April 23, 2025 • 23 mins
Have you ever felt guilty after eating a food you enjoy? That familiar wave of shame that follows the last bite of pizza, ice cream, or chocolate? You're not alone. As a registered dietitian, I've seen this pattern play out with over 90% of my clients, and it's time we break this cycle.
Food isn't meant to carry moral weight. When we categorize foods as "good" or "bad," we create an unhealthy relationship that leads to restriction, binging, and shame. This episode dives deep into why these labels develop—from diet culture influence to childhood food rules—and the harmful impacts they have on our mental and physical wellbeing. We explore how seemingly innocent comments about "cleaning your plate" or avoiding "junk food" can create lasting food trauma that affects eating behaviors well into adulthood.
The path to food freedom starts with neutrality. Rather than judging our choices, we can approach eating with curiosity and mindfulness. Why do we want certain foods? How do they make us feel? Are we truly listening to our hunger and satiety cues? By reframing our language around food, focusing on what we can add to meals rather than restrict, and treating ourselves with the same compassion we offer others, we can heal our relationship with eating. For parents, this shift becomes even more crucial as children absorb our attitudes about food and our bodies like little sponges. Let's build a healthier foundation for ourselves and the next generation by breaking free from harmful food labels once and for all.
Ready to transform your relationship with food? Listen to discover practical strategies for embracing food neutrality and creating a peaceful approach to eating that supports your wellbeing without unnecessary guilt or shame. Share this episode with someone who might benefit from a healthier perspective on food, and follow me on Instagram at nutrition_with_Leonila for more insights on balanced nutrition.
Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to this podcast and share with a friend. If you would like to know more about my services, please message at fueledbyleo@gmail.com
My YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0SqBP44jMNYSzlcJjOKJdg
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, hey, welcome back to another episode in the
Simple Nutrition InsightsPodcast.
I am your host, leonila Campos,registered dietitian, and today
let's talk about breaking freefrom food labels.
Why no food is good or bad.
I often hear these from, I mean, probably 90% or more of my
(00:23):
clients ask you know, are thereany good foods that I should add
?
Are there any bad foods that Ishould steer away from?
And my question, or my answerto those questions are there's
no good or bad food right.
Good or bad food right.
(00:49):
Essentially, the reasons why welabel foods as good or bad could
be because of diet, culture,influence, moral language around
food or the way that we grew up, right, or because historically
we've been trying to loseweight or we have struggled with
our weight.
And so when we look into tryingto lose weight, right, there's
always this notion that thereshould be a category that is
(01:11):
good food and there should be acategory that is bad food.
And I have a problem with thatright, because when we do those
things, we oftentimes put thefoods that we enjoy into the bad
category, right?
Let's take an example If welike ice cream, right, or if we
like cookies or a cake or chips,right, and we are trying to
(01:36):
lose weight, and when we lookonline, right, or when we see
influencers say if you try tolose weight, if you're trying to
lose weight, you should not eatchips, you should not eat
cookies, and so then weautomatically think, okay, that
is a bad food, and so we put itin the bad food category.
And so then, when we do eat acookie or when we do eat chips
(01:59):
right, there is so much guiltand so much shame, right, that
rushes into our mind and ourthoughts because we are enjoying
this food so much, but it's abad food.
Right, and so it creates thisunhealthy relationship with food
.
(02:20):
Right, because we want to havethat food so much, we enjoy it.
Right, it's something that welike.
But because we also have thesegoals right, we shouldn't have
that food, and so we can createrestrictions.
Right, and we can essentiallycreate these rules around food
(02:40):
that they are so hard tomaintain right, because they're
unrealistic.
And so when we break thoserules, right, we feel horrible,
we feel like we have failed.
Right, we feel like why can'twe do it?
And it's not so much that wecannot do it, right, it's
because we have these rules thatwe have created are so
(03:01):
unrealistic, right, and sounhealthy.
And so the other things, youknow, other factors that could
contribute to that is that if wewent, if, growing up right, we
had a lot of food trauma, eitherwe had, we grew up with, you
know, learning that we shouldclean our plate right, or that
we shouldn't eat junk food,right, or X, y, z, then it's
(03:25):
hard to not think about it thatway because we grew up that way,
right, and so there's a lotthat we have to learn.
So oftentimes, when I haveclients come to me, right, and
they have these goals, most ofthe times it's about weight loss
, right, and we sit down and wereally, really look into, you
(03:46):
know, the behaviors, we lookinto history and, mind you, my
initial sessions, when I firstmeet with clients, they can go,
you know, from 60 to 90 minutes.
