Now, the good news. Despite how underappreciated Menopause has been historically, we’re in the midst of a new era. For the first time in history, we have the tools to not just survive Perimenopause but to thrive. Breakthroughs in endocrinology—the study of hormones—equip women with the knowledge to understand what’s happening to their bodies and what each hormone does.

When people talk about “maintenance” in relation to food energy consumption, they often mean the calorie target that keeps them neither gaining nor losing fat. Maintenance is usually expressed as a single number—often hoped to be the magic number that results in stable weight. Yet, why then does it seems sometimes we cannot lose the stubborn fat and keep it off or gain the muscles and keep it on?

Like gasoline in a car, food fuels our body and powers our ability to navigate the world. The energy we have for the day is our Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).