The Tamsen Show

One glass of wine at dinner. That's all it takes now to wreck your sleep, spike your anxiety, and leave you feeling like garbage for two days. It's not in your head, and it's not about willpower. Your body processes alcohol completely differently now, and almost nobody has explained that to you.

This episode is part of Tamsen's series breaking down the topics from her New York Times bestselling book How to Menopause, one conversation at a time.

This week it's alcohol, and Tamsen gets honest about her own relationship with it. She was never a big drinker, but a habit crept in over the years, and after the pandemic she realized one glass she didn't even really want was quietly costing her sleep, workouts, mood, and how she felt in her own skin.

She has not quit drinking, and she's not telling you to. She's breaking down what the leading doctors she's interviewed have taught her about what alcohol actually does to your body in midlife, so you can decide for yourself.

Inside the episode:

- The real reason one glass at 48 hits like five did at 32, and why you're essentially still drinking it the next morning

- What's happening in your body at 3 a.m. when your eyes pop open with your heart racing

- The hidden connection between alcohol and hot flashes, belly fat, and that next-day anxiety you haven't been linking to your Friday night wine

- What every doctor in the studio has told Tamsen about alcohol and breast cancer risk, and why this one is actually within your control

- The single question that changed Tamsen's drinking: what are you actually reaching for?

-Word-for-word scripts for the social pressure, the pushy friend, and the partner conversation

- Why tracking your drinks for one month with zero judgment might change everything

You don't have to quit. You don't have to call yourself anything. But if your body has been trying to tell you something, this episode will help you finally hear it.

If you liked this conversation, check this out: How to Eat to Curb Alcohol Cravings

If you liked this conversation, check out the rest of the How To Menopause series:

⁠⁠Estrogen Down There 101: Here's Everything You Need to Know⁠⁠

⁠Testosterone 101: Everything You Need to Know in 20 Minutes⁠⁠

⁠Relationships 101: Is It Him or Is It Menopause? Here's How to Tell⁠

⁠Perimenopause 101: The Symptoms, Tests & Fixes No One Tells You About⁠

Coming up: Anxiety, Mental Health, Estrogen 101 and more!

Stay connected with Tamsen:

⁠⁠⁠⁠Get ⁠Tamsen's newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ filled with free tools⁠ to living better, feeling stronger, and knowing you’re never alone

Get Tamsen’s NYT instant bestselling book, ⁠⁠⁠⁠How To Menopause⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠ from Tamsen 

Watch all the episodes on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Tamsen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

The Tamsen Show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Tamsen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Medical Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical concerns or treatment options. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Tamsen Show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Melinda French Gates joins Tamsen with a major announcement, a huge new donation toward women’s midlife and menopause care, and she’s making it right here on The Tamsen Show. 

Melinda has pledged $2 billion to women and families in her lifetime, and this new commitment expands her women’s health work into menopause for the first time. In this episode she breaks down what the funding means for perimenopause and menopause care, why so many women get dismissed by their doctors, and how she plans to fix it, starting with the people we turn to first: our doctors.

Right now only about a third of OBGYNs are trained in menopause. Less than one percent of aging research even looks at it. Melinda is putting real money and her name behind changing that, and this conversation is about what that shift will mean for you, your friends, your daughters, and the generations coming up behind us.

We also cover:

- Why the funding goes toward training doctors instead of going straight to women

- Why it took Melinda three doctors to get the right care, even with every resource available to her

- The bone health and cardiovascular risks no one warns you about

- How menopause could have its own Susan G. Komen moment

- What she learned about navigating big transitions and building your next chapter

- The daily non-negotiables and decades-long friendships that keep her grounded

Melinda’s latest book, The Next Day, is a must-read on navigating life’s biggest transitions. You can find it here

If you like this episode, then you will love: Perimenopause 101: The Symptoms, Tests & Fixes No One Tells You About

Follow Melinda on ⁠Facebook⁠

Follow Melinda on ⁠Instagram

Stay connected with Tamsen:

⁠⁠⁠⁠Get ⁠Tamsen's newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ filled with free tools⁠ to living better, feeling stronger, and knowing you’re never alone

Get Tamsen’s NYT instant bestselling book, ⁠⁠⁠⁠How To Menopause⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠ from Tamsen 

Watch all the episodes on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Tamsen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

The Tamsen Show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Tamsen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

This show is sponsored by Midi Health. Visit https://joinmidi.com/tamsen today to book your personalized, insurance-covered virtual visit. Midi. The Care Women Deserve.

Go to https://www.leesa.com/ for 25% off select mattresses PLUS get an extra $50 off with promo code TAMSEN. Support our show and let them know we sent you after checkout!

Medical Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical concerns or treatment options. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Tamsen Show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most of what you've heard about hormone balance, perimenopause symptoms, and hormone therapy online is wrong. That misunderstanding is costing women years of unnecessary suffering through puberty, pregnancy, and menopause stages when effective solutions like testosterone for women already exist and can make a real difference.

Endocrinologist Dr. Gillian Goddard is joining Tamsen Fadal on The Tamsen Show to cut through the noise and explain how your hormonal system actually works and what to do when it feels like it isn't.

She breaks down the feedback loop mechanism that keeps your hormones self-regulating, why that process is far more dynamic than any "hormone optimization" trend on social media, and what happens when those loops are disrupted at key life transitions.

In this episode, Tamsen and Dr. Goddard cover:

- What a hormone actually is, and why the feedback loop model changes everything

- The thyroid-immune system connection and why puberty, pregnancy, and perimenopause are your highest-risk windows for thyroid disease

- The late reproductive stage: the perimenopause phase most doctors miss, and why it matters

- HRT vs. birth control for perimenopausal symptoms, and why the right answer depends on where you are in your reproductive stage

- Testosterone for women: what the science actually shows (and what it doesn't yet)

- How to talk to your doctor about perimenopause, hormone therapy, and getting your symptoms taken seriously

If you've ever left a doctor's office dismissed because your periods were still regular but you knew something was off, this episode is for you. The late reproductive stage affects roughly 50% of women between ages 37 and 45, and most women have never heard of it.

Dr. Goddard's message is clear: you don't need to suffer. Whether you're navigating your first period or your last, your symptoms are valid and they can be addressed.

If you liked this conversation, check out the rest of the How To Menopause series:

⁠⁠Estrogen Down There 101: Here's Everything You Need to Know⁠⁠

⁠Testosterone 101: Everything You Need to Know in 20 Minutes⁠⁠

⁠Relationships 101: Is It Him or Is It Menopause? Here's How to Tell⁠

⁠Perimenopause 101: The Symptoms, Tests & Fixes No One Tells You About⁠

Stay connected with Tamsen:

⁠⁠⁠⁠Get ⁠Tamsen's newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ filled with free tools⁠ to living better, feeling stronger, and knowing you’re never alone

Get Tamsen’s NYT instant bestselling book, ⁠⁠⁠⁠How To Menopause⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠ from Tamsen 

Watch all the episodes on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Tamsen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

The Tamsen Show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Tamsen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Medical Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical concerns or treatment options. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Tamsen Show.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shannon Elizabeth was the it girl of the early 2000s... American Pie, Scary Movie, Love Actually, That 70s Show. What we didn't know was how much Shannon was carrying underneath all of it.

In this personal and unfiltered episode, Tamsen sits down with her cousin Shannon Elizabeth, for the first time with a microphone between them. They grew up together at their grandmother's house. They went through their divorces around the same time. They have been each other's people through all of it. And this conversation goes places neither of them planned.

Shannon gets honest about what it was actually like being swept up in the entertainment machine at 25 and moving so fast through the biggest moments of her career that she barely lived any of them. Now in her 50s, she talks about the announcement that got everyone talking, joining OnlyFans, and the real reason she is doing it now after years of watching creator culture build around her and staying on the sidelines. She wasn't in a good place for a long time and she didn't want to fake it. Now she is and she is ready to be seen.

You'll hear:

- What it was actually like being Nadia from American Pie and the parts of that chapter Shannon almost doesn't remember

- Why she built walls so high that even the people who loved her couldn't get through them and what finally made her put them down

- How going through divorce at the same time brought Tamsen and Shannon closer than they had ever been

- Why she is finally ready to share her real life publicly after years of saying no to creator culture

- What her 50s feel like compared to every decade that came before

- Why losing her dad changed how she understands community and family

This one feels like sitting on a couch with two old friends finally saying the things they have been meaning to say. Because that is exactly what it is.

Shop the products Shannon mentioned here

Learn more about Shannon’s foundation

Check out Shannon’s charity poker event

If you liked this conversation, check this out: Jamie Lynn Sigler: How to Forgive Yourself and Rewrite Your Story

Stay connected with Tamsen:

⁠⁠⁠⁠Get ⁠Tamsen's newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ filled with free tools⁠ to living better, feeling stronger, and knowing you’re never alone

Get Tamsen’s NYT instant bestselling book, ⁠⁠⁠⁠How To Menopause⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠ from Tamsen 

Watch all the episodes on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Tamsen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

The Tamsen Show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Tamsen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kachava: Code TAMSEN for 15% off your order ⁠https://www.kachava.com⁠

Currentbody: Code TAMSENCB for 10% off ⁠https://go.shopmy.us/p-54389490

Medical Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical concerns or treatment options. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Tamsen Show.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This conversation is for the woman who wants to make sure she is doing the right things for her health today so she can live longer, stronger, and more confidently well into her 80s and beyond. You'll learn the most effective strength training regimen, how to combat muscle loss in perimenopause and menopause, falls prevention techniques, and how to finally heal from chronic injuries like back pain and frozen shoulder.

In this episode, Tamsen Fadal sits down with physiotherapist and best-selling author Will Harlow to explain the science of how muscle, bone, and joints change with age, what is actually driving those changes, and the specific, evidence-based protocols that reverse them. Will shares a precise, actionable framework for building strength, preserving mobility, and protecting skeletal health without spending hours in the gym.

Will and Tamsen discuss:

- Why muscle loss and strength loss in women starts at 30, not 50, and what that means for the choices you are making right now

- The 3-2-1 method for building strength

- The four pillars of independence

- Why the pain going away does not mean the problem is fixed

- The rule for finally breaking the cycle of recurring injuries in women over 50

- Why perimenopause and menopause make women more vulnerable to frozen shoulder (and what to do about it)

- How to build balance and prevent falls

- The one form of exercise that can transform your health

- What a realistic strength training and mobility week looks like

Plus, Tamsen opens up about her own recurring back injury, her experience with frozen shoulder, and what Will told her that she wishes someone had said two years ago.

If you liked this conversation, check this out The Muscle Episode: Get Stronger, Look Better & Reverse Your Biological Age and How Getting Stronger as You Age Can Change Everything

Stay connected with Tamsen:

⁠⁠⁠⁠Get ⁠Tamsen's newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ filled with free tools⁠ to living better, feeling stronger, and knowing you’re never alone

Get Tamsen’s NYT instant bestselling book, ⁠⁠⁠⁠How To Menopause⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠ from Tamsen 

Watch all the episodes on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Tamsen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

The Tamsen Show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Tamsen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

This show is sponsored by Midi Health. Visit https://joinmidi.com/TAMSEN today to book your personalized, insurance-covered virtual visit. Midi. The Care Women Deserve.

Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at https://www.shopify.com/tamsen!

Medical Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical concerns or treatment options. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Tamsen Show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices