KRISTY RAM­NAR­INE

kristy.ram­nar­ine@cnc3.co.tt

Fiona Branker is a cer­ti­fied women’s fit­ness train­er with more than 15 years of ex­pe­ri­ence. As a cer­ti­fied nu­tri­tion and weight man­age­ment coach, work­outs are part of her dai­ly rou­tine. But when she be­gan ex­pe­ri­enc­ing heart pal­pi­ta­tions dur­ing one ses­sion, she knew some­thing was wrong.

“What I felt was a numb­ness in my arm,” she re­called.

“I thought, This is it–I’m hav­ing a heart at­tack, even though I’ve al­ways been healthy and lived a bal­anced life.”

Pan­icked, she rushed to a doc­tor. The first thing she was told: ‘You need to lose weight.’

“I was like, ex­cuse me? My hus­band looked at me, and hon­est­ly, the doc­tor was very close to trig­ger­ing some per­i­menopause rage,” Fiona said.

“I didn’t know it was that at the time. The doc­tor men­tioned I had a lot of mus­cle, and in my mind I thought, this doc­tor is not for me.”

Branker, who has been a women’s fit­ness spe­cial­ist for near­ly two decades, was stunned.

“I’ve tak­en cer­ti­fi­ca­tions over the years, and in all that time, I on­ly came across one small para­graph about per­i­menopause,” she ex­plained.

An­oth­er doc­tor sent her to a car­di­ol­o­gist, then to oth­er spe­cial­ists. Each gave her the same mes­sage: ‘You’re very healthy. Try some heart med­ica­tion. Try to breathe.’

“How can you tell me to just breathe when my heart is rac­ing?” she thought.

Frus­trat­ed, she turned back to her text­books and found that sin­gle para­graph de­scrib­ing symp­toms that mir­rored her own. Even­tu­al­ly, she con­nect­ed with a doc­tor who could fi­nal­ly talk her through what was hap­pen­ing: per­i­menopause.

“If I’d been in the health and fit­ness in­dus­try this long and didn’t know about per­i­menopause, not menopause, be­cause we al­ways heard about hot flush­es and menopause, then I knew there must be oth­er women won­der­ing what was hap­pen­ing with their bod­ies.”

That re­al­i­sa­tion launched her jour­ney to ed­u­cate her­self and, ul­ti­mate­ly, oth­er women.

Un­der­stand­ing Per­i­menopause and Menopause

Per­i­menopause is the nat­ur­al tran­si­tion lead­ing up to menopause, and one of the most com­mon phys­i­cal changes is stub­born weight gain.

“Menopause it­self is reached af­ter 12 months with­out a pe­ri­od,” Branker said.

“It of­ten brings its own set of chal­lenges, from bone loss to changes in body com­po­si­tion. But here’s the key: fit­ness can be one of the most pow­er­ful tools to nav­i­gate this stage of life.”

Reg­u­lar move­ment, strength train­ing, and even dai­ly walk­ing can pre­serve mus­cle, pro­tect bone health, man­age weight, and boost en­er­gy.

How Fit­ness Sup­ports You in Per­i­menopause and Menopause

Ac­cord­ing to Branker, when oe­stro­gen and prog­es­terone lev­els start to fluc­tu­ate, the whole body feels the ef­fects.

“The good news is that ex­er­cise works like med­i­cine for many of these changes,” she said.

Pro­tects Mus­cle and Me­tab­o­lism

De­clin­ing oe­stro­gen leads to mus­cle loss. Body­weight ex­er­cis­es, re­sis­tance bands, or lift­ing weights help pre­serve mus­cle mass, keep me­tab­o­lism ac­tive, and main­tain strength.

Builds Stronger Bones

Menopause ac­cel­er­ates bone den­si­ty loss, rais­ing the risk of os­teo­poro­sis. Weight-bear­ing ex­er­cise–like strength train­ing, brisk walk­ing, or jog­ging–keeps bones re­silient and low­ers frac­ture risk.

Sup­ports Heart Health

Low­er oe­stro­gen can raise cho­les­terol and heart dis­ease risk. Reg­u­lar car­dio ex­er­cise, such as walk­ing, strength­ens the heart and im­proves cir­cu­la­tion.

Man­ages Weight and Bel­ly Fat

Hor­mon­al shifts of­ten mean more fat stor­age around the mid­sec­tion. A mix of strength train­ing and car­dio re­duces vis­cer­al fat and boosts in­sulin sen­si­tiv­i­ty.

Im­proves Mood, En­er­gy, and Sleep

Ex­er­cise is a nat­ur­al mood boost­er, thanks to en­dor­phins. It low­ers stress hor­mones like cor­ti­sol, which can wors­en hot flush­es and bel­ly fat. Even light ac­tiv­i­ty, such as a dai­ly walk, can im­prove sleep qual­i­ty and ease fa­tigue.

A New Chap­ter of Strength

“Per­i­menopause and menopause aren’t sig­nals to slow down; they’re re­minders to make a change,” she said.

“Fit­ness and nu­tri­tion to­geth­er can help you hold on to mus­cle, pro­tect your bones, man­age weight, and feel more en­er­gised in your dai­ly life.”

BOX?

Nu­tri­tion Mat­ters Too

The fit­ness in­struc­tor ad­vised that ex­er­cise is most ef­fec­tive when paired with bal­anced nu­tri­tion, es­pe­cial­ly dur­ing per­i­menopause and menopause.

*Pro­tein first: Aim for pro­tein at each meal–chick­en, fish, turkey, eggs, to­fu, beans.

*Bone-friend­ly foods: Cal­ci­um, mag­ne­sium, and vi­t­a­min D sup­port bone health. In­clude leafy greens, dairy or for­ti­fied al­ter­na­tives, nuts, seeds, and safe sun ex­po­sure.

*Smart carbs: Choose fi­bre-rich foods like fruits, veg­eta­bles, and legumes to sta­bilise blood sug­ar.

*Healthy fats: Omega-3s from fish, flax, chia, and wal­nuts sup­port heart health and re­duce in­flam­ma­tion.

Hy­dra­tion: Hot flush­es and night sweats can de­hy­drate you. Keep wa­ter, co­conut wa­ter, or herbal teas near­by.

*Lim­it­ing re­fined carbs, high­ly processed foods, caf­feine, and al­co­hol can al­so ease symp­toms and make weight man­age­ment eas­i­er.