What happens when the workouts that used to work… stop working?

So many women hit their 40s and feel like the rules suddenly changed.

Energy shifts. Sleep becomes unpredictable. Muscle feels harder to maintain. And despite doing all the “right” things, the results don’t always follow.

In this episode of The Iconic Midlife, we’re breaking down what’s actually happening in the body during midlife — and how women can rethink fitness, metabolism, and recovery in a way that actually works.

I’m joined by Dr. Chris Asandra, a physician specializing in regenerative and longevity medicine, and Maria Chase, founder of BURN LA, a fitness studio with a front-row seat to how women’s bodies and needs evolve over time.

Together, we explore the intersection of hormones, strength training, and metabolic health — and unpack one of the most talked-about (and misunderstood) topics in wellness right now: peptides.

This is a conversation about cutting through the noise — and understanding what truly matters if you want to feel strong, energized, and confident in midlife.

In This Episode, We Cover:

1. What’s actually happening in the body during perimenopause and midlife
2. Why workouts that once worked may stop delivering the same results
3. The critical role of muscle in metabolism, energy, and long-term health
4. How women should be thinking about strength training in their 40s and beyond
5. The balance between pushing your body and prioritizing recovery
6. Wellness trends vs. real science — what’s worth your time and what’s not
7. Peptides explained: what they are, how they work, and whether they live up to the hype
8. The biggest misconceptions women have about aging, fitness, and hormones
9. Simple, actionable shifts to feel better in your body over the next six months

About the Guests:

Dr. Chris Asandra is a physician specializing in regenerative medicine, hormone optimization, and longevity-focused care. His work focuses on helping patients optimize performance, recovery, and long-term health through advanced medical and wellness strategies.

Maria Chase is the founder of BURN LA, a Los Angeles-based fitness studio known for its high-energy, results-driven approach to strength and conditioning across all stages of life.

If This Episode Resonated:

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Strength training is having such a huge moment right now.

I don't think heavy lifting and building muscle is a trend. It's really, it is the science.

A lot of women, they think strength training is just about looking toned and but it's really about aging.

Well, the science behind red light and infrared heat today has advanced so much.

I would liken it to like somebody turning the light on. You don't have to necessarily wait till your period stops.

So much happens in prevention.

You want to intervene early. Prevention is key.

What advice would you give your 25 year old self?

I would have said wear more sunscreen. I wish I had started working out the way that I did later on earlier.

I think it's sort of the wild west still out there with peptides, you can just order it online and inject yourself.

It's kind of scary, terrifying.

You know, more isn't always better. It has to be strategic. It has to be under medical supervision. You really got to focus on what the peptides do to your body.

When you have your health, you know it's your greatest wealth.

There's a moment that happens to a lot of women in midlife that can feel incredibly confusing.

You're working out, you're eating well, you're doing all the things you've been told you're supposed to do and yet suddenly your body feels different. The workouts that used to work stop working. Your energy shifts, your sleep gets weird, muscles seem to get harder to maintain.

And a lot of women are left wondering, what exactly is happening to my body?

Now today we're unpacking that because for many women in their 40s and 50s, the conversation around fitness, metabolism, hormones and longevity is filled with a lot of noise, trends, conflicting advice, wellness hacks and social media quote, unquote experts. But what does the science actually say?

And how should women really be thinking about exercise, muscle metabolism and recovery as they move through midlife? To help us break it down, I'm joined by two people who see this from very different and very complementary perspectives.

Dr. Chris Asaundra is a physician specializing in regenerative and longevity medicine, working with patients on everything from hormone optimization to metabolic health and recovery.

And Maria Chase is the founder of Burn La, a fitness studio that works with clients at every stage of life and has a front row seat to how women's bodies and their needs evolve over time.

Together, we're diving into what's actually happening in the body during midlife, why workouts sometimes stop producing the same results, how women should be thinking about strength training and Recovery. And we're even getting into one of the most confusing topics in wellness right now. Peptides.

So if you've ever looked at your body in midlife and thought, why does it feel like the rules suddenly changed? This conversation is for you. Let's get into it. Welcome to the iconic midlife. Chris and Maria, I'm excited to have you all here.

Thanks for having me.

Thank you, Roxy. I'm excited to be here.

This is going to be so exciting.

The information that both of you have will no doubt help so many people listening to this, but I'm actually really excited for this conversation because I hear from so many women in midlife who feel like the rules suddenly changed when it comes to their bodies, their energy, and how they work out. Especially, you know, we're hearing a lot of things on social media, a lot of information to digest.

So one of the things that I hear all the time from midlife women is, you know, I didn't change anything, but suddenly my body changed. So the workouts that used to stop working, you know, are not working anymore. There's a lot of sleep disturbances. The weight sh all over our bodies.

Our body composition changes. So, Chris, from a medical perspective, what is actually happening to our body during this, like, perimenopause, menopause transition?

So, simply put, you have your ovaries, women have, and they start kind of shutting down. And so, you know, a lot of women feel like, you know, I didn't change, so why does my body have to feel so different?

And the answer really is your hormones are changing dramatically. You know, your estrogen, your progesterone, testosterone, that's all shifting and fluctuating.

That can really affect everything from, like you were saying, some sleep to mood, muscle mass, belly fat, energy recovery, and even psychologically. So it's not just about willpower. Your body's working with different hormonal environment.

And that's why this phase often needs a new strategy, if you will.

And for some women, that may include HRT to help restore balance, help them feel like themselves again, but also integrating exercise during this time as well so that you get the best results from hrt, but also to help your body through this transition.

Absolutely.

And, Maria, when you see women coming in who are experiencing, you know, this shift in this transition, when they come into burn la, do you notice that they're experiencing some of the same symptoms, some of the same, you know, complaints and worries?

I mean, sure. I feel like I have a unique experience.

I'm 50, and I've already passed through menopause and I went through my perimenopause, menopause phases without really knowing it. And in hindsight, it was about when I was starting to really get into teaching classes under red light and led or LED red light and infrared heat.

And I think that the impact that it had on my body during that time, because it does have a big impact on hormone balancing. And like Chris just said, these women go through many different hormonal stages, phases in our lives.

And for me, it really helped to stave off all of these symptoms because I really didn't have any symptoms that I noticed.

I ultimately did start with some hormone replacement therapy with Chris, and it did help me to hold on to more muscle because I was losing just muscle. It was. Well, I was losing weight, and it was harder for me to hold on to muscle.

So that really did help me feel energized and get better sleep and just stronger in my classes.

