How I Lost 40 Pounds in 5 Months
During Perimenopause

Okay, let me just say this upfront: losing weight during perimenopause is not the same as losing weight in your 30s. The rules change. Your body changes. And the stuff that used to work? It might not anymore.

I know because I lived it. I gained weight during perimenopause and felt like I was doing everything right and getting nowhere. Sound familiar? I was exercising, eating what I thought was healthy, and the scale would not budge. It was frustrating in a way I can't fully describe.

But then things shifted. Over five months, I lost 40 pounds. And I want to share exactly what I did, because I wish someone had told me this sooner.

First, I Changed How I Thought About Food

The biggest shift wasn't actually what I ate. It was how I thought about eating. I stopped treating food as the enemy and started thinking about it as information for my hormones. Every meal was either supporting my body or working against it.

I also leaned hard into education. I read several books specifically on nutrition during perimenopause, and I applied what I had learned from my certification in Integrative Nutrition for Women's Hormones. That combination of research and real training changed how I approached food completely. It stopped being about eating less and started being about eating right for where my body was at.

I used Noom for a while, and I want to be honest about that. It was genuinely helpful for learning how to eat well and understanding portion sizes. Noom has a real focus on women going through perimenopause and beyond, which I appreciated. But here's my caveat: as we get older, obsessing over calories stops being the most useful thing. What matters more is the quality and type of food you're eating. So if tracking helps you build awareness, great. Just don't let it become a lifelong obsession.

What I Actually Ate

I cleaned up my plate in a pretty simple way. I cut out processed food. I cut out simple carbs. And I built every meal around three things: protein, healthy fats, and lots of greens and fruit.

Brazil nuts became a daily thing for me. They are one of the best sources of selenium, which supports thyroid function, and thyroid health is huge for weight and energy during perimenopause. Two Brazil nuts a day is all you need. I also added flaxseeds daily, which are fantastic for helping balance estrogen, and pumpkin seeds, which are rich in zinc and support progesterone production. These are not magic bullets, but when your hormones are shifting, giving your body the raw materials it needs to find balance really does make a difference.

I also stopped eating late. I would finish eating by 6pm, 7pm at the latest, and then I wouldn't eat again until around 9am. That's roughly a 14 to 15 hour fast, and honestly it was one of the things that made the biggest difference. I followed Mindy Pelz's approach to fasting for women in perimenopause, and if you haven't looked into her work I really recommend it. The research on fasting for women at this stage of life is compelling. It supports insulin sensitivity, helps regulate blood sugar, and gives your body the overnight window it needs to repair and reset. It sounds harder than it is. Once you adjust, it becomes second nature.

The Movement Piece

Food alone would not have gotten me to 40 pounds. Movement was absolutely part of the equation. But it wasn't just any movement. The combination that worked for me was HIIT, strength training, and walking.

HIIT was great for burning fat and supporting metabolism, which tends to slow down in perimenopause. Strength training was critical because building muscle helps your body burn more at rest, and it supports bone density too. And walking? Walking is underrated. It is gentle on the body, it lowers cortisol (which matters a lot for weight during menopause), and it just makes you feel better.

I want to be real with you: I did not kill myself in the gym. I was consistent, not extreme. That distinction matters because over-exercising can actually raise cortisol and make perimenopause symptoms worse. Sustainable, regular movement beats intense-but-sporadic every single time.

Why the Combination Was the Key

Here is what I genuinely believe: no single change did it. It was the combination. Cleaning up my food gave my body better fuel and reduced inflammation. Tracking with Noom gave me awareness without obsession. The exercise combination supported my metabolism, my hormones, and my mood. And walking kept my stress levels manageable.

Stress matters more than most people realize when it comes to weight during perimenopause. High cortisol drives fat storage, especially around the middle. Getting my stress down through walking and rest was just as important as anything I ate.

What I Would Tell You to Start With

If you are reading this and feeling stuck, here is where I would start. Not everything at once. Just this:

Those five things alone will start shifting things. Then build from there. You do not need to overhaul everything overnight.

Perimenopause weight gain is real, it is hormonal, and it is not your fault. But it is also not permanent. Your body can and does respond when you give it the right support. I am living proof of that.

If you want to talk through what this could look like for you specifically, I offer free coaching calls. No pitch, just a real conversation about where you are and what might help. You can book one right here.