We strip away the noise and focus on ten steady, science-informed ways to make menopause feel manageable and within reach. Food, movement, hormones, sleep, and community form a practical framework you can start using today without fear or extremes.

• Food as a foundation with regular meals and protein spaced through the day
• Fiber from whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes to stabilize energy
• Movement with purpose, prioritizing strength training and walking
• Nuanced conversation about hormone therapy with an up-to-date clinician
• Phytoestrogens from soy, flax, and legumes as supportive foods
• Supportive nutrients: protein, calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, iron, omega-3s
• Alcohol honesty and its impact on sleep, mood, flashes and recovery
• Hydration as a daily nonnegotiable for energy and resilience
• Protecting sleep as infrastructure, not a luxury
• Mindfulness to calm the nervous system during stress
• Community to reduce isolation, shame and self-doubt

Join the Well-Nourished Community, click HERE!

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Hang out with Heather on IG @greenpalettekitchen or on FB HERE.

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Whether you are looking for 1-1 nutrition coaching or kitchen coaching let's have a chat. Click HERE to reach out to Heather.

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Happy New Year and welcome back!

Today I am exploring why so many women feel overloaded by wellness noise and how to find steadiness through community, clarity, and the simple act of real food. I am sharing my candid update story about my surgery and hormone experience shows why nuance and self-advocacy matter more than one-size-fits-all rules.

I am also talking about:

• re-entry to 2026 with a focus on orientation rather than resolutions
• the case for community as an antidote to isolation and confusion
• why I will never create an AI version of myself
• the pitfalls of certainty, urgency and extreme wellness claims
• the hip surgery hormone debate, my withdrawal experience and what I learned from it
• how to ask better questions and advocate with your clinicians
• redefining goals around sustainability, sleep, and real food
• the practice of wintering and giving yourself permission to rest right now rather than charge out of the gate

Join the Well-Nourished Woman community—real women, real questions, real context. I’ll leave all the info in the show notes, and reach me by email with questions

WANT IN ON THE COMMUNITY? The Well Nourished Woman Community is where I am brining together women over 50+ who are navigating the messy reality of midlife changes, to nourish ourselves simply, talk honestly about our bodies and health, and take gentle steps forward together, so that we can feel more content, at peace, and even find moments of joy and humor along the way. Come gather, cook, learn the real deal on hormones, food and not being afraid to talk out loud about all of it. JOIN HERE.

I would love to hear from you! What did you think of the episode? Share it with me :)

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Let's Be Friends
Hang out with Heather on IG @greenpalettekitchen or on FB HERE.

Let's Talk!
Whether you are looking for 1-1 nutrition coaching or kitchen coaching let's have a chat. Click HERE to reach out to Heather.

Did You Love This Episode?
"I love Heather and the Real Food Stories Podcast!" If this is you, please do not hesitate to leave a five-star review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts.

What if “always hungry” wasn’t about food at all? Heather sits down with author and registered clinical counselor Jane McGuinness to explore how she lost over 100 pounds and kept it off by healing emotional eating, listening to her body, and replacing rules with honest moderation. No magic diet, no all-or-nothing plan, no Ozempic—just time, self-compassion, and daily habits that fit a real life.

Jane takes us back to the early roots of comfort eating, through motherhood, anxiety, and the moments that turned the pantry into a refuge. A chance encounter with Janine Roth’s work reframed everything, helping her name feelings, pause before autopilot snacking, and build a practice of mindful eating that still guides her today. We get practical about what actually worked: walking and biking for consistent movement, meals anchored by protein and fiber, seasonal foods, and light-touch tracking that focuses on monthly trends instead of daily judgment. She shares how yoga and meditation deepened her connection to hunger and fullness cues, especially through perimenopause, and how choosing joy outside the kitchen—hobbies, nature, learning—quieted food obsession.

Beyond the plate, we confront "thin privilege" and weight bias head-on. Jane explains how losing weight changed how the world treated her and why that fueled her memoir, Always Hungry, a funny, raw, and compassionate account of emotional eating, identity, and real change. Expect candid insights on alcohol and sugar, “moderation” as a practice of honesty, and why quick fixes rarely teach the skills that make health sustainable.

If you’ve ever felt stuck between diets and despair, this conversation offers a clear path forward: trust your signals, move in ways you enjoy, build meals that satisfy, and meet yourself with kindness. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a gentler path, and leave a review to tell us what resonated most.

