The Livy Method Podcast - Livy Method Day 5 - Fall 2024

Episode Date: September 13, 2024

Gina Livy's Facebook Lives from The Livy Method Fall 2024 Support Group hosted on Facebook. This is a recording of the Day 5, 9 AM live. You can find the full video hosted at:https://www.facebook.com/groups/livymethodfall2024Topics covered:Weight loss is so much more than what you are eating and when you are eating. We’re here t set you up for success!Rolling into the weekend -how to navigate The Food Plan on the weekendsAccessing the Facebook Lives within The Livy Method AppImportant posts for new members to review when joining The Program this weekAdding other components to your meals and vegetable snackBeing mindful of artificial ingredients added to your fluidsUnderstanding detox symptoms and signs to look out for when your scale is about to dropWhat to expect in the Facebook Support Group on weekendsNavigating the misinformation in the diet industryNatural fluctuations on the scale & the many reasons why your scale can be up that are not real weight gainThe routine of The Program gives the body what it needs so that it can focus on fat lossWorking with your health care provider while working through The Program to adjust medications if neededLosing weight at the start of The ProgramUtilizing the sickness protocol for emotional stress alongside sicknessGiving yourself permission to prioritize yourselfGina’s background story before starting The Livy Method – Why The Livy Method is so affordableHonouring our amazing community!Update on the Livy Method JournalStay tuned for the Week 1 Guidelines posted this Sunday!To learn more about the Livy Method, visit www.ginalivy.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Gina Livy and welcome to the Livy Method podcast. This is where you'll have access to all of the live streams from my 91 day weight loss program. With a combination of daily lives, guest expert interviews and member stories, there is something new almost every day. Miss the morning live? Want to re-listen to one of our amazing guest experts? Well, this is the place. This podcast is hosted on Acast, but it's available on all podcast platforms, including the one you're listening to right now, Spotify, Apple,

and Amazon Music. It is day five of the program. Are you still with us? Are you still here? I wish weight loss was easier. I wish it was. I wish it was just easy peasy done, as simple as that. But I think you might be realizing by now that weight loss is just so much more than what you are eating and when. And I'm going to do my best to provide you all the resources that you need to answer all the questions that you have to make sure you have the information that you need to set yourself up for success, to follow through and to be here at the end of the program. It's not any one thing you're going to do or focus on. It's all the things that you are going to do day in, day out that are going to add up and make a big difference. You're going to have

some days that you're crushing it, some days that you feel like you're failing at it. You're going to be frustrated. You probably will want to quit, but then what? Then what? It's just a matter of showing up. What I love about the Libby Method is it's a healthy, sustainable way to lose your weight, but at the same time, there's so many benefits to all the things that you're doing. Prioritizing yourself in your own life, focused on eating nutrient rich foods, making sure you're hydrated, getting the best quality sleep you can, helping to manage your stress, move your body. Like there's no downside to showing up and doing all the things that you want to do and need to do in order to reach your goal. So I'm going to tell it like it is. I'm a straight shooter.

You might've noticed. I'm not going to blow smoke up your ass. I'm not going to feed you a ton of horseshit. I'm going to have real conversations with you and tell you what you need to do. I've helped a lot of people. This has been my life's work, my life's passion. I've been doing it for probably more than 30 years of my life. Just a really long time. I've become really good at it. But what I've also learned is to stay in my lane. And there's a lot of other people who are really good at what they do. I hope that you have had time. And if not, please take time to watch or listen to the conversation that we had with our guest experts. That's just some of them. We have more amazing guest experts that are going to be joining us along the way.

That's just some of them who've really come to understand the program and who've had experience themselves and have had experience helping our members on their journey as well. So much insight, so many good takeaways into what it's really going to take for most of you. Some of you will just follow the food plan. And I mean, we get that a lot at the end. That was so easy. Thank you so much. Off I go. Wow. And but for more people, most people, they'll probably struggle a little bit more. I don't like to say struggle, but we're even going to get in and define struggle. Sometimes people like I'm struggling. What does that mean? We're going to help you define it so you can actually figure out what you need to do to work through it. So day five of the program, we're rolling into the weekend. We're rolling into the weekend. Don't stress about that. Weekends tend to be more

off routine. So it's okay if your food can be, your food is off routine. We do have a post on that for you today, how to navigate the weekends. The worst thing you can do is not eat all day in anticipation of a bigger meal later, because then you're just going to overeat that meal. And then probably the next day, you're going to wake up, you're going to feel it, and then you're going to try to punish yourself and undereat the following day. And what that does is reinforces the need for your body to store fat. So you go all day long without eating. Your body has to dip into your fat reserves.

