Find Your Strong Podcast

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This one is a spicy, ranty one ALL about the language we use around food and our bodies.

We moralise the food we eat. We talk about feeling 'guilty' if we eat something 'bad'.  Weight Watchers count certain foods as 'sins' and we identify ourselves as good if we've eaten in a certain way and 'bad' if we have dared to indulge in a food that might taste good or satisfy our taste buds.

What about bodies?  I want to get "in shape". I'm so "out of shape".  You look good, have you lost weight? (Yes I think we've all said and thought that one.)
How about "you're not fat, you're beautiful"? 
 What does that say about fat people in general?  Why can't we be fat AND beautiful?  Why is it that only 'thin' bodies are acceptable when it comes to societal beauty ideals?

One comment that was made to me in my teens really stuck with me: "Don't worry Christine, not everyone can have a perfect body". These words stick and they hurt and may have ramifications for many years.

How are we as women marketed to?   Get toned!  Do Pilates for those long lean muscles.  Get strong but not beefy. Not too strong.  Just strong enough. Take up space but not too much space.  Just the right amount.  Make sure you're not overdoing the cardio or lifting too heavy. Do Pilates, or hot yoga, make yourself smaller but stronger. 

It's ENOUGH!

We'd LOVE to know what you think about this episode so PLEASE drop us a review, share the podcast and keep listening. We appreciate YOU!

Are you simply fed up with hating your body? Are you stuck in the 'earn and burn' cycle when it comes to exercise?
Maybe you just want to stop worrying so much about food or how your body looks.
You are not alone and your body is NOT the problem

Please reach out if you would like some support. We both have limited slots for Intuitive Eating and Strength Coaching, so get in touch with Christine or with Ela.

AND if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write us a short review. It would honestly mean the world. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x

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This episode went places neither of us was expecting!  Tune in to find out why.

This week we are chatting with Kanoa Greene, celebrated by Good Morning America and CNN! Kanoa is proof that athleticism and adventure come in ALL shapes and sizes.
She is an internationally renowned fitness trainer and outdoor adventurer, and
is redefining what plus-size bodies can do, how they are perceived,
and where they can go. 
Kanoa is also the founder of NAKOA Adventure; creating brave spaces for plus-size
bodies to discover and explore the great outdoors and adventure
travel.
Kanoa challenges us to break down the barriers of disbelief and
celebrate bodies of all sizes without limits; demonstrating that you
don’t know what your body can do until you do it.

Kanoa is a trailblazer.  She works with some of the world's most renowned fitness brands, helping them to be more inclusive in terms of the sizes they stock and their overall ethos. 

We talk about brand identity, and how brands like Lululemon need to step up. We chat about real weight-inclusivity in fitness, our work with Kim Stacey at Body Image Fitness, plus-size fitness wear, doing the thing you think you cannot do and navigating a fitness industry that simply isn't set up for you.

This is one of the meatiest episodes of our season so far and we know you will love Kanoa as much as we did. Enjoy!

Are you simply fed up with hating your body? Are you stuck in the 'earn and burn' cycle when it comes to exercise?
Maybe you just want to stop worrying so much about food or how your body looks.
You are not alone and your body is NOT the problem

Please reach out if you would like some support. We both have limited slots for Intuitive Eating and Strength Coaching, so get in touch with Christine or with Ela.

AND if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write us a short review. It would honestly mean the world. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x

Send us a text

This episode was inspired by an instagram post, which spoke about the messy middle between diet culture and aesthetic goals and whether you could pursue fat loss specifically,  and NOT promote diet culture at the same time.

This is certainly a nuanced issue.  We live in a dieting culture which worships thinness above all else and where weight bias is prevalent.  Of course, we are going to think about changing our bodies and conforming to the current cultural ideal. But at what cost....?

Why are we pursuing fat loss?  Does that align with our values?  What about letting our bodies take up space? What about body respect? What about attunement and our internal hunger and fullness cues?   What about the fact the restriction is by far the biggest predictor of future weight gain?
What about the myriad of other benefits movement brings and how we want to FEEL in our bodies.

What about the racist roots of fatphobia? 

What about the concept that we are MORE than a body?

Weight loss is not a behaviour so can we pursue health promoting behaviours, and let our bodies take care of the rest?

We dig deep this week and would LOVE to hear your thoughts.

Are you simply fed up with hating your body? Are you stuck in the 'earn and burn' cycle when it comes to exercise?
Maybe you just want to stop worrying so much about food or how your body looks.
You are not alone and your body is NOT the problem

Please reach out if you would like some support. We both have limited slots for Intuitive Eating and Strength Coaching, so get in touch with Christine or with Ela.

AND if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write us a short review. It would honestly mean the world. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x

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Welcome to episode #2 of our 'YOUR Bodies' series, where we invite members of our community.

Today we have Liana Stevens, or @mysugarcoatedlife 

Liana is a 45 year old mum of 2 from Nottingham, who started her journey towards neutrality and recovery from Binge Eating Disorder during the pandemic in 2020.

