The Livy Method Podcast - Maintenance & Mindfulness: Mindset Mondays - November 17, 2025

Episode Date: November 17, 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!In this episode, Odette and Kim explore how the mind-body connection evolves in maintenance and why it needs to go beyond just food. They talk about how tuning into your body isn't only about hunger cues, it’s also about noticing when you’re tense, restless, or off in other ways. It’s a powerful conversation that encourages listeners to ask better questions: not just “What should I eat?” but “What am I really feeling?” This chat is all about levelling up your awareness and learning to truly listen to your body in new, more meaningful ways.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.

Well, it is a Monday. It is a mindful Monday. It's also a fun Monday because we have Kim joining us. So Kim, manager from the weight loss group, is joining us. on Mindset Monday here in the maintenance group. So, hello, Kim. Hello. How are you? Good. I actually, just a bit of insight scoop, I actually called you Jim on my check-in this morning, so I re-recorded it. So I said, Jim is going to be joining us today. And I thought, who's Jim? I think of that. Jim has been in maintenance for a little while. Yeah, it was certainly a 7 o'clock in the morning moment. So, yeah, so thank you. Thank you, Kim for being here.

There is no gym joining us. Well, I'm glad that I beat out Jim in your list of people to have on the spot this week. So thank you for that. You're welcome. You're welcome. You know, although I have to say, our members are pretty savvy. I think we could pull a member from the group to join us on one of these. I think we would be surprised maybe, but also excited to hear what they had to say and what their thoughts on a mindset Monday would be.

so yeah i feel like i don't know if i would be super surprised because like you said it is we they are super savvy and a lot of this like how far the maintenance group has come where it is right now is so much to do with that input from the members i think it would be super interesting but yes i mean i see what you're saying it would be surprising things they would have to say and i think a lot of people would be surprised at how um some of the people in maintenance uh know how well they know this program the feelings and all of the topics that you talk about. And especially now, like week 10, like we were saying last week when Gina was here, not Jim, when Gina was here, we were saying like week 10 is coming.

Like, can you believe it? And I said, yeah, I can believe it. I feel like it's here quickly, but I feel like our members and us included, we're ready for it. We're ready for this week. We've been spending nine, I mean, 10 weeks already, if you include prep week, just kind of getting to this point, you know, reading. learning, growing, I think, you know, Week 10 is one of these weeks where it can slowly come

all together. Some members are having these full circle moments like, well, yeah, like this, you know, they're starting to connect those dots. They're starting to understand their feelings and emotions. So I think it's, yeah, I love Week 10. I love this week of leveling up that mind, body connection. So just some comments here. Mary says, hello, Kim. So she's so nice to see you. Oh, thank you, Mary. Appreciate that. It's so cool to be. be here. Yeah. So let's get into this week. So we had a lot going on this week. But today we're just going to talk. I want to talk that mind-body connection. And I also want to talk back on track because I know that, you know, your members in weight loss are talking those same things, leveling

up that mind-body connection. And I think that when we're here in this, in this maintenance space and, you know, getting to this maintenance space, we talk about that mind-body connection using those four steps of mindful eating. And I think this mind-body connection can sometimes just, not sometimes it can become food-focused. Like when you're thinking mind-body connection, it's like, oh, what does my body tell me it needs in terms of food? What does my body need in terms of hydration? What does my body, you know, want for lunch today when we get onto that personalize and the

plants? Mind-body connection can become really food-focused. And we want this week to talk about, you know, going beyond the food. a little bit what is your body telling you when it's feeling tense you know what is your body telling you when it's feeling um even restless you know those those are messages also from your body so i think i mean i don't know if you if you your members are at that point yet if it's still like food focus but what do you think about that what do you think about that tie between like your emotions and how you're feeling and the messages that your body's giving i think that i mean

