Graced Health Podcast

Sunset Series: Kate Lyman on Ditching One-Size-Fits-All Health Advice

Amy Connell, Host

Kate Lyman, Guest

Amy: Hey everyone, welcome to the Graced Health Podcast. If you listened in a few weeks ago, you know that we are in the middle of what I'm calling a Sunset series. Our last Graced Health episode will be airing in a few weeks, and I've invited some podcasters who I know, love, trust, and respect so you can get to know them. I know you all show up here for your own reasons and purposes, but for those of you who like to show up because you want deep dives and enhanced learning on things, you are definitely, definitely, definitely going to want to follow this next guest and her podcast.

I'm speaking with Kate Lyman today. Let me tell you a little bit about Kate. Kate has her master's in public health and is a certified health education specialist. She's a nutrition coach and owner of Kate Lyman Nutrition. Kate and her team help individuals of all backgrounds let go of restrictive diet rules and build a sustainable approach to nutrition. They use a client-centered, behavior-change-focused approach, and they specialize in—and hold lots of certifications in—pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause, which I know you all are interested in. She's especially passionate about behavioral health and helping people break free from that all-or-nothing mindset around food, which, if you're part of this community, chances are that's you too.

She's also the host of the How to Fitness Podcast alongside Michael Yeoa. You all met Michael in February 2025 when we talked about how the wellness industry has lost its mind and how not to lose yours. That was a hugely, enormously popular episode. Kate and Michael are partners on the How to Fitness Podcast. They bring an evidence-based lens to the wellness world and do deep dives into common health claims and trending topics. I'm a loyal listener of their show, and I'm really happy Kate has joined us today since you've already met Michael.

Kate is originally from the U.S. and now lives in Tulum, Mexico, with her partner and their three-year-old son, Milo. She likes to mountain bike, play Spikeball, and eat tacos. Kate, I'm so glad you're here.

Kate: Thank you for having me. I'm sorry I sent such a long bio—now everyone knows everything about me. Love that.

Amy: It always feels long when someone else is reading it and you're just sitting there.

Kate: And you're like, smile. Smile and wave.

Amy: Yeah.

Kate: No, thank you so much, Amy. I'm really excited to be here. Also, I have to say, I love—I need to go back and listen to that episode with Michael, because that's the perfect topic and title for him. That's his jam.

Amy: Well, it is. And I don't really remember how—I think I just discovered Michael on Instagram. He's so brilliant about calling out the nonsense of the wellness world, and that's how I found him. I think I was watching a reel, back when I was actually on Instagram—you know, small business owners really shouldn't get off Instagram, but here I am.

Kate: Gotta.

Amy: Yeah. And then he mentioned they'd just started another season, and I thought, there's more of this? So, yeah—really, really great, the How to Fitness Podcast. I want to know, and maybe you can speak to this, Kate: tell me about the people who listen to your show. What are they looking for? What do they need to hear? What kind of need do you feel like you all are meeting?

Kate: You know, we are constantly surprised by the listenership of our show—it's so broad. When we look at our show stats, we have a very global listenership. I think what people are coming to this show for is some evidence-based perspective on the overwhelming amount of information we're bombarded with daily. I'm not completely off Instagram—which I'm jealous of. I'm kind of online; I know Michael is very online. But no matter how online you are, you see how much information is thrown at us specifically around health, nutrition, wellness, and fitness on a daily basis, and how conflicting it can be, and how much conflation there is between marketing and our actual needs. So when we do our episodes, we're speaking to that, saying: okay, what are we hearing a lot about right now? Let's dig in and find an evidence-based perspective on this specific topic.

Amy: Well, that's one thing I respect about it—it is evidence-based. You do a lot of research. I'm curious if you can give us a little sneak peek into your process, because I know you do a lot of research.

Kate: Yeah, so the way we do our episodes is kind of like scripted deep dives. How we do it: we pick a topic—Michael and I usually confer over what we're hearing more about and how we could build out that topic to be helpful for our listeners—and then we take turns. We're usually doing about one a month each because it's a ton of work.

I'll give an example. We just released our most recent episode on electrolytes, and I took that one on. I started by priming my social media to tell me more about what people are looking for in electrolytes—you know, you start wanting something, and then the algorithm gets you and starts feeding you everything. So I searched a few things about electrolytes and let the algorithm do its thing, and I got an influx of the kind of info someone looking into electrolytes would see, and I started taking notes on that.

