Empowering Midlife Wellness with Dr. Susan

Midlife is a time not only a hormonal change, but an incredible number of other transitions - including our own personal illnesses, children leaving, parents getting sick and dying, marriages and jobs ending…. sometimes it can seem like the world is colluding against you. Today I’m going to share how even these truly worst times can be catalysts to help you to grow into the best version of yourself, and I will share a simple understanding that has got me and my patients through. You got this. 🪷 Join my Well Past Midlife Masterclass to gain a deeper understanding of how to optimize every aspect of your midlife wellness: www.wellpastmidlife.com 💻 Interested in scheduling a virtual coaching session focused on menopause and midlife wellness? Click here: https://completemidlifewellnesscenter.com

Periodically it’s great to talk about one of my favorite topics- sex! After many years of focusing on midlife sexual wellness, I can say with confidence that intimacy CAN improve with age if we approach it with an attitude of curiosity, self awareness and intention. Today I’m sharing REAL ACTIONABLE STEPS that have worked for me and my patients to revive our sex lives after 50, or at any age. Get my best-selling book, Sexually Woke: Awaken the Secrets to Your Best Sex Life in Midlife & Beyond: https://amzn.to/3rm47IU Join my Well Past Midlife Masterclass to gain a deeper understanding of how to optimize every aspect of your midlife wellness: https://www.wellpastmidlife.com/

This is the third in our resistance training series with master trainer Kelley Workman, who teaches us four whole body exercises that can be completed at home in 30 minutes. Watch the first part here: The 30-Minute Workout That Will Chang... Watch the second part here: The 30-Minute Workout That Will Chang... This week will be presenting four additional exercises that you could choose to mix and match with the others. You may choose to master these alone for a month before we continue to add more! The important thing is to be consistent and not get injured, and also provide variety that keeps you interested. You can connect with Kelley at www.kelleymoves.com Explore more resources: #1 Treatment For Bone Health video • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agW5ub-51XM&t=0s MUST-WATCH VIDEO - Queensland research helping osteoporosis sufferers - The Bone Clinic • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EZw_wrFnmI&t=0s The LIFTMOR Randomized Controlled Trial https://drive.google.com/file/ d/1ZNh1...

Now a few weeks into January, it’s good to reflect on the resolutions that we made on January 1 and consider how those are going. Today I’ll be sharing some of my insights into how to regroup and reset to be successful in making long-term transformation based on what we truly believe is good for us, instead of focusing on what we “should” be doing. I’ll also share some of my other favorite ways to regroup and return to our intentions for the year, including (not popular in the west, but it really works!) reflecting on death, and going back to the old favorites of generosity, gratitude, and forgiveness.

There’s lots of discussion lately about using estrogen on your face to improve collagen and minimize wrinkles and fine lines. It’s difficult to evaluate how well these products work because so far we have no standardization between studies, and different types of estrogen have been used as well as different mixtures of products like hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, and others. Most products use the weakest estrogen called estriol, but using the much more potent estrogen called estradiol is also another option- so long as the dose is very low. So far, no good studies can claim that estrogen is more helpful than placebo for the face, but more research needs to be done before we can state that it isn’t beneficial. And at the appropriate doses, there is no scenario in which it would be harmful. Today, I’ll be going over some different options and dosing protocols. At CMWC we offer no promises, but recommend you to try it and see!

Today I’m revisiting the common idea that hormone pellets are somehow worse or more dangerous than other options for testosterone delivery. Derogatory language like “pellet pushers” is divisive and unhelpful, and suggests that all providers who prescribe pellets are practicing irresponsibly. While irresponsible providers exist in all fields, well educated menopause experts find that pellets are a viable option for patients who choose them, after being given the pros and cons of all available hormone delivery methods. Remember that we do not have an FDA approved testosterone product available for women, so all testosterone for women comes from a compounding pharmacy- and whether it is a cream, a pellet or a sublingual troche, it’s exactly the same product, and the delivery method should be the patient's choice.

