Fuel Your Strength

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:

1. Seek Out Representation For Your Body Type And A Community That Makes You Feel Supported
2. Stop Comparing Yourself To Other People In Different Size Bodies And Start Embracing Where You Are Now
3. Find A Type Of Movement That Brings You Joy and Stop Sweating The Small Stuff

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

• Navigating the changes between in-person coaching classes and going online due to Covid-19 (7:41)
• How to approach movement with enjoyment even if it is challenging (12:28)
• The importance of having a safe place to move your body when your body is not represented often in fitness (15:30)
• Why fitness trainers do not have everything worked out and are instead on this journey with you (23:18)
• Learn how Kanoa created the worlds first surf event dedicated to supporting plus size women (25:12)

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)

Links

Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter

Follow Kanoa on Instagram

Follow Plus Size Retreats on Instagram

Check out the full show notes here! 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!

Have you ever been told to embrace self-love, when it seems like the most impossible thing in the world? The idea of self-love can lead to the cognitive dissonance that results in many of us giving up on our goals altogether. Instead of feeling ashamed at not being able to love your body, I argue that body respect and body neutrality are much more attainable and positive goals.

Key Takeaways

If You Want To Learn How To Respect Your Body You Have Too:

1. Give yourself basic care and dignity
2. Find clothes that fit your body right now comfortably
3. Challenge yourself to stop body comparing

Why Self Love Is the Wrong End Goal

The concept of loving yourself is a wonderful idea. But for those of us who have come from or are currently in a state where we hate our bodies because we are stuck in the cycle and influence of diet culture, we blame ourselves and the concept of love feels incredibly foreign.

You Deserve To Be Taken Care of as You Are Right Now

No matter what society, influencers, and diet culture have taught you to believe, you deserve to be taken care of as you are right now. You deserve the same basic care, basic nourishment, and basic dignity that some people provide more of to their pets than they do to themselves. Get some clothes that fit, stop staring at the scale, and believe that you are worthy of love, respect, and care even if you don't love yourself as you currently right now.

The Problem With Body Comparing

Comparing your body, whether it is to a past version of you or to someone else, can only do harm. While respecting the current state of your body isn't always easy because of the messages sent to us by diet culture, it is only by rejecting the notion that smaller bodies equal better bodies that you can start to appreciate how your body is serving you. Next time you are in a conversation that results in people comparing or shaming other people's bodies that are nobodies business, I challenge you to remove yourself or stop that conversation in its tracks. While it can be hard to muster up the courage, I promise you will feel better for it.

Are you ready to replace self-love with body respect and start treating your body with the dignity and care it deserves? You can do this, I promise. Let me know your thoughts about Intuitive Eating Principle 8 in the comments on the episode page.

In This Episode

• Why the idea of body respect is more attainable than the idea of self-love for many of us (7:40)
• The importance of support when learning about and implementing intuitive eating (10:48)
• Tips for distancing yourself from people and places that perpetuate diet culture (12:20)
• Health-promoting habits that you can engage in that are weight neutral (14:33)
• How to respect your body by wearing clothes that suit it right now (18:02)
• Why you need to stop comparing your body and stop being the hero (23:45)

Quotes

"Intuitive Eating is not a new concept, it has been around for a long time. And humans are innately intuitive eaters so this isn't just some other diet.' (2:58)

"I wish that the idea of body neutrality and body respect was in my lexicon, was something I had learned about, even back then. Because I think it would have been a much faster stepping stone to get to the point where I was more comfortable with my body." (8:45)

"We don't want to make wellness another set of boxes to tick, but really making it fit for your life and doing the best you can right now. So maybe that means talking to somebody about your struggles, maybe that means getting out and moving your body in a way that feels really good for you. But coming back to basic care and dignity." (15:41)

"You deserve to be taken care of and you deserve to care for yourself right now." (16:56)

"The more we stop this constant body comparison, the easier it is for us to respect our bodies." (27:27)

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)

Check out the full show notes here! 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!

Intuitive Eating Principle 7 is all about emotional eating. Why do we eat when our stress levels are up? What can we do to step away from the cupboard and only eat when we're actually hungry? Let's talk about the four questions you need to ask yourself.

Key Takeaways

The Four Questions to Ask Yourself About Emotional Eating:

• Is your hunger physical or emotional in nature? [13:06]
• How are you generally feeling? [15:45]
• What is the need you're having in that moment or what is the boundary? [16:23]
• How can you fulfill that need or express that boundary without turning to food? [19:20]

Emotional eating is something that most people on this planet are familiar with. When you're not sure if you're hungry for food, but there's this emptiness inside or uneasiness that makes you reach for something.

