Mornings with Megan

Megan Pfiffner
  • 5.0 (26)
  • Nutrition
  • Updated Weekly

Mornings with Megan is your Wednesday morning check-in for perimenopause, the stuff nobody prepared you for. I'm Megan Pfiffner, an MS, CNS, CDN and perimenopause navigator. Every week, in about 15 minutes (just long enough for your coffee), we get into the real questions: why you're waking up at 2am, where the new anxiety came from, what your labs actually mean when your doctor says "everything's normal," and how to build the right team of people to help you feel like yourself again. This isn't 101 perimenopause info you can Google. It's the bridge between the 7-minute appointment you get w

  1. 2d ago

    43 REBROADCAST: You've Been Rucking Your Whole Life

    In this episode of Mornings with Megan, rucking in perimenopause takes center stage: what it actually is, why it matters for hormones, muscle, and bone health, and how to start this week. I'm bringing back one of our most-loved episodes as I take some downtime before fall content kicks off. Rucking is simply walking with a weighted pack, a term borrowed from the military. But as I explain in this episode, women have quietly been doing this our whole lives, carrying kids, groceries, water, laundry, without ever getting credit for it as exercise. I break down why declining estrogen and testosterone make load-bearing movement essential, not optional, at this stage of life; the Harvard hotel maid study proving that mindset alone can change body composition; the important distinction between maintaining and building bone density; and why rucking is one of the few cardio formats that doesn't spike cortisol. By the end of this episode, you'll have a simple three-step plan to start rucking this week, and you'll understand exactly how this one practice touches all six pillars of the Perimenopause Matrix™. ⁠👉 Full Episode Show Notes⁠ About the Perimenopause Matrix:The Matrix is my framework for navigating perimenopause across 6 pillars: Fuel, Move, Recharge, Regulate, Connect, and Clean. But this episode isn't about optimizing all 6 - it's about choosing the ONE that matters most in YOUR current reality. 🧬 Ready to stop guessing? I help women interpret their labs so they can make nutrition decisions based on data, not diet trends. 👉 Book your personalized Lab Review here 🎁 FREE RESOURCE: Download the free Perimenopause Decoder . It helps you understand what's happening during perimenopause so you can make decisions from a place of clarity, not chaos. 📱 CONNECT WITH ME: Website⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠Facebook ⁠Youtube You're not crazy. You're not broken. You're not alone. And you absolutely deserve to feel like yourself again. Listen to Mornings with Megan Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday! AppleSpotifyAmazonYoutube

  2. Aug 12

    42 REBROADCAST: I Tried 5 Diets So You Don't Have To: What Actually Works in Perimenopause

    I tried five different diets over the years, made just about every mistake you can make, and I'm sharing all of it in this episode: vegetarian, paleo, keto, a candida protocol, and a short-term bulking phase. What worked, what backfired, and what I finally landed on. This week I'm bringing back one of the most loved episodes in the Mornings with Megan archive while I take a little downtime before things pick back up this fall. It's a conversation about perimenopause diet and nutrition that still holds up: how hormones, blood sugar, and gut health all show up on your plate, and why chasing the "perfect" way of eating usually backfires. In this episode we cover: Why an unplanned vegetarian phase left me exhausted and under-fueledWhat actually changed when I tried paleo, and why it wasn't the food elimination I thought it wasHow years on hormonal birth control set up a gallbladder issue that keto made worseWhat a candida protocol taught me about gut health and carb toleranceWhy a short-term bulking experiment reshaped how I think about calories and body sizeWhat I eat now, and how comprehensive lab work replaced the guessworkIf you're dealing with energy crashes, bloating, stubborn weight, brain fog, or hormone chaos in perimenopause or midlife, this episode is for you. There is no single perfect diet for hormone health or menopause nutrition, there is only the one that fits your unique body, and I'll show you how data and functional lab work can help you find it. ⁠👉 Full Episode Show Notes⁠ About the Perimenopause Matrix:The Matrix is my framework for navigating perimenopause across 6 pillars: Fuel, Move, Recharge, Regulate, Connect, and Clean. But this episode isn't about optimizing all 6 - it's about choosing the ONE that matters most in YOUR current reality. 🧬 Ready to stop guessing? I help women interpret their labs so they can make nutrition decisions based on data, not diet trends. 👉 Book your personalized Lab Review here 🎁 FREE RESOURCE: Download the free Perimenopause Decoder . It helps you understand what's happening during perimenopause so you can make decisions from a place of clarity, not chaos. 📱 CONNECT WITH ME: Website⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠Facebook ⁠Youtube You're not crazy. You're not broken. You're not alone. And you absolutely deserve to feel like yourself again. Listen to Mornings with Megan Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday! AppleSpotifyAmazonYoutube

