How to Change Your Relationship With Food and Find Your Inner Glow With Kristin Fraser

Christine Li: 0:01

Welcome back to the show. This is Episode 25. Are you a glow queen? If you don't know what that means, you're really going to want to stick around and listen to this episode, which to me is like a work of art. I said very, very little in this interview, mostly because I felt like I was in an immersive masterclass with Kristin Fraser, my special guest. She taught me all about healing food, nutrition, energy, and boosting your wellness and your love of life. And I was just overwhelmed in the best of ways by all that she had to share with me. In this interview, Kristin calls herself the Inner Glow coach, and she teaches people how to do the inner clearing work to get the outer results they desire, using proven food and healing methods. I truly loved this interview, and I hope you do too. Let's go listen. Hi, I'm Dr. Christine Li and I'm a psychologist and a Procrastination Coach. I've helped 1000s of people move past procrastination and overwhelm so they can begin working to their potential. In this podcast if you're going to learn powerful strategies for getting your mind, body and energy to work together so that you can focus on what's really important and accomplish the goals you want to achieve. When you start living within your full power, you're going to see how being productive can be easy, and how you can create success on demand. Welcome to the Make Time for Success podcast. Hello, hello. Today I am super excited to have my friend and colleague Kristin Fraser, on the show with us. She is a plant based chef and the Inner Glow Coach. She's got so much to share with us today. I've enjoyed just prepping for this conversation with our pre conversation getting reconnected. I can't wait to share with you what she knows. Welcome to the show. Christine. Thank you so much. I'm so excited. So tell us how you got to be the Inner Glow coach and a little bit more about your background? Absolutely.

Kristin Fraser: 2:27

So yeah, I help people eat healthier, right, I show them how to cook how to prepare meals. Most people come to me because they want more energy or to feel better. And the funny thing is, is my journey actually started as a mechanical engineer working in a coal mine. So a lot of people are like, how did you get into plant based eating when I'm from Red Deer, Alberta in Canada, which is the Texas of Canada, our license plate, say I heart Alberta beef. And it's quite ironic and funny to me. Because I grew up in a world where you know, I loved my fast food, I went to engineering school, we drink a lot of beer, I lived off of coffee, pop, you know, to stay up and study all night as a university student. That's typically what you do. And in my early 20s, I'll say I was blessed enough to battle with depression. And basically, I spent almost a year and a half in my early 20s, dealing with chronic fatigue syndrome overwhelm stress, which to a level that was debilitating. And I say it's a blessing because of the journey it took me on. At the time, it doesn't feel like a blessing. So I really want to make the point. For anybody who's watching, there's going to be an array of people watching but if you are suffering, you know, I promise you that there is such a beautiful outcome on the other side of that suffering. I always need to speak to that person that's listening. For the rest of you, it's going to be a fun ride to but by the end of life, I'm going to be depressed. And I kind of tease about it and I don't take it lightly it's become my life's mission is to help people through the struggling times of what our health or the detriment of not having your health can bring. So about a year and a half of sleeping 16 hour days, being taken off of work on stress leave, dealing with therapists, psychologists, counselors, nutritional consultants, all of these things, I was still stuck and I felt unhealthy. I didn't really understand how much what I was eating was really impacting how I was feeling and how I was feeling was impacting how I was eating. And also when you go on this journey, and you're not feeling your best, you're overwhelmed your stress you you start to hear words like meditation, yoga, walk in nature, eat more greens don't eat so much sugar. And to me that was like, literally next to impossible. I just thought I can't meditate because what my mind doesn't sit still my race, you know. And it's funny because we all know to some degree that those who believe that they can't meditate for 15 minutes are the ones that actually need it for an hour, right? We just need to have it more of a practice. But what most people don't have is the resources and the tools to immerse themselves in something where they can implement it. When someone told me I need to cut sugar or my diet, I laughed, I was like, that's not going to happen. I, I'm not going to stop eating Wendy's chicken burgers, like that was a thing for me. And I read all the books, I'm an obsessive learner. And I read all the books, I read a book called Depression Free for Life. It was written by a man named Dr. Gabriel cousins, who had the center called the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center. And I knew I needed to immerse myself somewhere that was going to allow my body to heal was basically what I discovered. So I ended up immersing in a center. And that's what I really encourage people to do. And this is the things that I now offer is the immersive experience of shifting your diet, shifting the stress levels in your body, there are tools that are so profound, I spent 90 days at the center, and I learned how to meditate and not only learn I experienced it, right, and it changed my life so much that I was like, Oh my gosh, like one of the biggest things I think was my huge aha moment that changed my life so much was how amazing the food was. I could not for the life of me, even something like guacamole, I could not. I literally could not eat a salad. I was like, that's not gonna happen. I just didn't think I could make the shifts. And then when I tasted the food, I was making the food. I was almost an emotional experience for me to be think, Wow, how much of my life did I waste thinking that it couldn't be delicious, and nutritious, and be something that I'm excited to prepare. So that shift to me changed my whole life, it changed my whole projection of what I wanted to share with the world. And since that experience, I started my company's Inner Glow Getter. And I facilitate in person retreats where we do, I felt better I was sleeping regular sleep hours, within four days, four days of shifting my diet in a full immersive experience of clearing the stress, you can clear a decade's worth of stress in some of the modalities that I walk people through. In one day. I've worked with people with PTSD, I've worked with people with all kinds of ailments. And literally I'm like, this is my mission in the world to explain and share with this message that you can heal your body, your mind, your heart. And no matter where you are at, there is a whole new world waiting for you on the other side of that pain. And it does. That's why I call it a blessing because sometimes it takes that downfall to get there when you make those shifts, right, I would still be eating the same foods if I didn't have that downfall. And now what a blessing it is that I get to experience longevity, hopefully, right? It's never a guarantee. But I feel like I have these tools that will lengthen my life, improve my life on a daily basis for the rest of my life. And the sooner you can have that realization and often it comes in struggle and suffering or it comes in a little bit of that spark of inspiration, right? Like what would this may be do for me maybe I could do this that can draw you down the path as well. But often it's it's comes in suffering. So I made it my mission to really dive into the food element food is one aspect of that equation. And I realized very quickly, you know, and I went into study nutrition, and I became a nutritional consultant and I but I really loved studying the culinary element, because I was the girl that burnt my macaroni and cheese. And I knew what it felt like to not really know how to cook, not know how to cook healthy. And I just fell in love with this process of cooking. because to me it was you can know what to eat all day long. You can have a million recipes in front of you. But there's trillions of recipes online. If recipes were an issue of people, like you know, not having enough recipes. That's not the problem. You know, people would be healed and fixed with that, you know, but what I think is the real solution is learning how to cook. Learning in an immersive experience to prepare the food. When you prepare the food, you eat the food, you get results from eating that food. And that's where I really took people from wanting to be healthy to being healthy. There's a lot of wellness wannabes out there that are like, I know, I should eat this. It's the shirty there's and you have to check your language Are you a wellness wannabe? Or are you a glow Queen, because a glow queen is someone that is eating the food, doing the things meditating every day, and you can get there, you just have to start. And it can take a matter of several weeks to get to a level where your life has changed. And that's what's incredible to me is watching that those little shifts. And I take people by the hand in those little shifts that give them that when they get them to where they feel more confident in the kitchen. Tons of my clients are like, I never realized how good of a cook I can be and how easy it is. And it's so integral to our lives, you know, with, I always say how you're in the kitchen is kind of how you are in your life. You know, are you rush? Are you on the go? Do you want to just get something in and go? Or can you sit with the food? Can you go to the grocery store and like Marvel in the herbs and or go to the markets when you start to like actually connect to your food, slow down a little bit. Enjoy the process of cooking, and get rid of whatever you think is limiting you from having that, you know people like but I fill in the blank. The anything you say behind that blank is really just a lie. A lot of people think they need to be this level of perfection. That's a lie. I truly eat whatever I want. I tell people that all the time. I also do not eat this. Do you don't eat this? Oh, are you vegan? Do you plant base, you don't eat meat you don't, I will never say I don't eat something. I choose what I eat, I choose anything I want. There's no restriction. And what I choose and what I want is predominantly plant based. Because that's what I'm drawn to. That's where I'm where I've come to that place that that's what I want. But I will still enjoy, I can still socialize with people and eat foods that are less than healthy. However, it's part of my social health is part of my live life to the fullest. When I go to Paris, France, I'm probably going to order a real cappuccino that has real milk in it that's not organic. And I'm okay with that. Because I want a real cappuccino and a real croissant. And guess what, that person is not going to be gluten free, like the 90% of the rest of the foods I eat. But it depends on where you're at. And a lot of people are, you know, if you're gluten intolerant, guess what, you can't make that choice. But you can always have something that you enjoy and look forward to. And you can always be limitless when it comes to food. But the real thing is about how to start to love the foods that love you back. And when you can get that shift, it's magic.

Christine Li: 12:55

I am completely overwhelmed in the most positive of ways. So thank you for that beautiful introduction to your story, and to your transformation. And to your journey, which was filled with purpose, that this was no accident that you became the expert in loving food, loving yourself loving your life. Yeah, because you were in a terrible spot emotionally and physically. It sounds like yeah, and you decided I'm going to take this and take control of this path from here on out. And just as you were talking, I was thinking to myself, she is giving me an immersive experience right now. I can only imagine how your programs make your clients feel. So thank you for sharing a piece of that with us today. Thank you. That's so sweet. I find myself curious about the depression piece for you. And how do you think about that time now, in terms of how much of it was related to the food and maybe environment? I I'm just curious about that. While you were able to kind of pull yourself out what part of you

Kristin Fraser: 14:16

did that? Yeah, that's beautiful. So I would say depression, to me is a suppression of self. It's a suppression of source. It's a suppression of of who you really are. Because who you really are is this beaming ball of light. And that's what the Inner Glow is. And really, it wasn't even a food problem. It was a soul problem. And that's when you're not in alignment with who you are. Your food will start to reflect that. So food is that integral part. But a lot of people look at food as a surface level thing that they need to fix. And it's like, that's one level but that's why in all of my programs, there's that inner component of how do we Get into the inner stuff. And depression isn't something you need to try to get out of. It is something you need to release and feel through the healing isn't the feeling. And often we need to go into almost deeper levels of feeling the pain, which is what some of the processes we do are, especially at the retreats. I love it people like they get nervous, like, what am I gonna feel and, and then they leave just like beaming like, wow. And I'm like, Yeah, because we need to let it go. It's something you need to let go of. There was a book actually, too, that was called dissolve your problems that I read that was just beautiful. And I really resonated with that too. Because often when we have problems, we want to fix them, we want to including depression, including feeling your worst. And what I can say to someone who might be feeling that way is focus on you got to get into a meditation practice, you've got to get into connecting who you really are, you got to start getting honest with yourself about what it is you really want. And when you say I don't know, I say bullshit. Because we do know and you know enough to even say I want to be happy, you can go General, you don't have to be like I want to whatever, but you have to connect to that happiness. And when you start to connect to that, and, and focusing on the inner work that is more about peeling away the layers of the onion, it's like feeling through it. That, to me is the biggest form of release. And it's when you release it, that you're able to come back to this piece, you know, it's like Dr. Cousins would always say, people are like out there trying to find peace. You know, like, what do I do for my peace. And it's like pieces who you are, it's more about letting go of the things that aren't peace in your life. And I find that with depression, I find that with your eating habits as well a lot of people like really obsessed with like, eat this, don't eat this, whatever. And that's a big thing. I also teaches get out of the complexities that the science this this, you know, let's get out of that complexity and get back to giving yourself whole natural foods, like keep it simple. And then let your body do the work. Because it's not about Okay, I need to have this much fat and this much protein and this much this and people are so obsessed with finding out this perfect like, amount of food to eat. There was a time we have to remember before there was books on nutrition that we just went to the earth and ate what was in the ground. You know, and it's kind of getting back to that nobody was like portion controlling and calorie counting, it's more about finding the ways to just you should be able to eat in abundance to and that's what I really discovered to on my journey was Wow, you can really just eat in abundance when you're eating the foods that actually nourish your body. You know, and for me that just became plant based plant, these foods are more nutrient dense, there's more nutrients. And to me, it's a very simple equation of like, eat more nutrients feel better. That's it. You know, I think we complicate nutrition. And I did for years, I was reading every book and it was funny because even as I feel good people can argue with me about plant based foods. I'm like, good. You do you if you feel like this, like the proof is in the pudding, right? I like my puns. I like my food puns. But the proof is in the pudding and I'm sitting here I'm doing good. I feel great. I love what I eat, I eat what I love, and not some study that tells me I need to eat something else is going to is going to change that. You know, it's it's good to always stay learning. But you know, in the bottom line, it's really not what you're learning. It's what you're doing and implementing. So I answered a lot of that question then went on to other things. But yeah,

Christine Li: 18:51

no, I love how you relate the food journey and relationship with the personal journey and relationship and that if you're doing well, with your relationship with food, you're going to do well, with your relationships with people with things with projects. That I'm glad that flow. Yeah, yes, everything.

Kristin Fraser: 19:16

You'll see it in almost every type of success coaching, there's an element of something called your state, right, Tony Robbins, all of them like you've got to change your state and your state. it dictates your energy levels. it dictates how you show up with confidence. it dictates your success, your mindset, all of those things. And how do you change your state, you change your physiology, you got to change your physiology. You can't sit there like lethargic and exhausted and depressed and show up powerfully in a business. So one of the elements too about eating healthier. It's this kind of comes full circle is you got to exercise. That's one thing too. That was I was a I used to be a competitive Muy Thai fighter. I was like this Muy Thai fighter that eight score blizzards afterwards. And like that I went on to sugar highs and wasn't really giving my body proper fuel. So when you exercise, you combine that with the eating healthy, and doing some of the meditation work, some of the inner clearing work, the emotional clearing work, you start to elevate your state. And that's where people are thriving in business. That's where people are connected to their intuition. And they don't go through the burnout. You know, I was so prone before I was burnt out every week, like just like, work hard, hard, hard, and then burnout. And it's like, Whoa, let's take a step back from that, because that's not sustainable. And it doesn't actually get you the results that you're wanting. And that's where a lot of this work is so profound for people because you're shifting internally, to get to that place where you feel good, you have the energy, you have the clarity, you're able to succeed, you have the confidence you don't go through, you know, we talked about imposter syndrome. You know, if you don't feel like you're enough to be coaching, that's just a belief to write. It's like, it's a belief. And it's also your lesson to become what you believe you're meant to be coaching and business. And all of that is also a reflection of who we are on the inside. And it is your coaching practices also coaching you. And that's a big part of, of a journey of an entrepreneur of the good journey and people wanting to find success is it's an inside job. It's always an inside job. And when you get the recipe of who you are dialed in with the right thought patterns, the right processes to keep dialing in those new stories, the new thought patterns, getting rid of the limiting beliefs that keep you from living in your best self, they can be eliminated, you know, there's processes for that. And just keep focusing on nutrition and help give your body that nutrition it needs. You'll be unstoppable. be unstoppable.

Christine Li: 22:08

I love it. Everything you've said so far. Yeah. Great. Let me ask you a kind of technical question. Sure. You mentioned the word abundance when you're thinking about eating and enjoying the abundance. And it made me think at the same time of the word accumulation, that the over eating as a symptom of maybe over accumulation, the accumulation habit. And I'm thinking also of how that is on the personal side, you know, mounting stress and having stress pile on and pile on without being in the habit of occasionally relaxing or exercising or discharging the stress energy. Can you talk about how you might teach someone how to enjoy abundance without over accumulating over eating? overdoing?

Kristin Fraser: 23:05

Perfect question, beautiful question. So when we're over eating, we're not feeding our bodies, we're feeding a feeling of lack, we're feeding something else, we have to recognize that if you're not feeding your body for nourishment, you're feeding for emotional reasons. And that's a really easy thing to fall into. So if you're over eating, you're not feeding something else in your life. And so what I tell people to practices like yoga, or beautiful yoga, to me is actually one of the antidotes to overeating. Because what are you doing? You're feeding your body with breath. Right? We have to realize food is not a one source of nourishment is food, we need breath, we need movement, that is a form of feeding yourself, right? There's always like you and yourself, you need to feed yourself. And when you feed yourself, the food will become a little bit more intuitive, and you will not overeat as much I see this all the time when people implement a yoga practice time in nature, feeding that part of yourself is going to fuel you to the point where you don't over in just eating. So if you feel like you're overeating, and you know you are because we're intuitive, we know when we're not eating, if you're sitting there eating a bag of Cheetos on the you know, on Friday night, and you eat the whole thing and you're like oh my gosh, I kind of over eight. First of all, we don't want to also have any guilt, which is a hard one for people to but let go of the guilt recognize it for what it is. I still have my moments like that, you know, like we're all human beings. But it's different when you can recognize it, or feel defeated by it. And so you can recognize and be like, wow, what have I not been nourishing in myself? And that's a question that we want to ask all the time. What is it that I need to nourish in myself? What am I not listening to What is it something that I'm not being honest about whether it be a truth you want to pursue something you need to be honest within your life. And a lot of people when they don't even know what that is, you know, there's a lot of people they might feel that block when it's like, what is it that's really bothering you? Or I will often use the phrase, what are you really hungry for? What are you really hungry for ask yourself that question. And if you say, I don't know, then I got processes to help you figure that out, too. And it's called fasting, I put people on on juice feasting programs, which is a very specifically oriented process that helps them when you remove able to remove food from the equation, guess what happens, the emotions start to come up of what you've been suppressing. So there are tools and some of the inner work processes that we do to help clear that's usually once you're able to clear that, then you're not no longer feeding that that side of yourself. So people who are over eating the, I don't want to say the wrong foods, I don't like to look at food as right or wrong, but maybe less than nutritious foods, I think we should look at all food is a blessing, whatever, whatever form it is, and but if you feel like you're over eating the foods that aren't as nutritious for you, that you feel like it's more of an addictive behavior, emotional eating, then we just have to look at that inner healing work that will remove that part of you. And this was the stuff that used to blow my mind. I was like, I don't get it until you experience it. And I remember waking up one day even craving cucumbers for breakfast. Who craves cucumbers for breakfast, you know, is possible when you start removing some do i do that every day? No, I don't cucumbers for breakfast. But that's possible. And it is really about finding what needs to be acknowledged within yourself and being honest with that, and working through that inner clearing work to get to the root of why you're making those behaviors in the first place. That's why when I first learned about obviously cooking and eating healthy, that's why nobody I was working with was having the success. I was like I'm giving them all the recipes, why aren't they? Why aren't they getting healthier, they have the recipes, they're still struggling, I don't get it until I added the inner work process 100% 100% success rate for the people that do the work. And it's wild to me. So I tend to not even work with people unless they're willing to do some of that inner work. A lot of people think well, I just I'll start with something they can start with, you know, trying some recipes. That's the first way to kind of come into it. But it's like, why not connect to the magic of everything to there's so much magic, when you do the other stuff that's like leads to so much more benefits in your life.

Christine Li: 27:50

I love it. So it's fun. I love it. Could you take us through your inner glow framework, the general system that you take your clients through?

Kristin Fraser: 28:00

Sure, absolutely. So the framework is sort of it's, you know, I'm putting into this sort of process. But essentially, it's an integration of the cooking aspect, learning how to cook and prepare meals. So that's one piece of that pie. Then there's the juicing experience, which helps clear the physical body from the cravings, the overeating, that kind of resets your system. And it also clears you mentally and emotionally. I mean, there's so much gut brain connection, that we're just kind of clearing and allowing your body to kind of go into that self healing modalities. So juicing as part of this equation that's going to help people with the just shifting to better habits. There's the inner healing work, which includes things like breath work, we do a very deep form of breathwork, called neuro dynamic breathwork that I guide people through this is not meditation. This is a healing type of breathwork. That releases like 15 years of stored emotion. And it's beautiful. It's the most beautiful practice I've ever experienced in my life. And it continues to be. So in the inner part of the framework. It's the breath work, it's meditation. There's journaling exercises we go through, and some theta healing, which is a process that I use for clients to help them break through those limiting beliefs. And a lot of people don't realize even what a limiting belief is, or that beliefs are what's driving your life. And so I help you understand that. And there's training around that to help you start to see like holy cow, this is this is what's running things is this. So whatever into when you start to overcome those excuses, then you get to become the one that's eating healthy, feeling vibrant, doing all the amazing things. And then physical movement, and nature is also part of my framework. So I'm a big advocate for yoga and I tell people, no matter what, you never have to listen to what I say, I'm always giving people the framework of what works, right. These are things that work. But if you don't align with that, then it's not going to work for you. So you want to find whatever your yoga might be, your yoga might be going. And nature is a big part of that, you know, going for walks in nature, going for a bike ride, whatever it is, that helps clear your head. Sometimes it's a creative outlet. So cooking can also be that creative outlet. So cooking is a way to stay present, and to be creative. I had no idea that creativity was such an important aspect of my health. When I had a counselor, in my therapy sessions and counselor, I had one counselor that was brilliant. And she said to me, what is your creative outlet? And I said to her, I'm not a creative person. And she was just like, that's part of depression, suppression of source suppression of your creative outlets. And so I started painting. I'm not a painter, it was like the worst paintings ever. But it started to help me. And she said, You're so left brained, you know, engineer, black and white, everything's left brained. And then it opened my mind to like, wow, no, we are all creative beings. And if you don't tap into your creative outlets, that's when you're more prone to depression, and burnout and overload and all that stuff, because you're in your head. And I know what that's like. because trust me, I spent my whole life in my head. Most of my, my life was in my head. So that's sort of a bit of a outline of that framework. So it's the, it's the eating, which is the cooking in the kitchen part. It's the inner work, which includes the breath, work, the journaling, and some of that theta healing to help release some of the inner thinking, the physical movement, and some nature, time and creativity, everybody's sort of a bit of a unique individual and finding what that is. And that's why I have a bit of a training. And that's my free training helps guide people from kind of like where they are. And it gives them that roadmap to how do you map out that plan for yourself to implement?

Christine Li: 32:12

Thank you so much for describing the framework. And I know you're going to share the free framework with our listeners have and Christine and I have come up with the link, maketimeforsuccesspodcast.com slash glow G L O W. For that free resource. Again, make time for success podcast.com slash glow. Thank you, Kristin, for everything you've shared with us today. Can you also tell us just how to stay in touch with you in general? Is there an Instagram or Facebook?

Kristin Fraser: 32:51

Absolutely. So my website is InnerGlowGetter.com. If you go on there, and you download the free gift on the front, then you're on my mailing list, and you can join my Facebook community, I have a free Facebook community that I'm very active in doing recipe demos all the time, we do free challenges often. It's a great community. And you can find that directly on Facebook too called the Inner Glow testing kitchen. And I'm also on Instagram Inner Glow getter. But I honestly if there's something that you took away from this, I would love to hear that I love when people reach out and share that. Like it's fun to hear some feedback. So don't be shy to send me an email, you know, you can email me on my website as well. Or find me on Instagram, say hello, I love to connect with people and see how I can support them further. So more than happy to stay connected.

Christine Li: 33:42

Wonderful. I know I'm going to jump into that wonderful Facebook group that you just announced. Yeah, again, it's the Inner Glow testing kitchen. And I really want to encourage our listeners to follow you follow you. Thank you for sharing your gifts with us today. It's been wonderful.

Kristin Fraser: 34:00

Thank you so much for having me. Thank you appreciate it.

Christine Li: 34:04

Thank you for listening to this episode of The make time for success podcast. If you enjoyed what you heard, you can subscribe to make sure you get notified of upcoming episodes. You can also visit our website make time for success podcast.com for past episodes, show notes and all the resources we mentioned on the show. Feel free to connect with me over on Instagram too. You can find me there under the name procrastination coach. Send me a DM and let me know what your thoughts are about the episodes you've been listening to. And let me know any topics that you might like me to talk about on the show. I'd love to hear all about how you're making time for success. Talk to you soon.