Menopause Coach and Certified Nutritionist
For many women, midlife feels like a turning
point no one prepared them for
Meals that once “worked” no longer keep you full.
Eating less only seems to make everything worse.
Cravings feel stronger and less predictable.
Weight gain feels easier than ever.
You’re trying to make sense of it all, and you’re not doing anything wrong.
it’s peri/menopause
Why nutrition suddenly Feels Harder After 40
You’ve tried eating less, skipping meals, cutting out certain foods, and being more disciplined.
You understand “balanced meals.”
You know about protein.
What’s changed is how your body responds.
In your 30s, you could miss breakfast, eat later, or be inconsistent with meals and still feel mostly fine.
Hunger was manageable.
Energy recovered.
Sleep wasn’t so fragile.
Now, those same habits leave you:
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thinking about food far earlier in the day
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feeling wired but exhausted
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waking in the night
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craving sugar or snacks in the evening
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wondering why you don’t feel full, even when you’ve eaten
As hormones shift, the margin for error narrows. Your body becomes more sensitive to how, when, and what you eat.
Blood sugar swings feel stronger. Stress lingers longer. Appetite cues don’t behave the way they used to.
So when meals are too low in protein, too low in fibre, or spaced too far apart, your body lets you know. Loudly.
That’s not failure. That’s feedback.
Once you understand that these symptoms are signals, everything changes.
The goal stops being “eat less” or “try harder,” and becomes learning how to eat in a way that actually supports the body you’re living in now.
That’s exactly what the 40+ Kitchen is designed to help you do.
$15/month | Free 7 day trial | Cancel any time
Your symptoms aren’t problems to fix.
They’re information
THE THING NO-ONE REALLY EXPLAINS
ABOUT PERIMENOPAUSE
What used to feel sensible now has consequences.
Cutting carbs doesn’t just make you “lighter”, it leaves you tired, irritable, and thinking about food all day.
Skipping meals doesn’t feel efficient anymore. It often shows up later as overeating or constant snacking.
And when protein is too low, cravings don’t disappear; they get louder, especially at night.
This is why habits that once felt controlled now affect appetite, mood, sleep, and energy in ways you don’t recognise.
Nothing about this means you’re doing anything wrong.
These responses are your body adjusting to hormonal changes, and letting you know what it needs now.
Your symptoms aren’t problems to fix or ignore.
They’re information.
Clues.
A starting point.
When you stop fighting the changes and start paying attention to them, you can make small, practical adjustments to how you eat and live that actually support your body as it "naturally" shifts through midlife.
WHAT IS THE
40+ KITCHEN
A trusted community for women over 40 who know their bodies have changed and want to understand why.
Learn how shifting hormones affect appetite, energy, sleep, mood, and weight, and how to nourish your body in a way that actually works in perimenopause and menopause, with support and guidance you can trust.
UNDERSTAND
LEARN
NOURISH
SUPPORT
TRUST
This is about learning how to eat in a way that supports your body long term,
not forcing it into short term compliance.
Inside
the 40+ KITCHEN
Weekly Calls
Each week, we meet live and look at what your body is telling you.
The hunger, the cravings, the poor sleep, the brain fog; none of it is random, and none of it means you’re doing something wrong.
These symptoms are the outward signs of internal changes as hormones shift. Instead of treating them as annoyances to fight or ignore, we use them as clues.
Information/data that shows us what needs adjusting: how you’re eating, how your day is structured, and how stress and recovery are showing up in your body now.
This is where women stop thinking, “What’s wrong with me?” and start asking, “What is my body asking for?”
That shift in understanding is often the biggest change of all, and once it clicks, everything from food choices to energy and consistency starts to feel far less complicated.
Because nothing about midlife is something to just “get on with.” It deserves to be understood.
THE COMMUNITY
40+ Kitchen includes a private, friendly and fun community.
It’s not a noisy Facebook group.
No diet talk. No supplement selling.
It’s a space for women at the same life stage to ask honest questions and make sense of what their body is doing now.
You’ll see questions like:
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“Why am I ravenous after a bad night’s sleep?”
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“Why has increasing protein helped my energy?”
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“Why am I still hungry after having a meal?"
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"Why is my anxiety and even rage getting worse?"
These conversations aren’t about quick fixes, shame or guilt.
They’re about understanding hormonal shifts in midlife, connecting symptoms to what’s happening internally, and adjusting without blaming yourself for doing something wrong.
$15/month | Free 7 day trial | Cancel any time
THE RECIPES
These recipes aren’t about cutting calories. They’re about using them well.
Cooking is an opportunity to build a meal that supports appetite, energy, and blood sugar, while tasting good enough to want again.
Inside 40+ Kitchen, you’ll find recipe collections for:
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under-30-minute meals
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breakfasts to actually keep you full
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simple lunches and dinners
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snacks and treats, including holiday food, because all food fits
The recipes are:
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high in protein
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high in fibre
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supportive of hormonal shifts
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moderate in saturated fat
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genuinely satisfying
The recipe collection grows every month, shaped by what members ask for and what they’re dealing with in real life, so it stays relevant, useful, and enjoyable.
These are meals designed to nourish you, and actually taste good. Not leave you hungry an hour later.
Understanding your body, nourishing it well, and feeling supported
Meet Vivienne
Hi, I’m Vivienne,
A certified menopause coach & nutritionist, recipe developer, and former nurse and midwife, with over 30 years of experience working in women’s health.
I’ve supported women through pregnancy, postpartum, and now midlife, and I know how confusing this phase can feel when your body changes and no one really explains why.
For many women, perimenopause and menopause are framed as something to “get through” or “put up with.” Symptoms are brushed off, normalised, or reduced to a single word, without helping women understand what’s actually happening inside their bodies. My work is about changing that.
I believe symptoms aren’t random or something to fight. They’re information. They reflect real hormonal and physiological shifts, and when you understand those shifts, you can make calmer, more appropriate changes that actually help.
That belief comes from both my professional background and my own experience. I started 40+ Kitchen because I wanted a space that felt different from social media. Quieter, more thoughtful, and about understanding our bodies rather than supplements, cleanses, trends, or quick fixes.
Everything inside 40+ Kitchen has been developed specifically for women in perimenopause and menopause. Nothing is designed to override your body or ignore what it’s telling you.
My approach is evidence-based, practical, and designed to fit real life, not an idealised version of it.
Why The 40+ Kitchen Exists
40+ Kitchen was created as a place where women don’t have to over-explain themselves.
A space where you’re heard and taken seriously, without having to justify why you feel tired, hungry, flat, foggy, irritable, or simply not like yourself.
I built this because I went through it too.
Even with a background in nursing and nutrition, I found myself anxious, exhausted, second-guessing my food choices, and wondering why what had always “worked” suddenly didn’t.
No one was properly explaining what was happening inside my body, and it was just, “This is perimenopause. Wait until menopause, it just gets worse.”
That wasn’t good enough for me. So I built something I wish had existed when I needed it.
It’s somewhere you learn what’s actually changing, how to interpret what your body is telling you, and how to respond in a way that supports you rather than pushes you harder.
If you’re tired of trying to figure this out on your own, this is where things will start to make sense.
$15/month | Free 7 day trial | Cancel any time
