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Sharon Feanny

What no one told me about menopause — not even my doctor

Published 8 days ago • 3 min read

Hey Reader,

I want to tell you something I don't talk about enough.

When I was around 45, I started falling apart. And I had absolutely no idea why.

My energy — which had always been my superpower — started stopping me dead in my tracks every single afternoon. Did I rest? No. I drank more coffee and kept going. Because that's what we do, right?

Then my moods started shifting in ways that honestly frightened me. I was short with my children when they didn't deserve it. Crying at the drop of a hat. Feeling like I was slowly losing myself from the inside out and not being able to explain it to anyone — including myself.

And then came the sleep. Or rather, the lack of it.

For the first time in my life I stopped sleeping. I would wake up at 2, 3, 4 in the morning with anxiety so intense it took my breath away. Nothing had happened. No reason. No trigger. Just my body in full alarm, in the dark, completely alone with it.

I was in perimenopause. I just didn't know it yet.

My mother never spoke about menopause. My gynaecologist never spoke about it. Nobody did. So I did what I always do — I pushed through. For five years. Running my business, raising my children, hosting retreats, writing The Live Fit Kitchen™ — all while running completely on empty. Working out harder than ever. Eating mostly plant-based because I genuinely believed in it. And watching my body change in ways I could not explain no matter what I tried.

I was also, though I had no idea at the time, chronically under-eating protein. The irony of writing a cookbook while slowly breaking my own body down is not lost on me.

The turning point came at 50. I finally found the right doctor. He looked at me and said: you are in full blown menopause. He put me on HRT. And something — finally — started to shift.

But honestly? More than the HRT, it was the fire that appointment lit in me. I went home and read everything. Every book. Every study. I became my own expert because nobody else was going to do it for me.

And what I found changed everything.

Lifting weights — real strength training, not just yoga, not just cardio — turned out to be the single most powerful thing I could do for my body, my metabolism, my bones, and my mind. Protein, which I had been avoiding for years, was the raw material my body had been desperately asking for. And sleep — which I had been sacrificing for decades — turned out to be the foundation that everything else was built on. Without it, nothing else worked.

Simple things. But nobody told me. Not my mother, not my doctor, not anyone.

I share all of this because I want to be for you what no one was for me. I want you to know what's happening in your body. I want you to have the tools I didn't have at 45. And I want you to know — wherever you are right now — that it is absolutely not too late.

That is why I built Summer Strong. Every single piece of it — the strength training, the protein-forward meals, the yoga, the sleep focus — came directly from my own journey through menopause and out the other side. If any of this sounds familiar, come do this with me.

With so much love,

Sharon 💛

Live Fit. Live Life. Live Love.

P.S. If this resonated, please pass it on to a woman in your life who needs to hear it. This is a conversation we should all be having — and we're only just getting started.

If you’re ready to go a little deeper with your nourishment this summer, I want to share something special with you.

I’ve partnered with the beautiful team at Mezza Luna for my Summer Strong program, and for my Kingston community there is now an optional add-on where your meals are thoughtfully prepared and delivered straight to your door.

It’s a simple, supportive way to stay aligned with your nutrition inside the reset, with beautifully prepared, protein-forward meals created to complement everything we’re doing together.

Other Ways to Connect With Me:

Join me every Wednesday for Yoga, Breathwork & Meditation at my little studio in Kingston.

RETURN TO YOU:
A SUMMER RESET RETREAT

June 25-28

This retreat is for you if you’re ready to release the old, reconnect with yourself, and step into clarity, vitality, and support. Your body will be nourished with vibrant, wholesome meals — clean, intentional, and lovingly prepared to bring you back into balance. This is your reset. Your return. You have four days to recalibrate your nervous system, strengthen your body, tend to your soul and most importantly, to deeply rest.

Come as you are. Leave as you were always meant to be.

Sharon Feanny

Master Yoga and Meditation Instructor, Health Coach, author of The Live Fit Kitchen™ Cookbook, I've spent the past 30+ years dedicated to spreading the gifts of Living Fit, Living Life and Living Love across my homeland, Jamaica, and beyond. I host retreats, cooking workshops, detox programs and yoga classes to an international and diverse client base. My most recent offerings include Radiant Aging, a deep dive into incorporating a pro-aging lifestyle that can be started at any age. My passion continues to transform the lives of hundreds of women across the globe. Subscribe and join over 2,000+ newsletter readers every week!

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