This is the second in our resistance training series with master trainer Kelley Workman, who teaches us four whole body exercises that can be completed at home in 30 minutes. On November 27, we posted our first video, and Kelley’s suggestion is to master four exercises (3 x weekly for 30 minutes) for a month before adding more. Watch the first part here: https://youtu.be/X_YMrHiz2ek This week will be presenting four additional exercises that you could choose to mix and match with the others. You may choose to master these alone for a month before we continue to add more! The important thing is to be consistent and not get injured, and also provide variety that keeps you interested. You can connect with Kelley at www.kelleymoves.com Explore more resources: #1 Treatment For Bone Health video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agW5ub-51XM MUST-WATCH VIDEO - Queensland research helping osteoporosis sufferers - The Bone Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EZw_wrFnmI&t=0s The LIFTMOR Randomized Controlled Trial https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZNh1GfV02RPVVpkGtkIwSbYvDaJ5vWlU/view

Most of us have heard that the lifetime risk of breast cancer for a woman in the United States is 1 in 8, which is alarmingly high. It’s important to keep in mind that this is a population based risk, and that your own personal risk might be significantly lower or higher than this. Today I’m talking about a new FDA regulation requiring that mammograms assess our level of breast density, since this is one of the factors that can increase our breast cancer risk. For patients with high breast density (in the level C or D range), which is more than 50% of patients, the recommendation is to use a risk calculator and consider additional testing (with ultrasound or MRI) for a patient whose calculated lifetime breast cancer risk is greater than 20%. Anyone can do this risk assessment themselves using the link below. If your risk is 20% or greater you can talk to your physician about ordering additional testing. https://bcrisktool.cancer.gov/calculator.html

I am so excited to announce our new “Well Past Midlife Masterclass” being introduced in early 2025! Today I’m going to give you an exciting opportunity to be part of the first cohort of this eight week course, for a massive discount! I’ll be discussing how the course will work, but in brief, you will receive two 30 minute videos a week, and join in a weekly 90 minute zoom meeting with me and 20 of your classmates, who will soon become your new best friends! This is not only learning about everything to do with perimenopause, menopause and beyond, including nutrition, exercise, sleep, lab, testing, sexual wellness and more….but it’s also a genuine invitation to connect with other women going through the same struggles. Members of our online course will forever become members of our “inner circle” and receive early invitations to our retreats and events as well as a 10% discount for all in-office procedures. We will be announcing the dates of the first cohort early next year, and if you are interested in being first on the list, please send an email to [email protected] This program is open to anyone no matter where you live, since it is a coaching and education program, and it does not involve the practice of medicine. If you are a provider, we will be launching a simultaneous course for medical providers teaching you how to incorporate menopausal medicine into your practice, so we can increase education about this important topic throughout the world, and encourage more women to connect and not feel alone!

By now we are all aware of the countless benefits of resistance training, but it can be hard to know where to start. Today I will show you my real 30 minute workout with master personal trainer Kelley Workman. You can do this at the gym or in your own home with a few simple free weights. Studies have shown that 30 minutes of heavy resistance training twice a week reduces bone loss, falls and resulting injury, and every chronic disease including dementia. These four exercises use the entire body, and Kelley recommends doing these twice a week for a month before adding anything new. Next month we will be back with 4 additional exercises to mix it up a bit. With all of my ironman training I haven't lifted weights in a couple of months so I am starting along with you! You can connect with Kelley at www.kelleymoves.com

These recent times have left many of us feeling very unsettled and uncertain, and feeling like we have no agency to change things in the world. Today, I’ll share a simple way to switch our mindset from feeling like the world is “happening to us” where we have no power, to a place of agency and choice. From this place we can move forward even in difficult times and make positive changes that affect us and all of those around us, moving towards creating the optimal older version of ourselves.

Many patients ask how to find a menopause provider and how to evaluate your provider’s credentials and education. At Complete Midlife Wellness Center we are proud to have three Board Certified Ob/Gyn physicians who are certified through the menopause society, as well as nurse practitioners with menopause society certification. We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Hillary Boswell will be joining us in November to expand our services, and huge congratulations to Brandi, Hollie and Hayley who recently passed their menopause society certification exam! If you are a provider interested in joining our provider education program in 2025, please email [email protected] to be added to the first to know list. A link to our Menopause Education Platform will be provided as soon as possible, and no later than early 2025.

