The Menopause Disruptor Podcast

What if midlife weight changes are an opportunity to look beyond the number on the scale—and start asking bigger questions about our muscle, bone, brain, and metabolic health?

In this episode of Mary is joined by Sharon Lemoine, a nurse practitioner and founder of Gig Harbor Medical Spa & Concierge Medicine. With more than 25 years of experience in emergency medicine, Sharon expanded her work to focus on primary care, women’s health, hormone therapy, medical weight management, and wellness. Her approach brings together medical care, health education, prevention, and faith.

After years of seeing patients arrive in crisis, Sharon became passionate about prevention, education, and helping people take a more active role in their health. Her own experience living with Type 1 diabetes has also shaped her perspective on healthcare and the importance of understanding our options.

Together, we explore the confusing world of menopause information, hormone health, GLP-1 medications, and the lifestyle foundations that support long-term well-being. We also discuss the importance of patient advocacy, shared decision-making, and finding a healthcare provider who listens.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why changes in your body deserve a thoughtful investigation rather than dismissal or assumptions.
• Questions to consider around GLP-1 medications, nutrition, and preserving muscle.
• Why strength and physical function matter for longevity, mobility, and quality of life.
• Discussing lab work and individual health concerns with patients.
• Why it is worth asking your healthcare provider about your individual bone-health risks and whether a DEXA scan is appropriate.
• How to ask questions, find reliable information, and work collaboratively with a provider.
• Faith, purpose, and how it fits into better whole-person healthcare.

Connect with Sharon:

• Gig Harbor Medical Spa & Concierge Medicine
• Instagram: @theconciergenp
• YouTube: Health, Hormones and Faith

Let us know if you're liking the show!

Hen's Den Yoga
A serene and cozy home studio nestled in the Comox Valley offering a variety of wellness classes.

Smells Like Humans
Like listening to funny friends discuss curious human behavior.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Meet the host, Mary, a certified Menopause Doula, GGS Coaching Specialist, and corporate educator, helping forward-thinking organizations foster a menopause-friendly workplace. Visit https://emmeellecoaching.com/menopauseatwork

Turn your menopause transition into a transformation with the Menopause Intelligence Course (MQ), an 8-module, self-paced learning experience, empowering you to take agency over your health and make informed decisions with your healthcare team. 

Connect with Mary: 

• Instagram @menopausedisruptorpodcast
• LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maryhelenlee/

Disclaimer: Information shared is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional.

Why does maintaining a healthy weight become more challenging in midlife? What role do hormones play in metabolism, energy, and body composition? And how can we shift from treating illness to proactively supporting our health as we age?

In this episode, host Mary Lee welcomes Dr. Aleksandra Gajer, MD., founder of The Gajer Practice, for a conversation about personalized medicine, sustainable weight management, GLP1 prescriptions, and hormone health,

With a background in emergency medicine, Dr. Gajer brings a unique perspective to preventive healthcare. After years of treating patients experiencing serious health challenges, she recognized the importance of intervening earlier and helping people make meaningful, sustainable changes before chronic illness takes hold.

Together, Mary and Dr. Gajer explore the intersection of hormones, metabolism, and lifestyle, challenging the notion that midlife weight gain is simply a matter of eating less and exercising more.

Topics explored in this episode:

• The shift from emergency medicine to proactive, personalized healthcare.
• Why metabolism and weight management can change during perimenopause and menopause.
• Safety and efficacy around prescribing Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1, a hormone the gut cells secrete in response to the food consumed).
• The relationship between hormonal health, metabolic function, and healthy aging.
• Why sustainable weight management requires more than calorie restriction, a peptide, or willpower.
• The importance of individualized healthcare rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.
• How lifestyle habits can support long-term vitality and resilience.
• Rethinking longevity as healthspan, not simply lifespan.

The Gajer Practice 

Let us know if you're liking the show!

Hen's Den Yoga
A serene and cozy home studio nestled in the Comox Valley offering a variety of wellness classes.

