April 4, 2025 • 68 mins
Former Miss Iowa Chelsea Constantino redefines nutrition by blending biblical wisdom with modern health science in this insightful episode. Inspired by her pageant experience, Chelsea shares how she developed a sustainable, faith-aligned approach to health - one focused on long-term consistency rather than extreme dieting.
Her book, The Guide to Eating Biblically in a Modern World, breaks down complex nutrition into seven biblical principles. From cravings to ancient dietary laws, Chelsea connects scripture with science in practical, thought-provoking ways.
Whether you're faith-based or just curious, Chelsea's approach offers a grounded, empowering path to wellness. Tune in for a fresh take on food, faith, and feeling your best.
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Socials: @sashandsoul | @fearlesslyauthenticcoach | @raeannajohnson
Websites: www.fearlesslyauthentic.com | www.sashandsoul.com
Email: info@fearlesslyauthenticcoach.com
If you’re looking for more than just surface-level prep—and you’re ready to prepare with strategy, support, and confidence that actually lasts—I’d love to be part of your process.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Raeanna (00:02):
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to Sash and Soul.
I'm excited to introduce aguest to you today.
We go way back.
We're from the same hometown,but this is Chelsea Constantino,
formerly Chelsea Dubcek, andshe is Miss Iowa 2017.
And now she is an entrepreneur,like Boss Babe, running her
(00:23):
Coach Reign Nutrition program,and I'm excited because we get
to talk about her new book today.
You guys, this is so good.
This is so valuable.
This is going to be one of thebest conversations that you've
heard in a really long time,because so many of you are
prepping for competition andfitness is top of mind, and
nutrition and wellness, so thisis going to be a really great
conversation for you to hear.
(00:44):
So I'm excited to dive in.
Chelsea.
How are you?
It's been a while.
Chelsea (00:48):
It has been a while.
I'm so good.
Thanks for having me on.
I'm excited to be here.
Raeanna (00:53):
Good what's?
new?
Tell me about your life lately.
Chelsea (00:56):
Oh my gosh, it's like what isn't new?
No, things are really reallygood.
I um, like you mentioned, Ijust published a book which is
so wild.
I'm still in the pinch me phaseof that.
I'm getting pictures, peopleare are finally.
I had pre-orders open andpeople are finally getting their
(01:18):
copies.
I'm getting pictures right andleft of I finally got your book,
which is insane that this thingI've been working on for gosh
like five years now is is inprint.
People anywhere around theworld can actually just like hop
on a website and order it, sothat's the main thing.
That's kind of consuming all ofmy attention.
Raeanna (01:38):
Crazy.
And how's married life Stillgood.
Chelsea (01:41):
Marriage is awesome.
I love my husband so much.
He is truly my best friend.
Um, actually, our ouranniversary is coming up in a
couple of weeks three years ofmarriage which is also crazy to
think about.
Thank you, yeah, we're gonnatake another big trip.
We love to travel, so if youfollow along on social, I I post
(02:02):
a lot about that, but we'retaking a big trip to Italy to
celebrate, which I'm veryexcited for.
Raeanna (02:08):
So, yeah, have you been to Italy?
Chelsea (02:14):
We, on our honeymoon, we took a Mediterranean cruise,
and so the first stop was, andone of the last stops was, in
Italy, and we knew once we werethere, we're like, okay, we're
definitely coming back here, andso that has been the plan.
We're gonna make our.
We're basically doing a wholetour of Italy, starting north,
ending in Sicily, at the, at thebottom, and we're gonna revisit
(02:36):
our favorite place that we wentto on our honeymoon.
So it's a little coastal towncalled taramina yes actually
have you really okay?
Raeanna (02:49):
yes, because I was hoping that it was going to be a
place that I had been.
So we went on our one yearanniversary trip to italy and we
did something very similar toyou.
We were there for two weeks andtaramina was one of our, one of
our places that we stopped at.
Oh my gosh, oh yay, this is sogood.
Chelsea (03:01):
Yeah, oh, it's just so, it's a OK.
So if anyone's seen White Lotus, the second season takes place
in Tarmina and we'd already beenthere when we started watching
that and in the intro we're likewait, that looks familiar, that
train station looks familiar.
We're like, oh my gosh, we'veliterally been here before.
So yeah, it's just a beautifulpostcard, perfect place to be.
(03:27):
So we're, we can't, I can'tbelieve we've been there.
I've never actually met someoneelse who from the states, who's
been there.
Raeanna (03:30):
So, yes, yeah, we went to Rome, we went to Positano,
which I highly recommend,beautiful uh, terramina,
sorrento and Catania oh dang,okay, yeah, italy great like
italy is just so great, it's sogreat, I can't we want to move
(03:50):
there.
It is the food, the people, thesites, the weather, all of it
all the things, yeah, all thethings agreed yeah, all right.
So for those of you that don'tknow you as a pageant girl, um,
tell us a little bit about yourjourney.
It's been a hot minute.
I know I celebrated 10 yearsthis year, so I get it.
(04:11):
What I did, I did, but you'reyounger than me, so your time is
coming, my friend.
The decade mark.
Yeah, it's fun.
Chelsea (04:25):
Dang, okay, yeah, yeah, I guess it has been 10 years um
for you.
I I'm close um, so, as youmentioned um in your intro, yeah
, we go way back um.
I started my journey competingin the Miss America program as
an outstanding team when it wasstill called outstanding team.
(04:46):
I was dating myself andprogressed into the Miss
competition.
My first title was Miss Holman,which is also one of your
titles, my very first title,miss Holman, was it?
Was it Okay?
Yeah, shout out to the hometown.
(05:11):
And I just kind of went fromthere.
I competed in the Wisconsinsystem for a little while, but I
went to school in Iowa andafter I graduated from
university I stayed in Iowa.
I was working there and sotherefore, I was eligible to
compete in Iowa and it reallyjust came down to one year.
Um, one of one of the othergirls that we competed with was
(05:32):
like, hey, are you gonna compete?
We aged out this year.
What are you thinking?
And I kind of like, kind of putit away honestly.
Um, she's like, just do it forthe.
I was in boatloads of studentloan debt.
I wanted an opportunity to singagain and so I just did that.
One last, one, last rally,ended up winning my local title
(05:53):
in in Des Moines and thencompeted for Miss Iowa and won
Miss Iowa, got to fulfill thedream of Miss America and, quite
literally, my life changedforever because of that
experience wouldn't change itfor anything when you first
started competing and kind oflike, through the time that you
won Miss Iowa, your talent wasvocal right and at the time we
(06:20):
were doing swimsuit.
Raeanna (06:23):
yeah, what was the fitness journey like for you?
And I ask specifically becauseI have an understanding of your
fitness journey and I love itand that's really what I want to
talk about most today.
Chelsea (06:35):
Totally, totally, um.
Contrary to popular beliefabout what can happen in the
psyche of preparing for aswimsuit in a pageant setting, I
think it was quite truly thebest thing for me.
I learned so much in preparingfor any any of the times I
(06:59):
competed that required swimsuit,um, because it came down to the
fact that, just knowing my body, I was never going to be the
thinnest person up there.
I just knew that I was alwaysvery I have an athletic,
muscular build, um, kind of havetree trunks for thighs, which I
, I love, and I I use that termendearingly but I was just never
(07:23):
going to be the super smallgirl.
And to me, I took veryseriously you know they called
it lifestyle and fitness andswimwear.
I took very seriously thelifestyle and fitness part of
that, regardless of what I waswearing, and so I really wanted
to approach this as asustainable, sustainable way
(07:43):
that I could this.
However, however, I was goingto prepare for competition.
I wanted to look the same atthe end of my year as I did the
day one of my year, and it wasnever more obvious to me that
how important that was than whenI was a state federal holder,
and every day you are in a newplace, you're often sleeping in
(08:03):
weird hotels and you're just.
You're always traveling, youhave odd hours, you don't know
what's going to be accessible toyou, and so the skills that I
learned in preparing for thestate title holder job are
really what sustained me throughthat, because every single day
you show up as Miss State,whatever.
(08:25):
There's a really good chancethat whoever you meet has never
met a Miss State and so that'stheir only experience and
interaction with the MissAmerica organization in general
or any title, any pageantorganization, and so you have to
be on every single day for awhole year, and if you're eating
garbage and you feel likegarbage and you're doing
(08:47):
convenience because that's theeasy thing to do, you're going
to take a toll, and so I guessthat's a that's a long winded
way of saying it was truly thebest thing for me and it has set
me up for success where I now Imean almost 10 years after
becoming Miss Iowa I I am very,very close still to my
(09:10):
competition physique, justbecause it's literally my
lifestyle, it's just how, how Iexist.
I didn't have to go through anyarduous diet or workout plan
specifically to prep for stateor prep for up plan specifically
to prep for state or prep forMiss America, or whatever.
It's just how I exist, and so,um, did I even answer?
your question.
Raeanna (09:30):
You did and I want to.
I want to talk more about thisbecause I was wondering, before
I hopped on the call with you,if you did any of like the like,
the building and then cuttingtype thing that that a lot of
like bodybuilders or swimsuitcompetitors do.
Chelsea (09:46):
Yeah, I actually didn't know.
I, um, when I was competing forthat, that last time that I
went to compete for anything andI ended up winning local and
then winning Miss Iowa, I hadjust started my CrossFit journey
.
Up until then I really wasdoing random fitness things you
(10:08):
know, pinterest workouts.
I found I had a personaltrainer for a little while who
taught me a lot, but I didn'thave really an organized fitness
routine that was anythingroutine, that was anything
(10:29):
purposeful and I didn't what Ithought I knew about nutrition.
Then I had really no idea.
I just the the.
When I first started it was kindof a okay, I'm not going to
have mac and cheese when I wouldnormally have mac and cheese.
Like it was cutting out theobvious.
This is not beneficial for me,health wise.
Um, and that was at the reallystart of my, my pageant journey,
(10:50):
when I was that last time thatit really like mattered to me
honestly the most.
I was already doing CrossFit,which incorporates a nutritional
aspect, so I was alreadylearning that just for my own
health and benefit and wellbeing.
So it just translated superwell into preparing for state.
I quite literally did nothingdifferently preparing for state
(11:13):
and preparing for Miss Americathan I was already doing in my
everyday life.
I actually remember this iskind of a funny story I was
working for I was a voiceteacher, part-time on the side,
and I remember being in thekitchen at the voice studio
between students just heating upmy dinner.
I always had dinner that Ialready made from my house and
(11:37):
I'd bring it with me.
I was heating it up and thehusband of my boss essentially
happened to oversee me heatingup my dinner and he looks.
He said I thought you weregetting ready for Miss Iowa.
I said yeah, I absolutely am.
I said why aren't you supposedto starve yourself?
(11:57):
That's a lot of food.
Oh, and I will.
I will never forget him sayingthat because at that moment I
was like this is my chance tolike, change the dialogue.
And he said this is what I,this is what I eat every single
day.
Uh, this is my normal meal.
And actually, no, you don'thave to starve yourself.
Um, I'm very much against that.
(12:19):
I need to fuel my workouts sothat I can build muscle, so that
I can have a physique.
I'm proud of my workouts sothat I can build muscle, so that
I can have a physique.
I'm proud of walking on stage.
I care more about being capableand alert than being as skinny
as possible, and it just blewhis mind.
Raeanna (12:34):
Wait, what were you eating that day, do you remember
?
I need to know what was on theplate
Chelsea (12:38):
I had meatloaf, brussels sprouts and like a
sweet potato mash.
So simple
that sounds delicious,
but it was a pretty like sizable Pyrex dish, you
know, but yeah, oh my gosh, verydelicious.
I probably should have been moremindful about reheating
(12:58):
Brussels sprouts in a community,yeah, but he was shocked about
that and I'll I'll never forgetthat.
That was a very proud moment forme of like no, actually, you
don't.
And then I even better, when Iwent to miss Iowa a few weeks
later and I won swimsuit in myprelim and that to me it was
(13:20):
just like, see, it's like thisis I truly care about the
lifestyle and fitness part of it, not just cutting as much as
possible, to be as skinny aspossible.
And I wanted especially becausethat was my platform at the
time, or my social initiative,right, I wanted I wanted to
display true health andlifestyle.
(13:41):
And again, looking the same atthe end of the year as I did on
day one was really important tome.
And I think, for the same atthe end of the year as I did on
day one was really important tome.
And I think for the most partthere was probably some
inflammation that's just comesfrom stress of the job, but for
the most part I, you know Icould still wear my entire
wardrobe from when I competed towhen I passed on the title.
Raeanna (13:59):
I love that I could, but it was because the stress
was affecting me in in terms of,like, losing weight, and so I
just, yeah, I that stress doesnot affect me like that anymore.
My, my metabolism has certainlychanged and my body chemistry
has changed since then.
I'm in my thirties now and soit's just a little bit different
(14:19):
how stress affects me.
But yeah, how long did it takeyou to get the physique that you
had at Miss Iowa?
So you said that, like youdidn't do anything different
from local to Miss Iowa, to MissAmerica.
How long did it take you to getto that very stable physique
that you said, that you stillhave right now?
Chelsea (14:39):
Not quite a year.
Okay, I would say I mean gosh,gosh.
If I think about the timelinewhen I graduated from school, I
was the heaviest I had ever been.
That was.
That was when I had like pseudoretired from pageantry.
I had a lot going on.
