Menopause, divorce, and dating don’t always take turns. They hit all at once. Angela Burk explains how surviving all three can become a midlife turning point you didn’t see coming.

Angela Burk, author of REAL GIRLS GUIDE TO MIDLIFE, has lived straight through the midlife trifecta and has the hard-earned perspective to prove it. This is an honest, funny, deeply validating conversation for women who feel like their bodies, relationships, and identities are all shifting at the same time.

We talk about what no one warned us about, including why menopause doesn’t magically end after 12 months, how divorce can become an unexpected catalyst for clarity, and what it really takes to date again after a long hiatus (without forcing yourself before you’re ready).

If you’re in midlife and quietly wondering:

•Why does my body feel unfamiliar all of a sudden?

•When did I start editing myself so much?

•Is it too late to want something different?

This episode will help you:

•Make sense of the unexpected twists of menopause

•Recognize the subtle ways you may be shrinking or people-pleasing

•Let go of the idea that there’s a “right” timeline for marriage, divorce, or dating

•Start building a life and relationships that actually fit who you are now

This is big-sister wisdom you’ll want to hear before the next wave hits.

🎧 Listen now and then help a midlife sister out by leaving a 5-star rating and written review. Every review helps me bring more honest, badass conversations like this one to the show.

Connect with Angela:

realgirlsguide.com | @realgirlsguide55 | Angela’s Substack

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

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For more midlife musings: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @belongwellness
For how we can work together: belongwellness.com

A food-first approach to hormone support for perimenopause and painful periods.

If you’re navigating perimenopause symptoms yourself or supporting a daughter dealing with heavy periods, cramps, or hormonal acne, this quick bonus episode is for you.

This conversation explores how hormone imbalances can show up similarly across life stages and why food-based support can play a meaningful role.

I’m joined by Gita Vellanki, founder of Neeshi, a hormone-supportive nutrition brand inspired by Ayurvedic principles and modern nutrition science. Gita shares how trying to help her teenage daughter through painful, heavy periods led her to create real-food products that later helped her own perimenopause symptoms, without relying on birth control or quick fixes.

We talk about:

•How food can support hormone balance, detoxification, and symptom relief

•The role of ingredients like cacao, flax, pumpkin seeds, and almonds in supporting estrogen and progesterone balance

•Why heavy periods, cramps, mood swings, acne, and night sweats aren’t things women need to “push through”

•What Gita learned from consumer trials about how quickly women noticed changes

•A gentle, nourishing approach to hormone support for both teens and midlife women

This episode is especially helpful if you’re looking for:

•Natural support for perimenopause symptoms like heavy periods, mood swings, night sweats, or fatigue

•Natural support for painful periods, PMS, or hormonal acne

•Food-based options for symptom alleviation

✨✨✨ Get 20% off your first order of Neeshi! ✨✨✨

(Visit Neeshi.com and use code BELONG20)

If you decide to give Neeshi a try, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Send me a DM on Instagram @midlifeadvicepodcast.

Episode Highlights:

00:00 Introduction to Neeshi and Its Purpose

02:31 Intentional Ingredients & Their Benefits

05:39 Period & Perimenopause Symptom Alleviation

07:47 Real-Life Impact and Consumer Feedback

09:49 Get 20% Off Neeshi Products

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

✨ I share more personal stories, products, recipes, books, discounts and all kinds of goodness with my email subscriber friends. Join the fun and I'll send you my 3 favorite smoothie recipes to get you started!

For more midlife musings: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @belongwellness
For how we can work together: belongwellness.com

If you’re raising a daughter while navigating perimenopause yourself, this episode will help you see puberty and midlife hormone changes in a new, more compassionate light.

What if puberty and perimenopause aren’t opposite ends of womanhood, but mirrors of each other?

In this episode, I’m joined by Konika Ray Wong, co-founder of Girl Power Science, longtime puberty educator, body literacy specialist, and author of One in a Million – A First Book About Periods. Konika has spent more than two decades teaching girls (and their parents) how to understand body changes without fear, shame, or secrecy and she’s on a mission to reframe puberty as a set of superpowers, not a crisis.

We talk about when to start talking to girls about their bodies (much earlier than most of us realize), how to explain periods without panic, and why the emotional, hormonal, and physical shifts of puberty look shockingly similar to what many of us are experiencing in perimenopause right now.

Along the way, we cover brain remodeling, mood swings, belly changes, sleep disruption, body image, hormones, stem cells, and…rage vacuuming.

If you’re a midlife woman raising a daughter,or healing your own puberty story while navigating perimenopause, this conversation is both practical and deeply validating.

