The Livy Method Podcast - Maintenance & Mindfulness: Midweek Motivation - February 18, 2026

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

Welcome to your Midweek Motivation!This week, Gina is joined by the manager of the Weight Loss Program, Kim. Together, they remind listeners that maintaining is about more than just following a food plan. It’s about checking in with yourself, doing a daily “vibe check,” and recognizing the habits and beliefs that have shaped your relationship with food. From reflecting on bites that may or may not have been worth it, to calling out the lasting impact of diet culture, they keep it real about why consistency matters and why self-compassion is non-negotiable. They reinforce that the process is as much about rewiring your mindset as it is about what’s on your plate, encouraging listeners to trust the process, stay present, and remember that sustainable change comes from working with your body, not against it.You can find the full video hosted at:https://www.facebook.com/groups/ginalivymaintenanceandmindfulnessTo learn more about The Livy Method and our Maintenance & Mindfulness group, visit livymethod.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 for my 91 day weight loss program. With a combination of daily lives, guest expert interviews and member stories, there is something new almost every day. Miss the morning live? Want to re-listen to one of our amazing guest experts? Well, this is the place. This podcast is hosted on ACAST, but it's available on all podcast platforms, including the one you're listening to right now, Spotify, Apple, and Amazon music.

It's your maintenance midweek motivation. Some of my favorite conversations are taking place here. Wake up, look good, feel good, no matter what life throws out you. You got this. This. Do we know? Do we know? We do.

We do have it. Fake it till you make it, honey. Fake it till you make it. Is that our Wednesday motivation for people? It is. Yes. We're really suffering with it. without Odette here. We're just trying to fake it till we make it. Thank you till we make it.

One, I've been loving covering for Odette, obviously for not. We wish her, we wish she could be here with us. It's been quiet this week. I don't know if that's, it's, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a thing or a group thing. I don't, let you, you, you had a weight loss program is the weight loss. Yeah, it's a little quieter. I just realized because Sue just said in the comments, and I also, and I know Jody is split attention because the men are playing hockey right now. It's the Olympics week too. So, and I know literally I go for a walk at night and everybody's TV, everybody's watching curling, everybody's watching skating, everyone's watching hockey.

So, I mean, how do we compete with that? There's a lot of drama in curling, I heard with the Canadian friends. There is, I know. It's the thing of the rocks and there's a lot of drama. Do you think there's just more drama because like it's just social media and everyone's sensationalizing everything? Or do you think that there's, is there always drama at the Olympics? I think with that one in particular. it was our Canadian men's players' reaction to being accused of that, which you don't see,

you don't see F bombs flying on the Olympics very often. We usually save that for the Livy Method lives. But yeah, I think that maybe, like usually that was pretty, it's kind hard to hide that drama when there's an outburst like that. But yeah, I think there is, like, they cling on, so, like social media news, they cling on to those little things. So I don't know that it's more. I feel like the Olympics have always been dramatic. Yeah. Well, I'm here for it. I love watching it. I like the ski jumping and, you know, I just, I love all of it. My goodness. Did you see the freestyle skating, the Kazakhstan, that like that's got to be the best story, the best comeback story from the Olympics. This kid from

Kazakhstan, he doesn't even think he's going to meddle and he is waiting as he's in the top spot waiting to get knocked out. And the U.S. skater who was like set to win everything because he's so amazing, just didn't nail it that day. And this kid from Kazakhstan, it was like last I checked,

it was their only medal, but he got a gold. And just the reaction and the U.S. player, or skater congratulating him. I was like, that's my favorite moment so far. Yeah, I love it. I always, I cry in all of it.

I don't know. I think it says something bigger than ourselves, that sense of achievement, pride. Like you can feel that, you know. Like community. Like it's really similar to this, what we're doing here in this group. It's that community. Like you feel so connected.

So you want to cheer on. And you know that the whole country is cheering with you for something. It feels really good. You can feel it. It's palpitable, that feeling of connection. Yeah, well, that's how we feel about our community here. We're cheering for you. You're cheering from you.

