The Livy Method Podcast - Maintenance & Mindfulness: Mindset Mondays - Jun. 23, 2025

Episode Date: June 23, 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!It’s Week 9 and we’re switching gears—and snacks! In this episode, Gina and Odette talk about what self-regulation actually means and how to fine-tune your food choices to match your summer vibe. They’re refreshing The Food Plan to keep things simple and satisfying: think more protein and fat in your morning snack, one afternoon snack instead of two, and a stronger veggie focus at dinner. They also break down why the scale might be up when it’s hot out, how cravings hit differently in the summer, and why this is the perfect time to get curious about your choices—not control them. Spoiler: Self-regulation isn’t about willpower. It’s about staying grounded when life (and heatwaves) try to throw you off. Homework this week? Look ahead, mix up your snacks, and see how it feels. You’ve got this.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 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 cast but it's available on all podcast platforms, including the one you're listening to right now, Spotify, Apple and Amazon Music. It's time to hear from our podcast sponsor today and it's a good one because it's travel. And we're all about the destination. Okay, the journey to but yes, anyways, Cuba, we're talking about Cuba and it isn't just a destination. It's a whole vibe.

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overpay. In fact, they will beat any competitors lower price. So if Cuba's calling, answer it with Sell Off Vacations. Visit selloffvacations.com and let the happy travels begin. Welcome to week nine of our maintenance program this week all about self-regulation and the food plan revamp. I love this week. I love it in weight loss. I love it in maintenance. It gives you a lot more flexibility.

It's just more options. It fits perfectly with the summer. Hi, Edette. Speaking of, are you sweating your ass off? Oh my gosh. It's so hot here. I feel like it came out of nowhere. I mean, I don't check the weather that often, but it is certainly hot here.

We are feeling it. Members are feeling it too. Yeah, it's temperature. Remind them that the scale is gonna be up. In the heat, our bodies expand just like everything else in the heat. The body's retaining water to keep us alive. Your weight's going to be up no matter what you do, no matter what you do. So just get used to it.

Yeah, and let yourself have those foods that your body is asking for. If you're craving those crisper fresh salads, if you're craving fruit, now you can have it in the afternoon. If that's, excuse me, if that's what your body is asking for. That's what's so amazing about this revamp is that it's kind of falling in the perfect line, lined up perfectly with the program and where you are, but it's all lined up with the seasoning perfectly too, so.

And just a reminder that normally when you're craving sugar, your body's looking for more water intake and when you crave salt, your body's looking for good fat. So it's great because obviously you're continuing to drink water and you're focusing on getting that protein and fat. But when it's really, really, really, really, really, really hot, sometimes your body is craving sugar because it's looking for sugar and looking for a quick pick-me-up, give your body energy without having to work too hard. And that can come by way of fruits, which is also why when you're dehydrated, you crave sweets, high water content

foods when you're not drinking the water. So if you're drinking your water and you're still craving sweets, it could be that your body's looking for like some, some fruit. Fruit breaks down quite quickly in the body and gives it the energy that it needs. So you tend to crave sweeter things in the summer because your body's looking for things like fruit, high water content foods that are easy to break down. And then in the summertime, if you're craving salt, it could mean that you actually need salt. Your body needs that sodium to retain the water.

So when you're just drinking and drinking and drinking and you cannot drink enough because it's so hot, it's not about drinking more. It's about making sure you're getting enough sodium or salt. So you can add some trace minerals, some salt, maybe have some salted nuts, making sure you're salting your food with sea salt, pink salt, whatever you, Himalayan salt, whatever you want to use, and getting those electrolytes in. Yeah, I think that's important. I was away this weekend and it was, you're sitting outside and you're, and you are sweating,

you're hot and you can like taste that salt. You know what I mean? Like you, if you lick your lips, you taste that salt. And it's, that's just a reminder that when you're sweating and it's hot and yeah, you're drinking water, that salt is coming out as well. So to replenish that, like you said, with those tracement and brittles or those, you know, those good quality salts, that's important to make sure you put that in. Yeah. So what do you want to start? How are, we have four weeks of the program. You know what's interesting is a woman commented

in the group today, what was her post? Kim sent it to me. Obviously it's relevant to the weight loss program, but I thought it was relevant here as well. It was just her kind of, she said that's a lot of changes week nine. Week nine is a lot of changes for just the last few weeks. So I wanna remind people, it's not just the last few weeks,

it's four freaking weeks, it's a whole month. And the beginning of the program, we don't look at it like these few weeks, it's a whole month. At the beginning of the program, we don't look at it like these few weeks. It's like there's a lot you can accomplish in a month. And she says, curious why only now? So we've been making changes all along, right? Not just in the weight loss program, but also in the maintenance program as well.

