Another Diet Is Not the Answer

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Hello, beautiful people and welcome back.

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Today I wanna talk about dieting and why another diet is not the answer.

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So some staggering statistics here for you.

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The average American woman will spend about 17 years of her life being on a.

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, at least that was the average back in 2012.

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That's nearly two decades of our lives that we spend trying to lose weight,

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and only about 20% or one fifth of us will manage to maintain any weight

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loss for at least one year or longer.

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Our whole lives we've been told by society, magazines, the

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media, and even other women, that our value lies in our looks.

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We believe that if we were just prettier or thinner, that we'd

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be happy, successful, and we're deserving of love somehow, right?

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Most of us know intellectually that this is bullshit, and thankfully

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we're entering a new era of body positivity where we're starting to see

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all kinds of body types in the media.

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But in our hearts, many of us still believe this lie, that our value is

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determined by our looks, and we keep trying to make ourselves smaller, take

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up less space, and fit into some physical ideal that is usually unrealistic.

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And while losing weight might be a genuine need for some of you to

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reclaim your health and feel your best, it never be your sole focus.

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Now, I realize that this may sound really foreign to you, and it might

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even be contrary to what a doctor has told you in the past, but when

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you prioritize weight loss over your health as a whole, it never pays off

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in the long run, and it can actually create additional metabolic problems.

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So you end up worse off than when you started.

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And here's the.

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Excess weight is not a standalone problem.

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It can be a symptom of many underlying causes, and if you learn to give

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your body what it needs and you stop abusing it or insulting it, you can

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actually address those causes and start to make peace with your body.

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Mainstream medicine loves to treat symptoms and look at each

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body system in a vacuum, right?

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But in functional medicine and in functional nutrition, We try to look

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for where the problem is originating from, and then we work to restore

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balance at the foundational level.

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Once that balance is restored, usually the symptoms go away.

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We also like to look at the body as a whole versus as

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individual systems because.

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Every system in your body is interconnected.

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So dysfunction in one area can affect other systems and functions,

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and this is why I am always hating on the calories and calories out

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philosophy because it's way too reductionist a way of looking at things.

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You know, we've been told for decades just to eat less and exercise more, but that's

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a ridiculously oversimplified approach.

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It's basically the health equivalent of using a rotary phone when

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you have an iPhone available to.

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, and that's not my analogy.

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I stole that from someone else, and I thought it was brilliant because

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it makes perfect sense basically.

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It's extremely limited and it only works to a point, right?

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Like you can make a phone call with that Roary phone, but you can't text

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somebody, you can't check your email.

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You know, it has one basic job that it'll do, but beyond that, You're outta luck.

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So the just eat less and exercise more.

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And a lot of the other nutrition and fitness advice out there often works

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for men or for women that are in their twenties or younger, but it typically

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does not work for women long term from about our mid thirties and beyond.

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And it also does not work for men who want to really increase muscle

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mass and maintain healthy hormone.

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Our bodies are really, really complex, especially the female body, and there are

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a multitude of factors that influence how your met metabolism functions or how your

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body uses and stores fuel and nutrients.

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even much of the latest data that we find on fasting and ketogenic diets

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comes from studies that are using college aged white male subjects.

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I think all of you would probably agree that the body of a college stage

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male is probably very, very different.

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A very different machine than ours.

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Meaning, you know, those of women in their thirties are beyond.

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So we really need to get away from trying to eat an exercise like men.

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You'll hear me.

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Repeat this over and over, and we need to learn what works to help us

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create healthy and strong, resilient minds and bodies, and also just to

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meet our bodies in whatever stage of life that we're in right now.

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, and this is the problem with one size fits all fad diets and trends.

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They do not take into account your unique body chemistry, life experiences,

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mental health, lifestyle, et cetera.

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And most importantly, they don't help you create a healthier

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relationship with food or your body.

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If they did help you shift your mindset away from diet culture, that

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would mean billions of dollars lost by the diet and fitness industry.

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So keeping you in that system is actually the goal.

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I believe one of, if not the most important problems is

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that diets don't teach you.

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How to navigate everyday life without the rigidity of a structured plan.

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Now, I'm not saying that you should have zero structure cuz everybody is

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different when it comes to planning ahead.

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Some people are good at improvising and making healthy

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choices on the fly and others.

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Definitely need more structure to stay consistent.

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I find that most people do need that structure at the beginning at least.

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but again, you know, everybody's completely different and there are a

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lot of factors that come into play here.

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So, you know, we've gotta plan for these things time wise.

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I mean, there's grocery shopping, you've gotta work around work schedule.

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Kids, if you've got kids, travel your social life.

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These are all important considerations when it comes to how much planning you

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need to do and how structured it will.

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. I also think that finite structured programs definitely have a time and a

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place, and I even offer a few of these because they can be really good way

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to help someone create good habits, untangle habits that are not serving

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them well, and start feeling better in a relatively short period of time.

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And often when you realize that, Hey, I, I can eat delicious food and not be hungry

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all the time and still get results, that can be really motivating and it can make

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things just a lot easier moving forward after that point because you know what

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it's like to feel good for once, right?

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And it's exciting to see those changes.

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Also, when it comes to cravings or sugar addiction, those are things that

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you can break free of in as little as a few days, you know, depending on.

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your level of dependency on, you know, sugar, caffeine, things like that.

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And once those cravings are under control, things are a lot easier from then on out.

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I can definitely attest to this for myself that when I stay off of sugar

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for a few days, it's kind of, you know, rough at first, but man, you

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know, they go away pretty quickly.

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Those cravings.

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also I, I will say that I think being flexible and having a really good

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plan B or fallback option is key to long term success when it comes

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to creating a healthy lifestyle.

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I do not offer ongoing meal plans to my clients, and here's why.

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If you are always relying on meal plans, especially those that are

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created by someone else, what are you going to do when you go to a

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dinner party or you're on a cruise?

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Or you're eating out when on vacation or out of town, or taking clients to a meal.

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A meal plan is not gonna serve you well in those settings.

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And if someone else is always dictating what you eat, it will prevent you

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from figuring out a way of eating that is custom tailored for you and

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your unique, set of circumstances.

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For example, I don't have kids.

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I rarely travel for.

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and I lift weights for exercise most days.

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So if I create a meal plan that works for me and my schedule and takes into

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consideration, My food sensitivities preferences, my training goals, et cetera.

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It may not work for all of my clients, especially my client who maybe she

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has three kids, she travels a lot for work and she's doing yoga three

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days a week, when she can fit it in.

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So my point here is that you have a lot more success in the long run

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if you learn to eat and exercise.

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And plan ahead or food prep in ways that work for you, your body, and

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your lifestyle, not someone else's.

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So how do we do this ? Well, I think a really good place to start is simply

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by moving away from processed foods.

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Whole 30 is a really great example that.

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Is a good way of getting people away from eating fast foods, processed foods, but

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I find that many people found it to be too big of a leap to make, and for some

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people it's unnecessarily restrictive.

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For example, some people do just fine with legumes and or some grains in their diets,

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while others are much better off without.

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I know I don't tolerate grains very well.

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I am gluten intolerant, legumes turning me into a gas bomb . So those

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are not foods that serve me well.

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and just some ways to tell if certain foods do agree with you or don't.

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Is by noticing just how you feel over the next couple of hours after eating them.

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So do you feel gassy or bloated?

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Do you get that distended belly or food baby feeling?

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do you get really tired shortly after eating, or do you get

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brain fog and do you feel hungry again within a couple of hours?

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Any or all of these are signs that a food is not serving you well,

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and a good way to help you connect the dots between specific foods and

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symptoms is by keeping a food diary.

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Um, I know that a lot of people are hesitant to do that because it's one other

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thing, you know, to schedule in their day, but if you were having any kind of,

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you know, gut health issues or symptoms after eating, you know, you're struggling

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with any of those things that I mentioned.

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skin is another thing that's a really common issue.

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If people have food sensitivities, they will get breakouts.

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It can flare.

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Things like eczema and psoriasis, they'll just sometimes get itchy skin or hives.

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So it's really, really helpful to keep a food diary because then

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you can kind of go back and see like, Oh, okay, you know what?

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That day I had a bunch of dairy and I broke out the next day or two

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days later, or whatever it might.

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and then you can kind of adjust your, your diet according.

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And by diet I mean like overall nutrition, , not short term diet.

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This is what we're trying to get away from.

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And then also while eating primarily whole unprocessed foods is always

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the goal, I don't think it's necessary to avoid anything and

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everything that comes in a package.

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I think that that is overly restrictive.

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And I think that for a lot of people, having a really

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rigid rule, like absolutely no process or packaged foods is.

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It just puts them over the edge and it makes them feel like it's

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impossible to do this right.

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You know?

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I think we should always try to choose minimally processed foods, but you know,

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having some gluten free crackers or chips now and then is not going to kill us.

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It's when these foods become staples and we're eating them all

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the time, that they're problematic.

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And the good news here is that once you do start eating a real Whole Foods,

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Diet for the most part, your tastes will actually start to change and you will find

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those real foods more and more appealing.

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The junky process stuff will become much less desirable when you start to

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feel better, because really here you're giving your body what it needs versus

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just eating what your brain wants in the moment, and the more that you practice.

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You know, the more that you'll crave the good stuff, the less that you'll crave

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the bad stuff and the easier it will get to make choices that serve you well and

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the less tempting the other stuff will.

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And I speak from experience here as a recovering sugar addict.

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I can tell you that the less often that I eat it, the less I crave it.

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Don't get me wrong, I still indulge in a sweet treat now and then, and I

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have a little dark chocolate almost every day, but I no longer binge on

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cookies or candy like I used to, and I really don't have a desire to anymore.

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Which, let me tell you, if you had told me that, that those words

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would ever come out of my mouth.

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You know, 20 years ago, I would've laughed in your face because I

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never thought that I could be free of my addiction to those things.

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but if I can do it, you can too.

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You know, most Americans are eating diets that consist primarily of these highly

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processed foods, and you may be one of those people, or you may just have some

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of these foods that you eat regularly.

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I find that my clients have a much easier time moving away from these

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foods often by first switching to a cleaner or organic version of that

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food before eventually eliminating it, or only having it once in a while.

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Why is that?

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So usually these highly processed foods will contain different chemicals, flavor

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enhancers, things like msg which can masquerade under a multitude of names.

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These ingredients, these additives and chemicals actually

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make these foods addictive.

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It's what creates that.

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You can't eat just one effect.

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So many organic foods do not use those additives.

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So when you're looking for something to switch like that, um, like let's

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use craft mac and cheese as an example.

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Start getting used to reading ingredients on your label.

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If you read the label of craft mac and cheese and you compared that to

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maybe the organic Annie's mac and cheese, um, The Annie's mac and cheese

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is still not a health food by Annie.

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Stretch the imagination.

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But you're gonna have a lot fewer of those, you know, weird additives,

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flavor enhancers, things like that.

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Same will go for, you know, tortilla chips, crackers, all of those things.

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So just start moving towards products that are.

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Um, ideally organic, but also have very few ingredients so the

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fewer ingredients the better.

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And try to choose things where you actually know what those ingredients are.

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And they're not mystery words that mean nothing to you because usually

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that's indicative of something that we probably shouldn't be

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eating if we don't know what it is.

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Now this does not work for everybody.

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You may need to quit certain foods, cold Turkey.

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So be honest with yourself and know.

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Those foods that you can't eat, just a little bit of may need

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to be out completely, or they'll end up sabotaging your goals.

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So I'm not immune to this either.

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There are two categories of foods that I do not buy or keep in the house.

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One is what I consider binge foods.

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Those are the foods that once I start, I can't stop.

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It's a slippery slope.

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And you know, I really have a hard time eating a reasonable serving of those.

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That's what I would call a binge food.

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Two trigger foods.

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The difference here is it trigger food.

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Maybe you don't overeat that food, but it triggers cravings for other things.

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And so you end up going overboard with other things because that food sort

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of set off this, this cascade effect.

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Um, and to be clear, I don't avoid these binge and trigger foods because

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I'm necessarily concerned about the amount of calories they have,

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although sure, that can be a problem.

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But the real problem here is that these foods are really high in sugar

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or starchy carbs, which makes me crave more sugar, and they really have a

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negative effect on my mental health.

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I find if I'm eating more of these high glycemic foods, which again, this is the

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term you'll hear me referring to a lot.

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High glycemic foods are things that give you a big old blood

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sugar spike and then a crash.

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Those can make me really anxious.

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And you know, if you're someone that deals with anxiety or you've

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dealt with depression, insomnia, other issues with blood sugar

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regulation, these are not your friend.

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So, for me, I avoid those because they do make me feel anxious and then

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I feel, I get really down on myself.

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I feel really disappointed in the choice I made because I

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know it didn't serve me well.

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I feel crappy physically.

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and then it sort of, you know, has this awful knock on effect.