it's such an important thing to think about especially for like I've said to people that are in maintenance and have been in maintenance for a while and that food focus might still be the point of it when they're getting in touch and going beyond and it can it can connect to the food because you could ask yourself what I need but I think that that's beyond the food is actually the bigger picture you got to look about how you're feeling bigger picture with like why am I tense? You're tired or you're not sleeping very well. Like what's going on? Why am I not sleeping very well? What's, you know, what's been going on in my life and looking at that bigger picture of it? I think that's what comes first, like the overall how you're feeling, how you're

doing. And then that food focus is something that you can do to support your body when you figure out what it is that's going on and you need to go through what it needs. So I think that actually beyond the food is actually the bigger picture and should be the first step now as to what you're feeling and that food portion is what you do to support your body after you've sort of figured out what it is that like, oh, this is what's going on? I know I need to do this now. I'm not sleeping because of this. Therefore, maybe I need to stop, you know, drinking wine every night after dinner or something like that. Then you go to the food, but what have I been doing about it? What have I been to do to support my body? Maybe I've gone off track a little bit and I need

to start drinking more water or whatever. But yeah, I think we get caught up in that cycle of scale food, scale food, especially after years of trying to lose weight. And I think a lot of us don't actually even look at the bigger picture of how we're actually doing in life versus in your weight loss journey and this maintenance is a perfect place to start figuring that bit out. Yeah, and I love that you said two or three times there, what's going on with me. I think that can be such a game-changer.

when we flip the question from, what's wrong with me? What, you know, that question, what's wrong with me can lead to self-doubt. It can lead to these ideas that we're broken and we need fixing. I think when we can reprogram, and we talk about, you know, here in maintenance, we're reprogramming is where that neuroplasticity comes in. We're trying to retrain our brain to think differently. So, you know, shifting that question from what's wrong with me, like I said, that can bring in that self-doubt and that and those beliefs.

you know, reframing it to what's going on with me. This is a place of self-awareness. This is a place of curiosity. This is a place of finding solutions, of problem solving, not just, you know, defeating ourselves into feeling broken. So I'd love that you made that distinction of what's going on with me versus, you know, what's wrong with me. So we had a member comment in the group today.

I really want to talk about it. It was Karen. So I know Karen is also here watching. live so hello Karen um so she thought she wrote today i thought i was doing great but the scale disagrees and i really wanted to um dive into this because you know i wanted to know more like i thought i was doing i thought i was doing great so what does great mean like are you doing all of the things of the basic program um is that what you mean by doing great but the sales scales disagreeing or what else do you have going on what else is there going on you know

is there stress, are you feeling the effects of seasonal change? Are you maybe not sleeping? Is the water less appealing? You know, I think I really wanted to dive into this about, you know, thought I was doing great, but the scale disagrees. And using that scale only as that, as the barometer here of what's Yeah, that's what struck me about this comment was that I thought I was doing great. What do you mean by you thought you were doing great before you even bring the scale into it? Was it because you were feeling great? Was it because you love the way you look and you love the way you felt in your clothes and then you weighed yourself and that made you think you weren't doing great? Or did you think you were doing great just because you were ticking those boxes? Okay, I drank my water. I've had

my meals and snacks. I've asked the four questions. Tick, tick, tick. I'm doing great. So were you, was that doing great? Was that feeling great? Or did you think you were doing the things you needed to check off in order to be feeling good? And I think that's what interested me the most about this comment is like, what do you mean by doing great? Yeah. So she followed up here. She said following the basics of the program, exercising and lots of water. I think that's amazing.

Those are the basics. That's what we're doing. But maybe there's a bit of deeper work here that we can lean into, Karen. You know, like just said before, are we feeling those effects of seasonal changing? Are you making those adjustments? Are we trying to be too rigid with following the basics of the program? And what's your approach here is, you know, thinking about getting on that scale every day, stressing you out, even though you think.

think, oh, it's not, you know, it's not stress. I'm not hearing the stress. But that can, that can have a physical reaction that, you know, carrying that stress. Maybe it's, maybe it's just putting that scale away for a few days even. I know that, you know, we love to use our scale and we love to feel accountable by it. And we can feel comforted by it. But if it's creating this, this sense of stress or these feelings that take away from you feeling good and feeling great. Maybe we can put it away for a couple days and say, yeah, I feel great. You know, maybe the scale is not going to agree with me, but I feel good. Trust that instinct, trust that gut. Know what you're doing is the right thing. So maybe that could be something

that gets tried there. See if that helps to eliminate some of that feeling. Well, and I think too, your body's needs change all the time. And if we get caught up in that I'm doing all the things, of those basics that you noted like food, water, moving your body, it, or as your needs change, whether it's seasonal, whether it's stress, whether there's like anything, you know, like going on with your health, things going on in your life, or just you're evolving a little bit. And you think of it as you kind of get in that status quo. Your body's needs aren't linear.

They're going to change. And as you level up and you're doing all the things, your body's going to be like, oh, hey, this is amazing. I love the way this feels. I want more. Maybe you could try this to have me feeling better, right? We learn that in the weight loss program, that when you get to the point where you're feeling good,

you don't just keep what you're doing. You level it up a little bit because your body expects more of you. So it could just be that you need to do a little reassessment. Like, are you doing all of the same exercise? Maybe that exercise was super hard for you a year ago. And now that you've been doing it for a year, you're not actually getting your heart rate up. You're not, you know, pushing yourself.

maybe you need to change things up a little bit because you're you need to shake things up just to give your body a little bit of a like a challenge or something or maybe it's the same thing with your sleep. Maybe now you're not changing your sleep patterns, but it's getting dark so early, so much earlier that maybe your body's thinking you want to do a little bit earlier of a bedtime or something. You know, there's a lot of little things you can look at that could have you feeling great while you're doing great. Yeah. There's another comment here from Kim. It's a little bit different, but kind of plays into the same thing. So Kim says, I've been sick for like a week now, and it's frustrating to see the scale go up. And I know it's not real weight gain. It still causes

me stress because I was doing so damn well up until this point. And then life throws you a curveball. It's going to happen. Life is going to keep throwing those curveballs. And this is the same, this is kind of the same thing as Karen's comment where it's really stressful and frustrating to see the scale go up. So what's going on with me? I'm sick. I'm not. feeling well probably you know just just trying to concentrate on feeling a little better getting the sickness out of my body maybe it's that time to not be getting on the scale you know it's going to fluctuate you know it's probably going to go up so maybe give yourself a bit of that grace a bit of that space to not get on it for a few days your body's already telling you how it feels it feels like

it's sick it feels like the scale is going to be up it feels like um you know it is through one of these going through one of these life's curveballs right now. So maybe let's not let the scale frustrate us and stress us out and just allow ourselves to put it away for just a couple days. You know, give yourself that grace. It's just a couple days now. Life's going to happen again. That curve ball is going to come again, whether it's another sickness or, you know, another

shift in routine or another change of season. But maybe it's this space of just, you know, allowing our bodies to be where they are in the moment. what's going on with me. Nothing is wrong with me. I don't need to be frustrated, you know, with being sick. It's just how it is right now. It's really, I think, that approach, that perspective and how we can really see what's

happening to us. Yeah, and I think you've mentioned it before, too, is, you know, are you chasing a number or are you chasing a feeling? And if you're starting to have that feeling, you know, the feeling mentally feeling it, emotionally feeling and physically feeling it, the goal really, should be that you are feeling great because nobody knows what that number is on the scale. Nobody cares. You're the only person that cares what that number on the scale is. It doesn't add any value to you as a person either way. Really, what you want is to be healthy and happy

and feel good with your life. That's usually the goal when people are trying to get healthier. I don't want to just lose weight so that I look good and then I feel unhealthy and I feel miserable. That sounds terrible. I would rather, you know, have all of the pieces fall into that feeling that puzzle. So thinking about that too, because a lot of those things that go beyond the basic food plan and the basics of the program are the things that have you feeling good mentally and emotionally and physically. And it isn't necessarily the stuff on the scale that what you're eating when, the amount of, you know, exercise that you do, that stuff is sort of just the habits that are going to have you feeling that good feeling.