I've had some clients we'vespent out like three hours
together, right, just learningabout different things and truly
understanding the behaviors.
And so oftentimes it's not assimple and this is another thing
(04:10):
that also bothers me a lot,right Like when someone says, oh
, if you're trying to loseweight, then just eat less and
move more.
We know that is not correct,right, because if that were the
case, then everybody would beable to do it, no problem.
Problem, that is not the casefor a lot of people, and so
there's so much going on, right,mentally, physically, some
(04:31):
traumas are happening that itrequires a deep understanding of
the person, right, that istrying to reach these goals.
And are these goals realistic,right?
So there is so much that ishappening and so oftentimes,
right as I'm having thesesessions with my clients, if I
see, okay, there's probablysomething that needs to be
(04:54):
addressed by a therapist, right,because maybe there is a lot of
food trauma and that is out ofmy scope of practice, right,
that is something that Iwouldn't be able to help my
patient.
I can support my patient, right, patient, by going through this
new journey, but I don't havethe skills like a therapist or
psychologist would have that canhelp the patient, and so I
(05:17):
oftentimes refer patients, Iencourage patients to talk to a
therapist to look at that deeper, right, because it's not until
we are able to be on the samepage that we're going to make a
lifetime change.
There's some other things thathappen when we label food, right
(05:37):
, is that it can lead torestriction and binge cycles.
So if we, let's say, werestrict so much, okay, I'm not
going to have pizza, right, I'mnot going to have cookies and we
have such a strong willpowerfor a period of time, right.
But oftentimes when we gothrough something emotional,
when we go through these strongemotions or some stressful
(06:00):
situations and we just aretrying to feel better, our
brains are trying to make usfeel better for survival, right?
Usually that's when wequote-unquote give in, right,
but you know, we're human.
And so then we start eatingsome of these foods that create
comfort and in our minds, rightat first, we might feel like we
(06:25):
feel euphoria in a way, right.
And as we start to eat thesefoods and as we start to dissect
and think about what we'redoing, then a lot of resentment,
right, a lot of failure andsadness rush in and we feel like
, okay, man, why did I do that?
Right?
Or I'm just going through allof this amount of food and I'm
(06:47):
just not going to do it everagain.
So there's so much happening,right?
We go from one stream to anotherstream and essentially we
create these binge cyclesbecause we are labeling food,
right, things that foods that weenjoy, as bad, and if it's
something that, again, thatcreates comfort.
(07:08):
Because, for whatever reason,we have chosen that food to
create comfort right, and ourbrain has made that link, it has
created a link between thatfood and feeling good that, even
if we have the strongestwillpower, when we are needing
to have that comfort right,everything else goes out the
window.
Because, in order for us to beable to create new pathways, new
(07:30):
links in our brain right, wehave to essentially replace that
link with something else.
That's usually when thetherapist comes in, but
oftentimes we also kind of havethis disconnect with, uh,
listening to our bodies, right,and so this is another thing.
(07:51):
That and this is probablyanother episode that I'll have
to do, but this is another thingthat I work with my clients
right is learning our hunger andour satiety cues right.
Learning when we feel hungryright, when we do have that
hunger and our satiety cuesright.
Learning when we feel hungryright when we do have that
hunger, and learning when wefeel satiated and content versus
full and bloated anduncomfortable, right.
(08:14):
That means that we havebypassed our hunger cues, and
it's not because we don't listento our bodies, right, it's
because, maybe at one pointgrowing up or whenever, that we
for some reason ignore thosesatiety cues, right.
And so now it's hard for us tounderstand.
When do I feel content?
(08:34):
And it's okay to still be alittle hungry, right, but if I
continue to eat, then I'm goingto feel really full and
uncomfortable.
So I always tell my clientsthis is not something that
you're going to be able to findout right away.
Right, it's going to takemonths, because we have gone
years, right, ignoring thosetidy cues.
(08:55):
Now we have to pay attention toour bodies.
We have to pay attention to ourbrains, right, and those cues
that our bodies are giving us.
And also that would be reallydifficult to do in such a
chaotic environment, like youhave to choose a meal where you
know that it's not.
There's not so much chaos to beto truly understand why your
(09:16):
body is telling you.
So I have a client that saidyou know what?
I don't know when I feelsatiated, I just know when I
have had too much to eat.
And I grew up cleaning my plate, right, because I was told that
I shouldn't waste food, andthat is understandable, right,
(09:39):
because we do, especially ifsomeone grew up being really
poor, or our parents were pooror our grandparents were poor,
that, hey, there might not befood tomorrow, right, let's
essentially feast up just incase.
