The Uneducated PT Podcast - EP 92 – Coaching GLP-1s, Body Acceptance & Food Inclusivity with Anna Harris

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

EP 92 – Coaching GLP-1s, Body Acceptance & Food Inclusivity with Anna Harris In this episode of The Uneducated PT Podcast, we sit down with Anna Harris—registered nurse, nutritionist, and the voice behind @thenutrition_nurse. Known for her compassionate and evidence-informed approach, Anna brings clarity and warmth to some of the most nuanced conversations in the nutrition space. We discuss:Coaching around GLP-1 medications: What they are, who they're for, and how Anna responsibly incorporates them into client work.Body acceptance: How to help clients move away from toxic body ideals and towards a more peaceful relationship with themselves.Food inclusivity: Anna shares her philosophy around making all foods fit—without guilt, restriction, or shame.Real-world application: Practical strategies for fostering a safe, respectful, and judgement-free environment in nutrition and coaching spaces.Whether you're a PT, coach, clinician or simply curious about a more inclusive approach to health, this episode is full of insight and grounded discussion. Listen now to learn how to support clients through evidence, empathy, and empowerment—while challenging outdated norms along the way.

Anna, can you start by telling the listeners a little bit about the work that you do? Yes, so I am a nurse by background and became a nutritionist two years ago. So predominantly help people with relationship with food, body image, improving nutrition, to improve their overall health, well-being life in a nutshell, yeah. Why go from, well, you still nurse, don't you? you still practice, but why the transition to nutrition? So I think like a lot of coaches and people who work in this industry, I'd had my own struggles in relation to food, body image, and kind of fitness.

I was never really like in a fitness or sport or anything. Was trying to find my feet with it all and love to help people. I think it's just an innate thing that I've got. But was quite ground down with the world of nursing and working in the NRAC. and then wanted, just felt like I wanted to do more and give more and get more out of things. So started to look into ways that I could help people in a way that I know that they need help. And I think the link for me was seeing people come through the NHS, seeing them go through surgeries and not get the right support. And it's not because like the dietitians and nutritionists that work in the NHS are amazing.

It's just that the services and the systems aren't there. that education isn't there so I wanted to help people in a way that I knew was going to benefit them and kind of stumbled into what I was doing yeah is there any kind of skills that you find have like directly translated from nursing

to helping people with their nutrition oh so many yeah so I think the biggest one is being able to communicate with people and being able to meet people where they're at so yeah having that that personability I think is huge, being a good communicator and just having no judgment. Like there is nothing, there is nothing that will shock me, Carl, from my own personal life or from work,

like the things that I've seen in nursing, most people won't see once in their life, do you know? So there is nothing that I'll see, but I also love, one of my favorite things about nursing is the privilege of being with someone when they're most vulnerable. And I think that is something that you get to do in coaching. And it's one of the things that I love about coaching. Yeah. Yeah, I would say, like, I would imagine nurses have a lot of empathy, a lot of compassion, a lot of patients. And I would imagine them things that directly translate over to helping people with their nutrition.

There's probably a couple of nurses that are probably listening to this. I know my sister is a nurse anyway. So, well, she doesn't actually listen to my podcast. But for any nurses that, you know, are listening to this and want to improve. their nutrition, but find the kind of difficult navigating around them busy schedules. Do you have any advice for them? Was it, were you struggling with your relationship with food while you were nursing? Or was this something that you solved before you got into nursing?

Tell us a little bit about that as well. Yeah, I, um, I've struggled with my relationship with food since I was a child, really, but didn't know that I struggled. And it was when I started to do the work that I realized how long it had been going on for. And there was catalyst to that and there was, there was triggers that would kind of, um, set off certain episodes and things. But definitely work and shift work was one of the hardest things to navigate

and it's a bit of trial and error. What I would say that any nurses or healthcare professionals listening is we are the worst people for taking our own advice. Nurses, doctors, you know, we are, the health systems tend to run on our goodwill.

So when people say, like, nurses know better, so they should do better, they should be the picture of health and all this. If anything, it's the opposite. nurses are the most selfless caring people in the world and they will put themselves at the bottom of the pile and then some. So be kind to yourself because honestly that is where any kind of change is going to come from and don't try and do it all, just the basics.

And don't think that because something works for someone else that it's going to work for you. So if that's like 10 minutes of exercise, if that's getting out for a walk on your day off, if that's including a source of protein, is it having some snacks in your property? it and that's what you can go to when you don't get a break on your 30-hour shift. You know, just the small things that you can do because you will feel better for it. But it's not easy and acknowledging that it's not easy. Yeah. You spoke about food inclusivity recently on a podcast that I was listening to.

What does that mean for the people listening? And, you know, something else you said there was, you know, you had a poor relationship with food, but you didn't actually realize that you had a poor relationship with food until he started to do the work. And I think that's quite accurate that a lot of people don't actually know. what a good relationship or a poor relationship with food looks like. Yeah, I didn't even know what was the thing called. Like when I started, I was really struggling in like a binge restrict cycle and I just couldn't,

I just thought I needed another diet. I kept looking for the next diet that was going to fix me. And it just always made things worse. So it was only when I started working with a coach actually myself who specialised in binge eating that I then started to realise that I had a relationship with food and what that meant and what it looked like. And food inclusivity is a huge. part of our relationship with food. So when we think about most people, when they've come from a background of yo-yo diet and they've constantly restricted, constantly cut food out. And even

things like, so the link for me with nursing and coaching, I love to bring in like, you know, certain things that we know about medical conditions and gut health and that good brain axes and stuff like that. Like the way the human body works just fascinates me. So we know like a lot of symptoms of IBS are often triggered by over restriction. Yeah, people think it's the other way around. And then there's a lot of misinformation out there about, you know, how to diagnose things with gut health. And most of it is fads and, you know, it's bullshit if I can swear.

You can. Good. I don't think you would have got us on if I couldn't. But yeah, so I think we need to switch that approach to food and to our overall nutrition. and look at what we can include because most people aren't getting enough of what we need. So on a general population level, most people aren't getting enough fiber in, they're not getting enough protein in to meet the requirements of what they want to do in life.

And then when we look at like, you know, the supplement industry and stuff, most people can get what they need from food. It's the same as like nutrition for training. Yes, when we're looking at like athletes and elite level, you know, sports, then it's very specific. It's a science in itself. But food is fuel and it's so many other things

but it is the best kind of fuel that you can give your body over electrolytes and supplements and all the other things. Like yeah, they can be great additions but it's no point mastering all of that if you haven't got the basics right. Yeah.

Do you think that when people obviously they go on some sort of a health journey or a weight loss journey, that's the first thing that their mind goes to is, okay, what can I take out of my diet versus what you're saying, which is like what can I add into my diet in terms of more protein, more fibre, etc.

