In this engaging episode, we delve deep into the pervasive influence of diet culture and the importance of holistic nutrition. Join us as we discuss with holistic nutritionist Casey Weiss the damaging cycle of insecurity that diet culture can perpetuate, the problematic focus on size, and the significance of personal health goals. We also explore why quick fixes don't work and the vital role of holistic nutrition in maintaining overall health. 

Moreover, Casey shares her insights on body acceptance, the shortcomings of the traditional medical system, and women's health from a holistic nutrition perspective. Tune in and learn valuable insights that could change your diet, nutrition, and wellness approach.

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Chapter Summaries;

(0:00:30) - Introduction to the podcast episode and guest Casey Weiss.

(0:04:15) - Discussion on the challenges of diet culture and the weight loss industry.

(0:10:00) - Casey Weiss talks about the confusion between diet and nutrition.

(0:14:23) - Discussion on the impact of body shaming and diet culture.

(0:18:01) - Exploration of the importance of personal health goals beyond just weight.

(0:21:32) - Deep dive into the importance of holistic nutrition and its differences from traditional medical care.

(0:26:56) - Discussion on holistic nutrition and women's health.

(0:33:51) - Discussion on the influence of emotional root causes and past traumas on eating habits.

(0:37:53) - Casey shares insights on creating a peaceful eating environment.

(0:40:22) - Health hacks for a holistic nutritional approach

(0:44:00) - Conclusion of the episode and final thoughts

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Unlocking The Power of Holistic Nutrition

John Salek: There are thousands of them, or at least there seems to be keto, paleo, Atkins, fasting, low carb, intuitive veganism, vegetarianism. The list goes on. Most of these diets are at least partially, if not wholly centered on losing weight. This shouldn't be surprising given our diet culture.

For those who promote this culture, it's big business. The weight loss industry sits at 150 billion in the US alone and 300 billion worldwide. Now, there is nothing wrong with losing weight, especially considering the challenges America faces. Harvard University, among others, reports that almost 70% of Americans are either overweight or obese.

Such as diets being too restrictive, or because sustained weight loss is dependent on never ending limitations, most weight loss programs also don't address the root causes of why someone gained weight in the first place. Besides this weight loss, why itself doesn't mean a person is necessarily healthier, just skinnier.

Does it work? Is it easier than other programs? Can it lead to a sustained healthier life? Our upcoming guest is going to tackle these questions. Well, hey, we're carrying on with our topic on nutrition today. And we have a special guest who is Casey Weiss, and she is a holistic nutritionist among other things. And she does a lot of work with people, especially women in the US and around the world, helping them get their nutritional life back in order and in turn feeling better about themselves and just getting their wellness in hand. So I'd like to welcome Casey to the podcast. So Casey, welcome.

Casey Weiss: Thank you so much for having me.

John Salek: No problem. We were just talking about Casey living out in Berkeley and she's only marginally upset with the a moving to Las Vegas, but she's handling it well, so we're happy about that as well.

Casey Weiss: I love this question because we're so focused on the what with food. What do I have to eat?

What should I not eat? What is good, what is bad? We put so much emphasis on the food itself without understanding the how and the why. I will say also, especially in the us, it. Has become increasingly both difficult and easier to eat well, which you're probably like, what does she mean? Right?

So there is more and more food readily accessible, more and more drive-throughs, more and more ways for us to not have to think about our food, but there's also more and more brands coming out with healthier for You options. More and more fast casual places, more and more ways to get fresh options delivered.

What diet should I go on? What meal plan should I be on? Versus understanding why you may be overeating in the first place? Why are you. Turning towards that sugar. Why are you not prioritizing cooking for yourself? Why are you not sitting down for your meals? Like the environment in which you eat impacts your health, impacts your digestion, impacts your satisfaction.

John Salek: Do you think there a mix up between diet and nutrition? Meaning diet? I'm talking about diet, not just eating, but weight loss and nutrition. Mm-hmm.

Casey Weiss: Absolutely. So what I see so often, I mean, most of the women working with me, do want to lose weight, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight.

And so what happens is people get so stuck in this diet mentality and when we get stuck in this diet mentality, this leads us so often to yo-yo. And honestly, this is like with me, with my personal journey, I thought that if I just dieted, once I dieted and lost the weight and got to the body I wanted, then I could quote, be normal with food.

