Hello there and welcome. I’m perimenopausal and on evorel, Utrogestan and Androfemme, month about 8 or 9 now and after some tweaks am fairly confident this regime is the one for me. I’ve had similar symptoms and issues to yourself. I also got diagnosed hypothyroid around the time these issues arose, as well as other hormonal issues which has been about 7 years of dealing with. Didn’t have a great GP, but do now, see someone privately for my menopause. Anxiety is my biggest symptom and issue over the 7 years and it’s only really starting to get better. I think HRT, therapy and time has helped. Once I felt stronger with HRT I could tackle it better. I too prefer meditation to medication, which I was offered but declined.
Regarding belly fat, oh I don’t want to be the one to tell you to give up chocolate! I limit all of that myself, much more than I used to, but not given it up. I exercise a decent amount and mostly eat well and that’s kept the weight issues around menopause a smaller issue for me- although a significant struggle while I got my thyroid right. It’s annoying but sadly it’s true that at this time our calorie needs reduce by about 200 calories a day, add to that the hormones making it harder to exercise and for our bodies to maintain a good metabolism, it makes sense that a lot of us do put on weight. Try not to worry too much about it. When you feel better you can address it then maybe. We can be very hard on ourselves and while trying to get a better hormone balance I think we are allowed a break from concerning ourselves too much with it. Although obviously it helps us to be a healthy weight and active, you can only do what you can manage. I love gardening and walking for everyday exercise, it’s our long periods of inactivity that really get us so little bits throughout the day can be better than one hard workout, although now I’m better I do that too. I followed some advice from a gardener with the same thyroid problem. She when you’re struggling with energy but want to start moving again, just little and often, take breaks but keep moving every day. It was great advice for me & I get lots done now even when a bit more tired, just following that simple advice. I can’t charge around non stop like I used to!
Hope you find lots of helpful tips here, I definitely have.