Along the Gravel Road Podcast
Welcome to the Along the Gravel Road Podcast where we’re changing the conversation around mental health. As a You Aren’t Alone Project non-profit initiative, the goal of the podcast is to provide a safe platform for people to share their stories and give others a sense of hope and connection.
With guests ranging from individuals who are open and willing to share their own mental health journeys to mental health professionals to share expertise and advice.
Trigger warning: Some topics discussed in these episodes may be difficult for listeners to hear. If you are feeling triggered by a topic, we encourage you to listen when you are in a better space, or with someone you trust.
Unless otherwise stated, topics discussed are based on personal experiences, not professional advice, and should not be considered an alternative to seeking support from a mental health professional when needed. Additional resources will be provided in the show notes of each episode.
Along the Gravel Road Podcast
Embracing Holistic Wellness & Challenging Diet Culture with Amy Cimo
Ever wondered why diet culture fails to deliver long-term health benefits? Amy Cimo sheds light on her personal battle with weight, depression, and anxiety, and how it led her to focus on internal healing rather than superficial markers of health. Gain invaluable insights as we dismantle common misconceptions about weight and explore the damage caused by chronic dieting, leaning into a more compassionate and respectful approach to self-care.
Imagine preparing for a storm—this is the analogy we use to discuss the physical and emotional toll of significant life events. We chat about the necessity of recovery periods and the importance of giving yourself grace and patience during stressful times. Amy emphasizes that your efforts toward maintaining health aren't wiped away by breaks or setbacks; they are building blocks in your ongoing wellness journey. Learn how to recognize and honor your body’s signals to rest and recover, embracing a balanced mindset over perfectionism.
Finally, we delve into the essential pillars for a strong health foundation: nutrition, physical activity, emotional well-being, and environmental factors. Amy highlights the significance of mindfulness and body awareness, offering practical advice on managing cravings and developing healthier eating habits. Understand the complex triggers behind eating behaviors and the benefits of whole foods over processed ones. Celebrate the journey toward self-acceptance and overall wellness with Amy's expert guidance on embracing body appreciation and nurturing a healthier relationship with food.
About
Amy is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner who values the respect for health and self-compassion first. Her own health and weight loss journey coupled with depression and anxiety led her on a path to internal healing. She uses foundational elements to support the body’s own internal balance for optimal wellness, because weight is rarely an indicator of health. She has a passion for eliminating diet culture, weight bias, and the stigma that goes along with body shape and size through guiding others to find balance between nutrition, movement and mindset. Because everyone truly deserves to live a healthy, happy and fulfilling life.
Learn more about Amy at amycimo.com
Follow along at instagram.com/youarentaloneproject or learn more at youarentaloneproject.com.
Welcome to the Along the Gravel Road podcast, a you Aren't Alone project initiative. I'm your host, chelsea Barona. Our guest today is Amy Simo. Amy is a nutritional therapy practitioner who values the respect for health and self-compassion first. Her own health and weight loss journey, coupled with depression and anxiety, led her on a path to internal healing. Coupled with depression and anxiety led her on a path to internal healing. She uses foundational elements to support the body's own internal balance for optimal wellness, because weight is rarely an indicator of health. She has a passion for eliminating diet culture, weight bias and the stigma that goes along with body shape and size, through guiding others to find balance between nutrition, movement and mindset, because everyone truly deserves to live a healthy, happy and fulfilling life. Hey, amy, thanks so much for being here. I am really excited to have this conversation with you today. Yes, I am too.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course, I mean, I think this is something we've been wanting to do for a really long time, but it's also interesting because I think you've been on such a journey personally and professionally, and you had a lot of growth, especially just in this past year, and so that's why I'm really, really excited for you to be able to share a little bit about the work that you do, a little about your personal journey, and then we can go from there.
Speaker 2:Yeah absolutely so. I am a nutritional therapy practitioner and I work with people to help in any sense of nutrition or diet and lifestyle that they need, but working with foundational elements to really dig down into what is going on internally to help you achieve your goals and optimal long-term health. So not necessarily. I think a lot of people think about weight loss specifically or weight management when they think about nutrition coaching, and I actually got into the nutritional therapy space because I wanted to dig a little bit deeper than that, because weight is usually a symptom of something else. It's not usually the a symptom of something else. It's not usually the underlying cause of a problem. So if you're experiencing symptoms like chronic fatigue or even mental distress or you know chronic pain, things like that, it's usually something else. And if you use your own internal cues and awareness to guide transitions and changes in that sense, then a lot of times you will feel better and the weight will follow. If that is your, you know, ultimate goal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and I think that's so important too. And, just like you know, we talk about diet culture and things like that and it's just it's. It can be really disheartening for somebody who is on a weight loss journey or whatever it is. You know, when so many you know the world's kind of telling him it looks like this, but for them you know whether it's things aren't working out like they had hoped. They're doing all of these things but nothing's working. Or you know, like they had hoped they're doing all of these things but nothing's working.