  3. Aug 5

    41: What Actually Happens in a Pelvic Floor Therapy Session with Marlene Handler Part 2

    In this episode of Mornings with Megan, we are back with pelvic floor occupational therapist Marlene Handler for Part 2, and we are getting into what actually happens when you walk through the door of a pelvic floor therapy clinic for the first time. If something from Part 1 landed for you: the leaking, the painful sex, the prolapse, the constipation, the shame of not asking for help sooner. This is the episode that tells you exactly what to do next. Marlene is the founder of The Lifted Lotus in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She holds certifications in sex and intimacy and trauma-informed care, and serves on the board of the New York State Occupational Therapy Association, where she helped write the position paper that gave OTs in New York legislative permission to perform pelvic floor rehab. Only two states in the country have that protection in place. She helped get one of them passed. In the Perimenopause Matrix, the Regulate pillar is about how your nervous system holds tension and stress. The Connect pillar is about intimacy, pleasure, and sexual health. Marlene's trauma-informed approach sits at the intersection of both, and this conversation is the map for anyone who has been putting off the first phone call because they didn't know what to expect. We cover: How trauma-informed care shapes every moment of a session, from the intake to the assessment, and why safety and consent are built into every stepWhat a first pelvic floor therapy session looks like from start to finish: the 60 to 90-minute intake, the breathing and movement assessments, the external evaluation, and the internal assessment when and if appropriateWhy insurance does not reimburse for painful sex or difficulty orgasming, and what to do about it whether you have coverage or notThe advocacy work Marlene is doing at the state level, and the fact that only California and New York currently have legislative permission for OTs to perform pelvic floor rehabThree things Marlene wants every person listening to do for their pelvic floor this week, no appointment neededOne of them is just to stop hovering over the toilet. Wipe the seat. Sit down. Let your pelvic floor do its job. If any of this is landing, you do not have to live with it. 👉 Full Episode Show Notes About the Perimenopause Matrix:The Matrix is my framework for navigating perimenopause across 6 pillars: Fuel, Move, Recharge, Regulate, Connect, and Clean. But this episode isn't about optimizing all 6 - it's about choosing the ONE that matters most in YOUR current reality. 🧬 Ready to stop guessing? I help women interpret their labs so they can make nutrition decisions based on data, not diet trends. 👉 Book your personalized Lab Review here 🎁 FREE RESOURCE: Download the free Perimenopause Decoder . It helps you understand what's happening during perimenopause so you can make decisions from a place of clarity, not chaos. 📱 CONNECT WITH ME: Website⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠Facebook ⁠Youtube You're not crazy. You're not broken. You're not alone. And you absolutely deserve to feel like yourself again. Listen to Mornings with Megan Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday! AppleSpotifyAmazonYoutube

  4. Jul 29

    40: Your Pelvic Floor Is the Missing Piece in Your Perimenopause Care with Marlene Handler Part 1

