Mindful Eating Advocate + Speaker | Kourtney Talkington - Anchor Your Dreams

Episode Transcript
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Kourtney (00:00):
you have to accept acknowledging things before
you can even start the process.

Meghan (00:11):
If you are
someone who has a dream, but feelstuck, if you are facing obstacles that
seem overwhelming, or if you just needa dose of motivation to keep pushing
forward, then you are in the right place.
So buckle up dreamers, Anchoryour Dreams is not just a podcast.

(00:32):
It's a community, a community of dreamers,supporting dreamers, women, supporting
women, subscribe, follow along, and let'snavigate the seas of ambition together.
Thank you for joiningme on this adventure.
Get ready to be inspired,motivated, and empowered.
The journey begins now.

(00:54):
today we are here withCourtney Talkington.
And she is a mindful eatingadvocate and speaker.
So Courtney, I'd love to have youshare more about your journey and
what it's, what it's been like foryou to get to where you are today.

Kourtney (01:11):
So I live in rural western Kansas in a very
small, tight-knit community.
And I live on my family's farm.
We are fifth generation andmy kids are sixth generation.
We've been in the area about a hundredyears and so a lot of, not much change.
And so I very much struggle with change.

(01:34):
And so I feel like that fueled my storyso much more was that I just, I literally
have been living in this house for 25 outof going to be the 29 years of my life.
So just not a lot of changeand staying in the same area.
And so like that was abig obstacle for me and.

(01:56):
Also a lot of societal outside pressuresof what was going on around me and growing
up in a tight-knit community, which nowas I'm older, I really appreciate because
I love being able to go into town and belike, hello, hi to these certain people
where if I didn't live here, I wouldn'tbe able to connect with people as much.

(02:17):
And that's just a big thing for me.
Yeah, that's a little bit about me.

Meghan (02:21):
Thank you for sharing that.
You do.
And we talked a littlebit about some background.
So you do bring up your rootsin some of the notes, which
I, I really wanna touch on.
So what, what does that mean to youwhen, when someone says, going back to
your roots, what does that mean to you?

(02:42):
What, so if someone was listening,like for me, I also live.
In the same place that I was born in.
So born and raised where I am.
So I do understand a little bit aboutthat, but it sounds to me like what
roots mean to you might be a little bitdifferent because your family has now
been there for about six generations.

(03:02):
You're, you're on numbersix for generations.
So for you that root systemmust feel so much different.

Kourtney (03:09):
Honestly, when I was younger it was very heavy.
My family, so just put in alittle perspec bit of perspective.
My, I was the fourth generationto graduate from the same high
school and my kids are in thesame school system right now.
So it was just very heavy that even withthings that were going on in my life that
I felt like I couldn't leave or that.

(03:32):
My big dreams.
'cause I always just felt like Iwanted to go out and chase these
ridiculous things that I felt likemy roots were gonna hold me back.
But honestly, like that's like theroot system and like where my values
came from was my, like where I grewup and the people that were in it.
And now that I'm older, Ican better appreciate that.

(03:52):
But when I was younger,that is not what I thought.
I was like, I need to get outta hereto go achieve all these cool things
that were so big and just felt.
So heavy, but so wonderful.
And so that's kind ofwhat roots mean to me.
I just, I feel like also through thisjourney, I've came back to things that I

(04:12):
did as a child and enjoyed as a child thatI kind of lost in motherhood because I was
doing all these things for everyone else.
And I guess I never reallyjust focused on myself.
I was doing everything that everybodyelse needed to do or needed me to do.
And so as my journey has progressed,I have been able to find myself again,

(04:37):
and it might not be the same exactthing, but it is something similar
to it that brings me joy as an adultthat I really enjoyed as a child.

Meghan (04:47):
I think there is definitely something to be said about bringing some
of that inner child out as we are adults,we lose so much of that when we're.
Whether it's chasing dreamsthat of being complete opposite
of our, generations before us.
I know I definitely had that.
Like I'm getting outta here, like gettingoutta Dodge is what the saying was.

(05:11):
And I did, I, I left for almost twoyears, um, and then promptly came
back because my husband also wasborn and raised here and we both were
like, are you ready to go back home?
We both were.
So I, I do understand and I had the samesort of thing, but I think too, that's

(05:32):
been a bit of an internal conflict.
Not to like, I'll circle back here,but a bit of an internal conflict of
having this, wanting to broaden horizonswhen you're living in a small community
and, and not necessarily wanting to.
Relive your family's life andtheir way of doing things, and

(05:53):
you do understand that there is adifferent way that it can be done.
Um, so you feel the sense that youneed to leave, but then there's
something that just pulls you backin and there's this Yeah, like it
relive in some acreage that my husbandgrew up on and his grandparents.

(06:13):
So, so really, I guess we're tech.
Yeah.
Not to get into a whole bunchof details, but we're basically
like third generation, I guess.
Um, and our, our daughters are fourthand we don't do a lot with the property,
but we do have that sort of rural living.
We raise chickens and pigsand, and that kind of thing.

(06:36):
And there, it's really interestingthat I'm talking to you today
because the last few days I have.
Not just days, but like a littlewhile have felt this pull back more
into the root system of where I am,you know, that sort of work, not work
the land, but work the land and kindof be more connected in that sense.

(07:00):
And so when I was reading your notes andeverything and talk and the word roots
and root system and community kind ofkept cropping up and I was like, this is
definitely something that is valid forwhere things are at for me right now.
So I'm just really curious.
How do you stay connected?

(07:21):
Like being someone that had thesedreams and goals and everything when
you were younger and feeling likeyour roots were gonna hold you back.
How do you feel now as an adultliving where you grew up and
your children and everything?
How do you navigate that?

Kourtney (07:39):
So I co So it first started, I found out I was going to be a teen mom.
I was 18, going to be 19.
And so all of my cha my plans changed.
I was, I had a full ride to college,thought I was gonna be doing one
thing and that is not what happened.

(08:02):
But there was honestly power inthat pause in my life because what I
was going to do was similar to whatI ended up doing, but different.
So it was a completely different degreeand slowing down and taking the other
path led me to kind of where I am now.
And so there were these likepivotal moments in my journey

(08:24):
that led me to where I am.
So the first journey I would say thatI went on that pushed the envelope just
a little bit was I had recently gotmarried to my hu or at the time I had
recently got married to my husband.
And I looked at him and I said, whenI was in high school I always really

(08:45):
wanted to study abroad because I havealways been so interested and I treat
and and intrigued by other cultures.
And it just had always spoke to me.
And I was always really connectedwith like food and trying new things.
Like if we went places, I'dalways be like, oh, I wanna go
try this really exotic thing.

(09:05):
And my mom would be like, why?
Why do you wanna go do that?
And so I looked at him and Isaid, I really wanna study abroad.
And so at that point, I had juststarted my four year university
after graduating with my associates.
I had a 4-year-old and a 15 monthold at the time when I told him this.

