Menopause Is More Than Hot Flashes — What Happens to Muscle & Bone? We talk about hot flashes, periods stopping and mood changes when we talk about menopause. But while I was researching this week, I kept coming back to a different question: Why aren’t we talking to women earlier about what can happen to their muscle, strength and bones? And then I found something that surprised me even more. We actually don’t have nearly as much high-quality exercise research during the menopause transition as I assumed we did. Perimenopause isn’t simply estrogen slowly sliding downward in a perfectly straight line. Hormonal patterns fluctuate through the transition, and the menopause transition overlaps with an age when changes in body composition, muscle and bone are already occurring. Bone deserves particular attention because estrogen has an important role in regulating bone remodeling. Around menopause, bone resorption can outpace formation. Muscle is a little more complicated. Menopause, aging, physical activity, nutrition and other factors overlap, which makes it difficult to say: “This amount of muscle loss happened specifically because estrogen declined.” That’s an important distinction. WHY does this matter? Think about your body like a retirement account. You don’t wait until retirement to start saving. Muscle, strength and bone are similar. What you build and preserve in your 40s and 50s affects the physical reserve you’re carrying into your 60s, 70s and 80s. We’re not training simply because we want our arms to look good. We’re building the ability to: get off the floor, carry groceries, climb stairs, catch ourselves when we trip, tolerate a fall better, maintain independence and keep doing the things we actually enjoy. That’s a completely different reason to lift. The research gap I wasn’t expecting A 2025 systematic review asked a very specific question: Can exercise prevent bone and muscle loss during peri- and early postmenopause? Researchers searched five major databases for randomized controlled trials involving women ages 45–60 who were perimenopausal or early postmenopausal.

What would change if we prepared women for menopause instead of waiting for menopause to happen to them? We prepare women for puberty. We talk about pregnancy. We talk about contraception. But millions of women reach another enormous physiological transition with remarkably little preparation. This week’s question: What’s one thing about aging as a woman that you wish somebody had started teaching you 10 years earlier?

I’m someone who loves to give and especially if it’s for the right reasons. So here’s my gift to you: Every two weeks I’ll propose a winner 🏆 on who participated the most in the community. I’ll send a screen shot of the top winner and as the community grows there will be 2 -3 a d more able to win at the same time. My goal is to have everyone function as one , grow and learn together. Sometimes the best way to bring people together is by giving incentives haha. I’m open to gift ideas 💡, challenges and talks so feel free to be yourself and grow with the community ❤️

What did someone actually teach you about menopause before you started experiencing it? Not what TikTok taught you afterward. Not what you Googled once symptoms started. What were you actually taught beforehand? Hot flashes? Was that basically it? I want to know because the more I research menopause, the more I’m realizing how much of the conversation happens after women are already experiencing changes.

This week’s question is a good one because it connects directly to what we’re building with “What Is My Body Trying to Tell Me?” Question “Why am I starving before my period? Does my body actually need more food, or am I just craving things?” First: the science in plain English What: There is credible evidence that food intake can increase during the luteal phase—the portion of the cycle after ovulation and before the next period. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis in Nutrition Reviews analyzed 15 datasets involving 330 women. Average energy intake was about 168 calories/day higher during the luteal phase than the follicular phase. Why: Estrogen and progesterone fluctuate considerably across the cycle and may influence appetite, energy expenditure, food reward and other systems involved in energy balance. But the research does not support reducing this to something like “progesterone makes you hungry.” Think of appetite more like a mixing board than an on/off switch. Hormones are one slider. Sleep is another. Training is another. Stress, calorie restriction, food composition and individual biology are others. So what: If hunger consistently increases before a period, that experience may be physiologically meaningful rather than simply a failure of discipline. But—and this is important—the meta-analysis included a relatively small and narrow population: participants were 18–45, generally BMI 18.5–25, without disordered eating, and the researchers identified methodological inconsistencies between studies. So 168 calories isn’t a prescription. It is a group average. Your increase could be larger, smaller or nonexistent. What now: Instead of automatically fighting increased hunger, collect evidence. For 2–3 cycles, track: cycle timing + hunger + sleep + stress + training + symptoms Then ask: “Does my hunger actually rise repeatedly during the same part of my cycle—or does it track more closely with sleep, training or stress?” That’s much more useful than assuming every woman needs a predetermined “luteal-phase diet.”