Wellness For Real at Any Age

In this episode I get into some deeper level work to relieve anxiety and stress and worry. In my world of therapy, I really find this is the peice that really solidifies an anxiety free life for good. This is a way of creating an actual relationship with anxiety, a way of having a different mindset about anxiety, a way of finding peace with it. Take a listen to begin your journey free from anxiety and worry.

Learn how to use your breath and body to solve for anxiety. Thought work is powerful and amazing at alleviating anxiety but often many of us who have heavy duty anxiety, panic attacks, etc. can’t always access the parts of our brain that we need to do thought-work. So going to our breath or body first in those moments can help regulate our system and get us back to being able to access our frontal lobe and do the thought-work.

Learn how our habits of thought in our brains create anxiety in our bodies. Learn ways to create a more relaxed relationship with anxiety (yes, this is possible!) and begin to heal and find a life that is filled more abundantly with joy and meaning and love and richness and the beauty that still exists in our world.

Many of us often go to food and/or alcohol for pleasure. We also usually hold a sub-conscious (or even conscious) belief that pleasure only happens with food and/or alcohol. But…. we actually have natural pleasures that are occurring all day long that we just are not tapping into or paying attention to. The more we can tap into these natural, every-day pleasures and really pay attention to them, the easier it is to stop using food or alcohol to fulfilll un-met pleasure-needs. Take a listen to figure out how to experience more pleasure every day so urges for overeating food and drink subside.

Learn what dichotomous thinking is, how it leads you to overeating and/or binging behaviors & how it keeps you from being successful at losing weight and keeping it off for good. Learn how to change this habit-thinking-pattern to a way of thinking that will create more effortless weight loss, better healthy behaviors, & overall mental, emotional, relational, & physical well-being.

This episode touches on some of the deeper issues that go along with an inability to lose weight for good, inability to stick to habits you want to stick to, inability to reach any goals you have for yourself. Our behaviors, our follow-through, our ability to sit through difficultlt or uncomfortable feelings in order to reach goals has everything to do with our belief systems, our thoughts, our mindset. Limiting beliefs create the feelings that keep us from behaving or taking action on the the things we actually really want to do to get to our goals. Learn how to release limiting beliefs through forgiveness work (which are skills that can be learned and practiced).

This episode is all about how to keep promises to yourself and how to set goals you'll actually keep. If you typically set a goal of losing weight (or any goal) and then promise yourself I am going to follow this eating plan or workout plan or I’m going to drink more water or I’m going to be kinder to my partner or my children ….and then you find yourself breaking these promises to yourself…yelling at your kids, working out for a day and not the next or overeating when you promised yourself you wouldn’t…then this is the episode for you! Listen to learn the HOW behind keeping promises to yourself. There are strategies you can use to get yourself to keep those promises to yourself!

I’ve been doing health and weight loss coaching for a long time and what I have seen first hand is that the diet the person is following doesn’t matter very much in regards to losing weight. You can be vegan, carnivore, keto, following specific macros, low carb, carb loading, counting caloires, etc….you can actually lose weight on all of these plans. But to lose the weight FOR GOOD on any of these plans, you need compliance. Without compliance you may lose weight at first but if compilence stops, you will gain the weight back and usually plus some. We know that compliance really is the key to long term weight loss and maintainance. How well you stick to your diet, day in and day out, is compliance and is what will or won’t get you to your goal and get you to stay there. Take a listen to learn how to create compliance for yourself in a way that is simple and enjoyable.

This episode is all about the art of saying no….setting loving boundaries for ourselves with others and with food/drink. Learn why setting boundaries wth food and drink can actually create a healthier relationship with food that leads to weightloss, health, & food freedom. You will learn how to set boundaries without creating restriction mentality and instead creating a more postive, loving relationship with yourself. I give examples of what boundaries with food and drink look like without creating feelings of resentment or frustration.

Take a listen to learn about boundaries and why they are so important for our mental and emotional health but also why they are so important for weight loss. We will talk about how to begin to implement healthy boundaries in life as well as with food. As always, I include very practical strategies to get you started!

Do you often react to your feelings and later regret how you acted or behaved? Do you often over eat or over drink to escape emotions or numb them momentarily? Take a listen to learn how to keep feelings from ruining your life and your weight and health.

Why do we keep doing the thing we don’t really want to do? It can be so frustrating to know what you really want to be doing (like not overeating, not over drinking, not worrying, not over spending) but doing these things anyway! Take a listen & learn how to get to a place where you can begin to change this behavior….where we don’t overeat, over drink do the habit of behavior that we really don’t want to be doing.

Do you struggle with over-eating or binging behaviors? These topics are really close to my heart as personally they have effected me in such a profound way over my lifetime. I also have worked and continue to work with so many clients who deal with over-eating, over-drinking, binging behaviors. It is a silent, very shameful struggle. These behaviors can really take over our entire lives. You may not always be actually binging but throughout the day you may be constantly thinking about binging, then thinking about how not to binge, then fantasizing about binging, then trying to get your thoughts under control so you don’t binge….it just takes so much energy and your life just sort of slips past you. You know you want to stop but can’t get yourself to stop. Take a listen to learn ways to unwind the behavior and start to heal.

You all might also remember, and I’m sure many of you have done this over the years (I definitely have!) where you use a formula to find out how many calories you are burning in a day. You plug in your weight, height, activity level, etc and it tells you how many calories you're burning in a day and from that number of calories you now believed you were burning every day, if you were trying to lose weight, you would start tracking calories and trying to burn more and eat less of them to drop some pounds. For many of us this worked (for a time) …meaning we did drop weight but for many of us it didn’t work (didn’t drop any weight or even gained). And beyond that issue, for many of us, it worked for a while but eventually the weight came back on which really means that method actually did not work. So why? Why doesn’t counting calories work long term? Find out how to use a better way to lose weight for good.

You all might also remember, and I’m sure many of you have done this over the years (I definitely have!) where you use a formula to find out how many calories you are burning in a day. You plug in your weight, height, activity level, etc and it tells you how many calories you're burning in a day and from that number of calories you now believed you were burning every day, if you were trying to lose weight, you would start tracking calories and trying to burn more and eat less of them to drop some pounds. For many of us this worked (for a time) …meaning we did drop weight but for many of us it didn’t work (didn’t drop any weight or even gained). And beyond that issue, for many of us, it worked for a while but eventually the weight came back on which really means that method actually did not work. So why? Why doesn’t counting calories work long term? Find out how to use a better way to lose weight for good.

Have you ever wondered how journaling can create weight loss? We talk about how it works with our brain and body to create many benefits. I also give a few practical strategies on how to take a few easy steps to implement a journaling practice.

I believe our brain has a very different connection with food than any other sort of vice or addiction (if you will) that we try to use to fill a void within ourselves. If we don’t receive the nurturing or comfort from interactions with other people…but most often from our own Selves…this manifests into using food to feel this nurturing and comfort. It becomes our best friend. Take a listen to learn how to begin to break free and create a healthier relationship with food.

If you're trying to lose some weight and/or gain back health or create optimal health, then what we eat & how much we eat is one of the most important ways to influence your results. Learning to distinguish when you are truly hungry, & what your body is truly hungry for, is a key to unlocking optimal health & well-being. Learn strategies to implement this skill.

Experimentation & evaluation are 2 very powerful tools for those wanting to lose weight for good and/or wanting to make any behavioral changes. You will learn how these tools work to create change, HOW to use them, WHEN to use them & exactly what questions to ask yourself to get results.

In this episode I talk about disordered eating patterns including binging, secret eating & emotional eating. I wanted to create an episode about Secret Eating in particular because, for many people who suffer with this issue, it feels incredibly shameful which creates negative issues within all aspects of our lives including our relationships with ourselves and others. It is a pattern of eating that is not talked about very often in the weight loss space but the truth is, many people deal with the habit of secret eating every day. I believe the more we talk about it and bring it out into the light, the more people can heal from this kind of disordered eating & the shame that surrounds it.

