Why Diets Don’t Work with Camille Martin

Camille: [00:00:00] Diets have you focused on what you look like there, you know, it’s a constant reminder of how you hate the way you look, which is, that’s the quickest way to feel resistance. So basically, yeah, they create resistance and it pushes you to eat, which is the one thing that you’re trying not to do when you’re dieting, which is another problem in and of itself.

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Hey y’all, welcome back to Hopeful and Wholesome. Today I have on the show, Camille Martin. Camille is a registered [00:01:00] dietitian, public health writer, and former chronic dieter. And she is dedicated to helping women quit dieting, set bigger and better goals and reclaim their excitement for life and lose weight in the process.

She is the author of Love to Lose, Live Your Life and Watch the Weight Lose Itself. And she is all about. Living a happier, healthy life and one that’s no longer dominated by the desperation to lose weight. That’s exactly what we talked about today. We talked about how diets are failing us, how focusing on the weight is actually what’s keeping you from losing it, and how you can free yourself from diet prison and just really live your life fully.

I know you’re going to get a lot out of this episode. Check out all the links in the show notes and her book and y’all enjoy. All right, y’all. So let’s get going. I’m so excited to bring on Camille Marne today. She is a registered dietitian and the author of Love to Lose, which is all about how the secret to losing weight is loving your life.

And that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about today. So thanks so much for joining me, Camille. 

Camille: Thank you so much for having me. Hope I’m really excited to be here. 

Hope: Yeah, me too. So [00:02:00] tell us starting off, can you tell us exactly why diets don’t work? 

Camille: Oh, yes, I can. Well, the main reason that they don’t work is that they create resistance.

And so most of the clients that I have are emotional eaters. So when you create any kind of resistance and you tend to eat emotionally, that resistance has to be neutralized with something that makes you feel better. And so your tendency is to eat, to make yourself feel better. So diets create resistance.

You try to make too many changes all at the same time and like in a really short amount of time. So that’s not sustainable and it creates, you know, pressure and stress. And then it’s diets have you focused on what you look like there? You know, it’s a constant reminder of how you hate the way you look, which is.

That’s the quickest way to feel resistance. So basically, yeah, they create resistance and it pushes you to eat, which is the one thing that you’re trying not to do when you’re [00:03:00] dieting, which is another problem in and of itself. 

Hope: Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah. So, okay. Say somebody wants to lose weight. Okay.

We want to be on a diet per se. Right. So what’s the alternative to that then? 

Camille: The alternative, which is what I talk about in my book, is that when you diet, first of all, all you’re doing is following a set of instructions that someone gives you and you’re not learning anything. You’re not making any real changes.

You’re just taking a list, like here’s what you need to do. Here’s what you need to eat. And then when it’s over, you know, you may have lost a little bit of weight, but the reason why it comes back is because you didn’t change any of your habits. You know, you’re not changing the way you think. And weight is just a symptom of the problem.

And the problem is. The way that you eat. So diets only focus on what you’re eating and what you eat is important. But to me, it’s not as important as the way that you’re eating the food. So that needs to change first. So in order to do that, you want to really be [00:04:00] conscious of the thoughts that you’re thinking.

Which are directly tied to the current habits that you have. And once you start making small, tiny adjustments to some of the habits that you have, and you get small wins and making those tiny changes, that will start shifting your thoughts. And once your thoughts start to change, it makes it easier to keep making those changes to your habits.

And then they work synergistically to start giving you. Giving you success, but it’s not overnight. It does take time and you just have to be committed to the long haul, which is not what anyone wants to hear because you just want to lose 10 pounds by next week.

Hope: Exactly. Yeah. That kind of leads me to my next question because I think.

I mean, that’s the mindset of everybody, right? They want it and they want it yesterday. So how do you kind of take shift that mindset where it’s, you have to stay committed to the process and know that it’s going to take time? 

Camille: Yeah. Well, the best way I could put it is that you can continue [00:05:00] dieting over and over again, failing on one.

Trying a different one, failing, trying, failing. And you’ve probably been doing that for, you know, five, 10, 15 years. Like I did, I did for almost 25 years. But so if you take that amount of time that you’ve been failing consistently and feeling totally demoralized, if you had just taken one year of that miserable existence and committed to making the changes, you would be already there.

You know? So that’s what I would say, like how to break out of that mindset. 

Hope: Yeah. So you say in your book that it’s not about the weight. What? Mm-Hmm. . What does that mean? 

Camille: Well, wait as a symptom, it’s showing up outwardly because of what’s going on inside, not just about what you’re eating. It’s what you’re thinking.