Oh, I feel also love when you come on and bring your perspective. It's so nice. So the other thing I wanted to talk about, too, well, I'll just say to all of our members, you know, we had that really extensive post come out today about that mind-body connection, connecting beyond the food and really understanding the message that your body's giving you. So, you know, just to get a little bit deeper into that that post is there for them to read. The other thing I really wanted to talk about this week is back on track. Because we say a lot at the beginning of the maintenance program,

Although back on track is this tool, you know it's here, it's the ultimate tool for life. You always have it in your back pocket. Back on track is something that you want to keep at a minimum at the beginning of the program, the maintenance program and your maintenance journey in general. So now I think it's the time. Now's the time that we can really start talking about it, where we can really bring it to the forefront. So we know back on track is this tool that any time we have, you know, really gone off the rails or done a number on ourselves

and we are, you know, feeling like we need to come back at this calm, settled place. Back on track is there for us. And that more extensive post, again, is coming out tomorrow. So it won't be in the group today. It's coming up tomorrow.

But we want to just make a point of, you know, how consistently are we using back on track? And is back on track this idea that is helping to justify our indulgences or helping us to, you know, it's that loophole for falling into old habits again and going back because you're like, oh, I can always just go back on track. I can always just use that.

And that's not what it's there for. Back in track is for these one-off times when we're really, you know, indulging or maybe we've been away on vacation. I know. So many of our members are on vacation right now. I don't know if you have that. And way lost, too. Everybody's away.

I'm like, I'm so jealous. I know I'm seeing everybody's pictures or feeds their comments in the group. I just got back from Europe. I just got back from this place. And I'm like, that's lovely. I know, I know. So I am going backwards here. But anyway, so we're very happy for all of our members that are on vacation.

A little jealous, but still happy. So back on track is really for this time when you do, like I said, go off the rails, that when you're on vacation for a little while, you've had a real weekend of indulging your routine's been off. And it's really not for those times when you notice that old habits are starting to creep back in. It's not the, you know, cookies at night and the popcorn in bed. Those are habits. Those are not back on track, reasons to go back on track.

So we really want to talk about being mindful of how often we're using it, why we're using it, and what our intention is with this tool. Yeah, I thought it was really interesting. Well, I mean, I know it's for a reason because it's how you put the program together. But the whole topic of that mind-body connection and back on track, there's a reason and why they're in the same conversation because they are so connected. You know, when you first learn about back on track, it really is this. I mean, we're seeing it because we just introduced it in the weight loss group,

that this is literally just a, you know, a tool to use. And people aren't thinking sort of that deeply about it yet there. But here where people have been using it for a while, may have utilized it numerous times, it really is about getting back on track. You get that it's about that feeling, you have when you're off track and to your point the habits habits are easy you notice you're starting to get into those habits of snacking at night you're having popcorn you're having you know

you're skipping a workout you're skipping your you know you're skipping meals you're maybe not drinking as much water those are the types of things where when you catch yourself you haven't ruined everything you're just like I need to tighten this up I need to be more mindful and start doing those those are a quick fix that's not you don't need to you know do a whole okay, I'm going to go back to eating six times a day because I haven't been on top of my water for the past week or whatever. You can just adjust those habits as you go. You know, have little reminders.

Be conscious of it. Like, ooh, I haven't been having my water. Maybe I should start keeping track of it again to make sure I'm top of it. You know, I'm on top of it. But that whole back on track is really when that feeling comes in of. And that's what I thought was so interesting about Karen's comment was about the, you know, I thought I was doing great in the scale disagrees. Like if you're not feeling it and you're not feeling great, that's when you want to think about like,

ooh, how long have I been kind of going off the rails? Is this like having a few snacks at night turned into I've gone back to those old habits regularly and now I'm skipping meals because of it and I'm not drinking as much water or I'm not going out to work out because I don't feel good in the morning after having those snacks. Like look at how that's changed. And if you feel like you are getting way off. off track. That's when you think like, okay, now I need to think about maybe going back on track and getting back to that feeling good feeling that, you know, we know everybody's looking for.

