The Livy Method Podcast - Why Keeping the Weight Off Still Feels Like Work

Episode Date: September 16, 2026

You did the hard part. The weight is off. So why does keeping it off still feel like work?Welcome to the first Midweek Motivation of the season! Gina Livy and Odette talk openly about the slow, uninspired start that can follow weight loss, and why weight maintenance is less about food and more about knowing yourself. They get into where carbs like bread, pasta and rice fit once you're no longer trying to lose, and why an all-or-nothing mindset about them causes more trouble than the foods do. This podcast aligns with Day 3 of our Fall Maintenance Program, members can find video in our Livy Method app or Maintenance and Mindfulness Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ginalivymaintenanceandmindfulness Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New season, new name, bigger conversations. Welcome to Live Lighter with Gina, because lightness isn't something you find. It's something you create in your body, your mind, your home, and in your life. Real conversations, no bullshit. So let's lighten things up for you. If you're looking to lose weight and you want to keep it off, you have got to check out the Living Method. Our next live session starts September 14th.

Better than ever. easy to follow. We have the most incredible community, and it works. Head over to living method.com to sign out today. Midweek, and we are here to motivate you. Yeah. You are. If people here for that or no, I saw in your post today, where's the hype? It's been a slow and uninspired start for some. Yeah. So I think, you know, I love that people are being super on. Hello, by the way. I love that people are being super honest in saying they were they were like ready to get going excited to get back into routine and now they're like want want why do I have to do this why am I doing this why does it feel like I'm still trying to do the work so I just wanted to just say that this can be totally normal

I mean I think we anticipate things and the anticipation is often greater I think we talked about this at the end of the last group the anticipation is often greater and then you get there you're like oh, okay, now I got to, now I really got to do the things. So we're going to talk to Dr. Beverly tomorrow and I'm going to get into this with her asking her like, why is that? Why do we anticipate something? Why are we like this? Yeah, we think it's going to be amazing. And then it's like, it's a slow start or I'm feeling a bit uninspired or how do we get into that? I mean, for those that are here and feel amazing and ready to go and they do feel inspired, they do feel ready to, you know, continue and make, continue to make change and learn. That's a amazing.

amazing, but if you're not there, that can be a normal space too. So your microphone just went like super like muffly for some reason. I don't know why. Oh, it did. Oh, now you're clear. I've been having mic issues too. I don't know. We'll figure it out. But yeah, so I'm, I'm taking some courses at Harvard. And I'm so excited and was so motivated to sign up. And my thing isn't that I'm not motivated. I'm just trying to figure out the time. Like, how do I fit this into my life? And I can see people thinking that maintenance is like this is still work. And I think that's where the goal is for it. Your job here is to make it so it's part of who you are. So you do maybe need to unlearn and relearn and learn some things. And you do need to work on and work through some things. And we have

to work on our old habits, create new habits. But it's all about you really embodying this person that's lost weight and how do you show up in your life. So I get it. I can see how it still feels like work and I just want to be done like you spend enough time probably trying to lose right you just want to be done but that is that protecting your progress that you talked about in um last group odette was like really resonated with people that's why you are here you are here to protect your progress you are here to to take on this new identity of this person who worked hard and make change you you you want to not gain your weight back So what do you need to do, learn, work on, work through to make that happen?

So I think a Y in maintenance is way more important than a Y in. Like I said, I'm excited to do my school. But like it's not that. It's the fucking wild life is happening part and the overwhelm and the just, it's so much. Social media is a lot. And this is a lot. And getting older's a lot. and, you know, trade wars are a lot. And so is it really this or is it like everything else is

what I would say to people. Yeah. And I think that like I said, we'll break it down with Dr. Bev tomorrow. Hopefully she'll have some super insightful answers for us to help us get into this maintenance mindset that yeah, the diet is never, you know, the diet is never really done. It's it's the losing, right? So the losing weight is done. But when you think of it as a diet, like, oh, I'm still have to work on this diet. I still have to work on maintenance. I still have to do this instead of I'm just living as this person now. I'm living at this weight now.

