56: Breaking Free from Restrictive Diets: My Journey to Food Freedom and Balanced Hormones

In this heartfelt episode, I’m diving deep into a topic that’s shaped not only my personal health journey but also my philosophy as a Functional Medicine Nurse and Board Certified Nurse Coach: breaking free from restrictive dieting.

Join me as I share my personal experiences growing up during the "Special K Diet" era, my struggles with calorie counting, and how these past experiences led me to reject restrictive dieting for good. I open up about how my grandfather’s battle with pneumonia and losing the ability to enjoy food entirely shifted my perspective on what it truly means to nourish our bodies.

We'll explore:

• Why eating enough is more important than obsessing over every calorie
• How restrictive diets disconnect you from your body’s natural signals
• Why food is more than just fuel—it’s a part of joy, connection, and life’s most important moments
• The impact of under-eating on hormones and long-term health
• My practical approach to balanced eating without the guilt

If you’ve been caught up in diet culture, this episode is your permission slip to step back, breathe, and embrace food freedom. Because life is too short to miss out on birthday cake, dinner with friends, and making memories with your kids.

🎧 Listen now to discover why I’ll never recommend a restrictive diet—and why you shouldn’t either.

Are you ready to change the way you think about food? Hit play and join the conversation.

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Transcript

Hey, hey, welcome back to the podcast. This week, we are going to be talking about food, eating, and nutrition. I’ve touched on it here before, and I actually have an episode from a while back about how I don’t really care how much you’re eating or what you’re eating until I know that you are eating enough. That is an approach I take with all of my clients—it’s general advice I would give to anyone.

It is so important to make sure that you are consuming enough calories, nutrients, and fuel for your body. Your body has to have enough fuel to function optimally, to help you feel really good, and to feel safe enough to do things like get pregnant if that’s a goal of yours.

But in that previous episode, I didn’t really get into the reasons why this is so fundamentally important to me, why I have a hard time with restrictive diets, and why I generally don’t recommend them for my clients. I think it’s important for you guys to know where I’m coming from, why I hold these beliefs, and what personal history has influenced my thoughts on this. That’s what I want to talk about today.

[Growing Up with Diet Culture]
I can remember growing up and being in high school during the whole "Special K Diet" movement. If you don’t know what that is, Special K had a very smart marketing plan. They created their own "diet," where basically, you ate their cereal—end of story. That was what you ate for one or two meals of your day. And obviously, that is a very low-calorie diet. It's not even enough for just breakfast, much less for breakfast and lunch.

I came up in high school during that time, and it was everywhere. I feel like every female was on the Special K Diet for at least a little bit. Then calorie tracking became a thing. Maybe it just became more of an awareness for me as I got older, but it was definitely around.

Skipping meals was like the "cool" thing to do. If you wanted to be one of the popular girls at school, you didn’t eat lunch. And honestly, it’s so stupid. It’s absolutely ridiculous. But that was the reality back then. And I pray it’s different now. I pray it’s different for my daughter when she gets to middle school and high school because there are so many more important things than being skinny—like being healthy and strong.

I remember feeling the pressure to not eat or that if I was eating, I wasn’t as skinny or as pretty as the other girls. And I want to be totally honest: I have never been overweight at any point in my life. I’ve been at a healthy weight throughout my life. However, there have definitely been times—still are times—when I have not loved the way my body looked, when I wished I could lose a little weight or tone up more. I wanted my body to look different in certain types of clothing or bathing suits.

And I mean, that’s something that right now, at nine months postpartum, I’m still dealing with. But I’ve gotten to a much better place with it, where I can love my body for all the things it has done for me. I approach my nutrition and exercise from a standpoint of, “I’m doing these things for the longevity and health of my body,” not just for the vanity metrics of looking good or as a punishment because we had cake last night.

[My Calorie Tracking Obsession]
When I got into college, I still lived at home, and I can distinctly remember diving into calorie tracking. MyFitnessPal was basically my BFF. I tracked every single morsel of food that went into my body. And I’m very type-A, very list-oriented, so I actually enjoyed it. It was something that I found satisfying.

I distinctly remember going to The Cheesecake Factory for my birthday and ordering my favorite pasta dish. I had looked up the calories ahead of time, planned out my entire day around that meal, and even portioned it out at the restaurant so I could eat a third of it. I took the rest home and ate it over the next few days.

I look back now, and I just think, “That was so ridiculous.” I wasn’t even listening to my own body. I was so focused on the numbers, on the app, and on controlling my intake that I completely disconnected from what my body was actually telling me.

[The Moment My Perspective Changed]
At some point, I stopped calorie tracking. I went back to just eating—like a normal person. I wasn’t following any specific diet. I was health-conscious but not obsessive.

Then, when I was in nursing school, my grandfather got pneumonia. During his hospital stay, we found out he was aspirating—meaning food and drink weren’t going down properly and were getting into his lungs. He had to get a feeding tube and was told he couldn’t eat anymore.

For him, that was devastating. He loved food. He loved sitting down and sharing meals. And suddenly, that was taken from him. Eventually, after seeking a second opinion, we found out that with therapy, he could actually get some of that back. And he did. He worked so hard and was eventually able to eat some of his favorite things again.

That experience was life-changing for me. I realized that food is more than just calories or fuel—it’s joy, it’s connection, it’s life. And it’s not something I’m willing to micromanage to the point of misery.

[A New Perspective on Food and Life]
I don’t restrict myself anymore, and I don’t recommend it for my clients either—unless it’s absolutely necessary for health reasons. Life is too short to miss out on birthday cake with your kids, dinner out with friends, or a delicious bowl of pasta. I want to be able to look back at my life and know that I enjoyed it. I want to feel good and strong and healthy, but I also want to enjoy it.

I wanted to share this story with you guys because it’s such a big part of why I do what I do and why I’m so passionate about making sure you are eating enough, nourishing your body, and not obsessing over food.

[Outro and Call to Action]
Thank you for sticking with me through this story. I know it was a bit long-winded, but I hope it brought you some insight. In the show notes, you’ll find a link to my Hormones 101 Secret Podcast, which is eight short, power-packed episodes to help you understand hormone health.

If you’re ready to work with me and dig deeper into your own health, there’s also a link to apply. I currently have six spots open, and the first three to sign up will get a free HTMA retest. It’s a great way to measure your progress and make adjustments along the way.

That’s it for this week. I hope you have a fantastic rest of your week, and I’ll talk with you soon!