To Track or Not To Track, That is the Question

19 Tuesday Jun 2018

Tags

#eatallthefood, #eatallthethings, #eatrealwholefood

As with most nutrition questions the answer is “it depends”…..blink blink….seriously though, it depends on the individual.

I personally despise the time and effort it takes to track calories and macros. However, I have found it helpful to do in short duration to see if I’m eating enough protein and to do periodic check-ins to make sure I’m eating enough calories. If I decide to actually do a shift in number of fat or carbs or cycle then I usually have to track for a few week to a month to get in a good groove.

**When Not to Track**

If you are the type of person who has dieted most of their life and has unhealthy relationship with food and diets, I suggest NOT tracking. It can make people neurotic and extreme and generally unhappy. I advise not tracking for the purpose of “staying under a certain calorie level” for the purpose of restriction.

For more information on this topic, please check out the posts listed below.

For these folks I recommend doing a “portion size” approach. Meaning, protein the size of the palm of your hand, all the veggies you can fit in, starchy carbs the size of the front of your closed fist (more if you are super active), added fat the size of your thumb. Or on a normal size plate, ½ the plate of veggies, ¼ protein, ¼ starchy carbohydrates, and 1 tablespoon of added fat. Eat it all.

When to Track

I think that for most women it is important to track when there is a suspicion that you are not eating enough calories or enough protein. Both of these are super common among women specifically. Thanks to the pressure of societal standards many women under eat. Stop that! Eat the food!

The point of tracking isn’t to see if you were “good” or “bad”; food doesn’t have morality. It is to obtain data to see if you need to make adjustments to reach your goals. Like seeing how many M&Ms or in my case Margaritas are sneaking into your week.

I find that when I track, I put forth more effort to eat more protein and less sugar. I want to make sure that I’m eat enough calories to sustain my life and activities. To make sure I’m eating lots of veggies and not just chips, salsa, and cheese for dinner. I know you feel me! Not that there is anything wrong with that….clearly I do this with some frequency to bring it up.

It can be a good way to stay accountable to yourself and your health goals. It is also a good way to do periodic check-in to make sure, over time, you are still eating enough calories and protein.

Side Note: It goes without saying that if you are a physique, bikini or bodybuilder competitor you will track.

Tracking Isn’t a Way to Live

If you have never tracked your food, I think you should try it. Even if it isn’t in an AP with calories and macros, just write down everything you eat in a day for a month and then review it at the end of each week. You will see trends and where you can make better choices towards better health.

Tracking isn’t something that I recommend people do long-term. Again, it is time consuming and can drive you to an unhealthy extreme mindset.

Eat the food! All the food! Just eat!

Lifting Weights / Resistance Training (Part 2)

17 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by ByCandace in Fitness

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

#bonedensity, #bustingmyths, #eatrealwholefood, #friendsdonotletfriendsdocardio, #healthyhormones, #liftweights, #menstrualcycle, #muscles, #resistancetraining, #restandrecover, #sleepwell, #takeabreak

Please check-out Part 1 of Lifting Weights / Resistance Training post where I covered:

Why lifting weights is important to me
Misconceptions women make about lifting weights
Things to-do
Lifting program weeks 1 – 5

I completed 5 weeks of the workouts in my Part 1 post with modifications each week on number of sets, reps, or weight so that each workout continued to challenge my body to adapt (aka: change).

Then I was stupid while kayaking and got a really bad sunburn down the front of both of my legs and left arm, which prevented me from working out for a full week. You can check out my pictures on my Instagram page. My knees were swollen for 3 days and my ankle was swollen for 5 days, which made it very painful and difficult to walk…..much less exercise. Soooo, had a rest and recover week.

Below you will find my next 5 weeks of workouts (weeks 6 – 10).

Side Note: I like to super-set my workouts so that I can get them done faster and it keeps my heart rate up throughout the whole workout to obtain the cardio benefits. A super-set is when you move from exercise to another exercise without a break in between. When starting out I usually can only do one set of each before taking a break. Once my ability increases, I’ll be able to multiple sets of each before taking a break. I’ve colored the text below to show you my groupings for super-sets.

