Did you know women make testosterone too, and that it starts quietly declining in your 20s?

Maybe you used to juggle work, kids, and everything in between without thinking twice. Now you're exhausted in a way sleep doesn't fix, you don't feel like yourself, and you can't remember the last time you actually wanted to have sex. If that's you, you're not alone, and most women have never even heard that testosterone could be part of the answer.

In this episode, Dr. Ade Akindipe, DNP, breaks down what testosterone actually does for women in perimenopause and menopause and what to ask before starting it. That decline can become part of the conversation around libido, energy, muscle, and overall hormone health. Fresh from a hormone and metabolic health conference in Miami, she covers the real research behind testosterone for desire, energy, mood, and more, plus the FDA's first-ever public meeting on testosterone for women and what it does and doesn't mean for you right now.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why testosterone matters for women during perimenopause and menopause
• What testosterone can actually help with
• Total testosterone vs. free testosterone
• When vaginal estrogen may be more appropriate
• What testosterone may and may not do for energy, brain fog, mood, muscle, and weight
• How sleep, stress, medications, thyroid, iron, blood sugar, and alcohol can affect libido
• Testosterone side effects women should know about
• How testosterone is safely prescribed and monitored, including topical options and why pellets aren't always the first choice
• Common side effects to know about testosterone and why careful dosing matters
• The latest FDA discussion around testosterone for women
• Myths vs. facts about testosterone for women

⏱️ Chapters:
00:01 Intro
03:28 The FDA public comment period on testosterone for women
05:51 Do women actually need testosterone?
08:12 Why there's no magic testosterone number
10:38 What the research says about testosterone and libido
13:00 Testosterone vs. vaginal estrogen
15:23 What testosterone may help with beyond libido
17:50 What we know and don't know about long-term safety
20:10 Ruling out other causes before reaching for testosterone
22:28 How testosterone is prescribed, monitored, and adjusted
23:57 Common side effects and why careful dosing matters
24:55 What actually happened at the FDA's public meeting
27:18 Myths vs. facts about testosterone for women

🔗 Resources / Links

• FDA public comment period (open until October 19th) → https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FDA-2026-N-5479
• Book Your Hormone and Metabolic Consultation → https://bit.ly/rejuvenateassessment
• Book Dr. Ade for speaking -> https://womenbuiltstrategies.com/

If this episode helped you, share it with a woman in your life who's been quietly wondering about testosterone but didn't know where to start. And make sure to follow the podcast for more conversations around perimenopause, menopause, hormones, metabolism, libido, and women's health.

Note: This episode is for education and is not medical advice. Talk with your provider before starting or changing any hormone therapy.

You didn't hear a noise, but you still woke up in the middle of the night, staring at the ceiling and wondering why you can't go back to sleep.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Somewhere between 40 and over half of women in the menopause transition deal with insomnia, and most are quietly fixing the wrong thing.

In this episode, Dr. Ade Akindipe, DNP, breaks down what's actually driving those 3am wake-ups, from the hormonal shifts in progesterone, estrogen, and cortisol to the learned anxiety loop that can outlast the hormones that started it. She also covers the other causes that get missed, and walks through what actually helps, including the treatment shown to outperform medication and even estrogen for chronic insomnia.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why so many women who used to be great sleepers suddenly can't sleep through the night in their 40s
• How declining progesterone can affect anxiety and sleep
• Why night sweats aren't always the reason you wake up feeling exhausted
• How blood sugar dips overnight can trigger a cortisol spike that jolts you awake
• What the "learned awakening loop" is
• What Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia is and why it can help
• Other causes of sleep problems that should not be overlooked
• The treatment shown to outperform antidepressants and even estrogen for chronic insomnia
• Practical ways to support better sleep during midlife
• Where hormone therapy fits in, and what to ask your provider

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:39 Introduction and how common insomnia is in the menopause transition
02:23 Why perimenopause can disrupt your sleep
03:19 The hormones behind your sleep: progesterone, estrogen, and cortisol
07:19 How blood sugar dips can wake you up at night
08:06 The learned awakening loop and why fixing hormones isn't always enough
09:32 Other causes of sleep problems to rule out
10:21 Why CBT-I can be so effective for insomnia
13:12 Temperature, blood sugar, and alcohol
15:05 Light, hormones, and other treatment strategies
16:30 Final thoughts and when to seek support

🔗 Resources / Links

• Non-hormonal Sleep and Circadian Reset Recommendation: https://us.fullscript.com/s/akvip-dispensary/shop/plans/TXVsdGlQYXRpZW50UGxhbi0xNzA2Mjk=
• Non-hormonal Hot Flashes and Night Sweat Relief: https://us.fullscript.com/s/akvip-dispensary/shop/plans/TXVsdGlQYXRpZW50UGxhbi0xNzA2Mjg=
• Listen to all episodes → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoVU03xrDH8WODZsTZoQx0tUsvhT0XUui

If you know another woman who keeps waking up in the middle of the night and thinks she's the only one going through it.

Note: This episode is for education and is not medical advice. Talk with your provider before starting any treatment, especially if you have a personal or family history of hormone-sensitive cancers, blood clots, or cardiovascular or liver conditions.

You've finally found something that works. The scale is moving. Your appetite feels more manageable. But then you notice something: why do you feel weaker instead of stronger?

In this episode, Dr. Ade Akindipe, DNP, is having an honest conversation about GLP-1 medications, including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound, and what midlife women need to know beyond the number on the scale.

GLP-1 medications can be powerful tools, and she's seen them help women lose weight and improve chronic health conditions. But weight loss and improved health are not automatically the same thing. The real question is: what are you losing?

We're talking about the truth behind muscle loss, the often overlooked question of bone health, why rapid weight loss without a plan can be a concern, and the steps you can take to protect your muscle, bones, metabolism, and long-term health while using these medications.

This is not about fear or shame. It's about understanding how to use a powerful tool with a specific plan that lets you lose fat without losing the strength and bone density you need for the next 40 years.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why midlife weight gain is different
• Why GLP-1 medications have become so popular specifically among women in their 40s, 50s, and beyond
• The truth about muscle loss with GLP-1 medications
• What people mean when they talk about “Ozempic face”
• Why losing weight too quickly can be a concern
• The overlooked connection between weight loss and bone health
• The four pillars for protecting muscle and bone during weight loss
• New research on hormone therapy combined with GLP-1s and what it means for stubborn visceral fat
• What weight regain looks like if you stop the medication without the right foundation
• What a real, supervised GLP-1 plan actually looks like

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:40 Why midlife weight gain is different
04:58 Why GLP-1s became so popular with women 40s and beyond
07:20 The truth about GLP-1 medications
08:00 Are you losing muscle or fat?
09:44 Why moving less on GLP-1s puts your muscle at risk
11:29 The bone question nobody is talking about
14:28 Why these medications aren't right for everyone
15:00 The four pillars for protecting muscle and bone
19:17 New research on hormone therapy and GLP-1 weight loss
20:53 What a real, supervised plan looks like at Rejuvenate Wellness
23:55 The most important things to remember

🔗 Resources / Links
Book Your Personalized Wellness Assessment or Coaching Consultation → https://bit.ly/rejuvenateassessment

If you know a woman who's on a GLP-1 or thinking about one and wondering if she's trading one problem for another, share this episode with her.

Note: This episode is for education and is not medical advice. Talk with your provider before starting any treatment, especially if you have a personal or family history of hormone-sensitive cancers, blood clots, or cardiovascular or liver conditions.

For over 20 years, hormone therapy carried a black box warning that kept millions of women away from it, even the ones who could have benefited most.

In this episode, Dr. Ade Akindipe, DNP, breaks down what actually changed with hormone therapy research and FDA guidance, why the original warning was based on a study that never should have applied to most menopausal women, and what hormone therapy is proven to help with, and what it isn't. She walks through how to figure out if it's actually the right conversation for your body, and what a real, individualized evaluation looks like.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• The wrong study that made an entire generation of women and clinicians afraid of hormone therapy
• What the FDA changed on hormone therapy labels in late 2025 and early 2026
• What new research out of Stanford found about estrogen and Alzheimer's risk
• What hormone therapy can help with
• Questions to ask your provider about HRT
• What a real, individualized hormone evaluation actually looks like

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Intro
05:09 The Women's Health Initiative study and how the fear in hormone therapy started
09:56 How the research was corrected
12:16 What actually changed: FDA labeling and rising demand
14:37 New Stanford research on estrogen and Alzheimer's risk
17:05 What hormone therapy is proven to help
21:49 What hormone therapy is not
26:39 Why hormone therapy isn't one-size-fits-all
31:11 What a real, individualized hormone evaluation actually looks like
34:58 Recap: the three things to remember

🔗 Resources / Links:

• Book Your Personalized Wellness Assessment or Coaching Consultation → https://bit.ly/rejuvenateassessment
• Listen to all episodes → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoVU03xrDH8WODZsTZoQx0tUsvhT0XUui

This episode is for the woman who was told hormones are dangerous, or told there's nothing to be done, and knows there's more to the story.

Note: This episode is for education and is not medical advice. Talk with your provider before starting any treatment, especially if you have a personal or family history of hormone-sensitive cancers, blood clots, or cardiovascular or liver conditions.

If you're eating well, exercising consistently, and still can't lose the weight around your middle — cortisol may be the reason. In this episode, Dr. Ade Akindipe, DNP, explains why chronically elevated cortisol drives fat storage around your organs and midsection, worsens insulin resistance, disrupts your sleep, and shifts your mood in ways that don't feel like you.

You'll learn:

• Why visceral fat responds to cortisol differently than other fat — and why that makes it so stubborn
• How high cortisol raises blood sugar and insulin even when you haven't eaten
• The "wired but tired" pattern: exhausted all day, wide awake at night, and what's behind it
• How one night of poor sleep can raise insulin resistance the very next morning
• Signs of high cortisol in women, including central weight gain, irregular cycles, anxiety, and irritability
• How to lower cortisol naturally: breathwork, yoga, movement, journaling, and eating to support your cortisol rhythm
• The supplements with real clinical evidence behind them — ashwagandha, rhodiola, phosphatidylserine, magnesium glycinate, L-theanine, omega-3s, and methylated B vitamins

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Intro
04:59 Cortisol as a metabolic hormone
08:15 How cortisol drives insulin resistance and belly fat storage
10:39 Cortisol, progesterone, and estrogen dominance
16:20 What actually improves sleep for women with insulin resistance
20:57 Tools that interrupt the stress response
26:37 Journaling and its effect on cortisol
27:37 Eating to support your cortisol rhythm
28:59 Supplements for cortisol regulation

🔗 Resources / Links

• Get the supplement bundles and metabolic blueprint intake form here: https://theelevatedwomanproject.com/33
• Book Your Personalized Wellness Assessment → https://bit.ly/rejuvenateassessment
• Listen to all episodes → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoVU03xrDH8WODZsTZoQx0tUsvhT0XUui

This episode is for the woman who has been told to just eat less and move more — and knows in her body that something else is going on.

Note: This episode is for education and is not medical advice. Talk with your provider before starting any supplement, especially if you take antidepressants, anti-anxiety medication, or thyroid medication.

Have you ever been told your thyroid is fine, but you still feel exhausted, can't lose weight, your hair is falling out, and your brain just won't cooperate?

You were not wrong about your body.

This might be the most mismanaged area of women's health in conventional medicine, and today we're getting into all of it. Most thyroid testing stops at TSH, which is only one piece of a much bigger picture. And for women dealing with insulin resistance or PMOS, that single number can be actively misleading.

In this episode, I'm breaking down how your thyroid actually works, why your labs can look normal while your cells are starving for active thyroid hormone, what Hashimoto's is and why it's so commonly missed, and what comprehensive thyroid care actually looks like in practice.

We're also covering the evidence-based supplements I use in my clinical protocols to support thyroid function, and three things you can do this week to start getting real answers.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why a normal TSH does not mean your thyroid is functioning well
• How T4 converts to active T3 and what breaks that process down
• What reverse T3 is, why it matters, and why nobody talks about it
• How insulin resistance directly impairs thyroid hormone conversion
• What a complete thyroid panel actually looks like and what to ask your provider for
• What Hashimoto's thyroiditis is, why it's so commonly missed, and how it connects to PMOS and insulin resistance
• Evidence-based interventions that can reduce antibody levels and slow the autoimmune process
• Why so many women on levothyroxine still feel terrible, and what the alternatives are
• The supplements that directly support thyroid conversion, receptor sensitivity, and immune modulation
• Three things you can do this week to start moving in the right direction

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:16 How your thyroid actually works: T4, T3, and the conversion process
04:38 How insulin resistance breaks thyroid hormone conversion
06:12 What reverse T3 is and why it explains so much
09:04 Why TSH alone is not enough and what it actually measures
10:42 What a complete thyroid panel looks like and what to ask for
13:34 Hashimoto's thyroiditis: what it is and why it's missed
16:28 The overlap between Hashimoto's, PMOS, and insulin resistance
17:58 Evidence-based interventions to reduce antibodies and slow the autoimmune process
21:44 Treatment options: desiccated thyroid, T3, and why T4 alone may not be enough
27:12 Thyroid optimization goals: treating the patient, not the lab number
28:58 Supplements that support thyroid function
35:02 Three things to do this week

🔗 Resources / Links

• Get the supplement bundle, lab guide, and metabolic blueprint intake form here: https://theelevatedwomanproject.com/32
• Book Your Personalized Wellness Assessment → https://bit.ly/rejuvenateassessment
• Listen to all episodes → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoVU03xrDH8WODZsTZoQx0tUsvhT0XUui

If this episode helped you, share it with a woman who keeps being told her thyroid is fine but has never felt fine. And make sure to follow the podcast for more conversations around thyroid health, insulin resistance, PMOS, hormones, and midlife wellness.

Have you been showing up to your workouts consistently and still not seeing results?

The scale won't budge. You're exhausted after every session. And somewhere along the way, someone told you the answer was just more cardio. It wasn't.

If you have insulin resistance or PMOS, the way your body responds to exercise is different. And the workout plan most women are following wasn't built for that. In this episode, I'm breaking down what the research actually says about movement and insulin resistance, why cardio alone isn't the answer, and what a realistic week of exercise actually looks like for your body.

We're also talking about the supplements I pair with movement in my clinical protocols, because exercise and nutrition aren't separate lanes. They're hitting the same targets, and combining them on purpose is what actually moves the needle.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why women with insulin resistance process food differently
• The three principles that lower insulin without cutting out entire food groups
• Why cardio alone won't fix insulin resistance and what it can do instead
• Why too much intense cardio can actually make things worse if you're already exhausted
• How your muscles act as a blood sugar sponge and why that changes everything
• The research-backed ranking of which types of movement help most with insulin resistance in women
• Why yoga ranked number one and what that actually means for your routine
• What HIIT, zone two cardio, and resistance training each do for your blood sugar
• What a realistic beginner-to-moderate workout week actually looks like
• The supplements I use with patients around exercise and recovery, and why they work
• Three things you can start doing this week without overhauling your entire routine

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:15 Why cardio isn't the full answer for insulin resistance
03:15 Your muscles are your body's blood sugar sponge
05:39 How too much cardio can work against you
06:25 The research ranking of movement types for insulin resistance in women
07:05 Why yoga ranked number one
08:24 How to blend the top three movement types
10:27 What HIIT actually means and how to start where you are
12:49 Zone two cardio and why it's different from what you've been doing
13:59 Resistance training and the long game of building muscle
15:11 What a realistic workout week looks like in real life
17:34 Supplements that work alongside movement
22:02 Three things to do this week
24:03 The women's metabolic blueprint program

🔗 Resources / Links

• Supplement bundle: https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/akvip-dispensary/store-start
• Book Your Personalized Wellness Assessment for the Women's Metabolic Blueprint Program → https://bit.ly/rejuvenateassessment
• Listen to all episodes → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoVU03xrDH8WODZsTZoQx0tUsvhT0XUui

If this episode helped you, share it with a woman who's been grinding through workouts and wondering why nothing is changing. And make sure to follow the podcast for more conversations around insulin resistance, PMOS, hormones, metabolism, and midlife wellness.

Have you ever done everything "right" with food and still felt stuck?

Still gaining weight, still crashing in the afternoon, still craving sugar by 3 pm, still puffy and inflamed. If that's you, this episode is going to make a lot of things click.

A lot of the advice women with insulin resistance get about food is well-meaning but completely wrong for their biology. Eat less. Move more. Cut carbs. No wait, just eat the good carbs. Count calories. No, eat intuitively. The noise is real, and it keeps women stuck.

In this episode, I'm cutting through all of it. We're not talking about a meal plan or a diet. We're talking about the why behind eating for insulin resistance, because when you understand how your body is actually processing food, you can start making decisions that work for your life.

I'm also walking you through what a real day of eating looks like in practice, which snacks are quietly keeping you stuck, why the order you eat your food matters more than you think, and a few targeted supplements that can support your glucose response while you're making the transition.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why women with insulin resistance process food differently, and why it is not a willpower problem
• The three principles that lower insulin without cutting out entire food groups
• Why protein at breakfast is one of the most impactful things you can do for your blood sugar and cravings all day
• The difference between foods that spike insulin fast and foods that keep it stable
• Why low-fat foods often make things worse, not better
• How eating in a different order at the same meal can reduce your blood sugar spike by up to 30%
• Why compressing your eating window matters for insulin resistance
• What a full day of eating for insulin resistance actually looks like in real life
• Three simple things you can start doing this week without overhauling everything at once

⏱️ Chapters:
00:45 Intro
02:14 Why food feels so confusing for women with insulin resistance
03:43 How insulin resistance changes the way your body processes food
05:06 Why "healthy" eating isn't working for you
06:32 The right framework: eating to keep insulin low and stable
13:46 Foods that spike insulin fast vs. foods that keep it stable
20:18 Why post-meal walk works
24:34 Snacks: what to eat and what to avoid
24:59 Supplements that support blood sugar around meals
26:22 Three things to do this week

🔗 Resources / Links

• Get the glycemic index chart, supplement bundle, and metabolic blueprint intake form here: https://theelevatedwomanproject.com/episode-30
• Book Your Personalized Wellness Assessment → https://bit.ly/rejuvenateassessment
• Listen to all episodes → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoVU03xrDH8WODZsTZoQx0tUsvhT0XUui

If this episode helped you, share it with a woman who's been doing everything right but still can't figure out why her body isn't responding. And make sure to follow the podcast for more conversations around insulin resistance, PMOS, hormones, metabolism, and midlife wellness.