At What Age Should Women Stop Having Sex?
Sex changes over time. The frequency, purpose, feeling, all of it. But when should it stop? The easy answer is it shouldn’t have to! There are no hard and fast rules about when women should stop having sex, because every person is different. As we get older, we experience more stress and need relief more than ever. Well, studies have shown that sex relieves stress! But what happens when your body is making it difficult or impossible to have sex as you get older? We have some ideas.
Why Do Sexual Changes Happen As We Get Older?
Hormone levels shift with age and can lower libido and sexual pleasure. While these changes can be minor, some women experience more significant shifts in what sex means for them as they get older.
Once menopause kicks in, women can go through some pretty drastic changes in their sex lives. Many experience decreased libido, difficulty with lubrication, and obstacles related to reaching climax. These issues can typically be traced back to the lack of hormones being produced by the ovaries, in particular estrogen. However, some issues are related to psychological issues including self-confidence issues, general stress, and anxiety.
The common thought about how to handle these kinds of issues is that women experiencing these kinds of sexual dysfunctions should seek out assistance. By having an honest conversation with your doctor about your concerns you may be able to find ways to alleviate and address those concerns. These fluctuations are natural, and can be countered in a variety of ways.
Mental Strategies
A good chunk of issues that can get in the way of enjoying a sexual relationship can involve the mentality around sex. The way we think about sexual health and relationships has the potential to affect the body’s physical performance. Talking with a sex therapist to get a better idea of how they can improve their mental relationship to sex.
The Sexual Advice Association says that, “Sex therapy is considered highly effective in addresssing the main causes and contributing factors of sexual difficulties.” By working out what exactly your mental blocks are regarding sex, you may be able to shift that thinking or find ways to improve sexual confidence and communication.
This strategy is also effective at helping to identify emotional roadblocks for sexual satisfaction.
Emotional Strategies
When addressing issues related to emotional health, some of the most common causes are depression and anxiety. These problems can arise as the result of hormone imbalances and shifts in the body related to menopause. Because every woman will experience menopause, there are plenty of resources to help identify these issues. You’re not alone!
Discussing these issues with a doctor or hormone specialist can return some solutions that were previously not considered such as hormone therapy. Hormone replacement therapy can help return the balance your body is used to. Sometimes, restoring this balance is exactly what someone’s sex life needs!
Physical Strategies
While the mental and emotional side of sex is always worth exploring and addressing, the other obvious side to addressing sexual issues involves physicality. Sex is a physical act, and if your body faces challenges when it comes to physical activity, those will transfer over to sexual activity.
Blood pressure, diabetes, and similar issues are common obstacles, and medications used to treat these conditions can affect sex in their own ways. Heidi Godman, the executive editor at the Harvard Health Letter, says that some treatments for these issues “can blunt interest in sex or cause difficulty reaching orgasm.” When you have these medications to make life better in some areas, but they interfere with other important factors, life can be complicated. Discussing these issues with your doctor makes it possible to start exploring other options for medications.
There are some strategies that you can embrace every day that can improve physical health, and will likely have a positive effect on your sexual health. By engaging in exercise and eating a healthier diet, you can increase blood flow and improve your heart health. A proper diet can also give you more energy without weighing you down.
Smoking and drinking can also interfere with how the body functions in relation to sex. Cutting out smoking entirely, and moderating how much alcohol you drink are huge when it comes to getting your sex life back on track.
How To Apply
When you have all of this information and are trying to figure out the best way to go about implementing it into your own life, it can become pretty overwhelming. When you find that the prospect of handling your stress is becoming stressful, it can quickly spiral out of control. As previously mentioned, seeking out assistance should always be a part of your strategy.
By talking with a professional either about your medications, or other physical, mental, or emotional issues related to sex, you’re laying the groundwork to start taking steps. By even talking to someone, you’ve already taken the first ones! Working with your doctor is a key factor when constructing future strategies for improving overall sexual health.
Sex is an important part of life, and getting older doesn’t mean it has to stop! There are ways to adapt to your body’s changing needs, and by exploring those possibilities, you can keep your sex life going strong!
