Trigger Warning: this episode contains discussion of body dysmorphia and eating disorders.
Joining me today is Steph Gaudreau, formally stupideasypaleo, my good friend, colleague, and mentor.
Steph and I met through a mutual friend several years ago and she hosted me on her Harder to Kill Radio podcast. When I was writing warrior, my publisher needed me to find a strong woman to write a quote for the book and Steph was the person I turned to.
She has definitely been through a lot of new normal in her life and this episode we’re going to go through some of those and talk about some hard topics like body dysmorphia, job changes, and being a highly sensitive person.
Steph moved to San Diego in 2005 by way of Massachusetts >> Arizona >> then she landed in sunny California. She was a Biology teacher and started to feel like she might need a change, so she initially changed schools, but still felt like she needed something more. She was blogging while teaching on stupideasypaleo (a food, fitness, and health website) and she decided to take the leap and quit teaching and take on being self-employed full-time.
Which was a HUGE step for her. She was terrified of what people would think, of failing, of making the wrong decision, but she took the leap anyway. Fast-forward 5 years and she’s still has that fear every once in a while, but she’s doing the thing that she was afraid of every day. And she’s been hugely successful doing it.
In this episode we’re talking about:
- Why facing change is frightening for her,
- How she faced fear to be able to move forward,
- How Steph faced and overcame body dysmorphia
- How she made blogging her business,
- What steps she took in learning new skills in her new job,
- Making her perceived weakness as an introvert into her strength
Show Notes:
Steph Gaudreau is a health and fitness coach who advocates healthy eating and embracing your own skin. Before she started eating a more balanced diet, which includes the foods she feared, she advocated paleo and working out in order to achieve her ideal body but she wasn’t happy. Steph used to be a teacher but as an introvert, she needed to find a job that is comfortable for her, therefore, she took a drastic change of direction and went into blogging.
Steph experienced body dysmorphia as a kid, it changed her relationship with food and how she perceived her body. Steph took health and fitness seriously in order to make her body smaller to overcome her condition but it wasn’t the solution she’s looking for.
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