There is often a misunderstanding that we need to feel motivation or use willpower to behave or act in a new or different way. The simplest example many of us can relate to would be “I need to feel motivated to change my over-eating habits” or “I need more willpower to move my body”. Those are the things our brains tell us and we believe it. But remember that our brain often does not tell us the truth. Its goal is to conserve energy and make you feel safe so it makes sense it tells us these things, but the reality is it is not the true. Learn how to create willingness which leads to much easier weight loss or any goal in life you have set for yourself. This episode will teach you how to actually enjoy the weight loss process without having to feel like you’re white-knuckling anything. If you find yourself saying, “I just need to try harder” this episode is for you! To learn how I help my clients lose weight for good, create healthy relationships with food and live the life they desire, head over to HeatherHeynen.com

In this episode I talk about a specific way to approach restriction with food that works. There are ways to set guidelines for yourself that set you up to comply and follow these personal guidelines without feeling deprived or sad or like you’re missing out.

In this episode I discuss how to cultivate satisfaction in your food life (& regular life) through your behaviors, thoughts & food-choices. This is one of the principals I’ve incorporated within my own way of eating & one of the strategies I work with my clients on to cultivate LASTING weight loss. It is also an important part of long-term weight loss that no one really talks about (even though it’s incredibly important). This episode will give you a new, fresh way of looking at your food-relationship, your relationship with your body, & your relationship with your SELF.

Yoyo dieting is not only physically difficult on our bodies, it is incredibly emotionally & mentally exhausting & detrimental to our well-being. Living life in this way actually creates a life with extra stress & an unneeded focus on body and food (which takes away from focus and intention with other parts of our lives). It creates a very damaged and unhealthy relationship with our bodies & then with our Selves (I let myself fall off the wagon again. I’m such a failure. Im an awful person, etc). Take a listen and lean how to stop this cycle & lose the weight for good.

Does this sound familiar: “I do OK during the week but once the weekend comes, I lose it....its a free for all with food”. Or “I stick to my food plan during the week but once Friday night hits, it’s all over. I eat everything and anything”. If you find yourself in this hurtful cycle and constantly experience Monday morning remorse and regret, this episode can help you learn how to create weekends that are fun and free while still beginning each week without regret and feeling happier.

Build muscle after 40. Improve climbing performance. Recover faster. Stay strong on the wall.If you’re a climber over 40 and not seeing the strength gains you want, your daily protein intake may be the missing link.In this video, I break down 4 simple protein rules for climbers that make it easy to hit your daily protein target — without tracking obsessively or overcomplicating your nutrition.As we age, muscle protein synthesis declines. That means climbers over 40 need a more intentional protein strategy to build muscle, maintain power, protect tendons, and improve recovery between climbing sessions.Whether you’re projecting harder sport routes, pushing into harder bouldering grades, or trying to recover faster, getting enough protein directly impacts your strength-to-weight ratio, recovery speed, and long-term climbing longevity.In this video you’ll learn:​ How much protein climbers over 40 actually need• The simple formula to calculate your ideal daily protein intake• Why lean protein supports muscle without unwanted fat gain• 4 simple, practical rules to follow that guarantee you’ll hit your daily protein goalIf you care about climbing stronger after 40, 50, and beyond — this is foundational.Subscribe for evidence-based strategies on climbing nutrition, mental training, strength training for climbers, recovery optimization, injury prevention, and aging strong as an athlete.Listen to the end to learn how to get my “protein cheat sheet” that makes getting in your daily dose of protein even easier.Website: https://www.heatherheynen.comFollow me:IG: https://www.instagram.com/heather.heynen?igsh=cGc5YTFidXM4Njlr&utm_source=qrFB: Heather HeynenLink to the NO-PREP, NO-COOK MEAL PLAN PDF https://heatherheynen.com/store Link to the HIGH PROTEIN, HIGH FIBER EATING GUIDE PDF https://heatherheynen.com/store Link to my ebook High Protein, Easy Recipes:my-downloadable-530035Please support this show’s affiliates:David Protein Bars: Highest Protein, No Sugar, Lowest Calorie, Best Tasting protein bar out there! https://davidprotein.com/HEATHERPhysiVantage: The Best Whey Protein, Collagen & Morehttps://physivantage.com/?ref=HEATHERHEYNENEnter Discount Code HEATHERHEYNEN at checkoutThorne Supplements (High Quality Supps) Get 10% off with this link:https://www.thorne.com/u/PR12562435Strands: Affordable, easy food intolerance testing for humans and pets!  https://www.5strands.com/#HeatherHeynen. Enter Discount Code HeatherHeynen at checkoutThe information in this video is intended to provide broad understanding and knowledge of healthcare topics. This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered complete and should not be used in place of advice from your physician or healthcare provider. We recommend you consult your physician or healthcare professional before beginning or altering your personal exercise, diet or supplementation program.

