Latest / Chatting with Cara - The Relationship with Food Podcast / Body image confidence starts here: How to appreciate your body for what she does, not what she looks like.

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Body image confidence starts here: How to appreciate your body for what she does, not what she looks like. · Chatting with Cara - The Relationship with Food Podcast

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  Hello, welcome to Chatting with Cara.
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  I'm Cara, your compassionate life coach, relationship with
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  food specialist, and I'm here to help you understand yourself a
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  little bit better each week. However you found your way here
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  today, I'm glad you're listening.
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  Maybe your friend sent you this episode.
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  Maybe you've been with me from the start, or maybe you're just
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  curious about doing things differently when it comes to
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  food, your body, and how you feel about yourself.
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  Whatever brought you here, you're in the right place.
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  Here's what I do on the show. I have honest, kind
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  conversations about the stuff that's actually holding you
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  back. Not the surface level stuff, the
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  deep stuff, the root causes. Because when you truly
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  understand why you think and feel the way you do, then
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  everything starts to change. It doesn't feel hard anymore.
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  It just feels natural to get comfortable.
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  Make yourself a group and let's have a proper chat about the
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  things that matter. This is chatting with Carver.
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  No, I have spoken to you about this before, but I'm going to
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  speak about it again because I was listening to a podcast the
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  other day and it came up and I was like, Oh my gosh, that is
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  this one we'll talk about in the wild.
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  That is it in normal language. It's, it's out there.
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  And I was like, we need to, I need to talk about this.
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  I just need to. And what I'm going to talk to
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  you about today is a thing called body appreciation.
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  That's appreciating your body for what it does for you, not
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  for what it looks like. And diet culture, which is a
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  system of beliefs that we have grown up with, that smaller is
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  better, thinner is more moral. You are a better person when
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  you're thinner. Want you to think that your body
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  is all about how it looks. And I'm here to tell you again
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  that it's not No, no, no. So what how this came about was
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  I was listening to it, I think it was on Jamie Lang's podcast,
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  Good Company, and Paris Fury was on it, the wife of Tyson Fury.
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  And I think they're just fascinating.
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  So if you've ever watched At Home with the Furies, you'll
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  know exactly what I'm talking about.
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  And I think as a sportsman, I think Tyson Fury is actually
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  really good. But Paris Fury is definitely the
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  brains behind the whole shebang, really.
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  And I just think she's fascinating.
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  I just think the whole lot was fascinating.
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  So I was listening to the podcast and the quick fire
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  questions at the end, and Jamie Lang went, I think it was
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  something like, what are you most proud of?
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  And she went, my body. I've had seven kids and she's
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  done really well. And I was like, Oh my God, she's
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  referring to her body as a person, just like I do.
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  And that's what I do with my clients.
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  But she's always said I really appreciate her body.
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  And I was like, that's fantastic.
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  That is somebody who's from a traditional, non standardised, I
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  don't know, really like background who'd probably be
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  quite deep in diet culture, same age as me.
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  And she said it and I was like, that's fantastic.
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  That is what I want more girls to hear growing up.
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  And it's also what I want more women like you at our age to
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  know as well that your body is not about what it looks like.
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  It's about what it does for you. And it's not just about having
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  children as well that that's not like this is if you haven't had
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  children, don't worry. This is not this is for you
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  still. It's not just about appreciate
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  it if you've had children, but it's appreciating like you and
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  your body for getting out of bed in the morning.
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  It's appreciated for going on that walk in.
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  Well, it's hailing at the moment because it's May, but you know
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  what I mean, for the walk in the sunshine.
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  It's appreciating your body for allowing you to get up and go to
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  work and help people. It's allowing, It's appreciating
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  your body for what she gives you, not for what she looks
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  like. And oh, I think we need to do it
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  more. We just need to do it more.
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  We need to appreciate her, but what she does, because let's be
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  quite frank, bodies do a lot for us.
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  We could get down inside the miniscule detail and like, oh,
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  I'm really grateful that I'm able to pick up my cup of tea.
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  Not saying you have to, but you can be if you wanted to.
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  But let's look at, let's be more appreciative.
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  Our bodies do serve us really well.
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  I know there's some people out there going, oh, yeah.
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  But Carver, I was like, I'm injured at the moment, or I'm
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  struggling with this, or I've got a chronic condition or I'm
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  in pain all the time. And I get that.
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  I get that. But there's other things that we
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  need to appreciate her for. Because just because your body
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  isn't working how you want it for certain things doesn't mean
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  that it's all about what it looks like.
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  It's still helping you be you. And it's something that I need
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  you to know. I need you to know that you
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  aren't what your body, you're not what your body looks like.
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  You are you as a soul, as a beautiful soul.
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  But your body is just a vehicle for it.
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  And I want you to appreciate it. I want you to appreciate it, not
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  for what it looks like, not for what it looks like, but what she
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  does for you. And here were things that I
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  asked my clients to do and that I do as well.
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  I do it especially as I've got older because as we age, we do
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  respect our bodies more and more and we improve our body image as
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  we get older. And I think there's not like not
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  like linear or anything like that.
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  Obviously there's dips, and I think per menopause is like a
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  traditional dip where body shape changes and hormones do a job on
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  your brain and how you think and feel about yourself.
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  But after that, we tend to see a really good trend in the older
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  you get, the more you appreciate your body.
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  And I just see this anecdotally from people who come to my
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  Pilates classes. People who come to my Pilates
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  classes are generally in the older brackets, and it's because
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  they want to stay healthy. It's because their body allows
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  them to go and have lunch with their friends.
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  It's because their body allows them to go on a weekend away,
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  because their body allows them to go and see new parts of the
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  world. They can't do any of that if
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  their body isn't functioning how they wanted to function.
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  And that's why they come to Pilates to make sure that their
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  bodies fit and healthy. And I see it with older like
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  people in fitness classes, they start talking about bone
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  density. They're like, I was really good
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  for my bones, isn't it? I'm like, yeah, it's fantastic
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  for your bones. But I want the 28 year old to
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  know that it's fantastic for their bones too, because I want
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  them to start making those decisions and making the right
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  choices for their health. Then not when they're like 5560,
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  the, the earlier you can start, the better.
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  So this is what this is public service announcement strength.
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  Raining is great for your bones, but let's appreciate your body
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  for it, not for what it looks like.
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  So this, oh, I've digressed there.
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  This is what I want you to do in to build up some appreciation.
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  You might be thinking, Cara, like my body's failing me.
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  I don't like how I feel in it. It's not a feeling like me
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  totally get all that. But these are, these are little
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  things that I want you to do #1 be grateful for what she does
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  for you. So that again is like, oh, I'm
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  really grateful that I can pick up my cup of tea.
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  I'm really grateful that. I'm really grateful that I
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  walked to the nursery 1 today, even though I got a soaking.
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  I'm really grateful for that headspace they gave me for
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  getting out the house. I'm really grateful that my body
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  allowed me to push a pram 2 kilometers there and back.
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  Really grateful for that. I'm really grateful that it
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  allows me to sleep at night because I love my sleep.
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  I'm really grateful for it that I can go and play netball on
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  Wednesday night. That's the sort of thing that
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  I'm grateful for. And I want you to just to,
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  whatever comes up for you, be like, oh, I'm really grateful
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  for my body because of this. That's the first thing.
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  Second thing, I want you to do. This sounds a bit woot but it
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  really works is to thank your body to thank your body.
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  So this can be after a workout or Pilates class or a walk or a
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  weekend. Be like oh really appreciate my
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  body for allowing me to do that. I thank my knees for allowing me
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  to do those squats. I thank my my stomach muscles
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  for allowing me to practice Pilates.
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  I thank my dodgy shoulder for allowing me to push my my hand
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  up on my head. That's the level that we're at.
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  We appreciate in things about our bodies that with like
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  specific body parts that are like, oh, actually, yeah.
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  You know what? My knees are pretty good.
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  Thank you. Knees.
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  Really nightly knees. It's a bit like when you have a
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  blocked nose and you can't breathe through your nose and
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  you'll do anything to breathe through your nose again and
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  you're like, I'm never going to take breathing for my nose for
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  granted again. Like we'd be grateful right now
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  that you can breathe through your nose.
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  Appreciate the nose, but that's what I want you to do.
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  And the third thing I want you to do is I want you to
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  compliment others on what their body does for them as well.
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  Because when you shine a light on others, it's reflected back
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  on you. 2 So this is quite good with children or teenagers or
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  younger people. It's like, oh, you, you did
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  that. Oh, so you know what Duke did?
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  It's like, oh, you, That was a really high jump that you did
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  there or oh, you really pushed with your legs then to get up
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  onto the table. I don't want you to be on or oh,
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  you're really energetic and your swimming was happy yesterday
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  because that's that's then reflected back on you.
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  So actually I got in the pool with Luca.
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  I was swimming, I was swimming about my body did that for me.
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  I love going swimming with Luca and I'm really grateful that my
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  body allowed that to happen. So compliment people on what
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  their body does, not what it looks like, not what it looks
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  like. And that is how you're going to
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  increase your body appreciation as well as getting older.
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  That is how you make your body image, what you think and feel
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  about your body better. And I'm here for that because
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  when you think and feel about your body better, you treat them
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  with a bit more respect You, it's a bit easier to live in
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  your head. Your body will respond to that
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  as well. We want to like always give her
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  a big hug. Like, come here, Hun, I'm
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  looking after you. Don't worry.
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  We've got this. We've got this together.
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  I'm looking after you. I'm doing the best I can.
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  And appreciating her for what she does is certainly the way
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  forward. So please, please, please do
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  those three things. Appreciate your body for what
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  she does like thank body parts for things they do for you and
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  compliment other people on how what their body does not how it
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  looks because it will increase your body image which will just
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  overall just increase your happiness which is what I'm
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  after. If this has sparked anything for
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  you, please drop me a comment into the comments or send me Adm
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  anything like that. I love to hear about this.
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  And I, Oh yeah, I love it. I love this stuff.
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  So thank you very much, Paris Fury for putting this into my
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  brain. Thank you for telling people
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  that your body is great for what is done for you, for not for
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  what it looks like. And until next time, thank you
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  very much. Thank you so much for listening
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  to me today. If something in this episode
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  landed for you, if you've had that moment when you thought,
• 13:00
  oh, that's me, I want you to do something with it.
• 13:04
  Don't just let it sit there. Share this episode with someone
• 13:07
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• 13:10
  need to start listening to Chatting with Carla because this
• 13:13
  work spreads when we talk about it.
• 13:15
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  and actually do the deep work, it changes everything.
• 13:22
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• 13:24
  Book yourself a free, no obligation consultation call in
• 13:27
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• 13:30
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• 13:32
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• 13:53
  with Carl K dot Ek. Until next time.
• 13:56
  Thanks team.