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From Finance To Health – Removing The Blinders To Success With Leah Hortin – Ep. 90
Are you fed up with diets that don’t work and maybe diet culture in general?
Well, we’ve got something really important to talk about this week! In this episode, we’re going to explore how our health and money are connected. It’s something that affects all of us! Just like we always say, everyone’s finances and health are unique. It’s relatable because we all have different experiences.
Taking care of yourself actually helps your finances, and when you’re not worried about money, you can focus on being even healthier. So, let’s take a listen!
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Podcast Key Points:
0:00 – Episode Overview
2:37 – Frugality Made Fun
7:59 – Finance to Health
13:43 – Does The Scale Matter?
17:04 – Sponsorship – Cashflow Unlocked:
18:15 – Blinders Make It Where You Can’t Even See
23:39 – Free Gift & Connect With Leah
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The Connection Between Health and Finances
Are you fed up with diets that don’t work and maybe diet culture in general? Then you’re gonna love this week’s episode.
Leah Horton and I talk all about how health and finances are related. And I love her perspective. Because just like we talk about all the time, that your finances aren’t like this cookie cutter system, and one size does not fit all. She’s got a similar approach when it comes to health. And I really love the way that even just like her story developed in like the path that she’s been on and the things that she talks about.
When it comes to health, I know where it’s going to be game changing for you. Because believe it or not, your health and your finances are related. So when you’re not stressed about money, you can take care of yourself better but also when you have like making your health a priority helps your finances as well. So let’s take a listen!
Welcome to the Your Money Your Life podcast I’m your host Aimee Cerka after over 10 years in the personal finance industry and multiple personal financial and medical crisis I was fed up with the lies are being shouted from the rooftops by the Guru’s and the media. So now I help you the ambitious woman step into unstoppable finances.
When you step into unstoppable finances, you create financial abundance that aligns with your personal values and goals. Without working 80 hours post work weeks, without pinching pennies, without worrying how you’ll handle the next curveball life throws your way. And as simple to the point kind of way, being married, having four kids at home homeschooling being a CEO running the household, I’m kind of busy, and I know that you are too.
So here, we get straight to the point. If you’re ready to eliminate fear, stress, struggle, frustration and guilt from your finances and all the areas they affect. You’re in the right place. Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here!
I’m joined today by Leah Horton. She’s a certified Intuitive Eating counselor, Master health and life coach specializing in helping women get off the diet rollercoaster for good. Using the principles of intuitive eating, she empowers women to find food freedom, love their bodies and redefine what health means to them.
Hi Leah, welcome to the Your Money, Your life Podcast. I’m really excited to have this conversation just because like well, we’ve talked about I like to talk health and how finances relate and somebody else who seems the same way. This is gonna be a lot of fun.
Yes, I’m so happy for you to have me here. And yeah, my previous life was in finance. And now I’m in health and they like, go hand in hand together. And like I see so many similarities and how people approach them. So yeah, I’m really excited for this conversation today.
Childhood Memories and Money Lessons
Yeah, so let’s dive in. What is your earliest memory around money?
Yeah, my earliest memory is actually clipping coupons with my mom. She was a single parent, and you airman in the Air Force, and we were tight on money. There were points where we were on food stamps and things and she turned clipping coupons into like a really fun, like activity for us as like for me as a kid.
And I used to, you know, like, that’s kind of like how I started like, first it was matching pictures, right? Like it was this something that we eat. And then like, as I learned to read and all of that it was like checking expiration dates and organizing all of the coupons.
And it was like a big deal on Sundays, getting the Sunday paper and going through all of the cute bonds. And it was it was really, you know, I think looking back now it’s like, it was kind of sad, but it was really, really fun. And it taught me a lot about being smart with money.
Fun and Financial Lessons
Yeah, I was gonna ask like how you feel that that impacted you. So I love that she made it fun. Because I think the connotation there is really important.
So do you feel like you had more of a frugal outlook because of that or because she made it fun? It was like, No, this is just something fun that we do and it didn’t affect you that way.
