The Livy Method Podcast - Maintenance & Mindfulness - February 5, 2024

Episode Date: April 8, 2024

Gina Livy's Facebook Live from the Maintenance & Mindfulness group hosted on Facebook. This is the live recording from February 5, 2024. You can find the full video hosted at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ginalivymaintenanceandmindfulnessTopics covered:The benefit of Downsizing in maintenanceHot Flash Sale today- keep tryingWorking through issues and associations continues in maintenanceIs it food waste issues, or how you were raised?How to recognize and work through old habits and connections to foodAddressing and investigating cravingsWhen indulgences become habits3 reasons people gain weight backFiguring out your triggers is an individual processHow you were raised impacts your relationship with foodBeing aware of your thoughts and feelings surrounding food shows that you are in tuneYou have done the work physically, but there is still mental work to doDownsizing when no longer looking to lose weightFocus groups with Ruth KaneTo 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. I'm going live right now. Do you like my singing? I always wanted to be a singer, except I cannot sing. I'm live. Are you talking to me, Tony? Were you telling me what a great singer I would have been? I wanted to be like a full on like a singer dancer type of thing. Anyway, I'm not that because I cannot sing but I am really good at weight loss. How are you today? It's Monday. If you are redoing the program for the sake of solidifying your weight and maintenance, we're downsizing this week. So you may be like, okay, I reached my goal, I'm maintaining my weight, I don't need to lose any more weight, why would I be downsizing? Well, because even

though you've lost your weight, and you know, in a healthy, sustainable way doesn't mean that you are, you know, in tune with your portions or the amounts of your that your body actually needs, and you still could be feeding into what your body is used to. So it's just a matter of understanding that a little bit more and deeper and even understanding not eating enough, meaning like not eating to satisfaction, because let you know, you're still eating more than enough eating six times a day healthy, nutrient rich foods. But it's good to understand your hunger levels even more clearly what it feels like to eat to satisfaction, what it feels like to eat just enough, what it feels like to eat slightly less than what you need. So you feel

slightly unsatisfied. So, you know, not like even with downsizing, you're still learning what those cues are, which are going to help you get even more in tune to your body's cues. Because again, at the end of that fourth stage of the living method, the finally and forever go live your life, right? Just live your life, wake up, look good, feel good. It's all about being able to trust that your body's telling you when to eat, what to eat, and how much to eat. So still want to follow through with that downsizing this week. Odette gave me some

notes to talk about that. Downsizing is not for the sake of getting a scale to move, but to help solidify that mind-body connection, to be even more in tune with those cues, bringing awareness back to portions, what they feel like, and not just going through the motions. This is a big one because sometimes I see people or hear from people who are in maintenance months, years later, and they're still following the food plan. And that's not what we want. I understand the security of it. And some of you are like, I really like it. But you shouldn't be eating on a schedule, you should just be eating in tune to your body's needs. So you will notice that even though we are downsizing, you still might have days where you are not

hungry at all. And it's really about even being in tune to that. I'm just trying to get into my groups here and see if I'm actually going live in the maintenance group. Let me see. Oh, yeah. oh yeah that's a really riveting segment today um that's kind of day we're having so we had our big hot flash sale today in which our libby losers broke the internet um literally crashed our website trying to get in there taking advantage of our hot flash deal um i'm assuming it's still going

on i don't know where we are at with numbers numbers. Tony's been on the phone with the website people wicks trying to figure out what's happening. So if you've been trying to purchase the maintenance group or the next weight loss program for the amazing price of $60 each, and you have been trying and unable to get through, keep trying, keep trying because it's just that we're literally crashing this site. At least last time I checked, you can still get in there and purchase if you want. Okay, being in tune to any new or recurring associations or feelings, another opportunity to work through them. This is really important when you're redoing the program for solidifying your weight and we come up to the downsizing week is that it will bring up those issues and

associations like you may have done one program to reach your goals great amazing maybe you've done five programs to reach your goals also amazing but just because you're done losing your weight doesn't mean that you are done working through those issues and associations you've tied in and around food that you have broken through those old habits because we tend to fall back into those old habits you know before we've sort of solidified our new habits, that you aren't still prone to triggers and trying to understand that, especially when it comes to downsizing. It's really normal to have feelings brought up a food waste issues, food scarcity, food scarcity issues, especially tied into past dieting to where you're afraid to be hungry or afraid you know like

you're not getting enough food in there um you know getting used to leaving food on your plate this was my for example my fruit snack this morning obviously a little ambitious and I normally share this with Tony but I had a couple uh there were some raspberries on there and of course I had these sort of grapefruit slices and there's, you can tell like it's just sitting here, and I've had enough. So I'm not interested in really eating anymore. And getting used to just seeing plate food left on your plate, right? I was talking about this actually in the weight loss live this morning, where, you know, a lot of people think that they have sort of food waste issues, and they have a hard time leaving food on their plate, yet they waste food every week, when it comes to, you know, their groceries, like they're throwing out that lettuce, that food that, you know, was left over from dinner that they never

incorporated into their meals the next day. So the reality is, is a lot of people are wasting food every week, and always have been wasting food over every week, every time you throw that, you know, that container of leafy greens that you didn't use out, which hopefully you're incorporating a lot better. And people usually see a lot less food waste issues and actually save on their grocery bill when they're in tune to their body's needs as they get rolling into the program. But you know, if you are stressing about leaving food on your plate, and that makes you uncomfortable, yet you're tossing a bunch of food from your fridge at the end of the week, you don't have food waste issues.

You have issues seeing food left on your plate, probably associated to how you were raised. You need to eat everything on your plate. And it's just that's how you were raised. And that's what you are used to. So you just get used to eating everything on your plate. Right. So there's a bit of a difference there. And a lot of times you think you have food waste issues, and you really are concerned about wasting food. Yet every week you waste food when you toss it out of your fridge. But just because you're leaving it on your plate, that's what's making

you feel uncomfortable, right? Another question I got today. So remember, I go live on Mondays at 12. And so in the morning, we post a poster, maybe we should start posting it on Sunday, a poster that's advertising that coming on. So if you do have any questions you can ask on there, and then I can go through them on the Monday. But here's one from one of our members. Okay. I'm looking for tips on how to say no to the cookie after my lunch, I have fallen back into some old bad habits. There you go. And not being mindful. I understand I have to find out why I'm doing this and change it, but not sure how. Okay. So again, this has to go with just because you've lost your weight and you've reached your goal weight and you're maintaining doesn't mean that you've worked through your issues, associations,

triggers, how we utilize food. We use food to for so many things, right, to to celebrate, to enjoy, because food is delicious, to show love to someone to bond over. And a lot of people use food to cope when they're stressed, whatever. And some people use it as a reward. Right? So maybe you've had an extra stressful week and, you know, you're just like, I feel like a treat or I feel like, you know, I'm giving myself some sort of reward. The problem with treats, and I don't have a problem with treats when you get to a place where you're just like, I'm choosing to have this because I want it. There's nothing wrong with that.

Like, I want a cookie. I feel like a cookie. First of all, if you're craving sugar, then that's like you have to be like, why am I craving sugar? Did I have sugar this morning? So now I want more sugar. Am I dehydrated? Do I need to drink more water? Like why am I craving sugar? So that's that's the first thing that you need to address because having that cookie is just going to make you want even more sugar. It's not gonna having, having the cookie isn't going to fix why you're craving sugar in the first place. Let me say that again.

Having the cookie isn't going to fix or address why you're craving the sugar in the first place, which is why when we have that cookie, it's usually followed by two cookies and three cookies and four cookies until we've eaten all the cookies, right? So there's nothing wrong with just having the cookie because you want it. I do this all the time. I'm going to have this, I want it. I don't think too much about it. I'm just going to eat it. I'm going to enjoy it and then move along from it. The problem then is if you are eating the cookie, and you are stressing about having the cookies, the same conversation I had in the weight loss group today. And then

