Navigating the twisty road to health and nutrition can feel like a lonely journey, but it doesn't have to be. I'm your host, Leonila Campos, and I've walked alongside countless clients through the emotional minefield of dieting and self-improvement. Together, we've wrestled with the guilt and frustration that often accompanies the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, especially when the promised "one-size-fits-all" solutions fall short of meeting our real-world needs. In our heart-to-heart discussions, we've uncovered the profound impact that our approach to nutrition has on our mental well-being, and the importance of fostering a diet that strengthens, rather than neglects, our human connections.
In this candid episode, I pull back the curtain on the detrimental cycle of restrictive dieting and the toll it takes on our bodies and minds. We'll explore the necessity of honoring our hunger cues, the beauty of balanced meals that support our daily energy and focus, and how we can break free from the chains of food obsession. It's about flipping the script from exclusion to inclusion—adding nutritional value to our meals instead of punishing ourselves with prohibitions. This isn't just about what we eat; it's about reshaping our relationship with food to serve our unique lifestyles, replacing guilt with grace in every bite we take. Join us as we chart a path toward a dietary plan that celebrates personalization and nourishment in equal measure.
You are not the failure. You deserve better.
Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to this podcast and share with a friend. If you would like to know more about my services, please message at fueledbyleo@gmail.com
Navigating the twisty road to health and nutrition can feel like a lonely journey, but it doesn't have to be. I'm your host, Leonila Campos, and I've walked alongside countless clients through the emotional minefield of dieting and self-improvement. Together, we've wrestled with the guilt and frustration that often accompanies the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, especially when the promised "one-size-fits-all" solutions fall short of meeting our real-world needs. In our heart-to-heart discussions, we've uncovered the profound impact that our approach to nutrition has on our mental well-being, and the importance of fostering a diet that strengthens, rather than neglects, our human connections.
In this candid episode, I pull back the curtain on the detrimental cycle of restrictive dieting and the toll it takes on our bodies and minds. We'll explore the necessity of honoring our hunger cues, the beauty of balanced meals that support our daily energy and focus, and how we can break free from the chains of food obsession. It's about flipping the script from exclusion to inclusion—adding nutritional value to our meals instead of punishing ourselves with prohibitions. This isn't just about what we eat; it's about reshaping our relationship with food to serve our unique lifestyles, replacing guilt with grace in every bite we take. Join us as we chart a path toward a dietary plan that celebrates personalization and nourishment in equal measure.
You are not the failure. You deserve better.
Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to this podcast and share with a friend. If you would like to know more about my services, please message at fueledbyleo@gmail.com
Have you ever felt like what you are doing to reach your nutrition goals or fitness goals are not working for you? Do you feel like a failure, or like what you're doing is just not matching with what you want to do or align? So I hear these things often and more, which I am going to talk a little bit about that to you in today's episode. So welcome to another episode in the Simple Nutrition Insights podcast. I am your host, leonila Campos, registered dietitian, and so I think it's important to talk about these strong feelings that we get when we start something new right, or maybe a new plan or a new program, because our emotions play a huge role in how successful we are or how much we struggle. And so, even though I am a dietician and I see a variety of conditions right, when clients come to see me, it could be for a variety of reasons right, to manage diabetes, to lower cholesterol, to manage blood pressure but the majority of the clients that I serve come to me because of weight issues right, weight management. That could be their weight loss or weight gain, and so oftentimes they are coming to me as a last resort, right. And so what does that mean? That means that they've tried lots of things, right, lots of diets, lots of plans, lots of maybe wild things that they are seeing on social media or that they've read, or that someone tried it, and they're like you should try these. And so they're coming to me as the last resort and because they just don't know what else to do, right, and so that in a sense makes me sad, because you know, I'm sure you've been struggling so much, right, you're to the point where you're like I don't even know what to do anymore, and so that's great, you know, you found me and now let's work together and let's figure out what is happening. But I oftentimes do see a trend of my patients struggling with feeling like they are not doing enough, that they're a failure, with feeling like they are not doing enough, that they're a failure, that if, for some reason, you know, the first week went so well and then the second week they're struggling so much and they internalize that right To the point where they almost feel numb and they're not able to continue to work on these goals because they just feel like what's the point? Right, I already messed up, like nothing that I do is going to help me, right, and so I like to, I always like to create this rapport with my clients where they feel safe, where they feel that they can trust me and they can be super honest with me as to what is happening, because that's the only way we're going to be able to help each other. Right, you're helping me by telling me what's happening and then I can help you to create a better plan. Right?
Speaker 1:
Oftentimes the reasons why we feel like a failure when we don't accomplish something, specifically in terms of nutrition, if we're following a very restrictive meal plan or a very restrictive diet, it's because it is not aligned with what happens day to day. Or if maybe we have, you know, on Sundays we always go to brunch with a friend or a group of friends, and now we're on this diet. Right, now we're on this restrictive plan and we don't get to experience that right Now. Human connection it's actually a need, right? When you look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, human connection, right, is one of them, and so if we eliminate that, right, we almost feel lonely.
