The Livy Method Podcast - Livy Method Day 79 - Spring 2025

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

Gina Livy's Facebook Lives from The Livy Method Spring 2025 Support Group hosted on Facebook. This is a recording of the Day 79, 9 AM live. You can find the full video hosted at: www.facebook.com/groups/livymethodspring2025In this episode, Gina walks through what it really means to personalize the plan, moving past just following steps to actually making choices that feel good for you. She reflects on the power of looking back to move forward, and reminds listeners that progress isn’t about being perfect, it’s about continuing to show up. Gina also breaks down how how you eat matters just as much as what you eat, and offers practical ways to lighten the mental load when things start feeling heavy. From tuning into hunger to creating small moments just for yourself, this episode is a reminder that this journey isn’t a race—it’s real life, and you’re doing it.To learn more about The Livy Method, visit livymethod.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Gina Livi and welcome to the Livi 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 relisten 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. My podcast sponsor today, Sell Off Vacations, and we're talking Cuba, because here's the deal. Cuba is one of Canadian's favorite vacation spots, and for a good reason.

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and prices that are actually affordable. Happy travel start at selloffvacations.com. It is day 79 of the program. So we're making our way through week 11. This week is all about personalizing the plan. It helps you get even more in tune with your fluctuating hunger levels. Again, all about trusting when to eat, what to eat,

how much to eat and trusting yourself. Trusting yourself. We're in the maintenance, when we're in the maintenance program, I mean, over in the maintenance program, this week is called transitioning to trust because you have to be able to trust yourself and the choices that you are making. We've talked about sabotage in the past, all the many reasons that

people can sabotage themselves along the way, sometimes in the beginning, fear of failure, and sometimes in the end, fear of success. It's all about awareness. It's all about understanding that you just can't go back into your old habits, though sometimes things happen in your life that maybe you've never encountered before and you just go to your automatic go-to. And for many people, food is a source of comfort. Food is how they cope with a variety of things. And so this, all of the things that you have been encountering and working through over the past couple months of the program, all comes to this week where it's about really being able to trust the changes that you've made.

And so any thoughts or feels that you have, if you're feeling apprehensive, nervous, fearful, unsure, that's the work for you. That's the work for you. You know, we have Ruth Cain and her team at the University of Ottawa who've been studying the Libby Method. We know it works. We know that there's no downside to following it. We know that people are able to lose their weight in a healthy way and actually make a real difference in their health issues and be able to maintain and sustain. So she shifted from first researching and studying the online learning process. Then she went into the Libby Method and its efficacy, and now she's focused on maintenance.

And maintenance is something that they cannot figure out. There's lots of ways to lose weight, right? There's eat less, exercise more, and a variety of diets that help you do that. There is gastric bypass and other interventions that you can get. There of course is all the incredible weight loss medications that are available.

Those are not diets. Weight loss medication is not a diet. It helps you with the food noise. It helps you get a handle on your hunger, but it doesn't help you work through issues with food, associations to food, how you cope, utilize food, your relationship with food, your relationship with self, your habits, your beliefs, beliefs that you're worthy,

even if you lose the weight. And so you've done a lot of real work here to make a really big difference. And that's what it's all about. It's all about getting you to maintenance. We know you're gonna lose your weight. We know you're gonna lose your weight. It's about getting you to maintenance.

I got a couple questions here or comments in the group. So if you got some, load them up. I'll get to them in a second. One I want to celebrate is Judy. Judy says, good morning. Today I'm officially a senior citizen. I've been anxiously awaiting these senior discounts. Me too, same.

I keep trying to get away with that. And my good friend keeps telling me, you're not a senior. Okay, fine. But I want the discount. I feel like I'm like, come on, now I want the discount. So I feel this, I feel this. It's a day of reflection. And I'm thinking seriously about how far I've come over the past few years, most of it due to this program.

I'm going to say the work that you've shown up and done for yourself. I'm so fucking proud of myself and the progress I've made. If someone had told me that I would be facing my senior years in the best health I have been since my 20s, I would have told them they were crazy. But here I am, and I can't wait to see what's in store for me over the next 30 or 40 years. Today I'm heading to the gym for a full body workout meeting friends for lunch and some paddling on the lake. I mean, come on, I may try paddle boarding

for the first time. I love that, please. I love paddle boarding, love paddle boarding. And then out again this evening for trivia. I'm gonna be rocking my senior years. I absolutely hope so. And this is what I want for myself. So my mom is 72 and she's amazing

and she has an incredible family. She lives in a small town with her sisters. Obviously being around family is so important. She has this incredible social life, this great group of friends. They're constantly going out and having fun. They went to a concert in a field a few weeks back where they all dressed up in like, I don't know, 70s costumes. She can out run me, out drink me, out everything me.

And that is sort of, you know, I aspire, I wanna live a full life, especially as I get older. And I don't, maybe that's because I'm 52 now, that's something that's becoming more and more important to me. And yes, you want to look fucking amazing. And you want to go to your closet and you want to put on the clothes that you want to wear and you just want to feel great.

But you also want to live. You also want to live. And so as a program comes to an end, think about this. What do you want to feel like? What do you want? What did you want out of this program? Did you get it? And now in hindsight, looking back, if you're joining us in the fall or throughout the summer,

what are some of the changes and adjustments that you need to make? And I'm not just talking physically with food and portions, I'm talking with your mindset, right? Especially if this is your first program. And that's why I love about the start and the end date. So congratulations, Judy. I'm so I love this for you so much. This is a whole vibe. Another one from Sandy here is about the food plan and the maximizing your food plan post that went out today, right? Oh my gosh, there's so much stuff we don't even get into that people do not take into account when it comes to dieting.

And one is how long certain foods take to break down in your system. And so she's asking about red meat. Okay, in reading over how foods digest, red meat takes a long time. What does that mean for our diets? Is that good or bad when something takes a while? My hubby asked me to ask. He knows we try to stick to fish, chicken, et cetera, but he loves his beef.

I also thought if it takes a while, I'm thinking if you have it for dinner, it could impact your sleep. Yes, it could. So this comes in in a variety of ways. I've worked with clients in the past and they went and had, I don't know, let's say nuts and seeds.

Well, I just, or yeah, nuts and seeds. Well, I just needed a quick snack. And I'm like, okay, what do you mean by quick snack? Like convenient, quick, like I'm running out the door, I need something fast, or you needed energy quickly. So nuts and seeds, for example, can take about 90 minutes to process this way. They're harder to when I say something is harder to digest. So for example, raw vegetables are much harder to digest than cooked vegetables. And so that's one of the reasons raw vegetables are in there after you have that bigger lunch meal. So people tend to eat a larger meal at lunch, although there's no rhyme and reason for that

at the end of the day. You don't need any, you don't need more food just because it's a certain time of day. And think about that, right? Think about that because if you're going to go to travel some place, say you go to Europe, you go to Hawaii, where you're talking about a completely different time zone, then all of a sudden you're eating lunch at like three o'clock in the morning, right? So you don't need to have a significantly larger meal at lunch or dinner. But anyway, I digress. So those raw vegetables are in there because after you eat that bigger meal, you eat raw vegetables

and it stimulates your digestive system and they're very hard to digest. Your body says, okay, more food coming in. We're working really hard on this. Let's do what we need to do with the food that we ate previously. Now, I know some people have a harder time with the raw vegetables.

So you're having cooked and that's totally fine too. They still are jam packed with nutrient value. And then after that is the nuts and seeds, which are even harder to digest. So nuts and seeds are even harder to digest and take longer to digest than the vegetables. And they are packed with fat and protein. So as an afternoon snack, this is why I say you have a lot of flexibility in your snacks, but it's still a great idea like nuts still have their place in that afternoon. In the afternoon around three or four, your body's wired to take a dip in energy. And this is where we go for a

caffeine pick me up or we go for chocolate. Right. And this is where your body's like, hey, let's take a nap. Let's chill out. And other places in the world, they call this siesta, talk about Europe. You try to find somewhere to eat three o'clock in the afternoon, you can't. Everyone's just gone, they're chilling out. And so a lot of us don't have that luxury. So we wanna keep our digestive system stimulated

and working hard. And then that fat protein feeds into your satiety hormones that makes you feel more satisfied an hour and a half, two hours later, heading into dinner. And so this is where if you wanted a quick snack, is it quick? Like you feel like, oh my goodness, I need to eat like, especially in the heat, right? In the heat, you could, there's a difference between low energy and low blood sugar. Low blood sugar is a totally different thing, but you're feeling like, oh my goodness, I'm

like really hot and I need like kind of like, I need to pick me up. This is where watermelon is so appealing or fruit. So fruit breaks down like a half an hour. Hence your fruit snack on its own in the beginning of the program, because we're focused on high protein for breakfast. So you either are choosing to go high protein for breakfast, so low on the carbs, right? And then you go about your day and your energy, your glycogen stores start to deplete in which you need a refill. And that is where you get the fruit on its own. And it does that quite quickly within a half an hour.

And or you choose not to have breakfast, right? And your glycogen stores start to deplete and then you need mid morning that quick pick me up and that's where fruit it's on its own. Now is it a great idea to combine protein and fat with your fruit with any carbohydrate? Yes, but for the purpose of the first few weeks of the program, there's a rhyme and a reason to why we just have that fruit.

There's a rhyme and a reason for where we add in those nuts and what those nuts do. And so let's get back to the chicken or the beef situation. So this is why you might feel like you have, I don't know, red meat for lunch and you're not hungry for your afternoon snack. And yet the next day, maybe you have fish, which is a lot quicker to digest, you have fish for lunch and it seems like you're hungry for your second afternoon snack. And so, I mean, you can go right down the rabbit hole

with all of this. And then is this something for you to be concerned about? No, let's go use case scenario. So it is Friday night, I am going out dancing with my girlfriends. I'm so excited. We're going out for dinner. I'm ordering the fish.

I'm not ordering the pasta, which is gonna, I don't like saying spike my insulin or jack up my insulin. I'm not ordering the pasta, which is gonna, I don't like saying spike my insulin or jack up my insulin. I'm not ordering the pasta. I'm probably ordering the fish, some sort of seafood that's gonna digest, gonna give me some great energy, digest quick, and I'm ready to dance. As opposed to my girlfriends who are ordering the steak and the potatoes who are gonna need a nap afterwards,

probably, and they're just feeling a little bit more weighed down and they're feeling like you know they don't they they don't no longer want to hit the club and and go dancing right so that's sort of the that's sort of the difference if you've ever been to a wedding and you've chosen the red meat over the fish or the chicken you know so that's where that comes into play. Now, is it good or bad? It's all about the nutrients that you're getting from your food. So when it comes to red meat,

there are nutrients in there that you cannot get from other sources. And this is why it's an important part of your diet. Now, if you choose not to eat red meat, that's, I'm not saying that you have to eat red meat or anything like that. The problem with red meat is that people need about a pound and a half of cooked meat protein per week.

A pound and a half of cooked meat protein per week. Some people are eating that like in one meal. I mean, that's an average, right? Okay, so if you're smaller, you're taller, you're bigger, whatever, you might need a little bit more. So the problem with red meat in our society is not eating it is that we tend to eat way too much of it. And it's high in saturated fats, just like other types of meats.

But it's about getting that good balance. So rather we should technically be eating more fish than the red meats. But you know when you need red meat is when like you know you're craving like a steak and you're ready to like rip a cow's ass off because you're so like you go to the grocery store you go to the keg you're like we like rip a cow's ass off because you're so like, you go to the grocery store, you go to the keg, you're like, we need steak tonight ASAP. That's when you're like, you just, you can feel that you need that red meat.

There's a reason for that. Your body knows what it gets from it in that association. So it's not good, it's not bad. It's just something to consider to understand how you're feeling after the food choices that you're making, right? And I don't wanna be like stressing anyone out, so this is not meant to stress anyone out. Also in that post, we talked about the state of what you're eating, right? So if you're just like

kind of rushing through your meals, that really stresses your digestive system. I know it sounds so kooky, but it's true. If you can sit and, you know, just take a few minutes some deep breaths and eat in a nice calm state your body is better able to digest your food. So digestion is one of the hardest things the most important things and things that take the longest that the body does. We tend to do a million things while we're digesting. We eat fast then we get up we clean the dishes we do whatever. You know we were trying to work and eat at the same time rather than actually sitting there and enjoying our food and in a calm state and then maybe going for like a nice calm walk afterwards rather than going to the gym. I mean, you know what I mean?

So that's sort of about how do you take it to the next level? How do you end that understanding, right? Of maybe the food choices that you are making. And so we tend to have these extremes when it comes to food choices like right like if I order a pasta I'm just ordering a pasta why don't we have order a pasta eat half of it and also get a side veg with it or some leafy greens with them right if we're out and about and everyone's you know or there's pizza coming to the table why don't instead of eating the whole pizza why don't we just have a slice of pizza along

with some vegetables and leafy greens? So that's what I mean this summer. You can absolutely focus on keeping that scale moving while still enjoying your summer, right? So I love those two questions. All right, let me see where you guys are at, what you got going on. Tomorrow, my friend, Dr. Sean Rice, he's a world renowned plastic surgeon. He's a good friend of mine, and he's just an all-around great guy. We're going to have a really honest conversation about skin, what can you do about crepey skin, loose skin, cellulite, all of that. He's been with us before. It's always a delightful conversation.

And then Dr. Beverly David is going to join us on Thursday. Talk about how do we finish this? How do we finish this? How do we finish this? How do we deal with the fields that we have at the end of the program? How do we keep going? How do we unpack? How do we, what do we call that here? We have, I can't remember, my brain is like,

after a debrief, we do a debrief always after we do an event or we do something or we make changes. We always do a debrief and we talk about, okay, what went really well? What didn't? What do we need to work on? What do we need to change? That type of thing. It's a great idea to take some time to reflect on your journey and really be really stinking proud of yourself. I love doing Tread on the Barbecue Salmon too, but it's yeah, it's a lot of money.

You know, and that's where you could do a small amount of salmon, right? Rather than these big salmon steaks, you could do like smaller amounts of salmon and then have it with a little something, something of something else. And you know, mountain groceries are so ridiculously expensive. My goodness.

All right, let's get back into, let me roll, scroll back. Hi Paulette, good morning. Relapse with my PMR. I haven't been able to walk. I'm dropping the ball and gaining weight, which is probably inflammation, but so hard to keep going. Okay. You need to show up for yourself.

You need to, you got something going on. You need to show up for yourself, right? You can't have a pity party and you can't be like, I'm just going to eat this and cope and I'm sad and this is hard and all of that. You got to put your big girl panties on, pull them up super fucking high and you gotta be like, what do I need in this moment? You're allowed to take your moment.

