Confident Eaters

Georgie: [00:00:00] After dinner, I make this smoothie bowl, said Katya. I put cereal and nut butter on it and I just love it. I look forward to it. It's so filling and tasty, but then it can get outta hand. The intended portion can set off wanting more cereal, and then I'm in the pantry eating granola or cookies. I get far beyond the comfortable fullness mark, and I am miserable going to bed.

Katya is a perfect example of some of the lasting effects that happen to people who suffered from disordered eating habits or dieted too hard for too long. Feeling dependent on high volume meals with tons of vegetables. Does that sound like you? Eating a healthy but very repetitive diet without too much variety.

Again, is that familiar? Routinely eating far past full until you're bloated, especially on foods which are low in calorie density because those feel safe. Katya doesn't [00:01:00] want to go to bed with a stomach ache every night, nor does she wanna spend her whole day thinking about these giant smoothie bowls and debating whether she should have it or resist the desire for it.

Listen in as we talk about what's going on and discuss some changes Katya can make to help her meet her goals.

Thank you so much for being willing to share your story and journey with everybody listening.

Katya: Yeah. Thank you.

Georgie: Tell me about how the last few nights went. I know to recap, you had said that a lot of times you eat dinner until you're full, but then you still wanna have this smoothie bowl and cereal afterward, but then it takes you to over full.

Katya: I know it's, it's so [00:02:00] silly. But I just, I really do love that smoothie bowl. But I think part of it is just, that's been a habit and a routine for like years. So I've been, I trying to kind of decide in my mind like, am I doing this just because it's my routine and it's a habit, and is this like a habit that I might want to replace with a habit that serves me better? Or is this what I want my night to look like, you know? And so I feel like I've had like a lot of back and forth and in the daytime I'm like, I think that's not what I want my night to look like, you know, feeling like I've already had a full dinner, I'm satisfied. And then, Why do I feel the need to go back and have this big smoothie bowl, and, and I could be doing something else like reading or taking a walk with my family or, there are lots of other good writing in my gratitude journal, things I could be doing as a wind down.

So in [00:03:00] the day, I usually feel like, ah, I think maybe that's an okay habit. It's been fine and, and I'm free to enjoy it if I choose, but there might be better things for me to build a routine around. But then in the like afternoon, I start to feel like, Ooh, am I not having my smoothie bowl tonight? You know, like then I start to feel like a little bit of like, well, I don't want restriction and I wanna look forward to my smoothie. So then I start like an internal kind of tug of war a little bit. And I mentioned in the coaching group, all the lessons have been so wonderful and so helpful. But especially this week, something just clicked with me in the thought of like dropping the rope. And I think part of what bothers me about the nighttime snack and the smoothie bowl isn't even like whether or not I'm having the smoothie bowl, it's the energy that I spend all day in my mind leading up to should I

Georgie: Debating.

Katya: Or [00:04:00] shouldn't I have my smoothie bowl? Like who cares? Have it or don't have it. Like, it's not, it's not a, a binge, it's a, a fine, healthy snack for me to have now leading to the point of being over full is something i, I want to work on, but in principle, I, I could eat a, a slightly smaller dinner and save room for the smoothie bowl if I felt like that was something I really wanted. But I think I was recognizing like part of why I am feeling frustrated or feeling like I'm spending so much energy is like the mental debate in my mind about like, should I or shouldn't I?

Should I, shouldn't I? And sometimes I think I might be having it just to end the debate.

Georgie: Totally. Yeah.

Katya: Like last night I had, we had been texting. For a couple days. And so I, you know, I've been working through my night routine and so I had a plan yesterday like, okay, I think I'm gonna just try the cocoa after dinner.

I'll have my smoothie bowl in the afternoon, so I still get to [00:05:00] enjoy a smoothie bowl. I love the cereal on top. And putting the cereal in the baggies was one strategy I got from the Facebook group that was, has been so helpful because previously, Like those smoothie bowls in the evening, I'd put some cereal on and then I kind of wouldn't want like the evening eating to stop.

So I'd go back and put some more cereal and I certainly wasn't hungry, but then, you know, I'd fill it with more cereal, maybe a little more nut butter, and then I'm like, oh, well I already, you know, went way over what I intended to have. So that's when I would raid the pantry for like the cookies and the muffins and whatever.

So that cycle has actually gotten better since joining the coaching program. So that's a huge win.

Georgie: I'm so glad, so glad.

Katya: But I think I've been spending a lot of mental energy trying to decide. It's just like an internal battle. So the, anyway, the idea of just like dropping the rope was really helpful to me.

And I [00:06:00] wonder if maybe I do want to just drop the rope and say like, no, I'm not gonna debate. I've decided in, the morning, I don't feel good at night when I go to bed over full and my belly's bloated, and that doesn't really serve a purpose and it's, it's not really aligning with my values. The, the only positive I guess I'm getting from that is I enjoy the smoothie bowl, but I mean, what is that 10, 15 minutes Like I could do yoga for 10 or 15 minutes for enjoyment and not go to bed with a stomach ache. Right? But I guess it's part of like the habit and the routine and then I have that desire for it, and then I'm fighting the desire and then that makes it like a way bigger deal.

Georgie: Yeah.

Katya: Than what it really is.

Georgie: Yeah.

Katya: So, yeah. Sorry.

Georgie: And I can understand like tasty food is in some ways like higher octane pleasure than doing yoga or reading.

Katya: Right.

Georgie: And it's like, you know, [00:07:00] this yoga's great and all, but that smoothie bowl's really tasty!

Katya: Yeah. It has some chocolate, some peanut butter, some crunchy cereal.

Georgie: Yeah.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: So I'm glad that you're recognizing like this is that you have made a lot of progress in other areas, like when many people join our program or work with us one-on-one to stop binge eating. They almost feel like they haven't gotten it until they're doing no eating whatsoever that they don't feel a hundred percent great about.

Katya: Right.

Georgie: And that's true. What happens is you still eat food, like you'll still have eating occasions where you may feel like you've lost control or you're eating for an emotional reason that you just don't love.

Katya: Mm-hmm.

Georgie: But instead of eating, I. The smoothie bowl and a bag of cereal, and another bag of cereal, and then going to chips and cookies and muffins,

Katya: Right.

Georgie: You just trim off the tail end.

Katya: Yeah, so that is progress.

Georgie: The first three quarters of it happens and you skip the last [00:08:00] quarter, and then you're able to dial it back and it's like the first two thirds happen and we're skipping the next third, and then the first half happens.

So it sort of gets better from the tail end.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: Where it's, you know, downsizing, the, the excessive eating. Okay. So you're right on track to eventually get this out of your life if you want it to be.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: So I just wanna drive that home and we've talked before about how from a value standpoint, you like the idea of having other things in your life that bring you joy, that help you unwind. And it's okay if food is one of those things. We just don't be the only thing. I think I said that before.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: So it can ease the transition to still have something in like the taste Bud, pleasure sense. Work on decreasing how over full you're going to bed. So one thing I wanted to ask you is like, can you make a smaller smoothie bowl? Like can you make half a smoothie bowl?

Katya: Yeah, I could.

Georgie: Okay. So [00:09:00] that could be a really good way of thinking about it.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: You might say, if I'm doing this for a meal and I want the whole damn thing, then I'm gonna do it. But I already had dinner, so this is like a dessert portion. So I did not have half the smoothie bowl, so don't make the huge amount.

Katya: Okay. I'm, I'm gonna write that down. That sounds very simple and I don't know why I haven't thought of that before.

Georgie: Yeah. The benefit of having a coach is like, sometimes an outside person sees the obvious thing that we're not seeing.

Katya: Yeah. Okay.

Georgie: The last person that I spoke with for the podcast, she said, my priorities flip. Up until the moment of being tried, I'm like, yes, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do this. And then in the moment it flips and I want the food more than I want.

Katya: Right.

Georgie: The other thing.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: One thing you can do is the ingredients that go into the smoothie. Mm-hmm. If you have them pre weighed, and measured.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: You can put 'em in the blender cup or the blender picture and put it in the fridge.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: At like one in the afternoon.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: You're set up to make [00:10:00] half a smoothie later. Yeah. All you have to do is like, add the liquid and let it rip.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: So that's one way where you can like, sort of support your commitment by you set yourself up literally in a physical sense.

Katya: Yes.

Georgie: If somebody for example says, I keep having a hard time with well baked goods. You had a hard time with baked goods and so you packaged them and you put them in the freezer to help your future self have an easier setup. So they weren't like all out ready for you on the counter.

Katya: Yeah. Right. Well with the baked goods, I guess I don't wanna get too far off track, but the question I had with that was I think I've noticed in some situations, I'm feeling like I still am supporting myself better by not having any versus trying to moderate my portions. I feel like in some ways I think well that means I'm not fixed or, you know,

Georgie: healed and over it.

Katya: Yeah, yeah. But is that like an okay strategy? I mean, for example, [00:11:00] like I have, you know, family and town visiting and so we made a bunch of cookies. I wanna have treats for the guests, but I've noticed Just telling myself, I don't, I don't feel like this supports me because it's almost harder for me to have one than just say, I'm gonna choose not to have those right now. Is that okay? Or is that...

Georgie: It is. It is.. I give you, I give you permission to not bring foods into your home that are disrupting your peace

Katya: okay. Yeah. I know that sounds so silly, but it just feels nice to have you say like, that's okay.

Georgie: It's totally okay.

Katya: It's so dumb. But I don't know, I just, I didn't know if I was like, if that means I'm not making the right progress if I can't live with them in my house.

Georgie: Yeah. There's no merit badge for like keeping every challenging food in your immediate possession and somehow, Rising through all of that temptation, just don't keep difficult things [00:12:00] around. If you think about other temptations, like, if somebody had recovered from, let's say, a gambling addiction and picking one outta left field, and they were like, I feel like I should be able to work at the casino, otherwise haven't overcome it. Everybody in their life would be like, Why?

Katya: What? Yeah

Georgie: like there's no utility. There's thousands of places you could work. Why would you work at a place that like uniquely lines up with your personal susceptibility?

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: Like, I'm not gonna get a lifeguarding job because I get sunburned by moonlight. Right? Like I could not sit outside all day. It's not like a personal failing. So if somebody's like, yeah, I have a history of getting too obsessive about food or undereating or overeating, any sort of stress around food. It's easy just to create an atmosphere that's going to best support you, your mental health and your eating. Yes, it's perfectly okay. And you may also feel very differently one year, two year, 10 years from now.

Katya: Sure. Yeah. [00:13:00] Okay. That's very encouraging. Thank you.

Georgie: Yeah, it tends to like get easier because like for a long time I felt like I was. Eating peanut butter in a way that didn't make me feel good, so I just didn't keep peanut butter at home.

I went for like a year, year and a half with no peanut butter in my house and we're talking like my favorite food and I didn't do it in the healthiest way. I was like, you can't eat this in control, therefore you can't have it. It was like a, yeah punishing mindset. It ended because I got too much damn faith in myself and I was like, Georgie, you do a lot of difficult things. Really is peanut butter gonna be like the one that you just give up on?

Katya: Right.

Georgie: I really think it would be perfectly fine for you to bring, enjoy peanut butter home and just concentrate a little more on not eating the spoonful stuff, but to take you past the feelgood

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: Range and peanut butter's been in my house ever since, and that was like 15 years ago probably.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: It's just that at that point that's, that's what I did. And a lot don't ice cream at [00:14:00] home. 'cause they're like, then I'm eating ice cream every night. Or beer. Some people are like, I don't keep beer at home. I'll, so I'll order it when we go out, but I'm just drinking beer every night if I keep it in the house.

Katya: So, yeah,

Georgie: don't keep it in the house. No problem with that.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: So half the smoothie bowl might work, so you get all the things you like without the quantity that gives you that gut busting.

Katya: Yes.

Georgie: Feeling.

Katya: Okay. Yeah. The half, that makes a lot of sense. It feels silly that I hadn't thought of that before. I think another thing maybe that drew me initially to the smoothie bowl that started the habit so long ago, and I think we've talked a little bit about this. I have really come to love like huge portions. And I think that's part of probably a ramification of a lot of dieting and looking for the biggest plateful of the lowest calorie food I can find.

Georgie: Yes.

Katya: And I'm trying to break that, you know, but years and years and years, probably a [00:15:00] decade of thinking like, what can I get to fill this bowl in, you know, with the lowest amount of, so I think that's probably another reason why I, I feel like. I liked the smoothie bowl 'cause it's a lot of volume for, you know, well not a lot of calories, but then I, I like all my meals to have a lot of volume, so it is very easy for me to feel like very, very full at the end of the day because I've had buckets of vegetables at lunch and then a huge salad at dinner.

And then, so a half would be good practice maybe.

Georgie: Yeah.

Katya: Also, Enjoying like a normal sized portion.

Georgie: Mm-hmm. Of something. Yeah. And there's nothing wrong people who say they're air quotes. Volume eaters typically are people who have done calorie counting or Weight Watchers and have. Developed, they, they lean quite heavily on low calorie density foods.

Mm-hmm. Which is in many, [00:16:00] many ways really, really healthy. They're usually eating tons of vegetables, plenty of fruit. They're not eating a lot of fat. They're eating very low calorie density buckets of food. Their digestive microbes are probably like Mardi Gras because there's so much better. Right. But yeah, it's sort of like a natural consequence that we get as we dilute calorie density.

We want larger and larger volumes of food. Even animals will do it.

Katya: Okay, so how, how did you kinda work

Georgie: through that?

Katya: Or from eating heads of cauliflower?? Yeah.

Georgie: So there's a few things. So one we wanna recognize that is more is not better.

Katya: Yes, okay.

Georgie: There is a point of diminishing returns. We are like, wow, I've now incapacitated myself. I'm so full. This isn't necessarily pleasant. The second thing that we wanna do is recognize that there's different components of feeling satiated after a meal. And volume is one of them, but it's not the only thing. [00:17:00] And you may have had this experience where if you eat like an entire trough of salad, you, you can still be, you are full, but you're still hungry at the end, you're like, I'm not satisfied.

Katya: Right.

Georgie: And that's where like protein and fatty acids and more carbohydrates come in. Because your body is designed to have one signal from the volume in your stomach, and you know the stretch receptors there,

Katya: sure

Georgie: directly hotline to your brain, but there's other pathways that are waiting for the products of fat digestion and the amino acids to appear in your blood and the glucose to appear in your blood that's like, where's the potatoes or the chicken or the olive oil dressing.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: And so if you don't have those signals come as well, you feel like half satiated.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: If people's meals are really imbalanced and like adding some protein, adding some fat, adding some more complex carbohydrates can help somebody [00:18:00] feel more satisfied on a not extreme amount of food. And there's nothing wrong with eating like a whole, there's nothing wrong with eating a larger than standard volume of food. But we want people to feel comfortable at the end. Like, okay, I'm all right and I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna cry if the restaurant only gives me a normal sized portion of food.

Katya: Yeah. I, I have been working on adding a serving of carbs to my meals like you have suggested. So that has been really cool. And, and I do think, I've noticed that adds a different level of satisfaction. It doesn't take up a lot of space in my bowler plate, but it does. Give level satisfaction like you're saying.

So that has been really helpful.

Georgie: Good, good, good.

Katya: Thank you for that tip. And yeah, I do sometimes get to restaurants and think this is the salad? I'm used to my trough at home.

Georgie: I'm gonna have to eat again when I get home.

Katya: Thank you for my three leaves. [00:19:00]

Georgie: Volume eating tends to feel it's stressful if we're in that pattern. And then we have to go to a different environment where we don't have as much control over our food. And maybe we can't get five pounds of fruits and vegetables a day. And people will often worry. They're like, but I'm so used to eating like this huge amount of food. And I'll say there, there's, they'll say I'm going to my aunt's, but she will serve a more normal sized meal. And they'll be like, one salad the size I would eat, but it's for all four people.

Katya: Right. I have to share

Georgie: this with everybody else on the table. Yeah. It's like as many vegetables and I encourage people to trust your body that it's going to recognize something's different. If it gets a more high calorie density meal, or I'll say a normal calorie density meal.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: So if instead of like trough of salad, you have two slices of pizza and side bowl of salad

Katya: mm-hmm.

Georgie: You're initially gonna be like, I don't feel that distension fullness.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: But oddly enough, my brain is sort of like, [00:20:00] wow, something's something satisfying here because your body's no fool. It's gonna recognize there's plenty of energy on board, even if it's in a smaller package.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: And again, the goal is never to eat small meals, right? It's just to make sure we're not suffering consequences from being attached to needing large amounts of vegetables. And again, I hate for somebody to be stuck in the place where they're eating 90% vegetables, they're gut bloating full, and still wanting more.

Katya: I think I've been there before, so I'm happy to be coming out the other time.

Georgie: Balancing out. You're balancing out. So yeah, I applaud you for like adding some, some of the complex carbs in there. How are you doing with like dietary fat? Do you watch that carefully?

Katya: I used to track macros and do all that, which since starting the coaching program, I have weaned myself away from that.

Georgie: Good for you.

Katya: Which been nice.

Georgie: That's hard to do.

Katya: I think still in my brain, I choose like lower fat options almost out of just like [00:21:00] habit. Also, I think subconsciously I do know, I'm hoping not to gain a lot of weight. So. Typically that's what I pick. But I do add like some cheese to my salads or over my veggies and have healthy nut butters and, and those types of things.

Georgie: Okay.

Katya: I do think I have lower fat overall, but I think I'm doing okay on that.

Georgie: Yeah. Yeah. It's total, again, like I give you permission to continue to eat some lowfat options. Okay. I view lower fat varieties of foods like I use lowfat or fat-free sour cream.

Katya: Mm-hmm.

Georgie: Why? Because I think it tastes really fine. It doesn't decrease any pleasure of mine. Full fat sour cream is kind of like the artery clogging saturated fat, which I am not super keen on. I'd rather have peanut butter. So like I'll put low fat sour cream on my lunch and then have a spoonful of peanut butter afterward.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: Or like I want my full fat cheese. 'cause I like the flavor better. Yeah. So I have my full fat [00:22:00] cheese, but then I'll use lowfat salad dressing on my salad. It's fine, as long as you're getting enough fat somewhere. It's not a problem if you have lower fat products here and there.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: Just as long as you have enough. So I would say try and make sure you don't go under 10 grams of fat at a meal.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: So there should be some good source in there.

Katya: I'm not currently really tracking each meal. Some days I'll go back and just kinda like estimate what I had just to get like a ballpark. But I'm not specifically trying to hit specific numbers. I think that was kind of part of the coaching to make progress. Right?

Georgie: Yeah.

Katya: Is that okay or?

Georgie: Totally good.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: Yeah. The numbers tend to cause the most problem when we're using them to say, this is how you're limited.

Katya: Mm-hmm.

Georgie: Like an upper limit. Things tends to be a problem. So if somebody's like, I can only have this many calories, we know that it just sets off that restriction mindset. Now I feel like food's scarce and I want 16 times that, just [00:23:00] because someone told me I can't have it. But it's okay to use numbers and it doesn't have the same negative effect if we're using them to ensure we're getting above a certain amount.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: It's a target to hit, so like if somebody's thinking I'm gonna try and eat fruit at least two times per day. That doesn't cause the same haywire.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: So I'll tell people like, make sure you're getting at least this many grams of protein or this much fat. And, and again, you don't have to weigh or think in grams. It could be

Katya: mm-hmm.

Georgie: A serving of protein, like at least the size of your palm. Or just like one good serving, like a veggie burger fine. A beef burger, fine. You know, a chicken biscuit fine.

Katya: I think I do probably sort of self limit quantities just since I've started, I still kind of eat the same way I did before. So I fill my bowl and I sort of eyeball and know like how much chicken, how many croutons, cheese, et cetera. But if I want more, I go back and get more.

Or you know, if I pour a little [00:24:00] more, I'm not like scooping it back into the cheese. 'cause it was, you know, 12 grams instead of right. I dunno, 10 or something, which I used to do, which is very silly.

Georgie: Well, you have come far. You have come far. And that's not unusual. It's not unusual at all to be like, oh shoot, I was trying to pour 28 grams of cereal, but there's 34 in my bowl and you're like picking Cheerios.

So yeah, there's nothing wrong with just like sort of habitually making a meal. And then feeling into your body to be like, do I need more food than this? Mm-hmm. Or am I fine? You know, for people who have a history of perhaps eating too little, I'll remind them that eating just enough sometimes means you need to get up and get some more food. It's not always about leaving food on your plate.

Katya: I think one thing I'd like to develop, like a skill I'd like to get better at down the road is like stopping when I'm satisfied. Because I do really fill big [00:25:00] bowls or big plates and I know a lot of times I can start to feel like I'm full, but if I still have food on my plate, I'm not leaving it. I don't know if you have any like tips or suggestions on that, but , I definitely eat whatever I've given myself, even if I think I'm getting a little full or the veggie bloat is starting to hit, but I'm like, but I still get, I still have

Georgie: power through. You take one for the team I can get. Yeah. So earlier I said like, With the fullness, we sort of wanna connect that it's actually a negative to move past comfortable. And so so here's where my funny story will come in. So I used to make, this is gonna sound so familiar with your smoothie bowl. I used to make this stuff like, I called it protein ice cream

Katya: uhhuh.

Georgie: And it's made in the Vitamix

Katya: that's how I make my smoothie bowl with xanthin gum. Did you use that? 'cause it adds, it adds a good thick,

Georgie: yeah. So xanthin gum guar gum. [00:26:00] And protein powder and ice and water and

Katya: a ton of ice.

Georgie: Yeah. Well, when I first made it, I would make a ton of ice 'cause I wanted to make it as big as possible.

Katya: Right.

Georgie: And this was back when I was counting calories against a long time ago.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: Probably back in like the 15 years ago, maybe 20 years ago, like early RD days. I did some really embarrassing thing. But now they're great teaching tools.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: I have calories left in my day. You bet your butt I'm going eat 'em right. Make my gigantic thing, my gigantic protein ice cream. And I'm eating it in my kitchen. I can remember this and I'm like, woo. Getting full. I gotta like adjust myself in the chair. Like I got calories, I have calories left for the day. It's okay. I don't have to stop eating this. I have calories left for the day I'm eating. I'm getting progressively more uncomfortable because I'm doing this on top of a whole meal and I just, [00:27:00] Kept going for like lack of any explanation. I just kept telling myself, you have the calories, you can eat all of this. Yes. I was so full by the time I finished that thing that I could barely walk. I was so uncomfortable.

I was like, if I take a breath, I'm worried it's gonna start coming up. I don't know what to do with myself. I'm gonna go get in the bath. 'cause I, I uncomfortable, like maybe like the buoyancy of the water. I run a bath and like I get in the tub and my poor distended stomach is like above the water. So the, my head is out of the water, the rest of me below, and my stomach is like, like a deserted island. And I was like, I am ice cream island. I remember, I just like took it in. I was like, this is what you get.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: When you treat it like having [00:28:00] calories left is a perfectly good reason to eat something. You're not happy. Like I really just tried to internalize it. I was suffering massively. I couldn't go to sleep. Pay close attention, georgie. This is what happens. This is over full and you can do this to yourself regularly or you can never have to do it again.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: And I have to say, not only have I never done that again, once I realized like, oh, the bloat is setting in, I have a very strong feeling now about wanting to stop.

Katya: Yes,

Georgie: it such a powerful negative. What were you gonna.

Katya: That's, that's very encouraging to hear you say that because that's exactly how I make my smoothie bowls. And then I top it with like nut butter and cereal and I mean, it's huge. I can relate to that feeling.

Georgie: Yeah.

Katya: So I need, so I guess I need to reframe maybe my thinking a little bit more so that I'm not thinking it's so great, I can eat all this. It's huge and remind myself. It's not great to be so full that. [00:29:00] I look like I'm six months pregnant or I can't take a walk with my family,

Georgie: right?

Katya: Or I go to bed with a stomach ache. I have to unbutton my pants. That's not a positive.

Georgie: Kids get the wheelbarrow you need, you need to wheel mommy around the block. She can't stand.

Katya: Right.

Georgie: It's not fun to be that full. And I started to realize that if you put less ice in it, Then whatever you've put in there for flavor, the cocoa, the sweetener, the pudding mix. I've seen, I've done all the recipes. It actually has like a more concentrated flavor, like it is tastier if it's not so diluted with ice.

Katya: Well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do my half smoothie bowl, so that will be great. I'll get to taste more flavor and less bloating.

Georgie: Yeah. So just give yourself a bit of a break and, and it's gradual. Our brains adjust to things slowly. And so at first it's normal to have thoughts of, I'm worried I won't be satisfied if I just eat this half plate sized salad and like a grilled cheese sandwich, [00:30:00] like it looks like so much less food, I'm worried I'm not gonna be okay. But to actually trust yourself and be like, I'm gonna try, there's more food if I need more. But if I start to include more foods like sandwiches and toast and peanut butter and you know, just, just more like pizza, one of my favorite foods.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: That there's other types of satisfaction that you're okay. You don't need the security blanket of

Katya: okay,

Georgie: huge volume of food.

Katya: I think you're right that it is a bit of a security blanket for me that just, I don't know why, but. I do feel that way. Mm-hmm.

Georgie: Yeah. Well I think for many people it's been a negative experience to be on diets in the past or to be trying to stick to really low calorie levels, and so we're trying to find ways to make it more comfortable so that we don't feel as much hunger, as much fatigue, as much deprivation. So we do things like stretch out our meals. Take small bites, make things last a really long [00:31:00] time, use tons of condiments and salt and hot pepper. Like these are normal things that happen with restrictive eating disorders. 'cause you know, you're trying to make yourself more comfortable. Right. And get some satisfaction.

And so it's sort of like realizing mm-hmm. And you just have to sort of tune in and keep trusting your body and feeling and recognizing like, oh yeah, there is a feeling of enough that I get at a certain point.

Katya: So what are ways I could practice that? Because I still feel like I'm at the place where I, I feel like I'm going to want to keep eating and eating and eating forever.

I'm not tracking macros, which is a huge step for me. 'cause I did that for years and years and years. But I love the big portions and I don't know how to move to like feeling like I could have this half a sandwich and be fine. I feel like if I had half a sandwich, I'd need a bucket full of veggies on the side,

Georgie: right? [00:32:00] Well, yeah. Like half a sandwich. Yeah. Kind of the same thing. Like, but like the assumption is that like if you have enough calories

Katya: mm-hmm.

Georgie: Even if it's in like a, a one plate size serving and not like three plate size

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: That it can be enough.

Katya: Right.

Georgie: But how you get there is small steps. So I would say

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: Like reducing the size of the smoothie bowl, like just not putting as much ice in it.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: So that you're not as bloated afterward.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: And making sure that you get enough of like the fat protein and complex carbs in each meal because your body's built, where if you're not giving it enough of those nutrients, it's gonna tell you, like keep trying to get more in, keep trying to get more in. You know? So you have to have enough. Of like the, the other food, not just veggies or bulk from the smoothie.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: What else? Awareness is like a really big one. Like, I, I started to experiment again. Like I always, I talk about peanut butter a lot 'cause I love peanut butter. I realized that if [00:33:00] I made a pretty low fat meal, even if it was gigantic salad and chicken, that I would be very full at the end of the meal, but I'd be hungry in like two hours max.

Katya: Mm-hmm.

Georgie: It just didn't last for long enough, and so when I would like say, add a spoonful of peanut butter to that meal, I was not only like more satisfied at the end of the meal in a different way that I can't describe, but that I was fine for like three, four hours. Okay. And so that led me to like, just notice that, like see what happens when I change up some of the foods that I'm eating here?

And so maybe I don't need an entire, another bell pepper or cucumber. I just need a spoonful of peanut butter.

Katya: Yeah,

Georgie: to make it to the next meal. Like you can't just make up for everything with more volume.

Katya: Yes. Okay. That makes sense.

Georgie: And I would keep the pressure low on yourself. Like I would not tell yourself, okay, we're cutting the volume. Like that's not it. The [00:34:00] goal is I'm gonna feel for when I'm satisfied and not push past it.

Katya: Okay,

Georgie: so like, I wanna make sure I get enough of like the complex carbs, like don't leave that stuff for the end. So I'd say get your protein, your fat, or complex carbs. Get 'em in.

Katya: Yes.

Georgie: And then eat, you know, your fruits and veg until you're comfortably satisfied and be like, wait, we're done. Like I'm, I don't need to eat until over full.

Katya: Mm-hmm. And I guess maybe I need to practice thinking of that in like a positive way.

Georgie: Yeah.

Katya: It's supporting myself to stop when I'm satisfied versus I gotta get myself all I can get, or, I don't know. It sounds weird, but Yeah.

Georgie: Well the way you described that there, like I have to get all I can get, it's like a perpetual state of wanting,

Katya: right.

Georgie: Like there's not enough I need to hoard. I need more and more and more. And it's so relaxing. Like it's so good for mental health to be like, [00:35:00] There's enough.

Katya: Yes,

Georgie: I have enough. I will always have enough If I need more, there's abundant food in the fridge and there's more at the grocery store down the block.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: Like just settling into that. Like I have enough. Same with the gratitude journal.

Katya: Yeah.

Georgie: How that impacts your mindset. Yeah. Do you feel things change when you gratitude journal as you write things down?

Katya: Yeah, I feel so great. Thank you for that idea. I, I'm only just like a couple weeks into practicing that, but it has been like a really joyful part of my evening and I really am really liking it a lot. And it's been really fun. 'cause now even my kids they've been helping me. So I'm like, I gotta, I'm gonna do my gratitude journal, like what should I add? And they will like, gimme ideas and it's been like really cool. So

Georgie: That's great.

Katya: Yeah. Thank you for that idea.

Georgie: Nice. So let's, we'll get down to like what you're gonna practice. 'cause I always love

Katya: okay.

Georgie: Consolidating stuff. So [00:36:00] we've got the half smoothie plan. So that means don't eat dinner until you're all the way satisfied, okay? Because the smoothie's gonna take you over. So, of course I want you to eat dinner. I wanna have that time with your family, but you're gonna leave some room because you know you're gonna have that smoothie bowl.

Katya: Okay?

Georgie: And the smoothie bowl's gonna take you from, like, if you picture your gas tank in the car, like you're gonna stop dinner when you still have, you know, a third of the tank left.

And then you're gonna have the smoothie bowl, you take you to full and then you're closing the kitchen.

Katya: Yes,

Georgie: nutrition needs have been met, so of course you still wanna relax. Of course you wanna still have fun dinner and the smoothie bowl may not do all those things so that's where we have the opportunity of other things to come in.

Katya: Mm-hmm.

Georgie: So we'll check the boxes with smoothie and dinner, making sure you get all your nutrient needs met there. And then we have choices for things to do for relaxation and fun after. So you've got the gratitude journal. I know you also mentioned taking a walk doing yoga. Do you ever read or [00:37:00] listen to things or watch tv?

Katya: I love to read and I do like to watch some shows on Netflix occasionally.

Georgie: What's one that you've liked?

Katya: Well I usually watch documentaries, which is kind of dorky.

Georgie: So having something like that that you enjoy could be really nice to look forward to after dinner.

Katya: Okay, that's a good plan. So I'll do. Half my smoothie, eat dinner until I'm satisfied, but leave room for the half the smoothie bowl that kind of takes me from three-fourths, the tank all the way to full. And then I'll close the kitchen and I'll find something else fun and relaxing to do like watch a murder show,

Georgie: like yes, murder, crime, mob, sports. Yeah. And give yourself lots and lots and lots of positive reinforcement.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: Like when you're finishing that second, like when you're finishing the smoothie bowl and you're like, wow, I am not gut busting fall and I got to have dinner with my [00:38:00] family. And a sweet treat with crunchy cereal and nut butter on top, like I'm living the life. I get to have all the things.

Katya: Okay.

Georgie: It's, it's really good. It's, it's positive to give yourself kudos, like really reflect on the fact that you're not going to bed uncomfortably full.

Katya: Yes. Okay.

Georgie: Like my comfort matters. It's not all about making my taste buds happy, like the rest of me has to be happy too.

Katya: Yes. This gives me a lot to practice. Thank you so much for your help and I'm so encouraged to hear you overcame the smoothie bowl or your protein, ice cream bloat drama.

Georgie: Yes.

Katya: So I'll work to do the same. Thank you so much. I'm so grateful for all your help. I really appreciate it.

Georgie: I'm glad. I'm glad. I appreciate you too and we'll be in touch. Have a great night. Okay.

Katya: Sounds good. You too.

Georgie: Bye bye

Georgie: This is not [00:39:00] gonna be an easy fix for Katya. I know it's gonna be really hard to try and change these habits, but as you can hear, she's open-minded, she's highly motivated, and I'm going to be here to support her by text and future calls as she sorts through some of these different evening routines. In the days after our session, I checked on Katya and she was struggling.

She'd planned to make half of the smoothie bowl and she'd have it, but then she would go back to making the rest of it and she'd end up with a belly ache. So we tried something a little different. She made sure to have enough carbs, fat, and protein with her dinner to be fully satisfied. And then she planned to satisfy her sweet tooth with a mug of hot cocoa just taking the whole smoothie bowl out of the picture.

She recognized that journaling or reading with her cocoa was also a nice way to wind down, and as of this writing, the last two nights, she has done exactly that. I'm going to keep [00:40:00] working with Katya on expanding our food variety and making meals with satisfying amounts of carbs, fat, protein, and volume.

Not only volume, volume and more volume, which she's been used to doing. This is always a road we want to step down gently and gradually, but we have time and I have complete faith that Katya is going to get where she wants to be. Thanks for joining me today. If you have stubborn troubles that you aren't quite sure how to fix, there is help.

I'm yet to find a food problem we can't unwind, so drop me a line and we'll chat about it. My email is Georgie fear@gmail.com.​