Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Fuel Your Strength
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to Be More Consistent in the Gym Over 40 | 11 Nov 2025 | 00:29:25 | |
Life is life-ing especially in midlife. One day you're fired up, smashing your lifts, and thinking the whole week will be a highlight reel; two days later you're sleep-deprived, stressed, and wondering who parked a bus on your quads. In this episode, you'll learn a structured-yet-flexible strategy to use with your lifting to ride the wave of real-life energy swings so you can keep showing up, build muscle, and actually enjoy the process. We'll break down how to anchor your week with strength, layer in cardio, and use auto-regulation (RPE/RIR) to dial intensity up or down without ditching your plan or your progress. If you're an athletic woman 40+ navigating perimenopause, career, caregiving, and sport hobbies, this practical framework will help you train smarter, recover better, and stay consistent long term. What you'll learn in this episode:
Enjoyed this episode and want more? If you want a lifting program that tells you exactly what to do, try 7 days of Strong with Steph here >> https://stephgaudreau.com/workout Share this episode with a friend looking to improve their strength training knowledge. Subscribe to this podcast on your favorite streaming platform for new episodes! | |||
| The 5 Hard Truths Your Lifting Needs After 40 | 28 Oct 2025 | 00:34:40 | |
If you've ever heard a coach say "it's not wrong, but it's not right either," you'll resonate with this episode. Dive into the nuance that gets lost in punchy social media hot takes – especially for athletic women over 40 who want strength, muscle, and better performance without the fluff. Get insight into why your progress may feel stuck, what to do about it, and how to build muscle with less frustration. Get practical coaching on progressive overload, program hopping, hypertrophy, auto-regulation, and why DIY training isn't actually "free." What you'll learn in this episode:
Enjoyed this episode and want more? If you want a lifting program that tells you exactly what to do, try 7 days of Strong with Steph here >> https://stephgaudreau.com/workout Share this episode with a friend looking to improve their strength training knowledge. Subscribe to this podcast on your favorite streaming platform for new episodes! | |||
| Why Movement Prep & Balance Matter in Strength Training Over 40 | 03 Dec 2024 | 00:41:48 | |
When it comes to creating a progressive overload plan, we have touched on a lot of elements so far. However, when it comes to how to specifically create your program, whether you are creating a program for yourself, finding one online, or looking to work with a trainer in person, there are some nuances that need to be discussed. Key Takeaways
If You Want to Improve Your Strength Training, You Should:
Consistency is the Name of the Game
When you are doing a deadlift, overhead press, bench press, or squat, you need to familiarize your body with the movement pattern you are going to be doing that day. Movement prep and balance work will help you prepare your body for what is coming next, and create positive changes in how your body and brain relate to each other more effectively when things get heavy. Giving yourself the freedom to warm up, be consistent, and listen to your body, is what is going to get you further in your progressive overload plan. Strength Training for Every Age
Movement prep and balance work are two things that I program into every session of Strong with Steph. Especially as we transition from perimenopause to postmenopause, we need to work with the changes happening in our bodies to help ourselves stay strong for longer. The truth is, that our body loses strength, hormones, and energy as we get older, which is why we need to have a strength training plan that helps us combat what we are losing and instead helps us find gains. Implementing a well-planned program takes the burden off of you so that you can focus on feeling great.
Are you ready to reevaluate your strength training plan as a woman over 40? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes
"Having these guide your strength training is super, super important, and not something you want to gloss over when you are either writing a program for yourself, finding one online, or looking to work with a trainer in person." (2:35)
"Movement preparation and balance work create a foundation for building strength and are so important when we are considering longevity in training and safety and mitigating risk to the best of our possible influence, especially as we are aging." (6:13)
"Research strongly supports the idea that warming up with the actual lift you plan to perform but at a lighter load is an effective way to prepare your body for heavier lifting." (21:20)
"Addressing these things through training is very important, and there is something that you can do about it." (29:08)
"Movement prep and balance work are essential, and we know they are going to play an important role in joint health, mitigating the risk of injury and enhancing our experience of progressive overload." (39:24) Featured on the Show
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FYS 435: RPE & Autoregulation: Smart Tools for Strength Gains Over 40 FYS 434: Progressive Overload: How to Keep Getting Stronger
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| Body Acceptance, Powerlifting & Living Your Fullest Life w/ Christina Malone | 27 Jul 2021 | 00:47:07 | |
Christina Malone has been an athlete in a larger body for her whole life. When she found the sport of powerlifting, she used what she had been told would hold her back for her entire life as a positive attribute. Christina is dedicated to helping others who are hurting, stuck in the cycle of diet culture and body negativity by learning to love themselves and fight for body diversity and acceptance in the fitness industry. Key TakeawaysIf You Want To Live Your Fullest Life You Should:
Fitness as a Big-Bodied Person Christina is a state-record holder and national-level athlete in the sport of powerlifting, a body inclusivity coach and speaker, and happens to be in a larger body. Her passion is finding ways to help other people find peace with their bodies, learning to appreciate everything they are, and how to be in fitness as a big-bodied person. She is powerful and raw and here today to share how picking up a barbell has helped her feel more at home in the gym and her body. The Power of Powerlifting At one point in her life, Christina was using exercise to punish her body for being the size that it was. That was before she fell in love with the technique of powerlifting and how it made her body feel. Powerlifting allowed her internal perspective about her body size to shift, which was a life-changing experience for an athlete in a bigger body. Instead of being told that her weight was going to hold her back, powerlifting allowed Christina to harness her energy on learning to come home to her body's purpose. Other People's Comfort Is Not Your Responsibility While the conversations and attitudes towards body diversity and body acceptance in the fitness industry are changing, we still have a long way to go. Just as we have accepted height differences and race differences in the fitness industry, Christina believes that we also have to accept body size differences. What you look like in the mirror has nothing to do with your value, worth, or ability. It is not your responsibility to make others feel comfortable around your body. Everyone's body is different, and when we are able to accept others regardless of what diet culture and body negativity tell us, we can break down the barriers of the fitness industry and explore fitness with freedom. Are you ready to start living your fullest life? Share what part of Christina's story resonated with you most with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes "[Powerlifting] is really the only sport I have ever done that I am not sitting there saying 'hey I am big, but…', it's 'hey, I am big, and…'." (8:25) "When I weight lift and when I am powerlifting, it's me, it's the bar, and it's the plates on the bar. And nothing else exists for me outside of that platform, the judge in front of me, and what I need to execute on the platform." (14:12) "You could take 100 or 200 people and give them the exact same diet and the exact same exercise routine, and they could have a similar background, and they would still come out of it looking different. And that is just inherent, that everyone's body is going to be different." (23:47) "We are at that point, where how do we go from accepting and valuing bigger bodies that are athletic to accepting bigger bodies without needing that modifier. And how do we become compassionate to all persons, because you exist in the world and you deserve to be treated with a certain amount of humanity, and I think that is a bit lost unfortunately with a lot of bigger-bodied people." (31:25) "For me, living my fullest life means living up every single part of my life and reaching out to the very edges of everything that I could be, and not saying no to opportunities or to things because I doubt myself or it's something that you 'shouldn't do'." (40:53) Featured on the ShowJoin the Group Strength Nutrition Program Waitlist Here Follow Christina on Instagram | Twitter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 335: Breaking the Body Stereotype with Amanda LaCount LTYB 331: Strength Training & Your Relationship to Exercise LTYB 302: Finding Joy & Acceptance in Fitness for Every Body with Kanoa Greene
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| Exploring Your Fitness Gains through Health at Every Size (HAES) w/ Stacey Sorgen | 20 Jul 2021 | 00:41:41 | |
Have you felt like there is a misalignment between your strength goals and what society tells you your goals should be? So often the fitness industry is focused on shrinking your body, but it doesn't have to be that way. The Health at Every Size movement is a prime example of your ability to work with what you have to be the best possible version of yourself each and every day. Key TakeawaysIf You Want to Embrace Health at Every Size, You Should:
Becoming The Best Version of Yourself Stacey Sorgen felt that misalignment first hand. When working to become a personal trainer, Stacey felt like she had to shrink herself to be taken seriously in the industry. Finally, Stacey said enough is enough and has found great success helping people of every size and shape work towards their goals that have nothing to do with the number on the scale. Making Fitness Accessible Society tells us that being a larger person is the worst thing that can be done to you. Stacey is here to tell you that that is absolutely not true. The Health at Every Size movement is all about making fitness more approachable and accessible for as many people as possible. Because the truth is, there is nothing wrong with the size of your body, and you can become the healthiest version of yourself without focusing on becoming smaller. It's Not About Shrinking Your Body When you use fitness as a tool to expand your strength, confidence, and ability, instead of contracting our bodies to fit a certain mold, you gain the ability to advocate for your needs. Instead of using fitness as a means to an end, Stacey wants you to enjoy what you are doing and focus on what you are gaining, not what you are losing. Fitness is about so much more than shrinking your body, and with the right perspective, you too can find health at any size. Are you ready to set some fitness goals that have nothing to do with the number on the scale? Share how you are embracing Health at Every Size with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes "It's kind of a revolution of discovering that we can learn to respect or accept our bodies where they are at and do the best that we can with what we have in this moment now." (7:16) "We can be larger people, and still be strong, still be active, still be fit, still be any of the things you want to be at the size that you are in your body today." (10:50) "If we do not support and love all people, how can all people support and love themselves?" (18:41) "As soon as you hit a plateau, if you are focused on contraction, there is only so far you can go. But the other direction, it's like the sky is the limit, you can really do anything." (27:52) "We are always focused on everyone else. But that hour or that hour and a half or that fifteen minutes, focus on yourself and get out of it what you need out of it." (35:22) Featured on the ShowJoin the Group Strength Nutrition Program Waitlist Here Register for the Summer Strength Camp Here The Anxious Entrepreneurs Podcast Follow Stacey on Instagram Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 335: Breaking the Body Stereotype with Amanda LaCount LTYB 314: How To Set Health Goals Beyond the Scale with Steph Dodier LTYB 273: Opting Out Of Diet Culture with Naomi Katz
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| Fitness Trackers and Listening to Your Body | 13 Jul 2021 | 00:35:10 | |
Recently I decided to welcome back a wearable fitness tracker into my life after a decade-long break from one. This topic brought up a lot of questions for me. While the decision to stop or start wearing a tracker is very personal, I want to bring to light a few of the questions that have surfaced for me in the hopes that they can help you out when making this call for yourself. Key TakeawaysIf You Are Considering Stopping, Or Starting, Using a Fitness Tracker, You Should:
Getting Curious About Your Body Patterns It took me over ten years to get to the place where I am confident enough to listen to my body signals to be curious about the patterns and trends that a wearable fitness tracker can provide. How my recovery is correlating with my heart rate variability, menstrual cycle, and fatigue are incredibly interesting to me. The key is to not be so reliant on these numbers that you stop listening to your body and only listen to the numbers on an app. It's All About Balance Wearing a fitness tracker is an incredibly personal decision and depends on your ability to combine the data from a tracker with the signals your body is sending you. While most of us don't have the same relationship to data, such as heart rate variability, as we do to the numbers on the scale, it is still something to be sensitive to. An app can never tell you everything that is going on in your body. The question is, does the data from a fitness tracker help you reinforce the way your body feels, or distract you from it? How do you feel about your relationship with fitness trackers? Do you believe they are diet culture? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes "I am not in an all-or-nothing situation with training anymore, I am able to really listen to my body, but I am curious about bringing some sort of fitness tracker back into my life." (8:37) "I am not here to present my argument necessarily for or against, but if it is something that you have kind of been thinking about, maybe these will be some interesting points." (14:34) "There is a tendency to become too reliant sometimes on external trackers at the expense of also developing a sense of what your training and recovery feel like overall so that you get to know your body a lot more intimately." (19:27) "If you have started looking at data, do you sort of tune out what your body is telling you? Or are you looking where they overlap and using both to make decisions? Or can one help you make decisions about the other? Can having data help you connect to how your body is feeling? In some cases, potentially yes, but it is really about you individually." (23:20) "I don't think fitness trackers are in the same league as the scale and tracking body weight. However, could they potentially become an issue for some people? Potentially. So this is where it is really important to know yourself." (32:18) Featured on the ShowJoin the Waitlist for my Group Strength Nutrition Coaching Program Here Get a Free Month of the Whoop Tracker Here Follow Steph on Instagram Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 336: Bathroom Scale Real Talk You Need To Hear LTYB 333: Overcoming Fitness Comparison-itis with Craig Zielinski | |||
| Strength Training & Tough Body Image Days | 06 Jul 2021 | 00:33:41 | |
Having tougher body image days is perfectly normal. Yes, even when you're actively working on your mental and physical health. Yes, even when you're strength training every day. Let's look at how we can start being kinder to ourselves when these thoughts happen. Key TakeawaysHow to Work Through Negative Body Thoughts
Body Image Issues Impact Everyone Challenging and negative thoughts about your body are perfectly normal. They're not pleasant or productive, but please let me reassure you that they're absolutely normal. We all experience them, even when we're actively working on our positive mental and physical health. It's not realistic to never have a negative thought about your body. And that's okay. Working towards some form of body neutrality is a journey, not a destination. Working Through a Negative Body Image When you do have negative or challenging thoughts about your body, it's important to try to get to the root cause of these thoughts. First, take some time to journal out what might have influenced these thoughts throughout the last day or two. You might also be neglecting one of your basic needs. When was the last time you ate or drank water? Are you getting enough sleep? For longer-term solutions, start tracking your menstrual cycle as your cycle has an impact on how you feel mentally and towards yourself. Finally, take up a daily gratitude practice to help shift your entire perspective. How do you currently feel about your own body image? What struggles have you gone through? Share your experiences with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes "It is still normal to have challenging thoughts about your body. You're not failing or doing this wrong if you still have those doubts, negative self-talk, or aren't at body neutrality or beyond to body liberation, or wherever you are on that spectrum." [6:28] "By thinking or expecting that we're never going to have the negative thought or the challenging feeling ever again, we're actually setting ourselves up for not being as adept or experienced with getting through those challenging thoughts or feelings." [9:45] "You need to eat. We need to eat. When you're running on low energy, your blood sugar is really low, and you're hangry, your mood is affected. You're feeling mentally foggy, more anxious, and on edge. Food is essential." [20:03] "Gratitude is a muscle that you have to practice. Yes, you can feel these ways about yourself, you can feel down, sad, grief. All of those emotions are normal. At the same time, you can challenge yourself to give even a little bit of gratitude, just a little bit. It can be both - and." [27:18] "It's okay for those negative body thoughts to pop up, even at positive times in our life. They probably will. Working on that resilience, instead of walking around on eggshells, is ultimately what makes you more resilient, more able to unlearn the things that aren't serving you, and lean into what it's like to be on this journey. It's never going to be perfect but it is so worthwhile." [31:31] Featured on the ShowJoin the Waitlist for the Online Strength Nutrition Program Follow Steph on Instagram Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 332: Dealing with Negative Body Image w/ Beauty Redefined | |||
| Are You Lifting Heavy Enough (and Other Common Strength Training Questions) | 29 Jun 2021 | 00:30:39 | |
There are six common questions I hear all the time about lifting weights. So, I decided to put them into an episode with some simple answers for you so that you have a resource that you can come back to time and time again. If you are looking for answers to common questions I hear about strength training; this is the episode for you. Key TakeawaysIf You Want To Embrace The Benefits of Strength Training, You Should:
It's All Relative Questions like 'am I lifting heavy enough?', 'am I too old to start lifting weights?', or 'how soon can I expect to see results?', are very nuanced. The short answer is, everybody's body is different and will look different even if doing the same exercise. It is about finding a combination of weight lifting and other exercises that feel right for your unique body. What is 'heavy' is relative to each person and can change over time. Consistency and progressive overload are the keys to a long game mentality needed when strength training. The Many Benefits of Strength Training I know for sure that strength training can give you something to think about besides shrinking your body. Having goals that are only focused on achieving a certain number on the scale or an aesthetic look are not sustainable. Lifting weights can help you stop focusing on the scale, promote healthy muscle mass, improve your bone density, and boost your metabolism. These are goals that can have a huge impact on your overall health but cannot be measured by the number on the scale. Strength training can help you reconnect with a sense of what your body can do, not what it looks like. Have you ever asked one of these common questions? How did my answer hold up to what you have been told in the past? Share your experiences with me in the comments section of the episode page. In This Episode
