How the Elements can help how you Exercise
The idea of using the elements to fuel my workouts came from being post menopause and the loss of an internal rhythm of when to push and when to rest. I’m exploring how to exercise with a different kind of rhythm that comes from nature
Exercise Guilt Post Menopause
If you are struggling to start exercising again after the menopause you may have been feeling exercise guilt as you know how important it is for your health to exercise but the affects post menopause is still rippling out.
3 Ways to Improve Your Quad Stretch
Your quads are the big group of muscles at the front of your legs and they can often get tight from sitting a lot. Here are 3 Ways to Improve Your Quad Stretch
Organising Your Online Workout Videos Journal
Spend your time working out, not searching the web for the one video you want but can’t remember its name! Best Workout Video Journal
Fitbit – Not Just For Counting Steps
You may think a Fitbit is just for counting your steps. It does a great job of that, but I know that it’s also the reason that puts women off using it! I think a Fitbit is a great addition to your Exercise Toolkit for these 3 reasons….
Push up Like a Girl? Nah, I push up like a middle-aged women warrior
Push up Like a Girl? Nah, I push up like a middle-aged women warrior
Introducing ‘The Push up Challenge V5.0’
3,650,000 Steps A Year
You are probably quite familiar with the guideline to walk 10,000 steps a day. What isn’t quite as well known is that this adds up to 3,650,000 steps a year
Why Set Exercising Deadlines Post Menopause
Why Set Exercising Deadlines Post Menopause? Deadlines are a great way of helping you figure out what your priorities are and how much time you have.
Some Things Never Change and Some Things Do
Some Things Never Change and Some Things Do
Ubiquitous Push ups
Ubiquitous Push ups. Doesn’t seem to matter what type of exercise you do; push ups are there in some shape or form!
Mastering you push ups will ripple into all sorts of areas in your fitness life.
Falling in Love With Exercise Again After The Menopause
Your relationship with exercising has changed throughout your menopause. Things you loved and found easy to do slowly became hard work and a chore. How do you fall in love with exercising again after the menopause
Are You Planning To Get Older?
We plan our retirement decades in advance by paying into a pension. Do you think about your physical health in the same way? Are you planning to get older?
3 Multi-tasking Exercises That May Slow Your Progress
Familiarity with an exercise or a stretch may often result in you tuning out the cues your exercise instructor is giving you. Because “I know that already”
When really, they are great exercises to help you practice noticing what feels different today.
Push up Fitness Test Over Fifty Fitness
Push up Fitness Test is a simple way to track your strength and fitness over fifty
My Favourite Books 2021
My Favourite Books 2021. I love reading about other peoples favourite books of the year, so I hope you enjoy mine!
When you have a spare 5 minutes
What do you do when you have a spare 5 minutes These days most of us will just straight onto our phones and scroll thru social media to see what’s new! How does it make you feel? Harrased or calm? What else could you do.
3 Ways to Stretch Like a Pro
3 Ways to Stretch Like a Pro
How To Be Merry In December And Not Be Snowman Shaped In January
How to be merry in December not snowman shaped January
Exercise and Elements-Fire and Action-01
Exercising by Elements post-menopause fitness- Time To Light The Fire In Your Belly
3 Ways to Improve Yogi Squat
You can’t read about the yogi squat without reading what a great functional exercise it is, and how it should be a stable in your exercise list. This is all true, but it also an exercise which for many women requires prep work first. It is also an exercise which may...
Getting Your Steps in When You Work From Home
Walking changes when the seasons change and getting your steps in when you work from mome, means no incidental walking it’s all deliberate.
No Pain, No Gain for over fifties fitness
Musing on "No Pain No Gain" inspiration quote for over 50s. Post menopause fitness usually means exercise differently and that includes your mindset. Is this quote inspiring for you today, with your exercise goals or not! Working out how to workout V5.0 is a series of...