And I kind of feel like after having that experience myself, that prevention seems to be easier, you know, so if you can get into these habits earlier on, maybe before perimenopause, it could really help to either reduce, minimize, or remove these symptoms altogether as you go into those stages of life. But definitely with women that are already in the throes of it. Yes. I mean, exercise has such an immediate impact on so many things.

How we feel, how we move, our strengths, our mobility. Also red light.

I would say 10 out of 10 people that I've spoken to, members that come into Burn and Start training under this environment with red light and heat, feel it, feel a difference right away. It's almost like, what is. Like, what is that? What is. Why do I feel so good?

I really think that most people don't know how good their bodies are really designed to feel. So once you start feeling kind of amazing in your body and, like, the subtle things like fatigue and that you don't really.

It's not like, a big enough deal to send you to the hospital, but it. You know, it's there. That kind of stuff dissipates. And then once you start to feel. Feel that shift and feel more energized, it's noticeable.

And we see that time and time again with men and women. But, you know, our. Our membership is primarily women, so we get a lot of that. So the short answer is, yes, absolutely. Lots of changes.

Where was the whole thought process behind Burn La?

Like, how did you think, okay, I'm gonna do these workouts, these, you know, intense workouts, but I'm gonna also do them under these lights and all the technology.

Well, I mean it did start with my fitness journey. I started in bodybuilding. So I was kind of like on, you know, the deep end of the spectrum in terms of working out.

And I was looking to do, to create something that was more like user friendly for mainstream that most people or anybody could do. Most people are not going to do bodybuilding the way that I did it. It's too extreme.

But it started with the workout and then, you know, as my career just kind of evolved, I, I really did want to open my own studio. I just had a, a vision and I didn't want to do what everyone else was doing. I was looking to do something different.

At that time I lived in Hawaii and I was coming back and forth between Hawaii and Los Angeles every few months just to kind of see like what was happening, you know, here in, in la. Hawaii is about five years behind everything else. And at that time recovery studios were really starting to kind of emerge.

So I would go to workouts and then I would go to like a red light bed studio or a heat, a sauna studio. And it was there that I really started to get into the science behind those therapies.

And red light was the first one that I just didn't know much about. Like I was more familiar with saunas. And once I started to really dive into the science, I was like, wow, this is actually incredible.

Like cellular regeneration, it helps us to recover faster, like.

And I started to connect the dots and I felt like this could be, to me it was a no brainer, like such a perfect pairing to a workout where you're tearing up the muscle, right? And faster recovery means faster, better results. So once I really understood the science, it was just a no brainer.

And I was determined I was not going to open a studio any other way. And I opened that way in Hawaii. It was pre pandemic, got through the pandemic.

And I have to say the science behind red light and infrared heat today has advanced so much, which I'm so happy to see that they're not slowing down, but the benefits are. The benefits. The science is the science.

Six years ago there was thousands of scientific research studies proving the, the benefits and the results from, you know, being under led, nir, red light. So they're still true today. And yeah, that's kind of where it came from.

And Chris, were you excited when you know, you and Maria became friends and we're talking about these things as like a doctor, you're seeing somebody who is actually using Themselves as like a test subject essentially, you know, doing these workouts, going under the lights, you know, prob, trying to modulate, figure out how many times a week to work out, you know, all the things. What was your thought?

You know, one thing interesting about Maria and this kind of proves the science that she was talking about is that Maria didn't go through all the really bad symptoms of menopause.

That other, a lot of see in a lot of my other female patients because I think because she was exercising so much and she was using the red light and the IR infrared light to stave off a lot of those symptoms, the inflammation and recovery. So that just proves it works right there.

But she was able to not experience, you know, the detrimental and the really debilitating side effects that happen with menopause with her. So, you know, I think that it was really interesting to see how Maria was. You know, she didn't even know until we looked at her labs.

And we can't fight father Time, eventually it catches up with us.

But we know that because of her lifestyle that she was leading and the science behind the, the red light and the IR that she was able to not go through that bad transition that a lot of women go through. So very interesting case subject there. Then it just goes, shows the hand how all this kind of integrates.

It's a holistic approach that you need to have, you know, the HRT plus you need to have the other side of it which is the, the, the exercising, the being active infrared red light therapy.

I feel like I, I really did kind of move through that transition with, without really any, any symptoms or side effects.

But then I feel like once I was able to meet with a doctor with Chris and incorporate some testosterone, some estrogen, progesterone, I felt there was a shift then that happened and I really felt like I was optimized. I felt good, I felt fine. There was nothing that would have sent me to a doctor that was feeling off enough.

But then once I did start including those, those things and then also we have some peptide protocol that I, I've been using over the last year or so. I've noticed such a difference in just optimization is really the word I keep coming back to.

My body just started working even better and I was, I felt even stronger and my sleep was even better and just everything got better. It was just optimized.

Yes, I know.

You know, I started my HRT journey in the fall and, or late fall and I would liken it to like somebo turning the light on you know, it's like I kind of. I came back to myself a bit, which was like something I thought that would never happen again.

You know, I kind of felt like, you know, you kind of dive off this cliff of like hormones, you know, that are just like dropping, dropping, dropping, and you feel like there's no, there's no remedy, you know, until you do something like this, which I think is as is really helpful. You know, I feel like women get really frustrated because they feel like they're doing all the right things, right?

They feel like they're working out, you know, eating healthy, sleeping, you know, trying to be as quote, unquote good as possible to, you know, get to some sort of like semblance of themselves.

Chris, what are some of the physiological issues that are, you know, despite what is happening, like they're good, you know, doing all the good things that is still kind of derailing them.

So I think a lot of times you have to understand, you know, a lot of times women are doing the right thing for their, for their 30 year old body, not their midlife or body.

You know, poor sleep, stress hormones, insulin resistance, low testosterone, the ovary shutting down, not producing as much hormones, all kind of take a toll on, not your body and your mental health, your muscle mass and everything else. So, you know, when a woman says, I'm not eating well, I'm exercising, but I still feel awful, that's usually signed to look deeper, not blame her.

And sometimes the missing piece is recovery, sometimes it's metabolic health and sometimes their hormones being so low.

So that's why it's important to investigate all that and find out what's going on in the body versus A lot of times I see this when they go to their doctor and they just say, you know what, it's normal, live with it. Here's some antidepressants. Good luck. I don't think that's the right approach.

I think we really need to find the cause and understand the physiological changes that women go through.

When their hormones decline, they lose muscle mass and they're doing everything right and they're working out every day and they're, they're almost over training sometimes because they're trying to achieve the same results that they did when they were 30 and it's just not, it's not there anymore. They're not getting the results. And that's like Bria saying, you need to optimize everything in your life.

