Melissa Joan Hart, 49, Didn’t Think Perimenopause Weight Loss Was Possible—Then Shed 18 Lbs.
'I feel stronger and better than I have in a really long time,' the actress said
At one point, actress Melissa Joan Hart, 49, reportedly didn’t think weight loss was possible anymore. Perimenopause had her convinced her body just wouldn’t cooperate. But by focusing on how she felt and easy habits that boost longevity, she was able to drop 18 pounds and feel better than she has in years. Keep scrolling to see the specific changes she made that helped her transform her health.
Melissa Joan Hart on weight loss in perimenopause
“I really didn’t think I could lose weight anymore, being in midlife and perimenopause and all those things, I was like, ‘Can I really lose weight? I don’t think I can,'” the Clarissa Explains It All star shared in an interview with People in February.
She’s far from alone. During perimenopause, the period in which your body is beginning to transition into menopause and reproductive hormone levels start to decline, women may experience everything from hot flashes to insomnia to phantom smells. And yes, weight loss often becomes more challenging due hormone shifts that promote fat storage, especially in the abdomen.
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Why Hart focused on feeling better instead of weight loss
Instead of fixating on a number on the scale, Hart told People, “I just wanted to feel better. It had nothing to do with losing weight.”
So she started making health-focused changes as part of a “longevity journey” as she prepares to turn 50 in April. “And in doing that and discovering fasting and cutting sugars and cutting alcohol—I haven’t had a drink in over a year,” Hart continued. “I just don’t even enjoy drinking. So why bother? So I cut these things out of my life, and I started to feel better. And in doing that, I lost a lot of weight and kind of feel great.”
The former Sabrina the Teenage Witch actress added, “I lost about 18 pounds last year.” Today, she said she feels “stronger and better than I have in a really long time.”
How Hart stays hydrated (without plain water)
Hart’s health journey hasn’t been completely smooth sailing, though. She admitted she’s not a big fan of plain water.
“My husband says when I drink a glass of water, I make a face like it’s the most disgusting thing on earth,” Hart said of her husband, Mark Wilkerson. “He’s like, ‘You just don’t like drinking anything, even water.’ I’m, like, sipping on it, like, ‘Eww.'”
Her workaround to stay hydrated and healthy? Club soda and lime and teas. “I’ll do hot tea, cold tea, green tea, peppermint tea, any kind of tea,” the actress told People.
Her marriage is built on trust and support
Hart and Wilkerson, also 49, wed in 2003 and share three sons: Mason, 20, Braydon, 17, and Tucker, 13. Her approach to staying healthy and happily married shares a common thread: Stick with it through the hard stretches.
“A big part of it is the commitment you make, right?” Hart told Us Weekly in December 2024. “If there’s a spark and there’s love in the beginning, then you can always come back to that. So trying to remember that the valleys or the lows or the times when you don’t feel that connected, you can ride that out and it makes the peaks even better.”
“People change, marriages change,” she added. “So I would just say if you made that commitment and it’s just getting stale, that’s not a reason to end [the marriage]. Work through stuff or be open, be honest. We base our marriage on trust. So I think trust is the basis of our relationship. I think that that’s a great foundation to build it on.”
Whether it’s her health or her marriage, Hart’s approach comes down to small, sustained commitments that can make a big difference in the long run.
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