The Midlife Feast

#165- Mom Rediscovered: Jen Butler on Breaking Up with Diet Culture and Drinking to Find Herself Again

• Jenn Salib Huber RD ND • Season 6 • Episode 165

Share episode

Isn’t it wild that you can do everything “right”-be the devoted mom, caregiver, spouse, or friend, and yet still feel like you’ve lost touch with the “real” you? That’s where our conversation with writer, speaker, and coach Jen Butler begins. It’s a candid look at how midlife cracks open our default scripts around food, alcohol, and identity, and how choosing peace can be much more fulfilling than trying to take up less space in the world. 

Jen shares her early entry into diet culture, the moment a nutritionist prescribed restriction that stole her period and presence, and the turning point when she stopped paying for being smaller with health and joy. We also talk about alcohol as a coping mechanism, how honesty sparked change, and why removing the fog made room for deeper work: food freedom, identity beyond motherhood, and creative ambition. 

Now, as a coach and author of Mom Rediscovered, Jen invites women to reclaim their space and redefine midlife on their own terms. If you’re ready to trade perfection for presence and roles for a richer identity, this conversation will resonate. 

Grab the Book: Mom Rediscovered
Instagram: @jenbutlerwrites
Website: jenbutlerwrites.com

Like what you learned? Check out these other episodes!

What did you think of this episode? Click here and let me know!

📚 I wrote a book! Eat To Thrive During Menopause will be out on October 21st, 2025. Pre-order your copy today and help get the word out!

Looking for more about midlife, menopause nutrition, and intuitive eating? Click here to grab one of my free guides and learn what I've got "on the menu" including my 1:1 and group programs. https://www.menopausenutritionist.ca/links

Jenn Salib Huber:

Welcome to the Midlife Feast, the podcast that helps you make sense of your body, your health, and menopause in the messy middle of midlife. I'm Dr. Jen Sally Pieper, intuitive eating dietitian and naturopathic doctor, and author of Eat to Thrive During Menopause. Around here, we don't see midlife and menopause as problems to solve, but as invitations to live with more freedom, trust, and joy. Each week you'll hear real conversations and practical strategies to help you feel like yourself again. Eat without guilt, and turn midlife from a season of survival into a season of thriving. I'm so glad you're here. Let's dig in. So many of us reach midlife and realize that somewhere between raising kids, if we've had kids, managing households, a job, and caring for everyone else, we have slowly drifted away from ourselves. My guest today, Jen Butler, knows that feeling well, and she has made it her mission to help women find their way back. Jen is a writer, speaker, and coach, and she's the author of the new book Mom Rediscovered, which is out on October 21st, which happens to be the same day as my book comes out. So we are book pub day buddies. And her book explores what it means to reconnect with who you are after years of putting yourself last. Now, Jen has a lot of interesting takes on, you know, untangling from diet culture and changing her relationship with alcohol. And really the center of our conversation, though, is talking about how we can untangle our identity from the role of mom and why this often shows up in midlife because I know that I'm not the only one that felt like my identity was changing, and what it really looks like to reclaim some joy and some purpose and self-compassion as our lives are changing. So I loved this conversation with Jen. As you'll hear, we get along fabulously. And um, I'm really glad that she's joined me on the podcast to share her story because I think it's one that so many of you will relate to. Hi, Jen. Welcome to the Midlife Feast. Hi, Jen. Thank you so much for having me on. I've been following you for years, so this is a very exciting moment for me. Aw thanks so much. I I love connecting with other gens. We were just kind of talking before we hit record about, you know, we have a we have a lot in common. We'll kind of get to that towards the end. Sure do. Um, but yeah, why don't you tell us a little bit about you? Who is Jen Butler?

