Even though sharing my story feels uncomfortably self-indulgent, I’ll proceed because in many ways, this isn’t just my story; it reflects, I think, what so many of us experience.

First of all I want to acknowledge my privilege; my health and education has allowed me to pursue my goals. I enjoy my work and I've been lucky to have brought three healthy children into the world. I'm grateful. But like everyone, life has not been without its challenges. My 40s in particular have been, well, fairly brutal. 

A few years after having my third child at nearly 40, life became tough. I started  to feel quite disconnected from myself,  pushing through each day in survival mode rather than properly living — a feeling that, in hindsight, had a lot to do with shifting hormones and the intensity of that stage of life (my husband and I both lost parents quite suddenly). I was overwhelmed by the pressures of parenting, full-time work, ridiculous levels of self-imposed striving and chronically poor sleep. I was angry (like raging angry), my self-doubt and criticism was in overdrive, and then the anxiety beast made an uninvited appearance. Food was my coping strategy (like cakes for lunch and dinner, I kid you not), which of course only made matters worse.  I felt like a shadow of my former self and blamed myself; I didn't appreciate the role that hormones were playing behind the scenes.

My GP was brilliant and considered my symptoms through a hormonal lens, but pharmaceuticals weren't enough. I'd slipped into bad habits and my daily routines were in need of a complete refresh. Eventually I decided that enough was enough and from somewhere I found the energy to draw a line in the sand and press a hard reset. It was time to regain control. I knew that I needed to arm myself with more knowledge, so building on my experience in physiology and psychology, I started an intense research journey. I wanted to know the most up-to-date thinking on how menopause affects the brain and body and what works when it comes to topics like weight loss, building strength, well-being, diet, supplementation and sleep. I found myself buried in research, obsessively critiquing and synthesising the evidence.

This culminated in a series of science-backed ideas which I tried, tested and adapted to suit my packed schedule. These evolved into patterns of behaviour or ‘protocols’, as I now call them. There were, of course, failures (or learning opportunities, right?) - doing too much of one thing, too little of another, discovering some amazing and some not-so-amazing recipes, and spending too much on supplements that had some evidence behind them (but, in hindsight, not enough). Nevertheless, within a few months I was starting to see, and more importantly, feel results. It didn’t take me long to realise that I was onto something, and from there my motivation took care of itself (I’m still 100% committed to the protocols so I don’t just prescribe them, I live them).

Although I valued the physical results, the change in my mindset was truly transformational. It was as if my body and mind  realigned, and I finally reconnected with the self I knew (and liked). It felt so good! Reflecting on what led to this, there’s no doubt that the adjustments I made to my diet and exercise were game-changing, but there was something else; having a new focus turned out to be an incredible source of liberation, agency and pride, and opened the door to a whole new version of myself.  So, it wasn’t one thing that led to this breakthrough; it was the synergistic effect of tackling movement and mindset and metabolism. That was the genesis of my M³ Model. Now I aim to build a community of women who are ready to unleash their mental and physical power as they embrace the next phase of life. Join me and let's make this part of your story too.