Ever have one of those mornings where nothing feels right? Your clothes don’t fit the way you want, or a glance at an old photo sends you into a spiral of self-criticism? If you’re navigating midlife or perimenopause, you’re not alone.

In this episode, I sit down with body image expert and coach Summer Innanen to explore how hormonal shifts, societal pressures, and life stressors impact how we see ourselves. Summer shares her journey and offers practical, compassionate strategies to help you embrace body neutrality, quiet the inner critic, and reconnect with your worth beyond appearance.

Summer’s podcast- Eat the Rules- has over 300 episodes and was one of the early influences in my own body acceptance and intuitive eating journey. I think you’ll understand why when you listen to this conversation! 

To learn more about Summer and her work, be sure to check out her podcast and website at www.summerinnanen.com and follow her on IG at @summerinnanen

 TRANSCRIPT 

Jenn Salib Huber: 0:00

Hi and welcome to the Midlife Feast, the podcast for women who are hungry for more in this season of life. I'm your host, Dr Jenn Salib-Huber. I'm an intuitive eating dietitian and naturopathic doctor and I help women manage menopause without dieting and food rules. Come to my table, listen and learn from me trusted guest experts in women's health and interviews with women just like you. Each episode brings to the table juicy conversations designed to help you feast on midlife.

And if you're looking for more information about menopause, nutrition and intuitive eating, check out the midlife feast community, my monthly membership that combines my no nonsense approach that you all love to nutrition with community, so that you can learn from me and others who can relate to the cheers and challenges of midlife.

What Are Bad Body Days? 

Jenn Salib Huber: 0:50

Do you ever have what I call bad body days, where you just get up in the morning and nothing seems to fit right? You put your favorite jeans on your favorite top, you do all the things that you usually do and it just doesn't feel right and you just can't get it out of your mind. Or maybe you've pulled out some seasonal clothing and it doesn't fit. Or maybe you're looking at a picture from a few years ago and you spiral into shame, thinking about oh, I can't believe I didn't like what my body looked like then. Because you're thinking about how much you don't like what your body looks like now.

Meet Summer Innanen: A Body Image Expert

Jenn Salib Huber: 1:28

And if you're in perimenopause, you will definitely want to listen to this episode with Summer Inanen. Summer is a professionally trained coach who is also studying to get a master's in counseling, but she is really one of the original I'm going to call her original body image experts, and her podcast has been running for more than 10 years now and she was certainly one of the early influences in my own body acceptance and intuitive eating journey. 

So it was a real pleasure and honor to talk to her and we talked about some of the things that are coming together in this crazy stage of life that make us more vulnerable in our bodies and in our body image, and she gives some amazing practical strategies for being able to label those feelings, being able to recover from them as you work towards a more body neutral approach. So I hope you enjoy this episode. Thanks to Summer for joining me. Hi, Summer.

Summer Innanen: 2:25

How are you, hi, jen, I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me here.

Jenn Salib Huber: 2:30

I'm so excited to have this conversation. As we were saying before we hit record, your podcast, which has had a couple of variations but has been around for at least 10 years, was actually one of I'd consider my foundational podcasts in supporting me in the early days of my intuitive eating and undieting journey. So it really is an honor to have this conversation with you today. So thanks so much. Thank you. That's great to hear.

And now that you're kind of developing or working on this interest in midlife and I heard you on another podcast I thought this is someone who has a really interesting perspective that I think my listeners, who are mostly all in midlife or beyond midlife, will appreciate. But why don't we just start by taking a minute to introduce yourself and who you are and what you do to my audience?

Summer Innanen: 3:15

Sure, so I am a professionally trained coach and I specialize in body image, self-worth and confidence, and I've been doing that since about 2014. And I'm currently doing a master's of counseling. So I'll be I'm transitioning to become a therapist over the next year and, yeah, I'm just really passionate about helping people to heal their relationship with their body. But I'm 45 myself and so starting to go through those changes in midlife, like appearance related changes, hormone related changes and things like that and just noticing the cultural pressures that accompany aging, and most of my clients are over 40.

And so I've taken a great interest in just understanding the dynamics and the unique circumstances that influence our body image in this time of life and as well as our relationship with food and eating disorders and whatnot.

Summer Innanen: 4:19

I was telling you I just finished a 15 page research paper on eating disorders and midlife, which will eventually be a 50 page paper, and so, yeah, it's been really interesting to to learn more about that and work with people in this in this phase, because I do think that we can be more vulnerable to to disordered eating or eating disorders, as well as as body image concerns, which are obviously a huge factor in in spurring disordered eating and eating disorders, as well as body image concerns, which are obviously a huge factor in spurring disordered eating and eating disorders during this time, and I think that it's important to recognize what those unique vulnerabilities are so that we can address them with, whether that be like practitioners addressing them or you sort of understanding that better, so you can make sense of it yourself and understand, like why this might be more challenging for you.

Summer Innanen: 5:10

And, yeah, and I host a podcast called Eat the Rules that I've been doing since 2014 as well, and I have a. I run the Institute for Body Image, which offers training for providers as well, and I co-run that with somebody named Danny Emma Poundcake Adams. So, yeah, that's kind of like that's more of like a bit of a professional bio than my own personal history, but I do have a personal history with this as well, having struggled with disordered eating and body image for decades of my life. So, yeah, most of us do.

Why Perimenopause Is a Minefield for Body Image

Jenn Salib Huber: 5:44

Right body image for decades of my life. So, yeah, most of us do, right. I mean, I would say 98% of the conversations I have with providers in this space or coaches or people who work in this space, you know, if they have a personal story and and it's unfortunately not unique either, right, I mean, it is, it's so prevalent. And what we're going to talk about is why perimenopause especially and menopause, but kind of it starts in perimenopause, at least hormonally, why perimenopause is a minefield for body image stuff. So let's dig into that. What's going on?

Summer Innanen: 6:22

Yeah. So I think you know there's a lot of things that are happening, right. So we have we have hormonal changes, obviously, and we have all the symptoms that accompany those changes, and some of those symptoms can be appearance related changes. So whether that be, you know, body size changes or redistribution of your body size, as well as other appearance related changes, so thinning hair, change in skin complexion, sagging skin, wrinkles, like, and all of those things so it can be like a more significant period of body change that's happening.

On top of that, you're more vulnerable to mental health challenges because of perimenopause, so a lot of people will experience depression, anxiety, insomnia and things like that, and so that can make also make you more vulnerable to being more conscious of your body, feeling more intense feelings of, like, panic or shame around your appearance and things like that. And then we have what's going on in our lives. 

So I think this period of our life, a lot of us are dealing with additional stressors that we didn't have in our 20s and 30s. So, whether that be related to family or friends who are sick or have died, or you're parenting or you're looking after your parents, there's just a lot that can be going going on for somebody and again, like that, you have that increased level of stress on top of the hormonal changes that are happening and that can also put us in a more vulnerable position for having body image challenges.

The Impact of Ageism on Midlife Body Image

Summer Innanen: 8:15

And then, from a social perspective, we have ageism entering the chat. We are going to be experiencing ageism and all of the stuff that comes along with that, and I think that that can make people feel more invisible. And also there's this added pressure I think more so now than I would say like you know what I witnessed my mother going through in the in the eighties like just to really thwart the aging process. 

You know, like there's so many cosmetic procedures and skincare regimes to try to make it seem like you have not aged, and so the standard of beauty for aging women has become so unattainable. And, um, and I think that we you can see that when you look at like celebrity culture and you look at different celebrities who are in the sort of 40 plus range, and the ones that are celebrated are the ones who have done everything they can to sort of slow down that aging process and most I'm assuming most of them have done cosmetic work in order to do that, and so there's that added pressure and that sort of evolution of the beauty standard.

