So often at the beginning of the year we feel a push change. A push towards healthy eating choices and a pull towards familiar habit patterns. When both happen at the same time we get stuck in the middle. The body is a complicated system of networks and they all communicate and work with each other, pushing and pulling to some kind of balance. Understanding the push and pull can set us up for success or struggle and that’s our Work IN today. We’ll be looking at how we can simplify and personalize our approach to nutrition and nourishment to give us the kind of results we can live with.
As a part of my mission to bring a legacy of resilience through movement, each month you can join me for a hike on the bike trail followed by a free trauma informed vinyasa class back at the studio on Main Street. Go to savagegracecoaching.com to see the calendar and join my newsletter, Yoga Life on Main Street, to stay up to date on all the latest studio news, events and gossip. And now… on to this week’s episode.
It’s time to stop working out and start working IN. You found the Work IN podcast for fit-preneurs and their health conscious clients. This podcast is for resilient wellness professionals who want to expand their professional credibility, shake off stress and thrive in a burnout-proof career with conversations on the fitness industry, movement, nutrition, sleep, mindset, nervous system health, yoga, business and so much more.
I’m your host Ericka Thomas. I'm a resilience coach and fit-preneur offering an authentic, actionable realistic approach to personal and professional balance for coaches in any format.
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Ep 202
Nutrition results you can live with
So often at the beginning of the year we feel a push change. A push towards healthy eating choices and a pull towards familiar habit patterns. When both happen at the same time we get stuck in the middle. The body is a complicated system of networks and they all communicate and work with each other, pushing and pulling to some kind of balance. Understanding the push and pull can set us up for success or struggle and that’s our Work IN today. We’ll be looking at how we can simplify and personalize our approach to nutrition and nourishment to give us the kind of results we can live with.
I’d like to take a step back and look at this whole nutrition equation from a different perspective than the typical new years resolution goal setting approach. Rather than looking at all the things we’re doing wrong, we look first at what we’re doing right.
What IS working for you? It’s easy to fall prey to the negative side of health and wellness. The judgement and “shoulds”, the one size fits all fitness fads. The side that is focused on everything that we think is wrong with us, or needs to be optimized, or that we SHOULD look, feel, or be a certain way in order to be healthy. First off, that way of thinking is based on a fallacy in fitness that believes all bodies work the same and therefore if we all do xyz we’ll all get the same results. Second, what we believe about ourselves and our capabilities sets the stage for success and failure. Our perception is 100% our truth so be careful what you are using for a mirror.
We absolutely need to accept ourselves where we are right now, first. What is it about how you eat right now, how you take care of yourself, that IS working. What do we want to keep? We want to start with that positive point of acceptance. Then we can look at what changes are available.
When it comes to food and fitness really, I look at it from 2 different angles. What do I need to add and what do I need to subtract? I want to start by saying food is my love language. The act of making a great meal or treat for someone, that to me is everything. It brings me joy. Ayurveda teaches that we are adding nourishment to our meals through the act of mindful cooking. Mindful food prep. This can be done even if you’re not a cook. There’s a big difference in your body and how it responds to a frozen pizza that you grab and stuff in your face on your way out the door and that same frozen pizza that you sit down and savor at the table with your family. Totally different experiences, internally and externally. One tells the body you’re not important enough to care for and the other celebrates connection with loved ones. It absolutely changes how the body responds. It's a different way of looking at food and nutrition for sure.
So let’s look at these 2 equations, the add and subtract. And as we go through them notice where there might be a push and a pull for you. We’re going to start with the subtraction. Because so many people start here. With a push to quit things at the beginning of the year.
Subtraction means looking at your personal eating plan and cutting out all the things you think are “bad”. “Giving up” entire food groups for example. This can be the negative side of subtraction. Not because it isn’t effective or we don’t need to quit some things but because it’s a 0 - 60 in 3.5 seconds approach, an all or nothing kind of plan that shocks the body. It’s like trying to get to the moon with one step out the door. It can be effective) at least in the short term, no doubt. Usually it isn’t sustainable long term because these kinds of things don’t take into account the real world and our own personal “pulls” back to the familiar. It takes some honest self discovery to find an appropriate balance.
This might be the low carb no carb thing, no processed food or sugar/alcohol/meat,all meat, low fat, low calorie… you name it there's an elimination diet for it. I’m not saying you can’t get great results doing any of these but we want to be able to sustain a healthy relationship with food AND maintain our physical, mental and emotional health and that requires balance in all things. Especially what’s on the plate.
I’ll share a personal example, the first time I did the Whole 30 several years ago, it was a shock to the system. I lost a lot of body fat and I got into ketosis. I had a ton of energy. If you’re not familiar with the whole 30 it’s a paleo kickstart diet, very low carb. I followed it to the letter and gave up one of my most favorite things. Popcorn for dinner on Sundays.
I eat popcorn for dinner every Sunday night and have for as long as I can remember. It has become a ritual in my house that was passed down from my grandparents. During the Whole 30 that was one of the things I missed the MOST. There was a lot of subtraction in that diet for me because I was coming from a very high card low fat standard american diet.
At the end of those 30 days, I knew I wanted to keep a lot of the paleo eating pattern, but there was no way I was giving up my Sunday popcorn for the rest of my life. Did bringing that back undermine my results? Nope.
Side bar note on popcorn: popcorn is healthy. It’s a great source of fiber. Not all forms of popcorn delivery systems are healthy though. I make my popcorn from whole kernels on the stovetop using avocado oil. And season it with real butter and sea salt. Microwave popcorn is NOT a great choice for reasons we’ll discuss in a moment.
All or nothing subtraction is negative because it sets us up in an adversarial relationship with our body and our mind. Always saying no can trigger cravings and feelings of deprivation. So when we do fall off the wagon now we’re “bad”.
And when we put ourselves in that deeply deprived state, physically or mentally the body may not actually have everything it needs to give you what you’re asking for. For example simply cutting calories too much tells the body to get rid of muscle. Not good for longevity. And can set up a yo yo dieting spiral that is very hard to break.
On the positive side there are some things you can subtract that don’t cause these negative side effects of dieting. These are things that can help us get out of our own way. One is a broad category of detoxifying your lifestyle. Avoiding exposure to phthalates and micro plastics in your food could be huge.
Where are those you might ask? Phthalates are a class of chemicals that are used to soften plastics. They are in water bottles and plastic food containers and the linings of cans and bags like microwave popcorn. The danger is when you heat up the plastic it releases those phthalates into the food. So a simple start is to stop microwaving food in plastic of any kind. Switch to refillable stainless steel water bottle. How many times have I left a plastic water bottle in the sun on my bike and then chugged it down. (even BPA free plastic = BPS which is another kind of toxin in the body)
Filtering your water is another simple way to subtract toxins and nourish your body. Looking at your indoor air quality. This is big in my house with 3 dogs and tons of dust.
But sticking with the food subtractions, simply reading some of those labels and looking for products and brands that contain ingredients that you can read. Ideally the fewer ingredients the better and that process alone will cut out some of the more noxious chemical preservatives.
When we’ve cleaned up how we’re eating then we can take a closer look at what we’re eating and start to subtract things that fall into the category of empty calories. That’s the stuff with zero nutrients and ALL the sugar and chemicals. The common term for these is highly processed food.
Now taking a step down approach rather than a jump off the cliff approach to cutting these out might be best but we have to look again at where we are. If you’re someone who doesn’t cook or has a work schedule that doesn’t have the space and time for food prep, giving up all highly processed convenience foods all at once isn’t realistic and leaves you without the grace it will take to learn how to do it differently. Starting with one meal a day without processed foods or maybe 3 -4 meals a week. That might be more sustainable and will give you body and mind room to adjust.
Another simple subtraction I don’t want to miss here is timing of meals and snacks, specifically late at night. Ideally we want to stop eating 3-4 hours before bedtime. This might be a place to subtract with actually changing what you’re eating, just when you’re eating it. It’s always possible but you can try it a couple days a week.
