Eat the F*cking Food

Healthy habits for midlife women are not flashy. They are the boring basics: enough sleep, enough water, three real meals a day, and eating within your maintenance calorie range. If you keep chasing the next cortisol cure, detox tea, or supplement stack and still feel tired, hungry, and frustrated with your body, the problem is not that you need something new. It is that the basics are missing. Boring is what actually works.

Kristin Collins, menopause nutrition coach and host of Eat the F*cking Food, just got back from a tennis camp led by former world No. 1 and US Open champion Andy Roddick, who told players they win matches with margins and by being boring. In this solo episode, Kristin applies that lesson to your health. You will learn why your maintenance calorie range is the margin that protects you through vacations, sick days, and busy weeks, and how Kristin went from eating 1,600 calories to a maintenance range well over 2,000. She covers the half-your-body-weight-in-ounces water rule, when electrolytes actually help, why sleep is your master metabolic regulator, and the simple balanced plate method. You will also hear how one client added a 400-calorie breakfast and the scale did not move. Stop chasing the highlight reel. Get boring and feel better.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Healthy habits for midlife women start with margins: why Andy Roddick's tennis rule of winning by being boring applies to your sleep, hydration, and nutrition every single day.
• What your maintenance calorie range is, why it is a range and not one number, and why most women's maintenance calories are several hundred calories higher than they think.
• How much water you should drink a day using the half-your-body-weight-in-ounces rule, plus when electrolytes help and when they are just adding extra salt to your diet.
• Why sleep is your master metabolic regulator, why you need more than seven hours a night, and the bedtime habits that make it easier to get there.
• How to build a balanced plate with a quarter protein, half vegetables, a quarter starchy carbs, and a thumb of healthy fats, three times a day.
• Why clean eating is a marketing term, why frozen and canned vegetables count, and how to spot wellness grift by looking for the pitch and the affiliate code.

We talk about:

00:00 Andy Roddick's tennis lesson: win by being boring

02:09 Your maintenance calorie range is your margin

04:42 Are most women eating below maintenance calories?

06:10 How much water should you drink a day?

08:18 Do you actually need electrolytes?

09:31 Why sleep is your master metabolic regulator

13:24 Why you need three meals a day

16:54 The balanced plate method for midlife women

20:27 Is clean eating just a marketing term?

22:05 How to spot wellness grift online

23:47 Learn how to eat instead of how to diet

27:02 Recap: give yourself margins

Connect with me

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins
• Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/

#MidlifeHealth #MidlifeWomen #HealthyHabits #MaintenanceCalories #EatMoreToLoseMore #AntiDiet #MenopauseNutrition #Perimenopause #Hydration #SleepHealth #BalancedPlate #ProteinFirst #ThreeMealsADay #StopDieting #CleanEatingMyth #WellnessGrift #NutritionCoach #WomenOver40 #EatTheFuckingFood

Breast cancer screening after 40 means more than a yearly mammogram. It means knowing your own breasts with a monthly self-exam, understanding what dense breasts do to a mammogram, and asking for more testing when something feels off. If you have ever been told a lump is probably nothing and walked out unsure, or you just found out you have dense breasts and have no idea what that means, this conversation is for you. You do not need a medical degree to advocate for yourself. You need to know what to ask for.

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Kristin Collins, menopause nutrition coach and host of Eat the F*cking Food, sits down with Dr. Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, a medical oncologist who spent 25 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and author of Calming the Cancer Chaos. Dr. Troso walks you through how to do a breast self-exam, the warning signs worth a call, and why an ultrasound is the minimum to request if you have dense breasts. You will learn the questions to ask after a breast cancer diagnosis, what triple negative and HER2 positive actually mean, and why she believes every woman should ask for genetic testing. That belief got personal when her own DNA test revealed a high-risk ovarian cancer gene at 57, with no family history. She also unpacks whether sugar or stress causes cancer. Know your body. Ask the question. Demand the test.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Breast cancer screening after 40, including why Dr. Tiffany Troso recommends a mammogram once a year, every year, starting around 40, or as early as 35 with a family history.
• How to do a breast self-exam, the at-home half of breast cancer screening after 40: once a month in the shower, spokes-of-a-wheel style, with the knuckle-versus-thumb test for lumps.
• What dense breasts are, why a tumor can hide on a regular mammogram when breast tissue and tumors both show up white, and why an ultrasound is the minimum to ask for.
• What to do when your doctor says a lump is probably nothing, and why asking for an ultrasound or diagnostic mammogram is the step that could catch a cancer earlier.
• The questions to ask after a breast cancer diagnosis: what type it is, whether estrogen positive, HER2 positive, or triple negative, and what stage it is.
• Who should get genetic testing for breast cancer, and why Dr. Troso says everyone should ask after her own test found a high-risk ovarian cancer gene with no family history.
• Does sugar cause cancer? Why Dr. Troso says not directly, how insulin resistance and inflammation fit in, and why she would rather you eat the apple than drink the apple juice.

We talk about:

00:00 Breast Cancer Awareness Month with Dr. Tiffany Troso

02:27 Why an oncologist wrote Calming the Cancer Chaos

04:46 Breast cancer screening after 40 starts at home

10:08 What are dense breasts and do you need more screening

13:34 Breast cancer warning signs to watch for at home

16:21 How often should you get a mammogram

17:12 When your doctor says it's probably nothing

19:33 Questions to ask after a breast cancer diagnosis

25:34 Triple negative and HER2 positive breast cancer explained

28:14 Who should get genetic testing for breast cancer

33:00 Does sugar cause cancer 36:42 Does stress cause cancer

Know a woman who is due for her mammogram? Send her this episode, and grab Dr. Troso's free list of questions to ask your oncologist at https://drtiffanytroso.com/

Connect with Dr. Troso

• Website and free questions checklist: https://drtiffanytroso.com/
• Book, Calming the Cancer Chaos: https://drtiffanytroso.com/calming-the-cancer-chaos-1503
• Podcast: https://drtiffanytroso.com/podcast
• Store for cancer patients: https://store.empoweredcancerpatient.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtiffanytroso
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drtiffanytroso
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drtiffanytroso/

Connect with me

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins
• Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/

#BreastCancerAwareness #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth #BreastCancerScreening #DenseBreasts #Mammogram #BreastSelfExam #KnowYourBreasts #BreastHealth #EarlyDetection #PatientAdvocacy #AdvocateForYourself #GeneticTesting #TripleNegative #HER2Positive #CancerMyths #WomenOver40 #MidlifeWomen #MidlifeHealth #CalmingTheCancerChaos #EatTheFuckingFood

How many carbs should a woman eat a day? For most women, a general range of 150 to 250 grams, and far more if you are training hard or building muscle. If that number makes you nervous, you are not alone. Diet culture taught you that carbs make you gain weight, so when the scale ticks up after a bowl of pasta, it feels like proof you failed. It is not. Carbs pull glycogen and water into your muscles. That is your body finally getting fed, not fat gain.

Kristin Collins, menopause nutrition coach and host of Eat the F*cking Food, sits down with Emma Kirchner, a holistic and functional nutrition coach, former Division I water polo athlete, and host of the Fit Habit Life podcast. Emma, who once did keto as a college athlete, shares how one petite client ate over 400 grams of carbs a day to build five pounds of muscle, why the protein hype has some women eating 150 grams of protein and barely 100 grams of carbs, and why she now fuels her runs with 60 grams of carbs per hour. You will also walk through Emma’s simple health checklist, from waking up rested to recovering well after workouts, and learn how daily weigh-ins can turn the scale back into a data point, not a verdict on your worth. Healthy has nothing to do with your size. Go eat the carbs.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• How many carbs a woman should eat a day, including Emma Kirchner’s general range of 150 to 250 grams, and why women eating only 70 to 115 grams keep crashing every afternoon.
• Why the scale goes up when you eat more carbs, and how glycogen and water weight explain the jump, so you stop reading a normal fluctuation as fat gain or failure.
• Why eating 150 grams of protein and barely 100 grams of carbs can backfire, and how years of protein hype left so many women short on the fuel they need most.
• Should you weigh yourself every day? How Emma Kirchner used daily weigh-ins to take the emotion out of the scale and treat the number as data, not self-worth.
• How to know if you’re healthy without the scale, using Emma’s simple health checklist: waking up rested, recovering well, managing stress, and feeling strong and capable in your body.
• How many carbs it takes to build muscle, including the petite client who ate over 400 grams of carbs a day and gained five pounds of muscle.
• How fueling your workouts with carbs changes recovery, including Emma’s shift to 60 grams of carbs per hour on long runs with no injuries and no lingering aches.

We talk about:

00:00 Meet Emma Kirchner, holistic nutrition coach

01:00 Why are women so scared of carbs

03:00 Why the scale goes up when you eat carbs

05:00 Should you weigh yourself every day

10:00 Late-night carbs and the next-morning scale number

12:00 Why women over 40 probably need more food

13:00 How protein hype left women short on carbs

14:00 How many carbs should a woman eat a day

21:00 Emma’s simple health checklist beyond the scale

25:00 Sore all the time and what carbs do for recovery

30:00 Lost periods and under-fueling in young athletes

33:00 Fueling runs with 60 grams of carbs per hour

Connect with Emma Kirchner:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fit-habit-emma/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emma.allegrucci/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fit.habit.emma/
• Substack: https://fithabitemma.substack.com

Connect with me

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins
• Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/

#CarbsForWomen #EatTheCarbs #CarbsAreNotTheEnemy #HowManyCarbs #FearOfCarbs #ScaleIsJustData #WaterWeight #ProteinAndCarbs #FuelYourWorkouts #WorkoutRecovery #BuildMuscleWomen #WomenWhoLift #WomenWhoRun #MidlifeNutrition #WomenOver40 #AntiDietCulture #HealthChecklist #NutritionCoaching #FitHabitLife #EatTheFuckingFood

Constant fatigue, trouble sleeping, frequent injuries, and a shorter fuse than usual can all be signs you're not eating enough. When American tennis player Emma Navarro shared in 2026 that she had been diagnosed with Hashimoto's and RED-S, or relative energy deficiency in sport, it put a name to what happens when you chronically burn more energy than you take in. You don't have to be a pro athlete for this to apply to you. If you're a midlife woman playing tennis or pickleball, running, doing Pilates, ferrying kids everywhere, and running your job, your house, and your family, you may be under-fueling for the life you're actually living.

Kristin Collins, nutrition and body composition coach for midlife women and host of Eat the Fcking Food, explains what RED-S is, the real-world symptoms of under-fueling, and why she believes women are hit harder after a lifetime of messages that tie our worth to the number on the scale. She defines maintenance calories, the amount of food you need every day to meet your energy needs without the scale moving, and shares how she went from eating 1,400 to 1,600 calories a day to adding 400 to 600 more. Her sleepless nights and digestive issues disappeared, her menopause symptoms eased, and she recovers faster on the tennis court. If you're tired of feeling sick and tired, it's time to eat the fcking food.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• What RED-S, or relative energy deficiency in sport, actually is, and why burning more energy than you eat leads to fatigue, injuries, poor sleep, and mood changes in women.
• The signs you're not eating enough to watch for in midlife, from constant tiredness and trouble sleeping to anxiety, rage, brain fog, and hair loss, even if you're not a competitive athlete.
• What maintenance calories are, and why knowing how much food keeps your weight steady, your sleep solid, your digestion happy, and your hands and feet warm is the foundation of any goal.
• Why cutting calories or carbs based on a feeling instead of your actual numbers can cost you fiber, heart health, and thyroid health, and makes healthy eating impossible to sustain.
• How Kristin Collins added 400 to 600 calories to her old intake of 1,400 to 1,600 a day, and what changed for her sleep, digestion, menopause symptoms, and tennis game.
• Why under-fueling affects female athletes more than male athletes, and how decades of tying worth and health to body size keep midlife women eating less than their bodies need.
• A quick body check-in that reveals signs you're not eating enough, and why fueling your real energy needs is how you stay strong and independent as you age.

We talk about:

00:00 Why this tennis story applies to every woman

00:42 Emma Navarro shares her Hashimoto's and RED-S diagnosis

02:05 What is RED-S and how does under-fueling happen

02:55 Signs you're not eating enough, from fatigue to rage

04:00 Why busy midlife women need more fuel, not less

04:50 What are maintenance calories and why do they matter

06:10 Kristin's story of eating 1,400 to 1,600 calories

07:23 What changed when she ate 400 to 600 more calories

08:24 Why cutting carbs and calories blindly backfires

09:51 Why does under-fueling hit women harder than men

11:37 A quick body check-in to spot under-fueling

13:22 Why the holidays are the best time to start

Ready to find your maintenance calories before the holidays? Email Kristin at [email protected] or send her a message on Instagram to get started.

Connect with me

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins
• Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/

#MidlifeNutrition #UnderFueling #REDS #RelativeEnergyDeficiency #EmmaNavarro #WomenOver40 #WomenOver50 #MaintenanceCalories #EatMore #AntiDiet #AntiDietCulture #MenopauseNutrition #WomensTennis #PickleballLife #WomenWhoLift #FuelYourBody #WomensHealth #MidlifeWomen #EatTheFuckingFood

Is bloating normal? A little bit is. Your belly is meant to push out more by evening than it did first thing in the morning, because food has volume and digestion takes time. The bloating that signals a real gut problem is different: hard, painful, visibly pregnant, and there from your first sip of water. If you have been cutting gluten, dairy, and everything else trying to find the food behind your bloating, constipation, or rushed trips to the bathroom, this episode will save you time, money, and a lot of sad salads.

Kristin Collins, menopause nutrition coach and host of Eat the F*cking Food, sits down with Brittany Carpenter, MS, RDN, a functional medicine dietitian who healed her own severe gut issues after a bout of food poisoning. With gut health and fibermaxxing everywhere in 2026, Brittany cuts through the noise: why food sensitivity tests are not a reliable guide, why a low FODMAP diet manages symptoms without fixing the cause, what SIBO and dysbiosis actually are, and why most probiotics stop working the moment you stop taking them. She also shares the simple daily combo she swears by for constipation: two kiwis, skin on, plus two to three tablespoons of chia seeds or ground flax. Stop asking which food is the villain. Start asking why your gut is reacting at all.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Is bloating normal? Why your belly naturally pushes out more by evening, and how to tell everyday expansion apart from painful, all-day bloating that signals a real gut problem worth investigating.
• What your stool says about your gut health, from pebbly and incomplete to loose, oily, or mucus-covered, and why you should always turn around and look before you flush.
• Why food sensitivity tests may be a waste of money, and why Brittany Carpenter asks why your body is reacting to foods instead of which foods you should cut.
• Why cutting gluten and dairy can make you feel better for reasons that have nothing to do with gluten or dairy, and why it might be time to add the cookie back in.
• Do you need a probiotic? Why Brittany says probiotics do not repopulate your gut long term, and why a label that just says lactobacillus tells you almost nothing about what you are getting.
• What a normal bowel movement looks like, why not eating enough is the number one cause of constipation Brittany sees in women, and how two kiwis plus chia or flax daily can help.
• Is bloating normal when you add more fiber? Not if symptoms get worse. Why that means healing your gut comes before weight loss, and which foundations to check first: alcohol, sleep, food, and movement.

We talk about:

00:00 Getting into gut health, literally

01:34 What does a healthy gut actually look like

05:00 Is bloating normal or a real gut problem

09:45 Are food sensitivity tests worth the money

12:22 SIBO, dysbiosis, and leaky gut explained simply

14:49 Why cutting gluten and dairy made you feel better

18:46 Food restriction and your kids' relationship with food

22:16 Do you actually need a probiotic

27:39 What normal poop and constipation really look like

29:31 Why not eating enough causes constipation in women

30:54 Kiwi, chia, and when more fiber backfires

32:50 Gut health foundations and when to get help

Connect with Brittany

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dietitianbrittany/
• Website: https://dietitianbrittany.net/

Connect with me

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins
• Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/

#GutHealth #Bloating #Constipation #GutHealthForWomen #Probiotics #SIBO #LowFODMAP #FoodSensitivity #FiberMaxxing #DigestiveHealth #HealthyGut #FunctionalNutrition #MidlifeNutrition #MenopauseNutrition #WomenOver40 #AntiDiet #FoodFreedom #EatTheFuckingFood

How to stop emotional eating starts with understanding that it was never a willpower problem, it is an automatic loop your brain runs on autopilot. If you have ever stood in front of the freezer at nine o'clock reaching for something to make yourself feel better, then judged yourself for it the next morning, you are not broken and you are not alone. Emotional eating is a learned pattern wired into your nervous system, often starting in childhood, and it intensifies in midlife as hormone shifts make emotional regulation harder. Food noise, stress eating, and reaching for wine or sweets to self soothe are all part of the same loop, and that loop can be spotted, interrupted, and changed.

Kristin Collins, nutrition and body composition coach and host of Eat the F*cking Food, welcomes back Dr. Kristine Gravino, a licensed psychologist with over 24 years of experience helping midlife women untangle emotional eating patterns. Dr. G walks through her SHIFT Method, a five-step framework for spotting the trigger, hearing the thought, interrupting the spiral, feeling through the discomfort, and trying a new response, plus the science behind why sitting in a hard feeling for ninety seconds lets it crest and pass. You will also learn why thirty grams of protein at breakfast can lower anxiety, and how to tell real hunger from food noise. If you have ever felt ashamed of reaching for chips at nine o'clock, press play and stop blaming yourself for a pattern that was never your fault.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• What actually separates emotional eating from physical hunger, and why most women can't tell the difference until they learn to spot their own trigger pattern first.
• Why emotional eating is never a willpower problem, and how it functions as an automatic, learned loop that gets programmed into your nervous system starting in childhood.
• How Dr. Kristine Gravino's SHIFT Method interrupts the pattern in five steps: spotting the trigger, hearing the thought, interrupting it, feeling the discomfort, and trying a new response.
• Why sitting in a hard feeling for ninety seconds lets the emotional wave crest and fall, and why white knuckling a craving without this step rarely holds past a night or two.
• The real signs that separate physical hunger from food noise, and why under fueling during the day is often the hidden reason you are starving by nine at night.
• Why starting your day with thirty grams of protein can lower anxiety and depression, and what skipping breakfast for coffee alone does to your stress response instead.
• Why midlife hormone shifts make emotional regulation harder, and how naming what actually triggers you, exhaustion, loneliness, feeling underappreciated, is the first step to changing it.

We talk about:

00:00 Why Dr. G is back to talk about emotional eating

01:04 What actually counts as emotional eating versus eating

03:00 How emotional eating gets programmed as a child

07:26 The first thing to know, it is not your fault

09:53 Why your nervous system blocks logical thought

12:38 Introducing the SHIFT Method for breaking the loop

15:00 How to interrupt the thought before you reach for food

16:26 Why sitting in discomfort for 90 seconds works

17:36 Why no change ever comes from comfort

22:38 What is the real difference between emotional and physical hunger

25:41 Why 30 grams of protein at breakfast lowers anxiety

29:13 How burnout led Dr. G to build the SHIFT Method

Connect with Dr. Kristine

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drkgravinowellness
• Website: https://drkgravinowellness.com/

Connect with me

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins
• Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/

#EmotionalEating #StressEating #FoodNoise #NotYourFault #ShiftMethod #MidlifeWomen #WomenOver40 #WomenOver50 #PerimenopauseSupport #AntiDietCulture #NervousSystemRegulation #EmotionalRegulation #ComfortEating #MentalHealthMatters #HormoneHealth #NoMoreShame #WomensHealth #DietCulture #BodyImage #EatTheFuckingFood

Nervous system regulation for women means teaching your body that it no longer has to stay braced for the next crisis, and if you have spent years being the strong one, the fixer, the one everyone counts on, your nervous system has likely forgotten how to fully come back down. You feel guilty resting. You snap at small things that should not bother you. You have read about eldest daughter syndrome and felt seen in an uncomfortable way. That baseline of always being slightly activated is not a personality trait, it is sensitization, and it has real consequences for your hormones, your gut, and your immune system.

Kristin Collins, certified nutrition coach and menopause coaching specialist, sits down with Ali Damron, certified personal trainer and neuroplastic symptom practitioner, to break down the difference between a nervous system that is dysregulated for a moment and one that is sensitized as a baseline. Ali explains why self-abandonment often masquerades as strength, why discipline backfires on a nervous system that already feels unsafe, and how to tell the difference between your anxious brain and your wise brain before you make a decision. You will walk away with simple, non-time-consuming ways to recalibrate your nervous system starting today, no supplements or magic pills required.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why being the strong one and the over-functioner is a coping mechanism learned in childhood, not a personality trait, and how it quietly raises your baseline stress response.
• The real difference between nervous system dysregulation and sensitization, and why never fully returning to rest and digest is the actual problem for so many women.
• Why eldest daughter syndrome and repressed anger show up as autoimmune disease, thyroid imbalance, and gut issues, and what is actually driving that connection.
• Why discipline and eat less move more backfire in perimenopause, and what to do instead when self-criticism becomes a danger signal to your nervous system.
• How to tell your anxious brain from your wise brain in the moment, and why doing the opposite of what anxiety tells you is the fastest way to regulate.
• Why guilt is not a direction you have to follow, and how allowing yourself to feel guilty and do the thing anyway retrains your nervous system over time.
• Three broad stroke, non-time-consuming ways to regulate your nervous system today, from slowing down transitions to noticing how much stimuli you let in.

We talk about:

00:00 Meeting Ali Damron and why being the strong one is not always a good thing

02:44 Why self-abandonment and over-functioning are coping mechanisms, not personality traits

05:43 What is eldest daughter syndrome and why rage shows up in perimenopause

07:45 The Red Tent, postpartum recovery, and what other cultures still get right

12:59 Why Ali trains for life after losing both parents young

16:00 Grip strength, quad strength, and the two real measures of aging well

17:33 How overloaded women can start regulating their nervous system today

21:06 The real difference between nervous system dysregulation and sensitization

25:37 How to recalibrate your nervous system with small daily resets

29:31 Anxious brain vs wise brain and how to tell them apart

34:34 Why discipline is not the golden nugget for your changing midlife body

41:45 Where to find Ali Damron and her nervous system coaching work

Connect with Ali

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alidamron
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AliDamronWomensHormoneExpert
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/alidamron
• Website: https://www.alidamron.com/

Connect with me

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins
• Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/

#NervousSystemRegulation #EldestDaughterSyndrome #OverFunctioner #SelfAbandonment #MidlifeWomen #WomenOver40 #WomenOver50 #Perimenopause #MenopauseSupport #MomGuilt #BurnoutRecovery #AnxiousBrain #NervousSystemHealth #HormoneHealth #SelfCareIsNotSelfish #StrongWomen #RegulateYourNervousSystem #HRTSupport #GripStrength #EatTheFuckingFood

How much protein do midlife women really need is one of the most confusing questions in women's nutrition, and the honest answer is more than the government recommends and less than the internet is selling you.

If you have your protein memo, your shakes, and your bars, and you are still crashing at 3pm, waking up at night, or not building muscle despite your workouts, the amount you are eating is probably the problem, not your effort. Protein is not just a muscle nutrient. It stabilizes blood sugar, supports better sleep, and keeps estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone working the way they are supposed to as your hormones shift through the menopausal transition.

Kristin Collins, nutrition and body composition coach and host of Eat the F*cking Food, breaks down the exact math behind your personal protein target using 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight, the RDA of 50 to 60 grams that only keeps you at neutral, and why 100 grams is where most women should be aiming if strength training is not part of the plan.

She covers the thermic effect of food, why whole food protein digests slower and keeps you fuller than a shake, and the hip fracture statistic that makes undereating protein a longevity issue, not a vanity one. Grab a pen and do the math with her, then press play.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• How much protein midlife women actually need per day, and why the RDA of 50 to 60 grams only keeps your body at neutral instead of helping it thrive.
• How to calculate your personal protein target using 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight, plus the simple math to find your own number today.
• Why protein prevents the 3pm energy crash by stabilizing blood sugar, and how a normal post meal spike becomes a problem when carbs stand alone.
• How adequate protein supports better sleep and keeps estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone working through the menopausal transition.
• Why whole food protein keeps you fuller longer than shakes and bars, and when processed protein sources are still a smart backup.
• The connection between protein, muscle mass, and bone strength, including the statistic on hip fractures in women who lose muscle.
• Why protein has the highest thermic effect of any macronutrient, and how that translates into real calories burned from digestion alone.

We talk about:

00:00 Why your protein needs are more confusing than you think

01:00 What does 30 grams of protein actually look like on your plate

02:00 How protein prevents blood sugar crashes and afternoon energy dips

04:00 Why protein is the key to better sleep in midlife

05:00 How protein supports estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone

07:00 The RDA versus what you actually need to thrive

08:00 How do you calculate your own protein number

10:00 Why more muscle means stronger bones and less fracture risk

12:00 Whole food protein versus protein powders and bars

16:00 The thermic effect of food and why protein burns more to digest

19:00 Why protein is the hardest macro to hit and how to start

Connect with me

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins
• Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/

#ProteinForWomen #MidlifeNutrition #MenopauseNutrition #WomenOver40 #WomenOver50 #PerimenopauseNutrition #HormoneHealth #ProteinIntake #WholeFoodProtein #MuscleMassWomen #BoneHealth #BloodSugarBalance #AntiDiet #AntiDietCulture #NutritionCoaching #WomensHealth #StrengthTrainingForWomen #EatTheFuckingFood

Using GLP-1s and HRT together in midlife is one of the most confusing topics facing perimenopausal and menopausal women right now, and Karen Martel is here to clear it up.

If you have been told you have to wait until you are officially in menopause before you qualify for hormone therapy, or you are scrolling GLP-1 ads wondering if they are safe for your changing metabolism, this episode breaks down exactly what your body needs and when. Perimenopause can start as early as your late 30s, symptoms get dismissed for years, and by the time most women finally get help, they have already suffered far longer than necessary.

Kristin Collins, nutrition and body composition coach and host of Eat the F*cking Food, sits down with Karen Martel, certified hormone specialist, transformational nutrition coach, and CEO of Midlife Solutions, for a no-nonsense breakdown of HRT, peptides, and GLP-1s. Karen explains why bioidentical hormones differ from old-school Premarin, why the ten-year post-menopause window is not a hard stop on starting HRT, and why a half pound to a pound a week is the appropriate rate of weight loss on a GLP-1.

She also shares her personal biohacking toolbox, from her PEMF mat to her Eight Sleep cover, and why more women need to hear that suffering through perimenopause is not required. If you have ever wondered whether you already qualify for HRT, or whether your GLP-1 dose is doing more harm than good, press play.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why HRT is not just for women in full blown menopause, and how starting hormone support in your late 30s can prevent the metabolic storm that hits later.
• Why bioidentical hormones and old school Premarin are not interchangeable, and what the research actually shows about the ten year post menopause window for starting HRT.
• Why GLP-1s work differently for midlife women than for a 20 year old or a 40 year old man, and the exact weekly weight loss rate that signals you are losing too fast.
• Why suffering is a choice according to Karen Martel, and how women downplay symptoms like anxiety, night sweats, and insomnia until they can no longer function.
• Why estrogen loss and collagen loss move on the exact same trajectory, and what that means for your skin, your bones, and your brain long before menopause hits.
• What Karen's top biohacking tools actually are, from a PEMF mat to an Eight Sleep cover, and why sleep tracking data does not always match how you actually feel.
• Why the Wild West of peptide prescribing means most providers get titration wrong, and what a properly managed GLP-1 or peptide protocol should look like instead.

