In this episode, Dr. Anna Marie explores the idea that women are not "too much" — they are often just carrying too much for too long. She shares a vulnerable story about burnout while planning a conference, how being labeled "too much" is often about dysregulated nervous systems (ours and others'), and why midlife can feel like a breaking point. She reframes exhaustion, grief, and the loss of hustle as biology and awakening rather than failure, and offers practical ways to regulate the nervous system, release people-pleasing, and honor rest as a form of leadership.



Key Points:

 * Being "too much" is often just carrying too much.
 * Dysregulated nervous systems shape how we see ourselves and others.
 * Midlife burnout can feel like grief for a former self.
 * The body says "no" when the mind won't listen.
 * Women hold an invisible emotional and mental load.
 * Most women want presence and acknowledgment, not fixes.
 * Regulating cortisol: light exposure, protein, consistent sleep.
 * Reduce triggers: inflammatory foods, media, draining conversations.
 * Use simple breathing rituals morning and night.
 * Rest is not laziness; it is leadership.
 * Outgrowing survival mode can make life feel heavier at first.
 * Let go of people-pleasing and energy-draining commitments.
 * Choose what gives energy; if it drains you, it's a "no."



Connect with Anna:

Email: annamarie@happywholeyou.com / info@HappyWholeYou.com

Website: www.happywholeyou.com [http://www.happywholeyou.com/] / https://linktr.ee/happywholeyou

Personal Website: www.DrAnnaMarie.com [http://www.drannamarie.com/]

Instagram: @happywholeyou [https://www.instagram.com/happywholeyou/]

Personal Instagram: @Dr.Anna.Marie

Facebook: Happy Whole You [https://www.facebook.com/happywholeyou]

LinkedIn: Anna Marie Frank [https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamariefrankhappywholeyou/]

Venmo: @happywholeyou [https://account.venmo.com/u/happywholeyou]

255. The Becoming Years (Part 3): You Are Not Too Much

In this episode, Dr. Anna Marie explores why making friends after 40 can feel so hard—especially for women—and reframes it as a sign of growth, not failure. She explains how changing priorities, nervous system shifts, and evolving values make us crave deeper, safer connections instead of draining, surface-level relationships. The episode offers both emotional validation and practical strategies for regulating your body, rethinking friendship, and intentionally building a new social life focused on quality over quantity.



Key Points

 * Friendships feel harder after 40 because we're more awake, not broken
 * Early-life friendships often formed through proximity (school, kids, work)
 * After 40, shared routines change and built-in social circles shrink
 * Women want depth, safety, and energy-giving relationships, not small talk
 * Old friendships can feel "off" even if no one did anything wrong
 * Nervous system changes reduce tolerance for gossip, comparison, drama
 * High-achieving women often feel lonely after stepping back from draining ties
 * True belonging doesn't require changing who you are (inspired by Brené Brown)
 * Connection needs energy; energy depends on nervous system regulation
 * Poor sleep, blood sugar issues, and inflammation reduce social capacity
 * Supportive habits: magnesium, protein before socializing, less coffee
 * Prefer walks or tea to overstimulating coffee meetups
 * Focus on quality over quantity in midlife friendships
 * Build friendships slowly and intentionally; no forcing or rushing
 * Join communities that combine movement and conversation (e.g., pickleball)
 * Consistency in showing up is key to forming deeper bonds
 * Be willing to change routines to meet new people
 * It's never too late to build a meaningful social life
 * Choose alignment and energy over chaos and people-pleasing



Connect with Anna:

Email: annamarie@happywholeyou.com / info@HappyWholeYou.com

Website: www.happywholeyou.com [http://www.happywholeyou.com/] / https://linktr.ee/happywholeyou

Personal Website: www.DrAnnaMarie.com [http://www.drannamarie.com/]

Instagram: @happywholeyou [https://www.instagram.com/happywholeyou/]

Personal Instagram: @Dr.Anna.Marie

Facebook: Happy Whole You [https://www.facebook.com/happywholeyou]

LinkedIn: Anna Marie Frank [https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamariefrankhappywholeyou/]

Venmo: @happywholeyou [https://account.venmo.com/u/happywholeyou]

254. The Becoming Years (Part 2): Making Friends After 40

In this episode, Dr. Anna Marie introduces The Becoming Years, a series about rebuilding identity, connection, and success after 40. She speaks candidly about the emotional and practical shifts of midlife—especially for high-achieving women—covering the feelings of being "behind," the pull toward deeper, more authentic connections, and the exhaustion of living on adrenaline and approval. She explores the neurological, hormonal, and identity changes of midlife, and invites listeners to slow down, reflect with compassion, and intentionally redefine what success and meaningful connection look like in this next chapter.



Key Points:

 * Rebuilding identity, connection, and success after 40
 * Feeling "behind" at midlife and reframing that belief
 * The "meantime space" between life's highs and lows
 * Midlife as a wake-up call to ask what we truly want
 * Three major shifts: neurological, hormonal, identity
 * Perimenopause and changing energy/mood
 * Burnout from running on adrenaline and approval
 * Letting go of proving and people-pleasing
 * Choosing relationships and activities that give energy
 * Discomfort of slowing down and being less "busy"
 * Using quiet, breath, and reflection instead of numbing
 * Gratitude for how far you've already come
 * Invitation to redefine success and deeper connections after 40



Connect with Anna:

Email: annamarie@happywholeyou.com / info@HappyWholeYou.com

Website: www.happywholeyou.com [http://www.happywholeyou.com/] / https://linktr.ee/happywholeyou

Personal Website: www.DrAnnaMarie.com [http://www.drannamarie.com/]

Instagram: @happywholeyou [https://www.instagram.com/happywholeyou/]

Personal Instagram: @Dr.Anna.Marie

Facebook: Happy Whole You [https://www.facebook.com/happywholeyou]

LinkedIn: Anna Marie Frank [https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamariefrankhappywholeyou/]

Venmo: @happywholeyou [https://account.venmo.com/u/happywholeyou]

253. The Becoming Years (Part 1): The Midlife Shift

You can follow every diet and still feel stuck if the real issue lives beneath the surface. This conversation invites you to look at eating disorders and addictions through an emotional and nervous system lens, not willpower. You start to see how trauma, shame, and unprocessed experiences quietly shape your relationship with food, weight, and control.

You're introduced to holistic tools like Emotional Freedom Techniques that go beyond talk therapy and calorie counting. By addressing emotional blockages directly, real change becomes possible. The focus shifts from fixing your body to understanding it, setting boundaries, and reclaiming authenticity.

When you stop fighting yourself and start listening, health becomes more than a goal. It becomes a sense of wholeness. This is about coming back home to your body, trusting your worth, and choosing healing that actually lasts.



About Sandy Zeldes:

Sandy Zeldes is a spiritual cowgirl, celebrity chef-turned-healer, and subconscious transformation expert with over two decades of experience helping high-achieving women ditch the shame, cravings, and self-sabotage cycles that diets never touch. She's a certified nutrition consultant and advanced EFT practitioner who blends trauma- informed healing, functional medicine, and nervous system repair for real, lasting change.

Her clients? CEOs, creatives, and powerhouses who've tried everything— and are done pretending they have it all together. Sandy's the creator of the #1 bestselling DailyOM course Healing Subconscious Blocks to Weight Loss and has been featured on NBC, FOX, CBS, ABC, and The Wall Street Journal. She helps women stop outsourcing their worth, break free from hidden patterns, and finally feel at home in their bodies—with a little grace, a lot of truth, and zero diets required.



