THE SHIFT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
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Episode 270:
Show Notes
In this week’s episode of the co-hosted podcast by Dr. Mary Barson with special guest Kate Smith shares her deeply personal journey of fluctuating health patterns and emotional eating.
Kate’s story highlights the challenges of breaking unhealthy cycles and the turning point that shifted her approach to wellbeing through education and the support of a caring community.
About Our Guest
Our guest is a dedicated nurse and mother of two teenagers who has balanced a demanding career and family life. She struggled with an unhealthy relationship with food and weight fluctuations despite trying many programs. After joining the Real Life Medicine 12-week program, she found lasting support, transformed her mindset, and developed a healthier relationship with food and her body. Now, she embraces a balanced lifestyle, feeling empowered, nourished, and grateful to be part of a supportive community.
Stress and Eating Habits:
Kate reveals that stress, particularly during study at university, led her to use food (specifically comfort foods like lollies/bag of sweets) as a coping mechanism. She describes a cycle of unhealthy eating habits, especially during stressful or challenging times.
Cycle of Unhealthy Habits:
She describes a repeated pattern of binge eating, feeling like a failure, and then starting the cycle over again. This indicates a struggle with emotional eating and self-regulation during stressful periods.
Turning Point:
Kate attended the Low Carb Roadshow in Melbourne, where she learned more about the low carb lifestyle and heard from guest speakers. She was particularly influenced by the speakers’ perspectives on body image and health.
Learning and Insight:
The event provided Kate with new knowledge and a different perspective on health, body image, and the potential benefits of a low carb diet, suggesting a shift in her approach to health management.
Cyclical Health Struggles:
Stress and life changes (study, sports seasons) contribute to ongoing health challenges.
Emotional Eating as Coping Mechanism:
Comfort foods are used to manage stress, leading to cycles of binge eating.
Education and Awareness:
Exposure to new information (low carb lifestyle) and alternative health perspectives offers hope and potential for change.
Episode 270:
Transcript
Dr Mary Barson (0:04) Hello, my lovely friends. I am Dr Mary Barson.
Dr Lucy Burns (0:09) And I'm Dr Lucy Burns. We are doctors and weight management and metabolic health experts.
Both (0:16) And this is the Real Health and Weight Loss podcast!
Dr Mary Barson (0:21) Dr. Mary here. And today I am joined by our very special guest, Kate Smith. Kate is a wonderful, beautiful community member at Real Life Medicine who first joined us back in May 2023. She has undergone the most wonderful transformation—transforming her physical health, reducing inflammation, reducing pain, losing weight, and also transforming her mindset and her identity. It is an inspiring story, and I’m so thrilled that we have Kate with us today. Thank you so much for joining us, Kate. I am thrilled to have you with us. How are you today?
Kate Smith (01:09) Yes, I’m feeling a little nervous, but I’m good.
Dr Mary Barson (01:13) Yeah, no, this is it. I think nervous is totally understandable. But I’m so grateful for your courage in coming on to this podcast and sharing your story because it’s a great one. And I’m just delighted that you have taken this step. Delighted and humbled, as I said before. So gorgeous one, tell our listeners a bit about you. Tell us your story.
Kate Smith (01:38) Sure. So, at 43 years of age, I've had a lot of experience over the years with lots of different programs. I was someone who played a lot of sports throughout my life as well. So, there has been a lot of training preseason, letting go at the end of the season, blowing out training preseason—so a lot of fluctuations in health throughout my lifetime. I've been to uni a couple of times, so that's always challenged my health as well. How I always responded to stressful situations in the past was to reach for food. I was very comforted by that bag of lollies in the middle of the night to complete the assignment. It almost was that excitement of being able to sit and let go and eat that food and chase that dopamine in those stressful situations. And the same at the end of the season—that was always that release of, “Oh my gosh, I can have a break from being so disciplined all the time.” But that constant roller coaster eventually led to some very unhelpful habits and quite a poor relationship with food. Completing programs in the past before finding Real Life Medicine led me to creating... so yes, there were temporary fixes where I did really well and achieved some health goals, but the mind work was never there. So, there was always this temporary solution that, at the end of it, just exacerbated the way I thought about myself and the way I created an even more unhelpful relationship with food because there was all of this perfectionism in there. The previous programs—you’re constantly striving for that end goal without ever understanding the little steps that I had to take along the way to achieve it. So, of course, when you’re trying to climb that ladder where the steps are so wide, when you fall off the ladder, it’s without understanding why. Yeah, I’d go straight to “I failed,” and then you’d start all over again, go back to binge eating, and go back to all those habits. So, I think I said I attended the Low Carb Roadshow in Melbourne and learnt a lot more about what a low-carb lifestyle could offer me. Listening to the guest speakers on the day and hearing you speak about the way that you view your body and what health means to you, I sat there and thought, “I’ve been looking at this all wrong.” My approach to health—as a health professional myself, working in both community and hospital settings—was always different. And even in our healthcare setting, the mindset and the mental work is often the gap that’s missing for people being able to achieve health as well. So, I, yeah, from there joined my first 12-week program. And whilst I didn’t make a lot of massive changes in the first 12-week program, I did a lot of the work to see, and it helped me identify what the barriers were to me being able to actually achieve health in a healthy mindset, a healthy body, and just being able to feel confident and happy to be me. So, what I learnt from the first program was that maybe there were some things I was doing in my life that were barriers to being able to do that or being able to achieve what I wanted to achieve. My job was probably one of my biggest barriers, as well as being a mum. I was in a leadership role in a nursing program, and I also had a clinician role in that space as well. We provide a nursing service to a very vulnerable part of our community where you’re hearing about lots of trauma, and we’re working with families in frequent crises. So, I think there was a lot of emotional toll that I was taking from that role as well. And, yeah, completing that program gave me the strength to put myself first. I actually left that role. I didn’t take a complete turn of career—I went back to the hospital setting, where I’m now practicing, back in a hospital setting, back to shift work, which I didn’t think would actually be beneficial to my health. But it is, because I now have so much more flexibility to work around my family and everything as well. So, I feel like I’m in a much better work-life balance now. But I think without doing that first program and all the work that I did, I would never have had the courage to put myself first and make that decision. So, yeah, that sort of led me into going back and doing the program for the second time. And without those barriers there the second time, it opened me up to really tackle my mindset and just learn so much more about myself. So, yeah, it was a very different experience.
Dr Mary Barson (07:53) Yes. So, for you, it’s the mindset shift and getting that healthy mindset. Then from there, the healthy life and the healthy body flowed on from that.
Kate Smith (08:07) Yeah, so I was starting to really feel the effects of that, particularly the last few years. I really pulled back on sport time. My body was no longer able to play the way that I used to, and I wasn’t enjoying sport the same way. So, I decided to take a step back and just started playing socially. And that was good for my body to step away from that as well. I was also starting to feel I had a lot of inflammation throughout my body. I had a lot of swelling in my ankles, particularly since I was working eight- or 12-hour shifts at the hospital, on my feet all the time. So, I went from a job where I did predominantly sitting at a desk, or sitting and talking with families, to being back on my feet. And yeah, it was a bit of a shock—a bit of a shock to the body to start with. I developed plantar fasciitis, which took me a long time to get past. And as a consequence, the Achilles on my other foot was starting to really struggle as well. I just felt like an 80-year-old woman at the end of a shift.
Dr. Mary Barson (09:30) That’s not good.
Kate Smith (09:32) No. So, yeah, throughout the second program, I managed to drop 15 kilos. And I think, as a consequence of removing the very flat inflammatory foods from my diet, I don’t have that joint pain anymore. The plantar fasciitis is gone. The big bulge that was on my Achilles on the other foot is gone. And I can get through my shift now without—I don’t have any discomfort.
Dr Mary Barson (10:06) Yeah, that’s amazing. So, you had some fantastic changes as you went through that second 12-week Mind-Body Rebalance. We had changes with the first, and then changes again with the second. Just delve a little bit deeper into how you felt before compared to how you feel now. You’ve already given us so many beautiful examples, but I’d just love to hear a bit more about that.
Kate Smith (10:27) Yeah, so it’s interesting. Before I came on today, I decided to sit down and have a read of my journal. So, I kept some notes as I went through the programs each week. And I had a look at my identity before I started the program compared to how I identify myself now. And I wrote that before I started the program, my identity was “a fluffy.” So, I referred to myself as a fluffy person. Yeah, I was a pre-menopausal fluffy person that was overweight, and I was a big cheater. So, that was how I saw myself. Those were the words that came to my mind before I started. There’s so much more to me that I didn’t see because this noise was so strong. Like, the noise is definitely still there, but I can just hear it now as that—I hear it now as noise. And I now see that that’s not me, that I’m so much more.
Dr. Mary Barson (11:43) Yes, of course you are.
Kate Smith (11:45) Yeah, I am. I’m a HOTI.
Dr. Mary Barson (11:50) You are a HOTI—healthy on the inside and gorgeous. You are a total HOTI.
Kate Smith (11:56) Yeah, I am now. I’m achieving health, and I can see myself as a really important role in my home now as well. I’m a role model to my children, and I’m teaching—as I learn so much about myself—I am teaching them about themselves as well. And I can look at things differently. So previously, if you had asked me where I was, I would have told you about all the mistakes that I’ve made in the past. And yeah, that would have been my focus—all the errors that I made. And now I’m able to turn around and look back and see the achievements that I’ve had. It’s not just negative sounds anymore. I can see all the positive things that I’ve achieved and the ways that I’ve been able to influence people in my past, and the support that I’ve been able to provide to people. And everything that I’ve done to this point—I no longer see it as mistakes, and I can see my journey as me.
Dr. Mary Barson (13:08) Such a powerful mindset change that you’ve got—that change in identity. True change is identity change. That is the truest type of change there is. And you’ve had this beautiful identity change. Also, those inner critical voices—they’re still there, but you can see them for what they are. They’re no longer your identity; they’re just one part of your beautiful mind.
Kate Smith (13:34) Yeah, they’ve now got names, and my thoughts have got names, and I can now separate them, see them, review them, and decide whether I want to listen to them or whether I want to respond to them. Whereas previously, I would have just responded without seeing it for what it was.
Dr. Mary Barson (14:00) You’ve been able to take on the coaching and the mindset work from the 12-week program, and now you’re externalising your negative thoughts. That’s so powerful. That is amazing.
Kate Smith (14:11) Yeah, I feel so much stronger for it.
Dr. Mary Barson (14:15) Yes. I’d love to—when you mentioned being a role model for your kids—can you tell us more about what that is and what that means to you?
Kate Smith (14:18) Yeah, so I’ve got teenagers, and we’re definitely seeing the challenges of the teenage years. And I think, particularly having a teenage daughter as well, I was really mindful that the way I spoke about my body, the way I viewed my body, and the relationship I had with food wasn’t the role model I wanted to be for her. So, I didn’t want to see her go down the same challenges with food and everything. And I could see some of that language I was using starting to come out in her. So, rather than shy away and do all the work in the background, I’ve brought her along with me so she could see what I’ve gone through—how it challenged me, how I’m able to change, and that it’s been okay not to be perfect, because she also has that very strong perfectionist personality. So, I’ve been bringing her along with me so she can see how I’ve changed and use those strategies herself.
Dr. Mary Barson (15:40) That’s amazing.
Kate Smith (15:42) Yeah, and my son has ADHD as well, so he often views things quite differently. And I think the change from my previous role has also opened up some emotional capacity for me to be more emotionally available to support him as he experiences life as a teenager going through school.
Dr. Mary Barson (16:12) Yes. These changes you talk about are really powerful. You’ve done such an amazing job, and you are doing an amazing job. What’s your identity like now? How do you view yourself now?
Kate Smith (16:26) I can still see myself as a perfectionist who likes to do things perfectly. But I’m now able to see that as a strength, and to view it with kindness, knowing that I’m not always going to get it right. So, I no longer see myself as an overweight person. Yes, I’ve still got a lot more to achieve the goals that I want to, but I am no longer focused on that end result. I’m able to see myself and be comfortable with me now. I’m not focused on wanting to be that person I thought I wanted to look like, then having a negative view of where I am. Now I’m able to see the changes that I’ve made. I know that my body is serving its purpose. It takes me to work, I can still do the things I love doing, and I’m thankful for that.
Dr. Mary Barson (17:31) Yes, and you’re a HOTI. You’re a total HOTI.
Kate Smith (17:34) Yes. I’ve had to go into a little bit more depth with the inflammation and everything as well. I was struggling with low iron, so we went down the road of investigating some potential reasons why I wasn’t able to increase my iron stores despite taking supplements. So I’ve had all of the scopes—the gastroscope, the colonoscopy, the hysteroscopy. Fun. Yes, all of those areas. And my initial findings, towards the end of last year, were gastritis as well as uterine hyperplasia, and there was a lot of inflammation found throughout the body. I have since had a repeat hysteroscopy, and they confirmed that the uterine hyperplasia has gone.
Dr Mary Barson (18:36) That’s great. It must be a relief too. Fantastic.
Kate Smith (18:40) Yes. So I was able to actually see the evidence of the inflammatory changes throughout the body. I’ve got repeat scopes for the colonoscopy and other tests coming up as well. So I’m hoping to see some really positive changes there too.
Dr. Mary Barson (19:00) And by eating real food and embracing that lifestyle, you’ve made profound changes to your physical body already.
Kate Smith (19:06) Yeah.
Dr. Mary Barson (19:07) Yes.
Kate Smith (19:08) Yeah. And I’ve had a few slip-ups, absolutely. I’m able now just to see them for what they are. I needed to eat. I didn’t have access to the foods I would have liked to have had at the time. So I ate, and I moved on. Previously, that would have been, okay, that’s it. I’ve screwed it up for the day. I’m done. I’m just going to eat whatever I want for the rest of the day. And that would have gone on for weeks and weeks and weeks previously.
Dr. Mary Barson (19:42) The dark side of perfectionism.
Kate Smith (19:44) Absolutely. And now I can just go, well, it is what it is. I move on to the next one. But being in a healthy body now, I really feel the effects. And I think, how did I get through day to day feeling like that previously?
Dr. Mary Barson (20:03) That was just your normal—feeling crappy all the time.
Kate Smith (20:07) Absolutely. I was bloated and had that constant sugar craving. I think I must have been a really grumpy person for a very long time. But it is much nicer living a life without being hangry.
Dr. Mary Barson (20:29) Yes. Hangry does not improve your quality of life at all.
Kate Smith (20:33) Absolutely not.
Dr. Mary Barson (20:35) I love it. Well, what advice would you give out there to our beautiful listeners—maybe people who are still in the throes of being hangry, wanting changes but not sure where to start? What would be your advice? You’ve accumulated so much wisdom and knowledge. What would you like to impart?
Kate Smith (20:52) Yeah, I think building that support network around you before you try to take on changes has been a game changer for me. When I’ve done it previously, any programs that I’ve done in the past, I’ve always felt like I was still very much alone. Being able to have that support network and have a few people to help carry me through at those times when things have gotten challenging, because it is definitely challenging making changes. Just have the courage to take the steps. Do what you need to do to find whatever it is that, for me, was identifying the barriers. So what is happening for me that is getting in my way of making changes, and that emotional capacity and everything was a really big barrier. So having that support network around me gave me the courage to be able to take the steps that I needed to break down the barriers to change. Even if your support network is an online community or family and friends, I was really lucky that a couple of friends came to the low-carb roadshow with me. One of those girls is doing the 12-week program again now.
Dr Mary Barson (22:19) Oh, fantastic.
Kate Smith (22:22) So I think the changes that I was able to make this time have helped motivate her to come along the journey as well. Just having that crew with you makes a world of difference.
Dr Mary Barson (22:41) Yes, it is so much easier with the right community. And it really helps with that identity change as well when you’ve got other people coming along with you. Yes. Kate, you’re an absolute legend. Thank you so much for coming on this morning and sharing your amazing story. I think you are a fabulous role model, not only to your children, but to humans in general. So thank you so, so much. Bye-bye now.
Dr Lucy Burns (23:10) The information shared on the Real Health and Weight Loss Podcast, including show notes and links, provides general information only. It is not a substitute, nor is it intended to provide individualised medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, nor can it be construed as such. Please consult your doctor for any medical concerns.
