Dr. Rhonda Patrick is a scientist who has done extensive research on aging, cancer and nutrition. She has a Ph.D. in biomedical science from the University of Tennessee Health Science center and St. Jude’s children’s research hospital in Memphis Tennessee, a bachelor's of science degree in biochemistry/chemistry from the University of California San Diego and has trained as a Postdoc at the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute with Dr. Bruce Ames. Her research on the role of insulin si...
Dec 17, 2018•1 hr 8 min
Bill Marler is a nationally recognized foodborne illness lawyer, an expert in food safety and one of the most influential voices in food policy in the world. His law firm Marler Clark has represented thousands of victims in practically every major foodborne illness outbreak in the United States. In 1993, he represented Brianne Kiner, the young girl that survived the most significant of injuries in the historic Jack in the Box E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak, resulting in a $15.6 million settlement that...
Nov 08, 2018•57 min
James Clear is an author and speaker focused on habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement. His new book Atomic Habits breaks down the four laws of behavior change and explains how striving to get 1% better every day can give you remarkable results. He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work has been used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. You can follow his work at JamesClear.com. For complete show notes visit summertomato.com
Oct 17, 2018•49 min
For humans, diets are not sustainable and food is more than just fuel. Dr. Yoni Freedhoff is a family doctor, founder of the Bariatric Medical Institute in Ottawa, Canada, and author of The Diet Fix and the fabulous blog Weighty Matters. Today he sits down with Darya to explain why the key to long-term weight management is enjoying your life. For complete show notes visit summertomato.com
Sep 28, 2018•36 min
“'This will be my last ice cream ever' is a thought I have had so many times I’m embarrassed by it.” - Paul Late night bingeing is an especially tough habit to break. You repeat the same destructive behavior over and over, knowing it’s wrong, but stopping feels impossible because it doesn’t seem like something you can control. Rationalizing the behavior becomes second nature, and you don’t see a way out. This is Paul’s story. Paul knows his bingeing habit is the reason he is overweight. His late...
May 17, 2018•57 min
Sometimes it can feel as if you are completely alone in your healthstyle struggles. While some problems are fairly commonplace (e.g. How can I fit a workout into my busy workday?), others can feel so uniquely your own that it feels nearly impossible to come up with a solution. In today’s episode I help Ellen tackle a very specific problem, demonstrating the systematic approach I use to breakdown a complex issue and find an answer. On the surface Ellen’s healthstyle is dialed in, and she juggles ...
Apr 19, 2018•51 min
"I've felt the option is either cake or not cake. And so then how do you start a habit to NOT do something?" - Mindy Mindy was excited when she found Summer Tomato. The thought of being able to lose weight without counting calories or going on another strict diet was a revelation. Right away she bought a pedometer to make sure she was getting enough steps everyday, stopped counting calories and started focusing on cooking Real Food for herself and her family. But as time passed Mindy wasn’t losi...
Jan 01, 2018•57 min
“You have to rig the game so you can win, set yourself the lowest minimal bar to do something. That was really the key to my success.” – Sarah It has happened to the best of us. You get a little older, your life changes, you start moving less, maybe have a kid or two, and before you know it the extra pounds have slowly crept on. And when you finally realize something needs to be done about it you find you can't lose it as easily as you used to. This can be a crucial moment in a person’s life. Do...
Oct 16, 2017•1 hr
Getting inspired is easy. A great article, book, or documentary can be incredibly powerful in sparking a desire for a new direction in your life. But no matter how desperately you want to change, internalizing a new philosophy enough to permanently modify your behavior can feel impossible. This is how Anne used to feel when she would read Summer Tomato. After several years of striving to have the "perfect" diet that eventually destroyed her relationship with food, she was ready to embrace joy in...
Oct 02, 2017•1 hr 16 min
“A binge never happens in a peaceful, loving environment. So, if you can create that environment somehow for yourself that's going to be the way.” – Maria Have you tried everything to quit binge eating and nothing seems to work? Are you still on the fence about whether or not practicing mindfulness will actually help your situation? If the answer is yes then today’s episode may change your life. To say that Maria had it tough growing up would be an understatement. The torment she suffered as a c...
