Christi came in struggling with digestive issues, IBS, kidney stones, and candida. She wasn’t showing up for life the way she wanted. By nourishing her body and eating more, not less, she empowered herself with food that sparked a renewed joy of cooking. Sharing the knowledge and enthusiasm, her husband and teenage children all improved their health with her.

Sara used her 50th birthday as motivation to finally let go of dieting. After trying plans from vegan to paleo to Whole30, she was exhausted, in chronic pain, and frustrated that “doing everything right” still wasn’t working. Embracing a more flexible approach to food helped her address stress in every part of her life. She gained confidence, and started a new business.

Likewise at 50, Christine realized her approach didn’t serve her in midlife. After numbing herself with food and alcohol, she got sober and achieved a freedom with eating she’d not experienced before. Through the lens of her relationship with food, she gained a better understanding of her other choices, and upgraded her communication and action in her work and relationships.

We discuss the impact of familial and societal conditioning around food, and the peer pressure built into eating out with others. And how the “Good, Better, or Best, Not Perfect” philosophy of the Skinny60® community provides an alternative to rigid and restrictive thinking.

Exploring how strategic eating moves beyond healthy eating, we celebrate what happens when we understand our bodies and listen to them, instead of fighting them at every turn. Using our approach to food as a vehicle for gaining clarity about our other choices sparks a reclamation that has a ripple effect.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS:

Strategic eating goes beyond healthy eating and focuses on bio-individual needs

Chronic dieting disrupts metabolism and can lead to weight gain despite “healthy” eating.

For optimal metabolic function and weight-loss, the thyroid requires regular nourishment.

Hormone health is directly influenced by gut health, blood sugar, and metabolism.

Approaching self-care as a non-negotiable daily practice promotes consistency.

Emotional eating often has links to trauma and to nervous-system dysregulation.

Create a path to freedom with food by flexibility rather than rigidity.

Community support helps you make changes with long-term success.

MEET OUR GUESTS

CHRISTI

A functional fitness coach, Christi Bruzzi is on a mission to prove that exercising can be a source of joy, not a chore. Specializing in the evolving body, Christi blends the technical precision of Balanced Body Pilates with the infectious energy of line dancing and cardio drumming. Whether implementing strength and wellness programs or leading a high-intensity Spin class, Christi aims to make every fitness journey as enjoyable as it is effective. She empowers clients to feel strong and healthy at every stage of life. Find her at Clubchristi.com.

SARA

Founder of Integro Communications, Sara Kline partners with organizations to develop strategy and storytelling so they grow with clarity and purpose, uncover opportunities, and map a strategic path forward. She’s known for bringing structure, definition and momentum to teams ready to grow but unsure where to focus. Outside her client work, she helps women build careers that align with their lives, and mentors women in building a version of success that prioritizes professional growth and well-being. She is passionate about health and wellness.

CHRISTINE

With over 25 years’ experience in financial leadership, Christine Walsh is a certified coach, fractional CFO, speaker, and author of Be The Queen of Your Money. Coaching women to increase their income and profitability with mindset work and accessible tools, Christine teaches how to create an abundant future by transforming the financial narratives holding us back from life on our terms. She is revolutionizing the way women access financial independence through RebelRiseFinance.com and on her podcast Made For Money.

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

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This solo episode starts with the premise that we’re all emotional eaters. Food is inextricably linked to key experiences, woven into the fabric of our lives.

Looking at our food choices with curiosity—especially if we’re used to framing our habits and compulsions as flaws—we can use those choices as a self-awareness tool.

The relationship with food mirrors how we approach other things, and recognizing this helps us address thought and behavior patterns that keep us stuck, opening paths to sustainable change. Food choices that may have defined you start to refine you.

We unpack how emotional eating is weaponized, and why so many of us get stuck in cycles of fear, regret, guilt, shame, restriction, and overconsumption. Food cravings indicate unmet physical and emotional needs. Upgrading self-care closes that gap.

Addressing familial and societal conditioning, and working with your personality instead of against it combats all-or-nothing thinking, score keeping, and punishment, to find a balanced approach with food that allows room for everything.

You can have your cake and eat it, too.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS

Rather than a disorder to be fixed, emotional eating is a tool for self-awareness.

Emotional eating is not a lack of self-control. It’s unmet needs crying out for attention.

Restriction, guilt, or shame reinforce emotional eating patterns rather than solve them.

Mindful eating is paying attention to your eating experience without judgment.

For a balanced relationship with food start with flexibility, not restriction and rigidity.

Being aware of diet culture and societal conditioning moderates their impacts.

Willpower is a fake muscle. The antidote to emotional eating is investigating core needs.

The quality of your food choices correlates to the quality you seek in other things.

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

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We start with our strange meeting, almost 20 years ago, and significant moments in a friendship that has shaped our lives in ways still emerging.

Reflecting on the importance of communicating with care, we unpack the value of listening and supporting without a compulsion to change or fix. By letting go of predetermined outcomes, we can explore without an attachment to resolution, and be satisfied if it never comes.

Embracing the “yes and,” we improvise, duck and roll, pivot, and thrive in the unpredictable.

A non-linear life trajectory can seem like a collection of random choices. But, when we pinpoint what drives us, seemingly unrelated events make sense, and feed the next chapter of the story. You don't have to know the way. The way knows the way.

Beau closes with a thought from Maria Popova: Believe in the part of you that cannot be destroyed by the agonies of hope. And adds: Trust in what is flowing through you.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS:

Embrace the “Yes and.” Stay open to possibilities.

Acknowledge that identity is co-created, and choose your people wisely.

You’ll always be too much for the wrong people; never too much for the right ones.

Trust in your offers and share them.

Sometimes the right teacher for a third grader is a fourth grader.

Your vulnerabilities and mistakes are medicine for others.

Act with boldness and humility by trusting yourself and doubting yourself.

Enjoy being in the middle of the story.

ABOUT BEAU WEAVER

A voice actor for over 50 years, Beau got his first on-air radio job at 15. He quickly worked his way onto popular music radio stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas and Houston in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Then, became the signature voice for dozens of major-market network affiliates.

From there, he spent decades as one of America’s perennial "A list" announcers, voicing movie trailers, network TV promos and shows, documentaries, commercials, and was the live announcer for Hollywood awards shows. With lead roles in animated TV series, Beau portrayed Superman in the ‘80s, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four in the ‘90s, and was one of the original Transformers.

A technical innovator, Beau is widely credited with pioneering the practice of home recording for voice actors, sharing his studio tools and techniques with the entertainment community. The numerous awards he’s won include “Best Voiceover” from PromaxBDA and the “Body of Work” award from the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences.

Beau retired recently, and he and Elizabeth relocated from California to Oregon to begin a new chapter.

ABOUT ELIZABETH JURGENSEN

With a thirst for learning and achieving, Elizabeth has had multiple careers applying herself to education, research, and disciplined practice.

Her post-college years were focused on the performing arts, as an actress and dancer. Moving to the corporate world, she got a business degree and worked in finance. Her next pivot was to work as a fitness instructor and wellness coach.

Discovering her love for academics, she went back to school, getting a Master’s degree in a new field and teaching college students.

Debilitating injuries from a car accident and ten years’ rehabilitation, made her work impossible, and brought Elizabeth to the next major phase of her life. She embraced somatics, exploring trauma healing, relational dynamics, and embodied awareness.

A certified somatic educator, Elizabeth integrates insights from ancient archetypes, women’s wisdom traditions, and the interplay of masculine and feminine energies. She shares what she knows in adaptive and informal ways to guide others.

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

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Tracing the surprising history of resolutions, she starts at their origins, millennia ago, in rituals centered on agriculture, responsibility, and community. Those practices evolved into our contemporary intention of making a fresh start with the incoming year. When we don’t become better versions of ourselves immediately, we see it as failure.

Elizabeth lays out how societal and familial conditioning steer us toward things we “should” want rather than those we genuinely desire, and how we get used to letting grief, shame, and regret drive our choices.

Many of us think of resolutions as punishment, atonement, or restitution. Elizabeth proposes that we break out of that mindset, focus on integration, and reframe the pursuit of goals as exploration and experimentation.

Using Elizabeth’s analogy of a garden, we discuss how transitions require patience, attention, and responsiveness to changing conditions. When we insist on rigid timelines, perfection, or outside expectations, we focus on the weeds. “Tending” things allows room for flexibility and compassion, and opens up more possibilities.

Key takeaway: Reaching our goals doesn’t mean starting over.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS:

Internalized capitalism has turned self-improvement into a job.

All-or-nothing thinking leads to inconsistency, burnout, and self sabotage.

Desire-based goals have intrinsic drive.

Avoidance-based goals push energy to repression.

To figure out what you most desire, dwell in curiosity and possibility.

Progress framed as tending rather than fixing or achieving is more effective.

Rest, reflection, and integration are necessary transition points, not signs of failure.

Motivation increases when goals consider community impact, not just individual benefit.

ABOUT ELIZABETH JURGENSEN

With a thirst for learning and achieving, Elizabeth has had multiple careers applying herself to education, research, and disciplined practice.

Her post-college years were focused on the performing arts, as an actress and dancer. Moving to the corporate world, she got a business degree and worked in finance. Her next pivot was to work as a fitness instructor and wellness coach.

Discovering her love for academics, she went back to school, getting a Master’s degree in a new field and teaching college students.

Debilitating injuries from a car accident and ten years’ rehabilitation, made her work impossible, and brought Elizabeth to the next major phase of her life. She embraced somatics, exploring trauma healing, relational dynamics, and embodied awareness.

The values of slowing down and turning inward, and the gifts of deep presence and self-care became central to her philosophy. She pursues them as ends in themselves, not toward goal-oriented pursuits, nor in a commercial practice.

A certified somatic educator, Elizabeth integrates insights from ancient archetypes, women’s wisdom traditions, and the interplay of masculine and feminine energies. She shares what she knows in adaptive and informal ways to guide others.

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

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While supporting women undergoing IVF, Ayla noticed a troubling pattern: Many were advised by doctors to restrict food, and meet their nutrition needs with prenatal supplements that didn’t prepare their bodies for healthy conception and pregnancy. Furthermore, the medical establishment was hardly addressing men’s pre-conception health at all.

These gaps prompted Ayla to revolutionize reproductive supplements for women and men. She developed a prenatal multivitamin and launched FullWell, offering the first dietitian-formulated product in the category. Her commitment to radical transparency—publishing actual third-party test results rather than relying on certifications—redefined expectations in the supplement industry.

Ayla walks us through how to care for our reproductive health at all phases of life. We go over key labs and pre-conception food and lifestyle strategies for both women and men. And get the non-negotiable nutrition requirements for healthy pregnancy. From there we discuss recovery after birth (often ignored), other postpartum needs, plus recommendations for breastfeeding, and preparation for subsequent pregnancies.

Moving on to priorities in perimenopause and menopause, Ayla cuts through the confusion about protein, collagen, creatine, and enzymes. She red flags various supplements, then gives us a quick course in reading labels and speaking to companies, to ensure we’re giving ourselves the best support.

Big takeaway: Reproductive health goes beyond conception and pregnancy. Paying attention to this part of our health at every age is preventative wellness.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS

Reproductive health is a powerful indicator of overall health at every age.

Gut health is foundational for reproductive health in women and men.

Women and men need to prepare their bodies 3 months before conception.

Men’s pre-conception health profoundly impacts fertility and pregnancy.

Semen quality impacts placenta development more than mother’s health.

Digestive and liver health impact optimal estrogen metabolism.

Adequate protein and fiber are essential for reproductive health.

Exercise is essential for optimal hormones and reproductive health.

ABOUT AYLA BARMMER

Ayla Barmmer, MS, RD, LDN is a Registered Dietitian, functional medicine practitioner, and founder and CEO of FullWell, the only dietitian-led reproductive health supplement company.

With Boston Functional Nutrition, she built a globally recognized private practice helping individuals and couples navigate fertility, pregnancy, and hormone health.

Seeing a persistent gap in the quality, evidence base, and transparency of reproductive health supplements, Ayla formulated a prenatal vitamin and launched FullWell in 2019, committed to doing things differently. FullWell’s Women’s Prenatal Multivitamin consistently ranks among the top supplements in the category, with users in over 50 countries.

As a leading clinical voice in reproductive nutrition, Ayla speaks on evidence-based food strategies, supplement integrity, and women’s health, and uses her Substack to educate consumers and healthcare providers. She has mentored hundreds of practitioners and led one of the largest RD communities in the United States.

A mother of two, she lives in New England.

CONNECT WITH AYLA

Website: https://fullwellfertility.com/

Substack: https://substack.com/@aylabarmmer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fullwellfertility/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fullwellfertility/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aylabarmmer/

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

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We start with the basics: What IBS is, the common symptoms, how many people it affects, and what causes it. Then dive into diagnostic challenges, conditions IBS can overlap with, and why it is commonly misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and mistreated. With those ambiguities in mind, we identify the red-flag symptoms we never want to ignore.

Meghan walks us through the steps to an accurate diagnosis. She covers the importance of working with a gastroenterologist to rule out other digestive issues. Then lays out the benefits of working after diagnosis with a dietitian and a GI psychologist—both specializing in IBS.

We turn to the most effective dietary-intervention strategies, from small food and lifestyle changes to the more restrictive Low-FODMAP Diet, which is a short-term tool and not appropriate for everyone. Meghan explains how misinformed food restrictions can not only be unnecessary, but make symptoms worse, leading to nutrient deficiencies and mental health issues.

