Far 2 Fabulous

The End of Dieting: A New Approach to Eating

• Julie Clark & Catherine Chapman • Episode 18

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Episode 18
Ever wondered if the food on your plate aligns perfectly with your body's needs? On Far Too Fabulous, we tear down the myth that there's a universal diet that works for everyone, diving into our own stories of meaty meals, the leap into vegetarianism, and the quirks that come with changing eating habits. As we swap tales from our personal experiences, from genetic quirks affecting nutrient absorption to the challenge of ensuring teenagers get the right fuel, we'll guide you through the maze of dietary decisions, revealing why balance might just be your best friend.

Guest Catherine joins me to unravel the tangled web of nutritional advice—where "low-fat" often masks sugar-laden pitfalls and where the journey to healthy eating is riddled with marketing myths and political pressure. We spill the beans on the reality of dieting communities, the truth about good fats, and how an educated approach to food can transform your relationship with every bite. Add to that a sprinkle of strategies for mindful eating, and you'll see why your kitchen could be the starting line for a revolution in your health.

As our conversation simmers to a close, we feast on the idea that variety is the spice of life—especially when it comes to fruits and veggies. I'll share my love for eating with utensils as a tactic to keep snacks in check, and we'll debate the organic food scene, pondering whether it's worth the extra green. By the end of our chat, you'll be armed with the know-how to eat seasonally, save money, and indulge in the joy of discovering what foods make your body hum with vitality. Join us at the table, and let's make every meal count!

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Speaker 2

Welcome to Far Too Fabulous hosted by Julie and Catherine, join us on a mission to embrace your fabulousness and redefine wellness. Get ready for some feistiness, inspiration, candy chats and humour as we journey together towards empowered well-being.

Speaker 1

Let's dive in. Hello and welcome to this week's episode. So today I thought well, we thought that we would look at diets, because one of the questions I get asked as a nutritionist all the time is what is the same for julie? Often their goal is weight loss and always.

Speaker 2

For us, the weight loss is a positive side effect a good, yeah, good byproduct.

Speaker 1

Absolutely yeah, yeah, yeah, a good byproduct, because, as we've alluded to before in a previous episode, weight loss is actually quite complicated. It's not just about exercise, it's not just about what you eat, but I think when people do ask us what, what is the best diet?

Speaker 2

that's what they really mean yeah, and it's very personalized and when, and we're going to this later on, but I think I imagine when someone comes to you, julie, they they want to know. They want to know your opinion on the best fad diet because they want a quick fix. I mean, quite frankly, if you told them a magic weight loss pill, they'd probably rather take that. So they want everybody's after that quick fix. And what I think they miss out on is what is the best diet? And I wish you could see me with my bunny fingers going um for me exactly because it's such a personalized thing.

Speaker 1

So, for example, I'm a meat eater, but katherine is a vegetarian, and people are often quite surprised, I think nowadays because of the agenda around plant-based foods and there is an agenda around that they are surprised that I'm not vegan, given that I'm a nutritionist. But I'm not, and although I do eat an awful amount of plant-based foods and when I'm saying plant-based foods, I mean actually things that are grown rather than manufactured to be vegan-friendly in the supermarket Honestly, don't get me started on that, catherine go on, let me get you started on that.

Speaker 2

Let me get you started on. Let me just start by saying that I know that when you eat meat, you are very, very particular about what you eat.

Speaker 1

Oh, yeah, like really, I will not eat non-organic meat at all because I know too much yeah, absolutely so.

Speaker 2

Come on then, julie. What do you know about organic versus non-organic meat?

Speaker 1

scare us yeah, well, I don't want to scare you too much, but of course, we are totally dependent on what we put in our bodies and the way that we manufacture. A lot of our food and it ends up from where it's made to end up in on our plate is not always very pleasant, and especially when it comes to animals. Now, I am an animal lover, so the welfare of those animals is important to me. But with regards to organic, other than that welfare aspect, the way that the animals are allowed to graze and be fed and not be subjected to chemically modified food that isn't the right food for them, and then the amount of antibiotics they're given yeah, I just don't want that going into my body yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2

I mean the, I mean part of let's. We can't even touch on the environmental side of things. I don't think here, because I think again, that's another huge, huge object and it's definitely for me. Now, that's part of the reason that I don't eat meat is the environmental side, but absolutely the, the. The main reason is because of the, the way that the animals are treated and, like you said, the antibiotics, the, the whole, oh the whole industry is is just so corrupt and so so sad. If I ate meat, the way that you eat me is the absolutely the only way that I would do it.

Speaker 2

I was a self righteous 11 year old and I decided it. Um, it was a guide camp and we had this, we had this form. It wasn't on the computer because I was 11 and that wasn't a thing then. Um, so we had this actual physical form and it said do you have any dietary requirements? And I was like, yes, yes, I do. At 11, I'm a vegetarian. Don't you know? Which must have been really thrilling for my guiders in the middle of a, in the middle of a field, catering for hundreds of guides on guide camp.

Speaker 2

But, um, it was quite easy because mum had been vegetarian before and she sort of she flitted in and out of it really, so that was easy for her. And then my sister has never liked the texture of meat and she also did that. I'm sure lots of people can relate to this. She did this when she realised what meat was, she took mum all the way along the freezers and the fridges in the supermarket and went what's that, what's that, what's that? And so mum had to tell you, yeah, that that was. That's a pig, that's a chicken, that's a cow, and between that and the texture, she's never eaten meat as well. So it was actually a really easy decision in our in our household. Yeah, now I've got to stick to my convictions are your children vegetarian or not?

Speaker 1

and your husband?

Speaker 2

two of them are. One of them isn't. They were all. So we decided, because I did the majority of the cooking and I'm not very good at cooking meat because I was a vegetarian since I was 11, I'd never learned to cook meat. So a very funny story. I don't I actually don't know how I haven't poisoned my husband's cooking meat, but the first time that I ever cooked him a meat bolognese I like. So if you, if you have used corn before, you know that you just need to defrost it, bung the sauce in and you're away.

Speaker 2

I didn't realise that you had to brown the mince off, so I bunged it in the pan, I've chucked the sauce in and I'm mixing it up and I'm thinking this doesn't look right. So I've rung my mum and I've said, mum, it doesn't look right. And she said but you've browned it off, haven't you, my mum? And I've said, mum, I don't, it doesn't look right. And she said, but you've browned it off, haven't you? And I said I've done what? No, and I mean we were living in London at this point, so I was easily in my 20s was you trying to impress him, make him a meat dish and it all went wrong?

Speaker 2

yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, absolutely and I'm really, I am. I'm dreadful at cooking meat. I'm dread, I don't. I don't know what the right meat to buy is. So for the kids, it was just much, much safer for them to be vegetarian and I mean I pay a lot of attention to it. So I was kind of even more with the children.

Speaker 2

But Mikey has since gone over to the dark side. With Mark, it's not so dark, catherine, it's not so dark. His was just purely so. He could have pepperoni on his pizza, oh okay. Or bacon that's the other one, isn't it? He's not, but he's not very. He's actually not very good at it, he's he. When he first started eating meat, he actually got quite, he got quite sick. Um, it really it. It upset him. I don't know whether he was just not not used to digesting that. Um, he's persevered. I don't think he has a very diverse selection of meat that he eats, but he he's still um, like. He doesn't actually like, uh, minced beef. I literally think it is just for the, maybe the, the burgers and pepperoni and things that 15 year old boys like to eat yeah, I guess.

Speaker 1

So I always think um the same about um. Were you saying about you shouldn't be cooking meat because there's a vegetarian? I always think this about people who make tea if you don't drink tea, you can't make tea I am such a tea snob, as you know, and the amount of times I mean.

Navigating Nutrition and Diets With Care

Speaker 1

I went to Scotland recently and we were in a museum and I asked at the counter to make my own tea because I really wanted a cup of tea and I thought I cannot have this cup of tea be a wishy-washy milky. No, so I actually made my own tea in the cafe in the museum that we're in in Edinburgh.

Speaker 2

I think you have to check how people like their tea first, and if they like it, like you, then, then they can make yours, and if not, no exactly.

Speaker 1

So I think I should explain why I am a meat eater, I think. Well, first of all, as a nutritionist, I need to make sure that I'm getting all the nutrients I need and, having done a lot recently on genetics and the microbiome etc, I I have a better understanding of how my body works, for a start, but also we rely on amino acids and B12 and iron, and there is a fairly strong argument. Anybody listening now who's a vegetarian will be like no, don't be shouting at me, swearing at me, probably, but we've got a really high need for amino acids and if we don't get all the essential amino acids, those are the things that our body can't make. There are loads of processes that are impacted by that, and then b12 is a key part of methylation, another key process in the body that we can't. We can't work properly if we don't have that.

Speaker 1

And if you're like me and you have a genetic issue with b12, then it's very hard to get enough b12. And I think it's very common knowledge that a vegetarian, vegan diet in particular, is very low in B12. But you have to be careful on the amino acids. So I've played around with various ways of eating to see what suits my body the best, and I would say that, because of those issues that I know that I've got and just how I feel that I do have a need to eat meat a couple of times a week and that's what I do yeah, no, absolutely.

Speaker 2

It's so interesting you were saying about the um supplementing and that was such a great episode I think it was last week. So interesting, I really fought against supplementing for so long because I just I really bought into that you need to get it from your food and I really I mean, I still in an ideal world, that's in an idea and I know that's where you'd be too.

Speaker 2

yeah, but um, but yeah, no, I I supplement with b12. Actually I ran out and I meant to get some the other day, yeah, so now I make sure that there are supplements there and I do pay a lot of attention. And, don't worry, vegetarians at home, don't scream at Julie. We're all safe and secure in our own decisions.

Speaker 1

Exactly, I think one of the things I would say with vegetarian diets is that in my work I see a lot of food diaries and especially because I see a lot of children and girls in particular, as teens are very highly likely to be vegetarian, a bit like you being 11 and deciding, but their diet consists mainly of pasta and cheese.

Speaker 1

And this is the issue is if you want, as a teenager, to go vegetarian, I don't have an issue with that at all, because, as long as you know, if you've got any problems with things like b12 or iron, you've got to make sure you get all your amino acids.

Speaker 2

For a start, that means you've got to combine things, but you've got to eat your vegetables, yeah yeah, yeah, absolutely, and I guess if, um, I and I know this is very common is it that, yeah, like teenage girls would suddenly decide on on an ethical platform probably, that they've decided they want or that they've seen that this, this, uh, plant-based diet is is, quote, unquote the best, that they go and they choose that. Often they're the only one in the family that has chosen that, and so if you're eating in a family of meat eaters, often that's what they'll do. They'll go. I don't know what to give you here. Have pasta and cheese, like every blooming restaurant in the entire world thinks that that's what every vegetarian wants to eat when they go out for dinner must be very frustrating

Speaker 1

because, there's some amazing vegetables and you can cook amazing foods. Yeah, and very cheaply.

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, do you remember when we were in retreat in barcelona and that was, that was all plant-based, that was all vegan, actually wasn't it?

Speaker 1

it was just totally incredible wasn't it because I had to ask for some milk for my tea, because, again, I was precious about my tea. Yeah, I had to have normal milk for my tea. Um, not plant-based milk. Honestly, tea snob, can we can?

Speaker 2

we, yeah, can we go on normal milk? Normal milk for who? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's such a good normal milk, milk for baby cows.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and you're right, you know we shouldn't have milk really, because it is. It's to grow a calf into an adult cow in a short amount of time. A cow's got four stomachs to deal with this stuff. And yeah, you're right, no one likes to show off cows. I mean, come on, yeah, the milk situation. And also we lose the lactase enzyme once we get to about four. So again in my clinic when I see children and some of them have started school and then they start having tummy aches, diarrhea, being sick, and people think, oh, it's the change they've got. You know, quite often it'll be because they've lost their lactase and they now can't handle the cow's milk, protein, sugar, the lactose yeah so yeah, it is interesting.

Speaker 1

But you're right, I don't know. Did I use the word normal? Yeah, I mean that that says a lot, doesn't it?

Speaker 2

yeah, what is normal yeah, yeah, I do it and then I actually, but I now my next thought every single time is that's not normal, it's not normal, is it? It's not?

The Myth of Low Fat Diets

Speaker 1

normal. But anybody who likes a decent cup of tea, a proper cup of tea, well, no well, and they know where I'm coming from. Yes, we do know where you're coming from and all things, all things in moderation, and all about balance, exactly so let's talk a little bit about the different diets out there, and one of the things that I know we both have an issue with is that diets shouldn't have an end date, because it should be a lifestyle choice, yeah, even the word.

Speaker 2

Do you know? I don't know about you and it shouldn't, but even the word diet makes me prickle because of how it is used now yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1

And of course, the minute you say people think that you're trying to lose weight, yeah, that it's a restriction. It's a restriction. Yeah, exactly. So we know that diets don't work. Yeah Right, we know that. Does everybody know that by now?

Speaker 2

I don't think they do, julie, I don't think they do Top Sun Tay says they work, so they must work they must work.

Speaker 1

Oh, diet, so yeah. So sometimes it is necessary to kind of give yourself a bit of a reboot. So I will do a reset which works really well because it's changing your relationship with food. It's getting the sugar out. One of the things we should have mentioned, talking vegan and vegetarian, is, of course, sugar is vegan and don't the food manufacturers know it. Yeah, sugar is is vegan and don't the food manufacturers know?

Speaker 2

it. Yeah, again, food diaries for vegans. High in sugar, immensely high in sugar, but that's the same whole thing. Oh, we're on a slippery slope now watch out. That's the whole thing with when the that, I'm trying not to swear, I'm really trying not to swear. Sorry, julie's mum, when the whole research about low fat came out. And so what did they do? They went oh well, they don't want fat because that doesn't sell. Let's take that out, fill it full of sugar and, hey presto, it's good for you.

Speaker 1

This is such another topic oh my god you've just, you've just. The rabbit hole is there and I'm about to go down it again.

Speaker 2

Go down it, Julie, Go go.

Speaker 1

Low fat. So as a child born in the 70s, the early 70s, this low fat myth became really. It was a big deal.

Speaker 2

It's still ruining people's diets now.

Speaker 1

Yeah, we cannot cope without good quality fat. It impacts our brain, our immune system, our skin, our hormones oh, my goodness me. And yet, even now, like you said, if you speak to a lot of doctors, they're still on this low-fat diet.

Speaker 2

It's like a knee jerk reaction, isn't it? It was so ingrained. I mean, it was genius of the people that completely misconstrued that research and then ran with it, start going down the the route of politics.

Speaker 1

In nutrition, which I do a lot because it's a key part of you know what I do it's really, really distressing what goes on. There's no interest in your health when you get into the politics of everything, and that, particularly, was driven by people in power that wanted more power yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely yeah.

Speaker 2

You start to, you start to talk about um like corn and crops, and it's the same with the meat industry. It's yeah, the politics, the money, the ethics behind it is yeah, and I can't believe.

Speaker 1

It's not butter, it's not freaking butter and it has no right to even have butter in the title. It's just a manufacturer, a manufactured chemical produce. It's plastic, plastic that has no benefit in your body. Yeah, but it's okay because it's low fat. Oh you know. Oh, okay, excellent, but yeah, you're right. As soon as a product says I mean, I tell all my clients it's sarcasm that was there, by the way ignore the products in the supermarket that have got low calorie, light, low fat, reduced fat.

Speaker 1

Just eat the full version of it, and if they have to mess around with it, then eat less of it yeah because there's a reason why they're messing around with it. I mean, you don't go up the fruit and veg aisle and they say, oh, here's some low sugar oranges or some low fat broccoli. It's ridiculous, isn't it? It's app, it's just insanity.

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah, absolutely just keep it. Keep it super simple keep it simple.

Speaker 1

So I've always had a bit of an issue about slimming world. I'm going to call out slimming world. It's going to turn into a rant and I know that again there'll be people listening who have done slimming world and and benefited from it. I think a lot of the time when people go to those types of things slimming well, weight watchers, whatever it's the community aspect that they're benefiting from the diet like weight watchers is all about their manufactured foods again rubbish, and then that being obsessed with the number on the scale or, as I like to call it, your relationship with gravity with gravity.

Speaker 2

Yes, that's my favorite.

Speaker 1

I love that. Um, and we know what people do before they go to a weigh-in they don't eat all day. Uh, they make sure they go to the toilet. They don't drink any water. You know all those things.

Speaker 2

I'd have been great the other day I'm doing absolutely great because I got the epilator out and, uh, completely stripped myself of put your lightest clothes on light yeah, absolutely yeah, cut my hair, went to the toilet, yeah I was much, much lighter, exactly.

Speaker 1

So we know that that goes on and and you know for some people that community aspect and things can be really good for them. I understand that. But when you actually look at the diet, especially for slimming well, and I don't know if it's changed because I don't really look at these things that much anymore, but I know that when I first qualified I would be looking at these diets thinking to myself why on earth would someone eat that? You know that low fat stuff and the points thing where you could, you could drink a bottle of wine that day, but if you didn't eat anything, then your points were fine. Yeah, we're still the same I'm sure it's changed.

Speaker 1

Please tell me it's changed, katherine. Do you know?

Speaker 2

I know I don't know like yeah, no, I, I know that I have. I know that there are success stories with people that have have done it, and it's the, it's the giving you the, the rules and parameters, the motivation To sort of stick to, which is wonderful, but if you are again, their main goal is weight loss and it's not about nutrition and health. No, and that I think that is the where you need to kind of be looking, rather than at the weight loss again.

Speaker 1

And then what happens? When you, when you get to your weight loss, you, you go back to your.

Speaker 2

I'll go back to normal now, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely, just because, because it's got an end date and then you can stop. Yes, exactly, so start out some again.

Speaker 1

By the way, so we do not want a diet with an end day. So, as I was saying, you know, sometimes well, actually a few times a year I run a reset. It's really good. It gets people thinking about you know their appetite, understanding their hunger cues, their relationship with food and sometimes we need to do that approach of having a kickstart.

Speaker 2

It's do you know what I love the most about it? And I will do it If I can see that sugar is creeping into my diet more and more. And again, that's not your fault, because if you are, if you're not paying attention to it, it could be in lots of the processed foods that you are, that you are eating, and then the more that you eat, the more you're going to crave it. This is your gut doing this to you, so it's an awareness thing. It's not your fault. So when you are aware you go and do Julie's reset for a week and then suddenly you're not craving sugar anymore because you've taken it out of your diet, it's just. I mean, I literally can't rave about your reset enough. It is so fantastic, but actually you could do yours.

Personalized Diet and Organic Food Debate

Speaker 2

I'm not saying maybe we could do, and my caveat is don't tell Julie, but I never give up coffee anymore. Those headaches are just not worth it. But other than maybe the first two days that are just smoothies and and soups, which are brilliant within that uh week, but I don't think I could do that for a lot longer. All the rest of the recipes you could, they would. They are quite easily uh, part of your lifestyle.

Speaker 1

Yeah exactly, and those recipes in that reset plan are part of my. You know we've all got our main recipes that we do all the time that you know we, we repeat and they're easy. We don't have to look at this, you know how to do it and a lot of those recipes like the veggie chili, um the the dahl the cauliflower dahl yeah, are all on on that anyway, so yeah they are.

Speaker 2

They are for me as well, and for anyone that's in vitality rooms my membership they'll know that all of julie's recipes are in there too they are in there.

Speaker 1

So, yeah, and the thing about the sugar is that it masks our taste buds. So this is one of the issues with children not liking vegetables because they've had that intake of sugar and it's masked their taste buds and and I mean, even I get that change in taste buds doing a reset. So, yeah, like katherine said, we do soups and smoothies for a couple of days. That is to reset your gut, by the way, but that first meal that you actually eat, that you chew, the flavor just from the vegetables is immense, isn't it?

Speaker 2

I love that yeah, it's so right.

Speaker 1

And then you and you suddenly realize how much flavor you've been missing out on yeah yeah absolutely exactly, and and this leads nicely on to we're going off on a bit of a tangent, but that's okay. But this leads nicely on to like organic versus non-organic, because I think we've all experienced well most people have at some point eaten a tomato straight off the plant, whether it's in your own garden or someone's garden the difference between that and like the cherry tomatoes that you would get in the supermarket yeah, there's a huge difference, isn't there?

Speaker 2

yeah, I used to only eat tomatoes when I was on holiday in in greece, for instance, because they tasted so incredible and I you just never got that taste from a one from a supermarket here yeah, and the same happens if you go you know far, far overseas and you have something like a tropical fruit, the.

Speaker 1

The flavor of a tropical fruit in a tropical country is absolutely incredible.

Speaker 2

I've never had a mango in the uk that tasted like the ones in thailand. No, no, exactly, totally different.

Speaker 1

Yeah so I think there's a lot to be said for eating food that's in season.

Speaker 2

I was going to say go on to the in season because this is so interesting yeah.

Speaker 1

So I run a membership that was looking completely at seasonal foods and all of the recipes were based the meal plans were based on seasonal foods and I'm just looking at repurposing that at the moment. But when you start to understand the seasons and what is available and then you see the change in price at the supermarket, it's cheaper to eat seasonally, but you're more likely to get seasonal food from your, a local farm, in your supermarket as well, rather than being shipped from I don't know even spain or somewhere you know. Does anybody ever like spanish strawberries and taste of anything? Do they ever so things like that? So seasonal food, the impact on the environment, yeah, and everything but the access of nutrients and the flavor yeah, it's completely different.

Speaker 2

What blows my mind is that there's like the obviously the seasons are different all the way around the world. Yeah, and again, this is a holistic thing, isn't it that our bodies work with where we are and our environment and our temperatures and all that sort of thing?

Speaker 1

yeah, it has such a huge impact yeah, it's interesting when you start looking at areas of the world and what the body will recognize and be able to digest fully, versus things that have been brought into our diet in more recent times, and especially foods from like tropical fruits, for example. We wouldn't, we would never have had those things, would we? So, yeah, but going back to organic food, apart from the fact that we spoke about organic meat, I do have a weekly organic veg box from riverford. And again, when we're looking at flavor flavor I just think you can't argue with that one. Yeah, if you try the different, the two, it's incredible. And then you're not getting the pesticides, you're not getting all those chemicals added. So, yeah, I'm a big supporter of organic farming.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I think it's really good to just know where your fruit and your veg and your meat come from and the journey that that they have been through. And and the terrifying thing now is also that, since we've come out of europe, we don't have all those uh regulations in place.

Speaker 1

Yeah, that we had to farm with, so even less now we know what's what's like going on our on our fruit and veg yeah, and there's so much going on in the backgrounds I mean not to say too much because it's it's, you know, just whispers at the moment, but the people in the know know. I mean, even like jeremy clarkson's been going on about the fact that he's better off financially if he doesn't grow food as a farmer. I mean, he's been quite vocal about it and that, to me, doesn't make any sense. Why would we not want our farmers to grow food? Why would they be financially better off if they didn't grow food in their field? Honestly, this stuff is going on. And then there's something else going on with engineered foods, which is starting in america now, and we know that we always follow america, so we we got to look out for this, because our food is being really seriously messed around with yeah, and again it's.

Speaker 2

They don't have our interests, they don't have our health, they don't have our guts as their first interest?

Speaker 1

no, exactly, and because, to be honest, if that was the case, we wouldn't have things like ultra processed foods again. Don't send me down that rabbit hole. We'll talk about that on another one.

Speaker 1

I think so, so anyway, going right back to the start of what is the best diet. First of all, we wanted to amend that question to say what is the best diet for me? Yep, because it's very, very personalized, so diets do not work. So we're talking about your lifestyle and the food that you put in your body to nourish and maintain it. But everybody is different. You know so and I see this all the time in my clinic. Some people are on a keto diet and aren't well and they can't break down and use fats properly, so they end up with gallstones. Yeah, some people work really well off a really high fat diet, so keto diet in case you don't know.

Speaker 2

That's the. That's the point, isn't it? The keto diet is too it's high fat.

Speaker 1

It's high fat and, yeah, there's a lot of people that will run on a keto diet. Really well, I like to play around with it a bit because it shifts. I like to shift myself into a different way of burning fuel. Um, most of us are set up to burn sugars as a primary source because glucose is the main part of how we make our energy atp. But we do have that ability to burn fat, but we've got to allow it to happen where fasting can come into this, but we will talk about that separately, I think, but just you know to to explain that some people will come with a, a keto diet.

Speaker 1

They're doing it really well, but they're not well because they can't access the fat for fuel. So they feel tired, things are sluggish, they start getting gallstones and liver problems because of that again, but I think that's that was the atkins diet, wasn't it the?

Speaker 1

atkins diet was a yeah was a higher protein, higher fat diet. It was a low sugar diet. But again, some people would work quite well on an atkins and for weight loss, but some people wouldn't no so again, it's so personalized and I feel all of these that have got almost got a name have an expiry date.

Nutrition, Planning, and Priorities

Speaker 1

Yeah, they all have an expiry date, don't they? Because you're not supposed to be on them long term. I mean even something like the fodmap diet, which, if you have digestive issues, you'll be well aware of. The fodmap diet it's, uh, the word that it's the anagram for. Is it an anagram? Yeah, an anagram is a really long word which I won't even attempt to say, but it's to do with the fibers you being able to digest and break down fibers in the gut. For some people they can't do that, so it produces loads of gas and bloating and symptoms. But the fodmap diet is only supposed to be used in the in the short term a lot of these diets cabbage soup, a recent one a client told me was an egg diet.

Speaker 1

Yes, eat loads of eggs and then you'll miraculously lose weight. But I mean, when you think about this thing, was it just eggs? Yeah, pretty much.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I mean eggs are you asked him the same question? I thought of, didn't you? Yes, you've been to the toilet recently.

Speaker 1

I mean, eggs are an amazing source of nutrients and I know that again the vegans will be going, you know, at me, but eggs are really good source of nutrients. I chickens, six chickens who give me lovely eggs, and the chickens are very well looked after. And those eggs, again, they're so different from the ones in the supermarket.

Speaker 2

They are so different. I mean, I steal Julia's eggs as frequently as I can and we've got somebody else that supplies us with eggs as well, and that is the only way that I will eat eggs. Again, I want to know where they came from, because I know everybody has seen all those horrific pictures awful of like battery farming and and I don't trust what the boxes, what the egg boxes, say in the supermarket. I know that there are so many loopholes that they can go through, so again, it's like I want to know where it came from. That's, that is the only way that I will eat eggs exactly and there's not.

Speaker 1

It's lovely to go out in the garden, go and get the fresh eggs, and then have I did that this morning for my breakfast scrambled eggs on sourdough toast yummy, yummy, eat your heart out good life yeah, so, but one of the things I should just um put in, I think, because sometimes the argument about the cost comes up, yeah, and it's a fair one, because stuff is I mean, food prices have gone up considerably, haven't they? But you can I've done this so many times with clients. If you plan your meals yeah, with clients if you plan your meals, yeah, and you buy to that plan and you're using seasonal food and you're not using processed packaged food, because actually that works out more expensive, you can cut your bill significantly. I've done it loads of times with my clients yeah, there's definitely you need to.

Speaker 2

You need to really want it and and hopefully, and imagine people that listening to this really want to look after their well-being. That needs to be your priority. Planning definitely is, is a is a way to do it and and preparation. So you've got your plan, you've been able to shop just for your plan and then just putting a little bit of time and effort into that preparation and maybe doing things like bulk preparation and things like that is a good way around. The money thing, and I mean I hear you we've got our local Aldi supermarket is closed at the moment for a week, so we we headed off into another big branded supermarket, beginning with tea, and we did the same pretty much the same shop, and I tried to. You know you've got the like price match things as well. Yeah, we still came out of there and we'd spent another 20 pounds more just for a week shop.

Speaker 2

Yeah, um, so it definitely yes. So I mean, yeah, the planning, and I do I hear the financial, yeah stories around that.

Speaker 1

Yeah, you've absolutely got to consider it. And then it it comes down to priorities again doesn't it so?

Speaker 1

for me, especially as a nutritionist, I prioritize that. So I actually will spend a bit more money on the organic food. I'm, you know, fortunate that I'm in a position I can do that, but even if I wasn't, I'd still be aware of the quality, I think, of the food that I'm buying, because the long-term cost is way more than that cost at the supermarket at the time, I think yeah, absolutely, and it just it shows up in every part of your body, doesn't it?

Speaker 2

it shows up in your poop, it shows up on your skin, it shows up in your energy and your, your zest for life. It shows up in. And also, I mean, if you're not eating good, nutritious food, you're then going back for more food. Going back for more food, going back for more food yeah, not filling yourself up and giving yourself the right nutrients. So your body is like I need something else, I need more yeah, you're.

Speaker 1

Do you know what? That's a really good one, because your body will seek out food when it's looking for nutrients that are missing, but the only way it knows to signal normally is through salt and sugar. So if you find yourself really craving salt and you're like I want some crisps or whatever it is, then it's because your body's missing some nutrients, and the same with sugar. That's typically the case there. So, yeah, it's a good one to mention Absolutely. So, going back to you, know what is the best diet for me? I think that the most important thing is to see what works for you.

Speaker 1

Does a high fat diet suit you? Do you feel tired afterwards? Does your tummy not feel right? Have you tried eating more frequently? Does that help your energy or does it make it worse? Do you find it better to skip breakfast and do that time restricted eating? There's so many different, different ways that you can eat, but the one thing that they all have in common is that they are high in vegetables and fiber and whole food cooking from scratch. You know where that's that food's come from. It hasn't got a list of ingredients that you can't pronounce. That is the one thing that a good diet will have in common whether it's got a name or not.

Speaker 2

Yeah, absolutely that's so interesting, isn't it? Yeah, it doesn't matter about the timings or the name or any of that, as long as it's got lots and lots of fruit and veg and whole foods in it.

Speaker 1

Yeah, we're totally relying on those nutrients going in and I think most people, if they're really honest, if they write a food diet we've said about this before, haven't we? You write down everything you eat and drink for a week. It is very, very telling.

Speaker 2

Yeah, absolutely I mean for me, I and again I think probably we will do a whole thing on fasting I love, I love having a set of rules around.

Speaker 2

Actually, just in general in life, I like I quite like a set of rules, like I've tried to kick against this, but it's, it's just how I work, unfortunately. So I like that I that I don't eat anything until a bit later on, and then when it comes to about eight o'clock I don't eat anymore because there, I mean, is it? It's a danger area at eight o'clock If you then just don't go to bed straight away. There's that bit of time when you have a cup of tea and then you go and search for the kids' lunchboxes, stuff or any Easter eggs that have been left over. So having that cut-off point and having a rule that I've set for myself really works for me. But in between, in those eight hours, is whole food, and again, we'll probably do this in fasting. But I remember you saying, because I always got stuck over, this whole like breakfast was the most important meal of the day. That's.

Speaker 1

Kellogg's who told you that Did they?

Speaker 2

Yeah, breakfast was the most important meal of the day, that's Kellogg's. He told you that, did they? Yeah, marketing is magic, isn't it just well done, kellogg's. That was that was well done, and I so I again. I just heard that all of the time. So I really put off doing any fasting because I thought that I should be eating earlier and and it was not until you said it's not about the time that you do it, it's what you break your fast with, so you can have your breakfast, breakfast break fast whenever you want. It's just the first time you eat and it's what's important, is what it is.

Speaker 1

Yeah, absolutely, and I have this conversation a lot again with children, especially girls, and I have one conversation a lot again with children, especially girls, and I have one. So I have a 12 year old who, when she gets up in the morning, she doesn't want to eat before she goes to school. And when you're a parent, that's not a comfortable feeling, is it to send your child to school?

Speaker 2

without food. Yeah, it used to freak me out yeah, but but what I've?

Speaker 1

I've had this conversation with her. Look, I don't mind if you leave the house having not eaten, but you're taking something with you. That is your break fast food and it has to be a protein and fat with some carbs. If it's all carbs, that sets off a roller coaster on the blood sugars, another subject we need to talk about yeah, yeah, absolutely, and that isn't good.

Speaker 1

But if you've got a child that you're worried sending them off to school without having anything, just make sure they've got something with them, because they will be hungry when they're naturally hungry, and there are a lot of people that that is their natural state. When they get up in the morning, they're not hungry, and then they feel bad because they think that they should eat, and sometimes what do they do? They eat a banana, but that's all. Sugar, yeah, and that's yeah.

Speaker 2

So it's a good, good one to bring up, I think I think about the years that I I didn't force myself to eat breakfast, but I know that I feel better when I have it a bit later, and actually when I eat breakfast earlier, I end up feeling more hungry all the way through the day.

Speaker 1

That's the other thing that happens with a lot of people, that when they're not ready because it starts to do something with their blood sugar, especially if they then eat what they think is a decent breakfast, going back to, like your Weight Watchers, special k. I mean, that's, that's got a bigger for you and it's special, correct? Do they still do special k? I don't know, but it's very special, isn't it very special? Special k, you know, with the lady in the black in the no the red red swimming costume.

Variety in Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Speaker 2

See, yeah, so there is so much money and so much research that goes into making us know all these things. It's just it's in our subconscious exactly terrifying.

Speaker 1

It is terrifying. So I think the message from this episode is that everybody's different, yeah, but the common ground is the whole food thing. Yeah, the whole food thing, and one of the you like rules and things. One of the things that I will sometimes say to my clients but it depends on the client, but this one works quite, quite often, especially when there's lots of habits involved is you're only allowed to eat if it's with a knife and fork.

Speaker 1

Oh, have a think about what that does. What does that cut out? Oh my god that cuts out.

Speaker 2

So much.

Speaker 1

Yeah, you'll be thinking about that now as you go about your day. If you're only eating with a knife and fork, I'll allow chopsticks, but it cuts out all the pickiness yeah, the picking, and I'm snacking.

Speaker 2

I'm thinking, I'm thinking how am I going to eat my rye vitae with my hummus and my avocado with chopsticks or a knife and fork?

Speaker 1

Well, okay, yeah, it's a general thing.

Speaker 2

But no, even there. So if we haven't got, if we got some crackers or something, that's such an easy snack to go for and it's not a great one. So it's yeah, really I love that, even if it just makes you stop and think just for a second.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and if it's something like you know, oat cakes with some, yeah then. But I would argue that if you're having crackers with cheese or something, you should still have some salad with that and therefore you need your fork. Unless you're my son, who still uses his hands for everything, I'm going to blame baby Libween him, but having written a book about it, I am a huge fan of it. I think it's brilliant. But, yeah, still not one to use a knife and fork.

Speaker 2

Very often that that child well, I mean there's, there's whole communities of people that eat with their fingers this is true yeah, yeah, maybe that's where he needs to be, as we we would. Um, we were talking about sort of rules and things, and we were talking about this earlier on and about the counting. I said to you I'd watched that really interesting programme on Netflix last night about your gut and they were talking about counting but not calories, we will say in big letters.

Speaker 1

They were talking about the amounts of fruits and vegetables that you have in your diet in the week, and we had an interesting conversation about trying to get lots of variety in versus or and I don't know if both of those the seasonal yeah, I think, yeah, there's a lot of push towards variety on the fruit and vegetable side and I do understand that and I think a lot of it is to do with the damage that we've done to our guts that we need the variety to try and replenish and repair the damage that's been done, but, of course, the more variety you have. I think we were talking about um. Before we come on the on the recording, we were talking about dr mindy peltz and her uh, what's it?

Speaker 1

is it 100 or 200? 200 the challenge is 200 different things in a month yeah, the trouble with that is that if you look at seasonal foods, it's very hard to get that variety. So I wonder if we weren't originally meant to have that much variety yeah, good would she.

Speaker 2

So she included, like herbs and spices, yeah, and all of those, all of those things.

Speaker 1

But again, probably not very many years back, we wouldn't have had access to half the spices and things that we use now and I don't think there's too much wrong with just like sometimes in a week you don't have to have different food every day, you know, because that that makes it harder. So if you've made dinner and you've saved some for lunch, or even if you've made a double batch and you have it two days in a row, if you've cooked that from scratch and you've got seasonal veg there, I'm actually not too fussed about the variety, but some variety is important. But yeah, it was just an interesting observation that I had. I was thinking, yeah, seasonal food. When you look at seasonal food list for the location that you live in, yeah, there's not a massive list. No, in the summer you get more, but even then you you've not got. You know, you're not into the hundreds at that point.

Speaker 1

No saying that, though actually I bet if you looked at the seasonal list it is a lot more than most people will have yes, on their, on their weekly food list yeah, and then we could comment on the fact that the way that farming is has reduced the varieties right down anyway, because if you think of all the varieties of apples that we've got, especially where we live in kent yeah, it's very well known for apples you don't get all the varieties anymore, do you?

Speaker 2

no, that is true so it's true, yeah, well, let's not start on apples, no, genetically modifying them to make them very sweet, injecting them, no, no stop, don't go down that rabbit hole we've been talking.

Speaker 1

We've been talking phragies on this episode anyway.

Speaker 2

I knew that we were going to go off on a tangent, but it's so all I will say on that, that is again if you, if you fill out a food diary, just notice, count, how many different varieties of fruit and veg are there, could you up it and and pay attention to seasonal stuff as well?

Speaker 1

yeah, yeah, doing the colors are good, especially with kids. It's a color chart, so I have my rainbow chart where you can tick off. I've had something yellow, something red, something blue. That's a good one, because then you know that you're getting a wide variety of antioxidants and things in. Yeah, especially through the summer.

Speaker 2

Just yeah, eat the rainbow and and not the skittle version. Exactly. I think that's a good time to end. Oh, we knew this was going to be so much fun to to do. We hope that you have enjoyed it. We have got a facebook group of the same name, so if you want to continue this discussion in there with us, please do come in. Let us know what you think. We're up for all opinions and we'd love to carry on the discussion with you.

Speaker 1

Even the vegans can come and argue with me.

Speaker 2

They can, and actually do you know what they can? Come and help me too, because I definitely think I am a vegan in my future, so they can come and help me do it. Well, I know that julie, julie I know she's being mean, but I know that she will help us do it too, of course, of course. Fantastic bye, bye. Thank you for keeping us company today. If you enjoyed the podcast, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review.

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