Jonathan Steedman (00:01.506)

Hey food groupies, welcome back to the Bite Me podcast. Actually, I don't think Jenna knows that I now say I call everyone food groupies. So she's probably thinking, what the hell? Anyway, Jenna is here. Hi Jenna.

Jenna (00:06.778)

You

Jenna (00:12.942)

Bye.

Jonathan Steedman (00:15.662)

Cool. I'm such a short hello. For those who don't know, surely you Jenna. But if for some strange reason you're unaware, Jenna is one of the other amazing dietitians I get to work with. And so it's a team podcast today to talk about a topic that we have talked about a lot with a lot of clients. And it's okay, we get it. It's a...

Jenna (00:36.122)

Mm-hmm.

Jonathan Steedman (00:40.662)

It's a, can be an interesting time of year when it comes to nutrition and goals and priorities and things, with the festive season. So we're going to go through, our top tips to, help you get through comfortably, feel good, you know, do all of those things. it's, this is definitely about losing as much weight as possible over the holiday season. it Jenna? That's, that's what we're here to talk about the most is that.

Jenna (01:05.242)

Of course, because that's what everyone should be doing. Christmas is the time to lose weight out of all of the days of the year.

Jonathan Steedman (01:14.119)

Yeah, yeah, so we will definitely come back and talk about why that is incredibly tongue in cheek. But I guess like, why do think we're having this chat so often? Why do think this is a tough time of year for people if they've got nutrition related goals?

Jenna (01:26.03)

Hmm. Hmm. So like outside of the weight loss side of things, because definitely, you know, comes Christmas. mean, insert any holiday event, anything into Christmas comes flexibility. And we know that with flexibility that can make weight loss hard. But outside of that, Christmas is a very, I guess, triggering time of year or a stressful time of year for some people, mainly, you know,

family issues, whether you don't get along great with your own family, maybe you don't get along great with the in-laws family. But the big thing really is like the lack of structure and routine that we tend to find, especially if you're someone that doesn't work right up to Christmas, you you're left to your own devices a little bit more. Work definitely gives you that structure, which helps to build food routine around. once we don't have that anymore, that can also, you know, be a really big trigger for some people. The stress of Christmas, you know,

Jonathan Steedman (02:03.394)

Hmm.

Jenna (02:22.114)

buying the food, buying the presents, organising everyone, that's a big trigger, especially if food is a big coping mechanism for you. And also if you hold really strict food rules, Christmas again can be a really hard time because there is that flexibility. So for all of these reasons, it is really important that we kind of go into any of these kind of holidays and festive seasons with just some tools under our belt to make sure that we're, you know,

Jonathan Steedman (02:24.15)

Yeah.

Jenna (02:51.02)

not feeling like we're spiraling out of control or anything like

Jonathan Steedman (02:55.298)

Yeah. Yeah. I think the family dynamic or just the family, the organizing of the food and the travel and the lack of structure are the big ones. Cause I actually think nutritionally East is quote unquote worse or more impactful. Right? Cause like the food is around for longer. Like you've got hot cross buns forever. Virtually. You've got chocolate that lasts forever. And I feel like it starts two weeks before and is, but I think the big piece of Christmas is the structure and the life.

Jenna (03:07.683)

yeah!

Jenna (03:22.542)

Hmm.

Jonathan Steedman (03:25.53)

the impacting stuff. don't think too many people travel or do too many big things for Easter, unlike Christmas. So, cool. Let's through. What are you telling the clients? What are your top strategies for navigating this tricky time?

Jenna (03:31.503)

Yeah.

Jenna (03:36.388)

Go straight in.

