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

Rachel Carta, RN

Living Inspired is a podcast for women who feel overwhelmed by their health, frustrated by normal lab results, and are looking for a calmer, more grounded way to feel better. Hosted by Rachel Carta, RN, Functional Nutrition Counselor, and Life Coach, this podcast explores women’s health through a functional, root-cause approach. We talk about fatigue, stress, hormonal changes, sleep issues, metabolism, and chronic symptoms, and how small, sustainable changes can restore energy and build resilience—without quick fixes or rigid protocols. Learn More: RachelCartaRN.com IG: @peaceinperimenopause

  1. 2d ago

    115. Fatigue Doesn't Have One Cause: Connecting the Dots With Dr. Arwa Hussain

    So many women are walking around exhausted and treating it as normal. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Arwa Hussain, a clinical pharmacist and Integrative Health Practitioner who helps women understand fatigue, brain fog, and hormone changes, to talk about what may be behind that exhaustion and where to start. Arwa shares her own story, from doing all the "right" things in her 20s without results to years of running on two hours of sleep as a new single mom, and the moment a health coach helped her see how much stress her body was carrying on the inside. We talk about why fatigue rarely has one cause, why normal labs aren't always optimal, and three labs worth asking about: ferritin, T3, and fasting insulin. From there we get practical. Arwa walks through how blood sugar, sleep, stress hormones, digestion, and perimenopause affect each other, and shares the simple tracking habit that showed her patterns in her own energy across four months of her cycle. We also talk about how medication and lifestyle work can go together instead of against each other. We close with The Energized Summit, the virtual women's health summit Arwa is hosting October 16 to 18, where I'm speaking on Sunday, October 18 about perimenopause and why so many of us feel more exhausted at this stage of life. This episode is for education only and isn't medical advice. Please talk with your own healthcare provider about what's right for you. Connect with Dr. Arwa Hussain:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drarwahussain/ Free Brain Fog Guide for Living Inspired listeners: Here The Energized Summit, October 16 to 18, 1:00 to 3:30 PM ET. Save your seat here. Go deeper with Living Inspired:Download The Real Reason Guide: https://rachelcartarn.com/lastinghealth Join my newsletter here. Curious about the Living Inspired Life Lab? Let's Talk: https://rachelcartarn.com/lifelab

  2. Sep 26

    114. Exploring Hormone Therapy in Midlife With Lauren Caldwell, FNP

    Your sleep has changed, your mood has shifted, your energy isn't what it was, and your labs still come back "normal." Then you start looking into hormone therapy and find more questions than answers. In this episode, I sit down with Lauren Caldwell, a board-certified family nurse practitioner and founder of Meridian Health and Wellness in Woodstock, Georgia, to talk through some of those questions. We start with the symptoms that most often bring women to Lauren's office, and why so many of us were told to stay away from hormones for years. Lauren explains how the Women's Health Initiative shaped that fear, what the FDA's recent labeling changes mean, and the difference between bioidentical and synthetic hormones. From there we get practical. Lauren shares why she treats labs as one piece of the puzzle, how she thinks about progesterone for sleep and mood (including for women who've had a hysterectomy), and why she checks free testosterone as well as total. We also talk about weight changes, brain fog, and whether hormone therapy can still help after menopause. We close on something that matters to both of us: hormones are one tool, and they tend to work best when the foundations are in place. Blood sugar, stress, strength training, and the small daily choices you make all shape how your body responds. This episode is for education only and isn't medical advice. Please talk with your own healthcare provider about what's right for you. In this episode: Common signs that hormones may be part of the picture Why the Women's Health Initiative made so many women afraid of hormones Bioidentical vs. synthetic hormones How Lauren uses labs, and why ratios matter in perimenopause Oral micronized progesterone vs. progesterone cream Testosterone for women: symptoms, free vs. total, and dosing Weight changes and brain fog in midlife Starting hormone therapy after menopause Why blood sugar and stress affect how well hormones work Connect with Lauren Caldwell, FNP:Website: https://www.meridianhealthatl.comEmail: info@meridianhealthatl.com Mentioned in this episode:Episode 72 with Brooke Davis Go deeper with Living Inspired: Mood Swings? Get the 5 minute audio to calm them now. https://rachelcartarn.com/sos Do you want to understand more of what's changing in your body in midlife and get a few simple tools to feel better now? Get the free guide: The Real Reason You Still Feel Off. Ready to Talk: Book a Clarity & Relief Session here. Eat Well Made Easy Course

