Kimberly Riggins: The Midlife Rebel

Something I've noticed about midlife women, including myself: we are very good at trying things.

The supplements. The routine. The thing someone recommended. We try it, it doesn't fully stick or fully work, and we quietly file it under "I guess that's not for me either."

But most of the time the problem isn't the thing. It's the sequence.

There are five pretty distinct patterns I see in midlife women when it comes to stress, sleep, and energy. And the starting point for each one is genuinely different. What helps one woman first can actually make things harder for another.

That's not a fun thing to realize when you're already tired. But it's also kind of a relief. Because it means you weren't failing. You were just starting in the wrong place.

If you would like to know what pattern you are in, go ahead and take my FREE Rebel Resilience Audit. 12 questions. 5 minutes. Totally worth your time.

The Rebel Resilience Audit - Kimberly Riggins | Rebel Midlife You're Not Falling Apart. You Just Don't Know Where to Start. Twelve questions. A personalized result. A custom guide waiting in your inbox when you are done. Completely free. You’ve Tried Everything. It Still Feels Off. You have read the articles.You have listened to the podcasts.You’ve even tr...

Here's something nobody talks about enough.

The reason midlife feels so disorienting isn't just the hormones.

It's the identity shift that happens at the same time.

You spent your 20s and 30s building. Career. Family.

Relationships. A version of yourself that could handle everything.

And then somewhere around 40, 45, 50, that version of you starts to crack. Not because you failed. Because that version was never sustainable.

The woman on the other side of that crack is actually closer to who you've always been. Less performing. Less apologizing. Less shrinking.

She's not a crisis. She's a signal.

The only question is whether you're ready to listen.

Let me ask you something.

When you think "core workout," what comes to mind?

Crunches, probably. Maybe a fitness influencer on the floor looking impossibly put together.

And somewhere in the back of your mind, a voice that says: that's not really for me.

Here's what I want you to know.

Your core is not a vanity muscle. It never was.

It is the foundation of how you stand, how you move, how your back feels at the end of a long day, and yes, how confident you feel walking into a room.

In midlife, when estrogen drops and muscle mass declines faster than anyone warned you, your core is one of the most powerful things you can rebuild.

Not to look a certain way.

To feel like yourself again. Solid. Grounded. Here.

Episode 19 of the Love Your Naked Ass podcast is up and this one is for every woman who has been quietly wondering why her body feels a little off lately.

You are not broken. You are just missing some information.

Go listen. Link in the comments.

If you have ever lain awake at 2am doing math on how many hours of sleep you can still theoretically get, this episode is for you.

Episode 18 of Love Your Naked Ass is up and we are talking about midlife insomnia. What is actually driving it, why it feels impossible to break, and what you can do starting tonight.

Here is what I want you to know before you listen: the disruption is not random. It is not because you are stressed and haven't managed it well enough. It is not a character flaw.

As progesterone declines during perimenopause, the calming, sleep-supporting effect it had on your nervous system declines with it. Cortisol patterns shift. Temperature regulation goes sideways. And then the loop starts where bad sleep drives cortisol up and high cortisol keeps you awake.

Round and round it goes.

I share my own experience with this in the episode, including the restless legs, the covers on and off situation, and the very unflattering 3am mental spiral. Because I want you to know you are not alone in this.

And then we get into what actually helps.

Go listen. Link in comments.

Overnight oats that actually hold you.

Not the kind that leave you snacking twenty minutes later wondering why you even bothered. The kind that keep you steady till lunch with no crash, no food noise, no mid-morning debate about what you should have eaten instead.

The difference is almost always protein.

This week's Rebel Bite is a Lemon Berry Protein version. Greek yogurt, protein powder, chia seeds, berries, and a little lemon zest. Five minutes of prep the night before. Breakfast handled.

That's what food is supposed to do. Just do its job.

Recipe is up on the site. Link in the comments.

rebelmidlife.substack.com

This week's Rebel Letter is about something a lot of women feel but rarely say out loud.

You can do everything right. Build the responsible life. Show up for everyone who needs you. Check every box that was supposed to matter.

And still have a hollow feeling in your chest that won't go away.
That's not a breakdown. That's not ingratitude.

That's what happens when the life you built was designed for approval, not for you.

In this week's letter I asked a question I wish someone had put in front of me sooner.

If you were standing at your own funeral, what would you want the women in that room to say about you? Not your title. Not what you accumulated. How did you make them feel? What did you build that actually mattered?

Those answers are your compass. Everything else is noise.

Go read it when you have five quiet minutes for yourself.

Looking Fine from the Outside Doesn't Mean It Feels Like Yours on the Inside You've been following a script you never agreed to

There is a specific kind of tired that comes from doing everything right.

Not the tired that comes from hard work. The tired that comes from working hard at a version of your life you never actually chose.

The job that made sense. The responsible decisions. The life that looks exactly like it was supposed to from the outside.

And you're standing in the middle of it with a hollow feeling that won't go away.

That is not ingratitude. That is not a crisis.

That is your gut finally getting loud enough that you can't tune it out anymore.

This week's episode of Love Your Naked Ass is about that exact feeling. What it means. Where it comes from. And what it looks like to start building something that actually feels like yours.

I share something in this one that I don't talk about much.

Go listen.

Rewriting the Rules: Creating Your Own Midlife Success Story - Kimberly Riggins | Rebel Midlife You are allowed to want a life that actually feels like yours. You are allowed to want more. Not more stuff.Not more achievement.Not more boxes checked on someone else's list. More of a life that actually feels like yours. That's the thing nobody tells you when you're building a responsible, functio...

This week's Rebel Bite is up and I want to explain why I chose this recipe.

Confidence isn't just built in your mindset. It's built in your body.

When your blood sugar crashes by 10am, when you skipped breakfast or grabbed something fast and sweet, when your nervous system is already lit up before the day really begins... you do not feel powerful. You feel reactive. Irritable. Like you're already behind.

That is not a personality flaw.
That is under-fueling.

This week's Rebel Bite is a high-protein shakshuka.

Eggs and chickpeas for protein.
Olive oil for healthy fat.
Fiber from the chickpeas and vegetables to slow the glucose spike.

Warm and savory, which research shows helps regulate cortisol better than sweet, cold breakfasts.

It's the kind of meal that tells your body: you are safe, fueled, and steady.

When your body feels steady, your brain follows.

Emotional steadiness feels like confidence. And it starts in the kitchen more often than we admit.

Recipe is live now.

A Confidence-Boosting Power Breakfast You don’t need more discipline, you need to be fed