And so when that happens, right, we do get those satiety cues
for a period of time and thenafter a while, because we have
(10:01):
ignored them for a long time,then we just don't know, right,
that we are satiated, and so nowwe have to kind of learn that
again and that will take time,and that's okay, right, I always
tell my clients be gracefulwith yourself, be patient, right
, and it's okay to have ups anddowns in this journey because,
(10:22):
unfortunately, we're not goingto have a straight pathway,
right, it is going to be windy,and that's okay too to have a
straight pathway.
Right, it is going to be windy,and that's okay too.
The other problem that can causewhen we put foods into good and
bad category is that it canlead to a higher risk of
disorder eating and eatingdisorders.
Right, although my expertise isnot working with the eating
(10:42):
disorder population, I have anamazing coworker colleague, mary
Ellen Benavidez, that hasworked with my son is sick, so
he's here right now.
Come, come here, love.
And so I always refer my, if Iget referrals for eating
disorders.
I always refer my, my, thosereferrals to her because she's
(11:06):
amazing.
But that is another problem thatcan happen, right, that it can
lead to disorder eating oreating disorders.
It also affects kids and familydynamics around food, right,
because if the kids, if we askour kids, to finish their food
on their plate, right, and maybethey don't like something or
(11:27):
maybe they are satiated, becausewe have to respect that, right.
I am a mom and so sometimesmaybe I am worried that my kids
are not eating enough, but I canforce them to eat, because then
that means that I'm tellingthem to ignore their satiety
cues and that is not myresponsibility, right, my
responsibility as a parent is toprovide safe foods, to provide
(11:50):
them nourishment, um, toencourage them to try things,
and the responsibility of thechild, right, is to try foods
and to learn, to learn theirbody.
So I learn when they're hungry,later when they're satiated,
and that creates a healthyrelationship with food right
with kids.
(12:11):
And so if sometimes I do seethat that if a child doesn't
want to eat somethingspecifically, right, or they
feel anxious around food, right,because maybe mom or dad or
whoever's taking care of themare so pushy that they get
anxious, right, and then theysee mealtime as something that
(12:33):
gives them anxiety or that feelsunnatural or inorganic, and so
it's important to think aboutthose things too and how our
kids are going to grow up rightFollowing those steps.
So what should we do?
Instead?
We should practice neutrality.
Right, food is just food.
I always tell my clients weshould not place foods into
(12:56):
categories right.
We should not put food intolike this is good food and this
is bad food because we are goingto create these restrictions.
Food is not bad right, becauseunless the food is poisonous,
right, or it has gone bad, thenit is bad.
But just regular food right isjust food.
And so when we start practicingthat, when we start really
(13:20):
understanding that food is justfood, then we might have, like,
we might not feel as anxiousabout eating something right or
we might not go into extremes.
The next thing is that we cantune into our hunger, fullness
and satisfaction right, reallyunderstanding our cues, really
(13:43):
paying attention to our bodies.
And, like I said, we might notbe able to do that with every
single meal, but we can try thatwith maybe a meal where we feel
more, we have more time to dothat right, maybe a snack, and
then slowly add the other meals,and that can help us, right,
(14:03):
slowly, really learning aboutour cues, use curiosity over
judgment.
Right, why do I want these?
And I work with my clients onthese too right, because
oftentimes, again, it could becomfort.
It could be that we're stressedand we're eating when we're
really stressed and so askingourselves okay, I ate already
and I want something sweet or Iwant something salty, or I feel
(14:23):
like I want something sweet or Iwant something salty, or I feel
like I want to eat more.
Right?
So, really paying attention toand being curious as to like,
why do I want that?
Right?
Is it because maybe my mealswere not balanced?
And that can happen too?
Right, and you can go back tomy previous episodes where I
talk about balancing meals.
(14:44):
And so if we're not havingbalanced meals, even though
we're having the volume rightand the amount of food, we might
still feel hungry.
Right, because maybe we didn'tadd enough protein or enough
fiber from vegetables, so wedon't feel truly satiated.
Or maybe we ate so fast right,so we didn't allow our bodies to
have that connection.
(15:05):
Right, our brain and gutconnection, connection, right,
Our brain and gut connection.
So there's so many factors thatwe can work through and be
curious about.
Let's focus on how food makes usfeel, right, know what it says
about our words.
I am Mexican, right, so food isour culture.
Right, that's oftentimes how weshow love and that's okay,
(15:30):
right.
So understanding how food makesus feel and know that because
we're eating a tortilla, right,that that's bad for us, right,
or that we are eating rice.