Speaker 1:
Right, we feel we're already in this process of, you know, weight loss, let's say, and it feels like a lonely process, right, nobody understands what's happening, nobody understands that you're wanting to have these goals, just you, right, so it feels lonely, and then you alienate yourself from going out with a friend or friends for brunch because you're on this diet, right, or in this restrictive plan, and now it it feels like I cannot even do that anymore, right, and so I think that in that sense, that is unhealthy, right, because, one, you're not getting that connection right, and, two, this is something that it wouldn't be sustainable, right, long-term, we're going to get to the point where you're like I cannot do this, right, and so then what happens is now we feel like a failure, right, we feel like I cannot do anything, right, and so then we get all these other strong emotions and we feel like there's no help for us. But why, right? The reason, why is because we're following a plan that is not meant for us, right, it was not created for us, or it didn't take into account these things that we like to do, right, that we enjoy, such as going to brunch with friends, and maybe let's say, okay, yeah, I'm going to go to brunch with a friend or a friend and in your mind you're talking to yourself I will just have the lowest calorie, whatever menu item that they serve there and maybe you get there and there's not such a thing. So now what? Either you decide not to eat or you decide to thing, right? So now what? Either you decide not to eat or you decide to eat, but then you're going to have these guilt feelings, right? And then we go back to having these really strong emotions, as opposed to going with the mindset of I am going to enjoy my time and I am going to enjoy myself with my friends, because what matters is that connection, right, what matters is that I'm with them and we're talking. And this is like almost like self therapy, right, because I need, you know, I needed to talk to my friends, but other things can happen is, oh, maybe a friend wants to have a mimosa, right, or wants to eat dessert with me or share dessert with me, right? So we have these conflicting feelings or emotions, right that, oh my gosh, I want to follow this plan and because I want to reach my goals, but I also want to enjoy myself, right, I also want to have these connections and it's either black or white, right, like one extreme or the other extreme.
Speaker 1:
Either I'm always in or I'm out, right, and plans, long-term and sustainability of plans are not like that, right, when you think about just how life is in general, it's like ups and downs, right, even weight loss. Weight loss, oh my gosh is never going to be just a straight shot, right, it's going to be up and down, right. There's some times that we might lose weight and there's some times that we might not lose any weight or we might gain some right, but that is normal, right. But what has happened is that diet society, right, and industries that tell us you should lose weight and this is what you should follow, and it's always strict, right, we have that mindset already, and so if we see what's normal, what really is normal, right, in our minds, we see that as failure, right, and that is not the case.
Speaker 1:
So I really want you to understand that right, that if this is something that you're exploring or this is something that you're currently doing, right, and you feel frustrated and you feel like I'm not living anymore, right, I'm just so focused on this plan, I'm just so focused on following these restrictions and like following this diet, and it's so overwhelming and at the end, you know, at the end of the week, I just don't want to do it, right, but then I also feel so guilty because I have this goal right and I want to accomplish it. And I feel tired, you know, in different ways. You know I feel tired because maybe I'm not eating enough or I'm not eating balanced meals, but I also feel tired because that's all I think about, right, could be those things too. And so what I suggest is assess what the plan that you're following, right, take a look at how aligned it is with your goals, how aligned it is with your life, and how can you continue to implement it long term? Right. If the answers to those questions are, wow, it doesn't align at all, or I don't see myself doing that forever, then I think you need to reconsider, right, what you're doing, because, one, you could just be wasting your time. And number two, right, it is probably causing a lot of emotional issues. Right.
Speaker 1:
And if you feel guilty all the time because you're not able to follow it, then that is a problem, right, because not only affecting how you eat, but it's also affecting how you feel on a daily basis. And so start there, right. Start with, okay, what are my goals? Right, maybe even break them down into like smaller goals? Right, so that way you can create actionable steps that you can say, okay, I don't know.
Speaker 1:
Let's take an example I noticed that I skipped meals, right, and so then I skipped breakfast and I skipped lunch, because diet society has told me that in order for me to lose weight, I have to not eat. Right, which is wrong. But at the end of the day, what happens is that I am extremely hungry and I can feel like I feel like I'm out of control, right, I cannot stop eating. Then let's reconsider skipping those meals. Right, because your body is telling you hey, you haven't fed me for so many hours, I need some fuel. Right, because your body is still using energy. Your body is still using calories, right, to function, to keep you alive, essentially.
Speaker 1:
And so, even if you have this really strong willpower to not eat during the day, because perhaps you're so busy and so your mind is busy, but then you go home and that's where your environment is, that's where you feel safe, that's where nobody's judging you, that's where you can eat, and so your brain and your body knows that, right, they know that. And so, and what happens is is like you almost feel out of control. Right, because now, now we can eat, now we can eat without judgment. And so what we have to do right is we have to change that right and fuel our bodies throughout the day, right or not, skip meals, so that way we get these sustainability of energy following what I've talked in the previous episodes right, those balanced meals, and you will see that difference.