More efficient workouts, you know, take advantage of the technology we have and then look into hormone replacement. Therapy sometimes.

You know, strength training is having such a huge moment right now.

I mean, I feel like I open up, you know, Instagram, TikTok, whatever the social media platform is, and it's like, lift heavier, lift heavier, like constantly. You know, that's what I feel like I'm seeing. So how important is it for us to maintain muscle mass as we age?

You know, I feel like when we were younger it was all about cardio, like get on the treadmill, like do the run, like do this, do that. But now it's like really about lifting heavy. So why is that so important for us metabolically?

So because really muscle is, is responsible for your power, your metabolism, your protection, your longevity. Keeps your bones healthy. How much, I mean, how often do we hear about osteoporosis in women, their bones degrading and that's.

And their muscles are also losing muscle. You're also losing lean muscle mass as well. So it helps women stay strong. You're talking about mobile, independent, metabolically healthy.

And a lot of women, they, they think strength training is just about looking toned and. But it's really about aging.

Well, as you alluded to, it protects the bone, it supports balance, improves insulin sensitivity, helps maintain, you know, confidence, your function. And hormonally, if estrogen or testosterone are low, that can absolutely make it, it harder for you to maintain muscles.

So you can do all these workouts and everything, but you're not achieving the muscle tone and the muscle mass that you'd like to as, as you would before because your hormones are low, so you're kind of stuck. So keeping that muscle on is so important. I mean, that's one of the most important things is we lose, we, we lose muscle as we age.

That's why we weaken in our form. We may break our bones, we're not as coordinated.

So, you know, integrating the fitness with the medicine, they've really got to go hand in hand and work together.

You know, I was pleasantly surprised, Maria, when I came to work out at Bernard L A because, you know, here I am, I thought, you know, it's all about the heavyweights and heavyweights. And we were using relatively smaller weights, you know, 1, 2, 3 pounds. But I was feeling so worked out by the end of that class.

I mean, it wasn't like I couldn't even imagine having a 10 pound weight in that class because I think I would have like, you know, passed out, you know, but it was just a great, intense workout without having to have the heaviest of weights more efficient. Right.

Well, that class we did was called an ISO combo class. And we have two. Two. We have a range. And that is more of like an isometric sequencing. So we are using small weights and sometimes no weight at all.

And the idea is to get underneath those larger muscles and really target the accessory muscles, which I like to envisualize it like, kind of like an internal girdle. It's, it's. It's tightening and strengthening and supporting everything from underneath, so from the inside out.

And then we have heavier weight classes where you would use an 8 or a 10. And it's just a different class style so you could get through it.

The class you took wasn't designed for those heavier weights, but designed to work to complement the heavier weighted class. So I really think we need to approach both muscles, both parts of the muscle. So we give kind of.

I like to think of it as a holistic muscular design approach with ISO, ISO classes and our Burn 45 classes, where the Burn 45 Burn combo, where we're using heavier weight, is really designed to build muscle. Very strategic, very targeted. I'm always after design in the physique.

I think there's a lot of great hard workouts that aren't necessarily focused on the aesthetic design. So we're very intentional about where we want to build out and where we want to pull in, you know, to kind of give you a tight hourglass shape.

And then we have this class burn and build, which is even heavier weights. That has been absolutely incredible. Like, we. Our classes are waitlisted to two weeks out, like in all studios for those classes.

And I think it just goes to show people really are wanting a heavier weighted class. That class we put on our burn schedule to kind of bridge the gap between our build classes, which is our secondary studio.

We're just about to launch it in three weeks in Studio City. And it's really a heavyweight class. It's a bench class. It's a different format than burn. And it really takes me back to my weight training roots.

It's going to be still in LED red light and still in infrared heat. But this is really for people who want a very strategic heavy lifting class. And I'm really happy to see this. I don't think it's a trend.

I think it's just, you know, the information is out there and people are more educated now about what actually is good for our body. I don't think heavy lifting and building muscle is a trend. It's really. It is the science, the real science. And so I love seeing it.

I Mean, I feel like for 10 years, I've been trying to encourage women to pick up heavier weights. You know, they're. They're the. They're the true fountain of youth.

And from a longevity perspective, you know, I mean, looking down the line and into the future, I mean, we need muscle mass to be able to, you know, carry us through our, you know, 50s, 60s, 70s, and onward.

You know, I mean, just the thought of, like, not being able to support your bones, especially, and having, like, some sort of a fall and a break and, you know, it's actually quite scary to think about.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

There's also been, like, just such a huge explosion right now of, you know, wellness technology, recovery tools, you know, everything from heat therapy to red light to supplements and different recovery modalities. Chris, from a scientific standpoint, which of these approaches actually has promising scientific results attached to them and evidence.

Yeah, you know, like, you're saying there's a lot of hype out there, but I think a few things really stand out. I think one thing I encourage women to do besides the HRT is, you know, you can use creatine. Creatine starting to become.

It's one of my favorite supplements for women now because it supports muscle strength and then even brain health. They're finding out.

And then red light therapy is one of the more interesting one because that one really targets inflammation, which a lot of people have. Skin quality, tissue recovery, and then also mitochondrial function. So those are the powerhouses of your cells that red light really, really targets.

And, you know, we've been using red light in medicine before to grow hair. People will do it for their skin.

We use the infrared for, like, recovery and make their people heal their joints quicker and they feel less pain, inflammation.

So it's really ingenious that we've incorporated all this into a fitness routine, too, to have all this in one place so you can recover faster and you can. You can exercise and kind of bounce back, you know. That said, I always remind women, you know, no wellness tool can really replace just the basics.

So if you're not sleeping, you're not preserving muscle, and hormones are out of balance, all these gadgets alone won't fix it. The best results come when these tools are layered kind of into a strong foundation with each other.

And that's what the exercise, the red light therapy. And then we can integrate the hormone therapy and peptides when it's appropriate.

Can we back to creatine for a second? Because I don't know if this is true or not, but I'VE heard, you know, different viewpoints about it affecting the kidneys.

Is that, do we need to worry about that?

Yeah. You know, you don't want to take too much creatine at once.

I think when they're talking, talking about taking these massive amounts, I don't think we should do that. Because you can dehydrate. It puts a lot of stress on your kidneys as well, because you're kind of. And you get a little bloating from it, too.

It's really just hydrating your muscles and putting water into the muscles. Right. So it's, it's also about hydration, too, and all that. And creatine. I don't think we need to take like 10, 50 grams, like everybody's saying.

You know, you start with 2 to 5 grams of it to see how you feel first and then you can kind of ease into it.

