One of the most powerful moments in this conversation came when Amber said:
“I didn’t want to do what I was doing… but it became my comfort zone.”
If you’ve ever struggled with food, alcohol, or any compulsive behavior, you know exactly what she means.
This episode isn’t about dieting.
It’s about why the body holds on — to weight, habits, protection, and survival patterns — even when we desperately want to change.
Amber walks us through her healing journey, from childhood trauma and food addiction to full recovery, and explains why binge eating isn’t a lack of discipline — it’s often a nervous system trying to self-soothe.
We discuss:
- Why restriction and “all-or-nothing” thinking backfire
- How hormones quietly sabotage progress
- Why negative self-talk keeps the body in fight-or-flight
- The difference between managing symptoms and fully healing
- And why detachment — not obsession — is what allows real change
The biggest takeaway?
Your body isn’t broken. It’s protecting you.
And once you understand why, everything changes.
✅ Action Steps for Listeners
- Identify your triggers
Write down emotional, physical, and environmental triggers (fatigue, stress, scale-checking, restriction). - Stop blaming willpower
Start asking: “What does my body need right now?” - Pay attention to self-talk
Notice when inner criticism appears — it’s often a stress response. - Support your nervous system
Breathwork, journaling, walking in nature, and rest are not optional — they’re foundational. - Get curious about hormones
If weight or cravings feel “stuck,” there may be a biological reason.
📚 Resources Mentioned
- Hormone testing & functional ranges
- EFT tapping
- Journaling & emotional processing
- Nervous system regulation practices
- Amber’s Body Freedom work & free quiz
- The No Sugarcoating Podcast
Guest Contact Info: https://amberapproved.ca/
👊🏼Need help applying this information to your own life?
Here are 3 ways to get started:
🎁Free Guide: 30 Tips for Your First 30 Days – With a printable PDF checklist
Grab your copy here: https://www.soberlifeschool.com
☎️Private Coaching: Make Sobriety Stick
https://www.makesobrietystick.com
Subscribe So You Don’t Miss New Episodes!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music, or you can stream it from my website HERE. You can also watch the interview on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/@theonedayatatimepodcast?sub_confirmation=1
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-one-day-at-a-time-recovery-podcast/id1212504521
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4I23r7DBTpT8XwUUwHRNpB
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a8eb438c-5af1-493b-99c1-f218e5553aff/the-one-day-at-a-time-recovery-podcast
Transcript
Amber
[00:00:00] Amber, thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you for having me. I’m super
excited to be with you. Yay. I’m excited because when we did our pre-interview chat, we were,
the topics that were top of mind was talking about burnout, self-worth, self-sabotage, control.
These are all topics that, really top of mind for me, for my clients and I feel like these are topics I
feel like everybody can relate to. But before we jump in, I would love to hear your story because
we’re gonna be talking about your program, body Freedom and your Work Centers a lot on.
Is it fair to say that it centers on health as opposed to weight loss? Yeah, really the healing
journey is listen, who isn’t on a health healing journey, right? Yeah. To some degree. Yeah. Can I
just pause for a second? Do you happen to have a light on you? Your face is dark, really?
No, I’m just sitting, I [00:01:00] just, I have the window and I have my light on. No. Ring light. No.
Okay. Don’t worry about it. It’s weird. I feel like I look, it’s fine. To derail you. That’s okay. No
worries. Yeah. Okay. Let’s talk a little bit about your journey. Your, I know that you struggled with
some food issues.
Tell me what what would that tell me what that was like for you? Yeah, so it was really my dark
night of the soul, I call it. It was a very transformative time, and it was a very difficult time and a
lot happened that accumulated to the point where I was struggling with. Simultaneously bulimia,
binge eating, food addiction, emotional eating, compulsive eating, even chewing and s spitting
food out all at the same time.
And I went through all of these experiences with food in my early twenties, and so when I was
five, the older boys called me fat and ugly on the bus my first day taking the bus. And I really
took on that trauma and took on the identity of fat and ugly for the next 20 years of my life. It
made me very insecure.
I grew up the only child, and my [00:02:00] mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis before I
was born, and so I felt very. Out of control witnessing her decline. Grieving her decline as a child
and just absolutely loving your mother and watching her go through some of the things that I did
was so absolutely horrible.
I don’t wish it upon anybody, but obviously we all have our growth and evolution. But I just felt so
helpless and I think unconsciously using. Food as a bit of a soother was a way to try and have
some form of control while witnessing her lose control. And then in your teens, like you start
getting programmed to you have to look a certain way and you have to fit in the box.
That doesn’t exist in all the Photoshopping they don’t tell you about. And then you compare your
body and think there’s something wrong with you ’cause you don’t look perfect. And so you startbuying the diets because that’s the fake solution they sell you. That doesn’t work either. And
then it was in my early twenties after my first breakup.
When I was so hurt, I could barely eat. I lost weight really quickly, got the quote unquote perfect
body that I thought would fix everything.
’cause the weight loss industry programs you that once
you lose weight, you’ll finally be happy and then you lose [00:03:00] the weight and you’re not
happy and it actually doesn’t really fix anything because it doesn’t teach you confidence or how
to build your worth or to cope in healthy ways.
And so then it’s like this switch flipped. And I just got to this point where I’m like, this is hard to
attain. I’m undereating and over exercising. It didn’t fix anything. My period’s gone. I don’t feel.
Amazing. I don’t feel good at all. And so it’s like this switch flipped and I started binge eating
until the full, point I was so full, I was sick.
