The Forties Formula | Perimenopause, Lifestyle & Health for Women Over 40

You’ve been in our ears — now get in ours. Send us a voice message and join the chat. Love, Jasmin and Amanda xIn this episode of The Forties Formula, Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim are joined by podiatrist Paul Macaulay to explore one of the most overlooked aspects of women's health: foot health in midlife.From pregnancy and perimenopause to years of wearing the wrong shoes, our feet go through enormous changes that can affect everything from plantar fasciitis and bunions to knee pain, hip pain, back pain, balance, and long-term mobility.Pa...

You’ve been in our ears — now get in ours. Send us a voice message and join the chat. Love, Jasmin and Amanda xSkincare Myths Women Over 40 Still Believe | Dr. Anjali Mato Spending a fortune on skincare and your skin still looks tired? You're probably not doing anything wrong. Most of us were given the wrong advice, and your skin has changed since your twenties. In this episode of The Forties Formula, Jasmin and Amanda sit down with UK consultant dermatologist Dr. Anjali Mato to sort out the skin...

You’ve been in our ears — now get in ours. Send us a voice message and join the chat. Love, Jasmin and Amanda xIn this deeply honest conversation, Amanda Lim and Jasmin Dhillon sit down with registered psychotherapist and integrative sex & relationship therapist Cheryl Kennedy McDonald to unpack the invisible process of identity loss in long-term relationships. From self-concept erosion and trauma bonds to gaslighting, narcissistic abuse and the emotional reality of divorce, this episode explores why so many women stay, how toxic relationship patterns develop, and what it truly takes to rebuild your sense of self...

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!Holly Matthews on grief, ADHD and being your weirdest self: actress Holly Matthews lost her husband Ross to brain cancer at 32. She shares how she rebuilt her life, talked to her daughters about death and turned grief into The Happy Me Project.What happens when your career is playing other people, and real life takes away the script?In this episode of The Forties Formula podcast, Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim talk to Holly...

This episode might be the most personal conversation we've had on The Forties Formula.Dr. Christle Gueverra is a sports medicine physician who has been on GLP1 for weight loss herself for four years. She brings both the clinical picture and the personal one, and what she shares here is unlike anything we've heard from a doctor on this topic.Together we get into why so many women experience weight gain in their 40s suddenly hit a wall with weight despite training hard and eating well, what GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are...

Breast cancer signs and symptoms every woman should know. Breast surgeon and breast cancer survivor Dr Liz O'Riordan explains how to check your breasts, mammograms and how to lower your risk.What happens when a breast surgeon finds a lump in her own breast?In this Breast Cancer Awareness Month episode of The Forties Formula podcast, Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim are joined by Dr Liz O'Riordan, a UK breast surgeon diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at 40, which has since come back twice.Liz shares what it was like to go from surgeon...

Motherhood isn't just physically demanding, it's mentally exhausting. Beyond caring for children, many mothers carry the invisible responsibility of managing family schedules, remembering appointments, planning meals, organizing daily life, and keeping everyone on track.In this clip from The Forties Formula, counselor, walk-and-talk therapist, and fatherhood advocate Simon Parkin shares why this "mental load" often goes unnoticed, how it creates resentment in relationships, and what fathers can do to become more supportive partners.In this clip:* Why the invisible mental load affects so many mothers* Why dads often don't realize how...

What do you want your body to still be able to do at 80?Strength coach Elizabeth Davies, author of Training for Your Old Lady Body, joins Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim on The Forties Formula to explore strength training for women over 40, confidence and lifelong fitness.From getting off the floor to carrying your own bags, this conversation shifts the focus towards capability and independence as you age.Elizabeth shares the story of a 79-year-old beginner and explains how shorter workouts can fit into busy lives. We also discuss mum guilt, caring responsibilities...

Have you ever found yourself questioning your relationship in your 40s... and wondered if something is wrong?In this clip from The Forties Formula, relationship coach Yana Fry explores why so many women begin reassessing their relationships during midlife. She explains how changing priorities, greater self-awareness, and shifting emotional needs can make women see their relationships through a completely different lens—and why this doesn't necessarily mean the relationship is failing.Whether you're happily partnered, feeling disconnected, or simply trying to understand yourself better, this conversation offers thoughtful insights into one of the biggest transitions ma...

Can creatine help with perimenopause brain fog? Could an allergy pill ease hot flushes? And why does your body feel different when your weight hasn’t changed?In this episode of The Forties Formula, Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim reunite in London to unpack five health claims making headlines and circulating on social media. From strength training and heart health to creatine and viral menopause hacks, they explore what’s behind the claims, where evidence is still developing, and what deserves a closer look.With so much conflicting advice aimed at women over 40, knowing what to b...

