Thriving In Menopause

Can the way we think about the menopause transition have an impact on our experience of it as a whole? And if so, how do we go about changing our attitude towards menopause to make this life change more successful? In this episode, clinical psychologist Dr Emmanuella Noble shares helpful tips on how to reframe your perspective on menopause and, in doing so, make your menopausal experience both easier and more positive.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Increasingly popular as a weight management tool, intermittent fasting is also an effective way to harness our bodies' own healing abilities to achieve optimum health, slow ageing and help manage our menopause symptoms. Dr Mindy Pelz, author of best-selling books Fast like a Girl and The Menopause Reset, explains the most effective methods for women to follow a fasting lifestyle while working in harmony with their hormones. She also outlines how intermittent fasting, nutrition and lifestyle changes to help conquer our menopause symptoms, prevent disease and combat the dreaded menopausal weight gain. A world-renowned women’s health expert on a mission to empower women, Dr Mindy's YouTube channel has garnered over 60 million lifetime views.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the changes in body composition that can often come about during midlife and menopause, dressing to accommodate and flatter our unfamiliar body shapes can require a change in strategy. Sally Manhire, a personal stylist specialising in midlife women, guides us through the steps we need to take to learn to love our wardrobes again and feel comfortable and stylish in our fashion choices, even in the midst of a hot flush.  Sally is a Gold Coast-based personal stylist and the co-founder of @HowTwoStyle_Midlife, who thrives on empowering women in their 40s and 50s to look and feel their best.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is undoubtedly a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding about menopause... starting with the simple matter of how the various stages of menopause are classified. Menopause expert Dr Kelly Teagle talks us through the different hormonal changes and symptoms of each menopausal stage and explains why it's so important to be vigilant with our medical screenings during these transitions. She also discusses the various menopause treatments. A GP in Canberra specialising in menopause, at age 42 Dr Kelly Teagle experienced the severe symptoms of an early menopause, prompting her to create the WellFemme Telehealth Menopause clinic. WellFemme now has 17 doctors and thousands of grateful clients around Australia. Kelly recently launched the Next Phase Women’s Wellness program for women in the menopausal transition; she also writes blog articles and is a women’s health speaker. Kelly has created a discount code for Thriving in Menopause listeners for $50 off the Next Phase women’s wellness program: simply use the code THRIVE at checkout. https://www.nextphasewellness.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When menopause starts affecting our ability to perform our jobs, many of us feel we need to suffer in silence - or worse yet, leave our positions or take a lesser role. Talking about menopause within the workplace often seems like a taboo subject, but things are starting to shift. Recruitment expert Sarah Piper is a champion of flexible and inclusive workplaces. She explains our workplace rights and details what forward-thinking companies need to do to support menopausal women at work.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We often don't think about the health of our bones until it's too late. Health expert Michelle Bridges explains why menopause is a critical time for bone health and how we can make sure our skeleton is as strong as it can be in later life. The mastermind behind the hugely successful 12 Week Body Transformation (12WBT) program, Michelle has now launched The Menopause Method, a diet, fitness and mindset program to assist women through this phase of their lives.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Psycho-sexologist, scientist, and sex and relationship expert Chantelle Otten joins us on the podcast to discuss the reasons our sex lives and libido can be challenged during the perimenopause years, as well as advising on the options available to help us navigate this transition to achieve greater intimacy and satisfaction.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Ginni Mansberg has been a GP for over 30 years, specialising in women's health and menopause. In this episode, she shares her wealth of knowledge on how we can deal with one of menopause's more irritating symptoms, itchy and dry skin, in every imaginable part of our bodies!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the UK's most influential menopause warriors, Dr Louise Newson is the founder of the Balance App and website, and her mission is to help women around the world get the best support and treatment for their menopause symptoms. She shares her valuable insights on the future of menopause care and why we need a total rethink of the way we look at and treat perimenopause and menopause. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Talat Uppal is a gynaecologist and the Founder and Director of Women’s Health Road – an innovative, digitally integrated, multidisciplinary obstetrics and gynaecology centre. She is passionate about women's health and has a special interest in helping women navigate heavy periods, a common menopausal condition.