We didn't have a lot of, there hasn't been a lot of engagement. Maybe it is because of the Olympics. I think this is also the quiet before, like that you can just sense spring. coming. Of course we get another, we have another snowstorm here today. Like schools are shut down again. Because we need more snow. I love it. At least we're not in the polar vortex anymore. But I think this is sort of like we're feeling that, okay, the spring is coming. We're about to get out there and get moving and grooving. We're going to have that spring in our stab. Like maybe this is just like the kind of like let's just be zen and chill, which brings me to this comment I wanted

to get into because this reminded me of how what I'm dealing with today. So this is from Linda, practicing self-compassion, which is the focus this week, as we downsize one last time, has been a game changer for me. In this world of daily catastrophes and drama, I became used to always being switched on to the point that when I tried to be calm, it felt weird. I used compassionate touch, hands over heart, palms on my face, arms wrapped around myself, closing my eyes to breathe, it calms my nervous system. And when I do it enough times, I realize that is the spot I want to be in and that is the spot where I can make intentional choices. It's being grounded. It's being in the moment. It's being in the now. Just for today, don't worry, right? Like,

stressing and worrying is not really beneficial. I don't think it helps you to be more motivated. So yesterday for me was the Chinese New Year, right, the Lunar New Year. And there are some things that you can and cannot do. I mean, you could do them. But I'm like all about all the luck and prosperity and stuff I can muster up this next year. And, you know, Tony's parents kind of kind of live this way, right? Where they're into superstition and stuff like that. And so it is like, so no cleaning. You clean your house the day before. No cleaning. Like there's no, you don't want to sweep away. You're sweeping away your good luck and fortune. You're cleaning away. You're good luck and fortune. So there's no cleaning away. You're There's no using sharp knives. You don't want to cut your luck or prosperity. There's no ragging on your children about anything. And how you show up on that day is setting the tone for your whole year. So you don't want to work too much. You don't want to stress. You don't want to like talk about, you know, death or, you know, just like on, you know, things that are just not joyful and whatever. You don't want to bring that in and invite them into your first day. Let me tell you how hard it is to not work as much.

to not stress as much, to take time to enjoy, to spend time with, like, intentionally spend time with family unless it's like you're made to on family day. Like, it was a lot of work. It was so much work because we would, we would go, like, I would go to talk about something and I'd be like, no, that's a conversation. I have to put that off to tomorrow. It was pretty interesting how when we made that intentional choice, it changed the whole vibe of our day. So that And that was just one day. And I woke up today and I was just like, am I just tired or am I just like calm? Like what? Because I wasn't like all riled up from like my whole day yesterday being on doing this, doing this, doing that to now like getting up, doing it again today. I was just like,

well, I can just not stress again today and I can just not worry again today. And like it was like it's a weird vibe I got going on today. You know, I noticed you, um, you've been saying for the past month or whatever, do less, do less has been the thing for this year. And of course, you know, you're my boss, so I have to listen to you. And I have been taking on that attitude since we first had that conversation. And it's so interesting that you say that because I noticed yesterday long weekends, right? Like Friday's super busy trying to prepare for Monday, Monday or Tuesday's super busy trying to make up for being off for a day. And that's always been my life.

And yesterday I had just as much work on my plate as I have other long weekends. But I wasn't getting in my head about it. And I wasn't getting, like, it actually has worked. Like, listening to you has actually works, Gina. Like, it's true. Everybody, people just listen to what Gina and Odette say. It's true. It all works.

But, like, yeah, you really, like, setting myself for not getting in that vicious cycle of getting, like, riled up and always feeling like you're on. So when I read Linda's comment, I agree. It was like, yes, exactly it. Like you constantly are used to being switched on where you, it does feel weird to feel calm. And now when you get back to calm and that starts to feel normal. It's such an amazing feeling. And it is true, you become more in tune to what you're eating.

You become more in tune to what your body needs. You become more in tune to what your heart needs. And it makes it a lot easier to take care of yourself when you're not constantly like turned on and thinking about a million other things. This reminds me of the conversation. So Carl Buchanan came on and joined us in the Weight Loss program. You actually have access to that to download and listen by way of podcasts. And we talked about the difference between stress and anxiety.

