If you’re becoming a health coach (or you’re early in your coaching career), you’ve probably felt the pressure to “have it all together” while the world feels… like a lot. In this episode, mindfulness practitioner and certified coach Gretchen Larsen shares practical ways to stay grounded, reduce stress spirals, and prevent burnout—without pretending you’re fine.

We talk about why overwhelm can shrink your sense of control, how to work with your feelings instead of bypassing them, and the power of choosing small, doable actions that restore agency—especially when everything feels too big.

• The “circle of control” and how to come back to what you can influence
• Why small actions (even cooking dinner) can interrupt a stress spiral
• How negative self-talk shows up for coaches (“I should know better”)
• Feeling your feelings vs. replaying the world’s events (and getting stuck)
• “Do it in connection”: why support systems matter for resilience
• Creating a safe container for emotions (alone and with trusted people)
• The only thing we always control: choosing our response

Gretchen Larsen is a leadership and empowerment coach who supports teams, female professionals and activists doing important work in the world. For over 25 years, her work has spanned across start-ups, nonprofits and Fortune 500 companies, helping teams and aspiring leaders navigate change and transformation with a people-first approach.

Especially in times of uncertainty, Gretchen encourages mindfulness and somatic awareness to help people take care of themselves, reconnect to what’s in their control, and take grounded, purposeful action. She believes that now more than ever, we need strong female leaders to help guide our planet, our organizations and the change we all so desire.

Website

LinkedIn

Listen to Gretchen's Meditation on So Frickin' Healthy

Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chödrön

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

00:00 Mind Body Connection

01:02 Doomscrolling And Boundaries

02:49 Gretchen Spiral And Control

06:10 Small Actions To Cope

14:41 Hit Bottom Find Support

21:11 Make Space Choose Response

Mentioned in this episode:

Becoming a Health Coach is a proud member and production of the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts from the SwissCast Network

Institute for Integrative Nutrition Special Deals

IIN is expensive but they always have special deals going on. Check out their catalog of classes by clicking on my ambassador link to automatically get the best deal being offered. You can also use MEGANMCCRORY20 at checkout. We appreciate your support!

Get big discounts on IIN Courses

When Your Coach is Human Too

Danna's been up since 4:30am. She's brain foggy, running on fumes, and didn't have time to review her notes before the session. Megan's listening and thinking: come on, Danna, you can do it.

And that's the point. Coaches are human. There's no such thing as a perfect session every time—and showing that to clients matters. Life gets messy. You show up anyway.

The real takeaway from this session? Joanna says she does the 80/20 thing with processed foods, but when someone also mentions their memory isn't great... they might not be tracking how often it's actually happening. A food diary could help—not as judgment, but as data.

And then there's the question every client asks: How long until I see results? The honest answer? There's no magic timeline. You can follow every Huberman protocol in the book, but if your cortisol is through the roof and you're white-knuckling through perimenopause, perfect eating won't save you. It's all connected—sleep, stress, food, hormones. You do your best and keep going.

This is the debrief after session two of Joanna's health journey.

Click here to listen!

Mentioned in this episode:

Institute for Integrative Nutrition Special Deals

IIN is expensive but they always have special deals going on. Check out their catalog of classes by clicking on my ambassador link to automatically get the best deal being offered. You can also use MEGANMCCRORY20 at checkout. We appreciate your support!

Get big discounts on IIN Courses

Becoming a Health Coach is a proud member and production of the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts from the SwissCast Network

Are you So Frickin' Healthy?

Check out the other podcast I co-host with Danna Levy Hoffmann from Organilicious.ch. We are both IIN Health Coaching graduates who got together for our love to talk about all things health related. We have some serious guest experts but we always make them laugh while we learn something new. Click the link to listen to the latest episode.

Check out the So Frickin' Healthy Podcast

The first session is done—and Danna and Megan are debriefing. What just happened? What worked? What do listeners need to know about getting the most out of health coaching?

Joanna came in like a lot of first-timers: a little anxious, full of questions, not quite sure how coaching works. She wanted a program. A protocol. Something concrete. But that's not how this goes. Good coaching isn't about talking at someone—it's about listening, pulling out what's really going on, and meeting people where they are.

The good news? Joanna already prioritizes sleep. That's huge. And she wants to understand the why behind everything—her scientific brain is an asset here, not a hurdle.

For anyone starting coaching: show up present. Take a few breaths. Stay in touch between sessions. And know that your coach isn't judging you—they're just your accountability partner, checking in to say, "Hey, remember me? I'm still here."

This is the debrief after session one of Joanna's health journey.

Click here to listen!

SwissCast is an English-language podcast network amplifying Switzerland’s voices, ideas, and stories. Whether you’re a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about life in Switzerland, our shows bring you meaningful conversations, expert insights, and compelling storytelling from across the country. Our podcasts are made by, for, or in English-speaking Switzerland and covers topics like health, business, career, travel, culture, and more.