It’s the, you know, think about someone who is just super on fire and excited about life. It’s probably no accident that that person is not physically [00:06:00] is physically where he or she wants to be. And that’s not just because it’s not that they are slim and then they’re going out living this life. They’re living that life first and it’s showing up outside on their body.

So you, I forgot what you asked me. Even I was going off on a tangent. 

Hope: How it’s not about the weight. 

Camille: Oh, okay. Yeah. So it’s not about the way the weight is a symptom. So whatever’s going on inside of you is going to show up outwardly. So that’s why I always say to everyone, what you want to do first is to start setting a different goal that has nothing to do with weight.

Or what you look like and once you start setting a goal and working toward achieving it incrementally, you start building your confidence and that confidence is going to start showing up outwardly. It’s going to start changing how you do things every day, including what you eat and how you fuel your body.

So yeah, it’s not about the way it is just showing up and it will keep showing up [00:07:00] until you change what’s going on inside. 

Hope: Right, right. And I think that’s especially with women, that’s. That’s where we struggle, right? It’s more a Confidence thing, right? And I think you talk about that too how it’s related to women’s self esteem.

And so So how do why do you think that is like? How do we I guess two parts of that question like where does that stem from and then how do we? Combat that where our weight is not tied to our competence or our self esteem? 

Camille: Wow. Well, so first of all, if you’ve been dieting for years on end, your confidence is probably in the toilet because you keep failing and yeah, so you feel awful about yourself and you don’t have confidence and your self esteem is low because of what you’re doing.

And then the added horrible piece of it, which is what you were alluding to is that dieting All it is, is desperation to change what you look like. And we as women are just inundated with the most horrible messages that what we look like matters most. That what we have to offer is here’s what’s on the outside.

And if you [00:08:00] don’t match what the cultural standard is, you’re a failure and you’re not worthy of anything. So you can’t just completely remove all of those outer influences because they’re just pervasive But yeah, that’s why I start with stop dieting. Stop trying to, you know, force your body, beat it into submission.

Cause you’re going to keep shattering your confidence. You’re focusing on what you look like. And it’s just a downward spiral, you know? 

Hope: Right. 

Camille: Yeah. 

Hope: So if someone wants to. They want to lose weight. They want to get, maybe it’s, maybe it is more of a health focused thing, but if someone wants to lose weight, but we don’t want to focus on the weight, what is the first step someone should take?

So, you know, maybe they do need to change some dietary habits or something. What would be, should be the first step they take if they, you know, we’re saying, you know, we shouldn’t focus on the weight, but maybe they do need to lose weight. So, yeah. What would be a starting place for them? 

Camille: Yeah, sure. Well, so first of all, it’s hard to say to someone.

Yeah Stop worrying [00:09:00] about the weight. I mean I still worry about it, you know, like I still it’ll never leave me this you know the cultural conditioning and I still look in the mirror and i’m like And then it’s like, you know snap back to reality. You’re a dietician and you’re you’re teaching this But yeah, the first thing that I would do is take three habits That you feel three to five that you think are most interfering with your ability to lose weight.

I mean to start with because you’re still focused on the weight at the very beginning of the process. But take those three to five habits and choose the first two that you feel like are the easiest for you to change. Not the hardest, the easiest. And start with one and for a week just pick that one habit and You can write down like 10 or 15 micro changes you could make to that habit.

So like if your bad habit is sitting down on the couch in the afternoon when you’re exhausted and grabbing a bag of chips or m&ms or whatever, and just, you know, stuff in your [00:10:00] face. So take that one habit. Don’t just say, I’m not gonna do that anymore. I feel, you know, I’m such a loser. I’m so, you know, weak and worthless, that I can’t stop.

Take that one habit and make small changes to it. Portion out the number of M& Ms, like if it’s half a bag, then put the half a bag and, you know, a bowl and say, this is what I get to eat. At least you’re focused on it and you’re not just inhaling it. Then you could take that same amount of M& Ms and portion it out throughout the day and, you know, eat them that way.

So that you’re just being mindful and you’re like taking control of it. One of my favorite ones that sounds like it wouldn’t be any, any big deal, but I take my food. One of my bad habits was to sit in front of the laptop and just eat while I’m working. And so if you take your food and literally go into another room and sit quietly and focus on what you’re eating, it’s guaranteed that you are going to start making all these connections like.

Oh my God, I don’t even like the way it tastes to have like 75 M& M’s, it makes me feel [00:11:00] awful. But yeah, so take a few habits, write down all of the changes that you could make and one by one, start making those tiny changes. They’ll add up, you’ll get small wins and you’ll be on your way. Yeah. 

Hope: So what is your, and this is.

I guess shifting gears a little bit, but it is still talking about, you know, giving people dietary recommendations when you’re working with your clients and stuff and you, you know, you want to help teach them this healthy mindset like we’re talking about, but then also give them a certain nutritional approach.

What is your approach to nutrition? 

Camille: Well, my approach, I’m a vegetarian, so I eat as I don’t eat meat, but you know, you don’t have to have a specific diet. You don’t have to follow anything specific, but really, and truly, um, I don’t, I don’t tell people what to eat. I don’t focus on the food. I’m all about habits.

So if you wanted to make some dietary changes right out of the gate, I mean, I think it’s pretty obvious that drinking soda is horrible [00:12:00] for you. You can make those big changes right away though, that are like, just get rid of the soda. I don’t usually say throw out all your food, but like, yeah, get, just dump it and get some water and get flavored water if that’s better for you.

But honestly, it’s, it’s not as much about the food as it is the way that you eat the food. So, um, yeah. Yeah. I think people, I think we all know what’s it. You know what I mean? Like, it’s not some big mystery, but just start slow. Start making small changes, shop in the produce section, stay away from the rest of the store and you’ll be fine.

Hope: Yeah. Yeah. Right. I think it’s just having somebody. Give you those reminders, like, you know, a nutritional professional who’s telling you, and you’re like, well, I know that, but now that you’re telling. 

Camille: Yeah. Well, and I also don’t like to tell people, here’s what you need to eat and give them. It always comes back to when I tell people my, my principles and my, my whole philosophy, everyone is like, Oh, my God.

That makes so much sense. But half the time by the end of the meeting. Okay, [00:13:00] now tell me, give me the list of what I eat this week. And I just won’t do that because you have to learn how to, how to incorporate these things on your own. I can tell you what to eat, but It’s not going to make any, you know, connections in your brain about, I mean, some people don’t like Brussels sprouts, don’t like kale, you know, it’s got to fit with your preferences and your lifestyle.

Hope: No, I agree. Well, and I think too, when you’re giving a list. of things to eat, then it’s, subconsciously, you also have a list of what not to eat, and then that kind of defeats the purpose, right, of the whole, like, eating mindfully and all of that. So it’s still kind of a way to restrict you, because you want to stick to that list that you gave them.

Yeah. Yeah. So, talk about the importance of environment and losing weight, and how that affects it.

Camille: I just did a tick tock video on this. I’m a brand new tick tocker. I’ve only made two videos and my kids, my kids are laughing and they’re helping me. [00:14:00] Environment is so huge because your environment affects everything that you did affects how you think and affects, which then makes you do the things that you do.

But the problem is, is that most people, everyone You’re so used to looking at what you’re seeing that you’re not noticing it and you can set your environment up to make decisions for you, which I think is the most amazing thing. And actually, if you don’t take control of it, it’s working against you. So either way it’s working, it’s either working for you if you take control of it, or it’s working against you if you do nothing, but there are several studies that show that like just doing something simple, like putting a bowl of fruit on the counter where you can see it, it does make you more likely to eat the fruit.

But also there’s some other correlations like. I remember some study I read about in my book and I can’t remember the name of it, but it’s like they analyze the kitchen counters of a bunch of women. Like it was like a hundred women. It was a lot. And they actually went out, the researchers. [00:15:00] To their houses to analyze it.

And the women who had nothing on their counters, but like fruit, no soda, no chips, everything was put away. They had it in their kitchen. It just, you can see it. They were more likely to weigh, have a lower BMI. They weighed on average, like 10 pounds less than the women who had just the stuff on their counters.

I mean, my kids eat junk. I buy it for them. I want them to learn how to make their own decisions. But I’ve put it away in a drawer. So if you take control of your kitchen, clean it out, get it organized, have the utensils that you need so that you can cook more often, and then, you know, put the unhealthy stuff away out of sight.

You’re already going to be, that’s how it makes decisions for you. You don’t have to use willpower. You don’t have to walk into your kitchen and go, I don’t feel like cooking tonight. You know, I’m exhausted. I don’t feel like chopping up a bunch of stuff. Yeah. So if it’s already chopped and it’s ready to go.[00:16:00] 

It’s so much easier. So environment is everything. If you take control of your kitchen, half the battle is won already. 

Hope: I agree. And that’s, I mean, those are good tips too. Good advice for people to set. I mean, they’re setting themselves up for success that way. Yeah. 

Camille: Yeah. And I actually have a, I have a free guide.