Smells Like Humans
Like listening to funny friends discuss curious human behavior.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Meet the host, Mary, a certified Menopause Doula, GGS Coaching Specialist, and corporate educator, helping forward-thinking organizations foster a menopause-friendly workplace. Visit https://emmeellecoaching.com/menopauseatwork

Turn your menopause transition into a transformation with the Menopause Intelligence Course (MQ), an 8-module, self-paced learning experience, empowering you to take agency over your health and make informed decisions with your healthcare team. 

Connect with Mary: 

• Instagram @menopausedisruptorpodcast
• LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maryhelenlee/

Disclaimer: Information shared is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional.

Today's episode gives recognition to a chronic pain many women suffer through which is the theme this year for World Menopause Day (October 18).

Mary is joined by migraine advocate and author Alice W. Meadows in  deeply personal conversaton about living with migraine from childhood, the damage of not being believed, and how finding language for invisible pain can change self-esteem, diagnosis, and care. 

Alice shares how early dismissal led her to hide symptoms, dissociate from her body, and later dismiss thyroid cancer treatment emotionally, until perimenopause and menopause helped her reconnect with her body and shift toward self-advocacy. 

Her experience led to the creation of her first book, an illustrated children’s book, "Mabel and Her Bright, Noisy, Prickly, Dizzy Migraine," which uses characters to represent migraine symptoms so children can communicate and families can build empathy and seek accommodations. 

This conversation also covers writing as healing, overcoming fear of publishing, community advocacy, and listening as a first act of support. 

Key points:

• Migraine affects more than 1 billion people worldwide, 40 million in the U.S. (American Migraine Foundation), and 5 million in Canada (Migraine Canada). That is 25% of women in Canada (8% of men).
• Healing starts wiht compassionate listening and starting a conversations using tools such as Mabel that gives langiage to the invisible illness.
•  Encourage families to communicate better, advocate for themselves, and support their migraine warrior.
• Replace isolation and doubt with empathy and belief.

Connect:

• Alice's webiste and book preorders: https://www.alicewmeadows.com/

References:

• Christiane Northrop, The Wisdom of Menopause: Creating Physical and Emotional Health During the Change
• Brené Brown, The Man in the Arena Speech 
• Scrivener App

Chapters:

00:00 A Body Not Believed
00:56 Welcome and Guest Intro
03:53 Early Migraine Memories
05:08 Meet Mabel and Symptoms
07:55 Stigma and Hiding Pain
11:03 Menopause Reconnection
14:35 The Great Reveal
17:22 Advocacy and Accommodations
20:43 Writing Through Fear
26:43 Healing Power of Writing
29:19 Mabel’s Mission and Next Books
35:56 Rapid Fire and Final Listen
40:09 World Menopause Day Wrap

Let us know if you're liking the show!

Hen's Den Yoga
A serene and cozy home studio nestled in the Comox Valley offering a variety of wellness classes.

Support the show

Meet the host, Mary, a certified Menopause Doula, GGS Coaching Specialist, and corporate educator, helping forward-thinking organizations foster a menopause-friendly workplace. Visit https://emmeellecoaching.com/menopauseatwork

Turn your menopause transition into a transformation with the Menopause Intelligence Course (MQ), an 8-module, self-paced learning experience, empowering you to take agency over your health and make informed decisions with your healthcare team. 

Connect with Mary: 

• Instagram @menopausedisruptorpodcast
• LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maryhelenlee/

Disclaimer: Information shared is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional.

Today, Mary is joined by Christine Horton, a certified health coach, registered dental hygienist, PMOS | PCOS advocate, known as the PMOS | PCOS Glow Hygienist. 

Christine shares her personal journey with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), now referred to as PMOS, and explains why the name change reflects a broader understanding of the condition beyond the ovaries and fertility.

The conversation explores the relationship between hormones, metabolism, systemic inflammation, and oral health, including why hormonal shifts during pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause can affect the gums and oral tissues.

Christine also discusses PMOS symptoms and diagnostic criteria, insulin resistance, sustainable lifestyle changes, sleep, advocacy, and why women deserve healthcare providers who listen and understand the complexity of their health.

Key Points:

• The truth that PMOS | PCOS affects 1 in 8 women and yet many live with symptoms for years before getting answers. 

• Common PMOS symptoms and red flags women should discuss with their healthcare provider.

• The Rotterdam criteria used in the diagnosis of PMOS.

• The relationship between PMOS, insulin resistance, metabolism, and systemic inflammation.

• How hormonal changes can affect gum and periodontal health.

• Why pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause can create noticeable changes in oral health.

• Why regular dental and periodontal assessments are an important part of whole-body health.

• How sleep, nutrition, movement, and stress management work together as pillars of health.

• Why sustainable lifestyle changes are more useful than quick-fix approaches.

Connect:

• Christine Horton, Fusion Health Coach, or on LinkedIn
• Glow check-in quiz
• PCOS Awareness Association

Let us know if you're liking the show!

Hen's Den Yoga
A serene and cozy home studio nestled in the Comox Valley offering a variety of wellness classes.

Support the show

Meet the host, Mary, a certified Menopause Doula, GGS Coaching Specialist, and corporate educator, helping forward-thinking organizations foster a menopause-friendly workplace. Visit https://emmeellecoaching.com/menopauseatwork

Turn your menopause transition into a transformation with the Menopause Intelligence Course (MQ), an 8-module, self-paced learning experience, empowering you to take agency over your health and make informed decisions with your healthcare team. 

Connect with Mary: 

• Instagram @menopausedisruptorpodcast
• LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maryhelenlee/

Disclaimer: Information shared is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional.

Today Mary is joined by Stacey Berger, a beauty industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience developing and manufacturing skincare and haircare across clinical and mass-market beauty.

Stacey shares what she discovered about the dramatic changes women's skin can experience during perimenopause and post-menopause, and why traditional skincare approaches may not address the hormonal shifts happening beneath the surface.

The conversation explores the seven interconnected shifts that can affect midlife skin, including dryness and hydration, barrier fragility, slower skin recovery, dullness and uneven tone, texture and fine lines, slower cellular turnover, and loss of firmness, elasticity, and density. Stacey explains how these changes influenced the development of Sum of All, a skincare system designed specifically for peri- to post-menopausal skin.

Mary and Stacey also unpack the science behind peptides, phytoestrogens, adaptogens, retinol, collagen, antioxidants, and botanical ingredients, while challenging the traditional anti-aging narrative and exploring what it could look like to focus instead on healthier, stronger, more resilient skin.

Key Points:

• The seven major shifts that can occur in women's skin during hormonal change and why midlife skincare needs to account for these interconnected changes.

• Moving Beyond Anti-Aging: The idea that women need to erase wrinkles or look younger is being pushed aside to focus instead on skin longevity, health, resilience, and looking like the best version of yourself.

• Why an ingredient's presence on an INCI list doesn't necessarily tell the whole story, and why ingredient percentages, formulation, clinical data, and how ingredients work together matter.

• Peptides, Phytoestrogens & Adaptogens: How these components are intended to support collagen signaling, address oxidative stress and inflammation, and support hormone-affected skin.

• The AP² Longevity Platform: A proprietary platform used throughout the Sum of All line, combining phytoestrogens, peptides, and adaptogenic chaga mushroom.

• Simpler Skincare: Streamlining your morning and evening routine and the unnecessary layering of numerous products can complicate midlife skincare.

• Retinol & Sensitive Skin: Encapsulated retinol is a delivery systems that may make retinol more tolerable for women who have struggled with sensitivity.

• Why traditional collagen molecules are too large to penetrate the skin and  the role of collagen-boosting peptides and topical ingredients

• Skin Beyond the Face:  Caring for the neck, chest, hands, and arms, where sun damage and other visible changes can appear is equally as important.