(09:26):
And he was like, well, I guess if youcan figure out a way you can do it.
And so I was technically a virtualstudent and which my university is here in
Kansas, but I live about two hours away.
And I was like, okay, I'm calling thisschool and seeing if they allow virtual
students to study abroad through theuniversity, because at that time I was 23,

(09:51):
so I was still a non-traditional student,but I was the same age as the students.
So I called and they're like, well, we'venever had a student study abroad before,
but there shouldn't be a reason you can't.
And I said, okay.
So I put in my application to studyabroad in Italy for five weeks, and I

(10:15):
applied for a nationwide scholarshipcalled the Gilman Scholarship.
And thousands of people apply,and I ultimately got chosen for a
$2,500 nationwide scholarship to go.
And so my flight, wow.
Yeah.
So my flight got paid for and my husband'slike, okay, see you later for a month.

(10:37):
And I studied abroad in Italy for a month.
And that was a very pivotal point inmy life because it led me to how I
feel about food now and how I healedmy own journey with body image.
And food really came from that tripbecause they just cherish things

(10:57):
and look at things in a completelydifferent way than we do here.
And it opened my eyes just so much more.
Than what I was getting at home.
But like that's the experience I neededto like break that box and break away.
But I can bring it back home and applyit to people and help people here.
It doesn't just have to stay there.

(11:18):
And so that's what helped me stayconnected to like me and my values
and what I was raised on at the farm.
Because I also kind of realized aftermy grandpa passed away that his love for
agriculture and like growing people'sfood fueled some of my values and
like the aspects that I really lovedabout Italy and what it brought to

(11:41):
the table because they cherish familytime and they really appreciate like
the food that is grown for them andthe food that's prepared for them.
And I really hope that I can help people.
Shift their focus to more aboutlike the joy and connection
that food can bring them.
Not so much counting macros or havingto hustle and just like grab the

(12:05):
quick thing and shift their mindsetto, it's very important to like be
present with the people you lovebecause food has always been like the
center of connection and community andbeing present with people you love.
Food has always beenlike the center of that.
So just a little bit.

(12:26):
I know that was a lot, but,

Meghan (12:28):
oh no, I love it.
Living abroad has been something thatI've always wanted to do and I always
tell my husband like, just for one year,like that's let's just all go together.
There's people that would love to livein our house and we can just go take
over theirs and just, just one year.

(12:49):
Just give me one year.
He's so not into it.

Kourtney (12:53):
My husband is not also, so that's why he's like, you go,
do you like if you can figure outa way to make it happen, go do it.
Which is why I also steppedinto the speaking space.
I love to travel and I love tohelp others, and he really does not
like traveling and meeting others.
So he's like, if you can find a wayto travel and get paid and go help

(13:16):
people and go do things, go for it.
Like if you can figure it out,that's fine with me as long as
I don't have to travel with you.

Meghan (13:24):
My husband is very much the same, but it's because he does
travel a lot for work already,and he's actually gone a lot.
So when he's home he just, I just

Kourtney (13:34):
wanna be home.

Meghan (13:35):
Yeah.
He just wants to be home.
So to go back, I, as you were tellingthat story about Italy and home
and seeing a lot of similaritiesbetween food their relationship
with it, with family and here.
And given the mindful eating advocatepart of what you do, where do you think

(13:59):
in sort of our Western culture wheredo you think the change really needs to
start, like under each person's roof?
Of course there's different,different things that go on.
And we only have so much controloutside of our home anyways, so
what can, what can we as women andfamilies do in, in, under our own roof?

Kourtney (14:24):
So I feel like as women, we are kind of the minds
or the hearts of our home.
So it kind of starts with us.
And so for me, I would say.
Try to find the small thing.
So for us, I try to make surethat we connect at dinnertime.

(14:44):
There's no phones at the table.
We are just focusing onspeaking with each other.
We have also came up with, during thesummertime anyway, we go and have pizza
on the trampoline night, and so we gohave pizza on the trampoline as a family,
and then it gets everyone outside.

(15:04):
And honestly, it keeps us outsidebecause the kids love it so much.
They just think it is the funnest thing.
Another thing that I reallyenjoy doing with them is like
a cookout on the fire night.
So we roasted hot dogs and s'mores andjust connecting and staying outside.
So they would come, run and eatwhen they wanted to eat, and
then they would go play and.

(15:27):
Also just making sure you're still stayingconnected with the people you love.
So host a potluck, bringpeople to your house.
Stay connected, because that's one ofthe things in Italy that I loved the
most is it wasn't just one family unit.
It was uncles, aunts, friends, whoeverwanted to come eat with you that night.

(15:49):
That's what they did.
And I know a lot of peoplejust say, it's Italy's magical.
Yes, it is.
And I will not downplay it.
It is amazing.
But I feel like there's certain aspectsthat we can bring back home, here and
incorporate in our own lives, becausethat might be the only connection your
kid is really getting throughout the daybecause of how busy our schedules are.

(16:14):
Or also like as a parent, we are in chargeof telling our kids no on certain things.
And I know I feel like.
Because of societal pressures.
I always did everythingwhen I was younger.
I did every sport possible because Ifelt like if I don't do this sport,
then if I choose to do it later,then I'm not gonna be good at it,

(16:35):
and then I'm not gonna get to play.
But now looking back, I honestlythink I would've rather just ran
around outside and played and had fun.
Then focusing on running around to allthese sports activities and being able
to like be home with my family, then nothaving that connection and time with them.

Meghan (16:57):
Yeah.
Well, I, I, I agree.
Like, uh, in under our roof, uh,dinner time is at the table, no phones.
We make a point ofcommunicating and talking.
Um, something I started with my kids a fewyears ago was, um, two stars and one wish.

(17:18):
So two stars was two positivethings about their day.
One wish was something that wasin their control that they wish
could have gone differently, butit had to be in their control.
So no, like blaming others,
but it got us talking about so manydifferent things because they could

(17:40):
say whatever was on their mindfor their two, their two stars.
The one wish was definitelya little bit harder.
For my youngest.
She often doesn't see anythingthat everything is everybody
else's fault, but that's okay.
One thing I kind of wanted to goback to and, and bring up, and

(18:02):
mostly for my, my own sort of selfishpurposes in this conversation.
Food is a huge strugglelike relationship with food.
And since we're talking about rootsand agriculture and everything, I want.
Absolutely to grow a lot of our own food.
Yes, we have like pigs and chickensand all that stuff, but I feel

(18:27):
so disconnected from growing foodbecause I'm so disconnected from
food itself that I, because of myrelationship with food and everything.
So I'm curious what,
what would be sort of, I guess the mindsetshift or advice you would give someone

(18:52):
who really needs who loves food, like alove eating food, but there's this gap in
wanting to eat it and then feeling like,like it's the love hate relationship.
It's a necessary evil.
To me, that's what it is.
I'll put it in that very small sortof box, is that it's a necessary evil.

