Latest / The Cyclical Doula Podcast: Fertility Awareness, Charting Cycles, and Reproductive Health Education / Fueling the Body, Not Shrinking It: Nutrition, Cycles, & Breaking Free from Diet Culture with Paige
Transcript
- emmamma: Welcome back to the Cyclical Duel podcast. I am so excited to have Paige with me here today to talk about all sorts of things around nutrition and eating and ⁓ how our bodies react to that. Thanks so much for being here. Emmamma: hey, just popping in real quick to say sure you're subscribed to the Cyclical Doula podcast on whichever platform you're listening to. ⁓ Thanks so much for being here today on the cyclical doula podcast. If this episode resonated with you, the most powerful thing that you can do is to share it, send it to a friend, text it to your sister, forward it to that group chat. This is how conversations about our bodies start changing, quietly, organically, woman to woman. you are listening and thinking, ⁓ ⁓ want help applying this to my Paige: Yeah, I'm happy to, thank you. emmamma: Awesome. Well, can you tell us just a little bit more about who you are as a human being to start off? Paige: Yeah, well, this might, I'm gonna throw this wild card in there. So I was an actor and then, and you know, just know in person, the questions about nutrition and living in, I moved to Los Angeles and living in Los Angeles, very much like nutrition bodies really became the forefront of my brain. And so that kind of sparked me to ⁓ become a dietician and get into like how food and movement impact our bodies and ⁓ Emmamma: And don't miss upcoming conversations. If this episode is resonating with you, please share it with a friend, rate it and write a review. This is how this movement grows, not through algorithms, but through women talking to women. All right, let's jump back into it. emmamma: Yeah. Awesome! Yeah Emmamma: I offer free cycle clarity calls. It's a relaxed conversation over Zoom we talk through your goals, your charting practices, and kind of support that would actually make sense for you. can book one at emmamma.com / free. And if you already, make sure you're following or subscribe to the Cyclical Doula - podcast so that you don't miss future episodes. emmamma: That's so cool. Okay, well, let's hear a little bit more about like how that actually got like, led you specifically into nutrition work. So you like have this like, general, like atmosphere around you. So how did how did you dive into that specifically? Emmamma: And if you feel called to leave a rating or review, it genuinely helps more women find this work. So thank you. You deserve to understand body. You deserve to feel confident in your reproductive choices. And you ⁓ have to figure it out alone. I'll see you next week. Thanks for being here. Paige: So I was seeking out my questions and I didn't know the answers. And really it started out trying to change my physical appearance. I wanted to understand how to use food and exercise to change appearance. And so I was asking people for help, getting information from different people that, know, later I realized technically we're outside the scope of practice, if I'm being honest. ⁓ emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Paige: It just took years of trying these things that were telling me to do. And it just kind of hit me one day. was like, this isn't working and my life is actually worse. I really had some disordered eating and so much wasn't about how to actually fuel myself and take care of myself. What about vitamins and minerals? What about fiber? All these things that really matter for health. It was really focused on how do I keep my body? And so I was like, I want to go learn about this. emmamma: Mm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Paige: So I can have some, like, I wanna see some science-backed dancers and try and understand how to apply things. And I was like, and I know I'm not the only one, so I wanna go help other people do it too. emmamma: Yeah, that's so good. I love that. think so many people who are in this space of like helping people, serving people in the wellness world have their own story of like getting to that place of like, okay, like I needed this and now that I have it, like I'm going to share this with all the other people. So I love hearing people's stories around that for sure. Paige: Welcome. emmamma: ⁓ So tell us a little bit more about how you're currently working with people and then we'll kind of like dive into some questions just like generally about nutrition and how we see that in bodies. Paige: Okay, so I have a practice called start feeling better and I'm registered dietitian also I have a personal training certification. So right now I offer both virtually but most of the work I do is ⁓ virtual one to one nutrition consultation. And it's crazy so many people don't know this but registered dietitians can be a network of insurance and a lot of times it's common insurance covers your appointments. You're paying for emmamma: Yeah. ⁓ cool. Yeah. Nice. I love that. Yeah. Paige: go use it. There are lot of plans unlimited. You can see a dietitian every week of the year ⁓ for no additional charge. ⁓ So yeah, I do a lot of that, but I also have group program where there's some like virtual, they have some recorded stuff, recorded content they can watch and then we meet live. So yeah, lot of nutrition stuff virtually is most important. emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's so good. Do you feel like a lot of people that you're working with, especially women, are coming into, like you had kind of mentioned, of your experience of wanting to change their physical appearance? Do you feel like that's the majority of people's goals when they start off? Paige: Yeah, think, yeah, I mean, and I realized times change, of course. So like, I don't know, you what it'll be like in 10, 20, 30 years, but it's common. A lot of the people I see, it's a lot of women, know, 20s to 40s, 50s. And of course, when you're 50s, gonna be different than when you're 20s, some like a lot people are dieting for decades, doing this diet, this diet, this diet. And yeah, sure, it works for a minute, but again, Emmamma: Welcome to the Cyclical Doula podcast. I'm Emma, a certified fertility awareness educator, miscarriage doula and the founder of Emmamma emmamma: Yes. ⁓ for sure. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Paige: about changing a body and it's not about how do you feel. Sometimes you end up feeling worse. It can throw off your mind. It can do so many things instead of like the pursuit of changing my body is not necessarily equal to taking care of yourself and your health. emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I feel like that's such a big part of like diet culture of like just wanting that like quick fix of like losing weight or like having a different appearance or all of those things, but that can be really detrimental. And you mentioned that it can affect your cycles and all of those things. And it's true. Like people go into this amenorrhea of not having cycles because they're not eating well and they're not, or they're exercising too hard and like all of those things. And it's detrimental to our health as a whole. What is some of those like big myths that you like busting around like Emmamma: This space is for women who want to understand their bodies deeply, not just memorize information, but actually feel confident in interpreting their cycles. Here we talk about ovulation, hormones, cervical mucus, basal body temperature, and all that's messy in between emotional layers that come with being woman. We talk about trying to conceive, avoiding pregnancy ⁓ hormones. emmamma: what nutrition for women really looks like. Paige: I feel like a big concept that plays in so often is eat less and get the scale to go down. it's just, it's, you can say in a sense, I think a lot of this is simple, but it's also very complex. It's one thing to say go do X, Y, Z. It's another thing to do it. And also when we're striving for seeing the scale go down, it's ignoring things like your bone mass and your muscle mass. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah! Mm-hmm. Yeah. Emmamma: postpartum transitions, pregnancy loss, perimenopause, and everything in between. Because body literacy isn't just about charting. It's about the autonomy. It's about informed consent. It's about not outsourcing your reproductive decisions to guesswork or fear. Each week, you'll hear conversations with women's health professionals, ⁓ workers, ⁓ emmamma: Mm hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Paige: As we age as women, we don't want those to go down. Like that is so problematic because I didn't, oh, I can go on on about it, but it's so often loss, losing weight, losing muscle mass, and that's not helpful. emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm Mm-hmm. Yeah. Emmamma: and researchers along with solo episodes where I teach practical skills you can apply to your own cycle right away. if you have ever felt like you should have learned this information sooner, if you have ever felt disconnected from your cycle, emmamma: Yeah, absolutely. think that, yeah, it's like long term, like you might see like a short term like burst of this feels better, this looks better, this whatever, but long term health wise, it just is really detrimental for sure. Paige: Yeah, and I'll throw in there too that so much of it is not sustainable. There are a lot of rules or there's lot of rigidity, things that aren't, like for most people's lives, it's hard to do. Maybe it's in a controlled environment, you know, like a biology lab or some kind of lab. Like at home, I have my certain way I can make it work. But as soon as I go to a friend's house or I go to a restaurant or I travel, it's so hard to do this system, whatever that system is. Emmamma: If you want to raise the next generation without shame around their bodies, you are in the right place. So grab your tea, open up your notes app, and let's build a cycle confidence together. emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. great. Paige: Just like, can we find something that's a little more flexible? And like, can we live instead of you trying to put your life into this box? emmamma: Mm-hmm. ⁓ Yeah, so that that makes me think like, are is everybody's nutrition support goals going to be I mean, like, I'm sure there's individualization within all of that. But like, is there typical things for most women that like, are the priorities when it comes to nutrition and being mindful about what you're putting into your body? Paige: And so to me, the way I, something I will kind of say is foundational. It has to do with eating consistency, like frequency, and also proportions of the three macronutrients, carbohydrates, fats, proteins. And at the time of this recording, proteins are getting so much attention and it's like protein this, high protein this, the whole thing about it, I won't, but I want to be clear, I'm not like, emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Mm-hmm. Paige: There's a balance to them. Yes, you need protein, but let's not not leave room for the carbs. Let's not not leave room for the fats. They matter for so many reasons. So getting consistent eating with all of them, not like, you you go to a restaurant and there are chips or there is bread and you fill up on that. Well, yeah, OK, now you're like much protein in and that's going to lead to other things that aren't productive or super helpful. How you feel ⁓ for so like. emmamma: Okay. Yep. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Gap. and Paige: almost the whole world going back to this consistency foundational stuff I would say is so it matters a lot it's a great place to start emmamma: Yeah, and so like, does that look consistent for most people? Like, is that like three meals a day? Or is that what what kind of consistency does that look like? Paige: Yeah, fair. So there is some variety. It's going to depend on a lot of factors. know, so yes, like if I'm putting a kind of a general, yeah. emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Right, right, And this is not medical advice, this is just general conversation. Paige: Three meals a day, fantastic. And then it's where in there, depending on how long you're up, if you're moving your body, what your schedule is. Also some snacks. One, two, three snacks. Basically, we don't wanna, I can get on this whole thing about hunger and fullness and getting too hungry, too full. That's piece of this. When you start to feel your stomach like gurgling, you're starting to get lightheaded. You've gone too long. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Paige: We missed the window and this is why kind of like this general idea of three meals, couple snacks is that it doesn't allow you to go six, eight hours. It's really about eating every, I'll say two to four hours, making a very general, something in you and getting a couple macronutrients and not just one. emmamma: Yeah. Mmm, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's like for me personally, that's one of the hardest things of like, I get too far. Like my sister and I, always are like, we use the phrase hangry, right? Like we get to that phase where we're just like too far, we've gone too far, we've been out shopping too long or like doing all the things and we forgot to. eat anything other than like drink that cup of tea that we had this morning. yeah, ⁓ so that's it's helpful to like remember that like, kind of like scheduling that into the day can be really helpful, especially as parents and, just busy people in general that that's like, it's really can be a priority. Paige: And I want to acknowledge, like I said it a minute ago, but this applies to that, where it's one thing to hear the information, that's another thing to do it. So I understand people, I have a lot of people come to me, they're eating once or twice a day. I'm not, wouldn't go, tomorrow you're eating five times. No, like it's not. It's like, where are you right now? Take, can we do a little something, you know, and little steps from there. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah? Mm-hmm. I just out of curiosity, I want to know your opinion about like, women eating breakfast and how soon they should be eating as they wake up and like what what kind of things should we be putting in our bodies first thing in the in the morning? Paige: Yeah, so I know there's lots of stuff out there that is going to go against a lot of things I'm saying. This will be one of them. I've been doing this for 10 years. I've lived it. I've worked a lot of people. So breakfast, maybe this is a duh, but it's break fast. So we talk about fasting, you know, I'm going go on whole thing, but you are technically fasting when you are sleeping. So ideally you wake up, it's time to start getting food in you. So yeah, ideally pretty soon after getting up. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Paige: And ideally don't like, I'm going to drink my coffee and then I'm to wait three or four hours. Can you have food with your coffee? Or could like, is that possible? But again, it comes down to people's priorities and what's doable for their life. But ideally, now I realize if you're about to go exercise, we have a few people do that. Maybe we're not having breakfast because that might make you feel really terrible if you're like doing some burpees. So if you're not doing that, yeah, getting in all three of those macronutrients, carbohydrates, fats. emmamma: Right. Yeah. Yes. Mm-hmm. Paige: proteins, having a meal would be amazing. emmamma: Yeah, I think that's something that we can like all work on. think that's one of the things, especially when I'm working with clients, like I do not have a nutrition background and I do not claim to or like try to keep in my scope of practice, but like when I'm talking with women about their cycles and they're like, ⁓ like this is happening. I'm like, okay, like, let's start with like, are you eating breakfast? Cause like that might be a good like just like baseline and then like you can go see somebody else, like get all the like details, but like, are you actually eating? Because that might be a good starting point of all of that. And I think that's one of my questions usually of just like, how are you feeling in your body in general? Paige: That's wonderful. And it is so common that like there's this, I donate, I donate, I donate, I donate. And then I'm like crashing at people. Like there's this crash or there's this, yeah, I'm eating at lunch and then I'm having a crash a couple hours later. And the way I'm so kind is like, you're kind of making up or like, like, um, when they'll still say, I'll end up eating a lot of like snacks or I want sweets. But it's because you didn't eat the first six hours of your day and your body, I'm not done. Like I'm still hungry. emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yep. Right. ⁓ Paige: Because you are, you're like catching up, like you're behind for the day. Yeah, I just think there's so much, so many things, symptoms, how we feel, like you're talking about, like there could be lots of other reasons somebody doesn't feel great, but if you're not getting this foundational stuff in, it doesn't change how you feel, which it probably will, there's still lots of benefits. Like you're maintaining your mass, maintaining your blood sugars. It's like, it's like a great place to start. Are you eating? Like you're talking about. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. for sure. Mm-hmm. Yeah! Yeah, absolutely. think that's it's just so fascinating to me. And it's like one of those things where I feel like, especially as a parent, I feel like you're always like, thinking about the next time you're prepping food and not like that's overwhelming. Like that in itself is overwhelming that I feel like sometimes working with somebody like you who like, could help like make a specific plan or like talk through all the things could be really awful. I'm just like, sitting down and making a plan and having some accountability and all of that aspect of it. Paige: Yeah, that is, again, it is very hard, I think. And I think this is, I don't know if you heard this, or I feel like this is a thing that people talk about, but also clients that comes up, like, nobody told you when you were younger that when you were growing up, you were gonna have to decide what's for dinner every night. emmamma: I know, it's such a bummer. Paige: It's like, mom, can you make me dinner? I miss it. But that it's real. emmamma: Yeah, it is. And it's a lot of decision making, especially when you're like already past that, when you're in those stages of like, then you're past the time frame, and then you're like, I need to eat something that can be really, really hard. Paige: Having a plan is really helpful. But the problem is have to set aside the time to plan ahead of time. Make the plan, but then once you do it, it can really help later. emmamma: Yeah. First try. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So good. Well, tell me a little bit more about what you, you talked about, like, some disordered eating. Tell me a little bit more about, like, what you see with that that's across the board and, like, how you hold space for that and work through that with people. Paige: So, I mean, eating disorders, I, the separate thing when I just in case, okay, eating disorders separate from disordered eating. Both of them things are more common than people realize and, and they can be very harmful. The disordered eating out. So in regard to that, I feel like just when it comes to clients, like personal experience, but also clients, so much of what I see comes from this like, emmamma: Yes. Yes. for sure. you Paige: so much of what I see comes from this like, chronic dieting and these rules around food that then lead to things like emotional eating, stress eating, some overeating, like sugar cravings. a lot of it has to do with like avoidance of food. You've avoided, avoided, avoided, and at some point you're gonna cave. And that's not because you're the problem. This system is the chronic dieting and these rules around food that then lead to things like emotional eating, stress eating, some overeating, like sugar cravings. And a lot of it has to do with like avoidance of food. You've avoided, avoided, avoided, and at some point you're gonna cave. And that's not because you're the problem. This system is the problem. We have avoiding the food, even though we're told to. So. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Paige: Yeah, these kind of, I guess the other way I break down like the disorder eating, emotional eating, stress eating, like those kind of things. It's so common and I see with so many clients. emmamma: Yeah. Yep. Mm-hmm. So there's this concept that a lot of people in their luteal phase, in that second half of their cycle before they get their period, that they're craving things, they're eating all the sweets, they're doing all the things. And I have some personal opinions about that, of maybe they need some more support in general for their cycle health, that it might be kind of like a red flag. But I think that tell me about your opinion about that and like how we can support our bodies, ⁓ just like in general, but like maybe especially in those times we were like having more cravings in our our cyclical lives. Paige: Okay, so, Al, tell me if this is, if you're one more than this, because really when I go back to that, I go back to are we doing the foundational consistent eating with the three macronutrients? And I realize I'm not getting specific on them, but I will say one serving of carbohydrates, not enough. Like so many people, feel like the proportion of the plate is off. You need more carbs. emmamma: Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, give me an example. Tell me what this looks like for maybe lunch. Paige: Okay, a way you could look at it, because there are lots of ways, lots of opinions. And so I'll say, let's say you have a plate, which I realize plates are different sizes. You have a plate in front of you and sometimes your food is in a bowl. lots of variety, like I'm not hitting the rate with everything. That plate, about half that plate, carbohydrate foods. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Mm-hmm. Paige: and then about a quarter protein. And that last quarter, I leave it as it's like a little free space, free meaning to our fats somewhere else, because maybe your protein had fats or you have, I'm making this up, you have a baked potato and it has some butter on it. Like are there fats other places where do you have, I don't know, your chicken was cooked in oil or you have a steak and it already has a fair amount of fat in it. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Paige: or the fats and then maybe this free space, I'm calling it. Maybe there's more carb there. Maybe there's a vegetable there. And so I back to this half plate carbs. When I'm saying carbs, that can mean a lot of things, but not. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Right. It's not necessarily like bread. Yeah, right. I think that's what most people's minds go to when people say carbohydrates. Yeah. Paige: Yes! Yes. Yeah, I'm talking fruit. I'm talking vegetables that have a fair amount of carbon. Some do some of them. The starchier ones. Beans give you carbs. So lots of things could count toward these carbs. Yeah, so that I was like, I can talk all day about it. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, no, absolutely. So I think like, yes, if people are hitting those foundational nutrients, therefore they like, might not be seeing some of those other like symptoms popping up because they're already hitting that like, all right, like our body is fueled while is that what you're saying? Yeah. Paige: Yes, because that's where I come back that. Yeah, I'm like, yeah, are we checking those boxes? If we are and we still have stuff going on, OK, then let's check it. Maybe some of this stuff related to the work you're doing. Yeah, we can get more specific, but this general thing, cover it anyway. And then, yeah, if you're feeling great, cool. solved. emmamma: Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, right, right. It's kind of like an easy problem that we can get to, yeah. Paige: Yeah, it's like killing multiple ⁓ birds with one stone. Yeah, like it's needed anyway. emmamma: Yeah, yeah. ⁓ Mm hmm. Absolutely. So I think with that, the the idea of these like hunger and fullness cues you were talking about earlier, like how do we really like other than just like spacing our meals and our snacks well, how else do we like feed into that and understand that? Is it like a mindset shift? Is it what what does that look like? Paige: So multiple things here. ⁓ So much of stuff with food and bodies, feel, personally, that it's become about the outside and not about the inside. We're not very in tune with these cues. They say kids are more in tune than adults are. We're not in tune. So getting more in tune, which maybe some people be like, ⁓ that's weird. Or some people won't. like meditation, mindfulness, mindfully. emmamma: Mm... Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep. Paige: Getting more in tune with how we are feeling can help us be more in tune with those cues. A lot of people, like I hear from my clients, like, ⁓ I can feel it really hungry or really full. It's the middle stuff that's hard. And so the more aware we are will help make that easier, but also consistency with meals that helps those cues become more like, ⁓ okay, now I know what we're doing. And they'll start helping like that. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Paige: whole body kind of comes together a little better. I'll throw that kind of those couple of things in there to answer that. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah, I think that's really good. think it's, I have the more and more work that I've done in so many different aspects of life and the people that I've talked to, like a lot of it comes down to this like mindfulness aspect of like, if we can really like sit in and understand our bodies well, like We kind of have the answers for a lot of different things. And like, yeah, you're gonna still need some guidance on some other things or like, so get some other support, but you can really kind of just know like, our bodies are really cool. And there's like, for most people, there's this innate knowledge of like, okay, like, for example, I know when I'm hungry and know when I'm full, if I can feel like sit in it and feel it. Paige: When I feel like too in regard to nutrition or regard to our physical everything, so much is about us buying stuff, us spending money. And like, hey, here's this new diet thing, here's this new thing, here's this, ⁓ you need this thing to change yourself. And if you go internal, not saying totally, but like, you don't need to buy that stuff. there's marketing, they're trying to make money. And I'm not saying no one, like not. emmamma: Yeah! Mm-hmm. Paige: poopooing the whole thing, but just as a general statement of, yeah, you don't need to buy the latest thing probably. don't need, like getting you and how you're feeling, listening to your body, it is so much smarter than all the stuff. it's helpful. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. For sure, absolutely. think that's so important, so important across the board, for sure. Do you have a favorite practical way of getting started of making sure that meals are attainable for people? Paige: Yeah, so I would say a lot of times I'm doing the clients is where they right now. And maybe it's about if it's, sometimes people, it's about the frequency, like when we were adding a meal or snack or adding to an existing meal or snack. So if a meal right now is a carb or a snack is a carb, are we adding a protein? Say adding the friend to it. Or inconsistently, emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay. Mm-hmm. Paige: But it's, I don't know, it's something else to change to that. So it's just like, it kind of goes back to like, what little thing can we add here to help jack up, to better rule you? emmamma: Mm hmm. Yeah. That's, that's awesome. I think that's, and like you were saying, like, for so many people, we don't know that like these resources, like a dietician are way more accessible than, than we kind of think about it. Like, like you said, most insurances do cover some type of dietician care. And that can be helpful to just kind of like talk through it with somebody who like You can share your specific knowledge and they can share their knowledge about how to go through what might work to start off. Paige: Yeah, to me like you're spending your money in your insurance, like you said, I think some people don't know. You don't, think there's so much to insurance plans. Like you don't necessarily know what covers this and it covered like, I don't know, I'm just a fan of you're paying for it, whatever it is, use it. emmamma: Yeah Yeah. You might as well. Absolutely. I love that. What else do you want to share? when you came on, like when you were wanting to talk with me, what did you want to share with people to really feel like they understood what you did and like what? Anything. Paige: Okay, so I think a big part of it is that foundational stuff with the food. That is so key to how you feel. And the, need to do less, I need to change my body is really unhelpful and harmful and has done you dirty. If you're listening, because it's so... emmamma: Yeah. Paige: I don't know. I guess of course the people that come to me are struggling. know somebody who's not struggling. don't see them, but I feel like it's like everyone like most of us have been impacted by it and so you really need to think about how do I take care of myself internally? And how do I feel better as opposed to changing the outside? And something we that hasn't come up that I will just like maybe. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Paige: Okay, because we kind of talked about it. So you're talking about which one like the doing of things, the application of that it's challenging. And I'm going to use the term cycle menu. Now it's not hormonal cycle. But I want to acknowledge this that a cycle menu is something that I use a lot of clients and it can be really helpful. And that is basically repeating. So like you're talking, it's hard to know what to have. If you if people are into it. emmamma: Yes. Yes, this is us. Okay. Paige: Like the way you can get into this is what do you currently make? What do people currently like whoever you're eating with? Start making those. And then maybe there's a world where you have, I'm making this up, you say you have 14 recipes and maybe you even, cause everyone's very different, but some people, maybe they make two with your recipes a week and they're eating a couple of times. So say you were making three recipes a week, you have 14 recipes. Well, if you make three recipes week one, three week two, three week three, eventually you're getting to 14. However, that is, that's not going to add up. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. Paige: Just repeat that. So you don't need to reinvent the wheel every time. And basically, I'm just going for how do you make this easier for you? so something you can do is let's have a plan that you can repeat instead of starting fresh all the time. And feel like that's a big thing that I see be helpful to clients. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah, for sure. I think that's such a big thing. And I think that's a huge part of like being ⁓ like a parent and like being in these seasons of like busyness, like having those like few meals that you can just go back to and rotate through. As you're saying that, it kind of reminded me like I, like if I think back to my childhood, like there were meals that we had regularly. And it what like my mom went through cycles of like, these were just meals that we had. And I remember then being like, in high school or into college and she like had more time and more space to like do other things and find more recipes and then like our staples that we had every part of childhood like those staples of childhood you're like ⁓ like we've expanded that which is fun and great and I love it but I think there there sometimes there comes up that like nostalgia of like it there's there's some meals from childhood that were just so rotated into our family. Which is great. Like, I love that. think that's so cool about that's just like a good part of being able to do that. Paige: And hearing you say that reminded me too that I want to throw in there that I hear from a lot of people that they feel like snacks have certain foods and things that feel a lot harder than they need to. So I was throwing in another thing that I go back to, carbs, fats, proteins. And Graham, haven't laid out exactly, we have laid out a little bit about the carbs. But in the end, it's about pairing things together. You take a piece of fruit and you take a piece of string cheese or you take a emmamma: Mmm. Mm-hmm. Paige: a starchy vegetable and you take some nuts and you're pairing them and just it doesn't have to be like fancy. I people think, oh I have to cook a five course meal, have to use the oven. Microwave frozen rice and some canned chicken. Some people are really grossed out by that. like, oh my god. emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. But it's gonna give you nutrients, which is important. Paige: You could take frozen vegetables and microwave them, like throw some microwave stuff together, put some seasoning on there, salsa, some kind of condiment. You could have a meal in like 10 minutes. It didn't take chopping and washing and like there's no harm in that. I just want to that out there. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's so good. Okay, I have a question. We can cut it out if you don't wanna answer it, I would love, based on how you're talking and sharing all this, I would love your opinion about all of these meal prep programs out there, that there are so many options of like, okay, you can order all this food and it can come. Do you find that can be helpful for certain people? what's your, I want your hot take. Paige: Thank Okay, so yes, I think it can be helpful for people. But it's interesting because there's so many times, there are some themes I see with clients and there are some things that's like hit or miss, like the canned chicken. These deals are hit or miss for people. And some of them I'm not a huge fan of because like it's like low carb, don't give me star, you need carbs. Or it's like, it's whatever, whatever. So there's some that... emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Paige: But in general, it can be helpful. especially like, it's kind of like, what are, what are this person's barriers? Is it time? Is it, don't know how to cook, you know, maybe this is solution. Maybe also it's this combined with something else, cause costs can be an issue. So using that sometimes, but then you also use that. So I think it can totally be an option. Is it what you want your life? Maybe not for various reasons. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Right, right. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Paige: But then again, like I kind of go back to, well, is it I'm not going to eat or I'm going to eat this? Please eat that. emmamma: Yes, yes. Absolutely. Yeah, for sure. I feel like that's how I approach feeding my kids sometimes of just like, I feel like sometimes it's better if just like, okay, like they're eating something like they're eating mac and cheese and chicken nuggets for the fourth time this week. And like, I'll throw in some like frozen peas and carrots because that's what we have in the house, right? Like, it's like, not ideal. It's not their favorite thing. Actually, my daughter has really been into just like eating lettuce with balsamic vinegar on it recently. And I'm like with her other meal, but I'm like, all right, like that's fine. Like, whatever. We're doing it. ⁓ Paige: you emmamma: But yeah, it's one of those things where I think sometimes having that permission of just like, sometimes we just need to like fuel our body with us, like hopefully with like protein, carbs, fats, but like sometimes it's also just making sure that there's something there that's like the most ideal as possible. Paige: Yeah, and when you put it that way too, I think it's a good example of how like a lot of things that have rules, all the diets don't allow you to do that. I think that's why it also is harder for people. like, can be that easy. Get a couple of foods and eat them. Like you don't have to, we don't have to have a lot of rules in this and that. Like just, you need to do it because you're going to feel, you're probably going to feel not so great if you don't just like eat the food. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. This is great. I've loved this conversation so much. What? ⁓ Let's wrap it up with talking about dieting just a little bit more. So there's this this concept of like, if you eat less food, or if you have less calories, or all of those things that you're going to like lose the weight, you're going to be able to like, feel better all of those things. And from what my understanding is and our conversation so far today, that doesn't seem like it's necessarily the case long-term for people. So what does that really look like for people to have those long-term goals, which is not always easy. Paige: So long term goals around weight or long term goals in general? emmamma: Cool, that's a good question. Then give me both! Paige: Okay. Well, if someone has long-term weight goals around weight, I'm guessing it's because, you know, so often people say weight loss and it's like, okay, well, the skill, are we talking fat loss? Cause if you're fat loss, that's like, that's more specific than weight loss. Cause weight loss, my main loss of muscle loss of bone water. And so I find that from my experience and there's research on this that emmamma: Yes. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. True, true true true true. Yeah? Mm-hmm. Paige: focusing on the body on the scale too much is not long term doesn't work. And there's research about how people regain more than they've lost. Again, did you lose weight or did you lose fat mass? So I tend to, I know a of people like, oh, if they're in that place where they really want to lose weight, I hear it and I'm not poo pooing it. And at the same time I go, Hey, can we change our focus? emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Paige: and look at how we're feeling ourselves. And so often the things that one does to lose weight, it's not great. I didn't before I knew what I was doing. Like I was eating food that it wasn't like, where's the fiber? Again, I said it earlier, but like, how are you feeling in other ways? Is your gastrointestinal system working well? Like by eating like low calorie foods, a lot of times you're hungry, you're not getting what you need. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mmm. Mm-hmm. Paige: So like if we could just look at things a little differently and look at how you feel and maintaining that muscle, that would be kind of what I would, like, hey, can we come over here? And if you're talking about goals in general, like just having long-term goals, is that kind of where you're thinking? emmamma: Mm-hmm. ⁓ Well, yeah, now that we had this conversation about like weight loss, I guess the flip side of it is like maybe somebody's just feeling like not great overall. So like maybe it's gut health, maybe it's something else, but they're just like not feeling good. And they think losing weight, just losing weight will help. But then I think like sometimes that idea of like, okay, but like, fueling your body could be really helpful in general. And like you might not. physically lose weight, you might actually gain weight, but your body might feel a lot better when you're at like when you're actually fueling your body and doing appropriate just normal movement stuff versus like extreme exercise and all of those things. Paige: Yeah, so much of stuff is extreme is a great way to put it. feel like it's like, eat less, very extreme and go exercise a lot and exercise with stress around the body. Like, yes, we want to exercise. Great. But also, like, are we just doing cardio? we do are we high intensity all the time? Are you letting yourself have some rest? I'm kind of sidetracking us. But yeah, and again, I don't I just want to be clear. I'm not hating. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. you Paige: Cause I realized everyone's body and where they're at is very different. sometimes the reason someone wants to lose weight is because they're having a hard time functioning, like physically, being around. And so I'm, I'm not trying to dismiss any of that. So I'm, I'm very generic response with this and it just, yeah, I think it's when it like, when it takes over, when weight loss and changing, the, your food stuff takes over the rest of your life. emmamma: for sure. Yes, yes, yes, yes. for sure. Mm-hmm. Paige: When it's the only, it's the center of attention, you're logging things, you're tracking things. And it's instead of like being present in your life or you don't go see your friends because there's going to be food. It's really detrimental to your health in other ways. Like the rigidity part, can we chill out and turn and go internal and like look at a different, go about this a different way. emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. right. Yeah, that's so good. I think that's so important to just like, kind of like taking a step back of like, this is, there's so much noise out there of what we like should be doing in regards to our food. And taking a step back and not going to the extreme is, can be really helpful. Paige: And so many people nowadays with social media, everybody's got an opinion and they're not necessarily really qualified. And I'm not saying being a dietitian is the end all, the all of everything. emmamma: Yeah. Right. Mm-hmm. Wait. Paige: think there's some protection there of like the education and protecting the public is so important to me. I think it's to most dieticians, that it's about protecting people, not harming people. And a of people don't have the education. They don't know better. so, Hey, this worked for me and it's, it's unsafe. So yeah, all this stuff on the internet just confuses people more and they feel like, but I like how she looks. I'm going to do what she does. And you don't know her life. Like maybe she's not even doing that or whatever. Like just. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. ⁓ Paige: I acknowledge it. There's so much out there, like you're saying, and it's kid. The more you cannot listen to it, the more, the better off you are in general statement. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I think that like comparison is so easy to get into of like, I want to look like this person, I want to be like this person, especially when we don't actually know somebody very well. Like you, like you don't, you don't know any of any of the nitty gritty of all of those details unless maybe it's somebody that you're living with, right? Like then then maybe you have a little bit of understanding, but again, not fully all the time anyways. And I think there's just so much more power in just being able to focus on yourself and get to that like, okay, like, I'm in this mindful state, I know what needs my body needs and feels good and like all of those aspects of it. Yeah, awesome. Why are you hoping that people walk away from our conversation today? Paige: mean, multiple things, but I mean, I'll just take it down. Like, yeah, it depends on where they're at. Cause I'm like, if you're struggling with outside stuff, bring it internal. If you have the hangry and you know, the emotional eating, like, hey, let's get some foundational consistent meals and snacks in. Steps you don't have, don't change it overnight. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Paige: That's the problem with so many, one of the problems with so many diets. You go from zero to 100, whoa, like where you at right now? What's your next step? And that you can get help from a professional, maybe for no money exchange. Use it, take the insurance money, use it. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yep, yep. Yeah, right, right. You're already paying for it. I love it. It's so good. I love that. That so good. Well, thank you so much for being here today, Paige. Where can people connect with you? We'll make sure everything gets in the show notes. Paige: Yeah, they can go my website, startfuelingbetter.com. emmamma: Love it. Awesome. Sounds good. Well, thanks so much for being here. We had a great conversation with you. I feel like we had so many things and it's such a joy to talk to you. Paige: Thank you so much. It was great.