But you do need to watch out because it can take a, it can, anything you're putting in your body can tax, you know, some part of your body, whether it's your liver or kidneys. So you do need to watch them. Make sure you're always hydrated, too.

When taking pizza, you should probably run it by your doctor and get some basic kidney function first before you go slamming down massive amounts.

Yeah.

Don't go crazy on the creatine. Right.

I love creatine. I have been taking it and I, I totally agree with what Chris just said. I think less is more when it comes to supplements.

I, I tend to not overdo them. I do probably half of a dose, like so per maybe 2.53 grams of creatine. And I don't even do it every day.

I, I'm very intuitive when it comes to my body. I think our bodies are brilliant.

And my goal is to use things like peptides and supplements just minimally to really encourage my body's own optimization. And I feel like that's what I found. Even peptides, like, I'll, I'll cycle peptides so that I'm not just on peptide. You know, one peptide forever.

It's, it's not, that's not really how it's intended.

No, please, let's talk about peptides, because Hot topic there, there is, yeah, pep talk. Because there is so much pep talk out there. And, you know, I'm very interested in it.

Like, I, I, I, you know, in passing, I talk about it with people. I have not started the peptide journey myself, but peptides is having a huge moment.

It can be really confusing out there for people that don't know what's what and what, what it does.

So Chris, for someone who is really just basic in knowledge about peptides, what are they, what are they actually, you know, promise to do just give us a little background on what that is.

It's really a short chain of amino acids and they're kind of placed in different sequences. Lysine, citrulline, arginine, all these different proline that are kind of sequenced together to perform a specific function in the body.

I mean, insulin's a peptide. The GLP cyclozempic, that's a peptide, right?

That's telling you to, telling your body to have less hunger, you know, become more, less insulin resistant or manage your insulin better so you lose weight. There's other ones that help with recovery, blood vessel growth. Gosh, ones for like stroke recovery for you so you have better brain function.

Adding lean muscle, burning fat, helping with skin and collagen growth. So those are the different peptides that are out there and you know, really you just don't want to take all them like you see on social media.

I mean everyone sounds great, but I think you should talk to someone first and find out what your goals are and have it targeted to specifically what you need or what the body needs with, with the peptides. So you know, we have so many different ones out there. It's really, it's so much overload right now.

It's really important that you speak to some expert or somebody who understands the peptides and understands you to understand what your body needs and what your goals and focus are.

So important.

Yes, so important, so important.

Because I think, you know, there's a lot of people, there are also like a lot of providers, you know, that are injecting with all of these peptides with and I don't know how much, you know, expertise and knowledge they actually have. So I think it's sort of the wild west still out there with peptides a bit.

Yeah, I mean it's a little bit, you know, again, it depends on which peptide. We have ones that are FDA approved and non FDA approved.

A lot of them that we hear about on the social media haven't been FDA approved and a lot of them are only went through animal investigations. But what we can say is anecdotally, I mean, I mean people are, you know, I don't think it's a placebo effect.

People are actually saying they, they feel better on it now. Do we know the long term studies on that? No, I think we're starting to See some legislation come in.

I think RFK recently said he's trying to get them descheduled so that pharmacies can start producing more of the peptides again. Because you know, people do see benefit from them and I'm sure he's on them too.

But you know, I think it's important that you understand the physiology of what each peptide does. I mean there's some peptides that are already FDA approved, like the glp, Simorelin, Tessamorelin and a couple other ones.

But we need, you really need to understand which ones you need first before just trying them all. And you know, thinking about the benefits

versus the risk, it's so important and I've seen so many women, like I would say every time I teach a class, people come up to me after class and will ask me like what am I doing? Ask me about peptides. And it was getting so out of control earlier this year that I, and I'm. That's not my area of expertise.

And I was just as confused as everyone else.

And I decided to do like a three part series in the studios with, with Chris, came in with, with experts that could kind of, you know, give real information and real guidance because I did see those, those like pop up peptide shops and it just makes me so nervous and I think it's so important for people to get with an expert, do a blood panel. It is like he said, it's very bioidentical what works for me and my body isn't going to work the same for you and yours.

And I'm always hyper aware of explaining that to people. So even though I might be like thriving off of a peptide stack, it's not, maybe not the best one for you.

So it's so important to connect with a doctor or an expert and really first do your blood work and start there and not just order randomly like you would order skincare or something online.

Which is kind of like how it's sort of become out there. You know, it's like one of those things where you can just order it online and inject yourself.

And it's very, it's kind of scary, you know, terrifying. I mean looking down the line, do we need to be worried about any adverse effects or possible disease from the use of these peptides? Chris?

Possibly, you know, we don't know a lot of the long term outcomes with this. I mean do some of them could potentiate cancer?

We don't know like, because if you're repairing the body and accelerating cell growth, is it also accelerating a Dormant cancer cell. I mean, it's definitely not something you want to take if you have cancer, and that's why it should be monitored by a physician.

Overall, I. I feel like apparently they're safe right now. I mean, most of them. But again, you need to understand how much you're dosing, what you're doing with it and not overdo it.

Because you see these people online, they're doing 10 peptides at once. Like, come on, you don't. You don't need that much. Like, let's. Let's. Let's find out what your goals are. Let's find out what you know.

More isn't always better. It has to be strategic. It has to be under medical supervision. And so you really got to focus on what the peptides do to your body.

Exactly.

So it's almost like a matrix. It's like a puzzle in a way. Like you're kind of trying to figure out, you know, where things fit in. So what. What should a woman say to her doctor?

What if she wants to maybe start the peptide journey? Like, what are the questions and things she should be asking?

Well, it's important to understand a lot of times women will go to their doctor and the doctors know anything about it, or they'll just shut it down right away. I think it's important that you get a few things addressed first and go with your symptoms.

Because if you're telling me you're having hot flashes, losing muscle mass, you can't sleep, you're losing hair, whatever it may be the symptoms of menopause, I don't think peptides is the right direction for you at this point. You may need estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone right now. Later on, we can kind of add the peptides in if there's.

You're still looking for, you know, the cherry on top, but finding out from your doctor first what's lacking. Because if.

If I give you all these peptides but you're still not producing estrogen, well, you're going to have the symptoms of low estrogen or low testosterone or whatever. So you really got to talk to the doctor and ask him, you know, are peptides right for me?

But first describe what you're feeling, and hopefully it's a doctor that understands because there's so many doctors who don't. They just tell you to deal with it and good luck. You know, you're going through menopause. Every woman goes through it, so suffer.

I don't think that's the right message we should be sending out There.

