What if Perimenopause could be a catalyst - instead of a cataclysm?
Perimenopause caught me off guard
At age 48 I started gaining weight around my belly and arms despite eating healthy, running 3x a week and doing Yoga most days. My joints ached, I kept waking up wired at 3am, my hair started falling out,- and I had brain fog so bad I could barely remember people's names.
I went down a research rabbit hole - books, podcasts, even research papers to understand why nothing I was doing seemed to work anymore.
I started lifting heavy, doing HIIT, upping my protein, eating less carbs, fasting for 16 hours…. and many other things the experts recommend.
It worked - until ‘life’ derailed my progress!
A string of restless nights.
Sore muscles.
Exhaustion.
Plus, a growing sense that I was losing the desire - and the energy - to people please at my own expense.
All leading to wine most nights, bingeing Netflix on the couch - and dropping my routine.
Back at square one, I’d vow to try harder, learn more, be more disciplined…
And the whole exhausting cycle started over.
Again.
At first, I chased more knowledge
At the time I was a Yoga teacher, so I figured I could learn the science for myself, figure out why my strength and fitness programming felt unsustainable, and help other women with what I learned.
I enrolled in a Sport Coaching degree at the University of Canterbury.
Over summer school I did some psychology papers - and something inside me ‘clicked’.
Not because I wanted to be a clinical psychologist - as an ex-nurse I wasn’t returning to the health system anytime soon.
I felt inspired by positive psychology, health psychology, social psychology, the science and practice of wellbeing and personality psychology.
I realised I could find more joy, ease and fulfilment in my life and relationships - and help other women do the same.
I switched majors.
“Strength and conditioning taught me what I needed to do to feel strong, vital and confident in my body again, but it was psychology that helped me face the deeper issues that were keeping me stuck starting over”
I used perimenopause as a catalyst to stop making my needs negotiable
The masks were slipping - I was too exhausted to fawn and perform.
It was time to get radically honest with myself and start making my needs matter - just as much as everyone else’s.
Wine became less of a crutch.
I learned how to set and hold healthy boundaries.
I prioritised my health and wellbeing.
And when I started coaching other women - I discovered a similar pattern.
Decades of over-reaching combined with midlife demands and perimenopause symptoms - all making the typical perimenopause lifestyle advice impossible to sustain.
There wasn’t much point in teaching women how to nail their macros and progress their strength training when they had no capacity to add anything to their over-extended lives.
I had to support women to create capacity first
And that’s the deeper work I do now, and if this resonates, it’s the work we'll do together.
“Working with Sarah felt like a guided journey where I was always supported. It provided the accountability I needed but also the light bulb moments as to why I was not reaching my goals. She is empathetic while also challenging when needed. She has a wealth of knowledge that helped me make better decisions, improve my sleep and digestion and know what exercises work for me to achieve results”.
Jenny
CREDENTIALS
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CREDENTIALS *
Certified Health and Wellbeing Coach
Lifestyle Medicine Certified
BSc - Psychology major, Strength & Conditioning minor (in process - 3 papers away from completion)
