The Forties Formula

In this powerful 9-minute highlight from The Forties Formula, we uncover why your "normal" blood test results might be gaslighting you.
Dr. Tash breaks down the critical difference between surviving and thriving when it comes to iron. If you’ve been told your fatigue is "just burnout" or "part of aging," but you know deep down something is wrong, this clip explains the biology behind your exhaustion. We discuss why Iron Deficiency is the silent epidemic for women over 40 and why your Hemoglobin levels are lying to you about your actual energy reserves.
⚠️ Want the full protocol? This is just the diagnosis. To hear Dr. Tash's complete strategy for fixing your levels, safe supplementation, and the role of heavy periods, check out the FULL EPISODE here.
🗝️ Key Takeaways in This Clip
00:00 – The Oxygen Problem: Why iron isn't just a mineral—it's your body's entire oxygen transport system (and why you feel breathless without it).
02:15 – The "Burnout" Trap: How low iron mimics every symptom of burnout and perimenopause, leading to misdiagnosis.
04:30 – Ferritin vs. Hemoglobin: The crucial difference between your "storage" iron (Ferritin) and your "circulating" iron (Hemoglobin)—and why doctors often check the wrong one.
06:20 – Normal ≠ Optimal: Dr. Tash reveals why being "in the black" on a lab report doesn't mean you are healthy.
08:15 – The Inflammation Mask: How stress or inflammation can falsely inflate your ferritin levels, hiding a severe deficiency.
💬 The Quote That Says It All
"If we don’t correct the iron deficiency, there’s no amount of hormonal management that will have that patient feeling optimized." — Dr. Tash

There’s a version of motherhood many women are quietly trying to live up to.
The calm mother.
The grateful mother.
The woman who somehow keeps her career, body, marriage, friendships and identity perfectly intact… while raising a child.
But what happens when becoming a mother changes you in ways nobody prepared you for?
In this episode of The Forties Formula, Amanda Lim and Jasmin Dhillon sit down with author, workplace advocate and matrescence expert Sara Pantry to unpack the invisible emotional, hormonal and identity shifts women experience after having children.
From postpartum anxiety and birth trauma to career pressure, breastfeeding guilt and losing your sense of self, this is a conversation about the parts of motherhood women are expected to survive quietly.
Because motherhood isn’t just about learning how to care for a baby.
It’s about becoming an entirely different version of yourself.
And for many women, that transformation feels lonelier, heavier and more disorienting than anyone admits.
We talk about:
• Why motherhood can feel emotionally overwhelming even when you “wanted this”
• What matrescence actually means; and why more women are finally talking about it
• The invisible identity shift that happens after having children
• Why so many women feel isolated after birth
• The pressure to “bounce back” and why it’s harming mothers
This episode is for every woman who has ever felt like motherhood changed her more than she expected.
And for anyone trying to understand why so many mothers are struggling silently behind the scenes.
Because maybe the problem isn’t that women are failing motherhood.
Maybe the expectations were impossible to begin with.
⏱️ CHAPTERS:
00:00 | The motherhood myth women were sold
03:47 | Why matrescence changes everything
04:39 | The loss of the village and modern motherhood
06:00 | Sara’s own matrescence journey
08:41 | The moment she finally felt seen
09:53 | How motherhood rewires the brain and identity
11:17 | The “invisible postpartum” nobody talks about
13:49 | Why workplaces are failing mothers
17:32 | Rituals, healing and writing love letters to yourself
18:52 | Reading the letter that changed everything
21:25 | Birth trauma, anxiety and not being heard
22:22 | The pressure to “bounce back” after birth
23:31 | Redefining what being a “good mother” means
24:51 | “Be where your feet are”
26:47 | Rugged flexibility and holding onto yourself
29:46 | Why comparison is destroying modern mothers
30:38 | The power of “second best parenting”
32:35 | Mothers need support beyond childbirth
35:02 | Why workplaces must fundamentally change
38:23 | Why partners need parental leave too
40:02 | Breastfeeding guilt, pressure and shame
43:33 | Letting go of perfection to actually thrive
46:41 | Sara’s Forties Formula for motherhood and life
47:51 | The antenatal class rant every mother will relate to
🔗 RESOURCES & LINKS
Our free ebook - https://preview.mailerlite.io/preview/2156555/sites/185865618324457283/the-forties-formula-with-amanda-jasmin-wn3zmn
Buy me a coffee for $5 a month we answer your questions.
Thank you to our sponsors:
Love, Indus – get 21% off luxury skincare with code TFF https://loveindus.com/
The Forties Formula Podcast → https://thefortiesformula.com/