I’d eat tables full of food and I was spending like 70 to $80 most nights of the week at the
organic store going and buying my binge food. Trying to justify why that was a healthier choice
than just going to the regular grocery store. It doesn’t matter when you’re eating the volume of
food. I was it’s not a healthier choice.
And then I gained 80 pounds in four months and was the heaviest that I had ever been and felt
unrecognizable and so much shame and embarrassment that now I’m so heavy I don’t want
anyone to see me. So I really isolated at home a lot. Went through binging and purging for six
months thinking.[00:04:00]
I have to take ownership that I did it, and I’m not willing to further hurt myself through that act.
And then can I pause you for, I’m so sorry to pause you. You froze for a second and so I lost you
after I think it was like around the six month mark you were binging in. For about six months.
Okay. Do you want me to start there? Yeah. Okay, cool. Is it better now? I just wanna make
yeah. Okay. You just froze for a second. Okay. I was binging and purging for about six months
because I thought if I purged that I wouldn’t gain weight, albeit I was already gaining weight. And
purging is such a destructive act on every part of your body and such a act of self-loathing.
And then I decided I needed to start taking ownership if I binged and not purge because purging
is a full lack of ownership responsibility for the choices and the behavior in this case. And so I
stopped that. And then it was just this. Obsession with food, and I [00:05:00] couldn’t stop
overeating and over consuming, and I didn’t want to do what I was doing, but it became my
comfort zone and my safety blanket.
And we’ll often stay in what’s familiar and comfortable, even if it’s hurting us because the brain,
specifically the amygdala in the brain, recognizes discomfort as a threat to our survival. So even
if we’re gonna try and do things that will benefit us, if it’s uncomfortable and unfamiliar. The brain
will, go, oh no, keep over here.
This is what is safe and familiar. And so I stayed in these cycles for a few years and it was just
so hard on every aspect of my being. And when I had my low point moment where I started tobuild awareness that I was binge eating, I had a food addiction, I was emotionally eating, I was
using food to cope and shove down my emotions and trying to fill a void.
I was never gonna fill with food. I was like I’m doing this, but I don’t know how to stop. This is the
problem is we’re not really educated on how to really deal with this ’cause it’s such a
multifaceted, complex issue. And so I ended up having a night where I [00:06:00] had a binge
through food in the garbage, was laying on the couch in complete pain, physically and
emotionally, just wondering, I don’t think I’m gonna make it to 30 if I keep up this level of
destruction with my body, my mind, my thoughts, the way I treated myself.
And that particular night. I would always throw the food in the garbage.
’cause I said I’m never
gonna go and eat the food outta the garbage. That would be ridiculous. So that night my food
settles. I’m like if this is the last time I’m gonna do this, I might as well eat the rest of it. So I went
into the kitchen, pulled out my garbage, ate the cookies, threw them back in the garbage, and
then threw them out in the dumpster, out in the back alley and went later and grabbed them and
ate them again.
And I was just like, this is a serious problem. Like this, I can no longer be in denial ’cause I was
in denial. I’m like, it’s not a big deal. Food’s my friend, it’s how I cope. But that moment where I
went through those choices, where I ate it in my garbage in out of the dumpster, crushed my
denial that it wasn’t a big deal.
It was a big deal and the level of suffering had gotten so [00:07:00] big. So it crushed the, oh,
this is comfortable and it’s familiar as well. It just, the suffering was so big and I’m like, I can’t
keep doing this if I wanna have the life that I want. And so it catapulted me onto the journey of
getting uncomfortable, facing the unfamiliar and the unknown and going, I have no idea what I’m
gonna do.
But I’m getting on this path because I know that the, this is what I need to heal in order to get
where I wanna go. And then the healing journey started, and it was very, what I call
multidimensional. There’s a lot of physical healing, mental, emotional, energetic, and spiritual
healing, habitual healing, so many different things.
But healing my relationship with food and my body and myself gave me more than my life back.
It gave me my business and my ability to be of service, my confidence, my compassion, and self
love. And it really has given me the life that I have today. And I’m so grateful for every part of it
that I went through because it taught me so much, which led into the next level of growth and
evolution, past, healing food addiction.
So [00:08:00] that is what I went through. And I can go into some specifics if you want, with the
healing parts, but it. I did it on my own. I didn’t seek help partially, I didn’t have the money at the
time, and I’d seen one psychologist and had a horrible experience and she just essentially was
like, just don’t eat the food and love yourself.
I felt very judged, and I’m not poo-pooing psychologists, but there’s a level of compassion and
safe space that you have got to hold for people when they’re vulnerably opening up and sharingthese things for the first time. Yeah. Or you’re gonna scare them away and they’re never gonna
come back and see you.
Yeah. So it’s just, there’s this invisible kind of pull that’s like you’re gonna figure it out, just get on
the journey and you’re gonna figure it out. And I did over a few years yeah. Yeah. There is so
much about your story that is in parallel with like my story and the stories of people struggling
with.
Alcohol or drugs. And in my mind, addiction, the purpose of addiction is distraction. It’s typically
distraction from the pain. I’m so curious. Do you, what do you feel like the main source of your
pain [00:09:00] was? Was it being a child, watching your mother suffer for so long and not being
able to help her?
Is that sort of the nature of it? I think that was a big part of it, and I think the other piece was
that. That moment on the bus where I was called Fat and ugly, and then just like having, like
they were, what would’ve people would view as minute circumstances, but then when people
would comment about your weight or oh, your friend is smaller than the like I just would hear all
that and it really sat with me and I think that all accumulated over time and made me feel very
insecure.
In my body and very unlovable and just comparing and seeing other girls thinner, getting more
attention and all it just like you create all these stories, right? And it really hits on your
confidence when you’re a child and a preteen and a teen, and you don’t know how to love
yourself or hold your worth.