The definition of insanity quote and post-menopause fitness
The definition of insanity quote and post-menopause fitness
3 Ways to improve Savasana
Savanna is the last pose in a yoga class and often described as the most difficult! This post has 3 ways to help improve Savasana.
Too Young for Post-Menopause?
I was speaking to a lovely lady last week, and we started chatting about the menopause as you do.
She thought I was too young to be post-menopause. Which sounds like a compliment, but I think we need to normalise the fact that the menopause is not about age.
9 Reasons to Track Your Exercise Habits
When you are exercising in your fifties, it can feel like starting from at the beginning again.
How you exercised before the menopause is not how you are exercising now
Figuring out what you like and also what likes you! Hormones don’t just switch off and can still cause a bit of mischief
Working Out How to Workout Version 50-001
Over Fifties Exercise Post Menopause Working Out How to Workout Version 5.0
Plantar Fasciitis and Menopause
Many women complain of Plantar Fasciitis during the menopause. There isn’t a lot of medical evidence as to why it happens apart from the catch all ‘lowering estrogen levels’ Which is a bit frustrating so let’s look at the non-medical ways as how you can avoid Plantar Fasciitis during menopause and beyond.
My Favourite Books 2020
My Favourite Books 2020
Working from Home Selfcare Tracker
For many of us working from home, rather than in an office sounds fab, but can be quite a challenge to keep boundaries between the two.
The distinction between on and offline gets blurred. Taking the time to work out how to stay active and keep healthy can be a challenge.
Working from Home Selfcare Tracker
3 Ways to Improve Ankle Mobility
Your ankles and feet are often the most neglected part of the body when it comes to exercising. Here are 3 ways to improve ankle mobility
Quitting for Success
Quitting is often thought to be a bad thing. But it gives you some fabulous information and insights to help you do it differently and be successful next time around.
3 Ways to Improve Your Push Ups
Love them or hate them, push-ups are a consistent part of any exercise routine. Therefore improving your push ups is a consistent part of your gym routine.
Exercising at Home & Staying Active
Finding your new normal way of staying active and exercise at home during the lockdown with curiosity, creativity and innovation.
Menopause: Are You Ready?
The menopause is coming, are you ready for it? What can you do to prepare for it? It’s not just the physical symptoms. Mindset is important too!
Tips for Exercising at Home
Exercising at home is a great option during the menopause. I have nine top tips for you to get the most out of your workout sessions.
Rediscover YOU in the menopause
Rediscover YOU in the menopause The menopause is not just physical changes, it can change how we feel about ourselves too. I have some practical tips to feel like your old self again! Click to watch the video below which is 35 mins long
How Journaling Can Improve Menopause Symptoms
Things change during the menopause, and it can take a while for your thoughts and feelings to catch up with what is physically happening in your body. Journaling can help deepen your mind-body connection.
Prepare for the Menopause
We have gone from having very little information about the menopause to information overload. A different approach is to look at ‘what’s the worst that can happen’ for you personally and work backwards from there.
Healthy Eating Challenge
There are 5 challenges in this year’s healthy eating week from British Nutrition Foundation. What I love about them, is that there is nothing new or exotic about them. There is nothing extra to buy for you to buy and you will have heard off all of them before! Because...
Natural Ways to Reduce Menopause Symptoms
We are often so busy looking after other people, running our homes, working long hours that taking care of ourselves is at the bottom of the list.The menopause can appear like an uninvited guest when you don’t have the time or inclination to look after it.Until you have too!
Menogise: Minimising Menopause Malarkey
Looking around at the fitness classes that are available to me approaching 50, there appears to be a big jump from standard classes to silver surfer classes with not much in between. So, I have created a class that I would like to attend! Menogise is a class for women...
Becoming 50
This year (2019) I will be fifty. Half a century. Whichever way you look at it, it's a big birthday. I choose to see it as a halfway point, I plan to live into my hundreds! Personally I don't think it's by accident that such a big birthday happens when you are still...