She wraps up with medications, supplements, stress management, gut-directed hypnotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and nervous system regulation. All of these help manage symptoms and transform outcomes for people living with IBS.

The key takeaway: Don’t self-diagnose or self-treat. Work with medical practitioners who specialize in IBS to develop a multi-pronged treatment plan that’s specific to you.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS:

1. Irritable Bowel Syndrome affects 10–15% of the population, and can be managed.
2. IBS is more common in women, due to fluctuating hormones.
3. 1 in 10 people develop post-infectious IBS after food poisoning or traveler’s diarrhea.
4. IBS is a disorder of the gut-brain interaction. Food can be a trigger —but it isn’t the cause.
5. IBS symptoms include gas, bloating, abdominal pain, and changes in bowel movements.
6. Stress and nervous system regulation play a major role in triggering IBS symptoms.
7. IBS is diagnosed through symptoms and by ruling out digestive diseases and colon cancer.
8. To diagnose and treat IBS, consult with a gastroenterologist and GI dietitian who specialize.

ABOUT MEGHAN DONNELLY, MS, RDN, CSDH

Meghan is a registered dietitian specializing in gastrointestinal nutrition, and is Director Of Health Communications at the Celiac Disease Foundation.

Her experience spans clinical practice, nutrition counseling, medical nonprofits, and the food industry.

In her private practice at Nutmeg Nutrition, Meghan helps her clients establish a balanced and joyful relationship with food, particularly when managing digestive disorders (IBS and SIBO), food intolerances, gluten-related conditions (celiac disease), and disordered eating.

She also provides nutrition counseling for heart health, kidney disease, weight management, and food intolerances. Monash University certified, she guides clients on Low-FODMAP diets.

As lead dietitian for Skinny60®, Meghan provides nutrition education and support for participants in the 60-Day Reset.

CONNECT WITH MEGHAN

Consult with Meghan: https://www.nutmegnutrition.org/

Low FODMAP Diet Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/podcast/episodes/meghan-donnelly-the-low-fodmap-diet-a-dietitians-guide/

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

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In this solo episode, I explore why our actions often fall short of our values, and the fears and dynamics that hold us back from advocating for ourselves and others. Weighing up the costs of staying silent, I go on to the importance of staying informed, using critical thinking, and having the courage to listen to our intuition even when it challenges what the people we love and trust are saying.

We dive into the power of adding our voices to the collective, the responsibility that brings, and the consequences of our actions and endorsements. Upgrading our interest and investment in both expands our impact.

I share the non-negotiables that dictate where my line is, and where I put energy and resources, with the aim of closing the gap between how things are and how they ought to be.

Our commitment to the collective directly reflects our regard for ourselves. How bad does the pain have to get before we prioritize our health and quality of life, go into action, and go after what we want?

We have influence without wielding power. If we just use our agency.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS:

Suffering grows in the gap between our values and actions.

We don’t control the world. We do play a part in creating it.

Speaking up is the beginning of change.

Be mindful about your participation. You magnify what you endorse.

Personal responsibility expands agency. Blame relinquishes it.

Upgrade the level of investment in your own life and the collective.

Regulation comes before response so we manage our reactivity.

Create more than you consume.

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

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Peter starts with his decision, in the upheaval of the 70’s, to drop out of college and work as a counselor at a crisis center. That led to burnout. Moving to Berkeley, he studied holistic therapies and bodywork, and eventually opened a wellness center applying these modalities.

Enneagram pioneer Helen Palmer invited him to attend the first Enneagram class, which became a turning point for Peter. The insight into behaviors that the Enneagram gave him provided a window into the processes of trauma. Peter embarked on a lifelong study of the Enneagram system, teaching it to thousands in diverse parts of the world, and training over 800 practitioners.

Laying out the basic principles of the system, Peter walks us through the 9 personality types. From there, he turns to the adjacent types (wings), 3 centers of intelligence, and 3 instinctual sub-types. Collectively, these inform how we think and feel and relate. We cover the strengths of each type, as well as the shadow tendencies and obstacles. Peter emphasizes that while we are more than our patterns, knowing them is a starting point to understanding what drives us.

Moving onto practical application, he provides everyday examples of how using the Enneagram tools deepens the relationship to self and others, improves group dynamics, enhances collaborations and partnerships, enables conscious parenting, and advances intentional leadership.

The Enneagram helps us stop fighting our instincts and habits, and build awareness and emotional intelligence so we can manage them, responding mindfully with respect and empathy.

This conversation with Peter offers powerful strategies for leaning into “It Has To Be Me.”

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS:

1. The Enneagram system maps human psychology via nine personality types.
2. The Enneagram looks at core motivations, fears, desires, patterns, not just behavioral traits.
3. The nine types are grouped by their dominant centers of intelligence: body, heart, and head.
4. Influencing each type is its adjacent types (wings)—personality shifts in stress or security.
5. The subtypes (self-preservation, one-to-one, or social) inform personality expression.
6. Each type has a superpower and a shadow. Growth comes from integrating them.
7. Understanding your type can shift automatic reactions to conscious responses.
8. Psychology, culture, and family background shape the expression of your Enneagram type.

ABOUT PETER O’HANRAHAN

A leading Enneagram teacher and trainer in the United States, Peter O’Hanrahan began his Enneagram study in 1978, when Dr. Kathleen Speeth taught the first class in Berkeley.

Peter has facilitated hundreds of workshops for businesses, nonprofits, universities, and churches all over the world, and is a certified teacher with the Enneagram Professional Training Program. He serves on the faculty of the Narrative Enneagram School, and as a member of the International Enneagram Association, has presented at many conferences.

Using the Enneagram in his practice as a holistic counselor and body therapist, Peter has developed further approaches and applications. His programs and articles can be found at: TheEnneagramAtWork.com.

He lives in Northern California with his wife—and fellow Enneagram practitioner—Pat.

CONNECT WITH PETER

Website: https://theenneagramatwork.com/

Enneagram Workshops: https://theenneagramatwork.com/teaching-schedule/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peter.ohanrahan.52

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theenneagramatwork/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-o-hanrahan-9078486/

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

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She takes us back to her childhood, and her father’s ability to captivate her with stories. Inspired by his work as a musician, she sang on his albums and performed at the Royal Albert Hall before she was 10. This early imprint shaped how she sees creativity: an organic weaving of stories in various mediums.

Deborah leads us through the labyrinth of her career, from breaking out with solo albums, to collaborations with DJ Shadow, to clothing design in London and Paris, and then into photography. When a craftsman who’d developed film for a legendary photographer recognized her work, something clicked, and she saw her path was in capturing images of people.

Planning a portrait exhibition at the Leica gallery in Los Angeles led her to South Dakota. She spent months with Lakota women and made the documentary Women of the White Buffalo. What had begun as a photo show became a divine detour, with Deborah traveling and interviewing women from indigenous communities worldwide for her latest project, The Lost Language Of Her.

Listening to elders who speak the language of spirit and nature we safeguard feminine wisdom and legacy. Through this shared storytelling, we connect in ways that transcend language and culture.

Deborah’s story reminds us that it’s not a straight path or a solo journey. And sometimes, It Has To Be Me is really It Has To Be Them.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS

1. Provoking thought and moving us into action, art can be a messenger of change.
2. Creativity in any medium has a common thread—the artist’s perspective.
3. The expectation that art is selfless negates the inevitability of perspective.
4. Admitting there will be perspective enables celebration of multiple perspectives.
5. Ancient and indigenous stories connect us with spirit, nature, and the divine feminine.
6. Self-doubt is intrinsically feminine, and pushes us to go beyond where we’ve been.
7. Lean into your dynamism. Trust in the magic of your offer.
8. Trust in your capability, and never stop refining your craft.

ABOUT DEBORAH ANDERSON

Filmmaker and photographer Deborah Anderson has spent the last decade amplifying the voices of women and indigenous communities, exploring identity, memory, and healing.

Her documentary about Lakota women preserving their culture, Women Of The White Buffalo, received critical acclaim, including Best Feature Documentary film at the Red Nation Film Festival, Best Director of a documentary at the LA Independent Women Film Awards, and four accolades at the Idyllwild International Film Festival. She also champions women’s stories in the feature Aroused and the short films My Revolution with Eve Ensler and Rosario Dawson and Rise with Thandie Newton for the One Billion Rising organization.

Deborah’s photographs have appeared on covers of albums by Pink and other artists, and been featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, and exhibited around the world, including at the Leica Galleries which hosted her Women Of The White Buffalo portrait series.

The central aim of her work is to bear witness and build bridges, provoking audiences to imagine a more compassionate and connected future.

CONNECT WITH DEBORAH

Website: https://deborahanderson.com/

Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Anderson

Women Of The White Buffalo: https://womenofthewhitebuffalo.com/

The ORA Pathway: https://theorapathway.com/

My Revolution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL36jjF6-DI

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deborahandersoncreative

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-anderson-6825b7354/

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

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We trace Shiva’s career from actress to wellness writer to skincare entrepreneur. A public divorce and life-threatening autoimmune conditions forced her to seek major life change. The power of food, a renewed relationship with nature and spirit, and ancient rituals became vital allies in her healing journey.

Learning to trust her body and intuition and stay open to transformation helped her recognize the unique medicine she possessed. She takes us inside how food and the alchemy of herbs awakened her senses. But, it was tea ceremonies that helped quieten her mind, and taught her patience and presence. Ritual, Shiva says, keeps us focused and grounded, especially when life takes a destabilizing turn.

We celebrate the arts as a powerful tool for nurturing connection with self and others, and explore creativity as a living force that doesn’t disappear when circumstances change—we give it new forms. Shiva urges us to stay in the dream state, not to escape reality but to meet it.

Her call: You are the writer, director, and producer of your story. Decide that it will be extraordinary.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS:

1. Living creatively is about leaning into curiosity, possibility, and discovery.
2. Chronic illness can be a doorway into listening, not just symptom management.
3. Healing begins when you listen, engage, and activate your own medicine.
4. Seek out the wisdom, power, and unique medicine of women.
5. Connection with nature and spirit move grief and emotion when words fall short.
6. Rejection is often just bad timing, not a judgment of readiness or worth.
7. Suffer what there is to suffer and enjoy what there is to enjoy.
8. Making each moment intentional creates extraordinary lives in everyday realms.

ABOUT SHIVA ROSE

Shiva Rose is the author of Whole Beauty and founder of the natural skincare company Shiva Rose Beauty.

Life-threatening autoimmune diseases prompted her pursuit of healing through clean living. To document her journey, she started a lifestyle website, The Local Rose. Her skincare line evolved from that. Shiva is also passionate about Kundalini practice and the Chinese way of tea, Cha Dao.

Through her two courses, The Power Of Lunar Energy and The Waterways Of The Feminine Mystique, she helps women connect with nature and spirit.

She lives with her daughter and her partner in the mountains of New Mexico and the hills of Texas.

CONNECT WITH SHIVA

Shiva Rose: https://www.shivarose.com/

Shiva Rose Beauty: https://www.thelocalrose.com/

Whole Beauty: https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Beauty-Rituals-Lifelong-Wellness/dp/1579657729/

Substack: https://thehouseofmagdalena.substack.com/

Courses: https://shivarose.podia.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/localrose

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivarosebeauty/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/localrose

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-rose-79b62249/

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

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And before you back away with “I can’t even draw a stick figure” (like I did), hold on. This isn’t about drawing or creating art, it’s about connecting with your unconscious wisdom to create marks of free expression that precede and transcend language.

Sheila starts her story with the fear of flying that became her doorway to sketching, not just as an artistic pursuit, but as a somatic tool. This daily practice became an effective way to get out of her head and into her body, process trauma, and build a sense of safety that other methods hadn’t provided.

Having grown up in an environment distorted by addiction and fear, Sheila recalls how creativity helped expand her emotional vocabulary, and reconnect with parts of herself she had abandoned. We talk about childhood survival, and how many of us disconnect from our bodies simply to cope. Leaning into curiosity and creativity help dissolve the judgment that gets in the way of compassion.

We cover why sketching with a pen not a pencil helps us beat back perfectionism and performance, and leap into the unknown. Through sketching, we can transmute shame and other oppressive emotions into feelings that strengthen possibility.

Sheila invites us to reframe boredom, rest, stillness, imagination, and innovation, and consider our generational and energetic imprints. Healing is not about fixing ourselves, but about relating to ourselves differently.

Sheila’s key point: Creativity is not a luxury but a necessity.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS

Creativity expands our emotional lexicon.

Creativity helps us connect to the parts of ourselves we’ve ignored or abandoned.

Part of the creative process is leaping into the unknown and inviting co-creation.

Sketching can be a therapeutic practice to identify and process thoughts and emotions.

Sketching can be a daily embodiment practice like meditation or yoga.

Sketching is fast and loose—you don’t have to get attached.

“Letting go” is not an act of releasing, but accepting what has been there.

Sketches are modern-day hieroglyphics—marks that transcend language.

ABOUT SHEILA

Founder of SketchPoetic®, and author of Sketch By Sketch, artist Sheila Darcey teaches a transformational sketching practice that enables people to access emotional healing through intuitive expression.

Sheila created the Living Canvas Foundation™, a nonprofit supporting healing, connection, and social impact through creativity. She serves as its executive director.

Through her art, workshops, community-based art initiatives, and innovative use of technology, Sheila creates spaces where people can access their creativity as a pathway to connect with emotions and gain personal insight.