Speaker 1:Or you know, they keep, they keep trying, and it's you know, and then not able to follow through with things or whatever it is. But when what you're talking about we're really talking about internally, like what is it in our lives that you know that might be impacting this piece of us? And for a lot of folks, that's so much more than just the food that we're eating, although obviously the food that we're eating is such a also a big part right, it's a piece of it and you know you just mentioned a little bit.
Speaker 2:But think about stress. If you're under a lot of stress, then your body's not going to respond to something maybe the same way it would respond when you're not in a state of stress. Or you know if your neighbor is doing a specific diet or on a specific protocol, it may not be the best for your body. So you really have to understand how your body responds to things and you know work through that and stress is a really big part of that as well, because your body is not going to want to do certain things or or, you know, make big changes. If it's trying to, you know, create a safe space for you.
Speaker 2:And in terms of diet culture too, you know yo yo yo dieting or just long term dieting in general. So you know women who are in their 30s or 40s who have been dieting since they were teenagers think about that as a state of stress. So diet causes a state of stress. It can be managed, but over the long term you talk about a couple of decades of being often on and off diets your body is experiencing a lot of stress from that diets. Your body is experiencing a lot of stress from that, and so sometimes it takes really kind of digging down and and feeding your body what it needs to help. Then, you know, support the journey of weight.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, that's huge, it's. It's the same, you know, as living with anxiety for most of your life and realizing that your body has been in this constant state of anxiety and that diet being like hearing dieting just like explained in that way, makes so much sense. As someone who has tried all the fad diets and has been definitely had struggles with disordered eating and has finally gotten to a place where I am, you know that I see food as an amazing nourishment for my body and it's no longer counting calories necessarily for me, but it's about putting, you know, putting the good, as much good, into my body and then being okay when I want, you know, that cookie or whatever it is, because it's delicious and my body also deserves that.
Speaker 2:Giving yourself the grace, right?
Speaker 2:Exactly, yeah, giving yourself the grace and being open and vulnerable, and I want to.
Speaker 2:I have to plug you a little bit here because I was thinking about this earlier, but the live art event you know, I don't know when this is going to come out, but the live art event was this weekend and I have seen it evolve from the first event to this year and it's just, it's such a great event and it's such a great space and you know I'm not going to sit here and say I'm an art connoisseur, because I'm not, but it is a space where people can come and be vulnerable and if you are willing to be open and receive that, then you can interact with that and you can receive it.
Speaker 2:And even if you don't understand it, you can see how genuine people are and how vulnerable they are and how open they are. And for me really correlates into the space that I am and trying to, you know, love yourself and give your body what it needs. You have to be willing to be vulnerable and you have to be willing to be open to being mindful and being aware and knowing how to support your body and maybe changing some of the limiting beliefs that you've been holding on to, and sometimes we don't even know what those limiting beliefs are, which is why it's great to have coaches or, you know, mental health experts helping you through those situations, but being able to be open and vulnerable and receive support in the way that your body needs it is really, really helpful and impactful.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, because even as I'm talking you know, talking about some of these things and how far I've gotten I did not do that without reaching out for help right In a lot of ways, because when I didn't, it was when I was, you know, when it was really probably the most unhealthy you know that I was, and it was usually tied to my emotional state.
Speaker 1:So when I was, you know, deep into depression, it, um, eating was difficult, uh, more difficult for me when I'm stressed and anxiety, I'm um, I don't like, I don't choose the foods that make me feel the best.
Speaker 1:And so it was about really about first accepting or facing the fact that this is, you know, that this is something that is impacting me and it's something unhealthy that I've. I essentially, like you said, these limiting beliefs that we've. It's the same thing as these sort of core beliefs, because it all ties together, right, these beliefs that we have about ourselves or about, you know, the world around us, that have been ingrained in us since we were very young and the first like to be able to recognize that is a huge first step to then moving forward. And, of course, it takes a lot of work even after that, but even that piece of it to say, oh my gosh, yes, this is I. I need help. You know, like this isn't something, that this isn't really how you know that what's going to make my life, make me thrive or, you know, feel good yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it works differently for everybody. So you mentioned, during depression or anxiety, you have trouble eating, whereas I'm the opposite way. You know, when I'm depressed or anxious, I will stress, eat. Or you know, like you said, choose, not choose the good things, or I will tend to overeat or have controlled binges. And you know, everybody is different in that way. But it's a cycle, it's very cyclical and it's hard to get out of it. It's very hard to get out of it once you get into it. But having the support of you know, some kind of support system, somebody you can reach out to, or a coach or mentor, somebody who can help pull you out or just show you what you can't see, because it's like a tunnel, right, so you can only see a certain piece of it so somebody to come and show you um, you know this is maybe what's actually going on and that you can then open it up a little bit and have a wider view is really what's helpful again like such a valuable insight about all.