Jen Butler:

Oh gosh. All right. We have five hours, right? Um so my name is Jen Butler. I am almost 45 years old. I am a mom of two. I have two middle schoolers, 13 and 11, a girl and a boy. And I live outside of New York City. We live about 30 minutes north of New York City. And I became a stay-at-home mom kind of by default because we moved around quite a bit as we were having kids. And so I just never was able to kind of get my footing to go back to work. Um, and so I was a stay-at-home mom for about a decade before I entered from early motherhood into what I call mid-motherhood, meaning both my kids were in school full-time. And I realized, like, oh, I would like to do something for myself for the first time in, you know, seven years. Um, and so since then, I have been kind of putting together a patchwork uh career for myself. I teach fitness. I coach women. I do um some women who are looking to cut back on drinking or or who are sober curious. I coach them. And I also do some life coaching. And I'm a writer. I've always wanted to write a book. It has been my lifelong dream. And I'm proud to say that my memoir is coming out the same day as your book, Jen, on October 21st. And it is really, it's called Mom Rediscovered, My Midlife Breakup with Drinking and Diet Culture. And it's really my story of how I kind of entered into motherhood, lost myself in motherhood, and then rediscovered myself in midlife, which is where I am now.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Oh gosh, that is such a relatable story. Um, you know, I think I've I've followed you for a while on Instagram as well. And I think one of the things that I really appreciate about how you get your message out is through storytelling. I'm a big believer in storytelling as a connector of humans. Um and so I think that's a really, really relatable piece for anybody who has had children, um, you know, children in any in any way, shape, or form responsible for other humans. You know, if you've been responsible for other people for usually a decade or more in in that in your selfless era is kind of how I described, you know, those early motherhood years. Yes. Oh. And and just because I wanted to be, not because I felt any external pressure, although obviously societal pressure was there, but like I was all in with early motherhood. But then yeah, I hit perimenopause, I hit midlife, and it like all came crashing down. So I'd love to hear your story about what was the tipping point for you? Like you mentioned, you know, you now you have middle schoolers, but like walk us down that story of what happened that made you think, wait a minute.

Jen Butler:

Something is awry. Um, so gosh. I so do you mean in terms of perimenopause or just in terms of kind of motherhood in general, realizing like, oh, I've got some work to do.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Yeah, we were talking a little bit about food. So why don't we, why don't we kind of start with your relationship with food? Because certainly reaching a tipping point with that, feeling like something has to change, especially if you've been familiar with diet culture. I think any of my listeners will relate to to lots of that parts of the story. So I'd love to hear more about that.

Jen Butler:

Great. And that has been such an important part of my journey and something that I'm really proud of. So thank you for asking. And I'm I'm excited to talk about it. So, as I talk about in my book, I I grew up in the 80s and 90s when, you know, fat was the enemy and skinny was the goal. So we didn't want fat in our food and we didn't want fat in our bodies. Um, and that's those were the messages that I grew up hearing and seeing. Um, and I tried Weight Watchers for the first time when I was 12. My mom was on it, and I thought, oh gosh, that'll be a way for me to get smaller, get skinny. So great, I'll join her. And, you know, because she didn't know any better, because this is what we were all doing, she said, great. So it was something we did together. I started tracking points at age 12 in sixth grade. And even then, I remember feeling hungry all the time when I was tracking points. And so I would give myself points-free days, and then I would eat, you know, an entire sleeve of Chips Ahoy cookies and feel gross. Um, and that kind of behavior really just started then and kind of followed me throughout my life. There were, there have been times in my life where I have felt just healthier and more in touch with my body when, you know, disordered eating, eating was or dysfunctional eating really wasn't present for me. And then other times when I have felt insecure, going through a breakup, you know, any kind of hardship where those things really reared back up again. So it really was kind of all these cycles of, you know, oh, I'm like actually on top of things and I feel fine, or oh, I'm going through a really hard time. So I'm gonna eat a pint of ice cream or not have anything for dinner, one or the other, you know. Um, so this followed me, as I said, you know, really throughout my life. And when I had kids, I fell into the trap, again, societal messaging, of feeling like I needed to get my my pre-baby body back and that I needed to lose the baby weight. And what occurs to me now, and what I wish I had known then, is you can't get your pre-baby body back because once you have a baby, you are forever in a post-baby body. Your body is forever changed. So, yes, even if you get to the exact same number on the scale that you were, your body's gonna be different. It just is. And that's guess what? That's a gift because that means that you grew and birthed a human, and that is just a beautiful, powerful thing. Um, but I didn't get that message. I was very focused on getting my pre-baby body back. And when it didn't come back, I really guilted myself about that. Um, I around, let's see, in my late 30s. So as both my kids, as I was entering into mid motherhood, both my kids getting into school full-time, I was starting to think about what I wanted to do with myself. And I was looking for a side hustle. And I ended up teaching kickboxing, which was awesome. I loved it. It was really the first form of exercise that I wanted to do that was like joyful instead of being a punishment or it really was a get-to, not a have to. And I loved teaching it. And I loved my the gym that I went to and that I where I taught. But the one thing was that the women there were very focused on what their bodies looked like. They all wanted six packs, they all wanted to be as small as possible. They also wanted to be strong, which was great, but they wanted to be very small. And I remember a woman came in and she went, she underwent a very quick and very uh blatant transformation in her body. And I remember thinking, oh, I need to do that. Like I need that. Mind you, I was wearing, I was already wearing the smallest size clothes I've ever worn. Um, and I was super fit, but it was never enough, right? So I asked her how she did it, and she said, Oh, I have this great nutritionist. You should reach out to her. And so I did, and I went to meet with her. This was um in January 2020, nothing else going on at that time. Um, so so I went to meet with her and I got into her little office and she said, Okay, you know, take off your sweatshirt. We have to take some before pictures. And so I stood against the wall and she took pictures of me and I sat back down and she said, Okay, well, the first thing you need to know is that you are obese. Now, mind you, as I said, I was the smallest I've ever been. I, you know, was fitting into the smallest sized clothes I've ever fit into, and I don't think I was obese, Jen. Really don't think so. But I think, you know, who knows? She was using the BMI scale. I don't know. But however she decided I was obese, that was that was the decision. So she said, you need to lose, you know, 15 pounds, better if it's 20. You know, and I it's sad for me to say it now, but I thought to myself, okay, all right, here I am. I'm gonna do this. And so she put me on a diet plan, which basically put my body into starvation mode. That night I was so the first night, the first day on this diet plan, I was reading to my kids at bedtime and I went to stand up um to say goodnight to them and I almost fell over. I almost passed out. And the next day I had lost five pounds in one day because my body just, you know, totally shut down. And so I stayed, but I stayed because I was like, well, I'm paying for this. This is what I want, and this is how I'm gonna get it. Um, I was I worked with her for three months. Again, this is the start of COVID too, so it was it was insane. The whole thing was insane. But I remember at the end of my time with her, I had lost that 15 pounds she said to lose. And I we did our final Zoom call. And I said to her, like, well, I did it. Thanks. Okay, bye. And she said, Well, actually, um, you still need to lose six pounds. You're not done. Now, mind you, my period had stopped. Oh my god I I looked, I look at photos of myself now. I was gaunt. It was really, it's quite scary. I almost posted a photo on Instagram to as you know, I'm sharing my story about my book. And I almost shared one of those photos and I thought, I'm not gonna do that because it is, I think it might be too triggering for people. And it's I just don't want to go there. Um the story is powerful enough, right? Like exactly.

Jenn Salib Huber:

The picture is gonna add to that. It's a powerful story on its own.

Jen Butler:

Exactly. Yep. So she told me I had another six pounds to lose. I hung up that call, cursed her out with expletives I will not repeat here, and I promptly went down to my pantry, opened a brand new jar of almond butter, and ate the entire thing.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Yeah.

Jen Butler:

Because what else was I gonna do? I was so starved. So it was really that moment as I was eating that almond butter, that was really my my turning point of oh, I am done with this. I am done with this. If this is what it takes to be small, I am not meant to be small. And I do not want to be small because I do not want to live a life where I'm afraid I'm gonna pass out after reading my kids a book at night, where I can have a tablespoon of nut butter once a week. I choose a teaspoon. Um, you know, just it I thought if this is what it takes to get the body I think I want, that is not the body I'm meant to have.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Yeah.

Jen Butler:

So then I started the work of making peace with my body as it is. And just it doesn't mean I love my body all the time. It doesn't mean that like I look great in every outfit I try on. But I have learned, and it took a while, to really just appreciate that my body is healthy and strong, and to appreciate that it's an opportunity and a gift to be able to show up in the world just as I am.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Oh my gosh. So, so many relatable touch points there. Can we go back to the starting Weight Watchers with your mom at 12? Yeah. Because I can think of at least 10 people right off the top of my head who have almost an identical story. Yeah, I'm sure, you know, like it dieting often, you know, that 12 is the most common age that girls start dieting. It's so sad.

Jen Butler:

I mean, as the mom of a 13-year-old, I'm like, oh, it just it's so sad.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Yep. And one statistic that I always like to share whenever we're talking about, you know, weight loss and dieting, especially at that young age, is that in order for girls to start having a period and to keep their period, their body fat percentage has to double. Wow, I didn't know that. Every girl, everybody who is born with ovaries and a uterus will get larger and softer and rounder and go from maybe what was a very square shape to a curvy or softer or rounder shape. But because we don't normalize that body change, and certainly our generation, it was not normalized. Nope. You know, that first message that you would get was, oh, you're starting to get a little soft. You better, better watch, better watch that. Don't let that. And so I really believe that, you know, I'm sure your mom was very well-intentioned, you know, and of course. Um, did you go to the meetings? Did you also do like the weigh-ins and things like that?

Jen Butler:

No, not when I was little. I I but I did in my 30s. I sure did. And I brought my son with me because he was home. He was, you know, in nursery school. So I would bring my little two-year-old to the weigh-ins.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Yeah. I bet you remember those like almost probably down to the detail, right?

Jen Butler:

Mm-hmm. What I what I remember from when I was 12 is the little notebook. I still remember that little tracking notebook. And I'd have my pencil just like my mom. She used a pencil, not a pen. I mean, that I remember that so clearly. And looking up using the booklet, because of course, no internet, right? So using the booklet to look up all the points and doing the math.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Oh, yeah. I mean, the the memories that people have of going to those meetings and how they felt and that whole process is, I think, a really poignant example of trauma and how dieting is traumatic. And how that constant pursuit of being at war with your body and fighting your body feels like war, you know, and it doesn't feel good in your body, which is why it doesn't matter what success you achieve, that moment the moment of feeling good is so fleeting that it's never going to feel real or sustainable. And and yeah, anybody who has been where you are can certainly relate to that.

Jen Butler:

Right. So it'll never be enough, right? Because it doesn't last. As you fleeting is the perfect word, right? So because it doesn't last, it never you never feel like you're at the finish line. So you're just on this hamster wheel. Yep. I remember when I was working with the nutritionist at the start of COVID and um I had to weigh myself every morning. And I I can still feel in the pit of my stomach the dread of stepping on the scale. The just hoping, hoping, hoping I lost weight between the day before and the next day. Like our bodies go through such change, just natural change over the course of a month, you know. But I if I didn't lose weight over, you know, from one day to the next, I would feel like a failure.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, when you're getting on the scale every day and expecting it to go down every day and it doesn't, how can you not feel like a failure? Right.

Jen Butler:

Well, and being told, then having to email her the number. And, you know, if I right the number hadn't gone down, she'd email me back and be like, okay, you better, you know, you've got to watch it. Better watch it. Oh, it was just, it was awful. It was awful. But you know what? It's what got me to where I am now.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Yeah.

Jen Butler:

I remember just as I was eating that almond butter thinking like, I just want peace. That was the word that came up for me. It was like, I just want peace. I didn't know how to get it. I didn't know if I would ever achieve it, but that's what I wanted. I didn't, it's not, it was not, I didn't want to be skinnier. I didn't want to be smaller. I just wanted peace.

Jenn Salib Huber:

So, how did you get from where you were with that deep desire to want a peaceful relationship with food to where you are now?

Jen Butler:

So a lot of trial and error, um, a lot of research, a lot of finding people on Instagram like you. Um, and just figuring out what worked for me and a lot of grace, just giving myself grace. Because there were countless times that I would fall back into old habits, you know, where I would think to myself, like, oh, I had carbs for lunch, I shouldn't have carbs for dinner, like that, because those patterns and those those rules, those food rules are so deeply ingrained, especially for those of us who were on Weight Watchers at age 12, right? So deeply ingrained that to do the brain rewiring took a long time and just a lot of practice. I don't want to say work, I want to say practice. Yeah. Because I tried to think about it as practice and not this is hard work and I might fail. No, just practice. And sometimes a practice goes better than other times. Sometimes you nail it, sometimes you don't. Um, so I really tried to think about it that way. And those patterns started to the old patterns started to break, and the new patterns started to kind of cement themselves in my brain. And um, what I'm really proud of is that, and you know, listen, I'm not perfect. I still have many times where I'm like, oh, you had ice cream last night. You can't have ice cream again tonight. Um, but I'm proud of the fact that for the most part now, when I think about when I feel hungry, because now I actually listen to my hunger cues, when I feel hungry, my first question to myself is like, what does my body need right now? I've I really feel so much more connected to my body. And depending on where I am in my cycle and what time it is in the day and what I've done during the day, the answer is always different. There are times when I really want vegetables, and there are times where I really want pasta. And now I'm at the point where I am mindful of nutrition always, but I let myself have what I want. And just that feeling of peace that I don't have all the time, but I have most of the time now, it was well worth, it is well worth the effort that it took to get here.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Oh, and I think what you were saying about the practice really we need to kind of repeat that because so many people who decide that they're done with diets, you know, whether they have a moment of I can't do this again, or whether it's a slow fade, regardless of what it is, they often just switch the script. And so I describe it as, you know, we have this default programming that is, you know, based on these assumptions that we have about health and bodies and eating and what we need to do. And then we're running a dieting script and we decide, no, I'm gonna just change my script to an intuitive eating script. But if we haven't changed the assumptions, you know, we are not going, the output is not gonna be what we expect. Yeah. And to give like the 1980s DOS reference that I've used before, it's like you run into a syntax error. I love that. I love that. And so that process millennials will not understand what you're talking about, but that's okay.

Jen Butler:

We forgive you millennials.

Jenn Salib Huber:

So are you what's called an elder millennial or are you Gen X?

Jen Butler:

No, I'm I'm a I'm the youngest Gen X. Okay, all right. I'm right, yes, I'm very proud.

Jenn Salib Huber:

I've proud of themselves as an elder millennial, then I'm not sure. That's really funny. And I had never heard that. So I was like, Yeah, that's hilarious.

Jen Butler:

I guess that makes me like a yeah, young, young and Gen X or something. I don't know. Yeah.

Jenn Salib Huber:

But you know, this idea of practice, you know, so if you have this default programming and you've been running this script for 20, 30, 40, 50 years, you know, what we know about neuroplasticity is that we do need to practice something new many, many times. Yes. As and prune out, you know, what's not working. And so having that self-compassion and the grace to be like, I am learning, I am practicing. It doesn't have to be perfect. And to just have the grace to accept that, you know, those thoughts, that default programming that's been there since you were 12, yeah, is going to come up every now and then. So I think that's a really great reminder for anybody who can relate to thinking, oh my gosh, I've been at this for so many years, and yet I still have that thought pop up now and then.

Jen Butler:

Yeah, I I love the way you phrased all of that. That is absolutely true to my experience. Um, you know, when I first stumbled upon intuitive eating, I was like, oh, this is it. You know, I have arrived. This is the thing. Yeah. Um, and I remember I like bought a bunch of books on it and everything. And I remember one of the things in one of the books was like, just stock your pantry with everything you like and then just eat whatever you want. And I will be totally honest with you, Jen. I did a lot of binging during that time because I still had the programming in my head of, oh, well, you know, okay, you can let yourself eat the Nutella, but then you shouldn't have any more. So you might as well just eat the whole jar. I that still, that programming was still there. And then that kind of put me into a pattern of like, well, now I'm failing at intuitive eating. So what am I gonna do? But I just kept going and I kept practicing and I kept trying to remember to give myself grace in those moments. And, you know, it's so interesting now because I don't necessarily use the label intuitive eating, but if I had to label the way that I eat, it is intuitive eating. But it's, you know, so I feel like if the label is helpful, great. And if you don't need it, that's also fine. And but that really is sort of the goal is to just be able to listen to your body. But even though I knew that was where I wanted to be, and I bought all the books and I did all the things, um, it it took me a long time to really get to a place where I was like, oh, I'm doing it. Okay, all right, good. It was a lot of trial and error.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Yeah. And you know, I I think we underestimate, you know, that default programming is it's a habit, essentially. Yes. It's a shortcut that our brain has. Yep. So one of the things that I've put in my book and Eat to Thrive is throughout the book, is I have these little boxes called undiet reminders, undiet it. And just to kind of be like, hey, we're talking about food, we're talking about protein, we're talking about all the reasons why these things are good for you. But let's just remember there are no good or bad foods. Like you don't have to be all or nothing about this. Because we do need to practice that concept of gentle nutrition, which is you know, finding that sweet spot between what you want and what you need in a way that is flexible and forgiving and kind of fits into your life, right?

Jen Butler:

Exactly. Exactly. Oh, I love that. I'm so excited for your book.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Thanks.

Jen Butler:

I'm excited for your book. But that's what we need, right? Because as someone's reading that book, if those little reminders weren't there, it even if you're actively reading a book, it would be so easy to just fall back into your previous mindset. Yeah because it's been there and it's not only been there because of you and your, but society has been telling us these things forever.

Jenn Salib Huber:

So, I mean, another part of your story, you know, is also kind of changing your relationship with alcohol, which kind of happened. Did this happen at the same time? Was it like one big crash landing or luckily not?

Jen Butler:

No rock bottom for me, which is which was nice and good. But I'll tell you, it was um addressing my relationship with alcohol was what kicked off the rest of my journey. So I don't think there's any way I ever would have been able to address um my issues with food, um, my issues with the fact that I lost my professional identity to motherhood and how hard that was for me. All this other work that I've done would not have been doable if I had not addressed my my wine mom ways first. That was really, really important. But I never hit rock bottom. And you know what? Because you don't have to. You don't have to hit rock bottom to decide that you want to create change for yourself. And that was really the point that I got to. I was 37. I my son was on the verge of starting kindergarten. So I was on that cusp of early motherhood to mid-motherhood. Yeah. And I thought, gosh, I gotta get it together. I'm just, I'm tired of waking up groggy. I'm tired of, you know, clock strikes 5 p.m. and it's really, really hard for me to not reach for a bottle of wine. I was totally functional. I did not have a super serious problem by any means. I was able to stop without professional help or to address it without professional help, and ultimately I stopped, although that was not my goal initially. Um, and I always say, you know, I thought that when I solved my alcohol problem and addressed that, that that was gonna solve all my problems. Like that was my problem was I just drank a little too much. That was it. No, definitely not true. But what I always say is that dealing with alcohol and getting that relationship where I needed it to be and regaining control there made all the other work addressable and doable. That work would not have been doable. The eating stuff, especially would not have been doable if I was still feeling really junky about the way that I drank.