Connect with Sandy:

Website: SandyZeldes.com [http://sandyzeldes.com/]Website: EatLikeAGoddess.com [http://eatlikeagoddess.com/]X: @EatLikeAGoddess LinkedIn: in/Sandy-Zeldes Email: hello@sandyzeldes.com



Connect with Anna:

Email: annamarie@happywholeyou.com / info@HappyWholeYou.com

Website: www.happywholeyou.com [http://www.happywholeyou.com/] / https://linktr.ee/happywholeyou

Personal Website: www.DrAnnaMarie.com [http://www.drannamarie.com/]

Instagram: @happywholeyou [https://www.instagram.com/happywholeyou/]

Personal Instagram: @Dr.Anna.Marie

Facebook: Happy Whole You [https://www.facebook.com/happywholeyou]

LinkedIn: Anna Marie Frank [https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamariefrankhappywholeyou/]

Venmo: @happywholeyou [https://account.venmo.com/u/happywholeyou]

252. Healing the Emotional Roots of Food and Addiction with Sandy Zeldes

In this episode, Anna challenges hustle culture and reframes rest as a powerful productivity tool and health necessity. She explains how chronic overwork and lack of sleep can dysregulate hormones, weaken the immune system, and increase emotional reactivity—especially for women whose biology requires cyclical rest. Drawing on Barbara O'Neill's "8 hours rest / 8 hours work / 8 hours play" framework, she offers practical tips for improving sleep quality and using visualization and breathing techniques to wind down. The episode closes with an invitation to rethink daily rhythms so that rest, work, and play are all honored.



Key Points

 * Rest is productive, not lazy
 * Hustle culture can harm health
 * Women's biology needs cyclical rest
 * Immune system depends on sleep
 * Chronic sleep loss raises illness risk
 * Emotional reactivity can signal fatigue
 * Aim for 8 hrs rest / 8 work / 8 play
 * Make bedroom dark, quiet, and cool
 * No electronics 1 hour before bed
 * Consider blue-light blocking tools
 * Use cooling pads if you overheat
 * Try deep breathing before sleep
 * Visualize safe, familiar places
 * Visualize future goals in detail
 * Reassess how you spend your 24 hours



Connect with Anna:

Email: annamarie@happywholeyou.com / info@HappyWholeYou.com

Website: www.happywholeyou.com [http://www.happywholeyou.com/] / https://linktr.ee/happywholeyou

Personal Website: www.DrAnnaMarie.com [http://www.drannamarie.com/]

Instagram: @happywholeyou [https://www.instagram.com/happywholeyou/]

Personal Instagram: @Dr.Anna.Marie

Facebook: Happy Whole You [https://www.facebook.com/happywholeyou]

LinkedIn: Anna Marie Frank [https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamariefrankhappywholeyou/]

Venmo: @happywholeyou [https://account.venmo.com/u/happywholeyou]

251. Why rest is productive (and Hustle Is Making You Sick)

In this episode, you explain how thoughts are not harmless but act as biochemical instructions that can either support healing or keep the body stuck in stress and illness. You connect mindset with physiology—stress hormones, sleep, inflammation, and even gene expression—and encourage listeners to consciously choose more supportive inner dialogue, explore epigenetics (e.g., Dr. Bruce Lipton's work), and consider coaching to rewire their neural networks.



Key Points

 * Thoughts act as biochemical instructions in the body
 * Chronic negative self-talk raises stress hormones (e.g., cortisol)
 * High cortisol disrupts melatonin and healthy sleep
 * Negative thinking keeps the body inflamed and blocks healing
 * Inner dialogue is as important as nutrition and supplements
 * Beliefs can shape physiological outcomes and health
 * Thoughts and environment influence gene expression (epigenetics)
 * The reticular activating system (RAS) filters reality to match beliefs
 * Reframing with "What if that wasn't true?" opens new perspectives
 * Choosing positive thoughts helps healing vs. staying sick and stuck
 * Coaching can help rewire neural networks and shift mindset



Connect with Anna:

Email: annamarie@happywholeyou.com / info@HappyWholeYou.com

Website: www.happywholeyou.com [http://www.happywholeyou.com/] / https://linktr.ee/happywholeyou

Personal Website: www.DrAnnaMarie.com [http://www.drannamarie.com/]

Instagram: @happywholeyou [https://www.instagram.com/happywholeyou/]

