I don't want to get too big. I can't lift. I'm too tired by the end of the day. I did it once but didn't see results, so I quit.

Resistance training may not be your thing, but if you're a woman over 40, you might take another look at it. 

It's great for so many things: building and maintaining muscle mass. Helping you sleep better at night. Helping you manage midlife and menopause concerns like weight gain, hot flashes, insomnia, fatigue, poor balance, and weakening bones. 

You know as you get older that your body changes: muscles shrink, metabolism slows, body can look and feel less toned. Resistance training, done right, can help with those things, as well as improve core strength for better balance and generally lift your mood and confidence.

In this podcast, Gennev Director of Health Coaching Stasi Kasianchuk speaks with owner and founder of Driven Fitness, Erica Roselius. A full-time fitness professional and coach for more than 13 years, Erica works primarily with over 40s to help them manage weight and increase muscle. 

Why is it so important for women to incorporate resistance training? How can they benefit, and what risks do they take if they don't move more?

Listen, then find Erica at Driven Fitness and Stasi at Gennev for more information. 

You've been having hot flashes for a while. You still have periods, but sometimes you might go a month or two with nothing. You haven't felt much joy lately, sleep doesn't come as easily as it used to, and you're tired all the way to your bones.

How long is all of this going to last?

There's no hormone test that will tell you where you are in your menopause transition. Unfortunately, in perimenopause when symptoms first start to appear, your hormones are fluctuating so much, you might test as menopausal today but not tomorrow.

That doesn't mean you just grit your teeth and hope it's not the "20 years" you've heard about from others. Gennev's unique menopause assessment looks at your symptoms, your medical history, and your cycles to help you understand where you are -- and what might be coming next.

Knowing where you are means you understand when the changes in your body are normal and when they maybe signal a need for some medical attention. Knowing means you can prepare for the symptoms that may follow. 

In this podcast, OB/GYN, Chief Medical Officer, and menopause specialist Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su talks with Gennev CEO Jill Angelo about the Menopause Assessment she created for Gennev. They discuss the science behind it, the benefits of the data collected for both the woman who took it and the women who are coming up to perimenopause behind her. 

They also take on the issue of privacy with personal data and the many ways Gennev can help women have an easier, healthier menopause.

Curious? Take the free Gennev Menopause Assessment and find out where you are in your menopause transition.

Sugar is bad for my health, therefore I can't have any and am a weak person if I eat a donut.

Well, no. Human beings are really good at holding seemingly mutually exclusive positions (sugar is bad/I love sugar) at the same time. We're also really good at then feeling guilty and flawed for holding both ideas simultaneously.

Women are often caught in this bind in midlife: our culture celebrates youth, therefore aging must be "bad." Except that aging brings a whole lot of good with it, including experience, wisdom, and frankly, caring a whole lot less what "culture" has to say about our value.

Holding two views at once isn't crazy or wrong or weak; it can even be empowering. There's a tension in the gray space between that can cause stress, but it's also often a source of creation, of reimagining, of growth.

In this fascinating conversation between Gennev Director of Health Coaching Stasi Kasianchuk and regular guest metabolic surgeon and gut health expert Dr. Erika La Vella, they explore the "tension of duality." 

It doesn't have to be either/or (either sugar OR good health), so learn to embrace your "and."

Discover more from Dr. La Vella on her website LaVellaYourGuts.com. Be sure to check out all of her podcasts with Gennev at Gennev.com. And if you're ready to take the next step to better health in menopause, connect with a Health Coach at Gennev.com/plans. 

Talk to Meg Mathews for 30 seconds, and you'll know you're in the presence of a force.

Known for her work in marketing, music, fashion, and design, she is a highly accomplished woman with a big life and a big energy to sustain it. Now she's putting that drive and savvy behind educating the world about menopause.

Her new book The New Hot is a must-read for anyone dealing with menopause (and their partners). She takes on the taboos with common sense, humor, and a brook-no-BS born from years of being a celebrity. 

In this conversation with Gennev CEO Jill Angelo, Meg tells her personal story, and how the lack of good information and advice around menopause drove her to become a resource for others needing help.

Meg is a powerful advocate for women and trans individuals dealing with symptoms; she is also dedicated to helping others learn to advocate for themselves.

Meg Mathews is an icon of the nineties Brit-pop scene, a former music industry executive, and the ex-wife of Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher. In 2017, she launched Megs Menopause, a platform dedicated to breaking the stigma around menopause. In 2018, she held her first annual conference for menopause information and discussion. That same year, she was awarded the Inspiring Public Figure Award by the Inspiring Leadership Trust. She lives in London.

