Episode 98 - Sleep is NOT a luxury; it's your lifeline

Episode 102 - Juneteenth & Connecting To Who I Really AM

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2378925/fan_mail/new] This isn't your average menopause content — and Sam wants you to know that right up front. Recorded on Juneteenth, this episode steps away from strength training and hormone talk to go somewhere more personal: what George Floyd's murder on May 25th, 2020 cracked open in Sam, and everything she's learned — and is still learning — since. Sam walks through the real history of Juneteenth, including the two-and-a-half-year gap between the Emancipation Proclamation and the day freedom actually reached Galveston, Texas — and why that gap matters far beyond 1865. She unpacks systemic racism and white supremacy in plain language, shares Canada's own Emancipation Day, and gets honest about something she rarely says out loud: how unlearning her own history at 50+ has left her feeling fragile, like a schoolgirl hearing things for the first time, ego and all. She also connects this directly to her coaching work — naming the white lens that most menopause research and messaging is built through, and why closing that gap is part of her mission. This episode comes with an honest invitation: if it makes you uncomfortable, Sam understands if you need to step away. But if you're willing to sit in the discomfort and learn alongside her, she'd love for you to stay. Thank you for listening and I would like to remind you that Walk with Sam - Walking Group - is available for anyone to join, ANYWHERE! Click HERE [https://chat.whatsapp.com/LxclEmzbWwf7kmh1rplJGw?mode=gi_t] to join the free Whatsapp community! Thank you for listening.

Episode 101 - The Call Back — My Breast Cancer Scare and What It Taught Me

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2378925/fan_mail/new] Two weeks ago I got a callback after my mammogram. I hung up the phone and cried. In this episode, I'm sharing what those two weeks between my first appointment and my follow-up were really like — the fear, the sleepless nights, and the moment I made a conscious decision to choose peace over panic even when my mind wanted to go somewhere dark. I also take you back 15 years to the first time I found a lump and catastrophized my way through an entire night convinced my life was over. Spoiler: it was nothing then too. But the pattern? That part is worth talking about. Because here's what I know for sure: we pour everything into everyone else and our own health ends up at the bottom of the list. This episode is a reminder — and a gentle push — to book the appointment, make the call, and show up for yourself the way you show up for everyone else. You have so much life ahead of you. Let's make sure we're here for it. In this episode: * What a mammogram callback actually feels like and why callbacks are more common than you think * How I moved through two weeks of fear without letting it take over * The early detection stat a surgeon shared with me 25 years ago that I've never forgotten * Why midlife is actually the season we start coming into our own — and why that makes showing up for our health more important than ever Thank you for listening and I would like to remind you that Walk with Sam - Walking Group - is available for anyone to join, ANYWHERE! Click HERE [https://chat.whatsapp.com/LxclEmzbWwf7kmh1rplJGw?mode=gi_t] to join the free Whatsapp community! Thank you for listening.

Episode 100 🎉 - My Daughter Has Something to Say

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2378925/fan_mail/new] One hundred episodes. And for this one, Sam did something she has never done before — she invited her firstborn daughter, Rio, to sit across from the microphone and tell the truth. Rio is almost 25 years old. She grew up with one of Canada's leading fitness coaches and menopause specialists for a mother. She heard the podcast recordings from the other room. She watched Sam pivot her entire career to perimenopause and menopause six years ago. She has been a quiet witness to all of it — the clients, the webinars, the events, the community Sam has built from the ground up. And in all that time, Sam had never actually sat down and asked her what it was like. This episode does exactly that. Sam and Rio get honest — about what it felt like to grow up in a household where bodies, health, and fitness were always part of the conversation. About whether having a personal trainer for a mother created pressure, noise, or struggle around body image and food. About how Rio's relationship with her own body has evolved from her teenage years to now. About what she has absorbed — almost by osmosis — from years of living alongside this work. And about what she actually thinks and feels when it comes to menopause, aging, and her own health future. The conversation goes places Sam did not fully anticipate. It gets emotional. It gets honest in the way that only a mother and daughter can be with each other when the microphone is on and there is nowhere to hide. This episode is also a milestone in another way. To celebrate 100 episodes, Sam is introducing new music, officially launching a guest interview format, and announcing that video is coming soon to the podcast. Episode 100 marks not just a number — but the beginning of a new chapter for Menopause, Melanin and Aging Like a Queen. IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL HEAR: * What it was actually like growing up with a fitness coach and menopause specialist for a mother * Whether Rio ever felt pressured around working out, eating, or her body — and how that shaped her * Rio's honest reflection on body image struggles and how her relationship with her body has changed approaching 25 * What Rio thinks about menopause — having overheard years of podcasts, webinars, and events * Whether the next generation feels afraid of aging and menopause — or more prepared than we were * What Rio wants women in Sam's community to know about growing up on the inside of this work * Sam's reflection on what it means to be doing this work — not just for the women already in menopause, but for the daughters coming up behind them * A major milestone announcement — new music, guest interviews, and video coming soon WHY THIS EPISODE MATTERS Our mothers did not talk to us about menopause. Not in any real, honest, prepared way. We walked into perimenopause armed with silence and a vague warning about hot flashes — and we have spent the last several years figuring it out, often alone, often in communities like this one. Sam's mission has always been to change that. To make menopause, aging, and body autonomy more accessible, less terrifying, and less isolating for the generation coming up behind us. This episode is proof of what that mission looks like when it starts at home. Thank you for listening and I would like to remind you that Walk with Sam - Walking Group - is available for anyone to join, ANYWHERE! Click HERE [https://chat.whatsapp.com/LxclEmzbWwf7kmh1rplJGw?mode=gi_t] to join the free Whatsapp community! Thank you for listening.

Episode 99 - Clothes Are Meant to Fit You — Not the Other Way Around

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2378925/fan_mail/new] Have you ever tried on something you loved — and felt crushed when it no longer fit? This week, Sam gets personal after a client reached out needing to be "talked off the ledge" — all because a dress she bought last year no longer fits her body. But here's the thing: this woman is doing everything right. She strength trains. She sleeps well. She eats well. And yet, in one year, her body changed — and she couldn't figure out why. In this episode, Sam unpacks what's really going on beneath the surface — and spoiler: it has a lot to do with the one thing most of us dismiss as just part of life. Stress. Sam also gets vulnerable about her own experience being at the heaviest weight of her life, what she did (and didn't do) about it, and why she refused to let restriction be the answer. In this episode, Sam covers: * Why your body can change even when your habits are solid — and what's actually driving it * The real impact of chronic stress on weight, hormones, and fat storage in menopausal women * Why restriction is not the answer — especially for women in midlife * What it means to truly respect and work with your body instead of against it * The mindset shift that changes everything: clothes are meant to fit you — not the other way around * Why having a coach in your corner is about so much more than programming and nutrition This episode is for you if: You're in menopause or perimenopause, doing the work, and still feeling like your body is betraying you. You are not broken. You are not failing. And Sam has got you. Ready to have someone in your corner? Book a call with Sam HERE [https://calendly.com/samcore/30min] Thank you for listening and I would like to remind you that Walk with Sam - Walking Group - is available for anyone to join, ANYWHERE! Click HERE [https://chat.whatsapp.com/LxclEmzbWwf7kmh1rplJGw?mode=gi_t] to join the free Whatsapp community! Thank you for listening.

Episode 98 - Sleep is NOT a luxury; it's your lifeline

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2378925/fan_mail/new] In this episode, Sam dives deep into the number one complaint she hears from menopausal women — sleep. This is not a "go to bed earlier" conversation. We're talking about what is actually happening inside your body while you sleep, why menopause makes sleep a completely different challenge, the real health risks of chronic under-sleeping (including a cancer connection that will stop you in your tracks), and a real client story with results that happened in just one night. If you have ever said "I'll sleep when I'm dead" — this episode is for you. In this episode we cover: * What your body is actually doing while you sleep — HGH, memory consolidation, fat metabolism, immune function and energy restoration * Why menopause is physically stressful on the body even when you don't feel stressed * The role of progesterone and GABA receptors in sleep — and why losing progesterone in menopause destroys sleep quality * The link between chronic sleep deprivation and cancer risk * Arianna Huffington's wake-up call — and what it taught the world about hustle culture * The three small changes one client made that improved her sleep score by 10% in one night * What Yoga Nidra is and why it's one of the most powerful tools for menopausal women * Why alcohol, food, movement and stress management all play a role in sleep quality Thank you for listening and I would like to remind you that Walk with Sam - Walking Group - is available for anyone to join, ANYWHERE! Click HERE [https://chat.whatsapp.com/LxclEmzbWwf7kmh1rplJGw?mode=gi_t] to join the free Whatsapp community! Thank you for listening.