Summer Innanen: 9:34

So it's not just us thinking we need to be thin now. It's like, okay, we need to be thin and young. And so I sort of call it like this time where it's the perfect storm for body image issues, because you have all of these different factors happening that are quite unique to this phase of life. And I think that that can be pretty distressing for a lot of people, like if you haven't done a lot of the work to negate those factors, or you're unfamiliar as I think a lot of people, if you haven't done a lot of the work to negate those factors, or you're unfamiliar, as I think a lot of people just don't even know what's happening to them. 

I remember reading this one study where it was like a qualitative research study and the person just said I feel like a shell of myself and so there's just a lot happening, and I don't think that a lot of people recognize that there's all these sort of external factors that are that are influencing that as well.

Jenn Salib Huber: 10:31

Yeah, so a lot going on, you know, I think that yeah no not like when you're in it. You know and and I think that People around you can see that, but it is so important to recognize that we are maxed out with capacity at this stage of life for all kinds of reasons.

Jenn Salib Huber: 10:50

And the shifts in estrogen in particular, which you know estrogen helps to shield us a little bit from stress. You know, estrogen levels are fluctuating wildly in perimenopause, which is you know from what I've read, one of the reasons why we think perimenopause is a second window of vulnerability for eating disorders in particular. 

So it's like puberty in reverse, right, and so we have these brain changes happening, but at the same time, life is still happening at warp speed around us, and so we're still expected to show up in this way that society has prescribed to us as, in a way, that's quote unquote, acceptable, right? So it's like it's harder for all the reasons. Yeah, so I really just appreciate that you kind of touched on all of those things, because all of those things matter. Have you heard of this syndrome? It's not a syndrome, but I call it a syndrome the not feeling like myself. Have you come across this term yet?

Summer Innanen: 11:47

Well, I think, like I said, there was that one study that I remember it just like really popped out of me, where it said like I feel like a shell of myself, and I think that I remember one of the papers that I looked at suggested it didn't suggest. It said one of like one of the conclusions were was that during perimenopause, a lot of people feel disconnected from who they are as a person and just feel like it can have such a negative impact on their emotion which can compound that. That, as well as that, is that sort of what you're.

Jenn Salib Huber: 12:19

Yeah, it's probably related, but in the last couple of years there's in the menopause research world, there's actually been something that has been coined.

Navigating the Not-Feeling-Like-Myself Phenomenon

Jenn Salib Huber: 12:27

not feeling like myself and FLM and anybody who's interested can put it into PubMed and read about it. And they have kind of studied, studied, you know, some smaller groups of women, but still enough women to be able to say like huh, when these symptoms are happening. And it includes body changes and sleep changes and mood changes and not necessarily the stereotypical hot flashes. You know. This is also kind of related to perimenopause, and so when we wake up, don't feel like ourselves, don't recognize who we see in the mirror, nothing feels like it's quite right. That's probably an accurate assessment of what's happening. 

Yeah, because your body is changing. I call it hormone soup. Your hormone soup is literally changing. The hormone soup that you have made for most of your reproductive life is changing. So why would we expect to not change with that? Yeah, 100%, that makes sense. So I love that. You mentioned aging too. What are some of the additional kind of pressures around aging and why does the aging conversation kind of intersect with the perimenopausal conversation and compound things?

Summer Innanen: 13:36

This is especially true in Western cultures that aging plays such a large role in beauty standards. It's not just like the thin ideal standard of beauty, but also the thin and young ideal like this, this sort of concerned with appearing younger and more attractive, the more body image issues that we will then experience. So, like I said it like and feeling like if that was your currency or if that is where you had tied your value, then that can be a big hit to your, you know, your sense of self worth because you feel less, less valuable now and I think it's it's. 

