Life's Curveballs: Depression and Food - 4 Strategies That Actually Help

We’re diving into something most people never think about: the surprising connection between what you eat and how you feel—especially your mood, energy, and mental health.

As someone who’s been a personal trainer, fitness competitor, and weight loss coach, I’ve always been fascinated by how food shapes not just our bodies but also our minds and emotions.

Recently, I experienced unexplained depression—even though I was working out, sleeping okay, and life was relatively calm. After some detective work, I discovered the culprit: cheese. Yep, that comfort food I love was secretly tanking my mood.

In this episode, I’ll share:
 ✅ The surprising ways cheese and dairy can impact your mood—especially if you have IBS, gut sensitivities, or struggle with depression.
 ✅ How to start listening to your body and recognize if your diet is quietly sabotaging your mental health.
 ✅ Tips on doing a mini food & mood experiment to see what’s helping (or hurting) you.
 ✅ Why gut health is directly tied to your brain and emotions—plus what happened when I eliminated cheese for just 7 days.

Whether you’re dealing with low energy, brain fog, or unexplained mood swings, this might be the sign to start paying attention to your plate. Your body is always talking to you. Are you listening?

👉 Ready to reconnect with how food makes you feel?
Try a mini elimination, take notes, and see how much your mood can improve.

Thank you for tuning in! I truly appreciate every one of you, whether you’re here for the first time or have been with me from the start.

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Transcript

0:39

Hi everyone, and welcome to the show. I am so grateful that you're here today. The fact that you keep tuning in tells me the stories that I'm sharing matter and that we're building something real together because we don't go through these things alone. We go through them together. Now, before we jump in, I wanna give a quick backstory. I have spent years immersed in health and wellness. I've been a personal trainer, a fitness competitor, a weight loss coach, and through it all I've. Always been fascinated by how food doesn't just shape our bodies. It shapes our minds, our moods, and can even impact our confidence in how we feel about ourselves. So today we're going to talk about something that's delicious, comforting. I bet many of you are a huge fan of, and it could be messing with your mental health. This is not about clean eating we're talking about a connection. The connection between what we eat and how we feel. Because what if I told you the food on your plate might be playing a bigger role in your mood than you ever realized? Let's do an exercise. I want you to think back for a second to a time when you ate something and maybe right after and throughout the remainder of the day or the evening, you noticed that you were in a better mood. You were more energized, more clearheaded, maybe even more confident. Now, think about a time. When you've eaten something that was heavily processed, maybe it was fried food or a very heavy meal, fast food. How did you feel after you ate that? We know that it tastes incredibly amazing in the moment, and that could affect our mood, right? Because when I bite into a burger or a slice of pizza, it's pretty heavenly. I will admit that. But if you eat that way consistently, I would imagine you are not gonna feel so great. In the long run, and if you've never paused to connect those dots before, stay with me because today we're getting into the shocking emotional side of one of the most beloved foods on the planet. We're gonna get cheesy, and I literally mean we're gonna be talking about cheese today. Here's what's shocking depression isn't rare. In fact, one in 10 people struggle with it. Over 21 million people experience a major depressive episode every single year. Can you believe that? That's a ton of people. And guess what? Women are affected significantly more than men. This isn't just about cheese, it's about what we're putting into our bodies, how it might be affecting our minds, and why no one's really talking about it. When I really dig deep and get honest with myself, I can say I've experienced depression a few times in my life. I felt it after my third cancer diagnosis and again during my divorce. Those moments make sense, right? They're real. They're life altering events that naturally shift the way that we feel. They shift our mood. But what about when everything looks fine? Sure, life can be full with family work projects and that can bring stress. But what if one day you wake up feeling incredibly low and you can't pinpoint why there's no curve balls, no major crisis, just this heavy unexplained depression. Well, that happened to me. The weather's been great. Nothing major has changed in my life. I've always taken on a lot that's not new. while that can spike my stress, it's never pushed me into depression. But this time it's been different. I was working out every day. I was sleeping okay, and still I felt like shit. I was depressed, and I asked myself over and over, what is it? What's going on with you? Why are you feeling this way? What are you doing or not doing to feel this way? I really started to get analytical with myself to figure out why was I feeling depressed? So I asked myself, what's changed in your diet? What are you eating that you haven't been eating? Some of you know I'd been on semaglutide a medication very similar to Ozempic to help lose 20 pounds of that awful menopause weight that I had gained. One expected side effect of this drug. Is that I completely lost my craving for many things that I loved. I've always been a pretty clean eater until I hit menopause, then everything went out the door. But I lost my craving for something that I love, I'm a big time fan of cheese. I freaking love cheese, all kinds of cheese, imported cheese, soft cheese, hard cheese, cheddar cheese, you name the cheese. I love it. But while I was on that medication, I hardly touched it. It even grossed me out a little bit, which still blows my mind. One of the things that I love to do. When I got back from traveling, I just wanted a cheese quesadilla. Very strange, but it was this comforting thing that I had to have when I got home. I couldn't even eat that. I thought, this is disgusting. I don't even know how you fell in love with a cheese quesadilla. So fast forward to late spring. I'm no longer on semaglutide, and my appeal and taste and cravings for cheese. Is back. And I was so happy. I'm like, thank God my bestie is back. Let's go hang out. The charcuteries are flowing, especially as we're entering into the summer months. People stand around these boards. I've turned an entire island in my kitchen into a charcuterie board with all kinds of goodies on it, people stand around and. Ooh and awe and mm and Oh, this is so good, and talk about everything that's on it. It's an incredible way to bring people together. Not only are the cheese boards back, but the mozzarella sticks are always in our refrigerator. Thanks to my boyfriend. He loves to snack on those. So I found myself grabbing one or two as a snack as well, but I hadn't touched cheese. In about eight months, here we are indulging back into the world of cheese, and all of a sudden I realized I'm depressed. I felt foggy. I was unsure of myself. I was constantly second guessing everything, I wasn't feeling like myself. It wasn't stress. It was something deeper. And the only thing that had really changed in my diet was that I started eating cheese again, and I thought, I bet that's it. So I tested it. I cut out cheese completely for one full week. And let me tell you, it was not easy for someone who used to worship the cheese drawer, but I was determined to see if this was the root cause of my depression. Because if any of you have ever felt it for any reason, or maybe you're feeling it today, or maybe you're taking medications for depression, it's real. It's incredibly hard and it can drive you crazy if it's something new that's come into your life that you're recognizing. I was feeling depressed and I thought, I'm never gonna figure out the root cause of this, and unless I stick to staying away from cheese, it's process of elimination. That's the only way you can figure things out. And guess what? I stayed off the cheese for seven days, and the depression started to lift. Can you believe it? My mind was clearer. I felt like myself again. I was no longer beating myself up. Have you ever done that, I call'em the basement committee in your head they're just talking shit about you and you just wanna get away from it. That's where I had gotten to. So sticking to cutting this outta my diet was a serious matter for me and it worked. The relationship between cheese and depression isn't exactly black and white. Some studies will actually show fermented dairy, like cheese and yogurt can help lower the risk of depression, but that's not the case for me. Here's the catch for some people. Dairy can mess with your gut. And when your gut's off, did you know that your mood can spiral too? I have IBS, irritable bowel syndrome. I discovered it eons ago and I had to go through the process of elimination. My gut is super sensitive, high amounts of fiber, crucifix, vegetables, gluten, red meat, and now clearly cheese can really mess with my gut. If any of you have ever followed the FOD map. That's something that I used in the very beginning when we were trying to figure out my degree of IBS and what things were setting it off. When it triggered after something I ate, I had this pressure on my belly that was pretty uncomfortable. And then what followed was 2, 3, 4 days of severe constipation. Now, if you've ever been constipated. That's not fun. And when you're not shitting, guess what? You're gonna feel like? Shit. It will change your mood. You will become tired, fatigued, and irritable. If you've got something going on in your gut and you start to feel physically, emotionally different, there's a good chance it's something that you're ingesting. It's really important, and I learned this early on, to tune into your body and listen to what it needs physically, emotionally, and nutritionally. Cheese might be totally fine for someone else, for me, it threw everything off. My digestion, my energy, and as I recently discovered my mental health, it made a huge impact. I had noticed that I was constipated while I was eating the cheese, but I think I've always noticed that, too much cheese, I get constipated. But what's really, really wild, for those of you who've traveled to Europe. When you eat cheese over there, what have you noticed? No gut problems. It's crazy. We put so much junk into our food in the United States I traveled to Italy years ago, back in 2011 with a girlfriend of mine. She has a lactose intolerance issue. We were in Italy she didn't have any issues with the dairy over there, and it was mind blowing. That really tells you a lot food, especially in the United States. My boyfriend and I were in Morocco for 12 days. We were in the Atlas Mountains. Staying in the Berber Villages with our guide in one of his family's guest homes. We were absolutely submerged into their culture. They eat nothing processed. Everything that we ate. Came from their farms. Where they grow fruits and vegetables. Every family has a cow. That cow produces their milk, their butter. They have, chickens. Their chicken brass are. Smaller than the palm of most people's hands because they're not injecting'em with all kinds of junk, when we were there, I never felt better. I felt absolutely amazing. Their diet has very little dairy in it, but I'm gonna tell you a funny story. When we were at the Guides home, he invited us over for breakfast and we met his entire family. They present this really beautiful breakfast. There was a little dish that looked like cheese. And of course I'm like, cheese, gimme some of that. I'm popping it in my mouth and my boyfriend's like, what's that? And I said, it's cheese. And the guy said, that's not cheese. And I said, what is it? It's really good. And he said, it's butter. Oh my God, you guys. I was chowing down butter. Now it is nothing like the butter that's made here in the states. It was unbelievable. Fresh from their cow. I couldn't believe I was sitting there chowing on the butter, but my gosh, it was good. Talk about farm to table. My boyfriend and I felt amazing. Our energy levels. Excellent. Our mood, perfect. Our ability to, hike this crazy peak was pretty damn incredible given that we live at the beach and are at sea level and we went to 14,000 feet and we don't hike like that. Ever. So food matters. It can make or break your mood. It can make or break your energy levels, your workouts. Think about it. For those of you who work out on a regular basis, have you ever had a little too much to drink the night before? Maybe you decided to indulge in some yummy, delicious pizza or a burger and the next day your workout sucks. It's because of what we ate the day before. Unless you had a shitty night's sleep, then it's probably a combination of the two. But I absolutely notice that when I'm eating clean. I feel like the incredible Hulk, my workouts are that good. When I eat something off I feel it in my workout the next day. My runs absolutely suck. It feels like cinder blocks are on my feet. So how do you know if food is messing with your mental health? It's not like there's a mood tracker that's built into your fridge that you can ask, so here's what I learned and I wanna share these tips with you. The first thing is start paying attention for just a week or two. Keep a quick note in your phone or notepad, what did you eat? How did you feel afterwards and hours later. Not just physically, but mentally. Try a mini elimination if something is showing up a lot. Cheese, gluten, sugar, and you're not feeling like yourself. Pull it out for a few days. Don't panic. It's not forever. You're just trying to collect information to find out if something that you are eating is impacting your life. I. Track your stress versus your food if your life is stressful. Sure. That could be it. I take on a lot, but I'm used to it. I do it. I've been doing it my whole life. If nothing major's happening and you still feel off, it might not be emotional. It could be digestive. Tied to what you're eating. If you're not pooping, you're gonna feel like shit. So pay attention. Your gut and your brain are gonna be your besties through that process. And I mean that literally, they talk to each other constantly. If your gut is inflamed. Your mood often follows, IBS food sensitivities, bloating. They're not just physical. Pretty soon you're gonna feel it emotionally. This isn't about restriction. It's about reconnection, reconnecting to how food makes you feel, because feeling good is the goal, right? Everybody wants to feel good. Everyone's searching for happiness. Start with what you're eating. It will help you feel good. It'll help you feel grounded. It'll help you feel energized when you're eating the right food for your body. So maybe cheese isn't just comfort food. Maybe it was my messenger. For some, it might offer a lift in mood. For others like me, especially those sensitive to dairy proteins like casin, it might be quietly contributing to that low heavy feeling that you can't quite shake. The truth is your body's always talking to you, your energy, your mood, your skin. Have you ever noticed when your skin starts to look dry? Is it because of what you're eating? Maybe they're all signals. The question is, are you listening? I'm not here to ruin your pizza night or tell you to fear food by any means, and I am not a nutritionist, but I have been in the health and wellness industry for over a decade, and I am here to say pay attention. Try removing certain foods, try adding others. Just take notice of what you're eating and how that impacts your moods because when you start eating in a way that supports your emotional wellbeing, not just your cravings, it's when everything shifts. Why wouldn't you want to feel better? If you're feeling bold, maybe start your own little experiment with food and mood. Thanks for tuning in. Always be curious, be kind to yourself and maybe just maybe go easy on the cheese. Until next time.