Middling Along

Anna Allerton on working smarter through perimenopause

My guest this time is Anna Allerton…a former journalist and TV producer who spent 17 years at Sky where she was an industry leader in women’s sports journalism and was listed in Management Today’s ‘35 Under 35’.

She’s the founder of Allerton Coaching and is a business coach and consultant specializing in perimenopause. 

Anna started to experience crippling anxiety at the end of her maternity leave with her second child, at just 38 years old, compounded by horrendous brain fog whilst dealing with sleep deprivation, and a stressful job. 

Like so many others, Anna was fobbed off with anti-depressants multiple times, and only her dogged journalistic skills and refusal to take no for an answer led her to an eventual perimenopause diagnosis… Her experiences led her to change career and retrain as an executive coach - listen in to find out more about what an exec coach actually is (and does - or doesn’t do), as well as hearing more about why Anna is passionate about sharing her story to help others who might be dealing with outbursts of rage, raging insomnia, or a whole host of other symptoms, whilst juggling the demands of toddler tantrums, potty-training and weaning feel less alone!

 

We also cover:

• the most common issues that her clients tend to struggle with in the workplace;
• some of the practical strategies that Anna has seen work really well to overcome some of these
• why she is a huge fan of symptom logging to help us work smarter
• what parallels she sees to recent developments in women’s sport that she has applied in her work

 

You can find Anna at https://www.allertoncoaching.com and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/allertoncoaching/

You can also find us over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and you can listen to past episodes at https://middlingalong.com  

 

Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share 

 

We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/

 

It would mean so much if you’d subscribe, rate, and review us to share the love and help others find the podcast too! 

You can also find me at https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause  or at www.managingthemenopause.com where we offer 1-1 coaching and workplace training. 

Get our free 'Guide to your GP appointment' at https://www.managingthemenopause.com/free-resources 

Leigh Walters-James on the importance of male allies at work

In this episode I am joined by Leigh Walters-James who is a Managing Director with Accenture in the UK. Leigh is an advocate for inclusion and diversity and sponsor of the Accenture Accent on Gender and MenoWarriors initiatives within the UK. Leigh’s colleagues Jill Ross and Sarah Garton were interviewed here on the podcast last year to talk about what Accenture has been doing to move the needle on menopause in the workplace, and having met Leigh in person, I’m delighted that he agreed to come on and talk to me about the role of male allyship.

Given that Accenture has been so proactive on the topic of menopause for many years now, Leigh has lots of learning to share, including:

• how important it is for men to learn about menopause so they can recognise if and when it impacts someone in their team;
• discuss it openly and often to help normalize it as a topic of conversation;
• share progress and best practice across office locations, and with customers where appropriate; 
• don’t overthink it too much - just start somewhere - where that is will be different for each organization so do it in a way that works where you are;
• culture may not be as much of a barrier as you think it will;
• get comfortable being uncomfortable - listen for more on Leigh’s tips for involving male colleagues in the conversations;
• the critical role of male sponsors and top-down support;
• don’t ‘segregate’ sessions into those for just women or just men;
• breaking down the taboo also opens the door for men to be open and honest about their own health/mental health challenges, and their vulnerabilities: it’s a win-win;
• becoming a ‘go to guy’ for menopause can get you a lot of attention at parties! 

 

Most, if not all, of these apply whatever the size of the organization - or available budget.

If you'd like to catch up with the earlier episode with Sarah and Jill, you can find it at https://middlingalong.com/episodes/middling-along-jill-ross-and-sarah-garton-on-developing-a-community-of-menowarriors-at-accenture/

You can also find us over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and you can listen to past episodes at https://middlingalong.com  

 

Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share 

 

We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/

 

It would mean so much if you’d subscribe, rate, and review us to share the love and help others find the podcast too! 

You can also find me at https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause  or at www.managingthemenopause.com where we offer 1-1 coaching and workplace training. 

Get our free 'Guide to your GP appointment' at https://www.managingthemenopause.com/free-resources 

Abby Langer busts a bunch of nutritional myths and misinformation

My guest this time is Abby Langer - Abby has been a Registered Dietitian since 1999 - she has worked extensively both in clinical nutrition, and nutrition media and consulting, has won awards for her teaching and has served for three years on her regulatory college’s council. She’s passionate about all aspects of nutrition, from physiology to teaching to cooking. Her approach to nutrition is permissive and relaxed, and she is a true believer in living your best life without dieting. She has written in depth about debunking fad diets and nutrition myths - some of which we’ll be covering in this interview!

