1KHO 523: From Couch, to Garden, to Whole Foods and a Whole New Life Down 160 Pounds | Helene Leeds and Penelope Popken, Step It Up

The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

Ginny Yurich

Kids & Family, Parenting

4.8 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Helene Leeds and Penelope Popkin are living proof that transformation doesn’t come in a pill, a quick fix, or a viral trend—it grows slowly, like a garden. In this powerful episode, mother and daughter share their deeply personal journey through food addiction, depression, emotional healing, and ultimately, 160 pounds of natural weight loss. When every expert said to stay quiet, Helene refused. When Penelope was told she was “fine,” she knew she wasn’t. Together, they rejected the status quo and rebuilt their health, their relationship, and their lives—one home-cooked meal, one walk, one day at a time. You’ll hear how outdoor time, homeschooling, gardening, and unplugging from toxic influences became the unlikely foundation for radical healing. This is not a story about diets—it’s about reclaiming freedom. It's about moms modeling something different. And it’s about the power of doing hard things, together. 🔗 Learn more and join their program: getstepitup.life A huge thank you to our sponsors! Check them ALL out below: Active Skin Repair: Visit www.ActiveSkinRepair.com to learn more about Active Skin Repair and their commitment to 1% for the planet and use code: 1000hours to save 20% on all Active Skin Repair products Select Quote: Head to www.selectquote.com/1000hours to learn more. BetterHelp: Visit www.BetterHelp.com/1000HOURS today to get 10% off your first month. Fay Nutrition: Visit www.FayNutrition.com/1000HOURS to see if you qualify for a dietitian for $0 CRU: Visit give.cru.org/hour to sign up for a $24 monthly gift, and receive a free copy of Until The Streetlights Come On Quince - Visit www.quince.com/outside and get free shipping and 365 day returns NIV Application Bible - visit www.NIVapplicationbible.com if you’re looking to grow in your understanding of Scripture and make it real in your daily life. Cozy Earth - Upgrade your summer sleep at www.cozyearth.com and use code OUTSIDE for 40% off their best-selling sheets, loungewear, and more. Lagoon - Go to LagoonSleep.com/OUTSIDE and take their awesome 2 minute sleep quiz to find your match.Use the code OUTSIDE for 15% off your first purchase Brave Books - Right now, you can get 20% off your first purchase at www.BRAVEBooks.com/1000hours with the code 1000HOURS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey Spotify, is Dampson Idris here to celebrate Tommy Hill Figures' Apex GP collection.
0:06.0	Fuelled by the thrill of speed and the power of style,
0:09.0	Tommy Hill Figures capsule collection merges performance-driven design with limitless confidence.
0:13.0	This isn't just a lot. It's the uniform for those on a journey to achieve their dreams.
0:18.0	Discover Tommy Hilfiger's limited edition Apex GP Collection, inspired by F1, the movie, only in cinema's June 25th.
0:25.6	Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast.
0:29.6	My name is Ginny Urich.
0:30.6	I'm the founder of 1000 Hours Outside and I have new friends with me today, a mother-daughter
0:35.6	duo that we actually met in person, kind of briefly,
0:38.4	but pretty fun at a really cool restaurant in Washington, D.C., Helene Leeds, and Penelope Popkin.
0:44.5	You say people used to call you Penelope Pumpkin, which I do think is cute and you didn't really
0:47.8	like it, but Penelope Popkin, they're both here with us today, sitting outside with a fantastic
0:53.5	backdrop.
0:56.1	Welcome to the both of you thank you so happy to be here it was an honor to meet and sometimes that's how life goes you're in
1:01.5	these places and you and you meet people and then here we go we get to have a conversation together
1:05.8	we were there in washington dc when they were announcing how they're phasing out the food dyes which is
1:10.6	fantastic and i got to hear just a little bit of your story as mother and daughter and also Washington, D.C. when they were announcing how they're phasing out the food dyes, which is fantastic.
1:11.5	And I got to hear just a little bit of your story as mother and daughter. And also I did a little bit more of a deep dive online with some of the things you share.
1:19.7	And we're going to be talking today about, which we've never really talked about. I think, you know, we talk about, like I've talked to Dr. Kate Shanahan.
1:29.2	Weight factors into some of these conversations.'ve talked to Dr. Kate Shanahan, weight factors into some of these conversations. I've talked to Dr. Kate Shanahan about seed oils and I've talked to Mark
1:33.8	Shatsker about food, natural food flavorings, food, I don't know. It's a good book. It's called
1:39.6	the Dorito effect about how we can crave foods because there's all this fake flavor on them and
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ginny Yurich, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ginny Yurich and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.