You are telling your body, oh, I need this fat because I need to use it. And then when you go and overeat later, the body doesn't understand why you're overeating. Why are we eating all this food? There must be a shortage of food. So let's take all this food and store it as fat. And when you wake up the next day and you try, you know, you wake up the next day and then you try to make up for it by starving yourself. Well, I overate yesterday, so I'm going to under eat today, which again, you don't give your body enough. And that reinforces the need for your body to dip in and utilize your fat reserves. And so this type of pattern, right, year over year,

along with dieting, where you are actually starving and depriving yourself, it's like a recipe for weight gain at the end of the day. So on the weekends, don't worry about the bites and bits or the things that you are having. Worry about the things that you need to have in terms of following the food plan. Again, it's not a set of rules. It's a set of guidelines. And the more you can have as many choices as possible, fall in line with your goals, the better. I got a little bit distracted there. People are talking about how to find the live. So in the app, it's a manual process. You may think technology has come a long way. But when it comes to our app, we do link the live from within the app, but it has to start in Facebook first. And then we have a person who has to link

it in the live afterwards. Now, if you just rewind the live or watch it from the beginning, you'll only be about a minute behind. So you'll still be part of the conversation. If you want to catch the live live, the best way to do that is to go to the photo section at the time when it's supposed to be airing and just click on that page. If you try to find it within the feed, it'll take you a while. Or if you wait till Facebook gives you a notification, that's usually like five minutes after the fact. You're not missing anything off the top of the live. So don't stress about that. Usually it's just me saying hello, hi. And at the end of it, you can always just go back and rewind and watch those few minutes that you might've missed. People stress a

lot about the program and the things that you're doing and don't. It's not worth stressing about. It's not. Nothing is an emergency situation. We're going to help you figure it out. You're not missing anything. You can miss a whole week of the program and get caught up on it very easily, which reminds me, I want to talk to all of our new members. We do have a few spots open. I don't know how long we're going to keep those open till. I never guarantee that. We keep an eye on numbers and how many people are getting into the group. But if you have been added to the program today or the last couple of days, don't get overwhelmed by all the information. There are two things that you're going to want to make sure you review. The one is the basic

prep week guidelines. And the other is the basic food plan. So prep week guidelines is what you're going to do each week. And the food plan is the basis of what to eat and when. All the rest is just supplemental information going down the rabbit hole of things like coffee and alcohol and chocolate and what are leafy greens. And we do have some helpful visuals. There's a post on proteins, carbs, and fats, which has a breakdown of all the different proteins, carbs, and fats. There's a gross list. I had someone come into the group yesterday and they're like, well, how do I follow this? There's all I see is videos and posts. And that got me thinking, maybe we need a reminder of all the information in this book. The only posts that you really need

to review are the guidelines each week. And they are posted at the beginning of each week. They are also in the app. So if you go to the app, into the guide section of the buttons across the bottom, it'll pull up all of the guidelines for each week. That's essentially the program. That's it. Prep Week Guidelines all the way through Week 12 Guidelines. The rest is just added information to just help empower you, give you the knowledge that you need to make the changes that you need to make and answer a lot of the questions that you have. So try not to overcomplicate it. Made it to my first live. Hi, Ken Chen. Ken Chen crushed a weight workout and added some berries to my breakfast. I love that. So you can add fruit and vegetables to your breakfast. That's a question that we get

a lot, although you want to make sure you're prioritizing protein. You can also add nuts and seeds to other things besides your nut and seed snack. You still want to have that nut and seed snack. You can also add protein and fat to your veg snack. So you can do, you can also use things like olives and pickles, and you can use like kimchi if you want. You can also add cheese to your veg snack or a dip to your veg snack. So we give you the basics, but in there, there's some small print there where you can add, make sure you're giving a bit more variation in your foods. If you like, also for those of you who can't have nuts and seeds, the best thing to do is to have nuts and seeds. But if you can't, there are alternatives as well that are written in there. If you are allergic to nuts and seeds, but if you can't, there are alternatives as well that are written in

there if you are allergic to nuts and seeds. Someone's asked me about sparkling water. Yeah, you can have sparkling water. I'm not a fan of artificial sweetener. I'll get into that. I'll have a conversation with Dr. Paul or Dr. Alinka about that. I am really not a fan of artificial sweeteners. There are some that are better than others, the monk fruit and stevia, they're better ones on the market. They still create a chemical reaction in your brain similar to sugar. But you do want to watch any artificial sweeteners or sweeteners added to obviously your fluids, your water intake, but you can use sparkling water. Sometimes the bubbles can upset your tummy and can make you feel a little bit bloated. Other than that, totally fine to have sparkling water if you want. You know, it's all about your fluid intake. So we say 2.7 to 3.5

liters of water, but even your coffee counts as water. You don't want to be getting all of your water intake by coffee, obviously, but a lot of all the fluids that you ingest and except for alcohol and in your foods, like fruits that can be like 98% water all count. So it does add up for sure. Someone's talking about last three days, fuzzy headache, then remembered must be detox. Sure enough, I was down on the scale. I love Martine that you mentioned that. So there's a lot of posts, sometimes when they're not relevant to you in the moment, you might just kind of like read over and you'll need to go back and review. So in the first week of the program by now, if you've been really consistent, if you haven't,

that's okay. That's okay. So what will happen in the first few days of the program or first few days of being consistent, when you constrain two to three days, you are going to notice you feel a lot less bloated. And you're going to notice you have better energy, you might notice that you are extra hungry, but then also you get you notice you get full as well. You might find when your weight is about to drop that you actually feel kind of bloated, and then not so great. And you're extra hungry heading into the evening. Even though you've eaten all this good nutrient rich foods throughout the day, you might not be sleeping well, because you're waking up around that three or four o'clock time to go to the bathroom. And you might be a

little bit cranky. So I know not everyone can relate with this, but detox when it comes to weight loss, or when your body's about to release fat can very much feel like PMS, where your body's retaining water right before your flow comes. You can even be constipated right before your flow comes or your weight is about to drop when we're talking weight loss. So you can feel extra bloated. You can be craving carbs and sugar. You can kind of really just feel kind of eh. And that, unfortunately, can be a reality for a lot of people. Now that's detox symptoms. That's symptoms that you can have right before the scale is about to

move. And normally that falls in line with what it looks like on the scale. So your scale will be up for a day or two days before the scale drops, and then it will drop down and then probably again, and then it might even go back up and then drop down again, or it's normal to see that up and then drop. And then the next day drops back up and people are like, oh, I guess I didn't really gain that weight. When what's happening is that your body's trying to retain water to continue to release that fat. So this is why sometimes our team will say, make sure you're drinking your water if the scale is moving because your body needs to retain that water in order to help you release fat. And if you don't drink enough water while your body's in that detox mode, your weight can show up on the scale.

And the reason why we tend not to drink water when the scale is moving is because when we're in that detox mode, water's not all that appealing. So that's another sign. So there are a couple of signs your weight is about to drop. You feel extra bloated and gross, just kind of, you're extra hungry heading into the evening, even though you've eaten all this nutrient rich foods, you're waking up around that three, four o'clock time in the morning to go pee and water's not appealing. And usually when you're feeling like that, the scale starts dropping in the days following. And so this is a reality why a lot of people don't follow through on losing weight in a

healthy way. Like this is like a typical January. I'm going to be healthy. I'm going to get healthier. And then they start eating healthy and they end up actually sometimes not feeling great because that's just your body releasing the fat. So when your body releases your fat, there are toxins stored in your fat that gets released into your bloodstream through the metabolic process. And that can make you feel just kind of like blah. So here you are trying to

be healthy and lose weight in a healthy way. And you don't feel so great. Then you're trying to eat all this healthy food, trying to lose weight in a healthy way, and your weight is up. Your weight is up. And you're like, what gives here? This isn't working for me. Right? So that can be a very frustrating process. All of a sudden, you're making all these healthy choices and changes. And you expect, I'm going to feel amazing. And my weight's going to drop and you feel not so great and your weight is up. So we got to be able to see past that. So make sure you take some time and read over that scale post and what weight is up. So we got to be able to see past that. So make sure you take some time and read over that scale post and what weight really looks like and that detox post to really understand how you might feel. Now, again, how strong of detox symptoms you have or you don't

have, zero indication of how successful you'll be. Your body detoxes all the time. Just some people are a little bit more sensitive to it. I want to talk about the weekend. I want to talk about the weekend. We keep weekends really light around here. We're going to post some recipes. We are going to introduce our science Saturday. So on the weekends, we roll out the science behind the program relevant to where you're at in the program. I think this weekend we're talking set point, which is the base of the program. Your body gets used to functioning at a certain weight. We're giving it what it needs so it no longer feels the need to store that fat. We help the body release the fat. You're going to plateau. Your body will adjust. You'll release again. You'll plateau. Body will

adjust. You'll release again. Plateau. Body will adjust. And then once you reach your goal weight, then you're going to work on maintenance and helping your body get used to your new weight. So obviously, it's more complicated than that. And there's a process to it. It's going to take time. But that's the base of the program. We roll out some recipes, we roll out some science, we sometimes we post some inspirational posts, we're going to be introducing our team along the way. But other than that, we don't really post anything information wise. So we give you an opportunity to get caught up on all the information during the week. The team is still very much working on the weekend. So you can pop into the group at any time throughout the day. I think the

team works up till around three o'clock and ask as many questions as you need on Sundays. So on Sundays, the last day of the week, that is when we roll out the information for the following week. So week one of the program is called fine tuning and adjusting. So it's, you're going to take everything that you've learned during prep week and work on being super consistent with the changes that you've made so far. So that's the plan for next week. So if you're wondering, do I need anything new for groceries? Nope. We're just going to keep doing the exact same thing. And you're going to make it your mission to be as consistent as possible in focusing on those things. Hi, Gina.

