So I've been doing a little social experiment this week. In conversations that I've been having with people. It might be my work colleagues in the office during the week, or close friends and family, or just making small talk with members at the gym, or whatever it is. I've been taking note just for this week of how often those conversations revolve around food. I haven't actually done the math, but I would say it's been about seventy percent of
the conversations. If you speak to that person for long enough, you know, four or five minutes, you end up talking about food. It might have been the restaurant that they tried on the weekend. It might be the lunch they're looking forward to having with a friend. It might be the challenges they're having with a fussy eatter, who's their child. Whatever, It doesn't really matter, but it is undeniable that for so many of us, food is an absolutely integral part
of our lives. Our lives almost revolve around it.
Now.
I'm married to a very passionate Macedonian woman who loves her food like no one I've really met before, and I love that she does, because she celebrates food and she has such a healthy relationship with her whole family do It's almost like the association with happy and family and food all go together for Snares. So that then made me think about how important a positive relationship with
food is. But the flip side to that is, and this is where many people also struggle, that if you don't have a positive relationship with food, if it is a trigger for you for negative feelings and negative emotions or negative behaviors, how much you're missing out on and how much that must be impacting your happiness and your
enjoyment around socializing and friendships and your overall health. So rather than me talk about this subject matter, I have a wonderful nutritionist who's an expert in relationships with food coming on wood Life to join us today, and then we're going to unpack this little question around plateaus.
I feel like I'm starting to plateau in both my weight and fitness. How do I know if I'm plateauing and need to shake up my routine or is this just my body and it isn't changing as much anymore because this is just how it's supposed to be naturally.
This is the wood Life. I'm Sam Wood. Thanks for joining us. Let's get into it. Our guest today on the Wood Life is a dietitian and nutritionist. Got into nutrition because she was continually frustrated by how it was being taught and how it was being positioned, and she wanted to be taught differently, and of course something that we love here in the Wood Life. Make it simple. Marika Day, Welcome and thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
So I've followed you for a while. I love your stuff, most importantly your philosophy around things. I think you've got a really balanced approach. I know you got into this space because of the frustrations that you're experiencing within the industry. Can you kind of shed a bit of light into how you got into it and what those specific frustrations were.
Yeah, sure, so I think the thing to begin with it, I got into nutrition because I didn't know what else to do.
With my career in life, join the club.
I was diagnosed with Celiac disease and just found it interesting. I guess that you know the way that you eat can affect your health and well being so much so that was how I initially got into nutrition. But then once I actually had done my study and had become a qualified dietitian and nutritionist and started working in private
practice seeing clients one on one. One of the things that really killed me is that so many women in particular were coming to me saying that they'd spent so much of their energy, so much of their life focusing on dieting, and that they really still hadn't had the opportunity to enjoy life because they had hated their body their entire life. And on the flip side, I was getting these young girls coming in saying, well, I want to look like this social media influencer. Can you give
me a diet to look like her? And so I was just seeing the spectrum of like from the beginning to the end of this lifespan of dieting for women, and I was like, there's got to be another way. I'm not buying into this.
So what did you do about it? Let's go straight there. What do you think the I guess the shake up process or the redirection process needs to be for these people.
Yeah, so I think for most of them, it is moving away from focusing on your shape, your size, and your weight and moving towards focusing on your health, your wellbeing,
whether that be physically healthy, mentally healthy, nutritionally healthy. There's so many different markets of health that we can look at and having that emphasis on that total well being, not just doing what we can at all costs to look a certain way, and in the process also rebuilding people's relationship with food, because after years of dieting, a lot of people do get this really black or white thinking when it comes to food, like I can't have that,
I can only eat that, and so just repairing that relationship there.
So let's talk about that because I think we talk on this show a lot about relationships. Relationship with yourself often is something that comes up, but relationship with food. I mean people people think, what are you talking about? You know, I'm dating a banana, you know, What's what the hell's going on? What's this relationship with food? Are you talking purely about my relationship with food? Is food
is the enemy? Or I need to restrict or remove or replace rather than embrace and actually have a positive relationship with food and look at all the positives that food brings to us.
Yeahsolute, I think that's one aspect of it. So thinking about what nutrition and what food does provide for us, so from everything from like pleasure to joy to the nutrients that it gives us, but also thinking about all
of the different contexts in which we consume food. So for example, particularly you know, actually I was going to particularly here in Australia, I think many cultures they use food as a way to celebrate, as a way to connect, as a way to you know, like you someone's birthday, you usually have them over for dinner and drinks and whatnot. So there is a really social and cultural sort of thing around food that I think also plays into your
relationship with food. And again this is something that I think a lot of people don't really think about when it comes to their health and well being, is how our social connections and our environment influence our health and well being. And considering that in our relationship with food means that we can actually engage socially in life whilst still being healthy. So it's not just about you know, declining the offers to go out to friends places for
dinners and whatnot because you're trying to be healthy. It's actually accepting and embracing that that can actually be part of your health and well being.