you decide to have the cookie. And then afterwards, you berate yourself about having the cookie. And then the next day, you're upset, you have the cookie, then you have issues, you have issues, and then you have more work to do, which is amazing. That's just a message for you that you have work to do. And so then you're not really like I'm all for people who want a cookie, eat the cookie, and then just move it along the next day. Having a cookie at your lunch is not going to cause you to gain weight. It's not, it's just you choosing to have a cookie at lunch. But if there's a like negative headspace that comes about because you have that cookie, you really you have a lot more work to do because you got to get to a place where you've lost your weight in a healthy way physically, but also mentally, where you're

calm around food, you are in tune with your body's needs, where you're just simply making a choice to have the cookie without that, you know, mental anguish that you're going through, recognizing you have the cookie, that's it, move it along, you don't blow off your whole rest of your day, because you had a cookie at lunch, doesn't mean you come home and eat a bag of chips. You know, at night, you just had the cookie. That's it, where there's no like, viewing it as a bad habit, right? It's just you're just having the cookie. But I'm assuming this is something maybe that you used to do. Like we get this a lot, a lot of times when people start with them. I'm gonna sneeze hang on when they start the the weight loss program for the first time, they're like, well, what can I have as a dessert? And I'm like, nothing. They're like, well, can I have fruit? You know, after I'm probably

gonna sneeze again, can I have a piece of fruit at the end of my lunch? And I'm like, why are you having fruit? Well, I want something sweet. Well, a lot of times you want that sweet, because it's what you used to do. So this is a habit then. So if you're recognizing this old habit popping up, then you want to recognize it's an old habit. Does it serve you doesn't serve you. Again, you can have a cookie, it's not going to cause you to gain weight. But if you're not happy with this habit, then you're going to have to change the habit. And so you're gonna have to get back in the habit of not having the cookie. Last thing you want to do is start the habit, start the habit up again, right? You don't want to start the habit up again. Maybe this is where you get up and you go for a walk when you feel like you

want the cookie. Maybe this is where you make some tea after your, is it lunch? After lunch, maybe you have some tea after lunch, right? So you have to recognize this is an old habit that I'm falling back into. You've done that. So that's huge. Now what you do moving forward, really go into the headspace of that. Not the, you know, I'm this, I'm that, I'm never going to whatever. Not that negative space, right? But recognize, okay, why am I craving this cookie after lunch again. And it could be simply because you did have a cookie, and then the next day you want another cookie, and you've just reinforced the habit. So you keep getting triggered, you have lunch, you eat it, you want a cookie, you have lunch, you eat it, you want a cookie, you have lunch, you eat it, want a cookie, like it's just the habit. Right? So so you have to just maybe cold turkey it and recognize it as a trigger for an old habit that you don't want to buy into anymore. But then you can also sort of replace it with something else getting up.

So now I'm going to have my lunch, go for a walk, have my lunch, go for a walk, have my lunch, go for a walk. Even if it's just around your office or around the block or whatever that might be, what's going to happen is eventually you do that long enough. And rather than having lunch, craving a cookie, you're going to have lunch, want to go for a walk, because that's your new habit that you've created. Or maybe it's have your lunch and then have some tea, have your lunch, have some tea, have lunch, have some tea, read a book, you know, that's sort of like that habit stacking, right? But it's hard to break old habits because of triggers. And you know, it's it's hard

to sustain new change, which is why you want to keep being mindful, right? Like there are three reasons why people gain weight back. And maybe you're concerned about this bad habit, because you don't want to gain your weight back, which you're not going to, but not putting time into solidifying your weight. So once you do that, you know, you're good, not adapting to situational change. So what's going on now that you want the cookie? Is it your stress levels higher? Like what's happening in your life, you're having a bit of a shit sandwich situation. So you feel like you deserve something and you're kind of using it as a treat. Like what's happening there kind of kind of define the trigger and

what's going on and why you want the cookie in the first place. And then mindfulness, right? Mindfulness is like, do I actually even want the cookie when I have it? Am I enjoying it? What's happening in the follow through? And also, you know, why can't I just have it because I want to enjoy a cookie. And then if you enjoy it, and that's the end of it, amazing, right? There's there's no real problem there. So there's a lot going on here. I've fallen back into some old habits and not being mindful. There you go, right? I understand I have to find out why I'm doing this and change up and not sure how. So yeah, right? So you understand this. I just went through it. There is no sort of black and white. This is what you need to do. It's sort of like figuring out what's your trigger?

