Better Than Healthy | Ep.21

This show is about freedom. Freedom from your constant struggle with food and letting the size of your thighs determine your worth. Join me weekly for no whole fat, unfiltered girlfriend kind of conversations that will inspire, teach and empower you. As we tune into our own body's wisdom and tune out of the diet industry lives, we can live our most radiant, pleasurable and fulfilled lives. My name is Chanci D awn. I'm a non diet nutritionist embodiment and mindset coach. But most importantly, I'm a woman on a mission to grow a deeply connected and conscious relationship with food and my body. And I'm here inviting you to do the same. Let's go.

Hello, my beautiful listener, thank you so much for tuning in today. And can you even believe it? It's September, like where did the summer even go? Oh, my goodness. Well, I spent most of my summer hiking, being on a boat camping, and playing. And now I'm like, Okay, time to time to adult again. So I'm actually really looking forward to the fall of just getting back into the routine of things kids back at school. My daughter, Celeste will be homeschooling this year. So that's going to be interesting. And if you haven't already listened to her podcast, I interviewed her last week, episode 20. Go back. And listen, I am so proud of her. She just talked about, you know, growing up in a home where restriction was the name of the game, I would I just held sugar back from them. It was like such a villain. And they really grew up afraid, afraid of junk food. But then she shares about how she would go to parties and just binge you know, at such a young age. And when I started this whole journey for myself, it changed so much for me and definitely changed how I parented and she talks all about this when we started allowing, quote unquote junk food into the home and her experiences with that at first, and now how she's 14 years old. And she's such a beautiful and bodied eater. So there, it's never too late to start you guys like I started this journey in my late 30s. And I have clients in their 60s 70s. Actually, I've actually no, I've never coached anyone in their 70s. But I have coached someone in their 60s. But the last thing that I ever want for anyone is to be in their 90s. And not eating their own birthday cake, because they're worried about gaining weight, I actually saw a story about that somewhere I forget where must have been Facebook, but he broke my heart. And this can be a lifelong struggle, if you don't reach out and get the help you need and actually do the work it takes to set yourself free. So I'm just so proud of my daughter that you know, at this young age she already has. So just so much wisdom, and she's so in tune with her body. And what she shares, I think is extremely valuable. So make sure you tune into that. And yes, so today, I am going to be talking to you about something that I have just sort of been thinking about. So I love to kind of experiment with things in my own life. And then when I'm like yes, this is totally working, or this is a tool that they can completely use, then I'll bring it on here, right and teach it to you, as well as bring it to my clients and use it as part of my program, and embodied eating. So what I've been thinking a lot about and playing a lot about in my own life is the word healthy. So words have so much power behind them. And it really is our interpretation of what they mean that will create the emotions in our body. Right. So if you remember back to the thought model, what we think is what will create the emotion, the vibration that we experience as an emotion in our body. And then this emotion will lead us forward in the actions we take, which will therefore give us the results that our thoughts are creating. So healthy to me is a very loaded word. And as a nutritionist, I've been working in this field for 13 years and I've been you know a dieter for much longer than that. And when I think of the word healthy, what I see and what so many of my clients get wrapped up in and what I just seen our general culture is it is so connected, intertwined with fat phobia, and the diet culture is lies. So when you look at images, like if you look up images on Google, or if you're, if I looked up on Canva, like I was making something for Instagram, and I looked up the word healthy, and it was all these pictures of slim women, and a lot of them had measuring tapes around their tiny little abdomens, there was pictures of scales of women's measuring themselves of people at the gym. You know, so really the the idea of what health is in our society is really correlated with thinness. Which as you know, if you've been listening to this podcast, and especially the one on gaining weight, with embodied eating, where I explained what the setpoint theory is, okay, so if you've, if you've been tuning in, and you've been following me, you will know that Finn does not necessarily mean healthy, okay? And having fat on your body does not necessarily mean that you're unhealthy. So there's a whole bunch of science around this. But when we look at the word healthy, and how it's so wrapped up in diet culture, I think that word in and of itself, can be quite damaging, if this is what you're aspiring to when you're eating. So when you look at different foods, right health foods, you'll have even those like, I remember, back in the 90s, I think there were snack wells or something like that, but these little 100 Calorie packs of food for people who are counting calories. And those are anything but healthy. But they're marketed as such, because people think you'll lose weight when you're eating them. And then when you're looking at like other foods, there's so much like,

it's binary, right? It's either junk, or health, whereas we know, all food is neutral. And it's so important to look at it that way. And to really feel that in the depths of your soul to really imprint that in your body. So that we don't go crazy with feeling addicted to food, okay, because it's actually the thoughts that we can't have it that creates these, this crazy drive towards it, as we talk all about in almost every episode. So when we look at it as binary, right, good or bad, junk or healthy, slimming, are fattening. It's all wrapped up around this word healthy. And I think it can kind of cause you know, that monkey on the hamster wheel in our brain to go chaotic. And it's very confusing. Because if you're eating something that isn't deemed healthy in your brain, it can cause so much shame, so much guilt. And that can totally send you down a really bad spiral of restricting and binging Hey, I'm getting all pumped up about this. And I should be because this is so important to understand and the thoughts we're thinking if they are directly giving us the results in our lives, then we really need to dive into this. And one other thing about healthy that I find so interesting is there's so many different ideas of what that is, depending on what program or diet or lifestyle, etc, that you're following. So for some people healthy is high fat, low carb, for other people healthy is like minimal calories, like 1200 calories a day, for example, for other people. It's like low, low fat, the higher carb, right? Like it's all over the place. And it can get so confusing when we correlate it to diet culture.

So one thing that I've been practicing in my own life that I really invite you to think about, and to start incorporating is I've dropped the word healthy, okay. And what I love instead is to ask them the question, is this nourishing? For me? Is this nourishing for my body? And nourishing is completely different nourishing can be in diet culture, but it's not usually the term used. Okay? So I want to claim this term for embodied eating, is it nourishing to my body. Now, when I thinking about this, what is so important is to drop into your body to ask her if it's nourishing for her not your body is the best nutritionist that you can ever consult. And when you start to really tune into her and learn how to trust her and learn how to like Listen to her cues and listen to her needs and desires. And the more you honor them, the more that she will show that yes, you can trust her, the more your body is just going to start feeling good, you're going to get to your natural setpoint of weight and the energy will increase. And most importantly, I believe, is you will have, you will feel so much more mentally and emotionally healthy when you're not wrapped up in diet culture. So when we look at nourishing, it just hit everything on the head that we need to. Okay. So when we're looking at this, there's some things that we can ask ourselves, because a lot of the times, it's really confusing when you first start, like how do I listen to my body? How do I know what her cues are? Right? Especially if you've been in diet culture for so long. It's really, really difficult because diet culture teaches us to be disconnected from our body and to look outside of us for answers of what's right for us in the name of health. Right? Screw that, let's just drop that that is pushed aside, we are no longer doing that. What we're doing is we're going inside, and we're asking her what's right for her. And the way that we're going to do this, the way that she is honored the most is through our sensations. So let's explore these number one, when you are looking for something to eat when you're like, Okay, it's a meal time or I'm wanting a snack and I'm, you know, at a negative one or negative two on the hunger scale, that I've done a podcast before. So go back and listen to that first two. So if you're in, you know, this negative one or negative two and you're hungry, then let's start tuning in. So the first question is, hmm, what taste would feel the best to me right now? What taste is my body desiring? So we're looking at things like, Do I want something savory? Do I want something sweet? But I want something buttery and rich, or perhaps spicy? Okay, there's so many different taste profiles out there. Ooh, bitter. That's when that here in North America, we don't eat that much of, but sometimes that's what our bodies really want and desire and need. Okay, you so it's like, let's ask her tune in what flavor what tastes would really, really hit home right now. And then the next one is texture. So textures things like creamy, crunchy, Chewy, dry, moist light. Okay, what texture would really, really satisfy right now? Another one is the aroma. How does it smell? What smells with like make your mouth just water right now.

