Episode Guide
Episode #127 with the Globe Theatre
Episode #126 with Lore Ruschiensky from Cecilian Chamber Series
Episode #125 with Kay Peacy from Slick Business
Episode #124 with Marc Toews from Gateway Web AR
Episode #123 with Sherry Pratt from Sherry Pratt Health Coaching
Episode #122 with Aaron Strauss from Cache Tactical Supply
Episode #121 with Cedric Delavaud from Ludoland Regina
Episode #120 with Jasmine Patterson from BDC
Episode #119 with Jeff Harmel from Realty Executives Diversified Realty
Episode #118 with Shahzad Khoja from IBITS
Episode #117 with Kathy Sabo from QC Gifts
Episode #116 with Andrea Lo from the Toronto Dating Hub
Episode #115 with Karey Kapell from Next Level Coaching
Episode #114 with Joel Sopp from Socially Acceptable Marketing
Episode #113 with Annabel Townsend from The Penny University
Episode #112 with Cathlyn Melvin about her Tedx Coaching
Episode #111 with Corey Liebrecht from Zippity Zip Courier
Episode #110 with Quinn Nikulak from Kustom Kitties Canada
Episode #109 with Tess Boehm from Totally Tess Tradeshows
Episode #108 with Shane Chapman from the Ultimate Deck Shop
Episode #107 with Dan Celis from Tommy's Speakeatery
Episode #106 with Ann Corcoran
Episode #105 with Louise Yates & Jennifer Berg
Episode #104 with Jule Gilchrist from Cuppa'T Teas
Episode #103 with Annika Mang from TrailCollectiv
Episode #102 with Ronley Arnold from OSI-CAN Sask
Episode #101 with Susan Robertson from Susan Robertson Pottery
Episode #100 with Victor Roman from the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation
Episode #99 with Faith Alyssa Peter from Stressed Out Mamas
Episode #98 with Leah Mazur from Carousel Creative
Episode #97 with Carmen Johanson and Kimberley Baldwin from PayTrail
Episode #96 with Meg Casebolt from Love at First Search
Episode #95 with Karen Kobussen from CanBall Games
Episode #94 with Wilson Acton
Episode #93 with Carla Browne from Real Property Management Canada
Episode #92 with Donna Ziegler from South Sask Community Foundation
Episode #91 with Scott Love from Store to Door Canada
Episode #90 with Mark Heise from Rebellion Brewing
Episode #89 with Brendan McGuire from Affinity Credit Union
Episode #88 with Tyler Clark form Prairie Benefits Solutions
Episode #87 with Craig Reed from Virtus Group
Episode #86 with Daria Malin from Boost Strategic Coaching
Episode #85 with Bill Thorn form Regina Humane Society
Episode #84 with John Vuong from Local SEO Search
Episode #83 with Linda Boryski from Saskatoon PhysioYoga
Episode #82 with Tracey Poffenroth Prato from RAD Talk with Tracey
Episode #81 with Janet Kotylak, YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode #80 Your Ultimate Guide to Get Found with Local SEO
Episode #79 with Jennifer Fox from Auto Electric Service
Episode #78 with Janet Akre and Susan Robertson from River & Rail ArtVenture
Episode #77 with Karen Smith from Better Business Bureau of Saskatchewan
Episode #76 with Julie Naismith from SubThreshold Training
Episode #75 with Josh Haugerud from Regina Folk Festival
Episode #74 with Barb Stefanyshyn-Cote from Black Fox Farm and Distillery
Episode #73 with Cory Furman from Furman IP
Episode #72 with Tracy Archer from Knight Archer Insurance
Episode #71 with Tim Nickel from Fifth Business Consulting
Episode #70 with Taylor Weisgerber from Spartan Mechanical
Episode #69 with Lisa McIntyre from The Optical Shoppe
Episode #68 with Santa Claus
Episode #67 with Kait Waugh from Fat Plant Farm
Episode #66 with Natasha Vandenhurk from Three Farmers Foods
Episode #65 with Dianne Beauchamp from PuroClean Regina
Episode #64 with Adele Buettner from AgriBiz Communications
Episode #63 with Mary Weimer from Conexus Credit Union
Episode #62 with Winter Fedyk from Silo Strategy
Episode #61 with Heather Day from C.S. Day Transport & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #60 with Amber Goodwyn from Regina Folk Festival & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #59 with Cari Bode from South Country Equipment & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #58 with Donna-Rae Crooks from Brain Snacks Co & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #57 with Michelle Grodecki from Deaf Crows Collective & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #56 with Sarah Tkachuk from KPMG & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #55 with Dr. Sharon Leibel, YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #54 with Doug Yaremko from Paddock Wood Brewery
Episode #53 with Madhu Kumar, YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #52 with Eric Oelson from Mortise & Tenon Store
Episode #51 with Kim Korven from The Gentle Way Divorce
