 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. 👉 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. ⸻ 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. ⸻ Why does this happen? Hormonal fluctuations affect:
The good news? The solution is not “do more.” It’s train smarter and tweak your nutrition. ⸻ 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. ⸻ 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. ⸻ 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. ⸻ 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). ⸻ ✨ 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.  In my 20s, my period would randomly disappear—sometimes for three months, sometimes six, once or twice for a whole year. It did worry me, but at first, not enough to seek advice. Eventually, after it happened a few times, I went to the doctor. They told me it wasn’t a problem unless I wanted to conceive. I was 22, I didn’t.
It came back, so I stopped worrying. Then it went again. I saw a different doctor—they weighed me and checked my BMI and body fat. All within the normal range. They weren’t concerned. They suggested birth control pills to give me a monthly bleed. That didn’t make sense to me at the time, I wanted answers not a medically induced monthly bleed So I left, unconvinced. I was heavily active, I taught or did around 12-15 fitness classes a week ( and this was not my main job I worked in performance which I found mental and emotional quite stressful) For 15 years my stress release hobbies alternated between running and mountain biking. I ran 5k 10k 1/2 marathons, marathons and even an ultra marathon. I mountain biked most weekends and did regular bike race mtb events. I was part of a running club, climbing club, i had tennis lessons, swimming lessons. Thankfully I had a regular yoga and meditation practice and I honestly believe it was my Saving grace. I loved it. I loved it all, felt I was living my best life ……but my lack of period was my body trying to tell me something. So I started to do my own research, it was mid 2000s now, and I came across the Female Athlete Triad, ( a condition that affects female athletes where they suffer low bone mass density, weight loss and loss their periods) But did I fit the profile? I felt I ate all the time and my BMI and body fat were normal. I asked other fitness instructors—some of whom trained more than me and had lower body fat, if they suffered menstrual issues. They said they either menstruated normally or were on birth control (like the coil or implant), so didn’t bleed anyway. I was confused again. So I pulled back, put on a few kg but was doing less of the sports that made me happy and still no period, feeling depressed I went back to all the sports I loved and felt happy again. In my 30s, I started going on regular bi- annual three-week yoga and Ayurvedic retreats in India—and noticed that my period always came back. Despite eating less and losing weight when I was on these retreats. So I was less worried as I knew I could get them back but as soon as was back to my normal level of training they disappeared, I felt I ate all the time but looking back I was eating what I thought was healthy foods and back then 20years ago I still was of the belief that too much fat in the diet wasn't a good thing. So I was definitely undereating fats. Back to the doctor—this time they suspected early ovarian failure (a.k.a. The name for early menopause if you’re under 40). But that was ruled out as my FSH and LH levels were low, not high (see footnote to explain this). I did get a DEXA scan, which showed I had osteopenia, despite looking healthy being normal bmi and doing a ton of sport—how could my bones be weak? maybe I was suffering female athlete triad? Right, that got my attention. I’d done my Level 3 PT a few years earlier and knew weight-bearing exercise was key for building bone strength. So I added more weights into my routine, swapped out some cardio—even though I loved it and the big endorphin hit. But I knew change was necessary. I started eating more fats and meat again having been a vegetarian for ten years just incase that may help. My period came back. But cycles were still long—like 45 to 60 days—still outside the 25–35 day “normal.” and all it look was so life stress for them to get a bit longer apart. Finally, in 2014 the international olympic committee introduced a term called RED-S, a condition of long term low energy availability the arises from not balancing activity with sufficient recovery and fuel, that had much wider consequences across bodily systems and can affected men and women exercisers of all ages, activity and level. and then in 2016 I discovered the work of Dr Nicola Rinaldi (now Dr N Skyes) and her book No Period, Now What?