Anti Diet Revolution: Non Diet Weight Loss, Food Freedom, Never Diet Again

Point 1: Why You Should Use Your Freezer 

• Saves time by using frozen already prepped food
  • Easy to have on hand for a quick meal later
• Saves money 
  •  you can buy in bulk and stock up on good sales and then freeze what you won't use right away
• Keeps things fresh
  • You don't have to throw away spoiled or stale foods, freeze them instead
• The freezer super convenient
  • Having things on hand eliminates the need for last-minute runs to the grocery store
• Freezing is Healthy 
  • Freezing fresh fruits and vegetables when they are in season and at their peak ripeness and full of nutrients or when things are on sale, you can have that all year long

Point 2: Tips to Best Use The Freezer

• Keep freezer nice and tidy
  • People have the tendency to pack things in there as tight as possible
  • But really an orderly freezer allows for air to circulate around the unit and it makes it easier when trying to find specific items
  • It also avoids having to unpack all the contents and repack everything when you need to find what you're looking for

Point 3: How to Go About Storing Before Putting Into Freezer 

• Put the large dish into separate containers
• Cool food before it goes into the freezer
  • If you put hot foods in the freezer, other food items can partially thaw 

Point 4: What containers are the best to use?

• Make sure containers are freezer friendly
  • If it's flimsy wraps or containers not designed for the freezer, you may end up with freezer burn or spills in freezer 
  • Containers that lock in moisture of the food in order to preserve it 
  • For short-term storage
    • Strong plastic wrap good for solid food
    • Plastic containers work well for short term storage 
    • Zipper bags good for soups, smoothie mixes 
  • For longer storage
    • Glass jars or containers work really well
    • Leave space at top of container so when it cools in the freezer, the glass doesn't shatter 

Point 5: Labelling is important 

• Label with the name of the food item as well as the date that you put it in there
  • Important to know if the shelf life of your food item safe to eat 
  • Also important to keep you from confusing the food from something that it's not
  • Charts out there showing how long to store in the freezer

Point 6: How we can meal plan by using freezer staples and meals 

• Keep a running list of inventory in the freezer 
  • List everything you have in the freezer and delete item once you've used it  
• Look at inventory list and use that item to create your weekly or monthly meal plan based on that idea list
• Miscellaneous things in the freezer can be used to complete recipes or have them as accompanies in the meal 

Helpful Links
Join Group Coaching: Journey to Food Freedom here
Get my favorite 10-minute meal ideas here
More information about From Emotional Eating to Food Freedom is here.  

You can find me on IG here  

Join the FB Group

Point 1: Benefits of Plant-Based Diets

• Medical health benefits of a plant-based diet include:
  • Reduce blood pressure
  • Increasing heart health
  • Help prevent type 2 diabetes
  • Helps folks lose weight
  • Helps reduce the risk of certain cancers 
  • Ramps up brain strength and can reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimers 
  • Higher in dietary fiber
  • Reduces inflammation in the body 
• Common chronic diseases are not only preventable but reversible
• By transitioning to a plant-based diet, can reduce the likelihood of developing these health conditions 

Point 2: My Reasons for Maintaining a Plant-Based Diet  

• Animals that are cultivated and grown for being eaten in the USA are not being treated in the best ways 
• Even organic animals are not given a lot of space or living in the best conditions 

Point 2: How Do We Transition to A Plant-Based Diet? 

• Know why you're doing it and understanding your mindset 
  • Important to be clear on your reason for embarking on a plant-based diet
  • This is a big lifestyle change so it will get tough at times, but having a clear reason will help you stick to your goals
  • Understanding your mindset is also important
• Go slow and go in stages
  • Very few people can transition to a plant-based diet overnight 
  • If you are just getting started, start with one night per week that you are meatless
  • After you become used to that, ramp it up to two nights a week
  • Keep in mind that progress is not perfection, and continue at it
• Meal planning will become important 
  • If you are not used to plant-based eating it will take some initial effort as you don't have a repertoire of meals 
  • Have a meal plan that includes some of those plant-based meals 
  • For meal planning tips, go back to listen to Episode 33
• Find simple plant-based recipes 
  • We may try to make elaborate things and this can be very overwhelming 
  • Taco’s, soups are great ideas
  • You can google the search term simple plant-based meals and that will give you a lot of options 

Helpful Links
Join Group Coaching: Journey to Food Freedom here
Get my favorite 10-minute meal ideas here
More information about From Emotional Eating to Food Freedom is here.  

