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The Ultimate Guide to Taking Control of Your Health and Beauty During Menopause

STANESS JONEKOS
with WENDY KLEIN, M.D.
 

Every day, an estimated six thousand women reach menopause in North America, according to the North American Menopause Society - that’s over 2 million baby boomers  slamming into menopause a year! Staness Jonekos is one of those women. At 47, fourth months before her wedding, she was blindsided by the onset of menopause and its attendant symptoms: hourly hot flashes and hormonal changes that made wedding planning an emotional roller coaster, weight gain that made ordering a wedding gown impossible, and a body that was in no mood for a honeymoon. An accomplished television producer and writer with a can-do attitude, Jonekos realized she needed to regain control of her health and beauty before the big wedding day, but she could not find a single all-encompassing resource to help her take charge. So, inspired by her own wedding planner book, she created her the Twelve-Week Menopause Makeover taking the mystery out of menopause and rebranding “the change” as a baby boomer celebration!

Jonekos' THE MENOPAUSE MAKEOVER: The Ultimate Guide to Taking Control of Your Health and Beauty During Menopause (Harlequin; February 2010; $16.95), written with Wendy Klein, M.D., offers women all the information they need to reclaim their lives during menopause. The book's innovative, user-friendly format, which includes checklists, to-do lists, and places to journal, set goals and track progress, gives a woman the tools she needs to look and feel better in just three months. Drawing on the latest scientific evidence for alternative, complimentary and medical treatment options, and providing easy-to-understand explanations of what is happening to her changing body and mind, information on treatment options, and advice on nutrition, beauty, exercise, sex, and motivation geared specifically for the menopausal woman, THE MENOPAUSE MAKEOVER is the ultimate survival guide to mid-life change.

The Menopause Makeover is an easy-to-follow three-part process. Part One, "Your Menopause Survival Guide," outlines the eight steps to physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Working closely with Dr. Klein (a national leader in women’s health and Associate Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine), The Menopause Makeover is grounded in the most current research.  These chapters explain what is taking place in a woman's body before, during and after menopause. Armed with an understanding of hormonal changes, women can be informed before talking with their physicians about tests, hormone therapies and other treatments and alternatives. Women facing menopause may need to adjust their relationship with food, so Jonekos provides a thorough primer on eating right, including a tested Menopause Makeover Food Pyramid that conquers the ever-expanding menopause mid-section. Exercise is essential, as is a newfound attention to skin care and wardrobe styling updates. Coping with stress, getting off the emotional roller coaster, strengthening your romantic and sexual relationship, and finding spirituality and balance are all components for creating happiness during menopause. 

The Menopause Makeover embraces that we are all different, so we must be educated on treatment options, new ways of eating and exercising, as well practicing new skin care management..  Part two provides a blueprint for "Planning Your Transformation" and creating a personal Menopause Makeover. The process begins with identifying the facts and tools needed to begin: numbers like BMI, ideal weight, Basal Metabolic Rate and caloric intake are detailed in an easy-to-understand manner. Putting it all together allows one to create a personal health profile. Then, goals are written down in an achievable 12-week format. The final section of THE MENOPAUSE MAKEOVER is a hands-on workbook, providing a month-at-a-glance planner, sections for contacts--from your doctor to your hair stylist--that make up your support group, and for organizing medical forms, food plans, shopping lists, journal pages and progress reports. Jonekos also provided some of her favorite Menopause Makeover recipes and menus.  The Menopause Makeover is one-stop-shopping, a survival guide and essential planner.

Like no other resource, THE MENOPAUSE MAKEOVER offers eating and exercise advice, beauty tips, and emotional and relationship support, topped off with a splash of spirituality and a dash of happiness--all areas a woman needs to work on in order to truly manage menopause. Here are all the tools needed to go through "the change" and celebrate a new beginning.