The High Vibe Guide
You can feel happier! You can feel more positive, and it's so much easier than you think.
Whether you're a seasoned venturer or just starting out on your journey to radiating a more positive energy, my episodes will provide a wealth of inspiration, tools and wisdom to guide you in creating a more vibrant and positive life. It is possible. I have lived and breathed this journey. Let me explain how you can do it too.
The High Vibe Guide
19. Redefining Beauty with Genevieve Turley: A Journey Beyond the Mirror
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Subscribe to Premium Content here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2286124/subscribe
Have you ever found yourself scrutinising your reflection, wishing you could converse with that inner critic? Today, the High Vibe Guide is graced with Genevieve Turley's presence, a former RAF burns and plastic specialist turned bridal makeup artist who knows a thing or two about the journey towards self-empowerment and body positivity. She joins me to share her transformative makeup tips for women over 30 and to spread joy through her authentic take on life and beauty. Listen to Genevieve's powerful insights on self-perception, her non-negotiables for a high-vibe life, and how she balances a bustling professional life with her passion for uplifting others.
Navigating the murky waters of body image and self-love is no easy feat in our current social landscape, yet this episode shines a guiding light on healthier pathways. We dissect the shift towards authenticity in social media, and open up about personal struggles with restrictive reactions to feeling uncomfortable in our clothes. Genevieve offers sage advice on adopting a more nourishing mindset, the lasting impact of childhood comments on body size, and how we might foster a more positive relationship with our bodies despite past challenges. It's a candid exploration of shifting the narrative from self-critique to self-care.
Genevieve and I champion the need for kindness in our self-dialogue, emphasising the transformative power of self-love within the aesthetics industry. Let this episode be your beacon for personal growth, showing that each of us has the strength to lead a more content and fulfilling life.
Follow Genevieve on instagram @genevieveturleymua - I promise you'll love her content!
Welcome to the High Vibe Guide, the podcast where I demystify the concept of raising our vibration. I'm Jenna, a yoga teacher, mum of three and passionate advocate for helping others to just feel happier. Let me explain to you how we can all live more contented and fulfilled lives, and how it's so much easier than you think. Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of the High Vibe Guide. Firstly, I do apologise for this week's episode being a little bit late, but it's here. It's here. I'm here. Let's do this.
Speaker 1Today I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with the gorgeous Genevieve Turley. Now, if you are a woman over 30 and you do not follow this lady on Instagram, you really need to. First and foremost, genevieve is a very talented and successful bridal makeup artist and she posts these incredible makeup tips for women over 30. Like some of them, for me, have been game changing. But before having her children, she was in the RAF as a burns and plastic specialist, so she's really seen some firsthand horrors and come across some incredibly brave and astounding people in the patients that she was treating. But she's incredibly funny, she's real and she just has this amazing vibe about her. I'm going to put her Instagram handle in the show notes for you. Go and check out her page. I discovered her page only recently and I am honestly barely laughing at some of her content and the reels she posts. She has this really funny kind of Jennifer Saunders-esque vibe about her and I think she's just fantastic. It was an absolute pleasure to chat with her today.
Speaker 1Now, she's a very important and busy woman and we didn't have an unlimited amount of time to chat, but I was quite keen to let the conversation flow naturally, as I just knew she would have some real bangers when it came to living a high vibe life and cultivating more positivity into your life, and she did not disappoint. We touch on the relationships we have with our bodies and our appearance, the inner voice that we all have to contend with, you know, the one that tells us that we aren't good enough, smart enough, attractive enough. We touch on the relationship we have with our nutrition and how we fuel our bodies, and we also chat about her non-negotiables when it comes to living a happy and contented life and what she believes is important. So you can show up each day in the best way possible. And, as can be expected, there are a few digressions here and there. Enjoy, genevieve hi, thank you so much. Thank you so much for coming on today. Welcome to the high vibe guys.
Speaker 2I'm delighted to be here. Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 1Love a little chin wag excellent what I want to talk to you about. First, genevieve, that, like I just said to you, I've been following you for a few months now on Instagram and you've got such a large following and I was just trying to think what do you actually put this down to? You are obviously a very talented makeup artist. You have these such amazing, great tips for women over 30. By the way, that one where doing this, as opposed to this raising your eyebrows relax your eyes. Game changer. I had no idea I looked like this rabbit in the headlights when I was doing my makeup all the time. Such a game changer, amazing yeah, we.
