Staying healthy post-menopause: My tips and simple strategies

Post-menopause

Going through menopause, it can sometimes be really hard to see to the end of your day, never mind how you're going to cope post-menopause, because this can seem a lifetime away. But we know that how we look after ourselves today can have a huge impact on our future health - self-care shouldn't stop when you are in post-menopause.

In the UK, the average life expectancy for women is 81.7 years (1), so if you enter post-menopause at 50, you may have over 30 years of life, which you will want to be as happy and healthy as you can; so, this is what I'm going to talk about today.

What exactly does post-menopause mean? It can be confusing because there are so many different sources that say different things. Post-menopause is basically when you've been through two years without any periods. But that doesn't mean that at the end of two years, your symptoms suddenly stop, and that's it. The two-year rule has more to do with the fact that you can no longer get pregnant after your periods have stopped for this long. So, for some of you, symptoms may not last very long, but for others, post-menopause symptoms can really drag on. So, the better equipped you are to face this, the easier it will be at the end of the day.

Things I do to stay healthy post-menopause

A healthy and varied diet with plenty of plain water and regular physical activity are essential to good health. But there are a few more things that I tend to focus on a lot more than maybe I did before.

1. Heart health

Post-menopause women are much more vulnerable to heart attacks and strokes than men of the same age (2), so it's really important to look after your heart as well as possible. Keeping active is key here. Exercise can bring up connotations of punishing yourself and not enjoying it, so it can help to think of it as being active rather than sitting about doing nothing.

So, you want to be heart-active at least two to three times a week. That means you're raising your heartbeat. And even if you do that for a few minutes, two to three times a week, that can be of benefit.

For me, because of a few heart issues that run in my family, I make sure that I do high-intensity interval training for 20 minutes once or twice a week. I also have two brisk half-hour walks when I'm working from home at lunchtime, and I also try and do, weather permitting up here in Scotland, a good six-mile hike once a week. And I find that really helps keep me going.

The other thing is to keep as mobile as you can just during your working day. For me, I sit a lot at my desk, so I know that it's really important not to sit for too long because your heart rate goes down. So, I try and get up, maybe once every hour at least, and just walk around the building or run up and down the stairs, so that I move about as much as I can.

2. Flexibility and balance

I've been doing yoga on and off for a long, long time. When I was about 30 and I did regular yoga, my teacher was over 70, which then seemed an eon away! But now it won't be too long before I'm over 70 myself. She said then, "You're only as young as your spine." And that has stuck with me all my life, because, let's face it, if you stiffen up, if you can't bend to pick things up, if you can't reach things, or if you can't turn around, that's going to impede you in all sorts of different areas of your life.

So, I still do yoga. I try to do maybe 20 minutes twice a week. But any flowing, stretching exercises, such as tai chi or dancing, are really great.

Joint and muscle aches and pains are a huge issue in menopause and post-menopause, but there are lots of simple seated exercises that you can do. YouTube is great for exercise videos. I tend to get bored with exercise really quickly, so I'll very often do completely different exercises every week just to keep my interest going. YouTube is really great for that.

As far as balance goes, in the UK, at least 76,000 women, post-menopause, end up with hip fractures every single year (3), and a lot of it is just to do with poor balance. They may trip over something and can't get their balance back, and this is where stretching and balance very often work really well together.

Osteoporosis, which is weakened bone health, is a big factor in this as well, so looking after your bones is another really important one.

Balancing exercises can help. They often laugh at me at work because I'll be standing beside the photocopier, balancing on one leg. You can do it while you're waiting for the bus or for the kettle to boil. You can get one of these balance boards, which I've got as well. It's quite hard. I can't manage a long time on that but you just stand on it. It's a ball with a little platform around it and it helps you learn to get your balance back. So, again, really, really get into this one because it can prevent you from getting one of these awful fractures later on in life.

3. Food

I love food. I just absolutely love food. But the problem for me is, I’m really small, so I only need to overeat for a week on holidays, and I'm up a dress size. And then, of course, it's just not so easy to take it off as to put it on.

What I tend to do is follow an 80/20 rule, and I find that has worked really well for me over the years. So, I will eat healthily and sensibly 80% of the time, but 20% of the time, I will enjoy myself.

So, if I'm on holiday, if I am having a meal with friends or family, I really enjoy myself, and I don't limit myself; because if someone said to me, "You can't ever have chocolate cake, alcohol, or coffee again," I would cry.

Life can be so miserable sometimes, especially going through menopause when you're struggling with all these different things, and having something really enjoyable to eat can be such a treat.

So, I make sure that I get a treat now and again, and that fills me with absolute happiness. However, if you are on a special diet for any particular reason and you're under a practitioner or a healthcare practitioner, then obviously you need to follow their advice rather than do what I'm talking about just now.

4. Sleep

This is so important. There's so much research out there now showing that poor sleep can impact your mental health and your physical well-being. It can trigger weight gain. It can affect your digestion. It can affect so many different things at the end of the day.

For me, before menopause, I used to be able to go to sleep in an instant, the minute my head touched the pillow. Now, I find sometimes it can take me quite a while to get to sleep and also to stay asleep. I tend to wake up once or twice during the night.

I find that very calming music for a little while always helps me to drop off. If I'm worried about something, we have our Passiflora Complex Spray. I'd have a few sprays, maybe about half an hour before I jump into bed to help me relax.

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I try not to read scary stuff or watch scary stuff on TV, because that sets your mind going and it can also rev up your nervous system, which makes it more difficult to get to sleep as well.

If I do wake up and I can't get back to sleep, then I will get up. I will make myself a nice hot drink. I love Tulsi tea. It's made from a herb called holy basil. It's very calming and soothing. It's warming. And in the middle of winter, I'll fill up my hot water bottle as well if it's really cold. And I usually find that, just doing that little routine, when I go back to bed I can drop off and get a good night's sleep.

5. Have a little bit of joy and happiness every day

Again, this can be so difficult with everything that's going on in the world today. All of the things that we're worried about—our family, our friends, our finances, our physical self, how we're coping through menopause. It can feel really hard and bleak sometimes to get through the day, so finding something that can give you that little bit of joy or a bit of an uplift is very important. It's vital. This is not a luxury.

So, one of my super supports is that I have a group of like-minded friends. We have a little WhatsApp group. We're always sending each other little uplifting quotes, or if we're out for the day and we see a beautiful scene in nature, we'll take a picture and send it to each other. We'll send little snippets of how we're feeling on that particular day. Having other people around me in this manner helps lift my spirits.

Otherwise, for me, it's getting into nature. I'm lucky. I have a little garden. So, in the summer, I'll get out and do my gardening. I know a lot of people who don't have gardens but would love one. I know, especially in the UK, what's happening is that a lot of community gardens are springing up all over the place. So, if you fancy doing a little bit of gardening or getting your hands into the soil, then look out for those. They're always looking for volunteers.

I was reading the other week that doctors here as well are starting to prescribe gardening for low mood and depression. And in Japan, there's something called forest bathing, which is very, very popular. And there's so much scientific research that shows that just walking in nature can lift your mood and your spirits (4), so that's another thing that most of us can try and do at some point.

You may also find these topics helpful:

10 things you need to know about post-menopause

After menopause: 4 questions women ask about post-menopause - Part 1

After menopause: 4 questions about post-menopause symptoms – Part 2

10 self-care tips for perimenopause, menopause & postmenopause