Kourtney (19:13):
I really do like that phrase.
So I really had tostart taking my shoulds.
So I should be eating this and tryingto rewrite it in a way where it wasn't a
should anymore, and making it to somethinglike I, not so much I want, but changing
it in a way that I was being kind tomyself and kind of accepting my choices.

(19:37):
Does that make sense?
And also setting boundaries for myself.
So I know like for me, what reallyfueled my shame and guilt and my worth
was all these societal pressures.
Because another little side note on mewas I was always overweight as a kid.
And so I always had this bubbly, outgoingpersonality and every was like everyone

(20:02):
said that I needed to shrink or I wastoo loud or too much, and I think I
took that internally and WA and decidedthat I wasn't worth fueling anymore.
And so that's kind of what the shameand guilt and not feeling worthy is
what really fueled my eating disorderand where I feel like a lot of women

(20:25):
are at is we might come out of thatand it might not end up in an eating
disorder, but it definitely endsup or turns into disordered eating,
which I know there is always a timeand a place for macros and counting.
Yes, I went through all of that.
It really depends on your goals andif you want to go prove to yourself

(20:46):
that you can get a specific physique.
That is great, and I'm so proud of you.
But for me, I had to let it go.
I had to let go of those expectationsbecause it was eating me alive
and it wasn't keeping me presentand grounded with my family.
I was focusing on whatshould I be eating next?
Is this the right amount?

(21:07):
And I didn't want thatto move on to my girls.
I didn't want them to have the samestory that I had of I'm not worthy of
eating this or It's not okay to eat this.
And so taking those, I should be doingthis and changing it to a way or wording
it in a way to be kind to myself hasreally made a huge difference for me.

Meghan (21:34):
It de it's so hard in the moment.
Like I, I, I can relate to all of that.
Same thing when I was younger, I. I Hian age and I went from being like a very
petite little girl to being like thebigger girl in the class and towering over
boys and being stronger than everybody.

(21:56):
And I was often too loud, toomuch, like all those things.
Definitely internalized it.
I was bigger than my brother.
My brother is still so thin.
So definitely, and, and thenthere's the comparisons of other
siblings and the whole, get into awhole different topic about that.
But what I am, being the heartof the home and having this love

(22:20):
hate relationship with food.
Now I find my shame and guilt isaround being that person responsible
for their wellbeing as well.
So I know that I have work to dofor myself because I too don't
wanna pass anything on to them.

(22:42):
And in some ways I wonder if I'malmost overcompensating as well, so I
have to like check myself every oncein a while, like, are you bringing
up this topic around the kids?
Because you're overcompensating forwhat's going on, like for you right now.

(23:03):
And I like even just even in thelast couple days, it's definitely
been something, I don't know ifit's a season change and just
like being indoors more and, yeah.

Kourtney (23:12):
Well, so for me, I also still struggle with that because
I, this journey is never ending.
Every time we've had children,every time your body changes, our
journey with food is, and our healingjourney with food is never over.
It will never be over.
I've went through four pregnancies.

(23:34):
Every pregnancy is different.
Every postpartum is different.
My body looked different every time.
And as I age, my face andmy body is gonna change.
And so the sooner we can find thatbalance and let certain things go,
it's gonna make all the differences.
We get older.
So I know for me right now, this timeof year is so busy, you're so anxious

(24:00):
all the time, or at least for me Iam because we have so much going on.
We're seeing so many people.
So you're absorbing all thisinformation from everyone else and
getting disconnected from ourselves.
And so I know this time of year isalso all about sweets and sugar and
all these D electrical dishes, and.

(24:21):
A lot of women are scared to go to thosetype of events because of those things.
And that's where I've kind of learnedyou have to set boundaries for yourself
before you go to those events sothat you can better handle things.
And that if somebody says somethingnegative in front of you or your kids, it
is okay to walk away, which I know we'renot taught to, but like I am very bad

(24:44):
at responding to something, especiallyif it's negative right off the fly.
Like I'm just like, didthey really just say that?
And so I have found that it's eitherbest to just pause and reflect for
myself for a minute or walk away becausethat's just what I have to do for myself.
And so I know for me, like we justhad Halloween, I love Halloween and

(25:09):
I, the kids love candy, but I knowit's so hard to find that like.
Oh my gosh, my kid justate 10 pieces of candy.
They're like, but, and then yougo back into that diet culture
thing, sugar so bad for you.
They're gonna get, they're gonna gainso much weight from eating that candy.

(25:31):
Like those things do cross yourmind, but that's where, kind of
what you were saying, you need toreflect and be like, okay, is this
just my insecurities coming out?
And I know like the holiday season,there's so many foods that we got
told or labeled as danger foods,and if they're full fat and aren't
reduced fat, then we're gonna get fat.

(25:54):
There's just so many things that wejust need to be conscious of, which I
don't want it to be overwhelming either.
Coming from someone that has a DHD, allof these food rules are overwhelming, but
that's where you just have to find a fewsmall things that are tangible that you
can apply to things so that you can moveforward and not make it overwhelming.

(26:17):
Definitely.

Meghan (26:18):
I, I agree.
And I think
the pendulum swung so far for me in onedirection, and then it was like, it had
swing so far the other direction for meto kind of get sort of in that space of,
I wouldn't say balance, but feeling alittle bit more in control of everything.

(26:41):
And I'm only just, I would say startingto experiment more with recipes and
everything all, not to go on like a wholedifferent topic, but I, yesterday, I think
it was yesterday morning, I, there's thisold cookbook from the other side of can,

(27:01):
so I'm in Canada on the western side.
This cookbook from the eastern side ofCanada, from a place called Nova Scotia.
And this.
Cookbook is filled with so manydifferent recipes from like the late
18 hundreds that it was so interestingto see and read how everyone ate back

(27:27):
then and how things changed over time.
Like sweet breads, everythinghad fat, everything had sugar,
everything had protein like, likeall those macros were just part
of everybody's diet and it seemed.

(27:47):
Although there was lots of issueswith, what was available, but
there was, it just was made.
They, but they also were out andabout working really hard too.
And I'm reading these little blurbs,the men were out tilling and farming
and hunting and the women were insidealso working really hard, whether it

(28:09):
was laundry or whatever, cleaning.
I mean, things were so differentback then, but it got me to start
to think about how little movement.
Is in our day to day, and that's anotherpiece I'm trying to weave this back in.
That's another piece to where my brainstarts to go when I worry about diet.

(28:34):
It's also because of themovement piece of it.
It's okay, I'm seeingmy kids sit around more.
I'm sitting around more.
I'm seeing they'remodeling what I'm doing.
So it's been this less overwhelming now.
But at one point it was reallyoverwhelming to feel like I

(28:55):
had to make most of the changesto then it trickle down.
But then one day I waslike, you know what?
That's actually one of the biggestflexes that I could have as a mom,
is to just be that role model.

