Month: October 2025

For your fall wardrobe.

I’ll never forget the day I looked down in the shower and saw clumps of hair swirling around the drain. My heart sank. I was just 48.

“What’s happening to me?” I thought. Was it stress? Diet? Something more serious?

My Story: When the Hairs in the Drain Told the Truth

That moment turned me into a detective of my own health. After digging into the research and working with my PA, I discovered the culprit: low progesterone. Once I started bio-identical progesterone, the shedding stopped – and my hair has been thick and full ever since.

Even more good news arose as I noticed the benefits didn’t stop with just my hair:

Mood Lifting

Whenever I felt overly weepy or emotional (so not me), I realized my body was crying out for progesterone. A small dose, and it was like the emotional clouds lifted almost immediately.

Restored Desire and Pleasure

Progesterone makes a profound difference in both sexual desire and the ease of orgasm. I’ve found it works in as little as 20 minutes – and the fact that I can just rub it on my forearm and let it absorb transdermally makes it simple and stress-free.

Balanced Shape

So many women notice their “hourglass shape” turn into a “soda can shape” after 40. With bio-identical hormones, I began to notice my waistline returning – my curves came back, and with them, my confidence.

Peace of Mind

Each year, I get my hormones tested – progesterone, estrogen, testosterone – to stay balanced. Having the data takes away the guesswork and lets me feel in control of my body again. (If you’d like to know more about the lab I use for testing, I’m happy to share details – just reach out.)

Why Progesterone Matters

Fertility and Conception

Progesterone prepares the uterine lining for implantation. Without enough, even a fertilized egg won’t “stick.”

Holding a Pregnancy

In early pregnancy, progesterone maintains the uterine lining and keeps the uterus from contracting. Low levels can lead to early miscarriage.

Hormonal Balance

Progesterone helps counterbalance estrogen. Without it, estrogen dominance can trigger mood swings, irritability, heavy periods, weight gain, and even cancer risk.

Nervous System Support

Progesterone has a calming effect on the brain – it’s often called the “feel-good” or “chill” hormone.

When Does Progesterone Decline?

Progesterone starts to decline in your mid-to-late 30s, often dropping off more dramatically during perimenopause (usually mid-40s to early 50s). It can decline years before estrogen does – and this imbalance is where many symptoms begin.

Research shows that women in perimenopause can lose up to 75% of their progesterone production while estrogen levels remain relatively high – a recipe for estrogen dominance and its frustrating symptoms (Prior, 2005).

By the time we’re in our 60s, progesterone is down 90–95% from youthful levels, leaving only small amounts from the adrenal glands to sustain the delicate hormonal symphony. True aging can really hit hard during these years if every hormone is operating at a bare-bones level.

Signs Your Progesterone Might Be Low – From Your 30s Forward

• Irregular or heavy periods
• Difficulty getting or staying pregnant
• PMS or PMDD
• Mood swings, anxiety, or depression
• Poor sleep
• Low libido
• Weight gain (especially around the belly)
• Breast tenderness
• Brain fog or poor memory
• Hair thinning or hair loss
• Vaginal dryness or discomfort during sex

Why Progesterone Is Worth Your Attention

If you’re noticing changes in your mood, weight, energy, or even your hair or sleep – don’t ignore the signs. Hormones are powerful messengers, and progesterone in particular plays a starring role in how we feel every single day.

The good news? You don’t have to just “accept” the changes of midlife. With safe, bio-identical progesterone therapy and regular testing, you can restore balance, protect your health, and rediscover the vibrant, confident, joyful version of yourself.

In fact, studies show that:

• Women using natural progesterone therapy experienced a 50% reduction in night sweats and hot flashes compared to placebo (Hitchcock & Prior, 2012).
• Progesterone supplementation has been linked to better sleep quality and duration in peri- and postmenopausal women (Schüssler et al., 2008).
• Bio-identical hormones, including progesterone, are associated with improved mood, energy, and quality of life compared to synthetic options (Holtorf, 2009).

Because truly – your 40s, 50s, and beyond can be your most radiant decades yet.

Free Master Class Invitation

Here’s the truth: whether your body is building up (regenerating) or breaking down (degenerating) has very little to do with age. In fact, science shows that 80% of this process is under our control.

I have created an empowering class where I share the 5 secrets that determine which direction your body is heading – plus simple, natural steps you can start today to shift into regeneration mode. You’ll learn how to:

• Recognize the red flags of degeneration before they turn into disease.
• Activate your body’s built-in ability to renew and repair.
• Make small, daily choices that add up to big changes in energy, mood, weight, and longevity.

You’ll get instant access when you enroll – and you may be surprised at how much of your health is still in your hands, no matter your age.

You can sign up for this free masterclass here:

Are You Regenerating or Degenerating? 5 Ways to Know for Sure

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Have you tested your hormone production? What symptoms made you do so? Did you know that female health is different than male health and also less investigated?

Photo: @venacbd x @tamrajudge

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Originally posted at: Tamra Judge’s Denim Puff Sleeve Top

A timeline of retail shopping in America and abroad is an excellent vehicle for women of our cohort to chart their personal histories. Coming of age when individually owned shops prevailed, entering our prime during the age of the shopping mall, moving forward during the Big Box store revolution, and now aging during the dominance of online shopping have made us nimble, but not necessarily satisfied customers.

I’m a Retail Native

We all know about digital natives, but I could be described as a “retail native.”

I have spent a good amount of my life shopping for recreation and necessities. I count some of my favorite items as those found by serendipity through the years. For instance, I have an old polar fleece throw purchased in New England on a vacation in the 1980s, when that was the first location in the world where polar fleece was manufactured (Malden Mills).

I have a way-too-big, fine mesh colander which I bought at a small shop. I’ve repurposed it for my weekly fruit ripening ritual. I would never own an authentic Pendleton cross-body bag if I hadn’t accidentally found it at Marshall’s.

Most recently, searching for the perfect gift for my husband as a souvenir of a recent solo trip, I found a charming volume of baseball stories at an independent bookstore in Denver. None of those items could have been plucked easily from the millions of offerings online. The sad fact is that these events are becoming quite rare. Covid is somewhat to blame for our changes in shopping habits, but aging also plays a role. I’ve written about these ideas previously in my post, Have You Reset Your Shopping Habits?

The History of Shopping

Shopping has its roots in early humans bargaining with others in their sphere for items they did not have or those they needed. In the years before the common era (BCE), open markets and commercial centers in Rome, China and the Middle East flourished. These bazaars, on predictable days, persisted through Medieval times and morphed into permanent shops, arcades, mail order businesses, and more recently shopping malls and Big Box stores. The most recent iteration is online shopping, and its close cousin, a hybrid mix of brick and mortar stores coupled with tech services, or omnichannel shopping.

What Do the Numbers Say About Customer Preferences?

It is impossible to ignore the many retail chains which are closing their doors every week. With their passing, I would never have guessed that in the US, physical stores have an 81% share of the retail market. Currently, 45% of shoppers prefer brick and mortar stores, including a majority of baby boomers. 28% prefer online shopping, with younger folks enjoying both platforms. According to business.yougov.com, only 4% of shoppers always buy online, but only 3% only buy in person. The rest have a hybrid plan.

Most often, categories of goods determine the buying platform. 69% buy groceries in-store; 50% buy furniture in-store, but tech items are purchased by 36% online, and clothing is a mixed bag: 27% online, 35% in person, 33% purchase between the two.

How Is Merchandise Chosen for Large Online and Big Box Stores?

To understand why shopping isn’t nearly as much fun or serendipitous as it has been in our younger years, you need to understand the data driven universe of retail. AI and machine learning analyze customer and product data to automate and optimize retail processes. (How many retail “club tabs” do you have hanging from your keychain?)

There is an incessant hoovering of customer preferences and sales, which are then analyzed in terms of purchase history, browsing behavior, and demographic information to predict needed inventories. This is a far cry from your favorite store of the 70s or 80s, whose inventory was based on the owner’s individual aesthetic, which aligned perfectly with yours!

Data points relating to seasonal trends and other mathematical formulas offer up the correct quantity of inventory possessing the desired variety and depth. Such gyrations might lead you to that Target purchase which you can never repurchase in the future!

Luckily, all is not in the realm of predictive algorithms. The human value of “treasure hunting” encourages retailers to change up their products, create alluring displays, and send out those quasi-subliminal texts or emails about new products.

Why Are Shoppers Swimming Upstream in Search of Meaningful In-Store Shopping?

The human need for viewing, touching and interacting with physical products is probably hard wired in our DNA. That is the way our ancestors have been shopping for millennia, and the shopping experience can be enormously satisfying.

The hallmark of a successful shopping experience encourages the happy, accidental discovery. Shopping is a social event. One can be accompanied by friends or family, but at the very least there is an encounter with a store clerk who can provide needed assistance or some cordial interaction.

In their best form, shop displays offer a quality sensory experience through spatial design, craftsmanship, and an artisan culture. They can offer personalized service, curated products, and greater local emphasis. Shops can be a vital part of a community. There is also an immediate benefit to a purchase which has no wait time or shipping fees.

To me, the Big Box algorithms make a shopping experience more functional than fun. I’m not sure if my demographic was part of the data set which was harvested at a corporate location far from my home. I never find the selection of items as broad as they once were. Although we balked at the lack of toilet paper on the shelves during the pandemic, I find that I am more surprised when a store actually has what I need than when it doesn’t.

Shopping on the Horizon

I don’t think any of us are excited about the possibility of a drone dropping off packages at our front doors. As clever as AI is thought to be, I am not looking forward to sharing my shopping list with a neural network. I’ve got a perfectly functioning one myself.

As an older woman, I am thrilled to have an inventory of clothing and household items which could never be purchased in today’s market. Both the functional and decorative items are of uniform high quality, were chosen from a vast array that doesn’t exist today, and many evoke wonderful memories.

We will all need to shop regularly in the future. There are groceries to buy, broken items that need to be replaced, and we need reasons to leave the house. It just might be possible to recreate those nostalgic, serendipitous feelings when traveling, at flea markets and vintage stores, and shopping locally, as the last stakeholders try to hold on.

Promising behaviors by younger shoppers include the “No Buy Movement,” a desire to curb impulse shopping, reduce debt, and limit environmental impact. Communal events held in local stores are also a popular choice. Pledges by the young and old to only purchase used clothing, consume or grow organic food, and share unwanted items on the websites Freecycle or Facebook Marketing are all reactions to unsatisfying and compulsive shopping.

We are all consumers in one form or another. The delight of finding a unique item is not a pleasure which should be ejected. No doubt, there is a certain thrill in finding an item that perfectly hits the sweet spot of need and personal appreciation.

You may also like, What’s the Deal with Shopping Anyway?

Let’s Chat:

How has shopping changed over the course of your life? Do you have any ways to make shopping less functional and more fun? Do your age or physical condition dictate your shopping habits?

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Photo: @angiekatsanevas

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Originally posted at: Angie Katsanevas’ Red Dress