Connect:

• Sum of All: https://sumofall.com/
• Instagram: @Sum_of_All_Beauty

Let us know if you're liking the show!

Hen's Den Yoga
A serene and cozy home studio nestled in the Comox Valley offering a variety of wellness classes.

Support the show

Meet the host, Mary, a certified Menopause Doula, GGS Coaching Specialist, and corporate educator, helping forward-thinking organizations foster a menopause-friendly workplace. Visit https://emmeellecoaching.com/menopauseatwork

Turn your menopause transition into a transformation with the Menopause Intelligence Course (MQ), an 8-module, self-paced learning experience, empowering you to take agency over your health and make informed decisions with your healthcare team. 

Connect with Mary: 

• Instagram @menopausedisruptorpodcast
• LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maryhelenlee/

Disclaimer: Information shared is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional.

In this episode, host Mary welcomes Christine Ruf, a holistic beauty practitioner with nearly three decades of experience, to explore a different way of looking at menopause—not simply as a collection of symptoms to manage, but as an opportunity for transformation, self-discovery, and rebirth.

Christine shares her journey from working in beauty and skincare to exploring Ayurveda, Huna Healing, Spagyric remedies, energy work, emotional balance, facial analysis, and RESET jawline work. Her approach brings together the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of a woman's experience through menopause.

Together, Mary and Christine explore what happens when women spend years putting everyone else first, how stress and emotional experiences can influence the way we experience our bodies, and why menopause can become an invitation to pause, reassess, and reconnect with ourselves.

Christine also introduces her 12-week online program, Phoenix Rising, which brings together many of the modalities she has developed and studied throughout her work with women.

Key Points Covered:

• Menopause as Rebirth

• Beauty Beyond the Mirror

• The Stories Women Carry

• Self-Care for the Nervous System

• The Jawline and Emotional Tension

• TappingTechnique

• Ayurveda & Rest

• Numerology & Life Purpose

Connect With Christine Ruf

• Website: https://christineruf.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/energy.beauty.cosmetics/

Resources

• Christine Ruf, Phoenix Rising — A 12-week online program: https://christineruf.com/
• Second Bloom coloring book by Christine Ruf — available on Amazon

Let us know if you're liking the show!

Hen's Den Yoga
A serene and cozy home studio nestled in the Comox Valley offering a variety of wellness classes.

Support the show

Meet the host, Mary, a certified Menopause Doula, GGS Coaching Specialist, and corporate educator, helping forward-thinking organizations foster a menopause-friendly workplace. Visit https://emmeellecoaching.com/menopauseatwork

Turn your menopause transition into a transformation with the Menopause Intelligence Course (MQ), an 8-module, self-paced learning experience, empowering you to take agency over your health and make informed decisions with your healthcare team. 

Connect with Mary: 

• Instagram @menopausedisruptorpodcast
• LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maryhelenlee/

Disclaimer: Information shared is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional.

In this episode, Mary is joined by Dr. Jennifer Todd, a public health physician specializing in women’s and children’s health, researcher on ageism in the workplace, and leadership coach.

Dr. Todd shares her journey from studying women’s health and hormone replacement therapy to discovering just how deeply politics and systemic inequality can shape women’s healthcare and professional lives. Her experiences in public health, federal government, and academia give her a powerful perspective on the challenges women face as they move through midlife and menopause.

Dr. Todd explores the intersection of menopause, ageism, sexism, workplace discrimination, psychological safety, and economic inequality, explaining why a woman’s experiences in the workplace can be dramatically different from a man’s.

Dr. Todd shares practical strategies for navigating toxic or psychologically unsafe workplaces and why being intentional about who you trust at work and listening to your gut are powerful tools.

This conversation is a reminder that menopause is a normal process, women deserve to care for themselves without shame or unnecessary justification, and creating healthier workplaces requires more than asking women to simply become more resilient.