Her work bridges art, wellness, and consciousness, tapping into personal and collective storytelling, and is rooted in the belief that every life is a dynamic canvas.

CONNECT WITH SHEILA

Sketch Poetic®: https://www.sketchpoetic.com/

Living Canvas Foundation™: https://livingcanvasfoundation.org/

Sketch By Sketch Book: https://www.amazon.com/Sketch-Creative-Emotional-Transformation-SketchPoetic/dp/1250773873/

Substack: https://sheiladarcey.substack.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sketchpoetic/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livingcanvasfoundation/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@livingcanvasfoundation

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

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I reflect on my childhood and the values my parents instilled—curiosity, compassion, asking questions, and imagining life through someone else’s eyes. My mom and dad encouraged storytelling as a way to explore challenging ideas without needing certainty or agreement. In adulthood, stories help me hold confusion and overwhelm, understand my experience and those of others, and connect with what matters most.

Inviting us into lives we haven’t lived and perspectives we don’t yet understand, stories invite us to practice empathy toward understanding. Connecting with characters and situations soften our certainty, and remind us of our shared humanity.

In this episode, I share recent experiences that have done that for me. From a Jacob Collier concert that turned thousands of strangers into willing collaborators, to shows like Schitt’s Creek and Heated Rivalry that remind us of our capacity to connect with people who are not like us.

Be invested in the diversity of stories, including your own. Stay curious and risk talking with people who think differently, even if it provokes their hostility. Hear them out. Dare to be wrong. Allow yourself to be surprised, not by their views, but their willingness to have a civil conversation. Storytelling can soften your edges, and those of others.

Someone has to make the first move. Decide—It Has To Be Me.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS

Stories invite empathy and understanding without force or persuasion.

Stories help us hold complexity without shutting down.

Curiosity keeps us connected. It changes our minds and perspectives.

Listening is an act of resistance to outrage.

Share your stories and take in the stories of those who think differently.

Be kind as a quiet form of courage.

You can learn from someone without agreeing with them.

We build community through shared humanity, not shared opinions.

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

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Easier said than done. In this episode, I share how I had decided to shut the podcast down, because I felt like an imposter, that I’d been too ambitious, and bitten off more than I could chew!

I recall tools shared by our guests to combat fear and overwhelm, and which ones worked for me. In the end, I realized we don’t always need to spend time and money correcting course. Often, it just takes the right person saying the right thing at the right time to shift your perspective.

What got me back in the game was trusting myself to do my own triage, and choosing the strategies that felt right. Two mantras I embraced help me enjoy the work, not just obsess about the result.

Just because you don’t know how it’s going to happen, doesn’t mean it’s not possible.

Spoiler: Self-doubt and self-belief are both needed to create anything of value.

If you’re waiting for the perfect time to go after your It Has To Be Me, you’ll be waiting forever.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS

It’s a puzzle, not a problem. If you want to, you can figure it out.

Don’t be overwhelmed or depleted by your “to do” list—be energized by it.

When faced with an overwhelming task, imagine the feeling of having done it.

Worrying is like a rocking horse. It has motion, but gets you nowhere.

There are a finite amount of yes’s and an infinite amount of no’s. Choose them wisely.

A compassionate no is a gift for you and the other person.

Stay in the race. Most people give up right before they cross the finish line.

Give your imperfect offering. The right people can handle it. The wrong people never will.

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

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We track his career from early medical training in Syria and England to cutting-edge work at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Hanouneh shares how the liver’s extraordinary ability to regenerate brought him into the study of the liver, then breaks down the progression of liver disease in an accessible—and hopeful—way.

We discuss the critical role of the liver, the metabolic health crisis affecting 90% of people, the root causes of fatty liver in both adults and children, and how the disease is linked to heart attacks and strokes. From there, we cover risk factors we can control, those we can’t, and why women over 40 and adults with obesity, diabetes, and sleep apnea are at particularly high risk.

Dr. Hanouneh explains the non-specific symptoms of “the silent disease,” the five criteria for metabolic syndrome, and how to get tested for fatty liver. He addresses the four metabolic types, why BMI is outdated, and how “skinny fat” is the real medical risk.

Stressing the importance of prevention and early detection, Dr. Hanouneh shares the impact of diet, sleep, and stress, the best exercise to reduce fat in your liver, and proven food and lifestyle strategies. Next up: the common supplements, detox products, and over-the-counter medications that are causing liver damage, and why a daily cup of black coffee may be exactly what you need.

For those diagnosed with liver disease: We get into the latest studies, what we need to know about the two FDA-approved medications, timelines for recovery, and exciting new developments with transplants.

The key takeaway: When you catch it early and make strategic lifestyle changes, fatty liver is 100% reversible. Don’t miss this episode so you know exactly what to do.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS

Fatty liver has surpassed alcohol as the leading cause of liver disease and liver cancer.

What causes fatty liver is a high intake of carbs and sugar—not necessarily fat.

Type 2 diabetes and fatty liver are linked—having one increases risk for the other.

Sleep apnea and chronic stress both accelerate fatty liver through inflammation.

Children are developing fatty liver due to diet and sugary drinks, obesity, and diabetes.

Fatty Liver was renamed from NAFLD to MASLD to reflect its metabolic origins.

Knowing your metabolic type enables detection and tailored treatment for fatty liver.

Rezdiffra and Wegovy are FDA-approved drugs for treating fatty liver disease.

ABOUT DR. IBRAHIM HANOUNEH

Dr. Hanouneh completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at the Cleveland Clinic, and served on staff there before attending patients at the Mayo Clinic and joining the Board Of Directors at MNGI Digestive Health.

Co-author of the books Skinny Liver and Regenerative Health, Dr. Hanouneh has spent much of his career working with liver disease, with particular expertise in studies relating to fatty liver. He has presented at national and international conferences, and authored over 70 papers and numerous abstracts.

CONNECT WITH DR. HANOUNEH

Website: https://www.mngi.com/provider/ibrahim-hanouneh-md

Skinny Liver book: https://www.amazon.com/Skinny-Liver-Program-Prevent-Epidemic-Fatty/dp/0738234648/

Regenerative Health book: https://www.amazon.com/Regenerative-Health-Discover-Metabolic-Renew/dp/0306830159/

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

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We start with Ashley’s own struggle with weight, from belly awareness as a kid and dieting in high school and college, to obsessive exercise, extreme fads, and even a goat’s-milk cleanse! Finally, a gastroenterologist provided a real solution: First, focus on digestion. The results were life-changing. Ashley became a dietitian, building on that approach. She recognized, before the GLP-1s came along, the impact of weight-health hormones—"the Switch"—on blood sugar and appetite, and the connection between these hormones and gut health. She fine-tuned her system, and treated patients with huge success.

From there she walks us through the science—the difference between the Switch and GLP-1 medications that replace these hormones, ”The Shot.” We weigh the benefits and side effects of medications, and how to titrate off them and maintain your results. Covering what you need to know to establish and maintain a healthy weight, Ashley says it's not just about losing weight, it's about optimizing your weight health.

What's “Your Best Shot”? Assess and decode your body’s signals, then create a personalized action plan to fit your specific situation and needs. We talk through that process and what a plan might look like, common pitfalls in formulating a strategy, the skinny on supplements, and why doctors are not always the best guides.

The great news: You can control your weight health more than you think.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS

1. Your body is an ecosystem, and needs optimized resources to run better.
2. To optimize weight health start with improving digestion and gut health.
3. The body produces hormones that act as “the Switch” to regulate appetite and blood sugar.
4. GLP-1s can reduce food noise, regulate blood sugar, and support weight loss.
5. GLP-1 medications are a hormone-replacement therapy—and suppress the Switch.
6. The medications also can cause dehydration, digestive problems, and other health issues.
7. Titrating off a GLP-1 medication without improving digestion can result in rebound weight gain.
8. Willpower is a fake muscle that does not play a role in effective weight management.

ABOUT ASHLEY

Author of Your Best Shot, Ashley Koff, RD is the founder of The Better Nutrition Program (BNP), the Nutrition Course Director for UC Irvine’s Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute's Integrative and Functional Medicine Fellowship. Also a faculty member at the Integrative and Functional Nutrition Academy, she teaches the IFNA course “An Integrative and Functional Nutrition Approach to Obesity and Weight Management.”

A go-to nutrition expert on the Today Show, Good Morning America, and others, Ashley was among CNN’s Top 100 Health Makers, InStyle magazine’s Hollywood Nutritionist, and a Global Wellness Ambassador for Westin Hotels.

As a practitioner and business owner, Ashley makes her mission providing personalized nutrition solutions and helping people identify their needs to make “better, not perfect” choices toward their health goals.

CONNECT WITH ASHLEY

Website: https://thebetternutritionprogram.com/

Your Best Shot: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Best-Shot-Personalized-Health_GLP-1/dp/0063444186/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleykoffapproved

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleykoffapproved/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-koff-rd-11b6196/

GLP-1 Weight Health Hormone Assessment: https://thebetternutritionprogram.com/glp1-weight-health-hormone-assessment/?utm_source=the-blender-girl&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ybs

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

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Mia, Julie, and Kelly share their healing journeys, and the profound impact nutrition has had on their personal growth and transformation. They take us inside how they use that knowledge and experience in their private practices, and together, to guide and champion other women.

Starting with support and accountability, we get into why private and group coaching can help us see ourselves with more confidence and resilience. And we discuss the importance of leaders maintaining self-care and awareness practices to create safe spaces and meet clients with clarity and integrity.

We explore the challenges women face today, what keeps most of us stuck, and what we can do to leverage our femininity to make choices that align with what we want. By moving the conversation from our heads to our hearts, making a plan and executing it—with guidance—we reduce overwhelm, and can navigate the complexities of life with balance and ease.

Don’t do it alone. When women come together with a vision, they change the world.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS:

1. Coach and client engage in a dynamic of co-creation and drive thoughts into action.
2. Great coaches create listening containers that help us approach ourselves in new ways.
3. To walk the talk, ethical wellness practitioners maintain self-care practices.
4. Women need each other. Seek out communities. Tap into the power of the feminine collective.
5. Acting in a community activates the parasympathetic nervous system, for more connection.
6. Titration—making key changes slowly—creates safety in doing things that are hard or scary.
7. Befriending resistance is the path to getting past it.
8. You wouldn’t have an idea if you didn't have the capacity to make it happen.

MEET OUR GUESTS

MIA MORAN

Mia Moran is a mom, productivity coach, and planning expert. She is the host of the Plan Simple podcast, author of Plan Simple Meals, and creator of the FLOW365 program. Her belief in the power of wellness and a good plan got its start during a health crisis. Making changes to her diet, she experienced the impact better nutrition had on her work, relationships, and family life. While operating her design business, she began creating and sharing content around food, wellness, spirituality, motherhood, and feminine productivity. Her content resonated with other women. Mia has struck her perfect balance between wellness, work, and family; and she helps busy women and female entrepreneurs reduce overwhelm, find balance, and make strategic plans that enable them to achieve their goals.

JULIE HANNON

As a shamanic healer, energy medicine teacher, and yoga practitioner, Julie Hannon helps clients connect with their gifts and strengths, and make heart-centered decisions. With a master’s degree in psychology from Columbia University and bachelor’s in psychology from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Julie worked for over 20 years as a human resources director. She then trained in the healing arts of the Andes with mentors including Alberto Villoldo, Jorge Luis Delgado, and Joan Parisi Wilcox. With a certification in Luminous Healing through the Four Winds Society, Julie is also an advanced student of Dr. Joe Dispenza, and served as senior faculty at the Light Body School. She works in Energy Healing, Soul Retrieval, Divination, and HeartMath Coaching, and leads her weekly Sacred Circle online.

KELLY LUBECK

Kelly Lubeck, MPH, RYT is passionate about helping changemakers stay embodied, heal holistically, and lead with clarity, compassion and confidence—without sacrificing themselves to their mission. She creates positive change in the world through private client work, group programs, workshops, and speaking engagements. With a master’s in public health from Columbia University, Kelly has over 25 years’ experience developing and leading public health initiatives in the United States, Africa, and Central America. Combining that work with her training as a yoga teacher, soul-centered coach, and shamanic healer, she uses the science of the nervous system and a variety of holistic health practices to help women leaders heal from trauma and balance the demands of life and leadership.

CONNECT WITH MIA, JULIE, AND KELLY

Join FLOW365: https://plansimple.lpages.co/flow365-waitlist/

Connect with Mia: https://plansimple.com/

Connect with Julie: https://www.innerpeaceandwellness.com/

Connect with Kelly: https://www.kellylubeck.com/

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to the podcast.

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In this intimate, heart‑centered roundtable, I sit down with three extraordinary members of our Skinny60 community, Rachel, Gina, and Deborah, to talk about what really happens when women stop chasing perfection and finally decide, it has to be me. 

These women have tried everything, from cabbage soup diets and celebrity programs to vegan meal plans and giving up altogether. But when they landed in the 60-day reset, something clicked. Not because it was “easier,” but because it was designed to work with them, not against them.  

Rachel takes us back to 2020, when she wrote in her phone the desires she hoped to call in: miraculous weight loss, energy, glow. She had tried every diet under the sun, Weight Watchers, Atkins, keto, cabbage soup days, lemon detoxes, and still felt stuck. When the SK60 newsletter landed in her inbox, something in her said, this might be it. Not because she believed it would definitely work…but because she knew she couldn’t stay where she was.  

Gina shares what it’s like to live with lupus from childhood, how food was always something she loved, but also something doctors told her might be harming her. She had tested my recipes for years, but still wasn’t ready to commit to a program until she saw a photo of herself that made her cry. That moment became her “I’m ready” turning point. 

And then there’s Deborah, long‑time vegan, trauma counselor, and someone who had been told she needed to lose weight before she could be approved for hiatal hernia surgery. Nothing she tried worked because nothing had been designed with her body, her ethics, and her digestion in mind. But when she came to the SK60 webinar on hormones and gut health, something clicked. She joined out of curiosity… and curiosity became transformation. 

If you’re listening and thinking, “That’s amazing for them, but I don’t know if it can happen for me…” 

Let this conversation be your reminder that change and healing is possible and you don’t have to believe the whole story, just the next step, because when you give yourself permission to try again extraordinary things happen. 

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• You’re not “too late.” You’re right on time for your own transformation. 
• 60 days can be the catalyst for a lifetime of change. 
•  What starts as a food reset often becomes a self-worth revolution. 
• “Good. Better. Best. Not Perfect.” is more than a mantra, it’s freedom.  
• Food is fuel, but it’s also joy, connection, and memory-making.  
• You’re not lazy, broken, or undisciplined, your approach just didn’t fit you… until now.  
• Trusting your body begins with learning how to listen to it.  
• The stories you tell yourself matter. Rewrite the ones that don’t serve you. 
• Investing in yourself doesn’t make you selfish, it makes you stronger. 
• Real change starts when you decide: it has to be me. 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

We start with her own story. From singing and collecting quarters and performing in bus-and-truck shows as a child, to acting in professional theater in Chicago and New York and doing voiceovers for commercials, animated series, books, and films. 

When their work in audio took off, Paula and her husband, Paul Alan Ruben, founded their company, producing hundreds of titles with the major US publishers. Her keen ear for casting the right actor for the job took Paula to directing the full story with high-profile narrators and celebrities.  

She walks us through techniques for connecting performers with the emotional truth of the story, and the thrill of working with actors who relish collaborative discovery, along with the challenges of dealing with actors who don’t. She also covers directing authors—non-actors—when they narrate audio editions of their works.  

For actors: We dive into the intimate nature of audiobook performance, and the importance of developing a relationship with the listener. From there, we get into the importance of imagination, vulnerability, and breath, the impact of speed, and the value of honoring punctuation. 

For listeners: Paula compares audiobooks to dating. You know if you want a second one with the narrator. When you do, don’t be in a hurry to get it over with—listen at natural speed.  

Paula says great actors are like champion stallions and take the listener on the ride. 

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Audiobook narration is an intimate form of storytelling more aligned with film than stage.   
• Great narration is not about vocal tricks and “oral interp,” it’s about great acting.  
• For a book to come to life, the narrator must develop a relationship with the listener. 
• The best experience is when the narrator and listener breathe together.  
• Narrators: Your booth is a sanctuary. Bring your vulnerability in to tell the story. 
• The truth of the story is not just in the words spoken, but the emotions underneath.  
• Listen to an audiobook at 1.5x or 2x the speed, and you miss the full experience. 
• Coat-check your ego, and be a willing participant in the collaborative process. 

ABOUT PAULA PARKER 

Paula Parker has produced and directed hundreds of audiobooks for major US publishers over 25-plus years and delivered numerous award-winning titles. 

Highlights include the recording of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods—10th-Anniversary Edition,  Audiobook of the Year for Brimstone with Rene Auberjonois, and a Grammy for Always Looking Up with Michael J. Fox. 

Before directing audiobooks, Paula worked as an actor, first in Chicago then in New York at the Public Theater and off Broadway, and in diverse regional productions. As a voice actor, she dubbed films, worked in commercials, and played characters in animated series.   

With a passion for teaching, Paula trained actors at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Neighborhood Playhouse, and moved on to coaching actors from film, Broadway and other New York theater, in narration.  

She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and fellow audiobook director, Paul Alan Ruben.  

CONNECT WITH PAULA 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-parker-5b687411/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Tracking Paul’s journey from acting with Second City to directing and writing, he recalls why he stopped chasing laughs, and the moment that cemented his decision to direct actors. To collaborate with authors and publishers, he started an audio production company, and became a go-to director for high-profile titles with celebrities.  

Diving into what makes a compelling audiobook, Paul looks at why we lean into some narrators and not others. It’s not about the genre, a savvy reader, or a “golden” voice. It’s about a great actor intuiting the feelings of the character, and not only delivering the subtext with the words, but breathing life into the silence—what’s not being said. Takeaway: Turn up the playback speed and you'll miss the nuances of the performance.  

Paul imparts key lessons from directing Meryl Streep, Burt Reynolds, Michael J. Fox, Lynn Redgrave, Johnny Depp, senators and cabinet members, and his insights on working productively with people, regardless of status or star power. 

Paul says to the actor and the listener alike: Understanding a story has zero to do with position or intellect. Give yourself the time to listen, feel, believe, and experience, and go on a magic carpet ride. 

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• What makes great audiobooks is great acting, not just clear reading or vocal tone.  
• Great audiobook narrators don’t “try to sound like” the characters; they become them.  
• Structure and technique matter; it’s more important to connect with the emotional core.  
• The truth of a story exists in the silent “white” spaces—what is not spoken. 
• An actor who conveys the emotional subtext behind the words captivate the listener.  
• Narrators who use vocal tricks in place of emotional connection lose the listener. 
• Audiobook listeners want to be ahead of the actor, to anticipate what they don’t know.   
• As an actor, be emotionally connected to your world, and the worlds you want to inhabit. 

ABOUT PAUL 

Paul Alan Ruben has produced and directed audiobooks since 1990, winning numerous awards, including Grammys for Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, and Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox.  

Teaching and coaching professional actors in the United States, Paul has cast and directed many first-time audiobook performers who’ve become celebrated narrators.   

In his earlier career, Paul worked writing TV and theater, and has contributed features to Audiofile and Dadcentric magazines and The Washington Post.  

His short story collection, Terms of Engagement: Stories of the father and son was published in 2018, and narrated by a stellar multi-cast including George Guidall and Scott Brick.  

Paul lives in Brooklyn with fellow audiobook director, his wife Paula.  

CONNECT WITH PAUL 

Paul Alan Ruben: http://www.paulalanruben.com/ 

Terms Of Engagement:

https://www.amazon.com/Terms-of-Engagement-audiobook/dp/B07JHYGW9H/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-alan-ruben-8235276/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Starting with Jess’s early love of stories, he recalls how at age 6 he broke his leg, and books became an escape and imagination a survival tool. Reading with his mother and watching classic movies at the revival house where he worked fueled a passion for analyzing how stories come together.  

But, the academic approach to literature he found at Harvard and Columbia wasn’t as much fun as reading manuscripts for studios and agencies. Working with writers was even more rewarding, so Jess became an agent. Developing and selling material over ten years at Curtis Brown in New York and Endeavor in LA, he found his calling as an editor.  

Together, we explore crafting narrative, developing plot and character, relishing language, and leveraging our curiosity. Jess brings in “incidentation”—a concept he learned from a great TV writer—and why sometimes “telling” over “showing” is the way to go. Then walks us through how to live in a story so it's real to you, to get to the place where your characters make choices before you do. That's how your story takes on its own internal drive.   

You’ll hear about the power of the zero draft (just talk it out!), the best way to test-drive your ideas, when it’s time to work with an editor and how to find the right one, and the evolving role of AI in the writing process. 

The key takeaway: Have fun realizing your story. What's not fun to write isn't fun to read.   

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Begin by beginning. You can only understand your story fully by writing it.   
• The art of storytelling is deciding what to include and what to omit. 
• Great stories are not about words and themes, they’re about experiences.  
• Writing is a process of successive approximations. Trust your instincts, but verify. 
• The match between story and storyteller is essential. That's how you test your story.  
• Character and plot develop together when people act and reveal who they are. 
• Cast your characters and imagine the dialogue performed to construct your world.  
• Finding your voice is an experimental process. Writing can be learned, but not taught.  

ABOUT JESS TAYLOR 

Jess Taylor is an editor collaborating with novelists, biographers, memoirists, screenwriters, and journalists.  

After graduating from Harvard, Jess got a masters in English and Comparative Lit at Columbia, then launched into a PhD. Academia and narrative studies wasn’t about the nuts and bolts of storytelling, so he shifted to a career as a literary agent, at Curtis Brown, Ltd. in New York, and then at Endeavor in Los Angeles.    

Representing writers for publishing, film and TV, he focused on working with clients in the development of their projects. Bookending his ten-year run were Peter Hedges’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and Rex Pickett’s Sideways, and the movie adaptations of those first novels.   

Since making the move to independent editing, he’s worked closely with fiction and non-fiction writers from Gregg Hurwitz and Nicole Galland to Nancy Stout, Cyrus Copeland, and Tess Masters.  

CONNECT WITH JESS 

Website: https://www.revizion.net/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jess-taylor-35a30031/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

I’ll walk you through how to prepare for the holiday season, planning ahead for catered events, what to do at parties, how to order at restaurants, best practices for travel, and tricks for entertaining with the healthy recipes that are always a hit.  

We’ll also cover the 80/20 approach—the best way to eat during the holidays. Then, the number-one way to prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes, foods and supplements to keep on hand, what to do after meals. and the fastest way to recover when you’ve overdone it. 

The key takeaways: Stop stressing about what’s on your plate, go with your gut, and find a balance of self-care and fun.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Your secret weapon for avoiding the holiday food hangover: Better gut health.  
• Offset holiday treats with vegetables, fermented foods, and lots of water.  
• Show up to holiday parties with a flexible mindset having eaten something. 
• To minimize gas, bloating, and feeling stuffed: Eat until you’re satisfied, not full.  
• Take in healthy fats and protein with carbs to avoid blood sugar spikes and crashes.  
• Support better body balance with probiotics, enzymes, glutamine, and magnesium.  
• After a meal, go for a walk to aid digestion and burn off some calories. 
• Celebrate the holidays as a data-gathering mission, not a pass/fail test.  

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

We track Amanda’s journey from studying filmmaking in Canada, to teaching English in Taiwan, to meeting her Aussie husband and moving to Australia. Committed and creative vegetarians, they founded Lord Of The Fries. Their humble plant-based food truck grew into a national restaurant franchise.  

On that wave of success, Amanda began strategizing for other female entrepreneurs. When covid hit, putting the restaurant business in turmoil, she left the food business. At the same time, her marriage ended. Leaning into self-care and spiritual practices to navigate these changes, she made coaching her vocation. Human Design helped Amanda lead from alignment instead of conditioning, and she began using the system with her clients.   

She unpacks what Human Design is, and how we can leverage our strengths, use our energy more efficiently, make clearer decisions, and attract people and opportunities that are the right fit. Amanda gives experience-based examples of how Human Design supports more ease and flow in our relationships, and better parenting.   

To wrap up, Amanda does a basic reading of my Human Design. Her insights were bang on, and raised questions that will be provocative for you.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS 

• Human Design reveals your energetic blueprint and how you make decisions. 
• Human Design combines astrology, the I Ching, Kabbalah, and Chakras.  
• Like fingerprints, no two Human Design charts are the same. 
• Human Design can help us stop fighting our nature and work with it.   
• Burnout happens when we say yes to what’s not aligned.  
• Intuition is a muscle, and Human Design is a map that helps strengthen it.  
• Celebrating your nature helps you see blocks and make clearer choices. 
• Understanding our design and that of others creates more ease in relationships.  

MEET AMANDA 

Amanda Leigh Walker uses Human Design in her work as a life coach and business mentor. She has developed signature frameworks—Decode & Design™, The Success Map, and The Heart Sanctuary to guide women and entrepreneurs.  

Co-founder of the plant-based Australian restaurant chain Lord Of The Fries, Amanda spent two decades building an iconic fast-food franchise.   

Combining practical strategies with intuitive energy work, Amanda mentors others to create conscious lives and businesses, for growth and purpose, in alignment with who they are. 

CONNECT WITH AMANDA 

Website: https://www.amandaleighwalker.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amanda.leigh.walker/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-leigh-walker-73305613/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

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Growing up as the responsible first child in a values-driven family, Amy felt she had to be “the good girl,” and spent her childhood perpetually stressed. Destined to follow in the footsteps of her entrepreneurial grandfather, she was making and selling hair barrettes before she was 10, dreaming of building companies, and chalking up the next achievement.   

We track Amy’s career trajectory, from working in advertising, to running communications for New York City’s Olympic bid, and serving as Chief Marketing Officer for Martha Stewart. Then, changing the game for women’s sports agents, and on to launching her company to promote positive female role models and change makers.  

Through it all, she struggled to balance the badass boss persona with the sensitivity, vulnerability, and other “soft traits” she prized in her personal life. Figuring out how to make these qualities strengths, not liabilities, Amy incorporated them into her leadership style, approach to business, and core company values. 

Walking us through how to leverage other feminine qualities that are conventionally dismissed as weaknesses, she shares her check-in questions and secret weapon for decision making, the mistake that makes everything harder, and the best way to reshape our perspective on success and failure.   

