Libsyn Directory

248. Midlife Symptoms: How To Get Back On Track When Something Feels Off / Andrea Nakayama

Pursue Your Spark: Strength & Forward Motion in Midlife

Release Date: 11/13/2025

257. Building Consistency in Midlife: Why Speaking Up Still Leaves You Feeling Small

Pursue Your Spark: Strength & Forward Motion in Midlife

Have you ever said exactly what needed to be said—calmly, clearly, respectfully—and still walked away feeling smaller afterward? Not because the conversation went badly. But because something inside you felt unsettled… like you handled it well, yet it still didn’t feel right. In Episode 257, Building Consistency in Midlife: Why Speaking Up Still Leaves You Feeling Small, we’re looking at a pattern many women experience but rarely talk about. We speak up, we stay composed, we say the words that need to be said—and somehow we still shrink a little on the inside. Midlife is...

256. Are you quiet-quitting your relationship? / Colette Fehr

Pursue Your Spark: Strength & Forward Motion in Midlife

You’re not unhappy, but something feels off. You avoid bringing things up. You tell yourself it’s not worth the tension. You slowly become the easier one in the relationship. Over time, staying quiet starts to feel normal—even though it’s costing you connection, energy, and a sense of being truly seen. In Episode 256 of Pursue Your Spark, Are You Quiet-Quitting Your Relationship?, I talk with therapist and author Colette Fehr about why so many midlife women stop speaking up in their closest relationships and don’t realize it’s happening. We explore how emotional suppression...

255. How To Get Back On Track In Midlife When You’ve Been Playing Small

Pursue Your Spark: Strength & Forward Motion in Midlife

If you’ve been telling yourself “I’m fine” but something still feels off, you’re not alone. Many women struggle to get back on track in midlife when their confidence quietly slips. In this episode, we explore how playing small can hold you back from building consistency in midlife — and how to move forward without starting over or waiting for motivation to return. Playing small in midlife rarely feels like fear. Instead, it feels responsible. It feels efficient. It feels like keeping things moving. You adjust your opinion. You absorb one more task. You smooth over tension. No one...

254. Starting Over In Your 50s Without Guilt When You Want More/ Ande Lyons

Pursue Your Spark: Strength & Forward Motion in Midlife

Starting over in your 50s without guilt often begins with admitting you want something different. But many midlife women feel stuck between wanting change and not knowing how to get back on track. We talk about how to rebuild confidence and begin building midlife habits that actually stick — even when change feels uncomfortable. We talk about how gendered ageism shapes confidence, ambition, and identity for women in midlife — and why wanting more in midlife can suddenly feel inappropriate, risky, or unrealistic, even when women still feel capable, curious, and alive. This conversation...

253. Building Consistency In Midlife When Your Routine Stops Working

Pursue Your Spark: Strength & Forward Motion in Midlife

Building consistency in midlife can feel harder when the routines that once worked no longer fit your life now. In this episode, we talk about how to restart your routine after missing workouts and get back on track in midlife without guilt or all-or-nothing thinking. In Episode 253, Why Consistency Starts to Feel Harder in Midlife, we break down why staying consistent in midlife isn’t about losing discipline or motivation. It’s about how your life, your energy, and your responsibilities have changed—and why the strategies that once worked no longer fit. In this episode, we unpack...

252. Midlife Habits That Actually Stick: A Simpler Way To Eat/ Dr. Anna Pleet

Pursue Your Spark: Strength & Forward Motion in Midlife

Midlife habits that actually stick often begin with simple nutrition routines. If you’ve struggled to stay consistent in midlife or feel like you’re always starting over with your eating habits, this episode offers a different approach. Learn how to restart your routine after missing workouts and build consistency in midlife without restrictive rules. In this episode, Why the Mediterranean Diet Isn’t Really a Diet, I talk with Dr. Anna Pleet about a refreshing approach to food and health that doesn’t require willpower or calorie counting. The Mediterranean diet has topped every...

