In this episode, Bailey interviews Kierstin Gant the Founder of fearNOT Health Coaching. She helps moms unlearn fake truths they have been told about diets, fitness, and health to reconnect and have a loving relationship with your body. Kierstin specializes in gut health, non-toxic living, and mindfulness practices that combat everyday stressors while unapologetically putting women back on the priority list and making them be the body-positive mom they want to be for their kids.

 

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Kierstin Gant talks about body positivity and the unlearning of diet culture from a mental health perspective. She dives into the transition towards health positivity and good communication with our bodies.

Her personal experience led her to become a coach and help other women overcome fear and embrace their emotions to build healthy habits in connection to food and how they transmit those healthy habits positively to their kids.

It is important to have respect and appreciation for our bodies. Plus, we need to change the way we talk to ourselves and others about our physical appearance. We should be kind, respectful and grateful for what our body allows us to accomplish. Moreover, we have to change the speech around diet culture. Each of us needs to find what ‘healthy’ means and build from there. We need to have a different conversation with our body, instead of negative, we need to make it positive. Our body knows exactly what to do, so we need to unlearn what we have been taught about food and trust our gut.

Getting present to our thoughts and emotions, knowing that food is not a moral issue, it is not good or bad. We must learn about emotions to model it to the kids. As parents, we need to trust our kids´ intuitive eating. We don’t have to eat everything that is on a plate. We must trust them and be supportive by letting them be free and make their decisions according to their needs for food.

 

Key Takeaways

  1. We need to have respect and appreciation for our body
  2. We should learn what “healthy” actually means for us.
  3. Pause and know that we have a choice when it comes to food
  4. Food isn’t a moral issue
  5. We have to know our emotions and embrace them
  6. We should allow kids to be intuitive eaters
  7. It is not about fixing, it is about healing our relationship with food.
  8. Toxic free living is not just about food, it is also about relationships.

 

About Kierstin Gant

Kierstin Gant is the founder of fearNot Health Coaching, an organization that encourages women to rewrite the rules of what is healthy and give up the diet culture mindset, so they can live a life full of confidence, vitality, and freedom.

Many years ago, she had checked all the boxes on the “should do” list of success. As a new mom she was set in her routines, loved being on the move, queen of multitasking, worked 70+ hours a week at her dream job,  and appeared to be the picture of health. 

He was also suffering from panic attacks, migraines, lack of nutrition, and her body was screaming for a change.  She was in complete survival mode, and she did not want anyone to know she was struggling! So, she did what she knew best, which was to go to the extreme level of dieting and exercise.  She lived decades of her life believing that if I ate the “right” food and was the “perfect” weight, the rest of her life would be easy. 

This was exhausting, frustrating, and never gave her the results she expected. She tried so hard to fix herself physically that she ignored her mental and emotional needs. 

Eventually, her body shut down from chronic stress, and she experienced many health conditions that forced her to slow down and take a different approach to health. Through her personal development journey and education in holistic health, she has found the freedom to practice self-compassion, acceptance, and the courage to make gradual changes that enable her to reach her daily health goals.

Her family keeps her grounded. Her husband challenges her in the best ways, and her daughter reminds her daily of whom she wants to be in this world. They work hard, play hard, and love even harder. On any given day you’ll find her in her favorite spots laughing with her family, snuggling with her dogs, on her yoga mat, at the beach, listening to books and podcasts, drinking coffee, and savoring dark chocolate!

 

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In the episode we covered

  • (00:00) Bailey introduces Kierstin Gant.
  • (3:00) Kierstin tells Bailey about her transition to her current professional life.
  • (8:00) They discuss the changes in speech society has undergone and the importance of having a positive conversation with our bodies.
  • (12:00) Kierstin explains how to manage food talk with kids, and how to model it for them.
  • (17:15) They talk about how dieting and food seems to be a female problem, even though men and children deal with it as well.
  • (20:00) Krierstin states that the issues do not come from a plate, we need to focus on other things to reach our natural weight.
  • (22:00) She gives 2 reasons why we focus on what is on our plate, calories, etc. and how our relationship with food shows our emotions, and how to relate to it in a healthy way.
  • (29:00) They discuss mental wiring in connection to food and social habits. Plus, social word connotations we are used to hearing in our society.
  • (34:15) Kierstin elaborates on the idea of toxic free living and how having toxic relationship is detrimental for us

 

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