Connect with Konika

girlpowerscience.com | @girlpowerscience

🩷Please share this episode with a fellow midlife mom who could use a little guidance with these conversations.

Episode Highlights:

00:00 Starting Early: Body Awareness Conversations

05:10 When and How to Talk about Puberty

12:18 When and How to Talk about Menstruation

16:25 Common Mistakes Parents Make

20:11 The Parallels Between Puberty and Perimenopause

27:12 Key Takeaways

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

✨ I share more personal stories, products, recipes, books, discounts and all kinds of goodness with my email subscriber friends. Join the fun and I'll send you my 3 favorite smoothie recipes to get you started!

For more midlife musings: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @belongwellness
For how we can work together: belongwellness.com

If you are self-aware, emotionally intelligent and still finding yourself people-pleasing or walking on eggshells in your relationship, this episode will help you understand why, without blaming yourself.

Trauma-informed coach and somatic therapist Steffi Seefeld joins me to unpack why so many high-achieving women feel confident and successful on the outside, yet anxious, unseen, or unsure in their relationships.

If you’re a midlife woman who identifies as empathetic, driven, and emotionally aware — but still finds yourself people-pleasing, self-abandoning, or choosing emotionally unavailable partners — this conversation will help you understand why and what actually helps create change.

Steffi explains how early childhood conditioning, emotionally unavailable caregivers, and family dynamics wire the nervous system for survival, not self-trust. We talk about why insight alone isn’t enough to break relationship patterns, how people-pleasing shows up in love and at work, and why learning to feel safe in your body is the key to choosing healthier relationships in midlife.

This episode is especially relevant for women navigating midlife transitions who are questioning their relationships, struggling with guilt or over-functioning, or sensing in their body that something needs to change — even if they don’t yet know what.

In this episode, we discuss:

•Why self-aware women still end up in unhealthy relationships

•How people-pleasing and self-abandonment are learned survival strategies

•The link between childhood emotional conditioning and adult relationship patterns

•Why insight and therapy aren’t always enough to create lasting change

•How the nervous system keeps us stuck in familiar but unsafe dynamics

•Signs you may be dimming your light or editing yourself to keep the peace

•How people-pleasing shows up for high-achieving women and female leaders

•What it actually means to rebuild self-trust in midlife

•How slowing down and nervous system regulation support healthier choices in love and life

•Why healing in community can accelerate change

Steffi also shares details about her group program, Rising Woman, which supports women in midlife who are ready to move out of survival mode and into relationships — and lives — that feel safer, steadier, and more aligned.

Connect with Steffi:

Book a Discovery Call

3-Min Nervous System Reset

Episode Highlights:

00:00 Understanding Emotional Safety in Relationships

02:58 Childhood Experiences and Their Impact

08:10 Understanding Narcissism & Wounded Empaths

10:37 Sibling Dynamics

13:01 Learning Self-Awareness

20:37 The Importance of Nervous System Regulation

26:30 Key Takeaways

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

✨Get my favorite New Year Journal Prompts and plan for an aligned AF 2026!

For more midlife musings: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Most midlife women don’t burn out because they’re doing something wrong. They burn out because they don’t know how to stop pushing.

Why does rest feel so uncomfortable for so many capable, high-functioning midlife women?

In this short solo episode, health coach and podcast host Jessica Long gets honest about burnout, nervous system conditioning, and why stepping back can feel scarier than staying exhausted. After pushing through the holidays without a real break, Jessica reflects on what midlife is asking of us now: not more effort, but more awareness.

This episode is an invitation to notice where you’re still pushing out of habit, obligation, or fear—and to consider what might become possible if you eased off, even a little.

If you’re navigating midlife while juggling work, family, hormones, and expectations (both internal and external), this conversation offers permission to pause—and a reminder that burnout isn’t a failure. It’s information.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why taking a break feels harder than staying busy in midlife

• How nervous system conditioning keeps high-achieving women stuck in overdrive

• The difference between honoring yourself and chasing arbitrary goals

• What it means to choose possibility instead of exhaustion

• A gentle invitation to take your foot off the accelerator—without guilt

➕Follow the show to catch upcoming episodes on midlife relationships, perimenopause, parenting through puberty, and peptides for sleep, energy, and brain fog!

▶️ Aphukenbrake video

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

✨Get my favorite New Year Journal Prompts and plan for an aligned AF 2026!

For more midlife musings: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

This episode explores how midlife women can use the Enneagram to plan a more aligned year at work and at home, instead of bracing for the Sunday Scaries every week.