—and suddenly it all made sense. I knew I had hypothalamic amenorrhea: a condition where menstruation stops due to suppression of the HPO axis. AKA longe term stress + long term under-fuelling = period stops and a cascading affect of other systemic issues. Hidden Stress was the the thing I never addresses plus id just been drastically underestimating my calories needs for too long. NOTE : Weight. ( bodyfat and bmi) is irrelevant it can happen to women of all sizes and shapes. so that fact I never had low body fat relative to my female colleagues was irrelevant. Under-fuelling is slippery. Calorie counting is basically guesswork—fitness trackers are wildly inaccurate (especially for “afterburn” or day-to-day life). And there’s a big gap between what you eat and what your body actually absorbs. NOTE: You can be under-fuelling and not losing weight. You can be underfuelling and undernourished without being underweight By now I was working full-time as a fitness instructor at a club, rather than being a part time freelance instructor. When I was told I couldn’t cut down my hours or my level of cardio classes, I quit my job . This honestly broke my heart—I loved that job and not teaching brought a wave of emotional stress, which definitely didn’t help my overall stress levels. Eventually, I had to stop all cardio . Just weights, lots of yoga, meditation, slow loving, walking. Lock down helped me to slow down as clubs closed so I was teaching less fitness classes, however I missed the emotional and social benefits I got from face to face training and teaching. By the age of 40, my periods were regular every month—and they’ve stayed that way for years now. I gradually added cardio back in, always checking that my cycle stays regular. Like a barometer. And my dexa scans show I no longer have osteopenia. The real game changer for me, I believe, was becoming aware of and managing with my internal stress, prioritising eating multiple times a day, taking time off work without any guilt. AND not comparing myself to other people in terms of what they eat and do. NO more fasted exercise for me! Thats why my period came back on those yoga and Ayurvedic retreat because I got deep relaxation and stress release, but everyone is different. There are various factors involved in why someones period can disappear. Some of us are just wired to be more stress-reactive. I know I am. And I now know how to take care of that part of myself. How? ( more blogs on this, one I’ve already published on Internal rushing syndrome ) but loosing my Mum to cancer was a big learning curve for me on my relationship with stress. Inner child work, Micheal singer podcasts, Meditation, Yoga retreats (participating in not leading) , BWRT with Helen Goad all massively helped me, but we are all different in our needs. So that’s my story, and i'm still learning, getting it wrong then recalibrating. Had I been on birth control all those years, I’d never have known any of this. My energy levels and body composition stayed fairly steady—but underneath, something was off. And I wonder how many other women are in the same boat, unknowingly masking symptoms with birth control. This experience made me passionate about understanding hormones and cycles—not just from a medical view, but as a powerful tool. Like an internal dashboard, giving feedback about how your body’s really doing. It’s like the frog in hot water analogy—we don’t always notice the slow boil our periods can tell us ladies. Men? read my blog on RED-s in males blog. Since then, I’ve studied courses and read numerous books on female physiology. I’m so glad the conversation has opened up over the last 10 years around training for a female physiology . For too long, sports science was based solely on young college-aged men. Women were seen as “too complicated” to include in studies. That’s finally changing. If you think you may be suffering from HA I HIGHLY RECOMMEND reading the book 'now period, now what?' by Dr Nicole Rinaldi (SKYES) Check out my other blog posts at katestannardfitness.com, and come on your own journey with me. ( there are already some blogs on stress management “internal rushing syndrome” and “understanding your cycle and hormones” for premenopausal women, RED-S in males they you may find of interest). Footnote LH (luteinising hormone) and FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) are produced by the pituitary gland, not the ovaries. They signal the body to grow a follicle (which matures an egg) and then to release the egg. In peri-menopausal women, LH and FSH levels are typically high due to a reduced ovarian reserve (fewer eggs) so LH and FSH. Are working hard to try to drive the process. In contrast, in hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA), LH and FSH levels are usually low, showing that the lack of ovulation is due to insufficient stimulation from the pituitary gland, which itself is regulated by the hypothalamus. Secondary amenorrhea, which is defined as 3 months absence of menstruation, occurs in approximately 3–5 % of adult women. According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, FHA is responsible for 20–35 % of secondary amenorrhea cases and approximately 3 % of FHA cases of primary amenorrhea [6]. The incidence is higher in athlete women. DeSouza et al. [7] estimated that approximately 50 % of women who exercise regularly experience subtle menstrual disorders and approximately 30 % of women have amenorrhea. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4207953/ This blog is specific to women who were assigned female at birth (AFAB) and are in their pre-menopausal years. If you’re peri-menopausal, postmenopausal, or biologically male, don’t worry—there’ll be other posts relevant to you. However this is still a beneficial read for all genders and ages. Understanding Monthly Hormone Fluctuations effects on your body: How to Adjust Your Nutrition, Training & Lifestyle to Feel and Perform Your Best We have over 50 hormones working behind the scenes in our bodies—in this blog I’m going to focus on two of your sex hormones: oestrogen a(estradiol)* and progesterone. By the end of reading this, I want you to feel clear about which hormones dominate which parts of your cycle, and what effects they can have on your physiology. ⸻ 🌀 Understanding the Menstrual Cycle: The Two Main Phases A menstrual cycle can be divided into two main phases:
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🔬 Hormone Effects on the Body Oestrogen: Your Follicular Phase • ✅ Anabolic (it builds): Supports muscle, tissue, and bone growth. • ✅ Boosts muscle contractions and strength. • ✅ Increases uptake of serotonin—our “feel-good” hormone—so this improves mood and motivation. • ✅ Increases stress resilience (we cope better with physical, mental, and emotional stress). • ✅ Faster recovery times. • ✅ Prefers fat for fuel: low-carb works well here. • ✅ Slightly inflammatory: supports immune vigilance. • ✅ Improves immune function overall. • ✅ Stabilises and reduces appetite. Progesterone: Your Luteal Phase • 🔻 Catabolic (it breaks down): reduces muscle-building, increases tissue turnover. • 🔻 Weaker neuromuscular response: you may feel slower or weaker. • 🔻 Heightens sensitivity in the nervous system. • 🔻 Acts on GABA receptors: promotes calm but reduces drive. • 🔻 Lowers stress resilience: more reactive to emotional or physical stress. • 🔻 Slows recovery: your body needs more rest to perform optimally. • 🔻 can’t access fatty acids or stored glucose as fuel as effectively • 🔻 Anti-inflammatory: reduced immune defence short-term. ⸻ 🏋️♀️ Adjusting Your Lifestyle by Phase 🌞 Follicular Phase (Day 1 to Ovulation) Think: energy, performance, momentum. • Training: • Now’s the time for an extra spin class or new personal best. • You recover faster and tolerate more volume and intensity. • Nutrition: • Better ability to utilise fatty acids (fats) as fuel. • Appetite may be lower—oestergen is involved In appetite regulation. • Your body will cope well with an 8- or 10-hour eating window if you like time-restricted eating. • Motivation, productivity, and social energy tend to be higher. You are more stress resilient to emotional and physical stress as Oestrogen drives a parasympathetic nervous system response (rest and restore, so we don’t stay in a fight and flight state continuously) • This is a great time to start new projects or push forward on goals. Common symptoms as you move towards the day of ovulation when Oestrogen is highest: temporary bloating, fluid retention, sore breasts, and mild cramps (especially around ovulation). These are due to rising oestrogen—not weight gain. ⸻ 🌙 Luteal Phase (Post-ovulation to Period) Think: recovery, nourishment, intuition. • Training: • Scale back high-intensity or high-stress work—your nervous system is more sensitive, you will lean more into a sympathetic nervous system state ( fight and fight), you come less stress resilient . • Prioritise rest, mobility, yoga, and technique sessions rather than full-on hard workouts, your now in more of a catabolic state ( breaking down cells and muscle) . • Build in more rest days between sessions, to prevent over strain of the hypothalamus ( the gland which controls most bodily functions in response to stress) • Nutrition: • Increase whole-food carbohydrates to support energy and hormone production. • Avoid fasted training—your body needs fuel carbohydrates as fuel and it cant access stored glucose as quickly. • A 12-hour eating window is more supportive for your adrenals and will reduce cortisol spikes. • Lifestyle: • Energy dips are natural—prioritise sleep, rest, and emotional care. • You may feel less social and more introspective. Honour that. • Be creative, enjoy being unproductive, go inward, and allow space to reset. ⸻ When you align your habits with your hormonal landscape, you not only perform better—you also avoid burnout, injuries, and emotional overwhelm. ⸻ 🎯 Final Thoughts Your menstrual cycle isn’t a limitation. It’s a powerful rhythm that, when understood and respected, becomes one of your greatest tools for self knowledge, sustainable health, energy, and performance. You shouldn’t be “on” or super-productive all month. Let’s get excited about tuning in, listening, and adapting to what our body needs. It’s empowering. For too long we have looked outside to know what we should be doing with our bodies. Put yourself in the driver’s seat—your body will tell you. Your body is you, and you don’t need to be a mystery to yourself. *There are actually 3 types of oestrogen in the female body: E1, E2, and E3. Estradiol (aka E2) is the dominant oestrogen in premenopausal, non-pregnant women, and that’s the oestrogen I’m talking about in the blog above.  Throughout my teens and twenties I viewed my period as an inconvenience and powered on through changing as little as possible upon its arrival. It took me years to wise up and understand that menstruation isn’t a nuisance; it’s a powerful time of rejuvenation and an opportunity to reset and release.