So finding a good doctor, longevity doctor or functional health doctor that can understand this is really the best way to go because if you just go to your regular primary care doctor, they're just going to say don't do peptides or you know, it's bad for you because they don't know. There's still some stuck on that hormones are bad for you. I still, all the time. But now we see the black box warning come off.

It's getting more traction in the industry and people are understanding that it's actually better for you long term to be on hormones when you, when you lose them. So that's very important to understand what the type of doctor you're going to.

I thought that one of the most interesting points, I was actually moderating a panel this past week, the National Conference on Women's health in Washington D.C. and one of the things that I thought was so important that we talked about was this window of opportunity where you know that timing is everything right with these hormones and when you're taking them, you know, and I feel like there's a certain window of opportunity that women should be aware of when it comes to hormones. So can you speak a little bit to that as well?

So people understand, you know, when, as you're going through the transition of these hormonal changes, you don't want to wait until it's kind of too late, right?

We want to, we want to intervene earlier before your body suffers from not having the hormones, before you lose the muscle, before you lose the bone mass and go through the psychological changes of that or, you know, even, you know, socially. A lot of times people, women tell me that they divorced while they were going through menopause.

They didn't know what was wrong with them or they changed jobs.

You know, we want to intervene early to make sure that we're giving the right hormones, checking your blood, seeing what your levels are and then intervening so we can replace that before you suffer from all that.

So that window of the perimenopause, menopause is very important, like you said, and to intervene and get the right amount given to you so you don't have the brain change. There's actually some physiological brain changes also happen as well. Heart health, muscle mass, et cetera, that happen as you lose the hormones.

So you want to intervene early. Prevention is key. Being proactive with your health versus wait until there's an issue down the line and then intervening, then it can still help you.

But it's better to go in early

rather than later while the receptors are still there and active and can take the hormone, right? Yeah, that's what I. I didn't understand that because I. I didn't realize that the. The receptors, once they're gone, they're gone.

You can't really grow those back, Right?

Yeah. And sometimes you have to give more. But, I mean, the good news is we can replace them.

We can get that back into you so you don't suffer so much, but it is better. Just before you go through all the crap that a lot of women go through, it's. It's devastating.

I mean, you can talk to many women, I'm sure your peers, that will say, gosh, I was a bear. Nobody wanted to be around me while I was going through this. I couldn't have intimacy with my partner because of what I was going through. These.

These are things that affect not just them, but everybody in their orbit. And so, you know, it's. It's really important.

What do you say to the women out there who are too afraid? They think. They think that, you know, hormones will affect their health negatively. It will give them cancer. It will, you know, make them sick.

Like, what do you say to those women who are, you know, scared to take hormones?

And they were giving everybody hormones derived from horses. So, of course, women were getting scared. They were getting cancer, stroke and heart attacks and all these different things.

They weren't monitoring them. They were giving it to women who had already gone through menopause versus, you know, versus earlier intervention, like we were talking about.

It's not that way anymore. We have the bioidentical hormones, the exact same hormone that's already in your body. It's a twin.

It's a match one for one, so you don't have the side effects. We're not making them from pregnant horses anymore. They're urine. So, I mean, it's really kind of transitioned.

And unfortunately, that kind of stuck with not only a lot of the masses, but doctors. I mean, doctors are still, you know, they still think it's bad for you. It's going to cause cancer.

Now, certainly, I wouldn't give it to somebody who has cancer. Let's say a woman has breast cancer. Cancer, you don't want to give it to them because it could potentiate the effects of the cancer, et cetera. But.

And I think it's screening is important. Women need to go get screening and all that.

But Like I said, we do need to kind of transition away from that and understand that's kind of 20, 30 year old medicine that was done. We've come a long way since then, and I think it's time that we empower women now to understand that there are treatments for this out there.

And I think the benefits far away, the risk for.

And as far as peptides go, are there some that show the most promise, you know, looking forward?

Yeah. Besides the GLPs, I think, you know, there's a lot of ones like, for recovery, like the BPC157TB500.

There's even the, the copper peptides that we use for beauty a lot, that stimulates collagen and hair growth.

And then, you know, we have the other ones that are the growth hormone peptides that stimulate growth hormone activity in your body, the samorelin, the testamorelin. And we lose growth hormone as we age. That's where we kind of age faster. We lose muscle, start putting on more fat.

These are the ones that I really like to use in my patients with the hormone therapy to kind of synergistically work together so that your body recovers better, you're seeing better results faster. You're almost kind of, I don't want to say cheating, but you're kind of biohacking everything.

So when you integrate with the exercise, you know, you're more efficient. You're not just, you know, you're. Because I hear a lot of women tell me that they just exercise, exercise.

They just, they do it seven days a week and they still don't see changes. Well, now we can kind of push them past that, that hump and that plateau to get them to where they need to be.

So in the end they're actually healthier.

It all works hand in hand, I'm sure.

Maria, like once, like, was there a certain point where you said to yourself, oh my gosh, all these things are copacetic, like they're all working together. I feel so much better.

Absolutely. I started very slow with Chris. I started with just a little bit of testosterone.

And then, then I started kind of building and I added estrogen and progesterone. Same thing with peptides. I started with one peptide, like the most minimal amount. And my body responds pretty quickly to everything.

And I know, I know my body really well. Like I, I can tune into any little change.

It took a while because I started so slow, but it really has made such a huge but subtle difference, if that makes sense. Like everything just is optimized.

Like, truly, you know, even like my skin, my skin, like, you know, I, I don't really do facials or anything like that, but doing the, the copper peptide were like, really made such a huge difference in just my skin quality and to the point where I was like thinking maybe I should do some lasers or like, something. And a few months later I was like, I haven't thought about a laser, you know, in probably two months. You know, super subtle.

Yeah. But one thing I think the great thing about that, you're integrating that, but you're also doing the red light therapy too, at your, at your studios.

That, that helps tremendously with skin and hair health, you know, so overdoing anything

is probably not the answer. And, and I think when you're out there kind of in the sea of peptides, it's easy to think like, well, that sounds good, that sounds good.

And just like, keep, keep stacking them up.

But to, I think a conservative approach is probably the best approach and let your body really get the most out of, you know, whatever it is you're introducing. See how that works and then maybe cycle that out and change it up, you know, with something different.

But like I said, for me it's about optimization and I like to keep it simple. The peptides that Chris mentioned are the ones that I've used with him, and I have had incredible but subtle results. Like, it's hard to.

That's like the best way to describe it for me. Like, it's such a difference, but then it's not. Like, it's just like a subtle difference.

So is it like, you know, the way we would measure the results of the peptides was how we felt or is it like, you know, a blood test? Like, how are we measuring those results?