Speaker 1:All of this piece of the journey um, that's a big part of it is like you really can't see it while you're in it you know, and that's why support systems, professionals like coaches, mental health professionals, people, that's why other people are so important to this piece.
Speaker 1:You know, I did a spoken word piece at the event and it's you can't save yourself when you're drowning in it, and that's every single part of this, including this. You know, this big part of this journey your nutrition, your food journey, your fitness journey is all all a part of that, and that's just, I think, recognizing that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it can take a while right to come out of it.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:And I gave this example to someone recently about think of it like a storm. Think of it like a storm. So if you have a storm coming through, then you may be doing all of these things to prepare for it. Right, and it's kind of. It may be habitual, it may be routine, it may be preparatory, but you're doing these things to prepare for the storm. And so if your body, if you think about it in this sense, like you're doing all these things to your body to prepare for something or what have you, and then the storm comes through and then it's gone, so you have this moment of like okay, this is it, this is the event, this is what I've been preparing for. It happens and then it's done. Once it's done, you have a couple of things that may happen. It may be fine, everything's great, and you kind of move about your business. Or you have the aftermath and you have the destruction, and then you have to start repairing and picking up the pieces and putting things back together. And so, when I describe that in the sense of physical or emotional, or my body, I went through this period recently where I had, you know, I was in a very stressed out state and for a very long time, and I was planning a wedding on top of everything else that was causing me stress, right, my changes in employment and a lot of things. I was studying, I was learning new things, I was making shifts and planning this wedding on top of it, and I was exercising and trying to obviously, like people want to do, they want to prep for their wedding day right, and I was very conscious about trying not to have a certain picture in mind or trying not to like, restrict myself and you know I have to fit into this or look a certain way but I wanted to maintain my physical health. I wanted to maintain my you know, my dietary health, and so I was doing. That Wedding happened. Okay, great, it ends, it's over now. So there's like a calm, right, there was a lot of planning that went into that, a lot of stress, and then that calm came and then after the wedding, I would work out, I would do my same exercises and I would hurt so bad for days after I got to the point where, eventually, I had to stop. I had to completely stop exercising for about three months, which is a long time for me, because my body couldn't physically handle it. So I had been preparing, I had been preparing for this day, I had been, you know, doing everything I needed to do and just kind of checking all the boxes and getting through it and then, once the event was over, everything collapsed and my body just gave out on me and it took time to recover from that like I said, three. It was three months before I could even really start moving the way that I was semi used to moving before.
Speaker 2:And it was just that recovery period of, you know, trying to put the pieces back together and give myself the time that I need to heal. And that is, that is the hard part for a lot of people. Is that that time to give yourself that grace and that understanding and that flexibility to allow your body to do what it needs to do to recover and to support you. And it's it's a shame because we are in a world where we want quick fixes and that would be great if we could have them right, to be able to flip a switch and it changes, but unfortunately it doesn't work like that. And so having the patience to give yourself the time and space and give your body the grace that it needs is really tough and you know I definitely can sympathize with that, but it's so much more worth it when you can do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know even that part, it's like this again, this internal voice in your head that's been, you know, instilled in you since you were young, the things you don't even realize. You failed, you know, you put all this work in and now what it's for nothing, you just went right back to. You know that we might as well just give up. All these things kind of happen in you. But I love the way and you know we're talking about reframing here, right, I love the way that you describe that as healing, because it is, and that's a good reminder for me too.
Speaker 1:My sister once told me she said I was so concerned because I was doing really well. I was going, I was, you know, working out and things, and I was feeling really strong. But I was sick for a couple weeks and I couldn't do it. And all of a sudden I was like I like I feel bad that I haven't been, like I don't feel good about myself right now. And she was like and I was like I'm going to be, you know, I'm not going to be as strong as I was, I'm gonna have to start over. And she said, no, you don't, because your body and your mind remembers. And you put in this work for a reason, and it wasn't necessarily to be strong every day, Right, but it was so that you know your future self, you could continue supporting yourself even in times where you're sick or you're in pain.
Speaker 2:And that's sometimes that is your body's response, right, like that's your body's response or your body's way of telling you to take a break, yeah, and maybe bring it down a notch, and it needs that space to recover.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, that's really important too to understand and that's that's a great point that she made to use that it's not going to go away. Yeah, you know, people think if they don't, if they don't keep to something, perfectly right, we have this idea of perfect and all or nothing, that it's nothing's worth it. If I don't do it 100% of the time, then I'm not doing anything, and that that can be a very challenging mindset. But when you can kind of get into that space of if I'm doing something, you know each little bit you do, even if it's not what you think you should be doing or where you maybe want to be, it's still a step right, it's still a step forward and you just have to keep taking those steps forward to get to where you're trying to be or just maintain in the space, yeah, which is still a really good place to be to be able to maintain.
Speaker 1:So in terms of, I think there are obviously there's a lot that goes into your overall health and well-being. There's staying active and what we're actually physically doing, and then there's the nutrition part of it Can you talk just a little bit about when you work with clients? I know they work together really well, but what are some of the like, more specific, tangible tools that you use with clients in both their nutrition and their fitness?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I'm glad you asked that because as I, as my practice, evolves, I'm really finding that there are some core pillars right for everyone. And there is, like you said, there's the nutritional side of things. There's a physical component, so exercise or movement, just daily movement in general and then there's emotional and mental right. So how are you feeling, what are you thinking? And then your environment right, and so there's overlap with all of those things and then your mental and emotional and your environment can overlap Like what is your work like? What is your stress level? Who are you hanging around with? You know, what are your relationships like? What is your physical environment like? What is your home life? You know, is it a cluttered space? Is it a clean space? I think that's come up a lot in terms of anxiety.
Speaker 2:But when I start working with people, you know there's a lot of a big health assessment that goes into it, so we can see where there may be some areas of opportunity. Or, you know, nutritional deficiency or just some easy wins of okay, maybe you're just generally not eating enough, so let's, let's increase it a little bit, or let's look at your protein. Where I usually like to start with people is mindfulness, because that is going to play a huge part in everything else and it's very foundational. That is going to play a huge part in everything else and it's very foundational. We are so out of tune with our own bodies. It's insane that we don't even know our hunger and fullness cues, because we've been doing diets for so long or restricting for so long that we don't actually understand when we're hungry and when we're not hungry. And so understanding when to eat or how much to eat or what to eat around that is is just not happening. So I usually start with mindfulness for that aspect of okay, we're just going to track, we're going to track what you're eating and you know we can do it in journal form, we can do it in an app, whatever that looks like. But I want you to track and I want you to to think about how does this impact you?
Speaker 2:You know, how do you feel after you eat it? How do you feel right after? How do you feel a few hours after? How do you feel at the end of the day? You know, are you hungry? Are you not hungry? Like what is your when you sit down to eat a meal? Why are you eating? Are you actually hungry, you know? Or is it? Is it just habitual? Is it habitual? Is it just? Is it timing? You know, there's a lot of reasons why we eat right and it doesn't mean that any of them are good or bad necessarily. But having an understanding of your body and what's going on in your body and why you are making the decisions you're making is really the foundational thing to the foundational tool to start making the shifts that you need to make for your own you know mental health, for your own physical health and all of the things that go along with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's. I mean, you're built, you're working with people to really build that foundation, you know, and that definitely, because if you don't I mean if you don't have a strong foundation for your home, it's going to fall apart. And that's a lot of times what just focusing on your diet will do. Or you know, really just focusing on just your physical, the physical piece and the food piece will do, is it? Sure, it looks great, maybe, like you know, you, like you want to show it off a little bit, but, just like you said, a storm comes, anything comes, and it's just not gonna, it's not gonna be sustainable, yeah, and it's.
Speaker 2:It's about being practical for the longterm because we want to get off the diets right, we don't want to be, we don't want to be on diets and it's just, it's not sustainable. And if you're, you know, constantly living life week to week of I'm going to restrict because I have this event coming up, or you know, my vacation, so I'm going to eat, you know, only salads for three weeks, and it's just not, it's not sustainable and you're going to see a lot more change, fluctuations in you know, your weight and things like that, or just bloating in general when you restrict like that. But yeah, having that awareness will also help, because it's okay to want to lose weight, it's perfectly fine to want to change your body. What I try to stress, and what I hope that I can help people with, is achieving a level of understanding about your own body that you will feel good. You feel good inside, you feel good physically, so you will love yourself more. And then the aesthetic side will may not be as important, doesn't mean that you won't reach those goals, but to love yourself from the inside out is really the most important and that will help you in the long term. So if you have that awareness. Building on that foundation, then you understand, if I eat this, I may not feel really good, right, and then that's going to impact you outwardly, right, but if I eat this meal, then I'm probably going to feel good and then, likewise, you can make feel good and then, likewise, you can make those decisions later on, you can make those choices right.
