Eating to Live vs. Living to Eat: Balancing Nourishment with Mindful Enjoyment

Do you find joy in food, or is food your only joy?

In this episode of Metabolic Minutes, Nurse Practitioner Elizabeth explores the difference between "living to eat" and "eating to live." Through personal stories, practical tips, and humor, discover how to transform your relationship with food, balance your meals, and find joy in other aspects of life. Perfect for those managing metabolic health challenges like obesity, prediabetes, or type 2 diabetes.

What You Will Learn:

• How to identify if you're "living to eat" and ways to shift your mindset.
• Practical grocery shopping tips to focus on healthier choices.
• Simple ways to find joy and hobbies beyond food.
• Why eating to live supports long-term metabolic health and balance.

Key Quotes:

• "You might be living to eat if your brain is basically a snack playlist. Shuffle play: pizza, onion rings, donuts."
• "Living to eat makes food the main event of your day. Eating to live makes food the fuel for bigger joys."
• "Shop the perimeter of the grocery store—your body will thank you!"

Show Notes:

• Personal Story: Elizabeth shares her experience with gestational diabetes and how it transformed her view of food.
• Humor Spotlight: Jeff Foxworthy-inspired "You might be living to eat if..." segment.
• Practical Tips:
  • Shop the perimeter of the grocery store for nutritious options.
  • Explore hobbies like gardening or DIY projects to find joy outside of food.
  • Start with small changes, like meal prepping or focusing on balanced snacks.
• Reflection Challenge: Identify where you find joy daily and explore new ways to cultivate happiness beyond food.

This week, reflect on your relationship with food. Are you finding joy beyond the plate, or does food dominate your thoughts? Start small—prep meals, pick up a new hobby, or focus on balanced choices. A healthier, happier lifestyle starts with intentional steps.

Perfect for anyone managing metabolic health, including obesity, prediabetes, or type 2 diabetes. Tune in now and take the first step toward a balanced life!

Transcript

[00:00:00] Introduction to Metabolic Minutes
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Elizabeth, NP: When you think about that, and that it could have taken you 40 years to get that far into the broken metabolism, that's pretty exciting. That you can start to see changes within days to weeks to months.

Voice-Over: Welcome to Metabolic Minutes, the show where veteran nurse practitioner Elizabeth is going to break down all the science y stuff about how to reverse metabolic syndromes like obesity, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes.

All without needing a biology degree or a nap. Ain't nobody got time for that. Just quick tips to help you build your battle plan to repair your broken metabolism. Let's crush this.


[00:00:41] Elizabeth's Personal Story: Gestational Diabetes
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Elizabeth, NP: Well, today we're going to start with living to eat. When I was pregnant with my first child, I didn't know it, but I would be getting gestational diabetes.

And when I reflect back on that, I remember going to Hattie B's hot chicken, getting a huge hot fried chicken, because I was having a craving. I got some potato salad. I got some greens to make myself feel better about the whole thing. And then across the street was Gigi's Cupcakes. Not only did I get one cupcake, but I got two because I'm feeding two people, right?

After several experiences that, I don't think I can say this in front of the kids, but it was like when Harry met Sally and, you know, she has the dessert in the diner. Yes! Yes! I ended out in the hospital. In fact, I had gestational diabetes. And they told me It's not a licensed eat. You cannot live to eat.

And so it really gave me perspective as I started going through life, contemplating this.


[00:01:49] Living to Eat: Recognizing the Signs
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Elizabeth, NP: And so we're going to play a little game that reminds me of Jeff Foxworthy. You remember his, you might be a redneck. If you salad bowls and they all say cool whip on the side. You might be a redneck. You might be living to eat if the drive thru number one at Chick fil a was the highlight of your day.

You might be living to eat if that Snickers mini or three that you took with you. from the Community Halloween Bowl gave you the best three minute high in 24 hours. Too bad it came with a sugar crash big enough to derail your next 24 hours. You might be livin to eat if your brain is basically a snack playlist.

Pizza, onion rings, donuts, Pringles, Diet Coke, shuffle play. You might be living to eat if your food induced exhaustion is real. You're so wiped after dinner that the most you can offer your kids or partner is a grunt from the couch. You might be living to eat if food is your main source of joy today. And if food isn't on horizon, you're wondering, what's the point of this day anyway?


[00:03:09] Eating to Live: Building Healthy Habits
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Elizabeth, NP: Now let's talk about the difference in living to eat versus eating to live. We're just being a little humorous about this because we've all been there. You might be eating to live if you get a little excited about planning your grocery list. You might be eating to live if meal prep makes you feel like a prepping ninja.

You're chopping veggies like you're auditioning for Top Chef. You might be eating to live if. You get a natural high from controlling your meals at work and feeling prepared with your intake choices in any environment. You might be eating to live if you only think about food when your stomach growls or has hunger pains.

You might be eating to live if you forget food exists until your stomach throws a tantrum. Hunger pains are your alarm clock, not a 12 step brunch fantasy. You might be You might be eating to live if you feel like a superhero after eating adult snacks like cashews, berries, hummus. You might be eating to live if your view of food is thinking that you need this type of premium fuel to be able to conquer your day.

You might be eating to live if You spend most of your time looking forward to hobbies that take a mental or physical engagement, gardening going on outings with kids. Your hobbies make food an afterthought. You are more into conquering trails. DI Ying plant stands are somehow making Pilates harder. So what I want you to ponder about this week is the difference of eating to live versus living to eat.


[00:05:00] The Consequences of Living to Eat
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Elizabeth, NP: When you're living to eat, it tends to dominate. Your entire thoughts throughout the day when you live to eat for three days in a row Meaning you're eating Ultraprocessed carbohydrates, at least one serving, three days in a row. We know that it will throw your metabolism off for an additional seven to ten days, depending on where you are in the broken metabolism spectrum.

Your insulin resistance will worsen threefold. Living to Eat Syndrome is using your meds as a pass to eat what you want or I know with the new GLP 1s, Oh, I'm not hungry, I'll just skip. That's not teaching your body how to respond. Your body likes consistency. If you're taking insulin, You cannot dose your insulin because you want to eat a bunch of carbs.

Now, people do to bring their sugar down, but the best way to approach it is to eat to live. You dose your food to the appropriate amount of insulin that you are prescribed. You have to remember that when you live to eat, it's going to make you fat. Then it's going to make you pre diabetic, and then it's going to make you type 2 diabetic.

These rules to live by. are essential for a healthy lifestyle.


[00:06:28] Practical Tips for Eating to Live
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Elizabeth, NP: The other thing that's important to realize is It's very important to have a support system. This lifestyle of eating to live is much more doable if you have a support system, and everybody in your family can do it. It's not going to hurt them.

It's never going to hurt you to be prepared. It's never going to hurt you to eat balanced. It's never going to hurt you to indulge slightly less. It's all about where you find your sources of joy. The exciting thing to realize is when you eat to live, your sugar cravings will start to decrease after about three days, pretty soon, and it gets even easier after that.

The body starts to repair some processes in as little as sometimes three days for someone that's mildly insulin resistant, maybe a few weeks for moderate impairment, and sometimes a month if it's severe. insulin resistance or a high A1C. When you think about that and that it could have taken you 40 years to get that far into the broken metabolism, that's pretty exciting that you can start to see changes within days to weeks to months, you will notice this within days by being less hangry.

Love that term because it's so true. When you eat a bunch of ultra processed carbs. You are less hangry, you will have cognitive improvement, you will have less achiness, and you will be less nappy. All that fatigue, no energy to do anything, that starts to improve and I will see it on your labs.


[00:08:25] Finding Joy Beyond Food
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Elizabeth, NP: So this week as you reflect, I want you to think about what brings you joy in a day.

Is 80 percent of it food? When you get home at night from work, or if you're a night worker and you get home in the morning, think about it. Did I experience any joy today? Was my only joy the Halloween bucket? And if you feel like you're saying yes to that, then I want you to reflect on other sources of joy that maybe you could explore in your life.

I know for me, it's become gardening or going on outings with my children along walks, hikes, things like that. Something doable. I think gardening is a great place to start because anybody can garden. You can get a pot if you have an apartment and you don't have a yard and try to start an herb garden.

Something to divert your attention away. from the food.


[00:09:20] Shopping Tips for a Healthier Lifestyle
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Elizabeth, NP: The other thing that helps you eat to live is for the most part, shopping on the perimeter of the grocery store, they have all of the most nutritious items. With the exception of a few of the sauces and canned foods, they have them on the perimeter.

Your fresh vegetables, some fruits, you have your meat, and then you can go in the frozen section. I'm a huge fan of frozen vegetables. And you can do a lot of creative snacks with fresh frozen vegetables on a budget. So this week, I want you to think about where you find joy and how you shop and getting your support system.


[00:10:01] Conclusion and Final Thoughts
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Elizabeth, NP: Thanks for joining me today for Metabolic Minutes. I hope it gave you inspiration to be good to yourself. 

Voice-Over: The information provided in this podcast is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment. Always seek the advice of your qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast. The opinions shared are our own and may not reflect the views of your healthcare provider.