You know, anti aging culture is very similar to diet culture in that it really steals our time, our energy, our money, because we can just invest and invest and invest in trying to retain some sense of youth. I mean, there's just a million like creams and procedures and things that you can do nowadays and you have to continue doing them in order to maintain that. So it kind of reminds me of diet culture because it's like, well, you have to keep investing in dieting if you want to try to maintain, like whatever shape dieting is sort of giving you, which is never really guaranteed right, like as soon as you know diets don't work and as soon as we, our body starts to fight back, like the weight just comes back plus more. But it kind of reminds me of that with the anti aging stuff because it's like, yeah, you can use that stuff.

Summer Innanen: 15:46

As soon as you sort of stop doing those things, your face will probably go back to the way that it was, unless it was like a facelift or something like that. But it just. It takes our time, our energy and our money. And I want to be clear, I'm not judging anyone that invests in those types of things. This is really just more of like. Again, I don't judge people who diet like. I totally understand why you would do those things. I understand why you would invest in anti, anti aging stuff, like it is really just a form, a way to sort of retain some sense of safety in a culture that's made us feel like we don't belong unless we're, unless we look younger or unless we are thinner.

Summer Innanen: 16:27

So I want to be I just want to be clear on that, because I don't want to come out here and make people feel really bad for doing those things because I see it as just it's an attempt to feel like you belong and I totally I mean it makes perfect sense why you would do that.

Jenn Salib Huber: 16:42

I had some I was talking to someone the other day just this kind of big picture conversation about aging and they said what they noticed when they were younger, you know, and they were never really into the beauty culture, the makeup culture, but there was a lot of role models who were representing kind of the natural beauty, the un-makeup beauty, but they were still young and they were still young and they were still, you know, they looked young, they just weren't wearing makeup. But it's harder and harder to find role models, people who are aging naturally and not trying to hide the fact that they're aging. So we have people like Martha Stewart at 80, showing up on Sports Illustrated and everyone's saying like what an amazing thing. And I was, I don't know it.

Jenn Salib Huber: 17:30

Just to me it was like really, that's, that's the amazing thing, you know, like it just didn't, it just felt it didn't resonate with me. I you excited when I see a TV show where the person hasn't had any sort of, you know like, visible work done.

Summer Innanen: 18:01

So, for example, I just started watching the Diplomat with Keri Russell and I was like God, I think she's like 48. So she's not in her 80s but she's 48. And I, but you know, like you can tell she just her face moves right, and so it was just so refreshing and and her character in particular, like doesn't really wear much makeup, like doesn't do her hair, and so it was just, and it makes me so excited. I'm like is that really sad? But it's there's so far and few like few and far between that. 

When I do, like when I do, I'm just like immediately pulled to be a big fan of that show. I'm just like, give me more of this. It's just so helpful to see someone aging naturally. And I think that again, I don't blame celebrities, because I think that the pressure for them- is absolutely wild, yeah, exactly.

Summer Innanen: 18:50

Like it's. It's absolutely wild. But even I was listening to an interview with with Jane Fonda like she regrets getting her facelift. I remember her saying that and so kind of makes you wonder like how many of those people would maybe do things differently. Or at least like they admit that it was really coming from this place of like insecurity and struggle and and that maybe they it doesn't really align with their values, but they just felt like they needed to do that in order to stay, to stay relevant. But I agree, it's like whenever I see someone, it's like we need these role models so badly and I get so excited when I find one have you seen the meme that goes, that?

Jenn Salib Huber: 19:32

that goes around every now and then showing the Golden Girls ages that they were portraying?

Summer Innanen: 19:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've thought about that so much. As soon as the Sex and the City reboot came out, I was like, wow, I feel like they're probably the same age as the Golden Girls were, and look at how the standards have changed since the 80s.

Jenn Salib Huber: 19:50

So, blanche, I just saw it the other day and, knowing we were having this conversation, I like mentally filed them away. So Blanche was portrayed as being 51. Rose, so Betty White's character, was 55. Dorothy was 65. And Sophia was 85. But they were all under the age of 65.

