I would bet you almost anything that everyone listening today is either on a diet, thinking about starting a diet or currently off the wagon from a day you were trying to be on, but how do you even know if that diet is right for you? Well, in this episode, I'm gonna help you figure it out. Let's go.

Hello, my friends, I'm so glad you're here. We are gonna dive into diets today and how to evaluate if your diet is right for you, but first, speaking of diet, I want you to head to Teramo dot com and out the no-nonsense wellness, weight loss and wellness program that's coming in April. It's gonna be a 12-week coaching program in-person, live in small group and one-on-one, and it's designed to move you step by step from where you are to where you want to be, so if you are feeling stuck, if you are feeling like you've tried diet after diet as nothing is working, if you feel like there's maybe some deeper issues that haven't been addressed, like your relationship with food or emotional eating, or just how food works in your body, how do you even know if you're eating the right things or doing the right things and how you create healthier habits that last you a lifetime, if you're done with quick fixes, if you're done with losing weight, gaining weight, losing weight, gaining weight, if you wanna finally just get healthy and stay that way, this is going to be the program for you, it's 12 weeks live coaching the weight loss and wellness program.

So head to tarafaulmann.com and check it out. I'm so so excited to bring it to you, the link will be in the show notes, so wherever you're listening to, scroll on down and find that link and check out all the details, and if you have questions, you can schedule a free call with me, there's a button there, to do that too, I really am excited to talk to you about this and bring this to you guys in April, so get on the newsletter, get the emails in your inbox, you get all the information, there's gonna be a lot of other things happening around this starting... So I don't want you to miss a thing... Okay, let's dive in. Real talk friends, to be diet as kind of a four-letter word, it's a little bit of a swear word in my world, I am honestly totally against going on diets the way most of us think of a diet, I don't teach diets, I don't come clients to go on a diet. I think diets and diet culture is a huge reason why we all have such messed up thinking about food and our bodies now, technically, diet is literally just what you eat it... When I say diet in this context, what I really mean is a diet plan, some sort of restrictive diet plan... And you all know what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about like the diet of a lion, because that you would think of that as just what the lion eats for his life to stay alive... Right. For humans though, when we think of the word diet, we're talking about some kind of plan or program that's generally restrictive in some way.

So when I say that I never want you to die it again, just like I said that I don't want you to weigh yourself all the time ever again, that either might sound super freeing to you or it might sound totally terrifying and anxiety-provoking for you, because for so many of us, we don't know how to function without being in some sort of relationship with a diet, we don't know how to function, unless we have this telling us what to do... Does that make sense? We are all in some sort of relationship with dieting, we're either dating that diet or we're fully committed, maybe even getting married to that diet, or we have broken up with that diet and we're hit in the market and were looking for something else.

So since I know that's where most of you are, I want to at least help you work through for yourself if the diet you're considering is right for you or wrong for you, and today we're gonna talk about these four questions that you need to answer in deciding of the diet plan you're on or considering is going to be a good one, be sure to listen to the end because you really want to hear that last tip... I saved the best for last. 

Okay, here's the first question that you need to be asking yourself about the diet plan that you are considering, are there health benefits besides just weight loss? Now, you know that I come from a place of caring more about your long-term health than I do about losing five pounds fast. I am not in the quick fixed business, I am in the longevity business, so this is the question that's really important for you to ask, are there health benefits besides weight loss, if you ignore the hype and the crazy claims, does this plan actually make sense like just logically, what you know about nutrition is probably enough to evaluate... Does it logically make sense? Here's a truth bomb for you, diet programs are a thing because you do lose weight, if you have heard of a diet, it's because it's worked and people have lost weight, otherwise you wouldn't hear about it, right. But that does not mean that it's healthy for you long-term, why do you think that most people, when they go on a diet, gain that weight back as soon as they stop being on that diet, it's because that diet was not a long-term healthy diet, that day, it was a quick fixed diet, lose weight right now.

Weight loss, of course, is good. If you need to lose weight, then losing weight is good, it has in and of itself its own health benefits, but not... If you gain the weight back once your diets over or you fall off the wagon, do you see how counter-intuitive that is? Yes, losing weight is good for you if you have weight that needs to be lost, but if you're on a diet where when you... Soon as you stop that day, you gain all that weight right back, you've done double damage, not only have you gained that weight back, but you've destroyed your metabolism, now it's going to be even harder to lose that weight again.

So when we try to lose weight fast, there's usually not other health benefits associated with it, which is a pretty good clue that it's a short-term fix, not a long-term strategy, ask yourself If I look past the hype, if I look past the advertisements, if I look past that skinny girl coming out of the pool saying I lost 50 pounds on Nutri Stem or whatever the crap you saying, right. If you look past all of the advertising and the marketing and the before and after and all the crazy stuff were fed and were led to believe, if you look past it, does it actually make sense logically? Does this diet plan sound like it would be good for my long-term health... Here's a pro-tip, if it's asking you to cut out entire food groups like carbs or protein or fat, I can guarantee you it is not going to be good for your long-term healthy... Yes, you might lose weight in the short-term, no, it will not be good for your long-term health, ask yourself a long-term question, Is this something that has health benefits besides weight loss, do I value health and longevity over a quick fix...

There's a huge difference and that might be a mental shift that you have to make, if we wanna have long-term health, we have to start valuing the things that will give us long-term health versus the things that will be a quick fix... Yes, you could lose 10 pounds fast. Yes, I could tell you lots of ways to do that, but is that gonna be good for your long-term health... No, are you probably gonna gain it back... Yeah, so what would be the point? That is counter-intuitive to what I want you to be doing. So are there long-term health benefits... Question number two, speaking of long-term health, the question you wanna be asking is, do I see myself following this diet plan for the next 10 plus years? Can I still do the things that I love? Can I still live my life the way I want to... Does it fit into my life? You really need to understand this plan and if it could be a long-term thing for you, because again, we're thinking long-term, not quick, short-term fixes, diets that are too restrictive, are displaying unhealthy.

And that's not gonna bode well for you. Long-term, if my diet is restrictive, say of an entire food group, it's not something that you're gonna be likely to be able to stick to long-term... So let me give you an example. I have to... Because of my autoimmune issues, I cannot eat gluten and I cannot eat dairy, however, those are two things that for the rest of my life I can stick to... I'm not cutting out an entire Food Group, I'm not cutting out something that is a part of maybe even my cultural diet or something like that, those are two things that I have had to cut out for health reasons, and I can stick to that for my entire life, I've already stuck to it for 15 plus years, so... That's absolutely doable. Can you cut out carbs for the rest of your life... No, I would never tell you to do that. Can you cut out fruit eaters of your life, can you get all the crazy things... Can you live on cabbage soup and kale for the next 10 years of your life? Really think about, Is this something I could do long-term? And will my life be terrible? Is trying to do it long-term, so is the plan that you are thinking about, is it full of process and pre-packaged foods that you're supposed to stick to, so some of those ones that you might order from TV that maybe a famous person is telling you to do where they send you all this pre-packaged food, or a lot of times those practice pre-packaged food like drink this shake and eat this bar, and then you get whatever...

And that's all you get. Those are short-term solutions, you cannot stay on that pre-packaged food for the long-term, what happens when you stop eating that pre-packaged food, that's the thing they never tell you on the commercials, when you stop eating their perfect little packets of food, what happens? I'll tell you what happens, people gain their way back, period, because they didn't fix the things that needed fixing and it fix how their body works, they didn't fix how their mind works, and so you end up back in the same position that you were... It's not a long-term solution. And let's talk about these pre-packaged meals for a second, because number one, they're discussing their full of chemicals, they're not real food, they're ultimately terrible for your health, and maybe it's a little too convenient, going through the hard phases of learning how to cook, learning how to prepare a vegetable in a way that you actually wanna eat it, those are the hard things, Learning how to adjust amounts of food and timing of food and types of food so that you feel really good. That takes practice, that takes learning and it's a process.

If I wanna skip to the finish line, I want to eat packaged food for 90 days and lose 25, 30 pounds. Great, go for it. But then what... Ask the question, then what? What happens if I stop doing this? Most of the time, it's not an answer that you want, and most of the time it does not result in better health for you, even if you lose the weight, because again, we often then just gain it right back. So the other thing to think about is, does this diet plan fit into my life? For example, if you have Sunday dinner pot roast with your family, then that's like a tradition, that's a thing for your family, then deciding to become a vegan is probably not gonna be easy for you, that's not gonna be a fun decision for you to make... Again, the point is thinking long-term versus short-term quick fixes, if you're noticing a pattern, is that the diet that you've probably heard of and the diet that you see splashed all over TV and all over social media, they're all quick fixes. We live in a quick fix culture, we live in an instant gratification culture, and I want you, I'm begging you to start changing your perspective to think long-term, Do you wanna live 50 years and then have a heart attack if your health sucks, or do you wanna live 80 years and have energy and be vibrant and aware and clear-headed for those entire 80, 90, 00 plus years, who knows with technology the way it's going, then long term.

Okay, question number three. How do you feel when you are on this diet plan.  Again, so many of us are really good at White knocking through something like, just keep going so I can do it, even if we feel like shit the entire time, we'll keep doing it, why?  I post this on social media about why if you were hitting your head against the wall and it hurt, you would stop, but we keep doing these things to our body, we keep stepping on the sail, we keep eating the shitty food, we keep trying to stick to these terrible diets and they're horrible, and we feel like crap, and we just keep doing it, why it's because we think that that's how it has to be. That's the only way we know.

That's the only way we ever been taught, that's all we know is to get on a diet. Lose weight. Get on a diet. Lose weight. Get on a diet. Lose weight until I am here. If it's the only thing I'm here for in your life is to tell you that there is a better way, so how do you feel when you're on your diet plan, if you feel run down, if you feel frustrated, if you feel anxious, like... Who didn't hit my macros are out many killers. Colonie, not supposed to eat this. But now they're all, what do I eat? What do we eat? If you get anxious about your diet and sticking to it is not the plan for you, okay.

0:16:05.9 S1: Sometimes learning a healthy lifestyle takes time, and the learning process can be frustrating, it can, but if it's the right plan for you, you will feel really empowered by what you're learning and experiencing, even in the frustrating times, you will still feel empowered because you know that you're working towards this great goal of health and wellness and longevity and vibrancy, if you are trying to white knuckle through something and just cut these things out of your diet and stick to it and it's causing you anxiety. You're gonna quit. You know that's true, 'cause you've already done it. We've all already done that. Your plan should not feel like torture, I shouldn't feel awful.

You're actually causing yourself more long-term damage to your relationship with food if you are torturing yourself with diet plans that make you feel awful. And when I say, how do you feel? I wanna know two things. Physically how you feel. Do you have energy? Are you feeling better? Are you feeling good? If you stop eating this way, will you continue to feel that way, if you start stop the diet plan and start eating more normal... She says in air quotes, will you still feel good? And I also want to know emotionally, how are you feeling? Is sticking to this day at making you feel exhausted? Making you feel angry? Frustrated, apathetic. Any anxious? Any of those feelings. The process of learning isn't always fun, the process of growing is not always fun, in fact, it's never always fun, the process of becoming someone else, becoming this healthy version of you, that process isn't always fun, and I don't wanna pretend like it is, but it shouldn't also feel like torture. I shouldn't feel this process shouldn't feel so terrible all the time that you can't stick to it, and so those were the things that you need to start evaluating for you, you might be like, Wow, I'm doing this diet and I lost 25 pans and I feel amazing.

And I would say that's awesome. Can you keep it up for 10 years? That's the question. And will you feel like this for 10 years or will it start back firing on you because it's good for losing weight, but it's not good for health, all these questions you need to be evaluating for yourself to decide if this really is what you should be doing, the fourth question is one that I have asked some clients and they're like, Oh damn, you got me on that one. The fourth question is, would I put my child on this plan and would it be safe for them... I really want this to sink in for you, like I really want you to understand if the diet plan that you're trying to stick to right now, would you tell your child to do that, would it be mentally and physically healthy for your child to eat the way you are eating right now... I'll wait. Probably not, right? Probably not, if your child was eating the way you're eating right now, you would probably be like, Holy crap, I need to take her to the counselor or something, because this is not okay.

It's not okay for them. It's not okay for you either, would it be safe for your child to not eat carbs, would it be safe for your child to adjust those magical pills and potions and fat-burning drops and whatever the else shit you're putting in your body. Would you give that to your kid now, so why would you take it? Yes, kids and adults bodies are different, but in so many ways, your child's body is just a smaller version of yours, the metabolic processes are all the same, it all works the same way, so if it's not good for your kid, it's not good for you. Would you want your child to think about weight loss and health the way you are thinking about weight loss and health.  Some of the crazy ideas that you have running through your head, you would be horrified if your child thought that about themselves, you would be horrified if your child went to a birthday party and I was like, Oh, I can't eat that cupcake, I might get fat. Kidding me with this. You'd be like, Oh crap. This is not okay. But you'll say it. You'll say it in front of your kid.

Right. What if your kid looked in the mirror and was like, Oh, I'm such a fat cow, I can't even eat today, I'm not even gonna do anything today, I'm only gonna eat some broccoli and some chicken breast, and that's all I'm eating 'cause I'm a fat cow. And I need to lose weight. If your child said that you would be horrified, but you said it, you might have said it this morning... Right? What are we teaching them? If this is not thoughts that you would want your child to have, if this is not a relationship with food that you would want your child to have, if this is not a nutrient-dense way to eat healthy, that you would want your child to be doing right now, because they're growing. If it's not right for them. It's not right for you. I really need you to understand this. What example are you setting for your kids by constantly being on a diet, if you have daughters, especially, what messages are they getting about their bodies and about how they look and about how they function, about what the expectations are? If they see you constantly being on a diet.

Oh, I can't eat that, Oh. You need that, Oh, here's dinner for your family, and mom's eating this other separate thing because she's on a diet, do you understand the message you're sending to your kids... It's gotta stop. You guys, we gotta do better. It's not okay. And it's not okay. Because it's not okay for you. And if it's not okay for them, it's not okay for you. I want us to start paying attention, what messages are you sending to yourself about your own work...  When you decide that, Oh, I made dinner for the family and I'm just gonna be over here. Eating my salad. What is that saying about not just what the message is sending to your kids, but what is that saying about you, to you... You've decided that you're so fat and so disgusting and so unworthy that all you get to eat as fucking kale for the rest of your life. That's all you get. That's all you deserve. You deserve a whole pile of kale and that's it.

I need you to hear the thoughts that are happening in your head, I need you to understand the messages that you are sending to yourself, it's bullshit, and you've gotta stop... The only way to stop this to start noticing... Once you notice what's happening, then you can start to change what's happening, but I want you to notice that I want you to forgive, then I want you to change, because I can't go from no ice to change, they have to hit the middle piece, I have to hit that piece in the middle, where I can say, I'm sorry for how I've been treating you, I'm sorry for how I've been talking to you. I forgive you for the terrible way I've been treating you and for how I've been abusing you mentally and physically for all of these years, you have to find some forgiveness for yourself, you have to find some gratitude for what you do know and what you are and who you are, you have to start understanding your own intrinsic worth that comes directly from God, it doesn't come from people, it doesn't come from social media, it doesn't come from your job, it doesn't come from your kids or your spouse, or even you...

You are worthy because you are here, you are worthy because you were created. Worthy period, end of story. So it's time we start talking like that and we start acting like that, it's time we start treating ourselves like that, and if your diet plan that you are trying to stick to is anything less than that, it's not for you, it's just not... So if you've been answering these questions along the way and you're realizing, Shit, maybe want... Maybe this diet plan I'm on is not quite right for me, maybe this is not the right direction, maybe I should stop doing the same thing over and over and over again and try something else, and I don't mean a different diet plan. What I mean is a mindset shift to... What I mean is a world shift, a world view shift, if you will, diet culture is about instant gratification. It's about a quick fix. It's about lose the weight. Now it's about, Tell me what to do so I can lose the weight. I'm going on vacation in two weeks, I got... I'll lose 10 pounds, I don't care what happens after that.

We have to start shifting to the idea of this not being a quick fix, but that health and the weight loss that comes along with achieving health is a long-term plan is a long-term strategy and I have to start thinking long-term, I can't expect long-term results with quick fix solutions, and that's... I hope what I am doing here for you, one of the most important parts of my job is to get us to start thinking long-term instead of short-term, you might lose those 10 pounds now, but what damage have you done along the way... The emotional damage and the physical damage, how have you damaged your metabolism by those quick fix diets, what's the long-term damage to your thinking about yourself if you're constantly on this gain, less gain, lose Yoo diet roller coaster. What is that causing you to think about yourself, makes you think you're broken, makes you think your body is at work, makes you think you're never gonna lose weight, makes you think it's helpless. Why should I keep trying? It's never gonna work. It will work. But you have to change your mindset. And you have to change your approach.

Like the entire approach. So how do we make that shift, how do we make the shift from short-term thinking to long-term thinking... One of the most important parts of my job is to help shift you to that long-term health-centered thinking, and that is really why I developed the 12 weeks to weight loss and wellness coaching program, because over those 12 weeks, that's what we're focusing on. We're focusing on shifting you and giving you all the tools and all the information and all the mindset and emotional pieces that you need, as well as the food pieces to help start that shift for you from short-term quick fix thinking, instant gratification diet culture to long-term health strategies, things you can stick to for the rest of your life, things that will serve you for the rest of your life, and how to evaluate what you need for the rest of your life, because things are gonna change for you right here in your 30s you're gonna hit Peri menopause and then menopause, and all the kinds of things are gonna go wacky, and you need to be able to have an understanding about your own body so that you can navigate all of these changes throughout your life. And that's really what I wanna teach you, and that's what I am teaching you in that 12-week program program, how to start understanding yourself, evaluating yourself and making the shifts that you need for long-term health, and again, with long-term health comes the weight loss that supports that long-term help, if you need to lose weight, you lose weight, if you don't need to lose weight, you won't...

You'll just get healthier. Does that make sense? So making those shifts are so important, so I hope you take the time to really answer these four questions for yourself, really dig deep, write it down. I am always encouraging journaling and writing down, there's something a very tactile about writing something on a piece of paper and really putting it into the world, instead of just having it be a circling thought in your head, put it onto paper, Answer these four questions really honestly for yourself, and if you need any help with that, I'm always here. You can join us in the circle community community, dot no nonsense, wellness dot com, you can email me, message me however you wanna get a hold of me, but I'm here to help you work through that. And go to tarafaulmann.com, check out the program, it might be exactly what you need to shift from your short-term thinking to your long-term health thinking. Okay, I appreciate you guys. Until next time, be well.