At the same time we’re noticing things we want to cut, we can think about what we want to add to the plate and how we want to do that. If we’re giving certain foods up, what will we replace them with? What’s missing for you? Protein? Water? Micronutrients? Fiber? Vegetables? Vitamin D?
A note about supplements: I mention vitamin D because it’s such a common deficiency even in the summer and as we age it gets harder for our skin to make it for us. But before you take a supplement for anything, be sure you have your foundation health habits dialed in and then check in with your healthcare provider to look at your baseline bloodwork for these nutrients with an understanding that healthy ranges aren’t necessarily the optimal range for you as an individual.
Remember these things don’t have to happen all at once. We just want to take some steps forward that we’ll stick with and can build on.
Water is a great and underestimated health habit. It’s one of my personal challenges. I have to still make myself drink enough water during the day. What tends to happen is that I get busy and then by 6 pm I'm really thirsty (already in a dehydrated state) and then try to guzzle all my water for the day before bedtime. You can imagine how that might interrupt even the best nights sleep. And it does interrupt it. Super annoying.
Every process in the body, good clean water can make it better, from metabolism and digestion to sleep and daytime energy. (assuming you’re not dinking a gallon after 9 pm)
Adding in anything that supports the gut is going to pay you back ten fold. Fiber and a variety of fruits and vegetables as many different kinds as you can get. And here is where we might feel that pull back that resistance from childhood maybe. I know it is for me. I have to push myself to get my greens. I’m not a fan of vegetables, partly because I was forced to eat them as a kid and partly because I just don’t care for the taste. This is where I focus a lot on my “adds”. I developed my happy belly breakfast salad recipes to help myself get those vegetables first thing in the day. You can get them for free in the show notes. Because I have to work so hard to get my greens in and I have had so many gut issues in the past I DO supplement with a greens powder that includes a probiotic and I use a daily fiber supplement.
Another supporting actor in our gut is essential fatty acids (healthy fats) in combination with vitamin D plays to heal the gut lining and heal leaky gut. This is why the low fat diets that we were raised on are so detrimental. We know now that Omega 3’s and even saturated fats help support the lining of our gut. Knowing this might make it easier to include fish or animal protein in your week of variety.
In my opinion gut health far outweighs any other fitness related goal. You won’t care how skinny you are if you’re painfully bloated and your stomach hurts all the time. Now if you have tried all this stuff and you’re still suffering, please see a gastroenterologist who specializes in the gut microbiome. It isn’t normal to be in pain all the time and you don't have to suffer.
We’ve talked in other episodes on balancing macro nutrients, specifically the protein amounts as for many women we just don’t get enough of it and that can lead not only to loss of muscle but loss of bone density as well. I can’t emphasize the protein piece enough. It’s important for maintaining that muscle and bone but it also keeps you full and satisfied longer after a meal. Many people, myself included, get cravings for sugar and carbs. When I get enough protein and fiber and water those cravings disappear. Now they didn’t disappear the first day I ate like that. It took time and patience. And one of the connections that we’ll discuss next time is how sleep plays a role in cravings. When our diet is consistently supportive with nutrient dense foods, fiber, water, protein, healthy fats and a variety of fruits and vegetables, all the things we’ve talked about today, then we will start sleeping better. When we start sleeping better, good things happen too. We’ll talk about that next week.
I’ll leave you today with a couple questions. Where are you right now on your health + fitness path? What are you feeling a push for and what is pulling back? Where can you start your nourishment equation in a way that lets you build long term habits that you can count on?
Remember we’re not reinventing the wheel here. Simple, consistent nourishing choices everyday will get you results you can live with for a lifetime.
Thanks for listening!
If you're looking for ways to handle the effects of stress, physically, mentally and emotionally through the body head over to savagegracecoaching.com/theworkin you’ll find all the show notes for this and other episodes plus lots of free resources. And if you’re in a place where you are ready for more and you live in the Dayton Ohio area I’m taking private clients for trauma informed yoga and trauma release exercise in person and online. So book a discovery call and we can have a real life conversation. And of course I’d be ever so grateful if you would take a moment to like and subscribe to this podcast wherever you’re listening.
