The Beyond The Food Show |empowering|educating|women|health|mind Body Connection

In today's episode, we'll talk about Women Food and Power Women Food and Power is the emotional story of a woman on a journey away from diet culture back into her power... in the hope that it serves as an inspiration to others. My life was pretty good: I had food on the table, a home, a car, a great career that brought in enough money, cool friends, a supportive family. I thought of myself as an independent fierce woman.  But I also wondered, “… is that what life is really about?” I kept wondering if every other woman was as anxious as I was about how I looked. This was while by society standards I was doing all the right things. Were they as overwhelmed as me at the thought of not losing or worse gaining weight? Is it normal to feel this frustrated with food and not being able to eat like everyone else. Everyone around me reflected that it was all ok, but secretly, I knew something wasn’t right. So, I kept going making sure I was checking all the boxes:         My partner: Making sure he was happy, satisfi

Me: “... but I need to lose weight”. Her: “Ok... I can see how you can think that.” Me: “Everything you are sharing with me makes so much sense and I can feel it inside of me, that it’s what I need [pause & sigh] … but I need to lose weight”. The tears started to roll off my cheeks. Uncontrollably crying. The tears were coming from the depth of my gut. It was one of those moments when you want to stop crying because you really don’t want to cry in front of strangers but you can’t... it’s not in your control. Her: “Stephanie, your desires to lose weight are valid. It’s normal that you want to lose weight. These desires are encouraged every day by the society in which we live in, an environment that is laden with weight stigma, body size discrimination, and fatphobia. It makes perfect sense that you want to lose weight.” I was deeply confused.  Life is on hold until I lose weight I was 38 years old and the last 25 years of my personal life had been a series pressing “pause” and “play”. I only allowed myself

In today's episode, we'll talk about the wisdom of emotional eating Can we find wisdom in emotional eating behaviors? Or is emotional eating something to be demonized and eliminated? The vast majority of society say ‘no’ to the first questions and say ‘yesss’ to the second one. Then, they ask next: What’s the trick to stop emotional eating? What if I said to you there’s a gift in emotional eating... what would be your gut reaction? Likely doubts like most women. The truth is that yes, there’s wisdom, magic, and power in emotional eating. That is if we accept to do one simple thing: Trade judgment for curiosity. Empowerment & emotional eating The view we have on emotional eating is a direct reflection of our current relationship to food, weight, and body. In fact, most women are typically afraid of emotional eating. They are terrified to gain weight or not lose weight so they seek to end it. Moreover, self-described emotional eaters are typically “stuck” in the diet cycle and adhere greatly to diet cultur

In today's episode, we'll talk about healing diet and intuitive eating I’m a health care professional trained in using food as a way of healing the physical body. Healing diet, restrictive and elimination food protocol is what I studied for years yet today I very seldom recommend it. Why? I have seen and experienced too many situations that healing diets, restrictive and elimination food protocols actually caused more collateral damages than benefits. Furthermore, in most clinical cases what really was causing the health issue had nothing to do with food. So, why obsess about food? If I can, I'd like to take you back in 2015... Carole breaks down I was sitting in my clinic office talking to a patient seeking help with rheumatoid arthritis. She was in the middle of a major flare-up. All joints in her lower body were painfully swollen and she was in a 9/10 pain level. She wanted me to examine her AIP (auto-immune protocol) dietary protocol & supplement protocol and advise her on what she was doing wrong so

Intuitive Eating and Hormonal Health Women love intuitive eating as a concept but often will refute it based on other advice they receive, found or read on the internet. One of the most frequent situations I encounter is with hormonal health. Women wanting to balance their hormones, perhaps heal their hormones, are being told that to achieve such goal they must restrict certain food, go on a reset hormonal diet or do an elimination diet; therefore they can’t be an intuitive eater. “I love intuitive eating but I’m working on balancing my hormones and I read Dr. XXXX book and she says that I must restrict all grains and dairy. Maybe later I can become an intuitive eater.” Is this true? Is food restriction the solution to hormonal health? I’m not a hormone specialist, but I’m a health expert and knowledgeable enough to know that this statement isn’t totally true. Is food a contributing factor to health: YES. Is food the only way to “balance hormone”? NO. Is hormonal balance even a possibility? Well yes and no.

Health Beyond Diet and Weight Loss For many of us in this community, our first encounter with dieting wasn’t a concern with health. Similarly, for me and all the women I work with inside of my programs, their first diet was strictly focused on being in a smaller body. That is to say, we dieted for aesthetic reasons, not health. As women, we do not want to diet. Instead, we want to be in a thinner body. Our modern society believes that being thinner is better, smarter, and healthier. In other words, all of us have been taught at a very young age that health = thinness but is it true or is it just an assumption? What if health wasn’t the outcome of the weight on the scale? Would you still want to diet? Does “Obesity” Cause One to Be Unhealthy? As of today in October 2019, there isn’t one study or research evidence that directly points to being overweight (BMI-based status) as a causative factor in diseases. That said, many studies will link/correlate obesity to health risks. In other words, weight status is ne

What is self-coaching? The word "coaching" is an identified process used to transport people from where they are to where they want to be. It's a form of development, a process of supporting someone towards a goal. Self-coaching is when we become our own coach. We know what’s best for us. That’s the innate wisdom we all have. The same wisdom that directs our hunger and fullness cues within the framework of intuitive eating. This innate wisdom is how we are the expert in our own life. Self-Coaching and Intuitive Eating Intuitive eating is the process to learn how to tap in the innate wisdom of our body to know what, when, and how much to eat. Tap into this innate wisdom that all of us have to feed ourselves. Intuitive Eating is a proven and well-researched self-care eating framework that makes YOU the boss of YOU. Intuitive eating teaches us to have a healthy relationship with food empowering you to trust your ability to meet your needs, distinguish between physical and emotional hungers and ultimately develo

On today's episode, we'll talk about 'She's Beyond the Food Chapter 6-My Journey 2.0' From Shame to Fame. That was the title of episode 101 of The Beyond The Food Show Podcast in which I shared my in-depth personal story for the first time. I asked one of my friends Sean Croxton to interview me. I gave him carte blanche... the result was amazing. My Story 1.0 As a public figure, I had shared my origin story in occasion before mainly inside my programs or during my public workshop but never to this level of vulnerability of this interview. Certainly, I remember being very anxious before, during, and after the recording. But the greatest gift came a few days after the interview when it hit me: I no longer need to hide my imperfections, my mistakes, my errors. That is to say, although I was scared of what people would say, the relief of being completely transparent was by far greater. From Shame to Fame episode 101 of our Intuitive Eating podcast was just another chapter in my story... She's Beyond the Food: My

On today's episode, we'll talk about cyclical living If our body is wise enough to know what to eat, when to eat and how to eat... what else can it do for us?  What else can we learn from our womanly body? According to a study from the Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics, fluctuations of hormones over the monthly menstrual cycle play a crucial role in our emotional status, appetite, thought processes, and so much more. Women reported high levels of well-being and self-esteem during the middle of the cycle in the study. Increased feelings of anxiety, hostility, and depression were reported before their period. Cyclical Living Our egg wisdom is perhaps for us women another expression of our innate body wisdom. When I say egg wisdom, I’m referring to the wisdom of our female cycle. This wisdom that is our female cycle is wise enough to create life from… an egg and a sperm. What else can it do for us? Over the last year, I became really acquainted with my female cycle and discovered a whole new world of intuit

  On today's episode, we'll talk about the BE DO HAVE formula for success That you want to change your health habits, stop overeating or make peace with your body, HOW you go about the process of transformation will determine your success. The process that most of us have been thought to apply when wanting to create something new in our life has been the DO HAVE BE model. In order to BE successful, for example, we need to first DO the things that HAVE the Success. When we DO enough of the “things, we hope to be rewarded by finally BEING successful. DO BE HAVE in health transformation Take the example of the goal of being happy & healthy for women in today’s society. We are taught that in order for us, women to be happy and healthy, must HAVE thinness. We must fit in the proper BMI and have the “normal thin” body. In order for us to have the thin & a proper BMI body, we must DO diets (control food and / or exercise). When we have thinness and proper BMI, we will be rewarded by being healthy and happy.

On today's episode, we'll talk about the perfectionist paradigm shift Do you struggle in creating new long-lasting habits in your life? Particularly around food and health? Maybe it’s exercise: you pay your new subscription to the gym with excitement and enthusiasm and plan to go 5 days a week before work. Yet 6 weeks later, you’re not going to the gym anymore and your brain is going crazy with very self-critical thoughts as to why you once again failed yourself and all the things that are wrong with you. Is that you? That was me until I learned to shift my paradigm about perfection. Perfectionist, is that you? The perfectionist is a personality trait characterized by a person's striving for flawlessness and setting high-performance standards, accompanied by critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others' evaluations. Is that an accurate description of you? Perfectionism is a trait of character present in many women that have been dieting for a long time. Our diet brain tells us that we need to be p

On today's episode, we'll talk about stepping beyond the struggle In a way, this podcast is not just a message to those of you who are struggling, but it’s also a message to my former self. It’s the advice I wish someone shared with me when I was struggling. It’s the advice I wish I had when I went through so many dark times. My struggle was my weight. Like most of you... for 25 years, that struggle occupied my life. It caused me lots of emotional pain, physical pain with crazy exercise protocols, tears,  break up, missed relationship, the struggle of my body and weight caused a lot of drama in my life. And for 25 years, I believed that the only way to stop the struggle to get over that pain was to lose weight. Some say... but you did lose weight. Yes, I did multiple times but here’s where it gets really crazy... when I did lose weight, you’d think struggle would be over right? No, it didn’t. Instead, I just moved on to the next expression of the problem: saggy skin, soft skin on my belly, I'm still not thin

On today's episode, we'll talk about what's missing from your program As I shared on the last episode #200, we are in the midst of an epidemic and no, it’s not an obesity epidemic. It’s the Diet Culture epidemic. It has become completely normal to not like our body. It’s expected that we shame ourselves and our body if it doesn’t fit the “thin ideal”. It has also become the norm to be on some kind of health programs that restrict the way we live our life. These same programs require that we disconnect from our body in order to be successful. This has led us to no longer respect and trust our bodies. This is huge! We live in an approximately 3 cubic foot space (our physical body) that we disrespect & doubt nearly every day. Without a healthy, respectful and trustworthy relationship, how can we expect our body to support us towards our goals? There is one universal law that is common to all religions and spiritual beliefs that I’m aware of (and please correct me if I’m wrong

  On today's episode, we dissect this concept of food labeling We are in the middle of an epidemic. One that is destroying the quality and longevity of our life. It affects not only us but our children and their children. While it’s been around for a while, it’s growing at an alarming rate. Not only here… but all around the world. You’d be hard-pressed to find a culture that isn’t struggling with it. and no, it’s not Obesity. It’s our obsession with weight and diet. 97% of women surveyed by Glamour magazine in 2011 said they felt hatred towards their body at least 1x day and often much more. 8/10 women are unhappy with their reflection. So we diet... and diet some more. Never really getting “there” and then at some point after decades of trying you think to yourself… “That’s crazy I can’t do this for the rest of my life?” but then what? There is a solution to help you stop dieting, a solution that will provide some structure around how you engage with food that will lead you to eat better consistently without

  On today's episode, we dissect this concept of food labeling Although we’ve learned to drop magical thinking when it comes to weather, crops or other natural phenomena, we still think of food as magical. We label food in hopes that doing so will bring us closer to our desires and goals. The concept is that if we consume the “good” food will control our health and body unfortunately what comes along is shame & guilt when we do eat the “bad” food. In today’s society not being able to control our food choices makes us weak people. That’s what we think as a result of being told so by diet culture and also according to all the health experts who want us to finally “release the unhealthy weight”. But it’s true that there is such a thing as good food or bad food? If so, what are the healthy foods? Here’s a sample of the myths we will cover: What are the good and bad foods Why are we so obsessed with food labeling What motivates our need for food labeling The side effect of food labeling If there is an option

On today's episode, we talk about what intuitive eating is and is not Want to give Intuitive Eating a try? These 13 misconceptions may make intuitive eating more challenging and increase the odds of you giving up. Intuitive Eating is picking popularity over the last 12 months... In fact, this Anti-diet approach to eating has been called the next health trend to look forward to in 2020. Not surprising when we consider the 95% failure rate of traditional diets. There no stopping Intuitive Eating and I couldn’t be more excited for what’s in store for 2020. And with every “trend” or popular movement comes questions, doubts, and naysayers.  On today’s episode, we are going to debunk 13 popular Intuitive Eating myths. 13 myths about intuitive eating, this proven and well-researched eating framework, that you should stop believing.  These 13 myths, we first are going to give them context and then bring facts forward as to why each one is false… or frankly said, bogus! Here’s a sample of the myths we will cover: Int

On today's episode, we talk about intuitive eating and cravings Is intuitive Eating not just a way of giving in to your cravings? When women first get introduced to intuitive eating, their diet brain then ignites the thought that Intuitive Eating is a just a way to eat whatever we want and, in some cases, to validate laziness... Intuitive way of eating is such a departure from dieting way of eating that it often ignites cognitive dissonance in women. You know that feeling of discomfort from the new information that is presented to you when it is opposite to the way YOU have been living your life? You fight the new information! And come up with all good facts, science and reason why the new information is wrong... On today’s episode, we answer that specific question. Is intuitive Eating not just a way of giving in to your cravings? If not, how do you manage cravings in the framework of intuitive eating? What you’ll learn listening to this episode: We answer the question, “Is intuitive Eating not just a way of

    On today's episode, we talk about intuitive voice In the same way that Intuitive Eating teaches you to tap into your innate body wisdom to know what to eat, you can tap into this same body wisdom to be guided in all the other segments of your life. The body wisdom we’ve been gifted by embodying our human body is awaiting us to notice her and engage with her with trust and respect. Some will call this body wisdom intuition others will say inner voice... all the same. When we do not engage and respect this wisdom, we tend to be engaged in perfectionism as a way to control life... control our life, control our future, control our body. Control so it can be the way it should be. But it doesn’t work... and we try harder. Control more. And we fail harder. On today’s episode, Kelly Covert, an inner voice coach will help us interrupt this pattern. Kelly has a passion for helping women believe and achieve their big vision by connecting deeply with the wisdom that is inside of them all while owning their worthines

On today's episode, we talk about bathing suit confidence Usually around April, we start hearing about “getting that bikini body” like it’s a thing we need to earn. After months of hibernation we are supposed to dust ourselves off and work really really hard to get a body that deserves to wear a bathing suit. The truth I discovered through my own journey is that being confident in a bathing suit doesn’t require months of planning and buckets of sweat aren’t required. We don’t have to earn the right to wear our bathing suit in public... we already have it. I just needed to find it! So if you are struggling with enjoying the summer water because of how you feel in your bathing suit and perhaps wearing the bathing suit at all... you’ll want to listen to this! On the episode today, I’ll share the 7 lessons I learned while getting back my confidence in a bathing suit and the exact steps I took. Here’s a very powerful quote from Lindsay Kites from Beauty Redefined “We don’t hate our bodies because they don’t look g

On today's episode, we talk about mindfulness One of the most impactful tools for reactive eating behavior is mindful eating. One of the most powerful tools for reactive living (depression/anxiety) is mindful living. Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us and within us including food. Women Food & Mindfulness is an episode that has the power to change your relationship to food in a very easy way... I’ll share the Going Beyond The Food Method way to become more mindful. What you’ll learn listening to this episode: What is mindfulness and what it’s not! Link between mindfulness and food Why women could benefit more from mindfulness than men How to be more mindful in your life Easy way to incorporate mindfulness practice in your life Mentioned on the show: FREE Intuitive Eating Guide Mind-Body Connection article Religion and Mindfulness Going Beyond the Food Academy