Normalize Cougar Puberty and Make Midlife Loud AF

The term “cougar puberty” might sound like a cheeky TikTok trend or pop-culture punchline, but behind the humor lies something profoundly real: perimenopause.

This isn’t just a clever rebrand. It’s a reclamation. A way to finally name and normalize a deeply biological transition that has long been cloaked in silence, shame, and misdiagnosis. For decades, women, and anyone with female physiology, have weathered the mental fog, mood swings, sleep disruptions, and body changes of midlife hormonal shifts alone, often unheard and untreated.

But the tides are turning.

We’re bringing evidence, empathy, and truth to the table. Whether you're a woman in your 30s beginning to sense a shift, a partner seeking to understand, or a health professional aiming to offer real support, this conversation matters. And this newsletter is for you.

What Is “Cougar Puberty” (Perimenopause), Really?

Perimenopause, often called “cougar puberty”, is the phase when the body begins transitioning out of its reproductive years. Just like puberty marks the beginning of fertility, perimenopause signals the gradual end. The nickname may sound playful, but the changes happening during this time are serious and very real.

It usually starts in a woman’s late 30s to early 40s, although some may notice changes even earlier. This phase can last anywhere from a few years to a full decade, leading up to menopause, defined as the point when a woman hasn’t had a period for 12 consecutive months.

During perimenopause, the ovaries slowly reduce their production of estrogen and progesterone. These hormones affect more than just the menstrual cycle, they influence sleep, mood, weight, energy levels, libido, and even brain function. As hormone levels rise and fall unpredictably, women may experience symptoms like irregular periods, hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, and body composition changes.

It’s not just about missed periods. It’s a full-body, hormone-driven transition that affects physical, emotional, and mental health. 

Understanding that these changes are part of a natural but significant shift in the body can help women take better control of their health during this stage. With the right support, this doesn’t have to be a struggle, it can be a turning point.

What actually happens with biological chaos?

Hormones don’t operate in silos, they’re part of a tightly connected system that influences nearly every function in the body. Estrogen and progesterone, in particular, play critical roles in regulating metabolism, brain chemistry, immune response, mood, and more. So when these hormones begin to fluctuate during perimenopause, the effects are widespread and often disruptive.

Here’s what that can look like in real life:

• Menstrual changes: Periods may become irregular, shorter or longer, heavier or lighter. Some months, they might not come at all. These unpredictable patterns are often the first visible sign that something is shifting.

• Mood swings and emotional shifts: Surges and drops in hormone levels can lead to anxiety, irritability, low mood, or even sudden episodes of rage or sadness. For many, these feelings seem to come out of nowhere and feel hard to control.

• Sleep disturbances: Insomnia, night sweats, and frequent wake-ups become common. Even with enough hours in bed, women may wake up feeling unrested or wired.

• Cognitive changes: What’s often called “brain fog” includes forgetfulness, slower recall, difficulty concentrating, and mental fatigue. These symptoms can be alarming, especially for women used to being sharp and focused.

• Changes in body composition: Many notice stubborn weight gain, especially around the belly, even without changes in diet or exercise. There may also be a gradual loss of muscle mass and increased bloating or inflammation.

• Libido and vaginal health: Declining estrogen can lead to a drop in sex drive, vaginal dryness, or discomfort during intercourse, issues that can impact relationships and self-esteem.

• Heart health: As estrogen levels decline, blood pressure may rise, and cholesterol levels can shift, increasing the risk of cardiovascular issues.

• Bone density loss: Reduced estrogen affects the body’s ability to maintain bone strength, raising the risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis over time.

What makes perimenopause especially difficult is how subtle and scattered these symptoms can be. They don’t always arrive all at once, and many are easy to dismiss or misinterpret. Too often, women are told they’re “just stressed,” “getting older,” or imagining things. As a result, many suffer for years without understanding that a hormonal transition is behind it.

Perimenopause isn’t just a phase, it’s a real, measurable biological process. Recognizing these changes for what they are is the first step toward getting the support, treatment, and validation that every woman deserves.

Why is it more than just hormones?

Perimenopause doesn’t happen in isolation. It often collides with some of the most demanding and emotionally charged periods in a woman’s life. While the hormonal shifts are real and disruptive, the context in which they unfold makes them even more challenging.

For many women, this phase overlaps with:

• Career crossroads or peak professional pressure – Managing teams, chasing promotions, or re-evaluating purpose in work.

• Caregiving overload – Juggling the needs of young children, teenagers, or aging parents, sometimes all at once.

• Relationship changes – Facing disconnection, separation, or divorce after decades of partnership, or navigating long-term solitude.

• Grief and identity loss – Mourning unmet dreams, shifting roles, or the version of themselves they thought they'd be by now.

• Social invisibility and ageism – Feeling overlooked in workplaces, media, or social circles, as youth continues to dominate the spotlight.

This isn’t just a medical condition or a set of symptoms to treat. Perimenopause is a complex, whole-life transition, a convergence of physical, emotional, psychological, and existential shifts. And for many, it marks a reckoning: Who am I now? What still matters? What needs to change?

Recognizing the full scope of this transition is key, not only to healing, but to reclaiming power during a time that too often makes women feel like they’re losing it.

Why should everyone care about this cougar puberty?

Perimenopause isn’t just a personal or “women’s issue”, it’s a public health, workplace, relationship, and equity issue. And yet, it remains widely overlooked in policies, healthcare systems, and social discourse.

Here’s why that needs to change:

• Workforce productivity takes a hit: Millions of women between the ages of 35–55 make up a significant portion of the global workforce. When symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, insomnia, or anxiety go unmanaged, it leads to missed workdays, reduced performance, and even premature career exits. Few employers offer support or even acknowledge this stage of life, leaving many women to suffer in silence or push through exhaustion.

• Relationships strain, quietly and painfully: Perimenopause can shift mood, communication patterns, sex drive, and emotional connection. Partners are often left confused, and women can feel ashamed or frustrated. Without open dialogue and understanding, these changes can slowly erode intimacy, trust, and stability in long-term relationships.

• Mental health risk increases: Anxiety, depression, and emotional dysregulation are common but often dismissed as “normal stress” or aging. When women are told to simply “cope” or “wait it out,” without tools, therapy, or medical support, they’re at greater risk for serious mental health conditions, including suicidal ideation.

• Healthcare equity is at stake: Many insurance plans still fail to fully cover hormone therapy, lab work, or integrative approaches to perimenopause care. Women of color, in particular, are less likely to be diagnosed accurately or treated effectively, due to systemic bias, limited access to specialized care, and lack of culturally competent education.

• Public awareness remains dangerously low: Puberty is widely taught in schools. Pregnancy is given entire chapters in health books. But perimenopause, a stage that affects half the population, gets almost no airtime. Without structured education, many women don’t recognize the signs until they’ve been suffering for years. Policy reform, workplace training, and public education campaigns are long overdue.

The truth is simple: if we want healthier families, stronger economies, and more equitable healthcare, we cannot keep ignoring this critical life stage. Everyone, men, employers, teachers, lawmakers, and community leaders, has a role to play in bringing perimenopause out of the shadows and into the spotlight where it belongs.

As long as Perimenopause stays taboo, women will keep suffering in silence

“Cougar puberty” isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a reframe of reality. It takes the shame, confusion, and invisibility so many women feel in midlife and gives it a voice. A name. A new narrative. One that sees perimenopause not as a decline, but as a biological evolution, an awakening of sorts.

This is not a breakdown.
It is a reorientation, a profound shift in your internal chemistry that demands you to slow down, listen, and respond to your body in a new way.

It is not the end.
It’s a threshold, a powerful transition into a wiser, more grounded version of yourself. A version that is no longer trying to fit into outdated molds but is instead writing her own rules.

Yes, there will be challenges, brain fog, night sweats, anxiety, fatigue, weight that won’t budge, emotions that surge like tidal waves, but none of these symptoms define you. They are messengers, not defects. And when we understand them, we can respond with strategy, compassion, and power, not fear.

Perimenopause is physical, yes. But it’s also emotional, mental, and spiritual. It invites you to reevaluate what matters. To let go of what no longer fits. To stop settling. To reclaim your space, your rhythm, and your voice.

You are not broken.
You are becoming, stronger, clearer, more self-aware than ever before. This is your chance to reconnect with your body and build a new relationship with health, nourishment, and power that truly supports who you are today.

And the best part? You don’t have to go through it alone.

Inside our 12-Week Metabolic Reset System

We’ve helped countless women navigate this season with clarity and confidence, through personalized nutrition, hormone-supportive strategies, mindset coaching, and even breakthrough therapies like peptides and GLP-1 support that rebuild your body from the inside out.

You deserve real answers. You deserve a plan that works. You deserve support that sees the whole of you.

Guiding you always,
Adryenne

For more honest conversations, tools, and guidance on navigating perimenopause with strength and grace, be sure to follow us on our socials. Let’s rewrite this story, together.

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