“Heavy menstrual bleeding is a common condition and is really a problem with many solutions, and I encourage women to proactively seek medical care, for such a fixable issue," she says.“I consider it one of the biggest energy vampires robbing women of their quality of life. I constantly hear regret as to why some of the best years of life were compromised for want of not knowing about the various treatments available or inertia to seek help in a timely way."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Gemma Sharp is a researcher and senior clinical psychologist at Monash University, specialising in body image and eating disorders. She lends her valuable insights into why and how our self worth is impacted by the changes that happen to us during perimenopause, which has led to a rise in eating disorders for women in midlife. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Journalist and author Kaz Cooke surveyed more than 8000 women about menopause and their frank, fearless responses inform Kaz' new book It's The Menopause. Told with candour, amusing illustrations and practical advice, the book is an essential guide for every woman navigating midlife. In this episode Kaz discusses some of the highlights. Grab a copy of Kaz' book at the Prevention Book Club on Booktopia here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once your periods stop, do all those annoying symptoms vanish? In this episode, menopause specialist Dr Fatima Kahn returns to discuss how life feels after menopause. Dr Kahn treats women on both sides of menopause at the Agora Centre at Epworth Hospital in Melbourne. She also runs the informative Instagram page Menopause Specialist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women's health physiotherapist Caitlin Dunsford explains why your bladder can become less reliable in your 40s and 50s; from suffering embarrassing little leaks when you laugh to waking up for the fourth time in the night with an overwhelming urge to pass urine. Caitlin discusses the reasons your bladder is letting you down, why it may be a symptom of other issues and what you can do about it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jo Caminiti had no idea that what was happening to her had a name: perimenopause. And now she's determined to make sure other women know that menopause can come in many guises - and it's not always having hot flushes. Here she shares her story, and the signs and signals she didn't understand until much, much later. If you are in your 40s and your health is gets rocky, it's worth you and your doctor putting menopause on the table (despite how remote 'menopause' may seem). Here's the Australian Menopause Society's symptom checklist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many doctors have little training in menopause. In fact they can fail to recognise the signs, and aren't equipped to help women through menopause. So in this episode Dr Sarah White, who is CEO of the Jean Hailes women's health clinics, talks about how to discuss menopause with your GP and get the help and support you need. You can find the Jean Hailes symptom tracker here. Using it can be an effective way to discuss your health problems with your doctor.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When nutritionist Faye James hit her mid 40s she found herself piling on kilos around her belly. As someone who had always eaten healthily she was bewildered, and decided to investigate. The result is a cookbook, The Menopause Diet,  which Faye and her photographer husband Darrin James have created, packed with very simple nutritious recipes that lean into the foods we need more of during menopause, and avoid ingredients known to trigger hot flushes and weight gain. In this episode Faye shares her story.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Journalist Melissa Doyle and her best friend Naima Brown discuss how women can find confidence and pride in approaching our 50s. Their book How to Age Against The Machine explores many facets of life after 40, with a view to empowering others. In this episode Melissa and Naima candidly share how during the writing of this book they've reframed their own outlook on ageing and how they've come to feel great about midlife.  Grab a copy of How to Age Against the Machine from Prevention's Book Club here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's surprisingly common for women to feel restless, disappointed or just less happy in our 40s and 50s.  In fact, researchers have found that we tend to hit the bottom of the happiness curve in midlife. So how do we find our way back to feeling joyful and inspired by life again? In this episode clinical psychologist Dr Emmanuella Murray shares how to set yourself on the path back to happiness and live your best life at midlife.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Among the many roles oestrogen plays in our bodies, it turns out that it is important in cushioning our joints. In this episode Rebecca Sabine, senior physiotherapist at Adelaide's Vital Core Physiotherapy, explains what happens to our joints as our oestrogen fluctuates during perimenopause. She also offers valuable advice for what you can do to keep your joints strong and healthy at midlife.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.