Were the previous weeks just to learn better eating habits? And so yes and no, right? They're to get more in tune to your food choices, to understand your body's needs, yes to get in tune to portions, a lot of those things. But just, it's a slight change this week. It's not really all that different. Still protein at breakfast,

adding a protein and fat to your morning fruit snack, or you can have something else completely. Lunch, we're focused on the protein there. Still same components, vegetables, leafy greens, healthy fats, heavier carbs. You still want to have them at lunch, so you're looking to minimize those, not just for this week, but also this time of year in general. This is where you might want to bump up your fruits, minimize your heavier carbs.

Afternoon snack, the two down to the one. Afternoon snack now, which you're not taking both snacks and just both portions. You're still being in tuned to your portion levels. And of course for dinner, vegetables are now the focused. So not a lot of change. It's more about the

intention behind the change and the nuance behind it. So if you're splitting up the meal tax last week and separating your proteins from your carbs, you'll understand how protein feeds into your satiety hormones a little different. So we're adding in more sustaining energy and decreasing any of the heavier carbs. That's kind of the tweak this week, which will help you get more in tune to your body's needs. Yeah and speaking of changes, I know we've had members in the past say, we're eating so much more protein now. We're adding in so much more fat. And the only place we're actually adding any more protein and fat is only at the morning snack. That's it. We're not

adding any more to any other component. We're not bumping it up and taking out other things. I mean, we're taking out those starchy or vegetables and those heavier grains, but it doesn't mean you're having more and more and more. We're only place that we're adding it in is that mid-morning snack. That's really the only change. You're still having it at lunch.

You were always having it at lunch. You're just taking it being the star from dinner and making it at lunch. So then you're just reversing those two. So it's not like you're having that same amount at lunch as you are having at dinner. So just keep that in mind that really we're only adding that little bit in the mid-morning snack. Small changes, small changes, small changes. And I think this is also a great place where we're giving our members, they're taking much more flexibility with the food plan now. And this is the more sustainable long-term.

Excuse me, like you're able to make those choices. You're building trust in yourself. They're able to make those choices because you know how foods are gonna hit you. You know how they're gonna impact you. If you have more protein at lunch, you're going to understand, you're going to feel that you do feel satisfied

a bit longer into the afternoon. There maybe isn't even room for those two snacks. So you're eating more based on your hunger versus your habits. I found that I had this too when I was, my first time in maintenance years ago, where I was like, oh, it's one o'clock, I must have my carrots,

because that's what I do. You have carrots in the afternoon before you have your nuts now without thinking, no, do I actually need them? Am I only choosing them out of the habit that I because I have been doing it, I need to follow this food plan. You know, no, I need now I'm going to be more in tune. I had this lunch, I'm feeling satisfied, I can wait now and have just one snack in the afternoon, whatever that might be. So I think it's really being more to your hunger and just choosing those snacks out of habit as well. Absolutely, that's where we're going with this. Also, if your hunger levels, like if you're noticing that you're concerned about being hungry,

because you're down from two snacks to one, that there still could be some issues with your hunger that you still trusting to know when to eat, how much to eat. Lots of people are afraid to feel hungry. You know, that's it's kind of shaking things up a little bit. And usually takes about the body three days to make adjustments to any change in the in the food plan itself.

Yeah. And speaking of adjustments to your body might feel this shift. You know, you might feel some physical symptoms. You might feel that, you know, maybe if you're having more protein at lunch, you feel like, you know, maybe you're a bit more bloated or you are sitting a little bit heavier. And again, that's just your digestive system adjusting. It's just you normalizing, you know, having these foods at different times of the day. So you might feel those physical things. It's not a reason to stop or there's nothing wrong, you know, it's just let your body adjust these changes that we are making. And we want to be clear that this is not personalizing the plant. Like we're talking flexibility, or there's nothing wrong, you know, it's just let your body adjust these changes that we are making.