If you’ve ever tried keeping track of your dietary intake, you’ve probably heard the terms “good cholesterol” and “bad cholesterol.” When it comes to taking an active interest in the composition of your food, cholesterol is usually one of those areas people think about, but it can be hard to track. In order to keep a handle on your good and bad cholesterol levels, the best method is to maintain a healthy diet. Here’s some information to inform your dietary decisions and improve your health!
How Can You Tell?
Unlike hormonal changes that result from having too much or too little of a hormone, having higher or lower cholesterol is typically not noticeable until something major occurs like a heart attack or stroke. The only way to know for sure if your cholesterol is too high is to take a blood test. Professionals recommend getting a cholesterol test every 4 to 6 years after you turn 20 years old.
The Bad: Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL)
LDL is the kind of cholesterol that sticks in your body more stubbornly and can cause problems in higher amounts. When LDL levels are too high in your blood, it can start to stick to the sides of your arteries and lead to an increase of heart disease, stroke, heart attack, and a variety of other issues. LDL cholesterol dense foods like fried foods, fast foods, heavily processed meats, and desserts are huge factors in raised “bad cholesterol” levels.
The problem is that once this cholesterol begins to stick to your blood vessels, it’s hard to remove it without medication. If you find out you have high or elevated LDL cholesterol levels, you should talk with your doctor about how to handle that moving forward. It is possible to make lifestyle changes that result in a better outlook in the future however!
Sources of LDL
- Fast Foods
- Deep-Fried Meat and Cheese
- High-Sugar Low-Nutrition Foods
- Processed Meats (sausages, hot dogs, bacon)
- Fatty Desserts
The Good: High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL)
Sources of HDL
- Eggs
- Shellfish
- Avocado
- Fatty Fish (salmon, rainbow trout, albacore tuna)
- High-Fiber Fruit
- Whole Grains
Having a higher HDL level is actually a good thing. HDL carries LDL to different parts of the body where they can be broken down and used. Without HDL, LDL can start to build up. The key to improving your “good cholesterol” is to eat foods that have significant nutrients attached to them. Eggs, shellfish, and lean protein-rich red meats are some such foods.
By incorporating more olive oil, beans, high-fiber fruit, and fatty fish into your diet, you’ll raise your HDL levels and thus take solid steps towards improving your health. These foods are chock full of the right kinds of fat and cholesterol that your body needs. Studies have found that higher HDL levels can lead to a lowered risk of heart disease, stroke, and hardening of the arteries.
Can Hormones Affect Cholesterol?
Hormones affect how the body regulates itself and cholesterol levels are definitely affected by the amount of certain hormones within the body. Estrogen levels especially can create a fluctuation in HDL and LDL cholesterol in the body. Throughout a menstrual cycle hormone levels can fluctuate as much as 19 percent as levels of hormones shift in the body.
Thyroid hormone can also affect how your body goes about storing or transporting cholesterol. If you have elevated levels of one of these, it could very well affect levels of the others. Talking to your doctor or a healthcare professional is the best way to determine how to proceed with your health in regards to your cholesterol.
Studies have found that with continued hormone replacement therapy, LDL levels have been improved, so talk to your doctor about this as a possibility!
Talk To Your Doctor
By planning on talking to your doctor, you can schedule the necessary blood tests, check on hormone levels, and discuss lifestyle changes to improve your overall health. Talking to your doctor or medical professional early on, it’s possible to identify these issues before they become long term problems. It’s also the only way to address existing cholesterol buildup so that you can move forward with a healthier and happier lifestyle.
In order to maintain or achieve a healthy weight and lifestyle, many people go on crash diets in an attempt to get results fast. Usually the hippest fad in dieting advocates for an extreme food related behavior, such as eating only meat, or avoiding sugar all-together. It can also be related to excessive exercise. The problem with these diets is that after initial results (or sometimes no results), they can lead to increased weight gain and a redoubling of unhealthy habits, known as the Yo-Yo Effect.
Why Does This Happen?
When we quickly push our bodies to extremes they aren’t used to, it can backlash against our habits. If you’re used to eating a high number of daily calories, and cut it down to an extreme low, your body can go into shock and the diet will become unsustainable. When the structure of the diet falls away, someone who was heavily restricting calories may take in even more calories than before and regain the lost weight. Someone who has spent day after day in the gym might take weeks off between gym visits. This loss/gain cycle can cause serious problems within the body like depression and exhaustion.