In this episode I discuss how to say no to ourselves & still feel good. Have you ever experienced the difficulty of saying no to the extra piece of cake or the second donut? Have you ever asked something like this... “How do I get myself to say no to the thing I know is going to bring me consequences I don’t want while not feelings so deprived and sad when I do say no?!” I discuss this more in depth, & I give you examples of the thoguhts, feelings behaviors many experience around this topic &, as always, I give a couple very practical thought l-work and behavioral strategies you can begin to implenment today in order to get you to a place of being able to say no to yourself at appropriate times AND also feel good about saying no….not feeling deprived, not feeling sad.

In this episode I teach you what reframing is and how to implement the technique into your life to make any change you want to make and make it last. As always, I give practical thought strategies and behavior strategies you can begin to implement today to start changing your life and body.

In this episode I explain WHY you keep doing things you don’t want to do and HOW to unwind your patterns of behavior that are not serving you (including eating & drinking behaviors). You will learn why you often continue to get stuck in patterns of behavior and thoughts that you don’t want to do. For example: you want to drop weight but continuing to over eat even though you really don’t want to...so frustrating! Begin to understand why this happens and HOW to change it.

Can you really climb V7 after 50? Or is that level reserved for younger climbers?At 52 years old, I decided to stop guessing and find out.In this video, I test my current limits, break down what’s actually holding climbers back after midlife, and share what I’m changing in my training to make V7 a realistic goal — not a fantasy.If you’re over 40, 50, or beyond and still want to:• Climb harder• Get stronger• Improve power and recovery• Avoid the slow decline everyone warns you aboutThis channel is for you.Aging does not automatically mean regression. But it does require smarter training, better recovery, and strategic strength work.In this video, you’ll learn:✔ What V7 really demands physically✔ Where midlife climbers lose ground (and how to fix it)✔ My honest strengths and weaknesses at 53✔ The plan to close the gapIf you're a climber who refuses to fade quietly, subscribe. This channel is about aging with power, performance, and purpose.New videos coming on:– Climbing performance after 50– Strength training for aging athletes– Recovery, hormones, and resilience– Mental toughness in midlifeLet’s redefine what’s possible.Are you trying to push into a new grade after 40 or 50? What’s your current project level?Website: https://www.heatherheynen.comFollow me:IG: https://www.instagram.com/heather.heynen?igsh=cGc5YTFidXM4Njlr&utm_source=qrFB: Heather HeynenLink to the NO-PREP, NO-COOK MEAL PLAN PDF https://heatherheynen.com/store Link to the HIGH PROTEIN, HIGH FIBER EATING GUIDE PDF https://heatherheynen.com/store Link to my ebook High Protein, Easy Recipes:my-downloadable-530035Please support this show’s affiliates:David Protein Bars: Highest Protein, No Sugar, Lowest Calorie, Best Tasting protein bar out there! https://davidprotein.com/HEATHERPhysiVantage: The Best Whey Protein, Collagen & Morehttps://physivantage.com/?ref=HEATHERHEYNENEnter Discount Code HEATHERHEYNEN at checkoutThorne Supplements (High Quality Supps) Get 10% off with this link:https://www.thorne.com/u/PR12562435Strands: Affordable, easy food intolerance testing for humans and pets!  https://www.5strands.com/#HeatherHeynen. Enter Discount Code HeatherHeynen at checkoutThe information in this podcast is intended to provide broad understanding and knowledge of healthcare topics. This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered complete and should not be used in place of advice from your physician or healthcare provider. We recommend you consult your physician or healthcare professional before beginning or altering your personal exercise, diet or supplementation program.

