, take a friend, and go often.”
Limit alcohol or avoid it altogether.
“Outside of the extra calories, alcohol can disrupt sleep, exacerbate or trigger depression and often decrease our inhibition,” Christmas said. “Most people tend to eat more — and it’s usually not more veggies — when they drink alcohol.”
“Research has shown that not getting enough sleep is associated with weight gain,” Christmas said. “People that don’t get enough sleep often snack more and indulge in all the high-calorie foods we should avoid.”
Practice self-care and self-love
Menopause is a natural phase of life that may be associated with bothersome symptoms including weight gain — but don’t let that extinguish your joy.
“It’s important to be intentional about engaging in regular exercise and adhering to a healthy diet; however, it is equally as important to create space for self-care,” Christmas said. “For some — not all — the menopause transition can be frightening. Making time to do things that bring us joy and peace are important to overall well-being.”
She added that sadness, irritability, increased anxiety and decreased motivation are very common during the transition to menopause. “Consultation with a mental health specialist and, in some cases, medical treatment can be helpful, especially if depression is contributing to overeating or lack of exercise,” she said.
We hope these five tips help you weather the years around menopause with a bit of equanimity. Listen to the full episode here. And join us next week on the “Chasing Life” podcast, when we explore what makes obesity a “disease.”
