Happyfitada

Happyfitada Certified Personal Trainer · Strength & wellness for women 40+ · Perimenopause · SINGAPORE & APAC · Bilingual EN/中文 ·

Let’s talk about carbs 😅 A few days before my period, I reach for chocolate like clockwork. Every. Single. Time. For yea...
30/08/2026

Let’s talk about carbs 😅

A few days before my period, I reach for chocolate like clockwork. Every. Single. Time. For years I thought that made me weak-willed. It doesn’t — progesterone and serotonin shift right before your period, and carb-rich foods actually help your brain make more serotonin. Your body isn’t betraying you. It’s doing exactly what it’s wired to do at that point in your cycle.

But here’s where a lot of us went a little extreme — somewhere along the way we quietly decided “carbs = fat” and started cutting them. Not as a deliberate diet. Just slowly, meal by meal, without ever really choosing to.

The truth is more complicated than that. Fat gain isn’t caused by carbs specifically — it’s driven by overall energy balance. BUT — and this is the part that makes this life stage genuinely tricky — as estrogen shifts, fat storage tends to move toward the belly, insulin sensitivity dips, and muscle (which keeps your metabolism running) naturally declines if you’re not actively training to keep it. So yes, we ARE fighting an uphill battle. Cutting carbs just isn’t how you win it — under-fueling adds cortisol into a system that’s already working hard enough.

I’ve walked this tightrope myself — finding the line between fueling my training properly and not adding fuel to a fire that’s already burning hotter than it used to (perimenopause, I see you 😅). The answer was not about less carbs. It was smarter carbs — timed around training, paired with enough protein, and enough strength training to actually put them to use.

My hope for all of us stepping into this Second Spring 第二春 isn’t just to get through it — it’s to come out stronger, fitter, and GLOWING more than we did in our 30s. And that starts with making peace with carbs, not fighting them 💪

What’s your go to carbs before your period hits?

“Won’t I get bulky?” “Shouldn’t I be doing more cardio?” “Isn’t Pilates enough?”So here’s some things I wish more of you...
26/08/2026

“Won’t I get bulky?” “Shouldn’t I be doing more cardio?” “Isn’t Pilates enough?”

So here’s some things I wish more of you believed me on the first time —

The abs you’re chasing might belong to someone whose hormones haven’t changed yet. Genetics decide where YOU store fat, not how hard you try.

Strong doesn’t have one shape, especially not after 40. Carrying your own groceries, getting off the floor without using your hands, keeping up with your kids or your grandkids — that’s fitness.💪

You don’t need a supplement stack before you’ve nailed the boring stuff. Lifting twice a week, eating enough protein, sleeping properly — that does more for perimenopause than anything sitting in a wellness aisle.

Pilates AND lifting can both stay in your routine — but the ORDER matters more than most people realise. HIIT right after a heavy lift session spikes cortisol at a time your body’s already managing enough of it. Same workouts, smarter sequencing.

Results come from REPETITION, not randomness. If you switch up your whole workout every session because you’re bored, your body never gets the chance to adapt.

No ab workout burns menopause belly — that shift in where you store fat is hormonal, not a discipline problem. Strength + protein + managing stress is what actually moves it, over months, not days.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Some weeks you’ll get 3 good sessions in. Some weeks — caregiving, work, a sick kid — you’ll get 1. Both count, peeps. Dimmer switch, not on/off switch.

And lifting weights will NOT make you bulky. This fear alone stops so many of you from ever walking into the weights section. What it actually does: your clothes fit better, your bones get stronger, and you feel like a stronger version of yourself 💪

Consistency beats intensity, every single time. The best programme isn’t the one that wrecks you for 2 weeks. It’s the one you’re still doing in 2 years.

I’m not in the gym this past week 😄 I’m in Guangzhou, and my legs have hit 16-18k steps daily just walking and exploring...
24/08/2026

I’m not in the gym this past week 😄 I’m in Guangzhou, and my legs have hit 16-18k steps daily just walking and exploring the city.

