Switch Off Your Dieting Mindset with Evelyn LeVasseur

Weight and body image are always a hot topic. It seems like we are always dieting and worrying about our weight and feeling guilt when we make a seemingly “bad” food choice. Here at the My Divine Life Podcast, we empower ourselves with enough courage to divinely design every aspect of our lives the way God purposed them to be. And that, Party People, includes our health. That’s why I invited Evelyn LeVasseur to the show today and our conversation will leave you feeling empowered instead of discouraged when it comes to your health and nutrition. The best part is that Evelyn wants you to stop dieting. Yes! Stop it!   Evelyn is the owner of Evelyn Levasseur Fitness, a company that focuses on helping busy, overwhelmed moms reach their body goals without dieting or deprivation. Evelyn knows that moms can be especially hard on themselves and expect perfection in our homes, jobs, marriages, and of course, our bodies. She wants every woman to know she can want to change her body and love it at the same time. Most importantly, Evelyn knows that moms want what is best for their children and having negative feelings about ourselves can lead our children to have negative feelings about themselves, too. So Evelyn is sure to approach all things from the angle of knowing that our actions shape our children and the legacies of health we will leave them. Evelyn is a certified group and personal trainer, a hormonal fat loss coach, and has a specialization in behavior change. She also has a BA in Psychology and Masters in Education.   I can’t wait for you to hear all about her story and her method on changing your mindset around health.   Show Notes: [3:23] - Evelyn’s journey started really early as she was very athletic as a child and adolescent. [3:56] - When Evelyn went to college, she lost her identity a little bit after putting on weight because if she wasn’t fit, she didn’t know who she was. She shares her first experience with a diet and how she kept going back and forth. [5:15] - After Evelyn had her first daughter, she could not get the weight back off and hired someone to help her. She loved it so much that she became a certified trainer and coach. [5:49] - She was still dieting however and knows now that she still hadn’t changed her mindset. [6:18] - Evelyn shares her painful story about her mom being diagnosed with dementia and realized that she shouldn’t be wasting her valuable time with her family with dieting. [7:29] - The experience with her mom propelled her forward into changing her mindset. She didn’t want to leave a legacy of obsessing over dieting for her daughters and instead wanted one of health and family values. [9:41] - Jameelah shares how she connected with Evelyn’s stories on their identity based on their body. [10:37] - Jameelah also watched her grandparents deal with dementia and how her mother was a caregiver for them. [12:12] - When you’re obsessing over your body weight and have negative feelings about yourself, you are not present for your family. [13:01] - Even if we are not speaking the words out loud, we are still teaching our children a lesson. The way we love ourselves teaches our kids how to love themselves. [14:29] - What is it that you are trying to feel? If you can attach your goal to an emotion, you are more likely to be successful. [16:51] - When Evelyn works with a client, a mom in particular, she starts with her mindset. After that, she goes into the 5 Pillars of Health. [17:29] - The first pillar is your sleep. You should be getting 7-9 hours uninterrupted and consistent sleep. This isn’t always possible, so your job is to bring your body to a sense of rest through naps, journaling, or meditation. [18:15] - The next pillar is stress. Especially in 2020, stress is here to stay. But we can change how we respond to stress. [18:34] - The third pillar is water intake. Evelyn clears up some misconceptions on water intake and gives some guidelines on how much is right for you. [19:27] - A balanced diet is the fourth pillar. Evelyn never tells her clients to cut foods out. Deprivation is not motivation. Evelyn’s method is to add things in, starting with water or fiber. [20:18] - The fifth pillar is exercise and this looks different for everyone. [22:08] - Your body will tell you what you need but for some reason we ignore it. [24:07] - What is important in your life everyday? For Evelyn that is her relationship with her husband and children and that she is purposeful in her actions. What she noticed is that not one of those things has to do with her body’s appearance. [25:17] - We focus on other people’s character but we reduce ourselves to what we can be for the outside world. Jameelah and Evelyn discuss why they think this is. [26:54] - Not only do we perpetuate this issue within ourselves, we perpetuate this with our expectations of other women and the cycle continues on. [28:11] - Even though there is always going to be someone out there doing worse than you, that should not diminish your feelings in the moment. [31:27] - If you are focused on intuition, you are always going to go with your gut. If you don’t think going vegan is right for you, for example, then don’t. You will still focus on how you feel throughout the day as you eat and you can still make good choices. [33:25] - When all five pillars of health are in sync and being worked on simultaneously, your health will improve. [34:48] - Dieting for so long makes you feel guilty and shameful around food in general.  [36:09] - If you are eating and you are stressed about eating, you are not in a healthy mindset. Have the food that you want and move on.  [37:31] - Think back to the time where you felt your best, even if it has nothing to do with food and weight. Try to figure out what it was about that time that made you feel fulfilled. [38:31] - Feeling good sets the stage for you to do what you want to do. [39:12] - Losing weight through a diet is fine, but when you are done with the diet, you may find yourself going back to old habits. How did you get there and what can you do to stay healthy? [41:05] - Evelyn has a self-paced program launching January 1st called Mama Ditch the Diet. She also has a group coaching program coming up and will be releasing a Mommy and Me T-shirt line.  [43:23] - After the interview, Jameelah talked to Evelyn about working with a nutritionist. This sparked a conversation about allergy testing. [44:20] - IGE and IGG allergies are different. Jameelah shares the difference that she learned from Evelyn, including symptoms. Links and Resources: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Libsyn Listen on Podnews Jameelah Davis on Instagram Evelyn LeVasseur on Facebook Evelyn LeVasseur Fitness on Instagram EvelynFit.com

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The goal of the My Divine Life Podcast is to create a community of women empowered with enough courage to purpose-fully design the lives they love. Women who are choosing courage over comfort by facing their fears and limitations and overcoming them by Divinely Designing their life by using Jameelah Davis’ own life design method: THE CASE METHOD. The CASE method is a thoughtfully and skillfully designed framework that provides a road map for individuals to Design the Life They Love. The CASE method consists of 4 Life design steps. These life design steps provide a holistic approach to honestly assessing your personal challenges and forging the tools you need to redirect your focus and change the course of your life. The CASE method is transformational. TRANSFORM YOUR PERSPECTIVE TRANSFORM YOUR SPACE TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE!