Healing From Food Guilt, Over Exercising, + Hustle Culture | Krista Williams of Almost 30

Summary

Podcast Summary: Realfoodology – Healing From Food Guilt, Over Exercising, & Hustle Culture with Krista Williams of Almost 30

Release Date: May 13, 2025

In this deeply engaging episode of the Realfoodology podcast, host Courtney Swan sits down with Krista Williams, co-founder of Almost 30, a global community dedicated to empowering individuals through life's transitions. The conversation delves into the intricate relationship between food, body image, mental health, and societal pressures, offering listeners valuable insights and actionable strategies for healing and self-empowerment.

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1. Introduction and Guest Background

Courtney Swan begins the episode by introducing Krista Williams, highlighting her role in Almost 30, her acclaimed podcast, and her upcoming book. Courtney emphasizes their longstanding friendship and mutual inspiration, setting the stage for an authentic and heartfelt discussion.

Courtney Swan [00:13]: “We both share experiences of our kind of, I guess, journey... of waking up to that and how our relationship is now today with food and with our bodies.”

2. Personal Journeys with Food and Body Image

Krista shares her challenging relationship with food and exercise during her late twenties. She recounts pushing herself through excessive workouts and restrictive diets in pursuit of an ideal body, which ultimately led to burnout and weight gain.

Krista Williams [05:05]: “I was doing so many hit classes... I was having bulletproof lattes until 2pm... I felt like I always needed to lose weight or look thinner.”

3. Societal Programming and Body Image

The discussion shifts to how societal norms and media influence women's perceptions of their bodies. Krista explains how ingrained beliefs about body image can permeate all aspects of life, leading to unhealthy relationships with food and exercise.

Krista Williams [05:11]: “A lot of the women that I work with just really have been programmed to believe that there's something inherently wrong with themselves and their bodies.”

4. Moving Towards Conscious Eating and Self-Love

Both Courtney and Krista reflect on their turning points—realizing that relentless dieting and over-exercising were unsustainable and detrimental to their well-being. They discuss the importance of therapy and inner work in fostering self-acceptance and healing.

Krista Williams [05:12]: “I realized that a lot of our generation... when we have that inherent belief, it bleeds into all areas of our lives.”

5. The Role of Intuition and Inner Compass in Food Choices

Krista emphasizes the necessity of connecting with one's intuition to navigate the overwhelming and often conflicting dietary information available. She advocates for quieting external noise to listen to one's inner voice, fostering authentic and individualized food choices.

Courtney Swan [18:57]: “If you're doing healthy eating out of self-hate, it's different than doing it out of self-love and reverence.”

6. Impact of Diet on Mental Health

The conversation explores the profound impact that diet has on mental health. Krista shares personal anecdotes linking poor dietary habits to increased anxiety and depression, underscoring the symbiotic relationship between physical nourishment and mental well-being.

Krista Williams [43:37]: “When you're depriving your body and brain of making the right chemicals and hormones... we're not going to be doing that.”

7. Finding Joy in Healthy Eating

Courtney discusses practical strategies for rediscovering joy in healthy eating, such as recreating favorite indulgent foods in healthier versions or seeking out restaurants that offer nutritious alternatives. This approach helps maintain balance and prevents the onset of disordered eating patterns.

Krista Williams [58:10]: “Making healthy versions of your favorite foods... does that mean that I don't ever eat them? No.”

8. The Link Between Productivity, Hustle Culture, and Diet

Both hosts critique the pervasive hustle culture that prioritizes productivity over holistic health. They draw comparisons with cultures that value communal and leisurely meals, arguing that the standard American focus on rapid consumption undermines both physical health and meaningful community connections.

Courtney Swan [33:28]: “How is anyone productive on the standard American diet?”

9. Strategies for Building a Healthy Relationship with Food

Krista introduces actionable steps for listeners to cultivate a healthier relationship with food, including mindful eating practices, eliminating distractions during meals, and gradually transitioning to more nourishing food choices. She also shares insights from psychotherapy techniques like Internal Family Systems to address underlying emotional patterns.

Krista Williams [53:40]: “One tactical thing is having one meal a day with no distractions... eat mindfully and see what comes up.”

10. Final Thoughts and Empowerment

In closing, Krista and Courtney encourage listeners to embrace their unique journeys, prioritize self-love, and seek authentic paths to health and happiness. They reiterate the importance of listening to one's body, fostering community connections, and trusting one's inner wisdom to navigate life's challenges.

Krista Williams [67:04]: “The soul is going to prioritize your growth and what's best for you, just like a parent.”

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Krista Williams [05:05]: “I was doing so many hit classes... I felt like I always needed to lose weight or look thinner.”

• Krista Williams [05:11]: “A lot of the women that I work with just really have been programmed to believe that there's something inherently wrong with themselves and their bodies.”

• Krista Williams [43:37]: “When you're depriving your body and brain of making the right chemicals and hormones... we're not going to be doing that.”

• Krista Williams [53:40]: “One tactical thing is having one meal a day with no distractions... eat mindfully and see what comes up.”

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Conclusion

This episode of Realfoodology offers a compassionate and insightful exploration into overcoming food guilt, the pitfalls of over-exercising, and the detrimental effects of hustle culture. Through candid conversations and personal stories, Courtney Swan and Krista Williams provide listeners with the tools and inspiration needed to cultivate a healthier, more conscious relationship with food and their bodies. Whether you're struggling with body image issues, seeking balance in your diet, or yearning to break free from societal pressures, this episode delivers valuable guidance for your journey towards healing and self-empowerment.

For more information, visit www.realfoodology.com and follow Courtney on Instagram @realfoodology.

Transcript

[A]

On today's episode of the Real Foodology.

[B]

Podcast, a lot of the women that I work with just really have been programmed to believe that there's something inherently wrong with themselves and their bodies. And when we have that inherent belief, it bleeds into all areas of our lives.

[A]

Hello, friends. Welcome back to another episode of the Real Foodology podcast. As always, I'm your host, Courtney Swan. And on today's episode, I sit down with one of my very dear friends, Krista Williams. She is the co founder of Almost 30, which is a global community and a brand dedicated to empowering individuals through life's transitions. And we've been friends for years and you probably know her podcast, Almost 30. It's an amazing podcast. She's an OG in the podcasting space and truly an inspiration to me and just one of my best friends. She has a book coming out which is super exciting. Check online, see if it's available. Maybe pre order it, or maybe you can already order it on Amazon, hopefully. But we had an amazing conversation that I actually have not talked about yet on the podcast. And I shared a lot of things that I have never shared about, which was my own personal journey, becoming more of a conscious eater. And as a result, it helped me become just a more conscious human in general. It started helping me make more conscious decisions while living in the world. I don't know how else to put that, but you know, there's a lot of conversation around how Americans are. A lot of people are eating unconsciously, right? They're driving through the drive through and then just eating while they're driving and not really paying attention to ingredients and how foods are actually making them feel. And we both share experiences of our kind of, I guess, journey, as I would say, of waking up to that and how our relationship is now today with food and with our bodies. I think especially for women, men also struggle with this. But I think really women struggle with this on a different level of, you know, having a hard time learning to love our bodies and having a good healthy relationship with food. And so how can we balance that relationship of being concerned about what we're eating, but also not taking it too far to the point where then it becomes disordered or having a terrible relationship with our bodies and we're over exercising, which in my opinion can be a form of abusing your body where you're just not listening to your body's cues and what your body really needs. And we have an amazing conversation around this. Krista is just an incredible communicator and she is so good at putting words into these life experiences. That makes it very relatable. And so I'm so excited for you to hear this episode. I hope that it's going to help many people, even if you're not struggling with a relationship with your body. I just think hearing her perspective on all these things is very valuable and to me is incredibly eye opening. So thank you so much for listening. I'm so grateful that you're here and if you could take a moment to rate and review the show and if you're loving this episode. If you want to tag me and Krista on Instagram ealfoodology itschrista we hopefully will see all of your tags and posts and we'll be able to repost them and just want to say thank you so much for your support. It means a lot and thank you for listening to the episode when you think of mom, what comes to mind? Maybe it's strength, patience, love, or the feeling of being held even when things are falling apart. Motherhood looks different for all of us. Maybe your mom, maybe you're celebrating one, you're missing one, or hoping to become one like me. However it shows up in your life, one thing is true. Moms deserve comfort. The kind that feels like home. That's why I love Cozy Earth. Their bedding and pajamas feel like a warm hug. They're soft, breathable, and made with care. I recently got their viscose from bamboo pajamas and let me tell you, it's like sleeping in a cloud. I love these pajamas so much and they have really fun col. I got this like sage green color and they're so cozy and comfortable. It's the gift that I didn't know I needed and now I'm gifting it to every mom I know. So whether you're pampering yourself or someone you love, Cozy Earth helps turn any space into a sanctuary. Use code real foodology for 40% off your order because comfort isn't a luxury, it's love wrapped in the softest fabric. Krista, thank you so much for coming on today.

