Magnificent Midlife

Meet Dr Cecilia Dintino and Hannah Murray Starobin, a psychologist and psychotherapist, who are the hosts of the very fabulous Twisting the Plot podcast. ​

These two are all about changing the unhelpful narratives we may hold dear and creating new stories for ourselves as we go through midlife and beyond. Anything is possible! We talk about:

• How they went from complaining about midlife to finding the glory in it
• How not having any rules means you can make up your own story
• How they met doing musical theatre
• How you can rewrite your story at any stage of life
• Applying fun, hope, imagination and creativity to our lives
• How we have to fight the cultural messages to see this stage as more positive
• The prevailing negative narrative about getting older
• How there is always more to learn and be right to the end of life
• The importance of remaining curious throughout life
• How you can still grow even if you don't have your health
• Not being defined by being a mother, grandmother
• Living fully until you don't
• The importance of questioning your own biases
• How the midlife landscape is really changing
• What Twisting the Plot means
• Sharing stories about the different stages of midlife
• You can invent your future – what you want to be may not even exist yet
• Not going invisible to ourselves
• Giving ourselves cultural permission to reinvent ourselves
• Putting ourselves higher up the priority list
• Coming together to create change
• Not being prescriptive about being an older woman
• Embracing our diversity as we age
• Finding our tribe but not being confined by it
• We don't have to fight over resources and hierarchy
• We are so much more powerful if we lift each other up rather than compete
• The energy that comes from having a side hustle (when you think you don't have time for it)
• The Art of Possibility book
• Learning that it's OK to leave the box to solve the problem
• The importance of staying curious
• How we respond to things, and how we move forward are the invention that we have control over
• You can't change the story necessarily but you can change the associated feelings and how the story ends!

And lots more!

Find out more about Cecilia and Hannah and listen to their podcast on their website.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and maybe leave a review on iTunes or wherever you're listening.

Find out how to leave a review here.

You can find out more information and get the show notes to every episode at magnificentmidlife.com.

That's also where you'll find strategies, support and resources to help make your midlife magnificent. There's a midlife wellness program, courses, midlife mentoring to help make the most of your next chapter and our online Members Club. If not now, when?

Meet Louise Carr who healed her own midlife trauma through retraining as a nutrition consultant. She has a fascinating story to tell about how to improve our health through nutrition, but also how health issues can be changed by eliminating trauma from our lives. All driven by her own experience. Listen in for so much value about how to accept our issues, deal with them and thrive beyond them.

This is such a powerful interview. We talk about:

• How Louise retrained in nutrition in midlife to cope with her own health issues
• Not accepting the doctor's narrative that health issues were age-related (at 46!)
• How learning about nutrition can transform our lives
• The importance of supporting our adrenal glands with nutrition
• Replenishing our bodies and minds with down time and self care
• How one big change can lead to many others – the domino effect
• Learning to trust your gut
• Coping with overwhelm and depression
• Recognizing the true sources of one's stress
• Realizing when one's relationship is no longer viable
• The power of food and nutrition in transforming our lives
• The damaging effect stress has on our health
• How walking away from the wrong relationship can be very good for our health
• Breaking free of abusive behavior
• How IBS is a tell for trauma in our lives
• How midlife is the perfect time to re-evaluate how we nurture ourselves
• How inflammation and fighting our menopausal experience will make our experience of menopause worse
• The empowering effect of stepping out of the victim mindset
• Not accepting what we're told if our gut tells us otherwise
• The importance of a holistic approach to health especially in midlife
• Dealing with PTSD as a midlife woman
• Re-engaging with your body after trauma
• How trauma effects short term memory – it may not be menopause!
• Stress and hormonal health
• Is it a mood swing or a food swing?
• Keeping blood sugar levels stable
• Weight-gain around the middle in midlife and its connection to stress and metabolism
• Cortisol driving weight to the center of our bodies in midlife
• Mineral dense foods
• Calories don't count – nutrition does
• Learning to value ourselves more especially with food

And lots more!

You can find out more about Louise and her work on her website. You can also follow her on Facebook.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and maybe leave a review on iTunes or wherever you're listening. You can find out more information and get the show notes to every episode at magnificentmidlife.com.

That's also where you'll find strategies, support and resources to help make your midlife magnificent. There's a midlife wellness program, courses, midlife mentoring to help make the most of your next chapter and our online Members Club. If not now, when? Start your tomorrow today!

Meet gerontologist, coach and author of The Middlessence Manifesto, Barbara Waxman. She's redefining how we think about midlife and highlighting our incredible potential and the opportunities available for those who remain open to growth.

In this inspiring and uplifting interview we cover:

• What Barbara means by Middlessence
• Getting rid of the competition between women for the benefit of the world!
• The power of women when we come together
• Women as connectors and how good we can be at support and building communities
• How middle-aged men's power is waning in the US and elsewhere
• 60% of divorces after 40 are initiated by women
• How if men can embrace the changes in midlife women, it's better for all of us
• Becoming aware of the many more older woman role models and taking inspiration from them.
• What Barbara means by re-potting
• The importance of engaging with information sources you don't agree with
• Not getting entrenched in our thinking as we get older
• The dangers of living in a bubble
• Why staying uncomfortable is very powerful
• Not getting hung up on the idea of having more purpose
• Making the most of the time we have
• The essential elements to getting midlife working well
• The importance of a holistic approach to health
• The power of coaching
• Making the most of the things that only time can bring us And lots more!

You can find out more about Barbara on her website.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and maybe leave a review on iTunes or wherever you're listening. You can find out more information and get the show notes to every episode at magnificentmidlife.com.

That's also where you'll find strategies, support and resources to help make your midlife magnificent. There's a midlife wellness program, courses, midlife mentoring to help make the most of your next chapter and our online Members Club. If not now, when?

Join me as I interview Nancy Zeffman and Eileen Willett the founders of Cucumber Clothing, designed to keep women cool in all circumstances.

In this eye-opening interview we cover:

Starting a business in midlife The importance of friendship, support and trust in starting Cucumber What makes Cucumber Clothing special especially for midlife women Having the confidence to just give it a go Making the most of your empty nest Capitalizing on earlier life skills to create something new The importance of continuing to challenge yourself Learning new skills in midlife Coping with not knowing what you don't know Different fabrics and how environmentally they are Applying sustainable principles to a business Sustainable washing – we wash clothes too much

And lots more!

Listeners to this podcast can also get a discount on Cucumber Clothing. Just use discount code: MAGNIFICENT15 valid till Dec 31st 2019.

Find out more about Cucumber Clothing here.

Meet the very funny Julia Frey and Sarah Auerswald, the co-presenters of Menopodcast. These two first met as children growing up on Maui. They moved to Los Angeles, worked in the film industry, set up businesses and are doing a massive job now raising awareness of menopause on their fabulously popular podcast. I've been a guest on their podcast three times! So it was lovely to turn the tables and find out about their midlife journeys. We had a lot of giggles.

In this fabulous interview we cover:

• what it's like hosting a podcast about menopause
• why they are so keen to raise awareness
• how it's important to hear regular voices talking about menopause
• going through menopause with young children at home
• how the podcast grew out of blogging
• growing up on Maui and getting newspapers when someone flew in with one
• surprising things about menopause
• heart disease as the #1 killer of women
• negative stereotypes around menopause
• the opportunities of menopause
• that Fleabag scene
• giving zero fucks and how great that is
• the importance of getting and staying healthy

And lots more!

Find out more about Sarah and Julia and listen to the wonderful Menopodcast here.

Follow them on Facebook.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and maybe leave a review on iTunes or wherever you're listening. You can find out more information and get the show notes to every episode at magnificentmidlife.com. That's also where you'll find strategies, support and resources to help make your midlife magnificent. There's a midlife wellness program, courses, midlife mentoring to make the most of your next chapter, free resources and our online Members Club. If not now, when?

An interview with Darcey Steinke, author of Flash Count Diary. I loved her revolutionary book and so many of her thoughts about menopause are similar to mine. It was wonderful to find a kindred spirit whose overall impression of menopause is so positive. Listen to this and you'll never think about menopause in the same way again!

In this fascinating and very uplifting interview we talk about:

• Darcey's fascination with her hot flashes
• How the book is about so many different things about midlife and menopause
• How menopause can be a struggle but there is lots of richness to gain
• Darcey's startling realizations about the menopausal transition
• How Darcey managed her own menopause symptoms and what helped most
• How we may be more like our pre-pubescent selves post menopause
• How we may live more of our lives being infertile than fertile
• The tyranny of estrogen and what it's like to finally be free of it
• Fertility, menopause and the patriarchy
• Appearance, visibility and the power of female friends
• Calling out ageism especially at work
• Anger and the lifting of the complicity veil
• The marvels of whales and menopause
• The evolutionary reason for menopause
• How misogyny has lots to answer for on how we view menopause
• How rethinking menopause and ageing can re-frame our experience of both

And lots more!

​Darcey's website.

