Aging Gracefully with Dr. Pearlman

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Allison Todd

On Wednesday evening, we attended the second seminar hosted by Dr. Jennifer Pearlman at her clinic. The focus of the discussion was on the physical effects of aging on your appearance and the steps you can take to age in a graceful and healthy way.

The discussion highlighted how the aging process affects us physically over time and how hormonal shifts in our body such as menopause, can dramatically affect our appearance. The key takeaway was that it’s incredibly important to take care of your health, since it directly translates to your appearance.

Easy tips for skin care that we took home were:

The importance of drinking lots of water and eating plenty of colourful vegetables with high levels of antioxidants.

Always protect your skin from the sun throughout the entire year, not just the summer months!.

Manage your daily stress levels.

Quit smoking. Smoking can age your skin prematurely by up to 10 years, which means if you’re in your fifties there’s a good chance you’ll be looking closer to your sixties!

Dr. Pearlman and her staff also covered a variety of topics and options on how to look youthful, but not over done with cosmetics. She introduced us to a new line of make-up developed by celebrity make-up artist Michael Marcus. The goal of this new line of make-up is to help women age gracefully while looking their best. All of the products in this line are paraben free (paraben is a chemical preserve found in many beauty products such as shampoos, shaving gels and make-up) and all production is environmentally responsible. There was even a make-up artist on hand who demonstrated the benefits of each product and provided make-overs! We loved that each of the colourful lipsticks, eye shadows and foundations were named after women who were a source of inspiration to the line’s creator.

After Dr.Pearlman’s presentation, many of the attendees shared their own personal stories and anecdotes, some funny and some serious, on how they began to noticed the physical changes in their appearance as they aged. They shared what beauty solutions they had all tried in the past and what was working for them now. It was enlightening to hear from women of all ages in different stages of their lives, comment on their own personal experience with aging, and how they all found their own way to age gracefully.

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Menopause and Relationships

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Camille Lawson

Girls are like phones. We love to be held and talked to. But if you press the wrong button you’ll be disconnected! -author unknown

Isn’t that the truth, especially during perimenopause and menopause. For many of us, one wrong move or word by the people who matter to us the most, can mean a quick disconnect (read SNAP!!).

The average age for menopause is 51 — which is not so old these days. You can easily have many happy and healthy decades ahead of you, and in fact, research suggests that happiness typically increases as women age. Why then, can this time in a woman’s life, be so challenging for our relationships?

Menopause can affect our love relationships, in both positive and sometimes negative ways. The freedom from pregnancy and for many of us, child-rearing, can provide us the time to rediscover our sexual selves and our partners.

The challenge is now that you finally have the freedom to rediscover yourself sexually, the common symptoms of menopause – irritability, anxiety, depression, lack of sleep, zero libido and a dry vagina can make it somewhat challenging. It is difficult to be loving, sexual, kind, and patient in the throes of hot flashes, anger, exhaustion, depression and simply not feeling like yourself.

There are solutions.

A recent client of mine illustrates what is possible after menopause when we are proactive, knowledgeable and find collaborative health providers. Margaret is 55 and found that her previously healthy relationship with her husband changed dramatically after menopause. She was cranky, had no sex drive and suffered hot flashes every night. Her experience made it impossible to get a restful sleep. She felt miserable and isolated. She missed the way things used to be between them. Being proactive, she began her own research and found an integrative health professional who advised her to have her hormone levels tested, suggested a therapist, and a nutrition expert. They helped her work through the various issues that were interfering with her relationship and her health.

I worked with Margaret for 6 sessions and during that time she started taking natural health supplements that I use and recommend; specifically, femMED’s Menopause Relief and Libido. Menopause Relief is an excellent product that helped Margaret manage her menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and mood swings and femMED Libido which helped boost Margaret’s libido.

Because our relationships can really improve for the better during this time, I recommended that she read “Passionate Marriage” by Dr David Schnarch. It is my favourite book for learning how to grow within yourself and thereby grow your relationships.

Margaret reported major breakthroughs in how she felt physically, mentally and emotionally during our last session.

I encourage you not to give up if menopause is adversely affecting YOUR relationships. There is hope, help and many years left to both thrive and embrace life to its fullest!

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Why I just Don’t Care Anymore

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Lisa Fielding

In my last post about all things menopausal, I discussed the painfully funny discovery of acne, post 50. Today I am going to discuss why getting acne at 50 didn’t put me into a state of panic, the way it would have in my teen years or even my twenties.

I just don’t care anymore.

Have I given up? Ready to trade in the fitted jeans for a pair of track pants and a leisurely stroll around Walmart…NO. I just find that now that I have reached…and slightly passed the ripe old age of 50, things that used to send me into a downward spiral don’t have the same effect. Take the other day for instance. I had long hair and went in for a trim. I had showed the hairdresser a photo in a magazine they had in their lounge of a cute short haircut. I don’t remember telling her that I wanted this haircut…just that I though it was cute.

Well, twenty minutes later and the haircut was now on my head. 20 minutes, 6 inches and I couln’t care less. Back in the day that would have sent me to my to room for at least a week all the while calculating to the minute how long it would take to grow back. Fast forward 30 years and I don’t even think I glanced in the mirror when I got home.

