Ep. 20 - Inflammation: The Root of All Illness with Carrie Moody

July 15th, 2022

Inflammation: The Root of All Illness?

Welcome back to the Weight Loss with Hypnosis Podcast!

This blog post includes a transcript of an episode of the Weight Loss with Hypnosis podcast. To listen to the full episode, click the link here.

Here’s Where to Find Carrie’s Work:

Instagram – @dietitiancarrie 
Website – https://fitbalancenutrition.com/resources/

 

Episode Transcript:

[00:00:00] Doug: If you feel you often lose control of your eating and your hunger, if you feel anxious or even afraid to enter your kitchen or go out to eat with friends. If you feel you can’t stop eating once you start, or you no longer want to be controlled by food and the emotions that surround it, lean in my friend and get inspired.

This is your wake up call to a life where food doesn’t control you. Where you’re comfortable with what you eat and where you can easily stop whenever you want to. This isn’t science fiction and it’s not another empty weight loss promise. This is hypnosis. And if you like this show, you’ll love my powerful hypnosis audio, The Binge Blocker Protocol. This hypnosis helps you stop out of control eating the moment you feel that urge. It’s a 15 minute audio that deals with the emotions behind compulsive eating. Once those emotions are out of the way, the urge to overeat goes [00:01:00] away with it. Once you get your binge blocker protocol, you can download it to your phone to carry with you whenever you might feel that urge. Whether in a restaurant, in your home or even at your workplace when those breakroom donuts are calling your name. Whether you call it a binge, overeating or simply losing control for a moment, this audio will help you resolve it. You can get your Binge Blocker Protocol by going to anywherehypnosis.com.

That’s anywherehypnosis.com. Right on the homepage, you’ll see where you can get your copy of the Binge Blocker Protocol right now. And I’m serious about that, right now. Pause this podcast to go get your hypnosis today. Don’t worry. I’ll still be here when you get back. Go to anywherehypnosis.com and sign up.

It’s completely free. And if you’re even thinking about getting this hypnosis, trust me, get this hypnosis today. Try it out because you’ll never know just [00:02:00] how effective this can be until you test it out in your own life. Again, that’s anywherehypnosis.com. One more time, anywherehypnosis.com. Now on with the show.

 (QUOTE) 

[00:02:12] Carrie: You know when something’s off on your body. I think the number one place to start is focusing on, well, what are my lifestyle habits like? 

That could be an underlying issue for why I’m feeling this way. If you do all these things and you’re still seeing a problem, then that’s when I would say, maybe go have some testing or something done to see if there’s like an underlying, maybe thyroid or adrenal issue.

[00:03:00] 

 (INTRO) 

[00:03:31] Doug: Welcome back to the weight loss with hypnosis podcast. My name is Doug Sands and I’m the hypnotist and the host behind this show. And today I’m very excited to introduce Carrie Moody. Carrie is a registered dietician, nutritionist and fitness instructor who emphasizes the importance of finding balance and making change with baby steps—small actions that we can take to gradually change our health and make those changes that we’re looking for in our life. 

In this interview, we talked a [00:04:00] lot about blood sugar. Blood sugar is the key to staying full. And blood sugar is really helpful with managing weights also and managing diabetes and other issues that are based on our blood sugar. 

But, regulating our blood sugars also very important to regulating other areas of our health, not just our weight. Carrie and I also talked quite a bit about inflammation and this was one area I wasn’t really well versed in. Carrie had a lot of fascinating points to make about inflammation that I know you’re going to love in this episode. She also offered quite a few red flags to watch out for, if you suspect inflammation is a major issue in your life. This is an excellent conversation and I’m so excited to bring it for you. 

Without further ado, let’s get right into the interview. 

 

 (INTERVIEW) 

[00:04:53] Doug: Welcome back to the podcast everyone. I’m so excited for today’s conversation. Today, I am joined by Carrie moody. [00:05:00] Carrie, thank you so much for joining us today. 

[00:05:01] Carrie: Thanks for having me. I’m excited to be here. 

[00:05:03] Doug: Absolutely. Carrie, would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself and perhaps about your practice?

[00:05:08] Carrie: Sure. Well I’m a registered dietician and a fitness coach. I’m a mom of four, and a military wife. 

And I started my private practice with the intention of working with people who actually wanted to work with me, versus people who were forced to work with me. So, I kind of got into nutrition, kind of with my own struggles with not only like mental health, but also, you know, just kind of disordered eating and wanting to get out of this cycle of yo-yo dieting. And that’s what led me here. 

