My Nutrition Non-Negotiables to Stay Lean & Heal My Relationship With Food

If you've ever felt like eating "right" means tracking every bite, cutting out entire food groups, or white-knuckling your way through the week -- this one's for you.

I'm sharing the nutrition non-negotiables I've followed for the past few years that keep me lean and finally healed my relationship with food & stopped the food noise for good. No extreme rules, no restriction, just the simple systems that make eating well feel automatic instead of exhausting. I walk through exactly how I grocery shop, how I plan and prep my meals without overthinking it, why I eat whole foods most of the time, what a balanced meal actually looks like for me, and the mindset shift that finally healed my relationship with food after years of yo-yo dieting. 

Grab my free recipe eBook (link below) for the same whole-food meals I talk about in this episode, and DM me @lainijojo on Instagram if you want help setting your macros or building a nutrition plan that actually fits your life. Because you only get ONE body you're going to be spending the rest of your life in, and you'll be eating food for the rest of your life. It's about time we kick diet culture to the curb and learn how to properly fuel and nourish our bodies... so we can just enjoy living LIFE in this body we work so hard for & to take care of. 🤎

Nourish Simply eBook (whole-food, high protein recipes + macros, free to download to make eating healthy, simple): lainijojo.com/nourish-simply

Timestamps:
 0:00 – Why I'm sharing my nutrition non-negotiables
 4:00 – Non-negotiable #1: my grocery shopping system
 12:00 – Non-negotiable #2: meal planning & prepping so I stop thinking about food
 17:00 – Non-negotiable #3: eating whole foods 95% of the time
 26:00 – Non-negotiable #4: what a "balanced" meal actually means
 28:00 – Non-negotiable #5: choosing food based on how it makes me feel
 31:00 – Non-negotiable #6: hitting my targets & healing my relationship with food

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to Her Revival. I'm your host, Lainey Gibson. I am so excited for today's episode. I don't know if I'm ever gonna not say that, but we're gonna be talking about something that is so near and dear to my heart, and especially the vibe, I guess, of what we talk about with this podcast and with a lot of my content is how to live a healthy lifestyle that you actually enjoy. Like you're able to have a healthy body, reach your fitness goals, and be able to live life in that body that you're working so hard for and to take care of. Obviously, nutrition is such a big part of that. And I don't know about you guys, but for a long time, the first couple of years of my fitness journey when I was trying to be healthy, I was so confused. Like, so confused. I was going to Pinterest of all places to get information. I was looking in magazines, like y'all can already probably guess. Really bad information. Thank you, diet culture. And it took a really long time for me to find a way to eat that not only I enjoyed, but was actually healthy for me and helped me reach my fitness goals. And over a decade now into my fitness journey, degree in exercise science and health and human performance later, over six years of online fitness coaching and lots of continuing education, I am gonna toot my own horn really quickly right here and just say, I think I cracked the code for how to eat in a way that is sustainable and good for you and enjoyable. So I wanted to share some non-negotiables that I have when it comes to my nutrition that I've done the past maybe four years. Long time. And this is the way that I eat. And I've done lots of trial and error through all my different eras when I would do intermittent fasting. I was vegan for a little bit. I did bodybuilding if y'all didn't know that. And I finally landed here. And you guys, it feels really good. And this is where I get to with the clients that I work with. Everybody's gonna look a little bit different. I don't think everybody needs to follow the exact same diet, but I think the non-negotiables like this is what helps you have some kind of structure that's supportive, but then you can still personalize it to you for what you like. So I have a list, I have them written down. So these are the non-negotiables that I have with nutrition that again, I've done the past couple of years. I genuinely love the way I eat. Like I actually don't love when I travel and I have to eat out all the time. Cause I'm like, I miss my meals at home, you guys. Like that's how much I love it. And it's helped me maintain a more toned or lean body composition, even when I'm in a building phase, if I'm tracking my macros, if I'm eating intuitively, which I do kind of often now, um, just because I've been tracking for so long, I got myself to this point. But regardless of if I track or not, I eat like this. And it helps me maintain my body composition. It helped me stop yo-yo dieting and obsessing with food. The food noise went away. It is gone, you guys. It is so nice to live without all the food noise. And I genuinely love my meals. Uh, which, as a little side note, if you don't follow me on Instagram, I do post, I haven't quite as often, but I post a lot of recipes, full days of eating, and then I post just on my stories, diffs of meals that I like. I have a little free ebook recipe that I'll link in the description below. Like it's free. I'm like, I just need more people to eat like this to see that you can eat healthy, whole foods, nourish your body, high protein, simple. It doesn't take a ton of time. And like literally love it. Make it so easy to reach your goals and take care of your body. So if you haven't already downloaded it, please go do so. Like, I know you're gonna find at minimum one recipe that you love, but I would be shocked if there was only one. And I would love to hear if you actually make any of them. But um, all of those meals, like I said, like they're super simple. And that was one thing I want to just say right off the bat right here. I don't love to cook. I am not someone who wants to be like chefing it up in the kitchen all the time. Um, I do view it as self-care. That is something I did change my mindset on because I realized if I'm gonna be eating food for the rest of my life and I'm going to be cooking food for myself and my family for the rest of my life, I would rather not hate it. Like, that's just not a fair thing to do to myself, to have a really bad mindset over it and hate doing it and not being able to take care of myself or my family for something that we're gonna have to do. Like, unless we want to like be tube fat or something. I don't know. You can't get out of it. So I found myself in little routines, little things when I'm grocery shopping, when I'm prepping my food, that just like little things that I do to make me love it. And that's the first place I want to start is the grocery shopping because this is like kind of a duh, but like people don't do this. Some people don't do this. I always, it is a non-negotiable that I have healthy food available at home, and that starts with grocery shopping. So I don't have a set day that I do it. I love structure, but I'm not like super rigid. Like I'm kind of type A, B, like I'm in the middle of there. You know what I mean? So I have a kind of quote unquote rule for myself where just a guideline, non-negotiable. I get groceries some point on the weekend. Maybe it's Friday night, maybe it's Saturday morning, Saturday night, Sunday before church, Sunday evening. Like the times change because my schedule changes. I don't have like a robotic schedule. I think it's great practice for when I have children because I can only imagine like any kind of schedule and routine is gonna go out the window for a little bit. But I have a non-negotiable where at some point over the weekend I'm gonna eat groceries. So I'm able to look ahead during the week or kind of maybe Friday, and I'm able to figure out where can I go get groceries? It's gonna be like an hour, maybe an hour half of my time. And if that sounds like a lot, it kind of is. But I go to like four or five different grocery stores sometimes, one of them being Costco. Y'all know it's gonna take a little bit of time with that. But my husband and I both eat a lot of food. We have certain things that we like, and I just love to, I don't know, this is like cheesy to say, I can I just love to be a good wife and like get him the stuff that he likes. I don't know. And then when I'm grocery shopping, I get steps that day. We love. I always make myself a fun drink. Maybe it's an energy drink, maybe it's a matcha, like whatever we're feeling. Have a giant hydro hydro jug of water, so we're chugging our water when we do it. So I get to get on my water goal. I'm listening to podcasts that I love. So I'm jamming out to music. Like it is such a vibe. I'm like calling my mom and like catching up with her, talking to my dad. He literally will just talk nonstop for an hour and it's like my own little podcast show. Like, it's great. And it's so fun for me because I found the little things that I love, like the fun drink, the podcast, all that kind of stuff. And then I viewed it as self-care. So it's not like I'm pulling teeth to get myself to go groceries. I might not be clicking my heels. Like, I can't wait to grocery shop. Like, that's not usually the case sometimes. Sometimes it is, but that's not usually the case. But I understand this is something that I'm gonna need to do. So I would love to try to look forward to it, enjoy it as much as possible. So I get those groceries. When I'm grocery shopping, I have a list. I do not go without a list. I've already planned what kind of meals I'm gonna have for the week. I have my husband plan what kind of meals he's gonna have because we do not waste food. I mean, we do, but we try not to waste food in this household. And I have a plan for what I'm gonna get for my groceries so that I'm able to organize it by like the store that I'm going to or the section of the store. So I know what I'm getting. So I'm not going in just blind, guessing, or like hungry, worst, throwing random stuff into the cart, getting home, being like, I don't know how to use all this for meals because I don't want to have to stress about it, worry about it, think about it, future me. She's really busy. So I put a little bit of time into it ahead of time. And then I can just go off of my list, chuck it in the cart. I'm not getting anything extra. I don't get anything extra. If it's on a list, we ain't eating it that week. Maybe I'll get it the next week, but it's not that week. So I just get what I need. It also helps keep the grocery bill down, which we love. So I'm able to get what we need. And I have a little system for kind of how I'm figuring out like with the groceries. And then I also want to touch on with the meals too. But for the groceries, it usually looks like we're getting, I usually tell people minimum of two, but if you're only getting minimum of two protein sources, are you just gonna eat like chicken for all your meals? Like, don't you want a little variety from a health standpoint, but also like a sustainability standpoint? Like, I like chicken, but I'm not eating it for like two, three meals a day, if I don't have to. If we're like running low, maybe. But I'll get a couple different options of protein. So, like for right now, I'll get chicken breast, I'll get ground beef, I'll get we get ground turkey, eggs and egg whites, little chicken sausages. The Amy Lou brand, the breakfast time ones, insane. My husband and I are obsessed with them. Uh, we always have protein powder at home. I try not to use, I'll talk about that in a little bit. Um, cottage cheese. So those are the kind of the main ones that we'll use right now. Sometimes I'll get them some steak like the lean beef stew meat from Trader Joe's rocks, great macros, tastes amazing. But I get like a variety of options. Like some of those are for me, some are for my husband. Like I'm not eating all of those. That's a lot of protein for a girl uh or a girl my size. But I have different options. So then I can mix and match stuff too. And he can mix and match stuff as well. So if I don't want to eat the exact same thing all week, which we'll talk about in a little bit here, um, I don't have to. And I have lots of variety, and it does not feel restrictive by any means if I'd like something different. Because I did bodybuilding for a long time, y'all can imagine I probably just like I love routine and stuff. I'm okay eating the same thing for a week or a couple weeks. Like I don't get sick of it. But if you are someone you're like, I can't eat the same thing every day, get a couple options for yourself. And then for carbs, I'll get a few options as well. So, like golden potatoes, sweet potatoes. We have a rice cooker that literally always has rice in it because y'all know by now my husband's a professional bodybuilder. We need a lot of rice in this house. Um, sourdough bread is awesome. Uh, Aldi's actually has a really good, clean sourdough bread. There, it's amazing. That's actually my husband's favorite, the one from there. So awesome. I love Aldi's. Um, right down the street. And then what other carb sources? Lots of fruit. Uh so like kiwis, blueberries, bananas. I love dates. I'm obsessed with dates. When I train early in the morning and I don't have time to digest something, I'll just do a couple of majuled dates, put a little bit of nut butter in there, like cashew butter or almond butter. Um, such a great way to get some easy carbs in. A little bit of fats to kind of help slow digestion, but not too much that you're too full. And it's super, super like easy. So they're all whole food sources, basically, of what I'm getting for those. Honey is also awesome, especially if you want a lot of carbs for not a lot of volume. Um, the purely Elizabeth granola also rocks. So we got lots of options in this household for carbs for different meals. Fat sources, I'll get a couple of options of those. So, like either little pre-made guac cups, they got great ones at Costco, avocado, chia seeds, flax seeds, the nut butters, like I said, walnut. Sometimes I'll just have those on the side, egg yolks, olive oil. So I have lots of options to be able to mix and match different stuff. Like I said, I like to get a different variety, not only for like me personally, like enjoyment of my meals. I don't want to eat the same like chicken, rice, and broccoli every meal. Ugh, gross. But I also, from like a nutrient perspective, like all of those have lots of different nutrients. So I know that I'm covering all the bases that my body needs with those. Um, and I get to make the meals feel kind of fun. And then within there, those are like fruits and veggies, and I'll add other stuff like kale. I've been trying to do kale because it's so good for you. Uh, blueberries, kiwis, bananas, like we kind of rotate those every little bit. Um, frozen bell peppers and onions with a little taco seasoning is awesome for a little taco bowl, avocado. Like a lot of stuff will kind of cross over with there. So I run through those in my head of like those are the different categories that I'm trying to pick from foods. And I put those together in meals and then I plan that out with my grocery list and I bring that with me to the grocery store and I don't stray from that, like I said. So those are like my main ones that I've been doing right now. Like I said, if you follow me on Instagram or like you use a little cookbook, like you'll see that's a lot of the kind of stuff that are in there. And I'll just like rotate through, maybe add a different thing or two, but I'm not having to reinvent the wheel every single week because that's just a lot of effort I don't want to put in, if I'm honest. Like I'm so, I'm so lazy with my food, you guys. Like it really doesn't have to be hard. Um, so that's like with my groceries. I always get a couple for each category. Like I always try to get at least three to maybe five of like the carbs, the protein, the fats, the fruit or vegetables. So we've got variety with those. Of course, we always have like different seasonings or sauces to help mix the food up, just so you don't have to, I don't know, eat it plain. Because you can if you want to, but why would you not add like a little, little some some to it uh to make it a little bit more enjoyable and kind of mix it up, make it fun. So then when it comes to actual meals, so that's like my non-negotiables for groceries, right? I think we're good there. We kind of we went very in-depth. You'll probably felt like we went grocery shopping together. How fun. For the actual meals, like I plan those out. Like I go into the week with an actual plan of what I'm gonna eat for the week. I personally just make the same thing every day. There's probably gonna be a meal or two that my husband and I will eat out, or we'll like kind of make something together, like a little steak date night or something like that. But otherwise, I'm eating the same thing all week. I personally don't have a problem with that. I enjoy the meals. And then when I bulk prep everything, it's just a lot easier. I don't have to like recook everything. So I already have the plan of what I'm gonna have. So I have like my breakfast, I eat four meals a day. So my breakfast is my pre-workout, my post-workout, my like late lunch kind of deal, and then my dinner. So I already know what I'm gonna have for the week. If you are someone who needs a little bit of variety with that and you don't want the same thing, you could maybe that your breakfast is the same all week. Cause it's just like really simple, really quick before you go to work. Uh, maybe your pre-workout meal is always the same because you just know it digests really well, gives you good energy. Boom. Maybe you have like two different lunches that you kind of oscillate between, or like two or three different dinners that you oscillate between for the week. Um, so you have some variety. You could do something different if you want. It just takes a little bit more to plan. I will say it's not that much time and it's not that much brain power. So, like, it's okay if you want to do it differently. Don't think that it takes all this time. But I just like to simplify it as much as possible. So then I go into the week just knowing what I'm gonna have. It also makes tracking, or even if I don't track and I eat intuitively, it's just really easy because I have eyeballed it. I know what I did on Monday. I'm gonna do the same thing on