Reduction in bone density, which can lead to osteoporosis and increase our risk of fracture as we age is one of the most important goals of a healthy second half of life. We’ve talked extensively before about the benefit of menopausal hormone therapy for reducing the risk of osteoporosis, but today I’m going to focus on how important exercise is in the process of helping our bones to stay healthy and even to improve their strength. Traditionally as women age and develop low bone density, we were taught to stick with very low intensity exercises, but this has been shown to not only be incorrect, but also harmful. Strenuous exercise, including use of heavy weights is not only safe if monitored properly, but incredibly beneficial for improving bone density and reducing the risk of falling and fracturing, as well as improving quality of life! MUST-WATCH VIDEO - Queensland research helping osteoporosis sufferers - The Bone Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EZw_wrFnmI The LIFTMOR Randomized Controlled Trial https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZNh1GfV02RPVVpkGtkIwSbYvDaJ5vWlU/view?usp=sharing

While knowledge about how to be healthier is skyrocketing, our health as a country is not improving. Knowledge alone clearly doesn't work. What's missing is the motivation to put our knowledge into action consistently, so that we can truly transform into a healthier, happier way of living. Today I'm sharing the work that I'm passionate about in the field of motivation; a passion that inspired my second book. After 25 years of helping patients create their healthiest life, I've observed 3 states of being; one of which leads to an almost effortless commitment to make healthy choices. For those of us who still feel stuck making choices that we know are not in our best interests, wondering "why did I do that again?", I'll share a system that works for both me and my patients, to finally make lasting change from a place of peace and ease. The best news is that we get to feel better now and improve our immediate health, while create the healthiest older version of ourselves. When you live in alignment with what you deeply believe is good, you will notice healthy choices naturally falling into place. I'll be sharing more as the book progresses!

Despite the numerous well known benefits of menopausal hormone therapy, it's important to talk about some common side effects. The most common frustrating side effect that we seen our practice is a new onset of bleeding, which affects about 5% of patients. The good news this is very rarely anything to worry about. It is certainly a major annoyance that needs to be addressed. Today I'll discuss why this happens in both menopausal and perimenopausal patients, how to evaluate it and most importantly how to make it stop!

During the last decades of confusion about menopausal hormone therapy, many well-meaning solutions were offered to patients claiming to be safer than the feared traditional HRT. These include combinations of estrogens, progesterone and testosterone in the form of topical creams and sublingual preparations. Now that we are emerging from this fog of confusion, and understand that estradiol, progesterone and testosterone are not only safe, but also provide numerous health benefits for women, it's important to reevaluate whether compounded estrogen products still have a place. Today I’m discussing the different types of estrogen that are available in compounded form, why progesterone cream is not a safe solution for patients who have a uterus, and why at the current time we need to rely on testosterone in compounded form, and how to ensure that we're getting the safe and most beneficial dose.

Managing the time leading up to menopause, known as "peri-menopause," can be particularly challenging due to fluctuating hormone levels and their often unpleasant side effects. These years can feel like an unpredictable roller coaster, making it difficult for both patients and providers to find balance. However, understanding what's happening in your body during this period is key. With the right knowledge, we can develop a treatment plan that includes effective options to alleviate symptoms and bring your life back into balance, helping you navigate through these challenging years with greater ease.

As science progresses, it's so important to recognize when we got something wrong and tell patients that we have learned something new and better. Too often, doctors are stuck in their old ways and are not up-to-date in the latest science, and are continuing to practice out-of-date medicine without recognizing that they were wrong. Today I'm addressing the top five things that I personally got wrong, and I told patients these things for years before learning that there was a better way based on modern science. Even what we tell patients today no doubt will change as our understanding progresses, so it's important to see medicine (and science in general) as an ever-changing growing body of knowledge. As patients it's so important for us to stay educated and advocate for ourselves if we hear that our providers are giving information that is out-of-date or incorrect. If we learned anything at all from the debacle about menopausal hormone therapy, it's that we get things wrong sometimes, and we need to accept that, learn from it and move forward with a better way of practicing to take great care of our patients.