Yeah, it's kind of tough because there's not like a specific, specific biomarker that says you're using this peptide. It should do this, some of them do that. Like the growth hormone peptides or even like the GLPs.

You see the insulin levels, insulin resistance levels fall, maybe their kidney function improves, you know, their cholesterol improves because they're losing weight, they're losing fat. So is it specifically one biomarker?

But what we can say is, like, the overall function of the body when we do those biomarkers, when we do the blood test, all of it's improving. Now is it specifically related to peptides? Yes, and yes.

And it's also maybe related to their exercising more, they have more energy now, their hormones are optimized. It's it's hard to really pinpoint oh this peptide marks. You know, it's going to show this blood.

It's an overall results that we're seeing with, with people that it just, they're healthier.

I like to talk to people about it not being like a magic shot. It's not like a magic pill. You know, like you don't want to just think about doing.

I'm going to do a peptide that's going to help me build and hold more muscle. That way I don't have to work out. They work in tandem. You know, for, for me doing a peptide that helps me to maintain more muscle mass is.

I'm taking it to optimize my workouts and in my experience just with that one alone, I mean I've maintained a pretty solid physique all this time, all these years.

But in the last, I don't know, five months or so where I've, I was on a regular protocol, I've seen such a huge difference just in tightening and lifting and like I think it's combination maybe of, of the skin, skin quality because there's definitely less sagging. I mean my butt feels maybe like it's five to 10 years younger.

We love that.

I mean I'm a girl so that matters. That's something that I'm experienced that I'm not looking at like my, my blood panel.

Chris might see something different when he looked looks at my blood panel but for me I'm looking at and looking at how I look in the mirror, how I feel, how I move through a workout. I mean it's just optimized.

So is it like the energy level is also better with, with the peptides? Okay, okay.

But not like, not like, not like you had a cup of coffee. Not like a caffeinated energy. It's like a, it's like a shot strength in the workout, like I just can power through it.

But not in like a caffeinated or amped up way.

It's not stimulated.

So it's more like an endurance. Almost like you have like an endurance for sure.

It's a very natural form of energy. Best way to describe it is you just, you feel naturally motivated.

You have this long lasting energy throughout the day without that, like that that racy stimulated feel that you get maybe with caffeine or some of the energy pills that you take. Like it's not like that. It's a very natural energy where I'm, you know, you're able to power through your day and you're able to Recover better.

So not the same as what you're thinking with like Adderall and all these type of different, different things that jittery kind of. Yeah, okay.

Yeah. I feel like it's also really helped to improve my sleep. I don't know, Chris, is that something that it does?

Because I mean that's where you see your results is in your recovery. I, I wear an aura ring so I'm, I like track my sleep daily. It's so important to me to get good quality sleep.

I feel like it's helped with that as well.

Oh, absolutely. That's one of the first things we hear when you optimize the hormones and you get them on peptides.

But even the hormones itself can help you just sleep better. People. Every, almost every lady tells me my sleep has just improved. I feel better, rested, I recovered better. And you know, sleep is really key.

If we don't get sleep, we just, we don't feel good the next day. But that's when your body recovers and everything else.

So yeah, that's one of the first things I hear is my sleep has improved a lot with, with these treatments.

So what is it doing to our brain when we're taking these peptides?

Because oftentimes I hear people that for example when they go on a GLP one they say, oh, you lose that like the thought in your head that's making you want food or like crave food. You're not really thinking about it like you did before. So what is it like doing to the brain in that way?

Yeah, the food noise kind of goes away. It really targets like some of the addiction centers even in the brain.

So they're even looking at it to, for like alcoholism and sugar cravings, all these different things kind of smoking. And I think one of the biggest things, not to get off topic, but we've seen a big huge increase or decrease in alcohol use.

I mean it's something like billions of dollars alcohol industries have lost. Part of that's related to glp. It's because you don't feel like drinking it. When you do drink, it punishes you. Right. You don't feel good the next day.

But it just helps the brain have, you know, and other peptides help the neurotransmitters of blood flow and everything. And it has anti inflammatory effects. And they're now starting to see, may even protect the brain a lot of the GLPs. But yeah, with you know, dementia.

Alzheimer's comes from inflammation and we deep. When we decrease inflammation, we prevent all those Things as well.

Yeah, the inflammation is like kind of the root cause of evil, right? It gives us just the disease and all the negative effects, right?

Absolutely, absolutely.

So when we're on some of these, especially, like, the more like beauty centric peptides, you know, like, for hair and skin and all that, do we need to come off of those, or is that something to just stay on all the time?

Well, you do need to probably cycle them. I mean, I think studies are still out there, but I wouldn't take it 300, you know, every day, 365 days of the year.

I think you should, you know, kind of see how you feel and then kind of talk to your doctor and see how you could cycle this the best way and then slowly come off of it and then get back on it. But you should definitely cycle them.

And, you know, with all of this, you know, talk of wellness and different therapies and modalities and the supplements, especially which one of those out there, or if there are a few that you think are a total waste of time, like, and a waste of money, frankly,

you know, it really depends. I think the oral NAD and all that's not really gonna. I mean, you may feel some benefits from it, but I think you really needs to be.

If you're taking Trinity, you need to inject it. A lot of these supplements, I don't know, they're kind of these blends that I always hear about from everybody.

I mean, every supplement may have a place there, but I think it's important you just do your basics. You gotta take your vitamin D, fish oils, probiotics, multivitamin. Those are really what it comes down to, the basics.

But a lot of these other supplements out there, I honestly don't even know what they do. I think think a lot of the evidence is still lacking on it. So stick to your basics. I mean, your vitamin D is so important. It's like a hormone.

It keeps your immune system up, keeps you from getting depressed, prevents cancer. Like little things like that is what we should be focused on before these. Before all these new designer supplements that we hear about.

And what about NMN versus nad? Because NMN is the precursor, right, to nad.

Okay, converts into nad. You know, I. I think the research is out there that does increase NAD levels. But is it as good as injecting nad? I don't think so.

And I can probably say that, you know, confidently, because a lot of my patients say, well, I've been taking nmn, I don't feel as much difference. But when I inject the nad. It's. It's a world of difference that I feel.

So it's pretty immediate. Like you would feel that pretty quickly.

Yeah. The clarity, the energy boost comes throughout the day with that.

Almost immediately when you're injecting it versus eating it, it's getting destroyed in your stomach and liver.

Is that the same for collagen too, like oral collagen? Because I've heard the same. Like you take oral collagen, but your stomach acids are destroying it.

Correct.

I mean, I don't know how much is actually being absorbed versus, you know, taking like a copper peptide that you're injecting, telling your body to make more collagen versus eating it and all that.

