The BodyLove Project with Jessi Haggerty

Today I’m speaking with Bari Tessler. Bari Tessler Linden, MA, is a Financial Therapist, Mentor Coach and Mama-preneur. Bari’s gentle, body-centered approach weaves together personal, couple, and creative entrepreneurial money teachings into one complete tapestry. She is the founder of The Art of Money: a global, year-long money school, which integrates Money Healing, Money Practices and Money Maps. Her work has been featured on Oprah.com, Inc.com, and the Huffington Post and in US News & World Report, Reuters Money, The Fiscal Times, Experience Life Magazine, Yogi Times, Best Self Magazine and Emerging Women. Bari is also the author of The Art of Money: A Life-Changing Guide to Financial Happiness, published by Parallax Press. Learn more about Bari at: http://baritessler.com/

After reading Bari’s book, I knew I just had to interview her. I know, maybe a little strange to have a financial therapist on a show about food and nutrition, but Bari’s money practices actually have a lot in common with my nutrition practices. She also stresses the importance about connecting to your body when making a decision about money.

Most prominently, this episode is about releasing shame around money. And again, I can’t stress enough, like we all have money shame, we all carry food and body shame as well. Shame is shame is shame. No matter what you’re struggling with right now, Bari offers some really great tips on how to release feelings of shame, and start taking productive action to heal your relationship with money, and ultimately, yourself.

Her book really helped me see that I am not bad with money. Just like you can’t be bad with food, your issues surrounding money are not your fault. And the solution doesn’t involve sticking with an unrealistic and strict budget. Much of the solution involves shifting your mindset, and making gentle shifts in your money practices, and your future planning (sound familiar)?

After you listen to the episode, if you’re craving more information, I highly recommend reading Bari’s book, The Art of Money. I’ve read it twice! Also, Bari will be launching her fifth round of her year-long course, also The Art of Money. Registration opens on January 17th and I WILL be enrolling! I am not an affiliate for the book or program, so I am recommending this because it’s something I truly believe can be helpful if this is an area you struggle with!

Links & Resources

Sign up for email updates: www.JessiHaggerty.comBari Tessler: www.BariTessler.comArt of Money Course: http://baritessler.com/art-of-money/

Today I’m speaking with McKenzie Zanjonc. McKenzie has a Masters in Nutrition and a Counseling Degree in Health Psychology and helps trade in their food and body struggle for a more meaningful life through her practice, Inner Nutritionist. You can find more about McKenzie at www.innernutritionist.com.

In this episode McKenzie talks about how to tap into our “Inner Dieter” and our “Inner Nutritionist” to begin to heal our relationship with food. Here’s a quick summary of the distinction between the two, but definitely give the episode a listen for the full scoop.

The Inner Dieter is full for “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts”, is constantly judging food as good or bad, and is always in “fight or flight” mode. The Inner Dieter is full of unrealistic goals (which can especially creep up around New Years!). The Inner Dieter is sneaky. It can also show up as a Diet Rebel. The voice that is telling you to “have a cheat day” or “go off the wagon.” In those moments you might feel like you are not listening to your Inner Dieter, but in fact, you are.

The best way to distinguish your Inner Nutritionist from your Inner Dieter is that in Inner Nutritionist is in the NOW. It is not rolling up past dieting experiences or planning the future. It requires a pause, a checking in. It requires curiosity: What’s my hunger? What’s my fullness? Do I want hot food? Cold food? Something resh? The Inner Nutritionist is your ally and it’s main concern is that you are able to nourish yourself in the present moment.

McKenzie believes the first step to tapping into your Inner Nutritionist is simply being aware of this. Give the full episode a listen to hear more about how to be more satisfied around food by releasing control and listening to your Inner Nutritionist.

Links & Resources

Sign up for email updates: www.JessiHaggerty.comMcKenzie Zajonc: www.innernutritionist.com Christy Harrison, Food Psych Podcast, “Intuitive Eating Intuitive Everything” - https://www.christyharrison.com/foodpsych/3/amie-roe-therapist-intuitive-eating

Today, I’m speaking with Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole, Co-Authors of the Original book on Intuitive Eating. Elyse Resch is Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, a Certified Eating Disorder Dietitian and a nutrition therapist in private practice in Beverly Hills with 35 years of experiences, specializing in eating disorders, intuitive eating, and Health at Every Size.

Evelyn Tribole is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with a nutrition counseling practice in Newport Beach, CA, specializing in eating disorders. She also trains health professionals how to help their clients cultivate a healthy relationship with food, mind, and body through the process of Intuitive Eating, a concept she co-pioneered, with Elyse in 1995.

You can find out more about their book, their new workbook, and their training for health professionals at www.IntuitiveEating.org.

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Perhaps you’ve heard the term Intuitive Eating before. Perhaps you’ve shrugged and thought, sounds interesting, but it wouldn’t work for me, I don’t trust myself with food. Or perhaps you’ve thought it’s too “woo woo” and “unstructured” to try. Or maybe you’ve heard the term, but being that you really need to “lose weight for health reasons” you’ve never considered it. No matter what your experience with Intuitive Eating, this episode will help establish facts and break down myths associated with the nuanced practice of Intuitive Eating.

The first myth-buster being that, Intuitive Eating is not another diet. In fact, it’s more of an anti-diet. Let me explain: All diets, no matter how progressive, are structured in a way that forces followers to rely on external cues. Calorie counting. Eliminating dairy. Measuring portion sizes. Daily bootcamps. You see the pattern?

Intuitive eating is a practice to teach you how to rely on internal factors... your intuition. Instead of micromanaging your meals, you now get to experience your meals, and take note of how those meals make you feel. With intuitive eating you look at your diet with curiosity instead of judgement. And through this process, you build trust with yourself.

At first glance, it looks like the Intuitive Eating approach is saying, “eat whatever you want!” And in a way, it is. But the research suggests that when you ask your body what it actually wants, the answer might surprise you. This is the Paradox of Permission: when you give yourself permission to eat, you get to ask yourself if you actually like the food you’re eating. Then, you get to enjoy the food in a way that feels good for you, instead of sneaking, bingeing, or restricting.

Another thing you might be thinking (and hey, I’m only assuming you’re thinking it, because I’ve thought it before) is: You’re a dietitian. Isn’t it unethical to just tell people to eat whatever they want? Aren't’ you supposed to educate people on how to make healthy choices? And the answer is DUH. Yes. As a dietitian, and a person with access to the internet, it’s obvious that all foods are not nutritionally equal. However, they do all need to be emotionally equal. Because attaching a negative emotion like guilt or shame to a specific food or type of food, is not a healthy practice either.

And what about people who need to lose weight for “health reasons?” The Intuitive Eating approach focuses on Health at Every Size. That means if you’re 90 lbs, or you’re 500 lbs, or anywhere in between, you deserve to be (and can be) healthy today. Not once you lose a certain number of pounds. And while the research suggests that most Intuitive Eaters do hang out at a lower BMI, it’s considered a benign side effect of the practice, not the primary goal.

At this point you might be wondering... what is the goal?!?!

The goal is to get off the dieting carousel and find peace with food. The goal is to develop a healthier relationship with food and your body so you can show up for the things that matter most in your life. The goal is to clear your head of the guilt, shame, and judgement that comes with every bite of food that you put in your mouth, and use that space for something more useful, like creativity, career advancement, building relationships, or saving the world.

Resources

Intuitive Eating and The Intuitive Eating Workbook (available for pre-order) by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD and Elyse Resch, MS, RD, CEDRD