What happens when something you once loved starts to feel heavy?

In this episode of The Midlife Edit, we’re talking about movement - not the loud, dramatic, “burn it all down” kind, but the kind that’s intentional, sustainable, and honest. This conversation is rooted in fitness, perimenopause, and the very real fear of slipping backward after working hard to change your health.

If you’ve ever lost weight, rebuilt trust with your body, or become known as “the fitness person,” you might recognize the pressure that comes with it - the fear of old habits returning, the guilt around rest, and the panic that one missed workout could undo everything.

We talk about:

• Why perimenopause can change how fitness feels, not just how it looks
• The difference between discipline and panic
• Why gentleness does not mean laziness or giving up
• How fear can quietly start driving your fitness decisions
• What it actually takes to find joy in movement again
• Why adjusting your approach doesn’t erase your progress

This episode is about learning how to listen to your body without letting fear run the show - and how to stay committed to your health without burning yourself out in the process.

🎶 Song of the episode: Learning to Fly by Tom Petty
Because this season isn’t about stopping - it’s about learning how to move forward without crashing.

As we head into February, you’ll hear more guest conversations on the podcast alongside practical, how-to episodes focused on navigating midlife health, mindset, and change in a way that’s sustainable and real.

If fitness feels complicated right now, you’re not broken - and you’re not alone.
You’re learning to fly.

What happens after you finally get clarity about what you want?

In this episode of The Midlife Edit, Jen talks about the often-unspoken pause that comes after clarity - the fear, second-guessing, and “okay… now what?” spiral that so many women experience in midlife.

Drawing from personal realizations, a leadership summit in Nashville, and real-life conversations, this episode explores:

• why living in the past can quietly keep us stuck
• what actually happens when you get what you want — and when you don’t
• how to stop using outcomes as proof of your worth
• what it looks like to stay present and show up intentionally

This isn’t about having all the answers.
It’s about learning how to move forward without letting the past drive.

🎶 Song of the episode: Rearviewmirror

🔗 Mentioned in This Episode

• Last week’s episode on clarity
• The clarity quiz - if you haven’t taken it yet, go take it now. Click here for yours.

⭐ Support the Podcast

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who might need it.

Midlife has a way of asking a question we’re not always ready for:

What do you actually want?

Not what you should want.
Not what makes sense.
Not what keeps everyone else comfortable.

In this episode, Jen explores why this question shows up so powerfully in midlife, why women are often taught to adapt instead of ask, and how hustle culture trains us to stay silent about our needs.

You’ll hear:

• Why desire doesn’t cancel gratitude, it’s information
• The difference between what you want and what you’re done tolerating
• Why asking for what you want feels risky
• How to start asking without over-explaining or apologizing

Jen pairs this conversation with Fast Car, a song that captures the quiet moment when you realize something has to change, even if you don’t have the full plan yet

She also shares why she created a companion quiz for this episode, because sometimes the hardest part isn’t asking for what you want, it’s knowing what to ask for in the first place.

📝 Click Below To Take the Quiz:
👉 What Do You Actually Want Right Now?

Midlife isn’t about becoming someone new.
It’s about listening to who you are now.

Next week: We asked for what we want—now what? What happens when you go after it… or don’t get it?

What if you’re not unhappy - just muted?

In the Season 2 opener of The Midlife Edit, Jen kicks off a brand-new chapter with a powerful question: how loud are you actually living your life right now?

This episode is the foundation for the entire season....a real, honest, and practical conversation about how women slowly turn the volume down on themselves… and how midlife is often the moment we finally notice it.

Jen breaks down what “living on low” actually looks like in real life: being the peacekeeper, the performer, or the one who disappears to keep everyone else comfortable, and why this isn’t weakness, but competence taken too far.

More importantly, this episode isn’t just about awareness. It’s about how to start changing it.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why midlife isn’t a crisis, it’s clarity
• How hormones, energy shifts, and changing roles reveal what’s been muted
• The Volume Map: a simple tool to identify where your life is running on low
• The three most common “muting patterns” women fall into
• How to choose one realistic Volume Up Move (without chaos or guilt)
• Why guilt shows up when you start choosing yourself — and how to handle it
• Why taking care of yourself is not selfish (even when others benefit from you staying small)

Jen also introduces the Season 2 soundtrack concept and explains why Dog Days Are Over is the anchor song for this episode...a reminder that when your body and brain finally agree, it’s time to stop living on low.

This season of The Midlife Edit is a how-to guide for midlife - not just inspiration, but real tools to help you advocate for yourself, focus on health instead of skinny, find happiness from within, and start asking for what you actually want.

🎧 Next episode: What Do You Actually Want? - and why this question changes everything.

If this episode resonated with you:

• Join the Backstage Pass (Jen’s email list) for behind-the-scenes notes, playlists, and extras
• Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast - it helps more women find the show
• Follow along on Instagram @thejenweinstein for continued conversation and visuals from this episode

Until next time - turn the volume up...and make it a damn good chapter.

Season 1 Finale

Midlife reinvention isn’t about blowing up your life or becoming a completely new person. It’s about learning how to keep becoming...without burnout, rigidity, or guilt.

In this Season 1 finale of The Midlife Edit, Jen dives into the practical side of reinvention and what it actually looks like week to week, inside real life with real responsibilities, shifting energy, and ever-changing seasons.

This episode moves beyond mindset and inspiration and into sustainable rhythms. She talks about how to build routines that support you, stay consistent without being all-or-nothing, and keep evolving without losing momentum.

Jen introduces the idea of rhythms over rules, explains why minimum effective routines work better in midlife, and shares a simple weekly framework to help you edit your life intentionally instead of forcing perfection.

You’ll also hear what’s coming in Season 2...including more conversations around music, strength, confidence, identity, libido, blended families, and all the in-between topics we don’t talk about enough...plus a heartfelt reflection on why starting this podcast was a vision board moment that finally came to life.

This episode is a reminder that midlife isn’t the era where you finally arrive.
It’s the era where you stop freezing yourself in place.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:

• Why reinvention doesn’t work when it’s rigid or extreme
• The difference between rules and rhythms in midlife
• What reinvention really looks like in ordinary weeks
• The “Weekly Edit” and how to use it without pressure
• Creating routines that don’t lead to burnout
• Why consistency is about returning, not perfection
• How to evolve your goals without losing momentum
• Why 2026 can be a continuation year instead of “new year, new me”
• A preview of what’s coming in Season 2 of The Midlife Edit
• Gratitude, reflection, and closing out Season 1 with intention

SEASON 1 CLOSING NOTE

Thank you for being part of Season 1 of The Midlife Edit. Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or just found the podcast, your presence matters more than you know. Season 2 is coming...and we’re just getting started.

Midlife is not the chapter where women quiet themselves...it’s the chapter where we finally realize we don’t have to stay the same.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, Jen breaks down why reinvention isn’t failure, it’s responsiveness. This episode is about giving yourself permission to evolve loudly, change your mind often, and stop forcing yourself into rigid goals that were never built for real life.

Instead of New Year’s resolutions, Jen introduces a flexible, editable roadmap grounded in three powerful lenses: happiness, healthiness, and wealth...not as goals, but as filters to help you decide what stays and what goes as you move into 2026.

This episode dives into:

• Why midlife brings clarity, not crisis
• How women have been conditioned to stay small, quiet, and “grateful”
• Redefining happiness as alignment, not performance
• Reframing health as strength, energy, and capacity, not punishment
• Why money has long been a taboo topic for women...and why it’s time to change that
• How wealth really means options, freedom, and choice
• Why traditional resolutions fail midlife women
• A 4-step editable roadmap you can revisit and revise as often as needed

This is the mindset shift.
The permission slip.
The foundation for reinvention, on your terms.

In Part 2, Jen gets practical: how to turn this roadmap into real routines, how to stay consistent without becoming rigid, and how to keep evolving without losing momentum.

Midlife isn’t the winding down.
It’s the expansion.

Let’s make it a damn good chapter.

Confidence in midlife isn’t as simple as we’re told it is.

In this episode, Jen gets honest about body dysmorphia, fake confidence, and why even positive body changes don’t always shift the way we see ourselves. She breaks down how body dysmorphia often shows up as a subtle mind game, why midlife hormones and identity shifts complicate body image, and how confidence can coexist with insecurity.

Jen also explores the difference between fake confidence and real confidence, why the way we talk about our bodies matters to the younger people listening, and how to practice self-kindness and grace without toxic positivity.

Plus, a preview of next week’s episode: Part one of a calm, realistic 2026 planning guide—without the pressure of New Year’s resolutions.

Have you ever looked at your calendar and realized every single thing on it is for someone else?

This week, Jen talks about what it really feels like to lose yourself in midlife — not in one big moment, but in a thousand tiny compromises. From the emotional and financial strain of stepmom life to walking on eggshells at home, she shares how women disappear quietly while trying to keep the peace.

This isn’t a pity party.
This is a comeback episode.

You’ll hear about:

• the invisible load women carry
• the truth about stepmom life
• emotional surveillance and hypervigilance
• why repeated promises without action lead to resentment
• how to stop apologizing for existing
• and how to put yourself back on the list

Jen reminds us that self-care isn’t selfish — it’s necessary — and declares 2026 the year of ME.

Your life doesn’t need to be burned down to be rebuilt.
You just have to walk back into it as yourself.

Your comeback begins when you put your name back on the list.