Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week nutrition research is often wrong, stop commenting on people’s weight loss, and this much exercise slows aging.

Next week’s Mindful Meal Challenge will start again on Monday. Sign up now to join us!

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

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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.

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:

Mindful Meal Challenge

Headspace

Listen:

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Listen on Stitcher

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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.

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Next week’s Mindful Meal Challenge will start again on Monday. Sign up now to join us!

This week exercise leads to better habits, Big Food manufactures authenticity, and sleep reduces stress eating.

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Read the rest of this story »

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Next week’s Mindful Meal Challenge will start again on Monday. Sign up now to join us!

This week Amazon buys Whole Foods, pros and cons of Whole30, and why veggies should have sex appeal.

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Read the rest of this story »

For the Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup. 

Next week’s Mindful Meal Challenge will start again on Monday. Sign up now to join us!

This week how liquid calories can keep you full, why suffering is your default, and not all processed foods are created equal. 

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Read the rest of this story »

For the Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup. 

This week beans are more satisfying than meat, anxiety means you’re smart, and the latest science on sugar and health.

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Read the rest of this story »

Overall Libby is happy with her healthstyle. She stopped dieting, focused on Real Food, and cut out most of the processed foods (sugars and refined grains) from her daily habits. Her energy is up, her body is happy, and the chronic headaches she’s suffered from for years have abated.

While she feels great from these changes, Libby has only lost one pound over the last couple of months and in her perfect world she would lose another 5-10 pounds.

This brings up an interesting question: Is it okay to keep trying to lose weight even if you’re already pretty healthy? How can you accept yourself as you are and continue to strive for improvement?

Many people making the move from dieting for external reasons to embracing health to align with your own personal values come up against this issue. From a behavior perspective the actions you take to achieve health and those you use to restrictively diet can look very similar. The subtley is in how you frame your values, goals and actions in your own mind that makes the difference.

It’s a tight rope to walk and there is a lot of nuance in the process. I believe it is possible to accept yourself as you are and still strive to optimize for your goals and values. In this episode Libby and I discuss the importance of psychology in this process, as well as the practical strategies she can use to continue to work toward her goals.

Once you listen to the show I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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:

Free Starter kit and Myth of Willpower Chapter from Foodist

Fitstar exercise app

Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink

Listen:

Listen on iTunes

Listen on Stitcher

Listen on Soundcloud

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

When I first decided to stop dieting the single hardest thing for me to do was let myself eat carbs again.

Bread, rice and potatoes had been banned from my list of skinny-friendly foods for over 5 years. And even though I only weighed about 5 lbs less than when I ate them regularly, I couldn’t help but think of carbs as impossibly fattening. Given my body image issues at the time, I think I would have preferred to eat something laced with anthrax.

What is it about carbs that makes people act insane?

Getting over my fear of carbs required several critical steps. The first big one was digging into the science and learning that the healthiest, longest lived humans on the planet eat intact grains, tubers and legumes regularly. I grudgingly had to accept that they were not subsisting on protein bars and Diet Coke like I was.

The next big test was trying for myself. I slowly phased out processed “diet” foods and started teaching myself to cook vegetables and other Real Foods. I started eating fruit again. But the scariest part was letting myself eat things like oats, rice and breakfast cereal (still not the best choice, but it didn’t matter).

To my surprise and delight I didn’t gain weight. This was a huge win, since it was the first time in my adult life I remember not being constantly hungry. Then, slowly, I started to lose weight.

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“With the hustle and bustle of working and being a mom and trying to fulfill all these duties I completely lost myself.” – Rebecca

Although she had never been completely happy with her physique, after having three children within five years Rebecca found herself over 100 lbs heavier than she was before starting a family. It wasn’t until she ran into a friend who had lost 100 lbs of baby weight after working with a personal trainer that she changed her mindset and decided she needed to start investing in her own wellbeing again.

Over a period of eight months Rebecca embraced a new self-care routine of fitness and nutrition and lost all of the weight. The road wasn’t perfectly smooth, and she struggled with some of the struggles that come with dieting including binge eating. Ultimately though, she was able to find balance in her nutrition, stop bingeing and truly enjoy her healthstyle for the benefits it brings her.

Rebecca has also been kind enough to share a before and after picture for us to see her transformation.

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.

Relevant links:

Home Court Habits

After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

Does ‘The Biggest Loser’ Study Prove That Long-term Weight Loss is Impossible?

Listen:

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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.

“I call it adding life into living.”

When Mark realized his poor eating habits had been left unchecked for too long, he decided it was time to start taking his health seriously. Besides having gained a significant amount of weight, he was also suffering from digestive problems and low energy. To address these issues he decided to focus on Real Foods and cut most processed foods from his daily habits.

Mark’s process was pretty simple. He got rid of the processed foods from his house, started eating breakfast daily, cut out all alcohol except tequila (!), and started cooking most of his meals at home.

Over the course of one year Mark was able to restore his energy, fix his stomach problems and lose 70 lbs, all while launching a new company. He also saved money by buying less prepared food and developed a deep love of vegetables and cooking.

What is interesting about Mark’s story is not so much the specific changes he made as his approach to solving problems. For instance, instead of seeing cooking as a chore, he uses it as an opportunity to listen to podcasts and strengthen his business knowledge while taking care of his health at the same time. He approaches everything with curiosity and an opportunity to learn, so he’s never bored and actually enjoys the process.

This foodist mindset is a pattern for Mark, and his positive and flexible outlook is the main reason for his success.

Related links:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Foodists

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

Mindset by Carol Dweck

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.

Listen:

Listen on iTunes

Listen on Stitcher

Listen on Soundcloud

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