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Hot flushes are one of the most common — and most disruptive — symptoms of menopause. For some women they’re mild and fleeting. For others, they interfere with sleep, mood, confidence, and quality of life.

In this episode of Opt to Thrive, Dr Corina Sims explains why hot flushes happen, what’s actually going on in the brain and body, and what truly helps — separating evidence-based options from myths and misinformation.

In this episode, we cover:

• What hot flushes are and why they feel so intense
• How declining oestrogen disrupts the body’s temperature control system
• The impact of hot flushes on sleep, brain fog, mood, and wellbeing
• Common triggers and practical strategies to reduce symptom severity
• Medical treatment options — hormonal and non-hormonal
• What the evidence really says about “natural” and complementary therapies
• Why some popular treatments don’t work — and may not be safe

Key takeaway:

Hot flushes are real, common, and treatable. You don’t need to wait, push through, or suffer in silence — and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Let’s Stay Connected:

• Get your free Midlife Health & Body Reset Guide: Here
• Find out more about the Midlife Reset Program: Here
• Join the Opt to Thrive mailing list: Here
• Follow Dr. Corina on Instagram: @drcorinasimsopttothrive
• Connect on Facebook: Opt to Thrive (Dr Corina Sims)
• Opt to Thrive official website

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and share it with a friend who may enjoy it too.🫶

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In this short Mindful Moment episode, I’m sharing a story from a recent family dinner — where a simple conversation question led to a much deeper reflection on emotions, thoughts, grief, and what it really means to “feel our feelings.”

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in life is that our feelings are created by our thoughts — but as I discovered while talking with my son, that idea can sometimes be misunderstood.

There are emotions we are meant to feel — grief, sadness, heartbreak, disappointment — especially in times of loss. Those feelings are not problems to be solved or avoided. They are part of being human, and they need space to be processed.

But there is also another kind of suffering — the unnecessary pain created by unhelpful or untrue thoughts, rumination, self-criticism, and the stories our brains tell when they run on autopilot.

In this episode, I reflect on:

• the difference between necessary emotional pain and unnecessary suffering
• why resisting uncomfortable feelings often makes them stronger
• how grief and sadness need to be allowed — sometimes only a little at a time
• the seductive pull of “wallowing” days and familiar sad music
• how confirmation bias can spiral a bad day into overwhelm
• why acceptance can ease suffering — even when circumstances can’t change
• gentle ways to get curious about the thoughts underneath emotional discomfort

And I share a few simple questions you can ask yourself when a dark-cloud day appears:

• What am I feeling — and can I allow it instead of fighting it?
• What thought might be contributing to this feeling?
• Is that thought true… and is it helpful?
• Is there a kinder, more compassionate thought available to me right now?

Some days we can shift perspective.
Some days we simply sit with the feeling and let it soften with time.

Both are okay. 💛

If you’ve ever had one of those heavy days where nothing is “wrong,” but your mood just feels flat, tender, or heavy — this episode is for you.

Let’s Stay Connected:

• Get your free Midlife Health & Body Reset Guide: Here
• Find out more about the Midlife Reset Program: Here
• Join the Opt to Thrive mailing list: Here
• Follow Dr. Corina on Instagram: @drcorinasimsopttothrive
• Connect on Facebook: Opt to Thrive (Dr Corina Sims)
• Opt to Thrive official website

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and share it with a friend who may enjoy it too.🫶

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Happy New Year — and welcome to the first episode of the year! 🎉

As we step into a fresh new year, it’s the perfect time to think about preventative health, staying well, and making sure you’re up to date with the screening tests that genuinely help women live longer, healthier lives.

In today’s episode, I’m walking you through the big screening programs we have in Australia, what they’re designed to do, when they’re recommended — and where we don’t have screening (and why that matters).

This episode covers:

• ✔️ Cervical Screening Test — what changed, why it’s every 5 years, and when a self-collected swab is appropriate
• ✔️ Breast cancer screening & mammograms — who needs screening, how family history affects screening frequency, and why symptoms need investigation (not screening)
• ✔️ Bowel cancer screening & FOBT — why the starting age has lowered to 45, how the kit works, and why early detection saves lives
• ✔️ Ovarian cancer — why there is no effective screening test, what symptoms to be aware of, and when to investigate
• ✔️ The new Australian lung cancer screening program — who it applies to and how it works

You’ll also hear a little New Year life update from me — family time, fig harvest, French backpackers, and reflecting on a big year of growth personally and professionally 💛

My hope is that this episode helps you:

• understand what each screening test is actually trying to achieve
• know when screening applies vs when symptoms need investigation
• feel more confident asking questions and making informed choices about your health

👉 If you’re not sure what breast-cancer risk category you fall into, you can try the iPrevent risk calculator (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre), then discuss your results with your GP

Let’s Stay Connected:

• Get your free Midlife Health & Body Reset Guide: Here
• Find out more about the Midlife Reset Program: Here
• Join the Opt to Thrive mailing list: Here
• Follow Dr. Corina on Instagram: @drcorinasimsopttothrive
• Connect on Facebook: Opt to Thrive (Dr Corina Sims)
• Opt to Thrive official website

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and share it with a friend who may enjoy it too.🫶

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In this reflective episode, I share a personal story sparked by an unexpected night out — watching Love Actually in concert with close friends. What began as a joyful shared experience unfolded into a powerful meditation on love, loss, memory, and the way life shapes us over time.

As the music and stories stirred memories from my own past — including heartbreak, grief, and a season of profound uncertainty — I reflect on what it means to let go of what we thought life would look like, and to trust the unfolding of what comes next.