Yeah. And that, you know, that back on track can be that reset, like you said, that reset that you need. It can be that it can have that snowball effect. When you are back into this routine of eating six times a day, when you, you know, that physical action of doing that can help to shift that mindset again, right? Okay, here I am. I'm back in this. place that I know feels good. I'm back to this routine that feels good. And that's going to help stack those other habits as well. Right. So you know, you're going to reinforce that language to yourself like, I got this. I can do this. So maybe I can do the next thing and you accomplish that next thing. Like, okay, maybe I can start moving my body again. Okay, now it's time that to get my

sleep routine, you know, in check again. So back on track, yes, while it is absolutely going back to the basics of the food plan, back in track and also help you get all those other routines in check again too. So that's what I really wanted to talk to members about. I know we have this, this tool, this ultimate tool for live, as I love to call it. I know it, you know, it is a reset, but it really is something that you're going to be able to lean on forever. I think what we want to just, you know, it's so much about intention here. And, you know, using this tool like back on track, it's not this magic pill. It's not something that you are going to use to fix every little thing, but it's going to be something that's going to help you, you know, check yourself before you

wreck yourself. It's going to help bring you back to this calm place. It's going to be something that helps you stack and compound those habits again. Just be really intentional about why you're using it. Like, do you feel like, oh, it's, you know, I'll just get back on track on Monday. Is that every single Monday? Is that happening every single Monday? You're like, oh, I know I can have this indulgent weekend. I know I can, you know, let everything go because I can just, I just have this tool. We don't want it to become that crutch. We want it to be this like, not the magic pill, but maybe that like something extra special that you have that you can rely on and you know it's there. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, we don't want to feel like we're spinning our wheels

and then going back. But it is amazing to have that resource in your pocket for those times we really need it. I just, I don't want to butcher her name, but I think it's, is it Gisela or Gisela? It was made in confidence, interesting on the back on track. Your habits at night are the ones that are throwing are off with everything. Scale, sleep, the feels, that's totally. And that I, 100% that's me. That is me. It is always a night.

I usually, you know, if I'm going to lose something, if I'm going to lose it and I'm going to go off track, it's going to be those nighttime things. And that's something like you recognizing that, that those nighttime things. And you know, you need to focus on, okay, what can I do about those evenings? because I know those are what's setting off the rest of my days. You know, if you're doing great during the day and then the evening is setting you off, the problem might not be that you need to go back on track. It might just be that you need to start journaling out why you're letting those

evening habits kind of creep back in and derail, you know, your day, the next day, or the progress that you've made. I love Rob the comment here too. I mean, Rob always has some great comments here. makes us laugh, makes us happy, but also pretty thoughtful. So it keeps hearing that James Brown in my head. I feel good. Yeah, that's exactly what back on track can do when you're like, okay, here I am.

I'm back on track. I feel good. Everything is, you know, is where it needs to be. Everything is calm and familiar. Exactly. That's the feeling that you want from it. And then he goes on to say, you know, weekends can be tough, especially at this time of year. I hear that, you know, the holiday celebrations have started, you know, that's

Thanksgiving in the United States. So there's, you know, it's like the onslaught of literally for them, the holidays are starting. And, you know, even here in Canada, we like to, we like to pretend that we've got Thanksgiving next week, right? Yeah, of course we do, yeah. So we get that the weekends can be tough. And this is, you know, and this really is, you know, if you're coming into the weekend and you're knowing, like, okay, I've got, I've got festivities on on Friday night, Saturday,

I've got them again. Sunday, I have to catch up on all my errands and I'm running around. Those are things that are, you know, this is when back on track is an intentional use maybe when Monday comes around. It's not, you're not going to the weekend saying, I'm going to blow everything off because it's the weekend and I have back on track. You know that these types of weekend, this is kind of plan, now that I'm having this all the moment, this is plank coming off of last week when we were talking about, you know, self-regulation and making that plan for yourself. You know, the ones that are these weekends that are coming that, you know we're going to happen. You're making that plan for yourself. Like, yeah, this weekend is going to be totally off the rails. But I know I have that tool that I can use on, you know, when Monday comes around or Tuesday or however long it takes through you.

