For some time, I forgot I was going through menopause. It's been going well for the most part.
These days though? It's been rough for 2 reasons.
1 - The cure of IBS-C
Since I've cured my IBS-C, I've been testing my stomach with high fiber wholewheat bread, and fruits I couldn't touch before, such as peaches. I was over the moon that yet another chronic illness has come to an end, but the excess of carbs, even though they were still considered healthy, brought back everything I hated about my hysterectomy:
- Hot flashes
- Fatigue
- Weight gain (especially around the abdomen)
- Brain fog
- Depression and anxiety
- Cravings and constant hunger
- Memory loss (in a big way! 😟)
2 - Summer fruits
I've stopped the bread, but with the coming of summer, I dive into MORE fruits than my body can currently handle. I bring an abundance of fruits for the family, but my husband is rarely home, and the children only finish up the variety of berries. They can't finish the peaches, nectarines etc on time. So before they go bad, I skip some other foods so I can finish off these highly nutritious and delicious things. I will try to cut back on our fresh fruit groceries, or perhaps freeze them and use a small amount in our yogurt bowls. That will save us some money too.
Eating more than one serving of fruit a day gives me all the above menopause symptoms. Also, certain fruits hurt me more than others. Bananas, kiwis and berries are all good and I can have them no problem. Oranges, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums etc, I can honestly feel the blood sugar increase through my body's aches and my brain's reactions and can even see it as my skin breaks out too.
The amount of carbs matters these days too unfortunately. As I do a lot of MetCons and high volume calisthenics, I NEED my carbs, but it seems I can't have both athletic performance AND feeling at my best hormonally.
I'm not in the mood to try out something as drastic as keto, but after some testing, I need to be within 50-100g of carbs daily. Any more than that and the inflammation becomes severe. I'll try to adjust and see if my workouts don't suffer, but I still believe in having a diverse gut microbiome, so I intent to keep eating carbs that don't bother me as much and in moderation.
Fasting
So 16:8 doesn't do much these days, probably because I've always liked to eat only 2 meals a day and skip dinner so my body doesn't really feel like I'm doing anything different. OMAD though? OMAD is awesome!
Anything beyond 20 hours of fasting makes me feel great, so when the family is home, I will have an eating window of 4 hours so we can eat together, and on the workdays / schooldays I have longer fasts (23-25 hours). I feel absolutely amazing and it helps me in every aspect of my life:
- No depression / mood swings
- No anxiety
- No brain fog
- Better digestion
- More time to do stuff
- Flatter belly / no bloating
- In a state of meditation all day long
- More energy
- Great endurance during my workouts (🤯 shocker! As I do them in a fasted state, after 20h without food!)
- Less joint / muscle pains
So Hippocrates was right, eating once a day is better than twice.
The only concern I have with all the above, is that a low-carb and OMAD lifestyle needs breaks. Just like exercising, you have to keep shocking your body. OMAD is easy to cut back, as I will go on 20:4 or 18:6 on the weekends, but I hate feeling crappy with excess carbs (healthy sources as always), so I will keep on trying out things. Maybe increase white potatoes (great for a healthy gut, lots of energy, don't bother me as much as fruit as I eat them oven baked with olive oil and lemon juice). Or more bananas and kiwis instead of a variety of fruit on those carb cycling days where I want to go on a thousand rep calisthenic madness MetCon (Double Murph anyone? 🥵)
To be continued...
I've cured my IBS-C, now it's time to focus on the only big thing that's left: surgical menopause. And as always, I'll share my findings, for free, should anyone on the wide web world finds them useful.
Be zen, be healthy. 🧘🏻♀️
Disclaimer: This YT channel & Blog are a documentation of my health journey. The content is based on what worked for me and is for informational purposes only, not a replacement for medical advice from a professional.
I’m NOT a doctor, nutritionist, dietitian, coach, nor a personal trainer. Furthermore, we are all different and my results may not reflect your own. Any action you take upon the information provided by ZenGainz is strictly at your own risk.