And we wanna be clear that this is not personalizing the plant. Like we're talking flexibility, right? We're talking flexibility, we're allowing you to make those small choices when it comes to your snacks. But remember, this is not personalizing the plants. We had a member ask today, well, what if I don't want my mid-morning snack?

You know, it's still important that you're following exactly as laid out. Look at those guidelines. We're giving you some options there, but you wanna remember, we're not quite at personalizing the plan just yet. We're getting you comfortable with this flexible piece so that when we get there, you feel more confident.

And your body too, it's baby steps. It's not stressing your body out, freaking it out, loves routine. And we're fine tuning that routine as we go. So you don't just want to not have things when you're not hungry and eat whenever you want. So you're still having those token amounts if you're not hungry.

It's all about being really intentional about that. Again, a lot of science built into the rhyme and the reason behind things. What about what's the self-regulation part of this, Odette? Yeah. What about what's what's the self-regulation part of this, Odette? Yeah, so this is one of my favorite weeks because I mean, I love the food plan revamp. And then this is a great time to talk self-regulation. And when we talk self-regulation, it's not just it's not that it's not just it's not about the food. It's not about willpower. It's not about restricting your choices. Yeah. What self-regulation is, it's about having regulation, having, I hate to use the word control, but having almost this power over your

thoughts and behaviors when it comes to situations that might be throwing you for a loop. So we know from our members in maintenance that, you know, being able to anticipate lapses happening, lapses in your routine, lapses in your ability to be able to make the choices that align with you, that you're not allowing it to have you spiraling out, to have you thinking, I need to start all over again, I've ruined it. So it's the regulation in your thoughts and in your behaviors and your mindset that it's like this check yourself before you wreck yourself. So, you know, we have these planned events, you know, we were just talking about like,

it's my daughter's graduation tomorrow, chances are, you know, we're gonna have food, we're gonna have indulgences. That's a planned lapse in my regular routine. I can handle that. I can say, I have this planned lapse, I'm gonna come out on the other side just fine. I'm going to check myself before I wreck myself. I'm not going to think, oh, I have this planned event, I'm going to do the things and now

I need to start all over again. I have just let myself go. It's that mindset. But then we also have these unplanned events, you know, maybe it's a stressful situation or it's a work party or it's something that just comes up out of the blue. And you're thinking, how am I going to navigate this? I'm so good in my routine. I'm feeling like I'm on top of everything. Now I have this event, I have this unplanned situation. How am I going to regulate myself through this? How am I going to get through this?

And it's just the same thing. It's okay. These are going to happen. You don't have to anticipate what you're going to do. Just anticipate that these events are going to come and know that you can come out on the other side just fine. Which is perfect, not just for summer, but for life. Right? This is what it's about. It's what you are doing while you're losing and help you get to maintenance, what you are working through and doing and the tools that you're throwing into your toolbox are going to help you when it comes to living your life, being able to easily maintain and sustain your weight, trusting when, what, how much to eat, and life is going to keep coming. There's going to be more graduations, more birthdays, more holidays, more vacays,

more events, all of those things, and being very intentional about what your plan is or being able to navigate the unplanned that pops up as well. Yeah. Yeah. And having that mindset that it's not an all or nothing. It's not a starting over like, oh, okay, well, I have this event tomorrow. I have this graduation tomorrow.

I'm probably going to have a few things that I would normally have, but I'm not going to have that one. I'm going to wait till Monday mentality to get back to my routine again. It's only Tuesday tomorrow. So Wednesday, if I'm feeling some effects or I don't have to be like, well, I've let it go today, I might as well just wait till Monday again.

No, it's about having those regulating thoughts or like, no, it's time to get back at it today. It's time to bring myself back to making those choices that align to feeling that with where I am. Yeah. Just a little check in with where you're at and your intention in being here at this point and what you're here to learn. Yeah.

Right? Not just put the time in. That was the big conversation we had last week, which is putting the time in. You're not just here putting the time in. And we do have four solid weeks. And yes, we're starting to get busy. Our mind is starting to wander. We're not as into things.

We're like ready for the summer. This was interesting, off the heels of a conversation with Kyle Buchanan last week who came on, those of you in the group might remember Kyle from our weight loss program. And he talked about summer. Cause I was like, what is this? Where'd everybody go?

