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Building meals that don't feel like dieting · SAY GRACE | Weight Loss + Health for Overwhelmed Women- Stress, Busy, Consistency, Realistic, Motivation, Starting Over, No Restrictions

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All right, y'all, we have hit the month of February, which is when people usually
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start to become a little over it with their weight loss, healthier food goals,
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especially if they've gone into it like dieting too hard or with a too rigid mindset.
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And so today I want to talk through seven ways to make sure that you're building
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meals that don't suck so that you don't fall into this trap.
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So you don't start to get bored and then just say like, whatever,
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I'm sick of eating bland chicken and veggies, you know, so I'm done with this.
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So I'm just going to run through like my top seven really priorities for how
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to make sure that number one, I build meals so it doesn't feel like,
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oh my gosh, I'm so sick of eating this way.
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But number two, really the way I help my clients, like a lot of our PFM plus
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ladies send me their tracking every day.
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And, you know, we will have conversations like, okay, you've eaten this for,
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you know, seven days in a row.
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Like, are you sick of it? How can we change it up? That kind of thing.
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And so I want to share some of that knowledge with you today,
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because just in case you are one that is like, okay, I'm ready to shake it up
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a little bit, you know. So the first thing that I.
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I have to. It's the dietician in me. And I want to just make sure that y'all
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know, I feel like my word have mercy. If you've listened to every one of these
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podcast episodes, you're going to be like constants.
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Let me fast forward through this part. And you can, you can go ahead and fast forward to the next one.
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But I want to make sure you understand that to build a meal,
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number one, that like tastes good and has a variety in it, right?
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But number two, to keep you full so that you are not constantly thinking about
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food while also constantly trying to starve yourself, right?
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Like that is not what weight loss is. You should feel full after you eat.
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Weight loss does not mean starving all the time. And a lot of people get that
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twisted. A lot of people don't like believe that to be true.
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And those people are not building meals correctly, right?
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And so in order to build a meal that is, you know, going to keep you full so
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that you aren't always starving, okay?
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You've got to make sure you've got the building blocks in there.
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And so the main building blocks, right, are protein, fat, and carb. There are three macros.
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And you want to have all three in a meal, especially in a meal,
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and snacks too, for sure, but like especially in a meal, if you're trying to
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stay full as long as humanly possible, right?
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And then even the types of protein, fat, and carbs that you pick can help serve in a better way.
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So on top of those three, though, fiber is also a really important piece to staying full.
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Okay, so again, low calorie, you can still keep the meals low calorie,
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but by including all of these things, you are better off to be fuller, longer,
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not thinking about food, not, you know, sitting there starving. So.
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They each matter to satiety for different reasons.
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So protein, obviously, we have heard enough about protein, you know,
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over our years, but it increases the fullness hormones in your body.
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Plus, it just supports your muscles and your metabolism. Like if you aren't
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getting enough protein, then your body's kind of wasting, you know.
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And so if it's doing that, like I know if you guys have ever had like a really
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hard workout and then really didn't properly fuel before or and or after it,
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you know what I'm talking about.
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Like that night or even that next day, you're like extra tired,
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extra sore, you know, extra hungry, that kind of thing.
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And it's because you didn't like give the muscles and give the body what it
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needed on the back end of that workout.
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And so it's the same with like just protein intake in general, right?
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Like you've got to have enough of it so that your body is energized and feeling
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its best for, you know, day in and day out.
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Plus protein also helps regulate blood sugar, which is super important,
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again, to not like crash out, right?
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Also fat binds it all, you know, and none of us really have a problem getting
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in our fat, which, you know, it adds up a lot quicker, right?
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But it binds it all, which kind of keeps everything together,
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which slows that like gastric emptying, which is going to keep you satisfied and full longer.
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So I don't know if you've ever tried like eating, you know, let's see,
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like rice with ground beef and letting, or like super lean ground beef,
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maybe I guess, and letting that be it.
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But like sometimes, yeah, the rice is really filling at first,
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but you can often find yourself hungry pretty quick. Like the.
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Like ravenously hungry pretty quickly after. And that's just because you didn't
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get a whole lot of fat in that meal.
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And so just being aware of, yes, we got to watch our fat because it adds up
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fast, but also like you do need the fat, you know, to help with creating that full satisfaction.
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Two, if you notice like when you have a meal with higher fat in it,
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you are, you're just like, even if the calories are in excess,
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you're like, oh my gosh, I'm just so full.
