What Nourishing Your Body Actually Means
LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | STITCHER
We hear things all the time like “nourish your body”, “eat a balanced diet”, or simply “eat healthier”, but what do those things actually mean? What does it look like to nourish your body? And how do you eat both healthier and balanced? With all the information being tossed around, with much of it being quick-fix, fad dieting solutions, I wanted to break down what it actually looks like to nourish your body with what it needs. In this episode will ensure you are going about your fitness journey in a healthy and sustainable way, because you know that’s what I’m all about!
Episodes mentioned:
Episode 18: What Happens when You Don’t Eat Enough
Episode 51: Are you eating enough fiber?
Episode 59: How to Know Which Foods Work for You and Against You
If you don’t yet follow @EmbraceYourReal yet on the ‘gram, be sure to do so! Each day I give you some real talk on honoring your body and embracing your true, authentic self!
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real, with me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I dish you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get in, let's go.
Hello and welcome back to the Embrace Your Real podcast. Now, if you've been tuning in for a few episodes, you might have heard me talking about nourishing your body with what it needs. I feel like that's a coined term that I always talk about. This is really important, but I don't think I've ever really broken it down in terms of like, "What is nourishing your body with what it needs actually mean?," because I think that there's a misconception in the dieting and fitness world as to what it actually means to nourish yourself, so in today's episode of Embrace Your Real, I'm going to break it down and make it extremely clear to you so that you can ensure going about your health and fitness journey in a sustainable way because you know, that is what I am all about. Before I dive in though, I want to share this super sweet review of the day. EmmaJane09 says, "Amazing. I listened to this podcast on Spotify, but I had to hop over here to leave her a review."
"I've been following Julie on Instagram for almost a year now, and I've been investing in her workout program since October. After doing her workouts for a few months, I could feel a difference in the way I felt and I can tell I was getting stronger. When she started this podcast, I was so excited. I have learned so, so much from her. She gives you great information that you can educate yourself with, which I believe is so important for mental health. I've been inspired, educated, and challenged by her words. I highly recommend her program and podcast to anyone who asked me about health and fitness."
Thank you so much, Emma Jane for the review. Honestly, you guys, I have said it before, I'll say it again, I have an audacious goal of reaching a million women with this podcast before the end of 2020. I cannot do it alone, so thank you so much, Emma, for hopping off Spotify just to hop on to Apple to leave a review. Really, the Apple reviews is what helps spread the message of Embrace Your Real podcast, even on other platforms, so thank you, thank you, thank you. It really does mean the world.
If you are not an Apple podcast listener, if you could just share this out on your Instagram Story or text it in a text to a few friends and just say, "Hey, this is the podcast I've been tuning into," I would love that. I appreciate you guys so, so much, and I cannot do this podcast without you. All right, so let's dive into what nourishing your body actually means. Number one, giving your body enough food. Now, when people get started on their health and fitness journey, they often say they want to lose X amount of weight, they want to get back in shape, whatever their goals are. Most times, people think that nourishing their body actually means eating as little as possible.
They don't even like coin it as nourishing their body. They just say, "I want to get on the diet. The diet starts tomorrow, the diet starts Monday," whatever, and in their mind, they equate getting back on track to eating as little as possible. I know, I did that for years and years of my life. I was on this vicious cycle of going crazy on the weekends. When Sunday night rolled around, Monday, I'd be like, "Okay, I'm getting back on track on Monday."
Meaning, I'm going to eat as little as possible, and I've talked about this in episode 18, What Happens When You Don't Eat Enough, but I want to touch on it again. Here is some real talk for you. For a sedentary woman, meaning, a woman who is not active, like literally does not workout, does not move her body, her body will naturally burn about 12 to 1,400 calories per day without any movement. Without any movement, so this means if you workout, if you move your body regularly, your body definitely needs more than 1,400 calories per day, and if you dip too low, below what your body burns each day, you're likely going to slow your metabolism down, for lack of a better term, which will actually trigger your body to store fat and break muscle down, which is exactly what you don't want to do, right? Even though people think that they're doing their body good when they're reducing their caloric intake, they're not.