This episode is about acceptance, perspective, and learning not to miss the beauty and joy woven through even the most painful chapters. A reminder that the pleasure and the pain, the joy and the sorrow, are all part of the same dance — and that the dance is always worth it.

I hope it encourages you to pause, reflect, and fully embrace whatever season you’re in right now.

Let’s Stay Connected:

• Join the Opt to Thrive mailing list: Here
• Follow Dr. Corina on Instagram: @drcorinasimsopttothrive
• Connect on Facebook: Opt to Thrive (Dr Corina Sims)
• Opt to Thrive official website

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and share it with a friend who may enjoy it too.🫶

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If you’ve ever found yourself losing weight… only to gain it back again, this episode is for you.

So many midlife women feel frustrated, disheartened, and convinced that something is “wrong” with them — especially when the strategies that once worked suddenly stop working. But the truth is, it’s not a lack of willpower. And it’s not your fault.

In this episode, I share the personal and professional journey that helped me finally step off the yo-yo dieting cycle — and why midlife is often the turning point that forces us to do things differently.

We explore why repeated dieting can quietly erode muscle, energy, and confidence, and why sustainable weight loss in midlife requires more than just adjusting calories or exercise. I break down the often-missing component that keeps pulling women back to the start line — mindset — and why without addressing it, lasting change is almost impossible.

You’ll hear about:

• Why the “temporary mindset” keeps you stuck in the lose–gain cycle
• How restriction and deprivation set us up for overeating and burnout
• What it really means to build a healthier relationship with food
• The concept of an energy budget — and how it creates freedom rather than restriction
• Why consistency doesn’t mean perfection (and why 80/20 works)
• How motivation is created through clarity, belief, and small steps — not waiting for a spark

This episode is about hope, self-trust, and learning how to work with your midlife body rather than fighting it.

If you’re tired of starting over and ready to understand what actually works now — this conversation may be exactly what you need.

Let’s Stay Connected:

• Replay recent webinar (limited time only): Make This the Year You Lose The Weight for the Last time.
• Find out more about the Midlife Reset Program: Here
• Join the Opt to Thrive mailing list: Here
• Follow Dr. Corina on Instagram: @drcorinasimsopttothrive
• Connect on Facebook: Opt to Thrive (Dr Corina Sims)
• Opt to Thrive official website

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and share it with a friend who may enjoy it too.🫶

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In this week’s Mindful Moment, I share a surprising little experience that made me pause, reflect… and laugh. It’s all about what happened after my last episode went out — and what it reminded me of (again) about other people’s opinions, why we can’t control them, and why we really shouldn’t try.

If you’ve ever found yourself bending or shrinking to keep others happy, or worrying about how you’re being perceived, this episode offers a gentle reminder and a mindset shift that might be exactly what you need today.

Some people just don’t like peaches — and that’s okay.

Let’s Stay Connected:

• Tune into the next webinar: Make This the Year You Lose The Weight for the Last time.
• Find out more about the Midlife Reset Program: Here
• Join the Opt to Thrive mailing list: Here
• Follow Dr. Corina on Instagram: @drcorinasimsopttothrive
• Connect on Facebook: Opt to Thrive (Dr Corina Sims)
• Opt to Thrive official website
• Calcium calculator

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and share it with a friend who may enjoy it too.🫶

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This week’s episode took a turn I didn’t expect.

After seeing a string of unexpected bone density results in women in their 50s and 60s, I knew I had to hit pause on my planned topic and talk about something far more urgent: the silent bone crisis unfolding in midlife women — long before most of us think we’re at risk.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why early bone loss is becoming so common
• The types of fractures most women never hear about
• Who should consider getting a bone density scan
• Advocating for yourself with your own GP to get a referral
• The lifestyle factors that quietly weaken bones
• The simple, science-backed steps that protect them

If you’re in your 40s, 50s or 60s, this is a conversation you cannot afford to miss.

Please share this important episode with ALL the women in your life.

Let’s Stay Connected:

• Find out more about the Midlife Reset Program: Here
• Join the Opt to Thrive mailing list: Here
• Follow Dr. Corina on Instagram: @drcorinasimsopttothrive
• Connect on Facebook: Opt to Thrive (Dr Corina Sims)
• Opt to Thrive official website
• Calcium calculator

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and share it with a friend who may enjoy it too.🫶

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This week’s episode started with a simple quote I first heard as an intern on my psychiatry rotation:
“The secret to happiness is having something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to.”

It’s a line that has quietly guided me through many stages of life — and recently, it sent me down an unexpected rabbit hole into women’s history, old medical thinking, and a surprising discovery about where the quote actually came from.

Join me as I explore why this little phrase has stood the test of time, what it reveals about our emotional wellbeing in midlife, and how it can help you check in with yourself when you feel a little out of sorts.

And yes… there’s a story involving a 177-year-old book, a fascinating lecture series, some rather “creative” 1800s medical practices, and a reminder of just how far women’s health has come.

At the end, I’ll invite you to do your own gentle inventory:
Do you have something to do? Someone to love? Something to look forward to?

Let’s Stay Connected:

• Find out more about the Midlife Reset Program: Here
• Join the Opt to Thrive mailing list: Here
• Follow Dr. Corina on Instagram: @drcorinasimsopttothrive
• Connect on Facebook: Opt to Thrive (Dr Corina Sims)
• Opt to Thrive official website

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and share it with a friend who may enjoy it too.🫶