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You know what I mean? and then carbs obviously give you
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energy which we need and and and you
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know of course carbs are the ones that people avoid and there's all kinds
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of studies and stuff that we could talk about where you know they really
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are important for your long-term hormone health they
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really are important for your long-term weight loss goals like there's just
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so much there but we won't go into that right now but what we will talk about
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is like they do give you energy throughout the day and and why that is super
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important when we're talking specifically about weight loss I mean when we're
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talking about performance and productivity that,
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you know, that's a whole different ball game because it's important there too.
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But like for weight loss, y'all...
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You know, if you've ever done like low carb, you can find yourself feeling really
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worn down, really tired, you know.
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And so what do we do when we're worn down and tired?
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Well, we surely don't feel like cooking a healthy dinner, right?
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We kind of feel like, oh, let me just sit here and eat my fillings or let me
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find something that's pretty quick and easy to eat.
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And so a lot of times what happens is when people try to cut carbs earlier in
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the day or even earlier in the week,
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they find themselves like ravenous for the carbs or exhausted and just resorting
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to whatever food they can find later in the week. And that is not what we're about here.
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Like we are about consistency always.
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And so sure, on Monday, you may feel like a superhero for, you know,
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not having any carbs all day. But what are you doing on Friday?
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Like, what does Friday look like every freaking week? You know what I mean?
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And so that's why I hate when people get in this like, oh, I'm starting fresh.
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I'm, you know, eating only vegetables and lean meats, you know,
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and then it's like, cool, but how long is that going to last?
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And what are you doing to your body and your brain?
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But like, truly, like your brain is learning, we don't stick to anything,
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because every Friday, we're binging out on pizza with that kind of behavior, right?
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So then what's going to happen, your brain's going to say, oh,
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it's Friday, it's time to binge out on pizza, right? So anyway,
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that's a little rant about corpse.
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Here we are, just in talking about what they're important for.
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So anyway, carbs also help you like just with that long-term satiety and truly
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to like stay consistent in your eating, in my personal opinion,
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my personal and my freaking professional opinion, most importantly.
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And then fiber, y'all, fiber is one,
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I will say, I have not cared much about fiber until I've gotten a little bit older.
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And like our dietician, Stacey, she is our fiber coin.
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But it really is important. Obviously, it helps with all the gut health things long term.
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You know, if you ever have any GI issues, a lot of times you can't go to the
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bathroom, that kind of thing. Your doctor's like, you need more fiber,
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you know, because most of us do.
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Like just statistically, most of us do. but it
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also for like immediate weight loss needs it
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helps slow digestion so that
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you do stay full longer again so that you aren't
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wanting to eat again in five minutes okay and
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so that's why things like you know white bread may you may eat a piece of white
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bread and be ready to eat again in like 15 minutes but you may eat like a super
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grain rich bread like ezekiel bread out the freezer section or whatever and
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be like, oh, yes, okay, I'm satisfied,
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you know, and that is why because it's got a lot more fiber.
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So number one, obviously, the building blocks, they all need to be there in
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every meal and preferably every snack for best.
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Practices so that you don't, number one, feel like you're starving to death, right?
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Okay, my next one is refusing to be bland. I think when we go on a weight loss
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journey, we automatically assume that we're not going to be able to like our food anymore.
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And like that, y'all, it should be actually the totally opposite of that.
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Like I get so, and I mean, I know I'm different, you know, but I get so excited
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thinking about like food combinations and flavor combinations and how to get, you know,
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the lowest calories with the highest nutrients, with the best flavor out of food.
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And we are like so blessed with so many options for that right now, right?
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So really, I encourage you to like play with different seasonings and spices.
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We are really into like the Kinder's line right now.
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But then I also have like every seasoning, you know, I got these cute little
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seasoning jars off Amazon with labels.
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And, you know, I just, I love to keep seasonings to do all different flavors
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for all different things, but also sauces, you know, just because you're trying
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to be healthy and lose weight doesn't mean that like now you have to eat everything dry.
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You know, you can add different sauces, add like, y'all, you will not...
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Find me eating a salad with a nasty dressing. Like you will not find me.
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I will pick something else. You can ask my husband.
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We go to restaurants and I will ask the people, like if there's a salad that
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looks good to me, I will say, do y'all make your own dressing or do you buy it?