I have absolutely been there. You're so not alone! Here are four questions you need to ask yourself when you think you might be eating emotionally.

Why We Eat Emotionally

As with almost anything we do, there are deep-rooted reasons why we do what we do. Emotional eating is no different. One of the biggest reasons we turn to food is because of stress!

For some people, comfort eating is the only way they know how to navigate stressful feelings or any other number of emotions. So when this is the only mechanism you have, of course, you're going to turn to it more often.

Honestly, and I want to stress this, saying that you're never going to emotionally eat again is not realistic. There will be times you eat when you're not hungry! Plus, food has so much more significance in our lives than just curbing hunger.

You are not a failure if you turn to food to navigate your life right now.

Four Questions to Ask About Emotional Eating

What we're talking about today is how you can start recognizing the different types of hunger in your body. Hunger for nourishment feels different than hunger from loneliness or stress.

But if you've never learned to tell the difference between these feelings, it can be hard to start. I've broken down the four questions you should ask yourself when you reach for food.

Check-in with your body. Is your hunger physical or emotional? How are you feeling in general? Really get in tune with your emotions, here.

What need are you having right now? What is the boundary that you're coming up against? And finally, how can you fulfill that need without turning to food?

Build up your arsenal of other ways you can work through your emotions that don't involve food. Whether it's journaling, going for a walk, calling your best friend, or something else, I'd love it if you let me know in the comments on the episode page.

In This Episode

• Why it's not realistic to say you'll never eat emotionally again [7:35]
• How the different types of hunger manifest in your body [13:30]
• The four questions you need to ask yourself about emotional eating [14:00]
• How setting boundaries can help you handle your emotional eating [18:30]

Quotes

"Stress can drive us to use food to fill emotional needs." [6:54]

"In times of high stress, for some people, comforting or finding safety and security in food is the only mechanism that they have or they know." [8:32]

"Food is more than just energy. Food can be an emotional, cultural, social, or religious experience." [12:15]

"Getting more clarity on how you feel, not just the sensations in your body, which can be a very helpful stepping stone, but emotionally, how do you feel? Different people have different amounts of access to this at any one given point." [15:54]

Links

Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter

National Eating Disorder Association Free Assessment

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)

Check out the full show notes here! 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!

Knowing the basics behind your astrological chart can be a benefit to you if you own your own business or even if you are just looking for clarity on your individual decisions. By learning to embrace the parts of your chart that you both like and dislike, you can gain a better understanding of who you are as a whole and how you can use your strengths in ways that you have never considered before.

Key Takeaways

Astrology Can Help You Tap Into Your Innate Wisdom By:

1. Providing you with clarity on your strengths, weaknesses, and how you can use them to progress yourself and your career
2. Helping you trust your intuition and the knowledge of your body that you will do what is right for you
3. Fit the pieces of your life and business together to have the courage to make a big change and bet on yourself

How to Harness Your Strengths Through Astrology with Leslie Tagorda

Leslie Tagorda is a brand strategist who works with online businesses to better understand their astrological chart and how it can help them make aligned decisions in business and in life. Leslie took a big chance on herself and started New Moon Creative Co to help others use astrology to discover and validate the decisions they are making in business and in life. Today Leslie is here to share the reason behind her career pivot and how you can use astrology to fit all of the pieces of your life together.

Pivoting Your Business To What's True For You

Fed up with hiding herself and staying small, Leslie decided to move mountains and create a change that felt in line with her vision. Instead of having fear of jumping into the unknown, Leslie embraces these challenges and leans into the idea of reinvention and evolutionary growth. Astrology will be your guiding light to help you take the leap, trust in yourself, and understand your decision making process better so that you can trust your intuition and listen to the knowledge of your body.

Embracing The Innate Wisdom Of The Stars

2020 is a seismic year in more ways than one. Astrology can help you embrace the spiritual awakening that is currently happening, tap into the archetype of the divine feminine, and use your soft powers to listen to your intuition and make the right decisions for you and your business. Whether you are new to astrology or well-versed in your astrological chart, Leslie is here to help you open up the cosmos and understand what is in store for your future.

Do you pay attention to your astrological chart? How has astrology impacted your ability to get in touch with your body and the world around you? Share what role astrology plays in your life in the comments on the episode page.