So understanding what feelingsyou have around food, right, and
keeping them positive, Becauseif you start adding negative
(15:51):
feelings to the foods that youenjoy, again we go back to
putting these foods into goodand bad categories.
We want to steer away from thatright.
To build this healthyrelationship with food.
Include all foods right.
Be flexible, which is part ofbalance, right, flexibility is
part of balance.
(16:12):
So try to have the foods thatyou enjoy right on your plate.
So sometimes I have clientsthat say you know, I'm going to
eliminate chips, right, or I'mgoing to not have ice cream, and
so then when they do end uphaving it, right, they have a
massive you know a huge amount,because they're like I'm not
(16:35):
going to have it again, right,instead of creating this balance
and be like you know what.
I have control over how much Ican have, right, and I also have
control over how often I wantto have it.
So when we do that right, iteliminates the restriction.
It eliminates the need to havethose really strict rules.
(17:01):
Use the add-in approach rightwhat can I add to make this meal
more satisfying and nourishing?
And approach right what can Iadd to make this meal more
satisfying and nourishing?
I love this one because Ipractice this with my clients
all the time.
Right, I always ask them lookat your plate right and ask
yourself how balanced is thisplate?
Right?
Do I have my protein?
Do I have my grains?
(17:21):
Do I have my vegetables?
Right, can I add a piece offruit right To make me feel a
little bit more satiated?
Or some healthy fats?
Or maybe I want to have a treat?
Right, and that's okay too.
So, instead of like looking atyour plate as what can I
eliminate?
Or just your nutrition ingeneral, what can I eliminate?
Because oftentimes, again, it'sgoing to be those foods that we
(17:45):
enjoy.
Think of your meals as thatright, what can I add to this
meal to make it more nourishing?
Or what can I add to this mealto feel more balanced?
And it's a healthier way tolook at food and meals and let's
work on reframing right.
Swap good and bad with maybemore nourishing and less
(18:12):
nourishing, or the sometimesfoods versus, like all the time,
foods.
Right, avoid labeling yourself.
Right, as I was bad today foreating pizza.
Again, it's negative, right.
Focus on the positive.
Again it's negative, right.
Focus on the positive.
Okay, I really want a pizzatoday and I really enjoyed it.
Right, and that is more.
It's going to create again, notsuch a negative result.
(18:39):
Right, because we eat pizza andbecause we think that the pizza
is bad.
Right, so we have to refrain,right, from saying that.
So, instead of saying I was badtoday for eating pizza, you
know, I wanted some pizza todayand I really enjoyed it.
It was delicious.
And move forward.
Right, there is nojustification as to why we want
(19:00):
a pizza, because it's the samething, right.
Why do we have to justifysomething?
It's just something that wewanted and that's it.
Right.
Let's keep moving forward.
Use mindful eating techniques,right.
This one goes back to beingable to understand and listen to
your hunger and satiety cues.
Mindful eating just means that.
(19:21):
Okay, how is this food makingme feel?
Right, how satiated do I feelnow?
Right, how hungry do I feel?
But in order to do that, youhave to allow that to happen.
Right, if you choose a mealthat is chaotic, if you choose
breakfast that is on the go andyou're like we need to leave,
right, if you have kids and it'sjust, you know, um stressful,
(19:46):
then it's not going going tohappen because there's so much
happening around you.
So you have to, again bemindful and choose a meal where
you're able to do that and allowthat to happen.
Talk kindly about food and yourbody around others.
This one is huge, especiallyagain, if you have kids, because
the way that you talk aboutyourself, the way that you talk
(20:07):
about food, is the way that yourchildren are going to talk
about themselves.
This is so profound Becauseeven when we think that kids are
not paying attention to whatwe're saying, they are little
sponges and they are going toimitate what we do, what we say
about ourselves.
But also, I always ask myclients this question to you
(20:30):
Whatever you're saying toyourself about yourself, will
you say that to a friend, tosomeone that you love very much?
Oftentimes the answer is no.
So then I ask them why will yousay that to yourself?
Treat yourself as that otherperson.
You are your sister, you areyour mom, you are your own
(20:50):
daughter or son right, tellyourself those beautiful things,
too, because it makes adifference, right, the way that
we see ourselves.
It doesn't matter what goals wehave.
We have to focus and reframethose things, those negative
things that we think aboutourselves, and more positive
things, because that's going tohelp us long-term, right, that's
(21:10):
going to motivate us to be like.
You know what I'm seeing myselfpast, maybe the things that I
don't want to see, but more sothe positive things, right, and
that's going to keep memotivated and that's going to
help me to continue to work onmy goals.