"Generally speaking, you want to think about grooving in the main functional movement patterns, which are push, pull, hinge, squat, and weighted carries; those are what the Made Strong program is built off of." (8:24) "Lifting weights gives you something besides shrinking your body, or the bathroom scale, to focus on." (11:59) "If you lift weights two or three times a week, it will make you better at that sport, period." (15:07) "To efficiently build and maintain your muscle and bones and keep your metabolism humming along… the answer is lift weights." (21:52) "Please focus on some kind of goal that goes beyond what you weigh or exactly having some kind of aesthetic look. Because it is going to be far easier to sustain your work towards what you can do, or developing a new skill, or building your strength in a specific lift, it's going to be a lot more motivating and a lot easier to stick to that than when you are not seeing the number on the scale go in the direction that you want it to go." (26:26) Featured on the ShowSign Up For Private Coaching Here Join the Waitlist for Group Coaching Here Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 332: 3 Mistakes Keeping You From Getting Stronger In The Gym LTYB 331: Strength Training & Your Relationship with Exercise | |||
| The Problem With Getting in Shape | 22 Jun 2021 | 00:33:54 | |
The general narrative in the fitness world says that by getting into shape, you will get smaller. In reality, there are so many other ways to measure your fitness that have nothing to do with the size of your body. 'Getting In Shape' really has no concrete meaning, and it's time we stop equating fitness with a specific look. Key TakeawaysIf You Want To Dig Deeper Into The Problem With 'Getting in Shape', You Should:
Fitness Is Not a 'Look' Fitness doesn't have a specific look. Instead, it is your ability to do a task. Simple as that. Working out and 'getting in shape' simply to get smaller is not sustainable, and the companies or trainers that guarantee that your body will get smaller are not acknowledging all of the other things out of our control that go into fitness, and all of the other benefits of getting stronger and healthier. Your size does not equal your health and has no reflection on how fit or how unfit a person is. How To Stop Comparing and Start Representing If we compare ourselves to the highest performing human specimens participating in an activity, is that an accurate representation of all the people who engage with that activity? By comparing ourselves to the top athletes in the world, we are doing a disservice to the people out there who want to engage with a certain type of fitness but don't see anyone who looks like them being represented. The idea that fit bodies have to look a certain way stops people from engaging with those pursuits and perpetuates the stereotype that fitness is a certain look and only people who look like that can be deemed 'in shape'. By challenging these narratives and making fitness available to people who don't fit the conventional 'fitspo' version of health, we can break down these assumptions and, in turn, make 'getting in shape' more beneficial for everyone. What stood out most to you from this episode? Let me know your thoughts in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
"Getting in shape when used to mean getting fit is a huge problem because physical fitness isn't a look, it's not a look." (7:14) "Strength training can give you a new lease on life because you get to focus on what your body can do, not just on what it looks like." (15:34) "I can think of so many people who are not fitting the 'thin fitspo' gently toned but not too muscular body who are fit as fuck! Fit as fuck for what they do. And that to me is a cause for applause." (19:50) "We have to be able to tease apart fitness from overall health and wellbeing. If we think health is multifactorial and influenced by so many things out of our control, we have to be able to tease apart fitness from health and from weight." (24:44) "I hope that this podcast gives you some seeds of ideas to ask or to bring up with that potential personal trainer that you want to work within your city, or that potential email that you open up… what does the person or the company promising to you? What other ways are there going to be to see how your fitness has changed and improved?" (32:01) Featured on the ShowText me at 619-313-5948 Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 335: Breaking the Body Stereotype with Amanda LaCount LTYB 324: Is It Wrong To Want To Lose Weight? | |||
| Mobility, Justice, and Representation in the Fitness Industry w/ Rich Thurman | 15 Jun 2021 | 00:57:38 | |
If you are someone who is not strength training yet or are looking to get back into activity, you might be nervous. Getting back into movement in a way that keeps you safe and healthy starts with understanding your foundation and finding mobility practices that meet you where you are now. Key TakeawaysIf You Want To Encourage Mobility, Representation, and Justice In The Fitness Space, You Should:
Taking Care Of Yourself as a Whole Person Rich Thurman, better known as Coach RT3, is a mobility specialist who is passionate about sharing his experiences as a black man in the fitness industry and advocating for coaching in a way that takes care of your body, mind, and spirit as one whole person. Rich knows that mobility practices are not an optional extra but something that helps you get better at what you are trying to do and is here today to share how mobility, inclusivity, and representation intersect in the fitness space. Investing In Yourself Through Mobility Practices Mobility is the best investment you can make for yourself. By giving time to mobility practices that will improve your longevity, and preserve, improve, and enhance your ability to do the things you love longer, you will save yourself the necessity to give it up later. Something as simple as preparation can help you create strength in the realms you may not have strength in anymore, save you from injury, and help you find a workout that fits your body's strengths and shortcomings. Mobility practices are the key to move better, feel better, and ultimately do more for longer. Representation Is Power For too long, underrepresented people in the fitness space, such as Black, Asian, and LGBTQ+ persons, have been burying themselves to make other people feel comfortable. Rich is here to say no more to that and encourage organizations, coaches, trainers, and anyone involved in the fitness space to do the work, become aware, and take steps to view someone as a whole person. Instead of assuming the needs of others and pushing that agenda, Rich wants to challenge you to work to improve yourself, learn about your community, and recognize the intersections between identity, representation, and fitness. It is only by working to be better, that we can include the voices that have been marginalized for too long and lift up our fellow humans. Are you ready to give yourself the gift of time through mobility practices? How do you work to stand up for your fellow humans in the fitness space? Share your thoughts about Rich's perspective with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
"When we look at training mobility, and why it's important, it's more along the lines of preparing your body for the things that you want to do." (10:02) "You can spend the time now, or you can give up the time later. There are only really 2 options. So when we create more room for the things that we love, we are basically creating more time." (22:31) "Peripherally, all of the wealth that came as a peripheral means of those bodies, the bodies of my ancestors who survived this ordeal, to make me possible, that is carried inside of me." (33:07) "The onus is not on us to find out when these things happen, the onus is on the organization to say 'this is what we want, this is what we would like, can we find the people who are doing good work within our organization who have paid us money and maintained our certification, can we find those people?'." (41:34) "These conversations need to be had throughout all of these organizations and need to be commonplace. Because we need to know how to best serve the people we are working with, the people in front of us." (48:01) Featured on the ShowFree Strength Workout Mini-Course Upgrade Guys Mobility Membership Follow Rich on Instagram | TikTok Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 327: Getting Back to Exercise Without Feeling Wrecked LTYB 143: Inclusivity & Social Justice In Health & Fitness with Dr. Tee Williams
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| When Clean Eating Becomes a Problem w/ Mimi Cole | 08 Jun 2021 | 00:42:25 | |
Have you ever considered that at some point, an obsession with healthy eating can turn unhealthy? Many of us struggle to understand what healthy eating really is and where it crosses the line into an unhealthy preoccupation. This is why I have brought my guest, Mimi Cole, onto the show today. Please be aware there is a trigger warning for weight loss and eating disorders in this episode. Key TakeawaysIf You Are Ready To Reexamine Your Relationship With Food and Your Body, You Should:
What Is Healthy Eating? With Mimi Cole Mimi is a graduate student currently working on her Master's degree in clinical mental health counseling. She is the host of the Lovely Becoming Podcast and specializes in learning about disordered eating and eating disorders. Mimi knows firsthand the issues that those with eating disorders face, which is why she is passionate about breaking down stereotypes, meeting others with compassion, and helping people break out of the labels that surround these topics. There Are No 'Bad or Good' Foods Clean eating culture is intertwined with many nuanced topics such as fatphobia, orthorexia, and weight-centric care. The clean eating industry wants you to label your food choices as 'bad or good', which inherently misses what the fluidity of humanity really is. By unlearning what diet culture has taught us, we can start to get curious about the dichotomy of the rules of food and begin to view food as neutral. When we understand that food does have to fit into the binary of 'good and bad', 'healthy and unhealthy', or 'clean and guilty', you can give yourself permission to follow your humanity. Using Your Values as an Anchor Society tells us that certain eating disorders are only applicable to certain body types. In reality, it is about the mindset of a person, not the size of their body, that determines their relationship with food. We need to do a better job of breaking these labels down and expanding these definitions to include every body. Mimi suggests getting clear on your values to anchor you when you may feel discomfort about your body. Working on your body really means working on your body image, your perspective, and how you feel about your body. By reminding yourself what you are working towards and what you are living for, you can live a life more aligned with your values and stop focusing on all of the restraints that come with food. Which of Mimi's truth bombs today shocked you the most? What piece of her advice are you going to put into practice first? Share your thoughts with me in the comments section of the episode page. In This Episode
"It doesn't have to be either 'this or that', I think there is a lot of nuance to nutrition." (8:29) "It's a lot more subtle than we think it is, and I think it's a lot more intertwined with this clean eating culture. And so sometimes that push back where we say 'I just want to eat healthy' is really tied to different systems like fat-phobia and weight-centric care, and sometimes it looks like it's a healthy thing, and it sounds like it, but it's not really." (13:25) "There are some people that might say, 'if you are going to be anti-diet, you need to do it all right now'. And I think I take on a slower approach where when we are unlearning it takes time and intentionality, and a lot of compassion for where we are at and meeting people where they are." (22:20) "Working on your body for summer means learning how to nourish it, learning how to accept it and collate the distress around it, learning how to put on a swimsuit and work towards your values of enjoying time with friends, enjoying time with loved ones and family members, and being able to move towards your values when you feel uncomfortable in your body." (31:54) "Moving towards a value doesn't necessarily mean moving you away from things you don't want to experience. So there is not necessarily less fear, but it means with that fear I can move towards those values." (35:06) Featured on the ShowFree Strength Workout Mini-Course Follow Mimi on Instagram | Facebook How To Get Your Body Ready For Summer Post Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 275: The Anti-Diet Approach to Eating with Evelyn Tribole | |||
| Bathroom Scale Real Talk You Need To Hear | 01 Jun 2021 | 00:35:35 | |
Your morning ritual can set the tone for your entire day. Getting up and immediately getting onto the scale can determine whether you will have a good day or a bad day. If you used to do that, or maybe you still do, I want to share five truths with you about the bathroom scale and why you should consider ditching or reducing that habit. Key TakeawaysIf You Are Ready To Get Real With Your Scale You Should:
Weight Does Not Equal Health If you keep saying, 'I just wanted to hop on the scale and see', and there is an underlying sense of dread there, or the number you see is going to have the potential to wreck or elevate your day, wait. You don't have to throw your scale out the window today. But, by taking baby steps of cutting back your reliance and focus on the scale, you will realize that the deep sense of self-worth you have always had is not reliant on the number you see on the scale. Having a full, healthy, and happy life is so much more important than the 'ideal' number we want to see on the scale, and when you are able to accept that, the whole world opens up. You Can Only Control Your Habits, Not the Scale Your health is so much more multifaceted than the number you see on the scale. Your mental, emotional, spiritual, and environmental health play just as important of a role in your overall health as your physical body does. Even though you may be doing things in a health-promoting way, such as eating more vegetables or getting more fresh air, focusing on the number on the scale changing is not what you should be relying on for 'results'. The truth is, we are not in control of the number on the scale. What we are in control of is health-promoting habits that can lead to a healthier life, regardless of what the scale says. Have you ever considered your relationship with your bathroom scale? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
"We have been taught that weight causes health, and that is not the case." (6:51) "Weight loss is not a behavior. I will say that again, weight loss is not a behavior." (16:04) "If you want peace of mind, and you want your brain space back, focus on healthy habits. Focus on healthy-for-you habits. When you stay hyper-focused on weight loss, this is where you miss body signals; this is where you miss other indicators of your health, for example, your mental health. This is where you miss the consistency that is required to perhaps improve your health over a long period of time." (17:41) "It might take years of consistent healing and redefining your beliefs, getting to the root of your beliefs, finding other things to focus on. Really just going through the ebbs and the flows and the ups and the downs of your relationship with your body and food and body image, to get to the point where the scale is a 'neutral tool'." (23:34) "It is very uncommon that someone can just snap their fingers and suddenly see the scale as a neutral tool." (24:50) Featured on the ShowText me at 619-313-5948 Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 314: How To Set Health Goals Beyond the Scale with Steph Dodier | |||
| Breaking the Body Stereotype w/ Amanda LaCount | 25 May 2021 | 00:39:02 | |
Ever since a dance studio director told Amanda LaCount that she could not participate due to her body size, she has been on a mission to break the stereotype and promote body positivity and the belief that any body can be a dancer's body. So if you are feeling like you are ready to get back out there and start moving your body but are nervous about what other people might think, this is the episode for you. Key TakeawaysIf You Want To Break The Stereotype You Should:
Doing What You Love with Amanda LaCount Rihanna follows her on Instagram; she has danced with Lady Gaga in her Stupid Love music video and danced with Lizzo at Coachella. She has also danced with Meghan Trainor and Katy Perry, was the first plus-sized Disney mermaid, and has partnered with international brands to bring body inclusivity to the forefront. Amanda LaCount is making huge waves in the world of entertainment and is working day by day to #breakthestereotype. Don't Let The 'Haters' Get You Down Amanda has been dancing since she was 2 years old, but it hasn't come without her fair share of setbacks. 'Haters' have often made Amanda feel like she didn't belong in a world where your appearance means way more than it should. But Amanda never let that stop her and has developed her own way to move past the mean comments and embrace what she truly loves to do. Amanda believes that your body should not play a role in what job you get or how qualified people assume you are, and she wants to inspire people to do what they love regardless of any stereotypes you may or may not fit into. #breakthestereotype The hashtag #breakthestereotype is Amanda's way to make change actionable. What started as something just for her has turned into a global movement on social media. Amanda wants other people to know that you don't have to be perfect, skinny, or tall to 'make it' in your chosen field. All it takes is hard work, dedication, and the right attitude. Working to promote inclusivity and body positivity in the dance world and entertainment space, Amanda, and her famous friends, are working to break the stereotype piece by piece. Are you ready to #breakthestereotype and get out there and start moving your body in a way that is fun and enjoyable for you? Share what you loved most about Amanda's story with me in the comments section of the episode page. In This Episode
"There is no point in feeling bad for yourself, that's only going to hurt you at the end of the day." (11:26) "I just don't want my body to be part of the discussion, I want my dancing to speak for itself." (15:19) "I came up with 'breaking the stereotype' because that's what I do, and that's what I am doing still." (19:44) "What I want to see is more fat people, or fat films, or fat movies, that are positive and show the beautiful parts of being a plus-size person and show how strong we are and how beautiful we are." (26:12) "Stop caring so much about what other people think or have to say. At the end of the day, if it makes you happy, that's all that matters." (34:12) Featured on the ShowFollow Amanda on Instagram | TikTok Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 311: Reclaiming Your Spark By Honoring Your Swagger with Anniedi Essien LTYB 313: How To Stop a Bad Body Image Day In Its Tracks with Brianna Campos | |||
| RPE & Autoregulation: Smart Tools for Strength Gains Over 40 | 19 Nov 2024 | 00:38:46 | |
I get a lot of messages about RPE, Reps in Reserve, and Autoregulation. These are powerful tools, that when practiced, can help you as you implement a long-term strength training program, especially as a woman over 40. However, it takes understanding the pieces that go into these tools, and a well-rounded program, to really make the most of their benefits. Key TakeawaysIf You Are Looking for Trainings Tools, You Should:
Learning about Yourself through Strength Having a performance-forward approach when it comes to your workout intensity is great, but it can leave space for injury or overuse. Using the scales of RPE and Reps in Reserve, you can allow yourself a moment to check in and make adjustments to the structure of your program. While working with a coach is great, learning how to observe your body and what it needs is something that you can do yourself. These tools will help you understand your body in a way that will encourage sustainability and longevity in your strength training program. It's All About Flexibility A good strength training program leaves room for both structure and flexibility. Learning how to adjust your intensity not only helps you learn more about your body, but it can help you tackle those low-energy days without completely giving up and potentially taking a long break. Autoregulation will keep you moving forward with your program even on lower energy days, which can happen especially as we adjust to new demands on our lives and our bodies. Adjusting the plan based on Autoregulation will help you continue to show up and do your best, while also meeting yourself where you are at. Are you ready to adjust your effort in order to gain more sustainability and effectiveness in your program? Share your thoughts on this episode with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