Personal Instagram: @Dr.Anna.Marie

Facebook: Happy Whole You [https://www.facebook.com/happywholeyou]

LinkedIn: Anna Marie Frank [https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamariefrankhappywholeyou/]

Venmo: @happywholeyou [https://account.venmo.com/u/happywholeyou]

250. You're Thoughts Aren't Harmless… They're Biochemical Instructions

In this episode, we explore why you can be eating clean, working out, and taking all the right supplements yet still not feel well. Anna explains how unresolved emotional stress keeps the body from feeling safe, which blocks physical healing. You'll learn why safety cues, breathwork, and coaching support are crucial for deeper, lasting healing beyond diet and exercise.



Key Points:

 * Doing "all the right" health habits but still feel unwell
 * Body won't heal when it doesn't feel emotionally safe
 * Unresolved emotional stress suppresses immune function
 * Stress slows tissue repair and workout recovery
 * Brain prioritizes survival over healing and recovery
 * Safety cues are essential for healing (trauma-informed view)
 * Breathwork helps release stored emotional stress
 * Coaching provides guidance, support, and accountability
 * Visualization used to help the body feel safe to heal
 * Anna shares personal journey of "perfect" habits but inner struggle
 * Invitation to seek support and not do the inner work alone
 * Healing is a journey; it's not instant but accelerates once you start



Connect with Anna:

Email: annamarie@happywholeyou.com / info@HappyWholeYou.com

Website: www.happywholeyou.com [http://www.happywholeyou.com/] / https://linktr.ee/happywholeyou

Personal Website: www.DrAnnaMarie.com [http://www.drannamarie.com/]

Instagram: @happywholeyou [https://www.instagram.com/happywholeyou/]

Personal Instagram: @Dr.Anna.Marie

Facebook: Happy Whole You [https://www.facebook.com/happywholeyou]

LinkedIn: Anna Marie Frank [https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamariefrankhappywholeyou/]

Venmo: @happywholeyou [https://account.venmo.com/u/happywholeyou]

249. Why You're Doing 'All The Right' Things and Still Not Healing

In this episode, we explore the powerful connection between your gut, stress, and emotions. Anna explains how anxiety and chronic stress can disrupt the gut-brain axis, damage immune function in the gut, and show up as bloating and digestive issues. You'll learn simple daily practices and supportive supplements that help calm the nervous system, restore gut lining, and address both the emotional and physical sides of gut healing.



Key Points

 * Stress and anxiety strongly affect gut health
 * Gut-brain axis communicates via the vagus nerve
 * Fight-or-flight state disrupts digestion and heart rhythm
 * Deep breathing, humming, and singing support vagus nerve
 * Most anxious clients also have digestive/gut issues
 * Gut often reflects emotional stress and life strain
 * Simple daily practice: barefoot in grass + deep breathing
 * Sunlight exposure (5–10 min) helps regulate the body
 * Lemon balm (in Calm You) gently calms the nervous system
 * Solar plexus chakra links digestion and emotional processing
 * Emotional work must accompany supplements for true healing
 * Bloat List You formula supports gut lining (with mastic gum)
 * Stress can weaken gut lining over time
 * Combining lifestyle tools + Calm You + Bloat List You is recommended



Connect with Anna:

Email: annamarie@happywholeyou.com / info@HappyWholeYou.com

Website: www.happywholeyou.com [http://www.happywholeyou.com/] / https://linktr.ee/happywholeyou

Personal Website: www.DrAnnaMarie.com [http://www.drannamarie.com/]

Instagram: @happywholeyou [https://www.instagram.com/happywholeyou/]

Personal Instagram: @Dr.Anna.Marie

Facebook: Happy Whole You [https://www.facebook.com/happywholeyou]

LinkedIn: Anna Marie Frank [https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamariefrankhappywholeyou/]

Venmo: @happywholeyou [https://account.venmo.com/u/happywholeyou]

248. Your Gut Has Feelings Too/ Why Healing Starts In The Gut

In this episode, Anna explains why what we label as "laziness" is often actually burnout and nervous system overload. She shares her own experience of hitting a wall after years of high productivity, describes how chronic stress keeps us stuck in survival mode, and outlines simple, science-backed ways to regulate the nervous system. Listeners are encouraged to see burnout as a biological state—not a character flaw—and to reclaim energy through rest, boundaries, and basic self-care.



