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You’re Listening to the Nourish and Nurture Podcast - A Weight Watcher's Journey, Episode #115, The Power of "I AM" and Setting Your Goals.

Goals without action are only wishes. To move your whys and goals out of wish territory, let's explore how to set goals that actually work. Learn the difference between outcome goals, behavioral goals, and identity goals - it is important to have all three to develop a synergistic goal-setting style that works best for you.

Learn to make a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timebound. But, most importantly, learn why your identity - your "I AM" statement is the fuel that runs it all.

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You’re Listening to the Nourish and Nurture Podcast - A Weight Watcher's Journey, Episode #114, Slow Down and Feel Your Best.

We always hear that it takes 20 minutes to feel full after you have eaten. What are the mechanics of this 20-minute message? Miriam explains these scientific mechanics, but the point of this episode is HOW do you slow down? What mindfulness practices can you do? What are some successful and actionable tips you can use? 

What are ways you can tune in to feel your best? And don't forget to listen all the way to the end so that you can get some actionable coaching advice to make it all come together for you.

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You’re listening to the Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #111: Use Your WHY Power and Not Your WILL Power.

WHYs need to be fluid and ever-changing. There is nothing wrong – at all – with a WHY to lose 20 pounds or look good in a bathing suit. Both valid and both motivating, but we need to look beyond the scale and beyond the clothing size to stay the course in our journeys. 

Miriam takes you through the process of finding your WHY, and explains the difference between goals and whys. 

In this episode she goes through some of the mistakes when choosing a why, how they can be avoided, and gives suggestions about how to put your WHY in the forefront of your day. 

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You’re listening to the Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #110: Boxes and Boundaries: When a Chip is Just a Chip.  

What might drive you to eat food that would supersede the importance of the results of all the hard work you have done to reach the point where you are at the moment you put that food into your mouth? Sometimes it is not sinister at all and something you might have planned for and have looked forward to. 

In this episode, Miriam explores setting up boundaries and what might happen if those boundaries are set in a deep and dark Pandora's box, as opposed to a mesh box where the light can shine through.

She talks about fuzzy boundaries and what you can do to get back on the road and not run yourself into a ditch.

Maybe this summer you are not looking for weight loss at all, and really just want to maintain where you are. Get some ideas to help you with that as you enjoy your summer and maybe let a little loose with your plans.

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You’re listening to the Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #109: More Summer Strategies. 

Miriam reminds you of the summer strategies from Episode 107: Protocol Meal Planning, the Good-Better-Best Method, working through Urges, Triggers, and Cravings, Watching what foods we eat, and Kaisen - small steps for big wins, and establishing a safe Home Base and learning to Course Correct. 

This week Miriam explains the Hunger Scale, KISSING and DANCING, Goals, Habits, and Systems, Mindfulness, and another word on how Positive Self-Talk and Affirmations can give you the support you need to see your program through the summer. 

We can do it! And, if you work toward mastering these skills for the summer, your holiday season is likely to be a successful one too!

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You’re listening to the Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #108: Ladder Those Thoughts.

Self-talk is your inner voice. It is what you are telling yourself all day long as your day unfolds. Affirmations are positive statements that reflect that you are already where you would like to be. You may need some "laddering" even with simple affirmations.  Make the affirmations positive and the direction where you would like to head, but make them doable and believable. Learn what laddering is and how to do it.

Miriam calls out the mistakes we make:  We make the mistake of not realizing the importance of catching ourselves in that loop of negative self-talk. We make the mistake of not even questioning whether the thoughts are true or not. We make the mistake of not laddering our affirmations so that they are something we can believe. We make the mistake of not talking kindly to ourselves. We know the words. We have them for friends, family and even strangers. Why not ourselves?

In this episode, learn a new and constructive way of talking to yourself and developing believable and helpful affirmations.

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You’re listening to the Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #107: Keep Your Cool During Summertime: Parties, Vacations and Travel.

I don’t know about you, but whenever I followed a certain diet plan or eating-style plan, summertime seemed to take on a free-for-all feeling. After all, now that we are adults, don’t we get summer vacation too?

Here are some great tips to keep your eating on an even keel even while you are traveling, going to parties, vacationing on the road or even out of the country!

Use Protocol Meal Planning and don't forget your If-Then Protocols and Advanced Decisions. Lean into the "Good-Better-Best" Method and work through urges, cravings, and triggers. Be mindful of the types of food you are eating because those can override the best of intentions.

Remember to put Kaisen in your pocket and establish little TINY steps and habits that put you in the right direction. Ground yourself with Home-Base Eating and Course Correction decisions and actions. Eat out and party with the A-B-C-D-E rule!

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You’re listening to The Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #106, Give Yourself Some Grace. 

It is not your relationship with food that determines whether you can stick to a program (any program), lose weight or accomplish your goals. It is your relationship with yourself that determines any and all success that you have. Nothing ever good comes from hating yourself.

Forgiving yourself is the very first step on your journey to success and escape out of diet prison. Understand what Thomas Edison said: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” He also said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time,” and “Results! Why man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work.” 

Be as resilient and open-minded as Thomas Edison. Forgive yourself and move on. Try one more time.

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You’re Listening to The Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #105, Triggers and Habits.

We all have triggers and habits. When you want to eat because of triggers and habits, we call it head hunger because it is not rooted in a physical hunger and need to eat.

A trigger could be a food itself. A trigger food is a specific food that sets off a course of overeating where control is lost. Habits can be along something like always having popcorn at the movies or wanting to avoid a dreaded activity, and you have the habit of eating so that it sidetracks you. 

You can work so hard to change a response to a trigger or change a habit all together, but once in a while they will pop up to the surface. Don’t beat yourself up over it. It happens. You’re human. The trick is to at least cultivate an awareness about these things and have a strategy to stop it next time.

In this episode get some tips on dismantling these triggers and habits. Miriam shows you how she tackled some of hers.

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You’re Listening to The Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #: 103, When to Journal: Five Ways to Plan Your Food Journal.

In this episode Miriam gives you five ways to keep a food journal, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Even if you have resistance to journaling (as Miriam used to) you might change your mind when you hear that research shows that people who keep food records lose twice as much as people who don't. (Study below)

Miriam talks about how awareness, honesty, reality, and commitment (and how to attain these) will bring you success with your food plan.

Study on keeping a food journal:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-keep-a-food-diary-2019013115855

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You’re Listening to The Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #: 104, Key Ingredients for Your Food Journal.

In this week's episode, Miriam gives you key ingredients to gain the best awareness and insight into your eating:

-       What are you feeling? Monitor your mood.

-       Who ate with you?

-       Were you hungry before eating?

-       Did you stop at enough?

-       How did you feel when you were finished, both emotionally and physically?

-       For finding out food sensitivities, how did a certain food affect you?

-       Did you use mindful eating tools? What were they? 

Bring the most success to your efforts by going beyond items and quantities.

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You’re Listening to The Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #: 102, Course Correcting: Fail Small Not Big. 

In Miriam's dieting efforts throughout the years, she tended to be a slasher. What she means is that sometimes we tend to awfulize things, paint ourselves into corners, and when we see we have one flat tire, might go out and slash the other three. Sometimes with dieting it never occurs to us to just fix the one tire. 

There is always tomorrow, or Monday, or a new month. A flat tire? Might as well slash the other three and wait for the tire sale that you heard is coming up. That way you can get all new tires. Start that road trip over again. Not the best approach!

In this episode learn how you can FAIL SMALL NOT BIG. It all makes sense!

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You’re listening to The Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode 101: What is Your Home Base?

Our lives are busy and sometimes hectic. It is important to understand home-base eating.

In this episode, Miriam talks about home-base eating, but not just about what you eat at home. She also talks about having habits established for when things are not crazy, but especially for when they are crazy.

It is so easy to let things slip and slide so it's important to really think about what it means to have home-base eating.

When you have too many slips and slides, you are led you to those "well Monday is around the corner" thoughts. Why do you need to wait until Monday or a new month?

If you have a strong home base, you can get on track with your very next meal, no matter what has happened while you were out of the house (or in it!) - intentional or otherwise.

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You’re Listening to The Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #100, Gentle Improvements with Kaizen.

This is The Nourish and Nurture Podcast's ONE HUNDREDTH episode and so Miriam wanted to share one of the most important concepts in finding success with your eating plan.

Kaizen is a Japanese term meaning "change for the better" or "continuous improvement."  Think of using the philosophy of Kaisen as moving yourself along with gentle changes. No absolutes, no all-or-nothing, no failures, no floundering. Just gentle, small steps.

Miriam shows you how this can be applied to meal planning and other decisions you make throughout the day about the foods you choose to eat. She talks about the mistake we make by not taking full advantage of bringing the practice of Kaisen into our lives and the costs of making them.

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You’re listening to The Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #99, The Scale is a Lying Liar that Lies.