Kourtney (29:12):
So one, I was listening to a podcast and I think it
was referencing something else,but I kind of applied it to.
Like my food journey, and this ismore like a generational thing,
which I don't think a lot of mystuff stemmed from generation.
Like I think some of itdid, but not all of it.

(29:33):
But it's called the generational drip.
And so it talks about how like certainemotional patterns drip down generation
to generation and like it takes onegeneration to like stop that so that the
drip is different for the next generation.
And so like that to me is kindof my peace of mind in a way of

(29:56):
I can't control all of my habits.
There is no way, there is toomuch outside things that could
sway their mind or change them.
But if I can do certain things during theday to show them that it is benefiting
me in certain ways, then maybe the dripcan be different for the next generation.

Meghan (30:16):
I love that.
That's it.
I. And it's true, and that's thething is that was the biggest, I
think, mental hurdle that I had, wasto just understand that well, yes,
I am an influence in their lives.
I'm not the only influence in their lives.
So as long as I'm just working on me andwhat I have control of for myself, my

(30:39):
relationship with food and everything,that's the most important piece
that I could then influence them on.
Like one day, uh, I said to mydaughter like, I'm gonna go for a walk.
Like they're at an age nowwhere I can start doing things.
Whereas that was the other piece ofit, was there was a lot of inactivity.

(31:02):
Um, and unless they came with me, Ialso couldn't really do these things.
So I am in a different stage now andI'm trying really hard to get that.
That sort of action taking oflike, yeah, it's okay Megan.
You can leave.
Like you can go, you can do that thing.

(31:22):
But even just telling mydaughter, I'm gonna go for a walk.
And it was, oh yeah, you've actuallybeen going for a lot of walks.
That's really good.
So things that we don't think our childrenpick up on or notice, they really do.
And that's, I think,what matters the most.

Kourtney (31:41):
So I am a big walker myself.
I used to be addicted to working outor that was part of my eating disorder
or just disordered mind thinking.
And I think I was trying to run awayfrom my problems and my thoughts
of what was going on at the time.
And so now I really focuson joyful move movement.

(32:04):
And so if.
And I love walks.
I love going outsideand watching the sunset.
So like that is myfavorite time to go out.
And just like you said, justsaying I'm going for a walk.
Honestly, most of the time I wouldsay two, if not three out of my four
kids end up going on the walk with me.
And most of the time they end up doingsprints between the poles on the road.

(32:26):
So good for them, but Ijust have not been a runner.
Like it doesn't bring me joy.
I walk to process what's goingon during the day and it just
makes me feel so much better.
And like I accomplished somethingand it's kind of like my one
thing for me, I would say.
And so like focusing or like shifting.

(32:48):
Exercise from something you have todo or you should do to something that
brings you joy and that benefits you,I think also makes all the difference.
Because I also really struggledwith, I should be going and lifting
weights because it's good for X,Y, Z. Which I think going into the

(33:09):
degree program I did for a while, itfueled my habits in a bad way because
I was learning all of these thingsabout how food can hurt your health.
And that's where I, when I got outtaschool, I felt so lost because I didn't
agree with everything that I was taught orlike I took it at a different perspective.

(33:31):
So I feel food in a very emotionalway, which I feel like we've
always gotten told is bad.
Like we have so now we're allowed tofeel our feelings about everything
else that are, is going on in ourlives, but we're not allowed to
feel our feelings around food.
Okay, got it.

(33:52):
And so like that's one thing I tookaway from school is like it's okay
to feel your feelings around food orabout food and like just accepting
hey, I feel this certain way.
Kind of, it takes you in astep in the right direction.
It doesn't happen all overnight, butlike that's another step or another
thing you can do to move forward inyour journey is just being kind to

(34:16):
yourself and accepting and acknowledgingthat you have those feelings.
Because like I said, I feel likewe are told feel your feelings,
show everyone what's going on.
But I still feel on likethe food aspect of things.
We are still told.
We're, we shouldn't feel feelingsabout food or just enjoying food.
And so like I really resonatewith the older recipes.

(34:36):
Like I've also questioned that becausecoming from a girl that was learning
all these things in school about howwhatever is bad for you now, we cook
with butter all the time instead ofall these other substitute stuff.
And I, for a long time, even growing upin agriculture, I went to oat milk and

(34:57):
almond milk because it was less caloriesand less fat and not as much protein.
But now I'm embracingthe full fat milk train.
And so like, I don't know, there'sthose things that like you just come to
realize later that you're like, okay,that wasn't the best thing for me.

(35:19):
And now I just laugh about it.
I'm like, especially going over to likeStarbucks or something, I was like.
If there's like an oat milk drinkthat's oat milk, holiday drink or
whatever, I'm like, can I actuallyhave a cow's milk with that

Meghan (35:36):
and full fat please.

Kourtney (35:38):
Yeah.
Because in all honesty, it'sgonna keep you fuller longer.
It's gonna fuel yourbody in different ways.
And as women, we need fat to help ourhormones and make ourselves feel better.
And I feel like back in likeback years ago, they didn't have
something telling them what thenutrition content of this food was.
It was just how it made them feel.

(36:00):
And if it didn't make them feel good,they probably didn't eat it again.
And so like just coming back toourselves and listening to ourselves
and like being grounded and likerooted in what our values and belief
systems are and how our body feelsis probably what they went off of.
Not, oh, this stick of butter isthis amount of calories and has

(36:22):
this much fat and that's fat for me.
Know that whatever I just ate thathad better on it made me feel good,
so I'm gonna keep eating that.

Meghan (36:31):
Yeah, exactly.
Well, and I think that's just it.
I think going back into intuitiveeating really has helped
me a lot in my own journey.
And like I said, the pendulum hasswung one far way of like overindulging
for sure in a lot of things.

(36:52):
But I also now understand, okay,that's not where I want to be either.
And so setting boundaries for ourselves,I think, like you said, and just
having that talk with ourselves abouthow we're feeling about the food and
everything that really matters a lot.
And it matters at the dinner table, and itmatters with our kids as well because like

(37:13):
they do pick up on those sorts of things.

Kourtney (37:16):
Mom's not eating this certain food.
Why is she not eating that certain food?
Like they notice those thingsor like, I'll never forget it.
My oldest, I think he was around four, helooked at me and he said, mom, why do you
never sit at the table and eat with us?
And like that's where mydisordered eating was showing.
And like, I think that'swhere I just was like, oh.

(37:39):
But it was like one of those momentsthat like I couldn't react or like, I
didn't know how to react at the time, butlike thinking back, I was like, I don't
even know what I would've said anyway.
Another thing I wanted to ask you,which if it is too vulnerable, you can
tell me, but when you were on the oneside of the pendulum and overindulging,

(38:02):
was it because you felt like you wereunworthy in some way, shape, or form
or I guess a mix of unworthiness?
Shame, guilt?
Or was there like something thathappened or triggered inside of you
that kind of fueled that unworthiness?