Episode #50 with Erin Vaughan from Kinetic Auto Service
Episode #49 with Lisa Brice from Brice Photography
Episode #48 with Colleen Strauch from Luther College at U of R
Episode #47 with Doug Pattison from Pattison Health
Episode #46 with Erika Gayle from Erika Gayle Photography
Episode #45 with Carly Patryluk from House of Paws Pet Boutique
Episode #44 with Erin Caleval from Erin & Associates Insurance
Episode #43 Part #2 with Nikki Jacquin from Nikki's Portraits of Childhood
Episode #43 Part #1 with Jess Tiefenbach from Stay n Play Parenting
Episode #42 with Nadene Joy from Nadene Joy
Episode #41 with Richard Arockiasamy and Sanjana Kumta from GreenMache
Episode #40 with Jodi Barrett, CEO of Kettlebell Kickboxing Canada
Episode #39 with Erin Kinder from Kinder Surprises Antiques
Episode #38 with Tanner Goetz from Munz Media
Episode #37 with Jessica McNaughton from memoryKPR
Episode #36 with Wendy Turner-Larsen from Turner Larsen Consulting
Episode #35 with Jill Poulton from Transformational Leadership
Episode #34 with Janci Templeman from Walker Wakefield
Episode #33 with Denise Anderson, Author, Divorce in a Small Town
Episode #32 with Anne Gibbons from Gibbons Travel Consulting
Episode #31 with Charlene SanJenko from PowHERhouse Media
Episode #30 with Dr. Vianne Timmons from the University of Regina
Episode #29 with Margaret Kisikaw-Piyesis, from All Nations Hope Network & YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode 28 with Dr. Renatta Varma, Vitreo-Retinal Surgeon & YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode 27 with Jo-Anne Dusel from PATHS & YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode 26 with Dr. Emily Bamforth from Royal Saskatchewan Museum & YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode 25 with Nigora Yulyakshieva from City of Regina & YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode 24 with Pam Klein from Phoenix Group & Miriam Johnson from Saskatchewan Roughriders
Episode 23 with Gr. 5 & 6 Students from Argyle School
Episode 22 with Tiffany Wolf from Helium Communications
Episode 21 with Jeff Kinash from Peregrine Farm
Episode 20 with Charlene Oancia from Springer & Oake
Episode 19 with Dan Benesh from BarterPay Regina
Episode 18 with Prabha Mitchell from WESK
Episode 17 with Terrie Dunand from REMAX Crown Real Estate
Episode 16 with Kim Zacaruk from Stone’s Throw Coffee Collective
Episode 15 with Luke Rossmo from Luke Rossmo Music and Gareth Bawden from Bawdenmedia.com
Episode 14 with Kristen Hill from Kristen’s Cultures
Episode 13 with Cyndie Knorr from Cynergy Coaching
Episode 12 with Paul Burch from EchoLotto Inc.
Episode 11 with Rea Faber from Amaranth Designs
Episode 10 with Brandi Good from BLG Business Solutions
Episode 9 with Dr. Gina Grandy from Hill | Levene Schools of Business
Episode 8 with Candyce Fiessel from The Style Academy and Shear Escape Salon and Spa
Episode 7 with Michelle Strawford from Bella Chic Fashion & Decor and What Women Want
Episode 6 with Jordan McFarlen from Conexus Business Incubator
Episode 5 with Cheryl Giambattista from Health Coach Cheryl
Episode 4 with Joanne Frederick from Prairie Centre for Mindfulness
Episode 3 with John Hopkins and Amanda Baker, Regina Chamber of Commerce
Episode 2 with Christina Carlson from Queen City Collective
Episode 1 with Sherry Knight from Dimension 11
Transcript
Barb 0:00
Are you ready to make the door swing, the phone rang and the website ping. In this episode, we’re talking about one of the best kept secrets in any community. Its network of local business owners, businesses or business owners that rely on foot traffic, phone calls and website bookings. Those same businesses that support your kids sports teams, donate to fundraising efforts, and provide amazing advice to women who are ready to ditch dieting, and get on with feeling great about who they are. But no more secrets from the skinny lessons that will make you wins to the tell. TMZ style tells. These everyday people are doing extraordinary things in their businesses. Welcome to The Secret Life of Local. I’m your host, Barb McGrath, Google girl and local business cheerleader. I’ve been helping local businesses thrive for over 20 years from online businesses to multilocation stores, you can turn browsers to buyers and thinkers to doers. Today, we’re sharing the secrets and going behind the scenes with a health coach who supports women in their journey towards feeling better and being healthy. And here’s a little insider secret, the word diet. It’s a swear word in her books. Sherry Pratt is the owner and founder of Sherry Pratt Health Coaching. So welcome sherry. Let, let’s let you tell your story.
