The Truth About Weight Loss with Registered Dietician Camille Martin

Nutritional psychiatry is a field of medicine that discusses the relationship between your brain and your diet. Your brain is busy all day and night analyzing, dreaming, solving problems and regulating your body. And these activities are fueled by the nutrients you take in. Your ability to function at your best is based on the quality of the fuel you put in it. We all know that the right nutritional plan is an important part of our mental and emotional health. But the research suggests that the vast majority of diets fail and there are two possible explanations why. The first is metabolic. According to a 2020 report in Scientific American, metabolic factors can serve as obstacles to maintaining dietary changes. For example, your body makes important appetite and digestion, controlling hormones like ghrelin, leptin, peptide yy, amylin and others. It appears that dieting actually creates an extreme shift in these hormones that causing increased appetite, binging, overeating, snacking, food cravings and generally straying from the parameters of the precipitating rigid diet. The second factor is emotional and that's where we're going to focus today. Today we are meeting with Camille Martin, registered dietitian, public health writer, technical editor for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and and a former chronic dieter who wasted, as she says, nearly 25 years of her life on a diet. She's going to teach us about why diets don't work, how to achieve your nutritional goals without dieting. And you're going to want to check out her book, Love to Love youe Life and Watch the Weight Lose Itself, where she uses what she learned on her own weight loss journey to help other women stop wasting their lives on diets, but rather to embrace everything about themselves, achieve what they are truly capable of, and maybe lose some weight in the process. I want to emphasize that today's conversation isn't just about weight loss. Today's conversation is about the relationship between our bodies, our minds and our nutrition. We are going to have conversations today about why diets don't work, how setting a big goal can help you lose weight, how saying I'm going to change everything in my diet may be counterproductive. How does diet and nutrition relate to mental health, self esteem, anxiety, depression and also we're going to discuss the importance of environment in optimizing our body and our weight and our health. Also, Camille has a free guide if you're interested in just getting a little toe tap into what she's bringing to the table. It's called you'd Ultimate Weight Loss and it helps you to set your kitchen up for success and you can find that at her website, camillemartinrd.com kitchen-guide and of course I'll have all the links here in the bio. And before we meet Camille and get into the interview with her, I just want to read her bio and then we're going to skip over to the conversation. And I really enjoyed it. I love working with her. And so I think you will. Will too. I am so excited to learn about your story. And you know, you have this passion that is driving you forward. And like you, like we said in the conversation earlier that we didn't put in this version of the recording, but that you have written a book and you've been doing lots of interviews, you're doing everything you can to get the message out and get the word out. And so I was curious, what is fueling your passion? Why this book? Why this project? Why now?

Well, ok, so my story just like everybody's, goes way, way, way back. I started dieting when I was 12 years old, which is very young. I got lots of messages growing up, not really directly, but sort of just absorbing it, absorbing what I was hearing and watching that what I looked like was the most important thing that growing up in the south, in the United States and the south, it was very much of you're expected to grow up, get married and have kids. So it wasn't a conversation about what do you want to be when you grow up. And so I started really focusing really intently on what I looked like and perfecting myself outwardly. But of course, just like all teenagers, you have those feelings of insecurity and like you don't fit in. So I started training myself to eat emotionally. So I would go into my parents living room and I would take a bunch of food and watch TV and like lock the door and eat because I knew somehow it was shameful, it was something I wasn't supposed to be doing. So I would, I was caught in this dynamic of I felt insecure, I felt pain. I knew that eating made me feel better and it just cemented this. I mean, I can still feel that feeling of like, when I want to just curl up and like feel secure eating. And it's still there. So now I know how to deal with it much better. But, but then I would gain weight, you know, from eating, binge eating, and would get messages like, oh, you know, you might need to lose a few pounds, that kind of thing. So I was dieting from day one practically, and I was trying not to eat all day at school, come home and binge over exercising, taking diet pills and then when I got to college, the wheels came off the bus because there was no structure anymore. You know, it was sort of a free for all. So there was a lot of binge drinking. I was using drugs. And it was a crazy thing because I was a straight A student, you know, cheerleader, all of these things. And I was the perfect, like, type a perfect kid. And then went to college and, you know, fell apart.