[B]

I'm elated. My sister.

[A]

I'm so excited. You have a book coming out and I'm really, really stoked. I know you've been working really hard on it, you and Lindsay both. And I know that it's almost 30 is the guidebook for people that are turning 30. But it's also just really a guidebook for people that are becoming more conscious. And I would love to have a conversation about as you start getting healthier in your body and start eating better, how you start to just become a more conscious human being. And I know you and I were talking before we started recording about our own personal journeys with food and our relationship with our bodies. What was your relationship with food that evolved from your 20s and how did you get there? And how are you, like, where are you now with that?

[B]

The reason why I think the relationship with the body is so important for anyone, and especially during the time of your 20s to your 30s, which was like, a lot of my journey of the podcast is because when you aren't comfortable in your body, when you aren't well, you're never going to be the person you came here to be. You're never going to be successful, as successful, as rich, as healthy, as, well, your relationships won't be as good. And for a lot of us, our body is like the access point point to a better life. You know, for me, my journey with my body was, like, so hard. I struggled so much. I was doing all of the things. I was working out 50 times a week. We were with Soul Cycle people.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

I was doing so many hit classes. I was having bulletproof lattes until 2pm.

[A]

That is such a throwback.

[B]

Throwback. I was doing intermittent fasting, so I was doing the workout at Soul Cycle in the morning, hit, then bulletproof lattes, and then just really doing whatever I could to restrict because I felt like I always needed to lose weight or look thinner or be better. And I realized that a lot of our generation, I think of women, and a lot of the women that I work with just really have been programmed to believe that there's something inherently wrong with themselves and their bodies. And when we have that inherent belief, it bleeds into all areas of our lives, and it leads us to have a distorted relationship with food in general. And that relationship with food is seen in the way, you know, people are so sick. People are eating more processed foods. People are unwell. If you don't love your body, you're not gonna eat food that's really nourishing for you. So in my journey, it was just something where it came to a point in my, like, around 27, when we started the podcast, where I was just so burnt out, my adrenals were just fried. I was trying to do everything. And because my body, I was trying so hard for so long, it just reacted and I put on a bunch of weight and I felt really uncomfortable. I was like, I need to figure this out. Like, I feel like I'm going to live my entire life Hating my body. And I feel like I'm going to live my entire life wanting to be different. And I remember one moment where I was in my living room and I was walking across the floor, and I remember just thinking to myself that I'm going to die counting calories every day. I'm going to die thinking about the number on the scale. I'm going to die strategizing. I'm going to die doing the numbers, game of calories, workout steps, food, macros, whatever. And it just like, okay, cool. This is my life. And it's actually in that moment of that acceptance that I was able to find a therapist eventually and really start to heal my body. Which we can talk about how to heal the body. But it's such an important conversation that I'm so grateful to have with you because I know you've had your own journey with your body. And I think when people look at you, they probably think you're very strict. They probably think you're, like, insane about labels and what you're eating and all these things. But I know you to come from a place of, like, deep love and reverence for your body. And that actually allows you to not only perform at the level that you do, but it also allows you to love as deeply as you do and then really care about the cause that you're. That you do.

[A]

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. We've actually talked about this a lot throughout the years because I remember once you came to me years ago when you were in this process of trying to heal your relationship around exercise. Do you remember that?

[B]

I remember I was walking in the park on the phone with you, and.

[A]

I remember I was walking on the beach and we were audio messaging back and forth. And it's interesting because I don't even know what made you necessarily come to me about that, but it was so cool because I felt like, oh, my God, I feel so equipped for this conversation because I had just been through that maybe like two years prior to that. I had similarly like you before you and I had met. I was like a soul site cycle psycho. I was sometimes going twice a day.

[B]

Oh, same.

[A]

Like, it was insane. And then I would come home, I would be exhausted. My adrenals were burnt out. I would have, like, panic attacks because, like, my cortisol was all over the place.

[B]

Dude, 100%.

[A]

Like, it was insane for sugar because.

[B]

All you did was burn sugar. So I'd be, like, just ravaged for this food because I had done 90.

[A]

Minutes of just cardio, just pure cardio. When you come out, like, you, like, came out of the club. And so you're, like, super amped up.

[B]

Just, like, listening to this loud, loud music and people are yelling at you. Like, how do you wake up like that?

[A]

I don't know. But I don't know how we did that for so long.

[B]

I was religious.

[A]

Oh, me too. And then. And I was in this weird cycle where, like, same as you were. Like, I felt like. Like I had to keep doing it in order to maintain something with my body. And the total irony about all of that is that once I just completely stopped, my body completely changed in the way that I had been hoping it would for the longest time.

[B]

I'll never forget when you said that to me.

[A]

Yeah, well, because I think because I was so stressed out and so high cortisol at the time that I was holding on to a lot of excess cortisol. And what does that usually look like? It's like, around your waist. And I was so bloated all the time. And for me, I had kind of like. Well, I had several awakenings, like, over throughout my journey. But I even, like, rewind back before. When I think about, and I think about, I think a lot of Americans are at this point right now where they're unconsciously eating fast food or eating the diet foods that they think are healthy that they think are going to help them lose weight. And this is. Is not at all, like, coming from a place of shame, because I was there too, when I was in college. I was out of my home, not eating my mom's cooked food anymore. Was eating a lot of, like, fast food and drinking a lot of beer. Let's be so for real.

[B]

I would take a sip of a beer and put it on a table and like, just keep doing a sip of them to look like I was drinking a hated beer.

[A]

Really? Oh, my God. I would do keg stands.

[B]

That's my girl. I love. Cause you're so tall.

[A]

They're like, really struggling to hold pizza.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so I had gained a bunch of weight. I felt really uncomfortable in my body. I was feeling fatigued. I couldn't focus. And that was the first time I had really started. Well, before I'd even started making the connection. I was eating the Slim Fast bars and drinking the Slim Fast drinks, the eating Lean Cuisines every day and thinking that I was eating healthy. And then this is just what you do and what you just said about how you were like, I just feel like I'm going to be in this hell forever where I'M counting calories. I'm always strategizing. I just kept thinking, like, when I was in that place too, I was in hell. Cause I was constantly strategizing, how many steps, when can I get my workout in? How many calories is in this little Slim Fast bar? And so there was that awakening for me, and then there was the exercise awakening for me, and there was these levels that I felt like I kept passing. And I've gotten to this place now, which you brought up earlier, where I feel like I've never had a healthier relationship with my body and with food. And I think it's so ironic because there's a lot of conversation, at least. And sometimes in my world, in the wellness world, where they say if you start getting into really, like, healthy eating, that you're going to develop this eating disorder. And I actually found the exact opposite. I felt like when I was doing all the Soul Cycle classes all the time, I was eating the Slim Fast, eating Lean Cuisine, I was very in, like, a disordered eating habit there.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So for you, how did you get to that place where you started realizing, like, okay, because I know you said, like, you felt like you were in hell, but what was kind of your process? Process of getting to this place where you were like, I can't live like this anymore. What are the next steps?

[B]

Yeah, I'm gonna answer that. And I just want to say something about the healthy eating thing that will correlate to this. So when you were talking about, you know, I was doing the healthy eating Slim Fast, I was eating the bars, the Lean Cuisines, all of these things. That's the marketing from the companies saying that it's healthy and it's not healthy. So that's what we were all doing is this was the marketing of the bulletproof lattes instead of breakfast, or the, you know, Slim Fast bars or the whatever we were doing Keto diet, Grapefruit diet, Master Cleanse. I've done all of them. Truly, I've done everything.

[A]

The Cookie Diet.

[B]

The Cookie Diet was classic. Like, I'll take that one, actually.

[A]

I would love to do that one.

[B]

Like, and it's psychotic. But what's happening in that case is people are willing to do anything for the outcome of feeling like they have a life on the other side of their body or weight. So for me, it's like, I don't care if I didn't care if I was unwell. I wanted to be thin that bad. Like, I wanted to be have a good body that bad. Thin was really My thing. And so I would do anything. I would take diet pills, I would overwork out. I would all these things. So that actually isn't a desire to be healthy. It's that desire to control that desire to fix that inherent belief that something's wrong with us. We're on the other end of the spectrum. Eating healthy and eating well is out of a deep love and reverence for self. So when we're doing one thing with the intention or the thought or the energetics of I hate myself and I want less of me and I want to weigh less, and that's why I'm going to have this healthy food that they're telling me is healthy, rather than like an inward, what do I want? Because the body, if you ask the body is never going to be like, I want a cookie diet cookie, like dust, psyllium husk dust. You know what I mean? Like, it's never going to want that. It's always going to want, like, a steak, an apple, like whatever the things are. And so really, it is that inner work moment. And for me, it was doing so much inner work to get in touch with my body and my true intentions and find a place of love and acceptance. Because when we are working from a of deeper self, love and reverence for the body, that's when we're making better choices. And that's also when we're listening to self rather than anything on the outside. And so Big Food can't get in. None of these companies can get in. When you're moving from self, when you're like, no, I actually know that it feels better for me if I have a protein shake for breakfast instead of, like, Special K bars or whatever the desire is. So in my journey of finding that, it was something where I had to get to a reality of how much I was struggling and how much it was controlling my life. And I'd be curious about your audience. For many of the women, you know, who are foregoing their dreams, their desires, their relationships, their expression, their power, their creativity, because literally they believe that they're not worthy of it because of their weight. Like, for me, I was like, I'm not gonna go on stages. I'm not gonna put myself out there. I'm not gonna do these things. I will. When I lose weight, I will get the body or I will get the relationship. When I lose weight, I will get the career. When I lose weight, I will get all these things. We is on the other side of that. And once we can really find a place of peace, and acceptance and love for the body, then we're going to make better choices. But really, it's all about the energetics and intention of it.

[A]

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[C]

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[A]

And I'm wondering. And maybe people come from it, like, differently, depending on how they like what they want in life, I guess, basically, because I think for me, I started out with like a. I don't even know that I would say that I hated my body necessarily. I think there was always kind of a love there. But as I started eating better and I started making the connections with how I was feeling in my body, there was kind of this, like, beautiful evolution that happened over time that I started having more respect for my body and realizing I actually don't want to treat myself like this anymore. I don't want to have the talk about 4am Because I feel like shit. And then what ended up happening over time was that then it was also. I was realizing I was starting to realize that it was also helping me to show up as a better human. It was helping me to show up for my work and have energy and be able to do the work that I'm doing right now and be able to show up for other people. And I'm wondering if. Yeah. If there's different ways that people get there.

[B]

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I. I think there is this scale of, like, how. Like, what's your. Because a lot of times we come into life with karma or these things that we work on, whether it's, you know, you're codependent or you have addiction problems or like, body stuff, you know, there's a lot of things that people work with. So I think there's like a scale. I do believe that all people have thoughts about body that are not always positive or not always supportive. Whether it's neglect of the body, whether it's over fixation on the body, whether it's overeating under eating, all these things, we kind of go through these processes because how we are with food is how we are with life. If you are controlling your life, you're going to control your food. If you are neglectful of your life, you're neglectful of food. Like, it really is such an indicator of where we are with ourself in relationship to others. So I think when we come into the conversation around our body and we think about how we're relating to it with food, the way we can think about being in best relationship is like moving from our internal compass of what's good rather than anything on the outside where people are going to say, you should have the green juice, you should have the celery, you should have all these things. There's so many diets there's so many different prescriptions, especially knowing us being in the wellness space. Like, I've tried everything, you know, we've tried everything. But when you are in touch enough with yourself and your soul and that inner voice to, like, listen to it, that's when you can really feel your best because you're not making a decision for anyone else but yourself.

[A]

Okay, I'm so glad that you brought this up because this is something that I wanted to talk about because I get questions like this from people all the time, and I want to. I don't want anyone to feel, like, shameful that they're asking these questions. But my answer to them is always the same, which is, you need to figure out how to tap into your own intuition. Because I'm not always going to be here to answer these specific questions for you, because people will write me and say, well, what do you think about this diet? Or what do you think about this expert says this thing? Or I hear this all the time. There's so much noise. Someone saying, meat is bad, the other person saying, meat is good, eggs are bad, eggs are good. How do you know? And I actually really struggle with putting this into words because for me and my own journey, I just figured out what worked for me and what felt really good in my body. Now, what that looked like in my 20s is I did everything like we said. It was like I tried to Paleo, and I did all the crappy ones, like south beach diet and all that crap, too. But then I went through this phase of I was vegetarian, I was vegan, I was Paleo. So how can we encourage people to really figure out how they can get to their own inner compass and their intuition so that they can cancel out all that noise online?

[B]

Yeah, I think that's such a beautiful question. And connection with the intuition is the most powerful thing I believe you can have. It's what. What makes you the most creative, the most loving, the most expressive, most in tune with your body. And so having that relationship is going to serve you in all areas of your life. And when you lose it is when you feel depressed, anxious, disconnected. When I'm not connected to that inner voice, it's just the worst feeling. So when we want to connect to our intuition and we really want to get to that place. What I love about the almost 30 journey, and just in the book that we talk about, because we talk about connecting to the intuition a lot, because once you have that, you can really go everywhere in life. Once I'm connected to the truth of How I feel and who I am. Then I can decide what I want to do with my life. Then I can decide clearly who I want to be with. It's not my parents deciding, it's not society, it's not media. But the first way to connect with your intuition is really getting quiet. You know, all the answers when I talk about something like this are unsexy. They're obvious and they're boring. But it's things that people aren't doing. Instead of literally taking 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 3 minutes to be like, what do I want to eat? Like, like, okay, I'm gonna breathe and I'm gonna sit in silence and I'm gonna turn off my phone. I'm not gonna go to the reflex of asking Courtney what to eat. It's like, I'm gonna really take the time and the pause to tune in and ask myself. And a lot of people don't want to do that. And what I've realized in life is when people are kind of going like, oh, everyone says you should be vegan. Everyone says you should be eating meat. And you have these two options of like, high fat, low fat, vegan meat, dairy, non dairy, all these things. People that are sort of. Of entertaining the waffling between two of those things are just living an indecision and don't want to make a choice anyways and just want to give their power away. And I do this all the time. I was just talking to my coach about it. Like, I was sitting there being like, I'm too much. I'm not enough. You know, like, I'm too this, I'm. I'm not enough, that. And he's like, yeah, you could think those things or you could just do what you want to do. It's like just having, hey, what do you want to eat? If they. If you weren't here, what would you eat? Like, you can get educated. And I'm not saying don't get educated. That's my work. That's your work as teachers is to educate people and provide them with the tools, resources, information. But once you have that, you have to figure it out for yourself. Because what works for you is different than what works for me. Yeah. So getting quiet, I think is really important. Turning off media, social media, I think is incredibly important. If anyone has a very disconnected relationship with your intuition, spending a week off, a month off, off, like a couple days off, is really powerful because for most people that wake up in the morning after spending time asleep, the second they look at their phone, there's input, input of podcast, input of YouTube, input of social media, input of their boss, input of their partner, input of their tv, whatever. And you're never actually giving your soul or your intuition a second to output speak to you, because you're living like a robot, because you constantly have output put. So turning off social media is also helpful. Nature is a really beautiful thing for connecting with your intuition. Trees have been shown to help regulate your nervous system, reduce cortisol, help ground you, help regulate you, which can be incredibly helpful. And then for me, I'd say the last and most important thing which has the same type of benefits as meditation is prayer.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, that concerted time and attention where I'm sitting and focusing my attention, like when we focus our attention, is the most powerful thing. So when my attention is focused on something greater than me, something bigger than me, my soul, whatever, that's really when I can get the most clear in my mind and have, like, the deepest relationship with myself. And the last thing is just knowing that this connection with yourself or your intuition is again, I just can't stress it enough. It's truly what we came here to do. When we say know thyself, it's not know the perfect self. It's not know the performer. It's not know, you know, the CEO or the lawyer or the mom or the dad or the sister. It's know thyself. It's like, know your innermost being. And that's like the greatest work of our life is to figure that out.

[A]

If there's someone who's really just starting out. And I. I actually love to use food as a way to start figuring yourself out, because I think it's right. It's a. To me, I feel as. It's kind of a entryway in, because for me, that was very much my experience.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because as I started questioning the things that I was eating, and then I started reading ingredient labels, and then I started asking where the sourcing was. And then I started making the connection of, like, what I'm eating to how I feel in my body. It just started helping me to get more mental clarity. It also helped me to just have more connection with my inner knowing, because there wasn't so much. I mean, for lack of a better word. Yes, exactly. And there was like, the standard American diet is also hijacking our food palates. And so I think if you were just to sit down with someone that's just eating fast food every day in a standard American diet, and you ask them what they want to eat. They're going to tell you everything they're craving because their palates have literally been hijacked and their hormones have been hijacked. So in my opinion, this is why I find food and the food change so powerful. Because it can make a huge difference in your life. And you don't even realize it until you all of a sudden sit down one day and you look back and you go, wow, oh my God. And then it's just these stepping stones, right?

[B]

It's data. I mean, it's data and information. Think about when we think about AI, AI actually is data and information that we've inputted. We've created the algorithms that are creating AI. So it's all sort of created by us, but we are almost like computers. We are a product of the data and information that is inputted into our system, whether it's our gut or our brain. So if you are inputting data that is crappy, that is like made of plastic, that is all these things, you are not going to be functioning as best as you want to. And there's going to be so much discrepancy in your system because your body doesn't know what to do with these unnatural things. So it's going to be harder to like clear and be like, like, what do I feel? Because your body's like, I feel like I'm confused with red, red dye. I'm confused with all these things. Like, it will keep you from being close to yourself. I also believe that food, how we are with food, is how we avoid feeling. You know, for a lot of people, they will use food as a way to numb, as a way to avoid, as a way to control, as a way to distract, as a way to, you know, even keep themselves out of their power. Like, if you are someone that is deeply afraid of how powerful you are, you might eat more processed foods to keep yourself confused, to keep yourself in a state. And a lot of people might be like, why would you do that? Why would someone do that? This is the subconscious mind. The power of the subconscious mind, which has a lot of beliefs that people are unconscious of, is running. 90% of what we do is keeping people in small states where they're not making progress in their life and they're not able to do what they love. But I think for people that want to have a better relationship or kind of make more progress, to make better choices, I think you do have to take self responsibility. You have to kind of step in and be like. Because what we can do is the first step, being conscious, what's happening. You know, I always like to move people up the, the ladder of progress slowly. Because if you go from I'm completely eating trash food to I'm eating, you know, perfect food all the time, it's never going to happen. That's why diets fail, because people try and go from one extreme to the other. If you looked at how you're e for a week and I'm not even talking about what you're eating, I'm talking about are you in your car, are you on the phone, are you on YouTube, are you, you know, rushing? Are you not even tasting it? Are you not chewing it? Like, are you sad? Literally, I mean, like myself, Like, I, I will have to say I still have to work on nourishing myself. So how are you eating not only the things, but how are you in relationship to that food and getting curious about that? Because if I'm someone that doesn't believe I should nourish myself because I don't have enough time, or doesn't believe I'm worthy of nourishment because I have better things to do that are more productive or doesn't believe that I'm worthy of eating really well, that says so much about not only you as a person in relationship to food, but you're probably not going to go to relationships and be like, I'm worthy of love. If you don't believe you're worthy of eating a salad that is really delicious for dinner that you make, you're definitely not going to be in relationship being like, I'm really worthy of a loving partner that shows up and is caring and considerate and all these things. So using that as like a little, a little testing lab or a little understanding of you and your life is such a really powerful thing that anyone can do now. But then they have to take the responsibility to make the choices, which really is kind of where the mindset work comes in.

[A]

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[C]

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[A]

You know it's really interesting. I had a girlfriend years ago cry to me and tell me that she admitted that she never lets herself eat until she's done X amount of tasks every day. And she was crying to me about it where it was like this like bondage that she felt like she was in almost where she couldn't break out of it because she felt yeah, it was like, this, like, unworthiness, and it actually. At the time. I get it now, but at the time, it actually totally blew my mind because I'd never heard one, anyone ever admit that before, and two, had never even thought about that. And I started questioning, do I do that? I was like, no, I don't do that. And maybe there's some facet of me doing that. I'm terrible drinking water, and I'm wondering if there's something there unconsciously, like, terrible.

[B]

There was something really bad about that. There's something really fucked up about that that we need to unpack. But, like, give me tonight and I'll let you know when.

[A]

The water thing, it's so bizarre. But I also, like, don't feel I've been trying to figure this out with my doctor.

[B]

I think the standards for water are a little high, though.

[A]

They probably are.

[B]

I think you're, like, trying to get the per.

[A]

You know, I mean, if I'm being, like, super honest, I don't like having to pee every 20 minutes.

[B]

That makes sense.

[A]

Like, I have, like, a fear that, like, when I'm out in public, that I'm gonna have to pee. And I'm. I'm not scared to pee in public, but it's just that I'm, like, running errands and I'm like, oh, my God, do I really pee right now?

[B]

Okay, this same. And just really quickly, the same type of mentality of your friends. I need to be productive. I need to keep going. I need to keep doing. I need to rush around. Your body is like, I need water to function. And your body's like, I need to pee to release. And you're like, sorry, bitch, we got errands to do.

[A]

I'm like, we got shit.

[B]

Yeah. You're like, I'm sorry. I've got Revolver turns to set up. I got work to do. I've got podcasts to do, and same with that girl. A lot of people have a part of them. I do internal family systems parts, work with my client, which is a psychotherapy technique. But in it, we work in parts. So there's a part of them, part of you that's like, I need to prioritize productivity over eating well, over drinking water, over all these things. And we're just so programmed to just work and do and be that no one's, like, taking the time to eat and nourish themselves.

[A]

I mean. And I think it's only getting worse, too, as we look at convenience foods and everybody's going through Drive throughs and they're eating in their car on the way to the next thing. I mean, and this is like, well, maybe it could be something we go into, but this is kind of my gripe that I have with American society and where we're going is that it's like I at we're becoming so productive as. As productive as a society, but at what cost? And I actually feel like we're now landsliding in the wrong direction because how is anyone. How is anyone productive on the standard American diet?

[B]

Yeah. Oh, I know.

[A]

I don't get it.

[B]

I'll give you this book. I'm reading this book called Civilized to Death and it's amazing. It's. I think it's by Christopher Ryan. He wrote this other really book on non monogamy, this other really good book on non monogamy that's escaping me right now, but it's called Civilized to Death. And it's basically talking about how we're more civilized than ever, but yet we are unhappy, we're sick and we're lazy. And it's almost like, what is the cost of being in a society that has so much convenience and has so much structure? We're less connected, we're less communal, we're sicker, we're all of these things. And it's almost like we've gotten further away from progress as we've progressed from a societal, technological perspective. And I think we can see that with food. It's like, oh, isn't it beautiful that I can order food online on my phone and in 15 minutes someone that I don't know is driving their car to my house, dropping it off at the door. We're not making any connection. Communication. It's in plastic food. I'm eating it in five minutes and then I'm throwing it all away. Like, what a beautiful thing. But what's that for? To give us more time to work, to give us more time to scroll on TikTok, to give us more time to be on Instagram, to give us more time to consume for the most part. And that comes at a cost of disconnection with others, disconnection with ourselves cells, disconnection with our body. If I'm literally just like the only time I'm spending with something that's supposed to be nourishing me as food is five minutes and it's some random person brought it for me. I'm eating it from plastic. It's like, what kind of relationship is that to the thing that keeps us alive and sustains us.

[A]

Isn't that so wild?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

We need basically three things to survive in this planet and that's air, water and food. And we've basically like ruined all of them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

For our experience here in society just to be. Be more productive.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I think about this all the time because I look at Europe, like in Spain, for example, when they have, you know, their three hour siesta or however long it is in the afternoon, and they prioritize eating in community with people, you know, like instead of them eating their lunch while they're driving, you know, their fast food and they're eating alone in their car or listening to a podcast or whatever it is, hello to anyone that's doing that right now. They're actually like taking the time to sit down in community with people and they have like three hour long lunches or, you know, three hour long dinners. And we don't do that here.

[B]

Yeah, we don't. It's at what cost? And I think the community aspect of it, I think, you know, food, air, water, but we also need each other.

[A]

Community.

[B]

We also need community. I mean, there was a study that came out recently from Harvard that says having community connection is actually the most important thing over your diet, over your movement. Like humans need each other. And now we're just becoming more and more boxed into, like our box houses, our box cars, like our. We just kind of move from box to box and just kind of do our thing, just all in the sake of productivity. So I think when anyone's thinking about wanting to live a happier, healthier life, I personally believe getting in check with that part of us that's running unconsciously, that is plugged into the collective consciousness of productivity, of doing, of like doing all these things, because what for? People aren't making any more money, people aren't living any better, but yet they're being more productive than ever. What's kind of, what's the break here? What is it all for?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And where is that room for, like what you want to do and what's nourishing for you? How can you figure out, like, being a human. Yes, exactly. And I always struggle to talk about this because I have a really hard time putting this into words. But one of the other things that I really have experienced since I started getting healthier now, if you had told me when I was like 21 that I would be doing what I'm doing now, living my dream life, having the ability to build my own schedule, having the ability to go on vacation whenever I want, like I1, I wouldn't have believed you two would have had no idea how to figure out how to get there. But I really believe that, like, as you get healthier and you're able to start making these conscious decisions for yourself, like, oh, wait, this makes me happy. This doesn't make me happy. And you kind of learn how to follow that own path for yourself. And again, like, I hate to keep bringing it back to food, but for me, that was kind of my gateway to get to where I am now. Because I don't think that if. I think that if I had been. Been unconsciously still partying and drinking like I was in my 20s and eating like shit all the time and not making the connection to my body and also realizing that my mental health is affected a lot when I'm taking care of myself and when I'm eating better, I don't think I would have gotten to the place that I am. And I've tried to communicate that to people. Where once you start honoring your body, like we talked about earlier, like, loving, like, truly loving your body and being like, I love myself so much that I actually don't want to eat this crap anymore, then you start making other decisions that are loving for yourself. And then all of a sudden, you wake up one day and you're like, wow, I really love my life. I love all these things that I've built for myself, and a lot of it for me, I was doing unconsciously at the time. And now I'm starting to really connect to that whole wholeness of me where I'm starting to make way more conscious decisions. But it wasn't always like that.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, it was your self, like, authoritative. You're like, okay, I'm gonna choose. What could I do? I think that's what happens in life. It's like, a lot of people are like, what's the pill? What's the lucky break? What's the thing on the outside that's gonna help me get on my path? You know, maybe it's, I'm gonna get the job. I'm gonna get the relationship. It's all external. It has to be internal, you know? Jordan Peterson, make your bed. It's like, what can you control today? Making my bed. I can control eating a really good meal. I can control eating really slowly. I can turn off distractions when I'm doing it. And I feel. I think food can be such a beautiful place to start for changing your life, for changing how you relate to yourself, for changing how you relate to others. And I think you have been in contact with enough successful people in the world through your podcast and everything you do, and myself as well. And I don't have a single example of someone that's at the top of their game, that isn't incredibly healthy and eating well and taking care of their body. And it's maybe for vanity, it's maybe for brain function, it's maybe whatever it is, but. But if you want to be at the top of your game or live your life in the best way possible, you're going to be taking care of your body. But just to say about your journey, so almost 30 when we started it, I was in my 20s, like mid 20s. And the almost 30 portal of like 27 to 30 is just so important because your prefrontal cortex is coming online. So during that time, you're actually becoming conscious for the first time. So really before, you're kind of running a program of media, of society, of media, social school, of big food, your parents, whatever, it's like, be a lawyer, get a job, get a house, whatever. And for most of us, we do that and we're like, I'm not happy at all. Most people are really unhappy. They feel alone, they feel lost. And that was part of my path, too. I was like, I'm in the corporate world. I have the relationship people want, I'm living in a big city, I have friends, but I'm not happy at all. And so when we can kind of see that unhappiness of that portal and that chance to become conscious. So for you, that, like, wait, food makes me feel a type of way. What is that? And get curious about following it and being like, oh, I'm noticing that I feel really good when I'm in nature. I'm noticing that I feel better when I sleep. Oh, that's curious that when I'm not drinking, I'm more productive or these things and just getting curious about these things that can potentially support them in living a better life and following that curiosity, like, what you did was follow your curiosity. You followed what felt good. You followed what you were interested in. Like, you didn't know where it was going. I didn't know where my life was going. I still don't know where it's going. But what I do is I follow what feels good. And you're able to tune into what feels good when you're eating well and you're taking care of your body. Because when I was sleeping and not sleeping and drinking and all that, I couldn't listen to anything I didn't know because that was the focus.

[A]

And I just wanted to say, too, like, I don't know why I have this desire, and I feel like I have to do this sometimes. But I want to just explain for a second that I don't ever share anything like that. To be like, oh, my God, my life is amazing. And I'm, like, bragging. That is not at all. I actually hope that my story can help people find their own path, because I really, truly believe that everyone is here with a purpose, with a mission, but it's up to them to tap into that and figure out how to get on their path that feels best for them, that is most in alignment with them. And I really, really struggled in my 20s. Like, somebody who just discovered me yesterday and sees my life now and is like, wow, that girl, you know, just has it all figured out, has no idea the struggles that I went through in my 20s. And I think most people, you know, have a similar story. But I just. I hope that I'm giving hope in the sense that, like, I was so confused. I mean, I was literally that kid. Like, when I went to college my junior year, my advisor was like, courtney, you have gotta just pick a major. Like, I, like, had no idea what I wanted to study. I had no idea what I wanted to do.

[B]

And.

[A]

And I just. I love what you just said. You just kept following your curiosity. And I just. I want to encourage people that, you know, and there's different paths to get there. Like, I'm sharing the path that I got there. You shared a little bit about the path that you've got there. And I just want to encourage people that, yeah, there's different ways to do it. I'm a huge proponent for, like, getting your health right, because I think it gets you clearer. And actually, maybe we can talk about this first. So there's also a connection with mental health. Right.

[B]

Huge.

[A]

That people are just now kind of starting to talk about. Let's dive into that a little bit.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I'm the expert of my own experience in this, and I'm an expert in the sense of having interviewed a bunch of experts in this space and even seeing my family really struggle with their mental health. On my mother's side, it was depression and anxiety, suicidal ideation. On my dad's side, it was depression. And now he struggles with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's sins, which I believe Alzheimer's is due to diet, you know, due to the relationship to. To blood sugar. And so I've had a lot of mental health in my family. And then I've also seen them eat really poorly, eat really, you know, unhealthily, and kind of. I see the correlation to that. I think in my life and my experience, when I was the most mentally unwell, it was when I was really eating the most processed foods, when I was eating the Lean Cuisines, I was eating the. The foods, and I just. Just didn't feel happy at all. And I think when we're depriving our body and brain of making the right chemicals and hormones to support us and feeling happy and feeling well, obviously we're not going to be doing that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I think for people that do struggle with their mental health, it's kind of one of those things where it can just bring you down such a rabbit hole, where you're like, what's the point? And I think when you're able to just kind of get a little bit clear, even for a second, and just be like, okay, what are the things? Like, if I was to take control of this and if there was hope and potential for me to feel better, like, what would that look like? And what are things that I can do? And it's like, how can you motivate yourself enough or get inspired enough or excited enough or just clear enough or enough strength to just make one decision, like getting eating more like color in your diet or like moving outside or moving in nature? And. And what's hard about stuff is I think the pharmaceutical industry or maybe just all the noise makes us believe that it's such big changes you have to make to feel well. It's drugs. It's all this stuff, and it's not. It's usually free, it's usually simple, and it usually just takes effort and time. And I think for me and my journey, being someone that struggled so much for my mental health and now feeling so much better, but not feeling better every day, I'm so grateful for all of the natural things like nature, meditation, prayer, you know, eating really quality food, not eating out all the time, but eating quality food, drinking clean water has transformed me completely.

[A]

What you just said reminded me of just how much just walking, just simple walking, completely transformed my whole life. When you and I were both. We've. We've talked about this. When you and I were both in those phases that we talked about earlier where we felt like. Like I was doing two soul cycle classes a day, I felt like if I didn't get this insane sweat and, like, workout where I just was like, out of breath at the end that it didn't count. And I finally had hit my wit's end, and I was like, you know what? I'm actually going to challenge myself. I'm just going to go for a walk every day. And that's all I did. And the reason I bring this up is because you made such a great, great point that we in society, and I do think a lot of it comes from marketing and I mean, just quite frankly, like, lies that we have in society that is like, it has to be this really hard thing that you're gonna hate it.

[B]

Yeah. Yes. That it's painful.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

How can we make it to where we enjoy it? How can you just, like, do things that you love? That was actually one thing. And I think I told you this when you had reached out to me and I said, look, find one or two things that just require you to move your body, that you just love and do those, and just challenge yourself to do that for a couple months and just see what happens. And for me, it was. I just walked every day for like a year straight. I didn't go into a gym. I didn't do a workout class. I literally walked. And then I started doing rollerblading. My body completely changed. I was finding joy again. Because before or like, in that. In the very beginning, I loved Soul Cycle. And then there was this phase where I was literally like, oh, my God, I do not want to do this class. Until I finally was like. Like, I. I've. I've had it. I've had enough. And then I realized, well, I actually really love to walk. And then every day I looked forward to it. So where can you find these things in your life? Also with diet, let's say you love Taco Bell. Start looking up recipes online and make that Cheesy Gordita crunch at home with ingredients.

[B]

I used to get down on Taco Bell, dude. I'm from Ohio, dude. What do you mean?

[A]

I loved Taco Bell.

[B]

I used to get down. That was, like, my favorite. It was like dog meat. I'm like, this is my favorite food.

[A]

Literally dog.

[B]

I like just scarfing three soft top tacos.

[A]

Cheesy Gordita Crunches and crunchwrap Supremes were my favorite.

[B]

Now it's like, crazy. It's just so. It's cool because right now we're kind of connecting a lot of dots between mental health, between eating, between intuition. Because what you did in your journey as the example, when you went from doing the Soul Cycle, everyone's doing Soul Cycle. Soul Cycle, hit workouts is supposed to be the best thing.

[A]

We love it, right?

[B]

We love it. Yeah, Literally. We all love it.

[A]

We love.

[B]

Literally. My skin was just like, please, I'm. I'm done sweating. And then going from, wait, what do I want to do? I want to walk. I want a rollerblade. Not only are you mentally better because you're listening to your intuition, but your body is responding because there's congruency. Body is saying, I want something different. This doesn't feel good. Mind is saying, no, we have to do this to be thin, whatever. And so there's incongruency when your body's like, I want to do something different, different. And you're finally able to be. Bypass the mind and go into the soul or the intuition and be like, I want a Rollerblade. You know, then you do that. There's body's like, yeah, man, we're on the same page. You care about me. I'm going to be comfortable. I feel good. It's a beautiful thing. So how can people, how can people sort of get to the simplification of things and kind of move towards doing things like rollerblading or listening to their intuition or walking? You know, I'll be honest, there was something that came up for me for a second because I remember struggling so much with my anxiety and depression that I couldn't be with myself longer than a minute. And so walking outside by myself. Nope. What do you mean nope? I could not be with myself. So it would be a podcast, it would be a friend, it would be. And if I was alone with myself, I was beating myself up so much. It was just painful. So just honoring people that are in a state or moment or process where it is so hard to do those basic things of praying, of walking, of whatever, because I've been there, it's really hard. And that's like a therapy question, you know, that's kind of like a deeper conversation around, around trauma and, you know, supporting that. But for people that feel okay, feel well enough to do things, things, doing simple things like walking is like tale as old as time. You know, I'm reading this book, I think it's called Philosophy of Walking. And it's basically about all the philosophers and people over time that have been so famous and have gotten their best ideas. Walking, there's like a real beauty in the brain and body moving forward towards something and allowing you to process, allowing you to think, allowing you to like be outside in nature. There's, there's more things happening than just you getting fit you getting your steps in.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

It's you in the world as a human. It's you getting vitamin D. It's you connecting to earth. It's you seeing plants and trees like it's you getting fresh air. There's like a whole 360 experience of being outside, moving towards something in nature that we can't overlook, but we often do. And that's what really lifts our mood is the full experience of the sensory moment of you being present in this walking experience. So I think anyone just encouraging them to walk, you know, as something is a really great idea. Walking with a friend, walking with self, trying something new and just trying it and seeing if you like it and if you don't, don't, you know, who cares?

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

Just drop it. And I think it's been so fun with class pass and things like this that didn't exist a long time ago to try new things that can not only be supportive in your brain exploring and doing different things, but it's also supportive for your body.

[A]

And why can't we just give ourselves permission to do the things that we love and that we want to do and that genuinely give us joy? Like give yourself permission to do the things that you love. You know, I always love to encourage people obviously to move your body and exercise because it's really good for you. But that can look like so many different things for people. Let's say you played tennis when you were a kid and you loved it. Take up tennis again. This was a huge thing for me during this whole transformation and that's how I ended up Rollerblading is because I remember having conversations with my therapist back then and her going, well, what did you do as a kid that you really loved? And I was like, oh my God, I loved rollerblading. I loved it as a kid. And then it brought so much joy to me when I got my rollerblades out. Honestly, I'm like, I want to go rollerblading right now. And everybody needs to figure out what that is for them. Just move your body and do it in a way that you love. Because here's the thing, you will be consistent over time with things that you genuinely love and that give you joy.

[B]

Yes. Can I do a parts work example with what you're talking about? So parts work by Dick Schwartz, psychotherapy technique that I practice. And I love partners parts for body and food stuff because it helps us see things clearly. So in the example of you with rollerblading, she your therapist asked you, you know, what did you love to do as a child, and you're like, oh, my gosh, my little girl loved to rollerblade. But what was stopping you before from rollerblading was another part of you that's called a manager part or protector part. That's like, it needs to be productive. It has to make me get abs. I have to lose weight while doing it. Everyone's doing it. So for a lot of people, what's stopping them from finding this joy? The thing that gives them joy, Dancing, rollerblading, walks in nature is usually a protector part or a manager part. So that's the part that's telling the girl, you can't eat until you've done the things on the list. You can't eat until you've done these things. This manager protector part that makes us productive, that makes us fall in line, keeps us from doing things that just give us joy, is usually something that is. Holds a lot of wisdom, but we have to be present with and get curious about. So in the example for yours, it's like letting her know this manager part that's keeping you from doing the workouts you want, like, you are safe, and it is okay. We don't need to be doing workouts for abs because we're loved already. And when we can love the manager part, we can love the little girl and let them know they're loved no matter what we do. If it's the rollerblading or not, then they can kind of chill and you're able to actually, like, allow the little girl to move forward and find the workout that she loves rather than doing things unconsciously. Because there's a manager part of you that believes it has to do something else to be loved.

[A]

So I want to turn this around to food.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because I'm really curious about this. So let's say that there's that manager, because, you know, there's a lot of conversation around healthy eating where people can sometimes say, like, oh, well, you're disordered eating because she's not eating, you know, preservatives and da, da, da. I've heard. Heard this before. So where does that come into play when, let's say the manager in the brain is like, well, I have to eat chicken and rice and broccoli to be really healthy. And my point in all of this, which is a greater question of how can we find joy in eating foods that are nourishing and healthy for us, and how can we find a balance with that manager that may tend to go a little bit too overboard.

[B]

Yeah, I love this Conversation. And in Metamorphosis, which is a food and body program, I do so much of this parts work as it relates to food in the body because it's just huge. Dick, the founder, actually founded it through working with eating disorder patients. So working with women that were binging and purging, or women that were extremely strict because he noticed that in this example, there's two experiences. There's the desire to feel healthy, but then there's the desire to be perfect. Or for a binger example, usually bingers are like, the next day they're like, I'm never binging again. I'm gonna eat perfect. I'm gonna eat all the things, and this is what I'm gonna do. And then at the end of the day, the binger's like, I'm gonna binge. And it's. How is this dual experience happening for two people?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So when we talk about this situation that you're talking about here with people that are incredibly particular about eating really well and healthy, what I like to think about is what is the energetics behind that? What is the energy behind it? If I'm someone that is eating really, really healthy and well, and I'm doing it out of a deep love for myself, and this is only known on the inside, only someone that's knowing this on the inside because someone else could look at my diet and be like, she is crazy, she is restrictive, whatever. But I'm like, say that about me. I know this feels genuinely led by. By my desire, but it is. A lot of women, I do see, their manager part or their perfectionist part is like, we have to eat these things. But. And it's not only led. It's not led by the inside, it's by external. Because I believe that eating these things makes me thin. I believe eating these things makes me cool. I believe eating these things gives me an outcome that's external rather than an internal desire of feeling at peace and whole with myself. So when people kind of judge other people for the way that they eat and thinking it's too healthy or whatever, I mean, it's. It's one of those things that's gonna happen, and it usually happens out of their own shame for not. For their manager part, not eating perfect and enough so they're going to. They're going to. They're going to feel like they're failing, that they're not eating well enough or they're not eating healthy enough. So they're going to say, oh, she has an eating disorder. Because that's also an excuse. I don't want to have an eating disorder, so I'm not going to eat well. Because if you eat well, that's eating disorder. So it kind of gets me, ejects me from having responsibility for what I'm eating because I'm like, oh, no, when you eat healthy, that's eating disorder. It sounds miserable. It's a prison. Sure, you could do that. That if you want. If you don't want to eat well and you want to keep you from feeling healthy and whole, you can make excuses. But when we're always making our whole life dictated by what everyone else is doing and what everyone else is feeling and what everyone else is eating, in this case, we're never living a life that's truly ours. It doesn't matter what you're eating. It doesn't matter what they're eating. It doesn't matter. It's like, what do I truly desire and want? What feels good for my body should be the question we ask ourselves always.

[A]

Yes. And. And again, it's like, how can we get to a point where healthy eating gives us joy? And there was a hack for me because I went through a phase where when I was first learning about all this stuff and I was learning about organic and glyphosate, and I was really freaked out, I was learning about canola oil. I would eat a meal before I would go out to meet with my friends. And it wasn't like an eating disorder type of thing, although people would probably call it orthopedic. But to me, like, I don't know, I knew my experience and it wasn't as extreme as I think some people would think that it was by me telling the story. But anyways, I would eat like a really amazing, organic, healthy, super nourishing meal, and then I would just go out and meet my friends for drinks. But I did have this point maybe a couple years in where I was like, what is this? I need to be in community with people. Like, I there I just started to notice that there was this beauty in, like, being in community with people. And then it really helped me to reel myself in. And then I've. Ever since then I've been in that. This place where I'm able to go out and have a meal with my friend and not freak out if it has canola oil in it. I don't even think about it. We've had so many meals together. I'm like, you know what? It's fine. I eat so well when I'm home that I'm not really going to worry about it. And another hack for me, and I'm sharing these because I'm hoping that this will help other people. Was that part of what helped me find joy and loving healthy eating was that I was taking all of my favorite foods that I love to eat and I was just making healthier versions of them or finding a restaurant that was making them. So let's say like burgers and fries. I love french fries. I love french fries. So I either make them at home or I buy these really amazing frozen beef tallow. It's like three ingredients. Organic potatoes, beef tallow, and salt. And I bake those at home or I know restaurants that I can go to where I can get french fries where they don't have the crappy oils. Does that mean that I don't ever eat them? No. I was on a skiing trip recently and somebody ordered french fries and I ate them and I didn't even worry about the oils.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's like, how can. Can people get to this place of where they just find joy in healthy eating in general?

[B]

The first thing to do as a tactical thing is having one meal a day where it's no distractions. You can't do a day, one, one a week. And I think people would be surprised at how hard that is. I usually like to do breakfast. It's like giving yourself a half hour, making your meal in silence. No distractions. You with your food, looking at your food, food touching your food, smelling your food. Like being with the full sensory experience of what you're about to eat and then eating very slowly, eating intentionally, eating mindfully and see what comes up. You might have thoughts of wanting to rush, wanting to end, wanting to like, change what you're eating. Like just. There's going to be a lot that comes up because you're not only sitting with yourself, but you're sitting with your food. And by understanding that, it will help you really understand the sort of narrative that you're running around food. This is a waste of time. This doesn't matter. I'm not. This isn't even good. I'm just eating it. Cause I feel like I have to. Whatever the conversation is or like it just. It's. It can be so telling if you do that. So I think people can gather a lot of information that can support them in being in better relationship with food by spending time with their food for like once a day, undistracted.

[A]

Let's say that someone's listening and they are at a point where they are feeling very confused and lost. And we've shared a lot of tangible tips, but maybe we can speak to that person for a second, because I have a lot of empathy for that because I've been there, and I know you've been there, too. So maybe if someone is in that place where, let's say, they're really struggling to stay on track with their healthy eating or maybe with their exercise, or maybe even just finding their life path, you're so good at speaking to all of us. What would be some words of wisdom that you would give somebody in that space?

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I've been. I felt lost so much in my life. And I think what I've realized is that you're not lost and your soul knows what it's doing. Like, even you with the food, that period in time where you were eating meals at home was part of the path. It's all good. I did that temporarily. I had to eat at home to understand how food made my body feel, to find a place that I could understand the relationship I wanted to have with food. And now I'm ready to change and evolve. Like, being okay with that evolution is huge. So for you, as an example, even in that period of being a little bit more controlling, you were learning. And there was a season and a time. So there's always seasons. What I've realized, though, recently about feeling lost in that feeling of feeling unclear about your path, is that for me, when I feel that, I'm usually determining if I'm on the right path based on external influences and circumstances. Because even recently I was saying that I was like, I feel lost. I feel confused on the outside. Externally, you would look at and be like, you have a book coming out. You have businesses that you run. You have friends that you have. There's nothing unclear about what you're doing. But internally, for some reason, because I wasn't receiving constant external validation to the path being right, I felt like I was lost. And I think what's really beautiful about life, too, is, like, the periods of feeling lost allow us to have the greatest opportunity for change, for evolution, for growth. Like, most people are unhappy with their lives, unhappy in their bodies, unhappy in their relationships, unhappy in their friendships. And if you feel lost or unclear and you have those situations also happening, that's perfect. You should feel lost. You should be living a life that you love and feel aligned in your relationships, aligned in your body. So all of the discomfort that you're experiencing is pushing you towards something that is bad, better. So allow that discomfort allow that unease to be a propellant to creating a life that you love. Allowing uncertainty to feel like adventure. You know, in the process of, of or in the book, almost 30, we talk a lot about this because I wish that I would have known that all the moments where I felt so lost and unclear were actually just the fact that I was looking off someone else's blueprint. And I then switched to finding, listening to the path of my soul. No one else knows where my soul is going. And so if you're following a soul led life where your soul is like, we're gonna go to this place and you're not gonna know because Courtney's soul path is different than mine. But if we're spending our whole life looking at social media or looking at other what everyone else is doing, it's gonna feel like we have clarity on our path. Oh, when I was in the corporate world, I'm an associate, I'm a manager, I'm a director, I'm a vp.

[A]

Clear path.

[B]

Very clear. Obvious when I'm following a path of my soul too. To create a podcast, go on tour, do retreats, be a coach, be an author. It's like no one people have done that path. I'm not saying I'm the first one, but like, I didn't know that was possible.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So all the lack of clarity makes sense. I didn't know this was possible. I didn't know this was part of the dream. So I just have such excitement when people feel lost or when people feel unclear. And the more you can get anchored in yourself and your self, trust and the things you can control, the better off you're going to be. And food is something you can. We don't want to say control, but food is something you can relate to regularly that can help support you on the path to connecting more to your intuition, to your body, to your community, to the world, and can be such a support.

[A]

Well, and I just thought of when you said we don't want to say control, I thought it's empowering.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I talk about this a lot. How can you reframe things in your brain to be something like, oh, this is actually super empowering. I find my food choices actually really empowering. They make me feel really good and they make me feel more powerful. They help me lean into my gifts and what I'm best at because I'm clear and everything that we talked about earlier. So it's like, how can you lean into that and find these things in your life and be Empowered by them. And also, it's so interesting that you said that about that. We were like, I'm not the first person that has done this before with this path. But you're right. There's not a clear like, okay, you do this, that, this, that, and that and that, like, blueprint. It's like everyone has gotten. Everyone that's in that position to become an author has a wild story of how they got there and not a single one of them is the same.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

It's not like you can go, oh, I want to be an author like Michael Pollan, I love him. And I can just go, okay, I'm just gonna go deep, deep, deep, deep. Everything he did. Cause it's not even impossible. My life path is so different. So how can we embrace that? We all have a different life path and almost kind of look at. Is it like an adventure, right, where you're just like, okay, I don't fully know what's going on with this yet. And I don't know what the next step is going to look like, but I'm kind of just going to go one foot in front of the other and follow that and know that, like, my soul knows what it's doing. That is one of the biggest lessons I learned when I look back now. And at the time I was in so much pain. I was so confused. I felt so lost. But there were moments when I can look back now where I can think, oh, my God. My soul knew exactly what it was doing. I just wasn't making the connection. And now that I know that and I find myself in places maybe where I feel a little bit lost, I.

[C]

Try to tap back into that and.

[A]

I'm like, it's okay. Your soul knows. You just gotta keep putting one foot in front of the other and knowing and hearing those cues and trusting those cues for life.

[B]

Yeah. I think I became more understanding of my soul knowing what it's doing when I realized that my soul doesn't organize my life for pleasure and for what I want, but like, for my growth and for my best, you know, for what's best for me. Just like a parent. A parent is going to be like, you're going to go to bed at 8pm and you're going to, you know, not have ice cream for dinner. You want ice cream, you want to have all those things. But they know that it's best for you for the next day, for the week to be doing that. So the soul is going to prioritize your growth, Growth and sort of the Path of greater, of the greatest over like what you want. So a lot of people will say, like, oh, I want this job. I want to be a podcaster, I want to be an influencer or whatever. And it's like, if that's not in the best interest of your soul, like it's really going to make it hard to happen, or it's never probably going to happen. It's going to be an uphill battle. And I think what's really beautiful about this time and the collective consciousness or this time to be alive is that because the old systems are crumbling of, of how a lot of things are operating, whether it's financially, whether it's in big food, whether it's in pharmaceuticals, whether it's in government. That means that there are new systems and ways of being that are showing up. And that means it's confusing, that means it's weird, that means people are going to have jobs that they kind of just make up. And I think the, the new paradigm life is monetizing your gifts. And so it's like getting paid for what you are naturally good at. And that's an easy exchange change. Now, at this point in my life, I have so many gifts that I monetize and make money from because that's what's natural. Like, it's not natural for me to put on a mask, put on a suit, sit at a computer, do something for someone else that's someone else's, maybe dream revision that doesn't even really exist. It's like what is most natural is for us to live in exchange of what I'm naturally good at. And then people can receive what they naturally need.

[A]

Oh, I wish that I had heard you and talking about this or read your book when I was in my twenties.

[B]

I would have. I say that, you know, like the book writing process or the book. The writing process was a pleasure. The putting out a book process has been excruciating for me just because, you know, I've done so much inner work and I love myself, but I still come up against perfectionism. I still come up against fear of failure. I still come up against, against the fear of people letting me down. You know, there's just so much that comes up. But what I always come back to is like, if I would have known and I would have had this book when I was in my 20s, I would have been so much more mentally, well, happier further along in my path. And I think my intention for, for anybody, whether they're almost 30 or not, is to know that they're not behind in life, they're just becoming, coming. It's like you are truly where you're meant to be. And the more we can be in conscious relationship to life and in choice with life and just really empowered in knowing ourselves enough to know that we can live a soul led life, the better. And so in the book almost 30, my co host Lindsay and I wrote it. And it really is like the spiritual guidebook for adulting, where people can really hear from our guests that we've had on the show some of the best experts in the game. And then also stories from us that are really personal, really vulnerable, and sharing about topics related to spirituality, wellness, even career and finance. Because I wanted to put like, everything that I've learned in the past 10 years in a space where I felt like people could access it easily.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Well, and I think that this book is for everyone in a certain season of life. Like, you don't have to be almost 30. You can be almost 20. You can be like me, where you're just 40.

[B]

Yeah. Yes. Literally, like, almost. I already bought all the handles for that in the future. I almost 40, almost 40 dot com.

[A]

I love.

[B]

I'm like a. It's like my secret. I'm like a domain hoarder. I have literally 600 domains.

[A]

I have a friend like that every couple days he, like, buys a new domain.

[B]

It's like a weird kink of mine. I'm like, life is beautiful. Like, I just like, bought all. Like, eventually I'm gonna cash out and.

[A]

Just be like, yes, just sell them. Just put them all on.

[B]

Yeah, I don't know how you can. Williams.crystallin Williams, Crystal Lynn Williams ones. Chris is cool. Like, it's like so many. Like, I do like tons of, like, operations of me. I get ones that I'm like, just in case something happens and I get big. I don't want them to have the domain.

[A]

It's like, yes, Courtney Swan and Real Foodology. And that's it.

[B]

Do you have.

[A]

But I don't have any last name.

[B]

Oh, we're gonna do that tonight.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

We gotta buy that. We gotta get the handle.

[A]

So true.

[B]

Yeah. We're in a digital age, baby. You gotta be digitally prepared.

[A]

Oh, I probably need to get that Instagram too.

[B]

Yeah. Yes. And for your child also get. Get your child's Instagram now.

[A]

Wait, we just picked our child names, which I'll tell you about after, when we were in Miami, we like, decided if we had a boy or a girl. Like, what we would name them Flynn.

[B]

That's my guess. You know what's crazy is sometimes I'm, like, so psychic, and sometimes I'm literally in so on, like, so off.

[A]

Yeah, that was definitely in Mars.

[B]

That was definitely in Mars. Like, I'll try and guess people's astrology. They'll be like, oh, you know astrology. And I'm like, like. And it's like, completely wrong. I'm, like, rarely ever right.

[A]

Sometimes you are, though. And when you're right. God, you are so on point, Krista. Like, I just was gonna say before we ended this, that one. I'm so grateful for your friendship. Like, truly, I'm, I'm so grateful for our friendship and also just want to honor the fact that you, you're a really great communicator and you're really good at putting words and explaining things in a way that's very digestible and really helps people understand, especially when it comes to things like soul work and, or if there's, that's why I asked you, like, if anybody's confused, because I know anytime I'm feeling kind of a certain way in my life, I always come to you for advice because you have this beautiful way of speaking into a space that I've never met anyone that knows how to put words into an experience. Like, you can.

[B]

Oh, I love you. That's so meaningful.

[A]

The way that you can explain life and the human experience, that's really, like, you're, you're really gifted in that.

[B]

I think just to say to that, for anyone that wants to have that skill. And I, I, I think I could be better at it. You know, I, I, every day I'm like, how could I be a better communicator? Because communication is everything. It's the access point to everything, you know, to learning, to education, to connection, to growth or whatever, to living and being human. But for anyone that wants to be better at it, what I would, what I always like to do is like, it's almost like I just see it like, like getting down to the zero point point. Like, if someone comes to you with a problem or whatever, it's like first like acknowledging, like, okay, and then it's like, like asking one question. I think people try and overdo everything. You know, If I'm stressed about work and I'm like, I'm gonna fail. The book sucks. You know, no one's gonna buy it. And I'm, like, really scared about all of these things. It's like, okay, what could we do? And it's like when you just simplify and make things, like kind of just bring down the story and the noise for people, it can be so supportive. And I think, think what I always like to do with my friends is ask if they want to be held or heard. You know, like, do you want to be or helped or heard? Helped or heard. It's like, do you want to be helped? Do you want strategy? Do you want support? Do you want us to find a solution? Or do you just want to be heard? And when you can really just get clear with people and see what they truly need from you, it can be so much more helpful than just kind of like going in willy nilly, being like, oh, I have an idea or whatever. It's like, no, I just literally want to say crazy things for 30 minutes.

[A]

Minutes. Yes. And women are so good at this girl. I have been trying to train Hector. I love you, Hector. It is with men in general. I find between men and women in that relationship, it's so hard because he's so quick to immediately want to jump to help. And sometimes when he's trying to help me, I realize, like, oh, no, I actually don't want any help at all. I just want you to hear me for a second.

[B]

Yeah, it's like feelings first, facts later, you know, to men. It's like, I think when men can really understand, hey, everything. I just need to kind of just be in this.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like right now, as a woman, you can express that. Hey, man, I just want to be in this right now. We can talk about how you're going to help me later. It's really the discomfort of the masculine and the desire for the masculine to have like a next step, to really do things. But I think it's a very normal thing. I think what I love to do now is like, just see the beauty and how, how helpful the masculine is for finding ways to support. Because it isn't always helpful to be in the fucking willy nilly world. Well, that's true, you know, like, yes, it's actually a beautiful. So what is the gift of the masculine is, you know, I coach men and women and when I work with men, it's like I tell them to do something and I talk to them next. They're like, I did that thing every single day, da, da, da, da. And it's so easy. They literally are just like, yeah, I did the thing you told me to do. And women are like, I got my period this week. And then I, you know, I had this thing happen. And then I just was Feeling this. And something came up around imposter syndrome. And I'm like, sis, I love you. And I'm fully in it. I got you. Like, that's my thing, too. But it's just. We can really lose the plot a lot.

[A]

Oh, for sure.

[B]

And I'm fully guilty.

[A]

And sometimes we sit in it for too long. That is one thing I love about Hector where, like, there is a point where he's like, all right, we sat in this long enough. Like, now we need to get solutions. Or, like, I don't want to hear it anymore. And I'm like, okay, respect. I actually love that.

[B]

I think it's also being in relationship with someone that you respect enough to know that they'll move when they're ready.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And I think that's what I also like to do when I approach my friendships is, like, I literally am only friends with people where I don't even need to tell them anything because I trust that they know.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm there for the ride. I'm there for where you're at in this moment, because I've been with you enough and I trust you enough that when you have all the information you need to make the decision, you'll make a move. I don't need to be like, you should do this. You should break up with him. You should do. Because that's. I'm not friends with people that need me to do this.

[A]

That.

[B]

No, I. I don't know. If you don't know, I don't know.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Like, for real. I'm, like, just being patient about that process. So. Yeah. Love Hecty, too.

[A]

Oh, he's just the best.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So before we go, is there anything about the book that you didn't get to share yet that you really want people to know?

[B]

I think people will be surprised at how much rawness and authenticity and, like, we shared stories I've never shared before. Like, about my body journey. As an example. I talked about when I bought these, like, drugs in Mexico to, like, lose weight.

[A]

I never could have killed me.

[B]

Yeah. I haven't told anybody yet, and I just, like, wrote about it. So we put some stuff in there that's very real and vulnerable, just because we wanted it to feel like that true, connective experience that we've had on the podcast over the years. And it's a full meal. Like, the book is A. It's 350 pages. It's like a full meal. It's not fluff. It's deep, and it's really, really impactful. And I'm just really proud of it. So whoever gets it, I'm excited and I'm glad to connect with them. But it's available for pre order until third is when it comes out.

[A]

Yay. Where can they go pre order it?

[B]

You can go to almost30.combook or almost30.com too.

[A]

And where can they find you?

[B]

I'm on Instagram at. It's Christa. It's I T S K R I S A And then it's Christa.com and I do retreats with women. So I do like spiritual wellness retreats all over the world. We've traveled a lot together. I think it was post retreat in Ibiza.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Where I have a retreat this year. I have one in Switzerland and then I also coach women while one so amazing.

[A]

You'll have to check out her retreats. I'm coming to one of them. Our friend Kaylee came to.

[B]

Oh my God. With her mom.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Having it's so I have the best friends and having friends come is like at first you're nervous, but then it's like the best.

[A]

That's so cool.

[B]

It was.

[A]

You have to come and talk about going through an experience where you get to really get in touch with yourself and learn more about yourself.

[B]

It's actually. That's a beautiful thing. And you know, whether it's my retreat or not, like, having a really powerful, helpful, transformative experience outside your comfort zone where you're kind of choosing that transformation can be really helpful. They're portals. Like you go in, you're like, I'm choosing to change my life in this moment. And my girls absolutely are not the same after. And it's a lot me. It's more so God. But it's like it can be a really good space if people want to transform.

[A]

Yes. Okay, so. And where can they find out about your retreats?

[B]

It's krista.com.

[A]

Okay. Perfect.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Krista, thank you so much.

[B]

I love you so much.

[A]

Thank you so much for listening to the Real Foodology podcast. This is a Wellness Loud production produced by Drake Peterson and mixed by Mike Fry. Theme song is by Georgie. You can watch the full video version of this podcast inside the Spotify app or on YouTube. As always, you can leave us a voicemail by clicking the link in our bio. And if you like this episode, please rate and review on your podcast app. For more shows by my team, go to wellnessloud.com see you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always, talk to your doctor or your health team first.