The Livy Method Podcast - Maintenance & Mindfulness - April 22, 2024

Episode Date: April 22, 2024

Gina Livy's Facebook Live from the Maintenance & Mindfulness group hosted on Facebook. This is the live recording from April 22, 2024. You can find the full video hosted at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ginalivymaintenanceandmindfulnessTopics covered:Welcome to our new members in maintenance!Let’s talk about the second stage of Finally & ForeverHow to navigate the information in the M&M groupDiscussing the third stage of Finally & Forever (Testing the Waters)The best way to navigate being a member of both the weight loss group and M&MHow to use The Livy Method app in maintenanceWeigh In Wednesday is back with a new live this WednesdayGina shares her weight loss journeyHow long does it take until making good choices becomes second nature?Being self-aware and remaining mindful means you don’t gain weight without noticingExamining the differences between the European and North American lifestyleThe difference between the weight loss mindset and the maintenance mindsetWhat Living the Livy Way meansGetting to a place where you recognize that your old habits are no longer serving youWhy Gina is never afraid of gaining the weight backOnce you reach your goal weight, it is normal for your weight to fluctuateDiscussing the two options for solidifying your weightIf a certain food triggers you, explore the “why” behind itReflecting on your choices is part of the maintenance journeyWhat testing the waters looks likeReasons why your weight can be up that don’t have anything to do with foodAdvice for following The Food Plan while on vacationIs weight loss the same as fat loss?The Livy Method puts you so in tune with your body’s needs that you will know if something isn’t rightWhy building muscle is important, especially as we ageMake sure you are super clear on your plan for maintenance moving forwardTo 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. New year, new me. Season is here, and honestly, we're already over it. Enter Felix, the healthcare company helping Canadians take a different approach to weight loss this year. Weight loss is more than just diet and exercise. It can be about tackling genetics, hormones, metabolism. Felix gets it. They connect you with licensed healthcare practitioners online who'll create a personalized treatment plan that pairs your healthy lifestyle with a little help and a little extra support. Start your visit today at felix.ca. That's F-E-L-I-X dot C-A. Hello and happy Monday to all of our amazing members in maintenance. Welcome to the M&M Live. You know me. I'm Gina. You're probably sick and

tired of me at this point, but here I am anyway. Seriously though, who is excited? I know we have a ton of new members here in the maintenance group. So I go live on Mondays at 12 PM. You'll also see me throughout the week with our way in Wednesday conversation. Here and there, I know Odette, who is the manager of the maintenance group, has got some fun stuff planned over the next few months. So if you're new in maintenance, I'm going to go over some basics for you today. And of course, just like the lives in the weight loss program, you are welcome to ask any questions that you have. On Sundays, Odette always does a poster in the group. So if you can't join me on Monday lives, but you have something that you would like me to talk about, you can't join me on Monday Lies, but you have something that you would like me to talk about, you can add your questions to the poster ahead of time.

So Odette always compiles a list for me that I'm happy to go over on Mondays. So here's where I want to say welcome to all of our new members. I want to remind you of the four stages of the Libby Method. One is losing your weight. So if you're here or you're listening, I am assuming that you are in the maintenance group because you are ready to maintain your weight and move on from focusing on losing your weight. However, with that said, I know that we have a lot of members in our maintenance group who are not quite there yet, but they are in the maintenance group or they have joined to kind of see what it's all about

to make sure that they are prepared for when the time comes. So we are starting a new weight loss program. It is day one of our spring and summer program. We know along with it, in order to solidify your weight, a lot of people choose to do another round of the program. So I do know that we have people who are in the maintenance group, but also in the weight loss program following along not to lose weight, but to solidify their weight, which brings me back to the four stages of finally and forever when it comes to the Libby Method. So lose your weight is step one. Step two is solidifying your weight. So solidifying your weight can be done by either continuing to personalize your plan, just maintain the basics. This is where you are trying to give your body time to get used to your new weight. So your new

weight becomes the new norm, such an important time. Yes, you have back on track if you do indulge, but you really want to minimize any type of indulgences and just allow the body to solidify your new weight with the least amount of stress as possible. The other way to solidify your weight is by doing another round of the program. Now, Odette and I are working on a maintenance program. Right now we have the maintenance group where you can ask as many questions as you need and work through on your maintenance journey. But we're actually working on a structured maintenance program, but we're probably not going to have that available until either the end of our current spring summer program or into the fall. But what we do have is all the information in terms of maintenance stored in our maintenance

guide. So if you are new to the maintenance group, you're going to want to seek out the maintenance guide, just like in our weight loss program, we store everything in guides. So there's a couple of things we have going on because we have people who are new to maintenance. And then we have people who have been, you know, in maintenance for years who show up and are part of this community. So we have people working on a different stages of their maintenance journey in the maintenance group. So you'll notice Odette is posting information relevant to the people who are solidifying their weight and also people who are working on maintaining their weight. So we have a current conversation guide, which will house all of our daily posts and conversations because what

