The Simplicity of Wellness Podcast
The Simplicity of Wellness podcast is about learning how to bring your body into balance so that you get leaner, stronger and healthier as you age. Each week I'll share thoughts and ideas that help my clients build the self-awareness, self-confidence and self-reliance to lose weight, shed inches, manage muscle mass and master their mind so that they can stop dieting and enjoy living at their healthy weight with optimal wellness.
The Simplicity of Wellness Podcast
Being Out of Balance Is Making You Feel Broken
Questions, comments? Shoot me a text.
Wave goodbye to the feeling of being 'metabolically broken' and embark on a transformative journey towards balance in your health and life. Our latest episode strips away the myths entangling menopause and type 2 diabetes management, substituting them with a blueprint for dietary harmony. You'll find comfort in knowing that the elusive 'magic pill' is no match for the practical strategies we lay out. We're talking protein-packed meals, low-sugar veggies, and fats that fuel wellness—sans the overwhelm. And it's not just about what's on your plate; we're flipping the script on reading nutrition labels, ensuring you can spot the protein champions easily.
Embrace the mantra: Your health is in your hands, and belief is your superpower. This episode isn't just about shedding weight—it's about sculpting a leaner, stronger, and healthier you that thrives through menopause, bustles past a busy schedule, and ages like fine wine. We're putting the power of personalization on a pedestal, encouraging you to tailor your diet and fitness to your unique rhythm. And because we know life doesn't hit pause for health, I'm dishing out my go-to list for nutritious snacks that keep pace with your fast-forward life. Together, we're mapping a route to sustainable body management, one small daily decision at a time.
Protein Snack Challenge: Get It Here
Weight Loss Coaching Program: Hangry to Healthy™
Get Your Food Audit Here
What to Eat Guide: Healthy Food List
Schedule Your Free Consult: Lose Weight For The Last Time
Website: The Simplicity of Wellness
Follow Me on Instagram
Welcome to the Simplicity of Wellness podcast. I'm your host, board-certified holistic nutritionist and professional life coach, amy White. The purpose of this podcast is to share information that you can use to become leaner, stronger and healthier by losing weight, shedding inches, maintaining muscle and managing your mind, all while living your normal busy life in this modern, sugar-filled world. Hello simplifiers, I was on social media the other day and I came across a video of someone describing people as being metabolically broken.
Speaker 1:The idea of being broken caught my eye. I had a strong negative reaction, but I thought whatever, whatever, I'm moving on. And then I didn't. Instead, I decided to check the comments and the first comment that I read was a woman agreeing about being broken and stating that women in menopause are broken. Well, that really got me going and I had to dive in.
Speaker 1:I don't like the word broken. I can't tell you how many times people have come to me believing that they are broken, that there's some fundamental physiological problem in their body. They feel so strongly about this that they spend a lot of time trying to convince me that it's true that they are broken. The thing is, when you believe you're broken, you also believe you can't fix it, that it's out of your hands. So these people are looking for the magic fix, the silver bullet, the one thing, the thing that they believe is the only thing that will unbreak them and allow them to function like everyone else, thing that will unbreak them and allow them to function like everyone else, meaning they will be able to lose weight and feel better. They won't feel so tired or controlled by food. I don't believe most people are broken. Over the past 13 years, many people who thought they were broken trusted me to help them to peel back the layers of their discomfort, to see if there was in fact a bigger problem. And all of that time, I can only think of one client who had a level of dysfunction that needed a bigger intervention than food and lifestyle adjustments. And even this client felt 100 times better with the food and lifestyle changes she made. It wasn't wasted time. The changes she made got her to a place where she was ready for the next level of intervention. Even a type 2 diabetic isn't broken. They're out of balance and that feels broken. Women in menopause are not broken. Their hormonal balance has shifted and likely their metabolic balance has also shifted. They're feeling broken because they haven't figured out how to create balance in this newest version of their body. Creating that balance will look different for different people, but the first step toward regaining your balance is much easier than finding a magic diagnosis or pill.
Speaker 1:Start with the easy stuff. If you're not willing to examine your current diet and lifestyle, you will continue to feel miserable while on the lookout for that magic solution that probably doesn't exist. Some of you might be thinking oh Zempek, that's a magic pill. Yes and no. It's a pill, and one that, when taken, most people will need to take for the rest of their life. There will be long-term implications when it comes to taking medication for the rest of your life. For some, this will be the best option, but I believe for many it may not be.
Speaker 1:Before deciding to take a magic pill for the rest of your life, try controlling what you can control. You can control what you eat. You can control what you eat. You can control how you move. If you're thinking I've tried this and it doesn't work, and you're at that point where you're giving up on trying to figure your body out, that's okay. You do, you, but for those of you who haven't given up, the ones who don't like to stop until you figure something out. I get you. I don't want you to feel miserable or broken. I want you to feel amazing, and part of feeling amazing is knowing that you're the one who made it happen. You're the one controlling how you feel through the choices you make every day.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about first steps and how-tos for those of you who are gathering information and trying to course correct until you do get it right. First things first. Start with protein. Look at your current diet and evaluate how much protein you're actually getting in a day. Most people should be shooting for a minimum of 125 grams per day or more. How do you figure this out? You track your food. Use an online food tracker. I like carbmanagercom, but there are bunches of different food trackers. Find the one that you like and track your food. Keep it simple. Just focus on the protein. Don't worry about anything else at this point. Just get a feel for how much or how little protein you're actually eating in a single day.
Speaker 1:Make sure the protein is the main part of each of your meals, ideally three meals in a day. Put six to eight ounces or more protein on your plate. Then fill in with the low sugar vegetables, healthy fats like olive oil, avocado and even some butter. You don't have to make huge, sweeping changes. Don't think about taking things out of your current diet so much as adding in more protein and non-starchy vegetables. Add these things into your current diet and you'll naturally eat less of your regular foods, the ones that aren't working for your body.
Speaker 1:When it comes to protein, I have two more tips. Read nutrition labels. If you buy food that has a nutrition label and you are trying to lose weight, make sure the food you're choosing has more grams of protein than fat per serving. The more protein than fat, the better. An example would be turkey sausages instead of beef or pork sausages. Beef and pork sausages tend to have more fat than protein. A hot dog is not a protein source. It's an energy source Way more fat than protein. When you overeat energy, you get less nutrients and your body stays hungry, so you end up eating more and overfueling. Overfueling your body is how you gain weight. All the excess energy has to be stored, and it gets stored as fat. Turkey bacon versus pork bacon is another example of increasing your protein by reducing the energy load. Another great way to increase your protein without excess energy is low-fat or fat-free dairy.
Speaker 1:Now. I mentioned this in a social post and immediately someone jumped in and told me fat was good and the idea of fat being bad has been debunked. She went on to say that people should not eat low-fat or fat-free. I've been doing healthy aging and weight loss for a long time over 20 years and 13 of those years have been with paying clients In an attempt to figure my body out. I've tried it all Low-fat, atkins, south Beach, paleo, mediterranean, keto, low-carb, carnivore. Every one of these food protocols has merit, but none of them work if they feel hard to you. Over the years, my personal process has evolved to use aspects of all of these protocols.
Speaker 1:Different people need different things to regain balance in a way that feels good to their body. I don't want my clients to feel miserable. I want them to feel good and enjoy their food. I agree that fat is good, that the right types of fat are healthy and should be enjoyed, but fat, like carbohydrates, are a source of energy and if you are overweight and carrying excess fat, you have an energy surplus. Your goals and lifestyle will help you determine which of the foods you enjoy should be your most of the time foods the foods that actually make your body better, not worse. If you have a weight loss goal, then your most of the time.
Speaker 1:Foods should encourage your body to use your body fat as a primary fuel source. Eating excess fat will not encourage your body to burn body fat. Your body will always follow the path of least resistance. If you feed it easy fuel, it will use the easy fuel. It's not going to dig deep and use body fat if you're giving it fuel on a silver platter.
Speaker 1:I like healthy fats. I like the fat that comes on a ribeye steak and in whole eggs. I like the fat in avocados, olives and olive oil. Dairy fat is boring. Unlike other foods, when fat is removed from dairy, it doesn't require extra sugars to make that food palatable. Removing fat from dairy reduces the overall calories or energy, but keeps the protein intact. You're now enjoying a low energy, high protein food. Removing dairy fat also makes it possible for you to enjoy other fats while still managing your incoming energy. Instead of having two high-fat energy foods high-fat dairy and, say, avocado now you'll just be eating one. The avocado Full-fat yogurt in the morning and then avocado with your lunch may be too much for your body. This may be why you stopped losing weight even though you were eating healthy food. Go with the fat-free yogurt and continue to enjoy some avocado, and then evaluate what happens. This may be the tiny energy shift your body needed to kickstart weight loss.
Speaker 1:Once you're straight on the protein step, the next thing to do is move your body Walk Again. Keep it simple. Don't worry about going to the gym or having an exercise plan. Go outside and walk. If you have a treadmill, walk on your treadmill. Track your steps. If you're below 8,000 steps a day, try to increase your steps every day until you hit 8,000 or more steps. Take action, evaluate the result and then make adjustments as needed. Let your first steps be simple. Make some easy changes that make it feel like you haven't really changed anything.
Speaker 1:If you enjoy sausage, that make it feel like you haven't really changed anything. If you enjoy sausage, try chicken or turkey sausage instead of beef or pork sausage. Read the labels, though, because not all chicken and turkey sausage is low fat. If you love cottage cheese, great, eat cottage cheese, but eat low fat or fat-free cottage cheese Yogurt. If that's your thing, enjoy. Get really good fat-free yogurt. If you don't like plain yogurt, then try the Shobani sugar-free or the two good yogurts.
Speaker 1:If you want help, ask me. I can help you. I know you can do this. I know you can feel better. I know you can lose weight. I know you can regain body balance and feel like a million bucks. Play around with your food and your daily steps and see what happens. I don't want you to just lose weight. I want you to lose your extra weight so that you get leaner, stronger and healthier. I want you to create a personal body management process that gives you the ultimate result a healthy lifespan with longevity, so that you can live the life you want at every age.
Speaker 1:Stop believing you're broken or that your circumstances age, menopause, busy schedule are keeping you from aging well. They aren't. It's all the little decisions you make every day that will either keep you where you are or take you where you want to be. I know this can be difficult to do on your own, so, again, if you need help, find somebody who can help you. Okay, that's it for today. I will see you all in the next episode. Life is busy and when we're busy, sitting down to a meal often isn't realistic, which means we're grabbing snacks. If you're eating on the run more often than not, click the link below the podcast to grab my healthy snacks list. You'll find lots of ideas for mini meals at home and easy on the go travel snacks.