And.

But so that, all of that is to say that the emotional eating was always there and I was still binge eating, but because I wasn't exercising or doing anything and I was drinking, I really gained. I probably gained about 20 pounds and I'm 5:2, so it was like a very noticeable weight gain and the shame that I felt about what I looked like. And I went home for Christmas and everybody was like, oh my God, like, what happened? You know, are you okay? So at that point, the only way I knew how to deal with it was I developed an eating disorder. So I was bulimic for about three years, which solved the immediate problem, but then created more problems. So fast forward to being a professional in Atlanta. After college, I had my first job. I was still doing the crazy stuff, dieting, diet pills, trying not to eat. I wasn't bulimic anymore, which is great, but I just reached a point where I said, I can't do this anymore. It was like mentally the torture, torture of just being consumed with, you know, I'm not going to eat this, I'm going to try not to eat that. It was just insane. And I know I'm not alone because I've talked to so many women, people I counsel. So I just said one day, sitting on my couch, crying, I just can't do this anymore. You know, I can't. And so I decided I'm going to wake up tomorrow and whatever I feel like doing, I'm going to do it. If I want to eat ice cream in front of the tv, I'm going to do it. If I don't want to go a five mile run, I am not going to go. And contrary to what I thought, I thought I was going to gain a bunch of weight. Like, if I let myself eat whatever I want, it is going to be game over. But the opposite happened because there was no more resistance. All the resistance I felt from dieting and resistance toward my body and I mean, it was just gone. It was just peaceful. And so when I felt that peace, I can feel it right now talking about it, it is crazy. I started to lose the weight without trying to lose it, because it was just a. I don't know, I let go of all of the resistance is exactly what happened. And I started changing my thoughts and my habits sort of without trying. It just was a process. But all of that is to say, why now? Why this book? That book is my heart and my soul. Because what I did, and I want to show women how to do the same. But most importantly to me is that women, all of my friends, all of these beautiful, intelligent women with so much to offer are sitting around talking about how fat they are and what's the next diet? And I mean, it's absurd. So all of their gifts and their beauty, their power that they could be putting out into the world, it's being wasted and the world is missing out on it. It sounds dramatic, but it's really true. So I'm here to put a stop to that. That's my mission. Yeah, girl.

Wow. That is just like, I feel so much love and respect towards you and your story, and there is so much strength in the way that your younger self tried to adapt to her circumstances. You know, we can. We can look back now and say, oh, wow, the choices that she made were suboptimal. I'm making different choices now. But really, if we look at her in the messaging that she was receiving and the choices that she made is she was trying to help and she was trying to heal and she was trying to be loved and respected. And what I really appreciate about you, as I hear your story, is that. That you're always focused on becoming more authentically you. And I think that's really a powerful message because you're. You said you're kind of like releasing the need to control and become a narrative of what other people say. That that dark. That dark circle of hell, if you will, that, like, sitting on the couch crying moment is that you're like, you know what? I'm going to lean into me. If I want ice cream, I'm going to eat ice cream. If I want to go for a run, I will. But, like, really releasing the need to control, making yourself something that maybe somebody else thinks you should be but isn't really, truly you. And I really respect that.

