The Livy Method Podcast - Maintenance & Mindfulness: Midweek Motivation - November 19, 2025

Episode Date: November 19, 2025

Welcome to your Midweek Motivation!In this episode, Odette is joined by Kim for a conversation about the importance of surroundings and support when it comes to maintaining weight. They unpack how even the smallest cues in your environment, from clean water bottles to visible running shoes, can make or break your day. Odette shares how a rocky start (hello, tech issues) turned around thanks to the energy and encouragement from the community, showing how motivation doesn’t always show up first; it often follows action. Plus, how do you respond when someone critiques what you're choosing to eat? Odette and Kim get into 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've got this. Well, here we are. Midweek motivation, week 10. So I'm going to be totally transparent. I didn't have that much motivation coming on today.

but we have Kim Weight Loss Group Manager joining us today. Hi, Kim. Hello. And we also have member Kim joining us. And she started the first comment today. Woo-hoo. Let's get this party started. So I just want to say thank you Kim J. For being here and Kim B member for being here because the two of you have helped me have a bit more motivation to be here today.

Well, I think the issues that we were kind of experiencing before we started. it probably didn't help with motivation. That's what I was saying. I wasn't saying that I was thinking in my head, like, man, these tech issues, like, you know, it seems like we come on and everything is so flawless, but we have this amazing team here. I know you heard us say Jody's name before in the background,

really keeping us all straight. And these tech issues can really, can really just, you know, throw you off. And this is the part where you, you know, we're talking surroundings today and support. And we've got this tech team support. supporting us. And although we're setting our surroundings up as perfectly as we can, you know, sometimes it's a bit of work and focus. But let's get into what we want to talk about today. So I think that's a good place. I don't know. I think that's a good place to start is when you

come into the day, like you set tech support and surroundings. That's Jody. Is that you do. Like it's this whole process of maintaining and losing weight can be at times very simple where you set everything up and you have all of those things in place, the support you need, you've done your prep work, you've thought about things, you've got your journal beside your bed and things like that. And you don't actually appreciate those things always, all the things you are doing until something happens that throws you off and you realize like, man, what would I do without this? And that's my big kind of takeaway. for the like back on track week and what we were talking about on Monday and even what we're talking

about the weight loss group is that sometimes you don't even think about all of those support and surroundings and appreciate them until something comes up where you realize you're really leaning on them or you did lean on them and they were there for you and then you can reflect back and see like oh wow yeah I really did set myself up with an amazing support system around me I want to talk to that but just want to say hi to Sue so Sue is here yes sue we are okay, we were just dealing with these tech issues and behind the scenes, I'm like, ah, kind of zaps all that, you know, that fun and excitement out of you. And then Judy's here too.

And Judy has enough motivation for all of us. So we are good. Thank you, Judy. You got us. But I feel better already. Maybe we're done. I always feel better when I come in here. I was thinking about that today.

I'm like, oh, I'm so excited to get to join in on the M&M conversation again today. I love coming here. This group is the best. Yeah, I love it here too. know, this is just a perfect example. We say, you know, when we're checking in and, excuse me, even when, even when Gina's here and it's not you, we say we love when our members come on because it can almost change sometimes the trajectory of the conversation.

It can change the vibes. So we love when members come in and comment. We love when you're here, too, because I can really drive that conversation. So getting back to that support and surroundings, and, you know, when we talk about surroundings and environment. It's not about, you know, only having healthy food in the house. It's not about that avoidance piece. It's not about having perfection. It's really about figuring out what those little things are that are going to make a big difference. You know, it can be something like just ensuring that your water bottle is clean and prepped and ready to go for the morning. It can be

having those running shoes front and center, so that, not that we want you to trip over them, but that you almost have to trip over them. You know, it almost reminds you to put them on to get going. If you get up in the morning, you're like, oh, my water bottle's not clean or I can't find my shoes. You know, you don't want every day to be this, this battle. You know, you don't want to be in this constant chaos day in and day out where if you can just set up those few things around you,

that can make a big, big difference. Absolutely. Sorry, go ahead. I can agree more when you say, that it's um it's like a a little safety and i feel like there's so many things that we have to think about day in and day out not just to do with weight loss but to do with me you know or maintaining our weight but to do with every part of life and the more things that can become automatic because you don't need to remind yourself because is there in front of you the easier you're making it on

