Perimenopause has made food feel harder than it should, and not in a dramatic, overhaul-your-life way. It’s more subtle than that. A kind of low, constant friction that sits in the background.

Some days I’m not that hungry, and then suddenly I am. I open the fridge and nothing really appeals, or I can’t think what to make, or I simply don’t have the energy to care enough to figure it out.

That’s the part I don’t see talked about enough.

Most of the advice assumes you’re organised, that you’re planning meals, hitting protein targets, trying new recipes. It assumes a level of energy and focus that just isn’t there every day.

So I’ve stopped trying to overhaul anything, I lean into the pantry instead.

Because when appetite is off and energy is low, I don’t need a system. I need food that works without much thought. Food I’ll actually eat. Food that meets me where I am.

This is what that looks like for me.

Tinned fish is the thing I come back to the most. Not because it’s exciting, but because it removes all of the barriers. It’s already cooked, it’s easy, and it gives me something solid when I know I haven’t eaten properly. Sardines, mackerel, tuna, trout - on toast, with crackers, or just straight from the tin. It’s not about making a meal out of it. It’s about not skipping food altogether.

Bone broth is what I reach for on the days where a full meal feels like too much. It’s warm, it’s simple, and it feels manageable when appetite disappears. I’m not particularly interested in the hype around it. For me, it’s just a way of getting something in without having to push through a proper plate of food.

Eggs are the fallback that never really fails. They don’t require a plan, and they don’t take much effort. When I can’t think what to eat, eggs usually bridge the gap between doing nothing and eating something that actually sustains me. That reliability matters more than anything else.

Beans and nuts are the quieter staples that do more than they get credit for. They add substance without needing much thought, and they help steady things when my eating is a bit all over the place. More importantly, they’re already in the cupboard, which means there’s no extra decision involved.

And then there’s flavour, which has become more important than I expected. There are times when food just doesn’t taste that appealing, and if it doesn’t taste good, I’m far less likely to eat properly. So I lean on good olive oil, something sharp, something with a bit of heat - not for any health reason, but simply to make food worth eating.

I’m not trying to get this right. I’m trying to make it easier.

Perimenopause, at least for me, isn’t the time for adding more rules or more complexity. It’s the time for removing friction, lowering the bar, and making sure there are things within reach that work even on the days when everything feels like effort.

And more often than not, that starts with what’s already in the pantry.