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Fuel Your Strength

The Fuel Your Strength podcast is all about helping women who lift weights get stronger, fuel themselves (without counting every bite of food), perform better in and out of the gym, and take up space. Strength nutrition strategist and weight lifting coach Steph Gaudreau shares how lifting weights is a catalyst for a more expansive life and how to challenge the status quo around nutrition and fitness. This weekly show brings you discussion about building strength without obsessing about food and exercise, lifting weights, food psychology, and more. You'll learn how to eat, train, recover, listen to your body, and step into your strength.
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Now displaying: September, 2020
Sep 29, 2020

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!

Sep 22, 2020

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]

About Emotional Eating

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!

Sep 15, 2020

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!

Sep 8, 2020

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!

Sep 1, 2020

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.

Finding Support Through Intuitive Eating

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!

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