Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Summary
On episode 266 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Nathalie Botros, known as the Bon Vivant Girl, who lived around the world before settling in New York and writing the book If You Are What You Eat, Should I Eat a Skinny Girl?
Nathalie argues that emotional acceptance has to come before any diet or workout plan works, and that the real primary food in her approach is not what’s on the plate, it’s your emotions.
The conversation covers a food journal built around mood and context instead of just calories, the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 produce lists, and why the scale is the wrong tool for tracking progress.
Links
- https://thebonvivantgirl.com
Key Takeaways
- Self-acceptance has to come before any real change. Nathalie opens her book with the five stages of grief because she believes you need to reach acceptance of where you are today before any diet or workout advice can actually stick.
- Fast diets set you up to regain the weight. Nathalie says losing weight quickly, like five pounds in a week, almost guarantees you gain it back the following week, so she coaches clients to slow down and enjoy the process instead of chasing speed.
- Track why and where you eat, not just what. Nathalie’s food journal has people log mood, time, and location along with every bite, including the small tastes people normally leave out, so patterns like stress eating or mindless snacking become obvious after about a week.
- Know the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15. The Dirty Dozen (apples, strawberries, grapes, celery, peaches, spinach, sweet bell peppers, nectarines, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, snap peas, potatoes, hot peppers, blueberries) hold onto pesticides even after washing and are worth buying organic; the Clean 15 (avocado, sweet corn, pineapples, cabbage, sweet peas, onions, asparagus, mangoes, papayas, kiwi, eggplant, grapefruit, cantaloupe, cauliflower, sweet potatoes) are safer to buy conventional.
- Exercise gives you energy, it doesn’t drain it. Nathalie points out that a hard workout triggers endorphins and leaves people more energized through the day, which surprises people who expect exercise to wear them out.
- Start small and build up, and pick a workout that fits you. Nathalie warns that starting too intense too fast leads people to quit within a week; choosing an exercise you actually enjoy, like weights or Pilates over cardio, and committing to once a week before adding more, makes it stick.
- Use a measuring tape instead of leaning on the scale. Because weight fluctuates with water retention, sodium, menstrual cycles, and muscle repair, Nathalie has clients track inches instead, since a shrinking waistline shows progress the scale can hide.
- Weigh in weekly, not daily, if you weigh in at all. Day-to-day weight swings from water and food timing are misleading, so Nathalie recommends checking in once a week to see the real trend instead of getting discouraged by daily noise.