Megan’s Mission Coaching

Except I genuinely don’t remember many of those days.

I was the Weight Watchers kid. I ate my mom’s Nutrisystem meals from the cabinet and snuck her diet pills in middle school. And I still deal with body image issues to this day.

I’ve spent most of my life thinking about my weight in some capacity. And now I spend my days looking at food logs, talking about calories, answering questions about the scale, writing workouts, and creating content about weight loss.

In some ways, this world consumes more of my life than ever.

And yeah, it’s exhausting sometimes. Hence the uptick in content that has nothing to do with it. (Can’t a girl just enjoy a theme park day without doing a video on non scale victories?)

So when I talk about wanting women to have a healthier relationship with weight loss, it doesn’t come from someone who’s always had an easy relationship with food or her body.

Yes I’ve lost 165 pounds, but there’s also been a lot I’ve had to unlearn along the way, especially the things rooted in diet culture.

And these days, while I know a lot about calories, I also know that food is food. I know that a higher calorie meal isn’t a failure. Eating doesn’t require guilt or shame. I still eat mozzarella sticks and fried pickles, I just have a very different relationship with them now.

Sometimes I do miss the idea of not knowing what a calorie is. I’m just not sure I ever really got to have that. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This feels timely to post because tomorrow is opening day of Epcot Food & Wine Festival and it’s also HHN opening weekend. There will be a lot of food consumed. Food that *does not* look like this. 😂

I mention sharing as one of my favorite strategies but I have a few others. Let me know if you’d like me to make a separate video talking about them!

Weight loss isn’t usually a willpower problem.

That doesn’t mean the journey won’t take effort, but a little planning can make following through easier. Here are a few practical tips…

-Pick 2 to 3 simple meals for the week. You DO NOT need a different dinner every night.

-Batch prep ingredients like proteins, carbs, and veggies instead of making a bunch of separate meals.

-Change the flavor with lower calorie condiments. Salsa? Instant burrito bowl. Tzatziki? Mediterranean bowl.

-Repeat the meals that work instead of constantly trying to reinvent the wheel.

-Always keep backup foods in the house, like frozen chicken you can throw in the air fryer.

-Plan BEFORE you’re tired, hungry, and trying to figure out what to eat.

Most importantly, hold the boundary and do this for yourself. If you keep putting everyone else before yourself and stretching yourself thin, eventually you won’t have the energy or capacity to keep showing up for them either.

If there’s one thing I cannot stand, it’s deceptive marketing, and the diet industry is FULL of it.

Hey I’m not here to fearmonger you or tell you that you can’t eat protein Pop-Tarts. I’m here to educate you so you understand what you’re actually paying for, because there is a very obvious price difference.

A lot of women trying to lose weight see “PROTEIN” on the front of a box and immediately assume it’s the better choice.

This is where context matters. Maybe you’re justifying the protein Pop-Tarts because the extra protein makes them seem more nutritious or worth the calories. Let’s compare:

-2 Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts: 370 calories
-2 Frosted Strawberry Protein Pop-Tarts: 380 calories

For 10 more calories and a much higher price, you’re getting 6 additional grams of protein.

You’d get the same protein in one egg.

At the end of the day it’s still a Pop-Tart. So if it were me, I’d eat the REAL thing and crumble one over a Greek yogurt parfait. You’d get more protein, make it more satisfying, and still enjoy the Pop-Tart you actually wanted.

“High protein” on the package doesn’t automatically make something more nutritious or better for your goals.

What else have you seen “protein-ified” that needs to just stop?

Does this logic make sense? I’m trying to get better at improvising but let me know how I can improve. Sincerely, someone who’s just really good at throwing stuff in the air fryer.

Pumpkin spice isn’t ruining your weight loss goals. Please stop with that.

Saying yes to every single thing with zero regard for your goals might be why you’re actually not making progress.

Not everything needs an immediate yes, just like not everything needs an immediate no. You’re allowed to be, and SHOULD be, picky.

And if you’re thinking, “But I really want it” or “I’ll feel restricted”... if your normal has ALWAYS been saying yes, sometimes saying no is part of making a change.

But if you always find a reason to say yes, you might be rationalizing the habits that are making it so hard to actually change.

Remember, it’s not the pumpkin muffin that’s the issue here. It’s the pattern you keep repeating.