Episode 24: My Personal Health & Weight Loss Journey – Part 3

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Welcome to the Reclaim Podcast. I’m your host, Leah Van Dolder. I’m a weight loss dietitian and a mindset coach, and this program is for you if you’re a busy working woman or female entrepreneur and you’re ready to take charge of your health. You’re ready to lose weight and make lasting positive change in your life. The only kicker is that you’re on the brink of burnout. You’re exhausted, you are frustrated, you’re feeling discouraged and uncomfortable, and this is how I help my clients. Giving you simple, practical, and savvy strategies to help you achieve your goals while reducing your stress, boosting your mood, your energy, and your self-confidence. To learn more about working with me, check out my website at leahvandolder.com. Welcome to the show.

Hey guys, welcome to this week’s episode of the Reclaim Podcast. I am so excited to chat to you today and I know I say that every week, but I’m going to open up part three of my personal journey to health and weight loss over the years. Today, I’m going to talk about the nutrition strategies that have worked like a dream for myself and for my clients because, honestly, why would I suggest anything to you if I haven’t tried it, tested it, and proven the strategy to myself? So let’s get right into this today. I’ve got six strategies that I’m going to walk you through today. If you were tuning into part one and part two of my personal health and weight loss journey, you’ve got a good sense now that years ago, when I left university, I just was not in a great spot nutritionally speaking. I didn’t have the best relationship with food, with exercise, and over the years that has drastically shifted. I’m at a point today where I can truly say with full certainty that I am living my healthiest, happiest life and I hear this all the time from you guys when I ask, like, why is weight loss important to you? Why are you beginning on this journey? Really, when it boils down to it, you want to live that healthy, happy life. You want to be your best version of you and this is why I do what I do because I am confident to say that I feel like the best version of me and I mean, hey, that’s going to evolve year after year, but when you can look at yourself in the mirror and be like, ‘hot damn, girl, like you’ve got it going on.’ You feel good, you look good, you take risks, you take that step at work to advance your career, you make that first move on a date. There is so much confidence within that and when you feel your best.

So let’s get into the nutrition strategies and you may even think like, ‘Oh my gosh, these are nothing exciting.’ And that’s the point here. Like the things that I am doing, the things that I help my clients do, it’s nothing special. These are ordinary strategies, but the thing with ordinary strategies, when you do them consistently over time, they lead to extraordinary results. So ordinary nutrition strategy number one. This should not come as a surprise, but planning ahead, like, holy crap, that’s the biggest thing that I started doing years ago. I was taught in university by a professor. It was like a home economics class, like university version, this Polish woman and she’s like, ‘Meal planning will change your life.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, lady, whatever,’ but it has literally changed my life. And not planning in the sense of taking eight hours out of my day because, surprise, surprise, I’m a registered dietitian that does not enjoy spending time in the kitchen. Like I would rather do a million different other things that bring me pure joy and happiness, like going outside, like getting together with friends, you know. Like my kind of cooking is simple, back to basic, get the job done. You don’t have to do any five-star dining to eat healthy. Planning ahead, to me, and I’ve redefined this over the years, but as a busy working woman, entrepreneur, you know, got a bunch of stuff going on, lots of responsibilities in the day, I take maybe 20 minutes once, twice a week to do some prep. Prep healthy food, like a lean protein, a couple of vegetables, some fruit so that it’s sitting there in the fridge waiting for you because that’s a major pitfall right now for you. You’re just eating whatever because you haven’t even thought about food. And when you think about it, it’s way too late. You’re starving. I know what that’s like. I used to do that. And then what happens? You eat so fast and you eat massive portions and then you feel disgusting afterwards. So planning ahead has been big for me. Every Sunday, I take, you know, 15 minutes of my time and I simply decide what I’m going to do for dinner during the weeknights. I also find it’s helpful to double up on things such as, you know, I’ll roast a big chicken and do two things with chicken that week. So you cook once, eat twice. So you cook a rotisserie chicken and you have the chicken with some roasted, you know, baby potatoes and a big Greek salad. And then you use that chicken the other night for chicken quesadillas with a side of veggies and dip, right? Cook once, eat twice. But planning ahead is massive. And this is something that I teach within my Signature Reclaim program. Simple planning, ladies. Doesn’t have to be fancy. And simple food prep that you can do in 30 minutes or less to just set yourself up for success during the week.