makes this group different than our weight loss group is this is way more discussion based. So we have our daily conversation and of course the maintenance guide. So the maintenance guide is where you are going to find any of the information in regards to maintenance specifically. So first stage is lose your weight. Second stage is solidify your weight. So we went about three months into solidifying your weight. Then the next stage is maintaining your weight. This is where you're starting to test the waters. Maybe you're no longer asking the four questions. Maybe you're no longer weighing yourself each day. This is where you're starting to indulge a little bit more, you know, where you might need to use back on track a little bit more, really getting to understand what maintenance

looks like and feels like to you. Obviously still following the basics, right? It's not like you're just going to go back to just eating whatever you want, doing whatever you want. It's about really being super mindful before you are ready to move on to that last stage, which is living your life mindfully. And that is where you are waking up, looking good that last stage, which is living your life mindfully. And that is where you are waking up, looking good, feeling good, just going about your day, trusting you know what your body needs, making the best choices possible, not to lose weight

because you don't need that anymore, not to maintain weight because you've got a handle on that, but just to kind of feel your best. And you know when you're indulging and you don't feel great, you know that back on track will be there for you. So lose your weight, solidify your weight, maintain your weight, and then move on and live the Livvy way, taking everything that you've learned and implement it moving forward and being able to easily sustain and maintain your weight. So we have people working on a variety of different stages when it comes to maintenance in the actual maintenance group here. So that's how we kind of run things just like the weight loss program. At any time, you can pop into the maintenance

group and ask any questions that you have. We have an amazing community here. We have an equally amazing team of program specialists who are here to answer any of the questions. It's just, we like to separate what's happening in weight loss from the maintenance program. So I know there are many of you who are also in the weight loss group. You are redoing the program for the sake of solidifying your weight. Obviously, that's a super effective way to do things because maybe you don't need to lose weight anymore, but you can level up in all those other areas when it comes to your issues and associations around food, your beliefs, your habits and whatnot. There is still more work to do mentally, even though you've

done the work physically. So you can follow along in that group, listen to the lives, listen to the guest segments, do everything that you need to do over there. But you can also come here into the maintenance group and ask any questions that you have here. You will also notice that Odette is mimicking the information that were posted in the weight loss group, but with a spin on maintenance. So for example, she posted the guidelines rather than the prep week guidelines. She posted the guidelines for your first week of solidifying your weight. She also posted a post on water. So now that you're no longer looking to lose weight, what are you doing with that water? How much do you need to drink? She also reposted the basic food plan as well for those of you who

are working on solidifying your weight or just need a refresher in the basic. So we will be posting similar information simultaneous, but the information posted in the maintenance group will be geared specifically to the maintenance program. I also want to talk about the app. So if you have signed up for the weight loss program, you may be using the app to follow along when it comes to solidifying your weight. So that's great. If you are not doing that, and you are just in the maintenance group, you can use your app in general tracking mode. So we do not have an app yet that links into the maintenance group. We are working on that, but we don't have that program available. Although we're working on it, it's not going to be available until probably the end of the current spring summer program or into the fall. So we are working on a structured program that will also include the use of the app

and we'll link to the maintenance group specifically, but right now we're not there yet. So you are either redoing the spring summer program for the sake of solidifying your weight and you can use the app that goes along with that or which links obviously into the weight loss program, or you can, um, use the app in general tracking mode. Hi, Jason. Hello, hello, hello. Uh, just stopped in for a quick second on my lunch break. Uh, see everyone tonight. Yeah. So I'm, I'm, uh, I'm going to be going live. If you are in the weight loss program, I solidifying your weight, I'm going to go live tonight. So I'm going live at 9am in the morning, also 7pm tonight. I might also continue that, uh, Tuesday, Wednesday. I'm not sure. I'm going to play it by ear. I'm going to play it by ear.

So that's where we are with the app. Um, so I just wanted to go over those stages of finally and forever or the four stages of the Libby method, and just talk a little bit about what we're doing here in the maintenance group and how it works a little bit about the app. So we do not have a maintenance specific app. You've either are using it, uh, following along with the current weight loss program to solidify your weight, or you're using it in general tracking mode. So that's how that works. Um, Monday lives, 12 PM. Hello. That's what I'm going to do every week. So you'll find me here. Again, you can pre ask your questions if you have any questions that you want to ask me. I do have a couple here that I'm going to go through. And then on Wednesdays, we are back doing our way in

Wednesday segment, we're going to do it a little differently because Odette and I are working on a new segment. We're very similar to our spill the tea segment. We're actually going to be talking to real members who've been in maintenance and really focusing on their journey. So our weigh-in Wednesday, we want to be more involved. So we're going to continue to invite our members to join the panel with us. We're going to weigh in on a variety of topics. Those of you who join us live and in the comments, we're going to be highlighting you much more. So we're going to really keep that conversation moving and grooving in terms of weighing in on a variety of topics. So our first weigh in is going to be this Wednesday, it's 4pm. So this is where Odette and Kim and

myself are going to weigh in on a variety of topics. So if you are interested in joining us for one of our weigh in Wednesdays, make sure you let me know. Okay, here's a great question from Kelly. I would love to know from Gina how long approximately it took you to get to the stage where you're living and not overly thinking about making choices? How long until you were just making better choices naturally most of the time? Well, what a great question. I lost my weight. I don't even know how many years ago at this point. So long, 25 plus years. I don't know. I am 51. I'm going to be 51 next month. So it's been a really long time. And so, you know, it's interesting because you may have heard the story of how the Libby Method came about. I was in university at the time. And so, you know, it's interesting because you may have heard the story of how the Libby Method came about. I was in university at the time. I was teaching a ton of aerobics classes.

