When You Need A Break From Weight Loss [Ep. 89]

0:00 This is the Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well podcast, I'm Lisa Saulsbury. And this is episode 89. When you need a break from weight loss. Welcome to Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well; the podcast for women who want to lose weight, but are tired of counting and calculating all the food. I'm your host, Lisa Salsbury. I'm a certified health and weight loss coach and life coach, and most importantly a recovered chronic dieter. I'll teach you to figure out why you are eating when you aren't hungry, instead of worrying so much about what you are eating. Hope you had a lovely Easter weekend. It was quiet around here. As I only have one teenager left at home, I did have the opportunity to speak at my church at the Easter service Sunday morning, which required a lot more practice than my podcast, since I couldn't go back and edit out all my ums and likes and mistakes.

0:54 So that was nerve wracking, but good. And. Really just rewarding to prepare for that. So, Today, we're going to chat about a phrase. I hear pretty often from potential clients and some of my current clients. And that phrase is. I just need a break from this. And their meaning from trying to lose weight. I just need a break. Why do we feel exhausted from weight loss? I think there is four main reasons. And so I'm going to go over each of those reasons with you. The first reason is that you are thinking this is short term.

1:35 Every diet you've ever been on has been for a certain duration of time. So even if it was for six or even 12 months, like it seemed like a long time for a diet. If it wasn't your whole life, it was short-term. What we are trying to accomplish together, you and I, with me teaching and coaching you and applying these principles. Is a longterm lifestyle change. This is not short term. So we need to create a way of living. That feels really good to you. It should feel really good for your body and it should lead to you feeling like you are taking the best care of your body that you can.

2:16 Remember, you are aiming to eat and care for your body. Like your future self who has reached your natural weight. We are always trying to access that future self version of us and asking what does she do? How does she eat? What kinds of foods does she buy? How does she move her body in meaningful ways? And then implement those things in very small, incremental ways. Not all at one time, just one or two things. Each week. The closer we get to caring for our body. Like our future self who has lost the weight. Does. The easier, the weight loss will become.

2:58 This is why it isn't short term rather than being on a diet for six weeks. And then returning to your quote, regular way of eating. You are slowly changing your habits to eat like your goal, weight, self eats all the time. So chances are your future self, still eats some sweets and some chips that's part of the work to figure out now is how to eat those things. Without overeating them. The problem is that on every diet you've been on, those things are completely restricted. And so we don't know how to eat them without over eating them on a cheat day. This is how your future self maintains her weight is by eating those things without over eating them.

3:45 So this brings me to number two, which is you're not actually including all foods. If you are still restricting yourself from certain foods or food groups, barring and allergy, of course. You are going to want a break from that. The idea of including all foods, such as what I teach is to help you understand that what really matters is the amount you are eating. I promise that your hunger scale trumps all it's far more important that you not overeat the sugar, then that you never eat sugar. When we are constantly putting foods on the good and bad list. Mostly, obviously the bad list when we are dieting, it makes those off limit foods feel very desirable.

4:32 It also encourages you to label yourself as good or bad for eating those foods. The weird thing is that when you give yourself total permission to eat these previously labeled bad foods, You will eventually start eating them in quantities that aren't going to bother you. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but when you truly give yourself permission to eat them, You may overeat them a little at first, but they will lose some of their"naughty" appeal. When you remind yourself, you truly could have a cookie every day. If you wanted one and there aren't any shortage of cookies, it definitely helps to not actually overeat them. This is part of the scarcity loop I coach clients on.

5:14 So let me know if you need more help with this. Number three reason you need a break is because you were thinking you want to eat whatever you want and you can't. This is closely related to number two about specific foods that you're labeling good or bad, but this also includes the amount of food you think you want to eat. This is actually so interesting because when you say, I just want to eat whatever I want. What you mean is I want to eat all the junky ultra processed foods. Without having the consequences. And really the consequences are not the weight gain that would come. if that would be all you ate, the main consequence I'm thinking of is how terrible your body would feel, especially right afterwards.

5:59 How bad your sleep would be with being so bloated. How sluggish you would feel without adequate protein and fiber, that those foods would not be providing. The notion that we wish we could eat. Whatever we wanted is rooted in wishing your body. Didn't let you know those foods don't work for you. If you get really honest with how you feel after eating those foods, you wish you could eat all the time or with how you are feeling after eating an amount of food. You wish you could eat all the time. How does your body actually feel. Really get honest. I'm guessing it's not great. The wishing you could eat whatever you want, leaves you feeling scarce and diety because you think you are in some sort of restriction.