(38:23):
Not in the, it doesn't meanit's the same way as mine, but
I don't know how to word it.

Meghan (38:30):
Oh, to totally, to for sure.
Like I, I've, I have haddisordered eating all my life.
And that's the other thing is whenI was younger, I did have an eating
disorder, which then turned, justturned into disordered eating.
Okay.
So, no I actually started puttingfood into my body after not putting

(38:53):
food into my body for a while.
And so that's the other thing isI learned at a young age, I. That
looking a certain way because likeI said, I was bigger all my life.
So then I was smaller the onetime that I was smaller and I got

(39:15):
complimented, I was told I looked greatand oh my gosh, and all this stuff.
So then it became this game of keep up

Kourtney (39:27):
and approval.
It was everyone's approval.
Yeah.
Of how before there wassomething wrong with you.
Yep.
Because that is literallywhat happened to me as well.
I think I fed off of, I wasgetting everyone's approval now.
I guess I had everyone's approvalbefore in a different way.
'cause everybody's like,we love your personality.
You're so bubbly and you're so outgoing.
You just don't look a certain way.

Meghan (39:49):
Exactly.
And, When you're starting to getapproval and you're at a certain age,
like I was, I don't know, 12, 13, 13,14, or something like that that's,
a very vulnerable age to be at.
That's when the hormones areraging for everybody all the time.

(40:11):
You start to look at things differently.
And yeah so I did struggle for awhile, but then there was, but I knew
at the same time, like intuitivelythat this was not a healthy way.
Like something did have to change.
I didn't want, I didn'twanna be hospitalized.
I didn't wanna live that kind of life.

(40:32):
I liked living

Kourtney (40:35):
or missing out on memories with people you love.
That was the biggest thing for me.
Now, looking back 12 years, I wish that.
I could have told myselfit wasn't worth it.
Looking a certain way was notworth missing out on those
memories that I'll never get back.
Like I wouldn't go to, I wouldn't goto pizza parties with my friends for

(40:57):
like sporting events because if I wasaround pizza, I'd lose control per se.
And mm-hmm.
I wish I could also go tell my youngerself that we're not just, we aren't
just what we are in the mirror.
We're a helpful voice for our friendswhere people enjoy our laughter.

(41:18):
There's so much more to ourselvesthan what's in the mirror.
And I wish that, like younger girls knewthat, because I feel like even on social
media with everyone posting, which, so mytime era where I was at, uh, when I was
younger, we still had the flip phones andthe internet wasn't really that big yet.

(41:38):
And so it wasn't around junior highwhen smartphones came out for me.
So like a whole new era and parents didn'tknow how to regulate things and it was
like a whole new learning experiencewhere now things have been out for so
long, but then there's so many new things.
So like TikTok, I see all these youngergirls posting videos and things and I

(42:00):
know for me if I had that when I wasyounger, I don't know how I would handle
that because you're seeing all thesegirls looking a certain way and if I
didn't look a certain way, I know likethe comparison game would've came out.

Meghan (42:15):
Mm.

Kourtney (42:16):
And so I feel like that is like a whole new struggle for parents
now and I feel for them and likefinding a way to navigate that because
it's different than when even I or thegeneration before that was younger.
Like it's a whole new entity in itself.
And like I know for me, I have toget off of social media, but it is

(42:36):
so hard to like teach a younger kid.
Social media is a good thing'cause it gives you connection
to people you wouldn't have met.
But at the same time, it's also veryunhealthy for you because it feeds
into the shame and guilt or comparisonthat you're feeling to others.
And like, so you always feel likeyou're always absorbing information

(42:58):
and it's like disconnecting yourselffrom like how you feel and like your
values and how you want things to be.

Meghan (43:05):
Exactly.
And I and that's going back to alsothe whole idea of we as parents only
have so much influence and in this dayand age of the on life, online life
living there is so much influence andwe don't always like my, my oldest is

(43:26):
11 and she and every child is different.
But I do did notice patternsin her that were concerning
to me about being on social.
Like my kids don't haveany apps like that.

(43:47):
But you do is very accessible.
Or even cap cut.
I don't know if you'refamiliar with Cap Cut.
Yeah.
So she was making videos, funnyvideos, but then I, so for, I
thought it was similar to Canva.
But then when I really looked at it,which I wish I looked at it way sooner

(44:11):
I realized it's not appropriate.
There are templates and things that aren'tappropriate and I'm like, damn, okay.
Enough of that.
But then even, you know,then it was YouTube and, and.
I would watch some of the thingsand I'm just like, Nope, nope.

(44:31):
Like it wasn't drastic things, but Icould tell that her personality and
her maturity level, um, didn't match.
It wasn't ready for seeingwhat she was viewing.
It wasn't ready to process or evenhave the ability to critically think

(44:53):
and discern from reality and fantasy.
And I think that's a whole different,that's a whole other sort of ball game
with dealing with relationship with food.
I do try to follow people on socialmedia that are enjoying their food
and it's not, uh, full on restricteddiet and just watching their macros

(45:19):
and then showing transformationphotos and stuff like that, because.
That doesn't, it does not help me.
And I've realized that.
So I try to watch and followpeople that are doing more
intuitive eating and enjoying life

Kourtney (45:35):
and, and embracing themselves.
Yes.
Like I, that was the hardestthing for me is like embracing
my body after every baby.
Because for me, I just wasnot one of those girls that
I lost all the baby weight.
And I know I compared my journeyto a lot of other moms that were
like pregnant when I was pregnant.
And they, for them it came all off for me.

(45:58):
It did not, but I also,my body just changed.
But like, learning to accept thatis just so hard because we're told,
oh, well once you have a baby, ifyou work out hard enough and you eat
the right way, it just comes off.
Or when you're breastfeeding,it's just gonna burn off.

Meghan (46:14):
It was the opposite for me.
Complete opposite.
I breastfed both mykids complete opposite.
I gained weight.
And Yeah.
Well, and that's the thing.
We do need to accept where we're at.
We do need to understand thatwe have genetics in our system

(46:35):
that play a huge, huge part inevery part of our aging process.
And that includes our externalphysique, that includes everything
on the inside, the organs, likehow everything ages, and those are
things that we have no control over.
And yet I think the frustrating partfor me, and this is more for my own

(46:59):
stuff that I have to work through, isI wish that it was more acknowledged.
I wish that society wouldunderstand, okay, you know, like
there's so much out of our control.
I look at, even like my grandma whowalked everywhere, walked everywhere.

(47:25):
She didn't have the biggest appetiteor eat a lot of food, but just
naturally, she was just a bigger woman.
And I look at myself and I thinkabout my body and I think about her
and I'm just like, you know what?
At the same time, she just loved her life.
She woke up every day.
She didn't worry about anything.

(47:46):
She just, you know.
Mm-hmm.
She didn't think she, she enjoyed it.
She

Kourtney (47:49):
wasn't, she didn't have to compare herself to anyone else.
'cause there's no one elseto compare herself to.
Yeah.

Meghan (47:55):
Yeah.

Kourtney (47:56):
Where now we have all of these things to compare ourselves
to, and we should be doingthis, we should be doing that.
If we do this, this will happen.
And sometimes that's justnot, that's not what happens.
And like for me, like I said,the biggest thing when it
came to that is I just had to.
Because after my third baby, I stillworked out as hard as I possibly could.

(48:20):
I counted macros, but I thinkshe was about a year old when
I was like, this is enough.
Like I want to be present with my kids.
I wanna be able to go sitat the dinner table and just
serve my food onto my plate.
I don't wanna have to be over atthe counter measuring things and
restricting myself and them seeing that.
And it did.

(48:41):
It didn't make me any less worthy.
I just needed to finally accept thatlike there were values that I wanted
to give my children and that I followedand that I valued, and I just needed
to let stuff go so that I could followthose values and what I wanted for
not only for them, but for me too.

Meghan (49:01):
Yeah.
And, and I think that's such animportant piece to bring it back to
is, is what really are the values?
Like what are the values thatwe share with our family for
ourselves, but with our children?
And if we do have spouses that are underthe same roof, what are those values?
And, and I know for me, like my husbandand I, um, we do share a lot of the same

(49:24):
values, but we do also really different.
And you know, he's a very saucy guy.
I don't like sauces so much.
But it's just but the value of sittingdown as a family, that has to come
out above everything else to me.
And that's, that's because that'smy value for sure, obviously health

(49:47):
saying it in a more generic way.
Yes, overall health is good.
With that being said, mental health isjust as important as physical health
and I feel like if mentally we arefeeling healthy, a lot of everything else
will kind of fall into place as well.

Kourtney (50:05):
No, I completely agree with that because sometimes you can look very
healthy on the outside, but you might notbe healthy on the inside or vice versa.
You might be really unhealthy on theinside and it might be reflecting on
the outside like, and that's wherealso I struggle with people not being
understanding of what other peopleare going through and judging them.

(50:27):
So for me, when I had my eatingdisorder, it had gotten to a
certain point where around schoolpeople said I was doing drugs.
Like they weren't addressing thefact that I had an eating disorder.
They were going around saying Iwas doing drugs instead of seeing,
I literally skipped school lunchesfor months and no one noticed.

(50:52):
No one, none of my friendsthat I had had for years even
questioned me, which I don't know.
At that point, I feel like I would'vetold 'em probably to screw off
because I wasn't ready to hear it.
I had so many internal VA battles thatI had going on myself that I don't think
I would've been ready to accept any ofthe messages from oth outside people.

(51:17):
But at the same time, them saying I wasdoing drugs made it so much worse and
fed into what I had going on inside.
And what I had going on insidewas reflecting to the outside.
And that's just how my bodykept me safe at that time.
And so, yeah, getting olderand looking back, it just, it's

(51:38):
taken a lot of self-reflection.
And I hope that, like, through myspeaking engagements and things like
that, I can hopefully help peoplereflect back and like find those pivoting
points that they can reflect back onand just be like, this is what changed.
Like this is mm-hmm.
What needs to be different.

Meghan (51:56):
Yeah.
I, I actually had a similar but differentexperience I was working so it was out
of high school, but some of the otherwomen that I worked with decided to
say that I was on drugs, that I mustbe on drugs because, and that's the
thing with disordered eating, right?

(52:17):
It, it can come, it can go, itcan show up in one way or another.
But this was obviously a part A fewyears of my life where eating less was
more prominent in my disordered eating.
And yeah, so same thing.
I was like, day, I waslike, are you kidding me?

(52:38):
Like what?
Like how about you just come to meand have like a conversation and say,
Hey, you know, we've been noticingsome things and we're concerned.
You don't even have to sayit's about a person's weight.
You don't have to share thatyou are noticing that they're
losing it or gaining weight.
You can just care about them enough tosay that you're noticing that there's

(53:05):
some changes and you're wondering ifthere's any way that you can help changes
in attitude, change, whatever, whatever.

Kourtney (53:12):
Well, and I feel like that is also something important.
So I feel like.
So I know like my mom had saidthings to me, but I was also 16
and you know, whatever your momsays, you're doing the opposite.
So looking back, I honestly feellike if someone that I respected
enough would've said something tome like that would've made me aware.

(53:36):
Mm-hmm.
So like aware and acknowledging andlike maybe that would've turned the
tables a little bit sooner for me andmy brain before things got even worse.
But no one did.
And I know for me in my small littletown at that point, eating disorders
were kind of like just seepingthrough the surface at that point.

(53:59):
Like they weren't really talkedabout or known about, like I guess
they're probably known about.
But nobody in our area talked about it.
And so I know there was a fewgirls in my high school that had
approached me that were in youngergrades when I was in older grades.
That I think they ha wereasking me questions because I
think they were struggling too.

(54:20):
Mm-hmm.
And they were lookingfor somebody to talk to.
And I feel like I probably handled it in avery unhealthy way because I probably fed
into whatever they had going on insteadof, because I wasn't in a healthy place.
Well, that's just, I wasn't in a healthyplace to help others at that point.
And so now it hurts my heart that Ididn't handle it better, but I know that

(54:46):
like I wasn't in a healthy place andlike I can only meet film at a place
where I'm at, and I was in a bad place.
So how I was gonna respond wascoming from a different place
than how I would respond now.

Meghan (54:59):
For sure.
And just, yeah, going, talking to youryounger self, you know, it wasn't your
responsibility to help them, right?
Like you were a child yourselfgoing through your own stuff.
And that's just it.
And that's what I think for me too, is Ireally didn't have a lot of help either.

(55:25):
It was a very interesting time in my life.
But kind of what you said, youknow, if there was somebody that you
connected with and somebody that.
You, yourself felt was an importantperson in your life, whether it's mother
or somebody else, that's probably theonly person you might listen to or

(55:47):
even acknowledge that they're comingfrom a good place that might help.
Um, cause even, yeah, looking back on,on everything, for me, I think that's
the only thing that changed for mewas that one person kind of was like
I think you need to eat more dinner.
Let's make you somethingthat you'll really enjoy.

(56:08):
Like, she did it in a really,really super casual way.
It didn't make me feel bad.
Um,

Kourtney (56:14):
feeling the shame and guilt and the unworthiness you
already felt, which is good.
She came from a, from a placethat didn't feed into it.
And I feel like that is likethe most important thing.

Meghan (56:27):
Yeah.
But even for me I don't know that Iwould ever be able to help somebody
going through something similar.
Like it's such an, it's such a subjectthat is so hard to navigate because
it's such a personal individual.

