The Livy Method Podcast - Maintenance & Mindfulness: Midweek Motivation - October 15, 2025

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

Welcome to your Midweek Motivation!In this week’s episode, Gina and Odette reflect on the messy (or magical?) middle—that awkward, in-between part of the process where things can feel sticky, slow, or just plain hard. With Thanksgiving behind them and real-life indulgences front and centre (hello, wine and turkey leftovers), they share relatable moments and practical mindset shifts that help reinforce why consistency counts. It’s a laid-back, honest conversation that reminds listeners that the goal isn’t perfection—it’s just showing up and doing your best.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. We are in the middle of the week and the middle of the program, the messy middle. That's the conversation today. welcome to the maintenance midweek motivation. We didn't see you on Monday because it was a long weekend here in Canada. I hope that we have all recovered from our copious amounts of turkey and stuffing

and pie and ice cream. I'm talking to myself, barely. Still into the wine last night for, you know, like four nights in a row. But here we are. How were you, Odette? I'm good. I think I am over the food coma that I was in. But like you, I did have I did have. I did have a a drink last night. My husband and I were watching this show on I think it's on Crave. It's called Task. Maybe it's very intense and I love it. But I was like, I think I need to have a drink for the finale. I thought that's, you know, I don't know if that's like coming from, you know, off of Thanksgiving and I've had a few. So I feel like I want to have a few more or what's going on. But yeah, so I'm like you. I did have a little drink last night and I like today, okay,

got up. I got on my walking pad this morning. You had your conversation. with Dr. Paul. So I listened to that, got on my walking pad, and I feel like it's turning around. I'm going to brush my hair later, and it's going to be a great day. And you're having a conversation with Dr. Paul on Friday. I am. I'm so excited. And, you know, this kind of, the conversation that we're having, I think really ties in with

where we are right now. So we're in this messy middle. And we want to reframe it to the magical middle. Not everybody's buying into it yet. So we're getting there. But it's about. You know, things happening around us that can have us, you know, maybe talking to ourselves in terms of limiting beliefs or talking to ourselves and bringing us back. And I think coming into cold and flu season, when we've been feeling so good and then all of a sudden we just feel awful and we feel crappy, that can be a big trigger for some people when all of a sudden they don't feel good and they want to revert back to old, you know, coping mechanisms or taking care of themselves a way that they think.

thought worked for them before. Anyway, long story short, we're talking all about immunity and how you can stay feeling your best. But then if you do get sick, how to, you know, have yourself feeling better. Because we don't want that to be a reason why you, you know, start to spiral or slide back. Great, great topic. I mean, just reading our notes for today, you talk about how this part of the program and where we're at, you can slowly become disengaged. And, you know, definitely not feeling so hot can just you know just add to the feelings of where we're at already it's we're in a weird place right now too because the holidays are coming and um you know people are already starting to stock their shelves with all the holiday stuff and whether you're you know trying to be in the

moment or not it's hard and then january's coming and just sort of like where am i what am i doing what am i focused on and it can seem like just a lot and hard to find some clarity there yeah i think it's an amazing shift from when we come into september and we're like september is the new january i feel energized i feel amazing i feel motivated i feel like it's fresh and crisp and clean and then we come into this canadian thanksgiving and we're like oh i'm feeling heavy but then we know that we've got these you know we've still got a few dates like that coming up wherever you are in the world you know we have the u.s thanksgiving coming then we have the the holidays like you said coming whatever you celebrate those are all looming and i think it can be

easy um you know in this time between september and january this october november can feel like the middle can feel like the am i coming or am i going you know do i want to just hide under a blanket or do i want to take action so i think this is an important it's an important time but it's an important conversation to have to yeah it's interesting i was listening to this podcast on um about having a purpose, right? Like, that's kind of like a, what's the point? There needs to be purpose to this. And I, and I saw Frankie, uh, shared a comment in the group today.

