Former X Factor host Kate Thornton, who fronts ITV’s The Royal Beat, previously opened up about the reality of going through the menopause.
The 51-year-old presenter described going through the menopause similar to being pregnant, insisting, “you think you know what to expect, but nothing can prepare you for what it’s actually like”.
Kate Thornton opens up about menopause
During an interview with The Sun’s Fabulous Magazine in 2022, Kate revealed that she went into perimenopause in summer 2020.
Her initial symptoms included forgetting simple things. “I’d walk into a supermarket and think: ‘Why the hell am I here? Do I need milk? I’ve got no idea,'” she said.
During interviews, Kate began to not remember who she was talking to or what subject they were discussing.
Her first physical symptom, however, was “extreme body aches,” revealing she “woke up one morning and felt like I’d done 18 hours in the gym”.
The pain in her knee was so “debilitating” that she thought she had arthritis. When she booked booked herself in for a scan, the technician told Kate: “I’m telling you now, you haven’t got arthritis, you’re perimenopausal.”
Soon after finding out, Kate noticed her eyes would start “streaming at 4pm every day”. She also gained weight, jumping two dress sizes in two months.
Admitting the weight gain made her feel “self-consious,” Kate said she “attacked it by doing lots of HIIT workouts, which in hindsight was the worst thing I could have done, as it can affect your cortisol levels and make you retain fat”.
‘HRT has been life-changing’
As Kate refers to HRT as “life-changing,” she doesn’t state that every woman should take it. However, she believes they “should have the information to make an educated choice”.
Kate believes the topic of menopause should be taught in schools, workplaces and in the healthcare system.
After exercising, she noticed a change in herself.
“I lost weight with gentle weight-lifting and doing at least 10,000 steps a day, and now I feel like I’ve got my identity back,” Kate revealed. “As someone who works full-time, is a single parent to my son Ben [14], and has a full social life, I thrive on being busy.”
Read more: Kate Thornton reveals a ‘walk down memory lane’ with her son triggered lockdown ‘grief’
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