So things like onions and garlic. Right? Do you want that kind of savory smell spicy? What about something like bread? Right cookie baking in the oven? Would that really appeal? So think about these things because your body knows your body knows what would feel the best to her right now. Okay, another one is temperature. So things like hot, cold iced room temperature? What would feel the best to your body right now? What you know, if it's a hot day, you're probably not going to want to go and eat a bowl of chili. Right? But maybe a nice iced smoothie would really hit home. And so tune into that. And instead of just being like, Okay, what does this menu that I pulled off the internet that says I'll lose weight? Tell me I need to eat right now. I remember back when I was a weight loss coach. And one of the top things that I always had my clients do was create a protocol for the week ahead. So the protocol was a plan of what they were going to have for dinner, breakfast and lunch. Okay. And the goal here was that even if they their body was like, add No, I had some clients being like I actually, you know, when I think about eating my salad with chicken breast or whatever, I actually feel nauseous, like it's absolutely not what I want. And then my coaching would actually be this is where you need to stay true to your plan. honor yourself. And we coached around eating the salad even though it's not what her body wanted. I really have to be honest with you, but even when I was coaching this it felt wrong. I'm just like something is not right here. But this is what I was taught. This is what I was taught by the training I had to coach on and I even though I couldn't even do it in my own life, like I remember having these pro because I'm feeling the same way as my clients, and I'd be like, I absolutely do not want what I planned. And sometimes I wouldn't eat it. But I was like, then I had so much shame and guilt around it, right? Because I'm like, I can't even do what I'm asking my clients to do. But when I became honest with myself, and with my clients, and with the rest of the world, on Facebook and Instagram, I was like, that's just because it's not what our bodies need, our bodies need to be honored. And a protocol made a week ahead of time has no idea what your body actually needs. Okay, so this is so important. This is so so vital to this beautiful relationship that we want to grow with our bodies. It's so important to listen to her. And so I say, have the fridge full of options, have the pantry full of options, and become a detective, right? Like when you're asking yourself these different sensory questions when you're like diving deep into what your body actually is needing at that time. Keep a log of this, like what feels good to you. What gives you energy, what feels like, it has staying power, that's another one, right? If you eat something, and half an hour, you're hungry again, perhaps you need to add some protein, you need to add some fat. But we can only really learn this when we become that detective and we start asking these questions and honoring them, and seeing how our body responds. So another one here is the color. Right? So do you want like something colorful and diverse? Like a salad with tons of vegetables? Bright vegetables? Or do you want something more bland looking like oatmeal, which can be very, very nourishing? And then I've already mentioned this one, but the other one is volume, right? Like how much do you want to eat? How much is your body requiring right now? And this leads us into that staying power? What would give me energy now, an hour from now two hours from now that staying sustaining power? Okay, so these are the questions and there's I'm sure more but these are the ones that I've come up with that I have been using. And at first it feels it takes effort, right at first is very conscious, you have to kind of stop and really think about it. But over time, this just becomes second nature. And what happens is you just go stop, okay. Like, for example, this is what happened yesterday, I had made spaghetti with a really beautiful meat sauce for dinner. And I was dishing it out, my kids are eating it. And I was like, my body's like, I absolutely do not want that at all. And it was a very interesting experience. Because I'm like, Well, this is what I made. But I knew that if I ate it, I would feel pretty heavy. Right? bloated. I didn't really want the tomato sauce. Like my body was just like, No, this was a really good quick and simple dinner to make for the kids. And they're totally all over it. That's awesome. What do you actually want? So I stopped and I just stood there. I stood there in my kitchen. And I went through. And I was like through these questions. I'm like, You know what, I actually just really want an apple with some cheddar cheese. I wanted something crunchy, and sweeter, and juicy. And cool, right? So I wanted that apple. And then I added the cheese because I'm like, that'll give me more staying power. The volume wasn't that much. But you know what I just it was a hotter day, my body didn't meet a lot. And I was completely satisfied with that Apple and cheese. So this is what starts to happen. And sometimes you're going to be really surprised at what your body actually desires. It's shocking sometimes, like the other day, my body was like, I absolutely want a tuna like a can of tuna filled with capers. And I was like, Well, isn't that interesting, right? She wanted something like with the protein, but salty. And it was so satisfying. I made myself a salad with those two ingredients, and then some other things tossed in. And again, amazing staying power, it felt great in my body. And I was completely satisfied. So when we're looking at this when we're looking at the difference between healthy right looking outside of ourselves, for whatever marketing is telling us we need to eat to be thin versus nourishing what our body is showing us that she would absolutely love to be nourished by right now. This is there's such a difference in this one is one It feels to me kind of strict and heavy and burdensome, the other feels pleasurable light and honoring. So check in with you this might not be what you need, maybe healthy toward really resonates with you. That is absolutely okay. You are an individual. And my experiences and many of my clients experiences may not be yours. And that's why this is such an individual approach. So honor that with yourself. But I do invite you to investigate this to see if it resonates or not. So the other things when we're looking at nourishing, apart from the sensory stuff, right, that we just talked about. Other questions you can ask about food, when you start becoming that detective and learning more and experimenting more? What Foods give me energy, right? So there are some foods that will actually make you feel depleted, while other foods really help give you that spark, they give you that energy, they give you that staying power. So that's a really beautiful question to ask. Another one is, how do I feel now, an hour from now a day from now, etc. Okay, so if you have certain health goals, right, if you're wanting to feel a certain way, if there's something that you're really wanting to work on, like having more energy or having more sleep, etc, food really does impact that. So we want to really start becoming this detective and seeing how the different foods we are choosing do affect us. But we can only do this when we actually do it when you become that investigator. So I hope that this really serves you and helps you know more about how around the how to tune into your body and her needs, and helps you really go deeper with thinking about the words that we use around food and nutrition and health. Okay, my friend, thank you so much for tuning in. It is such an honor to come on here and share this information with you share this wisdom and all the things that I've learned and it is just my prayer, my hope that this is really impacting your life for the better. And if you're finding value out of this podcast, please share it. Please share it with someone who is really important to you who you know, needs to hear this stuff. Together, we can truly change each other's lives. So let's link arms with other women who deserve to know this so that we can all live in freedom. You are amazing. Have a beautiful day and I will talk to younext week. Take care