Embrace Change and Master Your Menopause Naturally
The Change Plan is a unique online exercise, nutrition and lifestyle programme created by 46 year old personal trainer Karen Lobo-Morell to support women naturally through their menopausal years. The aim of the plan is to provide a positive space to educate women about what is happening to their bodies and how they can use food, movement and alternative therapies to ease their symptoms.
According to the NHS the average age for women to go through menopause is 51, however as many as 1 in 100 can experience menopause symptoms before the age of 40. The early stages are known as perimenopause, when women start to experience a range of uncomfortable symptoms due to falling oestrogen levels, which can start around the age of 45 and for some last for up to 10 years. Figures from the Office of National Statistics show there are almost three and a half million women in the UK aged between 45-51. Many women can find these years distressing and isolating because they are too embarrassed to talk about what is happening to them.
The Change Plan consists of a four step programme (Eat, Move, Embrace & Evolve) which allows women to manage the mayhem by balancing their hormones and gives them the tools to build the foundations of good health for years to come.
EAT – What you eat can have a massive effect on your hormones so The Change Plan makes it as easy as possible to choose healthy foods that will help to limit menopause symptoms and limit weight gain.
MOVE – The four month functional fitness training plan includes strength training, high intensity interval training (HIIT) and yoga and includes a full video exercise library alongside the training plans.
EMBRACE – Knowledge is power and understanding the key hormones at play and what practical natural solutions are available can help to ease the most common symptoms.
EVOLVE – As we age our skin tone and hair texture change as well as our body shape, our experts offer practical advice on how to style it out. As many women have jobs well into their menopausal years The Change Plan offers top tips on how to address issues in the workplace.
Karen said: ‘Every woman is going to go through the menopause and it can be a difficult time for some. Most people are aware of the hot flushes and night sweats that are associated with this time of life but there are a large range of symptoms including anxiety, depression, fatigue, mood swings and what sometimes feels like unstoppable weight gain that can cause women a great deal of distress. As women are now working well into their fifties and sixties they not only have to deal with the symptoms at home but it can greatly affect their working lives too.’
Working with a nutritional therapist, yoga instructor, hypnotherapist, beautician, health coach, wellness chef and a stylist Karen has created The Change Plan to offer expert advice on a range of natural, drug free, coping mechanisms to deal with the most common and debilitating menopausal problems. The top to toe approach is about building strength, both physically and mentally, to allow women to take back control of their bodies so they can feel and look their best.
‘The good news is that for most women changes in their diet and lifestyle and the support of a range of natural healing therapies, from cognitive behavioural therapy to hypnotherapy, can really help women to master their menopause and rebuild their confidence,’ adds Karen.
Women who have been through the menopause are also at greater risk of developing Osteoporosis, a condition that weakens bones making them fragile and more likely to break. Whilst it can affect both sexes, women are more at risk than men, especially if their menopausal symptoms start before the age of 45. Osteoporosis can develop slowly over several years without any visible signs or symptoms but can lead to an increased risk of fractures so prevention, in the form of weight bearing activities, is key,
“As a personal trainer I wanted to ensure The Change Plan had a focus on exercise because osteoporosis is such a problem for so many women, but by adding in weight bearing activities there is so much we can do to increase our bone health and increase our chances of longer independent living.”
“The menopause has been a taboo subject for a long time and when I started to have terrible night sweats, which severely disrupted my sleep, I began to discuss it with friends and realised just how differently we are all experiencing it. That’s when I decided to do my own research and put the programme together because most women I spoke to had no idea they could ease their symptoms naturally. It’s all part of the ageing process but you don’t really think about it until it’s happening to you and women need to know where to find information they can trust and feel safe to speak freely about this time of life and the challenges it can bring. I hope The Change Plan can help to support women to make positive changes that will help them feel stronger, fitter and happier for years to come.”
The Change Plan costs £87 – sign up at www.thechangeplan.info
Notes to editors:
ONS figures – https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/february2016
Menopause is defined as having gone without a period for 12 months.
Original source: PRFIRE.COM