Sherry 1:34
Awesome. Thank you so much of our Yeah, so solopreneur ship is actually a second career for me.
Barb 1:42
Ah, yes. Thing health oriented before as well.
Sherry 1:47
No, not at all. Actually, I, my degree is a computer science degree I so I previously spent 25 years in the corporate world working as an IT professional and executive, you know, in that sort of software development application space.
Barb 2:01
Oh, wow. Okay, so that’s a huge switch. So So start there, how the heck do you make that switch?
Sherry 2:07
Yeah. So I mean, I certainly enjoyed that career. And it was very fulfilling, but after you know, sort of that 25 issues getting close to 25 years, I started to like, just reflect and I was also, you know, heading towards my mid 40s At that point, and I wouldn’t call it a midlife crisis. But I definitely started to think like, what else do I want from life? What would you know? How can I pursue some of my other interests and passions? And so I’d always always been, health had always been important to me. fitness and wellness and nutrition, personal passions that I’d done a lot of reading on my own about Yes. And as I was sort of exploring, you know, where do I take my career, I came upon health coaching, I had never heard of this thing before. But all of a sudden, it seemed like a great way to marry my personal interest and passion. I’d never considered trying to make a living doing that, right. But along came health coaching. And so it gave me this opportunity to really impact the well being directly of others. And that was appealing to me.
Barb 3:08
Oh, absolutely. Yes. So what did you have to do to become a health coach? How did you actually move from this corporate nine to five gig into solopreneur? Ship?
Sherry 3:18
Yeah, it was, it was a process and a journey. So again, I was a project manager as part of my career, among other things, so definitely planned it all out started to sort of architect my exit. It took me a couple of years, I spent a year I took a year long training course and coaching, it was very intense. I’m very highly credentialed. Okay, loved every second of it. And that really kind of gave I started initially, I took the course and I thought, well, even if I just learned something personally, and apply it to my own life, but I eventually loved it so much. I was like, No, I’m going to take this and I’m going to do something with it.
Barb 3:53
Got it. Okay. So I Are you married or have a partner or do you have children?
Sherry 3:59
Absolutely. I do. I have I have a farmer for husband. Okay, partner. And I have two boys
Barb 4:06
And two boys. Okay, so tell me what that conversation when you say, hey, hubby, dear. I’m gonna leave my corporate job as a project manager and become a solopreneur. Tell me about that conversation.
Sherry 4:17
Yeah, well, fortunately, he was super supportive. You know, very much so in the like, do what kind of what makes you happy kind of thing. So while he actually trained as an electrical engineer, and he spent he had a 20 year career as an electrical engineer, but farming has always been in his background. He’s always helped on his family farm. And so he stepped down from his corporate job, if you will. Not that it was corporate, but you know, like his job to run the farm. Okay. And, you know, he’s very much like, we have to do what makes us happy. So he’s like, Go Go for it, like try it. So it was really nice.
Barb 4:55
You know, I always enjoy it when I hear that story, because it’s not always that way. spouses and partners are not always 100% on board, when they hear that their other half is, you know, gonna get into some sort of business that, hey, maybe I’m gonna make gobs of money, but maybe we’re gonna starve. Right? Yeah. Yeah, the response?
Sherry 5:15
No. And, you know, fortunately, we, you know, we weren’t in a position where we were gonna start, you know, so I, again, I planned ahead, right, like I did myself a little mistake and whatnot. So yeah,
Barb 5:27
Exactly. Okay, so tell me what it looks like when you’re working with a potential client when you’re working with a client? How do you help them? How would you help someone like me? Because I’m your target market?
Sherry 5:40
Yeah, absolutely. So I think what I would, you know, step back just a little bit and just want to talk a little bit about, like, sort of what diet culture is. Yes. It’s, I think that sort of helps to ground the conversation. Sure. So you know, diet culture is this system of beliefs and behaviours that really rewards even worships thinness, right. And it equates thin, with healthy, adequate, thin with good, right, so very to health and moral virtue, right. And where you know, your body size, your appearance, they really Trump, your mental, your social and your general well being. Yes. And this is like, the air we breathe. It’s the water we swim in. Right? It’s pervasive.
