Why Diets Don't Work During Perimenopause

The diets I am speaking about are restrictive diets. Diets where you have to buy their food or their supplements the whole time you are on their diet. When you reach your goal then what? If you stop taking the herbal supplements will you gain back the weight? Probably. Does that mean that you have to take them forever? Probably not a good idea.

What about the diets where you eat "their" food. What happens after? Who will prepare your food for you?

These types of diets don't really help you to learn to intuitively know what your body needs and when it needs it. They can be a kick start but then it is up to you and that is when people go back to their old habits.

Also, during Perimenopause your body is going through so many changes and what worked before, will probably not work anymore.

I want you to take the focus off dieting and put it on becoming healthy. I mean really healthy. I mean super charged energy healthy....and it is possible.

I have mentioned in previous posts that women tend to develop sensitivities to wheat and diary at this time in their life. I recommend taking dairy and wheat out of your diet. If you need just a little bit of milk in coffee or tea then that is fine - but that is it. If you drink soy milk, read the label. Is it organic? Does it contain a lot of chemicals - long names of things you have no idea what they are. Google them and find out. The more ingredients listed the worse it probably is. You don't need those toxins in your body, have the real thing but just a little of it.

Also, do not use diet or low fat salad dressings, cookies, crackers, etc. They are full of a whole lot of nothing. Fake food I call them. They are just fillers. No wonder they don't really satisfy your hunger.

What you need to do is eat more healthy, nutritious, organic, whole foods. Simply put - that is it!

When you eat nutrient dense whole food your body is getting what it needs to function properly. This is the fuel it needs. Without the proper fuel, it will not run very well. You will feel sluggish, tired, lazy, depressed, bloated, etc, etc.

Start by taking out some of the bad food you eat. Read labels - all labels. Pay attention to what is in the food you are eating. Don't put chemicals and toxins in your body. They screw up the chemistry and hormone balance of your body. Your tissues hold onto these toxins. You retain water, fat and feel puffy - that is a result of the stored toxins.

You will notice when you eat more good foods that you will feel satisfied and not crave as many of the bad foods.

This should happen naturally. Please give it time. Just like trying to quit smoking, your body is addicted to the sugar, the fat, the fake foods you have been eating and it will crave it until you let it know who is boss and finally stop the addiction.

A great way to start getting more greens into your diet is to drink green smoothies.

You don't need a fancy blender but I do suggest you get something that can blend a smoothy. When I first started I just had a bullet (small personal blender) and that is what I used. I will be sharing in future posts how important green drinks are to you and how they can add super nutrition and give you more energy.

Let's start with my favorite green smoothie

Ingredients:
1 apple
1/4 tsp of cinnamon (optional)
Handful of Spinach leaves
Filtered Water
(I highly suggest organic veggies and fruits - huge difference and you ARE worth it)

• Peel apple and cut up into small pieces
• Put cold filtered water into blender first (enough for 1 drink for you and leave room for apple & spinach)
• Add cinnamon and apples and blend
• Stack spinach leaves and roll up then cut the roll into thin strips (if you have a good blender you do not have to do this)
• Blend again until you do not see any chunks of spinach. Make sure you do not overblend spinach

It will be a very nice green color. Don't be scared - try it!! I promise you it is very good.

It is best to drink the smoothie on its own, without food. I like this mid morning. Sometimes I have it first thing in the morning but usually mid morning. There are many varieties of smoothies to make and one to satisfy everyone's taste. I will have more recipes in future blog posts.

I really encourage you to incorporate a homemade smoothie into your day. It is a great way to add more fruits and veggies in your diet. In the future I will also explain how good these are for you and why it is important to keep them in your diet.