  3. Sep 18

    113. The Mouth-Body Connection: What Your Gums Are Telling You About Your Hormones

    You floss, you see a little pink, and you rinse and move on with your night. You've pushed through the fatigue, the headaches, the feeling that something is off, because you've got kids and a career and aging parents and there just isn't room to stop and ask what your body is actually trying to tell you. This episode is for the woman who has been managing her symptoms instead of listening to them. My guest, Christine Horton, is a dental hygienist and health coach with a specialty in PCOS and PMOS awareness. She was diagnosed with PCOS at seventeen and has spent decades since connecting a field most of us have never heard of, oral systemic health, to the hormone and metabolic symptoms so many women are told to just live with. If you've ever wondered why your gums, your gut, and your hormones might actually be having a conversation with each other, this one is for you. In This Episode The recent PCOS to PMOS name change, and what polyendocrine and metabolic reveal about the condition that the old name never capturedOral systemic health, the field connecting what's happening in your mouth to what's happening everywhere else in your bodyThe bidirectional relationship between your gum health and your blood sugar or A1C numbersBleeding gums as a warning sign, and what that little bit of pink when you floss is actually telling youThe overlooked connection between mouth bacteria and gut healthPregnancy gingivitis, and what it reveals about hormones and tissue sensitivity even in women with excellent oral hygieneOne in eight women living with PCOS or PMOS, and why most of them don't know it yetChristine's actual nighttime oral care recommendations, and why individualized care beats any one size fits all protocol Find Christine Horton Health coaching: fusionhealthcoach.com Social media: @pmospcosglowhygienist on Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest PCOS Awareness Association: pcosaa.org — including the monthly support groups she co-hosts on second Wednesdays PCOS CON: September is PMOS/PCOS Awareness Month, and the one-day virtual conference with experts from around the world is at pcoscon.org Listen to the full episode of Living Inspired, and if this was useful, share it. Women's health progress right now is grassroots. We get better care by passing the information to each other. More Resources Mood Swings? Get the 5 minute audio to calm them now. https://rachelcartarn.com/sos Do you want to understand more of what's changing in your body in midlife and get a few simple tools to feel better now? Get the free guide: The Real Reason You Still Feel Off. Ready to Talk: Book a Clarity & Relief Session here. Eat Well Made Easy Course

  4. Sep 11

    112. Why Trying Harder To Be Healthy Wasn’t the Answer

    What happens when you already know a lot about health, you’re trying hard to take care of yourself, and you still don’t feel like yourself? In this episode, I’m talking with my friend and client Johanna about what changed when we stopped looking for another plan and started looking at the whole picture. We talk about anxiety, grief, perimenopause, overwhelm, nervous system load, and why healthy habits are so much harder to follow when your body is already at capacity. Johanna also shares one of my favorite shifts from our work together: seeing her past attempts at change as practice instead of proof that she had done something wrong. If you’ve ever thought, “I know what I should be doing, so why can’t I just do it?” this conversation is for you. In this episode, we talk about: Why we didn’t start with food How stress, grief, and hormonal changes can stack up Why more discipline is not always the answer What it means to treat healthy habits like a practice How small experiments can work better than another complete overhaul Finding your way back to yourself in midlife Mentions from the Show: Lizard Toes Yoga: facebook.com/lizardtoesyoga Runaway Stroller: facebook.com/runawaystroller Johanna’s album, Why Would I Sing?: available on major streaming platforms. Episode 36: Shift Your Mind, Change Your Life: Chris Chitty's Inspiring Health Transformation Secrets to Authentic Happiness: by Rachel Carta More Resources: Mood Swings? Get the 5 minute audio to calm them now. https://rachelcartarn.com/sos Do you want to understand more of what's changing in your body in midlife and get a few simple tools to feel better now? Get the free guide: The Real Reason You Still Feel Off. Ready to Talk: Book a Clarity & Relief Session here. Eat Well Made Easy Course

