Tell me how you feel when you step on the scale. Do you feel like a success or a failure? Has it taken you on a roller coaster ride of emotions? Or in a deep pit where the only way out is when you reach this ‘magical’ number in your mind?
Catherine Baswell has been in this pit of darkness as she struggled with the expectations of being a certain weight. It was back in her childhood years when this pattern of thinking began. Catherine recalled a time when she was around 10 years old, trying on a dress for her 5th grade graduation. She burst into tears as she thought she looked so fat in the dress. This emotional breakdown only got worse, as she continued to identify with a specific weight through highschool and as a young adult. 120 pounds was the magical number for her. When she reached this weight, she thought it would equate to happiness.
Once I hit this number on the scale, everything would be different…my mental health would be different…I would have more friends…I would be happier…I would be smarter…people would like me more…”
The diet industry during that period of time didn’t help either. When Catherine’s mom took her to the doctor, the doctor told her she had to go on a diet because she was overweight. The diet mentality with a lot of food restrictions only contributed to Catherine’s anxiety surrounding food. In high school, she fell into disordered eating with binging and purging as she aimed to lose weight.
No more shame
Being defined by her weight, Catherine feelings of self-worth diminished. She found herself in an unloving relationship, married at a young age. The light in her story started to shine through after a tough divorce. First hitting rock bottom, but then coming to the realization that the only person who is going to love her as much as she wanted to be loved is herself. Learning to love herself pushed her through the difficult moments of her life.
She went from ‘shaming herself to health’ to doing things for her health because she genuinely cared about herself. Self-acceptance and self-love helped her to stop using food and exercise as punishments. Instead, she started to see food as nourishment and workouts as something she truly enjoyed doing.
Catherine never reached the magical ‘120 pounds’ on the scale. She laughs at this number now that she knows this was an impossible feat for her body structure. Going through this transformation journey led her to create Healthy on the Homefront, where she helps many women transform their lives and create the power to choose what healthy means for them.
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More about Catherine Baswell:
Coach Catherine Baswell is the military spouses healthy habits coach, and creator of Healthy on the Homefront. She knows that fad diets don’t work, and that 95 percent of women fail to achieve their goals because the fitness industry has them stuck in the cycle of diet failure.
Catherine has done away with the all or nothing approach to health and weight loss and has created a program that gives women the ability to create sustainable healthy habits that are custom tailored to fit your unique lifestyle. The result? You’ll gain confidence and self-love while losing the weight that’s been holding you back for years. You’ll develop a healthier relationship with food and body image, and say good bye to restrictive diets and hello to a life of freedom!
Catherine has a Bachelors in Sport and Health Science from American Military University, Crossfit Level 1 Certification, Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification, Girls Gone Strong Level 1 and Pregnancy and Post-Partum Certifications through Girls Gone Strong, and is a graduate of the National Personal Training Institute.
As the military spouses Healthy Habits Coach, she is dedicated to helping make the military family community healthier and happier, one bite at a time.
Connect with Catherine:
•Website: www.healthyonthehomefront.com
•Facebook: Coach Catherine Baswell
•Instagram: https://instagram.com/coachcatebaswell
I was a slave to my scale for decades! I am so much happier that I gave that up a few years ago