Then I usually spend a few weeks listening to podcasts about what people are saying on the topic, from all sides—from folks doing a very deep evidence-based dive (Sigma Nutrition is a big resource we use) to more influencer-type podcasts, whatever it may be. After getting the gist of what's going on in the wellness world around this topic, I start laying out the questions I want answered: who actually needs electrolytes? What are the main components we should look for? Why are we hearing so much about this type of electrolyte but not that type? Who are the companies behind the marketing we're seeing, and what does that mean? What's their margin? Why are we seeing podcast-driven marketing on this instead of, say, Instagram ad marketing? And then, after having those questions, I get into the literature to try to answer them from an evidence-based perspective. Michael and I both also try to look at the non-evidence-based, more marketing-driven side of what we're seeing, so we can put the evidence-based perspective and the marketing realities together and paint a good picture of why we're hearing so much about a topic and what we actually need to know—if you're someone coming to the internet with a question like, "Do I need an electrolyte supplement?"

Amy: Yeah, it's very thorough. And this is a good time to let people know you all don't have ads, so we're not hearing your deep dive and then an ad for AG1 or something else. You and I have taken the same approach with our shows—I want mine to be as neutral as possible. I really appreciate that about you both, because podcasting isn't free, and just because a lot of people listen to your podcast doesn't mean you're making any money unless you're monetizing it somehow. You all do this purely out of passion.

Kate: Yeah, it's definitely a passion project, and sometimes Michael and I are like, why are we doing this? It's so much work. But it's fun. I come into each episode usually having written fifteen to twenty pages of notes and a script, and my challenge is always taking that wealth of information and paring it down into an hour. It's a fun challenge. I think you've been in the wellness space a long time too—finding new ways to manifest that passion is fun.

Amy: It's so true. Yes, I love that. Okay, Kate, I know I've told you this, and you know it from offline, and my community knows it: most of the women in my community are in perimenopause to menopause—forties, fifties, sixties, some in their seventies. I really want them to get to know you and what you offer. I was wondering if you could share some needs they're having that you all are meeting on How to Fitness, since I know you're certified as a menopause specialist.

Kate: Our podcast isn't geared specifically toward that population, but it is geared toward those getting the most misinformation—and I'm a firm believer that no one gets more misinformation than those in the menopause transition. Unfortunately, that's a time of life where we don't have enough research—there's the whole issue of the lack of women's health research, there's a lot of monetization to be done, and there's so much individuality in people's lived experience through the menopause transition that it opens the door to endless "try this, you need this, you need intermittent fasting" messaging.

We actually have an episode called something like "Misinformation in the Menopause Space"—I never remember the exact title—where I did a deep dive into this very topic. Since a lot of my clientele is in the menopause transition, and that's who I like to work with most, I try to bring even just a few minutes of whatever deep-dive topic we're covering back to what women in the menopause transition are experiencing specifically. We've done that in episodes on supplements and on intermittent fasting, and I did it a bit in the electrolyte episode too, just because this is a period of life where the bombardment of fixes and supplements is next level.

Amy: I agree. As you were talking, I was thinking two things. First, isn't it ironic that for decades—centuries, even—the menopause transition wasn't talked about? It was swept under the rug, stigmatized, full of shame. Nobody talked about it. The pendulum has swung all the way the other way now, which is a good thing overall, because we're talking about it—we have the freedom to say, "I'm hot," or "I've forgotten my words," or whatever the challenge of the day is. And we're starting to see some funding go into women's health research—I know Dr. Stacy Sims has done a lot with that. That's wonderful.

The other thing that just came together for me as I was listening—my wheels get spinning—is that I think we have people who are highly educated in particular parts of the menopause transition, and they're able to speak to that and give wonderful education. But given the scope of the climate we're in right now, it can shift from someone who really knows what they're talking about in their specific area to, "Well, here's a supplement, and here's this, and here's my facial products, and here's my supplement stack." All of a sudden it goes from "this is my role, this is where my education is" to "here's everything else you need to be doing."

Kate: Yes, very much so. I think there's a multitude of reasons—it's the climate we're in around information dissemination. Anyone trying to navigate the Instagram world right now knows that hot takes, controversial opinions, and quick, clicky content get the attention. So if this is your job and you need to monetize the information and knowledge you have, you end up doing it in a way that's antithetical to what we know about science-backed information in general. I understand it, but I think when everything's a hot take, nothing's a hot take, and everything feels really confusing. So part of what we're doing is taking all these hot takes and breaking them down: which parts are true for everyone, which parts are true for certain individuals depending on their needs, and which parts are more of a conflation.

