Waking up at 3AM, wide awake with a racing mind? This episode is for anyone struggling with sleep maintenance insomnia or middle-of-the-night wake-ups. Dan shares what he’s currently experiencing, the small changes he’s testing, and how he’s thinking about fragmented sleep versus consolidated sleep.

In this mini sleep update, we explore a pattern many people know all too well: falling asleep just fine, only to wake up in the early hours unable to return to restful sleep. Dan walks through his recent adjustments, including increasing magnesium glycinate, adding L-theanine during nighttime wake-ups, and experimenting with a tighter sleep window to build stronger sleep pressure.

We discuss why fragmented sleep does not always equal restorative sleep, the role of cortisol and circadian rhythm, and how sleep structure may matter just as much as total sleep duration. This is not about perfect sleep, it’s about understanding patterns, reducing catastrophizing, and approaching insomnia with curiosity rather than panic.

If you’ve ever found yourself staring at the ceiling at 3AM wondering “Is this just my life now?” you’re not alone.

As always, this episode reflects personal experience and experimentation, not medical advice.

🎧 If you’re navigating insomnia, sleep anxiety, or broken sleep:

• Follow the show for more honest sleep conversations
• Share this episode with your fellow 3AM overthinkers
• Explore our Sleep Series (Episodes 6–8) for deeper dives into sleep anxiety and the mind-body connection

Stay curious, stay patient with your nervous system, and remember sleep struggles are far more common (and more workable) than they feel at night.

Text us your thoughts, questions, or takeaways. We read every message.

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• The Health Hunt Fullscript Store - Our curated practitioner-grade store with community discounts up to 25% off
• The Health Hunt's Prenuvo Discount - on a full body scan

Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) can reveal how food, exercise, stress, sleep, GLP-1 medications impact blood sugar in real time. In this episode, we break down what our CGM experiment actually showed, including what spiked our glucose, what surprised us and what the data taught us.

In Episode 12, Dan and Sandi put on continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) in real time. In this follow-up, we share the CGM results: what spiked our glucose, what surprised us, and what the data actually taught us about food, stress, sleep, exercise, hormones and peptides.

This isn’t about chasing perfect numbers (even though… yes, we both tried to “game” the system). It’s about using glucose data as a learning tool, not a judgment.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Why labs are the snapshot and CGMs are the movie
• Dan’s baseline markers (A1c, fasting insulin, C-peptide) and why CGM patterns can still look “off”
• The Dawn Phenomenon: the early-morning cortisol/hormone-driven glucose jump (without food)
• Why some exercise can temporarily raise glucose (and why a post-meal walk still helps)
• Sandi’s first-time CGM chaos: setup frustrations and why the Levels app felt like “CSI: Glucose”
• The “healthy” meal betrayal: vegetable soup and carbs you don’t see coming
• The matcha mystery (and the surprising culprit that changed the spike)
• The fat kid day: pizza and truffle fries and a glucose spike that made us question our life choices
• A real talk note on “biohacking” and why we don’t recommend obsessing over the data
• The shocking results of the tirzepatide hack experiment

Quick reminder:

The Health Hunt Podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. We are not medical professionals. Nothing in this episode is medical advice—always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your health.

Mentioned in this Episode

• Levels App
• Stelo

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If this episode helped you, the best way to support the show is to share it, and follow, rate, and review it helps more curious humans find their way here.

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Connect with the Health Hunt

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• Email: info@thehealthhunt.com
• The Health Hunt Fullscript Store - Our curated practitioner-grade store with community discounts up to 25% off
• The Health Hunt's Prenuvo Discount - on a full body scan

After a diagnosis or ongoing symptoms, many people are flooded with wellness advice and feel pressure to fix everything at once. In this episode, board-certified health and wellness coach, Debbie Roppo shares how to begin healing with small, sustainable steps, even when you're overwhelmed, exhausted or afraid of getting it wrong.

This is the final conversation in our 3-part series with Debbie. If you are new, spart with episode 13 to hear her full story.

Debbie explains why true healing and lifestyle change doesn’t come from rigid programs or perfection, it comes from baby steps, self-trust, nervous system safety, and learning how to be on your own side.

We talk about the mindset shifts that make healing sustainable, the power of incremental progress, and why feeling supported matters just as much as knowing what to do.

This is an episode for anyone who has ever thought:

“I know what I should do… but I don’t know where to start.”

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• Why Debbie doesn’t believe in strict health programs
• The coaching method she uses to create sustainable change
• How “baby steps” can transform chronic illness recovery
• The difference between wellness pressure and true healing
• Why shame and perfectionism keep people stuck
• The importance of feeling safe, seen, and supported
• How language and identity shape health outcomes
• Redefining success when you’re navigating chronic symptoms
• Debbie’s “Inner Empire” approach to health, resilience, and energy
• A real and raw conversation about self-compassion and progress

This Episode Is Especially Meaningful If You’re Navigating:

• Chronic pain orchronic illness
• Autoimmune disease and inflammation
• Burnout, overwhelm, or nervous system dysregulation
• Lifestyle changes that feel impossible to maintain
• Health anxiety and fear of failure
• Mind-body healing and emotional wellness
• Habit change and sustainable wellness routines

Even though Debbie’s story began with rheumatoid arthritis, this episode is about something universal:

You are not broken. You are not behind. And you don’t have to do everything at once.

Healing happens one step at a time.

Connect with Debbie Roppo

Debbie is a board-certified health and wellness coach and founder of The Inner Empire, where she helps women build sustainable health, clarity, and resilience from the inside out.

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• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Text us your thoughts, questions, or takeaways. We read every message.

Connect with the Health Hunt

• Website
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Tiktok
• Youtube
• Email: info@thehealthhunt.com
• The Health Hunt Fullscript Store - Our curated practitioner-grade store with community discounts up to 25% off
• The Health Hunt's Prenuvo Discount - on a full body scan