And what do I do to protect that? How do I protect that weight? I think it's like this flip of a switch where that old diet dialogue might still be hanging around saying, you're on a diet, do the work. You're on a diet. Do the work. Restrict. Have control.

Do more. Do more. right? And then your mind is like, I can't, I can't do more. So I think until we see ourselves as just living at this weight as this person and doing what we can to protect that feeling that we have, that, that, you know, the work that we've done to get here, I think that's where that, that, maybe that flip can switch. Not going to happen overnight, maybe, but I think it will happen. Well, this, this conversation of where do you land, right? Are you doing another round of the maintenance program or are you personalized in your plan and you're here for everything else has made people,

be like, oh, what am I doing? Why am I here? What excites you? But I think there's value in both. And, you know, last night during the live, I was saying, like, you need to figure out what works for you. Like, I used to be so hardcore, obviously, because, you know, we look for loopholes naturally ourselves. And what much you could do. And sometimes we get in our own way. Sometimes it's good to have very clear instructions. It almost makes it easier for you to know exactly what you need to do. but I think people have evolved. Access to information has evolved. I think by the time you get in the maintenance group,

you know yourself really well. And if you don't, that is the work for you more than the what to eat and when. And this is why it's not the tweaks each week. I was thinking about this last night that I was up at 3 o'clock in the morning for some fucking reason. I don't know what. It's not the tweak. So the changes that we make with the food plan,

it's just a practice. It's just like different ways to bring. There's box breathing. There's inhale eight, exhale, seven. There's, you want to ground yourself hands over your eyes, hands over your heart. Like there's there, you want to work on anxiety breathing, right? There's like, then there's like, like the tweaks are just an opportunity for you to practice different ways of learning. Right. So it's, yeah, I just, I don't know where I'm going with this, but this is about you knowing you, and this is just different ways for you to learn more about you. That's what this is. So there's no right or wrong way to go through maintenance. It's

just being really fucking self-aware. Yeah. And what you said there a few sentences back is you know yourself really well. And I think our members know themselves really well, but they don't want to trust yet that they know themselves really well. Like, do I know what's right for me? Do I know that This is what I really need. Do I know myself that well yet? Do I believe I'm that person yet? So I think we can say, you know yourself better than you think you do. But they have to believe that.

They have to take that in. Yeah, here's Sue. I cannot believe how fucking entrenched the old diet mentality is. Can I have a new brain, please? And I love that self-awareness, right? Like, that's it. That's the ticket for you. And I think, like, what you need to work on will present itself.

and he'll keep smacking you over the head until you figure it out. And I would say at this point, it's probably not the food plan for everybody, right? Like if you're new and you lost your weight through another method, you're joining us now, and you know, you have all these things to learn that we, that we work on and work through in the, in the Libby Method Weight Loss program, that's one thing. But for most of our members coming off the Living Method Weight Loss program or having been here for a while, it's not, it's not breakfast, lunch, and dinner and snacks.

It's not any of those things, right? for someone who loves carbs, breads, passes, rice, how do they fit in now that we are doing maintenance first trying to lose? I really love this. I really love this because those foods don't make you gain weight. Usually in combination with high stress, lack of sleep, long periods of time with eating without eating and overeating those carbohydrates, that's what causes you to gain weight. It's not carbohydrates on their own. Or if you have that old diet mentality, well, I have pizza last night.

let me restrict and try to make up for that today. And I think when it comes to carbs, like, why do we have to just have pizza and eat four slices? Why can't we have some pizza with some leafy green side salad or something else that accompanies that? Like, you know, why does spaghetti night or, you know, noodle night have to just be a big pile of noodles? Why can it be less noodles and more veg?

Like, we love full around here, right, in our household? It's just a shit ton of fucking noodles. few slices of beef and like no vegetables. And so why can't we still have our noodles or our pasta or our bread too and not kind of make it a more balanced meal? I think we have when it comes to those types of carbs, we have an all or nothing attitude about them when I think we can absolutely fit them in to more of a balanced diet.

