Over the years, I've heard many upset, frustrated women say the same thing—“I don’t understand what’s happening. I’m eating healthy, I’ve actually been eating less. I’m exercising. And I’m still gaining weight. What's wrong with me?”

Often, women are embarrassed, believing it's somehow their fault or that they are broken. Sometimes there's even a little fear behind it—fear they’re losing control of their body, fear it is just what happens in midlife, fear it is the beginning of the slide with more weight, exhaustion, symptoms and less joy and fear they just have to accept it and live with it.

Let me say this clearly, you are not broken. It’s not just aging. You can take back control and extra weight and all the other symptoms the world tells you are normal. They are not something you have to live with.

Something very real is happening but it’s not a lack of willpower or discipline. You are not weak, or broken. It’s your metabolism and hormones adapting to a new life phase.

Once you understand what’s actually going on, you can give your body the love and support it needs to thrive, instead of fighting against it.

Most women I meet have a long history of trying to eat healthily, which usually means eating less. Smaller portions. Cutting carbs. Skipping meals. “Being good.” That works at first—until it doesn’t.

By the time women reach perimenopause and menopause, their........

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