And she said, sharing something I heard recently that resonates with me regarding weight loss. The mental and emotional transformation often takes longer than the physical transformation. I know we've said this a million times before, too. because you're done losing your weight physically, it doesn't mean that you're done the mental part. And when you think of your purpose and your reasoning for continuing to be mindful, continuing to be self-aware, like what's really driving that, especially now at this time? Like, what's going to keep you popping into the Facebook support group? What's going to keep you joining us on the live? I see Cynthia there. Hi. What's going to keep you, you know, focused on this?

It's so important to solidify your weight physically and more so mentally, you've come so far you don't want to fuck it up now or just kind of let it you know peter away and then find yourself i don't know falling back into old habits and and i think when the weight starts to come back on that's a big like okay all right now i got to do something but we don't want to get to that point we don't want to get to that point and this is where you really you want to dig your heels in and you want to be intentional and and purpose driven when when it comes to showing up Yeah, I think purpose driven is the perfect, is the perfect way to say it because we're not just here doing these things to learn how to maintain our weight. Maintaining our weight is going to be the side effect of learning how to live in this way.

Really, we're learning how to live. We're learning how to make these habits and routines our way of life now so that the side effect is maintaining our weight. So I think that's the real purpose here. You don't have to like live in this whole new life or be this whole new person, but how do I, the way that I live now, how do I, how do I learn how to be in that place? And how do I learn how to maintain that so that my weight just stays off? Because that's just, you know, like I said, that's the side effect of living the way that I live now. I see this comment you have here from Joanne. I look at food and gain weight. So tired. The whole weight loss process. is messy. It never stops. I think it does stop, right? Like I lost my weight 30 years ago. It's the awareness piece never stops because you need food to survive. What's your relationship with it? What are your issues and associations to it? And this is where like I look at food and gain weight.

Do you actually gain weight or does the scale just fluctuate? Right? Like I think that's a really big part if you if you if you if you eat certain foods and you feel like gain weight is that inflammation do you have a food sensitivity that you're just ignoring because you don't want to face you know the foods getting rid of the foods that you're eating or whatever right i look at food and i i gain weight is that is that actually your reality now or is this a fear from the past of when you've lost your weight that way and you gain it all back the whole weight loss process is messy it never stops. I know you're tired. Are you tired of this process or are you tired of the last 20 years where you did all those crappy, shitty diets? And, and, you know, you did what you thought

was right. You did what you were told to do. And yes, that sucks that the diet industry fucked us all over. But now you know. So it's sort of like you're like, that's a lot of, like, I'm concerned for you with this feel. But at the same time, you're allowed to feel like, fuck am I ever going to get there like you're allowed to take a moment but this is where the reframing of okay so what are you doing now you're trying to fix your relationship with food right look at food and gain weight so tired is not a way to live the rest of your life that's not it this and the living method is more than just a diet right this is about what is your relationship with food this is no way for you to live so what is this about then you're you're in maintenance

you've lost your weight. This is about what, health and wellness, longevity, feeling good? Like, what is your motivator to continue to make choices that make you feel good? Because here's what I know is not causing you to gain weight. Proteins, fats, vegetables, fruits, your healthy carbs, none of those are causing you to gain weight. So what is causing you to gain weight? high sugars, processed foods, foods that not only make you feel shitty mentally, but make you feel crappy physically. This brings me back to the woman who made the comment about the hoagie,

and I know this has been going on. If she's still in the group, she must be like, Gina, shut up, where she said, I had a hoagie. Hoagie's a big sandwich with meat on it, whatever. I had it. I didn't feel good. Am I ever going to be able to eat normally again? That never made you feel good. That never made you feel good. Those foods always caused inflammation they always cause your weight to show up on the scale right and so so this is sort of like yeah you can be really tired allow yourself to have the moment but then what are you going to do just eat your face off gain all your weight back again feel like shit like that's not the fix it's not the answer right it's not the answer and you know what you said there is you're here to fix your