I was making my way through university or paying my way through university by working at the gym where I was helping people lose weight. I was a personal trainer. I was helping people with nutrition. Of course, everyone wanted to lose weight. And so you eat less, exercise more. Back then it was very straightforward. Count calories, eat less, exercise more. And I was at a point where I was hardly eating. I would go to the gym in the morning for my 7am shift. I would grab a coffee and grab a muffin and then teach maybe two, three aerobics classes, do some weight training, and then come home and maybe have a salad for dinner because I was on a diet and trying to lose weight because I just kept gaining weight and gaining weight and gaining weight and gaining weight and

gaining weight. You know, every now and then I would go to for pizza with friends, but like I wasn't it well, I wasn't gaining weight from eating all the wrong foods, put it that way. And so I went to my doctor and I said, What's wrong with me? I'm getting all this weights. And my doctor said, Well, you're probably eating too much. And I'm like, I am probably eating 500 calories a day. I'm definitely not eating too much. And he's like, well, maybe you need to exercise more. And I'm like, I'm teaching two to three aerobics classes. I was bodybuilding at the time. It's not that. And then he said, maybe you're a big boned. And obviously, I'm clearly not big boned, and nor is that even a

thing. And so I walked away from that conversation and wondering what was going on. Why was everything that I was taught about weight loss not working for me. And then after university, I ended up moving to the city. And I met a boyfriend or a guy who ended up being my husband, my ex husband, it's a whole other story. But he was a chef. And you know, when you start to date, and you hang out and you eat, and all of a sudden, what was happening is I was eating more than I ever have. And all of a sudden, my weight was just kind of dropping. And I was trying to figure out what's going on. So you know, I really went down a rabbit hole of why was I eating more. And now I was

actually, you know, losing weight, what was happening. So I went down this rabbit hole of the kinds of foods I'm eating, how my body's breaking them down, you know, just trying to figure out why I was losing weight all of a sudden. And that long story short led to the Libby method. And you know, now it's only been recently where I look back and think what I didn't realize was factoring in was that I was a university student, I was pulling long hours, you know, I was like studying, I was working during the day studying at night, lack of sleep, excessive amount of stress, long periods of time without eating, you know, overtraining and exercising, you know, there was a lot going on there. There's a lot going on there. Now that I look back, it was way more than just not eating enough or exercising too much. I'm now starting to understand through our conversations with our

experts, how much my stress and lack of sleep probably factored into my body's feeling you need to store fat. And then also factoring into once I no longer had that stress, and I was actually getting better sleep actually went into being me being able to lose my weight. So the process of losing my weight, I think I'd lost 100 pounds within the year. Within the year, I think it was like, I think it was 100 within eight months. And then I lost the rest within the year, I think is how that goes. And, and then in terms of being able to maintain and sustain, I didn't really have a lot of issues with that. Because as like you do, when you've gone through a few programs, you're very in tune with your body's needs, you know, when you eat something that makes you feel like shit, right, you know,

when you're drinking your water, and you're making good food choices, and you're eating in tune to your body's needs, and you're mindful of your portions, you know how good you feel. And so when you're saying like, how long did it take you to get to a stage where you are living and not overly thinking about making choices? I still, I don't want to say I'm overly thinking, but I'm always thinking about the choices that I'm making. I'm continue to be mindful every day when I'm super stressed and I want to eat a bag of chips. I'm making. I'm continue to be mindful every day when I'm super stressed, and I want to eat a bag of chips, I'm fully aware that I am stressed and I am making a choice to eat the chips, I'm fully aware that I'm going to feel like shit if I eat the chips. And so I'm constantly managing that. I know when I go through periods of I'm not eating great that I feel it, then I know that I have to

mindfully, you know, get myself back on track and make an effort to eat more leafy greens, drink more water, make more choices that make me feel good. So I don't think I've ever stopped thinking about it, you just think about it in a different way, in a way that's not all consuming or berating. It's just more like, okay, I'm making this choice. I'm mindfully aware of when I'm making choices. Like I'm not caught off guard by feeling like garbage or my weight going up because I, in the moment, know I'm making that choice. So I'm very aware of the choices that I'm making. And the same thing, this is why I say like you don't gain 20 pounds and not notice.

