Menopocalypse by Amanda Thebe

Menopocalypse: How I Learned to Thrive During Menopause and How You Can Too by Amanda Thebe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Menopocalypse by Amanda Thebe

This book came highly recommended by many of the fitness coaches I follow. It is about women’s menopause. I know many would instantly click away since it is not relevant to you at all, but if you are a woman who is nearing or in her 40s, or you know a woman who is nearing or in her 40s I suggest you give this review a wee bit time.

It is close to impossible to summarise the book, since I find that a single read through is not sufficient and one might have to go through relevant sections again. But I shall try and enlist the core sections and how they can help.

The author is a personal trainer with 20 years experience in fitness industry. This book is her attempt to demystify menopause for everyone, having gone through the worst set of symptoms herself and thrown into huge chaos.

The book first has a good explanation of what menopause is, the role of hormones in a woman’s life, how they change during menopause and what the effects could be. The experience can be so varied with some just sailing into menopause smoothly and some struggling with a myriad of issues and others somewhere between the two extremes. The author then goes through all the medical interventions possible today including HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy).

The second part of the book is about lifestyle changes. Nutrition, exercise, activity, stress management, mindfulness, sleep and recovery - each of these is explained in depth , with doable action items on each front. What makes this book a real treasure is she actually gives a doable workout program, explains each move with pictures and cues. For those uninitiated in strength training, you are not left at sea with the motherhood instruction “Start strength training”.

Most women don’t know enough about menopause, and even peers talk about it to each other in cryptic whispers. This book blew the lid open for me on what it can be, how I can help myself when I encounter a symptom or change. Many things in the book really resonated with me.

Women spend their entire lives putting themselves last in the list of priorities. Whether working or homemaker, its the same. In the book the author really stresses the importance of placing oneself first at least at this stage of life.

The author repeatedly stresses on the fact that as women, we should take agency over our menopause experience and not suffer silently. Things can be better if we try and find ways by medical interventions and lifestyle changes.

She also says over and over again, work on everything we can control. There are things in our control such has lifestyle, and things not in our control such as hormonal swings. The first CAN mitigate the effects of the second to a very large extent.

If you have read till here and decide to check out the book, please don’t get intimidated by the book cover. Please don’t think its for fitness buffs who what to get big and muscular. Trust me, this book is for every woman who wants to have an informed and empowered menopause experience.

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