Week 6

Tuesday – Lower Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Warm-up: 10 minutes revolving stairs
Wide-Stance Squats – 45 lb dumbbell
Goblet Squat – 25 lb dumbbell
Hip Thrusts – 30 lb barbell
Hamstring Curl Machine – 45 lbs
Seated Leg Press – 100, 120, 130 (pounds)
Hand Walkout
Garhammer Raise

Thursday – Upper Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Warm-up: 10 minutes revolving stairs
Incline Press – 15 lb dumbbells
Bent-Over Row – 40 lb barbell
Dips/Press-Down – 40 lb
Under-hand Grip Lat Pull Downs – 55 lbs
Arnold Press – 20 lb dumbbells 1 set, 15 lb dumbbells 2^nd and 3^rd sets
Wide-grip Drag Bicep Curl – 30 lb barbell (note: drag the barbell up and down the body)
Lateral Raise – 5 lb dumbbells
Paloff Press – 10 lbs on the cables

Sunday – Full Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Hack Squat – 35 lbs (Barbell – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDFzmSLDN0s, Machine – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6_YE_Hra34)
Traditional Leg Press – 90 lbs
Feet Elevated Glute Bridge – Bodyweight
Wide Grip Cable Row – 50 lbs on cables
Smith Machine Pull-up – Bodyweight
Smith Machine Push-ups – Bodyweight
2-way Lunges – Reverse, Curtsy – Bodyweight
Paloff Press w/ Oblique Twist – 10 lbs on the cables

Week 7

Tuesday – Active Recovery Day (I was still sore from Sunday’s workout)

15 minute revolving stairs
15 minute treadmill walk
Plank
Mobility Work & Stretching

Saturday – Lower Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Warm-up: 10 minutes revolving stairs
Wide-Stance Squats – 50 lb dumbbell
Goblet Squat – 25 lb dumbbell
Hip Thrusts – 40 lb barbell
Hamstring Curl Machine – 50 lbs
Traditional Leg Press – 90 lbs
10 minute walking cool down

Week 8

Tuesday – Upper Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Warm-up: Assisted Pull-ups and Chin-ups
Incline Press – 20 lb dumbbells
Wide Grip Cable Row – 50 lbs on cables
Dips/Press-Down – 50 lb
Under-hand Grip Lat Pull Downs – 40 lbs
Arnold Press – 15 lb dumbbells
Wide-grip Drag Bicep Curl – 30 lb barbell
Lateral Raise – 5 lb dumbbells
Paloff Press w/ Oblique Twist – 10 lbs on the cables

Thursday – Lower Body (3 Sets of 6-10 Reps)

Warm-up: 10 minutes treadmill walk
Wide-Stance Squats – 50 lb dumbbell
Goblet Squat – 30 lb dumbbell
Seated Leg Press – 115, 125, 135 (pounds)
Hamstring Curls – 50 lbs
Glute Bridge – Bodyweight (1 set)
Garhammer Raise (1 set)

Week 9

Tuesday – Upper Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Warm-up: 10 minutes revolving stairs
Incline Press – 20 lb dumbbells
Bent-Over Row – 45 lb barbell
Dips/Press-Down – 50 lb
Under-hand Grip Lat Pull Downs – 50 lbs
Arnold Press – 20 lb dumbbells 2 sets, 15 lb dumbbells 3^rd set
Wide-grip Drag Bicep Curl – 30 lb barbell
Lateral Raise – 5 lb dumbbells
Paloff Press w/ Oblique Twist – 10 lbs on the cables

Thursday – Lower Body (3 Sets of 6-10 Reps)

Warm-up: 10 minutes revolving stairs
Wide-Stance Squats – 50 lb dumbbell
Goblet Squat – 30 lb dumbbell
Hip Thrusts – 50 lb barbell
Hamstring Curl Machine – 50 lbs
Seated Leg Press – 120, 130, 140 (pounds)
Stretch

Side Note: My menstrual cycle threw me for a loop so my 3^rd workout this week did not happen…..and that’s ok.