Sure, there are a lot of changes that come with getting older, but I think it can be an incredibly liberating time. Why? Because you’re more comfortable in your own skin (even though it is starting to look more like your husbands skin, whiskers and all). What other people think of you matters less…and conversely..what you think of yourself, matters more.

So all those things you had promised you would do for yourself start becoming a reality in your 50′s.

Are hormones the reason. Maybe. Advancing age…possibly. Maybe it’s just the realization that even though the days sometime seem to last forever, the years go by in a heartbeat….and given the finite number of heartbeats that each of us has…I going to spend mine on the important things that make me happy…not the latest pimple or the length of my hair.

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Menopause Weight Gain

Posted on March 13, 2013 by SherryTorkos

Menopause brings about many changes for women; some of these changes, like the end of the menstrual cycle are welcomed and others, such as hot flashes and weight gain are not.

There are various supplements and strategies that can help manage those troublesome hot flashes and night sweats. But for many women, it is much more challenging to keep body weight under control.

There are many factors that can contribute to weight gain in menopause. Hormones are partly to blame. A lowering of estrogen and testosterone can cause women to store fat. Lifestyle and genetic factors are also involved.

Stress also tends to become more prevalent in menopause. Whether triggered by personal, financial, or health reasons, stress impacts weight in a number of ways. Rising levels of the stress hormone cortisol make it easier to pack on weight, particularly around the mid-section.

Stress may also trigger unhealthy habits, such as overeating and eating unhealthy foods (comfort foods). It also has a negative effect on sleep, and lack of sleep is a recently recognized factor that can lead to weight gain, along with many other health problems.

Muscle mass also declines with age and since muscle helps drive metabolism and calorie burning, if you have less muscle you will burn fewer calories.

Despite all these factors that seem to be stacked against you, it is possible to keep weight under control by making some simple lifestyle modifications.

Boost muscle mass. Do weight training or resistance exercises to help build and maintain muscle mass. Increasing your muscle mass will raise your metabolism, so you will burn more calories and you will develop a leaner physique. Joining a gym is great, but if you are pressed for time/money, there are plenty of exercises that you can do at home, such as push-ups, squats, lunges, and chest presses.
Make better dietary choices. You don’t have to count calories or follow a restrictive diet, just make better choices and limit portion sizes. For example, start your day with oatmeal and berries, a large salad with chickpeas or grilled chicken for lunch and baked fish with mixed veggies for dinner. Choose healthy snacks between meals such as nuts/seeds, yogurt, dark chocolate and healthy energy bars, such as Luna Bar or Larabar.
Use supplements to complement your diet. Supplements that provide soluble fibre, such as femMED Weight Management, can help to reduce appetite and cravings and promote better blood sugar control – all factors that are helpful for managing weight.

These strategies will not only benefit your waistline, but they promote better heart health and improve your overall well-being.

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Acne at 50? Are you kidding me?

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Lisa Fielding

Menopause. Just when you gained control of the hot flashes, crazy mood swings and full beard, you discover menopause does indeed have a sense of humour… pimples. Remember how a pimple often was the first sign of an impending period…well guess what? Even when you haven’t had a period in 2 years, the pimples keep coming. Menopause really is the gift that keeps on giving.

So what is a somewhat sane person to do? Well after reading extensively on the subject, I discovered that much like a teenager, the root cause of all these pimples is…you guessed it…hormones. Once you enter the years leading up to and including menopause, your hormones begin the fluctuate leading to breakouts, much like you previously had before your period. Combine this with the fact that as we age, our skin cells turn over (shed) at a much slower rate and you have the perfect storm for a pimple filled face. Not all women experience this, but as we all know, even one pimple, is one too many.

So let’s review the golden rules of skincare and what you can do to keep your acne at bay.

Simple Ways to Minimize Acne

• Wash your face with a mild cleanser twice daily using warm, not hot, water.

• Be careful not to scrub your face, as this may cause more irritation.

• Clean your bed sheets, especially your pillowcase, weekly with mild, chemical-free detergent.

• Do not pick or pop pimples. This may cause secondary bacterial infections and lead to more scarring.

• Only use cosmetics, skin or hair care products, labeled non-comedogenic – meaning they do not clog pores and are less likely to cause acne.

• Keep your hands off your face. Your hands contain dirt and bacteria, which is easily transferred to your face.

• Manage your stress. Although stress doesn’t cause acne it has been shown to aggravate acne, which is why breakouts occur during more stressful times.

• Eat to nourish your skin. Recent studies are now suggesting that high- glycemic foods such as refined grains and processed sugars may, in fact, trigger acne breakouts. Low glycemic foods such as whole grains, lean meat, and fish may keep acne at bay because they stabilize blood sugar and prevent insulin spikes.

• Consider a hair, skin and nail supplement like femMED’s Hair, Skin & Nails to provide essential nutrients for optimal skin.

• For severe cases, where there are multiple lesions or cysts, consult a dermatologist.

• Resist the temptation to treat acne topically without first addressing the underlying cause of breakouts – hormonal imbalance.

For those women suffering from the symptoms of perimenopause or menopause, consider a natural health product, like femMED Hormonal Balance or Menopause Relief.

Well there you have it. Stay tuned for my next blog on why menopause might make you more like a man or as I call it; “Why I Just Don’t Care Anymore”

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