"Your Bloodwork Is Normal." So Why Can't She Lose Weight? Toronto Coaches Answer the 93 Questions Women in Perimenopause Ask Most
For immediate release
Forty Forward's free Ask Elle library covers what a short appointment doesn't have time for: what to eat, how to train, why sleep falls apart, and what to do when nothing seems to work.
TORONTO (Oct. 13, 2026) "My doctor says my bloodwork is normal and it's just perimenopause. So why do I keep gaining?" It's a question Forty Forward's coaches hear again and again from women in their 40s and 50s.
Now it's one of 93 answered for free in Ask Elle, a new library from the Toronto online coaching company for women 35+. Every question comes from a real conversation with a client or a woman applying for coaching. Every answer is free to read at fortyfwd.com/blogs/ask-elle, with no sign-up and no email required.
Most doctors care deeply about their patients, and many were never taught much about this stage of life. In a 2019 survey published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, only 12 of 177 US medical residents in family medicine, internal medicine and OB/GYN said they felt adequately prepared to manage women going through menopause.
Ask Elle focuses on the day-to-day side of perimenopause:
- Eating: "Am I eating too little? I barely eat and still can't lose fat."
- Training: "I have a bad knee, shoulder or back. Can I still strength train at 45?"
- Sleep: "I wake up at 2am every night. Is this perimenopause, and what actually helps?"
- Medication: "I'm already on HRT and still gaining. What am I missing?"
"Your doctor is the right person for the medical side," said Elle Daftarian, co-founder of Forty Forward. "But a short appointment doesn't have time to walk you through what to eat before a 6am workout, or why the bloat shows up every afternoon, or how to lift at home with a bad knee. That's what we talk about every single day. So we wrote it down."
"Normal bloodwork tells you the engine isn't broken," said Chris Smits, founder and CEO. "It doesn't teach you how to drive the car. That part is coaching."
Ask Elle offers coaching guidance and sends women to their own doctor for anything medical. Forty Forward never tells anyone to start, stop or change a medication. New answers are added as women ask new questions.
About Forty Forward
Forty Forward is a Toronto online coaching company for women 35+ navigating perimenopause, fat loss, strength and energy. Husband-and-wife coaches Chris Smits and Elle Daftarian founded it, and they've coached women online since 2020. Each client gets a 1:1 coach for strength training, nutrition and accountability built around her schedule. More than 1,000 women have gone through its 8-week 35+ Metabolic Reset Method. Chris and Elle have been featured on eTalk, Breakfast Television, the National Post and WebMD. See all of it on our press page.
Media contact
Chris Smits, Founder and CEO, Forty Forward
c@fortyfwd.com