Confident Eaters

Living healthy in an ever changing environment: the art of adaptability. (CE)
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Georgie: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Confident Eaters Podcast, where you get proven methods to end overeating, emotional eating, and stressing about food. We are heading for harmony between your body, food and feelings, hosted by me, Georgie Fear, and my team at Confident Eaters.

Like many people we work with, Shaila feels like she knows how she wants to eat, but her actual eating often looks pretty different. This can happen for all sorts of different reasons, but Shaila, working with Christina, Narrowed it down to the ever changing environment of her life.

She travels often, making her home in several countries in any given year. Each stop means a different kitchen, different grocery store, and different routines.

Christina: You might not be a constant international traveler, but perhaps you have felt that changes to your routine or lifestyle [00:01:00] throw your eating into chaos. Things like a new job, a new school or work schedule, a new family member, pet or roommate, or work that is always putting you into new meal situations, like having to eat with clients on a regular basis, people you don't know at a new restaurant every week. As Shaila described it, sometimes I feel trapped, like I can't possibly have good habits with my lifestyle. Today we'll share some of the solutions that worked for Shaila and allowed her to prove to herself that she could actually lose weight despite an ever changing environment.

Georgie: Imagine your life as an orchid in a botanical garden. You live safely in a greenhouse with controlled humidity, a constant temperature, and a diligent gardener who sprays you with just enough water and nutrients on a consistent schedule. You thrive. But friends, you're not an orchid. You're a human who's going to be exposed to heat and cold, drought and floods, and go through periods of work stress, [00:02:00] holidays, and social situations.

You'll live in different houses or apartments and possibly visit different countries. Nobody is going to check the nutrients in your soil to adjust them or keep you from drying out. It's on you to take care of yourself in all these different situations. And fortunately, you can, because humans are adaptable.

Christina: What is adaptability? It's the capacity to adjust to different conditions. People who are highly adaptable are more successful at practicing good nutrition habits long term and more successful at losing weight and maintaining weight loss than people who are less adaptable. They can thrive even when the conditions aren't made perfect for them. We're going to explore four components of adaptability. As you listen to each, try to consider honestly if you could use more of that particular capacity. Instead of thinking, I'm not good at that, full stop. Tell yourself, I can get better at that through practicing.

Georgie: [00:03:00] Adaptability component number one. Distress and discomfort tolerance. You don't need Christina and I to inform you that life can be super uncomfortable. Feelings and discomfort is part of adventuring around the world, making new friends, or challenging yourself. You'll have to be in uncomfortable situations, like airplane seats, unfamiliar beds, and elevators with people who don't know how to be moderate with fragrance.

You've probably experienced trying to make small talk with someone you'd prefer not to be talking to, because you want to be socially gracious or successful in business. Even if you are mostly healthy, you'll probably have to deal with some pain and limitations at times due to an illness, injury, accident, or surgery.

Some days in your life are bound to be uncomfortable and distressing.

Christina: Many of the skills we cover in this show are about reducing your distress and discomfort through tactics like planning ahead, but realistically, you'll never lower your [00:04:00] discomfort level down to zero. It will be an asset to you if you know you can stay calm and handle bumps in the road or unpleasant surprises.

Georgie: But wait, you say, I'm not sure I can handle bumps in the road or unpleasant surprises. Don't worry, we can help. A large part of distress tolerance is believing that you are tough, resilient, and a survivor. Your self concept could be part of your difficulty if you often think things like I'm a wimp. I can't handle change.

I am guaranteed to have a meltdown if anything goes wrong. Instead, consider practicing changes to the way you refer to yourself. Try out, I've faced a lot of challenges before and I have survived them all. I'm smart and capable. I can pivot, I can problem solve, and I will get through whatever happens. If you want something shorter and to the point, try I Am Tough.

In addition to crafting a supportive identity of yourself as a tough, resilient person, [00:05:00] you can bolster your ability to manage distress by practicing relaxation and breath control. The biggest bang for your buck will come from practicing relaxation in situations where you are tense or agitated. So instead of saving your relaxation practice for yoga class or the end of the day in bed, try doing it during a meeting with a colleague who makes your hair stand on end, or practice it in a traffic jam when you're late for an appointment.

Practice noting where you can feel tightness in your body, or practice noticing where you can feel tightness in your body. and letting it go. Tension might take up residence in your shoulders and neck, your clenched jaw, or your braced core muscles. It's emotions and your threat response that make your muscles tighten so that you're ready to attack or flee.

But you're not going to attack the driver ahead of you or hand fight a bear for survival. You don't need that tension, so let it go. Allow your shoulders to drop, your belly to [00:06:00] soften, your jaw and forehead to relax. Notice how you're breathing. If you're really worked up, your breaths can be rapid and shallow.

Practice taking slower, larger breaths. Resetting the state of your muscles and decelerating your breath can help you feel calmer and more regulated. This is important: it won't happen instantly. So expect to keep trying this for at least two or three minutes before scrapping the attempt and saying, Oh, didn't work.

It takes a bit of time. But if you give your body a few minutes to respond, it can have a profound effect. Now you're gaining stress tolerance.

Christina: Even as you were saying that, I was like, oh, relax

Georgie: Yeah, I do the same

Christina: Take a deep breath,

Georgie: eyebrows up or

Christina: Ooh,

Georgie: wrinkly forehead. I'm like a Botox before picture.

Christina: That was good. That was good. Maybe you can practice as you listen. The second component of adaptability is flexibility instead of perfectionism. When it [00:07:00] comes to your nutrition plan, the more specific you get about what you're willing to eat, the less resilient you can become. For example, if your weight loss strategy is to only eat green leafy vegetables and grass fed beef three meals a day, you'll be in a pinch if you have to find a meal in a shopping mall. Or grab something ready to eat from a grocery store. What if your friend invites you over for dinner and is a vegetarian? Flexible beliefs about nutrition and weight loss sound like, whatever they serve at this wedding, I want to eat until I'm satisfied but not stuffed. Or, I'll do my best to find fruits and vegetables on the restaurant menus while I'm on vacation. Flexible eating includes the expectation that not all days have to or will be identical. You might think, I might not usually eat pancakes for breakfast, but doing it on Easter as we always do is totally fine. Flexible eating goals might include, I'll get a good source of protein at every meal. Whereas rigid goals might be, I must eat 5. 3 ounces of chicken breast at [00:08:00] lunches and six ounces of wild salmon at dinners, otherwise, I'm off track and I've blown it. You probably know already how well it works to chase a standard of perfect eating, only to tell yourself you've blown it at the first slip. Practice flexibility by telling yourself, after a mistake, that you're fine. I like to say, whew, that was fun, now back to the regular healthy eating I do most of the time.

Georgie: The third component of adaptability is mentally preparing for adversity. The coaches of my ski team have drilled this one into us. Things will go wrong in sports. Even the best prepared athletes and teams have stuff go sideways. Maybe today is the day that an airline loses a piece of your equipment.

What are you going to do? Maybe your goalie comes down with COVID the morning of a key game. Maybe you forgot to bring your usual sports drink. Or somebody trips you in the middle of a race. Maybe you are expecting sunshine and blue skies, but you wake up and it's puking snow. If we aren't mentally prepared for these [00:09:00] eventualities, we can become highly distressed, emotional, and not the best problem solvers.

But if we've run through these in our minds, we might easily say, Oh, if my skis don't show up at the airport, I have the address right here of a shop where I can rent a pair. Or, Mike's out, he's got COVID, but Tim's our backup goalie. If someone trips me or I wipe out, I just get back up as fast as I can and try to catch the pack.

Try to brainstorm the things that are most likely to go wrong, and have a strategy for each in case it occurs. Your nutrition and fitness plans can be sideswiped by discovering that the hotel gym is closed for renovations. The restaurant you had planned on going to for breakfast doesn't in fact exist anymore.

Thanks, Google. Or twisting your ankle on an escalator and watching it swell up like a water balloon. Even if you're surprised, you can still be mentally prepared and switch gears into finding alternatives instead of throwing a tantrum.

Christina: The fourth component of [00:10:00] adaptability is willingness to prioritize yourself. If you imagine some of the scenarios Georgie described, like the healthy breakfast restaurant you planned on visiting being unavailable, it takes a bit of effort to find a backup. Putting in that effort to get on the internet and look at more menus and find a second suitable place is a demonstration that you care about yourself. It would be easier to say, oh, well, I'll just go to McDonald's for breakfast. It's right here. Choosing to give a little more effort is what we mean by willing to prioritize your self care. You might need to make a request from a restaurant, hotel, or your friends to stay consistent with your health goals. Or you might need to excuse yourself from a social event that is running well past midnight to get enough sleep. Shaila found that bringing some of her routine with her when she travels helps her feel a sense of consistency. So she makes a little extra effort to pack her rosary. Anytime she's in a new place, she buys some flowers to keep on the table. She also brings her [00:11:00] favorite travel mug and keeps some of the same foods on hand. These are excellent examples of small actions which demonstrate her commitment to her self care, nutrition, and healthy lifestyle. No matter where she is, she has been able to strike a balance where she enjoys spontaneity while feeling grounded by some degree of consistency in her life.

Georgie: To recap, the four elements of adaptability that you can start practicing are tolerating distress and discomfort, Embracing flexibility over perfectionism. Mentally preparing for adversity, and being willing to prioritize yourself. Whether you're starting your day with us, letting us join you on an afternoon walk, or tuning in for an evening wind down, we want to thank you.

The show exists for you, and it's an honor to be with you as you take steps toward being a confident eater.