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And like, what's your brand that you buy? Because if it is a brand,
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which if it's like anything that's not homemade, I'm usually not about it.
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I don't want it. And I'm going to pick something else on the menu.
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And so again, like having sauces that you actually enjoy, putting toppings on
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things that helps spice it up a little bit.
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Okay. You can add things like pickled things, garlic and onion into,
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you know, anything really.
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Squeeze a lemon or lime juice over the top. Okay. This one is, I am a salt queen.
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Like people laugh so hard at me because they're like Constance,
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who would have thought that you eat so much salt.
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And I know one day my cardiologist may be like, girl, you got to quit.
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But right now I don't have a cardiologist and I feel like I work out enough that it's fine.
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My blood pressure is actually low. I always have a low blood pressure, even being pregnant.
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So I'm like, okay, it's fine. But I also drink a lot of water. So there's that.
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But salt, so salt is one of my non-negotiables, honestly.
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Like I'm not going to eat anything that is bland without salt.
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Like it's just a thing. Now, the rest of my family, they love pepper,
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which I'm like, y'all the better ones.
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Mama's the one that, you know, needs to get on the pepper train.
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Pepper's just not my favorite thing. But pepper is by far the better choice, nutrition-wise, FYI.
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Anyways, so I know I'm going to want salt. And so one of my hacks,
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one of my biggest tips is to salt things at the end.
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Like, you know, if you're ever making like a soup or a casserole or something,
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you can just salt and salt and salt and salt and be like, oh my gosh, it's still not.
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Salty enough. Okay, but if you take...
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Your individual bowl or your individual serving and then salt it at the end,
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if it's something that you can do that with, you know, or even if you did just
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less salt while you were cooking and then did the remainder of the salt,
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you know, on your own individual portion,
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it is so much more flavorful. It is so much more salty.
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And like the reality is, is like you're still getting the same amount of salt
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as if you were going to go, you know,
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go hard salting it in the pot or the pan or whatever you're cooking with,
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and the flavor is more salty, if that makes sense.
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I don't know. It's just like a weird thing, and so for us, like I'll roast vegetables,
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and I'll put olive oil, salt, and pepper on there, and just a little bit of
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salt and pepper, but then when I pull it out of the oven,
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I add like the rest of the salt and pepper. I don't know.
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It just makes, it gives it, when it's cooking
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something happens to those to those seasonings and
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so it can be really helpful to just kind of be what's the word not generous
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the opposite of generous like not generous with the salt on the front half so
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that you can have it with less guilt on the back half if that makes sense thinking about things like.
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Adding because you add avocado or a splash of olive
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oil or a little bit of butter like none of these things are going
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to kill you if it's just a little bit right or things like salsa
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salsa is super low calorie I love like chimichurri and like again yes that one
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that can add up quickly but usually you don't need a lot a little bit goes a
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long way can you add cheese can you add pesto can you add barbecue sauce okay
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there are actually a lot of really great sugar-free.
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Barbecue sauces out on the shelves right now.
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And so can you find one that you like and have, you know, you don't have to
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let go of barbecue flavor just because you're trying to lose weight.
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Hot sauce is like basically zero calories or buffalo sauce.
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Okay, just spend some time on the sauce and seasoning out because y'all,
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there are some like Jess loves this like Japanese something sauce.
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I mean, like there are so many different ways that you can create flavor with
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the same things, with the chicken, with the rice, with the shrimp,
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with the, you know, potatoes, like whatever it is, vegetables, right?
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Like, but you can have broccoli Asian style one night and then you can have
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broccoli Italian style the other night.
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You know, like it can, it can, you can totally change the way the flavors are.
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One thing we did at the retreat, which Stacey was in charge of coming up with
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our lunch menu for the retreat we just got back from, and.
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She was like, let's do build a bowl, you know, because build a bowl is so easy
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and it's, it can create such variety dependent on just a few different things, right?
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So your bases would be like rice, right?
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And then a meat, usually chicken for us, because it was, you know,
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the easiest way to cook for a large amount of people.
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And then lettuce, okay? But then from that, which way are we going?
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Which direction are we going? Are we going Mexican buildable?
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Are we going Italian buildable? Are we going Greek buildable?
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Are we going, you know, like Southwest buildable?
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Like there, and so then from there, it's like, okay, if we're going Greek,
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we're buying kalamata olives, we're buying maybe cucumbers, we're buying tomatoes,
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we're buying feta cheese, right?
