Empowering Yourself with Science & Intuition With Racheal Rickabaugh

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Episode 43. “Stay silent, stay still.” Have you ever unconsciously followed that command? I know I have. Today I have the pleasure of talking with Racheal Rickabaugh where we dive into learning and un-learning and her journey of regaining the sense that her body, and her intuition, could in fact be trusted.

Racheal is a 33 year old second grade teacher from Grand Haven, Michigan.  She is passionate about supporting her students’ social/emotional development and fostering a mindset for learning in her classroom. She enjoys walks along the pier, board games, listening to podcasts, reading, and spending time with her friends.  Racheal enjoys writing.  Currently, she does it mostly for herself but has blogged a bit and hopes to have a more public platform one day. Check out her blog on her eating disorder journey here.

Today Racheal shares about her journey with her relationship with food and her body. Racheal is one of my early blog and podcast listeners/readers and has been such a wonderful part of the Psychology of Wellness community. She was one of our Founding Members of the Body Respect Program, our online program. What I have so appreciated about Racheal is her inquisitive nature, her deep desire to understand her body, openness to learning, and wanting to look at things truly holistically. She has the BEST questions. Many times when I’m asking questions to guests on the podcast or various settings, Racheal is the voice behind them! I’m so excited to dive in today and have her share more about her journey.

In this interview, we cover:

• Racheal’s early relationship with food and her body and how being biracial growing up in predominantly white West Michigan impacted her identity and sense of self
• Her progress with weight loss and flexible habit change (and the impact of people’s comments and being asked to share this publicly online) and when it turned into an eating disorder
• Here extreme skepticism at first with Health at Every Size and Intuitive Eating (e.g., “I thought they were BS”) and what eventually changed her mind
• How she has used science and research to really empower herself and achieve a more wholistic and flexible view of health than ever before
• What she wants providers and people to know about making comments about weight loss

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Are You New Here?

Welcome! I’m so glad to have you. You might be wondering what this blog and podcast are all about.

We relate everything in this podcast back to motivation, but not the hustle and grind kind. Truly sustainable motivation that keeps you feeling energetic and engaged in your life for the long haul. We talk about why “I’m just not motivated” is a myth, and why the TYPE of motivation you have is so important to fully understand. If you are ready to learn about motivation and respecting your body in an effective way so that you can live a life you truly love, you are in the right place.

Check out the Foundational Episodes of the Motivation Made Easy Podcast here!

• Introduction: What is this podcast all about?
• Episode 1: Want to Get & Stay Motivated? A Crash Course on Motivation, Weight Loss, and Health
• Episode 2: How Dieting Steals Our Motivation
• Episode 3: How To Get Motivated To Improve Your Health (Motivation 101)
• Episode 4: How to Transform Health Fears Into Forward Progress

Do you ever worry that you are wasting your life?

I definitely did. In fact, I wrote that in my journal many years ago when I was in the middle of the diet-binge roller coaster ride.

• I woke up every day thinking about food, my body, and what I would eat that day to “be healthy”
• The notebooks I had filled with calories and points could fill up a spare bedroom
• Social events and vacations immediately prompted the thought “they will notice I gained weight” or “I need to lose weight by then”
• Deep down I knew I wasn’t living life the way I wanted to, but I didn’t know how to pull myself out of it.

If this is you, I want you to imagine what it would feel like to feel empowered in your body and proud of your choices on a consistent basis. I promise you, it isn’t too late.

Dieting steals our motivation. It makes us ineffective. It keeps us spinning our wheels in a system that was never built to work.

If you are ready take the first step to motivating yourself with what matters to you, download my free Cultivate Powerful Motivation guide (which is quite beautifully designed if I do say so myself), and walk through the 3 simple steps to cultivate motivation that works for YOU in 15 minutes or less. You will get a simple formula to write ONE SENTENCE you can use to motivate yourself on a daily basis.

You can write it on your bathroom mirror, put on the background of your phone, or just read it and repeat it in your mind.

Look, I know how much it hurts to live a life worrying you are missing out, not stepping into the person you were truly meant to be, vibrant, passionate, curious, vulnerable, and brave.

You can listen to the podcast all day, but taking that first step, putting pen the paper (or typing on your phone) is required for true change. It’s time to start living my friend.

It’s 100% free, so what are you waiting for? Grab your free copy of the guide today at DrHondorp.com/Motivate 

Take Home Messages From Racheal’s Story

1. There is nothing wrong with your body, it’s society that is the problem. This takes time and patience to truly understand the truth here. But as Racheal shares, doing the work here is very much worth it.
2. When body diversity (age, sex, race, sexual orientation, etc) isn’t represented, we are sending a message psychologically and biologically to people that they aren’t safe and they don’t belong. This causes a stress response in their body, and is something that we often aren’t considering when we think of movements towards more social inclusion. Yet, it’s essential we do so.
3. Most people think Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size is BS at first. Seriously, I think that’s pretty much the most common reaction. And yet, I’ve never heard anyone who has really dug into the science and learned about it thoroughly be able to poke many holes in it. If you can’t, let’s chat!
4. Science and research can be incredibly empowering. Racheal is inherently curious and though skeptical, she remains open to new ways of thinking and being.
5. Doing the work, courage, and vulnerability wins. I don’t know Racheal super well. I know her mostly through email, a few Zoom calls, and this interview. But I’m struck by the fact that she does not give up, she is always working to improve upon her health from a learning mindset, and she hasn’t avoided things that are and were uncomfortable to her. Even sharing her story, of course there was some anxiety there, as well as excitement, but she shared with me after the interview that doing so is something she feels called to do. She has this incredibly combination of learning and then incorporating that learning into her intuition about what will work for her, and I think this is an incredible skill that she will use in all areas of her life, for the rest of her life. I think it’s what more people need, particularly women. Is to learn that we don’t need to “Stay silent, stay still.” And in fact, the world depends on us to un-learn that message.

Support Independent Bookstores Near You!

Did you know that that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025?

Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US and Canada (they plan to expand to other counties in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. As of this recording, they have raised 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books!

My recent favorite related to improving the quality of our lives was Digital Minimalism. Our family actually did an optional screen free August to re-evaluate the role of screen time in our lives.

So if you believe in supporting local businesses, please consider buying your books through Bookshop from now on!

The Psychology of Wellness Bookshop Link.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Credit: This blog post was co-written and edited by Sarah Grace Rapoport, podcast and blog manager and Psychology of Wellness Intern, and Dr. Shawn Hondorp.