The Biggest Nutrition Misstep You Are Overlooking

Now I'm sharing what I know with you fitness , nutrition and all the deeper stuff to help you discover your strongest body . Hello , hello , welcome back to another episode of your Strongest Body . If you know me , you've come to know that there's a little bit of setup change every time I come in here .

I have just sort of like right before I came on , I retightened the microphone , so I'm never sure exactly how this is going to sound , because my daughters are performers through and through and they love to come into the office space , grab the microphone and perform , do their own . They've recorded some of their own podcasts .

They like to just tell stories into the microphone . It does not need to be on . So every time I come to sit down , I think to myself okay , I hope that this is all good . And as I am not an experienced sound engineer though you may have not known that from the sound quality of this podcast . I actually think it turns out pretty well .

I can't always tell , so we're getting into it . I fixed I think I've set the microphone well and we're going to rock and roll . I . The topic for today is a little less straightforward , tactical , but still highly tactical , and so I want you to bear with me here .

Today we're talking about why your biggest nutrition hurdle is not what you think it is , but how to identify the hurdle and then how to remedy it , create a strategy . So let's get into it .

I have been having these one-on-one nutrition strategy meetings with folks who opted into that with their Built Bodies program , and they finished the Fit Fuel free challenge that I had , and then we talked about their personalized nutrition strategy going forward , and one of the questions that I really like to ask is what do you think your biggest hurdle is when it

comes to nutrition ? Now , what I want to say when I say that your biggest hurdle is not what you think it is , is that I believe you , first and foremost , you , are the greatest authority on your body , on your experience .

So I'm not inserting that , but I think we get it a little twisted in terms of what we think our hurdle is , and let me give you an example . So just one of the most common hurdles that people identify is I love sweets . I can't go without sweets . That's the thing that keeps me from being able to stay consistent with my goals .

Or it's the thing that I don't have any control over , or it's the thing that I feel like derails me . Insert whatever you want sweets or pasta , or salty chips or alcoholic beverages . Insert whatever thing you want and maybe alcohol is not a great example , because there's an addictive nature to that . That isn't going to fall into this .

But when people say that that is their biggest hurdle , it is not that I don't believe you on that . Our biggest hurdle is the thinking when it comes to what derails us . It's our limitation and our limiting belief in ourself .

And this is where I said bear with me , because I don't want you to think this is far too woo-woo or this is far too not tangible to make change . I actually think it's wildly tangible to make change .

But in any of those sentences that you hear , when someone and you , I am guessing , have one of these as well , maybe and you say like I just can't say no to blank or I just feel out of control with blank , or I feel like this is my crutch or whatever it may be , and I can't change that about myself , or that's the thing that I fall into a trap every

time . I can't keep that in the house In any of those instances . You have made the decision that that is the challenge for you . You have made the decision that you are limited in what you are able to do , what your capacity is , and I think that that's a natural inclination and it's kind of what I'm looking for when I ask that question .

I'm not saying that that isn't true . I just don't think that's the biggest hurdle . The biggest hurdle is what you do , what you don't do , with that information . So , by identifying something as your kryptonite or identifying it as the thing that pushes you off course or that you don't have control over , you relinquish your responsibility and you confirm the pattern .

You confirm the pattern . Now , I'm not suggesting that you get rid of those thoughts completely , because those thoughts are natural and they're going to come through . Instead , how do we overcome the bigger hurdle of the thought process ? We start to get proactive . Proactive behavior when it comes to changing your nutrition is going to be the answer to your success .

And what do I mean by that ? I mean that we tend to operate in a very reactive state . We are reacting to our emotions around food . We are reacting to the things that happen in our life . We are reacting .

Listen , we can't be ahead of the game all the time , but if we are reacting from a place of stress , or we're reacting from a place of already deciding that this is our kryptonite , or that this is the thing we can't say no to , or that this is the thing that always throws us off once we've had three weeks of success , then we are going to fall into a

previous pattern , whereas if we are proactive , into a previous pattern , whereas if we are proactive , we can get ahead of our previous pattern and have some strategies in place to , if not change our behavior control the damage , maybe diminish some of the damage . And when I say damage , I mean that as just a good illustrative word .

There's nothing that you're doing in terms of making a nutrition decision that is wreaking damage . You enjoying M&Ms at the end of the night ? I don't mean that way . I mean that when we feel out of control , how can we start to feel in control ?

How can we minimize our inevitable well , I messed up phase , and that is with being proactive , that is , recognizing behaviors in ourselves . So you already have a huge win in the fact that you are noting and aware of things that tend to feel like they spiral you out of control or they feel like you don't know how to give them up or whatever it may be .

You have a win there in the fact that you identify that . So I want you to think that your biggest hurdle at the moment is one of those things . That , so I want you to think that your biggest hurdle at the moment is one of those things .

Now let's call that the second biggest hurdle and let's talk about your mindset and what we can do differently about that . So let's use one of those examples . Let's say it is it is a . I have a sweet tooth . I feel like I always need something sweet at the end of the day . Awesome . Why does that feel like it is keeping you from your goals ?

Well , when I'm being really good , I don't have it , and then I have three days of success and then the next night I really kind of lose it and I eat all the stuff that we have in the house . Okay , good information to have .

If we're going to be proactive in this , let's recognize that . If you , in your mind , feel like you need something sweet every night , let's determine do you feel like you really need that , or are you just really hungry at the end of the day and that's something that you're interested in ?

Or are you feeling like you need a reward at the end of the day and you're turning to something sweet as the reward ? Is there something we can replace that with , or do you really love something sweet at the end of the day ? Can we be proactive and make sure that you have it planned out ?

If you want to end the night with something sweet , can you have a few nights where that sweet thing is something with a little bit more protein or that's a little bit more nutrient dense , and then can you have a few nights where you have a smaller portion of that thing that you typically look forward to .

So you don't eat the family-sized bag of M&Ms , but you put a few in a container that you're ready to have your sweet treat at the end of the night and then you also have it alongside another snack that makes you feel more satiated .

That is the kind of proactive addressing of the hurdle and the mindset that is going to be the greater change than you restricting or trying to overcome these feelings that you have or these you know quote unquote guilty pleasures that you have .

When we stay stuck in that mind frame that we can't have that thing or that it is our biggest hurdle , we fail to address the behaviors that are ultimately the things that are holding us back , or the limiting beliefs . When you say you have no power around X , y or Z food , yes , you're correct because you have decided that . You have decided that .

Yes , you're correct Because you have decided that . You have decided that and that's why I took that alcohol thing out of the beginning , because when we're talking about chocolate or food or chips , you have decided that in some way . Now I'm not saying that it's not hard to stop and I'm not saying that you have to stop .

I'm saying that if we want to be more successful in changing our behavior , then we've got to stress less about the thing that feels like the hurdle and the behaviors and thoughts that lead to that .

So if it's the bag of chips that we feel entirely out of control on , can we separate them into portions ahead of time so that we know we're still going to have the chips , but I have them portioned out so that when I reach into that bag , that's all I'm taking in . Or are there moments where I need to have those chips along with something more filling ?

Or am I okay with eating the whole bag and it's not the end of the world and I don't want to give that up ? If that is the case , then own it .

But if we don't , if you want to change that , if you're saying like I can't control myself around that , but I want to have control , or I want to feel like I can stop , then we reverse , engineer the behaviors and the thoughts that got us there , and one of the first thoughts is I can't do that or I can't change that , or I am powerless to that .

And that's a lot of work . And I don't mean to pretend to be a therapist in any way . I'm simply saying that we have to identify . That's part of it . That's part of it .

And a lot of nutrition intervention , even exercise intervention , tends to be this idea of like okay , here are the things that you're just going to take on , but if you're going to take them on , we've got to address why you weren't taking them on in the first place . And a lot of that is thought and then a lot of that is strategy .

And the strategy ends up being maybe you're too hungry when it comes time to chips , or maybe you've been restricting too long , and if you were to proactively consider when they're going to come in your day , you wouldn't feel so ravenous for them . You wouldn't feel like they were an off-limits food because they wouldn't be off-limits .

If you portion them ahead of time , you might feel like you are in more control when choosing to eat them . So this is a hard thing and sometimes I find that the reason why people need help and support with nutrition is not about do you know what foods have more nutrients in it . It is the strategizing part .

It's saying , like I know that these are the days where it all goes to shit for me . Okay , well , if it all goes to shit for you that day , then like let's figure out the days before and why we got there .

Or if we know that day is going to be like that , how do we put some things in place to help you relax about it , maybe to make room for the things that you just know you're going to have to fit in that day . What can we plan ahead of time ? What can we anticipate ? What can we put in place where it doesn't feel like things go off the rails ?

Maybe we're adjusting the rails to make room for some of this mess that you got going on . Maybe we are saying like , oh , that's going to be the day you have that comfort food , because it really helps on that day , and then the next day you move on and you've got something else going on .

We have to learn to be flexible and to identify our patterns and our limiting beliefs . That's the only way we're going to make real change .

The other kind of change that we make is tends to be structural , tends to be something that like , yes , it is a thing that we've changed , but how are we able to maintain it , are we able to really adopt it in our life , if it doesn't come with the planning and the thought and the mindset shift ?

So I think in a lot of cases , this is why you need help , because somebody can usually see from the outside things that are harder for you to see . And I do that as a nutrition coach by asking questions .

Ideally , I'm trying not to put words in your mouth and I'm trying not to assume anything , because I'm listening to what you say and then I'm simply asking questions about could this strategy work ? This is what I hear . Do you think that this is something that could work ? And if you don't have somebody doing that for you , how can you do that for yourself ?

Can you make some observations this week about those limiting beliefs ? Can you write down those hurdles and then work backwards and go why is this a hurdle for me ? What thoughts are getting in my way and what reactive actions are making this happen ?

So , if we can get around and think about the thoughts and start to figure out how we might change the thoughts , and then how can we be proactive in implementing whatever kind of change we want to implement . Those are the two things you're going to do , so that's your homework .

You're going to sit there and I want you to think about that question that I asked what's your biggest hurdle ?

And now I've given you the answer already , but I want you to think about that second biggest hurdle , that thing that you do want to change , whether it's a kind of food you feel out of control on , or some behaviors that aren't working for you , or the thing that feels like it's standing between you and your goals . And then I want you to write it down .

And then I want you to think about the thought that is associated with it , that might be standing in your way , and then I want you to think about the actions that could be more proactive to address it .

And that doesn't mean that you're getting rid of it or we're being proactive , which sometimes means allowing for more of those behaviors , because if we can allow for certain kinds of foods , if we're not restricting certain kinds of foods or we're not restricting certain amounts of foods , or we're not restricting certain tastes or things like that , we can make room

for them in smaller amounts and have less binging or have less out-of-control feeling or have less dissatisfaction with our nutrition as a whole , so that we can have greater success in the long term . I think that will really transform the way that you eat and the way you think about nutrition as it relates to getting to your goals .

So be kind with yourself , but realize where your own brain is holding you back . And then I want you to really think about how you can be proactive . How can you include these things ? How can you include these things ? How can you anticipate these things ?

How can you make life easier for yourself when you're not in the throes of stress or hunger or disappointment or something like that ? All right , as always . Thank you so much for listening . You know where to contact me if you've got questions or you're interested about talking things over more .

You can email me Betsy at BeFosterStrongcom that's the letter B , fosterstrongcom or you can send me an Instagram DM . I'm at Foster underscore Strength . More episodes for you coming . Stay tuned . If you love an episode , share it . If you want to leave a rating or review , those are always appreciated .

All right , until next time , go build your strongest body and I'll talk to you soon . Bye .