Speaker 1:
Right, you will see that difference of maybe not feeling extremely hungry at the end of the day, where you feel like, oh my gosh, I cannot stop eating, or feeling like I have cravings throughout the day, or I'm hungry all the time. Right, I can imagine how hard that is to actually have those physical signs of hunger and not eat. Right One, that's all you can think about. Right, when is it going to be my next meal? I'm really hungry, I wish I could have something. But also, your brain is struggling. Right, your brain uses 20% of your energy right, to fuel up, and so you can concentrate. Right, you can't really think because you're not fueling your body, you're not fueling your brain, and so that's what we can do.
Speaker 1:
Right, let's start there, let's fuel our bodies and, yes, we have these goals. Right, we maybe have those goals that we lost, but that doesn't mean that we have to stop eating completely right or skip meals. We just have to change things a little bit. Nutrition-wise, right, we can make them more balanced, right? This is where, as a dietician, I come in and we look at how you eat, right, and we try to optimize it and we try to help you fuel up without feeling so restrictive.
Speaker 1:
Because, again one, when we see something as restrictive, right, it's really hard for our brains to be like I don't want to do that, right, and we almost think about it nonstop. And so we were not thinking about eating bread, for example, every day. Now that we are in this diet, right, that says no bread, that's all we think about, right, like bread, bread, bread, bread. That's all we think about. Right, like bread, bread, bread, bread. And it's really hard to not want to eat it, especially obviously we have a home, because that's all we think about. Right, and it's because of that restriction, as opposed to oh, there's bread, okay, fine, if I want to have some, let's have some. But again, it's because we have these extremes and we have, you know, what diet society has told us, or what, maybe some really restrictive plans, or you know those diet and diets in general have said, in order for us to lose weight, we need to avoid, avoid, avoid Instead of seeing it. Okay. That's.
Speaker 1:
You know the way that I work with my clients. Let's figure out how we can add more nutrition to your meals, right. How we can add more nutrition to your meals right, to feel you're satiated and you're not hungry all the time and you get energy and you really nourish yourself all the way to a cellular level right, and your body starts to feel better in general. But I think it's really important to number one feel that I don't want you to feel guilty, right. I don't want you to feel like you're a failure because you're not right. The plan is a failure, but not you right. A plan should work for you, not the other way around. And so if you feel like that plan is I don't know, yeah, I don't know how to explain that specifically but if you feel like the plan should work for you, right, that's how it has to be. No, I'm going to work according to the plan. Right, it has to be all the way around.
Speaker 1:
You have to be able to feel that you're in control. You have to be able to feel like, hey, I can make these decisions, I can feel okay with what I'm choosing to eat, with how I'm choosing to eat, versus something telling you this is what you need to eat, right? Or you should only eat X, y, z, right? Because, then, one, we're not creating these healthy habits, right? We're not creating this healthy relationship with food. And so then, what happens? Again, with that restriction and with eating something that is not on the list, we eat it.
Speaker 1:
And then what happens? All these rush of emotions, usually negative emotions. Perhaps, at that moment, when you're eating it, you feel happy, you feel like, oh my gosh, I haven't had this food in such a long time and I really enjoy this food. But then what happens after that? Right, all these negative emotions rush through. Right, because you're in this restrictive plan and you should be following it, and so I think it is really important to. And so I think it is really important to again, number one don't feel like a failure.
Speaker 1:
Again, you're not a failure, right, that plan is not working for you, and that's okay. Right, there are other ways to achieve your goals. There are other ways to figure out what is happening, and maybe creating this individualized and customized plan that is going to work for you, right, that you can change and modify according to what is happening right. If you're going to travel, or if you want to have brunch with friends or I don't know, whatever it is that is happening in your life, right, that plan has to work for you because, at the end of the day, what matters is how you feel and what matters is what you want to do, what you want to accomplish. Right, and that that plan supports all that, right.
Speaker 1:
And so, again, if the plan that you're following is not working for you, right, and you're having these feelings and you feel like a failure and you feel all these really negative emotions, then you need to reconsider, right, what you're doing, because you deserve that. Right. You deserve to feel good, you deserve to feel in control and that you can eat the foods that you enjoy without feeling like I'm never going to have them and when you do have them, it's like we don't know what to do, like a kid in Candyland. Right, it's like they go bananas. So we want to be able to steer away from that. Right, we want to be able to enjoy food without feeling guilty or without feeling like I'm going to have all this right now, and I swear I'm not going to have that anymore, ever again. Right, those are extremes and we know that that's not going to happen, but most likely, if it's a food that we really enjoy, most likely we're going to have it. We're going to have it more often.
Speaker 1:
And so, okay, my friend, this is a short one. I just wanted to really talk about these things. I do see them often with my clients, right, they come to me feeling like they're broken, feeling like they are failures, or that what they're doing, you know it's not working, or that you know they wish they could do it better, or they wish they could not feel hungry all the time, or that they don't have control over their meals. But again, it's not them, right, it's not you. Is it because the plan doesn't align with what you want? Right? The plan is not customized to your needs, essentially, right? So remember that. Okay, I want you to go out there. I want you to feel like you're in control and that you deserve better. Okay, that's it, my friend, for today. You take care. You have a wonderful rest of your week. Remember to stay safe and stay strong. I will see you in another episode. Bye-bye for now.