Like last Monday, it was like everyone was gone cause the first couple of nice days. And he's like, we're conditioned. We're conditioned with this. The end of the school year is coming. Most of us at the end of the school year, we were completely unstructured throughout the summer. I mean, maybe some people went to camp, some people went to whatever, but

for them, I just ran amok. I am sure, you know, building forts and doing this and doing that and riding my bike all over that we're so used to that feeling of like schools done, now it's unstructured and then we go and then until it's kind of chaos, until September. And so that might be our mindset, if you're kind of feeling that, oh, fuck it, who cares? Let me just like, I just want to go enjoy my life. That's so much deeper than you having lost your weight,

putting the time into maintenance, that's just you and the time of year. So when knowing that, you can be a little bit more intentional about the things you have planned or not planned this summer too. Yeah, and it's that association. I mean, we talk about associations all the time, and that's exactly it. You associate the summer with that unstructure, with that freedom, with that mentality that it's just an easy season.

You want things to be simple. It's season. You want things to be simple. It's hot. You want it to be simple. It's light. And that's, you know, you don't want to think about, you know, following a structure or having to make choices. But those choices at the end of the day, really are what is going to give you that freedom

to enjoy the summer, that freedom to feel your best so you can go about and, you know, enjoy that unstructured looseness of it all. Yeah. I see there's some questions that we had that you can go about and you know enjoy that unstructured looseness of it all. Yeah I see there's some questions that we had that you wrote down. Here's one from Melissa. In weeks one to eight I would have veggies with hummus and second snack was nuts. Since hummus has protein like nuts should I consider it's just about eliminating nuts? Last time around I have veggies with nut butter. I mean it's it, you can mix this up and have something completely different altogether and go by how you feel.

You could have like fruit and some nut butter or yogurt or boiled egg or something. So you do have more options there. If you found like your veggies and you were adding hummus along with it and you feel like that you're feeling satisfied on that. Hummus is good because it has that it has the protein it also has some carbs in it not as much fat unless there's an olive oil base to there as well where nuts and since you're gonna have a little bit more fat in them you can have less hummus and some nuts or just the hummus or just the nuts so you don't't have to have like your veggies, the hummus and the nuts now.

You don't have to do that at all. So your hummus would still work in terms of your protein and your fat. Yeah. And I think, you know, talking about flexibility, you can change it up. You know, you don't have to, like you said, you don't have to have veggies at all if that's not what your body is feeling at this point. You know, you can really change it up and have that flexibility. And just, and I think this is a great learning opportunity

week as well, you know, it's Monday today. So maybe you have the carrots and hummus today and see how you feel. You're like, okay, I was really hungry when dinner came around. And then maybe tomorrow you have something with a bit more fat and protein and you're like, oh, I wasn't as hungry when dinner came around.

I think this is a great week, especially the first couple of days to really be in tune to how different snacks and different combinations make you feel throughout the afternoon and throughout the day. And also play around with the timing if you have the luxury of doing that as well, right, because adding your protein to your fat, to your fruit, for example, for breakfast might not make you as hungry for lunch or focusing on the protein at, might not make you as hungry for lunch or focusing on the protein at lunch might not make you as hungry for that first snack

to have it when you normally would. So try to play around with that timing as well. I see this comment from Janice talk about self-regulation. I love the term self-regulation. Applied it to other areas in my life, but haven't thought of it in terms of what I eat or how I feel about food. The word that I used to describe my lifelong experience with food is restriction, going

to think and reflect on self-regulation. I just want to point out that this regulation is beyond just what you're eating, right? And it's your thoughts and your patterns and choices that you're making, not just regulating food that you're eating, because I think it can be another word for control, and we're not trying to control anything. Control and moderation are two words that just have no place when it comes to dieting and food.

You're not trying to control what you eat, you're not trying to moderate what you're eating, you're trying to be in tune with what you're eating. Self-regulation to me is just understanding the choices that you're eating, you're trying to be in tune with what you're eating. Self-regulation to me is just understanding the choices that you're making and then what happens after you make a choice that maybe that you don't, you're not happy about. And in a sense, it is control, but it's all about the intention of how you're using the word. Yeah, I think it's also like, it's more of an empowerment too, right?