Your weight fluctuates daily or even hourly or minute to minute, and because of this, weight can be a weak benchmark for progress. Often, the weight will come off if you work towards and experience non-scale victories (NSVs). Often these victories indicate behaviors, beliefs, habits, and attitude changes that are serving you well, and are just as valuable as weight loss. Furthermore, if you stick to the behaviors, beliefs, habits, and attitude changes that are bringing about these victories, the weight loss will follow. You just have to be patient.

This episode explores NSVs, plateaus, and how your body can shift and go down to a smaller size while your weight remains the same. 

Your scale does not measure: Beauty, Talent, Purpose, Life Force, Possibility, Strength, Love, or Grace. Your self-worth is not the number on the scale. You are not that number. Remember that the next time you step on your scale.

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You’re listening to The Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #98: Easy Changes for Lasting Transformation

Continuing on from last week, with making your next-best decision to get back to business, today's episode is about Behavioral Protocols for when you are at parties, out to dinner, on vacation, or even in your own home.

Start by making advanced decisions, using your if-then tool, and remembering to use mindfulness practices to ground you if you are overwhelmed and anxious. Get some insight on food pushers, food waste, and being a member of the clean-plate club.

Miriam leaves you with a reminder that 

• IT’S ONLY FOOD.
• YOU ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN A PLATE OF FOOD.

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You’re listening to The Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher’s Journey, Episode #97: Getting Back on the Wagon.

This week’s episode is recovering from setbacks by making your next best decision. We often say that we fell off the wagon. We usually mean not to just get back on the wagon but get to the end destination without having both feet off the ground and into the wagon. This episode is about getting situated in that wagon so that you are guaranteed to continue your journey. 

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Welcome to The Nourish and Nurture Podcast: A Weight Watcher's Journey, Episode 96.

Learn about Miriam's first step in coming out of her comfort zone with what she is choosing to eat.

Sweet Potato Breakfast:

• One small (or half large) sweet potato, peeled and slightly mashed
• 1/4 cup cottage cheese
• 1 TBS crushed pineapple in its own juice
• 1 TBS chopped walnuts
• 1 TBS (optional) sugar-free maple syrup

Join Miriam on her WW journey.

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Episode 95: Dieting vs. Sustainable Wellness

Most diets are not designed with you in mind. So if diets don't work, what does?

This episode gives a brief look at three sustainable wellness practices: Impact of the foods we eat, movement and mindset. There is also a look into the causes of yo-yo dieting, and a couple of tips that can you get started on your wellness journey right away.

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Episode 94: Let's Work On that Mindset
This episode explores your relationship with yourself, which sets the stage for your relationship with food and eating. I give you my personal story of when I didn't even approach The Land of Good Enough and teach you about the parable of Buddha's Second Arrow which tells us that pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.  I explore what mistakes we dieters are making and, more importantly, why we make these mistakes.  I give you advice on how to talk to yourself as well as helpful coaching advice that will set you well on your way to changing your self-talk into a positive road to get you to where you want to go. 

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Episode #93: Common Diet Myths

Sometimes our weight loss efforts are thwarted by popular diet myths. We get hung up on trying to follow all the diet rules and we lose sight of the fact that some don’t make any sense or are not supported by the latest science. We are not machines. Each person has their own metabolism, likes and dislikes, cultural backgrounds, habits and lifestyles. Do you need to count calories? Do you need to track? Do you need to eat at certain times? Listen to this episode and find answers that will help you clear some of the diet-rule clutter that you have been experiencing. 

First start by asking, "What is my dieting history?"

Then start to unravel some common diet myths and find a better way.

And remember,  diet success is not the same for everyone

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Episode #92, Understanding the Impact of the Foods We Eat

In this episode explore the most important elements of understanding the impacts of the foods we eat. Miriam introduces her new course with the following modules:
1. Carb Clarity: Revealing Hidden Carbohydrates
2. Cracking the Code: Conquering Stubborn Belly Fat
3. But I LOVE Sugar: Demystifying Sugar and Baked Goods Dependency
4. Grains and Legumes Decoded for Balanced Nutrition
5.Family-Friendly Cooking and Eating Out without Grains and Legumes

Your actionable coaching advice this week will move you out of the judgment zone into the awareness zone by helping you see how you can minimize the impact of the carbohydrates you are eating and enjoying. No need to cut anything out! Just learn to minimize the impact.

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Episode #91  Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind

In this episode I explore my new course, "8 Strategies to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind.

These strategies are:
Strategy 1: Find your ideal eating plan and learn what compatibility means for you.
Strategy 2: Let Go of Perfection and Learn to Make Your Next-Best Decisions. Embrace Imperfection and Banish Shame
Strategy 3:  Home Base and Course Correction – Never Start Over Again
Strategy 4: Goal-Setting Strategy: Realistic Pathways to Your Dreams
Strategy 5: The Hunger Scale: Your Key to Intuitive and Sustainable Eating
Strategy 6: Transforming Reactions to Cravings and Triggers
Strategy 7: Keeping a Successful Food Journal
Strategy 8: Change Your Mindset, Change Your Life

I also give you a bonus strategy: Transform Dance Lessons into Plate Lessons: Enjoy your Eating Plan
 * Living an eating plan absolutely should not mean the drudgery of weighing, measuring, and tracking every morsel that goes into your mouth.
 *With over 30 years of experience as a belly dancer and teacher, I have learned how to use the metaphor of dancing to bring success to your eating plan.

As always there is also ACTIONABLE COACHING ADVICE for the week.

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Episode #90: Setting Goals That Work

This episode covers how to successfully set goals suggesting either the SMACKDOWN way or the SMART way. Learn about what Forbes magazine says is the successful way to work on your goals, and also the difference between operational goals, performance goals, and outcome goals. Discover what you can do to make your walking goal achievable - and it might just start with a pair of socks!

Miriam shares her own 2024 goal, starting with entering the 2024 UNSTOPPABLE CHALLENGE. Be sure to watch the videos below to see what has inspired her, and also visit the DDPY website (link also below) to see if this might be a path you want to explore for yourself.

Arthur Boorman Video
Jared Mollenkopf Video
DDPY

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Episode #89 Grains and Legumes Decoded – Friend or Foe

There is emerging evidence that the Standard American Diet, which is low in fiber and high in sugar and unhealthy fats, may initiate this process. In any case, staying away from an overabundance of grains and processed foods will help heal and maintain a healthy gut.

This episode examines many studies in the area of grain consumption and chronic inflammation in our bodies, and examines both sides of the story about whether or not grains and legumes are good for us.

Gluten intolerance is examined, as well as the concept called "Grainflammation" that plays a part in all of this. Lectins, Phytic Acid, and Leaky Gut are all explained and explored.

I talk about how just cutting down these foods because of their carbohydrate load will help you get out of diet prison and help you to get some footing with intuitive eating where the amount glucose produced by these foods does not constantly bathe your system to trigger cravings and urges to eat. 

Links to all the studies mentioned in this episode are in the transcript accompanying this episode.

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Episode #88: Carb Clarity

In this episode you will learn all about carbohydrates: What they are, what kinds there are, what do they do in - and to - your body, how they add up in a day, and how to count them. Learn about what carbs have to do with hunger, fatigue and stubborn belly fat. 

Even if you are eating extremely low carb, as in Keto, you will not be at zero - as you learn that even cheese, nuts, and some protein have carbs. Believe me, they are everywhere, but they are not to be vilified, just understood.

You will get a look into insulin resistance and your hunger hormones, leptin and ghrelin. 

Your actionable coaching advice is to build awareness - not judgment - as you track just one day's food intake so that. you can see where your carbohydrates are coming from in a day. Easy-peasy. Just an exercise in awareness to get you thinking about what changes you might want to make to the way you are eating. 

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Episode 87: Positive Self-Talk and Affirmations

In my book, Language of the Dance – Belly Dance with Amira Jamal, I have a worksheet entitled STOP THAT NEGATIVE SELF-TALK. It was one of the most important lessons in my classes and it is probably one of the most important things you need to learn to have a successful journey with whatever you are doing. 

This episode will walk you through how to talk to yourself and how to make affirmations believable using the technique of laddering. Your affirmations will work only to the extent that the idea is within the realm of possibility and believability. All this is addressed so that you don't land up with empty mantras that really will mean nothing to you. That's where most positive self-talk and positive affirmation instructions miss the mark in helping you.  We will turn that around right now with this episode!

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Episode #86: Slow Down and Feel Your Best

It really DOES take approximately 20 minutes for your gut to send the message to your brain that it is full enough - not full to the point of the feeling of bursting. I started to respect the practice of slowing down and paying attention to my food, and this went a long way to make me aware of my fullness cues. 

In this episode you will learn all the ways to slow down your eating so that your brain and stomach catch up to being on the same page, making it much easier to find your fullness cue.

If you learn to pay attention through slowing down, you will have less disconnect with your eating, which in turn, will help you pay attention to your satisfaction level. When a meal or food “hits the spot” you tend to be satisfied with a lesser quantity of food, or, at the very least, it will keep you from overeating other foods either at the meal or between meals. This satisfaction factor is not to be underestimated or ignored and contributes greatly to feeling your best. 