"The value of using something like RPE is that it helps to tailor your workout intensity to match your daily energy level, your daily bandwidth, how much capacity you have today." (15:01) "This isn't a proprietary way for women over 40 to manage their own strength training. However, it is a validated tool that we can use because it is contextually allowing us more flexibility within the structure of a program." (16:25) "This is all part of the tapestry of your own unique autoregulation and recovery and getting to know yourself over time." (20:47) "There is structure, but there is also flexibility. And I think that is a really key take-home message and take-home point of this particular podcast." (25:50) "We have to keep training if we want to continue to either maintain or see gains over time." (30:43) Featured on the ShowGet 7 Days of Strong with Steph Free Here Apply for Strength Nutrition Unlocked Here Study from the Journal of Strength Conditioning Research
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| How Strong Women Can Lift Each Other Up w/ Molly Galbraith | 18 May 2021 | 00:42:03 | |
Have you ever considered how much more we as women could get done if we chose to lift each other up instead of getting caught up in comparison traps, jealousy, and the feeling of 'not enoughness'? It has been famously said that comparison is the thief of joy, but becoming aware of how you compare yourself to yourself and to other women online and in real life can be a hard nut to crack. Key TakeawaysIf You Want To Become A Strong Woman Who Lifts Up Other Strong Women, You Should:
Molly Galbraith has been a coach in the fitness industry for over 17 years. It became clear to her early on how underserved women were in health and fitness, which is why she co-founded Girls Gone Strong almost ten years ago. Her new book, Strong Women Lift Each Other Up, helps women overcome their own personal struggles with comparison, jealousy, body image, and competition to feel strong, confident, and empowered in their body while supporting other women to feel the same. Getting Out Of The Comparison TrapMolly believes that when you know better, you do better. This is why she has dedicated herself and her new book to help women improve all areas of their lives. Everything from teaching coaches what they need to know in order to better serve women to helping women get out of the comparison trap by noticing, naming, and normalizing their emotions act as foundational tools necessary to help lift women up in everyday life. By getting radically clear on your values and getting curious about how we can support other women, revolutionary change is possible. The Ripple EffectIn a world where women's voices are often drowned out, and it's challenging to be heard, amplifying other women's voices can go a long way. The ripple effect that can be created through women empowering women isn't always obvious, but it can play a huge role in bringing the values we want to see into the world. You don't need a lot of resources, money, or a big network to lift up other women in your life. All it takes are small, simple steps that can help you feel stronger and help strengthen the women around you. Lifting up all women is a group effort, but the ramifications can change the world as we know it. Are you ready to get away from your comparison traps and scarcity mindset and embrace the beautiful possibilities that come from being a strong woman who lifts up other strong women? Share one way you are working to actively lift up other women in the comments section of the episode page. In This Episode
"We believe that when women feel strong, confident and empowered in our lives and bodies, that we can change the world." (4:30) "Coaches and trainers, we are on the front lines of such important conversations with our clients. And I truly believe that we have the power to impact women's lives positively more than almost anyone else in their life." (15:17) "I envisioned a world that I wanted to see for women and saw that it wasn't our reality. I wanted to see a world where all women and girls get the support and opportunities they need to thrive and succeed. Where women believe that we are enough just as we are and that we are actually happy to see other women succeed because we know there is enough success to go around. And I wanted to see a world where there was an equitable presentation of all women in important places where decisions are made, and that is not our current reality." (22:00) "Taking the time to identify my values has just been life-changing. It has allowed me to feel so steadfast in the decisions that I make." (31:03) "We have the opportunity to massively lift people up and create huge ripple effects through very small actions, and I want people to know and feel empowered by those possibilities." (38:42) Featured on the ShowStrong Women Lift Eachother Up by Molly Galbraith Follow Molly on Instagram | Facebook Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 147: The Importance Of Feeling At Home In Your Body with Molly Galbraith | |||
| Overcoming Fitness Comparison-itis w/ Craig Zielinski | 11 May 2021 | 00:42:50 | |
Have you found yourself falling into fitness comparisons not only with the people around you or that you know but in comparison with yourself and what you used to be able to do? If you are struggling with this concept or keep challenging the idea of coming back to exercise because you worry you won't be at the place you left off, this episode is for you. Key TakeawaysIf You Want To Stop Falling Into Fitness Comparisons, You Should:
Craig Zielinski is a USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach, a repeated LTYB guest, and my loving husband. Throughout the course of the pandemic, Craig came face to face with his 'all or nothing' mentality and found a way to get over his 'Comparison-itis'. Today he is here to share his story about how to get over your fear of judgment from others or yourself and start enjoying moving your body again. Get Out Of The 'All Or Nothing' MentalityFor many people, their fitness identity in the past was tied to the exercise routines we used to do that are more often than not based on equipment that we simply don't have access to during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although Craig originally got caught up in the 'all or nothing' funk, he realized that a lot of his reasoning was unreasonable and started to choose exercises that were based more on having a good time and making the best of what we had, rather than training super hard. Instead of engaging in movements that were comparison-based, Craig learned to focus on building his 'skill tree'. You Don't Have to Specialize to SucceedThe way that diet and fitness culture convince us that we have to specialize in one certain thing, even if it makes us miserable, is simply not true. When you are able to get back to the basics as Craig did, you can develop multiple skills and focus on the process than the all-illusive outcome. You never know where any exercise will lead or take you, so the point is to be open to trying new things during this time of uncertainty and continually check on what feels right for you. Looking for fun, developing new skills, and being flexible about what fitness is can help you enjoy different areas of your life and get back into the movement mentality without all that added pressure. What activity are you excited to get back into the routine of? How are you going to find healthy ways to limit your comparison-itis mentality? Share your thoughts with us in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
"I, for the longest time, could not get my head around what on Earth to do with myself [with Covid restrictions], so the answer was, in classic 'all or nothing style', was to do nothing." (9:53) "The problem created by returning to training and doing the same thing and being all dejected about how I have lost strength or capacity is by doing training that is adjacent to the training that I did, and as also something that is fun and I enjoyed while I would do it. And the cool part is that because it is adjacent to the training that I used to do, I have got developed skills so I won't feel like a complete novice and just give up." (21:25) "It is really basic, and it is a lot of fun. And it also, when you think about it really, it is more a skill tree." (30:28) "We are told that we have to specialize in everything, and we end up plowing the same furrow, and that is just not very interesting. And there is also no point in doing that, it's not very fulfilling, at least for me. Being a specialist in one thing is my worst nightmare, but that was kind of what I did in the gym if you think about it." (31:52) "The importance of developing what you can do as a project, is much greater than whatever the conclusion of the project is, right? (36:56) Featured on the ShowJoin the Tune-In Membership Here The McGill Big 3 for Core Stability Breathe: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor The 5 Main Movement Patterns of Functional Movement Reel Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related EpisodesLTYB 165: How To Adapt Strength Training To Your Menstrual Cycle with Craig Zielinski LTYB 327: Getting Back to Exercise Without Feeling Wrecked LTYB 331: Strength Training & Your Relationship with Exercise | |||
| 3 Mistakes Keeping You From Getting Stronger In the Gym | 04 May 2021 | 00:34:13 | |
Have you been spending a few workouts a week lifting weights and trying to eat healthily but are still not seeing the results you are hoping for? There are three main common reasons that I hear over and over again in the community that is keeping you from seeing the results you want from your strength training efforts. The good news? They are easy to fix once you have empowered yourself with the knowledge and mindset shifts to do so! Key Takeaways If You Want To See The Results You Are Looking For From Strength Training You Should:
Eating Less and Moving More Is Not the Answer A lot of us have a negative association with the word 'calories' because of diet culture. We have been told to put an emphasis on 'eating less and moving more', but that is not the magic cure. Your body needs fuel to move, and when you restrict that fuel, it can kill your energy and open you up to chronic energy. All three of these topics, under-fueling, not managing your stress to recovery ratio, and not looking for ways to improve your movement patterns and tissue outside of the gym, have a huge impact on the results you see inside of the gym. Results Need an Active Listener Listening to your body is all about tuning into the signals that your body is sending you instead of ignoring them. If you are under a lot of stress, are not eating healthy foods or enough foods, or not prioritizing your sleep, it will all show up when you start to lift those weights. While every exercise has its own risks, you can see the results you are looking for when it comes to strength training, but only if you are giving your body what it needs to succeed. Listening to your body, fueling it the right way, managing your stress to recovery ratio, and improving your movement patterns are the ways to help you achieve the results you are looking for in a healthy and safe way. Which one of these common mistakes rang the most true for you? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes "If you are making this mistake, nobody is here to blame you. This isn't something to feel bad about, this isn't something to feel shameful for, it's a piece of information to take and tuck into your back pocket and be more mindful and aware of what you are doing in your daily life." (4:38) "There is oftentimes a lot of negative self-talk or feeling like you are broken, or wrong, or bad, for your body physiologically responding in the way that it does. And a lot of that can be staved off by eating enough food and eating more consistently and introducing what I would call more of a relative balance of macronutrients." (15:45) "What is to be aware of is, if you are not getting the results from your strength training that you want, is to take a look at how much other, especially higher intensity movements or exercise, relative to all of the other stress that is going on in your life." (20:05) "If you are dealing with injuries or you are dealing with the effects of 'life-ing' and moving through life with these movement patterns, it is really important that you become aware of that and you work on them, and you start to become more tuned in to the signals your body is sending you." (31:08) "If you are a woman who wants to get stronger and is lifting weights, you want your energy to increase, and you want to see performance in the gym, I am going to be here to help you do that." (33:21) Featured on the Show Join the Tune-In Membership Here Join my Texting Squad at 619-313-5948 Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related Episodes LTYB 331: Strength Training & Your Relationship with Exercise | |||
| Strength Training & Your Relationship with Exercise | 27 Apr 2021 | 00:35:59 | |
When I look back at all of the work I have done over the years, it all comes back to the lightbulb moment where strength training helped me stop focusing on using exercise solely as a tool to make my body smaller. Strength training was the #1 thing that helped me make a shift in my life to having a better relationship with exercise, and in turn, my body and mind. Key Takeaways If You Want To Improve Your Relationship With Exercise Through Strength Training, You Should:
Finding the Freedom To Have Fun With Exercise Having a free, fun, and filling relationship with movement can be a life-changing topic for some folks. I am feeling a sense in the community of people ready to get started or get started again on moving their body and improving their relationship with exercise. While the way you relate to your body is a constantly evolving notion, strength training can help heal your dysfunctional relationship with exercise and give you the freedom to shift how you relate to exercise and your body. By giving yourself the space to enjoy exercise, you can stop being preoccupied with the notions diet culture has been feeding you and start breaking down the walls around you. The Many Benefits of Strength Training Lots of people view those who are interested in strength training or functional fitness as 'meatheads' or bodybuilders. This couldn't be further from the truth, as strength training has so many benefits, including improving your bone mineral density and blood glucose control, increasing your energy and metabolism, giving your more balance and stability, and enhancing your mood while decreasing your anxiety. In addition to those fact-based benefits, strength training can help you stop viewing your worth as conditional and help you focus on what your body can do rather than how to make it smaller. Are you ready to have a better relationship with exercise? Have you ever considered or experienced the many benefits of strength training? Share your experience with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes "Functional movement is not just about competing at an elite level. If that's your jam, that's cool with me. If it's not your jam, you might think 'well functional movement, functional strength training, isn't for me'. And I am here to tell you that that could be further from the truth." (6:17) "For me, exercise for so long was a way to shrink my body, control the size of my body, and try to become smaller. And that was the only thing that I really got out of exercise or the only reason I approached exercise." (11:35) "For me, strength training, in general, was the thing, the stepping stone, that allowed me to get on a better path with how I related to exercise, and then by default, my body." (17:13) "When I think back to all of the work I have done over the years, it always comes back to that. To that moment or that period of time where I learned to focus for once in my fucking life, on something else other than shrinking my body." (24:47) "You don't have to be a bodybuilder, you don't need to be a competitive level lifter to get the benefits of this, and you don't have to squat 400 pounds." (29:47) Featured on the Show The 5 Main Movement Patterns of Functional Movement Reel Shit That People Say To Women About Strength Training Reel Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related Episodes | |||
| How to Use Tapping for Food Freedom w/ Jason Winters | 20 Apr 2021 | 00:45:52 | |
Society has taught us that emotional eating is bad, and we should punish and restrict ourselves for it. The issue with emotional eating is when we use food as our only tool to cope or celebrate, but it can be part of a normal and healthy way to communicate with our bodies. The truth is, sometimes your body needs to eat emotionally, but it is up to you to distinguish when you are emotionally eating for good and when you are using it as a crutch. Tapping can help you lean into this intuitively so that you can shift your focus away from restriction and towards listening to what your body needs. Key Takeaways If You Want To Try Tapping To Resolve Your Emotional Eating You Should:
Emotional Eating Isn't Always Bad Jason Winters is a Certified Holistic Health Coach, Intuitive Eating Coach, and Gold-Standard Emotional Freedom Techniques Coach. After overcoming his own battle with disordered eating, Jason pursued his passion to serve women and men still suffering from the emotional eating cycle. Now, Jason is on a mission to help empower and free you from the chains of emotional eating, diet culture, food obsession, and body hatred so that you can live your best life possible. How To Get Clear on What You Really Want The path of intuitive eating has changed many lives, including Jason's, but that doesn't mean it comes without its fair share of struggles. Society has forced us to lose our ability to trust ourselves and what the right path for us is, which is why it is so important to get clear on what you are doing, what is working for you, and what isn't. The first step is identifying what you really want out of your life. By holding space for your goals and intentions and doing it on your own terms, you can address your unresolved issues, learn how to acknowledge the negativity you are feeling, and most importantly, let it go. The Beautiful Marriage Between Tapping, Emotional Eating, and Intuitive Eating EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, is a powerful stress-relieving technique that combines Chinese acupuncture with modern psychology to address the fear of rejecting diet culture and guide you towards a more intuitive relationship with food. Emotional eating, intuitive eating, and tapping come together beautifully because they help you break down the fear, stress, and anxiety you may be feeling and clear out your emotions. Tapping can help you process your energy and help you feel lighter and more equipped to handle the anxiety and negativity plaguing you. By learning how to better understand your emotions, you can take back the control that diet culture has stripped you of and start listening to what your body needs. Have you ever tried tapping? How has it helped you on your intuitive eating or emotional eating journey? Share which of Jason's nuggets of wisdom touched you the most with us in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes "To shift that normal behavior around food, and to then demonize it and to shame people for engaging in it, it is a restriction of something that you want and that you need. And then it just turns emotional eating into a theme." (7:14) "What do you really want? I think that's the biggest thing is identifying what you want, and getting quiet enough to hear the answer of what you really want. Because intuitive eating, and intuitive exercise, and having an intuitive lifestyle, it is really about you." (17:42) "Tapping allows you to come out of control and more into choice. And the way that that happens is when you are tapping on these specific points, you are breaking down the fear." (25:18) "It's not just what we put in our mouth, it is our belief system. We are in choice, our affirmations you chose. So if you use someone else's affirmation, make sure it rings true for you, make sure it is your choice." (31:40) "When we are repeating or you are hearing these statements being made, this anxiety, this anxiety, this anxiety, you are addressing your specific anxiety, I am addressing mine, but we are all working together." (41:52) Featured on the Show Food Freedom Tapping Worksheet EFT: Tapping to End Chronic Emotional Eating Facebook Group Follow Jason on Instagram | Facebook Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related Episodes LTYB 278: Energy Tips For Empaths & Highly Sensitive People LTYB 284: How Neuroscience Can Help You Listen To Your Body with Alyssa Chang | |||