Yeah, it wasn’t so much about I know it for her it was about frugality. But for me, it didn’t come that way because it was she the way she explained it was like if we want to be able to go do like fun things. Like we get to save money here so we can do other things and you’re being a smart shopper by taking advantage of sales and using coupons and all of that stuff we would.
She taught me about like value versus cost right of like looking at okay. This jar of salsa may look like it’s cheaper. But really, if you’re looking at volume like this one is going to actually be the better value.
And also like not necessarily going for like the name brand things and like, the off brand stuff is just fine.
And so that has definitely carried over with me. Like, I don’t clip coupons. Now, I’m fortunate to be in a place where I don’t have to spend my time doing that. But I do still like use, like savings when I can and like, you know, the coupon codes on websites and like stuff that’s easy for me to like, Yeah, I’m gonna get savings where I can because that means I get to spend that money on things that are of higher value to me.
Yeah, I love that and how she taught value versus cost. Oh, my goodness, that’s like, amazing.
But some of the things that we talked about inside Well, it really isn’t a standalone program yet. But the financial course for kids like those are the things that we want them to learn. So that’s amazing that you were able to, like one of your first memories is of that.
So is that one of your favorite memories around money growing up? Or is there another lightning round trip or something like that, that stands out, but it was like we were able to do this. And this is like my favorite thing that I remember.
The Impact of Early Money Lessons
Yeah, you know, I think like growing up, that was probably the number one thing like grocery shopping was an adventure. And it was this fun thing.
I even like I was balancing the checkbook as soon as I was learning, like addition and subtraction. And that was fun for me.
And she made it all, you know, educational. And, you know, if I got us to like save a certain amount, I got a portion of that. Or maybe I could get something for myself. And it was really, really fun.
But like, looking back at like, so my past life was in finance, my favorite, favorite thing. And this isn’t growing up. But like, we had an intern in our office who was 18. And I sat him down and taught him the power of like maxing out his Roth.
From out the gate at age 18, he was living at home had extra money. And the shift and seeing him realize that, Oh, I could have like $2 million in the bank, if I just did this simple thing.
And now for the rest of my working years. And like it blew his mind. Like you could physically see that. And I’m like, Oh, that is really, really cool. And it makes me really excited about his life and his future. And I think that that’s just, that’s actually like my favorite memory around money and like the impact it can have on people when they start connecting the dots in what they can do with it, and how being responsible early on can make a really big difference.
That’s awesome. I love that. And like seeing those aha moments is always like the fun part.
So why don’t you tell us because now you’re an intuitive eating coach. Why don’t you tell us a little bit like about your background? Obviously, you started in the financial industry and how you came to be like where you are now.
A Life-Changing Moment
Yeah, so I totally just fell into the financial industry. It was I got laid off in 2008 during the recession and and got to the point where I was just applying for anything and everything. And a financial advisor took pity on me because he was retired Air Force and my mom was Air Force.
And so I think he was like, Okay, fine, I’ll hire you. Even though you have no experience, literally did not know the difference between like a Roth and an IRA. Like, nothing. I was really good at budgeting and like personal, you know, finance stuff. But wealth management and all of that was beyond me. I didn’t know what a 401k was anything.
But he took a leap of faith. I mean, it turned out I was actually really good at it. It’s just my brain is very analytical and structured. And I’m like Type A so I was all in. And I was in the finance industry for about 13 years. And I enjoyed it.
But it had shifted a lot I had ended up moving to different companies and moving up in a small boutique wealth management firm. And the way that our company had moved was moving more upmarket to high net worth people, and just helping them with like estate planning and tax mitigation and all of that stuff.
And it didn’t give them that excitement and fire like it does helping younger people or helping like people set up the first 529 for their kids or something like that. That’s really felt more meaningful to me.
Transitioning to Health Coaching
And so I had like a little early midlife crisis where I’m like, this is really what I want to do with my life. It’s a good paycheck. It’s a fine job, but it wasn’t lighting my fire anymore. And I kept going back to like, Okay, if I could do anything I wanted, what would I do?
And it kept going back to health and I’ve always been really passionate about health for myself. My undergrad adds in biology. And I’ve looked into multiple times of like getting into dietetics. And becoming a nutritionist, and I always talk myself out of it, because of the money like, oh, that’s gonna add another year school or oh, I don’t want to pay 60 grand to get my master’s and, you know, work in a hospital, I just kept talking myself out of it.
And so when I got to this point of like, okay, I need to do something that is going to give me passion. And something I’m excited about. I literally Googled, like, what can you do on health without a degree? And health coaching is one of the things that came up, and I didn’t even know it was a thing, I had no idea that maybe you could be a personal trainer or nutritionist, but like, there’s this whole other realm.
And I went down the rabbit hole and was like, Oh, my goodness, this is absolutely perfect. It is marrying my passion. And a lot of the skill sets I had learned in management, working in this finance company, a lot around leadership and motivating people and communication skills, and all of that stuff. Together with my interest in health was, it was it for me, like I immediately signed up. It was like, Okay, this is gonna be my side project, I’m gonna get my passion here. I’m still get my paycheck for my job.
And that lasted about six months before I was like, No, this is all I’m doing. Like, I don’t want to do this anymore. We need to figure out an exit strategy. So this is like the only thing that I’m doing. So that’s kind of how I got started in health coaching.
Embracing Intuitive Eating: Redefining Health and Food Relationships
And as the time kind of progressed, I niched down into intuitive eating, and I went and got my Intuitive Eating counselor certification as well, because what I really wanted to do was change how, especially women I work with men too, but especially women, how they think about health and their body and their relationship with food.
Because I think we get so much diet culture influence that we have to restrict, and we have to focus on what the scale says. And it led to a lot of disordered eating for me personally, and I could see it in so many other people, that that was what I really wanted to focus on.
Because it’s what helped me feel really good about my relationship with food and really improve my health, without the lens of diet culture telling me I need to be a size 6.
I love it. There’s so many I talk all the time about like how the yo-yo diet industry and like how that happens in like the financial industry. And I don’t know, if you notice, my background is we were on the insurance side.
So the, the gentleman that I was working for within State Farm was licensed in more ways. So we were like, Have the conversation and then pass him off, pass off the customer. Like, Hey, you gotta go work with the boss now, but, and I fell into insurance as well.
For me, I responded to a Craigslist ad, of all things like had to have a new needed a new job because I had a young baby at home. And I worked when he was in daycare, and ended up that I totally loved it. I love the insurance, doing all the things. And then like I realized this whole, I really started entrepreneurship about the same time.
But I realized that there was this whole other world out here. And like I could focus on the relationship with the money, and the coaching and helping you with the education piece. And then you can go talk to the advisor about all the other stuff and like, that’s perfect for me, like, people reach out.
They’re like, hey, you know, you could do this and like the certification. I’m like, but I don’t want that. Like I like my gig here. I like being able to have these conversations, and doing these things. I love the journey of how you found the same way to find like what you’re passionate about.
So, um, this is one of my favorite questions to ask. But often, whenever we’re talking with prospective clients, there’s like this one thing, it’s like this myth that they believe and if you would just get this out of the way you would like see the light, like, I don’t know, angels would show up and like oh, exists so what is that like one thing for you with when you’re working with clients? Like what is that one thing?
Improving Health Beyond the Scale
Yeah, the number one thing that people need to realize to really see the big shifts is that weight does not equal health, that the number on the scale is not indicative of what your health looks like and you can improve your health without losing weight.
That doesn’t have to be the thing that you do and for a lot of people focusing on that is actually going to be a detriment to their health. So if you can get to a place where like you realize that the scale is not the end all be all. That is going to be like the first step I’m putting you on the path of really creating sustainable health for yourself. So do you have your clients like even weigh yourself way that way? Those weigh themselves there we go. I can.
No I so they’re their own bosses. I don’t know. But I do encourage them to examine their relationship with the scale. And most of my clients do choose to not weigh themselves, at least through the duration that we’re working together.
Sometimes they’ll get curious, you know, the intuitive eating, there’s a lot of misconceptions around intuitive eating. But what we what we say is that when you become an intuitive eater, anything can happen with your weight.
Some people may lose weight, because maybe they were binge eaters or emotional eaters. And if you can get a handle on that, and learn to listen to your body better, and you know, have other coping mechanisms for emotional eating, yeah, you may lose weight, because you’re eating less, right?
Some people may change their relationship with food and not see a single thing change on the scale. And that’s okay, too, right? Because at least maybe mentally, you feel better. Physically, you can still feel better, maybe you’re more energized, or have less stress or anything like that.
And some people may gain weight if they had been chronically under eating, if they’re, you know, lifelong dieters who have never eaten the proper amount of food, they may see the weight gain, and no matter, any of those outcomes. It’s all okay. Right.
The Truth Behind the Numbers
It’s no matter what happens on the scale, you’re going to be okay, you’re still working on your health. Maybe it looks like you’re prioritizing your mental and emotional health right now. And that’s okay.
But at the end of the day, the only thing that the scale tells you is your relationship to gravity.
Love that. I actually don’t know, whenever I started prioritizing my health, I hadn’t weighed myself. And honestly, it was like a friend who started like this new nutrition program. And it was kind of like one of those.
Sure, like, I’ll do this just because and then like I became totally addicted. I think that like I lost about 35 pounds, but I don’t even know because I wasn’t weighing myself before. So I was curious, like what your answer was on that. And then it was definitely much more of a holistic shift, because I wasn’t so tied up in like, what the numbers said.
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This isn’t one of those classes where you get part of the information in zero help. I call it a workshop for a reason. Yes, we’re going to go over those three essential keys. But then we’re going to walk through the first steps you need to take together so you aren’t left in information overwhelm.
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The Power of Shifting Focus from Weight to Health
Well, what happens when you’re just fixated on the scale is it’s like we are literally putting blinders on. And you can’t see anything else. You’re just so like looking day to day, like what did I eat that caused my weight to go up or to go down? Or like, Oh, I’m doing a good job, like, keep doing whatever it was that I do.
And your body isn’t like a simple math equation. It’s it does. It’s not progress isn’t linear, and it’s not giving you the full picture. And so if you can stop looking at the number on the scale, you can actually start noticing other benefits that you may be seeing.
So are you getting stronger? Are you sleeping better? Do you have more energy? Is your skin clear? You know, there’s all of these other things that come with it. And if you’re only looking at the number on the scale, you’re not going to be able to see those things.
So that’s why you know, a lot of people decide like, okay, yeah, you’re right. Like, I’m not gonna pay attention to that whatever happens happens.
And it’s funny, like, sometimes clients will be embarrassed, it’ll be like, Oh, I weighed myself like, are they like, oh, I went to the doctor and like, saw the number on the scale. And, you know, there’s still like a little bit of a celebration if it goes down or because of it’s like, Okay, how are we processing this? Or they’ll notice like, oh, yeah, my clothes are like fitting a lot looser, I need to go buy new clothes or something.
So there’s other ways and it’s, you know, the scale doesn’t tell you muscle mass. It doesn’t tell you water retention, especially for women we like all throughout the month or scales all over the place. It really is just too singular of a thing to really have a good indicator of what your overall health is looking like in that moment.
All right, okay. I remember that. What are some of the things that we should track, for example, like when you were talking about this, and I know this is not like there’s the emotional side of this, and this is why this works. But like I tell my clients not to focus like on your debt payoff numbers like that is not the thing to focus on, because it’s the negative aspect. And instead, we focus on our net worth. Because like, that’s our true overall picture.
And I heard you say, it was like, that’s not the full picture. So what are some of the things that we shouldn’t be looking at our healthy indicators, if we’re looking for more this type of approach with our health?
Yeah, so you know, there is just like, the kind of general things that you can keep track of yourself, I think energy is one of the best ways to do that, you know, because that’ll tell you like, what kind of quality sleep you’re getting is the food that you’re giving yourself, nourishing. And energy giving, or is it like leaving you feeling like drained and lethargic, like, that’s not really helpful.
Your body will tell you, you know, when you feel good, and when you don’t.
So tracking energy, tracking sleep can also be really helpful.
If we kind of like look at from like a medical model, you know, things like blood pressure and your blood sugar’s especially if you know, have like, diabetes or like that runs in your family. Those are good indicators of health.
Obviously, it’s harder to track on a day-to-day basis. But those are good things just to keep an eye on as well, with the caveat that some of that is just genetic. And no matter what you do, like you may just be SOL on that category. But you still can be engaging in health promoting behaviors to mitigate any risks that may come because of your genetic predisposition.
Okay, it’s good to know, I’m also thinking like, because I’m still nursing right now. So I’m thinking like, yeah, because this is what I need, because this is what I’m doing right now. Never felt like I was eating for two when I was pregnant. But now it’s like, okay, I’m hungry. It’s been two hours, like I knew.
My husband knows I get hangry, too. So we have like, that whole perspective there. So I’m thinking about those things. And like the Sleep Number and how I’ve been kind of, without realizing it, I guess tracking some of those things.
So hey, they were on the right track there. Yeah, it’s just a good thing to have a pulse on. Yeah, to keep an eye on, is there anything that you feel like we need to make sure that we’re adding into this conversation? That like, Okay, we know this, but like, we don’t want to leave out this aspect?
Breaking Free from Diet Culture
Yeah, I guess, you know, the, the main thing I want people to really understand is when it comes to health, like diet, culture, and the beauty industry is like $176 billion industry global, it’s insane. So you’re getting a lot of messages from them. And they really focus on diet and exercise being like the end all be all for health, and it being like completely in your control.
If you’re overweight, it’s your fault. And that’s not the case there is genetics plays a really large role. But the thing that actually, second to genetics that plays the biggest factor is going to be your socioeconomic status. And so that’s like your accessibility to health care and nutritious food and the stress and the environment that you’re living in, and all of those kinds of things.
So by focusing on improving your financial health, you are actually also improving your physical and mental well being as well. So definitely keep up with that.
And focus on stress management, if you’re going to do anything like I would rather you focus your time and energy on stress management than trying a new diet or a new workout plan or like trying to completely revamp how you eat, really focus on getting the stress down. Because ultimately, that’s going to be a bigger impact on your health at the end of the day.
Yeah, totally. We, like I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, like I give you all the tactical strategy, but until we handle, like the emotional part, the mindset part, those gut reactions that we have, from all the stories that we learned that we created that we inherited, like until we handle those things, like the strategies won’t make a difference.
And it’s kind of awesome to see how that translate into all the areas of our life and as we work to create that happiness, like the skills of by everywhere, so thank you for sharing that. I appreciate that. That was a really great note to make sure what we added here.
Free Gift from Leah
Now I believe you do have a free gift for our listeners who were probably like okay, this is really intriguing and I hate diets anyway. So what is that and we’re gonna go get that?
Yeah, so I do have free download for three ways to improve your health without diet and exercise. And so that’s like speaking exactly to this point of like, that’s not the thing that you need to be fixating on and includes three things that are not as talked about that actually have bigger impacts on your health than just changing diet and exercise. So if you wanted those things that you can get those and I’m sorry, I do not have an easy, clean website for you can I just give you the link to include in the show notes.
So make sure you grab it there. And that is really intriguing. So I’m probably gonna go check it out, too. And then where can our listeners find you online?
Yeah, so I’m on Tiktok and Instagram, anti-diet health coach. And the best place is my free Facebook group. It is https://www.facebook.com/groups/antidiethealthclub/ will get you there. And I have free trainings that I do every single week guests that come in with like a podcast, but it’s like on Facebook, tons of free resources and love connecting with people there and seeing what I can do to help them in their health journey.
Awesome. And I’ll make sure all those links are below as well. So nobody has to write them down and can come back if you are driving or unloading the dishwasher. I think that’s all I’ve got for now. We kept this one short and sweet but extra impactful for you. So make sure to go connect with Leah learn all the things and we’ll see you next time. Bye for now. Thanks
Thank you so much for listening to the Your Money Your Life podcast, wondering what’s next. When you’re ready. There are different levels of support that you can use on the path to creating unstoppable finances and your unstoppable life. After all, your finances are unique and your support should be to. Ultimately we’ll create a customized plan to ditch financial struggle for good that works for you. Your goals, your priorities, your life. Go to https://workwithaimee.com to get started with one of our most popular programs, or you can book a q&a call with me, and we’ll figure out what your next step should be.
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