What you’re getting yourself into
Why conventional advice for dealing with perimenopause and menopause is backwards, and how carnivore nutrition and low volume strength training can be the perfect tools for the managing the hormonal chaos.
You’re doing everything right. Same diet that worked for years. Same exercise routine. Yet your jeans are tight, you’re waking up drenched in sweat, and your brain feels wrapped in cling film. Welcome to menopause, where your body rewrites every metabolic rule you thought you’d mastered.
The conventional wisdom? Go low-fat everything, eat plenty of veggies, do light cardio. Throw in some soy for the hot flashes. Because nothing says “fix your metabolic crisis” quite like tofu and a spot of yoga.
Here’s the problem: that advice doesn’t work for bodies experiencing a metabolic earthquake.
But there’s an alternative. It involves eating primarily animal products and lifting heavy things. The approach is simple, the mechanisms make sense, and the results, when done correctly, can be transformative. Allow me to explain.
The Three Acts Of Metabolic Upheaval
Menopause unfolds across three distinct acts. None of them are particularly enjoyable.
Perimenopause starts in your mid-to-late forties. Wild hormonal fluctuations. Hot flashes begin. Mood swings that could rival soap operas. Cycles become unpredictable as British weather. Your body frantically tries to maintain the status quo while preparing for the shift. It’s about as graceful as a drunk toddler on a bicycle.
Menopause itself is anticlimactic. Twelve consecutive months without a period. That’s it. All that buildup for what amounts to an administrative milestone.
Postmenopause is everything after. Symptoms often peak here, which is a cruel joke given you’d think the worst would be over. Hot flashes can persist for years, even over a decade. Bone loss accelerates dramatically. Muscle evaporates despite your efforts. Chronic disease risk materialises like bills after Christmas.
The hormonal cascade is brutal. Estrogen plummets. Progesterone disappears. You’re left with a hormonal environment that fundamentally changes how your body processes food, stores fat, builds muscle, and responds to stress. Your metabolism basically decides to operate on an entirely different operating system without bothering to consult you first.
The Metabolic Crisis Nobody Warned You About
The hormonal collapse triggers metabolic disasters that conventional advice fails to address.
Your insulin sensitivity tanks. Suddenly you’re craving carbs more than ever, but your body can’t handle them. Blood sugar becomes harder to control. Type 2 diabetes risk skyrockets. It’s like developing lactose intolerance but for every carbohydrate that ever existed.
Fat redistributes to dangerous places. Visceral accumulation around your organs. You’re getting fatter on the inside while measurements barely budge. This creates a vicious cycle of inflammation and further insulin resistance. Your body becomes an artist, and its medium is storing fat in precisely the worst locations possible.
Muscle mass accelerates its departure. The slow decline cranks into high gear. Loss of hormonal signals, decreased growth hormone, increased inflammation, dysfunctional mitochondria. Your metabolic rate plummets. You need fewer calories but can handle even fewer. The mathematics of it all are spectacularly unhelpful.
The result? Less muscle, more visceral fat, same or higher weight. This explains why “my same diet doesn’t work anymore.” Your metabolism changed the rules without issuing a memo.
Why The Standard Advice Falls Short
Low-fat diets ignore the insulin resistance problem. When you’re insulin resistant, carbohydrates (even whole grains, despite their virtuous reputation) drive blood sugar higher, perpetuating dysfunction. Your body stores them as visceral fat. It’s remarkably efficient at this, which would be impressive if it weren’t so annoying.
Cardio-focused exercise does nothing for muscle mass or bone density. You can jog yourself into oblivion and still lose both. You need mechanical loading that signals these tissues are necessary. Running from your problems, as it turns out, doesn’t solve metabolic ones.
Phytoestrogen supplements (soy, flaxseed) show inconsistent evidence and introduce plant compounds many women struggle to tolerate. But at least someone’s making money selling you beans.
So if the conventional approach doesn’t work, what does?
The Carnivore Fix: Targeting Root Dysfunction
A carnivore approach addresses menopausal dysfunction through convergent mechanisms.
