Episode 22

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Published on:

5th Nov 2025

Disaster Diaries: SAVERS, Schedules, and a Protein Shake Explosion

Welcome back to Disaster Diaries from The High-Functioning Disaster.

Today’s entry is peak real life: an 11½-minute all-in-one SAVERS (Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, Scribing), a last-minute caregiving pivot for Mom’s appointment (with brain testing Friday), and a bummer reschedule with guest Noah May (Lethal Venom). On the bright side, the house was quiet (dogs at playschool), which helped Sacha re-record her Bari Story for Life in the Bari Lane 🎉

There’s a cozy nap-while-reading moment with The Total Money Makeover (Chapter 3: Debt Myths), a side-quest about credit culture and why pricey things (hi, Tupperware) can be a tricky sell when budgets are tight, plus pure movement joy: yin yoga last night, ongoing Pilates soreness from Monday, and a plan to mix “Paiyo” later this week. Also: tangible decluttering wins (the Kallax top is dusted and styled) and a sweet FaceTime with her brother.

Final scene: an Oikos protein shake that wasn’t thawed enough… and detonated all over Sacha, the mic pop filter, and half the desk. We laugh so we don’t cry. Onward. 💪

Mentioned in this episode

  • The Miracle Morning (SAVERS all-in-one)
  • Caregiving updates; brain testing scheduled Friday
  • Noah May — host of Lethal Venom (interview rescheduled)
  • Life in the Bari Lane — Bari Story re-recorded
  • The Total Money Makeover (Dave Ramsey) — Chapter 3, Debt Myths
  • Yin yoga, Pilates soreness, “Paiyo” plan
  • Office declutter (Kallax win)
  • Oikos protein shake… misfire

Support the show

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🧭 Key Takeaways

  • Small, consistent rituals (SAVERS) can steady chaotic days.
  • Caregiving requires flexible schedules and generous self-grace.
  • Re-recording > ruminating — ship the work you can ship.
  • Debt “tools” deserve scrutiny; simplicity often wins.
  • Movement can be gentle and still count (yin now, “Paiyo” later).
  • Declutter one surface, feel it everywhere.
  • Always thaw the protein shake. Always.

⚠️ Content Note:

Mentions caregiving stress and upcoming cognitive testing for a parent, financial topics (debt myths/credit cards), and light frustration humor. Gentle, reflective tone.

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Keywords

Disaster Diaries, The High-Functioning Disaster, Sacha Holder, daily audio journal, Miracle Morning, SAVERS, caregiving, cognitive testing, Noah May, Lethal Venom, Life in the Bari Lane, Total Money Makeover, debt myths, yin yoga, Pilates soreness, Paiyo, decluttering, Kallax, Oikos protein shake, bariatric journey, routines, resilience, authenticity, humor in hard times

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About the Podcast

The High-Functioning Disaster
High-functioning on the outside. Hot mess on the inside.
You’ve got the color-coded calendar, the competent job persona, the “I’m fine!” mask down to an art—and a mental load heavy enough to throw out your back. Meanwhile, life? That's a hot mess express—total chaos with zero chill and a full tank of emotional baggage. And what makes it even worse? Nearly no one’s talking about it.

Welcome to The High-Functioning Disaster, a podcast for people who are doing their best to hold it together while navigating burnout, grief, trauma, anxiety, caretaking duties, family drama, body image issues, and a to-do list that never quits.

Host Sacha Holder isn’t the disaster (neither are you!)—life is. And this show is about making space for that truth and giving ourselves permission to say it out loud. Every week, Sacha explores what it means to be deeply human in a world that keeps demanding more. Sometimes she’s flying solo, sometimes she brings along guests and friends—but the vibe is always real, raw, unfiltered, and grounded in radical self-acceptance and permission to be human.

We talk boundaries. Body image. Mental health. Emotional labor. The moments where everything feels like too much—and the ones where we catch our breath and keep going.

This isn’t a self-help podcast. It’s a self-permission podcast.
Permission to be exhausted.
To not have it together.
To be honest about what’s hard—without needing to package it as a “lesson.”

Because you don’t need fixing.
You need space to fall apart—and still be seen.
Because some of us are just trying to make it through the day.
And here? That’s more than enough.
New episodes every Monday. Come as you are. Seriously.
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About your host

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Sacha Holder

Sacha Holder is a project manager, podcast host, and bariatric patient who’s not here to pretend it’s all perfect. With over a decade of professional experience and a whole lot of lived experience, she creates podcasts that tell the truth about what it means to live, heal, and grow — through chaos, and curveballs, while keeping it together (mostly).

She’s the voice behind Life in the Bari Lane, a bite-sized bariatric podcast for real people navigating post-op life, and The High-Functioning Disaster, a show about showing up even when everything feels like too much. Through humor, honesty, and zero judgment, Sacha builds community through conversation — because no one should have to figure it out alone.