Michelle Tubman
Thank you for joining me on the mindful weight loss podcast today. I'm so happy that you're here.
Dawn Cuckow
Thanks, Michelle. I'm really delighted to be here chatting to you.
Michelle Tubman
All right, we're gonna talk about nutrition today and so Dawn, why don't we start tell our listeners who you are and what you're passionate about in your work with nutrition.
Dawn Cuckow
Okay, so my name is Dawn Cuckow and I'm a nutritional therapist. And I really want to help people bring their bodies into balance, because this really helps you feel healthier, feel more alive, feel more full of energy, and it also stops your body from blocking your weight loss. When your body is out of balance it can trigger cravings, it can trigger that desire to overeat. It can trigger your body to store fat. So I think it's really important for our whole well being to use nutrition in a way that our bodies are designed for.
Michelle Tubman
And I think you hit in that beautiful introduction, the nail on the head when you talked about your body blocking your weight loss and the cravings and the desire to eat that comes from the way that we eat really. And so, can you talk a little bit more about how our bodies can block our weight loss?
Dawn Cuckow
Okay, so there's a number of different ways of what it can block our weight loss. It can trigger cravings, for example, because of biochemical imbalances in your body, or it can trigger that drive to overeat. Or when you're out of balance, it can trigger your body to store more fat or to store fat particularly around your belly. And a lot of women notice that as they approach the menopause, they store weight around their belly, and that's when your estrogen levels are dropping. And your belly fat can actually produce estrogen, which it uses to offset the declining levels because even though you don't need to turn for reproduction anymore, you still need estrogen to protect your bones and height or your bones and your heart. So it's actually his way of protecting you. So there's a lot of these things that go on. We blame ourselves for lack of willpower or we feel bad about ourselves, but actually it's our biochemistry being out of balance and our body trying to correct it. But our body is not set up for the type of foods that we have available to us today.
Michelle Tubman
And can you speak a little bit to how our bodies do get biochemically imbalance. I mean, this doesn't just happen is that we do or the way that we eat that contributes to that imbalance in the body.
Dawn Cuckow
Well, it can be to do with the way we eat. It can be to do with things like stress or lack of sleep, these can all send our biochemistry out, or let's say blood sugar imbalances is a common one. So if you go for too long without eating or if you're eating like the refined carbs and the sugar, then it can send your blood sugar very high. And when your blood sugar is high, you release more insulin. Now you need insulin but you need it to be in the correct levels. And when your insulin is constantly high, you're constantly giving your body the message to store fat. And what can happen then is because you release too much insulin, your blood sugar then drops and it goes too low. And when your blood sugar is low, your body is desperately trying to bring it up again. So that's when it makes you crave sugar or refined carbohydrates, carbohydrates again, because those are the foods that push your blood sugar up quickly. Of course, those cravings are really hard to resist because it's your body trying to get itself back into balance.
Michelle Tubman
Right, right. And are there things that we can do to regulate our blood sugar levels and our insulin levels a little bit more appropriately for ourselves?
Dawn Cuckow
Yes, I mean, the first thing is, I mean, you talk a lot I know about processed foods and avoiding processed foods, of course. Really don't help keep our bodies imbalanced in any way and they don't help us balance our blood sugar levels. And I mentioned the refined carbohydrates and sugar. If you choose whole grains such as brown rice, wholemeal bread rather than the white refined version, they still have the fiber and the micronutrients and that fiber helps slow down the release of the sugars from the refined carbohydrate. So choosing on refined carbs, the whole grains and also having some protein with it helps slow down the release of those sugar so helps you balance your blood sugar levels.
Michelle Tubman
Now a lot of women will say that they just can't stop eating the sugary foods and the highly processed foods. Is there a reason for that or any idea why women feel like they're powerless when it comes to these foods?
