Your Midlife Body Is Not Betraying You

When Halle Berry stood on Capitol Hill and shouted, "I'm in menopause," something shifted. Not just in Washington, but in living rooms, GP surgeries and group chats across the world. Here was one of the most iconic women on the planet, approaching sixty, refusing to be quiet about something so many of us had been enduring and exploring alone. She went on to launch a women's health platform, advocate for federal legislation and continue to speak openly about her own perimenopause, including the years of misdiagnosis that preceded her understanding of what was actually happening in her body. 

If, like Halle and us, you are a Gen X woman who grew up in the seventies and eighties during the explosion of diet culture and fitness fads, then it's likely what you heard was that your body was never simply your body. It was a project. Something to be managed, monitored, improved and made smaller. With this conditioning, how could we all feel anything other than a deep-rooted sense that our bodies were somehow not quite right? 

By our thirties and forties, many of us had started to make peace with that. We marvelled at what our bodies could do: have babies, bounce back from injuries, carry us through the relentless demands of working life and motherhood. And then perimenopause arrived, often without warning, and it felt like our bodies were all wrong again. Many of us were blindsided, we simply didn't know what was going on.   

Inexplicable weight gain, stiff joints, flaky skin, burning mouth, brain fog, tinnitus, insomnia. These are just a few of the myriad symptoms resulting from the hormonal fluctuations that take us through perimenopause and into menopause (which happens 12 months after your last period). All of which can leave you feeling confused, overwhelmed and uncomfortable in a body that may no longer look or feel like yours. 

'Over the past 6 years Trish and Lorraine have interviewed more than 200 experts for their podcast Postcards From Midlife on what exactly happens to women's minds and bodies as they age: from orthopedic surgeons to nutritionists via GPs, Hormone experts, cancer specialists, weight loss gurus, longevity experts and psychologists.  

The first thing to know is that you are not alone. The second is that there is considerably more information and help available now than there was even five years ago, not least because women like Halle Berry, Davina McCall and endless Gen X heroes refused to stay quiet about it. 

The fluctuation in oestrogen is the central issue for most women over 40. Think of it as the oil in an engine: when it begins to decline and fluctuate things start to malfunction. Hormone Replacement Therapy is the only way to replace it, and for most women it should be a straightforward conversation with your GP, though not all women can take HRT so make sure you do your research with your GP on this.

Even if your symptoms feel manageable, oestrogen is also protective of your heart and heart disease is the biggest killer globally of women over 50. Bone density is another consideration: oestrogen plays a key role in maintaining it, and its decline increases the risk of osteoporosis. 

But there is good news and you can make lifestyle tweaks to address your symptoms:  for example, strength training actively builds bone density as well as muscle, and muscle matters more in midlife than most of us realise. You should up your protein intake at the same time. We naturally lose muscle as we age, and with it some of the metabolic processes that kept our weight stable in our thirties.  

On the subject of weight, Professor Tim Spector told us in that weight gain in midlife is more likely than at any other time, and that it is not always our fault. The way our bodies store fat shifts. GLP1 medications can help but require medical supervision and a plan for maintaining muscle alongside weight loss. Your GP can advise on how they interact with HRT. 

Nutrition becomes more important in midlife too. Liz Earle, one of the most thoroughly researched voices in this space, recommends adding healthy fats, increasing protein, reducing ultra-processed foods and swapping refined carbs for complex ones. Gut health matters enormously: eating a wide variety of plants, controlling glucose levels through the day and reducing alcohol all help lower inflammation, which underpins so much of how we feel. 

A note on supplements: as vegetarians, both of us take Vitamin B12, Vitamin D with K2 and magnesium. Lorraine also takes creatine, which is well researched for supporting muscle growth during midlife for those who exercise regularly. 

One final and often overlooked pillar: connection. Loneliness is the most significant threat to physical health at any age according to studies and all the experts we interviewed. An exercise routine that involves other people, a community, a walking group, a class, is not just good for the body. It is essential for powering your mental health (which may also decline in midlife) and is anti-inflammatory. 

This is the Power Years argument. Midlife is a transition, everything changes and knowledge is your new power. Understanding what is happening will boost your love of life, and you'll be able to greet your second spring with vigour and a new energy.  Halle Berry understood that when she took it to Capitol Hill. It is one of the most powerful things you can do.