We talk about:

00:00 Why suffering through perimenopause is a choice

02:00 What HRT actually is and who needs it

05:00 The shocking stat on how few women use HRT

08:00 Karen's own blindsided perimenopause story

09:00 Why 25 percent of women get severe symptoms

14:00 How perimenopause symptoms creep in during your late 30s

18:00 Whether you can start HRT years after menopause

24:00 Why peptide prescribing is the Wild West

27:00 How GLP-1s work differently for midlife women

34:00 What the appropriate rate of weight loss is on a GLP-1

36:00 Karen's favorite biohacking tools including her Eight Sleep cover

43:00 Where to find Karen Martel and The Hormone Solution Podcast

Connect with Karen

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenmartelhormones/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfWWN_4IhMZJOXjvj8FDKIQ
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karenmartelhormones
• Website: https://karenmartel.com/

Connect with me

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins
• Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/

#HRTforWomen #Perimenopause #Menopause #GLP1 #BioidenticalHormones #PeptideTherapy #MidlifeWomen #WomensHealth #HormoneReplacementTherapy #MenoBelly #Biohacking #WeightLossJourney #HotFlashes #EstrogenMatters #WomenOver40 #WomenOver50 #AntiDietCulture #HormoneHealth #NoMoreSuffering #EatTheFuckingFood

Why dieting doesn't work comes down to one thing: it only ever addresses food, and most midlife women have spent decades restricting without ever touching the mental, emotional, or spiritual pieces that actually keep them stuck.

If you have done everything right, tracked, restricted, worked out harder, and still feel exhausted, bloated, or stuck in your body, you are not imagining it and you are not failing. The problem was never just what was on your plate.

Kristin Collins, certified nutrition coach and menopause coaching specialist, sits down with Lizzie Ens, functional health coach and founder of Undiet You, for a conversation that goes way past food. Lizzie breaks down why chronic dieting is more likely to wreck your thyroid than help you lose weight, how she reversed her own Hashimoto's diagnosis by learning to speak up instead of staying silent, and why walking for ten minutes after a meal does more for insulin resistance than most supplements ever will.

You will walk away with a new way to think about the food, the self talk, and the silence that might be keeping you stuck.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why gluten sensitivity symptoms like bloating, brain fog, and joint pain trace back to zonulin, a protein that breaks down your gut lining and lets inflammation leak into your bloodstream.
• How the seven day inflammation cycle works, and why eating gluten or drinking every few days keeps your body stuck in a constant state of chronic inflammation without you realizing it.
• Why chronic dieting and undereating are more likely to wreck your thyroid and hormones than help you lose weight, according to functional health coach Lizzie Ens.
• The surprising connection between suppressing your voice growing up and developing thyroid problems as an adult, and how Lizzie reversed her own Hashimoto's diagnosis.
• Three free lifestyle changes, walking after meals, drinking filtered water, and prioritizing sleep, that move the needle more than any supplement or expensive protocol.
• Why you cannot hate your body into a smaller one, and how negative self talk gets stored in your body the same way chronic stress does.
• How to tell the difference between giving yourself grace and making excuses, and why real accountability without shame is the fastest path to lasting change.

We talk about:

00:00 Meet Lizzie Ens and her Undiet You method

01:57 What does undiet actually mean

05:11 Why dieting never solved the real problem

09:22 Why food is such a small part of healing

10:18 How negative self talk gets stored in your body

12:23 Why chronic dieting causes thyroid and hormone issues

14:42 The truth about deficits and maintenance calories

17:01 What is the seven day inflammation cycle

18:13 The hidden symptoms of gluten sensitivity

23:00 Why suppressing your voice can hurt your thyroid

29:27 The free lifestyle changes that matter most

33:18 Where to find and work with Lizzie

Connect with Lizzie

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizzieens_wellness/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lizzieh_wellness
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvO1U_kCjEO1o_cbaFpZFLg
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lizzie.ens
• Website: https://undietyou.com/

Connect with me

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins
• Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/

#WhyDietingDoesntWork #FunctionalHealthCoach #UndietYourself #ThyroidHealth #ChronicInflammation #GlutenSensitivity #MidlifeWomen #WomenOver40 #WomenOver50 #AntiDietCulture #EatingDisorderRecovery #FindYourVoice #SelfTalkMatters #HealingJourney #PerimenopauseSupport #NoMoreDieting #WomensHealth #GILabTesting #EatTheFuckingFood