Below are some article that discuss general guidelines about training and the menstrual cycle:

Week 10

Wednesday – Lower Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Warm-up: 10 minutes revolving stairs
Goblet Squat – 30 lb dumbbell
Straight-Leg Dead-lift – 50 lb barbell or Kettlebell
Feet Elevated Glute Bridge – Bodyweight
Bulgarian Split Squat – Bodyweight
Seated Leg Press – 125, 135, 145 (pounds)

Friday – Upper Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Warm-up: 10 minutes revolving stairs
Incline Press – 20 lb dumbbells
Bent-Over Row – 50 lb barbell
Dips/Press-Down – 50 lb
Under-hand Grip Lat Pull Downs – 60 lbs
Arnold Press – 15 lb dumbbells 2 sets, 15 lb dumbbells 3^rd set
Wide-grip Drag Bicep Curl – 30 lb barbell
Lateral Raise – 5 lb dumbbells
Paloff Press w/ Oblique Twist – 10 lbs on the cables

Here are some of my other blog posts that discuss exercise.

If you have any questions please feel free to comment on this post and I’ll get back with you as soon as I can.

Lifting Weights / Resistance Training

16 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by ByCandace in Fitness

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

#bonedensity, #bustingmyths, #eatrealwholefood, #friendsdonotletfriendsdocardio, #healthyhormones, #liftweights, #muscles, #questioner, #resistancetraining, #sleepwell, #thefourtendencies

I made a commitment to myself that I would re-start lifting weights regularly, with consistency. See “Questioner/Upholder” from The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin. It has been a hot minute since I’ve done this (for many reasons). My husband agreed to cook dinner on the evenings that I go to the gym, so we still have a home-cooked healthy meal and I don’t have to worry about it.

Lifting Weights is Important to Me.

It makes me feel good, strong, accomplished, and capable. The health benefits of resistance training are many, but here are some of the important ones to me.

Maintain and Gain Muscle Mass: eats more calories at rest = higher metabolism (less body fat), sucks up glucose improving blood sugar regulation, decreases insulin resistance, you can eat more carbohydrates, (in my opinion) muscle physically looks better on the body (even if covered with fat)
Increased Bone Density
Reduced Risk of Injury
Help to maintain hormonal balance as we age. (HGH, testosterone, fight against estrogen dominance)

Ability to move through life without regular assistance; carry groceries, lifting bags of soil, put heavy things on shelves and get them back down again, pick things up off the floor, open jars, move on to the floor and back up to my feet again, get up and down off the toilet and the list goes on and on. There are daily life activities that many younger people take for granted that as we age and lose muscle mass become difficult. The way out of becoming frail and incapable is lifting weights/resistance training.

Let’s Get a Few Things Straight!

Women do not have enough testosterone to “get bulky” or “look like a body builder”. The women who carry “big” muscles are those whose job it is to look like that. They have to work really really hard to gain that much muscle and they take supplements to help with that.
Lifting tiny weights are not going to have the same positive effects (listed above) on your body as lifting a weight that is challenging (aka: heavy – which is relative to each person and changes along the journey).
YOU CANNOT OUT TRAIN A POOR DIET! (No, I’m not yelling; I’m emphasizing)
No one in the gym is looking at you. They are looking at themselves.

Cardio isn’t going to achieve what you want or think it will. Cardio will make you look like a smaller flappy version of what you look like right now. If you “lift weights faster” (super-sets and circuits) you don’t need to do traditional cardio.

Things To-Do

Make sure you get plenty of recovery time between workouts. I think 1 to 2 days in between depending on how sore you are. On recovery days, get blood flow through those muscles. I like to walk, stretch, take hot Epsom Salt baths, and use ARES Sports Rub.
Make sure you are prioritizing sleep. Sleep is the #1 thing your body needs to heal and recover. If you didn’t get a good night sleep, do not go to the gym, go home and sleep.
Make sure you are eating nourishing foods and supplementing well. Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides is awesome recovery food (I’m an affiliate). (You cannot out supplement a pour diet.)
Make sure you are walking every day for at least 30 minutes

NOW TO THE LIFTING

The whole purpose of my post was to tell you what I’m doing! Soooo here goes.

I finally got around to making a commitment to myself that I was going to get back to lifting regularly at the end of January this year. Since it had been a while and I’m notorious for jumping back in full force and being so sore I can’t sit on the toilet or get up from it for that matter, I made a responsible plan to work my way back into lifting without over doing it.

The current plan is 2 days a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesday is lower body and Thursday is upper body. I’m doing this for 4 to 6 weeks before adding a third workout day.

