We are not put on this planet to weigh less and look a certain way and be society's you know, ideal of beauty. Sign Finally, make hello and welcome back to the Rise and Conquer Podcast. This is the podcast for my girl gang who want to take control of their lives, gain the confidence to live unapologetically, and for those who are ready to turn their biggest dreams into their reality. I'm your host, Georgie Stevenson. I'm a former lawyer,
entrepreneur and personal development junkie. So, as you guys know, this podcast is called Rise and Conquer and it's all about empowering you to rise up and conquer different avenues of your life. I know it could be quite broad, but today I want to touch on something that I have been thinking a lot about in the last week, and it is just this huge, huge pressure that women face to be perfect and to look a certain way and to fit into a certain box. And this has
come up for two reasons. Two reasons. So the first one is, as you guys may know or you may not know, but I recently had surgery and I had my breasts in plants removed after having them in for seven years. I was very young when I got them done. I was only nineteen, probably not even fully grown in that area. But basically I got them removed because of
a health issue. So I have been I guess, you know, I have been getting into my own sword of brain and rethinking because I now look very different to how I used to look, and that is a transition in itself, and it's funny because I have these different thoughts come up, and I'm, you know, transitioning into that. And then also the other side of that is, since I have had it done, I have felt so much better and so
much more myself. And I will be doing more of an episode on this at later dates, like maybe four months down the track, so I can give some like more conclusive evidence, But for now, I just know in my heart that this was the right thing to do, and that my implants weren't aiding my body in any way. I think my body was actually trying to fight them off, and because I do have some other stuff going on, it just wasn't a good mixture. So end of the story,
this is not what this episode is about. I'm very happy my implants are out, but it is definitely a t transition. I'm someone who used to have these like perky, absolute perfect breasts and now they're very natural and I love them. But also something that has been happening is I'm having a lot of women and to my women and to my dms and kind of, you know, explain that they think they have breast implant illness. They're feeling really unwell and they're getting tests done and things don't
make sense, but they don't know for sure. And they're also so scared of not having implants because like I said, you know, you get used to these like perfy, perky, perfect breasts and oh my god, I totally get it. Wait before I go into that. And then another reason two for this episode is this week I found out about a very kind of huge influencer who does talk a lot about body positivity and you know, being raw and real and very embrace the skin you're in sort
of influencer. There has been some images that were photo shopped of her, and it just it just felt I was, for one, very shocked, and that it just felt very disappointing because I feel like as a society, and especially with social media especially, I feel like we've come such a long way with self love and embracing the skin we're in, but also like have we like I don't know, I just I just I feel almost this week, I'm not gonna lie, I've just felt a bit like down
and a bit upset because at the moment, in this point in history, women are making the most money they've ever made, you know, their bread womeners of the relationship.
I am a breadwinner of my relationship, and this is very much, you know, the first sort of time that this has happened, and I feel like we're making strives in so many areas, but then this aspect of appearance, I just yeah, like I've just been thinking about it a lot, So even in this episode, like I don't even have a lot of like, well, this is the answer, I guess I almost just wanted to bring it up
to have a discussion. And I also I've already had this discussion in our Rights and Conker Facebook group, and it has been like so good to hear other women's experience of when they've had aha moments, of when they've realized just the the pressure and these unrealistic standards that we have put on ourselves as women to look a certain way and to be a certain way, and so I wanted to just go through kind of my process and what I have been doing this week to kind
of help that out. And so, like I was saying, and sorry, I'm not reading off any notes, this is totally an impromptu sort of episode, but what I was talking about at the start when I'm having you know, women DM me saying they think their breast implants are making them sick, but they're just so scared of what
they look like. Like I get it. I had that thought too, and it just makes me so sad that even if it meant you know, you feeling better and your health being better, we're still putting our appearance first and still seeing it as this you know, huge thing that is like all or nothing, and we must look a certain way to be accepted, because that's it's generally
