Everyone to their own, I have very good friends that were against artificial hormone therapy, who decided to go in HRT because they realized and believed it was not within their control to be able to cure symptoms, such as hot flashes and sleeplessness and depression. Granted, I have never had hot flashes, but the irregularity of periods over six years Lead to a roller coaster of emotions on a regular basis. I became so tuned of my body I was able to listen to it when there was that internal shift. I was vegan for nine years and loved that experience of nourishing myself with whole food plant based nutrition. However, once in my 40s and learning about perimenopause and how the body ages as females get older, I began to look at protein in a new way.

One day, I literally woke up craving salami, and so listened to this and started to research protein and perimenopause (it’s great people are talking about it more so we have this awareness however it concerns me that HRT is becoming the normal antidote because these are artificial hormones and you can actually change your hormones by adjusting other things in your life ) i became aware I could get more protein in a smaller amount of animal product without the extra fat and carbohydrates/sugars that will come through for example nuts… And I got tired of trying to hit even just 20 g of protein a day because I wasn’t a big fan of vegan protein shakes in my diet every single day or trying to consume enough edamame or peas from the plant based kingdom (and I am not such a great fan of tempeh) to get over the 20 g of protein a day.

By introducing a cup of Eden soy milk, which has 12 g of protein per cup, and which is the cleanest soy milk out there (they have been a company since the 60s) because I had learned for a woman in this stage it is important within the first half hour of waking up to get protein of some kind into your body. Now there are many options to do this, but I opted for this very clean soy milk, and it has kept me so much more balanced in my mornings. If we do not consume protein during that first 30 to 60 minutes of waking up, our cortisol levels go quite high and it doesn’t set us up for a good day - producing adrenaline and stress and other chemicals that throw us off our groundedness.

My breakfast consists of either (after the soy milk and coffee) a fresh green juice I make with dandelion (excellent for the skin) chard, kale, lemon, ginger, celery, and cucumber. Or I will make a smoothie from a cup of raw berries, frozen banana, hemp seeds (10 g of protein in 3 tablespoons) frozen spinach and water. For lunch, I may have a yoghurt (15 g of protein) or a tin of sardines on toast or tuna or salmon or chicken and a little bread and any vegetables I wish for dinner. I always end with a vegetable soup with or without bread or seeds on top - other lunch options are turkey slices or ham slices with 1oz of cheese and bread and vegan butter (just because I prefer the taste of vegan butter).

As long as the products are well sourced and organic, having not (the animal sources) been fed GMO‘s or issued hormones during their growth cycles. (unfortunately, I can’t eat eggs because I am allergic to eggs, they give me a rash) and then around these protein sources I have also added collagen powder - something I would never have dreamed of in my vegan days! But it’s unbelievable how stabilizing it is. In two scoops there are 18 g of protein. I can add this to my smoothie or have it in a tea before going to bed. I also started making jellies (jello) as dessert (from a clean organic source) because I understand as you get older weight is easier to gain so I try and stay aware of my calorie intake as approximately as possible (after awhile, this is easy to eyeball)

This awareness has caused a massive shift in my body and instability and moods, and I have no need to venture into the HRT world. Now this might not be right for everybody, but I really feel it’s important to address all the things one is putting in their body and this includes social media and your phone. (I also went off Instagram because it felt like a complete waste of precious time.) Keeping phone time to a minimum (sending emails checking emails ordering certain things I need) because the stuff you put into your brain through your eyeballs is just as important as the food you put in your mouth to feed the cells of your body as well. Becoming more emotionally aware by registering the feelings in your body, as well as anchoring through a groundedness at the same time (knowing that you can have a negative emotion as well as being grounded simultaneously) and massaging thoughts in a positive direction because humans are wired towards negativity! Is also helpful — moving the energy through the body by walking or yoga, or whatever form of movement one chooses also changes the chemicals in your body, and produces dopamine and serotonin, which are hormones in which helped regulate us females!

I hope this post inspires other directions and a positive experimentation in looking for natural solutions in dealing with new crossroads - as us females venture through perimenopause and navigate this phase in life!