Community, Energy, and Gratitude: Looking Back at 2025

In this special end-of-year episode, I'm doing something I've never done before: slowing down to reflect on the moments, lessons, and people who shaped this year—and sharing a glimpse of what's coming in 2026.

From the evolution of the 30/30 community and the launch of new programs to personal growth, nervous system work, and learning how to protect my own energy, this episode is an honest look at how the year changed me as both a physician and a person.

I also walk through the big themes I'm feeling pulled toward next and end with a heartfelt gratitude list that reminded me just how grateful I am for the village that makes any of this possible

If you've been part of this community in any way, this episode is my thank-you letter to you. (And if you're curious about what's coming in 2026, stick around!)

Ways to work with me:

The 30/30 Program // Season 1 Behind the Curtain // Season 2 Behind the Curtain

Beyond the Scale (A 30/30 Retreat) // Clinician Social Accelerator // The Body Intelligence Blueprint

Audio Stamps

00:28 - Reflecting on 2025's guiding words: connection and calm after an overwhelming 2024

02:23 - Three rounds of 30/30 showed how people thrive with community and accountability

04:33 - Behind the Curtain podcast launch and 21 incredible podcast guests this year covering addiction, grief, ADHD, skin health, and more

11:16 - Building the Social Media Accelerator and Female Founders Accelerator to help other physicians grow strong, independent practices

13:07 - Learning to regulate energy through intentional family time, emotional eating work, sound baths, and prioritizing whole-based foods

15:20 - What's coming in 2026: in-person retreats, genetics work, and more focused programming

19:28 - Gratitude list: A heartfelt thank you to the extensive village that makes this work possible

All of the information on this podcast is for general informational purposes only. Please talk to your physician and medical team about what is right for you. No medical advice is being on this podcast.

If you live in Indiana or Illinois and want to work with doctor Matthea Rentea, you can find out more on www.RenteaClinic.com

