The Livy Method Podcast - Maintenance & Mindfulness: Maintenance Mindset Mondays - March 10, 2025

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

Maintenance Mindset Mondays is all about cracking open the conversation about what REAL maintenance looks like – beyond the scale and deep into personal transformation. Join Gina and Odette as they dive into the week’s focus, share insights on all things maintenance, and answer your questions. Whether you’re new or experienced, there’s something for everyone!With the time change throwing us all off, it's the perfect moment to check in: How are you responding to change? Are you embracing it or resisting it? This week, we're diving deep into the mindset shifts needed to solidify your weight and move beyond weight loss for good. From tackling future tripping to understanding self-regulation in Maintenance, we're covering it all. Plus, we're shaking things up with a Food Plan Revamp—lean into what your body is telling you, stay flexible, and do the work to get clear on what you need in the moment. Let's go!You can find the full video hosted at:https://www.facebook.com/groups/ginalivymaintenanceandmindfulness 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. It is time to take a minute out to hear from our podcast sponsor today, which is another podcast actually, the new wellness podcast from Audible.

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That's right up our alley. Self-conscious with Chrissy Teigen, expand your self-awareness, gain valuable insights and become more self-conscious. You can go to audible.ca slash Chrissy, C-H-R-I-S-S-Y podcast or wherever you get your podcast from and start listening today. Welcome to Maintenance and Mindset Mondays. Okay, it is a Monday. We are rolling into a whole new week with our maintenance program. We are in week nine. Odette is joining me today. Hello, hi, how are you? Hi, good, how are you?

Good, we were saying we were both in black today. Yeah. I think it's that's how we feel after the time change. Somebody said something about the hour stealing or the clock stealing your hour. And I thought that's so exactly how I felt this morning. It stole that hour from me. Even though I'm getting it back at night at six in the morning. I don't feel that way.

Yeah. We got it back at night last night. So I, our whole family, including our dogs were like, my dog was just like ready for bed. She's like, I'm going to bed. Like, but it was an hour earlier and we were all so tired. It was like the day dragged on. It was the longest day ever yesterday. And we're like, Tony's like, we gotta go to bed. It's like nine, 10. I'm like, it's actually only eight, 10.

And what is wrong with us? We're all so tired. Spring is right around the corner. Is it just the last days of winter? What is going on? Is this is this our I wonder if some of it maybe is physical in the sense that this is where our body does start to transition from winter hibernation mode into that like spring mode where it starts to

boost your metabolism give you more energy and whatnot. So I wonder if there's something physical going on there. I know there's some mental shit going on because man in the weight loss program this morning, people were pissing me off just with their negative fucking shitty ass attitudes. And I was like, come on y'all. Like, let's go. This is not the time. It's such a self sabotaging mindset. And I was like, man, y'all one woman even down 18 pounds and be like, I don't understand why we got to make change

with this program. I'm like, you are fucking complaining and you are down 18 pounds. Like you're gonna take yourself out. Like why, like you're gonna take yourself out, man. And so I was just like, it's one thing to complain but when you fought so hard to still be here, and like, it's just to me, it's a form of self sabotage, not

knowing what you need. I was just saying to Odette, because I am also in a pissy mood this morning. I'm like, I'm going to just shut her down the rest of the day, because I know myself, and this is not the mindset that I want to continue in. I don't want to go there. So then my go to is like, what is going on with me? What is this about? And I need to know my limits, right? Like, so if you're feeling that way today,

if you don't have a great attitude for yourself to show up with, then you got to figure out what's going on with you. Or if you don't want to figure out what's going on with you, just maybe like shut her down and tomorrow's a whole new day. Tomorrow's a whole new day. Anyway, that's how I'm feeling.

Happy Monday. Yeah, happy Monday. I feel like there's a lot of change happening right now. You know, like, like, change the changing time. You know, that's one thing. But it's we were talking about, you know, this transition to spring where like that's a big change. Our bodies are going through a change. We're kind of in this middle part, like, is it spring? Is it winter? Is winter coming back? What am I doing with myself?

