Christina Testut knows that appearance is not the most important thing about a person, and she’s on a mission to bring this message to the next generation. 

Christina Testut, nominated for the Uplifters by her husband and daughter, never felt like she was “enough,” and was always looking for external validation.  About 6 years ago, she decided to go on a weight loss journey.  She was noticed and celebrated for her weight loss; people called her “dedicated” and “inspiring”, and wanted to know how she did it.  But despite all of the attention and kudos, she realized she still wasn’t happy.

During the great quarantine pause of 2020, Christina, a public school teacher, had a lot of time to reflect.  She realized that obsessing over her appearance and watching every morsel of food she put into her mouth was just reinforcing that her body was the most important thing about her.  She started to really pay attention to the ways society focused on the appearance of her 16-year-old daughter and her friends.  She noticed that when people logged into Zoom meetings, the first thing they would do was apologize for their appearance.  She saw teachers, neighbors, family, and friends all around her, virtually and in person, reinforcing that our looks were the most important thing about us. 

Christina began to question how these messages were influencing her, so she started re-curating her social media, from following weight-loss accounts to accounts that were sending messages she needed to reinforce: “You are enough” and “You are more than a body.”  Immersing herself in those messages helped to change the narrative in her head.  She read a lot of books to help shift her mindset and also started therapy, which Christina credits with helping her learn to trust herself.  

Now Christina doesn’t see her body as something that needs to be fixed; it’s not her identity.  She wants to be seen for how she treats people, how she makes people feel about themselves, for the impact she makes in her students’ lives, and as a human being that deserves respect.

She forgot what kind of person she was when she lost weight because that’s when people were clapping for her the loudest.  But she wasn’t mentally or emotionally healthy when she was smaller.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• [00:08:00] How to evaluate whether a choice is authentically helpful for you or not.

• [00:13:00] How tuning into yourself helps you guide your children in a positive direction

• [00:15:00] How to change your environment to help change your mindset

Suggested reading:

• Embrace Your Features by Christina Testut

• The Body Is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor

• The Diet Free Revolution by Alexia Conason, PsyD

• You Are Not a Before Picture by Alex Light

• More Than A Body:Your Body Is An Instrument, Not An Ornament by @Lexie Kite and Lindsay Kite

• Fat Talk: Parenting In The Age of Diet Culture by Virginia Sole-Smith

Find more from Christina on Instagram and on tiktok @EmbraceYourFeatures

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