Key Points Covered:

• Ageism in the Workplace: Women can face significant disadvantages as they move through midlife, including discrimination in hiring, advancement, and compensation.

• The Gender Wage Gap: Dr. Todd discusses research showing that women’s earning potential can decline significantly with age while men’s earning potential generally continues to rise.

• Psychological Safety: A healthy workplace requires more than physical safety. Psychological safety, respect, and the ability to work without fear of humiliation or retaliation are equally important.

• Menopause & Workplace Accommodations: Menopause symptoms and requests for flexibility can be misunderstood or even used against women when organizations lack awareness and supportive policies.

• Recognizing Workplace Red Flags: If an employer treats you disrespectfully during an interview, Dr. Todd warns that those behaviors are likely to continue once you are hired.

• Trust Your Gut: Intuition and physical self-awareness can provide important signals when a workplace, interaction, or opportunity doesn't feel safe or right.

Connect:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @jtoddwellness

Resources:

• Menopause At Work Workshop 

Let us know if you're liking the show!

Hen's Den Yoga
A serene and cozy home studio nestled in the Comox Valley offering a variety of wellness classes.

Support the show

Meet the host, Mary, a certified Menopause Doula, GGS Coaching Specialist, and corporate educator, helping forward-thinking organizations foster a menopause-friendly workplace. Visit https://emmeellecoaching.com/menopauseatwork

Turn your menopause transition into a transformation with the Menopause Intelligence Course (MQ), an 8-module, self-paced learning experience, empowering you to take agency over your health and make informed decisions with your healthcare team. 

Connect with Mary: 

• Instagram @menopausedisruptorpodcast
• LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maryhelenlee/

Disclaimer: Information shared is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional.

In this episode, Mary is joined by Heather Debreceni, a shamanic practitioner, soul healer, author, and former law enforcement professional whose journey through chronic illness, trauma, grief, and spiritual awakening led her to a deeper understanding of healing, identity, and living in alignment with her truth.

Heather shares how years of suppressing her needs, spirituality, emotions, and sense of self eventually contributed to a profound personal breaking point. Through Kriya Yoga, meditation, shamanic soul retrieval, and hypnotherapy, she began exploring the connection between her physical experiences, emotional life, spirituality, and the parts of herself she had pushed aside.

The conversation explores menopause and midlife as a potential "great reveal," a period when identities, expectations, and emotions that have been suppressed can become increasingly difficult to ignore. Heather explains how learning to listen inwardly, practice self-compassion, and release the need to control her narrative transformed the way she approached her life and her healing.

Heather also discusses her memoir, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Housewife, and how her own healing journey eventually became the foundation for helping others reconnect with themselves and explore their own spiritual paths.

Connect:
• Heather's website: Find information about her book, resources, meditations, and ways to work with her. Visit Heather's website

• The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Housewife: A memoir of awakening, healing trauma, and choosing to live a sacred life. View the book on Apple Books

Let us know if you're liking the show!

Hen's Den Yoga
A serene and cozy home studio nestled in the Comox Valley offering a variety of wellness classes.

Smells Like Humans
Like listening to funny friends discuss curious human behavior.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Meet the host, Mary, a certified Menopause Doula, GGS Coaching Specialist, and corporate educator, helping forward-thinking organizations foster a menopause-friendly workplace. Visit https://emmeellecoaching.com/menopauseatwork

Turn your menopause transition into a transformation with the Menopause Intelligence Course (MQ), an 8-module, self-paced learning experience, empowering you to take agency over your health and make informed decisions with your healthcare team. 

Connect with Mary: 

• Instagram @menopausedisruptorpodcast
• LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maryhelenlee/

Disclaimer: Information shared is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional.

In this solo episode, Mary challenges dismissive medical narratives and frames perimenopause/menopause as a neurological, psychological, physiological, as well as a spiritual awakening. 

