Menopause is usually thought of in a few different ways.

Sometimes it feels like a curse, sometimes like the hell of old age, and sometimes like a beautiful natural change of life.

Kind of depends on which side of the bed you wake up on that morning, huh?

This can be the best part of life, not the worst.

It can be a time of contemplation, deeper spiritual awareness, and helping to educate and influence others around us with our wisdom and experience.

As for what actually causes menopause, the ovaries slow down and eventually stop functioning. This is marked by a reduction in the female hormone levels of estrogen and progesterone. In some women, this hormone drop is barely noticed. Most women do notice something and for many it’s debilitating.

The most common symptoms are hot flashes or lushes caused by vasodilator instability. Other symptoms are nervousness, fatigue, mental depression, crying episodes, insomnia and headaches.

It is very similar to PMS, which is also caused by hormone levels dropping. But, it does not stop in 5 or 10 days and can continue indefinitely. In some cases, menopause can lead to bone loss, osteoporosis and artery disease.

For some women menses just stops one day.

For others it gradually reduces over months, until it finally stops.

For some women the length of the menstrual cycle gets longer and then eventually ends.

Women who smoke cigarettes go into menopause on the average of one to two years earlier than non-smoking women. That statistic alone makes me glad I stopped smoking during college!

There are 4 things I find that make the hormonal changes and fluctuations easier for most women.

Step 1: Hormonal support and balance.

There are many natural options for bringing your hormones back into balance. That’s why I wrote Navigating Hormone Health. It’s a great guide to assess what’s OUT OF BALANCE and then understand what to do to get that balance back.

Without proper understanding of your hormones and an intelligent approach to balance, you really are missing the link to feeling well and performing at your best during the changes of your middle years and beyond.

Step 2: Improve your nutrition.

Any time your body is being challenged and is changing, as it is during menopause, it’s a good idea to make sure your nutrition is top notch because of the levels of both physical and emotional stress.

Fatigue and low energy are often chief complaints of women during menopause and optimal nutrition really will restore your energy.

I can’t say enough about the importance of a good healthy food program during this time of change. Junk food, too much salt, artificial anything, and overly acidic foods all contribute to increasing the symptoms of menopause.

Step 3: Keep your channels of elimination healthy.

The physical location of the uterus between the colon, rectum and bladder, makes keeping a clean colon important. If you have bowel issues, see that you get these handled.

Same goes for your kidneys. You want to keep your urinary tract clean, disease-free and functional. Keeping your elimination systems clean and working properly takes physical stress off the female reproductive organs and eases the transition through menopause.

Step 4: Get enough exercise and increase circulation.

Maintaining a routine exercise program during menopause is NOT AN OPTION, it’s a must.

It helps with everything from circulatory disturbances to bone loss.

Not walking? Start walking 45 minutes to an hour 4-5 times a week. Hot flashes are the biggest menopausal symptom and exercise which benefits the circulatory system works wonders for flushes.

Even if you’re not in menopause yet, it’s coming down the pike.

If you’re over 40 and notice the effects of aging like a loss of energy and stamina and a general slowing down, NOW is the time to make what could very well be some of the most important decisions you’ll ever make involving your self care program.

EVERY woman needs these 4 steps in place so that we age well, protect our health, and have the peace of mind to live a vibrant and happy life!

shelli

A sedentary lifestyle can lead to costly chronic diseases……and has many other costs as well.

Do you feel like you’re getting enough exercise?

When I see surveys that look at different states in the U.S., across the board the answer is no.

Generally about half the adult population does not meet physical activity recommendations.

Many people cite that it costs too much money or takes up too much time, however I’m convinced that being unhealthy can cost both more time and more money in the long run.

Inactivity, along with an unhealthy diet (and they are often linked) adds up to gaining more pounds, putting you at risk for chronic diseases that are very costly to treat.

When departments of health or the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looks at the statistics and adds up the costs, the numbers are staggering.

