43: There’s A Walk For That with Harriet Thomas - Episode 4343: There’s A Walk For That with Harriet Thomas - Episode 43
UK Health Radio Podcast
Dr Archana Shrestha and Harriet Thomas talk about burnout, stress eating and chronic overwhelm, sharing simple tools like walking, micro recoveries and emotional processing. The conversation touches on how everyday habits, breath and nature can support both mental health and recovery from unhealthy coping behaviours.
44:16•1 Nov 2026
Running on Empty: Micro Recoveries, Walking and Burnout with Dr Archana Shrestha
Episode Overview
- Putting your own well-being first can improve how you show up at work and at home.
- Short, one-minute micro recoveries throughout the day help prevent hitting total exhaustion.
- Regular movement and walking in nature can boost mood, focus and energy more than sporadic self-care treats.
- Stress eating and drinking are often attempts to avoid feeling emotions, not responses to true physical hunger.
- Learning simple techniques to process emotions and use the breath can reduce reliance on food, alcohol and other buffering habits.
“It’s not so much that we have an overeating problem. It’s that we have an underfeeling problem.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey and burnout at the same time? This conversation between host Harriet Thomas and emergency physician Dr Archana Shrestha zeroes in on the reality of being "running on empty" and what can be done about it. Dr Shrestha shares her experience of "double burnout" – the intense combination of a demanding ER job and the relentless second shift of motherhood and home life.
Her rock-bottom moment, when her young son called her "scary" after she smashed a bowl in frustration, becomes the turning point that leads to her body–heart–mind framework and her work through The Thrival Code, Physician Wellness Solutions and Mighty Mom MD. You’ll hear how she reframes self-care as "self-stewardship", focusing on daily basics like sleep, hydration, movement and getting outdoors, rather than occasional spa days.
She explains why one-minute "micro recoveries" during the workday – including short walks – can keep energy topped up, instead of waiting to collapse at 5% battery at the end of the day. For anyone using food or alcohol to cope, her take on stress eating is especially relevant to recovery: "It’s not so much that we have an overeating problem.
It’s that we have an underfeeling problem." She breaks down buffering behaviours (from food and alcohol to Netflix binges and overspending) and offers a simple, practical way to actually feel and process emotions, rather than react, suppress or numb them.
Harriet brings in her "stress buster walk" formula – nature plus slowness plus breath plus senses – and the two compare notes on how walking, breath and body scans can calm the nervous system and support a healthier response to stress. If you’ve ever come home at 5% battery reaching for a drink or a sugar hit, this episode might get you asking: what tiny recovery could you give yourself instead?
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