That's what being mindful is. And that's what you're learning while you're doing the weight loss program. So, and I think it's only because like, I think it'd be different if I lived in Europe, like, like really where we didn't have like bag of chips weren't accessible every five feet. Do you know what I mean? The stress levels are different. The lifestyle is different. You're more naturally active. Your stress levels are different. And the reason why they used to say that Europeans, you know, they were especially French

were so thin back in the day was because they didn't have a lot of the access to the processed foods like we do. They're not ordering this and ordering that and, you know, all the sort of processed garbage junk foods that we have so readily available. And also the stressful lifestyle. It's not to say that they're not stressed, but they live different. They work to basically live, not live to work, you know, like we do here. They take vacations and whatever. So our lives are very much built around stress. It's not conducive to sleep. We're overextended, you know, all of those things. And then food plays a big role in that. So it's because of how we live that, like when I go on

vacation, when Tony and I, we went to Mexico a few weeks ago, like, I mean, I didn't even think about there was chips in my room. There was chocolate in my room in the mini bar. There's free stuff I could eat if I want it. You know, I, I opened up a couple of the Pringles. I had maybe two, I had like two, literally two Pringles and was like, yeah, you know, whatever. Um, if I'd been at home and my kids were stressing me out, like they were this weekend in which I ate a whole bag of chips because fuck it because I got a lot of stress going on. I chose to eat a bag of sour cream and onion and a side bag of sour cream and bacon chips and washed it down with a bottle of scotch. So you know what I mean? So I don't think

you ever get to a place where you're not thinking about the choices that you're making. But I think when it comes to dieting, it's a different kind of obsession. Why should I eat that? Shouldn't I eat that? There's no like, should I, shouldn't I? I'm like, fucking right, I'm going to eat those chips. I'm like, Tony, we got it. Where's the chips? I need to chips. He's like, you want chips? I'm like, yeah, fucking right. I want chips. Let's get those chips. And as I'm saying that, I know I'm going to feel like shit the next day. But I'm like, I'm like, yeah, fucking right. I want chips. Let's get those chips. And as I'm saying that, I know I'm going to feel like shit the next day, but I'm like, I'm like, I'm aware. Right. And so I think it was just like, should I have it? Shouldn't I have it? And then there's like, oh my God, why'd I have it? So I didn't get on myself after and be like, oh my God, why'd I do that? And I

know exactly why I did it. And I don't regret it. I feel like shit, but I'm, I'm happy with the choice that I made. And then the next day I'm not like punishing myself. Oh my God, I'm so fat. I'm a loser. I'm never going to this. I'm never going to that. I just like, okay, let's drink a little extra water today and get back at it. Like having the bag of chips also doesn't ruin my whole day, you know? So it's a different kind of mindset. You're not obsessed by what I'm eating, well, you know, what I, this, one of that, blah, blah, la, la. But I am putting probably just as much effort into just being mindful to make good choices and, and self-aware, right? Like it's not in that little space in your brain. It's just a, it's a larger sense of being self-aware. And I

don't think that ever stops. That's why we're talking about that fourth stage of the Libby method of living mindfully, living the Libby way, understanding that if you don't drink your water, you're going to feel like shit and crave carbs and sugar because you're going to be dehydrated, right? Understand if you're not getting great sleep, you're going to really notice that, crave carbs and sugar the next day, you're going to be tired, you're going to be irritable, you're probably not going to make great choices for yourself. If you're not managing your stress and and you're you fall back into old habits, which are your old coping mechanisms, and you're just, you know, mindlessly doing that, eventually, it's going to get caught up to you, right? And so how long until you were just making

better choices naturally, most of the time, I think you get to a place where you want to feel good most of the time. And when you've had enough of feeling like shit, you know, like feeling fat and gross and frumpy and dumpy and irritable and uncomfortable in your skin. You know, it's really interesting. We had this conversation with Dr. Ruth. So Ruth Kane and her team at the University of Ottawa, as many of you know, are studying the Livy Method weight loss program. And now they're in here studying maintenance.

And when she talks to the people who've been maintaining their weight for a while, they all have one thing in common. They're like, I am so done with it. I am done feeling like shit. I am done playing that weight loss, gain it back game. I'm just done. They recognize that they can't go back into their old habits because their old habits didn't don't serve them anymore. Their old habits don't work for them anymore. They are so done with what they get out of eating a bag of cookies or what they're so done with using, you know, food to manage this. They're so done with feeling like that, that they, they're not going back there because they recognize they have the tools to not go back there. So someone someone I did on my Instagram account, someone said to me, are you ever concerned of gaining your weight back? No. No, I'm not. Because if I do, it's my own damn fault, because

I know exactly how I gain that weight back. And it's because I chose to do nothing about it. And so that's what I mean, like, I'm not going to gain 20 pounds and not notice I gained 20 pounds a couple years ago, because my stress levels are through the roof. My hormones were out of whack. I had a digestive issue that I needed to take antibiotics for. And so I just my weight went up and up and up and up. And I've spent the last year and a bit trying to get a handle on it. But it's not a handle on my weight. I need to get a handle on my stress and my sleep and my lifestyle. And that's what I needed to get a handle on. And it had nothing to do with the foods that are eating. I needed to start doing more resistance training because I had been sick previously and lost a bunch of weight. Many of you remember that a few