However, your approach is how you have to sustain it. So if you're doing a water fast to lose the weight, well, how do you think you're going to keep the weight off? We need to not just focus on the food that we're eating, how we're nurturing our bodies, we wanna think about how we are feeling after we are eating and our mindset.

John Salek: Can there be diets that are productive in terms of weight loss or are they just always going to fail in the end?

Casey Weiss: Yeah. I would say if a diet is purely just for weight loss, I haven't seen diets that are focused on just weight loss that are really successful long-term.

I'm not saying that there aren't ways to develop of eating that can allow you to lose weight and maintain that weight loss. I mean, that's what I do all the time with clients. But the difference is, especially these like 30 day plans, this meal plan, this, that. What we are doing by following these diets, by following these point systems, by tracking every calorie we are basically telling ourselves, both consciously and subconsciously, we don't trust our own body enough to be able to listen to it, understand what it needs, and nourish it properly. Instead, we are going to put our health, our wellbeing in an app in a 30 day challenge in some random wellness influencers meal plan. To tell us what to eat and short term we can be like, oh, wow, I'm following this. This feels good.

So what's so important is, yes, it's great to learn about nutrition. It's great to learn about how foods can heal because there are definitely more health promoting foods than others. But within that context, It is so important that you get reconnected with your own body cues because your body is the smartest freaking system to knowing what you need, and people are so scared to connect with that.

John Salek: In line with that, do you think that dieting is in many people's minds, really akin to nutrition, do they equate calorie restriction or weight loss means you're eating a nutritious diet.

Casey Weiss: So our bodies are so much more complex than in versus out. I like to say your body is more than a math equation. Yes, obviously calories do impact our overall weight, but there are so many other things at play when it comes to our metabolism or nutrient absorption. The way that we store fat our hormones, just even talking about blood sugar, for example.

You could have the same meal, but if you eat the carbohydrates, like the simple carbohydrates in the meal first, that will have a more adverse effect on your blood sugar than if you were to start out that meal. By eating protein and or fat, or even fiber. If you start your meal by eating, you know, as I said, protein, fat or fiber, and then moved on to the simple carbohydrates or the sugars, this will help to blunt a blood sugar, massive spike and.

Also the environment in which we're eating if we are stressed or not. If you are in a stress state, you're eating at your computer, you're trying to respond to your boss who you hate, and you're, you know, in this rage, right? You are not going to properly digest that food that you are trying to scarf down.

You're eating it too quickly, and that is also going to affect your overall health, your mindset. Even your satisfaction. And when we're not satisfied for by food, we tend to have to eat more. And when we're stressed out, we're not digesting it properly. It's not going to help us with our energy, which is going to impact our activities later in the day.

And that is why I really want people to focus, not on calories, but on food quality with their mindset, with food, their emotions with food, and really focus on having a better relationship with food itself and with eating itself.

John Salek: And people have trouble getting there at times, correct.

Casey Weiss: Absolutely. Okay. And that is why, yeah.

John Salek: So I mean, in line with that, so I, is it because there are myths about nutrition or misconceptions or, you know, why is that?

Casey Weiss: A lot of it is because of how pervasive diet culture is. So diet culture are the messages that we received ever since we were kids about what we should or shouldn't be eating.

And I am not the only one. And this is why it's not just women, but you know, that's who I'm speaking to. A lot of the time we get these preconceived notions of how we should be and therefore how we should eat. And what diet culture has done as I intimated earlier, it's made us believe that we need to trust everything but our own selves and our own body.

Instead, what we need to do is we need to sign up for this weight loss program. We need to buy this type of food. We need to buy this supplement like diet culture. Their entire purpose is to make us feel insecure about our bodies. To make us feel like we can't do it on our own and therefore we need to pay someone else to solve our problems.

We wanna feel confident, we wanna feel energized. We wanna feel healthy. We wanna feel happy. We wanna feel like we have connection with others. Now if we focus on our health so that we have our bounced blood sugar and hormones, that we have better energy so that we are able to not have crazy cravings so that we're not eating in secret, so that we're able to enjoy food out.

This will all help with all these other general health factors that will also help us to lose weight and then maintain that weight loss. But when we're just so focused on being this X size, we need to really. Come back and really connect with our deeper self and our deeper why. As I just said in the beginning of this, because.