Why do you want the cookie? What's happening there? Like this is really an individual process. And it may be like, it's just a fucking cookie. What's the big deal? But this will, it's like a slippery slope falling back into those old habits with everything that you're doing, right? So it's a matter of kind of changing that behavior.

And, you know, maybe sometimes it's two totally different situations. Maybe one time, it's like, you know, fresh baked cookies, you know, someone made for you, and you really just want one because they smell delicious, right? And you're able to eat it and enjoy it and whatever. And then maybe next time, it's you, your water is low, you're craving sugar, you want the cookie, and then it leads to another cookie, because you're just mindlessly falling back into that old habit. And each situation might be a little different. So there is no sort of like, this is what you need to do 101. Right? Bingo, we have a lot of issues around being afraid of starving. Hi, Sid, not having enough to eat. It's so hard to leave food on the plate. Yeah. And so, you know, food, that's sort of, there's a couple things going on.

Some of us have like ingrained food scarcity. Some of you have real food scarcity issues because your parents and maybe you, deal with real circumstances where there wasn't enough food. And so that's like those feelings run deep because those are very emotional experiences, right? And then you're just taught your relationship food with food is completely different than someone who's grown up with an abundance of food. And someone's experience with

food whose parents let them just eat whatever they felt like eating, like in terms of like, here's your food, and they just let them leave what they want to leave, versus, you know, a parent that's like, you're going to sit there and you're going to eat everything on your plate, you know, and so that's what we're taught. So So it's interesting, on the weekend, we went to the ROM, it was my daughter's birthday. And of course, this is their first birthday without their dad, because her dad recently passed away. And they had like a death exhibit there. Anyway, so we were talking about their dad and it was going through a little reminders of like bringing up the memories of someone that you've lost. What was their favorite color? What was their favorite whatever? And

they're like, what was the same story they told all the time? And all the kids remember their dad and the onion story. And so he talks about this a lot to enough that the kids notice that he always shares the same story. And when he was younger, he there must have been he got served dinner and there was like onions, fried onions or something on the plate, and he just didn't like the onions. And so his parents were making him his dad specifically was forcing him to eat the onions. And so rather than eat the onions, because he sat there, you know, in his mind, the story goes on, he sat there for 10 hours, you know, however long it was. And then, you know, the parents weren't letting him get up from the table. So he took the onions, and he was just a young kid, and he put them on the ground.

And then how his dad made him go under the table and eat the onions that he had put on the floor. And, you know, this is someone who used to also call himself gluttonous because he literally had to eat everything on his plate. He had a really hard time not just eating all of the food and, and having to eat everything on the plate or feeling like if he didn't eat everything on the plate, there's something wrong there. Right? So but food scarcity issues that not having enough food, and then you tie that in with legit feelings of deprivation diets, where you feel like you are starving yourself, and then trying to sit with that, which is like, that's a huge disconnect to to actually be legitimately hungry. And then like, actually

not be getting enough food, and then trying to like reconcile that as something healthy, that you're doing for yourself. That's really mixed messaging. I wonder why we're so disconnected and so confused when it comes to just being naturally in tune with our body's needs. So, you know, it's really like, what's really exciting to me is if you're having any thoughts or feelings that go along with just eating your food, and you're aware of that, that is really huge, if you think about it, because you are in tune enough that you are paying attention to what is happening, not just physically, but mentally, when, you know, before you make a food choice, while you are consuming foods,

and then how you're feeling after and then all of that work that you're doing now, it really, really is going to get you to a place where you wake up, you look good, you feel good, or maybe if you're not feeling good, you know why. And you just go about your day, you know, oh, I'm feeling a little bit irritable. I'm feeling whatever. Oh, I must be hungry. I got to take time to eat or stopping and be like, how am I feeling this morning? Am I hungry? Am I not hungry? Yeah, I'm not too hungry. You know what? I'm just the thought of food is not appealing right now. I'm just going to leave it or maybe I need I'm going to grab something to eat. What do I want? Do I want some eggs, some oatmeal, open the fridge? Oh, there's some leftover,

