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
Empower Your Control Over Food: Two Tips
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Ever find yourself at the mercy of your sweet tooth during the holiday season? I've been there too, and it's a battle many of us face as the festive goodies stack up on our kitchen counters. In this episode of the Simplicity of Wellness podcast, I share my personal story of establishing food boundaries, especially when faced with the irresistible allure of fancy chocolates. As we navigate through this sugar-laden time of year, I promise to reveal two transformative tips that have empowered me to make mindful choices—ones that strengthen my body and boost my confidence, even when initial motivation begins to wane.
Turning 58 has prompted me to reflect deeply on my health journey and the importance of balance as we age. Join me as I recount my experience of saying a firm 'no' to those tempting chocolates and the unexpected liberation that followed. Learn how setting personal 'finish lines' with food can help you maintain control and foster a healthier lifestyle, not just during the holidays but year-round. Tune in to discover how you, too, can feel stronger and more balanced by committing to choices that uplift your well-being.
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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.
Speaker 2:Hello Simplifiers. Today I want to give you two tips that have helped me feel very in control with food. We are deep into the holiday season and I don't know about you, but more and more goodies keep finding their way into my kitchen. We have a lot of thoughtful friends. These friends also happen to be very good bakers, which makes holding back on the goodies difficult, because I know how delicious they are. One thing I'm very proud of, because I've worked on this for years, is my self-awareness about how I feel in my body. This is one of the big reasons I'm able to hold back and not eat every goodie that finds its way onto our kitchen counter. I know that, no matter how tasty these goodies are, they aren't foods that will make me feel my best.
Speaker 2:Feeling my best is my big goal. I want to be better with age. I currently feel really good. I like what I see in the mirror. I feel strong. I also feel confident in my body's ability to move well. I'm happy about this. But I also know that healthy balance can be a fragile thing, especially as we get older. The older we get, the less it takes to throw our body out of balance. Balance, the older I get, the more. I believe I do have to be serious about making sure I'm doing things that make me better more often than the things that I know can easily make me worse.
Speaker 2:My birthday is in January, so it's always a great time for me to reflect on the previous year and what I envision for the year ahead. This year, as I've been thinking about my approaching birthday and turning 58, I realized that my raging sweet tooth is no joke. It has the power to really push me off my food game and crowd out the healthy foods I really do want to be eating. This became obvious right after Thanksgiving. We'd been gifted a lot of fancy chocolates. I felt like a five-year-old with a face covered in chocolate. It was just one quick bite after the next, my appetite was shot. I had no interest in putting together a meal, I just wanted to eat chocolates. Fortunately, my food and body awareness isn't blind to my sweet tooth. I was able to see what I was doing and create a hard stop with the fancy chocolates.
Speaker 2:My choice to say I don't eat fancy chocolates was a commitment I made to myself. It was an easy choice in the moment, but a choice that then became more difficult once my initial motivation was gone. I wanted those chocolates. Holding true to your choice after the initial motivation has disappeared is when real change starts happening. I felt better every day that has gone by without breaking my I don't eat fancy chocolates promise to myself. Being healthy and maintaining body balance isn't about luck. It's about choices Choices that happen all day long. I feel more confident and empowered in my ability to choose food. That makes me better, not worse. Everything about me feels better, having established my finish line for fancy chocolates. I established this finish line on the Monday after Thanksgiving, december 2nd.
Speaker 2:I've gone two weeks without fancy chocolates. Yes, the first few days, probably even the first week, was difficult. I had to keep reminding myself why I wasn't eating the chocolates. Number one they mess up my appetite. Number two I don't feel good when I don't eat real food. Number three I can't stop once I start. And number four I don't like feeling controlled by food. Now, at the end of week two, not having chocolates is starting to feel normal. It's just what I do, or, in this case, don't do.
Speaker 2:We were at Costco last week and, if you don't know, costco gives out tasters At this time of year. They often give out lint chocolate truffles. I love the lint truffles. As Jeff and I were walking through Costco, he said ooh, here comes the chocolate lady. He asked me if I wanted a chocolate. My usual response is yes, I want a chocolate. In the past when I've tried not to eat the chocolates I would say no, but in my head I would say, of course I want a chocolate, but I'm not going to eat one this time. When he asked me if I wanted a chocolate, I said no, that was it. I really didn't want the chocolate. There wasn't any inner voice saying of course you want the chocolate. This was a big deal. I noticed that it wasn't hard for me to just walk by the chocolate lady.
Speaker 2:While at this point not eating chocolate may feel sort of normal, it's by no means a set habit. I know if I eat a Lindt truffle or some other fancy chocolate I'll be right back to struggling to not eat the chocolates. It's easier for me right now to just stick with my ban on fancy chocolates. Eventually, not eating fancy chocolates will be a natural part of my healthy identity. I will see myself as a person who doesn't waste my appetite on fancy chocolates. I know this to be true because I did it with alcohol back in 2020. Not drinking alcohol or ordering wine in a restaurant feels normal to me now. It's nothing that I even think about. It's just what I do or, again, in this case, don't do so.
Speaker 2:My first tip when it comes to feeling confident about your food choices is make the hard choice if you need to. If you have a trigger food, a food that's an eating instigator, meaning it causes you to eat without much thought or concern about whether or not you're hungry decide to take a break from that food. Make the choice. Decide on a specific amount of time three days a week, two weeks a month and then, at the end of that designated time away from that food, re-evaluate your choice. Will you stick with it or do you want to figure out how to include that food, but with boundaries, so you don't feel out of control? The second tip is fun. Well, I think it's fun when you're presented with food options.
Speaker 2:Ask yourself what would my super, healthy, awesome future self choose? Don't think that you won't know the answer, because you will. You may not like the answer, but you'll know the answer. Make choices right now, today, as your future self. I know this tip sounds silly, but trust me, it totally works. Try it. You can be mad about your future self's choice and still make the choice. Do it and see how you feel after behaving like your future self for a few days.
Speaker 2:The next episode won't be until 2025, so enjoy the rest of the year. I have great news I'm expanding my weight loss coaching to include Weight Loss for Women. My free membership community, weight Loss for Women, is where you'll find your people Women who know what it's like to be on a weight loss and health journey. Women who are committed to succeeding. Women who want to help you win. As part of my free Weight Loss for Women community, you'll find support, accountability and access to my Hangry to Healthy weight loss process, the proven process that has helped so many other women lose weight as they shift from feeling food frantic to enjoying food freedom. Click the Weight Loss for Women link below the show notes and join now.