Week 1

Tuesday – Lower Body (2 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Warm-up: Revolving Stairs – 10 mins.
Reverse Lunge – bodyweight
Wide-Stance Squat – 40 lb dumbbell
Leg Press – 90, 100, 110 (pounds)
Step-ups – 10 lb dumbbells
Glute Bridge – bodyweight
Plank – 15 secs.
Stretch

Thursday – Upper Body (2 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Warm-up: Assisted Pull-up Machine
Arnold Press – 15 lb dumbbells (dropped to 10 lbs on second set)
Y-Press – 10 lb dumbbells (dropped to 5 lbs on second set)
Rear Delt Fly – 5 lb dumbbells – (Video @ 3:32 sec)
High Incline Dumbbell Bench Press – 15 lb dumbbells
Bent Over Row – 30 lb barbell
Stretch

Week 2

Tuesday – Lower Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Warm-up: Revolving Stairs – 10 mins.
Reverse Lunge – bodyweight
Wide-Stance Squat – 40 lb dumbbell
Leg Press – 90, 100, 110 (pounds)
Step-ups – bodyweight
Glute Bridge – bodyweight
Plank – 15 secs.
Stretch

Thursday – Upper Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

Warm-up: Assisted Pull-up Machine
Arnold Press – 15 lb dumbbells (dropped to 10 lbs on third set)
Y-Press – 10 lb dumbbells (dropped to 5 lbs on third set)
Rear Delt Fly – 5 lb dumbbells
High Incline Dumbbell Bench Press – 15 lb dumbbells
Seated Cable Rows – 40 lbs
Stretch

Week 3

Tuesday – Lower Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps – Increase Weight)

Warm-up: Revolving Stairs – 10 mins.
Reverse Lunge – bodyweight
Wide-Stance Squat – 45 lb dumbbell
Leg Press – 100, 110, 120 (pounds)
Step-ups – bodyweight
Hip Thrust – 30 lb barbell
Plank – 15 secs.
Stretch

Friday – Upper Body (3 Sets of 8-10 Reps – Add Movements)

I slept poorly on Wednesday night and moved my lifting day to Friday. Which is today!

Warm-up: Assisted Pull-up Machine
Arnold Press – 15 lb dumbbells
Y-Press – 10 lb dumbbells (drop to 5 lbs when needed)
Front Raise – 10 lb dumbbells (drop to 5 lbs when needed) – (Video @ 1:00 min)
Rear Delt Fly – 5 lb dumbbells
High Incline Dumbbell Bench Press – 15 lb dumbbells
Bent Over Row – 30 lb barbell
Wide Grip Lat Pull-Down – 40 lbs
- Or Straight Arm Lat Pull-Down
Stretch

Week 4 (to maybe 6)

It isn’t here yet, but it will look very similar to the above with increased weight, reps or sets to keep it challenging and progressing as well as preventing my body from adapting (plateauing).

After this 4^th week or maybe after 6 weeks, I’ll continue include different movements into my routine for another 4 to 6 weeks, while still progressing in weight. I’m going to attempt to add in a third day that will focus on 10 – 15 minutes of HIIT training (I prefer sprints) followed by stretching. So, it will be a super short workout, but that is all that is needed (more is not better), because HIIT is super effective for fat loss while maintain muscle mass.

Here are some of my other blog posts that discuss exercise.

If you have any questions please feel free to comment on this post and I’ll get back with you as soon as I can.

Diet – The Short Version….

13 Saturday May 2017

Posted by ByCandace in Books, Lifestyle, Nutrition

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

#change, #eatallthethings, #eatrealwholefood, #norestrictions, #paleo, #priorities, #uncomplicated

THEN

Back in the 1990’s and 2000’s I was all about a Low-Fat diet. I thought I had to eat low-fat to be fit and health. Keeping in mind I was in my early 20’s I was fit, but I was not healthy. At all. Then I also became un-fit as well. I yo-yoed back and forth for years.

Side note: Even when I was eating low-fat, I was never really able to eat as low-fat as I thought I “should” be eating. I still don’t know what people eat to maintain super low fat intake.

Enter “The Paleo Solution Diet” by Robb Wolf. This is a great book – I highly recommend it!

I again was not healthy. At all. So, I dove into Paleo face first. Over a few years I became very health and fit again. It was fantastic! I felt great – I preformed great – I looked great!

