Who Am I?

I am a culinary enthusiast.

I am a home chef of vegan foods for over three decades.  

I am also an artist and a writer.

But I’m not a professional chef.  

I’m not a nutritionist.  

And I’m not a doctor. 

The experts are the chefs, nutritionists, dietitians, and doctors. 

I am journaling and recipe writing about the imperfect journey to eat and ease the symptoms(fatigue, hot flashes, fogginess, hair loss, etc) of the devil’s puberty perimenopause.  

And I will attempt to destigmatize aging along the way.  

While I’m sharing recipes, this is by no means a diet plan. 

As I stated, I’m not qualified but I follow the advice of a nutritionist(1) to consume fiber, healthy fats, and protein with every meal. However, I moderately indulge in of pockets of comfort foods that don’t adhere to those guidelines.  I also acknowledge the privilege of choice when I’m not medically restricted to a single diet. When possible I will recommend ingredient alternatives for people on sugar and salt restrictive diets.  

(1)Dr. Shahzadi Harper, The Perimenopause Solution: Nutrition, 158-180

What’s My Experience?

I have a formal Arts and Film Communications education. I gained an invaluable yet informal culinary education prepping food in various restaurants while in undergraduate and graduate school. 

Since I don’t have expertise in nutrition science, here are some actionable steps you can take to learn more about perimenopause. Here is a growing list of books I found helpful:

MenuPause

The Perimenopause Solution

The Menopause Myth by Dr. Arianna Sholes-Douglas, MD

And a podcast:

Perimenopause WTF

I will update you with more information as it becomes available.  Thank you for reading and enjoy the site!

For all business inquiries, please contact hotchocolateandhotflashes at gmail.com.