Insulin sensitivity improves dramatically. Remove carbohydrates, insulin drops. For insulin-resistant bodies, this resets the system. Blood sugar stabilises. Energy becomes consistent. Carb cravings vanish within weeks. Your body rediscovers fat-burning, a skill it’s had all along, ever since you were born into this world in the blissful state of ketosis.
Inflammation plummets. Ketones turn down inflammatory pathways. Remove seed oils and plant defence chemicals. Less joint pain, better skin, clearer thinking, improved mood, and dramatically better sleep. Women report sleep as one of the first improvements. No more 3am cortisol spikes from blood sugar crashes. Your body stops treating bedtime like an amateur fireworks display.
Mitochondria get rejuvenated. Nutritional ketosis induces mitohormesis, stress that improves cellular function. Your body enhances mitochondrial resilience and creates new ones. Better energy production means better everything. Think of it as turning your cellular power plants from coal-fired relics into efficient modern facilities.
Hormonal balance improves. Chronic high insulin interferes with sex hormone metabolism. Lower insulin helps restore balance to perimenopausal chaos. Remaining cycles become more regular, moods stabilise, wild swings mellow. Your hormones start behaving like functional adults instead of warring toddlers.
Complete nutrition in bioavailable form. Carnivore provides every nutrient your body needs. Vitamin A as retinol. K2, not K1. Heme iron (20-30% absorption) not non-heme (2-3%). EPA and DHA, not ALA. B vitamins in active forms.
During menopause, nutrient demands increase while absorption decreases. Many women have subclinical deficiencies worsening symptoms. Low iron causing fatigue, insufficient B vitamins affecting mood, inadequate zinc and selenium compromising thyroid. Carnivore plugs these gaps efficiently. No supplement cabinet resembling a small pharmacy necessary.
Meanwhile, you’re removing interference. Phytates bind minerals. Oxalates cause inflammation. Phytoestrogens mess with already chaotic hormones. Goitrogens interfere with thyroid. Elimination removes active interference with your physiology. It’s like finally evicting problematic tenants.
The beauty is simplicity. No calorie counting. No meal planning. Eat meat when hungry. Stop when full. You get complete nutrition while removing compounds making everything worse.
The Iron Prescription: Heavier Than You Think
Postmenopausal women need more training stimulus than younger women. Your body has become resistant to muscle-building signals. It’s developed a very effective spam filter, and unfortunately, training signals keep ending up in junk.
You need heavier weights, more frequently, with adequate volume. Think 2-3 sessions per week per muscle group, weights that challenge you in the 4-8 rep range, across multiple exercises. Substantially more than “bodyweight squats twice a week.” Those accomplish about as much as thoughts and prayers.
When you’re losing bone mass rapidly, you need mechanical loading that triggers remodelling. Only genuinely heavy weights provide sufficient stimulus. Pink dumbbells are decorative at best.
Practically: Compound movements. Squats, deadlifts, presses, rows. Weights that make the last reps genuinely difficult. If you can easily do more than 8 reps, it’s not heavy enough. Progressive overload means adding weight over time, even just 2.5 pounds. Sessions lasting 40-60 minutes. Your muscles need to receive the message in a language they can’t ignore.
For beginners: start learning form with lighter weights, but within 2-4 weeks, add weight. You need mechanical tension your body can’t dismiss. Light weights for high reps accomplish nothing except wasting time you could have spent doing literally anything else.
Outcomes you’ll notice: Better posture. Everyday tasks become easier. Body composition shifts. Clothes fit better. You feel stronger and capable. The fragility that was creeping in, reverses course. Turns out loading your skeleton with weight convinces it to stick around.
The Adaptation Challenge
Adapting to both carnivore and intensive training is harder for menopausal women. Biology isn’t fair. You’ve probably already figured this out.
The keto flu hits harder. Electrolyte shifts can be pronounced. Fatigue, headaches, irritability, muscle cramps. Solution: Drink bone broth for electrolytes, and consider tapering salt down gradually until you can remove it altogether. Because adding excess salt to carnivore actually makes it harder for the body to self-regulate. Most women feel dramatically better within days of addressing electrolytes. It’s almost anticlimactic how well this works.
