Episode 18. Which of These Nutrition Beliefs Are Really Myths? Part I

We get it...there is SO much nutrition information out there it's hard to tell what is actually true and what is misinformation. 

Let's chat about the tea on some common nutrition beliefs like:

• "This worked for me, so it will work for you!"
• Calories in must equal calories out.
• There are good and bad foods.

Thank you for listening! We love you latte!

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-Ashley & Carrie
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice.

Transcript

[Music]
hey it's Carrie and Ashley we welcome
you to the self-care Cafe we are both
health professionals and moms and nature
lovers and food lovers and love helping
women get over dieting and just start
living we think that talking about
bodies and perfect bodies and dieting is
just
boring did we put you to sleep there
Carrie yes so if you are ready to ditch
dieting and get to living and talk about
more important things then you are in
the right place we don't put shame and
guilt on the menu here you don't even
have to tip us
nope come hang with us the advice is
free we want to have a bunch of
girlfriends to just hang out with and
get real with and it's time to start
living
ladies hey Carrie Ashley what's going on
oh you know just another day another day
another dollar right what's on the menu
for today well drum roll
please I was thinking we could talk
about nutrition
myths that's a good one yeah I think
you're going to be the star today uh
well if my brain works well sure but I
think you'll have to hop
in I'll help you out yeah and you know
Carrie and I kind of came up with this
list a little while ago and a lot of it
came from like conversations we've had
with clients or things we see in social
media and it's kind of Stu stuff that we
want to clear the air
about because it drives us crazy that's
right ah so the first one the calories
in calories out myth what would you like
to say about that my dear it's not
true should be short and sweet no so
right I think we all operate on this
idea that however many calories
we're taking in we feel like we're
burning off that many in a
day and so the idea of like weight loss
for example is that we need to take in
less calories then we're burning to have
like that calorie deficit to be able to
lose weight would you agree that that's
kind of like yeah it makes it I think
because people like black and white
thinking right it makes it very cut and
dry um if I you know if you eat more
calories than you're putting out you're
going to gain weight and if you eat
fewer calories you know you've burn off
more calories and you put taken in
you're going to lose weight and I mean
when I way back when I don't know
however many years ago I was in college
um this is what they were still teaching
this was originally you know they
actually did used to think this that's
where it came from right it wasn't like
just something someone made up
they you figure it out because there's a
seed of truth to it right right but
there's so much more to that's not how
our bodies work we're not just computers
where you put one number in and and you
get it another number out exactly and
and like what car's
saying we expend different amount of
calories every day with our activity and
just our body functions use calories I'm
not sure if people know that we're going
to get into that one a little bit more
at some point I think we have that
somewhere on the list too y um so yeah
so the amount that we eat we don't have
to burn off exactly that amount to like
break even or be zero or whatever it is
yeah and it you could anyway it's
impossible to do exactly like eat
exactly the number of calories and there
there's even calorie counters and
whatever you know charts and stuff it
you know what's a mediumsized apple
right exactly right like it's it's just
there is no way to get it exactly um and
there's so many different things that um
that influence your weight um you know
one of them's hormones and there's
genetics and there's season of life you
know like I'm in the menopausal season
of My Life and you know I've seen some
of the effects um there's just so many
different things it is not as black and
white as and simple as just calories in
calories out
exactly well Ashley but if I can do it
you can do
it my number two this is probably my big
biggest like least favorite one
so like we're talking about people that
have done something to influence their
health
and or their weight and then preach to
everybody that this is a great way to do
it and everyone can do it if you just do
what I did um and we're not all the same
like we just mentioned in the previous
one we're not
machines um we all have different things
going
on so
frustrating yeah it is and um when wo it
fall fall into this is willpower right
like you just have willpower to do it um
and so you know those of us who don't
have the willpower are just
screwed throw in the towel because
forget about it right um and where a lot
of it any any kind of behavior change
really starts in the in the brain and
it's changing right your you know when
you're changing habits or anything like
that um some of it is changing your
beliefs about yourself right um and
things like that which is a whole other
right don't go down that rabbit hole
Carrie no rain me back in Ashley that's
right but yeah just because it worked
for one person doesn't mean it's gonna
work for another it doesn't mean it's
healthy for you either exactly that's
true and another part of it is like if
you just work hard enough like this
other person did well first of all this
person might just genetically be in a
smaller body if they're you know aiming
for weight loss and no matter how hard
quote unquote someone works that's in a
larger body they might never get that
size because all of our bodies are just
different they're different sizes
they're you know made up differently
we're not meant to all be exactly the
same right and also you don't know like
I what kills it just kills me like some
of these people especially the
celebrities are like oh you know all you
have to do is whatever
XYZ when you can look at them and
clearly see that one they went under the
knife right
um they probably have a personal chef
and a person trainer right like all the
and the money right and time and the
time so there's so many different like
it it drives me crazy I I remember just