With metabolic dysfunction on the rise (including everything on the insulin resistance/pre-diabetes and diabetes spectrum) it's critical to understand how we are metabolizing glucose and carbohydrates. When you come to the doctor's office, we typically check glucose, insulin and other markers in a fasting state, but we have no idea what happens later in the day. Until recently, continuous glucose monitors have only been approved by insurance for diabetic patients and have required a prescription. Recently Dexcom released an over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor called Stelo, which measure is your glucose every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day. Today I'm talking about my experience with Stelo and why it might be something to consider, especially if you're struggling with weight gain or if you simply want to be educated about how different foods affect your metabolism.

Now that we are all aware of the multiple health benefits of taking menopausal hormone therapy, let's dig into some of the questions regarding timing, particularly for estrogen. There's no doubt that starting estradiol as soon as possible after menopause helps keep our blood vessels healthy, and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as multiple other diseases, including Alzheimer's. But what if you were not offered hormones and you are now more than 10 years past menopause? Today I'll be talking about what studies have shown regarding the possible risks of starting estrogen later in life, and why these risks may have been overblown and don't apply to everybody. I'll also talk about the myth that hormones should be stopped at some point, and discuss why this idea ever became popular.

This has been an exciting year with much more attention being paid to midlife women's hormonal health. Finally perimenopause/menopause is getting a voice, and the use of MHT (menopausal hormone therapy) is becoming widely accepted. Once we have decided to take menopausal hormone therapy, there are multiple options of products and routes of administration. Today I'll be discussing the different options for bioidentical menopausal hormone therapy, and the pros and cons of each. It's also important to understand why the doses are vastly different for the various different products, and why it's important to have your blood drawn to make sure that you are reaching optimal levels, because absorption is highly variable between patients. In the end, reaching the appropriate blood levels is much more important than the route of administration, which is really just a matter of personal choice and lifestyle. While the vital hormone testosterone continues to be controversial, in my practice we consider "optimal" for female testosterone to be in the upper range of what is physiologic for women (restoring levels to the high end of what they were when we were younger). Multiple studies have shown that these levels safely provide benefits for sexual wellness as well as muscle and bone conservation, sleep and mood. We recognize that long-term very high levels of testosterone put patients at risk of not only nuisance symptoms, but also irreversible masculinizing effects, which is why we never dose at that level, and why we have developed a novel dosing protocol which has proven to be safe and effective. Unfortunately, the practice of "Supra-physiologic dosing" continues elsewhere in the community, and is at the root of many people's misunderstanding about the safety of testosterone . We set ourselves apart from others who put their patients at risk with levels that are too high, and we pay the utmost attention to making sure we keep hormone levels optimal, without elevating risk.

Vitamin D is the subject of a lot of controversy right now after the Endocrine Society made new recommendations in June 2024 suggesting that routine screening for vitamin D was not necessary, and routine supplementation was not beneficial for the average person. Today I'm looking into how they came up with this recommendation and what hundreds of studies have shown over the years, to put this recommendation in context. Everyone agrees that vitamin D is critical for life and no one is suggesting that we don't need it, but questions remain around whether we need to take a supplement or if we can find it naturally, and if so, whether we need to measure blood levels and what the optimal blood level should be.

Creatine is a naturally occurring peptide consistent of 3 amino acids, and has been widely studied for its numerous benefits and low side effect profile. In fact creatine is the most studied supplement in the world. Well known to improve muscle mass and sports performance, creatine is particularly relevant in midlife when losing muscle and bone accelerate, and gaining muscle can be more challenging. As well as the numerous health benefits related to muscle and bone, creatine also has important implications for brain health including improving memory, dementia risk and recovery from brain injury. In short, creatine is one supplement that I recommend for just about everyone!

Most of us have heard a lot about insulin resistance but many of us still don't understand why it should be considered a disease in and of itself, separate from diabetes. Insulin resistance affects more than 50% of our patients and causes weight gain around the middle, as well as increasing heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and of course, diabetes and its related complications. My hope is that with a better understanding of how this process works we can each get more involved in doing the things that are necessary to cure insulin resistance. This can almost always be cured with nutrition and exercise alone, without medications. Once we truly understand how the process works, we can become internally motivated with a clear reason WHY to stick to our healthy nutrition and exercise program.

