INTRODUCTION

Hello and welcome back to the podcast. Now, do you have a car? Do you look after your car better than you look after yourself? That is what I'm gonna be talking about today.

This whole episode came about because the other day I went outside and noticed that my next door neighbour was having their car taken away one those big loader lorry things. And I was speaking to them and the fact that it was only a few months old, that their electrics had all gone and it was going back to the dealer and they were trying to work out how they were going to get about,

they were going to get a courtesy car and then that made me think why do we look after our cars better than ourselves? Now when a car is new it is usually fine unlike this one which obviously had some kind of fault from the building of it but normally a new car you would expect to run smoothly.

advised to service it on a regular basis. But other than that, we need to keep the oil in it, we need to have fuel, make sure it's topped up with all the water and washer fluid and things. After a few years, then we have to have an MOT to make sure that it is roadworthy and safe and that it's not quietly falling apart underneath us.

but that is a legal obligation. Now, most of us accept that and book it in. We pay the money begrudgingly sometimes because if it costs lots of money for a service, particularly if things need changing on it, but we get the checks, we get the MOT because we need the car to work. We need it in order to get places. We need it to run our lives.

Of course, there are exceptions where people don't even own a car. But certainly if you are used to having a car and it's not working, then we have issues. We then can't run our lives. But what happens if we didn't get things checked? Now, it normally costs us a lot more in the long run.

if we don't change the oil, if we don't put all of the fluids and things it needs, then it could very well break down completely. Now we have had several cars that have had issues and there is one particular one that broke down while we're putting some fuel in it. So was a bit annoyed because we just put a full tank of fuel in and it literally seized up.

it just wouldn't work. Now there must have been like a massive oil leak because we were keeping it serviced. If anything all the lights come on then we filled anything up. My husband periodically checked the oil, whether he checks it regularly enough I don't know, but certainly if we going on any kind of journey we would check it. So I think we would have noticed if the oil had run out but

The oil must have leaked somewhere because the whole engine ceased up. It was broken. There was nothing that could be done. The car would have needed a new engine in order to have worked and that was like an cost us more than the actual car was worth. Most of our cars have broken when my husband's

driving them and he doesn't drive them that often. I normally have the car so when he drives them and the cars break down I think it's all down to him but you know I can blame him for anything but we thought we did everything right but still the car broke. Maybe we didn't check things regularly enough maybe there was something that we missed. Now why is it that we would potentially look after our car

we would service it, we would have MOTs, we fill up on the quality fuel, we put the best oil in, if you've got a decent car, or the cheapest if you're not bothered, but we keep all these things topped up because we need it to work. But why is it we don't treat our bodies in the same way? Some people may do, some people...

are fueling ourselves well with good nutrition, keeping moving, keeping all the joints oiled, keeping ourselves fit and well. but I would suggest the vast majority of people

do not look after ourselves as well as we potentially might be looking after our car for many different reasons. And it's not until a warning light comes on that we then start to do something. Now, this could be at any point in their lives, but particularly in perimenopause, we just put up with those niggles. We ignore any symptoms.

We don't take the rest, we don't fuel ourselves properly, we don't check in with ourselves until we are forced to when our symptoms get to the point that it is affecting our quality of life, it might be affecting our ability to work.

If we leave things too long, then the fix or whatever we can do to make ourselves feel better is more expensive. So if we ignore an oil light on a car, then yes, there's the cost of the oil or maybe to replace it, take it in. If we don't, then we get to the point like my car where it completely breaks and you're unable to fix it.

So with our bodies, we need to be thinking about addressing any little problems, checking in with ourselves, getting a bit of an MOT. When we are in perimenopause, you might think your body looks the same.

