Old Chicks Know Sh*t Podcast

Love Your Body At Any Age

So many of us struggle with body image and weight gain as we age. Imagine loving your body exactly as it is while still achieving your weight loss and fitness goals. In today's podcast, I have a great conversation with Steph Miramontes, a Mind Body Transformation Strategist, about how we can achieve the results we want from a place of love and respect for our bodies instead of hatred and disgust. 
 
Steph shares her own journey of struggling with negative body image and diet and how she overcame it. She shares how diets, even when we do lose weight, actually exacerbate body image issues and leave us still picking our body apart and wishing it was better. 
 
We talk about how the health and fitness industry and media have tricked us into betraying our bodies based on an unrealistic and often unattainable ideal.  Steph shares that the key to lasting transformation is an inside job focused on mind, body, and soul and rebuilding the most important relationship we have, the one with our ourselves.
 
I hope you enjoy this episode and learn more about how to start having a love affair with your body as it is, now.
 
Learn more about Steph
Steph is the owner of soul-centred Fitness where she takes fitness and nutrition coaching from a mundane task list to inspired action. She’ll help you pull back the curtain on why you want to change while guiding you on a journey that is sustainable. She is also a Desire Map facilitator and blends the perfect amount of no BS coaching with grace and compassion. She has been helping people achieve their fitness goals since 2012.
 
She's committed to not only helping her clients untangle their relationship to food and end yo-yo dieting but also helps them heal a lifelong battle with their body image.
 
You can find Steph on Instagram, and listen to her podcast The MindBody Alchemy Podcast here.

How To Thrive In Menopause

I am thrilled to have fitness expert, Amanda Thebe, back to talk about her popular new book called Menopocalypse. It's a hilarious and well-researched book that provides a ton of great information and quite a few chuckles.
Amanda chronicles her menopause journey and how that led her to go deep into the research of how nutrition, exercise, stress and other things affect the menopause experience. Her philosophy is that the more we understand what's going on with our body, the more empowered we are to take back our power in this stage of life. Although menopause symptoms can be very different for each woman, Amanda shares the five most common symptoms and how to help deal with them. She also reviews diseases and health issues that post-menopausal women are more at risk for and how we can support our bodies. And of course, she brings her fitness expertise to the discussion as we talk about movement, exercise and the importance of strength training.
Did you ever think about menopause as a good thing? Amanda and I discuss how it is important for us to change our view of menopause as a pivotal point or pattern interrupt to re-evaluate our lives instead of as a disruption. The impact of stress and how we think has a big impact on how we experience menopause. This episode will challenge you to think differently about this stage of life.
Reference: Amanda mentions the book The Menopause Diet Plan by Hillary Wright and Elizabeth M. Ward
Would you like to learn more about Amanda?
Amanda Thebe is a force of nature for women who are experiencing menopause hell and want to start feeling healthy and fit in their 40s and beyond. With over 20 years of experience in the fitness industry, Amanda is a highly regarded expert on women’s fitness and health. A popular guest on podcasts and online summits, she brings refreshing humour and no-nonsense approach to subjects usually shrouded in shame. Through her frank articles, hilarious social media posts and inspirational and entertaining talks, Amanda continually inspires the loyal readers of her website, FitnChips.com.
Her exercise workouts and fitness tips have been featured in Shape, Prevention, Health Line, Global News Canada, Lifehacker, Breaking Muscle, Girls Gone Strong, and Ultimate Sandbag Training. She lives in Houston, Texas.
WEBSITE: FitnChips.com
SOCIAL: Podcast | https://fitnchipschats.podomatic.com/
Instagram | www.instagram.com/amanda.thebe
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/fitnchips
Facebook community | www.facebook.com/groups/menopausingsohard
Twitter | https://twitter.com/fitnchips
BOOK: Menopocalypse can be found on Amazon and other large retailers - https://www.fitnchips.com/books/