This is the first time anyone has ever explained the fat loss norms. Thanks for being so supportive. Yeah. Oh my God. There's so much misinformation out there. Like the diet industry likes to take everything to extremes. It's all clickbait. It's all gimmick.

It's all like buy into. I was thinking today, you know, I don't make weight loss. Like I, I, I don't sugarcoat weight loss. Um, I wish it was easier, but there's a, and for some people it is, it's just a lot of working parts with it. Um, and there's a lot, there's a lot to it. Like if you've been dieting for 20 years, like you're an expert in it, you know, a lot, but the problem is if you've been dieting for 20 years, like you're an expert in it, you know a lot. But the problem is if you've been learning from the diet industry, they kind of just, they fucked it all up. They've really messed it up.

Counting, weighing and measuring, it's one way to lose weight, but there are other ways to approach it. Like things like plateaus. So you've been taught that, let's take it back to WW, right? I've heard so many stories, people signing up when they were 12, you know, that lifetime membership, you get your pin, you reach your goal weight, you go to meetings and your weight is up. I think you have to stay within that four pound range. I mean, my weight can fluctuate by 10 pounds by the end of the day.

Like they never took into account fluctuations on the scale. This is why I think it's so important to weigh every single day to really understand that your weight is going to be up for so many reasons that will have nothing to do with weight gain. Having a crappy night's sleep, working out, your muscles being sore. That's, I mean, it's not real weight gain. Being dehydrated, even being in the sun, you spend some time in the sun, your weight's going to be up. Not real weight gain. It's going to come right back down, right? And so you go, you weigh in, and your weight is up. So the problem with weighing once a week is let's say you go to your WW meeting, it's on a Friday. And all week long, you've been doing really great. And that Thursday night, the night before you have some Thai food or some sort of salty food or some soy sauce, God forbid, you don't drink enough water that day, you did a hard workout at the gym,

and your muscles are sore, your kids had you up at night or something and you know, or whatever something is on your mind had a crappy sleep, you wake up the next day and your weight is up. And then you go to your meeting and you get berated because your weight is up. Did you ever used to watch The Biggest Loser? Oh man, I used to scream at my TV show. You know where you see people and they're really big and they have a lot of weight to lose and they're working out, they're working their asses off and they're working out so hard. And yet they go to weigh-in day and they don't lose anything. And it's not because they're eating donuts or cheating.

It's because they're overtraining and under eating, right? So it's just things like water. They'll tell you drink water. It'll suppress your appetite. No, it won't. Drinking water is not going to suppress your appetite. Now, if you are craving carbs and sugar because you are dehydrated, because your body's trying to get you to drink more water and you drink the water that your body's actually asking for in the first place, sure, that's going to address the

fact that you were craving carbs and sugar because you weren't really hungry. Your body's just trying to desperately get you to drink some water. But the diet industry says, oh, drink water, it'll suppress your appetite. If you're really, really hungry, drinking water doesn't do anything, right? They'll tell you that when your weight is up, you've gained weight, when in reality, your weight fluctuates all day long. And so there's a lot of myths and mistruths out there. So we're going to unpack all of them. We're going to unpack all of them.

Again, it can seem like a lot. It can seem like a lot. But I hope you're excited about it. we're going to pack all of them. Again, it can seem like a lot. It can seem like a lot, but I hope you're excited about it. I down 6.9 in one week, likely I'll water and I think salt loaded the day before. So the program, people are always wowed when their weight starts dropping, especially because I know so many of you have tried to lose weight through barely eating and have been unsuccessful. And all of a sudden you're eating all this food. You're like, what gives?

How can I be losing weight now that I'm giving my body what it needs? Your body doesn't want this fat and your body is happy to release the fat. A lot of times it's because your body's feeling a need to store fat. So it's like, no, you can't have my fat. I need it because you keep utilizing it. So your body's like, no, I've learned that I need to store this fat. So this is why it's all about giving the body what it needs and addressing its needs. Now the body's not holding grudges against you. It's not going to be like, I'm not so sure I can trust this. Now it is important to be consistent so your body can

rely on the fact that you're going to consistently give it what it needs. And so that's the first thing is your body's like, no, you can't have my fat. I need it. And so let's just start giving your body and your body's going to be like, wow, I'm getting all of this food. This is, this is amazing. Your body's not going to be like, oh, please don't, no, don't give me any more of that nutrient rich, healthy food. I don't want it. Your body's like, this is great. And so the reason why, like in the beginning too, you can kind of feel like it's a lot of food, but then your metabolism will pick up.

And this is where you're going to end up start feeling a lot leaner because your body will kick your metabolism and gear. I'm like, okay, shit, we better get our ass in gear here. We're getting all this food. Our body's working on slow-mo. We better pick up the pace so we can handle this influx of food. And so you start giving your body the food and your body's like, okay, we've got all this amazing food coming in. And what we don't need now is all this fat hanging around. So your body will be happy to get rid of fat that it feels no longer serves a purpose. It's just, it's got to have the opportunity to do that. And so this is where our body has a lot of things that it needs to focus on and do.

And this is why the routine of the program is really great because it just gives the body what it needs in a very systematic way. The body can kind of calm down, right? And focus on what it needs to focus on. This is why also things like trying to get better sleep, manage your stress, move your body is really going to be beneficial in helping your body specifically focus on fat loss. And so give the body what it needs, help it focus on fat loss. And then the end isn't go harder,

go deeper, go harder, go home. It's actually support the body and its needs. So your body doesn't want this fat. So if you give it, address its needs and give it what it needs to help it focus on fat loss, like water to support the detox process, like sleep, which is when your body repairs and rebuilds, like not eating at night so your body can focus on detox instead of processing, digesting your food when you're trying to sleep, your weight will drop. And so people will say, oh, it's water weight. Oh, it's this, it's that, but that you're not starving yourself. So when you do a deprivation diet, yes, it's water. It's water, right? And then you're also losing fat,

but you're also losing muscle on top of that. So don't be surprised if the program works. Now, what will happen if you are losing a big chunk now, you will have a plateau. So if you are a big chunk dropper and you've lost a lot in the first week of the program, chances are you will have a bit of a longer plateau. But that's okay. That's because you've lost a lot. So your body's got to adjust to that. Now your body's like, well, shit, we dropped all that fat. Now we need to adjust everything. We need to adjust our body temperature, our metabolism, our blood flow, or all of that. Even the size of your heart is going to have to adjust to the changing size of your body. So people who are losing a lot now,

they will have a plateau. People who are not dropping now. So if your weight is not dropping now, your body is still working very hard. It's taking these resources and it's like, wow, this is amazing. I can now take all these resources, which is all that nutrient rich foods and start repairing and rebuilding and addressing my body's needs. And so your body is working hard internally. And this is what we see when you go to your doctors, you get your blood work done, where it's not unusual halfway through the program, you know, check your cholesterol. If you have high cholesterol within a month, month and a half,

you will notice your cholesterol levels start to decrease. This is where people start decreasing their diabetes meds, their thyroid medication. And this is where a heads up on that. If you are feeling really great, things are happening, you're feeling really good on the program, then all of a sudden you get to a point where you're not feeling really great and you are taking things like blood pressure meds, thyroid meds, your diabetes meds. This is where you really want to check in with your doctors because as your body changes, chances are your medications might need to change along the way. Someone's asking about when you say you lost a lot in the first week, how many pounds are you referring to? Everyone is different. Everyone is different, right? So someone who only has like five pounds to lose,

two pounds would be a lot. 10 pounds to lose, right? That would be a lot. Two pounds, three pounds, that'd be a lot of weight. Someone who has 100 pounds to lose, they might lose like nine pounds. I've had someone lose 13 pounds in the first week of the program. So it really is like, it really depends. It really depends on how much weight you have to lose. Now, is some of that bloating? Yes. Decreasing inflammation? Yes. Right. And that's because when you started the program on day one, chances are your weight that you got on the scale is not your actual weight. If you like leading up to the program, we're indulging in like junk foods, for lack of a better word to describe them,

you know what I'm saying? Drinking alcohol, whatever, you can have some inflammation in your body, which is actually having your weight be elevated. So now you start giving your body healthy, nutrient rich foods, you are trying to get better sleep at night, you know, drinking water to be hydrated, you can see that decrease in inflammation, which will result in a decrease on the scale. So chances are what your weight you started with was probably higher than what you actually, actually weigh. And so then when you start to clean things up, I hate that word. I hate clean eating. I don't think food's not dirty. I don't like the, but you know, but for lack of a better word, when you start to clean

things up, you'll probably notice you start to feel better, your joints feel better, your body moves a little bit better. And that, you know, that can be an example of sort of decreasing inflammation in the body, right? I'm at 7.2 pounds down right now. Yes. So there is Pam giving an example. But this is the weight I gained between programs, which was from inflammation and far too many bites of bits and high sodium foods. Perfect, perfect example. Thank you, Pam. Perfect, perfect example. Perfect example. Perfect example. I lost my job yesterday. I'm full of grief. Do I follow the sickness protocol? Well, I'm really sorry to hear that. I'm really sorry to hear that. I'm one of

those people though that I suck a bit at empathy because I'm excited for you because this is an opportunity to really, you know, figure out what you want to do and an opportunity for change. And I, you know, but that is shit. I'm not going to dismiss the fact that that is shit. That is shit. That sucks. You are allowed to feel that that is shitty and that sucks. And in feeling like that, you might feel not hungry, not motivated. You might feel, so yes, the sickness protocol is just as much for sickness. I have a cold, a flu, whatever, as it is for emotional stress. This is very, I would imagine it's very emotional for you, you know? So absolutely.

And this can be like, man, am I really going to focus on weight loss right now while I'm dealing with this? Like, you know, I got bills to pay. I got kids to feed. Maybe I got a, this is really shit where I'm at in my career, whatever that might be. Right. But I can tell you, it's not an easy thing to do, but if you can do everything you can to show up every day for yourself in other ways and support yourself in this moment, focus on trying to get, if you do eat, eat as new. Listen, if you want to have a day where you just drink all the wine and eat the chips, you do that, right? You do that.

That's not going to stop you from reaching your goal. But put a time limit on it. This is what I do for myself. I put a time limit on it. Okay, pissy pants, right? Have your moment. Okay, sad Sally, you know, have your moment. Okay. You know, bad Mandy. I don't, I'm making shit up. I don't know. Um, take your time, feel your feels

because sometimes what happens, especially with grief and sadness is that we want to trash ourselves physically to validate our feels. So I'm feeling a certain way and it feels like if I feel amazing physically, but I feel mentally destroyed, sad, whatever that might be, a lot of times in order to really take time to validate our feels, we feel like we should physically represent and feel our feels in order to really validate them. And you don't actually have to do that. You can feel your feelings and validate your feels by actually just recognizing that this is how you feel. And you don't actually have to trash your body to go along with it, which then doesn't make you feel any better. It doesn't really help

at the end of the day. So I love that you're here. I love that you're here. Follow the sickness pro. Show up, give yourself, my prescription for you is to show yourself kindness and grace and to take the time to figure out what you need. Call a friend, have a bath, go for a walk, read a book, give yourself a few days before you start stressing yourself about what you're going to do. You're going to be okay. You know, being, try to just handle today, today. And, you know, I think where you, when you show up for yourself in a certain way and you kind of, you put that energy into the world, it attracts a different, like attracts like, like attracts like, you know? So yes, follow the sickness program. Sending you lots of love. I'm sending you lots of love.

And that's the thing about the program. Things are going to happen. Dr. Beverly talked about this. Was it Dr. Beverly who talked about this or Dr. Dina? I can't remember. We actually talked about this in our conversation yesterday with our guest experts. I think it was Dr. Beverly or Dr. Dina. They had signed up for a course and the professor had said, during this course, what you are going to learn, there are going to be losses. There's going to be grief. There's

going to be celebrations. There's going to be life happening. And it's just a matter of you have this goal, whether it's graduating from a course or reaching your weight loss goal or, you know, whatever, trying to get pregnant and have a child, you know, build a house, whatever, build a business, whatever that is, weight loss is kind of no different. It's like reaching any goal. It's continuing to show up even when you don't really feel like it, doing the best you can. It's about the things that you're doing each day, adding up and making a big difference and just every day kind of inching closer and closer and closer and closer to reaching your goal. And so you're gonna have good days and bad days. It's just a matter of continuing to show up, continuing to show up, continuing to show up. One of the things that I love so much about you,

Gina, is that you are helping us through life, not just weight loss. That advice about putting a timer on being in our fields is amazing. You give us permission to feel what we feel, which is just as important as advising us to put a time limit on it. Well, thank you. Thank you. You know what I find a lot of times, we just need permission to prioritize ourselves in our life. I'll tell you why. Because when we talk to people who are in maintenance and they've reached their weight loss goals, they say things like, well, I'm able to easily maintain my weight, but I don't feel as good as I felt when I was losing weight. And that's because they feel like they can no longer, they've taken their time for weight loss, and now they have to

get back to prioritizing everything else, right? They were making that time to move their bodies. They were making an effort to be really sacred about their sleep. They were doing the selfish things that they needed to do to help manage their stress, in which if you, you've got to be even selfish. If you're old school like me, you're taught that selfish was a bad thing. And you know, it's your job to take care of yourself. You need to be selfish in your life. And I think a lot of times we just need permission to do that. And when I talk to people who've done the program, they never really talk about their weight. They talk about how they feel and the things that they've done. It's never about the weight. It's about the fact that they've done this thing and

they did it in a way that they feel really good about. And so really that's all I'm doing. I'm just sharing all my knowledge with you, everything I've learned. It's great that I get to run a successful business and that's not lost on me. It's because you guys share and you tell everybody that the program works. It's a program you can feel really good about. And I think our guests are the same. I know our guests. So it takes me a while to find new guests for the program because I really want to find people who really respect how hard our members are trying.

Like you guys are really going to try. You're going to work through a lot of stuff. You're going to, you want this and you are doing it in the right way. And I really want everyone on my team, especially my guest experts, to really honor that. And they're coming from a place, they get really excited because they know what can be accomplished. And you're giving tips to people who are actually taking them and implementing them, right? And then seeing the benefit from them, which is really exciting. It feels so good to feel good. It feels like even better to help other people feel good. You'll also notice we have the most supportive community.