In This Episode

• How to get over your self-doubt when deciding to make a big life change (14:50)
• The importance of understanding what money means to you and creating money-related goals (18:29)
• Why you need to embrace the idea of reinvention when looking at your astrological chart (22:30)
• What to do if you don't like the energy coming from your chart and how to embrace it instead (24:20)
• How to become more receptive to your intuition and the divine feminine power (29:30)
• Gain an insight into the planetary alignments for 2020 and beyond (34:55)

Quotes

"Only a couple years ago did I really start getting fed up with hiding, fed up with keeping small, fed up with not valuing myself." (8:23)

"There was always something magical about stars that I was really drawn too. So astrology adding the story behind the science, both of which I love and believe in, just put everything together for me. It was the first click of a few puzzle pieces put together." (13:56)

"I think the moral of the story is that if we could only see ourselves and accept ourselves in the way that other people see us." (21:01)

"Deciding that we are going to be looking at our charts in this very empowering way, it helps us to evolve and express ourselves and the highest potential. That's what lights me up about astrology." (23:57)

"Our body is this device, and when people say 'listen to your gut', of course, because our mind doesn't live in our gut, but our gut has infinite knowledge." (32:53)

Links

Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter

New Moon Creative Co Website

Join The Savvy Luminary Facebook Group

The Savvy Luminary Podcast

Follow Leslie on Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Pinterest

We Should All Be Millionaires Book Club

10 Ways to Embrace Your Soft Powers Instagram Post

Check out the full show notes here! 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!

Are you looking to show up more authentically in the world despite our current diet culture? Grace Edison is a certified and trauma-informed yoga teacher who has taken her experience with diet culture and has fostered a space of honesty. Grace wants you to know that it is okay to not be okay right now, and by embracing a collective consciousness of clarity and support, you can give your trauma space to heal.

Key Takeaways

In Order To Start Showing Up Authentically You Must:

1. Give yourself the space to discuss the trauma that has been brought to your genetically or throughout the past year
2. Stop trying to show up and honor diet culture and instead show up to honor who you want to be in the world
3. Building an authentic community to remind yourself that you are not alone and that you always have the opportunity to start again

Showing Up Authentically with Grace Edison

Everything from 'Naked Face for Grace' to collective trauma bonding is on the table today as Grace takes you down the path of no resistance. By supporting other women, showing up authentically without concern of judgment, and embodying the choices that feel right for you, you can stop feeling obligated to satisfy diet culture and start living as your true self.

Using Collective Trauma To Your Advantage

Whether you are unconsciously body bashing, afraid to stop wearing makeup, or are just trying to start showing up as who you are unapologetically, Grace is here to support you. Building an authentic community to remind yourself that you are not alone and that you always have the opportunity to start again, can help you face your fears of the unknown and start to embody the choices you make for yourself because you want to make them.

The Power Of Showing Up As You Are

Grace believes that collectively, women are getting better at supporting itching through trauma or struggle. Instead of getting wrapped up in what you look like, Grace advocates that it is okay to not have it all together. By reflecting on how you show up in the world, whether it is your makeup, fashion, weight, or something else, it is all about showing up as you are and feeling better by taking care of yourself however that looks for you.

What was your biggest takeaway from Grace's nuggets of wisdom? Share what you loved most about her perspective in the comments on the episode page.

In This Episode

• Why it is important to give yourself space to discuss the trauma that has been brought up for you in 2020 (9:54)
• How the state of diet culture is being dismantled by the current events of our modern world (11:52)
• Dismantling the armor that makeup provides and the barriers it can cause between other women (16:00)
• Tips for becoming okay with showing up as you are and the effect it can have on how people relate to you (25:12)
• How to find the balance between 'over' and 'under' doing (31:08)

Quotes

"With everything going on, with how f*cked up this year has been, I feel like it is really giving us this opportunity to make real, authentic connections. And its sort of lifted this idea that we have to show up and look a certain way and have it all together, its really given permission." (9:26)

"The beauty myth is really designed to keep us [women] separate, because if we are working together, if we are solid and in a community within one another, then we can accomplish so much." (14:32)

"That's what really started to tune me into the competitiveness between women, that it's not even to get the guy or the girl or whoever, its actually some kind of rank." (21:53)

"I think that I was never the pretty girl, so I did have to develop, I was always entertaining and wanted to be funny even out of the womb, but I kind of always had to work a little bit harder to be seen and heard because I wasn't pretty." (25:17)

"It's about taking care of our bodies, but its also about us realizing the reasons we weren't." (34:58)

Links

Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter

Grace Edison Website

Follow Grace on Facebook

Check out the full show notes here! 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!