So, okay, so what is, what does the midlife stack look like? Like, what should a midlife woman who's experiencing all these different things, like, what are all the things that she should do?

You need to listen to your body. The biggest thing you need to do is listen to your body.

Strength training is really important, obviously getting your protein, your sleep, stress regulation and all that. And then if you start feeling those changes, you need to go to your doctor and maybe they can look at your hormone profile. Maybe you're lacking.

Certain hormones are very low in some and not the other. So, you know, all that stuff needs to be kind of looked at.

But really about and moving and exercising, that's so important too, because we, as we age, we don't have that energy and becomes this vicious cycle. I don't have energy, so I don't want to exercise. When I don't exercise, I get. I. My health problems increase. When my health problems increase.

Now I got to take more medications. I got to see the doctor more. So let's stop it early. Let's go back to the basics, start moving again.

The strength training, the red light therapy, all this. Dr. If you're starting to feel the menopausal changes and have him do a profile on you to see if you're really going through all that.

It really comes down to the basics that we've been saying for 100 years.

I think that that is so important. It's. It's not only how you feel, but it's also really important to get tested for these, for these different levels and everything.

You know, and I think women, we put ourselves, you know, we put everybody else's needs first. You know, we kind of the kids, the partners, the job, you know, life in general. So it really takes reprioritizing what is important to us.

I mean, Maria, I'M sure you feel the same.

I have two kids, they're adults now, so I've been through the trenches. And I can tell you that when you really do not look at it not as a selfish thing, it's, you know, taking care of. I mean, we have one body.

It's, it's the one thing that we come into this world with, we leave with, it's going to take us through and really determine the quality of our life. Like they say, when you have your health, you know, it's your greatest wealth. And I think taking care of your body early.

I love to get my hands on young people because I think really so much happens in prevention.

Like if you can turn people on to just incorporating working out into their daily life early on, it will change the trajectory of their health and their life and their longevity, you know, and to turn it into something that's joyful and, you know, fun. And I'm so happy to see actually our culture change now. You see more women going to workout classes as their social time and, you know, not the bar.

It's amazing. I love it. But I really do feel like a movement is where you begin.

And if you can really incorporate a fitness based lifestyle, you're gonna see success in just every other area of your life. Absolutely.

And like you're saying the things that we're doing now are gonna affect us 20, 30 years from now. So it's important to do it today.

And it's never too late. I mean, like I'm, I'm 50, I, I really got into fitness around 35. So I mean, I wasn't super young, you know, but it's never too late to start.

We have women in Bern who started coming to us in their 60s and had never worked out and have completely just changed everything for themselves. Like, it really is not never too late.

You do, you feel really good after you do one of the Burn La classes. I have to say, like, I kind of came out of it like, like, okay, definitely, like hot and sweaty, but like energized almost.

You know, I would say probably the number one word that you hear our members use to describe it is that they're obsessed and addicted. And I think what they're talking about is just that feeling what you just described.

Like you're just energized and you feel good and you just want to like go feel like that again, you know, the next day and the next day.

You know why too. I think it resonates with especially midlife women so much, is because we don't feel good now.

So much of the time, like that feeling good has like eluded us, you know, and it's like trying to get back to that place and if you can do something like this that makes you feel good, do it, you know.

Oh my gosh. Well, you're in the right spot because between me and Chris, I feel great.

I love that. I'm like, I'm gonna have to come back and see you both.

So what are like if, for a woman listening right now, if she wants to change her, you know, the way she feels, change her life in that way, what are three things that she could do starting like tonight, even that it will make her feel good, let's say in like a six month window or, you know, looking down the line, like, what are three things that are very effective that she could start now?

So I think first of all, listen to your body, right? You got to figure out what's going on. Listen to your body. What are, what's ailing you, what is, what's. What's been hurting, what's been. What's.

What's keeping you back from living your best life. Life, right? And I think you need to listen to your body a lot of times I think the other thing you need to do is get moving again.

And I know sometimes it's hard when you're going through menopause to get that motivation. So you may need to go to your doctor first and find out if you need the hormones to get motivated again.

But you have to start moving again with the resistance training, go into workout classes, et cetera, and really partaking in them and taking it seriously, that's so important to get moving. The other thing is we don't talk about a lot is sleep, sleep. You know, a lot of women these days don't sleep.

I hear so many ladies saying, I wake up at 2am, 3am and I can't fall back asleep. I stay on my phone, you know, put that phone away and you go to bed. Part of it.

But yeah, that looking at your sleep, which also could be related to your hormones, et cetera. So take the first step.

If you're starting to feel this way and you're listening to your body and saying your body's telling you it's not, it's not feeling right, you need to go to your doctor, go to a physician that understands kind of the physiology and the functional health part of it and really take a deep dive and just figure out what's going on first.

And I think that's the first step, once you do that, we can figure out, identify what's wrong with you, and then it can optimize you, like Maria said.

Absolutely. And I think you don't have to necessarily wait till your period stops to start looking into your hormones and checking these things.

You know, I would say my number one thing would be to come to burn everything that Chris just listed. Like. Like, truly, it will work itself out. I think if the hardest step is to, you know, get yourself moving, to pick yourself up.

But from there, you become stronger in your body. You be. You begin to trust yourself more. You become more aware of what you're capable of. You feel better just by way of movement and strength.

Red light helps to regulate hormones, raises serotonin, reduces cortisol. You're surrounded in a room full of people going through the same thing. The connection that happens within that community is remarkable.

There's something so incredible when you're in a room with 30 people and you're moving in unison to music that's uplifting and an instructor that's, like, badass. And you're doing something that you really didn't think you could do, and you probably still don't think you can do, but you're pushing through.

Something happens, happens to you, and you sleep better. You probably start eating better because your muscles start to crave something different. Your body starts to crave something different.

Like, it's not possible to continue to eat crappy food. When you're doing our classes every day, it really just starts to fade away. Like, everything kind of takes care of itself.

Your body craves nutrients versus just calories. Yep. Junk, I think, also just surrounding yourself by people that are also on this.

This journey, which I see happen every single day over and over and over in our studios. Like, everybody's there for a reason.

Like, it really attracts people that are interested in feeling good and have discovered what it feels like to feel good. And, like, that feeds itself, it feeds each other. And it just becomes this whole kind of, like, ecosystem of optimizing our lifestyle and.

And how we feel. I've seen friendships develop. Like, everything kind of just starts to click and work. So that's my short answer.

Like, come to burn and everything else will come from there.

It's a wonderful class. So it's amazing. And, like, you're saying the momentum, like, builds up.

There's momentum, yeah.

