Best Practices for Nutrition and Training in Perimenopause and Post-menopause

If you’ve reached your mid-forties or beyond and noticed that what once kept you strong and fit, or lean and trim no longer works — you’re not imagining it. Increasing your training is not the answer. And reducing calories is definitely not the answer.

That old piece of advice given to younger, sedentary women — “Eat less, do more” — simply doesn’t apply here. In fact, following it at this stage of life can actually make things worse.
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👉 Note: This post is written for women who are already active and exercising regularly. If you’re more sedentary, my advice will look a little different (I’ll cover that in a future blog).

So, if fat loss, lean mass gain, improved strength, stronger bones, and better metabolic health aren’t achieved by just eating less and doing more — how do we actually get there?
The answer: Fuel for training and recovery, not restriction.

When you train smart (I’ll explain what that means below), recover well, and fuel at the right times, positive changes in body composition follow naturally. Why? Because your body learns to use fuel more effectively instead of storing it as unwanted fat.
On the other hand, creating calorie deficits through extra training and/or under-fuelling can set you up for problems linked to LEA (low energy availability). These can show up as RED-S (relative energy deficiency in sport) or HA (hypothalamic amenorrhea). 
(See past blogs for my articles on these conditions, which affect all genders of all ages) In other words, instead of fat loss, you end up with health issues.
And if you’re not fuelling properly around your workouts, you’re also missing out on the full benefit of the training itself.

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A biological shift - hello perimenopause 

As we move into perimenopause, our hormones begin to shift. Oestrogen and progesterone don’t just control our cycles — they influence muscles, bones, brain, metabolism, and even recovery from exercise. 

When they fluctuate, everything changes. Perimenopause is simply your body transitioning to a new biological state. It’s nothing to fear — but it does require a shift in thinking and training to achieve your fitness and health goals.

The workout routine that worked brilliantly in your 20s or 30s may stop giving the same results.

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Why does this happen?

Hormonal fluctuations affect:

• The strength of your muscular contractions 
• Your bodies ability to build muscle from amino acids ( proteins) 
• Speed of recovery after exercise
• Your stress resilience 
• Your serotonin uptake 
• Fat and glucose utilisation
• Bone strength and density
• Fat storage — especially around the middle
• The quality of your microbiome ( gut health and digestive function) 

The good news? The solution is not “do more.” It’s train smarter and tweak your nutrition.  

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The training shift you need

In short smarter training means:  less volume, more intensity, more recovery.
This means a more polarised training approach:
• Hard sessions (lifting heavy, HIIT)
• Easy sessions (yoga, gentle walking, slow swims or rides)
• Fewer/minimal  moderate-intensity, long-duration cardio sessions. I know I love them too! I'm not saying don't do them I'm just explaining why they may not be benefiting you as much physically anymore. 
        -       Sufficient time off exercise to feel fresh next time you do exercise. 

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What your body needs now

To support metabolism, lean mass, and bone health in perimenopause and beyond:
• Strength training: 2–3 sessions per week lifting heavier loads, not endless reps. Focus on central nervous system stimulation (6–8 reps), rather than hypertrophy (10–12 reps).

Now please note- we have to build up to be able to lift heavy firstly we need to make sure we move well with good technique and mobility, so ensure you start with this as your focus first.  

• HIIT & SIT: 1 high-intensity interval workout + 1 sprint interval session per week.
• HIIT = intervals of 30 seconds to 3–4 minutes intense work. 
• SIT = very short bursts of 8–30 seconds very intense work.
• Plyometrics: Unless contraindicated for you, add multidirectional jumps, hops, and bounds to build explosive power and bone density. (Bone improvements are site-specific — e.g. jump squats won’t affect wrist density, but push-up jumps will. Battle ropes are a great non-impact alternative.)
• Recovery: Rest is training too. Alternate hard and easy sessions, avoid “stuck-in-the-middle moderate ” training. Power walks, jogging, 60 min spin classes are too hard to be considered an easy workout but too easy to delivery the hard intense stimulus we need for metabolic muscle and bone heath gains. Easy sessions are gentle walks slow bike rides slow swims yoga tai chi gardening. Rest days doesn’t mean no activity. It means calming and restorative activity 
Take a deload week every 3–4 weeks to focus on mobility, technique, and nervous system restoration rather than smashing it at your max in the hard sessions..

💡 Note on HRT: Hormone therapy can help manage symptoms like hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog, and mood swings — but it won’t prevent changes in body composition. Only the right mix of training and recovery can do that.

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Nutrition matters just as much

Falling oestrogen makes us:
• Less insulin-sensitive
• Reduces quality of gut microbiome ( therefore the ability to draw what we need from our food) 
• Higher in baseline cortisol

This is why “eat less, train more” backfires.

Instead:
• Support your gut: Oestrogen helps regulate gut microbes. Without it, extra care is needed. Reduce processed food, increase variety — aim for colourful plants: vegetables, fruits, pulses, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices.
• Fuel your workouts: Avoid fasted training — it drives muscle breakdown and raises cortisol. To build lean mass and protect bones, fuel pre- and post-workout with carbs and protein. Correct training (HIIT, SIT, heavy lifting) improves fat utilisation, glucose regulation, and adaptive cellular responses.
• Protein: Needs increase with age as we use it less efficiently. Aim for 1g of complete protein per pound of bodyweight, spread throughout the day. Focus on whole food sources, not processed bars or shakes.
• Carbohydrates: Around 3g per kg bodyweight daily, with 30g pre-workout and 30–50g post-workout. 
• Healthy fats: Don’t cut them! Nuts, seeds, oils, eggs, oily fish, and avocado are vital.  The fats to avoid are trans and processed fats.
• Supplements: Creatine, collagen, and adaptogens may help — contact me for more info on these things.  


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Quick glossary
• Perimenopause: The 8–10 years leading up to menopause
• Menopause: One day — 12 months after your last period
• Post-menopause: The time after that day
• Complete protein: Contains all nine essential amino acids (all animal proteins are complete; plant proteins can be paired — e.g. beans + rice, nuts + grains — to make them complete).

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✨ The bottom line:
If you’re an active woman in perimenopause or menopause and feel despite doing what you’ve always done weight is slowly creeping on or/ and you just aren’t as strong then  do not fall into the trap of doing more and eating less. .

What works is:
• Decreasing training volume, increasing intensity
• Building in rest days and deload weeks
• Prioritising easy, restorative sessions (yoga, walks, mobility work, gentle swims) as much as intense sessions 
• Eating sufficient protein and carbs, fuelling properly around training
• Supporting gut health and avoiding processed foods

Fuel for training and recovery. Not calorie restriction.
When you train and recover smart, positive body composition changes will follow.

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