If there’s one thing I’ve learned as I’ve got older, it’s that my body definitely didn’t read the memo about carrying on exactly as it did in my 20s....
Perimenopause and menopause bring changes. Energy can feel different from one day to the next without any specific reason. Recovery can feel different. Sleep can have a mind of its own. And sometimes you can be doing everything you think you should be doing and still wonder what on earth your body is playing at. this has been me for the last 5 or so years.
But one thing I absolutely refuse to do at this stage of my life?
Spend it being frightened of food.
I train. I lift weights. I work full-time. I have a busy life. I'm building a business.
And I LOVE food.
Especially sweet food. That part definitely hasn't changed.
I'm More Interested in Getting Stronger Than Eating Less
As I've moving through this stage of life, my mindset around food and training is changing.
I'm much more interested in supporting my body than punishing it.
Strength training is incredibly important to me. I want to feel strong, maintain and build muscle, have energy and look after the body that's carrying me into the next chapter.
And that means actually fuelling it properly.
Protein is part of that picture for me, so are carbohydrates and fats
And yes...
So are treats.
I don't want to live a life where I'm trying to eat "perfectly" all week and feeling guilty the second I eat something sweet, especially on holiday ( I love my vegan gelato!)
I want balance.
I want to train hard, eat well, enjoy my food and have the bloody (vegan) brownie if I want the brownie. 😂
And that thinking is actually a big part of why Simply Sabina Eats exists.
I Just Wanted Something I Actually Wanted to Eat
When I first started making energy bites, I wasn't trying to create some magical menopause food.
I was making the kind of snack I wanted to eat myself.
Plant-based, Satisfying, sweet, convenient for a busy day.
Protein included in most of my recipes too (for the gains!)
Ingredients such as oats, dates, nuts and seeds.
But there was one other fairly important requirement...
It had to taste REALLY nice.
I've tried enough "healthy" snacks over the years that taste like somebody mixed protein powder with cardboard and told me it was a treat. 😂
No thank you.
If I'm having something chocolatey, I want it to feel chocolatey.
If I'm having Biscoff, I want to taste the Biscoff.
If I'm having a brownie, I want to enjoy the brownie.
I'm not interested in pretending my treats are magical foods that are going to "balance your hormones" or fix menopause.
They're not.
They're treats, but healthier and for me this is balance!
They're simply treats I've created with a little more thought behind them, designed to fit into the way I actually live and eat.
And I'm very happy calling them treats.
Then Something Happened That I Never Expected
People started buying them.
Honestly, sometimes I look at Simply Sabina Eats now and think...
How on earth did this happen? 😂
Never in a million years did I imagine I'd be making energy bites in my kitchen and having people order them through Instagram and my website.
But here we are and the orders are coming in
And something has changed for me very recently.
I've stopped thinking of Simply Sabina Eats as just a little side hustle.
I'm building a business.
Even typing that feels slightly crazy and overwhelming at times.
I'm still learning how to navigate everything that comes with it... the websites (even posting this blog) Instagram, content, marketing, packaging, pricing, photos, reels...
Some days I think I've absolutely smashed it and killing it...
Other days I haven't got a bloody clue what I'm doing. 😂 and that's the truth.
But underneath all of that is something I'm completely certain about.
I absolutely love what I'm creating and watching the chaos unfold... (bit like my personality)
Yes, They Really Do Come From My Kitchen
There's no huge production facility hiding behind my Instagram videos.
There's no team of people secretly rolling hundreds of energy balls in the background.
It's me. all me,
Apron on. Gloves on. Hair tied back. Ingredients out.
And yes , a real pink kitchen that actually gets used!
I'm Level 4 Food Safety qualified, and food safety and hygiene are something I take very seriously. But I also don't want to sanitise the personality out of what I show online.
Sometimes I wonder whether everything should look more polished.
Should every worktop look completely untouched?
Should every video have the perfect background?
Should I try to make Simply Sabina Eats look like some huge professional food company?
And I've realised...
That's just not me. and it is important for me to be me
I want you to see where your treats actually come from.
Because handmade really does mean handmade.
Sometimes That Batch Gets mixed Three Times 😂
Some batches behave beautifully.
Others? Absolutely not....
Sometimes I'll blend an energy bite mixture, take the whole thing out, realise the texture isn't quite right after it settles and put it back in again.