| 3 Pillars of Self-Trust w/ Shohreh Davoodi | 13 Apr 2021 | 00:40:18 | |
Listening to your body doesn't happen through a magic pill or a one-size-fits-all answer. It is about leaning into your self-trust and learning to embrace what makes you uniquely you. But how do we actually do that in a practical, hands-on way? The concept of self-trust is an all-encompassing one that considers a lot of different parts about who you are as a person, which is why it is essential to have the proper framework when diving into these topics. Key Takeaways If You Are Looking To Build Self-Trust You Should:
Learn How To Build Self-Trust with Shohreh Davoodi Shohreh Davoodi is a self-trust coach who created her Three Pillars of Self-Trust Framework to help women overcome fear and self-doubt and become brave by conjuring up the courage inside of them. Her framework combines the three main pillars of self-trust, consciousness practices, care practices, and courage practices so that you can figure out who you are and what you value. The Three Pillars of Self-Trust The first step of self-trust is consciousness. This means having the awareness of the things in your life that you want to change, what is working for you in your life and what isn't, and why. This usually deals with the systems in place in our society that are causing self-doubt, that really has nothing to do with you as an individual. Next comes care practices. While we all know the importance of self-care, Shohreh takes it a step further and includes principles such as intuitive eating, intentional movement, sleep, and organization all as ways that you can care for yourself and let your body know that it can trust you to listen and take care of it. The final piece of the puzzle is courage. Engaging with issues such as activism, setting boundaries, and having a more value-driven life are all ways that you can reconnect with your head, heart, and body, to do the things that make you feel good. It Takes a Village That Stands Together To See Real Change In order to engage more authentically with your own self-trust, you need to dive deep and look some scary stuff in the eye. We cannot self-trust our way into community liberation. It takes better community care and systemic changes so that everybody can have self-trust and a better relationship to food and their bodies. There is no one right way to engage with these practices. By being more understanding and compassionate to the people around you, being in a community that lets you know that you are not alone, and dropping into your body in a time-sensitive way that feels good for you are the best ways to take steps to move closer to deeper self-trust. What is one way that you are going to lean into your courage and let your body know that it can trust you? Share which of Shohreh's tips you're going to integrate into your routine with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes "My niche is self-trust, but self-trust really encompasses so many different topics and ideas and ways of being in the world. So I can't just talk about self-trust, in talking about self-trust I have to talk about so many other things." (11:10) "Each of these pillars are important and can stand on their own, but they are most powerful when they bridge together. And that is the foundation of self-trust for an individual." (15:01) "Almost all of us have privileges in some places, even marginalized folks have privileges in some areas. So we can't look at the marginalization without also looking at the privilege and how we contribute, knowingly or unknowingly, to the advancement of these systems." (21:03) "So often when someone is struggling to trust their own body, it is actually because they have gotten messages about bodies like theirs, and what a body like theirs should be or should look like or should feel like." (32:06) "For everyone who is interested in building more self-trust, the key to doing that is that you have to get to know you and what you want and what you value." (35:08) Featured on the Show Follow Your Arrow Membership Program One-On-One Coaching with Shohreh Follow Shohreh on Instagram | Facebook | TikTok Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related Episodes LTYB 305: Using Body Language To Understand Yourself and Others Better with Tiff Lee LTYB 262: How To See Value Outside Your Body & Overcome Self-Doubt with Summer Innanen | |||
| Intuitive Eating and Alcohol | 06 Apr 2021 | 00:28:57 | |
Recently I was asked about the place that alcohol has when connecting to your inner intuitive eater. Thinking about alcohol use in the context of connecting to your body and healing your relationship with food is intensely personal, which is why I want to share my perspective with you as someone who has been a non-drinker for 5 years and also as an intuitive eating and nutrition counselor. If you are struggling with substance abuse or are concerned about your relationship with alcohol, please contact 1-800-662-HELP. This episode contains my personal thoughts about alcohol, but at the end of the day, you have the freedom and autonomy to do whatever feels right for you. If you are struggling with substance abuse, please know there is support out there for you, and change is possible. Key Takeaways If You Want To Explore Your Relationship With Alcohol and Intuitive Eating You Should:
The Difference Between Food and Alcohol A common misconception is that food is addictive. In reality, the food 'addiction' you may be familiar with is a result of restriction and the binge eating that follows. Alcohol is different from food in this way. Reducing the amount you are drinking will not cause the majority of people to binge drink because alcohol is not required for survival like food is. Often people are reluctant to cut out alcohol because they are worried they will crave it all the time. Binge drinking and binge eating have different mechanisms and experiences, and it is crucial to understand how restriction with food differs from simply choosing not to engage with alcohol. It's Your Personal Journey, No One Else's A lot of people are concerned about doing intuitive eating 'right'. Intuitive eating is not a set of yes or no rules, it is a set of personal guidelines, and your relationship with alcohol is included in that. I want you to use intuitive eating principles to ask yourself the tough questions and help you gain clarity on your personal experience with alcohol. Do you have a diet mentality when you are drinking? Are you drinking mindfully? Is alcohol your primary coping strategy? By noticing your relationship with alcohol and assessing it, you can understand your own unique relationship to alcohol and if it fits into your intuitive eating journey. Which of the questions I posed to you today got you thinking? How does your relationship with alcohol fit into your version of intuitive eating? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes "There are a lot of questions that come up for people with regard to understanding how restricting food works or bingeing on food works, and how restricting alcohol and binge drinking works, and the fact that those aren't necessarily the same thing." (8:01) "A lot of people will notice that if they start to cut down on their drinking, or they stop drinking altogether, they often don't notice an increased desire or preoccupation with drinking." (13:11) "You may decide that you are making peace with food over here, but when it comes to alcohol, if you realize that you are not enjoying it, that your relationship with it isn't super great, you would rather just take it out for a while, its okay to remove it from your environment!" (15:42) "It's worth considering how these different principles of intuitive eating can apply to your relationship with alcohol and your drinking habits and know that the answers are going to be different for everybody." (24:03) "I hope that this show has given you some questions to ask yourself. I can't promise that it is perfect, I can't promise that my thoughts here are going to be exactly applicable to you. But I think it is really important to go through the questions that I raised in this show and to think about things on a really personal level for yourself." (27:40) Featured on the Show Overcome Emotional Eating Workshop Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 114: Alcohol + Social Pressure LTYB 205: The Great Big Sober Secret with Veronica Valli LTYB 326: Your Body's Changed During the Pandemic… Now What? With Evelyn Tribole | |||
| Getting Back to Exercise Without Feeling Wrecked | 30 Mar 2021 | 00:34:59 | |
Has it been a while since you've worked out, but you have a newly found motivation to get going? Are you diving into a fitness program only to be so sore afterward that it does not feel like it was worth it? Getting back into exercise after the crazy year we had is a great thing, but it needs to be approached in the right way to make sure it is sustainable for you. Key Takeaways If You Want To Get Back into Exercise Without Feeling Wrecked, You Should:
Ditch The 'All or Nothing' Mentality When getting back into movement and working out, the first step is to get rid of the 'all or nothing' mindset that fitness culture has ingrained in us. Instead of going so hard once a week that you have to 'toilet trust fall' for the rest of the week, focusing on a daily movement practice is a much more sustainable and enjoyable way to ease yourself back into exercise. Your body needs support when getting back into movement, which is why you need to integrate taking care of yourself into your daily routine. If you are ready to get reacquainted with a daily commitment to move your body, however, that looks and feels for you, a sustainable approach is the best way to honor your body's signals. Start Where You Are Now We are coming out of a whole year of the world being flipped upside down. The amount of stress you have been under, your daily routine, and your sleep can all affect how ready your body is to get active again. The high-intensity workouts that you may have done in the past might not suit your body's current needs. It is essential that you modulate your intensity and volume of workouts and listen to the signals your body is sending you to properly heal your tissues and address the issues you are feeling. By listening to your body and taking the time to properly recover, you can get active again without wrecking yourself so that you can be more consistent, enjoy the benefits of your workout, and have fun while still challenging yourself. Physical activity can be a fun, challenging, and positive experience if you approach it the right way. By shifting your mindset away from the 'all or nothing' mentality, modulating your intensity and volume, and focusing on your tissue recovery through nutrition and awareness, you can harness your good intentions and get active again. Are you ready to take your motivation to get active again and implement it in a safe, healthy, and fun way? Share what your daily movement commitment is with me in the comments section on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "I want you to start thinking about movement being more of a daily commitment instead of a once-a-week smash fest which then you can't move for the next five days and your body is so painfully sore that every step you take feels super painful." (9:02) "We have been taught by fitness culture in general that if it is not intensity level 10, that it was no good and we got no benefit from it. Which is absolutely not true." (12:10) "You need to think about what is leading up to me getting more active again and are there things I should probably deal with with my body?" (21:08) "What I am seeing a lot in the community is still an under-eating situation. It's like an under-eating, under-recovery situation, and that is not going to help with your recovery." (28:29) "Recovery is a part of the process, and if you are coming out of a period of less activity, it might be something you need to think a little bit more about." (30:06)
Featured on the Show Join the CORE 4 Program Waitlist Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 319: Why Fitspo Needs To Die LTYB 129: How Mobility Can Help You Unlock Your Inner Power with Jen Esquer LTYB 055: How to Stand for Better Health Kelly & Juliet Starrett | |||
| Your Body's Changed During the Pandemic...Now What? w/ Evelyn Tribole | 23 Mar 2021 | 00:52:09 | |
We are now over one year into the global pandemic. While there is a sense of excitement and hope around seeing friends and loved ones who we have been absent from this past year, there is also a lot of anxiety around seeing people after your body has changed. Today the living legend Evelyn Tribole is here to share some of her best advice on these topics and help you navigate the world and your body in a post-pandemic situation. Key Takeaways If You Are Anxious About How Your Body Has Changed Throughout The Pandemic, You Should:
You Are More Than a Body Nobody in the world has more experience in intuitive eating and the anti-diet space than Evelyn Tribole. Co-creator of the Intuitive Eating Framework, which was introduced into the world 25+ years ago, Evelyn is a wealth of wisdom when it comes to connecting and honoring our bodies. Surviving Is Something To Be Proud Of The first thing Evelyn wants you to remember is that regardless of your body changing over the last year, your body also survived a pandemic, which is an amazing accomplishment. As we start to navigate the new social norms, it is an opportunity for us to change the narrative and move past the body objectification that has been a toxic part of our culture. You are so much more than a body. When it comes time to reconnect with those we have not seen in a while, it is essential to set boundaries within your bandwidth and focus on the connection we have been missing from others, not the judgment of other people's bodies. By being consistent and reinforcing your boundaries around conversation, you can normalize the accomplishment of simply surviving the global pandemic. Being Kind To Your Body Going Forward When was the last time you asked yourself if you have been kind to your body on a biological level? While it is instinctual to use food restriction as a means of control when so much of our world is out of our control, dishonoring your hunger through restriction disrupts your cells on a biological level and ruins their trust in you. Being consistently kind to your body in acts of predictable nourishment can help you cultivate trust between you and your cells. Diet culture tells us that we need to outsource our nutrition decisions. Evelyn wants you to challenge yourself instead to tune in to how your body responds, which can be a beautiful adventure. You can stop the legacy of diet culture at your own kitchen table and take back some of the agency and hope we have been missing to bring your family and community into a healthier and more supportive post-pandemic world. How do you feel about the potential to see people again and reestablish connections once it is safe to do so? Which of Evelyn's tips are you going to integrate to ease your anxiety and nourish your body with consistency? Share your thoughts on how your body has changed throughout the pandemic with me in the comments section of the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "Looking at yourself and that there might need to be some grieving that needs to take place. For this relationship and how it used to be, grieving for the time spent in pursuit of things that are no longer serving you, that you have found actually hurt and harm you. There might be anger with that, there might be sadness with that. And it is giving yourself the space and time for that." (14:04) "Our biology has a mind of its own, and it disrupts trust every time you mess with hunger." (20:05) "They can say all these sweet words of compassion and self-love, but at the end of the day, if you are still cutting your calories, your cells at a biological level are going to have a reaction to that." (27:52) "Intuitive eating is not pass or fail, it is a journey of learning and discovery." (38:15) "You need to go through the wobble to discover the connection with your body. I can guide you to some practices to help you figure it out, but it is going to take you connecting and checking in." (45:16)
Featured on the Show Enroll in the Free Food Freedom Mini-Course Here Intuitive Eating for Every Day by Evelyn Tribole Intuitive Eating 4th Edition by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch The Intuitive Eating Workbook by Evelyn Tribole, Elyse Resch, and Tracy Tylka Join the Intuitive Eating Online Community Here Follow Evelyn on Instagram Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 275: The Anti-Diet Approach To Eating with Evelyn Tribole | |||
| How To Make Intuitive Eating Practical | 16 Mar 2021 | 00:37:06 | |
One of the most common questions I receive is how to actually put intuitive eating practice into your real life. We can often get hung up on the rules and restrictions of diet culture that we feel lost without them and unsure of how to move forward on our intuitive eating journey. Today I am here to give you practical advice for implementing intuitive eating into your everyday life. Key Takeaways If you are looking to include the practice of intuitive eating into your life you should:
You Were Born an Intuitive Eater Intuitive eating may sound simple, but it's not easy. In short, intuitive eating is just eating! You were born an intuitive eater, sensing when you are hungry and what satisfaction feels like. However, the way you have been socialized has shaped how you interact with food, to the point where many of us don't know how to trust and listen to both our brains and our bodies. Intuitive eating is about simplifying your eating habits and guidelines so that you can find the overlap between listening to your brain and your body to make intuitive eating decisions. Practical Advice for Implementing Intuitive Eating in Your Life Building healthy habits is the key to changing your internal landscape when it comes to food and learning to listen to your body's signals. You don't need to be mindful 100% of the time, but even a small amount of awareness can be powerful when embracing intuitive eating. Starting from a place of mindfulness, taking it one principle at a time, and planning your meals in a way that fits in with your lifestyle are all great ways to start checking in with yourself and selecting your food choices based on a more internal approach. Which of my tips have you tried? What have you noticed? Share your thoughts and experiences with me in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "We have become so accustomed to interacting with food in that way, that when we present intuitive eating as eating without all of the rules, and restrictions, and regulations, and calculations, and computations, and logging, and everything, it kind of breaks your brain a little bit." (6:08) "Here is how I sum up intuitive eating. It is where you use both your brain and your body to decide what to eat." (10:29) "In mindful eating, what we are really trying to do is to build awareness of what we are doing, because a lot of our eating is very automatic." (22:53) "You are not a short-order cook… and you shouldn't have to be one in order to make intuitive eating work for you. Remember we are trying to simplify things." (30:47) "It is okay to repeat meals, it is okay to use convenience items, it is okay to use dry goods from your pantry, it's okay to use frozen foods. We have to let go of some of the stigmas around that stuff." (35:41)
Featured on the Show Join the Tune In Membership Here Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
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| Progressive Overload: How to Keep Getting Stronger | 04 Nov 2024 | 00:48:49 | |
Whether you are new to strength training or a seasoned lifter, progressive overload is two common words you have probably heard before. But what do they really mean, and how can you apply them both as a lifter and as a coach? If you are feeling stuck because you are not seeing the gains you are hoping for in your programming, progressive overload could be the puzzle piece you still need to include. Key Takeaways
If you are interested in progressive overload, you should:
The Key to Long-Term Strength Gains
You see relatively continuous improvement by gradually tweaking the dials of your training and the demands placed on your body over time. If you fail to challenge your body, you will fail to adapt. One of the hardest and most important things you can do is advance your lifting in a way that makes the most of your time and moves you in the right direction. The key is having a plan for your lifting that saves you time and worry when you get into the gym. Know Why It Matters
Training, coaching, lifting, and recovering are a science and an art. But to really see results, it takes new challenges and an understanding of one's motivation behind the movements.
Increasing weights or adding more reps, paying attention to rest time, and utilizing different exercises and tempos are all key components to seeing the results you are hoping for. Patience and repetition are the basis of long-term strength training; all you need is the right program!
