Hello athletes, welcome and thank you for tuning into the Coach Katie Danger Podcast recorded live from Omaha, Nebraska. I'm your host, Coach Katie Danger, U S army veteran, fitness coach and founder of Red H Nutrition. Here's a fact for you, 99% of us are not elite athletes. We're individuals from all backgrounds, juggling life priorities, including jobs, our families, their needs, and trying to find time to take care of ourselves every single week. When you tune in, I'll be discussing clear, concise and actionable strategies you can use to get the most from your fitness, nutrition, and mindset. So you can optimize your life without compromising your time. So athletes settle in and get comfortable. I'm here to educate, inspire, empower, and entertain you to help you enjoy the unique fitness journey that you are on.
Hey athletes. Welcome to episode number 64 of the coach, Katie danger podcast,
(00:57): How was your training been going? We're almost at the midway point of the year and we are,
(01:02): Are beyond new year's resolutions now. So I have to ask you, I want an update from you. How have your goals progressed this year? Are you on track? Did you fall behind or was it a combination of some steps forward with some steps back? A really underrated part of the fitness journey is consistency. And I should probably record a podcast just about consistency, because that is how progress really happens. That's how the results manifest small actions every single day. In fact, if you've ever tried an all or nothing approach to your fitness before, whether it was a diet or an exercise program going too hard, too fast, usually has detrimental effects on your progress. And I find it admirable that you'd want to take on daunting programs and difficult diets. The problem is they often aren't sustainable. And a big reason for this is because change is hard.
(01:51): Change is so many different factors. It's not just doing a to get result B and I've discussed this before in many podcasts about behavior change, but change is about building the skills that lead to the behaviors that promote the results you're looking for. For example, if you want to start counting macros, but don't even know what a macro is. You should probably learn about macros first, before you decide to dive head first into tracking your macros. And although this is really simple in theory, it's very difficult in practice. So I'm going to share the secret of change with you. It's a math equation. I put it together myself, but I think it makes sense. So change equals your goals plus behaviors and in behaviors that is multiplied by skills plus practices plus actions. So what I'm saying is, in order to get the change that you desire you first and foremost, have to have your goal insight.
(02:40): If you don't have a goal or any clarity on your goal, then anything you do is going to kind of be for nothing. It's going to be all over the place, right? So you have to have a goal in mind, at least. And then you've got to have these behaviors in place, but a component of behavior are the skills and the practices and the actions that you do on a daily basis. Now, if you're not where you want to be ask, what skills do you need to develop together? I mean, for example, a computer programmer, isn't just boring. You don't just pop up your mom and know how to code and learn backend computer development. They put these skills into practice every single day with daily actions that reinforce this type of learning and the same goes for how you want to program your body to look and feel a certain way.
(03:21): Now, this whole concept leads me directly into the podcast today. And what this episode is all about today, I'm talking about moderation and moderation is a behavior and it is a skill. And since it's a skill that needs to be learned, you know, it's also a continuum too. So you can be moderate in one area and then not moderate and another, but it is still a skill to be learned, especially when it comes to changing your nutrition, behavior, nutrition practices. It takes certain explicit and goal oriented actions to develop this skill. But before I dive into suggestions on how to improve your ability to moderate yourself, when it comes to nutrition, I want to tell you a story and everyone loves a good story, right? And you like this one because it is a fitness lesson that I learned through eating too many cheeseburgers. Now I remember a lot from my one-on-one college courses.
(04:05): You know, one-on-one college courses are, they're just basic stuff and you have to take them to get to the next step. They're all these silly prereq. You really don't get a lot out of them. But I remember this very interesting concept. It's called the law of diminishing returns. I was taking it macro economics one Oh one course, and I really had no interest in any way, but it was a prereq class. So I was drudging through it. And one day our professor actually brings up something interesting, and it is the law of diminishing returns. And he relates this to something that made my ears perk up. He talked about his overindulgence and cheeseburgers. He said that he should have known that not to eat so much because the amount of enjoyment from his first cheeseburger to his fourth was essentially what this law of diminishing returns.
(04:47): He loved the first cheeseburger. He enjoyed most of the second, but after the third cheeseburger, he didn't even know why he kept eating. And then he doesn't even know why fourth. He wasn't even enjoying them anymore. So although he is who was talking and trying to relate this cheeseburger metaphor to the economy and production of goods and services, I specifically remember thinking about how this affected the amount of sugar that I was consuming. And I think you can take away a lot, right? And this too, I found it a great metaphor for moderation. And that is exactly why I had to share it with you today. Why do we binge eat? Why do we binge drink? And whether we're talking about economics or food, the stimulus and the enjoyment we receive from the first bite to the one, thousands of bite is going to vary.
(05:30): But here we are, as humans still overindulging and continue to struggle with weight gain and disordered eating moderation is a skill, a skill developed through awareness and awareness comes from daily habits and practices that promote a mindfulness about our actions. And in this specific context, we're talking about food. You don't what happens when people start struggling with their food or they start to gain unwanted weight, they tend to go all in on diets that promote this all or mentality, right? You got to restrict all this. You got to tie in your food intake this way. And typically these are radical diets that say, you can't have this. You can't have that. And you have to restrict all these things and dietary principles because they tend to promote fast weight loss or, you know, fast muscle gain, whatever that may be, whatever that goal is, it's always fast, right?
(06:15): It's a quick fix. The problem with these diets is they just, they just don't teach a thing. You don't learn how to be aware of your eating habits. You don't learn any skills on making better choices, and you're never encouraged to stop and ask why, why am I overeating? Why do I drink too much alcohol? Why am I struggling with food? What other feelings are, and emotions are going on here with this behavior. We're never encouraged to ask these questions with those all or nothing diets. And I'm going to stand on my soap box here for a moment, but it's going to help me drive home a point, a large part of my personal fitness success and a big reason that I'm able to manage my body, composition it all these different stages over the past 18 years is because I practice moderation. I am very skilled at moderation.
(06:57): I know very well that if I eat one donut, I am not going to get the same hit. I'm not going to get the same excitement from the second, third, fourth donut is I got from the first one. So I just don't have the extra doughnut. I have one donut, I enjoy it. I love it. And I move on, you know, I've been satisfied now this skill of moderation, it is not something that I developed overnight. It started with a practice of intentional eating. I'm aware of my hunger. I'm aware of what I'm feeling when I'm hungry. And when I get the urge to have a box of donuts, I ask myself, you know, what's going on here? What am I feeling? What am I doing? Like, what will this get me? So I'm very mindful about what I do. And when I decide to put a piece of food in my mouth,
(07:40): Hey, I know. And you know that I talk a lot about using supplements on your fitness journey and reaching your full potential. How I believe they're integral pieces of the puzzle to reaching your best self and best fitness results. But do you know how supplements fit into your plan? Do you know what to take for your goals and how much of a supplement you should take if you've ever had any of those questions and you want to know how supplements can work for you and your goals, go to your fitness supplements.com and take the free, free, free three point personalized supplement assessment. And with just a few questions, you'll have a complete personalized supplement recommendation in less than 60 seconds. You'll know more about how supplements fit into your fitness goals. What's safe and what's effective and perfect for you. So type in your fitness supplements.com in your internet browser, take the free assessment and get on the fast track to your best fitness results. Hello,
(08:39): I am a human and I am not immune from temptation because it is everywhere. This delicious foods, sugar delights, they are everywhere. And I rarely restrict anything. I don't ever just cut anything out. Luckily I do not have any food allergies or I, you know, I'm not gluten, so I don't have to cut anything out for those reasons, but I don't go all in. I don't go on these all or nothing. Mentality tangents. I practice moderation. I don't restrain anything. I'll have one donut. I'll have one cookie once a week, Sammy and I, we go out and we have burgers and beer after it all adds up. And I reflect on the week. I have still stayed on track 90% of the time. And I haven't given. And if anything, I still enjoyed all the finer things that we love to enjoy. Now, this is something that everybody is capable of.
(09:24): Everybody listening to this podcast right now is capable of this, but it is a skill. And it often requires a coach who can help put in place the proper practices and help you gain an awareness of the actions that will help build good behaviors and habits for yourself for your life forever. Now you can try still these skills on your own, but the accountability of a coach is certainly going to help in your success and moderation. Like I mentioned before, it's a lot more than just your food. You didn't take it as a life skill. For example, let me ask you these questions. Have you ever found yourself over-exercising have you ever tried to burn the candles at both ends? You know, you try to go really hard and fast in your career and really hard and fast in other areas of your life. Do you happen to take care of others before you take care of yourself?
(10:09): How often do you take rest days to reset and relax? I've heard the same before, and you can rest when you're dead, but that is not the point moderate. She was going to help you be in the game a lot longer than this balls to the wall. 24 seven three 65 mentality will. I've shared a lot of my thoughts about the moderate mentality in emails that I've sent out. And I got a great response from one of my podcast listeners, Eric and I wanted to share this with you because it is another perspective on what moderation is as a skill Eric related moderation to the concept of consumerism and how our culture is just so obsessed with buying more things and buying more things, to try to fill the voids in our lives. Only to find that all this stuff that we've purchased, it doesn't even really help.
(10:54): You know, we're still not happy. We're still miserable. You can buy the biggest house on the block, but if you don't take care of yourself and what's going on intrinsically inside, it doesn't mean anything. There is a diminishing value. It diminishing return on the things that we surround ourself with. So his suggestion was we should look at the intrinsic value and joy from the things that we do just for the sake of doing them. Ultimately, I think this comes down to purpose. It's an existential quality and being comfortable with the reason you're on this earth and given the body that you have simply put when we do things for the right reasons and enjoy those things for the lasting improvements is going to bring to our life. We experienced lasting results. There are no quick fixes to anything in life. You should know this by now.
(11:35): No, I understand it's still a hard concept to drill into our brains, but you are not an exception to this rule. If you want lasting results, lasting changes, you've got to put in the work, you got to do the actions commit to the journey, just like anybody else who has had life changing transformations to reiterate and quality of what and whom we surround ourselves with is where the real change happens. And I'm going to say that again, moderation of what, and to whom the people that we surround ourselves with is where the real change happens. So make sure you're surrounding yourself with things and people that support your goals. Okay? Now we're getting to the point of the podcast where you're probably asking Katie, but how can I do this? How can I improve my ability in my awareness to moderate my behaviors? And I'm really glad you asked because I was getting to it.
(12:23): The first thing I would do is start with improving your mindfulness while you eat. Now, this podcast is about moderation as a whole, but I love to specifically talk about nutrition because that is the foundation. Here's what you can do to be more aware of what you eat. We're one remove distractions. So when you're eating, don't bring your phone to the table. Don't watch TV for a while. Just sit there and eat, feel yourself to count how many times it takes you to chew and swallow something. See how it feels in your mouth. Number two, chew your food, slower, taste, everything. Think about the nutrients that you're taking in and how you're fueling yourself and your goals. Number three, stop eating. When you feel full, eat slower. The great part about this is you're going to be able to be more aware of the appetite cues.
(13:08): And you're probably going to stop when you feel like you've had enough. When you're telling me is full and it's going to be a lot easier to pinpoint this appetite awareness. When you eat slower, if you haven't started eating yet, and you're getting ready to eat, ask yourself, why am I eating? Is this an emotional response? Is this my normal eating time being in tune with, with your physiological cues and responses to food is the first step to improving your ability to moderate your behaviors. I have no the sane eat, drink, and be Merry for tomorrow. We would die, but chances are, you're not going to die tomorrow. So here's what I think it should say. Eat, drink, and be Merry, but don't treat your body like a garbage disposal. So you don't die tomorrow. I think that's a, like more of a lifestyle perspective that you should have.
(13:54): All right, athletes. So here's the challenge for you. I'm going to challenge you to add some moderation to your day at your very next meal. The very next meal that you have after listening to this podcast. I want you to take one of the four awareness techniques that I shared with you. See how it makes you feel. Do you want to eat slower? Do you want to leave your phone away from the table? Do you want to pay more attention to your appetite cues perhaps before you get started, you want to ask yourself why you're even eating, but the challenge is take one of those four and implement it in your very next meal and see how you feel. See if you learned anything about your appetite, see if you learn anything about the way that you eat, just one small practice a day can pay huge dividends to reaching those goals you have.
(14:35): Because like I said before, at the beginning of the podcast, consistency, small action, small steps. That is how the mountain is built. Athletes. You know, I'm always here to help you crush it, right? So if you've got any questions on moderation, this podcast or any other podcasts you've happened to listen, I want you to send me an email. katie@coachkatiedangers.com do not be afraid to ask me any questions. I am here to help you on your fitness journey. I'm here to take 18 years of my experience and hopefully help you avoid some of the mistakes that I've made on my journey. Before I let you go, though, I want to make sure you know, about some new coaching opportunities that I've made available to my listeners. I recently launched a VIP membership community and some personal nutrition coaching plans that can help you make the lifestyle changes that you need to reach the goals you set out for yourself.
(15:21): And you can check out all of these new coaching opportunities and plans@coachkatiedanger.com. If you haven't already, the first thing you should do set up your nutrition breakthrough session with me. And you can do that by going to talk with coach katie.com. Talk with coach katie.com set up your nutrition breakthrough session with me and let's get your new nutrition lifestyle journey started on the right foot. Like every week. I am so freaking grateful to share my time with you. And before we sign off this week, I want to remind you, trust the process, enjoy the journey, believe in yourself and never ever, ever quit until next week athletes. This is coach Katie D over and out.
(16:03): This is ThePodcastFactory.com
