What Diet Culture is Costing You

make more sense. When I've heard this, someone was like, oh, when you related the budgeting back to like yo yo diets and stuff, it made so much sense. And that what that got me thinking, what is what are these yo yo diets costing us? We are they are so ingrained in our heads. What is the actual cost? And so that's what we're looking at today. The in the short term and long term. It's quite striking and I think important to look at. I think our various generations

approach dieting in some different ways. It's all repackaged differently, but make no mistake, there's diet culture is alive and well, whether or not you realize how deep into diet culture we really are and relating this back to like you're saying, Jen, how this can impact our mindset around finances, but also just what this aspect of our lifestyle can cost us. So there's a lot of different angles. We're looking at this with excited to get into it. But first our

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it is what the rest of life is built upon. Yes, love those normal days alright, So diet culture, this one hits very close to home for me because I grew up in a house where we were always being like we were always giving into the lie that we needed

to lose weight all the time for whatever reason. And nobody in my house was like obese, but still because of just growing up in the nineties early two thousands of my parents like in the seventies and eighties, like thin was healthy, and so like, we have these mindsets about health and wellness that have been ingrained in our heads for decades and enforced by our parents and our insecurities,

and so much of it transfers into budgeting. So I really am excited to look into this because even with the rise and body positivity, which is amazing, Like I'm I'm so glad that the next generation is growing up with this, the diet industry is still a seventy two billion dollar and grow wing industry. It is still growing, and that's the that's the weight loss specific part of it.

And so while the trend to body positivity is great, like, we really need to identify and reprogram our mindsets around health and wellness so that we can opt out of the unnecessary part that just praise on our ever present insecurities and prioritize the life giving parts of actual wellness that are worth spending money on Yeah, there's I think at the end of the day, it's going to be no shock to people that we land in the radical middle on this, But the extremes go so far in

so many directions. I wouldn't even say that it's a linear spectrum. It's almost this cube spectrum of where people can fall in the midst of this. And that's fine. We're we're all on a journey and hope fully finding the things that are going to point us as individuals towards well being and and an acceptance and and a care and value for ourselves as we care and value

others around us. I think the thing that I see in our generation and maybe the younger generation, it's it's not as much the counting calories get super thin, which is fantastic, but it's not as if, oh, now we've landed on the exact right thing. There's also this whole

how healthy can you get and be? And there's still some shame wrapped up in that too, like if you're not doing the latest whatever it is that helps you identify health, whether it's oh, you're you're doing smoothies instead of juice or you're yeah, I definitely think it's a goal is to combat the extremism of anything, because that's what gets you spending more money. So like whenever anyone anyone's like, how do I eat healthy on a budget?

I kind of laugh because it is not expensive to eat healthy, but it is expensive to be on a diet, to follow a to follow the food on a diet plan, for sure. And so it when we reject the extremism of diet culture and we can find our own radical middle, our own balance, then we can not just I mean not just save money, but just overall feel like a lot better about ourselves and about people, and we can

focus that energy that we focus on. And I'm when I say we are you like I am directly talking to me like I should probably have a mirror in for I could I could just look at myself in the in the zoom screen and say, like, if you spend as much energy like thinking about other things as you do about like walking by the mirror and twice a day, one time saying like, oh wow, I look great and the other time saying like dang, if I could just like get that last ten fifteen pounds of

baby weight off, then it would be perfect um. And even before I had Kai and I was still saying, if I could just get like ten more pounds off, Like if you spent as much energy building your income study, like learning how to invest in all that as as you did on worrying about being the perfect size, then you could get so you could reach financial freedom. Probably a year too faster. I won't say it's like decades,

but a year or two. Yeah, yeah, just well being in in a version of kindness to ourselves rather than shame and yeah, putting ourselves down constantly. Of course, there are so many caveats to be mentioning, and we're gonna we're not gonna get them all. And so here we are, we're talking to ourselves and and anticipating that the general population is listening to us. So, of course there's a ton of ways that the term diet can be used.

We are using it and primarily in reference to a choice that we make for like the main goal of losing weight. Of course, there's a way to use the term diet that talks about just the type of food that you need to eat because you know it's best for your body. Like we're not discounting if you need to be gluten free, dairy free, whatever, free because of an actual medical concern, or you just know yourself at this point in adulthood that that's not the best thing

for you. That's not what we're talking about here. And of course, where there are even greater levels of concern, where we know that body dysmorphia and food difficulty ease and eating disorders are a very real reality for a good portion of the population, and we are also not talking to those more acute needs and concerns. That's more where the mental health clinical, clinician, therapist, counselor support system community is going to be helpful. We're talking general diet

fads and what it's costing the general population. So there's my caveat. As much as I can make it, I know that I'm missing something in there. So please have grace on us in this conversation about food, because it's very layered. Yeah, and we are not nutritionists, we are not personal trainers, so we're not This isn't a alternative,

