About Marleen

My Story…

Many women reach perimenopause feeling confused by a body they no longer recognise. Sleep becomes fragile. Energy drops. Training harder stops working. You can be doing everything right and still feel wrong in yourself. I know this place well, both professionally and personally.

For years, I trusted my body. I was active, strong, disciplined, and knowledgeable. I had worked in healthcare in Amsterdam, trained people in London for over a decade, and understood physiology from both a scientific and practical perspective. Movement had always been my anchor.

Then perimenopause arrived, quietly at first, then insistently. My sleep deteriorated. My mood felt less stable. My energy dipped in ways I could not push through. My body changed despite doing what I had always done. What unsettled me most was not the symptoms themselves, but the sense that my usual tools no longer worked.

With a background in pharmacology and years of experience as a personal trainer, I knew I did not want quick fixes or generic advice. I wanted to understand what my body was asking for now, not what had worked ten years earlier. I began to experiment carefully and thoughtfully, adjusting how I trained, how I recovered, and how I structured my days. I focused on small, sustainable changes rather than punishment or extremes.

Over time, things shifted. My sleep improved. My energy returned. I felt stronger again, not just physically but emotionally. I stopped fighting my body and started working with it. That change rebuilt my confidence and reminded me that wellbeing at this stage of life requires intelligence, compassion, and flexibility.

This personal experience sits alongside my professional life. I am a pharmacologist, a qualified personal trainer, and a women’s menopause health and fitness coach. I have spent years helping people who believed the gym was not for them feel capable and strong, including colleagues who had never trained before. I understand how intimidating change can feel, especially when confidence is low and the body feels unpredictable.

Perimenopause and menopause are not an ending. They are a transition that asks for a different relationship with health, strength, and self care. I work with women who want to feel steady, capable, and well in their bodies again, without extremes, shame, or pressure to return to who they used to be.

My approach is grounded, science informed, and shaped by lived experience. I support women to build strength, energy, and trust in their bodies in a way that fits this stage of life, not fights it. If you are looking for guidance that respects both your physiology and your reality, you are in the right place.

Marleen Konijnenberg