Yoga and Menopause
I love yoga, but there are also many things that I don’t like about yoga. It is one of the best ways to reduce menopause symptoms but it is not often taught in a way that is sympathetic to 50 year old women!
Exercise Goals That Are Not Weight Loss or Running
Goals are a great way to keep exercising interesting and to keep you motivated. But if you are not interested in running or losing weight what else can you do?
How To Exercise When You Have No Energy
We all know the benefits of exercise but when you are approaching the menopause your energy levels can plummet due to hormonal imbalances making getting up in the morning a struggle, never mind exercising.
Starting To Exercise Again? Find or Make Time?
Starting to exercise again is not just about how you are going to exercise. It is also about finding the time and creating an exercise habit. I think there are two approaches to exercising, it’s either flexibility or fixed. Finding or Making Time Neither is better...
Stages Of The Menopause
Every woman knows she will be menopausal. However, it always happens when we are way to young to be menopausal and at not a very convenient time. As with many things in life that we do not choose, the only thing left is to choose our attitude towards the...
Starting To Exercise Again?
The menopause can shake up your exercise routine and not always in a good way. Lowering hormones can affect your energy levels or perhaps your sleep is interupted and your not getting a good nights rest. It is easy to think about what you ‘should’ be doing, rather than what your body actually needs.
My Favourite Books
My "go to" book when clients are stuck. Lot's of aha moments when reading it. If you don't know where to start with mantra's there are plenty of examples here! The best introduction and explanation of Law of Attraction in a novel. ...
New Month New Moves – July 2018
Monthly Moves Inspiration for July Every month, I like to get the books and manuals out to get some inspiration of what exercises or alignments I haven’t taught for a while. It’s easy to stick with old favourites as I’m sure you will appreciate if you are a regular...
Holidays and the Menopause
How can you use your holidays to help you tune back into your body? And Rest! It’s the best thing for menopause symptoms but hard to put into practice
Why is Pilates Good For You?
What is Pilates good for? There is more to Pilates than just abs exercises, it improves your posture, balance, flexibility as well as strengthen your core
3 ways to improve your Downward Dog
This is one of my favorite poses in yoga.Mainly because it is so versatile. It is a deep stretch up the backline of the body and can also be used to strengthen to your upper body.
Is it time to take your menopause seriously?
The menopause is a phase, and that phase has many phases within. Some you will breeze through barely noticing and others will feel like walking thru mud with wellies on. The truth is we are all busy women, and we often don’t have a lot of time for looking after...
Why is it so hard to lose weight over 40?
Once upon a time, you were able to skip lunch for a few days and easily fit into your Friday night dress. Why is it so hard now? Getting older has many perks and we definitely need to refresh how we look after ourselves to age well.
3 Ways to Improve Low Back Stiffness
Low back stiffness can occur for many reasons, but it is often because we spend so much time sitting. If you are a desk junkie, here are three simple ways to improve stiffness in your lower back.
51 Tips for a Healthy Happy Menopause
Menopause Tips Why 51 Tips? There are 51 menopause tips as 51 is the average age of the menopause! The menopause happens to every women, we don't know when exactly, but it's usually when you are too young and too busy to deal with it! The menopause is more than hot...
How to Keep a Food Diary in your Menopausal Years
You’re a busy lady, me too, it’s easy to keep a tally in our heads of what and how we have been eating. However, if the pounds are sneaking on and not coming off taking the time to keep a food diary is one of the simplest and cheapest methods to help you lose weight.
How To Practice Self-care With Work Deadlines
Is your self-care to do list stressing you out. Does working to deadlines mean your self-care is ditched in order to tick your list? Here are some simple practical ideas for you to try, so you can continue to look after yourself and also tick your list.
End Of Year Reflections
This blog started as a quarterly, then as birthday musings and finally an end of year blog. This perfectly sums up the last 6 months for me. It has been a funny old year; it has not been a bad one. The last 6 month in particular since the August eclipse have had such...
My Favourite Books in 2017
I love reading; it is one of my favourite pastimes along with learning! Below is a list of the favourite books that I read in 2017. They are in no particular order and a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth...
Preparing for Yoga Teaching Training
My Yoga Teacher Training course is coming up soon. I have spent a decade attending fitness courses and I do love planning and getting organised for them!
Never Say Never
In the last decade of teaching Pilates I have always said that I would never teach Yoga. So, you won’t be surprised from the title when I say I have booked into a Hatha yoga course! Why now? I have been researching ageing well for the last year and discovered the...
Menopause meh
Meh is a menopause symptom that is not often talked about.
It would not be classed depression but a lack of oomph and love of life. What can you do about it?
Practice Makes Perfect?
Practice only makes perfect if you are practicing perfectly! Is any exercise better than none, even if you are doing it wrong?
Eat What Makes You Happy!
Enjoying your food is an important part of a healthy diet
Young at Heart
Find out how young your heart is and what exercise and activities you can do to keep it as healthy & young as possible. Your heart health may be impacted by menopause as well as any hereditary issues so it is worthwhile to be proactive and minimise any risks.
Lunch Hour?
When I started working over 25 years ago, (eek) a lunch hour was not only an hour, but was respected by team members. No one interrupted you unless it was a real emergency. Fast forward to today and lunch hours are quite different. It is not often an hour....
Grit
Working in the fitness industry has made me curious about why some people give up & why some people show up day in & out. Grit by Angela Duckworth is an interesting read.
Perfect Posture
Everyday life has a big impact on our posture. One of the simplest daily self-care habits you can develop is an awareness of your posture doing different tasks throughout the day. When you are standing waiting in a queue. When you are working. When you on using your...
Daily Self-care Habits
If you are looking for some inspiration for daily self-care habits for Wise Women here is a wee list! As we get older, looking after ourselves can feel like a full time job. However simple, quick daily habits can take us a long way in helping to maintain a healthy...
When You HAVE To Change
Change has been on my mind as it has popped up a few times for me recently where I have had to change because of circumstances out with my control. I think it worth looking at how you react around change as it gives us a good heads up around the changes the menopause...
Carbs And The Menopause
You can become more sensitive to carbs and stress in your menopausal years. Which easily leads to an expending waistline which is hard to reduce. What can you do about it?
Quarterly May 2017
Last quarter was all about learning with three mini courses. This quarter is all about letting that information percolate and sink in. I have also been working on, online course structure and wrote about that here You may have read on my previous blogs about...
Unhurried
Unhurried Unhurried is a word my Yoga teacher uses which sums up where I'm trying to get to just now! I am at the tail end of a summer cold. I can't remember the last time I had one, but it has been fairly stubborn and lot's of rest has been required and taking life a...
Self-care As A Business Metric
You will regularly review your work performance, this does not tell you how your work affects your wellbeing. Measuring your self care and work life balance
Healthy Eating In Hotels
Healthy eating when staying in hotels can be a challenge, here are some healthy tips to stay healthy and only indulge when you want to, not by accident!
Exercising For Health And Ageing Well
Most of us have grown up with the ‘no pain no gain’ mantra and exercising as only a means to manage our weight and to burn calories. As we get older, our thoughts turn to our health and ageing well. Exercise can play a big part in this but it means changing exercise...
What Makes A Healthy Meal?
There is so much infomation available to us these days, but it does not seem to help us to be any healthier. What makes a meal healthy for you?
Business Musings 2017
Building an online business rather than face-to-face one has had a different set of challenges. Most online educators appear to be extroverts, which I am not, I’m a INFJ to be specific! (You can take a free quiz here) I have spent a lot of time searching out people...
Exercise Consistency And The Menopause
We all know the many benefits of exercise, however it can be a challenge to maintain a consistent exercise practice when energy levels fluctuate during the menopause.