So you'll notice if you are struggling on days, you're going to have someone in the comments come and share some love. Um, especially a lot of our returning members, they, they kind of know what it takes to make it through the program. They also know how you're going to feel at the end of the program. And one of our favorite things to do is see people who have, you see people who have struggled through the program and then what they've worked through, and then you see them be a success story at the end. Man, it's so wonderful. Hi, Alicia. This program is how I show up for myself in a chaotic situation of food insecurity and anxiety and not knowing how I'm going to pay for things every day. This is a place I can be in my power. I lost that for a while while being here and

showing up for myself is giving me the space to know what I can control and what I can't right now. So about 10, 11, 12, 12 years ago, 12, 13 years ago, I was months behind in my rent. I got my car repossessed. I, my husband got sick. So my husband and I, we had my ex-husband, he recently passed away last year. We had a business together and we had our own little studio. We had a little TV show. We were actually, we had deals in the works with Oprah Network and the Food Network. Food Network was going to make us their food family. And everything was going really well for us. And I remember in December, my husband wasn't feeling well. He was just not feeling great. And so we were like, you know what? Things are really good

for us right now. Why don't we take December off? And we've been working so hard. Why don't we take time to spend time with our kids? And then, you know, you can take time to de-stress. It was a lot of stress, right? And we also had four kids, four young children. And so we had our holidays and whatever. And I remember it was like things were going, that was like the first year things were going really well for us. And, you know, it was a great Christmas, lots of presents for the kids and all of that. And then he had actually had an opportunity to get on the Marilyn Dennis show. I don't know anyone who's, I don't know, Canadian and kind of local. Marilyn dentist was a big morning show here. Kind of like, I guess like Allen maybe in the States, but this was like Maryland. It was like a,

like a daily kind of show, 10 AM time slot, a big deal. And he was, he got on to be in the chef competition and whoever won this competition was going to be the new resident chef of the Maryland Diner Show. And I remember he was going and he had to go downtown Toronto and stay there. And he would call me and be like, I don't know what's going on with me, my brain. He's like, I couldn't remember how to turn the stove on today. And I'm like, what? He's like, yeah, I'm just really struggling. I don't know what's wrong with me. And I'm like, well, maybe it's the stress. I don't know. And so he made it to the end. He made it to the end. And he came home and he just did not look well. I immediately said, let's go to the walk-in clinic. Let's like not even make an appointment with our doctor. Go to the walk-in clinic. The doctor said, oh, you have bronchitis,

a lung infection or something. Take some antibiotic. That was the Friday. By the Sunday, he looked like the Michelin man. He was all poofy and huge. I'm like, we got to take you to the hospital. Anyway, he got into the hospital. His blood pressure was 244 over 144. He had total organ failure, heart failure, like kidney failure, like all of it. They didn't expect him to make it through the night for the first few nights. And our whole lives changed. And he obviously survived for 10 years and he couldn't work. So he couldn't go back to work. And I had to take care of him. And I had four kids.

And we got behind in our just it's also just physically exhausting, mentally exhausting to have an experience like that. And I couldn't pay my bills. I had to shut my studio down. My car got repossessed. And I didn't know what to do. And sure, like I have money and like I could, I could sure could have asked for money, but that just wasn't that like the money that I owed was so large. And my parents did well, but not like to like the money I was behind in my rent. And I was like, what am I going to do? And I pulled out the secret and I know this may seem really kooky, but it's not about the secret. It's about whatever you can find. And I would watch the secret. I don't know if you guys remember the secrets like manifesting. And really what that

did was like, tell me like, just be in the moment. It's okay. Like you're going to just take a deep breath. What are you going to do? And so I'd be like, okay, what do I want in my life? And it was very hard for me to focus on myself when, you know, my husband was struggling so much and I'd lost everything. It's like, what do I want? This is, let me look at it as an opportunity to figure out what I need in my life right now. And so I would just put together like a list of things I can do. And then something would be like, okay, call this person. And then I would call that person. I would tell them my story and share.

So embarrassed. But they would be like, hey, I know somebody. Why don't you call this person? And then why don't you do this? I never thought to reach out to people around me because I guess I was just like, I can do it all myself. And people really wanted to help, which is really lovely. And you know, there's a whole other part of the story about how I went from there and how I built my business. But there were times where I honestly had like $5. I

remember one day at the grocery store, I had $5 and I had to feed my kids. And I'm like, what am I going to do here? And I was like, do I buy like the pasta that's on sale or like the rice is on sale? And do I do a sauce? And like, can I put tuna in the sauce? Cause at the time it was cheaper than meat. And how do I do that? And so that's a big part of why the program is so affordable is because I've been there before. I'm very mindful. I mean, I'm so blessed to be where I am now. And that's why I'm always saying I'm so grateful because it's not lost on me that I wouldn't be here if you guys didn't put your faith in me. I just, I'm saying that because I'm cognizant of that

every single day. And if you can, if you have a full food full of like a fridge full of food, and you can go in your cupboards right now and eat like, man, you, you, you, you know, if you have a friend that you can talk to, like you have more than you think that you have. And so I know there are also people on the program who money is not a problem and, you know, they're living beautiful, wonderful, lavish, luxury lifestyles. And I love that too. And so sometimes people will say to me, like, do you ever, like, how do you share your trips and your vacations and your things?