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But if we're going the Mexican way, we're buying salsa, we're buying guacamole,
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we're buying black beans, We're buying corn.
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And so these are our toppings that we're filling in the bowls with, right?
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And so if you look online for like bowl ideas, my gosh, just changing up the
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toppings and the sauces, the bowl itself, which the things that I just mentioned,
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just like the bulk of it, right?
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And then you can create such a great and delicious variety.
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Otherwise. So just thinking about that in all the foods that you tend to cook
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and all the things that you tend to eat, you know, and then even thinking about textures.
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So like, could you add nuts to this to make it a little more enjoyable, a little more crunchy?
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Or could you add some air fried veggies in somewhere?
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Could you add even croutons or like those Parmesan crisps or granola?
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Like where can you add things to give yourself a texture boost?
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You know, like people eat oatmeal and it's like, okay, oatmeal,
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it sounds so mush, so bland, but like, could you add some pecans to it?
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Could you add some blueberries to it? Could you add a little bit of granola to it?
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You know, like things that give it a little bit more of a texture change so
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that it makes it a little more interesting for you.
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Okay, so weight loss does not equal bland. Now it does equal taking some time
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to think about it, right? That's what we do have to do is think about,
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what do we actually, you know, enjoy?
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And then, you know, how does that look for me this week for meals?
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So another, my third tip is to go for volume.
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So high volume foods make you feel like you're getting more. Okay.
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Yes. Around here, we love that we can still have the cookies and the ice cream
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and the whatever. But we also really firmly believe in portion control.
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Right. So like two Oreos may not be cutting it for some of us,
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you know, like having, you know, our favorite buttery cheese grits from the
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local, you know, breakfast joint, you know,
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having, you know, a fourth of a cup of it may not be what we desire completely. You know what I mean?
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Because it doesn't feel like satisfying because we don't get as much, right?
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And so thinking about in other areas, right, what could you pair with that?
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For more information, visit www.fema.gov,
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Or, you know, have it at a meal later in that day that does make you feel like,
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okay, I got, I got a lot here and I got really full.
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And so that offset the less volume that I'm going to have with my,
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you know, half a cup of ice cream tonight, if that makes sense. So things like.
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Vegetables like lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli or cauliflower,
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cabbage, green beans, tomatoes, like any kind of really green leafy vegetables
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are always going to be, you know, spinach, kale, like those are always going to be really great.
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As long as they're not super starchy vegetables, you can have as many as you
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want, y'all. I eat more broccoli at dinner than Jess.
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Like every time I roast broccoli, I eat way more than Jess.
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And it's because he eats more of the main, right? He eats more of whatever the
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casserole or the meat or whatever it is.
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And I'm just like, first of all, I love broccoli so much, but I know that that
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will help me stretch my calorie intake while also filling me up with the good stuff, right?
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And so other things like fruits, you know, berries, any kind of berries,
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raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, melon, watermelon, cantaloupe.
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Honeydew and then apples okay like 80 calories for an apple y'all if you cut
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an apple up into like 10 or 16 slices or whatever like and you feel like you
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snacking you know for 80 calories,
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oranges things like brothy soups I'm really into this soup right now that my
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mom kind of copycatted this local Mexican restaurant it's like an avocado chicken
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soup but it's mainly made up of chicken broth, right?
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And it's filled with all kinds of, oh my gosh, all kinds of fresh vegetables.
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And then you put a little bit of rice in it and obviously some chicken in it.
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And then I put avocado in it. And sometimes I put cheese in it.
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Sometimes I have tortilla chips and y'all, it feels like,
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I mean, you could roll me out of the kitchen when I get done eating it,
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but it's still only like, I think it's like 350 calories or something for all
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that, for everything I've just eaten, because the broth and the vegetables are
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essentially zero calories.
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It's essentially all free, you know, give or take a few.
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And then I get the extra calories from the things like the cheese,
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the avocado, a little bit of that chicken, and then the tortilla chips.
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And so thinking, you know, along those lines, what brothy soups do you enjoy that you could have?
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Other things like popcorn. You feel like, you know, you can really have a lot
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of popcorn for a little bit of calories. Rice cakes.
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Pickles are like free, you know. One of my favorite things to do is dip cucumbers
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in salsa. That's like free, you know.