They're actually doing the exact opposite, so the number one thing you need to know to nourish your body is to actually know the amount of food that it needs. Less food is not better. Less food is not going to help you lose weight. With that being said, some of you might be eating more than your body needs, and you may need to slightly cut back, but on the flip side, there is another drastic thing that so many people take, this drastic measure of cutting back all the calories at once, and that's not going to do your body good either. Again, this will likely slow your metabolism down, and actually cause yourself to store body fat regardless of eating less food.
The trick here is to slowly cut back. A general term, I would cut back maybe one to 200 calories per week until you reach the amount of calories that your body needs, so it's really important that you understand first, how much your body needs, because you can't really do anything methodically unless you know how much your body needs, which is why I'm a huge proponent of learning how to properly fuel your body. First of all, like I said, you have to understand how much your body needs, and then you can slowly reduce your calories. Basically, when we put a person on a body fat loss phase, hypothetically, they could go all the way to about a 25 to 28% caloric deficit, but we don't want you to just start from where you're eating. You might be eating in a caloric surplus if you are eating too much for what your body needs, to going straight to a 28% caloric deficit, because number one, that's going to completely shock your body, and two, your energy is going to be zapped out and it's not going to be fun, so what we do typically is we gradually increase the caloric deficit on a body fat loss phase.
This is why having a coach, hiring a professional is so important because they understand how metabolisms work, and when they get all of your stats, your height, your weight, your activity level, your goals, where you previously worked, where you're currently at, what your movement is, all the things that are required in learning how much to properly fuel your body, we are able to methodically bring you through a body fat loss phase that is gradual, and so it's not shocking your system, AKA being unsustainable. Maybe you'll start from going from a caloric surplus to starting out at a 15% caloric deficit. Do that, stay consistent for a few weeks, and then if you hit a plateau in that and you've been consistent with understanding how to properly fuel your body in this 15% caloric deficit, then you'll bump up to a 17% caloric deficit, and then you'll bump up to a 20% caloric deficit. It's a slow and gradual process. If you've heard anything about reverse dieting, and I've talked about this on my podcast before, it's the same concept, just in the opposite direction, so with the reverse diet, you're slowly increasing, and the goal is to go back to maintenance, whereas in a caloric deficit, AKA a body fat loss phase, your goal is to go into further up a caloric deficit.
We don't like to bring our clients into a 30% caloric deficit. We consider it to be dangerous, and this is generally speaking, remember that. It's a lot more customized when you work with us directly, but for the most part, that risk damaging your metabolism, so it's really important that you understand and you properly go through a body fat loss phase with slow and gradual measures. Lastly on this topic, so many people I have seen estimate the amount of calories that their body needs, so you assume you need 1,800 calories, or you assume you need 1,500 calories or 1,000 calories. Estimating can be so dangerous because you don't know what you're doing.
If you estimate the amount of calories that your body needs and you estimate wrong, and you're sticking to the amount of calories for a long period of time, which might be a severe caloric deficit like I was just talking about, we've seen people come to us and they're like in a 45% caloric deficit, and that's where like it's just miserable. You feel like your body has been completely zapped out of all energy, your metabolism has slowed down so much, your hormones are out of whack, so many different things. It can cause really long-term damage to your metabolism in general, so I just always recommend understanding how to properly determine what the number is for you, like how much your body needs to properly be optimal, to function at its best every single day. This is something that I can help you with inside the Honor Your Body Challenge, which actually today, if you're listening on September 14th, is the last day to sign up. We personally calculate your macros for you.
We give you an accurate number of how much your body should be eating, and I'm not saying this to plug myself. Honestly, I don't care if you go with me, I don't care if you go with another coach. Make sure they are trustedm make sure that they know what they're doing, but I just care that you know how much to properly fuel your body because it takes the guesswork out of it. I've talked about this before, but when you don't know how to properly fuel your body, you're in this constant cycle of like, "Is this too much? Is this not enough?," and then you're spending all of your energy questioning when you could just figure out how much your body needs, and then you can just go from there.
If you're listening to this after September 14th, you can learn more about macro counting. I have a Macro Counting Made Simple Online Academy. It's a really deep dive into macro counting. We teach you everything that you need to know. Our goal is that you become an expert on how to properly fuel your body by the time you're out of this academy.
