Veronica Lim

"I’ve lost a stone and a half!" she said. "But I’ve gained bags on my face where my fat used to be. I starved myself. Literally. And the family have no heads left because I bite them off all the time."

I hadn't seen my friend in a while. Her face looked leaner, but she also looked a lot older.

I get it.

When you’ve trawled the internet and tried everything and nothing works, extreme dieting might seem like the only resort.

And although you might drop some pounds, you find that the "plan" you’re on brings other things with it too, like:

😕 Struggling with a lack of energy or motivation
😕 Willing your willpower and constantly fighting urges to eat all day long
😕 Feeling cold, cranky and irritable, with the family avoiding you so they can keep the peace
😕 Finding it hard to concentrate throughout the day
😕 Giving up after x weeks only to find the weight rebounding plus more.

The worst thing of all, is that this leads to metabolic adaptation which makes it harder and harder to get to your goal.

By contrast, Sam, who’s just finished The Balance Reset Method programme, had this to say.

"I have loads more energy and I’m feeling a lot better. My psoriasis is improving, I can see a difference in the size of my stomach, arms, face and more so in my legs, thighs etc.. I feel really good and in control. Not binging on sweet snacks because I’m bored or think I’m feeling hungry. I’m a big foodie so do enjoy food. Just wanted to say a big thank you."

She’s lost just over a stone.

Most women know there’s a trade off between health and quick weight loss, but they often throw that out of the window because they really don’t know what else to do.

Is this you?

Tomorrow night, I’m running a free training, "The 3 Mistakes That Keep Women Over 40 Eating Less And Exercising More Instead Of Feeling Lighter!"

I’ll be covering:

👉 metabolic adaptation and how it leaves you worse off
👉 why calories aren’t the be all and end all
👉 why your body doesn’t respond the same way anymore now you're over 40
👉 what you can do to reverse the trend of your weight gain.

Space is limited so be sure to save your spot now. I'll post the link in the comments. 👇

One of the biggest mistakes I made was thinking that it was only about calories.

And when I got to my 40s… Didn’t matter how little I ate or how much I exercised, the pounds refused to budge.

What I didn’t know was that it wasn’t just about the calories, it was about taking into account other factors, like:

1. Balancing your blood sugar, because reducing oestrogen levels in menopause makes your body less insulin sensitive. So you need to know what combinations and proportions of foods are going to help you keep your blood sugar balanced and stable throughout the day.
2. Modulating cortisol levels. Goodness knows many…. most… women in their menopausal years already have quite a bit of stress going on in their lives. The wrong foods can trigger cortisol, and worsen menopausal symptoms, especially belly fat.
3. Calming inflammation. Blood sugar imbalance, cortisol imbalance and inflammation together make the 2+1 root causes of menopausal weight gain. The key is to eat an anti-inflammatory diet and to identify any sources of inflammation in the body and get those handled. Otherwise, it’s never-ending.
4. Eating enough of the right things at the right times! Like protein, healthy fats and starchy carbs. Don’t eat too late at night and eat within an hour of waking. Plus if you’re exercising, make sure you fuel your body at the right time.

See why it’s not as simple as “just cut the calories”?

Your body is more complex than that, especially at this age. Because of your changing hormones.