  5. Sep 5

    111. Your Hormones Aren't the Whole Story of Perimenopause

    Some mornings you feel completely like yourself. Other mornings you don't recognize your own body before your feet hit the floor. If you're exhausted, not sleeping, or thinking "I don't feel like myself anymore," this one's for you. Rachel breaks down why the hormone-only conversation leaves so much out, and introduces the Living Inspired Life Lab, a small group opening September 21st for Perimenopause Awareness Month. In this episode: The moment Rachel's fourteen-year-old daughter put words to something most women spend years trying to explainWhy "get the patch and you're good" misses most of the pictureThe Three Roots framework and the terrain underneath a hormonal transitionWhy two women with the same hormonal shifts can have completely different experiencesThe real link between a client's headaches, her digestion, and a workday with zero transitionWhy a nightly dessert habit was never about disciplineThe Vital Six: sleep, movement, nutrition, hydration, relationships, stress resilienceWhat's inside the Living Inspired Life Lab and who the September group is for Resources Living Inspired Life Lab (12-week group, begins September 21st )RachelCartaRN.comInstagram: @peaceinperimenopause Rachel's Free Resources: Mood Swings? Get the 5 minute audio to calm them now. https://rachelcartarn.com/sos Do you want to understand more of what's changing in your body in midlife and get a few simple tools to feel better now? Get the free guide: The Real Reason You Still Feel Off. Ready to Talk: Book a Clarity & Relief Session here.

  6. Aug 28

    110. Is Nervous System Regulation Enough? A Conversation with Psychotherapist Kim Saunders

    Nervous system regulation can help you feel calmer, but is calm the same thing as healed? In this episode, I’m joined by psychotherapist and yoga educator Kim Saunders to talk about the difference between regulating the nervous system and processing what may be underneath the reaction. We discuss somatic work, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, old belief patterns, and why the same reactions can keep showing up even when you’re doing all the “right” things. If you’ve been working on your nervous system but still feel stuck in familiar patterns, this episode will help you understand why. Connect with Kim:TheLiftYouNeed.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimuplift/ Connect with Rachel: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peaceinperimenopause/ Rachel's Free Resources: Mood Swings? Get the 5 minute audio to calm them now. https://rachelcartarn.com/sos Do you want to understand more of what's changing in your body in midlife and get a few simple tools to feel better now? Get the free guide: The Real Reason You Still Feel Off. Ready to Talk: Book a Clarity & Relief Session here. Eat Well Made Easy Course This episode is brought to you by the Living Inspired Life Lab, my group coaching program for women who want to feel better, understand what’s driving their symptoms, and make sustainable changes in stress, sleep, nutrition, movement, relationships, and more. Doors are opening soon.

  7. Aug 21

    109. The Brain You’re Building in Midlife

    Brain health is not only something to think about later in life. What we do in midlife may influence the brain we have in our seventies and eighties, and many of the same habits that support long-term brain health can also help us feel better now. In this episode, I’m breaking down what women in perimenopause need to know about blood sugar, ultra-processed food, movement, strength training, sleep, relationships, mental health, and the modifiable factors connected with dementia risk. This conversation is personal for me because my dad developed dementia, and watching how much it changed him made brain health something I care deeply about. Most importantly, this is not about fear or trying to fix everything at once. It is about understanding where you have influence and choosing one small place to begin. In this episode: Why brain health matters in midlife How blood sugar and metabolic health connect to brain health Why movement, strength, sleep, and relationships matter What ultra-processed food actually means How to focus on one realistic change instead of doing everything at once Find Rachel on Instagram: @peaceinperimenopause Dr. Mark Hyman's episode that was referenced in today's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-hyman-show/id1382804627?i=1000784321249 Mood Swings? Get the 5 minute audio to calm them now. https://rachelcartarn.com/sos Do you want to understand more of what's changing in your body in midlife and get a few simple tools to feel better now? Get the free guide: The Real Reason You Still Feel Off. Ready to Talk: Book a Clarity & Relief Session here. Eat Well Made Easy Course

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About

Living Inspired is a podcast for women who feel overwhelmed by their health, frustrated by normal lab results, and are looking for a calmer, more grounded way to feel better. Hosted by Rachel Carta, RN, Functional Nutrition Counselor, and Life Coach, this podcast explores women’s health through a functional, root-cause approach. We talk about fatigue, stress, hormonal changes, sleep issues, metabolism, and chronic symptoms, and how small, sustainable changes can restore energy and build resilience—without quick fixes or rigid protocols. Learn More: RachelCartaRN.com IG: @peaceinperimenopause

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