40ish - Navigating midlife and menopause

This week on 40ish: Nicole and Lauren find themselves nominated alongside fellow 40-something Romesh Ranganathan for a comedy award which, considering he’s an actual professional comedian and we mainly discuss pelvic floors, peri-menopause and Real Housewives, feels both surreal and deeply flattering. We were completely overwhelmed by your response to our conversation about friendship breakups and apparently being quietly phased out of a women’s friendship group in your 40s is basically the adult version of being picked last in PE, except now there are secret WhatsApp groups, girls’ trips to Thailand and emotionally devastating photos appearing on Instagram without you. Some of these listener stories are genuinely brutal.
Plus, one listener's dilemma absolutely breaks our hearts. After years of carrying the mental load for her family; the cooking, cleaning, shopping, birthday planning, emotional labour and working full-time her birthday arrives with barely any acknowledgement. 
We talk about the quiet loneliness of feeling invisible in midlife, the resentment that builds when everyone takes you for granted, and why so many women end up feeling completely emotionally exhausted. If you’re enjoying the show, please share it with a friend who needs a laugh, a cry, or simply reassurance that other women are also lying awake at 3am replaying a text from 2017.

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Today on 40ish: Nicole goes to the women’s physio and discovers that pelvic floor assessments are essentially the medical equivalent of rummaging around in a paper bag full of sweets. Dignity? Gone. Mystery? Also gone.
Meanwhile, Lauren is absolutely thriving thanks to two things: a garden centre discount and her new boyfriend, Jeff. He’s golden, handsome, emotionally available, and a dog - which, frankly, makes him the ultimate man.
We also hear from a listener who’s questioning whether ending her marriage was the right decision after watching her ex-husband thrive post divorce. Meanwhile she feels stuck,sad and overwhelmed. We talk honestly about loneliness, regret, comparison, and if “starting again” in midlife is less Eat Pray Love and more Admin Laundry Telly. 
Plus, one listener suffers a full-blown fashion identity crisis after attempting to reinvent herself but suffers an emotional return to Dorothy Perkins energy. There are meltdowns, laughs, uncomfortable truths, and the usual reminder that none of us know where to shop anymore, our pelvic floors are hanging on by a thread, and honestly? We’re all just trying our best.

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This week on 40ish:
Lauren has put her neck out by sleeping on the wrong pillow, which feels deeply unfair considering that in our twenties we could sleep on a laminate floor and wake up absolutely fine. Meanwhile, Nicole has discovered a brand new menopause symptom because apparently the gift that keeps on giving… keeps on giving.
In Midlife News, Damian Lewis has released a music video while Nicole Kidman has trained as a death doula because because apparently celebrities are now speedrunning midlife reinventions We also tackle a listener dilemma around self care: are people genuinely moisturising their entire bodies every single day? Are we all double cleansing, gua sha-ing and serum layering while some of us are still clinging proudly to a Pears soap and flannel routine? Plus, one truly unforgettable listener meltdown featuring a forgotten bag of toddler turd that unknowingly accompanied an entire afternoon of errands. Some images simply never leave you.Come for the laughs, stay for the solidarity, and leave feeling reassured that absolutely nobody has midlife fully figured out.

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This week on 40ish Lauren reaches peak midlife as she attends an wholesome Ottolenghi Cooking Club; yet somehow gets embroiled in a conversation about anal s*x within 3 minutes of arrival. Meanwhile Nicole realises that you know when you’re spending too much time with your gyne when he feels fully comfortable eating crisps off your plate. In midlife news it turns out almost half of middle-aged Brits are still traumatised by school PE - not surprising if you remember being asked to climb that rope in a pair of big navy pants. We hear from listeners navigating menopause in toxic workplaces, sharing the very real fear of education being weaponised, but also why the conversation still has to happen. Today’s dilemma asks: Is it actually possible to lose weight in your 40s? Despite doing “all the right things” (gym, PT, food), social media is screaming that unless you buy a miracle pill, it’s game over.

We get into the pressure, the myths, and the reality of midlife bodies.

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Today on 40ish Lauren wonders if Nicole is a totally new person post menopause. It  kicks off with what may genuinely be the world’s worst lunch and ends as she rolls out of a hospital bed and attends a sip & paint evening (weird as she neither sips nor paints). The 40ish feedback on menopause education has been overwhelming and you are coming in all guns blazing. From rallying cries about women’s health and the absolute state of menopause support in the UK, to rightful rage about medical misogyny. This is the group chat energy we are here for! Today’s dilemma is a brutal one: being quietly dumped by your friendship group in your 40s. We unpack the rise of midlife “mean girls,” the paranoia of “is it me?,” and whether you should go full detective for closure or just block, delete, and emotionally relocate. Plus, we discuss the “7 year shed” Is it true we replace half our friends every 7 years? Because honestly, that explains a LOT. We have also been trolled and Lauren has plenty to say about it. (Mainly, stay under the bridge where you belong) If you’ve ever questioned a friendship, a life choice, or a £34 lunch that tasted like regret, this episode is for you.

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Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/40ish-navigating-midlife-and-menopause--6942825/support.

We love to hear from you! Get in touch with your dilemmas and rants.

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