If you’re like us and sick of hearing about fad diets every 5 seconds… keep reading.
Our relationship with food is hard to even put into words and our culture and media affect how we feel about food more than we’ll ever know. It’s scary and powerful and our guest this week has a lot to say about it. We invite all of you to open up your mind and hearts to think about what messages have been normalized to you in regards to food and body image. How you feel when you look at social media about yourself and your body image, how you feel when you think about healthy eating, and why. It’s definitely something worth exploring and that’s where Nellie Brau comes in.
Introducing…
Nellie Brau
Our guest this week is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach and holds a Master’s degree in Holistic Health. Nellie is the founder of Haus of Ojas, a company that focuses on healing one’s relationship with food and helps individuals to become aligned with their purpose and intuitive wisdom. She is a yoga instructor and even studied Ayurveda in India.
Episode Highlights –
“If diet culture didn’t exist, intuitive eating would just be eating.” – Nellie Brau.
What is diet culture and why is it harmful?
According to Nellie, “Diet culture is an institutionalized belief about food and the body. It focuses on restrictions, food rules and highlights a very narrow body type”.
Nellie further went on to explain, “it’s harmful because there’s no one study that shows diets have long term success. 95% diets fail after the 5 year mark… Diets are linked to gaining weight during in the process of weight cycling. The body goes into survival mode, holding onto weight when it’s restricted of calories… Diet culture affects your physical and mental wellbeing.” Nellie also explained that weight discrimination perpetuates white supremacy and a negative view on women’s bodies. This is due to what our system uses to classify “health” – the BMI. The BMI (Body Mass Index) chart is used to measure body fat based on height and weight for both men and women. It’s the system’s way to measure “health,” however it doesn’t take into account body type or muscle mass. Nellie stated that, “68% of the population do not fit into the “normal”/ healthy BM”, backing up the idea that we need to change the system and how we define health.
Nellie believes that it also attacks culture by minimizing culture significant food. She further explained that when we cut ourself off from our culture, we lose our sense of belonging, directly negatively impacting our mental health.
So how do we start exploring intuitive eating? Nellie recommends that we start by simply coming back home to our own body. She explained, “Your body is going to be your best guide… Listen to your body’s cues and be in tune with your innate resources… that’s free and the diet culture doesn’t buy into that… Radically respond to what your body says… All food is valid… Connect to your body by following through… It’s no secret we really get in our heads about food… True health and wellbeing will come from connecting to our body. Because our body is the one managing nutrition and digestion”.
“Your body needs to know that all food is on the table and that it can have it at any time, so there’s no mental warping with that relationship or food,” Nellie explained. She went on further to comment, “Once the body knows that, it’s not going to send you cues for it all the time… It’s not going to be immediate at first because it has been so restricted… When things are restricted we are going to almost overcorrect at first but then come back to center… We must truly believe that all food is on the table… and stop villainizing food”.
“You can be your own encyclopedia and make notes of what your body wants… Eat what you crave and our body will regulate it… You’ll eat it and if it makes you miserable, your body will remember and learn to not send you cues to eat it…”, Nellie explained. This is what she refers to as body wisdom – the body knows exactly how to take care of us.
“Your body is never going to betray you. Let’s let your body lead.” – Nellie Brau
She also explained that “sometimes people are craving refined foods that are high in sugar and carbohydrates because they’re experiencing a high level of stress and when we experience a high level of stress, we’re releasing a lot of stress hormones – cortisol. When those are being released we are suppressing our release of sex hormones like estrogen and those hormones are responsible for our digestion, sleep, reproductive health. So when we’re suppressing them, your digestion isn’t going to be operating at an efficient level.”
Nellie recommends taking some time to reflect and ask yourself – “Am I stressed, have I gotten enough sleep?” And take the time to learn how to manage your stress. Once the system has left the stressful state your body has more energy to break down healthy foods.
If you’re looking to explore intuitive eating but are overwhelmed, Nellie recommends connecting yourself in other arenas before you jump into food. It’s less overwhelming if you start somewhere where you’re already comfortable and build from there. You can start by connecting with your body through movement or by making note of how you feel after you wake up. Another great way Nellie recommends we start honoring our cravings is by practicing going to the bathroom when we need to. This helps show our body that we can trust it. We must begin to show our body that when you send me a cue, I’m going to follow through. Lastly, Nellie believes that we must also start consciously talking about food in positive ways and celebrate it – simply don’t engage in talk about diet culture.
Nellie wrapped up our conversation by noting that, “If you resonate with this info or are feeling uneasy, or feel like wow I think there’s something to explore, but feels overwhelming… you’re asking yourself, how do I get to the point of having a day free of constant thoughts about food? Know that that is normal due to diet culture. None of us were born worrying about our weight or not knowing how to eat… so we can get back to it.”
Learn more about how you can benefit from working directly with Nellie, by signing up for a free consult with her. Find Nellie’s Instagram and website linked under resources below.
IVY UNLEASHED
Behind-the-Scenes Video
3 Gold Stars
1. Play with your self-talk and release the dichotomy of good vs. bad or healthy vs. unhealthy to practice that all foods are valid.
2. Diversify your social media feed. If anyone you follow makes you feel invalid in your body or that you have to behave a certain way, unfollow.
3. Embrace that we eat for a lot of reasons other than physical (emotional, social, spiritual, cultural) and that’s okay.
Ivy Reflections
- What is your body craving? How can you honor this craving?
- How do you feel diet culture affects the way you choose what you eat?
- In what ways could you filter your social media to improve your relationship with food?
Piece of Gold
First we eat, then we do everything else.
M.F.K. Fisher
Healing Food of the Week-
Tell me the truth.. is wine really good for me?!
The answer is 𝐲𝐞𝐬! Wine, indeed, has health benefits.
If you have a healthy relationship with alcohol, consider the benefits of moderate (1 glass/day or less) consumption of your favorite kind of wine.
Wine has a high concentration of polyphenol antioxidants which can help reduce the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and metabolic diseases which all increase longevity. The resveratrol in wine has anti-inflammatory properties.
𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬:
Due to its high content of antioxidants, drinking moderate amounts of wine has reduced rates of heart disease. Red wine also helps promote the growth of healthy gut bacteria. However, excessive amounts will have negative impacts on the healing properties of wine.
𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞:
Cabernet
https://therealfoodrds.com/sheet-pan-parmesan-steak-and-potatoes/
Pinot Grigio
https://marisamoore.com/mediterranean-salmon-orzo-salad/
Resources
- Find Nellie on Instagram – @hausofojas
- Check out Nellie’s Website – http://hausofojas.com
- 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘔.𝘋. 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩 𝘗𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘰 𝘕.𝘋. 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘗𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘰 𝘔.𝘈., 𝘓.𝘔.𝘛.
- Benefits of Wine – https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-wine
DON’T MISS OUT!
Please and Thank You Granola Bars – 10% off when you use the code “GOLDIVY” – http://pleasethankyougranolabars.com
Instagram – @pleasethankyougranolabars
We thank you for joining us in the fearless pursuit of self-discovery and growth and hope that you transform our lessons into your gold.
Listen to your truth and go chase your gold.
– Gold Ivy Health Co.
Stay connected!
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