spring groups ago, I was in the hospital for a few weeks and then I lost all bunch of weight. And many of you remember that a few spring groups ago was in the hospital for a few weeks, and then I lost all my muscle mass. And then so you lose your muscle mass, and you get older, your hormones start to hit, and then you start to put that weight on. So I knew exactly what was going on. And I was in full control, because I hate that word control and moderation, of understanding what was going on. So I'm not ever afraid of gaining my weight back. And I think you never stop thinking about, because we just naturally choose to use food for so many things, to celebrate, to show love,

to indulge, to whatever, blah, blah, blah. And our lives are so continuously stressful, which affects our sleep and all of that, that we have to be mindful. We don't live like a European, just wake up, look good, walk here, go there, do this. We're not constantly on vacation where we don't have any stress and healthy food is abundant. So we have to always think about it. Most of us do because of

the lifestyle we live. I love that question, by the way. Okay. I see you guys with some questions here. It can also be about our genetics, hormones, metabolism. Felix connects you with online licensed healthcare practitioners who understand that everybody is different and can pair your healthy lifestyle with the right support to reach your goals. Start your visit today at Felix.ca. That's F-E-L-I-X.ca. So let me get into this. Hello, hello, hello. It's good to be back. Hi, Sharon. Hi, Terry Daly. Reached my goal on day 88 of the last program. However, it has fluctuated two to three pounds since then. Yes. Right? Yes. I see that you also say I know that weight fluctuates. Yes,

it does. But do I consider myself as having reached my goal? Absolutely. Yes, this is so important. When you reach your goal, you are doing everything you can to see your lowest low, right? So as you start to let in more carbs, you're not trying to see your low low. And I don't mean let in more carbs because you gain the weight back. But when you start if you start adding in more carbs here and there, your body needs to retain more water to process those carbohydrates. So it's not like you've gained weight. It's just so normal for your weight to fluctuate when you are not doing everything you can every single day to see your lowest low. So my weight forever was 119. I sat probably around 125 most of the time. And it went up as high as 130. And it can go up as high, I can go up 10

pounds in a day. Because if I weigh myself in the morning, and I eat or drink on a hot day in the summertime, by the end of the day, if I weigh myself at night, I can be 10 pounds higher. My weight just naturally fluctuates. So there's a big difference between weight gain and weight fluctuation. And you will make yourself crazy trying to stay at one weight. So your set point, so you your goal was whatever it was, let's say 150. And you reach that goal. And so now you're in maintenance, your weight is going to fluctuate, be prepared for it to naturally sit about three to five pounds higher, unless you are literally maximizing your fucking ass off every day in order to see your lowest low, you're not going to see it. And that's not a way to live either. Now,

that doesn't mean that managing your stress and managing your sleep aren't beneficial and making you feel your best, right? Like, you have to work really hard at gaining weight. So what did you do to gain weight? And you're probably gonna be like, I haven't done anything to gain weight, then it's probably not real weight gain. Because you'll know because it's totally different. You'd have to really work hard at trying to gain weight. Your body is not naturally inclined to want to store fat. Fat is not healthy for you. And everyone thinks, oh my god, my body's just trying to make me fat. No, it's not. The fat, carrying excess fat is the last thing that your body is interested in doing. So if you're not doing anything, remember that post that we had on how not to gain weight. So

if you're not doing anything on that post, that's going to cause you to gain weight, then it's probably just normal fluctuations. Okay, back to your question. It has fluctuated two to three pounds since then. Normally it can fluctuate five to seven plus pounds. I know that weight fluctuates, but do I consider myself as having reached my goal? Yes. Prepared to begin solidifying my weight and I'm still in the weight loss program. Which program do I follow? So again, if you've reached your goal, then you want to put time into solidifying your weight and you can do another round of the weight loss program in order to do that. So when I say that we are working on a maintenance program, it's going to be the same thing, just the verbiage is going to be geared

towards maintenance. So it's not like we're going to change anything, you're going to go through all the same things that you did during the weight loss program, because now we're going to work to get even more in tune to our portions now that we're in maintenance, which means that your portions might actually be bigger, right? So maybe now that you have solidified your weight, or you've reached your goal, and you've done it through making your body healthier, your metabolism is higher, maybe you need three eggs a day when you were, in order to maintain your weight, when you were only eating one egg a day while you were losing your weight, so right? So if you've signed up to do the weight loss program to solidify your weight, then you want to follow it as designed, but for the sake of maintenance.

And now you might end up losing a few more pounds, but you know how hard it is to lose your weight. So you have to really try hard to lose weight, just like you'd have to really try hard in order to gain weight. So you can follow along and redo the program again for the sake of solidifying your weight. You either want to personalize the plan to solidify your weight, or you want to repeat the program again to solidify your weight. So this is why you're going to want to check out the maintenance guide in this maintenance group and get a refresher on what to do for that second. So there's lose your weight, solidify your weight, which is three months put into just like maintain status quo. You are not indulging. You're not doing anything. You are giving your body time to adjust to the weight that you've lost. And then after