Okay, my friend, remember, andthat is going to help me to
continue to work on my goals.
Okay, my friend, remember thatfood is not good or bad.
(21:31):
Right, I want you to reflect onyour food beliefs and try one
small shift this week.
Right, if you have struggledwith that, if you struggle with
any kind of disorder eating, Ihave an amazing referral, a
colleague that can help youright.
Or if you just want toestablish a healthy relationship
(21:51):
with food, right, we can dothat.
Let's work on these thingstogether.
Right, let's try to create morepositivity around food, around
our bodies around, just ourgoals, right?
Just around everything, becauseit can make a huge difference.
All right, my friends, that isit for today.
(22:14):
If you enjoyed this episode,please share it with a friend,
don't forget to leave a review,and you can follow me on my
Instagram page at nutritionunderscore with underscore
Leonila.
I will see you and talk to youin another episode.
Take care, bye-bye for now.
Hey, hey, welcome back to another episode in the
Simple Nutrition InsightsPodcast.
I am your host, leonila Campos,registered dietitian, and today
let's talk about breaking freefrom food labels.
Why no food is good or bad.
I often hear these from, I mean, probably 90% or more of my
(00:23):
clients ask you know, are thereany good foods that I should add
?
Are there any bad foods that Ishould steer away from?
And my question, or my answerto those questions are there's
no good or bad food right.
Good or bad food right.
(00:49):
Essentially, the reasons why welabel foods as good or bad could
be because of diet, culture,influence, moral language around
food or the way that we grew up, right, or because historically
we've been trying to loseweight or we have struggled with
our weight.
And so when we look into tryingto lose weight, right, there's
always this notion that thereshould be a category that is
(01:11):
good food and there should be acategory that is bad food.
And I have a problem with thatright, because when we do those
things, we oftentimes put thefoods that we enjoy into the bad
category, right?
Let's take an example If welike ice cream, right, or if we
like cookies or a cake or chips,right, and we are trying to
(01:36):
lose weight, and when we lookonline, right, or when we see
influencers say if you try tolose weight, if you're trying to
lose weight, you should not eatchips, you should not eat
cookies, and so then weautomatically think, okay, that
is a bad food, and so we put itin the bad food category.
And so then, when we do eat acookie or when we do eat chips
(01:59):
right, there is so much guiltand so much shame, right, that
rushes into our mind and ourthoughts because we are enjoying
this food so much, but it's abad food.
Right, and so it creates thisunhealthy relationship with food
.
(02:20):
Right, because we want to havethat food so much, we enjoy it.
Right, it's something that welike.
But because we also have thesegoals right, we shouldn't have
that food, and so we can createrestrictions.
Right, and we can essentiallycreate these rules around food
(02:40):
that they are so hard tomaintain right, because they're
unrealistic.
And so when we break thoserules, right, we feel horrible,
we feel like we have failed.
Right, we feel like why can'twe do it?
And it's not so much that wecannot do it, right, it's
because we have these rules thatwe have created are so
(03:01):
unrealistic, right, and sounhealthy.
And so the other things, youknow, other factors that could
contribute to that is that if wewent, if, growing up right, we
had a lot of food trauma, eitherwe had, we grew up with, you
know, learning that we shouldclean our plate right, or that
we shouldn't eat junk food,right, or X, y, z, then it's
(03:25):
hard to not think about it thatway because we grew up that way,
right, and so there's a lotthat we have to learn.
So oftentimes, when I haveclients come to me, right, and
they have these goals, most ofthe times it's about weight loss
, right, and we sit down and wereally, really look into, you
(03:46):
know, the behaviors, we lookinto history and, mind you, my
initial sessions, when I firstmeet with clients, they can go,
you know, from 60 to 90 minutes.
I've had some clients we'vespent out like three hours
together, right, just learningabout different things and truly
understanding the behaviors.
And so oftentimes it's not assimple and this is another thing
(04:10):
that also bothers me a lot,right Like when someone says, oh
, if you're trying to loseweight, then just eat less and
move more.
We know that is not correct,right, because if that were the
case, then everybody would beable to do it, no problem.
Problem, that is not the casefor a lot of people, and so
there's so much going on, right,mentally, physically, some
(04:31):
traumas are happening that itrequires a deep understanding of
the person, right, that istrying to reach these goals.
And are these goals realistic,right?
So there is so much that ishappening and so oftentimes,
right as I'm having thesesessions with my clients, if I
see, okay, there's probablysomething that needs to be
(04:54):
addressed by a therapist, right,because maybe there is a lot of
food trauma and that is out ofmy scope of practice, right,
that is something that Iwouldn't be able to help my
patient.