Menstrual Cycle Tracker (MCT)
Most of my trackers use the Menstrual Cycle Tracker (MCT) code. It looks like Morse code, but it's just a simple way of indicating on your trackers where in your cycle you are. Each - represents a week, there are four - to represent four weeks. Split by | which is the...
Health And Wellbeing Contradictions
There is a ton of advice on health and wellbeing. It often feel contradictory and finding a balance can feel like a fulltime job. Here are a few ideas of how to navigate them!
99 Wellbeing Tips for Wise Women
99 wellbeing tips to give you a wee bit of inspiration to blossom through your menopause. Eat protein at every meal and with any snacks. Feel fuller for longer. You cannot 'work hard' to balance your hormones. It happens when you sleep well, eat good food and take...
Eating Out And The Menopause-PizzaExpress
Eating out can feel like a minefield in your menopausal years as we are usually watching our waistline as well as our weight. It may sound like it is the same thing but in your menopausal years it is different.
Just one more
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should! Does technology today help you to be healthier or do you need to change how you use it?
Will a Fitbit help me to be healthier in my menopause?
My Fitbit helps me maintain activity levels such as step count and reduces time when I am sedentary. It also helps to flag up when I am tired and need to rest a little more. We are all very good at keeping going, not so great at knowing when to put our feet up. I find it a useful tool not only as a means to help me be healthier.
Will Curl Ups Flatten My Stomach?
An expanding midriff is the bane of menopausal women’s life & is usually very stubborn to shift. Are curl ups the best exercise to flatten your stomach?
Just For You!
When was the last time you did something ‘just for you’? The more we look after others & take on responsibility the more we need to look after ourselves.
Salt And The Menopause
Salt And The Menopause Salt makes our food taste better, but too much of it is bad for our health. Monitoring our salt intake is one of the simplest things we can do to be healthy, especially during the menopause. We are aiming for a maximum of 6 grams per day. There...
3 Things To Pop On Your Desk Every Morning
Most of us spend a third of our day at our desk. In our pursuit of healthy living, we often need to take the mountain to Muhammad rather than the other way around. I have 3 things to pop onto your desk every day: Timer I use a timer for two reasons. The first is to...
How to start a new exercise programme in your menopausal years
If your thoughts have turned to exercising more when you are menopausal, perhaps your midriff has expanded, and because you are thinking about ageing well. Being active plays a huge role in ageing well. A different approach is required as your lowering hormones can...
6 Things To Do When You Are Feeling Rubbish
The menopause has many symptoms but we can often just feel rubbish – and yes, that is a technical term! We can feel uncomfortable in our bodies; due to menopausal symptoms that are unpleasant, perhaps not the shape we want to be in or fitness levels we want, or just...
Is Stress Always A Bad Thing?
We rarely read anything positive about stress. In the fitness industry, stress is also where growth happens. To become fitter we have push ourselves a little harder, adding either a bit more intensity or length to cardio session. Muscle gets stronger when we lift a...
Quarterly Jan 2017
I am a lifelong learner, which comes in handy as running my own business requires knowledge of a wide range of topics covering business, professional (health and fitness in my case) and personal development. This quarter I attended day courses for all three area is...
How long does the menopause last?
We do not choose when the menopause starts, it is often when we feel way to young for it. Knowing how long the menopause lasts helps with strategies for a healthy life.
Post Holiday Menopausal Blues
I have noticed when I return from holidays and breaks from routines I am a wee bit wider. I have named this 'Post holiday menopausal blues!' Last time it was around my thighs. You can read my blog about it here. This time was around my bra and waistline too. Like most...
New Year, New You? No Thanks.
I am a lifelong learner and believe personal development and growth is important. However, it always feels quite forced this time of year. "New Year, New You" always implies there is something wrong with the old you! The reality is, we are always polishing away any...
How To Manage Portion Control
Balancing enjoying food & watching your waistline is challenging in your menopausal years. Managing your portion size is a massive part of this process.