what it is like. If you think of why you want to look a certain way a certain way, and why you get certain beauty treatments and you know that sort of thing, it is well, for me personally, it's to either you know, be and this is just being very transparent, transparent and honest with you, like it's either to be accepted, it's either to get you know, attention that we think we should be getting, or it's this thing of not feeling good enough with your natural self,
and that just makes me so sad. And I know it's the world, you know, we live in, but I think as and sometimes, like when I was thinking about this episode, I almost was like, not even gonna record it because I just thought, oh, what's the point. The
patriarchy feels way too strong at this point. But I think just almost being reminded of this and reminded that as a woman like your sole purpose is not to be a certain weight or to look a certain way to please other people, is just such an important reminder that we often forget. And like I said, I've been going through a bit of transition of you know, looking in the mirror and seeing someone who looks different to how I've looked for the last seven years in regards
to using my losing my implants. And trust me when I say, I don't mean that in a bad way, because honestly, I love my new boobs and my new body so much because it is one hundred percent georgy. And I do want to preface this and just say I am not throwing shame at anyone who gets breast in plants, who you know has a cosmetic procedure to
change themselves, who photoshops themselves like anything like that. I'm not throwing shame at you at all, because I have felt the pressure myself, Like I still feel the pressure, and I get it. I get it, your friend, and it's like it's okay that it's honestly like not your fault. And so I'm not throwing shame at anyone with implants. Please don't ever think when I'm talking about this topic, just because I know I will, that it's anything like that.
So I'm not throwing shame, but I just I want to talk about these things because, like I said in the end, all we really do have is our health, Like what's the point of looking a certain way if you don't feel good. This episode is brought to you by Naked Harvest Supplements, the natural supplement company I co founded with my brother. This company was really brought to life because I have been using supplements for such a
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And so I also when I had this conversation in my Rise and Conquer Facebook community, which honestly, guys, if you're not in there and you like the podcast, come and join us. It's this really nice safe space where we can talk about this sort of stuff and hear
about others' opinions. And I was having this conversation with the RNC fam and lots of people had these really amazing moments, like when woman explained that, you know, through high school she is very pale and all she wanted to do was like b ten, so she would, you know, get sunburnt and like just wear fake ten all the time.
And then she remembers like reading this article about beauty standards and how in Asian countries that the beauty standard is actually the more pale you are, the more beautiful you are. And it's so crazy to think that you know, this beauty standard of having big, fake, you know, perky boobs is like just it's something literally someone made up. And then we all like opted into this belief, I guess,
and it's become a beauty standard. Another one in the Facebook group was a girl kind of saying, you know, when you go to work or somewhere and you're not wearing makeup and you get those comments from people who are like, oh, you look so tired or are you sick, It's like, no, this is literally what my face looks like naturally, and it's just because we don't see it.
And so we had I had a really good conversation in the Facebook group, and it was really good to hear everyone's like aha moments and just really realizing that you know, beauty standards, it's really like it's not even a set thing, it's your perception. So you're almost placing these beauty standards on yourself. And so also in the group,
someone had a great book recommendation. It's Women Don't Owe You Pretty by Florence Given, and I actually I have heard about that before, and I actually downloaded on audible and I'm a few chapters in and it is so good, guys. I cannot recommend it enough, like go get it on audible or book topia and have it as your Christmas because it's just it's such a good reminder. And so Florence basically unpacks the male gaze and really gets into why we feel the need to do certain beauty treatments
and to look a certain way. And so I really wanted to just like jump on here and tell you guys that recommendation and also just remind you that, you know, wishing you looked a certain way or you weighed less all these different things is just like it's such, it can just be not can be. It is just such a waste of time. And it's just like we're putting
these own pressures on ourselves. And you know, that's why when I was nineteen, I thought it was the best thing ever to go over to Thailand and to get implants without even thinking about my health or anything like that, because I just wanted to be accepted and I I just wanted to, you know, be in this certain Beau standard. And honestly, it's like I feel like the bar just keeps getting higher, and I'm just like I'm so tired