And here’s the thing — that’s still training. Steps count. NEAT (non-exercise movement, aka just LIVING your life) is a real stimulus, not a consolation prize for skipping the gym. Every pedestrian bridge and metro staircase here is basically a bonus set 🦵

What I’m NOT skipping while I’m here:

🥢 Protein first at the table — before the rice or noodles land (and in Cantonese food culture, they land FAST, so I serve myself protein before anything else touches my plate)
🥬 Stir fry greens, every meal, non-negotiable
🫖 Tea over sugar — pu-erh or oolong instead of the sweet stuff
🥟 Steamed over fried when I can (steamed cheung fun over spring rolls, it’s not even a sacrifice, it’s just as good)
🍮 Dessert AFTER the meal, not instead of it — and Cantonese tong sui is honestly lighter than most Western dessert anyway

One thing I want to be honest about — this works because I HAVE a strength base to protect. Walking 20k steps on holiday is a great top-up. It’s not a replacement for lifting. I’m not doing this because gym doesn’t matter — I’m doing this because one week of moving differently, eating well, and not stressing about missed sessions isn’t going to undo months and years of training. That’s literally the whole point of building strength in the first place — so a holiday doesn’t feel like a threat 💪

Anyone else find travel actually easier to stay consistent-ish on than a normal work week? Tell me I’m not the only one 👇

I was walking around Guangzhou and this outdoor exhibition stopped me mid-walk — a weight-loss DRUG company, telling peo...
22/08/2026

I was walking around Guangzhou and this outdoor exhibition stopped me mid-walk — a weight-loss DRUG company, telling people not to just chase the number on the scale 👀

Their exact words (translated): “Don’t just look at the weight number — preserving muscle helps achieve HIGH QUALITY weight loss.”

That’s not a fitness influencer talking. That’s citing a 2026 European Heart Journal review on weight-loss drugs and heart health.

And here’s the part that made me stop and actually write this post: that same review says up to 25-40% of the weight lost on these medications can be MUSCLE, not fat.

Lose 10kg, and 2.5-4kg of that could be muscle you’ll spend years trying to build back 😬

Not here to tell you what to think about weight-loss medications — that’s between you and your doctor, not me.

However you lose weight, resistance training and adequate protein are the two levers protecting what’s underneath. It’s not a nice-to-have.

if you’re on any weight journey right now — lift something heavy 2-3X a week. Eat your protein. Your 80 year-old self will thank you 💪

17/08/2026

Progressed my ab roller from KNEES to STANDING this week — knee rollouts stopped being challenging a while back, so it was time to level up. Wobbly, ego-bruising, not pretty. Exactly the zone I want to be in.

Here’s why I’m sharing the messy version instead of waiting till I look good at it — there’s real brain science behind WHY doing something you’re bad at matters, not just for your core, for your BRAIN.

The classic study here (juggling, still cited constantly) found that when people learn a genuinely NEW complex motor skill, their brain grows measurable grey matter — the stuff neurons and their connections are made of. But the key part — that growth happens DURING the clumsy, wobbly learning phase. Once a skill’s automatic, the effect plateaus. So the wobbly ab roller footage? That’s the part actually doing something for my brain, not the smooth version I’ll post in a few months 😄

This matters EXTRA for us in perimenopause. Declining estrogen affects the signalling that keeps our neurons growing (BDNF — basically fertiliser for brain cells), which is part of why brain fog shows up so much in this stage. Early research (small pilot, 35 women, so a promising signal — not gospel) found consistent resistance training over 9 months improved cognitive flexibility in peri/postmenopausal women. Still an emerging area, but the direction is real.

So no, I’m not doing standing rollouts because it’s the ultimate ab move (though hello core 😅). I’m doing it because staying a beginner at SOMETHING, on purpose, might be doing more for my brain than I realised. That’s the happyfitwomen thing for me — we don’t stop challenging ourselves once we’ve “arrived.” Progress isn’t linear, it’s not always pretty, and it’s allowed to be a process.

What’s something you’re still wobbly at right now — physically or otherwise? Tell me below 👇

SGwellness

16/08/2026

I used to think “strong” meant loud. Turns out it just means showing up 💪 kettlebell in hand, face all screwed up 😅, legs shaking on the press.

This one’s for STRONGER not smaller. Not smaller portions, not a smaller presence in the room.
Love this campaign and how Hilary Duff and others have come up to advocate for strength over skinny culture.

Every clip here — kettlebell get-ups, leg press, pull-ups, landmine twists — is me choosing muscle over shrinking, ON PURPOSE. At our age muscle isn’t vanity, it’s survival: bone density, metabolism, being able to carry your own groceries (and your future self) without help.