I can support my patient, right, patient, by going through this
new journey, but I don't havethe skills like a therapist or
psychologist would have that canhelp the patient, and so I
(05:17):
oftentimes refer patients, Iencourage patients to talk to a
therapist to look at that deeper, right, because it's not until
we are able to be on the samepage that we're going to make a
lifetime change.
There's some other things thathappen when we label food, right
(05:37):
, is that it can lead torestriction and binge cycles.
So if we, let's say, werestrict so much, okay, I'm not
going to have pizza, right, I'mnot going to have cookies and we
have such a strong willpowerfor a period of time, right.
But oftentimes when we gothrough something emotional,
when we go through these strongemotions or some stressful
(06:00):
situations and we just aretrying to feel better, our
brains are trying to make usfeel better for survival, right?
Usually that's when wequote-unquote give in, right,
but you know, we're human.
And so then we start eatingsome of these foods that create
comfort and in our minds, rightat first, we might feel like we
(06:25):
feel euphoria in a way, right.
And as we start to eat thesefoods and as we start to dissect
and think about what we'redoing, then a lot of resentment,
right, a lot of failure andsadness rush in and we feel like
, okay, man, why did I do that?
Right?
Or I'm just going through allof this amount of food and I'm
(06:47):
just not going to do it everagain.
So there's so much happening,right?
We go from one stream to anotherstream and essentially we
create these binge cyclesbecause we are labeling food,
right, things that foods that weenjoy, as bad, and if it's
something that, again, thatcreates comfort.
(07:08):
Because, for whatever reason,we have chosen that food to
create comfort right, and ourbrain has made that link, it has
created a link between thatfood and feeling good that, even
if we have the strongestwillpower, when we are needing
to have that comfort right,everything else goes out the
window.
Because, in order for us to beable to create new pathways, new
(07:30):
links in our brain right, wehave to essentially replace that
link with something else.
That's usually when thetherapist comes in, but
oftentimes we also kind of havethis disconnect with, uh,
listening to our bodies, right,and so this is another thing.
(07:51):
That and this is probablyanother episode that I'll have
to do, but this is another thingthat I work with my clients
right is learning our hunger andour satiety cues right.
Learning when we feel hungryright, when we do have that
hunger and our satiety cuesright.
Learning when we feel hungryright when we do have that
hunger, and learning when wefeel satiated and content versus
full and bloated anduncomfortable, right.
(08:14):
That means that we havebypassed our hunger cues, and
it's not because we don't listento our bodies, right, it's
because, maybe at one pointgrowing up or whenever, that we
for some reason ignore thosesatiety cues, right.
And so now it's hard for us tounderstand.
When do I feel content?
(08:34):
And it's okay to still be alittle hungry, right, but if I
continue to eat, then I'm goingto feel really full and
uncomfortable.
So I always tell my clientsthis is not something that
you're going to be able to findout right away.
Right, it's going to takemonths, because we have gone
years, right, ignoring thosetidy cues.
(08:55):
Now we have to pay attention toour bodies.
We have to pay attention to ourbrains, right, and those cues
that our bodies are giving us.
And also that would be reallydifficult to do in such a
chaotic environment, like youhave to choose a meal where you
know that it's not.
There's not so much chaos to beto truly understand why your
(09:16):
body is telling you.
So I have a client that saidyou know what?
I don't know when I feelsatiated, I just know when I
have had too much to eat.
And I grew up cleaning my plate, right, because I was told that
I shouldn't waste food, andthat is understandable, right,
(09:39):
because we do, especially ifsomeone grew up being really
poor, or our parents were pooror our grandparents were poor,
that, hey, there might not befood tomorrow, right, let's
essentially feast up just incase.
And so when that happens, right, we do get those satiety cues
for a period of time and thenafter a while, because we have
(10:01):
ignored them for a long time,then we just don't know, right,
that we are satiated, and so nowwe have to kind of learn that
again and that will take time,and that's okay, right, I always
tell my clients be gracefulwith yourself, be patient, right
, and it's okay to have ups anddowns in this journey because,
(10:22):
unfortunately, we're not goingto have a straight pathway,
right, it is going to be windy,and that's okay too to have a
straight pathway.
Right, it is going to be windy,and that's okay too.
The other problem that can causewhen we put foods into good and
bad category is that it canlead to a higher risk of
disorder eating and eatingdisorders.
Right, although my expertise isnot working with the eating
(10:42):
disorder population, I have anamazing coworker colleague, mary
Ellen Benavidez, that hasworked with my son is sick, so
he's here right now.
Come, come here, love.
