Meet Jodi Katzin

We were lucky to catch up with Jodi Katzin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jodi, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

To be honest, I believe that I am constantly a work in progress where imposter syndrome is concerned. When I was completing my certification to become a Mind Body Eating Coach, the program director would remind us that we only had to be one step ahead of our clients. I constantly remind myself that my lived experience, coupled with my training has led me to become an expert in the work that I do. No one understands disordered eating and negative body image more than someone who has lived it as I have.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am a Certified Mind Body Eating Coach, Occupational Therapist and Case Manager. I am also a mom to three amazing, active, high energy, loving, hockey playing boys, and a wife to my wonderful and supportive husband. I love reading, watching mindless reality TV shows, walking, my Peloton, yoga, attending retreats, connecting with friends and other like-minded women, drinking wine and eating chocolate.

Looking back, while I have never had an official eating disorder, I have definitely struggled for many years with disordered eating. This manifested in many behaviours such as periods of strict food restriction, trying different diets and cleanses, keeping food diaries and being fixated on reaching a specific number on the scale, and later on binge eating behaviours.. Although my weight was not a concern growing up, I always struggled with a negative body image and felt very uncomfortable in my own skin. This insecurity was heightened after each of my pregnancies and more so after the birth of my last son.

In 2018 I started feeling a restlessness in my career and that I had a story inside me that I wanted to share. I was tired of being at war with my body and searching for the “perfect” diet and binge eating, I also started to realize that the journey I truly needed was from the inside out and that there was no magical external fix to be found. And that berating and hating on myself was not getting me closer to ANY of my goals.

As I realized that my obsession with food and weight loss had little to do with food itself, I started to immerse myself in small group retreats, podcasts, and self-care practices such as mindfulness and meditation. I also decided to turn my pain into my purpose and became certified as a Mind Body Eating Coach through the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, in addition to my degree as an Occupational Therapist. To me this program was the missing piece that I was looking for. I had worked with naturopaths, nutritionists, macronutrient coaches, therapists, and tried every diet and cleanse under the sun. Yet none of these approaches truly touched on my deeply ingrained disordered eating patterns to pull it together.

As my journey continues, I have also learned the importance of healing trauma, having a regulated nervous system and feeling ALL emotions and I was inspired to create Just Be Coaching. I realized that food for me, as well as hating my body, had become my coping mechanism and numbing tool for dysregulated emotions and unmanaged stress.

Today I work with women who are in the throes of emotional eating, binge eating, chronic dieting, or other disordered eating patterns and struggling with body image. Through my 1 on 1 coaching programs, I help them peel back the layers behind their ongoing struggle with food to finally make peace with it. And to end calorie and macronutrient counting, weighing food, obsessively stepping on the scale and learn to JUST BE. While still nourishing themselves from the inside out, and emphasizing the importance of nervous system regulation and managing their stress response.

I help my clients realize that they should not be ashamed of their habits or feel that they are broken and need to be fixed. I also illuminate to them that their struggles can be seen in a positive light as a message that another area of their life needs to be tended to. As well, I emphasize in my work how withholding love from ourselves until we reach a certain goal will always be counter-productive. We must all accept ourselves at this moment and know that we are completely whole and worthy of love as we are. On this journey together, I teach my clients the importance of embracing the journey, rather than a specific destination and learn to JUST BE.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I am a really empathetic and caring person and I believe this skill helps me connect with my clients on a deep level and gives them a safe space to be truly open and vulnerable with me.

I also think that my background and knowledge as an Occupational Therapist (OT) makes me a better coach. In my OT training, a holistic approach was always emphasized when working with any individual. Where disordered eating is concerned, it is so important to consider the physical, emotional and spiritual pieces that are contributing to food struggles.

I am also a really good listener and pride myself on allowing others to feel truly seen and heard which is so crucial to the coaching relationship.

My best advice to others would be to get curious with themselves instead of judgmental and critical.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I love collaborating and partnering with other women. I feel that when we put our minds and skills together, we can accomplish great things. I always love working with anyone in the holistic wellness space – life coaches, holistic nutritionists, mindfulness teachers, yoga instructors, fitness instructors, perimenopause specialists. Truly anyone with an interest in helping women live their best lives and honour their own needs.

The best way to connect with me is on Instagram www.instagram.com/justbecoachingwithjodi or email [email protected].

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