yourself to navigate really anything i'm just reading sue's comment here so didn't i read somewhere that we can't rely on motivation and that's where habits come in exactly you know it's it's let's go back to those running shoes again like i you know put put those those items in front of you or that are going to remind you of what your habits are what your goals are because there's going to be some days we're talking about it today in the group you know this the weather right now if you're somebody that goes outside and moves your body outside or you have to go outside to get a place where you do move your body that that barrier could do. be there for you, you know, that weather barrier. So set up the set up these, these plans, set up

your environment so that you can make it easier on yourself so that you can just get up and go that even if you don't have that motivation, you still have that reminder like, okay, this is who I am now. This is what I do. I am something that puts my running shoes on regardless of I'm feeling motivated or not. I think that's what we want to talk about doing, setting up that team, sitting with those surroundings rather. Yeah, and to Sue's point, like motivation carries you as far as it can carry you without anything in the way. Motivation does not take you around obstacle. Motivation doesn't dig you through challenges.

Motivation can be a great straight way. If you've got no barriers in the way, motivation can take you quite far because there's nothing else stopping you. Right. But as soon as motivation is very weak as far as something to rely on because as soon as there is a bit of a barrier or a challenge,

it backs off. And it's like, oh, yeah, this isn't my thing. I don't actually help with this. I just help when things are smooth sailing. And I think that's the part that is really hard. It's the same thing we say with the boat willpower and stuff like that. Like those things are only going to take you so far. It's that mindset shift, those habits you guys have built and are forming that are going

to take you through those tough places when, you know, motivation bails on you. Yeah, that's so true. That's so true. And, you know, I know we mentioned on Monday that so many of our members are traveling right now. And I want to bring this up because we're talking back on track. You know, that was another big topic this week. And I think it ties in perfectly. We've had a few members, you know, Carolyn said back on track will be a good tool after vacationing for a week in December when I will be indulging a little bit more. And this got me thinking like, okay,

yes, we're going to use this tool. Carolyn's going to come back from her vacation. She's going to be relaxed, I hope. You know, she's going to have enjoyed her time and dosed and all the things. We come back, we want to make sure that how we set up that space around us is going to be conducive to be back on track. So yes, you know, fill your fridge with all the things that you need. But again, you know, like let's talk about what your bedroom looks like, you know, like how is that sleep routine? Do you have it set up so it is, you know, set up for you and the way that you sleep your best? You know, your movement, again, you know, before you went away, did you shove that water bottle to the back of the pantry, like pull it out, make sure that you have

those things in place and set up for you. So, you know, back on track, yes, we can think about, okay, it's a food going back to the food plan, but it's also getting back on track with all those other things. So set yourself up for that success. Yeah, like Karen said here, Karen has just said when you aren't motivated, but push yourself to do it anyway, doesn't it feel good and proud of yourself for doing it? Absolutely. That is, you know, when you do push yourself beyond that comfort zone and you're not feeling it. Yeah. And I think this is like, I think we talked about this on Monday too. It's that compound effect, right? So you're not motivated. You're not feeling, you're not feeling it, but you do the thing anyways. You take the action anyways. And that is

where your motivation can come from. That can motivate you to follow through on the next habit. That can motivate you to follow through in the next routine. And what that's doing is reprogramming your mind. You're reinforcing yourself to yourself that I can do these. things I can accomplish these things that I set out not the other way like oh look I didn't do this so I'm not going to be able to do that I you know I didn't follow through in this I'm going to fail on that as well so it really is that compound it is yeah and I think just with those you know the pushing yourself and doing that that kind of ties into what caroline was saying about after vacation that is when you come home from vacation and you've just been away and you get back home

and the weather may not be that great and you've just been to this beautiful location maybe or you've been traveling Europe or you've been walking everywhere and you come home and you have that list of like laundry and groceries and you're not feeling like going for a walk. This is where this comes in where you're not necessarily going to need that. But the act of setting yourself up to even go back on track and follow that, it really kind of reawakens that habit and that routine that you were in when you were at home and taking care of yourself versus on vacation and taking care of yourself. So it can be a nice little way of a reset, not just with the food plan, but a reset of,

right, I'm home now and this is what I do. I walk when it's raining out. I have to cook myself dinner, so I need to go and get groceries and just the idea of going back on track and having that be beyond the food plan, sometimes just thinking about protein rich breakfast, fruits snack in the morning, that can get your thoughts sort of rolling in the direction of right i have my fruit snack and then i go for a walk then i drink my water then i whatever like maybe we're drinking water instead of margaritas once we get home and things like that i mean i think it's drink margarita in some places so i'm just throwing that out there

yeah well i i yes i understand i get that i get the margaritas for sure um i love what you said there too about this is just who i am now this is just what i do i go for a walk like you said when it's raining. I do the movement when it's raining. I eat the leafy greens even though you know, they're not, it's not exactly what I, you know, might choose first, but it's part of who I am and what I do and how I take care of myself. I think that's the, that really is the key is just saying to yourself, this is who I am. This is what I do now. You know, I'm, I'm not in those old habits. I'm not living that life that I did before. You know, this is the life that I'm living now. This is who I want to be now. This is what I do living this life now. Yeah.

The other thing I wanted to talk about too, I know you guys are talking about it in the weight loss group as well are those people's reactions to this part of your journey. And this could also be, you know, when you are setting up that support or that support system around you and setting up those surroundings around you. And this is where we can really start to hear those reactions, those comments that might throw us off a little bit. And I think now at this part of the journey that these comments can be a little bit different, reactions can be a little bit different. You know, you might hear things now that are like, oh, you're still on a diet. Oh, my goodness, you're obsessed, you know. And this is, I think, for two reasons, this is where it can really be detrimental hearing that. Number one, you don't feel supported, right?

You don't feel like the people around you understand or support you or care or trying to help you be better. And that doesn't feel good. And the other thing is that it can really play into that old dialogue. It can bring up those old, those old feelings and those reaction and that reaction can tap into old patterns and old fears and those can come up because if someone says to you, oh, you're obsessed, you know, because they don't understand the program. They don't understand what you're doing in this part of your journey. You're like, oh, am I, am I obsessed?

Am I falling back into that rabbit hole? am I spiraling back there or yeah you know oh you're still in that diet yeah am I am I still in this diet am I doing those things so I think having this awareness of those reactions can happen how they can be different than when they were you know during your weight last journey I think this is where this is it's a super important thing to talk about yeah and I think in addition to that shift of it too um and tying it back into motivation again when you're losing your weight those comments that you're getting in the reactions from people, whether it's like, oh, you know, you look great, you've lost weight, or you look so healthy, all of those compliments.

You can also notice that once you've been maintaining your weight loss for a while, people get used to seeing you that way and they might not, you might not be getting those comments coming in as often. And even though you may still be changing and you may be feeling better or you may be noticing that your clothes are smaller once you've got, you know, some friends that have said to you, like, oh, you look really great. They may not continue to say that as you continue to progress because they feel like they've already had that conversation with you.

And so, you know, I think it's the perspective of it. One of the things about this I always think about is what do I need to hear from people and why do I need to hear it? And that is kind of been my reaction when I am feeling like I kind of want a compliment or a thumbs up from somebody? Like, what do I need to hear? And why do I need to hear it? Do I need to hear it because I'm unsure of myself? Do I need to hear it because I'm proud of myself? What are the reasons why I want to hear those comments from somebody? Because how you react to their reaction can be a big part of what you're trying to get out of it can be a big part of how you react when they react.

And you know, you get that. I think like you said, people might be reacting a little differently like, oh, you're still eating that way and you might start feeling like a little eating ways when you're going out for lunch with friends and stuff like that. And they start commenting like, well, you don't need to keep eating salad, you know, you've lost your weight. Why don't you have a burger? Little comments like that. And if it does bother you, just thinking like, why does it bother me?

And just remember, you can say something back. It's as simple as I really like this salad. This is my favorite salad. This is I love the salad. My mom loves salads. She's always ordered salads, regardless of whether she's trying to lose weight or not, she loves them. And my mom's point at a restaurant is always, I like to order this because it's something I wouldn't make at home. I don't have all these things at home.