What does it feel like to think you’re dying… while fully conscious? In this Forties Formula In Focus clip, Dr. Sarah Nami Ahn — a UCLA-trained neuroscientist and brain tumor survivor — shares the most terrifying moment of her journey.
From hallucinating walls on fire… to believing the nurses were trying to harm her… to a final thought: “God… my kids.” This is the raw, unfiltered reality of what happened inside the ICU — and the moment everything shifted.
🎙️ Hosted by Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim, The Forties Formula In Focus brings you powerful, unedited moments from our most impactful conversations — designed to give you a glimpse… and leave you wanting more.
🧠 Why we’re sharing this now We’re re-releasing this clip during Brain Tumour Awareness Month (May) to spotlight the realities of diagnosis, recovery, and what isn’t always talked about. If you’ve ever: experienced symptoms that didn’t make sense felt dismissed or unheard or supported someone through a serious diagnosis This story will stay with you.
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Hallucinations begin — “the walls were on fire”
00:45 Confusion and fear in the ICU
01:30 “They hate me” — paranoia sets in
02:15 Messaging her husband — something isn’t right
03:00 Heart racing — overwhelming terror 03:45 “This is death. This is it.”
04:20 “God… my kids” — the final thought
05:00 She passes out
05:30 Waking up to a completely different reality
06:15 The emotional aftermath
🎧 Watch the FULL episode here: 👉 https://youtu.be/RTUTXp3yrSc
🎁 Get our FREE ebook A practical guide to help you feel better, eat better, and understand your body in your 40s:
👉 https://the-forties-formula-with-amanda-jasmin-wn3zmn.subscribepage.io/
☕ Support the podcast Join us on Buy Me a Coffee ($5/month) and get your questions answered in our monthly Q&A episodes:
👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/thefortiesformula
🔗 Connect with us
👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortiesformula
👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefortiesformula
🔗 Follow Dr. Sarah Nami Ahn
👉 https://www.instagram.com/onnami/
💬 If this resonated… Share it with someone who needs to hear it. Because these moments — the real ones — are the ones that change how we see everything.

There’s a moment, as a mother, when you look at your daughter and realise something is changing.
She’s quieter. More emotional. More critical of herself.
And you’re left wondering… is this normal, or is something deeper going on?
In this episode, we sit down with psychologist Dr. Emma Waddington and physician Dr. Gina Hel to unpack what’s really happening beneath the surface for girls today.
From earlier puberty and hormonal shifts to the impact of social media, friendships, and identity, this is a conversation every parent needs to hear.
Because the reality is, girls aren’t just growing up differently… they’re growing up under more pressure than ever before.
And if you’re a woman in your 40s, you might recognise something else too… parts of your own story reflected back at you.
We cover:
The subtle signs your daughter may be struggling
Why puberty is starting earlier
How hormones affect mood, sleep and behaviour
The impact of social media on self-worth
Why friendships matter more than you realise
The truth about body image in young girls
How to build connection before adolescence hits
What helps girls feel confident and supported
If you’re raising a daughter or trying to understand the pressures girls face today, this episode will shift how you see it all.
🤝 SPONSOR
Thank you to our sponsor Love, Indus
Enjoy 21% off with code TFF
👉 https://www.loveindus.com
🔗 RESOURCES & LINKS
Osler Health → https://www.osler-health.com
Us Therapy → https://www.ustherapy.sg
Untangled by Lisa Damour → https://amzn.to/4cWz8vc
Run Like A Girl (Always) → https://youtu.be/qtDMyGjYlMg
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
02:00 Signs your daughter may be struggling
05:00 Puberty and hormones
07:30 Emotional shift in adolescence
10:00 Brain development and social connection
11:00 Social media and self-esteem
14:00 Friendship dynamics
16:00 Loneliness and online connection
19:30 Body image and early pressure
21:00 Parenting influence and identity
27:00 Teaching girls to speak up
34:00 Body image in sport
39:30 Self-worth and achievement
41:00 The pressure to be everything
45:00 Parenting teens vs coaching

What happens when you realise the life you built wasn’t fully yours?
In this Forties Formula in Focus clip, Uma Thana Balasingham shares the moment everything cracked — and what it really means to start again.
In this Forties Formula in Focus episode, we revisit a powerful conversation with Uma Thana Balasingham on what she calls a “career quake.”
From building a high-performing career in tech to walking away from a marriage rooted in fear, Uma opens up about the quiet realisations that many women experience but rarely say out loud.
This isn’t about starting over for the sake of it. It’s about questioning the decisions you once made, understanding where they came from, and giving yourself the space to choose differently.
We talk about identity, grief, expectations, and the uncomfortable but necessary process of meeting yourself again.

The idea of “career quakes” and what they really feel like
Making life decisions from fear vs alignment
The identity shift when you step away from career or relationship
Why grief is part of growth
Learning to sit still instead of constantly doing
Key Takeaways
You can love your life and still feel something is missing
Not every decision you made was fully yours — and that’s okay
Growth often starts with discomfort
You don’t need to rush the rebuild
Meeting yourself is part of the process
⏱ Chapters
00:00 Questioning everything
01:10 Marriage, fear, and honest reflection
03:00 Following narratives that weren’t yours
05:10 What is a “career quake”?
07:30 Grief, identity, and starting again
🔗 Links & Resources
🎙 Listen / Watch The Forties Formula
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thefortiesformula
Website: https://www.thefortiesformula.com
All platforms: https://bio.site/thefortiesformulapodcast
☕ Support the show
Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/thefortiesformula
Uma Thana Balasingham
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/umathana/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uma__raw/
👩🏽‍💻 Follow Us
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