And so I always refer my, if Iget referrals for eating
disorders.
I always refer my, my, thosereferrals to her because she's
(11:06):
amazing.
But that is another problem thatcan happen, right, that it can
lead to disorder eating oreating disorders.
It also affects kids and familydynamics around food, right,
because if the kids, if we askour kids, to finish their food
on their plate, right, and maybethey don't like something or
(11:27):
maybe they are satiated, becausewe have to respect that, right.
I am a mom and so sometimesmaybe I am worried that my kids
are not eating enough, but I canforce them to eat, because then
that means that I'm tellingthem to ignore their satiety
cues and that is not myresponsibility, right, my
responsibility as a parent is toprovide safe foods, to provide
(11:50):
them nourishment, um, toencourage them to try things,
and the responsibility of thechild, right, is to try foods
and to learn, to learn theirbody.
So I learn when they're hungry,later when they're satiated,
and that creates a healthyrelationship with food right
with kids.
(12:11):
And so if sometimes I do seethat that if a child doesn't
want to eat somethingspecifically, right, or they
feel anxious around food, right,because maybe mom or dad or
whoever's taking care of themare so pushy that they get
anxious, right, and then theysee mealtime as something that
(12:33):
gives them anxiety or that feelsunnatural or inorganic, and so
it's important to think aboutthose things too and how our
kids are going to grow up rightFollowing those steps.
So what should we do?
Instead?
We should practice neutrality.
Right, food is just food.
I always tell my clients weshould not place foods into
(12:56):
categories right.
We should not put food intolike this is good food and this
is bad food because we are goingto create these restrictions.
Food is not bad right, becauseunless the food is poisonous,
right, or it has gone bad, thenit is bad.
But just regular food right isjust food.
And so when we start practicingthat, when we start really
(13:20):
understanding that food is justfood, then we might have, like,
we might not feel as anxiousabout eating something right or
we might not go into extremes.
The next thing is that we cantune into our hunger, fullness
and satisfaction right, reallyunderstanding our cues, really
(13:43):
paying attention to our bodies.
And, like I said, we might notbe able to do that with every
single meal, but we can try thatwith maybe a meal where we feel
more, we have more time to dothat right, maybe a snack, and
then slowly add the other meals,and that can help us, right,
(14:03):
slowly, really learning aboutour cues, use curiosity over
judgment.
Right, why do I want these?
And I work with my clients onthese too right, because
oftentimes, again, it could becomfort.
It could be that we're stressedand we're eating when we're
really stressed and so askingourselves okay, I ate already
and I want something sweet or Iwant something salty, or I feel
(14:23):
like I want something sweet or Iwant something salty, or I feel
like I want to eat more.
Right?
So, really paying attention toand being curious as to like,
why do I want that?
Right?
Is it because maybe my mealswere not balanced?
And that can happen too?
Right, and you can go back tomy previous episodes where I
talk about balancing meals.
(14:44):
And so if we're not havingbalanced meals, even though
we're having the volume rightand the amount of food, we might
still feel hungry.
Right, because maybe we didn'tadd enough protein or enough
fiber from vegetables, so wedon't feel truly satiated.
Or maybe we ate so fast right,so we didn't allow our bodies to
have that connection.
(15:05):
Right, our brain and gutconnection, connection, right,
Our brain and gut connection.
So there's so many factors thatwe can work through and be
curious about.
Let's focus on how food makes usfeel, right, know what it says
about our words.
I am Mexican, right, so food isour culture.
Right, that's oftentimes how weshow love and that's okay,
(15:30):
right.
So understanding how food makesus feel and know that because
we're eating a tortilla, right,that that's bad for us, right,
or that we are eating rice.
So understanding what feelingsyou have around food, right, and
keeping them positive, Becauseif you start adding negative
(15:51):
feelings to the foods that youenjoy, again we go back to
putting these foods into goodand bad categories.
We want to steer away from thatright.
To build this healthyrelationship with food.
Include all foods right.
Be flexible, which is part ofbalance, right, flexibility is
part of balance.
(16:12):
So try to have the foods thatyou enjoy right on your plate.
So sometimes I have clientsthat say you know, I'm going to
eliminate chips, right, or I'mgoing to not have ice cream, and
so then when they do end uphaving it, right, they have a
massive you know a huge amount,because they're like I'm not
(16:35):
going to have it again, right,instead of creating this balance
and be like you know what.
I have control over how much Ican have, right, and I also have
control over how often I wantto have it.
So when we do that right, iteliminates the restriction.
It eliminates the need to havethose really strict rules.
