Feature Friday: You Ain't Your Weight
This week, I am sharing the story of an amazing woman with a wonderful message. I first heard about Jenna from You Ain't Your Weight from my friends at Be Social Centric. Her message is inspiring and her story is refreshing. Read on to inspire your body postivity and enjoy a great story.
Tell me a little bit about yourself and your work. Where are you from? What do you do?
My name is Jenna Free and I am a body image coach and intuitive eating counselor. I help women ditch the diet and find peace in their bodies. I was born and raised in Calgary and still live here.
I work with women privately, in group programs and in my free Facebook Group! My passion is to help as many women as possible stop dieting and move on with their lives, so many of us are waiting on the weight. No more!
What inspires you to do what you do? How did you start doing this work?
I got into this because after a decade of dieting and hating my body, losing weight, gaining weight and even getting into modeling overseas I was never comfortable in my skin. Eventually, I realized it didn’t matter what I looked like, my food and body issues really had nothing to do with food or my body! I realized I didn’t want to be skinny, I just wanted to be happy.
A couple years ago I started selling Beachbody products ( intense workout programs) and I had been doing these kinds of programs forever so I thought why not sell them? I’ll never forget one day when I was doing up my laces to do one of the workouts and I thought to myself, “ugh, this is the last thing I want to be doing right now!”. It really dawned on me that my life was no longer my own, I had to do this workout on this day, I had to eat this at this time… and on and on it goes! I had had enough, canceled my Beachbody position and started my own business helping women realize that weight loss is NOT the answer.
I help women repair their relationship with food and their bodies so they can stop being hung up on losing weight and start living! It’s amazing what women wait for when they think they need to lose weight: relationships, career goals, travel, wearing cute clothes. It’s amazing how the idea of weight loss limits us from living!! This is what I help women overcome so they can truly start living.
What inspires you most about your community?
This city is amazing, it’s big and has a lot going on but often feels like I live in a small town! The wellness community in this city is tight-knit and so inviting! When I meet one new person they know someone else I know and it’s great to have people in common in business.
If you could give anyone who is starting out in your field one piece of advice, what would it be?
Decide what you stand for and NEVER sway. At first, my messaging was a bit all over the place, I provided healthy recipes, then told someone that weight loss wasn’t the answer, then I would post a workout. It didn’t flow and so I had no strong viewpoint to provide my audience. I now hold strong in my body positive message no matter what!
Tell me three fun facts about yourself or your organization.
- I love pizza. (Too much? Nah, no such thing)
- I am filming a documentary about Intuitive Eating and Body Love right now!
- Our group program, The Body Love Society, is opening up in August.
How can people get in touch?
www.instagram.com/youaintyourweight
www.facebook.com/youaintyourweight
Do you know of a person, business, non-profit or other organization doing amazing work in Calgary? Tell me about it! Visit the Feature Friday page for more information!
