If You Want To Take On Your 40’s With Hormone Harmony, You Should: Change your mindset, believe your body works for you, and be willing to make changes as your body changes Stop resisting menopause as a sign of age and instead embrace the biological aspect of this new phase Get tested for insulin resistance if you can, improve your gut function, and decrease your stress   While your hormones may be changing in your 40’s, that does not mean you have to suffer. If you can adopt a great mindset, believe that your body works for you, and are open to making changes as your body changes, you could be entering one of the best times of your life. By creating a mindset of living your best life and adopting practices to help support the changes your hormones are going through, you can set yourself up for hormone harmony for as long as possible.   Thrive in Your 40’s and Beyond With Dr. Lara Briden Lara Briden is a dear friend, fellow hormone expert, naturopathic doctor, and author of the bestselling books Period Repair Manual and Hormone Repair Manual. She has more than 20 years of experience in women’s health and currently has a consulting room in Christchurch, New Zealand, where she treats women with PCOS, PMS, endometriosis, perimenopause, and many other hormones and period-related health problems.   Live Your Best Life Navigating your hormones in your 40’s and beyond can seem a bit intimidating. The truth is, your symptoms could be showing up a lot earlier than you think, which is why it is essential to equip yourself with the knowledge you need to help your hormones during this transition. Unfortunately, our modern world has changed the way we experience perimenopause and menopause. But the good news is that you don’t need to suffer through symptoms or ‘feel old’. All you need is the information necessary to help yourself live your best life.   Adapting to a New Normal During this time of transition, your brain, along with your hormones, is recalibrating to your new hormonal state. Helping your brain and your hormones complete this transition is key to improving your metabolic flexibility and lessening your symptoms.  Dr. Briden and I want to challenge you to stop looking at menopause as ‘aging’, because this was always your body's plan. Instead, we want you to make changes in harmony with the changes your body is making to welcome this new phase of your life as the most successful and progressive. Perimenopause and menopause can be the best time of your life if you are able to adapt to your new needs and support your body in your 40’s and beyond. Are you ready to have healthy hormones in your 40’s? Share what steps you are taking with me in the comments section of the episode page.   Quotes: “Women in their 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s gather more food and get more stuff done than any other demographic.” (13:40) “When I look back at 30-40 years of menstrual cycles and making lots of estrogen and progesterone, and that was a very special time, but it had to end.  It is not meant to last forever.” (15:25) “I know there are at least a few people listening who are going ‘I don’t want to hear that, it’s not what I want to hear’. But it’s just really an important message.”  (32:57) “The stakes are high. This is not just about feeling better and not having night sweats or hot flashes. This is actually about your brain health for the next few decades.” (37:00) “It becomes a vicious cycle, which can be corrected, so it’s not like it is all hopeless. But the correction starts by identifying what is going on, and that starts by diagnosing insulin resistance.” (39:14)   In This Episode Understanding the connection between puberty, your ancestors, and menopause (6:30) What you should expect to experience as your hormones are transitioning (12:00) Debunking the myths around hormone replacement and the benefits of hormone supplements during perimenopause (18:42) The role of estrogen in relation to your ovaries and recommendations to support it during