251. How To Get Back On Track In Midlife When Your Energy Drops

Pursue Your Spark: Strength & Forward Motion in Midlife

If low energy has made it harder to stay consistent in midlife, you're not alone. Many women struggle to restart their routine after missing workouts when fatigue takes over. In this episode, we talk about how to build midlife habits that actually stick so you can get back on track without guilt. Midlife weight gain can feel like a mystery—one day, everything works, the next, nothing does. You’re eating less, staying active, maybe even doubling down on healthy habits, but your body just isn’t responding. In Episode 251: Why your metabolism isn't the main villain in midlife weight...

250. Midlife Skin Changes: How To Adjust Your Routine Without Starting Over / Dr. Mary Alice Mina

Pursue Your Spark: Strength & Forward Motion in Midlife

Midlife skin changes are real — and often leave women wondering how to adjust what used to work. If your usual skincare routine no longer feels effective, you're not alone. In this episode, Dr. Mary Alice Mina and I talk about how to adapt your skincare habits in midlife without needing to start from scratch. If you’ve been doing “all the right things” but still feel frustrated with dullness, dryness, or a lack of results, you’re not alone. We’re talking about the hormonal shifts, collagen loss, and lifestyle factors that start showing up in your skin in midlife — and how to...

249. How To Restart Your Routine After Missing Workouts In Midlife

Pursue Your Spark: Strength & Forward Motion in Midlife

If you've ever missed a few workouts and felt like you had to start over again, you're not alone. Learning how to restart your routine after missing workouts is one of the most important skills for building consistency in midlife. In this episode, we talk about how all-or-nothing thinking keeps women stuck — and how to get back on track in midlife without guilt, pressure, or trying to catch up. You’ll learn how to move forward with midlife habits that actually stick, even after a setback. So many midlife women believe if they can’t do it all — the perfect routine, the flawless food...

248. Midlife Symptoms: How To Get Back On Track When Something Feels Off / Andrea Nakayama

Pursue Your Spark: Strength & Forward Motion in Midlife

Midlife symptoms often show up as fatigue, low energy, or feeling unlike yourself — even when everything looks fine on the outside. In this episode, Andrea Nakayama and I talk about what your body might be trying to tell you when your usual routines stop working. Learn how to get back on track in midlife by adjusting your habits without guilt or needing to start over from scratch. I’m joined by functional nutritionist and educator Andrea Nakayama for a powerful reframe: your symptoms aren’t failures—they’re feedback. Andrea brings a fresh lens to midlife wellness, one that goes...

More Episodes

Midlife symptoms often show up as fatigue, low energy, or feeling unlike yourself — even when everything looks fine on the outside.

In this episode, Andrea Nakayama and I talk about what your body might be trying to tell you when your usual routines stop working.

Learn how to get back on track in midlife by adjusting your habits without guilt or needing to start over from scratch.

I’m joined by functional nutritionist and educator Andrea Nakayama for a powerful reframe: your symptoms aren’t failures—they’re feedback.

Andrea brings a fresh lens to midlife wellness, one that goes far beyond quick fixes and trendy biohacks. She invites us to listen—to treat our midlife symptoms as messengers, not mistakes. These signals often point to something deeper: a misalignment between how we live and what truly fuels us.

We explore why burnout and fatigue might be guiding you toward your next act, not just another supplement. Andrea shares how functional nutrition, narrative medicine, and deep self-awareness can create real, lasting healing.

She also shares her own midlife story—navigating profound personal loss, raising a child, managing Hashimoto’s, and building a business in her 40s. Her journey reminds us that healing is not about timing—it’s about listening to what life and your body are asking for, one small step at a time.

You’ll learn:

How to recognize your body’s deeper messages (and stop ignoring them)
Why wellness isn’t about fixing, but aligning
What the health world gets wrong about biohacking and quick fixes
How to advocate for real healing—especially when your doctor isn’t seeing the whole picture
Why longevity is more about meaning than control

If you’ve been doing everything “right” but still feel off, this episode is for you. Your symptoms might be the guideposts you've been missing.

Connect with Andrea here

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