16:00:29 Hey there, welcome back to the Concierge Weight Loss Podcast. I'm Kara Hackleman, your coach and fellow food freedom seeker.
16:00:36 Today's episode is one I wish every woman could hear, especially the ones silently beating themselves up after every off-plan bite.
16:00:46 We're going to talk about food guilt, why it's so heavy, how it slows your down your weight loss more than any food ever could.
16:00:55 And how you can finally let it go so you can actually enjoy eating again. I did say enjoy eating.
16:01:02 I'm serious. You can lose weight and love your food. And you don't have to earn it, burn it, or obsess over it ever again. Let's get into it.
16:01:12 Most of us were raised with some version of good and bad foods. Sugar.
16:01:18 Bad. Salad, good. Bread? It's dangerous. Veggies are safe.
16:01:24 Right? Eating at night, bad. Eating a plain chicken breast at noon?
16:01:30 That's good. The problem is those labels stuck with us, even when they made zero sense.
16:01:37 Even when we now know better. And here's what happens. You eat something labeled bad.
16:01:43 And then you feel guilty. You vow to be good tomorrow, and then you feel restricted. You end up overeating and feeling guilty again.
16:01:51 We talked about this in the last episode. That's that shame spiral.
16:01:56 Sound familiar? It's the cycle and guilt is the engine that keeps it going.
16:02:02 So here's the mindset that I teach all of my clients. There are no good or bad foods Only foods that you enjoy and foods that you don't.
16:02:12 Now, sure, some foods have more nutrition, more fiber, more fuel.
16:02:18 But all foods give us energy and all foods can fit in your plan.
16:02:26 What matters is why you're eating it. How you feel about it and how it affects your body One of the most powerful lessons I've learned is this.
16:02:36 If you restrict the foods you love. You never learn how to have them.
16:02:41 They'll always feel unsafe, like a danger zone. Learning how to include and enjoy any food without guilt is what makes sustainable weight loss possible.
16:02:52 It's what makes life feel normal again. Let me tell you about a client of mine who, when we first started, honestly believed she could only lose weight eating packaged meal replacements that you order from a company.
16:03:06 I won't mention the name, but she had them for breakfast and lunch, snacks, and then She would order out, DoorDash, go out to dinner almost every night and definitely on the weekends.
16:03:18 Cooking was impossible. Food felt overwhelming, and she was stuck in this all or nothing mentality.
16:03:26 She thought, if I'm not doing it perfectly, I've already blown it.
16:03:30 And Gil was running the show. But here's the thing. Change happens at the speed of safety.
16:03:37 So in coaching, we don't rip away your normal eating. We just open it up.
16:03:42 Little by little, she tried new foods. She slowly learned how to trust herself.
16:03:48 And now she still gets DoorDash and eats out. She still eats out with her husband.
16:03:54 But she has food at home more. She's discovering that there's so many vegetables that she actually likes.
16:04:01 And losing weight because she stopped believing food had to be perfect or a problem or to just throw it all in and eat whatever she wanted. She stopped that.
16:04:12 She's down over 20 pounds, but more than that, she's built confidence and it's pouring into her relationships, her career, and the way she talks to herself.
16:04:22 So what do you do when guilt does show up? I want you to picture this. Let's say you had a plan for your meals and then, you know, life happened.
16:04:31 You went out to eat or you ate more than you had planned or you just felt off.
16:04:37 That doesn't mean you failed. It means you took a detour.
16:04:41 Just like driving, you know your destination. And sometimes there's traffic construction Or a pit stop. You needed some gas. That doesn't mean you just turn around and give up.
16:04:52 You just kept going. You detoured. You stopped. It was not a big deal. You just kept going.
16:04:58 That's what I teach my clients. Your plan is the intention.
16:05:02 Not a contract that you get punished for breaking. And if you eat something off plan, you don't need to spiral. You don't need to start over.
16:05:12 You don't need to punish yourself. You just need to do the next best thing.
16:05:16 Wait until you're hungry again. Choose something that nourishes you and get back to living.
16:05:23 A lot of guilt comes from this underlying fear that we're missing out, FOMO.
16:05:29 We're missing out on pleasure, on tradition, on freedom. So I ask my clients, what exactly are you missing out on when you don't eat the thing?
16:05:38 Tell me that. What are you missing out on? And then we follow it up.
16:05:43 But more importantly, with what are you missing out on when you do eat it?
16:05:48 Because sometimes the slice of cake at your birthday, your kid's birthday party is absolutely worth it.
16:05:54 And sometimes the real win is saying. It's just store-bought cake. I'll feel better tonight without it anyway.
16:06:01 Both are valid. Neither require guilt. It's about choosing based on what you want for your body and your life, not what some food rule from the 90s or before told you to do.
16:06:15 When we work together, this is the stuff we untangle. We shift from black and white thinking to trust, flexibility, and peace.
16:06:24 For yourself and your food. You get to enjoy food without guilt.
16:06:30 You get to lose weight and eat tacos. You get to feel proud of how you showed up around food, not panicked.
16:06:38 Not restricted, not waiting to start over on Monday. So here's what I want you to take away from today.
16:06:46 Food guilt is just an old habit. It's not a requirement.
16:06:50 Two, there are no good or bad foods Only choices and outcomes.
16:06:56 Three, you can learn to eat any food with intention. And confidence.
16:07:04 Four, you don't have to restrict yourself into weight loss. You can enjoy food and make progress.
16:07:12 And if that's what you want to create, real food freedom with real weight loss.
16:07:18 Then coaching might be exactly what you need next. You can book a free personalized solutions call at coachingcara.com forward slash free call.
16:07:27 Or sign up for my free webinar, Dr. Secrets How to lose weight and keep it off.
16:07:33 And that you'll do coachingkara.com forward slash sign up and see how this works in real life.
16:07:40 Alrighty, next week we will wrap up the series by talking about one of the trickiest areas.
16:07:46 Eating out, dining out, right? Yep, that's where we're going to restaurants, girls nights, family dinners, and learning how to enjoy all of it without blowing your progress or feeling like you can't have anything. So make sure you are subscribed.
