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Episode 44. Today I have the pleasure of talking with Shadoe Ball.
Shadoe is an artist and writer that lives in Toronto, Ontario with her husband and adorable dog named Gertie. Her essay, Stranger Words was included in the anthology BIG: Stories about Life in Plus-Sized Bodies, published by Caitlin Press. She is also the person behind the Instagram account “The Word Fat”, an art project that encourages submissions from everyone. Her only rule for this project is to be compassionate and curious about the feelings that may come up during the process.
IG: @shadoeball and @TheWordFat and @tinygertie
What to Expect in This Interview:
In this week’s episode, Shadoe and I talk about:
- How she came to find intuitive eating (you’ll be surprised about where she learned about it!)
- Her journey moving from chronic dieting to using intuitive eating and body liberation to stop obsessing about making her body smaller.
- Her concerns about rejecting diet rules
- Fears of weight gain and how she handled this
- Her favorite parts and hardest parts of intuitive eating
- What gentle nutrition looks like for her and how she is learning to tune in and nourish her body
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
Key Takeaways
- Be patient and kind to yourself. Intuitive Eating takes time for most people to learn, and supportive providers who truly get it and make space for your to explore your identity and feel 100% comfortable is a key piece of the process.
- Honesty throughout the process is key. Shadoe is super honest with us and with herself about her fears, objections and struggles. Intuitive eating can often bring up feelings of “should” and feelings of failure that we aren’t doing it “right” if we desire weight loss or a smaller body. The reality is, it’s REALLY hard to get rid of that desire in our culture. We can however, be aware of it, have self-compassion for ourselves, and work to take great care of ourselves in an effective way.
- Intuitive eating is for all bodies, not just thin bodies. This is a common concern I hear. Like, okay, I’ll do intuitive eating once I lose weight. Shadoe talks about how she struggled with this, and how her support team helped her challenge this way of thinking.
- Be cautious of diet culture that is subtle, covert, and still a diet. This can truly undermine the Intuitive Eating process so make sure the program or provider you are working with is truly aligned with HAES and intuitive eating.
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 has decided to do 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!).