The Mind Body Project
The Mind Body Project
Healthy Huddle: Mindset Over Macros
We explore how mindset drives sustainable eating while macros and calories remain useful tools. We replace all-or-nothing thinking with intention, identity-based choices, and small habits that compound into lasting change.
• mindset over macros as the central theme
• science of tracking versus daily behavior
• all-or-nothing thinking and food guilt
• external rules versus internal cues
• tools as guides not bosses
• identity-based choices for energy
• intention over impulse at meals
• consistency over extremes across holidays
• small habits compounding into big results
• swapping I should for I choose
• partnering with your body for trust
Welcome to Healthy Huddle. Thank you for taking a little time to join us today. If this is your first time here at Healthy Huddle, we each week uh we sit down and have a discussion about a food-related topic in our Healthy Huddle. And Healthy Huddle is really we just kind of discuss it and talk about it, and kind of like a huddle does, so we can form a game plan and take action after that. And we each week we just join our live call. So thanks for joining us here on Healthy Huddle and let's join our live call. So does anybody quick quiz before we start? It's kind of like a pop quiz when you first get to class. What is today's topic? No cheating. You can't cheat. You can't use notes.
SPEAKER_02:Notes?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you can't use notes. What is today's topic?
SPEAKER_02:Well, how long? I have no idea.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Well I don't know. I hope that's how they eat all the great things for something. Something to do with my with macros, but I don't remember what the other thing.
SPEAKER_00:You got half of it. That's right. It's mine.
SPEAKER_01:We just get on and have you tell us what we need to know.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I am so glad you you came just because of the topic. That's great to know today. That is making me feel so encouraged. But that's all right.
SPEAKER_02:We're gonna talk about all of your information, it's great. So we just well, thank you.
SPEAKER_00:I appreciate that. No matter what, you're just gonna show up. So thank you.
SPEAKER_01:You're coming to learn.
SPEAKER_00:Coming to learn. That's good. So, Sarah, you're right. It is does have macros in it. It is mindset over macros. And so it's it's uh it's kind of like we you know, we talked about last week about food noise, which really was about mindset. And so we're gonna talk a little bit more about this week. And then next week, we're gonna talk about, you know, we talk about our identity, we're gonna talk about food identity next week. What kind of food identity do you have? There's there's one of four, and I think most everybody will fit in those four. So that'll be interesting next week to find out your food identity. But we're gonna talk about our mindset more so than our macros. Because chances are most everybody at one time or another has tracked food, whether it's a point system, whether it's clean or not clean foods, whether it's actually putting, you know, looking at your macros, looking, do I want so many grams of protein, so many grams of carbs, all of that. And sometimes it's just might just be calories, but we're gonna kind of lump all that mindset over macros, kind of all that together, whether it's calorie-based, whether it's points-based, whatever it is, and we're gonna kind of lump all that together. Because really, how we think affects how we eat more than what we track, and and if we think about it, it really does uh affect it more than how we track it, um, than that we do track it. And chances are if you've ever tracked food, whether it's macros, points, calories, whatever it is, have you ever had imperfect days? Yes, yes, and how did you feel about those imperfect days when you were on this diet?
SPEAKER_02:Well, screwed that one up.
SPEAKER_00:Screwed that one up. Yeah, and and that's typically how we feel about it. I messed that up. Then at the end of the day, when we realized because maybe we didn't put in our calories, or we didn't put in our macros, or we didn't put in our points, or put what we had to hit all those numbers, we wait to the end of the day, then we realize it was a bad day, even though we might have felt good about it, and then realized, oh, it was a bad day because I was on a high protein diet and I had five grams of carbs, and then you think the whole day is shocked. So macros do matter and calories matter. We know all of those things. The science behind that, and that's really what macros or calorie counting, that's the science. The science says if you do X, Y, and Z, theoretically, you should achieve X, Y, and Z. But we all know that that's not always true. So macros is the science, it's how we get the numbers, how we decide those things. Then the mindset is how do we make that sustainable? How is that a sustainable lifestyle? So our mindset shapes our motivation, our consistency, our cravings, and even our body trust. How are we trusting our body? So you think about that. Is really though are those numbers, what however you're recording, are those numbers motivating you? Those just those numbers alone, are they motivating you? No, no, you you you typically have a feeling about those numbers, good, bad, otherwise. Are those numbers keeping you consistent?
SPEAKER_02:If there's results.
SPEAKER_00:If there's results, but if there's results, what does your mind tell you? It must be working, so I'm gonna keep going. So again, it goes, those numbers, if if we're void of any emotion or thought behind those, those numbers in and of itself aren't keeping you going. It is your thought, oh, I lost a pound. So what I'm doing must be working, so I'm gonna continue to do it. I have a craving, but yet what I'm doing seems to be really working, so I'm gonna forego that craving. Again, your mindset says I'm gonna forego that craving. So it has a big impact on how it motivates, consistency, all of those. And we can't we can't out track a bad mindset or a negative mindset. And no matter how perfect, how perfect that those numbers are, or if we miss up, mess up a little bit. It's gonna tell us, you know, oh, you messed up for the evening, you messed up for the day. You're you know, it's a Friday, and you messed up, so you're all messed up for the weekend. So no matter how we track, we can't out track a negative mindset. So we get caught in the macros. I'm gonna use the term macros, but it's really any sort of numbers we're using to figure out our food macros, calories, points, whatever other system there is out there. You know, and what are those macro mindset traps? Um, one of those is, and I and I know a lot of people like this.
SPEAKER_02:It's either perfect, turkey, ham dressing, mashed tato corn, green bean, fruit, alone. Somebody needs to mute.
SPEAKER_00:I don't know whoever whoever just talked about all that is making us hungry, so you might have to mute since we're talking about uh trying to eat better because that all sounded really good. So we have the all or nothing thinking, it's either perfect or pointless. Might have to either be all on or all off. There's not an in-between. If we mess up just a little bit, it's it really we tell ourselves, I blew it. It's over. Again, this goes back to some food noise too. And really, that's we're kind of expanding on last week just because it is so important, especially as we go into the holiday. Because this week, you know, Thursday, Friday, whenever you're having your Thanksgiving, you're gonna feel full sometime during the day. I'm probably such a loser, I feel like a stuffed pig. But and we're gonna say all those negative things to ourselves. You know, I've worked so hard over the last few weeks. You know, I just blew it today. No, you didn't blow it. And and if you've planned for it, say this is what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna have a plate, I'm gonna do whatever, and you plan for it, it changes your mindset. I mean, hats off to if you're gonna track anything on Thanksgiving Day, but probably chances are most everybody's not. You're just gonna have what you're gonna have. But when we think about the all or nothing thinking, it really leads us to being on track, off track, on track, off track. Think about all the different diets you've been on through the years. You're either on or you're off. And and and hopefully, as we talk each week, that hopefully maybe this is beginning to be one of your more balanced times in life when it comes to food, where hopefully you're not thinking as much, I'm on, I'm off, I'm on, I'm off. Hopefully, it's thinking like this is my lifestyle, these are the things I like to eat, this is what I like to do, and so it takes away from that on and off cycle. And then another thing that gets us caught in the the mindset trap of macros, is we look at his food as math, it's just the numbers, and then we start to miss out on the enjoyment of food that we really like it and that there's some good things about it. We just look at the numbers, and then sometimes it really takes, if you've ever been on a strict calorie diet or a macro diet, it really takes the fun out of eating. Like, I really want this, I'm going out with friends, but I guess I'll have this. And if you really like food, you can get in a real sour mood when you're not eating the food you enjoy. So, because it's just all numbers, and then you know, it's also we get caught in that trap of our guilt-driven eating, in other words, and we'll feel shame after our meals because we didn't make the right choices, so then we overcompensate because then we over-restrict or we over-exercise. How many times have you eaten bad the night before and tried to do more exercise the next day?
SPEAKER_02:Often.
SPEAKER_00:Never never, never, never.
SPEAKER_02:I'm so glad I'm not like that.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, and sometimes it's you know, maybe on Thanksgiving you plan, you know, you're gonna be eating a lot, so maybe you go, I'm gonna get an extra hour of cardio. Now, I mean, I don't I don't think that's a bad idea. Why? Because is it really gonna make a big difference caloric-wise? No, it's not gonna be like, oh my gosh, you burned 5,000 calories in your 45 minutes of exercise, so you can go ahead and pig out the rest of the day. But is what it does do is it gives you a different mindset going into the day or days of eating. Is I exercise today, so I'm gonna be a little bit more conscious, a little bit more careful, and it just makes you feel better. It gives you a better self-confidence, you feel better about yourself, a better, you make better decisions because you did get that exercise and you're proud of yourself. And again, it goes back to your mindset and how you're feeling about yourself. Then that translates into just eating less because you feel like I did so good today. I'm gonna kind of keep keep going with that. So it so it does, it's it's not gonna counterbalance the amount of food you eat, but it will help with your mindset towards the eating. And then another one where we get trapped is our external rules. In other words, what's the number that I need to hit versus our internal cues, and we rely more on apps for our calories, for all that stuff. Instead of are we hungry? Are we full? We external rules say it's time to eat at three o'clock, it's time to eat at noon, it's time to eat at six o'clock in the evening, it's time to eat breakfast at five o'clock in the morning. Those are all external rules. And what are our internal cues? Am I hungry? Could I wait a little bit? Do I need a snack? Do I feel low energy? Do I need some energy? Is my energy going up and down today? Do I keep crashing? What we have to look at those, but we get stuck sometimes in those. I need to hit these numbers, so I must, I must need that. So tracking whatever form of it it we are doing, it is just simply a tool. Just like your your watch, your smartwatch, whether it's a Samsung, a Garmin, or an apple. All of those doesn't matter what your opinion is of each, it is a tool. And it is not an exact tool, it's a very good tool, but it's not an exact tool that's gonna say you burned this many calories today. So many people get on the treadmill and get on it to look to see how many calories they burnt. And this was before smartwatches. It's not an exact measurement. A lot of times, if you don't put a weight in, I think the treadmill is based on 180-pound man in general, so it's not even accurate. So all of these things are just tools to give you a gauge, to give you a guide. But it's really it's up to our mental state to say to drive us forward. So, in other words, if you're on the treadmill and you go, oh my gosh, my heart rate is 180, I gotta slow down. But then you question, do you feel like it's 180 or 190? If it's 180 or 190, chances are you're gonna start feeling kind of woozy. If it's 200, you're gonna kind of get dizzy. You're gonna kind of like, whoa, this is a lot. And if you're not feeling like that, keep on going. Because sometimes we let those tools stop us. Sometimes we let those tools tell us, oh, you closed all your rings today, you're done. But do you feel done? Again, your watch, your smart watch, is just a tool to say, you know, how many steps did I get today? Just because you've got 15,000 steps today, doesn't mean that that's all you have to do. Maybe you have more energy, maybe you want to do more, then go do more. It has doesn't have to be like, oh whew, I must be tired because I got 15,000 steps. Or I burned this many calories today. I mean, it's just a tool to help you move forward. So we have to rely on your body and your mindset to drive you forward to what you can do. You know, so really when we our mindset over macros or or calories or whatever it may be, is it really shifts us from controlling food to be connected to our body. In other words, don't let the don't let the smartwatch connect you to control you of what you do or don't do. Be connected to your body. How do I feel? What do I want to do? You know, when Kim and I go for a hike in Red River, I might be breathing hard. I might look at my watch and say 120, but I feel like my my heart's about to come out of my chest, so I probably feel like I need to stop. I'm listening to my body instead of looking at my watch, going, well, it says 120, so I'm gonna keep on going. So we have to do the same. But when it comes to food, we we have to shift from controlling food to it connecting with us. So it sometimes it's identity-based choices when it comes to our body. Instead of saying, I'll try to eat fewer carbs, we we hear that a lot. I'll try to, I don't eat many carbs, and then maybe we say, I'm the kind of person who takes care of my energy. So, energy, some people do great with not many carbs, some people need more carbs, but just because it is the current fad doesn't mean we should be on or off of it. How does that how do more or less carbs affect your energy? That's what we should be based on. It's kind of like when we talked about the identity the other day of who do you want to become? The same thing is true. You're stating in this, I am the kind of person that does X, Y, and Z. I am the kind of person that gets up and exercises on a daily basis because it makes me feel better. I'm a kind of person who has likes quite a bit of carbs at lunch because it gives me sustainable energy through the afternoon. So our identity drives our action. What kind of person are you? And then we're also real bad about judging ourselves. Why did I eat that? What did you do? Instead, it was like, what was I needing in the moment? Like we talked about before when it's food noise. Was it fuel, rest, comfort, connection? There's something what was I needing? When we replace that with the shame, why did I just eat that? No, it changes why did I just eat that sonic blast to man, that was really good. That really may I've been wanting that for a while, and that just makes me happy. And then it's that one time, and that's it, instead of saying, I feel so like a piggy for for eating it. And then we also, you know, we get caught in the perfection, it's all or nothing. I mean, we talk about it over and over and over again. We call it might call it balance and we might call it flexibility. Flexibility is I made a choice. What do I do next? Have you have you ever made a bad choice in life, not regard to food?
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. And if you haven't, you're probably not telling the truth. Shame on you. But what what what did you ask yourself? If you made a bad choice, it's well, what do I do next? What's the next thing I do? Maybe, maybe it's you have to deal with that choice and work through it. Maybe it's something that you can just quit and go get away from. But we always ask ourselves, what's the what what do I need to do next? And just think about our life. We don't have a perfect life, but yet we expect our food sometimes to be perfect. But we're never perfect. We have good days where we really do good, we have days where we really mess up, and we have days where we have the good and bad. And that's just in life. That's just, you know, maybe you have really good days where you didn't res where you responded to everybody in a in a good manner, in the way you should. And then you have those bad days when they caught you off guard or you had other issues going on that you didn't respond in the right manner. And you go, well, what do I didn't do next? Maybe I need to apologize. I'm sorry I responded in that way. Maybe it's self, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I had you eat that sonic blast. I know it was hard on you, but we'll do better next time.
SPEAKER_01:I'll never say that.
SPEAKER_00:I've never said that either, but there might be people that do say that. So you know, I want to give you that grace that you can say that. And then, you know, a lot of times things happen because of impulse. And so we want intention over impulse. So we ask, you know, before we eat, what do I want? What do I need? How do I how do I want to feel after I'm eating? And so you think about intention over impulse and think about the things in your life. How many times do you go into a conversation with intention? How many times do you go into an interaction with intention? Why do we sometimes get mad or upset? Because we didn't go into that with intention. A lot of those things are because of an impulse. And so the same thing is true if if we go we go into a meal. What is my intention with this meal? Is it to enjoy it? Is it to to fuel my body? What is my intention? If your intention is to enjoy it, then it may be some things that aren't necessarily on your plan. It's been some things you want. And you go, you go into Thanksgiving, and what's your intention with Thanksgiving? Most of us are probably gonna be, I'm gonna enjoy it. I'm gonna enjoy that meal because chances are it probably comes once or twice a year, maybe again at Christmas. So you go, I'm gonna enjoy that meal. That's my intention with it. And so then when we do that, we don't leave it going, why'd I eat that? Why'd I do that? Maybe you go into the intention of, I'm just gonna have one little small spoonful of everything because I kind of want to try everything. So that's your intention. So, and it's so important, it's kind of like when we live an intentional life, it's a way different life than if we live a reactive life. It's just a it's amazing the difference when we do with an with intention. And then we also have a we we we go for consistency over extremes. Now, does consistency is consistency consistency a flat line? No, no, unless you're dead, then it's a flat line, and you're consistently dead. But consistency over extremes, and I think so many times we think consistency looks like a flat line, like we're just going. But consistency, it it if we're ever rising, that is consistency. So success, you think about all the different areas in your life that you've been successful. Have you had lows in those in that time? Have you had highs? Then have you dipped back down? Chances are you went like this, but you've always kept consistently moving up. And so that's you know, when we have the extremes, it's one way or the other sometimes. I've been way overeating, not exercising. Then the other extreme is I don't hardly eat, and all I do is exercise. And neither one are they can both be harmful. So we have to be find that like we've talked about before, find that sustainable rhythm. What's that rhythm look like in your life? Small habits are way better than perfect macros. Because what do small habits create? Big what results. Big results. Exactly. Small habits create big results because and and not only small habits, but small compounding habits create big results, they make big changes. So some shifts that that mindset shifts that change how we eat and can change how we eat forever. Because that's really our goal in our healthy huddle every week is how can we make small changes that because I've never shared with you a diet to be on ever. Because that's not sustainable, is what we're working on is is if if you remember one thing out of here, it might it'll make a difference. And the next time we have it, you'll remember one small thing, and you keep adding those, and those start to make a difference over your lifetime because all of us are here probably because we've been on diets before. And my goal through our healthy huddle is to stop dieting. I think it's the worst thing we can do is diet. So our goal here is to really never diet again, which would be a great thing. So, so some of those things we can change is we change our thinking from I should to I choose, because we've talked about before. When you have a choice, you feel so much more empowered than I should. Again, it's a mindset, it's thinking. Oh, now I have it, now I'm in control because I choose. And we go from restriction to addition again. I'm choosing to add water to my diet, to add protein to my diet, to add some color to my diet. I get to add those things, and then you know, we look from it from our our body being a body critic to our body's our partner. How do we work together? How do mind and body, M2B, work together? How does that happen? We go, it goes hand in hand. We're teammates, one without the other, it's really hard to get our goals, and then we kind of shift from being macro smart to being mindset strong. Because we can know all the things about macros, but and have counting calories and points and all that, but still our mind gets in the way of those things. Of I did good, I did bad, you know. But when our mindset it helps build us emotional stability around food, and when we do that, we can be sustainable and successful. So, again, the the macros, the calorie counting, that's knowledge, that's science. Our mindset is consistency. How can we be consistent and sustainable with that? So the challenge really is just to kind of think about you know your mindset when it comes to eating. What are you thinking? What are you feeling? And be in connection with that. And then we when we connect with it, we can start to change some things. And I and I would encourage you, every meal you go into, what's your intention for that meal? Is it to eat good? Is it to get fuel? A lot of times, if you're a runner or a cyclist, your intention for the meal you eat before that event is to give you energy. Um, that's your intention. So, and I'd also encourage you anytime you have an interaction, anytime you start your day, what's your intention for the day? What's your intention for that activity? What's your intention for your food? And that changes everything when we go into it with an intention instead of an impulse. So, any comments, questions, or thoughts about our mindset over macros?
SPEAKER_01:My intention for Thursday is to eat Thursday through Sunday is to eat uh everything numerous times over and over until Monday when um we have to come in and be like, Oh, you look different today.
SPEAKER_00:There was there was one time Caleb went to a summer camp or some sort of camp.
SPEAKER_02:It was summer camp, it was summer camp. Oh, and he was to get your shoe wet.
SPEAKER_00:How old was he?
SPEAKER_02:He was well it was Camp Copus, so he wasn't in junior high yet.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so he was probably fifth grade, probably fifth grade. He went to camp, church camp for like four or five days. He came back and I told Kim, I said, Does he look fatter to you? I think he gained weight.
SPEAKER_02:He did.
SPEAKER_00:So so we weighed him and and he did.
SPEAKER_02:But you eat a lot of church camp, okay.
SPEAKER_00:But but I always think about but we always think about that when we call come back from a holiday. You may not recognize me, but I'll be here.
SPEAKER_02:We're gonna look like Caleb coming back from Tamkoke.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yes. So we might not recognize recognize each other come Monday. So, yeah, so if that's your intention, then great. Because it is your choice to go into Thanksgiving with that intention. And that is a powerful choice that you get to make, it's without guilt. Um, any other thoughts, comments, or questions? All right. Well, if you do, let me know. And if anybody needs any accountability time, I do have a couple times tomorrow, but not on Thursday, but tomorrow. So thank you. I'm gonna see y'all this evening or tomorrow. Thank y'all. Thank you, and thank you to each of you for joining us on Healthy Hut. I'm gonna look forward to seeing you right here next time on Healthy Hut.