Join host Wendy McCallum as she interviews Shelley, a mom of three and recovering drinker living with Stage 4 liver disease. Women’s drinking has been rising during the pandemic, and with it, liver disease. Alcohol-related liver disease typically takes years to develop, but as Shelley’s terrifying story evidences, it’s not nearly as many years as you think. You’ll be absolutely amazed by Shelley’s story, which she tells with great honesty and humour. Wendy and Shelley discuss mommy wine culture, kids’ team sports and the parent drinking culture that’s often present there, and how easy it is for women’s “normal” drinking to escalate into a dangerous and destructive pattern.

Are you questioning your own drinking? Start here (it’s free!): www.wendymccallum.com/myths

On her 50th birthday, Wendy reflects on her life to date, her fears around hitting 50, and the surprising (and refreshing!) reality that came with the actual day. She shares her goals for this decade including her commitment to “fun for fun’s sake” and to “filling up her joy bucket” to help her in the transition to empty nester that is coming soon. “This is 50” will be a regular instalment of the podcast going forward – sometimes featuring a 50-something guest with a story to share around her 50s to date, sometimes an update on Wendy’s 50th year, and sometimes a conversation with the always-popular Bite-Sized Balance co-host, Dr. Sarah Baillie.

Free resources here: www.wendymccallum.com/learnwithwendy

Inspired by a song called “I’ve Got No More Fuc#$ to Give” that Wendy stumbled across on YouTube, Wendy and Sarah share how their feeling of having “no more fuc#$ to give” has shown up in their personal and work lives, and how common a headspace this seems to be for all women in midlife.

They discuss why this is happening, from a social, emotional, and hormonal perspective, and what to do about it if you’re feeling guilty about caring less. They also consider whether this midlife phenomenon isn’t really more a “shifting of fuc#$” as opposed to “having less fuc#$”, and how that shifting might benefit you as well as the other people in your life, including your children. Are you the adult you want your kids to become?

Join Wendy and Sarah for a spirited, fun conversation with an important undercurrent: it’s totally OK to start focussing on you again as you move into your midlife.

Details and wait list for next WTF (Women Talking Frankly) small group coaching program with Wendy and Sarah here: www.wtfmidlife.com

Wendy’s friend, author, and fellow Certified TNM Alcohol Coach, Emily Lynn Paulson, joins her for an honest discussion around why women’s drinking has been rising dramatically during the last couple of years.

They discuss the connection between stress and alcohol, the additional anxiety and overwhelm of the pandemic and how that has spiked drinking levels and alcohol-related disease, the normalization of women’s drinking as a necessary tool of motherhood through the media, and the science behind the addictive nature of alcohol.

How do you know if it’s time to make a change? Emily and Wendy both believe that labels aren’t helpful and that objective tests for “problem drinking” just keep women stuck in patterns that aren’t serving them. The only question that matters is “how is alcohol making me feel?” and if the answer is “not great”, then you owe yourself the opportunity to explore it further. And the good news is, there’s a way to do it that without white-knuckling it, and Wendy and Emily have the answer.

Are you questioning your own drinking? Wendy’s 6-Week REWIND online coaching program is a fantastic place to start. Disrupt your thinking and patterns around alcohol and get back to the YOU that you were before alcohol. Info and registration here: www.wendymccallum.com/rewind

Women’s drinking has been rising dramatically during the last couple of years. It’s become our go-to for numbing and escaping the challenges of modern, busy life in a pandemic. The good news is more and more women are questioning their relationship with alcohol. If you’re starting to wonder if alcohol is still serving you, celebrate that awareness! Drinking less (or not at all) is a positive wellness choice, and host Wendy McCallum is on a mission to normalize that decision.

Join Wendy as she shares the 5 keys to making alcohol small and irrelevant in your life. Based on the practical, science-based approach of This Naked Mind, Wendy’s path to achieving freedom from alcohol has worked for her and thousands of others. It’s like nothing you’ve ever tried, and it’s truly the way take alcohol out of the driver’s seat. If you’re ready to take back control over alcohol, and drink less - start with this episode.

Are you questioning your own drinking? Wendy’s 6-Week REWIND online coaching program is a fantastic place to start. Disrupt your thinking and patterns around alcohol and get back to the YOU that you were before alcohol. Info and registration here: www.wendymccallum.com/rewind

Wendy and Sarah reflect on the first Women Talking Frankly coaching program that they ran in the early summer, including a discussion of their favourite parts and the lessons they learned from the incredible group of women in this first iteration of the missing conversation around women’s burnout, hormones, and midlife. They talk about new bits of the missing conversation that bear exploring in future episodes, including the complicated nature of women’s libido in midlife, the gifts of pelvic floor therapy, the importance of boundaries when it comes to creating a life you don’t want to escape from, and weight management during perimenopause and menopause.

Grab Wendy and Sarah’s free perimenopause/menopause checklist, here: www.wendymccallum.com/perichecklist

Bite-Sized Balance is back! In the Season 2 opener, Wendy and Sarah reminisce about how they spent their summer, including their shared “dirty little secret” and their deepening friendship. They update listeners on their personal hormonal journeys and experiences with hormone replacement therapy and Sarah explains the unexpected possible impact of the COVID-19 vaccine on her cycle. They discuss the piecemeal nature of care for women in midlife in Canada and the role the patriarchy’s approach to women’s health plays in that.

Grab Wendy and Sarah’s perimenopause/menopause checklist, here: www.wendymccallum.com/perichecklist

Host Wendy McCallum interviews fellow This Naked Mind Coach, Martha Wright, about her decision to become alcohol-free, as well as her midlife career transition from wine importer and vineyard owner to alcohol-free beverage expert & advocate.

Martha and Wendy discuss women’s gray-area drinking, and the revolutionary approach to changing your relationship with alcohol that is the This Naked Mind philosophy. Martha provides a few of her best tips for living life fully (including visiting wine country!) while staying alcohol-free, along with her best picks for alcohol-free wines, spirits and botanicals.

Find Martha’s picks list at www.clearpowercoaching.com/resources

Host Wendy McCallum interviews Robyn Berman, who pursued a second career in the challenging primary care field of midwifery at the age of 40, while navigating parenthood and midlife (and all that comes with that.) 

Wendy shares her own birth story and Robyn provides some insight from the perspective of a midwife and doula. Robyn talks about her recent burnout and decision to leave clinical practice, and what she learned from that. Wendy and Robyn discuss the role of perimenopause and estrogen in their own “midlife rebirths” and reflect back on what they’ve learned in the first half of their lives around balance and stress management as busy working moms.

Chase Chewning is a health coach and host of the popular wellness podcast Ever Forward Radio, and he’s also no stranger to burnout. Chase joins host Wendy McCallum to share his personal story of burnout & recovery and what he’s learned along the way. Wendy and Chase talk about the differences between men and women’s burnout, the warning signs, self-care for men, and how to support someone you care about who is nearing or in burnout. This is a timely topic given the increase in burnout rates during the recent pandemic, so don’t skip this one!

Find out more about Chase here: https://chasechewning.com/