I really wanted to focus on mysinging career.
(15:00):
I, I, my hormones were all outof whack.
I had a lot of stress Like I.
I honestly call that the worstyear of my life, 2015,.
Not great for Chelsea, um, andat that point I was just.
I was the heaviest I'd everbeen, not feeling great, very
emotional, I think.
I was honestly like prettydepressed and she, I, I.
(15:25):
The only thing that really waskind of my saving grace was
realizing that when, wheneverything in life was out of my
control, the only thing that Icould control was how well I
could take care of my body,because it seemed like every
direction I turned like someonereally disappointed me, let me
down, stab me in the back, orsome job thing didn't come
(15:47):
through, or a new bill that Icouldn't pay happened, or
someone else left my life, likeall of these things kind of just
came to a head, but the onething I could control is how
well I took care of my body andthat was really the impetus to
starting a gym routine andfocusing on nutrition a little
more seriously.
Starting a gym routine andfocusing on nutrition a little
(16:09):
more seriously, um, and so I hadhired a personal trainer even
though I was like broker than ajoke, honestly.
I went to a local gym.
Actually, this is what I did.
I graduated and I was usingdifferent various friends who
were still students.
I was using their student ID tostill get into the gym at
school until, like, schoolstarted again and they needed
their IDs back.
So then then I went to, I didthe free week trial at every
(16:33):
local gym for probably twomonths and I landed at one where
you know, they offered the freepersonal training session.
It's pretty typical practiceHappened have this free session,
um, with a guy named eric, andlike he was the first person to
really show, like he genuinelycared and saw, saw potential in
(16:57):
me, and like I don't know, justlike one, he was cute and I was
like, okay, I can maybe makethis work.
And two, he actually genuinelycared about me.
And so I remember calling mymom and she said, chelsea, if
this is the thing that's goingto get you out of your funk,
then invest the money will comeback, okay, you know, if it's
(17:18):
God's plan, he'll make it work,if it's going to make you feel
good.
And so I got a few personaltraining sessions with him and
then he um, he helped me get outof my funk and actually helped
redirect my career path that Ibecame a personal trainer, and
the rest is history.
So shout out to Eric Um, we'restill friends to this day, so,
(17:40):
um, but yeah, that was like ayear process to get into some
sort of routine.
Once I started being a personaltrainer, I was relatively fit
but still not super happy withmy physique.
(18:01):
I was still kind of recoveringfrom a year of depression and
just not good post-graduate life.
And I would actually I had acoworker who was a CrossFitter
and so we would leave on ourlunch break and go to the
CrossFit gym and get our workoutin and then come back and train
more people at the Globo gymand I would say it was about a
year of that very consistentlyand starting to really dial in
(18:22):
nutrition on a different levelthat I turned around one day and
I was like, oh my God, likethis is I am now the picture
that I used to put on my visionboard of what I wanted to be
like.
It it kind of it seeminglyhappened overnight, even though
I know it was just consistentpart of my routine every day.
And then when I, when I becamea state title holder, I still
(18:44):
did that.
I actually, when I moved acrossthe state into the Miss Iowa
apartment, I found a newCrossFit gym there, even though
I had a sponsored personaltrainer.
I saw both, because I love theCrossFit workout and I love that
community, but then I also lovethe personal trainer too, so it
just was so much a part of methat I needed to incorporate it
(19:05):
throughout.
So anyway, that's another longwinded way of saying about a
year.
Raeanna (19:12):
Okay, I've heard this so many times and I still don't
think I quite understand what itactually in practice.
How does one dial in tonutrition and like the find
their unique nutrition, you know, like what they need to fuel
(19:32):
their bodies and how their bodytabalizes things well, and like,
how do you do that?
Chelsea (19:38):
Well, how much time do you have?
Raeanna (19:40):
I was going to say this is a really, really complicated
question, isn't it?
This is an easy answer, Well,yes, yes and no.
Chelsea (19:48):
I think we have a tendency to overcomplicate it,
quite frankly, which isessentially why I wrote my book.
You know I went throughmultiple iterations of okay.
So I actually started with apaleo, like a paleolithic diet.
That was when paleo was kind ofon the cusp, kind of new, and I
cut out all refined sugars andstarches and and followed paleo
(20:15):
very, very closely for a longtime, which I think did a really
nice job of healing gut healthafter college years when I
definitely wasn't payingattention to my food.
So I'm really grateful for that.
But it came to a point where Iwas very diligent about eating
(20:36):
according to paleo standards butI was missing out on some
quality of life and my bodystill wasn't lean like I wanted
to be.
You know, I was slender but Iwas still fluffy, if that makes
sense.
And so then I startedmanipulating amounts and that's
when I started.
I did the zone diet which a lotof in the CrossFit world.
(20:57):
That's kind of the directionthey tend to take with nutrition
.
They teach the zone diet, whichis just a way of um, portion
control, essentially um or it's.
It's another way of doing macrocounting, if you've heard of
macros.
So so I started taking thequality of paleo and I paired it
(21:19):
with the quantity of the zonediet and from there I started.
I started to learn more aboutokay for me, if I actually have
a little bit more carb centricstuff, I perform a little bit
better at the gym, I can getmore out of my workout, which
means more muscle mass, whichmeans better definition.
You know, if I do protein alittle heavier protein here and
(21:41):
I just kind of started to learnhow I felt based on different
proportions of food.
And what I've learned, both inmy personal practice and through
coaching people through thisnutritional journey, is if we
start with what I call thediamond meal, which just means
you have protein, vegetables,carbs and fat every time you eat
(22:02):
.
You got those four points.
You have the diamond meal everytime you eat.
Now we just need to figure outwhere the nuance of you
specifically comes in is howmuch of each does your body like
, based on you know, your uh,your hormones, where you're at
in life stress levels, what kindof workouts are you doing?
What's your overall goal,physique-wise, performance-wise?
(22:26):
Those are all going to changethose levers a little bit.
Do you need more carbs?
Do you need less carbs, morefat, less fat, and then just
learning what foods fit intoeach of those categories is kind
of a learning curve.
But that's how you dial it in.
Everyone can afford to eat.
That's how you dial it in.
Everyone can afford to eatcleaner, wholesome from the
earth foods.
That goes without saying.
(22:48):
I think where people get stuckis I'm eating really clean, but
I'm still not losing weight orfeeling toned, or I'm still.
Usually, people have betterenergy if they're eating clean,
but it's just not all the waythere.
But I also don't think we needto weigh and measure absolutely
everything for quality of lifepurposes.
(23:10):
That's just.
That's another stressor, it'sanother thing on the to-do list
and can kind of create arelationship with food that is
super transactional andultimately negative, I found,
and so I am more of a visuallearner and an intuitive eater.
(23:30):
After having done all of theother things, I just find it's
the best and it's the mostsustainable.
Raeanna (23:35):
So that's how you dial it in Quality then quantity and
taking your time and havingpatience with the process than
quantity, and taking your timeand having patience with the
process.
Chelsea (23:47):
Yeah, that's number one , honestly, because you didn't
get to where we are.
Think about it we eat every dayof our lives, right From the
moment you were born.
You know, if you have theability to listen to this
podcast, you probably have theprivilege of eating every day of
your life.
It takes a long time to undothings that you don't want that
(24:07):
have accumulated over a longtime.
Now the difference is, you know, if you're like man, I've been
eating this way for 30 years.
It's going to take me 30 years,not necessarily because with
dedicated focus and going theother direction, you can really
expedite that process.
But yeah, it does take time andit is a learning curve, and what
(24:31):
works for your best friend maynot, and probably will not, work
for you.
It's like putting gas in a FordF-150 and putting gas in a
Honda Civic.
It's going to burn the samefuel very, very differently.
You're going to get two totallydifferent mileages out of those
vehicles.
It could be the exact samegasoline, but they're equipped
(24:55):
differently to burn itdifferently.
And so if the thing that'sworking for your best friend
isn't working for you, okay, nowwe know we can check that box,
that that doesn't work.
Let's move on to the next.
Raeanna (25:07):
Okay, chicken and egg question, cause we like hear
this very common saying of itstarts in the kitchen.
Do you agree with that?
Like, what's what's moreimportant, the fitness routine
or the nutrition?
Chelsea (25:26):
That's a really great question.
I just had 10 differentthoughts of of how I can take
this.
Overall, I'm going to say thefood is more important.
You you cannot outwork a baddiet.
You just can't.
And I've had, I've had clientsI've worked with who have lost
50, 60 pounds and haven'tstepped foot in a gym not once.
(25:49):
So it's possible, it's verypossible, to drastically change
your body just by what you eat.
That being said, the gym is onehour a day and can be very,
very gratifying or whateverworkout routine you're doing.
The one hour a day you getthose endorphins, you feel
powerful and capable and thatcan be a catalyst to wanting to
(26:13):
eat well.
So that's, that's how I likethe order I did it in really is.
Once I started working out andfeeling good, I wanted more of
that and I knew if I ate poorlyI wouldn't like, I would die in
my workouts and I dreaded that.
So it was incentive to me forme to eat better so that I could
push more in the gym.
I could do more things.
I wanted to, you know, squat mybody weight, I want to do
(26:35):
pull-ups, I want to do all thesereally cool, bad-ass things.
But if I wasn't eating well,that all of that would suffer.
So for me it did start with thephysical stuff, but it wasn't
until I I manipulated the foodthat I started to like actually
see abs or muscle definition inmy legs.
Like that won't happen unlessyou're focusing on the food.
Raeanna (27:00):
I find myself getting really frustrated with, like,
not seeing results or not beingable to be consistent.
I get frustrated with the waythat my body's changing with my
age, with hormonal stuff, withstress and other things that are
going on in my life.
Did you experience that whenyou were like early on in this
journey and how did you navigatethat for yourself?
Chelsea (27:20):
I think the frustration I actually think maybe it came
from the other extreme, becausethere was a time there where I
was so focused on being, youknow, especially as a title
holder, and my, my platformliterally was ladies who lift,
strengthening mind and body.
(27:41):
So whenever I showed upsomewhere, I need to exhibit
that, and a lot of the things Idid were very physical.
I had people ask me to come totheir gym, I had people ask me
to lead workouts, you know I hadto show up and be that, and so
I was very, very dialed in andfocused on that for a while, and
I think the frustrationultimately came for me with
(28:03):
letting go of the reins a littlebit.
You're not having to be soregimented for fear of
backsliding, because I knew, Iknew that that happens.
You know, as soon as you stopdoing the thing that got you to
where you are, you're going togo right back to where you
started.
Um, so I think the frustrationhonestly was an inner turmoil of
(28:24):
, well, what if I what I likeget fat, or what if I lose, or
get a, lose a bunch of muscleand gain a bunch of weight by
not being this regimented?
And what I ultimately learnedis, you know, especially as a
woman of faith, like that's notGod's intent Once it.
Once I reached that point, itbecame an idol for me and that's
(28:47):
not healthy either.
So, and I wouldn't say, you know, I didn't struggle with an
eating disorder.
I definitely had disorderedeating patterns, just because it
consumed so much of my thoughts, and so the frustration for me
was just coming out of that.
Not necessarily it was fear ofthe results I didn't want, and
(29:10):
so combating that was an elementof surrender, frankly, and just
letting myself try and dippinga toe into the thing.
That seems difficult and it canbe used the other way around to
, you know, just trying thething.
Maybe I should say it this wayDoing less FAM is often the
(29:31):
solution.
The harder we work at thissometimes not to say that it's
not hard work but if we'rereally punching ourselves trying
to get to these results, we'rejust burning ourselves.
It's a disservice, and I it is.
It is yeah.
So I think that's a reallyroundabout way of answering that
(29:52):
question.
But ultimately I did get to aplace where kind of just let go
trust the process and reallylean on what I know to be true
of like biblical principles andhow the relationship we should
have with food and our body, andhow to best honor our body
versus best punish my body.
Raeanna (30:15):
I think disordered eating is probably way more
common than we realize, and Ithink it's actually more like
socially accepted as well insome ways.
So can you, can you touch onthat?
Can you touch on like what arethe signs of disordered eating
and how do we combat that?
I would imagine it's a lot ofjust like radical acceptance and
(30:38):
self-love and like changinglike our habits of thinking.
But from your perspective, whatis?
What does disordered eatinglook like and how do we combat
that?
Chelsea (30:48):
So in my own experience and I guess with clients that
I've coached too, it shows up asan it's all consuming.
Every single thing you eat youthink about.
Every time you don't eat, youthink about it.
You think about should I eat,should I not eat?
Should I eat this?
What's going to happen if I dohappen?
What's going to happen if Idon't?
(31:08):
And then you eat the thing andthen you think about should I
have eaten that?
Probably not, and it's just aconstant thought process, this
train that never turns off.
(31:37):
So if you've noticed that aboutyourself, or you get done with a
meal and you're not content,you're not okay, like you don't
need seconds or you don't needto somehow manipulate your next
meal because maybe you overdidit in this one.
If you don't just eat a mealand you feel good after and you
can move on and focus on thenext thing, that could be a sign
of disordered eating patterns.
It is really, it can be reallydifficult to break free from
that.
What I notice a lot of times isit's often associated with
those of us who count.
So if we're counting calories,if we're counting macros, if
(32:00):
we're associating numbers withfood and we have this margin
that we're allotted and if we gooutside of that, it's you know
terms for punishment.