You can find me on IG here  

Join the FB Group

Point 1: What to Do When Your Spouse is A Picky Eater 

• Don't ask, don't tell about what's in the dishes 
  • Don't volunteer what your making
  • If you make a pizza with cauliflower crust, just make it, don't volunteer that information
  • Often times folks will try things and not necessarily even know
• Have partner suggest some recipes 
  • Ensures they have some buy-in on what the food options are
  • If the recipe is really limited, you can always balance it out with a healthier side dish just to balance it out for the rest of the family 
• Try to put a healthy twist on the dishes that picky partner likes 
  • Substitute a whole grain for a regular pasta
  • Gets them to try something they will enjoy without having the less healthy version
• Kindly explain to your partner why it's important to try new foods
  • Do this without airing on the side of being a nag
  • Remind partner that what they eat impacts their health and what other family members will be doing 

Point 2: Simple Reminders for a Picky Eater Spouse 

Adults, just like kids, can change their eating habits and become less picky 

• Encourage partner to change the way they talk about food
  • Instead of saying “I am a picky eater”, say “I am willing to try new things”
  • If they continue saying you are a picky eater, you will remain a picky eater
  • If they start saying that you are willing to try new things, they will be more open to experimenting with new foods 
• Identify why you don’t like it 
  • Is it the texture? Smell? Colour? How it looks?
  • Just interact with the food more instead of automatically jumping into not eating it
  • If they are willing to try new food, have a conversation about it and know what it is they don’t like about it and why it’s not typically something they would eat 
• Encourage them to start with easier foods 
  • Don't start with foods with strong flavours for instance as this may discourage them from trying new foods in the future 
• Remind any adult trying to expand their palette that it can take up to 20 times 
• Be patient with spouse and praise them for their efforts
  • Not easy when all your life you have been a picky eater and you are trying to change eating habits  

Helpful Links
Join Group Coaching: Journey to Food Freedom here
Get my favorite 10-minute meal ideas here
More information about From Emotional Eating to Food Freedom is here.  

You can find me on IG here  

Join the FB Group

Point 1:  What is a Family Meal?

• Family meal is when every family member sits down together and eats together

Point 2: Benefits of Family Meals

1. Harvard study found that families who eat together twice as likely to eat their five servings of fruits and veggies as opposed to families that don't eat together

• Tells us that family meals are typically more nutritious due to family meals being more planned and balanced 
• There will be a lot more variety and healthy foods
• Kids who eat regular family meals tend to eat a wider variety of foods and tend to be less picky eaters 
• This can be due to having role models sitting down and trying foods with them 
• Less emphasis on them eating foods like veggies because everyone is focused on the conversation at the table
• For younger family members, regular family meals help promote language skills, helps them develop patience and dexterity with utensils, and helps them develop social skills (like manners, taking turns, passing items to family members)

2. Provide an opportunity for family members to come together, strengthen ties, and build better relationships 

• Self-esteem can be built-in family members because everyone gets a chance to talk 

3. Research also suggests that when families eat together, they have a really strong bond

• We have disconnected lives when at work and school, so it helps us to reconnect
• Allows parents to understand what's going on in child’s school life 

4. Great time for parents to be good role models

• Can set an example of what healthy eating is and healthy polite table manners 

5. Research shows that families who eat together have a lower rate of obesity 

• Talking more and eating more slowly, and focusing more on the conversation instead of eating food fast

6. Kids that have regular family meals at home have a lower chance of engaging in high-risk behaviour and tend to have fewer mental health problems  

7.Kids who have family meals tend to do better at school 

Point 3: How Many Family Meals Should You Have?

