Empowering you to to thrive through holistic wellness. Specializing in chronic illness support & low tox living. Subscribe to our newsletter where once a month you will get the low down on wellness topics hitting the news, low tox living, recipes and more. Check out the Products page for meal plans and other digital downloads. To book your complimentary Discovery Call click on the links tab. My journey into the wellness world began in university when I was studying Physical Education and human movement. Anatomy and Physiology were fascinating and started me on the path I am traveling today. In 2012 while I was teaching group fitness classes I noticed changes in my body. I lacked my usually energy levels, my muscles were shrinking while I was still lifting weights regularly, and I started reacting to food I never had before. I began the investigative journey which took me 8 years, 9 diagnosis and 2 surgeries to get to the root cause. I was gifted to be working with a homeopathic doctor who didn't know the word quit and I will be forever grateful for her dedication. During the journey I dove deep into the world of auto immune illness, the microbiome, toxic exposure and endocrine disputing chemicals. I wanted to do everything I could to feel better. I and rooted in my mission to be of service, and to help people cut through the noise when it comes to their health. It does not have to take years to feel your best, and together we can re program what wellness looks like for you. I believe that we should treat the individual as a whole and know that healing involves not only the physical but the emotional. Together we will plant the seeds for tomorrow! Coach Jen
Why We Need to Divorce Diet Culture
Most of us have encountered some - if not all - of these crazy diet claims. Claims like "I can help you lose 8 pounds in a day or 10 pounds in a week." How about "Eat this way to lose belly fat?" Or "Drink 2 of these shakes a day and you will melt away fat."
Sound familiar?
All I have to say about that is your body does not function that way. Diet culture has manufactured this idea of us needing to fit into societal norms in order to feel a sense of value. And we perpetuate the problem with every view, click and comment fueling this predatory complex on our emotional state of security and our physical value.
The concepts of diets came into place by people who were trying to find a formula for eating that would decrease the negative health impact we were seeing come in to play around the 1940s. At that time a handful of research scientists started looking for ways to help us decrease the heart disease we were seeing in middle aged men, specifically those that are light skinned. The results of that research, however flawed, has continued to impact the way we view and consume our food today.
The current climate of social media and the "Influencer" has pushed diet culture even further with its wide reach.
OK so let’s dig a little deeper.
Over the last month or so I have opened up my wallet to see what these influencers have been selling online as their "magic button" weight loss plans. As a footnote, if you’re following me online you know that I do not subscribe to the quick fix, and believe that real habit change comes from changing your emotional relationship with yourself and food.
OK, I’ll step off my soapbox and continue talking about the diet culture. Diet culture used to reach us via commercials, print advertising and books. Now it mostly reaches us via social media and influencers promoting unsafe eating habits and weight loss products. Once I started looking into their sales pitches I noticed a few common themes. First off they start by using catchphrases that lure us in like fat loss, lose belly fat, balance your hormones, etc. When you start going through the programs they send that’s when the big eye roll moment happens for me. They start you off with the basics but the basics are truly just eating whole unprocessed foods in reasonable proportions. Not so bad, right? Dig deeper.
It’s what comes after that, that becomes a problem where the continued sales pitch is to purchase their supplements, protein powders, and other products that are supposed to help increase the effectiveness of their program. Now imagine steam coming out of my ears as they start to market to your pain points where they make you feel unworthy to get you to purchase more.
(pain point are the specific problem you are experiencing)
So what can we do about it?
First thing is to know that most of the people doing this are getting you into a sales funnel. There are programs out there that are helpful for people by giving them some structure. It’s the body shaming language that we have to watch out for along with the elevator pitch.
So if you are ready to take some action steps moving forward here’s what I can recommend.
Go into your social accounts and see what keywords you’re following. Unfollow anything that has to do with weight loss, fitness, or account/tags that continue to use comparison psychology to make you feel unworthy. You are wonderful just as you are, you shouldn't feel guilt associated with wanting to improve yourself.
Second tip, once you’ve filtered through your social accounts, see what you’re reading and watching on television. If those things are causing you to feel unworthy, stop watching them, stop reading those articles, stop listening to those podcasts.
Third tip, unsubscribe to emails and groups that are not providing you with positive self talk. What we say to ourselves is what we end up believing.
You get to cultivate what you engage with and you’re always in charge of those decisions.
Planting Seeds for Tomorrow
Grounded Wellness Coaching
Empowering you to to thrive through holistic wellness. Specializing in chronic illness support & low tox living. Subscribe to our newsletter where once a month you will get the low down on wellness topics hitting the news, low tox living, recipes and more. Check out the Products page for meal plans and other digital downloads. To book your complimentary Discovery Call click on the links tab. My journey into the wellness world began in university when I was studying Physical Education and human movement. Anatomy and Physiology were fascinating and started me on the path I am traveling today. In 2012 while I was teaching group fitness classes I noticed changes in my body. I lacked my usually energy levels, my muscles were shrinking while I was still lifting weights regularly, and I started reacting to food I never had before. I began the investigative journey which took me 8 years, 9 diagnosis and 2 surgeries to get to the root cause. I was gifted to be working with a homeopathic doctor who didn't know the word quit and I will be forever grateful for her dedication. During the journey I dove deep into the world of auto immune illness, the microbiome, toxic exposure and endocrine disputing chemicals. I wanted to do everything I could to feel better. I and rooted in my mission to be of service, and to help people cut through the noise when it comes to their health. It does not have to take years to feel your best, and together we can re program what wellness looks like for you. I believe that we should treat the individual as a whole and know that healing involves not only the physical but the emotional. Together we will plant the seeds for tomorrow! Coach Jen
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