If you’ve quietly opted OUT of shrink culture too, I see you. Drop a 💪 if stronger not smaller is your motto now.

PerimenopauseFitness

I spend good money on my skin 🙂 Serums, moisturiser…the whole routine. Very 爱美, I know.So when I found a study saying my...
14/08/2026

I spend good money on my skin 🙂 Serums, moisturiser…the whole routine. Very 爱美, I know.

So when I found a study saying my gym session basically counts as skincare, I obviously went and read the whole thing.

Japan, 2023. 56 women aged 41 to 59, all previously sedentary - and importantly for us, ASIAN women. Sixteen weeks, twice a week. One group cycled. One group lifted. Nobody was allowed to change their skincare, take supplements or add other exercise.

Then researchers scanned their cheeks with ultrasound.

Both groups got better skin elasticity. So no, cardio is not the villain here.

But only the lifting group got THICKER skin - the dermal layer that thins as we age. The cycling group didn’t move that number at all.

Here is the fascinating part: They took plasma from the trained women and dripped it onto skin cells in a dish. The cells started switching on collagen-building genes. The muscle was sending a signal, through the blood, to the skin.

And the protocol was not extreme. Six machines. 3 sets of 10. Twice a week, about 30 minutes.

Now the fine print:
• 56 women is a SMALL study
• There was no non-exercising control group
• It’s from 2023 and hasn’t been repeated
• Three of the authors work for a cosmetics company.

Promising, not proven. But I’ll take it.

I’m not throwing out my serums 🤭 I’ve just stopped thinking of my strength session as something separate from them. Two to three sessions a week might be the cheapest thing on my shelf 🙂

Are you a serum girl who also lifts? Tell me in the comments.

12/08/2026

Inspired by Hannah Driscoll 🤭😅😜

I hear this ALL THE TIME - “I don’t want to get bulky, I just want to be toned.” 😅😅😅

So let’s demystify this properly, because this fear is honestly costing you the body you actually want 👇Getting “bulky” doesn’t happen by accident. It takes YEARS of progressive overload, eating in a calorie surplus, and hormone levels most of us just don’t have - women carry roughly 10-20x LESS testosterone 🧬 than men, and that’s biology, not opinion.

Here’s what heavy lifting actually does for you: muscle takes up LESS space than fat, so building it makes you look leaner and more defined, not bigger. Your bone density improves. Your metabolism gets a boost. And for those of us 40+, we’re already LOSING muscle every year we don’t lift (it’s called sarcopenia, and it’s not optional) - so the real risk isn’t getting bulky, it’s staying soft and weak.

I have been lifting for 6 years and still trying to go as heavy as I can. Still not bulky. Just stronger 💪, more capable, and honestly more ME than I’ve felt in years.

So peeps, drop the fear of the weights section. Go pick up something heavy today. Your 70 and 80 year-old self will thank you.

Some of us may be unwittingly making these mistakes 🫣🫣🫣 Mistake 1: eating less and doing more cardio. The biggest driver...
10/08/2026

Some of us may be unwittingly making these mistakes 🫣🫣🫣

Mistake 1: eating less and doing more cardio. The biggest driver of midlife weight gain isn’t food — it’s age-related muscle loss. Muscle is your calorie-burning engine, and losing it means your body burns fewer calories every day, no matter how “good” you eat. Cardio and salads alone won’t fix this. Resistance training and enough protein will.

Mistake 2: obsessing over the scale. It only shows weight — it can’t show muscle gained or body composition shifting. I’ve had clients whose weight barely moved but their clothes fit completely differently. That’s the real progress marker, not the number.

Mistake 3: trying to white-knuckle through a hormonal shift. In your 30s, estrogen helps keep fat stored around your hips and thighs. As it drops in perimenopause, fat tends to shift to the belly — the “meno belly” isn’t a willpower problem, it’s biology. Shifting hormones also wreck sleep, energy, and mood, which makes consistency genuinely harder. Not because you’re weak. Because something real is happening in your body.

This isn’t about trying harder, peeps. It’s about training smarter for what your body is actually going through — and knowing when it’s worth talking to your doctor about the hormonal side of things too 🙂

Which of these three hit closest to home for you? Tell me below 👇

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