Why 'Eat Less, Move More' Just Doesn't Work, with the Anti-Jillian Michaels

07/04/23 • 44 min

This week we start by talking about the impact of one of America's most harmful TV experiments - The Biggest Loser. Specifically the impact of Jillian Michaels, the most aggressive, bullish and outspoken trainer on the show, who made a name for herself by encouraging a generation to eat less and move more and by shaming fat people across the country.
Malarie Burgess is an exercise physiologist and has been teaching in the fitness industry for over 12 years. Malarie or the Jock scientist as you may know her across media platforms, has branded herself as the Anti-Jillian Michaels because to Malarie, Jillian represents what is toxic about the fitness industry as a whole.
Often the messaging we receive is harmful, not evidence based and is heavily focussed on weight loss rather than health outcomes.
Weight loss in and of itself is NOT a behaviour and simply doesn't not equal to health or does it have any moral value attached.
We chat about untangling movement and weight loss. Is it possible and how we start moving intuitively or actually trusting our bodies again.
It is possible to always move for joy?
This is an episode you will not want to miss and to find out more about Malarie, you can find her on Tiktok or Instagram where she offers lots of free movement resources for those navigating movement for the first time or finding their way back to it.
Thanks for listening and tune in next week!

Please reach out if you would like some support with your relationship to food OR movement. Ela currently has limited spaces for Intuitive Eating coaching and if you'd like to reconnect with movement, contact Christine.
AND if you enjoyed this episode, please share and follow the 'Find Your Strong podcast' and if you have time, write us a short review. It would honestly mean the world. Love to you all, Ela & Christine x

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Previous Episode

How to Use Tapping to Find Freedom around Exercise

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EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, is a powerful stress-relieving technique that combines Chinese acupuncture with modern psychology to address the fear of rejecting diet culture and guide you towards a more intuitive relationship with exercise.

Healing your relationship with movement and tapping come together beautifully because they help you break down the fear, stress, and anxiety you may be feeling and clear out your emotions.

By learning how to better understand your emotions, you can take back the control that diet culture has stripped you of and start listening to what your body needs.

Have you ever tried tapping?
If not, you're in for a treat. Jason takes us through a 5 minute tapping sequence on our complex feelings and emotions around exercise and our bodies starting at minute 26.44 . It would be really helpful to note down what came up for you during that short tapping session and if you are interested to find out more.
You can find lots of Jason's resources on his Youtube channel or you can reach out to him on Instagram where he often hangs out.
Thanks for listening everyone.

Next Episode

Strong is NOT the New Skinny, with Kira Onysko

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This week's guest is Kira Onysko. Kira and I bonded over our mutual love of Paul Rudd AND our work as trainers in the non diet space.
Kira is a size inclusive personal trainer based in Ontario, Canada. After developing her own food & body image struggles due to mainstream fitness culture, she now promotes a body-neutral approach to health & fitness and helps her clients to focus on how their workouts make them feel, rather than look. She's preaching to the choir.
We explored the idea that perhaps the new drive for women to look 'strong not skinny' is diet culture in a different jacket and is still so aesthetics driven.
How can we actually begin to repair our relationship with movement?
How can we find balance between listening to our bodies and seeing what our bodies are capable of?
How can we begin to separate exercise and weight loss? What's the first step?
Kira talks about her first experience whilst doing a BSC in exercise science hearing about Health at Every Size and whilst initially outraged, how she had been blindsided and came to understand that maybe the fitness industry can got things very wrong.
We hear how the need to look and perform a certain way infiltrated Kira's life from childhood and only recently has she been able to reclaim movement for herself and choose exactly what she WANTS to do and what truly lights her up.
And it isn't cardio.....;)
You can find Kira on Instagram, through her website or through her own podcast - The Wellness Pod. You can work with her 1 to 1 or through her online coaching program.