three months of doing that, you can move into the maintenance phase of testing the waters. This is maybe where you stop weighing yourself. You stop asking the four questions where you are using back on track if you indulge. And then really you're going to get to a place where like, okay, I'm just ready to move forward in my life. Wake up, look good, feel good. I don't have to get on a scale every day because I already know what's going on based on the choices that I'm making. Right. Um, so you don't need to lose weight again. You've already lost your weight and your weight is just fluctuating. So you want to work on, um, on solidifying that weight. This is, this is, this is everybody's weight fluctuates throughout the month. That's why you reach your

lowest low, that's your weight. And then you will, that's your new set point, for example. So you're solidifying that set point. And then your weight is going to fluctuate. You're probably going to naturally sit three to five pounds higher unless you're maximizing your ass off every day to try to see your lowest low, which is no way to live, if you ask me. And then it can go up for a variety of reasons. In the summertime, it's hot, your weight might go up. When you're stressed, it might go up. Salty foods might go up, whatever, right? But if your weight starts going up, or you feel like you're gaining actual real weight, your choices will fall in line with that. So you will know if it's real weight gain, right? You will know. Only gained two pounds during the break. I am not unhappy with that since many of my bad

habits came back, likely night eating. So there you go. So if you just fell back into all your old habits, maybe you did gain two pounds, but you're, you would know because it would go hand in hand with the choices that you know you made. And that's why you're feeling like that. Even then two weeks is really not enough time to actually solidify any actual weight on your body. So chances are it's just a combination of stress of like falling back into old habits, right? So many good habits stuck, no cravings, had all my water. My question is that nut butter seems to be a trigger for me. Yes, it might be, right? Should I try to avoid nut butter altogether or should I try to have it in moderation? I fucking hate the word moderation. Don't moderation will just lead you to slipping back into old

habits. Don't moderate nothing. You don't have to moderate yourself. Put your big girl panties on and recognize, okay, you fucking love nut butter. I fucking love chips. Sometimes I eat a whole fucking bag of them, right? I'm not trying to moderate myself. I'm either choosing I'm going to eat those fucking chips, or maybe I should lay off the chips because I know I'm not going to feel great. So you love peanut butter. You love nut butter. Do you actually love it? Or is this a residual from dieting? So sometimes that can be like a residual from dieting, trying to get the scoop, that scoop of peanut butter or whatever it is, right? You get natural nut butter. It's great for you.

Do you eat the whole jar? Like what's your jam? So you got to be like, why do I eat the whole thing? Like, why is it a trigger for me? So that's the first thing you do about it is like not this one I'm saying, like, you don't want to moderate it. You want to figure out why it's a trigger for you. What's your deal with nut butter? What is it? Like, what is it, right? And so, well, I just love it. Okay, well, you have to recognize you can't just eat a whole jar of nut butter, right? I mean, you can have some, but you can't. So then you have to be extra mindful when you have it. Okay, you know, I'm gonna scoop it out.

This is how much I'm gonna have, put the rest away. You could do the out of sight, out of mind. Maybe you're not there yet, right? Maybe you're not there yet. And to your point, you do get triggered. So maybe there's some sort of deeper association to nut butter for you. When you see it, you get triggered. I get triggered. I saw Grey's Anatomy was on, the kids are watching it. They always watch. They're like, I think they're obsessed with it because I was obsessed with it when they were young. And they rewatch all of the older episodes. And every time they do,

I immediately want red wine and sour cream and onion chips. So that's my association. Whenever I see Grey's Anatomy, I get triggered, right? That doesn't mean that every time I watch Grey's Anatomy, I eat or see it. I go and get red wine, which I still haven't drank since November, by the way, still off the red wine, super proud of myself. And it doesn't mean I eat a whole bag of chips. So ask yourself, what is that about? Why? What's the trigger? What's my deal with nut butter? What is it? Right? Why can't I stop having it? And how do you feel when you have it? What's going on? Maybe it was a treat. Maybe it was something that you snuck. Maybe it was me time. What's going on there, right? So that's where I would start with that. And if it's a thing that you don't feel you are ready to tackle right now, then maybe out of sight out of mind is good for you. But I think it's just like the peanut butter is just a, it's a test in your face. It's

a challenge in your face. It's an opportunity to you create, you keep doing something that obviously isn't working for you, or you feel it's not working for you. So why do you keep doing something that obviously isn't working for you or you feel it's not working for you. So why do you keep doing that? What's going on there, right? What's going on there? So don't try to moderate though. That'll just, it's not going to do nothing for you. Don't try to control it.

Either go right into it and be like, what's this nut situation or this nut butter thing? Why does it trigger me? What's going on there? What happens when I have it? What are the things that I say to myself? Why can't I just enjoy it? Like, it's like, I love pizza. Why do I have to have the whole pizza that ends up making me not feel good? Why can't I just, if pizza brings me joy, why can't I just have one slice or two slice that I enjoy and makes me feel not like shit when I eat the whole pizza, you know, that type of thing.