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Transcript

0:28

Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I'm doing something different today that I have actually never done an episode like this, and it's an end of year reflection. I wanna talk about what all happened this year and then what's coming up next in 2026 and I I returned from. 2026 planning retreat, and it really stirred up a lot of thoughts about where my medical knowledge and creativity are going. And, you know, you all have been such an important part of this journey and it really felt right to, to bring you into this reflection. I don't want this to be like a highlight reel of just all the achievements. It's really about how the year, how it shaped me as a physician and as a person, and also a really big thank you. That none of this is possible without all of you. I learned this year a lot of what actually helps people to be able to create change in their life, and that was just incredibly transformative. Going back to the beginning, I went into this year into 2025 with two words. I wanted connection and calm. I felt in 2024, I had done too much. I forget if it was six or seven conferences, it was too much. So I really said, I'm gonna strip away the things that are not essential. I'm gonna be very intentional with who I hang out with, what I do, what I attend, and really only implement what's within my values as a company. I care about compassionate care, I care about community, like only lean into those things. When I started out the year, I thought about, well, what is success? And I'm borrowing this directly from John Maxwell. This is directly out of his mouth. So here's how we define success, and I took this on those who know me the best, love and respect me the most. If strangers like me more than the people closest to me, something is off. This insight really guided the way that I structured my life and work this year. First, from a sort of professional wins side, both with kind of connection and community. I was shocked that this year I ran three rounds of the 30 30 group. That happened in January, April and September. And it was incredible how many amazing ladies we had that participated. And it grew to such an extent that we even changed things within the program. We added different things, we added different topics. In the WhatsApp group, the one channel, it was too over cluttered, you couldn't keep up anymore. An amazing community member sent me an email, and then others mentioned this in the chat that they were overwhelmed by it, but they gave me some great ideas of what had worked well in other communities of theirs. So I split it out into one group was like the main channel where there's education and support and sharing wins and things like that. And then the other channel was for recipes, food products, reviews, things like that. And that made such a big difference. I really enjoyed that. Everyone got support, but that also we were able to change things to really serve everyone how they needed to, and what I saw the most that I cannot stress this enough, I saw firsthand how people thrive in community. I saw how change is very accelerated with accountability and connection because it's never a knowledge problem. You hear me say that all the time, but I just really saw that firsthand. And then what evolved outta this year? Several times many members were saying, Hey, when are we gonna do an in-person meeting? And I started to think about, and can I tell you what's funny? I never. Thought I would be someone that would host an in-person retreat. I always thought, well, that's other people. I don't know what I would do for so many days. And you know what? I thought I just had this feeling in me where I knew that I wanted to bring together some of these women from 30, 30. Next year I'll talk about this coming up, but I'm gonna have an in-person retreat in April. And the theme of it is beyond the scale, and it's incredible what we're gonna do, but it really came from an energy of the group coming to me and saying, when are we gonna meet? And then I thought about, what do these ladies need? I never thought that would happen. So 30 30 was absolutely incredible. The other thing that I can't believe this was only this year because it's felt like it's just been a constant and always there. This was the first year when I started the Behind the Curtain podcast. Those premium seasons, the season one and two, those drops that happen at different times season one was really about clinical scenarios, really behind the scenes with medicine. I'd asked you all to submit questions and I was directly answering those. Then season two was more about how to keep going when life is hard. We even had this December live challenge part that could go with it if people wanted. And that was. So incredibly fun that I could totally see doing that again next year. I didn't know if I, if it would be something that I would ever repeat, but I could see, I'm not gonna guarantee I could see doing that again next year. And that was so fun to do the live calls and to be in the WhatsApp community and just to be part of that. I just felt like this was something that I'd always done, but that was literally the beginning of 2025 that this came out. I thought about the podcast in general as well, which you all know that I'm very passionate about the this podcast that you're listening to, and I interviewed 21 Amazing. Either doctors, nurses, therapists, coaches, industry leaders. 21 is a massive number of interviews. Like looking back, I couldn't even fathom how that could happen, and I wanna just highlight all of these people for a second. This episode, by the way, I just need to mention a lot of people because I am. Always shocked at how many people it takes to make an amazing community. I'm gonna go in reverse order. So we had here recently on Dr. Hockman. So he talked about addiction medicine. We really understood not only the emotional side, but also the physiologic side. We had on Jamie Zeller and he talked about having lost all that weight, the mindset that was involved, and four really beautiful rules in life to follow. We had Dr. Cas and she is a pediatrician who really helps. Kids with better body image and relationship with food, and that was an absolutely incredible interview we had on Jane Pilger, who is a binge eating coach, but does a lot with emotional eating. And so many of you wrote me after that that those questions and what she brought up was incredibly helpful for you. Jane does a lot with nervous system regulation because it's never about the food, it's about other things we had on Dr. Hatchet. A neurologist, and she really talked about all the different things that we potentially can be doing that harm our brain and what we could do to protect it. Krista St. Germaine talked about grief, which that was another episode as well where a lot of you reached out, that it was incredibly helpful because there's so much grief involved in all aspects of life, not just with death. I also had multiple times on Casey Markarian, and those conversations were powerful, not just about A DHD related to binge eating, but the relationships of how we can take care of our health but not create more fat phobia. And it was just super incredible the way in which she talked about things. We had also the therapist, Amy Adams on, and she really talked about how can you still take care of yourself even when you might be going through a time of care taking. And it's actually. Even more exhausting when you're doing that, but how do you still stay in the game? I had on both Amanda and Steve er, so Amanda Saer, you're gonna hear more about her. She's an incredible, friend of mine. She's also a really amazing business coach. And then her husband, Steve, er, he came on because he's an amazing chef and I know this'cause I went to her retreats and he made the food and he came on and answered a bunch of stuff with how you could. Get to cooking and make it more easier and gave great recipes. They were just amazing episodes we had on Nurse Marni and her journey and the way in which she approached talking about things was just absolutely incredible. We had on Dr. Samantha Schneider and she talked about all things related to skin and health and those episodes as well. All the comments about hair loss and what you can do on the way down with fat loss. It was so well received by everybody. Then I had a joint episode with another podcast where we all interviewed Ashley Palou, who was on The Biggest Loser in the past, and that insight from that. Cultural phenomenon was just mind blowing of what all happened there. I had on Sarah Gardner, who does sound baths for me and she really explained the science behind it and how it can help us with our nervous system. I had on Corinne Crabtree, she's a master certified coach and she really helps a lot of women with emotional eating as well. Dave Knapp came on and his work along with others in the community, it is really helping move forward. Obesity care. I had Dr. Patel Soia on actually this year. I don't remember if it was once or twice, but I know in the past at this point, we've had her on several times. She's a triple board certified endocrinologist and her episodes about menopause again, that one also broke the internet because women just didn't know all of this information before, and it was very helpful to understand the relationship with metabolism then we had on Dr. Lindsay Ogle and she now has a podcast. I'm so happy for her. She's an incredible obesity medicine physician as well, and we talked about the importance of primary care and how we need to do preventive health. So we have the best health, but the community that struggles with the disease of obesity typically does not get that care because they might not access healthcare because they get such poor treatment when they're there. This was a really important conversation I had on Julia Goldberg. She's a professional organizer and she's someone that while she helped me personally with my home and my office, things like that to organize and make it beautiful. It was a massive, a pillar of change in my health and she had really great tips for everyone I had on Dana Lynn Kay. She's the owner and founder of Devotion Nutrition, it was really great to learn about how she started the company and we all learned a lot about how we can just relentlessly stay committed to our health. And then the last interview here, Dr. Simmons Lee, in the beginning of the year, she is a cardiologist and she talked about heart health and how the GLP ones are more than just quote unquote, a weight loss medication. Many of you have listened the whole year, and just think about the breadth of those topics. Just it, I'm absolutely blown away by that. We had many listeners and many were able to reframe their relationship with food, their weight, self-trust. Many of you wrote me back that you have re-listened multiple times to some episodes and how much it really resonated with you and what an impact it had on you. And I wanna thank everyone that. Came on the podcast because they gave of their time. This is not assumed that all these physicians and nurses and therapists and everybody that they give of this time, to get interviewed for the podcast and then all of you that, that support the podcast and listen and give me feedback, I'm just incredibly grateful for that. The other thing that came outta this year, which was very unexpected, is that in the beginning of the year, I started a group for clinicians to help them. With their social media so that their clinics could grow. This actually organically happened. I had several friends that were physicians and they said, we see how you do it and you seem to have built a thriving practice, and how can we do that? And this has morphed over time into a group of, I don't know if we have at this point 12 in there. It is a lovely group where we meet, we support each other day to day. The calls are incredible seeing this group of clinicians start to make impact with the social media that they're putting out, the good. Information that they're putting in the world, the ways in which they're helping people that goes far beyond just where they're working. It's just honestly incredible to see. And why it matters is I want strong independent clinics. I think it equals much better care for patients, and I'm really passionate about this. This is actually within my values as a clinic and a company that I want patients to get amazing care no matter where they are. And so that means that we have to uplift other physicians everywhere. This isn't just a, oh, yay, my thing's working. I want everyone's clinic to work because that's the only way that we're gonna get better healthcare. And then stemming out of that again, unexpected. Me and Amanda Saer, we again, Amanda Saer is a business coach. We partnered together at the end of this year to create something called the Female Founders Accelerator. What we noticed is, okay, all of my clients are working with you and all of yours are working with me. And you know what? They need us together and they also need all these other things. So why don't we just put it into one program? And that has been incredible to watch multiple female clinicians come into there and how quickly things are happening for them. I'm honestly blown away. On a sort of personal growth note here. One thing that I really learned was that. For me to be able to do all of this, I really had to regulate my own energy. I had to be more intentional with family time. I had to prioritize emotional regulation and emotional eating work. I got an additional coach on board Jane Pelger just working on that emotional aspect with food and nervous system regulation. That was really amazing work to start this year, and the emotional regulation and just making sure that I'm going to the walking track every single day and doing strength training. This was work that I said. I can't do all these other things if I'm not fully taking care of myself. And I made, just to be honest, that was at the top of the list. Other things I added in, it wasn't just walking and strength training, but my nutrition I really worked on a lot as well. I moved this year a lot more toward whole based foods. There are still some processed foods and things, but that really morphed over time. I talk about this in another episode, but I was really shocked at how my palate changed and how much I started to like to cook. And it was really incredible and I started to use sound baths once a month, and that has been something that it helps me for weeks to come afterward. And so I just really looked at. How can I manage my own energy to be better at serving others? These were all things that I had to do. Actually. A lot had to go into it. And then there's also my clinic and I am forever grateful for the patients that come in that get supported through the clinic, that continue to stay in the clinic for years. That's not something that's taken for granted. So having gone over all of this, when I was thinking about going forward. I need to scale back some things because if I'm gonna make room for some things, I've gotta have some other things cut back. One of the things that just logistically made sense is with the 30 30 program to offer one less round of it. It's only gonna be in January and September next year because right there in April when the next one would start. That is when my second live retreat in 2026 is happening. And I really like when people are in my world to fully give them my attention. I knew I can't also be running an online program when I'm in person with people. I wanted to make space for this in-person connection because it's deeper work and it needs really to be honored. So when I think about 2026 to come, kind of, where's this? Where is it going? So here's where my curiosity is shifting to. I find myself being way more pulled into genetics, understanding different genetics reports, how we can practically use that, how we can change. What someone's doing, both from an exercise standpoint, from a supplement standpoint, from a nutrition standpoint. There is just so much information there, and I've been bringing that a lot more into my clinic, and then by default, it makes its way into my 30 30 programs and podcasts and things like that. That's something I would anticipate hearing more about. I think what makes it challenging on the podcast to talk that much about it.'cause people ask me about it, it's that it's a very customized thing, but I think that even just to hear that there are genetic components and that you're not crazy if certain things are happening, I think that will be really helpful. So expect to hear a little bit more about that. And then just more about physiology. I, I really like explaining to people how complex this disease is, and I think we're gonna get a little bit. More nerdy, more often. Two other things I find addiction science just fascinating. And while I, I personally don't like to view food as being addicted to food there, there are certain similarities and so you might hear me talking a little bit more about some of those processes, whether it be about dopamine or other things. And then nervous system regulation. If you are not feeling okay, I'm just gonna put in the most basic of terms. It's really not possible for you to create amazing things in life. I see this when I'm working with either patients or coaching clients. People want to come directly at the problem, they want to come at the food, they wanna come at the exercise, and then you'll have something continually arise. I'm gonna give