We had the good fortune of connecting with Nina Shyne Alviar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nina, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I began Coaching because I believe that challenges I overcome in life become the gift I can give others, to help them through it, too. It all started when I was a little child, my mom gave me cookies when I was sad. I instantly associated food with emotional support, as a way to numb or ignore pain. I was lonely with two much older sisters (they had moved when I was a toddler,) and my parents, who I love and know were doing their best, were much older and pretty checked out by the time I surprised them with my arrival.
I was six the first time I was called fat, and that began my struggle with food, with the shame of feeling like my body was “wrong” and that my appearance would be in the way of making friends. Mind you, I wasn’t that overweight, but kids, as they say, can be cruel.
My mom put me on Weight Watchers when I was 10 – and I discovered that I could connect to my sisters and my mom through dieting and exercising. We would do the Jane Fonda Workouts and complain about our bodies, wearing black to look more slim and always looking for the next best thing when we ultimately gained all the weight back, plus more (as many of us can relate to – this is the reason I SMASH diet culture to bits with my clients and anyone who will listen.)
The yo-yo dieting, restricting and bingeing, emotional eating, and hating myself continued until was 46. I finally stopped, at 206 lbs (I’m 5’5″) with a fatty liver, hobbling around and winded at the top of the stairs, and something hit me – if I kept doing what I’d always done, I’d end up getting what I’d always gotten.
I remembered that I had been to a group with one of my sisters about emotional eating. Hmmm, maybe that was it! So I got as many books as I could and also did my own research. After some trial and error, I figured out how to change my relationship to food, my body, and my LIFE.
As I say in my program – “The inside work makes the outside work, work!” Until I kicked diet culture to the curb and looked honestly at why I was going for food when that wasn’t what I truly needed, nothing would ever change.
So I did – I practiced catching myself before I reached for food and checked in about what would truly be nourishing in that moment. I dug up old limiting beliefs, negative self talk, and felt what had been waiting for me to finally feel and let go of, so that I stopped shoving down everything with food.
See, when we eat instead of looking at our stuff, the feeling is still there, but then we feel even worse because now we ate something or too much when we know that’s not what we really need, just for the temporary Dopamine hit. Seems ridiculous when you look at it that way, but if you don’t know the way out, you stay stuck in the cycle.
I released almost 90lbs, and got very fit, and now at 51 years old, am the healthiest I’ve ever been, mentally and physically, in my life! I’m so grateful every day to wake up in a strong body and with joy, resiliency, and truly being the woman I decided, I CHOSE, to be!
Now I am a CTAA Certified International Coach, helping people all over the world to free themselves through my program – Power FULL Emotional Eating and Empowerment.
When we feel amazing on the inside, the outside starts to match. We make better choices and truly enjoy food, love our bodies, and are empowered in all areas of our lives.
The program uses Awareness Practice, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Hormone Education, Neural Plasticity and Neurogenesis, Habit Modification, Self Appreciation, Resiliency Training and Empowerment tools, and more, to help my clients clear the slate and create the person they have always wanted to be, in every way.
It’s so much more than healing our relationship with food and our bodies. My clients discover the deeply rooted subconscious old and useless stuff that they don’t need to carry around anymore – and the transformations are mind blowing! Not only do they not use food like a drug anymore and do exercise as a big “thank you for this glorious body!” but they become their ideal selves, owning the power to create that wonderful person they always truly have been, before all the crap got piled on top of them throughout their lives. And quickly!
I am always humbled and honored to be their guide on this journey, and the testimonials always make me cry tears of joy!
I work with people with all kinds of past experiences, nothing is going to shock or surprise me! I’m trained in many practices and have experienced trauma myself. And I have wonderful therapist friends to refer to if my client and I feel they need extra healing and support.
Everything is changeable, no one is broken, and we all deserve a life of health, joy, resiliency and power.

What should our readers know about your business?
(I answered a lot of this in the first question 😉 ) My program, Power FULL Coaching – Emotional Eating and Empowerment, started when I healed myself in all areas in my life so I stopped using food like a drug.
I found myself naturally helping others who were struggling, and became a CTAA Certified Coach, developed the program and have empowered many people around the world to truly love food, their bodies, and their lives.
What sets my program apart is how quickly and joyfully transformation happens in my clients – and with my cutting humor, occasional f-bombs, and mix of hard science and spiritual (not religious) tools, we laugh, cry, and clear away old unhelpful stuff, so that they finally and permanently own the power in their lives.
I want the world to know that they CAN change anything they want to about themselves and their lives. That no one is “broken” and that everyone truly deserves to live free and healthy in body and mind. My big passion and purpose is to ensure that no one gets to the end of their time on Earth thinking that they could never change, and that “that’s just the way things are.” My passion is to impact as many people as possible to understand the truth – that they create themselves with every choice, and that everything is let-go-able that doesn’t serve them. And I give them effective and easy tools to do it, that they own for the rest of their lives.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to Shoutout to my sister, Gail, for taking me to that group about emotional eating, and for introducing me to the idea that I could change my life with all the wonderful self-help books she gave me when I was in my 20’s. The seeds were planted and I will forever be grateful to her! My fitness coach – Jennifer Nicole Lee, for encouraging and believing in me, and for having a program that strengthens body and mind – nothing like it on Earth! To my mentor and friend, Shawn Antonio, for seeing my potential and impact, and helping me grow. And finally my sweet family (My Don, Alex, and my fantastic teens Marquez and Lucero) for loving me through all the ups and downs and supporting me in my passion and purpose of truly empowering as many people as possible to live their healthiest and happiest lives.

Instagram: @ninashynealviar

Facebook: facebook.com/PowerFULLCoachingWithNinaShyne

Other: powerfullcoachingnow@gmail.com *Website up soon

Image Credits
Alex Kowalchik, Zuzu Weingart

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