quickly years ago I got this um when I
was doing more writing um I got a press
release from a representative and it was
on it it's this uh procedure called AB
etching and what it was was it was for
people who had a certain amount of body
fat which was lower like they already
you know dieted their way or ex you know
their way down to low body fat but they
could not genetically get a
six-pack so the doctor would go in it
was basically a like a a mini form of
lipos suction would be small canula and
they would suck out basically um suck
out the fat in a way that made it look
like you had it six PS oh my God can you
imagine so what if the Prof profal um
Publications that I wrote for I said I
wanted to do an article on it well and
they said well let's um instead we want
you to write a letter to the editor
about it and let's see what what
feedback we get it was really
interesting because it was it was both
ends I had some people were like very um
you know how dare Ms Meyers you know
think that she it was her business none
of my client because my part of my
argument was if as an exercise and
health professional we are saying all
you have to do is you know eat less and
work out harder and do this and that and
you'll look like this right when in fact
you're going under the knife and having
it
done um how's that being honest to our
clients and our students right and some
people said straight up it's none of
their students and clients business oh
yeah I was very I was shocked at some of
the responses some of them also um said
that it what I wrote made them realize
like they were thinking about having
plastic surgery and it changed their
mind on it oh that's exciting yeah yeah
but you have to keep that in mind that
what you are seeing in pictures on TV
and this and that and they're telling
you just do this and it'll work for you
too probably won't like you know and
probably they've also had other
enhancements than just what they're
telling you to do with most of it
there's like the fine print even though
there might not be actual fine print
anywhere like just the idea of it like
there there's something else going on
probably and if not for real like if
they really did this and this worked for
them their body's probably more just
genetically predisposed to being able to
do that and not everybody's is right
yeah and even some of the commercials
for the weight loss programs look at the
fine print yeah some of them even lose
weight using that program I know it's
yeah it's just it's keeping that bigger
picture in mind and um being realistic
about it yeah and it's so hard because
we have so much pressure and again we're
kind of going a little bit off topic
even though it's related but there's so
much pressure and it's easy to find
yourself looking for that quick fix and
it's easy to find yourself wanting to
believe that these things are true and
Carrie and I will be the first ones to
tell you look at your past experiences
with these things how have they worked
for you before right and if you're still
looking for them my guess is that they
probably didn't work right yeah and I
think was at our last episode um where
we talk about the health habits just I
can't remember one of the last
ones that we focused on the health
habits instead of right like so when
look at you know nutrition and intuitive
eating and physical activity and sleep
and stress and you know like we said
season of life and genetics and your
medical issues um because those all have
to be taken into account accountability
and you don't have to you can change
your health without changing your weight
yes and that is research based that is
evidence-based that if you start moving
more for instance and you start managing
your stress and sleeping better those
you might not drop a pound but it can
change your blood pressure and your
cholester cherol um and your blood sugar
um lower your disease risk so and I hope
that you all get sick of us saying that
because I think it takes a long time to
of hearing it before we actually believe
it absolutely and accept it right like
we can believe it but also not accept it
yet and so I hope that we're continuing
to plant the
seeds and water it a little bit and
fertilize it we'll nourish it a little
bit yes absolutely well Ashley do you
have to track things for accountability
oh no please don't in fact and we've
talked about this on a couple of our
past episodes but the whole tracking I
idea is I think people mean well at
first right like I want to do this goal
so I'm going
to do figure out what I'm doing now and
then make some adjustments and change
some things and a lot of times tracking
is part of that but what happen happens
is we tend to really hyperfocus on like
data so we're tracking for example
calories we tend to get this like past
fail mindset around well if I have a
calorie goal of x if I go under that
then yay me I'm good I did a great job
today um but if I go over this x goal
then I'm bad and there's lots of things
that happen based on either one of those
outcomes and most of the time people are
tracking on a daily basis which is not
very helpful because nutrition is about
patterns not days and I think we're
going to talk about a little bit more
about that later on but um it's really
frustrating because we just get into
like I said that like hyperfocus mindset
about it and like we mentioned our
bodies aren't
machines yeah and then when we get sick
of
tracking we sto tracking and then we
stop any of the health habits that we
were changing right because it's usually
super extreme like we're trying to cut
down again I'll stick with the calorie
example we're trying to cut back x
amount of calories every day which is
probably too many to take away and so
there's no way it's sustainable or
another thing like do you want to be
tracking calories forever like every day
because if you're cutting back that much
it's harder to pay attention to if
you're not doing it if you're doing
something that extreme so are we going
to stick with that for a long period of
time and again if not then we're losing
those health benefits or maybe and it gu
just gets obsessive right we discussed
um also like obsessing about those
things whether it's calories or
or whatever else you're you know you're
tracking um
macros physical activity all of it um
it's actually worse for your mental
health to get obsessed about all that
stuff than it is to not right like it it
negatively affects your mental health
for sure and part of it boils down to
that like control like if I'm not
counting calories for example then I
have no idea what I'm doing and I'm
going to go off the deep end and I don't
trust myself to you know be reasonable
about this and we're going to talk about
that a little bit more in in a
minute um what about carbs so they get a
bad wrap right Carrie carbs are bad
that's the myth that is a huge myth
carbs are bad yeah so in actuality carbs
or carbohydrates are one of our
macronutrients which is something that
we need to sustain life um carbs are
like our main energy fuel so they're
like our body's gas um there are certain
parts of our bodies that only really
like to run on fuel from carbohydrates
so that's something interesting yes
exactly brain kind of an important organ
just a little bit your brain only uses
glucose correct that is right and so
glucose comes from carbs exactly so when
we're not giving it those things which
come from fruits
vegetables whole grains any of that ring
a bell like right and that people are
saying that carbs are bad when in fact
carbs actually encompasses all those
things fruits vegetables whole grains so
they are not they don't seem beans have
carbs like I Think It's Tricky when we
start um like hyperfocusing
on food groups and removing food groups
and things like that because another
really big part of nutrition is variety
because our body needs so many vitamins
minerals nutrients for it to function
proper properly well where do we think
that we're getting all these from it's
all the different food groups have
different nutrient profiles so like
carbs have b vitamins for example or
fruits and veggies have a lot of
minerals and things like potassium for
example and meat has protein and you
know the food groups have different
things is the bottom line and they're
all
important right right awesome well do I
have to eat organic
foods or fresh like what about like like
I've heard that can you shouldn't eat
canned fruits and vegetables or um even
Frozen maybe a little bit better than
canned like I don't know what is the
truth there yeah so all of those things
are super common I hear them all the
time but that's all false
information so organic I'm just going to
kind of start with what you started with
and work our way down so or organic only
means that the growing used organic
practices which usually means they're
free from certain pesticides or things
like that but that doesn't mean that
there's no pesticides used so I think
that's another big piece of
misinformation um and sometimes our
organic um fruits and veggies um don't
make sense for people because they're
way more expensive and so similarly with
the and or fresh or frozen sometimes
fresh stuff is way more expensive
depending on the season right like if
it's December and you really like fresh
cherries you might not even find them
here or they're going to be really
expensive and
so I'd rather have people buy the fruits
and veggies that they can afford whether
it's canned fresh Frozen whatever as
opposed to not eating them because they
feel like they can't because they should
only eat organic for example yeah and
yeah I've actually heard people say that
like well I can't afford the organic so
why bother right and and the nutrition
profiles are not that much different
between all of them they still have the
nutrition they still have the fiber they
still have the vitamins and minerals yes
cooking or like putting it through a
heat process for like canning for
example does change things around a
little bit but you're still getting so
many benefits from it and they're
usually a lot easier to do deal with as
far as like preparing or eating in
general yeah for sure for sure well this
brings us the next myth about clean
eating first first what is clean eating
I guess from what I would gather from
everything is clean eating is supposed
to be like you shouldn't eat any
processed foods um there's even another
like sub category of clean eating that's
like only eat raw foods um but basically
like no sugar no fried foods as close to
fresh and unprocessed as you can get um
and that is so hard for us to do because
we live in such a busy lifestyle for
most of us these days that it doesn't
make sense to spend all of the time
figuring out what we can or canot
eat and not to mention it becomes to be
that like obsessive like oh I can't have
this banana but I could have this banana
because it's organic or looking at
packages and trying to figure out which
one is processed less for example or
does this have one gram of sugar in it
and if so I can't have it or whatever
the case may be yeah or it gets to the
point where some people just won't eat
like let's say you're running behind and
you've got this appointment that you
have to get to but you aren't home and
you haven't eaten and you're
starving um but you refuse to eat a fast
food you refuse to eat it so you'd
rather go hungry then you get to your
your meeting and your blood sugar's
tanking can't think straight right like
I guess it you have to decide for
yourself which is what you'd rather have
right and it's frustrating because it's
like we're putting our health at risk by
trying to improve our health by sticking
to these like quotequote food rules like
yeah that catch 22 right we can't
perform our best if we're not fed and if
we're putting parameters around what
food we're able to eat then it limits
our options and it's it's harder for us
to feed ourselves and we're doing it to
ourselves right it's not
like do this right I me it's one thing
if you've got food allergies right of
course heliac disease or something like
that obviously we're not talking about
that kind of
instance hey listeners so car and I got
very carried away um during this episode
on our nutrition myths and so we decided
to split it into two parts so tune in to
our next podcast which will be episode
19
to hear the rest of our conversation we
have some really good stuff in there um
yeah so if you have any questions we'd
love to hear them you can find us on
social media um on our podcast
platforms and on Spotify there's a Q&A
section on there so if you want to ask
questions or leave comments and let us
know what you're liking or what you want
to hear more of you can find us there
and all the links to everything are down
in our show notes so hopefully we'll
have you tune in to episode 19 next time
and we'll see you then we love you
latte