Nourish and Nurture

Episode 94: Let's Work On that Mindset
This episode explores your relationship with yourself, which sets the stage for your relationship with food and eating. I give you my personal story of when I didn't even approach The Land of Good Enough and teach you about the parable of Buddha's Second Arrow which tells us that pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.  I explore what mistakes we dieters are making and, more importantly, why we make these mistakes.  I give you advice on how to talk to yourself as well as helpful coaching advice that will set you well on your way to changing your self-talk into a positive road to get you to where you want to go. 

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Episode #93: Common Diet Myths

Sometimes our weight loss efforts are thwarted by popular diet myths. We get hung up on trying to follow all the diet rules and we lose sight of the fact that some don’t make any sense or are not supported by the latest science. We are not machines. Each person has their own metabolism, likes and dislikes, cultural backgrounds, habits and lifestyles. Do you need to count calories? Do you need to track? Do you need to eat at certain times? Listen to this episode and find answers that will help you clear some of the diet-rule clutter that you have been experiencing. 

First start by asking, "What is my dieting history?"

Then start to unravel some common diet myths and find a better way.

And remember,  diet success is not the same for everyone

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Episode #92, Understanding the Impact of the Foods We Eat

In this episode explore the most important elements of understanding the impacts of the foods we eat. Miriam introduces her new course with the following modules:
1. Carb Clarity: Revealing Hidden Carbohydrates
2. Cracking the Code: Conquering Stubborn Belly Fat
3. But I LOVE Sugar: Demystifying Sugar and Baked Goods Dependency
4. Grains and Legumes Decoded for Balanced Nutrition
5.Family-Friendly Cooking and Eating Out without Grains and Legumes

Your actionable coaching advice this week will move you out of the judgment zone into the awareness zone by helping you see how you can minimize the impact of the carbohydrates you are eating and enjoying. No need to cut anything out! Just learn to minimize the impact.

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Episode #91  Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind

In this episode I explore my new course, "8 Strategies to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind.

These strategies are:
Strategy 1: Find your ideal eating plan and learn what compatibility means for you.
Strategy 2: Let Go of Perfection and Learn to Make Your Next-Best Decisions. Embrace Imperfection and Banish Shame
Strategy 3:  Home Base and Course Correction – Never Start Over Again
Strategy 4: Goal-Setting Strategy: Realistic Pathways to Your Dreams
Strategy 5: The Hunger Scale: Your Key to Intuitive and Sustainable Eating
Strategy 6: Transforming Reactions to Cravings and Triggers
Strategy 7: Keeping a Successful Food Journal
Strategy 8: Change Your Mindset, Change Your Life

I also give you a bonus strategy: Transform Dance Lessons into Plate Lessons: Enjoy your Eating Plan
 * Living an eating plan absolutely should not mean the drudgery of weighing, measuring, and tracking every morsel that goes into your mouth.
 *With over 30 years of experience as a belly dancer and teacher, I have learned how to use the metaphor of dancing to bring success to your eating plan.

As always there is also ACTIONABLE COACHING ADVICE for the week.

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Episode #90: Setting Goals That Work

This episode covers how to successfully set goals suggesting either the SMACKDOWN way or the SMART way. Learn about what Forbes magazine says is the successful way to work on your goals, and also the difference between operational goals, performance goals, and outcome goals. Discover what you can do to make your walking goal achievable - and it might just start with a pair of socks!

Miriam shares her own 2024 goal, starting with entering the 2024 UNSTOPPABLE CHALLENGE. Be sure to watch the videos below to see what has inspired her, and also visit the DDPY website (link also below) to see if this might be a path you want to explore for yourself.

Arthur Boorman Video
Jared Mollenkopf Video
DDPY

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Episode #89 Grains and Legumes Decoded – Friend or Foe

There is emerging evidence that the Standard American Diet, which is low in fiber and high in sugar and unhealthy fats, may initiate this process. In any case, staying away from an overabundance of grains and processed foods will help heal and maintain a healthy gut.

This episode examines many studies in the area of grain consumption and chronic inflammation in our bodies, and examines both sides of the story about whether or not grains and legumes are good for us.

Gluten intolerance is examined, as well as the concept called "Grainflammation" that plays a part in all of this. Lectins, Phytic Acid, and Leaky Gut are all explained and explored.

I talk about how just cutting down these foods because of their carbohydrate load will help you get out of diet prison and help you to get some footing with intuitive eating where the amount glucose produced by these foods does not constantly bathe your system to trigger cravings and urges to eat. 

Links to all the studies mentioned in this episode are in the transcript accompanying this episode.

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Episode #88: Carb Clarity

In this episode you will learn all about carbohydrates: What they are, what kinds there are, what do they do in - and to - your body, how they add up in a day, and how to count them. Learn about what carbs have to do with hunger, fatigue and stubborn belly fat. 

Even if you are eating extremely low carb, as in Keto, you will not be at zero - as you learn that even cheese, nuts, and some protein have carbs. Believe me, they are everywhere, but they are not to be vilified, just understood.

You will get a look into insulin resistance and your hunger hormones, leptin and ghrelin. 

Your actionable coaching advice is to build awareness - not judgment - as you track just one day's food intake so that. you can see where your carbohydrates are coming from in a day. Easy-peasy. Just an exercise in awareness to get you thinking about what changes you might want to make to the way you are eating. 

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Episode 87: Positive Self-Talk and Affirmations

In my book, Language of the Dance – Belly Dance with Amira Jamal, I have a worksheet entitled STOP THAT NEGATIVE SELF-TALK. It was one of the most important lessons in my classes and it is probably one of the most important things you need to learn to have a successful journey with whatever you are doing. 

This episode will walk you through how to talk to yourself and how to make affirmations believable using the technique of laddering. Your affirmations will work only to the extent that the idea is within the realm of possibility and believability. All this is addressed so that you don't land up with empty mantras that really will mean nothing to you. That's where most positive self-talk and positive affirmation instructions miss the mark in helping you.  We will turn that around right now with this episode!

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Episode #86: Slow Down and Feel Your Best

It really DOES take approximately 20 minutes for your gut to send the message to your brain that it is full enough - not full to the point of the feeling of bursting. I started to respect the practice of slowing down and paying attention to my food, and this went a long way to make me aware of my fullness cues. 

In this episode you will learn all the ways to slow down your eating so that your brain and stomach catch up to being on the same page, making it much easier to find your fullness cue.

If you learn to pay attention through slowing down, you will have less disconnect with your eating, which in turn, will help you pay attention to your satisfaction level. When a meal or food “hits the spot” you tend to be satisfied with a lesser quantity of food, or, at the very least, it will keep you from overeating other foods either at the meal or between meals. This satisfaction factor is not to be underestimated or ignored and contributes greatly to feeling your best. 

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Episode 85: Paleo and Primal

Paleo can be the next step after Whole30, but you can go straight into it, as I did.  Paleo is known as the “hunter-gatherer” diet but don’t worry – you don’t have to hunt and gather except, maybe, for the best food prices in town! It is named for Paleolithic which relates to the early phase of the Stone Age. Honestly, I think it is partly conjecture about how and what paleolithic people ate, but we are sure it was not potato chips, eclairs, and French fries. The point is to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible. A paleo diet typically includes lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds — foods that in the past could be obtained by hunting and gathering. A paleo diet limits or eliminates other foods that became common when farming emerged about 10,000 years ago including dairy products, legumes and grains. 

In this episode I talk about my own experience with Paleo and I also introduce you to Primal, Paleo's cousin.  The episode goes on to discuss the reasons and costs of the mistakes we often make when trying out a new  eating style that is so different from what we are used to with the Standard American Diet. Your homework is to start reading labels and to pay very close attention to what you are choosing to put in your grocery cart.

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