Alexandria Morgans' Journey from Professional Ballet Dancer to Advocacy

Alexandria Morgans shares her transformative journey from battling an eating disorder to becoming a certified personal trainer and nutritionist. This episode emphasizes the importance of body positivity, sustainable health practices, and the power of supportive communities among women.

• Alexandria’s experience with an eating disorder and its impact on her well-being 
• The societal pressures faced by women regarding body image and health 
• The essential balance between diet and exercise for overall wellness 
• The drawbacks of restrictive diets and the importance of sustainable eating 
• Key nutrient-dense foods that promote physical and mental health 
• The significance of seeking support and building community for recovery 

Reach out for support if you are struggling with food and body image. Connecting with others can make a significant difference on your journey to wellness.

Chapters

• 0:00 Empowering Women Through Health and Fitness
• 17:18 The Impact of Diet and Exercise
• 26:15 Overcoming Struggles and Adopting Healthy Habits
• 41:41 Navigating Health and Wellness Journey
• 48:25 Building Support Networks for Wellness

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi everybody, this is Steel Roses podcast. This podcast has been created for women, by women, to elevate women's voices. I'm very excited to introduce our guest today, alexandria Morgans. She is a certified personal trainer and nutritionist who found her passion for health and fitness through her career as a professional ballet dancer. Unfortunately, in an industry that pushes unhealthy eating habits, she did succumb to the pressure and developed an eating disorder for three years. She overcame her eating disorder and found her passion in a career focused on health and fitness as an online coach. Alexandria, welcome to the show.

Speaker 1: 0:38

At first, I want to commend you because, having personal experience overcoming an eating disorder, I do want to commend you for that because that is no easy undertaking. It is a lot of work and a lot of mental work on my end. It was a lot of mental work that I had to go through and it's very difficult to beat that kind of thing. So I want to commend you, want to commend you on that first before I say anything else. So congratulations to you on that and for refocusing and rechanneling your energy. I'm thrilled that you did that, but I would love for you to introduce yourself to the listeners and tell them about your journey and how you know you came through no-transcript. Wow, thank you, you, thank you. You know you, you've said, you said a, a couple things that I I want to touch on here. So one I think that, um, it's wonderful that you took something and it sounds like it was almost always there, like this, like fitness, interest in fitness, you know, like it was basically like almost always present from what it sounds like, from what you told us, and I think it's fantastic that you have taken something, that you went down this path of you know the eating disorder and having to go through that, and now you've turned something, that you went down this path of you know the eating disorder and having to go through that, and now you've turned something that really can take a lot of us out, and you know it's something that a lot of women can't ever escape, and you've been able to channel yourself and your energy into well, I've gone through this. I'm going to help other women really truly understand how to not, you know, obviously you want to be healthy, but to love who you are as you're doing it, because there is no, this, this isn't meant to be like a shameful thing. We've gotten very. Society has twisted quite a bit the whole concept of women's health and you know, even down to I don't, I don't think I've shared, I shared this story with you.

Speaker 1: 9:48

But one of my little girls, she was five, and you know she was giving her a bath and she was, you know, looking at her stomach and she was pressing on her belly and I was like, oh honey, what are you doing? And she was like fat. And I was like, and she was like, oh, I'm fat. And I was like what? And like I was like what are you talking about? And she was like my belly isn't flat like the other girls at school. And I had to pause for a minute because I'm like, okay, she's five, but I don't want, I don't want to disregard her feelings and be like no, no, no. So I was like, well, I was like oh well, who are you talking about? You know? And I just kind of talked it through with her and then I just, you know, said like everyone's bodies are different, everybody looks different. I was like are you, are you healthy? And she was like yeah, I was like can you go jogging with Bobby and she's? And because of what I went through, we're very specific with the kids about that kind of stuff. So we can talk about that in a minute.

Speaker 1: 10:53

What I wanted to also talk about with you is I know you mentioned that you were mad that you didn't realize that you hadn't been happy in a really long time, and it's very interesting because I found myself in that scenario and it's almost like when you come out of it. It's like coming out of a haze and you're like what was I thinking this whole time? Like who am I, you know? Like why didn't I see this sooner? And and I want you to hear this too that's not just you, that's almost all women, because we have this very definitive should I should do something. So I'm going to do it, regardless of whether I like it or not, and it sounds like you were doing a lot of shoulds. I should look like these other girls. I should be better than this, and I want you to hear that, hear this that, like you, you were following the shoulds and not what you really wanted, and now you're following what you really want, so you're able to actually be happy for yourself because you're finding the passion that you have.

Speaker 1: 12:05

Thank you, yeah, mm-hmm, mm-hmm the weight lift though, the weight off your shoulders from carrying other people's like hopes for you must have been such a relief, because and I say this because not exact same scenario, but I think a lot of women will relate to again doing things because they don't want to disappoint someone else. I think this is categorically a female problem. I don't really know any guys that go through this and there's. So I mean, I remember and this is a little it's different than what we're specifically talking about but even when I was in my mid-20s, I remember when I started to change as a person and I was trying to better myself and do things better for myself and I started, you know, meditating and the reactions were so severe from people for, just because I was trying to better myself, and it was like the most negative outpouring and I was like, oh, I was like what? I'm just trying to do things better. And then what? Eventually, alexandra, eventually, what happened? I? I started losing people in my life Because it was it was almost like them showing their real face and I was like, well, if you want me to just stay put because it makes you comfortable, that's not okay either. I need to be able to be who I am and be happy with who I am. And I'm happy you're in the beginnings of your journey for that and that you're starting down that path and it's going to bring you so much more of a light into your life because you're doing something that you actually really are passionate about and you enjoy. So that alone is like a huge leap forward for you and you will see, like in the next few years, if you maintain that focus, which I think you will you will see like in the next few years, if you maintain that focus, which I think you will you will see a tremendous amount of growth because people will find you, people who are do you know what I'm saying? Like and I know that sounds very like woo, woo, but the fact of the matter is like, when you're putting that energy out there and you're putting the energy out that you have this positive vibe and you really want to help people, and that's the energy you're putting on the table, the people who need to hear you and the people who need to partner with you are going to come and find you. It's just going to start falling like dominoes and when that happens, that's it. I mean you're going to be off to the races and it will happen for you because you have this passion. I mean you're going to be off to the races and it will happen for you because you have this passion Now, in the work that you've done thus far, for your coaching and even just in your studies in general, for women who are looking to be healthier.

Speaker 1: 17:18

I've always heard I mean I've heard mixed things, but I want to ask you like diet versus exercise, I've always heard it starts in the kitchen. When you're trying to be healthier, is that along the same lines as what you heard not heard, but what you know from your education? No, that's fair, that's right. That's right. Thank you, yeah, mm-hmm.

Speaker 2: 18:55

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: 19:01

I have two things there. One I'm actually kind of embarrassed to admit this. This was like, oh my gosh, like for 13 or 14 years ago, because when my husband and I first started dating, we were first living together, I wasn't working and I used to go to the gym every single day, and so I was about 27 ish when this was going on and I would walk like a mile and a half up to the gym. I would work out for like an hour and I would do cardio and weightlifting and then I would walk mile and a half back home and one would think that if I was doing that every single day, I would have been in peak physical condition. However, as we just discussed, diet will supersede what you're doing at the gym and I would come home and just eat crap and just junk and just snacks and I wasn't mindful of what I was putting in my body because I really never had that kind of education. I had no idea any nutritional value of what I was doing and I think I was like heavily carbs and it's like you know, I was basically wasting all that time at the gym because I'm like what's the point? I was probably just keeping myself from going way, way out of control at that point Flash forward to now. I'm still learning how to do this and how to really maintain myself and, as I think I had mentioned it a little bit earlier in our recording, a little bit of a slippery slope when, once you've had an eating disorder. It is a slippery slope because those habits are always kind of there.

Speaker 1: 20:44

So the last I want to say three or four months, I had started doing intermittent fasting because I'm turning 41. Tomorrow is my birthday. Wait, when this airs it'll be way past, but tomorrow, as we're recording this today, is my birthday and so I'm turning 41. And you know, in your 40s it's harder for women to lose weight. And somebody had told me intermittent fasting, check it out. So I'm trying it out. And I started out really well and it was doing very good with eating nutritional food.

Speaker 1: 21:14

And then somewhere over time that shifted and I was like, okay, I'm just gonna grab a protein bar or I'm just gonna grab something quick or I have these macro bars. And I was feeling, I think in the past like five or six months, really fatigued, brain fog, just like, just really crappy, like I was. Just I was having all these like terrible symptoms. I said to there was many times during the month where I'd be like I feel like I'm dragging a dead body around, eventually got myself to the doctor and turns out now I'm anemic because I haven't been feeding myself. So it's exactly what you were just saying.

Speaker 1: 21:53

And I'm like oh, it starts back in the kitchen. So I've had to yet again do a reset and go back to Okay, jenny, you, even though you're a vegetarian, we need to get you back in shape. So you're going to eat two eggs in the morning now, like, and I'm like Alright, eggs in the morning, yes, I can do this. I'm eating spinach at lunch? Yes, I can do. You know, like, and it's. It's one of those things that it's. It never truly stops the health. You have to focus on the healthy diet. You're just, you're just a neem, you're just, you're just a deep. I know, I know that's what was going on the week before. I was like it was terrible, alexandria. I was like a dead body, like you couldn't even move me you which I also have, yeah, same.

Speaker 2: 23:21

Go ahead.

Speaker 1: 23:28

Okay, thank you. Yeah, oh interesting okay wow.

Speaker 1: 25:11

So you were like warm, hungry then, oh gosh. So you were like warm, hungry. Then, oh gosh, Wow, yeah, yeah, no, you really don't. I didn't have it. I think I was only about a year of a full. I want to say it was about a full year, maybe 18 months, of going through it before I oh, I was in a class. I was like what triggered me? I'm just trying to remember, I'm sorry, I was having a senior moment there.

Speaker 1: 26:15

I was in a class and I was a psych major originally, before I switched to communications, and I'm in a psychology class and this person gets up I think it was the professor, was like giving this talk and he said that women he was using I don't know how if he just went broad, but he was using he I don't know how if he just went broad, but he was like women who have had abusive relationships, women who have um, eating disorders. And he named a third thing he was like the likelihood of them being able to stop the cycle is like x percent and it was so low that it like shocked me, because I was sitting there in the moment in both of those scenarios abusive relationship and eating disorder and I was like. I was like, oh man, like did he just? Did he say that? And I remember, like I wrote the stat down and I'm like sitting there looking at it and for me it was a pivotal moment of okay, this isn't going to beat me, I'm, I'm going to be the person who is in that margin, that walks away from this and is okay. And within like a week, I think, I called a doctor myself, I got my own therapist, I started rolling, I brought my parents in. I was like look, I want you to know, this is what I've been going through, this is what I'm going to do, I want you on board with it. And I kind of just started of just started rolling with it. So I was like I can't let this be the rest of my life.

Speaker 1: 27:38

I was like I have so much more things to do and it was very difficult to get through and to break a lot of habits. Even to this day, there's, you know, habits that I have that I'm like it's almost like second nature and I have to catch myself. And I'm like no, Jenny, this is okay. Like you can have this food, Like you're okay, Like this is fine. And it's like self-talking myself every single day. I also I will say this because I have daughters I'm also very mindful of like. I'm careful about how I talk about things and I'm careful, we're very careful.

Speaker 1: 28:17

My husband and I had this conversation when the kids were born. I have twin girls and twin girls and a little boy and he knows my struggles with weight and he knows that I've been up and down and all over the place. When I was pregnant, I was incredibly heavy and that like messed with me mentally, and you know so because he watched me go through so much. I told him I was incredibly heavy and that like messed with me mentally, and you know so because he watched me go through so much. I told him I was like I don't. I don't want the girls to have this same outlook. I don't want them to look at food and weight and everything the same way as me. So we we all work out together as a family. Everybody works out. I make sure, even though I don't really want to, that they see me working out and they see mommy being healthy and that's really the line there, as we always tell them.

Speaker 1: 29:04

It's about being healthy and it sounds like that's. That's like also like your motto now at this point? Like this is about being healthy. This is not about a particular look. This isn't about like, oh, I'm just trying to lose weight to get to this dress. Like this is a lifestyle. Yeah, I know, yeah, are there? Um for you and I'm, this is like a little pop quiz off top of your head.

Speaker 1: 30:33

For women who are looking for like nutrient dense foods that are like this is a great go-to, just for daily or even whatever every other day, like this should be kind of a staple. Like just start eating it, because it's really going to give you a boost. Right, yeah, yeah, right. Because it's showing you you can eat this and you're gonna be okay. Like you don't have to be. And you know, I have to tell you, getting the anemic diagnosis, that it kind of shocked me a little not Not shocked me, but it shook me and I was like damn. So now it's funny that you do that on Fridays, because now on Saturdays I'm like all right, Jenny, you don't have to do the intermittent fasting every day. I've done my research better now and I'm like you can do this Every Saturday. It could be like your day. Like this weekend it's my birthday weekend. I'm like you can do this Every Saturday. It could be like your day, Like this weekend, it's my birthday weekend. I'm like you know what, Jenny, it's okay, you can have treats, You're okay, it's going to be fine.

Speaker 1: 32:28

And I think that's where a lot of us go for the restrictive eating, because immediately in our heads we're told don't eat, You're going to lose weight. Even my husband, who's health and fitness all the way, I mean, this guy works out a couple hours a day. He loves it. He's in great shape. He's going to be 50. He looks like he's 35. It drives me crazy because I look 40. But even him, he was like well, just eat less. And I was like, yeah, but no, that's not the best way to go about doing things like just, you know, not eating isn't the way to go. Like, start cycling and healthier food options, make your plate more, you know, vegetables and protein, versus like carbs. That was the biggest.

Speaker 1: 33:07

I think the biggest, biggest thing for me was to start stepping away from carbs and not just like not all carbs. Away from carbs, and not just like not all carbs, the white starchy carbs, you know, like it was just taking those steps like that and being more mindful, like, okay, did I eat any vegetables today? Like now I'm all about you know the dark leafy greens, Cause I'm trying to, even though I know what we just talked about not ever really beating anemia I'm like I'm going to do what I can here. So I mean, it's just I think it's things like that that women want that quick drop. And realistically, it's like, even if you don't eat for a week and you do you know crazy fad diet and you lose five pounds, you're going to gain that weight back the next week. It's not sustainable, Right? Because now your body's storing it.

Speaker 2: 34:14

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: 34:46

Yeah, yeah, I don't track them at all. I don't do it at all anymore and agreed. I think we have the same mindset there. I will say my journey with weight has been so up and down and, as I just mentioned, like when I had my kids. I had my son in 2016. And then I got pregnant with my twins right away and they came in 2017. And then 2017. After I had them, 2018 into 2019.

Speaker 1: 35:40

I was the heaviest I ever have been. Ever and I was falling into all of the fad diet, every fad diet and probably every product over the counter that you could get your hands on. I would try it, it out, and I went with. I even tried the yeah, I can say this. I even tried Weight Watchers and I was doing it with my sister-in-law where I was like, oh, let's do it together. You know she was heavy too and I'm like, let's do this. She was losing weight. I wasn't losing anything. Nothing I was doing was working. Now, in retrospect, I think I've heard Weight Watchers is a great tool to use and a lot of people have had great success. I think that because I wasn't really aware of the nutrient level and like what I was actually doing. I would be like, oh well, this is only one point, and I would gorge on the one point thing and then I wouldn't actually eat anything healthy for myself. So I continued, even in that moment, still have that problem Only in 2019. It was the beginning of 2019.

Speaker 1: 36:40

I want to say, like January, february, I started working with a nutritionist and it was incredibly eye opening because she had me doing journaling, like food journaling, and I started looking at the list of things and I was like, oh my God, I'm eating really awfully, like this is really terrible. And so I was trying to eat healthier and I was really really proud of myself and I went into her and I was like, oh my God, I had the healthiest breakfast. You'll be so proud of me. And she was like oh, what did you have? And I was like I was like, oh, I had. I was like it was like oatmeal, a banana, and then it was like a third thing, but it was literally all carb, like it was. There was no, like it wasn't a variety of what I was really supposed to be doing.

Speaker 1: 37:23

She's like well, listen, I'm glad you're eating better, but I want you to realize everything you ate was very starchy and I was like what I thought it was healthy. She's like technically, individually they are, but if you combine them like that and then that's what you're putting in your body like that's super starchy, that's not going to help you lose weight and it was an incredible reeducation for me. So I do want to say that anyone listening that's you know, having a similar struggle and saying to themselves like oh, I've tried all these diets, like nothing works for me. You might not be doing it exactly how it's supposed to be done. You may be over doing one portion of it versus another and working with somebody.

Speaker 1: 38:04

I mean, I'll say it like I worked with a nutritionist and that's how I was able to be able to get myself back into a normal like for me state, and people like Alexandria are here that have this experience, that have the education that can help guide you through this, because it is not something easily done. You know you're flooded with all these Instagram images of things that you don't really understand or you know, or everything's photoshopped and edited and this, and that you really do need to work with someone that is going to look out for your best, edited and this, and that you really do need to work with someone that is going to look out for your best interests and make sure that you're staying in like a good path, and that's where Alexandria comes in.

Speaker 1: 38:45

Thank, you, yeah, yeah, and they're not built for women either they're not built for women, either they're not sustainable for women like I. I just spoke to somebody else about that. Go ahead, keep going, which is awful. I did the same thing. I was keto, too, which is awful. I did the same thing.

Speaker 2: 40:23

I was keto too.

Speaker 1: 40:37

I know. Oh, yeah, I was the same way. Way, I think I was staying under 15, but most of the time I was under 10. Yeah, oh me, neither. It was so bad, and now it's. It's crazy. I would so this.

Speaker 1: 40:53

Uh, there's another person that's going to be in the same series as you and she was telling me she was like, especially for my age group, she's like we actually need carbs during certain parts of the month because of our cycle and that's like a lot of women we actually need it. And the keto diet yes, it'll quick effects. It's not good for women. This is just not something our body is going to really be good with and that's not something else I want to just mention too, is that a lot of these, you know, quote unquote science based like diets or what have you like they're not actually built for us Because women are not part of and I think I might have said this on almost every episode, because it pisses me off so much but women are not part of, and I think I might've said this on almost every episode, because it pisses me off so much but women are not part of clinical studies for the most part. So when they release study information and study design and say, hey, we did a study and X amount of people had success on this diet. Those people were men and I mean, like, most of the time we're not represented because our hormones are too unpredictable. So kind of just keep that in your mind.

Speaker 1: 41:58

And that's why, like I do really strongly recommend, like, if you're listening this and you're like I have been struggling, I would really like to just have a touch point. Like people like Alexandria and I'm going to link all of Alexandria's information in the description she's a huge resource to you because she'll be able to help guide you. You know the struggle she's been through through so she can recognize in you the same thing and the same through lines. I'm sitting here saying I've gone through the same things, alexandra, by the way, I, I I mean I have come out, I think, mostly successful here. So I do want you to know like I mean you can get all the way through and like continue on.

Speaker 1: 42:36

And, for those of you listening, if you're in that struggle right now, look at Alexandria. I mean she went through it to the umpteenth, especially in the industry which she was in and was able to get out the other side. If you are in a scenario where you are, you know, quote unquote restrictive dieting, or if you are having a sense that, like, your body is just starting to shut down, which it will if you go too far this is the time to act. You don't have to continue like that. Sorry, alexandra, go ahead. I get very passionate about those things. Yeah, yeah, thank you, yeah.

Speaker 2: 44:09

Mm-hmm Thank you.

Speaker 1: 44:44

Well, I was just going to. That's why I started laughing, because I feel like sometimes you need to be punched in the face. I mean not literally, but like sometimes you need it. I didn't know for a really long time that I had a problem, but I had a problem and I remember I went to a family it was like a holiday or something and I remember I walked into my cousin's house and I think I'm five, nine and I think I was 115 pounds at that point. I think I was 115 pounds at that point and which women are listening you all know that that's incredibly low for that height and I remember walking into the house and everyone kind of just turned and like was like I saw the pause in everybody and my cousin later told me that it completely freaked her out and she was like your head looked like it was too big for your body. She was like you looked like a bobblehead and I was like I was like.

Speaker 1: 45:48

I was like totally stunned. I was like what are you talking about? Like this is the. You know, in my mind I was like oh, I look amazing, I didn't see it. You know, in my mind I was like oh, I look amazing.

Speaker 1: 45:59

I didn't see it and it really took the punch in my face was there was a couple of them and you know, one of them was that class where the professor said the thing I lost someone in my family. We had a death in the family. So there was like a few punches in my face right at once that I was like I need to stop. I have to stop. You might not be there yet, but it still is worth the discussion because the only way you really know, like Alexandria and I, you can't see our footage right now. This is going to go audio first, but we're laughing at each other as we talk, cause I think we're seeing like similarities in like what the other person has gone through. But it only someone who's gone through it can really understand this and how hard it is to really say like, okay, I'm done because you, you're going to backpedal it's life. Like you can get through it and find a better path. And sure, there's hiccups along the way, but you can do it. If I did it and Alexandria did it, there are loads of women who are you can do it. If I did it and Alexandria did it, there are loads of women who are able to do it. You can do this. You don't have to be the statistic. That doesn't change. You can make this change. Alexandria, I know I keep soapboxing here, but I get really impassioned about this and I can't help it.

Speaker 1: 47:14

Do you have any final thoughts that you'd like to share with the audience and listeners? I'm going to link alexandria's information in the description here. Um, I do strongly urge you to to seek support if you're going down this path and even, honestly, if you're not in the path of an eating disorder, that if you're just looking for support and you're just trying to get healthy and you are seeing I mean alexander mentioned it earlier, but there's sometimes there's there's physical symptoms to poor nutrition and all you know, mine was like severe fatigue. Brain fog is actually a symptom of poor nutrition. So there's things that can be done to help you. So I do really encourage you all to reach out for support and again, I'm going to link everything in the description so you can take a look at Alexander's web, like her information, her social. Just get connected and start reaching out, because this is really it's really important.

Speaker 1: 48:41

Thank you so much for coming on the show. I had a great time talking with you, of course, listeners. Thank you for hanging with us today and we will catch you on the next one. Take care.