Food, diet, and nutrition are always difficult topics to cover – because everyone appears to be an expert. What shocks me is that all of the experts have very different solutions to what ails us. Thanks to marketing and processing and plain old deliciousness of bad food – we all have an issue with what we consume. And I’m tired of conflicting information. 

So, this being National Nutrition Month, I decided to get a real expert. Not a person who reads an article and can repeat it; not a person who did it 40 years ago and hasn’t kept up with the times; but a person who lives and breathes it constantly. 

Marissa is a pro – and what I really appreciate about her work is that it’s more than just what nutrition is on your plate. Marissa is focused on the whole person – and what nutrition can mean beyond food, and brings a coaching mentality (others first!) to the table to make it really work. 

The idea of nutrition and food as self-care is fundamental – and far beyond what many others will preach. Often we separate the physical (our diet) from the mental (what we need for our mental wellbeing) – but they are intertwined far more than we realize (and science continues to uncover more). 

I want to say that Marissa cuts the BS out of it, which she does, but she does it in such a nice and caring way that BS is too strong a word. She takes the nonsense out of nutrition – and sets you up for a good way to approach what you need. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed chatting with her!

For more information on Marissa: 

Contact information: mwinters358@gmail.com; marissa.winters@hmhn.org
Linkedin: Marissa Winters, MA RDN NBC-HWC
Hackensack Meridian Health: search “Integrative Health”
The Center for Conscious Caregiving
Instagram:@centerforconsciouscaregiving (TCFCC)
Facebook: The Center for Conscious Caregiving

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Click Here for an Unedited Transcript of the Podcast

Okay. 3, 2, 1. Welcome to bellweather. Thank you for joining this week. We have a phenomenal guest. If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a long time, you know, that, you know, just last week I had the big shtick on wellness and we, we reorganize wellness. We talk about wellness all the time on this has these different components. One of the frustrating things I have with talking about wellness is there’s a lot about the, what needs to happen, less on the how. And I always like to bring in experts to talk about these types of things. And, and I do a lot of work in the background. You don’t necessarily see it, you see it when they come, but we find the really good people that are gonna give you really good, good knowledge. And that’s what we’re gonna do today. A lot of people, when we talk about physical wellness, you talk about your diet, your fitness, your sleep.

Speaker 1 (00:55):

And if you read the book, you know, we talked about how much, what you eat impacts your ability to think about things and, and your cognitive ability. And, and there’s this kind of big, whole circle of everything thing that, that we want to talk about today. I brought in, uh, an integrative nutritionist. She’s brilliant. She knows exactly everything, uh, that we want to learn because nutrition is such a big topic. And it’s so big. It’s so confusing. Everybody seems to be an expert when they’re not, they have little context as to what you need, and we get confused trying to find whatever the fad diet is, or I want a short term thing. And, and so let’s just cut the, cut the BS, and let’s get to, to an expert. And, and that’s why we have Marisa winter here. So Marisa, thank you for joining us on BAA, the hub. Please tell us about yourself and then let’s get right into it.

Speaker 2 (01:46):

Well, thank you so much for having me. I’m, uh, thrilled to be here. I am an integrative nutritionist. I’m a registered dietician nutritionist. I have a master’s in holistic health from Georgian court in good old Lakewood, New Jersey. Um, and I am also a certified board certified health and wellness coach right now. I’m working with Hackensack, Meridian, integrative health, and wellness. So I do have a clinical practice with that group, um, which is an amazing learning experience, terrific bunch of people, a wonderful team. And, um, I also do a lot of work with the center for conscious caregiving, which is more of the coaching end of it.

Speaker 1 (02:29):

Excellent. And so when we, now this being, I should have just said, we’re kicking this off a national nutrition month. So this is, you know, the perfect time to have this discussion. What I like about you and, and what we’ve talked about before, you know, before we actually recorded, this is there’s a balance between what’s factual, good information regarding Nutri, but then also the coaching people on how to get there. So talk to me a little bit about, you know, you say it’s ultimately about self-care, but give me a little bit of your philosophy on nutrition and how we should be thinking about nutrition and, and getting our, our heads in the right place before we really talk about the house and everything else.

Speaker 2 (03:09):

That’s, that’s a, it’s a great segue in, um, I think what has happened and where a lot of the noise and the confusion comes in is that over the last, I don’t know, 20 years, maybe probably a little bit longer, most of the nutrition research has focused on individual nutrients. It’s all about vitamin D or whatever the nutrient of the day is. Right. And the reality is that that re way of looking at things doesn’t necessarily serve us. It’s great for the science aspect, but we eat food. So we tend to think of things when we read about nutrition, 10 power foods that will change your life and all that stuff. And, and, you know, let’s face it, it tho that’s, it’s not that bowl, you are eating food and you’re putting it into a system. So I always look at it like, you know, the body, instead of being a, a mechanistic type of, uh, paradigm, right?