you an example. I have a patient where they're having a massive block with exercise. Like they just cannot get themselves to ever do it, and no other area of life. Is there a problem? And so there is something going on there, and I suspect one of the things that's happening is there's a nervous system regulation problem. We are working on a different aspect with this person. I'm just starting to see who needs what, and then I learn more. I see how it relates to food and sometimes what's needed to unlock the next level of health for people. Because these are layers that. Really unlock real lasting change. That's the reason that I've been going into these different things. So coming up in 2026, there's gonna be more in-person retreats. So for my Female Founders Accelerator and the April Beyond the scale retreat, I'm blown away that we're gonna do these in-person retreats. So I'm really excited about that and I just see there being. Smaller groups. Much more connection. One thing that I did is that I intentionally decreased the size of the January round for 30 30 because I don't want the number to get over a certain number in there. This is not about, we have the biggest programs in the world. The group needs to be small enough where you actually can get to know people, you can talk, you're able to get my feedback. Things aren't getting lost, really maintaining intentional, small group sizes so that everybody who chooses to do that can really get full attention. And I just see, again, more, more individualized genetic reports, supplement protocols, things like that. I'm gonna have to see how far I can take it with a podcast, but that's just where my own interests are taking me because I really wanna focus on. Quality of life improving for people. It's not just weight loss, I know we talk a lot about that on the podcast, but it's your health improving. Next year might bring a season three of behind the curtain. It might be more side effect related. I need to see if that happens or not. There might be some mini courses. I've really, for a long time now. Been thinking about one, about constipation and one about maintenance. We'll see if that happens. I don't put many courses or things out unless I really feel that there's something unique about how I'm doing it, otherwise I really won't do it. So, we'll see if that all happens, but that's really where I'm headed with things and. I want to from this past year, just go through a gratitude list here, and this is not even comprehensive, but what I want you to take out of this as I go through this, is how extensive our village needs to be. For me to be able to run my clinic, run my business. Make podcasts, do coaching programs with you guys, help other physicians. For me to be able to do all of this, do social media, I should include that because I'm incredibly grateful for those of you that follow me online as well and support me with that. Here's the list of who I find just like. Top of mind right away came. Obviously I think of my family, my husband, I think about if you could say family of origin, but my mom, my dad, my sisters, they are incredibly supportive. And this is usually the community that supports you first before anyone else does. So. When I think about the sacrifice involved, particularly when I think about with my husband, when I started the clinic, we had not a dollar to our name. I had cut down into part-time with the other jobs that I had time to build up the clinic, and he had just unwavering support. Knowing that I would be successful and nothing existed when I first started. Right? There was no evidence to say that anything would work, and he had a hundred percent confidence in me and to believe in me always, and always think that I'm going in the right direction and always be there. I'm so incredibly happy that I have that. I think about my patients, that they believe in the clinic and that they're always supporting the clinic. Again, that's not a given either. I think about the team that supports me every single day. So I have a virtual assistant, Christie, but she also works in person at times with me. So she is absolutely incredible. I can't do these things without her. She is a lot of, I wanna say, the engine behind everything. So she is, executing all the work. She's creating all the beautiful things that go with everything. She just does so much. I think about my medical assistant, Tasha. I can't do all the prior authorizations and all the things, and she helps with that. I have a copywriter, Rebecca, I love talking and doing videos and doing all that kind of stuff, but I'm not amazing when it comes to writing stuff out, writing a blog post for for the website. Writing an email to the list. She helps me. And she has it in my voice, so it's not some contrived thing. And this was something when I fir had my podcast. Previously I was writing all the show notes and doing everything myself. And I'm gonna be honest, they kind of stunk. Okay. They were, they were horrible, but I was under the illusion that you needed to do everything and you needed to be the one to do all aspects of your business. And honestly, it was garbage because I maybe wouldn't have given up on that attempt if I'd had this type of help. Right. So she's been invaluable. I think about everyone who came on the podcast. Again, like I mentioned above, they gave of their time. I think about how I had to be more intentional over the past year with how I looked. If you've listened to me long enough, you know that I'm someone that. Historically just has not cared how I look. I just, I just really don't care. But I do care to be taken seriously professionally. I do also care that I feel good in my body because I don't wanna have done all this work. To not feel good in my body. And also, I don't take as good care of my body if I don't care about it. So I worked with a stylist, Laura, Laura