Kirsten Lewis, at the age of 57, just ran her fastest 5K time–post-menopause, less than two years after she was ready to hang up her racing shoes and walk away from it all while in the throes of the menopause transition. She credits feeling stronger, happier, more grounded, and winning her age group in recent sprint and Olympic distance triathlons to the process of “rewilding menopause”: going back to the roots of what it means to be a woman in menopause; going back to her own roots; and steppin...
Apr 13, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 77
If you’re a woman, someone somewhere has a diet to sell you. If you’re a menopausal woman, that diet is likely to paint carbs as the root of all your woes–and the elimination or restriction of them as your midlife salvation. This week we sat down with dietitian and “undiet” advocate Jenn Salib Huber, RD, ND, to dive into the ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting, food phobia, and how diets can have unintended negative health consequences and fuel our food obsession rather than set us free. Jenn i...
Apr 06, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 76
Whether you’re training for a tri, into CrossFit, or just want to be strong for life, barbells are the most effective way to get full-body strong in very little time. Barbell lifting also builds bone and muscle, improves stability and mobility, and makes you feel like a complete badass. This week we talk all about why barbells are the best training medicine and how to get started with coach and competitive strength and rowing athlete, Cassi Niemann. Cassi is a Barbell Medicine Coach and the lead...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 75
Need glasses for the first time in your life? Contacts suddenly feel too tight? Are your eyes dry and itchy? Menopause and midlife can usher in a cascade of vision and eye health changes. Thankfully there are many ways you can sharpen your sight and keep your eyes healthy (and more comfortable!). We dig into all that and more with this week’s guest, Christine Begley, OD. Christine is an optometrist with Marion Eye Center in Carbondale, Illinois. She’s been treating eyes for more than 20 years an...
Mar 23, 2022•57 min•Ep. 74
Dim the lights. Pour a drink. Light some candles. And get ready to…row! Yep, row. Indoor rowing can be an exercise in meditation, says this week’s guest and rowing aficionado, Sarah Fuhrmann. It also uses 86 percent of your muscles and can be an ass-kicking workout when you want it to be. This week we dive into the benefits of rowing, especially for women in the menopausal transition who need to HIIT it and chill out equally hard. Sarah is CEO of UCanRow2, which provides rowing workouts, trainin...
Mar 16, 2022•57 min•Ep. 73
Even if you brush, floss, and get regular dental check-ups, if you’re like many athletes—especially those in the menopause transition—you may still struggle with tooth decay and oral health woes. That’s because both athletics and hormone decline can lead to conditions that set the stage for dental disease and mouth discomfort, both of which can put a damper on your performance (and your pocketbook). This week, we help save your smile with dental health expert and avid triathlete Dr. Julie Gallag...
Mar 09, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 72
Anyone who’s ever hit the wall at mile 19 of a marathon or fizzled out on a Fran at CrossFit, knows how important glucose (aka sugar) is for energy–both mentally and physically. As women in the menopause transition, we also know that managing generally healthy blood sugar levels can be more challenging as we can become more carbohydrate sensitive and insulin resistant as our hormones decline. This week, we dive into how to eat your carbs and manage your blood sugar, too with Molly Downey, RDN, L...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 71
We all want to belong. That desire can increase during the menopause transition, when having a community to share experiences with helps us feel less alone. But making those connections isn’t always easy, especially when culture doesn’t include you. This week’s guest, long time athlete Elizabeth Allen, who identifies as a Black, plus-sized GenXer (who is also now firmly in the menopause transition) knows all about that. Elizabeth was recently honored as a “Change Maker in Cycling” by Stamina Rac...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 70
For far too long, many of us have defined ourselves (or worse our self worth) by the size of our thighs and the circumference of our waistline, setting ourselves up for a lifelong battle with our bodies and an underlying discontent with who we are based upon a largely unattainable “ideal.” That can get worse during the menopause transition when our body shape starts to shift. This week’s guest, Kaisa Keranen, AKA KaisaFit, is on a mission to change that. As she says: “What I look like does not d...
Feb 16, 2022•58 min•Ep. 69
Sometimes life sidelines us, knocking us off the path we thought we’d be on forever, or at least for the foreseeable future. Menopause can certainly trip us up. But so can many other random, sometimes terrible, events we never saw coming. And sometimes we end up contending with all of it. This week’s guest, Jennifer Maxwell, knows all about that and talks about how she has maintained her athleticism, passion, and profession while raising six kids after losing her husband unexpectedly. Jennifer i...
Feb 09, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 68
What do you do when menopause turns you into a nearly unrecognizable version of yourself? If you’re Gina Ransom, you pore through every resource you can find, advocate for yourself and others in the same situation, and form a community so you all can keep on kicking ass. Gina is a lifelong fitness professional who was blindsided by depression, anxiety, anger, as well as a host of physical symptoms despite “doing everything right.” Eventually she managed to find help, and maybe most importantly s...
Feb 02, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 67
It’s easy to look at the barriers we face and think, “I can’t.” Leah Goldstein is here this week to show you, you can. Leah won the Race Across America (RAAM) outright last year at age 52, beating the next closest man by 17 hours. But that barely scratches the surface of her myriad accomplishments and the indomitable spirit that we dive into on the show this week. Leah was the World Kickboxing Champion by age 17. Shortly thereafter, she enlisted in the Israeli Military and became one of the few ...
Jan 26, 2022•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 66
Running is a coping mechanism for many trauma survivors. You lace up and put one foot in front of the other for solace and escape. But what happens when you hit menopause and the demons start to catch up? This week’s guest, coach and endurance athlete Athena Farias talks about all that and more this week as she unpacks how the symptoms she’s facing during the menopause transition are magnified by the trauma of her past. Athena is an RRCA Level 2 Certified Running Coach, NASM Certified Personal T...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 65
Menopause can be a wet blanket for competitive athletes. How do you keep showing up to start lines when you’re managing hot flashes, heat intolerance, poor sleep, and watching peers walk away from the sport? This week’s guest has some answers. A lifelong athlete and self proclaimed triathlon addict, Julie Dunkle, now in her mid 50s, has had to navigate a number of physical and emotional challenges related to menopause, but has found a way to maintain her love of the sport and keep her competitiv...
Jan 12, 2022•59 min•Ep. 64
Most of us–even the most active among us–are limited in how well we move. Sure we can run or ride a bike or lift heavy sh*t, but can we balance on a beam or jump over fallen logs? Can we move with strength and fluidity in every direction? Can we go over, under, and through obstacles with ease? Unless we practice, the answer is likely no. This week’s guest, Dr. Julie Angel, who has completed the world's first parkour themed Ph.D., is on a mission to change that. She focuses on helping midlife wom...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 63
Your brain is your largest--and arguably your most important--sex organ. It’s also the most overlooked, especially during the menopausal transition when we spend a whole lot of time talking about our vaginas (which are important, too, of course!). This week’s guest Kelly Casperson, MD, talks about all of it in a show that drives home the mind-vagina connection during menopause and midlife. Dr. Casperson is a urologist interested in science and the power of the mind to change our views of sexuali...
Dec 29, 2021•54 min
Hormone therapy for menopause is rife with confusion, fear, misunderstanding, and outright misinformation. Even doctors, who are often relying on long debunked research, can be at a loss to help women make educated choices for their health, well-being, and performance during this time. This week’s guests, Drs. Avrum Bluming and Carol Tavris, authors of Estrogen Matters go to great lengths to describe the real risks (or lack thereof) and myriad benefits of hormone therapy for women in their menop...
Dec 22, 2021•1 hr 38 min
Longevity in sport takes determination, curiosity, and the ability to adapt to what your mind and body needs as time goes on. That’s the embodiment of professional triathlete, mountain bike racer, coach, and 5x world champion Melanie McQuaid, who continues to kick ass through the menopause transition, placing 3rd at Ironman Chattanooga and 10th at Xterra World Championships in Maui this year. Melanie has raced as a pro athlete in four different sports and holds titles in a slew of disciplines in...
Dec 15, 2021•1 hr 8 min
“Who am I now?” That’s an identity crisis many of us face during the menopausal transition, especially if we end up taking a step back from our primary sport or activity to figure out what we want from athletics in this next phase of life. This week’s guest, life and wellness coach Lisa Hesse, helps active and athletic women define themselves and find solid ground during the “lifequake” of menopause when the earth seems to be shifting under our feet every five seconds. Lisa is a Nationally Board...
Dec 08, 2021•1 hr 18 min
“Menopause Is Hell. It Also Made Me a Better Climber.” That’s the title of a feature article written in Outside magazine by this week’s guest and legendary outdoor sport athlete Jeannie Wall. We dig into what that piece is all about and address topics of fear, anxiety, rage, hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, and the power, yes the power, of invisibility. Jeannie spent decades as a world class skier and an ultra runner. Currently, she is obsessed with climbing in all its forms. She's a rookie g...
