In today’s episode I’m chatting with Lauren McAulay intuitive eating health coach, co-founder of The Body Love Society & co-host of the How To Love Your Body podcast! Lauren struggled with an eating disorder for 10 years which morphed into orthorexia, meaning she was obsessed with eating the perfect food. She shares that, “No matter what I ate I always had to find the “healthiest” version. I roamed Whole Foods stores for hours obsessing over nutrition facts and superfoods (insert eye roll emoji). I was an exercise addict and gave all of my energy to what my body looked like.”
Now she wakes up and has swapped her 2 hours of obligatory time in the gym for time spent walking with her two adorable pups. She now has the time & freedom to have a build her career, spend time with her husband, and have a social life.
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
WE DISCUSS:
- The Body Love Society group coaching program for women: Ditch The Diet, Body Love, Food Freedom, Intuitive Eating, Shifting your story about who you are and your worth
- The moment Lauren had that made her think she was unworthy → she decided she needed to change the way she looked
- Her experience with her first diet at age 16
- The downward spiral into her eating disorder that she endured for the next 10 years
- How she felt like she could “never be normal”
- Hiding her secret even as a collegiate soccer player
- The rock bottom experience she had: graduating college & going through a breakup from an 8 year relationship
- The mentorship program that she elected to enroll herself in → and the project she picked: “self love”
- Starting her own business as a health coach & how she shifted her health coaching business into a body love business
- Radical Acceptance: Accepting who you are in this body, in this present moment
- If we’re never in a place of acceptance then how we will ever come from a place to love ourselves
- The very real emotions of shame, guilt, anger, frustration that we can all feel at times about our body – and how to reduce the effects of diet culture
- The number on the scale does not measure your worthiness
- Your weight does not equate to your happiness
- There’s no more rules anymore
- How she grew up as an athlete and being “forced” to workout, suffering through exercise addiction, and now she never does anything she doesn’t enjoy anymore!
- How sweaty you are at the end of a workout is not a measure of how “successful” you are
- Building trust back with our bodies when we stop FORCING ourselves to exercise when our bodies don’t want to
- Separating Food & Exercise as independent concepts
- Athletes are told for so long to turn off the “pain” signals from their bodies. “Push past the pain”, “No pain, No gain”, “sweat is weakness leaving the body”, “sweat is fat crying
- Starting intuitive eating & the fear of weight gain. Many women have this story that if they “let go of the rules” they will just sit on the couch and eat bon-bons forever and ever. And that they will continuously gain weight. This is evidence of the disconnect we have in our ability to trust our bodies, and our body’s ability to trust us.
- bOnce you start allowing the things that you’ve restricted yourself from for so long, they don’t become as special anymore
- When you’re able to practice intuitive eating, food stops dictating your life
- The freedom that comes from not having a plan
- How intuitive eating is NOT “letting yourself go” it’s allowing you the freedom to experience life & feel really good in your body
- Allowing yourself to FEEL GOOD
- Shifting the story away from this idea that we need to suffer in order to feel good. And instead just allow ourselves to feel good
- Who do we think we need to suffer for? Healing begins when we can begin to let go of what people think
- When you’re giving yourself permission to feel good, to let go of rules, gaining clarity → you can go through periods of exhaustion
- The importance of getting the support you need to make this transition our of diet-culture
- “I can be nice to myself and let go of what people think?”
- Don’t force yourself to master intuitive eating right away
- How old coping patterns can surface when we encounter stress, and having the tools to recognize why they are surfacing, and how to redirect our thoughts
- The shadow self – allow these thoughts and feeling to come forward to share what they are trying to say, listening to & honoring them – instead of running away and resist them. This way it won’t be such a BATTLE and dissipates the power they have over us.
- Shifting away from EFFORTING to LET GO, and instead just letting go (its easier than we make it)
Check out the How To Love Your Body Podcast!
CONNECT WITH LAUREN:
IG: @laurenmcaulay_
Her Co-Founder: Jenna Free on IG @youaintyourweight
Podcast: How To Love Your Body
Join their Free Private Support Group
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