Shohreh Davoodi

Shohreh Davoodi

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Archives for August 2019

Image text reads, "Self-Care and Community Through Fandom with Jessica | #8" superimposed over a galaxy scene of planets.

Self-Care and Community Through Fandom with Jessica | #8

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Image text reads, "Exercising Without Mirrors and Moving Beyond Weight Loss with Kim Gould | #7" over an image of a woman seen from behind starting at her reflection in two fragmented pieces of a mirror she is holding

Exercising Without Mirrors and Moving Beyond Weight Loss with Kim Gould | #7

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Image text reads, "Life Through the Lens of Cancer with Maegan Brundage | #6" over a cluster of white cherry blossoms

Life Through the Lens of Cancer with Maegan Brundage | #6

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Image text reads, "Purity Culture and Sexual Health with Erica Smith | #5" over an image of two femme presenting people embracing on a bed

Purity Culture and Sexual Health with Erica Smith | #5

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Image text reads, "Weight-Inclusive Eating Disorder Treatment and Body Image with Jess Sprengle | #4" over two femme-presenting people sitting on a couch where one is holding a clipboard and taking notes while the other talks

Weight-Inclusive Eating Disorder Treatment and Body Image with Jess Sprengle | #4

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Image text reads, "Diet Culture in the Fitness Industry with Christina Montalvo | #3" over an image of a fat, Black, femme-presenting person running in a sweatshirt and giving someone out of the frame a high five.

Diet Culture in the Fitness Industry with Christina Montalvo | #3

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Image text reads, "Health At Every Size and Weight Stigma with Ashley M. Seruya | #2" over the image of a Black femme-presenting person with an afro holding cantaloupes over her breasts

Health At Every Size and Weight Stigma with Ashley M. Seruya | #2

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Image text reads, "What Does It Mean To Redefine Health and Wellness? | #1" over a photo of Shohreh in a pink dress with her hands on her hips, looking to the side with purple hair flowing in the wind

What Does It Mean To Redefine Health and Wellness? | #1

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Shohreh completely changed my view of coaches and my overall mentality on exercise, nutrition, and what living a healthy life looks like. Shohreh empowered me in a way that no health professional ever has.

-Jenny S.

fitness inspiration to women

Shohreh has helped me make important changes to my lifestyle that I have actually maintained! My confidence is the highest it has been in a long time.

-Sharmila G.

Shohreh has helped me reignite my passion for fitness and regain my confidence in myself, which means so much to me. She's a knowledgeable, compassionate, and patient coach and I honestly couldn't have hoped for anything more.

-Ariel H.

Shohreh helped me break down my previous assumptions of what it means to be “healthy” and organize my complicated feelings around food and fitness. Now, I know that moving my body can be fun and food is no longer a constant source of guilt for me. My body is no longer an enemy to be punished but a friend.

-Mia M.

We worked on my self-confidence and intuitive eating. Shohreh helped me learn to trust my body and to love the one I'm in!

-Marie Z.

I can hardly believe I was just an online client of Shohreh’s because although I never met her in person, I feel I got to know her so well through her super personal and intentional approach to coaching. It felt like I always had a friend rooting me on and listening carefully to every trial and triumph I went through.

-Abby K.

austin fitness coach

Shohreh challenges me without being mean, instructs me without being condescending, and genuinely encourages me while also making me laugh.

-Sarah G.

Let’s connect on instagram
@shohrehdavoodi

New podcast guest pitches land in my inbox every w

New podcast guest pitches land in my inbox every week. Most of them are completely generic and get deleted. Occasionally I respond to ones that especially piss me off by doing things like suggesting a guest who goes against everything I stand for or, like in this case, spelling my name wrong.

I'm not putting this person's name on blast. He's a (presumably cishet based on what I can gather) white man and he's not unique in his worldview or how he treats people. This email exchange could have happened with any other cishet white man pitching me. This one's a life coach who apparently works with celebrities and influencers for what it's worth, and he perfectly demonstrated how NOT to treat people whose platform you are hoping to take advantage of (and frankly, how not to treat anyone).

If you read this exchange and feel uncomfortable with what I wrote or think I was rude, please sit with that.

This man had the audacity to (1) spell my name wrong in a pitch, (2) make an excuse rather than apologize when called on it, (3) try to gaslight me because he didn't like my reaction, and (4) offer a fake I'm-sorry-you-feel-that-way apology.

And the reason he had the audacity to do that is because his name is three letters long and I guarantee you it's never been misspelled or mispronounced in his entire life. He had the audacity to do that because he hasn't bothered to imagine what it's like to spend 31 years of your life being hit across the face with the microaggression of having your name misspelled and mispronounced CONSTANTLY, no matter how often you try to correct people.

Yes, people absolutely make mistakes, and there have been plenty of times where people have spelled my name wrong and repair was able to happen. But I've set a boundary in my business that if a stranger is going to pitch me, I will not stand for them misspelling my name. That boundary exists for baby Shohreh who hated her weird name, let people mispronounce it until college because she wanted it to be easier on them, and didn't yet know the power of standing firmly in who she was and what she wanted to be called.

Do better. Don't be like this guy.

Most people have a lot of resistance to being told

Most people have a lot of resistance to being told that language they're using is problematic, even though language is changing literally all the time and most of us are able to readjust quite quickly when we want to. I can think of at least two dozen words I've added to my lexicon in the last year as well as plenty I've naturally eliminated.

The argument that it's just too hard to adapt our language so that it's more inclusive doesn't hold up. While it can be difficult to eliminate words and phrases from your vocabulary that you're in the habit of using, that's not an excuse to not put in the practice.

The reality is that we don't like feeling like an option is being taken away from us, and we don't like coming face to face with the fact that our words can still hurt people even when our intention was not to cause harm. But we can shift our perspective on this.

When we're called upon to change our language, we're being given an opportunity to get more clear about what we're trying to say. By choosing a different word or phrase, we can actively reduce harm to communities we care about *and* express ourselves in a more precise way.

Why use a catch-all word like "crazy," that is ableist and has been weaponized against women when I could replace it with something like "bananas," "absurd," or "outrageous," depending on what I'm trying to describe?

Why use a phrase like "spirit animal" that makes light of Indigenous beliefs when I could replace it with something like "icon" or "kindred spirit" that gets across the same meaning without being culturally appropriative?

It's important that we speak and write with care, and the minor inconvenience of breaking language habits is a small price to pay to do that.

[This post is an excerpt from my email newsletter, The Sunday Share. Not on my email list? Get signed up through the link in my bio or by going to shohrehdavoodi.com/newsletter.]

If the idea of meal prep transports you back to tu

If the idea of meal prep transports you back to tupperware containers filled with sad, flavorless food from your dieting days, you’re not alone.

For many people, just the thought of planning and preparing food in advance feels synonymous with diet culture. And that’s a problem when you consider that most of us don’t have the time or energy to fly by the seat of our pants every time we need to eat.

Which is precisely why I invited Talia Koren, the founder of @workweeklunch, on the podcast to talk about how to prep your meals without falling back into the diet mentality. Talia is committed to helping her clients stress less about food by using planning techniques that don’t focus on things like calories and macros.

Talia and I talked about different ways to approach meal prep so it's not something you dread doing, how to foster curiosity and flexibility as part of meal planning and prep, adding flavor to your food, and more.

You can listen to this episode via podcast players like Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify. For the show notes and a full transcript, head to shohrehdavoodi.com/73 or click on the link in my bio for the latest podcast episodes.

To support Talia's work, you can check out all of her free meal prep tips on her social media channels and sign up for a 7-day free trial of the Workweek Lunch Meal Prep Program (links in show notes).

Invest in the future of the podcast by:
🎨 Becoming a Patron on Patreon at patreon.com/shohrehdavoodi
💎 Leaving a tip through PayPal, Venmo, or the Cash App (links in bio)
⭐️ Subscribing, submitting a rating & review, and sharing with friends

Hello my little perfectionist beans! Yes, I know y

When it comes to your dreams and goals, what if in

When it comes to your dreams and goals, what if instead of declaring "I could never do that," you tried, "I want to do that, but I'm not sure how." The former cuts you off before you've even begun, whereas the latter creates space for exploration.

One way to begin that exploration is to look to the people who are already doing it.

Who's wearing what you're afraid to wear?
Saying what you're afraid to say?
Creating what you're afraid to create?
Prioritizing what you're afraid to prioritize?
Taking risks you're afraid to take?
Following the dreams you're afraid to follow?

Who's bucking norms and expectations and judgments that you wouldn't dare to? Who leaves you in awe as they fight their way out of the boxes society has tried to put them in? Who is so authentic that it makes you a little uncomfortable?

The people who are living it are leaving you clues. They're showing you what it means to move through fear and cultivate courage.

I'm not saying that you should do exactly what they do or say exactly what they say. I'm not asking you to ignore your real limitations or barriers to access.

What I *am* saying is that you can learn a lot about what you want and don't want for yourself from people who are a few (or many!) steps ahead of you.

So stay curious and watch closely.

The language we use matters and colors our worldvi

The language we use matters and colors our worldview. I see the following [problematic at best, misogynistic at worst] terms tossed around like confetti:

"High-maintenance" - this term is used to insult and shame people who prefer, purchase, and enjoy certain things "too much." A high-maintenance person is deemed to be not chill enough, down-to-earth enough, or laidback enough (i.e. not a mythical "cool girl").

"Dramatic" - this term is used to insult and shame people who are trying to get their needs met and are willing to call out mistreatment. A dramatic person may have a communication style and coping mechanisms that are seen as "less than" or "unhealthy."

"Crazy" - this term is used to insult and shame people who let themselves feel their emotions and share them, making others uncomfortable in the process. A crazy person may cry, raise their voice to be heard, or have a higher frequency of contact than is preferred.

Using generic labels like these puts people into boxes without actually understanding who they are and why they do what they do, which helps no one.

These terms are so common that we often use them to describe ourselves, contributing to the minimization and dismissal of our valid wants, needs, and feelings. I gently call out clients when I hear them using this kind of language (even in a joking manner) to put themselves down.

Interrogate your willingness to reduce complex and layered individuals down to simplistic characterizations, yourself included. Be more precise with your language. Say what you actually mean.

If you enjoy and benefit from my work, consider investing in it by:
🎨 Becoming a Patron on Patreon at patreon.com/shohrehdavoodi
💎 Leaving a tip through PayPal, Venmo, or the Cash App (links in bio)
⭐️ Signing up for my email newsletter (link in bio)

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