(56:47):
I don't know.
No, it is, it is

Kourtney (56:48):
very individualized.
Everyone is so differenton how they handle things.
But that's where I kind of have someworkshops in mind to like draw out.
It's more of calling to individualsto work on things and drawing
out what each individual canwork on, not like me forcing

Meghan (57:10):
mm-hmm

Kourtney (57:11):
my thoughts and like what happened to me onto them.
It's drawing some of theirthoughts and feelings out on
paper to hopefully shift and.
Shift their mindset in a waythat helps 'em in the long run.

Meghan (57:25):
I love that.
I think that is such a great idea.
It just made me think about somethingthat I thought of year, a few years ago.
I thought about, and I still kindof wanna do it, but I thought about
this type of workshop where womengather and we get these big chunk,
like big sections of paper likefor our height and, and everything.

(57:47):
And we outline ourselvesand outline our bodies.
And like one half is kind of whatwe are believing of what anything
that's going on in the moment.
But then the other is all of theblossoming everything that we've done

(58:08):
over the years to bring us to a place of,feeling worthy and all the reasons why
we are worthy and it outweighs everythingon the other side, if that makes sense.
I kind of like did this funny sketch ina book when I came up with the idea and
it just felt almost like even just comingup with the idea was very therapeutic.

(58:29):
Like cathartic I guess would bethe word to use in the moment.

Kourtney (58:34):
Well, because I feel like an entrepreneurship like, so like
starting your business or like onyour journey and like moving forward.
So like for me, doing the type of workI am doing has brought some of my past
feelings out, but it's also helpedme reflect on some of the very icky
stuff that I had like shoved down,down deep and left on a shelf thinking

(58:57):
I would never bring it back out.
But it's almost helped me heal and.
That's one of the beautiful thingsabout entrepreneurship is honestly
a lot of what you're doing there issome, some reason you're doing it.
So it's a very healing roller coaster.
Lots of so true.

(59:18):
Uh, yeah.
Lots of looking at yourself and why you'refeeling a certain way, just like a very
big growth journey is all I have to say.

Meghan (59:28):
It's true.
It's so true.
I feel like we, we've chatted so much.
Um, I just wanna make sure thatI'm connecting with some of the
important topics for you as well.
So some of some of them, which we havetalked about is navigating a healthy
relationship with food and breakingfree from diet, culture, diet, culture.

(59:49):
And even those two words, separate ortogether are very like buzzy words.
But I think it is true diet culturehas played a huge role in everyone's
individual relationship with food.
Whether it's the macro counting,whether it's exercising, whether
it's, any part of diet culture.

(01:00:11):
Is there any sort of tipsthat you have for people to
break free from some of that?
What would be sort of the firststep for people to break free?

Kourtney (01:00:21):
So, for me personally, I had to start looking at how I was feeling
after certain things because I feel like.
I'm not, I know like intuitive eatingfor me is a hard word in some ways
because everybody's like, well, ifyou're intuitive, intuitive eating,
you're telling me I can go eat that wholepizza and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

(01:00:44):
Like, I didn't just

Meghan (01:00:45):
roll my eyes.

Yes.
But no

Meghan (01:00:47):
that's not what in to me.
But I know what you mean.
I totally know what you mean becauseI have these internal conversations,

but that's so true.
But for me, when you startlike one healthy habit, I'm not
saying go eat the whole pizza.
I'm saying like, if you really wantsome pizza, go have your pizza.
But I also like enjoy a salad with it.
Like they compliment each other reallywell and just like listening to yourself

(01:01:16):
and not, oh, I just ate a whole pizza.
Or like, if you did eat the whole pizza,just forgive yourself for it and move on.

Meghan (01:01:23):
Mm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
There's just

so much.
I feel like we are told that weshould not feel the feelings.
Like I said earlier, we should not feelthe feelings that we feel around food.
I know for me, I had certain triggerfoods or certain foods that I would
be like, that is a big no for me.
A lot of it was like icecream pizza, peanut butter.
'cause they were like all high in fat.

(01:01:45):
I now enjoy those on aweekly basis, but guess what?
I don't feel bad about itbecause it is bringing me joy.
We only have one life to live,and if those things bring
you joy, go ahead and eat it.
Just make sure, like it's about balance,which I even have a hard time with
balance because everybody, I feellike you're expected to eat the salad.

(01:02:08):
If you don't wanna eat a salad withpizza, that's fine, but like, if that's
what makes you feel better or like.
Just listen to your body, like your bodyis so individualized on your own needs,
like you just need, I feel like we getso disconnected because of social media
and all these outside things speaking tous that we just don't listen to ourselves

(01:02:28):
and be like that pizza was really good,but I don't need anymore for right now.
Or like, when we have one healthyhabit, other habits or other habits
that bring us joy will follow.
So like going for your joyfulmovement walk or like going outside
and just getting some fresh air.
Like if you're doing those things to setyourself up for a better day, you're more

(01:02:51):
likely to probably make better choices.

Meghan (01:02:53):
It's all connected for sure.
And that's the thing I know,like sleep is very important.
When I don't get enough sleep, oftentimesI'm usually drinking more coffee,
which fills me up in a different way.
But then by the afternoon, after onlyhaving coffee all morning, I'm like,
oh my God, I need, I need more energy.

(01:03:16):
And I, okay, what do you do?
You nat, your body thinks it needs aquick fix and then you start to go for
certain foods that might give that to you.
It is.
It's and that's where taking timegoing for walks is, and getting
the sleep and it's all connected

and acknowledging your thoughts, acknowledging how you're feeling.
Mm-hmm.
Before you're approaching certain things.
Like I know we feel like we haveall these things to do in a day, but
that small things only take a fewseconds and it's gonna set you up for.
Better day overall.

Meghan (01:03:53):
Yeah, exactly.
Well, and that goes to also celebratingsmall wins and recognizing that small
milestones and progress is progress.
So if you did get out for that walk,that's a win if you like, whatever that
looks like for each individual person.

Yes, I completely agree with that.

Meghan (01:04:14):
Um, another one that I just wanna quickly talk about
too is sense of community andstaying connected to community.
So connection helps us toremember that we're not alone.
I think, you know, talking about eatingdisorders it's been a hard one for me
for sure, because I don't like to admitthat I still have disordered eating and

(01:04:39):
in the last few years, so this is thewhole other side of social media, right?
Sometimes I'm afraid to even see anythingthat relates to disordered eating.
Even if it's someone trying to talkabout it in a way of bringing awareness.
I'm like I freeze.

(01:05:01):
And I'm like, which wayis this gonna take me?
Is this gonna trigger it for me?
Where I'm gonna start to actually bringback some more disordered eating habits?
Or am I gonna feel like I'm not alone?
So I'm bringing this up in thesense of like connecting with
people that are like-minded, butalso understanding where we need to

(01:05:24):
sometimes bring up boundaries again.