Flash Count Diary

Hattie Voelcker went from being a barrister in midlife to retraining as a performance coach, working particularly with singers. She's so wise and inspiring! And great fun too.

In this fabulous interview we cover:

• Why Hattie made the change from barrister to performance coach
• The similarities between the two professions
• The beauty of transferable skills
• The power of understanding people's wants, needs and vulnerabilities
• How being a family law barrister helps her coaching practice now
• Moving from a very high-powered career to a new and different role
• How people of all levels suffer from impostor syndrome
• How the real fear we feel when stepping forward is looking stupid, both for men and women
• How our desire for perfection can hold us back
• Vulnerability and courage as two sides of the same coin
• Empathy starts with ourselves
• How it's OK, in fact, normal, to be nervous when stepping forward
• It's fine to be just OK and to be you, and in that is perfection
• Life is an infinite series of nows
• How fun is vital to life
• The importance of pausing in midlife
• SMOG, WELL and WISE words
• Getting rid of the word should from our vocabulary!

And lots more!

​Find out more about Hattie on her website: FindYourTrueVoice.co.uk

Brene Brown

SMOG words – should, must, ought, got (also have to and need to)

WELL words – want, enjoy, like, love

WISE words – wise, important, sensible, effective

Amy Sutter, aka Sutter Girl, achieved her dream of becoming a professional body builder at the tender age of 48! She's a very inspiring woman who accepts no limitations on herself. We talk about how she achieved her goal, what motivates her now to keep the sport alive and how she stays top of her game.

We talk about:

• The dogged determination that finally lead to professional status after a long journey
• What drives Amy to stay in top physical condition so that she can continue to compete
• The long journey to success and the people who helped her along the way
• How Amy crafted a career out of something she loved swapping her side hustle for the main act
• How she used her background in design to create a jewelry range to inspire herself and other fitness lovers
• Amy's passion for bodybuilding and keeping the sport alive
• How life is different now she's pro
• How to eat well when you're on the go
• How to get yourself motivated when your mojo takes a walk

And lots more!

Find out more about Amy, her coaching programs and jewelry range on her website MoJoTiVation.com. You can also find her on Twitter @SutterGirl11

​Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast player so you don't miss an episode!

Professor Joyce Harper is professor of Reproductive Science at the Institute for Women's Health, University College London. She's also Director of Education at the IfWH, Head of the Department of Reproductive Health and Director of the Centre for Human Reproduction. She's worked in the fields of fertility, genetics, reproductive health and women's health for over 30 years.

Joyce and I connected on Twitter because we're both concerned about the over-medicalization of menopause and how there seems to increasingly be an over-dependence on HRT. We both know there are many natural ways to help us transition vibrantly through menopause. Not sufficient for some but enough for many.

I was delighted to find a kindred spirit in what can sometimes feel like a lonely wilderness. We're both aware our views on this podcast may prove contentious, but we're passionate about making sure women have all the information they need about menopause.

We talk about:

• The over-medicalization of a natural transition in women's lives
• The difficulties of expressing opinions on Twitter
• The many natural ways to help ourselves during perimenopause
• Getting the four pillars of long-term health right
• Investing in midlife for our well-being in older age
• The benefits of being post-menopause
• Challenging negative views of menopause and ageing in general
• Changing perceptions about menstruation and womanhood
• Rethinking estrogen dependence
• How we're the guinea pig generation for HRT
• The importance of doing your research on menopause
• How you may know more than your doctor if you do that research
• How we are meant to go through menopause and have a different hormonal profile after it

And lots more!

Find out more about Joyce and her work on her website. You can also find her on Twitter @ProfJoyceHarper but please be nice (to keep the conversation going!)

​Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast player so you don't miss an episode!

Meet the very inspiring Valerie Albarda, founder of Midlife-A-Go-Go and podcast host. She's on a mission to inspire women in midlife to be their very best. She wants us to enjoy the fabulous midlife and skip the crisis.

In this wonderfully upbeat interview we cover:

• Valerie's mission to inspire women in midlife
• The Midlife-A-Go-Go podcast and what it aims to achieve
• The value we have to give the world as vibrant midlife women
• How midlife does not have to mean crisis despite what Google may say!
• Learning to accept the need to pivot, to work with the situation we have
• Racial differences in menopause experience
• The trials of looking for work in midlife
• Pushing back against limiting beliefs - our own and what society may suggest
• Being a stepmom
• The reverse empty nest

And lots more!

Find out more about Valerie and listen to her wonderful podcast on her website https://www.midlifeagogo.com/

​Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast player so you don't miss an episode!