Perimenopause often kicks off in your late 30s or early 40s — and it can feel like your body’s running on a completely different setting. These hormonal shifts are normal, but that doesn’t mean they’re easy.

You might notice: 

• Disrupted sleep patterns
• Mood swings or anxiety
• Hot flushes and night sweats
• Changes in body composition
• Brain fog and trouble concentrating
• Changes in digestion or body shape

Modern life (hello stress, wine, and busy schedules) can make symptoms even harder to manage — but small, sustainable lifestyle changes can make a real difference.

Things that help:

• Getting better quality sleep
• Reducing Alcohol
• Moving your body regularly
• Eating more whole, nutrient-dense foods
• Finding ways to reduce stress

These changes can work on their own or alongside menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) to ease symptoms and support your overall health — especially your metabolism, mood, and energy.

Weight changes in your 40s and beyond are common — and they’re never just about willpower. Hormones, stress, sleep, metabolism, and modern life all play a part.

Together, we look at the factors you can influence — and create realistic, sustainable habits that support your health without guilt or extremes. 

What I focus on:

• Practical lifestyle changes that work for your body now
• Personalised strategies to shift habits and patterns
• Support with medications if they're appropriate for you

It’s not about chasing a number — it’s about feeling better in your body, improving your energy, and building health that lasts.

Increased cravings, weight gain around the middle, and feeling sluggish after meals can be early signs that your blood sugar is shifting — often linked to insulin resistance or pre-diabetes.

These changes are common in women over 40, especially with hormonal fluctuations, disrupted sleep, and modern eating habits.

Evidence shows that lifestyle changes — like moving more, improving sleep, reducing stress, and eating a whole-food, lower-glycaemic diet — can significantly improve blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity. For some, this can reduce the need for medication and even reverse early-stage type 2 diabetes.

Lifestyle as medicine helps you understand what’s happening and offers realistic ways to support your body — without guilt, extremes, or guesswork.

Feeling constantly tired is one of the most common concerns for women in their 40s and 50s. Poor sleep, blood sugar swings, hormonal changes, iron deficiency, and chronic stress can all contribute — often overlapping and hard to untangle.

Lifestyle factors play a key role in restoring energy. Consistent movement, especially outdoors, has been shown to improve mitochondrial function and reduce fatigue. Improving sleep quality, supporting blood sugar stability, reducing alcohol, and prioritising iron-rich, nutrient-dense meals can all help the body use energy more efficiently.

Breathing practices, mindfulness, and boundaries around rest can also support nervous system regulation — particularly when fatigue is tied to burnout or overwhelm.

It’s rarely about just doing more. It’s about creating the right conditions to restore energy over time.

Low mood, anxiety, and overwhelm are common in women over 40 — especially during hormonal shifts, poor sleep, or high-stress life stages. These feelings can creep in slowly or arrive suddenly, affecting everything from motivation to relationships.

Research shows that certain lifestyle changes can support mental health just as effectively as medication for many people. Regular movement, a Mediterranean-style diet, quality sleep, reduced alcohol, and mindfulness-based practices (like meditation or slow breathing) all play a role in improving mood and easing anxiety.

Lifestyle as medicine gives us tools to support mental wellbeing that don’t rely solely on prescriptions. For many women, these changes offer a sense of agency and long-term support — especially when combined with medical or psychological care when needed.

Lifestyle modification, particularly dietary changes and exercise, can significantly improve digestive symptoms and bloating, which is often labelled as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). To reduce gut irritation and discomfort, a low-FODMAP eating pattern, reducing caffeine and fat intake, and increasing fibre can be helpful tools. Additionally, regular exercise and specific practices like yoga help enhance bowel function and reduce the severity of gut symptoms. Interestingly, hypnotherapy is a new and effective method of reducing gut symptoms. These lifestyle changes address physical symptoms and improve the overall quality of life for those with digestive health issues.

Stress is the modern epidemic — and research suggests almost 80% of GP visits have stress at their core. For women over 40, the pressure can be relentless: juggling work, family, ageing parents, and hormonal changes, often with little time left to recharge.

Chronic stress affects more than your mood — it can disrupt sleep, increase cravings, raise blood pressure, and throw hormones further off balance.

Lifestyle as medicine offers practical, evidence-based ways to turn down the volume on stress. Things like daily movement, mindfulness-based practices, better sleep hygiene, and simple boundaries around rest and technology can make a noticeable difference in how you cope. Over time, these changes help prevent burnout and restore the energy you need for the things that matter most.

Quality sleep isn’t a luxury — it’s essential for hormone balance, mental clarity, energy, and long-term health. Yet many women over 40 find themselves lying awake at 2 a.m., waking too early, or feeling unrefreshed no matter how long they’ve been in bed. Hormonal changes, stress, and modern lifestyle habits can all play a role.

Poor sleep can set off a domino effect — increasing cravings, disrupting mood, lowering immunity, and making it harder to cope with daily demands.

Lifestyle as medicine focuses on evidence-based strategies to restore healthy sleep patterns. This includes optimising your evening routine, supporting your circadian rhythm with light and movement, reducing stimulants, and using relaxation techniques to calm a busy mind. Over time, these changes can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake feeling truly rested.