Yeah, 100%. I wouldn't say I've had a client in the last two years who hasn't come from cutting something out or cutting a certain food group out. And I think sometimes we need to do those diets. We need to go through those things to then get to the other side. But yeah, I think most people's approach is

what can I cut out? And also people focus on that. like those top bits of the pyramid. Do you know, so like the focus on the supplements, the focus on the quick fixes, the focus on the small things when actually the fundamentals, it's like build the house.

Like it's the fundamentals that we need to focus on. Why do you think, why do you think people do that? Because like, you know, deep down, I think everybody knows that they need to eat more vegetables, eat more fruit, go for more walks, go to sleep, drink glass of water. So why do you think then we fall for, you know,

the kind of shiny object syndrome, the thing at the top of the pyramid. I think it's just a normal human innate response, like behaviour to want those quick fixes and to want the path of least resistance. I think that's absolutely fine, that people want to do that or are driven to do that. And I don't think we should shame ourselves about it.

I think then there's a huge, influence of diet culture and this constant pressure on everybody to be smaller because smaller is deemed as the picture of health and I always say to clients like who gets to decide what really with beauty standards who gets to decide what beautiful is and when we're looking at health health isn't a shape or a size or a certain body you know with me again come from healthcare, like when I was at my smallest, I was probably at my unhealthiest. I was partaking in so many behaviours

that would not have been supporting my blood work and, you know, all of the other things that I know I need for health. So we need to look at that side of things as well. Isn't it funny the way, like people start off a weight last journey, they're saying, like, oh, I want to lose weight because I want to feel healthier. And then they end up engaging in unhealthy behaviours

to get the outcome that they want. So they almost miss the forest for the trees. Yeah, it's like, Like when did vanity become better than health? Yeah. And I get like you can have, you can, you can want to change your body. You can want to look a certain way. And like it's part of having a positive body image to take pride in your appearance.

But you also want to, like if we're talking about body image, you want to be able to show up as you are and not not let that determine your self-worth. Yeah. Yeah. Well, this was one of the questions that I was going to ask you as we kind of shifted into body acceptance was like can body acceptance and the desire for change, whether that's a fitness goal or a weight loss goal, can they coexist? 100%. Yeah.

100%. Yeah, I think body acceptance, like when you look at the body image spectrum, like our body image can fluctuate day to day, especially for females who are, depending on where you're on your mental cycle, like, you know, you can feel like your body has changed physically quite a lot.

So, yeah, having that acceptance of your body and respect and care and wanting to change it can all coexist. So here's the question. So how do we navigate that then? How do we get around, you know, okay, I want to lose weight, but also I'm trying not to tie all myself worth to to my weight. I think you've got to look at why you want to do it. Yeah. Well, I always say, I always question people. And I always say why. And if they, whatever they come up with, I'll ask them why again. So it's like, why do I want to lose weight? Because I want to be healthier. Why do I want to be healthier. And if you keep asking why, you will get to your core values. And if you

figure them out and, you know, why they're important to you, making sure that you're not living by someone else's values, and you meet yourself where you're at on that journey. So as you're losing weight, as your body's changing, you know, it might be that your body shape changes if you have resistance training and you're gaining muscle. So continuing to reassess how you feel towards your body and how you think about it. And I think key things of like meeting yourself where you're at, focusing on body functionality. Like we've all got an element of body functionality

that we can focus on what our body does for us and what it supports us to do and how it supports us to do the things that are important, like show up with friends or, you know, whatever that might be for you. And also challenging the negative self-talk is massive. Yeah, and really difficult to do. I suppose, like, what I see on social media a lot of the times then

is it just ends up going into like two extremes. It's like, you know, a weight loss is bad. You shouldn't be pursuing it, you know, versus, you know, then the opposite side of it, which is diet culture. And then I think people get confused and like, oh, like, should I want to lose weight or should I not want to lose weight? Should I feel guilty about losing weight?

Kind of all these things. And it's kind of hard to navigate that, you know, that you're constantly having to assess yourself that, yeah, I want to lose weight. You know, this can actually be a positive change, but when does that positive change start to tip into, me having all these kind of self-hatred and negative self-talk against myself.

Yeah, I think the more you practice it call, the better you get at it, the better you understand yourself, the less challenging that is. So you just do behaviours. And like, yes, of course no one's perfect, but you end up just carrying out more and more behaviours that support you to be the best version of yourself.

And I actually, I was in the gym yesterday morning and the guy who owns the gym, I was chatting to him. And he kind of summed up what I do and, like, my approach. He was like, I love how you are health focused and not primarily aesthetic focused. And he always said, no, the gyms that he worked and he avoided doing like the eight-week shreds and the 12-week shreds and things like that. He said, not because, you know, I necessarily disagree with them, but he said they never supported people in a way that they needed. And he said, I would much rather support people to be the healthiest, fittest, strongest version of themselves that is going to make them feel the best and support them to show up in later life and things like that than get them abs in 12 weeks and then send them on the. away with Disordered Eating. And it's not to say that all those programs do that. But if the right

support isn't there, then it's like, right, what do people do after the 12 weeks? What do they do when they come out of the diet and phase? And why? Like, if getting abs is important to you, fantastic. Like, get there, do you know? But it's about doing everything else that you need to do to come out that diet and phase. What happens when your body changes? All of those other things. And we know that you can have an element of, you can gain an element of body confidence from changing your body. So you want to feel comfortable in your body.

You deserve to feel comfortable in your body. But when it gets past a certain point, that's when we might enter some disorder eating territory. Yeah. And I suppose that the type of people that you would work with and that I would work with, you know, general population clients, a lot of them, by just engaging in, you know,

health-seeking behaviours and being health-centric rather than weight centric. Like a byproduct of that is, from a lot of people, you're probably going to lose weight. You're probably going to look a little bit leaner, feel a little bit more solid, feel a little, like catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror

and be like, oh, I look good. And it's like, you stopped focusing on the thing and he ended up getting the thing, which was a bit of weight loss. Yeah, yeah. I said this yesterday, because I was like, I'm not anti-diet at all. And for a lot of people,

it is going to massively benefit the health. Yeah. Like I've got clients who have put on aggressive diets who've done fasting, all sorts of different things because it's not a one size fit all. And yeah, most people when they do the things that they find hard to do initially, then they get the thing that they thought they wanted.

Yeah. Why should people try to avoid language like good food and bad food in favour of kind of a more inclusive approach? Yeah, so one of the things with food inclusivity is that food neutrality. And like anything, you know, if you tell, you know, if you tell a kid something's bad or they can't do something, they just want it all the more. And again, it's that new science behind how our brain is wired up. So the more you tell yourself that you can't have something or that something is off limits or it's bad, then likely the more you are going to crave it. And when you think about it, there is no bad food. in the world. Like, there's no good food. If you lived on donuts for the rest of your life, it's probably not going to support your health. But equally, if you lived on spinach for the rest of your life, it's going to have the same impact. So, calling foods what they are. Like, it's spinach, it's a burger. Some foods might be less nutritious. Some foods might be more nutrient dense. You know,

it just very much depends on the food, but everything can be included as part of an overall healthy diet. And I think when you remove the moral value that food holds, then you can have full permission to eat whatever you want. Like I often chat to clients about this and someone of the other so afraid. And I was when I did the work, so afraid to tell myself that I could eat whatever I wanted because I was like, I'm just going to live on donuts or baked goods or whatever. It's a loss. It's a kind of a, you feel like you have a, if you allow yourself to, you know, have these or like it's you feel like it's going to be a loss of control 100% and for anyone who struggled with that loss of control around food it can be horrified and this is why it's so important

i tried for quite a long time like i probably had a undiagnosed binge eating disorder when i when i think back now and i for a period of time tried to do these things that i was listening to on podcasts and i was like all right i'll just do this but i just had no support around it so i didn't know how to implement it properly and I didn't really fully understand the concepts. And it was only when I went through that kind of channel that I was able to implement them with the right support because when things don't go to plan or, you know, the shit hits the fan, you've got someone, you've got like a safety net. You've got someone in your corner to be like, right, this is what we're going to do next.

Whereas when you're trying to navigate this on your own, which you can do, but you don't have that back up. And your thoughts are a lot more irrational than. then you know you're not thinking straight whereas when you have someone to kind of bounce them ideas off or just your frustrations off or your worries off it makes it a little bit easier because like when you're emotional you're the you're the last person to see clearly what to do oh it's a it's a worst place to be in your own head when you're struggling yeah do you know where where that came from for you the undiagnosed binge eating the distorted behaviour around food the mindset around

field. Do you have an idea where it came from? Yeah. Yeah, I do. Mine was quite like a trauma response. So I never really, I mean, I don't really recall. My mom was like an exercise fanatic. Like she, that's, that was just, it was quite her identity. But I never remember any like diet talk. There was no. That's interesting for someone who said that, um, that you weren't really interested in exercise when you're younger. No, I wasn't. Yeah. Yeah.

I did like... Because usually it's common that the children kind of repeat the behaviour of the parents of what they see. Yeah, no. Like she kind of shows into the gym, shows around marathons, that kind of stuff. But we had a very balanced approach to nutrition. Like we had a really balanced diet. There wasn't really anything off limits.

She wasn't like, she was dieting, but she never really, we never really saw that. that. The thing for me was in response to how I was feeling. So due to stuff that was going on in childhood, I didn't know how to cope, didn't have the tools to cope. And I started to secretly eat as a way to cope with how I was feeling. So from quite like early teens, like 11, 12, I remember an experience vividly of going to the shop. And then once I remembered this first experience, I remembered more. Going to the shop and buy. And, like so these i don't know biscuit wafer things and taking them home and just eating the whole pack and then this became an ongoing cycle um and it wasn't necessarily like just if i felt a certain

way but sometimes i would just do it as an escape it was something for me to to have and to do and that was all in response to stuff that was going on at home do you think that's something that's let's say parents listening to this now um should be aware of in terms of you know secretly and with with their children and stuff like that because obviously that can be a something to really kind of look out for if your child is secretly eating yeah 100% and I think it's so much harder now with the food environment that we'll live in and what's available to kids especially and I think it's really difficult in schools because a lot of schools I've heard will demonise certain foods and they don't allow kids to bring certain foods in and it's like they have a one approach for all kids and I

we we just can't do that but I fully appreciate in the environment that they're in, it's hard on a mass scale to target things. I did have somebody recently who said that they knew something that was going on with their teenage son and then he has disclosed, luckily he's got the relationship that he feels that he can, but he disclosed to his parents that he was struggling with binge eating as a result of being bullied at school. Yeah, yeah. And I just, like, my heart breaks from him, but I also was so pleased that he felt able to

talk about it because it means now that the, can something can be done about it. Yeah, yeah. I remember I had a client and they told me a story before when they were younger, they used to go into school and they used to all eating school

and because they were a little bit heavier, they were afraid to eat at lunchtime in front of the other kids in case someone, you know, said something or mentioned something. So he would go into the bathroom tea or he would just starve himself all day and then he would go home and obviously then eat as much as he could at nighttime and obviously that that cycle started to

you know, become worse and worse as he had. It's a cycle as well, isn't it? Because if at some point someone could have intervened then, and this is why having people in your life who can have an impact, I think is so important, but also the more we have these conversations, like I don't talk about this because I want to promote the business or I want to blow me on trumpet or anything like that.

This is purely to get more and more people having these conversations about food and the awareness, because it's in every single one of our lives every single day. We're very lucky that we'll have that access, ability. But if we can break the cycle, like for me, if I'd been in a position where somebody might have recognised that or I could have talked about it and I'd broke the cycle then, then I might not have been 30 year old, binge eating and secret eating as a result of an unhappy relationship. Yeah, because like we said, most people, again, don't, most people don't understand

food. Like if it wasn't for podcasts and stuff like that, I would still be going around calling food, good foods and bad food. Yeah, absolutely. I just, I don't, it's until, you know, it's until you become it's it's around you and you're surrounded with people having these conversations that you that you realize that there is a lot to this there's a lot to the to the psychology around nutrition more so than the actual you know macros and and calories of nutrition i think so people having these conversations all the time and i think i think parents in uh specifically like for them to understand these kind of these kind of conversations is really really important because then it kind of it helps to to stop that kind of generational dieting cycle that can happen.

Now, like you said, it can still happen to people anyway. Like you said that, you know, your mum, it wasn't, you know, going around dieting in your face or anything like that. And she had a healthy relationship with exercise. So it can still come from other external sources anyway. But you can stop it from the, at the family home if people are more aware of these conversations, which is helpful. Yeah, definitely. And I think for, I mean, I'm not a person. parent, but I think for parents, just knowing that you're doing the best you can with what you've got,

like not beating yourself up, not thinking, oh my God, have I caused this with my child or anything like that. I'll have a lot of clients who kind of worry and they're like, oh, have I done something wrong? And I'm like, no parent is perfect, like Christ. And all of us are just a result of our environment. I always think that. So, like, you're a product of your circumstances. So if there is something that you're doing, it's normally, it's very, it's very, really, out of malice, you know, or like a negative place. It's just that that's what you've always done. But when you know better, that's when you can do better.

And that's when you can support your kids with a healthy relationship with food. Tie in yourself work to your body. So you had a really nice successful story on your page that I was going through about. It was a man talking about chasing his own work through his body, which first of all, I think it's really nice that, like, you had a man on who was a client, who was so open to have these kind of vulnerable conversations. which I think is really nice to think that should happen more.

But I guess for the listeners, what I wanted to ask is like, how do we spot that we're tying our self-work to our bodies? Like, what does that look like and how do we start to kind of remedy that problem? I think a lot of it can come from self-esteem. So kind of the thoughts and the feelings that you have about yourself and almost where you see yourself in society as well.

but I think on a on a basic day to day level if your thought and feelings about your body are stopping you from doing things in life if you are canceling plans if you not necessarily even down to like the clothes that you're wearing because that can be like dependent day to day but if you're not going out with friends because you're like I'm worried what they're going to say

if you're not going forward for like job interviews and stuff like that because you think are they going to think that this about my body. If you feel really uncomfortable in the bedroom in a relationship, you know, all of that links to your self-worth and how you see yourself in the world. Like they're all huge things that really, like when you think about it, like you're literally preventing yourself from having a life that you enjoy because of your thoughts around your body. Yeah, absolutely. And even like it links massively. This is why I wanted to do the nutrition and body image side of things because it links together.

like you can eat a certain food and then turn on your body. Or you can feel a certain way about your body and then binge eat. Yeah, yeah. And the cycle just continues as well. And I think that's also a really good point then to note that, you know, like your body image doesn't really have anything to do with your body in a sense that like you could be 60 kilos, 80 kilos, 100 kilos, 50 kilos. You know, you could look at someone and think they look great and they literally like might not be able to. to get through the day because yeah because they're so hyper focused on on how they look and I think

that's a that's an important point to to make clear to people yeah and I think a lot of that comes from again the societal pressure that smaller is better and that you know this huge kind of weight bias that we have in the world that if you are in a larger body then you're lazy you don't you know you're not trying hard enough there's all of these like missed. misconceptions. I've actually just written a post about I'm doing this course at the minute and there was an obesity lecture and I've just written a post about kind of some take homes from it because I think

again the more we talk about these things and when you look at I don't know if you've seen the whole skinny talk thing. No but if it's on TikTok I try to stay away from it. Yes I'm not on TikTok I just can't do it because it's just not for me but somebody told us the other day there's this trend going around called Skinny Talk and it is basically people who don't need weight loss injections

using them to being a smaller and smaller body. Now some of the images are harrowing of mainly girls who are reducing the body size and again this is all just feeding into things and I honestly think that

people always ask are you pro or against weight loss injections and I am like I am 100% pro-prow weight loss injections and I am like I am 100% pro-wit loss injections for those who need it. Yeah. But we are seeing them become the new yo-yo dieting cycle. Yeah.

People are using them, not alongside support, losing weight, coming off them, regaining weight, or frightened to regain weight so they're just staying on them and bouncing around without support on weight loss injections. Yeah. I think, like, there has to be a conversation to have that for you to get these drugs, you need to, you know, be passed off by maybe a doctor who understands disorderly and eating disorders and is able to kind of check for them. I like otherwise.

But you know what? It's very naive of me, but I actually genuinely thought that. And I wrote about this maybe a year ago or maybe it was two years ago. Like I wrote about how I think we're past the diet culture stage because, you know, like of all the kids that I see it on TikTok, like I would see like young girls lifting heavy and, you know, embracing, you know, body functionality like you said. And I was like, ah, that must have been, you know,

a 70, 80s, 90s things, you know, Tinspo and all that stuff. But obviously it comes back around in circles or never left. Well, no, I probably agreed with you at one point. I thought that things seemed to be improving. And I do think there was an element of we went from, we went from a fixation on smaller bodies to then more muscular, stronger bodies. With everything, I think there'll always be an extreme. so whatever it is, there'll always be, you know, kind of two sides of the coin.

But I definitely feel like weight loss injections have got the potential to cause a huge negative shift in diet culture. Yeah. My concern then as well then is that people will see these examples of how it shouldn't be done and then demonise the tool that's actually helping a lot of people who actually really need and has actually saved their lives. Oh, absolutely. And I often say to coaches as well, you know, just have open conversations with clients because for all you know, you might have clients who are thinking about using them or even using them and don't feel open enough to, or in a position to tell you. And this is where I always say like I'm an open book. And if anything that I talk about with my own struggles or anything else can help people, then that's what I'm more than happy to do that. But I think, again, it comes down to having the conversations because the more we talk about things there's so much shame and judgment around weight loss injections and I even see it at work like we get quite a lot of people in with side effects of weight loss injections and or who have bought certain things online thought

that there were weight loss injections and there weren't and unfortunately then end up in hospital which is really dangerous and really scary for the person but with that need to come no shame or judgment because the people who are shaming them and judging them within healthcare because there is a there is a bias within healthcare from a lot of health care. healthcare professionals for people who are maybe in larger bodies and again that needs to change but a lot of these healthcare professionals are using weight loss injections as well so it's like this constant cycle of um you know the judgment that you put on yourself you put on other people or vice of it and the kind of that we ought to ourselves the kind of we ought to other people and we just

need to shift that whole focus to try and support people and move away from feeling like they need to take these to go to these extremes um you did a you did a lecture for coaches on you know, supporting clients on GLP ones. What do you think is the biggest kind of mindset shift that coaches need to have in regards to this new era of weight loss medication? I think people need to not be afraid to admit what they don't know.

Because for all these aren't new. They're mainstream now that for, they're new for a lot of coaches who are only kind of starting to, oh shit, what the wife to learn about? this. Yeah. So I think a lot of people will feel like they need to know everything and as coaches, you almost have this like position of authority kind of thing, which I always say like, use that, you know, use it with clients to get the best out of them, but not in a way that it's derogatory or you feel like you're above them or anything else like that. You are, like you, all who humans,

were all on the same level. But don't be, don't feel like you have to have all the answers with whatever it is and always just reach out to other people like we've me and Sophia running this um these webinar sessions at the minute so we're doing four um like it's like a mini series basically we're doing four webinars for mainly aimed at coaches and pts to learn more about weight loss injections and the first one was on monday and we had a great like great conversations off the back of things we're trying to keep them really like clear and concise and short just kind of 20 minutes and then a Q&A at the end for anyone that wants to stay on um and people can sign up like now even though we've already started

you'll get the recordings what were some of the questions that came up what were people interested in to know about the big things was where to send people and where to reach out for advice because for all there's a lot of healthcare centred advice out there there's not a lot for

lifestyle advice and how to support people coming off them which is something that we're going to cover in one of the other webinars and the other one was how to approach it with clients if you think that they would fit the criteria or benefit from them.

That's an interesting one. I haven't even, that didn't even enter my brain because usually it's people coming up to me and asking me about them versus, you know, me suggest, well, I suppose by the time they actually come into the gym, they've already lost a significant amount of weight

that they're actually confident enough to come in. So it's, it's probably the people, The people that don't enter my vicinity are probably the ones who probably need them and are probably struggling with their way at the moment. Yeah, but they're a great thing called the people who have come into your facility and if they've used them to get there, then that's a positive thing. Do you know, I think, again, people think it's like an easy way out and a quick fix and all of this. But if someone is in, is so unhappy in their body or so uncomfortable in their physical body that they cannot exercise and the weight loss injections get them to a point. that they can then do that, then that is a positive. And that also debunks the, oh, you should just focus on lifestyle

where when the medication has actually pushed you in direction of now focusing on lifestyle because now you're actually, you know, you have enough energy and you're light enough on your feet or you're more confident to now actually walk through the gym and actually be able to partake in a gym session or a class and be able to have the confidence to keep that. So it's actually, it's contributing to life. rather than, you know, dismissing lifestyle.

Yeah, 100%. Some people can't exercise without being short of breath, you know. So it's it's those, it's those things that it has a huge positive impact on. And when this coach asked, we were saying, you know, it's, as a coach, it's not, like, we're not, we're not prescribing weight loss injections. We're not recommending them. But we need to have the education around them so that we're comfortable to talk about them. And it's like anything. You wouldn't always, I don't know, say someone had had.

high blood pressure. You're not going to recommend that they go on anti-hypertensive blood pressure medication. You're going to refer them onto the doctor. So if somebody approaches you, one of your clients or someone asks your question and says, should I take them, then, like, well, you can have a discussion about it, but you're not going to recommend that they do anything. You're going to refer them on to the GP or, you know, someone who is reliable that they can go and speak to. And I think for anybody who you think, you know, they might fit the criteria, like I've had clients who I know would get them through the NHS. They've maybe mentioned them, I talked about them, I talked about a friend using them,

and it's opened a conversation. Or I've said to them, you know, there's other ways that we can do things. You know, we don't, if someone's really in the depth and they're really struggling and it's potentially going to be beneficial, and I'm not saying to them, you should go on weight loss injections. I'm like, right, we've got all of these different options. So have a little thing about things and then we'll revisit it. Have you spoke about or is a part of the series where you're talking about it?

about the the psychological implications of taking these weight loss medications because I'm only I have a client who was on them and um you know we had this key he had this company we're having this conversation and he was like oh i'm not sleeping at the moment my my head and i'm i've have all these thoughts and all and you know i had this conversation with him and i explained to him that you know you've probably used food as a coping mechanism for other things for the last 15 20 years and now you don't have that coping mechanism anymore. It's been literally taken away from you. So there's going to be psychological implications from that. Like your mind hasn't caught up with your body. So we had the conversation

about it and we suggested that he went to therapy and he went with an initiative that we've set up and stuff like that. So like even including, you know, the doctor, his personal trainer, which is me and also a therapist as well, having an actual team that are supporting them in different ways. 100%. Yeah. And I love that. That it's so important. One of the things that when we talk about like supporting people with obesity is that multidisciplinary approach within healthcare and that should be the case with private healthcare as well. Like, you are part of someone's healthcare. Do you know, as a PT, is a nutritionist. We are part of someone's overall healthcare.

It's just, you know, privately unless you get referred to from public services. So, yeah, that's so important. And it's one of the, we are going to cover pros and cons. That's one of the things. Potential side effects. But we are seeing a massive increase in. people report and low mood and things because they get such enjoyment and satisfaction from food.

And yes, it can reduce that food noise and the thoughts that we have around food and the constant chatter, you know, where we don't know what to eat, we don't know how much to eat, if we're eating too much or we're going to have a binge, you know, all of those thoughts that we have around food, it can reduce that,

but it can also take away the result that we get from using food as a coping mechanism or emotionally eating, not stress eating. and never with clients, if that's something that they do, I would never just take food away as a coping mechanism. They always have the autonomy to use food for comfort because it can absolutely provide comfort. We just don't want it to be the only cope mechanism that they've got.

Yeah, and I think that's a good point to make even like side point away from people on GLP ones, just people in general who maybe on a health journey who want to lose a little bit of weight to feel a little bit more confident, to have a little bit more energy. and a lot of the time they can get quite frustrated with themselves because they've had a certain meal that they said that they weren't going to e and they're trying to rack their brain around why are they doing this and why do they not have willpower and they're not understanding that okay

like you have physical hunger but you also have you know emotional hunger as well yeah 100% I always say to clients if we're talking about like you know having a balanced meal you want to have your source of protein you carburember your fruits and veggies, your fats, and also some satisfaction. So whatever that is, and by doing that and having that food inclusivity approach, then you are going to feel less deprived, you're going to get more satisfaction from your meals, because there's so many different types of hunger as well. You know, you might have physical hunger, you might have emotional hunger, you might have a hunger for some kind of like learning or

education, but it's uncomfortable and it sits in your body because we're not taught about how to listen to all these things and tune into how our body's feeling. So then it presents in a way of, right, I've got this innate hunger for something. You don't really know what it is. And then you turn to food. It doesn't really satisfy that. And then you beat yourself up. So then you turn to food again.

And it's again that cycle. So I think by really understanding how food shows up for you in your life and the ways that it makes you feel, how it enhances your life, how you do use it for fuel, all of those things. And then look at understanding yourself and your own body and how feelings show up for you is really important. And I think there's also always negative connotations around emotionally and like it's like it's something like it's a bad thing. But we have to think about emotionally and like, you know, it's a positive experience a lot of the times as well. Like we we emotionally eat by eating at weddings and at birthdays and celebrations and all them things as well. So I think when people are on a on a fat loss journey or a weight loss journey, then they only see emotional eating in a in a negative light because they're trying to reduce their calories. Yeah, exactly. And I think again, that's where if you. come from a constant place of restriction, then you're going to beat yourself up if you feel like you've overeaten or anything like that. And I've, like, in the past call, I saw me emotion, like, would have binge responses in response to like happiness and joy. Because I didn't know, I was emotionally dysregulated. So I didn't know how to sit with those feelings. And I also,

this sounds really sad, but it's not. Like, it's just, it's certain times in my life. I didn't experience a lot of happiness and joy. So then when I did, I was like, oh, I don't know. This is uncomfortable for me. I don't know how it feels. But again, the more emotionally regulated you become by working on all of this stuff and understanding your own emotions and being in tune with yourself and slowing the fuck down and not trying to run on autopilot and do a million things at once and do more and more because again, that's what society expects us to do, then the more you can understand how you're feeling and meet what you actually need rather than just running on empty or, you know, trying to cope as best as you can. You can respond in a way that is supportive

instead of just having these feelings being really uncomfortable and thinking, I don't know what's going on here and then binging and then, like I say, you're in that cycle again. Isn't that such a terrible concept though that like you punish yourself for enjoying yourself? Like for enjoy, like, and I see it all the time with clients as well. It's like, oh, they went on a holiday and, you know, I ate loads. I ate loads like, you know, had loads of pizza and loads of carbs and stuff like that. I was like, well, did you enjoy yourself? It's like, yeah, yeah, but now I, like, you know, I need to make up for what I've. I'm a terrible person now. Yeah, do you know what I mean? Or it's like whatever it is. It's like the first thing they think about is, oh, I had too much fun. Now I need to, you know, pull back on what I did rather than just, you know, go on with my life and say, yeah, I had a great time. Do you not think it's interesting though that we don't do it, a lot of people do it with alcohol, right? Like if you think that, you know, especially that hangs eye eager afterwards when you've like, you know, had too much. But alcohol seems more widely acceptable to not beat yourself up over.

So it's like, you know, you have a skinful and then like, yeah, you're like, oh, maybe shouldn't have had those extra ones, but it's fine, I'll just get on with it. I'll deal with a hangover and I'll crack on. You do it with food and you think you're the worst person in the world. Why do you think that is? Maybe diet culture, maybe again, that's shame around food. I mean, yeah, potentially. some more some weird more moral value around food than alcohol yeah i think i think for all alcohol

like you know i i i drink i'm not i'm not teetotal but um i've definitely become a i never used to have a great relationship with alcohol when i was younger and i've definitely become um less favourable of it i guess i just i don't show up as my best when i when i drink but i've got nothing you know it's everyone's decision to do what they want to do but there is no benefits to have an alcohol really like if you look and if you think from a health perspective however it can enhance an experience and if if you weigh up the risks and the benefits which is what we do basically in healthcare with every single decision we make for a patient and if the benefits outweigh the risks then it's it might be worth it in your life

but yeah it's it's so acceptable yet um things like drugs and stuff which are very similar substance aren't. I think it's probably a societal thing where, you know, we, for a long time. I like, we glorified alcohol for, for such a long time, especially in the, well, you should know this more than anyone being a majority. But, but now, I think like, even the, the next generation, I don't, I think alcohol, like, I know in Ireland, like,

alcohol consumption has massively, massively dropped. like as a country as well like us in the list of you know most alcohol consumed in Europe has massively dropped as well so I think there is like a cultural shift there but I think that's I think that has more to do with people just not leaving their house these days

rather dead than anything else yeah it might be I think as well I saw I was out on Sunday morning and saw a group of like I mean I reckon they were like 80, 19 they were out for a run like a big group of friends and I And I remember thinking, God, on a Sunday morning, I would have not been for a run. It was a great shift to see.

Yeah, yeah, I'd be running home for different reasons. I just, yeah. Can we talk a little bit more about body acceptance as well? So I wanted to kind of pick your brain on this. So in terms of body acceptance, why do you think it's important to use terminology, like body acceptance more so than maybe body positivity? Because I know you've touched on this in a podcast. Yeah, body positivity, funny enough I was talking to someone about this this morning.

I think it was a fantastic movement, the body positivity movement. However, I think it almost, what's the word I'm looking for? The pendulum swung too far, maybe. Yeah, yeah, there was no, it was quite an unrealistic movement. I think you can absolutely, I think it glorified body positivity too much. We absolutely can feel positive

about our bodies, but it's an unrealistic expectation to love your body all of the time. And I think one of the things that came off the back of body positivity was that you don't, you shouldn't want to change your body,

you should just accept your body and be in it. So I'll tell you this. So I did. I did a bit of research on this a couple of years ago and I was going through like people were going through some of the body positivity like forum groups that they have and a couple people said after leaving the body positivity group that you know they were shamed for leaving it or for trying to lose weight because I think it was more a thing that like the activists inside

of the group were like you know they if you tried to lose weight that would be like a threat to our movement now so there was kind of like this kind of group. thinking involved and I and I suppose it's like anything it's like you'll get the extremists off off any idea and and kind of group that kind of ruins it for everyone essentially yeah and it's such a shame when something like that that's that's so positive like it was it was a huge positive shift you know to see different shapes and sizes and abilities of bodies um to then have a negative outcome do you know and and I think this is one thing that I always say to to clients to do which is a way of working on body acceptance.

If you surround yourself with... Because if you look, if you walk down the street and you took a minute to look at the different people around you, there would all sorts of body shapes and sizes and ideals. If you go on social media, you are presented with this kind of look. So why not make your social media more like reality and diversify it?

So follow different shapes, sizes, abilities of bodies. and follow people for different reasons. Like there's loads of research that shows actually if we, so we might follow fitness influences, for example, because we think that it's going to motivate us to then exercise when actually it has the opposite effect. A lot of people when they see certain images, certain kind of sexualised fitness images online,

they then feel worse about themselves and are then less likely to exercise. so really really working on like looking outwards getting outside your own head and thinking right well look at that person they're doing this and they're in a completely different body to me so why can't i do that and and i know it sounds almost like toxic positivity but i i'll i never leave a shift at work and i'm not somewhat grateful even if it's been horrendous even if i've been spat at even if i've been trapped like shit i might not feel like this for that person but I will still leave with some level of gratitude that I can walk out of that hospital and go and live my life whereas there are people who are having the worst day of their lives in that place and may never walk out again some people may never leave again you know like all of these things that I think of I'm I'm kind of like worst case scenario with stuff but by doing that it makes me be more positive and have more of a positive outlook because

I'm so fucking grateful for the things that I can do in life and the things that my body allows me to do. So I think if it's not always easy to do it, but just by trying to shift that a little bit in that direction can have a massive impact. Yeah. I mean, I don't think it's toxic if it's true. Like if you're actually grateful for something and you believe it to be true, like that's only going to be helpful and shift your mood. I think with the with the with the with the body positivity or toxic positivity, it's when I suppose you don't even believe what you're saying or you you, you you've probably feel the opposite and by saying it it doesn't actually help improve your mood it actually just makes you feel worse does that make sense yeah absolutely and I think the other thing

with the body body positivity is that there was no room for people to say I'm actually having a bit of a ship body image dear yeah yeah yeah that's very true like like I always say to people okay all right I am self-conscious about my legs I have skinny legs all right so I don't go around saying that you know I love having skinny legs, you know what I mean? Because that's me lying to myself and projecting that out to the world. But what I would say is that,

oh, I've never, never had a calf injury or a hamstring injury. I'm light on my feet and I can run really fast. So like you said, about body functionality, it helps me to do something that I really enjoy doing and therefore I get a positive experience from that.

So it's like meeting in that middle ground. 100%. And meet yourself where you're at. And I think that's where it's super helpful. If you are somebody who, if you find that that's unrealistic, if you can't even say, right, I can focus on something that my body does for us

that is functional, just whatever is going on for you, whatever feelings and thoughts that you've got towards your body, just knowing that it deserves nourishment, it deserves show up for itself, it deserves care, deserves love. If you're in a relationship or you've got a child or whatever and they piss you off,

you're not going to love them any less you're not going to disrespect them you're not going to not care for them you are going to do all of the things that you would normally do you're just going to have a little bit of annoyance or resentment or anger or something that's sitting with you you have to do exactly the same with yourself

and with your body so whatever is going on whatever thoughts and feelings that you've got about your body it still deserves to be fed even if you're not exercising because I get so many clients who are like oh but I'm having a rest day so I don't feel like I can eat as much you like your brain your organs all of these things need food to function you need calories you need energy and actually we don't like you know this we don't actually use that much of our daily calorie intake

for the exercise that we do so remembering that whatever however little you're doing your body still deserves nourishment it still deserves fuel and i think that's a helpful reframe when you're talking about curating your social media I think that's really interesting as well in terms of how people will look at someone who is a fitness influence who's really in great shape

and think, oh well, that that will motivate me to train when it does the opposite. Do you think like companies like Jim, Shark and others like that, do you think they have a responsibility or do you think it's a responsibility

on the individual to curate their feet? I know my feed is just memes and dogs so that's what probably helps me with my body image and listen to the podcast. I definitely don't follow any fitness influence I'm before. Yeah, I think it's a dual responsibility. One thing that I really kind of don't like in society is this idea that everything is something else's fault.

Yeah. There is a lot wrong with our society. But if you tell yourself, that you can't do anything about it, you are disempowering yourself. And if you have any level of self-respect, you deserve better than that. So by telling yourself that you have some personal responsibility,

and that's not to say that something is your fault, but you can do something about it. And I think that is where you have control over your social media feed. So many people think that they just have to, like, deal with the cards that I dealt with them. And they think about that with social media as well. but you can mute people, you can unfollow people, you know, and like if anybody is offended,

if you, if, like, I've had friends who have been dieting, like years ago, and I said to them, I can't see this, like, I'm really trying to work on this stuff. So I'm going to mute you on social media. So if I don't comment on anything or whatever, then this is why. And they're a bit like, oh, you're not going to follow us. Like, are you not interested in what I'm doing? And I'm like, I absolutely am. But it's not healthy for me right now to see you going through a dieting phase or whatever it is.

So I think, yes, big companies, especially people with large followings, they have a responsibility to put out not harmful messages, basically. However, how we interpret something is on us. Yeah, that's very true. That's very true. Because just because something's harmful for you doesn't mean that it's harmful for someone else either. Exactly. And that's our responsibility. Me and you could follow exactly the same pages and get something completely different from it.

So that's up to us to determine what we want to follow. But Jim Shark have a responsibility when they are putting out certain images to not cause any harm in a society. Takes a lot of self-awareness and being very proactive to do that and to realise that, oh, this is actually harmful for me. This is harmful for me. And curating your feed or whatever else it is, you know, catching yourself out when you're having these negative self-talk or, you know, go into a bodybuilder gym with loads of mirrors rather than maybe a CrossFit gym with no mirrors. like all these things that people have to navigate to, you know, get them out of that hole that they're in where they absolutely hate how they look or hate themselves. But it's difficult and especially when you're not really aware of the reasons why you feel

like that. Yeah, definitely. It's that self-advocacy, isn't it? And I think if you'd sent to me five, ten years ago, like, I didn't even. realise I was struggling with some of the stuff that I was. You know that it was having such an impact on my life. And if you'd said, this is the things you've got to do to get where you need to be,

I'd be like, fuck off. Like, no chance. Because it was just, I was exhausted. It was too much work. It was too much effort. So if anyone's listening and thinking, oh God, I don't even know where to start. Like, just start small.

Because I can guarantee that when you do one thing that hits, that makes you feel better, it will have a continuing, and like impact and you'll continue or want to do the things. Yeah. Another question that I had for you was about self-compassion.

And I think when people hear self-compassion, they hear, oh, like taking it easy on myself and therefore if I take it easy on myself, therefore I won't get the results that I want. Yeah, because you've got to be harsh on yourself, haven't you? That's what we've been told. Yeah.

You've always been told you've got to grind harder. You've got to beat yourself up. What does self-compassion mean to you in regards to this? And how can I help people? I think identifying that self-compassion and self-care are two different things is important. So self-care is shown up for yourself in a way that is caring. And I think self-compassion is being kind of yourself. self-compassion when you think about it is how you would act towards anybody that you care about

so you know you have that element of care but then you want to support them to be the best version of themselves and if you think of any good friend that you've got they will probably be the nicest person a year but also call you out on your bullshit and I think that's the When people often say with self-compassion, well, how would you speak to a friend? Well, it depends on the friend sometimes, you know? But if you think of like your people in life and the way that they support you to show up,

they will probably call you out on stuff and they will also be nice to you. Yeah. And that's the best way to look at self-compassion. Yeah, because if you have a friend who was engaging in toxic behaviour and you say, oh no, you're fine, well, you're not really being a good friend

because you're not having an honest conversation with them. Exactly, yeah. And it's the same with yourself. Yeah. So self-compassion could be having the salads or having the pizza or going to the gym or having a rest day or, you know, getting up early and packing your gym bag even though you're tired or having a lion because because you're tired. Exactly. And it's the same thing can be, sorry, the opposite thing can both be self-compassion. So it might be that one morning you, I think healthy lifestyle behaviours can always be deemed as being, um,

things that you have to do to be compassionate towards yourself when actually sometimes it's the opposite. So if you haven't slept and you feel like utter shit and you've got a really busy day ahead and you've got an option of going to the gym for an hour or doing an extra hour in bed, sometimes that hour in bed is more important. Because exercise is a stressor on the body.

You're just going to create more stress. However, if you have slept all right and you feel fairly refreshed and you might be able to chance an afternoon nap or you know you're going to get an early night, And actually, this is the one gym session that you're going to get in this week. It might be that you go to the gym. But it's about like weighing up what's going on, what else is going on for you.

It's not just a case of like, yeah, you have to go to the gym and that's part of your self-compassion. And if you do make the wrong decision in terms of, okay, you snooze the alarm even though you could have got up and went or, you know, the opposite to it. Not, you know, absolutely destroying yourself in guilt and shame then for the next week is probably also self-compassion. 100% and getting curious about it so like if you do do whatever decision you didn't want to do right well why what can i maybe do differently to show up from yourself it's not a case of like oh you're a piece of shit you don't deserve to eat well a day so i'm going to starve myself all day and then get to take away tonight like you know whatever whatever response you have to that and i always say this to people most of the things that we struggle with don't come from the the actions and the behaviors that come from the responses to them yeah And that response usually becomes happens because you don't have self-compassion. Exactly. Nailed it. There you go.

Camere, you also did a retreat only a few weeks ago, correct? Yes, I did. What did you talk about at this retreat? So I talked about food relationship beyond the plate. So it's a third one that we've done, I think. And we have like a combination of, I've got a friend who has got a gym on a home farm. it's an amazing space and she has a huge sense of community

that she wants to build so we get there's me, there's a woman who comes and does like sound baths and meditation stuff and Rebecca does her element of like yoga

or some kind of movement or activity and then they come in with me and we have a certain kind of topic like we've done sleep and stress management before body image and this time we did

beyond the plate so I basically gave people five principles to implement to work on their own food relationship. Because I think coming up to like the summer holidays and things like that, people are just slogged and don't, again, you know, routine changes are not able to prioritize themselves. So whatever people were struggling with, it was ways that they could support themselves. And what I always love about these retreats and getting people together is that it opens that conversation. So every single person there shared something and some of them were sharing things that

like they didn't even tell the husband. Yeah. And it's just so empowering and again reduces those barriers for people to be able to be in a safe space where they can talk about things. Yeah. And I think sometimes it's hard it's hard as to have them conversations with the people closest to you as well. So having a community kind of helps. Yeah, definitely, definitely. But yeah, we've got two more coming up and yeah, excited to to just chat about different topics with people. Two questions for you.

So in terms of defining success for you now what does it look like for you? Because obviously you're doing a lot of things. You're chopping and changing you're going from nursing to, you know, nutrition to you're starting.

You said you were starting a course this year as well, didn't you? Yes. I'm currently doing a level five diploma in nutrition. Okay. Which I finish in September. then so that's like foundation degree level

and then when I finished that the week after I start a master's in nutrition and behaviour so like you were saying before that a lot of the reasons why we eat the things that we do is because of the behaviour and the psychology around it so yes I'm starting that in September which I'm very excited for okay so my question is why so what are you chasing

what's like what are you defining the success what's the end goal for you what do you want your life to look like I want my life to look like it does now just with no night shifts Do you want to give up nursing? I will always The plan is to always keep nursing I absolutely love it

I just don't like the structure behind it all and the way that it's ran in most places but the patient contact with me I absolutely love like I met a guy the other day who was 100 years old and he was telling the stories about when he was in the Navy and do you know like that is invaluable

to me. Success for me is, is, comes in the form of experiences and freedom. And I think for you, service. Yeah, yeah, service is a big one. I need to, um, I need to help people.

It's just something that I, yeah, I've accepted that I, that that's just how I show up as my best. Um, so yeah, I think success definitely comes in the form of, um, financial location freedom. Like, I'm not a, to say that I've got financial goals as well. And but equally I'm very lucky that I'm doing something. I'm doing my passion project that will hopefully support that financial aspect of things.

For someone who, for other people listening who might be in service of some degree, whether the coaches, nurses or, you know, in the public sector of some sort, do you have any advice for people who, you know, struggle to look after themselves? while also looking after other people? I think it starts with self-compassion. I think you've got to remember that you can't show up for other people until you are filling your own cup.

And when you're in that kind of role, it's a bit of a like, if you're a visual person, this always helps me. Your cup empties a lot quicker than other people's. So you need to fill that up all the more as well. So yeah, starting with self-compassion being kind at yourself and then just taking small steps.

Alright last question for you and then I'll leave you alone, okay? What's one thing you used to think mattered in your life that doesn't matter anymore? Oh wow. And one thing that you didn't realize matters but matters deeply

in your life now. One thing that doesn't matter that I used to highly rely on was the external validation. My whole self-worth was pinned on acceptance from other people which had a huge impact on things

and I've since learned that you will find your people in life for anyone listening who might be at that stage where they do rely on external validation how can they get past that? I mean it's taken me a lot of work I think accepting that it's okay to

it's okay to feel better when you get a compliment or it's okay for external validation to hold some weight but it doesn't need to be it shouldn't be the only thing that you rely on and reminding yourself of the things that you bring to the table

so what makes you you you like one thing that I talk about often which might be quite morbid for some people but like we'll talk about writing your own eulogy which is a really powerful activity for how you want to be remembered because it's never based on what you look like the things that you have.

But something that's really simple to do is just think about what you'd written on your headstone. So this can just be a simple phrase or a sentence of something that defines who you are and how you want to be remembered. And if you live in line with that, then you'll be happier. I can guarantee it.

Yeah, you used to always make the joke that no one's going to stand up at your funeral and say, ah, he was a lovely man he weighed 60 kilos. Yeah, he was a great crack. He had a six-pack. Yeah. And then I'll follow along from that. What's one thing that does matter in your life now that, you know,

you've come to a realisation is really important for you? This is actually really easy. Having people. So for a very long time, I felt like I didn't belong anywhere because I didn't belong. This is really fucking cheesy. Sorry. I didn't belong within me. I had just constantly chased other things

and I felt really lost so then in a way to cope with that I was like I'm just going to shut everyone out and I'm going to manage on my own and I'm independent and I always have been it's come from living on me own at 16 and things like that but I always chased a sense of belonging

and when I couldn't find it I took it as a personal reflection it hit myself worth hit my self-esteem there's something wrong with me when actually it was because I would didn't accept myself. But then off the back of things, when I told myself, well, I don't need anyone around as I can manage on my own, I very quickly realize that we are social beings and we need

human connection and we need to be part of something. And if you aren't, you will crave that. And that's not to say that you have to have millions of people around you or you have to be part of a big group or put yourself out there, but you have to find people who you can be your authentic self with. And I think that's so important. Yeah, I love that. Um, where can people go if they want to keep up with your work, if they want to ask any questions.

If they want to work with you after listen to today's conversation, they might be like, a lot of that resonated with me. How can they, uh, find you in this crazy social media world? Like you're going to say crazy new castle. Instagram is probably the best bet. Um, if they are not sick of my rambles. Um, so it's just at the nutrition underscore nurse. Um, and yeah, drop me a message.

I, message is always always open. and I always love to hear from people. It's great when people are like, oh yeah, I saw this that you shared and it really resonated. And I'm like, that's exactly why I do what I do. So, yeah. All right.

Anna, thank you for today. I really appreciate it. Thank you for your time. Thanks for having us on.