12 months ago 50 hit me like a freight train, only a few years ago I was celebrating my 30th birthday out with my friends drinking, eating and generally living in the moment. By contrast, the concept of carefree nights out indulging with friends currently feels unobtainable. I’ve lost my Mojo!
At 51 you find me feeling disconnected and like a stranger in my own body – not helped by my out of control menopause symptoms. Despite experiencing classic perimenopause signs for almost a decade – I just didn’t make the connection that I was actually experiencing the menopause. It’s not that I never thought it would happen to me, I just sort of forgot that I wasn’t 30 anymore! Last year I started HRT, but haven’t found the relief many of my friends report and it’s left me feeling a bit helpless.
Being completely honest, I spend hours reading about symptom relief and expect things to start to improve within minutes of ordering the latest supplement, or running on a treadmill for 5 minutes.
Eventually, after another sleepless night and a long scroll through Google, I found myself reading about DEXA body scans. I’d never really thought about bone density before, but as I read more about how menopause could impact my bones, it suddenly felt like something I should take seriously. That was how I first came across NuMi.
It wasn’t one specific symptom that pushed me to book a health check, but more a general frustration that nothing seemed to be working. I wanted definitive answers—something to help me feel in control again. I booked my appointment without overthinking it and, to be honest, just doing that felt like a step in the right direction.
The experience itself turned out to be even more in-depth than I expected. I knew exactly what I’d signed up for, but going through the range of tests felt incredibly thorough. For the first time in ages, I felt like someone was actually paying attention to me and my body, not just ticking boxes. It was a far cry from my recent NHS experiences, which had often felt hurried and impersonal.
When the results came through, Sarah, NuMi’s Health Coach, explained everything clearly. I never once felt judged or overwhelmed. Instead, she focused on what we could do to make things better. I left our video call feeling optimistic and, for the first time in a long while, empowered.
Sarah suggested simple changes that felt manageable rather than daunting. Snacking throughout the day to keep my blood sugar stable, eating dinner a little earlier in the evening, and trying some new recipes with a menopause busting magnesium focus—many of which were perfect for my whole family. It felt refreshing to focus on small, achievable tweaks rather than drastic overhauls. Sarah’s approach made it clear that nothing about my situation was insurmountable, and that mindset shift alone was huge.
Since then, I’ve started to approach exercise differently too. I’ve ditched the ‘junk miles’—those aimless treadmill runs I used to convince myself were helpful—and focused on workouts that actually align with my goals. It’s been a revelation. I feel more in control of my body and less like a passenger waiting for it to fail me.
And because NuMi is just outside Holt—a market town about 45 minutes from Norwich—it meant I could turn my visit into a bit of a treat. After my health check, I wandered through some of my favourite shops, stopped for coffee, and actually enjoyed myself for the first time in weeks. That combination of practical steps and personal space made the day feel like a real turning point. And, a huge bonus, parking was uncomplicated with a bay especially for me right outside!
It’s early days, but I finally feel like I’m heading in the right direction. And for the first time in years, that direction doesn’t feel entirely out of my control.
Sarah’s take:
Helen’s situation is so common and one that I hear time and time again - that feeling of no longer being in control of our body like we once were. I see women who so often comment to me that they no longer recognise themselves both physically and mentally as they move through the menopausal transition, and it’s a really stressful and upsetting situation for them to be in.
Many of the women I work with try to use the same techniques to manage their weight as they used to when they were in their 20s and 30s, but our bodies don’t work in the same way at this stage of life. After they have been through the measurement session of the Health Check and they meet with me to go through the results, I see a huge mind-set shift from being out of control and confused by the overload of ‘influencer’ menopause advice, to now feeling that they can at long last be in control of their body again. And it doesn’t actually take too much to make a big shift in how they are feeling on a day to day basis as well as work towards their health goals. It’s about knowing exactly what to do at this stage of life to get our bodies to work their very best, and that’s where the data from the Health Check coupled with my advice related to nutrition, sleep, stress and exercise help many women just like Helen to regain control of their health.
