For years, your body may have felt familiar.
You knew how it responded. You knew what worked. If you wanted to lose a little weight, you adjusted your eating or exercised a little more. There was a sense of predictability.
Then menopause arrives.
Suddenly your clothes fit differently. Your sleep changes. Your energy isn't what it was. The weight around your middle seems to have appeared without an invitation, and despite doing everything you've always done, the scales barely move.
It's frustrating.
But it's also something we rarely acknowledge.
For many women, menopause isn't just a hormonal transition. It can also be a time of grief.
Not dramatic grief. Not the kind that people recognise or ask about.
The quiet kind.
The grief of realising your body has changed, and you're still learning how to live in it.
The grief nobody prepares you for
When we think of grief, we often think of losing someone we love.
But grief can also be the loss of familiarity, certainty or identity.
During menopause, many women quietly grieve:
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A body that once felt predictable.
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Feeling comfortable in their clothes.
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The ease of maintaining their weight.
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Fertility, whether they planned to have children or not.
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Looking in the mirror and recognising themselves.
Many women tell me they don't feel "like themselves" anymore.
That feeling deserves to be acknowledged, not dismissed.
Then comes the pressure
While your body is changing, the world around you doesn't seem to notice.
The message is still the same:
Stay slim.
Stay youthful.
Don't let yourself go.
Social media is filled with miraculous transformations, celebrities who appear untouched by ageing and advertisements promising to "reverse" menopause. Weight-loss medications such as Ozempic have become household names, often presented as the answer to midlife weight gain.
These treatments can be appropriate for some people and have an important place in medical care. But they don't remove the emotional experience of menopause, and they don't replace good nutrition.
Losing weight isn't the same as improving health.
If muscle, strength and bone are lost along the way, the number on the scales tells only part of the story.
Menopause changes your nutritional priorities
One of the biggest misconceptions is that women should simply eat less during menopause.
In reality, your body often needs better nutrition, not less nutrition.
As oestrogen declines:
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Muscle is lost more easily.
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Bone turnover increases.
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Metabolism gradually slows.
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Insulin sensitivity may decline.
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Sleep disruption can increase hunger and cravings.
Rather than focusing on eating as little as possible, the goal becomes protecting the tissues that keep you strong, active and independent.
What your body actually needs
Protein: your highest priority
Aim for 1.2-1.6 g of protein per kilogram of body weight each day.
For many women, that's around 80-110 grams daily, spread across meals.
Rather than saving protein for dinner, aim for 25-30 grams at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Good choices include:
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Greek yoghurt
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Eggs
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Chicken
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Fish
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Lean beef
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Tofu and tempeh
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Cottage cheese
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Legumes
Protein helps preserve muscle, supports recovery and keeps you feeling fuller for longer.
Fibre: your forgotten ally
Aim for 25-30 grams of fibre each day.
Fibre supports:
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Gut health
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Blood sugar control
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Cholesterol
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Regular bowel habits
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A healthy gut microbiome, which also plays a role in hormone metabolism
Choose wholegrains, fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds regularly.
Healthy fats
Don't fear fat.
Healthy fats support heart health, brain function and help meals feel satisfying.
Include foods such as:
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Extra virgin olive oil
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Avocado
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Nuts
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Seeds
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Oily fish including salmon and sardines
Calcium and Vitamin D
After menopause, bone health deserves far more attention.
Aim for approximately:
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Calcium: 1,000-1,300 mg per day
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Vitamin D: meet Australian recommendations through safe sun exposure, diet and supplementation if required.
Calcium-rich foods include dairy foods, calcium-fortified alternatives, calcium-set tofu and canned fish with edible bones.
Resistance training: the missing prescription
Nutrition alone cannot preserve muscle.
Your muscles need a reason to stay.
Aim for 2-4 resistance training sessions each week.
This doesn't mean becoming a bodybuilder.
It means challenging your muscles enough that they adapt.
A simple full-body program might include:
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Squats or sit-to-stands
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Lunges
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Rows
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Chest press or push-ups against a wall or bench
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Deadlifts or hip hinges
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Overhead press
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Core exercises
Combined with adequate protein, resistance training is one of the most effective ways to protect muscle and support healthy ageing.
What this might look like across a day
Breakfast
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Greek yoghurt with oats, berries and chia seeds
Lunch
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Grilled chicken, quinoa, mixed salad and olive oil dressing
Snack
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Apple with a handful of almonds
Dinner
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Baked salmon, roasted vegetables and sweet potato
Each meal provides protein, fibre and healthy fats rather than relying on one large evening meal.
Be kind to yourself
Menopause isn't a test of willpower.
It isn't proof you've become lazy.
It isn't a sign you've somehow failed.
Your body is adapting to one of the biggest hormonal transitions of your life.
That deserves compassion, not criticism.
If you find yourself missing the body you once had, know you're not alone.
But don't let that grief convince you that your body is the enemy.
It has carried you through decades of life.
Now it simply needs something different from you.
Less punishment.
More nourishment.
More strength.
More patience.
The bottom line
Menopause asks us to rethink what health looks like.
Perhaps success is no longer chasing the body you had at 30.
Perhaps it's building the strongest, healthiest version of yourself for the decades still ahead.
Because healthy ageing isn't about looking younger.
It's about living well.
And that's a goal worth nourishing.
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