It might be looking slightly older than it did when we're in our 20s, but inside everything is shifting, everything is changing. And therefore we need to change with it. We need to address some of those things more so than we maybe did in our 20s. We probably could get away with not exercising, eating rubbish, staying up all hours and still functioning the next day.

in perimenopause, our estrogen levels are fluctuating day to day, our progesterone is reducing and this is our calming hormone, our testosterone decreases, you might be having periods still but they're going to be unpredictable, some months you might be ovulating, some you don't, your cycle could get longer or shorter, heavier, it's going to affect our mood, our energy, motivation.

sleep, digestion, libido, the list goes on and on. You may be struggling with your memory, your joints might be hurting, you might feel weaker, but you might look fine on the outside. So it's like a car which has got lovely bodywork. So maybe you're putting on some makeup, doing your hair nice. It's like if you were going to the car wash and getting the car cleaned on the outside.

we're not looking after the engine and what's under the bonnet the car's not going to function properly and it's the same with our body you might be looking after what's on the outside and how we look but if we're not actually doing anything to address and look after what's on the inside eventually we're going to start to have problems.

SELF CHECK: YOUR BODY'S MOT

So what can you do to help yourself? In the first instance, think about giving yourself a bit of an MOT. So check in with yourself how you are doing. Firstly, how am I sleeping? Do I wake up feeling refreshed? Am I getting to sleep easily or am I waking up in the night?

Then thinking, how is your energy? Am I dragging myself through the day? Are there patterns to my fatigue? Is it certain times of the day or certain times of the month? What am I putting in the tank? am I eating nourishing foods? Am I getting enough protein and fibre? Am I getting enough colourful vegetables? Am I drinking enough fluids of the right thing?

Or am I relying on sugar or caffeine to get through the day? Am I moving enough? Am I moving in the right way? Just as we need to oil the engine and all the moving parts of a car, we need to be moving our body in order to keep them lubricated, our joints like movement, our muscles like to be stretched. So do I feel stiff or achy or weak? Have I lost

confidence in movement or exercise? What's going on emotionally? Am I more anxious? I overwhelmed? Am I snappy? Am I low in motivation? Do I feel like myself or like I've lost track of who I am? Just thinking about some of those questions will highlight are there things that I need to be working on making changes?

And you can start to make some of those changes at home. So with your sleep, I've done previous episodes on sleep, so go back and listen to them. But it may be as simple as switching the phone off like an hour beforehand and don't look at screens for an hour. Have a regular wake up and go to bed time. In terms of energy, it might be linked to sleep, it might be linked to what you're eating, maybe you're not hydrating yourself well enough.

Movement wise, now what kind of exercise do you enjoy doing? I've done again episodes on exercise, so go back and listen to those. But we need to get movement, we need stretching, we need to strengthen our bodies, we need weight bearing exercises for our bones. And emotionally, can you do some journaling to find out why you feel like that? Exercise can help with low mood and anxiety as well.

So it's looking at what you can change in the first instance that might make a bit of difference. Now, if that isn't enough, then it might be that you need to book yourself in to come and see me from Menopause MOT. And it is your opportunity to really dive deeper into what is causing your symptoms. And it's not just looking at one symptom at a time, it's looking at how everything is connected.

Now even me just talking about sleep and energy and food, that's all so interlinked. So if you come to see me for an MOT, we will look at the symptoms. We'll look at your pelvic health, energy and your fatigue, but also looking at your lifestyle habits. Are you managing your stress? How well do you sleep? What movement or exercise are you doing? What are you eating? And then from there, we make a plan that is purely for you.

is not a generic leaflet. Like here's how to manage your menopause, looking at your lifestyle, your symptoms, your goals and ambitions, and working out where is the best place for you to start, how you can progress through, how you can reach your goals, see where you want to be in five, 10 years time.

and if this seems at the minute like too much effort or it's not a priority, just think, if you had a car, would you be driving that around for 10 years without a checkup? Would you ignore a flashing engine sign? Maybe you would. But you know in the long term, that is not a good idea and that is likely to cost you more. And it might be that you wouldn't be able to have your car.

So don't ignore the signals of your body. You deserve to feel better and you deserve to get the support. Whether you start just with those five questions and start working through anything that comes up from them or whether you look for more support, whether that's from me or from somebody else. But if you have found anything today made you think,

maybe book in for that MOT. You can find all the details in the show notes of how to do that. But for now, think, am I looking after my car better than I'm looking after myself? And if the answer is yes, something needs to change. So until next time, take care and check in with yourself and see how you're doing. Bye bye.