Episode #15 Future You in 2022

Happy New Year! Good-bye resolutions and lofty goals, hello Future You! Lasting changes comes from who is it that you want to be in the future and taking action from there. Join us this week as we talk about creating long-lasting change from a new mindset.

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You are listening to wait a minute with Beth and Jessica episode 15.

happy new year and welcome back. Or if you're new, then welcome. Welcome. We are delighted to have you. I'm Jessica Pearson, body image and weight loss coach. I'm Beth Barnett, Abel integrative health dietician. How are you

Ben? It's been a wild ride. So we had Christmas break and we had all these plans. And then like most of the world that we all to COVID my daughter got it. On Christmas Eve. She had symptoms for. Six or eight hours and then was fine. That was her symptom. And we only thought to test her because she took a nap in the middle of the day for some super unusual running usual.

So anyway, so we tested her as positive. So then that kind of derailed all future plans that we had with family and friends and things. Fine. And so, yeah, and then we were getting ready to spend some new years with our neighbors and have some other friends up from San Antonio and family and the other one tested positive and was asymptomatic until the next day.

And then at all, he got the usual Alma Crohn's symptoms of sore throat cough, runny nose, but otherwise fine. And bill and I are still negative. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. I think we all tested positive right before Christmas. And so we just canceled everything. So I was really sick. I mean, Hospitalizations sick, but I was definitely on a mission for a full 24 hours.

Didn't leave the room. Didn't mom at all that day. And then, yeah, I kind of slugging through the rest of the week, but yeah. And I still feel like 10% off, like just not totally right. But I think I'm definitely on the mend, so good. I'm ready to start the year. Get back to regular life. Yeah, I'm on new year's day.

I was out in the yard, walking around, moving some things around and I stepped in dog poo and I was like, is this the sign of what's to come or is stepping in Pooh good luck. So we all decided on my. It was good luck. It's a hundred percent. Yeah. The people who were already like poo-pooing the year, I'm like, no, we just started, even though it might not be off to a good start.

Like maybe that's a good sign. Cause 2020, it started out. Great. And look where that got us so full two years. And I also want to say. While we're talking about personal things, happy birthday, Jessica. So happy that we're recording. There's going to do a little shout out. And so we were delayed in our recording schedule due to illness.

And so, yeah, a, this is a gift I will say, even though I don't love the timing of my birthday because they just feel like, yeah, you've always said. It's not like a good time where I'm like, Hey, who wants to go out and party? Everybody's exhausted. And just trying to get back to our regularly scheduled program.

But I do like that it is next to the new year because it does feel like a good time to reflect and think about things. I feel like my new year's is January 3rd.

We did well. So we did talk a little bit about new year's resolutions in our recent holiday, special episode we did. And now we're on the other side of the holiday. And it's officially 20, 22. We want to start the year with some reinforcements for our listeners to just get you guys going in the right direction for the new.

Yes. I think that no matter what behavior—with food or alcohol or lack of movement or any behaviors that you had over the holiday, it's okay. You don't need to use the new year as a means to. fix That things that happened or the food that you ate or make up for it or punish yourself. So creating guilt or shame only drives you deeper into that negative spiral with food and your body.

You might want to go into that all or nothing thinking as a fixed. So like having the urge to do an overly restrictive cleanse or diet. I know that it's whole 30 time, right? Isn't the January, the whole 30 months. Cause I've already gotten several stories in my feed of people announcing their whole 30 and whole foods.

Hot bar will have their whole 30 approved. Items up and things like that. And it can feel like an exciting, fresh start, but it will soon deflate for most of us. And then you're not really getting what you wanted out of the whole thing. So can we. Not do that this year. We're going to, and it's okay. Like, I don't know, we're not saying, oh my gosh, please don't do this, but I want y'all to listen to what we have to share and apply it if you can.

So this pep talk is totally for y'all, but honestly, it's for me too, I'm doing this work for myself, but instead of. Applying it to body image or weight loss and applying it to other areas of my life. Like getting back to work full time and thinking about the things that I want to create for 2022. So I like to use a tool that I want to share with you all that I call future.

Well not, I, it is a coaching tool that I got from my coach, but we call it future you. Right? So it's where we paint a very clear picture of. Who do you want to be in the future? You don't have to know the full power of how you're going to get there, but just imagine you living in that goal already. So as we apply this to body image and weight, or your whole health, whatever it is, you have your sights set on.

Think about how you show up in normal, everyday life, living in the goal that you desire. So, for example, how does future. Talk to you, what behaviors are you currently participating in now that maybe future you doesn't do any longer? What actions do you take that you aren't taking now? Maybe what feelings do you feel in the future?

What thoughts are you thinking? And so on. There's a lot to explore here now there sure is. And I love it so much because it's not about the goal. It's really about the process and who do you want to be? Or who do I want to be? I don't want you or myself to create this whole new personality. That's not what we're saying is that you have to change yourself and become this whole new things.

But along with all of our imperfections, how do I really want to show up for myself or my family or my community? And over the Christmas break, I was really thinking a lot about this. And then while I was cleaning, I was listening to a Bernay brown podcast where she had author James clear on it. And I just loved it so much because he was saying these types of things as well, that I know and believe, but it's always really good to hear it from others and their own little twist.

And he called what we referenced. Future you as identity based habits. And so who is the person that you want to become versus the result that you want. And then he went on to say that every action we take is like a vote for the type of person you want to become. Love that. So if we are doing things.

That are opposing what we really want to become. Then we need to be aware and then be able to make those changes and not beat ourselves up about it. And they're all small things. Like I move for five minutes every day and then it can move in there. So just starting in these small places, cause you're still a person that moves say, even if it's only for five minutes, every action.

That we take is like a vote for the person you want freedom. And of course, there's going to be things in there as well, that are going to be part of the human experiences that we don't do everything the way we. Exactly. So that's what I think is fun to explore it because I know I will start to paint this perfect future me first, right?

You're like, oh, I only feel positive feelings a hundred percent of the time. And I'm doing all the things and I never followed her, which. Yeah, that's not actually accurate. Right. That's kind of that all or nothing thinking when we get excited about the future, we start kind of, overpainting this idea. So it's kind of just important to notice that and take it in for a second and then maybe just back up and let's get realistic about it because yeah, you're not going to, I mean, maybe you will.

I know I'm not going to work out for 90 minutes every day. For every day of 2022. That sounds very unrealistic for me. I mean, maybe if you were an athlete, that sounds easy too, but so it's like, okay, well what would actually be realistic? So yes, like those five minutes sounds like a really good place to start, even though your brain might be like, but that's not enough.

So of course I'm going to have days off getting kind of realistic while painting that picture and knowing, yeah, I might have. How am I going to have uncomfortable feelings without trying to fix it? Or like, yes. It's like, how can I learn to just sit with my discomfort? Cause that's kind of how I get to where I need to be or how.

Does future me manage difficult situations and yeah, like, how am I aligning my actions with my priorities? Obviously, first I have to know what my priorities are before I can even align my actions with this. So when you say, you know, every action is a vote for the person you want to be, you do have to know who is the person that I want to be in order to align those actions.

Right. I think one thing that really stands out to me in this topic is that. When things go a little awry and we feel disappointed in ourselves or feel that uncomfortableness is that we do try to get it into that, fix it mentality. After we feel bad, then try to go into how do I fix feeling bad? I think that's really important is to it's okay.

To feel uncomfortable with our feelings for a little bit. We can feel uncomfortable and not try to fix everything. And it's okay because it's just a feeling and we need to know that we can handle feeling those feelings. Great. Because the majority of our behaviors that usually don't align with who we want to be.

Are coming from that, fix it mentality. That's kind of where the beating yourself up comes from. And it's like a frantic energy, the fixed energy, all because we're trying to avoid the negative emotion. Right. So, yeah, maybe so. Yeah. So future, you probably has to figure out how to deal with her feelings or his feelings.

Right? Um, I think that's a really good tool. And another way, if you don't really know where to start with that, because I think it can be. It's very big right. To start thinking about that. But one way that can be helpful as a good way to process. This is to just start journaling out your thoughts now, like what do you believe about yourself?

What do you believe about food? What do you believe about dieting in your body? You can just list as many beliefs as you can think of. And then you just ask yourself, is this something I would like to carry with me into the future? Or is this maybe something I could drop moving forward? Yeah. And then what are the thoughts that I like to try on to be future?

I think I had a similar conversation with somebody before the holidays about that, like about beliefs. Around food. And what do you really want to believe? But you well, and then I think we asked, well, what do you believe now? And is it still true? And so then I think some of those, like who do I want to become?

Who does future me questions? Do my beliefs that I have now, do they still hold true because they might have held true for a time period. That was important for you. Yeah, but maybe those beliefs are no longer true for you. And so like really hard to, and so that's a great point that belief doesn't have to be right or wrong.