Speaker 2:So I know, if I have more than a couple of alcoholic drinks, I am probably not going to sleep well. Yes, and sometimes I decide, okay, I'm not going to have more than two, and some days I say I really want to have three or four, and I just understand that I'm not going to sleep well that night and I deal with that. Yeah, right, but at least I have that understanding. So then I'm not waking up the next day questioning what's wrong with me going down this emotional spiral or mental spiral because I didn't sleep well. I know I didn't sleep well because I had X amount of drinks yesterday and I'm just I need to deal with it today, the best way I know how to, and then I'll be better after. Yeah.
Speaker 1:To have that awareness. That's part of that mindfulness right. Is you know your body first, because first you had to recognize that these drinks impact, you know that that extra drink impacts you, and then to say, okay, now I'm gonna, I'm actively making this decision for myself and also that's okay if I do. I just and now I maybe there's some things I do differently. You know, in the morning I make sure I'm hydrating, things like that.
Speaker 2:But all of those things make you an active participant in this process. You're in control. You're in control. You're in control versus, you know, relying on oh I have to do this diet or I can only eat this today, because this is what this plan says. You're actively in control of what you're putting into your body or what you're doing throughout the day. You know how you move and then you can be an active participant in how you respond to it.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Yeah, that's a big part of I know, when it comes to disordered eating and treatment for that, a lot of times a person who is dealing with that it's not necessarily about what they physically look like, but it's about control. And the thing about it is, though, just like we're talking about, at the end of the day, that is not control, it's the disordered eating that has the control. It's the anxiety that you know. It's the disordered eating that has the control. It's the anxiety, it's whatever it is that has that. You know. That's kind of led to some of these responses. A lot of time it's emotional and so to recognize, like what real, what really looks like to be in control of your own life. So many of us.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's always an ongoing journey, right, because even when you think you've kind of figured out, you've got that self-awareness, you're reacting to things appropriately, life happens.
Speaker 1:The fact that you mentioned that that's such an important piece, because there's only so much that we have control over, even in our reactions to things, and sometimes our environment is not going to be conducive to our overall mental, emotional, physical health. And in those situations we have to give ourselves grace, we have to reach out for support, we have to recognize that this isn't all on me and that there are some things beyond our control. So what can I? Maybe find some, some power over in this situation? Right. But you know, if, if you're not safe, if your needs aren't being your basic needs aren't being met, it is very difficult to move forward. So, just like you said, preparing for the storm, I think as many things you can do now, in a present moment, in the moments you do feel safe and strong and capable, even if it does get washed away and you have to rebuild, it's still there. Your body remembers, your mind remembers. It's not all for nothing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that is. You know the stress goes along with that, right, and so when you talk about things that are within your control, there's another kind of tool that I use with people sometimes is your wheel of stress and understanding, okay, what are the things that are actually contributing to your stress right now? And then you take those things and decide what's within my control, what's not within my control, and then what do I maybe have some control over? And that's how you can start trying to eliminate those stressors, because if it's outside of your control, then it really shouldn't be on your mind. I know that's easier said than done, but trying to control the things that you can control and learn how to manage the things that you can't control or put boundaries in place right, are really important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, boundaries are a big one, yeah.
Speaker 2:And a lot of times when we start with that foundational awareness of just eating right and body, people start to understand oh I'm really stressed right now. I'm stress eating right now. What am I stressed about? So it kind of plays into that a little bit that you can start picking up on what's actually going on around you that's impacting you, that's impacting your, your appetite or your habits, or, you know, your decisions throughout the day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, no, I think that's so important. Another thing I would love to kind of just like have a conversation around this. Not necessarily anyone's expert opinion here, but there's a lot of talk, I think, in social media now about this, this idea of food noise, mm-hmm. I think it's very valid. I've definitely felt that. I think it's sort of the same with these intrusive thoughts that we have overall, and food can be a big part of that. Yeah, what do you? What are your thoughts around that? Do you have clients that experience this? How is it manageable, managed?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's a really good question. The it's obviously a real thing, right, like, like, so once one person starts talking about it and everybody's like oh yeah, I thought it was just me Gives it a sort of gives it that something was wrong with them. You know, I think that there could be a lot of different reasons, right, and some of it could be, you know, the kind of, maybe hormone, hormonal dysregulation.
