Insatiable

Send me (Ali) a text message.In this 7th (and final!) episode of season 14, I interview integrated dietitian and menopause expert Esther Blum on all things hormone replacement therapy for women. In the past 27 years, Esther has helped thousands of women master menopause through nutrition, hormones, and self-advocacy. In addition to her incredible expertise, I always love having on  guests who have walked their talk. Known for being Gwyneth Paltrow's menopause mentor, Esther is the bestselling author of See ya later, Ovulator, among several other books. Disclaimer: While this conversation leaned heavily torwards the benefits of HRT, it's critical for you to do your own research and, of course, to always check with your doctor. This episode—along with every other Insatiable episode—is not intended to replace professional medical advice.  Among the Topics Covered:Why are so many women afraid of using horomone replacement therapy (HRT)?What symptoms would someone be experiencing that would make them wan

Send me (Ali) a text message.Get ready to dive deep into the groundbreaking insights shared by Dr. Stacy Sims in our 6th episode of season 14.  Stacy brings her wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table, shedding light on the unique physiological considerations women face, especially during phases like perimenopause and menopause. From the impact of hormones on exercise performance to the complexities of gut health and nutrient requirements, this episode is a game-changer for women seeking to optimize their fitness and wellbeing. Guest: Stacy T. Sims, MSC, PHD, is a forward-thinking international exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist who aims to revolutionize exercise nutrition and performance for women. She has directed research programs at Stanford, AUT University, and the University of Waikato, focusing on female athlete health and performance and pushing the dogma to improve research on all women. She wrote the science-based layperson's book (ROAR) to explain sex differences in training

Send me (Ali) a text message.In this fifth episode of season 14, I have a spirited and wide-ranging conversation with Rev. Kinsie M. Tate, founder of Restore Clergy, a nonprofit organization supporting clergy and caregivers. Together, we delve into the delicate complexities of stress leadership in midlife, perimenopause, and menopause. Strap in because we cover a lot ground that goes well beyond the common (just deep breathe?) stress management tactics you'll find out there.  Topics Covered:01:01: Introduction to Kinsey Tate & Why Stress Leadership in Midlife03:21: Understanding Stress and Finding Your Voice15:37: Stress and the Truce with Food framework19:45: Stress and Performance, i.e. It's not all about you31:12:  Stress and Change with Midlife's Unique Challenges32:33: Layering of Stories and Belief Structures50:03: Stress and Identity Shifts at Midlife56:33: Navigating Complexity and Chaos1:09:19: Stress and Grief1:20:51: Capital "T" TruthGuest: Rev. Kinsie M. Tate is an ord

Send me (Ali) a text message.In this fourth episode of season 14, I'll help you filter through the perimenopause and menopause nutrition noise by busting 3 top myths. Why? Because most of the common advice out there is recycled diet culture heavily rooted in restriction and one-size-fits-all recommendations (at a time in our life when we require a more individualized approach).  Most women will gain weight at midlife, which makes us more susceptible to overblown weight loss and health promises. When I surveyed my list, weight gain was a top concern. Was mine as well as it felt like overnight, I had gained 30 pounds.  In this episode, I share a few lessons I've learned along the way from my own experience and my work with clients. Topics Covered:2:28: Myth #1 Weight Gain is a Given in Perimenopause and Menopause because of Hormone Imbalances 17:52: Myth #2 and Myth #2.5: Eating the right foods will cure my perimenopause and menopause symptoms OR my diet has nothing to do with these symptoms.32:46: My

Send me (Ali) a text message.In this third episode of season 14, I have an eye-opening conversation around midlife sleep struggles with sleep coach Kelly Murray. Insomnia was my main perimenopause symptom (and I had no idea it was even a perimenopause symptom) and yet, about 60% of women report sleep challenges during perimenopause and menopause. Kelly and I will get into root-causes of poor sleep and how the hormonal changes of this time influence sleep. We’ll discuss the role of blood-sugar and gut health in sleep, how many sleep aids don’t address the root health issues insomnia is pointing to, what other minerals aside from magnesium are helpful, and the importance of stress management on sleep. If you've been struggling with sleep and are tired of trying out all of the recycled basic advice, this episode is for you.Topics Covered:Introduction: Why this episode? What makes sleep coach Kelly Murray different? 08:32: How my insomnia in perimenopause led me to Kelly10:16: What is considered a good night

Send me (Ali) a text message.In this second episode of season 14, I have a thought-provoking conversation around midlife experiences, alcohol, and personal growth with bestselling author Laura McKowen. We explore the challenges of perimenopause, menopause, and the impact of alcohol consumption on women's health.  We cover it all, from the intersection of food and alcohol struggles with hormonal changes to the spiritual reckoning and opportunities that come with midlife. Whether you're struggling with food and alcohol during this stage in your life, are sober curious,  or just asking yourself some of the big midlife questions, this episode is for you. Topics Covered:Introduction:  Why this episode? Why Laura McKowen? And quick disclaimer3:55: Laura's perimenopause experience so far...9:47:  Work-life balance, shifting mindset, and newfound contentment14:53: Navigating body changes and exercise struggles18:21: Exploring the impact of food on glucose levels24:03: Unacknowledged grief: from addicti

Send me (Ali) a text message.Hello Insatiable Listeners! Strap in for this new season (the 14th!) where we'll cover all things perimenopause, menopause, and midlife. This introductory episode begins with my own personal story—including dramatic weight gain—and some shocking realizations that planted the initial seeds for this season we are about to embark upon. Let me tell you, midlife brings some serious changes and challenges on all fronts. In order to address these, in this episode, I provide an overview of the wide-ranging topics we’ll cover this season—that go beyond hot flashes—and give you a rundown of the incredible roster of guests that’ll help guide us through this often demanding and rewarding terrain. My aim this season is to create the resource I wish I had when I was going through this stage of life. Expect actionable takeaways and the deeper, more nuanced conversations you’ve come to expect from Insatiable.Thank you for listening.*New episodes will be released every Wednesday. ------------

Send me (Ali) a text message.Elise and I pick up our conversation from part one of her instant New York Times bestseller On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good.  In this episode, we take our conversation further and deeper, unpacking the sins of Envy and Sloth and their effect on women.  It’s rare I can talk to someone who understands the various perspectives on body image (including the ones where it has nothing to do with one’s body size) so it was a real treat to go to the depths. This includes why body positivity often misses the mark in supporting women’s relationship with their body.  In our interview today, we discuss:The changing nature of what defines enough food “restriction” (Kate Moss’ 90’s heroine chic wasn’t the end!)The unconscious yearnings in feeling light and “high” from restricting food to feeling heavy and “low” from bingingWhy it’s important to pay attention to your envy and judgment of other women, including their bodiesHow scarcity and the sin of

Send me (Ali) a text message.Annually, Elise Loehnen’s parents would weigh themselves in a vigilant effort to stay within five to ten pounds of their marriage weight. When Elise went away to boarding school, this culture further normalized eating vigilance and restriction as necessary. Then in her early career at Lucky Magazine, where she was often photographed, restricting her food in attempts to be a sample size at 5 ‘10 seemed like the obvious choice to stay on the path of acceptance and “goodness”. Then came a stint as goop’s content manager where she was immersed in the wellness industry’s gospel of “clean eating”, today’s socially acceptable term for restriction. And now, in her instant New York Times’ best seller book, On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good (Dial Press/PRH), Elise brilliantly connects how the sin of gluttony - not science - forms a tapestry of misguided restriction norms that have serious consequences for our food, bodies, and health.  In our int

Send me (Ali) a text message.Part of what’s been hard for me the last three years was I didn’t understand how drastically the hormonal shifts that start for women around 35 and accelerate in our mid-40s affects ALL THE THINGS.And I’m someone who knows that our physiology and psychology are in a constant feedback loop. Yet because perimenopause and menopause are women's health issues, they don’t get the attention they deserve. Nor do doctor’s really understand them all that well (the horror stories I hear from clients

Send me (Ali) a text message.While Laura McKowen is known for her work around alcohol sobriety, her first coping strategy was food.Like Laura, I have many clients who come to me where their first “thing” was food. And after getting sober or soberish, their eating issues return or becomes a “thing”.In this special Insatiable episode, we apply the wisdom Laura writes about in her new book to food, body image, and the overlap with alcohol. We discuss:How Laura’s original coping mechanism was bingeing and the overlapping and distinct root causes between her food and alcohol strugglesWhy stopping bad habits like alcohol and battling food is different than starting new habits and how you change has to shift to what Laura discusses as “being willing to be led”Grief from the loss of using alcohol, food, and the fantasies they offer How wanting to be saved, desired, and chosen fueled Laura’s alcohol and body image issues and the deep work she did to heal and now be in a healthy relationshipHow Laura views sobriety as

Send me (Ali) a text message.Dr. Michelle Segar, one of the more progressive health behavioral change experts, says sustainable behavior change with eating and exercise is not a product of rule-following.In other words, trying so hard to perfectly stick to a plan is not an effective goal or strategy. Rather, we need to learn flexibility. Because life is much more unpredictable these days. Anyone like me who sends their child to daycare knows this deep in their bones!We also need to learn how to experiment to see what actually works in this stage of our lives. Not what worked 20 years ago when our stress was minimal. Or now, in the menopausal transition. How does one learn this flexibility and trust in imperfect action, which often just feels like guilt and shame for “being bad”?I brought on my clients Whitnee and Erin to share their  Truce with Food journey of how they learned to listen to their bodies to figure out what really works for them now and effectively experiment to reach their health and wellness g

Send me (Ali) a text message.When I surveyed my newsletter readers back In the April, a common survey response theme was:“I feel uncomfortable in my body and feel ridiculous that I am focused on this when there is so much else that is so much more important to deal with.”I sooo get this. I felt this way about my own weight struggles in the 9/11, U.S. invasion of Iraq-era. And today’s world issues feel much more urgent and complex.Yet what I’ve discovered is that tending to our body discomfort is not ridiculous. With a holistic and root cause resolution approach like Truce with Food, our body discomfort reveals a values gap of what we say matters and what how we are actually living. And this values gap matters deeply right now. Collectively, we understand “normal” isn’t working; “bottom up” changes in how we spend our time, money, and energy matter if we want to create a new, healthier normal. To illustrate what this values-gap driven body discomfort looks like to work through, my Truce with Food clients Charl

Send me (Ali) a text message.A  Truce with Food foundational focus is learning how to effectively respond to the stress that makes you eat. Because we are often reacting to the past when our sense of safety was compromised, which fuels our current stress. For example, I used to binge on sugar during my cancer “scanxiety” season even though it was 15 years later. Because in the past, MRIs did find cancer (and I didn’t know I could ever not turn to food!). Logically I knew I was probably fine. But emotionally I was a wreck. To effectively respond to your stress in the present, in  Truce with Food, we tend to your body's physiology. Specifically, cultivating safety in your nervous system; your nervous system physiology under threat often leads to “Chuck it, F@#$ it” Ubereats, fantasy thoughts like “Diet starts tomorrow”, and binging. Because your body’s physiology informs your “mindset”.  Anyone who knows how crashing blood sugar fuels their anxiety knows this on one level.  To better understand your own

Send me (Ali) a text message.How many times have you thought: why do I self-sabotage with food? If those answers haven’t gotten you very far, I have a much better question for you.“How does my eating protect me?” is a question that will take you far and deep. To guide us with this question and path to your answers, I have the wise Sil Reynolds to talk food, protection strategies, and the root vulnerability in our stories that our food habits are trying, perhaps begging you, to pay attention to.   In this expansive, soul food conversation, we discuss:Sil’s struggle with food and her journey to heal her Motherline to find a sense of home in her body and psyche.The role of the archetypal feminine and emotional attunement in our food and body image struggles, including the symbolism in emotionally eating sweet carbohydratesHow perfectionism is a safety strategy, not a personality type and why we keep trying to be “Good”, even when it feels so bad.How body image isn’t really about the body and a powerful question