Jenn Salib Huber: 20:13

Like all of the actual actors, right, but think about how all of them were portrayed like washed up, desperate, dependent on finding a man, except for Dorothy, you know, who didn't want anything to do with relationships anymore, but, like it, just those role models that we grew up with on the screen of what it was like to be over 50 and men and menopause, like there was nothing good about that like that's really true.

Summer Innanen: 20:41

They, they were also like that show. If you go back and watch it is so is so anti-fat like it is. It is. It is really. I mean, the 80s were very much like that in tv, but but it was really like I watched and I'm like, oh my God, no wonder I was so messed up. It's harsh.

Jenn Salib Huber: 20:59

I feel that about every show that was on in the 80s. 100% yeah, but yeah. So all that to say, like we have this aging narrative that is also now kind of woven into the thin narrative. And so it gets really complicated and it can feel really heavy.

Summer Innanen: 21:17

Yeah, absolutely yeah.

Jenn Salib Huber: 21:20

So how do we start thinking about building up our worth beyond our appearance? So, like with body image, one of the things I hear all the time is people will say I get that my body's changing. I understand why it's all happening. I would be okay with it if I could just like how I look, and so it feels like the goal is to just find a way to like what they see in the mirror, and I often find that challenging to explain why that's not going to give them the peace in their body that they're looking for. It might give them a moment when they're looking in the mirror, but it's ultimately not going to give them the peace in their body that they're looking for. It might give them a moment when they're looking in the mirror, but it's ultimately not going to give them that longer lasting peace. Is that something that you hear from people too?

Building Self-Worth Beyond Appearance 

Summer Innanen: 22:02

Yeah, exactly Like. I think that that's a really common desire and it makes a lot of sense because we've been conditioned to think that if we do look a certain way, then our life is going to be perfect and we're going to feel really good. And and the way that I approach it is that I really look at how can we unhook our value from our appearance? So, instead of letting our appearance define how we feel about ourselves, how can we build up a sense of self worth so we know we're good enough, regardless of how we look, because our appearance is going to continue to change? And so if we have this perspective of, well, if I like how I look, then then everything will be good. But then what happens, if you're, when your body continues to to change? So I think that's an important question as well. 

Our perception of our body can change wildly on a daily basis. Like I think that somebody can wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and feel like they look cute and then see a picture of themselves in the afternoon and then and drop into a shame spiral. So I again, I don't think that hinging how we feel about ourselves on what the mirror is telling us is a, is a, is the best way to go, because I think that we're going to end up feeling shame and disappointment and I think that if we can unhook our sense of self worth from that instead by really knowing that knowing who we are, first of all, having a really good understanding of our identity and our purpose and our meaning here and our values, and then knowing that who we are is really valuable and worthy, then we can get to a point where we can look in the mirror and, yeah, maybe we do like what we see, but if we don't, it's not a big deal either and we can just go on with our day.

Summer Innanen: 24:03

You know, I kind of use, like this funny example of like a, like a, like a brown station wagon, like you might look at it, like, let's say, you drive a brown station wagon, like it doesn't, like you look at it and you're kind of like, yeah, okay, maybe I don't really like this, but it's not a big deal and that's sort of what we want with our appearance like to be able to, to be, even on the days where you know we see a horrible picture of ourselves quote, unquote that we can still be like okay. 

So, yeah, maybe I don't like that picture, I don't like the way I look in it, but it's not defining who I am as a person. It's not dropping me into this spiral of shame where I feel like there's something wrong with me and I feel like I have to change and I think it takes a long time to get there. It's not just like an easy switch that we flip, but that's the perspective that I like to take when I'm working with people, because I think it gives us greater resiliency and longevity to be able to tolerate future appearance changes that we have, and it can be really liberating to just not not care so much, not let that have to, not let it have that power.