Today I'm back with my partner, Dr. Leah Antoniewicz, discussing Nitric oxide. This fascinating molecule is made of one nitrogen and one oxygen atom (NO), and reduction in nitric oxide has been shown to be associated with an increase in multiple diseases as we age. Today, I'll be talking to you about the science of how nitric oxide works, as well as how to naturally increase it and some things to avoid that might be decreasing it.

Our understanding of the vital importance of the gut biome has skyrocketed in the past 10 years, yet we are still just beginning to learn all of the incredible functions of these healthy bacteria. Today I'll be reviewing the role of healthy gut bacteria in the prevention of multiple disease processes, including the most common diseases that affect American women- obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. I will particularly be talking about a really interesting key bacteria called Akkermansia, and a growing body of research suggesting its importance in weight maintenance and insulin sensitivity, amongst other things. Since learning about this, I have started taking the Pendulum brand Akkermansia product myself (I'll explain why I prefer this brand in the video though I have no affiliation with the company), and recommend it to many of our patients. I think after listening to this, you will consider it too!

Iron is a vital micronutrient that is sub-optimal in more than 50% of women. This is frequently missed because it masks as many other things, and most doctors don't check the labs that are necessary to evaluate this completely. Today I'll be talking about where we find iron in our diet, how to diagnose low iron and how to address it by evaluating our input, absorption, and ruling out any sources of blood loss. I'll also tell you about my own story with low iron, how I corrected it, and how both my patients and I feel so much better when our iron is optimized!

We all know that alcohol is a toxin with numerous effects on our health - from weight gain, to sleep and mood disruption as well as causing multiple cancers, diabetes, heart disease, gut dysbiosis, liver damage and dementia - even at "socially acceptable levels." Many of us drink in moderation and don't consider it to be a "problem"- but today I'm discussing an interesting way of reframing your relationship with alcohol and being very clear about where it might be causing problems in your life. I came across an amazing community called "One Year No Beer" (link and tag on social) and joined their 28 day alcohol free challenge. This challenge is supported with emails, videos and connecting with others on the same journey, and invites you to experience how you feel without alcohol for a prolonged period. Like me- a break from drinking makes most people realize that we are being held back by alcohol, and without it many things improve! My personal goal is to be someone who drinks "as much as I like as often as I like"- which will amount to very little, and not very often.

The most common killer of both men and women is heart attack, so understanding how to reduce our risk could not be more important. Since the 1980's, studies have consistently shown that menopausal hormone therapy (particularly estrogen) reduces the risk of heart disease in women. The now infamous Women's Health Initiative study surprised the medical community in 2002 by suggesting that hormone therapy increased the risk of heart attack in a small subset of women. After 22 years of gathering more data, multiple large studies have now confirmed what we previously understood, which is that estrogen has a highly beneficial effect for the heart if it's started in the first 10 years after menopause, and benefit seems to be negligible if it's started later (but not harmful). We no longer recommend taking the lowest dose for the shortest time, but rather suggest starting menopausal hormone therapy as early as possible and continuing it long term. For the great majority of patients the benefits far outweigh any potential risks.

Many people have strong opinions about compounding pharmacies, although few people know what they really are, how they are regulated and what the difference is between one type of compounding pharmacy and another. There is a perception that compounded drugs are not FDA approved, not regulated or somehow not safe or reliable. Today I'm going to explain what these pharmacies are, why we might choose to use them (or not) and why the perception that compounding is inferior or not safe is quite inaccurate.

This past two decades has brought so much confusion about menopausal hormone replacement and breast cancer risk, but we now are entering a modern time with a much better understanding of how all this works. Today I'm going to review how this controversy ever started and what the modern understanding is regarding estrogen and breast cancer. You may be surprised that we are now flipping the script and realizing that estrogen not only has no effect on increasing breast cancer risk, but actually reduces the risk of dying from breast cancer if it's started early. Not only that, but estrogen also undeniably reduces the risk of colon cancer, osteoporosis, and particularly cardiovascular disease when it is started shortly after menopause. We no longer recommend taking hormone replacement only for treatment of hot flashes and night sweats, or stopping it after any defined time period. The health benefits of starting it as soon as possible after menopause and taking it for life outweigh any risks for most women. ~ Dr. Susan