That's when we have thisnegative relationship with food
and then we associate our worthand our achievement with how
well we can follow that plan.
Now, that's not to say countingcalories and macros isn't
(32:22):
effective and isn't good, likethere are people I know who can
do that every day for the restof their life and be totally
fine.
But if, if those numbers aresomething that you follow and
then those thoughts are thingsthat you have, that to me is a
red flag and the first thing Iwould do is just we got to stop
counting.
At least stop counting maybecarbs and fat, wean off of that
(32:47):
and just focus on protein.
Make sure you get your proteingoals, let the rest come to you
intuitively.
And that's something I actuallyI teach a lot of my clients,
because most women who come tome for nutrition coaching have
that history with food.
It's just, it's always athought, it's always on the mind
, and they just want to breakfree from that and have yeah,
(33:12):
have that peace and freedom withfood, to not overthink
absolutely everything they eat.
Raeanna (33:18):
I think also just like labeling something as good or
bad, like that judgment of it.
Because the next question I wasgoing to ask you and I realized
it was almost like a one ofthose questions that's kind of
laced in judgment is arecravings bad?
And so then I realized, as soonas I asked if it was bad, I'm
like, well, that's a judgment ofcravings.
But I do kind of want to hearyour perspective on cravings,
(33:39):
because, as you were talkingabout, well, let's stop counting
calories, let's focus or atleast count just the thing that
we know we need to get the mostout of protein, or at least
count just the thing that weknow we need to get the most of
of protein.
Then I'm like, all right, well,yeah, I can get protein in all
day, but what about when I'mcraving things that are high in
carbohydrates or high in fats orhigh in sugar?
Is that a bad thing?
Chelsea (33:58):
How do?
Raeanna (33:58):
you manage that.
Chelsea (34:01):
That's a great question .
So to touch on the point reallyquick, on the good versus bad
foods, I like to think ofeverything on a spectrum and I
really, when I speak about it, Idon't call foods good or bad.
I call them healthful or nothealthful.
Or are they health promoting,are they health detracting?
(34:24):
I love that.
Is this thing going to push youthe needle in the right
direction or in the wrongdirection?
Not good or bad, it's not, youknow, it doesn't have
personality, it is what it is.
But is it serving your goal oris it not?
Is it detracting from your goal?
And so that's how I, when Ilook at a certain food, and
sometimes and I'll be totallyhonest food, and sometimes and
(34:51):
I'll I'll be totally honestSometimes the donut is the like,
I accept the constant, thephysical consequence to that,
because my heart wants it, youknow, and it's not often, and I
have boundaries for that and wecan get into that too.
But, um, but I really, ifthat's the thought, instead of
thinking about how many caloriesit is, and then if I am good or
bad for eating it, I think howam I going to feel after this
physically?
(35:11):
And is it, is it serving mygoals, or is it serving the
flesh, as I call it Right?
Um, so that's kind of thespectrum that I focus on that.
As far as cravings go, I thinkit's really important to discern
the difference between cravingsand temptations.
There's two very differentthings.
(35:32):
I believe that God gave uscravings as a health measure and
protective measure, and sohere's how we know the
difference.
Cravings kind of come on out ofnowhere, nothing really
triggers it, but it's on themind and it's almost insatiable.
You can't not think about ituntil you've satisfied the
(35:52):
craving.
That's different than atemptation which comes after
some sort of trigger.
You thought about it, you sawit, you heard it, you smelled it
.
Someone brought it to theoffice, someone.
You were flipping throughInstagram.
You saw it, something triggeredit in your mind and now you
really want that thing.
(36:13):
But if you can distractyourself for like five minutes,
you kind of forget about it.
So if we know, the differencebetween those temptations are
the things that are impulsiveand we need to stay away from.
Usually, not a lot of people arelike oh my gosh, broccoli, I
really want broccoli now.
Like that's just not really athing, right, it's usually the
(36:35):
unhealthful, not serving ourgoal food choices.
And so if it comes on becauseyou saw it, heard it, whatever,
and it's not infatiable, it'sjust like, oh, that sounds
really good, I really would likethat, and you can kind of
forget about it after a littlebit, you don't need it, whereas
a craving is usually your bodytelling you, hey, I'm really
(36:58):
depleted in XYZ, vitamins andminerals.
I know in a way I can get thosethings from this food that
you've once eaten before.
I'm just going to keep sendingsignals for that thing.
And so one thing that I teachmy clients I have a whole chart
on this is you know, if you'recraving, say, like bread and
pasta and carby stuff, a lot oftimes that means you're, you're
(37:22):
nutrient deficient in nitrogen,you just need more nitrogen.
And so if you know in nitrogen,you just need more nitrogen.
And so if you know like I haveon this chart some real food,
health, nutrient dense choiceshigh in nitrogen are high
protein foods eggs, beans, nutsOkay.
(37:44):
So if you have that craving forlike breads and stuff that you
know is not going to serve yourgoals, you kind of can't shake
it If you can supplement thatwith the things like the meats,
the beans, the nuts or whateverit is in that nutrient.
A lot of times they just goaway.
It's pretty miraculous If yousatisfy that craving with the
thing that you need, you don'tcrave the thing anymore.
Raeanna (38:05):
There's just no real satisfaction when you have like
leaned into a temptation versus,if you've like, satisfied a
craving in a healthy way.
That's a good way to generatelike or to understand the
difference between those two aswell.
So then, how does that tie intoemotional eating?
(38:27):
Because you also you mentionedlike, differentiating between
you.
Know, am I eating because like,because it sounds fun to you,
or like a donut right or versuslike, I'm eating to fulfill some
like deep pain or wound orstress or something?
Chelsea (38:50):
pain or wound or stress or something.
What I like to teach is when,if you struggle with emotional
eating, most of us have a goodidea if that's something that
that we are a victim to, but ifsomething, well, let me pause
because there is a lot of goodemotion I tied, tied to eating
and food.
You know, think about babies.
Before we can communicate, ourreally main mode of
(39:12):
communication is vocalizing,right.
So a hungry baby starts cryingMom knows that cry, feeds baby,
stop crying.
So we're really wired from avery early stage to be emotional
and then treat that emotionwith food.
And that's because food givesus a dopamine response, that
(39:33):
happy hormone in our brain.
When it becomes an issue is thatwhen we grow up and we can
discern between those things andthen we have a negative emotion
and we also use food to treatthat.
You get bad news at work, oryou have a stressful day, or get
in a fight with your spouse orwhatever it may be.
(39:53):
Those negative emotions nowcannot be solved via food.
That dopamine is very fast, itcomes on quick and then dies off
quick.
And so when we find that we'returning to food for the negative
emotions, what I challenge isto anytime you're reaching for
(40:14):
food, in that moment let'sdivert it to another activity,
whether it's sadness or stressor fear or loneliness, those
feelings where it's just easier,even boredom, where she's
easier to grab food and like doan activity, do an activity that
(40:34):
doesn't involve food.
I have a client who, um how shewalks around with a Sudoku book
and anytime she like goes tomindlessly snack on something
emotionally eating, she'll justdo a quick puzzle, snack on
something emotionally eating,she'll just do a quick puzzle
and then her emotions have timeto calm down, she gets more
level, she finds out, oh,actually not hungry, I can go
(40:55):
back to doing whatever I wasdoing.
But I think also happy emotionsare associated, like
celebration, holidays, feasts.
I have a whole chapter on thatin my book, how feasting is
quite literally biblical and weshould have these happy emotions
tied to it.
You know it can quickly crossinto gluttony, but that's
(41:16):
another conversation for anothertime.
But that's it's good Like wecan have emotion tied around
food.
We just need to make sure thatit's in alignment with the goals
.
If it's an emotion that'spulling away from the goal that
we have around physique andhealth and our food intake, then
we need to put some boundarieson it, if that makes sense.
Raeanna (41:38):
It does.
I want to hear more about thebiblical perspective of food and
health and wellness.
When I saw that you hadreleased your book, I was
instantly fascinated by this,because I don't think I've ever
really heard someone use theBible to help teach, educate on
(42:02):
nutrition and wellness.
But it makes perfect sense.
I mean, I have a book behind meon boundaries that is
biblically based in scriptureand helping us understand what
healthy boundaries are so like.
Why wouldn't we have that forall other areas of our life?
And so I love that you've takenthe time to really interpret
this.
So tell me a little bit abouthow the project got started.
I know that you have used yourfaith in your journey in
(42:27):
everything that you've done, butit was a huge impact you've
mentioned in your your healthjourney as well.
So how did you get this idea tostart, start a book and help
other people make thisconnection?
Chelsea (42:38):
Yeah, it's been quite a rollercoaster, honestly I was.
I was reflecting on this as itdid publish.
This has been about a five-yearjourney of writing a book and
it really just came to me oneday.
I really felt like the Lordsaid I need you to write a book.
I was listening to a sermon orsomething and later on he's like
(43:02):
I need you to write a book.
And I said, okay, lord, let'sdo it.
And I remember very specifically, I went to a Barnes and Noble.
I grabbed a fresh, brand newnotebook.
I made my favorite hike in SanDiego, sat down and I was like,
all right, let's go word.
I mean just like a glorifiedjournal entry about my life.
(43:22):
And you know, because we allhave very interesting journeys
and our life experiences canhelp other people and we all
tend to believe we have veryinteresting lives of our own.
And so I was writing and itjust I would hit writer's block
(43:48):
and I was like do I like wheredo I start?
Do I start from, like when Iwas born?
That seems kind of extreme.
Do I start from high school,college, like where I don't know
?
And I said put it away and tryagain and put it away.
And eventually God said youknow, chelsea, this isn't about
you.
I was like oh dang dang talkingabout some humble pie.
(44:09):
Yeah, heard, okay.
So I was like, okay, not aboutme, cool, got it?
Um, so what is it about?
Because I feel like if I'mgonna write a book, I should be
an expert on it and really theonly thing I feel like an expert
on is my own life experiences.
So they put it away for alittle bit longer.
(44:30):
And um, and then another.
I love when god talks to mebecause it's like it just hits
me like a ton of bricks and hetold me I need you to teach
people to eat the way I intended, as clear as day.
And I was like, oh, okay, dang,um, do I even know what that
(44:53):
looks like?
And so it really became ajourney in my own life of am I
eating with what's in alignmentwith what God says?
Cause, as you said, I turned tothe word for guidance on
everything you know, that is our.
That is our like how to do lifefor dummies guidebook.
I do that for relationships andconflict resolution and hope
(45:17):
and grieving.
Why haven't I done this forthis major pain point for a lot
of us, which is the health ofour body and nutrition, and so I
started diving in our body andnutrition, and so I started
diving in, I read some otherkind of Christian health food
books and blogs and articles and, man, just so much was
(45:40):
illuminated for me.
What I found really was a lot ofthe principles that I was
already practicing in my ownlife and already teaching as a
nutritionist were very much inalignment with what the Word
says.
I just wasn't giving God credit,and so what I ended up doing is
breaking it down into 10, well,essentially seven principles,
(46:04):
which is actually funny because,biblically speaking, the number
seven is a very powerful number.
It represents completion andwholeness.
And so he gave me these sevenprinciples that really address
how we in our modern world havea relationship with food that
isn't in alignment with what Godintended, and then backing it
(46:28):
up with with scripture, and itkind of just took off from there
.
Once I got that focus I meanit's happened within like six
months it just like flowed outof me and like God, I really
believe that God inspired thisbook and he just like use my
fingers to literally type it.
So it's really exciting thatit's in other people's hands now
(46:50):
and I pray that it does teachpeople to eat the way he
intended.
So that's, that was the wholepoint of it from the start.
Raeanna (47:00):
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to read this book.
I haven't gotten it yet.
I literally like.
I saw your post earlier thisweek and was like instantly.
Chelsea come talk about it.
I need to know more.
I'm sure everybody else wantsto hear about it too.
Like just because we know in.
In so many different industries, but especially in the pageant
(47:20):
industry, it is so highly drivenby a higher purpose and faith
in something Um it was.
Whether you're a Christian orsome other religion, usually
there is some higher power thatis driving your purpose, and so
we know that Christianity is ahuge component to that.
(47:42):
But you talked about there wasa post that you mentioned that I
realized you're not justtalking about like christians,
because you were talking aboutkosher food and how that
actually ties in too.
So can you talk about, like howthere is some interconnections
between, like you know what thebible says and what other
religions say?
Did you find that in like to bea common thing?
Chelsea (48:05):
specifically judaism, because christianity,
christianity came from judaism,right?
So just kind of context there.
Essentially, what I havediscovered is, for the most part
, we should be eating.
If you want to eat biblically,you should still be eating by
most of jewish practices, thejewish law, um, and I I go into
(48:28):
this in the book, but there'squite a lot of science that
really suggests that what, basedon the health evidence of these
studies, if you eat this waywhich happens to be very much
how Jewish practices follow theJewish food ways um, you're
going to, you're going toprevent all of these illnesses
(48:50):
and sicknesses.
And so, for example, in the bookof Leviticus which is
everyone's favorite book of theBible very dry read, but I spent
a lot of time with Leviticusand I've actually learned to
quite love it there is a verylengthy list of clean versus
unclean foods to eat, and youcan, you can go look that up.
(49:14):
There's a little bit inDeuteronomy too.
But a couple of the things.
It's fascinating to me how someof the things are like oh yeah,
totally, like I would never eatsnake, like that's cool, makes
sense to me and I get thatthat's an unclean food.