I'm so I'm just so tired of it. Also, something I wanted to tell you guys is I've been doing something lately where uh and I think I've I've talked about this in a different episode, but it's basically this practice. And I got this from the book You Can Heal Your Life by Lewis Hay, another great book recommendation, and she explains this practice of looking in the mirror and
giving yourself a compliment or an affirmation. And that's something that I have been doing with my transition since getting my implant removal surgery. Even though I feel like I have come, you know, such a long way and self love, you know, guys, my story of being really obsessed with dieting and being underweight and then getting all these health
issues and all these different stuff. So even though I've come a long way in that regards, I feel like always kind of brushing up on this stuff, like reminding yourself and working on your self love muscle is just
it's so important. And then especially during you know, Christmas time, where maybe we're seeing family that we haven't seen in a while who maybe say different comments about your life or your weight or you know, just rude stuff that you're like, oh, I just don't need this, and you know, feeling fear around Christmas time with relaxing and you know,
eating more food and that sort of thing. I think it's just a good reminder to be like, we are not put on this planet to weigh less and look a certain way and be society's you know, ideal of beauty. Like it's just it is not our goal purpose. And I think it's just a great reminder. And like I said, so with that mirror exercise, it's like very simple. You literally just stand there and you look into your eyes, like your own eyes, and it's honestly, like when you
first do it, it's super uncomfortable. It's really really uncomfortable. But I you know, I say the affirmations like I am beautiful, I am enough, I am supported, I am loved. I am so proud of myself, and I will say these things to myself just because, like I said, I think
it's important. And I'm currently going through a bit of the transition and you know, getting used to this new body and like I said, do not get me wrong, I love my new small, natural boobies so much, and I feel like this whole surgery has been really great because it has made me get quite uncomfortable and it has made me have this like new found self love of myself to be like, oh my god, Georgia, I literally cannot believe what you put your health and body
through in the name of wanting to have you know, bigger, perky boobs. And it's like, it's it's hard, guys, because we are quite surrounded by it, like it. Since my implant removal surgery, something I've noticed is like a lot of the influences and a lot and a lot of the you know, people I follow are you know, they're gorgeous and they're blonde, and they have implants, and they're just such this ideal of beauty. And I'm not, like I said, I'm not throwing shade or you know, anything
like that. But even through this time, I've actually been muting quite a lot of people, not because I don't like them as people do. Not get me wrong, It's never about that. It's about protecting myself and just also realizing that, you know, we need to take responsibility of what we consume. So if you're on Instagram constantly consuming people who just look happy all the time who have big fake booms, who you know, basically look perfect all
the time. You're going to feel a subconscious pressure or maybe it's conscious to look perfect all the time. So it's just about you know, rejigging in your life and being like, all right, let's just make sure you know the people I follow, the media I consume, and the stuff like I'm listening to and reading is not making me feel a certain way. And that's why I really wanted to recommend that book Women Don't Owe You Pretty by Florence given she is awesome. Also follow her on
Instagram and also exercises that I've been doing. And also, guys, just a huge thing too is I'm not gonna get into it because let's be honest, this solo episode is going too long. But even though Christmas time is coming up, I used to be someone who's, like, you know, was really like, oh my god, Christmas time, what am I gonna eat? How am I gonna exercise? And stuff like that, Like, do not get caught up with that. Enjoy your Christmas time,
enjoy your celebrations. Twenty twenty has not been a very great year for most of us, and you know, think about it, twenty twenty. We haven't been able to see our friends and family. And so if you do, if you are now able to see your friends and family, like, don't sit there, you know, thinking oh, how many calories does this you know, piece of cake have or anything like that, Like really, let's just get past that and know that we are meant for more rather than looking
a certain way and fit into a certain box. We're just we're not doing it. R n C. Fam. We are moving on and we're moving up. We are rising and conquering always. But I am going to leave it there. Thank you so much for listening. I know this is a bit of a random but it was on my heart and I just really wanted to give you guys this reminder because I have needed it this past week and usually if I've needed it, I know some of you made too, and I'm going to see you. I'm like s
