The Livy Method Podcast - Spill the Tea - Spring/Summer 2024: Week 10

Episode Date: July 2, 2024

This is the live recording of the Spill the Tea session with Gina and Special Guest Kim Lamarche.You can find the full video hosted at:https://www.facebook.com/groups/livymethodspringsummer2024Topics covered:Introducing Kim LamarcheWhere the journey with weight began for KimWhat, and when, was Kim’s first diet?Kim shares the evolution of her diet history. Kim shares the ups and downs of her life -and the scale- leaving her in a dark place.Facing her parents declining health, Kim knew something had to change.The moment where Kim thought, “Ok. I’m going to try The Livy Method.”Quick recap of the journey to date - 111.6lbs gone Finally and Forever and all the non-scale victories!How giving the body what it needs from food to supplements has positively affected Kim’s anxiety.What’s Kim’s secret sauce for being so successful? Embracing progress over perfection to give yourself the best gift possible: The gift of You.Kim’s words of wisdom? Impossible = I’M POSSIBLE!Follow our Livy Loser account on IG @LivyLosers and use #livyloserTo learn more about the Livy Method, visit www.ginalivy.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 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 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. Real conversations with very real people about their very real weight loss journeys. That's what our Spill the Tea segments are all about. Can I just have a moment for our guest today? Kim LaMarche. She is 49 years old. She is a proud mom and has a grandson. She has been with and happily married to her best friend for 31 years. She is also a Livvy loser who has lost 111.6 pounds. And of course, you know, she has a story.

So let's not waste one more minute. Let's get her on introducing Kim. wow hi hello hello you must get that a lot do you get that a lot yes i do Yes, I do. It's shocking. Well, I'm looking at your before and after photos, your transformation photos, you know, proof of all your hard work, not just weight loss, but done in a healthy and sustainable way. OK, the team is pulling them up. I mean, you are a completely different person. I am inside and out. It's been an amazing journey. Yeah. Inside and out. I love that because the living method is no joke. It's not just what you're eating and when it's working through some issues and associations and habits and coping and

beliefs. And you have all that. You have all that and you've worked through all coping and beliefs. And you, you have all that, you have all that. And you've worked through all that and more. Where do we start with your story? Do we start when you were young? Did you have a weight issue when you were younger? Um, I did, I did. Um, I was, my aunt and uncle took me to my grandparents and I was a very early riser, you know, five, six o'clock in the morning. And of course, my grandfather woke up early and I was like a hobbit. We had first breakfast and when everybody else would wake up, I'd have second breakfast and continue eating the rest of the time, the rest of the day. And my mom, when I come home, didn't know who I was. I had probably gained about 15, 20 pounds. And yeah, I, and that's the start of it. And

I mean, I've lost weight over the years doing all kinds of different things, but nothing sustainable, nothing that worked enough that dug deep, made you dig deep. So yeah. So how old were you when you, so you went away to your grandparents, you, that was like, what were, how old were you then? Oh my goodness. Um, I'm going to say nine or 10. Okay. Let's say, um, yeah, about that. And yeah, from then on, it's always been a struggle and I didn't fully

see it right off the bat. Um, I had, I lost a few friends when I got back to school, but I didn't think it was because of that, but it was, yeah, things were a little bit different. Um, my clothes felt different. Everything. My mom had to go buy me a bunch of new clothes and yeah, but I didn't feel it right off the bat. Okay. So you went away and then you came back and then things changed. They did. They did. Okay. So what, um, what was high school after, after high school? When did you start dieting? Oh goodness. Um, I'm going to say, I think I was about 17. I moved in with my sister because she was starting a diet counting calories. And she had all the exercise stuff. And I thought, well,

I'm going to give it a try. So I moved in with her just for the summer to see what could happen. And I did, I, I think I was about a hundred and anywhere between 150, 160 pounds in high school. And I was considered fat and, um, I. I felt like I was not worthy and I lost, um, I went down 130 pounds and I was feeling awesome. A lot more attention. Um, I found out I went to school with a few friends when I was younger. And that's what I mean. Everything changed because they didn't even remember me. They had no clue of who I was. And when I said, oh, you went, I went there too. And they did not know who I was. I was just, I was in the background all the time. And once I lost weight

at 17, it was, yeah, I was a little bit more confident. And, um, so I tried to get myself out there and I think I was doing pretty good for a while. I met my husband around prom party time. And yeah, it was really quite great. Our moms worked together. They tried to set us up. But, you know, who wants to date the mom, you know, mom setting us up. You don't want that. And you've been together ever since.

Yeah. Yep. Oh my goodness. Yeah. It's, uh, it was a fun, it was fun getting to know each other. Um, it, we met at prom party and, uh, yeah, it just snowballed into an amazing relationship. Oh, I love that. So then when did your so he's seen the evolution of your diet history? He's been around, I'm definitely gonna want to get in and ask, you know, how he feels about all

everything that you've done recently. But when did you really start? When did your when did you get into the diet, the constant dieting? Um, when did your weight, when did you notice your weight really coming on? When was that? Um, I believe, I think I was about nine, uh, 20. Um, we moved in together and yeah, you know, when you move in together, you're, you're not eating as good anymore. I wasn't counting, I wasn't exercising, you know, just whatever. And yeah, slowly, it started creeping up. And I was getting nervous about it. But I thought, Oh, well, you know, what am I going to do? So just kept going. And yeah, I tried Weight Watchers and what was the Mayo Clinic diet. I tried the PDX pills, tried a bunch of different things. And I think the most I've ever lost was about 20, 25 pounds. But of course, you gain that back and so much more. And you just lose pieces of yourself each time this happens, more pieces.

Yeah, I noticed you're always in reading your bio, you were like, my weight continued to climb year after year. In fact, it goes back to I'm a natural introvert. You know, you were like, my weight continued to climb year after year. In fact, it goes back to, I'm a natural introvert. You know, you head deeper inside yourself. It made you feel unworthy, which made me start eating all my feelings and emotions. There was a lot, my weight continued to climb year after year. I was a shell of a person with many insecurities and feelings of shame, failure, disgust, and self-loathing. I felt like I just wasn't enough and like I was unworthy of taking up space in this life. Yeah. Yeah.

It was hard. It was extremely hard to handle. Get emotional. But without my husband, I wouldn't have been here I just he supported me throughout the whole time um my highest weight was 262.2 pounds uh just literally just before COVID. And you're, you're only five too, not to say only, but you're five too. Yep. And, uh, it was, I mean, I have fibromyalgia. I have arthritis in my knees. Um, there was points where I had to use a cane to walk. Um,

it was just getting so bad. And during COVID, he was not working. So as funny as this sounds, I lost weight, because we kept going for walks. And on the bad days or days, we didn't feel like going out, we literally walked around the house, just walked around the table around the island, we just kept walking and I was doing started at 7000 steps, moved to 10,000. And I think I was doing 15,000 steps and more. And it was going good. I lost like 60 some pounds. Everything was amazing.

He had to go back to work. And I lost my partner. And I was home alone again because I'm retired. I've been retired for a while because I owned my own one person cleaning business. And when I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I was trying to figure out why my body was in so much pain all the time. And we made it work, um, stay at home. We took a lot of, uh, maneuvering, but we made it work. And, uh, yeah, the weight was, that's why the weight piled on so high. And my salt addiction was, um, over overpowering me because now I'm at home all by myself.

So you mentioned, I'm just adding context for anyone who might be, you know, either joining us live or listening after the fact and haven't had an opportunity to read, to read your bio, which we post in the groups, in the Facebook support groups. You, you had a bit of a, not a bit, you had a, you had a pretty major assault addiction from when you were a child. And this is something that you continued into adulthood and that you really tried to actually hide from people and something that you now feel like you've kind of worked through. Oh, definitely worked through it. I honestly, a lot of people didn't really fully believe that I was a salt aholic because I didn't necessarily salt my food. Um, it was actually rare that I did that. I just,

before I finally kicked the habit, um, it was just give me the salt shaker. I, I always, always had the salt shaker beside me if I was alone in the house, always. And I would actually have, I eat so much salt that it's gave me the heartburn, acid reflux. Um, yeah, it was, it wasn't good. And I kept saying to myself, because my son would be the first one to come home. And I kept saying, you got to stop because he could find you dead one day and you don't want that. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't stop. It was such a hard addiction to drop. But because my daughter-in-law and her son moved in with us and I was so ashamed of eating salt in front of anybody, I didn't never let them see that. I just quit. And I, I'm there moved on. And I'm alone. And I'm okay. I have no issues whatsoever with it. I don't understand how that works. But this program has definitely made me feel that I can do anything. I can do anything. Okay. Let's get into that. So why the living method? Where were you at before you found the program? Like, I know you made it

