Living Inspired - A Functional Approach to Women’s Health, Energy, and Resilience

You wake up in a body that doesn't quite feel like yours. Sleep is worse, moods are sharper, weight settles somewhere it never used to, and when you finally ask your doctor, you’re told your labs are normal. In this episode, I'm opening the doors to something I teach inside the Living Inspired Life Lab. This is the hormone conversation I have with nearly every woman who finds her way to me...

You laugh, you sneeze, you pick up the laundry basket, and there it is again, that little leak you've quietly learned to work around. Or intimacy has started to hurt, and the only advice you've ever gotten was to have a glass of wine and relax. Maybe days pass without a real bathroom trip and you've decided that's just how your body is now. I sat down again with Dr. Judy Rossi, a p...

This is one of those solo episodes where I interrupt the regular schedule because an ordinary moment had something to say. If you've been moving so fast that you're missing your own life, and carrying a stress load you've never actually named, this one is for you. In This Episode A hole in the road, a hard hat, and the morning that changed how I see comfort Physical stress versus emoti...

If your health feels like a list of problems you're supposed to fix on your own, and the internet keeps adding one more thing you "have to" do to feel okay in midlife, this conversation is the exhale you've been needing. My guest is Andrea Nakayama, a pioneer in functional nutrition, the founder of the Functional Nutrition Alliance, and the educator who trained me to think the wa...

You're doing all the things you've always done, and somehow your body is pushing back anyway. You're tired in a way sleep doesn't touch, reactive over things that never used to rattle you, moving so fast that whole days disappear before you've actually been inside any of them. You keep telling yourself you'll slow down once everything calms down and everyone else is taken c...

You've made it through the day. You ate well, you stayed focused, you held it together. And then the evening comes and something shifts. Suddenly you're standing in your kitchen reaching for bread, or something sweet, or anything that will quiet the noise. You tell yourself you'll do better tomorrow. But tomorrow looks exactly the same. If this is your life right now, this episode is g...

You've done the labs. Everything looks normal. But you still don't feel like yourself and nobody has been able to tell you why. In this episode, Rachel sits down with Dr. Ellen Albertson, psychologist, self-compassion researcher, and the Midlife Whisperer, to talk about what is actually happening in your body and mind during perimenopause and why feeling lost in this season doesn't mea...

If you’ve been feeling more overwhelmed, emotionally reactive, mentally exhausted, or disconnected from yourself lately, this episode is for you. And no, I don’t think it’s “just hormones.” In this conversation, I’m talking about something I see constantly with women in midlife: the hidden cost of living in a constant state of internal urgency. Everything feels important. Everything feels immediat...

If you’ve been feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, emotionally reactive, wired but tired, or like your body suddenly isn’t responding the way it used to, this episode is for you. In this powerful conversation, I sit down with functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner and HTMA expert Dori Martin to talk about what burnout really is, why so many women in midlife feel stuck in survival mode, and how c...

If you’ve been feeling more anxious, more reactive, or just not like yourself lately… this episode is for you. You’re trying to do the right things. You’re taking care of yourself, paying attention to your health, maybe even running labs… and still, something feels off. In this episode, Rachel sits down with a client, Amanda, who shares what it felt like to be in that exact place. After having her...

In this conversation with Dr. Ann Hester, we talk about what’s missing in traditional healthcare, and why lifestyle is not just a side note, but a major driver of how you feel day to day. This isn’t about doing everything perfectly or overhauling your life overnight. It’s about understanding how your daily habits are shaping your energy, your hormones, your inflammation, and your long-term health...

This is not our usual conversation. We’re not talking about hormones, gut health, or trying to figure out what’s causing your symptoms. This is a pause. A moment to step out of the constant doing… and come back to what it actually means to be living. In this episode, I sit down with Billy Duke, a 55-year-old living with ALS, a progressive neurological disease that slowly takes away the body’s abil...

GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy are everywhere right now, but most people aren’t being told what actually matters if they choose to take them. In this episode, I sit down with pharmacist and health coach Mike Thomas to break down how GLP-1s really work, why they’re so effective for weight loss, and the part that often gets missed. We talk about muscle loss, metabolism, food noise, and wh...

If you’ve ever gotten to the end of the day and thought… I did so much, so why does it feel like nothing actually moved forward? this episode is for you. In this conversation, we’re unpacking why you can feel busy all day and still feel behind. Not because you’re doing something wrong, but because the way you’ve been taught to work doesn’t always support how your brain and energy actually function...

Why You Feel Stuck (Even When You’re Doing Everything Right) If you’ve been wondering why you feel stuck even when you’re doing everything right, this episode will help you see things differently. In this short, personal episode, I walk you through a simple but powerful shift that can change how you experience your health, your emotions, and your life. Because often, it’s not just what’s happening...

If your relationship has been feeling harder lately… this episode is for you. There are real changes happening in your body, your stress levels, your capacity… and most people have never been taught how much this can affect connection, communication, and intimacy. In this conversation, I’m joined by Jesse Robertson, the voice behind Husbands4Menopause , who is helping men better understand what wo...

Many women enter their 40s and 50s feeling like something in their body has shifted. Mood swings, anxiety, sleep changes, and low energy start showing up, yet many are told their labs are normal or that this is simply part of aging. In this episode, I sit down with Dana Culp, a nurse practitioner and menopause expert who has spent more than 25 years working with women in midlife. Dana also shares...

Have you ever been told your labs are “normal,” but you still feel exhausted, foggy, bloated, anxious, or just not like yourself? In this episode, Rachel explains why normal lab work does not always mean your body is functioning optimally and why labs should never be interpreted without the full story of your health. Through a functional nutrition lens, labs are not the final answer. They are clue...

Have you ever reacted to something and thought, Where did that come from? If you’ve been feeling more irritable, more anxious, more overwhelmed, or just not quite like yourself lately, this episode is for you. In this conversation, I’m walking you through something I see in so many women navigating midlife: emotional shifts that feel confusing, intense, and sometimes even alarming. Midlife is not...

Have you ever tried to relax, only to notice your mind speeding up or your body staying tense? In this episode, Rachel shares what these experiences may actually mean and why they often point to your nervous system rather than a personal shortcoming. Through a powerful client story and practical insights, she explains how mood, digestion, energy, and stress responses are deeply connected, and why...

In this episode, I’m joined by Sheila Wenger, founder of Shift Hypnosis and certified hypnotherapist, for a powerful conversation about subconscious patterns, emotional healing, and why change can feel hard even when you truly want it. We talk about how the subconscious mind works, why certain fears and reactions stay with us for years, and how many of the patterns women struggle with are actually...

What if healing isn’t about fixing what feels wrong, but learning how to feel what’s been held for too long? In this episode of Living Inspired , I’m joined by somatic and transformational coach Soulla Demetriou for a grounded conversation about grief, self-compassion, and the nervous system, and why these are often the missing pieces in healing. We explore how grief shows up not only after loss,...

In this episode, I’m sharing a live talk I gave for the Brigham Education Institute, part of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. It’s the fourth time I’ve been invited to speak for their program, and this conversation felt too important not to share more widely. So many women reach midlife and feel blindsided by what’s happening in their bodies. Sounds feel louder. Emotions feel closer to the surface. D...

Strength training is often framed around appearance or fitness goals. But its real impact goes far deeper than that. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Wayne Westcott, a leading researcher in strength training and exercise science, to talk about why building and maintaining muscle matters so much in midlife and beyond. Wayne has spent decades studying how resistance training affects the body acr...

In this episode, I share a powerful shift in perspective that changed how I move through life, especially during hard seasons. Through stories from my time as a nurse and hospice nurse, I talk about what happens when we stop waiting for life to get easier and instead build ourselves strong enough to meet it. We explore the idea: What if your life is happening for you, not to you? Not as a positivi...