It’s not always about failing at a diet or not having a sense of commitment to follow through. For some people a crash diet is a get-fit-quick plan designed to get them the body they want quick. Sometimes though, these changes are not sustainable. For example, consistently buying groceries that are way out of your budget makes it impossible to maintain the lifestyle over the long term.
How To Avoid The Yo-Yo
The key to avoiding the bounce back from a failed fad diet is to think about your plans ahead of time. Before diving in keep these tips in mind:
Do Some Critical Reading
Check up on the history of the diet. Who was involved in developing it, and does it have a vetted source to back up its claims? Is there documented proof? Who is advocating for this diet? How many other diets have they supported in the past? If a celebrity is lauding the benefits of a new diet less than 6 months after their last new diet, it might be worth waiting to see how this new one pans out.
Does It Fit Your Lifestyle?
While a new diet begins sweeping across social media and news sources, take it with a grain of salt. Critically look at what the diet is asking you to do, and consider if it’s something you can reasonably incorporate into your daily life. Adjusting your lifestyle in such a way that it’s done using smaller changes means you’re more likely to keep up with the diet.
Plan Ahead
It’s also important to look at the whole course of the diet. Does it change over time? On day 30, do you need to stop eating all grains cold turkey? A common reason people stop following diets is also because of an unforeseen challenge within the diet itself.
Talk To A Professional
As always, before you change your diet significantly, and especially before attempting any of these crash diets, seek out the advice of your doctor or a medical professional. This way, you can discuss your expectations and get a better idea about what you should be doing to achieve the kinds of effects you want from a lifestyle change. In addition, talking with a trained professional can shed some light on how to make significant changes to your diet and lifestyle stick beyond a few weeks.
In order to keep yourself on the right path, it’s important to note that no single diet has all of the answers no matter what they promise in their book or commercials. Talking with your doctor, a nutritionist, and critically looking into any new diets you’re considering is incredibly important before getting caught in a Yo-Yo situation.
We’ve all been there: you’re out eating with friends and someone orders the fried stack of onion rings for the table. Someone else gets that double-stacked burger with three different kinds of cheese. Looming at the end of the meal is the ever present temptation of dessert. It all looks so good!
How is it possible to maintain a diet when going out to eat presents so many opportunities to cheat on your diet? What can you do to better your chances of making it through to the other side while continuing to eat healthy? Here are some helpful healthy tips to keep in mind!
Make a Plan Ahead of Time
Most restaurants offer their menus online, so if you can, look ahead and try to find a healthy option that appeals to you. It’s easier to make these kinds of decisions at home and away from the influence of the “I’m hungry now” thoughts. If you pick your meal before you even get to the restaurant, not only will you probably save time once you get there, you’re more likely to stick to your decision.
Pass on the Pasta
While pastas are definitely delicious, they’re usually empty carbs and can lead to you feeling bloated and hungry later. Look for high protein options like leaner cuts of meat to offer a satisfying and filling choice. Chicken, especially chicken breast, is a solid choice when looking for lower fat protein selections, as are leaner cuts of steak. Make sure you pay attention to how the meat is prepared though. Restaurants often use excessive amounts of butter and salt to enhance flavors, which can eliminate the positive aspect of these lean options.
Avoid the Sugar Water
When going out, it’s common to splurge on yourself and get a sweet drink like a soda or sugary mixed cocktail with dinner. While it may not seem like it, these drinks are full of calories that stick with you long after the meal is done. Water or low sugar options like a dry glass of wine or beer are fine choices to accompany any meal.
Pre-Game Your Meal
Before heading out, maybe indulge in a light snack beforehand. This can help you avoid making hungry decisions at the restaurant. Some fresh-cut vegetables and dip, olives for the salty craving, or even some unsalted nuts to stay your appetite. Here are some other options!
Read the Menu Carefully
Menu writers know how to draw in the hungry consumer. By using words like “pan-fried,” “dipped,” “battered,” and “crispy,” menus are able to give you a clear idea about what you’ll probably be getting. While these words may be enticing, remember that they’re also indicators that those foods are probably not the best option. They all reference fatty food-prep practices that are a sure way to break your diet. Looking for words like “grilled,” “roasted,” or “steamed” for a better direction to go in.
