Finding Food & Fitness Freedom: An Empowered RX Podcast

S7: Ep.1- Meditation on Body Image & Uncertainty

PERIMENOPAUSE AND MENOPAUSE: IF YOU’RE EATING LESS AND TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT 

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ⬇️

If you are in perimenopause or menopause and your body feels different, and your response has been to adjust food or increase output, we need to talk.

The most common complaints I get from women are not just “weight gain.”

It is waking up at 2 a.m. wired.

It is feeling puffy no matter how “clean” you eat.

It is bloating after meals that never used to bother you.

It is working out the same but feeling weaker.

It is looking in the mirror and not recognizing who you are anymore.

It is feeling like your body is unpredictable.

So you try to manage it. You pull back on food. You add more cardio. You tighten structure. You tell yourself you just need to dial it in again.

And instead of feeling better, you feel more inflamed, more tired, more frustrated. 

You feel like you have lost yourself. That is the loop.

This episode is about breaking that loop.

We talk about why midlife shifts make your body more stress-sensitive. Why under-fueling makes you feel worse, not better. Why muscle becomes protective. Why nervous system stability matters and self-talk more than discipline right now.

You are not crazy for wanting to feel comfortable in your body.

You are also not required to punish it into compliance.

There is a way to stabilize your energy, feel stronger, sleep deeper, and feel more at home in your body without shrinking it.

If you are tired of chasing symptoms and ready to understand the root, press play and then head to this link and

⬇️BOOK A FREE DISCOVERY CALL ⬇️

To get started on reclaiming your health and happiness with fewer symptoms book at the LINK BELOW.

https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=22455759&appointmentType=21465598

Or e-mail [email protected]

FOLLOW on instagram @leahhantmancoaching for more education and resources 

Exercise helps a lot of people feel better. It can calm anxiety, improve mood, sharpen focus, and create a sense of confidence in the body. For many, it becomes one of the most reliable ways they’ve ever regulated stress.

But when exercise becomes the primary or only way emotions get processed or avoided, it starts to carry more responsibility than it should.

In this episode, Leah breaks down why exercise so often turns into an emotional coping strategy, how that pattern shows up differently depending on your nervous system state, and what it actually means to heal your relationship with movement without taking it away.

You’ll learn:

• How fight, flight, freeze, and fawn patterns show up in exercise behaviors

• Why intensity, restriction, avoidance, or comparison can feel regulating at first

• How these patterns evolve over time with stress, injury, pregnancy, and burnout

• What rebuilding trust with movement looks like from a nervous system perspective

This episode is educational & physiology-based... It’s for anyone who has ever felt like movement helps… but also feels complicated.

If this episode resonated and you want support rebuilding a safer, more sustainable relationship with exercise, you can follow and message Leah on Instagram @leahhantmancoaching or email [email protected] to learn more about working together.

If you exercise regularly, think carefully about food, and genuinely care about your health, this episode is for you.

Here we break down why habits that are "healthy" can start to feel stressful, effortful or detrimental over time. Leah walks through what is happening inside the nervous system, with stress hormones and the body's energy regulation when demand stays high and rest/recovery falls behind.

You'll learn how sympathetic dominance develops and why rest can feel uncomfortable, how cortisol quietly takes over, and why food noise increases!

If you have ever felt like your body requires constant management to function, this episode will help you understand why, and what changes when we give our selves conditions that heal instead of detract.

Follow me on instagram @Leahhantmancoaching or shoot me an e-mail [email protected] to chat about what working 1:1 together could look like!

Slowing down is supposed to feel calming. For many women, it does the opposite.

In this episode, Leah explains why rest can increase anxiety instead of relieving it, especially for women with a history of dieting, overtraining, chronic stress, or living in constant pressure. You’ll learn how the nervous system adapts to prolonged activation, why movement and productivity can become primary regulation tools, and how rest intolerance develops at a physiological level.

Leah breaks down the core education behind Empowered Foundations, including regulation, nourishment, recovery, and capacity building, and explains why forcing rest or “doing less” rarely works without first stabilizing the system underneath. This episode connects the dots between stress hormones, energy availability, training load, recovery debt, and why so many women feel better pushing and worse stopping, even when they are exhausted.

If you’ve ever felt restless when you slow down, calmer after pushing yourself, or confused about why rest doesn’t work the way it should, this conversation will help you understand your body with clarity instead of self blame, and show you what actually needs to come first for sustainable change.

Empowered Foundations is a 12 week coaching container designed to stabilize health habits, unlearn diet culture, and reset your relationship with food, movement, and rest at the nervous system level.

FOLLOW US:

Instagram: @LeahHantmanCoaching

BOOK a FREE Call to Explore Coaching
https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/c1499aac/appointment/21465598/calendar/5295072?appointmentTypeIds[]=21465598

If food feels loud, rest feels uncomfortable, and movement feels hard to stop, this episode explains part of the reason why.

In this conversation, Leah breaks down what is actually driving so many women’s struggles with food, exercise, and health habits beneath the surface. You’ll learn how the nervous system governs regulation, why years of dieting, overtraining, stress, and trauma change the body’s tolerance for hunger, rest, and recovery, and how concepts like energy availability, allostatic load, and recovery debt quietly shape behavior.

This episode walks through how bodies adapt to chronic stress, why willpower and discipline fail in dysregulated systems, and what it actually takes to rebuild capacity, resilience, and trust from the ground up. You’ll hear how stabilizing nourishment, recovery, and training allows hunger cues to normalize, rest to feel safer, movement to become supportive, and health habits to finally stick.

If you’ve ever felt like you understand what you should be doing but can’t make it sustainable, this episode will help you understand your body with clarity instead of shame, and show you what needs to come first for real, lasting change.

If you’re ready to stabilize your health habits, unlearn diet culture, and reset your relationship with food, movement, and rest, our 12 week program Empowered Foundations is designed to help you do exactly that.

Follow us on Instagram for education, insight, and ongoing support @empowered_ep

Book a call to learn more about joining Empowered Foundations HERE

A 13 minute guided meditation for uncertainty, body image and coming home to yourself. This practice is designed to support anyone who feels disconnected from their body, overwhelmed by emotion, or unsure how to slow down. It offers a safe space to breath, soften and rebuild trust with yourself at a pace that feels grounded and doable.

In this episode, we dive into the often-overlooked connection between stress and fitness, exploring how stress impacts our bodies, minds, and overall performance. Join Leah as we uncover the physiological effects of stress, discuss its influence on motivation and recovery, and examine how chronic stress can derail our fitness goals.

We also address the complex relationships between stress, disordered eating, and trauma. Learn how stress can trigger unhealthy eating patterns and how a history of trauma can affect your fitness journey. Discover the importance of trauma-informed approaches to exercise and the role of healthy coping mechanisms in maintaining balance and well-being.

**Key Takeaways:**

- Understanding the physiological impact of stress on fitness.

- The connection between stress, disordered eating, and trauma.

- Effective stress management techniques and healthy coping mechanisms.

- Developing a positive and resilient mindset for fitness success.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to enhance their fitness journey by understanding and managing stress effectively.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Emily Everton, PT, DPT, a dedicated Women's Health Doctor of Physical Therapy and founder of Embody Physical Therapy & Wellness, LLC in Hopkinton, MA. Emily brings her expertise in Orthopedic and Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy to the forefront as we dive deep into critical topics such as menstrual health, fertility, and perinatal care.

Emily shares her insights on supporting women with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and irregular menstrual cycles, helping them restore ovulation, regulate their cycles, and achieve natural pregnancies. She also opens up about her own journey through disordered eating, orthorexia, RED-S, Hypothalamic Amenorrhea, and infertility, highlighting how these experiences fuel her passion for empowering women to challenge societal standards, embrace their bodies, and live symptom-free lives.

Tune in to hear Emily's expert advice, candid discussions on taboo topics, and her unwavering dedication to helping women find peace with their bodies and achieve their fullest potential.

Visit Embody Physical Therapy & Wellness Website:

https://www.embodyptwell.com

Or follow Emily on Instagram @emilyeverton.dpt

Join us on a journey of empowerment and self-discovery with Amber and Kelsey, as they share their inspiring stories of triumph in motherhood, fitness, and postpartum recovery. From dominating the Panhandle Proving Grounds CrossFit Competition to navigating the challenges of postpartum life, these fierce competitors and Coaches offer valuable insights on body image, self-respect, and finding food and fitness freedom. Don't miss this special episode packed with wisdom and motivation!