5 Keys to Navigating Menopause

For women between the ages of 40 and 55, the physical and emotional shifts that come with menopause can feel like a rollercoaster. It’s not just hot flashes or mood swings (although those are real); rather, it’s a fundamental shift in how your body uses energy, builds muscle, stores fat, and responds to stress. You may experience any one of (or all) of the following symptoms:

• Brain Fog
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Joint & Muscle Aches
• Thinning Hair
• Body Composition Changes
• Sleep Disruptions
• Mood swings
• And more…

This is a challenging time in a woman’s life.  It’s a powerful transition that significantly impacts you physically, emotionally, and mentally in the short term, and changes your body for the long term. It also looks different for everyone.  

Today, we are gonna talk about the phases of menopause as a whole, then break down recommendations about what to DO to help you throughout this time.

Understanding the Phases

Perimenopause often starts in your 40s. This is the lead-up to menopause when estrogen and progesterone levels start fluctuating. You might notice sleep disruptions, heavier or irregular periods, mood changes, and more belly fat, even if your habits haven’t changed.

Menopause is officially marked after 12 months without a menstrual cycle, typically happening in your early 50s. Estrogen production drops significantly. This is when symptoms like hot flashes, brain fog, and joint stiffness can peak.

Post-menopause follows menopause. Hormone levels stabilize at their new lower levels. For some women, symptoms ease. For others, they linger, but this is when your long-term health strategy becomes critical.

Get Your Hormones Checked

Don’t make assumptions about your specific hormone levels based on your life stage.  If you’re feeling off, fatigue, unexpected weight gain, mood changes, disrupted sleep, it’s not just “getting older.” Talking with a hormone/ female specialist and getting a full hormone panel is crucial to understanding where YOU are. Ask about estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid, cortisol, and vitamin D. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), supplements, or targeted interventions that may be right for you. While there are general recommendations for what to do with each option, they should be highly individualized.  This isn’t a one-time thing either. It should happen regularly throughout your life so you can optimize, not just survive.  Also, know that there are a lot of great doctors, and your healthcare provider should be a part of this process; they just might not be the only person to help you. Often, if your hormone levels are “in range,” they won’t prescribe any changes.  Living within the recommended ranges and optimal life are not the same. Find someone credible and with experience working with women 40-plus for more than just a minute. Don’t just take the advice of a blogger online without knowing what is going on with your specific hormone levels and body.  There are several great ways to help you live your best life, just don’t do it on a whim.  Get educated about your body and then partner with someone who will help you achieve your goals!

Your Habits Still Rule the Day

While your hormones change, the fundamentals of feeling strong and energetic stay the same. In fact, they become more important now than ever. Last week, we talked about understanding your total daily energy expenditure and macronutrient intake. Your habits will help you manage the short-term fluctuations better, while setting you up to live the rest of your life to its fullest.

Here’s what matters most:

Strength Training 2–4x/week

Muscle is your metabolic engine and the organ of longevity. Starting in your 30s, you naturally lose muscle unless you fight to keep it. Resistance training is the #1 tool to build and maintain lean muscle, support your joints, build strong bones, and optimize your metabolism. The goal is to build strength consistently and progressively over time.  These aren’t your typical bodybuilding style workouts that leave you sore for days. It’s about developing total body strength.  It’s also not about just moving and sweating a lot.  Women are structurally built for endurance work. They also tend to do lower weights and higher reps to avoid getting “bulky,” because that’s what you have been told.  Unfortunately, that leaves you without the benefit of building lean muscle and strong bones. A proper strength training program for women should allow you to build strength without adding big, bulky muscles that most aren’t seeking.  Don’t be afraid to pick up some weight!  Also, I highly recommend ditching the calorie tracker for your strength workouts.  Strength training isn’t about burning calories within the workout.  It’s meant to build a more resilient and efficient body over the long term.  Start with where you are and continue to progress, one step at a time.