Dec 01, 2021•1 hr 16 min
Joint pain, hot flashes, night sweats, crushing fatigue. Menopause can usher in a host of symptoms that make daily life challenging, let alone daily life on top of training and racing as a recreational athlete, being a mom, and managing a business. But with knowledge, practice, and patience, it can be done. This week’s guest, Registered Sports Nutritionist, ultra-runner, mom of four, and owner of Elev8nutrition is here to share how she stays on top of the symptoms as an athletic woman in perimen...
Nov 24, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Women make testosterone. It works in concert with estrogen and progesterone to maintain healthy muscles and bones and fires up your sex drive and helps protect your brain. Yet there are no FDA approved testosterone products for women and “T” is not included in standard menopausal hormone therapy. So women are left to their own devices, and reasonably have a lot of questions about when they might need it, how to get it, and what to expect from testosterone therapy. This week’s guest Carla DiGirol...
Nov 17, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Our performance nutrition needs change during the menopause transition. Few know that better than women who both teach it and live it as athletes and sports dietitians, like this week’s guest Lauren Antonucci, RDN, CSSD, author of High-Performance Nutrition for Masters Athletes. Along with being a sports nutritionist, Lauren is a runner, an Ironman athlete, and a mom of three. Once she hit perimenopause, she took Dr. Stacy Sims’ Menopause for Athletes course and made adjustments to her own tra...
Nov 10, 2021•1 hr 19 min
Bunions and bone spurs and heel pain, oh my! Foot pain in all shapes and forms is extremely common and becomes more so as we enter the menopause transition and our estrogen declines, taking our collagen production with it, which impacts the dozens of joints and tendons in our feet. That’s important because our feet are literally the foundation of nearly every physical activity we do. This week’s guest, president of the American Association for Women Podiatrists, Dr. Karen Langone, helps us sort ...
Nov 03, 2021•1 hr 6 min
As active women we know all about our muscles. We know the sets and reps to work our shoulders, glutes, and core. We’re proficient in using dumbbells, kettlebells, and squat racks. But when it comes to training our pelvic floor, we know one word: Kegels. That’s not enough. In fact, if our pelvic floor is a “Lock Down Donna” as this week’s guest would say, Kegels may be the last thing we need. Our pelvic floor muscles play a role in essential functions like continence and sex that impact the qual...
Oct 27, 2021•1 hr
Never underestimate the power of menopausal women. Their years of experience and deep well of physical and mental strength uniquely positions them to move mountains--or at least a fully loaded dragon boat weighing more than a ton. This week’s guests Chris Head, a newbie dragon boat racer with the Dragon Divas, a team of Breast Cancer survivors and Connie Flesuras, longtime coach at Dragon Boat Training, Inc. share their experiences with this unique sport and how the dragon boat community has cha...
Oct 20, 2021•59 min
As a woman you can lose up to 20% of your bone density during the five to seven years following menopause. Given the fact that we hit peak bone density by age 30, we can’t go back in time and build more, but we can take steps right now to hang onto what we have to keep our skeleton strong and resilient. This week we bring in two guests from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City to explain how: Dr. Marci Goolsby and Dr. Alana Serota. Marci Goolsby, MD, is Co-Director of the Women's Sp...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 17 min
Happy birthday to Hit Play Not Pause! As a special gift, past guest, personal trainer, and healthy ageing coach Tania Dalton turns the tables and interviews host Selene Yeager for a 1 year anniversary bonus edition of the podcast. The two dive deep into Selene’s background as an accidental athlete turned professional level cyclist as well as her career writing about health, fitness, and endurance sports. Selene opens up about struggles with body image, eating disorders, nerves, and anxiety, as w...
Oct 08, 2021•2 hr 1 min
Whether we run, ride, swim, or practice martial arts, at some point we can feel like we’re nearing the end of the line with how far we can go. That’s especially true when menopause and midlife put us in a Malachi crunch. But maybe what feels like an endpoint is really the starting point of something exciting and new. That’s how this week’s guest, legendary cyclist Mari Holden views this stage of life since turning 50 this year. As she explains in her new Scuderia film Just Getting Started, “I fe...
Oct 06, 2021•52 min
Your brain is your largest--and arguably your most important--sex organ. It’s also the most overlooked, especially during the menopausal transition when we spend a whole lot of time talking about our vaginas (which are important, too, of course!). This week’s guest Kelly Casperson, MD, talks about all of it in a show that drives home the mind-vagina connection during menopause and midlife. Dr. Casperson is a urologist interested in science and the power of the mind to change our views of sexuali...
Sep 29, 2021•54 min