Had a crappy cookie yesterday. Didn't really want it, but realized that's part of my learning to listen to my body and maintenance. There you go. That's perfect example, right? Why did I have that? I do this all the time. Something will be on the thing on the table and I'll grab it and then I'll be like, why am I eating this? And I will actually stop and be like, I don't want this. I don't want it in that, you know, yeah, there's a bit of, I feel like I've wasted it, but also putting it in my body and eating it isn't stopping me from wasting it. Um, so it's not like helping anybody by me choosing to not eat it. Um, but that happens to me, that catches me too. Usually I'm busy. I'm not thinking. And

then I'm just like, I go to grab it and I'm like, I don't even want this. Why am I eating this? Right. And that's catching yourself in that moment is huge. That's huge. It's like you're eating the peanut butter and then you're, you're still, you're digging into the jar and you're not even enjoying it anymore. That's to have the wherewithal to stop and be like, what am I doing? I don't even want this. Why am I eating this mindlessly? Maybe because I'm stressed and I'm, this is my mindless happy place. Okay. So it's not really making me happy if I feel like I don't feel great after eating it. Right. So that's huge. This is where, this is where what maintenance looks like and feels like to you. And this is where you're testing the waters and you're like, okay, I had that and I can have it. And having

that cookie is not going to, having the nut butter is not going to cause you to gain your weight back, right? Eating the cookie is not going to cause you to gain your weight back, but it can make you not feel great. And this is where you're recognizing, oh, I, you know, sometimes when we diet, we want the cookie so bad. We fixate, oh, I wish I could just have the cookie. But then the way you've lost it, you're just like, oh, I actually don't even, don't want the cookie.

You know, so even in maintenance, you're learning, you're just like, oh, I actually don't even don't want the cookie, you know? So even in maintenance, you're learning, you're learning. Hi, Robert. Yesterday I weighed 166, this morning, 163. Yeah, exactly. Right. Fluctuations. There you go. Hi, Debbie boys. Why would my weight in maintenance stay a certain number for about a year than now is sitting about two pounds higher. That doesn't seem to come back down. I'm not doing anything differently than a year ago. It could be hormones. It could be the way your body's processing foods. Have you been doing resistance training, trying to keep up your muscle mass? That's a big one. As you get older, you tend to lose muscle mass. You want to make sure you're doing things to upkeep your muscle mass. So when your body breaks down foods into

glycogen, it goes to store those by way of insulin, your body's going to send it to your liver. It also sends it to your muscle and also sends it to your fat. So if you don't have the muscle there anymore, it can send it to your fat. So that's where you naturally start to notice, especially if you feel a little thicker. It could be just how you were living your life, your stress levels in your life. It could be compounding. It could also be the change of seasons. It could be the change of seasons as well. It could be your hydration levels.

It could be a variety of different things. I don't know if you've been getting on this scale every day, but what has changed? Is your stress levels changed? Your sleep changed? Your body composition changing? Like what's happening there? Have you taken a new medication, got off a new medication? Are you hungrier and feel like you need larger portions, but you're sticking with the smaller portions because that's what

you think you need because then your metabolism is higher and you're not really feeding into giving your body what it needs. So it could be a variety of different things, but seasonal change as well, right? You may not have noticed that. Like for example, even with your menstrual cycle, it's normal in the spring and in the fall for your menstrual cycle to come early, to come late, to double up. And we talk about this when people are doing the program, because obviously it can, it can mess with your cycle in the program. It's like cycle syncing. And so twice a year it happens, but we forget sometimes that it happens in the spring and happens in the fall. But now we're so hyper focused on our bodies that we are noticing now, right? And chances are it always happened. You're probably wondering what's going on, but you just came and you know, whatever. And so that's just

like naturally in the spring and the fall as your body kind of rejigs, it sinks, cycle sinks, right? And so even though you may not get your period anymore, your body kind of rejigs, it sinks, cycle sinks, right? And so even though you may not get your period anymore, your body is still wired to different phases and, you know, like full moons and, you know, different types of things like that. I know it sounds so crazy pants, but it's so true. It's the same reason why, you know, the ducks fly south and the fish swim upstream. And it's just like that natural instinct. Our bodies are very much wired to that. And so it can be dependent on a lot of factors. You're not even thinking of factoring in. You'll know if, like I said, if it's changes that you've made and you feel uncomfortable, like if you could have an infection that you don't know about, you could be dealing with

inflammation that maybe you're not aware of. Maybe you nicked your finger, didn't think anything of it, but now you've got, you know, a little infection going on. You don't know. You could have some underlying health issues that even though you've been healthy and you've lost all this weight and you've been able to maintain, you might have something going on. So if you feel like, what's going on here? I don't feel myself. Nothing has really changed. What is happening? What could this be? There could be some sort of underlying issue that you're going to want to check in with your doctor about as well. Going to my stepson's wedding with all of my little grandkids mid-May. I love that. In a suite with a kitchen and plan on having breakfast, snacks, and lunch at home. Oh, I just love that.

Oh, gosh. Wouldn't it be great if we could just always just be away all the time. Uh, any suggestions for the trip to Bahamas? I love Bahamas. I've been there twice. Tony's going there actually at the end of the month for a bachelor. Um, not sure how many leafy greens you'll find. Uh, I think they have quite a bit of leafy greens. I didn't find the shortage of leafy greens when I was in, um, the Bahamas. Um, make do. I think the Bahamas, it's not like you're going to Cuba and it's hard to get some foods on there. Where there's a will, there's a way. Stop maybe at the grocery store. Obviously, if you've got your own kitchenette, you'll probably be able to find some. Maybe not a huge variety, but that is so fun. So fun. Is weight loss the same as fat loss? How can we know for sure that it's fat loss?