In this episode, Jasmin and Amanda sit down with Dr. Lara Morgan, a sports medicine physician who has worked with elite athletes at the Cleveland Cavaliers and USC. Dr. Morgan applies the same evidence-based recovery model used in professional sport to postpartum women — and her position is clear: mothers have been failed by a system that cleared them too early, told them to bounce back, and never gave them the tools to actually rebuild.This is one of the most important conversations we have had on this show. If you have had children — whether eight weeks ago or e...

In this episode of The Forties Formula, Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim are joined by coaching psychologist Dr Saba Hasanie to explore an uncomfortable question: how much of what we call “personality” is actually adaptation?Why does this matter? Because patterns such as people-pleasing, perfectionism, self-sabotage and the need for control may reflect behaviours we learned in childhood. In midlife, we can start questioning whether those patterns still serve us.Drawing on her book, The Blueprint to Leadership, Dr Hasanie introduces six childhood “fields”—rules, trust, self, belonging, emotions and world—and explores how they influence ad...

In this episode of The Forties Formula, Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim are joined by women's health physician Dr Sital Khistrya to unpack one of the biggest changes in women's health in decades: the proposed renaming of PCOS to PMOS (Poly-Endocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome).Why does this matter? Because experts now believe we've been treating PCOS as an ovarian condition when it's actually a lifelong metabolic disorder driven primarily by insulin resistance. This shift has huge implications for diagnosis, fertility, pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause, cardiovascular health, and how millions of women are treated around the world....

Perimenopause symptoms often present differently in Black, South Asian and East Asian women. South Asian women typically reach menopause between 46 and 48, compared with 50 to 51 in Caucasian women, meaning symptoms can begin in the mid-thirties. Symptoms are more likely to appear as joint pain, body aches, anxiety, insomnia, vaginal dryness and recurrent UTIs rather than hot flushes. Black women in the UK are approximately five times less likely to be prescribed HRT.In this episode of The Forties Formula, Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim sit down with Dr Shahzadi Harper to explore how perimenopause affects women differently across...

Have you ever wondered why something so small can suddenly push you over the edge?In this clip from The Forties Formula, psychotherapist and bestselling author Anna Mathur explains the crucial difference between anger and rage and why understanding it can completely change how you respond to overwhelming emotions. She shares why rage isn't a personality flaw, what it's really trying to communicate, and how recognising the warning signs can help you avoid reaching breaking point.If you've ever thought, "I don't know why I reacted like that," this conversation will help you understand what's...

In this episode of The Forties Formula, Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim sit down with Malissa Sander, founder of Aqua Tula, to challenge the idea that women in their 40s need to train harder to stay fit.Malissa shares her journey from childhood anorexia and an unhealthy relationship with exercise to rebuilding her body through water-based fitness and strength training. After losing muscle, suffering injuries and developing osteoporosis, she learned to approach movement differently, prioritising strength, recovery and a sustainable relationship with her body.The conversation explores why the “push harder” approach can be counterproductive in m...

If you are a woman in your 40s and the weight is not moving despite doing everything right, this conversation is for you.Sara May Garcia is a fitness coach and co-founder of Bootique gym in Singapore. She gained 8kg in two months — eating the same, training the same. She is a professional. She knew exactly what to do. And it still wasn't working.In this clip from The Forties Formula, Sara shares what was actually happening in her body, why perimenopause weight gain hits differently, and what finally changed — not just physically, but mentally.<p...

In this episode of The Forties Formula, Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim sit down with therapist Sapna Makwana Hanspal to explore the kinds of grief that often go unnamed, the grief that comes with life changing.For women in their 40s, grief can come from far more than losing a loved one. It can come from a changing identity, a changing body, fertility ending, a dream that didn't happen, a relationship changing, or realising you've outgrown a version of yourself.The conversation explores how grief can show up as anxiety, burnout, anger and exhaustion, how...

👉 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/DCJpoPVSd1sWhat if your headaches, neck pain, poor posture, and lack of confidence had nothing to do with age or hormones and everything to do with your bra?In this episode of The Forties Formula, we sit down with professional bra fitting expert Caroline to uncover one of the most overlooked health and comfort issues affecting women today: wearing the wrong bra size.From shoulder pain and migraines to posture problems and everyday discomfort, Caroline explains how an ill-fitting bra can have a much big...

Your reaction is never about what just happened.When something small sets you off — a look, a tone, a moment that should not matter — it is rarely about the moment itself. In your 40s, life becomes an explosive combination of change: your body, your relationships, your sense of self, all shifting at once. Conflict is quietly building — with yourself, with the people closest to you, with who you used to be.This week, Avni Martin — ICF Master Certified Coach, founder of The Martin Institute and author of Happy Ever After — joins Jasmin and Amanda to explain wh...