[00:05:35] Doug: Now, that’s fantastic. I really appreciate when practitioners have that personal story. I mean, it’s for me as well. I first came to what I do via mental health. And looking at that, something that you said that struck me about working with people who actually want to work with you rather than who are forced to work with you.

And I think that’s such an important point to really touch on that’s when we want to work with someone, when we want to work on that goal, we’re so much more motivated for that. And I’d [00:06:00] love to hear your take on that. 

How do you see that motivation playing into how people interact with their program? 

[00:06:05] Carrie: Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, if you think about it, when you’re in the hospital setting or like an inpatient setting and the doctor sends in the dietician, they’re kind of just like, oh, why are you here? I already know this stuff, you know, like, blah, blah, blah. But when you have like, with my private practice, I have people who have a goal, who are ready to work towards that goal and just need mostly like a little bit of accountability and guidance. 

And sometimes a little bit or a lot of education. But I feel like they’re in a place where they’re ready to make a change. It might not be completely like they’re ready to dive in, but they’re at least thinking about it and they’re taking the first step towards that.

And I think that’s very powerful and very empowering for them. 

[00:06:42] Doug: Absolutely. And looking at your practice itself, what is your process look like when working with clients? 

[00:06:46] Carrie: So I do a little bit of one-on-one coaching. I’m kind of scaling back to do more of a group coaching setting. I work as an affiliate coach for the metabolism makeover.

So another dietician, Megan Cober, she [00:07:00] created this program. I actually went through the program when she first started it and was blown away at how simple it was. So basically what I do is I have, you know, a group, it runs usually every other month. And these women will sign up. It’s a 30 day foundational program.

We’ll walk them through it, they’ll do check-ins with me, they have daily accountability and a lot of support from the other women in the group. And from there, they kind of just like each week we’ll focus on a different topic and kind of, it just evolves into this amazing, very simple, realistic habits for them to kind of continue on with.

And then once they complete that, they’re given the opportunity to move into M three, which is metabolism, makeover, momentum. And that’s kind of like a continuation program, where they’ll get even more support and accountability from people who have graduated through metabolism makeover. 

[00:07:49] Doug: I think that’s so powerful. For me personally, I’ve gone through some of the same things that I now help people with as well. And it’s, when you can know personally where a person is at because you’ve been there, where you know, kind of that frustration that they’re [00:08:00] experiencing. 

And talking about that accountability that you had mentioned, I think that for so many of us, that’s the extra push that we need to really make this change happen. And what are the, some of the hurdles that you see over the longterm in helping a person to make this change and perhaps to keep them accountable? 

[00:08:16] Carrie: Well with a population that I work with, it’s typically women, sometimes men. Usually it’s women who drag their husbands in to do it with them.

But they have dieted their entire lives and they have done all the fad diets, all the restriction. They’re used to counting calories and eating less, working out more. So I think the biggest challenge comes with them letting go of all that and trusting to put it aside for at least this 30 days, like, Hey, this is something different that you haven’t done for ever maybe.

But if you trust this process, you’ll see how simple it is. So I think in their minds, they come in with this overcomplicated belief system. And then when they’re given this very simple foundational plan, they’re like, I don’t know how this is going to work. So, you know, I think that’s the biggest barrier that I [00:09:00] see is that they don’t believe that something so simple can actually work for them.

[00:09:04] Doug: Absolutely. And sometimes those simple things are really what make the biggest changes. It’s often that those foundations that really make those changes for us. 

And I’d love to know, you mentioned the title metabolism makeover. How does our metabolism play into this program that you work with? 

[00:09:17] Carrie: So metabolism, just in case somebody is like, what is metabolism?

It’s a process in which your body is converting the food and drinks that you’re taking in into energy. So the way that this whole process works is instead of focusing on the numbers, on the calories, or restricting or tracking or any of that, we want to get them out of that mindset. And really focusing on ways that they can increase their metabolism without eliminating all the things that they enjoy. 

And when I say that people are like, even wine or like even chocolate, you know, they don’t really buy into it at first. But, I mean, there’s different areas that we focus on that really do play into how well your metabolism is running. And our goal is to teach them to rev it up so that they’re putting their body in fat-burning mode [00:10:00] more often than it’s in fat storage mode.

So I do this with the metabolism makeover, but this is also a process that I teach in my one-to-one client base as well. And it’s just a little bit more directed, kind of towards what they need. So it’s like a more individualized approach in the one-to-one setting versus the foundational group coaching program.

[00:10:16] Doug: That’s excellent. And for those who are perhaps are unfamiliar with burning fat versus burning other sources of fuel in our body, would you mind telling us a little bit about the foundations of this understanding? 

[00:10:25] Carrie: Yeah. So, what I focus on a lot is blood sugar control. And people are always like, well, I’m not diabetic, so I don’t need to worry about that, but it’s really the foundation for keeping the metabolism in working order.

I can kind of give a rundown of the blood sugar rollercoaster if you’d like. Example, you wake up in the morning and you’re in a rush and you grab a banana and maybe a coffee with some sugar in it or milk. Okay. Not terrible. I mean, it could be worse. But what you did is you just hit your body with a big dose of sugar or carbohydrates, which is going to break down into your body as sugar.

So that goes into your bloodstream. And what happens is your blood sugar spikes up. So you have this spike. And [00:11:00] then everything that goes up must come down. So then you’ll have a crash and your body will be craving more sugar to replenish. So that spike happens all day, the spike and crash all day long.

You’ll notice later in the day, maybe you’re craving more sugary or carby foods, or you have like an energy where you hit a wall at 1:00 PM and you just cannot get out of the cycle. You just don’t feel great. So the first thing we focus on is really managing blood sugar. And the way that we do that is with a balance of protein, healthy fat, and fiber on your plate.

So we start out with kind of just a guideline of what that looks like. Really trying to get people to increase their fiber intake because in American population it’s pretty low from where it needs to be. And then also focusing less on, I mean, you can still eat carbohydrates of course, but we’re looking for more of the fiber filled carbs to keep the blood sugar spike low. 

So in eating in this way and balancing your plate on this way, you’re having a more steady, blood sugar all day long. And when you do that, it’s not forcing insulin to come in and you know, we don’t want that. We don’t want insulin flooding your system all the time cause [00:12:00] it’s not good for you. So that helps you to get your body in more of a fat burning mode than a fat storage mode instead of constantly consuming the sugars all day long. 

From there, we talk a lot about exercising and the different types of exercise, you know, putting on lean muscle mass to increase your metabolic rate.

We also talk about the importance of inflammation, which as we know is the root cause of all disease. And ways to kind of decrease that, focusing on getting enough sleep, quality sleep, managing your hunger hormones, trying to keep life stressors to a minimum as best as possible. And those are kind of all the things that we focus on when we’re talking about increasing the metabolism.

[00:12:37] Doug: Fantastic. There are couple of questions that came up for me in that. One, you mentioned carbs and different types of carbs. It’s a question that I get all the time. People are like, do I have to cut out carbs completely from my diet? Can I eat this carbs or something?

I’d love to know your take on the blood sugar and perhaps what carbs we should eat more of and what carbs we should perhaps reduce in our diet? 

[00:12:56] Carrie: Sure of course. So we have, I mean, carbohydrates, it’s a big group. Your [00:13:00] body needs carbs. It’s their favorite source of energy for everything.

So, when we’re talking about carbs, what I like to focus on is fiber filled carbs. So in that sense, we’re talking about non starchy and starchy. Now, I’ll get to simple carbs in a second. When we’re talking about non starchy carbs, we’re talking about leafy greens, you know, broccoli, stuff that’s got a lot of fiber in it, cause that really does kind of curb that blood sugar spike.

Now, I don’t say, oh, you can’t have carrots cause those are higher on the glycemic index. And none of that stuff, I don’t care. A vegetable, fruit, whatever. Now berries are going to be better than something like a banana, which is primarily all sugar. Berries are going to have more fiber in them than bananas.

So yeah, you can still eat carbs. If you like bread, go ahead and have bread, but we try to keep it when we’re starting out to get them into this idea of one to two starchy carbs, unless you’re working out a lot more at mealtimes. 

So the reason for that is because we really want to get protein up. It’s easy to get carbs in your diet. It’s easy to get fat in your diet. It’s not always so easy to get protein. So in a sense of simple carbs, simple carbs are going to be things like, [00:14:00] cereal, bread if it’s not whole grain bread, baked goods, things like that. And we want to try to limit those because there’s not really a whole lot of great nutritional value in those things.

It doesn’t mean you can’t have them because I do believe in balance everything. I mean, I’m not going to give up pizza or anything like that. But there are healthier choices, so whole grains, the non starchy stuff, and then you have some vegetables that are a little bit more starchy than other ones. We have corn, potatoes, peas, those are higher starchy vegetables. So we try to limit those ones a little bit more than the ones that are really fiber filled, if that makes sense. 

[00:14:33] Doug: Yeah, absolutely. And thank you for sharing that. One thing you mentioned that really struck me, you’ve mentioned that, leafy greens and broccoli can be lumped together as carbohydrates.

Would you explain a little bit? 

[00:14:41] Carrie: Yeah. Vegetables, I mean, they’re going to have some sources of carbohydrates in them. We don’t really put a limit on those because I won’t personally. My personal opinion is I don’t focus on the numbers of things, so I’m not looking at the carb count unless it’s pretty high.

We’re going to consider anything under 25 grams of carbohydrates as a non starchy carb. [00:15:00] Anything over that, you want to kind of be a little bit more mindful of what’s going to happen with your blood sugar and absorbing, you know, the spikes and the crashes and just being more mindful of that.

So, yeah, I mean, I have a whole list. I’ll have to share it with you after this. I have a whole list of non starchy, starchy, fiber, you know, all the good stuff. 

[00:15:15] Doug: Perfect. That’s fantastic. And shifting gears a little bit, earlier, you mentioned inflammation. And you said that inflammation is the root of perhaps all the illnesses. And I’d love to know more about that. 

I’m not really too familiar with inflammation and many of my listeners, it’s something that they only know about when it becomes an extreme problem that is debilitating. And I’d love to know a little bit more about that. 

[00:15:35] Carrie: Yeah. Sure. So when your body has inflammation present, its primary focus is getting rid of that.

So think of inflammation like a little fire. If you have inflammation coming from different sources, like you’re overexercising or you’re eating a lot of inflammatory foods, you have these little fires happening all within your body. And instead of focusing on digestion and metabolism, and all of those thing, it’s working on getting rid of the inflammation.

[00:16:00] So we talk a little bit about cortisol. Cortisol’s job is to kind of, you know, get rid of those fires. And when it’s in your system all the time, it’s kind of hindering the metabolic processes. So we want to limit that from coming in all the time. 

Now, inflammation can come from so many different areas like I said. What you’re eating, how you’re exercising if you’re overworking. If you’re not getting enough sleep, your hunger hormones, aren’t firing correctly. If you’re constantly under stress, your body is constantly inflamed. And so we really try to focus on how can you calm your entire system down to have less inflammation?

 I’m really into simplifying that for people, because it sounds very science-y and kind of overwhelming for people. I mean, how am I going to not be stressed out? I’ve got children and that kind of stuff. So, I think kind of simplifying it however we can. And even if you can’t focus on all of those areas, picking one or two that you can kind of help to minimize the inflammation in your body, that’s going to do wonders for you to start of.

[00:16:59] Doug: That’s [00:17:00] excellent. Would you mind sharing perhaps a few guidelines for people that they could perhaps do at home to, I don’t want to say eliminate their elimination, but to perhaps work on managing it a little better? 

[00:17:08] Carrie: Managing stress or inflammation? 

[00:17:10] Doug: I would say managing inflammation. 

[00:17:12] Carrie: Okay. so you want to focus on, again, what we call it is P H F F or P F F, and that stands for protein healthy fat fiber.

 Having those three components on your plate is going to help reduce inflammation in what you’re eating. And we talk a little bit about different oils that people can use. So a good place to start is at home.

[00:17:31] Carrie: So there are oils out there that can create this in proportion or unproportion ratio of omega six fatty acids to omega-threes. Now, we want the ratio to be like two to one omega six to omega three. Typically in American diets, it’s about 20 to one. So we’re way off here. So some of the ways that you can focus on that is just looking in your kitchen, different seed oils, vegetable oils, canola oils, rapeseed oils.

Those things tend to have a lot of omega six and like you do [00:18:00] need omega six, but you can choose better options. So you have, extra Virgin olive oil, avocado oil, I would say even coconut oil. Though it does have more saturated fat, I still think it’s better than some of the other options that are out there.

Also looking in your refrigerator at your processed foods, seeing all of the ingredients that are in there if you don’t know, you know, what a ton of them are, or if you see that it uses canola oil or different types of high inflammatory products, where can you swap that out and get a better option?

And I like to say, the closer to the earth, the better. So if it’s something that you can grow, I mean, not everybody understand. I have processed food in my refrigerator, but you know, just where can you make a swap that’s going to be better for you? So that’s in the kitchen. That’s in the food sense. With the exercise, they’re really high intensity stuff that creates a lot of inflammation in your body. So just going really, really hard, not taking time to recover, then your stress level or your inflammation levels never going to go down. 

When we’re talking about sleep, not sleeping is very inflammatory. So focusing on seven to nine hours of sleep and [00:19:00] then with stress, anything, that’s going to calm your nervous system down. Whether it’s getting outside in the sun, a change of scenery, journaling, meditating, just kind of doing anything that’s going to calm you, even if it’s just for a few moments.

Those are some of the basic tips that I’d like to focus on just to give you an idea of where to start. 

[00:19:17] Doug: That’s Excellent. And thank you for sharing those. And for those who perhaps might be suffering from inflammation, but might not realize it. What are some common warning signs or red flags of inflammation? You know, I work with people who are bodybuilding and who are always in the gym.

And I work with people who are under a lot of stress and sometimes there are many presenting issues. And so, how can one be sure that it is inflammation and not something else? 

[00:19:40] Carrie: That’s a great question. So some of the ways that you can tell that there’s a lot of inflammation is you’re having a hard time losing weight, if weight loss is your goal, that’s a big one. You’re feeling bloated all the time. You have low energy. You just don’t feel great.

Like, you know when something’s off on your body, I think the number one place to start is focusing on, well, what are my lifestyle habits like? That [00:20:00] could be an underlying issue for why I’m feeling this way. If you do all these things and you’re still seeing a problem, then that’s when I would say, maybe go have some testing or something done to see if there’s like an underlying maybe thyroid or adrenal issue there.

But those are some of the basic startups. 

[00:20:14] Doug: That’s fantastic. And for listeners, if this is something that is an issue in your own life, I really encourage you to reach out and to perhaps get in touch with Carrie. 

Looking at your own practice, you mentioned Carrie that you work with quite a few women. And who do you work with most often, kind of like as a demographic or perhaps a certain group of people who have a certain issue? 

[00:20:32] Carrie: It is typically going to be, I would say between, like 30 and up. I’ve worked with women that are in their seventies. And I think the youngest, maybe mid twenties, but typically it’s about 30 to 65.

And these are just women who are just fed up. They’re tired of stressing about looking at a red velvet cupcake and gaining five pounds. And they’re ready to just enjoy their lives. 

[00:20:53] Doug: That’s excellent. And working with these women, what do you think the most important thing to know about nutrition and caring for yourself [00:21:00] actually is? 

[00:21:00] Carrie: It’s a lot simpler than the world makes it out to be.

And even in our own minds, we tend to overcomplicate it. Just focusing on the basics and how to balance your plate so that you’re feeling full longer. Really simplifying it. I don’t want to say dumbing it down, but simplifying it in a way that’s digestible, realistic and sustainable. Because I think that’s where a lot of programs and diets kind of fail us is, yeah, you can do it. You can follow a plan, but then what happens after the plan is over? Do you just continue repeating it forever, or, you know, what happens if you want to go out to eat with your friends? Are you going to pack your own food or, you know, so we like to give realistic ways to make room for fun in our lives.

And yeah, so it has to be sustainable. Something that they can do long-term and on their own once they learn the basics. 

[00:21:44] Doug: That’s so important, especially for so many clients. I see people on the, I should say they have been on the diet rollercoaster, where they gain weight, they lose weight, they gain weight and nothing is sustainable. 

Everything that they’ve tried is, they do it for a month and they hate it for a month. And I think it’s a really important point to stress that [00:22:00] we only do the things long-term that we actually enjoy or mildly enjoy. You know, if you don’t actually enjoy going to the gym, but you know, it’s really good for you, that can still be sustainable.

And I think that’s such an important part of this practice. And looking at your practice in particular, what do you feel separates your practice from others who work in this field? 

[00:22:17] Carrie: Well, I mean, like I said, I am a very, I don’t want to say anti numbers, but I like to take the focus off of the numbers. Because I feel like that is kind of where the change starts to happen.

Once they’re learning the basics, they have the education. Then the mental shifts start to happen. And when the mental shift starts to happen, they start to feel empowered. And once they feel empowered, then they stay really consistent. And that’s when the change starts to happen physically. So I don’t say, okay, let’s lose 30 pounds in 30 days because I really don’t feel like that’s going to be something that’s realistic or sustainable.

So kind of just focusing on this foundation and then building on it from there to create consistency. It’s something that’s really important to me. Something that really helped me. And so I try to give that back to my clients [00:23:00] as well. 

[00:23:00] Doug: That’s excellent. I find the goal itself is often not unrealistic. It’s the timeline. 

When someone comes in and they say, Doug, can you help me lose 50 pounds by the end of the month? Then I’d say, that’s not really what we should be working for. We’re looking for, you know, health for the rest of your life. And looking at the issues that you work with, what do you think is the most common issue or roadblock that you work with when seeing clients? 

[00:23:19] Carrie: The most common issue is first, them not knowing. Like, them not knowing what has protein in it, what has carbs in it, or what has fiber, you know, that kind of thing.

So the education piece is really very important to me. But I see a lot of women who come in and they just have no energy or they’re constantly snacking all day long. And they’re like, I dunno why, at the end of the day, all I want is a giant bowl of ice cream. So really focusing on minimizing those cravings.

And that starts again with that blood sugar balance. In the beginning of the day, when you start off with a good solid blood sugar, it’s going to help you throughout the entire day. And then you’re going to start to notice. Cool. I have more energy. I’m not hitting that wall. At the end of the day, I’m not having these nighttime cravings because you’re just keeping your body in a [00:24:00] really good metabolic place.

[00:24:01] Doug: And speaking of blood sugar again, I’ve heard that like the first bites that you have on a meal, whether it’s proteins or fats or carbohydrates can really impact how your body perhaps processes it or the blood sugar spikes that happen afterwards. 

Would you mind telling us a little bit about that or how we can maintain our blood sugar in between meals?

[00:24:19] Carrie: Sure. So you really want to make sure that you’re having well, I suggest for my clients starting with about 20 to 30 grams of protein at your meal. Now there’s been some studies, but I don’t think there’s really consistent research on if I eat the carbs first versus eating the protein first, what’s going to happen? 

As long as it’s all in the same meal, like I’m not really into the timing of it kind of thing. But if you’re eating these things together, that’s going to, again, set you up for the entire day. So you’re going to have that steady flow instead of the spikes and the crashes. And at the end of the day, you’re going to be like, wow. Like, we try to get them to stay full for at least four hours between meals.

So when you have a good protein based meal, that’s the most satiating [00:25:00] macronutrient. So that’s going to help you to feel full longer. When you have fats on your plate, healthy fats, that’s going to also help you to feel full faster. And it’s also going to lessen the impact of the carbohydrates spike or blood sugar spikes happening.

So that helps you starting that off with that first meal throughout the entire day. And so I think the biggest challenge for most women is they’re so used to snacking. Like they’re so used to eating little small meals throughout the day, but what that does in my opinion, is it causes you to think more about food. Like, okay, when can I eat again? When can I have my next snack? 

If you start off with a good solid PFF meal or PHFF meal, you’re not really thinking about food because you’re feeling good. You have good energy. You’re good until your next meal. The biggest challenge comes between lunch and dinner, which sometimes I do recommend having some type of snack and with the snack, if you’re going to have some type of crackers or something, just pairing it with either a protein or a healthy fat to minimize that blood sugar spike.

[00:25:50] Doug: Changing gears a little bit. Looking at that blood sugar, a lot of my clients ask about intermittent fasting and perhaps going longer without snacks. I’d love to know your take on the blood [00:26:00] sugar changes from perhaps fasting or other types of dieting. 

[00:26:03] Carrie: So I do suggest a 10 to 12 hour fast overnight.

So if you eat dinner at 6:00 PM, you’re going to go until 6:00 AM and not have a meal. And the reason for that is you want to kind of give your digestive system a break. You want to give everything a time or space to kind of flat-line and go down a little bit. When you get into longer periods of fasting, my opinion, again, cause I know there’s probably a lot of intermittent fasters out there.

The longer you go, I’ve noticed, and I’ve seen studies on the longer fasts tend to kind of disrupt hormones, especially for women. Men, not so much, but for women, it can create more of a hormonal imbalance or hormonal issues. And so we kind of stay clear of that. But even just having those longer periods between your meals, you’re allowing everything to kind of calm down to settle and not be so inflamed and amped up all the time. So four hours between meals and then the 12 hour fast overnight. 

[00:26:56] Doug: That’s really interesting that you mentioned that over longer fastings. I’ve done a little bit of work in [00:27:00] intermittent fasting. And the longest one that I did was about 16 hours when I was first starting out. And I noticed that at the end of that, I was starving. I’d love to know, with the idea of blood sugar and perhaps that idea of losing control, that idea of vacuuming up anything in sight, basically. How can one prevent those moments of perhaps losing control by better managing blood sugar? 

[00:27:19] Carrie: Well, definitely not under eating. So making sure that you are eating enough at your meals and that’s something that’s very common, just because of diet culture.

So making sure you have enough food at your meal is going to help you stay full longer. So that’s going to help your blood sugar stay nice and steady. What I tend to see is when people are forcing themselves to go without food, for whatever reason, all they’re thinking about is food. So it’s like a deprivation or a restriction kind of thing, which then makes you think, oh, I can’t wait to have X, Y, Z, and then the time comes and they just completely binge and go way overboard. 

So again, focusing on that protein, fat and fiber at the meals that would really, really, really does wonders [00:28:00] for the blood sugar. So if nothing else take that into consideration on how to build a plate that has those things, because you don’t want your body to be starving and craving. You know, all the things, all the carbs, all the sugar, because you’re not allowing yourself to eat.

 Yeah. And thank you for sharing that. And looking at your practice in general, do you have any uncommon advice or advice that goes against what most people expect that you give clients that really helps to make them change? 

[00:28:24] Carrie: Um, consistency over perfection. I don’t know if that’s, just me that says that. But really focusing on, okay. You didn’t have a perfect day today. What are you going to do? Are you going to just let the whole day go or are you going to at your next meal? Get back into it. And I think that’s hard for a lot of people because we have this all or nothing mentality, and that does not serve us in any way.

You’re either all in, super strict or you make a mistake and it’s just like, well, I’m not going to do anything now, I’m going to start over tomorrow. And I really try to get rid of that mindset of I’m going to start over tomorrow or I’m going to start on Monday. No, just get back. [00:29:00] Your next decision is going to be a healthier decision.

People just really beat themselves up. It makes me really sad, but that’s something that I like to focus on the mindset piece of it, because it’s not just about food and exercise. It’s also about the mindset and the other factors in areas of your life that are really really important in making changes that last.

[00:29:18] Doug: Absolutely. And looking at that mindset that you mentioned, I mean, you mentioned the beating ourselves up. What are some of the common issues that you see with mindset when people come to work with you, and what are some of the solutions that you work with?

[00:29:29] Carrie: Some of the barriers or mindset blocks, I guess you would say is, well, it didn’t work for me before, so why is it going to work for me now? Or if I do this, am I going to have to give up everything in my life? And so just trusting. Trusting your body has this internal calorie counter.

You don’t need to rely on an app. Like those can be very helpful, especially when starting out to kind of see where you’re at or how much you’re eating. But this mindset that you need an app or a calculator or something to tell you how much you need when your body’s really, really [00:30:00] smart. And it can regulate all of that for you. You just have to tune into it. And that’s really hard for people. It was really hard for me at first too. And actually, even once I became a dietician, it probably took me a couple of years to be able to delete my fitness pal from my phone. Even though I wasn’t using it, just having it there just in case, it was like a comfort almost.

So getting out of their comfort zone and trusting their bodies and listening to the internal hunger hormones, that’s magical to me. And I think that’s the most amazing mindset shift for a lot of the people that I work with are like, okay, I can do this. Like, I’m starting to pay attention to how I’m feeling when I’m eating and what’s aggravating my gut or anything like that, those kinds of issues. And it’s pretty empowering. 

[00:30:40] Doug: I love that moment that people feel at peace with food, at peace with their bodies, you know, they feel they can make a couple mistakes and still be fine. And for many people, when they’re just getting started in their health, they had this belief about my fitness pal and intermittent fasting and other things. Some people are completely for it. Some people will completely demonize it. I’d love to know your take on tools [00:31:00] for perhaps dieting, for measuring our calories. What’s your take on that as far as diet culture and perhaps disordered eating?

[00:31:06] Carrie: As somebody who counted calories, who tracked macros, who has done every single diet out there, I know. Like, I know you just get all consumed by it and you’re like, okay, well, it didn’t work this time, but this one worked for my friends. So I’m going to try that one.

It’s hard to get out of that mindset. It really is. That’s why I take a no numbers approach to it, unless there’s something that, like, for example, there’s like a food intolerance or something. And somebody’s like, well, every time I eat this, then I feel super bloated. That’s when we’ll kind of write down, you know, okay, well, what did you eat?

And then we’ll try to pick out from there, like what it was that was causing that. But diet culture really wants us to be in this place where we feel reliant on diets and it’s a billion dollar industry. So they’re making money off of these insecurities and off of these, you know, making people feel like they’re failing.

That’s just how I feel, like I was one of those people. So I feel comfortable saying that. But I really do feel like there are people and [00:32:00] programs out there that do care. But not everybody’s the same. So what’s going to work for one person isn’t going to work for another person. Some people love calorie counting and it works for them.

And they’re really consistent with it. Me, I start to feel like I’m becoming obsessive. And I don’t like how that feels. I don’t like feeling controlled by that. I mean, there’s so many different avenues that people could go down, but I really do feel it kind of puts us in this disordered mindset where we’re not trusting our bodies. That’s what diets do. You’re relying on the diet. You’re relying on the meal plan or whatever. You’re not trusting yourself. So it keeps us stuck in a bubble. 

[00:32:33] Doug: That brings up a really interesting question. For those who perhaps have never really trusted themselves, maybe they grew up in a household where their parents, you know, were in this diet culture and they just kind of absorbed it. When we’re in that kind of reality tunnel, we often don’t realize that there is another way out. There is another reality out there. And when you see that in clients, how do you help them to break out of that and to first start to trust themselves? 

[00:32:56] Carrie: Again, we just focus starting on, okay, let’s focus on what’s on [00:33:00] your plate. I know a lot of people come in with this huge fear of carbs.

Maybe they’ve tried keto and they are just absolutely terrified to put carbohydrates on their plate. So we’ll start with some non starchy carbs or some, you know, okay. Let’s add a little bit more fiber and focusing on building up to these things because I mean, I don’t work specifically with eating disorders or anything, but there is a lot of disordered eating out there, just, you know, from what we’ve learned, our whole lives.

So small, little tiny challenges, people that are like, well, I’m going to get the fat free version. Well, the fat-free version isn’t going to help with your blood sugar stabilization, which is what we’re focusing on in week one, or, you know, two weeks, whatever. So, baby steps. I think baby steps are very, very important and kind of just talking about, well, what are your fears in this area?

What’s led you to believe this and then kind of breaking it down from there a little bit. 

[00:33:49] Doug: That’s such an important point. Baby steps. Oftentimes we’re looking for that immediate fix to just wipe out the problem, whereas it’s oftentimes just make small changes over time and I think that’s such an important message to [00:34:00] share. Thank you for sharing that. 

And Carrie, do you have some resources or perhaps tips or tools that listeners can find on the internet to learn a little bit more about your work? 

[00:34:08] Carrie: Well you can check out my Instagram page, which is sometimes a little bit ridiculous with my reels, you know, videos and stuff. But, my website, fitbalancenutrition.com. I have some resources there. Every couple months, I run, you know, the metabolism makeover groups. So if they’re interested in that, I can give you the links and we can check that out too. 

[00:34:27] Doug: Absolutely. Please do. And listeners, any links that have been mentioned in this episode, they will be in the show notes or in the description if you’re watching this on YouTube. 

And finally, Carrie, do you have any parting words of advice or wisdom for our guests? 

[00:34:40] Carrie: Consistency, not perfection. Just be very consistent, even if you’re consistent one day, you’re not the next, get back into that consistency. Find what works for you and your body. And you’ll start to see that you can trust the body that you’re in.

It’ll happen. You’ll get there. Just be really consistent. 

[00:34:56] Doug: Excellent. Well, thank you so much, Carrie. 

[00:34:58] Carrie: Yeah.

 (OUTRO) 

[00:34:58] Doug: Such an informative [00:35:00] conversation. Thank you, Carrie. And thank you to you, dear listener for listening in for this conversation. 

And if you haven’t yet, subscribe. Click that plus sign if you’re listening on a podcasting app or click the bell if watching on YouTube. Because you won’t want to miss out on the awesome interviews coming next. 

And while you’re there, I encourage you to leave a review. Carrie and I put in our time to bring this information to you. And I’m asking you to take just a few moments of your time to help us out. Reviews seriously help us out so much by getting this show into the hands of others who need this information.

The more reviews that we have on different podcasting apps, the more that those podcasting apps will push this podcast to people who may be interested in it. I especially encourage you to review if you’re listening on apple podcasts. Even just a one word, five star review would really help us out. It’s just a moment of your time and it would be fantastic for us. 

Again, thank you so much for listening. My name is Doug Sands, and I help compulsive and emotional [00:36:00] eaters to end the obsession with food. Oftentimes in as little as two sessions. 

Thank you so much for listening in, and I look forward to seeing you in the next episode.

 

—-
Like what you heard in this episode? Remember to Subscribe! Click the + button on your favorite podcasting app, because there are plenty of resources here to help you on your journey.

Want to watch the interviews happen? Check out the Weight Loss with Hypnosis podcast on YouTube! Whether on a solo show or a guest interview, you can view everything that’s happening behind the scenes.

Want to know more about weight loss and Hypnosis? Check out Doug’s website! Here, you can learn more about how Doug helps people with losing weight, changing their body image, and overcoming compulsive eating. You can also get your Binge Blocker Hypnosis, to help you overcome uncontrollable eating whenever it strikes!

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To your journey towards better health,

Doug

 

P.S. If you’d like to see what Doug’s better half is up to, check out her travel site here!

 

Links:

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https://anywherehypnosis.com/

https://www.instagram.com/anywherehypnosis/

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