Having read Stacey Simm’s Roar, I started taking a range of supplements that she suggests (fish oil, morello cherry extract (for sleep), zinc and magnesium). Zinc and magnesium definitely speed up my digestion.
Talk to me about this speed of digestion thing! I’ve never read anything about it but I’ve thought for a while that that’s my problem - people talk about eating real food with vegetables and stuff at lunch and then doing a late afternoon hard workout, and there is zero chance of me doing that without gas/bloating/cramps. If I’m planning on riding in late afternoon, even moderately, I have to avoid fiber ALL DAY leading up to it. Seems like I just don’t process stuff fast enough. Is that what you guys are talking about? Maybe I need zinc and magnesium too!
I don’t understand why people are so afraid of tofu. It has a great protein/caloric ratio, and is super-dense nutrient-wise! The literature by and large is positive about it, especially for peri and post menopausal women. Also, tempeh, edamame, seitan are great sources.
1 Like
All fiber?
That would be tough to eat healthy. Are there any fruit and veg you can eat?
Things I avoid on the pre ride day: broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, oatmeal. Just before I have white bread instead of brown.
Haha, I’m not afraid of tofu! It’s just actually quite boring, but not too bad if mixed with something spicy.
Yeah, it’s obnoxious, but I do my workouts in the morning so it isn’t an issue on regular days. Just if I have a post-work group ride, which isn’t my normal schedule. I mostly brought it up because of the comments re: speed of digestion and magnesium supplements, because I’d never heard that before and would be interested in experimenting with it if we’re talking about the same sort of issue!
Soy has a complex historical relationship with breast cancer, because it contains phytoestrogens, which mimics estrogen. I think the current view is that eating a moderate amount of soy is probably not going to increase the likelihood of breast cancer reoccurrence, but honestly tofu is not yummy enough for me to introduce seeds of doubt/concern. It’s also processed food, which I’m working hard to reduce.
Glad you enjoy it though 
1 Like
Wall of text here, But this week keeps getting weirder. Started off stupid unmotivated. Couldn’t do much except feed the dog and sit there for lectures. Also couldn’t focus- little things like paying attention to stops on the train line were just beyond me. Then I started having physical symptoms like headaches, side stitches even when walking, and one run where I couldn’t make it 1km because my quads felt like they were exploding. Wasn’t riding outside at this point due to fuzzybrain which turned out to be a good idea because I started feeling like I was on the deck of a shIp and like I didn’t have full control of my limbs.
Got some bloods done suspecting some kind of deficiency as I have notoriously sketchy dietary habits, but by this point I was feeling a lot better and had a few days of consistent training behind me. Doctor calls back this afternoon with “GNARLY POTASSIUM DEFICIENCY COME TO EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT RIGHT NOW OR MAYBE DIE” so I show up, promptly vomit, and am admitted immediately.
3 hours later the repeat tests come back and it turns out the first ones were a mistake and my bloods are actually fine, Contemplating strange tropical virus or demonic possession.
5 Likes
Sounds crazy! Are you feeling any better?
Whoa, that’s a crazy story. And they found nothing?
Has anyone tried intermittent fasting during menopause?
I don’t mean training in a fasted state, but having an 8 hour eating window which is shifted to accommodate timing of workouts.
1 Like
So the intermittent fasting did not work for me. I started getting emotional crashes - I think due to a rise in cortisol. Chad mentioned Stacy Simms on a recent podcast, so I started listening to Next Level.
I really like her ideas about plant based (not vegetarian) eating, which is obviously healthy and she claims can reduce hot flashes.
She obviously has a wealth of useful knowledge. I’m still put off by her view of adaptogens - a term which in itself is only a theoretical concept. It’s very tempting to simply listen to her description of what these can do for me and order them. I have to look into them as some increase estrogen, which I can’t risk after breast cancer. Then I get into unscientific claims rabbit hole. I am tempted to take one of the calming ones to see if it helps sleep, but it’s hard to come to terms with what I might not know about it. I find Stacy’s view that if you buy vitamin supplements you don’t know what you’re getting, and somehow adaptogens are magically ok., Even though they are not regulated.
I would be interested to hear what Chad has to say about women needing a macro mix for fueling. There’s so much information and it gets confusing. In one of the case studies she mentions someone eating raisins during a work out and I’m thinking - isn’t that fructose, which we’re meant to avoid?
Anyone else reading Next Level?
1 Like
Looking back, I can say that I did not find fasting to be an enjoyable experience and I am pretty sure that those around me did not either 
I am not planning to read Next Level but I did read Roar a couple years ago. It just didn’t overly resonate with me (admittedly I was not exactly the targeted audience) and I didn’t leave with what I wanted to get out of it. I do remember being annoyed at some vagueness and some contradicting info (but I guess that’s pretty par for nutrition advice). I did start drinking tart cherry juice at night based on the recommendation in Roar - I still do that now.
