Fuel Her Awesome — Mental Health, Aging, Nutrition & Healing Your Relationship With Food: gut-brain connection, emotional eating, women’s hormone health, food freedom, empowered eating

This episode is a special crossover — content shared from my conversation with Megan Caldwell on The ROCKSTAR Mom Summit . We talked about biofeedback: what it actually means, and why it's a far more sustainable approach than obsessive tracking or rigid rules. It's the difference between controlling your body and partnering with it — a shift that sits at the core of Empowered Eating. Want the free...

Your hormones have seasons — and somewhere in my 40s, mine changed the rules on me. In this episode, I walk through the three things that actually shifted: how much my gut became the lever for everything (the estrobolome is real, and so is my new sensitivity to skipping fiber), why I didn't lose my grit but redirected it toward what I value, and how I supplement now — like maintaining a car with 2...

From puberty to perimenopause, we've been taught to fight our bodies. What if we listened instead? At 13, your body wasn't betraying you. At 33, it wasn't betraying you. And at 53? Still not betraying you. But somewhere along the way — through puberty, pregnancy, and perimenopause — we got the same message dressed up in different language: your body is the problem. Control it. Fix it. Fight it. In...

  The Truth About Cellulite (What No One Is Actually Telling You) Let's be honest — most of what you've heard about cellulite was designed to sell you something. In this episode, I'm breaking down the science, busting the biggest myths, and giving you a framework that actually makes sense for your body. What We Cover: What cellulite actually is — It's not a fat problem. It's a structural design. W...

What Your Doctor Isn't Telling You About Nutrition and Perimenopause Have you ever caught yourself thinking, "This is just how I am now — it's perimenopause, there's nothing I can do"? You're not alone. But today we're flipping that narrative. In this episode, I'm sharing what the research actually says about nutrition and perimenopause — and why this conversation isn't happening nearly enough in...

I Studied Nutrition and Still Made a Mess of Eating Snag your free Nutrition Self Check and Eat to Energize Menu!  What happens when a dietitian can't figure out her own body? In this episode, Jess gets honest about her personal journey with food — the parts that worked, the parts that didn't, and the discovery that changed everything. Jess traces her story from 90s fad diets and college bulimia,...

Grab the Eat To Energize Freebie (with my go-to Nutrition Labs) HERE!  Life doesn't slow down. Between the daily inconveniences and the hard, unexpected stuff — relationship struggles, loss, disappointments — our bodies are constantly being asked to manage more. One of the reasons Jess has such deep reverence for nutrition is its power to set us up biologically, so when life gets hard, our bodies...

She Took a Break. Her Progress Didn't. Here's Why. What happens to your nutrition when life doesn't go according to plan? In this live coaching episode, we follow Micah — a real client, doing the real work — as she navigates one of the most relatable challenges in any health journey: spring break. This is Part 3 of Micah's Empowered Eating Journey, and it's one of our most practical episodes yet....

In this live coaching episode, we're diving deep into the foundation of lasting metabolic health — and it starts with getting honest about where you are right now. Part 3 of the Empowered Eating Journey is all about the Nutrition Reboot: a powerful inventory and calibration process that helps you understand exactly what's working, what's not, and what needs to shift to support your energy, body co...

Episode #2: A Live Coaching Session What happens after food freedom? In this new coaching series, you’ll follow one woman’s journey as she moves from intuitive eating and food freedom into a season focused on metabolic health, hormone balance, energy, and body composition — without returning to dieting. This is Episode 1, and you’re sitting in on our first session together. She’s done the work to...

Episode 1: A Live Coaching Session What happens after food freedom? In this new coaching series, you’ll follow one woman’s journey as she moves from intuitive eating and food freedom into a season focused on metabolic health, hormone balance, energy, and body composition — without returning to dieting. This is Episode 1, and you’re sitting in on our first session together. She’s done the work to h...

Are you overwhelmed by conflicting nutrition advice? Low-carb one week. High-protein the next. Anti-diet messaging. Ultra-processed food panic. GLP-1 medications. Hormone hacks. If you feel confused, behind, or anxious about what to eat — you are not alone. In this episode, registered dietitian Jessika Brown breaks down what she calls “nutrition whiplash” — the constant reversal of health messagin...

