Midlife Advice | Perimenopause, Hormones and Midlife Women’s Health

Muscle and joint pain in perimenopause is not just a hormone problem, and it's not just aging. Physical therapist and musculoskeletal specialist Stacey Roberts explains what's really driving pain in midlife women, and what to do about it. Her answers might surprise you.

We talk about:

• Why your hormones were acting as your body's natural anti-inflammatories, and what happens when they drop in perimenopause and menopause
• The non-drug, non-injection options for joint and muscle pain that most women never hear about
• Why cortisol being too low (not just too high) can cause nighttime inflammation, especially in high-achieving women
• How to tell the difference between normal workout soreness and pain you should actually stop for
• Why the place where you feel pain is not always where the problem is (a weak hip causing foot pain, for example)
• The vicious cycle of hurt, stop moving, get tighter, hurt more, and how to break out of it
• Why heavy lifting is not the only way to build strength and protect your joints
• What to do first if you've stopped working out because something always hurts

Stacey Roberts PT, RN, MSN has over 30 years of experience helping patients live pain-free. Stacey owns New You Health and Wellness in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, combining advanced manual therapy, cutting-edge technology, and functional medicine. She is the author of the number one bestselling book The Pain Free Formula and host of The Pain Free Formula podcast.

Connect with Stacey

NewYouHealthandWellness.com | The Pain Free Formula book | The Pain Free Formula podcast | @newyouhealthandwellness

I want to hear from you. Send me a text or voicemail!

Jessica's freebies and resources:

😴 Sleep better tonight with my free 10-minute audio breathwork session. (https://your.belongwellness.com/sleep)

✨For more midlife advice on perimenopause, hormone health, nervous system regulation, and living with purpose in your 40s and 50s follow me: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @heyjessicalong

Do your perimenopause symptoms like brain fog, weight gain, and sleep issues feel like they are so much worse than your friend’s? Your DNA might explain why.

Today I’m speaking with Kim Ressler, Founder and CEO of SNiP Nutrigenomics, to unpack the growing science of nutrigenomics and what your genetic blueprint reveals about how you experience perimenopause and menopause. 

If you've ever wondered why your symptoms feel so much worse than everyone else's, this episode has an answer worth hearing.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why menopause is more genetically influenced than most women realize
• How your DNA shapes specific symptoms like brain fog, weight gain, insomnia, anxiety, hot flashes and more
• What genetic testing can tell you about your menopause experience
• How to use your DNA to make smarter nutrition and lifestyle decisions without going deep into biohacking

Guest:

Kim Ressler, Founder and CEO, SNiP Nutrigenomics

snipnutrition.com

I want to hear from you. Send me a text or voicemail!

Jessica's freebies and resources:

😴 Sleep better tonight with my free 10-minute audio breathwork session. (https://your.belongwellness.com/sleep)

✨For more midlife advice on perimenopause, hormone health, nervous system regulation, and living with purpose in your 40s and 50s follow me: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @heyjessicalong

Low libido in midlife is likely not just your hormones. There are other factors at play that are important to know about. Let’s talk about what's actually shutting down desire for midlife women, and what helps bring it back.

Brooke Bralove, LCSW-C and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and I talk about what women over 40 actually need to know about low desire, sexual ruts in long-term relationships, and how unresolved trauma can live in the body and affect intimacy for decades.

Here’s what we cover:

• Why familiarity and too much emotional safety can kill eroticism in long-term relationships
• The myth of spontaneous desire, and what's actually more realistic
• How mental overload, exhaustion, and resentment shut down libido faster than any hormone shift
• Why "willingness to try" is more useful than waiting to be in the mood
• How trauma, big and small, can show up in the body and affect intimacy years later
• What Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is, and how it's helping women resolve sexual trauma in as few as one session
• One thing you can do this week to reconnect with your own desire

Brooke Bralove, LCSW-C, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, psychotherapist, and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist with over 20 years in private practice. 

brookebralove.com | @BrookeBralovePsychotherapy 

Chapters:

00:00 Understanding Low Libido in Midlife Women
03:11 The Role of Familiarity and Newness in Relationships
05:57 The Myth of Spontaneous Desire
08:55 The Importance of Communication and Willingness
11:49 Addressing Resentment and Unmet Needs
14:21 Exploring Root Causes of Low Libido
17:03 Healing from Trauma and Its Impact on Desire
19:49 Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) Explained
22:37 Practical Steps to Reconnect with Desire

I want to hear from you. Send me a text or voicemail!

Jessica's freebies and resources:

😴 Sleep better tonight with my free 10-minute audio breathwork session. (https://your.belongwellness.com/sleep)

✨For more midlife advice on perimenopause, hormone health, nervous system regulation, and living with purpose in your 40s and 50s follow me: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @heyjessicalong

Feeling stuck in midlife even when life looks successful from the outside? Novelist and coach Ellen Baker says we can reinvent ourselves the same way an author writes a character into existence: by choosing who we need to be before we have proof we're there.

Ellen Baker spent a decade navigating divorce, rejection, and reinvention before her novel The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson became HarperCollins' Lead Read for Winter 2024 and was featured in People and Woman's World. Her new novel, Summerland Cove, is out June 2026. She is also the founder of The Next Chapter Studio, where she helps women rewrite the internal beliefs that shape how they show up.

She says we can write the next chapter of our own lives the same way an author writes a character into existence: by deciding who that character needs to be before writing a word. You choose the identity first. The outcomes follow.

I can’t wait for you to hear this!

We talk about:

• Why the identity that got you here isn't the one that will carry you forward
• The author's approach to identity change: deciding who your character needs to be before the story starts
• How to look at yourself from the outside, the way an author looks at a character she's writing
• The "I choose to" shift that gives you your agency back right now
• Why we've been conditioned to think achievement has to come before identity (and why that's backwards)
• How to tell the difference between an identity that's truly yours versus one you're just performing
• The "What if?" question that lets you try on a new identity without pressure
• What actually changes first when a woman steps into a new identity
• How an identity shift ripples into relationships, and how to navigate that
• The first thing to do if you suspect you've been living from an outdated identity

Connect with Ellen Baker:

ellenbakernovels.com | The Next Chapter Studio: ellenbakernovels.com/studio

I want to hear from you. Send me a text or voicemail!

Jessica's freebies and resources:

😴 Sleep better tonight with my free 10-minute audio breathwork session. (https://your.belongwellness.com/sleep)

✨For more midlife advice on perimenopause, hormone health, nervous system regulation, and living with purpose in your 40s and 50s follow me: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @heyjessicalong

Creatine isn't just for bodybuilders. Functional medicine doctor Miranda Naylor explains why women over 40 actually need creatine for muscle, brain, mood, and sleep.

Thank you, Dr. Naylor, for clearing up all the confusion around creatine and whether it is helpful and safe for midlife women. 

What you'll hear:

• Why women naturally have lower creatine stores than men
• How estrogen affects creatine metabolism and why midlife women may need more
• What creatine actually does for muscle, brain function, mood, and sleep
• Dosing guidance: loading vs. maintenance, and what to look for in a product

Dr. Miranda Naylor is a functional medicine doctor in San Diego, CA and the host of the podcast Modern Women's Wellness. 

Connect with Dr. Miranda:

drmirandanaylor.com | @drmirandanaylor | Modern Women’s Wellness podcast

➡️ My favorite creatine:

Be Well By Kelly (https://go.shopmy.us/p-50264235)

I want to hear from you. Send me a text or voicemail!

Jessica's freebies and resources:

😴 Sleep better tonight with my free 10-minute audio breathwork session. (https://your.belongwellness.com/sleep)

✨For more midlife advice on perimenopause, hormone health, nervous system regulation, and living with purpose in your 40s and 50s follow me: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @heyjessicalong

The AI tools you're using weren't built for midlife women. But now there’s one that is customized for women over 40 and you’ll learn all about it (including how you can start using it) in this episode.

If you've ever asked ChatGPT something deeply personal and gotten back an answer that was technically fine but somehow missed the point, you need to hear about this new AI tool for midlife women.

