A 2008 University of North Carolina survey found that 75 percent of American women surveyed endorsed some unhealthy thoughts, feelings, or behaviors related to food or their bodies.
I’m certain, based on what I hear in my office, that things have only evolved since that survey, and it’s not for the better!
My last 2 podcasts have had a theme, and it’s all about binge eating and food noise because most women I see are not satisfied with their bodies EVEN after we get them to a balanced state physically!
And every day in my practice, I hear women say, “I hate my …insert body part… or the way …insert body part… looks.”
Or, “I’m not in a good place with my relationship to XYZ.”
I’m no saint here either. I’ve said horrible things to my body and have only learned to love it, find wonder, and feel awe for the amazing things that it does every day over the last few years.
You’ve likely heard the phrase: “your cells hear what you’re saying,” and maybe you rolled your eyes at the statement like I did at first.
BUT, if your cells hear what you’re saying, this means they react by triggering your nervous system to go on high alert, preventing you from taking deep breaths and constricting your fascial tissue and muscles.
If you read my email from yesterday, I talked about how constriction from not taking deep breaths and tight fascia help the body store fat.
The constriction also messes with your organ function and circulation as a whole.
I want to inspire you to heal your body and mind because an optimized body means nothing when you don’t feel comfortable in it!
My podcast guest this week has an inspiring story, and it’s what had me ask her to come on my podcast.
Belinda Jean Whittle, aka BJ, lost 85 pounds by repairing her relationship with food while working to overcome ovarian cancer.
No medications or supplements, not even a trial with a GLP.
She’s now a food peace and mindset coach who helps midlife women work through their food noise.
The best thing about BJ is she’s super real. She’s not done with her weight loss, and she’s the first one to tell you that she’s taking a pause right now to maintain her progress and help others get started on theirs.
BJ is a foodie. She loves food and talking about food.
A lot of people think they have to give up being a food connoisseur to lose weight!
When I met her at a retreat a few weeks ago, she was holding a delicious-looking grilled chicken salad with all the veggie fixings and a custom oil, vinegar, and spice dressing she had the staff curate for her at this tiny restaurant in the middle of nowhere Illinois.
I’d just left the same place with a basic double veggie, minimal cheese pizza because I didn’t have the gumption to ask the folks if they would customize any of their sandwiches or burgers.
What’s even better is they didn’t even have salads or grilled chicken on the menu!
And BJ had them create something healthy and delicious, while I had a gross pizza that I only ate one bite of and picked off the veggies to have some sustenance.
Plus, she said she had a craving for a grilled chicken salad, so that’s why she asked them. She wasn’t even trying to get a salad because it’s the “dieters’ go-to” meal option!
When most weight loss gurus talk about counting macros, avoiding inflammatory foods, and all the creative ways to get in protein, BJ is all about making food choices that are relatively healthy and satisfying.
Her secret?
She discovered what she needed to satisfy her hunger and her palate.
How many times have you ordered a basic chicken salad with a 1/2 palm of chicken on it, 6 cherry tomatoes, 4 round slices of cucumber, a pinch of shredded carrot, and a ring of red onion, no cheese or croutons, topped it with balsamic vinegar only, and felt you needed a bag of chips (and not the 1 oz bag for ants) to go with it because you weren’t even close to feeling satisfied?
Just typing that has me thinking of all the times I had that meal and found myself trying to satisfy my hunger with ice cream, chips, and more chips.
It’s the perfect setup for a snac-cident!
So what if you didn’t have to give up the foods you love, but instead find a workaround to achieve satisfaction from smaller portions, giving yourself permission to indulge every so often while working on getting to the bottom of your portions and binges?
Last week’s podcast with Laurie Hammer talked all about her overcoming binging using specific neurochemical-supporting amino acids, and the week prior Dr. Andrea Maxim talked more on mindset around food.
Because food and body issues aren’t a one-size-fits-all situation, I think it’s important to explore all your options and see what fits best for you.
Weight loss GLPs — Glucagon-Like Peptides — are bandaids when it comes to shutting off food noise. You have to utilize them to teach you where you’ve been struggling the most.
Then get the help you need to repair your relationship with food and your body.
This way, you don’t need to keep going up on dosage, and you can stop them or use them on a micro level to counter life’s inflammation-inducing factors.
BJ dives deep into her binging, caring for herself during cancer, while also taking care of aging parents.
It’s real, raw, and highlights the midlife struggles to maintain a healthy weight and body image.
Check out Episode 617 of The Health Fix Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, or head to my website doctorjkrausend.com and click on the podcast tab.
Here’s to finding foods that satisfy your brain and your body,
Dr. J