I’m not, I’m not trying to plug all my stuff, but if you go to my website, I do have a free guide to setting up your kitchen exactly the way you need to. Yeah. 

Hope: I’ll put a link to that. No, that’s super cool. I’ll put a link in the show notes. That’s awesome. I think everybody needs that. I mean, yeah, that’s totally, so switching gears just a little bit.

Can you talk a little bit about your, uh, kind of your journey to this method and how you got into dietetics and how you kind of went this route with your education? 

Camille: Yes. Okay. I’ll try to keep it short. But, um, I started, I started dieting when I was 12 years old and yeah. And for the next 25 years I dieted, failed, dieted, [00:17:00] failed.

And honestly, there was so much more into all of that, like low self esteem just from dieting and failing. But also I had an eating disorder and, um, I was just. Intensely focused on what I looked like and, you know, I needed to have the perfect body and if I didn’t have the perfect body, you know, nothing was going to be fun and I needed to do that first and then, you know, I would go ahead and start living and doing all these things that I wanted to do.

So when I was in my late twenties, I lived in Atlanta and I was a meeting planner at a hotel at the four seasons. And it was absolutely the most miserable job of all time. So that’s, that’s another podcast, but I would come home every day after work. Just. So demoralized people screaming at you in the lobby, but, um, and I want to eat, I would eat and I was tired and I felt awful.

And so I would sit down and just eat. And then that made me [00:18:00] feel worse. I gained weight. I went on crash diets. I didn’t eat all day at work. I would drink diet, Dr. Pepper all day, come home and try to work out. And instead I would eat. So at one point, I just, honestly, I was sitting on my couch in my little apartment.

And I just burst into tears. I was like, I can’t do this anymore. I just can’t do it anymore. And I decided right then that I would rather quit inflicting all of this misery on myself and just stop dieting and quit and gain five or 10, 15 pounds. That would be preferable to what I was doing to myself. So I quit and the next morning, I mean, I remember I was like, I can eat whatever I want.

I’m just going to let my body tell me, I’m not going to go out and try to run five miles every single morning or after work, I’m going to go for a walk. And the coolest thing that happened was. I did not gain weight. I actually started losing weight because I was sitting down and mindfully eating [00:19:00] and I was eating some of the same things that I did that I was always feeling guilty about, but I just didn’t want as much of it because I was sitting there paying attention to it.

And being mindful while I ate it. So at the same time, I started saying, you know, I want to learn more about nutrition, how it affects my body. So I signed up for a class at Georgia state university after work, and I would go there three nights a week and take this class and I just loved it. So. I kept going, I kept taking more classes and eventually I just made a whole new career change.

I had no plan of becoming a dietitian. Um, and then, so at the same time I was also setting other goals like I want to run a 10k and I did that turn into a half marathon, then a full marathon. So all of these things I was doing simultaneously, like learning about nutrition and taking those classes helped me make different choices, obviously running a 10 K and feeling so proud of myself made [00:20:00] me make different health choices.

And so I realized that setting and achieving goals that have nothing to do with losing weight. We’re working synergistically with this new attitude I had about taking the pressure off myself. So it was amazing. I mean, yeah, it’s that story. It was a horror. I think it’s a lot of people’s same story. But yeah, so that’s how I ended up where I am now.

And honestly, I’m on a mission to help any woman who, who feels that way, who is wasting her life on a diet like I did. I don’t want that to happen to anybody. And it’s a waste of talent and, you know, compassion and positive energy that all these women can be putting out into the world. But we’re not, cause we’re sitting at home like, Oh yeah, you know, I need to lose 10 pounds.

What diet have you been on lately? We’re all talking about it. None of it works. And it’s like, Psychotic because we know it doesn’t work and it looks normal to talk about it and it’s not. 

Hope: It’s true. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I [00:21:00] think, I think a lot of times too, I mean, I think that it’s, it’s awesome. You’re getting your story.

Cause I had a similar story to what you’re saying. Everything you’re saying. I’m like, Oh yeah, that was me too. I think a lot of times we just. We just don’t talk about it, and then you get caught in, you know, thank goodness you had your, like, you know, epiphany and your awakening moment, but you get caught in that where you just get stuck in it, and it’s just something you just don’t talk about.

Like, you’re basically putting your life on hold until you looked a certain way, or you hit a certain number on the scale, whatever. I, I did the exact same thing, and it’s like you get caught in that, and you don’t know how to get out, and you don’t know how to feel that sense of freedom when you get out of that, that mindset.

