Lifehack Coaching NZ

If you're doing everything right and still can't lose weight, it could be due to low iron.

Low iron is one of the most common and most overlooked reasons women in perimenopause struggle to shift the scale. And most women have no idea it's happening.

Here's what low iron actually does to your body.

First, your thyroid. Iron is essential for producing and converting thyroid hormones. When your levels are low, your thyroid becomes sluggish. A sluggish thyroid slows your metabolism, makes you cold, tired and unable to lose weight no matter how well you eat.

Second, your energy. Low iron reduces your body's ability to carry oxygen to your cells. You feel exhausted doing basic things. That exhaustion means less movement, less calorie burn and more difficulty staying consistent with your habits.

And here's the part that catches most women off guard... you can have low iron without knowing it.

Standard blood tests check haemoglobin but often miss ferritin, which is your stored iron. Many women sit in the "normal" range with ferritin levels far too low to feel or function well. Optimal and normal are not the same thing.

If you're tired, gaining weight and can't figure out why, ask your doctor to test your ferritin specifically.

The research on this is very clear and it changes the game for women in perimenopause.

Strength training is the primary intervention.

Details about my July coaching cohort are below:

Book here: https://themetabolicresetmethod.co.nz/

The doors are open.

The Metabolic Reset Method July cohort officially starts July 20. This is the program I built because I couldn't find it when I needed it.

Everything I know about perimenopause, metabolism, hormones, and sustainable fat loss in a structured, supported, 12-week group program.

https://themetabolicresetmethod.co.nz/

Enrolment closes July 18

If you've been eating less and still gaining weight? I see it constantly with my clients. Women in perimenopause doing everything "right"....cutting calories, skipping meals, eating less than they ever have and the scale still won't budge. Or worse, it keeps creeping up. When you eat too little, your body doesn't just burn through fat reserves. It reads the calorie shortage as a threat and responds by slowing your metabolism, breaking down muscle for fuel, and holding onto fat for survival. Particularly around your middle. And it doesn't stop there. Undereating also spikes cortisol, your stress hormone. In perimenopause, cortisol is already running higher than it used to. Add calorie restriction on top of that, and you're giving your body every reason to store fat, not release it. The frustrating part? It's your body doing exactly what it was designed to do, protect you. The solution isn't less food. It's smarter food. Eating enough of the right things at the right times, in a way that works with your hormones, supports your metabolism, and keeps cortisol in check, is what actually moves the needle in perimenopause.

And if you're ready to stop fighting your body and start working with it, join my new Metabolic Reset Cohort starting on July 20th: https://themetabolicresetmethod.co.nz/

Early bird is available!

This single shift , consistently hitting your protein targets, is one of the most impactful things a perimenopausal woman can do for her metabolism, her muscle, her energy and her fat loss.

Calculate your target today: bodyweight (kg) × 1.6 = minimum daily protein.

Then track it for a week. The gap you find will explain a lot.

Download free guide here: https://lifehackcoaching.nz/opt-in-page

Save this and read it again when someone tries to tell you to just eat less and move more. 📌

Your body has changed. The strategy needs to change with it.

Details about The Metabolic Reset Method are here: https://themetabolicresetmethod.co.nz/, opening for the July cohort soon.

Save this if any of these landed. Share it with someone who needs to hear it. 📌

The number of women I speak to who have spent years blaming themselves for symptoms that have a very clear hormonal explanation is genuinely heartbreaking.

You deserve to understand your own body.

Download free guide here: https://lifehackcoaching.nz/opt-in-page

You're eating well. You're training. You're tracking. The scale won't budge.
Or worse... it's creeping up.
The first instinct is to cut more food and add more cardio. That instinct will make it worse. The problem isn't your discipline. The problem is your cortisol.

Cortisol is your body's stress hormone. In short bursts it's protective, it gets you out of danger and through hard moments. The issue is chronic elevation. When cortisol stays high for months or years (which is the reality for most women in their 40s juggling work, family, hormones and poor sleep), it starts doing specific metabolic damage. It directs fat to be stored as visceral fat around your organs. It breaks down muscle to release amino acids for fuel. It keeps blood glucose elevated so insulin stays high. It blocks fat burning. It increases cravings for sugar and refined carbs. It disrupts sleep. And it steals from your s*x hormones, because your body uses the same precursor molecule for both stress hormones and reproductive hormones and under chronic stress, it prioritises cortisol every time.

This is why so many women in perimenopause hit a wall with weight loss. They're not eating too much. They're eating too little. They're not under-training. They're over-training in the wrong way. The standard advice is to eat less, do more cardio, actually elevates cortisol.

The fix is counterintuitive: less of the wrong things, more of the right things.

What lowers cortisol: eating enough calories (especially protein and carbs around training), lifting weights instead of pounding cardio, walking daily, getting morning sunlight to reset your cortisol curve, prioritising sleep, magnesium glycinate at night, breathwork or slow nasal breathing, and being honest about the parts of your life that are bleeding you dry.

Yes, your nervous system matters. No, this isn't woo. It's measurable, biological and it determines whether you lose fat or hold onto it.

If you've been doing everything "right" and nothing is working, this is probably your missing piece.

If you take one thing away from anything I post, let it be this: heavy strength training is the single most powerful tool you have for ageing well as a woman. More than walking. More than yoga. More than running. More than any supplement. More than any diet.

Lifting weights changes everything that perimenopause and menopause take from you.
Starting around 30, women lose 3–8% of muscle per decade. This loss accelerates significantly in perimenopause because oestrogen plays a direct role in muscle protein synthesis.

As oestrogen drops, your body becomes less efficient at building and holding muscle. Without intervention, by the time many women hit their 60s, they've lost a third of their lean muscle mass. This isn't a vanity issue. Less muscle means slower metabolism, worse insulin sensitivity, weaker bones, more falls and lower independence in the decades ahead.

Bone density follows the same trajectory. Oestrogen is the primary regulator of bone remodelling in women. When it drops, bone breaks down faster than it rebuilds. The first 5–7 years post-menopause are when most bone loss happens. Cardio doesn't put enough mechanical stress on bone to trigger remodelling. Heavy lifting does. Squatting, deadlifting and pressing actually signal your bones to get denser. There is no equivalent.

Then there's the metabolic side. Muscle is your body's biggest glucose sink. Every kilo of muscle you have makes you more insulin sensitive, more metabolically flexible, and less likely to store fat. This is exactly the system that breaks in perimenopause. Building muscle is the most direct fix.

And here's what most women miss: pink dumbbells and bodyweight squats are not enough. You need to lift heavy. The last 2 - 3 reps of your set should be genuinely hard. You need compound lifts such as squats, deadlifts, presses, rows , that use multiple muscle groups. You need to progressively increase the weight over time. Two to four sessions a week, 30 to 45 minutes each. That's it.