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When you're working to clear up acne, the state of your mind is 110% just as important as the food you're eating and supplements you're taking. It can really be a make-or-break type of situation.In this week's episode, we're talking...The impacts of bullying yourself and the negative self-talk.Food fear, working through picky eating and nervousness around changing your diet.The healing mindset that's important when flares happen on the journey.Importance of community and support.When your friends or family don't understand or support you.Overcoming the fear of failure.Let's ConnectApply to work with us in The Clear Skin Solution, here.Download The Gut Loving Cheat Sheet, here.Follow Katie on Instagram,here.
Welcome to Keep It Clear (formerly The Clear Skin Chronicles) ✨
In a world that makes women’s health way too complicated, this podcast is all about simplicity. Clear skin, clear body, clear mind, clear life.
Registered Holistic Nutritionists and acne experts Katie Stewart and Cris Brown share how to cut through the noise and actually understand what your skin and body need. You’ll get practical tips, inspiring stories, and expert advice on everything from acne and hormones to digestion, stress, and self-care.
Because clear isn’t just about your skin. It’s about feeling confident, balanced, and aligned in every part of your health.
Tune in and let’s Keep It Clear. 💜
💻 Website: katiestewartwellness.com
📱 Instagram: @katiestewartwellness
Welcome to the Clear Skin Chronicles, the podcast that takes you on a journey to uncover
the secrets of achieving glowing acne-free skin.
I'm Katie Stewart and alongside my co-host Chris Brown, we're here to guide you through
your acne journey and empower you to tackle your breakouts from its very root.
We believe that knowledge is power and by understanding the root causes of acne, we
can create a solid foundation for long lasting clear skin.
So stick with us because together we'll unravel the mysteries of acne and unlock the
secrets to a life filled with confidence, healthy skin and endless possibilities.
This is the Clear Skin Chronicles where we leave no blemish unturned.
I'm Katie Stewart, registered holistic nutritionist and founder of the Clear Skin Solution where
we help women just like you get to the root cause of their acne.
We work virtually with clients to clear up their skin from the inside out and have helped
thousands of women worldwide regain their confidence.
And I'm Chris Brown, registered holistic nutritionist and program director inside the Clear Skin
Solution.
Through functional testing, we pinpoint where the body system imbalances lie so we can dive
deep into your acne clearing journey.
All right.
Today is probably one of my favorite podcast episodes we've recorded to date because it's
all on the power of the mind.
We are going hard into this today and this is something please do not skip.
Take the time, listen to this, give it your undivided attention because this is going
to be the make or break game changer for the success of your skin.
We're going through how we bully ourselves and that's holding us back.
Why picky eating food fear and how we can be overcoming it, how we can be overcoming
the opinions that others are having on this journey, the judgment we have towards our
self, the importance of having a support system and going into what happens when we have flares
on the journey.
So this is an incredibly important episode.
So get a tea, get ready because we're digging into it.
So Chris, something that you and I and the team talk about all the time is the sheer
importance of mindset because this is truly a make or break thing for people on their
acne journey.
Like if we don't have this in place, it makes it extremely difficult and almost near impossible
to get the results clients are after based on the mind alone.
Big time.
Big time.
So we're going to take a light exclamation mark, underline it, asterisk it.
Take another bulletin on the QEW.
Take another bulletin board out on the QEW.
That's the thing is I didn't give this a lot of merit when I first started being a coach.
When I first started this, the Clear Skin Solutions has been in a virtual space for
over five years.
When I first started this, I didn't really give it a lot of merit on any healing journey.
Like yeah, just add a little meditation and that should totally be fine, but you quickly
came on board.
You've been hanging out with me for God knows how long at this point.
And you and I together were like the mindset component that we're getting, especially with
acne sufferers, because so many of them, Chris, we see anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia,
things that are actually outside of our scope of practice where I'm like, I can answer,
you know, meditate, do deep breathing.
But outside of that, I legally don't have the designation to walk you through this.
And we saw this quite, quite early and how big of a difference this can make in a person's
not just their skin, but their overall health.
For sure.
In fact, just as a sidestep, just mindset alone.
When I was in school taking holistic practices, there were mind, body, spirit classes.
Yeah.
And I used to think, oh my gosh, what is this frou-frou?
What do they want me to do?
Like I was so uncomfortable.
So uncomfortable.
Did you ever read Louise Hayes, You Can Heal Your Life?
And when you first read it, it's like, if you are struggling with this symptom, this
is the emotional component.
I was like, okay, like cool.
But like next, like what supplement do I need to take?
What food should I be doing?
Yeah.
And I have a heavy, heavy business background, even from parents having their own business.
So my logical sense would never allow my heart to kind of flourish into that.
Once I learned mindset, ah, like I'm still not overly frou-frou, but you better believe
every day of my life, I thank the universe for showing up for me every single day.
Every single day.
Like you and I constantly, and Paige even, and for those of you who don't know, Paige,
she's our director of member services.
She has like 56 titles in the company and she does all the things.
She heads up our acne advisor department, like you name it, she does it.
And her and I, and you are always in our Slack channel.
I mean like, this is the message the universe gave to me.
Look at what this happened.
They're always like, oh my God, you're right.
The universe is telling us things.
But that's the same- Or take it back.
Take it back right now.
Edit it.
Edit that now.
I said that the other day and she said, Katie, edit that comment.
You're not putting that energy out to the universe.
I'm like, okay, I won't.
I'll take it back.
And we do.
We edit.
We really listen to each other and we edit.
Because it's so important.
And as you, myself, and obviously Paige and our team have gone through this journey and
we've evolved, we've really taken note of the importance of mindset so much so that
well over a year ago, we brought in a registered psychotherapist from one of the top psychology
clinics in Toronto to come in every single month and have a call with our clients because
we saw the need for that.
And that I find is one of the biggest pieces that is lacking across the board in acne support,
whether it's, you know, allopathic or it's holistic, is that massive focus on mindset.
Because when we're dealing with acne sufferers, and myself included, like I dealt with chronic
cystic acne.
So I know because this was me.
I was bullying myself, talking down to myself so much that we have to really start repairing
the relationship with ourselves.
Just as much as we need to repair the gut, repair the liver, repair the hormones, repair
your skin barrier, repairing your relationship with yourself is so vitally important.
And you know, I love this analogy.
Everyone listening knows we love analogies here at KSW.
And let's think of a kindergartener, right?
A grade four or sorry, a four year old or a five year old that's learning to read for
the first time.
And they are really struggling.
They can't figure out the words.
Would you go up to that four or five year old say, oh man, like, why are you even trying?
You can't read cat.
Like, what an idiot.
I can't believe you.
Like you're never going to figure this out.
But why even waste your time?
How well do you think that four or five year old would learn to read?
How difficult of a process do you think that would be if that is what they're being told
day in and day out?
All the time, all the time.
So why are we speaking to ourselves like that?
We are because we can because we've allowed it.
We've opened up the boundaries and we said, you know what?
This is our self worth, whether it's how we were talked to as a child, it's whether it's
an engaging.
I mean, standing at the bus and somebody says, oh, that skirt, all of these small details,
these trauma like events, they build up because we have zero skills given to us on how to
release, let go and love ourselves.
And these are small things.
Like when I think back on my life, I remember a comment I received from a French teacher
in high school and I went in asking for help because I wanted to do better.
She stood at the back of the classroom and said, if we had to be here, how did she say
it?
She said, if I had to teach you all of the things you don't know, we would be here forever.
That comment has stuck with me for my entire life.
So now I struggle with that limiting belief of you're not smart enough, you're not intelligent
enough because of one single comment a teacher said to me when I was 14 or 15 years old.
And at the time you would think, oh, that's just like an off the can common.
But for us now, when we look back, it's like these really small traumas, these small comments
that teachers, friends, parents, loved ones, people in positions of authority have said
to us over our life, they build up and we may not even remember half of them, but our
subconscious remembers them.
And then now we have these self-limiting beliefs of I'm not good enough.
I'm not deserving.
I don't deserve love.
I don't deserve happiness.
I'm not smart enough.
I can't do.
And just back in May, Chris, May and early June, we ran our bootcamp and I was like,
I knew this, these answers were going to come up, but still to still even reading them,
it was so disheartening reading that all the other women, the bootcamp that were there
had felt those same things.
They felt not worthy.
They felt not deserving.
They felt not smart enough.
They felt like they couldn't do things.
And this is just the power of community because when you're able to see, oh, I'm not the
only one that feels like that.
There are other people that also have these limiting beliefs.
It can really allow you to start that healing process.
Yeah.
When you don't have the support of even yourself, then why would we, why would we expect other
people to support us?
So we really have a golden opportunity to go, Hmm, I am worth it.
Okay.
You're not going to believe it at the beginning.
Nope.
That's that'll make you feel uncomfortable, like physically.
Yeah.
This is why we, we love you and I, Paige, all the other coaches in the clear skin.
We like the word investing because when I go out and purchase a car, I've invested in
transportation, a reliable car.
I do my research.
I understand what's going on.
It's not just about the bells and the whistles and the prettiness.
It's about the functionality too.
Right?
So whatever it is, if you go and buy a car for beauty, great.
But if it's not going to get you the longevity of where you are, the sustainability, then
you're going to be buying a new car again next year and then next year.
And all of that money is going to go out the window.
So what I like to do is I like to do my research upfront.
I like to kind of, you know, feel things out.
You know, I could probably feel, I'm pretty quick at it.
I'm going to, I'm going to give a little kudos there, but we have to understand that if we're
going to invest in a vehicle for transportation so we can get to and from work, if we're going
to invest in a house so that we can have nice, beautiful roots, whether it's rent or own,
right?
These are all choices.
Why aren't we investing in our self-love?
Why aren't we investing in our overall health and why don't we ever put in a sustainable
model?
It's because at some point in time we were told in some shape or form, you don't deserve
this.
You don't deserve happiness.
You don't deserve this.
You don't deserve that.
We can't even be our own society, like how many times in our own society are, is our
self-worth, like is our self-worth attacked and our, our, our, our self, our sense of
self-attack.
So all the time, all of the time.
And it's like, when you start to look at your healing journey from this lens, it can be
the truly the game changer.
Like we have seen this firsthand clients who have, they've gotten some good gains and one
of two things happens.
Either they stall in their progress and they are like, I like, we're doing the things,
but we're not getting any further.
Or they have, um, what's the word I'm looking for?
It's in the, one of my favorite books of all time is called the big leap by gay Hendrix.
And it discusses how we all have this upper threshold or this thermostat of what we feel
we deserve in life.
And when we get to that top level of our thermostat, we start to, um, self-sabotage because we're
like, oh no, no, no, this is too good.
Like I'm feeling too happy.
Things are happening too well.
I need to rock the boat.
And then we pull ourselves back down into that state of discomfort because we're comfortable
in the discomfort because it's known because it's something we're familiar with.
When we start to get too happy, it's almost like, um, you know, something I will always
feel myself is I'm always waiting for the shoe to drop because I don't deserve to have
this level of happiness, this level of success.
Where is the other shoe going to drop?
And we do this to ourselves all of the time and we see this with our own clients and we
can always, now that we've been doing this for so long, we know when it's truly a mindset
block or if it's a wrong supplement or whatever it may be, but you can tell tale signs of
it being a mindset block.
And Chris, what are you specifically working looking for?
Cause when you're working with clients, you're so big on the verbiage that they're using
and you put back, you, you, you, Chris is probably like, Chris has taught me a lot of
stuff about this is the specific words that they're using.
She can pull it apart.
This person's going through this, this, and this, I can see this roadblock popping up
and this is what's stalling their success.
So give me a good example of one of those blocks that you see most often when it comes
to mindset and healing the word Canton, but you put a Canton button there.
That's a self-limiting belief.
Here's an example.
Let me just quickly think, cause I had one this week.
Oh, oh, we had a question.
I would love to join clear skin solution, but and I wait for it.
Now I'm revving.
Now my juices are flowing.
What's the mindset block thing going on?
Yeah.
It's like 1130 at the club right now.
Like it's getting hot.
Right?
So I'm like, okay, Chris, 1130, how early are you going to a club?
I'm thinking like 6 AM.
No, that, that, that I'm tired at that point.
Like what kind of club are you going to here?
I'm wearing neon today, so you can probably assume.
Okay.
You're raving.
You're raving.
Okay.
Yeah.
In my past life, not anymore.
I'm too old now.
Listen, I needed to be home by three because I probably had to work at 6 AM.
Oh, you just go right to work, Chris.
Sweet Lord.
Just go right to work.
I don't even remember that time.
I just, I, I, I blur it.
I've learned out.
But yeah.
So when we look at this, it's yeah, I want to do it, but I don't like a lot of foods.
I see this all the time.
I can't, I can't, I can't fix my health because I don't like a lot of foods.
This is the most common one.
Yeah.
And I'm like, okay, so here's the thing as a coach, I can tell them all the reasons why
that's a false belief, but that time and energy that I am going to reserve to fight the right
of reflex, which really means every time I pull out a valid excuse, we use it because
that's just common.
I don't like the word, but excuse or factor or commonality.
Why I can't.
Oh, I can't eat.
I can't eat healthier because I have a wedding coming up.
I can't eat healthier because if there's a bachelor, I can't eat healthier.
I can't start yet.
I can't start yet.
This around these because I have an event.
I have a holiday, I have a summer.
I have a hive, I have a have, there's always, and I, again, I don't like using the word
excuse because I feel like I have such a negative connotation.
So just know that when we're referring to the word excuse right now, we're not using
it in negative connotation.
We're using it just as a descriptor word.
Yeah.
Because these are common words to you.
These aren't words like we tend to use.
These are the words that we will say, edit to each other, edit that word.
Right?
Chris is all over that.
We don't use that word.
Here's some three other words you're allowed to use.
Katie, please rephrase what you just said.
Right.
Katie, look on the other side.
I can spend all my time and resources telling you why you will be successful on this protocol.
You will be able to invest and you will do well.
What happens is every time I give you something of a reason, you pull up that you can't.
So you're fighting.
Now we're in a debate.
I don't debate.
It's not, it's not, it's not a time saver.
It's not going to do you any good.
It's not going to do me any good.
So I want to know your cants.
I want to know the but.
Right?
So that's where I'll then reframe it and I'll say, can you please, I'm really big on this,
can you please take that sentence, remove the word but, because we do a lot of texting
every single day, a lot of DMs and type it out to me.
Great.
Now, can you send it to me reading that as a voice note?
How does that feel?
And they're like, whoa, whoa.
And I'm like, so we can keep using but absolutely.
I like to use the word and, you know, I did what the kids all the time.
They're like, well, I can empty the dishwasher, but you have, but you have other children
that can do it too.
And I said, okay, that's accurate.
I would like you to empty the dishwasher and I've chosen you because they will have other
things to do.
And I've, that's a word I've been working on myself because I didn't realize myself
how much I said, but in my day to day and I'm getting better, but I catch myself.
I'm like, okay, let's, let's rephrase that.
And another one I've stopped saying is I'm sorry.
How many, how many times as women do we say, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry.
Oh my, I'm so sorry.
I didn't get, I didn't respond to you right away.
I'm so sorry.
I was, I was late for that meeting.
I'm so sorry.
I'm just getting to this email now.
I'm so sorry.
Mike, you know, my, my, my kids threw up all of the kitchen and I'm late.
I started taking note of how often I said, I'm sorry.
And like, even as Canadians, we got an extra layer of, I'm sorry.
It's like you literally, somebody will run into your car and you get out, you're like,
oh my God, I'm so sorry.
I was there and you ran into me.
Like that is our, that is what we do.
So I've started to notice how often I was saying, I'm sorry, and I was putting the
blame and the onus on me all of the time.
So I have, unless I have run your dog over with a car, which like, oh my God, I would
be devastated.
Why did you say that?
Take that back.
I'll take it back.
I'm sorry.
University.
If I have like run over your kids ball, let's just say I ran over your kids brand new ball.
I'll say, I'm sorry.
Like that is, that isn't a place to say sorry, but instead of saying, um, no, I'm so sorry.
I'm five minutes late for my appointment, I'll now say thank you for, thank you for
waiting for me.
Thank you for having the patience.
That's how I rephrase things because then that's also taking that constant blame on
putting on myself off of myself.
You know, it's cool.
I'm going to take you back to when I was younger, like five, six, I was taught that using the
word sorry was an act of weakness.
Believe it or not.
And it did shape a certain hardness.
However, now stepping back and learning it's the person that taught me that didn't potentially
teach me the whole reasoning behind it.
Right?
So I'm sorry.
It could be an act of weakness.
If we want to look at that weakness on our own self, right?
Over having to over please.
Yeah.
That's makes my, it's my people pleaser.
I'm a recovering people pleaser.
Right.
I'm a recovering people pleaser.
I am though.
You know, I work on this every day, Chris.
But I just love that.
I do.
I love that expression.
I think there could be a whole course on recovering people pleasing.
There probably are.
So that's kind of what it is, is, you know, you know, there would be deaths and be like,
I'm sorry to hear about the death of your, no, I was taught.
No, you don't say I'm sorry.
You don't do that.
It is not yours to own.
And I was like, Oh, okay.
Yeah.
I mean, I don't think kids ever say sorry.
So even running over the kid's ball, I mean, sucker.
No, it's not like that.
Chris, no emotion.
Just keeps driving.
But it is, but so do you see how the context can shape and form where yes, I was taught
don't say sorry because I understand.
And we're saying the exact same thing in a different context, in a different context
because we don't know how, if you are delivered half the message, if you were given a meal
plan without the support and the accountability, how effective can you be?
Not very.
Right.
So now I'm seeing it.
That's so cool.
You and I have so many similarities in our life.
It is like uncanny.
Like the universe honestly has paired us for some purpose of reason.
Our life paths have merged for some specific goal.
We don't know it, but our soul contracts weave those things together.
That's for sure.
Right.
I know.
Yeah.
I know that I can't really please every time you can't, you say can't, I want you to stop
and hold for yourself.
Take a deep breath and say, what is the feeling around the can't?
What is the belief around the can't?
You don't have to find anything else, but just to be able to start resonating with what's
going on around that can't.
And that's powerful.
And I want to take a note on the picky eating for a second because I know when people look
at me now with my blogs and my Instagram and my green juices and my non-dairy, like all
of the, like I am at like the next level, all the things, right?
You would look at me and be like, oh my God, Katie is an exceptionally healthy individual.
Let me just pull back the curtain for a hot minute because my family, I have three brothers.
I grew up with my family calling me Carbo Kate because I did not eat a vegetable.
I did not drink water.
Look, I remember my parents, like I would be the last one sitting at the dinner table
eating like one single bite of green beans for literally three hours after the dinner
table because I didn't want to eat healthy.
I wanted grilled cheese.
I wanted pierogies.
I wanted chicken fingers.
I wanted burgers.
I wanted pizza.
I wanted cake.
I wanted cookies.
I wanted chips.
I literally don't think I ate a vegetable or drank a sip of water for 10 years.
Like through university, when I was in university and my mom wasn't there to make me sit at the
dinner table to eat vegetables, guess what I was doing, not eating vegetables.
I was eating all the cafeteria food.
I was like this for my entire life.
When I tell somebody that I can completely appreciate your nervousness and anxious feelings
around changing how you eat because it's scary, I completely appreciate that because I was
once in that spot.
Here I am, literally a legit miracle.
My family to this day is like they came like Katie.
I can't believe this with you.
Did you get it?
I'd like to find alien and have somebody else here because you are not the Carbo Kate that
we grew up with.
What I always tell people is yes, it can be scary.
It can have some anxious feelings to change the things that you're doing because this
is something you've always done.
Here's two things I want you to remember.
First one, it's hard because in our society, we grow up with or every society, food is
such an ingrained part of our culture, any single culture.
I like to say I'm adopted Italian because my mom remarried when I was seven to my stepdad
who's Italian.
You better believe it.
Every Sunday we're going to Nono's house and having lasagna and Caesar salad and the
grappa and my Nono giving us wine when we're eight.
My mom saying you can't give them wine because they're eight.
I grew up in that very food-focused culture.
Every culture across the world is like this.
When we are looking at food and changing, it can be so scary because we see food as
love.
We see food as acceptance.
We see food as a reward.
Again, there's so many- There you go.
Right there.
Right?
In our society, it's like, oh, you got an A plus on your math test today.
We're going to go get an ice cream.
Oh, you didn't cry at the dentist's office.
Let's go get a bite.
Let's go to pizza pizza.
We're constantly given food as reward, so we see food equals reward, food equals love.
If I go and try to go against the grain of maybe what I've grown up eating, what my family
eats, what my friends eat, food no longer equals love and reward.
That's where that scary feeling comes from.
When I was able to peel that back and realized that I was having these scary feelings because
I didn't want to feel unloved and I wanted to be accepted, I wanted that sense of community,
that really helped me start shifting my mindset.
Then from there, it's not like I went from eating grilled cheese for breakfast, literally,
to the next day not eating gluten, dairy, sugar, organic-
Gosh, no.
Gion, GMO, all the things.
I've been doing this for 15 years now.
I'm on chapter 50 of my story.
You only may be on chapter one or you may just be opening your book to start with these
changes.
The biggest, biggest, biggest sayer of many small steps make for one massive leap.
That is sustainable.
That's what makes the changes.
That's what gives you the shifts in your healthy eating.
It's like, okay, you're going to wake up today and say, you want to what?
I want to start living a healthier life.
I want to start eating healthier.
You pick one, maybe two things maximum as your focus.
If it's, okay, I don't drink any water today, I'm going to start drinking one cup of water
every day.
That's my one thing I'm going to do.
When I feel comfortable with having that one cup of water, maybe I increase the two or
maybe if I want to try a new vegetable, it doesn't have to be an all or nothing mentality
because that's my personality.
I'm like a zero to a hundred, all or nothing.
I'm doing it all.
But I realized that I would burn out quickly.
I can attest to that.
I can attest to that.
Yeah.
That's facts.
Fact checked.
Fact checked.
We don't need the fact checkers on that one.
I promise to all the algorithm gods that it's a fact checked.
That's a fact check.
That's the thing is moral of this story is remind yourself it doesn't need to be an all
or nothing.
Many small steps make for one massive leap.
And the second one that the clients hear me say all the time, progress, not perfection.
Perfection will drive you crazy.
So remember many small steps.
Anything to add on that one, Chris, because I kind of went on my soap box again.
You know how I do.
Yeah, this is a hot topic for you.
I know it's your fan fave.
Here's the thing.
I love all those tips.
Me, you know, I'm a little and and I want to add in, we need to have that accountability
that support that community.
The reason why is because I love that you're going to pick water.
And honestly, start with that.
Please do.
Please do.
Here's the thing.
If you're like when you feel comfortable, listen, this is new.
It's going to feel so uncomfortable.
So that that can kind of hold you back.
I like goal setting.
Katie has goal setting like Katie's goal.
Like what we're doing in the next five year in the KSW.
Just fasten your seatbelt.
Please send me Botox kits.
And can you please send me hair dye kits?
And can you please send me tranquilizers?
Because I'm going to need something to get through this.
I got big goals, you guys.
I don't dream small.
I dream real big.
I got big dreams.
Exactly.
So what I want you to do is I want you to set three days is my thing.
Honestly, the universe speaks in three days.
I'm convinced of it.
So every three days you up level and three days and you up level.
So I'm big on that.
Like example with the picky eating is there's a client in bless her soul.
She tried cauliflower and we're not talking raging diarrhea.
We're talking like open the floodgates.
Like Niagara Falls.
Like yeah, it was not pretty, right?
So and she tried it again a little bit.
So there's definitely validation that cauliflower cauliflower is high in sulfur.
So working with somebody and understanding that cauliflower is high in sulfur, we needed
to switch, switch and swap.
But first I had to mitigate and give her the tools to calm down her body systems.
So when we're looking at that and then she came back, she goes, but there's another recipe
with cauliflower.
I don't, I don't know if I'm comfortable doing that.
Look at that.
I don't know.
She's in it for the win, right?
Like that tells me, I don't know if I told her, go for it.
She would have done it.
She has that much trust in our relationship because we've been working together.
So you do that.
She's a lovely client.
Oh God, is she ever lovely.
She is.
But what she needs to have is she needs to have the viable replacement.
She needs to understand what colors to avoid, what extra nutrients and minerals and vitamins
and all of these beautiful things that are going to help to bind because you're going
to go down that internet search and it's going to happen.
You're going to retax the body system and flare the acne.
Dr. Google is not your friend, everybody.
Dr. Google, not your friend.
Because I think at the end of it, it says you are dying.
You're going to be the closest ER.
You're dying.
Most likely have cancer.
It's stage four.
You're done.
And you're like, but I just can't eat cauliflower.
And then it says pay to you by the government.
I'm glad to say that.
Sponsored by.
Health Canada.
Yeah.
So here's the thing, right?
Is we need to be making things like this sustainable.
And before we go into that sustainability, I want to finish off on the food component
and that food equals love, food equals reward.
Because in so many cultures, food is integral.
It is what we commune around.
Like think about we all stand around the kitchen when we're at parties.
Like food is the thing.
And in a lot of families or friend groups, we always hear from clients that like they
want to make these changes, but they're too scared because of what other people may say
about them, what other people may feel about them.
Especially the close people.
Yeah, they're closer.
They are more hurtful.
It is.
Do you see how that goes?
Absolutely.
And I can, again, I can appreciate this because when I first started drinking green smoothies
15 years ago, when my friends, when we're still going to raves and doing God knows what
that, like my friends made fun of me nonstop, nonstop, nonstop.
And at that time being in my early twenties, those are the people closest to me.
Like you want your friends approval, you want your parents approval, you want someone's
approval.
And what I found really helpful is, and again, like when I was going through this, I was
working in TV at the time.
This is a story I say all the time is I used to always eat in the lunchroom and I'd be
eating with all the guys.
TV is a male dominated industry.
And I used to be eating the burgers and the deep dish pizzas and the fried whatever the
deep fried Mars bars.
And when I started bringing my little quinoa salad or started bringing my chicken breast
and steamed vegetables to work, I got comment after comment after comment.
And it got so bad that I was feeling so bad about myself that I actually started going
eating at my desk and I was eating at my desk for probably a week.
And I remember one of my closest friends, he came over and was like, Katie, and this
was totally, this totally changed my outlook from here on out.
And I am grateful to this day.
I actually just told him this story at his birthday a few weeks ago and Brendan came
over and was like, Katie, I know we make fun of you all of the time for the way that you're
eating, but we're doing it because we wish we had the courage to do what you're doing.
Look at us.
Look at us.
We're all overweight.
We all have health issues.
We're sitting here eating pizza, making fun of you, trying to be better your health.
We're just jealous.
That's what it comes down to.
And I was like, holy shit.
That like that just switched to my brain that it wasn't about me.
It was about them.
It was on some conscious or subconscious level.
It was making them feel uncomfortable because maybe they wish they could be doing that or
maybe they, you know, they didn't understand why I was doing.
So from there on out, I realized that, Hey, all of my closest people that, that know me
well, if I sat them down and said, Hey Chris, you want to know what I've been struggling
with chronic acne for five years, it has completely depleted my confidence, my self worth, my
self esteem.
I don't want to leave the house because of it.
I have severe stomach pains.
Whenever I eat something, I get terrible migraines.
My periods are extremely heavy.
It's making me not happy.
I don't feel happy in my life.
I'm depressed.
I'm anxious and I'm sad.
I want to do something about it.
And in order to do something about it, I'm going to try this new healthy eating, healthy
living component on.
I'm going to be changing a little bit about how I eat.
And while you may not understand why I'm doing these things, I would love for you to just
to support me on the journey.
Is that something you think you could do?
Nine times out of 10, when you take the time to explain the pain that you're in and that
you're doing this for a purpose, because so many people think just healthy eating is about
losing weight when then that's not what it's about.
When nine times out of 10 people, but you want to know what I don't understand.
I don't understand what you're doing, but I will support you on it.
You'll still may get a couple of jokes here and there, but at least they have the, they
have that support in place.
And of course there's going to be that odd person that like fully like is like, no, like
I don't get it.
Like I'm not going to support you on this.
Maybe just temporarily distanced yourself from them as much as possible.
It may be harder depending on who the person is, but when you give yourself that space,
it can really, really be helpful.
Absolutely.
And it's not that we have to just give up our friendships.
That has, that's a sign of the level of your friendship, the level of the commitment.
You know, how many clients have we had and they're like, I go to my mom and she said,
just find the way you are.
There's no need to change.
And they can't believe it because, and they don't want to share it with their mom because
they don't want to hurt their mother or their father or their significant other.
We had a client and I didn't even find out until five months into the program that she
was not supported by her husband.
Right?
Her kids were picky eating.
He was not supportive.
Boom.
We did some mindset and holy Hannah, in two weeks, by week three, she was feeling so much
better.
Right?
Just a small nuance is when we realize that we're not here to please others, we're not
here for other people.
If somebody is going to sit there and be like, oh my gosh, Katie, you're in this like acne
program and is it working?
Like, okay, listen, step back.
Right?
Step back because that comment, some people have no filter.
Some days I don't have filter.
Yeah.
My kids told me I looked like a dog the other day was because of my wrinkles.
So yeah, like kids don't have filters.
Chris, the other day, my six year old said, mommy, is that your tummy?
And I said, yeah, buddy.
As I'm blow drying his hair.
Why?
He goes, is there a baby in there?
And I said, no.
Why is it?
Oh, you just look pregnant.
I am not everybody.
I was my six year old unfiltered and here I am like, do I need to go change my dress?
Right?
But do you see how much and how often those words come to us and we panic.
I was like, I was panicked over what my six year old said about my little tummy in the
dress I was wearing to our son's Montessori celebration.
I know I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm in an acne program.
It's all about the skin.
It's all about the face.
What am I doing?
I have no job.
I'm going to die.
I know.
I know.
We go from A to B. It's that big and that's fast.
And it's like that.
So at the end of the day, I always say, go back.
Definitely share with people what you're doing.
Sometimes when it's acne and there's such a mind piece.
I don't know if you know I do this because I guess I don't tell you everything I do.
I just do what I do.
Right?
I trust her.
Just you do you.
So I'll say to them, have you shared this with anybody?
No, no, I don't feel comfortable.
Okay.
Are you open to, I'll help you wordsmith.
A little bit of a script.
Are you open?
I get Chris.
I ask Chris advice all the time in my personal issues on how to wordsmith.
Sorry.
Sorry, Frank.
Sorry, Frank.
That's my husband by the way.
So these are the things that I look at and I go forward with and I'm really, really,
really big on.
So I say to them, okay, let's say, you know what?
I don't like the way I'm feeling.
Let's not bring up the acne.
I don't like the way of feeling.
I'm feeling sluggish and tired and bring up all the common symptoms people have.
The common symptoms you have.
Hey, I've gone in, I've invested how to reinvent eating for me, my own body, because that's
what we do.
We tailor it.
And I'm really excited to share it with you the next time we get together.
If you have somebody poo poo all over that, you know what?
Right.
On to the next one.
Get out of here.
Because nobody should be doing that.
You just said how excited you are, how you're investing in yourself and how you're just
doing it through eating.
And you haven't said anything.
Then if your acne does flare, because usually it does, when we're going through shifts.
Absolutely.
We're going to talk about it shortly.
Oh my gosh.
And you have that mama that comes up and goes, oh, but dear, I don't know if this is the
right program for you because like your face, it just looks worse.
And we get it.
Then, you know, you don't have to worry about it.
You say, yeah, I know I'm working through that.
It's part of the purge and you get educated and you understand.
Right.
Now, here's the thing is, you know, before we move on from the other people's comments
section is something I, again, another quote, this, if there's one thing you can take from
this entire podcast, I'm going to let you grab yourself a pen, get your little notepad
open on your phone.
Chris is like, what is she about to say?
Do not let the opinions of other people steal your dreams.
I'm going to say it one more time.
Do not let the opinions of other people steal your dreams because they don't have to live
with your life decisions.
You have to live with your life decisions.
So if they're making opinions and they're like, oh, you know, I don't think you should
do this.
This isn't working for you.
I can't like, this is too difficult.
Like whatever their opinion of your journey is, if you are like, oh yeah, you want to
what I'm just, it's easier for me to give in and just to listen to them.
They're not the one that has to live with the acne.
They're not the one that has to live with the bloat.
They're not the one that has to live with the heavy painful periods.
You are.
And that person just stole your dreams away.
They just stole your health away.
So please, I know it's hard.
This is one of the hardest parts of the journey, but don't let the opinions of somebody else
take your dreams away from you.
Okay.
I got to go on that opinion word cause I have to because I'm inside.
I was about to mic drop and walk away and was like, yeah, we're done with the podcast.
Okay.
Just mic drop it.
We'll just edit it.
We'll just edit it.
So here's the thing.
Want to know my, my about opinions.
So my daughter yesterday, we're driving and she says, Oh, everybody has an opinion about
everything mom, even you.
And I said, like, oh, V, but I said, okay.
And I said, huh, well, what's everyone's opinions?
And she starts ramming.
And I said, yeah, you know what I think about opinion?
She says, what's that?
And I said, it's like a fart.
It stinks up the room and everybody has one.
I said, so why don't you tell me and share me your thoughts?
Cause I would really love to know your thoughts.
And she was just like, quiet.
So I'm going to, I have something at my back door and it was a saying and my girlfriend
made it on a board and it says, everything in your life is a reflection of choice that
you have made.
If you want a different result, make a different choice.
Love mom and dad.
Love.
And that sits at my back door.
And I said, the day that one of you can come and recite that to me by memory is the day
I will take you somewhere and we will have a special day together.
I love that.
It's yet to happen.
They probably, they probably, it was like, you know, however, I've given that incentive
and I keep dropping it.
So when they're having a really day, I say, can you go back to that sign for a second?
Can you read it and can you come back to me and can you just let me know that one thing
of your actions today, because I really think everything's a paired exchange.
One thing of your action that you can reflect back and say, I could have done that differently.
And one thing that you wish that somebody else would have had responded differently.
And I said, and then that's how you act with that kindness.
Right?
So having teens, hard AF, hard AF.
Why did I sign up for that?
What do you mean it gets worse?
I have little ones.
Little problems.
Okay.
Big people, big problems.
I'm like, oh, I have two boys.
They should come out by the time they hit teens.
Yeah.
Good luck with that.
That's what all the moms of teens say.
But that's exactly it.
So really what we're saying is judge yourself.
And what's going to happen is that can perpetuate flares.
Yes.
And the judgment of self can cause flares.
And this is where that like, you know, emotional, physical manifestation can happen because
as we're a lot more research has come out around this, that's so again, and this book,
you can heal your life by Louise Hay.
This was the one I mentioned before and talks about how there is a physical manifestation
of every emotional and mental thing that's going on.
So when you look up acne, this is what the, what the thought process could be.
This is the new thought pattern to change it to.
So we often find that when we are, you know, even dealing with emotional traumas, whether
it was early in life, whether it's now like whatever may be going on, when we have that
judgment of self, these can show up as physical manifestations in the body, including flares
on your journey.
Exactly.
And judgment, a lot of clients will say, Oh, Chris, like I haven't done it in like two
weeks and I didn't want to tell you because I didn't, didn't want you to judge.
They usually don't use the word judge.
I'm going to let you know, they just, I didn't want you to think poorly of me.
Something along those lines.
And like, this is a judgment free space, you guys, like if you are in, whether you're in
our free community, whether you're a client, this is a judgment free space.
We always meet every single person where they're at.
We're not expecting people to come in and be like eating, educating Chris level.
We don't expect, like we don't expect someone to come in and make these changes all the
time.
This is a zero judgment space because that is what is required on a healing journey.
Exactly.
And that's what I say to them all the time.
Listen, I know you're judging yourself.
One, it's not my space.
And two, I'm going to be perfectly honest because I'm going to show by leadership too,
that if I'm judging you, I'm not in the right realm.
And two, I know you're judging you.
So why don't I meet you where you are, like Katie said, and let's move through this together.
Are you open to that?
If I use my energy to judge you, then I have not used my energy well.
And I refuse after decades of now applying the frou frou, I refuse to give my energy
to those things that do not show up in a positive manner.
That doesn't mean I don't yell at the kids or my husband or the dog.
I don't yell at Bruno.
He's just so cute.
We don't yell at the dogs.
Who's kidding?
No, we don't.
They're angels.
I'm going to tell, this is Katie when Siri does something.
Siri, no thank you.
No thank you.
Jackson, Jackson, upstairs right now.
No.
It's pretty much like that.
I'll be like, Archie, Siri, that's a no thank you.
You just ate mommy's nice boots.
No thank you, please.
And then Jackson drops a thing.
I'm like, what are you?
I'm kidding.
I love my children, but you know what I mean?
If you have a dog and kids, you know what we're talking about.
They don't talk back.
It's because they don't talk back.
They come to you.
They love unconditional love.
They're very in your space when it is.
So they're alert.
If we showed half the amount that animals show to us, to people, where would we be?
We'd be a loving, compassionate world.
There would be no wars.
There would be no wars because we would all be loving, compassionate as dogs.
Honestly, I feel like we don't deserve dogs because they're such a raising little creatures.
This is a whole new podcast.
We've completely gone on a tangent here.
So long story short, bullying yourself is not going to pay off, right?
Picky eating, bam, we can deal with that.
That's a habit.
That's a behavior.
That's remolding.
I've got you.
Believe me, I've got you.
They've never done that.
I've got you.
And I mean, not only do I have specialized in children's nutrition, but I also help
the coaches and reframing certain things in there, right?
Of course, altering the diet, we're going to get big food fear in there.
But again, let's go back to the picky eating.
Let's go back to the reservations of social settings.
Let's go back to what am I missing out in deprivation?
We set you up so that you are not in deprivation mode.
If you're in deprivation mode, we got a problem.
And it's often, so here, I want to go through a little bit on food fear and the idea of
deprivation.
We get so conditioned that these are the same 14 foods that I eat.
And if I can't eat, if I can't have sandwich bread, what I'm going to starve to death.
Like, what do you mean I can't have sandwich bread?
There's nothing else I can eat.
Then I want you to ask yourself, is that true?
Because if we think there are thousands and thousands of different foods, fruits, vegetables,
gluten free greens, we're just so stuck on these same 15 foods that we forget about the
plethora of foods out there.
Like when we think about these societies and these tribes that still live very indigenously,
they live off the land, do you think they have a box of Lucky Charms out in the forest
where they're foraging?
Absolutely not.
They are surviving on fruits and vegetables and roots and nuts and seeds and hunter gatherer
style things.
We as a human race wouldn't still be here if we didn't eat these ancestral diets of
the hunter gatherer, what we could kill or what we could forage is what we could eat.
Seasonal.
Yeah.
What's available?
They didn't have grocery stores with 6,000 different boxed foods available, yet somehow
our civilization has made it this far, right?
So I think it's just easy to get stuck in those same foods and you're like, okay.
And I fully get it.
We'd never want to remove something for your diet and not have a healthy substitution replaced.
So for me, one of my favorite foods of all time is lasagna.
My known as lasagna, you give me a pan of that and I would like literally eat it until
my stomach hurt.
So when I became a nutritionist, I realized like I didn't want to give up my mac and cheese.
I didn't want to give up my chicken fingers.
I found healthy substitutions, healthy recipes in order to put in its place.
So you go over to the KSW blog, let me tell you how many comfort food recipes you're going
to find.
Type in known as lasagna.
It's going to be there.
Type in chicken fingers.
It's going to be there.
It's going to be alfredo, french fries, like all of my favorite foods.
I've just made a healthy spin on it.
And that's what I think is so important is finding healthy substitutions for some of
your favorite foods.
So what you're saying is your incognito carbocate.
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm silly.
Okay.
And you want to know what?
One of my things I have to work on every single day is Katie, you don't need to fill your
place with 90% brown rice noodles.
Let's maybe get some vegetables and protein.
And I'm like, okay, okay.
Even to this day as a nutritionist, I'm still reminding myself of let's fill your plate
with vegetables because that's going to give you the fuel and the energy you need instead
of sending your blood sugar crashing.
Yeah.
And we can have all these fears and they're okay.
It is okay to have this fear.
It's new.
And that's why you've tried all the things.
That's why you've reverted.
I had a client text me, like a personal client to text me and just to show you that it's
not just about acne, right?
So I had a personal client text me, I don't feel so good, Chris.
I just don't feel so good.
His mom is making the foods, decided she would join him.
I said, absolutely, please do that.
Why?
She's not paying me, right, Katie?
She's not paying me.
I do love when family members decide to join in and support.
Right?
Because I want that support for him.
He has that support on my side.
I want the support in his house.
My mom's not feeling good either.
Oh, I said, what day are you on?
Day four.
Welcome.
Welcome.
And here's what's happening.
Because by about this time up, you know what?
You might plow in another three, four days, maybe, but by day 10 of any new, you've quit.
Now go look in your past, look at the pattern and tell me that's not true.
Or you say, oh my gosh, I've got three weeks in and then bam.
Yeah, because there's another little something, something going on in there and I won't spoil
it all.
I mean, some things were inside the clear skin insulation, come on.
But I'm going to listen to the body systems.
It's a symptom overload and I'm going to tell you why.
Once we can connect those whys, give you that motivation, maybe we have to alter supplements,
maybe we have to plow through, maybe we have to just nurture a little bit more of that
immune system.
There's lots going on.
Just don't give up on yourself because that fear, that fear holds you back.
And then again, we're making the choice not to change.
And then we reflect on it.
And when we don't reflect and make a new choice, we go back into judging ourselves.
So this is how this whole mindset comes together.
The what if it doesn't work.
Absolutely.
And in one sentence, I'm going to say, what if it does?
What if it does?
And this is something that I see is a lot of people aren't successful on their health
journey, whether it's acne, like I've coached in so many, I've coached in other programs.
Like at this point in my career, I've helped thousands of people across the world in all
different health issues.
And Chris, how many times on a health journey when you are going, you know, you're dealing
with symptoms and you have this end goal, the journey is never linear.
Healing is not a linear point A to point B process.
There's going to be zigzags.
You're going to take a step forward and five steps back.
You're going to have flares of your symptoms, whether it's acne, whether it's digestive
issues, whatever it may be.
Like combined, Chris and I have worked with thousands and thousands of people and not
one single person on their journey has ever had a linear straight A to B, correct?
Right?
Never.
Flares are common.
Flares are a normal part of the process because remember the body is trying to get back into
what it's called homeostasis, a state of balance.
It's constantly, you know, trying to get that scale level, those two scales level.
And we see as we're say shifting the microbiome, you may have a flare of your skin or as we're
shifting something hormonal, you may see your period days like this is the body regaining
its footing in its balance.
So don't panic because I see so often people on their journey like, oh my gosh, I got a
flare.
This is working.
It's not working.
It's not working.
I can't do this.
I'm stopping them going back.
And then they ping pong between starting and flare, start flare, start flare.
And they ping pong back and forth, back and forth, but they never let themselves work
through the flare, get through to the other side.
That's where you want to be.
You don't want to stay stuck in the flare.
You don't want to revert back because you're never going to clear it up.
So don't be scared of the flares.
They're not fun.
I completely am validating that is not fun having a flare, but it is a very common and
normal part of the process.
So please do not give up on yourself if you have a flare on your journey.
Yeah, it's accurate.
There's things are going to happen.
I mean, compounding.
There has not been a single, not to sound decrepit, but a single month where we haven't
had a, well, we have hundreds, right?
So a single month where there hasn't been a family death or a family emergency or a
child that's super sick and put a plague through the entire house or a vet emergency, vet visit,
or a graduation, a wedding.
Life is what you're saying.
This comes in, right?
All of these factors fled your life.
And then you know what we do?
We go, okay, you know what?
This supersedes what I'm doing now.
What if I told you does not supersede anything you do?
Now we have to find the balance and to keep you on track without revving up that vagus
nervous system, without getting our nervous system like, you know, and now we're craving
all the things.
What about if we give you realistic things to go in, apply while you're going through
this trauma like event, whether it's good, bad, whatever.
So because again, getting that judgment down is going to be vital for your progress.
And then I want to finish off because we're almost nearing our an hour mark.
You could see Chris and I can literally do like a 10 hour podcast on any topic.
So the last one, Chris, I want to talk about something we hear all the time.
It's just not the right time.
It's not the right time for me to clear up my acne.
It's not the right time to eat better.
It's not the time for me to make myself the priority.
And I always respond with when is the right time?
Because there is never a right time to do anything.
We can think of what goes on in a year.
Well, like you'll say, oh, well, it's the summertime.
I can't start right now.
I'm doing things.
Oh, it's Thanksgiving.
Oh, it's Halloween.
Oh, it's the holidays.
Oh, it's Christmas.
Oh, it's New Year's.
Oh, it's Valentine's Day.
Oh, it's Easter.
Oh, it's the summer all over again.
And then a year has passed and you're still stuck in the exact same spot you were last
year with the exact same struggle of acne impacting your confidence, impacting your
self worth all because it's never been the right time.
And even in between holidays, guess what?
There's going to be weddings.
There's going to be deaths in the family.
There's going to be, you know, sicknesses like life happens.
We cannot put our life on hold in order to clear up our health issues.
We need to find a way to work on our health issues alongside having our life because we
it's impossible.
We can't just quit life for six months, go live in a commune and sell coconuts on the
beach in order to get our health under control.
It would be amazing if we could.
Is that an option?
Hold on.
I know.
I'm like, wait a minute.
Is that an option for us?
Is there a sign up sheet?
Chris and I would be first on that list.
Let me tell you.
Bye, I'm see ya.
We need to do these together.
So if you have been keep putting this off, I want you to sit there right now and think
this time next year, do I still want to be sitting here feeling depressed, feeling anxious,
feeling embarrassed about my skin and not being able to live my life, not feeling confident
in my relationships, not wanting to be intimate with my partner, yelling at my kids because
I'm so stressed about my skin, not reaching for job promotions, not dating because of
my skin, not going out and doing things.
Am I going to let another year of my life pass me by in this pain affecting every area
of my life?
Or am I finally going to say now is the right time and I'm going to figure it out.
I will figure out how to get my life in line was I'm balancing out these health issues
because a year from now, the difference is a year from now you could be confident in
your body and your skin, have your self esteem back, be able to date, be able to be intimate
with your spouse, be easier to deal with your kids, not canceling plans and feel so confident
AF in your skin that it has drastically changed your life.
And this is the thing.
I'm four only one decision away from a completely different life.
Can I drop my mic?
Can I drop my mic now?
Okay.
Drop it.
Dropped.
Thank you for coming to my Ted talk, everybody.
So I'm going to finalize this in something I've already said.
Everything in your life is a reflection of choice you have made.
If you want a different result, make a different choice.
Love Katie and Chris.
Can we drop our mic together?
Bam.
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the clear skin chronicles.
Next Wednesday, we got another one coming in hot and you're going to want to listen
to this one.
We're digging into every acne sufferer's favorite topic and that is skincare.
Our holistic aesthetician over in the clear skin solution, Ashley, will be joining us
to talk through all things related to acne.
Like the biggest mistakes we see acne sufferers making with their skincare, how to start repairing
their skin barrier and how to get rid of those dark marks.
Now don't forget to subscribe to our show and drop us a review.
Sending glowing vibes your way, Katie and Chris.