relationship with food and i think made me think like i think we're here to also fix our relationship with the process because the only process that many people have known is to lose and gain and lose and gain and lose and gain and be a forever dieter. So if we can reframe this this messy middle as fixing our relationship with the process, what I'm doing now is fixing how I feel about my belief in how this is really going to go. I think this is an important message here. Yes, fixing our relationship with food and that food noise and all of that. but also fixing the relationship between how we believe this journey is going to go and how we're going to come out on the other side. And that's only going to happen through these life

experiences and going, you know, doing the things that you need to do and consistency and building confidence as you go on. And that really happens here in this middle part when you set off the top, you know, you can slowly become disengaged like, I'm tired. I don't want to be here. I don't want to do this. It's going to take too long. What's the point? You know, I'm having an off day. So I think if we can just focus on fixing a relationship with the process and not, you know, easier said than done, but it can be done. You know, I pulled a couple comments too from members that are, are feeling like that they are almost there. They have put some time in. They are starting to believe in this. And that automatically, you can feel the energy

and the difference in a comment that's, you know, like I'm tired versus I never thought. this could happen but look it's happening you know just the energy and in the words that you put out and the belief that you have is such a game changer and this is where being part of the group and this one of the reasons why I love the maintenance program is all in a group where you actually have to actively go in and participate and I know we are changing that it has its pros to that as well but you know the right thing said at the right time can just help you really reframe and can be a game changer you know I got a email from someone doing the program that was sent to me and you know sometimes I can feel like oh my god

and like what am I doing here in a world of ozempic and weight loss medications and how am I going to like where do we fit and what are we doing um I got this incredible email from this woman 67 years old who is just like like this is finally it for me and it's not about the weight it's about the freedom in my mind and you can't take a weight loss pill to help you with that I mean yes it can help quiet the noise but it also quiets everything else in your life as well. And I just think, I think it's a matter of like that what's your reality with that inner voice? Is it, is it dialed in to see the negative or is it dialed in to see that more positive outlook? And just like that, I've gone from like a kind of like, oh my God, look at this. And it's, it's that hope, right? It's that hopeful piece again.

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I've gained weight, creeping up. I've been slacking off and own it. I'm back on track and not giving up. Love your support, Odette and Gina. This is so the reality of life, right? This is like, this is where you're at, what you need, what you're learning. Life is about experiencing and learning, right? And living and more importantly, living.

And it's so easy to blow off, oh, I don't, you know, I'm just going to accept myself who I am and love where I'm at. But then you just feel crappy and, you know, like that's, you're never going to be happy. You're never going to be happy. You will feel happy doing the things that make you feel good for sure, right? And I wish we could bottle up how important, how it's so normal to dip back into, old habits and then get back at it. It's like exercise. We're exercising.

You feel fantastic. Something happens in life. You get off your exercise routine. You try to get back. It feels so hard. But once you're back, you feel like a rock star and off you go. And that, that is really normal. And this brings me back to that podcast with Dr.

Sheffali. I don't even know if that's up yet or not. I don't think it's coming. It's so coming. Yeah. It's a good one. Because I talked to her like, how do we not feel like life is just a nose dive? down like especially once we had menopause and she's like it is kind of like let's let's try to

not make it what it isn't like it does suck we are changing we are getting older we don't have we don't have the way we used to have we don't look the way we used to look and and that's okay and that's what life is about right so it's just about I don't know being in that being in the moment like where am I at right now am I happy am I feeling good or not what can I do to make myself feel better. And so that that ebb and flow is so normal. Yeah, it is normal. And I'm just reading some of the comments, you know, from Debbie. She's been here so long. A member in maintenance with us. You know, mindfulness and staying on track is key. She's been in maintenance for three years and found she was creeping up two pounds a years, couldn't figure