You know, I, I, we just can't figure out exactly where we are. And yesterday even I found myself playing catch-up all day. Like, I felt like I was an hour behind all day because it was 12 o'clock, but it only should be 11 o'clock. Then it was 2 o'clock. How did I get to be four o'clock already? I haven't done anything yet today. So I feel like it was doing this catch up all day. And then coming into Monday, it was like,

oh, I still feel like I'm catching up, but I'm catching up and I'm exhausted. And I mean, this, without even us knowing it, this is kind of exactly what I wanted to talk about today. Was this like- Well, I'm just, I'm Googling right now. And there's like spring fever with your brain. Yeah. Right. And this is where like your circadian rhythm. And people start to feel like people are

smiling. They're happier. They're, you know, this is I wonder if this is sort of pre like this is the like the down before your body pumps you up and gets you in spring mode. Yeah, it could be. So you feel even better when when you do get into that spring mode because you've had it, you know, you're feeling so crappy and then all of a sudden you feel so much better. And I think this week like talking change and it's so it's so polarizing that some people are so excited for the change of this week. I mean, everybody loves adding that butter to everything. So they're happy with the change. And then we have some that are very apprehensive

about this change and what's this change gonna do to my routine? What's this change gonna do to my habits? How am I gonna navigate this change? So I think they're feeling excited because they get to change up their food, but they're not excited because they have to change up their routine and habit. I think that's bringing a bit of fear. I think anytime we look at change, it brings a bit of fear and uncertainty.

So I think there's a mix of that. Yeah. So along with so during winter, reduced sunlight exposure can lead to lower serotonin levels, a mood regulating neurotransmitter, potentially contributing to feelings of depression and a seasonal affective disorder. So it could just be like, where we are in the program, also the pressure of the last four weeks, right? Like it's been a long haul, the pressure of trying to

accomplish something in the timeframe that we have along with our serotonin levels being low, then you add like the change in time and yeah. Yeah and I think people are starting to, this might be the point too where they start to future trip, whether you're in the weight loss program we talk about it a lot, but even in maintenance, when you can begin future tripping, like, I'm going to have to do this on my own. What do you mean? I have to, I can't just follow this, this structured program for the rest of my life. What do you mean? So they're future tripping about that part coming to an end as well. Yeah. I mean, this is sort of where it's big picture, like all of the work you are doing, factoring into you being able to live a life beyond trying to lose weight, trying to maintain

weight, just truly living your life. And this is again, where you're the people who are really getting it, are the people doing the work. And this is where your thoughts and the feels that you have, you have to validate them and bring awareness to them because that is the insight into the things that you need to do and work through, is your thoughts and your feels. So no matter how you are, whatever your thoughts and feels have brought you to where you are today, for example, or just where we're on the program, that is great insight into the things that you need to do and work through in order to be successful. In anything.

Yeah, I agree. Yeah, in anything. You're right, in anything. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, in anything. You're right, in anything. And I think members look at these tweaks, and they think, oh, I've done it before. What's it going to teach me? Why do I have to do it? Why do I have to change?

And that's where the learning really starts to happen, where when you're faced with this change or a bit of fear or a bit of apprehension, that's where the learning really comes in. You know, you're learning, yeah, it looks like you wanna make a point. I don't want you to make a point. No, I don't, I just wrote a new post about fear. I just, I love what you're saying.

Yeah, I actually wrote one too, it's coming week 11, but maybe we need to bump it up a little bit, cause I thought, oh, week 11 in maintenance, we start talking about like transitioning to that place of trust and moving away from a program. So we had a whole post about fear coming up then, but maybe that's a week nine or not a week 11. What'd you call yours?

