Fire Up at 55 Plus

Breathing happens on its own, but it can also be a choice. In this episode, we explore simple, practical breathing techniques that women 50+ can use to stay steady day to day, get through stressful moments, focus more calmly, and wind down at bedtime.

This isn’t about complicated breathwork. It’s about knowing which simple pattern fits which moment. You’ll learn:

Has your dream been cross-examined before you even let it into the light of day? What do you secretly want to do, but haven’t dared to try?

After 50, it’s easy to become skilled at calculating risk: “What if I fail? Waste money? Look foolish?” But there’s another risk we rarely calculate: “What might I lose by never finding out?”

Today we challenge you, no, we “dare” you, to bring one secret desire into the light—without immediately judging whether it’s practical. You’ll discover why exploring your “possible selves” can increase a sense of choice and agency...

What if one of the smartest things you could DO right now… is less?

After five episodes of Well-Intentioned Aging—and just before fall begins its annual sprint toward the holidays—I’m calling a strategic pause. … Not scrolling. Not checking email from the couch. Not collapsing at the end of an overstuffed day.

I’m talking about deliberate, guilt-free rest.

Recent research gives us some surprisingly simple ways to create genuine restoration, especially for women in midlife and beyond. In intentionally short and sweet episode, I’ll give you three:

What if waiting to feel ready is exactly what keeps us stuck?—sounds about right … right? The science of aging explained in this series has taken us through beliefs, expectations, and feelings. Now comes the part that can alter what happens next: turning what we know into what we DO.

Newer research on sense of control reveals a powerful connection. Believing you can influence what happens next is linked with the everyday behaviors that support better aging, including physical activity. And recent findings broaden the picture beyond exercise alone to sleep, nutrition, stress, relationships, purpose, and other adju...

How old are you? Easy question. But here’s a more interesting one: How old do you feel today? Researchers call the difference between those two numbers your subjective age—and a growing body of research suggests that the age you feel is connected to how you function, how you handle stress, and even long-term health outcomes.

In Part Four of our Well-Intentioned Aging series, today we move from Dr. Becca Levy’s age beliefs and Ashton Applewhite’s challenge to ageism into something intensely personal: your day-to-day experience of your own age. And a 2025 national study of adult...

In the last episode, Yale researcher Dr. Becca Levy showed us that what we believe about aging shapes how we age. But that raises an uncomfortable question: Where did those beliefs come from?

Enter Ashton Applewhite — author, activist, and one of the most fearless voices in the fight against ageism. For more than 15 years, she's done one thing exceptionally well: pulled the assumptions about aging out of the cultural wallpaper and held them up to the light. In this episode, we follow those beliefs upstream. Who planted them? How did they get inside our heads decades before we...

Last episode I promised you we'd start meeting the people behind this research on aging and belief. Today I'm keeping that promise. Her name is Dr. Becca Levy — she's spent more than three decades at Yale studying something she calls “age beliefs,” and her findings are some of the most talked-about in the entire field of aging research. Today we dig into her work: what she's found, how she found it, and why a brand-new 2026 study she co-authored is making researchers rethink what “growing older” even means.

Does this sound like you: Stuck in diet after diet, weighed do...

What if some of what we believe about getting older simply isn’t true? … If the truth revealed enables you to do more with this very day?  I’ve been deep into the latest research on aging, and a lot of what I’ve discovered has stopped me in my tracks. Not because it promises some fantasy of staying young, but because it challenges what we’ve been taught to expect from our later years. Today we set the stage to explore fascinating findings about the connection between what we believe about aging and how we actually age.

Does this...

Today with me, you’ll revisit an episode about change, for overall transformation and from morning to night, during just one day. This is Laurie, sharing this broadcast again for two reasons: The first, not surprising, is that weight loss continues to be a high priority for many midlife-plus women. It’s something they’ve carried since grade school. Now layered upon thoughts of “Is it too late?” along with menopause transitions there’s real  psychological and physiological weight gain  on top of decades-old body image conditioning.

The second reason comes out of my most recent podcasts about new rese...

Three weeks ago, this series opened with a 70-year-old woman walking down a sidewalk, obviously confident: head up and moving with purpose. Our simple, immediate thought was “I hope that's me someday."

We've since spent two full episodes proving that isn't wishful thinking. It's buildable.

Today, we close the loop. Because there's one organ we've only mentioned in passing so far, and it happens to be the one this entire series is really about in more ways than one: your heart. I've saved some brand-new research for today, and I think it's going to tie ev...

