I’m a dietitian. Women in perimenopause think their bodies are broken. Here are 7 things I tell them instead.

Brooke Dameral of Sensei Porcupine Creek (Sensei Porcupine Creek)Brooke Dameral is a registered dietitian and expert at Sensei Porcupine Creek, an adults-only, science-backed wellness retreat with the most innovative technology near Palm Springs, California, spanning over 230 acres.

The women I work with in their late 30s and 40s are often in a high-pressure chapter of life. They're often running companies, leading teams, managing families, caring for aging parents, raising kids, and more. Some come to me upset at their bodies because what worked in their 30s isn't working anymore.

The first thing they want them to know is that their body isn't broken. This is a failure of willpower. Your physiology is changing, and it's a natural progression. This is a natural progression, and it typically happens during a time already layered with other life changes and pressures.

Perimenopause is the hormonal transitional flux period before menopause. It can start between ages 35 and 45 and last up to seven to ten years. The traditional vasomotor symptoms, such as hot flashes, typically associated with menopause are often late-stage perimenopause. Other signs can include appetite changes, changes in sleep quality, and shifting moods.

Hormonal changes can affect hunger and satiety signals, insulin sensitivity, blood sugar regulation, sleep quality, stress resilience, recovery, and energy. The goal is not to fight or micromanage; it's to figure out how to work with the changes from a nourishing place

Here's what I tell them to focus on insteadWhen the body starts changing, the instinct is to restrict and work harder, which often backfires. Here are some ways to work smarter, not harder.

This is the number one thing I would focus on. Muscle is your metabolic engine; it helps regulate blood sugar, supports metabolic flexibility, and protects your strength, physical function, mobility, and independence as you age. Strength training is the foundation and needs to be paired with sufficient protein, fiber, and a variety of whole foods.

Women underestimate how much poor sleep affects appetite, cravings, recovery, and metabolic health. It's the background support for all of it. I see women meticulously monitoring every bite on top of poor sleep. Food is not the biggest problem if you're not getting proper rest. I've tracked my sleep closely for years, and it's one of the things that has moved the needle most for me.

Protein is pulling double the weight at this stage of life. Especially in the morning, it helps stabilize blood sugar and energy, fight cravings, support neurotransmitter production for mood regulation, and help with hormonal disruption.

In this demographic in particular, glucose regulation gets less fine-tuned, insulin resistance may increase, and stress and sleep disruption from hormones can increase. The more we can create stability in the body and give it what it needs to do its job, the more that will come in the form of protein. So we want satiety, better mood, better blood sugar, and maybe to replace some of the less nutrient-dense options.

Say you typically drink coffee and have a bagel for breakfast. Jumping suddenly to 20 to 30 grams of protein is a major change. Could you start with 10 grams, then try 15, then 20? Track how you feel and what you notice. Does it affect your afternoon crash? Does it change how soon you're craving lunch? What matters most is knowing your baseline.

Ask yourself, am I nourishing my body with enough of the right things? It's easy to fill your body with calorically empty foods that lack nutrient density. Build your plate around protein, fiber, and healthy fats first. Once that foundation is in place, there's more wiggle room to add what makes eating more enjoyable and sustainable.

A 10-15 minute walk after meals tells the body to put the energy intake to work. Your big muscle groups pull sugar from your bloodstream for energy, instead of letting it linger if you sit down afterward. If you've invested time in building muscle, make sure to put it to work after a meal.

What we eat, or how much we eat, gets a lot of focus, but how and when we eat matters too. When clients wear a continuous glucose monitor, we see that stress level and pace strongly affect how quickly blood sugar rises after a meal.

Mindful eating is really just about helping your body digest and feel safe so it can do its job. We're in modern times, and nothing is chasing us, so we can chew thoroughly and eat slowly. This mindfulness can help you feel full, digest better, and avoid a sharp blood sugar spike.

I like to approach health questions with curiosity instead of judgment. I love Whoop and wearables because they make the invisible visible. They track movement, sleep, and stress factors like heart rate variability. These are great tools for understanding your body. I especially love using wearables for sleep.

I have been tracking my sleep closely for many years; it's one of the things I've seen move the needle the most. It's like lifting the veil on what's going on inside our bodies, and I help clients to give context to what they're seeing.

Nothing happens in a vacuum. Nutrition, sleep, movement, and stress all affect metabolic health, which is why our pillars at Sensei center on moving, nourishing, and resting. Our metabolic health collection is a three-session series. It starts with foundational learning about how your body stores, uses, and regulates energy. Guests can choose to wear a continuous glucose monitor from Lingo to see in real time how their choices, lifestyle, stress level, and more are affecting their blood sugar, and I guide them through their findings.

My hope is that people become more expert in themselves and feel confident having conversations with their doctors, so they know their baselines and what's in their control to experiment with and modify.

We don't give ourselves grace for the fact that this is a transition. You wouldn't be mad at a preteen who feels uncomfortable in her newly changing body. Yes, our bodies are changing, and it's remarkably adaptable. How can I support this transition?

Perimenopause doesn't mean your metabolism is doomed or that weight gain is inevitable. I've seen women improve strength, improve metabolic health, build healthier relationships with food, and how they're nourishing themselves.

The goal is not to have the same body you had at 25. The goal is to support and care for the body you have now. The mental reframe is that perimenopause is an invitation to reflect on and update the way we care for ourselves, and it's not about working harder or being more restrictive. It's about being attentive to what helps us recover. This is an opportunity to give ourselves extra nurture and love.

How intentional we can be about nourishment and really caring for and nurturing our body in the way that we usually care for and nurture so many other people that we love and care about, and this is an opportunity to give ourselves a little bit more of that.