Moving through Menopause with Debbie Miller-Wright
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Debbie Miller-Wright is a personal trainer on a mission to support women going through the menopause.
Debbie found the support out there for perimenopausal women incredibly lacking - especially for women who wanted to keep physically active during this time so she began researching what she could do to move through menopause. We talk all things nutrition, exercise, supplements and mindfulness. For anyone approaching menopause - it really is worth a listen!
Talking points include:
Debbie's journey through menopause as a personal trainer
Explanation of perimenopause and menopause
Lack of research and understanding of menopause
The importance of talking about the menopause
What you can do to alleviate symptoms
Starting with the basics, being kind to yourself
Benefits of menopause support groups
Importance of finding exercise that motivates you
Getting to know yourself again and finding excitement in life
Transcript
Karla: Hello and welcome to Conversation Changes, the podcast where we hear from women who are changing the conversation, guests who inspire experts in their field, and those who are doing things just a little bit differently. Each week, I ask a guest to share the lessons they've learned, their experiences, challenges and insights.
We have conversations which I hope spark thoughts and discussions long after you finish listening. I'm your host, Karla Liddle-White and I began the podcast with an aim to amplify women's voices, challenge perceptions, and change the conversation.
Hello and welcome to the penultimate episode of the series. I can't believe that series three gone already. I don't think I could do a series about change and not talk about menopause. It used to be called The Change, and for those of us who menstruate, it's a huge change in our lives. Over the last couple of years, I've spoken to many women who spoke of their frustration around the lack of support with menopause, and I think more importantly, the lack of being listened to and also the lack of information surrounding menopause.
So I wanted to talk to someone about how we can help ourselves and what support we can find to help ourselves with menopause. I think it's slowly getting better and there's more in the media. But as with everything, it's slow going back in season one, I spoke to my PT, Debbie Miller Wright, about setting up her own business, Fighting Fit Devon and when I heard that she was creating a menopause pack to support the menopausal women she works with, I thought it would be a great opportunity to find out more. Because she did Copious research and she tried and tested so many different methods and coping strategies for her menopausal symptoms, I thought it would be really beneficial to get her on the podcast.
I will add before I introduce Debbie, that her program is designed to help people achieve a healthy, balanced lifestyle throughout the menopause, and that the advice she gives and we give should not replace advice given to you by your GP or other health professionals. So, without further ado, here's Debbie talking about her experience of menopause and what she did about it and how she can support women with menopause. And hopefully there are some nuggets of information in this that you can take away. If you are menopausal perimenopausal or someone who menstruates who might be coming up to the menopause, you might just want to know some information.
Okay, so why don't we start off you telling us a bit about yourself and your business.
Debbie: So I started Fighting Fit Devon, nearly twelve years ago. After being made redundant from a job, I turned my hobby into my business. Basically wanted to get people fit and healthy. I was doing a lot of kickboxing at the time, so I called my business Fighting Fit because still to this day, I think fighting Fitness is the best form of fitness in terms of all round everything. So I started doing personal training and I got more and more clients, more and more work. I love it. Absolutely love it. And then it's kind of expanded over the years to working on another whole person now. So rather than just getting people fit and healthy, I'm doing some more hypnotherapy mindfulness and working on the whole person mentally and physically. So it's morphed a little bit because people don't want to exercise if their brain isn't in the right place to do it.
Karla: So we're here today to talk about menopause. So why don't we start off because you're obviously a personal trainer, so talk to me about your journey through menopause and being a personal trainer, because that must have been quite a thing.
Debbie: Yeah, the change. We don't say that anymore, do we? We don't call it the change because women are constantly evolving and changing throughout their entire life. So I obviously do a lot of exercise, I eat well, and I noticed that I started to gain a bit of weight. This is a bit strange. I'm guessing this was around three years ago? Two, three years ago. And I thought, this is tough. I was having to work harder and eat less. And I thought, this is something going on with my body, basically. And then my period started to be erratic. I was getting very tired, premenstrual and during my periods, and I thought, okay, it's happening, what can I do? The main thing I did do was change my diet and work out even harder than I already was, which is ridiculous because I did actually think to myself at the time, god, if I'm having to work this hard, what about everybody else that doesn't do fitness for a living or is, like, keen on exercise? So, yeah, those are the first main things I did. I immediately changed my diet and increased my exercise or increased the type of exercise I was doing.