Dawn Cuckow
Yes, I mean, that can be a number of different reasons. And again, it's often because your body is out of balance. I mean another one that can happen in our environment. Today we're exposed to obesogens which are chemicals that actually trigger weight gain and can disrupt your appetite regulation so that you want to eat more. So when you've been exposed to those kinds of chemicals, or if your body's out of balance because you're very stressed, then it's very hard to avoid those foods, the sugars, the carbs, the the processed foods,
Michelle Tubman
Okay. And what are some examples of obesogens that are out there in our environment and in our food chain?
Dawn Cuckow
Okay, so a really common one is BPA which people tend to know as a hormone disruptor, but it also causes you to gain weight. So, for example, this is in plastics. So if you buy food wrapped in plastics, then it basically just leads to BPA leeches from the plastic into your food. And that's especially true of oily and fatty foods. So it's best to avoid foods like cheese or meats that are wrapped in plastic. And another source of BPA is tinned foods, and the BPA leeches from the tin particularly into acidic foods. So if you're going to reduce 10 foods, probably one of the best ones to reduce is tinned tomatoes because of their acidity, more of the BPA leeches into them. Okay, and in fact in recipes, it's really easy to replace tinned tomatoes with fresh tomatoes.
Michelle Tubman
Yeah, no, it sure is. It sure is. And so, if you're consuming these obesogens from your diet or from the packaging that our foods come in, or if you're having hormonal disruptions in the body because of stress, then this leads to the biochemical imbalances that cause us to crave more sugary and more processed foods. And then we get in this cycle I'm hearing where we eat those foods. We get the insulin spike, and then the sugar drop and then our bodies send us more cravings for more sugar. Is that Is that what's happening?
Dawn Cuckow
Yeah, absolutely. I mean as a number of different imbalances. They could be hormonal imbalances that are blocking your weight loss it could be being low in particular nutrients. It could be even to do with your gut bacteria, or your metabolism or it could be to do with his obesogens. So there's a lot of different things that can go on. But it takes you can bring your body back into balance, but it takes some time. It doesn't happen overnight. And there's never gonna be perfect on that journey. And it's so important not to blame yourself, but to actually show some compassion to yourself and, and be kind to yourself. And because as you start to bring your body back into balance, the cravings reduce, but let's say sugar cravings, that's a really difficult one. So because it doesn't happen overnight, there are things that you can do in the meantime. So for example, if instead of when you want something sugary, you could have some dried fruit or make yourself some cakes or some biscuits using dried fruit. And that helps give you the sweetness but that fruit still has the fiber in the nutrients, which doesn't then exacerbate the cycle of keeping your body out of balance. Or for example, when you have craving some people find that really having a glass of skim milk helps or something like cottage cheese with carrot sticks because even though they don't taste sweet, the dairy contains lactose, which is a milk sugar. And some people find that helps. Okay. Oh another tip that can really help with sugar cravings is such a big thing and it's so difficult if you have them. Another thing that can help with sugar cravings is green vegetables, their membranes contain substances that can actually reduce sugar and chocolate.
Michelle Tubman
Okay, increasing green vegetables can help. Okay, so if you increase green vegetables in your meals, because I know from my own personal experience and I hear this from my clients all the time, it's like when they're in the moment of craving something sugary or sweet. Like having some snap peas is just not going to do it in the moment. But if we increase those green vegetables in our regular meals throughout the day, will that help with the sugar cravings over the rest of the day?
Dawn Cuckow
Yes, it can do it again. It takes a bit of time. There's not like one magic food that suddenly stops everything. It's a gradual process about bringing your body back into balance. And as you say, I mean when you're craving food, who's gonna reach for the sugar snap peas, it doesn't happen. But if you could maybe pause for a moment, because the cravings often don't last all that long. So if you can pause for a moment, and then if you've got some ideas already of what might help. So let's say you want something sweet, maybe a green smoothie sweetened with fruit so it's still quite sweet is something that might work for you better. Or maybe if it has to be chocolate, for example. And if you can stick to just two squares of dark chocolate, then two squares of dark chocolate might help. But for other people, that's not a good idea, because it might then trigger them to overeat it right so it's really about finding what works for you. And we're we're all different, correct?
Michelle Tubman
Yeah. And I certainly hear a lot of people who are so resistant to the dark chocolate idea. It works wonders for me. One small square of it just does magic for me. The other thing that I found worked for me for a while and I find I don't need to do it anymore. But initially when I was trying to resolve my sugar cravings, I would make cookies just with a smashed banana and rolled oats. Just mix them together, bake them in the oven. It was actually very delicious and very sweet. But I found like if I were to buy a package of cookies at the grocery store, I would be inclined to eat a whole roll of them or whole sleeve of them just couldn't stop myself but when I made these cookies, I just had oats banana and a little bit of cinnamon in them. I'd have one maybe two and be totally satisfied. So that was that was something that that helped me with my sugar cravings and perhaps it was the fiber in there that that really helped regulate my sugar and insulin levels afterwards.
Dawn Cuckow
And actually cinnamon you mentioned cinnamon in them so that was really good. Because cinnamon helps sensitize your body to instantly helping you balance your blood sugar levels. And it cast that kind of sweet taste to it and that sweet smell does. Having something sweet as well.
Michelle Tubman
All right, and are there any other things we can do nutritionally to help bring our biochemistry back into balance?
Well, one of the really important ones is the omega three fats because so many people are low in them. And we've talked about processed foods already. But when you if you eat a lot of processed foods, you're likely to have a very high omega six to Omega three ratio. Now the problem with this is the omega three fats, they have many benefits to weight loss, they can help reduce your appetite they may help you burn more fat, but also they're anti inflammatory and weight gain and inflammation causes weight gain and then weight gain in itself causes more inflammation. So it's one of those kinds of really difficult recurring cycles that you're setting up. So the omega three fats are anti inflammatory, but the Omega six fat, they can be inflammatory, and they can be anti inflammatory, depending on the conditions in your body. So if you have a lot of omega six in relation to Omega three, then those fats are more likely to have an inflammatory effect in your body, right, which you don't want for your health or your weight. So if you're eating a lot of processed foods, then again, you'd like to have that higher omega six ratio. So increasing Omega three can be really important.
Michelle Tubman
Okay, and what what types of foods contain that lovely Omega three?
Dawn Cuckow
Okay, so the best source in terms of getting it in the form you need is oily fish, right, but not tuna. Other tinned fish is fine, but not tinned tuna because that's how the omega three fats removed. But if you don't eat fish, you can get it from chia seed, flaxseed. There's so many walnuts that a little bit in green vegetables, okay.
Michelle Tubman
And do you ever recommend people take Omega three supplements?
Dawn Cuckow
Oh, I think Omega three supplements can be really helpful for people if you are very low, but it always start with the basis of getting your diet right in the first place. Sure,
Michelle Tubman
yeah, yep. Supplements can't replace the foods for sure. Yeah. Is there a ratio of omega threes to omega sixes that we want to aim for?
Dawn Cuckow
We should be having roughly a one to one ratio and that's what our distant ancestors ate. But today, different studies come up with different figures but it's generally between 16 times as much Omega six to Omega three to 20 times as much. So you can see what we're doing now is really out of balance.
Michelle Tubman
Oh, yeah, yeah. process foods just wreak havoc in our body. In so many ways. You know, we talked about how it affects insulin. Also, now that it contains these pro inflammatory omega threes and the Omega six fatty acids, right. Um, are there other ways that processed foods interfere with our biochemical processes in the body?
Dawn Cuckow
Yeah, I mean, they can be high in sugar and high in salt, and that absolutely disrupts your body. And in fact, sugar is not just in sweet processed foods. It's in really surprising foods like ketchup, tomato sauces contain really high amounts and especially low fat yogurts often contain more sugar, because fat carries the flavor. And when manufacturers take the fat out, they add sugar in the marketers I mean, it can be really misleading. You think a food is healthy, and it looks like a healthy product. But when you read the ingredients, it's not. So low fat products are fine as long as they don't contain lots of added sugars.
Michelle Tubman
Right? And I find it's been years my husband and I have been scouring grocery stores to find a yogurt that isn't full of sugar. It's really hard to find. In fact, we looked at this not so long ago, we were comparing labels on just you know, the single serving. You know, fruit flavored yogurts have more sugar than a Mars bar in some cases, which I thought was like that just that just blew my mind. And we've really taken now to just eating plain Greek yogurt without, you know, anything added and then adding our own fruit to it. I think this is one of the challenges is that it's very hard for us to find foods in the grocery store that aren't laden with sugar. And I think part of the problem is we now encompass this lifestyle where we require the convenience of you know, packaged and processed foods, but don't want the negative health effects that come with them. And that sometimes puts people in this you know, predicament of you know, what, what do I sacrifice my time and my money or, or my health with these processed foods and I think the yogurt is just such a great example of how the food production industry that you know, the food industry has contributed to the problems that we're having with our diets and our biochemical imbalances in the body.
Dawn Cuckow
Absolutely, yeah. And sugar is cheap ingredients. So it's cheap for the manufacturers. And it's, you know, it might be great for profits, but it's not so great for our health. Right. But it's really important. I mean, a lot of us have a lack of time. So it's really important to find a way of eating that works for you. And it's all very well if you're let's say you're a meat eater or you have loads of time on your hands and you love cooking, what you eat and what works for you is going to be very different from if you're say a vegan or you're very short on time. So it is possible to you know, to cook healthy meals with not very much time there are you know, there are some quick and easy options you can do. Or you can try cooking food in bulk and freezing some of it or saving some of your dinner from the night before for how to have for lunch for the next day. So there's kind of lots of things you can do to make it easier for yourself.
Michelle Tubman
Absolutely, for sure. And I'd like to Are there more chemicals out there that interfere with our processes we talked about? The BPA? Is there anything else that that we need to be aware of?
Dawn Cuckow
JR What there are quite a lot there's a whole long list of them. I went there was quite a lot but probably the main sources are BPA and phthalates, phthalates. And yeah, and these are also in our personal care products. So a lot of us are using a lot of different personal care products, shampoos, moisturizers, more the rest of it skin cleansers and we know this can have a quite big effect on our levels in our body.
Michelle Tubman
And these chemicals are obesogenic as well.
Dawn Cuckow
But actually there was one study and what it did I think it was for five days. They put people on a on a completely unprocessed food diet. And they measured the levels of their BPA and phthalates in their urine and they found they dropped I think it rose by 55% of 65% over that week. Now I may have got the exact percentages wrong I would have to double check that but it was around that kind of level. So just trying to stay away from the processed foods or reducing your exposure to them can have a significant effect on the level of obesogens you have in your body.
Michelle Tubman
Okay. And do you know offhand how long that study was?
Dawn Cuckow
I don't know off the top of my head. I think it was I think they measured it for five days.
Michelle Tubman
I was gonna say a lot of these studies are very short, you know, durations, like a couple of weeks at the most and so even just for five days or a week or two of decreasing or eliminating processed foods can have this remarkable difference in the levels of obesogenic chemicals that are found in our body.
Dawn Cuckow
Absolutely, but I think for a lot of people making a lot of changes at once works, that for most people it doesn't it's too hard to sustain. And if you're looking for long term health and long term weight loss, I think it's really important to make changes at a rate that works for you. So it might be that you can start by maybe reducing processes for one meal a week or two meals a week or whatever it is that you think you can sustain and then gradually building on that.
Michelle Tubman
And what I hear from a lot of clients is that they feel that their meals are perfectly balanced and unhealthy and focus definitely more on wholesome, healthy foods. And then it's the snacking in between or the nighttime eating where the processed foods tend to come into play. And sometimes this is simply a matter of not being prepared when hunger strikes, and so you grab something convenient, but oftentimes, it's stress and lack of sleep and food cravings that come in for maybe emotional reasons that that interfere with all of this and so any tips for people in that situation?
Dawn Cuckow
Absolutely. I mean, as you start to bring your body back into balance those cravings go. And one of the things that can help with nighttime snacking and nighttime cravings is by having a higher protein breakfast. But the other thing that you can do is and this can make quite a bit different to some people is to be aware of what you're eating, and don't eat with distractions and to slow it down. So for example, a lot of people they get the cravings get the munchies in the evening they'll grab a packet of crisps, I think you call them chips in America. Yes, you sit in front of the TV and eat a huge amount without even being really aware of what you've eaten. So what I say to my clients is well, if you're going to eat them anyway, put them to and you have a large packet, put what you're going to eat in a bowl, put the packet away in the cupboard, then sit down at a table with no distractions. Eat them slowly. And if you're going to eat something bad for you really enjoy it. It's not any less bad for you. If you don't enjoy them, you just shuffle it down and really focus on it. And you may find that slows down what you're eating and less of it and you're less likely to mindlessly eat the whole packet simply because you're not paying attention.
Michelle Tubman
Oh, it's so true. And in fact, one of the foundational habits inside our programming at Wayza Health is to slow down with your eating and eat when you're not distracted. And in fact we have our clients do some we call it a joy eat once per week and they do exactly as you say they take one of these foods that they absolutely love. Put it in a bowl or on a serving plate and sit down and pay attention to every single bite, how it tastes, how it feels in your mouth, how it how it feels going down into your tummy how your body feels after you eat it, how you feel emotionally when you eat it. And most clients will say they eat so so much less if they sit down and do it mindfully and they can see that easily when it comes to doing it as a practice with their favorite foods. Once per week. And then eventually when they start doing this with their regular meals as well. They noticed that they're able to consume less and feel more satisfied with less food simply by slowing down and paying attention. I think that's an important piece.
Dawn Cuckow
Absolutely. And the other thing it does is that when you give yourself permission to do this, not only you like to eat less, but you don't feel so bad afterwards. And it can be really big trigger for people thinking they've blown their diet and then going and overeating. In fact there was this really interesting documentary a little while ago. And in it they had groups of people trying to lose weight and following a diet and they gave one group was again firstly it was an identical cake. And one group they told them that the cake was low calorie unhealthy. And the other group they didn't say anything. Both groups ate the cake, identical cakes. But what was really interesting is that the group that thought it was healthy, low calorie carried on eating healthy the rest of the day, they stuck to their diet plan. The other group thought they'd blown their diet. So they all went out and got fish and chips together that evening, right. Yeah, so thinking you've blown your healthy eating is can be really counterproductive.
Michelle Tubman
Oh. Absolutely. And I think that's where coaching comes into play when it comes to weight loss and changing your diet is to help you with the mindset around all of that because I think when we're working on changing how we eat and bringing our hormones back into balance, you know, we're not perfect. We're not perfect, right? It's a process and just like it takes time for your body to heal and adjust. It also takes time for you to change your habits. And when you do eat something that you didn't want to or that you maybe in retrospect would have, you know, made a different decision. How you react to yourself in those moments, is super, super important.
Dawn Cuckow
It really is. It makes the most enormous difference. When we eat something we shouldn't we can often be so horrible and beat ourselves up but tell us you're worthless and useless. I feel so much shame. Yes. And that's not very nice. We wouldn't treat it like that.
Michelle Tubman
We would never treat a friend like that. But we have no problems flagellating ourselves when we think we've made a mistake. Yeah.
Dawn Cuckow
So I think it's much healthier to think you know, it's my body frame is my body triggering this. And in fact, I find many clients when they realize that it's their body triggering it. It takes a lot of that shame. away.
Michelle Tubman
Yes, yes. And I think I think once people understand that it's not their fault that they're having these cravings that there's biochemical or even just habitual reasons, right. I mean, you know, sometimes you just grow up being you know, given candy when you're upset. So you've become, you know, conditioned to want candy when you're upset and none of this is your fault. You either have these habitual you know, brain patterns, or you've got these biochemical processes that are sending you these urges and just acknowledging that this is normal. This is what human bodies and human brains do. Kind of takes away. You know, some of that feeling like it's our fault and beating ourselves up for it.
Dawn Cuckow
Yeah, it's absolutely not your fault. If you're having cravings and then you react to them.
Michelle Tubman
Mm hmm. And then one thing I'd like to just quickly touch on as well as you know, we we've talked a little bit about, you know, the importance of the omega three fatty acids and eliminating some of the obesogenic chemicals and I find, you know, sometimes when we give advice like this people's, you know, they'll pay attention and say this, this is the magic pill, right? If I just start you know, buying food in glass instead of plastic and, and, you know, if I start supplementing with the Omega threes, all of the weight is going to fall off. And of course we know that that that is not true, but people just want you know, something concrete to hang their hat on. And so when we look at just these little changes, you know, such as, you know, increasing the green vegetables or increasing the Omega threes, how do these little changes affect the bigger picture?
Dawn Cuckow
When each little change all adds up? And sometimes little changes can make a very big difference. But when I work with people, first of all, I get them to find out what is triggering that what is triggering their cravings, what's triggering their belly fat. what's triggering that is artwork. And it's gonna be different for everybody. So I have, I have a mini course which they can go through and it explains how each and balance blocks are weight loss, and then there's a quiz to see if that's relevant to them. So then they know what's blocking their weight loss and then I go through a step by step process with them. So you're never making too many changes at once. Each step is one change, that you tailor to your dietary requirements and preferences, and you use to target the imbalances in your body. So how you actually implement that step will be different for everybody. So by the end of that process, you've actually made a lot of different step by step changes, and then it makes a really big difference.
Michelle Tubman
I love that because we're emphasizing again, that there's just no one size fits all, even when it comes to this like each of our bodies are different and what's blocking our weight loss. And each of us is completely different as well. Absolutely. I love that. All right, Don. And if people want to learn more about this, where can they find you?
Dawn Cuckow
My website is dawncuckow.com Or I have a book out that was released in January and if you're going to Amazon and type The Body Effects into Amazon, it will come up with my book. Or you can email me at [email protected]
Michelle Tubman
Perfect. Yes. And let's hear a little bit more about this book. I didn't realize it had only just come out. Congratulations.
Dawn Cuckow
Thank you. Yeah, it's been it's been a crazy ride this year. So the book is actually based on my two courses. Okay. So in one of the book, you go through this process where each chapter shows one imbalance, whether it's stress, whether it's a obesogens, whether it's female hormones, whether it's your gut bacteria, whether it's food intolerances. So there's 11 chapters in each one explains how that imbalance blocks your weight loss. And then there's a question I'd say that's relevant to you.
So at the end of part one, you know, exactly what's, what's behind your weight. And then in part two, you go through the step by step process. That I talked about. And so each chapter you make one change. So we start with getting breakfast, right? Right. And again, you tailor it to your dietary preferences and requirement, you tailor it to the imbalances in your body. And then we look the second step is actually increasing vegetables. So again, it's tailored specifically to you because certain vegetables have certain properties that can help say balance your hormones or can help with whatever imbalances going on in your body.
Michelle Tubman
Amazing. And you now I was all prepared to end the podcast now but now I'm excited about a few more things because that was the second time you mentioned the microbiome. And this the microbiome is just from in the science world is just such an exciting field. Currently, it feels like every month, there's new studies coming out that are teaching us more about the role the microbiome plays, not just in our weight, but in our health, our health overall. And I do know that people who are carrying extra weight do have a different microbiome than those who don't. And I have certainly seen the animal studies in mice where they do microbiome, you know transfers transplants into, you know, obese mice and actually have them lose weight. So I feel like there's exciting things coming down the line, but are there things that we can do from a nutritional perspective to influence our microbiome that will help us lose weight?
Dawn Cuckow
Yeah,so it makes a lot of sense to try and get more of the bacteria the slimmer people have more of. And so for example, eating fermented foods, because I mean, the good bacteria, or some foods contain prebiotics, which actually help boost the good bacteria as well. So that says, like, onions and leeks and garlic, things like that. So these are all things that you can do to help boost the good bacteria. The ones that serve other people have more off,
Michelle Tubman
right and just like I asked you if it was relevant to take Omega three supplements. What about taking probiotics?
Dawn Cuckow
And also probiotics, as you said, it's this whole new area that suddenly being associated with with loads of things and we're just realizing how important it is. And one of the big things at the moment is it's part of your immune system as well. So actually supporting that that correct gut bacterial balance is also helping your immune system.
Michelle Tubman
Right? Of course,
Dawn Cuckow
Did you didn't know that some of the bacteria in your gut can actually extract more calories from your food. So you could be exactly the same food as someone else and getting those calories.
Michelle Tubman
Yes, yeah, absolutely. And in fact, I recently read a study that was looking at, like the calories that we attribute to certain foods like if you look at a package of I don't know walnuts, that says, you know, if you have a tablespoon, you'll consume this many calories. How many of those you actually end up absorbing versus what the microbiome does. And it can be like a 30 or 40% difference depending on the state of your microbiome. And that was new for me and that was that was the first time that I heard that. So yeah, so many exciting things with the microbiome.
Dawn Cuckow
What this all says is that there are certain things that you can do to make it so much easier to lose weight to make it so much easier to eat healthily. Absolutely. By working with your body rather than fighting against it.
Michelle Tubman
Absolutely. Yeah. And the second thing that you mentioned when you were talking about the book is protein at breakfast, and you mentioned earlier that having more protein in breakfast, can help with the nighttime hunger as well. And I find these days breakfast is becoming very polarizing, because you know, of course, intermittent fasting has become very trendy and popular now and many people are choosing to have a later eating window when they do that. I know for myself if I do not have a good I think breakfast is usually my biggest meal of the day and if I don't have a good breakfast my hunger is uncontrollable and all over the place for the whole rest of the day. And so I see this in a lot of a lot of clients as well. Not everyone but you know, a lot of clients doing better when they have a good breakfast. So any any tips on what to have for breakfast to help set the stage for the rest of the day?
Dawn Cuckow
Absolutely, absolutely. But first of all, can I just say something about intermittent fasting please, intermittent fasting works for you. As we've said many times in this conversation, you are unique and if it works for you, great. But if you intermittent fast and find that you're eating and craving food in the evening, then maybe eating breakfast is better for you and actually maybe have your evening meal earlier so that he's got that longer window of not eating before breakfast the next day. So what type of breakfast Okay, so one of my favorite breakfast is actually Chia porridge with nuts and fruit, lots of nuts and seeds. But if you wanted to have a higher protein breakfast, you could have say an egg on toast and maybe with some grilled tomatoes or mushrooms. There's a lot of different things that you can have. I mean, scrambled tofu takes a bit longer, but it's one that is on the table at the weekend.
Michelle Tubman
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's beautiful. And those are easy, quick breakfast put together in the morning as well.
Dawn Cuckow
Yeah, absolutely. And most people want or a lot of people want a quick breakfast in the morning especially if you're trying to get out the door to get get the kids to school or get to work. Absolutely.
Michelle Tubman
But I find I find it absolutely fascinating watching my own life. In terms of what happens to my days when I don't eat breakfast or when I don't eat a good breakfast. I think before I started doing this work and paying attention. I had no idea you know, I didn't have I didn't have the insight but it's been clear as day how important to my body. Breakfast really is.
Dawn Cuckow
Oh, I get grumpy if I leave it too long to have breakfast.
Michelle Tubman
Oh, well I do too. But I also am up all night eating crap. If I don't have breakfast as well. It's predictable. It's crazy. Yeah.
Dawn Cuckow
And once you start noticing when you're eating and what happens, then you know, it really it can be really enlightening,
Michelle Tubman
right? Yes. And I have people write down what they eat. Not forever, but for a while to gain some insight into what happens and a lot of people hate this concept of food journaling. But it is such an excellent tool for awareness to see. What am I doing on the days when I feel like my hunger is out of control. And what am I doing differently on days when I'm not constantly snacking or having cravings. And you learn so much about what your body needs simply by looking at the data that it gives you on a regular basis.
Dawn Cuckow
The other thing is some people find they eat more healthfully when they have to write it down because otherwise it's in writing.
Michelle Tubman
it's true. It's for anybody else. Or the opposite happens and you just choose not to write down the things you wish you hadn't eaten. That happens sometimes too. But I what I love about this conversation that we've had is just this idea that there are lots of little small, very doable changes that we can make to our diet and our lifestyle. That all add up to encourage that weight to come off of our body. The extra fat to come off the body.
Dawn Cuckow
You know, I also encourage people to think about it in terms of health rather than weight. Because if you set up the conditions in your body for weight loss, then the weight will come off. And it's actually far better to focus on health. And to actually when you start to focus on health, it takes you out of that win lose situation that we have with dieting.
Michelle Tubman
Yeah, I agree completely. And in fact we don't actually deal in pounds or kilograms. At Wayza Health we define our goals in terms of our ideal weight, which is in being in a body where you feel energetic and vibrant and healthy, where you're also metabolically healthy, that encompasses a lifestyle that feels good for you and that sustainable over the long run. And so it definitely puts the focus back on health and what you need to do to feel good because I find most of us when we're eating a diet that's based predominantly on processed foods, we don't feel good, we feel bloated, and sluggish and tired. Right? Sometimes we have achy joints, right and that, you know you also mentioned food sensitivities in there as well. And I think this is something that often gets overlooked when it comes to looking at your diet and your overall health. And you know, we often have symptoms, it's kind of like I always get congested when I eat too much dairy, always, always like I know that there's certain like, cheeses that I cannot eat without getting stuffy and I'm sure that that's probably a food intolerance and there's certain foods that I always get very, very bloated after eating and I've just kind of learned not to eat those as well. And but when you're eating foods that you have an intolerance to you just don't feel good. And I think identifying those things that you do during your day that just don't make you feel physically good is important.
Dawn Cuckow
And sometimes it can be hard to cut back on the foods you're intolerant to because we often crave the foods were intolerant. To
Michelle Tubman
Oh, really why is that?
Dawn Cuckow
Um, well when we food intolerance we have an immune reaction to them. So it's linked to increased gut permeability. So incompletely digested food particles pass through your gut lining into your blood and your body triggers the immune reaction which triggers inflammation which can lead to weight gain. But some of these incompletely digested food particles can have an opioid effect on your brain, so you feel better immediately after eating them. But you need to keep consuming them to keep getting that and actually ultimately you end up feeling worse.
Michelle Tubman
Actually, that makes a lot of sense. That makes a lot of sense. I find store bought bread does this for me. When I make bread at home homemade for whatever reason I'm fine but store bought bread. I find myself in that exact same pattern, where I get very bloated. I don't feel fantastic, but I get cravings for more shortly after.
Dawn Cuckow
You crave eating it. Yeah. So it's kind of again, more of these really difficult cycles. It's so important to break
Michelle Tubman
Absolutely. And again, just to reiterate that breaking these cycles doesn't happen overnight that it's a process. Little steps that we have to take to break those cycles and see the effects.
Dawn Cuckow
And absolutely it doesn't have to be all or nothing in one go. So instead of you blown it, could you've eaten some of this bread the one of them actually normally, I don't know four slices. Now I've only done two. So it's actually progressed
Michelle Tubman
right? Absolutely agreed completely. I love it. All right, done any last words of wisdom before we sign off today?
Dawn Cuckow
I would just like to reiterate if you are really struggling with your eating don't beat yourself up, be kind to yourself and it absolutely is possible to change it. I used to have terrible cravings. I have a whole history of disordered eating. And actually now I have been completely free of cravings or that drive to overeat for a very, very long time. So it is possible to change.
Michelle Tubman
Perfect. All right, and I already ordered your book. I ordered it last week. So hopefully it arrived soon. I'm very much looking forward to reading it. And I encourage all the listeners out there to look into this book as well. Because I think that Don has some really relevant wisdom to share that can help us on our journey towards better health. So thank you once again, John, Dawn for joining us today.
Dawn Cuckow
Thank you so much, Michelle, I've loved chatting to you. It's so great to hear your take on all of this too.
