Menopause Belly and Body Changes: What You Need to Know with Amanda Thebe

Because it's very easy to get pulled down that like, well, carbs are bad, sugar's evil and it's addictive, and all of these really unhelpful sort of like narratives. So what I like to like advise women to do is like look at your body as a whole being and don't just look at it as the weight on the scale. And the whole being is this Are you sleeping well? Are you actually functioning? Are you I mean, really, let's be honest and if not, you need to be sorting that out. It's literally the key pin of everything. And then how's your stress response? Chances are it's really rubbish, because estrogen and cortisol are linked together. Some people's cortisol response sees them losing a ton of weight. Some people it sees them like getting the munchies and the cravings. So if you manage your cortisol levels, you'll be in a better place to make changes than if you weren't. For some women, their symptoms and their experiences so bad they may want to go on menopause hormone therapy that can sort of put back some equilibrium in their body to make them feel like they can't even consider making changes. And then what I would say is then try and look at ways to improve your health. Take the focus off the weight to start with and start looking at your health.

Hey there, I'm Amy Connell. Welcome to Grace Health, the podcast for women who want simple and grace filled ways to take care of themselves and enjoy a little chocolate. I'm a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach who wants you to know your eating, movement and body don't have to be perfect, you just need to be able to do what you're called to do. I am on a menopause coaches Facebook group that is just full of the kindest, most generous people who have a true, burning desire to help their clients in menopause. One of them, several, many weeks ago, posted a question about like hey, what is your client's biggest pain point? I tell you what, without fail, almost all of these women said body composition, weight gain during menopause, menopause belly, like something in that vein. Now that same group offers resources and interviews to help us, which is where I was introduced to our guest today, author Amanda Thebe. I immediately bought Amanda's book after watching the interview and I read it and then I just crossed my fingers Like I hit sin and said, oh, I hope she says yes when I invited her to the show. She is simply phenomenal and brings science backed information with kindness and balance. We talk about menopause belly, that main pain point for so many people. We talk about mindset surrounding our bodies right now, how alcohol affects our body composition, especially in this season, and hormone therapy. I loved, loved, loved Amanda's book menopocalypse and particularly her humor in it. So I gave her the green light. I said look, just bring your full personality here. You will hear a bit of adult language. That truly just had me in stitches and I think you will just adore her as much as I did. Let me tell you a little bit more about Amanda. She is a fitness and women's health expert with nearly 30 years of experience in the fitness industry. She is the author of the Amazon bestselling book menopocalypse how I learned to thrive during menopause and how you can too. She is the co-founder and chief wellness and branding officer at Naya Health, a complete healthcare solution for menopausal women in Canada. She is based out of Canada, just so you know. She is Canada's first menopause workplace educator. Amanda provides on site or virtual education presentations in the workplace to improve productivity retention and attendance for female employees through menopause. She is a popular guests on podcast, radio, tv, online summits and her health and fitness tips have been featured in media outlets like Oprah, shape, prevention, healthline, cbc Radio the Doctors, so many more. You get the point. Let's bring on Amanda,