A fundamental principle of being a foodist is that you shouldn’t restrict yourself from eating foods that you love. One of the wonderful aspects of eating is that it is pleasurable, and this is an entirely valid reason to choose to eat something.

New and aspiring foodists love this idea, but often find it difficult to balance the values of eating for pleasure and eating for health. Exactly how often is it “okay” to choose foods for pleasure? How much of them can you “enjoy”? And how do you stop yourself from overdoing it once you’ve started?

Katie is grappling with these issues, and can’t help but feel that she doesn’t have enough self-control to stop herself from overeating junk foods, despite her love of healthy foods as well.

Together we discuss how she can develop the ability to choose indulgences that are more valuable to her and stop eating when she’s truly satisfied, rather than way past that point.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

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Mindful Meal Challenge

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You can probably name several barriers in your life that feel like they are preventing you from getting healthy or achieving your goals, but the biggest ones are always mental.

Confidence in particular has an insidious ability to undermine your motivation, making it feel like nothing you can do actually matters since no matter what you try you’ll always be stuck in the same place. Logically you may know that if you don’t try or do something different it isn’t likely things will change, but when all your actions feel futile this knowledge has little power to help.

Lack of confidence keeps you feeling stuck and overwhelmed, and it is one of the most common symptoms of someone who has tried for years to lose weight or get healthy without lasting success. It’s like a Catch-22, you can’t succeed with action. And you can’t take action without the confidence that comes from success.

Or is that too a limiting belief?

In this episode, Leslie tells the story of how several small wins in her life built up trust in her process and confidence in her ability to overcome healthstyle obstacles. This meant shedding several limiting beliefs she had about what it means to feel confident, as well as what success really looks like.

Leslie’s story covers several decades of obstacles, including both failures and successes, as well as what being healthy means for her today. Her story is wonderful illustration of what it means to build confidence and trust your process when it comes to health.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

Related links:

Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach

Mindful Meal Challenge

How Reshanda Overcame Binge Eating and Lost 28 Lbs

For Richard Ford, Memoir Is A Chance To ‘Tell The Unthinkable’

Breville toaster oven

Foodist Kitchen

Small Victories by Julie Turshen

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Becky is normally a healthy eater and exercises regularly. She isn’t overweight, but would love to lose a few pounds. She also knows that if she stopped her periodic binges the weight would likely take care of itself.

Becky has also read Foodist and Summer Tomato, and knows that dieting isn’t a good strategy and that she has a tendency to moralize her food choices in a way that undermines her efforts. Yet she doesn’t know how to stop and continues trying to use willpower to both change her beliefs and stop her bingeing, which clearly is not working. She often finds herself bingeing at night after going out with her husband and friends, consuming thousands of calories at a time and feeling horrible the next day.

Knowing that your beliefs are counterproductive isn’t enough to change them, and willpower isn’t the answer. Reshaping your beliefs is difficult and you can hear in Becky’s voice how hard it is for her internalize the idea that pleasure is a valid reason to eat. Her experience to date has only shown her that she loses control around these foods and feels bad afterward, so it is almost impossible for her to see at this stage how a middle ground is possible.

In this episode I help Becky recognize the fundamental limitations of her approach and develop a strategy to start to unravel her rigid belief that she should only eat for fuel and nutrition. There are multiple issues she needs to work on, but she’ll have a much greater chance at success with this new approach.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

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No, You Don’t Deserve That Indulgence Today

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Sometimes it feels like you have everything figured out except for this one, baffling problem that seems to defy all logic. For Nina, her healthstyle has always been rather straightforward. She enjoys eating healthy, she understands the value of indulgences, and can easily adjust her behavior to align with her values in almost every circumstance. Almost.

Nina reached out to me because she can’t understand why she binges on junk food during her babysitting job, despite knowing it’s a bad decision and not worth it. She has tried a few things to stop, and had a bit of success, but still doesn’t feel like she has control over her behavior in this one, specific circumstance.

As is often the case when a very specific context becomes a trigger for an intractable habit, Nina can lucidly describe her issue and the circumstances that cause it to arise. She knows she’ll regret her actions, she knows Cheetos and Cinnamon Toast Crunch aren’t special on a random Thursday afternoon, and she knows it’ll impact her ability to enjoy herself after she leaves. What she can’t figure out is why she continues to act in a way she doesn’t like, despite this self-awareness.

For Nina, solving this mystery requires reframing an old habit in a new light. Even though the circumstances have changed for her as an adult, she is acting out an old behavior she developed as a child. As a result, she lacks the perspective necessary to recognize a solution that is right under her nose.

Together Nina and I come up with a simple way for her to hit pause on the autopilot caused by the babysitting trigger and pull herself back into the present moment so she can make a more rational and value-based choice in behavior.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

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Rachel knew that having a baby would make it harder to maintain her healthstyle. But it’s now been 18 months and she still hasn’t found a way to regularly make the best choices and ends up eating out 2-3 nights per week.

Her issue is that her old healthstyle––which she loved––required an amount of time and energy that simply aren’t realistic for her anymore. She and her husband love to cook elaborate meals, but trying to fit it into their new baby life just isn’t working.

