Struggling with sleep? Answers inside...👍 😴
Breast cancer breakthrough, A cholesterol-lowering diet (30%!), Style options for T-day, How to strengthen your hip bone + A mobility challenge
Happy Friday! A peek at what made this week’s list...
☀️ A cholesterol lowering diet (30%!), breast cancer breakthrough, hip bone help, solutions for better sleep, an 80-year old wonder woman, style ideas for T-day + a mobility challenge…
Quick Hits
What was tops in our feeds this week… 😊🥲🤣😍
❤️ This diet can lower your cholesterol by 30%. No pills required.
Looking for a diet that’s easy to follow and a heart-smart investment? Meet the Portfolio Diet. It’s packed with a variety of cholesterol-lowering foods like legumes, nuts, olive oil, and fiber-rich picks such as oats and eggplant. The payoff? Studies show it can drop LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by up to 30% and reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. And even better; no perfection required. Even adding a few MVP foods like avocado, almonds, or sweet potatoes to your weekly rotation makes a real difference. Now that’s a return on investment. Read the article just posted in The New York Times.
[4 Minutes]
💪 Stop doing cardio and strength training back-to-back.
Cardio before strength training? Or after? What’s the ideal schedule? Fitness pro Holly Rilinger says to guard your strength time like gold. Cardio first means you’re too tired to lift heavy. Cardio after? You’ll shortchange recovery, and that’s where the muscle magic happens. Her solution: keep them separate. She suggests strength training 4 days a week, interval cardio 2 days, and sneaking in Zone 2 cardio (the conversational kind) when you can. In midlife fitness, multitasking is out; muscle is in. Watch the video on Instagram.
[3 Minutes]
★★★★★ Want more from Holly Rilinger? Her class Strength Training for Women 40+ is now available on Mentors >>
✨ Breast cancer breakthrough: Many women can skip radiation.Game-changing news for breast cancer patients. A large study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that women with early-stage breast cancer (Stage II with 1-3 affected lymph nodes) who had a mastectomy and modern anti-cancer drugs saw no survival benefit from radiation. After nearly 10 years, survival rates were virtually identical—around 81%—whether patients had radiation or not. With today’s advanced treatments, many patients can safely skip radiation and avoid its side effects. A good reminder to ask your doctor about the latest evidence before committing to treatment. Read the article in US News & World Report.
👗 Level up your Thanksgiving look with six easy options.
Ready for sweater weather but stuck in a style rut? Midlife style maven Nikki of Treating the Streets Like a Runway serves up six looks that’ll have you owning Thanksgiving like it’s your personal fashion show. From cozy chic to elevated casual, these fits prove you can look pulled together, stay comfy, and still save room for pie. Watch the video on Instagram.
[2 Minutes]
🦴 The magic exercise that builds hip bone density.
Building bone density in your hips is tough, but Drs. Brad Weening and Paul Zalzal of Talking with Docs have an exercise that specifically targets this tricky area. It’s called the jump-down hop. Jump down from a step (8-16 inches), land with a firm impact (no cushioning!), then immediately hop straight up as high as you can. That quick impact creates a high “strain rate” that triggers bone growth right where you need it. Start with 5-10 reps per week and work your way up to 10-15 reps a few times weekly. Who knew strong bones were just a hop away? Watch the video on YouTube.
[7 Minutes]
🥾 80-year-old woman just hiked the entire Appalachian Trail.
Think you’re too old? Not so fast. Betty Kellenberger just made history as the oldest woman to thru-hike the 2,197-mile Appalachian Trail. And get this, she did it after two previously failed attempts and a knee replacement! Her advice? “We put all kinds of limitations on ourselves. Sometimes the biggest one is we don’t get up and try it.” If this doesn’t inspire you to lace up your hiking boots (or at least take the stairs), we don’t know what will. Read the post on Instagram or read the article in The Washington Post.
[2 Minutes]
✋ TRY THIS
Quiz: Tissue Box Mobility Challenge ⤵
All you need is one leg, a tissue box, and a sense of humor. This “simple” test of balance and flexibility is way harder than it looks. Try it here.
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Weekend Bookmarks
What’s worth your time, when you have some… ✅
👓 SMART ON SUBSTACK
Our picks from what the top experts had to say this week.
🧴 Everything You Need to Know About Vaginal Estrogen (And Why We Need to Talk About It)
@HEATHERHIRSCHMD | [9 minutes] | READ >>
🍹Sobering Statistics About the Impact of Alcohol on Cancer Risk
@DRSTREICHER | [7 minutes] | READ >>
📋 How to Age Stronger in Menopause: 5 Lessons from Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Vonda Wright
@DRMARYCLAIREHAVER | [9 minutes] | READ >>
🎧 PODCAST
Dr. Somi Javaid | DisruptHER
If you’re lying awake at 3 a.m. wondering why sleep has become your nemesis, you’re not alone—and it’s not just “normal aging.”
Dr. Shelby Harris, clinical psychologist and board-certified sleep medicine specialist, joins OB-GYN Dr. Somi Javaid with a game-changing message: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) should be your first-line treatment, not pills.
This short-term therapy (just 4-8 sessions, every two weeks) retrains your brain and gives you tools that last a lifetime—unlike medications that require an exit strategy and can cause cognitive issues long-term.
And while hormone therapy can address the biological piece of the sleep puzzle, CBT-I tackles the behavioral patterns keeping you awake even after the hormone piece is squared away.
The duo also discusses other helpful tips:
Lower your bedroom temperature: If you’re having night sweats, cooling mattresses and sheets work wonders.
Try “worry time”: Schedule 20 minutes early evening to write down everything stressing you out, then refuse to engage with those worries till your next “worry time.”
Get screened for sleep apnea: You don’t need to snore to have it— and it’s commonly missed in midlife women.
Skip the Benadryl: Over-the-counter sleep aids have more cognitive risks than prescription options and aren’t safe for long-term use.
And more...
If sleep has become a nightly struggle instead of a refuge, this episode offers real solutions backed by science—starting with the one treatment that actually addresses the root cause.
[43 minutes] | LISTEN >>
★★★★★ Want more from Dr. Shelby Harris? Her class How to Get to Sleep & Stay Asleep is now available on Mentors >>
👋 See ya next week...
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PS: Did we miss anything? Let us know how we can improve this week’s newsletter or if you have ideas for next week!