In Hawaii, for instance, if all adults were physically active, about $140 million could be saved on hospital costs related to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

In the U.S. as a whole, health care costs associated with physical inactivity topped $76 billion in 2000.

If only 10% of adults started a regular walking program, $5.6 billion spent to treat heart disease could be saved. Please read that again because that number is staggering.

A 10% weight loss can reduce an overweight person’s lifetime medical costs by $2,200 to $5,300 by lowering costs associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and high cholesterol.

Just how much physical activity is beneficial to your health?

Studies show that 30 minutes of mode

Do you use the words stress and overwhelm when someone asks, “How’s it going?”

Do you feel like there are times when your life is OUT of balance?

To each their own when it comes to what the word “balance” means, HOWEVER I feel there are certain steps we can all take and choices we can make in our lives that will put things in balance.

Remember though, that balance is a dynamic state of being so finding your own sense of balance is important. It will help you lead a happier, healthier and less stressful life.

So let’s get right to it with my top ten suggestions!

1. Have more fun.

Build fun into your life. Make fun a focus.

Even when you have to do things that are not fun, ask yourself, “How can I make this more fun?” Bringing attention to fun will help you seek it out!

2. Take five……or ten….or twenty!

Make sure you’re getting enough “me” time. When you do you’ll create the space to ponder questions and ideas about what a balanced life means to you.

3. Learn to say “yes” and “no”.

This may be one of the hardest ones to put into practice. Every no creates the space for a yes and every yes means you’ll have to say no to something else.

It seems to me if you can’t say no then you really can’t say yes! Does that make sense?

4. Go for quality.

Keep what’s working great in your life.

What’s not so great can be modified or let go of. The roller coaster rides are very stressful between the ups of great and the downs of what’s not working.

5. Establish quantity.

Think of your life as a pie with many slices.

It’s not that different things must take up the same amount of time, but rather that the pie reflects what you consider a good balance between the different areas of your life.

Take the time to actually draw a picture of a pie and label the slices and how much of the pie they occupy. Look at things like work, exercise, family and other important parts of your life. This visual representation of your pie will help!

6. Think positively.

Negative thoughts and energy are a huge drain on you both physically and emotionally. Choose to be a positive thinker and you’ll notice a difference in your energy and attitude. This always helps bring back balance and give you perspective on your life.

7. Listen to your body.

It’s a messenger of whether or not you’re in balance. Learn to tune in so you can tune up your life.

8. Appreciate both the process of life and the progress you make.

You’ll learn about yourself through observing your process when you make change and bring balance to your life. Too many times we forget to notice progress because we’re not THERE yet. Each step gets us closer, so don’t forget to pat yourself on the back and notice progress.

9. Creating balance is an evolutionary practice.

Your needs change, what matters to you changes, all kinds of things change. Allow yourself to re-evaluate your balance pie regularly.

10. Manage your stress.

How?

By practicing suggestions 1 through 9. They will help you create a balanced life that is less stressful!

shelli

I’ve been using this OH WELL technique with my students and clients so I wanted to share it with you, too.

When I start working with a private client, I ask them a bunch of questions.

Questions like:

What do you want from your training and nutrition program?
What type of health do you want?
What type of physique do you want?

I also ask them how consistent they are with their good health and fitness routines.

And I often notice a real struggle with compliance.

In other words, we all struggle at times with consistency and fall off the healthy habit bandwagon.

I picked up this technique I’m going to tell you about from Dr. Judith Beck.

If you apply it, you’ll succeed at a higher rate of compliance than you ever thought possible with all your healthy habits.

Why?

Well, it’s because people have a tendency to waffle back and forth in their nutritional decision making. Indecision sets in, rationalization sets in, and we become tense and opt for poor choices.

Have you ever had this experience?

You’re in a store and you head over to buy something that’s not really in your best nutritional interest. You talk yourself out of getting it and start to walk away.

Then you talk yourself back into buying it and you head in that direction again.

I swear, this happened to me one time and I must have walked a mile of indecisive steps!

