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.

Heavy, painful, or irregular periods are common in the lead-up to menopause — often caused by conditions like fibroids, adenomyosis, endometriosis, or fluctuating hormones. But just because they’re common doesn’t mean you have to put up with them.

Lifestyle changes can play a supportive role in managing symptoms. Regular movement, a nutrient-rich diet, and reducing alcohol can help regulate hormones, reduce inflammation, and support iron levels — all of which can ease period-related symptoms.

For some women, these changes reduce the need for medications or more invasive treatments. For others, they work best alongside medical options like hormonal therapy or surgery.

The goal is to help you feel more in control of your symptoms — and more supported in the choices you make.

Recovery after pelvic surgery often comes with more than just physical healing — changes to hormones, sleep, energy, and emotional wellbeing are all part of the process.

Lifestyle as medicine offers practical tools to support your recovery. Gentle movement, including walking and pelvic floor exercises, can help rebuild strength and reduce post-op complications. Resistance training plays a key role in supporting bone health, mood, and metabolism after hysterectomy.

A nutrient-rich diet with adequate protein and iron supports tissue repair and energy. Mindfulness practices, like slow breathing or guided meditation, have also been shown to reduce anxiety and improve sleep during recovery.

Small, intentional changes can make a big difference in how you feel — physically and emotionally — as you recover.

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.

Bladder symptoms like urgency, leaking, or heaviness are common — especially after childbirth, during perimenopause, or following pelvic surgery. These changes are often related to pelvic floor weakness, hormone shifts, or changes in weight and abdominal pressure.

Targeted lifestyle changes can reduce symptoms and improve pelvic floor function. Regular pelvic floor exercises, general strength training, and managing constipation all play a role. Even modest weight loss has been shown to significantly reduce urinary symptoms in women with overweight or obesity.

Reducing caffeine and alcohol, improving sleep, and supporting mental wellbeing through stress management can also reduce bladder irritability and help women regain a sense of confidence and control.

These symptoms are common — but they’re not something you just have to put up with.

Low mood, anxiety and overwhelm are common in women over 40 — especially during hormonal shifts, poor sleep, and high-stress life stages.

Research shows that certain lifestyle changes can support mental health just as effectively as medication for many people. Things like 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 reducing anxiety symptoms.

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.