This isn't a health episode. This is how can we rewire some of the mindsets that might be unhealthy and be affecting us financially, and which will naturally bleed over into to some other things, but we are focusing on the financial aspect. So this first article UM that we've got is called do or Diet. It's for money Guru and it's um the true cost of diet culture. And this is money Guru is a a UK site, so

everything's in euros. But after some research, I saw that the numbers that they're using are almost identical, um, if you just switch out that little euro sign for a dollar sign. So yeah, what did you think about this one, Jill? This was really shocking and I loved how it began because it does feel so congruent with what I see on social media. I mean, I blow right past ads. I actually did a little bit of a research project yesterday where I'm like, what are the ads that they're

trying to target me with? Because I can't honestly remember any of the ads, which is a problem. But also I never purchased anything, so it's obviously not working. But I have seen this where they're like, this new and effective way to get the body that you want. This is the absolute last method that you're ever going to engage in, because we promise long term results and if you're doing this, it's wrong. And if you're doing this,

it's wrong. Like all these like tried and true methods that you've heard for decades, all of a sudden someone's like, that's out the window, and you're going to discover that the problem is really you. And it's just like, oh my gosh, this is the messaging, like they nailed it. And for that reason it it can draw us into whatever it is that the person is promising us, whether it's a product or a method or a gym membership or whatever, just a lifestyle that we want to engage in.

And how over the years this this can cost money. And I appreciate how they pointed out not just the cost of joining something like a weight watchers, but what it can also cost us in the rest of our lifestyle and long term effects related to whether or not it was actually good for us, Like they talk about there being a reality to some of these fads not actually being good for all parts of us and leading

to various medical issues that can also cost money. So there's almost this element of we may never know the true cost of this, yo yo, this pendulum swinging, this chasing after like the next thing, but at least at the lowest level. Even if we're just okay buying this product, buying that method, buying that membership, there's a cost to

that long term that's massive. Yeah, So in this one and I did, I did verify some of this, like just to compare to the U S. So so first, um, he looks at these actual like like members ships, So he uses weight Watchers and Slimming World. So I didn't look at Slimming World because that's not in the US,

but weight Watchers is. Uh. And so if you're doing face to face meetings, you're going to spend about two dollars for a six month like membership and thirty one if you're doing just digital and so they they work that out. Plus if you're getting a gym membership every month, um, which is about average of forty a month in the UK. For the US it's about thirty seven, so close enough.

And they said if the average person works from eighteen to sixty, so we're looking at the average working life, then if you're doing every month of gym membership and wait Watchers, which doesn't include the food, then you could be spending over thirty thousand dollars on this stuff over your working life, which is crazy, and typically nobody's going

to be in weight Watchers from eighteen to sixty. But this doesn't count um like cookbooks or like food and magazines, So like if you did something like Jenny Craig, then then you're buying food from that place. Or they even

say weekly raffle tickets. I don't know what that means, but like there are extras, and so no, you're probably not going to be part of this for decades at a time, but take a few, like take some years off and then add the extras that you would also pay on a monthly basis, and it's not crazy to think that this is about the number that somebody could

be spending, right, Yeah, in a variety of things. I know we're using weight Watchers or Jenny Craig as examples, and I recognized that that may not be the case for for those in like the millennial or the gen Z population, those maybe aren't the brands that they're going for. They are Jill. I Now, since doing this research, I have gotten so many Instagram ads from not weight watchers,

but it's Instagram influencers and they're promoting weight watchers. So weight Watchers putting money behind it, and they've like rebranded to like WW and and there are people like it is still common, like it is not just our mother's right. Well, I mean I'm not, and maybe it is that exact brand, but I'm also saying there's other options out there too

for this type of engagement in diet culture. And the research is showing that more than half the population would consider themselves to be on a diet for some of those reasons, like you know, losing weight and wanting to look a certain way is like the primary reason in that regard, again not just using the diet and like the oh I'm cutting out sugar kind of way. And again, yeah, I think we can get caught up in the trap of well, if I'm not on one of those other

big brands, then this doesn't apply to me. But yeah, if you're like doing the juicing thing, or you purchase something to do a thirty day cleanse and you're buying the books, and you're like, that's part of what we're talking about here, And I'm again I'm down with the journey for understanding what your body needs and health, but also keeping a pulse on how far does it go? And how much money are we actually putting into this

and does it work? Because this article is also talking about how long term these things don't actually give us the results that we want, which is mind boggling. And some of that has to do with what the articles all so pointing out that our weight does not equate to how healthy we are. Just the measurement of b m I doesn't actually dictate whether or not in many

cases we are quote unquote healthy. And then again that's part of the societal messaging of here's what the body needs to look like, and we really we're coming to realize, thankfully, that there's so many different body types that can be healthy and look different, and so for that reason, we need to be able to engage in a lifestyle that

works for us, because it's not a one size fits all. Yeah, and they're saying, uh so the some of the negative effects from these fat diets, Like, so I will I will start with this and say, like I've been listening to this podcast called fed Up about this woman who has a fat diet which is like all fiber and how people are wrecking their digestive systems because they are are in taking too much fiber and that's gonna have

long term negative effects. And so the typically these fat diets will just latch onto one really healthy nutrient, whether it's protein or fats or fiber, and really emphasize that as the cure. All this is what you've been looking for, This is what's going to help you lose weight. And yes, it will because you're cutting out foods that have typically carps us. But yeah, but they will inherently have long

term like effects if you do it long term. Thankfully, like not a lot of people stick with these things long term, but if you go hard and heavy or you know, do it for a long time, they can have negative effects. And so some of the negative effects that they're saying that these diets have is it can

weaken your immune to stem um. It can cause dehydration, especially with the that's the one that got me thinking with the fiber one, because if you're just excreting everything all the time, you are gonna it doesn't matter how much water you're drinking, you're going to get dehydrated. It can damage hair and skin, it can disturb your bowel habits um, and it can make you grumpy and irritable. That should probably be number one. Number one reason not

to number one reason. I am always grumpy and irritable if I don't get carbs, So that's a man. I wish they just had a carb carb lifestyle, which they had a carb Life style magazine. It would be And I think, what what's being highlighted here is just some red flags, like some water marks of fads that would indicate it's a fad and maybe not for me if it is just focused on one thing, like we found the magic trick and it's fiber. We found the magic

trick and it's protein. We found the magic trick and it's magnesium, like whatever it is, it's probably not just one thing, because our bodies and our lifestyles need more than just one thing. So there you go. Red flag number one. Number two is if it requires a lot of will power. I know when it comes to dieting and exercise, a lot of times willpower gets thrown around like this morality term like oh I didn't have the

will power. You need to have the willpower to do this, and this is very pull yourself up by the bootstraps, and in reality, willpower can only go so long. Willpower is something that yes, we can harness, but for a very short period of time. There's not much longevity to it. And it doesn't mean that there's something wrong with us if we can't stick to something really extreme for a really long time. So if it's requiring that, there you go, there's another red flag that you know what, maybe this

isn't for me. Maybe there's a way that I can care for myself and value myself that doesn't require extremes. Yeah, I will leave one last thing that I wanted to highlight from this episode, and it doesn't It doesn't cover the long term medical effects on like the costs of these long term effects because it could be different for everyone, But I love that it's it's mostly focused on like

kind of the immediate costs. And so this one says almost half of all new gym members stop going to the gym after six months, wasting about two forty dollars a year um. And it says that of pent of gym members are actively going, are going like four times a month, so they have low usage and then drop out complete and so annually they've it's been proven annual plans won't motivate you to go to the gym. So this is one of those if you if you do want to start a gym membership, which is great, like

we fully support I fully support gym memberships. I go to cross Fit. I pay much more than forty dollars a month for CrossFit UM, but I love it. I use I go four times a week. Don't choose an annual plan unless you have proven that you will go for six months or more. Pay more for the monthly plan and prove to yourself, Okay, yes I will go, I will continue. This is something I love and enjoy

and want to do. Then sign up for the annual plan because and this is honestly with a lot of things that have annual plans, it is worth the money to pay extra per month to do the monthly plan so you can figure out if you like it and you'll stick to it because most of the time you

don't get that unused money back. So yeah, Jim. Memberships too can be the hardest thing to cancel because if you're realizing I'm not utilizing yet, to cancel it means to almost relinquish the fantasy of self that someday I'll get into it. So yeah, starting off small is helpful. Making sure that you're going to go and utilize it, but then also giving yourself grace if you're realizing, you know what, this this isn't the style or method that's

working for me. It's not a failure. I've just learned more about myself and I am going to cancel regardless of like whatever meaning I may attach to that. If if I'm not going, then it is wasted money. Yeah,

so I think this article really emphasizes that the diet portion. Yeah, it can be expensive if you're doing like a diet, if you're just trying to you know, eat, then you can get like an unprocessed food for similar prices as a processed food, and like especially if you're looking at frozen and stuff like that does take a smidge more work. I understand that. But there are ways to eat healthy for not a lot of money, but not if you're

