Last week was all about what menopause is, what it isn’t, and the lies and misconceptions you’ve been told.

If you missed last week’s newsletter, you can read it here: Read Here

I left you on a bit of a cliff hanger in terms of what to do with what I shared last week…

We talked about the things that used to work in your 20s and 30s:

Today’s about why they no longer work - and what to do instead.

Everything we’ll talk about today (and in the future) around menopause will center on one specific thing: muscle.

Why?

Starting in peri-menopause, you lose 1–1.5% muscle per year and your strength declines even faster…about 2–4% each year.

That probably doesn’t sound like a crisis today but let’s zoom out. Over a decade, that adds up to losing 5–7 pounds of muscle and nearly 30% of your strength, especially in the legs and hips.

And these muscles aren’t just about looking good in a sleeveless dress…

These are your 'life muscles'...the ones that help you climb stairs, catch yourself if you trip, get off the floor easily, and swing your grandkids around without thinking twice.

On top of this, muscles also control your metabolism.

When you lose muscle, your blood sugar increases putting you at risk for diabetes, you gain weight easier, and osteoporosis becomes a real possibility.

The worst part of it all is that losing muscle is silent. It just shows up subtly when things suddenly feel harder than they used to.

Now...let's pump the brakes before this gets too doom and gloom. Yes, it's a little scary but sometimes we need that nudge to actually do something about it.

The good news is it’s not too late and there’s hope.

And as always, it all starts with what you eat.

When you’re in your 20s and 30s, eating to lose weight works. 1200 calories, no carbs, and skipping breakfast all give you the result you’re looking for - the scale going down.

And you can do this without worrying about the creamer in your coffee, eating protein, and getting enough vitamins and minerals.

But as you get into peri-menopause and eventually cross into post-menopause, your body becomes needier.

It gives you little signs that it needs more protein. That it’s deficient in critical vitamins and minerals. That it needs carbs.

Every time you step on the scale and it doesn’t budge. Or you feel a new ache or pain in your joints, this is one of those signs.

“But why? What exactly changed that makes these things important?”

It’s your body’s lack of estrogen.

Estrogen helps your body:

But when you’re post-menopausal, your body is working with very low estrogen.

Now, you start to lose muscle (making protein more important).

Your bones and joints get weaker (making calcium and other nutrients crucial).

And your metabolism starts to slow down, too (making fueling it with carbs necessary).

Estrogen's like the grandparent who lets kids get away with everything—skipping naps, eating junk, staying up late. It all seems fine until they leave and you're left dealing with the aftermath. That's your body now: estrogen covered for a lot of shortcuts, and without it, you're feeling every one of them.

With estrogen gone, now it's on you to pick up what it used to do.

Your goal with peri- and post-menopausal nutrition is to:

Here's how to put this into action:

1. Eat enough calories to fuel your body

This is going to sound like a lot, but here's the formula:

15 × your bodyweight in pounds.

2. Prioritize protein

Aim for 0.8–1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.

That breaks down to roughly 30–40g per meal…which is why eating breakfast matters now more than ever.

This might feel like a lot. Take your time building up to it.

3. Include a healthy fat and healthy carb at each meal

I know, these numbers probably sound like a lot of food.

That's expected. When you've been told your whole life that less is better, more is going to feel wrong.

But if you want different results, you have to do things differently. Your body's asking for the same thing.

And that brings us to the next thing to do differently: exercise.

Remember in Popeye, how eating spinach helped him get stronger?

Well before menopause, your estrogen was like Popeye’s spinach.

But during peri and post menopause, as your natural estrogen levels decline, this leads to you losing muscle easier.

Boo, I know.

Since you don’t have the estrogen inside your body anymore to keep your muscle, you now have to find something outside your body that tells it to keep muscle and stay strong.

No, I’m not talking about hormone replacement…

I’m talking about strength training.

But before we go further, let's address the elephant in the room…

If you’re worried about getting bulky from strength training, I recorded this for you: watch here

For strength training to actually prevent muscle loss, it needs one key thing:

It has to get harder as you get stronger.

This is important because, you probably have some 2, 5, or maybe 10lbs weights at home.

And these are great to start with. You’ll probably even get a little sore using them.

But as you get stronger after the first few weeks or month, if you don’t use heavier weights, your muscle and strength are going to plateau.

(This is why I help show the members I coach different ways to make the same weights “feel” heavier so they can keep getting stronger without using more weight)

Cardio, pilates, Orange Theory, yoga are all great for movement and a solid supplement to strength training.

But on their own, they're not progressive enough. You'll inevitably plateau.

Here's what menopause-friendly strength training looks like:

I get it…you’re probably saying, “those sound great but how do I actually find a workout that helps me do those things?”

I got you ◡̈

I’m bringing back my world famous (maybe a bit of a stretch) Follow-along Friday workouts inside the Revitalized Inner Circle group this week.

If you’re in the group, keep an eye out on Friday. If you’re not, what the heck have you been doing!?

Just kidding…here’s the link to join us: Join the group here

Menopause can feel hopeless…like everything's out of your control. Especially when your doctor shrugs and says, 'It's just part of aging.'

But it's not. And I hope today's newsletter showed you exactly that. There's plenty you can do to take back control and feel like you're in the driver's seat again.

Your friend and coach,

Ben Miknis