• Research shows there tends to be a dose effect, in that the more family meals you have together the better
• This means that having even one meal together a week is beneficial 

Point 4: How Do We Get This Done?
1.Make family meals a priority in your household 

• Focus on the importance of being together as a family
• This is more important than making an elaborate meal
• This can get people tripped up as you don't have to make an elaborate meal
• Even making a goal of doing one family meal a night more realistic than wanting to have 5 family meals a week
• Set yourself up for success

 2. Keep meals simple

• Meals don't have to be elaborate 

3.Have other family members plan the meals for the night or that week

• Allow kids to help plan the meal, prepare the foods, set the table, and clean up together
  • Cook together with other family members 
  • Eating part of the meal together most days of the week is beneficial
  • Order-in if you don’t have time to cook 
  • Take the pressure off sometimes and enjoy family time together

4.Get kids talking about their lives 

• Talk about the high’s and low’s of the week and the high’s and low’s of the day 
• Other games that you can play 

Helpful Links
Join Group Coaching: Journey to Food Freedom here
Get my favorite 10-minute meal ideas here
More information about From Emotiona

Point 1: Overview about Leftovers 

• Using leftovers gives you the opportunity to have a hot meal for lunch
•  Providing tips on how you can get the best use out of leftovers

Point 2: Tips for How to Use Leftovers

1. When you're packing up foods, do it smartly 

• If you've got enough leftover food from a meal to use for an entire family meal on another evening, consider freezing the entire meal in a big batch so that you can save it for another day. Otherwise, when you pack up your foods, pack it into individual servings so that various family members can take them for lunches in the upcoming day or days

         2.  When you are meal planning, consider how you repurpose what you’re                          making

• Can a leftover entree be used in the following night's meal?
• Will go over this in the monthly meal map method course (currently developing)

         3. Consider having a ‘leftovers night’ for dinner

• I only cook 6 nights a week meaning one night is a freebie night 
• Everything was taken out of the fridge (all the leftovers from the previous week) and we use all of that up 
• This is a really good way to prevent food wastage and give you a night off from cooking 

        4. Think about the ingredients that you're making 

• Can those roasted veggies that you used on Tuesday night be used as a dish the following night?
• If yes, make extra veggies so you can streamline the process and make it easier
• I use it when selecting grains that I'm going to be making 
•  I will use the same grain for a couple consecutive nights and only make it the first night's meal 
• E.g If I making rice or quinoa, I will eat that 2 nights in a row but I only make it on the first night’s meal

       5. Make soup!

• Anything can go in a soup and taste delicious!
• So many veggies that you’ve used in previous nights meal can easily go in the soup left chunky or purred smooth to make a nice soup
• Prevents food wastage and perfect way to utilize extra veggies

       6. Anything in a taco!

• You can put any leftover food into a taco and make it into a fun finger food
• Kids love tacos and pretty much eat anything if it's in a taco

      7. Use leftovers as a side dish

• If you don’t have enough leftovers to make a full complete meal, you can definitely use your meal from one night as a side dish for another meal

     8. Use leftover rice and veggies to make a fried rice 

• Creating a new recipe from those two components that you had leftover 

Helpful Links
Join Group Coaching: Journey to Food Freedom here
Get my favorite 10-minute meal ideas here
More information about From Emotional Eating to Food Freedom is here.  

You can find me on IG here  

Join the FB Group

What are the downsides to being a short-order cook?

• It prioritizes and legitimizes kid food 
  • We don’t want our kids to grow up on childish foods but instead have a more balanced diet 
  • When we are constantly giving into those requests and feeding them those foods, we are legitimizing those as the preferred better choices
• It allows children to control the meals 
  • This does not mean control in a negative way
  • You as a parent are in charge of what the food choices are 
  • Its a child's responsibility to decide how much and when they are going to eat 
  • This is the healthy parent-child feeding relationship
  • In the vast majority of cases, this is successful 
• Cut off their exposure to a variety of foods and flavors 
  • As parents, we want our kids to eat a variety of foods but also, a variety of flavors as well
  • This ensures that their world is opened up to more choices 
• Breeds resentment in the short-order parent 
  • It takes a lot of time, uses more food, and often wastes food as well

How to get out of the short-order rut? 

• When planning meals, make sure there is at least one choice at each meal that every family member will eat 
• As their palettes open and broaden, this meal planning process becomes a little bit easier
• Get kids involved when planning meals 
  • If they feel like they have some say, there is some buy-in there
  • Give some guidance to promote a healthy, balanced meal 
• Try serving food family-style 
  • So kids have access to the choices you've selected, but they also have control over how much they eat 
• Eat as a family 
  • They need to see that you are trying the foods that you are wanting them to eat 
  • They need to see that you have a positive relationship with food and that you are comfortable putting all of these things into your mouth and body 
  • You are the ultimate role model
  • When you're together, you can create a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere that is conducive to trying new foods and allowing kids to become confident eaters 
• Create some structure
  • Decide what your rules are at the table and be consistent with them 
    • E.g not getting up from the table right away
    • E.g one-bite rule (done in a non-pressured way)  

Helpful Links
Join Group Coaching: Journey to Food Freedom here
Get my favorite 10-minute meal ideas here
More information about From Emotional Eating to Food Freedom is here.  

You can find me on IG here  

Join the FB Group

I just finished the webinar  The Non-Diet Journey to Weight Loss and Improved Health.   A wonderful group of women showed up and we had a good time chatting.

I won't go into too many details about the webinar but I did want to share two things here in this brief podcast episode:
1) How I started including non-diet approaches into my nutrition practice
2) Details on a six-week group coaching program that begins Monday, March 8 at 7pm EST

Group Coaching: Journey to Food Freedom is here. 

Get 10 Mantras For Improved Health here

You can find me on IG here  

Join the FB Group

Overview 

• Lots of people tell me they want to meal plan, but just don’t know where to start
• Have this paralysis and never find a way to get over the hump, start meal planning and have a system that really eases things 
• Meal planning can make things easier, it's very beneficial 
• Save time and money when you have a regular meal plan 
• Giving you first tips to help you get going 
• Refine meal planning process and pick up additional tweaks to add to meal system to make meal planning easier and work for you

2-2-2 Method Overview

• In a week, when planning meals, I only have two meals that are a little bit more elaborate, two meals that are super easy and quick, and two meals that are an average length of prep time 
• Method defined by length of preparation time
• If elaborate meal planning does not fit into your life, then you will have more recipes that fall into middle category
• People don't know how to pick recipes and they get stuck 
• This is a more streamlined system 
• You don’t have to reinvent meal plan week after week 

2-2-2 Method Prep Times

• Two elaborate meals: 40min-1 hour 
• Two easy/ quick meals: 10 min 
• Two average meals: 20-30 min 

How do I choose and where do they go? 

• We can talk a bit more about meals you make that are your go-to's and get more ideas generated
• Link in show notes that you can access My Five Recipes that are my fallbacks that take a short amount of time and don’t require lengthy prep times 

Helpful Links
Free Webinar: The Non-Diet Journey to Weight Loss and Improved Health, Feb 28 at 11 am EST register here

Get my favorite 10-minute meal ideas here
You can  sign up for the 52 Recipes challenge here
More information about From Emotional Eating to Food Freedom is here.  

You can find me on IG here  

Join the FB Group

Point 1: How will you know a Diet is Healthy and Sustainable? 

• Should include exercise 
• Have a variety of foods from all the food groups
• Be created by someone who is credentialed and professional about the information they are putting out there
• Slow and steady weight loss
• Include portion control
• Allow snacks in between meals
• Not rely heavily on supplements 
• Include small portions of your favorite foods and beverages 
• Some sort of science to back it up 
• Include plenty of water!

Point 2: What to Consider When Looking at Diet Plans 

  A) Does this Diet Plan Match My Eating Style?

