As a Professional Organiser who helps parents sort family life with their children in mind I mainly started by just organising children's bedrooms, playrooms and kitchens, but the more I have started to organise parent wardrobes, the laundry room, offices and even attics, I see that the whole family benefits.
As with my third book, MORE TO Mealtimes, organising your kitchen; systemising food, prioritising space in cupboards, meal planning, batch cooking and ensuring children are provided with balanced plate, for sure, this is the one room I think makes the biggest positive impact.
Not only do I support in the actual declutter and systems, I help with the formation of habits and routines to keep your home working for you.
While I am not a nutritionist, I do have qualifications in Children's nutrition and weaning. When I met Sally I was excited to hear all about the benefits nutrition has. A lot of my clients are perimenopausal or menopausal. I interviewed Sally on how habits, routines and nutrition can support you.
Tell us how Re-Balance by Sally came about?
Hi I’m Sally, I’m a Health Coach and Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner and founder of Re-Balance By Sally. During my early 40’s I started to suffer with a number of different health concerns including gut health problems, trouble sleeping, mood swings, eczema and itchy skin. I wondered what was happening to me and at the time I put it down to what I was eating and a stressful job. It wasn’t until years later that I realised it was perimenopause that was causing the health concerns in addition to my diet and stressful
lifestyle. After using a Health Coach to resolve my issues through nutrition
and lifestyle, it inspired me to change career from Head of Marketing to
Health Coach.
I created the Re-Balance By Sally Health Coaching practice because I’m
passionate about sharing what I learnt on my menopause journey.
It’s extremely rewarding helping other women improve their perimenopause and
menopause symptoms through a natural holistic approach. I’ve supported
many clients with symptoms such as stubborn weight gain, joint pains, mood
swings, anxiety, sleep problems, hot flushes and much more. The results have
been transformational and life changing.
I talk a lot about balance and healthy habits when it comes to Mealtimes for our children, how does Re-Balance by Sally support?
A recent client of mine was juggling a fulltime job, 3 children, 2 dogs and a busy social life. Her perimenopause symptoms had been getting worse and worse to the point where she wasn’t sure she could continue to work. She was irritable with colleagues and the family and she had crippling anxiety. Hot
flushes were making her feel self-conscious and night sweats were keeping
her awake at night. However, she didn’t feel she had time for any health
improvement programmes and joint pains in her legs made her think she
couldn’t exercise.
She signed up to our 12 week Re-Balance programme where we worked
together on creating healthy habits and mindset change to help her find
balance in her work and home life. She was able to carve out time for self-
care, home cooking and exercise. For example, instead of doom scrolling
social media in bed in the mornings, she got up straight away and did a quick
20 minute online yoga class. Instead of ready meals and takeaways, she
batched cooked a few nutritious meals every Sunday that would last the
whole week. Simple healthy habits when done consistently made a huge
difference to her physical and emotional menopause symptoms.
However busy you are, make time for you. Your health is the most important
thing you have.
I love the quote from Edward Stanley “Those who have no
time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.”
In both my books MORE TO Organising and MORE TO Mealtimes, I talk about routine. How can routines support a healthy menopause?
Here’s how you can build
all 3 into your routine to support a healthy menopause:
1. Nutrition
During menopause we need to nourish the body with a nutrient dense diet. Following a Mediterranean diet is a great place to start. This includes eating plenty of vegetables, fruit, wholegrains, fish and healthy fat’s. It's recommended to eat 5 fruit and veg a day but if you can eat 7 a day that is optimal.
I love to use the expression, eat the rainbow. This means eating fruit and veg of all different colours to ensure you are getting all the vital vitamins, minerals and antioxidants for optimal health. Some children can be fussy when it comes to veg so finding meals for the whole family might be challenging.
My top tip here would be to make it fun i.e. making smoothies together, making carrot and cucumber sticks for snacks or blending extra veg into your sauces such as bolognaise sauce.
Eating Protein with every meal is important as you transition through the menopause. Protein supports muscle maintenance which is essential at this time of life because muscle declines with age. We also lose bone density due to the decline of oestrogen during menopause and eating protein supports bone health. Delicious ways to add extra protein into your day include having eggs for breakfast, sprinkling nuts and seeds onto soups, salads, curries etc and having natural Greek yoghurt with berries for dessert.
Sign up to the Re-Balance By Sally newsletter for delicious protein
recipes
Healthy fats need to be included in your diet during perimenopause and
menopause because hormones are produced from cholesterol. Healthy
fats include avocados, olive oil, nuts, seeds and oily fish (salmon, sardines,
mackerel). Omega 3’s in healthy fats also help to reduce inflammation
which cause joint pains, skin redness and acne.
2. Movement
Daily movement and exercise will support your overall health and
wellbeing during menopause. It’s vital for hormone balance, heart health,
bone and muscle health as well as lifting your mood and supporting
mental health. Exercise doesn’t have to take a lot of time or be difficult.
Find something that you enjoy that can be built into your daily routine e.g.
Taking a walk with a colleague in your lunch break, join a fun dance class
with a friend or simply doing 10 squats every time you’re waiting for the
kettle to boil.
3. Self-care
As a busy Mum, you probably put everybody else’s needs before your own.
Now is the time to start prioritising your own self-care and put yourself
first. You can’t look after other’s if you’re not feeling at your best.
Are there things in your life that no longer serve you that you can stop or
delegate to others so you can prioritise self-care? e.g. replacing scrolling
social media with a relaxing bubble bath or reading a book or a walk in
nature. Being kind to yourself and having ‘me time’ will help to reduce
stress and support mental health, key factors to managing menopause
symptoms.
Creating healthy habits of nutrition, movement and selfcare, done
consistently will support a healthy menopause and a long healthy life.
What is one thing you can change in your routine today to start this journey?
Where can we learn more?
If you’d like to learn more about perimenopause and menopause and how to
manage symptoms see our website
Sign up to the newsletter on our website for monthly menopause advice, nutrition nuggets and delicious menopause friendly recipes.
We’re on Instagram with loads of hints and tips for thriving in this phase of life
If you’re ready to take control of your health, get back your energy and zest for
life, Re-Balance health coaching programmes will support you every step of
the way.