Speaker 1: I won't let my body out be out everything that
Speaker 1: I'm made do. Won't spend my life trying to change.
Speaker 1: I'm learning to love who I am. I get I'm strong,
Speaker 1: I feel free, I know who every part of me.
Speaker 1: It's beautiful and I will always out way if you
Speaker 1: feel it with your hays in the air, She'll love
Speaker 1: to the mow there. Let's say good day and time
Speaker 1: did you and die out? Welcome back to Outweigh So
Speaker 1: excited to be back for another episode. Hey Amy, Hey,
Speaker 1: happy Saturday. So this topic today is something that I've
Speaker 1: been thinking about as I've been listening to my own
Speaker 1: body and we're recording this in the fall. It's becoming
Speaker 1: pretty cold here in New York. I don't know what
Speaker 1: temperatures are like over there in Tennessee, Amy, but it's
Speaker 1: getting colder pretty much wherever you live, and what I'm
Speaker 1: craving is starting to change. How about you? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: am enjoying betternut squash soup. I have had tons of
Speaker 1: sweet potatoes. I want things that are warm and kind
Speaker 1: of rudy. I'm enjoying a lot more bread and things
Speaker 1: that are very filling, like hardy. They feel more hardy.
Speaker 1: I love smoothies, but I haven't really had a smoothie
Speaker 1: in the last couple of weeks, and so that's just
Speaker 1: a shift that I've personally seen in my own eating.
Speaker 1: What's it like to be able to honor that after
Speaker 1: you know your history of green juice is no matter what,
Speaker 1: and salads and all that. I mean, honestly, the first
Speaker 1: thing that comes to mind is just like a sigh
Speaker 1: of relief. Like I feel like I could just take
Speaker 1: a big inhale and exhale right now, and that would
Speaker 1: explain how I feel, because it's nice to just be
Speaker 1: able to go with the flow. And while what we're
Speaker 1: talking about right now is seasonal, but it really could
Speaker 1: be a metaphor too for how I handle meals with friends.
Speaker 1: I just had a dinner the other night and kind
Speaker 1: of what we had planned on ordering fell through last minute.
Speaker 1: We had to pivot and do something else, and it
Speaker 1: was not stressful. I like flowed into kind of like
Speaker 1: how you flow into new seasons. I flew into the
Speaker 1: new menu no problem, and that I think is what
Speaker 1: represents like I just I had to honor what was
Speaker 1: happening in that moment and just go with it and
Speaker 1: kind of listen to what I was craving and what
Speaker 1: sounded good to me even though it threw me. And
Speaker 1: it's kind of like, now that I'm in recovery, I
Speaker 1: can listen to my body similarly with the seasons when
Speaker 1: it's colder outside, I can, you know, evaluate things, what
Speaker 1: am I craving and not be thrown off by it
Speaker 1: and just select whatever feels good to me in the moment.
Speaker 1: And So the conversation that I was having with myself,
Speaker 1: as I normally have conversations with myself, is this idea
Speaker 1: that we as humans act like we are not part
Speaker 1: of our environment, and we are very much a part
Speaker 1: of our environment for survival and biological reasons. There's going
Speaker 1: to be fluctuations as seasons change, as time goes on,
Speaker 1: to our bodies and to our desires. So first thing
Speaker 1: I just want to tackle here is the topic of
Speaker 1: weight fluctuations during seasons. And I think weight fluctuations in general,
Speaker 1: when we talk about them, we don't really think about
Speaker 1: things outside of, oh, why am I gaining weight? Did
Speaker 1: I eat too much? And we label that as a
Speaker 1: bad thing, But we actually gain weight during the colder
Speaker 1: months for really good reason, and it's for our bodies
Speaker 1: to protect us. But because we think that we're so
Speaker 1: static that we should weigh you know, a hundred something
Speaker 1: pounds or two hundred something pounds or three hunt whatever
Speaker 1: your static number is, that you think that it should
Speaker 1: stay at that exact number all the time. Is failing
Speaker 1: to realize how we're interacting with our environment in a
Speaker 1: way that's really supportive to our bodies. It's only because
Speaker 1: we have viewed ourselves as being static do we label
Speaker 1: a weight change up as bad. And um, I think
Speaker 1: that really can throw us for a loop and not
Speaker 1: being able to honor what our bodies are wanting. So,
Speaker 1: like you said, you're creaving the butternut squash soup, the
Speaker 1: sweet potatoes, breads, me too, And I wanted to kind
Speaker 1: of discuss why that happens and remove the blame for
Speaker 1: our listeners if they have gone up a couple of
Speaker 1: pounds over this holiday season, and take the blame off
Speaker 1: of them and because they overdid it at Thanksgiving, you know,
Speaker 1: whatever it is. I want them to realize that bodies
Speaker 1: do fluctuate and therefore start to detach themselves from that
Speaker 1: number so that they can continue to honor where their
Speaker 1: body is guiding them. Does that make sense, Yes, very
Speaker 1: much so. The fact is different foods are available per
Speaker 1: different season, and how we personally store those foods, that energy,
Speaker 1: how we use it, it all changes. And while science
Speaker 1: doesn't have this all figured out, we know that there's
Speaker 1: a phenomenon that's happening, which is most mammals are gaining
Speaker 1: weight to some degree during the colder months. And the
Speaker 1: idea is is that we're doing that in anticipation of
Speaker 1: our environmental demands. So the seasons are changing, and our
Speaker 1: bodies might even be a little bit premature to change
Speaker 1: with it, so that we are protected for the change
Speaker 1: that's coming, meaning we might gain a little bit of
Speaker 1: weight naturally in a maybe positive way, if we didn't
Speaker 1: have this idea that wegain is purely bad. To protect
Speaker 1: us in many ways. To keep us warm is the
Speaker 1: you know, if we boil it down to evolution to
Speaker 1: keep us warm during those months. Yeah, I mean if
Speaker 1: you're in a healthy perspective with it. Well, I say
Speaker 1: healthy in air quotes, but like if you're mentally in
Speaker 1: the right mindset where you can hear this and see
Speaker 1: the wegain is a good thing, Like you could honor
Speaker 1: and thank your body for doing what it's supposed to
Speaker 1: be doing to help keep you safe. So again going back,
Speaker 1: like we're part of our environment, but we act like
Speaker 1: we're not right, Like we eat foods completely out of
Speaker 1: season because we have bioengineered to either make them available
Speaker 1: for us or we you know, can ship them in
Speaker 1: from other places. But we are or we should be
Speaker 1: in sync with our surroundings. We should be craving amy
Speaker 1: the butternut squash because that's what can be grown right now,
Speaker 1: and being part of that system is really cool, and
Speaker 1: I think it's something that has been completely cut out
Speaker 1: of the conversation and what it means to be healthy,
Speaker 1: because you know, again growing up for me, it was
Speaker 1: like what's the healthy option, cold salad, raw foods. But
Speaker 1: in fact, the foods that your body can better digest,
Speaker 1: that you can enjoy might be the things that are
Speaker 1: a little bit more hardy. Uh. They might contain more
Speaker 1: vitamins and minerals that are protective for you during the
Speaker 1: cold seasons, to protect you against cold and flu and
Speaker 1: maybe even COVID who knows, you know. So there's so
Speaker 1: many different elements to why we may be craving those
Speaker 1: arch ear or more complex foods in a good way.
Speaker 1: I like that you mentioned about the you know, being
Speaker 1: able to eat what's in season, and shipping and all
Speaker 1: the different things that the future has given us and
Speaker 1: technology and engineering certain foods during different times of the year.
Speaker 1: Like back in the day, you don't have that. No,
Speaker 1: you could eat what you could grow in that season,
Speaker 1: and you got what you got. And you also needed
Speaker 1: to eat certain things, yes, to protect yourself and keep
Speaker 1: yourself warm, so simpler times, you know, exactly, And it's
Speaker 1: more than even just like the shipping, you know, the
Speaker 1: way we store food, from frozen foods to canned goods.
Speaker 1: We kind of progressed technologically a lot more quicker than
Speaker 1: we did biologically. Does that make sense? Our food advanced
Speaker 1: more quickly than our than our bodies can register. Oh hey,
Speaker 1: we don't need as much extra body fat because we
Speaker 1: wear coats now, you know, things like that. But nonetheless,
Speaker 1: it's so cool that our bodies have our back in
Speaker 1: this way. And if we stay away from the idea
Speaker 1: that our weight is one static number, we can allow
Speaker 1: for some fluctuations and be okay with them. Now, I'm
Speaker 1: not encourage anybody listening to way themselves and you know say, okay,
Speaker 1: but I'm getting five pounds, ten pounds, fifteen pounds. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that at all, But I'm saying, if you're
Speaker 1: noticing your body is changing during the winter months, maybe
Speaker 1: just take the quote unquote blame that has been put
Speaker 1: on you off of you so that you can start
Speaker 1: to work in part of a bigger system. Because there's
Speaker 1: also a lot of peace, gratitude, and mindfulness that stems
Speaker 1: from eating foods that are available to that specific season.
Speaker 1: You said peace, gratitude, mindfulness, I'm going to add satisfaction
Speaker 1: into that, because yeah, you're you're going to be more satisfied.
Speaker 1: And I say this as someone that spent many a
Speaker 1: winter's downing super cold green juice like because that is
Speaker 1: what I thought I needed to do, and I wasn't
Speaker 1: listening to my body, and I wasn't able to enjoy
Speaker 1: certain things that were around that probably would have offered
Speaker 1: me so much comfort. Instead, I was chasing comfort in
Speaker 1: something that was labeled by society standard to make me happier,
Speaker 1: to make my life better, to make my life easier,
Speaker 1: to be more convenient. When really, and again, green juice
Speaker 1: is not bad. It's not the enemy. It was how
Speaker 1: I was treating green juice. I had it on a pedestal,
Speaker 1: as like, this is the one thing I have to
Speaker 1: have every single day, even when it's freezing cold outside.
Speaker 1: And maybe I'm really craving a big bowl of oatmeal,
Speaker 1: Like I didn't give myself that because nope, that's not
Speaker 1: what I eat for breakfast. I drink green juice for breakfast.
Speaker 1: So I wasn't very good at listening to my body
Speaker 1: and honoring it. And so once I threw some of
Speaker 1: that out the window and I was able to adopt
Speaker 1: this mindset, I then had the satisfaction I was chasing
Speaker 1: all along. Yes, beautiful. When we recognize that our body's
Speaker 1: weight or body size might fluctuate seasonally, we could also
Speaker 1: use that as a tool to comfort ourselves when we
Speaker 1: start to feel panicked that we are gaining weight. So,
Speaker 1: rather than disrupting your relationship to food or exercise, which
Speaker 1: you've worked so hard to establish and be in tune to,
Speaker 1: can you put your hand over your heart on your belly,
Speaker 1: take a deep breath and say, this is a normal fluctuation.
Speaker 1: Sometimes my weight fluctuates up, sometimes it fluctuates down. And
Speaker 1: I'm also part of an environment. The last thing I
Speaker 1: just want to mention with all of this is you
Speaker 1: also might be craving sugar more in these winter months.
Speaker 1: And again I want to say, you're not broken. Amy
Speaker 1: and I talked about this a lot, but sugar need
Speaker 1: to digest. Simple carbohydrates are going to produce the hormone serotonin,
Speaker 1: the neurotransmitter into your brain. Serotonin is that happy hormone.
Speaker 1: And one of the reasons for this could also possibly
Speaker 1: be that with season changes, a lot of people experience
Speaker 1: sad or different levels of depression. Because we're outdoors less,
Speaker 1: we're getting less vitamin D. So when is the last
Speaker 1: time that you picked up something sweet that you really
Speaker 1: wanted and said, how would this make me feel? Mentally?
Speaker 1: And allowed a food, a high sugar food, whatever, it is,
Speaker 1: a treat, a candy, whatever. So what would it feel
Speaker 1: like to really stop for a second and ask yourself
Speaker 1: what do I want? And perhaps it's that sugar, that cake,
Speaker 1: that candy, and ask yourself, how would this elevate my mood?
Speaker 1: And if the answer is this is going to make
Speaker 1: me feel really happy, what would it feel like to
Speaker 1: be free of those labels and allow yourself to consume
Speaker 1: that food and know that you're benefiting your mind and
Speaker 1: your mental state without the drama of bringing in ever
Speaker 1: loaded relationship to that food you may have had prior, right,
Speaker 1: because then when you bring in the drama, that's when
Speaker 1: the food brings you down, and it does the opposite
Speaker 1: of like you think it's gonna make you happy, but
Speaker 1: then you have all the drama attached, and then five
Speaker 1: minutes after you eat it, you have the guilt and
Speaker 1: the your You know it brought you down. But yes,
Speaker 1: I mean food can bring you joy, It can bring
Speaker 1: you up. It can bring you happiness, regardless of what
Speaker 1: we've been told for so long that we have to
Speaker 1: earn this food or if you eat that you have
Speaker 1: to be punished for it in some way and you
Speaker 1: have to go run or feel bad about yourself. Like
Speaker 1: I feel like I was given that messaging all the
Speaker 1: time growing up, and even as an adult, I still
Speaker 1: hear it, but now I'm aware to it and I
Speaker 1: shut it out. It's like fork the noise, shout out, Lisa.
Speaker 1: I have to fork the noise and shut it out.
Speaker 1: Because that is a very common saying, like of like
Speaker 1: oh I can't eat it, or oh I'm gonna eat this,
Speaker 1: but I'm going to run later. Oh I just eat
Speaker 1: a cookie. I can't even believe it. Or I said
Speaker 1: that stuff in front of people. But then once you
Speaker 1: get in a better place and I don't call people
Speaker 1: out on it anymore. I'm not trying to be I'm
Speaker 1: not that annoying person. I'm not going to be a
Speaker 1: part of that conversation anymore. I'm not going to feed
Speaker 1: into that any longer because I know that I can
Speaker 1: get joy from a piece of cake and I can
Speaker 1: get joy from a cookie. But now I have a
Speaker 1: healthy enough relationship to decide when that's going to be
Speaker 1: and when it's not. Yes, I love that. So if
Speaker 1: your weight is changing, if your body is fluctuating, if
Speaker 1: you're craving starts your heavier foods, just remember that you're
Speaker 1: functioning as part of the environment, as a human being,
Speaker 1: and you're doing exactly what you need to be doing. Awesome,
Speaker 1: all right. We appreciate each and every one of you
Speaker 1: so much, and we wish you all the encouragement in
Speaker 1: the world on your journey, and we would love to
Speaker 1: hear from you again. We continue to take personal stories
Speaker 1: to make sure you send us an email if you
Speaker 1: would maybe like your story featured on an Outweigh episode.
Speaker 1: You can email us hello at Outweigh podcast dot com. Right,
Speaker 1: Thanks Lisa, Thanks everyone, m HM