No, weight loss is not the same as fat loss. We talk about this all the time in the weight loss program. Same conversation here. Weight loss is water weight. It's losing muscle. It's and losing fat. Fat loss is when you are losing weight by giving your body good, healthy, nutrient rich food. So just the whole concept of the Libby method is all about fat loss, eating, making sure you're eating often,

making sure you're eating nutrient-rich foods, making sure you're in tune to your body's needs. So you can guarantee that you're have fat loss when you're not starving and depriving your fat off, restricting, you know, nutrients from your body. So that's the difference. That's why on the Libby method, you could lose 20 pounds, going to look like 40 pounds on any other diet that you've done. And that people are losing weight, say their goal is 140 and they are sitting at 160, 150, and they feel like they've lost more weight than any other diet or their clothes that they were wearing at a lower weight or fitting them at a higher weight because it's actually the actual difference between fat loss and weight loss. I love that question. Valerie, Valerie, Valerie, I love the update. So you guys all know Valerie, she's been updating us on how she's gotten to the

bottom of figuring out why it's been so hard for her to maintain her weight. I love that. I love you. And I'm here for you. I love it. You know, it can be terribly frustrating. Here's the thing that I love about our weight loss program is that not just after when you're done maintaining your weight, but your life moving forward, you are left so in tune to your body's needs that you know when something is up, you know when something is just not jiving, not working for you. You know, if you feel like something is a little bit like, oh, I'm not sure what's going on here.

You probably know there's something going on there that you need to investigate. Definitely with our healthcare system, it can be shit trying to figure out what that is and can definitely be frustrating for sure. But once you figure it out, like your body should be working for you. You should be able to easily maintain your weight when you are aware of the choices that you're making and you understand how your body responds to the choices that you make, right? Your body wants you to be healthy. It wants you to be happy. It wants you to look good. It wants you to feel good. And for the most part, it should be easy. Yes, you're falling back into old habits. That's hard. How you use food to cope. That's hard. Sure. That past traumas, that is hard.

But from your body's physical perspective, it's totally on your side. And for the most part, it should be easy. And if it's not easy to maintain your weight, it could be that you need to look at your lifestyle and how you are living your life, your stress factors, all of that, your mindset, those types of things, you know. I know I gotta go. I gotta go. Thanks so much. You know, I really do need to add in resistance training. I do lots of walking, skiing, biking, but I'll concentrate on building muscle. Yeah. And only because especially as we get older, Debbie, is that you naturally lose that even though you're walking, you're very fit, right? It's a matter of strength, that strengthening

and maintaining that muscle mass is so important. And that's where you say, well, it's so natural to gain weight as you get older. Well, the only reason that is, is so important. And that's where you say, well, it's so natural to gain weight as you get older. Well, the only reason that is, is because you're not maintaining the same amount of muscle mass. So I would maybe switch out one of those workouts and add in some weights. You don't have to become a bodybuilder or anything like that. I bet you that will be a game changer for you if you're starting to kind of notice that. That would probably be my bet. Well, as you know know that was my guess so I did some weight weight weight training some resistance training let me know how you make out I gotta go everyone

so great to be back thanks for joining me today like I said every Monday I'm going to be here we're going to chat we're going to talk about maintenance so again make sure you are super clear on where you are at in terms of maintenance are you solidifying and are you what are you doing for that are you doing a repeat of the program or are you personalizing the plan to solidify? Are you in that maintaining and testing the water stage? Be mindful about that. Are you still asking the four questions? Does that come naturally with portions? You need to still work on that. Have you tackled all your issues with the scale? Do you know what that weight is going to be before you get on the scale? At this point, you shouldn't even need the scale. You want to get to a point where you don't need

a scale to tell you when you indulged. You don't need a scale to know how you're feeling, right? That's the whole point of that stage to be so super in tune to understand what maintenance, what's normal for fluctuations for you. Do you have big fluctuations, small fluctuations, what's happening there, right? And really with the ultimate end goal to get to that place where you're calm around food physically, mentally, and you move forward mindfully, living your life or living the living way. Solidifying. There we are. There we are. All right, you guys. So great to see you again. And thanks to everyone who joined in the conversation. You know me, I could talk about this all day. But if I didn't have people to talk to, I wouldn't be able to talk. Well, I could probably fill the time, but it's always so much better when I'm joined by amazing company

like you all. Thanks so much. Have an amazing day, everyone. I think I'll see you on Wednesday. I'm going to be joining the ladies for our Way in Wednesday conversation. So I'll see you then. I'll also be checking in on you every now and then. Have an amazing day, everyone, and I'll see you later. Bye. genetics, hormones, metabolism. Felix gets it. They connect you with licensed healthcare practitioners online who'll create a personalized treatment plan that pairs your healthy lifestyle with a little help and a little extra support. Start your visit today at felix.ca.

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