You're allowed to take your pity party moment. I always allow myself a certain amount of pity party. Like Gina, you wanna be sad, you wanna stay in bed all day long, you wanna eat the chips, you drink the wine, you go right ahead and then you're gonna put your big girl panties on or your Big boy boxers whatever you want to call them and you're gonna get up and you're gonna take care of yourself

Because no one is coming to save you at the end of the day, right? And so this is like what do you need in this moment? I love that you showed up today and that's like the first step, right? And it just sucks when we feel like something's always getting in the way. Like there's always something, there's always fucking something that is getting in the way of the things that we wanna do for ourselves or show up in the way that we like. And so this is where I would be like, okay, so you're gaining weight, are you actually gaining weight?

Are you actually gaining weight? Are you doing all the things that you're following the food plan, you're doing everything, you're eating healthy, nutrient rich foods, but you just feel bloated maybe because you're doing everything, you're eating healthy, nutrient rich foods, but you just feel bloated, maybe because you're taking anti-inflammatory meds or you're taking pain meds

and you haven't had a poop for a couple of days because they mess with your digestive system and your body is sore and it's inflamed and you're not sleeping. That's where you just wanna take it back and say, have I actually gained real weight? Is it that or is it that you are drinking the wine and the chips and having the things and eating the candies and sitting

on the couch and do you know what I mean? Like which one is it? So you got to get real about what is actually happening here. So then you can make a plan because if it is the medications and inflammation and just not sleeping and whatever, okay, what can I do to get a better night's sleep? Right, what can I do to help with inflammation? So you can take like turmeric, for example, there's like some natural things that can help with anti-inflammatories. Is there, is like, I don't know what PMR is,

but in my brain right now, but if it's like, can you put ice on it? I don't know if you can, but you know what I mean? So whatever you got going on, and that's not just, you know, I'm talking to everybody, whatever you got going on, what does my body need in this moment? And if you were caring for a friend, what would the advice be?

How would you show up? You know what I mean? So what do you need in this moment? And so that will help with, but it's hard to keep going. So a lot of people will have things that will get in the way of them being as active maybe as they would like to be, as getting maybe a shift worker can't get the sleep that they would want.

But that's where the maximizing post comes in. I know we're all tired of hearing about that, but there's other things that you can do to offset that. So what can you do, right? And start making a list of things. There might be a whole list other things that you can do to offset that. So what can you do, right? And start making a list of things. There might be a whole list of things that things you can't do anymore that really you're focused on.

And like that's so, that's like really difficult. But we have to be able to choose differently in our thoughts and be like, what are the things that you can do to make the smallest difference? So you feel like you're not sliding backwards or you're like, you know, you might feel like you're like you've gained that weight and you're just kind of going back and oh my goodness, and that can be terrifying because you feel

like here we go again, I've worked so hard to lose this weight. And now I'm just going to gain it all back and ruin everything and have to start again. But that's not the case. Right? So is it the choices that you're making? Like, do you know that you're kind of like, you're, you know, like, you know, you got to like, get your shit together and get back on track it but focused on yourself. Right. Because that happens. We fall back and fall and fall back can be the setup, right. So move forward, like, how's that working for you? How, how is like when this happens to you, how do you cope? What's your thought process? Like, how's that working for you? How is like when this happens to you, how do you cope? What's your thought process?

Like, this is where you gotta be like, okay, let me turn this around. Let me show out. Let me do the hard things. I just had this conversation with my, I was gonna say teenager, but she's not a teenager. My oldest spent five months in rehab and she meant she'd worked really hard. We're so proud of her.

She got out, she's been out for about a month and a half now and it's so hard for her. She gets so out of routine, she gets in her head. She has these moments of brilliance and you can tell she's such a hard worker and she's just, you see the light in her and then man, she has these moments where it's just like, hmm. And that's where she's gonna blow up

and she's gonna revert back and so we're constantly have to be on her and be like whoa take a minute but it's the pressure that she's putting on herself which is causing all the stress and Tony's like just pick a couple things that you need to do each day, right? Routine is very important, but just pick a couple things. And so I think it's that pressure we put on ourselves when we're not doing all the things that we know we should do. She feels so behind in life. She feels like there's pressure from us, and there is,

there is, there's pressure there. She can't go back, she can't go back. And so, you know, I think you just got to kind of break it down and understand yourself and know what you need in this moment and why it's so hard. And that's going to make it feel lighter for you to keep going. That's where I'm getting at. You need to kind of you got that pressure and the things and the weight and what you got going on physically.

What can we do to make it live lighter? What can we do to make it lighter for you? So it seems easy. What you're saying is it's easier to keep going to keep going. Also reach out. You know that we're here for you to pull that right? You got this though. You got this.

You got this, but I love that you showed up today and you're sharing that right? Because we can definitely feel like oh my goodness. Shoppers Drug Mart gives 20% every Thursday to those over 55 I'm so close and so did they ask for ID Rexall I love Rexall Rexall give some really good deals I like got my Rexall card and I love I love a good deal I don't like paying well you guys know this why I try to keep the price affordable I don't like paying full price for anything it's time for today's podcast sponsor, and this is a company that I can feel good about. It's Bombus. Did you know that socks

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use the code livi, L-I-V Livy at checkout for 20% off your first purchase. Again that's bombus.ca slash Livy and don't forget to use the Livy discount. I am gearing up for my play opening this week. Helen and my director was taking pictures and I'm surprised to see the changes in my body. So there's a disconnect. There's a disconnect just so you know because although it seems like it can take forever for you to lose your weight it's actually happening quite quickly and your brain has a hard time. There's a word for this. I can't recall what it is right now but your brain has a hard time keeping up

with where your body is at. This happens both ways. Sorry. This happens both ways. This happens when you're going along, you don't even realize like you've gained weight. And then all of a sudden you see a picture of yourself and you're like, the what? Oh my, huh? Like for me, and if you've heard the story,

I was kind of like going along, doing my thing, and I was, you know, one night after the bar, I was waiting for my girlfriends and some drunk asshole comes by and laughs at me and says how my legs are the size of tree trunks. And that was the first time I was like, like, yeah, right? Like I'm like big, like what's going on there?

That was like that moment. That was sort of my reflection in the window, seeing my picture. I didn't, I come from a time, I come from a time. I come from a time where we didn't walk around with cameras and we definitely were taking selfies all the time. Like you had to have like, if someone actually had a camera and then if they took a picture of you,

it was probably on a special event. And then you had to get it developed. And I was always in the back. So, you know, there's photos of me, you know, in group photos where I'm in the back. So you can see my head and that's it. So I didn't have a photo moment, but you know, you have those moments.

So that happens on that side. And on the other side, it can be like where you're still walking into plus size stores and you literally can't shop there anymore, or you're still picking up the XXL and you're into an L or a medium now. But you're thinking this is the size for me. You take them into the change room and you're just like, what, how is this not me? So that's an actual thing that's an actual thing and you'll have to work on embracing the new you. It takes a while it takes

like three months for your your skin to regenerate around your new frame and it can take a few months as well for your brain to connect where you are at. There's that's actually really this is actually becoming a thing with people who are taking weight loss medications and losing weight quite rapidly They're having a hard time adjusting to that Physically and mentally because your your brain needs time to adjust to the changes as well, right? Also Helen, I hope your opening of your play goes fabulously. I hope it's amazing I hope it's amazing finally got to watch Andrew Blakey's masterclass video. Excellent. You guys, he sent me a message thanking me because it was such a big success. I love him.

I think it's all about finding the right people. He's so fascinating. If you missed it, Andrew Blakey is a fitness and aging expert who joined us a couple weeks back, but he is young. He's quite handsome and he's very tall. He is like seven feet tall. I'm not even exaggerating. I mean, he might be six, eight or something. He's ginormously tall, the nicest guy. And I'm really fascinated with him because he has this fascination with aging.

And when it comes to fitness in the program, there's so many fitness videos out there. There's so much, right? Like I like to fitness in the program, there's so many fitness videos out there. There's so much, right? Like I like to stay in my lane and be really good at what I do, which is weight loss and kind of like making change, behavioral change and lifestyle change and all of that. The side effect is weight loss at the end of the day.

And so, you know, obviously we've had Chloe and we've had Sherry Perez and, you know, come with us and join us for fitness. But I love Andrew because he just has a different perspective. And so many of you signed up for his masterclass. We've heard such great things. We want to be able we don't pay our guest experts. And so we want to be able to give back and highlight anything that they have going on.

By no means am I making money off of Andrew doing his thing or the ladies doing their things or anything that they got going on. I just believe sharing is caring and when people have something to offer. So just want to say that out loud because I know we shared a couple of, we shared his post on our main feed. So that is not a, you have to sign up. That is like, he's someone I feel good about sharing. And so, so many of you signed up. So I think that's lovely. That's so great.

Hi Marla, first live today after two rounds, a little discourage as my scales up five pounds as I was only loosely following the plan because of life getting in the way. Still here though. That's okay. You know, you're gonna have,'re going to have moments or seasons. This is why I love the seasons of our program.

There's a fall, there's a winter, there's a spring, just like you're going to have seasons of your life. And this is where you get to break it down. Now, some people function really well by looking at it as one continuous journey, which I love that too. Some people do better with like, okay, here's the start date and here's the end date. And this is what this 91 days of my journey looked like. And in this 91 days of my journey,

I was dealing with this and that and this and that. I just went through like a two year stint of like, I don't even know, right? Like kids with mental health and rehab, my kid's dad dying, I went through menopause, like my weight just skyrocketed. I was stressed, I thought I was gonna have a heart attack and die, honestly.

I was dealing with business stress, all really great, but nothing I'd encountered before. And so it was like the last two years of my life, like I went double the seasons was a real clusterfuck. And so now I'm here on the other side. And it took me about a year to get a handle on like it took me a year of suffering. And took me about a year to really get a handle on my weights, like my physical body, where I feel finally like I feel decently good.

