5 Things I've Learned Since Starting Feisty Menopause Four Years Ago

By Selene Yeager

When we launched Feisty Menopause and the Hit Play Not Pause podcast in 2020, for active women in the menopause transition, menopause was still a stigma-filled word hiding in the shadows. Since that time, we’ve pulled this pivotal, important, and dare I say powerful transition in a woman’s life out of the dark, and we’ve had hundreds of loud and proud conversations about it on the mic. Menopause is now mainstream and I’m proud of being part of the movement that made that happen.

As we celebrate our 200th episode, I’ve reflected on the dozens of interviews I’ve had with prominent global researchers, scientists, athletes, dietitians, physiologists, and others over these past four years. 

Through it all, there are five primary lessons I’ve taken away and that will stay with me for the next 200 episodes and beyond. 

1. Women are underserved. 

Period. Despite the fact that menopause feels like it’s everywhere right now from the Wall Street Journal to the Super Bowl ads, too many women still struggle to find a healthcare provider who takes their perimenopause or postmenopause symptoms seriously. They’re still being told they’re too young for that or that there’s nothing we can do during perimenopause no matter how much they’re suffering. It’s unconscionable. US data on hormone therapy prescriptions shows that we have not seen use increase over the past 20 years, despite increased awareness about its safety and effectiveness. It remains under 4%. Even if that figure is not capturing everyone, it’s still a very low number even if you quadruple it, because we know that up to 80% of women have vasomotor symptoms, many of them very disruptive and persistent. Too many women are suffering.

2. Knowledge is the best medicine.

Menopause can cause dozens of physical, emotional, and psychological symptoms—many of which women have never been told are hormonally driven. This has caused women to leave their jobs, quit their sports, and feel like they’re falling apart. Once they understand the root cause, they start feeling better even if they’re still experiencing brain fog and anxiety and other symptoms, because they understand what’s happening, so it’s less scary. We need to empower women with information about this the same way we do puberty and pregnancy.

3. It is not the end of the line. 

The headlines surrounding menopause tend to be negative. It’s the end of your reproductive years. Your body will change. You’ll be at risk for all these diseases. It’s presented as “the end of your youth.” But, even if some aspects of life are ending, others are just beginning. I didn’t appreciate how women blossom during menopause before doing this show. They stop caring so much about what others think and start stepping into their own power. Menopause isn’t an end. It’s a transitionary period in life when it’s time to take stock of your health and make decisions about how you’re going to maintain it. But there’s also a whole lot of great living and adventure ahead. 

4. Our future lies in our muscles.

I knew muscle was important from a mechanical standpoint. It makes you strong and resilient so you can continue living an independent life and doing the activities you love. But, over the years, as researchers are showing how muscle protects the brain and the heart and, of course, the bones, I’ve come to appreciate that muscle is everything and that resistance training is non-negotiable for midlife women. Get strong. Stay strong. Mentally, physically, and structurally. 

5. We don’t know our outer limits.

The women going through menopause right now are largely the Title IX generation. Before that, you didn’t have large numbers of 40+ women running marathons, competing in CrossFit, participating in sports of all kinds like you do now. Before doing this show, I might have accepted the conventional wisdom (which was based on nothing) that of course we slow down a lot when we’re 50 or whatever. But I see so many women now in their 50s and 60s still competing at a very high level. Women are learning how to work with their changing hormonal physiology to stay on top form far longer than anyone would have imagined.

Who knows where the ceiling is? We’re still finding out!

Selene Yeager is the host of 'Hit Play Not Pause.' Listen to the 200th episode of the podcast. And if you don't know where to get started, check out the playlist with ten of our most popular episodes over the years.