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So, I'm better now at not beating myself up if I choose something that

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doesn't serve me well, and I bounce back a lot faster, and I make those,

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you know, poor choices far, far less frequently now than I used to.

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So, you know, it's, it takes some time and you just have to be kind to

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yourself and give yourself grace and remind yourself like, okay, no big deal.

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Didn't love that choice for me.

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Didn't work out so great.

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But that's all right.

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, I'll make a different choice next time.

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So, you know, for me too, I, and maybe some of you can relate to this, I

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really don't wanna go back to the place either in reality or in my mind to

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when I used to eat an entire package of double stuff Oreos, and feel so

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physically sick and disgusted with myself that I would make myself throw

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it up and then I would continue to beat myself up over it for three days.

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You know, it was.

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Terrible, and it really took a while to get to the place where I know that

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the momentary pleasure of something is simply not worth the trade off

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for the cascade of effects it causes mentally and physically for me.

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You can get there too.

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It just does take some determination, and dedication to really just treating

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yourself with respect and nurture.

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And so I always wanna bring it back to that respect and

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nurturing your body and your mind.

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I think the bottom line here is that if you can really get curious,

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start paying attention to how your body responds to different foods,

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and then experiment and see what level of structure is best for you.

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That's how you will create an actual sustainably healthy lifestyle for yourself

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is by being really honest with yourself.

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You know, taking note of what works, what doesn't.

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What level of structure do you work best with?

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What tools do you have to stay on track when you are out of routine, traveling,

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um, in someone else's home, et.

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So this is sort of an aside, but I also think it's important to learn

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how to improvise a healthy meal when you have minimal time or ingredients.

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Because just like relying on a meal plan, sometimes relying

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on a recipe isn't possible and.

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I feel like sometimes the like following a recipe adds just enough extra time

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and brain power that I wanna say, you know, fuck it, I wanna get takeout.

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Like I don't have that level of metal energy left at the end of the day.

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So learning how to stock your fridge, your freezer, and your pantry with items

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that can be used to whip up something super fast and easy and flavorful.

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This is one of the first things I teach my clients and it can be a game changer.

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One example I always use for this is cauliflower rice.

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I always keep frozen organic cauliflower rice in my freezer because I can throw

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the entire bag in a skillet with some avocado oil straight from frozen.

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Don't need to thaw it, and then I'll add my seasoning of choice.

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and then we have a big old pan of veggies in less than five minutes.

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So, you know, I keep all kinds of different seasoning salts.

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I have a really lovely curry powder that I'll put in there,

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maybe with some coconut milk.

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I mean, there's a multitude of things that you can do to sh it up and

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make it really flavorful and simple.

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Simple to do.

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then also when we cook protein, we'll make enough for two to three meals,

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and that way we have something that we can heat up quickly when we need it.

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Someday.

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I'll do a whole episode on food prep because I think it's really

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easy to be intimidated when you see pictures of people in social media

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who, you know, they've done their meal prep for an entire week and

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they have all the little containers.

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That can take an entire day or more.

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And I don't know about you, but I do not wanna spend my entire weekend

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in the kitchen doing meal prep.

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Forget about it.

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it's one thing if that's your full time job and you're a bodybuilder and

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you have time to devote to that or you genuinely enjoy it, more power to you.

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I don't know who you are, but more power to you . That is not me, and that

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is definitely not most of my clients.

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My pro tip for you here.

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The best thing I think that you can do is just wash and chop up your

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veggies and store them in glass containers so they're ready to cook.

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That way when you do go to cook something, everything's ready to go.

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You just throw it in a pan.

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And if you make enough for more than one meal, you then have leftovers for later.

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It'll save you a ton of time.

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You'll only have one setup and one cleanup for your prep.

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If you make extra, you'll have, you know, food.

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To work with you for lunch the next day or to heat it for dinner the next

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day when you don't, you know, wanna go through cooking an entire meal, et cetera.

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It just makes life so much easier and it'll save you

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hours during your work week.

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And I usually spend, it only takes me maybe a half an hour, 45 minutes

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to do that with all my veggies on, you know, a Sunday or a Monday night.

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And then I've got everything I need for the week.

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At first, when you start doing this, it'll take you a little longer,

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but it'll get quicker as you go and as you kind of get a system.

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in our house we also have a rule that if one person cooks, the other

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person does the cleanup, and we rarely, rarely deviate from this.

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It really helps for the cooking to not feel so overwhelming and it prevents a

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lot of resentment between the two of us.

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So I highly recommend trying it out.

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You know, last week we were getting ready to have company at the house and

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my husband had done like a bunch of crazy yard work projects, and so that

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day I was happy to do the cooking.

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And the cleanup afterwards.

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And he's done the same for me at different times when I've just, you know, either

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been wiped out or had a ton going on and he's done the cooking and the cleaning.

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So there are times when it makes sense to deviate from that.

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But in general, I think it's a really good rule, and especially if

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you have kids, get them involved, get them to help wash veggies if

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they're too young to use knives.

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once they're old enough to use knives, they can help you cut.

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They can help you pick out produce at the market.

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The more they get involved, the more they want to eat healthy food as well.

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And recruit them for cleanup also, it teaches them really good habits

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and gives them some ownership when it comes to, you know, healthy

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food and, and eating, eating well.

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So getting back to the dieting thing, it really all comes down to mindset.

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And if you're always thinking about a program or a way of eating in terms of

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when you're starting and when you're finishing, You're gonna remain stuck

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in that cycle of going hog wild before you start to have a last harrah.

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Sound familiar?

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has not done that before.

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I know I have.

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And then falling back into your old habits, as soon as that program or diet is

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done, or is over, the shift takes place.

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When you start to think in terms of creating a new lifestyle for yourself,

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and you learn to eat in a way that serves you well, that makes you feel good, it

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helps you stay focused and energetic.

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Fuels your body for the activities you enjoy, and of course also

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helps you reach your health goals.

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Can you see how that's different from just striving to reach

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for a number on the scale?

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And it's not about perfection.

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I really wanna drive this point home.

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It's.

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Not about perfection.

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It's about being consistent and making choices that honor your body.

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More often than not, nobody, not one person, not even those of us

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who do nutrition as a profession.

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No one eats perfectly all the time, and if you allow yourself to get

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stuck in that all or nothing mindset where you're either all in and you

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know, on the diet wagon bandwagon.

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Or off and the wheels are off the bus and you're completely off track,

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you're setting yourself up for failure.

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I always say that success is found in the gray area.

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It's not black or white.

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So if you get off track and you're not happy with the

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choice you made, no big deal.

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You're literally only one choice away from being right back

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on track at any given time.

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So go back to what works and then just keep practicing it.

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It will get easier.

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For the love of God, please stop trying to work out harder and

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eat fewer and fewer calories.

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Ugh.

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When we try to push our bodies harder and we fuel them less, what happens is

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we end up gaining weight in the long run and we feel increasingly depleted

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instead of getting gleaner and healthier.

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You know, professional athletes, of course, who wouldn't wanna look, you know,

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lean and ripped and toned like an athlete.

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They don't eat less and exercise more news flash . So why would

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you, if that's the look that you're going for, they're fueling for

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performance, right, And recovery, and this pushing harder, fueling less.

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I see this all the time.

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The clients who I call my cardio queens, these are people who come to

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me and they're doing five to six days of high intensity cardio workouts.

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Often an hour long and they're eating like 1500 calories a day or less.

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But for some reason, they cannot lose fat to save their lives.

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They all complain about like, I just have this belly fat, I can't get rid of.

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Why?

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What's wrong?

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And it's because they're not fueling their body for recovery and for performance.

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So the body gets really good at conserving and you know, Down regulating, fat loss

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and everything to compensate for that.

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So again, the eat less exercise more thing, it's just way oversimplified.

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It doesn't work long term and it definitely does not instill love and

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respect for your amazing complex body . So I really want to, you know, leave

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you with that and just encourage you to start thinking differently about.

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Food and about exercise and focusing on a number on the scale and allowing

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that to dictate your mood for the day.

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You know how valuable you feel, your self-esteem.

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Honestly, it's it's bad data in the first place.

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It doesn't tell you how much body fat you have, how much lean muscle mass you have,

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what your bone density is looking like.

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It really doesn't give you any good information, and it can just

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be an emotional roller coaster.

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So, , I encourage you to, to move away from that mentality and start

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thinking about, you know, learning how to best nurture and honor your body.

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And you know, my goal, as I'm sure I've said before, and we'll say again, my

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goal with this podcast and my practice is always to empower you with the information

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of resources to help you stop measuring your worth by a number on the scale

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and stop comparing yourself to others.

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So, That is all for today, . It was a long winded one, but I hope

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you found this episode helpful and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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So take care of you and I will see you next time.