Sep 18, 2017•1 hr 3 min
Amber has been on and off elimination diets for months. After a long battle with all sorts of painful digestive issues she struggles to pinpoint exactly what she is eating that causes this. She has educated herself well on how these diets work and takes them very seriously. But, after weeks of food restriction, analysis and no results, Amber is frustrated. This frustration not only causes her to lose hope and motivation to continue with the diet, but is now also causing her to binge on junk food...
Sep 11, 2017•40 min
"The way that you look and the way that you see yourself are not one and the same." - Jamie Dana In this episode I talk with Jamie, a health counselor and foodist success story. Jamie and I have similar backgrounds and a lot in common. We both had mothers who raised us on packaged diet foods and jazzercise videos. And we both had powerful “a-ha” moments at the farmers market that changed how we approached our healthstyle forever. Jamie tells her story about how she was able to introduce healthie...
Aug 28, 2017•47 min
One of the hardest things about making your healthy habits stick is finding ways to do them when you are very tired, stressed or busy. Randi is a school teacher, which means that in the summertime she has more free time to focus on her healthstyle. During that time, she enjoys making delicious and healthy meals for herself and her family. However, when school is back in session she no longer has the luxury of a full day to plan her meals, which leaves her feeling stressed about what she is going...
Aug 14, 2017•50 min
Losing a parent is one of the toughest things you can go through in life. Getting yourself back on track can feel impossible for a long time. Bonnie was just getting her healthstyle together when her mom passed away. She was eating right, cut way back on sugar and was enjoying regular trips to the gym. Although she was able to maintain her healthy eating habits, her exercise routine has been completely derailed. The idea of feeling strong and looking fit no longer motivates her, and her mental s...
Aug 07, 2017•42 min
Leora enjoys learning about nutrition and discovering new healthy ingredients to try out. After years of study she has become very knowledgeable about what it takes to have a great healthstyle. However, over the past few years Leora has become aware that what starts out as an innocent hobby often turns into a coping mechanism for managing stress. When life gets hard Leora turns to the health blogs in search for a way to regain a sense of control. Trying out a new diet that promises optimal healt...
Jul 31, 2017•55 min
Despite enjoying her healthy habits, Chrissy often finds herself exhausted in the evenings and not motivated to cook dinner, even when she has ingredients already prepped. She reached out asking for strategies to curb this habit, since it can lead to a downward spiral of ordering takeout for weeks at a time. Sometimes an issue like this is a result of failing strategies, but for Chrissy it runs deeper. Her problem is that she doesn’t sleep well at night, and as a result is too tired to maintain ...
Jul 24, 2017•40 min
We have all been there. You walk into the break room at work or get to an event and there it is, a table full of free (and not-so-healthy) treats that are yours for the taking. For Kristen these moments trigger her into what she calls “opportunistic eating,” mindlessly eating food that would normally not appeal to her just because it is there. Kristen knows that this behavior is preventing her from dropping the last few pounds she would like to lose. She’s also missing out on enjoying better qua...
Jul 17, 2017•40 min
Monica has a demanding job with hours that are continuously changing. She is responsible for producing original ideas at a moment's notice, which is very intellectually demanding. Although she enjoys her work, the stress of the job causes her to snack constantly whether she is hungry or not. It doesn’t help that her job is copywriting for fast food and snack companies and there are always plenty of treats around for her to indulge in whenever good ideas are not flowing. Monica knows that she nee...
Jul 10, 2017•45 min
After successfully losing over seventy pounds on a meal replacement diet Cara has reached her ideal weight and is feeling great. But now she faces a new challenge: weight maintenance. Knowing that diets rarely work long-term and that she needs a more sustainable approach to her healthstyle she is ready to tackle the hard work. In Cara’s case, that means getting over one of her biggest fears. Cara hates cooking, but knows that learning how to prepare her own food is necessary in order for her to ...
Jun 26, 2017•49 min
Once or twice a week Allison and her husband decide to order take-out for dinner. They find fun reasons to celebrate, often making a night out of it by renting a movie and having a couple drinks to go along with the food delivery. It is a good time and sharing these moments together brings a lot of joy to their relationship. Theoretically there is nothing unhealthy about this behavior. But for Allison and her husband the problem is the amount of food that is ordered and how much of it is consume...
Jun 19, 2017•51 min
A couple of times a month Polly is expected to go out for drinks with her coworkers. This is part of the company culture and a great opportunity to bond with her team. Plus, she really enjoys it and finds it to be an overall rewarding experience. The problem is that at these events Polly finds herself drinking three to four times more alcohol than she normally would. This frustrates her because it is out of character and not aligned with her healthstyle values. In her normal life Polly has no pr...
Jun 12, 2017•50 min
Aline struggles with the types of issues many women deal with during midlife. She’s going through menopause, has gained weight and can’t seem to drop those last 10-15 pounds. She eats relatively healthy and exercises regularly, but the tricks she used to lose weight in her thirties no longer work in her late forties. While it is tempting to credit hormones for the extra weight she is carrying, there is more going on for Aline at this stage in her life than just a slowing metabolism. She's also e...
Jun 05, 2017•49 min
A fundamental principle of being a foodist is that you shouldn't restrict yourself from eating foods that you love. One of the wonderful aspects of eating is that it is pleasurable, and this is an entirely valid reason to choose to eat something. New and aspiring foodists love this idea, but often find it difficult to balance the values of eating for pleasure and eating for health. Exactly how often is it "okay" to choose foods for pleasure? How much of them can you "enjoy"? And how do you stop ...
May 29, 2017•36 min
You can probably name several barriers in your life that feel like they are preventing you from getting healthy or achieving your goals, but the biggest ones are always mental. Confidence in particular has an insidious ability to undermine your motivation, making it feel like nothing you can do actually matters since no matter what you try you'll always be stuck in the same place. Logically you may know that if you don't try or do something different it isn't likely things will change, but when ...
May 22, 2017•1 hr 15 min
Becky is normally a healthy eater and exercises regularly. She isn't overweight, but would love to lose a few pounds. She also knows that if she stopped her periodic binges the weight would likely take care of itself. Becky has also read Foodist and Summer Tomato, and knows that dieting isn't a good strategy and that she has a tendency to moralize her food choices in a way that undermines her efforts. Yet she doesn't know how to stop and continues trying to use willpower to both change her belie...
May 15, 2017•46 min
Sometimes it feels like you have everything figured out except for this one, baffling problem that seems to defy all logic. For Nina, her healthstyle has always been rather straightforward. She enjoys eating healthy, she understands the value of indulgences, and can easily adjust her behavior to align with her values in almost every circumstance. Almost. Nina reached out to me because she can't understand why she binges on junk food during her babysitting job, despite knowing it's a bad decision...
May 09, 2017•37 min
Adrienne has been dieting since she was 18 years old, but it wasn't until she was in her 40s that she got into bodybuilding. Body building is incredibly strict when it comes to food intake, with several months at a time being very intense. For Adrienne this led to an extreme obsession over food. She would spend day and night thinking about the burger she would eat for her weekly cheat meal and was always thinking about the next thing should would be allowed to eat in three hours. As she realized...
May 01, 2017•44 min
Laura works at a hospital and sees people suffering daily from chronic diseases she knows are caused by unhealthy food choices. Diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer are all fates she'd like to avoid, but still her love of sweets calls to her. In Laura's mind, foods fall into categories of "good" and "bad," "healthy" and "unhealthy." She knows that moralizing her foods this way makes her crave sweets even more, and that when she does give in she experiences the What-the-hell Effect a...
Apr 24, 2017•38 min
Reshanda had a very stressful job that ultimately led her to develop a binge eating habit and gain a significant amount of weight. The weight gain naturally led her to try to correct it with dieting, which instead led instead to more bingeing. In her work to find the solution to her bingeing and weight gain, Reshanda stumbled upon Summer Tomato and started addressing her habits and psychology. As an active part of the community here and on Facebook, I've watched her develop new habits over the y...
Apr 19, 2017•1 hr 9 min
Like many of us, Tara has been struggling to lose weight for over a decade. She'd tried lots of different strategies on and off over the years, and had made progress. But it wasn't until the beginning of this year that two things really clicked into place. First, she started the Mindful Meal Challenge to learn to eat mindfully, which helped her notice she was putting more food on her plate than she needed to feel satisfied. The second is that she started becoming more deliberate in her meal and ...
Apr 11, 2017•46 min