Some experience thyroid effects. Persistent fatigue, cold intolerance, or hair loss after several weeks might mean your thyroid could use small amounts of carbohydrates in the short term while you adjust to the new diet. Carnivore is a dramatic change for the body, and as is the case with salt, going cold turkey might force the body to kick up a fuss.
Modify the approach. Cycling in carbs strategically resolves this while maintaining benefits, at least for a month before you cut it down to zero. Consider supplementing iodine, as it’s the base ingredient for making thyroid, and desperately lacking in the diet.
Recovery takes longer. You need more recovery than younger lifters. Drop to twice weekly if you’re training three times. Reduce volume by one set per exercise. Ensure adequate protein and calories. Poor sleep destroys recovery capacity. This is where being young would be handy, but we work with what we’ve got.
Adaptation timeline is longer. Younger people adapt in weeks. Menopausal women often need several months to feel optimal. Judge results at three months, not three weeks. Patience, despite being tedious, is mandatory.
It’s A Spectrum, Not A Religion
Here’s where we dispel the notion that carnivore is some sort of puritanical cult. It’s not. Despite what the internet might have you believe.
Full carnivore (exclusively animal products) works brilliantly for some women, particularly those with autoimmune issues or severe food sensitivities. But it’s not mandatory. You can be carnivore-adjacent with excellent results.
Carnivore with carb cycling involves keeping carbohydrates very low most of the time, but cycling in targeted amounts every 3-5 days. As an example, you could be carnivore for 5 days, then add in carbs over the weekend. Some women find this helps with thyroid function, training performance, and long-term adherence. Meanwhile, you’re still getting the perks of keto hormesis since most days are spent in a ketogenic state, assuming you keep your carbs under 40 grams. If it helps you sustain the approach, it’s not cheating. The dietary police aren’t real.
Adequate protein with low carb is the minimum effective dose. By low carb, I mean lower than 150 grams a day. If full carnivore feels too restrictive, focus on getting abundant protein from animal sources, keeping carbohydrates moderate to low, and eliminating seed oils and processed foods. This alone will produce significant benefits for many women.
The key is sustainability. An 80% adherence to a moderate approach beats 100% adherence to an extreme approach for three weeks followed by complete abandonment. Reality, as always, trumps ideology.
What This Actually Looks Like
For diet: Most women do well with 2-3 meals daily. Start simple. Eggs and bacon for breakfast, burger patty with butter for lunch, steak for dinner. Eat when hungry. Prioritise fatty cuts, whole eggs, dairy, and add butter or double cream whenever you feel like it. Stop when satisfied. Your appetite regulates itself as insulin normalises. This is shockingly straightforward, which is why it doesn’t sell books very well.
Initially, you might eat more frequently during adaptation. Normal. After a few weeks, you’ll naturally space meals further apart. You can bring it down to 2 meals a day, but just make sure you’re feasting. Those meals shouldn’t be kid size. Drink water to thirst. Salt if you need it.
For training: Lift 3-4 times a week, either Upper/Lower or Whole Body. Train in the 4-8 rep range, with plenty of rest in between sets. Lift as heavy as you can. Don’t let your session go past an hour. The concept is simple. The execution is just hard work.
Timeline:
Week 1-2: Potentially rough. Fatigue, headaches, irritability. Stay on electrolytes. This is the price of admission.
Week 3-4: Energy improves. Mental clarity sharpens. Hot flashes may reduce. Light at the end of the tunnel appears.
Month 2-3: Body composition changes visible. Strength increases noticeably. Sleep quality solidifies. Things are actually working.
Month 3-6: Full adaptation. Judge whether it’s working. Symptoms should be significantly improved, body composition shifting, strength progressing. If not, something needs adjusting.
When To Seek Medical Input
Focus on outcomes, not lab work. You don’t need quarterly blood panels to know if this works. Pay attention to symptoms, body composition, strength, energy, mental clarity. These tell you more than any number on a page ever will.