I said, I'm, it's my life and I have friends and family who follow me. And I like to share parts of that, like the foods I'm eating, where I'm going. And I am hoping it's inspiring. And so like, I'm where I'm at and I was where I'm going, and I'm hoping it's inspiring. And so like I'm where I'm at, and I was where I was, and I'd see people who are places I want to be. And I look for inspiration on that. I try not to internalize it in jealousy, or I have a lack. I look at it as inspiration. Well, if that person has that, I can have that too. If that person has gone there, I can go there. If that person is doing that, I can do that.

And so that's where I try to spin it and find inspiration. And the same, and how does this relate to weight loss? Let me write this down to weight loss. In the program, you're going to see people who've, someone who's lost 20 pounds and somebody who's lost 30 pounds and you're struggling to lose two pounds. But if you can really take that and be like, okay, it's possible for that person. It can also be possible for me as well. Right? And so it's, it can be difficult to see other people succeeding in the

program when you're having a moment of frustration, but then eventually they will have a moment of frustration and then you will be succeeding. And so I'd always just try to look for that glimmer, that hope. And that's what I'm trying to bring to you with this weight loss program. You can be hopeful that you are going to lose your weight. You can be hopeful that you're going to lose your weight in a way you're going to be able to maintain and sustain, because I'm going to do everything in my power to teach you what you need to do and give you the resources and tools for you to accomplish that amazing, huge, massive goal. Um, but we do get to know our members around here and we've seen some of them. Uh, last year we had one of our very vocal, amazing, incredible members, Sarah Perry passed

away, um, during a program that a lot of us felt. Um, we've had Brenda Huxley, um, Brenda Huxley, who's lost 100 and I don't even know 30 pounds in the program, who was just making it her goal to actually get out of her house. And we shouldn't left her house in four years. And we follow Brenda's journey. And last program, she signed up for us. And she found out she had a brain tumor and she's been in the hospital for months. I'm still engaged in the program. She's probably, hello, Brenda, watching.

She's probably watching. Brenda's exercising in her wheelchair. So Brenda found out she had a brain tumor. She had it removed and now she's dealing with breast cancer, I believe. So, you know, we're feeling, we follow a lot of our members, Joanna Hunt and our husband, Brian. We featured them as one of our spill the leaf. So, you know, we're feeling, we follow a lot of our members, Joanna Hunt and our husband, Brian, we featured them as one of our spill the tea. She spent time in a hospital in the last few months getting major back surgery. And, you know, we're very cognizant that you are very real people living your very real job, very real lives on a very real journey. And so we really try to honor that along the way.

Okay, I do have to get going. I just I wanted to share so you can get to know a little bit about me and my approach and our community. Now you may not be interested in any of that. And that's okay. You're like, Gina, just tell me what to eat. And when I don't need this, I don't need that. And that I'm here for you too And I'm here for you too. I am here for you too. That's why all that information that you need is in the app. It is in the book. It's still available on Amazon, by the way.

It's also posted in the Facebook support group. So if you just want to read the information and do your thing, that's great. If you want to be all in and do all the stuff, I'm here for you as well. The journal, you're asking me about the journal. So the team finalized it. It's lovely. I'm so proud of it. It's still a work in progress. So if you do pick up the journal, please give us some feedback because we're going to be doing a new journal for each program. So rather buying a new big ass book, we are going to do a journal and a tracker. I'm hoping it'll be up on Amazon by the end of the day. We posted it yesterday. Amazon prints it and delivers it and all of that. It can take up to 72 hours.

Sometimes they're a lot quicker. So we'll let you know when that's available. I think that's it. Have an exceptional day. Have a fabulous weekend. Pop in if you got questions. Remember on Sunday, we post the guidelines for week one. More of the same.

More of the same. Just working on being consistent with what you've done today. Get caught up on any of the information that you might've missed. And please, please, please invest in some time to, if you've ever struggled with your weight, please invest some time into listening or watching the conversation that we had with our guest experts. You'll get to meet them. But more than that, there's so many fabulous takeaways. If I didn't answer your question, pop it over on the

question of the day page. The team will answer it for you over there. I do not go live on the weekend, but I will be checking in. Otherwise I'll see you bright and early Monday morning. Have a great day. Bye.