I wouldn't say great. And I'm not trying to like deter you and be like, Oh my God. But it was a real stress was a big one for me. I had to really pull out the big guns and get a handle on that, like really set some boundaries and like really be protective of my stress. I had to stop like even drinking. That's a big one for me so I can have a drink every now and then but then I got to like it takes me about a week and a half to recover. And so that's kind of like so just not you know, I say your scale is up 5 pounds.

That could be just the heat recently the heat not getting good, the stress on your body, all of those things. And so, yes, we are here to lose weight, but we're also here more than that to understand what our body needs. So in this sort of like, you know, where you're at with life getting in the way, sometimes something has to give a very brilliant person once said to me, Gina, sometimes something has to give and sometimes in life it is you. You have to give. You cannot do the things that you want to do. You have to prioritize other people and other things in your life. Sometimes. But it can't be all the time.

It can't be all the time. So you can't do all the things all the time. Sometimes something has to give and that is you. But as long as you're not sacrificing yourself and it's affecting your health and it's affecting your wellness, right? That is where like you can't trash yourself to kind of give to someone else. It's that, you know, that pour from an empty cup,

however you want to frame it, that it resonates with you, right? I'm glad that you're still here. That means that you haven't given up on yourself. That's the big one, right? You haven't given up on yourself. I love that you're recognizing that life has been hard. Is there, in reflecting back, a takeaway there for you?

Is there, can you create space for yourself even in the smallest moments that you can make non-negotiables? That maybe it means getting up in the morning a little half hour earlier so you can go for a walk, meditate, journal, move your body, right? Maybe it's going to bed a half hour earlier. Like I don't know the situation, right? So can you find, this is where it's a great opportunity to reflect and be like, okay, where am I gonna go if I keep doing this? Where's it gonna get me? And okay, I got a

lot dealing on I can't do all the things I want to do. But what are some of the things that are going to just move you forward? Because if you feel sometimes you feel like you're stuck, and you're just trying to drive a parked car, like really like you're sitting in the car, you're trying to drive it and you're just stuck. You're fucking going nowhere. And so that to me is like the worst feeling. And so this is where you gotta look for,

how do I get unstuck? And what are the small things that I can do to move myself forward every day? Because at least you're not going back. At least you're not going back, right? There's going back, they're stuck where you are. And then there's that moving forward a little bit. So give that some thought. But I'm glad that you're here.

And so what is the word discouraged? So let's put that out. This is the cognitive behavioral therapy model. Like put a name to it. What are you discouraged about? You're discouraged about the scale, yet you know that life is getting in the way. Are you discouraged about the scale, yet you know that life is getting in the way. Are you discouraged with the scale? Are you discouraged with what's happening in your life that is preventing you from doing

the things that you need to do, quite frankly, to move the dial on that scale? Sometimes we put it on them discouraged with the scale, when really it's this person in my life who's taking away more space or it's the situation I got going on or I'm just you know you know I'm with myself even let's get real that I'm not doing the things that I know can make a big difference right so so just kind of really sitting with that and defining it. I've learned that I eat sometimes out of boredom. Yeah, for sure, right? I'm also a creature of habit. So I'm going to tackle Atomic Habits this summer.

Oh, you'll love it. It's such a great compliment to the program. I have not talked about Atomic Habits enough. Where do I have my book? My book is over there. Such a great book, fabulous. Read it, read it again, read it again. And you know, and I'm not,

and obviously I'm not saying this in the way that I'm saying it, but I swear I wrote that book with the first time I read it. And I was like, what this, are you kidding? It's amazing. Obviously I did not write the book and I'm not as even close to as brilliant as James Clear.

And I'm not taking any credit. That's how well it's such a compliment to the program. Like that's what a compliment to the program it is. And you will read it and you'll be like, oh shit. Cause that's what we're doing. It's all about routines. It's all about consistency. It's all about the small things that you're doing. Man, you'll read that. It'll be a game changer for you. Game changer for you. Habits this summer and build some better routines where I notice is when I used to snack like in the evening. And that's, it's about triggers, right? It's the triggers, probably not having the snack.

It's what it represents. Um, like I, sometimes when I have a stressful day, I literally could just pour a glass of wine and sit there with it in my hand and like, I, there's times where I wouldn't even, won't even drink it or the half of it will sit on my bed stand and yes, I drank wine in bed while watching TV. And I'll be sitting there. So I know it wasn't about the wine, right? It wasn't, there are moments when I'm drinking the wine

and the wine just tastes good and whatever, but there are some moments I open the wine and it's just stress-based and it's not about, it's just, I hold it. And it's what the glass of wine, so for me, and talk about James Clare, because he talks about this in his book, which is really cool, Graze and Add Me.

