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The Essential Four Phase Process to Understand Your Journey - Where are you at?
42 Plays1 year ago
Come hang today while I break down this important four phase process of shifting your health WHILE improving your relationship with food.
So often people are honing for the tips and tricks that will improve their health and relationship with food, but then find it only gets them so far…
if we do not take a holistic approach like this, OR if we just don’t UNDERSTAND the layers and STEPS needed, we are often stuck in a confusing and frustrating cycle of not knowing HOW or IF we can do more for our health, and fearing the overwhelm and triggers of what we “should” do.
Ya’ll, there is a PROCESS. There are considerations at every phase - physically and psychologically. There is mindset. There is skillset. There is knowledge.
THIS is how we shift.
Listen in.Come hang today while I break down this important four phase process of shifting your health WHILE improving your relationship with food.
So often people are honing for the tips and tricks that will improve their health and relationship with food, but then find it only gets them so far…
if we do not take a holistic approach like this, OR if we just don’t UNDERSTAND the layers and STEPS needed, we are often stuck in a confusing and frustrating cycle of not knowing HOW or IF we can do more for our health, and fearing the overwhelm and triggers of what we “should” do.
Ya’ll, there is a PROCESS. There are considerations at every phase - physically and psychologically. There is mindset. There is skillset. There is knowledge.
THIS is how we shift.
Listen in.
theresemartinezrd.com
@theresemartinezrd
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Transcript
Introduction: Eating Between the Lines
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Eating Between the Lines. I am your host, Therese Martinez, and I am so happy to have you here. If you want to untangle yourself from diet culture conditioning and get appropriate, actionable options to nourish your unique life and body, I'm going to dive deep into the nuanced spectrum of health to help you figure out what to prioritize in your journey without getting trapped in the extreme ideology of health optimization or total complacency. I am here to help you apply the science effectively, not rigidly, and get you feeling better in your body and mind. Here is how to eat between the lines.
Phases of Nutrition Improvement
00:00:47
Speaker
Today on the pod, we are talking about the phases of improving your nutrition. And this can kind of go with potentially health overall, but today I'm mostly just focusing on the phases in the nutrition component. We'll probably talk a little bit around the movement realm too, but it is all connected. So this is really important to understand you guys because I think a lot of times people don't really get and understand the potential complexities when it comes to really making identity shifts and long-term sustainable habits when it comes to
00:01:34
Speaker
your overall, you know, dietary patterns.
Identifying Nutrition Phases
00:01:37
Speaker
It seems like a lot of times people are seeking the tips and tricks to kind of help with their health here and there. And while I do believe those to be valuable, I think that the greater understanding and influence is often missed because many times those little tips and tricks don't really move the needle, right? There are many players. involved when it comes to making sustainable changes, when it comes to dietary habits and patterns. And I think it's really important to understand, you know, what phase you might be in, in the process, because they have different components.
Phase 1: Assessing Health Patterns
00:02:22
Speaker
There are different skill sets needed at certain phases. There is a different mindset needed at different phases and
00:02:30
Speaker
Ultimately, a person can also cycle through these different phases at different points in their lives, right? It's not necessarily like you just get through all of them and then you're good to go. There tends to be good amounts of revisiting certain phases as a person goes through life because life happens and you know, it can be hard to just build consistency always and forever more, right? So I want to dive into what these phases look like, at least working with myself. I think many practitioners, you know, in the nutrition realm have their own process. I think that these may parallel many of them, but I just want to touch on the details with my own approach so that people can kind of understand what this looks like on a whole.
00:03:22
Speaker
And then also maybe, you know, take it to whoever you're working with and see if they also have input with your own phase with where you're at. I like to think about this in four phases. And this first phase is probably the most complicated because there is so much to break down and kind of dismantle in this first phase in the psychological and physiological realms of health and nutrition. So meaning a person comes in and they have all of this wiring when it comes to dietary habits and patterns and what they should, shouldn't eat, you know, depending on their history with diet culture and wellness culture and
00:04:17
Speaker
the narratives they have coming in, there might be a good amount of psychological evaluation that we have to go through and also troubleshoot to figure out what the best first steps are for the individual. But keeping that in mind, there's also foundational steps when it comes to the physiological influences we have. So in this first phase, we are really, really focusing on limiting variables. When we have influences and variables like fluctuating blood sugars, poor sleep, stress, activity, cycles, sporadic meal patterns, meal timing, varying levels of hydration, these can all really influence our hunger cues.
00:05:10
Speaker
And our patterns of intake, right? So the goal is to kind of limit these influences so we can create clarity on what and how we actually feel and learn from those behaviors as they come.
Regular and Balanced Meals
00:05:27
Speaker
So if I give you kind of an example here, I mean, I've talked about eating patterns and how very important these things are. when it comes to our overall health, but I really don't think people understand truly the impact that these can have. But if, say I have someone that comes in and they feel like they really need some help with their intake in the evening, like they just feel like they always get so hungry at night and they want to minimize their binging tendencies or they feel out of control around certain foods,
00:06:04
Speaker
Well, minimizing variables means that we look at the rest of their intake throughout the rest of the day and perhaps see patterns of restriction and or limited intake, right? Maybe this person skips breakfast, they grab a coffee on their way to work, they might have a salad for lunch and then have a snack for between lunch and dinner and have some prepared meal for dinner and then feel super hungry in the evening. And with closer evaluation, we can see that, yeah, they're setting themselves up to be really hungry in the evening because they're not eating enough throughout the day, right? Maybe we also just see really sporadic intake, like
00:06:47
Speaker
Maybe they have a protein bar running out the door for breakfast and then they don't have a planned lunch. So one day they will go out to eat. The next day they will graze a bunch during the day and then. Maybe the day after that, they do have leftovers and so they do have a planned meal, but then their breakfast is always really inconsistent too. And so we just have so many variables. We have no idea what is actually happening with this person's intake that influences their energy patterns, their mental clarity, brain cognition, overall feelings of wellness.
Macronutrient Awareness
00:07:24
Speaker
And then additionally, whatever they're coming in to see me for.
00:07:28
Speaker
And so minimizing variables is really helpful when we're trying to actually get an accurate assessment of the nutrition a person is consuming and then create clarity on what other influences there might be that impact their gauges of health, right? And what they're trying to improve. So limiting variables, very important. So how do we do that? Well, we work on regular eating patterns with balanced meals. Now balanced meals has a big asterisk around it because that varies from person to person. But part of limiting variables looks like.
00:08:08
Speaker
balancing blood sugars, which can look like prioritizing protein at meals. It essentially means we're having a decent balance between our macronutrients, protein, fat, and carbohydrates, but protein has a tendency to be a little bit of a powerhouse when it comes to regulation of hunger, satiety, and blood sugars. So many times we can start with a protein focus. Many times people do. I mean, you can see this all across social media where there is just so much push for protein. And I definitely want to talk more about protein in another podcast, but I do believe it is a great.
00:08:47
Speaker
tool and again, a powerhouse macronutrient. It helps with loads of considerations with health, right? Lean body tissue preservation and promotion. And in addition to recovery, in addition to help with performance, in addition to those patterns of intake, the regulation of hunger, satiety, and blood sugar balance. And so starting with a focus on protein can be really helpful when we are looking at balancing meals to create regular eating patterns and minimizing variables. So many times we'll start with that, but then kind of titrate out, right? So I don't really like blanket statements when it comes to grams of protein, but there are ways that I calculate and recommend certain amounts of protein for an individual.
00:09:41
Speaker
And then we move out from there. So really important to kind of consider that. And then in addition to creating balanced meals, like I mentioned with the other macronutrients, you know, we want to look at carbohydrate sources. And so we do talk about complex carbohydrates versus simple carbohydrates and how those can influence blood sugar and energetics. And how it can be kind of helpful to look at carb to protein ratios sometimes at the beginning. And again, this also really depends on where a person is at.
00:10:16
Speaker
when it comes to their relationship with food, right? Sometimes we don't even talk about grams. Sometimes it's way more important just to get some visuals, just to get some education, some ah clarity around what the heck macronutrients are. I think I wanna back up a little bit actually because that is a big part of this first phase. So in addition to kind of assessing a person's relationship with food, we're also understanding where their knowledge base lies when it comes to nutrition. So there can be a lot of folks that come in having tracked their food for years and years and years and know what every single meal has in terms of grams of carbs fats and proteins and there can be people that have no idea what you know has what fat and what carbohydrate content they can have an idea. Many times it's very generic. Like we can understand that bread and pasta have carbohydrates and animal products have proteins. But beyond that, there can be limited education. So this first phase is actually a lot about developing
00:11:23
Speaker
awareness and knowledge base around macronutrients, micronutrients, and volume of meals and then how it impacts their overall patterns and their are ah health.
Hunger Cues and Mindfulness
00:11:36
Speaker
So it is foundational education. It's also identifying most prominent challenges like digestion. So sometimes It can be really helpful and important to dissect and dig into health ailments that might be compromising a person more than others.
00:11:56
Speaker
And so they can be helpful to address those first and foremost, but I really do believe more often than not, we have to limit variables also in that realm. Because again, if we are eating sporadically and we have no idea how much we're actually consuming on a regular basis and we can't really gauge the type of food and the like over the course of days and weeks that we have been consuming and what amount and all of that. A lot of times just getting more regular in the eating patterns and balancing meals can again help us create clarity with variables even along the lines of digestion. So it does vary from person to person. Sometimes we do have to have more acute interventions there, but um that's a big one. So
00:12:46
Speaker
First phase, limiting variables, overarching. But underneath that, we're also assessing relationship with food, understanding current knowledge base, and working on foundational education and developing awareness around the composition of our meals. So I really like to encourage folks to connect the dots of intake to hunger cues, satiety, and patterns. We're starting to check into our bodies more. We're starting to consider our hunger levels, consider our fullness levels, and also think about, you know, how we are feeling going into one meal and why that might be. You know, if I feel pretty hungry going into lunch and I consider what I had for breakfast and, you know, maybe
00:13:35
Speaker
Also, depending on the time between meals, I might think about, Hmm, okay. I was really hungry going into lunch. It makes sense to be hungry going into a meal. But what did I have for breakfast today? And do they actually feel pretty good between meals as well? Okay. My breakfast was eggs and avocado toast. And actually, yeah, I felt really good after that. Okay. And I am pretty hungry going into lunch now and that's okay because it's lunchtime, but sometimes we feel ravenous going into a meal and maybe an hour more prior. And then we check back in and say, Hey, what did I have for breakfast? Okay. That's right. It was.
00:14:15
Speaker
you know, a protein shaker and a yogurt running out the door. And that might work for one person and it might not for another. So this is again, just connecting those dots and understanding one's own patterns, right? How did I feel going into dinner today when I, you know, skipped breakfast and just grazed all day? How did that affect how I ate at dinner and how did it affect how I ate after dinner? You know, when was I snacking the most? What are my tendencies for snacking? So it's a lot of creating awareness around your own behaviors. And again, developing more of that knowledge base with carbs, fats, and proteins. I think a lot of people think they also know a lot around macronutrients. And while that might be true because of, again, so much tracking for so long,
00:15:03
Speaker
I think that there actually is a lot of variance when it comes to types of carbs, fats, and proteins that people don't really understand and the difference with how those may impact individuals, right? It's kind of coming away from numbers and getting a little bit more in tune to the body in a different respect. So I really liked this phase. I think it's just really fun to see how people get curious around their intake and have a lot of aha moments, but it can also be a little bit of a slow, frustrating process for people because they're starting to dig into their behaviors and maybe the why around behaviors and just tendencies and patterns without actual like concrete
00:15:51
Speaker
significant changes with what they are doing. And that can be a little bit, I don't know, it's just slower, right? It can just feel a little bit longer of a process in that sense. So one thing to note with those patterns, you know, and, and the developing the balanced meals, one of the things I like to do is just start with one, just start with one meal. Depending on the person, it can start like maybe just working on mindset first too, but this is again to help prevent the anxiety of overwhelm and create a little bit more of a habit and limit variables in this regard. Right. So if we go in and we start to try to change every single meal at once, I mean, one, that can be really hard for people and two,
00:16:43
Speaker
It adds variables. It, if we're changing everything. So I like to sort of just change breakfast first. Like what happens when we have adequate protein at breakfast and we keep it pretty balanced here? And then how do you feel going into lunch? And what does that look like then for dinner and then thereafter? And okay, let's get this going for a couple of weeks and then we can get into lunch and we're so still creating this awareness. We're still understanding and trying to develop more connection to what we are consuming, how it makes us feel, et cetera. And, and then we build upon that. And so a theme throughout all of these phases is something called building your database. And that is learning more about what foods and meals can be created that suit you, your pallet, your family's pallet, um, you know, skillset time, et cetera. And it gets you a little bit more comfortable in the kitchen.
00:17:39
Speaker
Sometimes when we're trying to improve patterns, it can also look like, Hey, I can't figure out what the heck to make for lunch. So I'm going to order factory meals for lunch. I'm going to just focus on creating a helpful breakfast that I know I can make, and I'm going to have factory meals for lunch. And then we can figure out something for dinner with the family. And that is totally fine with me. I am an advocate actually for creating ease when it comes to nutrition. There is nothing wrong with those ah more convenient options. There might be considerations I have around them and the longevity and sustainability of incorporation of them, but you know, especially initially limiting the variables. They can be very, very helpful.
Small Intentional Changes
00:18:24
Speaker
Okay. So when we're looking at this first phase,
00:18:28
Speaker
We're really trying to encourage that intentionality and getting intentional and proactive versus reactive and impulsive. That's another big theme with this first phase. And it will be a theme that tracks through all phases, honestly, but right, we're kind of building upon all of this as we go through the phases. Many times if a person just follows a meal plan or is kind of told what to do right off the bat, they can get super reliant on those directions and not really understand the why behind the recommendation. So I think about this in the sense of I use this analogy all the time.
00:19:05
Speaker
I think I maybe mentioned in a previous podcast, but you know, if you're following a meal plan or a diet plan, it's like putting directions into your GPS and just following them blindly. You know, you are turning left, turning right. It reminds me of that episode of The Office where Michael like drives into the lake because ah the GPS gal was like, turn left. And it was a ways up and he decided to turn left and Dwight was like, no, no, no. And it's a similar thing, right? So we have no idea why we are doing what we are doing. We are following the directions blindly. And when this happens, we get to our destination, we turn back and we're like, what the heck just happened? How did I get here? What did I do? Why did I do it? Can I do this again? And many times it's really hard. It's really hard and it creates narratives of
00:19:55
Speaker
restriction and challenges for folks that aren't realistic. And so understanding the why, creating mindfulness around what you are doing is a huge, huge part of this first phase. And getting more mindful, getting more curious and aware is, ah is so important when we are trying to create more autonomy over what we are doing. We're trying to understand the why. behind our food intake and how it impacts us.
Phase 2: Meal Composition and Personalization
00:20:23
Speaker
Very important. So once a person has established consistent eating patterns and has increased knowledge base to be able to identify the different components of a meal, they prioritize protein intake regularly, things like that. We then are able to move into the next phase. So this is the phase that we start to
00:20:47
Speaker
titrate and adjust meal composition while expanding the database of options for folks. So phase two, this is where we start to look at different macronutrient ratios. I mentioned before kind of titrating out from that original amount of protein. Um, we explore awareness around what blend of foods a person feels the best consuming. This is also where a lot of troubleshooting challenges and obstacle navigation happens. You know, we're really trying to work on consistency. We're trying to work on consistency the whole time, but it's really hard. And especially as we're developing skills of how to apply recommendations, it can be really challenging to be consistent. And so this is kind of a phase where there's a lot more troubleshooting.
00:21:38
Speaker
And again, that can happen in the first phase. We're just sort of looking at foundations and observations in the first one and trying to limit those variables. In this next phase, we are expanding the database out, right? So this is where we really. start to explore incorporation of foods that also may have previously been off limits for folks, right? So sometimes in that first phase, people come in a little bit weary of, you know, just any and all recommendations of maybe some fear foods that they might have. And so we tried lightly with that in that first phase. And this might be a phase in the second one where we are
00:22:21
Speaker
looking at incorporating some different foods in that realm. Again, there's so many layers in the, with the psychology. ah around food and relationship with food that it is, we tread lightly throughout the whole process of these different phases with where a person is at. And I want to reiterate that where it's not just these blanketed recommendations, but these are kind of more general phases that we go through. So always, always, always like reflecting into that psychological component. You know, I incorporate a decent amount of intuitive eating skills into
00:22:56
Speaker
my practice in addition to dialectic behavioral therapy, um, just depending on the person. And so sometimes that is just more of a priority than focusing just on the food, but these are kind of the food phases too. So. In this second phase, we are also digging into more specifics with your needs, right? So but maybe yeah you need to adjust the composition of your meals to be a little more anti-inflammatory based off of the manifestations of your symptoms or more digestively supportive to cater to, you know, digestive distress or other conditions that you may have. So.
00:23:35
Speaker
A lot of times many symptoms can be alleviated or decreased with that first phase, like I mentioned before, but now we are starting to create clarity around when and why those symptoms may persist. So we may dive into knowledge base around other pillars of health here as well, right? Minimizing variables. If we kind of minimize the variable of nutrition, now we have the other pillars and the other big influencers.
Movement and Health Regulation
00:24:02
Speaker
of symptoms that come into play that we need to evaluate, assess, and try to improve more or less. So those pillars look like movement, stress, and sleep. I definitely like to talk about movement. I want to talk about all of these initially either way, but movement, hand stress, and sleep, honestly. but
00:24:26
Speaker
Movement tends to be a little bit of an easier, very big, quote unquote, easier, uh, option for folks to work on in low hanging fruit fashion, right? So movement can also help regulate hunger cues in a very effective fashion. It also helps regulate blood sugars, which helps minimize variables, right? And so I like to talk about movement in that first phase, but it just depends on the person and their capacity. And many times thinking about too much at once does not actually serve a person for long-term changes. So ah movement may be addressed a little bit more in the second phase and just things like walking, things like kind of understanding maybe how you are moving.
00:25:11
Speaker
helping or hurting your progress? Are you recovering? Well, are you stressing your body out more? You know, what are considerations of the timing of the exercise that you're doing when it comes to you know, maybe a person's waking up really early to work out and it is compromising their sleep too much. So We definitely dive into that. You know, I've been doing personal training for, I don't, gosh, um, almost 13 years now. And so this is a favorite topic of mine as well. I love doing programming stuff for folks when it comes to workouts, but I also really love.
00:25:49
Speaker
Just helping people find ways to move their body that feels good. And again, depending on the person and depending on their relationship with movement, right? So often people have learned to exercise, to manipulate ah body aesthetics. And I really try to pull people away from that motive and understand the benefits of exercise on a whole and reestablish their relationship with it, you know? It is so amazing to find activity that you enjoy that moving where moving your body feels good. And I just, ah I just feel like people have missed the mark so much when it comes to exercise and movement. And it has become such this chore for folks.
00:26:32
Speaker
when in reality it is just a beautiful, beautiful thing in many
Maintaining Dietary Consistency
00:26:36
Speaker
ways. And so we talk about movement a little bit more in this phase. And then we will also look at ways to create more consistency troubleshooting those obstacles, right? So there's a lot of kind of tips and input I have around creating more consistency that we go over. I've talked about a few of these in previous podcasts, but you know, how to manage travel and vacations and different seasons, right? The barbecues, the wedding season, the holiday seasons, the things like that. And what just comes up in a person's life, right? Maybe it's just a busier time of year for the individual. And so we,
00:27:23
Speaker
Just talk about ways to navigate all of those and talk about food. We really, I have a lot of resources for folks when it comes to recipes. Um, there's different considerations around like meal prepping and planning that we go over. So talking about meal prep personalities, does a person like to batch prep things? Do you like leftovers? Are you okay cooking a little bit at the beginning of the week? Do you like to do it throughout the week? And this is really important to go over with people because it helps them create more consistency and it helps them understand how they can simplify intake to promote those regular eating patterns of balanced meals that then create consistency over time. And we troubleshoot ways to make food tastes better with different seasonings and sauces, you know, so we get into the nitty gritty application of this and
00:28:22
Speaker
That's a lot of phase two.
Phase 3: Nutrient Density Focus
00:28:24
Speaker
So phase three is now where we come back to the quality of the food. So this takes a little bit more of a look at dialing in micro nutrient content. So phase two can look like incorporation of more convenience items and options that support the macro nutrients that a person is trying to balance. in their meals. So I think about this a lot like protein bars and protein shakes and I don't know maybe even different fiber supplement products and things like that.
00:29:02
Speaker
And while those are and like, I'm not poo pooing on those, they definitely have their place. I find that sometimes it's still, when we, when we pull back to the whole food forms of these macronutrients, it can be a little bit, ah have a little bit of a different, more positive effect on a person because of the micronutrient profile of the whole foods versus the synthetic forms. And this is not always true. And, you know, when it comes to health, there are many variables. And so I like to note that where this isn't too shame or anyone into when they're using these foods. We again, just look at the whole picture.
00:29:38
Speaker
Look at patterns overall. I personally am someone that does not feel near associated with a protein bar as I do with like, you know, eggs, but that doesn't mean that protein bars don't have their place and can't be wonderful for many people. And I also mentioned convenience options. I'm a big fan of convenience foods. I think ah some convenience options may be a little bit less nutritious than others. So phase three is where we work to improve the nutrient density. and quality and content of the food that we are consuming. So that does look mean looking at micronutrient content more. And so this is also where more flexibility may be applied, though we are generally allowing, absolutely allowing that throughout, meaning there can be an emphasis on noting how not every meal needs to be totally balanced because the bulk of intake and patterns
00:30:35
Speaker
are what we are looking at the most, right? So I like to talk about that too, because many people can find, they just like rules. They like rules and rigidity when it comes to nutrition. They want to just know that they're doing everything right. And so when I talk about macronutrient ratios and getting protein at most meals or every meal, you know, people will take it like gold and they'll be like, all right, I got to hit 30 grams of protein at every single meal. And if I don't, All hell will break loose. And that's not the goal. Getting the protein in at most meals is minimizing variables. And when you don't have it at certain meals, you take note about how did that make you feel? Sometimes I'm going to want a cheese bagel for breakfast and I'm going to know that it has no to little protein in it. And you know, I can then have the intentionality behind the decision to be like, okay,
00:31:31
Speaker
I know that when I have a breakfast without much protein, I tend to get pretty hungry in an hour or two thereafter. I know it can definitely impact the rest of my day's intake as well. Now I also know that if I restrict my intake and I don't listen to this craving, then it can kind of shift this relationship I have with this food and put it on a pedestal. And I just don't love that either. So how can I, bring these two worlds together. You know, some days I'm going to say, you know, I have a podcast to record and in a couple hours and I don't want that energy crash. So I'm actually probably just going to have like a couple eggs and, you know, maybe some fruit and.
00:32:15
Speaker
avocado, whatever it is, for breakfast. And ah and maybe some days I'm like, okay, I think I'm going to have half a bagel and a couple eggs, alternatively. And maybe someday I'm like, yeah, I think I'm going to have the whole bagel still. I am okay with that. I'm just going to make sure I'm prioritizing a snack in a little bit and staying proactive with the rest of my meals today, because otherwise I know I might be chasing a little bit of that. And the power of the satisfaction factor is huge. Many times when people listen to their body and they kind of honor the cravings, it will be just as satiating as having a more balanced meal. And so that's also something to take note of. I think it's really important for people to take note of that, honestly.
Creative Meal Prep and Micronutrients
00:32:58
Speaker
And because we just, people just like rules when it comes to nutrition. And it's important to recognize it doesn't always have to be so rigid.
00:33:08
Speaker
But knowing how you can feel when you apply certain food consumption and nutrient density, then just again gives you the option and opportunity to make decisions based off of that versus guilt, shame, and all the shitting of the world. Right. So. Phase three looks at increasing whole foods. It again looks at potentially shifting the composition of your meals. It looks at getting more creative with food and incorporation of different ingredients. Right. I talk a lot about diversifying intake to promote and in ensure adequate micronutrient levels in the body. Right. So we are looking at.
00:33:55
Speaker
improving metabolic health, improving the way our body just works on a whole, how it produces energy, how it recovers cell turnover, all of those things by increasing micronutrient load. I mean, I've talked about this so many times, but, you know, macronutrients influence patterns and micronutrients influence conditions. Okay. Macronutrients can influence things like, blood sugar and hunger regulation and sometimes aesthetics, um, performance recovery, things like that. But micronutrients really impact the way your whole body feels. I mean, you can hit your macronutrients eating halo top ice cream, you know, it's not going to make you feel super good. That's an extreme example, but it is really helpful to take note of that, right? That kind of brings me back to the whole synthetic forms of all of these macronutrients just to get
00:34:52
Speaker
the macros, it's like, well, yes, they still have nutrients in them and they can still absolutely impact those big considerations in terms of patterns. It's just overall, I just really like to help people incorporate more micronutrients into their diet because I find that it is just, it just moves the needle in a different fashion versus just the focus on. I don't know, weight and things that many people look at.
Refining Food Relationships
00:35:20
Speaker
So ah this can look like, you know, making your own bone broth or different recipes for salad dressings or other, your own helpful concoctions. I have so many favorite food bloggers I love to refer out to. I also show some things on social media and definitely not stellar at that. I haven't like refined recipes and I i think that that's probably a big holdup. I'm just a person that just tends to be creative on the fly and so that's a lot of reason why I don't share my own but there are some food bloggers out there that are amazing and I love referring people out to them. I do go over my own spices that I have and my own seasonings that I use regularly and I think that that can be super helpful for folks too. I always have them like all around my desk going over
00:36:12
Speaker
Uh, in sessions and such, but it's really helpful, right? It's so helpful to understand how to create simple meals that are super tasty and, you know, work within someone's palette and, uh, time. And so that's a lot around phase three. Again, we may go over some of these things in the previous phases. It just depends on where a person is at when it comes to their own skillsets. And so. Phase three is also where we might, you know, dial in those other pillars of health. Maybe we are reevaluating the movement, trialing different options with exercise. Maybe we're also focusing on stress and sleep management, right? Sometimes there are supplements that are discussed in phase three that can kind of catalyze and improve symptom pictures for folks. And, you know, this is also where we are, I don't know, looking at
00:37:10
Speaker
Diet culture and wellness culture motives. Um, I mean, that really looks, I like to talk about that in all phases, but I like to, you know, it just depends on if a person is more receptive to it in this third phase, basically. Um, because of those other phases being so important and just building, building some foundations. So we are continuing to create more connection to our body and our body's needs, right? So we're building upon these other habits from the first and second phases. We are looking at the energetics behind the food we are consuming. So we're we're examining if there's anxiety, guilt, shame, excitement, mindlessness, mindfulness around what what we consume
00:37:54
Speaker
And when we consume the food, we will probably have talked about this in previous phases, but this is again, just refining the observations, the mindfulness, the connection. We are also looking at untangling and rewiring, you know, motives around diet and wellness culture to create more freedom with what we consume in an intentional and educated fashion. Right. So, uh, some components of intuitive eating coming in here that might correlate with something called gentle nutrition. You know, and looking at how to nourish our body while also understanding our previous motives and trying to allow different foods in that again may have been off limits
Phase 4: Habit Maintenance and Growth
00:38:38
Speaker
before. I know I mentioned that in phase two, but this is again.
00:38:42
Speaker
just additional and reintroduction of some of those things. And I think in a way that, that helps create a little bit more balance with our intake, right? So foods in phase two may not have been super fear foods for folks, you know, it might've been some foods like just some more carbohydrates or something, um, incorporated in. And in phase three, maybe it is looking at more foods that have felt far more off limits. And so there might be something called, you know, habituation that also comes into play here. Things like incorporation of desserts or, um, maybe, you know, chips or something like that, but it just depends on the person and the appropriateness of that as well. So phase three continues to work on those things, continues to provoke self-reflection and while building that more helpful relationship with food.
00:39:35
Speaker
And understanding food for the nourishment that it provides you, you know, the appreciation of it by getting your hands dirty. You're in the kitchen, and potentially, and really reaping the rewards of increasing overall new nutritional content in the diet now, not having these rigid rules about what you cannot consume um and what you should not consume. So phase four is all about maintenance and continued development of the database. This is where your identity shift kind of happens. You know, this is where comfort level really increases with application. This is where confidence starts to form and we're, you know, preoccupation diminishes.
00:40:16
Speaker
This is also where a person understands that there is still a level of effort and intentionality needed to make the shift, um, happen and to continue the process, right? I think so many times we want to be like, okay, got it done. I am here. Let's go. Let's move on to the next thing in life. And this is a continued process, right? We have new challenges, new obstacles that come up throughout our life, throughout different seasons of our life. And, It's important to understand that we need to continue to apply skills that can help combat those challenges and obstacles or help us navigate them at least. Right. And so this is a process that continues, but you get better at it, right? It's like you, you get better at and navigating these obstacles. You get less.
00:41:03
Speaker
less prone to being derailed and susceptible to having these long-term setbacks because you develop the strategies and skill sets to get through them. And so really, really important to understand that as well. um
00:41:24
Speaker
So like a couple other examples actually, you know, with these foundational habits developed, we, we may not get so sidetracked and fall back into those old habits because we've put in the work to figure out and understand our behaviors and what. can and does work for us in an enjoyable fashion, right? so a go So we throughout this process will figure out like, you know, I am so stressed out right now. I don't have time to prep and plan as much as I want, but I do know that I do well with X, Y, and Z balance of meals. And I can go back to ideas developed previously of super easy meals to make. Um, and maybe these are going to be more shelf stable or frozen that I can apply in these, in those times.
00:42:11
Speaker
Or maybe it's like, I only have the capacity to focus on a breakfast at this time. And I know that that's going to be fine. And maybe if I can just focus on my patterns of intake and with the, you know, low hanging
Sustainable Dietary Changes
00:42:24
Speaker
fruit here. So if I can prep or plan a balanced breakfast and I can plan a lunch that also has the balance that I know I need for improved patterns. So whether that's a prioritization of protein and fiber or color or volume of food, maybe that's like, you know, right now factor meals, going for factor meals for lunch, and I'm going to have a balanced breakfast. And that way I've got 66% of my day dialed in and I can try to recruit some help for my evenings, or I can try to maybe go to some simpler meals that I've learned from in the past. That's what this is about trying to, um, figure out. So that's.
00:43:06
Speaker
what ah this can look like when we are applying the skills that we have learned and working through some of those challenges that come later on.
00:43:18
Speaker
I do want to note that there are also considerations around resources and finances and capacity for folks and these recommendations and these phases can still work for many, many people. Um, but those that really want a faster way to health, I think these phases can be a little bit more frustrating. Um, I just, in my experience have found that they're super effective when it comes to more sustainable change. And honestly, when it comes to creating a better relationship with food that also promotes nourishment, I think so often people think about a better relationship with food, meaning complacency with food intake. And that's just not what it is. Right. Like, and I, when I say that, I mean, when they complacency with food intake, like it's just unhealthy food. Like maybe you have a better relationship with it, but you eat whatever, whenever, and
00:44:13
Speaker
you know, you're unhealthy or whatever. And that's just not the case. Like you can have a really great relationship with food while also caring about the food that you're putting into your body and wanting to nourish it in a in a way that makes you feel good.
Complexity of Behavioral Change
00:44:30
Speaker
And I also don't think that there's anything wrong with having a great relationship with food and not eating nutrient dense foods, right? Because there's other pillars to health and people can do what they want with their bodies. So I do believe it is important to acknowledge the complexity that is behavioral change with nutrition and the importance of limiting variables, creating intentionality, developing a database, and working on the psychological influences that dictate what you consume and why. If we miss those pieces, it just kind of makes sense that we fall into cycles or complacency with our health.
Conclusion and Engagement
00:45:07
Speaker
So um these are the four phases that I utilize with patients in my practice and working for nourish. So curious to know what phase you think you are in. Per usual, please reach out if you have any questions. I would always appreciate a review and or sharing this with anyone you feel like may benefit. It is just really important for me to get this word out, you know, try to help more people in a free
00:45:44
Speaker
Fashion and podcasts are really great for that. So would love, love, love, love, love that. I appreciate you listening. Appreciate you being here and I will talk to you next time. Thank you so much for listening today. If you found this information valuable, please share this episode and give it a review. They truly help a ton. If you want additional support and information, you can head over to my website, teresmartinezrd.com. where you can snag my free guide on how to improve your hunger signals, get on my email list for regular juicy content, or apply for the next round of my signature program, restoring nutrition intuition. Otherwise, Instagram at teresmartinasrd or my Facebook group fed fit and fad free nutrition with teres are always places for more content and support until next time.
00:46:41
Speaker
you