If you’ve ever thought, “I’m eating healthy… so why do I feel worse?” — this episode is for you. In today’s conversation, we’re breaking down GI-MAP testing in clear, human language. No fear-mongering. No over-promising. Just honest insight into what this popular gut health tool can and can’t tell us—and how it can help bring clarity when symptoms feel confusing. You’ll learn why more data doesn’t...

Episode Summary What if your body isn’t betraying you when you restrict food — but protecting you? In this powerful conversation, Jess sits down with Dr. Jennifer Gaudiani, world-renowned internal medicine physician and author of Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders, to explore the misunderstood physiology of undernutrition. Dr. Gaudiani (“Dr. G”) breaks down what...

Over the last few episodes, we’ve talked about why so many smart, motivated women feel stuck with food — even when they’re “doing everything right.” We’ve unpacked: Why macros alone don’t create peace How your gut microbiome influences cravings, energy, and metabolism Why willpower fails when the nervous system doesn’t feel safe And how emotional and physiological triggers often get mislabeled as...

From White-Knuckle Willpower to Empowered Eating Why Safety — Not Discipline — Creates Sustainable Change If willpower worked, you wouldn’t need it every January. In this episode, we unpack why so many women feel like they “fall off” with nutrition — even when they’re motivated, disciplined, and genuinely trying. Spoiler alert: it’s not a character flaw. It’s a nervous-system issue. We explore the...

When Tracking Doesn’t Tame the Trigger: The Emotional Side of Eating Tracking food is often presented as the solution to emotional eating — but what happens when the numbers look “right” and the trigger is still there? In this episode, we unpack why tracking alone doesn’t always calm cravings, urges, or emotional pull toward food — and why that doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means there’s more in...

What if the reason food feels harder than it should has less to do with discipline… and more to do with digestion? In this episode, we zoom out from calorie counting and macro math to explore the powerful — and often overlooked — role your gut microbiome plays in how your body responds to food. Your gut isn’t just breaking food down; it’s actively communicating with your brain, hormones, immune sy...

Why Most New Year's Resolutions Fail (And What to Do Instead) Episode Summary: Most resolutions don’t fail because people are lazy or unmotivated — they fail because they start at the surface level. In this episode, Jess pulls back the curtain on what’s really happening beneath our habits and goals, using her own “biofeedback story” around money as a powerful example of how the nervous system shap...

What a great series! This episode wraps up The Empowered Eating Holiday Edit!  Don't forget to check out the details on our 4-month coaching program: The Empowered Eating Academy Gratitude isn’t just about good vibes and Pinterest quotes — it’s neuroscience. Each time you pause to say “thank you,” your brain rewires for more peace, joy, and connection. And what better way to wrap up the year than...

Welcome back to the Empowered Eating Holiday Edit! Holiday drinks are basically nostalgia in a cup—whether it’s hot chocolate after sledding, eggnog at grandma’s, or that peppermint mocha you wait for all year. But here’s the deal: some of these festive sips pack the sugar punch of a candy aisle. Does that mean you should skip them? Absolutely not. In this episode of The Empowered Eating Holiday E...

Welcome back to The Empowered Eating Holiday Edit! Ever found yourself hovering near the charcuterie board when the holiday stress kicks in? You weren’t just hungry, girl—you were wired for it. Stress doesn’t just change your mood, it changes how your brain and body respond to food. And the snack plate? It starts singing like a full-on choir. 🎶🧀🍫 In this episode of The Empowered Eating Holiday...

Welcome back to The Empowered Eating Holiday Edit! Ever feel like health is an all-or-nothing game? Either you’re “on it” with strict discipline or completely disconnected and starting over Monday. I’ve lived on both ends of that spectrum—and the truth is, it’s not a spectrum at all. It’s a trap. In this episode of The Empowered Eating Holiday Edit, we’ll explore how to step out of black-and-white...

Welcome to The Empowered Eating Holiday Edit!  Candy canes, peppermint bark, trays of fudge… why does holiday food feel so addictive? And more importantly—how can you enjoy the season without falling into the guilt → crave → crash cycle? In this episode, I’m unpacking what’s really going on with holiday cravings and how to navigate them with confidence instead of chaos. 💡 What You’ll Learn in Thi...

Welcome to the Empowered Eating Holiday Edit! Ever found yourself going back for seconds… and thirds… only to end the night uncomfortably full and regretting it later? I’ve been there too—plate after plate of mashed potatoes when what I really needed was comfort, not another serving. But instead of finding peace, I found myself stuck in the spin cycle of overeating, guilt, and swearing I’d “start...