So Frickin' Healthy

You Before Baby and You After Baby Are Not the Same Person ft. Ben Fox

Yes, it's a guy talking about maternity leave. Danna said it before Megan could. But here's the thing — Ben Fox spent five years coaching women through one of the most professionally precarious moments of their lives, and he's genuinely good at it. This episode is for anyone who's pregnant, thinking about getting pregnant, or just came back from leave wondering why nothing feels the same anymore. Spoiler: you're not the same person. That's not a bug.

About Ben Fox: Ben is a career coach who helps burnt-out and misaligned leaders in tech quit toxic jobs and figure out what's next. He spent five years on the Maven Clinic platform coaching women through maternity leave — before, during, and after. He's also appeared on Back After Burnout (SwissCast Network), which Megan enthusiastically recommends.

What You'll Learn:

1. Why the person you are before your first baby and the person after are genuinely two different humans
2. When and how to tell your boss you're pregnant — and why timing and seniority actually matter
3. The fear of not being "good enough" when you return — and the better question to ask instead
4. How maternity leave laws vary wildly (US vs Switzerland vs Germany) and why you need to know yours
5. The "quit date" strategy for women who know they're done before they even go back
6. Why planning your exit around a baby might actually be the smartest career move you make

Real Talk Moments: Megan shares that a colleague once told her every woman who'd had a baby had eventually left their company — and she'd never even noticed. Danna's take: she was already self-employed by the time her kids arrived, so maternity leave wasn't really a thing — she was just pregnant while hustling. Both admit they'd never really thought about any of this until now, which is probably why they made the episode.

Ben's Parting Wisdom: "There's this you right now, and then there's this you after you have your first child. They're two completely different people. Trust her."

Connect with Ben Fox: Find Ben online and listen to his episode on Back After Burnout on the SwissCast Network.

Ben's Website - https://benfoxcoaching.com

And let's not forget his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfoxcoaching/

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00:00 Pregnancy Stories and Reality

02:44 Why Maternity Leave Matters

08:30 Ben’s Coaching Playbook

15:09 Pregnancy Changes Plans

16:25 Leave Laws And Timing

21:50 Returning To Work Wisdom

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So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

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Your body's been dropping hints

Time to listen! Check out the Urban Cleanse and give yourself the refresh you deserve.

Organilicious - Danna, Functional Medicine Health Coach

Got 10 Minutes? What You Eat Is Messing With Your ADHD

Megan was TikToking, as one does, and landed on a video about food-induced ADHD symptoms. She immediately thought of Danna. Because obviously. Both certified ADHD-havers, both deeply invested in food — which basically makes them experts. This one's for anyone whose brain feels like it's running 47 tabs and someone just spilled coffee on the keyboard.

Whether you're diagnosed, suspicious, or just chronically scattered, the food-brain connection is real — and it goes way deeper than "eat less sugar."

What You'll Learn:

1. How certain foods can trigger ADHD-like symptoms even in people without a diagnosis
2. Why sugar and high-carb breakfasts are basically a wrecking ball for your focus
3. The caffeine paradox — why it helps some ADHD brains and completely derails others (Danna can't even handle decaf)
4. The specific supplements worth actually trying: omega-3s, magnesium, iron, zinc, L-Tyrosine, and lion's mane
5. Why buying a pile of supplements without changing your diet first is just expensive wishful thinking
6. How Megan accidentally self-medicated with coffee for years — and only figured it out when she quit

Megan has been secretly giving her husband decaf for years. He just found out. She has no regrets.

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00:00 Food And ADHD

01:06 Sugar Makes Symptoms Spike

03:34 Caffeine And Self Medication

05:47 Supplements And Smart Habits

08:47 Diet First And Next Steps

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So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

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Session 6: When Life Gets in the Way

It's the final session, and Joanna arrives with a grimace. Travel, illness, holiday chaos—the last month knocked her off course. The nutrition slipped. The exhaustion came back.

But here's the thing Danna wants her to see: the fact that she feels the difference now? That's the win. Her body has become her own accountability partner. She doesn't need Danna to tell her something's off—she knows.

This is the three-month wall. Everyone hits it. There's always a reason to slip: summer means ice cream, winter means soul food. The question isn't how to be perfect—it's how to get back on.

The tools for the road ahead: the five-second rule before every food decision. Meal prep reframed as "just tomorrow's meal" instead of an overwhelming weekly task. And when it all falls apart—because it will—take a breath and start again. Even if it's a month later.

This is the final session of Joanna's health journey.

If you want to hear the all of the coaching sessions (the real-time coaching conversations between Danna and Joanna), listen on So Frickin’ Healthy.

Listen to all the coaching sessions

If you want the coaching “behind the scenes” (health history, coaching debriefs, and Joanna’s reflection), listen on Becoming a Health Coach.

Listen to all the post session debriefs

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0:00 - Introduction and Catching Up

0:23 - Challenges and Setbacks

2:26 - Strategies for Success

16:01 - Meal Prep Motivation: Adding Flavor and Convenience

17:47 - Weekend Prep: Making Life Easier

22:02 - Handling Leftovers and Shopping Strategies

Mentioned in this episode:

So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts for English-speaking Switzerland

SwissCast Network

Check out Becoming a Health Coach

Want more?

BHC Coaching Series - Joanna's Playlist

Book Your Discovery Call

Curious? Let's chat! Book a discovery call and let's see if we're a match made in foodie heaven

Organilicious - Danna, Functional Medicine Health Coach

Listen to the Whole Coaching Series

Coaching Series - Joanna's Playlist

Got 10 Minutes?

This one wasn't planned. Megan and Danna were just... talking. About uncomfortable bras. And overstimulation. And naps. And somehow it turned into one of the most relatable 10 minutes they've recorded. Turns out an ill-fitting bra on a walk can tell you a lot about your nervous system — and a 40-minute lie-down might be the most underrated health tool you're not using.

What You'll Learn:

1. The three types of overstimulation (spoiler: your bra might be one of them)
2. Why ADHD and sensory sensitivity are more connected than most people realise
3. How burnout can turn up your sensory volume — and why that's not in your head
4. Megan's case for napping as a full system reboot (ctrl+alt+delete for your brain)
5. How to actually nap if you're someone who "can't nap" — Danna is skeptical, Megan has a plan

Danna wakes up a raging bitch from naps. Megan is evangelical about them. Neither of them is wrong.

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00:00 - Welcome and Setup

00:21 - Bras and Sensory Overload

02:21 - ADHD Spectrum and Burnout

04:00 - Naps as a Brain Reboot

05:53 - How to Train Power Naps

Mentioned in this episode:

So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts for English-speaking Switzerland

SwissCast Network

Money. Just the word made Danna's face look like she'd been slapped with a cold, wet, rotten fish.

In this episode, we sit down with Arielle Tucker —certified financial planner, IRS enrolled agent, and fellow expat—to talk about the thing nobody wants to talk about: how financial stress is wrecking your health, and what to actually do about it.

Whether you're avoiding logging into your bank account, drowning in tax complexity as an American abroad, or just hoping retirement will somehow sort itself out—this one's for you.

What You'll Learn:

1. The top three money tasks people avoid (and why looking at your bank account feels physically threatening)
2. Why financial safety isn't just a number—it's a feeling, and you need both
3. How to figure out your cash flow and give every dollar a job
4. What a proper emergency fund actually looks like in Switzerland vs. the US
5. How to talk to aging parents about estate planning without it getting weird
6. The inheritance tax trap expats living in Europe don't see coming
7. What Arielle would tell every 22-year-old (and it's not "buy crypto")

Real Talk Moments: Danna opens up about growing up broke, then suddenly rich, with zero money education in between—and why that's haunted her ever since. Megan shares her dad's farm bankruptcy story and the gut punch of watching everything get auctioned off. And mid-episode, Danna officially retreats to the corner in tears when Arielle starts talking lake houses and $14 million inheritance thresholds.

Arielle's Parting Wisdom: "Progress over perfection. Just get started."

Connect with Arielle Tucker: Passport to Wealth (fellow SwissCast Network show—go check it out!)

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00:00 Money Anxiety and Relief

01:29 Hosts Get Real About Money

05:30 Top Money Tasks We Avoid

12:51 Financial Safety and Runway

26:40 Family Planning and Getting Started

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Ready to hit reset without the boring juice-only drama?

The Urban Cleanse is calling your name — come see what it's all about!

Organilicious - Danna, Functional Medicine Health Coach

So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts for English-speaking Switzerland

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You think you eat pretty well. You don't snack that much. You're basically fine. And then you keep a food diary for a week and suddenly — oh. OH. Danna and Megan break down why food diaries are one of the most underrated health tools out there, what they actually reveal (spoiler: the coffee with cream counts), and how to find the version that doesn't make you want to quit on day two.

What You'll Learn:

1. Why a food diary is a mirror, not a punishment
2. The spectrum from "red dot in your calendar" to full macro-tracking — and where you probably belong
3. What to track beyond food: sleep, stress, symptoms, and timing
4. Why your coach will always spot things you've normalised
5. How a CGM and a food diary together will blow your mind (in a good way)
6. The one thing Danna's still working on herself (hi, coffee with cream)

Want a full episode on this? Drop it in the comments — Megan is revved up and ready.

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00:00 Why Track Food

00:50 Easy Logging Tools

02:49 Aha Moments From Tracking

04:50 Food Diary Spectrum

07:54 Wearables And Wrap Up

Mentioned in this episode:

So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

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Session 5: Beyond the Plate

The food logging? Still not happening. But here's the thing—Joanna's body has figured itself out anyway. She naturally stops eating by seven, doesn't want anything but coffee until ten or eleven, and the three o'clock slump that used to flatten her? Gone. Now five o'clock rolls around and she's surprised the day is already over.

So this session, she's ready to talk about something new: movement.

Danna breaks down the basics—strength training matters more than cardio, especially for women as they age. Muscle protects bones, supports metabolism, and keeps everything working. But it doesn't have to mean a gym or dumbbells (which her kids would immediately claim as toys anyway).

Joanna already knows what works for her: Pilates. It's the thing that made her chronic back pain disappear. She just needs to find a class and commit.

The goal? Research studios. Find a time that sticks. Show up.

This is session five of Joanna's health journey.

If you want to hear the all of the coaching sessions (the real-time coaching conversations between Danna and Joanna), listen on So Frickin’ Healthy.

Listen to all the coaching sessions

If you want the coaching “behind the scenes” (health history, coaching debriefs, and Joanna’s reflection), listen on Becoming a Health Coach.

Listen to all the post session debriefs

Check out the So Frickin' Healthy Website

Leave us a Voicemail

Join the So Frickin' Healthy Community

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Detox doesn't have to be a punishment

Peek behind the curtain and discover what the Urban Cleanse can do for you.

Organilicious - Danna, Functional Medicine Health Coach

Listen to the Whole Coaching Series

Coaching Series - Joanna's Playlist

So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts for English-speaking Switzerland

SwissCast Network

Check out Becoming a Health Coach

Want more?

BHC Coaching Series - Joanna's Playlist

Fermented foods. Leftovers. Avocado. Kombucha. Spinach. All things the wellness world worships — and all things that could be absolutely wrecking you if histamine intolerance is your thing. Danna's been dropping the H-word in episodes for years and Megan finally made her explain herself. Consider this your 10-minute crash course.

What You'll Learn:

1. What histamine intolerance actually is (spoiler: it's a bucket, not a blood test)
2. The surprisingly wide range of symptoms — from migraines and skin flushing to period pain and brain fog
3. Which "healthy" foods are secretly high histamine (Popeye was not okay)
4. Yes, you can test for it in Switzerland — and yes, insurance covers it
5. Why allergy season and histamine intolerance are more connected than you think
6. How to try a low-histamine approach at home without losing your mind

Also: Megan coined "eye juice and flower sperm." We're putting it on a t-shirt.

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00:00 Morning Check In

01:00 Why Histamines Matter

01:52 What Histamine Intolerance Is

03:15 Triggers and Symptoms

05:11 Testing and Low Histamine Plan

Mentioned in this episode:

So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts for English-speaking Switzerland

SwissCast Network

Peptides, Perimenopause & the Wellness Tool Nobody Is Talking About ft. Dr. Mary Pines

Listener Gina had a question: what's the deal with peptides — the ones that aren't GLP-1s, the ones all over social media? Are they legit or total BS? Danna immediately said: Mary. Dr. Mary Pines is back on SFH for the first time in three years, neck-deep in the peptide scene and ready to spill everything.

About Dr. Mary Pines: PhD-level functional medicine practitioner specializing in hormonal and metabolic health for midlife women. She's been working with peptides for nearly a decade and recently folded peptide therapy into her 12-week program Better Beyond 40. She also hosts The Better Beyond Podcast — and yes, Danna was a guest on it. Check out that episode.

What You'll Learn:

1. What peptides actually are and how they differ from hormones
2. The Cold War origin story of BPC-157 (Soviet super soldiers, no joke)
3. The autoimmune and allergy connection — and the peptide that can calm a haywire immune system
4. Whether lifestyle alone can boost peptide production naturally
5. Why sourcing is the single biggest issue — and what to watch out for
6. The four peptides worth knowing about as starting points
7. Why peptides are never step one, and what needs to come first

Real Talk Moments: Danna asks if there's a peptide that can kill cortisol. The answer is a compassionate "no — but also maybe." She also opens up about doing everything right and still waking at 4:30am wired and suffering. Turns out Dr. Mary's functional medicine doctor has the same problem. The solidarity was real. Megan, meanwhile, catches Dr. Mary appearing on another podcast and declares full mock-betrayal: "Cheating on me with another podcast."

Dr. Mary's Parting Wisdom: "Your body knows what to do with these things. We're really just replacing something that was lost."

Connect with Dr. Mary Pines: Everything you need to know about Mary can be found on her website: The Better Beyond 40 Program

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00:00 Peptides Who They’re For

04:00 What Peptides Are and Why They Work

11:56 Immune Balance GLP-1 and Lifestyle Boosts

19:43 Symptoms Labs First

22:08 Peptide Sourcing Reality

26:02 Top Peptides and Wrap

Mentioned in this episode:

So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts for English-speaking Switzerland

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Ready to hit reset without the boring juice-only drama?

The Urban Cleanse is calling your name — come see what it's all about!

Organilicious - Danna, Functional Medicine Health Coach

Got 10 Minutes? Let's Talk Glycemic Index

Danna wanted to talk about "glucose index." Megan corrected her and then proceeded to geek out for the next 10 minutes—and honestly, it was worth it. If you've ever been confused by the difference between glycemic index and glycemic load, wondered whether carbs are actually the enemy, or just been curious why that afternoon energy crash keeps hitting you like a truck, this one's for you.

Megan brings 17 years of diabetes care industry experience to the table, and the two break down what GI actually means, who really needs to pay attention to it, and why eating your bread last (with butter, obviously) is a perfectly valid life strategy.

What You'll Learn:

1. The difference between glycemic index and glycemic load—and why it matters
2. Why food order and combinations change everything
3. Who actually needs to think about this (hint: more people than you'd think)
4. What a CGM can reveal that no food app ever will
5. The visceral fat connection nobody talks about enough

That's your 10 minutes. Go eat something low-GI. Or don't. But maybe eat the salad first.

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00:00.0 - Mini Episode Kickoff

01:20.5 - Glycemic Index Basics

03:40.5 - Food Pairing and Swaps

05:16.2 - Glycemic Load Explained

08:41.8 - CGM and Belly Fat Wrap

Mentioned in this episode:

So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts for English-speaking Switzerland

SwissCast Network