Heal with Grace

48. Intuitive Eating over the Holidays with Sydney Greene

• Grace Secker / Sydney Green • Episode 48

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In this episode of the Heal with Grace podcast, Grace sits down with dietitian Sydney Greene to discuss the complexities of eating disorders, disordered eating, and mental health. Sydney shares her journey to becoming a registered dietitian and how her personal struggles with food and sobriety have shaped her practice. They delve into the concept of intuitive eating and its challenges, particularly for those recovering from restrictive eating patterns. As the holidays approach, Sydney offers practical tips for maintaining a healthy relationship with food amidst family gatherings and societal pressures. Whether you're dealing with an eating disorder or simply trying to eat more mindfully, this episode provides valuable insights and actionable advice.

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[00:00:00] Grace: Hello and welcome back to the Heal with Grace podcast. I have a very special guest, Sydney Green. thank you so much for being on here. This is a really important topic, especially around the holidays and really just, I mean, so much of this podcast is about learning about ourselves, how to tune in, what does it mean to have a relationship with ourselves?

And this is a huge piece. So 

[00:00:23] Sydney: hi, Sydney. Welcome. Hi, Grace. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so glad to be here. 

[00:00:30] Grace: You're welcome. I chose Sydney. I chose you because, we have connected recently as I've moved to Colorado and really understand how you operate as a dietitian, focusing a lot on eating disorders, disordered eating, mental health, health in general, but you come at it from a very different framework than I think.

Most people think of dietitians, right? So, tell us a little bit about how you came to be a registered dietitian and specifically focus on what you focus on. 

[00:01:00] Sydney: Yeah, I was always interested in food from a young age and. It started off as being kind of innocent and then took a disordered, path and, so I was always interested in food.

My dad had his own private practice. He was a therapist and I always thought that was so cool that he was in people's lives for like 15 years. and so I knew I wanted to do something where I was interacting with people. I was like, maybe I'll be a therapist. Maybe I'll be a dietitian. My mom's a physician and she was like, why would you become a dietitian when you could become a doctor?

And I was like, okay. So I tried to do that. And then ultimately, I was like going into medicine is not for me. I really want to focus on food and how it can impact someone's health and well being. And I was really into like preventative health and let's just be healthy, right? And so I went to grad school for clinical nutrition.

I did my internship. I started working at a group private practice and was working with clients who, Had all sorts of things going on. everything from food allergies to, other medical diagnoses to wanting to lose weight. And then, at the same time as that was happening, I was newly sober and my own food stuff was bubbling to the surface because I no longer had drugs or alcohol to use.

And, It felt really weird to be sitting in sessions with clients and talking about alcohol, but also talking about dieting. And I don't know, I was having a reckoning with my own values and my own relationship to food. And, ultimately, you know, when I went into nutrition, I was like, I'm never going to work with eating disorders.

They're scary and hardcore. There's such a stigma around them, honestly. and. Then I just kind of fell into it because it's what I know and I get it and, I really understand the struggle of just wanting to, I don't know, for me, like, get outside yourself to control, fix, and manage things through, you know, food, people, substances, whatever.

so I pivoted and really started working more on the behavioral health side of nutrition. so now just, I work primarily with people who have a dysfunctional relationship with food. Who are sober and don't know how to eat, or they're navigating their relationship with substances, people who are struggling with anxiety, depression, and they want to look at how food could maybe help them.

people that just kind of frankly want to eat and move on and not think about food all the time.so that's how I landed here, and it feels. Right where I need to be. And I love the work that I do. It's people don't talk about how underrated food is. 

[00:04:23] Grace: That last statement that you said, just helping people eat without having to focus so much on food all the time is huge, regardless of whether it is Coming from a disordered place, a medical place, right?

Someone doctor puts you on a diet because that's what you need for your body, but then you get obsessive and that, I think that statement applies to so many people and it's so important because there is so much emphasis on food in our society and culture, and obviously it impacts our body, but there's so much focus, right?

That it becomes, obsessive or can be from obsessive. So I love that. Yeah. 

[00:05:02] Sydney: Yeah, I think We shouldn't be thinking about food all the time. 

[00:05:07] Grace: It's exhausting. 

[00:05:08] Sydney: Yeah, but so many of us are and it's just become this normalized place where it's like, well, if I'm not, then what am I possibly thinking about? so yeah, that's how I kind of landed here.

[00:05:21] Grace: Yeah, and I think we actually have similar, backgrounds because I remember being in school thinking I have, I mean, eating disorders were so far from me. I didn't even connect or understand or really know when it was thought. I didn't know anyone. I thought I didn't know anything about it until, you know, I was actually experiencing it myself.

Just didn't know it at the time. And yeah, then after going through it, it's, it's hard not to. Help when you've been through it. Totally. And you're coming out the other side because it's so much power and coming out the other side. 

[00:05:55] Sydney: So much. And I think once you start to do your own healing, it's hard to, like, unsee certain behaviors or thoughts or messaging around food.

yeah, I think in the beginning I became a little bit of a crusader, but I was like, Everyone has issues with food and we need to fix it. And now to like swing in them, it was the same thing with getting sober. Like everyone needs to be sober. This is so amazing. And then you kind of land and come back to earth and it's just like, okay, if people want help, then I'm here to help them.

And if not, that's cool too. 

[00:06:35] Grace: Yeah, yeah, that's I think that's a common journey when healing through disorder addiction. Yeah, we still feel so empowered and just like, I want to share it, which is actually a great thing, you know, unless we're trying to tell everyone what to do with their lives. That doesn't work.

[00:06:52] Sydney: No, then that becomes challenging. For sure. 

[00:06:56] Grace: Okay. So let's break it down. first what to help people understand what exactly is a disordered relationship with food? What does that look like? 

[00:07:06] Sydney: Okay. So I think there's two things to think about. One, we have like a full blown eating disorder. Where someone might meet the criteria in the DSM and for things like anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder.

and then we have, other eating disorder diagnoses that bond or Osped, where someone might not meet the exact criteria of a. of anorexia, let's say, but they still exhibit all the signs and symptoms except maybe their weight is higher than what the DSM says. So, there's full blown diagnosable eating disorders, but then there's disordered eating, which I would vouch that most of us in this society have some level of, and disordered eating I'm not sure there's really one standard definition, but the way that I see it and view it is, okay, you don't meet criteria in this book of diagnoses, but you are spending most of your time thinking about food, whether that, so let's just pause there.

That could be anything from, Oh, my God, I have a dinner tonight. I'm so nervous about going out to dinner and eating something quote unquote unhealthy. Now I need to think about what I'm going to eat for breakfast and lunch and snacks so that it's okay that I eat out at dinner. Or maybe you're thinking about food from a lens of, I don't know, you're doing a new diet and it's obsessive and it's interfering with your life.

I really see disordered eating as this is. interfering with your life and your ability to function and live the way that you want to live. So, I can have my ideas of what is disordered for someone, but who am I to say, right? Like, if someone's medically healthy and stable, Maybe it works for them to think about food all the time or their weight all the time, but maybe it doesn't, you know, I think disordered eating can also be, the way that you interact with food.

So there can be just behaviors. around food that are kind of atypical. So maybe you're not eating real meals or you're combining things in different ways, or you're ripping your food or kind of cutting your food in interesting ways. Like basically just, again, interacting with food in a way that is, you know, not typical.

And I think anybody listening, if you have, you'll, you know, like deep within you, if the way that you interact with food or feeding yourself is off in some way. I don't know. What do 

[00:10:23] Grace: you think about that? I like the, if it impairs your life, that statement is really true. Honestly, I think for, that's how I approach kind of anything when people are like, do I have this or do I have OCD?

Do I have whatever it is? It's how much is it impairing and impacting your life, your relationships, right? So like the restaurant example or food at home, how much is it impairing your social life? Do you not go to social plans? Cause you're afraid to eat or something like that. Most I would agree with, yes, most people probably have some sort of disorder at some point in time.

It's very, it's natural because there's just such a big focus on food. Right and it seems easy to control, so we're going to control it in times of stress. 

[00:11:06] Sydney: Yeah, 1000%. I think even the idea of healthy eating is so warped. You know, I think we could take 10 people and ask them what it means to quote eat healthy, and they're all going to have a different answer and it could be anything from cutting out a food group to just eating more colors to, having to eat like very rigid amounts of certain food, you know, big ones, protein these days, or timing around food, I think it's just so cool.

and we've kind of lost the point of what it means to just feed yourself in a healthful way.so a lot of work I do with people is just trying to get them to define for themselves what it means to eat in a healthful way. Like, what does that mean for you? 

[00:12:03] Grace: I would guess that that might take some time to uncover because we've been told so much, right?

And if we go the route, a lot of these listeners have, underlying issues like chronic pain or illness, and they've probably most likely been told by a doctor to Eat a certain way, a certain type of diet or eliminate certain food groups because it will help their health. And so we get really stuck in this, like, well, it's a, it's a health concern, right?

And it's, it's just tricky in that. but kind of to our point, what I usually say is, but how much is it impaired? How much is it causing you stress? Cause that's. That's the opposite effect, right? And figuring out what's healthy for you is really important. So I like that you help that process. I think that's the most important part, like what's healthy for you or what, what is right for you?

Yes. 

[00:12:52] Sydney: Yes. Totally. And we can, and I can answer that for someone 

[00:12:59] Grace: for someone listening, being like, yeah, well, for instance, for me in the beginning, I was very much the, the obsessive clean eater. I didn't really start with calories and types of food got there, but in the beginning, it was very like, clean eating focused and I wrote off everyone, like, everyone saying, making comments.

I mean, some of my friends totally saw it and they'd be like. They would say something and I was like, you just don't get it. You don't care enough about your health. You know, ? Yes, I get it. Yes. And really what it took was someone I knew was also disordered in their food, in their, their relationship with food.

And we kind of like, you know, fed off of each other in that way. And she finally kind of broke it and, acknowledged me or like confronted me. She was like, grace, no, you don't get it yet. Listen to this podcast and send me a podcast on intuitive eating. Yeah. I don't know if I would have been able to hear it from someone else, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. okay. So where I'm going with that is, who, someone who is stuck in that clean eating, cause I do think that's a lot of the listeners here dealing with chronic illness and health, how do you merge the, okay. How do we intuitively eat? And also want to support our body's nutrition, nutritiously.

[00:14:19] Sydney: Yes, I love this question. Okay. And I love your story because I had a very similar one. And I think, I don't know, I'm a big believer. It's why I disclose, not all the time, but a lot of the time. I mean, I'm on this podcast saying, yeah, yeah, I had an eating disorder. Because for me, at least with my own healing, I really only trust people who have been through it.

Okay. You know, like, two people are struggling with food stuff. Yeah, and then some of your friend being to, like, no, listen to this.so I appreciate that story, but okay. So someone who wants to take care of their health, but we want to talk about intuitive eating. I think we've got to back up and first just say, like, what is intuitive eating?

Yes, please. Okay, it's thrown around so much and I intentionally don't, do not refer to myself as like an intuitive eating dietitian. intuitive eating, I busted out the book. There's a book. I think most people don't know that it is a framework. It's a, Model just like in therapy, right? CBT is a model.

Intuitive eating is a model. It's one way to heal one's relationship with food.

And I think intuitive eating. I mean, it has so many amazing pros. I do not think it's for everyone, but I think especially on social media, sometimes people. oversimplify intuitive eating and just name it as like, oh, it's listening to your hunger and your fullness and kind of honoring your cravings. But it's really so much more than that.

There's 10 principles of intuitive eating that are really radical and incredible. I encourage a listener to look at them because I think sometimes people will say, You want me to eat intuitively, like, and just eat pizza all day? And that's actually not what intuitive eating is. Part of intuitive eating is, it's not till later in the framework, but it's about honoring, you know, nourishing one's body.

And that just as we need to eat foods that are, bring us satisfaction, we do need to give ourselves foods that are full of nutrition.so that is a component to intuitive eating, but I think someone who's coming out of orthorexia, clean eating, we first need a structure to do that. Because just telling somebody, okay, listen to your hunger and fullness cues, one, you might not be able to access them.

I know I couldn't, I was so rigid about timing that there was no way I was listening to my body. And fullness was also deeply terrifying to me. The idea of sitting with fullness.so also some people, might not. know what they crave or desire anymore.so I really approach coming out of kind of the clean eating thing with a lot of like loving structure is what I call it.

having people make a list of foods that terrify them or that are quote unquote really bad and unhealthy and trialing them very slowly and exposing them very slowly. is my approach. 

[00:18:02] Grace: I like that. It feels, it's a little safer, right? That structure can really help. 

[00:18:07] Sydney: Yeah. and I think intuitive eating is an amazing goal throughout one's life, but just as you said, like it takes a long time to find out what healthy means for someone.

I think, especially if you have a legacy of having a really dysfunctional way of thinking about food, Intuitive eating that, you know, it's going to take a long time to get there and you might not ever get there and that's okay too.but again, I come back to for me, I would eat dinner out, or I would eat dinner at my apartment.

A lot of times before eating dinner with friends. because it was safer to like eat food that I prepared myself, right? And so if I was doing that, let's just say I'm making this up, I don't know, five times a week, right? To like, bring that down, right? That's an indicator of healing.yeah. It's not like, Oh, we throw it to the wind and now you're just eating all your food out that someone's made.

That's really scary for someone. 

[00:19:20] Grace: Yeah. Yeah. It's that, that principle of all or nothing, which a lot of us deal with when we're working through this of it's either we're all on or all off or, yeah, all in or not. And that is that just reinforces that rigidness too. And some perfectionism in there. 

[00:19:38] Sydney: Mm hmm.

[00:19:39] Grace: Okay. Okay.and so I'm guessing then when you said intuitive eating as a, I don't know if you use the word practice, but I think so. Like, if you're using it as a practice lifelong, when you said. You may not ever get to it. What is it exactly? 

[00:19:57] Sydney: Like, to becoming a quote, intuitive eater, I'll try to think of an example.

Okay, I'm thinking of someone that I've worked with who has struggled with restrictive eating. For a decade and grew up in a household where, you know, they had an almond mom and food was not really. This kind of neutral thing, so now this person has a family of their own and they're no longer restricting and they're able to eat.

More foods, right? But their natural inclination is I don't need to eat three meals and two snacks. And but they do it because they know that there's a big payoff. They're more present in their life. They can show up for their children. and so, you know, it's not intuitive for them to feed themselves every three to four hours, but they do it and like, see it almost as a medicine.

So it's like a both and right. Like, but I think sometimes people get lost and I have to eat intuitively. And

I don't know. I think sometimes our intuition, it just takes a really long time to heal that. 

[00:21:35] Grace: That's a really great example. So thank you for that because it helps to understand. I mean, you're exactly right. When we know something that's going to support us, it's helpful to do that. Even if it's not, you know, we're so connected to it and we know exactly what we're going to eat at certain times to help fuel our bodies.

It just doesn't always work like that, especially because we live in the reality of life and like, Jobs and work and kids and all the things, right? So, yeah. Okay. Okay. That's really helpful. because it's true. And I work with people as well. You, you know, it's feels forced sometimes, but it's in a, it can be in a loving way.

You're you said that person is supporting them because they know that it gives them maybe more focus or energy or present present to satisfy your body with food. Yeah, totally. Okay. Yeah. 

Okay. So let's, let's talk about the holidays because this is a big reason why we're talking about it and having it here.

