Learn How and Why A Heart Centered Approach to Eating + Transformation Is Critical To Reaching Your Goals And Improving Your Impact
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In this episode, Corinna Bellizzi exercises her background in nutrition, health and wellness as she interviews Tia Morell about her new book, Obsessed with Mindful Eating: A Heart Centered Approach to Nutrition. In the month and a half since it’s launch it has become a Bestseller on Amazon in the category of Nutrition.
About Our Guest: Tia Morell, Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Author & Podcaster
Tia Morell is a holistic nutritionist and an integrative nutrition health coach devoted to empowering others in their discovery of what food choices work for their individual makeup. She teaches her clients to take responsibility for bridging the gap between where they currently are and where they want to be. She is passionate about sharing tangible steps that improve both health and the overall quality of life. She is also a fellow podcaster who co-hosts Obsessed With Humans On The Verge of Change.
Tia’s New Book, Obsessed with Mindful Eating is a Bestseller on Amazon and can be bought here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0971FBGGB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_VQWY2QRD0XPZFHRVSAJ1
Time Stamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:00 The Problem of Dieting
05:00 Body Dysmorphia
09:08 Guide To Healthy Eating, A Heart-Centered Approach
17:00 The 4 C’s: Comparing, Criticizing, Complaining, and Competing
23:00 Primary Foods (hint - they’re not staple foods)
26:45 Affirmations & Recipes
33:30 Message To Your Younger Self
35:15 A Positive Ripple Effect
36:40 www.EarthConsciousLife.org
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Transcript
Corinna Bellizzi
Hello, fellow do-gooders and friends. I'm your host, Corinna Bellizzi, an activist and cause marketer, who's passionate about social impact and sustainability.
If you haven't already done. So please be sure to visit my website care more, be better.com. You can sign up for our newsletter to be the first to gain access to our episodes and access exclusive content. You can easily browse past shows to find topics that matter most to you as well. And you'll find full transcript.
Suggestions for actions that you can take to make a difference and even make a donation to support them. Today, I'm joined by T MRL, a fellow podcaster who co-hosts obsessed with humans on the verge of change. She is a holistic nutritionist and integrative nutrition, health coach. Who's devoted to empowering others and their discovery of what foods work best for their individual makeup.
She is passionate about sharing, tangible steps that improve both health and overall quality of life. TM Raul's new book, obsessed with mindful eating a heart centered approach to nutrition is available. Now. TIAA, welcome to the show.
Tia Morell
Thank you, Corinna.
Corinna Bellizzi
I'm excited that you're here because I get to exercise my nutrition shops.
I do work in this industry and have done so for the past 20 plus years. So it's right in my wheelhouse. So as we invite our listeners to care more about food choices and nutrition, so we can all be better. I'd like for you to tell us what motivated you to become so interested in it.
Tia Morell
Okay. So I'll kind of give you the broader picture of it and we can dive in deeper if you have any questions going from there.
So currently I am empowering others to take responsibility for their own health through nutrition because of my personal journey is really what got me started. And honestly it all started with physical appearance as much as I wish that wasn't the way I got my beginning in this industry. It truthfully just is.
I recall comparing myself physically to other people growing up, sorry, at a really young age. And that led into my first fad diet. And once I saw the, you know, the slow progression of what a fat diet could do to me, I started. Understanding that I could skip meals and really restrict my food intake to have that ideal body.
That will, what I thought was ideal at that time and what I pictured was. And so that's really when my yo-yo dieting crazed kind of set in and with all of that, there was a whole lot of self-loathing as well. I spent many years trying to fit in, like I was saying to the point of abandoning my true self and I was severely anxious for most of my life.
And over the years, that's slowly progressed into severe depression. I couldn't sleep anymore. I was having issues being constantly exhausted, even after waking up. And my doctor prescribed me countless medications to help quote unquote, fix these symptoms I was experiencing. After many years of medications, I finally realized, well, my symptoms weren't getting much better.
All my, all of what was happening. Prescriptions were getting increased. And so I decided to take things into my own hands, and I really started doing research of what I could do outside of medication. And that's really, when I got started into my personal development journey, I realized that I could work on myself internally, mentally versus just physically.
And what was amazing is I found that out. You know, through the food we do consume how much that impacts our mental capacity and how much that impacts how we can show up and every day. And so I started diving into a little bit deeper and I thought about going back to college, looked into that. Didn't really fit me.
