FOOD OBSESSION & DISORDERED EATING IN BODYBUILDING!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome back, you guys, to another episode. We are so excited to be back with you guys for once again another week. Um, this week we're gonna be talking about food obsession and disordered eating and bodybuilding. Um I think this is like a spicy topic because you know, there's a line with staying locked in and then g it getting to the point where it's like food obsession and disordered, and there's so many things that we can talk about and get into. Um so yeah, I'm excited about this topic. So I guess we can start off by like, you know, identifying clear differences between being committed to your goals as a bodybuilder, and then when there's a line that we cross. And so we all know that as a bodybuilder, you're on a meal plans, tight macros, there's zero room for error. So that you do have to be really careful with the foods that you're choosing and the calories that you're intaking, especially if you're in a deficit or anything like that. Um, but there's a line, right? And so I think these days a lot of people kind of toy that line and they think like, hey, the more you're like, you know, super perfect and you don't have any extra calories, and you don't have any free meals, and you don't do anything extra that that's just gonna like propel you further than other people. And it's like, you know, free meals are in plants for a reason. Um, gives your body a break, gives your body some different food, and it's also good for your mindset. Um because I think like and there's a line with the free meals too. Like you can be out of hand, like it's not a binge or an all-day thing. Like, um, I follow some people where it's like free meal day and it's like a whole day full of foods and stuff like that. And it's supposed to be like, you know, one meal that you want that you've been craving that you've had all week. At least that's what I do, and then I have like a dessert, but I don't like um carry it over the whole day, or I don't try to make it this big feast, like because I know that the next week I'm gonna have another free meal, so it's not like I gotta get all this food now, like food's not going anywhere. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Yeah, it can be really tricky mentally for people with that free meal. There's so much that goes into it. Um, yeah, I don't even know where to start, to be honest. Like, let's talk about here. Where what do you want to start? What do you want to talk about first? Free meals, tracking too meticulously, prep versus off season tracking. What should we talk? What should we talk about?

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Okay, let's talk about um free meals, I guess. That's a good one. And you know, I guess how to structure them. But you know, I don't want people to, you know, I don't want you guys to feel like, oh, you know, they're telling me what to eat or what I shouldn't eat. That's I just is really a guideline and advice. I think Candace and I do a very good job with like staying locked in on our plan. But when we have a free meal, hey, we eat. Like, I mean, yeah, and Candace kills it with the dessert. She always has like some great cookie skillet or something that's like awesome.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Um, I eat a lot on my I eat a I eat some good pre-meals, and it's so funny because like Alex always acts like, oh, you never eat bad. And I'm like, Are you sure? Like I tell him what I'm what I eat, and I'm like, it makes me wonder, like, well, how bad do other people eat? Or does he really just not believe me? I don't know. But um, you're being normal, but you also can't go and have a huge, you know, like greasy hamburger, French fries, dessert, galore every single week. Okay. Like, don't do that. And well, maybe some people can. That's not how I do it. Um, like I'm not, I don't want that every single week. You know, some weeks I just want like sushi or I want something that's a little bit, you know, nicer, like a steak, or um, I don't like eat like nast, greasy food every single time. Um, no, I usually always have a pretty good dessert though, because I have a huge sweet tooth. But the way I I approach it is like usually it's um something that my husband and I like both like if we went on a date or something, we'll do it for that. Um, or like a lot of times I'll let him pick because you know, it's like his like time to spend with me, like when I'm you know, he deals with me eating on a meal plan all week. So like a lot of times I'll let him pick, like, what do you want? Cause we can enjoy this meal together, you know? And I want to make sure that it's like enjoyable for him. But it, but let's say I'm in like an off season, not like dieting or you know, trying to to lose weight, then I would, yeah, like we'll just pick a a place. Um usually, I mean, I don't really put any restrictions on it, to be honest. Now I'll I will kind of adjust my other food throughout the day, depending on when I'm eating. Like, are we going out for like a breakfast or brunch? Are we going out for dinner? Um, I'll kind of adjust my food accordingly. And like, and I'll say after I eat my free meal, like let's say I eat it for brunch and we go have a nice, like a big brunch, and like I know I ate a lot. Um, I kind of just like focus mostly on protein the rest of the day according to how my body's feeling. Like, am do I actually feel hungry right now? Like, is my stomach hungry? If it is, then okay, yeah, like I'll eat a whole meal, you know? But if I'm not, I might just focus more on like protein-ish. Um, same thing. Like if I go up for dinner, like if I like the next day, if I'm not like actually hungry, I'm not gonna force myself to eat all of my food. I'm gonna kind of adjust based on how my body's feeling. That's just how I do it. I don't know if it's right or wrong, but it's how I how I approach it. Um, but like I said, I also don't hold back. Like if we're going out to a restaurant and like I know this is like we're gonna have a big meal right here. Like I'm talking, we'll get an appetizer, an entree, a dessert. Like it's, you know, it's a lot of calories when it comes down to it. So for me personally, I don't mind like adjusting some of my other meals around that. And it that's how that's how I go about it, at least.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Yeah, and that's smart because like and everyone's different. So I kind of do the same thing. So we kind of, I mean, okay, you have one free meal a week. So I who doesn't plan it? I'm sorry, I plan it. And so, for example, if we're gonna do something that's like, end I quote, bad, okay, I don't, and I hate labeling foods, but there's a difference between clean free meals and not so clean free meals. For me, not so clean free meal is when I get pizza because I'm a pizza girl, I'm not even gonna sit here and lie, but I don't do it every week because first of all, the cheese, I cannot digest it. So, like, pizza is a big one for me. I barely eat burgers. I don't, I mean, I eat beef every day in my meal plan. I do not crave a burger. And so pizza or like Italian, like pasta. That's my kind of dirty free meals. Cause bro, I can put away, I can eat a whole pizza. Do I know? Because thankfully, I take my massive open bodybuilding boyfriend and he eats most of the like it works out perfectly. But um, so if I plan to go to an Italian restaurant like two weeks ago, we went to Italian, we got like garlic bread sticks. Oh my god, they're filled with cheese. Listen, oh my god. And then they brought more bread, which and then we shared a pizza. It was like pepperoni, hot honey, and Italian sausage, insane. And then we shared spaghetti. Um, and so and it was huge portions, and then we had Caesar salad. That's a bigger free meal. So that day I had my normal breakfast, and then I had one regular meal, and then one meal was just protein and veggie. Um, but I try not to I try to eat most of my meals before. This helps me not overeat. Um, but if I know it's a sloppier free meal, I'm going to replace two meals because I would rather do that than go over. Because what if I get there and I want more foods? This is just helping me be conscious because my food stays higher when I'm growing, or even so, like, I have to be careful because either way, I'm eating a ton of calories, and a free meal can easily make me have a 5,000, 6,000 calorie day because you don't know what they add. And so if I'm gonna do something dirtier, I replace two meals and then I kind of have what I want. I eat till I'm full. When I'm full, I stop. Even if it tastes so good, I'll be okay if I want more. Next week is another free meal, like it's fine. Um, and then I always have dessert. Um I have been obsessed with ice cream lately. Like, I usually love cook any type of cookies. There's so many cookie shops here. We'll just get the whole lineup and we'll split them, and I eat bites, and he eats the rest. But I've been obsessed with ice cream lately, and not even the bad anti-quote ice creams like Ben and Jerry's, which I love, and Bluebell. Halo Top, man. I don't know if it's because I'm cutting recently and it's easier on my stomach, and a whole pint is only 400 calories, 20 grams of protein, 60 carb, like 20 fat, that's insane for ice cream. So eat the whole thing. But if I have a cleaner free meal, like sushi, poke bowls, I did Chipotle last week um because I was having appetite issues. So I that day I ate all my normal meals, all four, and then just had the cleaner meal. It just depends. If I do a dirty one, I make sure that I am going to be not going over my calories just because I don't you have to be really careful because when you go out, they just add so many extras. So my category of free meals, if I if I want to be good or whatever they call it, sushi, kava, chipotle, even tacos, because it's like when I get tacos, it's just like cilantro, onion, and like steak and like tortilla. I mean, you can make that at home. Like I say, if I do anything like end I quote messy, it's pizza. I love it. I probably do pizza once every three weeks or so. Um, I've mostly been obsessed with like Italian or sushi, that kind of thing, because it gets me full too. Um but you know, there's ways to structure it. Some people do a burger every week, and I think it's fine. I just don't crave a burger and fries every week. Like, I just like don't care for it. Um, and so yeah, but that's kind of how I structure it. Everyone's different. I think free meals are necessary. I do want to emphasize that, but I don't think they're mandatory or required. So, like, if you're someone who wants to cook, you know, your off untracked meal at home, that's totally fine, and that's okay. But I think it's important to add it in. I think it does wonders for your relationship with food. It helps you be able to be like, hey, I can go out with my husband, um, kids, and make a conscious decision and choose what I want to eat without feeling anxious. Um, because you know, when bodybuilding is over, like then what? You should be able to go out to eat and not feel guilty. And it's not like you're doing this all week, multiple times a week. Gives your body a break. It's good for your mental health. I just I think they're necessary, but I don't think they're required. But I think, you know, anyone can kind of benefit from them. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Yeah, yeah, I agree. Um, and I'll say, like, I mean, I've had definitely had times where, like, oh, I'm just so focused on what I want to get for my free meal. Um, and I think for me, like, and or you find yourself like overeating, you know, like you're stuffed fools. Um, so that's one thing I've I've definitely gotten better about is like paying attention to my stomach, especially this go like this go-around ever since I competed last December, is like really paying attention to how my stomach actually feels. Like, not what my brain thinks or feels, but like how how is my stomach feeling? Does it feel like distended or like stuffed full? Or do I feel like just comfortably full? Do I feel like I'm approaching that? Or do I still feel like, hey, it still feels empty? Let's keep going, you know? But I really pay attention to that while I'm eating. Um and I stop before I get to like that distinction, stuffed full feeling. Um, so that's that's been a big thing for me. Um, another thing that's like actually helped me, which people might think like it sounds opposite, but this ever since I competed, I've been taking two free meals a week. Um I do one at a restaurant, which is obviously gonna be higher calories. You know, that's like the big one. Okay, that you know, who knows how many calories? 2,000 plus. Yeah. But then I don't, but see, I don't track, I don't try to calculate how many calories are in this or anything like that. Don't, so so don't take it like that. But we we all know restaurants are adding in the grease and the butter and all that. Um, and then I do one free meal at home. And um, and and that's usually like a home cooked meal that I eat with my family, like just as a family dinner. Uh, so that's like a more modest, like not anything crazy. Um, but I have found that having two, and I usually do them like on a one on the weekend, like a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then usually one on like a Tuesday or Wednesday for the one at home. Um, and I found that having two, I really don't hyperfixate on my free meals very much at all anymore. Um, because I know the next one's coming, I think. Like I'll have that one on the weekend and I'm like, oh dang, I get another free. Like my husband be like, what are we having? Like, and I'm like, oh, like I don't know, I haven't even thought about it because I just had a free meal like two days ago. And I so now I'm gonna already get another one, you know? And so it's it's actually helped me not overeat or like go all in because I know I don't get any, I don't get another meal off plan in for seven days or whatever. So yeah, having two has been good for me. Everybody's different though, you know. Some people that might not work for, but yeah, um, there's just I think free meals in general for competitors um are very hard mentally.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Because I think I think about like like the past few months, I've been thinking about how I used to eat just as a normal person before I ever started competing. And I always picked like healthier options on the menu because that's what I wanted, like more chicken, turkey, like leaner cuts. I I wasn't choosing, I wasn't choosing the the absolute worst, highest calorie thing on the menu. Um, because that's not what I wanted. And so it made me kind of reflect and think back to like how I used to go out to eat all the time, but it's not like I was fat because I wasn't I was consciously choosing healthier options. And I wasn't like going to the restaurant with the intention of, oh, let's stuff our face, you know. So I've been kind of like thinking of that, and like I still enjoyed those those foods. Like, why can't I do that now? Well, I can do that now, okay? Um, we all can, but it's important to enjoy those those dirty cheats too, like your pizza, your burger, and all that. I'm not saying don't do that, but yeah. And that's appropriate.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Like you have you have kids in a family, and so that's really good for them too, and for you. And like, you know, we there's different stages. I think that's really appropriate. I just think that like sometimes free meals get like almost a bad rap, like everyone thinks they're bad and you shouldn't take them. And like, I just want to make it clear, and this I don't want to sound like condescending, um, and it might come off that way. You're not any better because you decide not to take free meals, and like you can't make other athletes, you know, feel bad because they take them and you don't. It's not about that. Everything works for everything is different for everyone. Some people can take free meals and be okay, some people truly cannot, and they need more structure because they will overeat. So you have to figure out what approach works best for you. So I have a few clients who, if they take a free meal, they're gonna eat a whole jar of peanut butter. And so they're like, hey, can you like what do you think sounds good that'll be good for me? And that works for them because I'm like, dude, go get all you can eat sushi and then have a cookie from Crumble. They're like, oh, that sounds good. Because some people need that structure, you know, some people don't know how to turn it off. Um, it can be really hard mentally too. Like, um, even now for me, I'm in a cut, so I'm trying to be very like picky about what I'm eating so that I'm still in a deficit. And so, like, this week I had tacos, and that sat that was good with me. Um, and I didn't do anything too crazy. Um, so yeah, you just it can be hard mentally because sometimes it makes you feel bad. Like, oh my god, am I eating too much? Am I not having enough protein? Like, is this cleaner? Like, how many calories? It can be hard, but you kind of have to realize that hey, it's one meal, and this one meal is not gonna deter your progress, it's not gonna ruin your physique, it's not gonna do anything but give you that break, replenish those glycogen stores and help your body reset. It's gonna help, you know, your relationships with all the people that you have. If you can go to dinner, bless you, or have plans with them, any of that. It'll help that. And so, you know, just getting into that mindset and finding what works best for you, I think is super important. And, you know, that's where it can come disordered, become disordered, is when you have a scheduled free meal and you don't take it because, you know, your thoughts are eating at you or something is bothering you. And when that happens, you get with your coach or get with the mental health coach to try to figure out and get to the bottom of it because disordered eating can spiral and get really bad and get to the point where you know, you find yourself under-eating and doing more steps and doing more cardio to you, like, oh, like I had all this for my free meal, I gotta go work it off. So I'm getting on the stairs and I'm not eating tomorrow and I'm doing this. And so you have to find a plan that's gonna help you. And so it might not look like your friends. Like, I know some people who can't take free meals like Candace and I, like, they can't go and eat all that and have cookies and not feel bad, you know, and so they have to have a different approach. And that's okay, everyone is different, but never feel bad that your approach is different than someone else's. Um, and if you are struggling, open up to your coach. Be honest, don't be ashamed. Bodybuilding is a sport where unfortunately disordered eating can happen, but it's not, you know, it's not gonna happen to everyone. It's avoidable if you set yourself upright, give yourself the right tools. Um, but I yeah, I think they're appropriate. I think like I do, however, get confused when people like coaches don't allow them, right? I think there's a time and a place, like, of course, prep setting, cut, I get that. But I mean, I know coaches who will be like, yeah, you don't get free meals in offseason, like you don't get anything at all. And then the athletes are just binging and they have disordered eating because they're not allowed to have that meal off. And that's a problem because that's like that's a problem. Like, I don't know, you Olympians, they're taking free meals. It's fine. And if even if you want to give them more structure, that's okay. But there's nothing wrong with taking a free meal, and it's not gonna deter progress. I feel like that's a big thing, is some coaches just don't allow it.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Yeah, that's insane. That's insane to me. If your coach doesn't allow it, like, well, just adjust the rest of my plan because I need this to have a if you're in an off season, you should be able to have a free meal. Now, like I've gone through periods in off seasons where I didn't want a free meal every week. Um, maybe I was doing like a mini covet and I would just rather see a little more progress. So I'll just say, hey, like I'm just gonna take a free meal. If I have like a special event, then I'm gonna take it. But otherwise, um, I don't really feel like I need one right now or I don't want one, you know? That's my own choice. But that's not like a coach telling me, oh no, you're not allowed to um during an off season. That's that's yeah, like that's just gonna cause like so many cravings in my opinion, cravings and like I don't know what the right word would be, but almost like resentment or over restriction. Um actually, I don't know if I should say this, but um it reminded me when I came out of my first season and I was reversing. Um I had it was fourth of July. And my coach, uh now granted, I will say I did not ask for a free meal. Okay, so I didn't ask for one, but she did, but but I wanted one, but I didn't explicitly ask, okay. And she did not give me a free meal for fourth of July. And I remember I tracked macros and like I still let myself have a good plate because I'm in my because we had fourth of July at our house. So I waited now and I was like, I'm eating some of this food, but I remember feeling so mad that day that I had to have these portion sizes of this, this, and this, and I had to get this special type of hot dog to be able to eat a hot dog that's, you know, all beef or whatever. Like I was pissed. And I was like, why am I not allowed to have a free meal on the fourth of July? And I knew my coach was having a free meal on the fourth of July. And I was just, I would, but like I said, I didn't ask. But I remember feeling so mad about that and like resentful, restricted. And that was one of the things where I was like, I am not, this is not right. Like, I need to feel better about food. Like, this isn't, I shouldn't be feeling this way. Because it like put a damper on a huge holiday, you know?

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

That I should have just enjoyed.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

Yeah. And that's that's where it, you know, where it can become an eating disorder. Like, you know, you could have spiraled, but you didn't, you know, thank God. But it it's there's a line with everything, and it's scary because, you know, you want to adhere to your plan. You want to follow the plan, and you don't want to make your coach upset. But, you know, there's some things that as athletes that we need. And I do believe that a structured free meal or just a free meal helps relieve some anxiety. It gives someone a break. It's like a little mental break. And you know, like we said, there's a line. You need to make sure that the meal is appropriate. You're not overeating, you're not eating past fullness. Keeping in mind your digestion is like the most important thing. Like, you know, when you're full, just stop. You don't need to keep eating. It's not an eating competition. The food's not going anywhere. Um, we live in America, this food's everywhere. So your next free meal, you can go have whatever. Because, you know, that can easily turn just like people can start restricting because they don't take free meals because they think that it's better that way. Taking free meals and going too far can also lead to binge eating, which is another monster, which is so hard. And so, you know, if you're someone who has these tendencies or struggles with that or has a past history of that, please be open and honest with your coach, seek help, seek support because it can spiral. And bodybuilding, you know, we have to be very strict and adherent to these plans because every little thing adds up, and you know, we want a certain look. We're chasing a certain look with our physique. So this is just me telling people to please, if you need help, reach out to your coach, um, go to therapy. There's no shame in that um because you do not want to have an eating disorder to the point where you're anxious about making decisions and you're worried that if you get this latte with almond milk, is it gonna like deter your goals? Or god forbid you want to have a little bit of cold foam on your coffee, like you're freaking out about the calories, or you're wondering if you go somewhere, oh my god, is it sugar-free? Like, you don't want to have these like almost intrusive food dots running through your head all day, every day, making you like go mad. You need some structure and there's a line with it. And I think that's another big thing that we can really talk about. Is I started that coffee page where I talked about coffees and some of the coffee orders, macro friendly, very clean. But I went to Nashville, so a lot of the places I guess weren't um macro friendly. Of course, like I I was on a trip, like I'm if I want to have a fun latte, I will. It's okay, I don't always do that. And like people swiped up, and I mean that they were like, You're having all these unnecessary calories from coffee. Don't you worry that that's gonna mess up your insulin sensitivity? And I'm like, no, because I don't have that every single day, and I had one like one like little cup of it, and you know, I know that in the back of my mind, if I do that every once in a while, I'm gonna be okay. Like, I'm not hyper-fixated on calories and macros, and I'm not like in my coaching app trying to like track the coffee. I don't do that. My coach is aware that I'm addicted to coffee. I mean, he likes my coffee post, so hopefully I'm okay. But I'm addicted to coffee, but I use the dairy substitute milks, and um I'm just very mindful about it. Like I'll have two coffees a day, one's at home, I measure it out so I know how much it is, and it's usually not even the ones I make at home are like 40 calories, and it's from like the macadamia or oat milk. And then if I get a coffee out, it's probably like 90 to 100 calories, and you know, I'm okay with that. It doesn't affect me, you know. Some people it will affect, but everyone's different. And but I just I don't let it get to me because, like, you know, coffee is just something that I do, it's something that I like, and I'm very mindful about it, and I, you know, get lots of steps every day, and so you just have to be really careful and figure out what works best for you. Um, I think that's a big thing, and don't compare yourself to people on the internet, like you know, some of these bodybuilders, I'll see them post their free meals or post what they had, like post-show, and I'm like, bruh, I could not eat all that. Like, I would be up 40 pounds in a day, and so don't worry if everyone else is eating different things than you, or they get to have two free meals and you don't, or they get to eat this for a free meal and you can't. Try to just focus on you and don't let you know get into the realm of comparison because yeah, and food obsession is a scary thing. Like, I do believe that some bodybuilders on the internet promote disordered eating and food obsessions. Like, for example, when it's I cannot stand when it's the holidays because there's gonna be nothing but how I'm staying on track for Thanksgiving. I'm not, thank you. I'm eating whatever my mom cooks. Don't know what the macros are, probably a lot. Um, but I bro, it's all it's like I'm gonna make sure that I have um, I'm gonna fast until this, or I'm gonna eat only my protein before, and I'm gonna do fast and cardio, and I'm gonna go do the turkey trot so I my calories balance out. That's when it becomes like food obsession disordered holidays aren't every day. No one is having I mean, I hope they're not, no one is having a Thanksgiving feast every single day. Like it's just one day that you can enjoy. Unless you're on prep, I don't believe it's unless you want to, but like you can have the Thanksgiving with family or Christmas. Like, I hate seeing that, like how I'm staying locked in on Christmas. Like, I'm not, I think so.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

Yeah, it's so annoying to see all that. Um, I think it can go like both ways, though. Like you said, with like the binging and overeating, like that's one issue, and the over-restricting is a whole, you know, the other side of the coin to that. Um it's tough. But yeah, you just need to like definitely like be honest with your coach if you're having problems like that, so that hopefully they can they can help you or structure your plan differently. Um but like one thing also I've been thinking about was like I am definitely guilty of like my macro eras and like wanting to make every single meal of the day like super enjoyable and like and like hey, my meals are good. I love all my meals still, but like I would try to like make them like super extravagant and like oh everything looks, you know, it tastes so good and has all these extra things on it. And like sometimes you don't have to do that, okay? Like sometimes it's okay to just like have a boring meal. Like, and I was thinking about back before, like I said, I've been doing a lot of like food reflections the past couple of months and like thinking about how I used to eat and everything. And like I was literally like, I didn't even care what I was eating most of the time. Like for lunches, I would eat like a sand, like a sandwich every day, or like some crappy like microwave meal every day. Like, but it wasn't like I enjoyed it that, like, yeah, it was fine to eat, but it wasn't like something I had to like gourmet chef, you know, make look so good and and all of this. And I'm like, bodybuilding really can like just make you very like food focused. And uh because it's like half the equation, right? We're thinking about our macros and our food and how it's gonna help us with our physique goals. So it's something you have to like check yourself on every once in a while. Like, whoa, I've been thinking about food too much. Like, I need to reel this back and just have some boring meals, or you know.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

Yeah, and definitely tracking macros. I I don't, I mean, I could do it, but I love making creative meals, but sometimes it's like too much and like a lot of work. And I macro match one of my meals daily only because um I drive a lot for work and sometimes I don't like stopping for a microwave and like, I don't know, I like to eat my food hot. I'll eat it cold, don't get me wrong. But yogurt is easy, so I've been doing like Greek yogurt and blackberries, granola, and almond butter because it's just a lot easier than you know the other meal. Um, it's hard though. I can like sometimes when Chris and I make fun meals at home, you know, it takes a lot of effort to oh my god, to figure that out. And so sometimes my meals are if I have to swap, if I'm out of something, it's so random. The other day, I had rice cakes, ground turkey, honey, and asparagus. That's so weird and random, but I just needed to get my food in. I didn't want to cook chicken, I was tired, I didn't want to make rice. So I yeah, I ate rice cakes, honey, asparagus, and ground turkey. It was actually really good. Um, but it and sometimes my meals are fun and creative, and then sometimes they're weird like that. Or, dude, I get weird sometimes too. I don't like post it more, but like, dude, sometimes I'm lazy. Cream of the other day I was tired, man. Cream of rice and shrimp. I didn't, I just needed protein and I needed to eat something. Um, so I don't have the time to make everything so like you know, that takes a lot of work and a lot of thinking, and that I don't have the time for. Macros is great, but it is exhausting, and you have to literally play Tetris to get things to fit in, especially when you're cutting. No, thank you. And macros would I would be way too food focused on macros. That's why I do believe like a meal plan is best because then you're like so fixated on like calories and how you're gonna get to fit, but you want this, and a meal plan just gives you that structure, it's already there, you just measure it out. So, yeah, definitely meal plan girly with swaps here and there, but like full macros, I'd be so stressed out and food focused. I I mean, there's no way I would be able to do it. It's a lot, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Full macros is a lot, and I so I that's how I used to do it, but now I'm on the meal plan with and I'm I'm allowed to do macros for anything anytime I want outside of prep, of course. Prep I eat strict meal plan, you know, all the way through. But like, so I do make swaps here and there, but like most of the time, not even we're talking a couple times a week, you know, like maybe two meals, two, three meals a week. I might swap out, but it is so much easier, and you don't have to think about it, and it makes grocery shopping really easy too.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

So yeah, the store, and they have so many things these days. Like I the most creative I am is fruit and veggies and like um sauces. Like, that's okay. Like I a lot, like the other day I was like, wait, you know what? Kiwis exist. I'm gonna eat kiwis or like blackberries. I can have a yellow.

SPEAKER_01 33:10

Like that's just like like if I'm in off season, that's just like a swap. Like I I'll swap out protein. Like, for example, today I didn't have chicken cook, so I ate ground turkey. Like, I wouldn't even count that as like a oh, I made a macro swap meal. Like, whatever. That's just protein, you know.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

Macro swap is when I do, dude. The other I just realized this. So I use sourdough and like um, dude, turkey tenderloin, when you cook it, you can cut it and it's like sliced turkey breasts. I usually did I did sourdough, turkey tenderloin, lettuce, tomato. I made like a sandwich, and I was just like so impressed. I don't know, just being on a meal plan makes food so exciting. I literally made a sandwich and I was like looking at it, like, look what I just did. Or I'll stick my English muffin and egg whites and make French toast and like put my blueberries on it. And I'm like, hey, look at me. And so it's just a lot of thinking, and I think that's where food obsession comes in too. And but I think you know, some people they need to do macros, it's better for them. If they have a meal plan, it's like too much for them and too strict, and they'll binge or they will not be able to do it. And so, again, that's where it's like individualized plans. I do know a lot of bodybuilding coaches these days are becoming very cutthroat in like meal plan only, but that's because there's a lot of unfortunately people who you do give them macros and they're like Reese cups fitting that. I don't know how the heck you have the macros, but I've seen I don't know why I'm getting these TikToks from people who are like fitting insane things into their prep diet. I'm like, bro, how are you fitting even a singular Reese cup? That's insane. I I don't know how people fit these things in, and I'm like, that's not appropriate. Like, bro, I I would be in prep and I eat like flavored rice cakes, and I'm like, should I eat plain? And there's people eating Reese cups.

SPEAKER_01 34:59

Yeah, no, they're they're not eating like the right with the right meal timings and meal frequencies. They're not, they're hoarding those calories and eating, you know, they're waste.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

And that's another thing, calorie hoarding with macros. So I attempted it post-show and um and it was fine, but then like if you don't do it right, then you have like all these, all this like food to get in. So that's another thing. It can be really hard. And so I do think meal plan is best, but hey, some people do macro, dude. There's like top bikini Olympians, and they just only do macros and they freaking kill it. But I think for the most part, a lot of them they say they eat most of the same things.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Um, yeah, yeah. It's like they're on like a semi-meal plan, anyways. But but I'm sorry, I just gotta point out one thing. Um, like I love how you said like your coffee thing, and you don't like track that or whatever. Everybody kind of has that little slush bun, maybe built in in their off season where oh, like sometimes I take a bite of my kids' food, you know, because I want to see what it tastes like. Like, but hey, that's those calories are just worked into my slush bun. But one thing, I'm sorry, if you're a macro person, please do not track your alcohol and your macros. I think I literally I see people and they're like, uh, you can't technically track macro track alcohol, but you can either add it in as carbs or fat and just take it away from their like dude, you're just having a drink of alcohol. Just don't track it. Okay, it's alcohol. It's not anything good for your body, anyways. Just drink the drink and don't track it, please. That is just that's my pet. Your pet peeve was the Thanksgiving. My pet peeve has gotta be that one.

SPEAKER_00 36:47

First of all, the only thing I feel like is trackable is like a okay, like a high noon or a white claw. Okay, uh like I wouldn't track that because like it's not beneficial and effective, and I'm just gonna charge it to the game if I do have a drink. Yeah, that's insane. That why are we tracking alcohol? I wait. Honestly, I think one of my prior coaches, there was like a FAQ sheet, and it was like, if you drink alcohol, please like trackers. Actually, yeah, but I've never done that because that's weird and I don't drink enough. And first of all, alcohol is not something that you need to be, it can't fit in.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

Like no, it doesn't fit. Okay, I'm sorry. Just have the drink and don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Um yeah, it's not even like tangible, and I think um another thing is um flexible dieting. I do want to talk about that because that's so that we're kind of talking about that anyways, but um, switching around your food and eating salmon instead of beef, like that's okay. Ground turkey instead of chicken, that's okay. Like ground chicken instead of like tilapia, shrimp, like it's definitely okay to swap these things out and have a flexible diet, like there's nothing wrong with that. Um, and like you don't have to just eat like tilapia and asparagus and rice all day, every day, and like that's gonna be that's so bad for your digestion. First of all, like people who are just eating chicken and rice and veggies all day, you cannot just eat chicken all day. Your GI system will be screwed. And like, I that's not enjoyable. How are you enjoying that? I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

I was literally about to say the exact same thing for like the next thing we should talk about was these people who have like five meals of the exact thing all day long. And mind you, this might even be in their off season. I've never even done that in prep. I'm I always have tons of variety in my diet. Like I'll have I'll have five different protein sources, five different, you know. But these people, I see them even in their off season and they eat the same thing four to five times a day. I don't know how. Or are they lying? That's the other maybe they're just lying.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

No, like and Alex does phenomenal about flexible dieting and fitting things in. When I first started with him, he did this thing where every meal I could pick a protein, a carb, a vegetable, a fruit, which because I stressed to him because I was only my old last prep, I was literally eating chicken all day. Every that was my only protein source, and my digestion was ruined. So take it from me. You cannot eat chicken all day. You will pay for that. Um, but he does, it was like you could have ground turkey, chicken, turkey, tenderloin, fish, tilapia. He gave me all these options. So I was like, whoa, tuna, like all this, and then it's like I don't know how people only have the same thing. Each of my meals is different. Like breakfast is egg whites, English muffin or sourdough, and eggs. And there used to be butter there, but it got yeated because I'm cutting. Second, and then I have cream of rice, peanut butter, whey, berries, and I have shrimp, rice, and pineapple, postal workout. So good. I make shrimp-fried rice, and then it's beef and uh potatoes and vegetables. It used to be pasta and butter, but I'm cutting. And then it's like chicken and veggies, so it's like very diverse. And typically, one of the meals is chicken and veggies. I just do like ground turkey. He doesn't care because I I don't I get the chicken ick sometimes. Um, but it's like I don't have any of the same meals. Like I and I'm very pay, I'm I don't know, I can't do that. That that's where it draws the line for me. I'm not gonna want to eat chicken and rice and green beans all day, every day.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

No, I don't understand. I don't understand. And I'll even, even like when I was like, I have a huge sweet tooth, like I was saying earlier. Like, I I know myself, like I am not happy, just me personally. I need I eat five meals a day. I need three of them to to be sweet, and then the other two can be savory. Um, and like I was in prep, and like we were like close to my show, and he needed to like change some of my food around. And I was like, look, I've gotta like I I I'm going crazy. I was like, you gotta change one of these to like like because egg whites, I can make them sweet. Okay. Like yeah, I can put cinnamon on them. They can be, they can be like put egg whites here or something so I can make it sweet. So I think knowing yourself in that way can also help. Like, do you prefer savory over sweet or huh? Like, cause I would find myself, I was eating too many savory meals, and I would find myself craving like something sweet because it had been too long since breakfast when I had my sweet meal, you know? And I was like, I need one more of these to be something sweet so that I can like manage that craving or or whatever throughout the day. So I think just knowing yourself and being able to communicate that um can help a lot. And there's plenty of sweet options that are also very healthy. Like I said, egg whites, I make my cream of rice sweet. Um, you can do ninja creamies or, you know, uh yogurt. I make my yogurt with like peanut butter, you know. Um, so there's lots of options to manage that sweet tooth. And I love it.

SPEAKER_00 42:18

Yeah, ninja creamy is a big one. Like if you like, so I do a ninja creamy every so often. Um, like I used to do them every day, but now it's like three times a week or so. Um, because and I just do like I one of my meals is like 30 grams away, so I put 10 of whey with, but see, here's where I'm different than a lot of people. I like lactose free milk because it's creamy. And but I do the fat-free fair life, bro. It's so creamy with a um like 10 grams of whey, and then I put a little bit of stevia, and that's literally it. And then I'll mix in like um semi-sweet chocolate chips or sprinkles. That's ninja creamy is a lifesaver. Or if you don't even want to use protein powder, bro, almond milk and like the jello packets or those sugar-free syrups. You know, know the one I got you, the Girl Scout one, bro. That in a ninja creamy, if you bro, if you get Fair Life chocolate milk, if if you ever and put that in there and uh mix in coconut flakes and chocolate chips, you'll thank me later.

SPEAKER_01 43:23

Yeah, I'm definitely trying that one. That sounds great. Uh yeah, so back on topic though. We talked about all of our meals, sweet. Um, but okay, back to disordered eating. What else do we have left to cover? Um I mean, we covered how do you I don't know. How do you get out of it? I guess like seeking help. Maybe you yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:49

You and it's uh for someone like me, I ran college track, and this sounds bad, but with college track and running, it's almost impossible not to get an eating disorder because There's a race weight where you're a certain weight, and that's where you're fastest at. And unfortunately, I was faster when I was like a slow string being like 111 pounds. And so I definitely had disordered eating. There were days where I was just not going to eat until I was about to go run because I wanted to be fast and light. I didn't want to feel heavy. I didn't want to feel like I was going to be sick if I ate too much. And it was bad. I literally, the only way I did better was going to seek professional help. And there's nothing wrong with that. Because eating disorders, that's the um leading cause of death and mental illnesses. I don't think a lot of people know this. It's not depression. People think it is. Actually, no, anorexia is so dangerous. It like you do not want to play in even bulimia, you can have literally electrolyte issues, kidney failure. So eating disorders are very dangerous and they can have serious long-term health consequences. You can lose your period, have no bone density, kidney issues, heart issues. Like the list goes on. And so coaches, I just want to make this very clear that um a bodybuilding coach, unless they have, unless they're like a therapist or a mental health coach or a behavior specialist or a nurse practitioner, MD, registered dietitian, they cannot help fix your eating disorder. They can give you support, they can give you guidance, and they can kind of give you tools to mitigate and manage it, but they can't cure that. You need to seek professional help. And this is something that I have major beef with when coaches think that like eating disorders are a maturity thing, which some of them can be. Some of people just don't know when to stop. And it's like a maturity thing. But then there's some people who they truly can't help it. Like eating disorders, it's like something within your brain and your neurotransmitters that are doing that. Like it, there's it's compulsions and obsessions. And most people with these eating disorders, they have borderline personality disorder, they have like OCD, they have all these other things. Sorry, the nursing knees coming out. So, like the only thing to cure that or fix that is seeking professional help from a licensed person. Like, I wouldn't have got better if I didn't see a therapist and a dietitian. And so make sure that when you do have these problems, there's no shame in seeking help. There's nothing wrong with that. You'd rather seek help than it's five years down the road and you have amenorrhea, you have no period, you have no bone density, your kidneys are screwed, you can't go anywhere without eating anything. And so just seek the help. There's nothing wrong with that. Um, and it's gonna help you in the long run. But your coach cannot heal your eating disorder. I want to make that very clear. I don't care what they say, and if they disagree with that, tell them to message me on Instagram, I'll tell them off. They they need to stay in their lane because that's a serious, sorry, my dog, that's a serious medical thing that can be very bad. Like, I mean, when I worked in the ER, we had so many at PDR, so many athletes coming in with eating disorders. And bro, I have, and I that's when I I was just now starting bodybuilding, and that's when I realized how serious they were. And I was like, dude, these people have been just restricting for months and they have kidney failure, or they don't like their pancreas doesn't work, or things like that. Like it's really scary, and I just think they need to be taken more seriously.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

Yeah, that's crazy to hear. I bet you saw some some wild stuff, and like also like bodybuilding and competing is not that serious.

SPEAKER_00 47:24

So, like it does not care about bodybuilding.

SPEAKER_01 47:28

Yeah, like take care of yourself, okay? It might not be the right time for you to be trying to bodybuild if you're finding yourself feeling these ways. Um, you might need to take a step back and and get to a better normal baseline for yourself.

SPEAKER_00 47:48

Yeah, and heal yourself before you get into a prep. Do not get into a prep with disordered eating because I promise in a reverse diet, you're gonna wish that you didn't. Because leptin and ghrelin, the freaking hunger hormones, they're like little devils on your shoulder. Even if you have a very good relationship with food, like someone like me, bro, I was fighting with the devil because my brain was like, You're hungry, eat now. Come on, eat, let's go. We're hungry. I'm like, no, we just ate. Like, I'm not hungry. And so please heal before you prep, even before you bulk, before you get into bodybuilding, if you have disordered eating, please don't do this yet.

SPEAKER_01 48:25

Yeah, for sure. And and I'm I'm the same way. Like, I've always been like, like I can eat on plan and and stay on track and all of that, but like that reverse is is still tough. Um yeah. I think uh I think one one thing that's gotta be hard. Fortunately, I've never had to do this, like I've never like had a bad reverse. Um, and I think a big part of that is because ever since I've been bodybuilding, you know, I'm married and so I'm with my husband and my family at home. But I can't I can imagine where if you lived by yourself, it would be a lot harder. Because yes, my husband, if he saw me going off the rails, he would for sure say something and like make sure I'm getting back on track. But even without him saying that, I'm with other people in my house watching me. I'm so much less likely to like fall off the rails and have a bad binge because I know they're watching me and you know how you feel when somebody's around versus if you're by yourself. So I can imagine like it's a lot harder if you live by yourself coming out of that show and into the reverse. Um so in that case, I would say don't keep any food in your house that you don't feel okay with eating. Like, and if you have a a cheat meal, don't save the leftovers, throw it out. Like throw out your leftovers, don't stock up on food, don't have it available in your house because I know myself, like if I lived by myself having those things easily available, once you start, it's just so hard to stop.

SPEAKER_00 50:11

Yeah, yeah. And that's why it's like if you can't handle it, don't keep that food in the house. I've gotten to the point where I'm not desperate because I just I know a free meal is coming, and I like I'm just like not, I'm just so past that point. And like, and so thankfully, um, it took a lot of work to get here. It was not always like that. I used to have like zero self-control, but now I do. And so we'll have stuff in the house and I'll just sit there and look at it every day. And I'm like, hey, you're mine on Friday. But I can do stuff like that. Like, I had those, like, you know, those sugar cookies at the store with the frosting, the good ones there. Yeah, I had those because Chris and I wanted them for Valentine's Day. There's only one box left. I was like, I have to get this now. I just stared at it all week. I would walk by and be like, hey, beautiful. But if you're not able to do that, don't buy it. Like, um, there's still some things I absolutely cannot have. And I I can't have like chips, bro. I don't know what is wrong with me. Chips, I will open it and I will eat the entire bag. And I can't, so I don't have I don't keep chips here. Um, even um ice cream, absolutely not. I will eat, I will eat the whole pint, especially if it's halo top, even now, because I'm like, ooh, protein.

SPEAKER_01 51:21

But yeah, just yeah, see, I have kids, so I have all of my whole kitchen is filled with all of that. Um, but that's like I said, it's different because I've got other people in my house. Like, I'm not just gonna eat their all this food, like, but that is also where my little bites and licks and tastes come in sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 51:42

Balance and you're doing good. But yeah, I think this was a really good talk just about disordered eating, food obsession, free meals, how to set yourself up for success, how to not set yourself up for failure, like you know, stalking these things in the house, like just don't have them. And please just like keep in the back of your mind that you're gonna have another free meal. And so don't feel like you have to absolutely eat everything. And it's okay if you don't eat everything and there's still food on your plate. That's all right. If and like you said, don't take leftovers or throw it away and just like set yourself up for success, or if you need that structure, ask your coach. Um, if you need accountability, get an accountability partner. So, yeah, I think this was an overall good talk on food obsession, disordered eating, all the things. Is there anything else you wanted to cover?

SPEAKER_01 52:27

I'm good. I think we covered it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:30

Well, we will see you guys back on the next episode. This was a really good talk. I hope you guys enjoyed it. If you ever need like help, support, have any questions, please feel free to message either of us on Instagram and we are here for you. So bye. Bye.