Lyndi
 0:00:00
 Hey, everyone, and welcome to today's episode of No Wellness Wankery podcast. I'm your co-host, Lyndi Cohen, dietitian, nutritionist, and someone who's totally over all the wellness wankery. I hope you are too.

Jenna
 0:00:43
 That's why you're listening. Hello, my name is Jenna D’Apice, and I join Lyndi each week, and we chat through so many things in the wellness world that we're like, that doesn't need to be. And the place where we get our most hot of juiciness is Lindy's inbox on Instagram at new.nutritionist. If you have a question, send it through. We love voice notes, we love listening to them. We have one today from Mel. What is Mel's question

Listener
 0:01:08
 Hi Lyndi, my name's Mel, love the podcast. I just wanted to chat about in Australia, my world is being inundated with get six a summer, lose that winter weight now. It's not too late. You know, 30 days, lose 10 kilos. And I'm doing well with my intuitive eating journey, but I just feel the next month or more challenging just because of all this quick fix, summer is coming stuff that is all around me.

Lyndi
 0:01:42
 Thank you. Thank you Mel because this is such a goodie. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere we are currently getting inundated with all this garbage and nonsense on all of our feeds and it's kind of hard to avoid.

Jenna
 0:02:18
 It's everywhere. So whether or not like I

Lyndi
 0:02:04
 the before and after photos and you can't help but feel like hmm maybe I should just listen to what these people are saying this is it it's the maybe I should I know like I like to do like laser hair removal because it's so much easier not to have to shave my legs and I really love that but when I go on the website and I'm inundated with fat removal fat freezing all these things I sent you on it said if you can squeeze it We can freeze it and it was literally a girl squeezing her skin And you see all these things a model by the way. I'm all waving her loose But then you think you're right like mmm. Maybe I should mm-hmm. I just want to say a few to that ad And but it really is everywhere especially when you have really appealing before and after photos I think it's really just like oh, I could just do it. And I think there are a few things we can be doing. And one of those is to try to your best ability is to kind of curate all the media you receive. We've heard this advice before. This is good advice. I know with my Instagram feed, it's pretty free from this nonsense these days. I do not use the Explore function. I do not, as a rule. Do you know the Explore function is that little magnifying glass, that little explore button, because I just know that's a trap and I'm going to feel really bad about myself after I do that. Anytime there is any kind of weight loss, what's magic, anyone using that thing, I'm either reporting them and being like, this is really terrible. I don't want to be seeing this and hiding. I do this across all my platforms. Pinterest is particularly bad for these really dodgy, outdated diets.

Jenna
 0:03:35
 Diets and meal plans.

Lyndi
 0:03:37
 Yeah. meal plan. Yeah and it's like you know the middle-aged spread and metabolic diet and if you're 20, 30 or 40 or 50 whatever age you need to be exercising this way to lose your belly, burn your belly fat and all that kind of nonsense, I'm reporting and saying no to all that BS. So you can too. There's also Instagram changed their functions and now they put stuff into your feed people who you don't actually follow and they assume that means weight loss, which it does not. And so you end up getting inundated with this crap. So what I do is you can actually turn off that function so that you don't get people you don't follow in your feed. So you just press those three little dots and you'll find there's like a hide for my feed and you can hide it for 30 days. I haven't, mine's yet to come back into my feed, so maybe it's never coming back. But there are some times where we can't actually avoid it. We're going to be watching free-to-air TV or...

Jenna
 0:04:30
 We're going to be driving past a billboard.

Lyndi
 0:04:33
 And listening to a radio channel. It really is everywhere. So I think there is this part of me that feels like when I hear that kind of stuff, I have this moment, even after all the years of everything I've been doing, where I think to myself, maybe I should just... Maybe it's a good idea. I could just lose a little. And I think to have that experience is normal.

9
 0:04:54
 And I just want you to-

Jenna
 0:04:55
 And accepting that you're gonna have that experience and there's nothing wrong with you.

Lyndi
 0:04:59
 Yeah, it's what you do afterwards that matters. So are you taking that little inclination to go, maybe I should, and then acting upon it and doing something about it? Or are you just recognizing, ah, I feel like I could do that, but actually, that would never work for me. I'm not going to do that. I'm not gonna subject myself to it. I'm going to stay true to what I know and treat my body well. What are you going to do about it?

Jenna
 0:05:19
 Because sometimes I think all these ads, they're made by very smart people who know all the pressures that people are under and they know how to play into your psychology. Sometimes I'm like, gee, that's well done. That's really pushing my buttons, but that doesn't mean I need to follow through with it and let it. You can't think that you're weak or something's wrong with you, that an ad that is designed to make you question yourself is working.

Lyndi
 0:05:45
 It's lots of money, millions, millions of dollars going into selling you that stuff. That's the other thing I always hate about before and after photos. When you're on a diet and the diet company is like, hey, take before and after photos. It'll motivate you. What they really mean is we will profit big time from using your before and after photos in our advertising so please take them for us." This is one of the reasons why I absolutely do not use before and after photos in any of my advertising or marketing and anyone who does is dodgy and I would say that's wellness wankery.