Or I would never eat, um, birdsof prey, like vultures, like
got it.
(49:34):
And then there's things thatare like pork on the unclean
list and it's like but I reallylike prosciutto, like I, it's
like I have this, like, butreally, god, like, are you sure
about?
About like that one's changedthough right, and so I have to.
I have to really come to termswith these hard truths of okay,
no, like the word if, if I, if Ithink it's an all or nothing
(49:57):
thing, it's either all true orit's none true.
And I'm of the belief that it'sall true, because then my life
is just totally upside down if Istart to think and like pick
and choose.
So if I accept that the word isall true, then it's saying you
know, for example actually I'lltake this example shellfish is
(50:19):
on the unclean list of foods,technically of the sea creatures
.
It says in scripture of the seacreatures, the ones that are
clean and and good to eat, theymust have both fins and scales,
okay.
If they are lacking one or bothof those, they are unclean to
eat.
Okay.
Now, just reading it that inscripture you're like okay, that
(50:43):
kind of sucks, like I likeshrimp and lobster and like I
love crab cakes, but so, butlike crabs or um, shellfish is a
common one, right and so, butit's on the.
It technically falls underunclean in in scripture and um.
(51:03):
So if you just read scripture,it kind of feels like, all of
these really harsh rules of like, why do you say yes to this and
no to this?
Like?
Isn't everything that Godcreated good?
You know, isn't like.
Why would he make foods thatare not good for us?
And what I've really come tolearn is well, he made animals
and plants, but he didn't makeall of them for our food, and so
(51:25):
he gave us very, very specific.
These are for your food.
These aren't.
These have a different purpose.
Um and so, for example, with theshellfish, um, lobsters, crab,
shrimp, all of those shellfishare known as bottom feeders, so
their role, quite literally, asa species, is to be the, the
(51:47):
ocean floor vacuum.
So they just eat all of the,the garbage and and the waste
and stuff like, not humangarbage, well, maybe, I don't
know, but like all of the, thesea creature waste, that's what
they feed on, and so if we fishthat up and then eat it, now we
are also eating the garbage andthe waste of the water.
(52:08):
They are, but they, they're setup.
Their digestive system is setup to be a filtration system.
If we eat that, we're eatingwhat's in the filter, and so
it's no wonder that there are somany, you know, people with,
like, shellfish allergies, and alot of, um, seafood illnesses
(52:29):
come from shellfish.
And it actually in my research Ifound that it wasn't until uh,
early 1900s that shellfish wasactually even considered a
delicacy at all.
Up until that point it wasprison food, it was used as bait
for other fishing.
It wasn't.
It just wasn't appealing untilwe had, uh, civilization inland
(52:55):
and could ship things in and thepeople inland didn't know any
better, and so they could markit up, and now it became a
delicacy.
Isn't it funny how, just asculture evolves like, and then
we just learn to believe becauseother people told us Right, and
so I learned that and I went toa steakhouse like a week later,
and of course, the surf andturf.
(53:15):
You know, if you want to addthe lobster tail, it's another
$40.
I'm like $40 for garbage fish.
It's so crazy to me.
So, you know, learning thosethings based on what the Bible
says just illuminated so much.
Now, that's I should, I shouldkind of put a caveat to that
(53:35):
just because.
So the difference here let meback up the difference here is
with the Jewish law.
If you are, if you're apracticing Jew, you still eat
that way.
Because you are, you believethat you must follow these rules
for salvation.
So if you are Jewish, followingthese laws is your ticket to
(53:59):
heaven, like, that's how youmake right with God, that's how
you have your sins forgiven,that's how you get to heaven.
As a Christian, we believe thatJesus did that for us, and so
we are no longer bound by theselaws for salvation.
That doesn't mean that they'renot good for us, and so we are
no longer bound by these lawsfor salvation.
That doesn't mean that they'renot good for us.
And so there's a place I forget.
(54:21):
I should have this memorized.
There's a place in matthew wherejesus says because I well, I'll
talk about the mark verse, mark, chapter 7 um.
Jesus says um, don't you knowthat it's not the food that you
eat that defiles you, becausethat just goes into your stomach
, and then you disregard it,right, it's what goes into your
(54:42):
heart that defiles you.
And in Mark it literally saysby saying this Jesus declared
all foods clean.
Okay, so as Christians, that'sthe thought process that we have
Like okay, well, none of thosethings on the clean, unclean
food list apply to us anymore.
But what we miss oftentimes isthe scripture in Matthew, where
(55:02):
Jesus says no, no, no.
This is Chelsea's paraphrase ofthe verse.
He says no, no, no, no.
I didn't come to abolish thelaw, I came to fulfill it.
So hear me out Nothing, no, nota single command of God's, as
small as it may be, will bedisregarded until the whole
(55:23):
thing is fulfilled.
And so if you, if you followthe law and teach to follow the
law, you will be regarded as asgreat in heaven.
If you don't follow the law andteach others not to, you'll be
called the least in heaven.
And so in saying that, he'ssaying this is not your ticket
to heaven anymore.
(55:43):
I took care of that, but it'sstill really good for us to
follow these.
God made these rules for areason for our benefit, for our
health.
So by following them, it's inour best interest physically,
and you can look at the science.
I lay out some of the thingsthat I found.
You can look at the sciencethat we now know.
(56:03):
For example, one of the oldJewish laws is not to eat from a
cracked clay pot.
And again you just read thatand you're like it seems kind of
harsh but okay, like you'reactually supposed to smash it
and destroy it.
What we now know is okay.
So at that time a lot of ourvessels we ate and drank from
(56:25):
clay pots.
If it's cracked and you havefood and water and wine and
things going in there and itnever they didn't have great
sanitation back then.
If it doesn't get clean,bacteria grows and then you get
foodborne illnesses and thenmedicine wasn't super developed
then either People wouldliterally die from the food
(56:45):
bacteria that was growing incracked clay pots.
So sure God maybe didn't likegive us the whole why on it,
right, but we shouldn't have toneed the why just to be obedient
to the law.
It's really in our bestinterest.
Raeanna (56:58):
It's in your best interest, but we still have a
choice, exactly, yep.
So, as a coach who has writtenthis book and done all of this
extensive research and, you know, believes in practicing these
things, how do you approachclients then that are like, well
(57:18):
, like everything in moderation,or like man that sounds really
strict to me?
Or, you know, like, as a coachthat wants to kind of, you know,
fulfill these promises thatyou've made in your faith and
lead people down the right path?
How do you approach instructingsomeone to eat in healthy,
clean ways?
Chelsea (57:38):
Yeah, ultimately it's your body, it's your choice,
it's your relationship with food.
You know if, if you are aperson of faith, you know you
are called to honor and glorifyGod with everything that he's
blessed you with.
This, this body you have is isborrowed property, and so I just
(58:01):
want to make sure that I equipyou with the knowledge you can.
You can do with it as as youplease, but I want to make sure
you totally understand.
Okay, here are the potentialconsequences of these food
choices.
You can make them, but youshould know and be willing to
accept those consequences.
(58:22):
And sometimes I will say I mean,I have clients who know exactly
what to do and then they justcan't help but go to In-N-Out.
And then they usually come backto me and they're like I get it
now, like I, after being, youknow, clean and I'm feeling good
, and then just kind of dippingyour toe back in the old way,
like it's major conviction, andthen it doesn't become a
(58:46):
temptation anymore, and sothat's really how I approach it
Make sure you know what thepotential outcome could be.
You get to make the choicebecause ultimately, you know
I'll be there with you and I canhold your hand, but I'm not
going to force feed you, right.
And then then the lesson sticksso much more if it's not just
(59:06):
like you better not eat this,but it's like, hey, just you
know this could happen.
You try it and you're like,turns out she was right, yeah,
but now you know this couldhappen.
You try it and you're like,turns out she was right, yeah,
but now you know from firsthandexperience.
Raeanna (59:18):
Yeah, there's just something about our human nature
that we just have to find outfor ourselves, isn't there?
Chelsea (59:23):
It's got to be true.
Yes, yeah.
Raeanna (59:25):
Okay, Wrapping up here.
What was the most interestingor surprising thing that you
learned as you were doing yourresearch and writing.
Chelsea (59:37):
I think what I just did a whole Ted talk on with you
like that we really should beadhering to kosher standards for
optimal health.
That really blew my mindbecause I, you know, one of the
phrases that I teach my clientsis if it once walked, flew, swam
(59:58):
or grew, it's real and it it's,it's made for us to eat.
It's God's food.
I genuinely believe that prettymuch up until I found that
piece to write this book, um,and so it's.
It's really made me rethink howI see food and and look at that,
that list of clean versusunclean foods.
(01:00:18):
Um, because, in genesis, so thecreation story, um, we were, we
were vegetarians to begin with.
You know, he, he, god mentions,know, all seed bearing fruit
and plants are made for yourfood, and then the green grasses
(01:00:40):
are are to feed the animals.
He made that distinction.
Then, after the fall and afterthe flood, he essentially
repeats those verses, but headds animals to our, made for
your food.
And so that's where I got theidea of like, okay, well, if God
created it, then we can eat it,you know, unless we know that
(01:01:05):
it's poisonous.
And then that that to me waslike, yeah, one of those like
asterisks, you know right,unless this, but God, god isn't
like that.
It is kind of a like this ishow I'm saying it and if, if
there is an asterisk, he'll giveus the asterisk.
So finding that was actually alot of clarity of like that
(01:01:25):
makes sense.
Why, maybe it's just like Idon't feel the greatest when I
have pork or when I have, um,food that was not in its
original design.
You know, sure Cane, you knowthe sugar cane exists in nature,
but then what we do to itbefore it gets to our plates
(01:01:46):
totally changes the molecularstructure of it.
And then when we digest it,like I can do we can do a whole
other podcast on dairy on thistopic um, by the time I digest
it, I don't feel good.
Well, that doesn't make sensebecause, like the dairy example
god made animals, milk isreferenced and highly regarded
in the bible all over the place.
(01:02:08):
Why do I not feel good?
It's because it's not.
It's not the milk that god made, it's milk plus man
manipulation that I'm digesting.
You got to take that part outand now we're back to the roots
that we should be.
I think that really is thebiggest aha moment for me.
(01:02:29):
That connected.
So many gray areas before arenow very black and white for me.
Raeanna (01:02:35):
Yeah, so do you have a podcast yet?
Chelsea (01:02:41):
You are like the 40th person asking this.
I don't know.
I'm just I.
I could talk about this forever, but do I will?
Will people listen to forever?
That's what I don't know.
We'll see.
I can be persuaded.
Raeanna (01:02:57):
All right, everyone, if you're listening still after oh
my gosh, an incredibleconversation.
Gosh, I hope you are.
That was I was on a podcastlast night and the host was like
, well, if you're still with us,and I was like, oh, that's kind
of sad to think about that.
People just like check out, butit probably happens, right,
(01:03:18):
like this doesn't pertain to me,or I'm busy or I'm not even
paying attention or whatever.
Chelsea (01:03:20):
Like that happens.
Right, we all do it.
But I just listen on one and ahalf speed there you go Get
through it a little bit quicker.
Raeanna (01:03:25):
I mean, we can process it that quickly.
So that's why I don't worry somuch when I'm talking really
fast, because I'm like peoplecan process it, it's fine.
Anyway, if you're listening andyou're like Chelsea, give us
more, tell us more.
Like I need to know more aboutthis, drop a comment, reach out
(01:03:47):
to her because I agree, like Icould.
I could ask you questions forhours on this.
Obviously, I'm like a spongesitting here, like what else did
you know?
How else can I apply this to mylife?
So, as we wrap up, what is onething that you want our
listeners to just take away fromyour experiences, your
expertise, what you learned foryour book?
Like this is my challenge toyou.
Chelsea (01:04:06):
Narrow it down to one thing that you want to make sure
that they hear from you in aworld where diet, nutrition and
health is so confusing lots ofcontradictory ideas, some things
that work for some people don'twork for others and just a very
(01:04:28):
frustrating process for a lotof us in the midst of that world
.
We have a guidebook that tellsus a very simple,
straightforward answer to all ofthose questions, and so my
challenge is, if you want topick up my book it's literally a
hundred pages you can getthrough it in a day and start to
(01:04:50):
focus on your relationship withfood and know that it can be
super easy to feel good,therefore, look good and and not
make food such a burden in ourlife.
Raeanna (01:05:06):
Wow, you really did pull that together.
That was lovely, yes, amazing.
Ok, I'm going to drop a link toaccess your book so everyone
check it out.
In the episode description.
You'll be able to click rightthere.
I'm also going to dropChelsea's handles so that you
can find her on all the placesto follow all of her tidbits
(01:05:30):
about everything health andwellness and faith in the
journey and just how awesome sheis.
So, chelsea, thank you so muchfor your time today for hopping
on to talk about something thatwe are all like.
It's all on our minds becausewe all, like you said, we eat
every single day, so this issomething that is obviously
(01:05:50):
really relevant to every singleone of us, and then especially
those of you that are listeningthat are trying to prepare for a
competition.
One of the things we didn'ttalk about that we could easily
have dove into is, like theimportance of building up your
muscle, your strength, yourendurance, and you do that like
food, nutrition and fitness inorder to be the best title
holder and representative thatyou can be.