Right. Once you start doing these things, it all adds up and it makes you want to do more, you know, which is amazing.

I mean, that's my. My, My whole Mission for just people in general. And that's where burn came from.

It was really just this drive and desire to help people feel better, like the way that I was feeling better. And also fitness was such a lifeline for me through so many hard times.

And that was also a motivating factor to kind of like provide that for people because we're all struggling with something,

turning the tables a little bit. I want to know what you guys were like when you were 25. What were you guys like?

Were you, you know, as you are now, just younger versions, Were you different? What were you guys like when you were 25?

I had just gotten married and I was about a year and a half out from having my first child. I had both kids under 30. So I was like in my 20s.

I was deep in the throes of motherhood, young motherhood, so I had my hands full, but I was living in Hawaii on a beach, like having the best time, it was the best experience. But I wasn't in the clubs partying or anything or even, or even after a career. I was a stay at home mom and I was just loving on my babies.

So you were like responsible. I was dancing on tabletops and clubs and you were like my responsible alter ego.

Exactly. No, I didn't have a dancing on clubs, on tables and club space.

Believe me, I, I can see it now in my face. I'm like, oh, yep, that was that night. That was that night. What about you, Chris?

So for me, I was actually a fresh young doctor. I actually went to med school at the age of 18 and became a doctor at 24. So at 25 I was working in the, I was an emergency room doctor.

So I was actually in the throes of it then. Even though I was a doctor then, I would still say I was an idiot back then. Time being 25, how much do you really know, right?

You're single, you're a doctor, you're chasing, chasing women, all that stuff. But it was a tough time. I mean we, we really, as we age, we just learn so much more through experience and our life challenges that we go through.

So I was definitely not the same. I missed the way my body recovered back then. I missed, you know, the physical parts of being youthful. But I definitely don't miss what's up here now.

So it's a lot. Not, it's, it's been a journey and here I am.

Yeah, absolutely. So what advice would you give your 25 year old selves?

I would have said wear more sunscreen. I Lived in Hawaii, and I did. Definitely didn't wear enough sunscreen. I'm paying the price for that now.

But I wish I had started working out the way that I did later on earlier because I. I mean, physically, I. I feel so much stronger, better in my body than I was at 25 by a long shot.

For me, I would say definitely have more patience, you know, with everything. You got to be more patient. Listen versus talk versus speaking. And definitely, like, marisa, take care of your body. I think you need to.

You know, if I go back, I probably wouldn't have had those long nights of, you know, drinking and dancing tables, too. So nothing good ever comes out of one of those nights of. Of drinking. I can always. I could say that now. So I don't drink anymore. So, yeah, that's.

That's my advice, is to be patient and listen to your body and then understand it.

And what is the biggest lesson that you guys have learned in midlife?

For me, I would say consistency. I don't think I probably was as aware of it early on, but I think the reason I'm here today doing what I'm doing is just because I showed up.

I just kept showing up. And I don't even think I was. Was necessarily aware of it early on so much, but it was some. It was a passion. It was something I just had to do.

And fortunately, my passion drove me to consistency. But consistency is just it with everything.

Very important. Yeah, it's similar as confidence.

The biggest lesson I've learned is that I think real success and whether that's monetarily or just how you feel, it doesn't mean anything if you don't have your help, health, energy, and the people around you share that with. So that's. That's really the biggest lesson, is not take people for granted and listen to your body and listen to everybody else around you.

And, you know, that's life. And it has so many different meanings. Right. So it's different for everyone.

So true.

How are you both living iconically right now?

Oh, my gosh. I don't know if I feel iconic.

You're iconic.

Honestly, I'm sorry. So I just love life so much. I haven't been living in Los Angeles for very long, two and a half years. And I.

So I'm new to this city, but I love it here. I just. I love what I'm doing. I'm so grateful. Every day I feel like I wake up with a smile on my face that I.

And just like, in such deep gratitude that I'M doing something that I feel so passionate about and that I'm, like, you know, truly impacting people's lives. Like, that was always just, like, my wildest dream, and here I am living it. So, I mean, I guess that would be pretty iconic for me.

Yeah, along the same lines, you know, I think it's making a difference in people's lives, changing people's lives overall with the treatments I do, it's right about investing in the things that, you know, truly matter, and that's your health. You know, my vision, Maria's vision, that she has relationships and the kind of lifestyle that we both work to create.

You know, it's living with the intention, excellence, and being in the moment and being. Being present.

Absolutely. We need game changers. Game changers like y', all. You know, before we go, I want you guys to tell everybody where they can find you.

So for me, you can check out my website, asandramd, which is 1s as a n D R a M D on Instagram or my website, isandremu.com and

then I am on Instagram mariachase with an underscore at the end. And then our studios are Burn Los Angeles and Build Los Angeles. We have two Instagrams now, and our website is burnla.com and build-la.com.

oh, we love it. Are there any plans to expand outside of California?

Oh, you know, we get asked all the time for expansion outside internationally to bring these there, but a little tapped out right now.

A little tired, huh? I need a couple more peptides. Exactly.

And that's with peptides.

I feel you. We're expanding, though. We're expanding to New York. Oh, yeah, New York and the Hamptons.

Ooh. In time for the summer. I'll be there this summer, so maybe

I'll see you there.

Okay. I like that. I like that a lot. All right, well, you guys are doing great work. Thank you for everything. And yes, thank you.

And everybody, be sure to come back on Thursday so you can listen to Chris and Maria's game episode because it is going to be a good one. You're going to learn a lot. So definitely check it out and follow us on social media at the iconic Midlife and Me red carpet, Roxy.

And be sure you rate, subscribe, and comment wherever you get podcasts so we can bring you more amazing conversations like this.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Chris and Maria. It was wonderful.

Thanks, Roxy.

Thank you, Chris, Maria. This has been such a fascinating conversation.

I think so many women reach midlife and suddenly feel like they're navigating their bodies without a clear roadmap. So conversations like this bring together both science and real world experience and incredibly helpful information.

Thank you both so much for coming on the Iconic Midlife and sharing your insights.

And to everyone listening, if this episode resonated with you or if you know a woman who's trying to make sense of the changes happening in her body right now, send this episode to her.

Because one of the most powerful things we can do in midlife is share the information that helps us feel stronger, healthier and more confident in this stage of life. And if you're enjoying the show, make sure you follow the Iconic Midlife wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode.

We have incredible conversations coming up with bold, fascinating and iconic women who are redefining what what midlife can look like.

And until next time, whether you're breaking cycles, setting boundaries or just figuring it the out, you're not crazy, you're evolving and that's iconic.