The Feed My Health Podcast

Answering Your Questions: Life Beyond Baggy Clothes

• Rosalind Tapper

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Ever wondered how a coaching program is born? In this candid Q&A episode, I pull back the curtain on my personal journey from diet-obsessed and overwhelmed to creating Feed my Health, a program helping women over 40 stop hiding in baggy clothes and start prioritizing themselves.

From my earliest awareness of nutrition as medicine to the overwhelming years of juggling motherhood, business, and failed fad diets, I share the pivotal moment that changed everything. Standing in front of the mirror, I made a revolutionary decision: listing what I wasn't willing to sacrifice instead of focusing on restriction. This simple mindset shift became the foundation of Feed my Health and continues to guide my approach with clients today.

Beyond my story, I address the questions you've been curious about—what people don't see behind my social media, my daily routines, and the one health habit I wish women would stop (hint: it involves restriction). I reveal my morning rituals, current breakfast obsession, and the Eleanor Roosevelt quote that has become my north star: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

The episode offers practical wisdom on habit replacement versus elimination, creating intentional daily routines that serve you rather than drain you, and finding inspiration from "normal" people achieving extraordinary things with resources similar to your own. Whether you're struggling with diet culture or simply curious about creating a more intentional life, this conversation offers both vulnerable insights and actionable strategies.

Ready to stop restricting and start truly living? This episode might just be the permission slip you've been waiting for. Because life isn't about constantly thinking about your weight—it's about feeding your health in all the ways that matter.

👉 We don’t just help you lose weight - we help you keep it off for good. If you’re serious about breaking free from quick fixes, my team and I will transform your daily habits so your results last a lifetime.

JOIN Feed My Health Today!

✨ Not ready to dive all the way in yet? That’s okay.
If you know something has to change but you’re not quite ready for the full programme, I’ve created two simple ways to step into my world and start building momentum:

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This is your safe space to get inspired, learn bite-sized mindset strategies, and start feeling more in control of your health and body again. It’s where you’ll get practical tools, motivation, and a taste of what’s possible for you when you stop putting yourself last.

🔥 The Body Confidence Club (£22 right now)
If you’re ready to do more than just watch from the sidelines and want to start implementing real changes, this is your next step. Inside you’ll get structured guidance, simple actions to follow, and the accountability to finally follow through. (The price will be increasing soon, so now is the best time to jump in!)

Speaker 1:

Welcome back everybody. Today we've got a bit of a different kind of an episode. About two weeks ago I asked for questions on my Instagram stories and I answered three of them, as I said I would, but there were quite a lot and I thought it would be quite fun just to answer some of those questions on this episode today. So welcome back. My name is Rosalind and I'm the owner of Feed my Health, which is an online coaching program for women, specifically over 40, who are sick and tired of hiding behind baggy clothes. They really want to be great role models for their family and really want to start putting themselves first. So let's get in to the first question. So can I share a little bit about my own journey with health, with my body image, and how that eventually led to creating Feed my Health? This is such a fantastic question and came from somebody who had just followed me that day actually, so makes perfect sense.

Speaker 1:

So for me, my own journey started very much when I was young, very, very young. I was very, very hyper aware of wanting to lead a long, healthy lifestyle. I don't really know for sure where that came from and it's probably quite an unusual mentality to have for such a young person but I don't know what it was. I was very, very, very focused on the idea of being able to cure things through nutrition. I really didn't want to have a life where I was on pills or I needed to potentially be on pills for things, and I really truly believe from a very young age that food was our medicine and could be our best medicine. So that's really where it started. And I have to say that when I lived at home it was much easier for me to focus on stuff like that because we were brought up in a household that prioritised healthy, balanced meals. So that was really really fantastic for me. I had a really great, strong foundation. But then obviously, I went into university money is a little bit tighter found myself found myself this sounds like a ridiculous thing to say got pregnant in my second year at university and you know, when you go kind of through all those kind of food aversions and things like that, wasn't eating particularly well and my priorities completely shifted from that young girl mentality of like I want to live a long, healthy life to here's my current situation I'm trying to survive off minimal money. And then I ended up moving to Derbyshire to live with my then partner, now husband, father of said child, and everything kind of shifted for me. I've gone from being very, very hyper-focused on my potential, career and education and all the rest of it to how can I also keep doing that and have a purpose, ie, build some kind of a business and bring some money in but also raise children and have, you know, be a really great mom and a really great partner.

Speaker 1:

And basically I tried to do too much. I tried to spin every plate, but not just spin every plate, because I know a lot of women do that. I tried to do it all at some elite level which was just not sustainable, attainable or even even expected of me. I just put that expectation on myself and that led to kind of putting myself last, my health last, even though all I did was constantly think about how much I weighed, how I looked in my clothes, how unconfident I was. I didn't really know how to come out of that. I didn't really know what the solution was and all I did was try to find ways that would help me lose weight. And so I'd be looking at the gossip magazines, I'd be going on YouTube for workouts, I'd be listening, asking questions to friends who were also struggling with their weight, looking for the answers, jumping on the back of every new trendy diet at the time and obviously diets are not meant to be sustainable fad diet specifically. But at that time I didn't know it was a fad diet, I just thought that's what people did and so I would blame myself when I couldn't sustain them. And it wasn't my fault, it was the methods that I was trying to use and everybody saying you know, everybody in the media, friends, family saying oh, have you tried this diet? Or oh, so-and-so's tried that diet and that really worked for them, and as if that's a normal way. You know that's the right way to lose weight.

Speaker 1:

Um, so from I would say, a good part of 10 years, I struggled with my weight. I struggled with the methods of how to lose the weight and balancing it all at the same time running a business, um, having children. I just struggled with it all completely and one day I just thought enough is enough. Like I remember very, very vividly standing in front of the mirror, then standing on the scales and saying I am not prepared to let myself get any heavier than this and I am not prepared to have to sacrifice the things that I truly love in my life food, you know, glasses of wine, whatever. I didn't want to have to compromise on those things and and get to get a result. Basically, I didn't want to have to compromise on those things and get to get a result. Basically, I didn't want to live off salad. I didn't think it was a great thing to be showing my children. I felt that I was being a really bad role model. Actually, to be honest, I was feeding them all the great food but then, hypocritically, in the kitchen I'd be sneaking like a chocolate biscuit or whatever and putting four teaspoons of sugar in my coffee and professing to be a great mom. You know, I think I was a great mom, but I wasn't modeling what I wanted them to be brought up with.

Speaker 1:

And so what I did? Actually, the first step that I did and I don't know if I've ever really shared this, but the first thing that I did was I listed out all the things that I ate, that I wasn't prepared to ever sacrifice and I know that sounds crazy, because a lot of people have that mentality of thinking about what do I need to get rid of but I flipped that on its head and I was thinking right, what, what am I not prepared to give up? And? And from there I then was able to start feeling my health and not feeling like I was restricting, not feeling like I was compromising, not feeling like I was having to give anything up. And yeah, so that's essentially where it all stemmed from. And once I felt I'd cracked the code, I then wanted to know the science behind everything. I wanted to feel fully educated on everything the psychology, how to move, how to eat, everything so that I could then pass on all of my experience and expertise to other women who, I bear in mind, for 10 years, had also experienced, were going through the exact same things and still do to this day.

Speaker 1:

So I want women to realise that life is for living. You shouldn't go through life constantly thinking about how much you should weigh and how small can you be and how little should you eat. There is a life on the other side of that and it's a really hard thing to explain because you've spent the majority of your adult life thinking about it and being consumed with thoughts of food and and all the rest of it. So it is hard when somebody says you there is a life that doesn't involve you thinking about food all the time. Trust me, it's hard for me to put that across, but there really is, and I want to help as many women as possible free themselves from these fad diets, learn how to look after their health, live a long, healthy life, be fantastic role models to their children, wear the clothes they want to wear with pride, feel amazing when they wake up in the morning, know with confidence and clarity that they are feeding their health with every decision that they make. And one day, that decision might be that they have a piece health with every decision that they make. And one day, that decision might be that they have a piece of chocolate and a donut. And that's okay, because we look at the bigger picture of what they're doing in their lives. I could go on and on and on about that until the cows come home, but I'm going to move on to the next question, which is a really amazing question, actually. She asked.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes it can look like, um, you have everything all together, but is there anything that people don't see when it comes to your life, basically? And oh my goodness, yeah, I mean, if you think about it, I do share a lot, but you only see I mean, if you think about it, I do share a lot, but you only see a couple of minutes of snippets of my day. And running a business is not for the faint hearted. It's one of the most challenging things that I've ever done. Sometimes I would say that having teenagers is one of the hardest things I've ever done. But I do feel like with all stages of parenting, no matter the age, you hit a new kind of struggle or a challenge with, with rearing children, and it's actually a very similar concept. If I'm honest with you, I think, um, it's never easy, it's never plain sailing your, my job, ultimately, is to put out fires, to problem solve and put out fires, and so it's not easy, and there are so many things that people don't see behind behind the scenes, but that's just true of everybody's life.

Speaker 1:

You know, I think the problem with social media is you get so used to seeing somebody and seeing what they share that you, I think, are lured into a false sense of thinking that you know what's going on in their lives. You get comfortable and you get confident thinking you know that person and you probably do for a lot of it. You know I'm very real and true. On my Instagram you like, what you see is what you get with me, but I'm not. My social media isn't a place where I'm going to sit and bring it down or um talk about every terrible thing that's going on in my life, because that doesn't bring me joy to focus on stuff like that.

Speaker 1:

I understand my role in business, I understand my role in my children's lives, in my family's life and all the rest of it, but I'm not going to share negativity on social media because potentially, that's what people want to see. Because I want to create a space for me that promotes my mental well-being. I have zero tolerance for negativity and that kind of victim mentality and I really don't believe that. Yes, it's helpful to share your struggles and your challenges, but I just don't want it to be a place where that, you know. For me, social media is, is where I want to go and be inspired and motivated and educated to some degree. I don't want to open my social media and see a load of people telling me how terrible their lives are, because ultimately, what then happens is you go. Oh well, that's not happening for me, so my life's great, so I feel really good about myself. I don't want people to go into that comparison trap where my misery is their gain. You know, um. So yes, that was a very long-winded way of answering that question, but there are so many things going on behind the scenes that a lot of people do not see. Um, and I think anybody with children can also agree. You know, who you are in front of your friends, with your children, is very different to who you are behind closed doors, when you're potentially sharing your struggles with your spouse or your mom or whoever. So that's just life, it's just normal, it's just part of being a human being at the end of the day. The next question is a really good one. Um, I struggle with the amount of noise there is out there um, detoxes, boot boot camps, etc.

Speaker 1:

If you could wave a magic wand and get women to stop doing just one thing when it comes to their health, what would it be Restricting? I believe that if people thought about what they could replace or add into their lives versus get rid of, take away, they would have far more success. Classic example let's take smoking as an example. A lot of people think that it's ideal to go cold turkey and just completely cut it out. The thing about smoking or any kind of habit is that you've created a habit and you've created as part of your lifestyle, and so the the only way to stop doing something that is a habit is to replace it with a better habit, not completely stop doing it and expect to not be consumed with thoughts of it.

Speaker 1:

Some people can go really cold turkey on stuff, and that's really great for them, but for the majority of people that's not the way. So like, for example, if you want to cut back on alcohol, just simply saying I'm just not going to drink anymore isn't going to work for the majority of people. You really need to replace that with something else. Maybe it's like a diet drink or something that replicates the feeling of those drinks. So prosecco, for example people like to drink prosecco because it's cool and it's fizzy and the bubbles, and it feels. It feels nice to drink it out of a lovely glass. And so what can you do in that moment to replace those same feelings and experiences with something that's going to serve you long term better? Well, can you find a low calorie, fizzy, cold drink? You know, replacing it with something, and eventually you might find that the thing that you replace it with you no longer you know, want as much, because it doesn't have those addictive qualities like alcohol or cigarettes or sometimes even food.

Speaker 1:

On the flip side of that, I also believe that when you stop identifying as a person that, let's say, smokes, it's much easier. So when you decide, right, I don't want to smoke anymore because it doesn't serve a bigger vision for your life, there's more pain in still doing the smoking than not. That's when it's easier to just completely stop doing it. Um, but if you don't identify as a non-smoker and you are trying to be a non-smoker, it is going to be a lot more challenging. So, um, restriction is definitely something that I wish people would stop doing. This whole concept of I'm going to stop eating sugar, I'm going to cut back on sugar, I'm going to stop eating carbs that is all coming from a place of restriction and taking away and deprivation, and your brain will completely rebel against that. So that's what I would say with regards to the one thing, but there are so many things. That's what I would say with regards to the one thing, but there are so many things.

Speaker 1:

Can you talk me through a day in your life? Well, yes and no. There are no days created equal. But there are certain things that I kind of anchor in my day which stay the same, and these are things that I've consciously put in my day because I enjoy them and it's the kind of lifestyle that I want to have. So, for example, my morning coffee is part of my morning routine. Um, going for a walk is a non-negotiable for me. Um, there'll be lots of things like that, that that anchor the week. We'll also have things in the evenings. For example, me and my husband go dancing on a Tuesday I run a choir. So there are certain things that happen throughout the week, that just happen.

Speaker 1:

But day to day from a business perspective depends on what's going on in the business. But typically I have themed days. So Monday is set for a certain kind of activity within the business, tuesday is set for a certain activity in the business, wednesday, etc. Etc. And then everything else kind of fits around that. So no day is the same.

Speaker 1:

But what I, what I would probably say to you off the back of asking that question, is when you think about what your perfect day looks like, your ideal day. Imagine you. You know you had a clean a4 sheet of paper and you could put in whatever you wanted what would be your things, and then work kind of backwards from there. Um, once I started kind of vision in visit envisaging my ideal day. It was a lot easier to then create my day based off that and I would strongly recommend you do it, because there are always going to be fires and there's always going to be problems and there's always going to be things that come up, some that you can control and some that you can't. So if you have a day where you've got things in there that you really chose and, while very intentional about and do not, you know, do not negotiate on them, your, your day is going to feel like it's serving you rather than you know, sort of living for the weekend kind of thing, which is a lot of what I used to do. I used to dread Mondays, I used to be so excited for Fridays and when you get into the mindset where you don't dread any day, that's kind of the holy grail I feel.

Speaker 1:

What's your go-to breakfast? Love breakfast. It's literally my favorite meal of the day. At the moment I am going through a berries and protein cereal phase. I am obsessed with cereal. I love cereal so much. Um, I don't buy sugary cereals we don't have stuff like that in the house but I really do love things like Rice Krispies. I love things like Corn Flakes and I've just discovered this protein cereal which I'm absolutely loving. So, at the moment, my go-to is that I often go through phases where I'll have like several weeks and I'll eat the same breakfast, but that's that's the thing that I'm having at the minute.

Speaker 1:

Um, do you go to the gym or walk and listen to an audiobook? I'm not sure what the question is to that. So, yes, um, I walk and I listen to podcasts. I listen to um meetings a lot of the time. I like to multitask with that. Um, I, what else do I do? Rarely do I listen to music on walks. If I'm honest, I mostly will listen to music when I'm doing my workouts. Um, so, yes, I do all of those things.

Speaker 1:

Um, what's one thing you wish you knew in your 30s? Oh, what's one thing I wish I knew in my 30s, I think? Well, I think I knew the. I think I knew this, but I didn't actively practice it. So in my 30s, I feel that, whilst I was aware that I couldn't control everything and everybody, I, I I still let that affect me, if that makes sense. So I would still let other people's behaviours and actions affect me so much more. Now I also realise that I still can't control everybody and everything. I think it's very important to control what you can control, but I also have found it a lot easier to let other people's behaviours and actions go, and I hope this is making sense. It's hard to kind of articulate this, but I, for example, like if somebody doesn't do the thing that I think they should do, or comply with the thing that I think they should do, um, it's not a reflection of me, it's it's on them, if that makes sense. So you know that whole phrase of like you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. As long as I feel that I'm doing everything my side to help somebody, support somebody let's say it's a friend or whatever they're the ones that have to take the action, whereas before, especially in my 20s, I would get really affected by the fact that they didn't take action and what it meant about me, if that makes sense. So, but I think this is a really common thing, for, as I think, with this, the aging process is you just get a little bit more. Um, you care less, but you care about more, about the right stuff, if, if that makes sense.

Speaker 1:

Your favourite guilty pleasure? I absolutely love watching the Kardashians and I love watching the same show that I love over and over again. So the Gossip Girl I could watch over and over again. I love watching Friends, I love watching Sex and the City. I will watch those over and over again.

Speaker 1:

A quote you live by. Oh my gosh, that is a really good question. There are so many quotes that I could say. Actually, I remember when I first went to New York which is my dream to have an apartment in New York and I remember being inside. We stepped inside the I want to say it was the National, I want to say the National History Museum, but that's in London. What's the one? The one with the dinosaurs? That's on Friends? I can't even think, can't think, but natural, oh, I can't think. Anyway, inside there were quotes written on the walls and I remember this one specific quote which was by Eleanor Roosevelt and it said the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams, and I thought that that was fantastic.

Speaker 1:

A very, very lovely thing is who inspires you the most right now? Great question who inspires me the most right now? I feel that there isn't one particular person that inspires me the most. I get inspired by lots of different kinds of people for lots of different reasons. In my circle, in my world. I'm inspired a lot by the mentors that I have, so people that help you to see a bigger vision, help you to like, show you what you're capable of and help you to see that you are capable of a lot more than you think and you give yourself credit for.

Speaker 1:

And sometimes you just need people in your life to just give you that little tidbit of inspiration to go oh, actually, this is something that I could potentially be able to do now. I've always had that mentality of thinking like there's always more, there's always more. I want to achieve more that I want to do, and so, having that vision and expanding that vision, I basically feel like I've spent all of my life finding ways to expand and improve, and that's why I do sort of yearly vision boards and I amend it every quarter and stuff like that. I really want to be able to live as, live out the potential that I have. Um, but sometimes it's hard, like sometimes there'll be even moments for me where I have a moment of doubt or I question something, and so when you're around people who are bigger thinkers and have achieved more than you've achieved, but stuff that you would aspire to have or aspire to be, it's a really powerful way for you to go.

Speaker 1:

Ah, yeah, there is another level for me and I'm capable of that too, and I think it helps to actually find people in your world, whether that be on social media or in your direct circle, that are quote unquote normal people. Because, yes, we can look up to celebrities and, yes, yes, we can look up to celebrities and yes, we can look up to pop stars and all the rest of it. And I'm not saying that they're not normal people, but when we start to compare what we have and our abilities to what they have based on a whole other set of resources that they have available to them, it can start to make us feel frustrated in what we're not achieving based on the resources that we have, and then compare it to what they're achieving based on the resources that they have, and they're not equal. It's not equal at all. So when you start to find normal people in your world who are achieving great things based on similar resources that you have available to you, if not the same, I feel like that's far more impactful and far more inspirational.

Speaker 1:

So I actively seek out people like that, whether that's on social media, whether that's in friendships or yeah, just so. People like that inspire me. Big thinkers, people that know that they want more for themselves and then also help others like see that they can achieve. And that's ultimately what I want to do and hope that I am doing with our clients at Feed my Health, the team and everybody, because I genuinely believe that we are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for. And it won't always feel easy, but it is possible.

Speaker 1:

And actually that this ends the podcast episode really nicely when I think and I circle back to that quote because it makes sense that that quote really struck a chord with me when it when we say the future belongs to those who believe the beauty, in the beauty of their dreams. So if you can believe in the beauty of the thing you truly want, your dreams, your hopes, all the rest of it you're that you, the future will really belong to you and that's an amazing thing. So, yeah, so they were all the questions that I had which I thought were really, really great, and that's why I wanted to answer them. Um, in a bit more detail on episode. So I hope you've enjoyed this episode. Thank you so much for being here and thank you for listening. And, of course, if you love this episode and you love the Feed my Health podcast, please give it a review. I would be very, very grateful for that. But until next time, please keep feeding your health.