(01:06:11):
So, as you're preparing forwhatever upcoming competition
that you have, keep that in mindthat it needs to always be
primarily like your overallhealth and wellness, endurance,
strength, able to do the jobreally well and take it to the
national level.
If that's the next step, thatneeds to be the primary focus,
more than how good you look onstage period Every time 100%
(01:06:35):
Amen yes.
Cool, all right.
Well, thanks for listeningeveryone.
Chelsea, thanks again forjoining me.
I'm sure I'll help you back atsome point, because there's just
so much that you can share.
And for the rest of you, staywell, take care of yourselves.
I'll talk to you next week.
Bye.
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to Sash and Soul.
I'm excited to introduce aguest to you today.
We go way back.
We're from the same hometown,but this is Chelsea Constantino,
formerly Chelsea Dubcek, andshe is Miss Iowa 2017.
And now she is an entrepreneur,like Boss Babe, running her
(00:23):
Coach Reign Nutrition program,and I'm excited because we get
to talk about her new book today.
You guys, this is so good.
This is so valuable.
This is going to be one of thebest conversations that you've
heard in a really long time,because so many of you are
prepping for competition andfitness is top of mind, and
nutrition and wellness, so thisis going to be a really great
conversation for you to hear.
(00:44):
So I'm excited to dive in.
Chelsea.
How are you?
It's been a while.
Chelsea (00:48):
It has been a while.
I'm so good.
Thanks for having me on.
I'm excited to be here.
Raeanna (00:53):
Good what's?
new?
Tell me about your life lately.
Chelsea (00:56):
Oh my gosh, it's like what isn't new?
No, things are really reallygood.
I um, like you mentioned, Ijust published a book which is
so wild.
I'm still in the pinch me phaseof that.
I'm getting pictures, peopleare are finally.
I had pre-orders open andpeople are finally getting their
(01:18):
copies.
I'm getting pictures right andleft of I finally got your book,
which is insane that this thingI've been working on for gosh
like five years now is is inprint.
People anywhere around theworld can actually just like hop
on a website and order it, sothat's the main thing.
That's kind of consuming all ofmy attention.
Raeanna (01:38):
Crazy.
And how's married life Stillgood.
Chelsea (01:41):
Marriage is awesome.
I love my husband so much.
He is truly my best friend.
Um, actually, our ouranniversary is coming up in a
couple of weeks three years ofmarriage which is also crazy to
think about.
Thank you, yeah, we're gonnatake another big trip.
We love to travel, so if youfollow along on social, I I post
(02:02):
a lot about that, but we'retaking a big trip to Italy to
celebrate, which I'm veryexcited for.
Raeanna (02:08):
So, yeah, have you been to Italy?
Chelsea (02:14):
We, on our honeymoon, we took a Mediterranean cruise,
and so the first stop was, andone of the last stops was, in
Italy, and we knew once we werethere, we're like, okay, we're
definitely coming back here, andso that has been the plan.
We're gonna make our.
We're basically doing a wholetour of Italy, starting north,
ending in Sicily, at the, at thebottom, and we're gonna revisit
(02:36):
our favorite place that we wentto on our honeymoon.
So it's a little coastal towncalled taramina yes actually
have you really okay?
Raeanna (02:49):
yes, because I was hoping that it was going to be a
place that I had been.
So we went on our one yearanniversary trip to italy and we
did something very similar toyou.
We were there for two weeks andtaramina was one of our, one of
our places that we stopped at.
Oh my gosh, oh yay, this is sogood.
Chelsea (03:01):
Yeah, oh, it's just so, it's a OK.
So if anyone's seen White Lotus, the second season takes place
in Tarmina and we'd already beenthere when we started watching
that and in the intro we're likewait, that looks familiar, that
train station looks familiar.
We're like, oh my gosh, we'veliterally been here before.
So yeah, it's just a beautifulpostcard, perfect place to be.
(03:27):
So we're, we can't, I can'tbelieve we've been there.
I've never actually met someoneelse who from the states, who's
been there.
Raeanna (03:30):
So, yes, yeah, we went to Rome, we went to Positano,
which I highly recommend,beautiful uh, terramina,
sorrento and Catania oh dang,okay, yeah, italy great like
italy is just so great, it's sogreat, I can't we want to move
(03:50):
there.
It is the food, the people, thesites, the weather, all of it
all the things, yeah, all thethings agreed yeah, all right.
So for those of you that don'tknow you as a pageant girl, um,
tell us a little bit about yourjourney.
It's been a hot minute.
I know I celebrated 10 yearsthis year, so I get it.
(04:11):
What I did, I did, but you'reyounger than me, so your time is
coming, my friend.
The decade mark.
Yeah, it's fun.
Chelsea (04:25):
Dang, okay, yeah, yeah, I guess it has been 10 years um
for you.
I I'm close um, so, as youmentioned um in your intro, yeah
, we go way back um.
I started my journey competingin the Miss America program as
an outstanding team when it wasstill called outstanding team.
(04:46):
I was dating myself andprogressed into the Miss
competition.
My first title was Miss Holman,which is also one of your
titles, my very first title,miss Holman, was it?
Was it Okay?
Yeah, shout out to the hometown.
(05:11):
And I just kind of went fromthere.
I competed in the Wisconsinsystem for a little while, but I
went to school in Iowa andafter I graduated from
university I stayed in Iowa.
I was working there and sotherefore, I was eligible to
compete in Iowa and it reallyjust came down to one year.
Um, one of one of the othergirls that we competed with was
(05:32):
like, hey, are you gonna compete?
We aged out this year.
What are you thinking?
And I kind of like, kind of putit away honestly.
Um, she's like, just do it forthe.
I was in boatloads of studentloan debt.
I wanted an opportunity to singagain and so I just did that.
One last, one, last rally,ended up winning my local title
(05:53):
in in Des Moines and thencompeted for Miss Iowa and won
Miss Iowa, got to fulfill thedream of Miss America and, quite
literally, my life changedforever because of that
experience wouldn't change itfor anything when you first
started competing and kind oflike, through the time that you
won Miss Iowa, your talent wasvocal right and at the time we
(06:20):
were doing swimsuit.
Raeanna (06:23):
yeah, what was the fitness journey like for you?
And I ask specifically becauseI have an understanding of your
fitness journey and I love itand that's really what I want to
talk about most today.
Chelsea (06:35):
Totally, totally, um.
Contrary to popular beliefabout what can happen in the
psyche of preparing for aswimsuit in a pageant setting, I
think it was quite truly thebest thing for me.
I learned so much in preparingfor any any of the times I
(06:59):
competed that required swimsuit,um, because it came down to the
fact that, just knowing my body, I was never going to be the
thinnest person up there.
I just knew that I was alwaysvery I have an athletic,
muscular build, um, kind of havetree trunks for thighs, which I
, I love, and I I use that termendearingly but I was just never
(07:23):
going to be the super smallgirl.
And to me, I took veryseriously you know they called
it lifestyle and fitness andswimwear.
I took very seriously thelifestyle and fitness part of
that, regardless of what I waswearing, and so I really wanted
to approach this as asustainable, sustainable way
(07:43):
that I could this.
However, however, I was goingto prepare for competition.
I wanted to look the same atthe end of my year as I did the
day one of my year, and it wasnever more obvious to me that
how important that was than whenI was a state federal holder,
and every day you are in a newplace, you're often sleeping in
(08:03):
weird hotels and you're just.
You're always traveling, youhave odd hours, you don't know
what's going to be accessible toyou, and so the skills that I
learned in preparing for thestate title holder job are
really what sustained me throughthat, because every single day
you show up as Miss State,whatever.
(08:25):
There's a really good chancethat whoever you meet has never
met a Miss State and so that'stheir only experience and
interaction with the MissAmerica organization in general
or any title, any pageantorganization, and so you have to
be on every single day for awhole year, and if you're eating
garbage and you feel likegarbage and you're doing
(08:47):
convenience because that's theeasy thing to do, you're going
to take a toll, and so I guessthat's a that's a long winded
way of saying it was truly thebest thing for me and it has set
me up for success where I now Imean almost 10 years after
becoming Miss Iowa I I am very,very close still to my
(09:10):
competition physique, justbecause it's literally my
lifestyle, it's just how, how Iexist.
I didn't have to go through anyarduous diet or workout plan
specifically to prep for stateor prep for up plan specifically
to prep for state or prep forMiss America, or whatever.
It's just how I exist, and so,um, did I even answer?
your question.
Raeanna (09:30):
You did and I want to.
I want to talk more about thisbecause I was wondering, before
I hopped on the call with you,if you did any of like the like,
the building and then cuttingtype thing that that a lot of
like bodybuilders or swimsuitcompetitors do.
Chelsea (09:46):
Yeah, I actually didn't know.
I, um, when I was competing forthat, that last time that I
went to compete for anything andI ended up winning local and
then winning Miss Iowa, I hadjust started my CrossFit journey
.
Up until then I really wasdoing random fitness things you
(10:08):
know, pinterest workouts.
I found I had a personaltrainer for a little while who
taught me a lot, but I didn'thave really an organized fitness
routine that was anythingroutine, that was anything
(10:29):
purposeful and I didn't what Ithought I knew about nutrition.
Then I had really no idea.
I just the the.
When I first started it was kindof a okay, I'm not going to
have mac and cheese when I wouldnormally have mac and cheese.
Like it was cutting out theobvious.
This is not beneficial for me,health wise.
Um, and that was at the reallystart of my, my pageant journey,
(10:50):
when I was that last time thatit really like mattered to me
honestly the most.
I was already doing CrossFit,which incorporates a nutritional
aspect, so I was alreadylearning that just for my own
health and benefit and wellbeing.
So it just translated superwell into preparing for state.
I quite literally did nothingdifferently preparing for state
(11:13):
and preparing for Miss Americathan I was already doing in my
everyday life.
I actually remember this iskind of a funny story I was
working for I was a voiceteacher, part-time on the side,
and I remember being in thekitchen at the voice studio
between students just heating upmy dinner.
I always had dinner that Ialready made from my house and
(11:37):
I'd bring it with me.
I was heating it up and thehusband of my boss essentially
happened to oversee me heatingup my dinner and he looks.
He said I thought you weregetting ready for Miss Iowa.
I said yeah, I absolutely am.
I said why aren't you supposedto starve yourself?
(11:57):
That's a lot of food.
Oh, and I will.
I will never forget him sayingthat because at that moment I
was like this is my chance tolike, change the dialogue.
And he said this is what I,this is what I eat every single
day.
Uh, this is my normal meal.
And actually, no, you don'thave to starve yourself.
Um, I'm very much against that.
(12:19):
I need to fuel my workouts sothat I can build muscle, so that
I can have a physique.
I'm proud of my workouts sothat I can build muscle, so that
I can have a physique.
I'm proud of walking on stage.
I care more about being capableand alert than being as skinny
as possible, and it just blewhis mind.
Raeanna (12:34):
Wait, what were you eating that day, do you remember
?
I need to know what was on theplate
Chelsea (12:38):
I had meatloaf, brussels sprouts and like a
sweet potato mash.
So simple
that sounds delicious,
but it was a pretty like sizable Pyrex dish, you
know, but yeah, oh my gosh, verydelicious.
I probably should have been moremindful about reheating
(12:58):
Brussels sprouts in a community,yeah, but he was shocked about
that and I'll I'll never forgetthat.
That was a very proud moment forme of like no, actually, you
don't.
And then I even better, when Iwent to miss Iowa a few weeks
later and I won swimsuit in myprelim and that to me it was
(13:20):
just like, see, it's like thisis I truly care about the
lifestyle and fitness part of it, not just cutting as much as
possible, to be as skinny aspossible.
And I wanted especially becausethat was my platform at the
time, or my social initiative,right, I wanted I wanted to
display true health andlifestyle.
(13:41):
And again, looking the same atthe end of the year as I did on
day one was really important tome.
And I think, for the same atthe end of the year as I did on
day one was really important tome.
And I think for the most partthere was probably some
inflammation that's just comesfrom stress of the job, but for
the most part I, you know Icould still wear my entire
wardrobe from when I competed towhen I passed on the title.
Raeanna (13:59):
I love that I could, but it was because the stress
was affecting me in in terms of,like, losing weight, and so I
just, yeah, I that stress doesnot affect me like that anymore.
My, my metabolism has certainlychanged and my body chemistry
has changed since then.
I'm in my thirties now and soit's just a little bit different
(14:19):
how stress affects me.
But yeah, how long did it takeyou to get the physique that you
had at Miss Iowa?
So you said that, like youdidn't do anything different
from local to Miss Iowa, to MissAmerica.
How long did it take you to getto that very stable physique
that you said, that you stillhave right now?
Chelsea (14:39):
Not quite a year.
Okay, I would say I mean gosh,gosh.
If I think about the timelinewhen I graduated from school, I
was the heaviest I had ever been.
That was.
That was when I had like pseudoretired from pageantry.
I had a lot going on.
I really wanted to focus on mysinging career.
(15:00):
I, I, my hormones were all outof whack.
I had a lot of stress Like I.
I honestly call that the worstyear of my life, 2015,.
Not great for Chelsea, um, andat that point I was just.
I was the heaviest I'd everbeen, not feeling great, very
emotional, I think.
I was honestly like prettydepressed and she, I, I.
(15:25):
The only thing that really waskind of my saving grace was
realizing that when, wheneverything in life was out of my
control, the only thing that Icould control was how well I
could take care of my body,because it seemed like every
direction I turned like someonereally disappointed me, let me
down, stab me in the back, orsome job thing didn't come
(15:47):
through, or a new bill that Icouldn't pay happened, or
someone else left my life, likeall of these things kind of just
came to a head, but the onething I could control is how
well I took care of my body andthat was really the impetus to
starting a gym routine andfocusing on nutrition a little
more seriously.
Starting a gym routine andfocusing on nutrition a little
(16:09):
more seriously, um, and so I hadhired a personal trainer even
though I was like broker than ajoke, honestly.
I went to a local gym.
Actually, this is what I did.
I graduated and I was usingdifferent various friends who
were still students.
I was using their student ID tostill get into the gym at
school until, like, schoolstarted again and they needed
their IDs back.
So then then I went to, I didthe free week trial at every
(16:33):
local gym for probably twomonths and I landed at one where
you know, they offered the freepersonal training session.
It's pretty typical practiceHappened have this free session,
um, with a guy named eric, andlike he was the first person to
really show, like he genuinelycared and saw, saw potential in
(16:57):
me, and like I don't know, justlike one, he was cute and I was
like, okay, I can maybe makethis work.
And two, he actually genuinelycared about me.
And so I remember calling mymom and she said, chelsea, if
this is the thing that's goingto get you out of your funk,
then invest the money will comeback, okay, you know, if it's
(17:18):
God's plan, he'll make it work,if it's going to make you feel
good.
And so I got a few personaltraining sessions with him and
then he um, he helped me get outof my funk and actually helped
redirect my career path that Ibecame a personal trainer, and
the rest is history.
So shout out to Eric Um, we'restill friends to this day, so,
(17:40):
um, but yeah, that was like ayear process to get into some
sort of routine.
Once I started being a personaltrainer, I was relatively fit
but still not super happy withmy physique.
(18:01):
I was still kind of recoveringfrom a year of depression and
just not good post-graduate life.
And I would actually I had acoworker who was a CrossFitter
and so we would leave on ourlunch break and go to the
CrossFit gym and get our workoutin and then come back and train
more people at the Globo gymand I would say it was about a
year of that very consistentlyand starting to really dial in
(18:22):
nutrition on a different levelthat I turned around one day and
I was like, oh my God, likethis is I am now the picture
that I used to put on my visionboard of what I wanted to be
like.
It it kind of it seeminglyhappened overnight, even though
I know it was just consistentpart of my routine every day.
And then when I, when I becamea state title holder, I still
(18:44):
did that.
I actually, when I moved acrossthe state into the Miss Iowa
apartment, I found a newCrossFit gym there, even though
I had a sponsored personaltrainer.
I saw both, because I love theCrossFit workout and I love that
community, but then I also lovethe personal trainer too, so it
just was so much a part of methat I needed to incorporate it
(19:05):
throughout.
So anyway, that's another longwinded way of saying about a
year.
Raeanna (19:12):
Okay, I've heard this so many times and I still don't
think I quite understand what itactually in practice.
How does one dial in tonutrition and like the find
their unique nutrition, you know, like what they need to fuel
(19:32):
their bodies and how their bodytabalizes things well, and like,
how do you do that?
Chelsea (19:38):
Well, how much time do you have?
Raeanna (19:40):
I was going to say this is a really, really complicated
question, isn't it?
This is an easy answer, Well,yes, yes and no.
Chelsea (19:48):
I think we have a tendency to overcomplicate it,
quite frankly, which isessentially why I wrote my book.
You know I went throughmultiple iterations of okay.
So I actually started with apaleo, like a paleolithic diet.
That was when paleo was kind ofon the cusp, kind of new, and I
cut out all refined sugars andstarches and and followed paleo
(20:15):
very, very closely for a longtime, which I think did a really
nice job of healing gut healthafter college years when I
definitely wasn't payingattention to my food.
So I'm really grateful for that.
But it came to a point where Iwas very diligent about eating
(20:36):
according to paleo standards butI was missing out on some
quality of life and my bodystill wasn't lean like I wanted
to be.
You know, I was slender but Iwas still fluffy, if that makes
sense.
And so then I startedmanipulating amounts and that's
when I started.
I did the zone diet which a lotof in the CrossFit world.
(20:57):
That's kind of the directionthey tend to take with nutrition
.
They teach the zone diet, whichis just a way of um, portion
control, essentially um or it's.
It's another way of doing macrocounting, if you've heard of
macros.
So so I started taking thequality of paleo and I paired it
(21:19):
with the quantity of the zonediet and from there I started.
I started to learn more aboutokay for me, if I actually have
a little bit more carb centricstuff, I perform a little bit
better at the gym, I can getmore out of my workout, which
means more muscle mass, whichmeans better definition.
You know, if I do protein alittle heavier protein here and
(21:41):
I just kind of started to learnhow I felt based on different
proportions of food.
And what I've learned, both inmy personal practice and through
coaching people through thisnutritional journey, is if we
start with what I call thediamond meal, which just means
you have protein, vegetables,carbs and fat every time you eat
(22:02):
.
You got those four points.
You have the diamond meal everytime you eat.
Now we just need to figure outwhere the nuance of you
specifically comes in is howmuch of each does your body like
, based on you know, your uh,your hormones, where you're at
in life stress levels, what kindof workouts are you doing?
What's your overall goal,physique-wise, performance-wise?
(22:26):
Those are all going to changethose levers a little bit.
Do you need more carbs?
Do you need less carbs, morefat, less fat, and then just
learning what foods fit intoeach of those categories is kind
of a learning curve.
But that's how you dial it in.
Everyone can afford to eat.
That's how you dial it in.
Everyone can afford to eatcleaner, wholesome from the
earth foods.
That goes without saying.
(22:48):
I think where people get stuckis I'm eating really clean, but
I'm still not losing weight orfeeling toned, or I'm still.
Usually, people have betterenergy if they're eating clean,
but it's just not all the waythere.
But I also don't think we needto weigh and measure absolutely
everything for quality of lifepurposes.
(23:10):
That's just.
That's another stressor, it'sanother thing on the to-do list
and can kind of create arelationship with food that is
super transactional andultimately negative, I found,
and so I am more of a visuallearner and an intuitive eater.
(23:30):
After having done all of theother things, I just find it's
the best and it's the mostsustainable.
Raeanna (23:35):
So that's how you dial it in Quality then quantity and
taking your time and havingpatience with the process than
quantity, and taking your timeand having patience with the
process.
Chelsea (23:47):
Yeah, that's number one , honestly, because you didn't
get to where we are.
Think about it we eat every dayof our lives, right From the
moment you were born.
You know, if you have theability to listen to this
podcast, you probably have theprivilege of eating every day of
your life.
It takes a long time to undothings that you don't want that
(24:07):
have accumulated over a longtime.
Now the difference is, you know, if you're like man, I've been
eating this way for 30 years.
It's going to take me 30 years,not necessarily because with
dedicated focus and going theother direction, you can really
expedite that process.
But yeah, it does take time andit is a learning curve, and what
(24:31):
works for your best friend maynot, and probably will not, work
for you.
It's like putting gas in a FordF-150 and putting gas in a
Honda Civic.
It's going to burn the samefuel very, very differently.
You're going to get two totallydifferent mileages out of those
vehicles.
It could be the exact samegasoline, but they're equipped
(24:55):
differently to burn itdifferently.
And so if the thing that'sworking for your best friend
isn't working for you, okay, nowwe know we can check that box,
that that doesn't work.
Let's move on to the next.
Raeanna (25:07):
Okay, chicken and egg question, cause we like hear
this very common saying of itstarts in the kitchen.
Do you agree with that?
Like, what's what's moreimportant, the fitness routine
or the nutrition?
Chelsea (25:26):
That's a really great question.
I just had 10 differentthoughts of of how I can take
this.
Overall, I'm going to say thefood is more important.
You you cannot outwork a baddiet.
You just can't.
And I've had, I've had clientsI've worked with who have lost
50, 60 pounds and haven'tstepped foot in a gym not once.
(25:49):
So it's possible, it's verypossible, to drastically change
your body just by what you eat.
That being said, the gym is onehour a day and can be very,
very gratifying or whateverworkout routine you're doing.
The one hour a day you getthose endorphins, you feel
powerful and capable and thatcan be a catalyst to wanting to
(26:13):
eat well.
So that's, that's how I likethe order I did it in really is.
Once I started working out andfeeling good, I wanted more of
that and I knew if I ate poorlyI wouldn't like, I would die in
my workouts and I dreaded that.
So it was incentive to me forme to eat better so that I could
push more in the gym.
I could do more things.
I wanted to, you know, squat mybody weight, I want to do
(26:35):
pull-ups, I want to do all thesereally cool, bad-ass things.
But if I wasn't eating well,that all of that would suffer.
So for me it did start with thephysical stuff, but it wasn't
until I I manipulated the foodthat I started to like actually
see abs or muscle definition inmy legs.
Like that won't happen unlessyou're focusing on the food.
Raeanna (27:00):
I find myself getting really frustrated with, like,
not seeing results or not beingable to be consistent.
I get frustrated with the waythat my body's changing with my
age, with hormonal stuff, withstress and other things that are
going on in my life.
Did you experience that whenyou were like early on in this
journey and how did you navigatethat for yourself?
Chelsea (27:20):
I think the frustration I actually think maybe it came
from the other extreme, becausethere was a time there where I
was so focused on being, youknow, especially as a title
holder, and my, my platformliterally was ladies who lift,
strengthening mind and body.
(27:41):
So whenever I showed upsomewhere, I need to exhibit
that, and a lot of the things Idid were very physical.
I had people ask me to come totheir gym, I had people ask me
to lead workouts, you know I hadto show up and be that, and so
I was very, very dialed in andfocused on that for a while, and
I think the frustrationultimately came for me with
(28:03):
letting go of the reins a littlebit.
You're not having to be soregimented for fear of
backsliding, because I knew, Iknew that that happens.
You know, as soon as you stopdoing the thing that got you to
where you are, you're going togo right back to where you
started.
Um, so I think the frustrationhonestly was an inner turmoil of
(28:24):
, well, what if I what I likeget fat, or what if I lose, or
get a, lose a bunch of muscleand gain a bunch of weight by
not being this regimented?
And what I ultimately learnedis, you know, especially as a
woman of faith, like that's notGod's intent Once it.
Once I reached that point, itbecame an idol for me and that's
(28:47):
not healthy either.
So, and I wouldn't say, you know, I didn't struggle with an
eating disorder.
I definitely had disorderedeating patterns, just because it
consumed so much of my thoughts, and so the frustration for me
was just coming out of that.
Not necessarily it was fear ofthe results I didn't want, and
(29:10):
so combating that was an elementof surrender, frankly, and just
letting myself try and dippinga toe into the thing.
That seems difficult and it canbe used the other way around to
, you know, just trying thething.
Maybe I should say it this wayDoing less FAM is often the
(29:31):
solution.
The harder we work at thissometimes not to say that it's
not hard work but if we'rereally punching ourselves trying
to get to these results, we'rejust burning ourselves.
It's a disservice, and I it is.
It is yeah.
So I think that's a reallyroundabout way of answering that
(29:52):
question.
But ultimately I did get to aplace where kind of just let go
trust the process and reallylean on what I know to be true
of like biblical principles andhow the relationship we should
have with food and our body, andhow to best honor our body
versus best punish my body.
Raeanna (30:15):
I think disordered eating is probably way more
common than we realize, and Ithink it's actually more like
socially accepted as well insome ways.
So can you, can you touch onthat?
Can you touch on like what arethe signs of disordered eating
and how do we combat that?
I would imagine it's a lot ofjust like radical acceptance and
(30:38):
self-love and like changinglike our habits of thinking.
But from your perspective, whatis?
What does disordered eatinglook like and how do we combat
that?
Chelsea (30:48):
So in my own experience and I guess with clients that
I've coached too, it shows up asan it's all consuming.
Every single thing you eat youthink about.
Every time you don't eat, youthink about it.
You think about should I eat,should I not eat?
Should I eat this?
What's going to happen if I dohappen?
What's going to happen if Idon't?
(31:08):
And then you eat the thing andthen you think about should I
have eaten that?
Probably not, and it's just aconstant thought process, this
train that never turns off.
(31:37):
So if you've noticed that aboutyourself, or you get done with a
meal and you're not content,you're not okay, like you don't
need seconds or you don't needto somehow manipulate your next
meal because maybe you overdidit in this one.
If you don't just eat a mealand you feel good after and you
can move on and focus on thenext thing, that could be a sign
of disordered eating patterns.
It is really, it can be reallydifficult to break free from
that.
What I notice a lot of times isit's often associated with
those of us who count.
So if we're counting calories,if we're counting macros, if
(32:00):
we're associating numbers withfood and we have this margin
that we're allotted and if we gooutside of that, it's you know
terms for punishment.
That's when we have thisnegative relationship with food
and then we associate our worthand our achievement with how
well we can follow that plan.
Now, that's not to say countingcalories and macros isn't
(32:22):
effective and isn't good, likethere are people I know who can
do that every day for the restof their life and be totally
fine.
But if, if those numbers aresomething that you follow and
then those thoughts are thingsthat you have, that to me is a
red flag and the first thing Iwould do is just we got to stop
counting.
At least stop counting maybecarbs and fat, wean off of that
(32:47):
and just focus on protein.
Make sure you get your proteingoals, let the rest come to you
intuitively.