Continuing on with our Intuitive Eating Principles Series, today I am supplying you with tips on how to start tuning into your body's sense of fullness. Intuitive Eating is all about self-knowledge, self-care, and self-compassion, and when you can listen to your body's signals, you can better understand when you are full and what foods are satisfying you.

Intuitive Eating is not a solo experience. It takes a good support group and framework in order to accomplish your goals and break up with diet culture. Through Intuitive Eating Principle 6, you can begin to listen to the messages your body is sending you, and get back to treating your body right.

How to Acknowledge Your Bodies Unique Fullness Signals

When was the last time you took a moment to check in with yourself during mealtime? Oftentimes we can rush through or distract ourselves when eating, which leads to stuffing ourselves past the point of satisfaction. Instead of eating past the point of comfortable fullness, Intuitive Eating can help you stop when you are satisfied.

Three Tips to Start Listening To Your Body

Diet culture has robbed many of us the trust we need in our bodies to be able to eat without a set of restrictions. By checking in with yourself throughout your meal, avoiding the 'air foods' that many diets try to push as 'healthy', and by listening to the innate cues your body is giving you, you too can feel your fullness and honor your body's needs.

Do you struggle with your ability to sense your fullness, stop clearing the plate, and finish eating when you feel truly satisfied? Share how you differentiate between fullness and satisfaction with me in the comments on the episode page.

In This Episode

• The importance of a support system when diving into Intuitive Eating and going against the grain of diet culture (3:20)
• Three points to help you start tuning into your hunger and feeling your fullness (6:30)
• Why you should stop filling up on 'air foods' that diet culture tells you are the 'right' choice (14:06)
• The difference between satisfying your hunger and actually fueling your body with real foods (17:00)
• How to become okay with not always finishing your plate and avoid binge eating (18:08)

Key Takeaways

In Order To Start Feeling Your Fullness You Must:

1. Get real about what dieting has taken from you and start to pay attention to the innate signals coming from within your body
2. Avoid filling up on 'air foods' and create moments to pause and check-in during mealtimes
3. Honor the signals that you feel of hunger or fullness and build trust in yourself that you can eat again

Quotes

"Please do not attempt this Intuitive Eating journey completely by yourself, and think that you have to be the hero and do everything and it's an individual pursuit. Because really, that's what diet culture loves." (3:48)

"Intuitive Eating isn't one of those things that you read or you hear a podcast about and you think 'Great, now I'm an intuitive eater!'. No! It's something that you practice and something you have to embody." (5:12)

"If you consistently rush through meals or you are consistently distracted and you haven't practiced feeling and sensing your fullness, this is a huge area for growth opportunity for you to be able to start doing that." (13:12)

"If my tactic, every time I start to feel hungry or every time I try to fill myself up, is to go back to relying on these 'air foods', it's not saying they don't provide any kind of benefit, but are they really satisfying our hunger? And the answer in a lot of those cases is 'no'." (17:04)

"It's not an arbitrary portion control based on external rules. This is about tuning in, noticing… building that trust again that what your body is telling you is something you can begin to listen too." (21:53)

Links

Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter

National Eating Disorder Association Free Assessment

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)

Check out the full show notes here! 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!

Have you ever stopped to notice if you are actually being present and enjoying the foods that you are eating? Instead of being held captive to the strict rules that diet culture forces you to conform too, Intuitive Eating can help you find pleasure and peace in the foods you are consuming.

Intuitive Eating Principle #5 is all about finding the satisfaction factor in food. With 3 simple steps, you can start to check in with yourself and start truly experiencing and enjoying the act of eating.

Don't Let Dieting Restrict You Anymore

Instead of adhering to the 'black and white, all or nothing, either/or dynamic' that diets push as the only way to do things, Intuitive Eating will empower you to start taking back control of the things that you are putting into your body. It is time to start giving yourself some grace when it comes to the negative thoughts you have internalized due to diet culture. Alternatively, you can start giving yourself the compassion and kindness necessary to embrace Intuitive Eating and break up with the diet cycle for good.

Three Things That Will Help You With the Satisfaction Factor of Food

By finding out what foods you actually like, being present in the experience of eating, and choosing things that will actually satisfy you, you can gain more clarity and awareness on what foods are serving you. It is time to stop giving diet culture permission to choose what goes into your body, and Intuitive Eating Principle #5 is here to help you accomplish that.

How do you work to be more present and mindful when you are eating so that you can bump up your Satisfaction Factor when it comes to food? Share how you are incorporating Intuitive Eating Principle #5 with me in the comments on the episode page.

In This Episode

• Learn why hating or loving your body does not have to be black and white (5:50)
• Why you should stop letting diet culture take away your autonomy and make your choices for you (10:45)
• How to eat more mindfully and actually enjoy the foods you are eating (14:41)
• Tips for discovering what will actually satisfy you in a moment of hunger (19:52)
• How to differentiate between foods you really want or are just craving as a reaction to deprivation (22:40)

Key Takeaways

The Top 3 Things to Remember About Intuitive Eating Are:

1. Intuitive Eating is a framework, not a gospel that must be followed with restrictions and limits
2. Being mindful and present during your eating experience can help you check in with yourself throughout the meal
3. By focusing on what will actually satisfy you, you can build your trust in yourself and reject common diet tactics

Quotes

"If we set a black and white, all or nothing, either/or dynamic, that says either I love my body all the time or I am hating on my body all the time, then that sets us up for that kind of 'failure'." (6:12)

"As long as we have this diet culture around us, we are in it, we are swimming in it, we are going to be confronted with these thoughts. The skill that you can develop through things like intuitive eating and body neutrality is giving yourself the time to stop, pause, consider, before acting, or realizing how you are feeling in a certain situation." (9:20)

"The food as fuel mentality can be a helpful stepping stone for some people, especially when you are afraid to experiment or trying to overcome the do's and don'ts of the food police." (16:32)

"Are you ever allowing yourself to become present when you are eating and be in tuned with what you are enjoying about the experience?" (19:05)

"If you put off your satisfaction or you deny your satisfaction for a particular food or something that you think would sound really good… and then you eat it and you pay attention, little by little you build these skills." (23:08)

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)

Check out the full show notes here! 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!

Simone Tchouke, AKA Simone Loves Fitness, is on a mission to make movement a joyful experience in your life. After moving to the US at age 15, Simone was on a path of biochemistry before her passion for fitness became stronger than ever. Now a fitness trainer dedicated to making movement accessible, Simone is here today to share her story and why working out isn't all about how you look.

Movement practices can improve your mood, decrease your stress, give you more restful sleep and so much more. Instead of working out for the sole purpose of looking a certain way, Simone wants you to dismiss traditional exercise culture and start using movement as a way to feel better about yourself. By focusing on what you like, picking exercises that benefit you not only physically but also mentally, and giving others permission to change their ways of thinking, Simone is creating accessible fitness for all.

Simone believes that working out shouldn't be expensive, intimidating, or alienating. Living proof that whatever you have is enough to get started, Simone's infectious energy and amazing story is one that everyone will be able to relate too. Your body is enough, and Simone is prepared to meet you where you are so that you can start to enjoy the power of your body.

Are you open to changing your relationship to fitness and health? Share how Simone's inclusive and individualized approach has inspired you to rethink your connection to movement in the comments on the episode page.

In This Episode

• Learn about the actual benefits of working out aside from just losing weight (9:30)
• Tips for truly getting hooked on exercise and finding your 'why' (12:05)
• Why fitness is not a 'one size fits all' space, even when it comes to trainers (20:20)
• Advice for people who want to make the most out of the workout space they have without feeling self-conscious (24:30)
• Which movement Simone never wants to do and which one she could do every day (30:23)

Quotes

"People always associate working out with wanting to lose weight, and my goal as a trainer is to help people move because they are going to feel better, you are going to feel happy, you are going to sleep better, you are going to feel lighter in your movement. So I really help them see the reason besides wanting to lose weight why you should want to work out." (10:35)

"I think people will stay with you because of how you make them feel. So if you make them feel good and you give them what they need but also what they want, they will stick around and they will keep being active." (14:20)

"I started to realize that it is not really one size fits all. And not everyone is out to be the next Serena Williams or the next Michael Phelps. You have to meet people where they are, and you have to be flexible." (20:42)

"People are always going to say something. Whether they like you or don't like you or they wish they could do what you are doing, people are always going to say something. But if you truly know why you are doing it for yourself, I think you should be okay." (25:34)

"We are in the same boat, and that is fine. Just because I didn't work out for 2 weeks or 1 month, doesn't mean that I am not worthy. I am still worthy, you are still worthy, and we are going to try again tomorrow!" (29:39)

Links

Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter

Follow Simone on Instagram | Facebook

Simone Tchouke Website

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Kara Loewentheil is a master certified coach and host of the badass podcast Unfuck Your Brain. The core of Kara's mission is to help others retrain their brains and stop believing the harsh things we have heard from society and have internalized as our own thoughts. Filled with humor, wisdom, and no BS, Kara is here to teach you what unfucking your brain really means.

By taking neutral baby steps, it is possible to change the way you think about yourself and the world. Instead of focusing on the negative, Kara wants to help you identify your thought patterns and help you think differently about the negative things that you have been taught to believe.

By diving into the particulars, staying away from the immeasurable number of things you have been taught to believe, and discovering your own internal landscape, you can retrain your brain and start being kinder to yourself. Filled with simple and applicable strategies, Kara's episode is one that you do not want to miss. Are you ready to work your way up the thought ladder and stop being so hard on yourself? Share how you are working to unfuck your brain in the comments on the episode page.

In This Episode

• How to identify your thought patterns and learn to control the thoughts you believe (10:15)
• Tips for working your way up the thought ladder through neutral baby steps (13:30)
• What it looks like to step from negative overwhelm to acceptance and peace (17:27)
• Why 'fake it until you make it' doesn't work and what framework you should use instead (23:53)
• How to distinguish emotions from body sensations and how they work together (29:50)

Quotes

"What I teach is a method of actually unfucking your brain, which is that you have to go in there and identify the thoughts you have that sound like they are in your own voice. That's the problem. We can identify these social messages, but in our heads, they don't sound like the magazine that we read or the announcer voice on TV that we first heard it from, they sound like our own thoughts." (9:45)

"We all want to fix the big problem right away, right? Like 'I hate myself, I have low self-esteem, I just want to love myself'. And in my experience, you really cannot do effective coaching or self-coaching at that level of generality." (18:37)

"Coaching is like building a building, you have to start from the ground up. So we can change huge things in our lives, but it starts a little bit by little bit." (19:18)

"We want to see evidence in the world to justify the thought and have us believe it, but we have it backward. We have to believe it, at least a little bit, at first, that's how we go out and create some evidence that something is possible." (28:20)

Links

Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter

Unfuck Your Brain Website

Unfuck Your Brain Podcast

Join The Clutch Feminist Coaching Community

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I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!

There is a good chance that you have should's and shouldn't, do's and don'ts, and a myriad of voices in your head telling you what to think when it comes to what you are putting in your mouth. The negative thoughts that come out regarding all of the rules you have around food are not serving you, but don't worry, there is another way.

When you internalize foods as 'good' or 'bad', you can wind up creating emotions and actions that are not in line with how you truly want to feel about food. Instead of perpetuating the behaviors, you are trying to stop, intuitive eating can help you become aware of the voices in your head and show you how to respond to these food police tendencies with purpose.

By developing a more flexible way of thinking you can start to be kinder to yourself and make peace with the food stories you may have been telling yourself for years. Are you ready to stop using negativity as your motivator and start to challenge the food police? Share how you are working towards intuitive eating in the comments on the episode page.

In This Episode

• Why you should be challenging the voices in your head when it comes to food (4:20)
• How the moralizing of food can negatively impact your relationship with it (13:10)
• Tips for developing flexibility when it comes to your mental framework (17:15)
• Ways to develop new internal voices such as the food anthropologist or nurturer (20:20)
• Exercises to help you reframe your thoughts to become aware of your inner dialogue (29:14)

Quotes

"Intuitive eating takes time, it is something you put into practice." (3:26)

"You are not broken if this happens. You are not broken if your appetite is all of a sudden ravenous after a day of not eating. You are not broken, this is how your body works!" (15:05)

"It is really important to start paying attention to the language that you use and understanding the thoughts and the beliefs that you have been living by… you have to get clear or develop that sense of awareness because you can't change what you are not aware of." (16:54)

"It's knowing that the way you are going to make progress and find more peace with this is not by being harsh on yourself." (22:54)

"If you are constantly saying 'always' and 'never', you are going to the worst of the worst place all the time. And that is a huge opportunity for you to be able to reframe." (29:24)

Links

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)

Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter

Check out the full show notes here! 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!