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Egg whites. Cottage cheese. You know, nonfat Greek yogurt. Like all these things
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are very, you can have a lot and still stay within like a lower calorie range.
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Okay. And that, that is the goal is to not feel like, oh, I get a tablespoon of dinner tonight.
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Like you want to feel like you, you get enough.
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And so that's why I tell a lot of my clients like, okay, for instance,
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one of our biggest tips is if you're going out for pizza, also get a salad because
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you, you fill up, you know, you fill your belly with a lot of that salad that's low calorie. and,
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before having your pizza. So then it doesn't suck so bad if you've only had,
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if you choose to only have two slices of pizza, right?
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Instead of like four or whatever it is, because you're full.
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And you also kept that fork busy, you know, while everybody else was eating, you were eating too.
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You weren't just sitting there picking at your two slices of pizza,
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waiting on everybody to be done, you know?
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And that matters. It all matters. Like not just the foods that you choose,
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but also like the atmosphere that you are eating in.
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Like you don't want to be sitting there watching everybody eat because you finished,
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you know, forever ago because you had so little of portions.
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You don't want to be sitting there watching everybody eat going,
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oh my gosh, I'm miserable.
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I wish I could. Maybe I'll just get one more piece and I'll start,
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but I'll start again tomorrow and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
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You don't want that kind of crap going through your head. So get ahead of it, you know.
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Okay. My next tip is to make sure each meal includes something that you actually enjoy.
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Okay. And this one is a big one for me. Like sometimes we get so caught up in
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all the ideas that we see out there for, for healthy foods and forget like,
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wait a minute, do I even like that?
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Like, is that something that I would pick if I wasn't trying to lose weight
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and I wasn't conscious about calories and you know, the makeup of foods and
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all that, like, would I pick that ever,
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you know, and so really like stepping back and asking yourself like what you've
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been eating the past week or two, like have you actually enjoyed it,
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you know, or did you enjoy it maybe a couple weeks ago,
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but like now you're kind of burnt out on it, you know, make sure that it's something you enjoy.
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So for me, oh, if it, if it is a food that usually would have cheese,
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baby, you ain't gonna see me do it without cheese.
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Like I'm just saying that is, that is one of my non-negotiables.
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I have talked about this probably my entire career, but like coffee.
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So I will not be the one that you see putting nut pods or whatever the newest
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low calorie, whatever alternative coffee creamer.
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I will be the one that is using my creamer of choice at the time.
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And it changes, right? Like I really got into the past two weeks,
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I think because it was all we had in Austin.
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And then by the time I like at the retreat that I went to in Austin,
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and then like by the time I got home, I was like, oh, that was,
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I'm really craving that.
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But half and half with a little bit of sugar in it.
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Okay. or sometimes it is that coffee mate just loves the creme brulee brand
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or creme brulee flavor and baby so do I right now though at home it's the Chobani
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sweet cream I've gotten back on that,
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for a little while it was just oat milk like I've
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just I mean it was a good bit of oat milk to make the coffee like super
24:19
creamy you know but I love an oat milk latte and so
24:23
it again I'm going to have I'm not I I never and I mean if there was a bible
24:29
here I would put my hand on it I I never choose my coffee creamer based on my
24:35
weight loss goals ever because coffee is the first thing in the morning,
24:39
you know, after I have my breakfast.
24:41
And I just, to me, that's such a treat. Usually my kids are gone to school, so it's like quiet here.
24:47
And like, I just want to really soak in that moment for myself,
24:50
you know, to making sure you, anyway, that was a rant about coffee creamer,
24:55
but making sure the meal includes something that you like.
24:58
So like, if you're trying a grilled chicken recipe, you know,
25:01
that you're not really crazy about, like, Blandall playing grilled chicken.
25:04
Okay, what kind of side could you put with it that you do enjoy, right?
25:09
If you're having a salad, again,
25:11
like I said earlier, like, what kind of dressing do you actually enjoy?
25:14
Like, I will not go to a Greek restaurant and get...
25:18
A vinaigrette-based dressing. I wish I liked vinaigrette more, y'all.
25:22
I love a Greek, like a traditional Greek salad dressing sometimes,
25:26
but not usually at a Greek restaurant.
25:29
Isn't that funny? At a Greek restaurant, I want the feta dressing,
25:32
the highest calorie dressing on the menu, right?
25:37
But I am not going to go into a Greek restaurant and order the vinaigrette, you know?
