How to Create Healthy Eating Habits That Last with Renee Bellinger

What's Aliye cooking this week? 5 quick & delicious high-protein meals!
[Grab the recipes here]

In today’s episode, I’m thrilled to welcome health coach Renee Bellinger.

Renee is an expert in helping people develop healthy habits that lead to sustainable lifestyle changes. She shares her insights on habit change, mindset, and nutrition, and gives you practical tools to make lasting transformations in your life. 

Whether you’re looking to improve your health, re-frame your relationship with food, or just create a routine that sticks, this episode is packed with inspiration and actionable advice.

To find out more about Renee's coaching services, find her on Instagram or visit her website. 

If you're ready to take the guesswork out of high-protein meals, register for my FREE upcoming training, 5 Simple Steps to Master Your High-Protein Meals! Click the link now to register: https://www.soulspacechef.com/class

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Why willpower is not the most effective tool for changing your diet and what to do instead
• Aliye’s issues with the word diet 
• The difference between a “diet” and fat loss
• What “prioritizing protein” really means
• The hidden cost of fad diets in our culture
• Why understanding what a “balanced plate” looks like is essential to high-protein eating
• Why you don’t need a cleanse/reset/detox to start your nutrition journey and what to do instead
• How to prevent the “what the hell” effect after a cleanse/reset/detox
• Aliye’s 3 steps to maintaining consistency with high-protein eating
• The two big tenets of behavior change, and the one question to ask yourself
• The role of JOY and FUN in healthy eating habits
• Why intrinsic motivation is essential for building a high-protein eating habit

Links:

• Aliye's cooking videos: Watch now on Youtube
• FREE High-Protein Meals Training

Transcript

Aliye Aydin: All right. hello everybody. I'm here with Renee Bellinger and she is a health coach. and behavioral change expert.

Aliye Aydin: And I wanted to have her here today on the podcast because I'm still talking about And high protein eating oftentimes is a change in how we're already eating. And so it's not just about the recipes and the meal plans and all that stuff that sounds amazing. It's about knowing how to change your behavior. And it's not about willpower from what I understand. Can we start there with the willpower thing?

Renee Bellinger: It's not Right.

Aliye Aydin: And what is willpower? I think people get into a new way of eating and they're like all this willpower and then it takes three days, two weeks and then they're like, it's gone and they're not doing the new thing anymore. I mean, can we just start there? What is willpower? Why is not what you want to be using when you're trying to change how you're eating?

Renee Bellinger: When you think about it,…

Aliye Aydin: Or maybe it is.

Renee Bellinger: it's just like exerting more energy, right?

Renee Bellinger: The brain likes to conserve as much energy as possible.

Aliye Aydin: All right.

Renee Bellinger: And so if you're constantly trying to tap into this, you use a lot of energy throughout the day and your goal would be to not always have to rely on that because that's another source of energy. think of after a long day, you might find it hard to resist your snack drawer. It's a good example because if you've had a long stressful day just because you're already depleted with energy. So what you want to do is find systems that can help you start to build in behaviors that become habits because then it's less energy. You're thinking about it less. it becomes automatic and your brain can expend energy elsewhere. So you don't really want to tire yourself out.

Renee Bellinger: Thank you.

Aliye Aydin: it's too hard. So, make it easier on yourself and find a system that Create a system like notice your system.

Renee Bellinger: Right, Coach Renee Bellinger.

Aliye Aydin: And there was something so your Instagram, it's Renee Bellinger or is it Which is it? Coach Renee Bellinger.

Aliye Aydin: And this is where I found that I mean it says on there that you help women over 40 build consistent habits. And it's specifically in relationship to eating and exercise that you help or…

Renee Bellinger: any health or…

Aliye Aydin: is it.

Renee Bellinger: any health behaviors. So, I'm actually working with a client right now…

Aliye Aydin: Got it.

Renee Bellinger: who wants to get back to an exercise routine after having a period of time where she hadn't exercised. so, any health behavior that women are struggling with, I am here to help them.

Aliye Aydin: 

Aliye Aydin: That's awesome. I love it. One of the Okay, I've got a couple questions. I'm just going to jump right into this one. Do you have an opinion about the word diet?

Renee Bellinger: Okay. …

Aliye Aydin: It's a word that I try to avoid when I speak because I feel like it has a really bad connotation with it. as soon as we think we're on a diet, it's almost like we're going to fail. Do you know what I mean? Because it's like Yeah.

Renee Bellinger: you mean diet? so. Do you never use the word diet or…

Aliye Aydin: Like the mindset itself,…

Renee Bellinger: do you use …

Aliye Aydin: it's like I almost go out of my way to avoid it and I think it's almost obnoxious. I'm like, I could probably just say it in that sentence, but I don't want to say to my people who I help with high protein eating, I don't want to say you're going on a high protein diet. Do you know what I mean?

Renee Bellinger: really? Okay.

Aliye Aydin: Because then I feel like it's somehow like this thing I'm going to I don't know.

Renee Bellinger: So, I hear you.

Aliye Aydin: Does that even make sense? Okay. Okay.

Renee Bellinger: I never thought about it like that, but I think in the context of…

Aliye Aydin: Yeah. Right.

Renee Bellinger: what you do, I can see it a little bit. So, I mean, I like reminding people that diet is also a way of eating, right? It't necessarily Can you still hear me? Okay. …

Aliye Aydin: Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Renee Bellinger: it's not necessarily has to be associated with a calorie deficit and fat loss. So I would say if someone were to ask me I guess what type of diet I mean I would say I have a balanced diet but I do also have a high protein diet. So someone said do you have a high protein diet? I would say yes. I mean I do think that people don't understand the difference in my mind I differentiate between diets and fat loss.

Renee Bellinger: and people tend to conflate the two, but I look at a diet as more of a weight loss and you don't care. you might not even know that when you are losing weight rapidly or when you try to lose weight as quickly as possible, you lose everything. You lose your water, you lose fat, but you also lose muscle mass and it impacts your bone density.  Whereas a fat loss phase is trying to maintain as much lean muscle mass as possible, which therefore protects the bone density, but also, getting rid of the things you don't want, which is extra fat and water loss. So, I do differentiate between the two. And yes, it's tricky. I'm a health coach. Women come to me for fat loss. Some women come to me for fat loss.

00:05:00

Renee Bellinger: And so one of the things I do is educate them on the fact that a fat loss process is a slower process,…

Renee Bellinger: but in the long run, especially for women over 40, the more muscle mass they maintain, the better off they are healthwise. I mean, and that's true for everyone, but definitely once you start losing muscle mass in your 30s,…

Aliye Aydin: right? Yeah,…

Aliye Aydin: right. Right.

Renee Bellinger: you want to hold on to as much as possible.

Aliye Aydin: I love that differentiation. That makes a lot of sense.  I think the thing that I thought about this when you were talking that bugs me about the word diet is that people automatically think constriction or restriction, And then it sets your mind up for this that thing where you're only thinking about the thing you can't have and then that's when you really want the thing you can't have. And I think that's what I am cautious about saying to my people I'm not going to tell them that carbs are bad because they're not, right?

Aliye Aydin: There's certain things you want to eat that are going to help you gain what you want, but because I was trying to explain this to a friend the other day. She's like, "What's this high protein thing you're doing?" And I was like, "Just more protein." And she's like, "So, no carbs." And I was like, "No, I eat carbs." And so, she was just scratching her head like, What are you talking about? What are you doing?" And I'm just trying to say to her, "No, you prioritize the protein, but that doesn't mean I don't eat a piece of cake if I want a piece of cake.

Aliye Aydin: I just am very aware of how I will feel afterwards, if it will help me hit my goals, but I try very much not to feel guilty about it either. I don't want to feel guilty for eating the cake because I think that sets you up for this kind of bad food, good food, unhealthy relationship with food, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. If that makes sense. Does that make sense?

Renee Bellinger: right? No,…

Renee Bellinger: it does make sense. It does. And I mean that's why I like the term balance because mo…

Renee Bellinger: what I realize is that most of the women I work with I mean I don't know how old you are but if you're anyone over 40 we've been inundated with diet messages…

Aliye Aydin: I'm over 40.

Aliye Aydin: I'm over 40.

Renee Bellinger: since I don't know probably the late 80s that I can think of.

Aliye Aydin: I think that's true.

Renee Bellinger: You have Jenny Craig Weight Watchers. You have Oprah and…

Aliye Aydin: That's right. Totally.

Renee Bellinger: all of her nonsense.

Renee Bellinger: you have, after slim fast diet, special K diet, and none of this really has taught people how to eat. And people don't know how to eat, especially adults over the age of 40, because it was all about crazy fake health information that was out there. And so one of the first places I start with clients is this is a balanced plate, ideally you want to aim for half a plate of vegetables at every meal,…

Renee Bellinger: least quarter of your plate certainly carbohydrates. And if you cook with that, I wouldn't even worry about it is what I say to people.

Renee Bellinger: But if you don't like having a tablespoon of fat starting there and having the concept of a balanced plate helps people then understand all foods fit it's like you can see yes even…

Aliye Aydin: Yes. Yeah.

Aliye Aydin: Totally.

Renee Bellinger: if you have two servings of protein on your plate or one and a half servings of protein on your plate there's still room for a starchy carbohydrate and so reminding people that all foods fit. And I think that is such a novel concept for a lot of adults. Mhm.

Aliye Aydin: Yeah, I think that's true. And I love the concept of a balance plate because it's so visual. And that's actually how I started to be able to do the high protein thing because, when you're looking at a p a piece of chicken or some ground beef, you don't know how much proteins in it, you're like, "Okay, How much of this am I supposed to eat to get the thing?" But then I started looking it up. I was like, "Okay, one chicken breast is going to give me this much or one can of tuna." And then I started to visualize it on my plate. I'm like, "Okay, that little pile, that's going to give me my 30 grams that I'm aiming for, and then I'll fill in the rest bas with, like you said, the complex carbs and the veggies accordingly." Right. But I think that visual is important and that really relates what you were saying, people don't know…

00:10:00

Renee Bellinger: Yeah.

Aliye Aydin: People don't know how to build a plate. Yeah. I love that. one of the things you said on your Instagram that I was seeing that I loved this post. I loved it said you don't need a cleanse or reset or a detox to jumpstart your nutrition journey. Can you say a little bit more about that? I think that is such a popular way for people to get started in it. Can you talk about just a little bit more about that idea that you don't need one?

Renee Bellinger: First of all, your liver, if you have a liver,…

Aliye Aydin: All Right. Right.

Renee Bellinger: that's like you're already ahead of the game because your liver naturally does that for you. So, that's always a benefit of having a liver.

Aliye Aydin: Right. That's right.

Renee Bellinger: But, I mean, it's a bad way to make a quick buck because the reason why these things seem to work is because you're engaging in what I call foundational health behaviors. you're probably eating foods that are minimally processed. You are not drinking. A lot of these detoxes even have you set some sort of movement goal. So, you're probably moving more than you would naturally would. And especially if you're not engag like drinking alcohol, you're probably sleeping better.

Renee Bellinger: So all of these the reason why you feel better on a detox is because you're doubling down on the health habits. Now a lot of detoxes too have you restrict a food group like a starchy carbohydrate and…

Aliye Aydin: I don't know.

Renee Bellinger: even if you look at the word hydro is in So carbohydrates are made up of water and so you remove those from your diet, you lose a ton of water weight and then voila, it seems like something magical happened and it's just like nature doing what it does. Your body responding to what you have. Does that mean that you shouldn't eat carbohydrates? No. It just means when you do eat carbohydrates, that's why the scale is a little higher. but carbohydrates they have fiber in them. They have micronutrients.

Renee Bellinger: have things that your body needs to feel its best. So even if you don't have the water weight, you're still missing some key micronutrients and fiber from your diet.

Renee Bellinger: So you don't need to do a detox or a cleanse. And Right.

Aliye Aydin: Right. Because you have a liver.

Aliye Aydin: I love it. That's straightforward. Our liver is there doing its job that we don't have to tell it to do.

Renee Bellinger: And when you're talking about that cycle of restriction, I mean, yes, usually after periods of restriction, there are periods of indulgence. And it's called the hell effect. It's like when you restrict something and then you indulge a little bit and you start to feel like a secondary feeling and then you're feel negative about it.

Renee Bellinger: So you try to restrict and then you have a little bit and then you're like what the hell and then you have a ne secondary negative emotion and…

Renee Bellinger: then how do you soothe it through more comfort food. or…

Aliye Aydin: Right. Right.

Renee Bellinger: more of what you are restricting. So that's another thing too and I see it all or hear it a lot, people then end up doing quarterly detoxes or resets at their gym or with a trainer that they liked…

Renee Bellinger: because it's like they're always chasing that feeling and they couldn't maintain it and they internalize it and feel like it's them. And it's like, no, it's not you.

Aliye Aydin: Yeah,…

Aliye Aydin: say more about that. You had a post about that.

Aliye Aydin: It was something about emotions. was it like you aren't your emotions? It's kind of what you're talking about, recognizing the emotions that you're having as this stuff is happening.

Renee Bellinger: Like a little …

Renee Bellinger: yes, but I think with the detox cleanse,…

Renee Bellinger: you feel like it's hard to maintain that way of eating after it's done, because it was either so restrictive or so strict and you start to feel badly about the fact that you couldn't do something it's not a lifestyle change. it works best in the short term. And so that becomes more of a mindset issue.

Aliye Aydin: Right. Right.

Renee Bellinger: It's a little bit different. But every time you do a cleanse and then you can't keep it up and you're like, help. I need to do this detox because I can't do it on my own. That's what I meant.

Renee Bellinger: It was more kind of like how you get in the cycle of continuing to do that. And I say that as someone who I've experienced that myself, I've had periods of time when I remember when I joined a gym a couple years ago, I was doing their meal plans every once in a while and I wasn't really thinking about and they were great, but I couldn't.  It's like after the six weeks were over, I wasn't getting the same meal plan over again and I was incorporating some of them but using my other meals, right?

Aliye Aydin: Yeah. Right. Right.

00:15:00

Renee Bellinger: And so then it's like, I'm going to wait for the next time it comes around. And doesn't really teach you everything you need to learn.

Aliye Aydin: Maybe this is too strong to say, but it almost isn't empowering. Right? If you don't really know the reason that you're doing the thing, if you're just kind of following along and then it's gone and you haven't really changed anything about the way your own behavior so that you can continue on with that, right? Am I that make any sense?

Renee Bellinger: Yeah. and I feel like some of them they do teach you why,…

Renee Bellinger: but again I don't know. I think there are different categories, So if you have something like a cleanse I'm thinking about juice cleanses or detoxes where you have food restrictions like you can't maintain that for a long period of time.

Aliye Aydin: Okay. Right.

Aliye Aydin: Right. Right. Right. Right.

Renee Bellinger: So then you're kind of always chasing that feeling.

Renee Bellinger: And then I think sometimes when you get a set meal plan with,…

Renee Bellinger: six weeks of recipes, then if you want to and let's say you feel great and you've maybe lost some weight, your other option would be then to just continue with those eight weeks of meal plans until you tire of them.

Aliye Aydin: Right. Right.

Aliye Aydin: Right. Right. Totally.

Renee Bellinger: You know what I mean? So, because you don't really learn how to Yes,…

Renee Bellinger: make similar type meals or adapt them in a way that you can naturally do it. So, yes, you're right. it's just but some of the things are so restrictive that you can't continue anyways.

Aliye Aydin: Right, right,…

Aliye Aydin: right, right, right, right. When they're not meant to be long term necessarily,…

Renee Bellinger: Yeah. Yeah.

Aliye Aydin: a juice diet. So, instead of a cleanse, reset, detox. What are I think you named three things in that post about what you can be doing anyways, cuz what you said was like what you're doing is creating these new healthy habits. Isn't that what you said? And here's how you can do that kind of without a cleanse,…

Renee Bellinger: exercise one. Yeah.

Aliye Aydin: reset, detox. You were like, " this is the exercise one. Maybe Be comfortable with doing the least amount." I think I extrapolated it to high protein eating. That's right. Because I'm like, "Schedule it." I'm like, "Plan your meals." And it's be comfortable with doing the least amount. I was like, "You do not have to spend hours meal prepping. I promise." I do the absolute least amount.  And then the reason I came to high protein eating, you said this, reflect on how you feel afterwards. That's why I stuck to it because every time I ate a high protein meal and over the course of even a day, I felt so much better. And if I didn't have that reflection of how am I feeling about this? I don't know if it would have stuck. It would have just been another thing I was doing that I was supposed to be doing because I was over 40.

Aliye Aydin: But because I really really felt those benefits, for me it was really stabilizing blood wise. I didn't get those afternoon lows.

Aliye Aydin: I had more energy. really noticeable that it was easy to continue. Not easy, but it was more mo Yeah.

Renee Bellinger: easier. Yeah.

Aliye Aydin: easier to keep going with it because I couldn't argue with how I felt. who would want to make themselves feel crappy? I don't want to intentionally do that. Yes. Right.

Renee Bellinger: Yeah. I mean, I think in to answer your question about that cleanse and what you should do. I mean, and that's the sticky part with behavior change, It's like I can't really tell you what to do because we're all different. But a good question to ask yourself is okay, how can I be 1% better today than I was yesterday?

Renee Bellinger: and start with the smallest thing that you can do because the two big tenants of behavior change do something that you enjoy doing and that you feel capable of doing.  So asking yourself how you can be 1% better will help you answer that question in a very easy way. And it's like trust your intuition with whatever comes up don't judge it just do it. But especially after periods of a holiday or you have any sort of break asking yourself okay where can I start?

Renee Bellinger: Cuz once you start and get a couple days of getting the groove in, more and more comes back to you. if you've done the work prior, it just starts to fit into place.

Aliye Aydin: Right. Yeah.

Aliye Aydin: I love that. Do things that you enjoy and that you feel capable of. I think that's why I focus so much on the recipes and the meal plans because I don't think people are going to go to the bother of cooking unless they know what's coming at the end is going to taste really good or if they really like it.

00:20:00

Renee Bellinger: Yep. Mhm.

Aliye Aydin: I always start a lot from that Or what I tell people to do is start by always having three of your favorite proteins on hand in the house. you always have chicken thigh This is chicken thighs, shrimp, and usually a ground meat of some kind, usually ground beef, because I know I can make absolutely anything out of those.

Renee Bellinger: Anything? Yep.

Aliye Aydin: And I know that I have at least three ways to prepare each one that are really straightforward and…

Aliye Aydin: simple. So, I'm almost always going to look forward to those ingredients because I just really like them. I think you really have to enjoy what you're doing.

Renee Bellinger: Right. Exactly.

Renee Bellinger: Right.

Aliye Aydin: It can't be I have to go eat this 30 gram of protein, like whatever it is. It's like, no, I get to go eat this absolutely delicious meal.  And it might be like chicken kebabs or it might be like a chicken chiso or a delicious curry or a soup and there's 30 grams of protein in it. But wow, that was delicious.

Renee Bellinger: Yeah, like that. And I mean it ties into exactly what we were saying about willpower. Just feeling like, I'm excited to do something grilled with chicken thighs because I like them. Even if that means just pan searing them or throwing them in the oven or whatever with some seasoning on it.

Aliye Aydin: Right. Right.

Renee Bellinger: It's like, I'm looking forward to that meal. I want to do it.

Renee Bellinger: It's not like, " my gosh, I have to eat this thing." It just feels different. Like it's your intrinsic motivation versus someone being like, " I have to eat this meal. I don't really want to eat, but I know I should eat it because it's high protein or whatever." I mean,…

Aliye Aydin: Right. Yes.

Renee Bellinger: sometimes you do also. We're adults. We have to,…

Aliye Aydin: Yes. Yes, there is that. I'm not trying to say I'm like every single meal, sometimes I'm like whatever. I just know I got to eat this, but it's a heck of a lot more.

Renee Bellinger: right? But once you get into the habit,…

Aliye Aydin: Yeah. Yeah.

Renee Bellinger: or once you get used to eating that way, then it becomes more coverable. It's funny because one of the things clients always ask is give me ideas of what you eat." And I'm like, " I can and I will, but you're not going to want to probably eat

Aliye Aydin: Yeah. Yeah.

Renee Bellinger: what I eat,"

Renee Bellinger: And none of it's bad, but I really load my protein in the morning and I tend to have protein powder in the morning and a lot of people don't like protein powder. So, it's like, me mixing my Greek yogurt with protein powder is like you're not going to like that.

Aliye Aydin: Right. Right.

Renee Bellinger: You might not like that.

Aliye Aydin: Right. Totally. Yeah.

Renee Bellinger: You could try it, but you're gonna have to figure out what works for you.

Renee Bellinger: Here protein sources and just have fun.

Aliye Aydin: Yeah, I know.

Aliye Aydin: Totally. It's so true.

Aliye Aydin: For me, I don't really like sweet stuff. So, a lot of times people are like, "This dessert has 30 grams of protein." And I'm like,…

Renee Bellinger: Yeah. Yeah.

Aliye Aydin: "That sounds gross." I don't have a sweet tooth, so I'm not looking for the thing that eats like ice cream, but is actually healthy for you. I'm like, "Give me something savory Maybe every once in a while I'll want something sweet." But yeah, you just have to find the thing that works for you and sounds good to you and know that that's possible that eating doesn't have to be what's the right word like a prison. I feel like a lot of times, how that say people say " does it taste healthy?" which is a euphemism for not good, right? Things can taste amazing. and be healthy at the same time because if you're just eating healthy, it just brings up me, I don't know, brown rice, cardboard boxes,…

Aliye Aydin: …

Renee Bellinger: Yeah. Yep.

Aliye Aydin: things that don't taste Yeah, totally. I love that. So, if people do want to work with you, how do you work with your clients? Do you do one-on- ones? You have a program or

Renee Bellinger: This year I have three main opportunities. this year I'm doing or hosting emotional eating master classes. My first one will be next month and that's giving people the strategies to help manage emotional eating. it's just of one-hour master class about emotional eating. I also have a membership for women over 40 who want to learn how to just be more consistent with any health behavior without overwhelming themselves or their lives.

Renee Bellinger: I know that we're busy at this age in life. And so I teach you how to take tiny action to improve your health and follow through more consistently and support you because yes, it takes a little bit longer, but then you develop habits and systems. and that's more kind of like a do it with you kind of program, the membership. And then I also do one-on-one where it's definitely more handso handholding. I have a six in a month and a year-long program and we just really dig deep. You have weekly accountability.

00:25:00

Aliye Aydin: Right. Yeah.

Renee Bellinger: Can't really hide as much. And we just help you really learn what your body needs at this age and stage of life and build the best health habits for you.

Aliye Aydin: I love that.

Aliye Aydin: That's so great. And you said your Instagram was coach.

Renee Bellinger: Coach Renee Bellinger email Renee re nebingercoaching.com is my website everything is my name www.renebellingercoaching.com Renee Bellingercoaching.com.

Aliye Aydin: And how else can people get hold of you? Email is good or through there or Awesome. That's awesome. thank you for joining me today and talking about stuff.

Renee Bellinger: Thank you for having me.