Speaker 2:That's not even something we got into yet, which is so you know it could be some of that, which is what the you know there's a lot of weight loss drugs out there right now and this is what people say they tend to help with and it's really helping on the hormonal side. But you know there could be some of it that is more mental. That is more mental and there is a you know, for example, if someone is binge eating late at night or just after dinner, maybe not binge eating, but just finding themselves eating after dinner, like it's it's habitual, right, for some people it may be a source of kind of physical comfort. So you're, you know, talking to a place where you're kind of feeling safe and if you're reaching for food, it could be it could be out of boredom, right, it could be out of hunger maybe you just haven't eaten enough that day or it could be out of some sort of comfort and you know kind of feeling the need to fill that. And so you know, stress eating or emotional eating, um, is a real thing that could be causing it.
Speaker 2:Um, you know there's a lot. It's. It's so individual to different people and sometimes it's, I think, for some people it it really needs help, right, like there there's a professional help, um, you know, or certain certain professional mental health type people that can help with that, and sometimes it is just the awareness of it and understanding the OK, why am I doing this? Right, we're not even thinking about it necessarily thinking about it necessarily, or we're just assuming I'm doing this because I have a problem. And it could just be you are deficient in something, right, right, and so your body is kind of craving these different foods and you're constantly thinking about it because it's looking for some kind of specific nutrient or a combination of nutrients.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, and you know, even in terms of those things we have less control over, or I think so, even in terms of that control. So there's your sphere of control, then there's your sphere of sphere of sphere of sphere of circle of influence, and then there's the things that are out of your control and so, in terms of, like, the pieces where you were like, oh, you can set boundaries for these things, and X, y and Z, that's kind of your circle of influence. I'm not going to try to say that word anymore. That's your circle of influence.
Speaker 1:I think that one thing that you know is definitely starting to get like we're becoming more aware of it is that the foods that are processed and marketed to us are made in order for us to want more, because that is, you know how this works, and so a piece of that is like understanding that that's something I can't control the way they make and process these foods but maybe that means that I need to set a boundary around. You know, the more ingredients, maybe, the more I need to. So that's like stuff. That it's a lot, though, like you know, and and we're also just trying to get through our day we're just trying to like work and make enough money to support our families and all this other stuff. So when we talk about that piece of it, I mean it's not an easy thing to do. Um, that work that you really need to do to get to that awareness yeah, no, it's not, and and it takes patience.
Speaker 2:Like we said it, patience, it takes giving yourself grace. If you really want to make it you know, a lifetime adjustment, then allow yourself the time. You know, no overnight fixes. The highly craveable foods yes, if you haven't read the Dorito effect craveable foods.
Speaker 1:Yes, if you haven't read the Dorito effect.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's the exact one that was in my mind. That is, that is I know there's more, but that's a good one that explains the role of, you know, innovation and slash marketing in processed food creation, or processed food or just food creation in general, and how they you, you know make things taste better. And I actually I don't know if it was in that book, maybe it was in that book but he talked about eating whole foods. Right, so you have your highly processed food. There's a spectrum of extremely, ultra, highly processed down to food straight from the earth. Right, so there's a spectrum in there from the earth. Right, so there's a spectrum in there. But you want to, in general, eat more whole foods in their original form, as close to their original form as possible.
Speaker 2:But I think it was in this book that the author talked about cooking a chicken and eating. You know what looked like a small chicken, but it was a, you know, no antibiotics, farm raised and or pasture raised, I don't know however raised, but anyway it was like natural right, cooked this chicken, fried it up, cooked it in a way that made it taste good, but it wasn't processed and what he felt like was a small serving size he felt more fulfilled by than if he were to go pick up chicken from somewhere else and eat it and eat maybe twice as much and not feel as satiated. But that's just the difference of how, having that awareness and understanding, and eating the whole foods or the less processed foods how that actually fuels your body more than eating those ultra highly processed foods.
Speaker 1:Again, it's about balance. You know, there's a lot of times where I'm running around and realizing I am all of a sudden hungry, I'm lightheaded, I'm hangry, if you will, and I'm like I need food in my body right now and I have limited options. So, yes, do I try to go for something high protein when I can? Absolutely, but there's going to be situations where, also sometimes I'm thinking about it, I have. It has been help, it has been helpful, to really kind of look at protein and really look at how, how these, these foods that I'm putting in my body, make me feel after eating them or while I'm eating them, and then how I'm feeling at the end of a day when I've, you know, consumed a lot of more whole foods, high proteins, and I prefer like natural proteins I don't really know Like food sources, food sources of proteins, yeah, Versus shakes or powdered, yeah, but that's because I feel my body like prefers that.
Speaker 1:But again, it's like if you're, you know, if you're feeling like you really you're lacking in something, you know figure, figuring that out, too, is really helpful. It's so person to person. You know, um, and now I'm finding that when I'm eating something that is um overly processed, specifically when it comes to like sugars, um, I can like taste that it's not this food that's going you know, satiate me.