If you’re a climber over 40, your training, recovery, and mindset need to evolve — or progress slows. In this episode of Next Send, I focus on three critical areas that make all the difference for midlife climbers:* Recovery: how to let your body actually adapt* Strength training: why it’s non-negotiable after 40* Identity & mindset: the stories we tell ourselves about agingI could have talked about a dozen other strategies, but these three create the foundation for climbing longevity and performance.🎯 Subscribe to Next Send for practical strategies on:* Everything Climbing over 40, 50, 60 & BeyondWebsite: https://www.heatherheynen.comFollow me:IG: https://www.instagram.com/heather.heynen?igsh=cGc5YTFidXM4Njlr&utm_source=qrFB: Heather HeynenLink to the NO-PREP, NO-COOK MEAL PLAN PDF https://heatherheynen.com/store Link to the HIGH PROTEIN, HIGH FIBER EATING GUIDE PDF https://heatherheynen.com/store Please support this show’s affiliates:David Protein Bars: Highest Protein, No Sugar, Lowest Calorie, Best Tasting protein bar out there! https://davidprotein.com/HEATHERPhysiVantage: The Best Whey Protein, Collagen & Morehttps://physivantage.com/?ref=HEATHERHEYNENEnter Discount Code HEATHERHEYNEN at checkoutThorne Supplements (High Quality Supps) Get 10% off with this link:https://www.thorne.com/u/PR12562435Strands: Affordable, easy food intolerance testing for humans and pets!  https://www.5strands.com/#HeatherHeynen. Enter Discount Code HeatherHeynen at checkout#ClimbingOver40 #MidlifeClimber #NextSendThe information in this podcast is intended to provide broad understanding and knowledge of healthcare topics. This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered complete and should not be used in place of advice from your physician or healthcare provider. We recommend you consult your physician or healthcare professional before beginning or altering your personal exercise, diet or supplementation program.

In this episode I talk about Future-You-Work, what it is & how to implement it into your life to get to your weight loss and health goal (or any goal you hold!) much quicker & easier & make it last for a lifetime. As always, I give practical strategies you can start to implement today!

This episode is focused on how to gain psychological flexibility which gives you quicker, easier, lasting weight loss. Not to mention contentment, more moments of joy & a meaningful life. As always I give very practical strategies you can start implementing today.

If you have tried to lose weight or create new healthy habits by going on a diet in the past and have experienced misery, sadness & frustration which led to giving up, you’re not alone. In this episode I talk about how to get to your goal weight and keep it there for life without feeling like you’re on a diet.

In this episode I discuss if your over-eating or binging behavior is coming from unresolved past experiences or is it, at this point, just a habit. I talk about how to figure out where your behavior is stemming from and how to approach the behavior to get to freedom from the over-eating and/or bingeing behaviors.

“But if I’m not following a plan how am I going to lose weight?” In this episode I offer you a different way to think in order to get away from thoughts of restriction and deprivation and create feelings of freedom and empowerment so that losing weight will actually work for the long-term!

YES-exercise & movement is important for our health & well-being BUT the most recent research shows us that exercising will NOT work for long-term weight loss & often brings on weight-gain. I talk about how you can assess yourself (if your goal is to drop some pounds) to know if you should lessen your exercise routine, add in different ways of exercising and/or just stick to what you’re doing.

Do you have a desire to be free of the food/weight/body chatter that seems to be a constant in your life? Do you dream about waking up and not having your first thoughts be about “what will I eat today?”…either looking forward to food or feeling sad because you feel like you need to restrict or diet today? Do you have constant chatter in your brain about how fat you are or how you’re such a terrible person for choosing to eat the thing you really should not have eaten or even the “I’m such a good person for staying on my diet”? Do you wonder if you will ever eat like a normal person again? Do you have a binging habit or an overeating habit that brings you guilt and shame?Its that constant, persistent, chattering voice that carries the theme of food, weight, body, shame, guilt. Its exhausting and miserable. You are not alone. Take a listen to learn how to begin to get away from what you want in your mouth to instead what you want out of life while getting to the body weight and health goals you desire.