So I do some group coaching and I feel like every, like you said
before, everybody's journey is soindividualized, but I also feel like.
With groups or finding a communitythat you like, there is some individual
pieces, even though not the full storywill connect and resonate with you.

(01:05:48):
There might be a piece in therethat you pull out that you're
like, yes, that speaks to me.
And you might, it might, you might walkaway with something that helps you heal.
And honestly, for me, even withlike group coaching, maybe you're
just having a really bad day,mentally, physically, whatever.
You have the power to set a boundaryfor yourself and be like, I don't have

(01:06:11):
to go to my group coaching call today.
I, I am too, I am absorbing toomuch information and it's just
not the time for me right now.
But you have the power to set thatboundary even if you're seeking
help and seeking community there.
I feel like if you're meetingpeople that are on the same.

(01:06:31):
Spectrum or same season in theirjourney, I feel like they're going
to understand, they're going tounderstand why you're struggling.
They're going to understand whyyou're setting boundaries, and I think
that's what makes community beautifulwhen you find the right one for you.

Meghan (01:06:47):
I love that so much.
I really do.
It just, it just, I think likea whole different, I see a
different light around it all.
Like I see it now.
It's not like this heavy feeling.
It's a lighter feeling of like,yes, okay, that does make sense.
And also, why did Ithink about that before?
Why did I think about itlike that in that way?

(01:07:09):
'cause that makes sense.
Of course, we can set boundaries andwe can choose to, um, acknowledge
those things, but I think that's themost important part is acknowledging
what's going on, even if it's.
I have this feeling that today havingany conversations around disordered
eating, eating disorders, food ingeneral is gonna bring this about for

(01:07:33):
me or this feeling and just settingyour boundaries as you need to and
change our boundaries for that day.
If we want to.
If like right before a group coachingcall comes up and we're like, actually
no, today I need this call, hop on.
Do the thing, be part of it.
Yeah, I think that we do have somuch choice and sometimes I think

(01:07:55):
we just forget that we have asmany choices as I feel like it's

because we always got told what we had to do.
Right.
But it's fine.
It's fine.
But I feel like as adult, asadults, we struggle with that still.
Like, we're like, oh wait,I'm in charge of myself.
I can tell people, no,that's a weird feeling.
So novel

Meghan (01:08:15):
yet so available at the same time.
I think we've mostly talked about,um, a lot of things that were
important to you to bring up.
Is there anything that you wannatouch on a little bit more or have
a more in-depth conversation about?

I think we have some really good points here and I think the
conversation went really well, so.

Meghan (01:08:39):
Thank you so much, Courtney, for being on the podcast today.
It was such a pleasure.
Um, there was something, I don'tknow, there was something about you
from the moment that your name cameacross that I felt like you were
the person that I was gonna openup to that a little bit more about
disordered eating and eating disorders.
I think it is such animportant thing to talk about.

(01:09:01):
I think that Being women, beingmothers, being entrepreneurs.
Yeah.
There's so many thingsthat we don't acknowledge.
We tend to put aside for the, what wethink is the betterment of our families,
but it's really not because we doreally have to take care of ourselves.

Um, and sometimes you have to invest or like look into your past
to find things to better your future.
And I know, like for me, I made a post theother day and there was some feelings in
there that I hadn't felt in a long timeand I was like, woo, that's kind of heavy.
But the next day I honestlyfelt so much better.

(01:09:42):
Like it almost felt like a littlebit of a weight was lifted off of me.
And that's where I feel ent likeentrepreneurship is beautiful.
In some ways because it is a lot oflike a self-discovery, self-growth
journey too, when you're going throughit, especially if you're in it for
things that are super close to you.
So like using my story to help otherpeople, I am still like unpacking

(01:10:05):
my own stuff to better other peopletoo, and like using my own healing
mechanisms to make myself feel better.
And, but that's the beauty of it.

Meghan (01:10:15):
Yeah.
It, well, it is.
And as I understand more now sincehaving so many episodes out and talking
with so many different people, thereis patterns, but there, and, and it's
all about sharing our story and eachperson has a different perspective.
And because of that, somethingwill land differently with each

(01:10:35):
different person that's out there.
Talking about being an entrepreneur,talking about our dreams and going
after things, but also understandingthat there's gonna be things
that are out of our control andsetting boundaries and everything.
It's, it's all self love.
It's all from a place of kindof rewriting our own stories

(01:10:58):
and bringing those, accepting,who we are now at the same time.

Yes.
And some of our past baggage or thingsthat we stuffed away deep down and in
the drawer and was like, okay, bye.

Meghan (01:11:12):
Right.
Well, exactly.
And that's the, and I couldprobably go into it so much
deeper, but that's exactly it.
And that's part of the eating disorder.
Topic for me, that is definitelysomething that I shoved away.
I was like, no, I totally got this undercontrol and I'm not gonna bring it into
my daughter's lives and it's gonna bedone and we're not gonna talk about it.
And I'm, I'm gonna be thistype of mother and I'm gonna

(01:11:35):
take care of things this way.
But that's the thing.
It is dripping out.
And I'm noticing it come out a littlebit more and a little bit more, and you

can choose if it's in a healthy or unhealthy way, depending
on how you want to handle it.

Meghan (01:11:50):
Yes.
That's the acknowledgement to me.
Right.
And that's the thing.
So for me, being a little bit moreopen today with you is my way of
choosing to do it in a more healthyway rather than keeping it stuffed
in and then showing up at thedinner table with the unhealthy way.
So that's the thing.
I hope that I know our listeners fromthis episode will have so, so many

(01:12:12):
different things to take away from it.
There's lots of differenttips embedded and, and woven
throughout our conversation.
So thank you so much,Courtney, for being here today.
Thank you for being on the podcast and Ihope you have a great rest of your day.

Yes, you too, Megan.

Speaker 2 (01:12:47):
Thank you for joining this week's episode of Anchor Your Dreams.
I hope you enjoyed today'sconversation as much as I did.
A big thank you to our incredible guestsfor sharing their wisdom and insights.
If you resonated with today's episodeand want to explore more about
turning your dreams into reality,Be sure to subscribe to the podcast.
We have a lineup of amazing guestsand valuable content coming your way.

(01:13:10):
Don't forget to connectwith us on social media.
You can find us on Instagram and Facebook.
Share your thoughts, insights,and your own journey using the
hashtag anchor, your dreams.
Head over to our websiteat meganmcquillen.
com in the podcast section, where you'llfind the show notes, resources, and
information about upcoming episodes.

(01:13:31):
Before we wrap up, I want to express mygratitude to each and every one of you.
Your support means the worldto me, and I'm thrilled to
be on this journey with you.
Remember, anchored dreams becomegoals, anchored goals become results.
Until next time, dreambig and stay anchored.

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Mindful Eating Advocate + Speaker | Kourtney Talkington

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Mindful Eating Advocate + Speaker | Kourtney Talkington