It's so true. And I've seen that in the in the fitness industry, in the gym industry for so long. You know, people are so all or nothing that they're you know, they're in and they're really in, and that means they an't socialize with a single person for six months while they become a complete hermit, while they're trying to get a six pack, and they're they're loving what they're at that particular point in time, what they're seeing in the mirror, but deep down they're miserable and lonely,
or they're the other way. And to say to someone, is this how you want to live for the rest of your life? Is this really what you think is what sustainable, enjoyable you know health looks like. Of course they don't when when you bring it up like that,
but it is a real problem. So when someone comes to you, and I totally understand there's a myriad of different reasons that someone may have a less an ideal relationship with food, what advice, What steps do you take someone through to begin to improve that relationship with food.
Yeah, So I think one of the first things that I get people to focus on is actually making sure that they're eating enough food. Women in particular have been trained our entire lives to reduce calories, reduce calories, reduce calories at all costs, And one thing I find is that people try and do that far too much, and they end up under eating and therefore then binging or you know, eating later in the evening because they're so hungry.
So one of the first steps I find to helping people improve their relationship with food and you know, stop binge eating and stop that emotional eating that feels really hard to control, is to make sure that you know, you're having a breakfast, lunch, and dinner that are actually adequate in terms of calories and have balanced nutrition in there.
So there's fats, there's proteins, as carbs, they're not restricting those primary main meals that are actually going to provide them with the fuel that they need to be able to make good decisions.
So, just on the marika, what is your take on counting calories?
Yeah, so I don't have strong opinions on it. I would say that it works really well for some people. For my audience and the people in my community, it's quite triggering and quite damaging and leads them into a quite restrictive mindset, but I'm well aware that it does it's helpful for some people.
I tend to share your opinion. To be honest, I think it'd being a good education process for some people because we don't quite understand the calorie a value that particular foods have or don't have. But when you're thinking of food as a number rather than the nutritional value that it's bringing, then that's not where you want to be.
Yeah, definitely. So one of the other strategies that I have with this is coming at it from more a psychological perspective, and I think this is really important when our food and our psychology and the way that we eat are so entwined, particularly when it comes to a bad relationship with food. So one of the things that I always encourage people to do is to think about your coping strategies and what are your sources of joy
and pleasure in your life. Because for some people who are incredibly time poor, who've got four kids running around, don't have time for anything else, food is their.
Chocolate is the.
Source of joy.
I know, I too, sneezees kitkats away from here right now? How do it? That might be a relationship venda right there.
It's okay to, like you said, it's okay to use a KitKat as a source of joy, but it becomes a problem when it's your only source of joy. So when you have got no other coping strategies for stress, or you've got no other coping strategies for certain emotions that you might feel, turning to food all of the time as your automatic coping mechanism can impede your relationship with food, and it can, I guess, lead to you
not living in the alignment with your values. So that's sort of the way that I approach nutrition is when you feel like it's overstepping the boundary where you're not living a life in alignment with your values, then it's probably time to start to identify. Okay, what are some other coping strategies that I could use here? Or where else can I go to for joy? If chocolate is the only thing that I get joy out of, how can I find joy in other areas of my life?
I love that I see it often with you know, the relationship with food and then the relationship with exercise. You know, I'm always sort of saying it X So I shouldn't be a punishment. You know, it should be a celebration of what your body can do, not you know, sending yourself out for ten kilometer runs because you're feeling so guilty about you know, how you've not treated your body the right way, and you know there's got to
be a balance there. There's very similar sort of psychology around I think the thinking around that with exercises as there is with eating.
Yeah, definitely. I think we've been taught that it needs to be a punishment and that if we're not hating it, that it's not working, whereas it's the complete opposite. Like if you find exercise and movement that you enjoy and that you love, that's far better for you in terms of your health and wellbeing and your consistency and ability to stick to that that it is if you hate it. And the same goes for diet.
Yeah. I mean, even in the simplest term, I exercise in the morning is a proactive way to have a good day. I don't exercise at night to punish myself because I feel like I've overeaten, or you haven't moved enough, or whatever it might or whatever it might be, it's definitely a proactive approach. All right, So you've spoken it, You've mentioned a couple of times. I've just sort of picked up on it. You've sort of said coping mechanisms. You say that food is often one of these ways
that we one of these go to. Is what other? In a more general term or in more general terms, Amrika, do you advise people to do or is it just such a personal choice based on the individual.
Yeah, it is a really personal choice. And I mean there's so many things that you could do that bring you pleasure and enjoy or help relief stress or help you know when you're feeling down. I like to get people to think about like hobbies. What sort of hobbies are you engaging in? And this is a really surprising one because most people who are above the age of about twenty five don't have any hobbies, are particularly females.
You know, it's funny you play sport or you have sort of hobbies around your school friends, and then I don't know, you lose your way a little bit. I wanted to ask you. I just wanted to change check a little bit because you, like me, social media is a big part of your life because it's a big part of your job and the way you connect to people, the way you can create content, the way you can
absorb content. I write articles for few different publications, and one of the publications asked me yesterday to write an article about all these food videos that are popping up on TikTok and did I think they are actually helping people eat better or perhaps confusing people more? And I thought was, well, look, I think a TikTok video, if it encourages to get back in the kitchen and cook more and have fun and try new recipes and cook
for your kids, can be a great thing. But you've also got to think, well, where's this recipe coming from, and what's the credibility of this person that's posting this and has it been designed to show me that it's healthy or is it purely a treat and it's for fun? You know, it really is our We need that responsibility for ourselves to how we excuse the pun consume all
of this information. But I was just wondering, what's your take, and TikTok's just one example, it's probably the most current example.
I think it's who you follow. I don't think it actually matters the platform, because I've definitely seen a lot of damaging stuff on Pinterest as well. Ads that come up there are a very shame driven around weight and shape and size and detoxes and everything. So I don't necessarily think it's the platform itself that creates the problem. It's the people that you are engaging with on the platform.
And I think this is where there probably is the difference between the platforms, because, like you said, with Pinterest, you kind of have to search for what you're looking for, whereas TikTok, you watch one video and then all of a sudden you're in an algorithm feed that will produce ten more of them, so you don't get to really choose.
And I guess the danger with that is if you somehow land upon a video that is really unhealthy, whether it be promoting disordered eating, or you know, is being really shameful about weight, shape and size, or is just providing really incorrect information about health and nutrition, then if you watch that video, you're going to be continued to be shown videos that are similar to that. So that's where I guess TikTok, I think you need to be
really careful of what you're watching on there. And if something that comes up that doesn't really align with again your values and how you see health and how you see nutrition, then get past as quick as you can.
The thing I worry I couldn't agree with you more in principle. But the thing I worry about is a TikTok audience I'm sure is more likely a younger audience. And I mean if I asked my sixteen year old seventeen year old EV, if I said to her, when Ev, you're scrolling through TikTok, just be aware of is the information that you're consuming aligned with your values? I would get the visi roll of all freaking times. She'd alone
go away, like what you want about? So, but your advice is really sound, But that's really hard advice for a seventeen year old to get context around or take on board. So, in more general terms, what is your advice to people on using social media for building community and absorbing recipes and improving their relationship with food rather than the alternative?
Yeah? So, I think there's sort of two parts to social media when it comes to how we can improve it, and one is our personal responsibility. Like you mentioned earlier to I guess curate our own feed and to select the people who are following and make sure that we are following people who are expressing a like a healthy relationship with food, or who aren't body shaming, or who
aren't even driving you into a place of comparison. So I always say to people that you know, there might be people out there who mean really well, Like someone might follow me and you know I am all about health and balance and well being, yet when they watch
my stuff they get really triggered by it. Unfollow me if that's the case, Like, unfollow the people who are triggering that comparison within you, and create your own feed that feels really good for you, so that when you go on that platform and you spend five ten minutes, hours whatever it ends up being, that you actually feel
good when you come off it. The other side of that, I think there is a responsibility from companies as well to take responsibility, like if you are in their health and nutrition or wellbeing space, is to sort of promote a healthy message around nutrition and health rather than driving like a weight loss approach in terms of sacrifice everything in order to look a certain way. I think that we do really need some more accountability when it comes to that sort of thing as well.
I'm glad you said that. I mean, through twenty eight and through my own channels, I do promote products. So I'm happy to you know somehow this is not going on SAND promotes products. I do, absolutely I do, but I would promote maybe five percent of the products that come across my desk. It's and you know, if it's a food product, it goes to our nutrition team, it gets the tick of approval, and ninety five percent of the time it doesn't. And yeah, I share a lot
of your beliefs around social media. I mean the fact that you're even comfortable saying if I am triggering you, not that is my intention to unfollow me. It's a really good point because you know, we can't control everybody's
reaction to everything that we put out there. Sometimes you could be putting a great educational workout out there, but you're in your activewear and someone might be saying, oh, I want to be just like Marica or whatever it is, and it may not have the positive impact that you're trying for it to have on everybody that watches it. Definitely,
I just wanted to finish with one final question for you. Marika, because this has been really interesting, and I know you don't do a lot of this these days, but you're sitting there, You're in your clinical position or your consultation position, and someone's coming in to see you for professional help. So people perhaps don't have to get the professional help.
What is some of the best advice in absolutely any facet of nutrition that you think people should hear that is going to help them before they get to perhaps that stage where they feel like they need that professional one on one help.
I don't think that there is anything that someone needs to know before reaching professional help. So if somebody is out there thinking, oh I might need professional help, you don't need to know anything before reaching out for support. So please reach out for support from your networks and
a doctor and everything if you need to. What I would say to people in general so that they can sort of try the best to prevent getting to that point is I think that we should all know that the way that we look doesn't define our worth, and that we can choose to focus on our health and well being and you know, living a really healthy and balanced life without having to focus so intensely on our shape and our weight, and in doing so we are likely to find more confidence, we are actually likely to
be more healthy and actually get more satisfaction and enjoy from life as well.
That is absolutely beautifully said, a great way to finish, Marika. Thank you so much for joining us, and hopefully we can speak again soon. Thank you so much, Sam, what a great little chat with Marika day. He has a very very well rounded, thoughtful approach to everything I think that she does, and someone that I've followed for long time, as I said, and we'll continue to follow for a long long time. We're moving on now from Marika to
a little question about plateauing. So we talk a lot in this show about setting good habits, eating well, sleeping well, moving more. But it's only natural that there's going to come a time at some stage we've perfected all these great new habits, but we're not seeing a change, or we're not seeing a change at the same rate that we once were. We call this the p word plateauing, and it's very common. So we've got a question that's come through the Woodlife in box and it's a great
question around plateauing. Here it is from Lee.
Hey, Sam, I feel like I'm starting to plateau in both my weight and fitness. How do I know if I'm plateauing and need to shake up my routine or is this just my body and it isn't changing as much anymore because this is just how it's supposed to be naturally.
Thanks Lee, what a great question. And you know why it's such a great question, because I reckon you are the spokesperson for hundreds of thousands of people out there thinking the exact same thing. I totally understand what you are asking. You're never going to get the same weight loss or fitness results, or get them at the same speed as when you are very very overweight or very very unfit. There's obviously a lot more weight to lose.
Or if your fitness is starting from ground zero, you can go from a zero to a five much easier than you can go from a five to a ten. There is absolutely an element of truth to that. But and this is a big butt, and a really important butt. I like big butts, no of them, Jack, I don't know why I said that, Sorry, Lee. In regards to whether or not you should accept a plateau, No, No, you shouldn't. And I think I think too many of us. And this is why I think it's such a wonderful question.
I think too many of us accept plateaus as being normal without actually looking at what we're doing or what we're not doing. Probably is more to the point, if nothing changes, nothing changes, and our bodies are smart. If you are doing the same workout routine, or you are consuming the same amount of calories for an eight to twelve week period, it is completely natural and normal that the results you were getting at the start of that twelve weeks will not continue anywhere near the same rate.
In fact, could level out completely by the end of that eight to twelve week period. So you need to shake things up, You need to make a change. We'll talk food first, because that's a bit simpler and a bit more mathematical. If you were one hundred kilos at the start of your weight loss journey and you are now eighty kilos consuming the same a met forget calories.
Just consuming the same amount of food at eighty kilos is not going to reduce the weight at the same rate it did at one hundred kilos because you are a much smaller person. You are twenty percent smaller. So there needs to be a point where you start to make slight adjustments, nothing radical, slight adjustments to your portion sizes. In line with the fact that you're twenty percent smaller exercise, there's even more ways to shake it up. Change the
type of exercise that you do. Change the time of exercise, and I don't mean the time of day. I mean the amount that you are doing. The ten minute run becomes the twenty minute run, the thirty minute workout becomes the forty five minute workout. Change the intensity of what you are doing. You are now fitter, You are now capable of more. If you are doing twenty reps with five kilos in week one, you should not be doing twenty reps with five kilos in week eight. You are
a fitter, leaner, stronger version of the previous you. You need to change the stimuli to continue to get that adaptation. The last thing, and it's the most beautiful, easy, little icing on the cake on is Incidental activity is a great way to shift through plateaus. You work out routine
might not change that much. You're eating routine or eating plan might not change that much, but you increase your step intake, or you increase the amount of incidental activity you're doing to complement those more structured, focused workouts and that can move the needle too. I hope that helped. So that's it for another episode of the wood Life. But before we disappear, I just wanted to say thank
you to everybody. I'll put in a little request a couple of weeks ago to let me know where in your world you listen to the podcast, and so many of you have sent that through to our Instagram at the WOODLFE Podcast. A huge thank you to all of you for sending those in and please continue to do so. And if you're not following us at the Woodlife Podcast, give us a little follow and send us a message
at absolutely any time. And in regards to chatting with Marika today, if there's someone that you know that would have benefited from the listening to that conversation, please please please share this episode with them. And I think if you can share those learnings that have really touched you or helped you in some way with someone else that you think they will help, that's what it's all about. Share the love. Have a great week, and you'll see
me again on Monday for another motivational moment. See y'all,