It was like I was at the end of a fishing pole and someone kept casting me out and reeling me in…….over and over and over again.

I’m hoping I’m not the only one who’s gone through something like that!?

OK–where was I? Oh yes, the oh well technique!

So whatever thought you use to rationalize your poor choice, you faced a moment of weakness and the weakness won you over.

But because you’re an aware and self correcting model of good self esteem, you see the err of your ways and don’t want to repeat them.

That’s where the oh well technique comes into play.

Here’s what you do.

Each time you’re presented with a food choice that’s not on your plan, instead of debating the merits of the food or justifying “just one bite”, instead of talking yourself into making a poor decision, simply repeat the phrase:

“Oh Well, it’s not on my plan.”

Then shrug your shoulders and move on and get busy doing something else like making better food choices, reading a book, talking with a friend, that sort of thing.

Yes, it’s a simple phrase but it won’t be easy in the beginning.

However, it is a powerful way to take back your power over your decision making.

One of my clients is a diabetic and needs to avoid high sugar foods. She’s having great success with this technique.

Another client entered a fat loss contest at work and she’s using the Oh Well technique to work her way towards the $1000 prize.

When you practice the Oh Well technique long enough, it becomes automatic and you won’t think twice about it. It’ll happen silently and you get to be in control.

Do remember to shrug the shoulders and act it out. Shrugging the shoulders helps release the tension that comes with making decisions.

If you’re someone who trades what you want most (like abundant health, or a fit and trim body) for what you want at the moment, try this technique.

If this phrase doesn’t work for you then pick one of your own like thanks anyway, or no thank you.

The idea is to turn your nutritional decision making into a “no big deal” proposition so that you come out on top and get the results you want!

PLEASE…….I can’t wait to hear about all the fun you have with this idea. Do email and let me know how it works. I’ll post a blog piece with real life stories from you all, so do give it a try!

shelli

I’ve been thinking about the choices we all make and how they determine our destiny.

One of the main choices we make, and maybe the most important one, is how we spend our time.

I’m thinking in particular about what we might call our recreational time: the non working, non sleeping, non eating time.

Yes, I know some people think eating is a recreational activity, but for now let’s set eating aside.

And are all recreational activities created the same?

It seems to me they fall into three categories:

1. those that are fun but are harmful and damage us in some way (like getting drunk)

2. those that are mindless distractions and don’t harm or necessarily help us

3. those that require some energy but are pleasurable and have lead to self improvement (like Yoga, for example)

Many choices fall into the middle where they neither harm nor help us.

It may seem that choices we make when we set them apart from one another don’t have much consequence, HOWEVER, when we start to add them up and see patterns, they really do determine so much about the quality of our lives.

No matter what you do in life, I think everyone needs at least a few hours every day to spend doing pleasurable things. Something that isn’t work!

I say that to remind myself, because I enjoy my work so much that even I have to be reminded of this!

So what’s your something else?

Let’s think of them as Gold choices, Silver choices and Bronze choices.

Gold improves you, Silver helps you pass the time, and Bronze damages you.

Let’s also look at some possible characteristics of each of these:

Gold Choices

These might be intellectually challenging choices and emotionally rewarding ones as well. They require a good amount of energy though they give back what they take. You often feel good about yourself as well as how you’re spending your time when you make this choice. Right now for me, studying Japanese, which I do every Saturday, falls into this category.

Silver Choices

These are often the choices we make when we don’t feel like making choices. They are easy to make when we don’t much care how we spend our time. Think of the times you mindlessly watched TV or spent too much time chatting and wish you had that time back.

These can be relaxing times when you want to chill out. You’re looking for something simple and mindless. Choose these wisely as they can often lead to feeling more drained than relaxed and actually leave you feeling more like you’re in the Bronze zone.

I think of a time a few weeks ago when what should have been a half hour conversation with a friend turned into a MUCH MUCH too long of a me listening and him talking and complaining about everything that was going wrong in his life chat. It left me drained for days and I can assure you this will never happen again.