So when, you know, we're out for dinner and somebody's ordering pasta, just saying like, oh, you're not ordering pasta? Like, no, I can make that at home. I want to have something that makes me feel good and I'm not going to make myself. And maybe that's valid. So I think just being creative with your response to kind of get people to respect your choices and see that, eating a salad is not about losing weight, it's about feeling good, like something like, oh, I haven't had leafy greens for a few days. I feel like I need to get something in my system. Like, those things are all acceptable ways to react rather than feeling like you have to order

a burger in order to please somebody else. Right. You said two things here that are, that I think are really huge. So just talking to this point now about your reaction and how you're reacting. And I think we could almost not feel confident enough to, reply. You know, I think we're still in this journey of of trusting ourselves or believing that we are doing the right thing or believing that what we're doing is different, you know, that we are creating this lasting change, that oftentimes we don't feel confident enough to have that reply back to say, no, like, I'm good. Like, I'm good. Like, I'm going to have this. This is what's right for me. This is what's good for me. And I think this also tie this. So I wanted to bring this up because

what you had said before, you know, what do I want to hear? But why do I want to hear it? Why do I need that? It's almost like that is playing into your worthiness, playing into your like, I need to hear that so I can feel assured. So I can feel worthy that what I'm doing is, you know, is what is acceptable or I need to feel worthy that, you know, this journey is going to matter or does matter and I in you know if that's the why that's the why you need to hear things this is where that reprogramming and that work comes in no one's going to compliment you on the on the mental work you're doing no one's going to be like you know really great that you're working on trusting yourself you know that's not a that good job i can really tell right i can't like i can't see that

i don't know that that's happening so this this work that you're doing to reprogram to get to know yourself to have this new identity that's not that's where are you going to get that reassurance from where are you going to get that confidence from that this is you know worthiness work this is work that's important i think that why do i need to hear that why do you hear the comments it's like that if someone is commenting on on how i'm looking physically or my energy then that is going to help me feel worthy because i can't i can't that that that mental work is not the part that they're going to you know cheer me on for. Yeah, or sometimes maybe it's what you need to hear because you've been working so hard on

the mental work and you know there's not going to be a comment about that because they can't see it. So when somebody complements you physically or about your energy level or something like that, it's something that's tangible for you where you can be like, oh, right. Like, I'm really working hard on this, but it's showing on the outside, even though they're not seeing the actual work I'm doing. So those little positive reinforcements can be really important because of that. Well, that's the conversation. I didn't think we were going to get this deep into the people's reactions, but I think it's important. I think, you know, I felt it. I mean, I'm sure our members have felt that, you know, some members are saying here that, you know, the lack of the lack of a reaction

can be as hurtful as a negative reaction or a reaction that that, you know, they feel is not, that is not helpful. And I think that can be true too, you know, because you know you feel like you've been doing all the work that you have made these accomplishments that you are working towards this this new life and we see it in the group all the time like we're we're part of it we're part of your journey we can see it we can compliment on it or we can comment on it or react to it but it's true that lack of reaction is it can be hard to do to because we I mean I think it's just human nature right we want to be you know somewhat recognized or for our accomplishments we want to when we're proud of

of that when we have this breakthrough or aha moment we want to share that and it can be hard for those that don't understand or don't see it to have a reaction to that yeah and i was just thinking about something about when it comes to reaction in that and i was thinking about our are the walk that i did out here community walk where i got together with some of the community members and um one of the things that i thought was really neat is they had no problem coming up to me and saying i did this many programs. I've lost this much weight and telling me all of their non-scale victories and sharing their success with me. I thought it was amazing. Of course, I told them I thought it was amazing. But I'm basically a complete stranger to these people. I had never met them before and they were

comfortable coming up to me and saying like, I'm really proud of myself. I worked really hard. I've lost this weight. So I think it might be fun to think about somebody in your life that you have that you talk to all the time. Or maybe you can do it in the group, leave some comments in the group here. Everybody loves to see that. But think about somebody in your life who you could actually say to them, I've worked really hard. I've lost a lot of weight or I'm this and have your accomplishments and share them. I'm really proud of myself. And tell somebody that you're really proud of yourself for that, especially if it's somebody who you're maybe waiting for a compliment or you don't know, but it might just be a friend who's also struggling with, you know,

something that they should be proud of themselves of. And maybe you'll open up the conversation. and they'll bring something up too. I think sometimes you might need to ask for what you need because people don't know what you need. And if it is that important to be validating, you know, maybe it's your spouse, maybe it's a sister, maybe it's a best friend or something like that. But if you have one, even a coworker, a random coworker, you know, somebody in your life that you can ask of that. But I mean, we're all here too if you want to say. Yeah, I was going to say it's so important to, number one, like you said, find the support

that is what you need is personal to you. Like for some, it's one person, some it's online, some it's a community. Some it could be even a professional, right? If you've got, you know, a therapist or somebody else, a guru, whatever it might be. But yeah, I want to make that point about the community. Like we say all the time, ask for what you need, you know, at like you can ask in the group for what you need. You can ask that of our members.

