At 48, with 20+ years in practice, I see this constantly: Women hit perimenopause, start gaining weight without changing their eating habits…panic and start eating 1200 calories, doing intermittent fasting, working out daily… and GAINING weight. Here’s why: During perimenopause your body is under more stress and therefore is already increasing inflammation. Sever restriction just adds more stress, which doesn’t just slow your metabolism - it destroys it. Despite what bro bodybuilders might tell you, yes your body thinks you’re in a famine. She wants to protect you, so she slows your thyroid function by up to 50%, spikes your cortisol, and forces you to store every calorie as hormonal belly fat for “survival.” Even worse? Eating too little sacrifices muscle mass. So even if you initially lose weight, you’re losing a larger percentage of muscle - making your body composition worse, not better. That’s why crash dieting like the 90’s and fasting doesn’t work for perimenopause women. A...