While the safety and benefits of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) are becoming widely accepted, hot debate continues around dosing, delivery methods and how to monitor levels. Advisory boards including the American College of Ob/Gyn and the Menopause Society support the use of (MHT), but much confusion continues regarding ideal blood levels, whether to check blood levels at all, and optimal route of delivery. The dosing of both estradiol and testosterone varies 5-10 fold between methods such as patches, gels, sublingual methods or pellets. Both doctors and patients need to understand the dose that they are prescribing to make an educated decision. Today I will help to shed light on the differences between these options, and why my strong opinion is that blood levels are critical to ensure that levels are not too high or low for your optimal health.

Sometimes we have to be our own advocate and ask for the tests that we need since many doctors don't offer very high-level labs that can be critical to maximizing your healthspan and helping you to feel great. Today I'm going to go through a real patient's lab panel and show you what we look for in our office during a hormone consultation. I'll be discussing the difference between "reference ranges" and "optimal ranges" so that you can interpret your own lab values with a critical eye and make sure that you're not missing any opportunities for wellness. I'll include an actual copy of this patient's labs so that you can ask for exactly the same thing when you go to your doctor and you'll be empowered with everything you need to start on your wellness journey! LINK - https://completemidlifewellnesscenter.com/private-practice/womens-fasting-panel/ If you do get these labs done, we can also discuss them with you virtually -or in person if you find your way to Houston!

So much has changed in our understanding of cholesterol and how it affects our risk for heart disease since I was in med school! Until recently we talked about "good cholesterol" and "bad cholesterol" with very little understanding of what those words actually meant. Today I'll attempt to unwind a little bit about what cholesterol does in our body, how to test for the particular lipoproteins that put us at highest risk for heart disease, the importance of ApoB, and most importantly what we can do to reduce our risk of heart disease based on this information. While this is often a largely forgotten subject for women, it's important to remember that the number one killer of both men and women is cardiovascular disease, and it is critical that we understand our own heart health, and how to optimize it!

Have you been as confused as me about all the controversy that you hear about which fats are the healthiest? Which ones we should avoid and which we should consume more of? What does MUFA, PUFA, trans fat or saturated fat mean? Is a low-fat diet healthy or should we aim for 30% fat or higher? Today I'll go through a basic introduction to the types of fat that are available in foods, which ones appear scientifically to be the most healthy, and which ones we should avoid.

Last month my video with Dr. Antoniewicz (@drleahatoz) started the discussion about the importance of diagnosing and treating insulin resistance, not only for weight management but for lifelong health and disease reduction. Today we are digging more into this really important and complex topic, and highlighting some more details about what IR is, why it’s important, how we diagnose it and how we can treat it with simple concepts surrounding Nutrition, Movement, Rest and Stress (emotional and physical) management. If you didn’t catch Part 1, you can find here! If you struggle with your weight, sugar addiction or just feel stuck, as Dr. Leah says, "you are not a bad person trying to get good, you are a sick person trying to get well”. While up to 40% of American women suffer with IR (largely undiagnosed) only a small fraction are getting the help that they need. My hope is that the information you will hear today will inspire you on your wellness journey, and we are here to help you. The recipe for success in healing IR is clear, it works for our patients, and it can work for you too!

Today I'm discussing a fantastic option for dealing with one of the most difficult problems that we experience in menopause, which is vaginal dryness and pain, as well as decreased sexual sensation. While hormone therapy is the mainstay for restoring vaginal health, vaginal laser therapy is another tool in the toolbox that is safe for patients who cannot take estrogen due to current or recent breast cancer, or even for patients like myself who just want a little extra boost! This week was time for my annual laser treatment and I will be taking you to the office to watch my laser treatment done live by Dr. Leah. Along with the Juliet vaginal laser, I am having an o-shot with umbilical-derived growth factors, and I will walk you through the pros and cons of all of the options and show you what the experience is like for a real-life patient!

