“The menopause is a journey, not a disease” so says this week’s guest Irene Hogan.

If you want to go into the menopause empowered and with the right attitude then there is no one better to listen to than Irene with her blend of knowledge, common sense and practical advice.

I am excited to share the ways people can improve mental wellness and create a healthy relationship with technology in my interview with Authority Magazine. The doom and gloom that is portrayed by the media, the confusion, and isolation and shame women feel is associated with menopause, ageing, and declining hormones has to be dispelled. This will lead to healthier lives for women as they age and their families as they are the main caregivers.

Detox tips and tricks to remove everyday toxins
(without having to spend large on a juice cleanse)

Everybody is toxic. Every day, women are bombarded and exposed to environmental chemicals. From the water we drink, to the food we eat, to the air we breathe. We are lathering and slathering our bodies with toxic lotions and potions in the name of beauty. At the same time, according to research, we are absorbing and consuming pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, parabens, phthalates on a daily basis.

A healthy sex drive is linked to longevity. Yes, sex is anti-aging. Hormones, stress, drugs, aging, and lifestyle all may affect a woman’s libido or sex drive. For women, both her mind and body must be functioning optimally for a healthy sex drive. Anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs frequently prescribed for menopausal symptoms can reduce libido and the ability to orgasm and some drugs cause vaginal dryness.

Menopause is a daunting, uncomfortable, unsettling stage of life that every woman will eventually have to face. Most women choose to ignore it until it hits them. Women are often confused, frightened, and overwhelmed by the idea of menopause and dread the thought of the symptoms they have heard about, particularly insomnia.

What really inspired you to write your book, to force you from taking an idea or experience and conveying it into a book?

My inspiration for writing my book was my life’s work with patients specifically women. Over the years I had listened to thousands of women telling me how confused and helpless they felt as they entered a phase of their lives that by all reports was viewed as a natural transition at midlife. However in reality, their symptoms and experiences were far from normal. This was a journey which all women would embark on.

So you’re attempting to eat healthy, working out and jogging but the pounds seem to add themselves to your physique while you sleep. Could this be the menopause bulge?

Yes, a woman’s body changes in peri-menopause which proceeds menopause by about 10 years. Menopause occurs when a woman has gone a year without a period and on average occurs around the age of 51. A woman’s body composition alters as she ages. Muscle mass diminishes while fat increases. This is to help balance declining estrogen levels.

Lot’s of advice about a topic that some still find taboo.

What is menopause and when does it happen? How long does it last? Does it last forever? Author of, “Hot Chix, Hot Sex, How to Survive Menopause” Irene Hogan gets real about what happens to your body during menopause and how it affects your sex life.

Perimenopause, menopause, osteoporosis, aging, sex after menopause. They’re all topics that intimately affect us as women, but we don’t like talking about them. That fascinates pharmacist and menopause expert Irene Hogan because its what she talks about most. Irene believes that aging does not mean that your body has to fall apart or succumb to chronic disease. She helps women put more life into their menopausal and post-menopausal years (and not just years into their) lives – and this week she’s helping us Victory Chicks do it!