Like you are, you are empowerment to make those choices. You're not you're not let it you're not letting one action dictate the rest of the actions that you take. So you know, if you if you, like I said, had the indulgence or felt yourself slipping, you don't have to believe that that is how it has to be going forward. You can regulate that mindset. You can regulate those thoughts and behaviors. That's where it comes from. It's not about saying you can't have the indulgence. You can. It's about saying, okay, I've had it. Now where do I go from here? How do I want to feel from here? Yeah.

I mean, we chose that word self-regulation for a reason on top of the research that Ruth Kane did, but other words are self-control, emotional regulation, impulse control, self-mastery. I like that word. Temperance, resilience, inner balance, discipline, self-management, personal accountability, habit control, behavioral consistency. I love that. Intentional living. So that's self-regulation is the word that we're using, but you can internalize it so that it resonates a little bit more with you. I like what you say here, Judy, I think following the food plan so carefully was comfortable for me because I could just eat what I was told to. And the same thing is happening with this, you are being told what to eat still. So there is still there's still guardrails there for you. I really I

really going to need to work on paying attention to what my body is telling me I need rather than just relying or have it. Yeah, absolutely. But that's not part of that self-regulation is recognizing that you're doing that. Yeah, and you know, this could be a great learning opportunity too.

Like you may decide, you know, when it comes to that time where you're personalizing the plan that you love fruit snack on its own in the morning like you still need that fruit snack You need fruit on its own come later on because you've learned that from this tweet specifically So I think this is where you know, we're talking about We're not quite personalizing just yet We're still using these guidelines like you said these parameters to help you learn and figure things out So when you do get to personalizing the plan, you have more of that confidence that you

can trust that you can make those decisions based on what you actually need. Yeah, trusting your choices. Like if I was to turn these words into Libby Methods specific, showing up for yourself, staying in tune, trusting your choices, owning your actions, being intentional, leading yourself, following through, keeping promises to yourself, right? Or if it's more educational, reflective, self leadership, mind follow through, intentional behavior, personal alignment, empowered decision making, right? Empowered decision making. I like empowered decision making. I like that.

Yeah, I like that word empowered too, because you're not making decisions based on control. You're making decisions based on knowledge. You're making decisions based on knowing exactly what you need, not based on the fact that you need to restrict or control or moderate or modify whatever it might be. So that's what I think this week is really great for. I think we always are talking learning opportunities around here. I think this is what everything is, learning through every experience, learning through every tweak, learning through it all. We're not just doing, you're not just picking up what we're putting down. It's about learning from what each tweak is trying to teach you and what could come from

it for you specifically. Well, here's Sylvie, right? Thank you, thank you. It's starting to take place. I feel I make the right choice for me and do not worry about the lapses because I know I will rapidly go back to the food that makes me feel right.

Just knowing what you need. Before we go today, Odette, what are your homework for this week for people? So the homework for this week is to really think about what their next week looks like. You know, it is the summer for so many people. Do you have anything that's on the calendar that might be throwing you off your routine? Have you thought about that ahead of time?

You know, when we're talking self-regulation and planned and unplanned, you know, think about that. Think about what you have on your calendar for the next week and what, like I said, might be throwing you off your routine a little bit and how you're going to come through that. And then with the food plan revamp, I think just want members to play around with it a little bit. Don't be afraid to change things up a little bit. Be open to it.

Be open to changing up that afternoon snack. If you've always had the same thing and you were planning to combine it, of course do that because that's going to give you some confidence and some, you know, a calm mindset, but maybe be open to just changing it up a little bit and see what happens. Love it. All right.

Sounds good. I guess I will see you on Wednesday. Yes, you will see me on Wednesday. Well, good luck with your, um, your daughter's graduation tomorrow. Thank you. It's always an emotional day. My son graduated two years ago and it was, I was finding for my music plays, you know,

then that pomp and circumstance comes on and you're like, oh, we'll see, it'll be fine. Yes. So good luck. I'll be thinking about you. I will see you on Wednesday so you can tell us all about it. Thanks everyone who's joining us live for listening after the fact. Have a great day everyone. We'll see you Wednesday. Bye. Bye.

us live or listening after the fact. Have a great day everyone. We'll see you Wednesday. Bye.