Midlife part 3(a)
Let's get radically honest about our lifestyle choices
What the rundown will look like over the next few emails:
Midlife part 3 (a) Resistance training
Midlife part 3 (b) Nutrition
Midlife part 3 (c) Supplements & Herbs
Midlife part 3 (d) Stress reduction & Rest
I know a lot of you are very interested in HRT (hormone replacement therapy) and want to get right into that topic. However, I believe wholeheartedly that we have to take a look at our lifestyle choices before jumping straight to pharmaceuticals. As a nurse, but also a very impatient-fix-it-now 46-year-old woman, I know I have to take responsibility first and do everything I can to help support my body before I start relying on some cream, pill, pellet, or patch. I support functional and holistic care, but that always begins with covering the basics.
Below is less of a step-by-step personalized program for you to follow and more of a choose-your-own-adventure. I am simply here to open doors, prompt questions and offer resources that I believe are informative and supportive to the midlife woman. As always, I do not offer personalized medical advice. However, I am someone who is in the medical field offering up captivating rabbit holes where you may find gold. Please take your time while reading through this email and exploring all the resources. I suggest setting aside some time to carefully listen, watch and read all of the information listed here on the topic of resistance training for women in midlife.
Listen, on a basic level, we all know what we need to do to feel good. I will agree though, that as we go deeper into our own health, some aspects can get confusing. There are so many people talking about so many things when it comes to health and wellness. Who do we listen to? Who do we trust? How do we know if what they are saying is anecdotal? or evidence-based? or just plain personal biases? It gets tricky sorting through the weeds. And if we do everything that everyone tells us we have to do in order to live a healthy life, we literally wouldn’t have time to do anything else. So we have to be picky, realistic and have serious discernment. I will never tell you what to do, I (like usual) will share information that you can dig into. Anything I share will always be something that I personally have benefited from in some way. But it will be your responsibility to see if it will benefit you.
LIFESTYLE CHOICES IN MIDLIFE
Like it or not, our 40+ year-old bodies are not going to work the way they did in our 20s. We can kick and scream and fight all we want, but nature will always win in the end. Always! Yes, this is a drag, and of course we all want to feel young and vibrant forever - but the hard truth is, we have to work for it.
This is not about diet culture. This is not a fad or a trend. This is not selfish, nor is it a reflection of self-centered behavior. Its truth. And unfortunately, it may take many attempts resisting this truth in order to finally learn it. Once we understand this we can then take the appropriate action steps in order to make midlife an incredible time in our lives. Contrary to what your mother, sister, or auntie might have said, we do not have to feel lethargic, bloated, wired, achy, uninspired, reactive, or any of the other million adjectives that the mysterious midlife misery can bring on. Feeling like shit is NOT normal.
As we age, we will start to experience many changes. The one change we are focusing on right now is the natural process of losing muscle mass. In its worst form, the very unsexy term for this is known as sarcopenia. Now sarcopenia is mostly noted around the sixth decade. However, muscle atrophy often starts in perimenopause (age 35+) that is if we are not taking active measures against this natural decline. Sarcopenia will not happen overnight, but if we don’t do anything, the worst of this condition may become someone’s reality.
The loss in estradiol is still believed to be the most important contributor in menopause-associated loss of muscle mass.
NIH: Menopause and the Loss of Skeletal Muscle Mass in Women
When diving into this topic, one can not overlook the name, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon takes a big stance, particularly on women’s protein intake and muscle development. I find myself returning to her interviews/podcasts when I need a refresher. My experience is this, at first, I found her to be a bit polarizing. However, after listening to different outlets interview her, I found myself agreeing with a lot of what she is passing along. I might not agree with everything, but I can’t deny that I have learned a lot from her. The video below is Dr. Lyon speaking directly about how we can prevent sarcopenia.
Menopause is associated with a natural decline in estrogen, that increases visceral fat mass, decreases bone mass density, muscle mass, and strength.
Among modifiable factors, low physical activity and protein intakes are the best contributors to sarcopenia and the loss of strength in postmenopausal women. On the other hand, some biological factors, namely oxidative stress, inflammation, estrogen and other hormone deficiency are predictors of these phenomena. Interestingly, some methods have the potential to attenuate the loss of muscle mass and strength such as exercise, and supplement intake.
PubMed: Changes in muscle mass and strength after menopause