YES, YOU CAN HAVE A PHENOMENAL MENOPAUSE
Ulrika told the Mail her menopause was devastating. But thanks to some clever secret weapons, these women say it was the making of them — as this glorious picture proves
WHEN it comes to the menopause, horror stories abound. Yet while many women cite it as the death knell for their health, looks and relationships, others insist it is possible to emerge in fabulous shape. So is it down to good luck, genetics or steely discipline? SADIE NICHOLAS spoke to six women who found very different ways to outsmart the menopause.
BOTOX AND PARTYING WITH MY FRIENDS!
LORENA OBERG, 51, owns aesthetics clinics in London and Surrey and lives in Surrey with her husband and two children aged 17 and 15. She says: A decade after my menopause began, I’m a curvaceous size 12, the same as I was in my 30s, but I look and feel sexier and more confident, with boundless energy.
I run over 20 miles a week, and go out dancing with my girlfriends till the early hours at weekends.
Yet when my menopause started, when I was only aged 42, I gained 3st — in part down to an acrimonious divorce from my first husband — and I felt tired and low.
So, I started taking bio- identical hormones, which closely mimic your natural hormones, tailored to my needs by a doctor on Harley Street, and everything fell into place.
My sleep and diet improved, I discovered running and lost all the weight I’d gained.
Post-menopause I pay careful attention to my looks. I’m not ashamed to say I have had botox and fillers in pretty much every part of my face to put back what time has taken away. I also have monthly needling, where fine needles are rolled over your face to stimulate collagen production.
But that doesn’t explain the inner glow I think I now have. People often tell me I look well, and I get more attention at the gym than the younger women there because I exude confidence, which is very attractive.
WEIGHTS GAVE ME A YOUNGER BODY
LINDSAY STEVENS, 53, is a quality and safety facilitator in the NHS. She is divorced with two daughters, aged 26 and 22, and lives in Nottingham. She says: Strong, sexy and confident is certainly not how I expected to look and feel at 53.
In fact, when my menopause started aged 48, I had a pathological fear of descending into middle-aged spread and frumpy clothes. At 50 I hit rock bottom and my gP prescribed a minimal dose of HRT to lift my low mood and alleviate hot sweats.
But the best medicine was discovering powerlifting in the gym through my then boyfriend. It was — and is — a revelation that transformed my spirits, figure and self- esteem, and has given me a huge sense of achievement. I can now deadlift 100kg, perform a squat while holding 80kg, and have set two British records in my weight and age category in local competitions.
I’m a size 10 to 12 and my body is leaner post-menopause than in my 20s. I even have a six-pack.
I’m not evangelical about it, but being strong requires good nutrition so I eat lots of porridge, avocados, bananas, greens, salmon and chicken — with dark chocolate and the odd glass of Merlot.
I only train twice a week, squeezed in around work and caring for my mum, who has dementia, but it helps me cope with life’s stresses, too.
When people discover my age they’re often aghast, which is lovely, and I enjoy wearing a bikini on the beach now whereas in my 20s I was too self-conscious even to undress in front of boyfriends. I seized the menopause as an opportunity to make changes to my body and health for the better.
EXERCISE SAW OFF MY SYMPTOMS
ALIZA REGER, 57, runs the Janet Reger lingerie empire and lives in North London. She’s married with a daughter aged 25. She says: I’ve emerged from the menopause still wearing a dress size eight and feeling as if I’m in my 30s. In fact, when I tell young women who work with me that I’m older than their mothers they don’t believe me!
Admittedly, I had a little help aged 50 when I went from taking the contraceptive pill to a low dose of HRT on the advice of my gynaecologist. Consequently, I was spared the worst of the mood swings and hot flushes.
But mostly I attribute being in great shape mentally and physically to working out five times a week, doing everything from yoga and spin classes to personal training.
I’ve also increased the amount of exercise I do using heavier weights to help maintain bone density and muscle mass. Building lean muscle increases calorie burning even while resting so is a great way to help stave off middle-aged spread.
Menopause affects people differently but I believe keeping active and thinking young really helps keep you that way.
When it comes to food I enjoy everything in moderation, including guilty pleasures such as chocolate and a biscuit with a cup of tea.
I also have beauty rituals I think have helped me stay looking youthful, such as body brushing in the morning to help boost my lymphatic system and eliminate toxins, while a cold blast at the end of a shower wards off cellulite and open pores and makes my hair shine.
I take a daily hair and skin supplement and 1,000mg of vitamin C, I am scrupulous about wearing sunblock, and find red light therapy (RLT), which emits low-level wavelengths of light, is fantastic for increasing collagen production and plumping my skin.
When I was starting my periods aged 12 to 13, my mother said to me: ‘It’s not an illness, there’s nothing wrong with you, take two aspirin and just get on with life.’
It’s the attitude she took with all things hormone-related and the one I applied to the menopause: it’s not a reason to pause your life.