25:44
And so what do I do? I get the feta, but I'm very mindful of it,
25:48
right? Like I dip it, I don't smother it.
25:51
You know, I'm very mindful of my bites, that kind of thing, okay?
25:54
And so again, I would much rather do that than get a vinaigrette.
25:58
And honestly, if you get a vinaigrette and they put it on there,
26:01
Depending on how much olive oil they put in it, you may not be doing yourself
26:06
that much favor anyway, based on calories and fat intake.
26:10
Okay. It just depends on how they make their vinaigrette.
26:13
And so for me, that's why I'm just like, I'm going to get what I really like.
26:16
I can see the fat up in this fat addressing, but I'm not gambling that they
26:22
chose to put like more balsamic or whatever than they did olive oil,
26:25
because the truth is they probably put more oil in it, you know?
26:28
So anyway, a dressing that you actually like.
26:31
So same thing, like if we go and I get like a Cobb salad somewhere,
26:35
I'm going to have the ranch. I'm just going to have it on the side, right?
26:38
If you are like kind of wanting to get into more salad, and I know I'm ranting
26:43
on salads right here, but if you're trying to, this is one thing that I really
26:46
did for a long time and just did for a long time. And now he has kind of graduated.
26:51
But if you're wanting to get into more salads, if you're like,
26:54
okay, I know I need to be eating more vegetables, I could get down with having
26:57
a salad every now and then.
26:59
But the thought of the grilled chicken on top or the grilled whatever on top
27:03
is like turns you off. Just get the fried chicken on top.
27:06
Okay, just again, like being mindful, maybe not eating a ton of the crunchy
27:11
if you can help it, maybe leaving a little bit of that, watching your dressing,
27:16
maybe watching your cheese.
27:18
But like, get the fried chicken if that's what you really want on top of your
27:21
salad. You know what I mean?
27:24
These kind of behaviors, again, it may run up your calories faster, right?
27:29
Like the fried chicken is going to be higher calorie and higher fat than the grilled chicken.
27:33
The feta dressing is going to be higher calorie.
27:36
Well, sometimes it's going to be higher calorie and higher fat than the vinaigrette,
27:40
you know, or then bringing your own dressing.
27:43
Lord have mercy. I hate that tip from people, but whatever.
27:46
If you're fine with go ahead. But like, if I see somebody pulling out a dressing
27:51
bottle out of their purse, I'm like, I hope you love that dressing because otherwise,
27:55
what the heck? You know, anyways, you know.
27:59
Adding cheese to things may run up the calories faster than not, right?
28:05
But the overall goal is to be able to go day by day, week by week in your weight
28:14
loss journey, not being perfect, right?
28:16
But feeling like I can do this. I'm comfortable here. I still get to enjoy my food.
28:22
You know, I don't have to say no to the cheese or whatever just because I'm
28:29
trying to lose weight, right?
28:30
Because that, yes, yes, the weight loss may come a little slower, but it will last longer.
28:36
This behavior will last longer. This is how you turn it into a lifestyle instead
28:41
of constantly yo-yoing in and out of the same 10, 20, 30 pounds, right?
28:46
And so really getting comfortable here with allowing yourself some things that
28:51
you enjoy throughout your day, right?
28:53
And making them non-negotiable, which leads me to my next tip,
28:56
which is refusing to let yourself label anything as off limits. Okay.
29:01
So like a lot of times people will say, you know, trying to lose weight.
29:04
So I should probably, you know, stay away from that, or I should probably eat
29:07
that or what, you know, whatever.
29:09
And like, I think by putting a label on a food, you know, like if you say,
29:15
I can't have ice cream at night, even though you've been eating ice cream at night forever, right?
29:20
Or if you say, I can't have wine because I'm trying to lose weight.
29:25
Now, if you're trying to cut out wine for another reason, you go girl,
29:28
you know, but if it's solely for the weight loss purpose, right?
29:32
Anything. Truly, I can't have donuts with my kids in the mornings.
29:35
I can't have french fries when I run my kids through Chick-fil-A anymore because
29:38
I'm trying to lose weight.
29:40
Lord have mercy, y'all all know that like that's all we think about.
29:45
When we run our kids through Chick-fil-A, baby, we so mad at these kids because
29:49
they needed Chick-fil-A and they wouldn't stop talking about it.