Somehow I ended up messing around with a super low carbohydrate diet. Between the low carbohydrate diet and poor lifestyle factors, and after some time…I became unhealthy and un-fit yet again.

I’ve been working to flight my way back ever since. This time my body broke down to levels I did not know existed and wish I didn’t know.

NOW

Through all of my diet and health struggles…..this is what I’ve learned.

Paleo is not dogmatic (you’re the only person that can impose rules on yourself)
Low-fat diets will eventually break you
Low-carb diets will eventually break you
Excessive exercise will eventually break you
It takes longer to heal the broken than it takes to break

I will no longer cut out a whole macro groups (protein, fat, carb) from my diet ever again. It isn’t necessary and in the long run it will break you.

Eating protein, fat, and carbs is required.

I know….I know…. everyone is either still in the low-fat camp or all about the ketogenic diet – it is everywhere and I’m sure most people are super confused about it all.

Truth is everyone’s dietary requirements are different from everyone else’s and each person’s dietary requirements change throughout their lifetime.

Recommended Books

Soooo…..I’m not a man…I realistically cannot speak to that….but I can tell you….as a women….while we can adjust our macros (protein, fat, carb) of how much of each we take-in we need to be eating all three. Maybe not at every meal and maybe not every day, but you need all three in your face…in your body if you want to maintain your life, health, well-being, fitness, hormones, sleep….etc.

I find that I personally do not do well with restriction. Restriction in anyway will send me into a tailspin. So, now….I do not tell myself that I cannot have something. I can have anything I want any time I want. It is my responsibility and my choice to eat something or not to eat something that I choose…knowing that it either helps me or hurts me and it either gets me closer to my goals or further away from my goals. I own it and I suffer or reap the consequence of my choice one way or the other (I don’t feel bad about it either way).

UNCOMPLICATED

This whole thing is less complicated than what folks make it out to be.

Eat whole real foods.

If you can answer yes to these three questions, then it is real whole food.

Did your food grow out of the ground, fall from a tree, or have a mother?
Will it spoil?

There are times when we will eat foods out of a box or a bag; this day in age it is inevitable.

Can you pronounce all the ingredient’s names? (if not, find a better quality product with simple/less/pronounceable ingredients)

Go back to basics.

Trust me I get it….while this is a simple approach….it isn’t necessarily easy. BUT there are lots of tools out there to help (including me). I have found that we can and will do anything that we determine is important to us.

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo – The Preverbal Pumpkin….?

19 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by ByCandace in Lifestyle, Nutrition

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#calcium, #chiropractor, #codliveroil, #eatrealwholefood, #genetictesting, #grastontechnique, #mammogram, #menopause, #myofascialrelease, #perimenopause, #prevention, #thermograms, #ultrasound

Does turning 40 mean I’ve turned in to the preverbal pumpkin?

Last month I made a few different medical appointments, took off work for the morning so I could knock them out; later I realized that I looked like a masochist booking all these in one morning.

I started out my day getting blood drawn to get an update on how my Thyroid is functioning. I’m currently on Nature-Throid, which is a T4/T3 combo.

Then I saw my chiropractor to get Graston Technique and myofascial release on my calves, feet, and toes. Pure and utter torture! BUT it works!

Then I headed to get my “Well Woman Exam” at the gynecologist. It had been just shy of 3 years since my last exam; I personally do not think that I need to do it every year. I am not on birth control, have regular cycles, and have no symptoms or abnormalities occurring that would warrant annual visits.

However since ovarian cancer did hit close to me, I’m looking into genetic testing for myself to see if my risks are high enough for MD Andersen’s Cancer clinic will take me as a preventative patient.

This is where the day got interesting.

The doctor and location I went to is new to me, I wanted to find someone that was close to my home. This place received good reviews, so I decided to give them a try. I go in, fill out paper word, weigh-in, urinate in a cup (apparently me telling them I was not pregnant wasn’t adequate), and strip down to nothing but my socks. Man am I happy I wore socks that day!

The lady comes in the room and much to my surprise, she was the opposite of what I was expecting to walk through the door…..she explained she was not the doctor that she was a midwife and was it ok with me that she complete my exam. I said “yes” that was fine; I thought to myself….”oh yes…maybe she is a bit progressive in her thinking, education, and more up-to-date on research than the doctor would have been”. NOPE!