Strategy number two. I finally ditched the Fitness Pal app. I was using this thing off and on for years. And, you know, there is absolutely validity in being calorie conscious. You know, I found the app was a really helpful tool to become conscious of calories because that’s a big pitfall too. I mean, it’s kind of like your bank account, right? If you have no idea how much money is coming in every single month and you have no idea how much you’re paying in bills every month, like how do you expect to balance your checkbook every month? It’s the same thing with your caloric needs. And I find too in diet culture, calories is like this like icky, you know, high risk word. But let’s just talk science terms here. Calories is just a unit of energy. Your body needs energy to move. Your organs need energy to function. Bottom line, you get calories or energy (I use those words interchangeably) from the food that you eat. But if you’re eating too much energy, too many calories chronically over time, then you’re going to put on weight. And it’s an eye-opening experience to a lot of my clients that they’re like, ‘Holy crap, you’re telling me that my typical lunch order at Pita Pit or Chick-fil-A is 1200 calories?’ And to put that into perspective, say your needs are 1600, 1700 calories a day, like honey, you just slammed back more than, you know, half of your daily energy requirements in a lunch. So it’s a really effective tool. Because in my personal opinion, you don’t have to track calories for the rest of your life to lose weight and keep it off. You don’t. But calories do count. It is important to be aware of how much you are pulling in every day. But the other cool thing that I found out over the years that has worked like a dream for me, you don’t have to count calories every single day. You can use a portion awareness approach as well. Because newsflash, portions, if you’re having the appropriate portions for your body, that’s going to be an effective way of weight loss. And with my program too, I tell you exactly the perfect portions for your body and use simple practical tools. I’m talking like even measuring cups, none of this crazy scale stuff. You don’t have to take a scale everywhere with you to measure your food. Like, no, like to me, that’s just not sustainable. If you want to have at it.

But portions to me, you know, using a half cup measure for cooked couscous or using the size of your fist as an eyeball for a cup of vegetables on your plate, your hands, I mean, they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. You can take them as you travel, you can take them anywhere. And I find it’s a really helpful tool to use to pay attention to your portion sizes. Because to be honest with you, that’s a struggle that I hear time and time again. And healthy eating is awesome for your health and your organ function. But girl, it does not guarantee weight loss. It doesn’t. Eating an avocado every single day, you know, on your breakfast omelet and your lunch and your dinner. I mean, yeah, it’s a healthy food, but you just slammed back 900 calories. So portion awareness is big and you can lose weight sustainably and maintain your weight loss with a portion approach. You don’t have to track for the rest of your life.

The other cool thing that I like to mention here too is within my program, I provide flexibility because you know what, there’s not one straight line or like the right way of doing things when it comes to achieving your weight loss goal. You’re unique, right? What works for you doesn’t work for somebody else. And that’s awesome. That’s the beauty of it. There’s different pathways to achieving your weight loss. So with my clients, I give you the option. If you love using the calorie awareness and tracking, great. We’ll keep rolling with that and take a tapered approach so that you are dialing back the amount of days that you’re tracking and you get to a point where you don’t have to track because you have such a good knowledge and understanding of how much you’re eating in a day and what’s right for your body. Or you can take the portion approach. Both of them are effective. Before I share the other four, because these are amazing too, if you’re loving this episode, take a couple of minutes to rate five stars and review. It honestly means the world to me. It helps the growth of this podcast. So many other women need to hear this message. I know they do. And I know you’ve been tuning in, listening to every episode. So if you could just take 30 seconds of your time to rate five stars, that would mean the world to me. Thank you.

Okay. Tip number three, nutrition strategy. I had to learn how to tune in to my body. What does hunger actually feel like? What does satisfaction actually feel like? What does fullness feel like? Because I was just flying through my day like a crazy lady and was completely ignoring my hunger cues. The thing that I would do would, you know, like push off and push off and kind of ignore my hunger and then wait until I was absolutely ravenous. It was like an animal trying to just scrounge anything. So that wasn’t great. And the same thing with the fullness piece. Like I would eat so fast and eat so much. And when sitting, I would leave the table, I’m like, ‘Holy, you know, like roll me out of the room here.’ You’re not supposed to feel like that every day. And I didn’t realize that until now, you know, I look back and like, ‘Oh my gosh, like that was a rough place to be.’ So tuning into your hunger and your fullness and getting to a point where, you know, you really, you start to learn and you listen to your body. And this is something that I help my clients with. And, you know, to hear this all the time, they’re like, ‘It’s seriously amazing when I tune into my hunger and it gives them so much more confidence in themselves and trust in their body.’ And it’s empowering too, because they’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m not hungry within the first, you know, two hours of my morning. I’m like, cool, whatever. You don’t have to force feed yourself. If you get up at six o’clock and you’re not hungry until like eight, 39 o’clock, fine. Let’s eat when you’re hungry at nine o’clock, honor that hunger. And getting to a place where you’re never starving.’ And this kind of rolls into strategy number four.