And so I found out this thing called holistic nutrition and it blew my mind. I didn't know that people out there were also educated and could teach me more on the whole being of me, not just my physical appearance as well. And so that's when I started to get certifications and help others take that responsibility for their own health.
Corinna Bellizzi
So you had me thinking about a couple of things for one, I think a lot of women, in fact, maybe most in our culture here in the United States experienced what you've described. Well, how extreme it was varies by individual, but the reality is most are consuming numerous, numerous medicines that are prescribed for them anytime they confront a health issue and that doesn't necessarily help them get better, I think, as you discovered.
Right. But another thing that comes to mind is body dysmorphia. So I wonder if you have personal experience with body dysmorphia, and if that was also impacting your progression.
Tia Morell
It definitely did impact my progression. Even to this day, I have this thing where I look at somebody else around me and instantly I compare ourselves and I'm like, we're either about the same size or I view myself significantly larger.
And that's something I have to work on constantly every day. I mean, my fiance is six feet tall, and yet at the same time, I'm five, four. I still think we're about the same age. Logically. I know that's not true, but when I'm looking at him in person, that's what I see. And I think that it it's a struggle for a lot of people because people don't have the knowledge of understanding.
It's a choice that we can make to look at remind ourselves that that's not true. And to be able to educate ourselves and find the right people like therapists and even just mentors out there are willing to help us on this as well. Yeah.
Corinna Bellizzi
You know, I think, uh, this is constantly kind of reinforced for media as well.
I mean, I follow all sorts of comedians cause I, I like to laugh. Right. And one of those is Jerry Seinfeld. And I remember recently I was watching an episode of car talk and I can't remember which specific episode. But he talks about the fact that he sees women all the time and they seem to pair together with other girls that around the same size.
So if you see a fat girl, you see her with other fat girls, or if you see a thin girl, you see her with other thin girls. And I just really got to thinking when I saw that episode. Gosh, you know, this is really a misogynist and really toxic perspective for one people are more than their skin and their body types, right?
Like everybody is a little different, but really when it comes down to it, we are so much the same. And when we put all of our value basis on what. Obviously just on the outside, then we're just dismissing automatically this huge part of who we are. And so I just think that this is something we all need to talk a little bit more about.
I mean, body positivity is one thing, but shouldn't, we all just be talking about being healthy and being your best self. I mean, that is really, I think the point of your book, when, when I read it from cover to cover, I got that sense. That's it? You're, you're working to be your best. Would you say that that's an accurate description?
Tia Morell
Yes, I am so glad that you picked up on that because that's exactly it. We are so much more than this physical body. This physical body is definitely important on our journey in this life for quality. And like you were saying like quality of life, it depends on our health. It doesn't necessarily depend on our appearance.
Yes. A lot of people do experience better appearance when they are healthy. But that doesn't necessarily necessarily say that somebody is wrong for the way they look. And I think that you hit a really important point too, that it's, it's just one viewpoint people. And I don't want to just blame men, but like people definitely compare women to other women.
And then women picked up on that too. And we start comparing ourselves being like, oh, I wish I had her body. I wish I had, you know, The curves like her. I wish I had the lack of curves like her and something that really helped me too, was realizing how much body shape body image is kind of like a fad too.
It's like clothes that goes in and out of style. And that's not something I ever really realized growing up because you only saw the one picture on every magazine.
Corinna Bellizzi
Right. Well, let's get to talking about the content of your book, because I think that is also quite powerful. We hear a lot about mindfulness in today's busy world.
And in your book, you talk about its relation to eating and also a heart-centered approach. So how do these ideas related. To our relationship with food, what you've learned and how you've put it together for people to consume on their own and ultimately be their best selves.
Tia Morell
So I really wanted the book to be something that was simple enough, where we could go back and use it as a guide.
And I wanted it to be. Simple where people who pick it up for the first time who maybe aren't really into nutrition, aren't going to feel overwhelmed either. I wanted to be at a really good starting point for everybody to pick up and be able to apply to their lives. And I wanted it to be heart-centered because of all that self-loathing that I experienced personally, and that after I started talking to more people and being more open about my experience, I realized I wasn't alone.
If anything, I was a part of the majority with it. Self-loathing and. Especially with diet culture and fat diets, we really get caught up in being good or bad and not, not necessarily true because what one person could eat that may be good for them is poison for somebody else. And that's true for even those healthier foods, spinach, for example, not everybody can consume and digest spinach, and it's one of those, you know, fad diet things that are.
