How I cured my fatigue, food cravings, perimenopause symptoms AND lost weight in weeks by simply adjusting my diet!! 🥳
A few months ago, I wrote a post called “Happy Healthy Hormones” in which I had written how I had started to suffer with many minor health problems which I thought were related to the perimenopause. 🥺
Since writing that blog post I embarked on my ZOE health journey and over the course of the past four months, I have really started to learn so much about my health and gut health in particular!
And most importantly I am feeling sooooo much better! 😃
One of UBUK's mantras is "beauty begins within" and that is so true in many ways but especially when it comes to your diet and gut health.
Whilst my health symptoms were frustrating but bearable, apart from extreme fatigue no matter how much sleep I got I never felt refreshed. 🥱 They were really starting to take their toll and slowly getting worse leaving me feeling flat and struggling to make it through some days which was why I started my ZOE journey.
I had put this down to perimenopause given my age! (I’m 44 at the time of writing this). 🤫
I have always been big on healthy eating and exercising and followed the usual generic advice over the years, so I was disappointed to be feeling how I was and gaining weight!! 😖
I’ve always believed that gut health and food plays a huge role in our overall health for many years before discovering ZOE and studies confirming the benefits 🔬
After doing the ZOE tests I discovered I often had low blood sugar levels, quite often throughout the night and upon waking up they were incredibly low at times! This explains a lot!! 🌡️
Blood sugar levels can be affected as we age and for women could be down to perimenopause/menopause. 👩⚕️
I also discovered that I had poor gut health which I had expected due to being on antibiotics due to a chronic infection I had suffered recently (and have suffered with on and off since my mid-twenties which have hospitalised me on occasion!). 💊
Now it is common for women in their 40’s to experience low blood sugar levels as our hormone levels fluctuate – hormonal changes during perimenopause can affect blood sugar levels. Estrogen levels decrease during perimenopause which can interfere with insulin regulation and can lead to more erratic blood sugar levels. This can then trigger other menopause symptoms. 🤕
The latest research shows Improving gut health can help improve the impact of perimenopause on blood sugar levels and the menopause overall.👏
So, whilst blaming the perimenopause for the way I was feeling (it probably is connected) I do not think the symptoms I was experiencing were all down to perimenopause.
I am also very pleased to say that ALL the symptoms I was experiencing have disappeared since adjusting my diet!
Improving gut health can have a positive impact on the effects of perimenopause and menopause symptoms. In fact, improving your gut health has a positive overall effect on your health both physically. 🙌
It is fantastic that we can control our health benefits with the food we eat!!
With only a few small adjustments to my diet I have not only improved my gut health but alleviated all the symptoms I was previously struggling with AND I have lost weight!! 😝
ZOE has been a real gamechanger! I cannot recommend it enough if you can afford to do it, if you can’t I have put together my top tips below which have helped me! 🥰
Over the coming weeks and months, I will be sharing even more health tips and advice from my own experience and those I have learned and implemented whist doing the ZOE educational course.🤓
🔝Top Tips to Improve Gut Health, Perimenopause symptoms, feel energised and lose weight!
For the first few weeks of doing ZOE, I was quite strict on myself, I stuck to the recommended foods to improve gut health because I wanted to feel better fast!
Within the first week of adjusting my diet my cravings very quickly disappeared!! This was the most interesting aspect of my lifestyle change because I was so dubious about this! My sugar and carb cravings were off the scale – I was even craving carby, sugary foods I never have, I was so pleased these diminished quickly!
Gradually over time my other symptoms diminished, my energy increased, my belly bulge is slowly going, and I feel like a new and improved version of myself!
I am even spending less on my weekly food shopping!
I am even adding in the odd slice of cake or takeaway pizza when I feel like it! There is a difference between fancying something and craving it!
1. Track your food & keep a food diary. I have the benefit of using the ZOE app for this, but I would highly recommend you log your food and drink intake. You will be surprised at what you consume.
2. If you can prep and plan your meals! This helps no end to stay on track and especially so around the time of your period!! I found that around this time of the month my diet went out the window big time! The longer I have been prioritising my gut health the easier my periods have become – less cravings, less cramps, less tiredness, and less mood swings! I do still have food cravings but if I have prepped healthier options that I can easily grab I find I can stick to better quality foods rather than eating poorer food choices.