you know, steak from last night. I'm going to reheat some steak. You know, you eat it, you sit there, you plate what you already think is an appropriate portion. You don't even think about it. You just put some on your, no, oh my gosh. Okay. I don't need half a steak this morning. Let me put that back. You know, do I feel like I need to add some, you know, veggies? Oh, some avocado. Let me throw that on there. Okay, great. You know, I sit there, I'm enjoying my food, you know, mindfully, like, you know, preparing to start my day. And then you know, okay, I've had enough, maybe I leave a few bites on my plate, that was delicious, enjoyed that off I go, or maybe I've eaten it. And I'm like, wow, I'm actually hungry than I thought. So I go back and get a little bit more,

eat enough to feel satisfied. That's it walk away. Go about my day. Oh, you know, it's mid morning. You know, how am I feeling? I feel good. Am I hungry? Nah, not at all. You know, like, let me just keep going. Lunchtime comes around, you know, lunchtime, should I check in with myself still not really all that hungry. But maybe I'll have a little something something, you know, open up my fridge, what do I feel like, you know, what's what am I going to make for lunch? I don't feel like that maybe something a little bit lighter today and then something heavier and heartier today. Like, that's it. It's just really like so relaxed and so chill. And just your only thought is being in tune to your body and assessing Okay,

if I am hungry, what am I hungry for of the food available to me? What is most appealing? Right? And then when you're plating it out, you don't have to ask those four questions anymore, because you already know, I already know how hungry I am, or how hungry I'm not. And let's just portion it out. And then you know, as I'm eating my food, I'm enjoying the flavors and the taste of it and in tune with like, when I've had enough, I know when I've had enough, like I'm good. If there is food left on my plate, I'm not stressing about it. I'm either, you know, packing it up, putting in a container or giving it to the dog or throwing it in my green

bin. You know what I mean? Like, that's it. And it's just like, I go out, I go to a party, people are walking around with hors d'oeuvres. I'm just like, Oh, that looks good. Or No, thank you. I'm fine. You know, I go out for dinner. I'm reading the menu. And I'm just, I'm not reading the calorie count at the side of it. I'm just like, Oh, what do I feel like breadbastic comes? I'm like, Yeah, you know what? No, I'm not interested. If I eat bread, I immediately feel like I'm going to be bloated. I want to leave room for my amazing dinner. Or I'm going to have a piece. I'm going to slather some extra butter on that. Oh, God, I love bread and butter. Oh, this is so delicious. You have a piece, maybe you don't even finish the whole piece. Maybe you just take a bite of it. You're like,

this is good. And then you realize, yeah, I've had enough. You put it on your plate, and it sits there on your side plate, that half eaten piece of bread, you know, and then your dinner comes and it's something that you just felt like you were maybe it's pasta. You know, maybe it's, you know, a nice salad. Who knows what it is? You sit there, you enjoy it. It's you're tasting it. No stressing about it. Not thinking how fat you are. You got to lose weight.

None of those things. Just enjoying the food and the flavor. And then you just stop when you're done. Or you're like, oh man, I'm full, but this is so good. And I want to eat it fresh. And I'm just like, I'm going to go back in and I'm going to walk away from this table with my belly so full, but I'm going to enjoy every second of this delicious, whatever I'm going to go back in and I'm going to walk away from this table with my belly so full, but I'm going to enjoy every second of this delicious whatever I'm eating. And then you get up afterwards and you walk away.

Maybe your belly is full, but you're like, oh man, that was so good. And then again, you wake up the next day and rather than stressing about what you ate or didn't, you remind yourself of this amazing dinner that you had last night that was so hashtag worth it. That's why you feel the way you feel. And then the next day you just drink a little extra water, maybe get in some leafy greens, you know, that's it. That's it. That's the whole goal. So in order to get to that place, though, and I think this is where we get a little bit fooled in in maintenance is that we've done the

work physically, but we don't really realize or we really start to realize how deep our issues go, especially when it comes to, you know, not having enough to eat, you know, and having that be a real thing that goes back into like, your experience, or, you know, generations and generations of, you know, that was their experience. So that's, you know, why your parents fed you the way they fed you and their parents fed them the way they fed them. And, you know, this is sort of where you're, how you got to where you are at today and the issues that you have tied in around food. Because it all comes back to how we use food to show love, right? Like Tony's love language is food.

Tony's parents love language is food. We love you and we're showing you how much we love you by providing food for you, right? You know, celebrating, you know, the good times in your life is when you have food around. Let's celebrate this holiday, that holiday, this thing, that thing. Celebrating to console people. You know, when someone dies, what do we do? We bring them food. When someone's going through hard times, we bring them food.

Food that they're supposed to eat to console themselves, to make themselves feel better. And then, you know, you end up using food to cope when you're emotional, when you're stressed, you know, we use food for so many things and we have so many feelings or issues and associations tied in around food. And so when we get into maintenance, we're really working through a lot of that, which brings us back to how I started this conversation is downsizing when you're no longer looking to lose weight. And so just like when you're doing the weight loss program, downsizing is less about eating less and more about the issues and associations. And then as we move forward, right, even the splitting up the meals and snacks, feeding the metabolism, that's again, putting you back in the habit of prioritizing yourself again, right? Being extra mindful, there's always like more leveling up, more leveling up, more leveling up, more in tune, more in tune, more in tune,

more self aware, more self aware, more self aware, you know, creating that body positivity, creating that mind body, strengthen that mind body connection, there's always more we can do. And it may seem like it's really time consuming, and you're investing in a lot of time. But really, you work so hard to lose your weight in a healthy, sustainable way. This is all just making you even healthier and even more in tune. So that when you really are ready to get to that place of that fourth stage that move on, you know, you've lost your weight, you solidified your weight, you put time into maintaining and testing the waters, that you're really ready to move on to the let me put my weight loss journey behind me. Let me trust that I know what my body needs. Let me trust that I am in tune and self aware

and mindful and you just go live your life and enjoy all the yummy bites of bits that come along with it. Yeah, this conversation never gets old, at least for me, it does. It's so fascinating. It's so multi leveled and layered, you know, um, I do want to talk about the focus groups. I'm so super excited that Ruth is, um, starting to pivot from weight loss. We know our weight loss program works. We know it works really well. Um, now we're focusing on maintenance and Ruth Kane and her team, you might've heard from the University of Ottawa who are studying the living method are looking to really dig into maintenance. So if you have been in maintenance, two weeks, two months, two years, whatever that is, Ruth would like to hear from you. She did a link, we did a link in the group last week.

And so those of you who are interested in doing focus groups, so I guess there's a bit of a glitch with the link or the way we've kind of set it up, where when people are asking to register, it says sold out. So what you can do is click view event details, and then there's there will be some more dates available. So if you are still interested in being part of her focus groups, you can still take part in those. So you just if it says slow sold out, go to view event details, and then you can check out more dates and options that are available. All right. That's my time.

Sid, thanks for joining me today. Thanks for your question. Remember, you can always download and listen to these conversations by way of our podcast, Way and Machine. It's available on all podcast platforms. I know that Odette has some fun stuff in store for you guys guys for the next week so we'll be back way in wednesday we have some she has some guest books um we're going to really dive into it and get into it which you might have noticed that we are doing this group we are working on a maintenance program specifically

where we're going to have a version of the app that links to the maintenance group that links to the maintenance post so we're working on that and we're really looking forward to getting that together. So we're kind of kind of doing some of that now. We were hoping for spring, but probably next fall. But you guys are very much part of that. So thank you for all the feedback that we're getting. We love hearing from our members who are in our maintenance group, sort of as we sort of focus on and create a really robust program that really

fits all of our members needs who are in maintenance. Hi, Valerie, looking forward to the focus group discussion. Have a great day all. Thanks for joining me. Those of you who were joining me live for everyone who's listening, thanks for listening. Have an amazing day, everyone. And I'll catch up with you later. Bye.