Last week I told you why walking has quietly become one of the most important habits for lifelong independence. Today we go straight to your brain. New research shows that every walk you take feeds the part of your brain responsible for memory, guards against cognitive decline, and sharpens creative thinking. And the unsung hero behind it isn't your brain at all — it's a muscle almost nobody thinks about: your calf.

Scientists actually call it your body's “second heart.” Sit too long, and that second heart switches off. Walk, and it switches back on, pumping blood and protec...

Have you ever watched someone in their eighties or nineties walking down the sidewalk — head up, shoulders back, moving with purpose, maybe even carrying their own grocery bag — and thought, I hope that's me someday? There's something about that kind of walk that tells you everything about a person's quality of life, in about three seconds. It says: I'm still independent. I'm still capable. Nobody is walking me anywhere.

And here's the good news I want you to sit with for a moment: staying mobile into our eighties and nineties isn't simply luck, and it isn't just good...

For your ultimate real self-care, today I share new, promising research to allay skin cancer concerns for those who need it most as we age. It is hopeful news, but it is not a routine vaccine, not a sunscreen replacement, and not a cure-all for sun damage. 

Because this episode airs July 30, just as many of you are packing for final sunny vacations in August, I bring the science back down to daily life: prevention, early detection, sunscreen, shade, protective clothing and supplements, all in light of the skin-care habits that matter most right now.

R...

In Episodes 153 and 154 you discovered tools that reveal how your mind works, how your strengths show up for others, and what's standing in your way. This week, Laurie closes the trilogy with a tool unlike anything else: The Being Profile, the world's first ontological assessment (and yes, she defines that word!). It doesn't ask what you do. It doesn't ask about your personality type. It asks who you are being — right now, in this stage of life. If you've ever felt that the person the world sees doesn't quite match the person you know you're capable of being, this ep...

In last week's episode, you met CliftonStrengths — the tool, the mirror that reveals how your mind naturally works. This week, Laurie goes deeper, introducing two more tools that complete a very different part of your picture: First, StandOut, the assessment from Marcus Buckingham — co-creator of that Clifton StrengthsFinder you just discovered — and then, the new Midlife Clarity Assessment, built specifically for women standing between who they were and who they're becoming.

Ready to take a first step? Download my free guide at laurieadamscoaching.com. It's your way back to yourself, with prompts to get clear on your weight...

In this episode, Laurie asks this one powerful question that can uncover talents, gifts, and possibilities you’ve been overlooking for years: What if everyone around you can see your strengths more clearly than you can?

Through real-life examples and practical reflection questions, you’ll learn how your untapped strengths may hold the key to greater purpose, fulfillment, and direction in your second act. The clues are already there! Are you ready to notice them, and to answer them with action?

I’m Laurie Adams — Certified Life Coach — and if you’re ready to take a meaningful...

Over two past episodes we discovered the often-overlooked slice of the Baby Boom generation, the “Generation Jones” women born from about 1954 to 1965 who were too young to be flower children but old enough to watch a cultural revolution happen and inherit its unfinished business. Gen Jones women arrived just in time to be handed new expectations without being given new support systems to match. And the whiplash—between who the world said women should be and who it suddenly demanded they become—landed far more personally, and more permanently, on women than on men.

I’m Laurie Adams — Ce...

Today we follow up on last week’s … well, more “serious” episode, with some fast fun facts and nostalgia for Generation Jones women.

Remember metal lunchboxes, three TV channels, Pong, cassette tapes, feathered hair, The Brady Bunch, Star Wars, the mall, and memorizing phone numbers? But beneath the humor is a deeper story. Generation Jones grew up between worlds—old enough to remember rotary phones and typewriters, but young enough to embrace smartphones and AI. We watched history unfold on television, experienced enormous cultural change, and became one of the most adaptable generations of women ever.

Whether...

Generation Jones … who me? We absorbed 1960s idealism as children. We watched Kennedy, King, and the moon landing on fuzzy televisions. We were told the world was going to be amazing. And then we grew up and got Watergate, stagflation, the AIDS crisis, and a job market that told us pensions were a thing of the past, so …

Hard-working. Adaptable. We're the women of Generation Jones. Baby boomers who moved beyond, and we got to ride this wild wave of "the world is changing for women.” We didn't just watch it happen, we were in it. We were t...

This is a summer episode — and I meant it to be a short one. Not because the topic is small, but because I think the best things we can do for ourselves are usually pretty simple. So today, I have done the research so you don't have to. I have verified what matters, I have sorted out what doesn't, and I'm going to give you a few easy takeaways you can actually use — whether you're hearing this on a walk, in the car, or sitting somewhere in the sun.

Today we're talking about suncare. And before you thin...

Here's something nobody tells you: feeling anxious about money is not a flaw. It's information. The worry isn’t the problem. The avoidance is.