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Episode 85: Paleo and Primal

Paleo can be the next step after Whole30, but you can go straight into it, as I did.  Paleo is known as the “hunter-gatherer” diet but don’t worry – you don’t have to hunt and gather except, maybe, for the best food prices in town! It is named for Paleolithic which relates to the early phase of the Stone Age. Honestly, I think it is partly conjecture about how and what paleolithic people ate, but we are sure it was not potato chips, eclairs, and French fries. The point is to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible. A paleo diet typically includes lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds — foods that in the past could be obtained by hunting and gathering. A paleo diet limits or eliminates other foods that became common when farming emerged about 10,000 years ago including dairy products, legumes and grains. 

In this episode I talk about my own experience with Paleo and I also introduce you to Primal, Paleo's cousin.  The episode goes on to discuss the reasons and costs of the mistakes we often make when trying out a new  eating style that is so different from what we are used to with the Standard American Diet. Your homework is to start reading labels and to pay very close attention to what you are choosing to put in your grocery cart.

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Episode 84: Whole 30

The Whole30 diet is a strict 30-day elimination diet that many people turn to for weight loss, sleep issues, or help with digestive concerns. It is considered a reset program to get certain problem foods out of your system. The program encourages you to cut out alcohol, sugar, grains, legumes, dairy, and additives from your diet for 30 days. Food reintroduction is very deliberate and measured, and even if you are going to go back to eating all the things, it still would be wise to follow the specific reintroduction path so that you do not go all haywire on day 31.

This episode will walk you through what Whole 30 is, a day of MY eating Whole 30, and also explores the mistakes we make with it and why.  The overall assignment  for your coaching this week is just to stop and think about what you are eating. Eat real food. It doesn’t have to be only out of the ground or grass fed or organic. It can even come from a package, can or jar. Just please heighten your awareness this week, and perhaps be open to more natural ways of eating.

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Episode #: 83.  Principle 8, Respect Your Body.

“Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect realistically squeeze into a size six, it is equally as futile (and uncomfortable) to have the same expectations with body size.”

This episode has more to do with accepting your blueprint, while wanting to improve on what you have to work with, than accepting a health condition (weight or otherwise) that you don't have to live with. 

No good can come from hate. Let me say that again, “No Good Can Come From Hate.” I know the reason you are seeking out help or have the desire to lose weight is because you want to change your body but come to it from a different angle. If you have a “I-hate-my-body” mindset you will not want to do good things for yourself. You put off treating yourself better such as getting pretty clothing that fits NOW, eating foods that you enjoy, spending money on things that will help you sleep better and move better. If you take weight loss out of the picture, and decide to do nice things for yourself, you will be respecting not only your physical health but your mental health.

This episode is a great way to change your outlook for the new year.

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Episode #: 82.  Principle 9, Exercise: Feel the Difference.

What we have to watch out for is not to make exercise part of the dieting mentality. It will become drudgery and just another thing on the list that we have to do because we have to do it. What would be ideal is to look at it as movement that – although it might wear us out – actually invigorates us and gives us energy. Finding the right movement might take a lot of stops and starts. Or, maybe in a case such as mine, a lot of trial and error – including not being able to go back to what I used to enjoy.

 It is also important not to discount any activity. There is something called Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). This is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating, or sports-like exercise. It ranges from the energy expended walking to work, even typing, gardening and, believe it or not, fidgeting. NEAT even includes spontaneous muscle contraction and maintaining proper posture.

This episode on "Exercise: Feel the Difference" will explore all this and more, to hopefully open the doors to you, if you have not been making movement part of your life.

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Episode #: 81.  Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition

Intuitive Eating states that you must “make food choices that honor your health and tastebuds while making you feel well. Remember you don’t have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters.” 

“Taste is important, but health is still honored, without guilt.” Remember, we have worked a bit in this podcast to understand that there is no food that should labeled “good” or “bad”. Certain foods will get us to our goals or move us further away from them. Your goal can be weight loss, and that is perfectly fine. But, in this episode I want to talk about when your goal is to feel well and feel your best. If you did the homework in the episode prior to this one, Food Facts, you might already be discovering, tuning in to, and choosing the foods and quantities that make you feel your best.

This episode continues with  the concepts of authentic health and food wisdom. This week's actionable coaching advice is to have you explore what motivates your food choices.

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Episode #: 80.  Food Facts

It’s important to learn what food does in your body

 There are two types of hunger. True physical hunger is one of them. The other hunger is driven by what is in your head. There are definitely mechanics that trigger this head hunger. These could be habits or feelings such as anxiety, loneliness and anger. I have covered head and heart hunger just recently in Episode 77.

