Hello, my friends, welcome back to the Healthy Eating for Busy Women podcast. I hope you are having a good week, a good fall season so far. I am so happy you’re here. And today we’re going to talk all about eating healthy when you’re sick.So I actually decided to really prioritize this episode because […0.4s] a woman named Laura reached out on Instagram and she said, cat, what do I do when I’m hungover, when I don’t feel good with my food decisions? And this is such an excellent question. And I’ve talked about being sick a little bit on this podcast, but I really wanted to devote an entire episode to it so you guys can understand what it will really take during these times to not fall off the face of your earth with your healthy eating progress. So you still feel like you have control with weight loss even when you’re feeling sick, hungover, whatever it is. So it can be anything, right?I think, especially as women, we’re gonna have a lot of, quote unquote, sick days and we have opportunities for that.We might be really sick and we have the cold or the flu, or maybe it’s our period, maybe we’re just at our appear, maybe we’re just in a time of the month where energy is lower and we’re in the Ludial phase and we’re overstimulated recovering from a night out, […0.5s] whatever it is, you guys, the last thing you feel like doing in these moments is to make a healthy eating decision.And so I really wanted to devote this episode to the days when you feel off and your brain wants to use that as a reason to opt out of your goals completely. Because what I’m not gonna do in this podcast is to tell you to push through no excuses and just ignore the rest of it.That’s not what I’m saying. I want you to parent yourself properly here. Because a lot of you are coming to me with the question, […0.4s] cat, what do I do when I’m sick, hungover on my period, things like that.The real answer here is that you are expecting there’s a way to […0.6s] stay responsible for your eating habits and weight loss that feels good. Like, you are hoping that someone will come in with a shiny solution, and just make it so you do not have to do things that you don’t wanna do.And y’all, if you’ve been a listener here, there is never judgment for me, because I have been exactly where you are. I still am at times where you are. And sometimes I’ll notice my brain making a problem out of something that was never meant to be solved for.And what I wanna offer you guys here is that, what you may be facing right now is that when you are sick, or when you’re hungover, or whatever these things are, and you don’t feel like making healthy eating decisions.What if the solution isn’t that you somehow convince yourself to do it or make yourself wanna do it?It’s the fact that you think it’s an issue that you don’t wanna prioritize your needs that day. And this is where self parenting comes in. It’s a skill I had to learn, and it’s a skill I am here to help you guys master.So the real problem that always goes on is you let the discomfort of that moment […0.4s] run your eating decisions for you. And the actual problem here is not that you are sick, that you feel like garbage. Feeling unwell is not the issue.Feeling bloated or tired or having cramps isn’t the issue. Craving comfort food during this time is not even the issue. The issue is that you believe that discomfort means […0.4s] you can’t show up.And likely what’s happening is you’re indulging your own helplessness, which we all can do, but we’ve got to stop doing it if we wanna create different results with food and body.Indulging in your helplessness will look like you having thoughts. I can’t make decisions right now. I need to feel better before I can make those decisions, and I’ll start again when I feel better.This is just indulging helplessness. And I really encourage each and every one of you if you notice thoughts like this come up.I want you to put a period at the end and really look at it. Because what’s actually gonna be happening here for a lot of you, if you still have not solved this is you are subconsciously indulging these beliefs as if they’re true and as if they’re even a problem.I want you to develop a mentality with yourself where your brain can offer helpless thoughts to you, I just can’t make healthy eating decisions right now.And you can just stare at it in the face as a parent and not let that rattle you and to not let it trick you into believing that you are helpless to that situation because you’re not. We are the only parents we will ever have. It is up to us.It is up to you. And so you have to be stronger and more firm than these excuses in your brain even when you’re sick, especially when you’re sick, because we need you to be that parent to yourself and to not neglect yourself, especially during this time.So what happens during this time is you stop leading yourself and you believe that when you feel better, you’ll take aligned action.And this means that your habits with healthy eating now are conditional. They depend on you […0.6s] feeling good to make healthy eating decisions. And that is a recipe for inconsistency and no results in this area of your life, right? And that’s not what you want. That’s what feels so painful.So the shift you’re gonna have to make is from reaction during these times to ultimate responsibility. So instead of waiting to feel better, what if your only job is to start responding on purpose based on where you’re at?So it’s not perfection, it’s not demanding from yourself. It’s not bulldozing through your sickness. It’s just instead of reacting, I want you to respond on perfect. Here is the big truth and I want you to assert this with yourself. You can be unwell and still be in charge of your eating decisions. And I’ll say it again for all of us, you can be unwell […0.6s] and still be in charge of your eating decisions. You don’t have to be on, you don’t have to be perfect, and you don’t have to feel powerful, confident or feel like doing it.You just have to stay in the parent role with yourself and in that relationship with yourself, you don’t leave the room, you don’t abandon yourself. You don’t say, screw it, I’m gonna deal with this another day and I’m just gonna comfort eat so I feel better.No, you’re going to stay in the room when you notice your own helplessness and you notice your symptoms and you notice yourself feeling like garbage you are going to not abandon and you’re gonna parent and respond.An analogy I really like with this which came up recently and it’s a little bit, morose, but I think it applies here.Let’s say that you are the pilot of a flight or you’re the captain of a flight, right? And you’re up 30,000 feet, they’re smooth air, everything’s on autopilot, everything’s going correctly.And then turbulence hits, and most people, if you’re like me on a plane might panic […0.5s] a little bit. So the passengers are panicking, they assume the plane is going down, they white knuckle the sea and hope they survive the journey.But the pilot or captain of the plane […0.6s] doesn’t freak out, they take manual control, they study the plane, they stay calm even if things feel bumpy.And I want you guys to imagine […0.4s] if the captain or pilot of a flight indulged the panic of the passengers and joined in […0.4s] now that is definitely not working out in everyone’s favor.Haha, right, I think we could all agree on that. I want you to know that this analogy represents the difference between how a child and a parent. Part of your brain responds when you feel like crap. So the child will panic and say, everything’s off, I can’t do this, I’m out. This is too much, something’s gone horribly wrong.As the pilot or captain of your own life, you have to be a steady parent and say, we are still flying, we are still on track to be safe. I’ll just adjust course, what do you need?The parent stays steady, they hold safety, and the parent doesn’t let the opinion […0.4s] and extremes of the child rattle their confidence.You don’t need to feel in control in one part of your brain to acknowledge that you are in control in another. You can hold responsibility and hold empowerment even though your brain is trying to offer you helplessness. You just need to stay in that pilot position.So […0.5s] when we think about reframes when you’re having the sick, low energy, hungover days, whatever it is, let’s consider different scenarios here. Let’s say you’re having period cramps. The child belief will probably be, I just can’t deal with this today. This is too hard.A parent would then respond, how can we make this easier without abandoning our goals? Right? They would step in, let’s say you’re having a sick day. Let’s say the child thinks, this is really hard and I just deserve to comfort it right now. I deserve my favorite foods.The parent might step in and say, sure, but how can we have comfort […0.4s] and still care for ourselves properly? Maybe you’re hungover, like our friend Laura and that example which a lot of you come to me with this and you think nothing matters, today I’m just checked out.The parent would probably step in from firm kindness and state and say, today still matters, […0.6s] we can go gently, but we’re gonna get it done.If you’re just tired and over it and you have this apathetic part of your brain that thinks, I just don’t care anymore, you have gotta start stepping in as the parent and not motivate yourself or lie to yourself, but say, I still want this result and I am going to show up even if I am exhausted.I am going to take one simple step today to show that I am not helpless. Because your child brain is reacting and it is time for your parent brain to respond the sick days, on the days when you don’t feel well.So here is how we can stay in that parent position, in that pilot position when we feel like absolute crap.The first thing I want you to do, and this is always the case, I want you to acknowledge what is true for the child in this moment.We’re not here to invalidate her. We’re not here to tell her to suck it up and rub some dirt in it. We are here to establish discipline, but in a way that is collaborative with the child. Let’s acknowledge what is true for her and what is true for you. Maybe it’s saying, this is hard.I know you feel off today. I know you are not at your full capacity. I know your body is needing rest and care. Validate your face off for number one. We’re not indulging the fact that she is helpless, but we’re saying, I get it, this sucks.Number two, I want you to see clearly what your child brain wants to do in that moment, what she thinks is useful, cause we wanna remember she’s a child, she is not the parent, so it’s not her job to make the responsible decision.So maybe in this moment, the child is thinking, I don’t care, I want, chips and soda, haha. Maybe she’s thinking this doesn’t matter really.I’m gonna Restart Monday, cause I just feel too bad right now. Maybe she’s saying this day is already off the rails, it doesn’t make a difference, and so let’s just not waste time. See your child’s thoughts clearly, so you know what you’re not gonna indulge.No. 3, step into your parent self to lead her, so respond accordingly to what she’s saying. Don’t demand from her and not hear what she has to say. Respond to what she’s saying. If she’s saying, I don’t care, I want chips in a soda, let say to her, but you do care about your weight.So what can we do today to have comfort and not risk that so we feel worse later. Maybe she’s saying, screw it, I’ll restart Monday. And we can say to her, my love, this is the same cycle that we have gone in our entire lives. It’s time to stop. So how can we make that accessible today?If she’s saying the days already wasted, let’s say to her, we’re not gonna waste our results.What’s one small thing we can do right now? All of your parenting thoughts are gonna look different according to your child and how you need to respond. But I want you to see that energy I’m referring to here.And just because we feel sick doesn’t mean we stop being our only parent. That is always true, and we can’t self abandon, especially in these moments.Number four, and this is more a tactical strategic offering is you can decide on a minimum baseline for these days. So what I mean by that is decide the minimum amount that you will do and what you will provide yourself with.No matter what I have these for my cramp days, for Mo […0.5s] periods of my ludiol phase, whatever it is, I always have a minimum baseline.So for me, I always take a walk, I always get outside, I always hydrate, I always make sure I’m not over eating my foods to my best ability. None of this implies perfection. It means I have standards as the parent and I know no matter how I’m gonna provide for that child so she stays healthy and stays alive. Decide on your minimum baseline.What is the bare minimum that as the parent, you need for your child and you to partake in so you are okay, so you do not throw in the towel. This is not pushing yourself. Alright? This is providing for yourself. This is protecting your future even when the child doesn’t feel like it.And it’s time for us as the parents to establish more stability, because most women and myself in the past tend to think confidence is built on the perfect day. So you might think, and I understand this.You might think that you’re gonna feel more solid, secure and trust yourself more when you have the good days with healthy eating and weight loss.When your body feels good, you’re energized, it’s really easy to follow a plan, it’s easy to follow through, but real confidence and results comes from this.It comes from believing I can still care for myself when I feel like absolute trash, when I feel like garbage, these are the days, you guys, when it feels gritty and messy, and it’s that gray area where, you showed up, but you don’t feel like it’s enough because you felt crappy.These are the moments that build long term results and stability. Not just when the ride is smooth and easy, but when there’s turbulence, right, and you don’t check out, and you don’t leave the passengers to themselves.So if you are someone who checks out of your eating habits and your goals when you feel like crap, […0.4s] and you want to keep your footing, keep this in mind, step into that parent self, practice this skill and be humble and responsible about this. So you can feel more stable […0.6s] even on your sick days when this comes out for you.And this is also you guys, what we teach inside my membership. So so if you have not eaten healthy and lost weight yet after a period of time, there are gaps that need filling here. That are able to be fixed, but you need expert coaching to address that. And I wanna offer the path of least resistance so you don’t waste more time and energy. So highly recommend you get inside the on your eating habits membership. It’s gonna make your life easier. You’re gonna see results right away.You’re gonna wonder why you’ve waited all this time to solve this problem in this way. So go to catfront us dot com forward slash membership and you’re gonna join. You’re gonna learn the process. I’m gonna cut your face off. It’s gonna be a great time.So I’m so happy you’re here. I really hope this episode was helpful to you and it gave you some new perspective this week. Love you so much, and I’ll talk to you next week. […0.7s]