body+mind+soul

Kerin Briscese is the founder of Haute Fitness Health, a women’s self-love and body confidence coach.  She helps women get fit, fall deeply in love with their bodies, and inner selves by removing the negative habits, thoughts and behaviors that have kept them in a Start STOP, merry-go-round for years.

After overcoming her own battle with emotional eating, yo-yo dieting and a lack of confidence she realized how many women today are struggling with the same feelings of shame and “I am not enough.” Here is her story.

I came from a family that loved me very much but like all families, mine came with baggage and history. My parents separated when I was 5, they were both so young when they had me.

My mother was a wonderful and loving, she taught me a lot of what I did and didn’t want to be like. I saw her struggle in 2 marriages, watched my step-father control money. I remember being young and determined wanting a career and my own money. At a young age
wanted it all, the career, experiences and love.

I always watched other people, curious as to how they did life. It never occurred to me that I couldn’t have everything that I wanted. I always dreamed big. I am not sure where it came from. I think it came from spending a childhood unhappy with constant yelling and stress. My best escape back then was my imagination. I spent a lot of time daydreaming about what I wanted to become and have. I remember always having an inner drive, wanting to experience everything I possibly could. I never knew where it came from until recently when I read my grandfather’s autobiography.

What does sexy mean to you?

I believe sexy means feeling alive in your body. It’s that feeling you get when you put on a dress, some high heels and red lipstick and you look in the mirror and think, “damn, I look good.”

It’s that feeling you get when you feel satisfied and content in who you are. Sexiness is having that inner light bulb turned on and burning bright that attracts men, love, friendships and situations that make your life easy, flowing and bright!

Tell us about your eating disorder and what it has taught you.

I began my eating disorder when I was 13. I was a double 0. My mother had been diagnosed with cancer a few years earlier. We had moved 3 times in the past 3 years because my stepfather had lost his job.

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The disorder gave me a sense of being in control that was my own high. I was in control of one thing in my life when everything else was not.  Once my mother died controlling food turned into a much more obsessive habit. I began binging, purging and starving myself for days at a time. Around the same time I began partying heavily and living a very unhealthy emotional and physical lifestyle that we consider to be “normal teenage behavior”.

Years later I turned from partying and staying up all night to competing in fitness competitions and becoming obsessed with the way I looked. Using “healthy habits” as a new way to belittle my body and self-worth and confidence.

Overcoming the eating disorder taught me that looks mean absolutely nothing when you are unhappy with who you are. The dieting industry is not there to help women but feed into the belief that we aren’t good enough as we are.

That we can’t trust our bodies to know what we need and in turn that lack of dietary trust spills over into our ability to trust our decisions in love, finances etc. women don’t have a weight problem they have a not allowing themselves to feel happy problem. And that what they are battling is not their ability to drop pounds or stick to a diet but open themselves to love, trust, satisfaction and freedom.

How does lack of confidence affect our choices?

So many people confuse confidence with cockiness. They believe that because they tell everyone that they are confident, are extroverts or because they talk loud that they are confident. This is NOT the case at all.

Confidence is quiet and it allows you to move forward quickly and decisively when needed. When you are confident you know what you want, what you expect and the standards that you have. You are not easily dissuaded by someone else beliefs from fear of being wrong or not being liked. This is not to be confused with not listening to others, a confident person seeks out smart and intelligent people.

I think a woman growing, discovering and getting in touch with her most confident self is the greatest gift she can give herself.

How does our mindset affect our eating habits?

Over-eating or emotional eating happens when we associate food with feeling better. Same goes for starving or binging. So the goal should be to:

1. Find out where this belief stems from (i.e. every time I cried my mother asked me if I wanted something to eat).
2. After you remove these habits/negative beliefs then rewiring our brain to remember that when we do something good for our bodies we feel better. It’s taking that high you
   feel after a workout, a hike, eating fresh fruit, gardening etc. and tapping back into that whenever you are feeling stressed, exhausted, anxious or overwhelmed.

What was the most defining moment of your life?

I wish my most defining moment was a happy memory but unfortunately it’s my mother dying when I was 16 and my grandmother a year and a half later. This set me on a very different path than I think I would be on had that not happened.

It taught me to survive, that life is precious, and that every moment is worth remembering. It taught me to never take anything for granted and great love is so worth waiting for.

I have never stopped myself from doing anything I wanted (for better or worse) because of that.

From your experience why do you think women have negative outlooks on their bodies?

I think women have negative outlooks on their bodies because we are taught from a young age that everything is about beauty and looks. Women have the negative feedback from both sexes (men and women), men could care less if another man put on weight.  And most women date down, so if her man puts on 20lbs its no big deal. She has 3 kids and doesn’t have the same figure she stopped trying.

I think we need to spend more time training and modeling our girls to be self-sufficient. That she can be beautiful and smart. Most importantly I think we should teach our girls to take the best care of themselves for no other reason than they think they are worth it.

How can women overcome shame?

I personally believe that finding a coach, therapist to help you release any negative beliefs about yourself (shame being one of them) is crucial to getting to your next best level. Some things you can’t see for yourself just by journaling or meditating.

What does success mean to you?

Success is having it all! Money, Love, Health…a whole bunch of abundance, happiness, contentment and freedom!

For me personally, it’s being madly in love with a man who cherishes me. A
business that touches the lives of women from around the world and a lot of time to spend with my love ones.

What are your tips on healthy eating during the holiday season and how to keep fit during this time?

1. DO NOT miss a workout!
2. Don’t starve yourself all day before you go to a party in the hopes of saving calories (it never
   works)
3. Keep drinking down to 2-3 nights a week (not 7)
4. Eat a cookie it won’t make you fat
5. I said eat the cookie …NOT the tray! This isn’t the last time your aunt Shirley is making your favorite dessert

What is the bigger picture for Haute Health and Fitness?

To grow my membership program to hold 5,500 members where we will have live weekly coaching where women can get 1-on-1 support from me and their sisters at a super reasonable price.

I don’t believe taking the best care of your health should have to break the bank. I purposely designed a membership program that gives all the tools for women to transform her body + mind +soul.

I am super excited to watch it grow!