The Unexpected Emotional Toll of Aging Parents

Today's episode is the second in a series about caring for aging parents. It's an important topic that is impacting so many of my clients and this community. It's something that I am familiar with and am currently dealing with as well. The physical aspects of care are pretty straight forward but what is often unexpected is the emotional impacts it can have on us - fear, guilt, resentment and more. 
This conversation with Resa Eisen, a licensed therapist, social worker and mediator, sheds some light on how we as women can take charge of our emotional health while navigating this path with grace for all concerned.
We talk about the importance of giving ourselves permission for the feelings that arise as we navigate the complex family dynamics when we go from being the child to the caregiver.
During this podcast, we also chat about patterns of conflict that follow us from our families-of-origin and the cultural expectations for women as the primary caregiver, especially while we are in the midst of our own midlife struggles. There is also the added cultural imperative to be "unseen" and “ unheard”. Resa believes that women have the power within them to take charge of their emotional health, and provides her top 3 things we can do right now to make a shift for the positive.
Want to learn more about Resa?
Resa Eisen is a Social Worker, Therapist and Mediator, who has, over the course of her forty-year career, found her passion for understanding conflict and its impact on our most significant and intimate relationships. Over the years, Resa has launched many training programs in conflict-resolution, co-founded The Essential Conversations Project® to help older adults and their families prepare, plan and make decisions in mid-life and beyond, and has been an active member in her professional associations.
In the New Year, Resa plans to launch her newest program, called “Courage My Love: Lifting Your Emotional Health as a Woman Caring for your Aging Parents”.
Check out her website at www.marathonmediation.ca or email her at resa@marathonmediation.ca

Have You Been Hypnotized That You're Over The Hill?

You're going to love today's episode. It's a hilarious conversation with 77-year-old Hollywood actress Mariann Aalda who appeared in many popular 1980’s television shows. She shares her journey of realizing that she was being “Aged out" of her 30 year Hollywood career when the phone suddenly stopped ringing. But that didn't stop Mariann. She has since gone on to create, produce and star in several one-woman comedy acts about the experience of aging as a woman in our society. Her mission is all about empowering women to stand in their power no matter what age. 
We chatted about how we have been hypnotized and conditioned by the media and how that has translated into negative self talk about this time of life.
There are so many hilarious one-liners from Mariann in this conversation. Get ready to have a great laugh.
Here is the link to her Ted Talk we mentioned titled "Ageism Is a Bully...Stand Up to It!"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcP4UxY_Q9o&feature=youtu.be
In the 1980s Mariann Aalda was a daytime television pioneer as one of the first - and still few - African-American daytime soap opera heroines, playing the feisty young criminal defence attorney, DiDi Bannister, on ABC’s EDGE OF NIGHT. Today, at 72 — after being “aged out” of Hollywood after a successful 30-year career in television, she’s blazing new trails...prosecuting ageism!
You can find her on Instagram  @mariannaaldathecronecrusader

Switch Careers Without Starting Over or Taking a Pay Cut

This episode is focused on all things career and I have a fabulous conversation with Amber Beam who is a Midlife Career Coach.
Amber loves what she does and her energy is infectious! She helps us to open our mind and look at our career and skillsets in a whole different way.
We review the #1 factor for job satisfaction and how it helps make you happier in your career but also in your life as well. Amber provides tips for finding your 'secret sauce' and offers a free resource to help you discover yours. Another valuable piece we discuss is the difference between your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) versus your 'selling sauce'.
Have you ever thought about the 'Opportunity Cost' of staying in the role you are currently in, even though it isn't lighting your fire anymore? Amber gets the wheels turning and helps us shed a light on the vast possibilities available to midlife women.
Amber provides some really useful tips on how to make a change of career without starting over or taking a pay cut. She works with midlife women every day to help them love what they do and get compensated appropriately.
This book was referenced in the podcast: How Women Rise by Sally Haelgesen
Here is the freebie Amber mentioned at the end of the podcast for her 'Complete Roadmap to Advancing Your Career in Good Times and Bad' - amberbeam.com/results
Want to learn more about Amber?
Amber’s mission is to eradicate soul-sucking jobs everywhere! With 15 years in HR as an I-O Psychologist, she’s seen it all! Now she’s throwing back the curtain to reveal what you really need to know to win-over sceptics in HR.
She shatters the “it’s too late” and “I don’t think I have enough experience” myths to show women over 40 how to cash-in on decades of experience and launch a soul-mate career that makes a difference and pays the bills!
Her proven coaching programs and courses have helped tons of talented women score five-figure raises and “Summer Fridays” year-round. Her greatest achievement is hearing clients say, “now I look forward to going to work!”
Her website is: www.amberbeam.com
Connect with her on Facebook @withAmberBeam or on Instagram @withAmberBeam

Women, Power and Societal Conditioning

Today’s podcast is all about how centuries of historical and societal conditioning has impacted how midlife women are perceived in our culture and how we think about ourselves.
 
