Hello,

As promised after my last MM testosterone special, this Monday Motivation is focused on providing information for the female members of our community. Thank you to Ami-Bree and to clients and MM readers Pauline and Suzi for pointing me - a man who has some fairly large gaps in knowledge about cycles, menopause and female hormones in general - in the direction of some great resources!

The cycle

Have read of Period Power by Maisie Hill, or listen to a podcast where Maisie is interviewed by Deliciously Ella. This podcast talks about hormone changes, how your body responds, what to be aware of when those changes occur in the month and knowing when to be kind to yourself. Once you've had a listen, then check out Maisie’s website to get this free cycle tracker.

Did you know your cycle can impact your health and fitness, too? Core and pelvic floor specialist Baz Moffat is running a workshop on November 7th in Putney which aims to help women understand the impact your cycle has on your training routine and sports performance. Tickets can be booked here.

Menopause - the facts

• More than 60% of women experience menopausal symptoms

• 38% seek help from a GP

• Women are being misdiagnosed with depression instead of menopause

• One-third of women were not made aware of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by their GP

Dr Louise Newson is a GP with a special interest in menopause and a campaigner of improving menopause education for women and GPs. You can check out her website here, and she has also written a Haynes manual to menopause, which is simply titled Menopause.

The Liz Earle Wellbeing podcast features interviews with many different GPs and consultants concerning women's health, but these two - featuring Dr Newson and Dr Hannah Short - are good all-rounders on hormones and menopause, and for busting the breast cancer myths of HRT with facts and evidence.

Dr Short also offers a great general guide to supporting good health during menopause here.

Menopause Support features a great facts page by Diane Danzebrink, along with many pages of lots of helpful information, including a menopause symptom checker (who knew there are over 30 symptoms?!) and a fact sheet you can download to take with you to your GP.

But it's not just women who struggle with menopause - many (male) partners have difficulty understanding what is happening to their wives and partners as they try to cope with the fast moving, often overwhelming symptoms, too. Menopause Support also offers a support guide for men here.

As always, thanks for reading, and a big thank you to our ‘guest’ contributors for this issue. I’m sure you'll all agree it’s nice to hear something from me about cycles that aren’t the two wheel variety! #dadjoke

Cheers,

Craig