Medical supervision makes sense if you have:
– Pre-existing conditions like diabetes, kidney disease, or significant osteoporosis
– Medications that might need adjusting (insulin, blood sugar meds, blood pressure meds)
– History of eating disorders
Diabetes patients on insulin need medical monitoring because needs will likely decrease dramatically. Same with blood pressure medications. Continuing the same doses while your metabolism improves is a recipe for problems. Your doctor may be surprised by this. Prepare accordingly.
For everyone else? Start the approach, give it several months, judge by results. Feeling better, looking better, performing better? You’re on the right track. Feeling worse after adaptation? Something needs adjusting.
Don’t let lack of bloodwork validation stop you from pursuing an approach producing tangible improvements. The medical system excels at treating acute crises. It’s considerably less useful for optimising wellness. This is a feature, not a bug.
Troubleshooting
“Six weeks in, feel worse.” Eat more fat before you try any other form of troubleshooting. Protein is just a building block, not an energy source. Fat is where you get the fuel, and if you’re low on energy, insufficient fat is the primary culprit.
“Hot flashes got worse.” Can happen during adjustment. Usually resolves within 4-6 weeks. If persistent, you might be undereating. Eat more fat, eat more frequently. Your body is trying to repair itself while you’re giving it insufficient resources. That’s optimistic at best.
“Not recovering from training.” Training too frequently or intensely. Drop to twice weekly. Reduce volume by one set per exercise. Eat more protein. Sleep matters more than ever. You’re not 25 anymore, despite what your ego might claim.
“Weight went up.” Initial weight gain is common if you’ve been chronically undereating. Look at body composition and measurements instead. Clothes fitting better? Waist shrinking? Gaining strength? Give it three months before panicking. The scale is a lying bastard.
“Doctor concerned about cholesterol.” LDL often rises on ketogenic diets. If everything else improves (triglycerides down, HDL up, blood sugar improved, symptoms better), that LDL number shouldn’t override tangible health improvements. Some doctors understand metabolic health beyond cholesterol. Others are married to guidelines written decades ago. Choose your battles wisely.
What About HRT?
Hormone replacement therapy deserves discussion. It has legitimate benefits for many women. Reduced hot flashes, better mood stability, improved sleep, maintained bone density. Some women report it’s life-changing. That’s not nothing.
But here’s what HRT doesn’t fix: insulin resistance, visceral fat accumulation, muscle loss from inadequate protein and mechanical loading, mitochondrial dysfunction, systemic inflammation from seed oils and plant defence chemicals. HRT replaces hormones. It doesn’t repair the metabolic machinery that’s breaking down.
Think of it like this: if your house is flooding, HRT is excellent at mopping up the water. But it doesn’t fix the burst pipe. You’re just mopping constantly, wondering why the floor keeps getting wet. The pipe is still broken. Eventually, you’re going to need a bigger mop.
This is why women on HRT still gain weight, still struggle with body composition, still lose muscle mass, still develop insulin resistance. The hormones help with symptoms. They don’t address the underlying metabolic catastrophe that’s driving those symptoms in the first place.
The optimal approach? Fix the lifestyle foundation first, then add HRT if needed. Carnivore plus strength training plus HRT is vastly superior to HRT alone. You’re addressing root causes while managing symptoms. The combination produces results that HRT alone simply cannot deliver.
Women who combine all three report feeling better than they have in years. Not just “symptoms are manageable” but actual vitality. Energy, strength, mental clarity, body composition improvements that seemed impossible on HRT alone. The synergy is real.
Conversely, taking HRT while eating a standard diet, doing cardio, and ignoring strength training is like putting premium fuel in a car with a blown engine. The fuel quality isn’t the limiting factor. The engine is. Fix the engine first. Then optimize the fuel.
HRT can be a powerful tool. But it’s a tool that works best when the foundation is solid. Build the foundation through diet and training. Then add HRT if symptoms persist. This is the approach that actually produces transformation rather than just symptom management.
The medical system prefers prescribing hormones to recommending lifestyle changes. One is a fifteen-minute appointment with a prescription pad. The other requires actual effort and follow-up. Guess which one is more profitable and scalable? The incentive structures aren’t aligned with your outcomes.