You Don’t Have To Eat It All
Once you feel full, don’t force it! Restaurants have boxes for a reason; their portions are usually too large for a single meal anyway. Don’t let your food linger on the plate in front of you, or you might start thinking that you can finish it all at once. By letting the food you’ve already eaten sit for a bit in your stomach, you’ll realize how full you actually are without the extra portion on top. Plus, you’ll have a meal for later by saving leftovers now!
These are just a few steps that can go a long way towards maintaining healthy eating habits while eating out. Remember, just because you’re eating out, doesn’t mean you can’t stick to your diet plan! By following these helpful tips, you’re that much more likely to stick to your plan!
Stress isn’t something you should just have to deal with. Stress is serious, and it can have very harmful effects on your health and happiness. Stress can happen at any age, but it becomes more of a problem the older we get. Knowing how maximize your relaxation can help you get those stress level down to a minimum. Below you will find a list of tips that will help you stop stress in the moment and in the long term.
Tips For Dealing With Stress
Avoid extra caffeine. Sure we all need our coffee in the morning, but did you know that stimulants like caffeine can increase your stress level. Maybe you’re feeling extra tired in the morning and think that the extra cup will pick you up. Skip it, because it will make you more stressed out later in the day.
Instead of all that coffee throughout the day, maybe try drinking more water. If you need something more exciting try herbal teas or diluted fruit juices. These options will take the stress caused by caffeine out of your life and bring in a ton of hydration. Being properly hydrated will will help your body cope better with stress!
Get Active! Our bodies use stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol when our “fight or flight” system is active, but, unfortunately, nowadays we don’t get enough physical exercise to manage those hormones. Hormones can really affect your overall mood. Getting active will help metabolize those excess stress hormones and bring you back to a state of calm.
You don’t have to go to the gym, everything helps. Maybe take a relaxing walk through the park or neighborhood. Getting active doesn’t mean overdoing it!
Use relaxation techniques. Take time to breathe throughout the day. One of the best tips I ever got for stress relief was to relax my shoulders. Do it right now, doesn’t that feel good? We carry our stress in a physical way, and we don’t even realize the toll it takes on our bodies. Some other tips: try meditation, create a self-affirming mantra, get a massage, etc.
You don’t realize how much taking some time to yourself will help.
Get Plenty of Sleep! Adults are meant to get around seven to nine hours of sleep, but according to a report from Gallup, almost half of American adults are getting less than seven hours. Here’s the problem, we are stressed because we don’t get enough sleep, and because we’re stressed we lay awake with thoughts preventing us from falling asleep. It’s a catch-22, but you can beat it.
If you incorporate the some of the tips from above you won’t have to rely on medication. Ensure that you haven’t had any caffeine near bedtime and try to get enough exercise throughout the day. Make a routine. One of the most important things you can do is make your bedroom a tranquil place. Sure, watching TV in bed is one of the finer things in life, but turning off the screen and dedicating your bedroom to sleep will train your body to know when you go there it’s time to rest.
Manage your time. A routine isn’t just important for nighttime; a daily routine will help you keep track of everything you need to do. Sometimes we get overwhelmed by everything we have to do, but a priority list will help you focus on one thing a time. Trying to take on everything at once is far too stressful. Schedule as much as you can, a schedule will take out the guesswork of your day. Of course leave time for spontaneity, but try to make your workflow streamlined. You will thank yourself.
Don’t forget to limit your caffeine, get active, get plenty of rest, try your best to relax, and make a routine. With these tips you can start to kick stress out of your life in no time, but if nothing seems to be working you could have a hormone imbalance. If you’re running out of options and the stress is getting to be too much, please contact us for a consultation!
It’s Normal But Don’t Settle
As we get older our sex drives do have a tendency to diminish a little. This is nothing to be ashamed of, we’re not the young, energetic, sex driven 20-somethings we used to be.
It’s normal to see some drop in your sex drive, but if it seems like getting in the mood is just impossible now, it could be a sign of something more than just typical aging effects. You could be effected by a number of serious issues including hormone imbalance.