I would love to hear from you! What did you think of the episode? Share it with me :)

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Let's Be Friends
Hang out with Heather on IG @greenpalettekitchen or on FB HERE.

Let's Talk!
Whether you are looking for 1-1 nutrition coaching or kitchen coaching let's have a chat. Click HERE to reach out to Heather.

Did You Love This Episode?
"I love Heather and the Real Food Stories Podcast!" If this is you, please do not hesitate to leave a five-star review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This week on Real Food Stories, Heather breaks down the wild world of midlife nutrition in 2025 — from microdosing GLP-1s, oral semaglutide, and high-protein everything to cottage-cheese coffee, weighted vests, and the fiber frenzy. If nutrition felt chaotic this year, you’re not imagining it.

We revisit my most downloaded episodes on HRT confusion and upgrading your midlife kitchen, and she shares her own experience navigating hormone therapy around surgery — a perfect example of why women remain overwhelmed by inconsistent guidance.

Underneath all the noise, one message stood out: women need clarity, strength, real food, and community.
I close the episode with an invitation to join The Well Nourished Woman, her supportive space for women 40+ who want evidence-based guidance without the overwhelm.

I would love to hear from you! What did you think of the episode? Share it with me :)

Support the show

Let's Be Friends
Hang out with Heather on IG @greenpalettekitchen or on FB HERE.

Let's Talk!
Whether you are looking for 1-1 nutrition coaching or kitchen coaching let's have a chat. Click HERE to reach out to Heather.

Did You Love This Episode?
"I love Heather and the Real Food Stories Podcast!" If this is you, please do not hesitate to leave a five-star review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Reinvention doesn’t wait for permission. After a career-ending car accident and the loss of both parents before 40, Tina Coleman made a radical choice one week later: she boarded a plane for her first solo international trip. That single leap cracked open a new life—full-time travel, sobriety, a 90‑pound health transformation, and a mission to help Gen X women trade exhaustion for agency.

We dive into what makes midlife uniquely powerful: hard-won wisdom, sharper boundaries, and the freedom to choose again. Tina shares the story behind her boldly titled upcoming book, 50, Fabulous, and Fuckable, and why the most subversive move isn’t chasing youth but embodying presence. We challenge myths about gray hair, desirability, and the belief that perimenopause blocks weight loss. Tina explains how Ayurvedic rhythms, mindful eating, and strength training reshaped her health, while EFT tapping and simple nervous system resets helped quiet stress cravings and improve sleep.

The conversation moves from mindset to method: five-minute journaling to clear mental clutter, Yoga Nidra to restore energy, restorative and yin yoga to unlock deep tension, and bodywork to release what talk can’t reach. We talk freedom and simplicity abroad—walking cities, market food, and daily human connection—and share safe, realistic ways to make travel affordable with house sitting, work exchanges, and slow itineraries. You’ll leave with practical tools, a reframe on aging, and a spark to design a life that feels like yours again.

If this conversation fired you up, follow Tina at beacons.ai/transformbecourageous, pre-order her book, and grab her free travel guide. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review to help more women find their breakthrough.

How To Connect with Tina click HERE

I would love to hear from you! What did you think of the episode? Share it with me :)

Support the show

Let's Be Friends
Hang out with Heather on IG @greenpalettekitchen or on FB HERE.

Let's Talk!
Whether you are looking for 1-1 nutrition coaching or kitchen coaching let's have a chat. Click HERE to reach out to Heather.

Did You Love This Episode?
"I love Heather and the Real Food Stories Podcast!" If this is you, please do not hesitate to leave a five-star review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Take a listen if Thanksgiving is starting to feel like too much!

I name the pressure of a food-centered holiday and offer a practical way to feel steady without aiming for perfection. Breakfast, breath, micro resets, and one meaningful choice become anchors that make Thanksgiving calmer and more nourishing, rooted and rested.

• why Thanksgiving feels emotionally heavy
• the role of blood sugar in calm and clarity
• simple mindful eating that isn’t rigid
• permission to enjoy favorite foods
• micro moments to reset during chaos
• choosing one meaningful thing to prioritize
• boundaries for tricky conversations and roles
• creating a personal refill point you can use

I would love to hear from you! What did you think of the episode? Share it with me :)

Support the show

Let's Be Friends
Hang out with Heather on IG @greenpalettekitchen or on FB HERE.

