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Our mission is to enhance and enlighten the well-being of others... welcome to 'health up' - our podcast channel. We provide relevant, real world health guidance that you can apply in your daily life.
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From Disempowerment to Empowerment: Taking Charge of Your Health and Life
Are you feeling trapped by life's challenges, especially when it comes to your health? What if taking control of your well-being could unlock a life of empowerment and freedom?
In this episode, I share my personal journey from a childhood plagued by frequent illnesses to a life transformed through health empowerment. Together, we’ll explore how education, self-awareness, and proactive self-care—through nutrition, exercise, and quality sleep—can help us regain control over our lives.
Frustration often arises when others dictate our choices, but knowledge and action can lead to autonomy. I’ll dive into how engaging with open-minded experts and building financial literacy have helped me make confident decisions in all areas of life. This is your invitation to turn discontent into growth and discover strategies to cultivate empowerment, freedom, and control.
Join me on this transformative journey and take the first step toward living an empowered and liberated life.
About me&my health up & Anthony Hartcher
me&my health up seeks to enhance and enlighten the well-being of others. Host Anthony Hartcher is the CEO of me&my wellness which provides holistic health solutions using food as medicine, combined with a holistic, balanced, lifestyle approach. Anthony holds three bachelor's degrees in Complementary Medicine; Nutrition and Dietetic Medicine; and Chemical Engineering.
Podcast Disclaimer
Any information, advice, opinions or statements within it do not constitute medical, health care or other professional advice, and are provided for general information purposes only. All care is taken in the preparation of the information in this Podcast. [Connected Wellness Pty Ltd] operating under the brand of “me&my health up”..click here for more
Do you ever have times where you feel really disempowered? People are telling you what to do. You get frustrated easily. You wish you knew the answer, you wish you knew the way, you wish you knew you had better direction. Well, you've landed on the Me and my Health Up podcast, and today we're covering empowerment and disempowerment. So what I just described was the feeling of disempowerment, that you don't have autonomy, you don't feel like you're in control, and often we can feel this in areas of our life. And so today I'm sharing some insights as to how you can become more empowered, how you can break the shackles of disempowerment, take control of your life and go in the direction that you intend and want to go in. So, yes, I'm your host, anthony Hartcher, a clinical nutritionist and lifestyle medicine specialist. The purpose of this podcast is to enhance and enlighten your well-being and, yes, I seek to empower your health health up. So that's what this whole podcast is about, and if you're joining me today, I welcome you into this episode of empowerment versus disempowerment. So how did this episode arrive and where did I come up this episode?
Anthony Hartcher:I was very much reflecting on my story and I want to share that story with you because, as we are humans, we relate better through stories and we understand better through sharing stories. So I'm going to share my story, my backstory, and it starts when I was a little kid. A little kid preschool and early primary school I was quite sick. I was that kid that had the ear nose infections on a consistent basis that gluey ear, that snot stuff coming out of the ear, runny nose or throat and it was really frustrating. Every time I went into the water I'd get an ear infection and that would be painful, and those who have experienced ear infections will know what it's like. It is intense because during the day you can take your mind away from it. There's other distractions, uh, there's other stimulus. At night, there's reduced stimulus and you really notice the pain coming from that middle, middle ear infection. So I I really noticed it at night and it was frustrating and painful and affected my sleep.
Anthony Hartcher:As a little kid I didn't have the energy that I would have liked to and I really couldn't enjoy myself as much as I observed others around me enjoying myself or enjoying themselves in terms of playing in pools and doing what they wanted to do. I was too scared about getting another ear infection, so I wanted to stay out of the water, or I didn't want to. I felt that it would be better served if I stayed out of the water than going in the water and risking getting an ear infection. So that really frustrated me. At the same time, I was being taken to doctors, specialists, and in the end it was concluded that I needed to have surgery, and so it was that I needed to have my tonsils removed and grommets inserted into my ears to widen the canal.
Anthony Hartcher:So, as a little kid, my perception was I was sick. Other kids weren't going in or being tossed around between doctors and specialists and going into hospital for operations. They were out just free spirits, and so I felt very disempowered disempowered with respect to health. I didn't realize this at the time. Obviously, looking back, I do realize it. My parents, in a sense, were disempowered in terms of options. They knew about the medical pathways and that was the pathway they choose, because they had that awareness of medicine, and so they were given medical options in terms of drugs and surgery, the two medical options, and so that was the pathway I went down. Obviously, there are other pathways dealing with ear, nose, throat infections and I think, reflecting back, I felt that I was going in a direction that I didn't like.
Anthony Hartcher:I've realized over the years that I have a high sense and value on autonomy and freedom and I was given a lot of that by my parents and I value it a lot, and during those years I felt that that was taken away from me. I felt really out of control and this is what you're to do, and being told what to do and what I couldn't do, that doesn't go well with me. I very much like making my own decisions, choosing my own pathways, and so this disempowerment didn't sit well with me and it developed this fire within me, this void that I perceived. I had developed this underlying desire to change that and as a result of getting out of hospital, I went about looking after myself and had a very strong focus at a very early age around health. I was reading books Wayne Pierce's books on nutrition. I was following league. I played league at the time. I admired all the league players, and so Wayne Pierce was one of the league players that really stood out. He wrote a book on nutrition. I read his book. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the other guy around exercise. So I read his book around exercise and I just remembered digesting this content. It was really important to me.
Anthony Hartcher:I was very much into my sports, reading a lot about different types of sports, buying those magazines, digesting those magazines, and so my fixation was really around health and in particularly, around nutrition and exercise. Sleep was something I did really well from a young age. I really just valued sleep. I didn't know why it was just. I think it was something that came natural to me and so I had this very much at the time, a holistic approach, which it's only in hindsight that I realized this. Obviously, at the time I was just doing what I was doing and it was filling that void of feeling so disempowered, and so that education over time gave me more autonomy, more control. I understood nutrition a bit better over time. I understood exercise better over time. I understood that if I got a good night's sleep I'd have more energy. So that was the association I had with sleep a better night's sleep, more energy the next day, and I love being active. So I measured myself based on how I could perform in my sports and if I was performing training well, then that was a tick and I'd keep doing what I was doing to achieve that level of performance in terms of improvement around those sports.
Anthony Hartcher:So that was very much those early you know, primary school years, adolescence years like I was dieting. I remember I was nine years old when I first started dieting. It was quite incredible. I guess that's probably not, it's probably more common today, but back then that was very uncommon. People had very little focus around nutrition. You know, today there's a lot more focus around nutrition, parents a lot more conscious of it and passing that on to their children. However, a nine year old back when I was growing up, focused on nutrition, was unheard of. I was a very unique individual at the time. So, yeah, I remember dieting. I was actually looking at, you know, like I was actually doing time not really time restrictive feeding, but caloric restriction, and it wasn't anything to do with body dysmorphia or anything like that or body shape or the way my body looked.
Anthony Hartcher:It was around just learning and applying and that's what I've been able to do throughout my health journey, and so my strong value around health really comes from this void. As a little kid not having health or perceiving not having health, I was obviously a lot better off than other kids. I was witnessing kids at the time going through cancer and things like that. So relatively I had good health, but for me, I had that impetus to want to have optimal health from an early age and I still have that drive today. And that drive very much is not only myself but others. How can I make a difference in other people's lives in helping them with optimal health? So my journey of empowerment in health came through taking responsibility, holding myself accountable and going about educating myself. And so this, through the education, taking responsibility that gave me empowerment, I was able to make my own decisions eventually around health.
Anthony Hartcher:Obviously, I was very directed by my parents whilst I was at home, but since leaving home I've been very much making my own decisions and my most recent insight comes from this last year, this 2024 year, where I was diagnosed with atherosclerosis, so carotid arteries of the heart, the left descending artery. So that that was a big shock to me because I had all this focus on health and then to have a chronic disease just pop up out of nowhere, like I had no symptoms. So I'm asymptomatic in terms of this presentation. So it was just found without symptoms. So I haven't had any heart problems and thank God I haven't.
Anthony Hartcher:But it was discovered through me going through a medical examination and that brought it on my radar. I had increased awareness and I felt, wow, I've been doing all this around health and you start doubting yourself, you start questioning yourself and whether you've been doing the right things. And I've done that. I've been doing all this around health and you start doubting yourself, you start questioning yourself and you know whether you've been doing the right things. And I've done that. I've, you know, I've looked back at what I've been doing and now looked at the research and and look, you know, so it's driven a hyper focus around health this year. So 2024, has been a year of very much hyper focus around my health, improving that and, as a result, I've been able to reverse the atherosclerosis which I was told by my cardiologist initially it was an irreversible condition. So it really surprised him to see that I had significantly reduced my calcium score. It was 504 and then it was reduced down to 367. He was blown away with that sort of shift and for me I was quite relieved.
Anthony Hartcher:In a sense, what I was doing was against medical advice, but it obviously got the outcome that I was seeking. So the medical advice at the time was you need to take blood thinners, you need to take cholesterol medication because I have high cholesterol and because of this empowerment that I've been seeking over the years, I didn't feel disempowered in that situation where I was being influenced by an authority, a very authoric, you know, a specialist, so very knowledgeable in their area of expertise around cardiology, and letting me know that this is what I should be doing to prevent a heart attack. So that's obviously the worst case scenario around having carotid arteries or blocked arteries. And so at the time I thought, no, this doesn't sit well with me. I'm asymptomatic. I've never had any signs that I could have a heart attack, even though I've been doing high intensity exercise. So I've been really elevating my heart rate, been working at elevated heart rate for long periods of time and have no heart problems.
Anthony Hartcher:So I was thinking the heart must be finding a way to work, even with the partial blockage. So I thought, no, I'm going to go with what I know. Yes, I'll question what I know and look further into the literature, which I did. And so I found out more insight and I started to apply that new insight. And interesting that I actually came across this insight well before the diagnosis, so I'd actually started to apply it into my life before I got the diagnosis, but the diagnosis made me double down in what I was doing, so I was actually really starting to make change, irrespective of the diagnosis that I received. So this made me reflect that in 2024, that I've been able to turn around what I perceived as a young kid, this sense of disempowerment in health, to feeling fully empowered around my health, having the courage and the knowledge or the self-confidence from within to go against medical advice, which is a big thing.
Anthony Hartcher:A lot of people don't like going against the grain. They think, well, I'm going against all these experts and what they know and their knowledge base. And who am I to question that? Well, I felt, I guess, over 40 years of building up my health knowledge, that I had the confidence in myself and in my own knowledge to go against the grain and to apply it. And and again, I I still have an element of uncertainty in terms of am I doing the right thing? Am I making it worse because the what I was told around medical advice going doing the opposite to what they were recommending? So they were recommending staying away from fatty foods. I was consuming large quantities of fatty foods and so I was actually really going against the medical advice and I. But I still had the confidence from within and I think I developed that over the years.
Anthony Hartcher:I developed that muscle, that self-confidence in health, because I put so much time and energy, like I've done two degrees, spent eight years at university studying health and plus all the additional study I've done outside of the institution, and again that equates to around 40 years of focus on health and reading newspaper articles, magazines, scientific journals all these and obviously listening to experts in their field, taking in their expertise, and so, like a little sponge, I've absorbed a lot of health knowledge and feel very empowered in the topic of health. Hence why it's given me so much confidence to share it with others, to start a podcast on health. I have a lot of confidence around health and feel very empowered, and I want to share that with others that may feel a bit disempowered, like I did as a little kid, that are seeking that empowerment, hence why it's called Health Up. It's really elevating your health, and so what I want to share with you in this episode obviously I shared my story, and why I wanted to share this episode on empowerment versus disempowerment was that, when I reflect in areas that I felt disempowered. It gave me an inclination to want to change that, and part of that is because I have a high value on freedom and autonomy around decision-making. Not everyone shares that high value that I have. So what I'm assuming, if you're listening to this episode, is that you'll have a high value in health, and hence why you're seeking more information, more empowerment in health, because it's important to you. You wouldn't be listening to health up if health wasn't important to you. So you're empowering your area I mean your knowledge base, your intellect around health, which is fantastic because you'll be able to be more autonomous in your decision-making and have the self-confidence to go against the grain, to go against authorities and question authorities.
