10 things we had to know about....Kate Horsman
Juicery Founder & CEO, Marnie Ashcroft connects with Kate Horsman, a Registered Holistic Nutritionist & Counseler, specializing in Disordered Eating, Nutrition & Mindfulness Practices.
Marnie: Hi Kate! So delighted for the chance to connect with you - your incredibly real and raw posts on Instagram really caught our attention! You bring to light so many issues around food and our relationship with it. No topic is off topic! Can you tell me what brought you to a place of wanting to open up that conversation via social media?
Kate: I think finding authenticity in our experience is what can connect us. Coming from a place of honesty and truth with a purpose is definitely one of the ways I have navigated being able to communicate effectively with my audience. I respect them, want to support them, and want the space to be one of safety in exploring any topics. What I know through my work, my journey, is that when you connect about your experience it enables others to connect about their own too. From a personal standpoint, I now have tempered that with sharing ‘enough” of my experience to keep a safe enough platform for my people and myself to feel comfortable. I don’t want to have the conversation be about me anymore, it is rather an “us”. Behind the lens, I am extremely private in nature and it can be challenging to navigate the space between. If that makes sense ;)
Marnie: Please define what intentional or intuitive eating means to you?
Kate: Ultimately to me, intentional eating is being able to listen and honour the signals your body is sending to you and respond accordingly. Not only body, but mind. We are so distracted either by our thoughts, actions, and beliefs, that sometimes it means challenging those obstacles to really become aligned to what the self/home/soul feels and wants. The body is always working for us, but often with messaging, society, and again self beliefs… we go against the grain, against the body and that takes us out of a homeostasis in which we can find peace, balance, and nourishment through food. Freedom even.
M: So given your approach to supporting intentional eating behaviours, what current trend in diets bothers you the most?
K: Its hard to say one, to be honest. It seems everyday there is a new way to eat that as a citizen we have to then process, digest and decide upon. I think if it were to be one, it would be Keto. In all fairness, the Ketogenic diet can be absolutely life saving for individuals who specifically benefit and are targeted for this. However, as a mass or cure all, the public is so misinformed over how to do it, why to do it, how to get off of it and the way to do it. We just love to get attached to the idea of something helping us… and why wouldn’t we?!
M: Yes exactly! So why do you think we are just so darn obsessed with diets & food?
K: Tagging on to the above answer of wanting to find that “thing” would be distraction. If I were to pick one word, I think distraction would be fitting. I think when we feel uncomfortable with anything pertaining to our person, we naturally think of the fastest way to do something about it. Wether it is seeking pleasure or that instant hit of gratification. Altering ones body because of dissatisfaction can be part of this. But from a healthier standpoint, that same distraction could be about finding connection in each other through our interaction with food. Remember when family dinners were a thing to be had.
I think food is just a really easy target to explain away our cures or successes. And fails too… And don’t get me wrong, it can do both beautifully. But the more distracted we our with ourselves, the more we are looking for answers in something else and thats where our obsession with food just multiples.
M: How has a diagnoses of celiac disease shaped your personal experience with food?
K: My different experiences with food and specifically with celiac, definitely has certainly impacted me. One of the first things that comes to mind is our capacity to find control and obsessiveness through our food and food choices. Whether that is fear of cross contamination, belief systems of what foods are good/bad. Being diagnosed with celiac did offer some answers to life long struggles with digestive issues and brain fog and symptoms, however I think I am really lucky by at that point in my “story” I had done so much work on healing my thoughts and behaviours around food, that although it altered and shifted the course of life for a while, it was in the end just a small roadblock and check point.
I think it is really important to talk about how elimination diets and allergies are infringing upon our healthy relationship with food and I see this happening a lot with my clients daily. It is a struggle between finding health, and navigating the definition of what health is for each individual.
M: What questions do you get asked the most by your clients?
K: Hands down, “how do I heal my relationship with food?”. As you can imagine, not always the easiest one to answer. There are so many layers and nuances to this. However, the takeaway that I always want to address in this… is that it is absolutely possible!
M: How do you create a plan for clients that connect with you remotely?
K: I am so grateful for technology, although I am still trying to catch up to understand it. But I am able to see and experience clients from across the country and North America. Mostly I connect through video conferencing. I do hope down the road to be able to speak at more events globally and reach people through other capacities such as courses and immersions. But I love nothing more than standing in front of an audience of people wanting to hear a different perspective of healing. Its not me giving the solutions, its guiding others to find their own solutions.
M: What does your personal support system look like?
K: It's pretty solid and I have much gratitude in saying that. My husband is my absolute best friend and support system. I get a real dose of pet therapy through my dog Mary Jane who is big enough to be considered a human. And a solid tribe of friends that have really built the foundation of my community. On top of that, I always am trying to learn more from other colleagues in my community and mentors who always work to inspire me.
M: And how do you create self-care experiences for yourself?
K: I call them non negotiables. Self care was often a tricky word for me as I thought of it as frivolous and indulgent at certain points in my life. So I created non negotiables for myself that really were more the foundational pieces that allowed me to be able to do all the things that I wanted to do in my fullest capacity.
The specific elements for me were meditation and mindfulness practices daily, movement in various forms, and using tangible interventions such as plants, herbs, smells, and breath.
M: What is the one deep message you want to share with the world?
K: That we can find peace between our food and body, and maybe in the process begin a journey into really finding oneself. That we are in fact able to find a way to take care of ourself without having someone else tell us how to be. That we are able to have our cake and eat it too. Sometimes it will be chocolate, and other times, carrot or zuchinni :)
A lot of this work starts with compassion for the self. And that is oftentimes a daily lesson that we have to work towards. It isn’t easy work, but it is worth it work!
You can learn more about Kate and the amazng services she offers at:
katehorsman.com