Mine is called, fear isn't a sign to stop. Mine is festering in your fear question mark, read this. Oh, yours is direct. I love that. Yeah. Ooh. Yes, around here, get right into it. Okay. I love that. Okay. Yeah. I think we're at this place now where, you know, and with this food plan to revamp to work, we're allowing members to have a bit more flexibility, right? Like they get to choose. Do you want fruit for your in the morning or with protein and fat? Or do you only want protein and fat

and move fruit to the afternoon? And I think they're like, I don't know. I don't wanna make that choice. Why do I have to make that choice? Why can't you just tell me what I need to do? So I think that is bubbling up a little bit too. I mean, they love the feeling that, yeah, I can add nut butter to my apple,

but I can also take the apple right out. And how do I feel about that? Like, I don't think I wanna't, I don't think I want to make that choice. I think yeah, you just nailed it. This isn't about, it's, it's not about going through the motions. Yeah. It's not about going through the motions. I mean, you can do the weight loss program and go through the motions and still lose weight. Um, I think more than ever, and more importantly in the, in the, in the maintenance program, it's not just going through the motions to solidify your weight. There's work here. There's work here. Even if you've done 24 programs, there's work to do here. And to me,

it's really exciting because it's laying the foundation of change. And so you can literally move on for the rest of your life. Like, here's Grace, I'm excited to get to the end and just live my life and maintain my weight, that's it. And then all the things that you're doing, the work that you're putting into this now is gonna make that so much easier for you in the future. That's the big picture. And again, this morning in the weight loss program,

one woman was like, I'm down 18 pounds, the program works. I'm really proud of what I've done. I don't understand why I have to make this change this week. I'm like, well, first of all done. I don't understand why I have to make this change this week. I'm like, well, first of all, if you don't understand why you have to make this and angry about it, if you don't understand, first of all, don't do it, if you don't want to fucking do it, don't do it. But then go, what are you going to do? Go back, do your own thing. Okay, fine, whatever. But it's like you are

doing these things now, so that you don't have to do them ever again. That's the whole point, right? It's like you you are doing these things now so that you don't have to do them ever again That's the whole point right? It's always bigger picture with everything that we're doing You're asking the four questions a million freaking times now, so you don't have to ask I don't sit there and be like let me ask four questions I already know within seconds milliseconds if it's too much not enough for me or just right I you know, I know the exact second I'm going to take another bite and I'm going to feel full. These are not things I spend time thinking about. I can tell you what I feel like eating right now based on what is in my fridge. I don't feel like eating

because I just finished having some falafel with some pesto. I'm not going to tell Tony that because he's making me lunch and he's like, what do you want? Do you want some fish for lunch? I'm like, yeah, I'm already full, but whatever. I can think about what is in my fridge and just go quickly, fruit, vegetables, proteins, other proteins, what do I want? What exactly do I want to eat? It takes seconds. And again, so these are all things that you're doing so that you don't have to really work at doing any of them once you've reached your goal, bigger picture, bigger picture, bigger picture. Let's talk about this, what'd you wanna talk about this week?

So just that with the food plan revamp, that it's not just about adding more protein and fat, it's really about leaning into the flexibility. What are you learning from that? And shifting that mindset of, oh, I'm just doing this right now, I'm making a change right now, but the mindset is like you said,

you're building the foundation for later on. So the flexibility and the choices that you, excuse me, are having to ask yourself now, those are the things that are just going to become second nature down the road in any situation. You're not going to say, in the mornings, oh, I have to have a fruit for my fruit snack. Well, I don't, because that's not what I'm feeling.

That's not what I want in the moment. And I know if I have fruit, I might have quicker energy, but I actually need sustaining energy. So I'm going to have protein and fat. You know, like those are just the mechanics of the thought process during this tweak. So yes, we're doing it, but we're just, you know, setting ourselves up for long term. If we can just shift that mindset of doing it now is setting us up for long term versus being a challenge and a change in the moment, then it might just become a little bit easier. Really leaning into that flexibility.

And the other thing I wanted to talk about too is this concept of self-regulation and what that means here in maintenance. So I think we often think about regulation as controlling and restricting only when it comes to foods. And when we talk about self-regulation here, and this also comes from Dr. Ruth and all of her research, which I had an amazing conversation with her last week. So I can't wait to talk to you about that as well

and see what comes out of that. But we're talking self-regulation and how it's based more on thoughts and behaviors. So you're not regulating yourself when it comes to how much you can eat, what is allowed, what isn't allowed. When we talk about thoughts and behaviors, it's about managing those impulses. It's about managing or having a plan

when there is gonna be a lapse in your routine, in your habit. And what we know from our members that are successful at maintaining is they have a thought pattern and they can adjust their behaviors when these planned and unplanned situations come up. So, you know, we talk about planned situations. You have a birthday party, you have a wedding,

you have a big celebratory meal coming up. You can plan for that. This is how I want to feel. This is the memory I want to make around this event. This is what I want to take from it. You know, and those are things that might be a little bit easier to plan for. But then we have these unplanned things, like a big project at work, or a stressful situation, or something hopefully not tragic happens. And you're left in this moment where

you have to make decisions, not only on what to eat, but how you're going to react and how you're going to manage your stress. And I think when we talk about thoughts and behaviors and members that are maintaining, they've, they've got this figured out in terms of how they're going to react and how they're going to behave, not exactly to whatever the situation is like, Oh, I have a work project, I'm going to do this. I was in a car accident, I'm gonna do this.

No, it's just about having a general understanding of an awareness that that's gonna happen. You're gonna react. How do you wanna react? And understanding that you have the control in that moment on how you're gonna react and what your behavior is gonna be. So it's not about being surprised

by these situations that happen. you're going to react and what your behavior is going to be. So it's not about being surprised by these situations that happen. It's about having acknowledgement and awareness that they're going to happen and have a plan for yourself to know it's about pausing and taking a moment and really asking yourself the questions, not what do I want to eat, but how do I want to react to this? How can I still take care of myself through that? So that was a lot of what we talked about about self-regulation. It's regulating your thoughts and your behaviors, versus regulating your food. Like it's not just about, oh, I'm going to eat this muffin. No, how do I want to think about this situation and how am I going to react? Oh, I love this conversation. So this comes down to people are feeling pissy today,

right? And they come into the group, they complain complain, not ask not ask for help, right? complain. Now that is there a self awareness route, someone could go, I'm feeling like this today, I'm having a hard time with this having a hard time with that, like this is your reality, right? So that's how this starts. One person is like, I'm sharing how I'm feeling, I'm putting it out there. Someone else is using that to then complain about their situation. And then you got to hold me to and this that and whatever situation. And so

this is sort of where you know, I take myself how am I showing up today? Now I can either tell people to fuck off or recognize I'm the problem today. I'm the problem today because of the way I'm feeling I don't know why but this is how I'm feeling. Maybe I indulged on the weekend. Maybe I didn't get any sleep. Maybe I've got some going on with my kid, any of those things. So I can either go tell people to fuck off, go drink a bottle of wine and then, you know, eat a bag of chips for dinner. Or I can be kind to myself understanding and be like, okay, clearly I am dealing with something. What is, what is going on with me today? Okay. I am dealing with something. What is going on with

me today? Okay, I want to drink wine. What should I do? Maybe I can drink some water. Maybe I can start with drinking some water, having some tea that I'm going to feel good about. Or maybe I can go do a workout. If I don't do a workout, maybe I can go for a walk. Always when I go for a walk, it helps to clear my mind. I was just here in Risa here, talking about how, you know, go, go and forget it, going out for a walk to get in some movement, right? You know, you can choose to overeat, but then think, Okay, is that really going to make me feel good for a hot second, then going to feel like garbage? So what can I do? Well, maybe

take some time and indulge in making something really nice for myself, right? Like, this is sort of that awareness piece and that self-regulation is not just have the chips, don't have the chips. It's so much bigger than that. It's understanding physically what's going on. I'm tired because of this. Mentally, I'm feeling whatever I'm feeling because of this. Or maybe you don't even know, but it's meeting yourself where you're at and being like, Okay, what do I need in this situation? What I probably need to do is, you know, maybe go for a nice walk, work on getting some water in today and then finish my my day with a nice bath. You know, like this

