Ep 28 free yourself workshop
[00:00:00] Melissa: Hey, I'm Melissa LaGrant, licensed nutritionist and creator of drop the diet weight loss. I am on a mission to help women drop the fad diets and lose weight in a way they love for the last damn time. I know you're ready to end the yo-yo dieting and do this weight loss thing for good. So let's go. Well, Hey there and welcome back.
[00:00:30] So this past week I have been busy with the live workshops. I was hosting on free yourself from fad diets and they were super fun. And the feedback around them was amazing. It was so great to be able to engage back and forth and hear about where people are starting and answer questions in real time.
[00:00:51] And I was. I don't want you to miss out on all the valuable info from these trainings. So if you happen to miss the live class, [00:01:00] you are in luck because . I have a rerecorded it for you for today's podcast episode.
[00:01:05] And if you want to watch the free presentation and download the workbook that goes along with it, you can do that too. Just head over to drop the diet, weight loss.com forward slash workshop. I'll put that link in the show notes for you. So let's get on with the. Well, Hey there. Welcome to free yourself from fad diets workshop.
[00:01:28] I'm so excited. You're here and I can't wait for you to hear what I'm going to teach today. But first I want to celebrate you
[00:01:36] for taking the first step and hopping off that fed diet bandwagon. I know it's not an easy thing to do. Seems like there's always a new diet popping up promising you shiny and fast results. Now maybe you just have one foot off of that wagon. You're not quite sure yet the sound of fast results is just always so appealing.
[00:01:58] Right. And that's [00:02:00] okay. But stick with me here and by the way, I know you'll be ready to hop off that thing.
[00:02:06] So in this workshop, I'm going to show you how you can make the ultimate shift from feeling defeated from fad diets and yo-yo weight gain to feeling empowered, to reach your weight loss goals in a. Feel good and sustainable way. Now this workshop is jam packed with goodness. So to make sure you get the most out of this workshop, you don't want to be multitasking.
[00:02:31] It turns out we're just not so good at doing that. Okay. So to get us started here, we're going to do a quick little exercise to get those wheels turning and to bring you some awareness on your current thoughts and feelings around dieting. It's my free yourself from fad diet mini exercise.
[00:02:51] So go ahead and grab your workbook or a notebook and a pen unless you're driving. Of course. And I want you to write down the [00:03:00] first words that pop into your head when you see or hear the word diet. Now, try not to overthink it here. Just write down what pops up first. So I'll give you a minute or so to write these down or to just think of.
[00:03:18] So some of the words that I typically hear come up for people are restriction Hungary. I can't stick to it. It's hard. It's temporary. So if any of your words are similar, you can see why we want to ditch the diet, right? Because it's really hard to go all in on something and be successful with it.
[00:03:41] When your thoughts around it are all in resistance and it is my goal today to help you believe. That in nutrition and weight loss journey, doesn't have to feel that way. So you're meant to be with me here today and you're in the right place with me here. If [00:04:00] you've done every diet under the sun and nothing has worked for good, you're ready to break up with fad diets, gaining and losing those same pounds and be 100% company.
[00:04:11] The weight will say off this time, or maybe this is you, you're just intrigued by the idea that a weight loss journey can actually feel good and you can eat your favorite foods along the way. Or maybe this is you. There's just so much noise out there that you're not sure where the heck to start. What to do.
[00:04:31] So which one resonates with you the most? Is it number one, ready to ditch the fad diets too. You want to learn how a weight loss journey can be enjoyable? Or is it three? You're just not really sure where to start and maybe it's a combo or all three of them, but whatever your motivation is for being here right now, I fully support.
[00:04:53] So before we move forward, I want to take just two minutes to introduce myself if we haven't met yet. [00:05:00] And of course I have to introduce my little man first. So if you're just listening to the audio of this workshop, you obviously can't see these pictures, but here are gonna want to grab that presentation just to see this first pick.
[00:05:13] But this is my nine year old Chihuahua Yorkie mix. Yes, it's quite the compo. His name is Mahalo and he's pretty much the boss around. And if you happen to hear him on this class, I'm going to apologize in advance. And this next picture is with me and a couple of my coaches and my brick and. Fitness and nutrition studio in Chicago, which I opened up in 2015.
[00:05:39] So I'm a licensed nutritionist and I've been coaching nutrition and fitness for over eight years now. But what I really want you to know is that I've helped hundreds of women not only drop the weight, but keep it off for good. And what I'm teaching you today are the simple things that they do to get started [00:06:00] and gain.
[00:06:01] When it comes to weight loss, I know what works and what doesn't. And that's why I'm so excited to teach you today. So can you imagine what it would feel like to not only lose the weight and keep it off for good, but to also find physical and emotional freedom? Can I get a hell? Yes, it is my soul's work to help you to do that, to move away from the restricted diets,
[00:06:28] that set you up to fail by teaching you how to lose the weight in a way you want to live your life. All right. If you're anything like me and you like to know where you're going at all times, let me take you through a quick roadmap of our workshop. So you know what to expect. So first I'm going to teach you the four simple habits, why they're important and then how to put them into action.
[00:06:52] So habit number one is water. Next. I'm going to teach you habit. Number two. It's sleep. And then from there, I'll teach you [00:07:00] habit. Number three. Eating when hungry. And then next up is habit number four, food journaling. And then from there, I'm going to teach you how to get started implementing these habits in a way that feels good to you so that you can make them stick.
[00:07:17] So why these habits? Well, the diet industry has completely overcomplicated weight loss because their motivation is that you keep giving them your money. My motivation is your. And I'm here to tell you weight loss doesn't have to be complicated. So let me simplify it for you. Weight loss comes down to consistent habits over time, which is why I want to give you these four.
[00:07:43] Today. Once consistency comes, then you can begin to build upon. A lot of these fad diets, just tell you what to eat and what not to eat. They're not helping you build the habits along the way, so let's get to it. Okay. [00:08:00] Habit number one is drink water. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure this is not your first time hearing this, but I want to tell you why this is so important drinking.
[00:08:10] Can help to reduce the overall quantity of food you're eating or the calories you're consuming, which when we boil it down, pun intended, that's what weight loss comes down to. Do I have your attention now? So how does this help reduce the calories you're consuming? Well, I'll tell you research shows that people who drink a glass of water before a meal, eat 75 fewer calories at that meal, that adds up to a lot of calories over.
[00:08:41] Another way water helps is that thirst is often mistaken for hunger by your brain. Sometimes you reach for food when you're really just thirsty. So if you feel a strong craving, come on, you might just need a glass of water. And this next one might sound like a big statement, but I'm [00:09:00] going for it. You will lose body fat faster or more easily when you're drinking water, the processes your body uses to break down.
[00:09:10] Work more efficiently when hydrated. So the benefits go on and on. So let's talk more about how to get more evident. And here's a couple tips for you. The first tip is you can use a straw and then park that puppy right in front of you. When you're working at your computer, it's like mindless water drinking.
[00:09:29] And I'm good with that. You could get a fun or fancy water bottle because when you invest in something, you're more likely to use it. And by the time that novelty where. You'll already have created the habit. And then the last tip is you could set a timer on your phone just as a reminder to get up and get that water.
[00:09:49] Okay. Now I know some things that you're going to ask me. Yes. You're going to have to pay more in the beginning. You will have to make more trips to the bathroom, but your body will [00:10:00] adjust. Just think of it as getting more stuff. And then how much water should you be drinking? Well, this is going to be a little different for everybody, but a good starting point would be to try and shoot for at least 64 ounces a day.
[00:10:15] Now, if that seems way off for you, don't worry. I'll chat about how to build up to that. Can I use mixers? Yes. You can mix things in your water, especially if that will just get you in the habit of drinking. You could use the water mixes like crystal light or fruits like lemon or lime or another popular one is cucumber.
[00:10:37] And then finally, yes, bubbly or sparkling water counts to, again, we don't want to overcomplicate this here. We just want to be drinking. Okay, moving on to habit. Number two and that's sleep. And the recommendation here is seven to nine hours of sleep a night. Now I know this can be a tough one. It's probably the [00:11:00] toughest one for me, but I absolutely feel the effects when I don't get enough sleep.
[00:11:05] Now I'm not saying that if you don't get seven to nine hours of sleep, you can't lose weight because weight loss is always going to come down to being in an overall calorie day. But research shows that people who get five hours or less of sleep have about a 67% increased risk of obesity. So why might that be well, lack of sleep can make your hunger hormones all out of whack.
[00:11:34] Hormone levels for increased appetite are up and levels for decreased. Appetite are down and stress. Hormones are also. Another way. I see a lack of sleep. Play out is more mindless eating happening at night. Like when you're working late or watching TV instead of sleeping. And if you're sleeping only a few hours a night, it means you have more hours in the [00:12:00] day.
[00:12:00] So you're up longer. You're going to get hungry. Also making good food choices is tougher when you're exhausted. Pretty sure. You're not saying I'm so tired. I'm going to go make a salad. And a lot of times when we're tired, we use food as a pick me up, but food won't fix tired. Oh, believe me. I know you have the best intentions with getting enough sleep, but the kids come barging in the dog's taken up the whole bed, your partner snoring, and now you have to pee every hour with all this water you're drinking.
[00:12:35] So my tip is to focus on the things you can control and start there. Remember, this is never about perfection. It's about consistency. So here's some things you can try. You can aim to go to bed just a few minutes earlier per night. You could get into a nighttime routine by setting some boundaries like the TV and phones go off at this time, or you won't check email or social media.
[00:12:59] [00:13:00] And in the middle of the night for me, I like to read before. But when I was reading books related to work or learning, my wheels just wouldn't stop spinning and I couldn't sleep. So I had to put some boundaries on what I could read before bed. So what's one thing that you can pick out around bedtime that you'll begin to work.
[00:13:22] Okay, moving right along onto habit. Number three, and that's eat when you're hungry and stop when you've had enough. Oh, I believe this is the number one skill you can learn, not only for weight loss, but to keep the weight. For good. And it sounds simple enough, right? Well, it's simple, but it's not easy because we've never really been taught how to do this.
[00:13:46] We eat because it's lunchtime or other people are eating or we're emotionally. Weight loss is rarely about the actual food you're eating well now, sometimes it is, but it's more important to [00:14:00] learn if and why you're overeating or eating when you're not physically hungry. So let me give you some examples of emotional hunger versus physical hunger.
[00:14:12] Emotional hunger tends to come on site. Where physical hunger starts gradually emotional hunger is felt more in your head and in your thoughts, whereas physical hunger is felt in your stomach. Emotional hunger can feel like an intense craving. Physical hunger feels like your stomach is a kind of empty.
[00:14:34] Maybe it's growling at you. And you may also feel a little bit low on energy, emotional health. May lead to feelings of regret and guilt after you eat. Whereas physical hunger tends not to cause those feelings. So now that you have a better idea on what physical hunger feels like, and when it's time to eat, let's talk about knowing when to stop.[00:15:00]
[00:15:00] And you want to get in the habit of stopping when you've had enough versus being overly full. When you eat till enough, you feel satisfied. Content lightened energized full is when you start to feel a little uncomfortable, probably saying to yourself, I didn't really need those last couple of bites. And then overly full is just you're uncomfortable.
[00:15:24] You're stuffed and bloated. You feel lethargic. . It's that I have to unbutton my pants type of feeling, and this is the place we want to avoid because it also tends to be a place where the self beat creeps in. It sounds like, oh, I did it again. Why do I keep doing this to me? That's resistance coming up and that's what you want to stay out of.
[00:15:47] Now, this will take some practice and you're going to mess it up and that's okay. I actually want you to, because that's how you'll learn what these feelings of hungry, satisfied, and overly [00:16:00] full are for you. So it's like one of my clients, Kristen, Kristen had a laundry list of fad diets
[00:16:07] that she'd done. When she started practicing eating, when hungry and stopping at enough, it completely changed the game for her. She said to me, I been following fat diets for so long. I completely forgot how to listen to my body. She said, once I dropped the rules, the pounds finally started. So I want to give you a few tips on putting, eating when hungry and stopping at enough into practice.
[00:16:33] So the first tip is to slow down and you can do this by putting your fork down or sipping water in between. I've even had some people use their non-dominant hand to eat, which helped them to slow down and also made for some very happy dogs, getting all that food that fell to the floor. But by slowing down, you're giving your brain time to catch up to your stomach so that, you know, when you've had.[00:17:00]
[00:17:00] My second tip is to turn off the distractions, the phone, the TV, the computer. Now I know this. Isn't always possible to do all the time,
[00:17:09] but see if you can have at least one meal a day like this, to really tune into your meal and check in with yourself on those hunger levels, you could also practice leaving a few bites behind on your plate. Remember. Your body is not the garbage disposal I'm giving you permission to not clean your plate.
[00:17:28] And then another tip would be to eat half your plate. And again, check in with yourself. So you eat half your plate. You pause for a few minutes, and then you ask you. Do I need the rest of this because I'm hungry or do I just want it because it's here in front of me and it tastes really good. Okay. My last tip would be to serve yourself a little less than you normally would, and you could also try using a smaller place.
[00:17:54] So, let me say this again, eating to the point of enough takes practice. It's never going to happen a hundred [00:18:00] percent of the time, so start small. So which tip feels good for you to put into action first? Is it slowing down? Cutting the distractions, leaving a few bites behind or eating half your plate and then pausing, or is it serving yourself a little bit less?
[00:18:18] Okay. Let's move on to the fourth and final habit. And that's right down your food, either in a journal or track it in an app. This is one of the best awareness tools for your tool belt. It's something to help, you know, where you're starting and where you need to go. And it's not meant to have to do for.
[00:18:42] So why is this so important? Well, it gives you insight into what your nutrition actually looks like. It lets you know exactly where to begin to start making easy teenage changes because it's hard to know where you need to go when you don't know where your. [00:19:00] Journaling your food also allows you to see patterns, patterns, like if you're eating for reasons outside of hunger, or if maybe there's some mindless eating happening, like maybe you didn't realize just how many times you walked past your pantry and grabbed a little something, or just how much you were snacking or taste testing while making your dinner.
[00:19:23] Food journaling also helps to keep you accountable, knowing that you have to log it makes you pause and think before you eat it, it gives you a moment to say to yourself, gosh, I'm going to have to log this. Am I even hungry? When I ladies had a goal this past week to curb some mindless snacking, she said, honestly, I just see my kids eating a snack.
[00:19:44] And so I eat some too it's right there. It's just easy. But the act of journaling helped her to correct. She's like, you know what, Melissa, I just really didn't want to have to write down four pretzels so I didn't need them. So [00:20:00] logging is like an accountability partner. And if you need one more great reason to log it's, it helps you to learn more about yourself and what to expect.
[00:20:11] This is another way to help you stay out of frustration. So let's say you overate at dinner and you go to journal it. Oh, okay. This makes sense. I barely ate anything all day or it's been way too many hours since my last meal. Now, if this continues and happens a lot, then you can expect that if you wait too long to eat, or you don't eat enough throughout the day, then you tend to overeat at dinner.
[00:20:36] This is great info to learn about yourself because now you have a solution. So to get started, all you need to do is grab a journal and each day, write down everything that goes in your mouth. Even those little bites and tastes of, don't worry so much about the exact amounts of things at this point, like weighing or measuring.
[00:20:56] But if you had some cookies, write down six cookies, [00:21:00] the most important thing here is to just get in the habit of writing down. Okay. So now, you know, the four simple habits to weight loss. When you put these habits into place, you'll absolutely gain momentum and start to see progress without all that restriction.
[00:21:17] Just like my client, Gabby who lost 35 pounds in six months and has kept it off for over two years now, she told me I've learned how to eat better without feeling. And when people ask me about my journey, I tell them I can eat anything I want, or like I just choose when and how much that's so great.
[00:21:39] Right. So let me quickly recap these habits for you. And then I want you to pick one. You're going to focus on first and then go ahead and write that down. Is it the water 64 ounces a day? Are you going to work on getting those seven to nine hours of sleep at night? Or are you going to work on eating when hungry and stopping at [00:22:00] enough?
[00:22:00] Or are you going to start writing down your food? So I want to give you a few tips on how you can start implementing and building these habits. And when it comes to health, Easy does it to make habits really sticky. You want to make it as easy as possible and start small break down the habit into very easy steps.
[00:22:23] So you can say I can 100% do this. Not I'll try to do this. For example, if you want to eat more vegetables, . You could start by adding in a serving of vegetable. A day or a few times a week versus swapping them for something else. You don't want to go from French fries to broccoli overnight.
[00:22:45] All right. I have four tips for you on how to get started with new habits. The first tip is to reduce the amount of steps required to complete it. For example, prepare that serving of veggies ahead of time. So it's just as [00:23:00] convenient to grab as that bag of chips. My next tip is you could try habits today.
[00:23:05] So, what you're doing here is you're stacking the new habit onto another habit you already have. So let's say you want to start drinking one glass of water a day. That's your new habit. If you already have the habit of making coffee every morning, then you'd make your coffee and you drink the glass of water.
[00:23:25] I use this one in the morning with my supplements. I'd always forget to take my multivitamin. . So I set the bottle right next to my Keurig and I take it while it's brewing with a glass of water. See what I did there. Okay. Tip number three is paired the new habit, which is something you need to do with something you want to do could be like, well, I want to watch an episode of Ted lasso, but I need to do my food prep for tomorrow.
[00:23:53] So after I do my food prep, oh, watch the episode. And then finally. Use a habit tracker. [00:24:00] And I provide these in my coaching program because habit trackers give you the visual reminder to do the action. Kind of like me setting out my vitamin bottle. They also give you some immediate feedback that shows you that you're on the right path.
[00:24:16] Some habits take time to see. So tracking them is motivating to see the progress that you're making. And I don't know about you, but I love checking things off. It's very satisfying, changing and creating new habits is the key to successful weight loss. So let me ask you, would you like me to help you change and build lifelong habits and lose weight in a way you want to live your life?
[00:24:44] If you're ready to do this weight loss thing for the last. I'd be thrilled to invite you to join me in the drop. The diet coaching program drop the diet coaching program is the most comprehensive program that teaches [00:25:00] women how to lose weight for the last time, by building a winning relationship with themselves and with food without all the BS rules, overwhelm and over complicated.
[00:25:12] So I'm not exactly sure why you showed up here today, but I bet I can get.
[00:25:18] Maybe you're totally over restrictive diets and they yo-yo weight. Or maybe you want to do weight loss in a simple way. That feels good. And in a way that you can live your life, or maybe you want to build the habit to become the person you want to be. I want you to remember why you showed up here today, because obviously you want to make a change and I'd be thrilled to help you.
[00:25:44] Uh, you might be really excited to start your nutrition and weight loss journey, but maybe you have some doubts. Maybe you're thinking, oh, what if I fail again? And to that, I I'll ask you, what does failing mean to you? [00:26:00] This is going to be different for everyone. Just like everyone has a different idea of success, but a common one I hear is, well, failure to me is not losing the weight.
[00:26:10] I've tried everything and I've failed. So if this doesn't work, what's left. And what I say to this is that you didn't fail the past diets. You were on set you up to. This is not your fault. It was the process that didn't set you up for success. Be done thinking about what you did in the past and know that you're doing something different this time around, you have to do different things to get different results.
[00:26:36] And I know that can be scary, but there is no failing in this program. There's just learning. And pivoting, or maybe you're thinking that you just don't have the time now because you've been conditioned to over-complicate weight loss. Maybe you think you'll have to spend your entire Sunday meal prepping or that you have to make these [00:27:00] extensive fancy recipes, but that's not what we're doing.
[00:27:03] Is weight-loss going to take some time. Yes, of course. As any gold has, but you're learning and you're taking action so that you will never have to do this again, but it doesn't have to consume you. I mean, even when you're not trying to lose weight is still have to spend some time thinking about what you're going to eat and going to the grocery.
[00:27:25] No. I know you've got an extensive to do list, and I know that taking care of yourself probably falls to the bottom of that list. The kids, your partner held, the dog gets fed before you, but you have to make the decision to take time, to take care of you when you're taking care of you. You'll be that much better to show up for other.
[00:27:46] And think of all the time you'll save when you stop thinking so much about wanting to lose weight or searching for how to do it and wasting time on diets, that aren't sustainable, you've done some big stuff in your life. I'm sure of it. [00:28:00] And I know you'll figure out how to make this price. And if it's not a time thing, maybe you're thinking, but can this really work for me?
[00:28:11] And even if your Perrier post-menopausal have PCLs and underactive, thyroid, or special dietary needs, you are not doomed. You can still lose weight and I will show you. So, if you like what you learned in this workshop, you'll get loads more. When you enroll in the coaching program, the doors to drop the diet coaching are currently open, but we'll be closing on January 13th and are not going to open up again until April.
[00:28:41] So if you'd like more details, head on over to drop the diet, coaching.com forward slash enroll. I hope to see you. Thanks so much for joining me today. I'll see you next week.[00:29:00] .