Which of the 4 are you already doing? 👇

I was always the girl with the sweet tooth. In fact, whenever I was out for dinner, I’d read the menu from bottom up… what dessert was I going to have? Then, I’d decide on the main course. 😁
In my 20s, I used to frequent this Italian restaurant most weekday nights so I didn’t have to cook, and have 4 courses… starter, main course, and two desserts.
Wow. But my body handled it all!
Until it didn’t.
🤔 I can’t even begin to imagine what my blood sugar levels would have been after each of those meals.
These days, most of us know better.
We know that too much sugar isn’t healthy for us and has no nutritional value. And that we can support weight loss by monitoring sugar intake… not to mention reducing inflammation and other benefits.
Consuming sugar increases our blood sugar levels, and throws it out of balance. And this triggers insulin which blocks fat burning.
But what I didn’t know then is that it’s not just the obvious sugary foods that increase blood sugar levels.
Refined carbohydrates are one of the most common foods that quickly break down into sugar in the body, because they lack fibre.
Like white rice, pasta, white bread, biscuits, crisps, even some of those “healthy” energy balls and energy bars, too many dried fruits, fruit juices, breakfast cereals and granola, and certain ready-made smoothies.
All that pasta I ate along with the two desserts! 😱And massive jacket potatoes back in the day!
Instead of high-sugar foods and highly refined carbohydrates, stick to real whole foods which are unprocessed. Sweet potato, lentils, chick peas, or butternut squash, as examples, as these provide a slower and steadier conversion to blood sugar.
I’m going to be taking a closer look at carbs and food on the webinar I’m holding on Thursday. And you are cordially invited ❤️
The webinar is called, “The 3 Mistakes That Keep Women Over 40 Eating Less And Exercising More Instead Of Feeling Lighter”.
And here’s what I’ll be covering:
* Why eating less and exercising more is no longer working for you now you’re over 40
* What to focus on to make the shift away from feeling frustrated and constantly trying to eat less and exercise more
* Why “eating healthy” doesn’t necessarily mean weight loss
* A simple way to get out of the cycle of failed attempts at losing the belly, without having to follow crazy fads
* Plus a whole lot more…
But you have to book your spot.
👉 Here’s the link: https://veronicalim.click/live-training

I was always the girl with the sweet tooth. In fact, whenever I was out for dinner, I’d read the menu from bottom up… what dessert was I going to have? Then, I’d decide on the main course. 😁
In my 20s, I used to frequent this Italian restaurant most weekday nights so I didn’t have to cook, and have 4 courses… starter, main course, and two desserts.
Wow. But my body handled it all!
Until it didn’t.
🤔 I can’t even begin to imagine what my blood sugar levels would have been after each of those meals.
These days, most of us know better.
We know that too much sugar isn’t healthy for us and has no nutritional value. And that we can support weight loss by monitoring sugar intake… not to mention reducing inflammation and other benefits.
Consuming sugar increases our blood sugar levels, and throws it out of balance. And this triggers insulin which blocks fat burning.
But what I didn’t know then is that it’s not just the obvious sugary foods that increase blood sugar levels.
Refined carbohydrates are one of the most common foods that quickly break down into sugar in the body, because they lack fibre.
Like white rice, pasta, white bread, biscuits, crisps, even some of those “healthy” energy balls and energy bars, too many dried fruits, fruit juices, breakfast cereals and granola, and certain ready-made smoothies.
All that pasta I ate along with the two desserts! 😱And massive jacket potatoes back in the day!
Instead of high-sugar foods and highly refined carbohydrates, stick to real whole foods which are unprocessed. Sweet potato, lentils, chick peas, or butternut squash, as examples, as these provide a slower and steadier conversion to blood sugar.
I’m going to be taking a closer look at carbs and food on the webinar I’m holding next Wednesday. And you are cordially invited ❤️
The webinar is called, “The 3 Mistakes That Keep Women Over 40 Eating Less And Exercising More Instead Of Feeling Lighter”.
And here’s what I’ll be covering:
* Why eating less and exercising more is no longer working for you now you’re over 40
* What to focus on to make the shift away from feeling frustrated and constantly trying to eat less and exercise more
* Why “eating healthy” doesn’t necessarily mean weight loss
* A simple way to get out of the cycle of failed attempts at losing the belly, without having to follow crazy fads
* Plus a whole lot more…
But you have to book your spot.
👉 Here’s the link: https://veronicalim.click/live-training
Book now before all the spots are taken up.

The 3 Myths That Keep Women Over 40 Exercising More And Eating Less Instead Of Feeling Lighter

Veronica Lim updated their business hours.

On Thursday night at 8 p.m. precisely, we stood on our front door step, as did many of our neighbours, applauding our NHS (National Health Service) workers on the frontline. It was a touching moment, and I suspect that we’ll see many more touching moments like this as we go through this unique time.

Without doubt, this is a time of great change. So too are your menopausal years, not just from a physical perspective, but also from a mental and emotional one.

If you’re peri-menopausal right now… you know, I ought to mention, just in case, that if you’re a female over 40, then you’re most likely in peri-menopause, whether or not you have any symptoms. “Peri” means “around” and our female hormones start to decline from around the age of 35 onwards.