Amy says: You don’t need to prove your worth, it’s already there. Unleash your full power. Run with your wolf. Show up as your full, feeling, and sometimes-messy self.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS 

• Use challenging moments as training opportunities to learn and build resilience.  
• Emotional awareness and sensitivity allows you to read people and feel before you speak. 
• Trusting your gut is a practice. Start with the little things, then level up to the big ones. 
• Againstness—kneejerk opposition—gets in the way of productivity and team building.  
• Agreeability—the antidote to againstness—isn’t playing small. It’s choosing collaboration. 
• Surrender isn’t giving up. It’s letting go of the need to put yourself at the center.   
• Vulnerability is a superpower—the bridge between being seen and known.  
• It will all work out in the end, and if it hasn't worked out, it's not the end. 

ABOUT AMY STANTON 

Amy Stanton has built a leading boutique PR and marketing agency by championing impact-oriented people and brands.  

She founded Stanton & Company in 2006 exclusively to promote positive female role models. S&Co has grown to represent men and companies as well. Clients include top medical practitioners and authors, elite athletes, and philosophy-driven businesses. Recognized as an industry leader in health and wellness, women’s sports, and female entrepreneurship and empowerment, S&Co has been on the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies in America for the past three years.  

Beginning her career with global advertising agencies including BBDO and JWT, Amy also served as the head of marketing and communications for NYC2012 (New York City's Olympic bid), and as Chief Marketing Officer for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.  

Drawing on her personal and professional experience, she co-authored The Feminine Revolution with Catherine Connors, and speaks regularly about female leadership and entrepreneurship, business and marketing, and women in sports.  

CONNECT WITH AMY 

Website: https://stanton-company.com/ 

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Feminine-Revolution-Ignite-Femininity-Brighter/dp/1580058124/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StantonCompany 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stantoncompany/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amykstanton/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amykstanton/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

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The “I’m not enough” and “I’m too much” narratives are not opposites, but stories echoing from the same voice of self-doubt. We feel like we have to be different to meet the moment. Rather than buying into the myths, create a different relationship with the story, and use it as a springboard for action.  

Exploring the impact of family dynamics, we look at how to disrupt old thought patterns, identify energetic currencies, and use our strengths to build confidence and resilience.  

Next up: Self-talk strategies. The high-low and “water not cement” exercises, the “I get to” shift, the “3 vs 11” barometer, and the “well, that happened” conversation.   

I close with the words I remove from my vocabulary when making decisions, and the mantra that helps exile the bully perfectionist. Then share the random interaction with a stranger that changed my life. There’s one that can change yours.  

The key takeaway: Share. Sometimes the best teacher for a 3rd grader is a 4th grader.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• The energetic currencies we value and exchange most drive our choices.   
• Anchor yourself to the things you do well and hold the fear of change in balance. 
• When not held in balance, your superpower is your Achilles' Heel.  
• To stop being a hostage to others’ expectations, claim your yes’s and no’s.  
• You're never enough for the wrong people. You’re always enough for the right ones.   
• Showing your vulnerability gives others permission to show you theirs.  
• Go with your gut and give your imperfect offering.  
• Practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes possible.  

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

We start with the basics: what FODMAPs are, why these carbohydrates are difficult to digest, and the common foods that can aggravate digestive distress.  

From there, Meghan outlines how Monash University developed the FODMAP protocol and the go-to app. Then walks us through the protocol’s three phases, and the importance of consulting with a qualified dietitian who can help determine trigger foods to rethink your diet in the least restrictive way.  

She covers who can benefit from a low-FODMAP approach, who should not be limiting their diets in this way, and how the key to success is personalization. Meghan stresses that the protocol is not treatment for digestive conditions, but a dietary intervention to reduce the discomfort and suffering from them.  

Debunking popular misconceptions, Meghan addresses why the diet is a short-term strategy, and how most people go at it wrong. She stresses the dangers of being on the protocol long-term.  

This conversation goes way beyond “eat this, avoid that.” We discuss how stress, sleep, and exercise impact gut health. And wrap up with lifestyle strategies, natural therapies, mental health practices, and supplements that can improve our digestion. 

The key takeaway: Embrace a holistic approach to a FODMAP diet and personalize with support from qualified practitioners.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• FODMAPs are short-chain carbohydrates that can cause digestive problems. 
• The Low FODMAP Diet is a temporary therapeutic protocol, not a long-term plan. 
• The protocol is a three-step process—elimination, reintroduction, and personalization.  
• The protocol is the most evidence-based dietary strategy for managing IBS. 
• It can also support people with IBD, SIBO, and ongoing bloating or endometriosis.  
• FODMAP sensitivities may shift with foodborne illnesses, stress, or hormone changes.  
• Once you determine food triggers, liberalize your diet to avoid nutrient deficiencies.  
• Without the guidance of a practitioner, the FODMAP Diet can do more harm than good. 

ABOUT MEGHAN DONNELLY, MS, RDN, CDN 

Meghan is a registered dietitian specializing in gastrointestinal nutrition, and is Director Of Health Communications at the Celiac Disease Foundation.  

Her experience spans clinical practice, nutrition counseling, medical nonprofits, and the food industry. 

In her private practice at Nutmeg Nutrition, Meghan helps her clients establish a balanced and joyful relationship with food, particularly when managing digestive disorders (IBS and SIBO), food intolerances, gluten-related conditions (celiac disease), and disordered eating.   

She also provides nutrition counseling for heart health, kidney disease, weight management, and food intolerances. Monash University certified, she guides clients on Low-FODMAP diets.   

As lead dietitian for Skinny60®, Meghan provides nutrition education and support for participants in the 60-Day Reset.  

CONNECT WITH MEGHAN 

Consult with Meghan: https://www.nutmegnutrition.org/ 

Join the 60-Day Reset: https://www.skinny60.com/60-day-reset/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

In Lee's youth, two life-threatening accidents left him in debilitating pain. Rolphing, craniosacral work, and other healing modalities were instrumental in his recovery, prompting Lee to go to chiropractic school. Assisting a cranial osteopath and seeing and experiencing the life-changing effects of treatments inspired a passion for craniosacral therapy and a now four-decade career as practitioner and educator. 

Lee walks us through the significance of the original wounding we all experience in being born. Then lays out why connecting in adulthood with the body’s’ fascial language is the key to recovering from deep-seated ailments and moving with ease as we age.  

We go over the importance of keeping our fascia healthy, and why tapping into our brain pulses is so effective in releasing physical and emotional trauma. Lee covers the physical practices to do every day, shares what the behavior of babies teaches us, and challenges us to rethink the furniture we’re sitting on!  

In a surprising perspective, Lee sees pain as something that reveals, not just as something that needs to be healed.  

He says: Lie down, trust your body, and listen to the story it’s sharing with you.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS 

• Craniosacral therapy unlocks the innate healing power of the body to rebalance.  
• The heart, not the mind, is the biggest electromagnetic generator of the body. 
• Fascia is the way of the heart. Its intelligence is not of the mind, it's about intuition.  
• Fascia records and responds to every experience, intention, emotion, injury, and story.   
• Listen to your physical pain as a way to access what is going on in your inner world.  
• Conventional furniture restricts the body’s flow. Get on the floor, squat, and sit on a ball.  
• Train the body to move in its original state to unwind trauma with Tai Chi and Qigong.  
• “Doing nothing” is not passive—it’s a sacred discipline.   

ABOUT LEE VEAL 

With over 40 years’ experience in the healing arts, Lee Veal draws from a variety of movement vocabularies to support recovery in adults, children, and babies.  

Having an undergraduate degree in biochemistry, Lee attended the Cleveland Chiropractic College in Kansas City, and graduated with a focus on cranial sacral, working alongside a cranial osteopath. He also studied Sanskrit, yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Thai Massage, and Qigong with three masters from China.   

In 1988 he established his practice, working entirely from a cranial perspective, and joined the first integrated healing center in Kansas City, in association with an MD, an acupuncturist, a Feldenkreis therapist, and a Rolfer.  

Lee’s unique approach draws from Qigong, and integrates cranial sacral with therapeutic Pilates, contact improvisation, sound healing, and diverse internal arts. To help people of all ages recover from trauma, he developed the Advanced Cranial™ system of Myo-fascial release and gentle resisted movements. 

As an educator, Lee devised a curriculum for training instructors. Since 2006 he has devoted more time to research and development, and to teaching cranial work to babies and their parents. 

CONNECT WITH LEE 

Website: https://leevealdc.com/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

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We track Cathy’s journey to becoming a healer. Her mother’s premature death, when she was 12, and her father’s insistence on healthy food prompted Cathy’s keen interest in medicine and natural healing modalities. Working in a hospital as a nurse, she witnessed the chronic effects of poor food and lifestyle choices. She became passionate about preventing disease rather than treating it, and moved into colon hydrotherapy. 

Cathy gives us the lowdown on the benefits of colonics, what compromises our gut microbiome, and how our colon, liver, kidneys, lymph, sexual health, and nervous system are connected. And why regular bowel elimination is the key to achieving our health goals.  

Unpacking the history and science of colonics, and debunking common misconceptions, Cathy lays out why the closed system is preferable to the open. Then, walks us through how to find a skilled practitioner, what questions to ask, the best way to prepare, the logistics of a session, and how to optimize our results.   

Beyond the physical benefits, we explore the mental, emotional, and spiritual elements of the practice. Helping us understand why it’s called “therapy,” Cathy emphasizes the importance of working with an intuitive practitioner who treats with care and sensitivity.  

The big takeaway: Healing isn’t just what we eat or the actions we take, it’s about what we release.   

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• If your colon is congested, toxins get reabsorbed, putting a strain on vital organs.  
• Colon hydrotherapy helps the body keep up with the constant barrage of toxins.  
• Colonics help digestion, circulation, immunity, energy, mental clarity, and weight loss.  
• The practice supports pelvic and sexual health, to avoid UTIs and prostate issues.  
• Go for medical-grade treatments with a qualified practitioner rather than a spa session.  
• Choose the closed system to allow the practitioner to do bodywork during the treatment. 
• Work with a skilled therapist who remains in the room the whole time. 
• How many sessions you need depends on your physical and emotional needs and preferences. 

ABOUT CATHY: 

Cathy Basse is a licensed colon hydrotherapist certified in integrative bodywork and massage with a practice in Kansas City.  

Drawing on her career as a nurse and decades of experience in the healing arts, Cathy combines colonics with energy therapies, Bach Flower Remedies, Reiki, massage, and other therapeutic and intuitive strategies. She helps clients release physically and emotionally to manage stress, reduce pain, improve digestion and elimination, and enhance overall well-being.  

Cathy worked with Dr. Andrew Weil in the production of the PBS specials: Spontaneous Healing and 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, and has designed programs for other renowned experts in the wellness space.  

CONNECT WITH CATHY: 

Website: https://ahealthtrust.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ihealwell/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

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Is the dominant narrative yours or has it been installed by your family and other influences? I’ll share insights and strategies that my clients find most effective for engaging differently with the inner critic and instigating positive change.  

We'll cover sitting in the inquiry, the journey of why, listening to the white space, the golden rule of improvisation, and the power of the pause. Then, we explore how shifting from short-hand to long-hand communication helps manage the conflict and resentment we feel when others fall short or don’t meet our needs.   

The words we choose matter. They’re either building a bridge toward our desires or tearing them down. By playing in the promise, changing our state when we feel stuck, owning our superpowers, and leveraging our lessons, we find the balance of what we want and what others want for us.  

Upgrade how you speak to yourself, get out of your own way, and own your “It has to be me.” 

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Every choice starts with permission and a conversation with yourself.  
• Awareness of your inner dialogue is the first step.  
• Is the dominant narrative yours or somebody else? 
• Your family knows how to press your buttons because they installed them.  
• Listen and pay attention to the white space—what’s not being said.  
• Choose to be in your experience, as opposed to on it.  
• Feeling stuck? Change your physical state to access yourself differently.   
• Making better choices is a process of deciding and re-deciding. 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

After enduring the usual relationship disappointments in her 20’s and 30’s, Londin wasn’t settling, and got into sacred sexuality. At 24, Justin was on a very different path, albeit a spiritual one. In becoming a couple, they embraced the study and practice together. Then, over a decade, developed their signature system—Yoga Of Intimacy—which they share through private consultations and workshops.  

In our conversation, we hear male and female perspectives on what gets in the way of experiencing the love and sex we want. Starting with the traits of an unconscious lover—unaware, reactive, distracted, selfish—we learn how to be more conscious lovers, and seek partners who want to cultivate similar values. Building a relationship this way, you keep attraction and passion alive and growing.  

Londin and Justin demonstrate some of the foundational practices they use with their clients to balance expectations, and soften fear and resentment. Then share how to open more trust and intimacy, reignite the fire when the spark dies out, and create the hottest moments of ecstasy.  

We get practical tools for communicating what we want without shutting our partner down, celebrating desires that are different, and finding the bridge to meet with excitement.  

This episode is about surrendering and showing up fully, moment by moment, and listening to our hearts in the interactions that most of us find the hardest.  

Justin and Londin invite us to love like we’re never been hurt, and see how we deny others the things we don’t know how to give ourselves. 

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• We attract partners who deny us love as much as we deny them. 
• Surrendering enables deeper love that’s free from attachment to external outcomes. 
• Avoid expectation and resentment. Meet your lover each time as if for the first time. 
• The “I See / I Feel” practice helps partners share and grow without reactivity.  
• Consciously cultivate polarity to enhance attraction, desire, and passion.  
• Balancing desire and equanimity helps us want and allow at the same time.  
• The Yoga Of Intimacy provides a blueprint to be a masterful lover.   
• Mastery is not a destination, but a commitment to a path that has no end.  

