My Story - Fitness, Mindset and Menopause Solutions
The year was 2008, I was 43 years young at the time. I just received a diagnosis of high blood pressure. It was genetic so I was told.
I was also having bad migraine headaches at the end of my cycle. Was I entering menopause? The dreaded time of life for women?
I saw many women go through menopause in my years as a fitness trainer. They struggled so much with all the awful symptoms.
And there was no lack of complaints too. Ugh! I did not want that - no way no how!
Today, 14 years later I am 57 years young and still no menopause in sight. At least not as bad as all had said it was.
Why was I different? I had to know!
So I began doing what I always do when trying to find answers. I geeked out. I read and studied.
And it turns out that my fitness AND mindset journey is what kept me safe.
Continuing Education
As part of my continuing education as a Certified Fitness Trainer, I am required to take 20 hours of coursework that pertain to my certifications.
BTW since 2004 I have been a Certified Specialist in Senior Fitness.
So when I saw this course, How Hormones and Metabolism Change the Training Game for Females by Scott Josephson MS RD, I knew I had to take it. I devoured it. Three times now I admit! Okay, I am officially a geek!
I realized that my current workout routine is what kept all that yucky menopause stuff away. No, really!
I would be lying if I said it has been all rainbows and roses. But I can tell you something I have always known and taught,
That fitness and movement can change everything in your life - if you do it right.
So what’s the right way, Kathie?
I took this course in 2019. I had been working out doing low-moderate cardio and superset strength training consistently since 2015.
And I promise you this type of training can help you too, no matter your age or start date.
In fact, I teach this method in my Hormones and Fitness Course.
Psycho-Cybernetics
I have been obsessed with mindset since the late 80s. I wrote a paper on the book by Maxwell Maltz Psychocybernetics in college.
Psycho‑Cybernetics is the original text that defined the mind/body connection—the concept that paved the way for most of today's personal empowerment programs.
Turn crises into creative opportunities, dehypnotize yourself from false beliefs and celebrate new freedom from fear and guilt.
All the things I teach today!
Although it was written in 1960, Psycho-Cybernetics is just as relevant more than 50 years later. His timeless tenets offer a road map for self-image improvement and better quality of life.
Maxwell Maltz, the author of Psycho-Cybernetics, was an early exponent of the visualization principle.
And this is my early interest in mindset!! I told you I was a geek!
Mindset
When someone says “mindset is everything!” They mean it!
I can tell you my mindset saved my life. And today it keeps me from complaining about all those menopause symptoms.
When you complain you just bring more of what you are complaining about to you. We all know those who complain all the time. Why do they do that? They are just bringing more!
Eckhart Tolle says this about complaining:
“See if you can catch yourself complaining, in either speech or thought, about a situation you find yourself in, what other people do or say, your surroundings, your life situation, even the weather. To complain is always nonacceptance of what is. It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge. -Eckhart Tolle
Stages of Grief and Aging
Complaining is just resistance. Have you ever tried to reason with a complainer? There will be no success there! What you resist persists!
Acceptance is key! But sometimes getting to acceptance is not always easy. Especially if you are going through the stages of grief.
Those stages are:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
Persistent, traumatic grief can cause us to cycle (sometimes quickly and sometimes very slowly) through the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
These stages are our attempts to process change and protect ourselves while we adapt to a new reality. Is menopause a new reality for you?
Every one of us processes grief differently. Only when we get to acceptance can we truly feel right.
This applies to every single thing in life including aging and menopause.
Habits
I have been obsessed with habits and how they apply to behavior modification since I became a Certified Fitness Trainer in 2002.
Why? Because I can only help those who want to help themselves. And many times we do not realize we need the help because our habits have gotten us off track.
It is not your fault! Habits are unconscious behaviors that we have set up so our brains do not have to process all the details that go into living our lives. Basically, they help our brains conserve energy.
But our brains do not know the difference between good and bad habits. So this is why we do not perform the movement our bodies need to keep us healthy.
Perhaps it hurts to exercise. But we need to exercise to have balance, mobility, and coordination - which are the first components to go as we age.
It can be a double-edged sword. But that is where I can help!! I know what the body needs for optimum balance, mobility, and coordination.
And let me add to that hormone balance.
Having a growth mindset and creating habits that actually stick is what helps when the going “supposedly” gets tough.
There are 10 steps in this checklist.
Awareness
Changes in identity
Recipe for sustained success
Changes in processes
Changes in outcomes
Create friction
Set clear goals
Find harmony between challenge and skill
Expect failure
Find your zone
Take advantage of my geekiness
So obviously I geek out on fitness, mindset, and habits. But I can tell you it has paid off, generously.
I do not have symptoms of menopause and if I do I definitely feel like the others around me that are complaining are crazy!
For there is a better way!!!!!
If you don’t like to work out or you think you don’t like to sweat I’d like to invite you to think differently.
This course will teach you as I taught myself how to create the habit of mindset, and fitness that will change your life for the better!!
Are you having injuries, falling down, or limping due to aching joints? Exercise the way I teach and all of those things will disappear.
And you don’t have to change overnight. In fact, the process I teach is gradual. And it should be gradual!
Aging Health Risks
As we age the first thing to go is balance, coordination, and mobility. Our bones become less dense as we age too. This means that when we fall we risk breaking bones.
But the fitness I teach reverses all that.
Do you want the pain of hip replacement, cracked ribs, and broken bones?
Or the so-called pain of sweating in the gym leaving your heart and bones feeling healthy. Not to mention your mindset and productivity skyrocket.
You’ll leave feeling however old you want to feel with me. Rather than feeling like you are on your deathbed.
Just 1% better today than yesterday
As we age we tend to get set in our ways. I know this!
I have worked with the older adult population for 20 years now. I also understand how to change that process gradually.
Just 1% better today than yesterday, like Jeff Olson, teaches in The Slight Edge.
I learned and now teach the easy, healthy, fun way to age gracefully. In acceptance - not in grief!
And those migraines I had in 2008, somehow went away. Knock on wood I have not had a migraine since 2010.
My blood pressure is another story though. I control it with medication that I have taken since 2008. I am not happy about that. I don’t believe in relying on big pharma medications. In fact, I think it hurts you.
I tried getting off the medication in 2012 and controlling my blood pressure with diet and exercise. Turns out I could not do that.
In fact, in recent days my blood pressure has gone up and I may have to up my medication.
Again I am not happy about that but it is genetic and that story, like most is to be continued…..