Happy 2026!! Welcome back to the Living Well with PMDD podcast. I hope your new year is starting out wonderfully. 

In today's episode, I share with you about a decision I made right before my 17th birthday that changed my life. I decided to go without chocolate for a year. 

Summary

• Why and when I made the decision
• Surprises (and sacrifices) along the way while keeping to my goal
• Results: then and now
• How you can apply this in your life

Take Aways

• I was inspired by my dad having gone a year without candy. 
• Decisions don't have to be well thought out to be worth doing.
• My decision and keeping to that commitment has provided strength over the years for me to hard things.
• Think about who you want to be in 5 years. What is something you could start doing today that would help you become that person?
• Consider: What have you already done that can give you strength? Remember it. Let it lift you and be a foundation to what you want to pursue (or endure) now.

Want to get healthier? Lose those extra pounds? I'd love to help. Give me 30 minutes and you'll leave feeling confident and prepared to face your demons and with a plan to naturally, sustainably lose weight. Interested? Click here.

Heidi's links:

• Heidi's website
• Heidi's Instagram

Are you here for pmdd support? I've got you.

• 5 Ways To Feeling Better with PMDD: I created this free download to help women with pmdd feel better. I wish it had been around when I first learned I had pmdd.
• Semaine PMS and Period Support Supplements: These supplements have reduced cramps and helped level emotional downs that I (and my teen daughter) experience. Book a one off support call Just need some friendly advi...

Heidi shares her client's top three weight loss tools of 2025. These are the most talked about, most used, and most helpful tools from this year.

Take Aways

• #1 The 100 Allowed Urges Worksheet
• #2 Reminding themself: IT'S OKAY when they mess up
• #3 Stick with the plan. (This is her individualized plan we made together.)

Download a copy of the 100 Allowed Urges Worksheet here and try it for yourself today! It can work for a weight loss goal, a time management goal, or even financial and relationship goals. It's pretty sweet. 

The 100 Allowed Urges worksheet comes from my Life Coach School Training. Thank you, Brooke Castillo!

Want to get healthier? Lose those extra pounds? I'd love to help. Give me 30 minutes and you'll leave feeling confident and prepared to face your demons and with a plan to naturally, sustainably lose weight. Interested? Click here.

Heidi's links:

• Heidi's website
• Heidi's Instagram

Are you here for pmdd support? I've got you.

• 5 Ways To Feeling Better with PMDD: I created this free download to help women with pmdd feel better. I wish it had been around when I first learned I had pmdd.
• Semaine PMS and Period Support Supplements: These supplements have reduced cramps and helped level emotional downs that I (and my teen daughter) experience. Book a one off support call Just need some friendly advi...

Three challenges we face to staying hydrated during the holidays are being on the go, sitting more than usual, and drinking alcohol. Listen in for practical tips to staving off dehydration during this fun, busy, and sometimes unpredictable weeks.

Take Aways

• Keep a water bottle with you and stock your car
• Recognize when you're feeling faint, hungry, or on edge. 
• Question hunger if you've eaten in the last hour. You may just be thirsty.
• While cozying up to a movie, keep water close by
• If drinking alcohol follow these tips: eat food before drinking, limit how much you drink, stick to light colored drinks, drink water while you drink the alcoholic beverage. See these articles: ThirstyWork and Healthline

Want to get healthier? Lose those extra pounds? I'd love to help. Give me 30 minutes and you'll leave feeling confident and prepared to face your demons and with a plan to naturally, sustainably lose weight. Interested? Click here.

Heidi's links:

• Heidi's website
• Heidi's Instagram

Are you here for pmdd support? I've got you.

• 5 Ways To Feeling Better with PMDD: I created this free download to help women with pmdd feel better. I wish it had been around when I first learned I had pmdd.
• Semaine PMS and Period Support Supplements: These supplements have reduced cramps and helped level emotional downs that I (and my teen daughter) experience. Book a one off support call Just need some friendly advi...

The holidays are a time for connection, spending time with family and friends, and thinking of Jesus. Tune in to hear some tidbits of advice on enjoying the holidays without neglecting your diet and exercise goals. Follow Heidi's advice so you stick close to your health goals without sacrificing time and attention to your loved ones. Merry Christmas! 🎄

Take Aways

• Make decisions ahead of time.
• Consider each event you plan to host or attend this holiday season. What and how much will you eat?
• You are beautiful as you are. 
• Any effort you put in to not overeat is embellishments to an already beautiful YOU.
• Exercise = Movement
• The goal can be to move some every day.
• There's no right or wrong form of exercise. There is no right or wrong length of exercise.
• The steps around the airport count. The trips and up and down the stairs to the Christmas tree count. The walks along a beach during your vacation count!
• It's okay if you don't get as much exercise as you'd like during this time. 
• It's okay if you eat more than you think you should.
• If the scale steadily goes up and up and up, make a change. Eat a little less tomorrow. Move a little more.

Want to get healthier? Lose those extra pounds? I'd love to help. Give me 30 minutes and you'll leave feeling confident and prepared to face your demons and with a plan to naturally, sustainably lose weight. Interested? Click here.

Heidi's links:

• Heidi's website
• Heidi's Instagram

Are you here for pmdd support? I've got you.

• 5 Ways To Feeling Better with PMDD: I created this free download to help women with pmdd feel better. I wish it had been around when I first learned I had pmdd.
• Semaine PMS and Period Support Supplements: These supplements have reduced cramps and helped level emotional downs that I (and my teen daughter) experience. Book a one off support call Just need some friendly advi...

Glean reasons and tips to prioritize sleep and easy ways to relieve stress over the holidays. Heidi shares insights from this article by the Mayo Clinic. 

Guided meditation options: Breathing Meditation by Diana Winston @ UCLA, Empowered Me Meditation by Deepak Chopra

Click here for Heidi's "how to turn your brain off at night" post.

Take Aways

• "You may be able to sleep your way to a longer life." -Mayo Clinic article.
• If you cut your sleep short for a prolonged amount of time, it may raise your risk of heart attack, dementia, and diabetes.
• Sleep is restorative. 
• The brain and body perform many critical tasks while we sleep.
• While we sleep, our immune system makes repairs.
• Heidi's parents and grandparents prioritized family, church, and community over sleep most of their lives and they lived and are living long (AND PURPOSEFUL) lives! 
• Heidi's push back to prioritizing sleep: Always have a goal or purpose you're working toward. Giving up some sleep to attain that goal is usually worth it. 
• Tips to getting better sleep: create a bedtime routine, keep your room dark, exercise regularly, pay attention to your medications, get a check up, get a new mattress, stick to a schedule, don't drink alcohol.
• Stress relief tips (Starts at 20:37): exercise mindfulness, use guided meditations, take 3 deep breaths when feeling anxious, go for a walk, be in nature, read, be in sunlight, crochet, and accomplish tasks.
• It relives stress to check things off your to-do list. 
• Express your frustrations to someone who loves you and who won't be directly influenced by the decision or situation you're ranting about.

You're amazing. You can conquer anything. Hugs!! -Heidi

Want to get healthier? Lose those extra pounds? I'd love to help. Give me 30 minutes and you'll leave feeling confident and prepared to face your demons and with a plan to naturally, sustainably lose weight. Interested? Click here.

Heidi's links:

• Heidi's website
• Heidi's Instagram

Are you here for pmdd support? I've got you.

• 5 Ways To Feeling Better with PMDD: I created this free download to help women with pmdd feel better. I wish it had been around when I first learned I had pmdd.
• Semaine PMS and Period Support Supplements: These supplements have reduced cramps and helped level emotional downs that I (and my teen daughter) experience. Book a one off support call Just need some friendly advi...

Heidi has you covered this holiday season if you're hoping to stay healthy. This episode begins our 4 part Healthy Holiday series. 

Part 1: Weight management among all the treats and seasonal delights.

Part 2: Sleep and stress relief while still enjoying Christmas parties and buying presents.

Part 3: Diet and exercise tips to keep you healthy enough and temper overindulgence. 

Part 4: Staying hydrated among the hustle and bustle (and why it's worth focusing on!)

Take Aways

• With some planning, you can eat some sweets, indulge a little, and maintain your current weight over the holidays.
• You have a lot of control over your health.
• Have a plan that includes 12-16 hours of intermittent fasting, 2 hour breaks between eating meals and snacks, what you'll eat (and what you won't), the amount of food you'll eat (same as now, less than now, or more than now), and record your weight each day.
• Consider what you will do differently from your plan at each event you hope to attend.
• Allow for humanity by giving yourself grace when you mess up and by feeling any and all emotions that come up this season. 
• Don't ignore your feelings. It will be harder to stick to your plan if you do.
•  The emotions you have or the mess ups you make don't mean that there's something wrong with you. 

Want to get healthier? Lose those extra pounds? I'd love to help. Give me 30 minutes and you'll leave feeling confident and prepared to face your demons and with a plan to naturally, sustainably lose weight. Interested? Click here.

Heidi's links:

• Heidi's website
• Heidi's Instagram

Are you here for pmdd support? I've got you.

• 5 Ways To Feeling Better with PMDD: I created this free download to help women with pmdd feel better. I wish it had been around when I first learned I had pmdd.
• Semaine PMS and Period Support Supplements: These supplements have reduced cramps and helped level emotional downs that I (and my teen daughter) experience. Book a one off support call Just need some friendly advi...

Sandy has lost 70 pounds in the last year and half while receiving coaching and support from Heidi. The benefits have been tremendous. Today we get to hear from Sandy. In some ways, this is Sandy's oral "review" for Heidi Bradford Coaching. 

Sandy is 65 years old, lives with her husband, spends time with her children and grandchildren, takes care of her dad, volunteers her time to help in her community, and cares about her health.

Settle in to gain insights and be inspired about becoming a healthier version of you. 

Click here to WATCH the unedited video interview. 

Take Aways (Sandy's view)

• I have more energy. 
• I feel like there's not much I can't do at 65.
• My stamina has increased.
•  You can't control what others say or do. You can only control how you react. 
• My mother was so sick from diabetes. I decided that I didn't want to die like that.
• It's okay to mess up. Just try again.
• Be open-minded.
• My food list reminds me that there are a lot of foods I can eat.
•  Don't be afraid to tell how you feel because your feelings matter so much and they determine how you react.
•  It's just so refreshing and liberating knowing that there's no judgment with you.

Questions asked

•  Have you found that becoming healthier and losing some weight has helped in positive ways in your ability to volunteer and to serve?
•  Why did you decide to reach out for help with losing weight?
• What were your doctors saying to you about your health before we started?
• What are your doctors saying now?
• What do you think were some key factors in you losing weight?
• How did you lose weight this time without lots of shame and blame? 
• How did you feel about your overall health before hiring Heidi, and how do you feel about your overall health now?
• How did you feel about losing weight before life coaching with Heidi, and how do you feel about losing weight now? 
• What has been your favorite part of losing weight with my help?
• What would you say to another woman who was considering hiring Heidi to help them lose weight? 

Want to get healthier? Lose those extra pounds? I'd love to help. Give me 30 minutes and you'll leave feeling confident and prepared to face your demons and with a plan to naturally, sustainably lose weight. Interested? Click here.

Heidi's links:

• Heidi's website
• Heidi's Instagram

Are you here for pmdd support? I've got you.

• 5 Ways To Feeling Better with PMDD: I created this free download to help women with pmdd feel better. I wish it had been around when I first learned I had pmdd.
• Semaine PMS and Period Support Supplements: These supplements have reduced cramps and helped level emotional downs that I (and my teen daughter) experience. Book a one off support call Just need some friendly advi...

Today we'll look at false pleasure, well being, artificial pleasure, and natural pleasure and why you want to increase your natural pleasures and live in the well being cycle.

Take Aways

•  Artificial pleasures are things that are temporary. They provide a temporary fix or a temporary benefit, and they come with negative consequences.
• Natural pleasures of life are less intense but come without consequence. 
• Examples of natural pleasures: slow walks in beautiful settings, great reads, a clean closet, great podcasts, scented candles (or diffuser with essential oils), wonderful music, sleeping in, soft clothing, great movies, soft blankets, spa services, sunshine, clean sheets, singing, playing a musical instrument, cooking, crafting, and more.
• False pleasure living: immediate gratification, consistent negative consequence, increased desire, unconscious neural pathways strengthening, narrowed focus on pleasure, downregulated dopamine.
• With false pleasure... external dependance on drugs, alcohol, sugar, flour, pornography, internet use, video games, social media, scrolling, tv/netflix, people-pleasing, approval-getting, shopping.
• Well being living: delayed gratification, prefrontal cortex planning, awareness, compassion, patience, ability to stay in the present moment, ability to feel emotion.
• Example: throw away Halloween candy when you're trying to eat healthy. 
• There's a cycle of over desiring and overeating and being unhealthy that leads to low confidence and low self-esteem. 
•  False pleasure living perpetuates unconsciousness and lack of control, and well being living perpetuates consciousness and self-management.
•  It's not simply about being healthy. It's not simply about honoring your commitment to yourself. It's about developing the skill sets that will continue your growth throughout your life.

False Pleasure Cycle 

1. Think about getting pleasure.
2. Feel unwanted intense desire.
3. Consume intense false pleasure.
4. Receive dopamine reward.
5. Negative consequence lead to more unwanted desire.

The Well Being Cycle

1. Plan long term well being.
2. Manage and feel all temporary urges for false pleasure.
3. Calculate and limit exposure to all intense false pleasure.
4. Manage and honor true desires.
5. Develo

Want to get healthier? Lose those extra pounds? I'd love to help. Give me 30 minutes and you'll leave feeling confident and prepared to face your demons and with a plan to naturally, sustainably lose weight. Interested? Click here.

Heidi's links:

• Heidi's website
• Heidi's Instagram

Are you here for pmdd support? I've got you.

• 5 Ways To Feeling Better with PMDD: I created this free download to help women with pmdd feel better. I wish it had been around when I first learned I had pmdd.
• Semaine PMS and Period Support Supplements: These supplements have reduced cramps and helped level emotional downs that I (and my teen daughter) experience. Book a one off support call Just need some friendly advi...

There is compelling evidence that A2 milk can make a difference for the better in people's lives. Today we'll look at what A2 milk is and why you might consider trying it in place of regular dairy milk. Heidi shares information from a Good Housekeeping article, an Ancient Nutrition article, and a Lara Briden article. 

Take Aways

• A2 milk is milk that contains only the A2 beta-casein protein.
• Most cow's milk in the United States contains both A2 and A1 beta-casein.
•  "The difference between A1 and A2 beta-casein is a single amino acid. This small variation influences how the protein is digested." -LaGrange (in Good Housekeeping) 
•  "Some people report that A2 milk causes less bloating, gas, or digestive discomfort than regular milk." Good Housekeeping
• 4 benefits according to Ancient Nutrition: Easier on digestion for some people, potential cardiovascular benefits, support for gut health, and features key nutrients, like protein. 
• Lara Briden states, "A1 beta-casein from normal cow’s dairy can be inflammatory, but only in people with the enzyme that cleaves it to the inflammatory peptide beta-casomorphin-7 (BCM7)."
• Heidi uses A2 milk instead of normal dairy milk. 
• She no longer needs to supplement with Lactaid for meals containing dairy.
• Her stomach feels good after a glass of A2 milk... that wasn't a thing for her with regular milk.

Want to get healthier? Lose those extra pounds? I'd love to help. Give me 30 minutes and you'll leave feeling confident and prepared to face your demons and with a plan to naturally, sustainably lose weight. Interested? Click here.

Heidi's links:

• Heidi's website
• Heidi's Instagram

Are you here for pmdd support? I've got you.

• 5 Ways To Feeling Better with PMDD: I created this free download to help women with pmdd feel better. I wish it had been around when I first learned I had pmdd.
• Semaine PMS and Period Support Supplements: These supplements have reduced cramps and helped level emotional downs that I (and my teen daughter) experience. Book a one off support call Just need some friendly advi...

We naturally want WHAT we want, WHEN we want it. But most of us also know that to get everything we want when we want it is not the best thing for us in the long run. 

Learning to say "no" to yourself is vital to changing a long-term habit, a current behavior, or achieving a goal. Heidi shares examples and a four part process to saying "no" to yourself.

Take Aways

• Saying "no" to yourself is a useful skill to develop.
• It leads to greater self confidence and peace.
• Example 1: Long term habit of nail-biting. 
• Example 2: Current behavior of throwing dishes away instead of washing and reusing them.
• Example 3: Achieving a goal of being healthier by losing five pounds in the next two months.
• 4 part process: Desire. Recognize. Decide. Practice.
• Applying the process to the examples above.
• Heidi shares about her realizing she made conversations really awkward by how she answered the question, "How are you?" during her husband's first deployment. 
• She went on to change her response and it made life better overall. 

Want to get healthier? Lose those extra pounds? I'd love to help. Give me 30 minutes and you'll leave feeling confident and prepared to face your demons and with a plan to naturally, sustainably lose weight. Interested? Click here.

Heidi's links:

• Heidi's website
• Heidi's Instagram

Are you here for pmdd support? I've got you.

• 5 Ways To Feeling Better with PMDD: I created this free download to help women with pmdd feel better. I wish it had been around when I first learned I had pmdd.
• Semaine PMS and Period Support Supplements: These supplements have reduced cramps and helped level emotional downs that I (and my teen daughter) experience. Book a one off support call Just need some friendly advi...