John Salek: And we're gonna get into in, in a second, I'm gonna ask you a little bit about nutrition beyond just weight loss or nutrition. What does that mean in a deeper sense? And you certainly touched on it, but certainly the diet culture isn't gonna go anywhere.

Cause it's just too big a business. Mm-hmm. Where does the issue of body shaming almost body acceptance come into the whole element of nutrition?

And I'm, this is a, a delicate subject. I've seen people or it's been reported where someone said, well, we don't want to, certainly you don't wanna shame anybody. I'm not suggesting that or, or pick. Mm-hmm. But it's also seemed at times said, well, it's okay to be grossly overweight cause we don't wanna body shame anyone.

Casey Weiss: I really do appreciate this question because the thing is that a lot of what Western medicine has developed to be, especially in the us, is you get to the doctor, you weigh yourself, and then they assume certain things just by your weight, and I am very apprehensive of that. I see a lot of women who come to me that are diagnosed with certain things or shamed in certain ways, just simply because of their body weight and that is not okay.

Can your weight indicate certain potential health conditions? Absolutely. But weight alone isn't the only factor. So we need to make sure that we are advocates for our own health. I can't tell you how many times I've told certain clients, like, if your doctor is not treating you well and not making you feel safe, there are so many other great doctors out there.

But we need to consider the totality of a human right. I will say though, that it's interesting that you bring this up because when I was in my health journey, you know, I started out and started to develop my own eating issues from severeness restriction to all over the map for almost a decade.

And when I was trying to get out of that, I tried several approaches after the years and years of dieting and was interested in intuitive eating and intuitive eating has great principles for getting reconnected with your body and your hunger cues with quieting the diet, please. Really amazing things.

Have a healthier body, which I believe is what you're getting at. It's not about having shame for different types of body types because we should all occupy different types of body types, but there are certain weights for people that are not healthy. And just having acceptance for all bodies like you as a person should not be judging that person because of their body.

But at the same time, if you wanna improve your health, your weight may be a factor in that, and that is something that we shouldn't just. Ignore. And so for me, what I felt was lacking intuitive eating, I then was able to find with holistic nutrition, with being able to understand how to properly nourish my body, not focusing on calories, not focusing on macros, diet plans, meal plans, whatever, and then incorporating that within.

Do we have a greater why? That is what's so important.

John Salek: I wanna get into the definition of holistic nutrition as it fits into a wider scheme, but I just wanna, before we move away from this, so many people go to their primary care physician. And there's an indication you're saying, okay, these guys, and sort of just look at weight as sort of a very baseline health measurement.

And you're saying it's more than that. So, but my question is, why do so many doctors sort of take that approach? And do you see doctors developing a deeper understanding of nutrition in terms in relation to weight and everything else?

Casey Weiss: You're saying, why do, why are they not doing that?

Casey Weiss: Well, first of all, doctors they are not extensively trained in nutrition. There are 1,000,001 things that doctors do that I could not, but nutrition is just generally not their area of expertise, and so when I see doctors that will then refer women out, and I have had clients that were referred out to like, oh, I should seek a nutritionist and whatnot to be able to work on my, you know, intake. Right. The thing is, also is that doctors are so busy and they don't have enough time, and the after average doctor appointment, I believe is less than 10 minutes, and so they are trying to take all this data in a quick.

My clients with, for example, my private clients, I work for them with three months. We have 45 minute sessions where we meet face-to-face. They get messaging access to me so they can text and voice note me. This is obviously very different than when you only have that 10 minute appointment with the doctor.

And so what our doctor's trying to do is just evaluate your top line risks and what they can do and what they can tell you in that short amount of time as we know the way that. Especially in America, our medical system is oriented, is not for preventative care. It is for treating things once they've already happened.

Like how are we investing in therapy for ourself in our community with connection in our relationships? There is nothing wrong with taking medication, but very often I see medication being put on as a bandaid instead of understanding and addressing root causes. It's really great to have a two-pronged approach.

How can we look at root causes? How can we really heal from the inside out? And then if we need medication, be able to get that medication where needed and have it. Be applied in a targeted way, right?

John Salek: Because it's also with medication, it's kind of like a diet. Once you go on it, you're gonna need to stay on it unless there's some other approach to address whatever the issue may be.

And we're able to have an open conversation with her doctor as well on what it could look like to eventually wean off of this medication. And some people may never be able to wean off of certain medication that they're on. And I'm not saying that that's a sign of failure, but, we don't wanna just think, okay, I'll go on this medication and that's gonna solve all my problems.

Like, why are we there in the first place and how can we work through sometimes the really hard stuff, right? Mm-hmm. But how can we work through that? Because that's what's gonna allow us to truly feel our best and happiest and most fulfilled in our lives.

John Salek: It sounds like you're answering, the question I'm about to ask is really, what is holistic nutrition?

Casey Weiss: Yeah. So the difference with holistic nutrition is holistic nutrition is focusing on the whole body. When we just talk about the world of nutrition and dietetics, it's focused mostly on our food and it's not necessarily about the whole body. So the difference between a holistic approach to nutrition and just simply approaching, you know, like quote, good nutrition number one is the mind body connection.

So holistic nutrition really emphasizes the connection between our physical health and our mental, emotional, and even spiritual wellbeing. So, you know, emphasizes that our thoughts, our emotions, our stress levels can impact our digestion, our nutrient absorption, and overall health. And this is all backed at science.

So considering you as a whole, not just you in isolation, in a vacuum as kind of like I was talking about with calories in versus calories out, and is very focused on long-term results, sustainability of the approach, and really healing you. As a whole person and working on prevention of future, whether it's conditions or underlying issues.

John Salek: Holistic nutrition as well as holistic medicine is really a lot about prevention.

As much as it's treating, it's really getting you well, so you're not gonna be confronting or dealing or at risk to so many entries or, or illnesses or diseases. Is that a correct assumption?

John Salek: Tell me why you deal more exclusively with women. Is it just an interest area? Is it because women facing different challenges than men? And I'm assuming a lot of these strategies can be applied to both men and women, but on an individual basis.

Casey Weiss: Yeah, so there are a lot of similarities, but there are also a lot of differences. Women aren't just small men, and unfortunately a lot of the dosages and a lot of the scientific studies for example, medicines are done on men and specifically white men. And a lot of them, the dosages are given just as you, as a woman being not you, you John specifically, but you know, the, you, the general woman.

Being just a smaller version of a man. However, we have vastly different body biochemistry. We vastly different hormones. And so I resonate with women as self-identifying as a woman. The women's challenges and also specifically because I work a lot with hormones. Hormones are something that have been.

We get a period and that drastically affects our hormones each day and therefore our nutrition, our approach to exercise, our approach to overall health and our lifestyle should be different. So I like being able to guide women in that way and also understanding their unique emotional challenges.

And I just find it very rewarding. I have helped and worked with men in the past and recognize they have their own challenges too, but it's something that I find I have an even greater connection with.

John Salek: Is it fair to say that diet culture impacts women more than it impacts men?

Right? Like, you don't have to have these problems. And that's not true either. Men are definitely affected by diet culture in different ways. However, it's been more pervasive and more demanding of women.

John Salek: A lot of people assume, oh my goodness, whether it's a diet or I'm going to a nutritionist because I want to lose weight or I want to become healthier, that I'm gonna be facing a severe food regimen that's gonna tighten me off. So one, how do we get around that? I'm assuming that's not the case. And how do people start, whether they can get in touch with nutritionist like yourself or just start on their own?

Casey Weiss: Yeah. So we need to realize, and that's kind of also what dieting has made us believe, is that it has to be the strict regimen, which again leads us to be really strict and then go off and create this cycle.

And you deserve to have that knowledge. So, the thing is, is understanding that having a good rapport with the practitioner that you're working with is gonna make you feel more comfortable and help you to get answers and help you to stick with whatever regimen, as you said. And for me, it's not about a regimen, it's about creating a lifestyle.

And I would just say don't settle. You as a consumer have every right to. Reach out to multiple people, get different opinions and understand what your options are.

John Salek: If someone can't get to a nutritionist or a practitioner mm-hmm. Or they want to begin on their own. How would you suggest they get started, even if it's a first step or two?

Casey Weiss: So I would definitely say focusing on reconnecting with your body and own body cues would be very, very helpful. And if anything promises a short term fix or like a certain amount of day timeframe.

So I want you to write your emotions of how you feel before going into the eating, what the environment was that you were eating, and how you feel after. Maybe do that even without writing down the food that you're eating, because that can really help to give insight into maybe why you're eating certain foods in the first place, maybe.

But you notice like, wow, I'm always just eating when I'm stressed, or I'm always eating in front of my computer, or I always feel bloated after, right? So we can start to understand patterns within yourself because that self awareness is gonna be so key for really making strides in your health journey.

John Salek: Is there anything else right now we need to tell our listeners about what they need to be thinking about nutrition or an approach to a healthier nutritional balance.

Casey Weiss: I would say, as I really just started out, that it's about so much more than food.

She took herself out for a gelato and she enjoyed that gelato. She went for a walk. She had, you know, a nice like solo night, and then when she just was having a frozen yogurt bar sitting on the couch watching TV after a day of stress. Not saying you can't ever eat when you're stressed, but if you're not addressing why you're being stressed in the first place, you're gonna keep seeking temporary relief through food.

Once we start to uncover that, that's gonna greatly help to rewire our patterns and make us feel more fulfilled with food. And I will say also, the environment in which you're eating will help with your satisfaction.

So if you are taking time to get into your parasympathetic state, so that's your rest and digest state. Getting your nervous system more calm, taking some deep belly breaths before you eat. Not being distracted when you eat. You will digest your food better and you'll be more satisfied from it.

You'll also be able to get in better touch with your hunger and fullness. If you work on mindfulness principles with your eating, whether it's using your five senses to observe your food while you're eating, that will allow you to get in better touch, appreciation, and gratitude for your food. And as a result, what happens is you can sometimes find like, Wow.

So when we're able to create a more calm environment for us eating when we're able to. Then connect as a result more with why we're eating in the first place. We're able to be more satisfied from the food we're eating and when we are more satisfied, we are able to reap more nourishment from the food we're eating and also likely not overeat.

John Salek: So in terms of a calm environment, are people benefiting from working remotely? Cuz so many of us are, because supposedly that's a more calm environment.

And does that help them with their nutritional approach or balance?

And because we can, we eat food at our desk or in front of the tv, watching YouTube videos, scrolling on Instagram instead of having that connection with people in the lunchroom or going out to eat or having that conversation at the water cooler, that is all completely minimized and it cannot be overstated the importance of human connection.

If people are interested, I greatly encourage you to learn more about the blue zones, which are the areas of the world that have the largest population of centenarians, so of longest lived people, and the common theme in all these areas is human connection. And so it's great if you can be able to work from home and then juggle more doing other things.

I have clients who they work from home or they're stay at home moms and they create like a little corner, maybe it's just like one little corner where it's just like comfy chair in this cozy space that they do their meditation or they're journaling or they just get their peace and they tell their kids like, this is mom's mom's corner.

So it's important that we find calm in our, in our day to day, just because people may not be coming up to our desk. We may think like, oh, I get to work from home. But it's so important that we still emphasize how we can make our homes safe spaces and how we can have quality human connection and interaction.

Casey Weiss: Yeah. So I have my website but I would say the best way to connect with me is honestly shoot me a DM on your case for wellness, which is on Instagram. All my links are there as well. And I'd love to give you listeners a free little bundle of my video, of my top nutrition tips and my stop overeating guide.

So hopefully we can include that in the show notes as well as my links.

John Salek: Absolutely. We will in fact send that out to all of our subscribers at wellwellusa.com. So they will get that as a bonus regardless of whether they listened in or not. So I wanna thank you for taking the time and calling in.

Casey Weiss: It was such a pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much for having me.

Signing up is easy and free. Just visit us at wellwellusa.com. Go to Milton's discounts, and the top menu bar and the signup form will appear. Signing up will take seconds, but the benefits can last for years. Okay, how about some health hack? So you're about to go diet, any diet. Maybe a holistic nutritional approach.

Three, back away from the diet culture. Chances are obsessing about your body shape. You only lead to yo-yo weight gain and loss, or find the right help. If your physician takes a simplistic approach to weight loss, perhaps advising you to just eat less, find some better support, there's a large pool of nutritionists, dieticians, and medical professionals who can help you control your weight and lead a healthier life.

Keep looking until you find the support that's right for you. Five. Can't find a professional. There are abundant online resources on total wellness. But it may take a bit of effort to suss out exactly what you need. In the meantime, keep a record of when and what you eat, and how are you feeling when you munch down.

That's it for this podcast. I want to thank Casey Weiss for her time and insights. If you'd like to learn more about Casey's work, Please visit her Instagram platform in your case for wellness. It provides to platforms as well. Thanks for listening and please, please, please join us again.