I think. You know, that's so funny. I never thought about it because on the surface, it does seem like it's about food and dieting and I just can't do this anymore, meaning dieting and restricting. But I think you're right. It was looking back so much more than like, I can't do this. Anymore trying to be this person that everyone wants me to be, to look perfect. And it's so devastating. It's. It makes me so sad to look back on all that pain I experienced for. And all women do to a certain extent. It's because of these cultural influences that are brainwashing us constantly, that not just that our looks are most important, but that we're not encouraged to put our true authentic selves out there. We don't even know who they are because we're so like, you know, makeup, Botox, it's just like a. It's like a cancer, I feel like. You know, and I. I just wanted. I wanted to be different for my daughters. But I'm so glad it all happened though, because now I can share. It's worthless for me to have gone through all that if I don't share it and try to help other people, you know, so maybe we could all start doing more of that. And that's what you're doing that's so beautiful, is bringing all these messages to people. It's so important. Yeah.

Curious about that moment. So I imagine that there's somebody listening to this conversation and they're like, I am on the couch crying. Like I am in that dark circle of hell. I'm in that space right now. And there comes a point where we can move towards further self destruction or we can take a pivot and take a risk. And you took the pivot. You took the risk. And so do you have any words of advice for that person who's listening right now who just feels like they're at the end of the rope and they don't know what to do?

Yeah. Well, if you're in that place and you feel like you're at the end of your rope, I just say, let go of the rope. It's so scary. It was so terrifying to me to get up the next day and. And because the place of where I was of trying dieting relentlessly and trying to look perfect from the outside in was. It was very much a controlling thing. And I was always afraid if I let go of my grip on, you know, I was type A, achieve, achieve, achieve, checking off boxes and doing all of this. And I think that's partly what kept me in that, that destructive cycle for so long. But it was terrifying for me to not have control or to release control. So that next day when I released it, I mean, it is scary. But I would just say to someone who is feeling like that, first of all, I am here for you. Email me and tell me your story. I can help. I want to help people through that, that. Those times. But let go of the rope. Let go. Start. Start where you are today. You don't have to have the whole thing figured out. You don't have to go out and. And be perfect. You definitely don't have to be perfect, but you don't need to know exact. You're going to have just wake up, feel what. We don't even know what feels true for us because we're so used to living for other people and what other people think about us. And we all know, like, you always hear it, like, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks of me, but we're all conditioned to, to. That's important. You know, we have to care a little bit or, you know, you can't live in society. But. But yeah, just try to listen to get in touch with who you really are. Your authentic self is down in there and she's just, she's trying to get your attention and trying to get you to let her out. So just take one baby step at a time. That's what I would say. Baby steps.

I love that suggestion, the baby steps. Because sometimes people feel like, I need to subscribe to this. I'm going to do the whole 30, or I'm going to switch to keto, or I'm going to hire this coach for $25,000. And they try to make a huge step and a huge change. And that giant pendulum swing from I'm on one extreme, I'm going to switch to the other extreme is mechanistically, it's the same type of approach, but the rules are different. And I think that's something that you teach quite a lot on. And so one of the first questions I was going to actually ask you is if you could talk about why these diets don't work.

Yeah, this is one of my favorite topics, because women like me, who dieted for 25 years almost, when you try diet after diet after diet and you fail, you know, there are. All the diets look so different that you feel like it's you because you're the common denominator. You know, all these diets were so different. Why can't I just stick to one of them?

And.

But even though they look different on the surface, underneath, they're all the same. So here are some of the things they have in common that make them fundamentally not work ever. They might work for a little while, but then the weight comes back. And so here's why, number one you cannot make huge, sweeping changes, like multiple changes, all at the same time. It's just not sustainable. And that requires willpower. So willpower is a very resistant state. You know, trying not to do something as opposed to allowing yourself this. It's my story again, like, allowing takes away all that resistance and everything just sort of unfolds. But a diet, you cut out, you eliminate carbs, you, you know, cut out, you cut out whole food groups, you change your whole menu, you change everything that you're going to eat, and then you do it, you know, for three weeks straight. You work out, you drink tons of water. So making all those changes all at once is just not sustainable. So when your willpower runs out and then you fail and you give up and you quit, then what happens? You didn't learn how to change any of your habits. So you go right back to what you were doing before the diet. You didn't change the way that you eat. You only changed what you're eating and not how you're using food. If you eat emotionally, which most women that I work with who have a hard time, if you've been trying to lose the same £10 over and over and over again, it's. Chances are it's not so much the food that you're choosing, it's the way that you're eating the food. So you have to. You have to address that first. They're also one size fits all. So, like, you know, maybe you live in Arizona and you have a totally different life than I do. I live in North Carolina. I have kids, you know, there. It's not going to work for you the same way that it will work for me. So that's another reason. One of the biggest reasons they don't work is that you don't. It. It gives you no accountability. It's only following instructions, so you don't learn anything. You're putting yourself in this passive role of tell me, you know, here's the diet. And I see it. I used to see it over and over again, but I don't even do private counseling as much anymore because people were so wanting to give them the menu. And I would say, I am not going to tell you what to eat. And I always tell people, you really don't need me. You need me as your cheerleader and your empathy coach. And I understand, and I will help you see things differently and change the way you think and the behaviors that you are engaging in. But as far as what to eat, it is really not that complicated. And we really overcomplicate it. So anyway, there's so many reasons diets don't work, but here's the tragedy of it. They don't work. You fail, you feel like a failure, and then you're just left desperate, looking for the next solution that will finally work. And they sell them so well that it's like, you know, this time this is the one that's going to work. This one's different. But you keep doing that over and over long enough for years, and your self confidence is just in the toilet. And yeah, I mean, the only solution, the only thing that does work is changing your thoughts and your habits. And when you do both at the same time, systematically. And that's what I teach in my book, I'll show you exactly how to do it. Both of those together, they work together and then start giving you exponential results. And then you change one habit after another after another, and your whole life changes. Really? Yeah.

What's an example of maybe a habit that's less helpful as opposed to a habit that's helpful?

You mean like a habit that you like an eating habit that's a bad habit or.

Yeah, I'm just kind of thinking about, like we're talking about habits and how that can impact our ability to be successful and like how maybe changing a few habits. Like, for me, one of my habits is eating on the go. And so I know for me that's a big change that I try to be mindful of is to when I'm eating is to set aside time and allow the food to nourish me as opposed to just like shoving food down my hole and running into the next item. Right, right. I was curious what you run into.

Yeah, no, that's a good one. That one. And eating in front of the TV or your computer. This one is. I'll be honest, I have such a hard time getting rid of this habit of eating in front of my laptop because I'm always like, I can get this done and this done. Mindful eating. Mindful eating is huge. And we have a really hard time doing that because our whole society is set up practically to sabotage us in that area. But yeah, if you can do. And like, it only takes one little tiny tweet that you can make. So, like, you know, if you feel like you're eating at your desk at lunch, you know, whatever, and you can't get away from that, the lunch and eating and working. Maybe later. I'm a big fan of adding a behavior rather than trying to eliminate one. Yeah. So maybe later in the afternoon, take something that you love to eat that's healthy, like blueberries or, you know, avocado toast or something. Make it with care, set aside 10 or 15 minutes, prepare it mindfully, and then take it outside and sit in the sun. Like maybe you don't have an afternoon snack. So create a little, you know, a 15 minute treat for yourself where you reconnect with nature and with yourself. It always sounds so like reconnect with nature, but it is so important. I swear, if you're an inside staring at a screen person like I am and you have a chaotic life and walk outside for five minutes and your whole life is like, wow, I never do anything for myself. That's how you, you realize it, you know, So I don't know if that answered your question. I hope it did.

Research supports what you're saying. Absolutely. You know, the digestion process is occurs in a nervous system state called parasympathetic. And parasympathetic, or rest and digest, is important in helping us assimilate our food properly to make the proper hormones and enzymes in order to digest our food. And you're talking about a really important key to the conversation, which is if you're sitting at work and if your screen is on and if you're experiencing stress, your autonomic nervous system is going to shift you out of that parasympathetic digestion state into more of a fight flight free state, which will make it more difficult to digest your food and metabolize your food and use your food. So I think you're really hitting on a really important habit that I love the switch that you made too. And the switch that you made especially sticks out to me is like, okay, well maybe the reality is that it's winter and you're stuck inside at your desk. So let's add a snack where. And I really love that because you're not taking something away from me, but you're adding an opportunity for me to have like a little mindful snacky moment and eat some extra deliciousness. I really like that.

And it's also taking time for yourself and saying like, I care about myself and I care about my health. You know, the dieting mentality is so like there's nothing accepting or caring or loving or nourishing, you know, food wise or soul wise in any of it. It's just a complete disconnection from you and your spirit and your food and it's just got to stop. I just want everyone to wake up. Like, I have friends who are like, you know, of course, since I'm a dietitian, they're like, what do you think about the whole 30? What do you think about this? And I'm like, you know, there's nothing wrong with the whole 30. Like, you know, they're trying to promote eating whole foods. How can that be bad? It's not bad, but it's the mindset that you take on when you dive headfirst into it is what's the problem? You know? Yeah. So I just. I want two things. I love what you were just talking about. About, you know, we're not even eating in a way that is our food is not nourishing us. You know, it's like just another stressor and the way that we eat it. But I would love that for women to just wake up. I feel like we're in this forest running around, pinging off these trees that are the individual diets. And like, what about this? What about this? I'm trying this and I need to lose 10 pounds, 15 pounds, 20 pounds. And then if we all just walked out of the forest for a minute and just stopped and looked at it and just could say, like, you know, wtf? What are we doing? This is so crazy. Why are we still talking about this? Like, let's just know no more. And then let's set goals that are, like, meaningful and that light us up. And I promise you, if you start setting goals that are like, based on cherished dreams that you had when you were a little girl that you were like, yeah, that'll never happen now. And you just start setting a little goal. Like if you. I want to be an interpreter at the un that was my dream job. And then, you know, of course, around ninth grade, that got beat out of me, like, oh, that'll never happen. You know, New York is so expensive, all of this crap. But, like, that was one of my goals. And then I re engaged in, like, reading books in French. It's stuff like that. If you just start setting a goal small and then working toward it and getting excited about it and re engaging with your creative self, you will be so lit up and excited and too busy to be sitting around going, well, I am not supposed to eat carbs. You know, counting the carbs and the calories. I am going to try not to eat, you know, chocolate after dinner. It is just so limited and it is so small compared to who we really are. So, yeah, I want to tell people, you don't need me. Just go set a big goal and get excited about your life. And you just turn me off. You don't need me.

There's a juxtaposition here that you're pointing out that I want to emphasize. So as you're listening to this, imagine one of those pinball machines, and you pull the ball, and that's you. And as you shoot up through the pinball machine, all these little pegs are diets. And so you. Bing, bing, bing. This is the brilliant image that you just gave us, Camille. So you're ping ponging, ping ponging. And then eventually you just drop through this. The things. You try to whack them with the levers. And sometimes it works, and you get to try a new diet plan. But then other times, you just fall through the middle and you just feel like the floor fell out. And so what you're describing is like, let's actually grab that ball, take it out of the game. Let's get out of this game and just step back and look at the forest for what it is and be like, you know what? I want to set a goal. I want to celebrate. I want to do something. And I love, love, love that you actually pointed out, what did your little self do? Because this is the question is, who did you want to be before the world told you who you are?

Yes. That is so powerful. Yeah. Oh, it's just so tragic. It makes me want to cry. You know, like, how small we make our lives. And, you know, the potential that we have is just limitless. We don't even have a glimpse of it. And listen, all I do literally is and have done for the past 15 years is read voraciously about motivation, setting goals, you know, all of these things. So it is like something that I do. And I still have trouble seeing myself as powerful as I know that I really am. So it absolutely breaks my heart when I am talking with women who have read none of those things and who just really are brainwashed into this little, small, narrow existence that, you know, I'm getting older. You know, I'm 52 now, and it's like I look in the mirror and I'm. You know, I see it and I think, wow, you know, I'm. Yes, I'm aging. We all are aging. But it's like just culture has done such a number on us that, yeah, I'm hoping that it's. It's really starting to change. And I want to do my part to make sure that that continues.

In your book, you write about how it's not about the weight, and I was wondering if you could talk A little bit more about what you mean by that.

Yeah, well, it was sort of what we were just talking about is about the way that you eat instead of what you eat. So my disclaimer always is, is that if you're eating the right foods, like for a couple of months, I experimented with an all raw diet. I mean, that's, that's extreme. But I've never felt so good. It was like I had a buzz, you know, like, it was so Zen and calming. And it's like your food really does have a tremendous effect on everything in your body and how you feel and your ability to make good decisions. But that's not realistic. And when I'm talking to people, for people who are like, just getting started on this journey, you don't want to scare them and say, eat all raw, but your food transform your life. But what I want to tell people is that before you start, before you keep manipulating, you know, oh, I need to eat more of this. Less nightshade. Vegetables, that's my favorite one, are bad for you. All of this stuff, we are so bogged down in the details. So stop worrying about that. I want you to identify your eating habits and your patterns. Like eating in front of the tv, eating ice cream, binging on ice cream in front of the TV that used to be one of mine. Snacking all afternoon. You know, just things like that, things that you struggle with. It's not necessarily the foods, it's your behaviors. It's the way you're using food, shoveling it in to shove down the pain or the stress or the rage or. I mean, I had so much rage inside of me and I didn't even know it was in there. You know, like when it finally started coming out and I got a good therapist and that's, you know, you can also start there and talk to somebody and you won't believe. I mean, I had so much trauma early on being. I was in an abusive relationship in high school that was like violently abusive. And I didn't. I never dealt with it. I just. It was almost like it happened to somebody else. And I just kept on rolling and, you know, so that was part of my personal history. But we're just so on autopilot. We're like, we're not getting in touch with, like, who we really are, what has happened in our lives, what trauma. Like, you train. If you are a binge eater, you trained yourself to do that. You trained yourself to do that when you were young. You know, you're not lazy and out of Control and you just can't stop eating. And you're disgusting. It's like being an alcoholic. I mean, so you have to understand why you eat the way that you eat in order to change the way that you eat. And then it's so much easier to make the right food choices. So the weight, to your point, the weight is a symptom of the problem. The weight will keep showing up if you don't change the way that you eat. And once you change the way you eat and identify why you eat that way, the weight will take care of itself. Yeah, there is a time delay. You know, like you don't eat a Domino's pizza and you gain weight. It is all a time delay. And you have to, you have to give yourself a chance to like, let these things sink in and wait for it to show up on the outside of your body. So interchange always results in an outer change. And you may not be able to see it right away because of the delay, but it, it will happen. It is happening. You just can't tell.

I really, really love hearing that. And, you know, I think about some of my habits and what's underneath of it. And so calling, calling out Dr. Nicole is that I love to eat vegan ice cream in front of Gilmore Girls.

What's your favorite vegan ice cream? I'm obsessed with Jenny's Cold Brew and Cream. Oh, my God.

Oh, yum. There's a local ice cream place in Grand Rapids, Michigan, so I live half the year there. And it's called Loves and it's. I love cashew and I love oat milk based ice creams. But this local place is like, they have this like dark chocolate fudge blissed heaven. And I could, I could eat an entire canister mindlessly. And so as you're kind of saying that, but oftentimes, Camille, when I'm doing that, it's because I'm stressed about something and it's my mindful day dissociative mechanism. So I'm mindfully trying to disassociate from my stress and my worries. And I'm like, okay, dopamine feels good. I get dopamine by, you know, hammering through this ice cream. I also get distraction and dopamine by watching Gilmore Girls and living vicariously through those people.

You were really describing this so well. I. Go ahead. I know. I love this because it's really showing the what the neurological process that's behind all of this. Like, it's not that you're lazy and can't, can't break a habit. It's a, you're, it's a reward, it's a trigger reward system that is dopamine is like, you know, it's very powerful.

I mean, I love, there's a joke I heard once. It's like the only three things you truly love in life are dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.

That's funny.

It's like really good. And so, you know, the other thing is. So then we start these habits. So like I go into a Gilmore Girls marathon, I'm stressed at work, I go into a Gilmore Girls marathon. So every day I'm pounding through ice cream watching Gilmore Girls. And then what happens is our microflora, the gut bugs. You know, we know from research the 95% of your mood altering serotonins made in your gut. And so we're now changing the bacterial composition of our gut. Those microbiota communicate to your vagus nerve, which sends this information to your brain, changes your brain chemistry. And then after 90 to 120 days, your brain structure literally changes. So that when you want to go in and maybe watch Seinfeld instead of Gilmore Girls, your brain may short circuit. Or maybe it's true.

Oh my God.

Follow what Camille's saying. I'm going to go outside and maybe eat blueberries. And then your brain short circuits and so there is this biological resistance to what you're talking about. And so what I love in your messaging is if I focus on something I'm passionate about, then I'm getting dopamine. And I don't have to necessarily eat my dopamine or video Netflix my dopamine. I'm focusing on passion and then the rest of it I don't have to put so much stock into.

Yes, well, and like think about. I do want to say I remember in school, I can't remember if they called your gut. This was right when it was starting to become studied and researched that your gut is like the second brain.

Yes, exactly.

Yeah. And this was all new when it was 2002, when I was 2005, maybe when I was learning all of that. But it's fascinating and you can change the chemistry of your, like you're the, the physical tissue in your brain will be changed if you change, you know, your habits. But yeah, like think about it this way. Your typical day. And I'll be honest. Yeah, I'm laughing when you're talking about the vegan ice cream. I sit down. Okay, this is embarrassing. And people, I'm going to lose all Credibility. But my daughters love dance moms. Have you seen that awful show called Dance Moms?

It's in my queue. I haven't seen it yet. Oh, my gosh.

Don't even start. They were like, do you want to watch Dance Moms? I was like, no, what is that? They're like, it's these dance moms. And I was like, that's going to be all negative. And cat fights. No, I watched one or two. I was like, I'm hooked. And so now we're, like, on season five. And literally every day they come in from school, they're like, dance moms. And, you know, after two hours of Dance Moms, I'm getting my vegan ice cream. And it seemed like. And what I tell my clients to, or the ones, you know, that I was working with, I'm not doing it as much anymore. But I would say, like, watch for thoughts like, I deserve, because they go through my head. I've worked so hard all day. I just need to relax, and here I am, and this is me relaxing.

Yeah.

And it is relaxing. I mean, dance moms, you don't even have to think about anything. It's a complete and total checkout. So there is room for that. But it's like, just be aware. Just know that you're doing it and give yourself a break. And you just explained it in, like, chemical terms, which is amazing. So, like, I think what we need to do most of all as women is give ourselves a break, you know?

Amen.

We have reminders all over the place to tell us how unattractive we are and how we're not sexy and we're old and hang it up, sister. So you got to be your own biggest cheerleader. You have to be, you know, so, yeah, if you watch Gilmore Girls and eat some vegan ice cream, go get them, you know?

Thank you.

Give yourself a break. Me, too.

And I like what you're saying, too. And it kind of goes into the. A part of your book and the conversation that you bring to the table is environment. And so what kind of an environment are we cultivating? And so if I want to have my hang sessions with, you know, Lorelei and Rory, that's fine. But let's make sure that I'm also creating an environment where it feels encouraging and it feels passion inspired and it feels relaxing. And so. So if you're listening to this and you work at home, you know, if you're. If your office has been moved to home, maybe try to be mindful about making sure that you're creating environmental spaces. Like, this is my space for working. This is my space for zening out. And so really being mindful about your environment and just kind of leaning into what you need most in that moment to pursue passion.

Definitely. And I wish I could turn my laptop around. I live in a townhouse, so we have living room, kitchen, dining room, and there's no walls, so it's all one big shared space. And I have two preteen girls, so. And two dogs. So it's. It gets real messy real fast. So you do have to. Instead of letting it overwhelm you. Like, I try to compartmentalize. Like, when I walk down in the morning, I've left my kitchen clean. I come down in the morning, and my youngest has been cooking, and there's, you know, flour everywhere, so I just block it out. And I say to myself, all you need is 10 minutes. Let it go, you know, and then just get it together. But my point about environment in my book is that, you know, your environment is so, so powerful in terms of pushing you into your behaviors, but you don't realize it. And you're so used to looking at your environment that you're in that you don't notice all the ways that it could be pushing you to do the wrong things and make the wrong choices and have the wrong habits. So I try to show women how in your kitchen, it seems obvious and like, duh, but, like, doing something simple, like putting a bowl of fruit out on the counter. There are studies, and I cite them in my book, where just doing something simple like that makes you, you know, 35% more likely to actually eat an apple or an orange or just cleaning out. Like when you open up a cabinet and it's just shoved full of. Of stuff, or you have expired stuff in your fridge, all of that is creating chaos and clutter in your mind and just doing some simple cleaning out and then organizing it so that you're choosing the right foods, that those are right in front of your face rather than way back at the back. And conversely, putting the unhealthier foods just, like, two steps out of reach behind the cabinet and in a Tupperware container that you have to open. Those are. Are split seconds that you can make a different choice and think about it. So.

Yeah.

So I have a guide to show people. Exactly. I call it your ultimate weight loss kitchen. To clean it up. Yeah. And it really does. Your. Your environment is sabotaging you without you even knowing it. So you got to take charge of it and make it Easy on yourself.

You have all the resources. And so as you're listening to this interview or watching this video, make sure that you hit the pause button and then open your Instagram and make sure that you follow her. I'm going to spell the handle because I don't want you to miss it because it's. This is some important stuff. She's great content on there, including this free guide link to her book, Love to Lose, Love youe Life and Watch the Weight Lose Itself. And so you're going to go to C A M I L L E M A R T I N R D Camille Martin, and you're going to find her on Instagram. I want you to follow her. She's also on Facebook, same handle, camillemartonrd, and then LinkedIn and then of course, her website. And so you're gonna want to check that out. Get her book. It's awesome. I'm gonna get the book. I need these hacks because my kitchen is all sorts of sabotage. The first thing I see is a delicious carton of ice cream and I open the freezer and a bar of chocolate when I open the cupboard. So. So I'm learning a lot from you and I'm just really grateful for your authenticity about how it's not just about creating a diet. It's about getting yourself out of that game and just looking at your passion and looking at your younger selves and figuring out who you really are and how that is really the key towards getting your life back. I really thank you for that.

Absolutely. I'm just so happy that I could be here and share that. I love sharing my story because it was painful. And as I said earlier, there's no point in my experiencing all that pain if I don't share it with other people to help them shortcut their journey, you know?

Absolutely. And before we finish up, any last words of advice or anything you want to make sure our listeners know?

Yeah. I would just love to say to every woman out there and man, that you have so much to offer the world, that the world is like missing out on what you have to offer. And everyone has something to offer. Everyone has, has a dream. And whatever dream you have that lights you up, you're not selfish for pursuing it. You're not selfish to get back in touch with a dream that got beat out of your. You really. So get back in touch with your dreams when you you had when you were little, start working toward them little by little by little and put yourself out into the world fully, authentically and Stop dieting.

Stop dieting.

Stop dieting. No more.

Well, thank you so much. I can't wait to see you next time.

Absolutely. Thank you for having me, Nicol.