In this episode I will be covering  the mechanics of physical hunger and what food has to do with the hormones that make you hungry.

This week pay attention – even just one day – to what you are eating. My goal is to help you ultimately not need to do tracking. No need to track quantities but just take a moment to jot down what you eat in a day and then pay attention to what is going on in your body. You can mark down time and quantity if you want, but a skeleton list will be just as good. I want you to think about these questions – better yet, write your answers:

§  Do you want more immediately?

§  Do you start thinking about that food or other food soon after eating even though you are not hungry?

§  Are you sleepy after eating?

§  All of a sudden do you have cravings to eat a certain food?

§  Do you have an urge to eat – anything – just to eat?

§  Are you hungry for your next meal sooner than you normally would be?

This episode will enlighten you if you answered YES to any of these questions.

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Episode #: 79.  Managing Emotions and Feelings Without Food 

Whatever eating style or plan you choose, and no matter what work you do with the other principles of Intuitive Eating, Principle 7 is perhaps the most important one that is going to make it or break it for you.

How often are you on plan all day or even all week, and then at night, you are tired and feeling overwhelmed from the day’s or week’s events? How often are you on plan all day or again, even all week, and you have an out-of-the blue disappointment or let-down? How often do you deal with your exhaustion, boredom, disappointment, or anger with food? Does the food soothe you or entertain you? Do you think – erroneously – that eating something will perk you up and give you energy?

 It is hard to keep all your balls in the air. 

This episode will help you juggle them or decide which ones to drop.

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Episode #78 - Cravings and Urges

I promised you my PEEPS story, and here it is. Indulge me if you have already heard it because it sets the stage to explain the difference between urges and cravings.

Let me start by introducing myself. "Hello, I am Miriam Hatoum, and I am probably the most food suggestible person you will ever meet." So here's my story. Was it a food craving or an urge?

This episode is a deep dive into cravings, urges, and triggers and what to do about them whether they are physical or emotional. It also explores what to do about them, hhow to pull them apart, circumvent them, or  just learn to sit with them and put in a pause.

You will always have cravings, urges, and triggers. What you can change is your reaction to them!

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Episode 77 - Head and Heart Hunger

We all have triggers, habits and emotional connections with food. When we are "hungry" but not really physically hungry we know it as head hunger, heart hunger or, which covers both, emotional hunger.

In this episode I talk about disassembling triggers and habits and give you examples of my own efforts that I have shared with you in past episodes. I have found that they speak to many of you so share them again here.

 It is important to understand Triggers, Habits and Emotional Connections so that you can work on disassembling them all. It starts with understanding what they are.

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Episode 76: Discover the Satisfaction Factor

In this episode learn that it's not just lists of food, calories or macros. Feeling full and content with what you eat has a lot to do with the satisfaction factor in what you are eating. 

To sum it up: “The Japanese have the wisdom to promote pleasure as one of their goals of healthy living. In our fury to be thin and healthy, we often overlook one of the most basic gifts of existence – the pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience. When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting and conducive, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes much less food to decide if you’ve had enough.”

Learn what you can do to increase the satisfaction factor of your food!

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Episode 75 - Feeling Your Fullness - Part 2

This episode will take some of the mystery out of feeling your fullness and why the feeling fullness increases after you have eaten.  But before I get to that, I explore concepts such as feelings about food waste, your habit of finishing food, and how to get out of this habit using various methods, including "2 bites left behind," "the speed-bump method," and learning to notice THE SIGH.

In the discussion about the physical mechanics of why you feel so full 20 minutes after you have eating, I give you ways to slow yourself down so that your brain catches up with your stomach.

Returning to the workbook, Resch and Tribole give you seven factors that influence fullness, discussing things such as air foods and food that have staying power.

This weeks actionable coaching advice is taken directly from the workbook and is called, "The Last-Bite Threshold Experiment."

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Episode #74: Discover Your Fullness

I think for a lot of us, it’s not the hunger end of the scale that stymies us, it’s the fullness end. There are so many reasons why this happens, especially if you are eating in response to external cues, and you might be saying to yourself:

·       It’s time to eat

·       I always clean my plate.

·       I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

·       I always snack or graze.

·       I eat for the distraction because I’m angry, bored, lonely or upset.

·       I eat because the food looks so good.

·       I eat because the food smells and tastes so good.

·       I eat because it’s a special occasion.

·       I eat because it’s a gift.

·       I eat because I don’t want to waste food.