Anthony Hartcher:But in other areas of your life, if you're feeling a sense of frustration because people are telling you what to do and you want the freedom to make your own decision, then what you want to do is invest time into that space and start making small changes in that space. And it starts by seeking knowledge, seeking wisdom in that area that you're frustrated with. And you're frustrated being told what to do because in any area whether it be in relationships, in finances, in intellect, in social circles, in area, in family, wherever you're being told what to do and it's frustrating you and you're getting irritable about it, then there's that's a telltale sign that you're wanting to change that. So address it by taking action. By taking that first action to seeking an expert, seeking professional opinion, seeking a diverse opinion base, going online, seeing what you can find online. Use ai, for example. It's a great way to find credible like because with the ai, information that's shared with you. They share the resources as to where that information comes from, so you can check whether they're credible sources. But it synthesizes the information really concisely for you so that you can get up to speed quickly on a subject matter.
Anthony Hartcher:So, yeah, if you're feeling very disempowered in a relationship, you're being constantly told what to do, you don't feel like you have autonomy around decision making and you want more autonomy. This can go with teenage kids, too right, that are getting frustrated with their parents of being told what to do by their parents and they're wanting more autonomy. Well, the way in which to break that is, rather than to fight and resist, is get educated and find ways to communicate successfully your needs and your desires, and you'll be able to communicate in such a way that people understand. When we just get frustrated and irritable, we confront it in a way that people understand. When we just get frustrated and irritable, we confront it in a way that's emotional and it's not the most resourceful way, because what people feel is your emotion and that gets them unsettled and then they not really thinking about their understanding. They they're not seeking to really understand you because they're not in that sort of state. They're more in that irritated state or aroused state and that in that aroused state, we seek control. And so then the parents trying to control you or the authorities trying to control you.
Anthony Hartcher:And so with my health story around the cardiology cardiologist, I had the confidence, because of all this knowledge I'd built, to be able to share my point of view without dismissing his point of view. But we were able to have a relaxed conversation, as opposed to me saying no, I'm not doing that and that's rubbish. I didn't react with any emotion. I listened intently to understand his position and then I articulated my position based on my knowledge base and sharing with him where I'm getting this information from, and they were credible sources. They were actually medical experts as well and he obviously comes from the medical field. So he sees anyone with a medical qualification as credible. So he would. And the other. The great thing about my cardiologist he was also open-minded. He wasn't a black and white thinker and closed-minded and shut me down. So I was quite fortunate in the sense that I was referred to a cardiologist that also had an open mind and I must say my doctor is open-minded too. So I've been very fortunate in that sense. In terms of the medical people that I sought their opinion or get their help from that they've also had a open and respectful relationship with their patients. So I found that very helpful.
Anthony Hartcher:And in terms of helping you around empowerment, start making a change by seeking education, seeking expertise, seeking growth in this area that you feel disempowered in, reading books from experts, taking in information, breaking it down so that what is it the one thing that you can apply immediately that day, whatever you've learned, and integrating that into your life and start consistently applying it. And that's what I've done around health. It's what I've also done around finances. So my financial position is far better than what it was 20 years ago, but it could have been the same today if I didn't seek empowerment around finances. I have significant knowledge around well significant financial education knowledge. Now to make my own decisions, because I've constantly sought information and knowledge from expertise in the area. And so I'm still listening to podcasts today and reading books around financial because that's, I guess, it ties in with area. And so I'm still listening to podcasts today and reading books around financial because that's, I guess, it ties in with freedom.
Anthony Hartcher:My value around freedom and autonomy to make my own decisions is that I don't want to be disempowered in any area of life, and even in relationships. I've actually read relationship books about men and women and communication and all that sort of thing Self-help. Obviously, in order to improve relationships, you need to understand yourself better. So I have actively sought empowerment in all areas of life and I must say I'm at a point in my life now where I feel very empowered in all areas. There's not an area where I really feel out of my comfort zone or disempowered or not able to make a decision Confident decision, obviously. We can make decisions but feel that we're not very confident in that decision and then ask other people what their opinion is and then get more confused. So the more knowledgeable you are, the more certain you will be around your decision making. The more clarity you have, the more self-confidence you'll have, the more self-esteem, and this is like building any muscle in the body it's the application of the knowledge that gives you autonomy, that gives you power, that gives you power from within to run your own life, as opposed to being told what to do. And so this is really important.