Learn more about Meg Mathews at her website, megsmenopause.com, or follow her on Twitter, @MegMathews, or Instagram, @megmathewsofficial_.

Follow Gennev at gennev.com, on Twitter @MyGennev, and on Instagram, @MyGennev. 

When Team Gennev went looking for the right face to put on our website, we had a good idea what we were looking for: a face that showed the strength, resilience, beauty, and energy of a woman in midlife and menopause.

It can be hard to find images of mature women doing anything besides fanning themselves and looking annoyed.

Happily, we finally found lots of incredible choices on the Ageist website: active women over 50 living their best lives, overcoming challenges, and full of the "zest" Margaret Mead was talking about.

We went a little crazy with the credit card, purchasing the rights to use these wonderful images of real women. 

As Ageist founder David Stewart said in his podcast with Gennev's Jill Angelo, we just don't see ourselves in the typical, commercial images of people our age. So when you come across a treasure trove of representative images, you take advantage.

One of the images we loved was that of Aliza Sherman — we loved it so much, she graces Gennev's home page with her wide-open smile. You can just feel the hum of energy and life flowing through her. 

Not long ago, @AlizaSherman tweeted, "Yes, that’s me. Apparently I’m the happy face of menopause." Team Gennev had been wanting to reach out and ask her to do a podcast; this was the nudge we needed. What follows is that conversation.

Learn more about Gennev and how we help women thrive through menopause and beyond at Gennev.com.

How do you discuss a “taboo” topic like menopause on a public forum like a podcast? With humor, insight, wisdom, and patience!

Meet Colleen Ricci Rosenblum and Bridgett Biagi Garratt, the forces behind the hit podcast for midlife women: Hot Flashes & Cool Topics.

A year and 60-or-so episodes out from their launch, and Colleen and Bridgett have a genuine hit on their hands.

They've talked about the things you might imagine, given their title: peri/menopause, being empty nesters and relationships with adult children, etc. 

But they've taken on some tougher topics as well, including Colleen's daughter's history with an eating disorder, difficult pregnancies, divorce, and suicide.

Initially, they reached out to Gennev to feature Gennev CEO Jill Angelo on a podcast; they were so delightful and informed and fun, we asked them to return the favor.

What follows is a great conversation about midlife, menopause, the (glacially slow) changing attitudes towards women's health, and what it's like to go in the public eye and share intimate information. 

Nutrition plays a critical role in supporting our immune system. Now more than ever it's time to prioritize your nutrition to keep you healthy and well. This doesn't need to take excessive amounts of time or advanced culinary skills. Listen to the podcast to learn easy ways to prepare and eat meals to support your immune health.

In this podcast, you'll hear Gennev's Director of Coaching Stasi Kasianchuk, RND, talking with another Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Monika Jacobson, about the importance of good food during stressful times. 

Healthy food is always important, but in this time of global pandemic, the more we can do to take care of ourselves, the more we slow the spread and ease the burden on overloaded health care facilities. 

And if the way we take care of ourselves makes us and our families feel good, happens to be delicious as well as nutritious, and can even be a fun activity to do together, well, even better.

Click here for more information on Gennev's HealthFix program. And learn more about Monika and her organization, Eat Move Thrive-Spokane.

Looking for more great information on wellness during COVID 19 and beyond? Check out Gennev's free Weekly Webinar series, where we talk with health professionals about the issues that concern you most. 

Find a full transcript of this podcast at Gennev.

How do sleep (or a lack of it) and stress (an abundance of it) affect your immune system?

A lot, it turns out, and while that's always important, it's particularly important during this time of COVID 19. 

To help people be well during this pandemic, Gennev is offering a series of weekly webinars on issues of women's health and how they're impacted by the isolation. 

What are the risk factors for contracting COVID 19, and what are the best ways to protect yourself? 

Be sure to learn about and register for upcoming webinars. 

Gennev is the first online clinic for women in midlife and menopause. If menopause symptoms are impacting your quality of life, take back control. Visit Gennev.com for more information.

Our recent podcast on COVID 19 was so popular, we decided to do a deeper dive into the particular risks women face and how we can best protect ourselves and those we care about.

In this webinar/podcast, Gennev CEO Jill Angelo talks to Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su, Chief Medical Officer and director of the Gennev Telemedicine program, Coaches Lauren Leedy and Stasi Kasianchuk of the Gennev HealthFix program, and Dr. Swapna Vaidya, psychiatrist, on ways we can stay physically and emotionally healthy in this very unusual, very unpredictable time.

You can also view the webinar video on YouTube and access the webinar/podcast transcript at Gennev.com. 

Middle age and menopause don't have to mean your sex life is impaired or worse, over.