Walk Daily

Walking and light movement, NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), is highly underrated and plays a bigger role than you think in your daily energy balance and mental health. Aim for 7,000–10,000 steps a day.  This can be broken up in any way that works best for you.  Doing one long walk may not work for you; shorter durations periodically achieved throughout the day have proven more effective than just one really long walk.  But, get up, ideally outside, and get your steps in, because it will make you feel better in the short and long term.

Prioritize Protein

Women over 40 need more protein to stimulate muscle repair and growth. Previously, women were discouraged from eating protein over 64 grams per day.  National guidelines still call for significantly lower protein levels than optimal, but those are based on aged studies that don’t account for maximizing your outcomes. We recommend following a muscle-centric diet that includes 0.7–1 gram of protein per pound of body weight daily (or your goal weight if you’re easing in). This helps control cravings, supports metabolism, and preserves lean tissue to improve health and vitality.  Eating more protein at first can be challenging because it makes you feel fuller.  But, this is a truly important part of building and repairing your muscle tissue and bones. 

Sleep is Not Optional

Poor sleep makes everything worse, especially hormone symptoms. It’s not just about hours, it’s about quality. Many women prioritize others over themselves, which means late nights and early mornings.  While it is easy to provide the blanket recommendation for 8 hours of sleep per night, you might not be able to get that, at least not right away.  In addition to that, our need for sleep decreases over time.  So, you need to know what is right for you.  Getting a sleep monitor, like a Whoop Strap or an Oura ring, is helpful to understand the quality of your sleep and the quantity of actual sleep.  Some of you are great sleepers and can fall asleep and stay asleep.  Some struggle going to sleep, while others can get to sleep but wake up in the middle of the night. If you struggle to sleep, create a wind-down routine to help you prepare for bed.  Turning off the TV or phone 1 hour before, taking a bath/ shower, journaling, or reading a book are all ways to create a pattern that tells your body it’s time to start going to sleep. If you struggle staying asleep, maybe because you wake up to go to the bathroom or take care of others, avoid the doom scroll on your phone because you can’t get back to sleep.  Lying in bed resting can help you recover, while also teaching your body over time that you can go back to sleep.   If your mind starts racing, instead of grabbing the phone, grab a notebook and write down the things you are thinking, in a way that can help temporarily offload those thoughts until the morning.  Another key factor is your sleep environment.  Make sure you sleep in a dark room (or sleep with an eye mask), with no screens or ambient light, and cool, at about 65-68 degrees. This is the best way to sleep better.  Also, minimizing or avoiding alcohol.  Yes, alcohol can make you sleepy, but it impacts your quality of sleep by preventing you from goign through all stages of sleep at regular intervals.  

Sleep, like training and eating, takes intentionality.  Set yourself up for success by building the habits of great sleep.

Manage Stress Like It’s Your Job

This is certainly easier said than done.  Cortisol, your stress hormone, can throw everything off, including sleep, mood, hunger, and recovery. You don’t need an elaborate meditation practice (though that’s great if it works for you). Sometimes stress management looks like setting boundaries, walking outside, deep breathing, such as the 6-2-8 method, or saying “no” more often. Again, easier said than done, but be sure to prioritize your mental health, because it impacts your physical health. 

Your Body Is Changing—That’s Not a Bad Thing

This transition is not about trying to “fix” yourself. It’s about learning to live in harmony with a new rhythm and understanding that your habits build the foundation for the rest of your life, not just a quick fix for the short term.  Don’t try to create a quick fix.  Women are often sold the eat less, move more/ do a challenge mindset.  This, unfortunately, leaves you in a worse place in the long term, even if you achieve short-term goals. The approach I’m outlining isn’t sexy or fast; it’s sustainable and powerful. Building great habits will serve you for the next 40 years and that is what we are trying to do: live a long and healthy life

You don’t have to do it alone. You don’t have to chase quick fixes. You do have the power to shift your focus to energy, strength, clarity, and showing up fully for your life.

Let this season be the one where you take ownership. Where you train with intention, eat with purpose, rest with pride, and live with resilience.

Be Great Today,

Justin