We don't want you to feel like you're dependent on a coach, we want you to learn under us, as coaches, and then we want you to go out and feel empowered to make the changes that you need to make, to create a sustainable lifestyle for yourself, so check both of those things out. They're in the description in the show notes below. Again, not a plug. I don't care if you go with me, I don't care if you go with somebody else, I just care that you learn how to fuel your body. Number two, giving your body the right amount of each macro.
Now, I know I talk about this a lot, but most women are so concerned about the calories that they're consuming without putting any consideration into the amount of carbs, fats, and protein that they're consuming daily, and this is the biggest thing. This is the most important part, properly fueling your body is knowing how much protein, carbs and fats. Let's say your body needs about 2,200 calories. This is like maintenance mode, and you're hitting that daily. You could be consuming all of your calories from carbs and fats, and not eating enough protein, or you could be eating too much fat for what your body needs and not enough carbs.
There is a balance of the three macronutrients, and the beautiful thing about macro counting is when you are learning how to properly fuel your body through, "Okay, this is the amount of protein that I need per day, this is the amount of carbs that I need, and this is the amount of fat that I need," you don't have to worry about calories because when you're counting your macros, your calories automatically add up. Each macro plays a critical role in changing your body composition, and it's so cool because the three work together to do so. Without one, the entire process is thrown off, right? Your body needs carbs for energy, for replenishing your muscle. Your body needs protein for preserving, repairing, maintaining, and growing your muscle, and your body needs fat for burning fat, absorbing vitamins, helping to regulate your hormones, and keeping you healthy and strong.
Obviously, each one plays more roles than that. I'm just giving you a brief overview in a nutshell, but that's why it's so important to learn about all of these three components, because each one works together for your good. Number three, giving your body food that makes it thrive. Now, I just talked about this in episode 59, don't give your body the food that makes somebody else thrive, learn to give your body the foods that you thrive in. In episode 59, How to Know Which Foods Work for You and Against You, I talk about this concept, don't only eat salads because that's what you're told to do.
Don't only avoid oatmeal, or bread, or carbs in general because you think that's what so and so is doing and they look great, and you want to do it as well. Don't go about eating a certain eating preference, whether it's paleo, vegan, vegetarian, all these things, which is totally great if you love eating this way or if you have a specific reason for doing so. I love it. I am all for you eating vegan. I'm all for you eating vegetarian.
I'm all for you eating paleo style. Whatever eating preference you prefer, go for it, girl. I just want to make sure that you are eating enough for what your body needs in terms of protein, carbs, and fats. You can still properly fuel your body with any eating preference. Any eating preference that you want to do, you can still properly fuel your body with enough protein, carbs, and fats, and calories.
Asking yourself when you eat certain foods, observing, "How do you feel? Do you feel energized? Do you feel full? Do you feel satisfied? Do you feel mentally sharp?" If the answer is yes, then regardless of what anybody else says, these are clear signs that these foods are good for you.
I know for me, I got caught up a few years ago in everybody going dairy-free, and I was like, "Oh my gosh, everybody's going dairy-free. Does that mean I need to go dairy-free?" I was realizing like, "My body does okay on dairy. I'm able to have cheese and not feel bloated or lethargic. I just don't have the symptoms that I was seeing other people having," but yet, because we live in this world of social media and we see things so much every single day bombarding us, we feel like, "Oh, well, if so and so's going dairy free, then I need to go dairy free."
Just learn to listen to your body. Learn to ask yourself the questions to make sure that the foods that you're eating are allowing you to thrive. Stop going off of what other people are saying, and instead, listen to what your body is actually saying when it comes to the foods that you should and shouldn't be eating for yourself. Again, I've linked episode 59 in the show notes, so be sure to tune in there if you want to learn more about this topic. Number four, giving your body food that you love.
This is so, so important. A part of nourishing your body with what it needs is giving your body food that you love. Nourishing your body does not mean depriving your body, and I say this a lot because, like I said, I feel like whenever I say nourish your body, people immediately equate that to, "Deprive your body," "Don't have this," "Don't have that". There is absolutely nothing nourishing about deprivation. Sometimes the best thing that you can give your body is exactly what you're craving, whether it is nutrient-dense or not, and the best part about giving your body the food that it's craving is that those cravings will no longer control you.