She realised that there has to be more to life than obsessing over the scales and trying to shrink her body with exercise in a bid to make herself happy.

We are so grateful to Liana, who speaks really candidly and opens up about her recent struggles underlining the fact that healing from an eating disorder is just not a linear process.

We hope you will love this episode as much as we loved recording it.

Are you simply fed up with hating your body? Are you stuck in the 'earn and burn' cycle when it comes to exercise?
Maybe you just want to stop worrying so much about food or how your body looks.
You are not alone and your body is NOT the problem

Please reach out if you would like some support. We both have limited slots for Intuitive Eating and Strength Coaching, so get in touch with Christine or with Ela.

AND if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write us a short review. It would honestly mean the world. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x

Send us a text

Wow this one was juicy.

I have to say, Ela and I were both ON it for this episode😘     

Ela had been finding in sessions that many of her clients were scared, not just of weight gain but of what digging deeper into their dieting history would involve. 

Leaving the perceived 'safety' and 'control' around dieting or 'watching our weight' can make us feel uneasy.
 Trusting our body and our intrinsic cues takes time.   Bri Campos talks about body image healing being an 'excavation' rather than a 'journey' and there is certainly no destination.  
Please enjoy the episode and let us know what you think. 

Are you simply fed up with hating your body? Are you stuck in the 'earn and burn' cycle when it comes to exercise?
Maybe you just want to stop worrying so much about food or how your body looks.
You are not alone and your body is NOT the problem

Please reach out if you would like some support. We both have limited slots for Intuitive Eating and Strength Coaching, so get in touch with Christine or with Ela.

AND if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write us a short review. It would honestly mean the world. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x

Send us a text

This series is about YOU.  YOUR body stories.  YOUR relationship to food and movement, YOUR dieting and un-dieting history and how you feel in the body you're in.

Ela and I wanted to understand more about the issues you are dealing with when it comes to body acceptance,  intuitive eating and listening to your body.  How can we navigate a world where thinness is valued above all else and the fitness industry has become diet culture dressed in spandex!

First up is Abi, who is a very valued member of the Body Image Fitness community (check out 'Thin Privilege, Oprah and Wearing the Damn Shorts' for my chat with Kim Stacey, founder of Body Image Fitness- the Non-diet, shame free fitness platform for ALL bodies. )

Abi is a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist for the NHS and is a very committed member of Body Image Fitness.   She likes to 'hang loose and talk bollocks' with her husband, loves comedy and loves to dance and lifting heavy stuff. 

Abi has reclaimed the term fat for herself, and despite struggling with body image and confidence in the past, she is now a strong social justice and fat liberation advocate.

Listen to HER story and as Bri Campos likes to say not her' journey' but her body image excavation.  

Such a joy to chat with Abi and we'd love to know YOUR body story.  

Are you simply fed up with hating your body? Are you stuck in the 'earn and burn' cycle when it comes to exercise?
Maybe you just want to stop worrying so much about food or how your body looks.
You are not alone and your body is NOT the problem

Please reach out if you would like some support. We both have limited slots for Intuitive Eating and Strength Coaching, so get in touch with Christine or with Ela.

AND if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write us a short review. It would honestly mean the world. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x

Send us a text

Ela and I are beyond excited to bring you this week's guest, the OG of Intuitive Eating herself, Evelyn. 

If you are new here or have never heard of Intuitive Eating and don't know what the fuss is all about, this is the episode for you.

I had the joy of interviewing Elyse Resch, the co-creator of Intuitive Eating a few months ago so go back and listen to this episode, which is a corker especially if you have teens who are struggling with body image.

Evelyn and Elyse's work has been such a big part of my own eating disorder recovery journey (Christine), and after finding peace around food and exercise, (always a work in progress) I am now bringing that knowledge and experience to my clients.❤️

Evelyn's energy is simply contagious and she is SO passionate about helping those of us who have struggled with body image or disordered eating, to reject the diet mentality and to break free from the constraints of diet culture, which is keeping us small and quiet. 
In this episode, Evelyn shows us that we can respect our bodies,  find satisfaction in food AND joy in movement.

*Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN is the author of 10 books, including co-author of the best-selling Intuitive Eating.As an international speaker, Evelyn enjoys training health professionals on how to help their clients cultivate a healthy relationship with food, mind, and body through the process of Intuitive Eating. To date there are over 2,400 Certified Intuitive Eating Counselors in 60 countries.
The media often seeks Evelyn for her expertise, including a feature in the New York Times. She’s been on CNN, NBC’s Today Show, MSNBC, Fox News, USA Today,. The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Vogue, Ten Percent Happier, and People magazine. Evelyn was the nutrition expert for Good Morning America, and a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for six years. Evelyn qualified for the Olympic Trials in the first ever women’s marathon in 1984. Although she no longer competes, she is a passionate surfer and proud member of Girls Who Don’t Surf Good.

To connect with Evelyn you can find her on Instagram @evelyntribole or visit her website.

Are you simply fed up with hating your body? Are you stuck in the 'earn and burn' cycle when it comes to exercise?
Maybe you just want to stop worrying so much about food or how your body looks.
You are not alone and your body is NOT the problem

Please reach out if you would like some support. We both have limited slots for Intuitive Eating and Strength Coaching, so get in touch with Christine or with Ela.

AND if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write us a short review. It would honestly mean the world. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x

Send us a text

Have you heard the term 'Hot Girl Summer'?  Yes, thank you diet culture for once again making a season all about women's bodies, and making us feel that we are somehow wrong and need to change!*

In response to the surge in popularity of "weight loss" drugs such as Ozempic, some influencers have taken it upon themselves to let us know that we DON'T need to partake in these drugs because if we just walk 15,000 -20,000 steps per day, we will achieve the same result - once again conflating exercise with weight loss.

We have several problems with this advice.  Why should we be chasing thinness?

Can movement not just left alone? 
Can we not walk because it blows the cobwebs away, and we get a chance to connect to nature?
Can we not move because it's good for our physical and mental health and brings us joy?

Why does the end result of movement need to be shrinking our bodies when we know that exercise alone is not an effective weight loss tool?

Movement holds numerous benefits which have NOTHING to do with weight loss!
And weight loss is not a behaviour.  So if you want to FEEL better in your body this summer, focus on the things that make you feel good. 
Movement, that brings you joy.
Food that nourishes your body and is satisfying.  Fostering friendships and feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin.

Your body is not the problem.

*(Inspiration for this episode came from the wonderful Chrissy King.  Please follow her on Instagram. )

Are you simply fed up with hating your body? Are you stuck in the 'earn and burn' cycle when it comes to exercise?
Maybe you just want to stop worrying so much about food or how your body looks.
You are not alone and your body is NOT the problem

Please reach out if you would like some support. We both have limited slots for Intuitive Eating and Strength Coaching, so get in touch with Christine or with Ela.

AND if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write us a short review. It would honestly mean the world. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x

Send us a text

This week I am bringing you a podcast that I was a guest on, as it's topical, hard hitting and I think you'll get a lot out of it, especially if you're struggling with body acceptance as the weather gets warmer and diet culture gets noisier.

I'll let Kim take it away:

"In the first episode of the "Not a Before Body" podcast, host, Kim Stacey, engages in a compelling conversation with non-diet fitness professional Christine Chessman. They delve into the concept of thin privilege, exploring how societal biases favour thinner bodies and impact individuals in various aspects of life. The discussion also touches on Oprah's influence in the wellness industry and her complicated legacy regarding body image, we talk about weight loss drugs and the nuance behind them. In this episode, as always, we emphasise the importance of self-acceptance, encouraging listeners to embrace their bodies as they are and to wear the damn shorts (even if you are above a size 18!), let's continue to challenge the notion that only certain body types deserve to feel confident and comfortable in their skin."

Visit Body Image Fitness to find out more about becoming a member / joining the Disruptor Scheme.

Follow Kim on Instagram; @kim.bodyimage.fitness

And Christine Chessman; @hellofitnesschristine

Are you simply fed up with hating your body? Are you stuck in the 'earn and burn' cycle when it comes to exercise?
Maybe you just want to stop worrying so much about food or how your body looks.
You are not alone and your body is NOT the problem

Please reach out if you would like some support. We both have limited slots for Intuitive Eating and Strength Coaching, so get in touch with Christine or with Ela.

AND if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write us a short review. It would honestly mean the world. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x

Send us a text

This episode is our first one as a duo and I'm SO excited to have Ela on board.

Ela (@elalawnutrition) has been on the podcast several times and she and I have worked together on numerous projects in the past.

As a non-diet nutritionist, and fellow IE counsellor,  she brings a unique perspective to the podcast and one that is very much needed.
Together we want to help our listeners feel heard.  To know they're not alone and to help them figure out how the f*ck they can eat and move in a way that serves them, as we navigate these menopause years together.

So in this episode, we get straight into the topic of weight gain and coping strategies when we feel uncomfortable in our own skin.

How do you feel when the sun shines and the summer wardrobe beckons?

Do you always feel that it's time to 'drop a few pounds' before you'll let your body be seen?

Do you feel panicked or uneasy when last summer's clothes feel a little snug? 
What does that say about you?  What is the story you tell yourself?

Would you feel the same if your clothes were a little loose?

We are so excited to bring you this episode and would love your feedback.

In this episode we refer to Body Image Coach & Educator Bri Campos, whose work with body grief has been transformative for us as non diet professionals.

  Click here if you'd like to connect with Bri, or find out more.

Are you simply fed up with hating your body? Are you stuck in the 'earn and burn' cycle when it comes to exercise?
Maybe you just want to stop worrying so much about food or how your body looks.
You are not alone and your body is NOT the problem

Please reach out if you would like some support. We both have limited slots for Intuitive Eating and Strength Coaching, so get in touch with Christine or with Ela.

AND if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write us a short review. It would honestly mean the world. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x