There's No Such Thing as "Bad" Foods in a Healthy Lifestyle

00:00Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else. I remember the first time I had my maybe like fifth cheat meal when I was bodybuilding. I got a pie of pizza and a stromboli and Dairy Queen.

00:33And I kid you not, I ate about 80% of the pie pizza, about 75% of the stromboli, and about half of the Oreo Blizzard. I was in so much pain afterwards. I did not have discipline to stop. I just kept eating and eating and eating. I say don't be an asshole because I used to be an asshole. And I know what it's like to feel like that. And I know what it's like to be uncomfortably full afterwards. So I can relate to like those situations that my clients have been in or our babes have been in inside of Warrior Babe.

01:04And that's why I joke around with that because I know what it feels like. Yo, yo, yo. What is going on, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show. Or if this is one of your first episodes, welcome to the show with Nikki Stott, co-founder of Warrior Babe. And on this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikki Stott.

01:34Welcome back to episode 150. Dang! We're 50 away from 200. And we're also like 80,000, maybe like 75,000 now, away from a half a million downloads on the podcast. Guys, I love you so much. Thank you so much for supporting this. Anyways, so today's episode was inspired from this past weekend when I was just at a mastermind with women in business.

02:13And I was at the host's house and I was chatting with some of the other women there. And one of the women was like, oh, I got to get a body like you. And we were talking and she's like, I got to get rid of this. I got to get rid of that. And she was like, I had pizza last night. And I'm like, God, see, man, this is what is wrong with the fitness industry, the fitness space, influencers online, diets out there.

02:44Basically, like having people exclude things or having like the mindset that people need to exclude things from their like or like that there's bad food, you know, as they're trying to like reach their goals. And so today's podcast, I kind of want to just like unpack that and kind of just like share my thoughts and just, you know, I was talking to her and I was like venting and I was like, I need I just need to like I need a podcast episode to just like vet on this.

03:19Because this is what this is why so many people fail at trying to get to lose weight or, you know, whatever it is that your goal is, because all of these things out there that people think that they have to do it. The concept is that they are restricting things or they're cutting out their favorite foods completely. And, dude, this just like eventually leads to like cravings and binging. And, you know, it's like me telling you guys not to think about a pink elephant right now.

03:50It's like, what are you guys thinking about? Like a pink elephant, right? It's like you tell people to not eat this type of food. And what is the person going to do? They're going to go eat this type of food. And then they correlate like to the to that they're bad or this food is bad. And then they like go on a freaking spiral. Man, again, this is what's just wrong with it. Because it's like if you restrict, right, okay, then you say this is a bad food item.

04:23And there's no such thing. Like I just want to kind of get among that right now before I get into like placing and practicing moderation and balance. It's like you can have your favorite foods. You just have to have a more balanced approach that allows you to enjoy those foods in moderation. So I want to talk about that majority of the podcast. But what I want to just say right now is like if you are it's not nothing is a bad food. Carbs are not bad. Pizza is not bad. Ice cream is not bad. Like sure, there's tons of sugar inside of them. Or sure, there's tons of like, you know, unhealthy fats, the cheese, the dairy and the pizza.

04:57Like, but dude, if you're just having like a slight like, first of all, something is going to kill you in your life. Can we just like accept that? Like, there's so many things in our environment that are going that eventually are probably going to lead to some type of pain. Like a reason of your death later on in the future. But like a piece of pizza, like the makeup of it in the moment, like it's not going to hurt you. Right. And like I'm thinking about like I just have I just got a Starbucks drink. I need some extra fuel, you know, coming back from travel.

05:28And I'm like, dude, Starbucks is like, I haven't you guys if you follow me for a while not to get like side rant here. I had like Starbucks like 365 days, right straight. And then come like 2024, I realized that Starbucks is just shit. It's kind of like, you know, McDonald's. But like I'm out. But like, you know, I have an out moderation. So like I'm having this and I'm like, dude, yeah, it's just shit. You know, shit. But if something's going to kill me like that stuff, it's probably not good for me.