The sneaky thing that happens when we feel that anxiety — we avoid. We don't open the statement. We change the subject. We tell ourselves we'll deal with it later. And honestly? That avoidance feels like relief in the moment. Except it's not. Because the thing you're avoiding doesn't get smaller, it just gets louder in the back of your head.

So here's the reframe: What if instead of calling it money anxi...

Picture this: It’s late June. The grass is cut. The paper plates are stacked. Someone has already asked you three times what you’re bringing. The cousins are pinging the group chat. The grandchildren are being promised a good time by people who will not be managing the logistics.And you are standing in your kitchen at 7 a.m., already tired. Today we dig into the foundation of family gatherings and why it calls us to earlier versions of ourselves. Sure, women carry a bigger share of the reunion labor, but we’re also the ones ready to share...

So, a midlife life coach walks into a bar … actually, a vegan restaurant, and the transformational story ends in her happily-ever-after reinvention. OK that’s it, nada mas … zero … zip … that’s all I’m explaining here. To connect the scattered dots you’re just going to have to listen!

Juliet’s School of Possibilities, by Laura Vanderkam, at amazon or audible: https://a.co/d/7tLXFYe

Beer Advocate Website: https://www.beeradvocate.com/

Full Focus Planner and System by Michael Hyatt...

When was the last time you did something that surprised yourself? Let’s be clear … I’m not talking about an “earned” surprising week where  you finally clean out the garage! I mean the kind of surprised where you’re standing somewhere new, breathing different air and you think—with amazed delight, “Who IS this woman right now?” And you like her. A lot.

There is a version of your life that doesn't exist yet. Not because you're not capable of it. Not because you're too old, too out of shape, too set in your ways, or too responsible. Bu...

Your closet is not a storage facility. It's a daily conversation with yourself. And right now, that conversation may be keeping you tethered to a version of yourself that has already been outgrown. Energy returns when life aligns with identity. That includes the life you put on every morning. This is a follow up to Episode 140 where Laurie cleared our closets of “shoulds” and settling for “perfectly good."

I’m Laurie Adams — Certified Life, Weight Loss, and Productivity Coach — and if you’re ready to stop living for everyone else’s calendar and start living your own life, come work...

There is a particular variety of exhaustion that sleep does not remedy. You are functioning. You are showing up. And yet you feel quietly eroded — navigating your days with diminished clarity, shrinking margins, and a subdued luminosity that is not quite you. If that resonates, this episode was made for you.

Here, Laurie illuminates what is likely draining your mind and body at midlife, and it is not a lack of discipline or motivation. It is accumulated mental load: the combined attrition of years of decision-making, emotional stewardship, hormonal flux, disrupted sleep, and the relentless labor of be...

What if your exhaustion isn’t about how much you’re doing — but about who you’re doing it all for? It’s not your age. It’s not your schedule. It’s not even your energy levels. It’s that your calendar has quietly become everyone else’s property. But here’s what I want you to know: That is completely, absolutely fixable.

Today I walk...

What if you are not tired for the reasons you think? Not because of your age? … Not your schedule, or even your sleep? It’s not always the big reasons, but the tiny and quiet … almost invisible energy leaks. But here’s the most important part I want you to know: These leaks are fixable.

Today I walk you through 20—yes 20 quick fixes—for you to choose from and try out—all organized, doable, and grounded in real science The...

Let me tell you what I hear from women like you, like me, all the time: “I really should get rid of some things … old things, outdated things." And the brain's knee-jerk response? “But they’re perfectly good.” Talk about an energy drain!

Here, Laurie explores the deeper reasons midlife women keep wardrobes in frustrating limbo: inherited scarcity messages, Depression- and wartime-thrift values passed down through families … 1950s and 1960s gender norms that praised female self-denial, and the lasting guilt many still feel about spending money on themselves. Historical and psychological research shows these patterns are not random. They...

As many listeners move through spring break season, I’m revisiting one of the most joyful episodes from my Fire-Up archives. Originally released in August 2023, this episode explores the cultural phenomenon of Barbie, the blockbuster movie at the time, and why the world’s most famous doll has inspired generations of us to imagine bigger lives. After several recent episodes about stress and resilience, this conversation offers a lighter moment with the reminder that possibility, reinvention, and dreaming big never expire.

I’m Certified Life, Weight Loss, and Productivity Coach Laurie Adams, and if you’re ready to move...

