Wot The Fog _ Two Friends. One Menopause. A Thousand Challenges. A Million Laughs Michele & LouLou

Hi lovely Foggers and Fogglets,

We're back and ready to share what's been happening while we've been away. It's been a tough ol' time for us both lately so we chose to step back a little to rest and regroup.

That got us thinking about how we go about things and how we treat ourselves. When we speak to you lovely gals, you tell us that, like us, you often feel you just have to 'get on with it', 'battle on', 'push through'. Well maybe it's time to change all that. We're not at war with anyone, even ourselves, so let's stop acting like warriors.  It's not how it's meant to be, especially at this stage of our lives. It's time to be honest with ourselves and others about it too. Let’s stop making excuses and just be honest about what we feel, what we’re capable of and even what we want.
So, our words for the year are ACCEPTANCE and HONESTY. What do you think? Can we embrace them? It'll be so liberating and freeing if we can.
 
Our mood isn't helped by winter of course. First comes festive chaos followed by new year pressures! Isn't it madness that we start the new year in the middle of winter? It’s not how it’s meant to be. Celtic new year, what our ancestors would have lived by, begins on 1 February. It’s called Imbolc. It’s when new growth, birth and the return of the light/sun is celebrated. Spring doesn’t start officially until 21 March. In winter, we’re meant to, well, ‘winter’. Rest, heal and feed ourselves, nutritionally and emotionally. That doesn’t mean doing nothing, it just means slowing down, and making a decision not to join the race, the rat race. Set your own pace.
We share lots more around all this in this episode, as well as talking about...

• Mille Fois of crap
• Inherited ‘get on with it’ strategies
• Young people ‘work to live’, unlike what we were taught
• Putting off the important things and people
• Depression in menopause – is it menopause or stage of life? Both? It’s a 
    rollercoaster.
• If we’re the ones who usually lift others up and care for them, is it hard to admit you 
   can’t do that anymore?
• Winter blues – SAD
• Michele’s dry eye, sore eyelid solution and lack of diagnosis - update
• Gratitude practice - Michele's routine
We've packed a lot into a short episode this time lovelies. We'd love to hear what you think. Don't forget, you can always email us or come over and join us in our private Facebook group. All the deets are down below.

PLEASE tell all your fab female friends about the Podcast and the Event and let's get as many women in midlife and menopause well informed and supported as we can.

'til next time lovelies, you know it...."Stay sane. Don't lose it."

Big love,
Michele and Lou x
…………………………………………………………
We hope you enjoy listening. If you like what you hear please FOLLOW/SUBSCRIBE and REVIEW, it will really help us, and please share with your friends, sisters, mothers, daughters, aunties and bring them along to join the lovely WTF Community.
 
If you fancy, you can support us by buying us a coffee, just like you would if we were chatting in our favourite café or coffee house. Every little treat goes towards helping us do more of this for you. Click the 'Buy Me a Coffee' link below.
 
EMAIL US at chat@wotthefog.com with anything you’d like to ask or share, especially your Fog Moments.
 
DON'T FO’GET
You Can Join our COMMUNITY. Keep Up to Date and be the first to hear about New Episodes and Other Exciting Stuff by Joining our Members List at http://wotthefog.com
Join our FACEBOOK GROUP https://facebook.com/wotthefog
You can FOLLOW US on Instagram
https://instagram.com/w
Support the show

Hi lovely Foggers and Fogglets,
 
 We're back again for another jam packed, random conversation episode. How have you been?
 
 As it's 'World Menopause Month' and we just had 'World Mental Health Day', we thought we'd talk about the lesser known and talked about emotional and mental health symptoms of midlife and menopause.
 
 In this extended episode, we talk about...
 
 • The physical-emotional symptom connection.
 • Meno conversation reaching parliament and the women's health check at 45 proposal.
 • How do we know what's menopause related, what's natural ageing and what might be something else?
 • Keeping positive - less problems, more solutions.
 • The importance and healing power of staying connected, being part of a community and of sharing.
 • Can Michele find a magic sleep solution for Lou's insomnia?
 • GP availability - what's your experience?
 • Taking time out - 10 mins, 3 times a day is a valuable half hour.
 
 AND MOST IMPORTANTLY.....
 Are you coming along to the FREE 'Meet the Experts' event being held in our private Facebook Group on Tuesday 25, Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 October? Each evening at 6pm and 7.30pm GMT, an expert will be coming along LIVE to share their knowledge, tips and loveliness with us. You will have chance to interact (if you want to) and get your questions answered so please show up to support them, us and your fellow Foggers and Fogglets. You'll be getting priceless stuff on: gut health, fashion and styling, how scent can affect and improve our well-being, skincare and facial yoga, body strengthening to avoid osteoporosis and winding down with a beautiful relaxing sound bath.
 
 Find out more about all the presenters at our website http://wotthefog.com and make sure your come and join the Facebook Group (link below) where it'll all be happening. If you want to leave after the event, we'll miss you, but we won't try to stop you.

PLEASE tell all your fab female friends about the Podcast and the Event and let's get as many women in midlife and menopause well informed and supported as we can.

'til next time lovelies, you know it...."Stay sane. Don't lose it."

Big love,
Michele and Lou x
…………………………………………………………
We hope you enjoy listening. If you like what you hear please FOLLOW/SUBSCRIBE and REVIEW, it will really help us, and please share with your friends, sisters, mothers, daughters, aunties and bring them along to join the lovely WTF Community.
 
 If you fancy, you can support us by buying us a coffee, just like you would if we were chatting in our favourite café or coffee house. Every little treat goes towards helping us do more of this for you. Click the 'Buy Me a Coffee' link below.
 
 EMAIL US at chat@wotthefog.com with anything you’d like to ask or share, especially your Fog Moments.
 
 DON'T FO’GET
 You Can Join our COMMUNITY. Keep Up to Date and be the first to hear about New Episodes and Other Exciting Stuff by Joining our Members List at http://wotthefog.com
Join our FACEBOOK GROUP https://facebook.com/wotthefog
You can FOLLOW US on Instagram
  https://instagram.com/wot_the_fog
BUY US A VIRTUAL COFFEE to SUPPORT US 
Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wotthefog)
Support the show

Hi lovely Foggers and Fogglets,
 
 We're back with Episode 17 and we're so grateful that you're still listening.
 
 We're also SO grateful for those of you who are helping to keep us showing up by making donations via 'Buy Me a Coffee' (link below). THANK YOU this month to Emma S and Clare. Mwah.
Things you can join in with and have a laugh at this Episode are….
• Lost and found…a continuing theme (Lou updates us on her lost glasses)
• Forgotten sunscreen and deep fried skin.
• COVID. Is it worse and is recovery longer during menopause?
• How can we have an accident in an empty house?
• Jelly shoes. Remember those?
 • Do you ever really stop and do absolutely NOTHING? Try lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling. What’s your favourite way to do nothing?
• Do you take ‘fresh air baths’?
• Travelling alone. Scary or freeing?
• Our new catchphrase “Get your best on.”
 
 And of course....our FOG MOMENTS!
A couple of big missions we’re embarking on are ‘Menopause in the Workplace’ an HRT shortages. There still isn’t enough awareness or planning in workplaces and we think that every business should have a menopause policy and a menopause advocate, male or female. We’re also getting increasingly concerned about stories we’re hearing from our community about horrendous HRT shortages so we’re investigating it. Watch this space! We might be asking you to paint a placard with us!

Wherever you are in the world, please let us know what the menopause conversation is like and what the HRT situation is.
 
Please join in the conversation and share your experiences with us. That’s what builds community and how we help other women like us. You can share privately by email or join our private Facebook Group. Links below.
Huge love & gratitude,
  
Michele and Lou x
…………………………………………………………
We hope you enjoy listening. If you like what you hear please FOLLOW/SUBSCRIBE and REVIEW, it will really help us, and please share with your friends, sisters, mothers, daughters, aunties and bring them along to join the lovely WTF Community.
 