following like a very specific, rigid diet. If the definition of healthy eating to you is um, no carbs or no this or no that, and you have to get specialty stuff, that is going to be more expensive. Now I will say caveat to that. Our meats obviously, if you choose to go you know, the organic, free range that sort of thing, then that is quite more expensive. But even if you're choosing to do organic produce and doing just the dirty dozen, then it still can be affordable,

especially if you're choosing more like vegetarian. But chances are if you are someone who is operating under a more strict diet cutting out certain things prioritizing you know, organic grass fed meats, then it's probably a high value and values based spending. There is room and permission for that. Depending on what your income looks like, it might mean cutting other things, but if it's something you want to afford, then we can look to find ways to be able

to do that. Yeah, that's such a great point because if you're if you highly value that really um high quality meat and produce, and you're asking how do I save money on groceries I only want to get like free range, grass fed organic wag, you like, that's not where you should be asking, because you've already decided I did what you want. You've already decided what you value, and the question is how do I cut other things out that I care less about to afford more of

what I want in this area? So you just I mean, there's a place for everyone to eat healthy, and and eating healthy isn't one type of grocery list. It can look there can be hundreds of different grocery lists and they can all be healthy. And I think that's what we really want to get through. That's the radical middle of of health. When it comes to to being healthy with food and then also getting active, you can there's

is an array of things to move your body. Yeah, there's there's not one type of workout that is better than another, or that will you know, solve all your problems where another I see I see all the time, like these these YouTube ads scream at me like cardio, stop doing cardio to lose weight right now right, I'm like, okay, um, I get their marketing. I understand where they're basing it off of. But I was like, that's not the whole picture.

But of course you're not going to say the whole picture because you want to be like revolutionary and extreme. So yeah, like it's about what you're gonna do and extremes sell. So even I mean, I know we mentioned a couple of episodes to go back to, but even also going back into our archives to the marketing episodes, recognizing that we are being marketed to. People aren't necessarily just looking out for our best interests in what's going

to be most healthy for our bodies. Like they are trying to sell something extreme, sometimes not caring about how much it's gonna mess with our bowel movements, but what's going to make the most money, because it's just an ad. They're they're just they're selling a product. They know they can prey on insecurities, and they're doing it and and that's why we spend money every year at an increased rate.

Like the weight loss industry is a growing industry, and now some subsets of that have decreased, like boutique weight loss like centers, you know, those are getting less popular. But it's just the rise of like internet, like online courses for different fat diets are increasing, So you're just seeing like different um the money is just going to different places. So let's just get off of the bandwagon.

Let's just leave. Let's leave. Yeah, and there are but but when you say just leave, it's like where do you go? Like where? How what do you do? Because we've got decades of programming to say finn is healthy, um or extreme diets are healthy. So this is just like one option that we're going to like throw out here. Um. And this is an article from Healthline and it's called a Quick Guide to Intuitive Eating um. And people call

intuitive eating the anti diet. And I think, I mean, I thought, because we're very on board with intuitive spending, kind of like values based spending and intuitive spending, that this might be a good thing to go through to start to at least start to get in I don't know, not in control, but just like mindful about what you're

eating and how you're eating. Because for so many years of counting calories, counting macros, we've been relying on other people to tell us what to eat and how to eat, that we have not developed the skills needed to identify hunger, to identify fullness, um, to identify food that make us feel good and ones that don't. Like I think, you know, yes, this is one method, but I feel so much like this isn't just another fad. Of course, put whatever word you want on it, but to me, that strikes me

as back to the basics. If we were to throw off all the trappings of societal messaging and marketing and extremes and what we as women feel we need to be looking like, acting like sounding like then then this is it. What does healthy relationship with our behaviors and the things that we engage in and how we nourish our body look like? How do we pay attention to ourselves and our needs as we move through the world. So this doesn't this isn't like, oh here's the next

news ing. This is just how have we done it in the past? Like what how do we eat again? Like, how do we get back to the basics of just like not making this super complicated. That's how this article is striking me. Yeah, it's like, how do I find what's right for me because I don't know what's right for me because I've been listening to other people tell me what's right for me, which sounds like the same

thing that we say about spending. Even this first part where it's like, first you need to distinguish between physical and emotional hunger, So the biological urge telling you need to replenish nutrients versus hunger driven by emotional needs, and the same thing. It's like, we need to figure out like needs and true values versus emotional spending and listen just like spending, just like money, just like budgeting. This is calling us to the deeper messaging, the deeper idea's

mentality that it's not just about the behaviors. It's not just about what exercise regiment you engage in, what food you eat, but your association with those things, the relationship that you have with yourself and with your ideas about food, with your ideas about body movement. And so this idea of intuitive eating, it's promoting a healthy attitude towards food,

towards body image. It's getting at some of those deeper things, and for some of us maybe relearning how to trust ourselves, how to be in tune with with our body, with how the various stimuli around us again, whether exercise or food or otherwise is impacting us, and how then we want to respond and engage with that thing. But it's it's before the behavior learning these things. And so they go through ten key principles, which I think are fantastic.