When I was a young mom, or my kids were young, I don't know which way it goes, but I had two times in the week that were for me. So young and the restless, I tried to make time to sit my ass down, because I had four kids, and my husband was around, but he was sick and he wasn't really helpful. And so I had to do a lot and so Young and the Restless, which is so funny because you can like watch that at any time and nothing has changed. I love that show. Born and Raised,

Born and Raised on Young and the Restless. I digress, what am I talking about? Oh Grey's Anatomy. So Thursday night Grey's Anatomy I would get a bottle of, started with yellow label. And then when I was like spending more money, I would get the Wolf Blast, I think $17 at the time. That was like really expensive for me, $17. Tony and I actually had it a couple weeks ago when he took me out for my birthday. Man, that shit is still good. But anyway, that was my time. And when I opened that bottle of that yellow bottle of wine, and I poured a glass, everybody knew do not bug mom. Like everyone was just like, no one would ask me.

It was just one fucking hour. I'd be like, I just need one hour. That's it. One hour. And I would have the red wine and the sour cream and onion chips. To this day, I hear Grey's Anatomy, I see a commercial, my kid mentions it, I immediately want chips and wine. So that's how like ingrained like food can be and especially that nighttime snacking habit, what it represents, you know, what it's associated with that routine, right? And so even to this day, if I was like still watching Grey's Anatomy, I'd probably still be having a glass of wine and a bag of chips, right? So that's what is so much deeper than you think, but it's a lot easier to to create

new habits for yourself than you think as well. Good morning. Hi, Risa. How are you? First day back at the gym after giving my body time to recover from my fall six weeks ago. Oh my goodness. I used the Mel Robbins 54321 strategy. So I didn't overthink it. I love this. We used to give away Mel Robbins book. I love her high. I like her high five habit and her, her what's the, what's the, is that part of the 54321? That's a good one where there's literally this thing in your brain where I'll summarize

for those of you, if you haven't read it yet, also another good book where you literally have a thought, I'm going to go to the gym, I'm going to get up, I'm going to whatever, you have five seconds before your brain literally moves on to something else. If you ever felt like that, you're like, oh, I'm going to get up and I'm going to go do this and then like, you're like, oh, no, maybe I'll lie here for a second. And then, yeah, and you don't like, I'm gonna get up and I'm gonna go do this. And then like, you're like, Oh, no, maybe I'll lie here for a second. And then, and you don't like you don't do it. And so that's that just when you have the thought to do it, call the person, right, send the text, have the conversation, do the thing. That's that you have five seconds

to pick up on that motivation. Otherwise, it's like just so fleeting, right? So I love that for you. I love that for you. Pipe yourself on the back for still being here. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and you know, you may not be happy. You may not be happy with the results that you got for whatever reason, but okay, that's okay. But then be really proud of the fact that you did this because this is so huge. This is not and I don't want to say it's not a we take this shit seriously around him. There's

a lot of working parts to it, right? It's not meant to be an easy peasy program. It's meant to actually help you make real change. It's not for the faint of heart. And if you're still here and still listen, be super proud of that. You know, there's people who started on the intentions and a day of reflections, they fell off. There's people who bought the journal, they started a couple days, they fell off. There's people who started on the intentions, end of day reflections, they fell off. There's people who bought the journal, they started a couple of days, they fell off. There's people who started the app, they started, fell off, happens all the time, right?

So just being here at the end is amazing. Just got my blood work results. Iron is low, doc says more red meat. So iron is like, I don't, there's a couple of things I don't mess with, iron and potassium. We don't talk about those, because those are legit conversations for your doctor low iron and you address that that's a game changer when it comes to your weight.

It's so very difficult for your body to focus on fat loss when you have low iron. So you get your iron levels back up man. Your energy is going to be amazing. Everything's going to seem so much easier and your weight will come a lot easier to you great idea to be checking with your doctors, getting that baseline, right? Getting that baseline out there. I do not crave carbs. I do not crave carbs in so much as potatoes, rice.

I rarely eat this, is this okay? Yeah, I mean, this is not a low carb program. I think like, I do suggest that you minimize things like breads and pastas, which you think about those they're processed foods. They're processed foods. It's not like a potato, right? Or it's not like people like, well, can I have black bean pasta? Well, eating black bean pasta is not the same as what you would get nutrient wise, fiber wise from black beans. And so breads and pastas are processed foods. And do they cause you to gain weight?

Absolutely not. Do they cause you to retain water? Yeah, so that's the thing that people don't understand. They started adding in when people are in maintenance, for example, they're ready to kind of live their life. They add in things like breads and pastas back, and they're like, oh my God, my weight is up. And this is why it's normal for your weight to sit

anywhere from about five to seven pounds above your lowest low. When you start adding those foods in, your body retains more water when it comes to processing and digesting them. And so that's why people think they gain weight when they add in carbs. Not really, your body's just, your weight is up.

And for some people, obviously they can be sensitive to gluten and whatnot. But when it's like, I do not crave carbs like as rice as potatoes. I mean, that's okay. There's lots of carbohydrates that you're getting in the program. Fruits are carbohydrates, vegetables are carbohydrates. There's carbohydrates in foods like beans, lentils, those types of things. And if you're not craving them, that's fine.