I am delighted to see more attention paid every month to issues regarding menopause and perimenopause, with articles popping up in every magazine and newspaper, often with celebrities talking about their experiences. We're finally starting to have a voice in the world about this critical time in life. While this is a fantastic development, one of the dark sides is that it has opened up a market for companies to sell products that claim to help with menopause symptoms, but have no scientific backing. This is particularly worrisome because it preys on women in a very vulnerable time in life who may be experiencing truly devastating symptoms that have serious future health ramifications. Marketing products that are not proven to be helpful, is not only unethical, but is harming women. Today I'm talking about the business of supplements sold to improve menopause symptoms, and discussing the fact that not one single supplement has any scientific backing to support the claims that menopause symptoms are reduced. In the meantime, bioidentical hormone replacement has been rigorously studied and shown not only to be safe, but to have very important health benefits that should not be ignored because of unfounded fears. Each of us can make her own decision but today I'm inviting you to think and be smart, and not let people pray on our vulnerability, or assume that we are not smart enough to understand scientific studies. While the ingredients in many menopause symptoms products are very good for numerous things, none of them has been shown to help with the symptoms of menopause. This is an invitation to be very careful and not to believe everything that you are told by celebrities who are being paid to deliver a message that is potentially harmful.

Every day I am asked several times if the HORMONE REPLACEMENT causes WEIGHT LOSS, and the answer is a little bit complex - but generally YES! The important thing to know is that it is not the hormone replacement itself that causes weight loss, but the different ways in which it increases your energy, improves with sleep, improves mental outlook, muscle mass, physical strength, and all of those things that we need in order to move more and stick to our healthy nutrition plan. Apart from ovarian hormones, it's also critical to optimize thyroid and cortisol, which are both hormones that dramatically affect our ability to lose weight. Overall, it's absolutely true that optimizing hormones can help with weight loss - by helping us to stick to our healthy nutrition, exercise, and sleep protocols ....which ultimately are the cause of weight optimization.

Discover the untold story of testosterone in women and join the call for equitable healthcare options. This video describes how testosterone occurs naturally in women, how to safely replace it, and some curious history of how testosterone replacement for women has been overlooked. 💡 Why is testosterone treatment for women overlooked? Uncover the biases & advocate for change. Learn about crucial hormonal health and why we need FDA-approved testosterone therapies for women now more than ever—especially for those over 50. Insightful, empowering, and a real eye-opener!

We have SO many requests to join our weight loss optimization program from outside of Houston, or even outside of Texas or the United States - and finally, we have created a plan that can make this work for you no matter where you live! Today I'll be describing how our weight loss optimization plan works, reminding you about the "six pillars for success" over our 12-week program, and how this could work for you if you live in Texas... or anywhere!

Most of us know now that all calories are not the same, and the old model of calorie deprivation for weight loss simply doesn't work long-term. Especially in midlife, we can turn into fat storing machines due to hormone change: most importantly, insulin resistance. Today I'm talking to Dr. Leah Antoniewicz all about insulin resistance- what is it, why does it happen and how do we overcome it with several simple and easy to implement lifestyle changes. Her positive message will show you how you CAN be successful and achieve your optimally healthy body composition, and keep it for the rest of your life.

Do you ever feel like there is just way too much information to absorb about how to be healthy that it can sometimes leave us paralyzed and not knowing where to start? Everyday we get more information about what to do and what not to do to be healthy, so today I'm focusing on what I call the "low hanging fruit". If we start with just one or two of these things (or a little bit of each of them), we will start moving forward in a positive direction. You don't need to be stuck feeling paralyzed because you can't be perfect. Even if you do a little bit of some of these, your health will improve, and if you do a little bit of all of them, your health will dramatically improve! There are literally hundreds of things that we could do to improve our health, but today I am attempting to simplify it by narrowing it down to 10....which is still a lot! You might think about picking two or three to commit to, or just do a little bit of each of them, and add more as you can. But any positive movement is better than none!

Decreased sexual desire is the most common complaint I hear regarding our changing sexuality in perimenopause and menopause. Today I'm talking about the diagnosis, causes and potential treatments of decreased sexual desire in women. I'll go over 5 categories of potential treatments, including the science as well as my own personal experience (and that of my thousands of patients) regarding what works and what doesn't. Most importantly, this is not something that we need to just accept as part of getting older, and there are truly effective ways to make it better if you want to!