What role does progressive overload play in your strength training program? Let me know your thoughts in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes
"When it comes to your strength training, progressive overload is the cornerstone that guides, the guiding principle that steers your training program and training plan." (2:56)
"To put this into common words, we need a stressor, that's our training, and we need recovery, which is where we finally experience that adaptation." (15:56)
"Training is a science and an art. Coaching is a science and an art. Implementing this is a science and an art, and getting to know yourself and/or your clients is really important. (22:37)
"We need to pump the breaks a bit, and find a way to keep you moving forward without accelerating things to the point where you can't recover." (34:17)
"If you have been lifting the same weights for months and months and months on end, it is time, my friend, you have got to move up in weight." (39:25) Featured on the Show
7-Day Sample of Strong with Steph
Apply for Strong with Steph Here
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| Is It Wrong To Want To Lose Weight? | 09 Mar 2021 | 00:37:00 | |
We have been told for our whole lives that our weight equals health which equals our worth. Have you ever stopped to ponder how this diet culture mentality has been engrained into our relationship with our bodies and our health? Just because diet culture tells us that thinner equals healthier, it does not mean it is the truth. Key Takeaways If You Want To Start Asking Yourself The Important Questions, You Should:
Fuck the Scale I used to let the number I saw on the scale completely dictate if I had a bad day or a good day. Like so many women out there, I had a toxic relationship with the scale, and I thought that if I could achieve my 'goal', I would be happy. This obsession extended into how I viewed other people, and I was buying into the story that intentional weight loss via restriction was the only path. Weight loss can be a beneficial byproduct of improving your health, but it is not the only measure that matters. Gaining health is about feeling better in your body at whatever size, instead of the number on the scale. How To Find Sustainable Health When people prioritize their health, they often assume that it is the weight loss that makes them feel better. In reality, it is the habits, behaviors, and changes you are making in your life that make you feel better, and weight loss can sometimes be a byproduct of those healthy habits. It is not inherently wrong to want to change your body; you have the autonomy to do what feels right for you. But to make health changes work for you, think about how you can stay focused, how you want to feel, your deeper why, and the habits you can commit to consistently. Instead of forcing yourself to stay motivated based on the number on your scale, focus on how you want to feel in your body, and you can gain truly sustainable health. What did you think when you read the title of today's podcast? Share your gut reaction with me in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "When I criticize the diet industry and diet culture, I am not criticizing the individual dieter, the person who goes on the diet. Because they are simply trying to exist in a system that is constantly reinforcing that weight loss is 'the path'." (10:41) "It's not even normal in our world to think about 'well, what else is there besides weight loss?' because that is the only thing that is ever presented to us from the diet industry." (15:22) "There are often times lots of changes that people were making, but they go back to it being the weight loss that helped them feel better. When in fact, a lot of the time it was the behaviors and habits they had changed that were actually making them feel better and improving their quality of life." (23:01) "We need to connect to how we want to feel because feelings drive actions." (25:26) "We need to consider that when we gain health, weight loss is sometimes, but not always, an outcome. And losing weight doesn't always automatically confer better health." (35:57)
Featured on the Show Join the Tune In Membership Here Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 304: What is Gentle Nutrition? (Intuitive Eating Principle 10) | |||
| Why I'm Not Paleo Anymore | 02 Mar 2021 | 00:49:24 | |
Do you remember when I used to be 'Stupid Easy Paleo'? A lot of you are curious as to why I am no longer paleo and the complete rebranding I did in 2018. So, I decided to share my real, truthful, nitty-gritty story with you all for this week's episode. Key Takeaways If You Are Starting To See The Cracks In Your Own Relationship With Food and Diets You Should:
How I Got Here In 2018 I had a realization. I realized that I had been carrying my disordered eating and relationship with my body through the various stages of my life, masking it with different diets and exercise regimes. When I first heard about paleo in 2010, my most significant thought was 'will this help me get smaller?'. While I did learn some good things from paleo, over time, the rules, restrictions, and arguments I had with people about whether or not something 'is' or 'isn't paleo was making me exhausted. That's when I realized something had to change. Restriction Isn't Helping Anybody The more I learned about the origins of diet culture and the harm that comes from approaching 'taking care of our health' in a way that is restrictive and an all-or-nothing mentality, I knew I had to burn what I thought I knew down to the ground. When you are able to take the guilt and shame out of your relationship with food and stop thinking about food 24/7, you can come back to yourself. You are always and have always been worthy no matter your body size or appearance, and my mission is to help you get back to being the intuitive eater that you were born as. Do you see yourself reflected in my story? How is your story different than mine? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "We always have a choice. We are faced with new information all day, every day, and we get to decide how and if we want to incorporate that information into our new viewpoint of the world and our perspective." (3:32) "I feel like I wasn't living my life because I was so invested in dieting, and shrinking myself, and making myself smaller." (12:41) "This is when I started to become aware of the fact that my thinking around food was occupying a lot of my time. Prior to that, it was just something that happened, I didn't have that outside looking in awareness of 'this is kind of fucked up'." (23:53) "I started to learn about bigger issues, things like diet culture. And then it all started to make sense." (33:38) "I think that is my biggest point to you today, is learning to find the wiggle room, removing the guilt and the shame, recognizing that some of these smaller dietary choices are not going to cause you some kind of crazy significant harm." (44:42)
Featured on the Show Join the Tune In Membership Here Instead of Weight Loss, Focus on This Blog Post Jamie Scott P3 Athletica Website Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
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| Hungry For Change: When Too Much Info Is Too Much | 23 Feb 2021 | 00:34:55 | |
I want you to think back to 2011. What were you doing a decade ago? I was unhappy with different aspects of my life, feeling restless, and starting to think I should do something else. It took me two years, but in 2013 I changed my career and haven't looked back since. If you have an inkling that something isn't quite right in your life but are getting stuck on the road to making that change, this is the episode for you. Key Takeaways If You Want To Get Out Of the Information Overload Stage You Should:
Finding Your Intuitive Eating Sweet Spot When making a change in your life, big or small, there is a tendency to get caught up in the learning phase. Often we don't want to jump into something until we feel 100% ready, but the truth is that if you wait to feel completely ready, you will be waiting forever. Diet culture tells us to outsource our health decisions which creates a 'one size fits all' approach to our bodies. This is simply not the case, and intuitive eating encourages you to find the sweet spot between those external values and your own body's attunement. While information can help you prepare for this next phase of your life, it is important to remember that you need to find the middle ground between preparing and actually taking action. The 6 Stages of Change Consuming information makes us feel like we are doing something when it is really aiding us in procrastinating on making the change we are contemplating. There are six stages of change, and it is important to be honest with yourself about what stage you are at and remember that after every speed bump comes a new cycle. Doing your research is great. But when you are able to take the information you have gathered and challenge yourself to take action, that is where the real magic happens. Intuitive eating is a combination of active learning and experiential learning, and it's up to you to get out there and do the thing. What stage of change do you feel that you are at with your relationship with food? Let me know in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "There are so many places that you can get stuck, and one of them is information overload." (2:02) "How can we find that middle ground? How can we find the overlap? That is really why putting intuitive eating principles into practice is so important, because it helps to combat only loading yourself with information." (13:22) "Where are you at with your own relationship with food and coming to a kinder place that isn't so 'all or nothing'? I want you to think about that." (21:48) "At the end of the day, you can read the book, you can read the workbook, you can listen to all of the podcasts, you can read all the anti-diet books, you can do all of that. And some things may change...but intuitive eating by its very nature is an active experiential process." (24:42) "Give yourself grace, it is a process. If you feel like you are going to wait until you are 100% ready, you are going to be waiting forever." (30:28)
Featured on the Show Join the Tune In Membership Here Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
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| Is Body Positivity for You? | 16 Feb 2021 | 00:31:10 | |
There is a big difference between feeling positive about your body and the body positivity movement, but it can be a very nuanced topic to understand. While diet culture is part of a more extensive set of oppressive systems to people with marginalized identities, the body positivity movement has moved so far away from how it started. Social justice and body positivity are heavily intersected, and it takes some time to unpack just how deeply that runs in our society. Key Takeaways If You Want To Understand The Difference Between Body Positivity and the Body Positivity Movement, You Should:
The Difference Between Body Positivity and Systemic Oppression The body positivity movement has started to center around people who don't represent the individuals that this movement was really created by and for. Although originally created for people in marginalized bodies, we have seen a change in the 'face' of body positivity shifting away from marginalized bodies and towards others that are co-opting the movement. While it is still totally possible and common for people in straighter size bodies to dislike their bodies and relationships with food, it is not the same as experiencing the kind of systemic discrimination and oppression that people in larger bodies experience every single day. What You Can Do To Stop the Co-Opting There is still judgment for people in larger bodies who embrace the body positivity movement in the same way that people in non-marginalized bodies do. By being clearer and discerning with the terms that we use on social media and in real life, we can stop the systematic oppression found in the body positivity movement and start including the people who might not look like you. With some learning, some listening, and some questioning, you can start to peel back the layers of the body positivity onion and understand the time and place of these hard things. How are you going to dig deeper into the differences between body positivity, fatphobia, and the systemic oppression of marginalized bodies? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "It is kind of important to bring up this idea of co-opting, and how it removes the emphasis away from the people or the concepts that it was really designed to support." (7:52) "You start to see that predominantly thin, white, young, cisgender people who are being featured as the 'faces' of body positivity. And that is so different from the origins of the fat acceptance movement." (15:46) "What I am trying to say in this episode is that yes, you may have negative feelings about your body. Even if your body is very thin, you may still have body dysmorphia, you could still have an eating disorder, you could still have disordered eating, you could still not like your body. But it's still not the same as experiencing the kind of systemic discrimination and oppression that people in larger bodies experience every single day." (19:10) "There is a difference between feeling bad about your body and experiencing systemic discrimination." (22:23) "I don't want you to just listen to me; I want you to really go seek out and follow and listen to people who are in larger bodies as a start." (27:44)
Featured on the Show Join the Tune In Membership Here Fearing The Black Body by Sabrina Strings Fat Is a Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 313: How To Stop a Bad Body Image Day in Its Tracks with Brianna Campos LTYB 320: Why You Can't Shame Yourself Into Changing Your Body LTYB 302: Finding Joy & Acceptance in Fitness for Every Body with Kanoa Greene | |||
| Why You Can't Shame Yourself Into Changing Your Body | 09 Feb 2021 | 00:36:53 | |
Are you feeling shameful around your body and trying to use that shame as a motivator to make changes? I have some bad news for you; it is not going to work. Shame not only has a profoundly negative impact on our mental health, but it is also harmful to how we see ourselves as people and our ability to make long-lasting change. Key Takeaways If You Want To Stop Shaming Yourself Or Letting Others Shame You, You Should:
Why Shame Doesn't Work Shame comes from a very internalized place of believing that you are inherently flawed. Shame is different from guilt, which is a contextualized feeling about something you did rather than who you are. Shame is scientifically proven to be a debilitating emotion that can come from external and internal narratives that are systematically pushed upon us. Shame, especially when it comes from the outside, negatively impacts how we see ourselves as people, and makes us hide, get smaller, and remove ourselves. How To Create Sustainable Change Shaming yourself or hating yourself into change simply does not work and can greatly impact how you see yourself and others. Social media and the patriarchy are only exacerbating this issue, which is why it is essential to treat yourself with kindness and approach change in a way that feels good to you. Instead of operating from a place of shame, challenge yourself to create change in a way that feels sustainable and good. Block that body-shaming Instagram account, stop engaging with 'concern trollers', and get curious about where your thoughts are coming from. When you have patience with yourself and stop linking your self-worth to your body size or shape, real change can happen. Are you ready to stop using shame as a motivator, only to end up feeling worse about yourself? Share how you are going to tweak your mindset away from shame with me in the comments section of the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "Shame is a normal human experience, but this chronically feeling shameful can be really harmful for our health, especially the mental health aspect of our overall health." (14:30) "That was so powerful, and really put it into perspective of why shaming people for their bodies does damage, and why shame for ourselves is really something to investigate and heal if it is persistent." (16:47) "Guilt may be more powerful in terms of helping us make change, and maybe less harmful to us if we are really able to make things right. But shame, especially when it comes from other people, is so damaging to us, and it can be really harmful to our health, really harmful to our mental state, and really harmful to how we see ourselves as people." (20:59) "Thoughts affect feelings and feelings drive our actions. So if you feel guilty, or shameful or shitty, generally speaking, how do you act or react? It is typically not going to be a change you feel really great about." (30:24) "Getting clear about a motivator in your life that is coming from a place of expansiveness, possibility, curiosity, growth, and transformation is far more powerful than hating yourself into change." (34:59)
Featured on the Show Join the Tune In Membership Here The Scientific Underpinnings and Impacts of Shame Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 318: How Diet Culture Fails Us LTYB 313: How To Stop a Bad Body Image Day in Its Tracks with Brianna Campos | |||
| Why Fitspo Needs To Die | 02 Feb 2021 | 00:37:41 | |
When you think about diet culture, do you think about how it has affected your relationship with fitness? Often times we focus on how diet culture impacts our relationship with food, but it also has a profound effect on our connection to exercise and fitness. The fitspo mentality promotes a narrow ideal that is widely unachievable, keeps us stuck in the patriarchal system of having to prove our worth, and harms us by taking us further away from listening to our bodies. Key Takeaways If You Are Ready To See Fitspo Die You Should:
The Real Meaning of Fitness Dan John defines fitness as your ability to do a task. That's it. Nothing about the way you look, the amount of muscle you have, or your ability to look like the 'fit' people you see on Instagram. Society has adopted coded language around fitness that seeks to limit and control a woman's ability to show up in a certain way when it comes to fitness. In reality, you can include movement in your life in a way that is healthy for you right now and has no connection to the way you look. Your relationship with exercise should bring you satisfaction and make you feel good in your here and now body without the pressure of intentional weight-loss or body changes. How Fitspo Harms Us Fitspo harms us in more ways than one. Firstly, it promotes a narrow and privileged version of a certain 'look'. It also promotes a 'no days off' mentality, that scares us into believing that if we rest, we are not worthy, are not strong, or are going to lose our gains. This is simply not true and keeps us stuck in the mentality of proving our worth and exercising solely to change the way our bodies look. One of the biggest ways fitspo harms us is by preventing us from listening to our bodies. Your body will tell you if it needs rest and if it is enjoying the type of movement you are engaging with. While getting to know your body in the physical exercise capacity is very personal and takes time, listening to your body's signals is the only way that you are going to get over the fitspo mentality. Are you ready to embrace a version of fitness that is accessible, inclusive, and doesn't focus on changing your body? Share how you are embracing movement for the sake of movement and rejecting the fitspo life in the comments section of the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "Diet culture doesn't just impact your relationship with food, it also has a prevalent impact on how we see fitness talked about, displayed, and some of the mentalities that are related to fitness." (3:01) "Dan John says fitness is your ability to do a task, so right there, your ability to do a task, your ability to complete a specific physical task typically is what fitness really is. And yet we as a society constantly reduce fitness to a look." (7:49) "If you are pursuing a specific type of fitness because there is a promise of a specific aesthetic look, is that actually 1) realistic for your body type? And 2) is it actually really bringing you a sense of fulfillment?" (12:45) "It's worth thinking about how pushing through and saying 'I can't take any days off, I am not allowed a rest day if I take a rest day I'm lazy, I'm a loser, I'm a slacker, I'm going to lose all of my progress', how does that mentality keep us from really tuning in and listening to our bodies?" (24:00) "The other way that fitspo harms us is it takes the emphasis off all of the other reasons why exercise can be fun and beneficial that have really nothing to do with weight loss or body size control." (28:55)
Featured on the Show Join the Tune In Membership Here Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 318: How Diet Culture Fails Us LTYB 302: Finding Joy & Acceptance in Fitness for Every Body with Kanoa Greene LTYB 295: Changing The Way You View Fitness with Simone Tchouke | |||
| How Diet Culture Fails Us | 26 Jan 2021 | 00:44:45 | |
Diet culture is a symptom of an oppressive system that underpins so many of the ways we show up in the world. It prevents us from being present, enjoying the people we love and the things we enjoy, and stops us from caring for ourselves. Although we do not consent to diet culture, we have to deal with the fallout of generations of both men and women playing into the 'rewards' of diet culture, while ignoring all of the risks. Key Takeaways If You Are Ready To Reclaim What Diet Culture Has Stolen From You, You Should:
What Diet Culture Steals From Us Diet culture keeps us small in every sense of the word. It keeps us striving for an unattainable and constantly changing body ideal, it keeps us distracted and dulled from using our power, and it keeps us from enjoying life experiences and the people we love. We were not put on this Earth to achieve a perfect body and then die. Often we don't even realize what diet culture is stealing from us because we are so immersed in it. I guarantee that when you look back at your life, the people you love will not remember if you have cellulite, they will remember how you made them feel and the memories that you were able to enjoy together. The Real Risks of Diet Culture Diet culture doesn't just make us play small or hold back on our dreams and chase impossible body ideals; it can actually take our lives from us in every sense of the world. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness out there, but the corporations and companies that fed us this swill only focus on diet culture benefits, not the downsides. Unpacking and unlearning diet culture takes time and requires self-compassion and connection. While it is not going to happen overnight, just understanding the risks that are very real if we continue to let diet culture perpetuate our lives is a great first step. Are you ready to stop letting diet culture steal your zest for life? Share which of my suggestions you are going to implement to step away from diet culture and reclaim the things that diet culture has stolen from you in the comments section of the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "I think we need to name how we are harmed by diet culture in these ways, how diet culture has failed us." (13:59) "Diet culture makes us play small and it makes us hold back on our dreams." (17:39) "Diet culture steals our life from us, it makes us pull back from having the experiences and participating in all of the things that we love, the people we want to be with. And those are really the experiences that stick and that matter." (21:34) "When you decide to start unpacking diet culture and start moving away from these practices in your own life, you need support. Do not do this on your own because you will quickly become overwhelmed and subsumed by this larger dominant system." (32:17) "The toll that diet culture is taking on us is heavy, and the corporations and companies and diet industry, they are not forthcoming about the risks, they are not forthcoming about the downsides." (34:06)
Featured on the Show Join the Tune In Membership Here National Eating Disorders Association Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 317: Diet Culture and the Patriarchy LTYB 316: What Food Freedom Is (And Isn't) LTYB 298: How to Show Up More Authentically with Grace Edison | |||
| Diet Culture and the Patriarchy | 19 Jan 2021 | 00:35:09 | |
Have you ever stopped to consider that dieting and the diet industry work to keep us busy and distracted as a result of the patriarchy? The constant pursuit of body perfection tries to keep us spinning on a hamster wheel so that we do not have the time or energy for anything else, and that needs to stop now. Key Takeaways If You Want To Start Uncovering How Dieting and the Patriarchy You Can:
The System Was Built To Make Us Fail When we are preoccupied with the scale and food restrictions, we shrink ourselves literally and metaphorically. The ideal body comes from decades of the patriarchy that is reinforced by everything around you. The system is designed to oppress women-identifying folks, while the ideal body keeps changing. The time, resources, and attention that pursuit of body perfection takes is just simply not worth it. It is about damn time that we get off this hamster wheel and focus on something other than our bodies. Reinvesting Your Energy How often do you compliment someone on their looks as the first thing you say about them? Can you imagine how much time and energy you could get back if you started questioning the influence of the patriarchy on our endless pursuit for body perfection? Instead of focusing on what could go wrong or what you could miss out on if you start feeding into this internalized intersection of diet and the patriarchy, think about all the things you could gain if you stopped focusing on controlling the way you look. I truly believe that we were not put on this planet to work ourselves to achieve the perfect body. Your energy, your spirit, and your magic could all be being wasted on the patriarchal view of body perfection, and you are worth so much more than that. How are you working to stop internalizing and perpetuating the intersection of diet culture and the patriarchy? Let me know how your challenge went this week in the comments section of the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "Dieting for the sake of body perfection keeps us distracted from everything else going on in the world because it is all-consuming." (6:15) "We have this constantly being reinforced to us from a very young age that if we look the part if we look a certain way like these body ideals and beauty ideals, that we will be more worthy, that we will be better people. And it is absolutely a tool of the patriarchy." (11:58) "Because of body diversity, some people in larger bodies are in great health, just like some people in smaller bodies are in terrible health." (19:06) "We live in a patriarchal society, we live in a fatphobic society, we live in a white supremacist society, where all of these things are consistently reinforced. So it is not our fault." (22:42) "How can you take your idea of worth, your own worth or what you appreciate about someone else, and expand that? What energy would that buy you back?" (27:14)
Featured on the Show If you're ready to get free with food and fitness, check out the Tune In Membership More Than A Body by Lindsay Kite & Lexi Kite Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 316: What Food Freedom Is (And Isn't) LTYB 214: 6 Reasons BMI is Bullshit LTYB 313: How To Stop A Bady Body Image Day In Its Tracks with Brianna Campos | |||
| What Food Freedom Is and Isn't | 12 Jan 2021 | 00:33:06 | |
Finding true food freedom is a nuanced discussion that has roots in many important conversations. The patriarchy, race, gender, body autonomy, and diet culture are just a few of the systems involved in bringing awareness to the food you are eating and how you are treating your body. Key Takeaways If You Want To Find Food Freedom You Should:
Listening To Your Body's Signals I want you to feel the freedom to question what we have been taught about the 'right way to eat'. Mindful eating is a great place to start, and it can help you relearn how to connect with yourself and what you enjoy. Nutrition from a non-diet perspective may seem like a strange concept, but it is only by raising your awareness and opening the door that you can stop pursuing perfection and start listening to your body's signals. What Is Food Freedom? Food freedom does not mean restricting yourself, going back to eating 'regularly', and then if you begin to feel yourself 'falling off the wagon' or 'losing control', that the solution is to go back to the restriction. Food freedom is embracing the freedom to eat foods that make you feel good, that are enjoyable and satisfying, and are without unnecessary restriction. Food freedom means eating in a way that enhances your life, and that is helpful to your mind, and body, and emotions, and spirit, and culture. Health Over Perfection Young girls should not be growing up in a diet culture, fatphobic world. You are inherently worthy and valuable no matter what, and we deserve better than a lifetime of hating our bodies and thinking we are worthless because we don't fit the mold. Instead of focusing on intentional weight loss, I challenge you to focus on embracing health-promoting behaviors. The pursuit of perfection isn't getting you anywhere, and it is time to stop denying our own magic just because we don't fit the mold diet culture has laid out for us. What conversations are you excited to have in 2021? Share your thoughts with me in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "The freedom to eat foods that make you feel good, foods that are enjoyable and satisfying, the freedom to eat without extremes, the freedom to eat without unnecessary restriction, the freedom to eat in a way that is enhancing to your life and not detracting from your life, the freedom to eat in a way that is helpful to your mind and your body and your emotions and your spirit and your culture, the freedom to eat foods that are important from your culture… that's what I mean by food freedom." (9:31) "No matter what body you are in, no matter your health status, no matter your size, no matter your ability or disability, you f*cking deserve respect, and you need to give other people respect in return." (12:25) "Can we individually think about our food behaviors and practices and what we eat, while also holding that there is also a larger context? That is going to be really important going forward." (15:18) "We only get one shot at this life, as we are right now, and to live with such dissatisfaction of our own magic, and our own gifts and talents and worthiness because we don't have perfect bodies, crushed me. And at that moment I said, 'you know what, this has to change'." (25:52) "If I am critical on this podcast of diet culture and the influence of the patriarchy on how we live our lives, especially as women, it is not a criticism of you as an individual." (29:53)
Featured on the Show If you're ready to get free with food and fitness, check out the Tune In Membership Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! | |||
| 2020 Surprising Lessons Learned and a New Season Preview | 05 Jan 2021 | 00:26:16 | |
With the new year here and 2020 in the past, I'm looking both back and ahead. In this solo episode, join me as I share three lessons I learned during the challenges brought by 2020, the top five episodes of last year, and a sneak peak of what's to come in a new season of the podcast starting next week. Key Takeaways
Top 3 Lessons from 2020 There's so much to be said about 2020. A year of so much unexpected change, upheaval, loss, and sadness. I learned a lot about having to be flexible, the challenge of holding competing emotions simultaneously, and the importance of creating meaning based more on what comes from inside when I ask questions. It was not easy. By no means did I shine at these lessons like a star pupil. Quite the contrary. It's all messy. My hope is that these lessons will resonate for you or at the very least, help you see things from a different perspective. Dismantling Diet Culture The top five podcasts of last year definitely had a theme: diet culture...specifically looking at diet culture from many angles and seeing the need to move toward a kinder, more compassionate, and more inclusive version of nutrition and fitness. Between guests and solo episodes, we shared many aspects of moving away from dietary and exercise extremes and toward an approach where we listen more to our bodies and let our inner wisdom lead. The top five episodes were:
A Look Ahead to the Podcast in 2021 I'm excited to share that a new season of the podcast is kicking off next week with episode 316. There will be a refreshed content focus, new guests, and maybe even a new look. Stay tuned for the unveiling! Share your key takeaways from this episode with me in the comments section of the episode page. In This Episode
Featured on the Show If you're ready to get free with food and fitness, check out the Tune In Membership Follow me on Instagram and join the conversation about food, fitness, and letting your body lead. Angie Jordan - podcast strategist Related Episodes | |||
| The True Meaning of Strength w/ Alyssa Ages | 15 Oct 2024 | 00:50:46 | |
Have you ever asked yourself what there is to learn from the pursuit of strength? How do the lessons we learn in the gym translate to our lives outside of strength? Alyssa Ages set out on a quest to answer these questions, and in return found a multitude of answers that can help any athletic person get more from their training regime and their life. Key Takeaways
If you are curious about the true meaning of strength, you should:
Strength In and Out of the Gym with Alyssa Ages
Alyssa is a Toronto-based, New York-born author, freelance writer, and copywriter. She is a mom, strongman competitor, endurance athlete (six marathons & an Ironman), rock climber, CrossFitter, and former member of the Jersey City Bridge & Pummel roller derby team. Her debut book, Secrets of Giants: A Journey to Uncover the True Meaning of Strength, was featured in The New York Times and Publisher's Weekly, among others. The book, part personal narrative, part research mission, part midlife crisis odyssey into the world of strength to answer the question: What if strength isn't about how much we can lift, but how we manage life's struggles? The True Meaning of Strength
There is something about strength training and the pursuit of strength that is addictive and keeps bringing us back. But why do we love it so much, and feel so satisfied even when it feels hard? It all comes down to the story we tell ourselves. If you view yourself as a person who is able to handle hard shit, there's a good chance you don't mind getting comfortable with discomfort. Through Alyssa's research, it became clear to her, that if you are purposefully able to do difficult things, the easier all of the things that you encounter in your daily life will start to feel. You Can Do Hard Things
Building strength, physically, mentally, and emotionally, is all about pushing the boundaries of what humans can do. When strength is a part of your identity, you can discover things about yourself through the training process that will help you both in and out of the gym. Building strength is not just about looking good or feeling good, it is about having agency over your life and what you are doing. The ability to fail over and over again safely, allows you to learn something that is applicable in every other area of your life. That might be why we love it so much. If you are also searching for the true meaning of strength, share your thoughts with me in the comments of the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes
"In the book, there is very little about what [strength] does physically to your body and your muscles, and almost exclusively about how it impacts everything else you do in your life outside of a gym setting." (7:50)
"Strongman really showed me that actually, failing was really ok and kind of awesome. Because it was the only way to understand what I actually could do." (17:23)
"It was just that little shift in mindset that gave me the courage to actually do it." (20:05)
"It was really incredible to hear from so many women that they said 'Doing a strength sport taught me that I could love my body not for how it looks, but for what it is capable of doing'." (30:32)
"Once I started to continue with this routine of going back into the gym, with my coach and trying to do everything really safely as I was going through all of this, it helped me to start to regain this feeling of trust and this feeling of capability in my body." (42:03) Featured on the Show
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| How To Set Health Goals Beyond the Scale w/ Steph Dodier | 29 Dec 2020 | 00:41:13 | |
With the new year rapidly approaching, you might be thinking about your goals for 2021. What if those goals had nothing to do with your pant size? I challenge you to reframe how you are working on your health without directly connecting them to your body size. Key Takeaways If You Want To Set Health Goals That Don't Include Weight Loss, You Should:
Creating Goals That Aren't Based On Your Size A fellow Steph is here to help me unpack what it means to set health goals that have nothing to do with weight loss. Steph Dodier is an intuitive eating coach who went from being culturally embedded in diet culture to radically reframing what it means to work on your health without it being connected to your body size. Steph is passionate about helping women live healthy without being on a diet and sharing her techniques for living a healthy lifestyle separate from society's desire to fit into a smaller body. Unraveling Diet Culture Change is only possible when it happens at the core of who you are. Unraveling diet culture can genuinely shake the foundation of who you are or what you thought you believed in. While this can seem daunting, it is important to see this new mindset as an opportunity to analyze where your previous thoughts have come from and whether they truly align with what you want. Viewing your mindset as an opportunity to break away from the definition of health that diet culture has co-opted and instead embrace your own definition of health is the first step to understanding what true health really is. Food Freedom in 2021 How do you define health? While advertisements tell us that your health is solely physical, it is truly a combination of the four bodies, including mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health. By redistributing your energy to all four components of your overall health, you can work towards health in every aspect of the term. 2021 is the year that you can work towards freedom and focus on being healthier rather than just smaller. Steph's voice is the voice you need to ring in the new year and can help you reject diet culture, set goals that don't include weight loss and help you feel better outside of your physical body. Are you ready to enter into the new year focusing on what makes your body feel good? Share your key takeaways from this episode and this year with me in the comments section of the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "I teach it from that place of feminism, and that place of empowerment. And that connects with a certain group of women that are willing or at that place in their life where they are seeking power and seeking power for their own life." (10:13) "Remember, it is a thought, it is not a fact. And I think that is where the power lies, is recognizing that your desire to lose weight is just a thought, and you don't have to believe in it, grab it and entertain it. It does not have power over you." (15:10) "The World Health Organization defines health as both mental, emotional, social, and yes, physical. Yet we are trained through tv advertising, marketing, even through my own medical training, to see health as just physical." (19:48) "There is physical restriction and there is psychological restriction, and moderation to me is a psychological restriction. It may have to be where you live at until you are willing to trust yourself more until you do the work to trust yourself more, and then gradually moderation will go away." (27:52) "I can help you be healthy. Here are all the things that you can do to be healthy, and none of it is going to give you a smaller body, but you are going to be healthier. You are going to move your body easier, you are going to have less inflammation, you are going to have all the things! Do you still want to lose weight?" (33:55) "What if, in 2021, we focus on everything else but the size of your pants. What would happen? That's my challenge to people." (36:40)
Links Join the Tune In Membership Here Conquer and Thrive Community Program Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes | |||
| How To Stop a Bad Body Image Day in Its Tracks w/ Brianna Campos | 21 Dec 2020 | 00:44:40 | |
In these challenging times, body image struggles can get amplified fast. But, if you are prepared with practical ways to get through and understand a bad body image day, you can stop those gremlin thoughts in their tracks and reclaim the power you give your body. Key Takeaways If You Want To Stop A Bad Body Image Day In Its Tracks, You Should:
Body Image With Bri Campos Brianna Campos, or Body Image with Bri, as she is known on Instagram, is a mental health counselor, therapist, and body image coach. Bri is passionate about helping others maneuver through their body image journey and heal the relationship that her clients have with their bodies. Getting Over Your Gremlin Thoughts Bri views the nasty thoughts or critical self-talk we engage with as your 'gremlin voice'. These thoughts can often be messy and uncomfortable, which is why we cover them up with the stories we have been told by diet culture. If you want to push through these gremlin voices, you need to acknowledge your inner dialogue, allow space for grief, and give yourself permission to be where you are right now, regardless of where everybody else is. By auditing your thoughts and focusing on the ones that align with your core values, you can choose to love yourself in a way that feels right for you. Healing Your Body Image Relationship Body image is not just about how you look. Body image encompasses everything from body positivity to privilege and your relationship with diet culture. The work begins when you start to question the stories that you tell yourself and take the leap into the tidal wave of grief and acceptance. While it is not always easy, dismantling how we treat ourselves and our bodies is essential in healing your relationship with your body and getting over your bad body image days with grace. How are you giving yourself permission to be where you are now during this holiday season? Share which of Bri's tips and techniques you are going to implement with me in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "People look to me not because I am perfect, but because I am vulnerable and I am honest." (9:51) "Body image is not just how you look. Body image is also how you believe others view you, how those belief systems have you show up in the world. And there is a piece of body positivity in society of how accessible life is for you in your body." (12:31) "I never believed that I could love my body until it looked the way I wanted it to. And it's five years later, and I love my body. I don't always love the way it looks or the way it moves, but I love my body, I love the vessel that it is and how it brings me closer to the values of connection and relationship and bringing good to the world." (26:13) "Grief is sort of like a tidal wave. If you resist it, it persists. It pulls you deeper and deeper. As opposed to if you just ride out with it, eventually, it puts you back onshore. Because that is what emotions do, we don't stay in one place forever." (31:50) "I am going to honor my body, and this is how I am going to choose to love myself this holiday season." (37:05)