While she was very good at communication and executing the exam….the education and mind-set was very old-school and not accurate.

I think I heard “Now that you’re 40…..” at least 5 to 10 times! I asked her if “now that I am 40 if I’ve turned into a pumpkin or something” and she giggled and said “ya…kinda”.

Here are the three inaccuracies that jumped out at me when she was giving me the “now that you’re 40” recommendations.

“Now that you’re 40, you need to make sure you’re taking calcium”. Fallacy!
“Now that you’re 40, you need to start getting mammograms”. Nope!
“Now that you’re 40, you need to start looking out for perimenopause symptoms”. What?!?

Please allow me to break down my thoughts and provide some up-to-date resources, data, and information.

Calcium

The old-school way of thinking that we need to supplement with calcium is not accurate. We do not need to supplement with calcium to have strong bones or teeth or anything else that they claim taking calcium does. Calcium supplementation is correlated with increased heart disease, kidney stones, and premature death. Calcium can cause medical issues with the heart and kidneys.

Naturally because this is a very controversial topic there are lots of articles and arguments in both directions, mostly because “big dairy” doesn’t want to lose their customers and money because people don’t “need” to drink milk, eat yogurt, or cheese (however I do love eating cheese, because it tastes so yummy, not because I need it for calcium). Also, note who is paying for these studies…..is it “big dairy”?? Think about the fact that there use to not be calcium supplements….people ate vitamin and mineral rich foods and worked hard physically and they were healthy.

Calcium needs co-factors to be absorbed and used by the body; vitamins K2, D and A, magnesium, and zinc.

Side note: Rosita Extra-Virgin Cod Liver Oil has K2, D and A in it naturally as a food derived supplement. WARNING: Not all Cod Liver Oils, Fish Oils, nor Krill Oils are created equal. The fats in these products are very delicate and will go rancid very easy, thus the “fish burps”. Do not pick the product based on price….you could be doing more harm than good to your body.

To error on the side of caution, the best way to get calcium in your body is to eat real whole foods like leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, almonds, blackstrap molasses, cold-water fatty fish, bone broth, raw grass-fed dairy from A2 cows (if you tolerate it), goat, or sheep. But milk nor dairy products are necessary to obtain calcium.

For strong bones you should include resistance training and make sure you are getting all your vitamins and minerals in your diet.

Mammogram

This can be a very controversial topic. I’m going to try and keep this section as short as I can while hitting the highlights of the topic. I’ve ran across a plethora of articles over the years that discuss mammograms not being as beneficial as allopathic (traditional western) medicine claims.

What you need to know is that mammograms are not super accurate and have lots of false positives and false negative results. The big one for me is that there is a high amount of radiation associated with this test and radiation can cause cancer. Specifically ionizing radiation is a risk factor for breast cancer to develop (see Dr. Mercola article links below).

My conjecture is that the mammogram business is so big, creates many jobs, and makes so much money that not pushing them on women and not doing them doesn’t seem to be an option – because it “works” sometimes.

The alternative that I like is a Thermogram (see links below). Thermograms are a much safer and less invasive than mammograms. They can be used starting earlier in life and can be done more frequently without harm to your health. They also provide more accurate results.

A multi-pronged approach is best, use all the tools that we know and have, including mammograms when necessary. Do self-exams, do thermograms, do ultrasound and if necessary do mammograms and MRIs.

BUT, prevention of cancer is the real key.

What you put in and on your body, your lifestyle including sleep and exercise, and your hormonal/endocrine health are all very important in the prevention of cancer.

Perimenopause

Let’s start with definitions:

Pre-Menopause is the time when a woman is having regular menstrual cycles, fertile child bearing years.

Perimenopause is the time up to 10 years prior to the full stopping of your period (aka: menopause), during which a woman’s hormones are changing typically causing a variety of unpleasant symptoms.

Menopause is when a woman goes a minimum of 12 months consecutively without menstruation.

The truth is that every woman goes through menopause at different ages, therefore I deduct that women also go through perimenopause at different ages. Some women have very gradual long time symptoms and some women it hits like a freight-train.

It may in fact be me not wanting to face the fact that being 40 means that I am now old enough to experience perimenopause symptoms, due to just my age. My brain doesn’t want to comprehend nor accept this!