3. Water, water, water! Stay hydrated!! This has so many health benefits!
4. We all hear nutritionists and personal trainers talk about protein and how important this is (totally agree!) but few talk about the importance of fibre!! Start prioritising fibre as much as possible! This is so important for gut health and keeps you fuller for longer! Prioritise fibre as much as protein!! Over 90% of UK adults are not eating enough fibre. Research also suggests that all age groups including children are not consuming enough fibre!!
5. Don’t rush the process, enjoy it, listen to your body, ease into the changes – we want progress not perfection, consistency is key, monitor your progress, really pay attention to how you are feeling and adjust your course of action where and when needed.
6. I love tasty food! I’m all about the flavour! So, stock up on spices and herbs for delicious flavours because 99% of sauces are bad for gut health and have a lot of sugar in them. Trust me, you adapt quickly to these changes and do not miss certain foods half as much as I thought I would! If anything, it has made me get even more creative in the kitchen and I am enjoying this a lot.
🥑 Gut boosting foods
1. Nuts!! Wow these are superfoods! They are filling and great for snacking on or adding a protein hit to meals. A handful of nuts can keep hunger pangs at bay between meals!
Almonds, hazelnuts, pecan nuts and walnuts all have a food score of 100 on the ZOE app! Closely followed by peanuts and pistachios with a score of 93!!
2. Beansprouts, brussel sprouts, green beans, mushrooms, spinach, courgette, and cauliflower all score 100 on the ZOE app for gut boosting foods and they are on my weekly shopping list!
3. The best sources of proteins are salmon, seabass, and eggs scoring between 75-91 and are the best proteins for gut health!
4. Other foods I include on my shopping list are asparagus, avocado, chickpeas, kidney beans, baked beans, cucumber, houmous, nut butters, seeds, flaxseed, kefir, extra virgin olive oil, seeded Ryvita, Emmental cheese and berries. These are all good for gut health and have high scores between 75-100!
I try to prioritise high scoring foods, but you can also change the composition of other foods by combining high scoring foods, for example eating a mix of berries and nuts have a better effect on your blood sugar levels that just eating berries on their own. The chart below shows how just adding in 4 nuts with a handful of berries has a much better impact on blood sugar levels.
I will go into detail more about the effects foods have on our bodies and blood sugar levels in future blog posts.
There is so much more to food than calories and simple nutrition labels! Prior to doing the ZOE program I was paying attention to the green, red, and yellow food labels, calories and all the standard, generic food advice which was not working for me in my 40’s!
Most importantly we ALL respond differently to foods, there is no right way to eat but understanding your unique biology you can find the right foods for you!
I think it’s also important to mention that I don’t exclude any foods, it’s all about choosing which foods and combinations of foods that are best for you. If I eat foods that score low on the ZOE list I ensure that everything else I eat is balances it out with high scoring foods so that my overall food score is good for that particular day! I do try to prioritise high scoring foods as much as possible.
I have found though that when I do eat lower scoring foods my food cravings are higher! They do diminish quickly though as long as I get back on track with high scoring foods after enjoying a treat - you have to be a little disciplined here.
I thought it was going to be really restrictive but it isn't! It's actually fun learning about it all and I don't miss not eating certain foods very often - I was worried about that.
This is just the beginning for me when it comes to diet and gut health, I still have so much to learn and share with you!!
If you want to dive deeper into ZOE and learn more about your unique response to foods I have a special offer to share with my friends and followers, they gave me a 10% ZOE discount that you can use, click here >>> ZOE Health Discount<<< to claim 10% off your ZOE journey! 🍏
If you are struggling with fatigue, aches and pains, low mood, weight gain you can’t shift, trying all the usual healthy eating and exercising advice and not getting results, I strongly urge you to consider giving ZOE a go. Especially if you have had tests done and they all came back clear! 🤷♀️
I’m going to wrap this up here for today, thank you so much for reading. I really hope this has helped you in some way.
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If you have any questions or would like me to focus on a particular topic just reach out!! I love hearing from you and your feedback.
Until next time take care.
Rebecca 💖
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