Frank Nutrition

Only time my glass is half empty…!

Before you order peptides, menopause collagen blends or other wastes of money make sure you really focus on fixing these 3 things first.

1) Work on gut health. Start with cutting out the crap. Aim for more plant variety, eat a few vegetables, don’t be scared of fruit. Reduce alcohol. Estrogen is cleared through the liver and gut, if these arent working well it just keeps getting recycled and that isn’t good.

2) Focus on eating with good nutrition at the front, not just filling a hole. Calories do very much matter still but 200 calories of sweet potato will serve you far better than 200 calories of crisps. Food quality matters. That doesn’t mean eating like a monk, but eating more balanced meals will reduce cravings for the fun stuff.
Protein & fibre at every meal. A small amount of healthy fats.

3) Balance your blood sugar. Insulin sensitivity increases in perimenopause. Know your complex carbs. Time them around your workouts. Eat earlier in the day and less towards bedtime. Again: Balanced plates of protein, carbs and fats.

BOBUS TIP:

Build some muscle! Workouts aren’t for burning calories, they’re for building fit bodies.

Muscle will stabilise blood sugar, it will boost your metabolism and improve your brain clarity.

Where you feel like perimenopausal is robbing you of confidence, focusing on a fit and healthy body will boost your energy and confidence more than any pills or jabs.

Which of these shall I dive deeper into? Gut health? Improving insulin sensitivity? Let me know where you need help 🩶

A solid start. But I would expect to see fairly fast increases at this stage. Scott is still assessing where I’m at. A lot of exercises we did body weight or not loaded last week and focused on form. This week we increased sets and an increased load. There is no smashing extra weight if you’re doing it with poor form.

The workouts are still challenging and I definitely needed a minute before I drove home today!

My weight dropped slightly by 0.5kg without much effort but I put that mostly down to the holiday fluff disappearing. Not true fat loss yet. I’m eating a lot of repeat meals and trying to focus on quality and plant variety though it’s hard with the kids still home schooling and Sophia at gymnastics 3 times a week now for two hours. These things don’t happen overnight and it can take a bit to get into good habits and preparation. An area I need to work on.

My focus this week needs to be sleep. Mine has gone terrible unless I down cough medicine like an addict so not an ideal solution! I can’t even blame alerts and missiles as we’ve enjoyed few days peace since Friday. It’s likely an adjustment to pausing my HRT and whilst I’m not outwardly ‘stressed’ my mind is racing double speed at the moment.

I am loving having a proper plan again though. Someone else guiding me, pushing me to try harder with encouragement. The accountability really does make all the difference.

One of my main goals of training with Scott is to learn the coaching side too.

His report was full of detailed assessments and trackable goals.

But one of my basics I always harp on about, steps, was missing.

He did have other reasons for not prioritising this (he obviously knows I know it’s an easy fix), but also maybe assumed that my step count is high. For the majority of the time it is.
But with the kids not in school I’ve lost about 3000 steps a day at least. I’m then also sat with them home schooling not doing my usual activities.
Marks travelled for work this week and so I can’t get up and take the dogs out early. This has meant I’ve barely hit 8k most days. One was as low as 4k. I actually contemplated a walking pad if this situation continues!

But some times coaches will also hold off pushing too hard at the start when you’ve got bigger rocks to move.

And this is where great coaching is so useful. Knowing where to focus first and not ploughing into an all in mentality early on and creating burn out.
I know my NEAT hasn’t reduced because of the small deficit I’m in. For someone who has barely left the house and sat in the car when I have, that’s a decent amount of steps!

So if the kids could just go back to school now I’d be grateful. I’ve got a goal to smash!

The main thing that most people miss is patience. To get true results takes time and consistency.

Whilst I’m going in with a fairly solid base (that’s been built over years) I am fully aware that the changes I want aren’t going to happen overnight. I’m booked in with for 12 weeks but it won’t be the end at that point even when I reach my goal.

Given that my goal is to achieve recomposition (lose a little fat whilst building muscle) I know that changes will be so minute at times. Others it’ll be more noticeable . But I won’t see sudden scale drops or popeye muscles popping.

As part of my assessment with Scott he measured:

- Dead hang time
- Push up technique and reps (the devil for me!)
- Squat depth
- Single leg balance

As well as weight, body fat, waist-to-hip ratio.

These are all benchmarks for longevity for a female of my age (Mark did a similar set of tests).

You’re never going to hear me say the goal isn’t aesthetic, I’d be absolutely lying, Scott has programmed me some glute development stuff alongside improving this score. 🍑

The goal is being strong and FIT (both physically and visually!) into old age!
I want to really manage my perimenopause and menopause the best I can through lifestyle, nutrition and exercise.

You may, or probably haven’t! Noticed that I’ve been a little MIA posting here lately. Via stories I’ve let you know I’m alive and well but in all honesty I’ve found it hard to focus on real posts.

Unless you’ve lived under a rock you’re unlikely to have missed all that’s happening in Dubai. And whilst I stayed calm, it’s been distracting. As a true Taurean, I don’t do well with change and uncertainty. I like stability and comfort at home.

I also managed to epically time pausing my HRT! I ran out of progesterone and wasn’t seeing my Dr for weeks so decided the day before all the extra stress started to self experiment and see how I’d now get on without it. I’ll post on this separately. At the time it seemed good timing as we were due on holiday to help soften the impact.

In person schooling has paused and online commenced. With the school term moved forward this meant term time commenced right as we went on holiday. With the girls in two different schools on totally different timings and way of workings we’ve done what we could. We’ve all needed a holiday so I wasn’t forcing it at all. More used an excuse to get out of the midday sun. I’ll pick this up when we’re back.

Even my gym membership ran out before we came away. I brought a ton of exercise stuff planning to hit it hard but I haven’t been once. I love training but I don’t feel guilty about true rest.

I can’t help but worry about what we’re going back to. It seems things have ramped up again the last few days. But for now I want to enjoy the last day of chill with Mark and the girls. We’re excited to see the puppies.

My batteries are recharged and I’ll soon be back talking all things menopause, nutrition and movement 💚💚💚

Any suggestions of what you’d like me to cover please suggest below!

With kids and husbands at home full time. Missile alerts scaring the bejesus out of you. And the constant noise in your head. It can be hard enough in perimenopause to find calm and not explode faster than an interception.

Here’s some basics to help make these chaotic days feel a little less loud:

- A simple walk outside for sunlight
- 3 slow breaths before responding
- Stepping into another room for 60 seconds
- A pause phrase: This too shall pass. I’m overwhelmed but I’m alright.

You can actually use these too before burying your head in the fridge to find your next comfort snack.

From a nutrition standpoint, adjust your load:

- Simplify meals. Not everything needs to be insta worthy. Beans on a jacket potato hits protein and fibre.
- Outsource: use a plan like Spring and take the thought out shopping for dinner.
- If you’re staying home take this time that you’re not commuting to get some batch cooks done and fill the freezer. Make 3 x dinner portions, bolognese, chilli, curries, stews.
- Whilst there’s been no supply issues it’s never a bad time to stock up on tinned and frozen veg, beans and legumes, fruits for smoothies or yoghurt toppings.
- Get the take out. Not all of them have to be fast food. Some of the best salads I get are on Deliveroo. If I want comfort I’ll order Dans home food.

But most of all give yourself grace. And give yourself space. Whatever you are feeling right now is valid. It’s also perfectly acceptable to tell everyone to eff off!

Maybe I’ll get through my book pile finally….