Here's what most people won't tell you about perimenopause and weight gain:

Perimenopause doesn't create nervous system dysregulation out of nowhere. It removes the hormonal scaffolding that was holding it all together.

The hypervigilance. The overfunctioning. The constant scanning for what needs managing next. Patterns that were once manageable through competence and sheer determination suddenly surface more clearly.

And your cortisol? It's not elevated because you're stressed. It's elevated because your nervous system is still responding to unresolved threat, treating the present as though past danger is still active.

This is why another diet fails. Why fasting backfires. Why exercise depletes instead of energises.

Your body isn't broken. It's responding exactly as it should to a system organised around protection.

The question isn't "What am I doing wrong?"

It's "What is my nervous system still responding to?"

When you resolve the actual imprints, not manage the symptoms, but address the source, cortisol naturally regulates. Your body stops fighting itself. The internal war ends.

That's not stress management. That's nervous system repair.

And it changes everything.