Hello friend. If your body doesn’t feel like home anymore, I want you to know: you’re not crazy, and you’re not alone.

Maybe you’re deep in the chaos of perimenopause, and you don’t recognize the person in the mirror. Maybe you’re years past your last period and still waiting to feel like yourself again, wondering why “the other side” doesn’t feel like relief. Maybe your doctor told you your labs are “normal” while you’re falling apart. Maybe you’ve got no patience left, no resilience, and you can’t explain why — you just know the version of you who used to roll with things is gone.

If any of that is true, at any stage of this transition, you’re in the right place.

I’m Chantal — a naturopath and holistic nutritionist, and I built Cycles Wellness because I know exactly what that collapse feels like from the inside. Not theoretically. I lived it.

How I know

I went plant-based in 2013 after concerning blood work, and I felt better than I ever had — for years. But around 2016, stress and unprocessed emotion crept in, and I started leaning on comfort foods instead of real nourishment, without even realizing it. By 2019, after moving to Portugal, something started breaking: no patience, no resilience, exhausted and anxious in ways that didn’t feel like me. When the pandemic hit in 2020, it accelerated — my marriage was crumbling, my body was gaining fluid and changing shape, and I stopped looking in mirrors for eight months.

In February 2021, I finally got blood work done. The results were stark: type 2 diabetes, adrenal insufficiency, progesterone nearly absent, testosterone in the basement. I was deep in perimenopause, and everything — hormones, body, mind — was collapsing at once.

That was the moment I had to choose: stay in it, or fight. I chose to treat myself the way I’d treat a client — real nutrition, not vegan junk food; the emotional work, including therapy and finally leaving a marriage I couldn’t heal inside of. It took three years to fully stand on my feet. I’m 45 now, and I feel better than I ever have: no symptoms, no fog, no anxiety, real energy.

Why that matters to you

When I came out the other side, I started talking to other women — women in perimenopause, women newly in menopause, women years into post-menopause still searching for answers — and heard my own story over and over, just at different stages. The unrecognizable body. The personality shifts. The doctors who stopped listening once they heard “you’re probably just menopausal.” The quiet fear of losing themselves, whether that fear started at 38 or is still showing up at 60.

Wherever you are in this transition, you’re not imagining it. Your hormones are real, your symptoms are measurable, and you have far more power over how you feel than anyone has told you — at every stage, not just the early chaotic one.

This is where my training comes in. As a holistic nutritionist and naturopath, I work at the intersection of hormones, nutrition, nervous system regulation, and the emotional layer most clinicians skip entirely — whether you’re navigating the volatility of perimenopause or rebuilding your baseline years into post-menopause. I’m not here to tell you to optimize yourself or push through. I’m here to translate what’s happening in your body into something that makes sense, at whatever stage you’re in, and hand you an actual path through it.

As a free subscriber, you’ll receive:

→ A weekly newsletter covering hormones, sleep, nutrition, movement, stress, and the emotional and spiritual side of this transition — from peri to post

→ Free resources, including the Perimenopause Survival Checklist

But as a paid member (€6/month or €39/year), you get answers, support and community too. You will have access to:

→ The weekly deep-dive protocol : the specific “how” behind each topic: supplements, herbs, routines, and timing

→ Polished worksheets you can actually use

→ A monthly video from me, walking you through that month’s theme

→ A live monthly Q&A — bring your real questions, your labs, your confusion

This is the closest thing to working with me personally, at a fraction of the cost and I am aiming to create so much more for you to have access to, because you deserve to feel like YOU again!

I believe you are not crazy. I believe your symptoms are real and measurable, whether you’re 38 or 65. I believe you have far more power over how you feel than anyone has told you. Knowledge is power — but applying it is the real power. That’s what we’re doing here.

With Love,
Chantal
Naturopath · Holistic Nutritionist · Cycles Wellness

Why subscribe?

Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and publications

Stay up-to-date

Never miss an update—every new post is sent directly to your email inbox. For a spam-free, ad-free reading experience, plus audio and community features, get the Substack app.

Join the crew

Be part of a community of people who share your interests. Participate in the comments section, or support this work with a subscription.

User's avatar

Subscribe to Cycles Wellness by Chantal Di Donato

Helping women in perimenopause and menopause understand their hormones and feel like themselves again. Subscribe to learn about nutrition, sleep, stress, and the real science behind your symptoms.

People