Good or bad. It's just, this is a belief, still something you want to believe. It doesn't, it doesn't have to be right or wrong. It's just, you get to decide what you want to believe and how it applies to you now. So before we go into that example, one thing that needs to happen in these beliefs or these changes or future you is, does future.

You love yourself because a lot of us don't love ourselves. And, but we're, so we're trying, and we've talked about this before, right? How am I talking about this? More on a podcast about you have to love yourself now. Yeah. We talked about body image. Into your heads podcast. Yes. So we're just going to keep repetition.

That's why I said this is a reinforcement episode to reinforce this, that future. You also loves yourself. And so how does that look? For you of loving yourself versus where you're at now. So you need to start talking to yourself like someone who loves you now. Cause we can't put that off for later.

Remember that doesn't work. You have to do it now because you can't hate change for ourselves. So let's start there. Yeah. So much easier said than done. I have been thinking about this personally, too, because it's. I do love myself, but I don't necessarily love where I'm at right now, or at least where I have been just because.

Momming for a year, which has been amazing. And I have so much gratitude and in all of that, of course, but I'm just like, I think I made that such a big priority that there's been other things also thanks to pandemic lifestyle and other things. There's like things I haven't done that I'm like, that was such a big part of me that helped me feel authentically me and fostered some of that love, even though.

Again, external things can't make us feel love. Will you produce that inside? But, so that's why I say I'm like, I know that I love myself, but like I'm looking forward to starting to take more of those actions, I guess, that align with that thought. So I don't know, for an example, I'm like, I hadn't been to a yoga class in two weeks.

Yeah, I did some online ones, but still scared to go inside one. I was thinking about it and I was like, oh my God, if I go, I'm going to go sit in this super room and just lay on my mat and cry.

So happy to be here, you know? And so I've just, I've been thinking a lot about those things. Like what are the actions that do align. Authentic me and happy me and the person that loves myself. It's like, who is she is I think we probably all have taken a break since 2020, maybe have stepped away from where we were in 2019.

And it's like, yeah, we don't have to go back. There's no going back. What are we doing in the future? And yes, we can get excited about it and think about the future, but it's not an end goal right. Doing today. Yeah, it has to start with today.

I'm like, are we rambling? I don't know, but maybe, yeah. That's the point. We just want to reinforce that it's exciting to start a new year time. Uh, construct really, but, uh, yeah, we'll bring it home. Yes, please. So before you dive into yet another restricted diet this year, or really super ambitious exercise plan or a all or nothing.

And mentality, ask yourself, is this how future moon dates today? Because it's really the small things that add up versus the big sweeping changes. And again, I will quote James clear. During the interview, when asked, how long does it take to build a habit? He said it takes forever because if there's a deadline, like I want to be healthy in 30 days, that's a deadline.

And then we think when we get there, we won't have to worry about anymore, but that's not actually true. A habit is no longer a habit when you stop doing it. And that just totally blew my mind. So we need to be about things that we do on a regular basis. Like yeah. What do you do on day 30? One of whole 30, right?

That's what I'm always wondering what some people continue to some degree and then most people just go back. Yeah. Some people make it. So amazed. They're like, I feel so amazing and then they get off of it and then go back to the. Normal process food ways or whatever, and then they feel terrible again.

And I'm like, wait, we're like, well, what did you learn?

I mean, again, it's okay to explore the things and try the things we're not trying to like. Shame anybody for doing that? Cause it's like, we'll take some of the things that worked for you out of it. That felt really good. Like what out of the whole 30 is sustainable for you? There may not be all components of it.

I wouldn't be able to do it all the time because I love beans so much. Like I could do it for 30 days, but I, because there were no bean, right. They don't do logins. I don't think so. That's not something that would be sustainable for me, but it's just a little bit more meat than I normally eat. But the rest of it, I'm like I can get down with a lot of it and appreciate it.

How much it has brought health into the mainstream. I like what you said is like, what about this as sustainable moving forward? And then just trying to make it a lesson and trying to learn from it, not just using it as like. Uh, diet. Yeah. Cause that's really, what has stuck with me since listening to that podcast with James clear is that habit is no longer a habit when we stopped doing it.

I might take a couple of days off of doing the one thing, but I get back to it cause there's, you know, breast or there's something what's your most sustainable baseline. Correct? So everyone out there, please. It's okay. To not have a resolution. You can just pick one small thing that you want to change or work towards.

Yes.

So let's move on to our weekly segment. Though each week, we keep our eyes peeled for things in the media or in real life that come from diet culture that perpetuates diet culture in some way, these are often the subtle ways it creeps in, which is why we're shining a light on it and sharing it with you.

That's been good. So what do we have over breaks? It was really funny. It was very entertaining to me. So I saw this image and it was like a graphic of two hands when it showed the fingers. And it said based on the pattern of the length of your finger, You could be eating a certain way that would deal, do weight loss.

What type of intermittent faster, or you are 16, 20 or 16, eight, whatever the numbers are. It was like a 16, 18 hour fast, or like a 12 hour. When was the 24? Oh, that was a few. And so I don't know. I sent it to Beth cause I was like, they just make this up. Yeah, I'm sure. I mean also who thought of, oh, you know, people have these different finger height patterns, I guess like toes.

The next one we'll see will be if your feet you're little to, if your second toes bigger than your big toe, a certain way, world of fighting misinformation, internet, I still don't understand how ads like this are even allowed. And not only are they allowed cause bright there's that freedom of speech, but it's also like that people are producing them because they know that somebody will buy it or click on it or do something or interact with it.

So then that's the thing is that they are like, well, people. It's fascinating. Psychology. We get excited. You're like, oh yeah, which 1:00 AM I? And we look at our fingers and we're like, oh, well, you know, I don't know. It was just funny the way the brain like wants to play a game. Well, when you sent it to me, I did look at my fingers and I realized that there were these patterns.

The finger, it was like your ring middle and first finger. And then, so it was like the, I didn't realize that there would be so much variety in that pattern, right? Like isn't ring finger a longer than your index finger or vice versa. Yeah, I don't. Yeah, that was one. And then, or they were like really all pretty similar, like very little, very answer.

I think that was one. So anyways, it's so, so interesting, but I did not look to see which type of intermittent fascinating

fingers are different. So then you had one that you just recently and you were going to do two today since it's been awhile. So. And I think that this one is really important for the time of year. So that's why the other reason why I'm, so I clicked on it. Of course. So like I'm getting the ads like multiple times a day in all my platforms.

So that's frustrating, but it was a bar that is designed to eat when you are doing intermittent fasting, but you get hungry.

Food. Yes. Isn't that they're like, you're supposed to be fasting, but here's a snack, but here's a snack. Yes. And so I just was like, no, that's, it's a bar, which means it's food. And then I was like, well, what's in it, which is why I clicked on it. And I didn't really totally look at all the ingredients. Yeah, the smart way to intermittent fast, the food hack that won't break your fast with an asterisk.

And I'm like, But it has like 200 calories, but what does the asterick mean? That's why, I don't know. Thus, I don't, it's not on here. I don't see the asterick. Maybe I can, I mean, know the science of when they say, you know, what will break your fast something that's liquid calories. But yeah, I just couldn't.

I was like, I don't understand that because you are breaking your fast, you're just not having a whole. Meal to start your meal time. Oh, here, let's see if we can find the asterick. Where does that? Astrick it's a lot of scrolling to get to the asterick. Let's see, of course was surprised to even show you the ingredients.

I feel like sometimes things like that, they really do a good job of hiding the details. The asterick just takes me to the products. So, I don't know. I might have to get back to there, put an asterisk, so you can't hold us liable, but you also can't find the information that's oh, in a randomized control study of 105 adult participants festered overnight for 15 hours.

Had either breakfast, fast bar or water and blood glucose and ketones were measured every four hours with results shown above. So they have, it was the same glucose response stayed exactly the same of fascinating versus having the bar. But you were. Ketone levels went down and then up after hour two, and then three and four.

So for some reason it moved your ketones up. And so your two fast for 12 hours have this bar and then. During the next four hours. And then during your eight hour eating window, you eat food to what's your dietician since this information. Well as a snack, I mean, So basically this is just con because it's low carb.

Yeah. And it's continuing Calor, calorie control or whatever. I don't know. It's technically not fasting it's again, just like clever marketing to get people to think a certain way. And. They just needed to put a new name on a similar product as my right. Cause fascinating with food is their trademark

fasting with food. Like it's a literal oxymoron in a today. And it can't and there's doctors who are like, Ooh, yay. And it's just cause it's calorie control and that's really what it is, but they won't market it as that. I'm irritated once again,

which I will say that's the one thing maybe the whole 30 has going for it is hopefully. Opens people's eyes to eating more for foods like the packaged foods.

Well, I sure hope we gave you something new to think about. And helped you take one more step on your path to free yourself and bed church. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast and please follow us on Instagram at path there. Score nutrition and see you next week. Bye everyone.