Why Diets Backfire: What Women Need to Know About Food, Fear, and the Nervous System with Sherry Shaban
Release Date: 03/18/2026
Can You Still Cycle Sync in Perimenopause?
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This Triggered Me… But It Might Set So Many Women Free
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How I Sold Out My Retreat After Almost Canceling It
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Three months before my retreat, I had zero people signed up. Zero. As in, “Should I cancel this whole thing and pretend I never mentioned it?” zero. And if you’ve ever launched something, promoted something, or put an offer into the world and heard crickets, you know exactly what that can bring up. The scarcity spiral. The overthinking. The very dramatic mental montage of, “Maybe I should just burn it all down and become a florist.” But this retreat ended up selling out in the most beautiful way. And not only did it sell out, it became one of the most powerful, expansive, deeply...
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2 Non-Negotiables to Grow Your Business
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You don’t have a time problem. You have a focus problem. And I say that with so much love… because I’ve been there too. Trying to do everything in your business, posting, tweaking, redesigning, overthinking while secretly wondering why it’s not growing the way you thought it would. Especially when you’re juggling life, work, kids… and building your business in the in-between moments. This episode is your reset. Because if you only did two things consistently in your business… everything would change. Episode Summary In this episode, we’re breaking down the two core business...
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The Belief That Will Help You Attract More Wealth
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I want you to have an insane amount of money in your pocket. And I really do mean that. And I know that might feel like a weird thing to lead with. But the more I do this work, the more I see it… women are capping their own wealth before they ever give themselves a chance to create it. Not because they're not smart enough, not because they're not working hard enough, but because of one sneaky little habit that most of us don't even realize we're doing. This episode is that aha and I think it's going to change how you think about money, time, clients, and every area of your life...
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This One Shift Will Change the Trajectory of Your Business
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Okay… this may seem kind of crazy coming from the cycle syncing coach but….I’ve stopped cycle syncing.. And before you spiral for a second.. no, I didn’t throw everything out the window. But I did stop using my cycle like it’s some rigid rulebook that I have to schedule everything against.. Don’t get me wrong, using your cycle to discover when you are the most aligned to get stuff done is magical (and makes a world of difference). But stopping there is where most women miss out and feel stuck when life happens or when things don’t match up with your cycle. Because your...
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What's Actually Blocking Your Next Level (It's Not What You Think)
The Cycle Advantage
Recording this one from my car. After dance class, with a dead microphone and ya know, life is life-ing right now. It’s been a beautiful, wild, a little chaotic season and it’s teaching me so many things in the midst of the mess. This episode is about what happens when everything starts feeling like too much and your brain starts whispering that the solution is to burn it all down and start over. Again. (I get it. I actually asked my husband to hold me accountable to the next time my mind started going down the “should I try this instead” rabbit holes. And he so politely...
info_outlineIf you’ve ever thought…
“Why can’t I just be normal around food?”
You’re not alone.
So many women who are smart, disciplined, and deeply self-aware still find themselves stuck in cycles of guilt, restriction, cravings, and starting over.
And the frustrating part?
Most of the advice we’re given tells us to fix it with more control.
More discipline.
More rules.
More tracking.
But what if the problem was never a lack of willpower?
In this conversation with Sherry Shaban, we unpack the deeper reasons food can feel so loaded for women and why patterns that look like self-sabotage may actually be your nervous system trying to protect you.
This episode goes far beyond food.
We talk about shame, safety, body image, parenting daughters, and what it actually takes to heal your relationship with food in a way that lasts.
Episode Summary
In this episode, Sherry Shaban and I talk about food freedom, body image, and the surprising role the nervous system plays in cravings, binge eating, and feeling out of control around food. We explore how shame and fear shape eating behaviors, why dieting often backfires, and how healing your relationship with food starts with safety, not stricter rules. If you’ve ever felt stuck in all-or-nothing eating patterns or want to raise daughters with a healthier relationship to their bodies, this conversation is for you.
What You’ll Hear in This Episode
✔️ Why the women who “know better” often struggle the most with food
✔️ The moment healthy eating quietly turns into obsession, shame, and loss of control
✔️ Why the fear of eating certain foods can do more damage than the food itself
✔️ The nervous system pattern that keeps women stuck in guilt, cravings, and binge-restrict cycles
✔️ What your food struggles may actually be protecting you from
✔️ What it really looks like to model body trust and food safety for your daughters
✔️ The subtle ways diet culture sneaks into homes that are trying to do everything “right”
✔️ Why healing your relationship with food starts with safety, not stricter rules
Listen to this related podcast episode: How To Use Your Body For Bigger Biz Results
Key Takeaways
➡️ Self-sabotage is often self-protection.
The patterns you judge most harshly may actually be protective mechanisms built by a very intelligent nervous system.
➡️Food fear changes your biology.
When food is loaded with guilt, fear, shame, or pressure, your body can read that as danger. That changes digestion, stress response, sleep, cravings, and fat storage.
➡️There is no one “right” way to eat.
There is no universal formula that makes you good, healed, disciplined, or worthy. There is only learning what works for your body and your life.
➡️Kids learn more from what we model than what we say.
This conversation is a huge reminder that our daughters are watching how we stand in front of the mirror, how we speak about food, and how safe we make hard conversations.
➡️Curiosity heals faster than blame.
Blame shuts the door. Curiosity opens it. Whether it’s food, body image, or any repeated behavior, healing starts when we stop shaming the pattern and start understanding it.
Why It Matters
Because so many women are still trying to solve a nervous system problem with a food rule.
More tracking.
More cutting things out.
More guilt.
More “starting over Monday.”
This episode matters because it invites you out of the cycle of shame and into a different question entirely:
What if your behavior isn’t proof that you’re failing… but evidence that your body has been trying to protect you?
That shift changes everything.
Not just how you eat.
But how you parent.
How you move.
How you speak to yourself.
How you heal.
This Episode Is For You If…
✅ You feel like food takes up way too much space in your head
✅ You swing between being “good” and then feeling out of control
✅ You’ve tried all the plans and still don’t feel at peace around food
✅ You want to raise kids without passing down body shame
✅ You’re realizing your relationship with food might be rooted in stress, fear, or old beliefs
✅ You’re tired of blaming yourself for behaviors you don’t fully understand yet
Meet Sherry
Sherry Shaban is a certified athletic therapist, osteopath, and transformation coach who helps people break free from self-sabotaging patterns and make peace with food without restriction, guilt, or burnout.
With over 20 years of experience in the health and wellness field, Sherry guides her clients through nervous-system-based transformations that reset the body’s stress response, regulate cravings, and create lasting weightloss from the inside out.
She's the founder of the Make Peace with Food Podcast, host of the Transformation in Paradise retreat, and creator of the Make Peace with Food Method, a neuroscience-driven framework that helps people rewire their habits by shifting from protection mode to safety mode.
Her compassionate, science-backed approach bridges the gap between mindset, metabolism, and emotional healing, empowering people to live fully in their healthiest, happiest bodies.
Connect With Sherry
If this episode opened something up for you, go connect with Sherry and let her know what landed.
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Want the deeper reset?
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Ready to Grow Your Business in Flow Without Burning Out?
If you’re a coach, healer, or feminine leader scaling to $10K months and tired of hustle-based strategies, here’s your next step:
A 12-week business planning program that teaches female entrepreneurs how to create a cycle-synced business strategy, build consistent $10K months, and grow without burnout.
Learn cycle-aligned business planning, hormonal productivity strategies, and how to build a flow-based workweek.
A guide to planning your coaching business around your menstrual cycle. Designed for women ready to stop hustling and start syncing for more impact, income, and ease.
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