Tuesday. I don't really got to think about it. Um, and then to make that even simpler, not only do I get the groceries that way, I have the plan, like the meals planned already, I prep the food. So I get home from the grocery store, I immediately start prepping the food. If like schedule-wise, I can't do that, then I'll obviously do it later. But I try to just do it right away. Again, I've got a podcast going or some music blasting. Like it's a fine, enjoyable thing for myself. It takes me under an hour to cook all the food for me. And again, my husband who eats a lot of food. Air fryer, best friend. Rice cooker, best friend. I honestly don't use the oven because I'm just impatient with the oven. I don't know. It's just me and the oven. We have this, we have beef. I don't know. Um, but I make every, I just prep everything. So it's just ready for the week. So I've got my ground beef in a container, I got my chicken in a container. Uh, so then I don't have to like re-cook when I go to eat a meal, because otherwise I work from home. So like I'd be able to cook, but I don't want to. Or even when I was in medical sales, like I was out in like at hospitals doing surgeries or drive it around. So I had to have food to bring with me to be able to eat. So if I have it already made, I could, if I was, you know, working medical sales, whatever, then I would just put it in the container at night. Cause I was still doing this then. I'd put it in the containers that I needed to at night. I already had my meals already figured out. So then in the morning, I just grab it, put it in my like purse. I'd also had a little cooler in it. If you've never had the Buff Bunny game changer bag, it rocks. It's like a little mini cooler, like meal prep thing in the bottom of it. So I would bring that with me and I just had food and I didn't have to think about it because again, future, I always think about this. Like, I'm doing this for future meat. Like she's busy, she's tired, she's got a lot going on. She doesn't want to have to think about this. So if I can put the little bit of effort in at some point on the week or the weekend, then she doesn't have to worry about it. And it's just me, that's where these people say like discipline is like self-love and self-respect. Like, I'm doing that for myself. So I have the healthy food available, doing it for my husband, for my family to have that available. And then future me doesn't have to worry about it. So I always prep the stuff afterwards. Again, make it enjoyable, make it a vibe. So you're not like pulling your teeth out, like taking that's such a weird analogy or um saying, but like you're not like pulling teeth to get yourself to do it. You're like, maybe this isn't the most exciting thing ever, but like it's fine. It's it's it's okay for what it is. So that's like with the the groceries, the meal prepping, getting everything all situated. Um, oh, I also I like took notes with everything. Um, if for the groceries, like if I'm tired or if it's late, like I still go because I don't want to not have it's like it's just not it's a non-negotiable for me to have those foods. I will still go if it's later, it's okay uh to do it a little tired if whatever. Um, and then for protein sources, the other thing I guess I wanted to note um when I'm getting protein sources, I make them lean protein sources. Um, I don't want to get a lot of fats that's like saturated fats from my protein sources. So, like 80% beef or anything like that. Number one, it's not gonna have as much protein. It's gonna have more calories in it and it's gonna have higher fat, but it's saturated fat. And I always like there's different types of fat. There's like good fats, bad fats, saturated fats. Think about it, like if you eat it a lot of it over a period of time, it saturates or clogs your arteries. We don't want that. So we want to minimize it. So I always get my protein sources like 90 to 99% lean. Um, if it's like a ground beef or something like that. And then I make myself like a meal plan. I have those planned out. And then you probably noticed with the food sources that I mentioned that are pretty much all whole foods. And I will say this is one of the best things that you could do for your body composition, for your digestion, for inflammation, for your skin, for health, for your mental health, like literally your mental health, like anxiety, depression, like those kind of things. Um, for brain fog, like eating whole foods is there is no scenario where that is not better for you. Like, end of story. And I used to be someone who, like, I grew up in Wisconsin. Uh, we ate frozen dinner meals, frozen pizza, goldfish, like frosted flakes. Like, I I grew up on processed food. Like we ate like not like healthy stuff a little bit, but like I grew up on processed food. So I had to learn how to be able to have those options, those foods, but I actually started eating whole foods because I just learned that that was healthy. Like I didn't know about calories, I didn't know about protein. I just knew that was healthy. And I was like, well, I want to do what's healthy for my body. And I still do that to this day. And for a while, when I was tracking calories or or macros, even, I ate a lot of processed foods, like processed, like health foods or whatever, quote unquote health. Um, a lot of like protein bars, protein powder. And then I wondered why I was always bloated, why I was like backed up, why my digestion was not good. Like I just didn't feel good because I was eating, number one, a lot of processed stuff. That's a lot of processing to put in your body. It's inflammatory, it is not great for your digestion. But then also you're missing out on all of the nutrients that are in the whole foods. So all the vitamins, the minerals, the fiber, that it's not just like, I always say, like, they don't say for like shits and giggles, if you feel like eating fruits and veggies, like go for it. It's like, no, your body literally needs that God designed your body to need a certain amount of like vitamins and minerals and like nutrients and fiber, like to function the best to put those in your body. Why would you not want to do that? Right? Like and find ways that you can enjoy it. And it doesn't have to be as like crazy high dopamine as eating a piece of chocolate cake because that's just not how it works. But you can still find ways that you enjoy it and just know like you're doing it to take care of your body. So it isn't non-negotiable for me to eat primarily whole foods. People will say 80-20. I personally eat 95-5. I don't even know if I'd say 90, 10, probably like 95, 5. Like the most processed things I have is part of a scoop of protein powder in my matcha just for the flavor of it. And if I need a little bit of extra in the morning before I train, just because it's easy to digesting. But otherwise, I don't rely on processed protein anymore. And my gut is, let me tell you, so happy with me that I do that. Like it is so much better. It's so easy to get whole food protein sources in if you just find meals that you like getting it in. And I mean it when I say my body feels so much better. And anybody that I've ever worked with, like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of women that I've worked with, when they start eating more whole foods, they get more whole food protein sources in, they get more fruits and vegetables in. The the it is without fail every single time I hear at least once, usually a lot, about how much better that they feel. And their inflammation's down, their bloating's down, like their brain fog is better, like their energy is better, like their body just functions better. Who would have thought? Eating whole food sources, like how our bodies are meant to be able to eat. And that's not to say that I don't eat out or I don't eat processed stuff. I just that's just not the majority of my diet. And the cool thing is, is I always I think about it kind of like a piggy bank, where every time that you are eating whole food, healthy sources, get enough protein and fruits and veggies throughout your day, get fiber, you get all that in. You're making deposits in that piggy bank. So if you're eating like that most of the time, you gotta really full piggy bank. And why do we put money in a piggy bank to be able to spend it? Not all of it in one sitting, but like spend some of it, right? So then if you want to go out to eat or you want to have the piece of chocolate cake or whatever it is, you want to have something fun like that, or my husband and I want to go get ice cream because your girl loves ice cream, I can. And I know my piggy bank is so full from all of the nutritious foods that I've been putting in it, it's been so nourished and fueled that if I take a little bit of that change out to spend it on some ice cream or whatever it is, it's okay. Because that's why I've been like what matters is what we consistently do. So it's a non-negotiable for me to fuel my body primarily with whole food sources. And then when I really feel like it, and like it's not just based off of feeling, let me rephrase that. When I'm like, okay, this makes sense. So you don't just spend money when you feel like it, right? Unless you got it like that, then like whatever. You don't do it just when you feel like it. You're able to have a little bit of discernment with that. Like, okay, yeah, awesome. This is why I've been so consistent. I'm gonna go have this, I don't know, pizza, whatever it is. And like that's totally okay. I know my body's been getting what it needs. And then we just go right back to making deposits afterwards. I feel like that helps so much with the all or nothing mindset with that. I love that analogy. Um, so I focus on the whole food sources, especially with the protein. I cannot stress that enough. I literally used to live off of protein bars. I I'm so embarrassed to say this. I wish I had a photo of it. When I was in college, it was a small town that I went to college into, mind you. I always tell people there were tractors and Amish people going down Main Street, small town, and we couldn't really buy protein bars there unless they were crest bars, which is gross. I will not eat a quest bar. Bar, I wouldn't even eat them before, but I would have to go all the way back to Madison area, which is an hour away, to get groceries and things like that when I wanted those type of things. So I would buy an insane amount of protein bars. I love my mom. She would buy me so many protein bars, an insane amount of money on them. And I had this big bucket of them that I would eat between one and sometimes three a day because I was like, oh, that's healthy. But it's still processed. You know what I mean, you guys? It's not that I'm demonizing protein bars. Just don't live off them like I did. And then I was making protein oats and protein yogurt and protein pancakes, putting protein powder and everything. And literally, you know what? Super cute. We're gonna go through it for a second. When people talk about the protein farts, yeah, clean up the type of protein that you're eating, like the quality, getting whole food sources, and then try to tell me that you're dealing with that. It's just, it's just from where are we getting it from, you guys. It's not like having the higher protein if it's like an appropriate amount for your body, like around body weight or lean body mass. So that makes the energy cravings, digestion, brain fog, body composition, inflammation, mental health. They all did such a 180 when I started eating more Whole Foods consistently. So I that is a non-negotiable that will never change. I can very confidently say I will never, ever, ever, ever change from that. I'm gonna be hopefully like a 90-something year old little granny. I always joke, my husband and I, we're gonna be like little, little old people on the beach doing yoga. I don't know. Um, like still healthy. We're gonna be eating Whole Foods at that point too. Maybe we gotta blend it if we lose our teeth. I don't know. But the whole food sources, non-negotiable. As far as meals, so I have right now I do four meals. For a while, I was doing five meals a day. And it kind of depends on how high my calories are. Like if I'm in a building phase and my calories are really high, that's a lot of food to fit into four meals. And your girl just doesn't want to eat like 700 plus calories in a meal. I get full. So I'll spread it out four meals in a snack or five meals, but most of the time I'm eating four meals a day because for me to fit all of my calories into three meals, again, I just get too full. I don't like that feeling. So I spread it that way so that I'm able to evenly get my energy throughout the day and that it helps digestion a whole lot too. I used to be such a snacker. I would graze, I would all throughout the day. And number one, it's way easier to overeat because you're just consistently eating little bits and you never fully fill up. So you just keep eating. A lot of times you're eating just because you feel like it or it sounds good, not because you're actually hungry. So you're totally out of touch with your hunger and fullness cues, or maybe that was just me. And a lot of times they're not the best options, but then it can be harder to get protein in because we're not usually snacking on just, I don't know, like a piece of chicken. That's not what most people do, you know? So we're it's harder to get protein, it's harder to get fiber, it's harder to get all the nutrients that you need in your day. And it's not good for your digestion. Too, that was the other thing. If I was constantly snacking, so your digestion is meant to be able to process the food that you're eating. You have something called the migrating motor complex that it starts then moving the food through. But if you're constantly just piling food in there, your body's not gonna digest and function normally. So being able to eat and wait, I don't know, four hours, three to four hours is a great amount of time for your body to actually process through the food. And then your body's like, okay, now I'm actually ready for me to put more food in there. So stopping snacking was really helpful. And I'm not saying I will literally never snack ever, but I'd rather just eat a meal and be satiated and then I'm filled up and then I don't gotta think about it. That's the other thing is I don't think about food all day. I have a plan, I know I'm satiated, I enjoy it. I eat and then it's I just go throughout my day. And sometimes I would maybe forget to eat, which is crazy to think as someone who used to have so much food noise and always obsess over what I ate. When do I eat next? What can I eat next? It consumed my thoughts, you guys. I don't know if you can relate to that, but I don't think about it anymore. I just have my food. I honestly have to have a set time where it's usually my third meal of the day. I have to look at the clock. And if it's past 4 p.m. and I haven't eaten again, then I'm like, ooh, I gotta come out of the little work vortex, I gotta go eat quick, and then I can come back to work because the food noise is just gone. I never thought I would be so. When people say they forget to eat, I was like, must be nice. Yeah, no, it's so cool to get to that point, you guys. So just have a healthy relationship with food and thinking of it as this fuel that's always supportive of your body is one of the best things. And then when I'm putting together those meals, then and sometimes it's a snack plate or something, but it's the amount of calories of the meal. It's not like a hundred calories. That's not gonna keep me full. I'm not again, I'm not if you want to snack, snack. I just personally find I prefer not to. I feel better when I don't. But I make sure that those meals are balanced. So I'm always talking about balanced meals, call it balanced bowl for alliteration, but sometimes it's not a plate. And a quote unquote balanced meal means it's balancing out or getting the amount of nutrients that your body needs. So I always say we're gonna have a protein, a carb, a fat, and a fruit or vegetable. And that's gonna make sure that we're getting obviously the lean protein we need, the healthy carbs, the healthy fats, the fruit or vegetable, it's gonna get the fiber, the vitamins, and the minerals in there for you as well. So I make sure that they all have that. And depending on what I'm about to do after that meal, that will determine how much I have of those. If I'm about to go work out, I'm not gonna have super high fats and I'm not gonna have super high fiber, but I'm gonna prioritize a lot of simple carbs and some protein. If it's just a random other meal in a day, I'm gonna have more fiber and more fats in that meal just to be able to help me stay satiated because fats and fiber and protein are all gonna be more satiating for you. So I can space those out, but the meals are gonna be balanced. If, however, I will say, let's say we're gonna go out to eat and that meal is gonna be maybe higher carb and higher fat, let's say it's pizza or something. I know that meal's not gonna have as much protein and it's not gonna have a lot of vitamins and minerals and fiber in it. So instead of the meals all be balanced, I try to balance the day out. So if that meal is gonna have more carbs and fats and less protein and nutrients, then I make sure my other meals have more protein, more nutrients. Because I'm getting more fruits and veggies, that adds more volume. So if there's less carbs and fats there because they're more this way, then I still feel satiated and my day is still balanced. It's just not like each meal is balanced. Does that make sense? So that's the way that I think about putting together my meals and my food. And then that's again a non-negotiable for them to be balanced like that. It helps so much with cravings, especially getting protein in. It helps so much with blood sugar, it helps so much with appetite and it makes it way easier to hit your macros. Before I even have anybody focus on tracking their macros, which I do think everybody should learn about those. It's like literally the fuel that your body needs to survive. And it's so empowering to finally understand that instead of needing to follow whatever diet rule you find on TikTok or something. But instead of doing macros first, I always focus on just balanced meals. Because if you think about it, if you're eating a balanced meal, you're already thinking of where's my protein, where's my carb, my fat, my fruit or veggie. I'm thinking of the fuel that I'm getting for those. And then we add macros in. You're already thinking of your meals like that without the numbers in there. And then the numbers just help you like slightly adjust the serving sizes to be able to hit your targets. So if you've never tracked macros, I would encourage focusing on balanced meals first before you do that. The other thing that has been, oh my gosh, so game-changing for my relationship with food, my body composition, is when I'm thinking of picking the food that I'm gonna eat and the serving size I'm gonna have, as I think about how it's gonna make me feel. Like it's not like obviously once it taste good, you know, but it's how's it gonna make me feel? Like if I eat, I know I give pizza as the example, but if I have gluten and dairy, my body doesn't, it does not feel good if I have those. Unfortunately. So I don't have, I'm not gonna really eat pizza because I know my body feels really, really bad. And if I have any, it's gonna be a small amount. Or let's say like french fries. I can have some French fries, but if I have a lot of fried food, I don't feel good. Nobody really does. Or if I have some ice cream, it's a small serving, not a massive one, because I don't feel good. So I can still have those foods, but I'm thinking of how's it gonna make me feel? If it's gonna be really bad, it's probably not worth it. But if I'm gonna have some, I want a serving size that's gonna make me feel okay. And that really helps with the all or nothing mindset of me not wanting to like binge on that food go crazy because I'm like, oh, I never have it. It's like, well, yeah, I don't want to feel bad though. Because I used to do that and it sucked. And I just kind of had this epiphany where I was like, that's so mean of myself to make me eat foods or amount of foods to the point where I physically felt unwell. Like, imagine if you went up to somebody and you were like, I want you to, you what is it like Tilda, where she makes a kid eat chocolate cake until he throws up or something. Like, that's that's like torture. Why would we do that to ourselves? That was the epiphany. I was like, okay, I'm done doing that. I'm not doing that anymore. So that was really helpful for me with my relationship with food of like, how does it make me feel? And that's something that I focus on a lot with the women that I work with. If we're working on the relationship with food, we talk about how it's gonna make you feel. I'm like, screw the numbers, don't think about that right now. Because if that's what's in our head, sometimes it just doesn't guide our choices the best. But if we're thinking of how it's gonna make me feel, you're more in tune with your body. And like I said before, a lot of times we're so disconnected from our hunger and our fullness cues, it's crazy. But we're able to finally get back in tune with that. And it is so, it's amazing when you're in tune with your body and you're like, I'm eating to help me feel good. So if it's gonna make me, if it's gonna make me not feel good, I'm probably not gonna eat it. Nine times out of ten. And if I do, it's it was unintentional, or maybe I like kind of knew, but it's usually like, oh, I just kind of found a limit. And you don't shame yourself, guilt yourself. Time travel doesn't exist, so we don't beat ourselves up, we can't change it. But we just say, hey, that was a helpful lesson. I learned if I eat a lot of chicken tenders and french fries, I feel not well. So I'm gonna have a little bit less next time. And it's just helpful information for us to pull with us going forward. So it's not just about calories, it's not about sugar, it's not about honestly, even just macros. It's about how the body is going to, or how my body is going to be affected by what I put into it. Again, food is fuel and nourishment for our body first and foremost. That's why we eat. And then if I'm tracking my food, it's not an option for me to not hit. I don't want to be someone who can't keep promises to herself because I'm sure you can think of areas, maybe it's nutrition or working out that you can think of that. But that affects how you view yourself and what you're capable of and the trust that you have in yourself. And that trickles into every other area of your life. So if I'm tracking, I hit the targets. And I know that my targets are set at an appropriate amount for me now, now that I understand calories and macros and metabolism and all that kind of stuff before when it, before when I would set them way too low or not appropriate for and healthy for my body. I had a hard time taking that regardless, but it's just because it was too low, not good for me. So now it's not an option. And that's the thing. If people struggle with discipline, a lot of times they're making it an option. Should I do this? Should I not? But if you don't struggle with discipline, you're like, it's just this is what I'm gonna do, and I'm gonna do it. Again, these are non-negotiables. I'm just gonna do it. It's not a choice. That's just how I eat. That's just how I eat, that's just how I live, that's just how I feel my body. It's not a negotiation in my head anymore with that. But regardless of if I'm tracking or if I'm eating intuitively, it's not an option for me to not get enough protein in my day. I've tracked long enough. I know how to get enough protein in. I know what a serving size looks like, I know what my meals need to be comprised of. It's not an option for me to not do that. Even if I'm traveling, maybe it's not fully hitting my target, but I'm getting as much as I can. It's not an option for me to not get enough fiber in too. I never thought of that before. And when I learned how important that was, oh my gosh, your gut health loves you for that. And you feel more satiated. So it's not an option for me to not get my fiber in because I know the repercussions that it has on my body if I don't. And I love how I feel when I get enough of it in there. So it's not just about, it's not about restriction or control. It's about just being integral to taking care of myself and knowing that this is what's best for me. And I want to give myself my best. And I also, especially when as someone who had an eating disorder and struggled with a relationship with food, I now I've done so much work on my relationship with food. Like so, so, so much on my mindset. There's so much psychology and all of that. And I've done so much work and I now understand, especially understanding how the brain works, I have complete control over my actions, complete control over them. So I can choose to be able to hit my targets, and I do. Even if I don't feel like it, I can choose to eat in a way that honors my body. I've done so much work on all of that. I know it makes me feel my best. So now I just get to enjoy life and reach my goals and make aligned choices with my nutrition because of that work that I put in. And that is one of the best things that you could ever do for yourself is have a healthy relationship with food of understanding nutrition, understanding how to feel this one body that you get for the rest of your life. And it makes all these non-negotiables so much easier to stay consistent with. Cause you're like, I now that I see this, I can't on see it. And I don't want to make any choice other than the one that's gonna be best for me and for my body. And that's something that I say all the time. And I just want to say it one more time because I just want everybody to have such a good relationship with themselves and with food. You are gonna be eating for the rest of your life, and you're gonna be living the rest of your life in this one body that you get. You do not get a spare. And I pray that you do not treat your body like you get a spare. And when you grow up and nobody taught you about nutrition or how to take care of your body, I didn't grow up with that. I had to learn it. And it took a lot of trial and error, and you might be in the same boat, or maybe you're just trying to start a healthy lifestyle. I pray that you take the time to actually learn how to feel your body properly. You learn the amount of rough calories at work for your body, the amount of rough macros. It doesn't have to be exact. It's not like your body's like a robot that needs this exact amount. But I pray that you take the time to learn that, to create a healthy relationship with food, with understanding how to take care of it, because that makes these quote unquote non-negotiables so easy to follow. And that's where I can sit here and say, I will confidently eat like this for the rest of my life. It is not hard for me to eat like this. I love eating the way that I do because I love being able to take care of my body and how good it feels, especially being on the other extreme side of things when I just didn't take care of my body at all. I ate Domino's cheesy bread at four in the morning when I was super drunk, like three times a week, didn't take care of it, and then restricted and then eat. I've gone through the phases and I can say it's not, is it ain't it? It ain't it. And getting to this point, it feels so good, you guys. So creating your own non-negotiables, please take any of those and adapt those if those work for you. But again, make them personal, make them your own. Don't just eat the way that I eat or your favorite influencer eats or whatever. Don't just eat the way that somebody else eats because you're like, oh, I want to look like them. Think about it like I want to learn how to take care of my body and I want to be able to have some structure, some systems a little bit in place so it's easy because life is busy. We have a lot going on, you guys. But being able to say, I love myself and I honor and I respect myself and my body enough to take that little bit of time to grocery stop to plan, to take 15 minutes tops for the week to plan out all your food in my fitness pal. So you know that you're eating what your body needs, so you can learn how to do it, so you can get to the point where you can intuitively eat because you took the time to learn and teach yourself and build this toolbox up in your head of all these tools, all these things that you know work for you that you get to carry with you for the rest of your life as you're feeling this one by that you get for the rest of your life. And I'm so I would be so curious, especially if you're watching on YouTube or I mean, y'all can tell. I love talking about this kind of stuff. You can DM me on Instagram. I always have my handle in the description to at Laney Jojo. Make sure you don't forget one of the eyes. Most people do and they call me Lani. But I would love if you have other like non-negotiables, if you have other things that work really well for you, because not only for me, but for my clients or be able to share. I just want all of the advice, the meals, the routines, the strategies, the mindset shifts, everything that I can give other women to help them create a lifestyle and a relationship with food and a body that they just feel so, so good in. So if you have them, please don't geke, please share. But I hope that you guys enjoy these. I hope that there's one or two at least that stuck out to you and that you implement those this week. And I pray that if you do, you just remember how powerful you are, how smart you are, how capable you are, all of the things that you've done in your life. I know sometimes nutrition or creating a healthy lifestyle can feel overwhelming or can feel really hard to be consistent. You're like, I keep falling off. Just remember who the frick you are, all the things that you've done. And also if you're like, I've never been consistent before, okay, previously you hadn't, but you can just decide right now. I'm a different version of me. I have a different approach, a different mindset, and I can choose right now to be different. Like I said, you have complete control over that. I know sometimes we don't think that we do, but we do. I promise you that we do. And that's a topic for a whole nother podcast. So stay tuned for that one. But I hope that you guys got some nuggets. I hope this inspired you. If you don't already have a lifestyle where you're eating foods that nourish and feel your body to add a habit or two of this into this next week, I love you. Thanks for hanging out with me. Thanks for letting me chit chat about all this stuff. I'm so passionate about it. And I hope that you guys go do something that your future self thanks you for. Bye, guys.