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Finding True Health in a Filtered World · Create The Best Me

• 0:00
  Carmen Hecox: Welcome to Create the Best Me.
• 0:02
  Carmen Hecox: I am Carmen Hecox, a personal development coach, and I am so excited to be connecting with you today.
• 0:09
  Carmen Hecox: Whether you're listening to the podcast or joining us on YouTube, my goal is to help women navigate through midlife challenges with compassion, inspiration, and empowering conversations.
• 0:21
  Carmen Hecox: Each week we'll dive into thought-provoking topics, designed to build self-confidence, overcome invisible women's syndrome, and find the courage to create the best version of yourself.
• 0:34
  Carmen Hecox: I'll also be joined by expert guests who will share their wisdom and insights, so make yourself comfortable and let's embark on this journey together.
• 0:44
  Carmen Hecox: Well, hello there, fearless midlife trailblazers.
• 0:46
  Carmen Hecox: Welcome to Create The Best Me.
• 0:48
  Carmen Hecox: If you are new here, I am so glad you made it here.
• 0:51
  Carmen Hecox: If you're a returning listener, welcome back to the one and only place where we encourage and empower women in midlife to pursue their dreams and live life to the fullest.
• 1:03
  Carmen Hecox: I am Carmen Hecox, your host and personal development coach.
• 1:07
  Carmen Hecox: Today's guest is Christiana Schroeter.
• 1:10
  Carmen Hecox: Dr.
• 1:11
  Carmen Hecox: Schroeter is a professor in agribusiness department at Cal Poly.
• 1:16
  Carmen Hecox: She's published articles on food, labeling, and obesity.
• 1:20
  Carmen Hecox: A food and health coach, fitness expert, wife, mom of two amazing girls, and has her own podcast called Happy Healthy Hustle Podcast.
• 1:32
  Carmen Hecox: Let me just say, Dr.
• 1:33
  Carmen Hecox: Schroeter is not your typical professor.
• 1:36
  Carmen Hecox: She's beautiful, intelligent, and extremely funny.
• 1:40
  Carmen Hecox: We had a minor glitch in the recording and when we reconnected, this lady had me belly laughing.
• 1:48
  Carmen Hecox: Today, Dr.
• 1:49
  Carmen Hecox: Schroeter will be discussing empowering change with body imaging and eating disorders.
• 1:55
  Carmen Hecox: She will be sharing her opinion and expertise on this subject, and she may have a surprise gift toward the end of the show, so you'll have to tune in for details.
• 2:07
  Carmen Hecox: Let's tune into the conversation now.
• 2:09
  Carmen Hecox: Christiane Schroeter, welcome to Create The Best Me.
• 2:13
  Christiane Schroeter: Well, thank you so much for having me Carmen.
• 2:16
  Carmen Hecox: I am so glad to have you on the show.
• 2:19
  Carmen Hecox: Can you briefly tell the audience who you are and share what led you to specialize in body imaging and eating disorders.
• 2:29
  Christiane Schroeter: Awesome, so, I will actually help the audience a little bit too, because of my unique first name born in Germany.
• 2:37
  Christiane Schroeter: And my first name, you kind of pronounce like Christi Ah Na.
• 2:42
  Christiane Schroeter: So there's like a little bit of like a Na at the end.
• 2:45
  Christiane Schroeter: And that makes it extra fun there.
• 2:48
  Christiane Schroeter: So think of like, really like, uh, rolling off the Christiane and we are in good shape, so to speak.
• 2:56
  Christiane Schroeter: So how do I start really my story is that I share about body image and how it maybe helps us navigating through a more positive outlook on life.
• 3:08
  Christiane Schroeter: Because I experienced it myself.
• 3:10
  Christiane Schroeter: When I grew up in Germany, during my teen years started become really obsessive about body image or what I should be eating to follow into maybe a certain clothing size, to see a certain number on a scale.
• 3:25
  Christiane Schroeter: And really that was very unhealthy.
• 3:29
  Christiane Schroeter: So in a certain way, when you think about addictions you might have um, tendencies or you're more prone to fall into certain addictions.
• 3:38
  Christiane Schroeter: And that's definitely been my addiction that I'm looking at food items.
• 3:43
  Christiane Schroeter: I'm looking at, you know, especially when you have bad days, I'm looking at my body and I'm starting to become overly critical about certain parts of my body that I don't love.
• 3:53
  Christiane Schroeter: And that's something that I've been working on really hard now with my children, to raise them with a healthier outlook on food items to make sure that we understand food is nourishing and we don't need to punish ourselves when we look at our own bodies.
• 4:10
  Christiane Schroeter: And using the language to describe people that's completely irrelevant to the outside, but more focusing on inner values.
• 4:19
  Christiane Schroeter: So it's definitely been a healing journey.
• 4:21
  Christiane Schroeter: And that's why I think it's so important to be here today and share some of that journey with you as well.
• 4:26
  Carmen Hecox: And let's add here you're also a doctor am I correct a PhD
• 4:31
  Christiane Schroeter: Uh, correct.
• 4:33
  Christiane Schroeter: I, I have a PhD in health economics.
• 4:36
  Christiane Schroeter: Wrote my dissertation actually about obesity.
• 4:40
  Christiane Schroeter: And speaking about obesity is we frequently think about obesity, in terms of like measuring it with BMI or body weight or waist circumference.
• 4:52
  Christiane Schroeter: And I want to emphasize while those are measures that physicians are using, at the same time, it is really something that we need to think in terms of chronic diseases.
• 5:04
  Christiane Schroeter: So as soon as somebody has obesity, they're usually struggling with another host of chronic diseases.
• 5:12
  Christiane Schroeter: So my dissertation really focused on changing the price of food so that people will have access to food items that will maybe lead to a healthier lifestyle and also a healthier body and prevent some of those chronic diseases.
• 5:33
  Christiane Schroeter: Which is really health economics in a nutshell.
• 5:36
  Christiane Schroeter: So it's connecting the prices to the cost of healthcare, to the cost of prevention and increasing your lifespan.
• 5:45
  Carmen Hecox: That's great.
• 5:47
  Carmen Hecox: I know this is something you said that you struggled with as a young girl, have you seen the perception of body images or body imaging evolve over the years?
• 5:58
  Christiane Schroeter: Um that's a great question.
• 6:01
  Christiane Schroeter: And because I read a lot about it, first of all, as a person that experienced it, you look at it with a different, with a more critical filter.
• 6:09
  Christiane Schroeter: But I also read a lot about it because I'm a mom.
• 6:12
  Christiane Schroeter: And I read a lot about it because I'm a professor.
• 6:15
  Christiane Schroeter: So I see a very vulnerable population twice in my day.
• 6:21
  Christiane Schroeter: Once at home, I see my daughters and once in the classroom, I see my female college students that are for the first time living on their own and making food and lifestyle decisions on their own.
• 6:32
  Christiane Schroeter: So I feel it has changed and it has maybe become to the point to where we're trying to be more accepting at the same time.
• 6:43
  Christiane Schroeter: And that's really important.
• 6:45
  Christiane Schroeter: I noticed that during the pandemic, because we're so much on Zoom calls that it has actually somewhat taking a step back.
• 6:53
  Christiane Schroeter: So it's really like you're taking two steps forward and taking one step back.
• 6:57
  Christiane Schroeter: During the pandemic, when we didn't interact with each other, where you're really seeing the whole person and you can give each other hugs.
• 7:04
  Christiane Schroeter: And it's completely different to see people in life than via camera.
• 7:09
  Christiane Schroeter: It has maybe taken a little bit of a backseat to, let people really embrace you and your inner self compared to just seeing you on zoom camera and then focusing on every little nitty picky detail.
• 7:23
  Christiane Schroeter: Plus there's actually a lot of research there that shows that if you have confidence and body image issues, being on zoom makes that even worse.
• 7:32
  Carmen Hecox: Really?
• 7:33
  Christiane Schroeter: Because you tend to look at yourself, it's just really unnatural.
• 7:36
  Christiane Schroeter: It's like looking at yourself in a mirror when you're speaking.
• 7:40
  Christiane Schroeter: And, that is also something that especially if you struggle with your body image, makes you feel exceptionally uncomfortable about everything that you say.
• 7:50
  Christiane Schroeter: So for me, I always emphasize to my daughter, have a few high quality relationships and then meet those people in person.
• 7:59
  Christiane Schroeter: Don't worry about social media and reaching out and sharing pictures.
• 8:03
  Christiane Schroeter: Just meet them in person because you will grow up with a much healthier perception about who they are.
• 8:08
  Christiane Schroeter: Then just sharing images and picking the best and editing them and putting on a filter and like posing.
• 8:15
  Christiane Schroeter: And what's your, really your goal with those images is maybe just creating jealousy.
• 8:21
  Christiane Schroeter: And when you meet each other in person, all it's just falling to the side because you just want to have fun.
• 8:25
  Carmen Hecox: Yeah You can't add a filter to yourself when you're face to face
• 8:29
  Christiane Schroeter: Nope.
• 8:30
  Carmen Hecox: How do body images and eating disorders manifest differently in women that are older as opposed to young girls like your daughters Is there a difference?
• 8:40
  Christiane Schroeter: Um Um I've actually seen both sides of the spectrum.
• 8:46
  Christiane Schroeter: So I've seen that, my daughters sometimes want to describe people.
• 8:52
  Christiane Schroeter: I say, who's that?
• 8:53
  Christiane Schroeter: I've not heard that name before.
• 8:55
  Christiane Schroeter: And then they're starting to describe the person and it starts with like a very let's say exterior description of the person.
• 9:03
  Christiane Schroeter: And I'm like, no, no, no, no, I don't need to know all this.
• 9:06
  Christiane Schroeter: Can you just like in in broad strokes, describe the classes you take with her or whether she was on your basketball team.
• 9:12
  Christiane Schroeter: Because I don't need like the hair color and all this detail I'm, just like describe to me what she likes and, who she hangs out with and that might actually make more sense to me.
• 9:21
  Christiane Schroeter: So I noticed that, that they become more aware about it, but at the same time, what I've also noticed is as we grow older.
• 9:29
  Christiane Schroeter: And you're going into pre menopause, perimenopause, your metabolism changes.
• 9:36
  Christiane Schroeter: So it's like the teenagers where the metabolism changes and they grow into adults and it's the adults on the other side of the life cycle, so to speak, where the metabolism slows down and then frequently people fall back into an eating disorder because they become so overly and hyper aware about the hair, or their body's changing, or wrinkles appearing, and then the body is maybe not responding to exercise or nutrition as it used to, that there's that population there as well.
• 10:11
  Christiane Schroeter: So that, means the term diet in our house, I totally tried to eliminate that.
• 10:17
  Christiane Schroeter: But frequently I have clients in my coaching business, Hello Happy Nest, reach out to me and it's frequently a client that has tried pretty much every diet that you can imagine, but has not experienced any outcome because they're just focusing on weight.
• 10:34
  Christiane Schroeter: And then I know there is a little bit of that body image issue in there too, because we shouldn't be focusing on body weight, in general, it shouldn't add to our happiness, whether the scale changes or not.
• 10:45
  Christiane Schroeter: So yeah, I've noticed it's not really pegged to a certain to a certain age, but it becomes more prevalent during certain age frames.
• 10:55
  Christiane Schroeter: And it's maybe also because that second population tends to have more time to worry about that.
• 11:02
  Christiane Schroeter: So maybe empty nesters, and all of a sudden this becomes like a huge focus, really.
• 11:08
  Carmen Hecox: And then especially I think now where I think everyone wants a quick fix.
• 11:12
  Carmen Hecox: Because I know there's that fad where a lot of people are now starting to take, diabetic medication to get that quick fix.
• 11:20
  Carmen Hecox: Because I'm not supposed to look like this.
• 11:22
  Carmen Hecox: This is what I should look like.
• 11:24
  Christiane Schroeter: Completely agree and I think that is something that we need to become very humble that wellness is not a quick fix ever.
• 11:33
  Christiane Schroeter: It's definitely something that takes time.
• 11:36
  Christiane Schroeter: And I have a funny story because I teach a six pack abs class I'm also a fitness instructor.
• 11:41
  Christiane Schroeter: I seriously Carmen I have people that ccome to my 30 minute ab class.
• 11:44
  Christiane Schroeter: I want to emphasize 30 minutes of abs.
• 11:46
  Christiane Schroeter: That's a long time, but still they leave the room after 30 minutes and lift their shirts and check out whether the abs look different.
• 11:56
  Carmen Hecox: Not going happen 30
• 11:57
  Christiane Schroeter: It's cute in a certain way.
• 11:59
  Christiane Schroeter: But you know, it's like, well, let's talk in like three months.
• 12:04
  Christiane Schroeter: It takes maybe, a good, I would say, 8 to 10 weeks to see any type of toning in your muscle.
• 12:12
  Christiane Schroeter: What's not fair is that usually it goes much quicker to lose that muscle, but that's just how we are.
• 12:19
  Christiane Schroeter: Our muscle, our body is so smart that if you don't use it, you lose it.
• 12:24
  Christiane Schroeter: But it takes a long time to build it.
• 12:25
  Christiane Schroeter: It's just like learning a language.
• 12:27
  Christiane Schroeter: You're feeling like, man, I'm still not fluent.
• 12:30
  Christiane Schroeter: And then if you haven't spoken it for a while, you're like, I forgot everything.
• 12:33
  Christiane Schroeter: Well, don't be so hard on yourself.
• 12:35
  Christiane Schroeter: Or not on your body, not on your mind.
• 12:38
  Christiane Schroeter: Just have fun with it and things will fall into place.
• 12:41
  Carmen Hecox: So, tell me something, because this is something that my husband and I always tend to bring up because it's not fair, women and men, but Why is it that it's so easy to gain weight per se, but it's so hard to gain muscle?
• 12:57
  Christiane Schroeter: Yeah that's a great question.
• 12:59
  Christiane Schroeter: So in general, it's just that fat is the easiest calorie to consume if you think about it.
• 13:09
  Christiane Schroeter: And muscle, which is also related to your protein intake, but I want to say that's a very important but, also related to your workout habits, to your exercise, kind of forms that second pillar.
• 13:21
  Christiane Schroeter: So if you think about your five pillars of health, so to speak, nutrition is important, exercise is important.
• 13:29
  Christiane Schroeter: You're also, and that will help your fat as well as your muscle is sleep.
• 13:35
  Christiane Schroeter: Mental health is important.
• 13:37
  Christiane Schroeter: So not constantly thinking about, did I just eat something that has fat in it?
• 13:41
  Christiane Schroeter: That's very important to your mind is very important.
• 13:44
  Christiane Schroeter: And then of course, social health.
• 13:46
  Christiane Schroeter: So sometimes working out with others makes you push yourself a little bit harder in my group fitness classes.
• 13:50
  Christiane Schroeter: I see that all the time, people that are maybe doing it in a friendly, competitive way, pushing themselves harder.
• 13:58
  Christiane Schroeter: So if you want to really build muscle, I would encourage you to line all elements up and not just thinking about, oh, I just need to get this protein shake in general.
• 14:10
  Christiane Schroeter: And in general, that's like, if you work with me as a health coach, I'm like a very, like anti shake person.
• 14:17
  Christiane Schroeter: Because I don't think that you need to necessarily spend a lot of money in building muscle and getting your proteins.
• 14:25
  Christiane Schroeter: You can get this in a very easy and quick way.
• 14:27
  Christiane Schroeter: And I'm all about easy, accessible and affordable.
• 14:31
  Christiane Schroeter: You don't need to spend money to build, muscle at all.
• 14:35
  Christiane Schroeter: So don't focus as much on the fat as just, you know, keep moving and you're going to see the muscle come in there.
• 14:43
  Christiane Schroeter: It takes time, but at the same time, it's something to where, if you think about this, revolutionary, right?
• 14:51
  Christiane Schroeter: It just makes sense that your body stores the fat first, especially as females, because it's survival, right?
• 15:00
  Christiane Schroeter: And so it's a, it's a very natural thing, that we have abdominal fat because we're trying to protect the body that might grow in there.
• 15:07
  Christiane Schroeter: Or that you have fat in other parts of your body because it's protecting organs.
• 15:11
  Christiane Schroeter: So it's, it's survival, so to speak.
• 15:15
  Carmen Hecox: So, can you share a success story of someone that overcame a body image and an eating disorder that you worked with?
• 15:23
  Christiane Schroeter: Yeah.
• 15:24
  Christiane Schroeter: So I've, I, because I work a lot with college students there, what I noticed is in my classes, it's truly a welcoming and warm environment.
• 15:34
  Christiane Schroeter: And I can't stress that enough.
• 15:36
  Christiane Schroeter: If you think about if you have body image issues, or even if you don't terrible and uncomfortable situations that we all go through.
• 15:44
  Christiane Schroeter: Let me, let me start the list: buying jeans, um uncomfortable like, they all look horrible, they feel horrible, whatever.
• 15:51
  Christiane Schroeter: Buying swimsuits, terrible.
• 15:53
  Christiane Schroeter: And the third one is going into a rec center.
• 15:56
  Christiane Schroeter: So if you're thinking about, you're struggling with your body image, you're not feeling great about yourself.
• 16:02
  Christiane Schroeter: And then you're going to recreations and they're where, people look good when you walk in.
• 16:07
  Christiane Schroeter: And they work, they know what to do.
• 16:09
  Christiane Schroeter: And everybody seems to be like all, you know, in a group and you are like just looking in.
• 16:15
  Christiane Schroeter: So I'm a fitness instructor and I work at a college gym.
• 16:19
  Christiane Schroeter: And I really, really emphasize that I'm pulling people into my classroom.
• 16:25
  Christiane Schroeter: So I frequently see college, um, especially females struggling with their body image and they later on reach out to me and say, if it wouldn't have been up to you, I don't know, I would have gotten out of bed.
• 16:38
  Christiane Schroeter: But if, if if you were, you were waiting for me, I knew it.
• 16:43
  Christiane Schroeter: Because you asked me for my name the first day and then you asked me when I didn't come back to the class and you reached out to me that I have to come back and you also in your classes shared little snacks and little ideas how to take care of your body and it really made me realize that I'm hurting myself more than I'm helping.
• 17:04
  Christiane Schroeter: So I frequently hear that the words that you use, especially as a fitness instructor.
• 17:11
  Christiane Schroeter: And the way that you design your classes should really focus on the whole holistic human being and not just kind of like, oh, okay, here we are working our glutes.
• 17:19
  Christiane Schroeter: Well, why are we working our glutes?
• 17:21
  Christiane Schroeter: Maybe it helps our posture.
• 17:23
  Christiane Schroeter: Maybe it helps, increases, uh, when we are going to go for a run.
• 17:28
  Christiane Schroeter: Maybe it makes us faster.
• 17:30
  Christiane Schroeter: So it's not just an aesthetic thing, but it's a functional thing.
• 17:33
  Christiane Schroeter: It helps us every day.
• 17:35
  Christiane Schroeter: And.
• 17:35
  Christiane Schroeter: I've heard numerous stories where people didn't experience that same language in other gyms and it really pushed them down and that they appreciate that so much when I, when they started working with me of how I really give them a 180 in terms of their way of looking at themselves in the mirror and they realize they're already beautiful the way that they are.
• 17:57
  Christiane Schroeter: And just by showing up, they're gaining that happiness.
• 18:02
  Carmen Hecox: So it's more of that you turned their perception around to I'm not going to have that bikini body, but you're making it more logical like this is for my wellbeing.
• 18:13
  Carmen Hecox: I'm doing this because this is going to allow me to climb stairs.
• 18:18
  Carmen Hecox: To, move things around the house, carry the baby, you know, just everyday life things.
• 18:24
  Christiane Schroeter: Exactly.
• 18:25
  Christiane Schroeter: And that's, Bikini Body is a a very great, um, use of a word that's maybe not ideal.
• 18:33
  Christiane Schroeter: Bikini Body, Summer Body.
• 18:35
  Christiane Schroeter: There's even like this perception about the freshman 15 among college students.
• 18:40
  Christiane Schroeter: Which is also complete BS because we all would probably, we all would probably change our body if we would go through that big lifestyle change, right?
• 18:51
  Christiane Schroeter: So it's not just college students, but I've had other individuals actually that had a lot of transitions in their life.
• 18:59
  Christiane Schroeter: Maybe, went through a divorce or anything else and their bodies really changed, which is, frequently when you're gaining or you're losing weight that reached out to me afterwards and they said, I'm so grateful I wanted to lose 10 pounds.
• 19:14
  Christiane Schroeter: And you talked me out of it and I didn't look at the scale and at the end of the program, which with you, which is 21 days, I went on the scale and actually lost 15 pounds.
• 19:23
  Christiane Schroeter: I didn't even think that was possible.
• 19:25
  Christiane Schroeter: So that's really something that if you take off your blinders of constantly stepping on a scale and watching what's happening.
• 19:34
  Christiane Schroeter: You might get healthier and it might have that body weight that you had in mind, but it wasn't your sole focus because you were actually starting to think about other things about the, way that your body could move, as you mentioned, picking up children or the way that you felt, or maybe you felt, you could sleep better at night because you went outside.
• 19:54
  Christiane Schroeter: So all these positive side effects we're way more important than just the number of the scale.
• 19:59
  Christiane Schroeter: And then, Oh, you step on the scale and you, realize, oops, it actually, it led to a lighter body weight.
• 20:05
  Christiane Schroeter: Yeah, you, but it's not the ultimate outcome.
• 20:08
  Christiane Schroeter: No,
• 20:09
  Carmen Hecox: And I was on your website and I noticed that, and I'll reiterate what you just said before you said that diet is a word that, in your household that you don't like to use.
• 20:19
  Carmen Hecox: I noticed that on your website you talked about that it's almost as if, though, you shifting people's mind as to how they perceive food and having a different relationship with food and being able to make decisions that make sense for their body completely and also integrate movement as it's kind of like drinking water or taking a shower.
• 20:45
  Christiane Schroeter: Correct so, the way that we are raised just with regard to body image also very much ties into verbiage that we're using.
• 20:54
  Christiane Schroeter: So for instance, foods that are good for you and foods that are bad for you So there's the good and the bad, right?
• 21:00
  Christiane Schroeter: It's just like in a in a movie where there is the, the good guy, the bad guy, and then like, and the good guys, you know, you think of like the boring foods, the fruits and vegetables and blah, they probably don't taste good, and there's the bad ones, there's the candy.
• 21:16
  Christiane Schroeter: So how does it make you feel when you grab one from the candy side?
• 21:19
  Christiane Schroeter: It makes you feel bad because you're eating a bad food.
• 21:22
  Christiane Schroeter: It's like you're feeling guilty and, shamed into this.
• 21:26
  Christiane Schroeter: That's not really how it should be.
• 21:28
  Christiane Schroeter: So growing up in our house we certainly do have foods here that I would say we eat in moderation.
• 21:37
  Christiane Schroeter: Which is, let me just say like Oreo cookies or Reese's Pieces, peanut butter cups, or anything like that.
• 21:43
  Christiane Schroeter: If I were not to have that, it would probably lead to the fact that my children would seek them out somewhere else because I'm depriving them of the experience.
• 21:52
  Christiane Schroeter: And I'm depriving them also of creating a more holistic outlook.
• 21:59
  Christiane Schroeter: So they basically learn that we eat them in moderation.
• 22:03
  Christiane Schroeter: I never use the word really treats because it also makes the bad foods look as if you need to earn them, which is also not correct.
• 22:12
  Christiane Schroeter: Because a treat could also be a fruit or a treat could be watching a movie or a treat could be going for a walk or a treat could be getting a massage.
• 22:23
  Christiane Schroeter: So it doesn't have to be necessarily food related.
• 22:26
  Christiane Schroeter: So, the way that I look at foods and I'm using it also in one of my podcasts episode on the Happy Healthy Hustle is that I really say we should maybe look at foods and we should normalize how we are describing them.
• 22:42
  Christiane Schroeter: So if you look at the nutrition label, which lists calories, fats, fiber, et cetera.
• 22:48
  Christiane Schroeter: Don't focus as much on calories, especially if you were maybe struggling with eating disorders or body image.
• 22:56
  Christiane Schroeter: Because as soon as you start thinking about the calories, it makes you calculate in your head.
• 23:02
  Christiane Schroeter: And as soon as the calculation wheels start, it's like a never ending circle and you're going down that road.
• 23:07
  Christiane Schroeter: You're like, Oh my gosh, hold on, this has that many calories.
• 23:11
  Christiane Schroeter: So don't do that.
• 23:12
  Christiane Schroeter: If you need to look at the nutrition label, what I do is I tend to look at sugars that are hidden in certain things.
• 23:18
  Christiane Schroeter: For instance, spaghetti sauce shouldn't have a lot of sugar.
• 23:21
  Christiane Schroeter: Or breakfast cereals by all means, or yogurts, right?
• 23:25
  Christiane Schroeter: A lot of the fruit yogurts have a lot of sugar.
• 23:28
  Christiane Schroeter: And then I tell my kids if you want to eat that fruit yogurt, it's basically like eating a piece of candy.
• 23:33
  Christiane Schroeter: So you choose you can eat that yogurt or you can eat something that's equivalent to it.
• 23:39
  Christiane Schroeter: Or you can have a drink at Starbucks.
• 23:42
  Christiane Schroeter: Or you can have a Reese's peanut butter cup.
• 23:44
  Christiane Schroeter: So I give them choices and that makes it more in their control instead of saying you can't have any of that because we're just focusing on only eating good foods.
• 23:53
  Christiane Schroeter: And I sometimes hear people also saying clean, clean foods.
• 23:57
  Christiane Schroeter: It sounds very sterile.
• 23:58
  Christiane Schroeter: It doesn't sound necessarily always fun.
• 24:01
  Christiane Schroeter: And so I try not to use that language either.
• 24:03
  Christiane Schroeter: What I really focus on is maybe just, a more holistic outlook on things and just figuring out what works.
• 24:11
  Christiane Schroeter: Because sometimes you just don't have time to cook a meal from scratch.
• 24:15
  Christiane Schroeter: So you may need to take shortcuts and there might be ingredients in there that you don't want to eat on an everyday basis.
• 24:21
  Christiane Schroeter: But you know what?
• 24:22
  Christiane Schroeter: That's just how life is.
• 24:24
  Christiane Schroeter: It's not always, amazing.
• 24:27
  Christiane Schroeter: We don't need to strive always for perfection.
• 24:29
  Christiane Schroeter: Just try to make it as doable as possible and just go with the flow, right?
• 24:35
  Christiane Schroeter: To stay happy and healthy and hustling along.
• 24:39
  Carmen Hecox: Yeah, yeah, because you are right, if we have that stigma in our head that if I eat this, I'm going to get fat.
• 24:46
  Carmen Hecox: If I eat this, then, I'm going to continue to lose weight.
• 24:51
  Carmen Hecox: And I think that having that mentality puts that stress.
• 24:55
  Carmen Hecox: And sometimes I feel like okay well I'm trying to be per se, a good girl and only eat the good stuff, but I'm not losing weight.
• 25:02
  Carmen Hecox: Why am I not losing weight?
• 25:05
  Carmen Hecox: And could it be the stress that I've endured and just, thinking good, bad, good bad, which decision do I make?
• 25:11
  Christiane Schroeter: So I have actually a couple of stories, from clients.
• 25:14
  Christiane Schroeter: Uh, one of them was, it was a couple and the female really wanted her husband to loses weight.
• 25:21
  Christiane Schroeter: But she didn't want to put him on what she said a diet, right?
• 25:24
  Christiane Schroeter: And I said, you know, that that's you.
• 25:26
  Christiane Schroeter: So she kind of deceived her husband and always buying a regular ice cream and a diet ice cream.
• 25:33
  Christiane Schroeter: And then she would basically, the identical containers.
• 25:37
  Christiane Schroeter: She would just put that diet ice cream into the container of the regular ice cream and give it to her husband, who would then think he would eat a regular ice cream, but he actually ate the diet ice cream right.
• 25:46
  Christiane Schroeter: And, um, that is, you know, if you want to lead that lifestyle to where you have the mind thing, one thing, but it's actually not.
• 25:55
  Christiane Schroeter: First of all, I think my family would have figured out that immediately.
• 25:58
  Christiane Schroeter: And second of all, I don't need to lie to them and tell them this is actually, regular where it's not.
• 26:05
  Christiane Schroeter: It's not really honest and it's definitely not raising my children in a very authentic way, let's maybe say it like that.
• 26:12
  Christiane Schroeter: And they already told me a long time ago, don't buy these things as light because we don't like it.
• 26:17
  Christiane Schroeter: It's just watered down original version.
• 26:19
  Christiane Schroeter: So we don't need to necessarily do that.
• 26:21
  Christiane Schroeter: It's a fair thing, right?
• 26:22
  Christiane Schroeter: I totally get that.
• 26:24
  Christiane Schroeter: And the second story really is that if you want to really enjoy the real thing, maybe just eat fewer, right?
• 26:33
  Christiane Schroeter: So if one thing could be cookies in our house, right?
• 26:37
  Christiane Schroeter: We have a baking sheet and maybe instead of putting these 8 ginormous cookies on there, maybe we just make them a little smaller.
• 26:46
  Christiane Schroeter: And I make cookies for all of the students in my classes.
• 26:49
  Christiane Schroeter: There is a famous Instagram Reel on my account, I received over 1 million views now where I'm loading the cookies that I made, the chocolate chip cookies.
• 26:59
  Christiane Schroeter: I'm loading them into a container for my students because I have hundreds of students and it's a lot of cookies that I'm loading.
• 27:07
  Christiane Schroeter: And so people probably thought, what is this lady doing with all these cookies?
• 27:11
  Christiane Schroeter: But at the same time, I want to emphasize that's the health coach that I am.
• 27:15
  Christiane Schroeter: I want to make a normal for a health coach to give out chocolate chip cookies.
• 27:20
  Christiane Schroeter: And are they, as big as my head?
• 27:23
  Christiane Schroeter: No, but they're a normal size cookie.
• 27:25
  Christiane Schroeter: Because if you Google, I always tell my students Google that shit, but if you Google this, that says, how the evolution of a size of cookie has changed.
• 27:36
  Christiane Schroeter: Those things are ginormous now, and they weren't always that big, they just kind of like super sized and ballooned up.
• 27:43
  Christiane Schroeter: So just make it a little bit smaller, and then I know I can make cookies for all of the students in my classes.
• 27:48
  Christiane Schroeter: Because if I would make them ginormous, I would, I mean, it only takes me two days to make them from scratch.
• 27:54
  Christiane Schroeter: If I were to make them really large, I would seriously get some muscles from carrying them, but it also would take me much longer.
• 28:01
  Christiane Schroeter: So normalize it and eat the regular version.
• 28:05
  Christiane Schroeter: You don't need to lie to yourself and feel that you savor every bite.
• 28:09
  Christiane Schroeter: Make it a social aspect.
• 28:11
  Christiane Schroeter: Make it a special thing.
• 28:13
  Christiane Schroeter: And maybe there's tradition with it.
• 28:16
  Christiane Schroeter: Now that we're walking into the holiday season, don't feel like you need to think about the calories that you're eating or points.
• 28:23
  Christiane Schroeter: If you think about Weight Watchers or anything like that, right?
• 28:26
  Christiane Schroeter: We are not a walking calculator.
• 28:28
  Christiane Schroeter: Just have fun.
• 28:29
  Christiane Schroeter: Yeah.
• 28:31
  Carmen Hecox: Exactly.
• 28:32
  Carmen Hecox: I know that for a while I used to plug things into my phone.
• 28:35
  Carmen Hecox: Oh I ate this because, I had an app that would calculate my calories.
• 28:39
  Carmen Hecox: And I would tell my husband, I ate 1200 calories today.
• 28:43
  Carmen Hecox: I've been doing it for X period of time And I'm like and nothing happened.
• 28:48
  Christiane Schroeter: Right.
• 28:49
  Carmen Hecox: And I deprive myself.
• 28:51
  Christiane Schroeter: Mm hmm.
• 28:52
  Christiane Schroeter: Yeah, and I love, you know, that you kind of kept track of it and then you realize it didn't lead to anything.
• 28:59
  Christiane Schroeter: I mean, I'm sorry it didn't lead to anything but at the same time, that's just how we sometimes think about it was a struggle and then you expect that the struggle was worth it.
• 29:09
  Christiane Schroeter: But at the end you look back and you're like, all this work and nothing.
• 29:14
  Christiane Schroeter: That seems like a very joyless way to live my life and absolutely not what I support.
• 29:20
  Christiane Schroeter: So that's why my company is called Hello Happy Nest.
• 29:23
  Christiane Schroeter: Because I want that body image aside, your body is your nest and you need to think about making it a happy nest.
• 29:32
  Christiane Schroeter: And you kind of need to say, hello, body here you are, I'm embracing you for what you are.
• 29:37
  Christiane Schroeter: Let's figure out what makes you happy.
• 29:39
  Christiane Schroeter: Let's figure out what keeps you around for a long time and how I can take care of you in the very best way possible.
• 29:47
  Carmen Hecox: And I remember, after I had my daughter, because I had my daughter older in life.
• 29:51
  Carmen Hecox: I wasn't happy the way I looked afterwards.
• 29:53
  Carmen Hecox: And I did join some weight loss program.
• 29:56
  Carmen Hecox: And I remember they gave me like, uh, I ate like tons.
• 30:00
  Carmen Hecox: I had a lot of food.
• 30:00
  Carmen Hecox: And I used to tell my husband, there's no way I'm going to lose weight.
• 30:03
  Carmen Hecox: This is a lot of food.
• 30:04
  Carmen Hecox: And believe it or not, I lost a lot of weight.
• 30:07
  Christiane Schroeter: Yes,
• 30:09
  Carmen Hecox: And I didn't and I didn't work out and I lost weight
• 30:13
  Christiane Schroeter: You know, and, and, that's, I love that, that you put that in perspective.
• 30:18
  Christiane Schroeter: Because frequently people equal losing weight with dieting, dieting with starving, starving with uncomfortable, lightheadedness.
• 30:29
  Christiane Schroeter: Going through life and not being able to complete functions.
• 30:33
  Christiane Schroeter: Oh, I've had a lady the other day and she reached out to me and she said, I'm just going to tell you right now, if you put me on another diet, I'm already forgetting names right and left because I'm so lightheaded.
• 30:42
  Christiane Schroeter: I don't even know I can fulfill my job.
• 30:45
  Christiane Schroeter: And I said, this is not way to lead your life.
• 30:48
  Christiane Schroeter: Especially not if you are a hustler, right?
• 30:52
  Christiane Schroeter: Which I always say, you gotta keep your things all lined up and you need to make sure that you nourishing your body in a right way.
• 30:59
  Christiane Schroeter: So for me, exercise could come in a lot of different ways.
• 31:03
  Christiane Schroeter: Maybe just, stairs.
• 31:04
  Christiane Schroeter: Parking your car further away, carrying shopping bags, pushing a stroller, cleaning the house.
• 31:13
  Christiane Schroeter: I mean, there is, it's not necessary for you to become a member of an expensive gym.
• 31:17
  Christiane Schroeter: There's a lot of different ways you can work out and lose weight.
• 31:20
  Christiane Schroeter: And I also, in my program, have a lot of tips and tricks that get you there really fast.
• 31:26
  Christiane Schroeter: And you're not going to be like slaving hours in the gym to see a lot of definition in your body.
• 31:33
  Carmen Hecox: So, Christiane let's talk, about this cause you're big on helping people embrace who they are love themselves for who they are, love their bodies and live a healthy life.
• 31:45
  Carmen Hecox: Let's say somebody went to your website, they're like you know what I am so tired of this body image and my struggles with food but I need to lose weight.
• 32:01
  Carmen Hecox: How would you help them?
• 32:03
  Carmen Hecox: What would program give them?
• 32:06
  Christiane Schroeter: Yeah, that's a great question.
• 32:07
  Christiane Schroeter: So the goal of my program is to create a journey to wellness.
• 32:12
  Christiane Schroeter: And that's also the name of the program.
• 32:13
  Christiane Schroeter: It's never, never like the, it ends right here.
• 32:18
  Christiane Schroeter: And at the end, we're all giving each other a high five because who lost the most weight?
• 32:22
  Christiane Schroeter: Oh my gosh.
• 32:23
  Christiane Schroeter: Do you remember that show?
• 32:24
  Christiane Schroeter: The Biggest Loser?
• 32:26
  Christiane Schroeter: Yeah It's not the biggest loser.
• 32:28
  Christiane Schroeter: So if you want to be on the biggest loser, don't contact me.
• 32:31
  Christiane Schroeter: Right?
• 32:32
  Christiane Schroeter: I could be, telling you a lot about what not to do, but we're not doing rapid weight loss.
• 32:39
  Christiane Schroeter: Um, you might lose a lot of weight, but we're doing it in a very healthy way.
• 32:43
  Christiane Schroeter: Right?
• 32:43
  Christiane Schroeter: So, at Journey to wellness, I have two different tiers, so to speak.
• 32:48
  Christiane Schroeter: I have a total self guided option, which is the person that's motivated all what they need is videos.
• 32:55
  Christiane Schroeter: And my videos are really fun and bubbly.
• 32:57
  Christiane Schroeter: They're only five minutes long.
• 32:58
  Christiane Schroeter: There are even five minute workout videos.
• 33:01
  Christiane Schroeter: You don't even need to change yourself into a workout outfit to do the five minute workout videos.
• 33:06
  Christiane Schroeter: The recipes that go along with it, and there's a lot of mindset tools.
• 33:10
  Christiane Schroeter: And I even have, different handouts where I recommend hair, skin care.
• 33:16
  Christiane Schroeter: Um, different ways that, of course, you can support your body to be its happiest.
• 33:21
  Christiane Schroeter: And then there is an option where I also do one on one coaching.
• 33:25
  Christiane Schroeter: And in that option right there, it's really the guided.
• 33:30
  Christiane Schroeter: I will help you figure out who you are and what you feel has been neglected because it's really what it comes down to to help you start your journey to wellness.
• 33:42
  Christiane Schroeter: And those are, people that, frequently it really comes down to thinking about what's really my goal here.
• 33:50
  Christiane Schroeter: Because I immediately said, let's not think about just body weight.
• 33:53
  Christiane Schroeter: What's your goal?
• 33:54
  Christiane Schroeter: Why do you want to become healthier?
• 33:57
  Christiane Schroeter: And then frequently, there's another story there.
• 34:00
  Christiane Schroeter: And that's really what we're focusing on.
• 34:03
  Christiane Schroeter: Those are the sticky notes you want to put on your mirror right?
• 34:07
  Christiane Schroeter: And those are the ones that keep going.
• 34:09
  Christiane Schroeter: And there's amazing results from clients that have worked with me in terms of turning your life around.
• 34:16
  Christiane Schroeter: I'm not a biggest loser person and I'm not a before and after picture person.
• 34:21
  Christiane Schroeter: We never ever do that.
• 34:23
  Christiane Schroeter: For two reasons, because, it's a very, um, it's actually kind of shameful to take before and after pictures, especially the side profile or in the underwear or anything like that.
• 34:34
  Christiane Schroeter: And then secondly, I also think that that's really manifesting that it is just about how you feel.
• 34:41
  Christiane Schroeter: And maybe people like kind of suck in their stomach and that's just not like, just breathe.
• 34:47
  Christiane Schroeter: Let the air out it's good, we're all moving along.
• 34:50
  Christiane Schroeter: And then thirdly, you know, I said that already earlier, but I'm repeating it again.
• 34:54
  Christiane Schroeter: I'm also not a replace your meal with a shake person.
• 34:57
  Christiane Schroeter: We're actually eating food.
• 34:59
  Christiane Schroeter: So welcome to using plates and silverware.
• 35:02
  Christiane Schroeter: We are not just like drinking through sippy cups right here.
• 35:05
  Christiane Schroeter: Yes.
• 35:06
  Christiane Schroeter: So that's important that on my website, I really emphasize that it's for you if you want to lead a normal life and if you want to start your journey to wellness.
• 35:15
  Christiane Schroeter: I welcome you to take that journey with me.
• 35:18
  Carmen Hecox: And, the foods that you or the recipes that you I'm assuming you put recipes together?
• 35:24
  Carmen Hecox: Are they recipes that are easy to put together require very little work cause I mean I don't know.
• 35:32
  Carmen Hecox: I don't have time to cook.
• 35:33
  Carmen Hecox: I try to cook quick, easy, fast.
• 35:36
  Carmen Hecox: Everybody's going to eat whatever I'm going to eat.
• 35:38
  Christiane Schroeter: It's quick and fast.
• 35:40
  Christiane Schroeter: Because if you've kind of, kept track of the different things that I do, so I'm a full time professor, I'm a fitness instructor.
• 35:48
  Christiane Schroeter: I also work as a Red Cross instructor.
• 35:50
  Christiane Schroeter: I have the two kids and my day is only 24 hours long.
• 35:54
  Christiane Schroeter: And I just mentioned that sleep is important to me.
• 35:56
  Christiane Schroeter: So somehow we get it all done.
• 36:00
  Christiane Schroeter: I know you can do it.
• 36:01
  Christiane Schroeter: It's basically foolproof family favorites.
• 36:05
  Christiane Schroeter: Yeah, because I'm a marketing professor, I'm using that word right now.
• 36:08
  Christiane Schroeter: They are tried and true.
• 36:11
  Christiane Schroeter: And if my kids like it, then it will pass the test, so to speak, and it will make it into our family favorites vault.
• 36:20
  Christiane Schroeter: And also, speaking of that, there's no funky ingredients.
• 36:24
  Christiane Schroeter: And no, long prep time.
• 36:26
  Christiane Schroeter: So sometimes I look at recipes and I'm like, first of all, I don't even know what part of these things are.
• 36:31
  Christiane Schroeter: And then second of all, when I just read the title, it's like that already doesn't sound good.
• 36:38
  Christiane Schroeter: So for instance, I have friends, we made this tater tot casserole that my friends really like.
• 36:43
  Christiane Schroeter: And that's also in that program right there.
• 36:45
  Christiane Schroeter: And I have a lot of friends that when I go over to the house for potluck, they're saying ah, can you bring the tater tot casserole?
• 36:51
  Christiane Schroeter: I know I like that one a lot.
• 36:52
  Christiane Schroeter: And, that one is an amazing recipe.
• 36:56
  Christiane Schroeter: If you prepare it you can actually have leftovers.
• 37:00
  Christiane Schroeter: It's even great on the next day.
• 37:02
  Christiane Schroeter: And it's also something that is a very social dish because, did you grow up eating tater tots?
• 37:09
  Carmen Hecox: I did, my husband hates it when I say it but I did.
• 37:12
  Christiane Schroeter: Mm hmm.
• 37:13
  Christiane Schroeter: So that's maybe connecting a family story to a dish, which is another unique thing that you might have, to where you're bringing in some experiences from your own life.
• 37:25
  Christiane Schroeter: And there are the other emphasis that I have in my program is a branching out and learning new things.
• 37:31
  Christiane Schroeter: So there are maybe recipes in there, very simple and easy.
• 37:36
  Christiane Schroeter: And maybe I'm asking you, you could do it this way or if you want to try something a little bit different, you could do it and buy this ingredient that's maybe not familiar to you this way.
• 37:47
  Christiane Schroeter: So it's flexible.
• 37:48
  Christiane Schroeter: It doesn't have to be done in a certain way to be amazing.
• 37:52
  Christiane Schroeter: It could be totally, used with, what I call easy swaps, right?
• 37:57
  Christiane Schroeter: Because in our life, that's just how it works you.
• 38:00
  Christiane Schroeter: Yeah, I mean, you basically just hussel along and you're like, all right, so here we substitute this for that.
• 38:07
  Christiane Schroeter: And I don't like this for that.
• 38:08
  Christiane Schroeter: They will still be amazing no matter what.
• 38:11
  Christiane Schroeter: And if my kids can make them, I think we have high hopes, for everybody.
• 38:15
  Christiane Schroeter: Even if they feel like they're sitting in the kitchen on fire.
• 38:18
  Christiane Schroeter: You got this.
• 38:19
  Christiane Schroeter: I've actually, um, Carmen, I have to tell you this story.
• 38:22
  Christiane Schroeter: Um, on the one on one coaching, I've helped somebody make a smoothie.
• 38:27
  Christiane Schroeter: One-on-one We were in the kitchen because she said my smoothies are never like creamy.
• 38:31
  Christiane Schroeter: And so I said there's a secret method.
• 38:34
  Christiane Schroeter: And so I showed her, we got our blenders out, and I showed her and then, to say, this is how it works.
• 38:39
  Christiane Schroeter: And then she texted me later and said, what a difference.
• 38:44
  Christiane Schroeter: I'm so grateful because you buy a blender and there's recipes in there, but it's still, there's still an art to making it, just perfect and super smooth.
• 38:53
  Christiane Schroeter: And especially, if you're just kind of new to the idea of a smoothie, you're really like, well, I don't know, like you want to be just like what the recipe promises.
• 39:03
  Christiane Schroeter: Um, flavorful, uh, filling, and of course, maybe ingredients that are individually tasting amazing and not just like, oh, this is a green smoothie and it tastes great.
• 39:16
  Christiane Schroeter: Yes.
• 39:17
  Carmen Hecox: I won't let my husband listen to that because I've made him buy me a vitamix.
• 39:22
  Carmen Hecox: He might say oh Christiane said that there's a formula to making the right smoothie You don't just need a vitamix
• 39:31
  Christiane Schroeter: I have a vitamix too.
• 39:33
  Christiane Schroeter: And have you tried the soups in it, Carmen?
• 39:36
  Carmen Hecox: I haven't.
• 39:38
  Christiane Schroeter: So in my program, I have a lot of soup recipes and the soups are amazing.
• 39:43
  Christiane Schroeter: And in my program, I also have a mac and cheese recipe.
• 39:47
  Christiane Schroeter: And it's all like Vitamix.
• 39:49
  Christiane Schroeter: It's pretty much like that machine replaces so much in your life, like the mac and cheese from Kraft Foods.
• 39:56
  Christiane Schroeter: Just make it yourself.
• 39:57
  Christiane Schroeter: And it's way cheesier and it's not as yellow because it's in reality, when you buy the Kraft mac and cheese, this is not naturally colored.
• 40:05
  Christiane Schroeter: Sorry about that.
• 40:07
  Christiane Schroeter: But it's, it's totally customizable.
• 40:09
  Christiane Schroeter: You can throw in whatever cheese rocks your boat and it becomes your mac and cheese a la Carmen, right?
• 40:16
  Carmen Hecox: Mm hmm.
• 40:17
  Christiane Schroeter: Made from scratch and the sauce seriously just takes three minutes.
• 40:21
  Carmen Hecox: Wow.
• 40:21
  Carmen Hecox: Yeah, my daughter loves mac and cheese but she only likes Kraft.
• 40:25
  Christiane Schroeter: Ah, she hasn't tried it yet.
• 40:28
  Christiane Schroeter: Maybe as a freebie of this show, I should share my mac and cheese recipe.
• 40:33
  Christiane Schroeter: How does that sound?
• 40:34
  Carmen Hecox: Ah, that sounds good.
• 40:35
  Christiane Schroeter: And well have a little bet now and, and what you should do is try it and let me know how your daughter likes it.
• 40:41
  Carmen Hecox: I'll have to.
• 40:42
  Carmen Hecox: She's a ten year old.
• 40:42
  Carmen Hecox: You know how those are.
• 40:44
  Christiane Schroeter: Yep.
• 40:44
  Christiane Schroeter: It's not too long.
• 40:45
  Christiane Schroeter: My daughter is 13 now that I went through this myself.
• 40:48
  Christiane Schroeter: And, um, there are certain things that you feel you can't substitute, but give it a try.
• 40:54
  Carmen Hecox: So tell me, how can friends and families support loved ones who are facing challenges with body image and eating disorders?
• 41:04
  Christiane Schroeter: So in general, I would say you've got to create boundaries.
• 41:08
  Christiane Schroeter: You have to think, especially as a mom about, how does your daughter use social media?
• 41:14
  Christiane Schroeter: Are these people actually friends on social media?
• 41:18
  Christiane Schroeter: What does she post on social media?
• 41:19
  Christiane Schroeter: So her image to the world, but also how the world interacts with them is something you can raise them in an, I don't know, I would say in a, not as controlling, but a more healthy, natural way.
• 41:34
  Christiane Schroeter: Right?
• 41:34
  Christiane Schroeter: So I always tell my clients, we used to have helicopter parents.
• 41:39
  Christiane Schroeter: Now we have what's called lawnmower parents, right?
• 41:42
  Christiane Schroeter: So it's not just like hovering over you, but it's like, hold on, let me get a lawnmower.
• 41:46
  Christiane Schroeter: I'm going to remove every obstacle.
• 41:49
  Christiane Schroeter: So you have the easiest way.
• 41:51
  Christiane Schroeter: And if you have any trouble, just let me know and I'm going to get the weed hacker out.
• 41:55
  Christiane Schroeter: I'm going to make it even easier.
• 41:56
  Christiane Schroeter: Right?
• 41:56
  Christiane Schroeter: So you don't want it to be that.
• 41:59
  Christiane Schroeter: They need to fail because failure is great.
• 42:02
  Christiane Schroeter: And that's how we learn and actually always normalize failure.
• 42:05
  Christiane Schroeter: I'm like, okay what was the best part of the day and what would it be fail it for today?
• 42:09
  Christiane Schroeter: I can't wait to hear it right in the evening and I love it because that's how we empower each other It's like high five for failure.
• 42:16
  Christiane Schroeter: Woo! Awesome! So when you think about your own life, I would nearly encourage you and there's a amazing book that's called"The Good Life, write down the friends that you have and they will change on your lifestyle or your depending on where you are in life, friends come and go.
• 42:36
  Christiane Schroeter: But write down who they are and what you appreciate about them.
• 42:40
  Christiane Schroeter: And focus more on the quality of the relationship than the quantity.
• 42:45
  Christiane Schroeter: So you don't need to have 200 friends because think of your friends as like a garden.
• 42:50
  Christiane Schroeter: We don't plant 200 different veggies either, because you're like, I have to eat all of this too.
• 42:55
  Christiane Schroeter: Why in the world did I do this?
• 42:56
  Christiane Schroeter: Right?
• 42:57
  Christiane Schroeter: So you have to think a little bit in terms of what do these people bring to me?
• 43:01
  Christiane Schroeter: Are they criticizing me when I'm wearing a weird shirt that has maybe stains on it from breastfeeding my daughter?
• 43:08
  Christiane Schroeter: Or are they embracing for me that I'm breastfeeding my daughter?
• 43:12
  Christiane Schroeter: Are they looking at my house weird when it's not organized?
• 43:16
  Christiane Schroeter: Or are they just coming over because they want to see me and laugh with me?
• 43:20
  Christiane Schroeter: And that's just what you need in your life.
• 43:23
  Christiane Schroeter: So you need to create boundaries that are natural.
• 43:26
  Christiane Schroeter: And you need to question relationships and it starts also in your family to where sometimes you're like, hold on, what did I just hear there?
• 43:34
  Christiane Schroeter: Right?
• 43:34
  Christiane Schroeter: So let's maybe kind of rewind and change the dialogue a little bit.
• 43:39
  Christiane Schroeter: And I tell my children too, I'm not perfect.
• 43:42
  Christiane Schroeter: If you catch me saying something that you feel is sounding odd to you, please correct me.
• 43:49
  Christiane Schroeter: Because I'm always learning too.
• 43:51
  Christiane Schroeter: And, especially you asked me at the beginning of the podcast where are we heading?
• 43:55
  Christiane Schroeter: I'm hoping we are heading into a generation where maybe body image is less of an issue, but there's so much work that needs to be done.
• 44:03
  Christiane Schroeter: It needs to be started at the household and with the friends.
• 44:06
  Christiane Schroeter: So I tell my children, if you catch me, say something funky, just say it.
• 44:09
  Christiane Schroeter: And I will do my best in replacing it or eliminating it as much as I can.
• 44:16
  Christiane Schroeter: Um, we are all learning from each other.
• 44:19
  Carmen Hecox: What are some resources or tools that you would recommend that people begin to use to help them overcome any eating disorders or body image issues?
• 44:30
  Christiane Schroeter: So some easy tools well I mean it starts again in your house right there.
• 44:38
  Christiane Schroeter: Think about what you own, right?
• 44:40
  Christiane Schroeter: Do you have the ability to maybe not look as at yourself as um shaming yourself into wearing certain clothing?
• 44:50
  Christiane Schroeter: Or looking at yourself in the mirror excessively or stepping on the scale excessively.
• 44:56
  Christiane Schroeter: So some easy tools are get rid of that scale.
• 44:59
  Christiane Schroeter: I know that's easier said than done.
• 45:01
  Christiane Schroeter: Maybe don't constantly look at yourself in the mirror.
• 45:04
  Christiane Schroeter: Or I work at, you know, in a training room when I teach my Red Cross classes and it's all glass and people always walk by and look at themselves in the glass.
• 45:11
  Christiane Schroeter: It's really funny when you sit inside and you teach CPR.
• 45:14
  Christiane Schroeter: Or using an AED, and then somebody walks by and looks at themselves.
• 45:18
  Christiane Schroeter: So try to watch that, and it could be that family member or friend that says, Yeah, you just look at yourself again.
• 45:24
  Christiane Schroeter: Ahh!, I didn't even know, right?
• 45:26
  Christiane Schroeter: So catch yourself, ask your friend.
• 45:28
  Christiane Schroeter: Can you maybe pay attention if I do that?
• 45:30
  Christiane Schroeter: And at the same time, think a little bit in terms of people you look up to and why you look up to them.
• 45:37
  Christiane Schroeter: Are you looking up to them because of how they look or who they are?
• 45:40
  Christiane Schroeter: Are they maybe celebrities that are sharing a great healthy body image and a story that resonates with you?
• 45:48
  Christiane Schroeter: Or are they just celebrities because of how they look on the red carpet after they have gone through excessive styling, image consulting, and of course, probably Photoshop.
• 46:00
  Christiane Schroeter: Right?
• 46:01
  Christiane Schroeter: So you need to think a little bit about, your home, your happy nest.
• 46:05
  Christiane Schroeter: Right?
• 46:06
  Christiane Schroeter: Your friends and also resources in terms of, using your friends as a support system to watch what you are doing.
• 46:16
  Christiane Schroeter: Because I tell my children all the time, I'm very honest with them, I've had it eating this water, if you feel that I'm using words to describe foods, or if I'm not eating properly, you can say, Mom, I'm kind of worried about you, and I would like that you stick around.
• 46:32
  Christiane Schroeter: Can you maybe make sure that you're, I mean you're also a fitness instructor, can you make sure, and I'm like, oh my gosh, guys, I haven't eaten lunch yet, here we are.
• 46:40
  Christiane Schroeter: So you need that you need that friend that's honest and that tells you what's happening and that little support system and then you actually need to listen to them because you trust them and you love them.
• 46:54
  Christiane Schroeter: So those are all easy resources.
• 46:56
  Christiane Schroeter: And then, of course, join a group where you will, if you don't have accountability partners, you find them because in reality they're all there.
• 47:06
  Christiane Schroeter: Some people just join my wellness program because they honestly, I have to tell you Carmen, loneliness is a big issue.
• 47:12
  Christiane Schroeter: Sometimes people just join the wellness program and they say, I just want to find friends.
• 47:16
  Christiane Schroeter: Actually, I'm just curious to meet some other people.
• 47:20
  Christiane Schroeter: And then I'm like, awesome! Welcome to the club! And I call them, my nest friends.
• 47:26
  Christiane Schroeter: Because, again, my company is called Hello Happy Nest.
• 47:28
  Christiane Schroeter: So they're my Nest friends.
• 47:29
  Christiane Schroeter: And then we are just building community because it's hard to find friends and it's hard to find friends that are honest and authentic.
• 47:36
  Christiane Schroeter: And they might struggle with the same issue because it seems everybody's life on instagram is just so perfect.
• 47:42
  Christiane Schroeter: So that's ah and filtered and maybe very, discouraging, right?
• 47:48
  Christiane Schroeter: So just feel that you are embraced in a community and think about resources that you can do instead of like, paying a lot of money and, and maybe hiring a personal trainer.
• 48:01
  Christiane Schroeter: Gosh, I tried that too after I was pregnant and this person created this total unrealistic workout plan.
• 48:06
  Christiane Schroeter: I was like, I'm not going to come here five days per week.
• 48:08
  Christiane Schroeter: I don't know what you're thinking.
• 48:10
  Christiane Schroeter: I have a child.
• 48:12
  Christiane Schroeter: And I was like, there's no way I could work with you.
• 48:15
  Christiane Schroeter: I mean, you didn't even ask me what my life is like.
• 48:18
  Christiane Schroeter: You have no idea, right?
• 48:20
  Christiane Schroeter: I was like, yeah, that's not good.
• 48:21
  Christiane Schroeter: We need to look at the whole person.
• 48:24
  Carmen Hecox: So Christiane how can people get to know you better or Where can they find you?
• 48:31
  Christiane Schroeter: So if you want to see me in, fun videos, I post a video every day on Instagram.
• 48:38
  Christiane Schroeter: So that's my main social media platform, and they are funny, they are, empowering and encouraging, and they frequently talk about, fun things that I might meet or have tried, and actually I also show recipes that didn't turn out well.
• 48:56
  Christiane Schroeter: I don't photoshop out the crappy parts.
• 48:59
  Christiane Schroeter: I'm like, well that didn't go so well, right?
• 49:01
  Christiane Schroeter: Um, that's alright, because it's, it was an experience, maybe tried something that didn't work out so well.
• 49:06
  Christiane Schroeter: So on Instagram, it's on hello dot.
• 49:08
  Christiane Schroeter: happy dot.
• 49:09
  Christiane Schroeter: nest.
• 49:10
  Christiane Schroeter: Um, then check out my website.
• 49:11
  Christiane Schroeter: It's hello.
• 49:12
  Christiane Schroeter: happynest, all in one word, dot com.
• 49:15
  Christiane Schroeter: There's also recipes there and there's the article I mentioned earlier about the five pillars of health, where you need to think about if you want to change your outlook on your wellness, you need to look at all elements.
• 49:29
  Christiane Schroeter: During the day and just incorporate a little bit of everything.
• 49:33
  Christiane Schroeter: And then of course, my podcast, it's called Happy Healthy Hustle.
• 49:38
  Christiane Schroeter: There's the episode we talked about earlier about using labels for food that are maybe not bad and good, but rather rewiring or thinking in terms of what they do to the body and how we can savor them and not punish ourselves when we try to eat an Oreo cookie.
• 49:57
  Christiane Schroeter: Because it is the number one cookie in the world.
• 50:00
  Christiane Schroeter: So by all means, you don't want to cut that out of your life.
• 50:04
  Carmen Hecox: Everybody needs an oreo.
• 50:06
  Christiane Schroeter: Yeah, it's a fun company they've been around forever.
• 50:09
  Christiane Schroeter: So may as well just, I mean, why?
• 50:12
  Christiane Schroeter: Right.
• 50:14
  Carmen Hecox: Exactly.
• 50:15
  Carmen Hecox: Yeah.
• 50:16
  Carmen Hecox: Well, thank you so much for coming on.
• 50:19
  Carmen Hecox: I will include all of your links in my show notes and on my website so that if people want to read more about you, they can find all that information.
• 50:31
  Christiane Schroeter: Thank you so much.
• 50:32
  Christiane Schroeter: And I already made myself a mental note to catch up with you about some mac and cheese.
• 50:40
  Carmen Hecox: Oh yes,
• 50:40
  Christiane Schroeter: too.
• 50:42
  Carmen Hecox: yes, let's, let's not forget about the mac and cheese.
• 50:45
  Carmen Hecox: You will find a link to Christiane's mac and cheese on my website.
• 50:52
  Carmen Hecox: So she, giving away that freebie.
• 50:54
  Christiane Schroeter: Let's get in touch about that.
• 50:57
  Christiane Schroeter: And we're going to have a little cook off and tasting session about that.
• 51:01
  Christiane Schroeter: Thank you, Carmen, for having me.
• 51:02
  Christiane Schroeter: I had a wonderful time and I look forward to catching up soon.
• 51:06
  Carmen Hecox: Likewise.
• 51:07
  Carmen Hecox: Thank you.
• 51:07
  Carmen Hecox: I don't know about you, but Dr.
• 51:09
  Carmen Hecox: Schroeter is absolutely amazing.
• 51:12
  Carmen Hecox: She's nothing like any professor I had when I was in college.
• 51:16
  Carmen Hecox: Her explanation to why it is easy to gain weight and difficult to gain muscle is valuable.
• 51:23
  Carmen Hecox: She explained the five pillars of health, sleep, nutrition, exercise, mental health, and social health.
• 51:33
  Carmen Hecox: And the importance of incorporating all the five pillars to burn fat and build muscle health.
• 51:39
  Carmen Hecox: She also explained the reason we gain weight faster than we build muscle is because fat is an easy calorie to consume while muscle is related to our protein intake.
• 51:54
  Carmen Hecox: If you are just left, inspired just like I am to get more information about Dr.
• 52:00
  Carmen Hecox: Schroeter, head on over to createthebestme.com/ep030.
• 52:08
  Carmen Hecox: You will find all of Dr.
• 52:10
  Carmen Hecox: Schroeter's social links, website, her podcast, Happy Healthy Hustle Podcast, her yummy mac and cheese recipe, and she's also giving away a free healthy habit checklist.
• 52:23
  Carmen Hecox: So stop what you're doing and head on over to createthebestme.com/ep030.
• 52:32
  Carmen Hecox: Thank you, Dr.
• 52:33
  Carmen Hecox: Schroeter for coming on the show and sharing your amazing insights, humor, recipe, and checklist.
• 52:40
  Carmen Hecox: If this episode resonated with you please subscribe to stay updated.
• 52:44
  Carmen Hecox: Join me next week when we'll talk about the topic of mental health.
• 52:48
  Carmen Hecox: This episode is a must listen to episode, so be sure not to miss it.
• 52:53
  Carmen Hecox: Until then, keep dreaming big, take care of yourself, and remember you are beautiful, strong, and capable of creating the best version of yourself.
• 53:04
  Carmen Hecox: Thank you for watching.
• 53:05
  Carmen Hecox: Catch you next week.
• 53:06
  Carmen Hecox: Bye for now.