In this Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast episode, host and Nutrition Coach Nicole Hagen breaks down how to tell the difference between sustainable weight loss advice and gimmicky strategies that keep people stuck in cycles of frustration, restriction, and shame.

This episode introduces a green flags vs. red flags framework to help you evaluate weight loss advice before you invest time, energy, and hope into approaches that aren’t designed to last. 

Throughout this episode, you’ll learn:

• What green flags look like in sustainable, evidence-based weight loss advice
  

• The most common red flags that signal gimmicks and short-term solutions
  

• How shame-based messaging creates dependency instead of long-term skills
  

• Why feeling like your body is “broken” is a warning sign
  

• How to evaluate whether a plan will realistically work for your life
  

• Why consistency, adequacy, and adaptability matter more than intensity or perfection
  

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by conflicting weight loss advice, discouraged by past attempts that didn’t stick, or confused about why “trying harder” hasn’t produced lasting results, this episode will help you understand what actually drives sustainable weight loss.

Apply for 1:1 Nutrition Coaching:

https://nutritioncoachingwithnicole.com/1-on-1-coaching

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In this Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast episode, host and Nutrition Coach Nicole Hagen explores why guilt and shame don’t drive behavior change and can’t be the default response to missteps if we want to successfully reach health goals. 

This episode explains how guilt/shame actually shut down behavior change rather than supporting it and what a more productive, compassionate response actually looks like.

Throughout this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why guilt and shame are learned responses when it comes to food and exercise
  

• How self-criticism undermines consistency, motivation, and trust with your body
  

• Why “holding yourself accountable” doesn’t require punishment
  

• How to reframe missed goals as information instead of failure
  

• Practical tools for positive self-talk that support growth instead of shutdown
  

If you find yourself spiraling after an “off” day, feeling discouraged when you don’t meet your goals, or believing you need to be harder on yourself to see results, this episode will help you understand why that approach backfires and why responding with curiosity, compassion, and strategy creates more sustainable progress.

Apply for 1:1 Nutrition Coaching:

https://nutritioncoachingwithnicole.com/1-on-1-coaching

Check your HSA/FSA Eligibility:  

https://app.truemed.com/qualify/tm_qual_q0c29x5n9v

In this Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast episode, host and Nutrition Coach Nicole Hagen explores why making healthy behavior change feels especially hard when motivation is low - and why conventional dieting is rarely the solution.

From low energy and emotional exhaustion to the frustration of “knowing what to do but not doing it,” this episode breaks down how depression, chronic stress, and restriction directly impact motivation, follow-through, and our relationship with food. Nicole explains why pushing harder, relying on willpower, or starting another diet often backfires, and what actually helps create sustainable change during low-motivation seasons.

Throughout this episode, you’ll learn: • Why low motivation is not a personal failure or lack of discipline • How depression and under-eating can amplify food noise and mental fatigue • Why conventional dieting often worsens motivation instead of improving it • Practical, compassionate strategies to make behavior change feel easier • How to support eating habits and self-care without relying on motivation

If you’ve been feeling stuck, unmotivated, or discouraged by repeated attempts to “get back on track,” this episode will help you understand what’s really happening beneath the surface, remove shame from the process, and offer a more realistic, supportive path forward.

Apply for 1:1 Nutrition Coaching:

https://nutritioncoachingwithnicole.com/1-on-1-coaching

Check your HSA/FSA Eligibility:  

https://app.truemed.com/qualify/tm_qual_q0c29x5n9v

In this Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast episode, host and Nutrition Coach Nicole Hagen explains the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

From headlines and social media takes to client confusion and criticism, this episode breaks down what the Dietary Guidelines actually are, what they’re designed to do, and where their strengths and limitations lie. Nicole walks through what has changed, what has stayed the same, and why population-level guidance often feels disconnected from individual outcomes.

Throughout this episode, you’ll learn:

• What’s new and what’s changed in the 2025–2030 guidelines versus previous versions

• Where the guidelines are strongly evidence-based (and where they’re not)

• How to use the guidelines as a reference without letting them override your own data and lived experience

If you’ve been feeling frustrated or confused by the conflicting “hot takes” you’ve seen on social media surrounding the updated Dietary Guidelines and “new and improved” food pyramid, this episode will help you interpret the guidelines critically, remove the pressure to treat them as rules, and decide how (or if) they fit into your own approach to health.

Sign Up for the No-More-Food-Noise Challenge:

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In this Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast episode, host and Nutrition Coach Nicole Hagen explores a question so many people are asking right now:

is food noise a real thing - or is it just a buzzword?

From constant internal chatter to feeling like your brain never shuts off when it comes to food, this episode breaks down what people mean when they talk about food noise, whether there’s scientific support for the phenomenon, and why so many women struggle with it.

Throughout this episode, you’ll learn:

 • What “food noise” actually sounds like • Why food noise isn’t a medical diagnosis, but is a very real lived experience • The research-backed links between restriction, under-eating, and food preoccupation • How dieting, food rules, and control increase intrusive food thoughts • What actually helps quiet food noise in a sustainable way

Nicole also explains why the current extreme weight loss culture, including rigid dieting and fast fixes, often amplifies food noise rather than resolving it.

If you’ve ever felt like food takes up way too much space in your head, this episode will help you understand why that’s happening, remove the shame around it, and show you how to quiet the food noise moving forward. 

Sign Up for the No-More-Food-Noise Challenge:

https://nutritioncoachingwithnicole.com/food-noise-challenge

In this Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast episode, host and Nutrition Coach Nicole Hagen explains why most weight loss goals don’t stick and how you can set a weight loss goal that actually works this year.

Nicole breaks down why willpower isn’t the problem, why so many people feel stuck in the cycle of starting over, and how to approach weight loss in a way that works with real life instead of against it.

Throughout the episode, you’ll learn:

• Why weight loss is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions - and why most people struggle to maintain it
  

• The real reason consistency feels hard (and why it’s not a motivation issue)
  

• How awareness, capacity, and nervous system safety impact long-term weight loss
  

• Why rigid diet rules backfire and skill-building creates sustainable results
  

• What makes weight loss habits stick on stressful, imperfect days
  

• How identity and confidence naturally follow sustainable habits over time
  

If you’ve ever wondered why your weight loss efforts don’t last, even when you “do everything right”, this episode will help you understand what’s been missing and how to set a weight loss goal you can actually reach.

Apply for 1:1 Nutrition Coaching:

https://nutritioncoachingwithnicole.com/1-on-1-coaching

Check your HSA/FSA Eligibility:  

https://app.truemed.com/qualify/tm_qual_q0c29x5n9v

In this Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast episode, host and Nutrition Coach Nicole Hagen explores the connection between money and health, and why reaching health goals can feel so much harder when financial stress is part of the equation.

Using a compassionate, evidence-based lens, Nicole explains how financial flexibility acts as a safety net for health behaviors and why scarcity often pushes people toward rigid, extreme approaches that feel anything but sustainable.

Throughout the episode, you’ll learn about:

• Why money makes health behaviors more forgiving (not easier)

• How financial stress impacts decision-making, perfectionism, and all-or-nothing thinkingWhy extreme diets and rigid rules are often a response to scarcity 

• 5 practical ways Nicole has intentionally reduced expenses this year to create more breathing room

• How small financial shifts can support health without requiring drastic lifestyle changes

This episode will help you understand how money shapes our health behaviors in addition to providing real-world money saving suggestions you can apply right away!

Apply for 1:1 Nutrition Coaching:

https://nutritioncoachingwithnicole.com/1-on-1-coaching

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In this Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast episode, host and Nutrition Coach, Nicole Hagen, shares five life-changing lessons she learned as a former size 00 that will help you navigate today’s reemerging extreme weight-loss culture with more clarity and compassion.

Throughout this episode you’ll learn about: 

• Why the return of “heroin-chic” ideals and rapid weight-loss can trigger unhealthy habits
  

• How obsession and control can disguise themselves as “discipline”
  

• Why weight loss without inner work doesn’t change how you feel about your body
  

• How all-or-nothing food rules make your relationship with food harder, not healthier
  

• What happens when you pursue weight loss at the expense of your wellbeing
  

• Why slow, supported, and sustainable fat loss still wins - for your metabolism and your mental health 

… and so much more in between.

If you’ve ever felt pressured to lose weight quickly, if you worry you’re “behind” because someone else is shrinking faster, or if you’re tempted by the newest rapid-loss trend, this episode will help you understand what’s at stake, what actually supports your long-term health, and what to focus on instead.

Apply for 1:1 Nutrition Coaching:

https://nutritioncoachingwithnicole.com/1-on-1-coaching

Check your HSA/FSA Eligibility:  

https://app.truemed.com/qualify/tm_qual_q0c29x5n9v

In this Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast episode, host and Nutrition Coach, Nicole Hagen, unpacks the most common holiday eating lies that create guilt, anxiety, and all-or-nothing behavior around food this time of year while sharing evidence-based reframes you can use to stop self-sabotage in its tracks. 

Throughout this episode you’ll get practical and compassionate coaching tools to help you enjoy the holidays without feeling out of control, guilty, or “bad” for eating foods you genuinely love.

If you’ve ever thought:

• “I’m so bad for eating this…”

• “I can’t have this many carbs…”

• “I’m going to gain so much weight…”

…this episode is exactly what you need (and more). 

The way you talk to yourself influences your behavior more than the food on your plate, so be sure to tune in to find out what you can ask yourself instead of subscribing to these common holiday eating lies, and ensure that you have a happy, healthy holiday season moving forward.

Apply for 1:1 Nutrition Coaching and get 40% OFF (through 12/1)

https://nutritioncoachingwithnicole.com/1-on-1-coaching

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In this Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast episode, host and Nutrition Coach, Nicole Hagen, breaks down the seven sneaky ways women self-sabotage their relationship with food and sustainable fat loss - often without even realizing it. Throughout the episode Nicole uncovers the hidden thought patterns that keep women stuck in the all-or-nothing cycle.

You’ll learn about:

• Why “I’ll eat well as soon as ___ is out of the house” is really a sign of low food trust
  

• How perfectionism disguises itself as “I’ll start fresh on Monday”
  

• Why blowing off the rest of the day after one misstep keeps you trapped in the binge-restrict loop
  

• How fear of keeping sweets in the house is actually a symptom of chronic restriction
  

• Why trying to “save calories” before going out backfires every time
  

• How expecting a calm, predictable life sets you up for chronic restarts
  

• Why slow scale changes don’t mean your efforts aren’t working
  

…and so much more.

This episode will help you recognize the subconscious food rules that diet culture trained you to believe, how they cause you to sabotage, and what it looks like to break free so you can finally create habits, and results, that last.

If you’re ready to get out of your own way and create a healthy relationship with food sustainable fat loss, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

Learn More About 1:1 Nutrition Coaching: 

https://nutritioncoachingwithnicole.com/1-on-1-coaching

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