If you’re fighting cravings and blaming your willpower, this episode reframes everything you’ve been taught about food and self-control.Cravings are not a discipline problem — they’re biology. Sugar isn’t the enemy. Dysregulated insulin is.In this episode, we unpack why cravings are driven by insulin crashes, not sugar itself, and how stress, poor sleep, under-eating, skipped meals, high cortisol, and nervous system safety play a far bigger role than willpower ever could. You’ll learn why “sugar-free” and artificial sweeteners can worsen cravings, how sweet taste alone can spike insulin, and why satisfaction matters just as much as fullness.We explore the difference between blood sugar crashes and true biological cravings, why old diet science keeps you stuck, and how food communicates safety (or danger) to the nervous system. You’ll also learn how balanced meals, proper timing, and hormone regulation quiet food noise — without restriction or removing foods you love.Key takeaways:• Cravings are signals, not flaws• Sugar is not the problem — insulin is• Stress, sleep, and under-fueling matter as much as food• Sweet taste alone can spike insulin• Being full is not the same as being satisfied• Balanced hormones create effortless intuitionIf this episode challenged what you’ve been taught, there’s a free Hormone Reset Guide available. Comment “HORMONES” wherever you’re listening to receive it.This conversation isn’t about control — it’s about understanding your body and working with it instead of against it.Listen to more episodes at www.makepeacewithfood.com/podcast or subscribe to me on Spotify, Podcast, and YouTube so you never miss an episode!Join my Facebook Community: www.myfoodfreedomlifestyle.com Work with me: www.sherryshaban.com/transform Go deeper: www.makepeacewithfood.com Share your biggest takeaway and tag me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn

What if the scale isn’t keeping you accountable… but actually keeping you stuck?

In this episode, I’m inviting you to question one of the most normalized habits in health culture — weighing yourself — and explore how focusing on hormones, your nervous system, and internal cues can completely transform your relationship with food, cravings, and your body.

Stop letting the scale dictate your worth. I share how tuning into your body, balancing your hormones, and restoring nervous system safety can help you reclaim your health — without fear, obsession, or restriction.

1. Trends I’m Seeing on Social Media

Right now, I notice trends pushing extreme protein intake, obsessive macro tracking, and “skinny is beautiful” messaging making a comeback. These cycles can trigger comparison, stress, and fear if you’re not mindful.

2. Standing Guard at the Door of Your Mind

Your body and mind consume more than food. What you watch, read, and discuss affects your nervous system and choices. I invite you to be aware and intentional about what you let in.

3. Why I Recommend Stopping the Scale

The scale sabotages health goals in five ways:

1. Disconnects you from your natural hunger and fullness cues

2. Creates fear and food obsession

3. Doesn’t measure real progress

4. Triggers cortisol and stress

5. Hijacks your brain’s reward system
   

Instead, I focus on how my body feels, my energy, and natural cravings, which allows you to tune into your body more authentically.

4. Hormone-Based Health Reset

I focus on balancing key hormones:

• Cortisol: drives cravings

• Insulin: regulates energy

• Ghrelin & Leptin: hunger and satiety
  

By doing this, cravings decrease, appetite regulates naturally, sleep improves, and I feel safe in my body — without dieting or willpower battles. You’ll notice your cravings shift and your eating patterns change naturally too.

5. Nervous System Regulation

True regulation isn’t just journaling or breathing. It’s about feeling safe in your body, even around triggers like the scale. Healing past trauma, fear, and food-related anxiety helps shift your nervous system from protection mode to safety mode, which supports lasting change in how you relate to food and your body.