What I do know is that my lifestyle (aka: long-term chronic stress) broke my body down in such ways that directly affect my sex hormone outputs and I have been working a long time to rebuild my health and hormones. I still have regular menstrual cycles. This has motivated me highly to heal as quickly as I can so that I can better manage the impending perimenopause.

Encouragement: I believe that women can transition through perimenopause into menopause without it being miserable and traumatic. This isn’t common these days, but it is possible. As I learn more, rest assured that I will be writing and sharing what I learn.

Below are a few books that I recommend:

Takeaways

Do not take calcium supplements, get it from real whole foods. If you do take a calcium supplement do not take it by itself, take it with co-factors.
Use more safe methods of breast cancer screening before subjecting your body to cancer causing radiation.
Just because someone is 40 doesn’t mean that they are going to start perimenopause. However it does mean that one should get as healthy as ever possible before any major hormonal changes start occurring. Particularly the adrenal glands.

Below are links for you to read and research further the topics briefly discussed in this post.

Calcium Resources:

http://empoweredsustenance.com/avoid-calcium-supplements/

http://www.healthy-diet-healthy-you.com/Benefits_of_Calcium.html

https://paleoleap.com/calcium/

https://chriskresser.com/how-to-keep-your-bones-healthy-on-a-paleo-diet/

https://www.thepaleomom.com/why-dont-i-need-to-worry-about-calcium-2/

The following excerpt is from a PDF called “The Real Food Action Guide by: John and Ocean Robbins” Pgs. 7 – 8:

“John Robbins: For years, the dairy industry has been telling us that dairy is the best thing for healthy bones, that kids need to drink cow’s milk, and that milk is Nature’s perfect food. Actually, milk is nature’s perfect food for turning a 90-pound calf into a 450-pound cow in about 12 months. If it were true that we need dairy products to have strong bones, then the countries in the world with the highest dairy product consumption would probably have the strongest bones, and they would probably have the lowest rates of osteoporosis. Well, the four countries with the highest consumption of dairy products in the world, are: Finland, Sweden, the United States, and England. Now, the four countries in the world with the highest rates of osteoporosis in the world happen to be those very same four countries: Finland, Sweden, the United States, and England.

Ocean Robbins: This can actually seem kinda hard to believe, when we’ve all been inundated by ads telling us that the calcium in dairy products is the best way to build strong bones. Most of us have come to believe that this is just a fact of life.

John Robbins: Yes, but in reality it’s a fabricated myth designed to sell dairy products. Now, it’s true that milk has a lot of calcium, and that women, in particular, need more calcium then men do. But a famous study of 78,000 female nurses found that the relative risk of hip fracture for women who drank two glasses or more of milk per day, was nearly one-and-half times higher than for those who drank one glass or less per week. And another population that can need a bit of extra calcium is the elderly. Yet a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that elderly people with the highest dairy product consumption actually had double the risk of hip fracture compared to those with the lowest consumption. Calcium is of course important. But dairy products are not the best way to get this important mineral. One reason is that the calcium absorption rates for green vegetables is so much higher than it is for dairy products. For kale, the calcium absorption rate is 50 percent; For Brussels sprouts, it’s 64 percent. But for milk, it’s only half of that – 32 percent.

If you want to have strong bones throughout your entire life, your best approach is to eat plenty of green leafy vegetables, to exercise regularly, don’t drink Coke or Pepsi because cola drinks are made with phosphoric acid that deletes calcium from bone tissue, and minimize your consumption of animal protein, which has a similar effect. You’ll feel better, your bones will be stronger, and your overall health will benefit in many other ways, as well.”

Mammogram Resources:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/10/25/mammogram-effects-risks.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/10/14/mammography-promotion.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/02/26/mammograms.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/30/mammography-screening-programs.aspx

http://realfoodforager.com/3-risks-your-doctor-wont-tell-you-about-mammography/

http://realfarmacy.com/why-mammography-screening-is-being-abolished/

http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/thermograms-safer-accurate-mammograms.html

http://realfarmacy.com/mammograms-cause-cancer/

http://thestir.cafemom.com/healthy_living/191875/women_told_having_fewer_mammog

http://www.saragottfriedmd.com/what-if-breast-cancer-dr-saras-prevention-top-10-list/

Perimenopause Resources: