Kore Kast
Kore Kast is a Podcast dedicated to integrating health and wellness with an emphasis on Pilates and Functional Fitness. This weekly Podcast is hosted by Kris Harris, a Certified Pilates Instructor and Personal Trainer. Please subscribe and follow our journey...
Kore Kast
Mind Over Macros: Fuel Your Body, Train Your Mind
We dig into the psychology of sustainable eating and show how awareness, systems, and self-compassion outperform willpower and rigid rules. Through client stories and practical tools, we outline simple steps to build habits that last and make peace with food.
• shifting from outcomes to systems and awareness
• the plate pause, halfway check-in, and satisfaction scale
• the food mood detective and the three-bite rule
• habit stacking, environment design, and defaults
• HALT for emotional eating and expanding coping tools
• unconditional permission to eat and neutral food language
• compassionate curiosity replacing self-criticism
• the 1% better approach and learning from setbacks
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Welcome back to season five of the Kore Kast. I'm Kris Harris, and we're diving deeper than ever into the core ideas that shape everything around us. This season, we're exploring the essential questions, the breakthrough discoveries, and the game-changing conversations that matter most. From science and technology to philosophy and culture, we get straight to the heart of what's driving our world forward. Season five is going to blow your mind, so let's get started. Hey there, and welcome to Mind Over Macros. Fuel your body, train your mind. I'm your host, Kris Harris. Today we're exploring the psychology behind sustainable eating habits. You know, after working with hundreds of clients over the years, I've discovered something fascinating. The biggest barrier to lasting change isn't what's on your plate, it's what's in your head. We've been conditioned to think that willpower is the answer, that if we just try harder, restrict more, or follow the perfect plan, we'll finally crack the code. But here's the truth that might surprise you sustainable eating isn't about perfection. It's about psychology. Let me share a story that illustrates this perfectly. I had a client named Sarah who came to me exhausted from years of yo-yo dieting. She'd lost and gained the same 30 pounds multiple times, convinced she lacked willpower. Here's what Sarah was doing. Every Monday, she'd start fresh with a rigid meal plan, eliminating entire food groups, measuring everything to the gram. By Wednesday, she'd have a stressful day and grab a cookie from the break room. Then the shame spiral would begin. I've already blown it, she'd tell herself. Might as well finish the whole package. By Friday, she'd thrown in the towel, promising to start again next Monday. The breakthrough came when we shifted her focus from restriction to awareness. Instead of asking, what can't I eat? We started asking, what does my body need right now? Sarah learned to tune into hunger and fullness cues she'd ignored for years. When she ate slowly and mindfully, she naturally ate less without feeling deprived. The mindset shift wasn't just about awareness, it was about redefining success. Sarah had been measuring success by the number on the scale and how perfectly she followed her meal plan. We changed that. Success became, did she eat without distractions? Did she check in with her hunger before reaching for food? Did she practice self-compassion when she made choices she didn't love? This is what I call the progress not perfection paradigm. I worked with Mark, a busy executive who used to inhale his lunch at his desk while answering emails. He'd finish an entire meal without tasting it, then wonder why he was still hungry an hour later. We introduced the three byte rule. Mark committed to eating just the first three bites of every meal slowly, with no distractions, really paying attention to flavors and textures. This tiny change had a massive impact. He started noticing when he was actually satisfied, began choosing foods that genuinely tasted good to him, and his afternoon energy crashes disappeared. Now, let's dive deeper into building awareness around your food choices because this is where real transformation happens. Most of us eat on autopilot, same breakfast, usual lunch, mindless snacking while watching TV. But when you start paying attention, you begin to notice patterns you never saw before. Here's a powerful technique I call the food mood detective. For just one week, notice what you're feeling before, during, and after eating. Are you eating because you're physically hungry, bored, stressed, celebrating, tired? No judgment here, just observation. I had a client named Jennifer who discovered she wasn't actually craving ice cream at 3 p.m. every day. She was craving a break. She was using food to pause and decompress from her high stress job. Once she realized this, we found other ways to create that break. A five-minute walk outside or stepping away from her computer to stretch. The ice cream cravings virtually disappeared. Another powerful technique is what I call the satisfaction scale. Before you eat, rate your hunger on a scale of one to ten, one being absolutely starving, ten being uncomfortably full. Most people should eat when they're at a three or four, moderately hungry, and stop at a seven, comfortably satisfied. But here's what's fascinating. Most of my clients discover they're eating when they're not even hungry, maybe at a five or six, and eating until they're at an eight or nine, way past satisfaction. Just this simple awareness can be transformative. I had a client, David, who realized he was eating lunch at noon sharp whether he was hungry or not, because that's what his calendar said. When he started checking in with his hunger first, he honored his body's natural rhythm instead of the clock schedule and lost 15 pounds without counting calories. The key is removing external rules and tuning into your internal wisdom. Your body knows when it needs fuel and when it's had enough. We just need to listen. Now let's talk about systems because this is where sustainable change really takes root. Most people focus on outcomes. I want to lose 20 pounds, I want to eat healthier. But outcomes are the result of systems, the collection of daily habits and processes. Here's how to build a bulletproof eating system. First, environment design. Your environment is stronger than your willpower every time. If there's candy on your counter, you'll eat more candy. That's human nature, not a character flaw. I worked with Lisa, a mom of three, who was constantly snacking on her kids' goldfish crackers while packing lunches. The solution wasn't willpower, it was systems. She started keeping pre-portioned nuts and seeds in the same cabinet. When she reached for something to munch on out of habit, she had a better option right there. Second, the power of defaults. Make healthy choices the easy choices. Batch prep vegetables on Sunday, keep a water bottle at your desk, pack healthy snacks in your car. When you're tired or stressed, you'll default to whatever's most convenient. So make the convenient choice the healthy choice. Third, habit stacking. This is one of the most powerful techniques I teach. You take a new habit you want to build and stack it onto an existing habit you already do consistently. For example, after I pour my morning coffee, I will eat one piece of fruit. Or, before I sit down for dinner, I will take three deep breaths to help me eat more mindfully. Rachel wanted to drink more water but kept forgetting. Instead of relying on willpower, we stacked it onto existing habits. After she sat down at her desk in the morning, she'd drink water. Before every bathroom break, she'd drink water. After lunch, she'd drink water. These weren't new time slots, just small additions to things she was already doing. Within three weeks, she was easily drinking eight, ten glasses daily without thinking about it. The beauty of habit stacking is that it works with your brain's natural tendency to create routine patterns. You're not trying to remember something completely new, you're adding one small step to something you already do automatically. Now, let's get really practical. I want to give you specific techniques you can start implementing today that will begin shifting your relationship with food immediately. First, try the plate pause. Before you take your first bite, look at your plate and ask, How hungry am I right now? What does satisfaction look like for this meal? This takes maybe 10 seconds, but it transforms eating from unconscious to intentional. Second, practice the halfway check-in. When you're halfway through your meal, put your fork down, take a breath, check your hunger level again. Are you still hungry? Are you eating because the food tastes great or because it's there? This simple pause can prevent overeating and help you recognize your body's satisfaction signals. Third, implement food gratitude. Before each meal, appreciate something about your food, the vibrant colors of your salad, the comforting warmth of your soup, or simply that you have nourishing food available. Research shows gratitude enhances digestion and satisfaction. When you appreciate your food, you eat more slowly and feel more satisfied with less. Let's dive into emotional eating, because this is where psychology becomes crucial. Emotional eating isn't a character flaw, it's a learned coping mechanism. The goal isn't to never eat emotionally again, it's to expand your toolkit so food isn't your only emotional regulation strategy. I teach my clients the HALT technique. Before reaching for food when you're not physically hungry, check if you're hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. Each state calls for a different response. If you're angry, maybe you need to journal or walk. If you're lonely, call a friend. If you're tired, food won't give you the energy you need, rest will. Here's an example. Maria, a nurse working night shifts, was eating constantly during shifts. She thought she was hungry, but we discovered she was using food to stay awake. Once we found other strategies, short walks, peppermint tea, bright lighting, the compulsive eating stopped. Here's something that might surprise you. The psychology of restriction often keeps us stuck. When we label foods as good or bad, allowed or forbidden, we create psychological reactants. The more we tell ourselves we can't have something, the more we want it. I worked with Amanda who had labeled bread, pasta, and desserts as bad foods. She'd be good all week, then encounter pizza at a work party and think, I can't eat this tomorrow, so I better eat a lot now. She'd overeat, then spend the weekend in shame, promising to be better on Monday. The breakthrough came when we gave Amanda unconditional permission to eat pizza anytime she wanted. When pizza was no longer forbidden, it lost its power. She started asking, do I actually want pizza right now, or just because I'm not supposed to have it? Often it was the latter. When she did choose pizza, she ate it mindfully and naturally ate less because she knew she could have it again. This is making peace with food. When all foods are morally neutral, just foods with different nutritional profiles, you can make choices based on what your body actually wants and needs. One of the most transformative changes is how you talk to yourself about your choices. Most of us have harsh inner critics. I was so bad today. I have no willpower. I'm such a failure. This negative self-talk doesn't motivate better choices. It creates more stress, which often leads to more emotional eating. I teach clients compassionate curiosity. Instead of berating yourself when you make a choice you wish you hadn't, get curious about it. That's interesting. I ate that entire bag of chips even though I wasn't hungry. What was going on for me? What was I feeling? What did I need? This shift from judgment to curiosity is profound. When you're not wasting energy beating yourself up, you can use that energy to learn about your patterns. I had a client named Carlos who used to spiral into days of being bad after eating something unplanned. Once he learned to respond with curiosity instead of criticism, those spirals stopped. One unplanned cookie just became information, not a reason to abandon his health goals. Remember, you are not your eating choices. You're a complex human being. Sometimes you'll eat in ways that align with your health goals, sometimes you won't. Both are normal and okay. Now let's talk implementation. Knowing these concepts and actually applying them are two different things. Change happens gradually, and the key is to start small and build momentum. Here's your implementation roadmap. Choose one technique we've discussed today and commit to practicing it for one week. Maybe it's the plate pause before meals, checking your hunger level halfway through eating, or asking yourself if you're halt before eating when you're not physically hungry. Master one technique before adding another. I call this the 1% better approach. You don't need to overhaul everything overnight. You just need to be 1% more aware, 1% more intentional, 1% more compassionate. These tiny improvements compound into massive transformation. Start with just one meal per day, lunch. For one week, eat lunch with no distractions, no phone, no computer. Notice flavors and textures. Chew slowly. Put your fork down between bites. Once mindful lunch becomes natural, add breakfast, then dinner. That's the power of small, consistent changes. Let's address setbacks, because you will have them, and that's completely normal. Maybe you'll stress eat more than usual during a difficult week. Maybe you'll eat past satisfaction at a party. Maybe you'll forget to check in with your hunger cues for several days. Here's the crucial difference between people who create lasting change and those who don't. How they respond to setbacks. Instead of seeing a setback as evidence that they're broken, they see it as data. What can I learn from this? What was different about this situation? What support do I need to handle similar situations better next time? The key is to stop seeing challenging situations as exceptions to your healthy habits and start seeing them as opportunities to practice those habits in different environments. This mindset shift changes everything. As we wrap up today's exploration of the psychology behind sustainable eating habits, I want to leave you with this. The most radical thing you can do in our diet-obsessed culture is to trust your body and treat yourself with compassion. You have an incredible capacity for change, not through force or restriction, but through awareness, kindness, and patience. Every time you pause before eating, check in with your hunger, or respond to a perceived mistake with curiosity instead of criticism, you're rewiring decades of conditioning. Sustainable eating isn't about finding the perfect meal plan or having perfect willpower. It's about developing a relationship with food based on awareness rather than rules, compassion rather than criticism, and trust in your body's wisdom rather than external authorities. Start small, be consistent, and be patient with yourself. The journey toward a peaceful relationship with food is ongoing practice. There's no finish line. There's just the practice of treating yourself and your body with the respect and kindness you deserve. Thank you for joining me today on Mind Over Macros. Until next time, fuel your body and train your mind. Thank you for joining me on this episode of the CoreCast. I hope you're feeling inspired and empowered to take your health and wellness journey to the next level. Remember, every small step counts, and I'm here to support you every step of the way. If you'd enjoyed today's episode, I'd love for you to share it with your friends and family. And if you're feeling generous, consider donating at the link provided in the description. Your support helps us to keep bringing you the core cast every week, packed with valuable insights and expert advice. For more resources, tips, and updates, don't forget to visit our website at www.kore-fit.com and follow us on Instagram at KoreFitnessAZ. Join our community and let's continue this journey together. Until next time, stay healthy, stay happy, and keep striving for your best self. This is Kris Harris signing off from the KoreKast, and I'll see you next week.
