Foodist with Darya Rose, Ph.D

"The way that you look and the way that you see yourself are not one and the same." - Jamie Dana

In this episode I talk with Jamie, a health counselor and foodist success story.

Jamie and I have similar backgrounds and a lot in common. We both had mothers who raised us on packaged diet foods and jazzercise videos. And we both had powerful “a-ha” moments at the farmers market that changed how we approached our healthstyle forever.

Jamie tells her story about how she was able to introduce healthier foods into her and her family’s lives, and the impact it has made on their outlook of the world.

Her tips on how she turned her kids into more adventurous eaters and look at food completely differently are invaluable.

We also discuss what processed foods do to your brain, how tiny steps lead to huge successes and how living in line with your core values can bring rewards that are so much larger than what you could have ever imagined.

Jamie reminds us that eating well is not complicated and that how you feel on the inside changes how you look on the outside. She is now an avid supporter of the farmers market, lives a happy and healthy life and no longer gives dieting a second thought.

Prepare to be inspired as you listen to Jamie’s journey of how she was able to find and commit to a healthstyle that both her and her family love.

For complete show notes visit: http://www.summertomato.com/category/podcast

One of the hardest things about making your healthy habits stick is finding ways to do them when you are very tired, stressed or busy.

Randi is a school teacher, which means that in the summertime she has more free time to focus on her healthstyle. During that time, she enjoys making delicious and healthy meals for herself and her family.

However, when school is back in session she no longer has the luxury of a full day to plan her meals, which leaves her feeling stressed about what she is going to make for dinner each night. This pressure causes her to avoid cooking altogether, substituting snacks for a proper meal on the weeknights.  

As a breast cancer survivor Randi’s health is of the utmost importance to her. She knows that cooking nutritious meals each week is necessary to maintain her weight and stay in good health.

Luckily for Randi she has all of the tools she needs in order to achieve her cooking goal. By acknowledging some of her limiting beliefs and finding ways to work around them we come up with a strategy that enables her to cook healthy meals year-round.

For complete show notes visit: http://www.summertomato.com/category/podcast

Losing a parent is one of the toughest things you can go through in life. Getting yourself back on track can feel impossible for a long time.

Bonnie was just getting her healthstyle together when her mom passed away. She was eating right, cut way back on sugar and was enjoying regular trips to the gym.

Although she was able to maintain her healthy eating habits, her exercise routine has been completely derailed. The idea of feeling strong and looking fit no longer motivates her, and her mental state almost a year later makes it hard for her to bring herself to even put on her sneakers.

Bonnie yearns to get back into the gym knowing that it would help her sleep better, relieve stress and make her feel like her old self again, but cannot figure out how to rekindle the habit.

Reframing some of Bonnie’s limiting beliefs and coming up with an idea for a new approach to exercise enables Bonnie to shift her perspective, inspiring her to get moving once again.

For complete show notes visit http://www.summertomato.com/category/podcast

Leora enjoys learning about nutrition and discovering new healthy ingredients to try out. After years of study she has become very knowledgeable about what it takes to have a great healthstyle.

However, over the past few years Leora has become aware that what starts out as an innocent hobby often turns into a coping mechanism for managing stress. When life gets hard Leora turns to the health blogs in search for a way to regain a sense of control. Trying out a new diet that promises optimal health makes her feel like her life is back in order.

The problem is that the diet ends up causing her to not feel well and no longer enjoy her meals. She eventually goes back to her already excellent healthstyle feeling regretful for ever going on the diet in the first place.

What is frustrating to Leora is that she is aware that she is using dieting as a distraction from stress, but cannot seem to stop herself from doing it.

We discover that in order for Leora to quit dieting for good she needs to find other comforting ways to feel more in control when triggered by stress. Together we develop a strategy based off her own values and insights to get out of this habit pattern and release her dieting mindset for good.

For complete show notes visit http://www.summertomato.com/category/podcast

Despite enjoying her healthy habits, Chrissy often finds herself exhausted in the evenings and not motivated to cook dinner, even when she has ingredients already prepped.

She reached out asking for strategies to curb this habit, since it can lead to a downward spiral of ordering takeout for weeks at a time.

Sometimes an issue like this is a result of failing strategies, but for Chrissy it runs deeper. Her problem is that she doesn’t sleep well at night, and as a result is too tired to maintain her healthy habits later in the day.

There is no amount of strategy or experimentation that will fix this for her. She needs to focus on getting enough rest.

Together Chrissy and I discuss why it’s essential that she refocus her efforts on getting enough sleep, since it is foundational for the rest of her habits. This requires addressing some of her fears and limiting beliefs around sleep, as well as some practical sleep hygiene habits.

For complete show notes visit http://summertomato.com/category/podcast

We have all been there. You walk into the break room at work or get to an event and there it is, a table full of free (and not-so-healthy) treats that are yours for the taking.

For Kristen these moments trigger her into what she calls “opportunistic eating,” mindlessly eating food that would normally not appeal to her just because it is there.

Kristen knows that this behavior is preventing her from dropping the last few pounds she would like to lose. She’s also missing out on enjoying better quality treats in the rest of her life because she has “blown her calories” on eating free junk food at work.

She feels she is undermining her personal values of both good health and enjoying delicious food because of this habit.  

Together Kristen and I we come up with strategies that can help her bring awareness to her behavior and get in touch with her core values so that she can make better choices when tempted.

For complete show notes visit http://www.summertomato.com/category/podcast

Monica has a demanding job with hours that are continuously changing. She is responsible for producing original ideas at a moment's notice, which is very intellectually demanding. Although she enjoys her work, the stress of the job causes her to snack constantly whether she is hungry or not.

It doesn’t help that her job is copywriting for fast food and snack companies and there are always plenty of treats around for her to indulge in whenever good ideas are not flowing.

Monica knows that she needs to deal with work anxiety in a healthier way. In general, she has a very healthy lifestyle. At home she eats mindfully, has a regular exercise routine and cooks healthy foods. However, when she gets to work she compares it to a “black hole” where she disappears into “non-healthstyle land.”

The overeating at work caused by stress ends up making her tired, hurting her stomach and does not align with her values. Together we come up with ideas for how Monica can resolve her anxiety using her mind instead of food.

For complete show notes visit http://www.summertomato.com/category/podcast

After successfully losing over seventy pounds on a meal replacement diet Cara has reached her ideal weight and is feeling great. But now she faces a new challenge: weight maintenance.

Knowing that diets rarely work long-term and that she needs a more sustainable approach to her healthstyle she is ready to tackle the hard work. In Cara’s case, that means getting over one of her biggest fears.

Cara hates cooking, but knows that learning how to prepare her own food is necessary in order for her to maintain her weight loss. After putting it off her entire life, she says she is now “trying to focus on how to make the hard work doable.”

Together we explore the story Cara has built up in her mind over the years regarding food preparation. Having struggled with this topic myself, I share how I got over my own fear of cooking and suggest ways she can approach it in a much less intimidating way, find inspiration and even get excited about it.

For complete show notes visit http://www.summertomato.com/category/podcast

Once or twice a week Allison and her husband decide to order take-out for dinner. They find fun reasons to celebrate, often making a night out of it by renting a movie and having a couple drinks to go along with the food delivery. It is a good time and sharing these moments together brings a lot of joy to their relationship.

Theoretically there is nothing unhealthy about this behavior. But for Allison and her husband the problem is the amount of food that is ordered and how much of it is consumed. It is not uncommon for them to order two extra large pizzas and eat one each.

Allison knows the amount of food she and her husband are consuming on these nights is not healthy and has seen a fluctuation in their weights. To compensate for the extra calories she often turns to dieting tactics and maintains a very intense exercise routine. She and her husband have tried cooking at home to compensate for their binges and have even planted a garden to inspire them to eat more vegetables, but eventually their willpower gives out and the co-bingeing ritual repeats.

Allison wants to change this unhealthy behavior, but she cannot seem to stop herself from doing it. Throughout the episode Allison and I investigate why she is over ordering take-out and discover that she has many limiting beliefs around what she considers to be healthy behavior. It becomes clear that these limiting beliefs have created blind spots for her, which are preventing her from seeing a solution.

For complete show notes visit http://www.summertomato.com/category/podcast

A couple of times a month Polly is expected to go out for drinks with her coworkers. This is part of the company culture and a great opportunity to bond with her team. Plus, she really enjoys it and finds it to be an overall rewarding experience.

The problem is that at these events Polly finds herself drinking three to four times more alcohol than she normally would. This frustrates her because it is out of character and not aligned with her healthstyle values.

In her normal life Polly has no problem stopping after one or two drinks and the rest of her healthstyle is very strong. She eats mindfully, cooks every day, exercises, and gets plenty of sleep.

Polly has tried to talk herself into drinking less at work events without success. As soon as she arrives anxiety and excitement kick in and she feels the urge to match her coworkers drink for drink, making sure no one’s glass is ever empty.

While all over-indulgence habits are hard to break, binge drinking is particularly tough since alcohol inhibits your ability to make good decisions. It is important to remember in these cases that small actions can lead to big results over time and to have patience with yourself when you aren’t perfect.

In this episode, Polly and I discover what her triggers are and I share with her some tricks that have helped me drink less in social situations. We also develop strategies she can use to alter her behavior through trial and error, instead of setting strict rules to follow. This encourages her to approach her situation with a new and more realistic outlook.

For complete show notes visit http://www.summertomato.com/category/podcast