Today I'm sitting down with my partner Dr. Leah Antoniewicz to discuss one of our new service lines, which is holistic nutrition consultation. Dr. Leah has specialty training in nutrition as well as being a menopausal gynecologic specialist, and has a 10-part approach to creating the ideal nutrition plan for each of our patients. Whether the goal is losing fat, gaining muscle or simply improving health and longevity, she will discuss how we create an individualized plan that will allow you to maximize your success. Book your nutrition consult here: https://completemidlifewellnesscenter.com/holistic-nutrition-consultation/

Vasomotor symptoms, commonly known as hot flashes and night sweats, affect the great majority of women in perimenopause and menopause, and are a direct result of estrogen depletion. So it stands to reason that replacing estrogen is the number one (FDA approved) way to address these often highly unpleasant symptoms at their root. Today I'll talk about the cause of these symptoms as well as describing the many ways they can be extremely disruptive, and will share not only why estrogen remains the best treatment, but also mention 9 other options that have been shown in clinical studies to work better than placebo.

Today I'm talking about a fascinating supplement that really walks the line between being a supplement and a drug, since it has remarkable efficacy for lowering LDL cholesterol and ApoB. Red yeast rice contains small amounts of monacolin K, which in fact is a statin. Although this supplement is safe if it comes from a reputable manufacturer, I will talk about why it's very important to be monitored by a physician and follow the same guidelines that you would use if you were taking a prescription statin. I'll talk about the pros and cons of red yeast rice, the dosing, potential side effects, and why you may (or may not) choose to take this over a prescription statin.

After more than 21 years, I still get multiple questions a week about hormone replacement risks, specifically regarding breast cancer, but also fears of other disease risks. Today my partner Dr. Leah Antoniewicz and I are revising the risks and benefits of hormone replacement, and the curious history of the WHI (Women's Health Initiative) study. We'll be discussing the science behind this very emotional topic, and I hope to lay it all out there for you so that you will have the best information to present to your own doctor and make your own informed choices! We frequently referred to the book "Estrogen Matters" by Dr.Avrum Blooming and Dr. Carol Tavris and will put a link to that here, as well as a fascinating conversation between Dr. Peter Attia the authors on Peter's podcast. Estrogen Matters: Why Taking Hormones in Menopause Can Improve Women's Well-Being and Lengthen Their Lives -- Without Raising the Risk of Breast Cancer https://a.co/d/gk2hd62 Interested in booking an appointment? Click here: https://completemidlifewellnesscenter.com/

Now almost 2 years into our holistic weight management program we have been overjoyed with the success of our patients. I am excited to be chatting with my partner Dr. Gracia Wynne Duncan regarding not only our own experience with GLP-1 agonist drugs for weight loss (specifically Semaglutide) - but also reviewing the pros and cons, the history and possible future of these drugs, and everything that you might need to know in order to make an educated decision about whether this might be a good choice for you. You can see the details about our weight optimization program here: https://completemidlifewellnesscenter.com/holistic-medical-weight-optimization-program/ Book your appointment here: https://completemidlifewellnesscenter.com/book-your-appointment/

Now just a short time after our second Empowering Midlife Wellness retreat focusing on Activating Happiness, I'm sitting down with co-facilitators Meg Ellis and Kelley Workman to tell you all about our experience and the magic that happened in Costa Rica! In this episode we go through the details of this magical, fun and connecting 4-day weekend, as well as sharing what our guests told us, and unveiling brand new plans for our next retreat in April 2024! I can honestly tell you this was the happiest weekend of my life, and I can hardly wait to do it again! We are delighted to share this experience with a brave group of women who are willing to step out of their comfort zones to risk becoming the best version of themselves (and have more fun that you can imagine at the same time.) The upcoming retreat is April 19th-23rd, 2024 at El Mangroove Resort in Costa Rica, and it will not go on sale to the public until January. But for those who have an interest in getting on the VIP list, we are offering a $500 discount for those who sign up prior to February 1. Please email [email protected] if you would like to be on that list! Like all of our retreats, we expect this to sell out quickly and we only have 25 spots - so email us today and we will save a spot for you!