If you’re a podcaster, SwissCast is also a network you can grow with: a supportive home for creator-led shows, with the reach, collaboration, and polish that help great ideas travel further. If you’re a brand, sponsor, or advertiser, we offer smart, brand-safe ways to connect with a curious, engaged audience through trusted hosts and relevant content. SwissCast is where Swiss life and English voices meet, and where listeners, creators, and partners can build something meaningful together.

Mentioned in this episode:

Becoming a Health Coach is a proud member and production of the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts from the SwissCast Network

Are you So Frickin' Healthy?

Check out the other podcast I co-host with Danna Levy Hoffmann from Organilicious.ch. We are both IIN Health Coaching graduates who got together for our love to talk about all things health related. We have some serious guest experts but we always make them laugh while we learn something new. Click the link to listen to the latest episode.

Check out the So Frickin' Healthy Podcast

Chapter 0: Before We Begin

Meet Joanna: working mom, twin wrangler, cheese enthusiast. She's got four-year-old twins, a ten-year-old who moonlights as a paid babysitter, and a brain that hasn't known single-tasking in years.

She's here because of the afternoon crash—that 2pm slump that wipes her out. She wants her focus back, her energy back, her brain back. But she's also clear about what she's not here for: diets. Diet culture. Anything she wouldn't want her daughters to see.

Joanna eats flexitarian, leans plant-based for the planet, but isn't giving up cheese anytime soon. She's skeptical of the perimenopause hype (especially when someone's trying to sell her supplements). She wants changes that are sustainable, not restrictive.

Danna's answer? The 80/20 rule. Eat well most of the time. Enjoy your life. No diets. No guilt. Just figuring out what actually works for her body.

This is where Joanna's health journey begins.

Listen to all of Joanna's Coaching Sessions on So Frickin' Healthy

Click here to listen!

SwissCast is an English-language podcast network amplifying Switzerland’s voices, ideas, and stories. Whether you’re a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about life in Switzerland, our shows bring you meaningful conversations, expert insights, and compelling storytelling from across the country. Our podcasts are made by, for, or in English-speaking Switzerland and covers topics like health, business, career, travel, culture, and more.

If you’re a podcaster, SwissCast is also a network you can grow with: a supportive home for creator-led shows, with the reach, collaboration, and polish that help great ideas travel further. If you’re a brand, sponsor, or advertiser, we offer smart, brand-safe ways to connect with a curious, engaged audience through trusted hosts and relevant content. SwissCast is where Swiss life and English voices meet, and where listeners, creators, and partners can build something meaningful together.

Mentioned in this episode:

Becoming a Health Coach is a proud member and production of the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts from the SwissCast Network

Are you So Frickin' Healthy?

Check out the other podcast I co-host with Danna Levy Hoffmann from Organilicious.ch. We are both IIN Health Coaching graduates who got together for our love to talk about all things health related. We have some serious guest experts but we always make them laugh while we learn something new. Click the link to listen to the latest episode.

Check out the So Frickin' Healthy Podcast

Are you So Frickin' Healthy?

Check out the other podcast I co-host with Danna Levy Hoffmann from Organilicious.ch. We are both IIN Health Coaching graduates who got together for our love to talk about all things health related. We have some serious guest experts but we always make them laugh while we learn something new. Click the link to listen to the latest episode.

Check out the So Frickin' Healthy Podcast

Institute for Integrative Nutrition Special Deals

IIN is expensive but they always have special deals going on. Check out their catalog of classes by clicking on my ambassador link to automatically get the best deal being offered. You can also use MEGANMCCRORY20 at checkout. We appreciate your support!

Get big discounts on IIN Courses

Thanks for listening to the introduction episode for our coaching series with Joanna.

This project follows a real three-month coaching engagement with six coaching sessions. We recorded the coaching sessions themselves, plus Joanna’s full health history, plus debrief episodes where Danna and I reflect on the coaching session and break down what we were listening for.

Here’s the easiest way to listen, depending on what you want more of.

If you want to hear the actual coaching sessions (the real-time coaching conversations between Danna and Joanna), listen on So Frickin’ Healthy.

If you want the coaching “behind the scenes” (health history, coaching debriefs, and Joanna’s reflection), you’re in the right place on Becoming a Health Coach.

To make it simple, we will link everything in the show notes each week so you can follow along in order.

Start here on Becoming a Health Coach:

Joanna’s Health History (BHC)

Then head to So Frickin’ Healthy:

Coaching Session 1–6 (SFH)

After each session, come back here:

Coaching Debrief 1–6 (BHC)

And finish here:

Joanna’s Reflection Episode (BHC)

You do not need to listen to every single episode to get value out of this series, but if you want the full story arc, listening in order is the way to go.

Alright, let’s do this!

SwissCast is an English-language podcast network amplifying Switzerland’s voices, ideas, and stories. Whether you’re a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about life in Switzerland, our shows bring you meaningful conversations, expert insights, and compelling storytelling from across the country. Our podcasts are made by, for, or in English-speaking Switzerland and covers topics like health, business, career, travel, culture, and more.