I LOOKED FOR POSITIVE PEOPLE
SUE TAPPENDEN, 55, is an executive coach and lives in Kent with her second husband Chris, also 55, an acupuncturist, and her son, who’s 17. She says: Before I started the menopause what I picked up from women around me, and in the media, was that it was going to be a miserable
Menopause made me fear I had dementia ...but my husband didn’t seem to care
combination of weight gain, mood swings and sweats.
I reasoned that if I took that approach it would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. So when the hot flushes kicked in aged 49, rather than beg my GP for HRT, I surrounded myself with positive people and activities, such as yoga and moving meditation classes, body confidence-based exercise groups and even retreats and weekends away on my own. My view of the menopause, which may be unpopular with some women, is that attitude has a lot to do with how ‘horrendous’ your symptoms can feel.
Although unpleasant, I embraced the hot flushes and mood swings because I knew they’d pass. Similarly, I seized weight gain around my middle as an opportunity to find exercise I really loved, including dance-based classes.
It’s four years since my last period and not having to plan a social life around them is incredibly freeing.
As for my looks, that’s about attitude, too. I love fashionable clothes, such as a current favourite leather jacket from All Saints. I’m lucky to also have great genes — my mum looks terrific at 84 — and people tell me I don’t look my age.
Recently I’ve reduced the amount of pasta, bread and cakes I’d been eating and dropped a dress size to a 12, the same as I was in my 30s.
If you enter the menopause believing your looks will go to ruin, younger women will outshine you at work, and your husband won’t find you sexy, then you’re going to feel awful. Having a positive attitude will have the opposite effect.
I BECAME A MODEL IN MY 50s
DEBI IRELAND, 57, is a commercial and lifestyle model and lives in Surrey with her fiancé. She has three children aged 37, 33, and 18. She says: Four years since my last period I look and feel fabulous, have launched a photography business, started commercial modelling and am getting married next year.
People are always asking me: ‘Why are you always smiling?’
As I said to a group of younger women last week, it’s because my 50s have been the happiest, most content decade of my life.
For a while I lived in fear of the menopause, convinced my looks and career would drop away. But eventually I chose to view it as a privilege. Several friends died from cancer in their 40s and would have given anything to reach the menopause.
Still, it was tough initially because I suffered migraines — thought to be linked to falling levels of oestrogen — so debilitating I could barely function and my GP convinced me to take a low dose of HRT, which was like a magic bullet.
Since then, it’s been down to me. When I started to gain a few pounds, I cut down from one or two glasses of wine every evening to a glass three nights a week. I reduced carbs and sweet treats, and started walking five miles a day. I can’t justify gym membership so I use my stairs for a workout, running up and down and doing step-ups. When I look in the mirror, I have wrinkles but I embrace them! I’ve got lovely teeth, swishy hair and can still rock a size eight bikini in the privacy of my garden. I only started modelling six years ago. I did an interview with a magazine about climbing Ben Nevis as a mid- life challenge and the photographer who took pictures of me suggested I should get in contact with a modelling agency. I laughed that at 51 and 5ft 4in I didn’t think there’d be much demand for me, but he replied there was a growing market for older models. I’m now signed to six different agencies. I’ve come to realise beauty is intrinsically linked to self-confidence.
SLEEP WAS THE KEY TO COPING
NIKI WIBROW, 52, is a health, fitness and wellness coach (404040plan.co.uk). She lives in Colchester with photographer husband David, 51, and daughter Angelica, seven. She says: THIS year, on holiday in Tenerife, my husband secretly took photos of me walking into the pool in my bikini. Later, when he caught me covering up with a sarong, he said: ‘Look at these photos — you’re 52, you look amazing, you should be proud to show off your body!’
I’m usually quite self- deprecating, but he was right. I’ve worked hard for this body and I’m in the best shape of my life. Like most young people, I thought I was invincible, drank too much and ate piles of pasta. These days I rarely drink, I don’t eat junk or large portions and I exercise daily.
I started the menopause when I was 47 and haven’t had a period since I was 48. The main symptoms were tiredness, forgetfulness, hot flushes and irritability. I’d be awake in the dead of night thinking: ‘Why am I not asleep, I’m shattered?’
My GP wanted to put me on HRT, but I decided to try a natural approach instead and focused on tackling my poor sleep.
Insomnia is a common symptom of magnesium deficiency, as magnesium maintains healthy levels of a neurotransmitter called GABA that promotes sleep.
So I started using a topical magnesium lotion at night. Within weeks I was sleeping better, had more energy, and craved healthy foods again. When pasta and bread made me feel bloated during the menopause — it’s known that fluctuating hormone levels can cause changes in the digestive system — I adapted my diet and now prefer to eat tapas-style meals.
I still use magnesium as well as a vitamin D spray to boost my mood, and I take a beauty supplement called Lumity — Yasmin Le Bon is a fan. I’ve never had botox or fillers, and only use natural oils on my skin. I’m lucky my hair is still thick and long.
Five times a week I work out for 20 minutes, doing exercises such as lunges and squats to increase my bone density. I feel amazing.