Inspired by discussion of “starseeds” by several intuitives including several of her own spiritual teachers, Mary explores menopause through two parallel lenses: a spiritual lens (heightened intuition, sensitivities, synchronicities, purpose) and a biopsychosocial neuroscience lens (estrogen-driven changes affecting mood, cognition, sleep, stress response, and identity). 

Mary describes menopause as an Ayurvedic “great reveal” that drops long-used coping strategies, forces authenticity, and can catalyze creativity. She defines starseeds as a modern spiritual belief, an identity framework and encourages holding it lightly, integrating insights into purposeful, responsible life choices.

What is your great reveal? Perhaps this album, a creation by Mary using SunoAI to enhance her lyrics, will inspire you to seek and find yours?

00:57 Starseeds Introduction
01:37 Two Lenses of Menopause
03:47 Great Reveal Begins
05:11 Signs of Awakening
09:23 Gen X Starseed Idea
11:42 Starseed to Service
12:47 Grounding Practices
15:20 Symptoms and Gut Clues
17:10 Discernment and Integration
22:56 Service and Purpose
25:23 Starseed Defined and Cautions
28:09 Metaphor and Closing

Resources:

• This is Maryia on YouTube
• Alexandra Wenman
• Kirsty Gallagher
• Sonia Choquette, The Good Vibe Tribe
• The Great Reveal on Spotify

Let us know if you're liking the show!

Smells Like Humans
Like listening to funny friends discuss curious human behavior.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Meet the host, Mary, a certified Menopause Doula, GGS Coaching Specialist, and corporate educator, helping forward-thinking organizations foster a menopause-friendly workplace. Visit https://emmeellecoaching.com/menopauseatwork

Turn your menopause transition into a transformation with the Menopause Intelligence Course (MQ), an 8-module, self-paced learning experience, empowering you to take agency over your health and make informed decisions with your healthcare team. 

Connect with Mary: 

• Instagram @menopausedisruptorpodcast
• LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maryhelenlee/

Disclaimer: Information shared is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional.

In this episode, Mary welcomes Sandra Bargeron, PA-C, CAA, an anesthesia clinician and brain health expert with more than 22 years in medicine and over 10,000 anesthesia cases. Sandra shares why preparing for surgery should involve more than medical clearance, and why the brain's neurological resilience may play a major role in how we respond to anesthesia and recover afterward.

The conversation explores the overlooked connection between menopause, hormones, anesthesia, surgical stress, and brain health. Sandra explains her Neurologic Stress and Recovery Index (NSRI), how sleep, metabolic health, medications, lifestyle, and previous neurological injuries can influence resilience, and why women in perimenopause and menopause may need more attention before and after surgery.

Connect:

• Website: https://beyondbrainhealth.com/

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/beyondbrainhealth

• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sandra-bargeron

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@sandebphd

Resources:

• Beyond Brain Health: https://beyondbrainhealth.com/

• Neurologic Stress & Recovery Index (NSRI): https://surveys.beyondbrainhealth.com/NSRI-live

• Break Through Anesthesia Fog by Sandra Bargeron: https://beyondbrainhealth.com/book

• NSRI Evidence & Research: https://beyondbrainhealth.com/nsri-evidence

Let us know if you're liking the show!

Hen's Den Yoga
A serene and cozy home studio nestled in the Comox Valley offering a variety of wellness classes.

Smells Like Humans
Like listening to funny friends discuss curious human behavior.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Meet the host, Mary, a certified Menopause Doula, GGS Coaching Specialist, and corporate educator, helping forward-thinking organizations foster a menopause-friendly workplace. Visit https://emmeellecoaching.com/menopauseatwork

Turn your menopause transition into a transformation with the Menopause Intelligence Course (MQ), an 8-module, self-paced learning experience, empowering you to take agency over your health and make informed decisions with your healthcare team. 

Connect with Mary: 

• Instagram @menopausedisruptorpodcast
• LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maryhelenlee/

Disclaimer: Information shared is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional.