#38 Body Image - Can You Love Your Body & Still Want to Change It?
The Holistic Nutritionists Podcast
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THE PODCAST
"I recommend ditching your scales and just throw them out. Don't weigh yourself because it's not going to give you any sense of confidence or positivity about your body image. Scales are not designed to make you feel good about yourself!"
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SHOW NOTES
In Episode 38 of The Holistic Nutritionists Podcast, Natalie Douglas and Kate Callaghan discuss how to love your body image and develop confidence in your body image and self-esteem.
- What does it mean to have a positive body image and what is the body positive movement?
- Our personal body positive image movement story
- Strategies you can you use to help boost your body image
- Does having a positive body image mean you can’t want to change your physical appearance?
- Common barriers to boosting body image and how you can overcome them
Intro 0:00
Welcome to The Holistic Nutritionists Podcast where you’ll find the inspiration and answers to how you can become the healthiest, happiest version of you using whole food nutrition, smart supplementation, movement, and lifestyle hacks. Your host, Natalie Bourke and Kate Callaghan, a degree-qualified Dietitians and Nutritionists, certified fitness instructors, speakers, and authors with extensive knowledge and clinical experience in the wellness industry. So sit back and enjoy the show.
Natalie K. Douglas 0:41
Hello, everybody. Welcome to the podcast. How are you going, Kate? Well, that was like the most awkward intro ever.
Kate Callaghan 0:51
I guess should we start again, but no.
Natalie K. Douglas
Negative.
Kate Callaghan
I’m good. How are you, Nat?
Natalie K. Douglas 0:57
I’m good. I finished my yoga teacher training, as you know, and as anyone who follows me on social media may or may not know. So it’s been a 10-week course. And I’m finally done. I’m not exactly fully qualified yet. There are still a few little extra things I have to do but it’s been amazing. And anyone who has the opportunity to do yoga teacher training should do it if you want to do it.
Kate Callaghan
Yay, congratulations!
Natalie K. Douglas
Thank you. Yeah, I was and I was saying to Kate before the podcast started that I realized how much I like standing at the front-end, telling people what to do and touching people. And I was trying.
Kate Callaghan
Creepo.
Natalie K. Douglas
I know, I was trying really hard to think of a nice way to say that, that didn’t sound creepy. But I couldn’t come up with one. So I thought I just put it out there.
Kate Callaghan
She’s creepo.
Natalie K. Douglas
Yeah, it’s true. Don’t come to my classes unless you like being touched.
Kate Callaghan 1:48
I like being touched.
Natalie K. Douglas
It’s just so great.
Kate Callaghan
In a class. Well, do you know what? That may sound creepy, but I think for health and happiness and it’s actually been proven in studies that we need touch for optimal wellness. And the studies have been done on babies in, I think it was Russian orphanages. And those babies who weren’t touched were basically malnourished and had poorer health outcomes because of that lack of touch. Everything else was the same. It was just that lack of touch. That’s good.
Natalie K. Douglas 2:24
I know.
Kate Callaghan 2:26
We need to touch each other more in appropriate way.
Natalie K. Douglas 2:31
Yes, we do. I’m glad you specify.
Kate Callaghan 2:33
In appropriate way. Not in inappropriate ways. Don’t be going groping people because that’s inappropriate.
Natalie K. Douglas 2:43
In, space, appropriate. Yeah, got you. All right. We’re on the same page. Maybe we, maybe this would be a good time to say our disclaimer. Insert disclaimer here. Anyway. So today, Kate, what we’re going to be talking to everyone about is something that’s close to both of our hearts. And it’s definitely becoming more and more of a discussion in this health space. And it’s about boosting your body image. But I thought we’d kind of start off with the question of like, what exactly is like, what does it mean to have a positive body image? And and what is this body? You know, positive image movement about?
Kate Callaghan 3:26
The BoPo movement.
Natalie K. Douglas
The BoPo.
Kate Callaghan
So, sometimes I think it’s a bit of a loaded question, but it’s really not. So positive body image, it’s so body image refers to how we view our own bodies, how we perceive our bodies. And so positive body image is basically viewing your body positively, in a way.
Natalie K. Douglas
Stop it. No.
Kate Callaghan
Stop. So, it’s not being happy about the way you look, it’s about accepting how you look, realizing that how you look is not who you are, it doesn’t constitute you as a person, it’s just, it’s completely different to that. It’s not your identity. And it’s about being confident and comfortable in your skin and not wanting to change your body to fit into some sort of perceived ideal or norm that may might be portrayed by social media, or, you know, magazines, and celebrities.
Natalie K. Douglas 4:32
Yeah, totally. I think that’s a really good, you know, overview of it all. So, you know, we both know, we both have been very vocal in sharing our stories with, you know, our struggles with body image in the past. But I think that it’s like a podcast is also a good place to share that kind of story. So what, like, I guess in a nutshell, what’s been your kind of journey through this whole body image? I guess, issue for you like, where where do you first come up against issues with your body image?
Kate Callaghan 5:09
Oh God, mine’s a big knot.
Natalie K. Douglas
It’s all right, it could be a big knot.
Kate Callaghan
I guess my body. So most people know that I have had body image issues in the past, which led to my hypothalamic amenorrhea, because I didn’t accept my body really deep down and beat it into submission. So I guess it started when I was about 14, and I guess all right looking back.
Natalie K. Douglas
Way, way back.
Kate Callaghan
She’s thirty-four now. I’ll be quick. So when I was fourteen, my first job was working in a news agency. So, I was surrounded by all of these magazines, popular magazines, sort of promoting the latest diet and how to lose weight, and detox diets and how having flat tummies and what what the media perceived is how we should look, ideally. And so this kind of shaped, before this, I felt pretty good about my body. But this kind of had a big impact on my perception of how I should look. So that’s when the whole restricting what I was eating actually got quite restrictive at this stage and covered it up with quote-unquote, detox diets. So, I was always in a detox to help promote my health, but actually it was just to cover for not eating anything, eating seeds, and lettuce. And then I went more into the exercise, addiction realm of things. Which I think exercise is wonderful for your body and for a healthy body image exercise is good, but I went too extreme and then created this body that I became known for. So I’ve spoken about this before that I became, my nickname was abs because I had an eight pack that’s very visible abs and I’d stand up in front of classes, teaching group fitness classes, in like a little midriff top and teeny tiny shorts. And then I go out to places and my friends will be with me and they’d say, this is Kate feel her abs. Literally, literally, we would repeat, that was in the same sentence. This is my friend Kate feel her abs, it was very bizarre. And then I will just be standing there in a nightclub with strangers touching me on the belly. And I’m, I’d feel good about it, apparently. Speaking of inappropriate groping. But I, then I, that was my identity for a long time. And so then when I had, when I was diagnosed with that hypothalamic amenorrhea and I had to put on weight and basically say goodbye to my abs that required a huge shift in my perception of what constitutes a healthy body. And also, I had to rediscover my own identity, because I had to realize that I wasn’t what I look like, if that makes sense.
Natalie K. Douglas
Yeah, definitely.
Kate Callaghan
That’s my knot.
Natalie K. Douglas 8:04
That was a beautiful knot. Now, my knot might be slightly smaller only because we share very similar story. So for me, it was about yeah around that age too, probably like, maybe a year younger than that. And my, like, the catalyst for me was that my grandma passed away. And so, I was like because I was so upset. And I haven’t discovered emotional eating yet I, I kind of naturally lost my appetite a bit. Before that, I had no, I was quite like chubby as a kid. And people did tease me for being fat. But I always just thought, like, I have no idea what they’re talking about and or what’s wrong with them. Like, so I never ever, like thought it was true. But anyway, so I, my grandma passed away, and I started to eat less. And because I was eating so much before that, I started to drop weight really quickly, I was always quite active because I was very sporty. But as I started to drop the weight, people started to notice and be like, oh, wow, you’ve lost some weight. And this is even at 13. Like, you’ve lost weight, you look so good, what are you doing, and I loved the attention from that. And I felt valued. And I felt like people wanted what I had, both from a physical perspective and an intellectual perspective. And so I just fed off that and my natural personality or my natural approach to things was, you know, I don’t just want to be good at something, I want to be the best at something. So I just got better and better and better at being skinny. And I was anorexic for about, you know, I would say, seven to 10 years. And I, like UK, I built my identity around being the person that was, you know, thin and fit and, like, that’s what I was known for as well, or Nat, she’s the healthy one. When really isn’t that it’s like you and I can see that? Well, well, no, I’m not, I wasn’t actually the healthy one. But that’s what we associate with health is looking skinny, or, you know, doing lots of exercise and whatnot. So I really like, it was through those real formative years, you know, as you’re going through your teenage years, you really start to become, like, become yourself, or at least like that, when you’re trying to figure out who you are. I mean, I’m still, you know, we’re all just still trying to figure out who we are. But that’s a very foundational period, and for me, it was shaped by everyone else’s perception of who I was. And I thought that all I was was my body and my exercise and what I ate. And so, for me, I actually got really sick, and then I just couldn’t exercise and I fell into a depression because I could not do all the things that I thought, like, defined me, like I couldn’t exercise. I mean, I could still eat very little, but I’m not in the same way that I was previously doing. And I had to start putting on weight because it was becoming, you know, very, very dangerous. And, you know, the whole situation kept evolving. And so for me, I had to really rediscover who I was without that, without the, you know, the physical appearance of being super skinny, and without the over-exercising and under-eating. So very similar kind of way that it evolved for me as well, Kate, and it’s, it’s interesting because I think a lot of people have similar stories to us. And I think that that’s why the body positive movement is so strong, because people, you know, a lot of women just feel the same way. I guess, something that I think will be more helpful for us to discuss going forward is maybe some strategies that we used along the way to start to move towards more of a positive body image. So Kate, what were some strategies or just things that you did along the way that really helped you to boost your body image. And, you know, I know that it’s never just one thing, and we want to make sure that you guys are aware of that. But hopefully sharing some of the things that we’ve done along the way that have helped us to come to a place where we love our body and accept our body will be helpful for you guys, as well. So Kate, maybe, you know, three or so that you can think of that have helped you along the way or maybe still help you to this day.
Kate Callaghan 12:32
Okay, you said also. So, I was trying. I’ll stick to three.
Natalie K. Douglas
I know you well.
Kate Callaghan
Give you a tune, and then I may add extras.
Natalie K. Douglas
Okay. Deal. Deal.
Kate Callaghan
So, probably the first big one that I did back in the day, and then I recommend for everyone across the board is ditching your scales, just throw them out, don’t weigh yourself, because they’re not going to give you any sense of confidence or positivity about your body. They are most likely going to make you feel shit about yourself whenever you step on them. I mean, they can’t tell you, your worth as a person, they can’t tell you how healthy you are, they can’t tell you how smart you are, how kind you are, how worthy you are. But you know, you might have those days where you look in the mirror and you’re feeling really good. You look, you’re like yeah, I think my body is looking good. I think I’m at that weight that I want to be at. This preconceived idea of that perfect weight. And you know, I’m going to step on the scales and it’s going to be a good number, whatever that means. And then you step on the scales. And it gives you a number that you don’t want or that you’re not happy with. It might be a little bit high or just just something you’re not happy with and then that just ruins your whole day. Like you’re having a good day before that then your day just turns to shit. I’m sorry for the swearing.
Natalie K. Douglas
It’s all right.
Kate Callaghan
For one day, but honestly, ditch your scales and you will be so so much happier, I promise you. Completely, just throw them out. If you do have a goal of weight loss or changing your body and we’ll talk about changing your appearance shortly. You can monitor your progress with other more objective ways. So the clothes that you’re wearing. So, how will your clothes fit. You can take pictures of yourself. You know, there’s pictures of people hold up for the magazines and they’re standing in what seems to be their worst underwear. You could do that. Hold up, where’s the nice undies if you’re going to put in my face. And that’s another thing, wearing nice underwear and wearing nice clothes will help to boost your body image so don’t put on scanty, old, yucky undies.
Natalie K. Douglas 14:39
I call those my bedtime undies.
Kate Callaghan 14:43
Bedtime undies.
Natalie K. Douglas
My bedtime undies when Bowen’s at the fire station so no one sees them.
Kate Callaghan
Nice in bloomers. I got some gorgeous bloomers from pregnancy.
Natalie K. Douglas 14:53
It’s those undies that are like, like they’ve, they’ve lost so much elastic that you might as well just not be wearing undies.
Kate Callaghan 15:03
Yep, yep.
Natalie K. Douglas 15:06
My favorite, anyway, continue.
Kate Callaghan 15:08
So ditch your scales, yeah, on that, we’re close that you feel comfortable in. So I went through a stage of just wearing stretchy pants and big clothes that I thought would just cover my body, but it just didn’t do me any favors. So wear clothes that you feel not only comfortable in like comfy is in your knickers that you can wear to bed that have no elastic. And then you feel actually sexy, you feel attractive in those clothes. And when that means going to the shops, with with a friend and trying on clothes. So you get that objective opinion of what does look good. Because chances are if you’re going through these changes, or if you have a negative body image, you’re going to put on any clothes, and you’re going to think that it doesn’t look good. So go to a shop with a really good retail assistant, who can help you find some clothes that make you look good, and really help bring out your personal features. Okay, and then what would be my last one for now? Write down five good things about you. Non-body non-aesthetic related. So for example, I am kind, I am funny, I am smart, I am loving, I…
Natalie K. Douglas 16:25
Have great taste in underwear.
Kate Callaghan
A great taste. So actually amazing you. Speaking of no underwear with no elastic.
Kate Callaghan 16:35
So thinking of those five non-aesthetic related things, writing those down and not just hiding them away in a book, but writing them down on a post-it note, each one a separate one on a post-it note and sticking those posts around your house where you can see them every single day to help rewire that brain pattern.
Natalie K. Douglas 16:52
Yeah, totally. I agree. I love all those and I thankfully I do have different ones. So that’s good. But I did do all of those things along my journey as well. So I really am glad you mentioned those going on from that kind of what you were just saying with the post-it and whatnot, I would say affirmations are also awesome too. And Kate it was actually you that taught me this when we’re going through placement at uni, I remember having a conversation with you. And you told me to stand in front of the mirror and tell me and tell myself that I love my body as in you made me go from the top of my head all the way down to my toes. And I felt like an absolute goober doing it the first time. But I still do it like not so much in front of the mirror as much because I’m just don’t have that much time. But you know, I, I like just as you walk along the street or just waiting for the train, in your head, just I love, you know, I love my boobs, or I love my butt or I love my stomach, I love my thighs. And at first, you do feel like what am I even doing, like, can someone actually hear what I’m saying? Should I just like, be more quiet in my head, no one can hear you and no one actually cares that much. But it’s really good because for a long time, a lot of us spend most of our days doing the exact opposite yet we don’t think that’s weird. You know, we stand in front of the mirror and we’re like, oh my god, my thighs are too big, they’re touching. My butt’s too saggy. I’ve got whatever those grandma tuck shop arms are, you know, and we think that is normal and fine yet we think doing the opposite is weird. And it’s totally not. And even if it is, who cares? The next one that I’d say that helped me a lot was switching my goals to performance-based goals. So that really helped me so I started to set. So, I actually stopped training at kind of like a traditional type gym and I went to start training it more of like a functional fitness CrossFit-esque type gym where the focus was more so on performance. I mean, wherever you go, there’s always going to be body image things intertwined, because that’s the nature of our society. But for the most part, it was more focused on what you could do and I found that really helpful. I mean, there’s still a danger in, you know, shifting, trying to be the best at that to trying to be the best at performance and basing your self worth on that. But you know, it’s a stepping stone, and it was a stepping stone for me and it did significantly helped me. And then the last thing that I’d say is do a social media cleanout. So if you go through your Instagram, and you see a post by someone or an account that makes you feel self-conscious about your body or like you’re not good enough, then unfollow, like, there’s no need to be following accounts that make you feel that way. And there are so many out there. So just do a social media cleanout. And I often do this when I run kind of like body party. Ooh, party. No.
Kate Callaghan
Party, party, party.
Natalie K. Douglas
Party, party. Positive body image workshops, or talks, I get people to pull out their phones on the spot and go into their Instagram and unfollow five accounts. And every single woman in the room can do it. And that tells me about something that tells me something about who we’re all following. So, just unfollow.
Kate Callaghan 20:18
I didn’t know you run those workshops. That’s cool.
Natalie K. Douglas 20:20
Yeah, well, I haven’t run heaps of them, I run a few or they’re kind of intertwined into talks that I do on other things. But it’s really, it’s so fun to do and it’s so interesting to see, as I said that every single person in the room can actually unfollow five people. Like.
Kate Callaghan
Yeah.
Natalie K. Douglas
So, yeah, it’s it’s a good one.
Kate Callaghan
Very cool.
Natalie K. Douglas
So those would be mine. Do you have any more to add that.
Kate Callaghan
I got one more.
Natalie K. Douglas
Itching to get out? Yes.
Kate Callaghan 20:49
So, it’s a little bit different. So, it’s a bit of an exercise. So, what you need to do, get out your pen and paper. Now, write down the name of the people that you personally find beautiful, you find them so attractive like, I wish I could look like that, then write down what makes them beautiful. Then, do you use that same standard when judging yourself? What is beauty to you? Okay. So, for example, you might, the people that I find most most beautiful and beautiful because of their skinniness or the thigh gaps, they’re beautiful because of their confidence and who they are, their kindness, their warm heart. Okay, so you might need to think about reassessing your standards for beauty. So you aren’t always chasing that perfection or whatever those perceived norms are that we should be looking like. And, you know, checking in, are your standards for beauty even realistic. Okay.
Natalie K. Douglas
Yeah.
Kate Callaghan
And someone that you think has the perfect quote-unquote, perfect body, they might have been photoshopped to look that way. Okay. So you’ve also got to take that into account. And also their perfect body is not going to be everyone’s perceived notion of what is perfect. So everyone has these different standards of beauty and what the perfect body is around the world. It’s just, we’re just going a bit messed up. And just learn to be a little bit kinder to yourself.
Natalie K. Douglas
I like it.
Kate Callaghan
That actually makes sense?
Natalie K. Douglas 22:18
It did. And I totally agree. I mean, you’re like, just the last thing you said, as well, to point out to everyone, you can’t please everyone, like that, for every person that thinks you’re attractive and would like to look like you, there’s going to be someone who doesn’t.
Kate Callaghan
Yeah.
Natalie K. Douglas
And that’s always going to be the case. And there’s always going to be someone better looking, better looking.
Kate Callaghan
Better looking.
Natalie K. Douglas
Better looking or not as good looking. But again, it’s it’s perception and everyone’s different. So, I just think trying, coming from a place of trying to please everyone else is never actually going to work because like not everyone has the same idea. So just let that go.
Kate Callaghan 23:00
Do you know what that reminds me of? Do you like Groove Armada?
Natalie K. Douglas 23:03
No, I have actually no idea what you’re talking about.
Kate Callaghan 23:06
Oh, my God, you don’t know who Groove Armada? I feel so old right now.
Natalie K. Douglas 23:10
Is it like a band or a singer or is it like.
Kate Callaghan 23:12
Yeah, like a, yeah, it’s a band.
Natalie K. Douglas
Okay.
Kate Callaghan
They sing, so they sing the, I see you, baby, shakin’ that.
Natalie K. Douglas
Oh, I know that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Kate Callaghan
Okay. Anyway, they have another song. And how’s it going? If everybody looks the same, we get tired of looking at each other.
Natalie K. Douglas 23:32
I’m so glad you brought that up. Thank you. Thank you for the musical interlude.
Kate Callaghan 23:36
If everybody looked the same, we would get tired of looking at each other.
Natalie K. Douglas 23:39
That’s right, everybody look at that song and see how similar it was to how Kate just sang it. Beautiful voice.
Kate Callaghan 23:43
It was spot on. I know that singing is not my strong point but I am woman enough to sing on this podcast with listeners of thousands of people.
Natalie K. Douglas 24:00
Yeah, you are.
Kate Callaghan
Okay.
Natalie K. Douglas
Good. I enjoyed it anyway.
Kate Callaghan
Good.
Natalie K. Douglas
Now moving on to another issue that comes up a lot, which I’m very passionate about, especially in the last, I’d say a year or so I’ve really pondered this a lot. So, the question I get a lot like, as someone who promotes positive body image, I, like the question often comes up as, can you have a positive body image, but still want to change your physical appearance? And for me, I feel like the positive body image movement can be quite hard to navigate. I feel like it has been so amazing in a lot of ways, but there’s a gap in it. And the gap is that women who want to lose weight or change their physical body from a place of self-care or self-love are often shame into thinking or feeling like they’re a fraud or somehow betraying the sisterhood of the movement when really the whole thing, at least for me, is about loving your body and loving each other’s bodies and accepting them and that’s it. It doesn’t mean you can’t change it or you can’t want to change it, it really comes down to why do you want to change your appearance like, is it because you think that it will make you more worthy of love or belonging because if that’s the underlying driver, then there is a deeper issue and your body might just be the vehicle you’ve chosen to use to try and band-aid up these limiting core beliefs that you have around not being enough or not belonging, like so, I guess to give you another example of how that might play out for someone in a different way, as in using a different vehicle. Let’s say you’re someone who constantly enrolls to do different courses, or is it chronic study and perhaps the driver behind that is because knowledge and knowing information that people want to know, or being quote-unquote, stupid-smart, gives you like provides you with a sense of value or worthiness of love. And again, there’s nothing wrong with being an intellectual person but where does the drive for that come from? If it’s just because you’re interested in understanding a certain topic or topics, or you simply enjoy knowing a lot about the world, then there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. So on the flip side, if you want to lose weight, or change your body composition in a way, like in any way, just because you want to improve your health, or because you want to become better at a sport or because you just enjoy being a certain size, you know, provided that you’re still healthy, then I personally don’t think that there is anything wrong with that because it’s coming from a place of self-love and acceptance, and not from shame. So you can own your strength as a woman and still own the changes you want to you want to make. So I don’t know if this analogy is going to be, it was going to make sense but whenever I have the held back from embarrassing myself on the podcast, really, so.
Kate Callaghan
I just sang.
Natalie K. Douglas
Yeah, that’s true. So, it’s not that bad really. So, it’s kind of like renovating your house, or your apartment or whatever, wherever you living. You might love your house already because you know, you’ve chosen to live there and you love it and you like being there. But sometimes it just feels good to disperse it up a bit or move a plant to the other side of the room or add a new rug, whatever it is, it really doesn’t have to be any, like have a deeper meaning than that in some in some situations. And I think that we need to be conscious of judging other women who want to change their body. If they’re coming from a place of self-care or self-love, then who are we to disempower them from doing that by pushing our insecurities onto them about wanting to change their body. Often, it says more about us than them. So you know, maybe I know this has been true for me in the past and often when I’ve looked deeper, it’s because I wasn’t at a place where I felt like that I could change my body from a place of self-love and self-acceptance. It for me, it was still about I wanted to change my body because I felt like that would make me more loved by other people and more accepted. And so other people doing that triggered me and I would get defensive and be like, well, they’re not. They’re obviously not a positive body image role model if they want to change their body, whereas that’s not true because where they’re coming from and where I’m coming from is different. And so, I just think it’s really important to be mindful of that. And the last point I wanted to make was that the other part of that I see in the body positive movement is accepting and loving our physical body as it is, even if it’s not healthy. So even if your body is not at optimal health, even if you have, you know, dysregulated hormones or you’ve got a chronic illness, or, you know, you’re you’ve got multiple injuries, or you’re on multiple medications, it does not mean that you’re not worthy of love and belonging. And I think it’s really important to acknowledge that as well because it’s not just about outward physical appearance. And yes, we, like, I will, I can only speak for me. So, I know that I always encourage people to move towards health, because I feel like being healthy allows us to be the best expression or best version of ourselves. So, I always encourage someone to move towards that. But it doesn’t mean that if you’re not healthy, or if you even though want to be healthy like it doesn’t mean that you’re not worthy of love and belonging. And that would be my very long-winded answer to that. Kate, do you have anything to add to, to that kind of thing of you know, can you actually want to change your body, but still have a positive body, body image?
Kate Callaghan 30:03
Yeah, I agree with everything you said, Nat. I think you summed it up really well. I think it’s all about where, where is it coming from? Why do you want to change your physical appearance? What’s the driver behind your motivation? And if it’s coming from a place of positivity, and you you feel good currently in your body, but you know, you just want to nourish your body I think, I think that’s totally fine. It’s that’s kind of one thing that I do ask people who come to me who want to lose weight, I will always ask them why. So they say, you know, I want to lose 10 kilos, I say why. And then we’ll drive down deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper. So, so we get to the bottom of it and make sure that it’s coming from a healthy place. So yes, I think that’s, that’s totally fine.
Natalie K. Douglas 30:46
Yeah, exactly. And I think, being really honest with yourself, when you ask an answer to that question because I know, there are a lot of people out there. And I, you know, from clients that have come to me and also myself, for a long time, I was saying that it was coming from this place of wanting to be healthy or whatnot. But really, it was still coming from that wrong place. And, and every time I tried to lose weight, when I was coming from that place, the journey was difficult and not enjoyable. Most recently, I actually have changed my body composition, a bit coming from for the first time coming from a place of body love and body acceptance and loving myself along that journey. I mean, I haven’t had this huge significant change, like my, actually my scale weight has not changed at all, it’s probably gone up a little bit, but my body composition has changed. And it’s been such an enjoyable journey because I haven’t been relying on it for my self worth or myself love, it’s just been there in the background. And that’s like, but in saying that, don’t feel bad if that’s not where you’re at yet, because it took me like 15 years to get to that place where the journey was from a different angle. And that it wasn’t painful, or, you know, just a shit fight to, to move through every day because I was beating myself up. So I think that, you know, it’s really important that you have strategies and recognize that your journey is your journey, and that there are lots of little things that you can do along the way to make it easier. I feel like we probably have covered most things off but Kate the one last question I had was do you feel like there are any other common barriers to boosting body image and how you can kind of overcome them that we haven’t mentioned already?
Kate Callaghan 32:51
Um.
Natalie K. Douglas 32:53
I feel like we did a pretty good job. Just saying.
Kate Callaghan
Yeah, I think it was a pretty good job.
Natalie K. Douglas
Yeah. Not cool. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t have anything further to add, I think.
Kate Callaghan
But.
Natalie K. Douglas
Yes?
Kate Callaghan 33:02
I do have one thing to add.
Natalie K. Douglas
I knew I could count on you.
Kate Callaghan
I just wanted to, so, I want to mention because I think it’s really really beautiful. I’m going to read it all out. So, grapefruit essential oil, so we often think of grapefruit as a kind of a weight-loss tool but I want to so I’m reading from the emotions in essential oils book about grapefruits. So, grapefruit essential oil is the oil of honoring the body. Grapefruit teaches true respect and appreciation for one’s physical body. It supports individuals who struggle to honor their body and are caught in patterns of mistreatment. These forms of abuse may include severe dieting, judging one’s body weight or type and abusing the body through negligent behavior of violence. These acts are often motivated by a hate and disgust buried within the psyche which gets directed toward the physical body. Though the individual may obsess over how they look, deep down they never feel they look good enough. There is a dissatisfaction that persists. Grapefruit oil is often misused in overly strict dietary and weight-loss programs. The reason this oil helps curb emotional eating is because it encourages a positive relationship with one’s body based on love, tolerance, and acceptance. Grapefruit encourages integrity by respecting one’s physical needs. This oil assists an individual in listening to their true physical needs and impulses. It also assists one in taking responsibility for what they feel. Grapefruit teaches that no amount of food can fill a hole in the heart, only love can do that. As the individual takes ownership of their feelings and gets the help they need in addressing them, they no longer have a need to hide their feelings behind food, body abuse, strict regimens, eating issues or other forms of obsession.
Natalie K. Douglas 34:38
I love it.
Kate Callaghan
Pretty cool, aye?
Natalie K. Douglas
That’s amazing. Can I get my, get my grapefruit out now?
Kate Callaghan 34:46
Some grapefruit, actually, I make a scrub with sugar and oil and grapefruit and I call that myself love scrub.
Natalie K. Douglas
Oh, I love it.
Kate Callaghan
Hey, you know what I’m looking at a bottle of grapefruit. The Latin name for grapefruit is citrus x paradisi, how cool is that?
Natalie K. Douglas
That is really cool.
Kate Callaghan
Sorry, not really.
Natalie K. Douglas 35:02
No, I do. I do appreciate that. I appreciate when there are a lot of names that I can actually pronounce it really makes me excited because I’m like, I’m like that kid in high school where you’re in a languages class and you have to speak a different language and I used to like hot. I was like, please don’t ask me because I always just sound like such an Ozzy Bogan trying to say anything that was not Australian and although oh, my god, don’t ask me, just just give me the croissant and don’t ask me because we used to get croissants in our languages classes, and I really loved them.
Kate Callaghan 35:36
I miss croissants. That’s like the one thing that I’d love to have. Kevin found the gluten-free croissant.
Natalie K. Douglas 35:42
Oh, I know. I used to, I used to just love hating them up slightly because they were just so buttery and delicious. Just love anything that has butter in it, anyway. Glad we talked about that. Um, so that’s pretty much the end of this podcast but before we sign off, Kate, was there anything you needed to make anyone aware of at the moment?
Kate Callaghan 36:06
No. No, I’ve said many things.
Natalie K. Douglas 36:11
That’s true you have. All right, well, we will wrap it up there and we will hear from well, I know you will hear from us again in a couple of weeks’ time. Have a lovely day, Kate.
Kate Callaghan
You too, Nat.
Natalie K. Douglas
Bye.
Outro 36:22
Thanks for tuning in to The Holistic Nutritionists Podcast. Remember, we love to make the show relevant to you. So, if you have any questions or topics you’d like discussed on the show, simply submit them to [email protected] or [email protected] and we’ll get them answered for you. Also, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on iTunes and share it with your friends and family too. Need more personalized nutrition advice? Why not invest in a consultation to accelerate your journey to your optimal health. You can find Nat over at HealthByWholefoods.com.au and Kate at TheHolisticNutritionist.com. See you next time guys.
OUR MISSION
Welcome to The Holistic Nutritionists Podcast!
If a professional, polished, well-edited podcast is what you’re after…then we’re not for you!
But if you love unfiltered banter, unedited bloopers and authentic heart sharing then we are your ladies.
We also have the most practical tips on holistic and alternative health care too 😉
Have a question that you want answered on the podcast or want to be interviewed? Get in touch!
YOUR HOSTS
Natalie K. Douglas | Thyroid Healer
Natalie K. Douglas shows women with Thyroid problems how to heal themselves in less than 30 minutes a day. Guaranteed.
Over the past decade, she's helped treat over 10,000 Australian women, trained more than 5,000 health practitioners.
Her clients say she’s the right girl to see if you’ve tried the conventional approach and nothing has worked.
Kate Callaghan | The Holistic Nutritionist
Kate Callaghan is a Holistic Nutritionist, Personal Trainer and Lifestyle Coach who specializes in women's hormone healing.
She recognizes that there is no “one size fits all” diet or “magic bullet” which is going to cure all illnesses.
She focuses on having a thorough understanding of your personal goals, needs, likes/dislikes, support networks and lifestyle in order to create a food and lifestyle approach that suits YOU.