Speaker 2 (04:14):

So let’s just say like, I hurt my shoulders. So now I go get my shoulder repaired. I have clogged. Our are reason my heart. And so now I have a workaround. I can get a bypass, right? In reality, we’re not machines. We’re more like gardens. And, and that’s how I kind of propose it to a lot of my patients is you’ve gotta look at the whole thing. So you can’t just look at an individual nutrient and then target the foods that provide that nutrient. Because what we know also is that eating patterns are really the thing that create health and wellbeing in people. It’s not that, you know, your macros are aligned it’s that you are eating food that is nourishing, you’re eating, uh, a compliment, a variety, a balance. You know, you are giving yourself nutrients together because we know there’s a synergistic effect in nutrients, right? So if you eat something orange with something green, it’s gonna work better. So two plus two equals five. Um, so it’s, it’s shifting more into the mindset of how am I gonna take care of myself? And what’s the broader picture, like pull back the lens a little bit, versus focusing so much on the nuts and bolts and getting it right. And

Speaker 1 (05:37):

I like, and I don’t like the garden analogy. I like the garden analogy because well, people don’t eyes, is that a garden doesn’t just happen when you plant the seeds. It happens throughout the year, even in the off season and everything else. Right. What I don’t like about that analogy is I tried to do that with my daughter and it was an absolute disaster. So figuring out the garden is, uh, and maybe that’s my segue into the question is how much do we have to learn in terms of figuring out these things that pair well together? You said the orange and the green pairing well is really good. Figuring out the nutrients that we actually need. How much education is there? Is there a shortcut that people can take? Is there, you know, because when we, the macro thing is confusing for some people, right? What’s really a car versus, you know, you got your, your carbs, your proteins, you know, all of these different things. And I know you’re looking at your macros and people, then you’re, they’re counting their calories, but how do calories relate to macros? And so there’s a process to it and right. And it’s, it’s frustrating. So where do you begin to edgy yourself to find out what’s best for you?

Speaker 2 (06:41):

So first you stop trying so hard because there are a thousand ways to get it right. It’s really a matter of, of eating food. And this has become a very popular mantra. And I, and I really, um, like Michael pollen with his little mantra about eat food, not too much, mostly plants, those are really simple things. Um, the point with the garden is that it’s all interrelated and there are seasons. There are times where you are going to be craving salads, and there are gonna be times where you’re just done with salads and you want something warming. Okay. So Irish

Speaker 1 (07:22):

Stew. So that’s a good Irish stew,

Speaker 2 (07:24):

A good Irish Guinness stew. This is the month for it. Absolutely. Absolutely. And, and it’s acknowledging that and recognizing that because your body is giving you messages all the time, it’s just, we’re not really paying a whole lot of attention. We’re trying to whip it into submission or force it into doing something and deferring our own body’s wisdom and needs to some expert. Right. And so it really is quite simple, eat food, not a food like substance eat, something that looks the way it’s found in nature, or so an apple versus apple sauce versus apple chips. Right. Right. So there’s different levels of processing and not all of them are bad, but really it boils down to common sense to a large extent, too. Like, you know, that those potato chips are not the same as a potato. Come on, be honest, but they do taste, you

Speaker 1 (08:22):

Know, it, they do taste better.

Speaker 2 (08:23):

They taste, they taste good in certain circumstances. And there’s no reason why you can’t have them. Right. So again, it’s just, what do you wanna do with yourself? What are you, what are you feeding, I guess is really the, the key question. Are you feeding wellbeing? Are you feeding a heartbreak? Are you feeding a frustrating day? What are you feeding? And is it working right? So I guess there’s a ton of shortcuts. None of them are actually going to be sustainable.

Speaker 1 (08:55):

Well, it sounds, it sounds like a lot of it is, is more of a psychological, the way that you’ve just, you’ve just presented. It is, you know, what are you feeding? It’s almost, um, you know, why do you eat, right? What is nourishment? And some people think about it as fuel for, you know, your machine. Other people would say, it’s just nourishment so that you could do the things you want to do. Um, is this more of a learning process for people to, to reframe how they think about food? Which sounds kind of silly when you think about it, you know, why do you eat food? It’s not just to live, but there’s actually, it serves a purpose for you to do other things. Is this just, is that how we should be thinking about, about food and nutrition and nourish meant and all of the, the other good words.

Speaker 2 (09:38):

I honestly think that we have a lack of mindfulness right now, and there is a place for it in everything we do. And that doesn’t mean that you have to, you know, agonize over, what’s the best thing and, and chew your food 50 times and all that stuff. Um, but it is, I think, important. And I think it is serving to each person to figure out, yeah, what is it that I am trying to get? Cuz sometimes food is fuel. I mean, it’s always fuel. It’s also information. It tells your cells what to do. Right? Um, it, it has a whole gamut of potential. So if you are just grabbing something because you’re so hungry, you can’t even think straight, then you’re just filling the hole and you’re not gonna make a good decision. So you’re not gonna support your wellbeing. So I think it’s really important to start out at the beginning of the day, what is it that I need to accomplish?

Speaker 2 (10:38):

What is it that I am trying to get to? How do I wanna feel? It always boils down to how do I wanna feel? Because that’s what sets your intention. Okay. And so if I want, if I know that I have a day, that’s gonna go off the rails potentially because I have patients are stacked up and then I have home responsibilities and all that stuff. I have to be able to say, okay, I need to optimize what I’m giving myself. I need to build in the time. So that as I consume it, it’s being done, uh, digested in a way that is able to access the nutrients that I’m giving myself. Right? Because if we’re eating in the car and if we’re eating while we’re working, or if we’re eating while watching the news, if you are not eating in a relaxed state, you are not digesting that food. It is not being you the way you think it is because digestion is a, is a function of a relaxed state. So, and I, and this is kind of like taking this topic off in a little

Speaker 1 (11:48):

Bit. Yeah. But that’s, I mean, when I think about of a intentionality, um, is, is all about individual focus. It’s about the inner dialogue. It’s about what do I need now? It’s about being in control of yourself. And a lot of what we talk about on the podcast and everything else is you’re ultimately responsible for the bed you lion, right. Whatever it is. And, and that’s it. And right. And we need to sometimes re revisit the way we’re having these types of conversations with ourselves. What do I actually need? And, and why am I doing what I’m doing? And, um, where we’re going to be in six months is a result of the decisions we’re making today. And it’s right. And that’s all, you know, intentionally what nourishes me and that answer could be different for every, for anybody.

Speaker 2 (12:32):

Exactly. And at different times, you know, there’s a time where those potato chips, those are fine. That brownie, it’s fine very often, but it’s an 80, 20, or a 90 10. And that, but that’s where that question comes in. Then what am I feeding? Right. If I’m going for the brownie and I’m not paying attention to, I, I want this brownie, I just see it. And I want it because it’s been a really long day and you know, everything went wrong and that person yelled at me and I missed my deadline and blah, blah, blah, whatever that story is. And then you see that brownie and that brownie is like comfort Sweetness. It’s um, sweetness now. And then you eat the brownie and you’re doing it standing up over the sink or over the garbage PA. Right. I

Speaker 1 (13:20):

Feel like you’re in our kitchen watching me at like nine o’clock at night.

Speaker 2 (13:23):

I’m in, I’m in my kitchen. This is, this is not abnormal. This is, this is why I have job. So I mean, it really boils down to taking that pause and saying, okay, what am I feeding? Yeah. Am I, and if the brownie is what’s gonna nourish your soul right now, then put the thing on a plate, sit down and savor that brownie. And then you’re not gonna regret it. But if you are just stuffing your emotions, we call it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:55):

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:56):

Right. So you’re just covering them over with food. That’s not gonna get you where you wanna go. That’s gonna start the whole, I can’t believe I did that. Why do I do that? I’m no, you know, and you start the whole story thing and you wind up shooting yourself in the foot. So being able to take a pause, being able to just take that moment, where am I right now? Am I in a stress state? Cuz if I’m eating in a stress state, that’s not gonna end well. So you know, it, it really is more complex and yet simple.