Jenna
 0:06:15
 So what about all of these things, anything that tries to sell it to you as a quick fix and then you think, oh, I'll just do this quickly and then I can eat healthfully and it'll all be great from there.

Lyndi
 0:06:27
 Yeah, like Mel mentioned, this kind of idea of like lose certain amount of weight in a certain time frame or even the whole get fit for summer, lose weight for summer, that is a timeline. That's basically saying this is a temporary fix. The marketing is giving away the clue that they are not going to help you long term, that they're only going to help you lose weight temporarily to regain it and rebound harder than you ever did before. So that's a bit of a clue that it is nonsense. Something that you mentioned before is who is profiting off this? That's a really good question to ask yourself. I don't know if you guys have heard that viral Catching in a party in shoes, Shouting skin and bones with big boobs.

4
 0:07:02
 I know Victoria's Secret, She was made up by a dude. Dude! We get this idea of Victoria's Secret is not a supermodel. It is white men profiting off selling women the idea that they have to not exist in order to be okay. So who is profiting off this?

Lyndi
 0:07:23
 Who is going to win in the long term? And if diet companies worked, they'd have a business model, but they wouldn't be the multi-billion dollar industry that they are these days.

Jenna
 0:07:49
 If it really worked, it would be a one buy. You buy it once in your life, you buy one diet once, and then you'd be done because you've done dieting.

Lyndi
 0:07:57
 How many times have you done Weight Watchers? You know, just ask yourself that. How many decades? If it really worked, and I know you're like, okay, well I once lost all this weight, but if it really worked, you wouldn't have

Jenna
 0:08:07
 needed to go and do it again and again and again. The thing that sometimes I find is obviously it's hard to avoid and for a lot of people very triggering and it's so much money on things like fat freezing treatments or cellulite, I don't even know, like cellulite removing treatments, all these things that people end up spending thousands of dollars on just because they say it'll be this quick fix within a week. How would you not get sucked into these instant results that they're

Lyndi
 0:08:41
 promising you? Oh it's incredibly hard not to. I mean firstly using some science is useful. So firstly knowing okay well you can't actually get rid of cellulite because cellulite is simply the structure, the way, especially women, the way that the fat moves around our body, that almost everyone, every female is going to have some degree of cellulite. Anyone promising to get rid of your cellulite, well, that doesn't actually exist. So no, you lose there. I feel like the longer you do intuitive eating, the more you're able to spot the bullshit, the more you're able to see, okay, firstly, that's a quick fix, it's a short-term thing. It's like when you do something only for the pursuit of losing weight, and as soon as you lose the weight, you're like, I'm not going to keep doing that because I've lost the weight, then you regain all the weight. I do like this idea of doing things that make us feel good, though. I think that is something I can get on board with, is coming into summer, you want to feel energetic, you want to feel great, you want to feel like you're a sparkliest, loveliest self. I really get that. I'm for it. So I like this idea of accumulating healthy habits and that is kind of like my alternative to going on a diet. So when every time I'm like, okay, I feel that temptation to diet, I think, okay, well am I feeling my best and what could I be doing? And I've got my new book coming out in January, on January 10th. So if you're listening to this before, you can house really, really quickly. In the book, one of the concepts I talk about is how to know if something is a diet in disguise or if it's actually a healthy habit, something that you can maintain and do for the rest of your life. There are three questions that I pose to you that you need to be able to ask yourself. So if you think about, should I do this quick fix or should I do the cellulite treatment or should I start exercising in a way that feels enjoyable? Should I add in more vegetables? Whatever it is, you ask yourself the three questions. The three questions are, one, is this helping me become closer to the person I would like to be? Question two, can I do this for the rest of my life or at least five years, two years? You know, past summer. Not eight weeks.

8
 0:10:43
 Not eight weeks.

Lyndi
 0:10:44
 Exactly. So people have those like 75 hard challenges, it's like you can only go at that kind of level for a short period of time. So that's a hell no for me. And the third question is, if this didn't contribute to weight loss, if I didn't lose weight from doing this, would I still be doing this habit? And that is the most important question almost to be asking yourself, because it's like when you start running and if the only reason you're running is to lose weight, if you don't lose the weight, are you going to keep running? No. If you get to somewhere and you lose the weight, are you going to keep doing all the things that got you to lose weight after summer is over? No, you're not going to. So we need to be doing things for the sake of health and not because we think it's going

Jenna
 0:11:25
 to make us lose weight. And I also think it's important to think about all these things like get ready for summer, get your body beach ready, all these things. Your body's already beach ready. Like, why is the body you're currently in not good enough to be at the beach? When I think going to the beach is actually the most liberating experience because it's the only time you are really out and around and half naked in front of so many people with so many different bodies and so many different shapes, sizes, skin colors, ages. Like, you actually see a breadth of people and it's actually so much more liberating to see how different everyone is as opposed to the months leading up everyone's preparing

Lyndi
 0:12:08
 themselves to look like something they don't. I will say there are certain spots that you're going to go where a certain crowd is going to be and that's kind of like that aesthetic crowd. Yeah, so we don't go there. So we don't go there. I like to go to low-key places where it's like just normal people hanging around. So also just thinking about, because I know when you're at the beach and you can just see someone, you're like, oh, they have this amazing body. And then you get in your head about how awful you feel in your body, and oh my God, all these ingrown hairs, and I need a pedicure, and all those things. You notice all the issues with your body. I think I've become really mindful when I notice myself judging another person's body, and I remind myself that my body's imperfect, and that person's body's imperfect and that's okay. I don't need to look like them. And I really do a whole lot of self-talk. I'm sitting there on the beach.

