Hands up if you’ve ever:

Yeah, me too, {{first_name|friend}}.

Now, I know a lot of peri/menopause advice tells us to “eat this, not that” and do-this-one-crazy-weird-trick to feel amazing during midlife…

And most of it’s misleading at best…downright harmful at worst.

But there is one thing that’s underlying several health markers, and it’s simple to change.

>> Fixing your dining habits.

We’ve all been conditioned to scarf our food down, fast. And then get back to work. Leisurely meals with family and friends are seen as slacking off, especially if you aren’t checking emails the whole time 🤣

But when we slow down, connect with our loved ones, and actually eat together?

It soothes the systems that modulate your stress levels, your sleep, and your appetite.

Now, I said this was a “simple” tip.

I never said it was “easy.”

But the easiest thing to do is start by simply putting your phone away for meals.

In our house, we’ve implemented this rule, and it’s been life-changing. We are also working on our new game room, which will be a phone-free zone, too.

My advice is to start with just one night a week — the one where everyone is most likely to be home at the same time. And make a meal (or order takeout, it doesn’t matter!) and stick the phones in a basket before you start eating. Sit at the table, talk with one another, and try to make it last for at least 20 minutes.

For more on the science of why this works, and why it’s so important in midlife, read my full breakdown here:

Here’s one of my favorite AI hacks: meal planning!

You can do this one of two ways:

1. Snap a pic of the food you have in your fridge and pantry, and have it make a meal plan for you, like this:

2. Give it a list of foods you want to build your diet around, macros, fiber, whatever matters to you…and let it create a meal plan in advance.

I find that when I’m making food that I know is nutritious, simple, and delicious, it makes mealtime so much easier to enjoy.

>> Double-check any recipe against your own allergies and dietary needs before you shop.

How long does it take to make a friend as an adult? University of Kansas researcher Jeffrey Hall found it took about 50 hours together to become casual friends, about 90 to become friends, and more than 200 to become close friends (Journal of Social and Personal Relationships).

Hours spent working alongside someone counted for less than hours spent hanging out. If most of your social life happens at work, that's worth knowing.

These social connections are worth forging, for your mental and physical health, no matter how much time it takes.

Read: how to make friends as a “grown up” →

If you buy one thing this fall, make it a cute and cozy basket with a lid, and put it by the door to the kitchen.

Then, everyone can simply pop their phone in there before they come into the room to eat.

What to look for: room for four or five phones, a lid that lifts off with one hand, and something you’d be happy to leave out on a console or counter. Woven seagrass or rattan does the job and looks like it belongs there. If you want the phones charging while they wait, look for a lidded charging box with a power strip inside.

When a perimenopausal patient tells you her brain feels slower, how often does loneliness make it onto your differential?

The March 2026 Menopause study of 903 perimenopausal women found that women who were lonely, or socially isolated, were more likely to report that their thinking had slipped. Women who were both had the highest odds of all.

Something to ask the next time this comes up in clinic.