ABOUT JUSTIN AND LONDIN 

Co-authors of Playing With Fire and The Awakened Woman's Guide to Everlasting Love, Justin Patrick Pierce and Londin Angel Winters are business and life partners, and relationship coaches who teach sacred sexuality with their signature training, Yoga Of Intimacy.  

Having studied and practiced sacred intimacy for more than a decade under the tutelage of renowned teachers, Justin and Londin’s system prioritizes practicality over theory. Using a hands-on approach, and incorporating their personal stories, Justin and Londin educate men and women on spiritual and intimate development.  

Their students learn to create tangible change in their lives from a couple dedicated to understanding the complex dynamics of modern relationships.  

CONNECT WITH JUSTIN AND LONDIN 

Playing With Fire: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Fire-Spiritual-Intimate-Relationship/dp/0986394254/ 

The Awakened Woman's Guide to Everlasting Love: https://www.amazon.com/Awakened-Womans-Guide-Everlasting-Love/dp/0986394246/ 

Yoga Of Intimacy: https://www.patreon.com/yogaofintimacy 

Website: https://www.justinpatrickpierce.com/ 

Website: https://www.londinangelwinters.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinpatrickpierce/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/londinawinters/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/yogaofintimacy 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Anna’s struggle with infertility, and early-onset menopause, at 39, prompted a global pilgrimage to study alternative healing practices. Combining Western and Eastern medicine optimized her hormones and she conceived naturally at 41. The experience fueled her mission to help other women take control of their bodies.  

Anna’s approach is holistic and human—a far cry from the typical “pop a pill or slap on a patch and hope for the best.” It’s about building a vibrant life from the inside out, with nutrition, movement, connection, community, pleasure, and purpose. And, hormone therapy is the icing on the cake!  

We go over all the critical things every woman needs to know. How to harness the power of the hormone hierarchy, which adaptogens and supplements actually reduce symptoms, and the importance of gut health, alkalinity, and detox. Anna also spills the secret to getting rid of belly fat, and why bioidentical hormones are the way to go.  

The two biggest secrets? Oxytocin… queen of all hormones, and getting serious about your sexual health. Anna lays out the science behind how love, connection, and intimacy are the keys to hormone balance and longevity. We celebrate self-pleasuring, and the best way to alleviate pain during intercourse and eradicate urinary infections and incontinence.  

This is a must-listen if you want to age like a goddess and suck the marrow out of life.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Fixing your hormones takes more than hormones. Nutrition and lifestyle are foundational.  
• Bioidentical hormones are superior to synthetic products on offer.  
• Reversing early menopause is possible with strategic nutrition and lifestyle changes.  
• Cortisol (stress hormone) is the enemy of health and happiness. Regulating it is essential.  
• Microdose oxytocin daily by cultivating pleasure and joy to change your physiology.  
• Sexual health is critical. Our health span should equal our lifespan and our sex span.  
• There’s no age limit on sexual pleasure. Cultivate the sex life you want.  
• Self-pleasure is a powerful form of self-care that boosts longevity.  

ABOUT DR. ANNA 

Anna Cabeca, DO, OBGYN, FACOG is the author of The Hormone Fix, Keto-Green 16, and MenuPause.  

Multi board certified, Dr. Anna is a fellow of gynecology and obstetrics, integrative medicine, and anti-aging and regenerative medicine. She also holds certifications in functional medicine, sexual health, and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.  

Anna lectures frequently demystifying the complexities of women’s health. A cornerstone of her work is helping women manage stress and cortisol, and leverage oxytocin—the “love hormone” to restore connection, desire, libido, joy, vitality, and sexual pleasure.  

Through her practice and research, she developed a line of natural products, including Julva® vulva cream and MightyMaca® Plus, that help women thrive through menopause.    

Known as “The Girlfriend Doctor,” Ann is blunt and speaks from the heart, using sassy humor to make health and science relatable and fun.  

She lives in Dallas with her daughters, and their extended family of horses and dogs. 

CONNECT WITH DR. ANNA 

Website: https://drannacabeca.com?_ef_transaction_id=&oid=1&affid=5508080 

Breeze Through Menopause: https://drannacabeca.com/pages/breeze-live?oid=10&affid=5508080 

Books: https://drannacabeca.com/collections/books?uid=181&oid=1&affid=5508080 

Julva: https://drannacabeca.com/pages/offers-julva-trial?uid=42&oid=1&affid=5508080 

Mighty Maca Capsules: https://drannacabeca.com/products/mighty-maca-menopause-capsules?uid=9&oid=1&affid=5508080 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrAnnaCabeca 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegirlfrienddoctor 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drannacabeca/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

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Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

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Amy and I track her food journey, from a childhood in rural Australia raised in a homesteader family that lived off the land and made everything from scratch, to Sydney's food scene and getting into macrobiotics, pastry chef in Amsterdam, caterer in London, and executive chef at New York’s Angelica Kitchen.  

Every phase of her evolution, her philosophy has stayed the same: start with quality ingredients, cook with the seasons, keep things simple, and have fun with food. 

She takes us through her basics: stock the pantry with staples, grow food for ourselves (even if it’s just a pot of herbs), activate ingredients, combine them for better textures and flavors, elevate quick bowls and salads with a touch of magic, and get creative with your leftovers.  

From there, Amy gives us her tips for intuitive cooking—draw inspiration from sources around you, and tap into your environments and moods. She goes on to share how being a mom and cooking for kids has taught her to be even more simple and flexible.  

Her approach: Experiment with the ingredients that are speaking to you, listen to what your body and family want, and enjoy the discoveries!  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS 

• The pantry is your playground—stock it well. 
• Forage your fridge and pantry, and incorporate staples and leftovers for simple meals.  
• Eating well doesn’t require fancy tools. Start with a grain, a pot, and an intention.  
• Seasonal ingredients deliver economy, simplicity, and fabulous flavor. 
• Activate foods for health benefits and slow-prep for better textures and flavors. 
• Teas add fabulous flavors, not just in drinks, but to desserts, batters, and baked goods.  
• Elevate basic bowls and salads—add a splash of good oil, tamari, toasted seeds, or avocado. 
• Leverage clever combinations of nuts and seeds, of whole grains, and complementary flours. 

ABOUT AMY 

Amy Chaplin is a two-time winner of the James Beard Award, for At Home In The Whole Food Kitchen and Whole Food Cooking Every Day.   

As a vegetarian chef and teacher, Amy anchors her approach in inspiration from nature, the benefits of fresh ingredients, and decades of experience working with food around the world.   

Her recipes have been featured in Vogue, the Washington Post, T Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications. Having worked as executive chef at Angelica Kitchen, New York City, and as private chef for individuals, she now cooks with a group of colleagues and dedicated subscribers who join her monthly classes on Substack.   

Originally from Australia, she lives with her wife and two sons in a small town in Upstate New York. 

CONNECT WITH AMY 

Website: https://amychaplin.com/ 

Substack: https://amychaplin.substack.com/ 

At Home In The Whole Food Kitchen: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Whole-Food-Kitchen-Celebrating/dp/1645471454/ 

Whole Food Cooking Every Day: https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Food-Cooking-Every-Day/dp/1579658024/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amychaplin 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chefamychaplin/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-chaplin-18383bb/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Susan’s sweet tooth caught up with her and, after “a swift kick” from her doctor, she leaned into her love of cooking, and started eating food that tasted so delicious, the hankering for cookies and ice cream disappeared. The immediate positive changes she saw in her body made staying on the path easy.  

Unlike Susan, Liz wasn’t much of a cook. Years of binging on processed foods to cope with her daughter’s murder left Liz obese and unable to participate in family events the way she wanted. Learning to prepare healthy meals gave Liz a sense of pride—she could finally enjoy good food that was also good for her! In her 70s, she feels better than ever.   

For Kim, food was the enemy, and with crippling addiction, she couldn’t gain control. At 200 pounds and with serious medical issues, she was living like a hermit, and hadn’t dated in 20 years. She leveraged the nutrition coaching and peer support to lose 65 pounds, and claim the quality of life she wanted.  

These ladies lay it all out there: the guilt of eating in secret, the shame spiral of failed diets, the loneliness and limitations of hiding—and the freedom and empowerment they achieved when they chose change and made it happen. 

Community support, and the candor and sensitivity of people sharing similar struggles, helped Liz, Susan, and Kim stay on track with better choices. The draw of the vitality they felt was stronger than their previous addictions to food. This seismic shift launched a tsunami of positive changes in their lives. 

The extraordinary things that happened when these ladies decided “It has to be me” will blow your mind. 

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Being vulnerable and having honest conversations is the path to finding solutions. 
• Feeling healthy and vibrant has a ripple effect, opening more opportunities and choices. 
• The food and health stories of family members do not have to be yours.  
• The key to overcoming food addictions is delicious healthy recipes and community support. 
• Food isn’t the enemy. It’s a gateway to awareness, empowerment, joy, vitality. 
• Empowerment with food comes in knowing what to eat, enjoying it, and feeling good about it. 
• Restriction and deprivation are not sustainable. Self-care and fun in balance yield results.  
• Strategic eating enables you to lose weight eating more food, not less.  

MEET OUR MEMBERS 

Kim Brantley 

After working as a court reporter for three decades, Kim became a life coach, and is enjoying her new career as a screenwriter thanks to restoring her health with the 60-Day Reset. Tipping the scales at 200 pounds on a 5' 3" frame, Kim lost 65 pounds, reversed her pre-diabetes diagnosis, and cleared the chronic bronchitis, acid reflux, inflammation, and carpal tunnel syndrome that had plagued her for years. She is thrilled to be feeling healthy and vibrant, and living an active joyful life as she turns 60.  

Susan Ryan 

After a career in healthcare administration, Susan is enjoying an active retirement visiting local museums, celebrating the performing arts, traveling, and exploring boutique wineries. Following a remodel of her house, she is reincarnating her edible landscape to manageable container gardening. A food enthusiast, she enjoys sharing healthy meals with family and friends. After completing the 60-Day Reset five years ago, Susan aims to emulate the longevity of her mother, who won $10 at bingo the week she passed at 101. 

Liz Donnelly 

A retired healthcare professional and mother of seven, “Grammie” to twelve, and “GG” to ten (and two more on the way), Liz finds the greatest joy in being with her family. Being a member of the Skinny60® beta group and participating in two subsequent cycles of the program gave Liz the knowledge, tools, and confidence to embrace a healthy lifestyle and maintain it. She looks forward to more years of strength and vitality, and making memories with her loved ones.  

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Coaching hundreds of women, I see the same patterns. The beliefs and habits modeled by our parents set up the stories we play out around self-care. Family scripts keep us stuck in the same scenes, which often leads to guilt, shame, and abuse.   

Examining our relationships with food opens a portal to understanding choices we make in other parts of our lives. This awareness helps us flip the script and change the dialogue to one that feeds possibilities rather than throws up limitations.  

Starting with this conversation helps my clients find the motivation to embrace change and make their health a priority. From there, the secret sauce is community. Women achieve their health goals faster, and with more ease and joy, when they explore their food stories with other women wanting to get healthy, too.   

When you add guidance from dietitians who help you craft personalized nutrition solutions, you’re on a sustainable path. That said, it’s delicious food, connection, support, accountability, and community that really make the difference.  

We don't get these vital things from solitary interactions with Chat GPT. 

Interacting with real people who listen to your whole story helps you drop the one that’s been handed to you, and claim your next “It Has To Be Me.”  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Many of us have diet culture modeled from a young age, by our parents.  
• Getting healthy is more what you add than what you take away. 
• Food choices that meet your bio-individual needs take healthy eating to the next level.  
• Listen to what your body needs rather than what you mind wants. 
• Feed your vitality instead of settling for functionality.  
• Look for practitioners who consider your whole story, not just your lab results. 
• Invest money in feeling good rather than spending it to cover up that you don’t.  
• Don’t let your physical health be the reason you say no.   

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Growing up on a farm, Wendy learned to cook, to live off the land—and to see food as a reward. Her mother and grandmother baked treats, literally every day. Her dad came home with a chocolate bar tucked inside his evening paper. 

Becoming a food writer, she made performative eating an art, dining in glamorous places even if she wasn’t hungry or enthusiastic. Food provided comfort and conflict, but rarely joy.  

In her fifties she “flipped the switch,” changing her food story, not through shame or restriction, but with honesty and care. She began nourishing her body consciously, making connections between food and other choices.  

Chasing the next hot story didn’t interest her anymore. Remembering that she “spoke country,” Wendy started a media company and radio show to spotlight the stories of everyday people at the sources of food in Australia.  

We discuss the importance of owning who you are, and using your unique voice to tell the stories that matter to you. For Wendy, it’s in staying curious, asking questions, being present in relationships, and participating in community that we’ll find the answers and the opportunities.  

She says: Get over having to be new. Acknowledge who you’ve learnt from and throw your hat in the ring.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Childhood and family dynamics shape eating habits that are hard to break.  
• A conscious relationship with food leads to better choices overall and more joy. 
• Resist the cult of busy-ness, and take time to be present in your relationships.  
• Embrace stillness to take stock of your priorities.  
• Take an active part in nourishing, shaping, and celebrating community. 
• Lean into curiosity. Keep asking questions to see new possibilities.  
• Use your agency, authority, and superpowers to claim what you want. 
• For energetic hygiene, choose people who elevate and celebrate you.   

ABOUT WENDY 

Seasoned food writer, journalist, radio presenter, and filmmaker, Wendy Hargreaves heads up Bread & Butter Media. She and her team at the agency celebrate makers and growers in regional Australia, and their stories, through radio shows, podcasts, print media, and documentaries.  

