Better Me with BodyByBree
Better Me with BodyByBree
Self-Love and Loving Yourself in all Forms with Jenna Rammell
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This week Bree talks with Jenna Rammell about self-love and loving yourself. Jenna is a wife, mom to four and a business owner. She is the creator of Skin Bae, founder of The Daily Essential Co, and CEO of her own content creation company.
Find out more about Jenna by following her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jennaskitchen/ following her podcast Dear Jenna and check out her company https://thedailyessentialco.com/
Learn more about Bree and her programs at www.bodybybree.com or follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bodybybreefitness/
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Are you looking for a space where you will learn to improve your mental strength, emotional health, and heal your insecurities from the inside out? Take the first step to living a more meaningful life with the Better Me with Body by Free podcast. I'm your host, Bree. I'm a certified personal trainer, entrepreneur, and mother of three. I've helped empower thousands of women to take action through fitness, nutrition, meditation, personal development, and aligning thoughts with action. This podcast is for those who are ready to feel inspired and motivated to live a more purposeful life. Let's grow together. Hi everyone. Welcome to the podcast. Today we have a very special guest, Jenna Rammel. She is amazing. I look up to her so much. Did I say your last name right? You totally did, which was Ramel.
SPEAKER_01Because most people say it Ramel and they try to make it fancy and it's not. It's from Idaho. It's Ramel.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. Well, I'm so excited you're on. I look up to you so much. I love everything you stand for. I love that you're a champion of women and of light and truth and knowledge. And you're just such a genuine person. And I feel like so many of my listeners will benefit from you and your story. So welcome.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much. I feel the same way about you. I've followed you for years, and I just love that you're bringing so much more to fitness than just fitness. You know, I feel like you're really giving women an experience of how to love themselves better. And that is something I'm really passionate about. So right back.
SPEAKER_00Okay, thank you. That's why we're gonna make a great team. Yeah, I'm excited. So, Janet, can you tell everybody what you do? A little bit of a background of what you do and who you are?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So I um I'm first off, I'm a mom, I'm a wife. I have four kids, um, ranging from ages 12 to two, and um two boys, two girls. And I have uh I've been online probably uh honestly, probably a decade now, which is crazy to me to think about. It's evolved from blogging to um about children's lifestyle to just like personal Instagram to um my Instagram platform now, which is Jenna's Kitchen, which started out um in a very restrictive diet. And that's what I did was I shared kind of how I was losing body fat and how I was um and what recipes I was I was doing that with. And so it's been interesting to evolve now to 10 years later, um, being on the kind of other side of the spectrum where I hardly post any recipes anymore, but I mostly just content create for um women and for lifestyle and and for their well-being and their health and their and their mental and mental support. I just feel very passionately about um helping women see themselves as important and valued and special. And um that's kind of what I do now. So we obviously we run the Instagram and I I run that myself. And then I have now a podcast which I just released called Dear Jenny.
SPEAKER_00It's amazing. It is so good. I've already listened to all your episodes. So go listen to it if you haven't already.
SPEAKER_01You're so nice. And I it's just kind of a funny joke that I'm an expert in learning the hard way. So it's just an advice podcast from my perspective. And I I'm such a learner, like I crave learning, and it is fun for me to learn about myself, about other people. And so it's just kind of a reflection of the years of learning that I've been doing about the soul and how amazing we all are. So that's kind of that's kind of where I am.
