Hot flushes are “one of the most magical things about menopause”, beloved Kiwi cookbook author Nici Wickes reckons.
In the latest episode of rova podcast Grey Areas with Petra Bagust, Nici speaks openly about body image and health, confronting societal expectations, and how she’s shifted focus from her appearance to her wellbeing as she journeys through menopause.
The menopause journey has been filled with uncertainty and challenges – but for Nici, one aspect in particular has been something of a surprise gift.
“I've noticed something really interesting about hot flushes and I've never heard anybody else say it,” she tells Petra.
“When I now say yes to something I meant no to, or when I feel myself suppressing some anger, it'll come out in a hot flush. It's really like clockwork.
“I think that’s one of the most magical things for menopause, is you get these bodily reminders that ‘hang on a minute, you need to be true to you. You need to look after yourself.’ I can absolutely feel it in my body now. It will generate a hot flush. It's not just a, ‘oh, I'm a bit flushed with anger’. It's a hot flush.”
Nici also talked candidly to Petra about her relationship with her body during menopause, and how she has had to be firm with herself as her body has changed.
“I remember catching sight of myself in a full-length mirror in an apartment I was living in and I saw my mother's body, with a saggy stomach and a very pear shape, and it really distressed me in that brief moment,” she told Grey Areas.
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“That was one of the very few times in my life where I have not admired my body… I hated on my body in that moment because it looked like an older woman and I didn't feel like that.
“And I just remember catching myself and thinking, ‘Oh, let's not go there sweetie because you've got a lot of years now to get through, and things are only going to start looking different – I'm not even going to say worse – so you best not go there.’
“But it gave me an insight to people who live in a body that they don't enjoy for whatever reason.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Nici shares her wisdom on no-fuss cooking, building confidence in and out of the kitchen, and her latest book ‘More from A Quiet Kitchen’. She also gets real about prioritising mental health as she and Petra explore themes of solitude, self-expression, and the serenity found in cooking for oneself.