Key Points

 * Burnout is a nervous system issue, not a character flaw
 * Mindset matters at first, then stress becomes a physical response
 * Chronic stress keeps you in sympathetic "fight-or-flight" mode
 * Symptoms: exhaustion, no joy, low motivation, poor sleep
 * Burnout can impact digestion, immunity, focus, and metabolism
 * Anna shares personal story of overworking and hitting a wall
 * People-pleasing and fear of disappointing others fuel burnout
 * Regulation, not "more discipline," is what you actually need
 * Be mindful who you spend time with—some drain, some energize
 * Step back from draining people and obligations when needed
 * Protect your schedule and take real time off to reset
 * Prioritize basics: sleep, healthy food, movement, sunlight
 * Do 2–3 minutes of deep breathing first thing in the morning
 * Morning breathwork can reduce reactivity throughout the day
 * Feeling "lazy" may be your nervous system asking for rest

Connect with Anna:

Email: annamarie@happywholeyou.com / info@HappyWholeYou.com

Website: www.happywholeyou.com [http://www.happywholeyou.com/] / https://linktr.ee/happywholeyou

Personal Website: www.DrAnnaMarie.com [http://www.drannamarie.com/]

Instagram: @happywholeyou [https://www.instagram.com/happywholeyou/]

Personal Instagram: @Dr.Anna.Marie

Facebook: Happy Whole You [https://www.facebook.com/happywholeyou]

LinkedIn: Anna Marie Frank [https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamariefrankhappywholeyou/]

Venmo: @happywholeyou [https://account.venmo.com/u/happywholeyou]

247. You're Not Lazy - Your Nervous System Is Fried!

In this episode of "Lessons I Didn't Expect to Learn," Anna reflects on how losing her grandmother reshaped her understanding of success. Instead of measuring life by revenue and achievements, she explores family time, presence, and connection as the metrics that really matter. Through a tender story of her grandmother's final days, she shares how grief led her to redesign her life around proximity to loved ones and choosing memories over milestones.



Key Points:

 * Success is often measured by numbers, not connection
 * Loss of grandmother prompted deep reflection on priorities
 * Final visit with grandmother became a cherished, intentional goodbye
 * Grandmother valued experiences and relationships over accomplishments
 * Her gift was making others feel seen and special
 * Realization: family time must be prioritized now, not "when life calms down"
 * Decision to create homes in Michigan and California for family proximity
 * No amount of success can replace missed family moments
 * Listeners urged to ask: "Who am I building this for?"
 * A life well lived: connection is central, not an afterthought
 * There's always another email or sale—but not always another chance to see a loved one



Connect with Anna:

Email: annamarie@happywholeyou.com / info@HappyWholeYou.com

Website: www.happywholeyou.com [http://www.happywholeyou.com/] / https://linktr.ee/happywholeyou

Personal Website: www.DrAnnaMarie.com [http://www.drannamarie.com/]

Instagram: @happywholeyou [https://www.instagram.com/happywholeyou/]

Personal Instagram: @Dr.Anna.Marie

Facebook: Happy Whole You [https://www.facebook.com/happywholeyou]

LinkedIn: Anna Marie Frank [https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamariefrankhappywholeyou/]

Venmo: @happywholeyou [https://account.venmo.com/u/happywholeyou]

246. Lesson's I didn't expect to learn (Part 6)

Better health, wealth, happiness, and success grows when your brain and biology thrive. Brain health and wellness enthusiast share the key biological downloads that have helped them and hurt them. This podcast is for anyone looking to upgrade their brain, biology, and life! Get ready to hack into a new you!