Today I'm talking with Stephanie Georges, a former top-ranked Wall Street analyst, C-suite executive, and Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Senior Fellow who is now building The Meraki Dignity Project: an AI platform trained specifically on women-informed, evidence-based research, with a community layer built in.

What you'll hear:

- Why the biggest AI tools are under-serving midlife women (the pay gap example will stop you cold)

- What "human-centered AI" actually means and why it changes the quality of support we can get

- How Sophie, the platform's AI guide, walks you through a conversational onboarding and gets to know you holistically

- Why community is the missing layer in almost every AI tool right now

- How the platform builds a visual roadmap of your life, not a task list

- How to get into the free beta right now

More about Meraki Dignity:

Website: merakidignity.com

Instagram: @merakidignity

😴 Sleep better tonight with my free 10-minute audio breathwork session! https://your.belongwellness.com/sleep

I want to hear from you. Send me a text or voicemail!

Jessica's freebies and resources:

😴 Sleep better tonight with my free 10-minute audio breathwork session. (https://your.belongwellness.com/sleep)

✨For more midlife advice on perimenopause, hormone health, nervous system regulation, and living with purpose in your 40s and 50s follow me: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @heyjessicalong

In this personal birthday episode, I’m sharing what’s been guiding me this year and the practices helping me step into my next-level self now, instead of waiting for someday or some arbitrary accomplishment.

And I invite you to reflect alongside me, not on tasks you’ve completed, but on who you are becoming.

Every year around my birthday, I find myself asking a few questions:

How am I really doing?

Am I spending my time on what matters most?

Am I becoming the person I want to be?

My birthday falls right in the middle of the year, so it feels like the perfect time for all of us to pause, reflect, and intentionally choose how we want the second half of the year to feel.

In this episode, I’m sharing a few of the intentions I set at the beginning of the year, what’s been working well, where I’ve faltered, and the practices that are helping me feel more connected to myself, my family, and the future I’m creating.

In this episode, I share:

• The intention that has guided nearly every decision I’ve made this year
• What it really means to make choices from your future self
• The behind-the-scenes work of building my new program, Hello, Next-Level You
• Why supporting other women in business feels so important to me right now
• My preferred practice for grounding and sourcing what I need
• How I’m bringing more presence, play, and joy into parenting
• An invitation for you to reflect on where you are and how you want the rest of your year to feel 

⭐️ If this podcast has ever made you think, dream, wonder or laugh, inspired you to try something new, or enriched your life in any way, please make my birthday wish come true and leave a 5-star rating and written review on Apple Podcasts or 5-star rating and comment on Spotify! 

I want to hear from you. Send me a text or voicemail!

Jessica's freebies and resources:

😴 Sleep better tonight with my free 10-minute audio breathwork session. (https://your.belongwellness.com/sleep)

✨For more midlife advice on perimenopause, hormone health, nervous system regulation, and living with purpose in your 40s and 50s follow me: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @heyjessicalong

Get your summer reading recommendations for women over 40, curated by someone who reads more in a month than most people read in a year. This episode is your 2026 summer reading list, plus the permission to quit every book that is not worth your precious time.

Today I’m joined by my friend (since preschool!) and repeat guest Alexis Lynch for our annual summer reading conversation. Alexis shares three picks for 2026, including a novel about midlife identity and reflections on aging, a prison book club story that restores your faith in humanity, and a guilty pleasure page-turner she finished in 24 hours. 

We also discuss Heart the Lover by Lily King, including the passionate-love-versus-stable-partnership theme and the concept of how our identity evolves over the decades. Oh, and Alexis admits this book inspired her to secretly sleuth her college boyfriend…

What you'll hear:

• Alexis's three summer reading picks for midlife women, with honest reviews on each
• Updated tips for actually reading more when life is completely full
• A discussion of Heart the Lover: the big themes, what the hidden name means, and why this book grabs hold of your heart
• The one book to start with if you haven't read anything in a long time

Alexis Lynch is a practicing attorney, a lifelong reader, and a self-described quitter of bad books.

