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

Rachel Carta, RN
  • 5.0 (10)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

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. 1d ago

    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

  2. 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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. Aug 7

    108. What a 93-Year-Old Taught Me About Aging Well

    If you have caught yourself holding onto a version of you that no longer fits, this conversation is for you. Barb Wojahn, who is 93 years old, has volunteered as a bird bander for 52 years, held leadership roles in her church for decades, and is only now handing off a seniors program she has run for almost 30 years. This is not a conversation about how to live to 93. It is a conversation about how to keep asking who you want to be, no matter what stage of life you are in. In This Episode The interest inventory that told Barb she was suited to be a housewife, and what it took to build a life beyond that Letting go of activities and identities that no longer fit, and why that is harder than it sounds Learning to say no at 93, and what her husband used to tell her about being in two places at once The advice Barb's mother gave her about friendship that shaped her entire life Why connection is one of the six vital inputs your nervous system reads every day Find Rachel on Instagram: @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. Get the Eat Well Made Easy Course, on sale now

  7. Jul 31

    107. How to Stay Calm Under Pressure: Lessons From a Pilot

    You already know the feeling. The plan falls apart, the day turns sideways, and you are left standing in the wreckage of your own expectations, wondering why you could not just stay calm this time. In this episode, I sit down with a woman who spent decades in the cockpit of major airliners, flying everything from a small four passenger plane to a 787 across oceans, and who is now retired and figuring out what comes next. This conversation is not just about flying. It is about what happens in your body before the crisis ever shows up, and whether you have trained for it. In This Episode An unconventional path into a forty-six-year flying career, and the one conversation that started it.What it took to build a career in a field where only a small percentage of pilots were women.The exact moment an engine failed midair, and why the response was calm instead of panic.Simulators, checklists, and the real difference between talent and training.Calculated risk versus recklessness, and how to tell which one you are actually taking.The fine line between fear and excitement, and how to use it to make better decisions.What retirement actually looks like eighteen months in, and who would not let the dream sit unfinished.Why a hobby that hits more than one of your values will carry you further than one that only hits one. Rachel's 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

  8. Jul 24

    106. Root Cause Nutrition for Women: Reading the Signals

    You already know the feeling. It's the moment your calendar says you should be able to keep going, but your body has quietly decided otherwise: the fog rolling in mid-afternoon, the irritability you can't explain, the sense that you used to handle more than this without falling apart. In this episode, I'm sharing a conversation I had as a guest on Tracy Hoth's podcast, The Organized Coach, where we got into why so many high-achieving women blame their mindset or their discipline for something that is actually coming straight from the body. In This Episode Root causes: the three places nearly every chronic symptom actually traces back toGenes and epigenetics: why family history is not the same thing as fateThe soil and the roots: a garden metaphor for how autoimmune conditions really developFight or flight and your to-do list: why your nervous system can't tell a real threat from a busy dayBlood sugar and business: the physical reason behind midday irritability and brain fogThe three-minute nervous system reset that changes how the rest of your day goesFat, fiber, and protein: the simplest way to stabilize blood sugar without tracking anythingSleep as the first domino: why it matters more than any other single habitPattern awareness: the practice that comes before any protocol Resources Tracy's podcast, The Organized Coach Free Guide: The Real You Still Feel Off: What Your Symptoms Are Telling You Website: rachelcartarn.com IG: @peaceinperimenopause

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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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