What if perimenopause isn’t simply changing your hormones, but revealing everything your body has been compensating for for years?
In this episode, Dr. Mariza sits down with integrative medicine physician and women’s health expert Dr. Taz Bhatia for an incredibly personal conversation about what happens when the strategies that helped high-functioning women push through for decades suddenly stop working.
Dr. Taz shares how her own perimenopause began with incredibly heavy periods, fatigue, anemia, hair loss, mood changes, and unexpected weight gain.
But one of her biggest surprises came later: as progesterone and estrogen declined, her blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol, A1C, and liver enzymes began creeping upward, revealing just how interconnected hormones and metabolic health really are.
They also explore the emotional transformation of midlife: letting go of people-pleasing, protecting your energy, releasing the need to be the “good girl,” and becoming clearer about who you are and what deserves your attention.
Listen now to rethink perimenopause as an opportunity to understand your body, protect your health, and step powerfully into what comes next.
DR. TAZ BHATIA
Dr. Taz Bhatia is a board-certified integrative medicine physician, women’s health expert, and bestselling author of several books, including The Hormone Shift. Her work explores the connections between hormones, metabolism, stress, nutrition, and whole-body health.
Through her Whole Plus clinics and podcast, Dr. Taz advocates for a more collaborative approach to women’s health that looks beyond symptoms to cognitive, metabolic, cardiovascular, bone, mental, and hormonal health.
IN THIS EPISODE
How extremely heavy periods became Dr. Taz’s first undeniable sign of perimenopause
Why weight gain in midlife isn’t necessarily something women simply have to accept
How estrogen and progesterone shifts can intersect with blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol, and visceral fat
Why the “silent” cardiometabolic changes of menopause deserve more attention
Why your body may stop tolerating the stress, sleep debt, and depletion you once pushed through
How perimenopause helped Dr. Taz stop people-pleasing and build stronger boundaries
Why knowing your own patterns and tracking changes can help you advocate for yourself
How midlife can become an opportunity to redefine your identity, purpose, and power
QUOTES
Perimenopause is really where women come into their own.”
“These are not my battles. This is not my fight.”
“We gotta redefine what fine is.”
RESOURCES MENTIONED
Find inspiration, connection, and meaningful reads: Join my Soulful Shelf Book Club (no cost) here:
https://drmariza.com/bookclub
Join my brand-new Substack: for the woman everyone depends on who is wondering why everything feels harder in midlife:
https://drmariza.substack.com/
The Hormone Shift by Dr. Taz Bhatia:
https://amzn.to/4xJ5VfK
The Superwoman Rx by Dr. Taz Bhatia:
https://amzn.to/4hHkZpn
Dr. Taz Website:
https://doctortaz.com/
Dr. Taz Instagram
Hol+ Wellness Podcast
RELATED EPISODES
775: Wide Awake at 3 A.M.? What’s Really Disrupting Your Sleep in Midlife with Morgan Adams
774: Training for Your Grandma Self: How to Build a Body That Lasts
771: Beyond Hot Flashes: The 103 Symptoms of Perimenopause No One Talks About with Andrea Donsky
769: Is It Perimenopause or Something Else? How to Finally Connect the Dots with Dr. Mariza