In this episode I discuss the importance of satiety at meals to create lasting weight loss. I give practical behavioral & thought-work strategies you can begin to implement today to practice eating to satiety to bring you lasting weight loss.

In this episode I discuss how cultivating self-compassion for yourself creates weight-loss & why it works quicker and easier than taking the hard-line, self-critical stance most of us employ to try to make changes. I also discuss HOW to create self-compassion and give practical strategies to begin right away.

This episode addresses a topic that affects many of us during this time of year: navigating the holidays when it comes to overeating and emotional eating. Take a listen to understand the psychology behind our overeating and emotional eating during the holidays as well as learning very practical tips that you can implement starting today so that by the first week of January, you are feeling moment and freedom instead of shame, guilt and regret. https://heatherheynen.com/ Follow me: @heynencounselingandcoaching & @peakproteinrecipes Please support this show’s sponsors: 5Strands: Affordable, easy food intolerance testing for humans and pets! https://www.5strands.com/#HeatherHeynen. Enter Discount Code HeatherHeynen at checkout The Amino Co. Amino acid supplements to help meet your protein goals. Highlight and open this link for 30% off your order. http://aminoco.com/HH30 PhysiVantage: The Best Whey Protein, Collagen & More! https://physivantage.com/ Enter Discount Code FRIENDS15 at checkout The information in this podcast is intended to provide broad understanding and knowledge of healthcare topics. This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered complete and should not be used in place of advice from your physician or healthcare provider. We recommend you consult your physician or healthcare professional before beginning or altering your personal exercise, diet or supplementation program.

In this episode I talk about the why behind how we THINK about sleep is the most important factor in getting good sleep. I give you practical thought-strategies that can be implemented today as well as a few tips on specific sleep hygiene skills that can be put into practice to increase quality of sleep.

In this episode I discuss how food can create our moods and what specific foods you can take away & add in to your diet to create less anxious & depressive symptoms & create a more steady mood.

In this episode I talk about how our core beliefs are what influence our behaviors. I discuss how doing the work to cultivate a belief system of worthiness & value create lasting weight-loss & goal attainment in a much quicker, easier, & lasting fashion. As always, I give practical strategies you can start implementing today!

In this episode I discuss why we over-eat into the evenings & give some some practical behavioral & thought-work strategies to break the habit and drop the weight for good.

In this episode I discuss which way is the best way for you to make behavior changes...is it through fear or love? You will learn how your self-talk (internal dialogue) influences your behavior. I also give 2 strategies that you can implement today to start to shift into behavior-change-producing thought-patterns.

In this episode I discuss exactly what food urges are and how to surf through them with ease. Learn a practical protocol-strategy to manage urges and lessen their intensity and frequency and therefore lose weight, get lean & experience food-freedom.

Neutralizing our narratives really is some of the deeper work that we can do to lose our weight (physical & mental) for good. In order to get to that effortless state of health and well being (living in your body of healthy weight and feeling energetic, alive and wonderful) we need to take a look at our narratives…our stories…around weight loss, our relationships with food, our Selves. Learn how to do this through techniques & strategies used in Narrative Therapy & lose your weight for good.

Shame is a heavy topic & one that is often not discussed in the weight-loss and optimal health world. Yet, I find it is what makes or breaks a person’s ability to lose weight for good as well as live a life of meaning, purpose and joy. Learn how to figure out if you are living from a place of shame & if you are, how to begin to move through & beyond it. To work with me go to HeatherHeynen.com

This episode is a little more practical & on the behavior side of things vs the thought-work side of weight loss. I explain and define food sequencing, food pairing and meal timing and then give you a few examples of how you can experiment implementing one or all 3 to bring you results.