29:52
But now you're sitting there going, would y'all please hurry up so we can get
29:54
rid of these french fries because I'm about to reach back there and wreck this
29:57
car and take all your french fries. your cold, you know, slobbery French fries.
30:01
It don't matter. I still want them.
30:03
You know what I mean? Same with at night. It's like, oh, it's eight o'clock.
30:06
It's usually the time that I'm going to have my ice cream, but I'm not having
30:08
my ice cream. I'm not going to have my ice cream.
30:10
You know, oh, but my husband's still having his ice cream. I'm so mad at him,
30:13
but I'm not going to have my ice cream. I can't have ice cream.
30:16
Our brain, when we tell our brain we can't have things, we can't do things,
30:22
our brain is trying to honor that, but it ruminates on that.
30:27
You know, It's like, and so it makes us think about it more and more and more and more and more.
30:32
And so truly just sitting in it and saying, yep, I'm about to try to lose this weight.
30:37
But I'm not saying one thing about one thing that I'm going to eat or not going to eat.
30:42
Like I'm not even putting those rules in my head or out into this universe.
30:46
You will be so surprised at how much easier it is to either drive your kids
30:54
through Chick-fil-A and not have the French fries or drive your kids through
30:58
Chick-fil-A and say, give mom three French fries. Don't give me any more.
31:02
And then enjoy those three French fries without the guilt, right?
31:07
What was the point? What would the point be of saying I can't have any of their French fries?
31:13
When you can easily, y'all, you can freaking easily eat three of their French
31:17
fries and still lose weight.
31:19
Like that is, your three French fries you stole from your kid is not N-O-T the problem. Okay?
31:28
So anyway, that is just my rant there. If we choose not to label things as off
31:34
limits, you will be so surprised at how your brain does it differently.
31:39
It works it differently.
31:40
Okay, not to say that means you're ever going to, you're going to be perfect
31:43
and you're never going to like, you know, overeat whatever the things are.
31:47
It just, it helps you feel more peace, more content, more comfortable with the process.
31:54
And again, that is the goal, right? The goal is to not write off foods forever
31:59
because that's literally never, I mean, most of us are at an age where we just
32:02
know that's never going to happen unless we have some kind of crazy food allergy
32:05
or something we have to, we have to for, you know.
32:10
Okay, my next one is to remind yourself that you're making a lifestyle change,
32:14
not just trying to lose weight.
32:17
Okay, again, back to our brain ruminating.
32:22
Okay, if we mentally are telling ourselves, I'm just gonna try to get these
32:26
10 pounds off, I'm gonna white knuckle it, I'm gonna just push through,
32:29
I'm gonna lose this weight.
32:30
Like, you know, I gotta lose this weight by this day because I gotta be hot
32:34
in this dress. I gotta, you know, whatever it is, right?
32:37
If we are kind of feeding ourselves those negative vibes in our brain,
32:42
that's what our brain matches, right?
32:43
And so if you're thinking, I got to lose this weight, I got to power through,
32:49
I got to say no, I can't give in.
32:54
That's like some drill sergeant boot camp style thinking, right?
32:58
And we know that can be very powerful in the moment, right?
33:03
But what it also does is it tells our brain and our bodies too,
33:08
that like we're suffering.
33:10
We're in sacrifice mode. We are sacrificing our happiness.
33:16
We are sacrificing our taste buds for the reward of the weight loss,
33:23
fitting in the dress, whatever it is, okay?
33:26
And our brains only like live in that sacrifice for so long before they wanna
33:32
rebel, before it wants to go back to the way things were, right?
33:36
And so ruminating with a mindset of just kind of like, not necessarily,
33:42
I mean, I know you're, I mean, hopefully we're not saying I'm punishing myself for X, Y, Z.
33:45
But like, if you feel like you think thoughts that are kind of punishing,
33:48
like even I can't stand to hear clients say things like, you know,
33:52
I made terrible choices today.
33:56
Or, you know, just like shaming themselves almost for things that they've done.
34:01
Again, obviously they have to be honest and accountable. But just remembering
34:05
how we're going to phrase those things, because it really matters in our brain.
34:10
It really matters how we think about the things, you know?
34:14
And so reframing it in your brain to say like, okay, no, this is a lifestyle.
34:18
Like, I'm not going to be perfect.
34:20
You know, tell yourself that this is positive. This is enjoyable.
34:25
Like, yes, I would love to get into that dress, you know, and lose those 10 pounds.
