Andrea Matthes

After losing 164 pounds, and escaping the body I'd been trapped in for 20 years, I was left with an "ugly body". Despite five days of Crossfit every week, eating "clean" and becoming a Spartan and Triathlete, my body still resembled what I had worked so hard to escape. Years later it was determined that I had lipedema, a hereditary fat disorder that causes chronic pain and pockets of fat that don't respond to diet and exercise, which also progresses with hormonal changes. Knowing I'd never look "normal" challenged me to find new ways to love my body. Through mindfulness, self-love, self-care, and creating sustainable habits, I fell in love my body from the inside-out. This talk creates a necessary mindset shift in women that allows them to change the way they think and feel about themselves and their bodies, so they can find peace, love, and true joy within themselves and their bodies, in order to live their best happy, healthy life.

Negative self-talk is the B***H that steals our joy, robs us of our potential, and removes all of our power. In this talk I enable women to take back their power by challenging them to identify the voice that's filling them with poison. They learn how to confront that "B" voice, head-on, so it can "eff" off, allowing a new voice to fill her with feelings self-love and compassion.

Although I am an international leader in positive body image, I recognize that obesity directly effects our quality of life-- physically, mentally and emotionally. This is why I advocate for self-love, self-care and sustainable habits that support a happy, healthy lifestyle. In this talk I share my Six Step Approach to Responsible Weight Loss, that ends the cycled of diet-fail-repeat, providing the mindset, actions, and reactions, necessary for sustainable weight loss and happy, healthy living.