·       I never eat because I am actually hungry.

Can you think of more? Do any of them have to do with hunger? How will you know you are full if you are not eating because you are hungry? 

This episode will help you unravel finding your fullness cues.

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Episode 73 - The Food Police

What you eat is not a moral issue

Let’s start with what I teach till the cows come home, and that is, food is not to be seen in moralistic terms such sinful, bad, dangerous or wicked. It’s just food ya’ll. And you are not bad for eating past full or eating a food as you see as bad.

By working on the principle of  ""Challenge the Food Police" I could finally understand how my perception of the external food police might sometimes be nothing more than my own thoughts being a projection where I THINK people are thinking things. Of course, the external food police can also be very real – as in the case of my aunt telling me to lose weight or my husband would look elsewhere, or someone remarking at a party that Granny Keto shouldn’t be eating cake. 

This episode will go along way toward learning to challenge the food police in your own head, and how to handle the food police on the outside!

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Episode 72: Making Peace with Food

Making peace with food is a critical component of Intuitive Eating. Except for medical reasons and self-imposed ethical and religious reasons, it means that no food is off limits. That scares a lot of us because we often experience a loss of control when we eat foods that we have been depriving ourselves. From years of dieting, we have fallen into “Last Supper” eating, “Forbidden Fruit” eating, and “I blew it” eating.

This episode goes into all these behaviors which so often side track us from our intentions. I also share with you my own reflections about fears I have that are holding me back from finding my own peace. I was reminded that these are fears and not necessarily truths. It was also helpful to remember that this was only an exercise in awareness and not in passing judgment.

For this week's actionable coaching advice, I guide you through a food habituation exercise that is sure to help you get used to eating foods that you have 
 
Forbidden Fruit Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7142814/      

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Episode 71 - Eat Already!

The concept of self-nourishment is so important in helping you to identify your hunger and in using your hunger scale.  There are times when  NOT listening to your body for hunger cues might be your best course of action.  This might seem like it goes against the protocol of listening to your body, but in situations where your hunger cues are off-line, it is really a type of self-care in the form of nourishment.

It  might be when you are not feeling well but still need nourishment, or when you are in a very stressful situation and still need nourishment. It might be in more benign situations like at parties, holiday meals or when eating out. I also talk about, what I call, "pre-emptive" eating when you know you will not have time for a meal but if you entirely skip eating when you have the chance you will be in a world of trouble at the other end.  I also address food pushers and how nothing is ever really an all-or-nothing situation.

Your actionable coaching advice this week guides you to do non-judgmental reflections on why you may overeat or eat when you are not hungry.

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Episode #: 70.    Hunger Games – A Dive Into Awareness and Self-Care

A very interesting case is made for the fact that when the rules in your head conflict with the direct experience of your body, trust in your body is eroded, and confusion about whether or not you are hungry arises.  When you ignore hunger signals or try to trick them by eating air foods such as rice cakes or drinking water, you numb yourself to them and often eat for reasons other than true biological hunger. This is a lot of where binges come from. The way Tribole and Resch put it is that when you don’t eat and ignore hunger signals, or don’t eat enough by dieting or fasting, the result is akin to holding your breath under water until you are desperate for air. Instead of just breathing normally and quietly, you are gasping loudly for air, and you can’t seem to get enough for your body to quiet down.

In my course and book, and many of my blogs and podcast episodes, I teach about learning your biological hunger cues and also how head hunger and heart hunger can fool you into thinking you are biologically hungry. 

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Episode #: 69.    Letting Go of the Diet Fantasy

This episode starts with the exercise of taking an inventory of how dieting has interfered with my life.  If I wasn’t already convinced of the need to let go of dieting, the further exercises - the different costs of dieting and exploring how has dieting affected my mind and mood - cemented that thought. Part 2 of these workbook exercises, comparing “Fantasy Thoughts” with my history brought about interesting introspection and reflection. The answer to one of the questions just took my breath away - make sure to listen to find out which one.

The  episode goes on to explore the tools of dieting and the hidden forms of dieting - all very interesting. Personally, I have a belief system revolving around both of these and I didn't even realize how strong  and deep-rooted this belief system is - no wonder I am having a heck of a time letting go!

I am going to share with you, right in the show notes, what this week's actionable coaching advice is, because it is that important: This week write down a few of the dieting tools that you can’t let go of. Is it measuring your food? Is it being strict with a “no” list? Is it ordering only diet foods when you go to a restaurant? Is it preemptive eating so you won’t eat so much in a social situation? I am sure you can come up with many of your own. Pick one or two and work on letting them go this week.