SPEAKER_00And it resonates so authentically from you because you can tell that you live it and it's just who you are. So it's very genuine when you talk about it. And I think that's why so many people gravitate towards you because of that, you know, genuine feeling that we get that you care and you're so good at that. So today we're talking about kind of loving your body in all of its phases, and you've had quite a journey. I loved you, just did an amazing post about your journey and everything you learned. Can you talk a little bit about your journey with your body and diet and where you are now?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I know we don't have a ton of time, but I feel like it's like a lot, you know. Um, I started off. I mean, I have very, very vivid memories as a child looking at my cellulite and thinking it was gross, you know. And I, it's really interesting because I talked about that in this post is that my mom never dieted, like she never talked about that. It it was not a part of our family conversations. Like they were very healthy people, they still are. They they run every day, you know. I she I would just always see her put on her tennis shoes and go out and run, but it was never like I'm doing this because I hate myself. It was just like it always I felt the energy behind it with her, and it was like it was time for herself to pour into who she was as a mom and as a teacher. And and so it was a positive thing. So it's interesting that I just think it was my DNA, you know. I just think I came this way. I think I, and then of course, our learned experiences with school and little girls and and celebrities and media and whatever is influencing us to feel like we don't fit in or we don't look good or our bodies are wrong or bad or too much. Um, that was just something that like just started off for me at a very, very young age. I have very little um memories of me being at a pool where I didn't like try to hurry and figure out how I was gonna get my shorts on. I was like gonna get back in the pool and like how I'd get out and everyone would see my butt, like what would I do? You know, just like that frantic energy of and that was not like learned behavior. It just came very naturally to me. So I have had to work against that for a long time because so much of what I saw it when I was dieting and doing every diet on the planet was a sense of belonging, was a sense of relief, was a sense of like once I get to this place, then I'm for sure gonna love myself and I'm for sure going to be able to be at peace. Like I remember feeling like looking at other people who whose bodies I envied, like they just must have an easier life, right? That's just like how it felt for me. Is that yeah, have you ever felt that way?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, 100%.
SPEAKER_01Like it's easier for them to be in social situations, they're more liked, they look better in outfits, you know. That was kind of like the mindset I was on. And so, um, I mean, I probably my last diet was I want to say like six years ago, five years ago. So I it was a long time coming. And I realized over this time that even when I was the fittest I'd ever was, and I was the lowest body per fat percentage I ever was, that I was still unhappy with the result, with how I looked. And it was always like tweaking and changing and wanting things to be different. And it just created such a just a friction in my heart and in my soul. And I just knew there was more to me than my body. I just, I just I think honestly, like I talked about talked about this a lot. Like, I don't even think it was like a conscious effort of like, I'm just gonna live better, I'm gonna love myself better. It was literally like I got tired of it. Right. Like the loop just wore me out. It is exhausting. Yeah, it's exhausting day in and day out. After 30 years, I was like, I'm just really kind of like just like I'm over this. I'm so over this loop of like, oops, I ate this cookie, and oh gosh, like summer's coming or whatever. And it's just like constantly taking up all this bandwidth and all this brain space and all this creativity I could be pouring into love and love. And it's just like you don't realize until you do the work to stop these thoughts and to redirect them how much of your life it takes up to hate yourself, and it just does. And so um I started down the path of energy work truthfully and um rewriting and reprogramming my soul and my mind, and that's why I'm really passionate. Like affirmations feel like these, this like kind of outward thing that the this elusive fake thing, but we think a million thoughts a day, and if they're 90% of them are bad, that's what we start to believe about ourselves. And so I feel like that's where I started was just trying to have better thoughts.
SPEAKER_00I love that, and it's almost like too going back, I'm gonna address a couple things that you said because you had so many good golden nuggets in there. But I think just like what you said, if you aren't happy now, you won't be happy when you have the perfect body. And before this call, I was just saying to you how I will have some clients and they'll get down to like 10% body fat. They look amazing and they're still not happy. They're still tearing themselves apart or saying, like, well, yeah, but like my stomach could be leaner, or I could have, well, now I lost the weight, but now I don't have a butt, and now I want, you know, and so it's like it's never enough. It's this like elusive, like dream that doesn't exist. Like, it's okay to want to improve yourself, but exactly what you said, where you're like, you know, I thought it would all be better once I had my body, my dream body, and it doesn't. And I've learned from experience too, like when I was competing, same thing. You know, I got down to 9, 10% body fat, and I was still picking myself apart. And I'm like, okay, there is something wrong here. Like, that is not okay. And, you know, that's when you learn it is all internal, it is all how you see yourself and and learning that now. And I'm super passionate teaching my clients that, and I know you are too, teaching women that. So, how can they start? If they're like, yes, I'm in that spot. I realize that, like, I remember one time I was like, I wonder how much of my thoughts is around what I'm eating, how much I'm exercising, if I'm gonna fit in those pants. Like, I wonder how much. And when I paid attention, I was like, oh my gosh, it's the majority of my thoughts were like that. And so, what if somebody feels that way and they understand, like, okay, this might have been taken too far. I might become a little bit obsessive about this. Where did they start to try to change their thoughts?