If you’re a podcaster, SwissCast is also a network you can grow with: a supportive home for creator-led shows, with the reach, collaboration, and polish that help great ideas travel further. If you’re a brand, sponsor, or advertiser, we offer smart, brand-safe ways to connect with a curious, engaged audience through trusted hosts and relevant content. SwissCast is where Swiss life and English voices meet, and where listeners, creators, and partners can build something meaningful together.

Mentioned in this episode:

Are you So Frickin' Healthy?

Check out the other podcast I co-host with Danna Levy Hoffmann from Organilicious.ch. We are both IIN Health Coaching graduates who got together for our love to talk about all things health related. We have some serious guest experts but we always make them laugh while we learn something new. Click the link to listen to the latest episode.

Check out the So Frickin' Healthy Podcast

Becoming a Health Coach is a proud member and production of the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts from the SwissCast Network

Megan and fellow coach Danna revisit an early episode to unpack functional medicine—what it is, how it differs from conventional care, and how a functional approach can sharpen a health coach’s practice. Expect practical examples (BP meds, antibiotics + probiotics), how to vet providers, and what extra training changed in Danna’s client work.

Back in 2018, Megan introduced functional medicine as an option when conventional care feels stuck on symptom relief. In 2025, she and Danna (a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach) compare notes: What does “root cause” really mean? How do labs, lifestyle, and nutrition fit together? And how can coaches collaborate with (or simply vet) doctors who think more holistically—without abandoning standard medicine when it’s needed?

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Background

01:04 Understanding Functional Medicine

02:25 Functional Medicine in Practice

13:17 How Functional Medicine Informs Your Coaching Practice

1. Root cause ≠ anti-medicine. Functional medicine uses meds when necessary, then investigates lifestyle, nutrition, hormones, gut health, and environment to address why symptoms persist.
2. Broader data, better decisions. Full labs (and sometimes stool/urine testing) + food/lifestyle mapping can reveal patterns a 7-minute visit can’t.
3. Clinician fit matters. You want curiosity, clear explanations, and collaboration. Titles help, but how they listen is the tell.
4. Coaching upgrades. FM knowledge helps coaches guide clients to targeted doctor questions, low-cost experiments (e.g., trial eliminations), and realistic next steps—especially when budgets/insurance are tight.

1. Share your questions or stories: leave us a voicemail
2. Explore more episodes of Becoming a Health Coach on the SwissCast Network.
3. Connect with Danna for functional-medicine-informed coaching.

Megan and fellow health coach Danna revisit an early episode on patient advocacy, reflecting on what still holds up in 2025. They cover why women are disproportionately dismissed, how to prepare for medical appointments, when to switch doctors, and how to use online research without catastrophizing.

Back in 2018, Megan shared Jennifer Esposito’s years-long road to a celiac diagnosis—an all-too-common story for women whose symptoms get minimized or misread. In this updated conversation, Megan and Danna dig into what it means to be your own advocate today: trusting your intuition, bringing organized notes, asking better questions, and remembering that clinicians are experts in medicine—but you’re the expert on your body. They also lay out a practical way to use communities, forums, and AI search without falling into worst-case rabbit holes.

Mentioned in this episode:

Becoming a Health Coach is a proud member and production of the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts from the SwissCast Network

Are you So Frickin' Healthy?

Check out the other podcast I co-host with Danna Levy Hoffmann from Organilicious.ch. We are both IIN Health Coaching graduates who got together for our love to talk about all things health related. We have some serious guest experts but we always make them laugh while we learn something new. Click the link to listen to the latest episode.

Check out the So Frickin' Healthy Podcast

In this trailer episode of 'Becoming a Health Coach,' Megan McCrory introduces her background and the reasons for starting the podcast in 2018 while attending the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN).

Megan reviews the structure of her podcast, highlighting early episodes that chronicle her learning experience, as well as popular episodes and interviews.

She also announces a new co-hosted show, 'So Frickin' Healthy,' with fellow IIN alum, Danna Levy Hoffman.

Although Megan is not currently practicing health coaching or planning new episodes for this podcast, she remains engaged with her audience through messages and voicemails, continuing to promote the benefits of her training at IIN.

https://www.swisscastnetwork.ch/show/becoming-a-health-coach/

00:00 Welcome to Becoming a Health Coach

00:05 Megan's Journey to Health Coaching

00:46 Discovering the Institute for Integrative Nutrition

01:36 Starting the Podcast

01:59 Popular Episodes and Future Plans

02:35 Current Endeavors and Listener Engagement

03:18 Final Thoughts and Farewell

Mentioned in this episode:

Becoming a Health Coach is a proud member and production of the SwissCast Network

Discover more great podcasts from the SwissCast Network

Are you So Frickin' Healthy?

Check out the other podcast I co-host with Danna Levy Hoffmann from Organilicious.ch. We are both IIN Health Coaching graduates who got together for our love to talk about all things health related. We have some serious guest experts but we always make them laugh while we learn something new. Click the link to listen to the latest episode.

Check out the So Frickin' Healthy Podcast