Lara LabRat. She came on the podcast before. She's incredible. And she helped me to show me that every single body is worthy of being dressed impeccably. And that was something, honestly, I didn't know it existed. I did a photo shoot, to be able to more accurately reflect where I am at the moment. And, Abby Gowan, she was the photographer, and again, so supportive. I didn't always have that with photographers in the past. Black Swan Beauty. They repeatedly have helped me with makeup, with different photo shoots and different things. The hair, the makeup, everything that they do, they are beyond talented. Like I know when this team comes, it is only. The most amazing results that happen. I think about Julia, the organizer. Again, if my office wasn't different, I don't know that I'd be able to do all this. I. Sarah who does the sound baths for me, we did one of them in the office one time because I couldn't, there was, another place that was blocked where we couldn't be. And she said, I can tell you spend a lot of time in here. The energy's amazing. And I thought, yeah, a lot of that, it's because of Julia, and I'm so grateful for that. I think about Amanda Saer, so she's my business coach and I would be headed in 50 million directions, but she keeps me grounded in my values. She makes sure I don't overwork. Again, I don't know how I would do it without having someone that, for years now, has helped me to build this and scale it and continue to actually care about the things that matter. I feel no different now than the day I started. And that's because of Amanda. I think about. Gretchen Hernandez, she helps me with the, let's call it the tech. How do we make the websites, so you can get a PDF? How do we do all these different things on the backend? She's the engine behind that. I think about, again, Jane Pelger before working on that emotional eating and that nervous system regulation. I really was deep diving into that, and she's a big part of that. I think about friends who let me process. Let me talk, let me vent, let me share wins that support me when good things happen that, that hold me up. When I am having moments of wavering, I think about my sensational seven that I, Marco Polo with those doctors that are just bad asses. I think about other physician friends of mine, Rebecca Daisy, Sam Kamal, Amy, Tracy. I think about all of you and I think about how I'm convinced that I, again, I would not continue to go forward if I did not have, I'm about to cry if I didn't have all of your support. Because with existing in community, that's the only way that you continue to get big stuff done. Okay. I just, I'm about to cry, so I'm like, take a second. Okay. I think about Adrian. Adrian was our full-time nanny before, and now at times comes to watch Toby if me and Russell every so often want to go away for a day or two, or if she watches him for half a day, if we have something happening and. I would not be able to have those times without her, and she is so loving with my son, I really consider her part of our family like you. You can't just buy that with someone watching your kid that she actually cares, and that just always brings me to tears when I think about it. I think about. In my local community, how many businesses make my life brighter and just shine more. I have a local that's opened up this year. It's called Field and Flower Cafe. It's down the street from me and Tracy and her sister, they own this and they make home baked goods there, and they support the community. They have tons of product in the store with everything that's been locally made and sourced. It is just such an incredible collective when you're in there and these gorgeous things to look at and eat. They keep me grounded. They bring joy to my life. It has been just such an incredible blessing to get farm fresh eggs there and get produce that literally that morning had been picked and has brought in magical what is happening there. I think about. Filigree Bakery, which has the best cake. We joke that it's the Labu Boo Bakery because they had cakes that looked like Labu Boo. That was the only place we, earlier in the year, could find one of them, and me and my son had fun with a dollhouse playing with them. Just so much joy that came from that. I think about Rosie Poseys. It's a roadside flower and farm stand. She makes everything. And puts it in this stand and you get it fresh daily. She'll pick flowers, she makes cookies, she does sourdough bread. She even made,'cause she's so talented, she made a custom embroidered shirt for one of my patients that just had a baby put the name on it and I put in the order and she, that day had it done for me. Just incredible. And I think about the people at the walking track every single morning that every single morning I go there and they greet me and different people stop to talk to me. And the community that exists there just absolutely incredible. I think about everyone online that. Honestly makes it such that I want to keep making videos because there is a lot of hate online and it's actually really hard to put yourself out there. And those of you in the community that follow me and comment you make, it's such a nice space for me and that's the reason I wanna continue. And I'll say, those of you that are compassionate enough that you're learning right along with me.'cause I feel like I might not say everything perfectly. You allow me to have conversations and to digest things, and for us to really do that so gracefully. I'm gonna end it here, but I want to end the year with saying thank you to everyone. If you ever listened, you ever shared, you were ever part of my community in any capacity. I'm incredibly grateful. Thank you. You've helped make this the most meaningful year yet, and I can't wait for what's to come together next year. I hope you all have an amazing New Year's, and I'll see you in 2026.