Yoga encourages us to tune into what’s going on in our bodies and work with it. Menstruation offers a natural opportunity to detox, release, and rebalance. It’s a chance to shed not only your uterine lining, but also stress, fatigue, and habits that no longer serve you. Yet many women, as I did, push through these days as if nothing’s changed, as if to slow down Would be weak or frown upon So we power through work, workouts, and routines despite feeling tired, crampy, or low in energy. Over time, this can lead to hormonal imbalances, irregular cycles, added stress and fatigue, this was my story before I became a Yoga teacher and understood things on a deeper level. Yoga offers an intelligent way to honour your cycle instead of ignoring it. Use your practice to wise up to your needs and why grey your behaviour is in line with those needs. Adjust Your Practice During menstruation, your body’s energy is directed inward. Support it by tapering your activity and making space to rest. Avoid postures that cause the uterus to contract or interfere with the downward flow (Apana energy) too much, especially:
Instead, choose poses that soften, soothe, and restore:
The Hormonal ShiftOestrogen begins to rise during menstruation, which might give you a brief boost of energy. But instead of burning through it, preserve it. This energy can serve you better in the days to come, helping you feel more balanced, vibrant, and emotionally clear throughout your cycle. Rethink Your Routine Think of your period week as a time to:
When you treat your menstrual phase as a time for inward attention and recovery, you lay the foundation for greater hormonal balance and long-term well-being. For a guided practice that supports this approach, visit our online class page and try the Bite-Size Yoga: Menstrual Sequence video. Your cycle is not a setback—it’s your body’s built-in monthly tune-up. Let yoga help you make the most of it.
For a routine to practice during menstruation visit the online class page and choose the bite size yoga class called Menstrual sequence.
This article is to is to guide women on the how’s and why’s of adjusting their practice during their monthly cycle. There is a general practice done during menstruation, such as forward extensions and supine postures and avoidance of all the inversions, but everyone‘s needs slightly differ, therefore, everyone should have discrimination and understand their own problems, weakness and particular needs on different days. Regular practice brings a deeper sensitivity and awareness of these things. Sometimes we feel absolutely healthy and sometimes we feel hopeless. This is especially true for women during certain days of their menstrual cycled it’s important we go with that and don’t fight it. A key point to understand is that the menstrual blood has to be discarded, you should not hold the abdomen tight and so must choose those āsana-s which soften rather than harden the abdomen. Also during menstruation that you should avoid all inversions (upside down poses) Because the inversions disturb the downward flow and therefore the toxins being released. If the toxins, the waste matters such as sweat, urine, faeces, gas, menstrual blood and pus are retained, then the body suffers. Along with the above inversions you have to avoid arm balances and so on. Also you need to know that your legs should not get tired and that is the reason why you avoid (or minimise) the standing āsanas. During Menstruation instead you should practise supine āsanas followed by forward extensions with the forehead supported.The sitting postures are definitely helpful too, for when one wants to sit just quietly, using the support of the wall in order to learn to lift the spine. These āsanas (postures) preserve energy. It is important to under- stand that during the menstrual period, because oestrogen is going up, you feel active and you think that you can do everything. But the same oestrogen that will be reaching its peak in the next four days can be utilised for the right purpose. So you should not drain energy or create an imbalance in the hormones, if you preserve energy during menstruation, you will have better energy and a smoother cycle for the rest of the month. Also during menstruation you can not do much prānāyāma. You find that your capacity is less, there is often a feeling of internal fatigue. You should not force your body to do prānāyāma. Enjoy a long Śavāsana. Even if you sleep, it is nice, and there is nothing wrong with that. This has been written in close reference to Geeta Iyengar “The practice of women for the whole month’, Printed and published by the Iyengar Yoga Association (UK) April 2009. This is a fantastic 17 page document which I highly recommend anyone with menstrual issues to read. 
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