We also identify a few other invisible barriers that are blocking Rachel from fully utilizing her tiny New York kitchen. Subtle barriers can derail any well-intentioned healthstyle, but when you’re exhausted and every single part of your life feels new and overwhelming, identifying and eliminating those barriers is extra hard.

Together, Rachel and I come up with a few ways to simply her meals and make weekday cooking more practical.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

Related links:

Foodist Kitchen

How To Cook Perfect Rice Without A Rice Cooker (and store it for months)

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Over the past nine months Agata has had some success in being healthier, but is disappointed that she hasn’t lost much weight. She started slowly by being more active and noticed she had more energy and looked more toned.

Despite the benefits she felt, her wedding was approaching and she still hoped to lose some more weight. Agata decided to focus more on her diet, although she didn’t want to be too strict, so she started eating more vegetables and cut down on processed foods. She enjoyed this and didn’t feel deprived, and proceeded to lose five more pounds.

Her wedding came and went, and she was happy, but she’s still wondering why she hasn’t had more success with weight loss.

She called to ask me, “Am I doing something wrong?”

Agata’s impatience with weight loss is something I hear often from new foodists, particularly those with a history of dieting who expect rapid weight loss.

In this episode I help Agata reframe her disappointment with her results as what it is––success with room to improve––and help her identify new target habits to build on the progress she’s made so far.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

Related links:

Foodist book

Home Court Habits

How Being Too Productive Can Lead to Overeating (and How to Stop It)

How Yoga and Mindful Eating Helped Sherry Lose 16 lbs Without Effort

Foodist Kitchen

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After a move from Chicago to California, Mary found herself slowly gaining weight to the tune of 1 pound every 3 months. After awhile she was dismayed to find she was up 15 lbs, and wanted to find the reason.

She tried several things to cut back a bit on calories without any luck. Her last resort was her evening routine of drinking several glasses of wine, a habit that’s proving more difficult to break than any of the others.

This worries Mary for a few reasons. Obviously she wants to lose the weight and feel back in control of her healthstyle. But we all know alcohol is an addictive substance, so part of her fear is that this may be related to why she hasn’t been able to cut back.

Alcohol is a difficult habit to work with, and as a wine lover myself I can definitely relate. Mary had done a few experiments and is fairly confident she isn’t dependent on the substance. Together we come up with some strategies for her to cut back enough to feel more in control and potentially lose the weight.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

Related links:

What to Do When Willpower Isn’t Enough (The Power of One)

How to Burn More Calories Without Breaking a Sweat

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“It’s been the easiest 33 lbs I’ve ever lost.” ~Angela

Angela just discovered Foodist a few months ago after a lifetime of being overweight and chronic dieting. By changing the way she approaches food and health, she’s been able to lose 33 lbs in what she calls the easiest weight loss of her life.

Despite her success, Angela still has progress to make and is trying to figure out some of the more subtle aspects of her healthstyle. Today she asks a question that every foodist must grapple with at some point along their journey, which is how to know if an urge to eat (or skip a workout or other healthstyle behavior) is coming from a place of physical need or some other impulse that should be resisted?

This question is particularly difficult for people who have spent a lot of time dieting, since by its very nature dieting teaches you to ignore your body’s basic signals and use willpower to stick to your plan. As Angela explains, it can be very difficult to trust the different voices in your head that are pushing you to care for yourself, especially if you believe they were what caused you to be overweight in the first place.

There are several things to consider when you’re learning to answer this question for yourself, including what situations are the most important to get right, how to learn from your mistakes when you get it wrong and how not stress out when you find yourself in a position of uncertainty.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

Related links:

Bonnie Transforms From a Junk Food Speed Eater to a Mindful Vegetable Lover and Loses 40 Lbs

‘The Myth of Willpower’ (chapter from Foodist) and free starter kit

The Worst Thing You Can Do if You’re Trying to Lose Weight

Foodist: Using Real Food and Real Science to Lose Weight Without Dieting

Way of Life app

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After years of yo-yo dieting, Ashley had finally got off the dieting rollercoaster after discovering Summer Tomato and Foodist. She learned to embrace the foodist lifestyle and joyfully lost weight without dieting. Things were great.

Ashley’s new habits were working great until she had a shift in her work life that enabled her to work from home. While she loves her new freedom and flexibility in her day, some of her more structured habits like lunch and snacks have fallen back into disarray.

Together we discuss what has changed in her routines and come up with some strategies she can use to retake control of her choices.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

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The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

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Elizabeth wishes she could form a more regular exercise habit, but every time she tries she finds herself lacking in motivation. While she describes herself as “not inactive” she wishes she did more “proper exercise” a few days a week.

Sometimes she is able to put together a good streak, but inevitably her efforts are undermined by feeling she isn’t up to the task. If she feels uncomfortable with her body or finds her workouts too hard, she starts to feel like a failure.

This perfectionist streak causes her to negatively judge herself to a point where exercise becomes an unpleasant rather than uplifting experience. As a result she finds herself avoiding exercise completely.

Together we discuss strategies to get out of the judgment loop and back into enjoying being active for its own sake.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

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If you’d like to be a guest on the show, please fill out the form here and tell us your story.