This week on Bountifull, I’m joined by Brittany McNabb for the first in a four-part series exploring health, wellbeing, food and fitness from a very different angle. Brittany is a personal trainer with a background spanning psychology, business, psychotherapy, nutrition, meditation and behaviour change. Her work starts from a simple idea: lasting change is about far more than calorie deficits, macros or what you do at the gym. Brittany describes much of the health and fitness industry as focusing on the tip of the iceberg: the habits, meal plans, macros and training programmes we can see. Her work goes underneath that, into our identity, beliefs, nervous system, conditioning and capacity for change. Because the goal isn’t simply to achieve a result. It’s to find an approach to health that you can actually sustain — one that builds your strength, energy and capacity for life rather than requiring you to make your life smaller to maintain it. But first, we go back to Brittany’s own story. We talk about growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, severe bulimia and anorexia, shame, perfectionism, miscarriage, birth trauma, significant weight gain and the journey that eventually led her to lose 40 kilos, rethink her relationship with health and build a business helping thousands of women create lasting change. It’s the story behind the work, and the foundation for everything we’ll explore next. Episode Highlights Why lasting health change is about far more than calories, macros and exercise How shame, perfectionism and not feeling “good enough” can shape our behaviour Why our relationship with food is often about comfort, belonging, control and more than nutrition How to pursue health and body goals without making your life smaller in the process How to separate what you genuinely want from what you’ve been conditioned to want Chapters 00:00 — Why lasting change goes deeper than food and fitness 03:10 — Brittany’s background in psychology, psychotherapy, nutrition and training 07:12 — The iceberg beneath behaviour change 12:14 — Growing up with shame, fear and external authority 16:30 — Food, comfort, belonging and control 18:16 — Not enoughness, perfectionism and eating disorders 23:05 — Performing for others and losing yourself 27:20 — Miscarriage, birth trauma and significant weight gain 33:32 — Relearning health after restriction and shame 36:20 — Losing 40 kilos without shrinking your life 38:18 — Why more information isn’t making us healthier 40:03 — Female conditioning, beauty standards and self-control 43:24 — Separating what you want from what you’ve been handed 46:25 — What it means to live a Bountifull life Guest Bio Brittany McNabb is an Auckland-based personal trainer, psychology graduate and founder of Mind, Body, Britt. With a background spanning psychology, psychotherapy, nutrition, nervous system education and behaviour change, her work helps women understand what sits underneath their relationship with food, exercise and their bodies. Drawing on both her professional training and her own experience with severe eating disorders, significant weight gain and a 40-kilogram weight loss that she has maintained for more than five years, Brittany has developed an approach to health that goes far beyond meal plans and workouts. Through her RESET programme and wider work, she helps thousands of women create sustainable change while building greater strength, capacity and freedom in their lives. www.mindbodybritt.com/ www.instagram.com/mindbody.britt/ Bountifull Podcast Bountifull is a self-improvement, personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring what helps us live richer, more meaningful lives. Hosted by Sian Simpson, each episode brings together ideas from psychology, science, health, relationships, work, culture and lived experience to better understand how we can live well. www.bountifullworld.com/