Kind of a buzz word of the leafy greens and like, I'm totally for that, but I wanted people to be able to take the mindfulness aspect into it and make the decision for themselves is this healthy for my body because I'm the firm believer that we can be our own healers when given the right opportunity.
And so if we are able to create that opportunity for ourselves, And we are always going to be able to heal ourselves throughout every season of our lives throughout the time that we age and throughout the time that we get sick, because sickness does happen. And so if we're able to listen to ourselves mindfully and listen to our bodies, we can pick up on that communication that it's giving off to us and be able to give it back to ourselves tenfold.
Corinna Bellizzi
So I'm glad you brought up the spinach piece because I can't eat broccoli. I know, it sounds like a really simple thing, but it's one of the crucifers. My mother also is sensitive to broccoli. She can't eat broccoli. And it didn't happen for me until I was in my late teens. I used to eat broccoli all the time.
I'd have it raw. I loved it. You know, and then I had to eat a progressively more cooked and progressively more cooked until it got to the point where. I literally get stabbing pains in my stomach. Anytime I eat any broccoli at all. And sometimes it's disguised in foods and I'll forget to ask at the restaurant, if a certain dish contains broccoli and I pay for it later, it's literally like, I'll end up looking like I'm about six months pregnant with a bloat that I receive.
And Basically have to eliminate the broccoli by forcing myself to a vomit or wait it out. And the waiting it out is super painful. So a very healthy food that many people go to, you know, isn't for me. Right. And It's something that you don't necessarily hear a lot about when we talk about food, sensitivities people automatically assume that everything that's green leafy is automatically healthy, but if you have a thyroid condition as a, for example, eating a lot of those winter vegetables, including broccoli, kale, sometimes cauliflower can be detrimental to you.
You just have a harder time digesting them.
Tia Morell
It's exactly. It brings up another point. When you talk about sensitivities, it's so hard to diagnose the sensitivity. And so you go to your doctor and you let them know if something is wrong with my body. And they're trying to do all these tests, poke and prod at you, figure it out.
And they're like, you're perfect. Nothing's wrong. And it's one of those things that it doesn't always show up on a test, but it shows up in your body, it shows up in the communication that it gives you. And it's all about what we decide to do with that communication.
Corinna Bellizzi
So let's talk for a minute about diet culture in general, in your book, you actually say diet culture, profits off insecurities.
The statement automatically rang true for me, but I'd like for you to expand on the idea and share a, how to break that powerful negative connection.
Tia Morell
When I first heard that statement. It's something struck me where I was like, wow, this is so true. And I can see it all the time now. Like I, I go to the store and I see magazines.
It's they pick up on those tiny little imperfections or flaws. I put around quotes because it's not imperfections. They're not flaws. They are who we are. And if you look around in nature, no tree looks like the other tree and it's not supposed to. Yeah. We look at each other and we're like, we should look exactly right.
And diet culture feeds off of that. They know that people want a quick fix. They know that people want to live the exact same lifestyle that they are, but be skinnier or be less cellulite, less, you know? Injections in the face to cover up our wrinkles and care coloring, to cover up our hair and straighteners to straighten our curls out.
And they pick up on this and they follow the media. They pick, they pick and choose certain, especially famous people, pull out their great qualities, make them even better with Photoshop, slap it on a magazine. And then. Leave an unedited one next to it. And they're like, oh, so-and-so lost 10 pounds in three days to want to know, find out why.
And then they feed off of that. And they know that it's not a sustainable lifestyle. They know that that diet, that they've put you on that crash diet is going to give you instant results, but they know that you can't sustain that for five years or for 10 years. Heck even a year, it's hard to say, like to go on one of those diets for, so they want you to fall back and then go back on to the next diet.
And it's just a cycle that repeats itself over and over again.
Corinna Bellizzi
Now you actually work to create a self-assessment among other tools in the book. So can you talk about that and perhaps how it would help somebody avoid the yo-yo crash?
Tia Morell
Yes. So I created a self assessment just to kind of gauge where you're at today.
I wanted it to be more reflective and not have it be like, this is what you should have answered. This is what you should not have answered. I wanted it to be where you could sit down and think about those questions, reflect on them throughout either. If you are setting aside time to journal or throughout the day where you can kind of quickly pick up on it.
