Hi, and welcome to the Rise and Conquer Podcast. I'm your host, Georgie Stevenson. I'm a lawyer, tend health coach, social media influencer, wife and dogmam. On the Rise and Conquer Podcast, we dive deep into all things mindset, habits, career, health, relationships and more. This is a podcast for women who want to rise up to be the best version of themselves, who have big dreams in who are willing to put
in the work to get there. I want to bring you the tools and actionable steps to feel confident in yourself, inspired to take bold action, and motivated to conquer your goals. Are you with me? Your friends? Let's Rise and Conquer.
Hi, and welcome back to the Rise and Kunker podcast. Today we are chatting to Nicholas Rugby, who is also known as the Unrefined on Instagram. Nicholas started a sugar free, full fat blog in twenty fourteen which had their desire to inform, nourish and empower people to put their health first. Since then, Nikola has expanded to encompass two brands, including natty Boost, a healthy low sugar granola and f Acne,
an online educational ACNE program. And community with health professionals. Today, we are chatting about all things acne, including what are the most common factors if acne face maps are accurate, Nick's go to supplements for healthy glowing skin, what solutions there are for acne scars. Plus we chat about our go to practices when we aren't feeling that comfortable in our own skin. I am so excited to share this episode with you.
Hi Nikola, Welcome to the show. Hi Georgie, thanks for having me no problem. So I'm very excited for this interview. As you know, I have had previous issues with my skin and acne and all that sort of thing, and I love what you're doing in that sort of acting positivity, community and space. I'm very excited for this. But before we get into all about acne and I pick your brain about that, I want to ask you what is something big or small that you are rising up and conquering this week?
This week I am getting all of my health professionals together to do my next programs. So that's probably the biggest thing on my agenda and it is probably taking the most my energy, but all good energy, but yeah, that would be it. T It's a gut skin program, which I think we'll discuss at the very end. But yeah, that's my energy this week.
Wow. And so I understand with the programs you have how many different health professionals. So usually we have around six or seven. But this one, because it's more of a focused program on gut health and it's more specific, we're doing three D health professionals, but we're doing probably
a lot more content. So I'm just trying to make sure that I get the right people and getting all of the different opinions because my programs are sort of a little bit alternative and conventional, so we combine both sort of modals, if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, so you're making sure you're getting all sides of the story. Yes, yes, so you would be very busy with that. So good that. Okay,
so let's get into some acne questions now. I put out onto my Instagram that I was interviewing you and basically if anyone had any questions about ACNE, I want to go through just a couple of them. Like I said, I have struggled with acne. It has popped up quite a few times. And it wasn't when I was like a teenager or anything like that it was in my twenties and it wasn't very fun. So I definitely feel when girls I want to talk about this issue and explore it exactly.
Yeah, I was the same. Mind didn't come until really my early twenties, and I was just so shocked, and you even more embarrassed because you're sort of an adult and all of your friends don't have it. So yeah, I completely understand.
I know you're like, why is this happening? I know, Okay, I want to talk about As Nichola said in her program, she has a wide variety of health professionals, so with this advice that she's given you, it is usually related from one of them. But I just want to do a quick disclaimer to say me and Nikola aren't qualified health professionals or anything like this, So this is all about our personal experience and the experience that Nikola has from her ACNE program.
Yeah, so I'll do a disclaimer quickly. All of the things that I'm telling you are in directly from a health professionals. I'm not pulling random facts out of my mum. These are all literally from my program, which is from either an alternative or conventional health professionals.
So yeah, perfect, How important is skincare, like, you know, creams and scrubs and skin treatments versus other factors like stress and diet and I guess sort of internal factors with curing or you know, getting rid of acne.
Yeah, exactly. So this is a pretty good question, and we've experienced sort of a lot of great results in the program from both, but mainly, although diet and stress has been found to probably be the most significant influence on reducing and managing acne, many have experienced additional benefits
just from maintaining consistent skin ca routine. So I think a lot of people don't realize that you can sort of you can over wash your skin, but you can also underwash your skin, so it's good to just get that healthy balance in between. We actually have a microbiome on the surface of our skin, so it's a balance of good and bad bacteria, just like you have in your gut. And there's more sort of emerging evidence to suggest that maintaining the good and bad bacterial community is
actually really important in managing acne. So basically, our skincare specialists, we've got two paramedical skin care specialists and a nurse. They suggest fining a skincare routine that's quite gentle on the skin but also has sort of treatment options and a chemical exfoliant for during the week to help turn over the dead skin cells, and also a lightweight, fragrance
free moisturizer is really important as well. But as I said, it is really important to sort of focus on the internal I guess triggers that are happening and just use skin care sort of a maintenance for your skin topically.
Yeah, you're kind of saying that they're both important in certain ways. Yeah, exactly the other factors. I know, we talked about stress and diet what other factors is it usually that is the cause of acne. Yeah, So we're finding the results of my program. A lot of the women are finding that stress is literally the number one factor. And I know that it's sort of really the first thing you jump to and you're like, oh, yeah, I'm
just of course I'm stressed. But I think a lot of people don't realize that even emotional stress and even like dietary stress has a role and is stressed, you know what I mean, Like, even something like emotionally being unfulfilled that is a type of stress in your body, and so I think identifying what is causing the stress or the unhappiness in your life can actually really help to reduce your court result and just managing and getting
on top of that unhappiness. I know that sounds really weird, but a lot of the women were just feeling you know, it might have been unfulfilled in like a small area of their life, but it was really impacting.
Their stress levels. So that's a really interesting thing. I think that is interesting.
That's actually like when I think back to the couple of times that I got acne outbreaks, it was always something happening in my life, like either if it was stress on my body or emotional stress because of work or something like that. But I definitely agree some sort of stress in my life that was almost like it was coming out of my skin.
Yeah, exactly. I was the same like when I was going through a bit of a business meltdown, like I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my business
and all the rest of it. That's when I had actually the worst breakout and I had really cistic acne and I was doing everything like I was eating really well, I was being really strict with my food and doing all these things thinking that it was going to help, but I really just needed to, you know, look deep down within myself and figure out what was actually causing that emotional stress and manage it. But other things that have been found to link quite thoroughly with acne is
obviously hormones and also gut health. But both of these things are influenced by stress and cortisols, so it's all pretty much linked.
So yeah, how fun. Okay, great, I want to talk to you about the elimination diet to find out causes for acne. I personally I didn't do the elimination diet, but I did one of those tests where you go to a natural path and they do a blood test and then they tell you what foods are causing issues, and for me, it was bananas and eggs, and I actually took them out and noticed a significant difference in my skin. So I definitely love that someone is asking this, But what's your sort of view on that?
Yeah? So in the program, we have a dietitian, Marika Day. She's really amazing because she's quite evidence based, so everything that she provides the community is all based upon science and research. But basically we found that diet is definitely a contributor to acne, but isn't always consistent across individuals. Like you're mentioning, you have certain triggers which won't be the same to someone else. But we put together a four week meal plan which is based upon the scientific
links between certain foods and acne. Because acne is an inflammatory condition, certain foods like refined carbohydrates, saturated or transpats and also dairy are really common in sort of increasing
that inflammation and ultimately inflammation in the skin. So yeah, we do do an elimination diet, but it is supposed to be for a short period of time just to identify that individual's potential trigger foods and then you can introduce them back in and you have to take notes and make sure that you're really recording your symptoms and ensuring that that is a trigger to your acne so that you're not cutting out foods long term.
Yeah. Yeah, what is the sort of process with the elimination diet once you've sort of found out your trigger foods? What does that look like?
So basically, I mean, I'm going to use myself as an example because dairy as a mass, it is a bit of a trigger food for me, and you know, that's a lot of the women in the program found that after they did the acne reset they realized how much dairy really did sort of correlate with their acne.
So from here onwards, like once you do the program, it's more so just being aware that that food group does trigger your acne, and you'd be surprised how much that helps you manage your acne because you know that, you know, if you're going to eat a heap of
dairy and potentially you're in an inflammatory state. So for instance, if you are in a state of stress, so you know you've got exams coming up, or you're just in a stressful environment because of work or even emotional stress, then your body is generally going to be more in an inflammatory state. And that's the same as if you're
in you know, the last phase of your cycle. So if you decide to go and eat a heap of dairy when your body is in that inflammatory state, you're actually going to probably have more of a chance of presenting with acne than if you don't eat those foods, you know what I mean. So it's really just understanding your triggers and then working with them. Yes, you could go and say I'm never gonna eatdairy again, but it's not really realistic and it's not really sustainable because you know,
dairy is in a lot of foods. So for instance, for me, I on the weekends, if I'm gonna go and have drinks with my friends, I will have cheese because I want cheese. If I get a pimple because of it, I sort of know why. And it makes you feel a bit better because you know, maybe you ate something that you shouldn't have with the triggers acne and you. But yeah, it's more so just managing what
you know and doing the best for you. So trying to avoid dairy where possible, but if you eat it, it's not the end of the world.
Yeah, Yeah, I love that. That's the thing. When I found out that eggs and bananas really weren't great for me, I cut them out for probably three months. But then after my acne had kind of like that sort of breakout stage had kind of passed. Yeah, I found that I could slowly sort of introduce those foods and I wasn't getting that sort of reaction like when, like you said, it wasn't as inflame.
Yeah, exactly.
Now it's kind of about just you know, testing the boundaries with that.
I tested way too much because I think I'm past that period of like I went through a phase of having cysts for like months a month, and now I haven't had like a really big cyst for probably well ever since I actually created the program, which is when I literally will go and eat all this cheese and I'm like waiting the next two days. I'm just like sitting there every morning feeling my face like you know when you wake up and you like pack your face to see if you've had any more pimples. But it's
really different in everyone. And yeah, I think the stress component definitely influences how you respond to foods as well.
Yeah, yeah, okay, awesome. I want to talk about I don't know if I'm saying this right, but face acting maps. Yeah, that myth? Are they accurate or a myth?
So it originated it's from ancient Chinese or Avetic principles.
I feel like we should just maybe explain to the audience. So I'm talking about you know, when you get pimples, you know on the bottom of your chin, and people say that's hormonal. Is that kind of that's what I mean?
Hey, yeah, So the technique it claims to address the root cause of spots by looking at your face. So for instance, they'll say that if you get pimples on your forehead, then it's most likely digestion, and then on your I think the tops of your cheeks is lungs. And then yet the bottom of your cheeks and your neck is hormonal. And yeah, a lot of you know, Chinese and Avetic guidelines use face mapping, but in terms of the scientific evidence, there is actually no scientific evidence
to support it. But that said, you know, if you are anecdotally like you know, I mean, I know personally when I get a hormonal breakout, it is always on my jawline and on my neck or on like the bottom half of my cheeks. So whether that's a coincidence, I don't know. But in terms of the science, unfortunately, there's no like direct link.
Okay, interesting, very interesting. I've always done that, Like, yeah, if I get pimples on my forehead, I'm like, oh, digestion.
I do it too, even though I'm like, cann You've been told the science, but you know what science could evolve.
Yeah, I know there's heaps of things that science doesn't necessarily know. But okay, so let's get into this juicy question. And I can't wait to ask you this because I'm definitely that person where I have a bit of an opinion on this. I want to ask, who do you recommend seeing for acne. The reason why I have a bit of an opinion on this is because I saw a doctor, I saw a dermatologist, I saw a natchure path. I've been to acupunture, I've kind of done it all.
I've spent a lot of money, and certain practitioners just didn't give me a lot of help or, like I guess, sort of a dressing the root cause and really helping me actually progress and pass the acne rather than just sort of dealing with the topical or the symptoms or what's happening now. If that makes sense.
Yeah, no, I agree. I mean obviously, because I have all of these health professionals in my program, it's you know, I've got to support all of them.
Yeah, I have.
Been to all of them, and I think they all have their place, and I think it's really I hate to say, but it is about the individual. But I'll take my personal opinion I personally, because I've been to doctors, and I think I'm a likened to say this. My partner is obviously a doctor, a general practitioner, and I
definitely think that they have their place. For instance, if you want to go on holidays, or you just want to quick fix and you just don't want to do the whole what's happening with my skin, which is completely fine. If that's the way you want to go, Yes, you can take anybody so, or you can get referred to a dermatologist and go and acutain. That has helped many peoples,
particularly with confidence shoes. Like I'm not against that if that's your choice, but I personally, I will not stop until I know what the root cause of something is. Like I want to know why my body's inflame, and I think acne is telling you something. It's your body's way of saying, hey, you're not doing something right by me.
Find the root cause. So I personally like acupuncture. We obviously share the same acupuncture, yes I do, but I also love naturopathy so natural medicine, and I love going to dietitian as well. So I think having the blend of like the science base, but also if you want to take herbs, I definitely believe in herbs, and yes, that's my opinion because they do look at you as
a whole, and they look at you holistically. They manage like even going to a nature path really helps with my stress levels because I know that someone's looking after me. And it can be expensive, you know, but I think it's you know, you got to take things with a grain of salt and do your own research and yeah, I guess trust you up.
Yeah, And this is giving you a quick little plug here. This is why I love Nichola's programs so much, because she has all these people in one place, so you can sort of get a sort of gist of what they're about. And like Nicholas said, I think it does. Definitely. I think it's up to the person in regards to what professional is going to benefit and help them the most.
I personally, much like Nikola, as you guys know or you probably don't know, but I definitely beg into acupuncture for my acne and also saw a naturopath and a diet titian which really helps. So definitely more on the natural side, but also a dermatologist and doctor, like she said, are going to be amazing for that sort of side
of things. But what I do love about your program is you've got everyone there so you don't have to spend all the money like I did, and you can sort of see and then go to the health professional that really feels right for you.
Yeah, and another thing we do talk about is you know when you go to a GP what to expect, you know when to question, you know what they're saying, because I think you know a lot of gps can diagnose things straight away and label someone, for instance, with like PCOS or endometriosis, not indomatriosis because you have to have like a test. But PCOS is becoming more and more commonly diagnosed, and you know there is a way
that it's diagnosed and sometimes it's over diagnosed. So it's just important to have I think, your own awareness of what to expect when you go to a GP, what you're sort of entitled to, and when you can go and get a second opinion.
Yeah, perfect, Okay, cool. I want to talk to you about the pill and acne. I had a question if you should go on the pill to clear up acne. What is your what is your thoughts on this?
Popping out all the controversial I know I would, well, yeah, see, I've got my own personal opinion on this, but I'll give you like the general one. And then firstly, my opinion is I don't believe that you definitely need to go on the pill for your skin. I've personally been on about five different contraceptive pills and I was one of the unlucky people that had adverse side effects. The first one was amazing for light my boobs and clearing my skin and everything, but then it gave me really
bad mental health issues. And then from there it was just like, oh, some pills gave me acne. Some pills just gave me malasma. There was just a lot of side effects that I experienced. So that was my personal pinion, which probably shapes my opinion today. But generally, the contraceptive pill helps to alleviate acne by decreasing the amount of androgens in the body and reducing the seven production, which
is obviously causing the acne. But I think there are also certain contraceptive pills that can promote acne in some individuals due to the different levels of the synthetic hormones.
I personally think every woman should really research the pill and understand what exactly it is doing to your body before making the decision to go on it, because it's not something I know that sometimes doctors do just give it to you straight away, like they'll say, oh, you've got painful periods, here's a pill prescription, and you know, once you're on that pill, sometimes it can be hard to go off it because you're afraid of the symptoms that you're going to have when you go off it.
So you're on for you know, seven to ten years, some women more. But I really want to give or share an analogy from the Natch Path in our program about the pill, just to give you an idea of what it does so you can understand the long term sort of effects. So basically, when you first go on the pill, basically when you first ovulate or like your first menstrual period, your petuitary gland is telling your ovaries to release an egg and ovulate. So there's a signal
between your brain and your ovaries. So what the pill does is it literally cuts off this signal. So for however many years, you don't have that signal.
Right.
So the natchal path use the analogy of a dirt track. So when you first get your first period, it's like a dirt track. The signal to your ovaras is quite weak, it's not built up, but you need those cycles over and over again until you reach, you know, an adult woman, where you start to experience that regularity that you would have, say when you're like twenty eight and you haven't been
on a pill. What happens is young women are put on the pill quite early, so even their first or second cycle, and that dirt track stays as a dirt track until they decide to go off the pill. And that dirt track should be gradually turning into a highway as you get older and older so that you're ready for pregnancy. But what happens is it puts it on hold, and then you get to adulthood, you go off the pill, and you're back to being a dirt track and you
haven't sort of regulated that cycle. So that's why when women go off the pill, they experience things like acne and things that they experienced when they were teenagers, like painful periods or no periods or a regular periods because they haven't allowed themselves to sort of regulate their cycle.
Wow, I'm actually just like mind blown.
Right, So when to me, I was like, oh my god, this makes so much sense because so many of my friends are like, you know, they're ready to have children, and they're all like, Okay, I'm gonna go off the pill now, and I think it's just you know, boom, I'm going to be able to get pregnant, and it's just when you're on the pill for so long, it's not that easy. So you really have to think about the consequences when you're older, like what does it do?
You know, that's so interesting to think of it as we want to build up that signal and make it stronger, like you said to you know, be a strong highway to then be able to have children and that sort of stuff. I've honestly never heard anything like that, and it just makes so much sense.
Yeah. No, I even explained it to my partner before and he was like, that's actually good, Enogy. I'm obviously more than that, but just a little to give you an example.
Yeah, Well, I couldn't agree more because I was on the pill from maybe when I was fourteen till eighteen, so a lot of those teenage years and then, like I said, I didn't get acne during the years at all, but then I got off the pill and then started getting acne when I was around twenty, and I got all the hormonal issues. I think mine also had a
lot to do with my lifestyle. But it does make a lot of sense that it's almost like I was going through my teenage years, like almost like later on the Wow, Okay, that's amazing.
It's amazing. Yeah, no, even my like I've been off the pill for four years now, but still like I still am regulate, Like it's taking me a long time to fully regulate my cycle. Obviously that doesn't happen to everyone. Some lucky women just go straight off the pill and
they get a period straight away. But we are seeing more cases, particularly my program, of women going off the pill and then like not getting a period for months and months, and it's just hard to deal with, Like it's not very nice being a woman and being like where's my period? You know what I mean. I know it's weird, but.
No, yeah, one hundred percent, I went through the exact same thing, and yeah, I'm probably maybe three or four years off the pill and even I think my monthly now is like just maybe getting regular. So yeah, does make sense in saying that, Yeah, I definitely agree. I personally, like you said about finding the root cause. I think going on the pill to clear up acne just my personal opinion is kind of like, you know, covering something up and not really finding the root cause. But yes, Okay,
going on to the next question. So, what is some go to supplements for healthy skin? Is there something that you like or that you using the program anything like that.
Yeah, so I personally love skin be five acne control, which is a combination of vitamin B five, zinc, byton silica, and it also has vitamin AS. If you're planning on being pregnant, you're obviously pregnant, you can't take it, but
that really helped me in the past. One supplement which has been really really effective in our program and a lot of the women have been using it is called zilch Acne Formula and it's actually Chinese medicine and it's a herbal tablet form rather than you know, the liquid. I'm sure you've taken the liquid before, so yeah, that's actually there's so many improvements from that supplement and I think the good thing about that supplement is that it's
not like a long term supplement. I think that's what you really need to think about with taking something like that. You don't want to be spending money, you know, that much money every single month. You would hope that over a certain amount of time it would help you manage the acne so you wouldn't have to take the supplement anymore, which I think is what the zilch acne formula promotes.
So that and then also court RX ATP Science. Some women have loved that, and then also taking Offici oil and something called lactoferrin, which was recommended by Marika Day is also promoted.
I take, well, not specifically at the moment, but in the past I've taken the court a rex by ATPN. That was amazing to sort of. It was more when I was dealing with a lot of stress. Yeah, that really helped me.
And I'm considering taking it soon after the women are talking about it.
But yeah, really good, Okay, awesome. I also wanted to ask, this is something I've personally been through, and I wanted to ask, what are your sort of recommendations for long term scarring? So what sort of solutions for that.
Yeah, so we obviously there are all types of scarring and it really depends on the person. But basically there's like the keyloid scar, which is probably the worst type of scar you can have, which is like you know when you have a burn and it's that really thick, deep scarring, that's a keyloid scar. So keyloid and the ice pick scars are usually dermatologists use a laser or some type of photodynamic therapy and that's probably seen the
most improvement in the really really deep scars. But in terms of like hyperpigmentation scarring, retinoids and vitamin C serums and also something called carbon laser has worked as well for some of the women. I've actually used carbon laser myself. I love it. It's called like the China doll facial where basically they put carbon paste on your face and they use a laser to zap it off. It doesn't
hurt at all. It sounds really horrible, but it really helps with that hyperpigmentation or any redness that you have from scarring. But in terms of like the deeper scarring, I know that laser has probably been the best result. If you have no active acne. You could also do the skin needling. I've heard that works as well, but yeah, you can't really have any active acne.
Yeah. I got the skin needling done after my acne had passed, and that definitely helped me. But I'm interested about the China Doll facial. I've got a little bit of pignan left over from my last little acne breakout. I might have to walk into that.
Yeah, you should try, and it's really fast and easy. You don't have I mean, I'm weird. I don't really love facials because I always think I'm going to break out, but this one doesn't make me break out. And I always notice like a massive difference in the pigment face, so I really like it.
Not awesome, Okay, great. I want to chat to you about this acne positivity community of seeing your Facebook group and I follow all your socials and everything and I love I just I love what you're trying to do. Can you talk to us about that?
Yeah? So the acne Positivity community, it's basically a non biased, judgment free zone for acne prone women. So I wanted to create this space because when I first developed acne as an adult, I found it really hard to relate to women in the same circles as me because a lot of them didn't have acne, and so all of my friends they didn't really understand the extent of how
it would affect my confidence. Like they would be like, oh, Nicola, I know that'd be nice, but they'd say, oh, we kind of even notice you're fine, Like we're not looking at it. But you know when it's just you're so obsessed with it that it's just everything on your mind. So I really wanted to develop not only the program to help women, but also a community where women could literally just talk about acne the whole time. Because I
was so obsessed with it. I would sit there and talk to Mitch, do you reckon this is gonna work? Do you reckon this is gonna work, and just constantly be like, look my skin is improving. Oh look it's gotten worse. And it was pretty much an obsession, and so I thought, well, why not channel that I'm session into a really positive community where we could all post
photos of our skin and boost each other up. And to be honest, it's in my feed right now, and so I'll be in my Facebook and just scrolling down instead of seeing you know, like, well people make me feel like crap about myself. I've got, you know, these women who are making you like lifting you up and showing you that you're not alone and stuff like that. So that's the main purpose of the community.
Yeah, I really love it because the other day actually I had a bit of a breakout and I was scrolling past and the f acnee page had posted a photo of a girl and she obviously had full on acne, and then also an aft photo with a makeup and just like a caption, and it's just good. I love having on my feed just a lot of you know, different people and different bodies and different skin. It's just like almost like a good reminder that hey, you're not the only one who deals with this sort of stuff,
Like it's very normal. We don't have to look perfect all the time. It's not a big deal at all.
I know. And even when I get pimples now, like I sort of look forward. I know, it's so weird now, but I look forward to getting assists because then I can talk to her and be like, look, I do still it because my skin's been so good recently. It's like I feel like I'm not part of the community. I'm like, no, I don't forget about me.
I know your skin has been looking amazed. Obviously, proground obviously works, so I couldn't I couldn't agree more so, I'm so happy that that's all happening. Okay, So when it took to you about your new program, I actually haven't spoken to you about this in person. So tell us about the new program.
Yes, So, basically, when someone first enters the original f ACNE program, they were asked to fill out a questionnaire which pretty much talks about all of their symptoms, and you know, they have to answer quite in depth about like emotional stress or physical stress, and then like gut health symptoms and skincare are using all the rest of it.
And anyway, I ended up putting all of this data into a bit of an Excel document to just see, you know what the most common thread was between all of the respondents, and we found that there was a massive link between gut health stress and anxiety and acne. And literally like a very large percentage of the people in the program had poor gut health combined with anxiety
and acne. So we obviously there's already science behind that whole link, and so we thought, well, what better program to create when it's just focused on that whole gut
skin brain axis, which is what we're focusing on. So we're going to be drawing from a dietitian, a psychologist, a nutritionist, and a naturopath in this one and just exploring the links and really just educating women about their gut health and how important it is and that it's actually way more important than you think, particularly with its link to skin and not just acne, there are skin conditions as well, which, yeah, we're in the process of
sort of finding more research towards that, but it's still in the process of being created. But that's the sort of premise behind it.
Oh that's amazing. Yeah, I can't wait to have a little look inside that one. I definitely I have noticed, like I've had lots of issues with my gut bit more recently, I've had a lot of issues with yeah, digestion and gut and that sort of thing, so I've actually been looking into it a lot more so that's very interesting.
Yeah, it's really once you start researching it, you feel stupid for not realizing the link earlier. But yeah, it is a bit like that.
Hey, you're like, oh my god.
I know, well apparently it's been around for eighty years, but it's only just sort of starting to come out again as really important.
Yeah, like it does. Yeah, it does make sense. Okay, perfect. I am going to switch gears here and something I want to chat to you about. Like, we've both gone through these periods of having really bad acne and kind of feeling a bit uncomfortable in our own skin and a bit out of place and kind of like no one can relate, and I just wanted to discuss basically body confidence and being comfortable in your own skin. I definitely had to overcome a lot of things and put
a lot of practices into place. What are some of your go to practices?
Yeah, so basically I've had some body positivity issues in the past, and I find that sort of the best thing that's worked for me over time has definitely been a morning routine. I know it sounds really cliche, but if I don't, you know, set myself up for the day, then I have more risk of sort of going downhill
and thinking in a negative pattern. So things as simple as you know, going to the gym, and if you can't go to the gym or you just don't feel motivated enough, even just getting out of bed early, not like lingering in bed, so setting it alarm and literally getting out of bed when the alarm goes off. Don't keep on snoozing. I know it can be hard, but honestly, it's like sets the tone for the day. If I'm going to be a snoozer, I'm going to be a
snoozer for the rest of the day. So I make sure that I just count to three and I go three, two one out of bed. I then either go to the gym, or I get up quite early and take my dog for a walk, or just go for a brisk walk outside, get a coffee, come back, have a shower, start work. And I think doing something as simple as that can definitely, you know, motivate you for the day.
But if you're even finding that difficult, which I know is honestly can be difficult for some people, Podcasts or honestly my savior when I'm feeling a little bit unmotivated and down. And the good thing about podcasts I like is whatever I'm feeling like, whatever I feel like listening to or whatever sort of topic I want to you know,
it might be just motivation. I literally just go into the podcast app and search motivation and look at the top podcasts that have been recorded, and that's literally how I find the podcast. Like I have set people that I like listening to, which we have actually shared very common people that we like to listen to. But if I'm not even feeling that's like a simple tactic that I use straight away to get me out of a slump.
I just put a podcast in and listening to someone else and listening to someone else motivate you, I think is really helpful in the morning. I couldn't agree more like almost like a little pet talk exactly exactly. And also making sure you know you're setting yourself up in terms of food, so like I like to make a nice smoothie, and I do love my coffee, Like my coffee fills my cup in the morning. So everyone has
their own thing. Some people just like a cup of tea, but coffee is literally it just it's like a routine for me, and it makes me feel like I'm going somewhere that's really stupid, But I think it's just appreciating the little things in your day and in the morning that can really help you.
And also I love what you said about that is sort of giving like all those things you talked about, it's like giving yourself time and doing something for yourself because you were worth it. If that makes it exactly. I love that something I sort of do when I'm feeling that definitely. I love like either a podcast or like a YouTube video some sort of like pet talk. It's right. And then I also like just need to give myself a pet talk. And I'm always like, you know,
like I'm so much more than how I look. You know, I'm so much smarter, I show so much love. I'm such a good friend, I'm such a good wife. Like I just really try and look at the bigger picture. And I think it's easy with social media and all that sort of thing that day where your physical appearance is really prioritized. But I think it's almost like stepping
out of that. I'll usually try and get off social media for a bit, have a bit of a social media break and sort of get out of that bubble and realize it's like, hey, the way I look like it doesn't define me, and it's not going to decide or control.
Me exactly, and finding things that you love to do and that you're passionate about. I think, you know it's easy to say or find something you're passionate about. You know, half of the world like spend years trying to find what they're passionate about, but finding you know, interests or just something little that really you love doing, Like for instance, I love puzzles like I literally when I want to take my mind of something, I go and do a puzzle. I don't care what I look like like I'm doing
a puzzle, but do you know what I mean? But also with body confidence, definitely the social media thing, I think it's important to really I know it's hard, but to not start your day scrolling and comparing yourself to others because I think it's so easy to do, we all do it. But also remembering that social media is another world. It's not always reality. Luckily we have more people that are obviously being more transparent and authentic, but
it's just not really. I think sometimes you need to also value yourself and really figure out what you're grateful for. That's one tactic that I also use. When I was in my really down, like bad phase, I made myself every morning, write down ten things that I was grateful for about my physical self, but also you know, people in my life or things in my life. So whether it was like, you know, grateful for having parents who cared about me, or grateful for having the opportunity to
have like good health, you know, just things. I know that they sound like they're really little, but imagine if we were really ill and we didn't have the energy to get out of bed. You know, we're grateful that we have energy to be able to get up and do something with ourselves. And I think even you know, you know, what are your favorite features about yourself? Instead of thinking about like I've got things that I don't
like about myself. And when I sit in front of the mirror doing my makeup or whatever it is, and I do wear makeup because that makes me feel a little bit confident for the day, Like I wear a little bit of mineral makeup, and that's like a routine for me, and it's like, Okay, I'm ready, I'm going.
Outside, but yes, do you know what I mean?
It's just but as you're doing your makeup, maybe say what do I love about what are my best features? And list them instead of if you feel yourself going and looking at things that you don't like about yourself.
Yeah, it's actually funny you say that something I did the other day and like something about my body personally, I've always hated my legs because I'm quite short and they're quite stuffy, and I've just always had this thing where I just didn't really like my legs. And the other day I stood in front of the mirror and I looked at myself and I'm like, I literally searched
myself mirrors. Kind of weird, but I was like, I am so grateful for my legs, Like they are strong, they are powerful, like because I think I'm just on a gym session and doing that, like it was almost so empowering. Yeah, and I just thought, no, I'm not gonna let the issues of what I think just because my legs aren't long and skinny, you know, likes thinks they should be, that doesn't mean I'm not going to
love them. And I'm really proud of them. And yeah, it was just so empowering and it just like made me feel so much better. And the thing is, like that's literally been like four years for me to be able to do that, and then as soon as I did it, I thought to myself, I cannot believe I have not done this sooner because almost like the wash of relief and how I felt after it was just yeah, like so empowering and just made me feel so good.
Yeah, exactly, and even you know you saying that. See, I'm a complete opposite. I've always wanted you know, muscly legs, and I don't. Like it's weird that we both you know, like when you want what you.
Can't have, we want what we don't have one hundred percent.
And you have you know, realize that someone out there wants your legs, someone out there wants something that you have, and you just don't appreciate it. So what do you appreciate about yourself? Like just stop? And also, yeah, what you said before that how strong they are, like think about what they do for you. So what you know? I mean, I have really small boobs and it's great because I can go from a run and they don't hit me in the face like that I should ready, I know.
It's almost like I think it's about making that mind shift, because it's so easy when you're in that mind shift and you know you're thinking about, oh my god, I hate my skin, I look so ugly, and all these negative things. It's so easy to then have a negative day. And it's kind of like the whole law of attraction
where you attract what you think. So it's almost like making that mind shift, and like we said, some of the practices that we both use to get out of that mind shift and then you know, thinking more positive thoughts and trying to attract more positive thoughts throughout the day and just basically making that shift and getting over it.
Yeah. And one more tip. When I was going through some issues with my weight and everything and I wasn't very confident, one thing that I found really helped me was looking at myself and realizing, you know, the things that I actually loved about myself, and then going and maybe every couple of weeks purchasing a piece of clothing which really accentuated the things that I loved about myself.
And I found that just something. I know, it's clothing, but it literally lifted my confidence so much and did something to my mental health, Like it literally improved just by highlighting what I like about myself.
I love that, I really love that. Yeah, Yeah, amazing. All right, perfect, Well, I am going to wrap things up. I want to tell the audience basically where they can find you on social media, where they can find your f ACNE program and all that good stuff. And I know Nichola has been very generous, and we do have a discount code if you are interested in joining f ACNE, but she's going to give you all the details. Thanks
so much, Georgie. So if you guys want to register for the f ACNE program, it's super simple.
You just hop online and go to f acne facne dot com dot au. And we actually have a fifty percent discount code for Georgie's followers. So if you've listened to this podcast, just enter in Rise and Conquer at check out and you will get fifty percent off the FACN program. You can actually start it anytime anywhere, so there's no actual start date. It's all about doing it in your own time. And if you want to find me on Instagram, my Instagram code is at the double
underscore unrefined. So that's it. Thank you so much for having me, Georgia. I really enjoyed the chat.
No problem, and I'll make sure that I put all those links and your Instagram and all that good stuff in the show notes if you guys want to go check that out.
Perfect.
Thank you much, awesome, Thank you so much, Nikola. I'll talk to you later. Okay, bye bye. Thank you so much for listening in. If you like this episode, make sure you subscribe to the Rise and Cocer podcast so you don't miss the next one. Also, if you found this podcast valuable, it would mean the absolute world to me if you wrote the podcast a review. Plus, if you know someone who would benefit from listening to this episode,
make sure you share it with them. If you want to go beyond this episode, check out our official instagram at riseanconquer dot podcast or my personal instagram at Georgie Stevenson. I hope you have an amazing day or night whenever you're listening in. Bye for now, and I'll talk to you soon