The Shift from Prenatal/Postpartum Coach to Perimenopause/Postmenopause Coach
It’s been a while, so I figure a lil’ intro plus explanation of what’s going on is due. I started in this online world a decade ago, back when blog posts were a thing, long captions were read on IG, and there wasn’t such a thing as the algorithm yet. When Substack came up as a “new” thing, I felt like this was the perfect place to start back into things. Oh, and the title is from my 4-year-old’s playdate the other day, when his little friend kept entering the room with, “I’m BACK, baby!” I aspire to draw in more 4-year-old confidence into my life daily.
I got into personal training over a decade ago, and at the time my husband and I were planning on starting a family. I was certified in spin, yoga, and personal training, and on a whim decided to sign up for a Pre/Postnatal Yoga Teacher Training. I planned to be pregnant during the course to really get as much out of the course as possible. Ahhhh, the naivety of youth. As you can already guess, that plan failed. We tried for over 1.5 years to conceive, which felt like an eternity at the time when every single person was posting a pregnancy announcement on IG.
My post on infertility struggles was the first “viral” blog I ever wrote, with my notifications blowing up on IG, my website, and via text. I had a huge “ah-ha” moment, where I realized people really were craving honesty and rawness and the sharing of struggles familiar to many of us, but discussed by so few.
That first pre/postnatal course shocked and awed me, there was SO MUCH I did not know, had never been taught, had never heard before. I made it my mission then to learn as much as I could about this chapter of a woman’s life. I did eventually get pregnant three times, and have two amazing kids now (plus one early miscarriage in the middle of them). For a decade I was engrossed in that world, until a move, some unpleasant neighbours, and a newborn in the pandemic, led me to leave personal training for almost 2 years.
So why the switch from prenatal/postpartum to perimenopause/postmenopause? I work best when I feel a strong pull and get fired up about what my work is, and so as I’ve aged 10+ years since this career started, my life focus, struggles, and areas of study and interests have changed.
I was 39 when my second was born, and things just never felt the same after I had him. I chalked it all up to lack of sleep, breastfeeding, two kids, a lot of stressful life events (a move, many close family deaths, and loss of my 15 yr old German Shepherd, Heidi). But a couple years passed and I just knew there was more to it.
I went to a naturopath, and eventually a Functional Medicine Doctor. We did uncover a few auto-immune diseases (MCAS, POTS), some gut stuff (SIBO, candida, leaky gut), and also ADHD thrown in there for fun (not a surprise to me at all, after years of suspecting it myself).
And STILL, I knew there was more. Finally through my own research and conversations with friends and colleagues, I concluded I was 100% most definitely in perimenopause. I felt the same indignation and frustration that I had felt when I leaned into the pregnancy/postpartum world - WHY aren’t women taught about this? Why isn’t it studied more? Why aren’t we talking about this to women? And to their partners and families so they, too, know WTF is going on?
My mentors (and accompanying certifications where courses are available) for pregnancy & postpartum include Brianna Battles, Jessie Mundell, Dr.Sarah Duvall, and Antony Lo. As I’ve shifted to this next chapter, I’m about to complete Dr.Stacy Sim’s Menopause course, and am also an avid reader/listener of Dr. Mary Claire Haver. There are others as well, but I respect and trust the research and evidence based info these individuals all share. And they’re great humans, which is a must for me if I’m investing my time and money into someone. My nutrition training has all been through Precision Nutrition, another great evidence-based company to learn from.
Thanks for being here! Brevity isn’t my strong suit, but I promise to bring lots of useful topics and discussions here about perimenopause/postmenopause on all the topics - working out, nutrition, sleep, stress, and more.
