Tired of your toxic relationship with food? Ready to break up with dieting? Today we’re talking alll about how to find a sustainable, life style change that works for you.
Today my friend Lauren Smith and I talk all about how we as dietitians pave the way for our clients to live a sustainable healthy lifestyle without dieting. Creating a strong nutrition base before starting to incorporate intuitive eating into your life is so important. Living a happy, balanced lifestyle while reaching your goals can be done without trying fad diet after diet. We’re talking all about how to use macro counting to learn how to begin intuitive eating, and how you can find a sustainable healthy lifestyle that works for you!
Listen to the Podcast on iTunes right here
Listen to the Podcast on Spotify here
Show notes
In this episode of Real SOULutions:
03:30 – Who is Lauren and what is her story?
0:30 – How does Lauren help sorority women?
08:00 – Calorie counting
14:00 – How do you create a balance between strict dieting and being complacent in what you eat?
18:00 – The first thing you should do to start taking care of yourself
20:30 – Being patient in the process of starting to live healthy
24:00 – Making small changes
29:00 – Nutrition fake news
38:00 – Practical ways to living your best life
42:00 – A quote that resonates with Lauren
47:00 – Where can you find Lauren?
READ our conversation instead below:
Bridging The Gap
Intuitive eating when done right is all about listening to your body. The basics of it are listening to your body’s hunger cues, honoring your body with nutritious food, and treating yourself without feeling guilty for it. I loovee this approach as learning to listen to your body is so important. The goal of working with a dietitian is that the client becomes confident enough in their choices and knowledge regarding nutrition that they no longer need any help!! Sadly intuitive eating is often thought of as listening to your body by giving into every sweets craving and eating whatever unhealthy foods you want. This is where macro counting and nutrition education come into play…
We’ve been taught since we were little to ignore our hunger cues and finish all the food on our plates. We’ve also been taught that carbs are bad, along with so many other false food info. Before jumping headfirst into intuitive eating an trying to lIsten to your body after years of ignoring it one needs a strong nutrition base. Macro counting gets a bad rep from those who count obsessively and let it rule their life or those who only eat pizza and ice cream as long as it fits their macros. Both of these are bad examples of macro counting and are not how it should be done. Macro counting is a great tool that when utilized correctly can help build the nutrition base needed to begin intuitive eating.
Learning what a correct portion size looks like is crucial when learning how to build a balanced plate or go out to eat. Once you develop a nutrition foundation and are confident in your choices macro counting is no longer needed!! I challenge you to try tracking what you eat for a day or two with no expectations just to see where you’re at!
Diets, Diets, Diets
Everyone knows someone who swears by the Keto diet or the Paleo diet and has lost 20+ pounds on it. Every diet has success stories and people who swear by it but that still doesn’t mean it’s the right diet for you. In order to loose weight theres only one requirement…. Ready for it… You have to be in a caloric deficit meaning you’re eating less calories than you’re burning. That’s it. Really its that simple, theres no catch or secret formula.
Okay so whats the problem then? We all know so many people who gain weight back within months and are dieting for yearsss. How exhausting right. So how do you find what works for you? When choosing what will work for you best for you ask yourself “Can i see myself doing this 2 years from now?” If the answer is no then thats not the diet for you. The key to the right diet for you is is sustainability, can you stick to it? The result should be building tiny healthy habits that become a lifestyle. Ask yourself are you happy? What are your intentions? Does it allow you to still travel, have a social life? The end result of working with a dietitian should be to break up with dieting forever!! You should feel empowered with nutrition education, and tools to help you reach your goals in a healthy sustainable way. Its a life style change not a diet.
Finding Patience In The Process
Unlike fad diets which promise that you’ll loose 10 pounds in 1 week, a lifestyle change takes time. It’s so important to remember to love yourself where you’re at while you’re working on a better version of yourself. It’s all about progress not perfection!!
“In order to have something you’ve never had, you’re going to have to do something you’ve never done.”
When you want to give up remind yourself of what you are actually doing and how long have you been doing these new habits. Dont quit right when you don’t see results. It can be discouraging working for weeks with no results but it’s worth the journey and time because it’s a lifelong thing. A lifestyle takes a little longer but its so worth it in the end!!
Want to find out more about Lauren?
Laurens IG: @sorority.nutritionist
Laurens Website: click here