The silver choices can be the tricky ones because we want them closer to the GOLD choices than the Bronze ones!

Bronze Choices

We all have our vices. Think of these as the things you do to sabotage or hurt yourself. It could be something like procrastination or any addictions that challenge you.

These often provide both pleasure and pain, which is why they can be tricky to spot.

It can often be overindulging in something that might be a silver choice. I can think of women I know who have exercise addictions. They may feel like they are having a great time, but they are really hurting themselves.

We often pick Bronze choices because we are weak and in a self destructive mode. When we regain our strength, our choices tend to move up to the silver and gold categories.

I’ve noticed a few things.

When we’re at our best and feeling confident and full of energy and our self esteem is in a good place, we choose the GOLD choices.

If someone were to ask, “How are you feeling?” and your answer would be, “So so,” you’d likely make a Silver choice.

When self doubt creeps in and we’re feeling pretty crummy about ourselves, we are susceptible to those Bronze choices.

So……

Take some time and make a list of YOUR GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE choices.

Here are some ideas.

1. Gold choices might include:

Listening to music
Yoga or Tai Chi
Playing an instrument
Watching a movie that inspires you
Reading a great book
Having great sex

2. Silver choices might include:

Getting a massage
Watching a live sporting event
Watching movies or TV shows you find entertaining
Reading novels that entertain you

3. Bronze choices might include:

Getting drunk
Watching stupid or degrading TV shows and movies
Doing things you’d be ashamed to talk about

Create a list that works for you!

Remember though that……

Gold means:

The activity/experience is intellectually challenging. It teaches you something worth knowing or develops a skill worth having.
It develops you emotionally.
It is energizing and gives you more than it takes.
It leaves you happy with your choice and feeling like you’re doing the right thing.
It builds confidence and self esteem.

Silver means:

The choice is intellectually and emotionally easy. It’s comfortable and enjoyable.
It is usually passive rather than active. Doing too much of it is not good for you. Think of sitting on the couch and staring at the TV screen. A little bit of it is OK but too much leaves you with the feeling that you’ve wasted your time.

Bronze means:

The choice is physically or mentally damaging.
It harms you intellectually, emotionally, and physically. Over time, when you engage in Bronze choices, you become less capable of peak performance in all areas of your life.

What will making different choices do for you?

Making better choices can’t help but create a better and more fulfilling life. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll discover about yourself, or maybe not.

Maybe you knew you were a GOLD medal winner all along!?

shelli

Ready to come on a Supergirl journey with me?

Forget Superman, we’re Superwomen!

Your brain: that’s what’s going to turn on your Supergirl powers.

Shelli, what are you talking about and how’s your brain going to do that?

Glad you asked!

I’ve talked about neuroscience before, connecting right brain and left brain activities.

Your right brain, the creative part, gets stimulated by your left brain, the logical,
rational side of your brain. Think of the left side as a computer that you program and the right side as the creative artist that brings those programs into being.

It’s interesting to ask yourself what qualities would you want YOUR Supergirl to possess?

Acting from a place of power, taking action, staying cool during stressful times……stopping a speeding bullet or leaping over a building in a single bound?

You get the idea.

Many of us watched Superman when we were younger, and once he put on that cape anything was possible.

How often do you wish you could slip into a private place and come out with a super cape and super powers?

I know I do at least once a day!

All of us do possess internal mental-powers that when used can turn us into our own version of Supergirl!

How?

Our brains make chemicals called neuropeptides.

These are your ”molecules of emotions” such as love, happiness, joy and fear.

Besides circulating in your brain, these molecules of emotion circulate throughout your entire body.

Now here’s where it gets even more interesting.

Your immune system has cells too, right? Mostly we think of our immune system as the system that protects our health. That’s true……

However, your immune system cells communicate with your brain cells.

They hear all the self talk that goes on in your brain and they create what you think about. Your body and all your cells are constantly in communication with each other. That’s how you’re able to function!