    In this episode of Mornings with Megan, we are talking about one of the most overlooked pieces of perimenopause care: the pelvic floor. Leaking, painful sex, prolapse, constipation. These are being dismissed in seven-minute appointments across the country. Women are being sent to three different specialists, and told it is just part of getting older. It is not. Most of it is treatable. Much of it is preventable. And there is an entire specialty dedicated to helping you with exactly this. My guest is Marlene Handler, a licensed pelvic floor occupational therapist and founder of The Lifted Lotus in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. After being dismissed by a well-known OB-GYN in New York City despite being a healthcare provider herself, Marlene went back to school to specialize in pelvic floor rehabilitation. She came out the other side without pelvic pain, without leaking, with a sex life she loves, and she now helps other women do the same. This is Part 1. In the Perimenopause Matrix, the Regulate pillar is about how your nervous system holds tension and stress in the body. The Connect pillar is about intimacy, pleasure, and sexual health. The pelvic floor sits at the center of both, and this episode is everything I wish someone had told me sooner. We cover: What the pelvic floor actually is and what it governs across bladder, bowel, sexual health, arousal, and even lymphatic flowWhy the OT lens is different from the PT lens, and why the biopsychosocial framework changes the care women receiveHow perimenopause care has become fragmented across specialists who are not connecting the dots and not referring to pelvic floor therapyWhy leaking, painful sex, and prolapse have been normalized for generations and what it costs women who keep grinning and bearing itThe shame that keeps women from making that first phone call, and how Marlene uses her own story to meet her clients where they arePart 2 drops next week. We are getting into what actually happens in a first pelvic floor therapy session, how to navigate insurance, and three things Marlene wants every woman to do for her pelvic floor this week. If any of this is landing for you, you do not have to live with it. 👉 Full show notes About the Perimenopause Matrix: The Matrix is my framework for navigating perimenopause across 6 pillars: Fuel, Move, Recharge, Regulate, Connect, and Clean. But this episode isn't about optimizing all 6 - it's about choosing the ONE that matters most in YOUR current reality. 🧬 Ready to stop guessing? I help women interpret their labs so they can make nutrition decisions based on data, not diet trends. 👉 Book your personalized Lab Review here 🎁 FREE RESOURCE: Download the free Perimenopause Decoder . It helps you understand what's happening during perimenopause so you can make decisions from a place of clarity, not chaos. 📱 CONNECT WITH ME: Website⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Facebook ⁠ Youtube You're not crazy. You're not broken. You're not alone. And you absolutely deserve to feel like yourself again. Listen to Mornings with Megan Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday! Apple Spotify Amazon Youtube

  5. Jul 22

    39: What the Scale Isn't Telling You: Strength Training with Noelle McKenzie (Part 2)

    What the Scale Isn't Telling You: Strength Training with Noelle McKenzie (Part 2) Part of the Move and Regulate Pillars of the Perimenopause Matrix™ If you have ever felt frustrated that the number on your scale will not move, even though your pants fit differently and you feel stronger, this episode is going to change how you think about that number completely. This is part two of my conversation with Noelle McKenzie, co-founder of Leading Edge Personal Trainers. We get into research out of the SWAN study, the largest long-term study on women in midlife, and why insulin resistance rises through the menopause transition independent of age or weight. Noelle breaks down exactly how building muscle helps your body handle that shift. We get into: Why hot flashes are linked to rising insulin resistance, independent of weightHow muscle acts as your body's own defense system for blood sugarWhy the scale can stay the same or go up while body composition improvesWhat training for the life you want, not the body you want to see actually meansWhy runners and cardio lovers need strength training for bone densityHow to know the difference between a normal off day and a sign something needs attention This episode is part of the Move and Regulate pillars of the Perimenopause Matrix, a six-pillar framework for understanding and navigating perimenopause. If you have not listened to part one yet, start there first. It covers muscle as a metabolic organ, why bulking up overnight is basically impossible, and how progressive overload actually works. Connect with Noelle: leadingedgeny.com | @bodybynoelle | @leadingedgeny ⁠👉 Full Episode Show Notes⁠ Subscribe and leave a review. It helps other women in perimenopause find the show. About the Perimenopause Matrix:The Matrix is my framework for navigating perimenopause across 6 pillars: Fuel, Move, Recharge, Regulate, Connect, and Clean. But this episode isn't about optimizing all 6 - it's about choosing the ONE that matters most in YOUR current reality. 🧬 Ready to stop guessing? I help women interpret their labs so they can make nutrition decisions based on data, not diet trends. 👉 Book your personalized Lab Review here 🎁 FREE RESOURCE: Download the free Perimenopause Decoder . It helps you understand what's happening during perimenopause so you can make decisions from a place of clarity, not chaos. 📱 CONNECT WITH ME: Website⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠Facebook ⁠Youtube You're not crazy. You're not broken. You're not alone. And you absolutely deserve to feel like yourself again. Listen to Mornings with Megan Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday! AppleSpotifyAmazonYoutube

