Veronica Nyakoboke, 46, had always been a lover of fine wine. A day hardly passed without the mother of a 17-year-old girl winding down her day with a glass or two of her favourite wine. For about 20 years, this was her way of relaxing after a hard day.
“I was a wine-everyday kind of girl. You know, wine after a long day at work? But that was until two years ago,” she says.
A fitness freak, who had exercised throughout her adult life, she could drink or eat anything she wanted and still not look out of shape or lose her well-toned physique.
“I used to be a lazy girl in my teenage days until my elder brother introduced me to a gym. I was 19 then, and I have never stopped working out ever since. I could afford to eat and drink anything. Unfortunately, not anymore,” says the 46-year-old entrepreneur.
About three years ago, still working out, Veronica’s body began changing. She could not quite understand what was happening. She would later understand she had just entered her perimenopause phase of life.
Perimenopause is when one transitions to menopause. Women may have symptoms like irregular periods, changes in mood, and hot flashes.
“I don’t know when exactly my perimenopause started, but around my 40s. When it all started, I wasn’t aware. But that is the thing about it; it just creeps on you. In my case it started with irregular periods and extreme fatigue. I began gaining weight, my belly getting flabby. It was so frustrating because I could not understand why, considering I had been on a high-impact exercise regime my entire adult life. Then hot flashes followed, and that’s when I began doing research to understand why,” she says.
Veronica learnt what was happening to her had direct correlations with what she ate or drank or the kind of exercises she engaged in.
“Discovering that I was in my perimenopause, I hadn’t expected to struggle with the symptoms having been active for 20 years. I also didn’t know that besides exercising, what I ate or drank affected how I coped with the symptoms,” she says.
She would soon find out that her sweet tooth, junk cravings, and alcohol were major contributors to her hormonal chaos.
“I noticed that every time I had a glass of wine, the symptoms would get worse. I’d experience the worst kind of hot flashes every time I had alcohol. I’d have a very bad hangover, yet I’d taken just a glass of wine (something that never used to be an issue). I would struggle with my sleep. My energy levels would drop significantly. The fatigue was extreme; I was always tired. It would affect my mood so badly; I would be more anxious and irritable,” she says.
“Cutting out wine was one of the best decisions I made as the symptoms became mild. The hot flashes aren’t as rough as they used to be. I also sleep so much better because insomnia is a really big issue in women in the perimenopause stage,” she adds.
Change fitness regime
Besides gym exercises, Veronica had always loved long-distance running.
“In addition to high-intensity workouts, I used to do 10-15 kilometre runs in a session,” she says, “But I'd still add weight.”
She researched the best exercises for perimenopausal women, and it has been a game-changer.
“I learned how to modify my exercise routine. I focus more on strength training and muscle building. I still do my runs, but not as intensely and long as I used to. Nowadays, I do a lot of weightlifting, and I try to lift heavier. I am not that bulky; I weigh 65 kilos and I can give you one good rep (repetition) of a deadlift of 120kg weights. For 100kg weights, I can give you five clean reps and 10 reps of the same if the bar is 85kg. That’s how I can tell how strong I am,” she says.
Veronica says that in her research, she realised the best way to go through perimenopause with ease has everything to do with strength training, nutrition, and muscle-building.
“Women should ditch those light toning dumbbells and lift heavy weights, especially those approaching 40. At 40, it’s like the universe is informing you that you are now ageing so you need to start making changes early so you can age better,” she says.
In their 20s and 30s, a majority of women who exercise religiously remain lean as their metabolism is higher. But after 40, muscle mass decreases and metabolism slows, resulting in fewer calories being burned.
“By my mid-40s, I also had to reduce my intake of processed foods and sugar. I began eating more whole foods, fruits, and vegetables,” says Veronica, who owns Verushka Wigs, a hair business in Nairobi, and now feels compelled to start a programme to educate perimenopausal women on exercising right.
“As women grow up, there is a lot of information about puberty, but we are never educated on what to expect about perimenopause and menopause, which affects someone’s life immensely, be it relationships or at work. I felt the need to bridge this gap, having struggled with it. It’s my passion project to support women as they transition through perimenopause, menopause, and beyond,” she says of the project that has so far attracted over 1,000 women.