So stress is usually out of danger, right? Like stress is like, oh my goodness, the Mack truck is coming. I got to get out of the way because I'm going to get hit by a car. Anxiety is like, oh, my God. I almost got hit by a car. And then you go through the rest of your day, wondering about contemplating life. Then you're telling your friend. And then you're like, oh, nervous.

because this thing happened and oh my god i got to have a glass of wine to call my ass down like that that's why i love that she talked about her nervous system close my eyes breathe it calms my nervous system and this is sort of where um like the whole world functions on this like hurts megabyte like this beat of the world is all i can't remember what it is for 82 or so i can't remember what it is but some people function like out of like a metallicist song all day every day got so much dress of constancy dressing, da-da-da-ba-p-pah-pah-ba-pah. And the drama, right, there's always got to be drama. We all have those friends who, like, literally, there's always something going on in their lives. I'm like, oh, my God, and I'm not just talking, like, tragic things that happened to everybody.

Like, there's always some drama going on. And it's because people, that's where they function, so that the minute almost they, that it's calmed down, they create drama so that they can get back to that, like, what they're used to, right? And then some people function out like an Adele song, you know, like I think whatever Adele songs are are at that, like it's intentional. They're at that beat of that universe. That's why you feel sort of more calm in them, right? And so there is something to be said, like, what kind of anxiety and stress are you bringing to this journey? Like I think about Sue here. She's like, how can downsizing still play with my head? Like, and is it playing with your head or is that just old way of thinking, right? Like, and or how is it playing with your head? Like, and, or how is it playing with your head? Like, in what way, and is that still, like, useful to you? Is it valuable to you? Is this just out of habit? Is this just because you think that that's how you should feel, right? Like, that's a different way. That's a different way coming from that perspective of like, okay, how is it still messing with my head? And why? What is that all about? Oh, because that's just the way I've always thought, right? That's just the way I've

always felt. And so maybe it's not making that conscious choice to be like, oh, I don't, like, what if today I just didn't allow that to happen. Right. And so how you, how you negate, so talk about Chinese lunar New Year, is if you do end up doing something where you say something negative or you, you know, you do whatever, you have to like immediately throw positive words at it to kind of undo it. Right. It's not like you're fucked if you end up, you know, working too hard or doing whatever. You immediately throw positivity at it. And it's interesting because you can, you have the opportunity to do that with the way you think. That's how you switch your patterns of thought. That's that capture, cancel, correct, is because being aware and being like, no, okay, so I have this negative thought, but that's not, doesn't have to

be my reality. I can choose again. So let me throw a positive thought at it. That's going to, that's how you switch that behavior over, right? So it's interesting. Yeah. And it's really interesting because as you're talking, I'm just thinking, like, really what we're doing, because people are always asking, do I have to downsize when you're in maintenance? Why do I have to do these steps? You've changed your body's step point when you were losing your weight in the weight loss program. You're kind of changing your emotional set point when you're in maintenance and you're going through the tweaks again. Emotional set point, Kim. Right? Like that what you're talking about, those frequency that we're running at, that is your emotional set point. How do we adjust that

to bring calm to your mind so your body stays calm? I'm done with the emotional set point. Woo! Right? It's got a new program. It's the emotional set point for a brand. We'll do that here in the maintenance group. It's really what we're doing here. Doing less does not mean, like, doing less and you end up doing more, but you do your meaningful things and you stress less. And you have the capacity because the noise, it's like just, I'm always comparing

to weight loss to maintenance whenever I'm having these conversations because I really find it interesting. But the food noise that's happening in weight loss, like that noise that's going on when you're changing that emotional or doing less. you're actually just reducing the noise. Yeah. That is it. You do less and you're reducing the noise.

Or you're making a conscious choice to be like, no, I'm not going there today. No, I'm not doing that today. No, I'm, you know, do you know how many conversations I saved? Like so many times I would have gone to Tony. I go to Tony in a day and just blah, blah, blah, little, little, little, every little thing. Well, like, this has happened, that happened. And when I was intentional about not doing that, it's amazing how many conversations I didn't need to have that didn't need to bring up that frenetic kind of stress drama expressing of my

feels energy that I just didn't. It was just so, Tony calls it a necessary noise, unnecessary drama is what he calls, but how much unnecessarily unnecessary drama is, am I creating for myself? I'm saying, hi, Dave, hi, Dave. Nice to see you. How much unnecessary drama am I creating for myself in this journey? Well, we're not giving yourself a chance to process it because you automatically take it in and then bounce it back to Tony maybe, right? Like versus taking it in and just being like, I'm just going to set that aside for a minute. Sort of similar to what, you know, Sandra was talking about this morning in the weight loss group where you have that pause, right? Where with the thoughts or with the conversations you had, we have that pause and you find out kind of, you know, 10, 50, you don't really want it. You don't really want the drama.

It's not really that big of a deal. That was your visceral reaction to it when you first heard it. And then you're going to move through it. And I think that can be sort of to Sue's point about downsizing. Like your visceral reaction to downsizing might be like, oh, I hate downsizing. I'm always hangary during downsizing. I feel this. I feel that.

And how much of that is just perpetuating what you felt like when you were trying to lose weight when you were downsizing versus how it might feel now in maintenance when you're downsizing with a different intention. Yeah, Dave's like personally all drama is unnecessarily. Yeah. I mean, what is it? Because we're bored or just we want to feel. I think sometimes we create drama because we want to feel or feels. Like I'm expressing to Tony that I'm pissed off at something because I just want to be pissed off for a moment. And I'll be like, I just need a minute of your time. And I'll be like, unleash the like, and I'll be like, thanks. Right. But did I actually need to do that? I probably didn't need to unload all of that on him. He probably doesn't need that. I mean, he's just like, whatever.

But did I really need that or did I even really need to spend any time on that and go there? Like are we just creating issues for ourselves that aren't even really there? It's just out of habits. Gosh. Yeah, that are sustaining that level of anxiety or drama or whatever. Yeah, it's like, you know, emotional set point. Yeah, but I'm at my max emotional set point. We're going to make T-shirts.

You know, Karen, talking about calm sounds really nice. Like when we talk about being calm, which is the whole goal, calm around foods, right? Physically, mentally, what is that about? What is what does that calm mean to you? Like, this is the progression of calm. So if you think about what do you need to work on or work through through downsizing that's going to help you be more calm around food, right? Is it continued food waste issues, food scarcity issues?

Is it that deprivation mindset? Like, this is where you want to say, okay, what is this? What is this about? I've already lost my weight. I'm in maintenance. I know how to maintain and sustain. I know how to make healthy choices for myself. So what is this about? What's my deal here? You know, and that maybe then spending time and being like, where's this coming from? Well, and maybe too, just that calm around, that calmness might come from you needing to focus on how much you're eating, thinking about downsizing. It might not be about eating less for you. It might be about actually just taking the time. to sit back and think about how you would feel because how often do we get stuck in that, like, okay, I'm not thinking about eating anymore because I know my body, I'm maintaining, I've maintained my weight for this so many years. So I know what my body needs. Maybe downsizing for those people who have maintained their weight for a while is just them,

just double checking and making sure they're still listening. How's that food noise? How is the food noise, right? Like that might be your motivation because let's face it. You could just like, you want to maintain status quo to help your body adjust to your new weight, right? You don't want to be challenging it. You really just want to help. Give it what it needs.

Just maintain status quo. Just give it the fucking time to adjust to your new weight, right? And then obviously your mindset can be even more work adjusting to that maintenance mindset, your emotional, lowering your emotional set point, like whatever that is. So are the tweaks make or break in maintenance? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. However, it is an opportunity to continue to learn, to go deeper, right?

to level up even more. And so what is that for you? How is that food noise? Are you feeling calm around food? Do you feel confident in your ability to maintain and sustain your weight? Can you trust yourself? Do you really know when to eat, what to eat, how much to eat? Do you know that exact moment every freaking time you eat where if you take one more bite,

you are going to overeat? So it's just so clear to you, right? Can you be in a room full of your favorite foods and not bad an eyelash? Can you enjoy something and purposely choose to overindulge and then not berate yourself? for hours after a feel the need to punish, right? Like, this should become who you are. On a scale of one to 10, you being where you started, you finishing where you want to be, look how you want to look, feel how you want to feel confident in your ability to sustain and maintain living your best life, just knowing what you need. Where are you on that scale of change? Becoming, embracing,

that's that person, right? Like, where, quiet mindset, loud effort, yeah. Like, where are you on that scale? Like I know the person I can feel it who I want to be. Is my lifestyle choice aligning to that person? No, I'm about here. Like I started here. I'm about here. I'm getting real. I'm sure I'll keep moving the dial too as I add more things on top of it.