And that's something I actuallyI teach a lot of my clients,
because most women who come tome for nutrition coaching have
that history with food.
It's just, it's always athought, it's always on the mind
, and they just want to breakfree from that and have yeah,
(33:12):
have that peace and freedom withfood, to not overthink
absolutely everything they eat.
Raeanna (33:18):
I think also just like labeling something as good or
bad, like that judgment of it.
Because the next question I wasgoing to ask you and I realized
it was almost like a one ofthose questions that's kind of
laced in judgment is arecravings bad?
And so then I realized, as soonas I asked if it was bad, I'm
like, well, that's a judgment ofcravings.
But I do kind of want to hearyour perspective on cravings,
(33:39):
because, as you were talkingabout, well, let's stop counting
calories, let's focus or atleast count just the thing that
we know we need to get the mostout of protein, or at least
count just the thing that weknow we need to get the most of
of protein.
Then I'm like, all right, well,yeah, I can get protein in all
day, but what about when I'mcraving things that are high in
carbohydrates or high in fats orhigh in sugar?
Is that a bad thing?
Chelsea (33:58):
How do?
Raeanna (33:58):
you manage that.
Chelsea (34:01):
That's a great question .
So to touch on the point reallyquick, on the good versus bad
foods, I like to think ofeverything on a spectrum and I
really, when I speak about it, Idon't call foods good or bad.
I call them healthful or nothealthful.
Or are they health promoting,are they health detracting?
(34:24):
I love that.
Is this thing going to push youthe needle in the right
direction or in the wrongdirection?
Not good or bad, it's not, youknow, it doesn't have
personality, it is what it is.
But is it serving your goal oris it not?
Is it detracting from your goal?
And so that's how I, when Ilook at a certain food, and
sometimes and I'll be totallyhonest food, and sometimes and
(34:51):
I'll I'll be totally honestSometimes the donut is the like,
I accept the constant, thephysical consequence to that,
because my heart wants it, youknow, and it's not often, and I
have boundaries for that and wecan get into that too.
But, um, but I really, ifthat's the thought, instead of
thinking about how many caloriesit is, and then if I am good or
bad for eating it, I think howam I going to feel after this
physically?
(35:11):
And is it, is it serving mygoals, or is it serving the
flesh, as I call it Right?
Um, so that's kind of thespectrum that I focus on that.
As far as cravings go, I thinkit's really important to discern
the difference between cravingsand temptations.
There's two very differentthings.
(35:32):
I believe that God gave uscravings as a health measure and
protective measure, and sohere's how we know the
difference.
Cravings kind of come on out ofnowhere, nothing really
triggers it, but it's on themind and it's almost insatiable.
You can't not think about ituntil you've satisfied the
(35:52):
craving.
That's different than atemptation which comes after
some sort of trigger.
You thought about it, you sawit, you heard it, you smelled it
.
Someone brought it to theoffice, someone.
You were flipping throughInstagram.
You saw it, something triggeredit in your mind and now you
really want that thing.
(36:13):
But if you can distractyourself for like five minutes,
you kind of forget about it.
So if we know, the differencebetween those temptations are
the things that are impulsiveand we need to stay away from.
Usually, not a lot of people arelike oh my gosh, broccoli, I
really want broccoli now.
Like that's just not really athing, right, it's usually the
(36:35):
unhealthful, not serving ourgoal food choices.
And so if it comes on becauseyou saw it, heard it, whatever,
and it's not infatiable, it'sjust like, oh, that sounds
really good, I really would likethat, and you can kind of
forget about it after a littlebit, you don't need it, whereas
a craving is usually your bodytelling you, hey, I'm really
(36:58):
depleted in XYZ, vitamins andminerals.
I know in a way I can get thosethings from this food that
you've once eaten before.
I'm just going to keep sendingsignals for that thing.
And so one thing that I teachmy clients I have a whole chart
on this is you know, if you'recraving, say, like bread and
pasta and carby stuff, a lot oftimes that means you're, you're
(37:22):
nutrient deficient in nitrogen,you just need more nitrogen.
And so if you know in nitrogen,you just need more nitrogen.
And so if you know like I haveon this chart some real food,
health, nutrient dense choiceshigh in nitrogen are high
protein foods eggs, beans, nutsOkay.
(37:44):
So if you have that craving forlike breads and stuff that you
know is not going to serve yourgoals, you kind of can't shake
it If you can supplement thatwith the things like the meats,
the beans, the nuts or whateverit is in that nutrient.
A lot of times they just goaway.
It's pretty miraculous If yousatisfy that craving with the
thing that you need, you don'tcrave the thing anymore.
Raeanna (38:05):
There's just no real satisfaction when you have like
leaned into a temptation versus,if you've like, satisfied a
craving in a healthy way.
That's a good way to generatelike or to understand the
difference between those two aswell.
So then, how does that tie intoemotional eating?
(38:27):
Because you also you mentionedlike, differentiating between
you.
Know, am I eating because like,because it sounds fun to you,
or like a donut right or versuslike, I'm eating to fulfill some
like deep pain or wound orstress or something?
Chelsea (38:50):
pain or wound or stress or something.
What I like to teach is when,if you struggle with emotional
eating, most of us have a goodidea if that's something that
that we are a victim to, but ifsomething, well, let me pause
because there is a lot of goodemotion I tied, tied to eating
and food.
You know, think about babies.
Before we can communicate, ourreally main mode of
(39:12):
communication is vocalizing,right.
So a hungry baby starts cryingMom knows that cry, feeds baby,
stop crying.
So we're really wired from avery early stage to be emotional
and then treat that emotionwith food.
And that's because food givesus a dopamine response, that
(39:33):
happy hormone in our brain.
When it becomes an issue is thatwhen we grow up and we can
discern between those things andthen we have a negative emotion
and we also use food to treatthat.
You get bad news at work, oryou have a stressful day, or get
in a fight with your spouse orwhatever it may be.
(39:53):
Those negative emotions nowcannot be solved via food.
That dopamine is very fast, itcomes on quick and then dies off
quick.
And so when we find that we'returning to food for the negative
emotions, what I challenge isto anytime you're reaching for
(40:14):
food, in that moment let'sdivert it to another activity,
whether it's sadness or stressor fear or loneliness, those
feelings where it's just easier,even boredom, where she's
easier to grab food and like doan activity, do an activity that
(40:34):
doesn't involve food.
I have a client who, um how shewalks around with a Sudoku book
and anytime she like goes tomindlessly snack on something
emotionally eating, she'll justdo a quick puzzle, snack on
something emotionally eating,she'll just do a quick puzzle
and then her emotions have timeto calm down, she gets more
level, she finds out, oh,actually not hungry, I can go
(40:55):
back to doing whatever I wasdoing.
But I think also happy emotionsare associated, like
celebration, holidays, feasts.
I have a whole chapter on thatin my book, how feasting is
quite literally biblical and weshould have these happy emotions
tied to it.
You know it can quickly crossinto gluttony, but that's
(41:16):
another conversation for anothertime.
But that's it's good Like wecan have emotion tied around
food.
We just need to make sure thatit's in alignment with the goals
.
If it's an emotion that'spulling away from the goal that
we have around physique andhealth and our food intake, then
we need to put some boundarieson it, if that makes sense.
Raeanna (41:38):
It does.
I want to hear more about thebiblical perspective of food and
health and wellness.
When I saw that you hadreleased your book, I was
instantly fascinated by this,because I don't think I've ever
really heard someone use theBible to help teach, educate on
(42:02):
nutrition and wellness.
But it makes perfect sense.
I mean, I have a book behind meon boundaries that is
biblically based in scriptureand helping us understand what
healthy boundaries are so like.
Why wouldn't we have that forall other areas of our life?
And so I love that you've takenthe time to really interpret
this.
So tell me a little bit abouthow the project got started.
I know that you have used yourfaith in your journey in
(42:27):
everything that you've done, butit was a huge impact you've
mentioned in your your healthjourney as well.
So how did you get this idea tostart, start a book and help
other people make thisconnection?
Chelsea (42:38):
Yeah, it's been quite a rollercoaster, honestly I was.
I was reflecting on this as itdid publish.
This has been about a five-yearjourney of writing a book and
it really just came to me oneday.
I really felt like the Lordsaid I need you to write a book.
I was listening to a sermon orsomething and later on he's like
(43:02):
I need you to write a book.
And I said, okay, lord, let'sdo it.
And I remember very specifically, I went to a Barnes and Noble.
I grabbed a fresh, brand newnotebook.
I made my favorite hike in SanDiego, sat down and I was like,
all right, let's go word.
I mean just like a glorifiedjournal entry about my life.
(43:22):
And you know, because we allhave very interesting journeys
and our life experiences canhelp other people and we all
tend to believe we have veryinteresting lives of our own.
And so I was writing and itjust I would hit writer's block
(43:48):
and I was like do I like wheredo I start?
Do I start from, like when Iwas born?
That seems kind of extreme.
Do I start from high school,college, like where I don't know
?
And I said put it away and tryagain and put it away.
And eventually God said youknow, chelsea, this isn't about
you.
I was like oh dang dang talkingabout some humble pie.
(44:09):
Yeah, heard, okay.
So I was like, okay, not aboutme, cool, got it?
Um, so what is it about?
Because I feel like if I'mgonna write a book, I should be
an expert on it and really theonly thing I feel like an expert
on is my own life experiences.
So they put it away for alittle bit longer.
(44:30):
And um, and then another.
I love when god talks to mebecause it's like it just hits
me like a ton of bricks and hetold me I need you to teach
people to eat the way I intended, as clear as day.
And I was like, oh, okay, dang,um, do I even know what that
(44:53):
looks like?
And so it really became ajourney in my own life of am I
eating with what's in alignmentwith what God says?
Cause, as you said, I turned tothe word for guidance on
everything you know, that is our.
That is our like how to do lifefor dummies guidebook.
I do that for relationships andconflict resolution and hope
(45:17):
and grieving.
Why haven't I done this forthis major pain point for a lot
of us, which is the health ofour body and nutrition, and so I
started diving in our body andnutrition, and so I started
diving in, I read some otherkind of Christian health food
books and blogs and articles and, man, just so much was
(45:40):
illuminated for me.
What I found really was a lot ofthe principles that I was
already practicing in my ownlife and already teaching as a
nutritionist were very much inalignment with what the Word
says.
I just wasn't giving God credit,and so what I ended up doing is
breaking it down into 10, well,essentially seven principles,
(46:04):
which is actually funny because,biblically speaking, the number
seven is a very powerful number.
It represents completion andwholeness.
And so he gave me these sevenprinciples that really address
how we in our modern world havea relationship with food that
isn't in alignment with what Godintended, and then backing it
(46:28):
up with with scripture, and itkind of just took off from there
.
Once I got that focus I meanit's happened within like six
months it just like flowed outof me and like God, I really
believe that God inspired thisbook and he just like use my
fingers to literally type it.
So it's really exciting thatit's in other people's hands now
(46:50):
and I pray that it does teachpeople to eat the way he
intended.
So that's, that was the wholepoint of it from the start.
Raeanna (47:00):
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to read this book.
I haven't gotten it yet.
I literally like.
I saw your post earlier thisweek and was like instantly.
Chelsea come talk about it.
I need to know more.
I'm sure everybody else wantsto hear about it too.
Like just because we know in.
In so many different industries, but especially in the pageant
(47:20):
industry, it is so highly drivenby a higher purpose and faith
in something Um it was.
Whether you're a Christian orsome other religion, usually
there is some higher power thatis driving your purpose, and so
we know that Christianity is ahuge component to that.
(47:42):
But you talked about there wasa post that you mentioned that I
realized you're not justtalking about like christians,
because you were talking aboutkosher food and how that
actually ties in too.
So can you talk about, like howthere is some interconnections
between, like you know what thebible says and what other
religions say?
Did you find that in like to bea common thing?
Chelsea (48:05):
specifically judaism, because christianity,
christianity came from judaism,right?
So just kind of context there.
Essentially, what I havediscovered is, for the most part
, we should be eating.
If you want to eat biblically,you should still be eating by
most of jewish practices, thejewish law, um, and I I go into
(48:28):
this in the book, but there'squite a lot of science that
really suggests that what, basedon the health evidence of these
studies, if you eat this waywhich happens to be very much
how Jewish practices follow theJewish food ways um, you're
going to, you're going toprevent all of these illnesses
(48:50):
and sicknesses.
And so, for example, in the bookof Leviticus which is
everyone's favorite book of theBible very dry read, but I spent
a lot of time with Leviticusand I've actually learned to
quite love it there is a verylengthy list of clean versus
unclean foods to eat, and youcan, you can go look that up.
(49:14):
There's a little bit inDeuteronomy too.
But a couple of the things.
It's fascinating to me how someof the things are like oh yeah,
totally, like I would never eatsnake, like that's cool, makes
sense to me and I get thatthat's an unclean food.
Or I would never eat, um, birdsof prey, like vultures, like
got it.
(49:34):
And then there's things thatare like pork on the unclean
list and it's like but I reallylike prosciutto, like I, it's
like I have this, like, butreally, god, like, are you sure
about?
About like that one's changedthough right, and so I have to.
I have to really come to termswith these hard truths of okay,
no, like the word if, if I, if Ithink it's an all or nothing
(49:57):
thing, it's either all true orit's none true.