06:00That's not, you know, ice cream is probably not good for you on a regular basis. Pizza is not probably good for you on a regular basis. But like, OK, the point being is that these foods don't deserve to be labeled as bad. OK, because the reason why they're being labeled as bad is because of people thinking that they can never have them. But it is the behavior afterwards following the like eating of it or the continuous eating of it on a regular basis that is bad.

06:32Right. No food is bad. You are. It's how you like your behavior after it that makes it bad. Right. So I'm trying to say is like you wanting a piece of pizza or you wanting some ice cream in moderation, in balance is OK. But like everybody, everything that's out there, the restrictive diet, saying that you can't have this, you know, people go on this. They want rapid weight loss. They want immediate results. And it's going to include cutting out or people say you can't have this type of food or you can't or just like following highly restrictive eating patterns.

07:06And they may yield quick results, but like they're unsustainable. There's nutritional deficiencies and then psychological effects cause a negative relationship with food. And that's what I want to kind of like, you know, venting on this podcast. Also bridging the fact that you can have pizza, you can have ice cream, you can have Oreos, you can have like, OK, for example. Right. This is and I'll tell you, when I first started my fitness journey, dude, I was the queen of sugar.

07:40The queen. Like I remember working on my first coach and he was like, tell me what you eat on a regular basis. And I basically was like, OK, well, I have sugar and I have coffee with my sugar and I have candy. Literally, my mom grew up with having Smarties in her bedside table, like bedside nightstand. And same, like before this, I would have bags of Smarties. There's a picture of me. I used to work Hollywood tans growing up in high school.

08:11There's a picture of me with a bag of Smarties, eating a bag of Smarties. And then, you know, when I when I decided to go embark on this journey the day before cutting everything cold turkey, I went to Wawa, which is a local gas station up here. And I got candy. I got a strawberry, strawberry milkshake. And like I had all of this sugar, right, like on a regular basis. And so like I feel you guys that say like I have these nasty sugar cravings or like I eat sugar all the time. Like I feel you and know that now like nine years into my journey because of how I made a choice, first of all, and kind of did.

08:48I did cut everything out cold turkey and went on barked on the bodybuilding journey. And like I would have cheat meals every now and then. And I'm going to actually talk about that. By the way, I know I talked about sleep podcast a while ago. I'm going to bring that back. I kind of got off track of talking about sleep in one of these next episodes. And I'm going to talk about cheat meal in the following episodes. But anyway, side note. So I would have cheat meals along my journey, right? And I would have, you know, sugar. But it was the fact that I went from having sugar every single day to only having sugar maybe once a week to then kind of having sugar like nowadays.

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10:34scientifical, is that even a word? Getting too scientific with you guys. My body no longer craves those things. So when you kind of like cut back on it, it's the same thing with like cutting back on alcohol. When you do it for so long, you don't really crave it anymore. You don't really need it anymore. There's different chemical processes and things that have, you know, pathways that have been like rebuilt or restructured and also just psychological components that go along with it too as well.

11:04But, you know, I talked to a lot of people that say I have a lot of sugar cravings. I was like, yeah, me too. But like nowadays I kind of look at it and I'm like, you know, I don't really need that. I can do without it, whatever. But my point in being that is bringing it to moderation, using the example that I have every single night. And I want this isn't like a ton of sugar. So I wouldn't say that I beat by just saying that I have sugar every few often is either every single night or a couple nights of the week. I will have anywhere from like two to four pieces of dove chocolate.

11:37Right. So what I like to say is like incorporate, don't exclude. Like instead of cutting out all your favorite foods, instead of cutting out like someone was like, you know, I had pizza last night. I'm like, cool. Like, and then I went on a rant. It's like allow yourself to have them. However, develop the discipline on the ability to stop when you've had enough. Okay. So it's like I used to joke around, still do with some clients and some of the babes and like the coaches carry this on with their babes too as well.