But there can be additional challenges such as vaginal dryness, loss of libido, fatigue, even embarrassment over body changes that make us feel less than sexy. 

Our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su, spends a lot of time at her practice helping women regain their vibrant sex lives, and one thing she does is recommend books by Dr. Laurie Mintz, particularly A Tired Woman's Guide to Passionate Sex. 

In this podcast, Dr. Dunsmoor-Su got to chat directly with Dr. Mintz about all the things that can dampen the spark and how to reignite it.

Dr. Laurie Mintz is a licensed psychologist in private practice and a tenured Professor at the University of Florida, where she teaches the Psychology of Human Sexuality to hundreds of undergraduate students each year.

Dr. Mintz has published over 50 research studies in academic journals and six chapters in academic books. She has received numerous professional and teaching awards. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, indicating that her work has had a positive national influence on the field of psychology. 

Dr. Mintz is also the author of two popular press books—both written with the aim of empowering women sexually: Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters and How to Get It  and A Tired Woman’s Guide to Passionate Sex: Reclaim Your Desire and Reignite Your Relationship.

"There's been yet another round of lay-press headlines about how estrogen plus progesterone hormone replacement may increase the breast cancer risk," says OB/GYN Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su. 

Headlines don't tell the full story, and Dr. Dunsmoor-Su, who is an epidemiologist as well as an OB/GYN, helps us separate fact from fiction in this podcast.

If you're dealing with menopause symptoms and are worried about taking HRT to manage them, you'll want to give this a listen.

Darcey Steinke has written a wholly original book about menopause. And it's wonderful.

She starts with her own experience, then leads us on a journey that explores the biological, sociological, and cultural realities women have faced and continue facing during this part of their lives.

And how it's time those "realities" underwent some real scrutiny.

Darcey argues that menopause can and should be transformative – a unique opportunity to embrace a new, rich, potentially very altered self.

Once genneve CEO Jill Angelo heard Darcey on NPR's All Things Considered, she was eager to meet the woman who spoke so openly and honestly about the changes menopause can have on bodies, sex, relationships, and our own identities as women.

When she learned Darcey was coming to Seattle (home to genneve HQ) to speak about her book, Jill reached out.

What follows is an incredibly lively, fun, and inspiring conversation. We hope you enjoy it, and if you're able to attend Darcey's show in Seattle, we'll see you there!

Many women aren't familiar with the term "perimenopause," even though it could explain their suddenly unpredictable periods, night sweats, and even crappier PMS.

Doctor of Pharmacy Dr. Anna Garrett is on a mission to help women better understand their bodies – and help us all better understand the hormonal journey women travel throughout their lives.

In this podcast with genneve CEO Jill Angelo, Dr. Anna discusses why 35 isn't "too early" to start talking about and preparing for perimenopause and menopause, how these two phases of a woman's life differ, and why it's so important to all women's health to have open conversations about hormones.

Have a listen, then check out Dr. Anna's book, Perimenopause: The Savvy Sister's Guide to Hormone Harmony.

In 2002, the Women's Health Initiative released the results of its study, claiming use of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) increased a woman's risk of breast cancer.

Almost overnight, use plummeted, leaving a great many women without a good alternative for managing their menopause symptoms.

In their book Estrogen Matters, Dr. Avrum Bluming and Dr. Carol Tavris take a deep and detailed look at the WHI study and its conclusions.

Not only, they argue, did the WHI unnecessarily frighten women and leave them suffering with very real symptoms, they may also have prevented women from taking a life-changing, even life-prolonging treatment.

In this podcast with genneve CEO Jill Angelo and genneve Director of Health ob/gyn Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su, Drs. Tavris and Bluming take us through their research and make a compelling case for the safety and effectiveness of HRT.

If you're in or approaching menopause, this podcast and the book Estrogen Matters can help you better understand HRT, its true risks, and the very real benefits it can offer.

Learn more and find the full transcript at genneve.com.

If you're a woman with a personal or family history of heart disease, don't assume your heart health is completely out of your hands.

And don't assume you "don't need to worry about heart disease" because you're a woman with no family or personal history.

In this podcast, genneve Director of Health, ob/gyn Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su, interviews one of Seattle's leading cardiologists, Dr. Sarah Speck, on ways to improve your heart health, starting right now, today.

Know your risk factors (preeclampsia can be a risk factor for future heart disease – who knew?) and how to manage them (losing 10% of your body weight if you're overweight can substantially reduce impacts on heart health). 

Also, if you're considering HRT to manage perimenopause and menopause symptoms, what are the implications for your heart? 

Take 15 minutes to listen; it could change your life.