Anthony Hartcher:If there's an area of your life that you're still feeling frustrated and irritable in, I really suggest, take that as a cue to make a change, because that's a void. That's a void and you're feeling it in your body In order to shift that feeling and turn that emotional energy into productive energy, by going about seeking education in that area. That's frustrating you and it's really simply if you like podcasts, find an expert in that field who's doing a podcast, and they will be sharing lots of information in their field of expertise, and you can start taking that on board when you're doing walks. So what I really? Yes, go about getting educated, and then the next step is applying those gems, those bits of knowledge that really resonate with you, because some of the knowledge that's shared just doesn't sit well and it's because you don't have a. You know, you haven't developed a great enough understanding like. So I remember when I was studying finances that I learned about options and derivatives and at the time it was, you know, I didn't really understand the concept and I didn't do anything about it because it was just too difficult to grasp. Even today, I still haven't done anything about it because, to me, I I'm more a long-term, I'm a different type of investor. So I think it's really important that you understand the direction you want to go in and the space you want to play in, because that will help you acquire information in that area.
Anthony Hartcher:So, for health, I'm very, at the moment, very into quantum health, understanding health at a totally new level, at a very microscopic, super microscopic, invisible to the human senses. Yeah, so, in terms of the takeaways, in summary, feeling irritable time to take action, seek knowledge and apply that knowledge and keep applying it and keep applying it. Be consistent with the application. I find too often with my clients that they stop it because they're not getting the immediate results. Any change takes time to, not only for you to adapt to and get it as a consistent practice, but even to actually get a change in the outcome requires consistency. So a master of anything has not got that way overnight. They've put a lot of work into over many years, over many hours, and it's been consistency and discipline in that area of mastery that has been the key to them. So and because constantly improving in that area too. It's like with my health and nutrition. I've constantly been educating myself around nutrition and improving it. So what I was doing a year ago well, probably two years ago is totally different. So what I was doing a year ago well, probably two years ago is totally different to what I'm doing today. And so my nutrition knowledge is always evolving, and so is my application. So again, apply what you learn, keep applying it, keep evolving, keep doing those one percenters and you'll keep growing and thriving in that space and you'll feel very empowered over time. But it takes time. It certainly takes time.
Anthony Hartcher:Reflecting back on this last year and then having that confidence to be able to take my own pathway against medical advice, I'm thinking if it wasn't for that early childhood experience, I wouldn't be that person today. So I'm very grateful for that early childhood experience. I'm very grateful for that early childhood experience. I'm very grateful for the pathway that my parents took me down, because it's set me up today to look for options to help my clients, so that my clients don't have just one option or two options. They've got a multitude of options. We can explore them all, explore all the pros and cons, and they can then choose the one that best sits with them and where they want to take their health. And so that is empowerment. The decision ultimately sits with my clients, but I'm providing the education in terms of making sure they see the whole picture, the pros and the cons, and then they can make the best decision for them around their health and the direction they go down.
Anthony Hartcher:So that is all being brought about through my early experience and I'm very grateful for the journey I've been on and thank everyone my parents, myself for making the decision to take action and everyone that's supported me in my development around health.
Anthony Hartcher:There's been so many teachers and influencers and mentors and guidance that I've gathered over the years, over the decades, that have really got me into this position in 2024, where I feel super empowered and on being able to go against the grain and feel in control of my health and knowing that, yes, what I did, the decision I made in 2024, was the right one, because I was able to reverse the condition that was supposedly irreversible.
Anthony Hartcher:So that's it for this episode on empowerment versus disempowerment. I hope, hope you found it valuable and if you want more support in getting empowered and being able to empower your health, please reach out to me. You'll find my details within the show notes of the episode and I'd love to help you on your health journey, to really empower you and to take your health to the level that you want to take it to or help you achieve your health goals. So please reach out to me. If you found this episode really insightful, please share it with others that you believe will also find insight and learning and help them to inspire their health journey, to help them or inspire the area or help them take initiative in the area that they feel disempowered in and seek empowerment. So thanks for tuning in and continue to health up.
