Menopause wires our brains for leadership.

 “Menopause wires our brains for leadership.”

— Mindy Pelz

Wait, what? Ok, I’m listening.

Perimenopause and menopause haven’t exactly been top of mind for me, I admit. But hearing Mindy Pelz’s take made me think about how I truly believe we can get better with age—stronger, more agile, smarter, more seasoned, and just overall better—if we believe it and focus on what we have to gain, not what we’re trying to stave off, lose, or control.

When I think about the concept of wiring my brain for leadership, I realize I’ve never really considered menopause—because, well, I couldn’t think of anything good about it.

But now? I’m intrigued.

Which made me do a little research.

Q: How can you have a kickass, easy-breezy perimenopause and menopause?
(P.S. Dudes, this email is not for you. My apologies. Also—do any dudes read this?)

A: By preparing in your 30s and 40s with… wait for it… EXERCISE.

Because it always comes back to that tricky little duo—metabolic efficiency and insulin sensitivity (in a nut shell: How fast your body metabolizes energy).

Your main job, as the owner of a body that ages well, is to keep your metabolism firing. And that’s good news because you actually have some control over that.

In practical terms, that means:

— Building and maintaining lean muscle mass so it works for you 24 hours a day.

— Staying fit enough to move quickly—run, jump, or climb stairs without dying—because your VO₂ max—how well your heart delivers oxygen to your muscles—is one of the strongest predictors of thriving as you age. (Fast-twitch muscle work is our secret sauce, friends!)

— Building muscle and eating mostly real food so your body burns fuel efficiently instead of storing it. (I said mostly. I just ate a Snickers from my kid's Halloween stash earlier today, so I am 100% not here to judge.)

A quick review of what happens as estrogen dips — because it’s actually kind of fascinating:

• Estrogen helps your body function at its metabolic best . It keeps your blood sugar steady by maintaining insulin sensitivity, tells your body where to store fat (preferably on your backside and not around your organs), and helps your cells turn calories into usable energy instead of storing it for later.

• When estrogen starts to decline, your body becomes a little less effective at all of that. The solution? Build and keep muscle.

• Slow-twitch muscle helps with endurance and fat burning (think long walks. strength work, light cardio).

• Fast-twitch muscle helps your body suck up glucose to use as energy (that’s where those short, breathless bursts—like jumping or sprinting—come in).

I bring this up because it’s critical: you either get busy getting better or get busy declining.

And when we hear that, many of us (me!) think, oh gawd, how much work is this really going to be? I can’t take on one more thing.

But good news again: this whole process is actually easier than we imagine.

Aim to exercise intentionally by building strength three times a week, with at least two ten-minute sessions that get you out of breath. Walk more. The end. (Everything else is a bonus.)

Because health and vitality isn’t all or nothing.

It’s a little of this… and a little more of that. On a regular basis. (and for the record, there are other resources out there like HRT, but we'll get into that another day.... Exercise is a SIMPLE, FREE, FIRST approach.)

Love,