Are you working out consistently but still gaining weight — or stuck at the same number no matter what you do? The answer might have nothing to do with how hard you're training.

In this episode, we dig into the overlooked science behind exercise-related weight gain, including the role of trauma, chronic stress, cortisol, and sleep disruption in shaping how your body stores fat, regulates hunger, and responds to physical activity.

What you'll learn:

• Why exercise causes temporary weight gain — and when it's more than just water retention
• How unresolved trauma keeps stress hormones elevated, promoting fat storage especially around the abdomen
• Why a dysregulated nervous system can interpret exercise as a threat rather than a benefit
• The direct connection between sleep deprivation and weight gain — including what it does to your hunger hormones
• Why poor sleep and trauma create a feedback loop that makes weight loss much harder
• What trauma-informed movement looks like — and why "pushing harder" often backfires
• Practical tools to regulate your nervous system, improve sleep quality, and support your body from the inside out

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt like their body is working against them — especially if your weight patterns seem tied to stressful periods, poor sleep, or emotional difficulty more than to your fitness routine. Your body isn't broken. It's doing exactly what it was designed to do.

Topics covered: exercise and weight gain, cortisol and belly fat, trauma and metabolism, sleep and weight loss, nervous system regulation, somatic healing, trauma-informed fitness, stress hormones, emotional eating, ghrelin and leptin, fight-or-flight response, visceral fat, sleep deprivation and cravings.

Laura Giles https://lauragiles.org

What if struggling to eat has nothing to do with body image? For many trauma survivors, people with anxiety, and those navigating depression, forgetting to eat — or finding food physically impossible — is a nervous system response, not an eating disorder. In this episode, we explore the often-overlooked connection between trauma and appetite loss: why chronic stress shuts off hunger signals, what dissociation has to do with forgetting meals, and why this experience is so frequently misunderstood or misdiagnosed. We also cover ARFID, practical strategies for rebuilding structure around eating, and where to find support that actually fits your experience. Resources and helplines included in the show notes.

Work with me: Laura Giles https://lauragiles.org

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• National Alliance for Eating Disorders Helpline: 866-662-1235 (M-F, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. ET)
• ANAD Helpline: 888-375-7767 (M-F, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. ET)
• SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357 / text your zip code to 435748 (24/7)
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org
• Veterans Crisis Line: call 988 and press 1, or text 838255

This episode is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice. If you're struggling, please reach out to a healthcare provider or one of the resources above.

A listener asked us to tell her story — not her name, not her history, just her day. One ordinary day, lived from the inside of a life shaped by trauma, so that the people around her might finally understand what they cannot see.

In this episode, we walk through her full day: the 6am hypervigilance that wakes her before her alarm, the emotional flashbacks that strike at 2pm without warning, the social masking that drains her, the loneliness of being surrounded by people who don't understand why she can't just let it go — and what she needs the people in her life to know.

This episode covers:

• Hyperarousal and why trauma survivors can't "just relax"
• Dissociation and what it really feels like from the inside
• Emotional flashbacks (C-PTSD) and the body's trauma memory
• Shame, triggers, and masking in social settings
• The impact of judgment and dismissal on survivors
• What compassion actually looks like in practice
• Evidence-based treatments: EMDR, CPT, somatic therapy, IFS

Whether you are a survivor yourself, or love someone who is, this conversation is for you.

For integrative trauma coaching, contact Laura Giles at https://lauragiles.org