Another truly uplifting catch-up with Rachel. She was struggling with perimenopause and had made several changes to her life, including changing jobs and giving up exercise, but she was still struggling with low energy and feeling like the joy had gone out of her life. She felt that diet was the missing piece of the jigsaw, but felt too overwhelmed to change her habits.

We caught up a month after our initial call and what a transformation. Within two days of putting her new plan into action she felt better. She was less anxious and sleeping better. When she did wake up she could get back to sleep quickly. She had more energy, less brain fog and had found her mojo.

Crucially, she felt the changes had been really easy to make, and this is so important.

Listen to Rachel talk about the changes she's made and you'll hear the enthusiasm in her voice about the difference its made to her.

More support from Gabrielle

Apply to appear on my podcast by emailing me at hello@gabrielleohare.com

You can find similar advice in my book which is available on ⁠Amazon⁠

There is more information on exercise, nutrition and wellbeing on my ⁠website⁠ and you can sign up for my weekly newsletter there.

This episode is a great reminder that Thriving After 40 isn't just about food. Emma lost her fitness after catching Covid and then perimenopause struck bringing anxiety and issues with sleep. As her kids hit their teens she was also missing the socialising that she did with other parents when the children were younger.

She wanted to take better care of herself, but was overwhelmed by all the things she was supposed to be doing, and wasn't doing anything. She needed a plan that would work for her.

I loved this episode because the main focus was about making time to do things that brought Emma pleasure in her life. When I asked her what she did for herself, she realised she did nothing. Yet she worked hard at her job and spent most evenings ferrying her kids around. We need a reward for the work we put in. Often we turn to food to do this, and I suspected this was the reason she was turning to biscuits and chocolate during the day, even though she ate a healthy diet and didn't suffer with hunger or cravings.

Another key part of our chat was about exercise and how she could find time and energy to build up her fitness again because this had been a big part of her life pre Covid and she knew it would improve her mood and even her sleep.

More support from Gabrielle

You can find similar advice in my book which is available on Amazon

There is more information on exercise, nutrition and wellbeing on my website and you can sign up for my weekly newsletter there.

Rachel is 3 years perimenopause and her biggest symptoms are mood swings, anxiety and overwhelm and real loss of joy. Taking the brave step of changing career didn't remove the feelings of anxiety that she'd hoped. Determined to make more changes she cut down on alcohol and joined a running club.

But she just couldn't get a grip on her diet. She knew toast for breakfast and meal deals for lunch weren't ideal, but she couldn't break the cycle. The natural response to this is feeling guilty, being angry with yourself for being lazy/useless/disorganised, and with that comes a lot of negative self-talk that can take over your brain and direct a lot of anger and frustration towards yourself.

This is not a small deal because it can have a huge impact on how you feel about yourself.

Yet, when you lead a busy, stressful life and have to deal with anxiety and overwhelm, getting a grip on your diet can completely evade you.

That's why these sessions work so well. It's so much easier when you take a step back with someone who can help you figure things out. And that's what we do in this week's episode. We find simple changes that Rachel can actually make without adding extra work or making her feel overwhelmed.

Tune in now and listen to how we figured it out, because the same ideas could well work for you too.

MORE SUPPORT FROM GABRIELLE

You can find similar advice in my book Why Women Over 40 Can't Lose Weight which is available on ⁠Amazon⁠

If you'd like to apply to be coached in a future podcast, please email me at hello@gabrielleohare.com

Private coaching is also available. To find out more click ⁠here