Midlife women have been taught how to diet, but not how to eat, and it’s costing them energy, strength, mood, sleep, and long-term health. In this episode of Eat the Fcking Food, Kristin Collins sits down with nutrition and fitness coach Le Bergen (20+ years in the space) to talk about what most women never hear out loud: you’re not failing, you’re under-fueled.

Le breaks down why “eating the minimum” might help you survive, but it won’t help you thrive, especially as you age. Together, they reframe “performance” beyond the gym (think sleep, digestion, mood, focus, and daily stamina), and explain why chasing a smaller body often keeps women stuck in weaker bodies.

You’ll learn how to start eating up to your needs without panic, why carbs got unfairly thrown into the “Butterfinger category,” how to use tracking as neutral data (not punishment), and a simple hand-portion method that meets you where you are. Then they close with the most joyful mic-drop imaginable: yes, eat the bun.

1. Why eating up to your needs matters more as you age (thriving vs surviving)
2. What “performance over size” really means for real life, not just workouts
3. How under-fueling impacts muscle, brain bandwidth, organs, skin, and vitality
4. What to say to yourself when you’re scared to eat more (start small, chase actions)
5. Why carbs affect mood and energy, and how restriction fuels the binge-restrict loop
6. How to “clean up the carb closet” without demonizing foods
7. A practical starting point: journaling as information (not a diary, not a confession)
8. A simple hand-portion framework for meals (your hand, your body, your needs)
9. Why the scale can lie, and why body composition matters more than a number
10. The forever shift: stop looking for an end date, build a floor, not a finish line

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Meet Le Bergen, why this convo matters
2. 01:00 The podcast name story, food fear, bananas and carrots
3. 02:00 Why eating up to your needs matters more in midlife
4. 03:00 Thriving vs surviving, muscle, brain power, organ function
5. 04:30 What to say when you’re scared to eat more (start with protein)
6. 07:30 Performance over size, what “performance” means in real life
7. 09:00 Carbs, mood, energy, blood sugar, and the binge-restrict loop
8. 14:00 The best place to start, journal first, use data, adjust timing
9. 17:00 Tracking without obsession, hand portions, meals in daylight

Welcome to Eat the F*cking Food, a podcast for midlife women who are done living under diet culture rules and ready to eat enough to actually thrive. Host Kristin Collins, a certified nutrition coach and menopause coaching specialist, shares why this show exists: women have learned how to diet, but not how to eat, and it’s leaving them underfed, overwhelmed, and afraid of basic foods.

In this first episode, Kristin tells her story, how perimenopause hit, and how symptoms stacked up, sleep disruption, anxiety, libido changes, and digestion so slow it landed her in the emergency room. She opens up about the trap of restriction that “worked” aesthetically while her health markers got worse, and the turning point that changed everything, eating up to her needs, lifting weights, and learning that rest and recovery are part of health too.

Kristin also previews what’s coming next: guests and conversations designed to put self-care back on the table, remove fear around food, and help women fuel their bodies so they can fuel their lives.

1. Why this podcast exists, to challenge diet mentality and help women eat enough to thrive in midlife
2. The moment the name was born, after hearing women ask “Are potatoes okay?” “Can I have a banana?” “Can I have carrots?”
3. How perimenopause showed up, sleep disruption, anxiety, libido changes, digestion issues
4. The “compliments trap,” getting rewarded for getting smaller while health markers declined
5. Why one-size-fits-all diets can do damage, and why this show separates opinion from fact
6. The shift to eating up to your needs, lifting weights, and respecting rest and recovery
7. A simple structure for consistency, three meals, a snack, sometimes two snacks for high-energy days
8. Removing morality from food, banana, cookie, cocktail, informed choices without shame
9. What’s coming next, strength-minded coaching, tracking without fear by treating it as data, real midlife stories, and mindset support

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Welcome, and why diet nonsense ends here
2. 01:00 Food as self-care, eating enough to thrive (not drag through the day)
3. 01:35 The name story, “Are potatoes okay?” “Can I have a banana?”
4. 03:00 Perimenopause, symptoms and the “that’s just how it is” lie
5. 04:20 The emergency room moment, digestion slowed dramatically
6. 05:10 Detoxes, restriction, and the compliments trap
7. 06:45 The turning point, eating more, lifting, rest and recovery
8. 08:10 “Healthy doesn’t have to be so hard”
9. 08:45 The framework, meals, snacks,...