Reset, Nourish, Burn

Hi – we are Susie Burrell and Leanne Ward, co- hosts of Australia’s most successful nutrition podcast, The Nutrition Couch. We are so happy you’ve picked up Reset, Nourish, Burn – an inspiring and practical guide to help busy women become their best selves. As practising dietitians we see very clearly, through the wide range of clients we attend to on a daily basis, that nourishing our bodies is the key to optimal physical, emotional and psychological well-being. With this book, we are excited to share our knowledge and expertise to help you build your ideal nutrition platform, so you can become the very best version of yourself.

We are both qualified nutritionists and dietitians who not only offer practical dietetics, but also focus on the psychology of eating: the research that supports weight loss and the many reasons why, as women, we often self-sabotage our best intentions. There’s a lot of good science out there, but as busy mums ourselves, we know what you really need is the latest science translated into easy- to- understand health messages you can put to practical use, straight away.

Over our years of industry practice, we’ve witnessed diet fads come and go, so we know what works and what doesn’t. We are passionate about helping people find sustainable results – not quick fixes. The world is rife with uneducated and biased opinions, which is why we’re committed to bringing you evidence- based advice on how to live your healthiest life, both through our top- rating podcast, The Nutrition Couch, and now, this book.

This is not another diet book. Rather, it is a plan designed to help you create a sustainable lifestyle platform that supports you in achieving your nutrition- and weight-r elated goals, built on 10 simple but powerful principles. Based on our clinical experience, we are confident these practices will radically change your health in the short term and long term – without you needing to adopt a restrictive ‘diet’. As each principle can easily be incorporated into your everyday practice, they will eventually become habitual and part of your well- balanced lifestyle for years to come.

As the title Reset, Nourish, Burn suggests, this book is divided into 3 parts: 1) the importance of psychology in achieving your health goals and how you can reset your mindset around food for success, 2) how to nourish your body in ways that support your wellbeing, energy and weight management, and 3) what you can do to achieve fat burning when that is your goal. To set yourself up for optimal long-term success we suggest following the plan in consecutive order, or if you have specific intentions in mind, you can jump straight into the relevant section of the book.

If you have picked up this book with the goal of losing weight, you may find it strange that we have left the fat-loss or ‘burn’ section until last. This is not by chance. In our experience, weight loss can and should be quite easy once you’ve adopted the right mindset, adjusted your habits and behaviours to match your goals, and have become consistent with nourishing your body. The problem is, the average person doesn’t do these things. Without this strong base, people may find weight loss harder to initiate or maintain. To truly create a sustainable healthy lifestyle, you first want to focus on upgrading your habits and behaviours, then on fuelling and nourishing your body, and finally if needed, dropping additional body fat.

Our advice is designed to help you navigate real life, so it’s practical, useful and realistic. Step by step we are aiming to build your toolbox, to give you as many strategies as possible to help you remain on track with your dietary goals, no matter what the situation. These include some of our favourite tips from the podcast, roundups of key ideas and useful tactics, plus 25 delicious and easy- to- make recipes with weekly meal plans for both the Nourish and Burn phases.

As clinical dietitians who specialise in weight control and hormone regulation for women, we see the same issues crop up time and again across our client base, particularly among sets of women who share lifestyle behaviours. Applying our observations and our learnings, we have created several examples of typical scenarios experienced by our clients and aligned these with 4 ‘archetypes’ to help illustrate common dietary and lifestyle challenges.

These case-study examples are designed to help show you how to counteract common behaviours that prevent progress. The interesting thing is that most of us are often unaware of when we enact such behaviours in our own lives. Showing you how these play out in everyday scenarios helps bring them alive and can shine a light on where you might be adopting them in your own life.

The four archetypes aligned to these examples and outlined below are not an exhaustive list, nor hard- and-fast definitions, but they are useful for illustrative purposes. However, in applying them to your individual situation, realistically you may find your-self identifying with several different behaviours across a few of the archetypes, or picking and choosing from the behaviours and strategies across several different case studies. Great! These case studies and archetypes are simply a learning tool. We hope that by seeing a behaviour in action, you’ll pick up a few useful insights relevant to you.

1. The exhausted mum

• Puts everyone else in the family first and is feeling burnt out as a result.
• Often neglects her own needs and lets others sabotage her progress.
• Finds herself with too little time to eat properly, so skips meals.
• Tired, busy and exhausted, she often eats off the kids’ plates.
• She tends to reward herself with treats after the kids are in bed.
• She feels too tired to do any extra, structured exercise.

2. The burnt- out corporate worker

• Pushing long hours – up early and working late – she is burnt out as a result.
• Often finds herself busy working or in meetings, so skips meals or eats at her desk.
• Lots of mindless, stressed- out and emotional eating.
• Constant extra snacking due to catered morning teas and lunches, plus after- dinner grazing and treats.
• Weekly celebrations with work colleagues featuring heavy meals and alcohol.
• Long workdays, intruding on time to dedicate to exercise.

3. The empty nester

• No longer needs to cook for the whole family, so makes ‘simple’ meals that aren’t properly balanced.
• Constant snacking and grazing throughout the day with less attention on regular meals.
• Too little protein and too much carbohydrate in her diet.
• An exercise regime that may benefit from including more high-intensity aerobic efforts.
• Not enough strength training to support her metabolism.

4. The ‘I eat healthy and exercise but get no results’ workhorse

• Eats nutritionally balanced meals, but portions are often too large.
• Loves making new recipes but doesn’t understand how to tailor them to her individual requirements.
• Gets hung up on ‘superfoods’ and supplements that aren’t needed.
• Enjoys eating out regularly but neglects to compensate her usual diet to accommodate the higher calorie load of meals out.
• Sometimes over-exercises and only takes limited rest days, which can lead to the feeling of burnout or overwhelm.

In reading through the client scenarios we hope you might experience a lightbulb realisation around things you may be doing in your own life. Once you’re aware of your behaviours, you’ll be better able to implement the suggested changes to counteract them, and soon you’ll be well on your way to shifting your lifestyle and to seeing significant results.

Imagine in 12 months’ time, looking back on this very moment. It’s a year from now and you’re feeling so grateful you found this book. You’ve absorbed its information, applied it to your life and taken consistent action towards your goals. You can now see the changes in your body you had wanted for so long. You can feel your body brimming with energy. You have confidence that radiates from within.

Imagine it. How different would you feel if your hormones were better balanced and your digestive system was working optimally? How much would your training benefit if you were properly fuelled for your workouts? How much better would your lifestyle be, improved by your expanded knowledge around nutrition and wellness? How good would you feel?!

The exciting news is that you are so very close to being in that place. This book holds the steps to help you achieve the long- lasting results you’ve always wanted. Using science to guide your journey and learning sustainable, evidence-based strategies that fit into your life without hassle, you will finally turn your goals into reality. Let’s begin!