I think it's worth us going through all ten. Yeah they're very short, yeah, yeah, exactly, there's not paragraphs attached to it. And so the first one is this need to reject a diet mentality, that that extremist thinking that we've been talking about that it's not necessarily a diet that's going to work for us, and diets don't have long term sustainability. Maybe it's like a quick fix, but we want a mentality that is for a lifetime sustainable rhythmic.

So that's we talk a lot about mindset that's going to be part of that that we're not on a diet, we are just engaging in in our life in the world around us. Yeah, part I mean it sounds like I don't know, honestly, part of me doesn't want to give up the diet mentality because I feel like I can be part of the five percent that can succeed, like a hundred percent of people will feel like they can be part of the five percent that actually like succeeds with a diet, which is so funny and that

statistic made me laugh because that's me. Uh And but it is in order to have like to be fully okay with your body that you have to give up the diet mentality, Like they don't they cannot coexist. Yeah, because I hear you in that gen But then is it for the diet or is it for you? I think sometimes we have to look at how much of this. Do I want to do this just for achievement or to say that I did this or to or is

it actually to aim at health and well being? It's not to aim at health and well being for sure, absolutely not, I can tell you that. So that's just starting off with the first one is going to be very hard. Um too, is to honor your hunger. Hunger is not your enemy, so respond to your early signs of hunger by feeding your body. Um. If you let

yourself get excessively hungry, then you are likely to overeat. Yes, and this is this comes with preparation, same with how we approach impulse spending, having some of those foods prepared already, that you know you're gonna enjoy, that you feel good

about eating and and eat when you're hungry. Yeah, and it'll It can also help you, like save you from take out because if you eat when you're hungry, then you don't let it bottle up all day so that you just like get so hungry you you want to get take out instead of eat the food you have at home. The third one is make peace with food. I love how they just say call a truce in the war war with food. Um, getting rid of ideas

about what you should or shouldn't eat again. Oh gosh, there's so many correlations and parallels to money, like thinking money is good or bad, or debt is good or bad. It's neutral, How do you want to engage with it? Food is neutral? How do you want to engage with it? I loved this Instagram post that I read and it's from I think it was from kids Eating color but it's one of the toddler like eating profiles and it was like how to explain foods to your kids, and

it's it's like a series. And I think this one was for like cupcakes or something or dessert um, And it's like, the foods are neutral, but some foods give us more energy and longer energy than others. Cupcakes give us energy for a short amount of time, but we also need to eat foods that give us energy for a longer amount of time. So all the foods are neutral. It's just let's let's make sure we're getting enough energy. We're getting enough of the right energy. Yes, I love

that not labeling food is good or bad. That's like not the best version of messaging for ourselves or our children. Yeah, for is to challenge the food police again. Yeah, food is not good or bad, and you are not. You are not good or bad for what you eat or don't eat that because you are the food police. You are the food police in your head, and you are not good or bad for what you eat or don't eat. So challenge the thoughts that tell you otherwise. This is

I feel like this. You're speaking directly to me, particularly how I my police, my loved ones, sorry Eric, mostly my husband. He does want to eat so many French fries though, and I support that. But you know, like anything in excess is excessive, but you know what, you pull back too much of it? Yeah, it's too much of anything is no longer a special thing. Watch I'll find out that, like according to his body composition, like he needed so many potatoes and salt, like it's what

he actually look at him. He is tall and thin, and I assure you he probably needs more French fries than you think he does. Alright, alright, one for you, Yeah, there you go, work, I'll stop being your food police. Number five is respect your fullness, And this is going to come back to a more mindful approach and connection with our whole selves and our our personhood and learning to trust our body. I know some of that might sound like a little out there, but I think we

we are connected. These things don't exist in a vacuum. And so learning what it feels like to be full, slowing down, enjoying the food that we're choosing to put into our bodies, and then noticing, Okay, I think that's enough. That's going to be helpful, versus blowing past all of those natural boundaries and warning signs can so many correlations to other parts of life. We just aren't paying attention, and we blow past ourselves and end up potentially hurting ourselves.