Speaker 1:that's gonna make me feel good after, and it's a deterrent now. And it's because, when I would crave some of these things, I tried my best to replace it with something like if I crave crave sugar, which I do I try to eat a fruit, um, or something that like, yes, it's giving me my body, it's giving my body this food noise At least that's what it looks like. For me, it's like you need this right now. I realize you haven't had it yet. If you could just go grab that really quickly, stop what you're doing. And like it's telling me this over and over. And I started to realize that then my body started being like, hey, fruit would be really good right now.
Speaker 2:I was like, oh, shit that happened, or just you know different nutrients in general. So a lot of times when you know we're going to, you're going to have a craving for things every once in a while, and that's perfectly fine. Like I crave Oreos, that's my thing. Every once in a while I just really want some Oreos. Constantly craving sugar, constantly craving sweet or salty. Then it's likely because of your body needs better, a better ratio of macronutrients or more food in general.
Speaker 1:Or water or hydration.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you know, aside from hydration, another good place to start is protein. So you mentioned protein, and that is a good place to start and it's a good focal point, because when we look at macronutrients protein, carbs and fats we tend to have an easier time getting carbs and fat in right just from the foods that we're eating. That's not as much of a struggle, but most people have to be really intentional about their protein, which is supportive of the body in so many different ways, and actually protein of the three macronutrients helps you burn more fat. So even more reason to eat more protein if you're trying to lose weight. But that's the one we have to be most intentional about, and so usually just getting that protein intake up can help balance some of those cravings a little bit.
Speaker 1:So I'm really glad that you brought that up oh, that's made a huge difference in my life. Like huge I. Now I'm like I get so excited. I'm like, oh, that has protein in it. I'm like that's not me, that's not normally something I would get excited about, but and so normally I. You know, in the past, when it came to like you know in the past, when it came to like quote unquote healthy foods, I felt physically nauseous, trying to like just scarf it down, trying to like it was like this, it was a lot of it. It was, you know, that inner dialogue that I was having with myself like you have to eat this.
Speaker 2:Right, you have to.
Speaker 1:You have to exactly, you have to Exactly and really, as I've started to really shift again, like starting emotionally, starting mentally, what that looks like Now, I'm like excited to get, you know, some whole foods in, to get that protein in, and I feel so much better, just like overall I have this energy that I didn't have before and then I can feel it on days when I maybe don't get as much but still I'm still in a really good place knowing that and to not feel that way about food anymore. It can happen. I mean, this isn't like a quick, I'm not healed, I'm not totally past this thing. I have, it still happens sometimes. I'm not healed, I'm not totally past this thing.
Speaker 2:I have, it still happens sometimes, but it really it feels it feels good to kind of get past the thing that has been a big part of your life, like that, yeah, it's an, it's an ongoing journey.
Speaker 1:It's, it's always going to be.
Speaker 2:I feel like it's you know, as somebody who I've was overweight my whole life. You know, even as a kid and I think I was telling somebody when I was I don't know seven or eight my mom had me in a Weight Watchers program, which I don't even think, that they work with kids younger than like 13 or something now, which is probably for the best, and I mean the parents were there, but still I think about what kind of trauma has that caused in my life. But you know, it's an ongoing struggle and so I feel like I've gotten to a place where I feel like I can manage. Right, I can manage on a regular basis, not that I don't have days that I struggle, but it's not a constant, you know, taking over my mind battle anymore, but it's like any other type of recovery. Right, I still have days where I wake up and I have to remind myself that it's okay if I don't love everything or if I don't like the way that I look right now.
Speaker 2:I still love myself, I'm still valuable, I'm still a good person, um, and I still have people that love me, um, me, and my husband reminds me of that every day and that's why I love him, but it's not something that it's gonna go away and and that's okay. You know you don't have to expect remember it's not all or nothing. You don't have to wake up and expect to feel perfect every day, but understanding how to make choices that are in your best interest, that you know are going to fuel the mental, emotional, physical aspects that you need is what makes it a lifestyle right and you can bounce back more quickly and you can stop restricting and you can enjoy the cake when you go to the party or you know, whatever that may be, or a few drinks here or there. You can have a life filled with all of the things that you love because you're able to balance it better.
Speaker 1:Yes, I know I started I used to see like even you know, like exercise and working out as this task, this daunting task that I had to get through, and I never I hate it, like I people would say they get these this adrenaline, this high of a working out.
Speaker 1:I'm like I hate it. I hate every second of it until I started finding the workouts that work for me Right and doing it because and then realizing that I feel strong, like I have this energy, and that got me excited to do it. I wasn't even looking at I haven't gotten on a scale. I'm not, you know, there's still parts of my body that I'm like you know I'm always going to have like a stomach. My thighs got bigger instead of smaller and I actually was like I'm strong, I'm like I can do things now that I couldn't do before and I'm proud of that and that's like that's all of this and it also a lot of this came with getting back out of a depression and kind of like having to recognize that there were things in my life I really needed to to make a change in, and and this was a big part of it and it's the same with um.
Speaker 2:You know let's speak to well, I don't have any kids, but let's speak to women who have children, and that is obviously a big conversation. A lot is like getting your pre-baby body back right and I think the phrase is getting your pink back.
Speaker 1:I just heard that for the first time. Your pink back, your pink back. It's like flamingos turn pink again after they have right. That's not what I thought of her. That's not what I thought of hers yeah okay, well, that's new for me.
Speaker 2:I'll have to go, I'll have to go find that, um, but yeah, there's like there's such an obsession sometimes with we have to get back to that pre-baby wait. I say wait, I don't have kids, but why? For what? Because you think about what your body just did, like it's incredible when you actually think about how the body carries a child and and, you know, releases a child and, um, you know, you don't, you don't have to get back to anything, exactly, exactly, you know you're in a new phase of life and it's so beautiful. And again, it's okay to want to look a certain way or lose weight, but give yourself the respect for what you just went through, absolutely Right, there's no, there's no timeline for that, for recovery, there's no.
Speaker 1:You, you know it should be this way or that way, like it's a beautiful thing, and and realize that and I mean I like it and true, yes, you, first you have to recover, you know, first you have to heal from the trauma that your body just experienced, big stressor, and the trauma that I mean there's a lot I'm going to call like having a child traumatic, but for some that birthing process is a trauma on your body, like a physical trauma on your body.
Speaker 1:It's a stressor to your body and it's a huge stressor, but it's also not just is that your body looks different, your life looks different, from kind of recognizing, like being aware, being fully, fully present with yourself in your current state and accept, sort of accepting again, like that some of these negative thoughts are going to happen because your life just made a complete shift. Yeah. And so your body's like growing with that, your life, you know, and changing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and what you need is going to change Exactly. And so you were talking about workouts and, and you know, you didn't enjoy it until you found something that you liked, right, something that you would stick to, and that's really important, because that is for everybody. It's going to look different for everybody, right? So, yes, finding something that you will stick to, finding what you enjoy, is the important part, right, because you're more likely to stick to it. But then what you enjoy may also change as time goes on.
Speaker 2:You know, I was used to doing very intense lifting and cardio 45 minutes six days a week a few years ago and now it looks like maybe I'll do 20 minutes of yoga today, maybe I'll just walk, maybe I won't do anything, and sometimes, you know, it's kind of just going with what I feel, but that's okay too. Like it doesn't, there is no one type of workout that you're supposed to be doing. Like, in general, yeah, it's good to strength train, but strength training doesn't mean Olympic, olympic lifting. It doesn't mean CrossFit. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to lift heavy. It could be body weight, right, body weight resistance in the form of yoga or Pilates. It could be lightweights, high reps. It could be high weight light reps.
Speaker 1:You, you know there's so many different ways to do it um and and finding the way that, really, that you feel good doing um, is really what's important yeah, right, yeah, I, I and I think you know it's worth just saying again is that it's individual, you know, it's person to person, and what looks, what works for me, or looks looks right for me for, or feels right for me, isn't necessarily what's gonna best support another person. And exactly there's so much of that that happens in, um, you know, in the mental health journey too, is that this, this comparison that happens, that can really really hold us back from being able to take necessary steps, especially when it comes to getting support. So, thank you, thank you for sharing all of this with us today, absolutely. To wrap up, if there was one thing that you wanted folks to take away from this episode, what do you think that would be?
Speaker 2:there was one thing that you wanted folks to take away from this episode? What do you think that would be one thing to take away? I think just you know, remembering to give yourself grace and to choose to love yourself and to know that you are worthy and deserving of love, no matter what you think you should look like or what you should be doing. That's, that's irrelevant, because you are where you should be and you deserve. You know everything that you have and you deserve all the love in your life yes, your existence is your value.
Speaker 1:Yes, in your life, yes, your existence is your value. Yes, I love that. Thank you so much, amy. This was this was really great, and there's so many of us who I know like I needed to hear so much of that today, so I'm excited for for others to get to do the same, and so if anyone's looking for ways to um, to work with you or to learn more, how can they get that information?
Speaker 2:to work with you or to learn more. How can they get that information? Yeah, so my website's wwwamycimocom that's A-M-Y-C-I-M-Ocom. I'm also on Instagram and Facebook. I post there a lot amycimonutrition so you can find me there, find my email, reach out, dm me, and I love to chat with people. So happy to chat with anyone.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:And thank you all for listening.