So, if you’re in peri-menopause right now, this enforced quieter time while we are in lockdown may be of benefit to your hormones and biochemistry.

I know that may sound strange, so let me expand on what I mean.

Whether you’re suffering from menopausal weight gain and/or other menopausal symptoms such as anxiety, fatigue, irritability or forgetfulness, these symptoms are signs of an underlying imbalance or imbalances in your biochemistry.

And to rebalance your biochemistry, you need to address the root causes of those imbalances.

Several years ago, Jeff and I lived on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia for a bit. We had only been there a few weeks when our friends, Myles and Mandy, came over for a long weekend. We were on our way to the airport at the end of their stay, when steam started coming out of the front of the car!

Now, if your car engine overheats, as ours had, you’ll know that’s a symptom that something’s not right under the hood (or is it the bonnet?).

But what would be the root cause? Could it be insufficient water in the radiator? Nope. The engine coolant being either too low or too high? Nope.

Turns out that this one symptom could have been caused by any one of ten things. In our case, it was a blown head gasket. The car was going nowhere and their flight was in just over an hour!

It’s the same with your body. In menopause, be it weight gain or any of the other symptoms, one of the root causes is an imbalance in the stress hormone, cortisol.

And although this time may be an anxious one, if you, like many, find yourself with more time on your hands, how can you use this time to reduce your stress, and so also, your cortisol levels, as much as possible?

Here are some suggestions.

Moderate exercise. If you’ve gained weight around the middle, this is especially for you. Let go of the “exercise more” mindset to try and get rid of it, and focus instead on moderate exercise of 20 to 30 minutes a day. Exercising at too high a level or not getting any movement at all increases your cortisol levels. Go for a walk if you can, or do some lunges in your living room to get your heart rate up, to a level where you can still talk while doing them. And if you’re following someone who’s doing lessons online right now, pick one at the right level for you so you don’t feel exhausted afterwards.

Breathe. Breathe deeply, right down to your belly, and breathe through your nose. Doing this for just a few minutes helps to lower cortisol and helps you feel less anxious and more relaxed.

Hug. Thankfully, social distancing doesn’t apply in the same way for those who live in the same household, so give your loved one a hug. Allow your shoulders to drop and let all the tension out and let yourself relax into the hug. This reduces cortisol and releases another hormone, called oxytocin. Oxytocin is also known as the “love hormone” or bonding hormone, first recognised for its role in childbirth and breastfeeding. It also helps us to feel calm and can help to induce sleep.

Laugh. Or cry. You likely already know how good it feels to laugh. Find a feel-good movie to watch or look for some fun videos on youtube that warm your heart or make you laugh. It’s a great way to relieve the stress. And cry? Oh goodness, I remember when I was in my early 40s and understood nothing (I mean, nothing) about the menopause. Jeff was away on a skiing trip and I decided to watch Finding Neverland, the movie with Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. Near the end of the movie, I cried and cried and cried. I couldn’t figure it out, and because I found it so puzzling and not like me at all at the time, I replayed the same scene again just to check, and there it was I cried and cried and cried. Again. It’s OK to let it out. Then you can laugh about it afterwards too.

Get creative. What have you been meaning to have a go at? It doesn’t have to be good, there’s no judgement. Just as long as it’s fun and enjoyable. Adult colouring? Singing? Dancing the salsa? Making jewellery?

Progressive relaxation. Have a lie down, then tense each muscle, starting at your toes and working your way up to the top of your head. Tense every muscle as hard as you can, hold for the count of five and then let it all go. Feel good?

Support your gut. The gut and brain are interconnected and in constant communication. If you’ve ever felt so anxious or nervous that you’ve felt the need to run to the loo, then you have experienced this first-hand. Eat some gut-supporting foods, such as fermented foods, like kimchi and sauerkraut. They’re rich in friendly bacteria that can help boost the production of a relaxing neurotransmitter called GABA. And this can help reduce stress and anxiety. I have a head of cabbage coming in my supermarket shop (at last), this weekend. I think I’ll try my hand at making some fermented cabbage. Will you join me?

Be present. Now is the time that you have, literally in your hands right now. Use it to your greatest advantage. Imagine if you came out of this period feeling better than you did going in.