Send me (Ali) a text message.The Wellness culture we see as we scroll through Instagram or listen to in our earbuds on various wellness podcasts often casts itself as the opposite of Western Medicine. And yet, both industries overlap via the same value system of Puritans and Protestantism. From “clean eating” to failed functional medicine protocols because “client’s aren’t disciplined enough”, Protestantism and Puritanism are alive and well in both industries. This wouldn’t be a problem except these guiding principles aren’t actually how the body works. As a result, while both industries have different offerings, both limit us because of their blindspots created by these religious values and beliefs. In today’s episode with one of my favorite writers, Dr. Anne Helen Petersen, we discuss:  A background of what Protestantism and Puritanism are and how they’ve influenced diet and wellness culture and the deeper meaning implied in hashtags #blessed, #highvibes, and #nolowvibesHow Protestantism and Puritanism espe

Send me (Ali) a text message.“How can I stop stress eating? is a frequent question I get asked. In today’s episode, I share a more powerful question that’s necessary to ask - “What’s eating you?” - to get back in control of food. No white knuckling required.I share my own current story work related to my burn-out that caused my body to fall apart (and keep 30 pounds of post-pregnancy weight on), answer some listener questions, and offer some client examples for you to get crystal clear on your own stress eating.  In this solo episode, I share:The 3 phases of awareness you need to resolve your stress eatingThe “elephant in the room” causing your out of control and out of alignment with your goals eatingThe role our stories play in stress eatingHow story work gets misunderstood and misinterpreted, creating more tools, work, and “feeling bad for feeling bad” that leads to lackluster results.Two powerful coaching questions to get you started on resolving your stress eating today. Mentioned in this Episodehttp://a

Send me (Ali) a text message.Have you ever thought about your birth?  If you’re like most people, you probably haven’t. And yet, as Stacey shares, according to Ayverveda’s Sankyha philosophy, 25% of who we are comes from our conception and birth. This makes safety and food intimately connected and tangled from before we even make our Earth-side entrance. In order to understand food’s connection to safety, we are starting at the beginning. Specifically, our beginnings as we began growing in the womb and then officially made our Earth side entrance. In this heart-felt, deep conversation, we discuss:Stacey’s tumultuous relationship with food and what she discovered was at the root of her restriction and then binging-purging symptoms. The role our gestation and support our Mother’s do or don’t receive contributes to our sense of safety, according to Ayurveda’s Sankyha philosophy.How food provides a sense of literal structure to our bodies and thus safety. And if we don’t get the structure or felt presence of bein

Send me (Ali) a text message.The past few years have tested each of us.  We’ve been immersed in Grief. Loss. Relationship fissures. Children’s developmental concerns. Money stress. And these individual challenges are nesting dolls of the escalating war on women’s bodies, caretaking, and the Earth. With this, it’s not surprising that stress and stress eating are at an all-time high.In the American Psychological Association's pandemic anniversary surveys, COVID-19-related stress was associated with unhealthy weight gains and increased drinking. While there were jokes about the initial “COVID 19”, close to 58% of respondents reported experiencing persistent, undesired weight changes and unhealthy behaviors. And many reported worse mental health, lower physical activity, disturbed sleep, and increased reliance on unhealthy habits.If safety is a primal need and stress is inevitable….Listen to the full trailer for more. Connect with Ali & Insatiable: Click here to text Insatiable (for privacy, we only see

Send me (Ali) a text message.In this special Insatiable podcast episode, I celebrate a major milestone: 30 years as a cancer survivor. I’ll share how what resolved my acne, depression, IBS, infertility, and out of control eating was learning how to redefine health beyond losing weight and learning to trust in my body feeling satisfied, not sacrificing and suffering. And how this new orientation led to transformational health results I didn’t even know were possible. Including sustainable weight loss, a Truce with Food, and a relationship of awe and gratitude for my body.  Ali shares:Why knowing the difference between Authorities and Experts is essential for transformational results. Especially if like me, as the first generation of childhood cancer survivors, there’s very little research to go on for your own body challenges.How I got out of the insanity of “I know sugar feeds on cancer” yet would binge on it during “scanxiety” season. If you struggle with health issues that are exacerbated by eating things y