But what do? Am I really doing the things that I need to do? Like, am I getting up every morning consistently at the same time? Am I getting my workouts in every day? Am I doing the mental work like, you know, the meditation to calm my mind every day? Am I making the calls I need to make, doing the things I need to do? Am I living that life? No, I can feel it.

And I know I can get there, but I'm, so why am I not? And what are the thoughts and feels popping? Do I feel worthy? No, that's not it. Do I, am I comfortable? Yeah, maybe that's it. Am I a little burnt out? Maybe.

Like, what is stopping me from going full on in that, in that, and becoming that person, right? That's where you want to take that time and be like, okay, am I there yet? And why the fuck not? Yeah, it's going to be different for everybody. Right? Why you're not. That's one thing, you know, and that's where the work is in figuring out what it is for you, I think. Yeah, right.

Hi, Mary. Just can't get used to this time change. Are you on time change? I don't know what time change are we on. Are we starting to do time change? We didn't miss the time change, do we? No. Where am I?

What's going on? Right there with you, Mary. I know. I was just going to say it's January, I think, but it's not. But don't listen to me. But yesterday I put June for, for Saturday was June, so I really have no idea. I wishful thinking. Hi, Judy. I know when I am satisfied, but last night I was at an amazing Italian restaurant and just had to have the canoli

for dessert. It was so worth it. Yeah. Right. That's, and that's it. That's it. That's it. So worth it. No matter how you feel today, that's the only thought you have about it was like, that was amazing. Maybe I need to drink a little bit more water. Add some leafy greens and maybe I don't have to do anything about anything. It was just, I indulged. It was amazing. Love it. Can't wait to go back. again. Like that's where we want to get to. That's why it's all about indulging and enjoying all the yummy bites of bits that come with life. And part of coming life is enjoying food and indulging in food. It's not the indulging of the food. It's the aftermath that follows, right? Here's Elsie. Hi, Elsie. This has become so clear to me this round, knowing when I'm full, I've got it down to one more

bite and I know I over ate that one bite. That's exactly it, right? That's the, where are you on that scale of being able to be like, you know what, I fucking got this. I'm so like, I'm out. Of course, people want to stick around for community. And I think there's, you know, this is why we want to work on that third lifestyle, you know, something, whatever we're doing there, because I think our community is incredible. But yeah, this is like, how far are you from getting to that place where you're like, I'm, like, I'm 100% confident. Same. I can say that right now. Can I maintain a system and weight? Absolutely. Are there times in my life where I'm being tested? Yeah. Do I overindulge? Absolutely. Drink too much. eat too much, don't take care of myself. Yes. And then there are times where I'm like,

okay, starting to feel like crap, I can just go back to the other side and that's how life is, right? It's not just sticking at one number. It's do you have the tools and skills to ebb and flow with life to handle everything that's coming at you, to understand what you need, to be able to keep yourself as healthy as possible, right? And where are you on that scale? Yeah. Where are you? Here's Grace. Monday you mentioned chasing the scale. I'm needing to lean into that and what it means for me. I hover around four to five pounds above my lowest low and thought the scale would move as I work on the four mindful eating questions more into portions. I know this isn't a weight loss program, but I thought the scale would move a bit. So do you want to lose weight or not?