Summer Innanen: 25:16

Power over you. Yeah.

Jenn Salib Huber: 25:18

Yeah, I think that's so well put how. One of the things that I find often happening, especially for people in midlife and beyond, is somewhat of a comparison to what they see in the mirror now. But a lot of it is kind of grief looking at older pictures, because they're grieving maybe what was a smaller body but also a younger body, and so it's that grief and that kind of you know, wistful, rose colored, you know, view. How would you? What kind of advice do you have for that? Because I always find that one a hard one, because there were things 20 years ago that were easier, right. Yeah, of course I slept better. I didn't creak when I get up in the morning, like there were things that were definitely easier.

Handling Body Image Grief and Shame in Midlife 

Summer Innanen: 26:01

Yeah, absolutely yeah. I mean, I think we have to validate those feelings Like yeah, of course, Like why would you? Of course you would want a body that felt better, or a body that you know that that moved better. I think when it becomes problematic is when we we set that expectation on ourselves to be like that again. So that's where I've seen people run into issues with it. So I think the grief is natural and like normal.

Summer Innanen: 26:28

And if we can, you know, get support to process that, if we need it, or just allow ourselves to acknowledge those feelings and really lean into self-compassion to support ourselves through those emotions, I think that's one way to navigate those feelings of grief and to just watch out for where we are potentially then using that as an expectation that we're then putting on ourselves to feel worse. You know, for example, I remember talking to somebody who was really disappointed they couldn't do what they used to be able to do with yoga and I said and I remember having this conversation was like well, how old were you when you could do those things? 

And what do you think about, you know, this expectation that you're putting on yourself, that you should be able to do those things now, and so just being mindful of of that and noticing the difference between, like, valid grief feelings and feelings of shame, because you're not, you're not hitting this like standard that you've set for yourself based on your, the body that you used to have.

Jenn Salib Huber: 27:32

Yeah, Separating grief and shame. That's a really that's a great reminder. Yeah, I mean grief we have to feel like we can't, can't bottle it up and put it away, um, but grief is a process that we can move through and, you know, we can come out the other side on it. But we have to disconnect it from know any shame spirals that we might be in about that too.

So that's a great reminder. Thank you for that. Yeah, what are some other kind of practical steps around body shame moments, you know, like just that shame spiral, whether it's a photo, whether it's putting on a pair of pants we're recording this just before the holiday season, when people might be pulling out clothes that they haven't worn in a year to go to parties and just those moments of oh, this doesn't fit the way that I want it to. What are some kind of practical strategies that people might be able to use this holiday season?

Practical Tips for Managing Body Shame Moments 

Summer Innanen: 28:26

Yeah, I would say, try to do that well in advance of whatever you're going to first off, so that you're not like you're not like about to leave in 10 minutes and realizing that something doesn't fit.

Summer Innanen: 28:36

That's a very practical thing. But yeah, no, I think that that that experience is really universal, like to have those moments, especially, as you mentioned, photos and, yeah, if clothing doesn't fit, those are very like circumstantial moments and I think that that's important to recognize. That too is that, and positioning that as a circumstantial moment. So I'm having this moment where I have seen a picture of myself and I'm feeling unattractive, no-transcript, anti-fat beliefs. 

That's reinforcing that thinner is better. Instead, if we can use language around our feelings, so say, this picture of myself, I'm having this moment where I'm feeling a lot of shame, that becomes something a lot more useful, because if the issue is that we're too big, then weight loss will always be the solution, whereas if the problem is actually, I'm having this moment of shame, I'm having this moment where I'm like thinking, gosh, there's something really wrong with me, then the solution is, well, it's not really a solution, but we can really lean on self-compassion or we can get like more targeted support with those feelings that are coming up for us, and so, yeah, I think like self-compassion is a big component of the work that I do with people and changing their belief systems about, about fatness and thinness and and youth and and aging and everything else, and so those are kind of like that's sort of advice and in a circumstantial moment.