In a career spanning four decades, Wendy has reported on people, places and events in Australia and abroad for some of the nation's biggest media companies. Co-hosting “On The Road Again” on 3AW radio, she showcases rural towns through the lens of roadtrip experiences.  

Her work in journalism and media has won multiple awards, including three in the United States for her short films about extraordinary women in hospitality, such as Kate Reid, founder of Lune Croissanterie.  

When she’s not in front of a camera or behind the mic, you’ll find Wendy at a pottery wheel making functional pieces for chefs and restaurateurs. 

CONNECT WITH WENDY 

Website: https://www.breadandbuttermedia.com.au/ 

Your Neck Of The Woods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbB5HBAPdg0 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendy_hargreaves/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breadandbuttermedia.au 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bread-butter-media 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-hargreaves-8a558132/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Raised in the Australian bush by a strict father, and struggling with depression, Liam found freedom and joy in making music with everything in nature. Indigenous mentors nurtured his love for the songs of the land, prompting a lifelong practice and mastery with ancient and modern instruments.  

Experiencing the profound impact of sound on his own emotional growth, Liam then studied healing modalities with spiritual teachers around the world.  

His work has been shaped by listening—to the earth, to energy, to people—and noticing and feeling what’s drowning beneath the noise.  

We discuss how changing our vibration and frequency releases stagnant energy, breaks thought patterns and behavioural cycles, and gives us greater clarity. 

Liam takes us through how sound and breath can help us meet discomfort and integrate trauma, not as wounds to reopen, but as wisdom that guides us to something new.  

“Let sound, and what you can’t see, take you inward,” Liam says, to connect with self, and effect change outward. 

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Sound helps us come into the wisdom of our stories without the words. 
• Our relationship with sound and music is shaped in childhood experiences. 
• Staying in the same vibrational frequency perpetuates the same stories.  
• We often confuse comfort with safety, and dissociate from what we need to feel.  
• Sound healing can help release trauma, shed old beliefs, and welcome new energy.  
• Sound baths help us connect: cognitively, spiritually, and emotionally.  
• Indigenous cultures teach us to respect the vibrations and songs of nature.  
• A skilled sound practitioner improvises to serve the healing that is needed. 

ABOUT LIAM LE KELLE 

Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and master of sound, Liam Le Kelle has decades of experience facilitating transformative healing journeys.  

Trained in Tibetan sound therapy, traditional didgeridoo healing, tantric practices, vocal and breathwork techniques, Reiki, and other healing modalities, Liam integrates ancient wisdom with contemporary energy practices. 

Developed in study with indigenous elders, spiritual teachers, and musicians around the globe, Liam’s approach blends sound, music, breath, and energy work to guide people toward inner harmony, connection, and resilience. 

A close relationship with nature and sound helped Liam navigate inner turmoil, identity struggles, and depression. Through sound and energy sessions, he supports others in discovering joy and presence.  

Using humor as a vital tool for healing, even in challenging moments, Liam helps people open their hearts with grace and authenticity. 

CONNECT WITH LIAM 

Website: https://www.sacredsound.global/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SacredSoundGlobal 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacredsound.global/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

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Kelly’s journey as a wellness practitioner began not out of clarity, but in anxiety. Studying graphic design, she felt unfulfilled and burnt out, craving a deeper connection and purpose.  

Escaping the uncertainty, she spent a summer volunteering in Nepal, fell in love with the culture, and brought home a Tibetan bowl. The souvenir collected dust on her shelf. Then a Reiki practitioner introduced her to traditions of ancient sound healing. The ornamental became instrumental, and Kelly was hooked. She returned to Nepal to study, and became a Tibetan singing bowl therapist.  

Kelly explains how Tibetan bowls differ from crystal bowls, and how she uses the bowls as diagnostic tools to determine which chakras in the body need to be aligned and balanced. She walks us through how listening to the bowls’ sounds and vibrations trains our brain waves to slow down. This gentle meditation opens creativity and intuition.  

We discuss the differences between sound and music, and how our unique relationships with the bowls help us find our individual flow and tap into the rhythm of relaxation.  

Slow down, Kelly says, create your own stillness, and listen. Allow sound to lead, so your energy can speak.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Sound therapy with Tibetan bowls can restore energy balance.  
• The Tibetan bowls work with seven notes that correspond to the seven chakras.   
• Each singing bowl makes a unique sound, resonating differently with each person.   
• The bowls’ harmonies promote relaxation and rejuvenation.  
• The vibrations of the bowls train our brain waves to slow down. 
• Creating stillness through sound is a powerful form of meditation to access creativity.  
• In the slumber state, intuition and clarity of intention can rise to the surface.  
• Understanding your vibration and energy enables you to tune into the needs of others. 

ABOUT KELLY SULLIVAN 

Kelly Sullivan is the director of Soli Wellness, a boutique studio dedicated to sound therapy, Reiki energy healing, meditation, and holistic wellbeing.  

A Tibetan singing bowl therapist, sound healing practitioner, Reiki Master, and Yoga Nidra meditation teacher, Kelly harnesses the power of sound and energy to combat stress, calm the mind, regulate the nervous system, and restore inner harmony.  

Kelly’s journey with holistic wellness began in 2010 on a trip to Nepal, where she experienced the healing power of Tibetan singing bowls. She returned to Kathmandu to study this ancient healing modality, and incorporated it into her Reiki sessions when she went back to Australia.  

A member of the International Sound Therapy Association, Kelly enjoys expanding her knowledge and sharing the transformative benefits of sound. 

CONNECT WITH KELLY 

Website: soliwellness.com.au 

Instagram: instagram.com/soliwellness.studio 

Facebook: facebook.com/SoliWellnessStudio 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

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We get into beliefs around time, and how they’re shaped by family systems, internalized capitalism, societal expectations, ageism, fear, desire, and self esteem. We look at ways to cultivate a conscious understanding of time that feeds a better quality of life.  

Diving into quality versus quantity, we unpack how obsessing about the “right time” limits our possibilities. A better approach: Slow down your experience of time, tune in, embrace imperfection, seize opportunities to practice and learn, and relish time spent resting, reflecting, integrating, and planning.   

Drawing on wisdom from past guests, I reiterate the pitfalls of getting stuck in the past or projecting into the future. And how stories keep us engaged with the present to savor each moment and experience more joy.  

It’s always the right time to decide: “It has to be me.”  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Our relationship with time is linked to identity and self-worth. 
• The “I’m not enough” story pulls us out of seeing what is available in real time.  
• Living in the past or projecting into the future robs us of clarity and joy in the present.  
• Spend time to assess information, investigate the source, and engage critical thinking. 
• Time is a gift we give ourselves and others. Be discerning about how you spend it.  
• Allow time for self-care to bank more quality time in the future. 
• “It’s not the right time” is a common excuse to indulge fear.  
• Nothing is a waste of time. There is value in every experience.   

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

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In midlife, a car accident left her navigating menopause with serious physical injuries. Confronted by her inability to work and further her career as an educator, she found wisdom in the Grandmother Moon teaching. This tradition prompted a reexamination of Elizabeth’s beliefs about success, productivity, and purpose, and illuminated the traps of internalized capitalism.   

In our conversation, we explore the moon as a mirror for feminine growth—the quiet power of the dark phase, the discovery and discernment of waxing energy, the brilliance and weight of fullness, and the necessary softening, reflection, and integration of waning back to the new moon.  

Elizabeth invites us to embrace the contentment, trust, and pace of the moon—the slow and steady filling and emptying that allows us to savor every phase of the journey. Follow the moon’s lead, she says. Welcome change, bask in the dark and light of the moment, and celebrate the possibilities that come with each state.  

The moon reminds us that we are whole at every phase. We’re only seeing a sliver of the story. There’s more to come.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS 

• The moon gives us holistic perspectives on time and productivity.  
• Constantly moving and changing, the moon shows beauty in change.  
• The dark phase offers time to rest, ground, reflect, and recharge.  
• Waxing is an opportunity to check in and explore alternate possibilities. 
• The moon moves steadily to full. Embrace the slow and rhythmic reveal.  
• The temporary intensity of fullness offers growth and then clarity.  
• Rather than crashing from a high, waning invites us to savor, integrate, and celebrate.  
• Wanting more is not to be exiled. It’s an energy that carries us. 

ABOUT ELIZABETH JURGENSEN 

With a thirst for learning and achieving, Elizabeth has had multiple careers applying herself to education, research, and disciplined practice.   

Her post-college years were focused on the performing arts, as an actress and dancer. Moving to the corporate world, she got a business degree and worked in finance. Her next pivot was to work as a fitness instructor and wellness coach.   

Discovering her love for academics, she went back to school, getting a Master’s degree in a new field and teaching college students.  

Debilitating injuries from a car accident and ten years’ rehabilitation, made her work impossible, and brought Elizabeth to the next major phase of her life. She embraced somatics, exploring trauma healing, relational dynamics, and embodied awareness.  

The values of slowing down and turning inward, and the gifts of deep presence and self-care became central to her philosophy. She pursues them as ends in themselves, not toward goal-oriented pursuits, nor in a commercial practice.    

A certified somatic educator, Elizabeth integrates insights from ancient archetypes, women’s wisdom traditions, and the interplay of masculine and feminine energies. She shares what she knows in adaptive and informal ways to guide others. 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

He tracks his unexpected journey from being nicknamed Speed as an infant to aspiring actor to educator, to advance man for the Clintons in their White House years to screenwriter and producer of hit TV shows.  

Life in the fast lane thrust him into mid-life lonely, unfulfilled, and looking to be a better man for his family and in his marriage. But without male role models he wanted to emulate, Speed didn’t know where to start.  

An embodiment workshop where men modeled open-hearted masculinity and honest communication initiated the deep connection with others (and self) he had been missing. Determined to help other men develop the same intimate knowing that had shifted his perspective so profoundly, Speed embraced his new calling as a practitioner.  

We discuss the power of mentorship, men’s circles, and embodiment and polarity practices to teach presence, open listening, and mindful sharing and boundaries. Speed then offers his takes on relationship dynamics, what really holds men back from identifying and expressing their emotions, and the key problem with traditional masculinity. 

This conversation isn’t about perfection or mastery. It’s about humility, devotion, service, and having the courage to slow down, speak less, and feel more. To be led as much as lead.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Men have to learn embodied masculinity from other men. 
• Open-hearted vulnerability modeled by men offers a way out of emotional isolation.  
• Embodiment practices cultivate a deep sense of self and support intimate relationships. 
• Polarity exercises lead to greater presence, understanding, and compassion.  
• Awareness of your nervous system’s capacity helps draw healthy boundaries.  
• Exploring the wrong road is often how you get on the right road. 
• If you don’t have to explain, justify, or analyze your decision, it’s usually right. 
• We speak and write and live to figure out what we know.  

ABOUT SPEED 

Speed Weed is a leader of embodied polarity work for men who want more depth and connection in their lives.  

For over 20 years, he worked as a writer and producer on TV shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, NCIS: Los Angeles, Arrow, Haven, and The Summer I Turned Pretty.  

He found his calling outside entertainment, in coaching other men in embodiment and toward generative, loving masculinity. Speed immersed himself in the healing arts.  

Having graduated from teacher training in masculine embodiment with John Wineland and Kendra Cunov, Speed continues his study with other renowned teachers to build his knowledge and strengthen his practice.  

Through coaching, men’s circles, and workshops, Speed guides men and women into the deeper wisdom of their hearts and bodies.   

The nickname his parents gave him as a baby is misleading. Speed values the slow pace of presence and the deep clarity of sobriety. 

CONNECT WITH SPEED 

Website: https://www.workingdeep.com/it-has-to-be-me 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workingdeep/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/speed-weed-9017541a/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Raised by a single mother, without a positive male role model, Amir fell into a spiral with drugs and alcohol. He recounts his journey from addiction to sobriety, and how meeting men at peace with themselves motivated him to embrace sovereignty, somatic wisdom, and sacred responsibility.  

With the help of male elders, men’s groups, and embodiment practices, Amir healed his fractured sense of self. He began mentoring other men seeking direction and purpose.   

Amir describes the void left by the absence of father figures and the responsibility that conscious men feel about toxic masculinity. He gets into how he helps men navigate grief and give expression to it, and understand their hunger for guidance, purpose, and validation. 

We discuss the importance of mentorship and community in shaping a loving expression of masculinity. Amir explains how men can move from disconnection to devotion through initiations, rituals, somatics, and honest conversations with other men committed to fully embodied awareness.  

Taking us inside the dynamics of his marriage, Amir shares how he uses his experiences to guide other men to share their vulnerability, celebrate women, and form intimate relationships. 

Amir’s philosophy: Look into your heart with courage, and take responsibility for your actions. When things get hard, lean forward, and welcome the breakthrough that leads to clarity and healing.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Boys are born, men are made.  
• Healthy masculinity meets strength with reverence, not domination.  
• True masculine integrity honors the divine feminine so men can celebrate women.  
• Initiation ceremonies honor life transitions to promote awareness and self-actualization. 
• Somatic practices help men connect with their needs through movement and sound.  
• Men’s circles allow men to safely express themselves and mentor each other. 
• Men need other men. Community support is vital for healing and self-discovery. 
• Elders modeling positive masculinity anchor younger generations.  

ABOUT AMIR  

Founder of Embodied Masculine™, Amir Khalighi works as a teacher, coach, and speaker, helping men step into their power and live purpose-driven lives.  

