10 Years and 20,000 Women Later: What This Researcher Has Learned About Menopause
Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD), founder of My Menopause Transformation (MyMT™), is celebrating a significant milestone: 10 years of supporting more than 20,000 women through menopause and beyond.
What began as a personal mission to understand her own menopause symptoms has evolved into a globally recognised education and coaching platform helping women take control of their health during one of life's most challenging transitions.
A former ICU nurse, exercise specialist, university lecturer and healthy ageing researcher, Wendy founded MyMT™ after becoming frustrated by the lack of practical, evidence-based lifestyle solutions available to women experiencing menopause symptoms.
“One day, after purchasing yet another supplement from a young saleswoman, who had no idea what I was going through, and knowing that my blood pressure and cholesterol were climbing, despite being on HRT, I had had enough!
It was my ‘lightbulb’ moment. Drawing on my many years of teaching exercise physiology at the University of Waikato, I realised that nobody was taking a ‘whole-body’ approach to menopause symptoms. Furthermore, with menopause management framed within the medical and pharmaceutical paradigms, I also realised that I hadn’t heard anyone talking about lifestyle science solutions”, she explains.
“That’s when knew I had to use my physiology and healthy ageing knowledge and experience, not only as a former nurse, but also as a leading exercise specialist in New Zealand and University Lecturer, to figure out how to turn around menopause symptoms and my health, so I could ‘age-well’.”
That’s how MyMT™ was established. Since then, Wendy has worked with women across New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States, Europe and beyond, helping them better understand the relationship between menopause symptoms, healthy ageing, inflammation, nutrition, exercise and lifestyle habits.
Drawing on insights gained from supporting more than 20,000 women, she says the biggest lesson has been that many women feel unheard and unsupported during menopause.
"Women often arrive feeling exhausted, confused and frustrated. They've tried multiple solutions, but nobody has connected the dots. What we've learned is that symptoms rarely exist in isolation. Sleep, weight gain, inflammation, energy, mood and overall health are all interconnected."
Wendy believes the conversation must move beyond symptom management alone and focus on healthy ageing.
"Menopause isn't just a phase we get through. It's a biological transition that influences how we age for decades to come. Women deserve access to education that helps them understand not only what's happening now, but how to protect their future health, particularly their cardiovascular health - afterall, heart disease remains the number one health risk for women as they transition from menopause to post-menopause."
As MyMT™ enters its second decade, Wendy remains committed to its mission of empowering women with practical, science-backed knowledge and a supportive community.
To mark the milestone, she has released 10 Years, 10 Lessons, sharing the key insights gained from supporting more than 20,000 women through menopause and beyond.
For more information, visit www.mymenopausetransformation.com