If your mornings feel slow to start and your afternoons suddenly collapse around 3 p.m, you are far from alone. Many midlife-plus women assume their energy dips mean something is wrong with them — that their motivation has faded, their discipline is slipping, or their body is simply wearing out. But that assumption misses what science actually shows. Energy is our Fire Up podcast word of the year, and to recapture it you need to know that powerful hormones, sleep quality, blood sugar, and circadian rhythms rise and fall all day. This roller-coaster takes us on a ride of ups an...

We’ve been talking lately about something subtle, but powerful: what happens after you begin to change. You start making progress and feeling stronger—more clear and capable. And then … doubt creeps in. Or uncertainty. Or the quiet question, “OK, now what?” Today we go straight to the heart of that moment. Originally recorded as Episode 57, this podcast is about coaching questions, understanding your backstory, and options for outside support.

I’m Certified Life, Weight Loss, and Productivity Coach Laurie Adams and if you’re ready to move forward with new energy but no more delay, come work with me o...

Feeling unsettled after you’ve made progress? You’re not imagining it, and nothing has gone wrong. It’s normal to expect relief once a problem is solved and then be ambushed by feelings of doubt, restlessness, or hesitation that rush-in just as things begin to improve. Today we build upon ideas from earlier episodes (104 and 105) about stress, now revisited through a new lens. I'm reframing those ideas to a address and conquer the unsteady feeling that crops up once progress is underway.

I’m Certified Life, Weight Loss, and Productivity Coach Laurie Adams and if you’re ready t...

The most dangerous moment in change isn’t failure — it’s success. That’s when self-sabotage gets sneaky. And if you’ve felt that wobble, you’re not broken and nothing has gone wrong. In fact, that uneasy feeling is often a sign that you’re exactly where growth asks you to stay. You haven’t overshot. You haven’t tempted fate. You’re standing on ground you’ve already earned — and the work now isn’t to retreat, but to remain. Let your nervous system catch up to the progress you’ve made and decide that this version of you gets to keep going an...

If your nights have started to calm (especially after the recent episode on fixing nighttime eating) and a little voice inside you is saying, “Don’t mess this up now. “Get stricter,” that’s the boomerang showing up. It’s the reflex many women have after years of dieting. The moment things begin to work, the urge to tighten rules, eat less, and “lock it in” kicks back in. But that instinct, as responsible as it might feel, is often exactly what sends momentum backward.

Here we unpack:

Let me say this plainly: If nighttime eating doesn’t change, weight loss stays fragile. It doesn’t matter how motivated you feel in the morning. It doesn’t matter how “good” you think you’ve been all day. In fact, the very discipline you’re white-knuckling through — eating too little, holding back, following rigid rules — is often what creates the hunger and chaos that show up at night. … So listen on.

I’m Certified Life, Weight Loss, and Productivity Coach Laurie Adams and if you’re ready to move forward with new energy but no more delay, come work with me...

If you’ve ever said: “I eat fine all day, but then I lose it at night,” or “Why can’t I just stop?” or even, “Something must be wrong with me,” today we offer relief. You’ll discover that nighttime eating is not a character flaw, it’s a signal. Building directly on the recent Fire Up episode number 131, I’m turning to a pivotal public conversation led by Oprah Winfrey titled “The Life You Want Class: The State of Weight.” Why? Because as popular as Oprah is, most women never saw this impactful show on her network and it packs a punch for w...

You got building blocks for an energy toolkit in the last episode, number 129, with your system for building it, banking it, and guarding it. And today we’re doing something just as powerful: we’re going to talk about how your energy was taken from you in the first place. Because for women over 55, it isn’t just about hormones or aging. It’s about decades of dieting, deprivation, and self-discipline that trained your body to survive instead of thrive. And once you understand this? Everything you try to do from here on out becomes easier, energized, and truly doable.<...

If you’ve ever wondered why your goals didn’t stick, even when you were motivated, this episode delivers the missing answer. Here we move beyond inspiration and into practical, research-backed tools to help women 55+ finally restore the energy—physical, mental, and emotional—needed to create real results. We’re fixing the energy drains that sabotage progress and replacing them with simple systems that actually deliver long-lasting transformation.

I’m Certified Life, Weight Loss, and Productivity Coach Laurie Adams, and if you’re ready to move forward with new energy but no more delay, come work with me one-on-one...

Welcome to 2026—a Year of essential Energy. After months of building vision, clarifying identity, and designing the life you want, there's one critical piece we haven't addressed: the fuel to make it all happen. In this transformative episode, we reveal why ENERGY is a Word worth using throughout our broadcasts and why ignoring it simply isn't an option anymore.

I’m Certified Life, Weight Loss, and Productivity Coach Laurie Adams and if you’re ready to move forward with new energy but no more delay, come work with me one-on-one! Visit my website laurieadamscoaching.com, to schedule a no-p...