I’m putting together an “Optimise Your Health” package which I’ll tell you more about next week. I figure now is a perfect time to get a view on your health and make some positive changes. No distractions from social events or from eating out.

As an aside, I made a delicious totally plant-based meal last night. It looked so good that I took a picture of it to share.

Honestly, I'm not usually that bad at taking photos. I must have been so keen to get stuck in, I didn’t even check the pic. 😂

The coronavirus has been dominating our headlines of late. Related to it, there’s also been a lot in the news about vitamin C and its role in the immune system. It’s evidently been flying off the shelves in places like Singapore.

Are you concerned about it? Does it worry you?

When we get into menopause, the changes in your female hormones are associated with a change in the immune system also. Studies suggest that in addition to age (alright alright, no need to remind me of that), changes in the immune system have been attributed to reduced oestrogen levels in postmenopausal women.

You may have found yourself more prone to urinary tract infections, perhaps. Or muscle aches that don’t make any sense. The shift in the immune system at this time can increase the chances of an autoimmune condition showing up if this is something that runs in your family line.

So it’s as important as ever, at this time of your life, to support your immune system, never mind the corona.

Does vitamin C play a role in supporting your immune system? Yes, it does, alongside other nutrients, such as zinc and vitamin D. Lifestyle practices also have a key role to play. And because our bodies are a collection of interconnected systems, there’s no getting away from the fact that it’s not just about a handful of nutrients, but many others too which may appear to have indirect roles, such as magnesium.

As always, start with a good diet. Include foods that are rich in vitamins, antioxidants and polyphenols (plant chemicals). You’ll find these in fruits and vegetables of all colours of the rainbow. To spark your thinking around this, have a look at the “Eat A Rainbow” visual I posted here - https://www.facebook.com/BehindTheFoodNutrition/posts/1246487808875332.

Under “white”, there are mushrooms. Mushrooms contain beta-glucans, which has been shown to have immune supportive properties. So why not include mushrooms regularly in your diet too. When we were in Malaysia, we sometimes had lunch at a place called Simple Life and I loved their mushrooms dishes. You’d find dishes there with shiitake, maitake, Lion’s mane and oyster mushrooms. Delicious.

Also make sure that you get regular movement, restful sleep consistently, and minimise your alcohol intake. It’s the same themes that keep coming back, right, have you noticed?

Now, back to the vitamin C, because there’s another lifestyle factor related to its ability to get into your cells where the vitamin is needed. Any guesses?

One word. Sugar.

Did you know that sugar can stop vitamin C from getting into most cells?

For either glucose (sugar) or vitamin C to enter the cells, they dock onto receptors on the cell surface. This then opens a gateway, allowing them into the cell. Because sugar and vitamin C are similar in chemical structure, they use the same receptors and compete with one another for the same receptor.

But for the receptors to work, the body needs glucose to act as a trigger. And because glucose engages with the receptor more readily than vitamin C, the higher your blood sugar, the higher the competition for the receptor and the less vitamin C is able to get into your cells. And the less vitamin C that’s available in your cells, the less quickly your immune cells can respond when needed.

So, if you’ve been meaning to reduce your intake of sugar as a whole, now is as good a time as any.

Don’t necessarily think about going cold turkey right off the bat, especially if you’re the sort of person who goes all in, then finds it too challenging to sustain, only to let it fall by the wayside. That’s totally understandable. What can work well instead is a “replace” approach.

I’ve always been a dessert kinda girl. If ever there was a person with a sweet tooth, that used to be me. And it’s a part of me that’s easily resurrected.

Here’s what I did when I was reducing my sugar intake. Instead of saying, “I’m going to stop eating desserts,” I found healthier versions of desserts to have, for example, a fresh banana that had been frozen, blended up with some coconut milk and some cocoa powder for a different kind of ice-cream. A different kind of Chunky Monkey. Move over, Ben & Jerry’s!

At the same time, rebalancing my diet helped to reduce sweet cravings, so this isn’t an issue in the same way anymore.

This kind of strategy may work well for you too, rather than an all or nothing approach.

What do you reckon? If you’ve recently reduced your sugar intake, or are now looking to do so, comment and let me know how you’re going.