Am I making this food choice because of the people around me are making that food choice, or am I making this food choice because I'm listening to my body and I don't want to give somebody the right or wrong answer by any means, but just think about it and really marinate on it for yourself. So then you can make the next choice, the best one for you.
And I wanted it to be something. It's not a one and done thing. It's something that you can carry on into each season, because like you mentioned earlier, you could eat broccoli growing up. But once you got into your later teens and older, it slowly got worse and worse. And so I wanted it to be able to be carried on throughout your journey of health too.
Cause I know that health is not a destination. It's not someplace. We get check off the box and move on with our lives. It's something that is ever changing and it's something that is impacting us every day.
Corinna Bellizzi
Absolutely. I recall. There was a period when I was actually in high school, around 17 years old that I started to complain of stomach cramps.
And, uh, the doctor thought I had ulcers and told me not to drink coffee and to reduce my fat intake and any acidic fruit intake to next to nothing. And it turned out it was just a brown. Right. And so all of those other choices the other things that the doctor recommended might have made sense for just about, you know, a lay person, but I wasn't eating a lot of fried food.
He was just making assumptions because I'm a teenager, of course, I'm eating a lot of fried food and drinking a lot of Coca-Cola or whatever, and I wasn't doing those things. So it's just interesting to see. Yeah. Your diet can and does need to change as you continue to grow older. And if you want to optimize, you know, you can really listen to your body to get there.
Now, there are four things that you recommend doing in the book and you listed them simply as comparing, criticizing, complaining, and competing. And I loved these four CS so much. It got me thinking about my marketing classes and my MBA, because they always try to make things in an easy to remember acronym for CS five PS, things like that.
Right. But I wanted to talk for a minute about your choice of these four and how you think that really reminding ourselves of these four can help us just live a little bit more healthy.
Tia Morell
So first I wanted to do comparing because comparing is the thief of all joy. For all of us. We start comparing our lives to other people around us.
People's highlight reel on social media and not only that, but we compare ourselves to either a who we used to be or be who we thought we would be at this time. And when we are comparing ourselves, we are not doing ourselves justice. We're not moving forward in a healthy manner. We are typically stuck in the past or stuck in the future.
And we're not here being mindful in the present and comparing for me, that's really what started even in elementary school, I'd compare myself to the other kids and that was one of the hardest things. And I think that was one of them. What led into the criticizing of myself and led into that self-loathing.
And that really had the, it was really this springboard into like my anxiety and my depression, because I never felt like I was measuring up to those people I was ever comparing to myself too. And so if we stop comparing ourselves, it's a lot easier to stop criticizing yourself. And typically others because of when we're criticizing others, we're usually criticizing our own insecurities, just projecting them onto other people typically.
And I like that you pointed out too, that it was easy to remember. Cause I wanted to have those little boxes. Being able to pull out that people could remember it the quick, either little quotes that I wanted to put in there or the reminders, but this one was just like a quick little reminder and reflections, like little reflection questions in the book as well.
So after we stopped criticizing ourselves and others, then I started to realize how much of my conversations around either health diet, my body. My life in general at this time was all complaints.
I had conversations with my friends. I would start conversations with my friends or my peers, and it would be about complaining about something. Could have been something as simple as the weather. It could have been about something. And maybe I stubbed my toe on the way to work that morning to something so that I just like, I did not realize how much I was complaining until I started becoming more mindful of what are my thoughts?
What are my actions? What are my words?
Corinna Bellizzi
The thing you have control over.
Tia Morell
Right. Exactly. And I, so I started my gratitude practice and that has helped me, like beyond words could even talk, like actually make up for it, like having gratitude and recognizing how often I'm complaining has really helped me in my journey and my mental health and competing.
I remember growing up and I was never really into sports or anything like that because I was at the mindset. I'm not going to be good enough. I'm not going to be perfect. So I'm not going to. And so I wouldn't even show up to do it, but at the same time, I recognized myself competing with my friends or competing with myself and other areas of life.
I went through extensive lengths to not be in sports, not do these physical activities because I thought that's what competition was. And then I realized how much competition I was putting myself in and others around me. Just by my actions, my thoughts, my, the stuff I have control over, like you said. And so I really wanted to stop that too.
And like really let myself know where do I stand? Where is my worth and recognize that my worth has never come from doing those four CS has never come from comparing criticized. Complaining or competing. My worth was inherit. I was born with it and it's in me always, no matter what,
Corinna Bellizzi
as my husband is often fond of saying, it's not a competition I'm innately competitive.
And I think you probably resonate with that too, where it's just. You're always trying to be a little bit better. I mean, I even named my podcast care more, be better. Right. It's an invitation, but it's also a challenge. And so I think so much of just how our society is set up is around that construct. So knowing when to compete and when to say this isn't about that I think is really critical.
Tia Morell
I think you're spot on. So what are your thoughts on that?
I just think you're so right. It kind of goes back to what we were saying earlier, too. We tend, especially as women, I think we tend to compete against each other based on our physical appearance, based on our accomplishments and stuff that it doesn't actually matter at the end of the day.
We need to put in perspective what does matter and who matters too. And always recognizing it's up to us. And I totally agree with you. Like I want to be better today than I was yesterday. That is my goal every day, but doing it from an approach of love. Instead of a approach of like intense competition is the key for me.
Corinna Bellizzi
Absolutely. Now another thing that really struck me in your book, I was reviewing it just with a nutritionist mindset, right. I'm not a nutritionist myself, but I've worked for 20 plus years in the field of supplements, which is really closely tied to nutrition and learning about nutrition that entire time.
Right. And so you mentioned primary foods. And I think about primary foods being the staples that we consider fruits, vegetables, grains, and meats, but you take an entirely different take in your book when you talk about primary foods. So I'd love for you to talk about what they are and how you came up with this
Tia Morell
primary foods was something, one of the core concepts that I learned through IIN, and that's where I got my integrative nutrition.
Health coaching certification. And I absolutely loved it the first time I heard it because I never had heard about primary foods taken on this role either I was with you Carina with, okay. That's probably my staples. Right. And then when I learned more about it, they were like, yes and no. So what they call secondary food would be the food we consume and primary food is our circle of life.
So. Us up outside of our food. It's our relationships, our social life, our joy, our career, our education, our physical activity, our home cooking, our exercise. It's all of these things that lead and guide us into what we make for food choices as well. So a lot of the time we think that we are. Constantly reaching for sugar because we just love sugary stuff.
And in reality, a lot of times is we're missing. Our were lacking. And one of these areas of primary food that are pushing through these cravings and that are having us. Make these food choices that we typically wouldn't have if we had all of these areas in our life become more satisfying. And so in my book, I have the exercise in there using the circle of life.
And what you want to do is put a dot on the line, being on the outside, very satisfied on the inside dissatisfied. And after you go through the 12 areas, you connect all your dots and it makes a picture of a circle. Is never actually a perfect circle for anybody's life at a given time because we're humans, it's not supposed to be perfect.
But what we can do is pick out one or maybe two areas at a time that we see a lack in and decided what can we do to increase our satisfaction? In that area or two and start implementing small steps towards that. And once we do that, but I found really cool is that first of all, you start making better choices for your body, physical food wise, with our secondary food.
And we end up actually increasing our satisfaction in all of the other areas at the same time, as we're just working on one area, because it can be very overwhelming to be like, oh my gosh, there's 12 areas I need to think about of my life. And so I wanted to break it down to like, don't think of them all at the same time, pick up a small piece and guess what that overflow inevitably goes over to the other areas and your whole life just becomes more satisfactory to you.
And then we can kind of reduce those cravings, make better food choices and really live a life. We love.
Corinna Bellizzi
So I think one of the things, things that keeps people from really trying to attack their diet is that it can seem overwhelming. They know what they should eat versus what they shouldn't. For the most part.
Most people like basically understand I should be getting healthy fats. I shouldn't eat fried food so much. I should maybe eat more raw foods like green leafy, vegetables and fruits. I should. Reduce my consumption of meats, especially fatty meats and processed meats, and maybe even trend towards a more flexitarian vegetarian lifestyle.
I mean, those are the basics, right? Like real top-line, but eating that way. Often takes more time, more time and preparation, more time and cooking more time in food selection. So I know notice that they've finished here for your book, that you have actually shared a few recipes. So I was thinking along the lines of a couple of things, you, you shared some recipes, you shared some helpful tips, you shared some affirmations.
So I wonder if there is a particular. Affirmation the first of all, you might call your favorite and also a particular recipe that you might also call your favorite that, you know, wouldn't take more than about 30 minutes to prepare and cook if it's cooked.
Tia Morell
So my whole thing is simple and making it fit into your current lifestyle, because if you would have met me even five years ago, you had been shocked that I am where I am today because I. Did not like cooking. I actually hated it. Yeah. Or at least I thought I hated it because what I came to realize is when I would go online, I would find these recipes and these recipes would be four pages long.
You get the backstory of the author, you get the backstory of all the, where the food comes from. You know, you get everything and it's just daunting and it's intimidating. And then you look at the time, like it's supposed to take me 95 minutes to prep and then another 45 in the oven. And that's what really turned me off.
And so what I wanted to add to the back of the book where some simple recipes that are my go-to shoes and my favorite ones are the food templates. Because I personally, like I said, I don't like following recipes, honestly, I'm a pretty lazy cook in that way, but the food templates are great because you can switch it up.
You can make, you can follow the same template every night and eat a different meal with different flavors. And what I like to do is start with a grill. So, whether that be rice or keenwah or COOs, COOs, I pick with some type of grain that I want for that day or for that meal. And then I pick a couple of vegetables.
I want to roast typically I do expect potatoes just, but I've been craving lately. Lays. I've been doing sweet potatoes and maybe broccoli or cauliflower carrots with it. And then I saw taps I'm like onions and mushrooms, maybe some bell peppers. And then. Add some leafy greens, fresher Rugola is one of my favorites because I just loved the taste or fresh kale and adds another texture in it.
And I mix it all together and do not undersell the importance of spices and herbs. So like those two things I never really understood before I started making different meals, but I'm like, these are amazing. I don't know why my pantry was not stopped. For the longest time. And so being able to just top it off with that, and if you really are, you know, some people be like that's too dry for me.
Don't be afraid to add a little bit of stressing on there. Some fresh lemon, some olive oil, anything like that, just to switch it up as well. And that typically doesn't take very long and also by a, like, it is because you can cook in bulk cook one time, eat two or three other times. And it really can, especially at the go go, go.
Social life that people do have. I know it's starting to come back around now, but people are busy. And so they don't have time to cook dinner every night. These, you can throw in the oven to warm back up. If you have glass containers or you can even put them in the freezer and you can freeze them in the warm them back up before you eat them.
Because if you always add that freshly fie green, it tastes like fresh. Again, it tastes like new. It tastes like you just cooked it. And. One of my favorite affirmations. I think that has been helping me at least lately is I'm getting closer to achieving my goals. Every time I've put an effort, no matter the outcome, because I used to be really hard on myself when I would set these high goals, especially when I was on like yo-yo dieting and trying to thinking that I was trying to get unhealthy get healthier again.
I would set these lofty goals and then I just wouldn't achieve them. I'd fall off the quote-unquote wagon by Wednesday and be like, well, it's already ruined. I might as well just ditch the whole week. And so reminding myself, I'm getting closer every day, no matter the outcome, because I only can control my input.
I can't control what actually happens from it. This is just that reminder and it helping it helps encourage me every day to keep going and keep reaching for those goals. Even when the outcome is not exactly what I picked.
Corinna Bellizzi
Well, I'm glad you mentioned falling off the wagon because I do think food in a way can be an addiction for people too.
So as a, for instance, I was a smoker. I was a smoker for 16 years, a long time from 13 to 29. Right. And when I finally decided to quit, it was because I didn't want to be a lifelong smoker. I knew it wasn't healthy for me. I was active. I wasn't up Lytics and all those things, but I still smoked. Right.
And I was going to get married and I didn't want to spend the rest of my life as a smoker. And so I kind of drew a firm line in the sand and when I failed. The thing that helped me to stay focused was forgiveness. I would forgive myself for the misstep. If I'd bought a pack of smokes, I would pay it forward to somebody else who was a smoker that would otherwise just be buying them right away anyway and say, you know I may have slipped, but it's okay.
Today's a new day and I'm still on the right. Which sounds like it's similar to, to the very thing that you're talking about. Like you're a day closer to your goals. You're on the way. So I just appreciate that so much.
Tia Morell
It's exactly it. It's reminding ourselves, like we are taking steps to where we want to be.
And each step, no matter how small it might feel is another step closer. And those small step is steps are what builds up in the long run to make those big leaps and reminding ourselves. Especially with food and diet and reminding yourself that it's not about what you do at one time. It's about what you do.
The majority of the time. No person wins off of all the votes. We just want a majority of the votes. So throwing each action you take, but okay. Is this voting for the person I want to be? Is it a voting for that identity of not being. And when we find ourselves kind of taken that lapse back and be like, oh, I voted for the wrong identity today.
Self-forgiveness is what's going to get you through having that grace and reminding yourself that for me, it's always, grace is greater than guilt. Grace wins at the end of the day. Guilt will not.
Corinna Bellizzi
Well, I love that. So I wonder if you could corner yourself when you were 16 years old. And just brain dump into your younger self.
What would you say?
Tia Morell
I love that question first. I would just tell her, like, I love you and you're loved no matter what, and that you don't need to put so much pressure on yourself to fit in because being uniquely you is the best thing you can do at the end of the day. And. Fitting into yourself and abandoning yourself is just not the route.
Corinna Bellizzi
Well, I think Tia, you just about made me know. I mean, I think I could hear you talking to yourself at that moment too. That's just powerful. I think we do need to know that we're enough. And I think especially girls going through those teen years, it's hard to keep that a central frame, there is so much that is being thrown at especially teenagers about who they are supposed to be, how they're supposed to be and how they compare to everybody else.
Because I think that's just a natural human state. So I'm reminding her. That, that little girl within us or that little boy within us needs to be told that too, even today, as we grow up, I think is also critically important, it will help us be better because giving that forgiveness even now will help you stay on focus and stay on path.
Tia Morell
That's exactly right. It does help going back and like having those conversations with a younger version of you, because you do get to pull so much out of it that you apply today. I think sometimes it's easier to look at a child and have compassion for them versus an adult, especially when it's ourselves.
And so reminding ourselves that inside of each one of us is that little girl still is that little boy and they are there and they're with you every day. And so talking to them and going back and giving them the permission to slip, to be who they are and own it. Is powerful even today.
Corinna Bellizzi
Yeah. Now I wonder if there's a question that I haven't asked that you wish I had, what would it be?
Tia Morell
That is, that's a good one. One that you haven't asked. I think talking about the ripple effect that taking responsibility for your own health has, because I, that was something I didn't expect now looking at the action that the people in my life that are closest to me are also taking yeah. Incredible just because they could see the difference in within me.
It's not even something that I had to bring up to them. They could see the difference in me and it's made them want to make different choices and ask me more about what's going on. And now they want to educate themselves and dive in deeper to see how they can take responsibility for their health.
Corinna Bellizzi
Well, well, I think you just answered my last question really too, because my, my last question is if you could leave our audience with one message for why they should share or for why they should care more about nutrition, what would it be?
And I would think it's that ripple effect.
Tia Morell
It is a hundred percent.
Corinna Bellizzi
Yeah, that's a really great now, before we close, I'd like to know if there's a specific charity or cause that you support that you'd like to bring to our audience. And to me...
Tia Morell
yes, I would love for everyone to look into the earth conscious life.org.
They have a ton of resources on from being able to, to donate to different causes and getting involved in. Wherever you can, depending on where you live and it's about the need to grow and how we need to take better care of our soil and bring it back to life because the soil on our earth is truly dying because of the way we have been farming.
And it's something that if we don't take to take charge today to change, we're not going to have it tomorrow. And it's so important that we. Do educate ourselves on this because it's something that I didn't even know was an issue until recently, and it's heartbreaking, but it's also not. There's still room for change.
There's still time to take action and contribute where we can. And when we can, because everything that we do, every dollar we spend is important and it casts a vote for our future.
Corinna Bellizzi
Well, I look forward to learning more about that particular charity. I mean, the reason that our spinach doesn't contain the same nutrient profile it did in the fifties is because the soil has changed and it's been depleted so hundred percent agree with you.
Tia Morell
Exactly.
Corinna Bellizzi
So thank you so much to you for all that you do.
Tia Morell
Thank you.
Corinna Bellizzi
Now listeners, I like to invite you to act. It doesn't have to be huge. It doesn't have to feel like a Herculean effort. It could be as simple as sharing this podcast with a friend or someone that you think could benefit from hearing it.
You could even just pick up a copy of obsessed with mindful eating, because if you aren't your healthiest, you cannot achieve the dream of creating a better world. That's the reality. To find suggestions, you can always visit our website, care more, be better.com. There we have an action page where you'll find causes and companies that we encourage you to support.
And I invite all of you to join the conversation and be a part of the community that we're building together. You can join. Rooms together with us on clubhouse and also on social spaces, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, et cetera at CareMore be better. Or you can also just send me an email to hello at care.
CareMore be better.com. I want to hear from you. Thank you listeners now, and always for being a part of this pod and this community, because together we really can do so much more. We can care more and we can be better. Thanks.