0:00
You're listening to episode number one of the Fat Fuelled Female podcast.
0:09
Welcome to the fat fuel female podcast. I'm your host, Marja Chow, a holistic nutritionist, personal trainer and proud dog mama of two.
0:18
I am obsessed with helping women achieve their goals, feel confident in their skin and become empowered health advocates. This podcast is designed to help ambitious women thrive on a low carb, high fat lifestyle.
0:32
So tune in each week as we talk all aspects of nutrition, improving your fitness, enhancing your mindset so that you can take inspired action and live your best life all starting from the inside out. I'm so happy to have you here. Now let's get started!
0:52
Hello, and welcome! I am so thrilled to finally launch this podcast. This has been an idea of mine for the last year, year and a half and I decided to finally put it on my vision board last April 2021, so I would see it every day. And I would know it was something I really wanted to create.
1:12
And here we are today, It's all happening. My manifestation came true. And the Fat Fuelled Female podcast is here!
1:19
So for those of you who don't know me, my name is Marja Chow. I am a holistic nutritionist, and a high fat ketogenic enthusiast on a mission to transform the way women think about food, our bodies and the dieting culture.
1:34
So why did I decide to start this podcast, I always say your dreams or your goals need to slightly terrify you or make you feel pretty uncomfortable, yet exciting at the same time because we grow and expand and evolve the most when we are pushed out of our comfort zones. And out of what is familiar to us.
1:57
And this podcast is pushing me way out of my comfort zone. Because I've never done this before. But I am so excited and happy to have this finally launch and to have you on this journey with me.
2:12
You know, I love blogging on my website and posting on IG and Facebook. But there's only a limited amount of content you can put on social and I really wanted to have a place to have real, raw, conversations about every facet of health.
2:28
So this podcast is a place where I can go into much, much, much, more depth about nutrition, fitness mindset, personal development, spirituality.
2:38
All of it, a whole 360 degree approach on what real lasting health and wellness is all about and how you can take actionable steps on your unique journey.
2:51
Now what to expect with this podcast, we will be releasing weekly episodes, some will be solo episodes, and some will have guests. Every Monday a new episode will be released to start your week off fresh.
3:05
I always say new week new energy, you know new vibe new excitement. So it seemed fitting to have the episodes be released every Monday. This really is a place where I want to provide tons of value, clarity and resources.
3:22
Whether you are just getting started on your fat fuelled journey, or you're a few months in or you are well on your way. I want to provide loads of education resources, and get you to look at things from a different perspective.
3:37
That is one of my main roles I offer to my clients as a coach, getting you to get curious with yourself, thinking outside of the box, really having that expansive mindset.
3:51
Because if you do what you've always done, you will get what you've always gotten. And if you want and desire new results, it requires a different way of thinking and a different set of actions.
4:06
If you know me, I am not about quick fixes and crash diets. I lived that life for so many years. It's absolutely soul sucking, and it's not an effective long term health strategy.
4:20
So with that being said, I think it's important you have an idea about my backstory to provide context on why I do what I do, and why I have such a strong passion for holistic nutrition and fat fuelled nutrition.
4:35
So I started dieting when I was a young teenager around the age of 13. So I grew up in a household where my mom was vegetarian to this day. She still has her vegetable garden in the backyard. She makes all of her food pretty much from scratch.
4:52
So I grew up with literally no junk food. So as soon as I was old enough, you know grade eight is when you go to the mall with friends, it's the cool thing to do, I was introduced to the Golden Arches.
5:05
I ended up eating McDonald's every day for one whole year, no joke of a lie. It was an addiction. And I seriously did not miss a day. So for me, coming from a place of eating like real food, no processed garbage, I gained a bunch of weight.
5:23
And I remember in grade eight, a young boy came up came up to me and was like Marja, "you are fat." And as soon as he said that, something, some switch went off in my brain, I didn't want to take on that identity, so that is actually when I started dieting and going to the gym.
5:42
I grew up playing every sport imaginable, but I started going to the gym to be skinny to, you know, weigh a certain number on the scale, not to improve my performance of as an athlete.
5:56
So from age, you know, 13/14 to age 20 I was a chronic dieters. And I did develop forms of disordered eating and body dysmorphia, because of it.
6:09
And even when I was really skinny, I still thought I had to lose weight. And when I look back at old photos of myself, I'm like, WOW, I feel so much sadness for that version of myself. But I'm also very thankful and grateful, because it brought me to where I am today.