SPEAKER_01Well, I love what you said. It's just, it starts with paying attention because it becomes such a home base for you that you are not even realizing that you're doing it because it's just what you're familiar with now, right? Like thinking about the pants, thinking about what you're eating, you know, whatever, when you're gonna work out next. Like it becomes so familiar and it becomes what I see as like home-based thoughts. It's kind of easy for your brain to fall back there because it's used to it. That's what it thinks about. And it's not being challenged to think about anything else or redirect it to think about anything else. So it's just gonna be like, oh, this is comfortable for me. I've thought this a million times. Okay, so I'm gonna go back to this. And so you have to first pay attention, like you said, and then you have to flex the muscle of redirecting the brain every single time it happens. And it is exhausting. It is like it. I like to think that we don't push the thoughts out. We see them, we we say hello, we honor them, we say, why is this showing up to me for me? What is this? An invitation to learn. Where do I want to go next? We are so much more in control than we want to let ourselves think. Like I used to think that this is just the way that it was for me. That hating myself was like just the package I came in. And and we have the strength and the ability to redirect our brain to think we are awesome and perfect and amazing and still have those goals, but never weigh our value on what it is, what our appearance is. And so I think that for me is the first place to start is reaching. I always say we reach for our next best thought. It doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't, and it also feels very awkward at first to talk about loving yourself or accepting yourself or thinking that you're beautiful or I feel confident. Like those aren't things you feel yet. And so it feels like they're not truths. But the brain has a really amazing way of making our thoughts true. And that can go either way for us, right? The negative thoughts can be true or positive thoughts can be true. And so we have to make the choice to move into the next best thought over and over and over again until it starts to be more default. And I still have negative thoughts about myself. Absolutely. Like I still get in a swimsuit and think, for a second, wish I dieted, or whatever it is that crosses my mind because it's still familiar for me. And I have to do the work of saying, I see that. What is that an invitation to learn? I invite you to leave. Here's my next thought, which is I am I accept myself the way that I am, and I'm confident in who I am as a person, or whatever those thoughts look like. So I also feel like journal writing is really, really, really therapeutic for everyone. Um, you can write down the hateful thoughts, write them down, leave them there, send them away. Um, write down loving thoughts, um, have those at your disposal, have them on your mirror, have them on your phone, have them wherever you're looking all the time. So when your brain gets lazy and wants to go back to the old thoughts, you're reminded to work hard for the new thoughts. And I think that's all I did was I just was desperate to not feel that way anymore. And so I was willing to do whatever it took.
SPEAKER_00And it's interesting because like when I look at you, not one time does it cross my mind, like, oh, you know, this is what her body looks like. I'm sitting there going, man, Jenna is a boss. Like, look at what she's created, look at her empire, look how she uplifts people. Like, that's all I see, you know. And so it's interesting how we beat ourselves up about how we look, where other people look at how you make them feel, how you uplift and inspire and everything else. You know, and I don't want to like that. Oh, sorry, what? No, go ahead, go ahead. Um, I was just gonna say, I don't like ever wanna get like too preachy, but I do feel like when we have these thoughts, these negative thoughts like this, that it is a tool that sometimes can be used against us to prevent us from seeing who we truly are and from seeing our real true ability and our higher self. And it is a tool of distraction and frustration and manipulation that can come from the adversary so that we beat ourselves up and then we get so um frustrated and so obsessive about our appearance that we don't see anything else, and we don't see how we can fully grow and learn and you know be these like powerful, amazing warriors because we have all of this self-doubt. And I honestly feel like some of those thoughts aren't even our own. And it might sound weird, but I do. I feel like I feel like it is it could be other, other, like the adversary, other ways of like, oh, you're not good enough. You don't deserve that, you know, you're lazy, and we're it is a way of being attacked to take us away from our true power.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah, absolutely. Because I feel like for me, like however you package, you know, negative negative energy, whether it's you know, adversary, Satan, negative entities, whatever it looks like for you, that exists. And and that is kind of that those polar opposites, like the good, you know, the good angel, the bad angel, those are real things in our lives. And I feel like I could never be gotten to in the sense of like, I was never gonna rob a bank or I was never gonna lie or or like I don't know, be a terrible person, but you could definitely get to me with my self-worth. And that's how that's how I was gotten to, and it kept me from healthy relationships, it kept me from um serving in the world, it kept me from um, you know, loving that postpartum phase that is so special and sacred in those first few pregnancies. Like I had the blessing of being able to rewrite that for myself and like experience my fourth baby in a new, different way. And it was like, gosh, what if I had like done this for myself so long ago? I try not to stay there because it all is all serving us, right? And it's all for a purpose. And I think I'm exactly where I need to, I know I'm exactly where I need to be for where I am. But that's hard for me to to like accept into my life as like, oh man, what that would have been a lot easier had I just been nicer to myself.
SPEAKER_00And you don't realize it until it's you're like, wait a second. Like this is when you take a second, when you take a step back, like you said. Yeah. Yeah. It even happens like with anxiety and depression. Like, even my husband was saying, like, I feel like I was being attacked through like anxiety. And he was like, The I I felt like a lot of those thoughts were not my own thoughts. And it was like I had to be like, you know what? No, I'm not allowing this anymore. Like, I have control over this, I have power over this. And like you said, I'm, you know, we're so we're so much stronger than we think that we are. And anyway, it's just so cool. I just think it's it's so amazing once you realize it. And it's sad, so sad to me because I had the same experience with postpartum with one of my babies. I put so much pressure on myself to get back that I didn't enjoy it. It was so sad. And I was like, it's an inconvenience. Like, I was like, this is such an inconvenience to have my body ripped apart and then have to put it back together again, and I have to start all over after every single baby. And like, it's sad that I had those thoughts, but I like I admit I did, and I was like, oh, I have to restart every time, and this is such a pain. And you miss the beauty of having that newborn baby and that special gift, and it's it's taken away. And I feel like that's definitely a tool to distract us from what really matters.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you don't get that time back, and so and it's a time when like I just wish I'd used more excuses in like that those those postpartum phases where I was just like, yeah, heck yeah, I'm gonna freaking eat this brownie and feel great about it because I'm feeding another human and how cool am I, and like I'm a warrior, and you know what I mean, or I'm gonna take this nap. Instead, like we just believe that there's gonna be some trophy at the end of this life for just beating the hell yourself up, like just like you don't get one. You don't get one, and yes, yes, you know, we talk about being like life being too short, but really it's too long to hate yourself too. Like it's too long of a life to live, like just hating every move that you make. And this plays into every area of your life because no matter how good of a person you are, you're gonna have people that don't like what you did, that think you were dishonest, that think you, you know, were greedy, that think you were selfish, whatever it looks like. And it's like you have to choose what your truth is and how you want to live your life, or else you're just gonna go wherever the wind blows. If every thought someone had about you was true. Can you imagine whatever thought you have about yourself, if it was true? Like it's not true. So deciding what your own truth is is absolutely the most important thing to do. And I love what you said about like you don't see my body. And it's so funny looking back. I have always been thin. Like even after babies, I mean, yeah, I gained quite a bit of weight, like 50, 50 pounds, and uh just a fine amount of weight. It's not whatever. But like I look at my body and I'm probably postpartum like a size 12. But over time, I always get back to like size eight, size six, sometimes a size four, somewhere in there, right? It's like looking back on these pictures now. I'm like, oh, you were always thin. Like you really just you just didn't even know it. Like, and it's kind of ridiculous to me like to look back on those pictures and just be like, I hadn't all I could do was just hate myself. It's all I could do.
SPEAKER_00And yet you're like, well, dang, you looked awesome. And I still was complaining.
SPEAKER_01I know. Like I never was a fat person. And so that's what I'm trying to say here is like you, I believed I was fat. Like that, I would have said, I am a fat person. Like, and that feels crazy to me to consider because when we're looking at it, when we've gained weight, we look at thinner people and think they never feel that way. And it's not, I can say, as a person who by standards is very is thin in the world, I felt fat because that was a choice I was making over and over and over again in my brain. It was it's just crazy.
SPEAKER_00Well, I also love how you talk about gratitude and how it's the highest form of frequency and how powerful it is. Can you speak a little bit about that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I actually did I release that? I think I released that podcast podcast where I was kind of talking about like um when I was talking to a mom that she was saying that she hates being a mom. And I was like, I get it, girl. Um and there's almost this like toxic gratitude that happens, right? Where it's like, if you're grateful, you're not supposed to ever have pain or sadness or feel bad. And that's not it. Like, that's not the gratitude I'm talking about. It's gratitude that invites you to consider and to live in a more joyful place. It does not mean you're you're not valid, you're not supported, you're not honored in the pain that you're experiencing. It just is a choice to move into gratitude because it will then move you into joy. And it just always, always does. It works perfectly every single time because we can have those thoughts of sadness and loneliness and fear, and those are real, and no one's saying they're not real. But when we choose to look at the things we're grateful for, it's just amazing to me what unlocks and and what peace unlocks because we do always have so much to be grateful for.
SPEAKER_00That's so true.
SPEAKER_01Especially with our bodies, like they're doing and presenting, they're doing the things that we want them to do for the most part. You talk to people who have chronic illness or anything like you know, cancer or anything, they can't, their bodies, they can't trust their own bodies. And so to think that some extra fat made me feel like I was in a body that was broken and damaged, it makes me, it's so sad for me to think about those years I lost because I was in a perfectly working body and I I wish I had been more grateful for that.
SPEAKER_00And it's also relative. Like even I was a fitness instructor. I mean, I was like 18% body fat, but I would look at competitors and I'd be like, you know, oh, but I'm not there, you know, which is so funny because then other people maybe were looking at me thinking, I wish I looked like her, or someone's looking at you thinking, I wish I looked like you, you know. So it is also relative. And I love how you say that it's not, you're not gonna be perfect overnight. It's not like a switch that all of a sudden you don't have to worry about anymore. And it's something that you have to constantly be practicing day in and day out. I love that. And I love how real you are about the struggle that you say, you know, I still have times where I doubt myself or that I have I have trouble with it too, and so do I, you know, like I'll wake up and be like, oh man, I'm not feeling super good about myself today, but I can change that. And so I love that. I love that you give the power back to us. Um, I have one more question for you. How do you do it all? Like, how are you so creative and have four children and run this like amazingly successful business? And how do you do it all?
SPEAKER_01I don't. I don't do it all. I know that's like a really like lame, lame answer, but I have a ton of help. And um my husband works full-time with me. We have a nanny. Um, I have someone that helps me with my laundry, you know, like I have someone that cleans my house. Like I feel like we do such a disservice as women to hide the help that we have or to feel ashamed of having help at all. And I tell my friends who are stay-at-home moms all the time, like, you deserve a babysitter more than I do. Like, I really feel like this work of valuing yourself allows you to move into so many cool opportunities where you're able to say, hey, that's not a strength for me. Who can I hire or who can I bring in to help me with that? Instead of feeling like you're the one schlepping all the time in your business, in your personal life, whatever it is. And so I don't do it all and I fall short in a lot of things, and I'm constantly reworking what brings me joy. In fact, just the other day on Instagram, I got a ton of questions on outfit. I don't know if you saw me post this, but I posted and I said, this is where they're from. I don't want to like it doesn't bring me joy to post the links. And it's kind of the first time that I typically don't do any fashion, but like if people really want the where it's from, I'll do it. I thought, this is so time consuming. I don't like it. It doesn't bring any time. But like I it's great. I want to tell you where this is from. I totally get it because I shop off Instagram myself. So like I want to know where things are from. So it was just cool to set that boundary for myself where I'm I've I've lived a life. I'm a people pleaser and it recover, I'm I'm not recovering. I I am trying to be a healthy people pleaser. That's I guess what I want to do. It's just be more boundaried in that work. But as you learn to love yourself, you also learn to value yourself and you value your strengths and your talents and your time, and you don't give them away freely and to whatever, you know? And so it's just a it's just a give and a take. Like you won't find me volunteering in my kids' school. You just won't. But I'm happy to send the supplies for the party, you know, and I'm happy to help donate some money here and there if they need if they need support in the school. And so I've had to let go of that shame of doing it all because you just can't, and you won't. And it's important to find where your gifts are and to value them and to show up amazingly in them and then just let go and release the things that really don't call for you.
SPEAKER_00I love that you're protecting your energy. Yeah, yes, and I love that you are like I have the same exact uh thought process as you. So I'm like, I'm not good at that. That will take me twice as long to do. I'm gonna hire someone who's really good at that, you know, and then I can be creative and I can, and I had a lot of guilt when I first started working and started my business too, where I was like, oh, I have to volunteer at the school and I have to do all the things and I have to be good at all of it. And it wore me into the ground. And the second I let go of that, it made me feel so much better. And it was actually really refreshing to hear you be like, I won't be volunteering in the class. I'm like, oh, that's so nice. I'm not that kind of mom either. And I feel guilty for not being that kind of mom. So it's it looks so different. Now I wish I could volunteer.
SPEAKER_01I know they're not letting volunteers. And I'm like, now I'm like, oh, I I take it all back. Like, I wish I could come and be at the school. And and yeah, but like that's the thing is like I I just had to say, like, and and with church things and and things like that, I have to just say, you know what, I'm working and I'm a mom of four, and and and they come first for me. And so, like, any outside kind of work has to be really evaluated. And now I'm moving into this place of like, well, where's Jenna in all this equation, right? Because it was like, well, I put put the kids first and then work or my marriage, or you know, like there's eight or nine things I'm putting first. Let's put those in quotations. And then it's like, well, where am I in this equation? You know, and I feel like I'm now trying to reframe that part of my brain where it's like, it's okay for me to go to a seven o'clock yoga class and have Andrew figure out the bedtime situation. Like, good luck, bye, you know, and those things are really hard for me to like let myself do because I'm away from my kids working. And so that dance is just constantly moving. But that's why I am so passionate about finding who you are, believing who you are, trusting who you are, and loving who you are, because it it transforms every area of your life, not just your body. It just transforms your marriage, your relationships, your friendships. You begin to see that like whatever's in your life should feel good. And that doesn't mean they're not challenging things, but you should feel good in your body, and that should be the most important thing is to feel good in your body.
SPEAKER_00Man, I couldn't have said it better myself, Jenna. You're amazing. Oh, you're amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here and sharing your wisdom and all of your life lessons. I love learning from other strong women who have so much to share. Can you um just share with our listeners where they can get any of your resources or where they can find you? So you can follow me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, you can follow me on Instagram, Jenna's Kitchen. Um, people think kitchen's my last name, but it's just that I started out sharing recipes that I don't really anymore. But I like to I've kept it because I like to think that people, the kitchen is the heart of our home. And I love to think of people just sitting at our island and talking with me and us and our family. And and that's why I've kept the name because to me it's the heart of a person and a home, you know. So um Jenna's Kitchen on Instagram, Dear Jenna on podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google for the podcast, and then um we we sell skin serum and essential oils on the dailyessential co.com, which is something we didn't even touch on. But yeah, yes.
SPEAKER_00Yes, she has amazing. It's called Skin Bay. Yes, yes. So go check out that as well. I'll link all of your links in the show notes so people can refer back to you and just learn from you and see how awesome you are. So thank you for all of your time. I know you're very busy and I appreciate you.
SPEAKER_01I have a question for you before we end. Yeah. Can I ask it? Of course. Okay, so how do you still have goals and stay in this place? So I have been like, because I've gone on this, the pendulum has swung so far in the other direction. I now work out because like mentally, it's just like it keeps me sane. I I absolutely have to do it. Before it was like a punishment. I I never understood where people like said I work out to feel good. It just never like resonated with me. But it's okay to have goals. So tell me, how do you teach people to have goals without moving into the bad? Let's not say bad, into the negative energy.
SPEAKER_00I love that. So are you saying your goals are to change your body or your goals are to feel healthy? Like, what goals are you are you talking about, or any goals?
SPEAKER_01No, I mean, I think my goals are always to feel healthy and to feel strong, and I feel like I'm doing that, but like I also understand that food is fuel, and so like I know what it's like to like be eating super well and clean and feel how that feels in my body. I want to know how you teach your clients to have goals because those are good, because I think what happens with the self-love conversation is like I'm never suggesting don't work out because for me, working out is absolutely a mental health game and makes me feel so much better, but also so does food. And so, how do you disassociate like good and bad food, but you start to recognize this is what makes me feel good? So, does that make sense? So, how do you get yeah? Okay, answer that. I don't that's a very long question. I feel like that's the crossroads I'm at, is I'm like, I don't dare do anything with my food because it's like it feels too scary for me right now because I've just only been not dieting for a few years, you know?
SPEAKER_00Yes. So I'll start with the body part and then I'll go into the food part. So with the body part, is I'm always teaching my clients to figure out the motivation behind the goal. So why, you know, let's say that their goal is that they want a six-pack. Like, why do you want a six-pack? What is so important about getting a six-pack? And what do you think is gonna happen when you get it? And then usually it has nothing to do with the six pack. It's like, oh, actually, no, I just want to feel more confident or I want to actually, it's because I want to be able to play with my kids and run and go skiing with my kids and not be out of breath. But they feel like they have to stay a six-pack. But when we get deeper and deeper into their actual why, it has nothing to do with the six pack. And so I think making sure that you know the motivation behind why it's so important to you and and shifting that it doesn't always have to be physical. It can be that you want for me, like I work out because I love the feeling of being strong. Like, I don't know why, but it makes me feel like I can conquer anything. I just I love the feeling of lifting heavyweight and like feeling my body and my blood pumping. And it's such like an endorphin high. And every time I get a new PR, it makes me feel like, man, I'm getting stronger and I'm accomplishing something. And so it actually has nothing to do with how I look, but the results actually come as a byproduct of, you know, of those other goals that I'm doing. So I try to teach my clients, I call them daily mental wins. So I'll say, like, okay, because I'm certified in behavioral change as well. And then I'm also a mindfulness and meditation coach. So I try to incorporate that with my training where I'll be like, okay, so let's focus on your daily mental wins and your daily habits, and then the results will come. So maybe your daily mental win is that you want to start including vegetables. You want to try to eat vegetables with every meal. And instead of focusing on how to restrict, like I feel like for you, and I don't tell me if I'm wrong. Um, I feel like for you, maybe you've had such a negative like connotation with dieting in the past that it feels like a negative thing. Whereas if you were to like say, learn how to instead of restrict, it has nothing to do with restriction. It has everything to do with fueling your body with nutrients. And so instead of what can I not eat, we focus on everything you can eat and how amazing it will make you feel. And so I really learned that concept when I went through my whole journey of healing my gut because I was just like you. I love food. Oh, I still love food. I am like you. Like food brings me so much joy. And in my family, we would use food. Yeah, and we would use food as like a celebration. Like anytime on the weekends, it's like, let's go get ice cream, let's make cookies. Who wants caramel popcorn? Let's let's do a movie and caramel popcorn. Like all of my friends make fun of me because everything revolves around food. It is fun for me. And it's really hard for me to think like, oh, I can't have that food. I don't like that thought or that feeling. It makes me feel restricted and I don't like it. And so when I was trying to heal my gut, I noticed, oh my gosh, I am so fatigued. I am so tired. I feel bloated all the time. I feel constipated. I have brain fog. And I'm like, what is going on with my body? And I figured out it was my gut health, and I had to start eating way more vegetables, a lot more fat. Um, I actually started eating more food than I was used to, but it was um whole foods, you know? And it was more, it was actually more of like a whole 30 where I tried to limit sugar and stuff, but I wasn't focused on what I couldn't eat. I was focused on my main goal was to get as many nutrients as possible into my body so that it could heal. That was my thought process. It wasn't like, don't eat this food. It was just eat eat as much good food as possible. And then it was crazy. I started feeling so much better that I was like, I feel like up on I'm on caffeine pills. I've never slept this good in my life. I've never had like been so clear with my thinking. I was happier. I had way more energy. I wasn't bloated anymore. I had better digestion. And so it was like addicting. That feeling was addicting. I was like, I love how I feel when I eat this nutrient-dense food. So then my mind shift like switched to where I yes, I can have the cookie if I want it, but I also know that the cookie is gonna make me feel sluggish. I know that. And so now, because I've done that experiment with my body, when I see the cookie, I'm like, uh, maybe I'll save it for like an actual special occasion, you know, or maybe like I don't really want to feel sluggish today. I want to feel really good. I want to have energy. And so it's now not coming from a place of trying to be smaller, it's coming from a place of wanting to be the best version of myself because I know I have so much to accomplish. I don't have time to feel sluggish and fatigued and brain fog and like I don't have time for that. Like I have too much to accomplish. So it's completely shifted, and now it's so much easier to stay motivated and have goals because it's from a place of love and learning and growing, and it's exciting, you know? That was a very long answer. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01No, I love that. I love that so much because I do feel like I'm moving into that space now where it's like I know how sugar makes me feel, so I don't really eat it. And I just have to trust that like that's not me restricting myself, that's just me choosing what's best for my body. And I know that like sugar just is I just feel terrible on it. Um, but like grains, I feel great on, you know, and I feel like there's a place for restrictive dieting, and especially when you're trying to heal your gut, it teaches you what your body responds to best, and all your body wants to do is have you pay attention, right? So exactly. Yeah, I think that's where it's not really a struggle for me. I just like I just find myself avoiding things sometimes, and I'm like, oh man, is that like old, is that old learning? And and I think to myself, no, like that is a choice. I am make I have to just trust myself that like I am making the choice not from a body perspective, but from absolutely like a feel-good perspective. So I love all those thoughts you shared.
SPEAKER_00Yes, and it doesn't have to be like we see a lot of um intuitive eating right now and self-love and body positivity, and those are great, but I feel like sometimes people take them to the extreme where they're like, don't ever deny yourself anything, you know, like if you want to eat it. Like I feel like that's kind of the extreme where instead we could stop and be like, well, actually, how's that gonna make me feel? You know, like, am I gonna have a headache all day after I eat that? Or I actually notice I feel better when I eat higher fats, you know, or maybe if I'm gonna eat bread, like I love eating Dave's killer bread because it has quinoa and amanth and spelt and all of these healthy grains that are gonna give you so much nutrients. So it's like, yeah, eat the bread, but I'm like, I'm gonna eat one that's actually gonna help my body, you know? So it's just looking at it from that perspective, I think changes everything. It changes your whole mentality. And when you're moving from that place, it's like starting a business. Like you have such a deep why of uh this is your calling and this is why you're doing it. So even when you're tired and frustrated, you keep going because you know you're calling, you know your why. And it's the same, it's the exact same with your health and your body.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I love that. It's just a choice.
SPEAKER_00It is, yeah. And knowing that like some diets are toxic and knowing, like, oh, that you know, that didn't work for me. And but it doesn't mean that you can't choose, you know, healthier options. It's it's a it's a form of self-love. Choosing healthier options is a form of self-love, and it doesn't have to be a negative thing. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01Boom. There's an answer. I love that so much. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00I'm so glad you asked that. Thank you for sharing. Oh, I'm so glad you asked that because I feel like it's something that needs to be talked about right now because I love the body positivity, I love intuitive eating, I love it all. I just feel like sometimes it gets twisted to be um an unhealthy thought process. So I'm so glad that you talked about that. See, look, we're already such a good team.
SPEAKER_01Yes, we are for sure. We can do this again. I'll have you on my on my podcast.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would love that. All right, guys. You know where to find Jenna. She's a peach. You will love everything about her. She has amazing content. She's just, she's awesome. So thank you so much for coming. Go back to your four children and building your empire. Thank you so much and for dealing with my technical issues. Thank you. All right, see ya, Jenna. Thank you for joining us in today's episode. If you liked the content and want to hear more, remember to hit that subscribe button and write a review. As a small business owner, I appreciate it more than you know. If you are looking for a program to help with self-confidence, to lose weight, get in shape, and work on your mental, physical, and emotional health. Check out my training programs on www.bodyby.com. My team and I help to hold you accountable through the Body Bibree app, where you log in to see all your workouts, custom meal plan made specifically for you and your needs, and communication through the messenger. You are never alone when you're on the Body by Bree Training Program. Click the link in the show notes to get more information on how to transform your life from the inside out.
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