151 - Making A Realistic Plan


Making Meal Planning Work for You

Creating a meal plan that fits your life is key to losing weight without feeling stressed. Start with what you're already doing and make small, positive changes. It's not about a total diet overhaul on day one but finding ways to eat a bit less while still enjoying your food.

Finding Balance with Food

It's possible to enjoy meals that are both nutritious and tasty. Experiment with different proteins and recipes to discover meals you look forward to. Remember, it's not just about eating "healthy" foods that you don't enjoy but finding a balance that satisfies both your body and taste buds.

Listening to Your Body

Paying attention to your body's hunger signals is crucial. Eating when you're truly hungry and stopping when you're full helps avoid overeating. Ignoring your body's needs or waiting too long to eat can lead to making choices you'll regret later.

Adjusting as You Go

Your meal plan isn't set in stone. If something isn't working, change it. This could mean eating more to prevent overeating later, adjusting the types of food you're eating, or rethinking the timing of your meals. The goal is to make your plan easy to stick to by removing unnecessary hurdles.

It's a Process, Not a Race

Weight loss is a journey, not a sprint. Fast results often don't last, so focus on making gradual changes you can stick with. Over time, these small adjustments will lead to significant, sustainable weight loss. Remember, the best plan is one you can follow happily without feeling deprived.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Maggie: Hey guys, before we get into the episode today, I just wanted to let you know that we are going to try something new. We want to start doing Q& A episodes where we answer your questions directly. So we've created [00:00:10] a way for you to submit a video question to us that we will play on the Q& A episode and answer your question.

[00:00:15] Maggie: We're really excited about this new way to interact with you, but we can only do it once we get enough [00:00:20] questions. So please submit one. There's no such thing as a dumb question or too small of a question. You can submit by going to the link in the show notes. Thanks.

[00:00:28] Happy[00:00:30] [00:00:40]

[00:00:45] Maggie: Friday, Ryan. Ryan.

[00:00:46] Happy

[00:00:47] Ryan: Friday. Remember when we did this podcast and we would [00:00:50] just like shoot from our hip and release it at whatever day of the week and record it whenever we wanted and some weeks we wouldn't do it and now we've got our shit together?

[00:00:57] Maggie: Yeah, we, we got our shit together a while ago, but [00:01:00] we did start the podcast in November of 2019.

[00:01:03] Maggie: Wow. And so we're coming up on three years. It's so funny to me because so many people who are new to finding the podcast are starting at [00:01:10] episode one. Don't do that. I know, but they're not going to know, they're not going to hear this podcast because they're starting at episode one.

[00:01:14] A lot of people,

[00:01:16] Maggie: a lot of people aren't, but listen.

[00:01:18] Maggie: We need to update

[00:01:18] Ryan: that roadmap.

[00:01:19] Maggie: [00:01:20] Yeah. Um, well, it's on the list. You know, things change, you guys, like, I posted about that today. Yeah. Ryan posted about that today. [00:01:30] It's like things change, opinions change, people change. And sometimes that is kind of like tough doing like in front of a bunch of people. But [00:01:40] also it's, I think it's.

[00:01:41] Maggie: Good. And I think it's beneficial for people to see, sometimes I see people that are hanging onto something and I'm not like challenging, I guess maybe I am a little bit, like [00:01:50] whether or not that's what they like actually want or if they feel so strongly that like, Ooh, but if I let this go, then like, that's scary.

[00:01:57] Maggie: Like they're kind of clinging to something that's old just [00:02:00] because it's like what they know. And I've done that. I mean, I did that before I started posting on Tik Tok, I was clinging to Instagram, right? Like we just do that. We, we cling to the things we know, the things we understand, even when they're not [00:02:10] the best thing for us.

[00:02:11] Maggie: We're just like, no, I'm just going to like, hold on. I know because I've talked to people who have wanted to make dietary changes and stuff, but like, they're so afraid of what people are going to think. And I'm like, yeah, people are going to have like [00:02:20] really shitty thoughts about it. Some people are going to be mad at you.

[00:02:22] Maggie: Like, yeah, when you change things, people have opinions about it, but, so if you feel like there's something that you are like wanting to [00:02:30] try something new, but you're just like so married to the old thing that you knew, that's comfortable, that's familiar, that may not be the best thing for you anymore. So whatever came to your mind when I said that [00:02:40] might be something that you want to investigate because I think it kind of spans the whole human experience, the way we cling to things that are familiar versus things that would be good for us and grow us.

[00:02:49] Ryan: [00:02:50] Voilà. The thing I use a lot and I use this, I used it with diet and I use it in my career too. When I see other people doing something, I always ask myself, why can't I do that too? [00:03:00] If they're doing it, why can't I?

[00:03:01] Maggie: Well, and I want you to know that you are in the minority with that.

[00:03:05] Ryan: Yeah.

[00:03:05] Maggie: Because I, I just, I feel like I coach people all the time.

[00:03:09] Maggie: They're like, they use [00:03:10] other people's success as a way to beat themselves up. Um, and so I think your perspective on that is super cool. I don't think I, I naturally have the same perspective. Well, if someone

[00:03:19] Ryan: [00:03:20] else has shown that they can do it, then of course you can. Yeah. They've shown that it is possible.

[00:03:24] Maggie: Yeah. And it's important to be an example of what's possible. I just think a lot of people see stuff and they're like, well, someone's [00:03:30] already doing it. Well, they're better than me. Well, one of the

[00:03:32] Ryan: biggest reasons I stopped eating keto is I saw these guys that were just jacked and shredded, like eating carbs.

[00:03:37] Ryan: I'm like,

[00:03:37] Maggie: it just opened a new possibility to your brain. [00:03:40]

[00:03:40] Ryan: Yeah.

[00:03:40] Maggie: Yeah. And that's important. So we need other possibility. We can't have everyone out there doing the same thing. And that's good because then you can just get drawn to what you feel drawn to what you want to do. Don't [00:03:50] be so afraid to try something new because yeah, it puts you out of your comfort zone.

[00:03:53] Maggie: It gets you into fight or flight a little bit to try something new. Cause you're like, I don't know if this is going to work in like this seem to work and like whatever, [00:04:00] but. You have to be open to that possibility that what you haven't experienced yet and what's in front of you is actually so much better than what's behind you.

[00:04:06] Maggie: Because I think a lot of people are like, no, that worked. That was good. That was [00:04:10] fine. I don't want to let go of that because I don't know if it's going to be better and you have to take a chance on yourself. I have found though that like with every change I've ever made, it's always gotten better.

[00:04:19] Ryan: There's so much [00:04:20] happiness and growing too. Yeah. You know. Just

[00:04:22] Maggie: imagine, just staying the same, just imagine if I was literally saying everything that I'm saying to you right now, I was saying three years ago, I [00:04:30] honestly, I would hope that wouldn't be true. I would hope that I had grown and expanded and questioned things.

[00:04:34] Maggie: And we've done so many podcasts, but not for a long time about really asking yourself the question, what if I [00:04:40] am wrong about this? Most people don't want to dig into that. What if I'm wrong? That's embarrassing. That's shameful. That's uncomfortable. But it's like that asking myself, that [00:04:50] question has been one of the most freeing things I've, I've ever done.

[00:04:52] Maggie: Like what if I'm wrong and I don't have to have a job that I hate? What if I'm wrong and I can be a really good parent? Um, what if [00:05:00] I'm wrong that I'm stuck with, you know, these mental health issues for the rest of my life with no relief? What if I'm wrong that this is, there's only one diet I can follow for the rest of my life?[00:05:10]

[00:05:10] Maggie: All those questions. That was a big one for you. Have open. Yeah. Well, all those questions have opened up a completely new reality for me. Had I been like, this is right. It'll always be right. It'll never change. I'd still [00:05:20] be who I was three years ago. For the

[00:05:21] Ryan: longest time. You thought that too. Yeah. Until you didn't.

[00:05:25] Maggie: Yeah. It's just this, uh, this willingness to be like, what if I'm [00:05:30] wrong in the best way? Not what if I'm wrong and like everything I've done has been wrong. Cause I don't, I don't buy into that story either, but like, what if this could actually get better? And that's kind of what I mean when I [00:05:40] say, what if I'm wrong?

[00:05:40] Maggie: Like, I mean like, what if I'm wrong and like, it's way better than I think over there doing that, doing that other thing. So anyways, we didn't plan to [00:05:50] talk about that, but it's just funny to me because, you know, I found new podcasts and they have like hundreds and hundreds of episodes and I just kind of like start where they're at because I'm like, number one, I'll get [00:06:00] lost.

[00:06:00] Maggie: I always start

[00:06:01] Ryan: at the most recent, like with my crime podcasts, especially. Yeah. And I just work backwards. And then when the new show, when a new episode comes out, I'll listen to the new one.

[00:06:09] Maggie: Yeah. So if you're hearing [00:06:10] this, then you're already doing this. And if you're not hearing this, we'll see you in three years when you catch up and you get to see the entire evolution.

[00:06:18] Maggie: I know a lot of people have been saying that. [00:06:20] All right, let's. Let's talk about, let's talk about a realistic plan.

[00:06:25] Ryan: Realistic plan. We talk about planning a lot. A realistic plan. [00:06:30] Yeah. Why is, why is a realistic plan important?

[00:06:33] Maggie: Realistic plans are important because if it's not realistic and I, I'm going to like probably be substituting these two [00:06:40] words, realistic and doable.

[00:06:41] Maggie: If it's not doable, you're not going to be able to do it. Like, you're not going to be able to do it over the long term. So what realistic means is that it's [00:06:50] realistic for you to ask yourself of this, to do this every day. Ask this of yourself. It's not this enormous change from what you were doing [00:07:00] before to what you, what you're Let's be honest, think you should be doing, because that's, that's the big jump most people make is like, I'm a loser and I eat like crap and like, I'm just a garbage [00:07:10] can too.

[00:07:10] Maggie: I'm only going to eat organic, you know, grass fed, no sugar, you know, they're just making this like huge, [00:07:20] huge jump. Yeah. Um, and that's what gets people into a lot of. trouble. And again, I say this over and over again, when it doesn't work, we say, [00:07:30] it's me. I don't want it bad enough. I am too mentally weak. I should learn to love to eat like this.

[00:07:37] Maggie: I should. And there's just, there's so [00:07:40] much gray area in between the black and the white of like, Eating healthy food and what type of healthy food and having balance and all of that just does not have to be either or [00:07:50] it can be and it can be a combination. Um, but I think the biggest issue that people have when they start this process is they're not being realistic,

[00:07:59] Ryan: [00:08:00] realistic slash doable slash.

[00:08:02] Ryan: I can do this without much discomfort or friction. It's easy to accomplish. I don't, it doesn't [00:08:10] cause me drama. But I think a lot of people don't feel like they can lose weight while they do that.

[00:08:15] Maggie: Yeah.

[00:08:16] Ryan: Right?

[00:08:17] Maggie: Yeah, I think the, I [00:08:20] always think that stems from this like, urgent rush to do it as fast as possible.

[00:08:25] Maggie: There's like so often that's what's underlying it. There's like this underlying energy of like, I don't [00:08:30] have the time for that. Yes, you do. Something that's been coming to my brain so much lately is like, I've been talking more with my clients about like your future self. Like I in many ways [00:08:40] and the future version of myself from 2016, 2017, right?

[00:08:43] Maggie: Like I'm a completely different person than I was then. Still the same me, but like a completely different version. I am [00:08:50] my future self and I just. never spend any time thinking about how long it took me to overcome my DoorDash urges. Or like how long it took me to stop eating [00:09:00] so much emotion. Like I don't have, I don't spend any time on that.

[00:09:04] Maggie: And we stress so much about it in the moment of like, this is taking too long. This isn't fast enough. This isn't, the [00:09:10] scale isn't moving fast enough. This process isn't moving fast enough. I swear to God, you won't get there. Care how long it took. If you take the time to just like do it the right way, do it in a way that's [00:09:20] realistic and sustainable and like always moving forward.

[00:09:22] Maggie: But yeah, sometimes this process is like five steps forward, two steps back, and like that is still progress because you're still three steps [00:09:30] ahead of where you were when you started. You know, like you have to be able to see it in a different way.

[00:09:37] Ryan: So, uh, how do you know if your plan is not [00:09:40] realistic? It's because I, I, I, I feel like.

[00:09:42] Ryan: People can follow an unrealistic plan for short periods of time, for days or weeks.

[00:09:48] Maggie: Yeah, where they're like a [00:09:50] 14 day challenge or 30 days, you know, of a meal plan or something where it's like, okay, I can, I can lock it down for 30 days or 75 days.

[00:09:56] Ryan: What's the, what's the one like red flag?

[00:09:59] Maggie: Well, if you [00:10:00] can't do it past that time, if you're like, can't wait till it's over so that you can have food you weren't letting yourself have.

[00:10:06] Maggie: If honestly, if you see any end date in your mind of this, that's a [00:10:10] problem. Like, if you see any end date of like once the meal plan runs out or once the 75 days is over, and like now all of a sudden you're this new person and you keep it, like if you, if there's any sense [00:10:20] of like, I can't wait till this is over, that's a problem for sure.

[00:10:24] Maggie: If there's any sense of like, I can't wait till my cheat day, that's a problem for sure. Like, [00:10:30] you have to be looking for these ways your brain is like, Oh, I can, I can hang on. Clench my fist. Yeah, but if, but I can't wait till I can get a break from this. I can't wait until I [00:10:40] lose those 10 pounds. So many people are like, I can't wait till I lose like 15 to 20 pounds so I can start having some carbs again.

[00:10:46] Maggie: They really think that there's this like, they never learn to stop [00:10:50] overeating carbs, okay? But once they lose 20 pounds, then they'll have the ability to eat those carbs in moderation and not overeat. all that's missing is there's just an extra bonus 20 pounds [00:11:00] here. I need to get rid of that. And then like, they're just putting off, relaxing into the process until they get to some arbitrary goalpost.

[00:11:09] Maggie: So [00:11:10] I think that is a red flag. It's not one that we discussed, but I do think if you, if you're in any way holding your breath or waiting for, uh, an off ramp, In the [00:11:20] form of the program ending, the meal plan ending, the 75 day hard ending, the cheat day coming up, like, That's, that's a red flag for sure. [00:11:30] For, at least for the long term, which is what you want.

[00:11:36] Maggie: Yeah, you, realistic and doable means I can [00:11:40] do this and I really do think the first step to that is meeting yourself exactly where you're at right now and most people do not want to do that. And again, it's coming from this place of like, cause I don't have time to do [00:11:50] that. Yes, you do. You do have the time to do this right and it'll be the best time you ever have.

[00:11:54] Maggie: ever take, the best time you ever spend, if you can just take the time to do it right. And I don't mean right as in [00:12:00] follow the rules and be a perfectionist, I mean right in, okay, this feels comfortable. Yes, it stretches me a little bit, but that's good. That's healthy growth. We're moving forward. We're, we're up leveling every single day, every [00:12:10] single week.

[00:12:10] Maggie: We're looking for ways that we can improve the easiest, the low, the lowest hanging fruit to pick up some momentum, but we're starting where we're at. We're not trying to overhaul everything on [00:12:20] Monday. on the first of the month, on the first of the year, we're starting where we're at. And so like, I really do think, take an inventory of like, what does your normal way of eating look like?

[00:12:29] Maggie: What's it looking [00:12:30] like? What does it look like in the morning and the afternoon and the evening?

[00:12:32] Ryan: I think there's three things you can really evaluate if you're, if you don't think what you're doing is realistic and doable. Yeah. There are three things you can evaluate. [00:12:40] You can evaluate the types of food you're eating.

[00:12:42] Ryan: If you don't like what you're eating, take a look at that. Yeah. You can evaluate the times of days that you're eating, the time of day you're eating. Yeah. Um, if you're trying to go [00:12:50] too long without eating, it's probably stretching you a little too much and you don't have to do that. Yeah. Look at what, what times a day you're eating and maybe question that.

[00:12:58] Ryan: And then the third one is [00:13:00] the quantity. And I think that's the, probably the biggest one. People think they need to eat as little as possible to lose weight as fast as possible. And that's just not true. Yeah. So take a look at those three things and you can [00:13:10] quick, very quickly make small adjustments to those and things will get a lot easier for you.

[00:13:14] Yeah.

[00:13:14] Maggie: Yeah. Those are like the low hanging fruit of like, we don't realize so much of these [00:13:20] things are just literally errors in our brain. It's like if I can just go till 3 p. m. without eating, that's going to speed this up and I'm going to lose weight super fast and I'm going to get to that place where [00:13:30] everything's better.

[00:13:30] Maggie: This is diet mentality. Yeah, but we don't realize if we go as long as we can without eating, our body's going to get what it needs and it's going to do that by throwing up all kinds of hunger signals and you're going to be eating and you're going to be starving while you're eating. You're [00:13:40] going to be starving when you're done because your body's trying to get the fuel that it needed throughout the day that you didn't give to it.

[00:13:45] Maggie: going to get it and then you're going to feel like you're eating too much and then you're going to way overeat because that was way more than you were supposed to [00:13:50] eat and you've already screwed up for the day and it's time to start tomorrow. That's literally your diet mentality. That's your diet brain saying, well, if we're going to need to like eat less, [00:14:00] I'm just going to fast and I'm going to go as long as I possibly can, not knowing that the fasting and the keeping yourself from eating when your body needs that fuel is driving overeating [00:14:10] and you just think you need to get better at fasting.

[00:14:13] Maggie: It's like, it's so warped. All of this is so warped. Like the way that we think what is going to really speed this process up is [00:14:20] totally slowing us down, totally sabotaging, totally make, making us feel like this is hopeless for me. I'm never going to figure this out.

[00:14:28] Ryan: Yeah, it's, it's all [00:14:30] psychology. Yeah.

[00:14:31] Ryan: It's all thinking you need to do things you don't need to do to get the results you want to get quickly. As fast as [00:14:40] possible. How can I just convince people that like, slow is good? You know, what, what do you guys need to hear?

[00:14:46] Maggie: I don't know. Cause I feel like I've just been shouting it for years. Yeah.

[00:14:49] Maggie: That's what I'm [00:14:50] saying. Like, yeah. Fast weight loss is not good. If you can't keep it off, fast weight loss is not good. If it drives binge eating and [00:15:00] distrust with yourself, fast weight loss is not good in most cases. Fast weight loss causes fast weight gain. You know, like we have to just, it's, it is again, [00:15:10] questioning everything.

[00:15:10] Maggie: What if I'm wrong about this? What if, what if this isn't helping me? What if fasting isn't helping me? What if, you know, ignoring what my body's telling me [00:15:20] isn't helping me? What if my brain isn't smarter than my body in this situation? What if I need to be listening way more to my body than I am to my brain telling me, skip the snack.

[00:15:28] Maggie: You can skip the snack. You can be a little [00:15:30] hungry. You're fine. Mm hmm. You know, it's like, it's all of these things are just warped thinking of like, I can get here faster. I can do this faster. I can feel better faster. If I just [00:15:40] do these things that make me feel like shit all day, every day. So that I'm constantly pushing back on it, but at least it's going fast.

[00:15:46] Maggie: And then we wonder why we're losing and gaining 20 pounds, you know, 40 times [00:15:50] over. So. It needs to be something that you can easily do and what Ryan is bringing up is the low hanging fruit now remember I have [00:16:00] ADHD and you said three things and they're not written anywhere. So I can't remember what they are Do you remember what they are in order?

[00:16:05] Ryan: Take them one at a time. It's quantity

[00:16:07] Maggie: Quantity so that means [00:16:10] In the sense of what's doable, you need to make sure that you're planning enough food. Yeah. Okay. A lot of, I see a lot of clients really hurt at the beginning of the [00:16:20] process that I teach because they're like, okay, got it.

[00:16:22] Ryan: I'll make a plan. I'm not tracking

[00:16:23] Maggie: calories.

[00:16:24] Maggie: So in order to make up the difference, I'm going to plan as little food as possible. And then they're like, this isn't working. I keep [00:16:30] overeating. And it's like, yeah, cause you're planning with your diet brain. You're not doing what I'm actually saying. You're doing what I'm saying with a twist, with a diet brain twist.

[00:16:37] Maggie: Please don't do that. Okay. You need to make sure you're planning [00:16:40] enough food. Your body will tell you, you do have to start listening to the cues that your body gives you for hunger and for fullness. But Trying to skip [00:16:50] food just to see if it's possible is not a good strategy. I see people trying to skip food because they're just like, I can just, it's fine.

[00:16:57] Maggie: And then they end up overeating at dinner and overeating after [00:17:00] dinner all because they needed something to eat between lunch and dinner. It's like such an easy fix. And that's what Ryan's talking about, about quantity. We're not trying to be like, let's make an impossible plan and then see if we're mentally strong enough to [00:17:10] achieve that impossible plan.

[00:17:11] Maggie: Right. Um. Yeah. Yeah. So that's the first one. The second one.

[00:17:15] Ryan: Second one is the types of food you're eating.

[00:17:17] Maggie: Types of food you're eating. Okay. If [00:17:20] you have never like benefited, seen the benefit, like if there's one, if there's a major thing that keto did help me with, it showed me how protein felt in my body.

[00:17:28] Maggie: I was never really like super high [00:17:30] fat with keto. I'm sure I was way higher than it is now, but like I ate a lot of protein and I got the experience of what it felt like to fuel myself with like nutrient dense food with protein. Stuff like that. [00:17:40] So, like, definitely give yourself the gift of like playing around with that.

[00:17:43] Maggie: You can absolutely lose weight eating whatever, but there are also ways to eat that are going to make [00:17:50] everything a lot easier because you're going to be so satiated.

[00:17:53] Ryan: It's a balancing act, right? Totally. It's, it's, uh, what is going to make me feel full [00:18:00] enough throughout the day? It's where I'm not having these crazy urges and you know what I mean?

[00:18:04] Ryan: Like, I'll tell you the answer. It's protein. You eat more protein, you're going to feel more satiated, [00:18:10] but it's also like, am I eating dried chicken breast and broccoli with no flavors? And like,

[00:18:17] Maggie: yeah, so it's learning to make food that's nutrient [00:18:20] dense in a way that actually tastes good. Like add a little bit of fat, add a little bit of butter, cook it in a sous vide.

[00:18:25] Maggie: You'd like to do what you got to do so that the food is like hitting all of these, [00:18:30] you know, whatever. Make it enjoyable.

[00:18:31] Ryan: So you're not like, I swear, like. Sometimes I'll eat, I'll eat dinner and there's like not enough salt on it and I'll finish it and be like, dude, that just like didn't really hit the spot for me.

[00:18:39] Ryan: [00:18:40] Yeah. But like if had, I just added a mentally

[00:18:43] Maggie: satiating to and physically satiating, like you need to be able to get that satisfaction factor, which is totally possible with food that [00:18:50] people would deem healthy. You guys, I promise you, you can make it delicious. Like we literally eat salmon every single week.

[00:18:55] Maggie: Our kids even eat it too. And it's just like so good every time.

[00:18:57] Ryan: But it's subjective. You need to figure it out for yourself. Yeah.

[00:18:59] Maggie: You have [00:19:00] to figure out what, what does that look like? But I just also want to speak to people like, let's assume there's people listening to this podcast that are like, they've never.

[00:19:07] Maggie: Like they've never, they don't know what it feels like to [00:19:10] eat nutrient dense food and like feel satiated and it tastes good and it makes them feel good. Like just assuming there are some people listening to this podcast that feel that way. Definitely play around with that. Like [00:19:20] figure out what type of proteins do you like ground beef.

[00:19:22] Maggie: Chicken. Chicken thighs. Chicken breasts. Shrimp. Like, how do you make them in a delicious way? Play around with the portion sizing, the, [00:19:30] the flavoring, the healthy fats that you're adding. Like, how do I make this so, like, I look forward to this? Because I think sometimes people will get surprised that, like, there are things that, like, someone would look at my plate and be [00:19:40] like, yeah, that's a bunch of healthy food.

[00:19:41] Maggie: Yet, I'm just like so bomb, so good, so satiating, been dreaming about this all week and it's like just because like I like to build a sexy [00:19:50] story for food that like is going to like be nourishing to my body and make everything so much easier.

[00:19:56] Ryan: There's a sound we make when something, when we make something that's really, really good and [00:20:00] it's like, it's the sexual sound that, but it's also, there's another one too.

[00:20:05] Ryan: It's like the most annoying shit on purpose.

[00:20:08] Maggie: Oh, oh, the [00:20:10] nyum, nyum, nyum, nyum, nyum. We mostly do it to make each other laugh, but like, that's how we tell each other, like, this shit is so good, especially when we're like trying something [00:20:20] that's new. And that happens with healthy food. Yes, it does. It absolutely does.

[00:20:24] Maggie: It's not just like when I'm eating a cinnamon roll, which is another time when it happens as well. And then yes, there's very [00:20:30] sexual like moaning sounds that happen as well. Like, and who cares? You know, like you should be able to get excited about food that tastes good. It doesn't necessarily, it's not [00:20:40] going to happen for me when I'm eating pizza.

[00:20:41] Maggie: You know? Yeah. So it is a balancing act, and guess whose act that is? It's yours. It's your, it's your deal to figure out what that balancing act [00:20:50] looks like. I just want to definitely encourage the fact that like, there are foods that like, you're going to feel really good eating. It's worth it to figure out [00:21:00] what those foods are.

[00:21:01] Maggie: Because I don't know, it's just priority to me. Like, I'm like, I want to support my body and my brain and feeling really good.

[00:21:06] Ryan: This is really easy. You just take an hour and sit down. [00:21:10] with a computer or a notepad and write down all the proteins that you like to eat. Yeah. Go on Pinterest. And then get on Pinterest.

[00:21:15] Ryan: Get

[00:21:15] Maggie: sources of protein. That's what I do. And I just build meals around the proteins [00:21:20] that I like.

[00:21:21] Ryan: Find, find ways that look good to you to eat them. Yeah. On Pinterest. It's, this is really easy guys. You just got to spend some time, gift yourself an hour of like, Hey, I'm going to [00:21:30] do this for my future self.

[00:21:32] Maggie: Yeah. And I was hearing someone on TikTok the other day talking about how like they, you really only have like 15 meals in rotation. Yep. That's true, right? Oh, I saw that. [00:21:40] I saw that. I saw it too. Sometimes we do see the same stuff on the For You page. But it's like, he's like, don't lie to yourself and act like you, you really have the whole world at your fingertips.

[00:21:46] Maggie: Like you have about 15 meals that you rotate through between, between [00:21:50] breakfast, lunch and dinner. Like once you do that work up front, then you have the meals and you know that you like them and like you keep a list of those meals. That's something that I teach my clients about having a food list. Like [00:22:00] you have a way to identify, I already know I like this stuff.

[00:22:03] Maggie: Here's a list of those things. Now I know what to shop for. Now I know what to plan. And like, get. Just get cozy [00:22:10] with making this process so much easier and simpler and more delicious and more compelling for you to do the thing. Stop choosing the thing that you hate and then trying to compel yourself to want to do the thing you [00:22:20] hate.

[00:22:20] Maggie: You're going to fail every single time, maybe not immediately, but definitely 14 days in or 30 days in or 60 days in, you know, figure out ways to make it super easy. Depending on how

[00:22:29] Ryan: mentally [00:22:30] strong you are.

[00:22:30] Maggie: We're going to test your mental strength. Like, it's just like, no, you can eat food that you love.

[00:22:34] Maggie: And like, uh, If your brain just goes, Oh no, food that I love. If I was only eating food that I [00:22:40] love, I'm just going to be eating junk food. No, you won't. You won't. You're going to find a cadence that works really well for you of like how often you want to include those, those foods in because like the truth is guys, [00:22:50] most of those foods don't make you feel great.

[00:22:51] Maggie: Most of those foods you eat and you're just like, Oh, I

[00:22:54] Ryan: think there's a transition period for people who only eat junk food to like transition to healthy food. I think there is.

[00:22:58] Maggie: Um, like [00:23:00] what do you think that looks like?

[00:23:01] Ryan: Like you, like if I eat donuts and Taco Bell and fast food all day every day and I have transitioned to Good protein [00:23:10] sources and vegetables and

[00:23:11] Maggie: you start where you're at and you just try to upload

[00:23:14] Ryan: That stuff isn't going to sound or taste really good off the bat.

[00:23:19] Maggie: Yeah, [00:23:20] that's why you that's why you up level Like that's why you don't go from being someone who Reminder, I was this someone, someone who eats fast food four to five times a day to someone [00:23:30] who only eats healthy food. I tried to make that transition a million times. And please remember you guys were using the words junk food and healthy food because you know what we're talking about.

[00:23:38] Maggie: Not because there really is junk food [00:23:40] and healthy food. I just see it as like there's food that's going to make you feel good and like be like, you know, nourishing to your cells. And then there's going to be food that like tastes really good. But like, yeah. might make you [00:23:50] constipated and like, but your body doesn't like sing with energy when you eat it.

[00:23:53] Maggie: Okay. But yeah, there is definitely a transition, but the problem is you're making that transition way too quickly. [00:24:00] So when we talk about a doable plan, when we talk about a realistic plan, if you're someone who's eating Del Taco for breakfast, Chick fil A for lunch, this used to be my diet. You guys, this is not, this is based on a true story.

[00:24:08] Maggie: And then all of a sudden you're trying to [00:24:10] eat. Um, chicken breasts. I can see it in my head, you guys. Chicken breasts. Um, spinach, quinoa with this like yucky sauce [00:24:20] and you're just mixing it and it's all just mushy and gross and you're just like, health. And then you wonder why it lasts for three days. It's like, I tried to make that jump so many times.

[00:24:29] Maggie: What [00:24:30] should you have done then? I mean, you just have to make that transition slowly. For a lot of people, it's up leveling their fast food, Yeah. Or they start ordering their fast food in a way that's like, Hey, can I [00:24:40] maybe like skip the mayo on this? Or maybe we'll go with a different type of bun or maybe we'll let us wrap it.

[00:24:45] Maggie: Because right now it's just so easy for me to stop through a drive thru. It's not realistic for me to make a breakfast [00:24:50] casserole right now. Just not right now. And so you just slowly start up leveling from there. And those are the changes that create. eating less without feeling like you're eating so much less.[00:25:00]

[00:25:00] Maggie: So doable really starts from like, what does your life really look like? Where are a couple of places that you can just like take that to the next level so that you're eating less, eating more [00:25:10] nutrients, getting more, you know, nutrients into your diet and you will naturally be eating less. You don't need to all of a sudden do a 600 calorie deficit, track everything that goes into your mouth to lose weight.

[00:25:18] Maggie: You just honestly [00:25:20] need to eat a little less than you're eating right now. And then a little less than that. And then your body adjusts, your body needs less fuel and it's just a natural progression. It's, it's when we [00:25:30] jump from what we're doing to something completely unrealistic that we're not going to have success.

[00:25:35] Ryan: Yeah. And also play with recipes too. Like what you, the way you eat chicken breast, it could [00:25:40] probably be a little better. Yeah. You know, But don't just assume that's what all chicken breast tastes like all the time, no matter what.

[00:25:46] Maggie: Well, and over the last five years, like we got a Traeger, we smoked meats for a really long [00:25:50] time.

[00:25:50] Maggie: We have a Blackstone. It comes with time. Cooks. Yeah. Yeah. Like, and you don't need all that stuff. You don't need any of that stuff. But what I'm saying is like, we learned different ways to cook food that [00:26:00] tastes good to us and helps us reach our goals. And like. We also plan for balance and we have date nights and we eat blizzards and all that kind of stuff, you know, but it, it just comes with balance and being like, yeah, let's try cooking some [00:26:10] chicken thighs on the Blackstone.

[00:26:11] Maggie: Amazing. So good. You know, like you come to get excited about making that food and excited about eating that food because you learned a way to cook that food that just takes it to [00:26:20] the next level and doesn't have it the way that you think it's supposed to be, which is like four days old in a meal prep container with crusty rice and you know, like it doesn't have to be like that.

[00:26:28] Maggie: You can really love what you're eating.

[00:26:29] Ryan: [00:26:30] The last thing was timing, meal timing.

[00:26:32] Maggie: Yes. And that has two aspects. One is like waiting way too long to eat. And the other is like eating when [00:26:40] you, your body doesn't actually need food yet.

[00:26:42] Ryan: Yeah,

[00:26:43] Maggie: there's two sides of it because a lot of us like some people like, oh, it's, oh, it's so oversimplified to like eat when you're not, [00:26:50] not eat when you're not hungry and stop when you've had enough.

[00:26:51] Maggie: Do you have any idea how many people are eating when they're not even hungry? Like if it was so simple, we'd all just stop doing it.

[00:26:57] Ryan: The majority of the population, they [00:27:00] are,

[00:27:00] Maggie: that's like the first thing that has to go is like, okay, we're just gonna, you get to eat. You're going to eat, but we're just going to wait until our body says that it's hungry instead of looking at the clock and being like, Oh, it's been a while since I've eaten whatever.

[00:27:09] Maggie: It's [00:27:10] noon. It's lunchtime. Exactly. North America. That's part of it. And it's like, that's just like the easiest thing to stop. Cause it's like, you just let your brain know, like, yeah, we're going to eat as soon as I get that signal, [00:27:20] the signal of hunger. Everyone's signals are different. You have to kind of.

[00:27:24] Maggie: Yeah. Tune into your body and figure out what that feels like for me like I start to like have like an [00:27:30] empty Remember, I've been practicing this for a long time But if I try to tune into it like I have this like empty feeling in my stomach But I'm not sick to my stomach. I don't have a sour feeling in my [00:27:40] stomach.

[00:27:40] Maggie: That's my sign that I've gone too far Without eating my son

[00:27:44] Ryan: that I've gone too far as I start getting angry.

[00:27:46] Maggie: Oh my gosh. It's really his sign He just starts getting so snappy and like it's [00:27:50] so

[00:27:50] Ryan: funny like as soon as I eat. I'm just He's completely fine. He's a very different person.

[00:27:53] Maggie: Yeah. He has anger for sure.

[00:27:55] Maggie: So, yeah, there's two sides of that. And so a [00:28:00] major one that you're going to see for a lot of people who have been dieting for a lot of their life is really waiting way too long to eat. Like by the time you are eating, your body is screaming. It's not like [00:28:10] whispering like, Hey, we may need to eat soon. It's like, Please.

[00:28:13] Maggie: I'm like, we're going to get faint. Like I'm sending like all the blood from your brain is now in your stomach. Please.

[00:28:19] Ryan: You [00:28:20] really don't need to worry about the clock if you're not overeating and you're not eating when you're not hungry.

[00:28:24] Maggie: Yeah.

[00:28:26] Ryan: Straight up.

[00:28:26] Maggie: Yeah. It's, it's a learning [00:28:30] process. It's like these are the things that are going to make it more doable.

[00:28:33] Maggie: And really what does doable mean? Like it means easy. You know, like it, it doesn't mean [00:28:40] like without any effort, but it means like we've removed every roadblock we could possibly remove to make this as simple as possible so that it's, I don't have to like jump over [00:28:50] stuff to get this done. I don't have to battle myself all day.

[00:28:52] Maggie: How many plans and diets have you started where you've had to battle yourself all day? And if you're using what we teach you and you're battling [00:29:00] yourself all day, you're not listening to what we're saying. Okay, like you have to make it doable. If you're battling yourself, it means you're planning with your diet brain.

[00:29:08] Maggie: It means that you're not eating enough. [00:29:10] It means that you're waiting way too long before you eat. You're not actually honoring your body and what it's telling you. Doable means [00:29:20] I can do it. And for a lot of people, the things that need to change first to make it doable are the things that nobody wants to change, which is you need to eat a little sooner.

[00:29:28] Maggie: You need to eat a little more and everyone's like, [00:29:30] eat more. Everyone knows to lose weight. You need to eat less, move more. So like it goes against every dieting belief we have. It's like me telling you, you're going to need to eat more immediately, fight or flight, [00:29:40] panic. It's just like, no, eating more is so you don't overeat.

[00:29:45] Maggie: And I know that's crazy and mind blowing, but you don't realize how much you not eating enough. Is [00:29:50] creating your overeating. Right. So have, have we, have we covered everything we wanted to cover? Okay, so hopefully this will help you get started with making a realistic plan. I [00:30:00] don't know if you came here looking for like rules and like exact macros, you're not going to

[00:30:06] Ryan: macros, but I feel like we came up with a pretty good list on the fly.

[00:30:09] Ryan: [00:30:10] Yeah.

[00:30:10] Maggie: That stuff's going to make it easy for you to follow your plan and then really get in the habit of following your plan and then tuning in to the hunger and fullness. Building the evidence that

[00:30:19] Ryan: you can [00:30:20] follow your plan. Yeah. And then

[00:30:21] Maggie: adjusting your plan to make it juicier and juicier. Yeah. All right.

[00:30:24] Maggie: We'll see you guys next week.

[00:30:25] Ryan: See [00:30:30] [00:30:40] ya.

151 - Making A Realistic Plan