The Healthy, Real Food®️ Podcast with Erin Hart, BSN, RN

Understanding Your Nervous System for Lasting Weight Loss

In episode 253 of Monday Mindset, we explore how understanding your nervous system can help you break free from emotional eating, manage stress, and achieve sustainable weight loss. Learn about Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Steven Porges, and how it explains the connection between your nervous system and behaviors around food. Discover how to recognize different states of your nervous system (ventral vagal, sympathetic, and dorsal vagal) and their impact on your weight loss journey. This episode is packed with insights and practical steps to help you feel calm, confident, and in control. Don't miss part two next week where we'll dive into techniques for shifting out of stress and into a state conducive to weight loss.

00:00 Introduction: The Struggle with Food and Weight Loss

00:20 Understanding the Nervous System's Role

02:38 Polyvagal Theory Explained

03:25 Recognizing Nervous System States

09:55 Mapping Your Nervous System

11:38 Creating a Safe State for Weight Loss

12:41 Conclusion and Next Steps

If you are a woman that feels out of control around food and wants to lose weight for the last time, I can help you.

Sign up for a free weight loss strategy session to learn how to overcome emotional eating today!

Go to www.healthyrealfood.com/consult to learn more and claim your free seat before the spots are filled!

Ready to lose weight for the last time? Ready to Stop Starting Over?

If you’re tired of the dieting rollercoaster and want a clear, customized plan that actually works... let’s talk.

Get your free 1 hour weight loss strategy session with me on Zoom to help you break through what’s keeping you stuck, create a plan that fits your life and start seeing results you can actually sustain.

Click here to book your free strategy session with me now: www.healthyrealfood.com

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

This is your year. Let’s make it happen...together.

Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: The 4 Ds to Protect Your Time & Lose Weight for Good (Ep. 252)

Erin Hart explains that there’s never a perfect time to start a health journey, especially for busy women over 40 juggling family, work, and community responsibilities, and argues that prioritizing self-care is not selfish because it helps you show up whole and healthy for others. Drawing from her own 2020 starting point at 284 pounds as an ICU nurse and mom of three, she teaches the “four Ds” to protect time and energy for weight loss success: delete, delay, delegate, and disappoint. She also shares a “rule of thirds” support system model—one-way support from a coach/mentor, mutual peer support, and pouring into others—plus a five-minute exercise to sort commitments into non-negotiables, optional wants, and a not-to-do list. She invites listeners to book a free strategy session at healthyrealfood.com.

00:00 Start Today Not Someday

02:40 Why You Feel Too Busy

05:28 Self Care Isn’t Selfish

07:51 The Four Ds Framework

08:27 Delete and Delay

09:37 Delegate and Disappoint

11:30 Rule of Thirds Support

13:32 Your Five Minute Reset

15:29 Simple Plan and Next Steps

16:21 Final Encouragement and Goodbye

Ready to lose weight for the last time? Ready to Stop Starting Over?

If you’re tired of the dieting rollercoaster and want a clear, customized plan that actually works... let’s talk.

Get your free 1 hour weight loss strategy session with me on Zoom to help you break through what’s keeping you stuck, create a plan that fits your life and start seeing results you can actually sustain.

Click here to book your free strategy session with me now: www.healthyrealfood.com

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

This is your year. Let’s make it happen...together.

In this episode, I'm sharing a teaching I recorded a while back for a course I created, because I still see these same eight pitfalls trip up women in the weight loss phase today. If you've ever found yourself overeating, self sabotaging, or regaining weight you already worked so hard to lose, this one is for you. I walk through the eight pitfalls I see most often as a health coach, the ones that quietly derail progress even when you're trying really hard, so you can start to see them coming before they take you out.

In this episode:

We talk about excuses, exceptions, and ego, and why those three things keep so many women from getting all the way to their goal. We talk about perfectionism and the all-or-nothing mindset, and why one off plan bite doesn't have to turn into the whole plate of dessert. We talk about the trap of comparison, and why the only person worth measuring yourself against is who you were six months ago. We get into emotional eating and why the inner work matters as much as the meal plan itself. We talk about NEAT, the sneaky way your body slows you down without you noticing, and why movement outside the gym matters more than people think. We talk about relying on willpower instead of building a plan that removes the guesswork. We talk about following the wrong meal plan, and why the right plan is simply the one you can stick to. And we close with the pitfall of people pleasing, and why your own self care has to come first.

Resources mentioned:

Grab my free 30 Sugar and Flour Free Meal Ideas at www.healthyrealfood.com/freemealideas

James Clear's failure pre-mortem exercise, mentioned near the end of the episode

Ready for support putting this into practice?

Book your free strategy session at www.healthyrealfood.com/consult and let's build a plan that actually works for your life.

Ready to lose weight for the last time? Ready to Stop Starting Over?

If you’re tired of the dieting rollercoaster and want a clear, customized plan that actually works... let’s talk.

Get your free 1 hour weight loss strategy session with me on Zoom to help you break through what’s keeping you stuck, create a plan that fits your life and start seeing results you can actually sustain.

Click here to book your free strategy session with me now: www.healthyrealfood.com

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

This is your year. Let’s make it happen...together.

Lose Weight for the Last Time: Mary McCoy on 110-Pound Weight Loss, Maintenance & Peace with Food (Ep. 250)

In episode 250 of the Healthy Real Food podcast, Erin interviews NutriHabit mentor Mary McCoy, a breast cancer survivor who lost 110 pounds with a real food lifestyle and has maintained it for over a year. Mary shares why she started in October 2023 without waiting for a “perfect” date, how giving up sugar and flour quickly improved how she felt, and the non-scale victories that came with losing over 100 pounds. She discusses emotional eating rooted in trauma and self-soothing, and the tools that helped her change—journaling, therapy, pausing to identify emotions, and reframing self-talk from “trying” to “doing.” Mary explains her abstinence approach, shifting from diet mentality to identity, building exercise gradually, using accountability, and practicing maintenance breaks to learn how to add food back. Erin closes by inviting listeners to healthyrealfood.com for a free strategy session.

00:00 Lose Weight For Good

02:15 Meet Mary McCoy

03:15 Cancer To Thriving

06:05 Real Food Basics

08:07 Non Scale Victories

10:08 Roots Of Weight Gain

13:12 Tools For Emotions

16:01 Identity And Self Talk

18:59 Maintenance Mindset

25:18 Exercise Progression

28:59 Starter Tips And Accountability

31:40 Maintenance Breaks And Photos

38:57 Community And Closing

Ready to lose weight for the last time? Ready to Stop Starting Over?

If you’re tired of the dieting rollercoaster and want a clear, customized plan that actually works... let’s talk.

Get your free 1 hour weight loss strategy session with me on Zoom to help you break through what’s keeping you stuck, create a plan that fits your life and start seeing results you can actually sustain.

Click here to book your free strategy session with me now: www.healthyrealfood.com

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

This is your year. Let’s make it happen...together.

Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible? Insulin Resistance, Root Causes, and Simple Metabolic Shifts (Ep. 249)

In episode 249 of the Healthy Real Food podcast, host Erin interviews functional medicine practitioner Dr. Jason Shumard, who specializes in type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and metabolic health, particularly for women who feel stuck despite “doing everything right.” Dr. Shumard shares how his mother’s worsening diabetes and eventual death in 2021 led him to functional medicine and to helping patients normalize A1C and get off medications. He explains insulin resistance as a cellular problem (not just high blood sugar) and describes how repeated sugar and insulin spikes can shut down insulin receptors, driving cravings through effects on GLP-1 and leptin. They discuss early testing (A1C, fasting glucose, insulin, triglyceride/HDL ratio), why extreme restriction raises cortisol and slows metabolism, the benefits of real-food, balanced eating, and the importance of resistance training and sustainable, structured plans—especially with GLP-1 use.

00:00 Is Diabetes Reversible

01:38 Meet Dr Jason Shumard

03:24 His Story and Mission

08:18 What Insulin Resistance Is

12:12 Root Causes and Testing

14:32 Functional Medicine Explained

17:44 Early Signs and Lab Markers

20:19 Cravings GLP1 and Hunger

21:42 Real Food to Heal Cells

25:03 Why Eat Less Fails Women

27:55 Sustainable Weight Loss Plan

32:52 Muscle Mass and Strength

36:04 Never Too Late to Heal

39:45 Start With Your Why

43:24 Where to Find Dr Shumard

To learn more from Dr. Shumard, visit his website at www.drshumard.com

Ready to lose weight for the last time? Ready to Stop Starting Over?

If you’re tired of the dieting rollercoaster and want a clear, customized plan that actually works... let’s talk.

Get your free 1 hour weight loss strategy session with me on Zoom to help you break through what’s keeping you stuck, create a plan that fits your life and start seeing results you can actually sustain.

Click here to book your free strategy session with me now: www.healthyrealfood.com

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

This is your year. Let’s make it happen...together.

Episode summary: In today's episode, Erin shares her recent ADD diagnosis at forty-two and what it revealed about her 100-pound weight gain in her twenties and thirties. She breaks down the science behind ADD, dopamine, and emotional eating, explains why this connection goes undiagnosed in so many women, and shares what has actually helped her and the hundreds of women she coaches.

Key takeaways:

• ADD looks completely different in women than in men. It often shows up as anxiety, perfectionism, emotional intensity, and inattentiveness rather than hyperactivity — which is why so many women are never diagnosed.
• ADD is a dopamine regulation issue, and the ADD brain is constantly searching for ways to raise dopamine. Food, especially sugar and processed carbohydrates, is one of the fastest available sources.
• Research shows adults with ADHD have 2.7 times higher odds of obesity and are 4.1 times more likely to have binge eating disorder compared to those without ADHD.
• Emotional eating is not a willpower problem. It is your brain seeking relief, soothing, and pleasure — and understanding that is the beginning of real change.
• Structure, real food, inner work, accountability, and joyful movement are the most powerful tools for breaking the dopamine-food cycle.

Resources and links mentioned:

• CHADD (National Resource on ADHD): www.chadd.org
• ADDitude Magazine — ADHD and Dopamine: www.additudemag.com/slideshows/adhd-obesity-link
• PubMed: ADHD and Obesity Scoping Review (2025): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40077657
• PubMed: ADHD and Overweight in Children, Meta-Analysis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36952326
• Join the NutriHabit app waitlist: www.healthyrealfood.com/nutrihabit

Ready for support? If this episode resonated with you, I would love to connect. Book a free strategy session with me at www.healthyrealfood.com/schedule/free-consult — we will talk about where you are, what has gotten in your way, and whether the NutriHabit coaching program is the right fit for you. Find out more at www.healthyrealfood.com.

Ready to lose weight for the last time? Ready to Stop Starting Over?

If you’re tired of the dieting rollercoaster and want a clear, customized plan that actually works... let’s talk.

Get your free 1 hour weight loss strategy session with me on Zoom to help you break through what’s keeping you stuck, create a plan that fits your life and start seeing results you can actually sustain.

Click here to book your free strategy session with me now: www.healthyrealfood.com

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

This is your year. Let’s make it happen...together.

Nervous System Regulation for Emotional Eating: JD Tremblay on Discipline, Resilience & the “Double Breath”

Erin shares a candid moment from her Healthy Real Food Podcast interview with JD Tremblay where she feels off her game due to family stress, and JD teaches a nervous system regulation tool called the “double breath” (inhale to perceived full capacity, inhale again, hold, then release slowly) that quickly calms the body and can be done discreetly. JD, an integrated engineer, certified naturopath practitioner, ultra triathlete, and director at Hungry Warrior Academy, explains that discipline comes from following structure and systems, not perfection. He outlines the DECA framework—Discipline, Energy regulation, Capacity, Action—encouraging listeners to start with small “non-negotiables,” build quick wins, and avoid unrealistic comparisons. They discuss resilience through recovery, sleep, naps, meditation (minimum 12 minutes), and pattern recognition around eating behaviors.

00:00 Podcast Intro and Guest Tease

01:07 Meet JD Tremblay

03:07 JD Origin Story and Military Lessons

04:36 Double Breath Reset Demo

08:51 Resilience Through Discipline

09:50 DECA System Explained

14:52 Quick Wins and Taking Action

19:04 Recovery and Meditation Tools

21:05 Emotional Eating and Regulation

22:21 Pattern Awareness and Wrap Up

Ready to lose weight for the last time? Ready to Stop Starting Over?

If you’re tired of the dieting rollercoaster and want a clear, customized plan that actually works... let’s talk.

Get your free 1 hour weight loss strategy session with me on Zoom to help you break through what’s keeping you stuck, create a plan that fits your life and start seeing results you can actually sustain.

Click here to book your free strategy session with me now: www.healthyrealfood.com

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

This is your year. Let’s make it happen...together.

It’s Not Too Late: Patricia Sigerson’s Real Food Transformation, Staying Off Meds & Changing Your Family Tree | Ep. 247

In Episode 247 of the Healthy Real Food podcast, Erin interviews NutriHabit mentor Patricia Sigerson about her health transformation and why she believes it’s not too late to change your trajectory. Patricia shares how watching family members struggle with diabetes, medications, and declining health shaped her deep “why” to stay off meds and use food as medicine, including improving her cholesterol without statins. They discuss separating food from connection, creating new active memories with grandkids through salads, smoothies, apples, and outdoor activities, and the mindset shifts that support long-term maintenance: progress over perfection, course-correcting quickly, planning and preparation, having freezer backups, and surrounding yourself with a supportive community for accountability and encouragement.

00:00 Hopeful Episode Intro

02:31 Meet Patricia Mentor

06:45 Patricia Deep Why

12:06 Grandkids New Traditions

15:04 Food Connection Mindset

21:25 Non Scale Victories

24:28 Course Correcting Skills

28:35 Tips For Beginners

33:07 Planning Freezer Hacks

34:09 Final Encouragement Outro

Ready to lose weight for the last time? Ready to Stop Starting Over?

If you’re tired of the dieting rollercoaster and want a clear, customized plan that actually works... let’s talk.

Get your free 1 hour weight loss strategy session with me on Zoom to help you break through what’s keeping you stuck, create a plan that fits your life and start seeing results you can actually sustain.

Click here to book your free strategy session with me now: www.healthyrealfood.com

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

This is your year. Let’s make it happen...together.

How to Help Kids Find Peace With Food (ADHD, Dopamine & Emotional Eating) | Kamy Moussavi

In episode 246 of the Healthy Real Food Podcast, Erin interviews Kamy Moussavi, founder of Step Together, a family-centered program helping parents and children build healthier habits through emotional regulation, supportive routines, and sustainable lifestyle changes, with a focus on ADHD, impulsivity, and emotional eating. Kamy shares his personal history as the overweight kid who struggled with food addiction and bulimia into his 20s, and explains why excess weight is often a symptom of deeper emotional and environmental factors, including dopamine-seeking behaviors and family stress. They discuss how modern addictive food and screen environments affect kids, the ADHD–dopamine connection (especially inattentive ADHD in girls), and why parents should avoid pressuring children and instead change the home environment, model healthy coping, reduce shame, and prioritize self-care. Kamy directs listeners to steptogether.us for coaching and a free session.

00:00 Worried About Kids Food

02:02 Meet Kamy And Step Together

03:22 Kamy Origin Story

06:57 Modern Addiction Environment

09:39 Why Parents Come First

13:17 Root Causes Emotional Coping

15:59 Brain Science Behind Binging

24:25 ADHD Dopamine Link

31:59 Protective Parenting Strategies

37:59 Drop Shame Find Support

To learn more about Kamy and his misstion at Step Together visit www.steptogether.us

Ready to lose weight for the last time? Ready to Stop Starting Over?

If you’re tired of the dieting rollercoaster and want a clear, customized plan that actually works... let’s talk.

Get your free 1 hour weight loss strategy session with me on Zoom to help you break through what’s keeping you stuck, create a plan that fits your life and start seeing results you can actually sustain.

Click here to book your free strategy session with me now: www.healthyrealfood.com

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

This is your year. Let’s make it happen...together.

The Truth About Seed Oils (and the Best Fats to Eat) | Healthy Real Food Podcast Ep. 245 w/ Sherry Calbom

In episode 245 of the Healthy Real Food podcast, Erin interviews nutrition expert and author Sherry Calbom about industrial seed oils and why they may contribute to inflammation, weight gain, brain fog, hormone disruption, and cravings. Calbom defines common seed oils to avoid (including canola/rapeseed, grapeseed, corn, soy, safflower, sunflower, peanut, rice bran, and cottonseed) and shares preferred alternatives such as olive, avocado, and coconut oils, plus butter, ghee, and tallow. She explains how processing methods and omega-6 imbalance may drive oxidative stress and inflammation, affecting metabolism, insulin resistance, and even brain health. The conversation emphasizes reading labels, making simple pantry swaps, choosing better options when eating out, and using tools like the Seed Oil Scout app, and highlights Calbom’s book The Truth About Seed Oils.

00:00 Seed Oils Warning

02:10 Meet Sherry Calbom

04:57 Weight Gain and Inflammation

07:47 Which Oils to Avoid

09:04 Healthy Fats to Choose

11:06 Low Fat Diet Fallout

13:51 Hormones and Insulin Resistance

16:10 Why Seed Oils Harm

22:12 Cell Membranes and Brain Health

25:20 Healing Through Real Food

30:04 Simple Swaps and Eating Out

33:46 Purpose and Next Steps

34:24 Book and Where to Follow

35:25 Final Thanks and Wrap

Ready to lose weight for the last time? Ready to Stop Starting Over?

If you’re tired of the dieting rollercoaster and want a clear, customized plan that actually works... let’s talk.

Get your free 1 hour weight loss strategy session with me on Zoom to help you break through what’s keeping you stuck, create a plan that fits your life and start seeing results you can actually sustain.

Click here to book your free strategy session with me now: www.healthyrealfood.com

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

This is your year. Let’s make it happen...together.