You'll notice in the fall, especially, like I would notice this with clients, literally all my clients on the same day would be like, can I have potatoes? Can I have rice? Can I have like, can I, so that there's this transition, this seasonal transition that your body goes through where it starts to crave these heavier heartier foods in the winter time. And that's where historically, you know, if you live somewhere seasonally, you would plant your foods in the spring and

grow in the summer and then the fall, you would eat all the foods looking to gain more weight to put on some insulation for the winter time, right? Enjoy the fruits of your labor. And so this is where, you know, the sun starts to drop, your body low vitamin D and the cold weather signals weight gain, let's store some weight for the winter, right? Like that's how our bodies are kind of wired. And we're kind of like addressing that season to season to season our body has different needs. In the spring, your body is looking to lighten up

to get rid of any of that excess fat that it would have naturally felt inclined to store over the winter. And even though if you did our winter program you've lost weight, your body's still looking at any excess fat it doesn't need as it doesn't need it. And so this is where you're noticing you have more spring in your step.

That's not just in your mind. Your body's giving you more energy, naturally boosting your metabolism this time of year. And this is where you might not feel inclined to have those heavier, heartier carbs. This is where your body is more, so let's go back to how long foods take to break down in your system.

When the weather is really hot, for example, the last few, well, last week, your body isn't interested in having heavier carbs that take forever to break down. It wants quick energy. So this is where you wanna increase your fruit intake and decrease any of your heavier carbs, right? So you might just be naturally feeling that

and in tune with that, especially this time of year. So like the other day, what I had, I had chicken and a watermelon salad, right? So I had like watermelon, cucumbers, feta cheese, some mint, some basil. Like it's like, it's just like, I was just like, I would just want to eat that all day. Now, did I feel like I needed the protein?

No. Did I know I needed the protein? Yes. So I added some chicken on the side and then. Did I know I needed the protein? Yes. So I added some chicken on the side and then I had, you know, again the next day and had some salmon on the side. So, so this is sort of where that understanding of what your body is looking for. You're but nobody's body needs bread and pasta. Now, there are grains that, you know, can be beneficial, rices and, you know, quinoa

and stuff like that. And potatoes have good nutrient value as well. But it just depends, you might find in the winter time you're more inclined to have those and crave them a little bit more and rather than the summertime. I also don't have any desire. We made rice two nights in a row and I didn't have any.

And I just did no desire to have rice the last couple of days. So this is about getting in tune. And that's the flexibility of the food plan this week is all about. So you have more flexibility, a little bit more flexibility in the timing with foods. You have flexibility in what foods you choose to eat based on if you need to eat, could eat or should eat. You have more flexibility. Like, for example, you might just feel like you just want some fruit and not add a

protein and fat to it, but you can add a protein and fat to it if you feel like that's appealing to you. So this is about getting even more in tune with when to eat those fluctuating hunger levels and but doesn't mean that you're all of a sudden adding in snacks in the evening or eating like that's not it right. So checking in every single meal and snack time that's when you're eating more flexibility as well in terms of what to eat and really asking yourself, like, what do I feel like? Do I really feel like do I feel like fruit? Do I feel like veggies?

Do I feel like cheese? Do I feel like nuts? Do I just go through that quickly, right? Of the food available to you. What is most appealing and does it fit within what we're at and what we're focused on, right? And then of course, the how much to eat. This is where we're not dropping the ball in the fact that you are still looking to lose weight.

That's the goal, right? So there's a difference between choosing not to have a meal or snack because you're really not hungry for it. And then being in that diet mentality thinking, well, if all of a sudden I can skip this, and if I eat less, that's gonna help me get ahead. That's problematic. So if you find yourself straight up doing that, you got more work to do and you absolutely

want to dig your heels in even further. Get out of your head into your body. Am I actually hungry right now? Do I need to eat? Yes. Okay. What is the best thing for me to have? What do I feel like having more flexibility in the snacks?

If it's lunch or dinner, still stick with those components, right? And then and then really digging down into those four sets of mindful eating questions. All right, dave stewart. I see you. Hello Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Can I put vodka and watermelon salad? Yeah, you can why not summer? Of course you can What a silly question summer. What a silly question. All right, I gotta go everyone. I'll be back later today with my real people, real journey. Beth Singleton is going to join me. She's been in maintenance. She's 55 down 54 pounds. Yes, that matters because it's important. We need to know that you can lose weight. So I'm going to chat with her later today if you're so inclined to join us. Otherwise that

segment will be available later. Again, Dr. Sean Rice joining me tomorrow, Dr. Beverly David. We are not done. We are not done. I want to remind you that we do have our summer club. Some of you still not aware, so we're running a summer club. It's not a guided program, but the team will be there. I'll be doing some segments.

The community will be there. We're going to do our best to keep you motivated over the summer if you're interested in that. And of course, get yourself signed up for the fall if you haven't done that yet. Have a fantastic day, and I will see you tomorrow.