MORE BLOG POSTS — Menopause

If your fasting blood sugar and hemoglobin A1c are normal, you may assume your glucose metabolism is working just fine. But that’s not always the case. In fact, the metabolic changes that eventually lead to prediabetes can begin years—sometimes a decade or longer—before your blood sugar officially crosses into the prediabetic range. If you’re gaining weight around your middle, craving carbohydrates, crashing in the afternoon, feeling hungry two hours after eating, or wondering why the same strategies that helped you lose weight ten years ago now barely make the scale blink, your body may be telling you it’s time to...

Many of us celebrate every pound we lose with a high-five and a moment of gratitude for our trusty bathroom scale. But before you get too excited, it's important to know exactly what you're losing. Shedding body fat is certainly something to celebrate—but what if some of that weight is coming from muscle instead? The truth is, the number on your scale doesn't tell the whole story. If you're losing muscle instead of fat, you could actually be slowing your metabolism, weakening your bones, and making it harder to keep the weight off in the future. That's why successful weight...

If you're like most women who are eating less, exercising more, and still watching the scale refuse to move, you're probably wondering what gives. In fact, this is one of the most common frustrations I hear from women over 40 who are doing everything right, but nothing's working. For years, we've been told that weight loss is simply a matter of eating less and moving more. While calories certainly matter, that advice assumes your body's still following the 20-something playbook. For many women over 40, it isn't. As we move through perimenopause and menopause, your body undergoes a number of...

Have you ever walked into a room and forgotten why you were there? Struggled to recall a familiar word during a conversation? Read the same paragraph three times because your mind kept wandering? Me too! Many women over 40 begin noticing subtle changes in memory, concentration, and mental clarity. While these experiences can be worrisome, they don't necessarily mean you're developing dementia. In many cases, they're a normal part of the hormonal transition that occurs during perimenopause and menopause. Estrogen plays an important role in brain function, influencing memory, attention, and communication between brain cells. As estrogen levels begin to...

If you think that the strongest predictors of your future health is your cholesterol, blood pressure, or even your weight…think again. It’s actually how hard you can squeeze. It sounds almost too simple to be true, yet grip strength has become one of the most widely studied markers of healthy aging. Researchers have found that weaker grip strength is associated with a higher risk of disability, osteoporosis, falls, fractures, frailty, cardiovascular disease, and even premature death. Fortunately, grip strength can be measured and, if low, can also be improved.   Why Grip Strength Matters Grip strength is exactly what it...