Blend...Take it out... Adjust something...Back in and mix again...
If I'm making a bigger batch and my Ninja isn't coping with it properly, I'll divide the mixture and blend it separately. (maybe a bigger processor?)
Then it needs rolling, coating, weighing, packing and labelling.
It's a process.
And it's time-consuming
Could I rush it?
Probably.
But I won't.
However long that batch takes, that's how long it takes.
I'm not going to whip something out, pack it up and hope for the best.
If somebody is spending their money on something I've made, I want to know that when they open that pack, I'm 100% happy with what's inside it.
Whether I've mixed that batch once or wrestled with the bloody thing three times. 😂
Because my name is on that pack
And I'm proud of what's inside it.
The Messages Still Make My Day
This might sound silly, but one of my favourite parts of all of this is still hearing what people think.
When somebody messages me saying:
"they are absolutely delicious"
I buzz off it.
Genuinely love it
When somebody orders again, recommends me to somebody else or tells me they've found a favourite flavour, it makes my day.
Because somebody has spent their own money on something I created in my kitchen.
I don't think I'll ever take that for granted.
People took a chance on my little business.
They tried my energy bites.
They came back.
And I'm incredibly grateful for that.
I Don't Want to Constantly Sell to You
I'm learning a lot about marketing as I build this business, but there's one thing I know I don't want Simply Sabina Eats to become.
A page constantly screaming:
BUY MY ENERGY BALLS!
😂
I'd much rather show you.
Show you the mixing bowl.
Show you the ingredients.
Show you me rolling them.
Show you the recipe that didn't quite work.
Show you the one that DID.
Show you my ridiculous excitement when I create a new flavour.
Show you someone tasting one for the first time.
And hopefully, somewhere along the way, you'll look at the screen and think...
I NEED to try those.
That's how I want this business to grow.
Not through pretending everything is perfect.
Not through making wild health claims.
But by making really bloody delicious plant-based treats that people genuinely want to eat.
My Problem? I've Got About 147 Ideas 😂
This is where I need to learn to pace myself.
Because I want to do EVERYTHING.
Seasonal flavours.
Christmas specials.
Valentine's treats, I did make little energy bite hearts when I first started and they were ridiculously cute. And they were so popular! SOLD OUT i am proud to say.
I'm thinking about mystery boxes.
Build-your-own boxes.
A kids' range.
Limited-edition flavours.
More seasonal treats.
And that's before I've randomly thought of another recipe at 10 o'clock at night and decided I absolutely NEED to make it. 😂
Creating is probably one of my favourite parts of this whole journey.
What if I put this with that?
Try it.
Taste it.
Change it.
Try it again.
And then finally...
YES. That's the one.
My excitement probably does come through on Instagram because I genuinely can't fake it.
When I've made something I'm proud of, I want everybody to see it.
But I'm learning that I don't have to do everything today.
I can build this slowly.
One recipe.
One batch.
One order.
One slightly mad idea at a time.
Maybe This Stage of Life Isn't About Slowing Down
And perhaps that's the bit I didn't expect when I started writing this.
This isn't really just a story about energy bites.
And it isn't really just a story about menopause either.
It's about reaching this stage of life and realising there are still completely new versions of yourself that you haven't met yet.
I never thought I'd be doing this.
Never in a million years did I think I'd be selling my own treats online. and becoming professional energy ball roller (see my branded apron )
Yet I've found something that makes me ridiculously excited.
I'm learning.
I'm experimenting.
I'm making mistakes.
I'm getting better.
I'm building something.
And I'm learning to say something that perhaps I wouldn't always have found easy to say:
I'm proud of myself.
I'm proud of Simply Sabina Eats.
And I'm incredibly grateful to every single person who has ordered, shared something, sent me a lovely message or simply decided to give my little energy bites a chance.
I'll keep making them for as long as you lovely people keep wanting them.
Because maybe this stage of life isn't about shrinking ourselves, eating less and quietly slowing down.
Maybe it's about getting stronger.
Trying something new.
Eating the bloody brownie.
And finally having the confidence to see what else we're capable of !
Sabina x
Simply Sabina Eats — made in my kitchen, made with care, and very definitely taste-tested by me. (multiple times ) 😂