Did you know that the immune system changes as we get older and when we get into menopause? Postmenopausally, the change in the immune system has been associated in research studies to reduced levels of oestrogen. With all this talk going around on the coronavirus at the moment, be sure to look after your immune system by eating fruits and vegetables of all the colours of the rainbow. How many colours do you eat each day?

My morning walk reward. Women over 40 need movement but the right kind of movement. The “go hard” approach that may have worked when we were younger can lead to inflammation and joint and muscle aches and pains that never seems to go away. What kind of movement are you doing?

In my younger days, before I realised that my body really couldn’t handle it, my favourite drinks were gin and orange, rum and black, mojito (I have made a delicious Mojito cupcake before too) and oh, the cocktail I used to absolutely love.

Strawberry Homicide.

They served it in this cocktail bar in London, called Rumours. It’s no longer there, and is now a burger joint.

Truth be told, I never drank very much, because my body doesn’t process alcohol well. My liver can’t do the second step so well. You’ll see what I mean in a minute.

And this meant that I would go from sober to feeling sick pretty quickly, and totally skip the bit in between. People tell me that’s the “nice bit”. I used to often ask Jeff what it felt like to be drunk!

In detoxifying alcohol in the body, there are two key steps – firstly converting the alcohol to acetaldehyde and then converting the acetaldehyde to acetate.

Because acetaldehyde is highly toxic, the liver does its best to convert it to acetate as quickly as it can.

As a whole, alcohol is toxic to the body. That’s why the liver prioritises its metabolism above all else, when/if you drink.

The liver also processes excess oestrogen. And if the liver is busy dealing with the alcohol, or not otherwise working properly, toxins can build up and lead to inflammation and oxidative stress… which can make menopausal symptoms worse.

For example, it can trigger or worsen hot flushes and disrupt your sleep. Although you may think that alcohol helps you get to sleep, it affects the quality of your sleep, making you tired in the morning and perhaps even anxious or depressed.

It reduces REM sleep which is when your brain processes the day and consolidates memories. If REM sleep is disrupted on a regular basis, then this may affect memory function.

Alcohol has also been positively associated with increased risk in breast cancer. In fact, any amount of alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer.

“But Veronica, it’s my only pleasure!”

And some women say, “But Veronica, it’s my only vice!”

I get it. Even though I don’t drink much. It feels nice to be having a drink, especially when everyone else is too, like at this time of the year.

At the end of the day, it’s not necessarily about completely giving alcohol up altogether. It’s about knowing where your own personal threshold is. You may be able to “get away” with one glass or two, and find that if you have more than that, your symptoms get worse. Either way, do remember the guideline of limiting alcohol intake to 14 units of alcohol a week.

But if you find that having even one glass of alcohol triggers your symptoms, good news. All is not lost.

There are non-alcoholic alternatives.

These taste rather like gin, and with reduced sugar tonic water, it can nearly pass for the real thing. It feels like the real thing, even if you don’t think it tastes 100% fully like it. But it’s close.

Non-alcoholic botanicals.

Here are some different brands. It seems pricey at first sight, but it’s similar to a bottle of gin, and if it brings on joy and happiness, I say, bring it on!

Seedlip – https://seedlipdrinks.com/uk - this is the only one I’ve tried so far and I like it
Lyres - https://lyres.com.au – this one is Australian
CeroCero – produced by Lidl (yes, the supermarket) and it’s about half the price of the others
Ceders - https://ceders-alt-gin.com/index.html # - from South Africa

Now, if gin isn’t your thing, how about these?

Nine Elms No. 18 - https://www.nineelmsdrinks.com – more like a wine.
Celtic Soul – from Pernod-Ricard – and rather like a whisky, I gather.
Stryyk Not Rum - https://www.stryyk.com/products/not-rum

Some of these brands are stocked in supermarkets here in the UK, and if that fails, try Amazon.

Some of the sites have some good looking cocktail recipes too. They look so good, I think I’m going to make some of these this Christmas. It’ll be a treat!

But remember to watch the sugar content of the mixers, OK.

Well, that’s it from me for this year.

Have a most wonderful break. Celebrate well, rest well and keep well. Remember to put your feet up, let the others wash the dishes and tidy the place, enjoy some no-need-for-thinking Christmas movies, or a rom-com maybe.

Happy Christmas, happy holidays, happy New Year.

Did you know that this is the first time ever that women like you and I have had to deal with both the menopause and the modern lifestyle as we’ve come to know it? When our mothers went through their menopause, the world wasn’t as global or eternally “on” in the way that it is today.

Even as recently as the 90s, we didn’t have social media, email or the internet vying for our attention to the extent that we have it today.

If you happen to work for an international company, you likely come into work to new emails from colleagues from the other side of the world, sent while you were asleep (or should have been! 😋). Or you have a boss that works late. Or one that works and sends you emails over the weekends.

No surprise then that you may feel behind again from where you left off the evening or the week before. Or you check your emails during the night or over the weekend and don't switch off fully. All of that adds to your stress… even if you may be so used to it now that you don’t think about it anymore.

According to research, our attention spans have shortened greatly too. In 2000, the average attention span was estimated to be 12 seconds. In 2015, this had reduced to 8.25 seconds. And the attention span for a goldfish is…. drum roll please…… 9 seconds. Twitter, anyone? Or guilty of having a habit of skim reading just about everything?

Imagine the kind of messages this sends to your nervous system.

To add to it, you’re likely part of the “in between” or “sandwich” generation. There are both kids to look after, who may or may not be fully grown up now, and there are aging parents who also need your attention.

Even though neither may graciously accept it. You know?

Now, add the fact that your body is going through a significant change, with fluctuating and changing hormones. It’s a physiologically stressful time, in and of itself.

Ooh, now the Christmas festivities too.

Both the outside environment and the one on the inside greatly influence your stress load. And during the menopausal years, your body becomes more sensitive to stress.

The more you have on your menopausal plate - poor food choices, an overloaded liver, a heavy workload, organising the household and children’s activities, an imbalanced gut, drinking more coffee of alcohol than your body can handle, going to bed late, not eating enough, other worries – the more severe your menopausal symptoms are likely to be, especially if these have been going on for a number of years beforehand.

And then, at Christmas and holiday time, one of the most challenging elements that can surface up, perhaps more obviously than at any other time of the year, is this.

The need for control.

Must get the Christmas cards out on time, must get the presents for…., must get the Christmas day festivities organised, must serve up Christmas lunch by x time, must get the place cleaned before this date, must get my work done before the holiday break, must do this and that and the other and the list goes on. Must be perfect.

Deep breath, and pause for a moment.

Are every single one of those things a “must”?

Ooh, did that press a button for you?

If it did, then now’s a good time to start practicing letting go of control, starting in small ways.

I remember consciously starting to do this in 2006. The reason I remember the date so well is because Jeff and I were living in New Zealand at the time, which meant that we had a car (not like in London where we use public transport virtually all the time).

One of my first acts of practising letting go of control was this. Parking right in the middle of two parking spots, totally ignoring the white guidelines.

I assure you, it was at the empty end of the car park, in the middle of the week and at a time of day when I could be sure that I wasn’t depriving anyone else of a parking spot.

Even Jeff, who is so easy-going, said, “You can't do that!"

Let me tell you, it was hard! I even felt guilty.

"Look, most of the car park is empty, no one's going to care!"

I had to start to break the pattern.

The conditioning runs deep. And with it, the control that we often feel we must exert, be it over ourselves or others.

Does this resonate with you at all?

Sometimes, it may serve you well. And other times, it may not serve you so well. You only think that it does.

Another example was to do with toothpaste tubes. I used to "have to" have my toothpaste be squeezed from the bottom of the tube so that the tube stayed neat and tidy. Way more obvious in the day when we had metal tubing. Less so these days with the plastic. But the concept remains.

It drove me nuts when someone else used the toothpaste and left dents in places they weren’t supposed to be. Was this really important?

Another example is when you want someone to do something to help you and in your mind, it simply must be done right now!

Feeling the need to be constantly in control takes up valuable energy, and creates internal tension and stress, which in turn, upsets your hormonal balance.

At this time of menopause and hormonal changes, you may be feeling like you’re not in control of your own body. And as paradoxical as it may seem, the practice of letting go in certain areas, as difficult as it may feel in the beginning, teaches you how to let go and relax.

In time, you’ll feel the sense of freedom that comes from it.

After all, if you can’t let go of control, then are you really in control?