On March 21, “The Union” star, 58, will officially enter menopause — defined as 12 months without a period — she revealed on former PIX11 anchor-turned-menopause advocate, Tamsen Fadal’s new podcast, “The Tamsen Show.”
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Berry’s feting the occasion with a “shiesta,” a term she’s been using to describe a celebration for women entering menopause.
“When a woman realizes that she’s in the menopause — you know, 365 days, and you know you’re in it — it is their duty to give that woman a ‘shiesta’ to celebrate her, like we do every other milestone in our life,” Berry said.
Berry is Fadal’s first guest on the podcast that launches on Wednesday.
We’re told the two women had a mutual love fest discussing womanhood, and their menopause journeys.
Berry, who also battles Type 2 diabetes, revealed she took control of that disease, and was able too wean herself off insulin and oral medication, so, “I thought I would skip menopause, whatever that was,” she half-jokingly told Fadal.
“There was a feeling of, ‘Hey, I can do pretty much anything I want to do if I eat right and exercise, and prioritize my health and well-being,” she explained.
She added that her healthy lifestyle made her feel immune to the inevitable. “I thought whatever menopause is — I don’t know much about it — but I’m sure I’m going to skip it, because I’m too healthy! I’m on top of everything,” she said.
Fadal and Berry are among several high-profile women making it part of their mission to educate women on the topic. Fadal told Page Six last year that entering menopause was the catalyst for her to leave the youth-obsessed TV news biz, and her job at New York’s PIX11, after 15 years at the anchor desk.
“The realization I needed to put my voice into this conversation led me to leave [TV news]. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do my job anymore, but I had a bigger story to tell. I couldn’t stop talking about it. I couldn’t stop studying it. I couldn’t stop talking to women about it,” she said.
She has since produced a documentary on the subject, “The (M) Factor Film,” as well as launched the podcast and penned the book, “How to Menopause: Take Charge of Your Health, Reclaim Your Life, and Feel Even Better than Before,” out March 25.