And then when you’re witnessing your mom and self hatred, overweight, self-loathing,
constantly saying she hates herself, constantly crying and just feelings. So disempowered with
her body and her circumstance and yeah the witnessing of the loss of [00:10:00] control. I just
think that there was so much going on that was obviously very stressful and traumatic for my
nervous system that, just got me to this place where, yeah, there was just so much suppressed
and I think holding everything in, because when I was a kid, I’m like, I don’t wanna be a burden.
I don’t want to, my parents have enough on their plate, like I don’t wanna. Stress them out and
be the means of their stress. They have enough with this, right? And so I think a lot of it was like
just holding it in, keeping it in, taking it on, and not expressing or talking about it. Yeah. That’s a
lot.
Yeah. Especially for a little one. And you’re the only child. Totally. And yeah, I could see how that
would just compound and really erode your self-worth. So what were some of the things you I’m
it’s so sad to hear that you went to a psychologist and. And this idea of just stop. Just stop it.
Who does that? Yeah. Who does that help? Like a professionally trained person is yeah, just
don’t do that. That’s like telling me alcoholic. Yeah. Just don’t drink. [00:11:00] Yeah. It’s what?
It’s if I could, I would’ve done that already. Yeah. Help me. Yeah. It’s, I feel finding a good
support person is like dating sometimes.You gotta kiss a lot of frogs. Yes. To find a good one. I agree. Listen, it sounds like you’ve found
some solutions and you have overcome this problem, and I know you’re helping others. What
sort of actions did you take to start the journey of your healing process? Was there certain, were
there certain teachers or practices that really resonated with you?
Yeah, not really teachers, it was really just starting to go what’s my biggest issue? And the first
thing that came to mind was sugar. I’m so addicted to sugar, I start eating it and I can’t stop. And
so I started to learn about sugar. Okay. And that it was 10 times more addictive than cocaine.
And that it was exciting. I didn’t know any of this was like, wow, like it’s giving me a dopamine
high and I probably have low dopamine. And when I start thinking about eating sugar. I start,
getting that dopamine reward, anticipation, and then I start eating and I get this huge dopamine
high and then [00:12:00] I just can’t stop.
And so starting to learn about the addictive nature of really processed sugars and I’m like, wow,
I’m not crazy. Like part of this is the food now. It’s not all the food, but food has been designed to
be addictive. So that we keep buying in and eating it to make us sick so that. We make big
pharma a bunch of money like that.
It is pretty obvious these days. Yeah, it’s pretty, I learned that 20 years ago and it’s it’s pretty
obvious now. But anyway so learning about certain foods, MSG was increasing my appetite and
making me lose control with food. Gluten, the protein and wheat was giving me a high and
making me lose control.
They increased the content of some of these ingredients so that you get a big high. And so then
when I started to. Improve my nutrition ’cause I needed to anyway. I always ate like poorly, just,
it’s what I grew up with. So I started to eat more whole foods and clean up my eating.
And when I still wanted to binge on 10 bananas in a jar of organic peanut butter or like a whole
batch of like gluten and dairy-free muffins, I’m like, this is bigger than the food. And so I had to
go way [00:13:00] deeper and go, can I need to get really honest with myself? I don’t love
myself. I am terrified to feel my emotions.
I have no healthy ways to cope with stress, and I have no idea what’s triggering me to binge. So
I, that’s probably gonna be the next, like things I’m gonna explore on this journey is I need to
understand what’s triggering me so that I can start to catch it and understand what I really need
instead of food.
So I made this huge list of triggers and put it in every room in my apartment so that I could start
to build awareness. Like awareness is your superpower, and awareness is truly in my opinion.
First thing we have to start building to start, understanding these behaviors and overcoming
them.
Because if you don’t know, how are you supposed to do anything about it? So yeah,
understanding my triggers and then when I got triggered before I went to the store, I’m like, let
me look at my list of triggers, what is going on? And then I started to tools, like you were saying,meditation. EFT tapping breath journaling became a [00:14:00] huge part of me writing my
emotions and reading things back and understanding why I felt the way that I did.
Nature, getting my feet in the grass, going and walking in, in the forest. Taking a bath, like
relaxing music, like really things that were actually, I didn’t realize at the time, but were helping
regulate my nervous system and help me get grounded and outta my head and into my heart
and things that would help me cope with my.
Triggers and stressors and things like that, so that was really helpful. And then I had to start
mustering up the courage to feel,
’cause that was so terrifying to me. I literally, I call it my ego
mind. That inner critic literally had convinced me, if you feel like the world’s gonna end. So I was
like, terrified.
Something so bad was gonna happen if I felt, and so the first step was just 30 seconds. Just put
a timer on for 30 seconds. And. Feel for 30 seconds, just try and see what happens. And I did it
and when I went through that 30 seconds and I was processing through fear, and I got to the
other side of it and realized nothing bad happened, I did it.
That was such a confidence booster, [00:15:00] right? So starting to feel through emotions. It’s
okay. It’s uncomfortable, but I’m safe and there’s no bear in the room getting ready to attack me.
I can get through this, I can get to the other side of it. So that was also really helpful when I was
triggered or just feeling, like I wanted to numb out.
And then I think the other piece of it was really starting to. Catch the negative self-talk and all
the deep criticism and starting to actually apologize to myself and forgive myself for the way that
I treated myself. Forgive the boys for calling me fat and ugly ’cause they probably had no idea
that it had any impact on me.
Start to. Go into positive self-talk or to reprogram my subconscious mind of how I wanna feel,
who I wanna be, how I wanna treat myself. A lot of affirmation and things like that. And so that
was really the next big part of the journey, was those things and breaking up with the scale and
starting to detach from the number.
And that defining my worth and being like, no, I’m worthy ’cause I exist. And I, that does not
define me. And I almost like. Who knows, how close I got myself to being in a [00:16:00] serious
health issue crisis situation, trying to get to a certain weight and look a certain way. I’m not
gonna let that, dictate things anymore.
So I had to undo all my diet mentalities and undo all the the scale and the number and the
clothing size. Defines my worth and really detach from all of that. And that was really profound
for me because I fully overcame those behaviors. And that was about 16 years ago. Have not
thought about it since.
You can, and people are like, oh, you can only get to a managed state. Or like a, they can
always come back. And I’m like, yeah, but if you fully heal it and you really are committed toyour healing, it will not come back. Like I’ve been through some incredibly uncomfortable and
stressful situations.
In the last X years, and I’ve not once said, oh, I need to go eat. I’m like, no. Like I, this is
uncomfortable. I don’t like this, but it’s a growth opportunity. It’s a learning opportunity. I have my
tools, I have my. Resources, my support system, like I’m gonna be okay. I have been through so
many things and it always gets better, but like people think do you ever wanna go to food?
And I go, no, because I’ve [00:17:00] healed it and I don’t. I will refuse to hurt myself. Like it’s
safe to feel and work through it. It’s uncomfortable. Some of it I don’t like it, but I refuse. I would
refuse to go back to that. And yeah, healing all that really is what inspired me to go. How many
other women are struggling with this and men.
If I went through the experience I did where I was just told to stop doing it, how many other
people are being misunderstood or not supported properly? I think this is why I went through
this.
’cause I’m supposed to help others with it. Yeah. And yeah, that’s what really prompted me
to start my business. I think one of the last pieces that was really big for me was as I healed
those parts and really built my self-love and self-worth.
My intuition and being an empath like really came online and that was really intimidating at first
’cause I could feel other people’s stuff and my intuition was very strong and I was seeing and
feeling things that were, ended up happening. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is scary.
And so I had to learn how to manage my energy and set good boundaries and learn that it’s a
gift and become confident in it and trust [00:18:00] it because that I could foresee in the past
how that. Intimidation became a trigger because if I was binging, I was shoving all that down
and snuffing it out.
So I have a lot of empath clients who are very intuitive and very energetically sensitive and.
They don’t know how to manage that energy or those boundaries. And they take so much on
and that ends up dysregulating them and stressing them out, and then they end up
self-sabotaging because of that too.
Yeah. All the people pleasing stuff. Oh yeah. A hundred percent. And perfection and proving.
And a lot of women don’t realize that your hormone imbalances are fueling these behaviors
significantly. Like it’s such a big part that is not out. No, I think it’s getting better. There’s a bunch
of Dr.
Murray Haber, I think her name is just published a book about menopause and there’s really a
lot of conversations just now, which seems. So criminally neglectful that we haven’t had a
[00:19:00] lot of mainstream information about how to regulate our hormones and everything.
But listen, this is why we have people like you who are talking about it and teaching people,
educating people on how to do this.
I’m so curious about that. Listen, so many things you said. I was curious. You know what I was
curious about is you mentioned you had a huge list of triggers. Do you mind sharing a fewexamples? Yeah.
’cause I think when people can relate to oh, that’s actually a trigger. Do you
know what I mean?
Yeah, a hundred percent. Totally. Yeah. So overwhelm, getting on the scale and not liking the
number that I saw, but then getting on the scale and seeing it drop them. Oh, I can reward
myself and go eat whatever I want, but as soon as I started doing that, it would trigger the all or
nothing, and then I would like lose control.
So the all or nothing was a big one for me for a while. Any form of restriction. Which you could
be doing a detox, a cleanse, an elimination diet, all that stuff. If you’re in a binge and emotional
eater, it can be a detriment because it will trigger you to wanna at some point go and eat all the
things you weren’t allowing yourself to have.
Not getting a good night’s sleep and feeling fatigue.
’cause it increases your ghrelin, which is
your [00:20:00] hunger hormone and dulls your fullness hormone, which is your what?
Hormone? Ghrelin, and then leptin is your fullness signal. And so if you’re tired. You increase
your appetite and you decrease your ability to feel full.
So being tired was one of my last big triggers to heal, as was eating and watching tv because
anytime you associate a habit, you wire a pathway in your brain. And so I’d turn the TV on and
even if I didn’t wanna eat, all of a sudden it’s like time to eat. And I’d be like, why all of a sudden
do I wanna eat?
And I didn’t realize I was wiring these pathways in my brain. Yeah. Certain times of year. So it’d
be like, I’d be good for a while and then Christmas would come along and I’m like, wow, all of a
sudden do I wanna eat the world? And it’s because I would associate so many holidays with
over consuming.
So I had to practice going through those holidays and again, rewiring habits and pathways and
association in the way I was behaving. There, there’s so many triggers. Yeah, it could be like
having a negative interaction, eating sugar, or eating one of your trigger foods. And then again,
like losing control and then having bigger cravings.
Hormone imbalances, like I’ll give you one example [00:21:00] ’cause this’ll, your audience will
love this. Low progesterone. So progesterone is one of your sex hormones, and you produce
the majority of it in your cyclical years when you ovulate. And then as you go into latter
perimenopause in your late forties, and then menopause in your fifties and beyond, your adrenal
glands, which sit on your kidneys and produce cortisol, one of your stress hormones take over
producing your progesterone.
And if you are depleted, and your body’s been in a heightened state of stress for a long time,
you’ve probably had depleted progesterone for a while. I was postmenopausal at 24. That’s how
much destruction I did on my hormones post binge eating and healing, all of that. And of course,
I did a lot of work to balance my hormones.It doesn’t matter your age. If you’re in those kinds of behaviors, you are doing a number on your
hormones for sure. But my point is it’s very easy to deplete your progesterone. And if your
progesterone is low, progesterone is the calming hormone. So if you don’t have enough of it,
your nervous system gets dysregulated more easily.
You have less capacity to process [00:22:00] stress, even small things, and you have less
capacity to feel calm. And so if you don’t feel calm, you want some kind of safety blanket. So
we, some women are unconsciously reaching for. Food as a soother because their
progesterone is low and it’s a way that they can feel some temporary sense of calm.
And also with low progesterone, we need enough of that to help produce and circulate certain
neurotransmitters, including gaba, which helps us fall asleep. We also need enough GABA to
help with blood sugar, and when GAB is low, we crave more sugar. So my point here is stop
beating yourself up thinking it’s about willpower.
It’s got nothing to do with that. If you do not know the in-depth interconnections and inner
workings of your body, like how are you supposed to know if you have low progesterone that’s
giving you low gaba, that’s contributing to, sugar cravings, right? We’re not taught these things
and we also need enough progesterone to help with serotonin production, dopamine circulation,
like mood regulation and pleasure, neurotransmitters.
And this is one of [00:23:00] the reasons why I think binge and emotional eating are such an
epidemic, for women, whether you’re 20 or you’re 50 or you’re 80, because even just these
hormone imbalances make you not feel yourself, and then you want to feel something and so
you reach for food or for alcohol or shopping or whatever.
So those are some of the many examples of emotional and binge eating triggers. Thank you so
much for going through that. I feel like when people can get in touch with the specifics and
understand the mechanics, there is something so compassionate really about the understanding
the science because it becomes depersonalized.
Yeah. We can, like you said. So many people think it’s about willpower and discipline, and if we
can’t muster or manufacture like this motivation or whatever, the discipline, there must be
something wrong with us. Yeah, we tend to blame ourselves, like it must be my fault when. It’s a
simple, and it’s sad that our healthcare doesn’t really educate us in this way.
[00:24:00] Yeah. I feel like it’s getting better. Like I feel like the world is at our fingertips now, but
for the most part, you go to your doctor and you trust your doctor and you feel confident that
they’re gonna tell you what to do. But I’m 57 and it wasn’t until, a few years ago. You know that I
was able to get on some hormone replacement therapy.
Yeah. So I had no energy, brain fog. Yeah. All that stuff. And you go to the doctor and they’re
like we don’t really have that much for you. Just try to eat better and exercise more. And it’s
what? Yeah. And then finally I found somebody that was like, oh, you need a little testosterone,
progesterone, things like that.Yeah. Estro estrogen for me was good. And man, it was a total game changer. Yeah, it is life
changing to get your hormones sorted out. Yeah. Especially if you’ve been depleted for a while
and yeah, we need to stop.
‘Cause the doctor will be like, oh, it’s just your age. It’s just, you’re
just, they call it normal and it’s no, it’s not normal.
That’s some bullshit. Yeah. Yeah, totally. That’s a like, normal [00:25:00] is doesn’t mean that’s
okay. No. It’s it’s like there are things that we can do to take better care of ourselves so that we
can feel better. That’s amazing. Yeah. I also want you, me, you said something to me that was
so interesting in our little pre-interview chat, you were talking about how starting a business
healed your money issues and I thought that was so interesting.
’cause that’s something I, I struggle with. That’s just been like the one area of sticking point. I
think I’m a lot like other people that they say that your net worth is your self-worth. Embarrassing
to admit, but I don’t think I’m alone in this and I’m so curious. What was it? So you do all this
work, by the way?
Amazing. That you were able to come to these conclusions on your own. Like I just have to say,
you have amazing instincts that you are able to rationalize. I need to sit with my feelings and
lean into that. Like you are a unicorn for sure. Oh, thank you. That was amazing. And that what
was the other thing that you [00:26:00] did?
Just putting your triggers everywhere. Getting clarity about that was really amazing. Catching
the negative self-talk, practicing forgiveness, reprogramming, these are all. Amazing insights
that you came upon on your own. I just want you to know that’s really rare. Thank you. I talk to a
lot of people, so you have some kind of sparkle and genius within you that I’m so grateful that
you’re doing this work is, thank you.
It’s really unique. But getting back to, so you do all this healing work, your confidence is growing
and you decide. To how long have you been doing this particular business? 12 and a half years.
12 and a half years. Yeah. I gotta read a quote from your website. It said, we all have defining
moments they can shape your self-confidence and felt need for self-protection.
Brilliant. For many women that self-protection shows up as extra weight until you do the inner
work to feel safe. Your body will subconsciously hold onto the weight. I just thought [00:27:00]
that was. Really brilliant and explains a lot why a lot of women hold onto weight. And I look at
everything through the lens of like addiction recovery,
’cause that’s my world.
And they say that. Just in mainstream in the world, one outta four women have experienced
some sort of sexual assault, right? I would argue that in the rooms of recovery, the numbers are
probably reversed. I very rarely meet women who have not had some sort of a sexual assault,
and so they use the weight to insulate themselves I think this work that you’re doing is super
important. Thank you. And and so the work that you’re doing like from your website one of the
very first questions on there was what is body freedom? And I’m gonna have to try to tie, I
realize I just threw two questions at you. That’s okay.What is the body frame? And tell me about how you started this business, but maybe. Was it
building self-confidence in yourself that allowed you to start this [00:28:00] business and
become successful at it? I think it was the drive and the passion of I know what these women
are going through, have the brain of the recovered addict and the binge eater, and I literally
have been through everything that I’m going to help them with and that really drove the desire to
wanna start the business and be of service.
And I think just. Right off the bat of being authentic, sharing my story. Within a year I had a
podcast and was able to like really build a beautiful clientele. I was just so committed and I’m ki I
gave myself ear, I’m like, I have a ear to get this to the point where I can be self-sustained and
I’m gonna make it happen.
And I think that just finding the, being, becoming a podcast and being able to reach anyone in
the world, finding a really good business coach was helpful at the time ’cause I had no idea, like
really what I was doing in the beginning. So creating like programs and packages and again
boundaries and being more intentional with my time and where I was putting my energy was
really important.
And just being a consistent advocate for encouraging women to, to invest in [00:29:00]
themselves and their health, investing their time, their energy, their money, and normalizing the
conversation around, we’ve gotta normalize investing in ourselves and our health and being
willing to go on the healing journey and address the roots rather than continuing to quick fix and
numb.
So that’s always been my languaging, and I just think that. Speaking from my heart and being
vulnerable and sharing my own personal experiences up to this day of what I am healing and
learning and going through is just so relatable for your audience and lets them know that, they’re
not alone either and that they’re not the only ones going through it.
I just think is a huge part. Been a huge part of. Why I’ve continued to do what I do and I’ve had
success and help thousands of women heal. And then I think that over time it’s like I had built
self-love confidence, but I built business confidence just like throwing myself in the deep end
and learning so much about not people pleasing, using my intuition to say no to non-ideal clients
in collaborations to detach my worth from the number in the bank account. It doesn’t matter how
much is in the bank account, I want this [00:30:00] much. However, I’m good enough and I can
be happy today regardless of what that is.
’cause otherwise it’s no different than the number on the scale. It’s up. So I’m not having, I’m
having a shitty day ’cause the number’s up. No, why would I do that and have it ruin my day?
And the big theme through business, I think has been like trust, faith, and detachment. And like
really trusting things unfold the way they’re supposed to in our favor and like really holding that
’cause I’m always supported.
But detachment, detaching from the number in the bank account, detaching from when certain
things are gonna happen, holding the vision, but detaching is just so free and I think that’s animportant part of. Like being in business and not letting things stress you out and keeping a
somewhat of a regulated nervous system.
So that’s like what’s helped me heal my relationship with money and like really, like I give money
attention and I like check in with my money and I track my expenses, but I’m not hard on myself
if something, was a little more over here than I expected it to. It’s all a good learning opportunity.
And I [00:31:00] think the biggest thing is like it’s energy and. It’s about me being in alignment
with my nervous system. And the more I honor my nervous system and make sure I’m good, the
easier it is to manifest what I want. The more dysregulated and stressed and frantic I’m I’m
gonna manifest misaligned things.
So I’ve really. Yeah, I don’t hustle anymore. I honor like my body and my system and I’m always
supported. So I think that’s a huge part of business mastery that a lot of people don’t get.
’cause
we’re taught to hustle and push and go hard, but then you will burn out and you will end up with
all kinds of hormone issues and gain weight and all fatigue and all the things you don’t want.
So yeah. And then with body freedom. Body freedom is really, truly is that it is about you fully
being able to heal to the point where you feel so worthy and so connected, and so confident
with yourself, so attuned, so aware that you become sovereign and you know how to lead
yourself. I think [00:32:00] that is a big part of what it is and it’s freedom from the symptoms.
It’s getting the answers and understanding. This is why you have fatigue. This is why you’re
chronically bloated. This is why you’ve had low progesterone for 10 years and you haven’t been
able to sort it out. Oh, you have a hidden thyroid issue that no one’s told you about. Let’s work
on that and support that.
So body freedom is about. Addressing the root causes of your symptoms and your imbalances,
whatever they may be, physically and also emotionally. Things like people pleasing, perfection,
all or nothing, mentalities, overachieving, putting yourself lost on your list. Why do you feel
guilty? Prioritizing your needs, and it’s about rewiring.
And re plugging in your worth, your worthy, no matter what. It’s not about you’re worthy. If you
get all your to-dos done, it’s you’re worthy. Whether you decide to spend the whole day resting
today, or you get five things done off your to-do list, and really helping women come home to
their selves and remember who they truly are and that all of this that we desire to feel, the
self-love, the compassion, the confidence, the boldness, whatever it is, it’s all already within
us.[00:33:00]
But it’s not in the head, it’s in the heart. And so it’s really a journey of coming back into the heart
from the head and learning how to manage that inner critic, what I call the ego.
’cause it’s gonna
be there. Yeah. But we live more in our heart. We’re more in our power And that’s truly where
the true US resides.
And so body freedom is really all aspects of that. And yeah, helping women remember that so
they can step into who they’ve always dreamed of being with themselves. Yeah I love that,stepping into the person that you were always meant to be type of thing. That’s actually in the
tagline in the beginning of my intro.
Yeah. It’s like letting go of that all of that doesn’t serve you and Yeah. Creating the line. And
really that’s what we’re talking about here. It’s let’s handle root cause issue. I love that you focus
on root causes and practical solutions, and the whole point of this is to start creating lives that
we love.
Like what lights you up? You talked about living in alignment. Yeah, and I think so often when
we’re [00:34:00] using things like food or drugs or alcohol or shopping or whatever. We’re not,
we’re numbing out. So how could you possibly follow your inner compass? Yeah. Or your
intuition or your body’s guidance if you’re dissociated.
A hundred percent. Yeah. It’s really difficult. And then it’s easier to stay in old, other familiar
behaviors like people pleasing or, going oh, I really shouldn’t be interacting with that person. Or I
shouldn’t do it, but I’m gonna do it anyway.
’cause. It just, it’s just easier and it just feels more
comfortable.
I don’t wanna let them down. What if I get judged? What if I, we’re acting out as this lack state,
this lack of self love, lack, fear, whatever it is, right? Fear, worry. And that’s not the true s truly
we’re supposed to. The true S is to live in more love and peace and calm. So we have actually
like disassociate, disassociated our natural state of being right.
Yeah. Yeah, totally hijacked our, the one thing that’s going to lead us to our authentic selves. I
always feel like recovery is like recovering your [00:35:00] whole self, like the good parts and
the bad parts, but really it’s been a process of it’s a process of emerging yes. Allowing your true
self to emerge.
And I think once we, that starts to emerge, then we can co-create and start manifesting. Yeah.
We were talking a little bit about manifesting on the pre-call, and I don’t talk about this a whole
lot. I love this. I feel like you and I are so aligned and like I love me some science.
And I feel like the science is explaining like the spiritual laws of manifestation. Yeah. How do you
think of manifestation and how do you utilize it to create this life that you love now? Yeah. I
really believe we create our reality and our thoughts, right? Ourselves. Listen to our thoughts
and our thoughts, really, come into form in this 3D form that we’re in. And so I think it’s a huge
part of mine. My husband’s, life and way of being and I really started to realize, how much
power I held in that as I would see, like what I would [00:36:00] focus my attention on grow. I
had. I have a sticky note on my desk and I’ve had it for a few years, and it says, energy goes
where attention is.
Matter follows thought, and the mind is the creator of matter. And so as we start to see, wow I
can manifest what I want and I can also manifest what I don’t want. It’s really empowering to, to
start to be a little bit more mindful of what I give my energy to, what, how I speak. Am I speaking
in lack all the time and negativity, or am I speaking in a positive way, even if I’m having a.A more stressful month of my business, if someone asks me, I say there’s some interesting
things going on, but I don’t say, oh, it’s horrible. And I think this is it. Like I, because I don’t
wanna speak that into existence even if it’s not the current reality. So I do a lot of visualization.
I always ask for what I want, affirm it like it’s already happened. And I really find the key is
detachment ’cause. I can see today and be like, I am decided I’m making over a million dollars
by the end of January. And if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong. It just
means that there is a timing for it.
[00:37:00] I don’t know how, I don’t know when. I just know that it will. And so I and to refocus on
the service, it’s about being of service and being heart led and the abundance will come, the
manifestations will come, the aligned clients and collaborations and whatever. It will come and
it’s really about.
Immersing in the present moment. And making sure that my body is honored through what I’m
doing in my business. I’ll not throw my body under the bus for my business. And I think that’s a
huge piece of manifesting.
’cause the more stress you get, the more dysregulated your nervous
system, your energy field is more contracted and we can’t, we’re not open to receive as easily.
So why would all these big influx of things you want come when you’re in a contracted
dysregulated state? Do you really have capacity to hold all of it? Probably not. And I just see it
time and time again where if I really slow down and honor my body, it’s so much easier to
manifest. So regul nervous system regulation, hormone balance, and like really going, talking to
your body and asking her what [00:38:00] she wants or, I think really critical parts of
manifestation.
In essence, we’re stepping more into our feminine energy, the being, the slowing down, the
nurturing. And yeah, and I think detachment is just a big piece. Like I have big visions, I have
big intentions. I want these things to happen, but not making it mean anything bad if it doesn’t
happen when I want it to,
’cause it’s divine timing and maybe something better’s coming that I
can’t even dream up.
Yeah. I was taught when I first got sober that I just call it God. It’s like either God says yes, not
yet, or I have something better for you. Yeah. Hundred percent. I love that. Yeah. The thing
about detachment is so interesting because. Attachment is grasping. It’s needy, it’s desperate,
and it actually repels.
Yep. The thing that you very want, the very thing that you want. It’s like chasing a cat. It’s like
you can’t chase a cat if you, but if you sit it comes to you type of thing. I don’t have a cat, but I
get it. Yeah. It’s true. A hundred percent. [00:39:00] Okay. What do you do in the case where.
Somebody really wants something so bad, somebody’s overweight and they’re like, I so
desperately wanna drop this. Weight is. Does a, that sounds attached to a goal. How do you
help somebody? And it can be anything actually, not just a weight, but a goal. How do you
suggest somebody practice detachment?Is that through faith? Is it through trust? What does. Look like for you? Yeah, so I think the
weight is a great example because so many women are like wanting to lose weight, so we can
use that. So it’s actually through first getting them to shift their perception from I need to lose
this weight to let me get curious about why I’m hanging onto it.
Why does my body not feel safe? And why is she hanging on to protection? And let’s get
curious about your weight loss blocks, because your weight loss blocks are no different than
emotional eating triggers. They’re trying to show you. Where you’re out of alignment. Something
needs your attention, something needs healing.
And [00:40:00] so let me explore that because there’s all kinds of weight loss blocks. Again,
hormone imbalances. Ah, and for all the women out there, if you have not had your hormones
thoroughly tested and reviewed in a more functional way, which means the normal range is not
normal, you can have hormone issues in the normal range.
There’s an optimal, and if you’re not in that and you’re having the symptoms, get a second or
third opinion. I’m always going through labs with my clients and they’re like, my doctor just said
this is normal. And I’m like, yeah,
’cause the ranges are too big. And they’re just taught to like
scan through it quickly.
And then they start changing the things and things start shifting. They’re like, wow, I feel so
much better. My mood, my sex drive, I’m releasing weight, whatever. So hormones are a huge
weight loss block, and you may have one, you may have several, and the more you have the
harder it’s gonna be to lose weight.
And eating less and exercising more is not gonna get you there. It’s just gonna make it worse.
Yeah. So I think we need to get curious that there’s several potential weight loss blocks like
hormones, inflammation, blood sugar issues, gut issues, negative self-talk. As soon as you go
into negative self-talk, you’re going into fight or flight.
Fight or flight [00:41:00] spikes your cortisol and then your brain tells your adrenals to f flood
your body with cortisol and adrenaline and put on protection in the abdomen. So it may be a
negative self-talk issue for you. That is why you’re hanging onto protection. You’re wounded.
Inner child, like you said, abuse traumas that we’ve been through.
We have to work on. Understanding what’s going on with your nervous system and really mend
that relationship with ourselves and our wounded inner child. I’ve had clients that we get to that
point where we’re doing inner child healing and that’s when they release weight.
’cause it was
their inner child that felt unsafe.
And that keeps the nervous system feeling unsafe. Again, that the boundaries, the energy
protection, self prioritization, getting enough sleep. Eating enough. We need to eat enough
ladies. This is so important. Yeah. So many women are malnourished and not eating enough,
and we need to stop the diets and the quick fixes because every time you restrict in as little as
four days, you’re suppressing your metabolism.And then there’s the whole ozempic thing going on right now, which I am not, and I’m not a fan
of it at all [00:42:00] because it’s another quick fix is just shutting everything off. And then you
may get some results but the side effects could be detrimental and or life threatening and it’s not
worth it. And you’re not gonna build your worth.
You’re not gonna learn detachment, you’re not gonna learn trust and faith. You’re not gonna
learn your hormone issues or why you’re triggered to emotionally eat if you just keep quick fixing
and shutting everything off. So I really like to take women on a journey of. Curiosity, awareness,
exploration. And we get the, we do the science, we do the testing, we do the assessing.
We, we identify what are the roots of those physical symptoms that are contributing. But then we
have to look at your habits, your behaviors, your relationship with yourself and food, and work
on those pieces and helping you make yourself a priority over time. And I find it’s that
accumulation that helps women build the trust, the faith, the self-confidence, and the attunement
to where they go.
Oh. Now I can see why my body’s been hanging on, and now I better understand that this isn’t a
me issue. This is like I have not been in alignment with my body. [00:43:00] And as they heal,
they become detached from needing to lose weight, and then the weight comes off when they’re
not focusing on it. Yeah.
Yeah. There it is. That makes a lot of sense. I’m so glad you mentioned the weight loss blocks.
’cause I think that’s gonna be probably one of the, one of the headlines. Yeah. It’s big. We cover
weight loss blocks. Yeah. I don’t think a lot of people realize how negative self-talk really impacts
that.
It’s huge. You talk a lot about safety and it makes sense that if we have negative, it’s, I always
say you can’t help hate yourself right? No. You’re actually creating an internal threat. That
negative self-talk, self-abuse, and it’s actually creating the opposite of safety.
Yeah. So I could see why. That is something that you address right away that’s a weight loss
block. My goodness. I feel like we covered a lot. Is there anything I didn’t ask that you feel like
the listeners should know before we start talking about how people can contact you? It’s gonna
be uncomfortable at first [00:44:00] because you’re literally, you’re, you’ve been in these comfort
zones of familiarity where whether it’s binge eating or people pleasing or being asphyxiated with
the number on the scale or using the diets it’s going to be uncomfortable at first.
You’re gonna have resistances that come up. You’re gonna have fears. What if it doesn’t work?
What if it’s okay? This is part of the rewiring that’s going to occur on your journey, and it will get
easier. And the key is that you’re patient and you take the time you need to take for your unique
journey.
There’s no rushing or forcing the body to change, and if it’s taken you years and decades to get
to this point, it’s going to take time to change it. You would encourage your friends and loved
ones to be patient, so be patient with yourself. I know you want it now, but. Forcing it or brushingit will deny you of the lessons and the healing that truly is gonna help you fully step into that
woman you’ve always dreamed of being.
Be patient and take your time and be willing to work through the ups and downs of it ’cause you
will get where you wanna go and you’re not alone. So don’t feel like you have to bear the burden
by yourself and you can [00:45:00] fully heal this. Yeah, that’s beautiful. I think that’s a great
place to land the plane.
Where can people contact you? Yeah, so my website is amber approved.ca. If you’re wondering
if you’re struggling with binge or emotional eating, you can take the free quiz as well. I have a
consultation. It’s 30 minutes in complimentary and anyone can book in and we can talk a little bit
about your health history, your relationship with food hormones.
Got self-worth and talk about going on a journey together. I do hormone testing with all of my
clients. Nice. Just based on location is really what dictates what we do there. But that is a huge
piece, is being able to get that information. And then the podcast is called The Know
Sugarcoating Podcast.
It’s available on all podcast apps in the website. And then I’m on social media, Instagram
primarily. I spend most of my time and it’s my name, Amber Roic, R-O-M-A-N-I-U-K. I will leave
links to everything in the show notes. But Amber, thank you so much for joining me today. I
learned so much from you today.
I really appreciate it, and I hope [00:46:00] you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for
having me. It was a true pleasure. Thanks.
Leave a Reply