it out, but finally have rained it in and have gone back to the range that I feel best at and I'm comfortable with. I think this is, it really, you know, you're in this community and you're staying engaged and you're checking in, those reminders are going to come that you don't have to, again, get comfortable with the process, your relationship with the process. It doesn't have to be the way it's always been. You don't have to see, you know, your mindfulness slipping and then everything has been a lost cause. You can bring it back in. That narrative can be there where that inner voice is either going to pull you back and hold you down or that inner voice can, you know, push you

forward. And I think we all know we have the tools now. We all know that we can, you know, take action and move forward. It's just a matter of taking that action and moving forward and staying engaged and staying here and seeing this, this part of the journey as, you know, those learning opportunities that we talk about and reframing that mindset and coming out on the other side. You know, it's interesting. I wonder if, here's Kim, my husband started the program about a year ago and now he's falling off the wagon and given up. I'm in maintenance and doing my best to take care of myself, but also be an inspirational role model that this program can work, but sometimes it's very difficult being around his negative energy. And where is that going

to get him? Like, where is he going to go? Chances are he's going to spend the rest of his life there feeling like shit rather than just being like, okay, I got to do what I got to do and get this done. I mean, I think the dieting is more normal for women maybe than it is for men. It's that fear of the unknown, at least when I've ever worked with men. I just thought they were going to have to eat carrot sticks all the time. You can't make someone want to change. I love the whole attitude of like, I'm just going to focus on me. And from there, maybe that will inspire them to want to change at the end of the day. But I was just thinking about alcoholism and being addicted to alcohol or a true addiction. And if you think of food, because I know we have

Sandra Alia come on. She talks about food addiction. It's not recognized yet, but it is an addiction for people. And it's so complicated because you need food to survive. And if you think that if you looked at, okay, I saw Sherry talking about how for her, what was it, sweets, alcohol and sweets from Thanksgiving. So you indulge and that's hard to get back at it from that because there are some physical things happening. In some levels are jacked up. When you have sugar, you want more sugar. When you have alcohol, which turns to sugar, you want more alcohol. Like how would you view if you're an alcoholic, you would be aware that this is a constant issue for you. And I think for a lot of people in terms of food, they're not aware, they're aware,

but not aware what a constant issue that is for them. And this is where having a place like the maintenance group to, to pop in and recognize what do I need and recognize when you're being tempted or falling off, I just think that we don't tend to take it as seriously because it's food. Right? I know that might be a little deep for today, but. Yeah, no, I think, I mean, we're not afraid of those deep conversations. let's have it, but it's true. You know, it's true what we always say about food. You actually

need it to survive. You need it to be alive. How can that be, how can that be bad for you? How can that cause issues? How could that possibly be something negative when you actually need it, you know, to survive and thrive? And I think there is not enough emphasis put on that. Like you said, it can be just as serious as some of those other things. And I was going to say to Kim, like, you know sometimes it's very difficult of being around his negative energy and that's let this be let this space be your light space let the space be where you're coming yeah you're going to see members struggling but you're also going to be able to pull that spark and pull that energy from where you need it and even if that only gets you through that day to the next day so you're feeling more inspired

and more positive come here and do that i mean i remember i did my first spill the tea with you as remember I was a spill-the-tee guest back in 2021 and you asked I still remember that on like word-for-word that conversation and um you had asked me you said because I was in a this funk where my husband was like losing weight like we did it together he was losing weight like crazy and I was like mad because it was my 60 bucks and he was like being more successful than I was and anyway I'm going up but I remember you and I said it was really difficult because I was really struggling. And then he was like, oh, yeah, like, it's fine. It's so easy. I can do this. I can do that. And you said, what did you do? How did you get through that? And I said, I came to the

group. I came and I hung out in the group. I didn't really say anything. But I just came into the group. I fed off everybody else's energy. I, you know, found somebody or found a few people that I could resonate and connect with. And that was my guiding light. That was my spark that I needed when I had some other energy around me that wasn't exactly what I needed. And I think, you know, if you're feeling those struggles or whether it's your spouse or other people around you or just your own head, if you're in your own head, it doesn't have to be anybody or anything, come back to the group and stay engaged. And, you know, you might not feel it the first one or two times that you are here, but then it

might catch, you know, something might catch, something might spark with you. you might feel energized. I think that's a really important thing to remember is that, yeah, it's going to, things are difficult outside of your own journey and life is always going to be difficult and the world is there's always something going on, but you can always find something that you need here in the group among this community. We talk so much about this community. Oh, here's Frankie.

