For decades, women have been told that if they just tried harder, they would finally “get it right.” Eat less. Work out more. Be more disciplined. Have more willpower.

But what if willpower isn’t the problem at all?

In this episode of Eat the Fucking Food, Kristin sits down with Dr. Kristine Gravino, licensed psychologist, integrative mental health specialist, and certified fitness and nutrition coach, to unpack why willpower is a myth and how mindset, not motivation, determines long-term success.

With over 24 years of clinical experience, Dr. G explains why women repeat the same health patterns year after year, why all-or-nothing thinking sabotages progress, and why the “bare minimum” might be your most powerful tool for sustainable change.

This conversation dives into nervous system regulation, identity shifts, emotional eating patterns, menopause mindset, and why trying harder keeps you stuck.

If you’re a midlife woman who feels exhausted by dieting, frustrated by inconsistency, or ashamed that you “can’t stick to it,” this episode will change the way you see yourself and your health journey.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why willpower is not the reason you’re struggling
2. How the brain protects you by pulling you back into old patterns
3. The psychology behind all-or-nothing thinking
4. Why the bare minimum builds real consistency
5. How identity work creates lasting health changes
6. Why habit change takes 6 months to 3 years, not 21 days
7. How to recognize unconscious self-sabotage thoughts
8. The connection between emotional eating, nervous system regulation, and stress
9. Why midlife women need to fuel, not restrict
10. How to break the cycle of “start over Monday”

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Why willpower is a myth
2. 02:00 How women are conditioned to believe they just need to try harder
3. 04:00 All-or-nothing thinking and perfectionism
4. 05:30 The power of the “bare minimum” mindset
5. 07:00 Why women struggle to prioritize themselves
6. 10:00 Small habits and consistency over overhaul
7. 13:00 How long real behavior change actually takes
8. 18:00 Recognizing self-sabotage patterns
9. 20:00 Nervous system regulation and emotional eating
10. 23:00 Breaking cycles around food, wine, and stress relief
11. 24:30 Letting go of restrictive calorie mindsets in midlife

For many women, tracking food feels like punishment. A reminder of diet culture, restriction, and years spent trying to eat less instead of live more. But what if tracking wasn’t about control at all, and was actually the key to food freedom?

In this episode of Eat the Fucking Food, Kristin Collins sits down with Laura Savino, founder of Elevated Pursuit Nutrition, to reframe tracking as a neutral, empowering tool. One that removes shame, takes emotion out of food decisions, and helps women finally understand how much they can eat to feel energized, strong, and consistent.

Laura explains why most women don’t have a fat loss problem, they have a maintenance problem. They’ve never been taught how to eat enough, consistently, without swinging between restriction and overeating. This conversation breaks down why eating at maintenance is foundational, how data creates clarity instead of judgment, and why learning to fuel yourself is the most radical shift midlife women can make.

If you’ve ever felt triggered by tracking, stuck in the cycle of dieting, or confused about why “nothing works anymore,” this episode offers a grounded, practical way forward.

1. Why tracking food can create freedom instead of restriction
2. How diet culture disconnects women from hunger and fullness
3. What maintenance calories actually are and why they matter
4. Why under-eating during the week leads to weekend overeating
5. How data removes shame from nutrition decisions
6. What it means to eat enough to thrive, not just survive

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Why tracking food feels scary
2. 01:00 Reframing tracking as a tool for thriving, not restriction
3. 02:00 Why women associate tracking with dieting and eating less
4. 03:00 Learning how much food you can eat, not how little
5. 04:30 Maintenance calories explained and why they’re misunderstood
6. 07:30 Under-eating during the week and weekend overeating cycles
7. 10:30 Why eating “healthy” can still leave you underfueled
8. 13:00 Using data to remove emotion, guilt, and shame from food
9. 16:30 High-satiety vs low-satiety eating and why it matters
10. 19:30 Why maintenance feels hard before it feels freeing
11. 22:30 Individual differences in hunger, fullness, and calorie needs
12. 25:30 Learning how to eat like an adult in a diet-obsessed culture
13. 28:30 How consistency, not restriction, creates long-term results

Connect with Laura

Midlife women were taught how to diet, not how to fuel themselves, and many are waking up to the cost. Chronic pain, fear around food, shrinking confidence, and bodies that feel fragile instead of capable are not personal failures, they are the result of decades of conditioning to be smaller.

In this episode, Kristin Collins sits down with SJ Yeung, known as Jeannie, a 52-year-old strength athlete, artist, and midlife woman who chose to stop shrinking and start building a body that feels powerful, capable, and resilient.

SJ shares her journey through diet culture, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, perimenopause, and fear-based nutrition messaging, and how strength training and eating enough changed not just her body, but her confidence, independence, and future. This conversation goes beyond workouts and macros and gets to the heart of what so many women are craving in midlife, energy, autonomy, joy, and the right to take up space.

This episode is for women who are tired of being told to eat less, move smaller, and stay quiet, and are ready to build strength in their bodies and their lives.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why midlife women are choosing strength over shrinking
2. How diet culture and fear-based nutrition messaging lead to chronic underfueling
3. The connection between eating enough, muscle, confidence, and independence
4. Why getting stronger changes how you move through the world, not just the gym
5. How fear of “getting bigger” keeps women stuck in weaker bodies
6. What it means to eat with joy instead of judgment
7. Why strength training supports longevity, bone health, and future independence
8. How reframing body size can unlock confidence and self-trust
9. Why food freedom in midlife is about capability, not control
10. The mindset shift from surviving to thriving

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Meet SJ and why this conversation matters
2. 02:00 Growing up in diet culture and the pressure to be smaller
3. 04:30 Chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and the search for healing
4. 07:30 Fear-based nutrition messaging and unintended underfueling
5. 10:30 Why eating less felt “healthy” but wasn’t sustainable
6. 13:00 Discovering strength training and choosing muscle over shrinking
7. 16:30 Confidence, independence, and feeling capable again
8. 19:30 The mental challenge of getting stronger in a culture that rewards small
9. 22:30 Longevity, bone health, and future-proofing your body