Speaker 2We do that, though, don't we? Every time we look in the mirror, we do it with everything we hold ourselves in. We lift our chin, we tuck and we lift, and that's not actually how we look, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. So it's really important to remember that it is absolute game changer, love that one.
Speaker 1But apart from, obviously, you being a very successful makeup artist, I get the feeling that this large following you've got it's more down to you as a person. Um, I mean, this is the reason why I'm so happy to have you on the high vibe guide today, because it's quite obvious that you want to make the most out of life. You, I think you bring real joy to your followers and you advocate things like body positivity, gratitude, you know pursuing the things you're passionate about. But would you say you agree, like what is it that you put your success down to? But not only your success, but your huge popularity?
Speaker 2as well. So it's. It's funny because, um, because I'm a essentially a bridal makeup artist. Obviously I do lots of makeup lessons and take people makeup shopping.
Speaker 2So I think for years my social media was very much geared for finding my brides or my brides finding me, because I was all about enhancing natural beauty, whereas you see a lot of very heavy makeup for bridal. So I focused so much of my social media towards finding my clients and that was fine for a while, but it wasn't the content that I actually wanted to put out. But I was scared for a long time to do what I actually wanted to do because I was worried that the brides wouldn't find me I actually wanted to do because I was worried that the brides wouldn't find me, that it wouldn't make sense to brides if they came to my page. But actually the content that I wanted to produce became bigger and became more important to me in the sense of I really want to start talking about these things. So the beginning of this year I just started to started to go fuck it. I'm just going to say what I want to say and do it the way that I want to do it, because being a makeup artist for brides means that I get to meet women of all shapes and sizes, all color tones, the different backgrounds, and they all had the same thing in common. Well, not not everyone, but I'd say like 95% of them all had the same thing in common, which was pretty shitty view of themselves.
Speaker 2And when a woman sits in my chair instead of going, I really like my eyes. Can you make the most of those? Or, you know, I like my nose or whatever they go, I don't like this, I don't like this, I don't like this. Can you like this? Can you cover, cover, cover, cover. And it doesn't matter if it's the mother of the bride sitting in my chair going. Can you take 10 years off me? Oh god, can you do something like poly filler for these lines? And I know it's in jest, but it's not. You know, they really, genuinely, feel that way about themselves.
Speaker 2And it made me really sad that I was seeing these beautiful women of lots of ages and me being like you haven't got a bloody clue, have you like? Genuinely haven't got a clue. And I'm not suggesting that everyone is drop dead gorgeous, but everyone has got beauty, everyone, um, and beauty is subjective, which I think we really forget you could. I could walk into a room and some people could think I'm fit as fuck and other people could go meh, she's vanilla. You, we're not everyone's cup of tea, and that's absolutely fine, because we're someone's cup of tea and we get so bogged down with that that we lose sight of what we've got.
Speaker 2And I think because I used to be a nurse and I specialized in burns and plastic, so I saw women and men, but you know we're thinking of like mastectomies and things like that. I saw people go through horrific injuries, horrific surgeries, recoveries. Um, and when you've nursed a 21 year old who's got 60 burns all over her, you know, the only part of her body is now not burned to the legs and her attitude is well, I could have died. That is grounding and that is enough to make you have a better attitude, you know. So. I know that you and I were talking before about how you've got that voice in your head. That can be a bit negative sometimes. Well, you're right, we've all got that in us and it's how we talk to that voice. So whenever I certainly get that voice sometimes, especially around time of the month, and I remember my patients, that's who.
Speaker 2I remember and I think, oh, for God's sake, genevieve, get over yourself. But it doesn't mean that we shouldn't, that it's not relative, you know. We should also allow ourselves to be able to say oh, I'm struggling a bit today with my image, with my body, bit today with my image with my body, because the other way it swings is that there's now this massive body positive movement that I think people are scared to say I do want to lose weight, I'm not entirely happy how my body looks, and it's almost as though you're not allowed to say that now. So I think what I wanted to put out there with social media was like it's okay to have moments of going, oh, I feel rank, but it's then going right, shake it off, yeah, and get on with your day, because not everyone got to wake up today. So it's just trying to make people think about that, whilst also just trying to have a laugh with everyone, lighten the mood and be realistic that what you see on social media a lot of it is shit.