Karla: Okay, and where are you at now?
Debbie: Well, I am what they call perimenopausal. So approaching the change and everything is erratic in my life. Hormonally. That's where I'm at. It's the crazy stage, I think, to be honest.
Karla: Yeah. Doesn't sound fun.
Debbie: Oh, you've got a lot to look forward to, honestly.
Karla: So let's talk about those differences then. So there's perimenopausal and then there's menopause. So how does that work?
Debbie: Here's the thing, and it's all a bit vague, but the word menopause basically means the stopping of your monthly period. So it's the pause of it's not a pause, it just stops eventually, doesn't it? And the perimenopause is the build up to it. So your body is slowly losing oestrogen, you're increasing your testosterone levels. Your hormones are flying left, right and center, going, oh, I don't know what to do anymore. And that's how I see perimenopause. It's just like crazy hormones, not knowing what job they've got to do and whether they should just give up or carry on. And it's just like your body's going into retirement, but it doesn't quite know how to do it. It doesn't want to give up completely. So it's trying to find itself a hobby until it sits in its armchair and just sips tea all day. I don't know. That's how I think it is.
Karla: I love that analogy. So you're a PT and then you're going through perimenopause and then I really want to talk about the menopause pack that you've created and what led to that and what it is.
Debbie: Okay, well, so I've always been pretty in tune with my hormones over the years. It's be like that premenstrual thing where our hair would be tickling your face and you get so angry with it. Maybe like, get this hair off my face. Oh, hang on a minute. What's the date? And then you'd realize that you're premenstrual. And all of a sudden, actually, because you had that realization, you became a lot calmer. That's how it was with me. And I've always been very much aware and intune, and this is why I started researching and obviously using myself as a guinea pig. Like, how can I do this? How can I stop brain fog? How do I stop night sweats? How do I do it with exercise and nutrition and mindfulness? How can I actually make my life normal or as normal as it can possibly be under the circumstances? And that's why the pack started.
Karla: Okay, and what does the pack consist of?
Debbie: So it has nutrition advice, because I've always been a supplement fan and it does vary during perimenopause and menopause. There are things that we need more of in our diet, so supplements are included, exercise, different exercise, videos that I've put in the pack so people can do it gently. Low impact resistance training, so that's in there. And also a little hypnotherapy audio, because anxiety does kick in a lot more during the menopausal time. And stress and feelings of anxiety, depression, all of the negatives. And just by switching off your thinking brain for a small amount of time can just drop your cortisol levels, increase your serotonin and make you a little bit happier. So, yeah, it's got all the things in it, to use my favorite phrase. All the things are involved.
Karla: Love it. I don't think there's a lot out there about the menopause and the support you get is quite limited, am I right?
Debbie: Limited, that's a great word, very polite word. The support you'll find, and you will find this when you eventually get to that stage, is it's from other women who are going through the same thing? But it's not a generic thing by any means. It's like one person's period will be different to another person's. All of the symptoms are fairly generic, but not everyone gets all of them or in the same way.
So finding support is best to actually find women of your own age, for a start. And then that's what I found, is I train a lot of my school friends and we're all going through this together at the minute, and they've got the benefit of me studying this, so they get my advice on a weekly basis. You do this, do this, whatever. But everyone I've found that's been to see their GP about the menopause has been pretty much palmed off with a prescription for something.
But it makes me mad that something that has been affecting women for forever is not still talked about and treated properly by a visit to your doctor. It could be very easy, it could be very easily done. But you go in there and everyone, everyone I've talked to, and not just in this country, I've got a client in France, it's even worse there. They'll go in and go they either go, Right, antidepressants here, have these, or have some HRT. There's no like, well, okay, let's talk about it. What symptoms you have. There's no discussion about it. They go in, they're given a prescription, they're told to go away, that's it, done. Just what happens to women at your age, that's it.
And that's not how it should be, because these women are going in seeking help, because their menopausal are in a pretty rough state. Their anxiety levels are through the roof. They can't sleep because of the night sweats. And so their Cortisol levels are up sky high. And they want to talk to somebody about it because I know someone who went to the doctor and just got prescribed HRT, a really high dose. I don't know how it works, but yeah, and then she went to a woman doctor a year later. That's how long it took to get a different doctor. Did the blood test. And she's actually through the menopause now and shouldn't be on that level of HRT. And no wonder she was going absolutely she thought it was her, the way she was feeling. And actually she was just on completely the wrong hormones.
The menopause pack that I've created is great, but it by no means can help you completely, but understanding and understanding from your doctors should be there, and it really isn't.
Karla: No, and I don't think there's enough research into it either.
Debbie: No, I've said it's a thing that everyone, all women well, most women go through at different times in their life, different stages, and yeah, there's just not enough out there. We're good now. We're talking about this. This is brilliant. Women might say, my mum's age, they wouldn't talk about it. They just suffered in silence or not silence. There were a lot of marital problems, I think, back then, because of the lack of understanding of what women actually go through. And you can feel absolutely like the brain fog before I did, started working on myself properly, that brain fog. You just don't feel like you. You don't know yourself when you're in it. But the good thing is there are things you can do to make it better.
Karla: Yes. Let's go into that. What can a woman do? What should we be putting into our bodies?
Debbie: Vegetables. All the vegetables, lots of protein. So just a generally healthy, balanced diet, because also our metabolism start to go, oh, I don't really want to work anymore, so yeah, drink water as well. So many people don't drink water. It's always my first question to any client, whether it's nutrition based or fitness based or whatever, is how much water do you drink? Because obviously, what's your body made up of, so many people don't drink enough water, and increasing your water will stop you holding onto it and it will make you energized.
Karla: Okay, and what about caffeine?
Debbie: Oh, it's bad.
Karla: Okay, this is a fun chat!
Debbie: Always just don't do all the good things and then you'll be fine! Caffeine limited. If you drink a cup of coffee, I don't know whether you feel the same. I drink a cup of coffee, my temperature will increase straight away.
Karla: Yeah.
Debbie: And I think anything that's going to do that to your body, if you're already feeling a bit hot, it's going to increase you even further. So limit caffeine. I won't say completely take out your life. I like a cup of tea in the afternoon, but I drink a lot of herbal teas and things like that.
Karla: Because a lot of women I talk to are very fatigued with it, and so they're like, I would love to do that exercise, but I just cannot get off the sofa. What's your advice there?
Debbie: It is difficult, and I kind of anticipated this, you saying this, and even I struggle when I've got hormonal fatigue. Start gently. If you're feeling fatigued, go for a walk in the fresh air. Just start, build it up. Even a 20 minutes walk is better than no 20 minutes walk. And exercise is obviously good for bone density. And when you hit menopause, that's when you're going to be at risk later in life with osteoporosis, if you don't do weight bearing exercise. So there are gentler exercises you can do. So if you're a bit tired, like, well, I'm just going to do a little bit of yoga. That's great, isn't it? Yoga? You don't rethink that as exercise, do you? Well, I don't do something gentle, be kind to yourself, but keep moving.
Karla: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. On rest days, I like yoga in the evening, say yoga, just move your body a bit. Yeah, totally.
Debbie: Totally. It's about movement and it's about keeping active, and there's no right or wrong. You haven't got to go for a 10k run. I love a 10k run. Sorts out my brain fog, makes me feel happy, gets me endorphins going, gets my fat burning going, and it's great, but you don't have to do that if that's not your thing, don't do it. You got to find the exercise that is your thing and then you're going to be more motivated, aren't you? My favorite one was always watching Escape to the country for 45 minutes on a mini trampoline. You don't really feel like you're working out, do you? Love it, bounce up and down, watch it. Looking around people's houses, you need to find little things that inspire you. And when you've found those things that inspire you, then you're more consistent with it. And you know, if you're that flat out and so fatigued that you can't exercise, your body's telling you that you're fatigued and you shouldn't exercise. And that's the other thing, is knowing that difference.