 If you fancy, you can support us by buying us a coffee, just like you would if we were chatting in our favourite café or coffee house. Every little treat goes towards helping us do more of this for you. Click the 'Buy Me a Coffee' link below.
 
 EMAIL US at chat@wotthefog.com with anything you’d like to ask or share, especially your Fog Moments.
 
 DON'T FO’GET
 You Can Join our COMMUNITY. Keep Up to Date and be the first to hear about New Episodes and Other Exciting Stuff by Joining our Members List at http://wotthefog.com
Join our FACEBOOK GROUP https://facebook.com/wotthefog
You can FOLLOW US on Instagram
  https://instagram.com/wot_the_fog
BUY US A VIRTUAL COFFEE to SUPPORT US 
Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wotthefog)
 
Support the show

Hi lovely Foggers and Foggiest,

Well, we know we bleat on about gut health a lot so we thought it was about time we brought in a real bonfire expert to tell us more about how important it is,  bust some of the myths and give us some simple but effective tips to improve it.

We were so thrilled to have the fabulous Emily Foster from A Gusty Menopause along to chat to us about all this. Emily is a qualified dietician and nutritionist both here in the UK and in her home country, Canada. She definitely qualifies as an 'expert' and as a bonus, she's absolutely lovely!

Some of the things Emily covers for us are….

• How she came to specialist in gut health for midlife and menopause
• How we can decipher what might be menopausal and what is gut health related and does it matter?
• How fluctuating oestrogen and progesterone levels can slow down the time it takes to process food, often leading to things like : - Acid Reflux, Constipation, Gas
• To juice or not to juice?

Emily tells us how to easily but effectively improve our gut health through her acronym N.A.M.E and recommends an app to track fibre levels in our food.

We have a fantastic time chatting with Emily and learned so much. We think you will too. This is such an important subject for us midlife gals that we think we'll have to ask Emily to come back…probably again and again.

If you have any questions about this Episode (we have feeling you will), please let us know. Please join in the conversation and share your experiences with us. That’s what builds community and how we help other women like us. You can join our private Facebook group, message us on Instagram or email us. All the links are below.

Go and find Emily now!! We can't recommend her enough. The best place to find her is on Instagram at @a_gutsy_menopause or you can visit her website at https://agutsymenopause.com

Huge love & gratitude,
 
Michele and Lou x
…………………………………………………………
We hope you enjoy listening. If you like what you hear please FOLLOW/SUBSCRIBE and REVIEW, it will really help us, and please share with your friends, sisters, mothers, daughters, aunties and bring them along to join the lovely WTF Community.
 
If you fancy, you can support us by buying us a coffee, just like you would if were chatting in our favourite café or coffee house. Every little treat goes towards helping us do more of this for you. Click the 'Buy Me a Coffee' link below.
 
EMAIL US at chat@wotthefog.com with anything you’d like to ask or share, especially your Fog Moments.
 
DON'T FORGET
You Can Join our COMMUNITY. Keep Up to Date and be the first to hear about New Episodes and Other Exciting Stuff by Joining our Members List at
 http://wotthefog.com
Join our FACEBOOK GROUP https://facebook.com/wotthefog
You can FOLLOW US on Instagram
 https://instagram.com/wot_the_fog
Support the show(https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wotthefog)



Support the show

Hi lovely Foggers and Fogglets,

We're back with Episode 15 and we're grateful that you're still listening, particularly since this time it's been a bit longer than usual due to travel traumas and double doses of the dreaded virus. Recovery is taking longer than we thought. Thanks for sticking with us loves.

We're also SO grateful for those of you who are helping to keep us showing up by making donations via 'Buy Me a Coffee' (link below). This month a mahoosive THANK YOU to our long suffering fab early supporter Fiona. Fiona, your generosity and support as SO appreciated.