So slow down, be mindful, pay attention, and honor your fullness. Yeah, you do this so well, Travis and I do not, and Travis especially he will. So everyone was taught like clean your plate, like everyone had to finish everything on their plate growing up, and he lives by that. Now. He can't just finish his plate he made. He has

to make sure all the plates are clean. And like I know there have been times where I have made enough for us to eat meals and then have leftovers for each of us the next day, and I'll go to package and there's only one meal worth of leftovers. And that's like, I mean, that means one of us has is buying lunch the next day. So it's like a financial thing to like when you are in tune with your fullness and you can identify I'm full, I don't have to finish what's on my plate. I can

package it up and eat it tomorrow. That's like another way to save money. And obviously eat until full, but I know so more often, like nine times out of ten, the problem isn't not eating enough, it's eating too much. Well that's the thing that I'm Yeah, I think it's tied into number six, to the satisfaction factor. I don't even know if it's eating to fullness. I think it's eating to satisfaction. Like I don't eat until I wait until I feel stuffed. Like I eat what I believe

is it a reasonable amount of food for me? And I don't keep going until it's like oh yeah, like roll me out of here. And I think that's a mentality thing too, that I mean I've I've developed over years, but I think it's connected to this concept of like learning what what we need, what's enough? Golly, we got to learn that with our money what's enough, and be satisfied in in those things, learned degrees of contentment while

learning yourself. But yeah, and we're not going to know that that we're full or we're satisfied until we've given ourselves time to like sit with it versus like shoveling shoveling food in. But that so that the satisfaction factor too, I want to talk a little bit about that, not just eating until like yeah, fullness and just what's satisfying, but also engaging in an enjoyable experience with food, like

making sure that what we're eating we can enjoy. And even if it's just veggies, there are sample some fantastic ways to make veggies taste really good. One of the things that's also helped me in this satisfaction factors if I'm craving something, honoring that craving, recognizing like I can have that thing, even if it's labeled by society as bad or not good for you or something to avoid. I can have it, but have it just for the purpose of the satisfying flavor, not that I need to

have the whole thing. So a lot of times this is like dessert for me, that I I personally don't have like a big sweet tooth, but like catch me with some bread and butter, and that's gonna be where I struggle. But sometimes I'll want something, but it doesn't mean that like I need a whole big handful of cake. I just want to bite of it. It doesn't mean I need a whole chocolate bar. I just want a

bite of it. And I'm not saying that that's going to work for everybody, but that's how the satisfaction factor has looked for me, is just a little taste of the thing that I want and being satisfied with that while also eating all the other nutrients that I need. I'm not saying that I'm starting and paying attention to how you feel after you eat and when you wake up in the morning, Like I think a big problem.

And I don't want to throw Travis under the bus, but he he has I mean, he eats a lot of unhealthy food that doesn't make him feel great, makes him feel tired, but he doesn't want to admit that that that's why he's tired, and that's why he's flemy

and stuff. So he has like total capability of changing and stopping food and he will eat healthy like when I cook for him, but it's it's all the other it's when he's out in the wild, you mean work, So like I mean, also pay attention to how the body feels after eating something, because if you feel yucky, that's not satisfying. And I think that's what's going to move us more in the direction of healthier food, especially

for somebody with a UM. I think mindfulness and intention about that UM observation is what can steer us in the direction of foods that have longer lasting energy sources. So seven is to also honor your feelings without using food. This one will save you money too when you use free ways to honor your feelings. So whether it's like a negative feeling or positive feeling, so taking a walk, meditating, journaling,

and calling a friend versus eating. Then you can also become more like become aware of the times when a feeling that you might call hunger is actually emotion based. And this helps with that too. And it's just identifying so that we don't because out of emotion, we're never going for the foods with more energy. We're always going for the short energy foods. So I think this is

a really good one. Yeah, we can spend, we can eat unnecessarily, There's so many things we can do when we're sad, but finding the coping strategies that are going to work, and then respecting our body rather than criticizing ourselves for how we look or perceiving it as wrong. This is a mentality shift of gratitude for what is your body capable of? What are the parts that you like about how you're formed and the uniquenesses of who

you are? And as we can be grateful for our abilities and respect ourselves, then we are likely to move into better relationships with food and be and body movement behaviors and all that kind of thing. But again, it's going to start with our minds and the story and the narrative that we're telling ourselves. There was a recent podcast where the book where we talked about books book Club, and I was talking about children's books. So I remembered

another one that I almost mentioned on that podcast. But here you go. Here's another children's book that I love that breaks down this concept. It's called I Like Me by Nancy Carlson. I was just at my mom's house recently going through like old childhood books and this was one of my favorites as a kid, and she read it to me often, and maybe it's a part of why,

like a small part. There's probably a lot of layers, Like I do feel like I've got a good relationship with with food and myself, and like, thank you mom for reading books like this to me as a young kid. It's like this little piglet who is just like she likes herself, and it's all the things that she lists off that she likes about herself. Of you know, we could go to extremes with that of like oh man, you're thinking so highly of yourself, But I don't know.

I think it just promotes such a positive outlook and a and a tempered approach. So there you go. If you want a message for yourself or for your kids, it's a really cute little book. I agree. It's much better than my dad like every month saying we all need to get on a diet. That was what I grew up with during childhood. I'm gonna I'm gonna come over.

I'm gonna read you that book, Jim. Oh, thank you. Um. Respecting your body can also save you money on clothes, because I know, we're all holding onto clothes that we want to fit into that we used to. We're all holding onto this like you know, former self, I don't know, or buying gold pants, which is something I did as a teen, Like I would buy something that was a little too tight and be like, oh, I'll work and I'll fit into them, and I never did because I

was a growing human. Um. So this and and just buying things that look good at other people, but and you want them to look good on you because you want to look like other people. But your body isn't like their's. So respect your body and dress it how you feel good about, not what society is telling you to look like or what you know you have an idea of of how you should dress and look like. Ninth is to exercise. Move your body. This is like

very very important. And not to move your body for the sake of burning calories, but to move it because of all, because you want to move it in a way that you want to. Whether it's you know, whether it's the running that's gonna you know, burn a bunch of calories, or maybe just some light yoga like consistency is key, So move your body in a way that you enjoy and that you will stick with sustainably. So it may that the season you are in life may

determine how you're moving your body. Um, but just just do something that you like and can actually fit into your schedule. With my counseling clients, I called I've called exercise body movement. At this point, I think we have such a poor association with the term exercise when really it's learning ways to move our body that we enjoy. There will be no sustainability in it unless we enjoy it.

So if you like playing soccer or playing tennis or swimming, or if you like running great, if you like the quick spurts like hit whatever it is, biking walking, find something that you enjoy and move your body and call it that if that helps, get get rid of the vernacular if it's becoming a hindrance. And then finally number ten, honor your health. And I love this term j and

tool nutrition. This speaks such kindness. Finding the foods that tastes good to you, make you feel good, recognizing that one meal, one snack isn't going to make or break your overall health. Just be kind to yourself. And you know what else is kind something that allows me to move my body and gives me so much joy and fulfillment. The bill of the week. That's right, it's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby

was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died, and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That bill Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill of the week, Adi have I got a bill of a week for you. I recently left my job, which was very toxicly but did provide a free cellphone and I just you know, working there was not worth a free cellphone bill. So I just left that job and got a new one.

And my bill of the week is that I had a cellphone bill look at and you know what I signed out with me and it's just twenty five dollars a month. I have to deal with those people, and

it was a great bill. And I'm not happy to have a cellphone bill, but I'm happy to have a cellphone bill if it means also I double will come in the last year, just simply because I left positions that we're not good bit and I was not afraid to make the switch and did not feel more so, um, that might make me selfish or I don't know something, but it worked out so that I am celebrating with you.

This is so exciting. I think when people find the freedom and the flexibility to leave a work environment that is not good, not sustainable, not going to be helpful long term, and recognize like the things that are keeping you there, and eventually it was just like a twenty dollar a month reason to stay. Yeah, staying for a paid cell phone bill if it is ruining you mentally, physically, emotionally, it's not worth it. And I am so thrilled and

celebrating with you. And it sounds like you've found yourself in an even better environment, doubling your income now paying for a bill, but finding a great provider. Thanks men, twenty dollars a month. That's fantastic. Improved work environment, improved mental health and pay in that cell phone bill but

love and every minute. Congratulations. Yeah. I think a lot of people overestimate some of the benefits offered by employers, and it's always a good idea to actually list out the benefits you're using the cost per month that they are on their own. Uh, and then using that as a template to go out find a higher paying job. Compare benefits to benefits to see what else you could get by not just improving your work life, but like

you could get improved benefits and improved pay. But sometimes people will hold on to a job that they hate for you know, a free laptop, which is you know, dollars. If you could get a two thousand dollar a year raise, you've gotten a new laptop, and then every year beyond that the extra two thousand dollars like or a car or a cell phone. So sometimes they are worth it, but you really have to write down the whole picture to get an idea of you know, where to go

and how to proceed. So I am I'm glad you did it. I don't think it's selfish at all. If you all listening have a similar story. If you've got a bill you don't mind paying, or a bill that you're not paying anymore, you you know, sky's the limit. Submit your bill of the week at Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill. We are ready for it, and now it's time for uh. So I like I like this one. If you could only eat one thing for

a year, what would it be. Are we assuming that like it's giving us all the nutrition, that all the nutrients, or so I like maybe this version better. If you could have an unlimited supply of one food, what would it be? Don't say gum, you cannot consume them's not your answer, thank you. I really believe that I could subsist off of bread and wine, like bread, bread butter, bread and salted butter and wine. That would be if that, if that provided, like I didn't need anything else and

it was like all that my body needed. Godly, I love bread alright, Jesus. So for me just taking communion every day, you are you are really someone to be looked up to. Uh, mine is not as biblical. Mine is the tear messiou from public the and people who only people with publics will know, and only a certain number of people with access to publix will know. But if you know, you know, the tiramissy from publics is

tops like it is sometimes better than actual tiramiss. It's not like authentic Italian like if you're looking for authentic Italian tramissy, it's not this, but it is so good it sometimes like better than that. Okay, but like are you understanding the question, like, could you unlimited apply all day every day if you only ever could if you could only eat that for a year, Like I get it that it might be your favorite dessert, but like,

could you eat it all day every day? Yes? Yes, yeah, I feel more bread is like enough that you know, there's it's just bland enough, but just flavorful enough that like, I don't think I could ever get tired of it, But you don't think you could ever get tired of tiramissou. I won't say that, but I will say if I think of all the foods out there, it would be the last one for me to get tired of. That's amazing. Wow, Okay, I don't think I realized how deep this one for you. Yeah,

it's good to know it's deep. And if you're ever at a Publix, go to the bakery refrigerated section, just a little tiramisou with little chocolate corners. It's in the bakery section at Publix. Yeah, and in like, yeah, so that's my place. Publish doesn't pay me to say that, but if they want to, apparently they could. They could give Jenny and then just like keep sending bad gets my way. Yes, all right, thanks so much for listening.

I really hope that this episode, if you are more acquainted with diet culture than you are with budget culture, that some of the synergy kind of opened your eyes to how the two mentalities and mindsets live together and hopefully will help you in both your eating movement and spending to have a more radical middle like view and to be kinder to yourself. Uh. So many of you know we have a private community where we talk all

about this stuff. We do money challenges, offer accountability groups, and so we want to congratulate one of our members for a big win. This one's from Corey. It's titled principle. She says deciding what is enough to help save on money, time, and energy. Never thought of it this way, and I had a scarcity mindset of need it now because you never know, and need more because you never know. I can look at each section of my life and put a tag on what is enough, so I don't overdo

it for no good reason. For example, when I grew up, we always had extra of the necessities, mainly kitchen and bathroom things. Right now we have plenty of toilet paper and She posted a picture of all of her toilet paper, and then she says, I'd say that's more than enough. Simple things like this will make a bigger impact for my future. So yeah, definitely, I think Hi. I saw an article title the other day it's like ten reasons

you need to stockpile Now. I didn't want to click on it because I didn't want to get into that algorithm. But it's Uh, it's definitely a mentality like decide what's enough and you will save not just money, but also time and energy. Stockpiling's the last thing we need. We saw what happens when we stockpile. But Corey, congratulations on recognizing this mindset and then moving to shift it. That

is incredible growth. Again, thanks for listening. If you want to check out our monthly challenge community had to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash club to see what challenge is coming up next. See you next time. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianna well Jen. There's a variety of ways that we could go with this conversation. I feel like I was just talking to me the whole time. Some episodes you do for the people. In some episodes you do for yourself. Um, I feel like this one.

In the COOKEE Boh episode last week, I was just having a time when I scheduled these What are you going to do as a result of engaging in this content? Well, I'm just going to try and love my body more. I'm gonna love all the parts of it because I do move my body and I do eat, you know,

relatively well. And I always try to do these like fad things quick fixes is really what it is, and I'm just never motivated enough to stick with them, and that is guilt inducing for me, the same way as you know when you can't stick to a budget and you feel like, oh, I'm just like not good at budgeting, Like I can't stick to a diet, so I'm just like not good at this healthy thing. And then it but I am healthy, So it gives me this like

false sense of who I am. It's like, I mean, it can be tough with any aspect of life to hold the tension of contentment and acceptance but also desirous of growth and having goals. So like, I'm I'm happy with myself. I'm I'm pleased with where I've come to

at this point in life. But I want to be stronger and so like I want I want to be after having seen what my body is capable of, I do have these growing goals of oh, I want to be able to do more push ups or a pull up, or I'm curious how long I can sustain some of this cardio activity without feeling so winded. So but that can be tough too. Then also maintain content, like it's this tension that we're constantly holding. I think it's okay.

I think tension can be a good thing, but making sure there's tension and not just so far off the deep end with either like lack of contentment or over content, and there are no goals like it's it's this ever evolving morphing, like, okay, how do we do this well? I think we're always prioritizing something you know to to focus on. It's easier focusing and prioritizing is much easier

than balance. And so I think right now I just need to focus and prioritize loving my body and and going from and also learning how to identify my hunger and my fullness triggers. I think that that's big. So that's where I'm going from here. I support you, and then I'm going to read you that I like me book. Please do it, Okay,