Tips to help female trainers stay healthy during menopause

Cecilia Harris has been a personal trainer for 20 years and has helped some of the UK's biggest celebrities on their fitness journeys. But she revealed it was only when she began experiencing symptoms of the menopause at the age of 49 that she decided to "take back control of my body".

"I think you're always faced with choices in life. And as you get older, you can either accept this fact; or you can resist it and get depressed because you feel old. I accepted the fact that I was turning 50, that was a huge motivation to change," she shared.

Cecilia, co-owner of wellness platform RWL, explained that she wasn't always so healthy, especially after gaining weight after having a baby in her 30s. "I was a size 16 and didn't know how to improve my mood and my life. I never thought that my weight gain was partly due to diet and lack of exercise," Cecilia said.

However, after being inspired to exercise by a personal trainer, Cecilia adopted an active lifestyle and balanced diet. At the age of 39, she dropped to a dress size 12 and decided to turn her passion for fitness into a career.

Despite her success in coaching others, Cecilia often neglected her own diet. As she approached 50, women began to enter menopause, with symptoms such as irregular periods, fatigue, hot flashes, joint pain, anxiety disorders...

Women in perimenopause often experience many physical and mental changes, lasting until menopause. The main cause of these changes is that the ovaries begin to decline in activity, gradually secreting less and less estrogen and then stopping completely. This leads to disorders in all organs inside the body. Many people seek help from medical professionals, who prescribe hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to help them reduce their symptoms.

Cecilia believes HRT is really important, but so are getting more exercise, changing your diet and prioritising sleep quality. “So when the menopause hit, I knew I needed to get even healthier,” she says.

She ditched processed foods for lean protein, lots of vegetables and whole grains. “I replaced toast in the morning with an omelette. Lunch was salmon and a fresh salad; dinner was chicken, roasted vegetables and brown rice,” she says, adding that she still drinks coffee and a glass of red wine, and drinks two liters of water a day.

Cecilia also changed her workout routine, ditching high-intensity cardio and instead lifting weights at home five times a week. Within two months, her dress size dropped from a 10 to a 6, giving her the first visible abs in her life.

“Now, even as a 52-year-old postmenopausal woman, I am more confident about my body than I have ever been in my life,” she says.

Hong Van (According to Sun )