Below are some of the potential causes of lowered libido, and keep in mind a lot of these issues can be fixed or helped!
Interpersonal Issues
While your libido is a very personal thing, it can actually be connected to your interactions with others. If your partner is experiencing performance problems, this could cause your libido to fall. This is no fault of theirs or yours, so you should feel no shame. There are options to help with sexual performance, and it could be something you two could do together to help things out in the bedroom.
Another interpersonal issue could be the birth of a child. Child birth while obviously caused by sexual activity can unfortunately lead to less of it. This can be because of stress and worry, hormonal changes, a lack of sleep, postpartum blues, or body image issues. These are all temporary issues that you have the power to work through, but if you need to don’t ever feel ashamed of seeking help.
It’s important to remember that your libido is linked to so many factors in your life, and that it’s never something you should be ashamed of no matter what’s causing it to fall.
Medical Problems
illnesses both mental and physical can cause problems with your sex dive. Depression can destroy your drive, and anyone suffering knows that fighting depression is a very hard battle. Depression, while caused by a myriad of things, could be caused by a hormone imbalance. Fixing the root cause is the best way to get every aspect of your life back, including your sex life.
Something physical that can cause sexual drive drops are thyroid issues. If your having hormonal issues with your thyroid you could experience weight gain, fatigue, depression, and a lowered sex drive. If your having issues with your libido the first place to look is the thyroid.
Low Testosterone
It may seem odd, but testosterone is actually important to the sex drives in both men and women, and low testosterone could cause a lowered sex drive. Women’s testosterone levels peak around the mid-20s and then steadily decline until menopause where they drop dramatically.
We don’t really think of testosterone as a feminine thing, but a having the right levels of testosterone in your body could make you feel like a 20-year-old all over again. Well, that or just make you feel much more like yourself.
Medications
Our medications are important to our health, but sometimes they can also be detrimental to it. It’s important that we know the interactions that our medications have with every aspect of our bodies, and that we know how we can counteract some of the undesirable effects.
For example, some antidepressants can actually lower your sex drive, which might be completely counter intuitive. And, blood pressure lowering drugs are almost certainly going to lower your libido. It’s important that your consult with your healthcare provider to find the best way to protect everything aspect of your emotional and physical well being.
Getting Back Your Desire
Your sex drive isn’t gone for good. There are number of treatment options available, and hormone treatment might be the best for you. With testosterone and/or estrogen treatment you could see results that will make you feel like you did pre-menopause.
You don’t have to settle for the “inevitable.”
Talk to your healthcare provider about options for getting your libido back!
SP weight loss might sound like some scary science experiment that will leave you somehow thinner, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. SP weight loss, the Serotonin-Plus weight loss program is a medically managed program that will help you feel happier and healthier.
No More Yo-Yo Dieting
Maintaining a healthy weight is always a challenge, especially in our modern world filled with temptations no matter where you turn. And, sometimes it seems like no matter what you do losing weight is impossible. Taking on weight loss alone is a difficult task, and that’s where Renewed Vitality’s Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Program comes in.
The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Program gives you the support you need to ditch bad habits once and for all. Our approach incorporates diet, behavioral changes, and professionally administered medication to boost your metabolism.
Happy and Healthy
Serotonin is the “feel-good” chemical that our brains produce whenever we do something that makes us happy. Unfortunately for all of us that means whenever we give into temptations and eat foods high in sugar and carbohydrates our brain is rewarding us with a little dose of serotonin.
With the Serotonin-Plus program, serotonin is used to our advantage in weight loss. You will get a custom diet that is packed with healthy foods and proper portions. The diet will help you make better choices when you get those cravings and with the support of serotonin your brain will start to make happy associations with all those healthy foods your body needs.
Okay, But What’s the Plus?
Better Diet
The Plus starts with a better diet and when you enroll in the program you will receive an entirely custom made diet plan that removes any guesswork from what you should be eating. Our emphasis is on education, we want to make dieting second nature, something you can do without anyone’s help. You will learn to balance food groups, plan out proper portions, and learn how to apply everything you’ve learned into real life.
Lifestyle Changes
Trained professionals at Renewed Vitality will teach you to become more aware of what you’re eating and how you eat it. You will learn how to eat healthy without interrupting your lifestyle; it will become a part of your lifestyle. Whether you’re eating out, celebrating the holidays with friends and family, or just cooking for yourself at home, you will know how to make the right choices! And, with monthly check-in appointments for a full year you will have the support you need to ensure lifelong changes!
Medical Supplements
Along with all of the other support, you will be administered a small dose of phentermine which is a stimulant that suppresses your appetite and jump starts your metabolism. Phentermine has been used as a weight loss supplement since 1959. Phentermine helps you lower your cravings by stopping them dead in their tracks.
Is Serotonin-Plus Right for Me?
Serotonin-Plus has helped countless people, both men and women, defeat the difficulties of losing weight and breaking unhealthy habits. If you’ve tried every diet, every exercise regiment, and everything in between with no results, then Serotonin-Plus is probably the perfect option for you.
Renewed Vitality schedules a consultation with every single prospective weight loss patient before beginning the program. You will go over medical history, current medications, and other important personal details to determine whether or not Serotonin-Plus is a fit for your needs.
Don’t take on weight loss alone, let Renewed Vitality help you every step of the way!
Estrogen is a very important hormone that plays huge roles in the bodies functions — in women and men. Maintaining balanced levels of estrogen is key to creating a healthy lifestyle, and once you start your hormone therapy it is super beneficial to pair it with a diet that boosts your body’s estrogen! This doesn’t mean a complete change in your eating habits, but adding these foods here and there could make all the difference.
If you’re not sure if you have a hormone imbalance, check out this post about the 6 signs of a hormone imbalance.
The foods below contain phytoestrogens which are dietary estrogens that naturally occur in some foods. They aren’t bioidentical hormones like those that you will receive during hormone therapy, but they can be beneficial regardless.
Dried Fruit
Dried fruits like apricots, prunes, and dates contain much higher levels of phytoestrogens than their fresh varieties. These delicious dried fruits are a great snack, keep them in on your desk at work, in your bag, in the glove box, or pretty much anywhere ready for you to much on them. That’s the beauty of dried fruits, they can last for up to six months after you open the package!
Garlic
Garlic is used in cooking around the world, and with 603 micrograms of phytoestrogens per 100 grams, it should definitely be used in your kitchen. Garlic is easy to add to almost anything and will give any recipe that kick it needs.
Flax Seeds
Flax seeds, or linseeds, contain lignans which are a type of phytoestrogen. Flax seeds can easily be added to a smoothie in the morning, your sandwich and salad at lunch, and sprinkled over rice or any other side at dinner. This estrogen boosting ingredient is super versatile, so there’s no reason not to include it in your diet.
Try adding it to yogurt with granola for a parfait like no other!
Hummus
We all know how delicious hummus is for dipping with veggies, pita, and pretty much any other snack, but did you know that hummus actually contains an average of 993 micrograms of phytoestrogens per 100 grams! Don’t feel guilty about finishing the whole tub, just attribute it to your new balanced hormone lifestyle.
Cruciferous Veggies
Broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and kale are all great sources of lignans. And, with so much variety you can eat these vegetables for pretty much any occasion. Snack on raw broccoli, make a coleslaw with the cabbage, roast the brussels sprouts with some garlic, and make kale chips for the ultimate crunchy snack. Cruciferous vegetables might not sound like the most inviting things, but with their nearly bottomless health benefits and their estrogen boosting qualities, you have to include them in your diet!
Tofu
Tofu is made from soy milk which is naturally high in phytoestrogens, specifically isoflavones which can protect from a myriad of age-related illnesses like heart disease and even cancer. Tofu is an awesome ingredient because of its versatility. I use it in stir frys, breakfast burritos, and soups, but the sky’s truly the limit with tofu!
While all of these foods are certainly a great way to help boost your estrogen levels, there is nothing quite like hormone therapy. It’s important to remember that only a trained profession can help alleviate all the symptoms of hormone imbalance, but that a healthy diet is just one part of the process.
Before making any major changes to your diet please consult your healthcare provider.
For more foody tips check out this post about foods to avoid and healthy alternatives!