• You want to look for a diet that matches the way that you eat 
• Can accommodate travel or dining out patterns
• Has a family-friendly approach that everyone in the household can follow 
• Does it require special preparation and cooking? 
• Is this something I can maintain for a long time

   B) Does it Match my Exercise Level?
 
  C) Does it include the foods I like and the Foods I can Afford and Prepare?

• Diets with new and never-eaten ingredients will probably not allow for sustainability

 D) How Quickly will I Lose Weight?

• How long has it been since you’ve started picking up weight or been at your current weight? Chances are, it's more than five or six weeks

E) Can you still have your favorite foods on this diet program?

• Have a diet program that encourages a balance of healthy foods also including favorite foods

F) Does this program call for small gradual changes or very quick sudden changes? 

• Small Gradual Changes?
  • Chances are you will be able to maintain the program long- term 
• Sudden Changes?
  • Most likely, you will revert back to old defaults and not maintain this long term

G)Do you want a structured plan or something more flexible? 

• Most people prefer a more flexible plan as its more long-lasting and more doable for the long term
• Some people may need a stricter plan, but typically only for a short period of time until they can get into the flow and make their new lifestyle a part of their routine

Side Note!
 Important to consider if you have health issues that need to be addressed related to your  food

• Don’t want a diet plan that will make health issues worse than they currently are 
• What plans have you tried in the past? 
  1. Why aren't they working anymore? 
  2. Why did they fail? 
  3. If you are not still on them, that is not a sustainable eating habit for you

Helpful Links
Free Webinar: The Non-Diet Journey to Weight Loss and Improved Health, Feb 21 at 11 am EST register here
You can  sign up for the 52 Recipes challenge here
More information about From Emotional Eating to Food Freedom is here.  

You can find me on IG here  

Join the FB Group

Point 1: Overview of Emotional eating

• Finding comfort in food very common
• Uncomfortably and triggering about this topic 
• Break down of what emotional eating is, why we do it, and identifying emotional eating triggers
• The first step in shifting eating habits and eventually result in you being healthier 

Point 2: Quote about emotional eating

• Unless an emotional eater finds a new way to make peace with her internal distress warnings, the unconscious compulsion to overeat will win out time and time again”
• Approach emotional eating as something to be conquered and will ourselves to overcome 
• If we can’t break these habits at a deeper level, we will never be able to get rid of them 
• How many times have you heard yourself or someone else saying, “oh i'm an emotional eater?” and they kind of resign because they know they seem to cannot get rid of this routine/habit
• We can break down these habits from the very core 

Point 3: What is emotional eating? 

• When people reach for food several times a week to suppress negative feelings
• They feel guilt or shame after eating this way 
• Emotional eating associated with negative emotions that 
• Food is a way to fill that void because it gives you instant gratification and temporary wholeness 
• It is a way of coping and has nothing to do with actual hunger 
• Folks more likely to emotional eat don't have: 

1. A difference between emotional and physical hunger
2. Tend to have negative-self talk 
3. Someone that retreats from getting social support in time of emotional needs
4. Don't have other healthy coping strategies in times of stress (e.g meditation, exercise etc.) 

Point 4: What are triggers that result in emotional eating?

• You’ve just scolded one of your kids, and now you have anger and also guilt, so you reach for food
• Having an exhausting day, and you are under satisfied with the day
• Anxiety 
• Unwritten rules from society as parents and mothers to be perfect 
• Overwhelmed feeling, feeling of sadness, feeling of giving up 

Point 5: What Are Your Triggers?

• Write it on paper
• So you can be more aware of things that make you emotionally eat 
• Deep-rooted in subconscious 

Point 6: What can we do?

• Be aware
• Journal to give insight about:  

1. What this means to you 
2. Find ways to limit that trigger (avoid limiting beliefs) 

Helpful links:
Free Webinar: The Non-Diet Journey to Weight Loss and Improved Health, Feb 21 at 11am EST register here
You can  sign up for the 52 Recipes challenge here
More information about From Emotional Eating to Food Freedom is here.  

You can find me on IG here  

Join the FB Group