Hi, I'm Bela. I'm a home cook, a daughter, and a woman in midlife who spent years feeling blindsided by perimenopause before I understood what was happening to my body. The Hot Kitchen is the resource I wish I'd had: honest information about menopause and healthy aging, paired with simple recipes that help you feel better.
I Thought I Had Health Figured Out
For most of my adult life, I thought I had health figured out.
Growing up, I struggled with my weight. By my late twenties, I had finally found a way of eating and exercising that felt balanced and sustainable. I wasn't perfect, and I didn't want to be. I enjoyed pizza nights, vacations, and dinners with friends. If I gained a few pounds, I knew exactly what to do, and within a week or two I'd be back on track.
Life felt normal. I felt normal.
By the time I turned 40, I was in the best shape of my life. I felt strong, healthy, and comfortable in my own skin. I thought I had everything figured out.
Then, little by little, things started changing.
I developed aches and pains that nobody could explain. I was exhausted all the time. I started forgetting things. I gained weight despite doing all the things that had always worked before. The hardest part was that I didn't understand why.
I thought I needed more discipline. I thought I needed to eat less. I thought I needed to try harder.
Instead, I felt like I was running in quicksand.
What made it even more confusing was that perimenopause never crossed my mind. My periods were regular, and no one, not doctors, not Google, not even me, connected the dots.
When Things Finally Started Making Sense
It wasn't until my late forties, after I finally found a physician who specialized in women's health, that things started making sense.
For the first time, I understood that I wasn't broken. I wasn't lazy. And I certainly wasn't losing my mind.
I was in perimenopause.
Like many women, I thought hormone replacement therapy would fix everything. While it helped tremendously, it wasn't the silver bullet I'd been hoping for. I eventually realized that my body was under new management, and the rules had changed.
Learning the New Rules
That realization changed how I thought about health. I stopped asking what's wrong with me and started asking what does my body need now.
The rules turned out to be simpler than I expected, just different from what I was used to. Less about restriction, more about giving my body what it needed.
I’m certainly not perfect, and some weeks are better than others. But I've learned that I don't need perfection to feel better. I just need to keep coming back to the basics: real food, strength training, enough protein, enough fiber, and enough sleep.
It didn't happen overnight. But once I stopped fighting my body and started listening to it, things got better. Not perfect. Better. Actually, much better.
I've stopped trying to force my body to behave like it did at 25. I'm learning to take care of the body I have.
Food Has Always Been How I Take Care of People
Real food and consistency turned out to matter more than I expected. But for me, cooking has never just been about nutrition.
I've been cooking since I was a little girl in my mother's kitchen. I made my first family meal at nine, and at one point, I even considered becoming a pastry chef.
Long before I knew anything about protein, macros, or hormones, I knew that food was how you took care of the people you loved. It still is. That's where everything here comes from.
The Moment That Stayed With Me
A few years ago, my mother broke her pelvis in a horrible accident. She was 76, and she spent three months in the hospital, bedridden. I knew that being inactive that long would cost her muscle, so every day I brought her food. High-protein meals made with care, because I knew that's what she needed. Food is how I take care of the people I love.
She recovered because she'd always been active. But during those months, I read a statistic I haven't been able to shake: between 20% and 40% of older adults who suffer a hip fracture die within the following year.1
That number changed something for me. The choices we make now, in our 40s and 50s, shape what we're capable of decades from now.
Watching my mom recover made me realize that strength and muscle aren't vanity projects. They're part of how I plan to take care of myself.
Why I Created The Hot Kitchen
Perimenopause blindsided me completely. Nobody warned me. Nobody connected the dots. I spent years feeling confused, wondering what was wrong with me, when nothing was wrong with me at all.
I don't have all the answers. But I know this much: what we do today matters, and none of us should have to figure this out alone. That's why I created The Hot Kitchen.
What You'll Find at The Hot Kitchen
At The Hot Kitchen, you'll find:
- Recipes that taste good first. If it doesn't taste good, you won't eat it.
- Honest information about perimenopause and menopause, in plain language, without the overwhelm.
- Ideas for eating more protein and fiber without obsessing over every bite.
- Gentle reminders that we're tired of depriving ourselves, and healthy eating was never supposed to mean that anyway.
This isn't about perfection or cutting out everything you enjoy. It's real food, made simply, that happens to support your wellbeing.
Most of all, I hope you'll find reassurance. You're not crazy. Your body isn't failing you. And you don't have to figure this out by yourself.
I'm still learning too, and I'm genuinely optimistic about where this season can take us. If you're in the thick of it, I hope this helps you make sense of midlife and feel like yourself again.
Welcome to The Hot Kitchen. I'm so glad you're here.
Bela