And I'm of the belief that it'sall true, because then my life
is just totally upside down if Istart to think and like pick
and choose.
So if I accept that the word isall true, then it's saying you
know, for example actually I'lltake this example shellfish is
(50:19):
on the unclean list of foods,technically of the sea creatures
.
It says in scripture of the seacreatures, the ones that are
clean and and good to eat, theymust have both fins and scales,
okay.
If they are lacking one or bothof those, they are unclean to
eat.
Okay.
Now, just reading it that inscripture you're like okay, that
(50:43):
kind of sucks, like I likeshrimp and lobster and like I
love crab cakes, but so, butlike crabs or um, shellfish is a
common one, right and so, butit's on the.
It technically falls underunclean in in scripture and um.
(51:03):
So if you just read scripture,it kind of feels like, all of
these really harsh rules of like, why do you say yes to this and
no to this?
Like?
Isn't everything that Godcreated good?
You know, isn't like.
Why would he make foods thatare not good for us?
And what I've really come tolearn is well, he made animals
and plants, but he didn't makeall of them for our food, and so
(51:25):
he gave us very, very specific.
These are for your food.
These aren't.
These have a different purpose.
Um and so, for example, with theshellfish, um, lobsters, crab,
shrimp, all of those shellfishare known as bottom feeders, so
their role, quite literally, asa species, is to be the, the
(51:47):
ocean floor vacuum.
So they just eat all of the,the garbage and and the waste
and stuff like, not humangarbage, well, maybe, I don't
know, but like all of the, thesea creature waste, that's what
they feed on, and so if we fishthat up and then eat it, now we
are also eating the garbage andthe waste of the water.
(52:08):
They are, but they, they're setup.
Their digestive system is setup to be a filtration system.
If we eat that, we're eatingwhat's in the filter, and so
it's no wonder that there are somany, you know, people with,
like, shellfish allergies, and alot of, um, seafood illnesses
(52:29):
come from shellfish.
And it actually in my research Ifound that it wasn't until uh,
early 1900s that shellfish wasactually even considered a
delicacy at all.
Up until that point it wasprison food, it was used as bait
for other fishing.
It wasn't.
It just wasn't appealing untilwe had, uh, civilization inland
(52:55):
and could ship things in and thepeople inland didn't know any
better, and so they could markit up, and now it became a
delicacy.
Isn't it funny how, just asculture evolves like, and then
we just learn to believe becauseother people told us Right, and
so I learned that and I went toa steakhouse like a week later,
and of course, the surf andturf.
(53:15):
You know, if you want to addthe lobster tail, it's another
$40.
I'm like $40 for garbage fish.
It's so crazy to me.
So, you know, learning thosethings based on what the Bible
says just illuminated so much.
Now, that's I should, I shouldkind of put a caveat to that
(53:35):
just because.
So the difference here let meback up the difference here is
with the Jewish law.
If you are, if you're apracticing Jew, you still eat
that way.
Because you are, you believethat you must follow these rules
for salvation.
So if you are Jewish, followingthese laws is your ticket to
(53:59):
heaven, like, that's how youmake right with God, that's how
you have your sins forgiven,that's how you get to heaven.
As a Christian, we believe thatJesus did that for us, and so
we are no longer bound by theselaws for salvation.
That doesn't mean that they'renot good for us, and so we are
no longer bound by these lawsfor salvation.
That doesn't mean that they'renot good for us.
And so there's a place I forget.
(54:21):
I should have this memorized.
There's a place in matthew wherejesus says because I well, I'll
talk about the mark verse, mark, chapter 7 um.
Jesus says um, don't you knowthat it's not the food that you
eat that defiles you, becausethat just goes into your stomach
, and then you disregard it,right, it's what goes into your
(54:42):
heart that defiles you.
And in Mark it literally saysby saying this Jesus declared
all foods clean.
Okay, so as Christians, that'sthe thought process that we have
Like okay, well, none of thosethings on the clean, unclean
food list apply to us anymore.
But what we miss oftentimes isthe scripture in Matthew, where
(55:02):
Jesus says no, no, no.
This is Chelsea's paraphrase ofthe verse.
He says no, no, no, no.
I didn't come to abolish thelaw, I came to fulfill it.
So hear me out Nothing, no, nota single command of God's, as
small as it may be, will bedisregarded until the whole
(55:23):
thing is fulfilled.
And so if you, if you followthe law and teach to follow the
law, you will be regarded as asgreat in heaven.
If you don't follow the law andteach others not to, you'll be
called the least in heaven.
And so in saying that, he'ssaying this is not your ticket
to heaven anymore.
(55:43):
I took care of that, but it'sstill really good for us to
follow these.
God made these rules for areason for our benefit, for our
health.
So by following them, it's inour best interest physically,
and you can look at the science.
I lay out some of the thingsthat I found.
You can look at the sciencethat we now know.
(56:03):
For example, one of the oldJewish laws is not to eat from a
cracked clay pot.
And again you just read thatand you're like it seems kind of
harsh but okay, like you'reactually supposed to smash it
and destroy it.
What we now know is okay.
So at that time a lot of ourvessels we ate and drank from
(56:25):
clay pots.
If it's cracked and you havefood and water and wine and
things going in there and itnever they didn't have great
sanitation back then.
If it doesn't get clean,bacteria grows and then you get
foodborne illnesses and thenmedicine wasn't super developed
then either People wouldliterally die from the food
(56:45):
bacteria that was growing incracked clay pots.
So sure God maybe didn't likegive us the whole why on it,
right, but we shouldn't have toneed the why just to be obedient
to the law.
It's really in our bestinterest.
Raeanna (56:58):
It's in your best interest, but we still have a
choice, exactly, yep.
So, as a coach who has writtenthis book and done all of this
extensive research and, you know, believes in practicing these
things, how do you approachclients then that are like, well
(57:18):
, like everything in moderation,or like man that sounds really
strict to me?
Or, you know, like, as a coachthat wants to kind of, you know,
fulfill these promises thatyou've made in your faith and
lead people down the right path?
How do you approach instructingsomeone to eat in healthy,
clean ways?
Chelsea (57:38):
Yeah, ultimately it's your body, it's your choice,
it's your relationship with food.
You know if, if you are aperson of faith, you know you
are called to honor and glorifyGod with everything that he's
blessed you with.
This, this body you have is isborrowed property, and so I just
(58:01):
want to make sure that I equipyou with the knowledge you can.
You can do with it as as youplease, but I want to make sure
you totally understand.
Okay, here are the potentialconsequences of these food
choices.
You can make them, but youshould know and be willing to
accept those consequences.
(58:22):
And sometimes I will say I mean,I have clients who know exactly
what to do and then they justcan't help but go to In-N-Out.
And then they usually come backto me and they're like I get it
now, like I, after being, youknow, clean and I'm feeling good
, and then just kind of dippingyour toe back in the old way,
like it's major conviction, andthen it doesn't become a
(58:46):
temptation anymore, and sothat's really how I approach it
Make sure you know what thepotential outcome could be.
You get to make the choicebecause ultimately, you know
I'll be there with you and I canhold your hand, but I'm not
going to force feed you, right.
And then then the lesson sticksso much more if it's not just
(59:06):
like you better not eat this,but it's like, hey, just you
know this could happen.
You try it and you're like,turns out she was right, yeah,
but now you know this couldhappen.
You try it and you're like,turns out she was right, yeah,
but now you know from firsthandexperience.
Raeanna (59:18):
Yeah, there's just something about our human nature
that we just have to find outfor ourselves, isn't there?
Chelsea (59:23):
It's got to be true.
Yes, yeah.
Raeanna (59:25):
Okay, Wrapping up here.
What was the most interestingor surprising thing that you
learned as you were doing yourresearch and writing.
Chelsea (59:37):
I think what I just did a whole Ted talk on with you
like that we really should beadhering to kosher standards for
optimal health.
That really blew my mindbecause I, you know, one of the
phrases that I teach my clientsis if it once walked, flew, swam
(59:58):
or grew, it's real and it it's,it's made for us to eat.
It's God's food.
I genuinely believe that prettymuch up until I found that
piece to write this book, um,and so it's.
It's really made me rethink howI see food and and look at that,
that list of clean versusunclean foods.
(01:00:18):
Um, because, in genesis, so thecreation story, um, we were, we
were vegetarians to begin with.
You know, he, he, god mentions,know, all seed bearing fruit
and plants are made for yourfood, and then the green grasses
(01:00:40):
are are to feed the animals.
He made that distinction.
Then, after the fall and afterthe flood, he essentially
repeats those verses, but headds animals to our, made for
your food.
And so that's where I got theidea of like, okay, well, if God
created it, then we can eat it,you know, unless we know that
(01:01:05):
it's poisonous.
And then that that to me waslike, yeah, one of those like
asterisks, you know right,unless this, but God, god isn't
like that.
It is kind of a like this ishow I'm saying it and if, if
there is an asterisk, he'll giveus the asterisk.
So finding that was actually alot of clarity of like that
(01:01:25):
makes sense.
Why, maybe it's just like Idon't feel the greatest when I
have pork or when I have, um,food that was not in its
original design.
You know, sure Cane, you knowthe sugar cane exists in nature,
but then what we do to itbefore it gets to our plates
(01:01:46):
totally changes the molecularstructure of it.
And then when we digest it,like I can do we can do a whole
other podcast on dairy on thistopic um, by the time I digest
it, I don't feel good.
Well, that doesn't make sensebecause, like the dairy example
god made animals, milk isreferenced and highly regarded
in the bible all over the place.
(01:02:08):
Why do I not feel good?
It's because it's not.
It's not the milk that god made, it's milk plus man
manipulation that I'm digesting.
You got to take that part outand now we're back to the roots
that we should be.
I think that really is thebiggest aha moment for me.
(01:02:29):
That connected.
So many gray areas before arenow very black and white for me.
Raeanna (01:02:35):
Yeah, so do you have a podcast yet?
Chelsea (01:02:41):
You are like the 40th person asking this.
I don't know.
I'm just I.
I could talk about this forever, but do I will?
Will people listen to forever?
That's what I don't know.
We'll see.
I can be persuaded.
Raeanna (01:02:57):
All right, everyone, if you're listening still after oh
my gosh, an incredibleconversation.
Gosh, I hope you are.
That was I was on a podcastlast night and the host was like
, well, if you're still with us,and I was like, oh, that's kind
of sad to think about that.
People just like check out, butit probably happens, right,
(01:03:18):
like this doesn't pertain to me,or I'm busy or I'm not even
paying attention or whatever.
Chelsea (01:03:20):
Like that happens.
Right, we all do it.
But I just listen on one and ahalf speed there you go Get
through it a little bit quicker.
Raeanna (01:03:25):
I mean, we can process it that quickly.
So that's why I don't worry somuch when I'm talking really
fast, because I'm like peoplecan process it, it's fine.
Anyway, if you're listening andyou're like Chelsea, give us
more, tell us more.
Like I need to know more aboutthis, drop a comment, reach out
(01:03:47):
to her because I agree, like Icould.
I could ask you questions forhours on this.
Obviously, I'm like a spongesitting here, like what else did
you know?
How else can I apply this to mylife?
So, as we wrap up, what is onething that you want our
listeners to just take away fromyour experiences, your
expertise, what you learned foryour book?
Like this is my challenge toyou.
Chelsea (01:04:06):
Narrow it down to one thing that you want to make sure
that they hear from you in aworld where diet, nutrition and
health is so confusing lots ofcontradictory ideas, some things
that work for some people don'twork for others and just a very
(01:04:28):
frustrating process for a lotof us in the midst of that world
.
We have a guidebook that tellsus a very simple,
straightforward answer to all ofthose questions, and so my
challenge is, if you want topick up my book it's literally a
hundred pages you can getthrough it in a day and start to
(01:04:50):
focus on your relationship withfood and know that it can be
super easy to feel good,therefore, look good and and not
make food such a burden in ourlife.
Raeanna (01:05:06):
Wow, you really did pull that together.
That was lovely, yes, amazing.
Ok, I'm going to drop a link toaccess your book so everyone
check it out.
In the episode description.
You'll be able to click rightthere.
I'm also going to dropChelsea's handles so that you
can find her on all the placesto follow all of her tidbits
(01:05:30):
about everything health andwellness and faith in the
journey and just how awesome sheis.
So, chelsea, thank you so muchfor your time today for hopping
on to talk about something thatwe are all like.
It's all on our minds becausewe all, like you said, we eat
every single day, so this issomething that is obviously
(01:05:50):
really relevant to every singleone of us, and then especially
those of you that are listeningthat are trying to prepare for a
competition.
One of the things we didn'ttalk about that we could easily
have dove into is, like theimportance of building up your
muscle, your strength, yourendurance, and you do that like
food, nutrition and fitness inorder to be the best title
holder and representative thatyou can be.
(01:06:11):
So, as you're preparing forwhatever upcoming competition
that you have, keep that in mindthat it needs to always be
primarily like your overallhealth and wellness, endurance,
strength, able to do the jobreally well and take it to the
national level.
If that's the next step, thatneeds to be the primary focus,
more than how good you look onstage period Every time 100%
(01:06:35):
Amen yes.
Cool, all right.
Well, thanks for listeningeveryone.
Chelsea, thanks again forjoining me.
I'm sure I'll help you back atsome point, because there's just
so much that you can share.
And for the rest of you, staywell, take care of yourselves.
I'll talk to you next week.
Bye.
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