Another one of those supplement adverts popped up on my newsfeed recently. This time it was talking about belly fat in menopause. It started by explaining that there are two different types of fat, subcutaneous and visceral, and then quickly moved into why your “stubborn belly” is not your fault, cannot be fixed with diet or exercise, and is actually caused by your gut lining breaking down due to collagen loss. Conveniently, the solution was their collagen supplement. Now, I

If you have noticed your body feeling different lately, perhaps in the way your clothes fit or how your shape has shifted, you are not alone. Many women I work with tell me that their body shape seems to be changing, even when their habits have not. Clothes fit differently. Weight seems to settle around the middle. And perhaps most frustrating of all, the things that used to “work” no longer seem to make a difference. It is very easy in this space to fall into the trap of thi

There is something I see time and time again in the women I work with, and if I am honest, something I have experienced myself too. It is a quiet disconnection. A sense that somewhere along the way, we stopped trusting our bodies and started looking outside of ourselves for answers. Instead of tuning in, we rely on apps, watches, plans, and rules to tell us what is happening inside our own bodies. We second-guess how we feel, override hunger, question cravings, and push throu

Recently, I came across an advert on social media that made me stop scrolling. Not because it was inspiring, but because it raised a lot of questions. The advert claimed that by following a simple 20-minute daily routine, the person discovered their cortisol levels were three times higher than normal. Once they “fixed” this with the plan, everything changed. They were back in their favourite jeans and finally felt comfortable in their body again. Another part of the advert sa

Why the “female-specific nutrition” narrative deserves a closer look Recently I came across a post on Instagram that stopped me mid-scroll. It said, “I’m a scientist and a woman. If female-specific exercise and nutrition recommendations were legitimate, I’d follow them and recommend them to other women.” It was a bold statement, and it made me pause because it captured something I have been thinking about for a long time. You might expect a Registered Nutritional Therapist wh

Recently, I keep seeing more and more articles and social media adverts aimed at women in midlife making bold claims about cortisol and menopause weight gain. Many of these posts revolve around the same idea: cortisol, menopause, and “belly fat” are presented as though they are directly and simply connected. The message often follows a very familiar pattern. Your weight gain in perimenopause is caused by cortisol. Your body has a hidden hormonal switch. If you trigger it cor

If you have spent any time on social media recently, you have probably come across posts that tell a very familiar story. A woman in her 40s shares how she suddenly gained weight despite eating the same foods and living the same lifestyle. She explains that her doctor blamed hormones, but that turned out to be wrong. She then reveals a different reason, often something unexpected like stress or the nervous system, and describes a transformation where the weight finally starte

The Phone Call That Broke My Trust: What Perimenopause Care Can Feel Like (But Often Doesn’t)   If you have ever put down the phone after speaking to a healthcare professional and felt shaky, angry, and unsettled, I want you to know I get it. Yesterday I received an unexpected call from my GP surgery, and it left me feeling blindsided, unsupported, and unsure what to do next. It also triggered something that I know many women in perimenopause will recognise, that familiar sen

By Justina Triasovaite, Women’s Health & Hormone Specialist PT Www.justinatraining.com   Every January, women are told it’s time to start over. New body. New routine. New rules. New discipline. And for women in perimenopause, that pressure can feel even heavier, especially when your body suddenly feels unfamiliar. Workouts that once felt easy now leave you exhausted, recovery takes longer, and the idea of pushing harder feels more draining than motivating. But here’s the trut

Is Skinny Making a Comeback? Why the Return of Thinness Is Harming Perimenopausal Women If you’ve felt a familiar tightening in your chest lately while scrolling social media, you’re not imagining it. The messaging around bodies is shifting again. Thinness is quietly being praised. “Getting your body back” is suddenly everywhere. Weight loss is being framed as the ultimate marker of health, discipline, and success. For many women in perimenopause, this feels deeply unsettling

If you are reading this and feeling confused about food in perimenopause, I want to start by saying this very clearly: • You are not failing. • You are not lazy. • You are not lacking willpower. • You are not “bad at being healthy”. You are living in a body that is changing, and nobody really prepares women for how much perimenopause can affect appetite, energy, cravings, weight, mood, sleep, and confidence around food. This is exactly why I created the Perimenopause MOT. Thi

Today I want to share something personal with you, because I think a lot of you will recognise yourselves in it. I hesitated before writing this. It talks about weight, losing weight and the scales. I know that for many women, especially in perimenopause, those topics can be loaded, emotional, and sometimes triggering. If this feels like something you would rather not read today, that is completely okay. Please look after yourself first. I’m sharing this not to promote weight

Every January, the same messages appear: New year, new you. Time to reset. Detox your body. Start again. If you are in perimenopause, those messages can feel even heavier because you are already dealing with significant change. Hormones are shifting, sleep may feel fragile, energy can be unpredictable, emotions may feel like a rollercoaster, and you might even notice that your appetite is different. So being told you now need to completely reinvent yourself can feel overwhelm

Ah, Christmas. The season of twinkly lights, frantic WhatsApp groups, three different school events all happening on the same day, and the annual moment where you stare at a festive buffet wondering if you should feel bad about wanting a sausage roll. If you're in perimenopause, you're already juggling hot flushes, anxiety, joint aches, brain fog, middle of the night awakenings, and emotions that can swing harder than your aunt Linda after two glasses of Baileys. You do not  

If you have ever found yourself staring at the crumbs someone left on the kitchen counter and suddenly felt like you might burst into tears, please know this: it makes complete sense. It is often the smallest thing that tips you. That moment where something minor feels enormous is not a sign that you are falling apart. It is a sign that your brain is already at capacity. And if you are in perimenopause, that feeling can show up more often than you expect. Christmas is creepin

If you have found yourself searching for foods that boost GLP 1 (the hormone targeted by weight loss injections) or wondering whether there are natural ways to support appetite and cravings without going straight to medication, you are definitely not alone. So many women in their forties come to me saying the same thing. Their appetite feels different. Cravings feel louder. Portion sizes feel harder to judge. And the way they used to manage their weight seems to have stopped

If you’re in your 40s and deep in the perimenopause trenches, you already know how unpredictable your mind and mood can feel. One day you’re fairly steady, doing your thing. The next? You’re tearful, irritable, overwhelmed… or standing in the kitchen wondering why you opened the fridge and what you were even looking for. Mood swings. Brain fog. Sudden drops in motivation. Emotional sensitivity. Forgetfulness. PMS that feels dialled up to maximum. And a mental load that alread

If you’ve recently found yourself hovering around the kitchen, rummaging for something carb-y, comforting, or sweet, even when you’ve eaten, please know this: you’re not alone, and you’re not doing anything wrong.   Women tell me all the time: “I don’t understand why I suddenly want bread or chocolate all the time.” “I’ve never been like this before, what’s happening to me?”   Perimenopause cravings can feel intense, unpredictable, and sometimes completely out of character. O

Perimenopause isn’t a neat, predictable chapter of life. It’s messy, exhausting, and often catches you off guard. One day you’re ploughing through your to-do list, the next you’re wide awake at 3am, dripping in night sweats, and eyeing up the biscuit tin before lunch. If that feels familiar, you’re not doing anything wrong. You’re in perimenopause. And while we can’t stop the hormonal rollercoaster, food can play a huge role in how you feel, without dieting, calorie counting,

by Justina Triasovaite, Women’s Health & Hormone Specialist PT If you’ve reached your 40s or early 50s and feel like your body no longer...