I think it's being really intentional with that. Yeah. And I think the other end of it now, too, is especially now because if you're in maintenance, you're not following a plan per se. you are, you know, doing the things that you know you need to do to feel good, it can be maybe tightening things up as you head into that weekend too. And, you know, maybe there's a few, maybe you have a few of your habits that are sliding back in, but they're really not affecting you right now. They're like, you know what? I can, I can have snacks at night a couple times and it's not affecting my sleep. It doesn't seem to be affecting my weight. I'm going to enjoy this

and I'm going to be okay with that. And if you're at that point, but you're thinking like, oh, okay, I'm going to go into a weekend where I'm going to be indulging for the weekend. I want to go into that weekend feeling my absolute best. So thinking about what you can do the week before, like maybe you make sure that you aren't going into that weekend sleep deprived, which you know is going to make you make choices that aren't going to make you feel good per se. When you go to that party, you're going to be not thinking about it and you're going to be overindulging to the point where you're not feeling good.

So enjoying the bits, but you might go beyond if you don't have enough sleep, if you're dehydrated and your cravings are coming back. So just tightening up that stuff before you go to, I want to make sure I'm well hydrated. I want to make sure I want to make sure they've had lots of nutrient-rich foods and healthy fats and things before I go into this weekend where I am absolutely going to enjoy everything I want to enjoy with my friends, family, and coworkers or whoever you're celebrating with. Yeah.

And I think that is a great segue into, well, we're running at times with do need to wrap it up, but it's a great intro to what we're talking about later on this week, which is, you know, people's reactions to your journey. This could be the time of year where maybe you haven't seen a lot of people for a long time and, you know, you're coming together for this season. We're also talking support and surroundings. We talked with Dr. Ruth when she was here about how important it is to have that support system, whatever it might look like for you and have those surroundings,

your environment and how that can be so important. when it comes to maintaining your weight long term and being successful. So we're going to just dive into that a little bit later on in the week. We want to make sure that we're talking mind-body connection and back on track early on in the week. And then we're really going to get into that. And what that looks like, you know, how to curate that support system. What does a support system even look like for you? What do you need?

It's also about setting those boundaries, you know, like coming into this holiday season as well, maybe it's going to be uncomfortable to set boundaries. And maybe it's only a boundary you set personally with yourself or, maybe you have to set boundaries with those around you. I know it's easier said than done, some personal and professional experience, but we're going to get into that this week. So everyone just feels really good, you know,

going into the next few weeks here. Coming into the end of the year, I can't even believe we're like six weeks away from the end of the year. It's crazy. Agreed. How did this happen? I don't know.

I'm still trying to hit my goals from that from 2024. So I really got on that yoga train. I was going to get in this year. I've gone to the only yoga classes I've done this year are the ones we did in St. Lucia. That was one of my goals for the year. Yeah. And we even skimped out on some of those. It's never too late, guys.

It's six weeks left to crush those goals. It's never too late. That's right. There's still a lot of year left. So I just want to say, Kim, thank you. You're going to be joining me on Wednesday again, right? Yeah. I'm excited.

Yeah, but those that don't know, Gina's actually in Spain this week. She's attending. I'm not even sure what the exact. name is. I know it's an obesity conference. It's in Spain between Madrid and Barcelona. So she is there learning and bringing all the good stuff back with her. Good stuff. I mean all the tidbits and takeaways from the conference, not Sangria and Churros. I think those are not coming back for us. But all those tidbits and takeaways from the Open City Conference will be coming back. So I will see you again on Wednesday. I'm so happy you're going to be joining me for everyone that is watching. Thank you so much.

Thank you for adding to the conversation. We love that, you know, when members come in and talk live and you're able to pull their comments and questions, it really helps, you know, spark the conversation and gives us something to think about that maybe we wouldn't have before we come on. So I'm just procrastinating. I'm going to say goodbye. Goodbye, Kim. Thank you. I'll see you Wednesday. And goodbye to everybody that joined us live.

Thanks for having me. Bye, everyone. Thank you.