Speaker 1 (14:33):

So it’s it. But it’s also hard, right? So if we were to think about, yeah,

Speaker 2 (14:37):

It’s not easy,

Speaker 1 (14:37):

It’s not easy. It’s very simple, but it may not be,

Speaker 2 (14:39):

It’s simple, but it’s not easy. So

Speaker 1 (14:40):

How do you know, how do you do that? Right. Because you know what, in theory, as I look at that plate of brownies and say, you know what, I know I’m gonna eat brownies, right? There’s just no way I’m not gonna do it. I shouldn’t try to pretend it. And then I’m gonna regret and I’m gonna hate, you know, all of those things. So I love the idea of, you know, I’m gonna own this brownie, sit down at the table, I’m gonna eat this brown. I’m gonna enjoy this brownie. Um, is that, I mean, is that a strategy that works for people? Is there something else to, to kind of change the mentality? How, how, or you could just shove it in your mouth and be like, yeah, I, I ate the brownie, so it’s hard to be intentional sometimes, but maybe the question is when you’re in a stress state, it’s extremely difficult to be intentional, right? What it is beyond just food, your stress to work, is it to be intentional with just sending a proper email when you are stressed at home, it’s difficult to be intentional with the kids. It’s difficult to do all of these things. How do we coach people to be intentional when they’re in that stress moment, brownie in hand, on the precipice of, of regret, how do we get have people to just do that pause? Is there a strategy for that?

Speaker 2 (15:55):

There’s a bunch of strategies for it, but I, and I think part of it is the beauty of mindset and you’re, you actually hit on something perfectly because when you’re in that stress state, you know, you know that the frontal lobes go off that critical thinking goes off. That strategizing goes off and you are in a reactive state. One of the simplest ways to get yourself off or back away from the precipice is using breath. So I will tell my, my patients and I’ll tell my clients, if you can get yourself into a deep breath for round 1, 2, 3 minutes, right? If, if you can activate the vagus nerve, if you can bring yourself down off that edge, right. That can be very helpful in starting to shift that tide, then you can actually make a choice versus react to a situation. Right? The other thing, like there are a lot of little techniques.

Speaker 2 (16:52):

Um, we use emotional freedom technique, which is also known as tapping. Okay. That can be super helpful in bringing down the charge from the emotions in the body. Right. Um, so that can be helpful. Just I’ll teach people tapping. It’s super easy to learn right now. There’s a, a tapping world summit. You can find a lunch of, um, videos on YouTube for it. It’s got excellent, excellent research, backing it up, works quite well with taking people down off the edge. Um, but the thing that I’ll always stress to my patients and my clients is to get very, very clear on what you want because, and, and you never want what you think you want, right? You always want a feeling. We think that if I lose the 10 pounds or if I get the car or if I have the job or whatever it is, that’s, that’s, what’s, I want that I’ll feel better.

Speaker 2 (17:52):

My life will come into alignment. Right. And for, for me in the health and wellness field, a lot of it has to do with body image and weight. So if I have this weight or if I can, you know, get shreded or whatever, right. Then it, things are gonna be okay, that’s so you’re hooking your wagon to the wrong thing, because it’s not that external desire, that condition it’s really the feeling that you’re trying to get to. So I’m trying to feel comfortable in my clothes. I’m trying to feel energetic. I’m trying to feel worthy or attractive or whatever it takes work to get to that space. That’s deep stuff. But when we get there, when you have a very clear picture of the quality of life that you wanna embody, that becomes very motivating. And then it becomes much simpler to say, well, is this gonna bring me closer or is this going to pull me away?

Speaker 2 (18:56):

Right. And so I tell people, you know, do a vision board, write it down, get very clear on what you want and then smack it all over your house, stick it on your mirror, put it on your phone, stick it on the fridge. Slide happen on the pan of brownies, because that’s gonna give you a little bump and you’re gonna say like, okay, wait. Um, and when you’re really on the edge and you really, really, really need the brownie. My favorite trick is the three bite rule because research has shown that the first three bites of any food are the most pleasurable. So you’ve got like a diminishing marginal returns going down. Right? And so if that brownie is screaming, your name then have the brownie, but portion out three bites of it. And again, sit down, savor every bite and then have a nice drink of water. And, and you’re done cuz now you’ve maximized your pleasure. Three bites of anything. And you know, we’re talking like three bites. Well

Speaker 1 (20:00):

That’s what my head was going. Yeah. I take a good bite. Um,

Speaker 1 (20:06):

I like what you said there about, you know, a lot of these things and we’ll talk about weight loss. When, when you talk about nutrition, you have to talk about weight loss because I feel like that’s why most people would probably tune into this is, you know, I wanna lose a couple pounds here. I wanna do that. Can’t keep it off. Right. It’s this kind of cycle of ongoing and the question of why do you actually wanna lose the weight? Right. I wanna look better without a shirt at the beach. Well, that doesn’t actually matter because you’re dealing with, with an insecurity. So losing the weight, doesn’t actually address the internally, looking for external validation on something internally that you need to figure out, is this the same with nutrition? I mean, how do we get people to really they’re right out their vision board. And it’s all externally focused, intrinsically motivating, kind of, I want people to, uh, like me better or desire me more or whatever that is. But ultimately that’s your responsibility, right? And it’s not losing weight, but it’s, you know, how are you interacting with people? And it may not be your physical versioning of yourself, but how you actually treat people. How do you get people to think beyond? I just wanna lose weight into the why and what’s, what’s a good enough. Why?

Speaker 2 (21:17):

Well, the good enough, why is whatever’s really gonna motivate you, but, but that’s something that I do a lot with the coaching practice. And there’s a whole process that we use because it is not as easy as it one had done. You know, that we’re just built to self sabotage because we, we don’t like change. And once you start to initiate a change, everything starts to get in your way. Right? Um, the bottom line is what people really want is a quality of life. You’re not solving a problem. You are bringing a quality of life into your life. So you’re moving towards something you want, rather than moving away from something you don’t want. And this, this culture is very, very problem solving oriented. We can fix this, right. And it’s not so much about fixing it as it is about creating what you want.

Speaker 2 (22:13):

So yes, you wanna go to the beach and look good with your shirt off. Okay. Why? Because I wanna feel comfortable. I wanna feel confident, right? Just what you were saying. Once you start to define that, then the vision board does not become external. It becomes more supportive of that internal state of being. And, and one thing that, that I do that we do is continually bring people back to that, right? Because it needs to be a re a reminder all the time, right? Because problem solving is a default setting. And if all you’re doing is looking for problems to solve, you’re gonna find lots of problems to solve. That’s fine. But the quality of your life then is not going to improve for any long term sustainable way. So it’s emphasizing that quality and that quality is going to change over time. It’s not like, oh, I’m gonna be confident.

Speaker 2 (23:14):

And then, okay, now we’re static cuz we’re not static. We’re never static. So it will be doing those things that allow you to know yourself as a confident person. Okay. So maybe that means that I lift weights because I know that when I have nice muscle definition, I feel better about myself and that’s that enhances my confidence. Maybe I increase my hydration. Maybe I start to go to bed at a reasonable hour so that I have enough sleep so that I’m not dragging my tail, you know, three blocks behind the rest of me trying to get up to speed. So it’s defining that quality that you really, really want and choosing one, cuz we all have a bunch of ’em. So just choose one, got a

Speaker 1 (24:01):

Laundry list.

Speaker 2 (24:02):

What is it

Speaker 1 (24:03):

Got a laundry list,

Speaker 2 (24:05):

Right? But you don’t need to do it all at once. So pick one and then figure out what, what that’s gonna look like in your life.

Speaker 1 (24:17):

And, and you become a different person once you make that change and you’re gonna make different decisions at that point and everything else is that where most people you think go wrong. And when they’re trying to lose weight is they don’t really have the perspective on how either, how long it’s going to take or what lifestyle change really means or, or any of these. Because I feel like, again, it’s simple, it’s all simple. We know what we’re supposed to do yet. We just don’t do it. We know what we want, but we just don’t properly articulate it. Are these the know how do you commit to a lifestyle change and stay motivated in that lifestyle change? Because if you eat what you’re supposed to eat, you’re going to lose weight. Your body naturally figures it out. Right? So it’s not about this crash course thing, but it’s an ongoing time. How do you stay motivated to stick, to say this is the right lifestyle choice and change that I’ve made even though not seeing immediate results. How long does it take? And I don’t really, I mean, I guess it’s different for everybody, of course. But how do you, how do you, I guess keep perspective on a, on a lifestyle change?

Speaker 2 (25:20):

Well, I mean, that’s the beauty of mindset, right? So if you’ve decided that I want this quality, this is how I want my life to look. And it’s not just saying I wanna be more competent. It’s it’s really fleshing out what that looks like, how I’ll move through my day, what my relationships are going to con consist of. Right? Once that mindset’s there, then you’re going beyond the short term because, and that’s kind of, you’re in the phase of the garden, right? You’re starting to, and you may not see a result for a while. I have people all the times come in and you know, I’ve been doing this for two weeks. I’ve been doing, doing this for two weeks and I’ve only lost a pound. It’s like, dude, that’s exactly what you should be doing. That’s fine. That’s, that’s perfect. You know, because we really want that quick fix.

Speaker 2 (26:16):

And that’s telling that’s my signal that, okay, we need to really work on bringing you along. We need to work on, you know, where the resistance is, where the obstacle is, what’s getting in your way to shifting out of the problem solving because now you’re still in problem solving. You’ve just defaulted and it feels really comfortable. And you probably don’t even notice it because we’re so used to problem solving. But in order to do a lifestyle change and make it sustainable, it’s, it’s a longer vision. And it’s having that vision. This is what my life is going to look like. You know? So, so if you’re gonna climb Everest, you’re not just gonna, you know, sit there and look at the peak. You gotta look at what’s exactly in front of you and you’re gonna do each step. Right. And we have to address. Then what’s gonna get in the way of each step because there’s, there’s resistances that you’re going to put up.

Speaker 2 (27:14):

That we’re all gonna put up because it’s change. And we know that. So it’s being able to recognize it and strategize about it and figure out, well, this is where I’m, I’m tripping myself up, cuz it’s not about eating less and working out harder all the, all the time. Once you get to a certain point, it really isn’t about just eating less. I have some people who don’t understand why they’re losing, they’re not losing weight because they’re not eating enough. Right. And so that works to get you as well. And it becomes this panicky sense of I can’t get it. I can’t get it or I get it, but it, you know, it won’t stick. Right? And so it’s, it’s the mindset of the longer term. What’s the vision? What do you want for yourself? Where are you going?

Speaker 1 (28:01):

I like the, the framing of rather than moving away from something and moving towards something, right? I’m not moving away from being 300 pounds. I’m moving towards whatever it is that I’ve outlined that I actually want to go to when we do that, No matter our best intentions, no matter our vision board, we get five days in, we get two weeks in and we’ll sabot ourselves. Why do we do that? Or how do you not

Speaker 2 (28:31):

Do that is what we call. That’s what we call a resistance and something will come up because it is a change you are. But again, it’s a long term thing. So why are we doing it? Well, there’s probably a million reasons cuz there’s any number of possibilities. That’s your personal bugaboo, right? It’s recognizing it for what it is though. You know, maybe it’s unprocessed emotions. Maybe it’s terrible boundaries. Maybe it’s maybe it’s like, you really have a knowledge deficit about what you should be eating because that happens too. There is, as you mentioned in the, the very beginning, there’s a lot of information out there and everybody’s an expert, everybody’s an expert cuz everybody eats and everybody eats multiple times a day. Right. And food processors have healthified things and put little health halos on things and it’s marketed well and it sounds like it would make sense and it does taste good. And anyway, so the bottom line is though that being able to recognize where you’re hanging yourself up, where you’re undermining yourself, who is that little voice? That’s I mean, my favorite is the one that says, okay, now I’ve committed to make this change. I’ll do it on Monday. Right,

Speaker 2 (29:49):

Right. Because you feel really good about that. I’ve committed.

Speaker 1 (29:52):

I’ll do it later.

Speaker 2 (29:54):

Yeah. Right. Right. And then Monday is the following Monday and the following Monday. And, and I can’t even tell you how many Mondays have been before we started to make those changes. So I think part of what’s helpful with it is having somebody like a coach, like a, someone who can help you say, you know, you’re doing that thing you do. And maybe we ought, think about a different way. Look, look for a different path because if this isn’t working and that means that you’re going to have to make peace with the fact that you’re going to be uncomfortable for a while.

Speaker 1 (30:31):

Right. There’s no shortcut. It’s not necessarily in. Right.

Speaker 2 (30:34):

Yeah. Right. But that space is going to get you where you want to be and know where you wanna be because you put the time in to really clarify and define it and you’ve, you’ve made it something real. And now you’re taking that momentum. And when you hit those roadblock, it often means that you are moving forward. Cuz if you’re sitting still, you’re not banging into any road blocks, you’re not noticing the obstacles that are just waiting to get you right. That are waiting to be addressed. I should say, not get you. Okay. So, so that’s also a sign that you are making progress. It’s finding your best way. It

Speaker 1 (31:22):

Saying when I was studying to be a coach, when they said, if the client ain’t lifting the client, ain’t shifting. So if they’re not doing the work they’re not moving. And that

Speaker 2 (31:30):

Exactly. I love it. Love it. That’s great. Now

Speaker 1 (31:32):

Was here, you know, I guess people are gonna take this and they’re gonna say yes, because everything you’re saying is spot on. Right. Which we knew, which we knew was gonna happen. We, we knew that was gonna happen. And they’re going to be motivated to start with something and say, you know what, I’m gonna, maybe I’ll write my vision board this weekend or maybe I’ll do this. Sometimes it’s not about hearing the right things. It’s also knowing what to ignore. Right. And so, you know, they’re gonna leave this and then they’re gonna Google for other ideas and they’re gonna go down into a rabbit hole. What advice do you have for people that are swinging from FA to fad who wanna just get started, who are jumping through to say, you know what, I’ll drink this in the morning and then I’ll do this. And um, you know, how do they do they have to just kind of create their profile and say anything that doesn’t fit into this shed. It is there, you know, how do we know what to ignore and, and the context of so much noise?

Speaker 2 (32:28):

Well, obvious the first thing obviously is like, if it sounds really, really good and easy don’t don’t do, it’s not gonna just stop right there. There’s your red flag right there. Right. Um, there is a lot of noise. You’re absolutely right. I think all of us kind of have an, an understanding, a basic common sense, understanding. Um, I will tell you that one of our rules really, and we don’t have many rules per se, but if it, if it leaves out whole food groups just walk away. Okay. We always, always are going to push and I’m by we, I mean the nutrition community like train nutritionists are always gonna push whole foods. In other words, foods that look the way they’re found in nature, we’re gonna push plant forward eating. So the more plants on your plate, the better your health outcomes. Okay. So it really isn’t all that

Speaker 2 (33:36):

Specific for each person. I mean, there’s going there’s lot of research and a lot of emphasis now being spent on it’s called ne nutrigenomics and it’s like checking your DNA and you’re getting, we’re not there yet. We’re just not there yet. What we do know though, is that people who eat a whole lot of plants who eat, um, UN you know, mono and saturated fats, we eat healthy fats, not refined grains, not a whole lot of sugar, not a whole lot of things that have become quite popular in the last century. They have better health outcomes. So if you wanna do Mediterranean, if you wanna do dash, if you wanna do a mind, di the, the buy bottom line is more plants, less processed food. Start there.

Speaker 1 (34:28):

The, um, I’m gonna throw your curve ball. I don’t know if people ask you this. Okay. But we didn’t talk about it. Okay. If I’m eating more plants, do I go organic or not? It doesn’t matter.

Speaker 2 (34:41):

There’s an awesome website called environmental working group, which is ewg.org. And they publish a list every year of the dirty dozen and the clean 15 and the dirty dozen are those 12 fruits and vegetables that have the most amount of pesticide residue on them. Clean 15, have the least amount and a pesticide residue on them. So if you can, it’s in your interest to buy organic versions of the dirty dozen and save your money. I mean, because nobody can really, and I get this, I do get this, like I can’t shop at, you know, these premium grocery stores all the time. Like I don’t,

Speaker 1 (35:22):

When you’re picking your plans. Right. It sounds great to do all that. It could get pricey very, very quickly in terms of

Speaker 2 (35:28):

Very quickly

Speaker 1 (35:29):

The berries and the, the, the kale and the carrots and the, you know, do you do organic versus not? And you, you know, all that stuff, it’s difficult, but okay.

Speaker 2 (35:40):

It is. But ultimately I would always tell someone, even if you can’t do anything organic, you are always going to be better off health wise by using a plant forward eating pattern. So when you emphasize plants, even if they’re all conventionally raised, you’re still going to be in a better place, health wise and nutrition wise than if you just forgo it and eat a bunch of processed food or, you know, just right. So

Speaker 1 (36:15):

Organic lettuce is better than a dinner of Yos and Twinkies is what you’re telling them.

Speaker 2 (36:19):

Oh yeah, for sure. For sure. Or chicken nuggets and French fries. Right, right. So, yep. Yep.

Speaker 1 (36:27):

And I guess it ultimately comes down to your we’re making decisions in the moment. I guess this goes back to making good decisions, despite your stress, but what’s the, sometimes you, your deciding, what’s the least bad thing I can eat right now, cuz that’s kind of the environment we’re in. We’ve got the idea of what we’d like to eat at home and everything else, but we’re on the road traveling or, you know, traveling for work or, or picking up the kids and you gotta do things fast and the kids have to eat and it’s very easy to do a drive through. And you know, what’s the least bad thing in this moment. And then you can rally again for the next meal, but is that kind of a, a way to think, I guess, well, that’s how I think about it anyway, but

Speaker 2 (37:06):

Well, part of the challenge, I think that a lot of people face is that they don’t think about eating until about 30 minutes before mealtime. And if you’re hungry or if you’re stressed, you’re not gonna make a good decision. You’re just not. So you can do damage control and it’s, there are gonna be situations where everybody needs to be in four different places in within 15 minutes and, and you just gotta punt and hope for the best. Right. But for a lot of people spending a little bit of time planning the week and incorporating the meals into it, right? So you’ll plan your, your week out, right. You know, when your meetings are and you know, when your calls are, and I know when my patients are and, and all that stuff, but I’m also needing to plan this day. Everybody needs to be in some other place. So maybe I prep some food ahead of time. Maybe I cook four extra portions or eight extra portions. Right. Cuz I’m Italian. So I can cook a whole bunch of stuff,

Speaker 1 (38:09):

Dozens of extra

Speaker 2 (38:10):

And prep packets. Right?

Speaker 1 (38:12):

You take some

Speaker 2 (38:13):

Home, that’s not extra. That’s just what we need, you know? Right. So, but being able to kind of participate, where is your biggest road bump? And that’s also part of addressing the resistances and the obstacles of getting you where you wanna be. Cuz I hear that a lot. You know, I’m just too busy. Well, it really is a reflection of where’s the priority more than I’m too busy. It’s just, this is either a priority or it’s not a priority if it’s not a priority and you just can’t pull it out to this week or this month or whatever, you know, be honest about it. This, I can’t do it right now. I need to send, spend my energy focused in this direction. I only have so much energy to spend, right. But there are apps that people can use. There are meal kits. If you wanna go down that route, like there are a number of ways to address meal prep, meal planning, and even being able to have the idea, have some thought of like, I’m gonna have this tonight. I’m gonna bring that tomorrow. It can just make your life significantly easier. It does decrease your stress and you can then make a choice rather than default to doing the least amount of damage. And I feel

Speaker 1 (39:31):

Like it taking the time to plan ends up buying you more to time later because you’re gonna be more productive based on even the, the better things than making the last minute decision and regretting the entire,

Speaker 3 (39:42):

You know, Italian hero that you ate. And then you’re just not doing anything in the afternoon. Whereas if you had

Speaker 1 (39:47):

Just done some planning now, all of a sudden, your afternoon’s much more productive because you ate something that is in tune with whatever it is that that you would actually need.

Speaker 2 (39:55):

And it saves you money. It saves a lot of money. We throw out a ridiculous amount of food and, and if you’re doing takeout frequently or, or doing fast food frequently stuff, ain’t cheap.

Speaker 1 (40:10):

Yeah. It adds up.

Speaker 2 (40:12):

It

Speaker 1 (40:12):

Does where, so this is amazing. This is very helpful. It’s always the questions we want to ask, but we never ask and we get frustrated when we’re trying to do something and it’s all of this, this kind of stuff. Um, so thank you. Thank you for everything you added. I’d like to end every episode with a book recommendation. I don’t know if you prepared a book recommendation or not, but do you have a book that you would recommend to people either on this topic, on any topic, a book you enjoy, what’s your favorite book? Doesn’t it doesn’t matter, but what is your recommendation for people on something to read?

Speaker 2 (40:47):

Uh, it’s hard to pick just one, but I think my latest kick has been Joe Dispenza. Um, he is not just because he’s a Rutgers alum goes scar at nights, but he has written a couple of books. His first one is called breaking the habit of being yourself. Yep. And it really is about a lot of what this conversation was. In other words, to siding on a quality of life and figuring out what matters and how you wanna move through the world and then taking those steps to bring yourself into that reality. And the beauty of him, he’s got a terrific story, but the, the beauty is that he marries science with that whole psychological concept because he, he runs these, uh, sessions. And, but he’s doing brain scans of people as they are making these changes. And so it’s, it’s really fast fascinat stuff.

Speaker 2 (41:53):

So I would, that’s my, my shout out as far as, um, a food one though, I’ll give you a bonus. There’s uh, a book called chasing cupcakes by Elizabeth Benton. And it is a really fascinating book. I love her approach to weight loss. Now she had disordered eating patterns. So it’s, it’s a little different, but her approach really is applicable to a lot of people. And she, um, does focus a lot on the underlying psychological things that get in your way. And it’s, it’s more of a coaching book than an actual weight loss book. But I, I recommend that one a lot to people because I think she, she really has some very, very good insights and

Speaker 1 (42:46):

Look who wouldn’t, if you had to chase something, it might as well be a cupcake. So that would be, it might be good cupcake course. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (42:51):

Three bites. Yes,

Speaker 1 (42:53):

That’s right. Uh, um, this is great. Everybody tune in, come to bellweather hub. I’m gonna have all Marisa’s information, reach out to Marisa. She’s got everything that you could possibly need, uh, in terms of this and her background and her website and her LinkedIn and all that good stuff. So reach out to her for, for anything. Marisa, a pleasure is always thank you for your work done

Speaker 2 (43:13):

Jim. It was my deep honor. Thank you so much. And

Speaker 1 (43:16):

Everybody listen, make changes, be intentional with your changes. And I look forward to seeing everybody. So thanks for paying attention.