through the pandemic. I also, you know, read that your mom passed away, um, as well. How were you feeling? Where were you at before the program? How did you sign up for the program? How did you hear about the program? Oh, it was, uh, it was a long process of, uh, I was just, oh my gosh, I was beside myself. My dad has dementia and he started really like he was diagnosed very early. My mom took care of him for as long as she possibly could. And then she put him in a home. And my grandmother, my mom's mom passed away. And we didn't realize what was going on because, um, we just figured mom was very, very tired from taking care of dad. Um, but I guess she had a mass in her belly and, um, she never took care of it. We did not know this and it it led to, I believe it was caught too late to fight. And we ended up

finding out she had dementia as well. We did not know this. We just thought she was tired all the time. But yeah, it was, she couldn't stay home alone. And I think that's where it hit me. When we told her you have to go live at a home or with my oldest sister. She was really upset because this was her time. You know, she didn't have anybody to take care of. This was her time. And yeah, I think that's what, what made me say enough is enough. I want to be here longer. I want to have my time. I do not want to go too early. I mean, if it happens, it happens. But I want to be as healthy as possible because seeing her realize that her time was running out and she had to go live with my sister. It was it was hard, but I mean, she was happy. She she ended up being very, very happy. She lost a lot of weight. She was happy with that. It was cute, but yeah, it was,

it was definitely hard to get through, but that's what, that's what made me say, you know. That's your why. Well, I mean, we hear this a lot. I mean, isn't this what motivates a lot of people to show up and be advocates for themselves, to take care of themselves so that someone else doesn't have to take care of them. And you have your mom who took care of your dad. And then when finally it was her turn to prioritize herself, she didn't have the time in order to be able to even do that. So that's, that's hard. So, so, okay. So I heard you, I heard that you heard about the program through Sky Dixon. So it was Sky and Nathan, We had them on in a previous Spill the Tea. I thought that was really interesting.

How did that come about? Skye's mom, my sister, I had heard it from a girl at work and got her and Skye signed up. And away they went. They tried to talk to me about it. But at first it was like, yeah, I don't want to hear about it. I was skeptical. I was like, yeah, I'm not there yet. It didn't take long for me to realize they were looking amazing. They were just so happy. And I was like, I want that. I'm ready ready I want that so bad and I remember saying I don't understand why can't I do it why what is it that that that I can't keep the weight off

why it doesn't make any sense to me and oh my gosh this program was like this is what we're all missing and that's why it's like i just i need to tell everybody because until you know until you've tried it until you fully understand it's so much more than eating less and exercising more oh my gosh it's so much more than eating less and exercising more. Oh my gosh. It's so much more. Okay. Wow. Yes. Wow. So you're the wow though, because you showed up, you've done the work. So non-scale victories. Um, okay, well let's go. First of all, let's talk about your journey. You lost 14 pounds, 14.3, without even being in the program. You got your hands on a book. Yeah.

You got your hands on a book, and then you lost 14 pounds. Then you got into your first program, which was spring-summer, spring-summer program. Yes. So 2023, you lost 31.2 pounds. This is what I love though, is what happened in between groups, which is really important because we're about to roll into the summer break. And so you lost a considerable amount of weight in between programs. So you did the spring summer program. You did the fall 2023 program. You did the winter 2024 program, and you're currently in this program. So in the

spring, you lost 31 pounds. Then your next program, you lost 20 pounds in the winter program. You lost 16 pounds. Obviously you're in the current program, but in between breaks. So in between the spring, summer break. So what's coming up in a couple of weeks, you lost 13 pounds, 13 pounds. Then during the Christmas break, you did the fall program and the Christmas break, you lost five pounds during the holidays. And then in between the winter program and the current spring program, there's a typo there. I made a mistake on that. It ended up only being, I think, 2.2 pounds in between the groups and it's 8.6 pounds in this group. And this group. Okay. I knew something was a little off. I couldn't figure out where I went

wrong, but yes. Typo or not. That's craziness. That's, I mean, it's not craziness. It's amazing. It's amazing. Um, I'm overwhelmed by your journey. I cannot tell you. Um, I mean, you were talking about how you were fangirling me. I am totally fangirling over you. Um, okay. So you did the program, um, non-scale victories in one program. You were no longer walked with a cane and was no low, no longer taking with a cane and was no longer taking blood pressure medications and was no longer addicted to salt. You improved anxiety symptoms. I want to talk about anxiety because you know that's my new thing is anxiety and weight

