About Me
Hi, I’m Brenda Charlene, and welcome to my community!
Most of my life, the conventional rules of physical fitness seemed to work for me.
The more I moved my body in various ways, the more physical stressors I put myself through, the more calories of all kinds I could consume and still appear fit and even toned.
When I became intentional and mindful with nutrition and exercise I was able to achieve progressive results – all by using traditional, long standing formulas for physical fitness.
But something changed…
Then, all of a sudden, in the height of my focused fitness journey, it seemed as if the rug was pulled out from underneath me.
I hit plateaus I didn’t see coming. I experienced mind-blowing fatigue coupled with muscle and joint aches and pains, the cause of which I couldn’t fathom. My sleep patterns shifted and
eventually sleep itself all but completely evaded me.
I experienced what I heard later described as “The Thickening”, gaining 15 lbs without changing my diet and exercise routines – most of it in my midsection. My sculpted muscle tone began to disappear.
The more I tried to use the standard rules to maintain the physicality I’d had, the more I felt like I was sinking in quicksand.
A rude awakening…
When I was hit by a literal wake up call – the hot flashes and night sweats which are the signature symptom of menopause, I became temporarily disillusioned and defeated. I’m among those women hit with severe symptoms which resulted in my inability to function as I previously could.
Not only did this keep me from being able to exercise but I could barely even think. I began to feel helpless and hopeless.
No one had warned me. No one.
My health care providers had very little information leading up to and entering this phase of my life. In fact, they didn’t connect any of the other symptoms I was experiencing to perimenopause – except the hot flushes, night sweats, and sleep pattern changes.
When I tried to find some answers, some direction, some basic empathetic response I often felt gaslit – both by medical professionals and social circles.
It was as if there was some code of silence around any and all things menopausal, the only exceptions being bits of negativity often in the form of sarcasm or cynicism.
So I took things into my own hands…
When I’m faced with something personal to me that I don’t understand but would like to, I have a habit of saturating myself with all the information I can find about that particular topic.
So I did that.
I’ve sifted through heaps of misinformation and found quality studies. I learned shocking things such as the fact that all clinical studies (of any and all things clinical) have historically been done only on men until very very recently.
Women were not included in studies on women’s health and fitness issues until the 1990s. We are still sorely in need of more studies.
I’ve learned that because of the simple obvious fact that women are not the same as men, we need to approach our physical fitness differently, especially during the last third of our lives if we
desire to achieve our best, most capable, version of our physical selves.
What may have worked in the past no longer works.
I’m not a doctor. I’m not a professional (or even semi-professional) athlete. I am a highly motivated fitness coach joining the growing movement to normalize peri and post menopause.
I’m here to help you not only survive but thrive in your physical fitness during the last third of your natural life.
Regardless of your current fitness level, I offer you a blueprint of movement and nutrition habits to build your best version of your physical self in both peri and post menopause.
It’s not too early or too late to begin.
You’ve got this!
Brenda Charlene.