Episode 4

Another Diet Is Not the Answer

The average American woman will spend 17 years of her life on a diet, but only a fifth of us will maintain weight loss for a year or longer. We’ve been told that our value is determined by our looks and, while we know that this is bullshit, we still tend to believe it.

When you prioritize weight loss over your health as a whole, it never pays off in the long run, and it can actually create additional metabolic problems. So you end up worse off than when you started. Excess weight is not a problem in and of itself, but instead it’s a symptom of whatever else is going on.

Mainstream medicine likes to treat each symptom individually, in a vacuum. Functional medicine and functional nutrition looks at where the problem is originating from and works to restore that foundational balance so that the symptoms can resolve. That’s why I’m so against the calories-in/calories-out advice we hear everywhere: it’s grossly oversimplified.

  • Diets don’t teach you how to navigate everyday life without a structured plan.
  • A meal plan won’t serve you well if you go out to dinner with family, a client, on a vacation, or really anywhere away from your kitchen.
  • If someone is dictating what you eat, you won’t learn how to make empowered decisions that take your unique situation into account.

How do you learn to plan ahead and food prep in ways that will work for you?

  • Move away from processed foods.
  • Find what foods agree with you and don’t by paying attention to how you feel for a few hours after you eat.
  • Don’t overly restrict yourself.
  • Try switching to an organic version of a favorite processed food before trying to eliminate it entirely.
  • Be kind to yourself and give yourself grace.

It’s not about perfection. It’s about being consistent and making choices that honor your body more often than not. 

If you’re looking for support in reaching your health goals, schedule a free 30-minute Coffee Talk here to see if we’re a good fit to work together.

 

References:

Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders - Statistics

Diet culture is everywhere. Here's how to fight it

Special Diets Among Adults: United States, 2015–2018

Fad Diets: Lifestyle Promises and Health Challenges

Is Your HEC in Check? Hormones Vs. Calories by Dr. Jade Teta

Connect with me on Instagram @joliverwellness! DM me the words “Nutrition Edit” and I’ll add you to my close friends list, where I share exclusive content. You’ll be the first to know about upcoming programs and early access to my waitlist.

Music credit: Funk’d Up by Reaktor Productions

A Podcast Launch Bestie production

Transcript
Jeannie Oliver:

Hello, beautiful people and welcome back.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

So some staggering statistics here for you.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

, at least that was the average back in 2012.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

loss for at least one year or longer.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

all kinds of body types in the media.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

So you end up worse off than when you started.

Jeannie Oliver:

And here's the.

Jeannie Oliver:

Excess weight is not a standalone problem.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

Mainstream medicine loves to treat symptoms and look at each

Jeannie Oliver:

body system in a vacuum, right?

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

balance at the foundational level.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

individual systems because.

Jeannie Oliver:

Every system in your body is interconnected.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

a ridiculously oversimplified approach.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

you have an iPhone available to.

Jeannie Oliver:

, and that's not my analogy.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

it makes perfect sense basically.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

somebody, you can't check your email.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

So the just eat less and exercise more.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

mass and maintain healthy hormone.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

body uses and stores fuel and nutrients.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

male is probably very, very different.

Jeannie Oliver:

A very different machine than ours.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

You'll hear me.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

mental health, lifestyle, et cetera.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

relationship with food or your body.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

So keeping you in that system is actually the goal.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

that diets don't teach you.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

different when it comes to planning ahead.

Jeannie Oliver:

Some people are good at improvising and making healthy

Jeannie Oliver:

choices on the fly and others.

Jeannie Oliver:

Definitely need more structure to stay consistent.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

lot of factors that come into play here.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

need to do and how structured it will.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

And it's exciting to see those changes.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

know, they go away pretty quickly.

Jeannie Oliver:

Those cravings.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

to creating a healthy lifestyle.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

dinner party or you're on a cruise?

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

your unique, set of circumstances.

Jeannie Oliver:

For example, I don't have kids.

Jeannie Oliver:

I rarely travel for.

Jeannie Oliver:

and I lift weights for exercise most days.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

days a week, when she can fit it in.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

if you learn to eat and exercise.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

your lifestyle, not someone else's.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

by moving away from processed foods.

Jeannie Oliver:

Whole 30 is a really great example that.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

people it's unnecessarily restrictive.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

while others are much better off without.

Jeannie Oliver:

I know I don't tolerate grains very well.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

are not foods that serve me well.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

So do you feel gassy or bloated?

Jeannie Oliver:

Do you get that distended belly or food baby feeling?

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

symptoms is by keeping a food diary.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

with any of those things that I mentioned.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

If people have food sensitivities, they will get breakouts.

Jeannie Oliver:

It can flare.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

days later, or whatever it might.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

And then also while eating primarily whole unprocessed foods is always

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

everything that comes in a package.