Amir’s own journey into self-actualization started with study of existential philosophy and comparative religion. In his 20s and 30s, he helped men with addictive behaviors into recovery through martial arts and other practices. His approach integrates Jungian psychology, somatic healing, shamanism, embodiment methodology, yogic intimacy, Celtic mythology, Sufi mysticism, and mythopoetic men’s work.   

In coaching, workshops, men’s circles, initiation programs, and facilitator training, Amir builds communities where men find role models and ways to embody their male energies in loving paradigms of masculinity balanced with feminine counterparts. 

Working with men from all walks of life, from Fortune 500 CEOs, influencers, and artists to young men finding their paths, Amir speaks at and facilitates men’s events around the world.  

Through his website BelovedPoetry.com, Amir shares his love of poems, presenting the works of Rumi, Hafiz, Neruda, and others.   

CONNECT WITH AMIR 

Website: https://embodiedmasculine.com/ 

Website: https://belovedpoetry.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/khalighi/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KhalighiA/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/embodiedmasculine/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

She remembers her shy 13-year-old self from small-town Nebraska who was catapulted into the world of high fashion. Modeling in New York and Europe, she underwent a trial by fire, learning to shut down her sensitivity to survive.  

Naive, and craving safety and stability, Keri became a serial monogamist, and failed to find the emotional intimacy she needed.   

Being a mother, a doula, and caregiver for her dying father cracked open a new level of awareness, connection, and wisdom. But, it took a divorce to usher in a renaissance of being.   

Through tantra and other ancient traditions, feminine embodiment practices, and guidance from mentors, Keri moved into a deeper understanding of herself. That planted the seeds for a soul connection with her husband, Amir. She takes us inside their partnership, and how it serves as the foundation for their work as somatic and embodiment guides. 

Celebrating the wisdom of age, we honor the stories we carry in our bodies as women, the beauty of exploring our sexuality, and how breath, movement, and poetry open our hearts and possibilities.  

We dive into the power of women’s circles, and the ancient magic of feminine gathering. Then, Keri shares the beauty of tea ceremonies, which help us slow down and catch up—both to ourselves and with the fast pace of life.  

She encourages us to live in “the juice” and humility of the unknown, listen to the truth of the moment, and share your imperfect offering. 

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Somatics, tea ceremonies, and other practices open us to embodied listening.   
• Women are always birthing, not only babies, but ideas, and new versions of themselves.  
• Women’s circles provide a space for connection, free expression, and healing. 
• Pleasure is yours to have and share. Not something somebody gives you.  
• Have the sovereignty to walk away from what isn’t yours, and step into what is.  
• Grief is an initiation portal that opens up new possibilities and knowing.  
• Your darkest experiences turn into the gold from which to serve. 
• Celebrate the mystery and humility of the unknown and listen to the questions. 

ABOUT KERI KHALIGHI 

Somatic guide and ceremonialist, Keri Khalighi invites women into deeper connection with their bodies, their truth, and the rhythms of the natural world through private mentorship, circles, and workshops.   

Guided by archetypal and ancestral threads, and rooted in decades of experience with embodiment, birthwork, trauma healing, and sacred ritual, Keri’s offerings create space for women to listen to their inner knowing.  

At the heart of her practice is Cha Dao - the Way of Tea - a ceremonial path which she weaves with somatic listening, expressive movement, and feminine wisdom traditions.  

Keri collaborates with her husband, Amir Khalighi, founder of Embodied Masculine, offering immersive experiences that explore the sacred dialogue of the feminine and masculine energies that exist within us and between us.  

CONNECT WITH KERI 

Website: https://wayoftheelements.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keri_khalighi 

Guided by archetypal and ancestral threads, and rooted in decades of experience with embodiment, birthwork, trauma healing, and sacred ritual, Keri’s offerings create space for women to listen to their inner knowing.  

At the heart of her practice is Cha Dao - the Way of Tea - a ceremonial path which she weaves with somatic listening, expressive movement, and feminine wisdom traditions.  

Keri collaborates with her husband, Amir Khalighi, founder of Embodied Masculine, offering immersive experiences that explore the sacred dialogue of the feminine and masculine energies that exist within us and between us.  

CONNECT WITH KERI 

Website: https://wayoftheelements.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keri_khalighi 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Many of us are unknowingly sabotaging thyroid function and metabolism by eating too little, not too much. The results include blood sugar crashes, hormone imbalances, brain fog, brittle nails, hair loss, sleep problems, fatigue, and mood swings.  

Disordered eating patterns, Meghan says, aren’t always as stark as anorexia and bulimia. They show up in subtle everyday behaviors we consider normal, but are damaging our bodies. 

Meghan gives us strategies to boost metabolism and weight loss, and the best foods for hormones. She explains why gut health and protein are critical for hormone health and lays out the reasons we should be snacking every day.  

We discuss the importance of personalized nutrition solutions, then weigh the side effects of Ozempic and other GLP-1 injections, covering how these medications can seriously decrease muscle mass and bone density.   

Tune in for some vital nutrition information that may surprise you. 

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Eating balanced meals frequently promotes weight loss and hormone balance. 
• Undernourishment slows down metabolism, digestion, circulation, and brain function. 
• Disordered eating includes many behaviors normalized today. 
• Quality snacks support thyroid health to ward off and combat autoimmune disease.  
• Better gut health is crucial for better hormone and blood sugar regulation.  
• Meeting your protein needs is a game-changer for better hormone function. 
• Working with a dietitian isn’t about restriction, but about strategies to expand choices.  
• Ditch generic diets. Personalized nutrition is the path to sustainable lifestyle change. 

ABOUT MEGHAN 

Meghan Donnelly, MS, RDN, CDN, is a registered dietitian specializing in gastrointestinal nutrition, and is Director Of Health Communications at the Celiac Disease Foundation.  

Her experience spans clinical practice, nutrition counseling, medical nonprofits, and the food industry. 

In her private practice at Nutmeg Nutrition, Meghan helps her clients establish a balanced and joyful relationship with food, particularly when managing digestive disorders (IBS and SIBO), food intolerances, gluten-related conditions (celiac disease), and disordered eating.   

She also provides nutrition counseling for heart health, kidney disease, weight management, and food intolerances. Monash University certified, she guides clients on Low-FODMAP diets.   

As lead dietitian for Skinny60®, Meghan provides nutrition education and support for participants in the 60-Day Reset.  

CONNECT WITH MEGHAN 

Nutmeg Nutrition: https://www.nutmegnutrition.org/ 

60-Day Reset: https://www.skinny60.com/60-day-reset/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

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 Recounting my struggles, I weigh up what I’d do differently to avoid the hot flashes, weight gain, brain fog, sleep issues, and mood swings.  

 Top-line takeaway: I’d ditch the diets and get serious about gut health.  

 We’ll dive into how the gut controls hormones and metabolism, and cover why “eating healthy” isn’t enough to combat tanking estrogen and progesterone. Then, we’ll walk through my strategy for thriving through menopause: personalized nutrition, knowing your food triggers, and meeting your protein needs.   

Drawing in wisdom from previous guests, we’ll go over the importance of advanced labs and early DEXA scans, how to improve bone health and avoid osteoporosis, and why a dietitian should be a core member of your medical team.  

 A key strategy that’s missing for most women? Sharing experience and resources in a supportive, like-minded community. You can’t Chat-GPT-your-way through this transition. 

Tune in to get proactive and take charge of your health.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Personalized nutrition is the key to achieving health goals at any age.  
• What you eat dramatically affects how you feel during menopause. 
• Optimizing gut health and blood sugar helps to balance your hormones. 
• Over 40, meeting your protein needs is a game-changer.  
• Dieting can make menopause symptoms and health issues worse.  
• The 60-Day Reset includes access to dietitians and community support.  
• Reduce hot flashes, brain fog, and other symptoms by knowing your food triggers.  
• Get advanced hormone and thyroid panels with a menopause-trained doctor.  

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

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When Karen was 12, her mother was brutally murdered. She and her sister were sent to live with strangers. Through years of trauma and confusion, Karen sought solace in books and stories. While others around her took satisfaction in vengeance, she found peace in forgiveness, through guidance from mentors, and her study and practice of somatics, yoga, and other healing modalities.  

This put Karen, who grew up Catholic, on an unexpected path to a different relationship with spirituality and the divine. After getting a communications degree at Boston University, she lived and worked with Marianne Williamson, then immersed in study of A Course In Miracles, finally claiming her role as coach and thought leader.   

We discuss the impact of family and cultural conditioning in shaping internal narratives, and the importance of shifting limiting beliefs to temper the dialogue with ourselves and others.  

Cornerstones of Karen’s approach are personal responsibility, harnessing the agency we have, recognizing what spirit and source mean to us, and developing a unique connection to them.  

She maps how to assemble a team of spiritual advisors, noting the importance of tapping into our resources and community to consider things in different ways. Then shows us tools to resist fear, acknowledge risk, and feel ‘safe enough’ to take action toward what we want.  

Karen’s story epitomizes “It has to be me.” But her message is: You don’t have to do it alone. 

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• A Course In Miracles is a workbook to prompt self awareness and growth.  
• Developing your own approach to spirituality supports self-love and compassion.   
• Intimacy heals. Personal responsibility and deep relationships expand your choices. 
• Grief is a sacred path to your deepest healing and highest service.  
• You can feed a grievance or you can seek peace. You cannot do both.  
• Forgiveness isn’t forgetting. Choosing compassion means suffering doesn’t run the show.  
• You’re not the sum of what happened to you, but what you’ve been called to because of it. 
• We’re never completely safe. Feeling safe enough is enough. 

ABOUT KAREN KENNEY 

Spiritual mentor and writer Karen Kenney uses humor and dynamic storytelling to bring a down-to-earth, no-BS perspective to self-development. 

Bringing together tools that coach the conscious and unconscious mind, Karen helps clients deepen their connections with self, and discover their unique understandings of spirituality.  

Her practice combines neuroscience, subconscious reprogramming, integrative hypnosis, somatics, and other holistic modalities to help regulate the nervous system, examine internal narratives, remove blocks, and reimagine what’s possible. 

A passionate student of A Course in Miracles, devout yoga teacher, and Gateless Writing instructor, Karen is a frequent speaker and retreat leader. Via her programs The Quest and The Nest, she coaches individuals and groups.  

With The Karen Kenney Podcast, she encourages listeners to shift from a thought system of fear to one of love, compassion, and personal responsibility.  

CONNECT WITH KAREN 

Website: https://www.karenkenney.com/ 

Podcast: https://www.karenkenney.com/podcast 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karenkenneylive/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenkenneylive/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KarenKenney 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenkenneylive/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

He tells us about his journey, from working musician to therapist for adolescents dealing with drug and alcohol addiction. Seven years in this work led to burnout.  

A 600-km trek through the Tasmanian wilderness brought him to a deeper, more holistic relationship with healing. Pete transitioned into working with adults, integrating somatics to enhance trust, body listening, and self awareness.  

We discuss the significance of family narratives and inherited personality traits. Understanding those, we can explore our internal landscapes with curiosity and compassion, recognize destructive patterns, and move to deeper understanding of ourselves and others. Pete offers insights into relationship dynamics, and how conflict is often a collision with events in the past.  

He says: Slow down and listen to your body. Honor the discomfort that arises—not as a problem, but as a signal that there’s something to take care of.  

This conversation will move you beyond words.  

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: 

• Rather than trying to solve reality in your mind, listen and care for your body.  
• Somatic practices expand how we meet ourselves and others.  
• Reframing problems as puzzles shifts our responses to disruptions.  
• Give anxiety, sadness, and other overwhelming emotions seats at the table. 
• Grief is a meticulous and sacred journey that heals and builds resilience.  
• Observing yourself with curiosity expands inner dialogue and choices. 
• In taking responsibility for our inner stories, we can move from conflict to resolution.   
• Knowing your internal myth leads to greater compassion for yourself.  

ABOUT PETE COLES 

A transpersonal psychotherapist with extensive experience in drug and alcohol addiction, Pete has a nuanced understanding of mental health, compulsive behavior, and trauma.  

In his therapeutic approach, he integrates somatic awareness, helping people connect with their bodies and explore internal myths and formative stories that shape perceptions and behaviors.  Pete also supports clients in the safe use of psychoactive plants in their therapy.  

Specializing in relationship dynamics, Pete works with couples to uncover how personal narratives intersect, guiding them toward greater clarity and connection.  

As co-founder of Elk & Me Therapies and Dispensary, Pete works with a complementary team to offer a holistic and integrative approach to mental health and wellbeing. 

CONNECT WITH PETE 

Website: https://elkandme.com.au/practitioners/pete-coles/ 

Website: https://www.emotionalintellect.com.au/  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elkandme/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElkMeTherapiesDispensary/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-coles-125879a2/ 

MEET TESS MASTERS:   

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.       

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.    

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.    

CONNECT WITH TESS:  

Website:  https://tessmasters.com/     

Podcast:  https://ithastobeme.com/      

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/  

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/     

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl    

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/ 

Thanks for listening!  

If you enjoyed this conversation and think others would benefit from listening, share this episode. And, please post your comments or questions below. I’d love to hear what you think.  

Subscribe to the podcast.   

Get automatic updates so you never miss an episode. Subscribe to this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.   

Leave a review on Apple podcasts.  

Ratings and reviews from listeners help our podcast rank higher so it can reach more people. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.