Sarah Becker holds a Masters in Nutrition and is a Registered Dietitian. She's also a warm presence in what can often be complicated conversations around food. Throughout the conversation, we talk about how to listen to your body, especially as seasons change, and how to eat to support your joy, health, and wellness. She offers tips on how to create better habits around mealtime and how to grocery shop.

TRIGGER WARNING: Eating disorder mentioned from 33:30-36:50 — Full question: How do you introduce new foods when you have a history of disordered eating?

EPISODE BREAKDOWN

1:30 — Meet Sarah

4 — Day to day as a Registered Dietitian

6:30 — How TikTok is influencing questions and trends around nutrition

9:30 — What are healthy habits when eating?

17 — Tips for how to start creating sustainable habits around food

20 — Parasite cleanses explained

22 — Why eating habits change in the summertime

26 — How food can support your physical health

32 — Tips for grocery shopping

33:30-36:50 — TRIGGER WARNING: Eating disorder mention — Full question: How do you introduce new foods when you have a history of disordered eating?

37 — Eating to support our hormone health

I've been recording Happy To Be Here for over a year now. I am so thankful for this community and everyone who has listened. Here's to many more episodes.

Varshil Patel is the co-founder of Therapy Notebooks, a wellness company dedicated to creating tools that help people manage their anxiety, trauma, or day-to-day stressors. In our conversation we talk through how anyone can use these notebooks to support their mental health, how Therapy Notebooks got started, and so much more. 

EPISODE BREAKDOWN 

Molly B. Burnham is the author of The Infinite Questions of Dottie Bing, a middle grade book that succeeds at explaining the grief journey to kids and adults alike. In our conversation, Molly will walk us through how Dottie (the main character) explains her anxiety and grief, where Molly drew inspiration for the story, and so much more. In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month I think it’s important to start where we are and nothing says that more than going back to middle grade and speaking to our inner child or actual children. 

EPISODE GUIDE

Mental Health America started Mental Health Awareness Month back in 1949. Since then the state of mental health awareness has shifted and the conversations are easier to come across. This week I’m joined by Dr. America, Chief Social Impact Officer of Mental Health America. Throughout our conversation she answers questions like, “What should I look for in a therapist?” “What are warm hotlines?” And more! 

1:04 — Meet Dr. America, Chief Social Impact Officer Mental Health America 

2:17 — How has social media changed how we talk about mental health? 

4 — Tips for curating mental health social media content 

8 — Dr. America on MHA’s new book - Where To Start? 

12 — You don’t have to have all the answers to take care of your mental health

15:30 — What are warm hotlines? 

17 — Cultivating your mental health toolkit 

21 — How to identify where you need support 

24 — How to help the kids/teens in your life manage their mental health 

29 — The importance of normalizing mental health 

Carolyn Brown is an RD with a focus in holistic and integrative nutrition. She also happens to be the co-founder of Indigo Wellness — her fellow co-founder is Sarah Swanberg, who unpacked acupuncture for us just a few episodes ago. In this conversation Carolyn answers all of my questions around gut health, how to support your body no matter what stage of life you’re in, what happens to your body once you come off the birth control pill, and so much more. 

EPISODE BREAKDOWN

It’s hard to know how you will react during a life-death situation. Felicia Jackson, inventor and CEO of CPRWrap, felt that fear firsthand when her youngest child needed CPR. Inspired by her own life experience, the nurse and entrepreneur created CPRWrap — a less than $10 bib with step-by-step instructions on how to perform CPR on anyone who needs it. In this episode, we discuss the inspiration behind CPRWrap, how to get CPR certified, and the importance of knowing what to do before practicing CPR.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN 

Ruby Warrington coined the phrase “sober curious” and is now back with a new book, Women Without Kids. In our conversation, we talk about what it means to be sober curious, how curiosity can help us redefine our relationship with alcohol and motherhood, and how to navigate the real feelings that surface when you decide not to have kids at all.

:57 — Meet Ruby Warrington 

1:48 — Thread between Sober Curious and Women Without Kids 

6:33 — Getting to the true essence of how you feel about motherhood

12 — Coining “Sober Curious” 

14 — Staying curious around motherhood 

19 — The power of women changing their mind 

23 — The guilt of choosing your own path 

25 — How to talk to your community about motherhood openly 

34 — Motherhood through the generations 

38 — Human life spans expanding and its impact on motherhood 

42 — Legacy when you choose not to have kids 

45 — Statistics around motherhood 

This week I'm joined by Dr. Sarah Swanberg, a Doctor of Acupuncture, the co-founder of Indigo Wellness, and also my personal acupuncturist. We talk through my acupuncture journey and how it's impacted my anxiety, gut health, and hormone health so far. Plus, Sarah answers questions like — how do I pick the right acupuncturist? and how does acupuncture help move you from flight-and-fight mode and into rest-and-digest?

If you're CT-local, Sarah's Indigo Wellness has two locations, one in Stamford and one in Westport.

You can also get Sarah's book — A Patient’s Guide To Acupuncture — anywhere books are sold!

Episode breakdown:

Dr. Sarah Oreck and Out Of Office Co-Founder Coabi Kastan answer all of my traveling solo questions. I talk to Dr. Oreck about how you can navigate the fear, anxiety, and guilt of spending money traveling at all, but especially traveling alone. Then Coabi tells us how the app she co-founded, Out Of Office, helps you map out your itinerary.

Dr. Sarah Oreck

Out Of Office - Coabi Kastan