 

We kick off talking about the ‘firehose’ of nutrition information available on social media that can be either overwhelming, misleading, or both. Abby recommends some dependable accounts to follow over on Instagram (other than her own of course - and these are listed out below).

 

We also cover:

• Why she doesn’t recommend intermittent fasting or ‘no carb’ diets
• The cultural pressures to stay slim and not age visibly
• Why alcohol may be sabotaging our efforts to improve nutrition, and the uptick she has seen in women’s alcohol consumption over her career 
• Inflammation - what is, and isn’t ‘inflammatory’ and why the internet loves to demonize specific ingredients
• Eggs are great (happily for me, because I’m a huge egg fan)
• Why dietary fibre is the unsung hero that needs a better PR team, and how to get more of it
• Why she doesn’t feed her family organic food 
• ‘Red Flags’ to look out for when consuming content online about nutrition
• Her ‘pet peeve’ nutritional nonsense
• And finally her top three tips for midlife 

 

You can find Abby at https://abbylangernutrition.com/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/langernutrition 

 

The other accounts Abby recommends are:

https://www.instagram.com/bdccarpenter/

https://www.instagram.com/soheefit/

https://www.instagram.com/drjengunter/

https://www.instagram.com/amanda.thebe/ (you can listen to my interview with Amanda here: https://middlingalong.com/episodes/middling-along-4-amanda-thebe-on-why-strength-training-is-so-critical-for-midlife-women/) 

You can also find us over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and you can listen to past episodes at https://middlingalong.com  

 

Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share 

 

We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/

 

It would mean so much if you’d subscribe, rate, and review us to share the love and help others find the podcast too! 

You can also find me at https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause  or at www.managingthemenopause.com where we offer 1-1 coaching and workplace training. 

Get our free 'Guide to your GP appointment' at https://www.managingthemenopause.com/free-resources

Anna Kilpatrick on The Joy of Enough

I know you’re going to love this interview with Anna Kilpatrick, blogger and Instagram ‘outfluencer’ @not.needing.new

Anna spent 23 years as a teacher, but when her children’s father had a catastrophic stroke in 2012, it utterly changed all their lives.

Anna talks candidly about how the huge change in personal circumstances impacted her (and the family) and how ultimately she came to realise that living with less, gave her more freedom to be there for her children when they needed her.

Anna is a passionate advocate for both preloved fashion, the main topic of her Instagram account, but also ‘the joy of enough’ - living with only what we truly need, and not being sucked into the constant feeding frenzy of ‘needing new’ things to make us happy.

We also talk ‘comparisonitis’ and how we face that down, the shame and stigma that can still attach to preloved clothing and why she is so passionate about proving you can still be stylish on a seriously tiny budget, and her ‘lifeboat analogy’ which really did make me stop in my tracks, perhaps it will resonate with you too…

You can find Anna at https://www.notneedingnew.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/not.needing.new/

You can also find us over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and you can listen to past episodes at https://middlingalong.com  

 

Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share 

 

We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/

 

It would mean so much if you’d subscribe, rate, and review us to share the love and help others find the podcast too! 

You can also find me at https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause  or at www.managingthemenopause.com where we offer 1-1 coaching and workplace training. 

Get our free 'Guide to your GP appointment' at https://www.managingthemenopause.com/free-resources

 

Mari Williams on progesterone sensitivity in perimenopause

This time I welcome Mari Williams - author, leadership coach, podcaster, therapist and mediator. I connected with Mari online about three years ago, and when we caught up recently she mentioned that she really wanted to share her experiences of perimenopause, HRT, progesterone sensitivity, and how deeply the psychological symptoms of perimenopause had impacted her - even as someone with her background in therapy and coaching…

As someone who, in her words, was used to ‘good mental health’, Mari was taken aback by the extent of her psychological and emotional symptoms - so much so that her life was turned upside down by them and she experienced suicidal thoughts. The imposter thoughts, lack of confidence, and social anxiety also led to her seriously considering scaling back her successful business. As someone who had previously suffered with PMDD, it took this crisis in her mental health for a specialist to diagnose that she was reacting badly to the progesterone element of her HRT - once her oestrogen had been increased and the progesterone was changed to being taken vaginally, her mood lifted dramatically in just five days. 

