ep 1 - season 2 | The Midlife Brain Remodel: How Menopause Rewires Your Identity with Dr. Mindy Pelz
Menopause isn’t your downfall. It’s your brain’s remodel.
In this episode, Bizzie talks with Dr. Mindy Pelz, New York Times bestselling author of Fast Like a Girl, Eat Like a Girl, and Age Like a Girl, about what really happens to the female brain after 40.
They break down how declining estrogen rewires your brain, why people-pleasing suddenly stops feeling “sticky,” what’s behind the spike in divorces initiated by women after 40, and how to treat midlife as a biologically-timed chance to restore who you were always meant to be.
If you’re between 40–55 (or love someone who is), this conversation will change how you see mood swings, boundary shifts, and the story you’ve been told about aging.
In this episode, we cover:
The “Midlife Brain Remodel” and why menopause is actually a brain and identity reset, not just a hormonal crash
How estrogen shaped your relational, people-pleasing brain in puberty – and what changes when it declines after 40
Why the brain becomes less interested in pleasing everyone and more wired for clarity, boundaries, and leadership
The role of culture and parenting styles in creating self-sacrificing women vs self-centered, highly boundaried women
How this rewirement pulls both extremes back toward center
The oxytocin shift in midlife and what that means for attachment, connection, and codependency
Why 70–90% of divorces after 40–50 are initiated by women, and how to use this phase to renegotiate, not just burn it all down Sunday Paper PLUS
The dark side: increased suicide risk for women 45–55 and the massive neurotransmitter changes happening under the surface Dr. Mindy Pelz
Midlife as a restoration window: returning to your original design before conditioning, religion, culture, and family wiring
How Dr. Mindy personally rewired her relationship to rest, work, and even surfing – and what that looked like in real time
How Age Like a Girl reframes menopause as your chance to come home to yourself and step into your most honest, powerful season yet PenguinRandomhouse.com+1
🔗 Connect with Dr. Mindy Pelz
Age Like a Girl (preorder / order): via major retailers and independent bookstores