Links Join the Tune In Membership Here Follow Body Image With Bri on Instagram Unpacking the Knapsack of Privilege Article Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 302: Finding Joy & Acceptance in Fitness for Every Body with Kanoa Greene LTYB 183: Dealing with Negative Body Image with Beauty Redefined | |||
| Lessons You Can Learn From Your Unique Human Design w/ Erin Claire Jones | 15 Dec 2020 | 00:42:54 | |
Have you ever considered that your unique human design could help you listen to your body better? While there are tons of personality tests out there, the human design focuses less on a type and more on what you need to know about yourself to function optimally. Key Takeaways If You Want to Understand Yourself Better Through Human Design You Should:
Understanding Human Design With Erin Claire Jones Erin Claire Jones uses Human Design to help thousands of individuals and companies step into their work and their lives as their most authentic selves and to their highest potential. Erin works as a guide, coach, and speaker, providing practical tools, digestible tips, and deeper self-knowledge so that you can gain access to living with greater ease and authenticity every single day. We Are All Meant To Do Things Differently Understanding your human design essentially means understanding how each of us is meant to make decisions. Harnessing the innate knowing that is within you can help you govern every decision and connect you to your unique decision-making process. By understanding your specific strategy and authority, you can create space in your life for pieces of alignment to fall into place and give yourself permission to be yourself. Finding Beauty in the 5 Human Design Types While human design works on a case by case basis, there are five main types that each holds unique hallmarks. Whether you are a manifesting generator, generator, projector, reflector, or manifestor, each one of us brings a different perspective and a different value to the table. When we are able to appreciate those differences, we will be brought closer together in our relationships and as a whole society. Are you ready to better understand your human design and use it as a tool to explore yourself and be open to new possibilities? Share what aspect of human design intrigues you the most with me in the comments section of the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "If there is anything that human design has taught me, it's that we are all meant to do things differently." (10:14) "I'm not trying to convince you of anything. Take what resonates and leave the rest. This is a tool that is meant to be a tool that empowers you but does not limit you." (17:10) "Once we often dive more deeply into it, once we really explore it, it often makes so much more sense." (30:32) "I think that often my experience makes people feel so in love with themselves, and so empowered to do things in a way that uniquely works for them." (31:37) "I always say that we come into this life without an operating manual, and human design just gives us the manual." (39:40)
Links Join the Tune In Membership Here Get 10% Off Your Personalized Blueprint with the code STEPH Look Up Your Human Design Here Book an Individual Session with Erin Here Follow Erin on Instagram Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 311: Reclaiming Your Spark By Honoring Your Swagger w/ Anniedi Essien | |||
| Reclaiming Your Spark By Honoring Your Swagger w/ Anniedi Essien | 08 Dec 2020 | 00:40:53 | |
Do you have big ambitions? What about dreaming of changing the world? The reality is you can accomplish everything you want when you can overcome burnout and find your groove. Using your mind, body, and swagger, you can reclaim your spark, achieve your goals, and take care of yourself in the process. Key Takeaways If You Want To Get Your Spark Back While Avoiding Burnout You Should:
Reclaiming Your Spark with Anniedi Essien Anniedi Essien also had dreams of changing the world but looked up one day, realizing she had lost her unique spark. This is why Anniedi founded Idem Spark, where she helps women of every shape, shade, and size level up their mindset, embody their goals and embrace their own unique swagger. Honoring Your Relationship With Yourself and Others Many of us are led to believe that our worth comes from how we serve others. This can make putting your self-care as a priority as counterintuitive to what we have been taught. This is all wrong and can cause serious burnout. Instead of relying on yourself to be fiercely independent, there is strength in recognizing that you can't do it all alone. By working internally to repair your relationship with yourself, you can build new relationships that will support you going forward and help you become the woman you know you can be. Mind, Body, and Swagger The SPARK method works on your mind, body, and swagger to develop a wellness plan that is in line with your authentic self. We all have different goals and dreams, and it is only by owning your unique identity that you can create a plan that is aligned with you. There is no reward without risk, and it takes letting go of control and intentionally making your wellness a priority to see real change. Your body will let you know what it needs if you just start moving it, listening to it, and giving yourself the grace you need to move forward in these uncertain times. Are you ready to define what success looks like on your terms, honor your mind, body, and swagger, and get your spark back? Share which of Anniedi's methods you are going to implement into your self-care routine with me in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "This is all about how to go from being burnt out to being fired up. And for me that meant overhauling my wellness and really turning everything upside down." (8:23) "This superwoman syndrome that is like, 'I am going to put my cape on and go out and save the world', but we don't realize that we also have to save ourselves." (13:32) "Relying on a dream team actually first required me to build a relationship with myself and listen to my body, honor is cues that I had ignored for so many years, and know when to raise my hand and wave the white flag of surrender and say 'I need help'." (17:57) "That swagger piece is really about owning your unique identity and really creating a plan that is aligned to you." (24:20) "You don't have to have it all together in the middle of a pandemic. What you want to be doing is giving yourself grace, and you want to be figuring out what you want to prioritize and tackle first." (35:28)
Links Join the Tune In Membership Here Use the Special Code LTYB20 For The Career Swagger Program Follow Idem Spark on Instagram | Facebook Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
Related Episodes LTYB 307: Learning To Date With More Confidence with Lily Womble LTYB 285: How To Stop Outsourcing Your Enoughness with Bonnie Gillespie | |||
| How To Stop Counting Calories and Start Enjoying Food Again w/ Caitlin Ball | 01 Dec 2020 | 00:40:09 | |
Are you suffering from a food lifestyle hangover? Counting calories and quantifying every little thing that you eat could actually be keeping you from listening to your body. Intuitive Eating is all about a more pleasurable and enjoyable way to eat that will help you start feeling better and enjoy food again. Key Takeaways If You Want To Stop Counting Calories And Start Enjoying Food You Should:
The Power of Intuitive Eating Caitlin Ball is a health coach who specializes in Intuitive Eating. After moving to Switzerland, Caitlin saw the astronomical difference between how food is approached in Europe compared to the United States. Once she experienced a transformative glimpse of Intuitive Eating, she knew she couldn't go back and had to share this information with the world. Rejecting Diet Culture Once and for All When working to gain more body awareness, trusting the process and finding a support system is key. As women, we have been told for so long that our worth is based on our appearance, and restricting ourselves and placing rules around food is the only way to achieve the goals society has set for us. Instead of giving into these restrictions, Intuitive Eating supports you so that you can feel great in your body, which is really all that is important. Stop Restricting Yourself and Start Feeling Caitlin realized that rather than counting calories, truly acknowledging how you feel after eating a certain food is a much better indicator of what your body needs. If you allow yourself to listen to your body, you will start making decisions based on what you feel you need next, not focusing on the 'should' or 'should not's' of certain foods. By jumping into the mode of curiosity and observation regarding how food makes you feel, you can start to figure out what is right for your body, right here and right now. Are you ready to leave the calories counting behind and walk away from the strictness and mental time it takes to quantify your food? Share which of Caitlin's Intuitive Eating tips you are going to implement into your routine in the comments section on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "Once I tried out [intuitive eating], and I changed my personal relationship with food and realized I could travel and eat these foods and not eat too much and feel disgusting, and I could enjoy my life and start liking how my body looks without having to cognizantly want to change it, once I realize how much better life was with Intuitive Eating I had to share it!" (16:20) "I knew in my heart that it wasn't working, I knew that there must be another way because I got a glimpse of it from the people around me." (18:19) "I realized that the calorie-counting wasn't actually doing anything for me, and the much better indicator was eating something, seeing how it made me feel, and then going from there and seeing what food I needed next after that." (21:30) "You do have to test your patience a little bit, but you will start to notice how these foods make you feel, and you will be able to start listening to your body a lot better and then be able to make changes from there." (26:53) "There are so many factors to how you feel because of this pandemic and everything that is going on in the world right now that do not have to do with food, so a juice cleanse is not going to solve all of your problems." (33:08)
Links Join the Tune In Membership Here Follow Caitlin on Instagram Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! | |||
| How Racial Identity Can Impact Your Relationship With Food w/ SharRon Jamison | 24 Nov 2020 | 00:39:40 | |
Learning how to put yourself in someone else's shoes is critical for understanding the political, pathological, and personal ways in which black women and women of color experience their relationship to food. The truth is, food affects people differently, especially when it comes to their racial identity, and it is only by shedding the societal 'should's' and outdated believes that we can soar higher. Key Takeaways If You Want To Better Understand Why Food Is Political, Pathological, and Personal You Should:
Putting Yourself in Someone Else's Shoes with SharRon Jamison SharRon Jamison is a teacher, leader, minister, author, entrepreneur, and life strategist who is passionate about helping others be who they were born to be instead of settling for what society has told them to be. Through her own experience with racial injustice, eating disorders, and the patriarchy, SharRon breaks down boundaries and exposes inequalities so that women can come together and heal as a community. Down With the Patriarchy The patriarchy that we have been socialized into thrives by pitting women against each other and forcing a scarcity mindset. We are told not to trust other women and to compete with them as if there is only room for one of us at the top. While there is evidence of a light being turned on in America, we are still at the beginning stages of this illumination. SharRon sees the first step to dismantling the patriarchy as white women coming together and standing with black women and women of color. Next, we need to embrace our ability to not shrink in shame but rather to shine in our power. Thirdly, white cis-gendered people need to be vocal about asking marginalized communities how they can provide support. Finally, by being committed to the sisterhood, we can spread the education necessary to stop wounding people of color. Racism, Food, and the Diet Industry Food is political, can be pathological, and is very personal. Many things may impact your ability to be healthy that are not directly in your control. This plays into the patriarchal system by keeping those oppressed and giving them very little opportunity to rise up from that oppression. The BUGS (beliefs that undermine your strengths and gifts) that society has told you to believe are true are keeping people suffering. SharRon wants you to remember who you were before society told you that you were not enough, and work to help others without the same privileges to stop being ignored by this broken system. Equip yourself with the tools, remember who you are, and advocate for other people so that we can step into the illumination that so many desperately need to see. Have you ever connected the dots between systematic oppression, patriarchy, diet culture, and racism? Share how you are working to heal the 'sister wound' through sisterhood in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "We are being used as puppets to wound each other. And when we are aware of what is happening, we will stop wounding each other and start winning with each other and change the entire status quo." (8:05) "Just like a fish does not know they are swimming in water, sometimes we do not know that we are swimming in this toxic pool called white supremacy." (11:32) "I think that it is really, really important that people see how racism touches every aspect of their lives. So now, a lot of black women are not getting help, and anytime you don't get help, you don't get hope." (18:10) "People are hurting, and it is overlooked because when you are a person of color, you don't have visibility. Or you are deemed as less valuable. So I feel pain, but I also feel pride. I feel pride because, despite limited resources, people find a way." (24:42) "Who were you before society told you who you were? You were amazing before you were socialized to be second class, before racism, before sexism, before ableism. You came to the world amazing, greatness is in your DNA!" (28:47)
Links Join the Tune In Membership Here What Not To Say To Women Of Color by SharRon Jamison Deciding To Soar 2: Unwrapping Your Purpose by SharRon Jamison Follow SharRon on Facebook | Instagram Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! | |||
| Why It Is Time To Take Diet Culture Out of Nutrition Coaching w/ Christina Montalvo | 17 Nov 2020 | 00:40:44 | |
Diet culture sucks. The stories that we have been conditioned to believe about our worth, the patriarchy, white supremacy, and so much more all play into how we feel about movement, exercise, and our bodies. Instead of viewing your exercise routine as a way to manipulate your body, I challenge you to embrace the limitless other benefits of movement. Key Takeaways If You Want To Embrace The Infinite Benefits of Movement and Exercise You Should:
Removing Diet Culture From Movement with Christina Montalvo Christina Montalvo is a great friend, coach, gym owner, and someone who has personally been fucked over by diet culture. She created a unique women's only strength and conditioning gym that does not encourage fat or weight loss. Christina is here to challenge you to unlearn what you have taught to believe is true and start thinking more critically about the ways you move your body and the reasons behind it. Embracing the Infinite Benefits of Movement If you start out having expectations of fat and weight loss when going into a movement routine or working with a trainer, the chances of you feeling disappointed and getting stuck in a cycle of giving up are much higher. Instead of putting pressure around how and why you are moving your body, lean into all of the other benefits of movement and exercise that have nothing to do with weight loss. This can lead to a higher retention rate as a provider and a greater sense of accomplishment as a client. Unlearning What You Have Been Taught To Believe Is True There is a good chance that if you choose to engage in movement solely to manipulate your body, there is a much deeper reason guiding your decision-making. By acknowledging the false ways that you have been defining worthiness, checking your privilege, and making yourself your first priority, you can frame your purpose in a nourishing way instead of ripping yourself down. While it may be hard to unlearn how society has told you to engage with movement, it is only by leaning into the things you don't know and unpacking the beliefs that you hold within yourself that you can truly start to embrace holistic movement and reject diet culture. Have you ever experienced an inclusive space where the infinite benefits of exercise and movement are prioritized over weight loss and body manipulation? Share how you work to create that space for yourself and reject diet culture in the comments section of the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "I think what's harder than learning anything new is unlearning everything that we have always thought to be true." (10:14) "The benefits of exercise and intentional movement are absolutely infinite, and it's so crazy because I think that the benefits can be and are different for everyone." (13:33) "In any case where you are solely operating or participating in something from a place of fear or shame, that is not healthy, that is inherently unhealthy, and that is such a detriment to the wellbeing of anyone." (18:19) "Obviously a human can autonomously choose fat loss or weight loss, but there is a much deeper reason why they are choosing it." (26:01) "Whenever we are engaging in intentional weight loss, everything else in our life becomes much more grayscale. We turn down the intensity and the importance of everything else in our life, and the most important and prevalent thing becomes our bodies, our food choices, our calorie burn, what we look like, what we weigh. And so in some ways, it is a really socially acceptable way to just ignore and pacify ourselves to all these deeper, much more real, much more powerful, much more impactful problems or areas of focus in our lives." (28:46)
Links Join the Tune In Membership Group Here What Is Intuitive Eating Free Training Series Follow Christina on Instagram Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! | |||
| Learning To Date With More Confidence w/ Lily Womble | 10 Nov 2020 | 00:43:34 | |
Whether you are in a relationship or not, dating requires a large amount of confidence and the belief in extraordinary love within yourself. Dating more confidently and brazenly is all about listening to your body and trusting in the relationship you have with yourself. With a little work, support, and reframing, it is possible to view dating as an act of self-care and a space to feel whole within yourself. Key Takeaways If You Want To Approach Your Relationships Brazenly, You Should:
The Connection Between Listening To Your Body and Relationships After working in various fields, Lily Womble quickly rose to become one of the top matchmakers at her firm. This was until she realized that the dating industry is very similar to the diet industry and works to feed on their client's insecurities. So, Lily broke up with the matchmaking game and started Date Brazen to help badass women find extraordinary love within themselves. Swap Your Checklist for an Essence Based List Lily believes that dating apps are like McDonald's. Your mind is programmed to want that sugar fix, and the way we have been conditioned encourages us to think that playing the numbers game will bring you more satisfaction. In reality, this false sense of accomplishment can cause more frustration. The important thing to remember is that you are the answer to your dating life, not an app, and what is meant for you will not pass you by, regardless if you choose to use an app or not. Instead of basing your checklist off of qualities, you think you want to dig deeper into what that particular hairstyle or height actually means about the core values you are searching for. Extraordinary Is Possible As women, we have been conditioned to believe a legacy of narratives that tell us that we are not enough, too much, or incorrect the way we are. It takes incremental work to gain a sense of wholeness again and reject the patriarchy that influences the thoughts we have about ourselves. By getting to the essence of who you are and being more whole with yourself, you can use that jumping-off point to have fulfilling relationships that are on your terms and will make you feel like the amazing bright star that you are. What is your brag? We want to know! Tag us on Instagram or share your brag in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
Quotes "That is how I came to break up with matchmaking and start Date Brazen to help badass women really find extraordinary love within themselves and in their dating lives with reflective work meets tactical action." (9:58) "The world is out of our control, there is very little that is in our control. And I think that without guidance, most people who are dating will look for those checklist things like the height, the weight, the college degree; they will look for those things because they think that is all they can control. When, in fact, it is really possible to measure how you feel in someone's presence." (14:14) "What I believe is what is meant for you will not pass you by. So whether or not you choose to date on an app, you will find what is meant for you." (20:14) "This is legacy breaking work, and it takes a lot of time, and it takes me a lot of support to get to the place where I can believe I am worthy of extraordinary love and extraordinary relationships and extraordinary money and extraordinary connection." (26:52) "I think it is a really beautiful marriage between working on your dating mindset and your dating action plan while also continuing to celebrate who amazing and whole and successful and incredible you are." (37:21)
