Like many women, I’ve worn a lot of hats - daughter, sister, wife, mother, auntie, friend, teacher, sports coach. And like many women, I was very good at looking after everyone else first.

I’ve always known that eating well and moving matter. I taught it for years. But for long stretches of my life, I didn’t practise what I preached.

That changed once my children had grown and I reached the menopause transition. I started thinking differently about the years ahead. I didn’t just want to get through menopause, I wanted to be the woman who can still walk the hills, carry her own suitcase and say yes to adventures at 70 and beyond.

So I went back to basics: eating for what my body actually needed, building strength, and taking an honest look at alcohol. No diets. No rigid rules. Just steady changes I could keep up.

My body changed. I got stronger, and over three to four years I lost 30kg, not by dieting, but by looking after myself properly. The bigger change, though, was how I feel: clearer, more energetic and confident about my future health.

I’ve written honestly about my relationship with alcohol in this blog post.

That experience, together with years of teaching food and nutrition, is why I trained as a nutritionist and menopause coach. I wanted other women to have what I had to work out the hard way: clear, personalised guidance that fits real life.