loss. You lowered stress, better digestion, more energy, improved sleep. Your rings fit again. But this is one. you fit into a public bathroom stall. Oh yes. Yes. I, I've always used the wheelchair accessible washrooms because some of the stalls are so small and tight and I just did not fit comfortably. And it was always very, very difficult, very difficult. And the one day nobody was in the washrooms and I was like, I'm going to try it. And I did. And I, I was in tears. I'm like, Oh my God, I fit. This is amazing. I, I haven't fit in a

regular stall in so long. And it, that was a monumental moment for me. I came out of that bathroom and I was like, yeah, it was awesome. I loved it. I love that. I mean, this putting in perspective, right? When we talked, we, when we first started talking today about it being a game changer, losing that amount of weight, but so much more than what you were eating and when, um, let's talk about the anxiety, right? Um, you have anxiety to the point that it prevents you from driving, taking public transit, being in large crowds. We're not just talking like you're a little nervous here or there, like severe anxiety. And you've now, you notice a significant improvement in mental health to the point where you're managing your symptoms with supplements rather than medications.

Yes. Wow. I, I, um, I think it was the beginning of April. So it was in March. I got a letter from my doctor saying that she was downsizing. And I was one of the patients, she was letting go. And I thought, Oh, my gosh, because I was doing the living method, and I was getting healthy. And she was like, Wow, you don't I she was probably keeping the patients that really needed her and I was a little I was a little upset because it's so hard to find somebody yeah I understood and um but I had asked her about the um I was on I think it was Sertraline, I think it was, or Zoloft, whatever. And she says, it's such a small dose. Because I asked her, is there a way to get off?

Like, can I try? She says, well, it's such a small dose. Take your time and go from there. And oops, I forgot to order it a couple times, you know. And so time went by and I'm like, oh my gosh, I haven't been on it because I forgot to order it. And I thought, you know what, I could feel the anxiety. But I thought, I'm, I'm just gonna try it. And yes, it was getting a little like my anxiety was going up a little bit and there was some triggers. But I listened to the Dr. Paul segment and the ashwagandha and L-theanine.

And I thought, OK, let's because I could find ashwagandha very easy. I thought I'm going to start that and see wow wow that's a game changer for me um my anxiety has just like that has calmed down and like no sugars, adding the supplements is so amazing. I didn't, I never would have known about all of this. I mean, I never got into the supplement stuff and vitamins. I never got into that and I never knew that they were that good. And, um, yeah, no, I, I, I wouldn't go without it now. Well, not that we would advise getting off your medications without talking to your healthcare provider or switching out for supplements, but right. Well, we have to know what the living method, it is really a holistic approach. You also did deep breathing exercises. You did a lot. It wasn't just, you know, switching out some supplements. It was everything that you were doing, obviously that fed into that and also helped get the scale moving. So again, 111 pounds.

Let's talk about your secret sauce to being successful. Oh my gosh. Um, just, I was just fed up, fed up. I wanted to be healthy. Well, at first it was, I just wanted to lose weight. I didn't understand the whole getting healthy. I just never got that part. Um, yes. And doing all the other work, I just wanted to lose the weight and I thought that would fix everything. And well, I should have known better because it never did. And working on your inside,

the struggle, the inner struggle is monumental. It's, you cannot keep, you cannot sustain if you don't do the work. You have to do the work. And doing the work is hard, hard, but so worth it. So worth putting yourself first. Giving yourself grace for any, anything, any time you need to have that grace, give it to yourself.

You are worth it. And it took me a while to figure that out. And doing it on my own this time, completely on my own. I didn't rely on anybody else. This was all me. I didn't look for somebody for exercise. I didn't look for somebody for accountability. I wanted to do this on my own because it seems like, well,

it always felt like it didn't work when I was putting myself with other people, because if they fell off, I fell off. It was like domino effect. And this time I said, I'm going to do this myself so that I don't get caught up in anything. I want this so bad. And that eating healthy, I didn't think it was going to be so yummy. I really thought, oh, my God, I don't know if I can get rid of even the sugar. Well, I love sugar, but I was like, I don't know if I can do it. I really don't know.