Let's Talk!
Whether you are looking for 1-1 nutrition coaching or kitchen coaching let's have a chat. Click HERE to reach out to Heather.

Did You Love This Episode?
"I love Heather and the Real Food Stories Podcast!" If this is you, please do not hesitate to leave a five-star review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts.

What if your body isn’t failing you — it’s just stuck in protection mode?
In this episode, board-certified hypnotherapist Ethan Reis breaks down how clinical hypnotherapy (the real kind, not the stage show version) helps a hyperactive nervous system calm down so healing, behavior change, and better sleep finally become possible.

Ethan shares his own story of post-concussion migraines, light sensitivity, and depression — and how hypnotherapy unlocked recovery after traditional care hit a wall. We walk through exactly what happens in a session: focused talk therapy to map triggers and patterns, followed by a brief hypnotic state that shifts the brain into alpha–theta, the zone where neuroplasticity and memory reconsolidation take place.

You’ll learn why heart-rate variability matters, how visualization builds neural familiarity, and how creating just a few seconds between impulse and action can change choices around food, alcohol, nicotine, and stress. We even compare hormonal appetite meds like Ozempic with a mind-body approach that rewrites your relationship with cues instead of suppressing them.

Midlife listeners get targeted tools: easing hot flashes, calming the 3 a.m. wake-up, and using self-hypnosis to dial down anxiety-driven symptom amplification. Ethan explains why resistance and self-sabotage happen, how subconscious safety programs derail our goals, and how hypnotherapy dismantles and rewires them.

Ethan’s case studies are remarkable: Crohn’s symptoms easing toward remission, severe OCD loosening its grip, chronic pain disappearing in a handful of sessions. Most of his work happens over Zoom, supported with recordings you can reuse to deepen the results.

If you feel stuck after trying everything, this conversation offers a grounded, science-backed path forward.

HOW TO CONNECT WITH ETHAN AND SCHEDULE A FREE DISCOVERY SESSION CLICK HERE

I would love to hear from you! What did you think of the episode? Share it with me :)

Support the show

Let's Be Friends
Hang out with Heather on IG @greenpalettekitchen or on FB HERE.

Let's Talk!
Whether you are looking for 1-1 nutrition coaching or kitchen coaching let's have a chat. Click HERE to reach out to Heather.

Did You Love This Episode?
"I love Heather and the Real Food Stories Podcast!" If this is you, please do not hesitate to leave a five-star review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Feeling stressed, disconnected, or stuck in your head? In this episode, we explore how somatic healing, breathwork, and movement can help women in midlife calm the nervous system, release stored emotions, and come back home to their bodies.

I’m sitting down with Brittany Cessar, a guide and practitioner of Somatic Activated Healing (SAH) — a movement-based practice that combines breath, music, and gentle gestures to help you feel emotions rather than overthink them.

Brittany shares how this work carried her through years of painful eczema and emotional burnout, teaching her to find relief through safety, choice, and presence. Together, we unpack what “somatic” really means — and why it’s more accessible than it sounds. Think body scans, audible sighs, shaking off the day, and mantras that keep you anchored in the here and now.

She walks us through a typical SAH class, from mindful check-ins to “body keys” that invite states like compassion or courage, and the optional free-form movement that helps release stored energy without reliving old stories. The result? A calmer nervous system, a wider gap between trigger and response, and more steadiness in midlife when hormones, caregiving, and overwork collide.

We also explore how safety and consent are built into the practice — eyes open or closed, camera on or off, small movements or big — and how SAH can complement therapy when deeper emotions surface. Expect simple, practical takeaways you can use today: three slow, audible breaths, one minute of shaking, and radical single-tasking that turns ordinary moments into anchors.

If you’ve ever been told you’re “too much,” consider this your permission slip to feel fully, move freely, and let your body lead.

Where To Find Brittany and the SAH Classes

SAH class information click HERE

On Instagram Click HERE

I would love to hear from you! What did you think of the episode? Share it with me :)

Support the show

Let's Be Friends
Hang out with Heather on IG @greenpalettekitchen or on FB HERE.

Let's Talk!
Whether you are looking for 1-1 nutrition coaching or kitchen coaching let's have a chat. Click HERE to reach out to Heather.

Did You Love This Episode?
"I love Heather and the Real Food Stories Podcast!" If this is you, please do not hesitate to leave a five-star review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts.