Each morning while my kids are eating breakfast, I enjoy a few quiet minutes checking in on the planters on our deck and front porch. I don’t consider myself much of a gardener, but I water them and pick off any brown bits, and make sure they’re still alive and well. This week, it struck me how similar this process is to how we ideally care for our health in midlife.

I just got back from a trip that honestly felt like a dream. For 10 days, I explored Athens, and the beautiful, quieter islands of Skiathos and Skopelos (my absolute favourite!) in Greece. The trip gave me more than just beautiful memories. It offered me some unexpected insights that I’ve been thinking about since I got home, and I thought I would share them with you today.

I haven’t shared this very openly before, but it took my husband and me almost four years—and eventually going to a fertility clinic for 4 rounds of IUI (intrauterine insemination)—to have our first son. During that time, even though my heart wanted to be happy for everyone else, it was really hard to see others with what I longed for so deeply—and not knowing what the future held made it even harder.

I honestly didn’t think I could do it. I was shaking and trying not to cry, standing there in my bathing suit, staring at the cold tub. But…I did it. And after it was over, I felt amazing. Last week, I had the opportunity to try cold plunging for the first time while co-leading the Mastering Menopause Retreat at Cedarvale Wellness in Port Elgin. It was a really great day with a wonderful group of women, and the cold plunge was definitely a highlight—but not for the reasons I expected.

If you spend your time with people who prioritize movement, you’re more likely to lace up your shoes and get active. If your circle eats well, you’ll probably find yourself making healthier choices too. And on the flip side, if you’re around people who constantly complain, gossip, or drink more than you’d like, it’s easy to slip into those patterns, even if they’re not really you. This isn’t about judgment. It’s about reflection. What kind of life do you want to build? And who are the people helping shape it?

I got to do something really fun this week (that also made me a bit sweaty!)…

The inspiration behind the visit wasn’t just shopping, though—it was to join Danielle, the owner, live on Instagram and talk about perimenopause and menopause with her amazing community. And I wanted to share that conversation with you too.

This week, I celebrated my 49th birthday! I know next year is the “big one,” but this last year of my 40s feels significant. Birthdays always make me reflective—kind of like the start of a new school year or the New Year.

When I look back, it’s amazing how much has shifted since I entered this decade. My life has changed a lot —and I’m so grateful for it.

Here are a few things I’m celebrating from my 40’s as I head into this next year…

This week, I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind a lot—because I’m right in the thick of it. Hormonal changes that happen in the transition to and through menopause.

Lately, I’ve been hearing from so many women (and seeing it all over my social media feed too!) about the struggles of menopause—hot flashes, poor sleep, stubborn weight gain, mood swings… the list goes on. One perspective that really got me thinking is how much energy we spend resisting these changes, wishing our bodies would stay the same as they were before these big hormonal shifts happened.

This week, I’ve been reflecting on a big milestone - it has been five years since I sold my multi-disciplinary clinic in the height of COVID (that timing was coincidental), and transitioned to running a virtual Naturopathic practice and coaching women in nutrition and fitness to help them master the transition into menopause and beyond. It felt like such a big leap at the time, but looking back, I have zero regrets. I’ve felt this at other times in my life too…

What true fitness is about is building strength so that you can live your life fully as you navigate perimenopause into menopause and beyond. It’s about having the energy to do what you love, the resilience to handle life’s challenges, and the confidence to show up as the best version of yourself. It shows you that you can handle challenges. We need to shift the narrative from criticizing ourselves to feeling confident in our bodies.

I have a confession…I am a naturopathic doctor and a fitness and nutrition coach who loves to sometimes drink Old Fashioneds and eat Salt & Vinegar chips. I’m definitely not perfect. I generally find it’s easier to be more consistent with my nutrition than my workouts. But over the past six weeks, I’ve dialled in on both (not every day… I still had some of the above, but most days)—and not surprisingly, I feel really good!

This week, I procrastinated a little (okay, maybe a lot) by working on a 1,000-piece puzzle. As I was putting it together, I couldn’t help but think about how similar it is to our health. At first, it can feel overwhelming—just a pile of scattered pieces with no clear direction. But if we keep working at it, the pieces do fit together.

Not eating enough food can really affect your metabolism. It’s what I see with almost all of my FASTer Way clients when they start out. It takes intentional effort to eat enough, but it’s so worth it! It’s hard to know what eating enough looks like without tracking. Initially it’s a bit of a learning curve, but I can do it now in under 5 minutes/day (and so can you!). The FASTer Way app now has photo and voice tracking (that’s right - it can calculate the macros of your meal from a picture or by saying what you are eating!), which makes it so much faster and easier!

It all started with a whirlwind 24 hours in Toronto for the Taylor Swift concert with our oldest son, daughter and her friend. We arrived at the W Hotel shortly after noon and were surprised with a free suite upgrade on the room that I had booked with points! The staff went above and beyond and had a birthday surprise for our daughter complete with balloons, cake, cake pops, chilled Grapefruit Italian Soda and bracelet making kits. All of this was thanks to our 15 year old son who has a real passion for helping other people maximize travel and credit card points (that’s a whole other discussion, but he would be happy to help if you have questions!), and had reached out to the hotel and asked if there was anything special they could do.

Something big is happening tomorrow that I’ve been thinking about for pretty much my whole adult life. You may have seen me share in my social media stories that I’m having a breast reduction. To say that I am nervous is an understatement. Having surgery involves trusting the people who will be taking care of me and that my body is going to know what to do to heal after. As a bit of a type A personality, that’s tough for me.

Negativity is contagious, but so is positivity.  We get to choose what we focus on.  When we unite and focus on our similarities, rather than judging our differences, that's where positive change can happen in our communities and the bigger world.

Have you seen any “A haunted house, but…” posts on social media? I didn’t get them at first, but I think I’ve figured them out now that I’ve seen them pretty much all over Instagram. They play on the idea of a haunted house and replace the usual creepy parts with everyday challenges or annoyances, bringing some humour to them. Here are some I found funny….

I spent last weekend in Kingston celebrating my 25th Queen's University Homecoming Reunion.  I had the best time with my former housemates remembering how fun my four years there were.   Something happened while I was there that sparked a little revelation for me and I wanted to share it with you…

I am thankful for the women I get to work with as a naturopathic doctor and a FASTer Way coach to help them thrive through perimenopause and beyond. I am also grateful for the life that I am creating for myself and my family. Each day feels different. Some days are harder than others, but I’ve never felt more content than I do right now. It’s true that our responsibilities change as we get older, but that doesn’t mean that life needs to be boring! We give our kids lots of experiences so that they can try out new activities and meet new people, and there’s no reason we can’t continue to enjoy feeling that excitement during our adult years.