I spent years fighting a body I no longer understood.

When I went into surgical menopause at 39, it hit me like a freight train. Almost overnight, everything seemed to change. I was given little guidance, no real roadmap and very little understanding of what was happening to me.

A decade on, and after plenty of mistakes, I've realised this isn't about getting my old body back. It's about building the strength to enjoy everything that's still ahead.

At times, I felt incredibly alone.

There was so much information, so much conflicting advice and so many things I was apparently supposed to be doing. It became overwhelming. Some days, I felt like I'd failed before I'd even begun.

Surgical menopause doesn't ease you in. There's no gradual transition, no years of perimenopause to adjust. One day my hormones were there, and the next they weren't.

What nobody explained was that losing them overnight affects far more than hot flushes. It affects muscle, bone, joints, sleep, mood and how your body recovers. Understanding that was my real wake-up call.

I would never have considered that lifting heavier weights, built up gradually, could help support bone density and muscle. In my head, it felt so conflicting: surely gentle was safer?

That changed how I thought about strength training. It wasn't just about fitness or how I looked. It was about supporting my body for the years ahead.

Menopause isn't the end of anything. It's a shift. And while we can't control every change our bodies go through, we can learn how to support them, understand them and feel more in control of our own wellbeing.

I discovered that the things I'd always been told about fitness, food and health weren't necessarily what I needed anymore.

Strength training became more important. Building and protecting muscle mattered. So did eating enough protein, moving regularly, prioritising sleep and giving myself permission to recover.

But perhaps the biggest change wasn't physical.

It was learning to stop fighting myself and start working with myself.

And that's where The Long Lift began.

Why The Long Lift?

Because lifting isn't just about weights.

It's about lifting ourselves up.

Lifting our energy, our confidence, our mood and our expectations of what life can look like as we get older.

I wanted to create something that went beyond another fitness app or another menopause programme.

Something that brought together strength, movement, nutrition, recovery and wellbeing in a way that felt achievable in real life.

Everything in The Long Lift has been shaped by following professionals who have the science and research to back up what they say, such as Dr Stacy Sims PhD, whose work on how women's bodies change through menopause underpins how we train, eat and recover.

No fads. No guesswork. Just approaches grounded in evidence, adapted to fit real life.

Not another overwhelming to-do list, another reason to feel guilty or another impossible standard.

Small lifts. Lasting change.

There are no magic fixes for menopause. And there isn't one perfect approach that works for every woman.

But I believe small, consistent changes can make an enormous difference over time.

A little more movement. A little more strength. Better nourishment. A moment to reset. A better understanding of what our bodies need.

It's about making small lifts today that help build a stronger tomorrow.

And no, I don't live a perfect, cookie-cutter life!

Some days are brilliant. Some are good. And some are downright exhausting.

The pressure we put on ourselves, alongside everything society expects of us, can be enormous. The last thing we need is another programme making us feel we're not doing enough.

That's why I've built The Long Lift to support, not pressure.

To help you find what works for you, at your pace, in your life.

There is plenty here to explore, but you don't need to do it all. Take your time. Find what makes you feel good. Build on it when you're ready.

Because this isn't a 30-day challenge or a quick transformation.

It's about building strength for the next 30 years and beyond.

The best chapters are still ahead.

I created The Long Lift because I wish someone had given me this support when I was 39.

I wish someone had told me that I wasn't losing myself. That I could feel strong again. That this next stage of life could be something to embrace rather than fear.

And most importantly, that I didn't have to figure it all out alone.

Now I want to share everything I've learned with women navigating perimenopause, menopause, postmenopause and the decades that follow.

I'm excited about what's ahead, and I hope The Long Lift helps you feel that way too.

Because we're not just lifting weights.

We're lifting each other. We're lifting our expectations. And we're lifting ourselves into the next chapter of our lives.

Here's to the long lift — and everything still to come.