12:08It's like I joke around, like don't be an asshole. Like have that food item that you want, give it to yourself, but have the ability to stop when you've had enough. Right. Like a couple bites of dessert while you're out at dinner. Do you need the whole thing? No. There's nothing wrong with, you know, not eating the whole thing. Um, and you know, no one to stop. Um, you can feel it. Like I personally, I'm so intuitive with my body nowadays. And like you can too be that way, uh, with years of doing what I've done.

12:43Um, but I can tell my body's like, all right, that's, that's, I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. And then like five minutes later, I was like, thank God I stopped because I can feel it takes time for the body, your body to process the food and for you to actually feel full. So allow yourself to have the things, but develop the discipline to know when you've had enough. Like for example, the reason why I only have those two or four pieces of Dove chocolate, chocolate at night, it's just enough to satisfy my urge for sweets. And then I'm good. Right. And you can do the same approach, um, with pizza or right.

13:13We don't need to have five pieces of pizza. You can have a piece of pizza and then there you go. That's like that you're saving tons of calories and tons of macros by just developing discipline to stop at one slice. So I've talked about too, like in previous podcasts, like emotional eating and, um, you know, going, go stress eating and those types of things. Once you can get past that, right, there's levels to this, you guys, there's, there's absolute levels to you being in control of food and in control of your body.

13:49Um, and one of those levels is like, okay, you've learned why you emotionally, you've learned the pattern of stress, stressing out. You've learned the, the, the cues that happen with those things and the triggers. And then once you understand that, it's like, okay, now you can allow yourself to have said item. Um, and then you develop the discipline, which is the next level of being like, okay, I've had enough. Literally, I've gone through this throughout the nine years. I remember the first time I had my maybe like fifth cheat meal when I was bodybuilding. Oh my God, you guys, I got a pie of pizza and a stromboli and dairy queen.

14:26And I kid you not, I ate about 80% of the pie pizza, about probably 75% of the stromboli and about half, maybe 75% of the, uh, I got like an Oreo blizzard. And I remember this because it was painful, painful. And I'm sure like I've had, I don't know, I've talked about a little bit in podcasts before when I talked about emotional eating. I, I'm sure I've had those things along the way of my journey.

14:57Um, but I kind of worked through them, like, like on being unconsciously competent. Like I worked through them when that was happening and didn't really like label that situation for myself. Um, but anyway, I remember having that meal, dude. And like, I was in so much pain afterwards. I did not have discipline to stop. I just kept eating and eating and eating. And I went, and this is what I mean with being, don't be like, I, I say don't be an asshole because I used to be an asshole.

15:30And I know what it's like to feel like that. And I know what it's like to be uncomfortably full afterwards. So I can relate to like those situations that I have, that my clients have been in or babes have been in inside of Warrior Babe. And that's why I joke around with that because I know what it feels like. Right. And then again, you get to that level of what I'm saying here is like, I have gotten to the level being like, nah, okay, I've had enough. Like I, I'm going to stop. And like I said, there's levels. There's levels. This, this isn't fitness, nutrition. Like this is all a game. Think about it as a game. Hey, hey, just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to the show.

16:04It means a lot. I hope you guys are enjoying it. And there's so much more to come with it. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons. And also it would help this podcast reach others who need to hear these messages too. And you have to go through these things. Like people think that like those situations kind of segue into like another topic, but like people think that those are like setbacks or that they failed or that they, you know, they're in this like loop again or whatever. Mainly it's like people just think that they failed.

16:36And so they stop. And then they, then all of the things afterwards get deemed bad and get deemed like, oh, like, you know, just gets the spiral afterwards. And, and it's not like those are those few, those situations that people think are failures or setbacks. Like, like along my journey, I've just been like, okay, I cannot do that again. Like that was a learning opportunity for me to be like, I can't be an asshole when I eat like out as a cheat meal like this.

17:07Because I don't want to feel that way again. Right. And then sure, I'm sure another one of my times I've done that and I felt so full. But like each time it's, you just, it's just a learning opportunity to approach that next circumstance or situation differently. Right. And that's when I've gotten to this level of being like, okay, like I don't need to have a whole bag of dub chocolate. I just want like two or four pieces because it's going to satisfy myself. And that goes the same for you guys. If you want ice cream, if you want a piece of pizza, like give yourself enough that's going to satisfy that type of craving that you have.

17:42So you don't have to say, oh, I can't have that. Or no, that's not a part of my plan. It's like, dude, every type of food item can be a part of your plan. It's just the way that you are interacting with that food. And like the type of emotional attachment that you are bringing to that food. Right. And it doesn't have to be anything that's bad. You just need to know how to control yourself. You are in control of it. You're in control of everything. You're in control with how you place food into your mouth.

18:13You're in control of what food you decide on a menu. You're in control of how you order it. You're in control of all the things. So again, there's just limits. But a couple of things I want to talk about how you can practice moderation. It doesn't mean, again, you have to ever, you know, you can't ever have the foods that you want and love. It's about enjoying them in a way that also respects your body and your health and your goals that you're going after. Right. So like this one I was talking to, she's like, I had pizza last night.

18:43I'm like, cool. Like you can respect that food and enjoy that food and also respect your body and respect your goals. It's just about having it in moderation. Right. So just for like sake of pizza, since that's the way this whole podcast started and this whole inspiration came from of recording this podcast. I'm just going to use that as an example throughout. So the first way, the first way I would go about this if I was working with someone that kind of needs to rewrite this narrative around food and, you know, not make it restrictive and make it something that they can enjoy is just first, second, clear limits.

19:19So decide in advance how much is enough. Right. Just like any personal rule of enjoyment, like with myself or any personal rule that you have for yourself. But for me, using the example of like two to four pieces of Dove chocolate each night, set your own limits that satisfy your own cravings without overdoing it. So as I said, like, you know, you have you there's no need to have five pieces. You can have one piece. So just set clear limits before you like go in and do it. It's like what I typically do when I'm in these situations.

19:51If like there's like an untracked meal or, you know, like my friends are all going out to dinner and like I'm going to just intuitively kind of conceptualize what I should be eating. I think about what I had in the day and I think about, OK, I've had said maybe probably around this many grams of protein. I've had this many grams of carbs roughly and this many grams of fat. So I can go into this type of meal looking like I can have like one or two slices of pizza. Right. So then there I'm setting clear limits. Like I just can now naturally just kind of do this. But like you guys can totally do this, too.

20:23Once you've done the work and have learned the levels of getting here, you know, it's totally possible. And to think about it, think about like this. I've done this in nine years. Some people are still struggling 10 years along their journey of trying to get this down. Like if you just put in the work and you go through the hard times, you go through the failures, you go through like obstacles and figuring it out. You can figure it out. OK, so first of all, decide in advance how much is enough. Second one, which anybody that goes out to dinner with me or anybody that goes out to eat with me, you will see me savoring and being so grateful for, you know, this type of food that I don't have all the time.

21:07I literally savor each bite. And that's what I would say that you too as well do. Like when you indulge, take the time to really savor it. Like at night when I'm having the, the dove chocolate, it's like, damn, this dove chocolate is so good. Right. Or if I'm having the piece of pizza, I'm like, I'm serious. Anybody that's with me, I'm like, I'm just like, I make the most hilarious facial like and sounds and just like I'm weird like that. I just thoroughly enjoy food because I don't, and especially when it comes to items I don't have all the time.

21:41So take the time to savor each bite, like slowly embrace, you know, the, your enjoyment and increase your, it increases your sense of satisfaction too as well. Like it, it satisfies your, your needs, your cravings just by like enjoying the bite. And then like another tip that I would say is, I shouldn't have made the other tip a tip, but I'm going to say it here, is how I balance my meals throughout the day. Right. Like balance your meals, make sure the rest of your meals. If you're having like going out to breakfast in the morning and you're having brunch, make sure the rest of your day is mainly just like protein and veggies.

22:19Or if you need a little bit more carbs throughout the day, or maybe the meal in the beginning was, and this is how it approached cheat meals. So this is like a, a, a segue into the possible next podcast or two or three podcasts from now. Um, but just like, like, think about it. Like, okay, I had this big meal, right? So the rest of my meals, like, and it's probably mainly carbs and fats. So the rest of my meals around this all need to be protein. Um, and then the last thing that I would say is, cause I'm going to dive into that topic, uh, more. So I want to save that for that podcast.

22:50Cause I can literally go and just ramble on that specific one point. Um, but then assess your approach to moderation and learning how to be in moderation with food, right? Is it helping you to maintain a healthy relationship with food? Are you able to enjoy occasional treats without guilt, right? Ask yourself these questions, assess the situation because you should be able to maintain a healthy relationship with food. So like, if you're allowing yourself to have these types of treats, like what is your narrative around it?

23:23Is it still thinking it's restrictive? Um, are you still thinking that like, you know, your results are going to be hindered with keeping it in moderation? Like assess how you are feeling when you're trying to incorporate this and then adjust if necessary to find the right balance for you. Maybe you need to lower the quantity of what you're giving yourself to, you know, trust yourself a little bit more with it. That would be the first, like just thinking personally, that would be the first way that I would, if I'm not, if I'm still feeling some type of way,

23:58if I'm still not having the healthy relationship with that type of food, um, and I still feel guilty afterwards. And like, then maybe you had too much and the quantity just needs to be lowered. And then like, as you continue to keep doing this, right? The goal is to teach you that you can diet essentially. I hate that freaking word, but you, you can do it and it isn't about restriction. And you can totally have the types of foods you want, making informed, making informed choices and still get to your goals.

24:38Okay. For, uh, example, when I started, when I was in the bodybuilding world, I had one cheat meal a week and that led me to achieve amazing goals and amazing physique goals. And then, you know, now meeting intuitively. So sometimes I may indulge a couple of days a week and then I'll balance it out. Um, but it's, it's all levels here, you guys, basically what I'm trying to say. And that you can have all food in, in your meal plan, in your day-to-day routine.

25:09It's not about good or bad. It's about how much and how often. Think of it like that. And mastering the art of moderation. Again, levels here, as I keep saying, like, you just want to kind of, uh, like embed that into your guys's brains. It depends where you're at. And there's total levels to this. Um, but it's, once you do get to that and you're mastering the moderation, it's so much more enjoyable. It's so much more freeing and it's way more sustainable. And it totally gives you, um, a more of a healthy eating pattern, um, in your day-to-day.

25:43So enjoy your food, respect your body, you guys, and keep, keep knowing that you can do this and still achieve the goals that you want. Okay, it's about, first of all, eating enough, not restricting and allowing yourself to, you know, have those treats and those things when you want it. All in balance, all in moderation. All right. So I hope you guys, uh, enjoy this podcast. I felt really good to just kind of, you know, talk it out loud after I was having this conversation with one of the women here at the, at the mastermind I was a part of this past weekend. And, and just, you know, it's these narratives, it's one of my goals to just rewrite the narratives in the fitness space, but it's just reminding me of the why I do this day-to-day and the why that I come to you guys and I talk about this stuff because these narratives are still out there.

26:30And these women still believe these concepts and, you know, there's still this like fear mongling around carbs and around food. And so I just ask to like, it's my mission to spread this and to rewrite the narrative and to have this balance. Like one of the, you know, aspects to have you guys look at food in moderation and in balance. So it would help me like I'm one to many, but you guys as a team with me could be many to many. So share this podcast, get this podcast to somebody that needs to hear this, that may have this type of relationship with the food, or, you know, maybe you've heard a friend over the weekend or through the weeks or it was summer coming up and be like, I can't have this food because I'm trying to get to my, you know, a toned body by summer.

27:15Send this podcast to them. I greatly appreciate you guys doing that. It gets to more women and it gets women to listen to this podcast so that they can hear. So the, the, the words, the word can be spread. Okay. I appreciate you guys. And I'll see you in the next podcast. Peace out. Real quick. The only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review and share this podcast.

27:46So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review, it will take you 10 seconds and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else. And I'll see you in the next podcast.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.