January In Review

January came and went in the blink of an eye.  One minute I was eating leftover Christmas pudding for breakfast, the next it was Australia Day and I was wondering if it was socially acceptable to be already complaining that this year was ‘flying’.

I decided to start the year off sensibly.  No resolutions.  No extreme diet and exercise program.  No life overhaul that requires a vision board, or a 12-step plan.

My first goal was simple, make sure everything on the inside was still working properly.

Think of it as a full service, a roadworthy certificate for my internal organs.  I’ve had a complete health check and now know exactly which bits are running smoothly and which are being held together with mere hope and Panadol.

Some parts are humming along nicely.  Others are… questionable.

The first major win of 2026?  I found my doctor. Doctor Winnie came highly recommended, and it was love at first sight the moment I met her.  A specialist in Women’s Health, Dr Winnie sat patiently as I rattled off my long list of ailments (both physical and emotional) without interrupting or looking at her watch.

Weight gain.  Brain fog.  Terrible sleep.  No energy.  Tired but wired.  Moody for absolutely no reason.  Snapping at my partner for breathing incorrectly.  You name it, I had it. She nodded calmly, like a woman who has heard this same speech a million times before, deliberated for one hot second, then delivered the verdict:

Perimenopause. 

Apparently, my self-medicating plan that involved coffee, wine, and chocolate wasn’t quite cutting the mustard.  Damn it.

After checking my bloods and making sure nothing more sinister was lurking beneath the surface, I was put straight on hormone replacement therapy.  We’ve started with a medication called Zoely, which contains estradiol, an estrogen identical to what the body produces. Gotta love drugs.

I’ll be sure to report back on how I go, but for now I’m cautiously optimistic and quietly thrilled to have an explanation for why I’ve been a hot mess over devastating events like, “Who ate all the Lindt balls and why would you hurt me like this?”

Onto the weighty issue.  With a BMI of 25.7, I officially landed in the “overweight” category.  Fuuuuuck.  So it was straight to the Nutritionist, and ad hoc life coach, Nikki. After following her advice, which is refreshingly basic and doesn’t involve starving, I’m already three kilograms down and slowly moving in the right direction.  Suddenly, my size 10 jeans aren’t actively trying to avoid me quite as much.

After Nikki was presented with my list of non-negotiables - no calorie counting, no measuring macros, and no weighing almonds, she responded with one beautifully simple formula: each meal should include a palm-sized serve of protein, a fist-sized serve of carbs (and yes, this does include bread), and the rest of the plate is filled with veggies.

Simple, right?  Almost suspiciously so.

But the best part? I was encouraged to still go out for dinner, eat the treats, and drink the wine. Because, Dear Readers, I still need to have a life.  Preferably one that includes sourdough, cheese, and the occasional shiraz without a side of guilt.

And finally, the niggling issue of niggles.  Remember that persistent back pain that moved in like an unwanted houseguest and refused to leave?  Well I served that sucker an eviction notice whilst lying face-down, and voluntarily getting stabbed by a million tiny needles at the hands of Doctor Gu, the all-wise and so-ancient Chinese acupuncturist.  I’ll admit, I was sceptical at first, it all sounded a bit woo-woo.  But I am officially converted.  The relief was instant, and I walked out feeling like a new woman, or at least one who could bend over without swearing and needing a minute to emotionally recover.

All in all, I’m off to a solid start to 2026.

Lauren x