How to Use ‘Intuitive Eating’ To Change Your Relationship With Food | with Melissa Costello
About Episode
Counting calories.
Balancing macros.
High fat/Low carb.
Low fat/High carb.
Going Paleo. Or Vegan. Or Vegetarian. Or Keto. Or Whole 30.
Seriously. Shoot me in the face.
In today’s hyperconnected world of endless information, you’d think it would be easy to figure out how to eat healthy… but it’s become harder than ever. It’s nearly impossible to decipher the latest science that tells us one day that butter and bacon are miracle superfoods and the next day we’re told that eating any kind of fat will kill us all.
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the B.S.
What if there were an easier, less stressful, and practically guilt-free way of eating that didn’t involve counting…well…anything? Can’t someone just tell me how to eat without doing math or measuring or feeling like every decision I make is the wrong one?
Today’s guest Melissa Costello is a transformational eating coach, author, and holistic nutritionist who has completely changed my relationship to food. While I may have a reputation as someone who always makes healthy choices, the reality is anything but. I was raised on the 80’s standard American diet (SAD) of Fruit Loops for breakfast, Chef Boyardee for lunch, and Fruity Pebbles for dinner (I wish that was an exaggeration). And while I’ve reduced or eliminated many of my bad habits, what I’ve realized over the last few years is that the hardest habits to break have nothing to do with sugar or carbs or cravings…they have to do with my emotions.
In this episode learn from Missy how you can change your relationship to food forever. While the journey isn’t necessarily easy, it’s a lot simpler than you might think.
Episode Highlights
- What ‘intuitive eating‘ is and how to gently & systematically change your relationship with food
- Understand WHY we make the choices with food that we do
- How to find a way of eating that works for YOU
- Why 1% of diets actually succeed and 99% fail
- The truth about “Clean Eating” (HINT: “Clean Eating” is just another diet)
- How the Wellness industry is just another guise for the diet industry
- Why the restriction mindset of dieting is a vicious cycle of judgement and self-defeating behavior
- How to unravel a lifetime’s worth of negative programming (shame) around “healthy” eating
- How to listen to your body (On an intuitive level, our bodies know what it likes and doesn’t like) – Hence the term: intuitive eating.
- The terrifying accountability assignment that Tony Horton gave to Zack which forced him to become more aware of his food choices
and how they aligned with his training for American Ninja Warrior - How to let go of the “starving children in Africa” program that compels you to “finish your plate” and the true cost of letting food go to ‘waste’
- What to do about the “all or nothing mentality” that keeps you on the dieting ferris wheel
- How to uncover the “blindspots” we all have about our own behavior with food
- The various ways we use food to change our state or deal with negative emotions
- The simple ‘awareness’ habit to use when you reach for food
- Four ways you can change your state in a more connected way
- The “sinking ship” analogy to breaking down the various areas you have challenges around food & the importance of tackling one
challenge at a time - On wasting food… Do you want your body to be the garbage can? Or do you want to put the food in the garbage can where it belongs?
- How Melissa “cured” a client of her Diet Coke addiction in a week and a half
- The surprising difference between our desire to eat creamy/sweet foods vs. crunchy foods and their connection to our emotions
- How one television writer lost 100 pounds in a year – not by dieting, but by eating everything she craved (and listening to her body)
- The double-edged sword of social pressure with coworkers and the unique challenges of the entertainment industry
- The all-too-common ‘Reward Mindset’ fallacy – Human versus Dog
- Why we feel like if we’re eating bad food, we’re a bad person
- The problem with labeling food as “Healthy” or “Unhealthy”
- A deceptively simple “starting point manifesto” that will instantly change your relationship with food
- Why you should never eat in front of your computer again
- The benefits of eating slower and paying attention to how your body feels
- The first ‘signal’ to look for when eating mindfully that will alert you when to stop eating
About Guest
Melissa Costello is a Transformational Eating Coach, Author, Speaker and Holistic Nutritionist. Her years of work as a private, plant-based chef for celebrity trainer, Tony Horton creator of P90x organically led her to work with her clients on a much deeper level when she recognized the struggles they had with consistent, healthy eating and sustainable weight loss.
Her mission is to empower busy professionals to stop the struggle with yo-yo dieting, weight loss and food obsession so they can live a life of freedom without restriction, deprivation or rules. Melissa’s in-depth training in Spiritual Psychology, Clinical Nutrition and holistic coaching along with her own personal struggles provides the foundation for her clients to experience powerful breakthroughs and sustainable, profound transformation. To learn more about Melissa and her coaching, visit
www.karmachow.com, Melissa Costello’s KarmaChow.com, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
Episode Credits
This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared and published by Glen McNiel. The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).