We also talk a little about how childhood trauma can impact on severity of perimenopause symptoms, the importance of listening to our own bodies, and how important it is to look into family histories and patterns. 

 

You can find Mari online at https://www.mari-williams.com/

If you think you may be sensitive to progesterone you can find out more at https://www.balance-menopause.com/menopause-library/prgesterone-intolerance-factsheet/ 

You can also find us over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and you can listen to past episodes at https://middlingalong.com  

 

Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share 

 

We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/

 

It would mean so much if you’d subscribe, rate, and review us to share the love and help others find the podcast too! 

You can also find me at https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause  or at www.managingthemenopause.com where we offer 1-1 coaching and workplace training. 

Get our free 'Guide to your GP appointment' at https://www.managingthemenopause.com/free-resources

Dr Katie Barber on the NICE draft guidelines

In this slightly shorter than usual episode we welcome back to the podcast Dr Katie Barber, GP and menopause specialist. Our topic is the draft NICE guidelines for menopause, which caused quite a lot of attention in the media when the draft was released for consultation earlier in 2023 - particularly with reference to the focus on CBT for symptom management.

The consultation process closes in early January 2024, and no doubt the final version of the guidelines will be significantly different to this draft version. That said, I’m really grateful to Katie for giving us the benefit of her measured and nuanced take on this emotive topic, including:

• What the NICE guidelines actually are, for anyone who isn’t familiar with them;
• That CBT isn’t a ‘new’ addition to the guidelines, and can be a part of a ‘toolkit’ of options, including for those who can’t take HRT;
• The need for more research in several areas, including those on gender-affirming hormone treatment and HRT, breast cancer patients, and outcomes for ethnic minority groups;
• The overarching need for informed choice - as always - with both the benefits of HRT being clearly articulated as well as the risks. 

You can find Katie at https://www.oxfordmenopause.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/oxford_menopause/ and previously on the podcast at https://middlingalong.com/episodes/middling-along-dr-katie-barber-helps-us-get-to-grips-with-testosterone-dos-and-donts/ and https://middlingalong.com/episodes/middling-along-23-dr-katie-barber-on-menopause-myths-and-misconceptions/

 

You can also find us over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and you can listen to past episodes at https://middlingalong.com  

 

Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share 

 

We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/

 

It would mean so much if you’d subscribe, rate, and review us to share the love and help others find the podcast too! 

You can also find me at https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause  or at www.managingthemenopause.com where we offer 1-1 coaching and workplace training. 

Get our free 'Guide to your GP appointment' at https://www.managingthemenopause.com/free-resources 

Erica Davies on rediscovering our midlife fashion mojo

My guest this time is Erica Davies - a former fashion editor who has worked with some of the UK’s biggest newspapers, magazines and brands…She founded the hugely popular blog the-edited.com and now has an audience of more than 200,000 followers on Instagram. She’s passionate about encouraging women to make bold, confident and happiness-inducing choices through their clothing and interiors, and her most recent book, Style Chapters, was published earlier this year…and would make a fab Christmas present if you still have any friends or family members to buy for!

 

We talk about 

• where the inspiration for the book came from
• Erica’s advice for changing body shapes in midlife and rethinking what might have worked for us before but doesn't now
• Insider fashion editor tips for figuring out what is flattering - for example for anyone feeling ‘tummy-self-conscious’ 
• Her advice for getting out of a 'style funk'
• Getting the best out of second hand/preloved shopping
• Tips for staying chic whilst dressing to cope with menopause symptoms 
• Dopamine dressing and being more playful with our fashion choices for increasing our confidence 
• And just for fun, Erica’s three ‘Desert Island Dresses’ that she’d pick if she could only keep three…

 

You can find Erica at the-edited.com or https://www.instagram.com/erica_davies

 

You can also find us over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and you can listen to past episodes at https://middlingalong.com  

 

Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share 

 

We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/

 

It would mean so much if you’d subscribe, rate, and review us to share the love and help others find the podcast too! 

You can also find me at https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause  or at www.managingthemenopause.com where we offer 1-1 coaching and workplace training. 

Get our free 'Guide to your GP appointment' at https://www.managingthemenopause.com/free-resources 

Dr Beth Thomas on the latest science and treatments for menopause symptoms

In this episode we catch up with Dr Beth Thomas - who works with me at Managing the Menopause as our clinical lead, is a GP, and a menopause specialist seeing private clients with Everything Menopause.