Jeannie Oliver:

I think that that is overly restrictive.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

impossible to do this right.

Jeannie Oliver:

You know?

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

the time, that they're problematic.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

those real foods more and more appealing.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

the less tempting the other stuff will.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

would ever come out of my mouth.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

but if I can do it, you can too.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

of these foods that you eat regularly.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

Why is that?

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

These ingredients, these additives and chemicals actually

Jeannie Oliver:

make these foods addictive.

Jeannie Oliver:

It's what creates that.

Jeannie Oliver:

You can't eat just one effect.

Jeannie Oliver:

So many organic foods do not use those additives.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

use craft mac and cheese as an example.

Jeannie Oliver:

Start getting used to reading ingredients on your label.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

is still not a health food by Annie.

Jeannie Oliver:

Stretch the imagination.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

flavor enhancers, things like that.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

So just start moving towards products that are.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

fewer ingredients the better.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

eating if we don't know what it is.

Jeannie Oliver:

Now this does not work for everybody.

Jeannie Oliver:

You may need to quit certain foods, cold Turkey.

Jeannie Oliver:

So be honest with yourself and know.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

So I'm not immune to this either.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

One is what I consider binge foods.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

It's a slippery slope.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

That's what I would call a binge food.

Jeannie Oliver:

Two trigger foods.

Jeannie Oliver:

The difference here is it trigger food.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

of set off this, this cascade effect.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

although sure, that can be a problem.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

negative effect on my mental health.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

term you'll hear me referring to a lot.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

sugar spike and then a crash.

Jeannie Oliver:

Those can make me really anxious.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

dealt with depression, insomnia, other issues with blood sugar

Jeannie Oliver:

regulation, these are not your friend.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

I feel, I get really down on myself.

Jeannie Oliver:

I feel really disappointed in the choice I made because I

Jeannie Oliver:

know it didn't serve me well.

Jeannie Oliver:

I feel crappy physically.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

Didn't love that choice for me.

Jeannie Oliver:

Didn't work out so great.

Jeannie Oliver:

But that's all right.

Jeannie Oliver:

, I'll make a different choice next time.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

You know, it was.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

You can get there too.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

yourself with respect and nurture.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

nurturing your body and your mind.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

is by being really honest with yourself.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

What level of structure do you work best with?

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

um, in someone else's home, et.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

Because just like relying on a meal plan, sometimes relying

Jeannie Oliver:

on a recipe isn't possible and.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

One example I always use for this is cauliflower rice.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

maybe with some coconut milk.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

make it really flavorful and simple.

Jeannie Oliver:

Simple to do.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

Someday.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

they have all the little containers.

Jeannie Oliver:

That can take an entire day or more.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

in the kitchen doing meal prep.

Jeannie Oliver:

Forget about it.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

is definitely not most of my clients.

Jeannie Oliver:

My pro tip for you here.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

You just throw it in a pan.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

It'll save you a ton of time.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

hours during your work week.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

lot of resentment between the two of us.

Jeannie Oliver:

So I highly recommend trying it out.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

day I was happy to do the cooking.

Jeannie Oliver:

And the cleanup afterwards.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

they're too young to use knives.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

They can help you pick out produce at the market.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

food and, and eating, eating well.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

Sound familiar?

Jeannie Oliver:

has not done that before.

Jeannie Oliver:

I know I have.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

done, or is over, the shift takes place.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

helps you stay focused and energetic.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

helps you reach your health goals.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

for a number on the scale?

Jeannie Oliver:

And it's not about perfection.

Jeannie Oliver:

I really wanna drive this point home.

Jeannie Oliver:

It's.

Jeannie Oliver:

Not about perfection.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

who do nutrition as a profession.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

know, on the diet wagon bandwagon.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

you're setting yourself up for failure.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

It's not black or white.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

choice you made, no big deal.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

on track at any given time.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

It will get easier.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

eat fewer and fewer calories.

Jeannie Oliver:

Ugh.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

instead of getting gleaner and healthier.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

lean and ripped and toned like an athlete.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

I see this all the time.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

Why?

Jeannie Oliver:

What's wrong?

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

and everything to compensate for that.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

that to dictate your mood for the day.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

what your bone density is looking like.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

be an emotional roller coaster.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

and stop comparing yourself to others.

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

Jeannie Oliver:

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

About the Podcast

Show artwork for The Nutrition Edit
The Nutrition Edit

About your host

Profile picture for Jeannie Oliver

Jeannie Oliver

Jeannie is a Certified Nutrition Coach, NASM Personal Trainer and classically trained chef. She helps high performing women improve their overall health, optimize their energy and performance, and discover what it's like to feel good in their own skin - all while enjoying delicious food and creating sustainably healthy lifestyles.