But your timing of meals is so important. I think I told you in the first episode, I was rolling with a stick of gum and a tea for breakfast. My first meal was at like two o’clock and then I would board and meet all afternoon and procrastinate. That’s what I would do in university. I didn’t want to do the project, so I would eat instead, kind of like prime myself for all the job or the big job that I was about to do. And then I would have dinner and then like munch mindlessly on the couch. Shifting that up was a massive game changer. Having breakfast within three hours of waking, that was huge for me. And honestly, huge for most of my clients, because you guys get up early, right? You’ve got a lot going on and you need your focus and your productivity and your energy. And eating within that three-hour window, it has massive benefits, not only for your hunger and your productivity and your focus and energy, but to manage your hunger. So for me, a big shift in timing, I was having breakfast, three hours after waking, so around like eight, nine o’clock, having lunch around 12, one o’clock, having a planned afternoon snack because I found that I was starting to get peckish around three, four o’clock. And instead of just defaulting to like granola bites and chocolate chips, I was strategically planning a balanced snack at that time, like a Greek yogurt and an apple or a boiled egg and a banana. Something simple, right? Or a healthy protein bar. But that really took the edge off so that I wasn’t starving coming into dinnertime. So that helped with managing my hunger throughout the day. And the meal timing, it really helped keep me satisfied and it really cuts down on cravings. And my clients can attest to this too.

The other thing that I really learned and tuned into over the years was understanding that true satisfaction, that feeling of like, ‘Yes, like I am full, like I am satisfied after my meal,’ that feeling comes from eating when you are physically hungry. There is no other form of satisfaction that feels as good as eating a nourishing meal when you are feeling, you know, hungry, like you’re ready for food. And you know that feeling, right? Like when you eat a nourishing meal after you’re physically hungry, like, ‘Oh yeah, that was great.’ Because it takes away, it takes away that growling, it takes away that pain in your stomach and now you’re satisfied. That was something that I really paid attention to and learned. And I found that really useful for when I was really tempted by the boredom snacking and be like, hold on, like, I would have constructive conversations with myself all the time, all the time. I would almost picture my like a little angel and a devil on my shoulder or like, like the old Leah versus the new Leah, right? Or old habits versus new habits. But I would say to myself, I’m like, you are impulsively wanting chocolate chips right now, but they’re not going to be as satisfying because you’re not actually hungry right now. And you felt that too, right? How many times have you gone to the kitchen cupboard and you’re like staring in the pantry, you’re like, no, I don’t know what to eat. And then you just like start with a banana, then you have a tablespoon of peanut butter, then you go for the crackers, then you go for the chocolate chips. And you’re like, I’m still not even satisfied because you weren’t hungry in the first place. That satisfaction that you’re looking for is coming from some emotional fulfillment that you’re looking for. Food’s not fixing that hole. Food’s not filling that hole.

And that leads into the next one. I had to become very aware of my own triggers and understand what I was trying to, like what hole was I trying to fill? And you know yourself best, right? But I got to say, like there’s a lot of common challenges when it comes to health and weight loss, but 3pm board a meeting, that’s a big one. Right after lunch, you’re craving something sweet. And it is in the evening, right? You’re looking for that little feel good. It’s like, oh, I had a hell of a day today. I deserve this. Right? So those are the big three. And those were them for me too. So really becoming aware of, hey, after lunch, like that is my time where I am craving something sweet. It’s not because my body is needing something sweet. It’s only because this is a habit that I have been perpetuating over the last handful of years. My brain has just expected something like a feel good in the form of something sweet because that’s just what I’ve given it time and time again. And now it’s total autopilot. It’s like, hey, like where’s my treat? But the really cool thing about your brain is that you can change, right? Your brain is plastic. And I like to think about it as switching gears or switching tracks within your brain. So the first track around, you know, having something sweet immediately after lunch, that’s just a track that has been taken quite a lot over the years. And I would picture myself, I’m like, all I got to do is change tracks.

And to help me change tracks and get my mind off of this sweet thing, because I knew when I would tell myself, I’m like, you’re not even hungry. So I told myself, I’m like, get out of the kitchen. It was as simple as that. I had to remove myself from the environmental trigger because I was like hanging around the kitchen, you know. So you know what I started doing? I started strategically going for a walk to the mailbox. And it didn’t matter if there was mail in the mailbox or not, but that was my routine because my strategy was to just remove myself from the environment. And that walk to the mailbox was about 10 minutes. And that 10 minutes was a total game changer because not only have you completely switched the track, removed yourself from the house, from the kitchen, you are giving yourself some fresh air, you’re moving your body to help with the digestion from your lunch, and you’re completely diverting your attention away from food. So when I came back to the house, I was like, all right, like, let’s grab some water or a tea and let’s get right back into my afternoon. And to be honest with you, it actually helped with my productivity and my focus and my clarity for the afternoon. It was such a great, such a great strategy.

Same thing in the afternoon, three o’clock, you know, three, four o’clock, boredom stacking set in and paying attention to my triggers. I knew that at that time of day was my boredom time. And having that same conversation with myself, it’s like, hey, this is the track that I’ve been on because I’ve been having granola bites every single day for the last three years at three o’clock. My brain is not needing granola bites. It’s just looking for a temporary feel good to get through the afternoon. So what did I do? I would get my butt outside again, just for 10 minutes, switch tracks. And I’m just telling you things that have worked for me personally, things that work for me may not work for you. And that’s cool. So some of my clients will use something like, you know, just getting outside and sitting on their deck in the sun, you know, for 10 minutes or doing a load of laundry at three, four o’clock, you know, or even doing some food prep and putting something in the oven, right? It gets your mind off of the mindless snacking and puts your brain to a specific task. So that is very helpful.

And then at nighttime too, know your triggers. For me, it’s like eight, nine o’clock. It’s getting dark outside, house is quiet. I’m typically sitting on the couch and the snacking was more of a problem when I was alone. So knowing those triggers, I was well aware. And when those like, when everything lined up, when although those lovely stars lined up, having that conscious conversation with myself, it’s like, hey, switch tracks. You’re not going to feel satisfied from eating because eating is not filling the hole that you need to fill. It was some sort of emotional fulfillment that I needed. So I found it really helpful to make a hot tea and like hold it on my chest, just having that warmth there that really soothes me at the end of a crazy day or surprise, surprise, getting outside for another quick walk, 10 minute, 15 minute leisure walk while the sun’s going down or, you know, getting out for a drive. And even if you have young kids at home, you can put on some music. That was actually something that my mom used to do. My mom and dad, I remember this as a kid, but they would put on a contemporary piano music and it would just like fill the house. And there was so much comfort in that. And I’ve done that a few times through my adult years too. It’s like, okay, switch tracks. I’m looking for some emotional fulfillment here. And I put on some of that music. The composer was Yanni. It was great. It like really chilled me out and got me on in my face off and I was ready for bed.

So these are strategies, knowing your triggers and having that conscious conversation with yourself. It’s like, this is just a track that I’m on. And my brain is looking for something, a feel good because I’ve done it for years, but I get to switch tracks, get yourself out of the environment, remove or, you know, just limit your exposure to those environmental triggers and try something else. Try something else to fill that hole, to soothe yourself, to feel good. It’s a hot bath, maybe a hot shower. It could be, you know, giving yourself one of those little neck massages with those neck massage guns, just something else. Give it a try.

So those are the biggest things for me that have helped with my nutrition, not only getting it on point. We talked about the planning ahead and the simple prep, switching from the daily tracking to using a portion approach, really tuning in to hunger, satisfaction, fullness, and really looking at the emotional ties with food. But also those habits, just the habits, learning how to switch tracks, learning how to try something different to make myself feel good, not only in the moment, but for a longer period of time, because there’s something about that.

And I was just having a conversation with a client. She’s like, ‘You know, there’s something in me. I know that my snacking before bed is not a great habit. And when I continue to do it, I just feel gross about it. I feel like I’ve let myself down again.’ So yeah, sure. You feel great in the moment when you’re having some cookies or chips, but if you continue on with it and you have just reinforced that cycle, you’re like, ‘Oh, I know that’s not a habit that I want to continue on with.

So it’s a different feeling when you follow through on switching tracks and trying something new for yourself, because believe it or not, you can self-soothe and comfort in so many other ways than food. Food right now is just your default. That’s it. You can switch it up.

And I find too, and maybe you can relate to this, but when women come to me, you’re at a point in your life where something’s got to give, right? And your habits are not serving you. And when you look at your habits, I like to say this, your habits or your current habits are a window to your future. And your current habits aren’t great, right? You’re stuck in some nasty cycles over there. You don’t feel good and you’re noticing it and you’re seeing that trickle into your life in other ways. When you don’t feel good in your body, when you don’t feel comfortable or energetic, you don’t show up the same, right? You don’t show up the same for your family. You don’t show up the same in your career. You don’t show up the same in your relationships.

And to me, I can tell you firsthand and from a lot of my clients, your nutrition and your exercise is this wild level of self-care that just levels up your life. It’s kind of like, I’m going to say this, and this is the cheesiest line of the entire episode, but it’s that gateway to greatness. Your nutrition, your exercise, that level of self-care is the gateway to your best life.

Because I got to tell you from personally or from a personal standpoint here, the consistency in nutrition, and again, it’s just ordinary stuff, ordinary things that have been done consistently over time that have led to extraordinary results. These ordinary things, this level of nourishment and daily movement and self-care and that inner work, it has allowed me to become such a confident, powerful version of myself that I’m doing things that two years ago, I’d be like, ‘Lady, you’re freaking crazy.

You know what I did two days ago? I had this feeling inside. I’m like, ‘I got to go to Costa Rica. I got to go.’ Well, I hopped on Airbnb, put in some filter words. I’m like, ‘Yep, shipping container. That sounds great. Hammock. Yeah, that sounds great. Beachside jungle. Cool. Let’s go.’ First Airbnb pops up on my Airbnb. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s frigging it.’ I booked it. I’m going for a month by myself. I would never have done that two years ago.

There’s a different level of confidence within you and this different level of trust within your body, within your almost that strength, not only physical, but this mental and emotional strength as well. There’s that sense of, ‘Okay, you know what? This is a little bit scary, but whatever. I’ll figure it out.’ That is available to you. Nutrition and exercise is such a beautiful spot to start because you’re easing in to this journey of self-care. You’re easing in and you are layering on as time goes on.

Had a client research me last week and she’s like, ‘Hey, just wanted to let you know I applied for that higher paying position. Six months ago, wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that.’ Or asking for that raise that you’ve been putting off forever because you’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t know, should I do it? Right?’ You’re overthinking stuff. When you feel good and you have confidence in yourself, you don’t overthink. You just do.

You take risks in your relationships. You’re like, ‘Hey, hon, let’s go out for a date night. Hey, let’s do something spontaneous.’ Or hey, you’re putting yourself out there and you make the first move on somebody on a date.

This is what it’s about, guys. And I realized this morning, I’m like, ‘Why? What is my purpose here with what I do?’ Because yeah, sure, I’m a weight loss dietician, but what’s the bigger reason here? It’s because I want you to live your best life. I want you to take charge and live large in all the best ways possible, right? Feeling good, looking good, taking those risks and looking at yourself in the mirror and being like, ‘Hello, beautiful.’ This is how I help you. This is how I help you live and make that dream life a reality for you.

And hey, I’m just saying too, I mean, what are we at here? You’re probably listening to this at the end of July and that we are just about six months out from the new year. My Reclaim coaching program is a six-month coaching program that helps busy working women achieve lasting weight loss while radically leveling up your self-confidence, all about back-to-basic nutrition, planning, simple prep, really paying attention to your hunger, your satisfaction and learning how to overcome emotional eating so you can feel in control again. If you want to learn more about working with me, check out the show notes to apply to work with me. There’s a link there or pop into Instagram, send me a DM, tell me that you’ll listen to this three-part series about my health and weight loss journey. And you are ready to do something because that’s what has to be done here. You’ve been thinking about this forever. You’re not going to get any different results if you don’t take action. Something’s got to change. Something’s got to give. Reach out. What’s the worst that can happen? We chat. We see you for a good fit. I transform your life. You know, just saying.

Thank you so much for tuning in today, guys. It’s been amazing to open up and share. Thank you for giving me the space to be vulnerable with you. And I’m so excited to connect with you in the next episode. Again, take a couple of minutes of your time to go rate five stars and review. Apply to work with me if this is hitting you right in the heart today and we’ll catch you next time. Thanks for tuning into this episode of the Reclaim Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, I encourage you to follow, rate and review. To learn more about working with me, check out my website at leahvandolder.com. Thank you again for being here. It means the world to be able to connect with you. Girl, keep doing amazing things. You have everything that it takes to achieve your goals and be successful at anything that you want.