Jenna
 0:12:58
 I'm pep-talking myself.

Lyndi
 0:12:59
 Yeah, and I'm like, you know what? We're actually just here on a really nice day. I don't need to look perfect. No one is looking at me. These are the things I just keep telling myself and then I change the channel and I distract myself and I get up there and I go swim. I don't miss out on life. I don't dodge being in photographs so that no one can see what I look like. I do not stay small so that I can avoid the fear of being the wrong way. Because I think we have this idea that other people are judging us. I don't go to the beach and judge other people's bodies, being like, look at that person. Do you?

8
 0:13:33
 No.

Jenna
 0:13:34
 Who does? No one does. No one thinks that's happening, but you're only sitting there judging yourself.

Lyndi
 0:13:38
 And you know who does do it is people with disordered eating.

7
 0:13:41
 Correct.

Lyndi
 0:13:42
 When I was deep in disordered eating and really struggling with body image, I was the most not only was I judgmental about other people's body but I was constantly reflecting on their body versus my body. Correct, and I think you're looking at the parts of their body that you're most self-conscious about on your body. Totally.

Jenna
 0:13:59
 So you're really judging yourself through another human.

Lyndi
 0:14:01
 Exactly, exactly. So I guess worrying about someone else's judgment isn't something we really need to be doing. It also it has no bearing in our life. We're not going to, you know, they're not going to come up to us and say something awful. They're not, like, that's not going to happen. You're simply going to exist and no one else is really judging you. We're just going to, that's the mantra. We're going to live by it. I think that's it. So it's like all this

Jenna
 0:14:23
 messaging that you're receiving is knowing that it's marketing, someone is trying to profit off it. You don't need to succumb to it. You can realize that it's just nonsense and know that you're ready for summer right now.

Lyndi
 0:14:37
 Can we talk about also just quickly, you and I always harp on about this clothing. Just want to harp on about the fact that you need to have a swimsuit that feels good, that's comfortable. I go up in sizes on my swimsuit so I feel comfortable so nothing digs into me. I like it lush in there. I like lots of coverage. I want to feel good at the beach. So ditch the size that you think you're meant to be. Get breathable fabric so you don't feel like a sweaty, hot mess when you're at the beach. Go to the beach. Get out there and exist and live and be like, am I happier now as opposed to if I stayed home and lived small because I didn't lose the weight that I thought I needed to lose for summer. You don't need to lose weight, you just need to exist and turn up and be happy right now in your life.

Jenna
 0:15:18
 And be so grateful and thankful that we can go out and enjoy the warmer weather. Like really this is a nice time of the year and we cloud it with wearing less clothing

Lyndi
 0:15:29
 so it becomes a stressful time of the year. Yeah. Can we talk about chafing because thighs touch and arms touch and boobs rub against things and stuff. You can get chub rub, so basically it's a rub that you can kind of use that between your legs or whatever so that you don't get chafing that feels really uncomfortable. You can wear bike shorts, you can wear things that are really comfy. I know I've definitely done that kind of thing. Make life easier for yourself, not harder. Yeah, like just accepting that like chafing, like everyone's wearing thongs and they hurt your feet if you get sweaty, it's the same thing. So let's just be gentle with our bodies and kind to ourselves. I hope you all have a very lovely holiday summer period. If you guys do get a copy of my book, I'd love to know what you think about it. I do touch a lot on body image in the book and talk about how to adopt this healthy habit that feel really good. So I hope you use it as something to help counteract all the body, the bikini body bullshit and the New Year's resolution nonsense. So I really love that, that's how it fits into your world. And if you've loved this episode, we'd love you to jump online. If you feel good to see your heart leave a review, we'd

Jenna
 0:16:45
 love to read it and we'll chat to you next time. Bye!

5
 0:16:50
 Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

6
 0:16:54
 Bye.

Lyndi
 0:16:55
 Bye. Bye. Do you feel like you know what you should be eating, but like you feel completely out of control with food? You're either eating perfectly or you're face planting into the fridge. Well, if you've got binge eating or you're struggling with emotional eating, I can help. Check out my program, Keep It Real. I've got lots I can teach you and hey, you don't have to be a binge eater for the rest of your life. You can get 20% off Keep It Real when you use the code podcast when you check out via the website. And because I don't want this to be just another failed attempt for you, I'm offering a 30-day money-back guarantee because you know what? You've just got to give these things a go, no risk. Give it a try. Give it a try.

6
 0:17:27
 Check out Keep It Real.