If you’re approaching "middle-age," you may be a little confused and nervous about the idea of menopause. Most likely, this is because this time of life for women has long held negative connotations in our society, largely tied to stigmas of aging. However, the transition to menopause can be a time of reflection and inspiration. It’s a normal and natural part of a woman’s life, and it can be just as well lived as earlier stages. When it comes down to it, it has a lot to do with mindset. The menopause phase is a time of change and with that, it's also a time of choice. The mindset with which you approach this transition can have a huge impact on your experience of it. Of course, the symptoms and changes that come with this phase aren’t always avoidable, but how you experience it and the years that follow has much to do with your how you think about it and choose to behave. Those that choose to, see this time of life as a new beginning--one that can be lived vibrantly, fully, and in good health.
We don't mean to ignore the symptoms and effects that are challenging. It's important to know, as we say in our podcast more than once is that the effects of the menopause phase vary greatly from woman to woman. It's also important to know that as many as one-third of women say that they have almost no symptoms. Another third occasionally experiences mild or short-lived problems. Regardless, it has been shown that those with a more positive attitude, as well as positive lifestyle habits including self-care and, just a importantly, self-compassion, report more mild symptoms overall.
Take a listen to our podcast and our take on this time of life. Here is the transcript: Wendy 00:00
Hi, I'm Wendy. I'm Debbie. Welcome to nourish Noshes. We're so glad you're here. It's so funny, isn't it? How we as women don't even know what the definition of menopause was, we had to look it up.
Debbie 00:15
Well, that's because it's a little bit confusing. And some people, as I've just discovered recently, haven't even heard of perimenopause. And so what's the difference? Right. That's the confusion, I think, too, is when people are like, Oh, menopause? And I think people refer to menopause when they really mean perimenopause. Or, you know, so we just thought we'd want to clarify some things.
Wendy 00:35
Yeah, we think it's interesting. And curious time of life. Right?
Debbie 00:41
Yeah, for sure.
Wendy 00:43
Define it, because menopause is usually what people say. But there's, the definition is a very short period of time.
Debbie 00:53
Yeah, it's actually more of a phase. You know, it's a process. But the actual definition is that it's the final period, the final menstrual period, which you don't even know is your final one. Right. But it's got it's the final one. What is and it's confirmed after you've missed your period for 12 consecutive months, so a year. So you don't even realize realize you're in menopause until it's over. And then you're in post menopause. So,
Wendy 01:25
but that period of time between your last period and a year, you're in perimenopause.
Debbie 01:31
Correct and the time before that. The time before that is perimenopause, which overlaps with menopause. And that's the time when things start getting a little wonky.
Wendy 01:43
Yeah, and wonky is such a perfect word. Because, first of all, we're all different. Yes. Well, maybe even first of all, we're all going to go through it. Yes. And, and we're all different. So every woman will go through perimenopause, hit menopause and become post menopausal.
Debbie 02:06
Correct. And there's a huge time span, usually somewhere between 40 and 55, 56, 57. And it can start as early as 40. Or even sometimes some people even a little bit earlier, although that's rare. And it can go to 58, 60. And that's kind of rare to it. But you know, there's usually an average somewhere around 50, 51, 52.