Links The Brazen Breakthrough Waitlist Follow Lily on Instagram Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! | |||
| How To Take Care of Your Emotional and Mental Health This Election Day | 03 Nov 2020 | 00:12:02 | |
2020 has been a rollercoaster of a year. With the pandemic and the uncertainty of the US election, it is more important than ever to take care of your emotional and mental health. This episode serves as your gentle reminder to take a moment to build up your emotional, mental, and physical resilience by being kind to yourself and others. Key Takeaways If You Want To Take Care Of Your Mental And Emotional Health You Should:
How To Take Care of You All of the unknowns in the world right not can cause anxiety and overwhelm. Don't keep these feelings to yourself. Instead, find ways that you can calm your nervous system, reach out to your support systems, surround yourself in comfort, give your eyes a break, and talk kindly to yourself. Your Vote Matters Simply existing in America in 2020 is political. Health is political. It is easy to think that your vote doesn't matter. But in reality, we need everyone to get out and vote to hold up our democratic process. I recommend that you vote for candidates and laws that work for and protect the most marginalized and at-risk folks in our country because when we vote to support policies that help people rise up, we all rise up together. Your vote matters, and we need your voice now more than ever. How are you taking care of your mental and emotional health right now? Share your favorite routines, self-care rituals, and anything else you are doing to feel more at ease with me in the comments section of the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "If you are feeling like this is all super much, you are not alone, at all. And I think it is important to normalize that these feelings are normal and it is okay to have challenging feelings, all emotions are valid." (3:02) "I am here to encourage you to check in with yourself and take care of yourself." (4:26) "Talk kindly to yourself, it is so so important. Negative mind talk and shaming is never motivating." (8:27) "Please vote today if you can. I know not everybody can vote, but if you are able to, please vote. Please get down to the polling station, drop off your mail-in ballot, make sure it is postmarked. I know it can feel like your vote doesn't count, or you are just one voice, but we really need your vote." (9:51) "Health is political. Existing in this country is political, and it touches everything." (10:19)
Links Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! | |||
| Using Body Language To Understand Yourself and Others Better w/ Tiff Lee | 27 Oct 2020 | 00:43:55 | |
Did you know there are over 5000 body language moves, all of which tell a story about the person expressing the movement and the person interpreting it? By understanding how to read and use body language effectively, you can understand yourself better, build your confidence, and decode others' body language. Key Takeaways If You Want To Use Body Language To Show Up More Confidently, You Should:
Connecting To Your Body Through Body Language Tiff Lee is dedicated to helping women be seen and heard in all areas of life with the life-changing information that is body language decoding. Once you hear what Tiff has to say about body language cues, how to use body language to improve your relationships or seek out when someone is lying, and ways that you can use body language to improve your confidence, you are never going to forget it. What Can Body Language Do for You? How you present yourself through your physical body language can drastically change how you show up in the world. Body language can help you step into your confidence (even if you aren't actually feeling that cool) and provide a way for you to connect back into your body and what you are doing. Instead of being quiet and passive, proper body language and expression can help you command the attention you deserve with ease. Decoding Others Through Body Language Understanding body language can not only give you the awareness to appear more confident; it can also help you pick up on other people's cues. While most people think about body language decoding as something out of a CSI episode, it is really just a simple tactic to help you sense when something might not be quite right. Small movements such as a shoulder shrug, hiding your hands, or an anxious 'pacifier' are all signs that you should tune into what someone else's body is trying to tell you. Body language's power lies in your ability to be aware of the body cues that make a person look anxious so that you can stop yourself from involuntarily showing up that way too. Have you ever considered that your subconscious body language is hindering or helping your ability to show up as your true authentic self? How do you relate to body language and body connectivity? Share which piece of Tiff's advice you are going to implement into your daily routine with me in the comments section of the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "We miss out on these things because we are so busy listening that we don't see what is going on physically." (8:50) "These movements should be congruent with what you are saying verbally. So anytime the verbal doesn't match the nonverbal, that is kind of your cue that something else may be going on." (18:40) "It is really hard to try to verbally tell the truth and then have your body language match that. Because our brains don't like to do both, they can only do one or the other." (19:45) "When you are not feeling that confident, try to do those things. Because those small movements will register on a subconscious level to other people, and then, believe it or not, it'll register for you too!" (26:10) "When people think of body language, the first thing they tend to think about is the lies, and the negativity, and the criminal shows, and all of that. And while it is extremely valid in those areas, it's also so important in our everyday lives." (35:56)
Links Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Follow Tiff on Instagram Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! | |||
| Strength Training for Sport w/ Alex Sterner | 01 Oct 2024 | 01:10:37 | |
Combining the world of strength training and sport, specifically Brazilian jiu-jjitsu, might seem counterintuitive, but it is exactly the opposite. My guest today is here to show you how a crossover between these two worlds can help you train better, prevent injury, and enjoy the sport you love for longer. Key TakeawaysIf you want to use strength training to improve your sport, you should:
Finding a Balance Alex Sterner, BS, CSCS, is a co-founder and Head Coach of Electrum Performance and the Director of Performance at Jiujiteiro. He received his Bachelor's degree in Strength and Conditioning from the University of Connecticut and obtained a CSCS through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. As a Head Strength Coach of Atos Jiu-Jitsu HQ, he led the S&C training camp that resulted in Atos winning a team Gi World title in 2017 and 2018. Not All Stress is Built the Same Some people are afraid to lift heavy due to the threat of injury. But the truth is, your muscular cellular system will respond positively to the right amount of stress. Alex wants to encourage you to get your body accustomed to impact in a respectful and gradual way. By harnessing the power of control that you have in the gym, you can teach your body how to trust increment levels of stress so that you can come back from injury and pain with more resilience. This is why strength training is such an important asset and can lead to many more years of enjoying the sport you love so much. Track Everything Alex believes that all progress comes down to tracking. Understanding your missteps, and being able to differentiate between short and long-term gains will help you figure out where you are going right and wrong in your training. You don't need a fancy app, just a notebook and a pen. If you can figure out when something you are doing isn't showing up, you can figure out why and make a switch. It may be as simple as adjusting your work-to-rest ratio, but without tracking, you will never figure it out. If you want to explore strength training options, either specifically for jiu-jitsu or another sport, let me know your thoughts about Alex's well-balanced and informed approach in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode
"Heavy lifting; it is not just about building this brute muscular athlete. It's about longevity; it's about preventing injury or minimizing injury so that you can spend more time on the mats." (10:13) "When people start to trust that the weight room is this deliberate thing where we don't just make bad things worse… you start to realize that these other environments are way more open than the gym, and you don't have nearly enough control." (26:53) "Understand what your limitations are, take whatever you still can, and go from there" (40:23) "All of it comes down to tracking. Be aware of what you are doing, is it improving? And if it is, great! And if it's not, figure out a switch to make." (51:25) "Biological organisms respond positively to stress in the right amounts." (57:20) Featured on the Show Apply for Strength Nutrition Unlocked Here Follow Alex on Instagram | YouTube Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Podcast production & marketing support by the team at Counterweight Creative Rate and review on Apple Podcasts Related EpisodesFYS 425: Nutrition for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu w/ Alex Maclin FYS 431: Should You Get A Lifting Program?
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| What is Gentle Nutrition? (Intuitive Eating Principle 10) | 20 Oct 2020 | 00:28:37 | |
We have made it to the final principle in our Intuitive Eating series, and it is by far the most misunderstood of them all. Principle 10 is all about gentle nutrition and embracing food as something that is there to nurture you, not punish you. Key Takeaways If You Want to Embrace Gentle Nutrition You Should:
Lets Set the Record Straight About Gentle Nutrition There are many misunderstandings around Principle 10, which is why it is the last principle for good reason. All of the principles have a firm basis in nutrition, but exploring gentle nutrition is something that must be done after you have already embraced the Intuitive Eating framework. Your Body Is Your Home Many of us have been raised to distrust our bodies and live in fear of our own being. This is simply ludicrous, and we have diet culture to thank for pitting ourselves against our own inner wisdom and body trust in favor of how we look externally. You should not be fearful or anxious about your body, but instead, embrace your physical vessel and how it works to serve you in the world at any size or shape. Your Search for Perfection Is Not Healthy If what you are eating or your constant search for perfection is causing you stress or anxiety, it is not healthy. How we think about food directly affects our actions towards it, and it is only by changing our mentality to an additive mindset rather than a restrictive one that we can start to embrace our worthiness. When it comes to making intuitive eating a part of your life, it involves practice and support. Changing your mindset may take some time, but it is crucial to your ability to stop looking for perfection on your plate and start embracing how your body can serve you right here and now. What was your favorite principle shared in the Intuitive Eating series? Share your 'a-ha' moment or a recent win with me in the comments section of the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "We are in our bodies. It is the vessel, the vehicle, by which we get around. It houses our intellect, our emotional being, our energetic being, it is how we interact with people and have a human experience." (8:56) "It is very, very common for people to want to go right to gentle nutrition first, it's familiar, but here is the reason why gentle nutrition is the last principle in the book. A lot of people think, 'oh it would be more credible if it was in the beginning'. But there is a reason for that." (14:34) "We need to understand that what we choose to eat has to also work for us as mental, emotional beings, and all of the other aspects of our wellbeing. It can't just be the physical." (15:51) "Mindset is a key part of the framework that I teach because how we think about food directly affects our actions." (21:28) "Our bodies are innately wise, and we meddle in that because we have been taught to distrust." (23:18)
Links Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter LTYB 288: How To Ditch Dieting (Intuitive Eating Principle 1) LTYB 289: Honoring Your Hunger (Intuitive Eating Principle 2) LTYB 292: Make Peace With Food (Intuitive Eating Principle #3) LTYB 293: Challenging The Food Police (Intuitive Eating Principle 4) LTYB 296: 3 Ways to Make Eating More Satisfying (Intuitive Eating Principle 5) LTYB 297: 3 Ways to Honor Your Body's Fullness (Intuitive Eating Principle 6) LYTB 300: 4 Questions to Ask About Emotional Eating (Intuitive Eating Principle 7) LYTB 301: How To Practice Body Respect (Intuitive Eating Principle 8) LTYB 303: Stop Earning and Burning Your Food Through Movement (Intuitive Eating Principle 9) Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! | |||
| Stop Earning and Burning Your Food Through Movement (Intuitive Eating Principle 9) | 13 Oct 2020 | 00:32:00 | |
Diet culture has told us that exercise is the tool we need to use to earn the food we want to eat, burn off the food we have already eaten, and control our bodies. In reality, exercise and movement can be something that adds dimension and joy to your life, but only if you let go of this perfectionist mentality. Movement has so many other benefits, and controlling the size of your body is just simply not one of them. Key Takeaways If you want to stop using exercise as a tool of control you have too:
When Did Movement Get Replaced by Exercise? There is a good chance that at some point in your life, movement for the sake of enjoying movement was replaced by exercise and the desire to control what your body looks like. I remember the exact moment that happened to me as a young girl who was in a bigger body than the rest of her schoolmates. Despite loving being active, society told me that I should be more concerned with my aesthetics than with my relationship to movement. Shifting Your Mindset Around Movement I want you to know that this perfectionism mindset is not the truth, and it is possible to embrace exercise as a sustainable way to add value and joy to your life, rather than just something you hate and use to earn your food. The all or nothing mentality that society has pushed around exercise and our bodies is getting in the way of you doing the kind of movement that feels really great. By getting clear on what your body is telling you, you can weave movement into your life in a way that is nourishing and more aligned for you. Your Worth Is Not Based on What You Can Do Getting stuck in the mentality of having your worth based on what you can do is a false promise. So many things can happen outside of our control that can shake this foundation. Instead of placing your value in your exercise routine or the number on the scale, movement can be a stepping stone to realizing that movement is about so much more than just controlling your body and keeping it smaller. By being gentle with yourself in terms of expectations, letting go of the all or nothing mindset that society has bred into us, and finding a type of movement that aligns with what makes your body comfortable. How has your relationship to movement and exercise changed through the presence of diet culture? What type of movement do you feel aligns with where you are, here and now? Share your thoughts on Intuitive Eating Principle 9 with me in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "We're going to talk today about how to shift your mindset and practice from exercise being something you hate, something you do to earn the food you want to eat or burn off the food you did eat, and into something that is a sustainable practice that really adds dimension and joy to your life and brings so many other benefits besides just controlling the size of your body." (2:30) "For me, my endurance, movement and exercise became a way for me to hide and run away from my other problems in my life." (14:33) "There's just so many things that can happen that then shake that foundation if you stop your personal development and growth at the stage of just thinking you are only as good as what you can do." (16:31) "There are so many reasons why you may be predisposed to all or nothing thinking, you may have learned perfectionist outlooks as a young person, or if you were perfect, then that meant that the important people who kept you feeling safe in your life wouldn't go away. For me, that's one of the origins of my perfectionism, and I have had to learn how to unpack that." (25:54) "How can you start to weave movement into your life in a way that is really nourishing? Is it a way for you to care for your body in a basic way? And works with your personal preferences and your life setup?" (31:10)
Links Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter LTYB 288: How To Ditch Dieting (Intuitive Eating Principle 1) LTYB 289: Honoring Your Hunger (Intuitive Eating Principle 2) LTYB 292: Make Peace With Food (Intuitive Eating Principle #3) LTYB 293: Challenging The Food Police (Intuitive Eating Principle 4) LTYB 296: 3 Ways to Make Eating More Satisfying (Intuitive Eating Principle 5) LTYB 297: 3 Ways to Honor Your Body's Fullness (Intuitive Eating Principle 6) LYTB 300: 4 Questions to Ask About Emotional Eating (Intuitive Eating Principle 7) LYTB 301: How To Practice Body Respect (Intuitive Eating Principle 8) Check out the full show notes here! I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!
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| Finding Joy & Acceptance in Fitness for Every Body w/ Kanoa Greene | 06 Oct 2020 | 00:36:21 | |
Having joy in your workout can help you get closer to your goals, feel comfortable in your here and now body, and connect to movement in a way that breaks down the barriers so commonly seen in fitness culture. Kanoa Greene uses her warmth, radiance, and strength to encourage and support others to find joy in movement and show up in the fitness space exactly as you are now. Key Takeaways In Order To Show Up As Your Authentic Self You Must:
Fitness For Everybody And Every Body with Kanoa Greene Kanoa Greene is a fitness coach and trainer who is passionate about bringing fitness to everybody and every body. A plus size girl herself, Kanoa knows first hand the importance of representation and inclusivity in the fitness space. While she has had to switch up her coaching model due to the pandemic, she has found her tribe bringing weekly workouts to Instagram that get creative in breaking down the fitness wall even further. Finding Joy In Movement Kanoa's radiant and positive energy is contagious, which is clear during her weekly dance parties and finding joy in working out. Kanoa believes that movement can help bridge the gap between your mental and emotional health, and wants to show up in a fitness space where there is not an accurate representation of larger bodies. By inviting all bodies to be part of the conversation, Kanoa is making a place for everybody and proving that anyone can be part of this movement. Everybody Is Struggling, Not Just You Kanoa owns her role as the 'hot mess express' and her main goal is to authentically share where she is right now to inspire you to do the same. By not sweating the small stuff, finding encouragement in unexpected places, and learning how to navigate conversations on image-based platforms, you too can find a feeling of support and safety in Kanoa's world. Kanoa wants you to know that everybody is struggling, and by surrounding yourself with positivity and encouragement, you can show up just as you are. How are you working to stop comparing yourself to others and start showing up authentically as you are now? Share what you loved most about Kanoa's energetic, positive and accepting perspective in the comments on the episode page.
In This Episode
Quotes "There's not a lot of times you get to see an instructor that looks like me, but also someone who is teaching a class like boot camp or spin or some of these more strength conditioning classes. So my role was really to come in there and make movement accessible and tear down that wall." (8:23) "I want to move for joy but I also want to move with intentionality." (13:23) "If I can show up and help ease that for someone else. If I can create that safe space and she can look at me and say 'if she can do that hard thing, I can do one little step. If she can take a big old leap, I have the courage and confidence with her to take even a small step'. That's why it is important for me to show up in as many places as I need too, especially when there is not that representation there." (16:38) "We all have different experiences, we are all different human beings, and as long as you are living your authentic self then you do you boo!" (22:28) "No matter what it is that I am doing, its, 'I am struggling too. I am a hot mess on a lot of those workouts'. I am sweating, I am dying, and I am working too, I am struggling too, and I am in this right alongside with you." (24:12)
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