Karla: So we've talked about exercise, talked about supplements. So mindfulness, where does that come into it? How do you add mindfulness to your day?
Debbie: Well, I'm rubbish at it. I tried meditation for years and it doesn't work. My mindfulness is when I go for a run, so I double whammy, I can chill out. I live right by the sea, so I run on the coast path, I look at the sea, I breathe in fresh air and I sort my head out. So I like active mindfulness, and I think a lot of people do. If I know I need a switch off, luckily I'm a hypnotherapist. So I literally switch off my thinking brain and just let my subconscious do stuff for me.
So that's in the menopause pad that I created, I put a little self hypnosis audio in there so people can just lie down, listen to my calm, soothing voice and switch off their thinking. Switch off. That overthinking for menopause or women? Overthinking. Like, we're top at it. We're really good at overthinking. So, yeah, just by flicking that little switch is the way to do it. You got to find how you manage mindfulness yourself.
Some people can just lay back and meditate and again, it's like everything there's no generic with it because we aren't generic. Everyone is so different. You've got to work with you don't feel forced that I've got to sit cross legged and nobody's got to do that, not unless they want to. And that's their thing. It's not my thing, I don't want to do it. I'll go for a run and sort my head out. So it's very individual, but you need to sit and get involved in yourself and get to know yourself, to know what it is that is your thing.
Karla: So if someone sat here listening and they're feeling slightly overwhelmed by it all, where do you suggest starting?
Debbie: Go find somewhere nice to go for a walk and maybe walk somewhere, sit down, find a nice view and just try and internalize a little bit. Go, who am I? What do I want? What am I doing right now? What is my goal for the future? And break it down into tiny little segments. So, like, I'm feeling tired. How can I combat that?
I need to drink more water. I need to get more vegetables in my diet. So real basics, and it is focusing on all those basics is like, drink more water, move more. And then the more you do those things, after a couple of weeks, you'll start to feel like yourself a little bit more and also be kind to yourself. I know we all say it, but actually be kind to yourself. Go, I'm in a bit of a bad mood. I've got brain fog. I don't know what's going on.
It's your hormones doing things. Don't beat yourself up over it, but try and work with it and talk to somebody. It's a big deal. Like, talk to somebody who's also got a bit of a foggy head. I've trained a couple of my school friends this week and I go, I'm feeling really tired and a bit weird this week. And I'm like, do you know what? So am I. And then you talk it out and you go, well, it's because of this. And then suddenly you've done a workout, or they've done a workout and they're like, God, I feel so much better now, whether it's the exercise or the chat or knowing that they're not alone, those things altogether. So I think maybe more communities should set up menopause support groups and things like that.
Karla: Like a WhatsApp group? I've got loads of WhatsApp groups for different things and it's just nice being on track with each other, right? Yeah. And that's it.
Debbie: And so if you are still in touch with your school friends, when you get to that age, you're all going to be going through the same thing. So keep in touch with them and talk about it. And the more we talk about it, the easier it is.
Karla: There's a lot of self reflection as.
Debbie: Well, but it is and it is getting to know yourself. And so many women fly through life being busy and they don't actually go, who am I? I like to think, reset yourself back to, say, pre period age. Who were you? What were you doing? How did you feel? You were excited, you wanted to go outside and do things. You wanted to learn and to move and do everything. Reset yourself back to that age and go, who was I? Then get excited about life again, because the change isn't the end, it's just a new chapter, isn't it?
Karla: And then could you let us know where we can find Fighting Fit Devon and the menopause pack?
Debbie: Okay, you can, I'm all over the place, actually. I'm worldwide now with virtual training. If you visit me at fightingfitdevon.co.uk, you can find my website and you can get in touch with me through there. Email Debbie@fightingfitdevon.co.uk.
Karla: Thank you.
Debbie: Thank you.
Karla: Well, there you have it. I hope if you're going through the Menopause, or if you're perimenopausal, I hope this episode has given you some food for thought and actions that you can take away and feel empowered when it comes to the menopause. And I will see you in a couple of weeks time for the last episode of a series, which is a conversation with myself. So that'll be very interesting to listen to, I hope. See you then.