Key Takeaways
1. Menopause is a metabolic crisis that demands a targeted response. The standard low-fat, cardio-focused advice fails because it doesn’t address insulin resistance, muscle loss, visceral fat accumulation, and mitochondrial dysfunction. But points for trying, I suppose.
2. Carnivore and ketogenic approaches fix the root problems. Dramatic insulin reduction, inflammation control, mitochondrial rejuvenation, hormonal rebalancing, and protein abundance. All delivered through one simple dietary change. Turns out simplicity works.
3. Strength training needs to be heavier and more frequent than you think. Postmenopausal women need genuinely challenging weights, 2-3 times per week, with adequate volume. Not pink dumbbells. Not bodyweight circuits. Real mechanical loading that signals your body to keep muscle and bone. Heavy things are heavy for a reason.
4. HRT works best when lifestyle is fixed first. Hormone replacement helps with symptoms but doesn’t fix insulin resistance, muscle loss, or mitochondrial dysfunction. Carnivore plus training plus HRT is vastly superior to HRT alone. Build the foundation, then add hormones if needed.
5. Adaptation takes longer, and that’s normal. Expect several months to feel optimal. Be proactive with electrolytes. Allow adequate recovery from training. Judge your results at three months, not three weeks. Patience is annoying but mandatory.
6. It’s a spectrum. Pick what you can sustain. Full carnivore works brilliantly for some. Others do better with strategic carbs or select plants. The minimum effective dose is abundant animal protein with low carbs. Perfection isn’t the goal; consistency is.
7. Judge by outcomes, not lab work. How are your symptoms? How’s your body composition? How’s your strength? How’s your energy and mental clarity? These tell you far more than quarterly blood panels. Revolutionary concept: pay attention to how you actually feel.
8. Medical input matters if you have pre-existing conditions. Diabetes, kidney disease, significant osteoporosis, or medications that need adjusting. Otherwise, trust the process and listen to your body. Novel idea in the modern medical landscape.
9. It’s simpler than it sounds. Eat meat when hungry. Lift heavy things regularly. Progress gradually. Give it time. Pay attention to results. Adjust based on what you’re experiencing. No PhD required.
The conventional approach treats symptoms and hopes for the best. This approach fixes the underlying metabolic machinery. That’s considerably more powerful than eating more vegetables and hoping the universe shows mercy.
Don’t Wait For Permission
You already know conventional advice isn’t working. You’ve tried low-fat, Mediterranean, plant-based. The yoga and jogging. Your doctor said this is just aging, maybe prescribed an antidepressant. Very helpful.
And here you are. Still struggling. Still sweating through nights. Still watching your body change uncontrollably. Still lacking energy. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Time to try something different.
The metabolic damage compounds daily. Every day of insulin resistance accumulates. Every day of inadequate protein accelerates muscle loss. Every day without proper loading means more bone density lost. Density you won’t recover. The clock is ticking, and it doesn’t care about your comfort zone.
You don’t need more research. You don’t need permission from your doctor (unless you have specific conditions). You don’t need to wait until things worsen. You need to start. Radical concept, I know.
Start simple. Buy steak. Cook it. Eat it. Repeat. Find a gym or buy weights. Learn to squat, press, pull. Add weight when you can. Do it consistently for three months. Actually give it a fair trial.
Then judge by results. Not by dietary guidelines. Not by what worked for someone else. By your symptoms, body composition, strength, energy, mental clarity. These are the metrics that actually matter.
Worst case? You spend three months eating nutrient-dense food and getting stronger. Not catastrophic. You’ve endured worse dinner parties.
Best case? You discover menopause doesn’t have to be a decade of suffering. That your body is still capable of transformation. That the metabolic machinery everyone said was broken can be repaired. That you’re not powerless in this process.
You can’t control that you’re going through menopause. You can control how you respond. The universe isn’t coming to save you. Neither is conventional medicine. You’re going to have to do this yourself.
The choice is yours. Make it a good one.
Read My Previous Article – 27 Carnivore Dangers Debunked
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