6:28
So in my early 20s, I naturally became naturally became a personal trainer. And if you knew me, I was the girl who basically lived at the gym. So it seemed fitting to actually understand the science behind exercise.
6:43
So the more educated I became about how to properly exercise and what eating more of a balanced diet and nutrition look like, I was really able to work through my disordered eating, and working with different coaches and mentors.
6:58
I always say, you know, education brings motivation, because you have a deeper understanding of what's going on internally in your own body. So from there, you know, learning about nutrition and exercise. I started going to college, and I started studying sports science, and I got my diploma in sports science. And then I started working towards a bachelor's degree in physical education and coaching.
7:27
I actually wanted to be a high school gym teacher. But because I crashed dieted, and yo-yo, dieted for so many years, I had a lot of digestive issues and hormonal imbalances.
7:40
So I was going to family doctors going to MDs, and talking about all the symptoms that were coming up in my body. And they were like, "cook your vegetables, or don't eat dairy." And I was like, okay, they weren't getting to the root causes of my imbalances.
7:56
And to be fair, medical doctors, MDs, you know, their paradigm is very different. They diagnose and they treat, they don't prevent, they don't learn much about nutrition in medical school.
8:06
So I was going to the wrong source to try to figure out, you know, my health concerns. So I started researching on my own, and I I found a naturopath and I started working with this naturopath, and working with this naturopath, I was really able to support my body with making dietary changes and supplements and lifestyle recommendations.
8:30
And doing so I found this passion of really wanting to understand how the human body worked on a deeper level, and how all these systems were connected and how different systems could be imbalanced just by the nutritional and dietary choices we make.
8:47
So that's how I decided, hey, I don't think I want to be a gym teacher anymore. This stuff really lit me up. So I switched careers and decided to go to school to be a holistic nutritionist.
9:00
And in 2012, I became a registered holistic nutritionist, you know, I really wanted to understand how to fully support my body, and be able to come from a place of service and help clients with their nutrition and health choices. In 2012, that's when I really realized food is medicine, and medicine is food.
9:21
So let's fast forward to 2014 You know, I learned all these life changing ways to support my GI tract and gut health. And I was fully practicing as a holistic nutritionist. So then I was like, Yo, Marj, you're so good with the nutrition. You know, you got it down packed, and you're going to the gym five days a week.
9:41
Why don't you do a bodybuilding competition? You know, you're putting all this hard work in at the gym. Why don't you do a show and work towards a goal. So I started bodybuilding pretty intensely. In 2014 I did five shows in one year, which is actually so crazy. You know, most people do one may be two.
10:02
So bodybuilding was fun, until it wasn't. It triggered my old disordered eating to come back to the surface. I started weighing myself every day, going to the gym twice a day, tracking every ounce of food I ate on my fitness pal, being very erratic, with my diet, being a slave to the scale, just not normal, healthy behavior.
10:25
So bodybuilding really sent me back and snowballed me to start dieting again, it actually reminded me, it like took me back into a time machine of you know, in my late teenage years and early 20s.
10:38
When I was just doing all these crazy things to be a certain number on the scale, you know, I was educated, I knew what to do with nutrition and health, but I wasn't applying it.
10:50
I was just too focused on aesthetics and vanity. In 2016, I was like, this is not healthy for you, Marja. And that's when I decided I needed to quit bodybuilding.
11:04
So from 2014 to 2016, I was a really big hot mess. For two years, my weight was constantly fluctuating, I would be up eight pounds down four, you know, then 10, and up five.
11:20
And I was really struggling with body image. And my mental and emotional well being was like, at an all time low. And in this point in my life, it was really hard for me because I was working as a full time trainer and nutritionist. And I had a lot of shame, guilt and depression. Because, you know, I was considered this quote unquote, expert in this field.
11:41
And I was having my own internal struggles, which was so hard. I felt very alone, because it wasn't something I could really openly talk about. Because I would think, who am I to have these problems when people are coming to me to help me with theres.
11:59
So I felt so out of alignment with myself and my business. And to be honest, I almost felt like quitting my business because of it.
12:08
Then in the fall of 2016, after feeling so mentally and physically drained from dieting, emotionally eating and binge eating, you know, this whole vicious cycle was just too much and it was taking over my entire life.
12:23
So I decided to try a ketogenic diet, as a last resort since I had literally tried everything else.
12:30
I had so many limiting beliefs around keto, especially coming from the bodybuilding space, you know, you're told you need to eat your carbs to build your muscle, and even going to school and college and university.