Jenna (03:42.499)

Yeah, cool. So number one, like we've already talked about, probably one of the biggest triggers for people is that lack of routine. So for the most part, we want to try and keep that normal structure as much as we can. So, you know, I will shout it till the cows come home. We have to be planning our meals. It doesn't matter what your goal is, who you are. We've got to keep planning meals. So we still have to have that idea of what is going to be breakfast.

lunch and dinner. Outside of now we maybe don't have you know the work schedule. So planning your meals, three main meals, two snacks, always the goal. And look those meals may not look like the kinds of things that you have normally. Like maybe we are waking up a little bit later, maybe we are having more time to make like eggs on toast or something like that that's a bit more fancy. But we're still keeping that normal structure. We're not skipping meals, we're not sort of half-assing things.

you know, for lack of a better word. coming back to that kind of idea of making sure that we're giving our body what it needs so that we can also give our brain what it wants. So there's no point us solely leading into, you know, the Christmas food and the Christmas fun if we're not also still keeping that structure and making sure our body is also getting what it needs and we're getting sort of hunger out of the equation. Because a big thing that you will notice is that it's really hard

to address that emotional side of eating so that, know, comfort eating, eating with friends, family, social kind of stuff, if you're also hungry. So we've got to kind of make sure the two go together. So plan your meals, keep your normal eating structure as much as you possibly can.

Jonathan Steedman (05:17.229)

you

Jonathan Steedman (05:26.744)

Yeah, yeah. When I have the same conversation every year in January as well, people who don't do that, you feel gross as well. Like forget everything else. Just like your digestive system gets kind of cranky because your fibers dropped off, like your energy levels are cooked because you're not eating regularly, you're not eating balanced meals. So like we're certainly not here to say don't have the Christmas food, but if you can, if you can build it in to other structure.

Jenna (05:42.564)

Mm-hmm.

Jenna (05:50.777)

No.

Jonathan Steedman (05:55.918)

You actually don't feel like crap all the time, which is nice, I think. It's a load bar, but it's an important bar.

Jenna (06:03.706)

Exactly. I mean, you want to be able to still enjoy Christmas and not be, you know, a bit lethargic lying on the couch all day. you know, we've got to, we've still got to keep the energy and yeah, like I said, digestive and all that kind of stuff happening.

Jonathan Steedman (06:11.374)

Mmm.

Jonathan Steedman (06:16.684)

Yeah. Well, so if like we said, we were not about like, I'll just keep your normal structure and don't eat the Christmas foods. Obviously we're going to eat the Christmas foods because like my mom makes the best rocky road, but she only makes it at Christmas time. So like, I'm going to have rocky road, right? And I'm sure there's see there's yeah.

Jenna (06:33.218)

I tell you what, I've got rumbles with my name written on them. I've already sent a text message out to the group chat, the family chat saying someone needs to make rumbles. So look all for it.

Jonathan Steedman (06:40.248)

you

Jonathan Steedman (06:43.662)

There you go.

How do I include those though? Do I just have rocky road for breakfast? Yeah, what's so how do I have my cake and eat it too?

Jenna (06:51.9)

Yeah, so this is.

Jenna (06:56.282)

Yeah, so essentially now we build on top of that normal structure. So we've got to have that normal eating structure. And now everything that we do that comes around the Christmas foods and the foods that we enjoy because it's Christmas time, we're going to do that all on top of that normal structure, not instead of. So it comes back to again, this idea of making sure we're giving the body what it wants. So that we're not essentially getting caught out with having pavlova for breakfast because pavlova is

freaking delicious. So we have the pavlova for breakfast because it's there and it's what we want. And then 30 minutes later, an hour later, we're hungry because whilst pavlova is delicious, there's not a lot of protein, there's not a lot of fiber, there's not a lot of things to switch off that hunger switch. And now you're caught out because you're hungry, but you don't feel like you should you should be eating again because you just ate and then that whole guilt spiral starts to kick in. So you are far better off.

having your normal breakfast, having your normal lunch, dinner, snacks even as well, and then making sure anything that you do is on top of that. So you're actually enjoying it for what it is. You're enjoying it because it does taste good and you're not doing it just because you're trying to fill a hungry hole essentially.

Jonathan Steedman (08:04.718)

you

Jonathan Steedman (08:11.81)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know if I stole that off you. I know if you stole that off someone else, but like, there you go. Teamwork. Yeah, on top of, not instead of. Love it. Yeah, always important, but probably even more relevant over this little block in time.

Jenna (08:17.046)

I feel like I stole it from you. So it's definitely my life motto these days.

Jenna (08:29.871)

Mm.

And then I guess like some other things just to go a little bit more specific with that. even if we, I don't know, my family, we seem to have little bowls of chocolate and all of those kinds of foods just like miraculously appear in the most random of rooms. So like there'll be a bowl of chocolate in the bathroom or something like that. So that can also make it incredibly hard to do all of these things mindfully.

So making sure like, yeah, cool. We're enjoying all of this stuff on top of absolutely. But maybe we also put some other tools in place too. like, you know, out of sight, out of mind is a very big thing. So, you know, if we do have a household that has all of those things out on display all of the time, cool. It's not saying you can't have them, but maybe we just put them away because if I see it, I'm going to want it. And only because I can see it for no other reason.

Jonathan Steedman (09:30.094)

Mmm.

Jenna (09:30.49)

Now, if it's away, I know it's there, but now I'm going for it because I actually want to eat it. So that can also be another kind of useful tool to help navigating this kind of on top of never instead of. And then another thing that I find is helpful is giving yourself permission to sort of make an event out of it. You know, there is no problem with having, you know, pavlova for breakfast, but

We wake up in the morning, we realize, hey, there's Pavel over there. I really want it. I'm going to give myself that permission to have it. Actually, maybe Pavel was a per- for example, the chocolates. I've woken up in the morning, there's chocolates in front of me. I'm going to give myself the permission to have it, but I'm not just going to stand there mindlessly and, and eat a chocolate from the bowl. I'm going to maybe have it with my breakfast. I'm going to have it with my snack. I'm going to actually make an event out of it. It's not just something that I'm going to-

you know, do a drive by of and sort of pick and snack out. So some other kind of just tips and things to help you feel a little bit more in charge of what you're doing, rather than just sort of like trying to white knuckle and say no to everything.

Jonathan Steedman (10:40.364)

Yeah, well, we all will. Well, maybe you don't all know. But lots of us know what happens if we try and white knuckle or completely say like, all right, no chocolate today. I'm not eating any of the Christmas chocolate. I'm not. It never ends well.

Jenna (10:53.722)

Mm hmm. It's kind of like that big thing of like giving yourself the permission. You have to give yourself permission to do it. We are all, I think, like toddlers at heart. Like the second you say to someone, I don't know, you can't do it. I'm a very big one for this. As soon someone tells me I can't do something, I will do everything in my power to prove them wrong. And the same thing will come with your food. Like if you're telling yourself, I can't have the chocolate, I can't have the rocky road, whatever it is.

That's all you're going to think about. And so you're far better off giving yourself that permission to have it, enjoy it, and move on and knowing that you're gonna have it again. That's not the problem. It's when we're constantly thinking about it, we've got that food noise building up and then we essentially overeat because we give in to that feeling. permission is a very, very big thing, especially around Christmas.

Jonathan Steedman (11:24.686)

Mm.

Jonathan Steedman (11:47.502)

Yeah. you talked like you sort of about being a bit more mindful. Sorry. You said how the stuff scattered around the house can make us kind of have a bit more of that mindless eating because we're just grabbing as we go grabbing. How, do you have any tips for, I don't know, questions or frameworks or things that can help me be more, be more mindful, be more intentional with, with those choices?

Jenna (12:11.178)

Mm hmm. This is something that like I work with a lot of my clients, even like outside of like just the Christmas and, and, you know, holiday seasons. The big question that I get a lot of people to ask themselves. So here's the scenario. you, and I'm only saying this because I literally did this myself last week. You got a of Tim Tams in the fridge. All right. You found that they're good again. They're good. Who doesn't love a Tim Tam? I haven't had Tim Tams in ages.

Jonathan Steedman (12:36.586)

at TimTams.

Jenna (12:41.082)

But cool, you find yourself, you go to the fridge. Yes, you keep Tim Tams in the fridge because they will melt. Yeah, everything lives in the fridge. But yeah, cool. You find yourself at the fridge. You've grabbed a Tim Tam. You've eaten it. You've walked away. 15 minutes later, you found yourself back at the fridge, back into the Tim Tams. You've had another one. Another 15 minutes later, you're back for your third.

Jonathan Steedman (12:47.278)

Well, you're doing Queensland anyway, November.

Jenna (13:06.326)

In those instances, and you could replace Tim Tam with any other food, if it's just going back to the pantry, if you're finding yourself always circling back to something, food in particular, there should be a really big red flag waving in your face right now. And the big thing that you need to say to yourself is, what purpose is this serving me? What am I actually looking for in this moment? Am I hungry? Cool, if I'm hungry, I know that that Tim Tam, that chocolate is not going to turn off those hunger signals.

So cool. I'm still going to have it. Like I've given myself that permission, but I'm going to go take care of that business first. And then I'm going to come back so that again, I'm not just circling back to this, you know, are you bored? The boredom is a really big thing. And especially once we have that lack of structure that we, you know, we're at home lot more, we don't have as many things to do maybe. And food can be a very big distraction. So am I bored? Should I probably just go do something else right now?

and then another kind of scenario, like, you, are you stressed? you sad? Are you emotional for any kind of reason? Am I trying to use this food as a way to maybe not feel my emotions or maybe have, you know, a bit of a coping mechanism? Again, there's not an issue with that in itself, but can I go try something else first before I do this? So again, it's just bringing that awareness back of.

Well, what purpose is this serving me? This purpose might be that it's just, tastes good and that's a okay. But if we got to check in with ourselves, I'm like, well, what am I actually looking for in this moment? Because there might be something that's better suited. And if we can do that, then we're going to feel again, more in charge of our food choices. We're not going to feel like I'm addicted to anything. Like I just can't control myself. It's no, no. Like these are the reasons why I eat these kinds of foods. so it's a very

powerful thing even outside of just like Christmas to be checking in with yourself and we all do it and there's no one's going to be perfect but the more often we can bring that awareness you'll start to be able to connect the dots a little bit more.

Jonathan Steedman (15:14.018)

Yeah. Yeah. I think it's so important as well, just to make you feel, I think you said like, I'm not addicted. It's not like people feel like if they can't, they haven't had a proper meal in three or four hours. they haven't stopped to consider what they're doing. and then they think there's something wrong with them for eating a whole pack of Tim Tams. It's like, no, that, that makes perfect sense. Tim Tams are delicious. They're designed to be delicious. And whoever made them today, very good job.

Jenna (15:35.386)

Mmm.

Jenna (15:41.263)

Yeah.

Jonathan Steedman (15:44.01)

of it and you're hungry and you might be stressed and you might be tired. So like, it actually makes perfect sense that you've done what you've done. So rather than beat yourself up for it, like you can figure out why and next time we can maybe stop it. I don't know. I'm not going to say a number because I don't want people to then be like, that's the right amount of Tim Tams. There is no right amount of Tim Tams. But yeah, if you've worked through those questions, you've made sure you're not hungry or if you're hungry.

Jenna (16:07.834)

You

Jonathan Steedman (16:13.166)

you're doing something about it. If you are stressed, you're trying to, or bored, are trying to do something about it. Yeah, you'll be able to figure out. This has become the Tim Tam podcast. You'll figure out what the right amount of Tim Tams is for you in that moment.

Jenna (16:26.488)

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's just kind of like a big, a big thing, especially like with Christmas and everything like, you know, you've got to, you've got to embrace that these foods are around and yeah, exactly like you said, if you haven't eaten a meal in three hours and you're faced with something that tastes really good, you're going to eat it and you're going to eat a lot of it.

Jonathan Steedman (16:39.662)

Mmm.

Jonathan Steedman (16:49.004)

Yeah, like it's, it is literally your biology. It is. I've said it a bunch of times. Hunger is the strongest biological signal on the planet, bar none. So if you think that you're going to be able to like white knuckle your way through the strongest biological signal on the planet, like multiple times throughout December, I have some bad news for you. So don't try be smarter. Yeah. Yeah.

Jenna (17:10.36)

Yeah. Trust us. yeah and I guess another part of like everything is like look I don't know for you but for me Christmas is really three days. Like let's be honest. It's Christmas Eve, Christmas day, Boxing day. so you know we don't have to maybe make these big events out of every single day. So you know coming back like days outside of your traditional Christmas days that you would celebrate. Yeah cool. Keep them normal. Make sure you're

Jonathan Steedman (17:22.606)

Mm-mm.

Jenna (17:38.81)

You are eating enough, you're not allowing yourself to get that crazy hungry, because then you're not gonna make the most rational decisions. if we can just do, look, if in all honesty, you just ate your regular meals, three main meals, two snacks, that should just always be running in the back of your head. I think you'll be fine with navigating the Christmas season. It's just these extra sprinklings on top.

Jonathan Steedman (18:06.36)

Yeah, on top, not in setup.

Jenna (18:09.134)

Not on set.

Jonathan Steedman (18:11.658)

Amazing. Cool. Thank you. I think that's all of my, that's all the things I say to my clients. That's all the things you say to your clients. and we don't, sorry, don't mean to be like, you idiots, like, yeah, it is a tricky time of year. It's tricky for us too. It's tricky for everyone. Anyone with a pulse, anyone who has an appetite and enjoys food, it's a tricky time. But I think if you install some of these strategies that we've spoken about, it doesn't have to be tricky. Well, it might still be a little bit tricky.

Jenna (18:24.803)

you

Jonathan Steedman (18:40.654)

but let's not make it any trickier than it has to be, yeah? So.

Jenna (18:43.426)

It doesn't have to be perfect. That's the big motto is that it doesn't, it's hard. It's going to be hard. There's going to be more foods around than, you know, that you don't normally have. Cool. Let's just embrace that it's not going to be perfect. but there are some still some small things that we can do to, you know, not throw the, what was the saying, the baby out with the dish water. Is that the bath water? You could throw it out with the dish water.

Jonathan Steedman (18:46.03)

Mm.

Jonathan Steedman (19:04.813)

Baby out with the bath water. Don't wash your baby with the dishes. No, you wash your baby in a bath.

Jenna (19:11.63)

Clearly I don't have kids.

Jonathan Steedman (19:15.458)

I sure. pardon me. There you go. There you go. for those who don't know, Marley is, Jenna's border collie. so yes, she's not washing a baby or a dog with the dishes. which is good. I think we should stop. I think we should leave that there. We've that's a good place to end it. Guys don't throw the baby out with the dishwater. keep your normal meals, keep your normal schedule.

Jenna (19:17.434)

Don't throw the Marley out with the bath water. That makes more sense to me.

Jenna (19:27.044)

Yes.

Jonathan Steedman (19:45.152)

Ask yourself what purpose is this food serving me? Remember on top of, not instead of, as often as you possibly can. And finally and importantly, none of that works if you haven't given yourself permission to enjoy those foods at Christmas, so you need to be doing that.

and roll. Cool. Thanks, Jenna. Thanks for having a chat. I'll definitely get you on as always, like I think this fourth, I don't know. We'll talk about something else in the near future, but thanks for coming on.

Jenna (20:01.668)

Cool.

Jenna (20:12.046)

No problem.

Jonathan Steedman (20:13.526)

Awesome. Thanks, team. See you next time.