BROADCASTS.com

Mission #46

On Board: Cassie Piasecki
Mission: Break the Cycle of Yo-Yo Dieting

Today’s guest is the absolutely lovely and inspirational Cassie Piasecki, who incorporates various aspects of real food, fitness, and the power of community to help women lead a WOW Life! If you’re not fully convinced throughout the conversation, just wait until you hear her moving story near the end about a memorable client.

As a fitness and nutrition expert, and the founder of the WOW Life Nutrition Program, Cassie knows all too well about the risk of yo-yo dieting. Her mission is to help women avoid this destructive pattern and achieve long-lasting weight loss by forming good habits and incorporating a total mindset shift.

Connect With Cassie:

The WOW Life
@SmartyCassie on Twitter
@thewowlife on Facebook
@smartycassie on Instagram

• [07:07] - Cassie gives some statistics and numbers about weight gain and loss over the holidays, including the scary fact that most people only lose about half of the weight they gain over this time period.
• [09:36] - The word “restriction” as it relates to dieting doesn’t work for Cassie, and she explains why. In the process, she illuminates the problem with other words with negative connotations that we often use in relation to diets.
• [11:41] - What language would Cassie use to replace the words that don’t work for her, like “restriction,” “willpower,” and “cheating”?
• [13:33] - Cassie talks about how she got into the field of health and fitness. We hear about her first attempt to lose weight, which involved learning about portion control. She also discusses how hard it was for her to maintain her weight during the years following her initial success.
• [16:58] - We hear more about Cassie’s problems with dieting, specifically the issues she had with diet pills. She then discusses her sugar cravings and the related problems.
• [18:42] - Around the same time, Cassie was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and rheumatoid arthritis.
• [20:26] - When Cassie was around 40, she started to get more into nutrition to help her mood and her thyroid.
• [21:36] - Cassie talks about how she cut out sugar in her diet.
• [25:41] - We hear about all the negative life effects related to eating poorly, and the concepts of wheels of wellness and unwellness that these effects inspired Cassie to create.
• [27:18] - Orion steps in for a moment to recommend two books to listeners: Sugar Blues, which explains the effects of sugar, and Wheat Belly, which discusses the effects of gluten.
• [28:12] - Cassie explains that it’s hard for the average person (without a deep background in health and nutrition) to see personal connections between sugar or gluten and inflammation or disease. Instead, it’s easier to approach the subject from an angle related to mood or sleep quality.
• [31:25] - Orion talks about her experience growing up in Israel and how it compares to typical food choices in the US.
• [32:23] - How does Cassie convince people to eat more vegetables? Orion chimes in and offers a tip about starting your day with protein and fat instead of protein and carbs, which Cassie supports.
• [36:20] - Cassie shares her new food addiction: rice tortillas by Food For Life.
• [36:43] - Orion talks about her previous episode with Dave Asprey.
• [37:38] - What are the bad fats that we should avoid? In her answer, Cassie emphasizes the importance of eating mindfully.
• [40:38] - Cassie talks about the step in between eating a standard American diet and eating a completely clean, mindful diet. She recommends doing it one meal at a time.
• [42:34] - There’s a lot of emotion tied to food and eating, Cassie points out, and weight gain is often a gradual process.
• [43:20] - What kind of diet would Cassie recommend for a vegetarian? She talks about vegetarian diets (as a vegetarian herself), especially in light of the question of getting enough protein.
• [46:45] - Cassie has been trying out going dairy-free, which she says is easy. She also says, however, that she hasn’t noticed feeling any different.
• [49:14] - We learn more about the “wheel of wellness” and the “wheel of unwellness,” with Cassie giving us a way to visualize these wheels.
• [52:56] - Cassie shifts into talking about the wheel of wellness, after a vivid description of the experience of being on the wheel of unwellness.
• [55:21] - Orion asks Cassie for an inspirational success story of one of her clients, and the one Cassie shares certainly fits the bill.
• [59:03] - Cassie shares her three tips for living a stellar life: 1. Do something active first thing in the morning every day. 2. Eat real food. 3. Find something every day that makes you laugh like crazy.
• [60:42] - Inspired yet? If so, you’ll be glad to know that Stellar Life listeners have access to a special discount for the WOW Life Nutrition Program. Use promo code “stellar” to save $25 (normal price $199.00). For more information about the program, check out this link.

1. Make a list of all of the negative terms you use about dieting and food, like “cheating” and “restriction.”
2. For each negative word on your list, come up with two or three positive words. Consciously work on changing your phrasing to these positive terms.
3. Set yourself a challenge of giving up all sugar for three weeks. During this time, observe your body and moods closely to see what a difference this makes.

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Sugar Blues
Wheat Belly
Rice tortillas by Food For Life.
Dave Asprey on Stellar LIfe Podcast