And I kind of forgot for a second. So, when you're working with someone around, okay, let's just say their relationship with food, right? Whether it's coming from strict eating disorder, disordered eating, wherever they are in their journey. Holidays are just, they're, they're activating, right? because there's a lot of expectations.

There's, a lot of talk, right? Like, oh, holiday wait and all that stuff. So, and I'm sure it's ramping up for you and your clients right now. I'm guessing it hasn't already. what are some, what are some takeaways, like important reminders that we can kind of go into right now around all this? 

[00:23:12] Sydney: huh.okay, I just want to say for anyone listening, it's not normal for people to be talking about other people's bodies or weight.

[00:23:24] Grace: Oh, thank you for saying that. 

[00:23:26] Sydney: Like, And I think a lot of people, it's just so part of their norm or their family system. But I want to say, like, it's actually not normal. So, take that and do with it what you will. but permission granted to go into another room or roll your eyes or text your friend and be like, My Aunt Sally is Talking about her new diet again, and do you curse on here?

No. Okay, fuck her, right? Like, so, there's that.second I want to say, I think the biggest thing for people is a holiday is just another day. It might be a bigger dinner, or a bigger lunch, or something like that, but you still have to eat. You still have to eat breakfast and a snack and lunch, maybe even another snack, you know, it's just another day, but I think sometimes people, especially with Thanksgiving, get into the trap of.

Oh my God, this is going to be such a big meal with so much food and I'm not going to eat all day to prepare for it. And there might be many different mindsets motivating that, but I think we all know that when we do that, we end up eating way more than we typically would and we feel sick and then guilty.

And then it's like, oh, we got to do a turkey trot to burn it off or something like that. It's like, this is just another day. It's just another day. 

[00:25:10] Grace: That it really so much pressure when you can see it that way. Cause it, it truly is. I remember learning that too. And I was like, it kind of blew my mind. It's so simple, but oh yeah, it's just another meal, right?

Doesn't have to be anything crazy. It really doesn't, even though there is so much talk around, Oh, Thanksgiving, you ate, eat so much food, blah, blah, blah. Right. but. If it can just be seen as another day and yeah, there's probably some emotional mental triggers with family. If you spend it with family, there's going to be, you know, probably things that come up.

but it is that place that I think where we can practice really honoring our own boundaries and our own bodies. Yeah. Be a really powerful place to do that. 

[00:25:55] Sydney: And so to that point, I think there is a lot of messaging out there that's like, just enjoy and be present. And that's amazing. But I want to speak to the flip side of that, which is if if you are going home and your family is stressful.

We don't need this to be a day where you're like doing the craziest food exposure. Like we just don't, I, I'm always thinking about someone's stress and anxiety and, and like their overall picture of mental health. Right. And if eating the baked potatoes with the marshmallows is like deeply scary for you, we can do that on a day that's not Thanksgiving where you're not surrounded by.

Lots of triggering people.and coming back to that question of, I almost phrase it as like, what's bringing me closer to or farther from neutrality or serenity? And what is causing distress for me, right? And so if your mom stresses you out and going home causes lots of activation in one's body, right?

Like to then layer on top of that and be like, okay, and I want you to have dessert tonight. Like that can just be too much for someone. And so I think it. I don't know. This might be a hot take or a controversial take, but I think, Keeping food as simple as possible, like really sticking to the safe foods is okay.

In a holiday scenario, 

[00:27:41] Grace: I would completely agree because if we're talking about like my brain always works in terms of, okay, where's your nervous system. Right. And so when, what you're saying is, yeah, going into those situations ungrounded. And, we might be really more quick to fight or flight and the nervous system.

And so how do we. Help ourselves feel a little bit more safe. How do we help ourselves? Like stay in that window of tolerance instead of getting super activated and flying off, flying out of that window of tolerance. Yeah, totally safe. food is just really taking the focus off food as much as you can with it.

Yeah. No being about it that day 

[00:28:20] Sydney: or 

[00:28:21] Grace: whatever, but yeah, totally. Whenever I'm talking to clients and we're talking usually in terms of like symptom management and oftentimes it can include clue food is, what, what are your safety nets? Like what's your support 

[00:28:33] Sydney: system? 

[00:28:34] Grace: Sometimes that is a supplement that you carry around with you because it makes you feel better that you have it.

Sometimes it's certain foods, you know, you can go to that you don't have to think about, right? Yeah. How can you help support yourself? 

[00:28:46] Sydney: Totally. A hundred percent. My mantra to, for all my clients, any time of year, but especially the holidays is spend as best. And so just do the best that you can.we got to eat.

And I think sometimes we forget coming back to this idea of food is so underrated. Like a lot of times, if you're not eating enough or you're saving up. For a big meal or something, but that is going to increase your anxiety Because when our brain is not getting the fuel it needs it's like scanning for alerts And we're vigilant and so really just You know, for the holidays, eating consistently throughout the day.

yeah, and then having compassion if you, quote, mess up, whatever that means.

[00:29:41] Grace: I do remember the first holiday I learned and did that. I actually, I actually ate before a big meal, right? Oh my gosh! Instead of, like, starving myself all day. And I remember having this aha, or just kind of a relief. And I kind of laughed at myself too. I was like, Oh, I actually, I feel, I feel good. And my, I don't, you know, I'm, I'm having this meal with everyone and, I don't need to go back and binge everything.

Like I normally would like the first time I didn't binge on a holiday and it wasn't, it wasn't this like. Oh, I'm like forcing myself not to, right. I can't go eat that other piece. It was like, I genuinely didn't care to, I was satisfied and it was just this huge, you know, aha. I was like, Oh, I just eat consistently and then I don't binge.

[00:30:31] Sydney: Yeah. It's such a freaking relief. 

[00:30:34] Grace: Yeah. 

[00:30:34] Sydney: as I really, as it is, I will also often have clients like, We'll talk about intention setting.in that for some people, maybe the purpose of the holiday is going home to be with family. So, okay, if that's your value, if that's your intention to your point of, like, safety nets and supports, what can we put in place to support that?

intention coming to fruition.Eve, Thanksgiving for you really is about the food for me. I don't, I'm not like a big Thanksgiving food person, but I know some people really, it's like comfort food. And so if that is for you, cool. How, what supports can we put in place so you can actually enjoy the food, be present with the food, taste it, and then move on?

You know, I think. Assessing what the holidays really are about for us.is an important piece. 

[00:31:39] Grace: I like that. And I like that you brought up intentions. I don't I don't I understand it can be I really, but I think it's super important because if we really look at what is what causes, just regulation with food and body image.

Is it's more than just the food, right? Yes, we're talking about it. But, more often than not, it's the how we feel about ourselves and what we're trying to control, whether it's ourselves or environment. There's a lot of belief systems that go on that make us impact us wanting to control food. And oftentimes, yes, that can get it.

Activated around family or wherever you are on the holidays. And so,if we can set intentions with what we want that's underneath the surface rather than the kind of food we want, it does both takes the pre the pressure and the focus. All food, like you say, just come to neutrality. Mm-Hmm. and two, really connects with what is that deeper desire so that maybe the deeper parts of ourself doesn't have to get so dysregulated.

Mm-Hmm. . That's what I'm saying when you said that. 

[00:32:45] Sydney: Yeah. Yeah, it's also just something to come back to. Yeah, that's another thing for the holidays, take breaks, go to the bathroom, like, pause. You know, reset. I think there's so many ways that we can reset throughout the week of the holidays or even just a meal.

especially if we start to feel dysregulated or notice that we're feeling that way. 

[00:33:20] Grace: Okay. What would that look like? Can you give a couple examples of resetting? Yeah, 

[00:33:25] Sydney: sure. So, Okay, I have a couple of examples. Let's say your aunt Sally is, doing her thing at the dinner table and talking about her co worker who's lost 30 pounds and is on some diet.

You, if you feel yourself getting heated or anything, just like moving away from baseline, you can get up and go to the bathroom. Okay. Text a friend, maybe you have someone like a dietitian or a therapist on your team where they're not going to necessarily respond, but you could write a quick email. I personally, Tap into spirituality, so I might, like, grow up a prayer that's. help me, like, or help me, not freak out at Sally, like help me just be calm. You could go outside, you could clear some dishes, right? Okay, that's one example. I think resetting, could be as simple as let's say you're somebody who when you get activated, you want to Fill yourself with food.

If you feel that happening and theoretically, you've talked about you've processed this with your team before and you're aware that you do it. But like, maybe you just push your chair back from the table

and take a breath.

these little simple things. Maybe it's. I don't know if you're home for a week and you have plans every day with your family, you know, maybe you say, Hey, change my mind about dinner tonight. I'm actually going to do something different.

These are 

[00:35:23] Grace: some examples.I think it's helpful to have those tangible ones, especially when in the moment, I mean, brains can kind of get caught off when we're super activated. Right. So I think having examples or a list of things to do, even the list on your phone of, okay, I can do these five things I can choose from my list to help when I'm feeling pretty dysregulated.

[00:35:51] Sydney: So helpful. 

[00:35:52] Grace: Yeah. 

[00:35:53] Sydney: Okay. Yeah. To have that less. Totally. Maybe it's getting a glass of, I feel like you could speak to this better than me, but like changing your state. So, going and getting an ice cold glass of water or splashing a little bit of water on your face.that's why I really like stepping outside.

Yep. Peace. Taking a breath. I get really, I don't love large group dinners. It's really hard for me. I get very overstimulated and so stepping outside is really helpful or going into the other room or going to the bathroom and just Setting there for a moment. 

[00:36:36] Grace: Breath. You mentioned breath. If you listen to any of these podcasts, you know, breath is my first and foremost, like my go to, cause it truly is the quickest way to signal to your brain, your nervous system.

Hold on. Hey, okay. We're here, you know, let's like, Let's come back to our bodies for a second because we are so out of it when we're stuck there.and to really soothe and so, yeah, breath and then anything else, any other skill. So, yeah, yeah. and change to your point, changing states, not only does it just usually feel better, but it literally signals it's like a distraction in a way for your brain.

In a way it is a distraction, but it also truly can help shift your nervous system if you're sitting there, like you said, in the middle of people, I'm same way, if it's a bunch of people, it's a little overwhelming for me. 

and so I'll either go and try and focus on some other conversation, right? If someone over here is talking about their diet and their whatever, I let that go, I'm just like, They just don't know and I'm going to go focus on this other one or ask someone else a question if, if I, if I can be present with that or yes, everyone, 

[00:37:47] Sydney: I love you just made me think of one other one that's huge for me and huge and kind of like the, addiction recovery circles I'm in, but being of service is huge.

I often. I'm doing the dishes towards the end of a family gathering of some sort because I have a reason to be in a different room and by myself.I mean, yes, of course, like doing dishes, it's nice, but I think sometimes acts of service, they're twofold. It helps other people, but it also really helps us.

and so cleaning the table, offering to watch if you have little kids, like do that. it will get you out of the situation and it will get you out of yourself, likely.that's a huge, huge, huge one for me. 

[00:38:39] Grace: Love that. Thank you for mentioning that. I don't think it's talked about enough how much that can shift.

And I'll even say, I would think that like at first I remember being so overwhelmed that I was like, I don't think I can do anything else. I don't know what to do, but then realizing actually that could kind of get me out. Like there's a lot more kids in my family now. So yeah, I totally go and hang out, play with the kids.

and they're like, Oh, you're such a great aunt. And I'm like, Yeah. And also I'm taking care of myself too. 

[00:39:07] Sydney: Yes. Totally. Yeah. It's really, thank you. It's very helpful. Okay, 

[00:39:17] Grace: is there anything else around whether it's the holidays or just our relationship with food and body image? And I know it's very broad.

[00:39:25] Sydney: There's a lot that could go with this, but is there anything that you feel is important that we didn't talk about whether it's a tidbit or just an inside or anything? yeah, I think sometimes a lot of times people feel like. It might not be bad enough, whatever that means to get help and support. I think eating disorders, disordered eating is now same thing as healthy. It's become kind of,I don't know. I think it makes things confusing for people. And so I just want to say that if you have any sort of dysfunctional relationship with food.

Or if we don't even know what that means, if you are thinking something, I ask all my new clients, what percentage of time do you spend thinking about your body? What percent percentage of time you spend thinking about food, and I don't know if it's over, like, 30%, then. I would say you deserve to talk to someone about it if you would like and that you don't need to live that way and that weight is not an indicator of how badly you're struggling.

but yeah, or, or just like, Any kind of tangible result. All you need is to recognize that, like, you're not feeling well, maybe mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and, you know, you deserve to talk to someone about that. So there's no kind of, like, bad enough, thick enough, if you're spending so much of your time thinking about this.

Yeah, 

[00:41:07] Grace: that's super important. You're, I mean, you're so right. We don't recognize it at first or even think there's much to it. Sometimes I'm guessing too, because most people are talking about it around you. So it might just be normal, 

[00:41:18] Sydney: but it's not 

[00:41:19] Grace: normal. Like you said, from the beginning, I love that. It's not, it's not normal.

[00:41:23] Sydney: Yeah, no, it's not. I think we can compare and despair a little bit, or that was a big thing for me with getting sober. I was like, but the people around me party so much harder than I do. Like I'm quote, not that bad, but in my, Quiet solo moments. I had very dark thoughts and maybe yeah, it wasn't getting kicked out of school or Getting a DUI, but if in your quiet moment, you're like, God, I can't live like this.

You deserve care. 

[00:41:57] Grace: Hmm. Thank you. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Where can people find you? What do you offer right now? 

[00:42:04] Sydney: Yeah. so you can find me on Instagram. At Green Health Green with me at the end, I post recipes or just, I don't know, pictures of my dog on there, . you can go to my website, Sydney green health.com. I am always accepting new clients.

I have, free and affordable resources on there. If you don't wanna work, one-on-one with me. I'll send you a discount code for my, I'm too Depressed to Cook Cookbook. It's, little PDF of recipes that are so basic that even if you're like, I cannot make myself food, I promise you can make these. And so I'll give you a discount code for your listeners.

yeah, and you can reach out in any way, email, Cool. 

[00:42:52] Grace: I will say I love watching your Instagram. You have some really great tips. So I'll shout that out and I'm excited for the cookbook. I think I remember you talking about that. So, that's exciting. 

[00:43:01] Sydney: Okay. Yeah. It's just, I think there's nine recipes on there.

I'm talking like put yogurt in a bowl, add nuts on top and a banana and you're done. It doesn't need to be this Instagrammable meal. 

[00:43:21] Grace: Totally. Okay. One last question. I like to ask everyone, who comes on, just a fun little question. What are you enjoying right now in your life, your wellness journey? It could be anything from a new book to a recipe to an insight you had anything, anything I'm using on right now.

[00:43:42] Sydney: I am Well, I just got married, so we've got all this fun stuff from our registry. and so a lot of new kitchen gadgets, and I was feeling really burnt out on cooking because I just talk about food and cooking all day long. Yeah, so I am really jamming out with my new. Like crusade pot that I got and I'm making new soups and it's cozy and comforting and yeah, lots of lentil soup.

[00:44:15] Grace: Yeah, cool. Yeah. 

[00:44:17] Sydney: Okay. Yeah, that's my new thing. 

[00:44:20] Grace: Well, thank you again, Sydney for coming on. I know this will be really, really helpful for everyone. 

[00:44:25] Sydney: Oh, God. Thank you for having me. 

[00:44:28] Grace: See you soon.