Claudia Conaglen/ "Your Past Doesn’t Necessarily Have to Equal Your Future"

Naked Health Warriors Podcast

Fashion designer, model and globetrotter, Claudia Conaglen spends her time between Bali and Hawaii. A previous participant on Bachelor; New Zealand, you can follow her on her adventures through her blog and official website: http://www.claudiaconaglen.com/

1:10 – Claudia gives the audience a quick summary of what she’s currently up to. Having lived in Bali for the past 8 years, she’s recently moved back to New Zealand. A woman of many talents and hobbies, Claudia’s done fashion design, surfing, and a good range of outdoor sports, and has been featured on Bachelor; New Zealand. One of her personal favorites is writing blogs about health and fitness. She also sells protein products and enjoys educating people about health and business.

2:10 – The most exciting thing happening to her right now is creating an eBook full of healthy recipes and fitness workouts. She also includes key tips on how to think positive – for everyone.

2:42 “If you have a healthy mind, it creates a healthy lifestyle.”

3:05 – Claudia shares with the listeners her story to “help outline the fact,” as Harriet puts it, “that your past doesn’t necessarily have to equal your future.” Growing up, Claudia was the exact opposite of a health food advocate. She would eat junk food, chips, junk, and whatever else was onhand. “Thank God for my genes as I was never overweight,” she says, mentioning her mum as a huge influencing factor over her weight as well. “The one thing my mum always did was get us to dance, play lots of sports,” As she got older, she drank and partied a lot – definitely not something conducive to her health and wellbeing. She gained a lot of weight, which affected her work as a model. At the age of 22, she moved to Bali where she got really skinny because of the heat and swimming.

04:00 – When she was there, she encountered another set of problems. She ate a lot of Indonesian food there, as it was cheap and delicious. She was unknowingly consuming copious amounts of MSG (monosodium glutamate), and that eventually broke down her immune system. Shortly after, she also found out that she was allergic to 35 different things, including eggs and chicken.

4:56 – Harriet asks Claudia to give a bit more detail on the 35 different foods she grew allergic to. “There’s so many people that have no idea that these things are even affecting them,” Harriet points out. “How did it show up for you? I mean, you say you’re allergic to 35 different things. Did it come on like – was there headaches? Were you feeling sick? Lethargic? What were the symptoms for you?”

05:08 – In 2009, Claudia’s friends came to Bali. Two of them had special food intolerances. “I didn’t even know what that meant,” Claudia admits. “I thought it was just some ‘fitness fad.’” A month later, she was eating her regular chicken, rice, and samba (sweet chili sauce) when it happened. “My lips swelled up, and my tongue swelled up, and I’d gone into anaphylactic shock three times – where the back of my throat swells up and I can’t breathe? I’d get hives all over my legs and rashes. So, yeah. It’s quite dangerous actually. It’s not tolerance. It’s an allergy for me.”

6:10 – Harriet asks Claudia to share some of her more grueling health challenges. She lists her allergies as the number one contender, with her finding out she had polycystic ovarian syndrome at the age of 26 as a close second. Learning that she might not be able to have kids terrified her. She went off the pill and gained a lot of weight (again, affecting her modelling career).

7:06 – “Are you an advocate for polycystic ovarian syndrome? Do you spread your message about health for other women with those [same] problems at all?”

7:15 – “I haven’t started it,” Claudia says, in response to the question above. “Because I only found out a couple of years ago. I don’t really know too much about it. I’ve just been researching more for myself. I haven’t really spread the message about that yet.”

8:30 – “What would you say are your 3 Greatest Healthy Living Lessons that you would love to pass along and pass over to our listeners?”

1. Your Health is Your Wealth – “because if you’re not healthy,” Claudia points out, “how can you work, you know?”

2. Eat good healthy quality food. It is important to spend what you can on buying good quality food. Spending a little extra to make sure your food is all organic is all worth it for your health.

3. It is important to eat a lot of food that has alkaline. Alkaline gives you more energy, whereas acidic food – like coffee or meat – can actually drain you.

10: 39 – “Do you have any models that you love to live by in your life? For example, a piece of advice that was handed down to you from a mentor or something that you just simply believe leads people to having more optimum levels of health?”

10:56 – Claudia’s number one belief is this; your health is your greatest asset. “Without your health,” Claudia explains, “you can’t really do much. I like to be happy,” she adds. “And when I’m healthy, I’m very happy.”

11:19 – Regarding health, how does Claudia maintain it? She shares her best advice for people to help them stay on their journey to health and wellness. “It’s different for everyone,” she says. “I have a fast metabolism, so I eat 6-8 times a day.” She eats small, frequent meals throughout the day, on top of regular exercise.

12:25 – The Time Travel Moment; if Claudia were to go back ten, fifteen years, and she met her younger self on the street, what would she tell her younger self? The first thing she mentions is to definitely eat more fruits and vegetables. She also admits that she would tell herself to not compare herself to others. “I remember being ten,” Claudia shares, “and I wanted to have white skin.” As she grew older, she learned to love her skin color. “Learn to love yourself, not compare yourself to others.”

14:03 – Has there ever been a time in Claudia’s life where she remembers being a “slave” to the feeling of wanting something someone else had? Claudia recounts how her mother always encouraged her to enter beauty pageants as a kid. While she doesn’t think that competing against other women in terms of looks was a good thing, she admits that it really helped her confidence and public-speaking skills. “It’s all about what looks good for you.”

15:15 – “It doesn’t matter what shape or size you are, you should love yourself for who you are.”

15:25 – Touching up on her past experience on The Bachelor; New Zealand, Claudia agrees that entering beauty pageants and growing her confidence made it easy for her to join the show. Being in front of the camera didn’t make her feel too awkward or uncomfortable. Perhaps the hardest part in general was living with 23 other girls under one roof. Her greatest takeaway from being on the show was to cherish time spent alone. “I think it’s always important to have time alone in a situation like that, where you don’t always have to be mixing and mingling with everyone.” She says. Spending time by yourself makes it possible for you to reflect on your actions and recount what you’re grateful for.

19:05 – Harriet takes a moment to talk about giving to others. “If you want to be able to give to others, you need to have an overflowing cup. … If you’re not a full person yourself, how can you ever be a person who gives to others?” Harriet says. “You need to learn to love yourself,” Claudia agrees. Give yourself that time to eat healthy, do yoga, do your daily things, and then you can be happy and ready to help other people.

20:28 – So what is real health for Claudia? It’s not only to have a healthy body, she says, but also to have a healthy mind. “To think clear, happy thoughts and to be positive.” The equation for it is 80% diet and 20% exercise.

21:57 – What would she say is one “healthy living golden nugget” to live by? Claudia is a big believer in living an alkalized lifestyle. She believes food is a big factor to society’s health, and people don’t seem to realize that there’s a lot of acidity in food. Eventually, that acid will deteriorate our bodies.

23:35 – Start of the QuickFire Clarity Round: what’s the best advice from your industry you have ever received?

23:49 – Can you share one of your personal habits that contributes to your successful health?

24:05 – What is one technological equipment tool that you can’t live without?

24:46 – Who is your hero?

25:02 – What is your favourite movie?

25:11 –What’s your favourite fruit?

25:23 – What’s your favorite drink?

25:28 – What do you think the health industry is missing right now?

26:23 – Who do you believe would be 3 brilliant people that we would love to get on the podcast? Jade Mckinnon, Paul Isham, Maz from The Bachelor and Jaime Desh

27:35 – Is there any message you would love to share to the listeners? “Your health is your wealth.”

Want to contact Claudia? Maybe get in touch with her or follow her on social media? Check out her official website http://www.claudiaconaglen.com/