Jenn Salib Huber:

And I hear that from a lot of people. We've had, you know, a couple of people on the podcast in my community. I hear it a lot that people say, you know, I'm changing my relationship with food and I'm also kind of working on my relationship with alcohol.

Jen Butler:

I do think they go hand in hand.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Well, and I think that they're they're coping strategies for many of the many, a lot of the shit that we're going through. And you know, sometimes they work, but sometimes they stop working, or sometimes they just don't work the way that they used to, or we want them to, or dopamine is a tricksy little minx.

Jen Butler:

So tricky, tricky.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Um, thank you for sharing that. And I feel like there will be people who relate to that too. So the title of your book is Mom Rediscovered, right? So what did you rediscover?

Jen Butler:

Ooh. Well, Jen, where do I start? Um, you know what? I rediscovered me, the me that I want to be, the way, the person that I want to be in all areas of my life, the way that I want to show up in the world. And that's the thing. I, you know, I I showed up as a mom with my kids the way I wanted to be showing up. I showed up, I was showing up in my friendships the way I want, like I've always been a good mom. I've always been a good friend. But I wasn't showing up professionally the way that I wanted to, and I wasn't showing up personally the way that I wanted to. Because you can be a good mom and still feel like crap about yourself. Um, and so that really when I when I say that, you know, my process has been one of rediscovery, it really felt like self-spelunking, like excavating down to kind of my own personal bedrock, really, and being like, oh, actually, like I like her. She's cool. Like, let's let's bring her up and out and like keep her out, you know, vulnerable and real and true in every area of life.

Jenn Salib Huber:

I love that. Well, I'm so glad that you're here.

Jen Butler:

Well, I'm so glad to be here.

Jenn Salib Huber:

So before we wrap up, the question that I love to ask everyone what do you think is the missing ingredient in midlife?

Jen Butler:

Oh, I love this question. My answer, the missing ingredient in midlife is it's like drum roll, please. Um being brave enough to take up space is my answer to that.

Jenn Salib Huber:

Ooh, I think that's the first time we've gotten that answer, and I love it. I love it.

Jen Butler:

I think if every woman in midlife just decides. She wanted to do the work to take up space. And I don't necessarily mean physically. It could be emotionally, speaking your truth. It could be intellectually, showing up, you know, putting that brain to work and like getting yourself out there. It could be professionally. So there's you can take up space in so many different ways, not just physically. And I think if we all brought out that power within ourselves, ooh, that'd be good times. I love it.

Jenn Salib Huber:

So where can people get your book, find out about you, um, tell us where to find you?

Jen Butler:

Well, I think everyone obviously needs to pre-order both of our books since they're coming out on the same day. So exciting, October 21st. So my book is now available for pre-order. Um, it will be it's out on uh Amazon, BarnesandNoble, bookshop.org, available for pre-order. And it will be there. It will be in bookstores. I'm trying to get it into as many bookstores as I can. Um, and people can follow me on Instagram and TikTok. My handle there is in both places is at Jen Butler Rights. Also, my website is jenbutler rights.com and my book website, she's so cute, my book website, is momrediscoveredbook.com. So you can find me in all of those places.

Jenn Salib Huber:

And we'll have all those links in the show notes too. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for joining me, Jen. It has been a super fun conversation. I love talking to you. And I know that so many parts of your story are going to resonate with people who listen to this podcast who may be in some stage of where you have been, and uh, we'll certainly learn from you. So thank you so much. Thanks for joining me for this episode of the Midlife Feast. If you're ready to take the next step towards thriving in midlife, head to menopausenutritionist.ca to learn more about my one-to-one and group coaching programs, free resources, and where to get your copy of Eat to Thrive during menopause. And if you've loved today's conversation and found it helpful, please share it with a friend who needs to hear this and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. It helps so many more people just like you find their way to food freedom and midlife confidence. Until next time, remember midlife is not the end of the story, it's the feast. Let's savor it together.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Dr. Jenn Salib Huber RD ND

Host