 

We are covering - only a little belatedly - the latest research and developments that were presented this summer at the British Menopause Society conference. So if you’d like to find out more about what an expert in menopause is excited about, listen on to hear about:

• Fezolinetant (Veozah) - and when we might expect to hear more about this new class of drug for vasomotor symptoms being available for those who can’t take HRT 
• Why rates of endometrial cancer have greatly increased over the last decade
• The ‘Rule of 20’ for addressing weight gain in menopause
• Some fascinating facts about our gut microbiome and why this is the next big thing
• Ethnic differences in menopause symptoms, onset, and access to care
• Female-specific risk factors for increased risk of cardiovascular disease
• How to deal with sleep disturbance - and why you should care about ‘WASO’
• And last, but by no means least, tune in to find out about ‘Beth’s Rule’ and why we might all want to Be More Beth! 

 

You can find Beth at https://www.instagram.com/dr.beththomas/ and both of us at www.managingthemenopause.com 

 

Lou Featherstone on her radical midlife reinvention and the self-love revolution

My guest this time is Lou Featherstone - aka Luinluland: fashion legend and accidental midlife influencer who is proud to be growing old disgracefully!

Lou’s story of midlife reinvention is simultaneously hilarious and heart wrenching. Tune in to find out how and why a vicar’s daughter ended up leaving behind her marriage of 20 years and driving from one side of the USA to the other in a bus with over 400 vibrators on board!

Lou and I talk about:

• how moving to America was the catalyst for the breakdown of her marriage
• the dramatic event that sparked her mission to drive 6,000 miles from one coast of the USA to the other in a converted school bus…
• the story of how Lou came to own Susie the 32 foot long converted schoolbus and create the Self Love Revolution Tour
• the most defining - and hairiest - moments of her US trip
• what she misses about living in the US and what she definitely doesn’t
• and much, much more besides!

You can find Lou at:

https://luinluland.com/pages/about-me 

https://www.instagram.com/luinluland

You can also find us over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and you can listen to past episodes at https://middlingalong.com  

Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share 

We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/

It would mean so much if you’d subscribe, rate, and review us to share the love and help others find the podcast too! 

You can also find me at https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause  or at www.managingthemenopause.com where we offer 1-1 coaching and workplace training. 

Get our free 'Guide to your GP appointment' at https://www.managingthemenopause.com/free-resources 

Tanith Carey on why we might be feeling ’Blah’ and how to overcome it

My guest this time is Tanith Carey: Tanith is an award-winning writer and author of 12 books on psychology, parenting and social history, her writing has been featured in the Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Spectator and the Sydney Morning Herald. Her latest book is called ‘Feeling ‘Blah’?: Why anhedonia has left you joyless and how to recapture life’s highs.’

 

In this interview we cover:

• How she noticed a ‘lack of joy’ in her own day to day life and subsequently discovered the term “anhedonia” for the first time whilst late-night Googling
• the clash between our 'cave-dweller brain' and our 'always-on/more, more, more' modern world of comparison culture and how this hijacks our dopamine reward circuits to create a perfect breeding ground for anhedonia 
• what dopamine is actually ‘for’ - it may not be what you think…
• our inbuilt ‘negativity bias’ and how to combat it
• “glimmers” - little moments of joy that can help reduce cortisol levels
• how oestrogen and our other hormones impact the 'feel good chemicals' in us as cyclical beings and especially in peri/menopause
• how stress is the greatest enemy of joy there is…and how anticipation of ‘planned in’ activities that bring rest, enjoyment, or feed our ‘spark’ can make such a big difference to how we feel
• how joy is actually made up of three different components, rather than being just one thing
• how behavioural activation works 
• how we 'get our mojo back' - the ‘water pump’ analogy
• the impact of exercise and gratitude on our mood
• the difference between anhedonia and depression

 

And much, much more!

You can find Tanith at https://www.instagram.com/tanithcarey and https://www.instagram.com/no_more_blah_book and you can buy Feeling Blah fromhttps://www.waterstones.com/book/feeling-blah/tanith-carey/9781801292375 or wherever you buy your books!

 

You can also find us over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and you can listen to past episodes at https://middlingalong.com  

 

Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share 

 

We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/

 

It would mean so much if you’d subscribe, rate, and review us to share the love and help others find the podcast too! 

You can also find me at https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause  or at www.managingthemenopause.com where we offer 1-1 coaching and workplace training. 

Get our free 'Guide to your GP appointment' at https://www.managingthemenopause.com/free-resources