Menopause and sugar cravings. Today I want to talk about cravings and specifically that 3:00 PM energy slump, but cravings in general. So thinking about a few questions. Why is this a big deal and why does it feel so much worse in menopause or perimenopause and beyond, shall we say? So should we answer that question worse first?
Why is it so much worse in perimenopause and beyond? As we go through perimenopause and menopause, we have so many different metabolic things that are happening to our body. And one of them is that we are more sensitive to cortisol, and one of them is that we are more resistant to insulin, which basically means if we don't change anything, normally our insulin levels go up.
And cortisol and insulin, they do this sort of special dance, like basically we know that increased cortisol helps us put on [00:01:00] abdominal fat, but it's because it stimulates insulin. So those two things are going to make it worse. Or let me say, they're gonna make the impact of sugar cravings worse. So this is a big issue, and I know that it leads to people not only reaching for sugar, but underneath there is this lack of energy, this, "Ugh, I don't feel great," and you're looking for something to help you feel better, and you're turning to sugar because it feels "Oh, I haven't got enough energy.
Sugar is going to fix it." Now, what happens when you have the sugar is it can give you a little bit of a boost. Who doesn't like sugar? We do like sugar. It gives us a dopamine release. But it's not really solving the problem. And what I see tends to happen is that people reach for the sugar, and then they feel guilty about it, and then they start to beat themselves up, and this spiral goes on and on.
As opposed to if you [00:02:00] can change things, and I'll explain how to change things in a minute, actually that sugar craving disappears totally, and I actually think it is one of the easiest things to resolve. I was talking to one of the ladies in wh- who's in my coaching program recently, and she started just a few weeks ago.
Her big issue was that 3:00 PM energy slump, and we made some tweaks, which I'll explain, and now she's just "I feel normal at 3:00 PM. I've started to take it for granted that I feel normal. I've got steady energy through the day. I'm not reaching for sugar." And that's where I want to get you. So what is going on when we think about sugar cravings?
It is a combination of actually more than two things. It is a combination of all of my pillars. So remember the menopause THRIVE pillars. They are nutrition, exercise, sleep, and emotional wellness. And actually, sugar cravings are a little bit of everything. Let me [00:03:00] explain. When you are eating in a way that fuels your body, you are giving your body nutritious food during the day, your energy level stays stable.
At 3:00 PM, you actually feel full up, as opposed to when you are trying to deprive yourself, when you're trying to restrict yourself. Perhaps you skip breakfast, perhaps you're trying to have a small lunch. By the time you get to 3:00 PM, you're like, "Oh my goodness, just give me something. I am so hungry." If you start your day eating a healthy breakfast, fiber and protein, make sure they're in there, and then a healthy lunch, by 3:00 PM, you may be a bit tired for various things, which we'll talk about.
But you're not going, "Oh my goodness, I really need to fuel my body," because your body is already fueled. So nutrition is really important. Number two, exercise. Why do we feel tired at 3:00 PM? Because we have been sat at our desk all day working. [00:04:00] We've been stationary for a long period of time. Our body likes movement.
Our body likes-- it feels invigorated when it is used to movement. Now, personally, I love to get up and exercise. That's what I call my hardcore exercise, which is either swimming or cycling or lifting weights. But equally, during the day, there should be a little bit of movement as well, and actually that helps your brain focus more.
We have this idea that we should sit at our desk from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM without moving our body, and our brain doesn't work like that. Our brain and our body need to take rests. So when your watch annoys you and it goes ping, it's time to move, make sure you pay attention to that. It doesn't have to be heaps of movement, but just having some movement in your day.
Pillar three, sleep. Sleep is really important as well because if you have a bad night's sleep, actually your insulin levels go up, your cortisol level goes up, your hunger [00:05:00] hormones go up, so you're much more likely to reach for another portion of breakfast or whatever it is. You're much more likely to reach for those sweet things.
And now if you've got this bad night's sleep and on top of that you're trying to deprive yourself of breakfast and at lunch, your body is just "There is no energy here. I just feel awful. I haven't got-- I'm not recovered. My batteries aren't charged, and you're not putting fuel into me. What is going on?"
So sleep is important. And then emotional wellness is really important for this as well. Because, yes, there is this physiological thing. Our body basically gets used to having sugar all the time, and when you take that away, it gets used to steady energy. But also wrapped into this is a certain amount of, "I don't feel very great.
I don't like this emotion," or, "I feel stressed, and I... my habit is now [00:06:00] to turn to sugar for comfort." And that is essentially emotional eating. Now, I have a bit of a hard line on emotional eating on one hand, in that I say my opinion is that any time that we eat that we are not eating to fuel our body is emotional eating.
And essentially, there is no reason to eat ice cream. It's not a fuel. It is a treat. It's something that we're eating to enjoy. However, I don't think that we need to exclude all emotional eating. I think it is fine to do emotional eating. I think it is actually natural to do some emotional eating. It's when it tips over into being a problem that it's a problem.
When is it a problem? When you feel that it is a problem, essentially. When you can either see negative consequences of emotionally eating, so perhaps you're putting on weight, or perhaps it's hijacking your brain. So it's essentially when you think it is a [00:07:00] problem
Understanding how your emotions work is going to help you fix this. And essentially It is understanding, am I eating because I'm hungry and my body needs fuel, or am I eating for a different reason? And quite often it is eating for a different reason. Now, there is a really easy test that you can do here, which is what I call the celery test.
Now, it has to be something that's acceptable to you. It could be an apple, but something that's not exciting to eat. And if you're not sure, you ask yourself, "Right now, would I eat a piece of fruit, an apple, a carrot, a s- piece of celery?" And if the answer is, "No, I'm only hungry for cake or chocolate," that's not hunger.
That is sugar. And people sometimes find it a little bit difficult to untangle. Now, if you put all of these things together, and we're specifically looking at that 3:00 PM energy slump. So [00:08:00] you're getting a good night's sleep. You're getting up. Perhaps you're exercising in the morning. Perhaps you're doing that later on, but you're having a healthy breakfast and a healthy lunch and healthy snacks if that's what you need.
And then you get to 3:00 PM, and now you can think, "Am I hungry? No, because I know I'm not hungry because I only had lunch a couple of hours ago, and I had a filling lunch. But I do feel a little bit tired. I do feel like I've been sat at my desk for hours on end. What am I gonna do? What is my 3:00 PM pickup?"
And it's different for everybody. But it can include, for example, having a bit of a relax, going outside and getting some movement in, or perhaps having an infusion or a cup of tea or something, perhaps not caffeinated because that might impact your next night's sleep. But finding something that you can do at that time that is gonna give you a little bit of energy for those next few hours.
But what I would say is working with people, I see that energy slump it doesn't [00:09:00] necessarily disappear 100% depending on circumstances, but it disappears an awful lot so that people find it totally managing, and they find something that they actually really enjoy doing. So the bottom line with cravings is it is a little bit of a combination of everything, of what you eat, whether you've got movement in your day, how you are sleeping, and your emotions and how you are thinking about that.
And now you might be saying, "Dr. Orlena, that is so much to take on. Where do I start?" Okay, here's where you start. Number one, if your sleep is rickety, start fixing your sleep. It is the foundation for everything. Get a good night's sleep. Get up at the same time. I know that some people beyond that find it difficult to sleep.
That isn't something I have the scope to address in this video. Number two, food Start with a [00:10:00] healthy breakfast and a healthy lunch. And if you implement those two things, you are 50 or 60% of the way there. And then the next thing would be movement and exercise and paying attention to your emotions. I hope this was helpful.
Bye-bye.