is that that planning piece you're talking about doesn't have to be Something I saw coming a week ahead. This could be like I woke up today I got hit by pissiness and so what do you do about it? And then that's kind of what you're talking about Yeah, it's exactly what we're talking about and it's a it's not letting yourself Spiral, you know, it's about it's about recognizing it and instead of being like, instead of talking yourself into that spiral, talking yourself into that cycle, it's talking yourself out of it. It's those thoughts that can come to talk yourself out of it. It's those behaviors that you're going to engage in

that are gonna bring yourself out of it. It's not about being stuck and allowing it to just snowball. It's about being able to move on from it. Like I get it, the situation is really shitty and it's not where I want to be right now, but what can I do about it so that I don't go back to doing the things that didn't serve me and feeling in a way that I didn't want to feel. So I think that's where we when we talk self-regulation, you know, and sometimes the choice is not going to be, you know, exactly what's going to align always with your goal

and where you wanna be and how you wanna feel, but it's not letting it become this big massive snowball that has just been rolling and rolling and rolling, so being able to pull yourself out of that. Because I think that's a vicious cycle for a lot of our members with that whole diet cycle, starve, deprive, punish, you overeat, you punish yourself, you keep keeps going, it's, punish, you overeat, you punish yourself, you keep going. It's

not just physically in a loop, but mentally in a loop and, and breaking that it comes down to how we use food, our relationship with food, our relationships, ourselves coping, how we've learned to cope with, you know, and what are the three reasons for why people gain that weight back? One is not putting time into solidifying their weight. And if you're doing that with this program, great, but it's not about going through the motions. Right? Because the bigger thing is, is situational change, right? Not adapting to situational change, whether that is long term, I've lost my way at home, and now I got a new job.

Right? Or if it's, you know, situational change, I'm now on vacation. Or if it's situ you know, situational change, I'm now on vacation. Or if it's situational change, something has happened, shit has hit the fan in my life, now I'm dealing with something right now today, right? And then that third piece is mindfulness. And then being mindful and self aware, those are those, you know, not being mindful, not being self aware is why people gain weight back. So you can break it down into those three reasons why people gain weight back. That you can break it down into those three reasons why people gain weight back. That's why this is so important. And it's beyond going through the motions. It's really also meeting yourself where you're at, and

then also figuring out what you need. Yeah, yeah, I think that's exactly it. It's, you know, we talk about those, we talk about mindfulness so much in this group, and you know, what that means. And I hope our members are not seeing it as mindfulness is only those four steps of mindful eating because it goes so far beyond that. You know, when we talk mindfulness, it's not just around food. It's not just about what to eat and when, how much, how do I feel. It's about everything. It's about these situations that hit us. It's about stress that comes on. It's also about, you know, joy, being aware when you are, you know, feeling quite the opposite of the way that we're feeling

today. So when you are feeling a day that is joyful and exciting and happy, you know, how do you react in that moment? You're like, Oh, I feel good today. I'm going to eat all the cake, you know, or I feel good today. So I might as well just do something that I am interpreting as a reward. It's about being mindful and it's really, it's this awareness. It's beyond, mindfulness is beyond what to eat and when and how much. It's really about having an awareness of everything, thoughts, feelings, behaviors. Some people don't trust when it's good. They don't trust that it's gonna keep being good. And so then they self

sabotage it into or they're waiting for the shoe to drop or they just, you know, yeah, it's almost like that too good to be true, right? It's good. Yeah, too good to be true. So that's really what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about the tweak and how to use it beyond just, you know, adding more fat and protein. What is it bringing up?

You know, are you are you feeling challenged by the flexibility of it all? Are you feeling, you know, are you are you really listening to how certain foods affect you? You know, like if you are like, I'm not going to have I've got to wait the full three hours to eat between my meals. So my, you know, my snack needs to be a little bit more nutrient dense, like it's having that awareness to, you know, having more protein at lunch, does that how does that make you feel longer term, do you feel a difference, you know, and then when you're coming out and living your living

your life later on, you're gonna be able to say,, I'm going to have a big gap in my afternoon. I need to eat more protein at lunch. So I feel sustained as the day goes on. We're not going to be there telling you that. You're going to already know that by really working this tweak. And then just with the self-regulation, just trying not to control and restrict and just having that awareness around your thoughts