Summer Innanen: 30:36

But I think as well, when we have moments of body shame where there hasn't been like a definitive trigger, where we just are feeling like gosh, I'm just feeling like really not so great in my body this week, one of the things I always suggest for people to do is to notice what else might be going on in their life that might be contributing to those feelings of body shame. So maybe it's hormonal, maybe it's you haven't really slept well this week, maybe it's that you have 8,000 things that you're supposed to do to prepare for the holidays. 

You know what I mean. And so anytime that we are experiencing increased stress or other emotions even emotions like sadness or grief or work is really stressful we tend to deflect those onto our body because it feels like I mean, it doesn't feel like it's a coping mechanism that a lot of us have used our entire lives is to sort of deflect those feelings onto our body because it feels like something we can fix. So if you're having a moment of body shame, that's not sort of like you didn't have this definitive trigger.

Summer Innanen: 31:44

Then just asking yourself, like what else is going on in my life right now, like what's my sleep like? What's my self-care been like, what's my stress level, what are my stress levels like? To be able to then say, like you know what, the issue isn't my body. The issue is I haven't slept great over the last five days, or you know, like my, my anxiety from perimenopause has been just like off the charts lately.

So it really makes sense that then I would be a lot more stressed about my body, but just then reminding yourself that it's not your body, in order to then redirect your attention to what might actually be helpful and you know, sleep being one of those things, if that's the issue, which is obviously easier said than done but looking for alternative ways to sort of cope and care for ourselves, instead of blaming our body and thinking that we need to change our body in order to feel better.

Jenn Salib Huber: 32:39

I really appreciate the reminder about the language that we use to when we're, when we're seeing pictures, you know, because, of course, I think the default again, no shame to anyone who does this, but the default is to label what we see instead of labeling what we're feeling, and so that's a really great, great reminder and tool. So for anybody listening who's headed into the holiday season and is anticipating photos, just try and remember that that you know.

If you don't like them and you're not there on your body neutrality journey yet where you can just be like, oh, it's a picture I don't like and move on, you can start by, you know, trying to keep the language more compassionate as well. Yeah, exactly, thank you so much for this conversation. I really appreciate your insights. You have so many, so many wonderful ways of talking about body image that that, I know, will be really helpful to our listeners. So thank you so much.

Summer Innanen: 33:34

Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

Jenn Salib Huber: 33:35

It's been great. So what do you think is the missing ingredient? In midlife summer, I still think it's sleep.

The Missing Ingredient in Midllife According to Summer

Summer Innanen: 33:42

I know, I know, that was sort of the funny answer that popped into my head. And maybe that's just my own personal experience, but'm like god, if I could just have some more rest, I feel like I'd do so much better. Or if we could all just be on like this deserted island, without the pressures of um of society, that would probably be a really helpful thing too.

Jenn Salib Huber: 34:08

Yes, sign me up for that, I'll take. I'll take 10 of those I know.

Summer Innanen: 34:11

I know, I know, but I think perspective is really important, to like to be honest and like from like an evidence based perspective. That that is. That is something that they talk about is that people who have positive viewpoints on aging and positive viewpoints on menopause tend to have better well-being through this time. And so just noticing, like the you know, your attitudes and feelings and trying to find those positive role models and then get that sleep too.

Jenn Salib Huber: 34:44

Thank you so much. Like we said, you have a wonderful podcast. We will have all of your resources in the show notes, but thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. Thanks, jen, thanks for having me. Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of the Midlife Feast For more non diet, health, hormone and general midlife support. Click the link in the show notes to learn how you can work and learn from me.

 And if you enjoyed this episode and found it helpful, please consider leaving a review or subscribing, because it helps other women just like you find us and feel supported me. And if you enjoyed this episode and found it helpful, please consider leaving a review or subscribing, because it helps other women just like you find us and feel supported in midlife.