So, since we last took up your time, we've both travelled a bit (separately btw) for the first time in literally years. The whole experience wasn't without its challenges but we survived. In this episode we're sharing our travel, or more paritucuarly 'pre' travel, anxieties with you and we'd love to hear whether your feelings around travel have changed since midlife and menopause showed up.

Other things you can join in with and have a laugh at this Episode are….

• Losing things within literally seconds of having them in your hands and having no recollection what you did with them.
• Short fuses and lack of patience and tolerance.
• Pelvic Floor Exercises being good for bowel issues too.
• Keeping it Real : Why do advertisers still insist on glamorising the unglamorous?!
• Official List of Meno Symptoms has gone up from 34 to 37!
• Embracing our FLAWESOMENESS

And of course....our FOG MOMENTS!

Please join in the conversation and share your experiences with us. That’s what builds community and how we help other women like us. You can share privately by email or join our private Facebook Group. Links below.
Huge love & gratitude,
 
Michele and Lou x
…………………………………………………………
We hope you enjoy listening. If you like what you hear please FOLLOW/SUBSCRIBE and REVIEW, it will really help us, and please share with your friends, sisters, mothers, daughters, aunties and bring them along to join the lovely WTF Community.
 
If you fancy, you can support us by buying us a coffee, just like you would if were chatting in our favourite café or coffee house. Every little treat goes towards helping us do more of this for you. Click the 'Buy Me a Coffee' link below.
 
EMAIL US at chat@wotthefog.com with anything you’d like to ask or share, especially your Fog Moments.
 
DON'T FORGET
You Can Join our COMMUNITY. Keep Up to Date and be the first to hear about New Episodes and Other Exciting Stuff by Joining our Members List at
 http://wotthefog.com
Join our FACEBOOK GROUP https://facebook.com/wotthefog
You can FOLLOW US on Instagram
 https://instagram.com/wot_the_fog
Support the show(https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wotthefog)
Support the show
Support the show

Hi lovely Foggers and Fogglets,

We're back with Episode 14 and we're grateful that you're still listening. We're also SO grateful for those of you who are helping to keep us chatting by making donations via 'Buy Me a Coffee' (link below). This month a mahoosive THANK YOU to Jude, Catherine and Tracy.

So, picking up from where we left off last month, because there's SO much more to say, we're 
talking gut, colon and bowel health and we're catching up with Lou's Inulin journey. It's good news ladies! We also covered....

• Never too old to learn something new - the right way to drink through a straw (particularly anything acidic like apple cider vinegar) and the right way to apply mascara to avoid those pesky forehead wrinkles.
• Upping our self care and looking at where we can reclaim some time and money so that we can do something for ourselves. Not everything costs money.  We're fans of walking, reading, visiting the library, meeting and chatting with a friend.
• No hands facial massage and cryogenics! Lou turned up looking all glowy and radiant and has lots to share with us about it.
• Keyless living
• What we're watching on the telly box

And of course....our FOG MOMENTS!

Please join in the conversation and share your experiences with us. That’s what builds community and how we help other women like us. You can share privately by email or join our private Facebook Group. Links below.
Huge love & gratitude,
 
Michele and Lou x
…………………………………………………………
We hope you enjoy listening. If you like what you hear please FOLLOW/SUBSCRIBE and REVIEW, it will really help us, and please share with your friends, sisters, mothers, daughters, aunties and bring them along to join the lovely WTF Community.
 
If you fancy, you can support us by buying us a coffee, just like you would if were chatting in our favourite café or coffee house. Every little treat goes towards helping us do more of this for you. Click the 'Buy Me a Coffee' link below.
 
EMAIL US at chat@wotthefog.com with anything you’d like to ask or share, especially your Fog Moments.
 
DON'T FORGET
You Can Join our COMMUNITY. Keep Up to Date and be the first to hear about New Episodes and Other Exciting Stuff by Joining our Members List at
 http://wotthefog.com
Join our FACEBOOK GROUP https://facebook.com/wotthefog
You can FOLLOW US on Instagram
 https://instagram.com/wot_the_fog
Support the show(https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wotthefog)
Support the show