Why Is It So Hard to Stick to a Nutrition Plan?

Nikkiey: When I was feeling these emotional feelings and I started to become more aware of it, I recognized a trigger. I would go right into the bathroom and I would brush my teeth. You know the next act is typically going and eating the snack. How can you break that? Well, for me, it was, okay, I'm going to go into the bathroom and brush my teeth.

Hey, you guys, what's up? Welcome to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder and brand personality of WarriorBabe, where 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, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome to episode number 19.

The other day, you guys, I was genuinely curious about this topic that I'm going to talk about with you, and that's why nutrition plans are so hard to stick to. Everyone has these goals of wanting a better body, to feel better, to achieve a certain look, yet they literally cannot nail down the most important aspect of getting that, which is eating right and following a proper nutrition plan, and day-to-day choosing the right things that are going to serve them, serve their body, serve their results.

So I started to research why it's so hard for people to follow through on, because I see it inside of our communities, no matter how easy our program is to follow or understand. I see it all over the internet. I see it in my day-to-day. I see women, you know, Tony Robbins says you can just look at somebody's body and understand how they live their life. So I was like, man, why is it so hard for people to follow through on?

So today I'm going to share that with you guys, share the research that I found, mainly around three specific topics. But then I'm also going to share with you why I personally think it's so hard for people to do.

When I researched this, there were tons of things that came up, like time constraints and busy schedules, etc. And I just look at those things as excuses for not making your health a priority. Literally, you guys, the next time that you say you don't have enough time... I just sat down with my dad and had this conversation with him the other night. He's doing a great job starting to lose weight. But I'm like, dude, I need you to focus on building up some muscle, getting into some strength training. I need you to be strong. He's 55 years old. And he threw out the excuse of time. And I was like, dude, next time you say you don't have enough time, say instead that you're not making it a priority and see how that feels.

So I say that to you guys. Next time you say that you don't have enough time, say instead, "I'm just not making it a priority," because you have the time. I see busy moms. There's a specific woman that comes right to my mind. Two sets of twins at the age of four. She lost 80 pounds during COVID. And she's a doctor. She made the time. She made it a priority for her health, for her family, for herself. So when I researched this stuff, those things came up. But I was like, dude, these are just excuses. I'm not even going to elaborate on them on the podcast.

Outside of that, I do want to dive into the first thing that I found, which is totally understandable. That first thing is a lack of knowledge. Many people may not have a clear understanding of what constitutes a healthy diet or how to make nutritious choices. Thinking back to the start of my journey, that was definitely the case for me. I was ignorant to this information. Now I have all the answers. Now I have the resources, the tools, the concepts, what makes sense, the scientific understanding. But before that, I was ignorant to it. I never thought that food was so important. I never thought that the food I'm choosing, the things I'm eating day to day, what I put into my body, actually truly mattered. I was like, oh, I'm young. I'm 20, I'm 25, whatever. I just didn't care about it too much. I didn't have an understanding about it.

And mainly that's because nutrition is such a complex field, and there's so much conflicting information out there, which can make it so difficult for people like you and me to know what to eat and what to avoid. For example, some diets promote low-carbohydrate or high-protein eating, while others emphasize the importance of eating whole, unprocessed foods. There are so many overwhelming concepts to try and understand. So what is the truth? Literally, what is the truth? It's just your basic fundamentals of nutrition. It's whole sources of food, and eating that food: protein, fats and carbs.

So that was a big thing that came up when I was researching: lack of knowledge, totally understandable. Additionally, people may not have a clear understanding of portion sizes and calorie needs, and all of the things that get down to the nitty-gritty of what one individual specifically needs, and the role that different nutrients play in overall health. The lack of knowledge can make it super difficult, which is totally understandable, for people to make informed choices about what to eat, especially when and how much, and what do I need specifically with the lifestyle that I live? I totally get it. It totally makes sense. And like I said, I resonate with that, because when I first started my journey, I was just ignorant to the whole concept of eating right.

But with sharing the research that I found and tying it back to my experience, I also want you guys to know what you can do about it. Because if I just talk to this here, it's like, cool, that's obvious. But what can you actually do about it right now? So if you have a lack of knowledge in nutrition or a lack of understanding of how to eat right, work with a professional who is an expert in this and can give you the tools and give you the resources. That's what I personally did. And then I absorbed myself into this lifestyle. I absorbed myself in learning more. And by doing that, you guys, you can be successful.

One way you can do that is just check out WarriorBabe. That link is in the description below this podcast. We've helped over 10,000 women in the same experience, where they came in not understanding anything about nutrition, being overwhelmed with so many different things that are out there. We gave them the tools. We gave them the resources. We gave them an easy concept to understand. And they executed on it. So if you find this is the one thing that you just don't get, do something about it. Find WarriorBabe in the link below.

So that was number one, lack of understanding or lack of knowledge. Number two, and this is definitely very common, is emotional eating. I talked about this in episode three of the podcast, which I highly recommend you listen to. It was actually, or still maybe is, our number one podcast to date, and it's how to control your impulses with food.

Emotional eating refers to the habit of using food as a way to cope with emotions rather than to satisfy actual physical hunger. People who engage in emotional eating may turn to food to comfort themselves when they are feeling stressed, anxious, sad, bored, all that jazz. In episode three, I used the example of being bored at night, sitting on the couch, watching Netflix after a long, stressful day. That's typically where a lot of comfort eating happens.

Emotional eating can be difficult to break down because it's tied to emotional patterns and habits, which are deeply ingrained in individuals. That example I used is when you're stressed after a long day at work and you come home and you're finding the comfort of the couch, the comfort of Netflix, relaxing, unwinding. Typically food is involved in that. And that is usually so deeply ingrained in individuals that it's so hard to break that emotional pattern.

I dive into that topic a little bit more in episode three, but here I want you guys to know what you can do about it. To help you overcome emotional eating, it's important to first identify and address the underlying emotional triggers that drive that behavior. It's a lot easier said than done. Me saying it here sounds super easy, but the actual physical act of it is a lot easier said than done. It's mainly unconscious at that point. You find yourself in the kitchen, holy moly, you're in a bag of Doritos. Or you're on the couch eating pretzels, and it's mainly unconscious. But as you become aware of the act happening, you'll be able to ask yourself questions at a conscious level as to why you may be doing that.

When you're in the kitchen looking for snacks at night after a long, stressful day, if you can identify that you're stressed, if you can stop yourself in your tracks in the kitchen and ask, "Why am I choosing to eat this?" or "What am I feeling right now that makes me want the bag of Doritos or these snacks?", that's your trigger. Your trigger is boredom or stress or you're tired or whatever. Then you can make a shift to do something different. It's just practice at that point.

You can do this by practicing stress management techniques and developing healthy coping mechanisms. For instance, if it's not too late at night and you're feeling stressed or you want to put your hand into the bag of Doritos, instead go outside for a walk. Or if you have a treadmill at home, go for a 10-minute walk on the treadmill, or a 10-minute walk outside.

For me, I was addicted to sugar. You guys know this; I share it with you all the time. I literally had Smarties next to my nightstand all of the time. I got that habit from my mom. So when I was bored at night, or when I was feeling these emotional feelings and I started to become more aware of it, I recognized a trigger. Dude, you guys, I would go right into the bathroom and I would brush my teeth. I personally didn't want to put anything into my mouth after I brushed my teeth. My mouth was clean. So I was going to immediately break the pattern: become aware, do something different.

So when you feel the emotion, you're aware of it. You know the next act is typically going and eating the snack. How can you break that? Well, for me, it was, okay, I'm going to go into the bathroom and brush my teeth. For you, it might be that, or going out for a walk. And then you just learn to recognize and manage these emotions in a healthier way. Again, like I said, it's a lot easier said than done, but it's practice after practice after practice, becoming more aware of this, asking questions, seeing and identifying the trigger, and then recognizing and managing it in a different way. The more you do that, week by week, day by day, month by month, it's going to compound over time, and you're going to realize, hey, now my brain is wired in a different way. I'm more conscious of this act, and I choose things that are going to support me in a better way.

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So that was number two, emotional eating. These all make sense. When I dove into it a little bit more, I tried to remove myself from what I know and what I've learned through the years and put myself back into the shoes of when I was first starting my journey. And I was like, damn, I had all of these things. I had a lack of understanding, emotional eating. And this next one I'm going to dive into is habit and addiction. It's along the same lines, but a little bit different than emotional eating.

People may have, you may have, or even me in my past, developed unhealthy eating habits over time, and it's hard to break the cycle. Here's a story I've never shared with you guys. When I worked in the emergency room, my shifts were all different. It was either seven to seven or seven to three. Sometimes I would do three to 11 at night. After that shift, I'm starving. I'm ravenous. I'm hungry. There was a McDonald's right next to the emergency room. I would leave the emergency room after 11, usually 11:30 at night, because we had to do the in-between-shift handoff, explaining the patients we were working with. That was a 30-minute window from the new person coming on and us ending our shift. So at 11:30 at night I would usually go down to the McDonald's and grab the number two, where you get two cheeseburgers. That was my thing. I had that habit over time, and it was hard to break the cycle when I started to choose to eat healthy and eat differently.

If you don't already know, I want to say what a habit is and what an addiction is. A habit refers to actions that people repeat regularly and tend to do automatically without even thinking about it. So I had the habit: 11:30, McDonald's, boom, ate the cheeseburgers and went on with my night.

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In this case, for example, someone who is used to eating a lot of fast food or processed snacks may find it difficult to switch to a healthier diet because they're used to the taste and convenience of those foods. That was comfort food for me after a long shift. You may have experienced this, where you used to eat fast food or processed snacks, things you would bring with you during the day, or candy. So you find it harder to switch to a healthier diet because of the convenience or the taste.

Addiction, on the other hand, refers to a physical or psychological dependence on a substance or behavior. When it comes to food, addiction can refer to a dependence on certain types of food, such as sugar or processed carbohydrates. A lot of the things I'm sharing in this podcast I'm tying to an experience, and it's so true: addiction to sugar. People have that. I had that. People who are addicted to certain foods may experience withdrawal symptoms, such as intense cravings, irritability and fatigue, when they try to cut back or stop eating them. Been there, experienced that. The first week, you feel different. It's hard to explain, also because it was about eight years ago, but I still to this day have those cravings. I love candy. I love ice cream. I just have better control over the food, rather than the food having control over me.

Both habits and addiction can make it difficult for people to make healthy choices in their diet because they are strongly tied to certain behaviors and cravings. Breaking these patterns can be super challenging, and it requires a lot of willpower, you guys, as well as a good understanding of the underlying triggers and reasons behind these habits and addictions. That's the main thing. It's you becoming more consciously aware of why you're choosing to eat this way, or why you have this habit, and recognizing that it's not serving you for the good, it's serving you for the bad. If you continue in that, you're not going to get to where you want to be. You're not going to be a healthy individual. You're not going to get the results you want with your body composition. So choose to switch it: become consciously aware, and then have the knowledge and understanding of how to do it, how to take the actionable steps.

So those are the three things I found when I asked why it's so hard for women to follow through, outside of the lame excuses people give, like busy schedules and time constraints and yada, yada, yada. These are the main things where I was like, yes, okay, I can understand that: lack of knowledge, emotional eating, and habit and addiction. With those last ones, it's all mental. You're stuck in some type of old pattern, and you just have to become more aware of that pattern and those triggers, and then choose to switch them into more supportive actions.

I said at the beginning of the podcast that I wanted to share why I personally think it's so hard for people to do. I agree with all of the things I just shared, but why I personally think it's so hard for people is this: you only make what's hard, hard by telling yourself that it's hard and believing that story.

It's so mental, you guys. That's why in this podcast I'm sharing mindset tactics with you. Once you get your mental on board with you in a positive way, you can accomplish so many things. So you only make what's hard, hard by telling yourself that it's hard and believing that story. So many people say nutrition is complex to understand at the beginning. But if you actually devote time, and don't say that it's a waste of time, like I said in previous podcasts, you're not sacrificing your time, you're making an investment in yourself. You're trying to understand why nutrition is so important, not just for the physical attributes like body composition, but for your health, for the internal, for longevity, for years to come.

So that's one reason why I personally think people find it hard: they believe that story, and they go deep into that story. Obviously, if you feel like it's hard, you're not going to do the things that you know are going to help you. You're going to keep telling yourself that story. Three months from now, you're going to be like, oh no, it's too hard. You're just going to keep believing it, and there are going to be supporting actions behind it, like not taking action because you feel it's too hard.

But I'm telling you guys, it may be hard at the beginning, as anything is. Like I say, macros are a skill set that will serve you for the rest of your life. Anything at the beginning of your journey is hard. It's like riding a bike. It's like when a baby walks: they fall down, they stumble. You ride a bike with training wheels, you take them off, then you're learning. Same thing with nutrition. Same thing with driving a car. Anything is hard at the beginning. If you give it devoted attention, time and patience, and I can say this because I'm on the other side of it, it is so worth it, because it just becomes easier and easier and a way of life. So don't look at it as something hard. Look at it as, I'm learning, I'm going to take on this experience, I want to get better, and I want to understand it for my own well-being.

The second reason I personally think following through on a nutrition plan is so hard for people is that their goal isn't meaningful enough. Their goal isn't big enough. Their why isn't big enough.

For example, think about why people really make a change, eating better or actually trying to lose weight. Why do they do it? In some instances, typically, it's because they had a big health scare, and all of a sudden they take it seriously and they make it happen. They react to that situation. Or, more on the aesthetic side, a partner cheats or a divorce or breakup happens, and the woman gets a revenge body. They make it happen that way. They're reacting to the situation. Something big has to happen in order for change to happen. Why? Why react? Why not be more proactive for yourself?

I know a lot of women inside of WarriorBabe get into our mindset modules and understand why they're doing it for themselves. In the two scenarios I just used, they're reacting to other people. They're reacting to the news they got. They're reacting to a breakup. But why not be more proactive for yourself? Why not make your why, your goal, so big that it excites you every single day, so that you don't need some type of health scare or breakup to happen, and you're just living this lifestyle for you every single day? You're proactive for your health. You're proactive for your longevity. That's meaningful enough.

Think about it like this. What you do now matters 10, 20, 30 years from now. What you do at 50 years old matters when you're 70, and that outcome could be completely different. If you eat healthy right now and you work out right now at 50, that could mean a strong body and fewer fractures when you're 70 years old.

Let me paint this picture. I had this conversation with my dad too, which I shared earlier in the podcast: I need you to strength train. I need you to be strong. I need you to put on more muscle. He's doing a great job of losing weight, but I need you to do some of these things now because I need you to be strong when you're 70. You're going to start turning frail. That's what I said to him. My dad and I have very honest and open conversations.

I want to paint this picture for you. I know from taking care of my grandmother, which I shared with you in an earlier podcast, that she never worked out a day in her life. She never strength trained. She never took physical activity seriously. And that caused her later years to end up the way they did.

So what you choose to do right now, you guys, at 50 years old, at 40 years old, at 30 years old, will totally change the trajectory of your future. If you decide to eat healthy now and strength train now, I guarantee you that when you're 60, 70, 80 years old, it's going to be a different trajectory than if you don't strength train or eat healthy now. It could mean the difference between walking without a walker or walking with one. It can mean the difference between, like my grandmother, a plethora of doctor's appointments, or not many doctor's appointments at all.

So what I'm saying is, be proactive towards your own happiness. Be proactive towards your own goals. Be proactive towards your own health. Don't be reactive to other things and scenarios that happen in your life. Get yourself right, and everything and everyone around you gets right. Stop waiting for a scare, for a life-altering event, to make a change and for it to be meaningful enough. Make the change right now. Do the work right now. And literally, you guys, you could rewrite your entire future. That's what I mean by saying your goal isn't meaningful or big enough.

Please don't just think about today, tomorrow, the next day. I want you to think about the grandkids you have, the family you have, and how long you want to be around to play with them. That's a great example. Do you want to be 70 years old and sitting in the recliner all day? I'm just using my experience with my grandmother: sitting in the recliner all day, and you have to sit down next to her. Or do you want to be the grandmother who's running around out back with the kids, throwing a ball with them, laughing with them, and actually being in the experience with them? So make your goal meaningful enough. Following through on your nutrition plan should seem so easy to understand, and something you want to understand, when you have a big, meaningful goal like that, and the trajectory of your whole health and your whole future moving forward.

All right, you guys, we went a little deep on this podcast, but I say this from my heart because I love you guys so much and I want you to win. I want you to experience life in an optimal way, and the only way you can experience life in an optimal way is if you're fueling your body the right way and building strength within your body the right way.

So I hope this podcast helps you guys. I hope the three things I said make sense, but even more so, why I personally think it's so hard for people to do: stop telling yourself it's so hard, because you're going to believe that story, and start thinking about your future. How do you want to be at 70 years old? How do you want to be at 80 years old? That should make following through on a nutrition plan super easy to do. All right, you guys, love y'all. Hope y'all enjoyed it, and I'll see you in the next episode.

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