  6. Jul 15

    38: Podcast Muscle Is Your Retirement Plan: Strength Training with Noelle McKenzie (Part 1)

    Muscle Is Your Retirement Plan: Strength Training with Noelle McKenzie (Part 1) Part of the Move Pillar of the Perimenopause Matrix™ If you have ever been afraid that lifting weights will make you bulky, or you have been doing the same workout for years without seeing changes in your strength, this episode is for you. In this episode, I sit down with Noelle McKenzie, co-founder of Leading Edge Personal Trainers, to talk about strength training in perimenopause and midlife. This is part one of a two-part conversation covering why muscle is called the longevity organ, why you cannot accidentally build significant muscle, how to know when it is time to increase your weight, and why fueling your body matters as much as the workout itself. We get into: Why muscle is the longevity organ, and what it does for metabolic health, blood sugar, and bone densityWhy bulking up overnight is simply not possibleThe exact signs that tell you it is time to increase your weight or repsWhat a mesocycle is and how long to stick with the same programThe real difference between getting stronger and building muscleWhy appetite alone is not a reliable guide for how much to eatThis episode is part of the Move pillar of the Perimenopause Matrix, a six-pillar framework for understanding and navigating perimenopause. Connect with Noelle: leadingedgeny.com | @bodybynoelle | @leadingedgeny Subscribe and leave a review. It helps other women in perimenopause find the show. 👉 Full Episode Show Notes About the Perimenopause Matrix:The Matrix is my framework for navigating perimenopause across 6 pillars: Fuel, Move, Recharge, Regulate, Connect, and Clean. But this episode isn't about optimizing all 6 - it's about choosing the ONE that matters most in YOUR current reality. 🧬 Ready to stop guessing? I help women interpret their labs so they can make nutrition decisions based on data, not diet trends. 👉 Book your personalized Lab Review here 🎁 FREE RESOURCE: Download the free Perimenopause Decoder . It helps you understand what's happening during perimenopause so you can make decisions from a place of clarity, not chaos. 📱 CONNECT WITH ME: Website⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠Facebook ⁠Youtube You're not crazy. You're not broken. You're not alone. And you absolutely deserve to feel like yourself again. Listen to Mornings with Megan Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday! AppleSpotifyAmazonYoutube

  7. Jul 8

    37: The Real Reason You Wake Up at 2am Part 2

    In this episode of Mornings with Megan, we are getting into the 2 a.m. wakeup and what is actually driving the sleep disruption so many women experience in perimenopause and midlife. This is part two of my conversation with Morgana Lakatos-Hayward, certified perimenopause health coach, bestselling author, and founder of This Isn't a Diet. If you haven't listened to Episode 36 yet, start there. What we cover: Why sleep belongs at the top of the priority list, above nutrition and exerciseThe cortisol and blood sugar mechanism behind 2 a.m. wakeups, and why it is so often mistaken for anxietyWhat deep sleep is doing for the brain, hormones, and metabolism, and why protecting it is non-negotiableMorning routine anchors for blood sugar and cortisol regulationThe 90-Day Shed framework and why three full cycles matter for sustainable resultsWhat both of us would say to our younger selves about the years spent trying to figure it out alone 👉 Full Episode Show Notes This episode connects to the Recharge and Regulate pillars of the Perimenopause Matrix, because sleep and nervous system regulation are not separate from the weight and hormone conversation. They are the foundation of it. Connect with Morgana: Instagram: @shedwithmorgana DM her the word PODCAST for 30% off the 90-Day Shed program. About the Perimenopause Matrix:The Matrix is my framework for navigating perimenopause across 6 pillars: Fuel, Move, Recharge, Regulate, Connect, and Clean. But this episode isn't about optimizing all 6 - it's about choosing the ONE that matters most in YOUR current reality. 🧬 Ready to stop guessing? I help women interpret their labs so they can make nutrition decisions based on data, not diet trends. 👉 Book your personalized Lab Review here 🎁 FREE RESOURCE: Download the free Perimenopause Decoder . It helps you understand what's happening during perimenopause so you can make decisions from a place of clarity, not chaos. 📱 CONNECT WITH ME: Website⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠Facebook ⁠Youtube You're not crazy. You're not broken. You're not alone. And you absolutely deserve to feel like yourself again. Listen to Mornings with Megan Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday! AppleSpotifyAmazonYoutube

  8. Jul 1

    36: Why Eating Less Is Making It Harder to Lose Weight Part 1

    In this episode of Mornings with Megan, we are talking about one of the most common and frustrating experiences in perimenopause: doing everything right and still watching your body change. I sat down with Morgana Lakatos-Hayward, certified perimenopause health coach, bestselling author, and founder of This Isn't a Diet, to dig into the real biology of why midlife weight loss is so different, and why the thing most of us reach for first, eating less, is often making it harder. What we cover: Why eat less, move more was designed for male biology and backfires for women in midlifeThe diet culture loop and why women keep cycling through the next thingWhat restriction actually does to the female body hormonallyThe three main drivers of stubborn belly fat in perimenopause: insulin, estrogen fluctuation, and chronic high cortisolWhy nervous system regulation belongs in the weight loss conversationPractical tools for vagal tone, boundaries, and getting the body into a safety response 👉 Full Episode Show Notes This episode connects to the Fuel and Regulate pillars of the Perimenopause Matrix, the framework I use with all of my clients to address root causes rather than symptoms. Part two drops next Wednesday. We go deep on sleep, the 2 a.m. wakeup, and exactly what cortisol and blood sugar are doing in the middle of the night. Connect with Morgana: Instagram: @shedwithmorgana DM her the word PODCAST for 30% off the 90-Day Shed program. About the Perimenopause Matrix:The Matrix is my framework for navigating perimenopause across 6 pillars: Fuel, Move, Recharge, Regulate, Connect, and Clean. But this episode isn't about optimizing all 6 - it's about choosing the ONE that matters most in YOUR current reality. 🧬 Ready to stop guessing? I help women interpret their labs so they can make nutrition decisions based on data, not diet trends. 👉 Book your personalized Lab Review here 🎁 FREE RESOURCE: Download the free Perimenopause Decoder . It helps you understand what's happening during perimenopause so you can make decisions from a place of clarity, not chaos. 📱 CONNECT WITH ME: Website⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠Facebook ⁠Youtube You're not crazy. You're not broken. You're not alone. And you absolutely deserve to feel like yourself again. Listen to Mornings with Megan Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday! AppleSpotifyAmazonYoutube

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About

Mornings with Megan is your Wednesday morning check-in for perimenopause, the stuff nobody prepared you for. I'm Megan Pfiffner, an MS, CNS, CDN and perimenopause navigator. Every week, in about 15 minutes (just long enough for your coffee), we get into the real questions: why you're waking up at 2am, where the new anxiety came from, what your labs actually mean when your doctor says "everything's normal," and how to build the right team of people to help you feel like yourself again. This isn't 101 perimenopause info you can Google. It's the bridge between the 7-minute appointment you get w

Information

  • Creator
    Megan Pfiffner
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    44
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Megan Pfiffner
  • Show Website
    Mornings with Megan

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