I chat with Melanie Klein who is a professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies and a respected thought leader in the areas of self-acceptance, body confidence and empowerment. 
 
We have an amazing conversation about confidence, respect, invisibly and how we find empowerment in this time of life. We also discuss the astonishing statistics about the female image, aging and associated messaging that is so prevalent in our social media culture and how that impacts us through menopause and beyond.
 
Melanie shares the historical context for why we as women often fear our power and how getting out of our intellect and into the ‘feeling’ helps to us to reclaim it and take full ownership of all that we are and all that we are becoming as we age.
 
It's a fascinating conversation that sheds so much light on how we got to where we are and how we shift the narratives and perspectives moving forward. 
 
I hope you enjoy this as much I did. Let me know what you thought. 
 
Melanie C. Klein, M.A., is a sought-after empowerment coach and respected thought leader in the areas of authentic empowerment, radical self-acceptance and super-charged confidence. She is also a successful writer, speaker, and Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies. Based on over two decades of professional and personal work, Melanie integrates her backgrounds in mindfulness and embodied wisdom with her academic expertise and advocacy work. In this way, she offers a holistic and unique pathway to personal freedom and prosperity, one that is customized to each individual. melaniecklein.com/    
 
You can find Melanie on Instagram at melmelklein or on her website at www.melaniecklein.com
 

Managing the Sandwich Generation

Are you a middle-aged woman sandwiched between taking care of your kids and your aging parent(s)? With many of us having kids later in life we find ourselves in what’s known as 'the sandwich generation’. And the demands can feel overwhelming.
In today's episode, I speak with Karen Faith Gordon, a gerontologist and elder care advocate about how to navigate the demands of this time of life.
We discuss how the older generation is really struggling during the current pandemic and how to help them manage their fear. Karen provides some great tips on how to provide support during this time
She shares how it is important to recapture the relationship of being a daughter, while still being the caregiver, and explains how to process the feelings of guilt, overwhelm and even grief that arises to create an open and honest dialogue. This can feel especially challenging when many of our parents come from a generation of suppressing emotions. 
As a  yoga teacher, Karen talks about the benefits that yoga brings to her elderly clients and how it can support them in the aging process. 
If you find yourself as part of the sandwich generation then this is one episode you won’t want to miss.
Karen Faith Gordon helps individuals and families address issues of aging through mental health/grief counselling, patient advocacy, care coordination, real estate and placement guidance to address short and long term care needs, and adaptive yoga for optimal well being. To learn more about Karen visit her website at https://karenfaith.llc/

Aging and Body Image

How do you talk to yourself about the way your body is aging?
In today's episode, I have a beautiful conversation with Lorraine Ladish about body image at middle age and beyond.
Lorraine shares her personal story about struggling with eating disorders and body image at a young age and how she overcame it in midlife. She now has a strong relationship and love for her body and provides tips on how you can too. We talk about a recent blog post  where she shares photos from an 'honest' photo shoot and how one of the 'real' photos went viral. Here is a link to the blog post we referred to: https://www.vivafifty.com/over-50-birthday-photoshoot-lorraine-ladish-13313/We talk about how an aging body is perceived in the media and how the perception is a 'learned behaviour' and that we 'allow' ourselves to 'believe' certain things that work against us. Lorraine shares some practical optimism about this that you are going to want to hear. Lorraine has fully claimed her power at midlife and is a true inspiration. We also talk about the fear of aging in our culture and how we all have a responsibility to provide positive education and inspiration to younger women about aging. 
Lorraine is a 21st. Century Communicator, helping empower women and others to achieve their goals. She is the founder and CEO of Viva Fifty! a bilingual community that celebrates being 50+. She's worked as an editor and social media coordinator for a number of online publications. She is a content creator and regular contributor to NBCNews, Huffpost, AARP, Babycenter and Mom.me. Lorraine has contributed to People en Español, La Palma of The Palm Beach Post,  Purple Clover, Latina magazine and Redbook . Her latest book on embracing age was published by HarperCollins in 2017. 
 
But most of all Lorraine is a woman, a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a writer, an entrepreneur, a yogini.