I hired a nutritionist back in the spring and it has been one of the best things I’ve done. (It was also a bonus that she works in cycling.) I am not a supplement person and thankfully she didn’t come at me with a list of things to just start taking (she actually recommended taking nothing beyond my daily multi).
At first it was just “eat these things, in this amount, at this time” and now we’ve gotten to the less hand-holding part where I use the info to determine what to eat on my own, when, and how much (depending on my training schedule). It has been a process and I’m still learning.
3 Likes
I bought Next Level but haven’t honestly found it to be terribly useful.
I tried the IF, but it didn’t do anything for me. I didn’t have any issues like what you found, but I also didn’t see most of the results I wanted. I had hoped it would help increase my metabolism, but I didn’t see that effect. The one thing I found it did was that I was able to increase my reliance on fat so that if I have a weird schedule thing which affects my meal timing, I don’t get hangry as much and I am able to maintain a coherent thought process (up to a point, of course). But I didn’t find any other benefits, so now I just delay my breakfast on my rest days, but other than that I’m back to eating more regularly.
I’m not really into the adaptogens, and I fully am with you about her “don’t take multivitamins, but unproven adaptogens are totally fine”. BTW, I think her anti-fructose viewpoint makes no sense - I never understood that viewpoint. Like, does it mean peri- and post-menopausal women shouldn’t eat fruit?? Just like the raisin comment you reference. I’ve basically taken the viewpoint that I should just try things and see if they work for me, or see if I have issues.
But I understand your wish to find something to help your symptoms, and your concerns about estrogen. The one reading suggestion I would make is to read Estrogen Matters, by Avrum Bluming and Carol Tarvis. They have a whole chapter about the concerns of estrogen usage for menopausal symptoms and breast cancer. They were also on a Feisty Menopause podcast with Selene Yeager, which was a TERRIFIC episode. (I find a lot of the episodes to be a bit useless and overly repetitive, with always the same point of view, but this one was outstanding.) That’s where I first found out about the book, and I found the book to be even more insightful.
Anyway, while I am really happy that we have Stacy Sims as a very loud voice to bring more attention to the topic, I wish there were other voices out there too, so we’d have more discussion over the topic rather than everyone thinking there’s only one approach.
6 Likes
Glad you’ve found your healthy pathway with a little help. It sounds like you found a great nutritionist who wanted the best for you.
I don’t think I could afford one at the moment. I think that cherry juice is more available in the US than the UK, but it does sound good!
I think I just need to step back from something that’s so confusing as Next Level and find my own way, as you seem to have done after Roar.
I read it and took what I needed from it. I’ve been a vegetarian since age 10 and the protein recommendations seem unreachable for me but I also don’t have any body composition or energy issues at the moment. I do take adaptogens (since a year ago) and they are very helpful for me for peri symptoms but I understand skepticism at the supplement industry!
2 Likes
Glad you found something useful.
I won’t ask which adaptogens you chose because I will end up doing a massive internet research session on them 
1 Like
Yes, I felt less hungry when I did IF and I kind of enjoyed it in a strange way. But it didn’t seem to have any effect on “menobelly” !
Estrogen Matters sounds like an informative book. I’m not sure I’m ready have my mind changed about HRT. My oncologist said that if I was really struggling with menopause symptoms he would not block me having HRT, as mine was Estrogen negative, but that I should be aware that some estrogen cells can clone cancer cells. It’s just to much for me to take the risk.
I’ve started exploring a hypnotherapy app “Hypnobox”, which seems like it could be useful and fun. It has a sports section as well 
I agree about Stacy Simms. She may not be perfect, but she is the only voice speaking for us and to us
Can I ask what you take and what it’s good for? I hadn’t heard of adaptogens until reading this thread and now am totally curious. I have a whole bunch of peri symptoms and think it would be interesting to look into this, especially in this forum where we have people from many places across the globe, so perhaps we can find more wide-ranging information by researching a bit together. My impression is that supplements and herbal remedies are better regulated in Europe than in the States. Does anyone know for sure? I just found an article for example on Rhodiola rosea in the DAZ (Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung - a scientific newspaper for German pharmacies/apothecaries). It seems it would take finding reputable sources for these things, which I would guess is pretty difficult here in the States where they are not regulated.
1 Like
Sure I’ll share (sorry Bullseye). I was looking for relief from hot flashes & disrupted sleep. I started out taking ashwagandha, schisandra and rhodiola in tincture form but I hated the taste and felt nauseous so I found a supplement that combines all 3 plus ginseng in a capsule. In a week my hot flashes reduced and were gone within a month. I’m a skeptic so this past June I stopped taking it and my symptoms came back immediately, I went a month without and was miserable, started up again in July and feel great again. I’m not trying to sell anyone on them at all, just works for me! An issue is that some adaptogens are stimulants and some are useful for sleep so combining them might not work depending on your symptoms.
I have heard the same thing regarding supplements in Europe Vs USA. If this didn’t work so well for me, I’d not be taking it.
3 Likes