Like that's the big one. Like that's that's the big one, right? Like, and as you work on towards the four mindful eating questions, like you haven't actually gained weight. Like are you doing absolutely everything to see your lowest low. Because this is that weird zone that people get into, no man's land, whatever you want to call it, where you actually want to lose weight, but you're not showing up in a way where you are losing weight. So that means like maximizing your, well, now how it is to lose actual weight, maximizing your butt off, you know, managing your stress, moving your body, trying to get better sleep, like all of those things. And that's that scale mindset where you have to be like that chasing that number. Are you, are you trying to actually

they lose weight? And if so, are you doing all the things you need to do to lose weight in which when it comes, or is it just like you, you want to maintain functioning more at your lowest low, right? So this is where you have to be really diligent, but diligent about all those things, which is different from that maintenance mindset, right? So you haven't actually gained that weight. It's just that's where your weight tends to fluctuate. And so your weight and maintenance will be up for the same reasons it is in weight loss, right? You're tired. It could be hormones, whatever you got going on, working out. If you're working out and your muscles are sore and tired, any medication, a lot of people have colds and flus and taking medication, not realizing it makes you bloated, makes your body retained water. Like they're like sick and suffering with a sore throat and cold and then being like, why is my weight up? So for all the same reasons, you know, your weight can be up while you're losing.

Your weight can be up while you're maintaining as well, right? So that's a couple different things. I think you need to decide, are you actually? trying to lose weight or are you expecting to lose weight by doing the maintenance program? Like, that's two different mindsets, right? So that's where you need to be like, okay, I'm actually, I want to lose. Do you want to lose five more pounds? Like, do you want to go to your lowest low and then five more? So that you're sitting above, like, you're sitting at that, that's giving you that wiggle room, right? That's where you need, and that's where you need to decide. Yeah. Yeah, before mindful eating questions and being more in tune to portions, that's, that's, that's

I mean, that's not, there's so much more. What else is going on in your life, right? Yeah, that's, you know, the mindful eating questions is set to keep you. And if you're keeping and aware of what you're eating and paying attention and being mindful, that's great for keeping you in that healthy range of your weight. But that's it. It's a range. It's not going to keep you at an exact number.

There's, you know, there's so much more that goes into that. Yeah, there's so much. That number is, yeah, if you're locked into that, then maybe you do want to still lose weight. But the weight loss programs, you know, maintain. There's the intention between the two that is different. And you need to, if you're intending to lose weight, you need to have that mindset. Yeah. So why, if you're trying to lose weight and why is your weight not dropping, right? That's where you want to look into that. Okay, what's going on in my environment, my life right now. You know, what am I taking, like, you know, maybe before like taking what's going on with my supplements,

what's going off, my stress and my sleep and my movements and all of that. you definitely want to take a look at that. Now you can be a little bit more relaxed. People are able to maintain their weight just fine, but they don't feel as good as they felt when they were actually more focused on trying to lose weight. So this is where you need to figure out your why. But there definitely needs to be in such a great question.

If you're trying to lose weight, you need to focus on doing the things you need to do to lose weight. Doing the things and working through the things you need to do to be able to maintain and sustain your weight. At this point is a little different. Yeah. Great. Okay. God, that went by so quickly.

did. Here's Kathy's comments. It's been a good week. Hyper aware of lots of things happening around me and I was still able to make myself and my journey a priority. That's what it is at this point, right? We keep showing up what does it mean to you right now to be where you are at? What are the things that you need to work on and work through? We are at the end of the program. So Odette is going to be with us for a while, as I mentioned in the check-in. She's soft. Her family has suffered an extreme loss. We don't want to get too much. Instead, I'm sure she'll share with you guys when she is back and she is ready. But we are a her in a big hug and sending her some love and trying to do the best that we can cover. That girl works hard, man. She does. She works so hard. Kim and I are trying to like split the difference between what she does. My goodness, she goes above and beyond for you guys. I've been a minute of spending extra time in the maintenance group though and seeing what

everybody's been commenting. Bring on the comments, guys. Keep them coming. And keep your questions coming, right? I'm going to try to like get to a question every day. And then when Odette comes back, I want to keep that going. I want to do like a question of the day. there and, you know, keep that going because I'm enjoying the time of maintenance too.

Thanks for joining us, everyone. Go Canada! And we'll see you. We'll see you next time. Thanks, guys. Bye. Thank you.