So these immune cells listen and adjust their behavior based on what they
hear from your brain.

So imagine what would happen if you started to THINK like
Supergirl???

Here are some of the thoughts you might have during the day:

“I am indestructible!”

“The challenges I face day to day are easily overcome, after
all I am Supergirl”

“I have super-cool powers!”

“I have incredible strength!”

“Nothing can stop me…..nothing!”

The billions of cells in your body ARE listening.

Their mission is to complete the picture of you when they hear your self talk. You’re in control.

They must obey.

Your thoughts create YOU.

As they say, “a mind is a terrible thing to waste!”

This may be old news to you, or it may be mind-boggling or it may eye-opening.

Whichever, don’t let this message pass you by.

Creating SUPERGIRL doesn’t take much but it does take being aware of your self talk and the influence it has over your life’s creation.

So whether you want to achieve more success, improve your health or relationships, or be more motivated, becoming a SUPERGIRL starts in your mind.

What’s the first step?

Start LISTENING to what you say about yourself to yourself.

Let me say that another way, “Listen to what you say about yourself to yourself!”

I know, I know, I said the same thing twice!

It’s that important, and besides, MY SUPERGIRL has a great sense of humor!!!

shelli

Want to be SIMPLY inspired??

I know I’m always up for some inspiration, so the other day I went looking for some great quotes.

Here’s what I found:

1. “We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” Dolly Parton

2. “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Confucius

3. “Always forgive your enemies–nothing annoys them so much.” Oscar Wilde

4. “Most of us have trouble juggling. The woman who says she doesn’t is someone whom I admire but have never met.” Barbara Walters

5. “Age is just a number. It’s totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine.” Joan Collins

6. “If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.” Katharine Hepburn

SO………I adjusted my sails and chose a job I love, which did indeed please at least one person (who has no idea who her enemies are)! She does hope it pleases others as well! YES, this person can juggle for REAL (three tennis balls at least) though she still struggles with juggling EVERYTHING else in her life as she continues to learn to appreciate a good bottle of wine! I must call Joan and thank her!

See how I learned from those quotes!!??

shelli

Are you reaching your goals?

You have all these things you want to accomplish, right?

Lose weight.

Quit smoking.

Eat better or exercise more.

Do something about all the stress you feel.

You have so many things on the list that you can’t start them ALL right away.

So you decide to wait until next month to really take action.

Then something comes up and you put it off
until next month.

You know how it goes.

So at the end of the year you have not accomplished
your goals.

Are you ready to change that?

Are you ready to actually ACHIEVE your goals this time?

Here’s what I’d like you to do:

1) Start a new Word document on your computer.

2) Title it “Goals for the (month, year, week, whatever……you fill in the blank!)

3) Write down your top 10 goals.

4) Then reorder them according to importance.

5) Then take the last 8 off the list.

6) Then write a list of EXACTLY what you need to do to
achieve each of those TWO goals.

7) Write down EXACTLY how much time per week you
are willing to commit to achieving your goal.

Write down EXACTLY how much money per month
you are willing to invest to achieve your goal.

Include both the money you are willing to invest materially, meaning to
actually do the goal, and the money you are willing to invest
in training.

For example, if your goal is to lose 50 pounds, you probably can’t do it all by yourself. You’ll likely need a coach or a support group. So write down the money you
are willing to invest per month for a coach or a support group.

9) Write down EXACTLY what it will mean for you personally if
you achieve this goal.

Staying with the previous example of losing 50 pounds, what will that really mean if you lose the 50 pounds? Would it mean you’d fit into your clothes better,
be more attractive, feel better about yourself?

10) Then write a list of anything you don’t know how to do
or what you think is holding you back from achieving that goal.

11) Then commit to begin NOW, starting today to focus on your goal.

12) If you have completed #11 and are ready to start focusing NOW, send your Word document to me. I will probably get about 100 or more, so it may take me a few days to comment on them, but comment I will!

I look forward to hearing from you……so get started on step #1 RIGHT NOW!

shelli