(17:01):
Use the add-in approach rightwhat can I add to make this meal
more satisfying and nourishing?
And approach right what can Iadd to make this meal more
satisfying and nourishing?
I love this one because Ipractice this with my clients
all the time.
Right, I always ask them lookat your plate right and ask
yourself how balanced is thisplate?
Right?
Do I have my protein?
Do I have my grains?
(17:21):
Do I have my vegetables?
Right, can I add a piece offruit right To make me feel a
little bit more satiated?
Or some healthy fats?
Or maybe I want to have a treat?
Right, and that's okay too.
So, instead of like looking atyour plate as what can I
eliminate?
Or just your nutrition ingeneral, what can I eliminate?
Because oftentimes, again, it'sgoing to be those foods that we
(17:45):
enjoy.
Think of your meals as thatright, what can I add to this
meal to make it more nourishing?
Or what can I add to this mealto feel more balanced?
And it's a healthier way tolook at food and meals and let's
work on reframing right.
Swap good and bad with maybemore nourishing and less
(18:12):
nourishing, or the sometimesfoods versus, like all the time,
foods.
Right, avoid labeling yourself.
Right, as I was bad today foreating pizza.
Again, it's negative, right.
Focus on the positive.
Again it's negative, right.
Focus on the positive.
Okay, I really want a pizzatoday and I really enjoyed it.
Right, and that is more.
It's going to create again, notsuch a negative result.
(18:39):
Right, because we eat pizza andbecause we think that the pizza
is bad.
Right, so we have to refrain,right, from saying that.
So, instead of saying I was badtoday for eating pizza, you
know, I wanted some pizza todayand I really enjoyed it.
It was delicious.
And move forward.
Right, there is nojustification as to why we want
(19:00):
a pizza, because it's the samething, right.
Why do we have to justifysomething?
It's just something that wewanted and that's it.
Right.
Let's keep moving forward.
Use mindful eating techniques,right.
This one goes back to beingable to understand and listen to
your hunger and satiety cues.
Mindful eating just means that.
(19:21):
Okay, how is this food makingme feel?
Right, how satiated do I feelnow?
Right, how hungry do I feel?
But in order to do that, youhave to allow that to happen.
Right, if you choose a mealthat is chaotic, if you choose
breakfast that is on the go andyou're like we need to leave,
right, if you have kids and it'sjust, you know, um stressful,
(19:46):
then it's not going going tohappen because there's so much
happening around you.
So you have to, again bemindful and choose a meal where
you're able to do that and allowthat to happen.
Talk kindly about food and yourbody around others.
This one is huge, especiallyagain, if you have kids, because
the way that you talk aboutyourself, the way that you talk
(20:07):
about food, is the way that yourchildren are going to talk
about themselves.
This is so profound Becauseeven when we think that kids are
not paying attention to whatwe're saying, they are little
sponges and they are going toimitate what we do, what we say
about ourselves.
But also, I always ask myclients this question to you
(20:30):
Whatever you're saying toyourself about yourself, will
you say that to a friend, tosomeone that you love very much?
Oftentimes the answer is no.
So then I ask them why will yousay that to yourself?
Treat yourself as that otherperson.
You are your sister, you areyour mom, you are your own
(20:50):
daughter or son right, tellyourself those beautiful things,
too, because it makes adifference, right, the way that
we see ourselves.
It doesn't matter what goals wehave.
We have to focus and reframethose things, those negative
things that we think aboutourselves, and more positive
things, because that's going tohelp us long-term, right, that's
(21:10):
going to motivate us to be like.
You know what I'm seeing myselfpast, maybe the things that I
don't want to see, but more sothe positive things, right, and
that's going to keep memotivated and that's going to
help me to continue to work onmy goals.
Okay, my friend, remember, andthat is going to help me to
continue to work on my goals.
Okay, my friend, remember thatfood is not good or bad.
(21:31):
Right, I want you to reflect onyour food beliefs and try one
small shift this week.
Right, if you have struggledwith that, if you struggle with
any kind of disorder eating, Ihave an amazing referral, a
colleague that can help youright.
Or if you just want toestablish a healthy relationship
(21:51):
with food, right, we can dothat.
Let's work on these thingstogether.
Right, let's try to create morepositivity around food, around
our bodies around, just ourgoals, right?
Just around everything, becauseit can make a huge difference.
All right, my friends, that isit for today.
(22:14):
If you enjoyed this episode,please share it with a friend,
don't forget to leave a review,and you can follow me on my
Instagram page at nutritionunderscore with underscore
Leonila.
I will see you and talk to youin another episode.
Take care, bye-bye for now.
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