Megan Lock - Life Coach

I could talk at length about how my life has changed over the past 18 months due to perimenopause, but I’ve been living it so I’m tired of thinking and talking about the negative aspects of it haha. So all I can say right now, that’s of any benefit to anyone reading this, going on HRT is what fixed me, it got me back to my old self so I had the ability to even contemplate getting my physical self back in shape. This isn’t about being thin or looking good, it’s about FEELING better and fitting into my clothing. And that comes down to mindset and clarity of thought, the HRT helped with that.

The KETO part of it is personal, not everyone has to or should do it. I’ve never tried it before so I wanted to give it a go. It’s working really well for me and I feel a million bucks (apart from the first two adjustment period where I wanted to die lol). I plan on being on keto until I reach my goal body composition (25% BF, 65kg - roughly), then I’ll re-introduce carbs.

1. Visit your GP to get a mental health care plan … 2. Search the APS website for a psychologist in your area … 3. Confirm their registration on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency website … tips: remember that anyone can call themselves a ‘therapist’, ‘healer’, ‘psychotherapist’, or ‘counselor’ and not be required to engage in any training whatsoever. Some may complete a short course sold online to other people who don’t have accredited training. psychology.org AHPRA.gov.au

Today marks the beginning of my HRT journey. I've been in a living hell for the past 18 months, with various symptoms, due to perimenopause. My doctor was reluctant to get me on any HRT because my blood tests didn't show a large enough drop in estrogen. I'm so happy that she went on to research more about it, attended conventions and seminars and finally reached the conclusion that you can in-fact prescribe some combination of HRT to help elleviate symptoms of peri-menopause. So, if you're a woman in mid-life and you're struggling with symptoms, please see your doctor, and get a second opinion if you're not happy with how they're approaching it.

I was reading the comments on a reel by Steve Bartlett this morning, he had someone on his podcast talking about changing your negative thoughts. It was classic CBT and made sense to me, but so many people commenting really didn't understand what he was saying, and seemed critical of the technique. It's understandable because he really only touched on one element of CBT without any depth into why or how it works (educating someone about that would happen in a therapy session). My question to all of you is this: "have you ever decided NOT to do therapy because of an assumption that it wont work"? That assumption may have come from a reel like his where it's very surface level and it seems you can't apply your situation to that technique, or the assumption might come from somewhere else. The second question is this: "How could you be swayed into believing that therapy may work for you?"

There’s been a lot going on in the background while I’ve been trying to study and it can get really overwhelming. Most people (especially those of us who are a little older with children, aging parents, physical issues, and have lots of other responsibilities) have stress in other areas, but we still need to carry on. I said to my husband on our early morning walk today “none of it would be stressful if I just didn’t react in a stressful way. It wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t think it was a problem”. Maybe I need to start doing CBT on myself to help me get through it all.

What are your thoughts?

Life is a process 😵‍💫

I’m hoping to get time to read this (amongst all my reading for uni) soon. This is one of the therapeutic styles (Internal Family Systems) my psychologist uses to help me heal trauma (in conjunction with EMDR). It’s been amazing.

Who’s in your circle of influence? We’ve all heard it before, but it’s true and important:

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with” ~ Jim Rohn

Have a good hard think about it and start pruning the dead stems and planting new seeds. Your future self will thank you for it.

Have you ever tried sitting with feelings of depression without using alcohol, drugs, s*x, food, self-harm to cope with the emotional pain?