6:46 I don't believe I'm in restriction because I didn't eat some Easter candy last night. I actually picked up a little package of Swedish fish, egg things that I had put in my daughter's Easter basket. Um, yes, she's 16 and I still made her a basket, but there were some extras and I picked it up and just as I was about to rip it open, I thought, Hmm. My stomach is actually decently full right now. In fact, I think I over ate a little bit at dinner. If I eat this candy right now, I think my stomach is probably going to feel worse. And honestly it was a really small package. So my lower brain was like, it's tiny. It's fine. But I decided to listen to my stomach, to, to my body instead.

7:29 And I just tossed it back in the pantry. I didn't feel like I was restricting or on a diet or that I wish I could eat it. 'cause I really did just think I'll have it tomorrow. If I still want it. And I don't want to make my body feel worse right now because I'm, I'm just right on the edge of feeling like I really, overate. This is actually my definition of eating, whatever I want. I eat it when I really want it, but I don't feel like I have to eat it now. Or that I'll never get it. Holiday candy always pretends to be super scarce, but it's just regular candy repackaged in the seasonal colors. So shift your idea of wishing you could eat whatever you want to eating.

8:12 Exactly what feels best. the last reason you need a break. Is because you're constantly talking to yourself like a mean girl, This is probably actually the biggest one and runs through the other three reasons. You need a break from what you're doing. 'cause you're beating yourself up mentally. Every time you go off plan or overeat or do anything you think is not going to help you lose weight. This has got to stop. You absolutely cannot hate yourself thin. And talking to yourself, unkindly in your thoughts is not productive and won't actually create the results you are looking for.

8:53 Of course, if you are constantly hanging out with someone who is judging, everything you put in your mouth, you need a break from that. And if you're bringing that mean girl, along in your brain, constantly judging you. That is exhausting. So instead of deciding you need a break from weight loss and working on the things that you really want for your body. Try taking a break from talking to yourself like a jerk. Try giving yourself a compliment in the mirror next time. Try being excited. You cooked a vegetable in a new way. Try being amazed at yourself the first day you eat protein with every meal. Give yourself a mental pat on the back. And as soon as that thought comes in, like, well, yeah, but just wait till tomorrow, you always mess up.

9:38 Just say no. No, we aren't talking to me that way anymore. Just like if you heard your daughter talking meanly to her friend or to her sister or to you. You offer the correction? Honey, we don't talk like that. Offer that same correction to yourself. We don't talk like that anymore. If you are still thinking you're needing a break after implementing these four tips, please let me take a look at what you are doing. I would love to see your food journal. I'd love to see what your habits are, what's happening, why you feel like things are not going well. I am opening up 10 spots on my calendar in the next four weeks.

10:21 For food planning sessions. I did this same thing back in August and they filled up really quickly. So don't delay if you miss out back then, especially. this is a little bit different than the free coaching calls I normally offered. Those tend to just be figuring out where you are, what your goals are. And if my coaching program is a perfect fit for you. These calls. Last for 45 minutes. And I want to get you really clear on what foods work well for you. It's a little bit different than meal planning because we're not going to be talking about like cooking for your family or all the things that you need to do for that. But. Just for you, what foods are working for? You?

11:01 I feel like a lot of you think that if you aren't following a very strict calorie or macro counted diet, That losing weight just doesn't work for you. And that you wish you could just use my methods, but you also can't figure out what to eat and what works in your body. So, like I said, I'm setting aside time for 10 of you to jump on a call with me. And get your meals planned for the next couple of weeks, so that you're really clear. On how to get started with losing weight. The way I teach my clients. I just want to help you get out of confusion. So come to this free food planning session with me and you'll leave knowing exactly what to eat, to start losing weight. Also, I'll be gifting you a little workbook that goes with my jumpstart, your weight loss sessions that I used to do.

11:46 So you'll be getting that short workbook digitally included in this free session we'll be using some of those worksheets during the call. And then some will just be extra for you to do on your own. So if you go to schedule right away, it's going to look like there's tons of times available, like more than 10, but I have a limit on my calendar so that once those 10 are booked, then there won't be any more available. So it's going to look like there's a lot until the last one's booked and then everything's gonna go away. So, um, don't just think you're going to schedule it later because I promise you they're going to fill out just like they did in August. I will be honest if at the end of the call, I think you're a good fit for my coaching program. I will let you know, but the call is free either way and it is not designed to be a sales call.

12:27 So don't think that's what you're coming to. The link for that, of course, is in the show notes. And as always, thanks for listening and sharing the eat well think, well live well podcast.