34:29
But also I know that I'm worthy either way, maybe because that is the truth.
34:34
Okay. And so just reinforcing more of those thoughts as you are going throughout
34:40
this journey can really help remove that like suffering mentality that a lot
34:44
of times we get into when we're trying to lose weight.
34:47
And then my last one is to just keep a variety. okay
34:50
I know we can get stuck in gosh it's
34:53
just so easy like when we kind of establish a meal plan
34:56
and establish our lunches and our snacks it can be so easy to just
34:59
like put that order on repeat at Walmart and keep it going right but it is also
35:04
fun and exciting to shake it up you know I think I talked about this on my I
35:09
talked about this on my stories yesterday which this will come out next week
35:11
so the story will be gone by then but like how you know earlier in the week we are more motivated.
35:19
And so it makes sense to like shake things up, especially later in the week.
35:23
Like, I don't know about y'all, but by Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
35:26
and Sunday, I have less energy and motivation to cook anything. Okay.
35:31
But also like, I want things that are a little more like, you know,
35:38
pizza ish or, you know, sweets.
35:40
Like I want to make, you know, something sweet for breakfast in the mornings
35:43
on a Saturday or whatever.
35:45
And so again, like acknowledging that about myself and planning for it that
35:52
way to keep that variety.
35:53
Because I know if I tell myself, Constance, you're going to have,
35:58
you know, even that soup I was
36:00
just talking about, the broth-based chicken avocado lime soup or whatever.
36:04
If I say I'm going to have that every day for lunch this week, Monday through Friday.
36:09
I know that by Saturday, even by Friday, heck, maybe by Thursday,
36:13
I'm going to be so sick of that soup. I'm going to be looking for anything else
36:16
to eat that is not that soup.
36:19
And so then what usually stands out to us?
36:21
Well, the junk, the higher calorie things, the lower nutrient things,
36:25
you know, the things that are quick, the drive through, like whatever it is.
36:29
And so kind of shaking it up, keeping a variety throughout your week and keeping
36:34
a variety week by week, you know, so that you aren't eating the same thing three
36:38
weeks later, the same snacks, the same whatever.
36:40
And y'all, we are just so blessed this day and age to have that.
36:45
Like dietitians of 50 years ago are so jealous of us right now,
36:50
of dietitians right now, because, you know, they used to have to like come up
36:54
with every idea and option for their clients, you know, and now we're like,
36:58
check TikTok and check Instagram and send us some links and let us know,
37:03
and we'll tell you what we think, you know,
37:05
about things that actually already sound good to you, right?
37:08
All we have to do is provide the nutritional wisdom behind it,
37:11
you know? Anyway, that's just so funny to me.
37:14
So yeah, take some time, right, to look on Pinterest, to look on TikTok,
37:18
to look on Instagram, and find some things that look good and that sound good
37:23
to you, and not necessarily like...
37:26
Low calorie weight loss recipes, because sometimes those can look disgusting
37:30
to us, you know, but just looking at recipes in general, like looking at recipes
37:35
in general, and then look at the ingredients and say, okay, now what could I
37:39
sub here to make it healthier?
37:42
What could I do here to lighten it up? Like that to me is a lot of times more
37:46
beneficial than like searching the endless weight loss, skinny people recipes online.
37:52
And then like wondering if you're going to go out and buy all this crap and
37:55
if it's even going to be good or not.
37:57
You know, like all the cottage cheese trends and everything that turns out to
37:59
be freaking disgusting. Like, you know, I know we've got like some trust issues.
38:03
And so take matters into your own hands. Find recipes that sound good to you
38:07
on a day you wouldn't be trying to lose weight and see what you can do about
38:11
it to make it healthier and lightened up.
38:13
So anyway, I had intentions to make this a 20 minute episode and here we are
38:18
40 minutes in. So I'm going to wrap it up.
38:22
But I hope y'all enjoyed this. I hope this was helpful. And as always,
38:26
of course, especially when we're building meals and we are trying to make this
38:30
a long-term lifestyle, right? Y'all remember to say grace.
38:34
Thank you for listening to today's episode of Say Grace Podcast.
38:39
If you enjoyed it, it would mean the world to me if you left me a five-star review.
38:44
Also, make sure to follow the show so you don't miss another episode.
38:49
Plus, if you're interested in learning more about losing weight and eating the
38:52
foods you love, make sure to subscribe to my.