Amy: You just used a word I really like about the mindset of your show: "it depends." One thing I've learned through my own education is that the more someone knows about a topic, the more likely they are to say, "Well, it depends." There's less rigidity to what they're saying, because there are always depending factors—which isn't what we want to hear. I don't know about your clients, but a lot of people I work with basically say, "I understand this, just tell me what to do," because they're confused from hearing so much. We don't want to hear "it depends"—we want to be told what to do. But at the same time, that's the responsible way to communicate and educate.

Kate: Mm-hmm. I like to frame this as experimentation—everything is experimentation in practice with our clients, because there's so much "it depends." Is this true for you or not? I don't know—let's see, let's give it a go. Something that we know, without a doubt, is true in the literature and helpful for women in general—let's say, for someone with PCOS, front-loading your day with protein—is that applicable to you? I don't know. Let's try it. Maybe it doesn't feel good, okay, we move on, we try something else. But it always depends, and we don't know until we try. That's hard, I get it—it's frustrating.

Amy: Yeah, because it takes time too.

Kate: It does.

Amy: Yeah, it takes time and patience. I totally agree. I'm curious—you all have covered a lot of different topics on your show. Has there been a topic where you were like, "Whoa, we were not expecting that response," or something you were excited about that flopped, or something you weren't excited about that just took off?

Kate: All of that, definitely. Two episodes stand out to me where we both learned way more than we expected. Michael did an episode on food intolerance testing, and we both learned how bogus food intolerance tests can be—we were shocked. We thought there'd be more validity there. And when I did an episode on the sketchy side of the supplement industry, it was one of my favorite episodes ever. I went in just planning to talk about third-party testing and why it's needed, and I learned so much about how sketchy the supplement industry can be, and the roots of the lack of regulation in that space. That really shocked me—it's probably the episode that's informed my coaching the most.

We've also had guests on at times, but our guest episodes just never do as well, so we've kind of sunset having guests on. That's fine—we enjoyed it, but we've learned we do better sticking with our deep dives.

Amy: Yes, that was a great supplement episode. Okay, Kate, knowing what you know about my community—if they're thinking, "Okay, I want to go check these guys out"—where would you point them? Any particular episodes or seasons, or just some general guidance?

Kate: I'd say if you're a woman in the menopause transition, start with our episode on menopause—it's in Season 4. I'll have you link it in the show notes, Amy, since I don't have the number off the top of my head. Some of what's in that episode ties back to the supplement episode too, so we reference it there.

Another topic of interest to many—especially those in the menopause transition—is GLP-1 medications. We have a few episodes on that; it's been a topic I've really enjoyed learning more about, both on the podcast and with my clients, and in teaching my team. We have one from the beginning of Season 3 and one from just a few weeks ago in 2026 that I'd recommend if that's a topic of interest. It's not for everybody, but I've tried to stay on top of the research and take a pretty unbiased approach to a topic that can be especially sensitive right now.

Amy: Mm-hmm. Well done on that episode, by the way—the most recent one. I listened to it through the lens of a trainer who works with people on it, because I want to make sure I'm training well, but also through the lens of my community. I have a lot of women who are coming out of diet culture, who have finally made peace with their bodies, and I thought you did a great job on that episode. I'm highly protective of my community when it comes to weight, body size, and so on, because I believe we were all created with the bodies we were meant to have. So, well done.

Kate: That means a lot to hear. It's a really tough topic to navigate. Something I say in every GLP-1 episode we've done is that I can argue it either way—I can talk myself in circles around this topic because there's so much nuance. The best we can do is get into that nuance and provide space to talk about it more.

Amy: Yeah, it depends.

Kate: It depends. It depends.

Amy: All right, well, Kate, I also want to publicly thank you for your grace. We were supposed to record this last week, and I completely dropped the ball—I didn't check my calendar, I didn't show up—and you said, "All right, we'll just jump on another time." So thank you so much for coming back.

Kate: Absolutely. It's in the name of the podcast, right? Grace.

Amy: Yeah. All right, well, thank you for your time. Let's do this—I like to ask my guests for one simple thing they'd like the listener to remember about this conversation. Big or small, what's one simple thing?

Kate: It depends. I'll leave it there—it depends. Our needs are so individualized, and we deserve to recognize that for ourselves and not beat ourselves up for believing there's a one-size-fits-all equation for any of us.

Amy: So good. Yes. Okay, that is all for today. Go out there and have a graced day.