6. Taking Action in 2026

• Step away from weighing and calorie tracking

• Tune into your body’s internal cues

• Notice how food, habits, and thoughts make you feel

• Focus on hormone balance instead of numbers
  

I also share my Six-Week Hormone Reset and a free Hormone Reset Guide, which helps me:

• Learn my chronotype

• Optimize sleep and movement

• Balance cortisol and insulin

• Restore hunger and satiety cues naturally
  

Key Takeaways

• Social media trends don’t define your health

• The scale creates fear and sabotages progress

• Focus on internal signals instead of numbers

• Hormone and nervous system regulation are key to lasting change

• Safety, awareness, and self-trust are the foundation of food freedom

Journal Prompts

1. How does weighing yourself make you feel?

2. What cues is your body giving you that you might be ignoring?

3. Which social media trends trigger fear or comparison?

4. How would focusing on hormone balance change your approach to food?

5. What small actions today can shift you from protection mode to safety mode?
   

Listen to more episodes at www.makepeacewithfood.com/podcast or subscribe to me on Spotify, Podcast, and YouTube so you never miss an episode!

Join my Facebook Community: www.myfoodfreedomlifestyle.com 

Work with me: www.sherryshaban.com/transform 

Go deeper: www.makepeacewithfood.com 

Share your biggest takeaway and tag me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn

This episode is about discovering your current set point — where your body and mind are living right now with food, movement, sleep, stress, and beliefs about weight — and how it drives cravings, emotions, and overall health.

I dive into the difference between the number on the scale and the emotional and psychological weight we carry daily. Your habits and your body’s responses aren’t failures — they’re signals. Your nervous system is trying to keep you safe.

1. What Is Your Set Point? Your set point is your current rhythm with:

• Food

• Movement

• Sleep

• Stress

…and the beliefs you hold about weight, cravings, and your body’s ability to change. It dictates emotional, psychological, and physical weight — the state your body feels safe in, even if it’s not where you want to be. Key insight: your body defaults to the known, even if it feels “not enough” or creates unwanted habits.

2. The Problem with Perfectionism & Overdrive: Focusing on perfection, overachieving, or constant productivity leads to:

• Higher stress

• Spiking cortisol

• Stronger sugar cravings

• Intense emotional eating cycles

3. Understanding the Hormonal Loop: Critical hormones controlling cravings and weight:

• Cortisol — rises under stress, triggers sugar cravings, keeps your body in protection mode.

• Insulin — storage hormone, holds fat when cortisol is high.

• Leptin — satiety hormone, signals fullness.

• Ghrelin — hunger hormone, signals when to eat.

Takeaway: if hormones are unbalanced, dieting or willpower alone won’t work. Resetting hormones is key to changing your set point.

4. Protection Mode vs. Safety Mode: Your body isn’t lazy or “rebelling” — it’s in protection mode. Weight gain, cravings, and mindless eating are protective responses to stress. Even destructive habits feel safe. Instead of shaming yourself, thank your body for keeping you safe and learn to transition to safety mode.

5. How to Reset Your Set Point:

• Focus on hormone regulation, not just weight loss

• Move your body in ways that feel safe and enjoyable

• Nourish without restriction

• Honor rest and recovery

• Shift beliefs about cravings and your body’s ability to change

This helps cravings normalize, appetite regulation improve, and weight release naturally — without forcing, restricting, or shaming yourself.

6. Personal Story & Lessons Learned During high-stress periods of grief, perfectionism, and overwork, I experienced:

• Cortisol-driven sugar binges

• Leptin resistance and insatiable cravings

• Feeling powerless despite “doing everything right”

My breakthrough: willpower alone can’t override biology. Learning about the nervous system and hormones helped me reset my set point and transform my relationship with food, movement, and my body.

Takeaways

• Set point = where your body feels safe, not failure

• Weight is emotional, psychological, energetic, and physical

• Cravings and stress responses are biologically driven

• Resetting hormones and focusing on safety mode creates sustainable change

Journal Prompts

• What is my current set point with food, movement, sleep, and stress?

• What beliefs do I hold about weight, cravings, and my body’s ability to change?

• When do I feel most in protection mode?

• How can I shift from perfectionism to safety and self-regulation?

Closing Message: You are in the right place if you feel stuck or disconnected from your body. Your cravings, weight, and energy challenges are messages, not failures. By regulating hormones and moving safely, you can shift your set point, calm your nervous system, and release weight effortlessly over time.

GET THE HORMONE RESET EBOOK now: https://sherryshaban.com/hormonereset

Listen to more episodes at www.makepeacewithfood.com/podcast or subscribe to me on Spotify, Podcast, and YouTube so you never miss an episode!

Join my Facebook Community: www.myfoodfreedomlifestyle.com 

Work with me: www.sherryshaban.com/transform 

Go deeper: www.makepeacewithfood.com 
Share your biggest takeaway and tag me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn

In this episode, I want to dive deep into one of the most overlooked patterns that keeps us stuck in stress, cravings, and self-sabotage: the scarcity mindset.

I’ll help you understand how fear, stress, and the feeling of “not enough” shows up in every area of your life — your money, time, energy, body, health, and relationships — and why awareness is the first step toward breaking cycles of emotional eating and unwanted habits.

1. What Scarcity Really Means

Scarcity is more than money. It’s that “not enoughness” that creeps into our thoughts and decisions. I often see it in myself and my clients as:

• Not enough time, not enough money, not enough worthiness

• Doing things for everyone else but not for yourself

• The inner critic telling you you’re not thin enough, smart enough, or good enough

Scarcity is linked to being in protection mode, where your nervous system is constantly scanning for threats and lack.

2. Fear is the Root of Scarcity

I want you to know — fear isn’t bad. It’s your brain’s signal to guide you toward filling a perceived lack. But when we ignore or numb fear (with food, distraction, or avoidance), we get stuck in a loop of stress and self-sabotage.

Here’s what I notice:

• Fear, stress, worry, shame, and doubt all come from scarcity

• Emotions are here to give us messages, not punish us

• We have four primary emotions: fear, anger, sadness, and joy — everything else is a combination

3. Hormonal Consequences: Cortisol and Insulin

I want to explain why first-order thinking happens and why cravings hijack us:

• Cortisol: Released when we feel fear or stress. It drives impulsive decisions and hijacks our self-control

• Insulin: Our storage hormone. It stores energy and suppresses fat release — especially triggered by stress eating, refined carbs, and late-night snacks

Understanding how these two hormones interact with fear and scarcity helps explain why cravings, overeating, and stalled fat loss happen — even when we know better.

4. From Awareness to Action

Here’s what I want you to do:

• Notice scarcity thoughts and fear triggers

• Stop numbing or avoiding uncomfortable emotions

• See fear as your guide pointing to opportunities and choices

• Practice second-order thinking: consider the consequences before acting

Key Takeaways

• Scarcity isn’t just about money — it’s a lens through which we see the world

• Fear is not your enemy; it’s a signal to guide decisions

• Stress eating and cravings are tied to cortisol and insulin

• Awareness and emotional regulation are your first step toward freedom

Journal Prompts

1. Where do I notice scarcity thoughts in my life right now?

2. How do I typically respond to fear or stress?

3. What habits do I use to numb uncomfortable emotions?

4. How might I create a moment of second-order thinking next time I feel a craving or stress?

5. What small actions can help me shift from protection mode to safety mode today?

Closing Message from Me

Scarcity and fear are not weaknesses — they are signals. When we understand our nervous system, our hormones, and our emotional patterns, we can replace self-sabotage with conscious choices and reclaim our sense of safety, freedom, and abundance.

In this episode, Sherry breaks down one of the most misunderstood reasons weight release feels impossible — and it has nothing to do with willpower, discipline, or “doing it wrong.” It’s all about your nervous system, hormones, and how your body is trying to protect you.

1. The Autonomic Nervous System: Your Body’s Survival Command CenterSherry revisits the autonomic nervous system — the unconscious system running everything behind the scenes: thoughts, emotions, behavior, hormones, digestion, metabolism.

When life feels overwhelming or unsafe, this system shifts into protection mode (fight-or-flight, sympathetic state). This state isn’t bad or broken — it’s brilliant, designed to help you survive real danger. The problem? It was meant to last minutes or hours, not weeks, months, or years.

2. Why Protection Mode Slows MetabolismWhen your body senses danger, survival comes first, not weight release. It adapts by slowing metabolism, conserving energy, increasing cravings, and prioritizing fat storage.

If you struggle with constant hunger, sugar cravings, binge eating, or dopamine-seeking behaviors, remember: your body is not failing — it’s doing exactly what it was designed to do.

3. Cortisol: The “Keep You Alive” HormoneCortisol, released from the adrenal glands in protection mode, keeps blood sugar available, provides instant energy, and ensures survival.

Cortisol pulls glucose into the bloodstream, increases cravings for quick energy, triggers binge responses, and makes you feel like a bottomless pit. In modern life, we stress, sit, and scroll instead of running or climbing. That unused blood sugar circulates, creating hormonal consequences.

4. Insulin: The Storage HormoneWhen blood sugar stays high, insulin steps in to store glucose as glycogen, protect tissues, and convert excess sugar into body fat once storage is full.

When insulin is high, your body cannot access stored fat. This is why weight release stalls and dieting feels futile. Repeated cortisol + insulin spikes can lead to insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, PCOS, hypothyroid symptoms, or adrenal fatigue. Sherry reminds us: these conditions are results, not starting points.

5. Why Dieting Doesn’t Fix the Root ProblemTrying to “just stop sugar” while cortisol is high is like trying to stop your body from healing a cut. Logic cannot override biology. Elevated cortisol keeps cravings, binge urges, and food obsession active. That’s why Make Peace With Food starts with regulating the nervous system, not controlling food.

6. Scarcity Mindset = Protection ModeScarcity mindset is protection mode. Any “not enough” thought — not enough time, sleep, money, progress, worth — keeps cortisol elevated. Success doesn’t eliminate scarcity because it’s fear-based. Fear biologically signals danger.

7. Fear Creates ChemistryEvery thought creates chemistry: Scarcity → fear → protection mode → cortisol → cravings + storage. This is why people can know what to do, want change, yet still feel stuck. Biology always overrides willpower.

Takeaways

• Your body is protective, not failing.

• Cortisol and insulin are survival hormones.

• Chronic stress locks the body into storage mode.

• Dieting cannot fix a dysregulated nervous system.

• Scarcity mindset keeps you in protection mode.

Journal Prompts

• Where do I live in “not enough”?

• What fears keep my body in protection mode?

• How does my body protect me through food?

• What would safety feel like in my body today?

• What small shift could move me from scarcity to trust?

Listen to more episodes at makepeacewithfood.com/podcast or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and YouTube.

Listen to more episodes at www.makepeacewithfood.com/podcast or subscribe to me on Spotify, Podcast, and YouTube so you never miss an episode!

Join my Facebook Community: www.myfoodfreedomlifestyle.com 

Work with me: www.sherryshaban.com/transform 

Go deeper: www.makepeacewithfood.com 

Share your biggest takeaway and tag me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn

In today’s episode, I want to talk about something I see all the time with the women I coach — and it’s one of the most misunderstood experiences around food.

You notice that you’re always hungry…Or you notice that no matter how much you eat, you never truly feel full or satisfied.

At first, those sound like the same problem.

But biologically, hormonally, and emotionally — they are very different.

And when we can learn to tell the difference, we finally gain access to the tools that actually help us heal.

Always Hungry vs. Never Satiated— Why This Matters

I want you to tune into this distinction with curiosity, not judgment:

• Always feeling hungry is driven by your hunger hormone, ghrelin

• Never feeling satisfied is driven by your satiety hormone, leptin

When these hormones are out of balance, it can feel like:

• You just ate, but you’re still craving food

• You’re physically full, yet you can’t stop eating

• Food occupies your thoughts constantly

• You feel disconnected from your body’s signals

Nothing is wrong with you.This is your nervous system and hormones communicating.

Why Knowing What to Do Isn’t the Problem

You already know what to eat.You already know what you should be doing.

The problem isn’t information.

The problem is that most eating behaviors are governed by the unconscious mind, not the conscious one.

When stress, emotion, or overwhelm shows up, your conscious mind goes offline — and your unconscious mind runs the patterns it has learned. I call this the loop.

That’s why:

• Diets work temporarily

• Willpower fails under stress

• You feel like you’re “on” or “off” the wagon

This isn’t a motivation issue.It’s a nervous system issue.

Cortisol: The Hormone That Drives the Cycle

At the center of this conversation is cortisol — your primary stress hormone.

When cortisol is high:

• Sugar cravings increase

• Insulin stays elevated

• Fat storage is prioritized

• Sleep becomes disrupted

• Hunger and satiety signals become confused
  When your body doesn’t feel safe, it will always choose survival over satisfaction.

And dieting — restriction, tracking, constant vigilance — raises cortisol.

Ghrelin, Leptin & Why You Can’t “Just Stop Eating”

Ghrelin signals hunger when your stomach is empty.Leptin signals fullness from your fat cells.

In a regulated system, they work in opposition.

But under chronic stress, restriction, lack of sleep, or emotional overwhelm:

• Ghrelin stays elevated

• Leptin signals stop being received

• You develop leptin resistance

This is why you can feel painfully full — and still keep eating.

That’s not lack of control.That’s biology.

Why Dieting Has Never Fixed the Problem

Dieting focuses on the symptom — weight — instead of the cause.

When you diet:

• Cortisol rises

• Metabolism slows

• Muscle mass is lost

• Hunger hormones increase

• Binge-restrict cycles intensify

Your body only releases fat when it feels safe — not when it feels threatened.

Fat loss is a side effect of regulation, not restriction.

The Path Forward: Safety, Not Control

Healing begins when you:

• Stop outsourcing your wisdom to the scale

• Learn to regulate your nervous system

• Address emotional triggers instead of suppressing them

• Rebuild trust with your body

This is the work we do inside Make Peace With Food.And it’s why this approach is different from everything you’ve tried before.

You are not broken.Your body is communicating.

And healing is possible.

Listen to more episodes at makepeacewithfood.com/podcast or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and YouTube.

Listen to more episodes at www.makepeacewithfood.com/podcast or subscribe to me on Spotify, Podcast, and YouTube so you never miss an episode!

Join my Facebook Community: www.myfoodfreedomlifestyle.com 

Work with me: www.sherryshaban.com/transform 

Go deeper: www.makepeacewithfood.com 
Share your biggest takeaway and tag me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn

In today’s episode, I break down one of the most misunderstood hormones in health and weight regulation — the storage hormone — and why understanding it can completely change how you think about cravings, fat storage, emotional eating, and food freedom.

This conversation goes way beyond “what to eat.” I dive into how your mind, your nervous system, and your hormones work together to either keep you trapped in cycles of cravings… or set you free.

Why There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Diet

Here’s the truth: every single person responds to hormones differently. That means the same foods can trigger more storage in some bodies than others — and it’s never about willpower.

I explain why:

• The same food can create completely different blood sugar and insulin responses in different people.

• Comparing your eating to someone else’s will always disconnect you from your own body.

• True nourishment is personal — not prescriptive.
  This is exactly why dieting based on rules, calories, or “good vs bad” foods never leads to peace.

Meet the Storage Hormone (and Its Partner in Crime)

The storage hormone I talk about today is insulin — and its job is simple:

• When insulin is circulating, your body stores energy.
• When insulin is high, fat can’t be released.

But here’s the part most people miss: insulin doesn’t work alone. I explain how insulin teams up with cortisol, the stress hormone, and how stress-driven cravings can keep your body stuck in storage mode — even when you’re “eating healthy.”

Insulin Is Triggered by More Than Food

One of the most powerful insights I share: insulin is released not just by what you eat — but by anticipation.

That means thinking about food, restricting food, waiting for your “cheat meal,” or feeling scarcity around food… can all trigger insulin before you even take a bite.

This explains why dieting, tracking, and constantly focusing on food often make cravings worse instead of better.

Cravings, Blood Sugar & Emotional Eating

I break down the craving cycle:

1. Stress or emotion triggers cortisol

2. Cortisol drives the desire for quick sugar

3. Insulin stores that sugar

4. Blood sugar crashes

5. Cravings return

This loop keeps you eating, snacking, and thinking about food all day — not because you’re broken, but because your body is trying to survive.

Sugar Burner vs Fat Burner

• You’ll learn how to recognize if your body is stuck in “sugar-burning” mode:
• Constant snacking
• Feeling cranky when hungry
• Energy crashes
• Trouble sleeping
• Feeling disconnected from your stored energy

You cannot become a fat burner through restriction or force — only through nourishment, safety, and nervous system regulation.

The Power of Nourishment (Not Just Nutrition)

I invite you to shift your language — and your energy — around food. Instead of asking:

• “What should I eat?”
• “Is this healthy?”
• “How many calories is this?”

Ask instead: “How can I nourish myself right now?”

Nourishment includes:

• Food

• Rest

• Sleep

• Recovery

• Emotional safety

• Nervous system regulation

When nourishment leads, cravings quiet naturally.

Why Hormone Healing Starts in the Mind

Here’s the big picture: hormones respond to perception. Stress starts in the mind. Anticipation starts in the mind. Healing starts in the mind.

You can’t isolate one hormone, one behavior, or one food and expect lasting change. True food freedom comes from addressing the whole person.

Key Takeaways

• There is no universal “right” way to eat

• Insulin is influenced by stress, anticipation, and thoughts

• Cravings are biological — not moral

• Restriction fuels insulin dysregulation

• Nourishment creates safety

• Compassion creates change

Final Reflection

When you stop trying to control food…When you stop fighting your body…When you learn to nourish instead of restrict…

Weight, cravings, and food obsession lose their power — as a natural side effect.

You don’t need another diet. You need safety, understanding, and peace with food.

What if your weight struggles, cravings, emotional eating, and stubborn belly fat were never about discipline — but about stress?

In this episode, I’m breaking down the one hormone that quietly controls your metabolism, hunger signals, fat storage, emotional regulation, and eating behaviors — your stress hormone.

This conversation goes far beyond food rules and diet culture and into the real driver of self-sabotage: your nervous system state.

In This Episode, I’ll Teach You:

Why Cortisol Is the Master Hormone

Cortisol isn’t the enemy — it’s your body’s survival hormone. But when it stays elevated, your body shifts into protection mode, prioritizing survival over fat release, digestion, and emotional regulation.

When cortisol is high:

• Metabolism slows
• Cravings increase
• Hunger hormones rise
• Satiety signals shut down

Fat storage is favored

Your body isn’t broken — it’s responding exactly the way it was designed to.

How Chronic Stress Drives Emotional Eating

I explain how constant stress — emotional, psychological, physical, or environmental — creates a cycle of:

• Blood sugar spikes and crashes

• Intense cravings

• “Out of control” eating moments

• Shame and self-blame

And why trying to diet from this state only makes the cycle worse.

The Hidden Reason Willpower Fails

When cortisol is elevated, the prefrontal cortex goes offline — the part of your brain responsible for logic, decision-making, and restraint.

That’s why you can know exactly what to do… and still feel unable to stop.

This isn’t a character flaw — it’s biology.

How Cortisol Impacts Other Hormones

You’ll hear how chronic stress disrupts:

• Thyroid hormones → slowed metabolism

• Insulin → blood sugar chaos and fat storage

• Estrogen → PMS, PCOS symptoms, water retention

• Muscle tissue → metabolic slowdown

When one hormone becomes dysregulated, it creates a cascade throughout the entire body.

Why Weight Gain Often Shows Up in Your 40s

It’s not “just menopause.”

This phase of life often comes with:

• Increased emotional responsibility

• Caregiving stress

• Loss, grief, or major life transitions

The nervous system adapts to chronic survival mode — and the body responds accordingly.

How to Begin Regulating Cortisol

Healing doesn’t start with harder workouts or stricter diets.

It starts with:

• Nervous system safety

• Thought awareness

• Reducing perfectionism

• Nourishment (not restriction)

• Rest and recovery

• Addressing unresolved emotional stress
  

Health truly begins from the shoulders up.

• Key Takeaways
• Cortisol isn’t bad — chronic stress isFat loss begins with stress regulation, not restriction
• Emotional eating is a symptom, not a failure
• Healing the stress response changes everything

Closing Reminder

Your body is not working against you.It’s responding to stress the only way it knows how.

When you create safety — everything changes.

Listen to more episodes at makepeacewithfood.com/podcast or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and YouTube.

Listen to more episodes at www.makepeacewithfood.com/podcast or subscribe to me on Spotify, Podcast, and YouTube so you never miss an episode!

Join my Facebook Community: www.myfoodfreedomlifestyle.com 

Work with me: www.sherryshaban.com/transform 

Go deeper: www.makepeacewithfood.com 

Share your biggest takeaway and tag me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn

In this episode, Sherry talks with Amy Stein, an herbalist, energy medicine educator, trauma-informed breathwork facilitator, and motivational speaker, to explore what it really means to heal — beyond symptoms, diagnoses, and willpower.

This episode is a powerful reminder that your body is not broken — it’s communicating.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

Amy shares her personal journey of growing up immersed in Western medicine, only to find herself chronically ill in her mid-20s — mirroring the very patients she once worked with. What followed was years of unanswered questions, standardized protocols, and the painful realization that being “too sensitive” was never the problem.

Together, Sherry and Amy unpack the deeper layers of healing — trauma, safety, energy, breath, and the body’s innate intelligence.

Key Topics We Explore:

1. When the Body Speaks — and No One Listens

Amy describes what it’s like to experience invisible illness and autoimmune symptoms in a system that only validates what it can measure. This conversation will resonate deeply with anyone who has felt dismissed, unseen, or told “everything looks normal” when it clearly isn’t.

2. Trauma Isn’t Just What Happened — It’s the Body’s Response

This episode gently dismantles the idea that trauma has to be “big” to be real.

• Trauma can be grief, chronic stress, dieting, emotional suppression, or even daily traffic.

• The body doesn’t distinguish between past and present — or perceived and real threats.

What matters is how the nervous system responds.

3. Safety, the Nervous System & Why Healing Can Feel Impossible

Sherry and Amy explore why true healing can’t happen in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn — and why so many people stay stuck in survival mode for decades.

You’ll hear how:

• Restriction (including dieting) can be traumatic to the body

• Feeling unsafe in your body drives self-sabotage

• The body prioritizes survival over thriving

And why learning to feel safe again is foundational for healing, weight regulation, and emotional freedom.

4. Why Awareness Alone Isn’t Enough

Many people in therapy develop deep awareness of their triggers — yet remain stuck.

Amy explains how repeatedly retelling trauma without engaging the body can actually re-traumatize the nervous system, and why healing must include the physical and energetic body — not just the mind.

5. Breathwork: The Most Accessible Healing Tool We Have

Breathwork becomes the heart of this episode.

Amy explains why breath is so powerful:

• It directly regulates the nervous systemIt brings awareness back into the body

• It requires no equipment, no story, and no perfection
  

Unlike meditation, breathwork allows movement, sound, emotion, and release — giving the body permission to process what it’s been holding for years.

6. Energy Medicine, Ancient Wisdom & Trusting What You Can’t See

This conversation bridges ancient healing systems — herbalism, meridians, energy medicine — with modern nervous system science.

Amy shares how combining:

• Plant medicine

• Energy medicine

• Breathwork

• Trauma-informed support

created the breakthroughs that traditional medicine never could.

Powerful Takeaways

• Your body is not failing — it’s communicating

• Trauma is stored energy that needs movement, not suppression

• Healing requires safety, not force

• The body leads; the mind follows

• Simple tools can create profound shifts

• You don’t need to be “fixed” — you need to be supported

Closing Reflection

Healing isn’t about arriving at a destination — it’s about learning how to meet yourself with awareness, compassion, and trust.

As Amy reminds us:

“As long as you’re in a physical body, healing is part of the journey.”

This episode is an invitation to stop outsourcing your power — and begin listening to the wisdom that’s been within you all along.

In this powerful conversation, Sherry sits down with Josh Dech—holistic nutritionist and gut health specialist—for a deep exploration of joy, inflammation, trauma, nutrition, and the true root causes of chronic disease.

What begins as a lighthearted exchange about energy and joy quickly unfolds into one of the most comprehensive, grounded discussions on gut health you’ll hear—blending science, clinical experience, and humanity.

1. Joy Is a State, Not a Circumstance Josh opens by sharing why it feels natural for him to say life is “great,” even during stressful seasons. Joy, he explains, is not the absence of hardship—it’s a chosen state of being. Happiness may change with circumstances, but joy can exist alongside difficulty. This mindset alone sets the foundation for healing.

2. From Paramedic to Root-Cause Healing Josh shares his journey from paramedic to holistic nutritionist, witnessing firsthand how Western medicine often manages symptoms without restoring health. A pivotal moment came when he worked with a 57-year-old woman on 26 medications who—through lifestyle and nutrition changes—went on to break powerlifting world records. That experience shattered the myth that it’s ever “too late” to heal.

3. Inflammation Is Not the Enemy One of the most important reframes of the episode: inflammation is not the problem—it’s the signal. It’s your body trying to heal. The real question becomes, what is the body responding to? You can’t numb pain and expect healing; you must remove the thorn.

4. The Gut Disease Spectrum Josh explains how gut dysfunction exists on a spectrum—from bloating, constipation, and diarrhea to IBS, Crohn’s, and colitis. When root causes go unaddressed, irritation can progress into autoimmune disease, leaving many people mislabeled as “genetic” or “incurable.”

5. Why Gut Disease Is Exploding In the last 30 years, gut disease has increased fivefold worldwide. Over 50% of cases are in North America, alongside rising pesticide exposure, ultra-processed foods, chronic stress, trauma, and hustle culture. This is not genetics—it’s environment.

6. Trauma, Stress & the Nervous System Josh explains how emotional trauma, grief, chronic stress, and even generational experiences can directly impact gut bacteria, immune response, hormones, and inflammation. Healing must address both biology and lived experience.

7. Functional Medicine vs. Sick Care Western medicine asks, “What’s the diagnosis?” Functional medicine asks, “Why did this begin?” Healing requires understanding history, not just assigning labels.

8. Is There a Point of No Return? Josh answers clearly: only if an organ has been removed. Even autoimmune disease is only about 25% genetic. The rest is modifiable. He shares stories of people reversing decades of Crohn’s and colitis—becoming symptom-free and medication-free.

9. Nutrition Is Not One-Size-Fits-All Food is a tool, not a religion. Plant-based and animal-based approaches can both be healing depending on context, gut integrity, and nervous system state.

10. How You Eat Matters Digestion begins before the first bite. Eating in stress shuts digestion down. Chewing, slowing down, and eating in safety are foundational to healing.

11. Food Quality & Modern Farming Josh emphasizes prioritizing food quality, reducing pesticide exposure, and choosing real food over convenience.

12. Hormones Are Downstream Hormonal imbalances are symptoms—not root causes. Address inflammation, gut health, and stress, and hormones often regulate naturally.

Listen to more episodes at makepeacewithfood.com/podcast or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and YouTube.

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