Why women need a new narrative and how we’re rewriting it at BioAge UK
I know a woman — let’s call her Emma. She’s nearly 40. A couple of years ago, she was fit, strong, and confident.
Today, Emma’s story is very different.
She’s been on weight-loss medication that she doesn’t medically qualify for (bought online using false information).
She’s eating fewer than five proper meals a week.
She hasn’t consistently exercised in months — because she’s lost her motivation and she’s exhausted and malnourished.
And she’s about to sign up for an extreme 8-week fat-loss programme that promises rapid results!
This isn’t wellness. It’s self-harm. And it’s becoming frighteningly common.
The Silent Epidemic Among Midlife Women
Emma, is many women. I’m seeing this story play out over and over, particularly among women in their late 30s and into their 40s and 50s. These are women who have been brought up on dieting, cardio and restriction to become ‘smaller’.
As they get older and their bodies start to change, they feel lost and panicked. Their hormones are shifting. Their metabolism feel unpredictable and their bodies are changing. They’re being ‘sold’ the same old outdated rubbish ‘to shrink themselves by any means necessary’ by coaches who don’t know any better or don’t care enough to actually learn about why women need different advice to men ESPECIALLY as they get older.
And they are paying money left, right and centre to anything or anyone that gives them the ‘quick results’ because doing things the right way takes time and effort.
Trouble is those results aren’t sustainable so they are paying out again, and again and again. And getting less healthy and biologically older each time.
Let’s Talk About Weight-Loss Medication
If your BMI isn’t in the range that clinically warrants a prescription, taking drugs like Ozempic or Mounjaro is not a “head start.” It’s a health risk. These medications were designed for people with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Taking them without medical necessity and at the current described doses, can lead to nausea, digestive issues, loss of crucial lean muscle mass, and long-term metabolic damage.
And let’s talk about that muscle.
When you lose weight too quickly — especially without adequate nutrition or resistance training — your body doesn’t just burn fat. It burns muscle. That’s the very tissue that keeps your metabolism humming, supports your bones and joints, and protects you as you age.
The New Scientist special report on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs (edition March 29 2025) noted significant concern about loss of muscle mass accompanying the fat loss from these medications.
Up to 40% of weight loss may be lean tissue: According to researcher Grace Kulik (University of Colorado), analyses suggest that “up to about 40% of the overall weight loss seen from semaglutide is potentially from loss of muscle mass” . In other words, nearly half of each pound lost could be non-fat (muscle or other lean tissue). This effect isn’t unique to GLP-1 – rapid weight loss from other methods (very restrictive diets or bariatric surgery) similarly causes the body to shed not just fat but also muscle and bone mass.
https://www.scribd.com/document/849954101/NewScientistInternationalEdition-29March2025
The impact can be especially relevant for women around menopause: during the menopause transition, women already begin to lose muscle (~0.5% of lean mass per year) and gain fat due to hormonal changes . So if a menopausal or perimenopausal woman loses additional muscle from a weight-loss drug, it could exacerbate issues like reduced strength or bone density. The concern is that a midlife woman could become “skinny fat” – appearing slimmer but with a higher body fat percentage and lower muscle strength if precautions aren’t taken. This is why preserving lean mass is a priority for this demographic.
https://liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/met.2024.0124?doi=10.1089%2Fmet.2024.0124&journalCode=met
So yes, the scale might go down. But at what cost?
The Truth About Extreme Dieting
Now let’s talk about these “shred in 8 weeks” style programmes.
Severe calorie restriction might deliver short-term fat loss, but it also:
- Increases cortisol (your stress hormone)
- Disrupts your sleep and mood
- Slows down your thyroid and metabolism
- Leads to rebound weight gain
- And most importantly — damages your health, your hormone balance and accelerates ageing.
- The irony?
Many of these women are doing it all in the name of “looking better and younger.”
But starvation doesn’t make you glow. It makes you fragile, inside and out.
I see these women at the end of these programmes. Sallow skin, dark eye circles, fatigued, irritable and down right miserable.
And yet they keep doing it.
We Need a New Definition of Health
At BioAge UK, we’re on a mission to flip the script.
Real health isn’t about shrinking.
It’s about strengthening — your body, your mind, and your future.
We help women reverse their biological age, improve their body composition and gain confidence and energy through lifestyle changes that work with your body, not against it. That means:
- Proper nourishment, not restriction
- Smart, progressive strength training
- Personalised coaching through our 6 pillars of longevity
- A focus on energy, vitality, and getting what I now call, the ‘BioAge Glow’
- And a deep respect for the body you’re building — not punishing
Vitality > Thinness
It’s time we stop rewarding disordered behaviours just because they’re wrapped in a pretty, “wellness” bow.
Health doesn’t come from fads or starvation.
It comes from slow, intentional, evidence-based habits.
From healing, not harming.
From fuelling, not depriving.
From a deep knowing that the body you have today is not broken — it’s just asking for a different kind of care.
If you’re tired of chasing short-term fixes that leave you feeling depleted, we see you. I see you.
Because this isn’t just a professional mission for me — it’s personal.
I’ve been coaching women for over 12 years. I’ve seen the damage that diet culture, unrealistic expectations, and relentless pressure to look a certain way can do. And I’ve also seen what’s possible when women start to think differently — when they begin to nourish their bodies, build strength, and focus on long-term health instead of quick wins.
I’ve seen it in my own health and physique and that of my many successful clients. I promise you, it’s transformative. Not just physically but mentally too.
BioAge UK was created on the back of this passion. Helping women unlearn all the harmful messaging they’ve absorbed over the years. Guiding them to see that health isn’t about being smaller — it’s about being stronger, inside and out. It’s about energy, confidence, clarity, and the freedom to enjoy life without obsessing over the scales.
Yes, we use science. Yes, we look at the data. But at the heart of it all is a deep belief that women deserve more — more support, more honesty, more respect for what our bodies go through, especially in midlife.
It’s going to be built — step by step, with care, with purpose, and with people who truly understand what you’re going through.
This is what we’re here for. This is why I do what I do.
Because you deserve more – you deserve decades of power, purpose, and vitality.
Let’s build YOUR future — together.