Leadership coach and Enneagram facilitator Ali Dunn returns to the podcast to help midlife women plan a year that actually fits—without forcing goals, burning everything down, or fantasizing about moving to Fiji (tempting though it may be).

The Enneagram isn’t about personality labels or behavior. It’s about motivation—and when you understand what truly drives you, you can make better choices in your career, relationships, parenting, and daily life.

Take Ali's quiz to learn your Enneagram type and what motivates you!

In this conversation, we talk about how deep self-awareness can help you advocate for yourself at work and at home, recognize when something is out of alignment, and set goals that support your energy instead of draining it.

In this episode, we cover:

•Why the Sunday Scaries are often a sign of misalignment—not weakness

•How knowing your Enneagram type and what motivates you helps you plan a more aligned year

•The difference between goals that stretch you and goals driven by “shoulds”

•What to do when your job or work environment feels off

•How to advocate for yourself at work without quitting or blowing everything up

•Why your strengths can quietly become blind spots—and how to work with that

Whether you know your Enneagram type or not, this episode will help you get more intentional, self-aware, and aligned as you plan the year ahead.

How to Get Really Clear About What Matters to You

It’s not about resolution-setting or vision boarding (no shade). It’s about asking yourself specific questions and getting really honest about the answers.

Get my full list of New Year reflection questions here!

Connect with Ali Dunn

Alidunn.com | @enneagrambyali

Episode Highlights:

00:00 Understanding the Enneagram

05:48 How to Use Your Enneagram Type to Plan Your Year

10:29 How to Know If Your Goal is Right for You

15:02 When Your Job is Not Aligned with Your Enneagram Type

19:56 Use the Enneagram to Improve Your Relationships

26:14 Use Your Enneagram Type to Identify a Theme for the Year

29:02 Key Takeaways

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

✨Get my favorite New Year Journal Prompts and plan for an aligned AF 2026!

For more midlife musings: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Eating less and exercising more does not help with weight gain in perimenopause. It can actually backfire. Here’s what works instead.

In this episode, I talk with registered dietitian and holistic nutritionist Betsy Markle about why traditional dieting stops working in perimenopause and what actually supports metabolism during midlife. We unpack why the old “calories in calories out” advice fails so many women, how fluctuating hormones impact blood sugar, cravings, sleep, and weight gain, and why restriction often makes everything worse.

We also talk about what a metabolism-first approach looks like in this phase of life, including balanced meals, stabilizing blood sugar, reducing stress hormones, and making mindset shifts that feel supportive instead of punishing.

If you’ve noticed new belly fat, stubborn weight gain, low energy, joint pain or intense cravings despite healthy habits, this episode will help you understand what’s going on and how to work with your body instead of against it.

In this episode, we cover:

•Why dieting backfires in perimenopause

•What metabolism actually means in midlife

•How hormones affect blood sugar, cravings, and fat storage

•Why restriction increases stress hormones

•How balanced meals support energy and mood

•When women typically start feeling better

Connect with Betsy: SunshineWellnessInstitute.com | @betsywellness

⭐️ If this episode helped you, please follow the show, leave a 5-star rating, and write a quick review on Apple Podcasts. It helps me bring on more badass guests like Betsy with so much wisdom to share!

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

✨Get my favorite New Year Journal Prompts and plan for an aligned AF 2026!

For more midlife musings: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Did you accomplish a lot this year but still feel oddly unfulfilled? This episode will help you understand why and what to do next.

In this solo episode, I share some of my favorite end-of-year and New Year reflection prompts for midlife women who are done moving through life on auto-pilot and ready to get honest about what it takes to live life “awake.”

✨ Get the full list of end-of-year and new-year reflection questions sent straight to your inbox.

This episode is not about goal-setting, resolutions, or fixing yourself. It’s about reflecting on what drained you, what lit you up, and what you’re ready to put down.

You’ll hear how these reflection prompts can help you:

✔️Identify what’s out of alignment in your life

✔️Make decisions that feel like YOU

✔️Release obligations that no longer fit

✔️Live in greater alignment with the woman you’re becoming

If you’re a midlife woman craving clarity, alignment, and a more intentional way of living, this episode is for you.

Chapters:

00:00 Reflecting on the Year: Intentional Living

01:37 End of Year & New Year Reflection Journal Prompts

05:46 Exploring Who I Want to Be & Relationships

08:16 Wellbeing & Habits to Support My Future Self

11:35 Living Intentionally in the New Year

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

✨Get my favorite New Year Journal Prompts and plan for an aligned AF 2026!

For more midlife musings: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com