Navigating Body Image and Self-Love
Speaker 2You know it's very aesthetically pleasing to watch, but you have got to keep telling yourself that's not real. That's not real. These people who are doing a 20 stepstep skincare routine maybe they're doing that because they haven't got children, they haven't got, you know, a career, which means that they don't get home until nine o'clock at night. It's not real, that's not real life. So I'm sort of trying to go look, you can, you know, do makeup in under five minutes and it looked really lovely without contouring and doing all that stuff you keep seeing, and you can have lovely skin and not break the bank over it and not have a 20-step skincare routine, and it can fit into your life. Yes, that's what I decided I was going to make my social media about, um, to just try and change the tide a bit, so that was a really long winded answer to it.
Speaker 2Loved it though.
Speaker 1It was great, loved it. Thanks, I'm a talker, no, but it's so interesting how you said, I mean I can't believe it was only this year that you started changing the tone of your content, because you think it was much longer than that. Because you know the following you've got and the engagement you've got, you're obviously reaching so many women who need this message. You know and yes, it's very interesting that that is what people need to hear more. You know that we're all human and, like you just said, we're all gonna have days where we feel a bit shit, the negative nancy in your heads talking at you. But, like you said, it's it's how we respond to that. It's first being aware of those thoughts. You know thoughts aren't facts.
Speaker 1I always try and say to people don't yeah, yeah, they're not true, yeah that was like mind yeah I first heard that thoughts aren't facts yeah and yeah, it's how you it's how you talk about it.
Speaker 1One thing I also wanted to mention to you before I forget because I do this quite a lot, I get excited and digress, but I've just remembered I want to talk to you in a few of your reels lately how your clothes are feeling a bit snug at the minute and it's I mean I'm 100% there with you. I think so many women are on this journey now. I've done a few episodes on here about our relationship with our bodies, breaking that kind of tie to the number on the scale. You know the kind of restrictive aspect we live with our diet because, like you said, it's our bodies are just not meant purely to please aesthetically, you know.
Speaker 1So what do you do when you feel that voice? I mean, for me, if I feel my jeans are a bit tight, or you know I'm hanging over my leggings a bit more than I normally do for me the voice instantly says to me oh, I've got cut carbs, yeah, carbs got cut carbs. After two weeks do you know what I mean? But I'm really, I'm glad I'm aware of that voice now and I'm fighting it all the time. Obviously some days it's easier than others, but how do you deal with that voice?
Speaker 2I have exactly the same thing. I instantly go to diet.
Speaker 2Uh, toxic thoughts about diet, starving not starving myself, but okay maybe I shouldn't eat today restrictive, um, yeah, and then as soon as my head goes there, I go I'm not doing that anymore. I'm not doing it anymore and I try very much to focus on, um, gut health rather than, yeah, diet. I'm really interested in gut health and so I will often look at food as my fuel for the day rather than anything else. So if I'm going to play three games of netball, when I'm going to need some carbs, um, if I'm not doing sport, then I might be like, okay, I don't.
Speaker 2You know, I look at it. I try and plan my day a bit and go what will I need for today to see me through? Like, if I eat breakfast, sometimes that will really kick start my hunger and I will just want to eat all day. Yeah, so often I won't eat breakfast, but but if I am hungry I will eat. I just I'm not prepared to go hungry unnecessarily and I just try and make good decisions, but I don't tell myself that anything is not allowed.
Speaker 2You know I just try and make good decisions that will make me feel better. So if I was feeling like that on one day and I felt, you know, and I have been feeling it recently that my clothes don't fit the way that I want them to fit, and I know that a lot of people go, oh, we'll just go up a dress size. I don't want to go up a dress size. I like my clothes and I can't afford to just go and get a new wardrobe yes, wardrobe, yes. Um. So what I will do is pick the clothes out that I know are comfortable, um and feel, make me feel good, and maybe do a bit of makeup and hair, whatever, and I will go and move my body in some positive way that I enjoy moving it and I will think, okay, let's nourish my body a bit.
Speaker 2And that's how I try and change my mindset. If I am wanting to go and smash a bar of chocolate, then lean into that and go and smash that bar of chocolate, but then I think it's going. Okay, I'm now not going to feel guilty about that. I enjoyed it, it's what I wanted, mm-hmm. So tomorrow I'm not going to do that.
Speaker 2Yeah, I just yeah, I'm gone with punishing my body and putting it through hell, because actually I look in the mirror and think I look fine, like I look great well my body is strong, thank you, my body is strong and I think that the problems for me I mean it's quite a miracle that I have the relationship, positive relationship I have in my body. That I do because it's taken a battering of comments from people throughout my life I've never been bigger than a size 16 and since I was seven years old I have had people tell me to diet. Um, you know, I was weighed in the class when my headmistress came in and put me on weighing scales and put the class for no reason and just told me I was fat.
Speaker 2You need to go on a diet just randomly in an IT lesson oh my god, yeah.
Speaker 2When I was 14, I was a national championship rower and my rowing coach male rowing coach pulled me to one side and said you're weighing the boat down, you need to go on a diet. Um, I, when I went 18, I worked in an orphanage in Malaysia and they had a massive board meeting which was all men, and halfway through the meeting they stopped the meeting and the director went Genevieve, how much do you weigh? Oh, my god, like 13 stone. And he went yes, you look very heavy. And then just carried on the meeting.
Speaker 2Um, yeah, I know I know when I was uh 20, how old was I when I went to join the air force? I was two pounds overweight for my physical right, um. So I didn't get into, I didn't pass my physical and I had just run two half marathons and I was probably the fittest I've ever been, and the doctor decided to tell me that I was at risk of type 2 diabetes. I was like I probably just need to do a shit to be honest with you, mate. Like fuck off.
Body Image and Healthy Habits
Speaker 2He was there, some like fat fuck telling me, I was at risk of type 2 diabetes um and I, and naturally the sergeant lied on my form and got me back in, because he was like we don't yeah, he was like we're mad if we pass you up because of two pounds. He was like I'm not having this. Yeah, lucky for me, he was a decent guy. Um, but my point is I have been at every part of my life I have been pulled apart by adults.
Speaker 2And it's never kids, it's always been adults. And I've just been critiqued and people have said things to me and they mean this with kindness, but, like some of my parents' friends used to say, like, oh, genevieve, you're so beautiful, but if you could just lose the weight, and what was it? Someone you could be, um, you could be a plus-sized model and I was like, why do you have to add them? Yeah why do you have to point out the fact that I'm bigger?
Speaker 1um isn't it crazy how adults like you say adults I think it's okay to talk to children yeah, but fellow adults as well. But yeah, huge there's. There's something happening now. There's, I think, there's more awareness around it. There's definitely something's in the water and something's changing. I think we're slowly, absolutely we're just being really careful now.
Speaker 2I think a lot of parents now come to me and say I'm wanting to be really careful about how I talk to my children and I mean, I think part of my thing was I was five foot nine. I was really that's tall. But you know, growing up and I was really broad, I'm very strong. Naturally, I never had boobs, I didn't have a waist, don't have much of an ass, so I didn't have the curves that everyone else had. But now I've learned that I am athletic, I'm sporty, I'm built for sport. So I've learned now how to use my body and how to dress my body.
Speaker 2But it's taken a lot of time and when women have come to me and said particularly women, and when they asked me about how to you know, think about how they talk to their children it's normally their daughters. They don't think about it for their sons. But I think the tide is turning and I think it is hard for boys as well now, um, and I always say to them so what do? What do you? What do you? What are you being careful of? What do you mean when you're saying you're being really careful? And they're like well, we don't talk about like weight. Um, I'm really cautious to you know, eat the same as them and all this sort of stuff, and not used to it in language.
Speaker 2And I was like that's all very well and good, but you know, I don't swear in front of my kids, but I'm under no illusion. They're gonna swear when they're older, you know. And she was like I don't this particular woman's, I don't get what you mean. I was like they are watching her more than they're listening to us. We know they don't listen to us, god, but they are watching our every move. So I said, when you go swimming with the kids, and she was like, oh god, I don't do that. And I was like wear a bikini. And she was like, oh no, and I was like wear a bikini, because that says to your kids yes.
Speaker 1I was talking to a friend about this the other day and she's got childhood memories, just like I do, of her mum. Beautiful woman to your. Your mum is a beautiful woman. You're a child, isn't? She always is?
Speaker 2yeah gorgeous like yeah, lovely.
Speaker 1She um has memories of looking at her mum standing in the mirror and critiquing her body oh, no I can't wear this top because of my arms and I have the same with my mum. You know she's always battled being air bunnies out guys, people that can't see us overweight.
Speaker 2You know, yeah, and as children we absorb this our mums standing there and saying, oh no, I need always talking about diet, my mum eating different things that was my thing, always eating different things or like for my mum, um, she used, we used to be allowed a chocolate bar after church on a sunday rock and roll, and my mum would never. And I was like, why aren't you having one? And she was like, oh, no, no, no, I don't need one. But then she'd always take a bite from each of us and I was like, so, technically, you have had chocolate, you've had now more than us, because pp's bites were not small.
Speaker 2She was like you know, and I just remember just why don't you have your own? Just have a chocolate. You want a chocolate bar? Just have a chocolate bar. And now I know why she's doing it.
Speaker 2But yeah, you know, there was no, there was no sense in it at all. And so I do sort of say to people that, even if, even if you wear the bikini and you want to die because you're so uncomfortable, you are doing it for those little eyes that are looking at you and you just have to strut and act like you haven't got a care in the world, even if you're completely mortified because, believe me, like your partner thinks that you're sex on legs and everyone else in the pool, they're not looking at you. That's the thing. If they are looking at you, they're going oh, I like her bikini. You know no one's there going oh god, she shouldn't be wearing that. And if there are, then they're bellends and they're not our people, and they've got so many issues themselves that we're sad for that person because that's how deeply wounded they are with their own problems.
Speaker 2So just that's my message and that's how I. We are around the kids like. They see me naked all the time. They're five and six, really normalizing a normal body, um, you know. And they'll be like squidgy tummy, squidgy tummy. And I'm just like, yeah, tummy's move, you know, it's normal, it's skin, it's a bit of fat, it's fine. And we try and talk about food in a rather than a. This is healthy, that's unhealthy, I try. And well, we try and talk about it like, well, what's that, what's that? And now my kids can be like that's a protein, that's a carb.
Speaker 2And you know, and I say, like food is fuel. You know, that's the way we sort of view it, because I didn't want this emphasis on good or bad. It's food and you, just, you know, I'll say to them like sugar is yummy and it's lovely, but it can us, if we have too much of it, can make us feel, and sometimes I think it's quite a good test to just give them as much as they want and see if they actually just stop on their own without us intervening yes, like if you put a plate of donuts and you just go, yeah, just have as many as you want.
Speaker 2How many will they actually take? And they do. They learn that intuition young I think rather than the restriction.
Speaker 1I think we learn that emotional overeating later on in life. You do look at kids and we're so scared to give them too much or something. But I look at my kids like you say like, yeah, eat the chocolate, have at it. You know, eat till you're sick. But they'll always stop and they'll say, can I have some please? Because it's obviously that makes them really thirsty. I think you learn this, you know this overeating because it's linked to the emotional side of things later on from yeah, and I think that they have to just learn yeah, they just have to go.
Speaker 2Oh, actually I don't. I don't feel good because I've eaten two donuts and now I feel a bit sick. Yes, okay, now I know next time I'll just have one. Yeah, then they're learning that for themselves rather than us restricting them and then they're going. But I know that there are also kids who they don't have that switch. They actually just don't have it. So that's different for some parents. It's not something that works for everyone, but I think it's an interesting way to view it. You know, we're we're so ingrained like and actually just let maybe give them a bit of space to work it out themselves yeah, it's interesting you saying like food is fuel, because I totally agree with that.
Speaker 1Like me and my husband were chatting the other day about this and it's think of it how you'd fuel a car. Like if you got a petrol car, you wouldn't put diesel in it. Like you get it for an MOT every year. Like your car is going to run most efficiently by what you put into it and how you look after it. Exactly the same with our bodies and I think, like you said, teaching the kids that, making them feel, making them realize well, if you eat too many chocolate bars, how does it make you feel?
Speaker 2it was interesting because we, uh, you know, and then I I try and really let them see that we exercise as well. Um, yeah, but we do the junior park run and stuff and they love that. And then they see mummy goes off and does netball and things. So again, they they both want to copy what mummy and daddy do. But a one that we've had as parents is, um, soft drinks. That's been tricky because I've always wanted to hold off on soft drinks as long as possible, just, you know, for the gut and stuff. But actually, you know, when we're in a restaurant or a cafe we would normally allow them to have. There's so much sugar in those and you could argue that sometimes, I think, is the soft drink.
Speaker 2Actually, you know a diet soft drink. Is that the better option right now? Like it.
Speaker 1I find drinks for kids quite hard to, yeah, really hard, our way around is we try to get like the not from concentrate juice and then just water it down. So in my head at least, I'm like, at least I'm getting loads of water into them. But I know what you mean. Even like the, the not from concentrate fruit, fruit juice is still just sugar yeah.
Speaker 2So then I was like, is it better for them? You know, the lesser of two evils? Is it the diet? Sodas and stuff, I don't know? Um, I, I'd rather they didn't drink either, but I think it's. It's um, again, you, it's a difficult one, and then I drink it, yeah. So. So it's a hard one, isn't it? So drinks I find hard. But you know, I just sort of say to them try and drink water. And then this is, you can share a kind of pop. Yeah, probably some parents are going to listen to that and be like I know.
Importance of Non-Negotiables for Self-Care
Speaker 1We're not going to please everyone, are we Genevieve? So anyway, absolutely bloody, not, but I'm aware of your time and I want to get as much out of you, as I can no no no, don't worry. Carry on. But what are your non-negotiables for knowing what keeps you in the best mindset you can for yourself and then to better than serve your family, your friends, everyone around you?
Speaker 2exercise, exercise, exercise is my absolute non-negotiable.
Speaker 2I will find the time. Yeah, I will. I will exercise, and exercise for me, is headspace. I do not move my body to try and create an aesthetic. I move my body because it is headspace. It? Um releases loads of endorphins. It's, you know, being outside in the fresh air. Um, being part of a team sport like netball for me is I'll turn up on a Monday and everyone thinks I'm nuts because I'll play three or four matches back to back.
Speaker 2People like your mental, what are you doing? I'm, this is my headspace. Like I'm out, this is my evening. Rich knows that and I will just be out and I could be leave the house really stressed. You know, feel completely. I'm up to the brim, overloading on everything, um, and turn up to netball and just, and then I feel brilliant afterwards like it's just completely sorted me out. Or, you know, a nice long walk, go for a run.
Speaker 2Swimming is a big one for me. I love to swim and that is my biggest non-negotiable. What else would that be For feeling good? I would say my skincare routine is another one. I can go make up free. I don't care, you know, but looking after my skin is really important.
Speaker 2And when I talk to people at skincare routine who don't have one and then I, oh, I just can't bother, oh my god. I sort of say to them don't view it as another chore. It's not a chore, like it Like it's an act of kindness to yourself. And I always say find a brand that you enjoy, like. You enjoy the textures, you enjoy the smell, because then it's not a chore anymore. You're doing something nice for yourself and you're taking five minutes out to just have a moment for yourself. So skincare is another one one.
Speaker 2What would another one be? I think just um, making time with friends, stepping out from home life in every sense, that kids, husband, love them. But I am a better mum slash, wife when I have gone out, seen a girlfriend and just had a really good laugh, and then I step back in again and the thing about that is that most of us feel that that is a chore. You know when you're exhausted and then you're like, oh, I still have to go out for dinner tonight and I can't be arsed. I just want to flop on the sofa and a lot of people cancel, not like on me, but I know that lots of people go. Oh, I'm just so tired and I just think no, come on, you've got to just make the effort.
Speaker 2A because your friends might need you more than you realize. Maybe they need to talk, maybe they need this for themselves. And also, your friendships are so important. You need to nurture those as well. So it's really important to show up, even if you just go for an hour but you never do, because as soon as you're there, you're like I didn't realize how much I needed this, and then they fill your, cut back up. So it's really important to make time for friends or, you know, family and things like that.
Speaker 1Yeah, I'd say those ones love that. Yeah, I think they're brilliant. I think, yeah, fitness exercise, I think, is underrated. And one really interesting thing I think about exercise, especially the reason you say why you exercise, for how you feel that if you look, if anyone's trying to get into exercise or is trying to start any type of fitness regime, whatever they're going to look at, what's most advertised first is how it's going to make you look. The mental benefits is always and the physical benefits is always like a oh, and you'll also feel really good because it releases endorphins so it's interesting that you say that because I had a lovely chap drop into my dms he's a personal trainer and he was like, um, love your content.
Speaker 2How would you feel if I trained you for eight weeks? I came up with this plan and blah, blah, blah, and I was like, oh, that's cool. You know if I'd, you know, shared my journey on instagram. And then I went on his page and he was like ladies, ladies, let me show you how to drop a dress size. And I was like, eh, eh, my voice noted him and I was like I'm really sorry. I was like you had my full attention, but that goes against everything that I believe in.
Speaker 2You've targeted women for their weakest moment, their weight, and I fucking hate that. And you're talking about exercise in dropping a dress size. That goes against everything I believe exercise should be about. You know this, I know this You're not going to change your body through exercise. It has to be what you eat, predominantly what you eat, yes, so there is no point. That's why I always say to people don't join a gym. If you hate the gym, don't bloody do it. You, you know, find something you do enjoy, and if that means that you just want to turn some music on in the evening and dance around like a lunatic for half an hour brilliant, that's exercise. You know, that is exercise. Yeah. So I really hate it when I see things that are targeted to women in that sense and that make it about your body, your physique, saying things like uh, let's make you strong, let's make it fine. I can kind of get on board with that, because that could mean strong mentally and in body, strong in mind and body.
Speaker 1But yeah, drop a drip, I shredded. I know my sister's a pt and she for a while had her own pt. You know she, this guy built a program for her. He's really knowledgeable and she was really excited and in that kind of initial consultation you have when you start working with a personal trainer, she was just talking about you know, I want to get stronger, I want to lift heavier, I want to be more conscious of you, know what I'm eating and just generally feel better. You know the good reasons why you want to start exercising again properly.
Speaker 1And well, what about your weight? That's not a focus for me. He's like okay, and he just kept bringing it back to the weight and just kept saying things like okay, well, when you're ready to start thinking about losing weight, I'll schedule that in for a meeting. And she was like but I don't want to to do that. He's like that's okay. When you're ready, literally when you're ready, we'll have that chat and I know what a knob, what a knob. But I think you get that so much in the fitness industry because if you look at the traditional what a personal trainer looks like any kind of fitness instructor, you know they're all muscle, no fat kind of thing. Mostly aren't they? And I think a lot of them from having worked with a lot, I think a lot of them feel huge pressure to look that way and yeah, and I think a lot of them, you know, feel this pressure and feel they have to restrict and be really controlled and look this way.
Speaker 1Not all of them, obviously. Some people are naturally built that way just from doing exercise and they like to eat that way. But yeah, I'm totally with you. It really annoys me how we're sold exercise because we need to drop a dress size.
Speaker 2I had, um, I used to go to a boot camp with this amazing woman called Nicola Guybers and she is ripped, she is absolutely ripped, she is insane her physique and it was a brilliant boot camp. We don't do it. She didn't do it anymore, but, um, it was all about like power, like heavy lifting, running with because I used to be in military as well.
Speaker 2I like that kind of training, you know running with, you know sandbags on your back and we were women of, it was just women only, sort of six or seven of us in a field and she's we're all different sizes and it was never about that. She was always like get strong. Her thing was just like get on with it, just get on with it. You know, I went over on my ankle a bit she's like I can run which.
Speaker 2I I love that kind of thing it's not prevalent, but I love it, um, and she used to always say like it would be really hot and she'd be like ladies, like take your top, you're all wearing sports bras, just train your sports bra. And I was. I was, you know, just not long had a son and um it I was. I didn't do it, I don't think, but it wasn't because I was embarrassed. I think it wasn't quite the top you would take. I mean it wasn't quite that, the crop toppy vibe um and everyone was like, oh no, no and she kept saying like who's judging here?
Speaker 2she's like it doesn't matter, like we're here to get strong. If you're hot, take your top off. You've got your crop tops on, you're fine, love that. And she was really trying to just get you to just let loose, like why not? And I and I really liked the fact that she would put focus on that. Like doesn't matter, no one's looking, but no one's looking, love it, um, but she was brilliant and I loved that kind of training. Shouldn't do it anymore.
Speaker 1Damn you, Nicola.
Speaker 2Divers.
Speaker 1Damn you.
Speaker 2Nicola Divers. Damn you, Nicola Divers.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2But I do want to go back to. It's really annoying, because I love that kind of training and there isn't a gym near me that does that kind of thing. Right, they're all in, they're all about 20 minutes away, which is just that bit too far, isn't it?
Speaker 1it is for the gym where I live is like that there's not a gym close enough.
Speaker 2It's very frustrating there's lots of gyms but they're not. They haven't got that kind of not crossfit quite, but that kind of yeah boot campy. Go, go, go, go, go, where I think you can go in, do 30 minutes, get absolutely beasted, yeah, and be like way more effective than I would be in the gym on my own.
Speaker 1I always are. When you're doing a class or you're with somebody else. Always you're pushed harder, aren't you always?
Speaker 2yeah, and I just yeah, I would like them. So if anyone's listening, can you please open one of those in Morven?
Speaker 1In Morven, guys, morven, please, we need one.
Speaker 2The people of Morven need one Thank you very much, right, genevieve.
Speaker 1One last question I want to ask you. I keep saying your name. It reminds me, before I ask my last question, my music teacher at school used to always call me Genevieve and she always used to call me Janine, so I obviously made a very passing impression on her. Jenna, genevieve, janine, whoever you are, anyway, you, you just me yeah, one piece of advice to anyone who's listening today, anyone looking to achieve a more positive mindset. Just one piece of advice.
Speaker 1I should so again one piece of advice if anyone's looking to achieve a more positive mindset it's just be kind of.
Speak Kindly to Yourself
Speaker 2It sounds so click, but just be kind, speak kindly to yourself. Like, just speak kind. Give yourself a break and speak kindly to yourself. When you look in the mirror and your body is not looking how you want it to look, you just remind yourself to be kind, like, okay, my legs are bigger than I want them to be, but they, I have legs. You know, like they're getting me from A to B, I've got legs. Um, you know, okay, my skin, I'm aging. Okay, I'm aging. Aging means I'm aging. Aging means that I'm alive. Do you know what I mean? Just change the way you talk to yourself, because we can be so cruel, so cruel to our bodies.
Speaker 2And I don't think anyone lies on the deathbed and goes should have lost more weight. Do you know what I mean? Unless, unless you're on your deathbed because you're morbidly, morbidly, morbidly awake, and that is actually what's killed you. Yeah, but for most of us, you know you're not gonna lie on your deathbed and go. I should have lost more weight, yeah, um, you know I, I think, um, you know my sister's a palliative health care assistant. No, she's not, she's a bloody consultant. I just, she's a consultant in palliative care and you know we talk lots about her job. You know because obviously I was medical as well and my god, my god, in a blink of an eye you could just get dropped with a bloody, horrendous diagnosis and it will come out of nowhere like just live life, live life, love.
Speaker 2Just don't let things like your body shape hold you back from doing shit. Don't let it hold you back from having sex with your partner. Don't let it hold you back from wearing the bikini and playing on the beach with your kids. Don't let it hold you back from wearing the outfit that you really want to wear and you just keep going on. When I lose the weight, when I just wear it, just go for it. You know, we just don't know. When our time's up, there's just no point. Just go with it. Always see yourself as a work in progress. We can always do things to better ourselves, to be healthier, but speak kindly to yourself. Always love. That was heavy, wasn't it?
Speaker 1that was a heavy way to end it. That's good, I liked it. Finish, finish, finish, deep. Genevieve, thank you so much for coming on today. You're very welcome.
Speaker 1It's been a pleasure. I think it's interesting that the conversation generally lately keeps coming back to how we speak to ourselves, and I think Genevieve's final bit of imparted wisdom there about speaking kindly to ourselves is just so bang on. We are so cruel to ourselves a lot of the time when we just don't need to be. We are our own worst enemies. When we're born, we don't hate ourselves. We are full of love for everything and everyone. These behaviours which cause us to doubt ourselves, our appearance, our capabilities, our potential, they're learned. We're conditioned to think negatively, which is a really sad thing. But but we can take ownership back, guys. We have the power to control how we think and how we speak to ourselves. Because, guys, once we can foster this awareness of how our mind is operating and then start to rewire these patterns, our opportunities are endless. Honestly, we really are our own worst enemies. And isn't Genevieve just an absolute babe? Love her, and what a wonderful inspiration. I'm so glad we have people like her in the industry of aesthetics, in the world of makeup, changing the narrative when it comes to how we should feel about our appearance. I mean, I got married a couple of years ago in Hereford, which I don't think is too far from where she lives and I wish I had known about her then gutted. But awareness is on the up. The narrative is shifting.
Speaker 1We can change our lives. We can live happier and more contented lives. The power lies within you and remember change can be scary at first. Growth does not happen without some level of discomfort. Always remember that we need to be brave when beginning this journey. But you've got this. I know you do. I have total and complete faith in you. If you want to start living and feeling a different way, a better way, you can do it. You are more powerful and more miraculous than you could ever give yourself credit for.
Speaker 1I really hope you enjoyed this very special episode of the High Vibe Guide today. You lovely lot. Next week we'll return to normal scheduling. I promise you'll have your next episode on Monday morning. Love you all. See you back here next time. Thank you all so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share with your friends and family to continue spreading that positivity. You can find me on instagram at the high vibe guide. Get in touch. I would love to hear from you. Thank you all so much for listening and I'll see you back here next time at the high vibe guide.