12:42
And even studying to be a holistic nutritionist. We are recommended, we are taught to teach people about high carb diets. So I was going against everything I studied in school, everything I knew everything I practiced.
12:58
So I decided not to limit myself with my past. And just go into this experience by taking my judgment goggles off, and being open to this process.
13:09
And that was really hard, like really hard. I was terrified about dumping two tablespoons of fat into my morning coffee. That was how much I used to consume in a day, like 30 grams is what I had, that was max amount of fat I would have.
13:23
But I knew intuitively I cannot continue living my life the way that I had been. And if I wanted to break this pattern, and toxic cycle, I had to fully surrender.
13:37
You know, when you allow something new into your life, you have to let you have to let stuff go. You have to let beliefs and ideas that aren't serving you go. And that can be one of the most challenging things, and for a lot of people and it was for me, but I knew I had to make a change.
13:57
So I dove into keto headfirst. And it was a shockingly beautiful experience. For the first few months, I felt so amazing. I was like, Holy crap, Ihave so much energy, but I went overboard.
14:11
I started fasting right away, I was only having 25 grams of carbs a day. And I was being very dogmatic about the diet.
14:20
So I have an extreme personality, which can be really good because I'm really driven and really motivated. But it can also be a double edged sword more is not always better.
14:31
So full disclosure, it took me about six months to figure out what worked for me what didn't and how to develop my unique version of keto.
14:42
So in time, eating fat kept me feeling full. It gave me this new amazing type of energy. From bodybuilding, I got amenorrhea where what that means is I lost my period for six months.
14:56
So by eating this way I was able to regulate my cycle and get my period back, I was also able to reset my hunger hormones and regulate my appetite. So food wasn't constantly on my mind 24/7.
15:13
And the most beautiful discovery was I was able to finally stabilize my weight and create a healthy relationship with food and myself for honestly the first time in my entire life.
15:25
And that is when I realized that so many women struggle with this exact same problem. I started looking for ways that I could take what I learned, what I knew worked, what I thought could be improved and create a program that could help women specifically benefit from this style of eating.
15:44
And that is why the Fat Fuelled Female Method also known as the Triple F method was created. And that is my signature coaching nutrition program.
15:55
So that is my backstory. And that is why I have such a strong passion to help women, kick the dieters mindset hack your own biology, improve all areas of your life, mind body spirit, and create your own unique version of keto that is realistic for you and specific to your goals.
16:15
There is no one way or right way to do keto. We are all beautifully, biochemically unique and have different goals and different bodies, that the one size fits all has never been my jam, because it doesn't take into consideration your individuality. And it's just not effective.
16:35
So I am over the moon excited to share my passion and love around nutrition and health and to teach, educate and inspire you and to have you on this journey with me.
16:45
If you are as excited about this podcast as I am, the best way you can support and help me is to leave a review on Apple podcast or whatever service you are listening to this podcast on. Drop a five star review. Let me know your thoughts on the show.
17:01
Doing so really helps with the rankings of this podcast, and helps new people like yourself, find the show.
17:08
And if you go and leave me a review and show me some love, you will be entered to win free enrollment into my signature nine week group coaching program the Fat Fuelled Female Method launching in the winter of 2022.
17:22
So thank you so much for listening and spending time with me today. I hope my story can inspire you to realize you don't have to stick with what you know and what's familiar.
17:34
If I had just stayed with what I knew with nutrition. I would be exactly where I was in 2014, actually no probably worse. No, I would be worse for sure. Because your problems just expand and get bigger over time. If you don't take action.
17:50
Often. It's that initial step in making change that we have so much resistance and taking, like I had so much resistance in adapting into a high fat ketogenic lifestyle.
18:02
It was the last thing I did, right. When in actuality, you know, just taking one step, and saying yes to something new, can ultimately transform your life. So I will leave you with that. Thank you so much for tuning in. And I will catch you next week.
18:24
Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. If you enjoyed what you heard, make sure to subscribe to the podcast. And if you feel you got some extra value from this episode, it would mean the world to me. If you could head over to Apple podcast or whatever service you're listening to this podcast on.
18:41
Drop a five star review and let me know your thoughts on the show. This helps more people like yourself find the podcast and if you're not already following me on social media right now is the time you can find me on Instagram at Marja Chow for all your nutrition tips, tricks and inspiration or visit my website at bat fuelled female.com or you can download my free seven day keto meal plan with recipes.
19:08
Thank you so much for tuning in and I will catch you next week.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
