Menopause Changed Everything. Here's How I Found My Way Back to Myself

There was a point during perimenopause when I realised something had changed. Not just my periods. Me.

My energy felt different. Sleep was no longer reliable. My concentration wandered, and my body was changing in ways I had never experienced before—particularly around my middle.

Perhaps most frustratingly, many of the things that had always worked for me did not seem to work in quite the same way anymore.

I had not suddenly stopped caring about my health. I had not given up on myself. My body was simply entering a different stage of life.

This is what I wish more women were told about perimenopause and menopause: it is a significant change, but there are positive, practical ways to support yourself through it.

Not through punishment. Not through starvation diets. And not by desperately trying to recreate the body you had at 25.

It begins by learning what your body needs now.

First, I had to understand what was happening

We often talk about “the menopause” as though it arrives one morning. It does not.

Perimenopause can begin years before your final period. The NHS recognises sleep problems, mood changes, poor memory, brain fog and changes in weight or body shape among the symptoms women may experience during this transition.

Every woman’s experience is different. But understanding that genuine biological changes were taking place helped me replace judgement with a much more empowering question:

What can I do differently to feel well now?

Brain fog made me feel less like myself

Brain fog can be difficult to describe until you experience it. For me, it was the lost word, the forgotten task and the feeling that my thoughts were taking longer to come together.

It can feel unsettling, especially when you are also balancing work, family and everybody else’s needs. Poor sleep can make memory and concentration problems feel even harder, creating a cycle of tiredness, frustration and self-doubt.

What helped was taking the pressure off my brain: writing things down, doing one task at a time, taking short movement breaks and protecting the beginning and end of my day from constant noise.

Sleep became part of my health strategy

You cannot separate sleep from how you feel during the day. When you have slept badly, concentration is harder, patience is shorter and every healthy choice requires more effort.

Menopause can make sleep harder through night sweats, temperature changes, anxiety or waking in the early hours with a brain that has decided it is time to review your entire life.

None of these habits is dramatic. But neither is brushing your teeth. The routines that protect us are often surprisingly ordinary.

I stopped focusing only on being smaller

Menopause taught me that health is about far more than the number on the scales.

That changed how I approached exercise. Strength became more important than punishment. Resistance exercise—whether that means weights, machines, bands or bodyweight movements—helps us look after muscle, mobility and bone health through midlife.

The goal is not perfection. It is repetition. Two achievable sessions a week can be a meaningful place to begin.

And I stopped underestimating walking

Not every healthy decision needs Lycra, a gym membership and an hour in your diary.

A ten-minute walk after lunch. Walking while taking a call. Going outside first thing in the morning. Choosing to walk rather than drive when it is realistic.

During a life stage when many women are already carrying careers, partners, children, ageing parents and everything else, simple matters.

I came back to food that genuinely nourished me

I stopped chasing extreme diets and returned to the basics: protein, plants, fibre, whole foods, enough water and meals that actually satisfy me.

Nothing revolutionary. Just food. For me, eating well became less about punishment and more about giving my body what it needed to feel steady and function well.

Stress mattered more than I realised

Perimenopause often arrives at an “interesting” time in a woman’s life—when everything seems to happen at once.

Work. Family. Relationships. Money. Parents. Children. Responsibilities. Then your hormones decide to join the meeting.

Long, pressured days can affect sleep, food choices, movement, recovery and the amount of attention you have left for yourself. I had to learn that looking after myself was not selfish. It was maintenance.

Where PURE JOY Mushrooms fit into my day

Functional mushrooms became part of the wider wellness routine we believe in at PURE JOY—not as a replacement for nourishing food, movement or sleep, but as an enjoyable daily cue to care for ourselves with greater intention.

That is the beauty of a small ritual. One positive action can lead naturally into the next.

Research into functional mushrooms continues to grow. Human evidence varies by mushroom species, preparation and outcome, but this developing field is one reason we remain so passionate about carefully selected extracts, transparent formulas and consistent everyday rituals.

PURE JOY blends make the ritual easy: thoughtfully formulated, simple to use and created to fit into real life.

The simple routine that helped me feel more grounded

Not perfectly. Consistently.

What helped me most?

There was no single magic intervention. There were many small choices that began working together.

• I stopped trying to fight my body and started trying to understand it.
• I prioritised strength and kept moving.
• I paid more attention to protein and proper meals.
• I respected sleep.
• I became more conscious of stress.
• I created small rituals that reminded me to look after myself.

And I stopped expecting myself to have exactly the same body, metabolism or life I had decades earlier. That change in mindset may have been the most important part.

And what about HRT?

HRT can be an important treatment option for menopause symptoms, depending on the individual. Your symptoms, health, medical history, preferences and personal risk factors all matter.

If menopause symptoms are significantly affecting your quality of life, speak to your GP or a suitably qualified menopause healthcare professional about your options. Lifestyle support and medical care do not have to compete; they can sit alongside one another.

Questions women often ask

What menopause finally taught me

Menopause changed my body. But it also changed the way I think about health.

I no longer believe wellbeing is about desperately holding on to a younger version of yourself. It is about caring for the woman you are becoming: strong, healthy, capable, curious, confident—and still very much yourself.

Learn about your body. Build strength. Eat well. Walk. Sleep. Recover. Ask for help when you need it. Create rituals that feel good enough to repeat.

Because menopause is not the end of feeling good in your body. It can be the beginning of understanding it properly.

Food supplement note: Food supplements should not replace a varied, balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. Functional mushroom supplements are not a substitute for individual medical advice. If you are taking medication, managing a health condition, preparing for surgery, pregnant or breastfeeding, or have a mushroom allergy, speak to an appropriately qualified healthcare professional before use.

Evidence & further reading

• NHS — Symptoms of menopause and perimenopause
• NICE — Menopause: identification and management
• Docherty et al. — Lion’s Mane, cognition, stress and mood: pilot study
• Surendran et al. — Standardised Lion’s Mane extract, cognition and mood