We're not alone here, but a difference from other programs as a community. And we're having the conversations that no one else is having, right? Like this is, this is the conversation. This is why it's so hard for people to be able to maintain and sustain their weight. And what I love about us is we are actively, intentionally doing the things that we need to do to be able to maintain our weight, not just physically, but mentally. I want to bring it back before we have to go, I saw Heather say here, I was surprised at downsizing last week at how my portion sizes have been slowly creeping back up, good reset last week. And that's it too, right? And that's some of the logic behind doing the program again, but from that maintenance mindset.

And so, yes, you may think your portions are already small, but have they crept up to be more than what you need and just out of habit or just constantly being bombarded by larger portions? And that really helps you get back in tune with that. And then maybe you're good in that area. Maybe you're like, yeah, I'm bang on. I know exactly the difference between slightly unsatisfied, satisfied versus full. And that's great. then it's just reinforcing that you know your shit, right?

And for, for, I guess we're past the homework part because we're midway through this week, but we're back to downsizing again next week. What do you want people to focus on for these last few days of week five? So these last few days of week five, I really want to want them to focus on consistency. So we've had a few members in the group saying, consistency feels a little bit hard. You know, I'm not really sure what I'm focusing on here. So just get back to things.

back to your weight loss journey. And over the next few days, when we're talking consistency, maybe it's tracking. Maybe it's just writing down on paper. Maybe it's using the app if you're using it in general tracker mode. Make a conscious effort to physically track. Like don't just say it in your mind. Oh, I think I had four liters of water today. Oh, I think I moved for 20 minutes. No, be really intentional and really focused on tracking. Even if it's not a practice that you've been using before, be super intentional with your actions for the next few days. You know, be intentional.

Did I follow those four steps of mindful eating at every meal and snack time? Track that. You know, how much water did I did drink? Track that. I know it sounds like work, but it can make such a difference when it comes to consistency. And then maybe you can see if there are some opportunities where, You need to level up or you need to just pay a bit more attention. So I want them to be very, very intentional with tracking.

And we're not talking weighing. We're not talking counting or not talking measuring. It's tracking your actions and what happened and how that goes. That's what I really want to focus on for the next few days. Love that. Good. Great. Just that.

Just that. Yeah, tomorrow we're talking, you know, your inner voice. We love talking about that. And, you know, how you talk to yourself can can really be a game change. You're always easier than done, of course. And then, yeah, Dr. Paul is joining us on Friday, which I'm super excited about. I hope he's excited. I think he's excited.

He loves our maintenance member. I talked to him today. He actually is. He said he's really looking forward to that. What's interesting because I had a conversation with him, like it's just kind of not went off the rails, but in all the best ways. And I just think we've had so many of these conversations before. We need to have the foundational conversations for like new members and are just coming

into maintenance, of course, or new members coming into a weight loss program, of course. But I think we're just, everyone's evolving here. And so I had a great conversation with him this morning and just kind of letting it fly and just following the conversation rather than trying to stick to a program or a plan. So I'm excited to see what your conversation is going to be. That's at 10 o'clock on Friday. 10 o'clock on Friday, yep, here in the maintenance group.

Yep. Okay. Amazing. All right, everyone. Have a great rest of your day. It's nice to see you all. We miss you on Monday. Have a great rest of your week.

And we'll see you next time. Thanks a bit. Okay. Bye. Hi, Dave. Thank you.