In this episode of Letters from Midlife, I’m responding to a letter from a woman who’s struggling with a shift so many of us experience in midlife, yet rarely speak about with real honesty: no longer recognising the woman looking back at us in the mirror.

She writes about the weight, the softness, the bloating, the aches. About feeling like her body has changed overnight and wondering if this is normal, and how she’s meant to feel at home in her body again.

If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and felt a wave of grief, frustration, or quiet disbelief, this episode is for you.

I talk openly about why these changes happen in midlife, what’s actually going on beneath the surface, and why this isn’t your body betraying you, but recalibrating for a new season. I share my own moments of feeling disconnected from my body, and the shift that changed everything for me: moving from fighting my body to listening to her.

Inside this episode, I explore how to soften your relationship with your changing body, why focusing on support rather than shrinking matters more than ever, and how strength, rest, and compassion can help you feel grounded again in your own skin. We talk about grief too, because losing the body you once knew is real, and pretending otherwise only makes it heavier.

This isn’t about loving how you look overnight. It’s about learning to treat your body as a partner instead of a problem, and beginning a kinder, steadier conversation with yourself.

If your body feels unfamiliar right now, let this be your reminder: you are not behind, broken, or failing. You are becoming.

And before I go, I want to share something that genuinely stopped me in my tracks. Midlife by Design: Curating Your Next Chapter has been listed as number 14 out of 70 on Feedspot’s Top Lifestyle Design Podcasts.

Number fourteen. Out of seventy. I had to read it twice.

What makes this even sweeter is that this recognition originally came under my old podcast name, and once they reviewed the rebrand, they updated everything to reflect who I am now, this season, this voice, this work.

It feels like a quiet confirmation from the universe: keep going. Your voice is landing exactly where it needs to.

And honestly, I’m just grateful. Grateful that something I create from my lived experience is helping women in midlife feel seen, steady, and a little less alone.

Here’s to the next chapter, one honest conversation at a time.

For more slow rituals, gentle reminders, and reflections on becoming, visit Kiransinghuk.com and explore my Digital Library, or join me on Substack at Midlife by Design: Curating Your Next Chapter.