Camille: Well, you feel like you’re the only one like, you know, is there something wrong with me that, you know, but there’s not it’s what’s wrong is the approach and this whole cultural brainwashing, right? That’s what’s wrong. 

Hope: Yeah, for sure. No, I totally agree. So what are some things? Going back to what kind of things that you teach in your book and things that, and you’ve given a lot of tips already, but [00:22:00] what are some steps that we can take to kind of change our thoughts and our habits that will help us see results?

So we want to get to that point where, like, that you had, that kind of awakening moment where you’re like, I’m just gonna eat whatever I want and see what happens. But what are some thoughts and habits that we can change to get us to that point and also help us see results? 

Camille: Gosh, there are a lot of, there’s so many habit changes that you can make.

But honestly, I would say one of the first ones is to start cooking. I used to think I grew up in a house. My mom never cooked and you know, I was always like, Oh, I hate to cook. I don’t know how to cook. And once I started, I was like, wow, this is really fun. And I think a lot of people think I hate to cook.

I don’t know how to cook. 

Hope: Right. 

Camille: And so you don’t. But if you want to live a healthy life, you absolutely have to learn to cook a little bit. You have to spend time in your kitchen. So I think the kitchen for a lot of women, especially if they have children is like, I don’t [00:23:00] want to be in the kitchen. That’s like the last place it’s stressful.

I don’t feel like making meals. Everybody wants a different meal, but if you get in the kitchen and every single day, like set aside just 10 minutes every day, get in your kitchen. You know, open up a cookbook, just browse through it, you know, reorganize a drawer, have some prep time and just start, start small, get a few small, simple recipes.

Because once you start taking control of your food, I think you feel out of control around food when you’re Let’s just get door dash. It makes it, it makes you feel out of control if you’re not hands on with your food, but it doesn’t have to be elaborate. Just get a few recipes, get in your kitchen and make it pretty, you know, put some fresh flowers out, you know, put Alexa in the corner and play some classical music, you know?

So that’s one of the big ones that I would say to start with. 

Hope: No, that’s perfect. And I think it is intimidating for people. Especially like, if like you, like you didn’t grow up with your mom cooking your meals. So you’re like, I [00:24:00] don’t even know what to do, but that’s where Google comes in handy. Like there’s, all you have to do is Google whatever you want to make and you can find a quick, easy recipe for it.

So I love that. Yeah. That’s really good advice. Just to get comfortable with your kitchen. That’s good. 

Camille: Well, when I first started back in the, my days in the apartment, when I just said, I’m not doing this anymore, my big recipe or my big meal was, I would just take rotini pasta and saute a little bit of broccoli and put marinara on it.

I mean, literally that’s all I did. And I was so proud of myself. 

Hope: It’s a meal. 

Camille: It is a meal. Start there. Yeah. 

Hope: That’s awesome. I love that. So I do like to ask everyone the same question, uh, before I ask you that though, let everyone know who’s listening, where they can find you, where they can find your book and everything that you’re teaching.

Camille: Okay, cool. Thank you. I’m Camille Martin. I’m a registered dietitian and my website is camillemartinrd.com. And my book, love to lose, love your light, watch the weight lose [00:25:00] itself. You can get it on my website, but you can also just get a love to lose book. com. So that’s an easy way to remember. 

Hope: I’ll put links to all that in the show notes to go find it. 

Camille: Thank you. 

Hope: Yeah, of course. So the question I always like to end with is what do you think is the most important thing people can do to live with purpose? 

Camille: Absolutely. The one biggest thing is to set a goal, set a big goal for yourself. One that gives you enthusiasm and excitement, even if your big goal looks different from mine and it will go back to when you were a child and think about some of the things that made you really happy.

Yeah. Even if it’s like you want to be a world traveler, go get a, go get a book on France and just, you know, read it or, you know, take a foreign language class, something like that. Anything that you’re doing that takes the focus off what you look like and puts it toward what you’re capable of. So yeah.

Hope: That’s great advice. I love that. That was what you said. Well, thank you [00:26:00] so much, Camille. This has been awesome. And I know a lot of women, especially are going to get a lot out of. All of this. 

Camille: I hope so. Thank you for having me on Hope. I enjoyed it. 

Hope: Thanks for listening to Hopeful and Wholesome, y’all. If you found value in this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes wherever you get your podcasts and leave a review to let me know what you thought.

I’d love to know what you find useful in these episodes so I know how I can provide the most value I can to my listeners. And if you have topics that you want to know more about, I’d love to hear those as well. So shoot me a message on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn. It’s at the Hope Pedraza or visit my website, hopefulandwholesome.

com. Thanks, y’all.