The Missing Nutrient in Midlife: When Was the Last Time You Had Pure Fun?

We spend so much time running on the hamster wheel of adult responsibility. We clock into our jobs, tend to our families, take care of our pets, carefully plan high-protein, nutritious meals, and try to navigate the massive changes happening to our midlife bodies. We schedule our workouts, track our water, and manage the logistics of everyday life.

But let me ask you a serious question: Where does fun come into all of this?

When is the last time you truly laughed until your stomach hurt? When did you last have a good time without a single thought about work, the laundry, or what needs to be cooked for dinner?

For a long time, if you had asked me what I did for fun, I would have stared at you blankly. I had no idea what fun actually meant for me. Since I was very young, I lived my life for everyone else. I was always so busy taking care of others that I never really had to sit down and think about what I liked. In a way, that season was molding me into exactly who I was meant to be—but it also meant my own joy got put on the back burner.

What I’ve realized is that fun looks completely different from one person to the next. Take me and my husband, Zack, for example. My absolute idea of a perfect, fun day is waking up early for a hiking trip, packing a lunch, and taking in some gorgeous views. I love going to concerts, having a cookout with friends and family, and doing anything that involves music, being outside, or hanging out with the people I love.

Zack’s idea of fun? Watching a Star Wars marathon, spending hours wandering through a museum, or making contacts on his HAM radio. We are completely different! And honestly, we struggle sometimes to find something we both want to do.

But matching your partner isn't the point here. The point is: Do you even know what you like? Do you actively carve out time to do the things that bring you pure, unadulterated joy?

This isn't just about "self-care" or fluff. Your actual hormone health and longevity depend on it.

When we are constantly stressing, working, and caretaking, we spend almost all of our time locked in our sympathetic nervous system—otherwise known as "fight or flight." Staying chronically stuck there floods your body with cortisol (your stress hormone) and adrenaline. In midlife, when progesterone and estrogen are already dropping, chronic high cortisol is a recipe for disaster. It stalls your metabolism, causes stubborn inflammation, disrupts your sleep, and crashes your energy.

To keep our hormones balanced, we have to actively trigger the parasympathetic nervous system—the "rest and digest" state. This is where I actively try to live these days. And guess what the fastest shortcut to the parasympathetic state is? Joy. Play. Laughter.

When you do something genuinely fun, your brain releases a wave of endorphins, dopamine, and oxytocin (the bonding and happiness hormones). These feel-good hormones act like a natural brake system against cortisol, signaling to your body that it is safe to relax, drop its guard, and heal.

So, your homework this week isn’t to add another workout or meal-prep container to your list. It’s to remember who you are outside of what you do for everyone else.

What is one thing that brings you pure, effortless joy? Go schedule time for it this week. Your hormones will thank you.