And I went from a triple, triple coffee to no sugar at all. And I was like, what, what, what, what just happened? It was amazing. Well, and I also, I also love that you said it was a progress over perfection. Cause I do want to point out at 111 pounds over the course of the year, really, you started in the spring, summer of 2023. It is now the spring summer program of 2024, 111 pounds that adds up to one to two pounds per week, right? One to two pounds per week over a year, 52 weeks, right? We're talking. So that is like a,

that, that is a healthy, sustainable way to go about your weight. And I just want to point out, this is where you can drop 30 pounds in one program and then, you know, 16 in the next program. And it's really about that, stepping back and looking at the big picture. So, of course, you know, it wasn't all easy peasy. I know you had your moments with the program. I love what you said here. The living method has given me the most profound gift, the gift of me. I feel that the living method is a perfect analogy for a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. The shell of a person that I once was

has now made me realize that it wasn't a shell at all. It was a cocoon that protected me from myself and the world with a lot of personal growth, perseverance to be better and the effort of change. I have found the resiliency to emerge as the real me. Yes. Yes. That's so much that I, I can't even express the, you have to put the hard work in. It's hard, but it's so worth it. Putting yourself first is the most amazing thing you can do for yourself and for your family. It really is. And I, I have worked very hard on so many little inner struggles. I went to, it's called Job Zone here in Cornwall to see about getting a job. I was like, can I do that again? I don't know.

My goodness. They did say that I need to work on going for therapy just so, because my nerves were shot. And they said, so I did three free sessions of therapy for the very first time. And I highly recommend that. Oh, my goodness. That, wow.

That really, that just three sessions was really amazing to me. It gave me so much. And my husband is now working for the city of Cornwall. And so he does now have, um, um, um, coverage. So now I'm going to be looking into getting some more therapy in. So I, you know, I love that you mentioned that because Dr. Beverly is amazing. Dr. Dina Karaschafer is amazing. Our guests are amazing, but they, if you ever have aha moments, just listening to them to really find a great therapist for yourself. I mean, that can really be next level when it comes to, you know, what you need to work through and do to truly reach your goals in a healthy, sustainable way. I have so much

respect for that. I love that. I was terrifying at first because I just didn't know what to expect. But honestly, I think everybody should do it because it really does. It clears your mind. It fixes your soul. It's so amazing. And I only had three free sessions, so I can just imagine what's coming next. Well, you've done a lot of work. Don't cut yourself short. You've done a lot of work with everything that you've worked through with the Libby Method.

I cannot believe that our time has gone by. Before we go, I see you have some fans who are joining us live. What would you like to say to our community? There's a lot of people, for example, right now who this is their first program. They're nervous about what's going to happen in the summer. There's some people who are, you know, halfway through their journey. They feel like it's a long road to go. Words of wisdom, some like what final words? No pressure. The whole, when I was trying to find inspirational quotes and just something that resonated with me, that quote of, or the word impossible, because it always felt impossible. And when I saw impossible is I'm possible. And Audrey Hepburn said that.

And I thought, wow, that is beautiful. And for me, that really helped. So I truly believe that we can do this. You just have to take your time and be kind to yourself. Don't look at anybody else. Don't compare yourself. Just focus on you because it's you that has to do it. Nobody's going to do it for you. You got to do it on your own and you can do it. You can. I really honestly didn't think this would ever happen. And the fact that it has, it's complete mind blowing change and lifestyle. And I never thought I'd get here. And I did.

And I really think everybody can do this. We can all do this. It may take a while and it's okay. Take as long as you need. But don't give up. Never, ever, ever give up. Because you're worth it. You're more worth it than you even know.

And take it from me, the person that really thought I was not. And so, yeah, I'm feeling amazing and proud of myself. And I can truly honestly say I love myself. I love myself. I love what I feel like. And I love what I look like. You can't get better than that. You really can't.

And you can't get better than that. You really can't. And you can't get better than that. And, uh, you know, a final word and, and, um, an amazing way to end our conversation today. What's next for you, Kim, are you still working towards your journey? Are you moving on to maintenance? What's next for you? Um, I'm going to probably, I'm going to be this, I was supposed to be solidifying, but I was kind of just going with it. Um, but yeah, I'm going to solidify during the summer and in the fall, I'm going to join maintenance and I'm, I've got my finally in forever. I'm ready for it. I'm here for maintenance. I love it. I love that. And I adore you. Thank you so much. Make sure you pop into the group and read all the kind comments. We have the best community online in the world,

I swear. And of course, you're a big part of that as well. Thank you for taking the time to share. I know it's not easy to, you know, come on and share your story with the thousands of people who are listening, but I'm so glad that you did. You are so inspiring, my friend, honestly. Thank you so much. Thank you.