Barb 6:25
Do you think it’s just as a woman as it is for women?
Sherry 6:30
Sadly, I think it’s getting to be more so but not I would say nowhere near for sure. Yep. But you know, and so to sort of translate that a little into like, because that’s sort of a big and broad description. It’s a real world examples. It’s like the the reason why brides always feel this need to lose weight before their weddings. Yes. Why new moms always feel pressured to get their bodies back. You know why it’s no longer sufficient to just look good. We have to like, look good naked. Like, really? Exactly. It’s, it’s why men no belly is a thing. Like, it’s just crazy like that. They’ve done such a fantastic job on the advertising and marketing side, right? Yep. Yeah, it shows up in less obvious ways in our lives, too, though, like, why we feel the need to justify our food to others our food choices all the time, right? You’re at a restaurant, and you decide you’re going to have the fries. But you have to say like, oh, I worked out today, or, or I’ve been so good. Or you know,
Barb 7:30
Exactly, even to yourself, the fact that we feel like we have to justify it to ourselves. Nevermind, if there’s someone at the table that you’re justifying it to? Why would we need to say to herself, I want fries today? Why does that matter?
Sherry 7:44
Right? Or it’s been a long day, and I deserve cookies. Like no, you don’t? You don’t have to earn your food.
Barb 7:50
Well, isn’t that the truth? You don’t have to earn your food. And I agree growing up as a teenager that was 100%. How I equated, no, I won’t, I will put it in my teens in my teens, I absolutely focused on, you know, oh, I want to lose weight. I wanted this, I wanted that. But it wasn’t until I got into my 20s that it was like, Okay, I went to the gym. So now I can have this. You know what I am whatever I want. I’m an adult. I don’t have any, you know, at that point in time, I didn’t have any special diet or food requirements. And so you can have whatever you want. But I agree, especially women, we’re focused on usually the wrong things. We’re focused on appearance, versus how do I feel? Yeah, so So talk to me a little bit Sherry about as a woman, you know, if I look at a picture, so I’ve got two pictures in front of me, one woman is thin, and one woman might be not as thin, we tend to look at the thin person and think she’s healthy. I want to look like that. In fact, this one could be a triathlete. She could be an Olympic weightlifter. Why what what is baked into us that we look at the thin person and automatically say healthy.
Sherry 9:11
Yeah, and I think that is it. I don’t think it’s not baked into our DNA, but it’s baked into our culture, right? It’s an all the messages around us. It’s in the social media and, and the marketing and it comes out in our movies and our TV shows, like when you actually start to step back and look at this stuff. You realise how often people are portrayed as young as thin as usually light skinned, like, you know, fair features. And I made this comment to my family the other day, because we were I think we were watching some TV show or something. And this this idea of an older person came up with a girl that’s what it was the woman so these two friends in the movie, they were friends. They were apparently High School. They had been in high school together like in the same grade, right? Okay. She looked like she was maybe 40. Like, natural hair colour still beautiful, very, you know, blemish free, probably even younger. He had grey hair. He, I mean, he looked like he was probably in his 50s or 60s. And I was like, um, how did they go to high school together? Yeah, there’s a discrepancy here, because we won’t put elderly you know, women with grey hair in a TV show.
Barb 10:25
Right? Well, and if we do, then we depict them as being 60 or 70 years or older. Now, I heard this around the Golden Girls show. Like, I want to say they were like, 50 when they did the show, and yet you look at it now, and you realise they’re being depicted as being 80. But that’s how we used to envision 50. Yeah. And so yeah, I remember being a teenager, and I hear it from my own kids now. Like, 50 is old. 60 is ancient 70. Are you sure you’ll live till that long bomb? I mean, it’s like, serious, you guys. And so even they have this mindset, where to them? Their teachers who are you know, 3040 they’re old. Right? Like, wow, you guys have a lot of waking up to do and we did as teenagers too. Yeah. When I think back to being a teenager, low fat, no fat, right? All of those trends were kind of the same thing. No, of course, in time, we’ve learned how bad that actually was for us. But we have current day trends. We have keto we have. Oh, my God, I don’t even know them all. But But do you talk to me about that, like when you get on the phone with somebody is that the first thing you’re talking about is I’m on the keto diet. I’m on this. I tried that it didn’t work. What do you hear from folks?
Sherry 11:48
Absolutely. And so the real irony here is that when I first started my coaching business, I was sort of exploring, like, Who do I want to work with? How do I want to coach and I started it in the middle of the pandemic. So meeting face to face and sort of working in my community wasn’t necessarily an option. So I ended up signing on with a company like a startup out of the out of Amsterdam of all places. And they offer they basically offered keto coaching, keto diet, coach, oh, all the time. You know, at the time initially, I mean, I always sort of wanted a balanced relationship with with food and dieting, I’d always taken sort of a balanced approach. But I was still of the mindset that well, diets might work or, you know, like, eating healthy does include dieting to some extent. And so I actually started down the path of being a keto diet coach. And, and that was really the, the turning point for me that got me from got me to like, diets is a swear word, as you said, right. Because I saw, I will say I sort of was I was squarely on Team diet when I first started, right? Like, it’s important to pay attention to what you eat. Yes. But as I saw in my clients, and even in myself, moreso in myself, the more you lose weight, the less happier you get. Yes, you know, so losing weight, all it brought on was a preoccupation with food, a concern about regaining weight. And just this, like, all your mental energy tied up in like, white knuckling it through, right? Yes, yeah. And I saw this. I mean, I felt it in myself many times as I went through that cycle. But I started to see it in my clients. And that’s when it finally clicked for me. Like, this doesn’t work. This isn’t good for anybody. Right? This has never really been good for my mental health. And that’s when I had to step back. And I’m like, You know what, this, I can’t do this anymore. And I don’t feel right, talking to clients about this anymore.
Barb 13:45
Yeah. Oh, good. You know, and I’ve heard some stories, especially on the keto diet, I know that for some people, it has really worked, it helped them make the changes that they needed. In many cases, quite quickly. I’ve also heard the horror stories from people and you know, just the digestive upset that sometimes comes with the diet when you first change and, and some of those types of things. What’s interesting to me is, you know, we have the keto diet, and we had the Atkins diet, and we had something else. And I shared with you before we get started today, that that I eat gluten free. I’m celiac, the food I eat is gluten free. The phrase that people will use is I’m on a gluten free diet or I’m on an on a gluten free diet. Which if you say that in a restaurant if you say that, you know around family who doesn’t understand Oh, when are you going to end this diet? I guess when I’m dead because celiacs not gonna go away. So I guess there is an endpoint, but that wasn’t really you know, the focus here. Yeah, not about losing weight. Yeah, and I think that’s where I myself I can’t speak for everyone. I am starting to see a change women are start I want to talk about being healthy, being fit, being strong. We’re starting to see more of it depicted on television in magazines. Now, maybe it’s because I look for it, maybe it’s not actually there. I don’t know. What do you think? What’s your opinion?
Sherry 15:16
That’s it. It’s a good point, there are days when I actually do get excited about things changing, and I see it happening. And then there are days when I just shake my head and want to cry again, about like how far we haven’t come or how much we stepped back. Right. I definitely think the information you surround yourself with is important and has an impact. So yes, it’s often I feel like I’ll see us take one step forward, and then I’ll see us take two steps back, right. Like, recently, they, the US, and I suspect Canada will follow along quickly released a bunch of guidelines around obesity for for children, right, like and so, and this was something that, you know, two steps back in my opinion, right, like, was it not recognising that so much of one of the biggest issues around sort of weight issues is the stigma of just the non acceptance we have around larger bodies.
Barb 16:11
Yeah, and, and society is built for a certain size of body. Yes, your airline seat, your restaurant seat. It’s no different. This is totally an aside. It’s no different than the height of a toilet. It’s guilt for a man. Not a woman tight, right. Yeah. Okay. Do I think that means we need adjustable toilets? No, I don’t but but it was built with a man’s height and frame to be considered. On Instagram, I follow an influencer, who is very health and fitness oriented. That is her business. I follow her because she’s also got some really strong marketing messages. And I enjoy them. So someone asked her the other day, probably in her DMs. Why this was all she talked about health fitness, working out weightlifting, right. Why this was what she talked about. So she she shared a post, and it was probably, you know, all 10 carousel slides long. And the last one, and I like I read through, and I kept looking for this last one. And finally it came and she’s like, because I enjoy it. Right? And it it? Because she didn’t say it first, like that would have been my first answer. Because I like it. Right? Yeah, it would have been as complicated as my answer got. But to her credit, you know, she explained all sorts of things about it’s good for you, and blah, blah, blah. And then at the end, she said this, and I thought the fact that she had to say she actually enjoys it, she actually right. Um, and I, you know, I kind of reflected on that. Because when I used to be really active in CrossFit, people would ask me all the time, like, why do you do that? Because I like it, because it’s fun. I enjoy it. Like, why else would I? Why else would I put myself through something like that? Right? Yeah,
Sherry 17:59
It’s so awesome that you have that perspective in relationship to exercise, because so many of us don’t, right, like so many, you know, exercise gets lumped in with diet, right as a way to control the size and shape of our body. And you know, a lot of the work I do really is, is getting people to see that and getting them to come back to what you’re talking about. Find things that you enjoy, find things that make you feel good, let’s start eating in a way that makes us feel good.
Barb 18:28
Yes. And you know, honestly, cheery, I feel quite fortunate, because whether it was the choices that my parents made for me early on, or maybe it’s just who I was, there’s a lot of types of activities that I just always liked, I swam, I played baseball, I did all of these things. And the, when I look at the times in my own life that have been the most difficult, it’s when I can’t find something to do that I like and I’m like, do I mean physically, like, specifically, you know, gym oriented. So the times that I haven’t been able to find an activity or, you know, a team, something to be a part of that was bigger than just myself. Like, I was miserable, absolutely miserable. So I mean, it’s, it’s very important to me, and I shared this with you earlier, too. I remember that almost to the day, you know, I took the My Fitness Pal app off my phone, and I took something else off so I didn’t have to worry about macros. And I was like, Ah, there was a huge sigh
Barb 19:36
Of relief. And you know, there’s been a couple of times I’m preparing for a surgery right now, where like, I do need to pay attention to what I’m eating and what I’m doing. And just the mere thought of putting some type of app yes on my phone to track like I have resisted it at all cost because So back down that rabbit hole.
Sherry 20:01
Yeah, it’s so nice. Once you have that freedom, right you recognise, you can look back and I went on my own journey, I look back. And I’m like, so shocked at how restrictive I was like how and how normal that felt, right. Like, I brought all sorts of foods back into my diet. And sometimes I get it. It’s interesting, because sometimes, like, I still get a raised eyebrow for my husband, because like my family, sort of, it was just how I ate for such a long time. Yep. And every once in a while now they’ll look at me and be like, you’re gonna eat that mom. And I’m like, You bet. I’m gonna eat this.
Barb 20:33
Oh my god, it’s so funny that you tell that story. I was working with a health coach one time and we were we were specifically counting macros because I was doing some training for triathlon at the time, and very active in CrossFit. So it was it was really about finding the balance, and, and all of these sorts of things. Anyway, we sit down for supper one night, right after I started working with them, and my son, who at the time, maybe was five, like 10 years ago. Yeah, he was probably around five. He looked at my plate, and he’s like, Mom, you’re gonna eat all that. Right? And I just thought, wow, like the fact that, like, a child of that age has that kind of cognition. It tells you wear that coat the brainwashing, like weird screenwash. And that’s a great word. So, yes. So tell me about clients working with you. What can they expect? What does that journey look like working with you?
Sherry 21:31
Yeah, absolutely. So I primarily work with women sort of in that midlife range, right, like so mid 40s to mid 60s kind of time, who, you know, are have been professional, highly ethical and professional dieters, right? Or like yo, yo dieters, right? Yeah. And they’re really ready to step out of that diet cycle. Like they, they’re weary of it, they’re recognising that it’s just not working anymore. But often they’re afraid of doing so. Right. Like it brings up fear, you know, cuz back to your point of brainwashing it’s it’s kind of like admitting defeat, right? Yes.
Barb 22:03
Yes, exactly.
Sherry 22:06
Or, you know, the other fear is that it’s going to result in some some form of weight gain, right? Because we’ve always once we stopped the diets, the weight comes back on, right? So yes. So they want to step out of the cycle. They’re tired of it, but they’re not sure how, and they’re not sure what it means. So we go through a process to kind of work through that.
Barb 22:22
And they’re probably nervous. If I get off that diet. wagon, what’s going to happen? Right, yeah, there’s that fear that goes along with it too.
Sherry 22:31
Exactly. And especially again, sort of as we’ve hit mid life, because our bodies start changing. So a big piece of the work that we have to do is to recognise that we need to start working with our bodies, our bodies are so much smarter than us. And really, you know, we control very little at the end of the day, in terms of, I mean, of course, how we move what we eat this stuff matters. But it’s not all that matters. And, you know, biology Trumps willpower all the time. Yes,
Barb 22:59
Exactly. I agree wholeheartedly. Okay, so somebody decides that they’re ready to take the plunge. And so Sherry helped me out on this journey. Tell me what that looks like. How long do we work together? What do we do? How do you help me? shift my mindset so that I have a healthier perspective on moving and eating? Yeah, absolutely.
Sherry 23:22
So we usually dig into you know, always say like, having genuine health really starts with the foundation of having a healthy relationship to food. So we start by sort of examining, acknowledging sort of the influence diet culture has had on us all the stuff we’ve been talking about getting people to sort of recognise where they’re at, and giving them the courage to step out with some a science based information on why this stuff doesn’t work. But more often, it’s just their own lived experience. Yes. You know, it’s really just like, hey, what, what have I truly seen in my own and felt in my own life? Once we have that courage to kind of really start to put like, delete those dieting apps, throw away the scale, you immediately feel this weight lifted off your shoulders, and then we can start moving forward with Okay, let’s dismantle all those beliefs we have around food around good food and bad food. Because when we’re constantly labelling and applying judgement to food, we subconsciously apply those same labels to ourselves.
Barb 24:18
Very true. Yeah, really good point.
Sherry 24:21
Yeah. So and then, you know, food sometimes shows up as coping mechanisms, right? It’s become our go to for stress or emotional regulation, when we’re tired when we’re bored. You know, all those things, even for celebration, right? So we start to recognise what other coping mechanisms we have lean on other tools, but it’s really once we let go of the health equals diet plus exercise view of the world. You start to see other possibilities open up. Yes, absolutely. Um, another big piece of the puzzle, obviously, is, again, the sort of biology component that I mentioned. It’s really important for us to Just sort of start to acknowledge that, you know, we have to set like stop blaming, blaming our body for not conforming to diet, culture ideals, right? And understand how how genetics and biology really influence how we look, because we can’t you know, food and weight are inextricably linked. Yeah. And you can’t make peace with food, you can’t step on that diet cycle, you know, when you’re still at war with your body and the way you look. So that body confidence body image is a big piece of the work that we do. And that’s where the mindset shifts have to occur as well.
Barb 25:30
Yeah. And there’s a big piece in there that says, How do you start listening to your body? Bodies knows that Food is fuel. At the end of the day, your your body doesn’t necessarily care how many calories go in. Its fuel, my car needs gas, I need to get someplace. And I think that’s a really big acceptance piece. Yes. Okay. Did I have an apple today? Or did I have this? What did my body need or want?
Sherry 26:04
Yeah, so true. And that’s, so a lot of the work that I do is based on the principles of intuitive eating, Mm hmm. Trained to Intuitive Eating counsellor. And that’s, you know, the foundation of intuitive eating is really being able to listen to what how your how food responds in your body. And ultimately, we want to be responding based on feeling good, right? It’s not about that foods or bad foods are not about how much to eat, when to eat. It’s really about what’s my body telling me so often, we have to get in tune with that. And anybody who spent years or decades dieting is really good at ignoring their body. Oh,
Barb 26:39
You have to ignore your body to diet. You have to that’s Yeah, yeah. Bottom line.
Sherry 26:45
Yeah. So and that can be a process like getting back in touch with that, right. You know, so, you know, good analogies, like paying attention to when you have to go to the bathroom. Like, we’re pretty good at that. Although, some people in some jobs have learned to, you know, ignore that.
Barb 27:01
Or that because I’m busy. Yep.
Sherry 27:03
Right. But it’s like that, right. It’s like really learning to respond to what your, your body’s telling you. So that’s a big piece. Absolutely. of what we do. Yeah. And, you know, and then ultimately, at the end, it’s helping women to redefine what health means to them. Yeah. Right. So what what is important to you in your life, that health is so much more, you know, I sometimes like to say this, like, boiling health down to diet and exercise is like boiling marriage down to sex and love. We know that there’s more than two components necessary for a long lasting, happy marriage. It’s the same that’s true of your health. It’s not just physical, it’s, it’s emotional. It’s the people that you connect with. It’s feeling supported. It’s, you know, having social connections. It’s it is I mean, there’s aspects of how you move and what you eat, but it’s also like meaning and purpose and, and what do you do for a living? Like, there’s so many components of health? Yeah. And so really starting to connect the dots to get people to feel like this. This is what health means for me. And this is what, how I want to live my life so that I can be healthy.
Barb 28:07
Exactly. Be healthy, feel good, and be happy, not look good. I mean, if, if you’re happy with your appearance, you tend to feel good, but we often derive how we feel from how we want to look, when I get here, I will feel this way, you have no idea how you’re gonna feel when you get there, because you’ve never been there before. Or it’s been so long since you’ve been there that you can’t remember what that felt like.
Sherry 28:34
Yeah, yeah, exactly. So true.
Barb 28:37
And I think, you know, socially, there’s, there’s a crazy expectation in place that says, Well, this is what we see on TV. This is what we see in a magazine. Or this is what you look like when you graduated from high school. So you should look the same. No, I’ve had children and I’m no I shouldn’t and I don’t want to.
Sherry 28:56
Yes, it’s the No, I don’t want to that we have to get to like that’s the mindset shift. Right? So often, we believe we still should, you know, I love telling my kids yeah, I have this belly and you gave it to me that I’m good with it. Like, I have two beautiful boys. And I’m happy about that. Right? And I’m happy that I have a belly as a result.
Barb 29:14
Yes. I love looking at pictures with the kids because my kids will often comment on oh my god, like look at how much grey hair you have. Now, mom and I’m like, You gave me every one of them. Yes.
Sherry 29:25
I earned I earned every one of the Exactly,
Barb 29:28
Exactly. And they all kind of you know, they don’t get it and they they won’t until their parents and I’m okay with that. There’s there’s a huge gap I want to say especially for women, when it comes to self acceptance. This is who I am and you know, you either take me as I am or you don’t. And when you I would say and this is became very personally for me 40 Was I don’t care anymore what you think I’m going to do what I want And as long as it’s good for me, my family, right? Socially, society don’t care. And then there’s 45. And you just go, did whatever and you and and you can literally to tune the messages out. I know it’s not the same for everyone. But for me, those were my two milestones rose like, yeah, I, I don’t care at all what you think. And there’s so much power that comes from that feeling, being able to tune it out and disregard it with without it, you know, sometimes you say you disregard it, but sometimes there’s a residual and it continues to go in your head. Yes, yeah, absolutely. Did you say something? Oh, sorry, I don’t listen to that, right and genuinely to me.
Sherry 30:52
Oh, I just want to acknowledge that in you, BB. Because that is such a powerful way to, you know, to see yourself to live in your body. And it’s unfortunately, it’s not easy for everyone to get there. Mm hmm. Exactly, no. And so that’s where it’s really important for people to, you know, belong to a support community reach out and get some professional support, or, or whatever it takes for you to get there. Because that’s where I would love for everyone to be right. Like, that’s where we want every woman in this world to be.
Barb 31:17
Exactly. Yes. Sherry, I’m going to ask you one last question. And then we have to wrap up because we’ve gone over time, like I so often do. Our teenage girls, how do we help them get to a point that in 1020 and 30 years, they’re not having a conversation with their health coach? How do we build that in them that they can start to feel good about who they are?
Sherry 31:40
It’s such an awesome question, Barb, and I wish I had a really great answer. I don’t feel like I do other than, like, just awareness, right? The more we talk about this stuff, the more we start to educate ourselves, our children, the more we start to stop commenting on people’s bodies and their weight. You know, like one of the biggest compliments you can pay somebody in our society is Oh, you look fantastic. Have you lost weight, or you’ve lost weight? It looks so good. We stop commenting on how people look physically start commenting on their energy, their sense of humour, the you know, the way that they work, the detail oriented, how detail oriented, they like, whatever, there’s a million ways you can compliment somebody that don’t involve appearance.
Barb 32:25
Yes, exactly. And I think our brains again, especially as women, our brains go to that place where you look good. If you’re thin. Not you look good. If, right? Yes. And actually, you’ll remember at the very beginning of our conversation, when we were talking, I said, you know, are you okay? If I capture some video, because you look healthy. I can’t see the rest of your body. I have no idea what the rest of your body looks like. But your appearance, you You’re glowing, you’re rosy, you’re happy. You’re healthy. Right? And that’s what we need to be focused on, I think. Yes. Anyway, absolutely. We should wrap it up. Just before we do though, please tell our listeners how they can find you online, your social channels and your website. How will they find you?
Sherry 33:10
Absolutely. Yeah, so probably the simplest thing is just to go to my webpage, which is, you know, Sherry pratt.ca. You can also find me on Facebook, I got a business page for a pet health coaching, and on Instagram at Sherry Pratt underscore health coach. And if you go to my website, I’ve also got a free guide that you can get that you can grab around emotional eating. So it’s called halt emotional eating. It’s a fantastic tool, if you sort of struggle with that stress eating that emotional eating that is so typical when we’ve been in that diet cycle.
Barb 33:41
Yes, exactly. Awesome. All right. Well, thank you so much, Harry, for joining me and having a long conversation today, about health, about dieting, and about you know, being empowered to just step back from all of it, and delete those apps. So, on that note, if you want to sell your story, then you need to tell your story and there’s no better place to start than a secret life show. If you want to be a guest you can email me at barb at above the fold dot live or reach out on our Facebook and Instagram pages at above the fold. I’m your host Barb McGrath, Google Girl and founder of the Get found for Local program. Remember, you were charged for your success. Don’t keep it a secret. Bye for now.