and behaviors when those situations do pop up. We had a comment from a member, Jen, today I was reading in the group and she said, I'm going to do my best to stay on track while mindfully allowing some indulgences at a birthday party. And I thought this is the perfect way. Something is planned and you know it's coming. It's a birthday party, you want to

have those indulgences. It's great. You want to be able to make memories there and remember and think back on that and not think, I went to this birthday party and I felt so awful I couldn't have this and I couldn't have that and I don't want to ever do that again. I don't want to go to another birthday party and that's, no I want to go to this birthday party. I'm going to make those mindful choices. I know this is already going to happen and I'll just come out on the other side and it's going to be no big deal. That's something that you plan for, but this is the same mentality. This is the same thought that you can have when something is unplanned. Okay, I'm going to deal with that. It's not ideal,

but I'm going to come out on the other side. Yeah. It's also managing your mindset. I was just thinking like, you know, you go to the mall and you gotta go there for something else. And then you see a million things that you would like but you don't have time to buy it or you don't have money to buy it. And then it seems like when you do go to the mall to shop and you have time and you have money you can't find a damn thing.

And it's kind of one of those things. If you go with that restrictive mindset you're gonna feel restricted and you're gonna want things even more. Whereas you go like, okay, I know I'm going in a situation where I'm gonna be tempted. How am I gonna maneuver this? I'm just gonna want things even more. Whereas you go like, okay, I know I'm going in a situation where I'm going to be tempted. How am I going to maneuver this? I'm just going to be in the moment. I'm going to allow myself to have some things. Sometimes it's allowing yourself, allowing yourself. And there was another member in the group

today and she just like, I don't think I can go on. This is hard. I can't listen anymore. I can't do it. I'm like, then don't quit. quit. I mean, sometimes you have to allow yourself to quit. We had a great, yeah, Alcihide, this member on our real people, real journey conversation on last Tuesday, and she let herself quit sometimes every hour, sometimes every day. Like, and she had this concept of, I'm just gonna let myself quit if I wanna quit.

And then she kept saying, okay, and then what? Right. And it was like, sometimes you'd allow yourself and you're, but you are also simultaneously self aware. It lifts that restriction and lifts, lifts those heavier, bigger fields and just allows you to make better choices. You know? Yeah.

So that was really the takeaway I wanted for our members this week was to, you know, lean into this tweak, lean into acknowledging that self-regulation and, and see if they can shift their mindset from self-regulation be about control and restricting to being about thoughts and behaviors. And then the food plan revamp, it's not, doesn't need to be just about adding that butter to

everything, you know, lean into that flexibility and lean into challenging yourself. I know a lot of our members, maybe that's the homework this week. I know a lot of our members have said, oh, I'm just going to combine my afternoon snacks. That's the easy way. It is the easy way. And that's totally doable. That's totally something you can do, but that's not challenging you to make a choice when it comes to flexibility or allowing yourself to think outside of that little area of bench neck and nuts and seeds combined. If that's what you want to do some days, great. Maybe your homework is to think about the guidelines and what you can do that's a little bit different from your actual pattern now and see how that makes you feel. I love that. I always love your homework.

Yeah. I'm not sure the members do, but that's okay. I can't please everybody. I try, but it's too hard. You cannot, but we are gonna do our best to try. Oh, yeah, thank you. Thanks everyone who joined us live. Appreciate you.

Here's Dorothy, appreciate your honesty when frustration hits hard. The dialogue is helpful for all of us. Yeah. Oh, right back at you, Dorothy. Thanks for joining us today, everyone. That's what we're here for. Like let's have the conversations no one's having. Let's have the hard conversations, the uncomfortable. I love Dr. Paul. He says, you know, if something, if you're thinking of,

if something feels uncomfortable, that's probably the things that you need to focus on and do. Um, your thoughts and your feels give us great insight into not only where we're at, but what we need to do and work through. And that's what these conversations are here for. And we're gonna be back on Wednesday, checking in midweek, if you want to join us for that conversation. Otherwise, have a fantastic week, everyone, and we'll see you next time.