Alexis’ summer 2026 reading list for women over 40:

So Old, So Young by Grant Grinder

How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

The book Alexis and Jessica discuss that is SO good:

Heart the Lover by Lily King

I want to hear from you. Send me a text or voicemail!

Jessica's freebies and resources:

😴 Sleep better tonight with my free 10-minute audio breathwork session. (https://your.belongwellness.com/sleep)

✨For more midlife advice on perimenopause, hormone health, nervous system regulation, and living with purpose in your 40s and 50s follow me: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @heyjessicalong

If you have tried fillers or lasers for jowls, hooded eyes, or skin laxity after 40 and are still not happy with what you see, you're in the right place. Dr. Carolyn Chang is a board-certified plastic surgeon who has spent her career focused on natural-looking results for midlife women, and she is here to give you real answers.

She trained under one of the inventors of the modern facelift and is one of the only female plastic surgeons in San Francisco named annually to Castle Connolly's America's Top Doctors. She is also refreshingly direct about what actually works and what doesn't, and this conversation covers all of it.

We discuss:

• What fillers, lasers, and tightening devices can realistically do for jowls and skin laxity, and where they hit their limit
• Eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty): who it actually helps, what it involves, and why most women are surprised by how short the recovery is
• What a modern facelift is really doing, and why it looks nothing like what most people picture
• The deep plane facelift: what the marketing gets wrong and what to actually ask your surgeon
• Whether repeated energy treatments like Ultherapy can affect your ability to have a facelift later
• Tummy tuck and breast surgery after pregnancy: what you can realistically expect
• Breast implant illness: is it real? 
• The two things that have to be true before the timing is right for surgery
• What facial surgery, tummy tucks, and mommy makeovers cost in a major metro market
• How to evaluate a surgeon, what before-and-afters actually tell you, and the red flags to look for in a consultation

Guest: Dr. Carolyn Chang, Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon

drcarolynchang.com | @carolynchangmd

I want to hear from you. Send me a text or voicemail!

Jessica's freebies and resources:

😴 Sleep better tonight with my free 10-minute audio breathwork session. (https://your.belongwellness.com/sleep)

✨For more midlife advice on perimenopause, hormone health, nervous system regulation, and living with purpose in your 40s and 50s follow me: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @heyjessicalong

Hair extensions can be a great solution for midlife women experiencing hair thinning, but they are not right for everyone. A 20-year specialist breaks down who qualifies, which method works best for thinning hair, and what it really costs.

This conversation covers everything I didn't know to ask. Extensions are not a one-size-fits-all solution. Whether they work for you depends on the type of thinning you have, how much hair you have, and which method is used. The wrong choice can actually make things worse. This episode helps you figure out which category you're in before you spend a dollar.

My guest is Aubree Hill, founder of Exhale House, a luxury hair salon in Mill Valley. She has over 20 years of experience and specializes in invisible, ethically sourced Great Lengths hair extensions for women with thinning or changing hair.

In this episode we cover:

• Why hair thinning in midlife hits harder than you'd expect (it's not just about the hair)
• Which types of thinning are actually good candidates for extensions
• What strand-by-strand, tape-in, and weft extensions are and how they're different
• Why the method matters so much for women with thinning hair
• How much hair you need to qualify and what to do if you're not there yet
• What Great Lengths extensions are and why Aubree uses them exclusively
• The real cost breakdown: what to budget per year and per appointment
• What the daily maintenance actually looks like (and who it won't work for)
• What you can and can't do with extensions: workouts, pools, oceans, saunas
• The safety risk that can permanently damage your follicles (and how to avoid it)
• How to find the right stylist and what questions to ask in a consultation
• Why this work is about more than hair

Connect with Aubree: 

exhalehousesalon.com | @exhale_house | @thebusinessofbeautiful | 415-704-6335

I want to hear from you. Send me a text or voicemail!

Jessica's freebies and resources:

😴 Sleep better tonight with my free 10-minute audio breathwork session. (https://your.belongwellness.com/sleep)

✨For more midlife advice on perimenopause, hormone health, nervous system regulation, and living with purpose in your 40s and 50s follow me: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @heyjessicalong