You won't feel the need to overindulge because you've been restricting yourself, so that's why I always talk about leaning into your fear foods, learning, "Why am I triggered with this fear food? What is it that is triggering me to feel these feelings of emotions around this specific food?," and then take the measures needed to overcome that fear food. You'll learn that eating the foods that you love in moderation is normal. It will not ruin your progress, and honestly, in most cases, it will fuel your progress because you're not feeling deprived, you're actually remaining consistent with nourishing your body, and you're loving it, so eating the ice cream, eating the French fries, doing what you want, whatever it is for you, that's nourishing. Your body deserves some enjoyment, so nourish it with delicious foods as well.
Number five, on the flip side, giving your body fiber and nutrient-dense foods. Of course, you know I'm all about eating the foods that you love and not labeling foods as good or bad, or off-limits or on-limits. It's extremely important with that, that you eat nutrient-dense foods that are full of fiber. I'm not going to dive deep into eating fibrous foods too much here because I've done a complete episode on that specific topic, so tune into episode 51, Are You Eating Enough Fiber Daily? I talk about what fiber is, how much fiber you need daily, how to include more fibrous foods, and also what happens when you eat too much fiber.
Remember, there's always too much of a good thing. In the various groups that I'm a part of, I notice when people hit their macros, but they're still very hungry all the time, typically, it's because the foods that they are choosing to eat to complete their macros are not as satisfying as they could be, or there's not a good mix of nutrient-dense foods and fibrous foods in there because what's important about this is that those are going to be extremely satiating, meaning that they're also full of vitamins and nutrients that are essential for your body to thrive, so if you're hitting your macros perfectly and you're still feeling super hungry every single day, you feel like you don't have enough energy, you just don't feel good in general, you may want to look at the nutrient density of your food and see where you can incorporate more of the nutrient-dense foods into your meals without taking away from the enjoyment of your meal. A great example of this for me was I was doing a post-workout protein shake. Typically, I'll stick to zero to one protein shakes. Recently, I haven't had that much protein in terms of actual supplement.
I've been supplementing a lot with foods like whole nutrient-dense foods, and I've just find that not only is it giving me more energy, but I feel like my mind is a lot clear and I've been a lot more productive. Basically, one thing that I did to determine this, like post-workout, I was having my bananas, my two slices of Ezekiel bread, my peanut butter and bananas with a little bit of honey, and sometimes all the chocolate chips on top, so that's mainly my carbs and fats, and then for protein, I was doing a protein shake. What I was realizing was even though the carbs and fats portion of the meal was pretty hefty, it wasn't as nutrient-dense. I mean, the bread, yes, kind of, but then bananas, and chocolate chips, and honey, and peanut butter. I was finding that I was still getting pretty hungry afterwards.
Like an hour to an hour and a half, I was still really hungry, and I was like, "Something needs to switch up," because even though I'm getting 33 grams from this protein shake, it's because I'm not eating enough nutrient-dense foods that's making me fuller longer, so I decided to swap out that protein shake for one egg, egg whites, Laughing Cow cheese, spinach, sometimes I'll put turkey bacon in there, peppers, and I've just made this huge egg white scramble, I've been calling it. That is giving me the same amount of protein with maybe one or two more grams of fat, and I have been feeling so much better, so much more mentally clear. I've been feeling fuller longer, which is great. Again, just those little, tiny swaps throughout the day, and it's really important that you're keen, you're aware of how your body is feeling after foods because that's when you can make the simple swaps that are going to be everything in terms of making sure that you're satisfied. If you're wanting more about this, if you're wanting more recipe ideas, if you're listening to this on September 14th, today is the last day to sign up for the four-week Honor Your Body Challenge.
Inside here, we give you like a seven-day jumpstart meal plan, we show you how to build meals that taste amazing, that are still nourishing, and a lot of them are nutrient-dense so they're going to keep you fuller longer. If you're listening to this after September 14th, again, I have my Macro Counting Made Simple Online Academy. There's countless recipes and tips in there, How to Build Macro-Friendly Nourishing Meals, that is also linked in the show notes. The Macro Counting Made Simple Online Academy is open year-round, so you can join that at any time. Let me be clear though, eating nutrient-dense foods and fibrous foods does not mean that you need to deprive yourself of the foods that you love. It's about finding the right balance for you and your body, so just notice how different foods make you feel and which ones give you the most energy, and that's going to be the best guidance for figuring out the right balance for you. Number six, giving your body a variety of foods.
Now, I know it's easy to fall in the rhythm of eating the same foods day in and day out because they fit your macros, they make you feel good, and to be honest, it's super easy, but it's really important that you slowly start to get a variety of foods into your meals daily, because I'll be honest, this is something that I'm not great on. I'm still working on it because I know what foods make me feel best, I know what foods fit my macros, I know what foods are just going to keep me fuller longer and that are delicious, but sometimes it's really important just for your brain to like switch it up, because recently, I've been having the Ezekiel toast with the peanut butter, the banana and honey. That's delicious, but I know for me and for any human, you're going to get burnt out, and so it's just important that you slowly start to create a variety of foods to ensure that you're getting enough vitamins and nutrients as well. It's also great for your immunity, your gut health, energy levels, and just overall health. Next time you go to the grocery store, try something new.
I just want to encourage you to try something maybe that you haven't been having in your normal routine just to kind of switch it up. Allow your body to enjoy a different food, and you don't have to drastically do this. You don't have to go out and be like, "Okay. Now, I'm starting all over from scratch." Start to slowly implement like, "What is a lunch idea that I can make this week that I haven't made?," or, "What's a dinner idea?," or, "What's something for breakfast that I can do?" Obviously, not making all the changes at once, but slowly adding a variety into your diet, you're going to notice that your body's going to have a lot more energy from it because it's getting different nutrients.
Number seven, keep your body hydrated. Aside from food, you guys, it's so important to stay hydrated. This is something that is so overlooked and not taken seriously, but I can tell you, it makes all the difference in your health and fitness results when you stay hydrated. You'll notice how much more energy you have when you stay hydrated. Sometimes it's not the second coffee that your body needs, it's actually a big glass of water.
You'll also notice that you'll be much less bloated, which is crazy, and this is something that I did not get at first. I was like, "Wait, so if I have more water, I'm going to be less bloated." I always equated more water to feeling more bloated, it's crazy. Once you start to hydrate your body with the amount of water that your body needs, it's insane how much less bloated you'll be. That, paired with making sure that you're fueling your body with foods that make your body feel good, it's so, so important, so remember that.
If you're like, "Julie, I have no idea how much water I should drink," here is a great thing, so get a pen and paper, or if you're by your phone, write this down. The water intake calculation is your body weight, in pounds, so just do an estimate if you don't know your body weight, times .67, and that is the amount of ounces of water per day you should be drinking before any sort of movement is factored in. For every 30 minutes of exercise or movement, add 12 to 18 ounces of water. Again, your body weight in pounds, times .67 is the amount of ounces of water minimum that your body needs per day, and then every 30 minutes of exercise needs an additional 12 to 18 ounces of water. If you have no idea how much to properly hydrate your body, that is a great place to start. All right, so let's recap.
Nourishing your body with what it needs means giving your body enough food, giving your body the right amount of each macro, giving your body the food that makes it thrive, giving your body food that you love, giving your body fiber and nutrient-dense foods, giving your body a variety of foods, and keeping your body hydrated. Just to recap, the episodes that I talked about in this podcast episode, episode 18, What Happens When You Don't Eat Enough, episode 51, Are You Eating Enough Fiber?, and episode 59, How to Know Which Foods Work for You and Against You, all of those are linked in the show notes below, so be sure to check that out. That is all that I have for today's episode. Thank you so much for tuning in. I hope that this was educational.
I hope that you learned something, it gave you some food for thought, no pun intended. If you have somebody in your life that really could use this message or you feel like they would learn something from this, just send it to them in a GM, post it up on your Story, tag me, juliealedbetter. I would love to know what your go-to breakfast is, so if you're listening to this right now, I want to know. Take a screenshot of this episode, post it up on your Story, and then also post and show me what your go-to breakfast is. I want to get some new ideas, I want to see your faces, I want to see your food that you're eating and what you're doing to nourish your body.
Thank you so much for tuning in, and I will talk to you guys in the next episode. All right, sister, that's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the Gram, be sure to do so, juliealedbetter. Yes, it's with a name and middle for that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcast to never miss an episode.
Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought, the most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface, so go out there and embrace your real, because you're worth it.