Make sure you tune in next week to continue our Intuitive Eating journey.

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Episode #: 68.    Reject the Diet Mentality

The first exercise  I did this week was to look at what I typically do and what I say to myself when I am struggling with eating. I wrote that I tend to get deeply involved with whatever new diet or eating style I am trying out. I buy all the books, look up all the recipes, buy all the paraphernalia like the journals and card decks. I’m on its website constantly and join all the Facebook groups. I plan, I track, I cook, I shop, I do it all. Then of course, that rebel in me shows itself or I find that it just doesn’t fit my lifestyle. I start bargaining and hedging and trying to make it fit. I always tended to see that it was my fault that it didn’t work but in my old age, I am seeing that some of these diets and plans might have meant well, but had a piece of the puzzle missing.

In this week's episode hear about this exercise and others, based in  self-compassion and forgiveness. There is nothing to be gained from hating yourself and your decisions about what you eat. Once you let go of dieting mentality and the long lists of food you can or cannot eat, there is no sense of straying and therefore no sense of shame and guilt. I teach you and my clients about letting go of negative self-talk, so the first section of this lesson, entitled “Self-Compassion Exercises” was something I enjoyed working on. 

Listen to this episode to see how you can get started on letting go of the diet mentality and work with this week's Actionable Coaching Advice to see how your own dieting history plays out with letting go of diet mentality.

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Episode #67: Knowing Isn't Doing - the Best Lesson So Far!

In this episode I explore the work that we need to do before we even get started with Intuitive Eating and that is to learn that knowing isn't doing. Resch and Tribole, authors of Intuitive Eating,  say that, "Learning how to become an Intuitive Eater is a lot like learning how to write with your nondominant hand – it takes practice. Intellectual knowledge is not enough.”  Boy are they right! The exercise they give in the workbook underscores the fact that Intuitive Eating is a journey and a process - it's not a one and done diet.

Tune in to see my own experience with this!  Another dance lesson turned into a plate lesson!

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Episode #66: My Personal Journey with Intuitive Eating

In this week's episode I begin my own personal journey with Intuitive Eating. I reminisce about how I tried Intuitive Eating in the past but was missing most of the important concepts. I took "don't call foods good or bad" or "eat what you want" or "ditch the diet mentality" totally out of concept and only heard "eat all the things". Now all these years later I understand about concepts like honoring hunger and fullness and gentle nutrition, which will make this journey a successful one, albeit bumpy, I'm sure.

Join me for this journey, as I explore what it takes - and what it means - to eat intuitively. 

Please make sure to download the booklet on the hunger scale (resource link below). Once you are on my mailing list you will get a valuable lesson with sides and video that I created for a presentation by other health professionals. 

It is my gift to you in hopes that you will join me on this journey.

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Episode #65 - Your Mindset Matters

First and foremost, this episode starts with a tribute to my sister, who made all my work as Granny Keto possible. I owe her that, as well as a thank you for being a wonderful sister.

This episode goes on to explain that is not your relationship with food that determines if you can stick to a diet program, lose weight or accomplish any of your non-food goals. It is your relationship with yourself that determines any and all success that you have. Even if you don’t see it or don’t believe it now, you are capable of success. You are smart. You are worthwhile. 

I explain how an eating program is constructed like a jigsaw puzzle, and  what you need to do is shuffle the pieces around and see how they fit. You can't dump the pieces on a table and pound them until they are flattened. You have to take your time and examine each piece. You might even find a piece  from another puzzle that was thrown in the box by mistake! 

You are not broken, my friend... you just haven't put the pieces together.

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Episode #: 64.    Finding Your Balance with Kaizen

You’re Listening to the Keto and Low Carb Success, Episode #64, Finding Your Balance with Kaizen. 

When I was a professional dance teacher I learned about about making small changes for huge results. This has carried over well to the teaching and coaching that I do now. 

Use Kaisen to help achieve manageable goals 

 
Learn about Goal laddering

We making the mistake of thinking a goal is the endpoint and don't see it as a step in the overal process. We also make the mistake of not having patience.

The cost of making these mistakes is that we think less of ourselves rather than look at the situation from another angle and we give up too easily.

Calling out a new way of doing things 

 1.      If you are afraid of giving up something, don’t! 
2.     Focus on the one habit, not on the big picture.
3.     Don’t see yourself on diet. See yourself adjusting your nutrition.

Your Actionable Coaching Advice this week is to see how you can ladder your steps in a way that actually makes your goals get you to a final destination. SEE TRANSCRIPT.

Coming up next week I will be exploring mindset. 

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