You can ask that of our team. You know, ask for what you need. And if you're feeling like that support is not coming as easily as you needed to or you needed in a different way, yes, lean on this community. We are perfect strangers around here. You know, like, I mean, I feel like we look at these members' names and we know where they've been. We know where they're coming from. We've never met. I don't know where they are or where they live or if they're in a different time zone.

But I think, you know, this community, we are perfect strangers. I think that we, you know, can come together and be each other's support as needed. I mean, as you guys know, like I just lost my dad. a few weeks ago. And it was like, why are you coming to work? And I wasn't coming to work, work. I wasn't at my desk. I wasn't working. But I was checking and I was here in the group. And this was part of my support system. I have a very large family. So I had, you know, a very big support system there. But it's different because they're also grieving. You know, they were also going through this process, which was comforting in its own way. But coming in, just checking in

the group and reading other people's wins and being able to share what I was. going through with these perfect strangers, you know, it was really the type of support I needed. So I think it really is about curating, you know, that perfect balance for you. And that's such an oxymor. And there's no perfect balance. It's kind of, you know, always ebbs and flows, as we like to say, but finding what really works for you specifically. And yeah, I think sometimes there's certain situations where it's easier because you're not asked for anything back when you're getting that support. Like, you know, to your point when you've lost your dad, I've remembered. when after I lost mine, they had friends always wanted to talk about it and it was really heavy

and it was really hard and draining for me to always talk about it. Coming into the group or, you know, being with people that are talking about something else gives you like a moment of this place is amazing. Like there's a lot going on that's really good in this world. And those little reminders are always helpful too. And that can be a big thing about your health journey too. It doesn't have to be sometimes those best friends and those spouses or those citizens. sisters, they're almost too close to really ask that for them because you know there's going to be

a big heavy conversation that follows or it's going to be a lot. So sometimes just coming either in the group or, you know, maybe you have a bit of a surface friend who you're not super close to, but you do chat with every once in a while. That just might be that safe place. Like, oh, I'm just kind of feeling ways because I've worked really hard on myself and I'm feeling like I don't know why, but I feel like I want a cheerleader for it. And that person who's not super close to you might be the best person to give you that feedback because they're not in it with you. They're not concerned about hiding your feelings or protecting your feelings. They're not caught up in all of your history about what is the appropriate thing to say to you and this.

They might be just the person that's there just to give you that little leg up that day that you need it. And somebody might come out of the woodwork and surprise you. Yeah. Well, I feel much better. you know those I haven't thought about those tech glitches in 25 minutes so this is where I needed to come today I'm so happy that we did I hope this conversation too you know sometimes I feel like we're having this conversation you and I are gene and I we're having this conversation and I'm like I feel so much better I hope we're helping the members I hope they're feeling so much better too and you know coming in we are midweek we're coming into the last half of this week with the food plan revamp and I know members are already starting to think about next week and personalizing the plan and what does that look like and how's that going to be and how do I trust myself to do that. So I think when we have these conversations and we can just bring, you know, a bit of real talk, a bit of liveliness and, you know, have each other all feeling a little bit better. And I think it's, you know, it's like Jeans, it's her favorite conversation of the week. I think these are some of my favorite conversations for the week.

These are only two I have, but I show up because I love them so much. I think it's different because everybody's in a different place in the weight loss group and there's a lot of work going on and just being, you know, not that there's not a lot of work going on in here, but there's a lot to tackle when we have the conversations in there because there's a lot that people need to hear. And I think that because these conversations revolve around life outside of weight loss often, this is something where everybody can get something out of these conversations. And they are enjoyable to have because they're relevant. Yeah. And we're pretty cool. Yeah, you're all right. We do okay. All right, let's wrap it up because I feel good. I'm thinking our members that are listening are feeling good. I'm seeing lots of hearts and smiley faces. So let's leave them all on that note before we say something and turn it all around.

Kim, I was so happy to have you here with me this week, Monday and today, of course. We're back to regular scheduling programming next week where Gina will be back, which will also be just as amazing. So thank you, everybody that joined us live. we love your comments, your questions. We love when you share and take part on the conversation and for anybody listening after, maybe you can join us live

next week. We've got a few more weeks of these to go, so you can join us next week. And Kim, thank you. Thank you. Take a bye to everybody now. Bye. Thanks, guys. Bye. Thank you.