You know, fruits are carbs, vegetables are carbs, potatoes, grains, all that carbs. If we're really talking about the refined stuff, They really help when you take them out when it comes to losing weight. But they don't like, you know, so if you've ever been lucky enough to travel through Europe, you're eating breads and pastas and croissants and all that every day. And it's not causing anyone to gain weight. People come back from Europe and they're like, oh, my God, I ate all this stuff. And, you know, I didn't, I didn't gain any weight.

Well, because they're, I don't, I hate the word moderation, but they're walking more, right? And they might, you might order a pasta dish that you're sharing with families rather than sit and, you know, eat a whole bowl of pasta yourself, right? So, so I think it's, some people are very sensitive to carbs. You have to be more mindful of that. If you do have intolerances, you know, maybe go for gluten-free, but I would still not sit there and eat a whole giant bowl of pasta. You know, I can't stand the way we do things, the Canadian way of eating,

where everyone just orders their own giant bowl of pasta, right? Like, let's order a serving and then share that and then order side vegge. or, you know, I'm talking about ordering food, obviously, but, yeah, I have a few, like, schools have thought on that because you said, like, some people are sensitive to it. So, I think we maybe in the past, we're just eating these refined carbs, these foods and not even really thinking about how they made me, how they made you feel. It's like, they're delicious, they're delicious, they're delicious, but my tummy hurts after, or I have a tickle in my throat, or I feel heavy and bloated. Would those foods still be as appealing versus just being delicious?

And is the actual carb the delicious part or is it what you put on it? That's the delicious part. Like a noodle is a noodle. But if you put something delicious on that noodle, it makes it a very different. So I think at this stage of the game, it's not a matter of they fit in or if they don't fit in. It's are they the right thing for you? Is it what you really want? Is it just a convenience thing? Do you want to have it, then have it? Or do you, is it, like I said, convenience. Is it a habit? Is it I go for dinner? I always order pasta. and then how does that food really make you feel? Now, I think there's also this place where if you're just brand new and you're just solidifying and you haven't been having those foods, give your body some time to settle into that.

Maybe don't add them in just yet. Let's just settle in. Let's keep choosing the foods that we have been choosing. And then there'd be a time and a place when we are starting to test things out a little bit more where we can add them back in. Yeah. Where do they fit in for you? Yes.

We need to know our, not our. our strengths and our weaknesses, right? If your weakness is every time I go eat that, I'm going to eat the whole thing, that you want to like almost going in knowing, okay, here's my weakness here. This is my food I love to eat. I want to incorporate it into my diet. But I also don't want to walk away feeling like every time I eat that, I eat way too much. And then it's just a whole thing. And then it's just like you have you have too many carbs. You want more carbs. Like that's just how that works, right? And so I think this is a question that you want to answer here in maintenance. That's a great question where does it fit in into your life what's your you know what's your deal with your carbs like

are you in a place where you can understand you can eat them in a healthy i hate the word i fucking hate the word moderate moderate way we don't want to moderate ourselves um but is your weakness once i start i can't stop i then i need to have more like what's where do they fit in they absolutely can be part of a healthy diet yeah and and not healthy diet and in a maintenance you can maintain and sustain your weight while still adding in carbohydrates we need them maybe not all the refined process carbohydrates but and and I can't remember who asked that but there's a post in the group all about that today and we're also um there we've linked a more detailed post so if they need help with that the team can help them just to give them a bit more insight about

you know where they could fit in now and you know just have a big picture thinking around it um yeah so i think that's the question's figuring out where it fits in for you i want to um bobby here i want to i found for me that after personalized the plan all summer and not doing all that badly, that as a typical grown-ass adult, I just didn't want to go back to rules. I hear you. I thought it was going to be different here. Having said that, I embraced following the plan again and it really is good for me. So I need to relax and know that just like my weight loss programs, I will always learn more here. So apologies for being a bit taken back on day one. So that's the, no, never apologize. We want to hear from you. We want your, we want your thoughts. We want your opinions. We like, this is the conversation,

right, Bobby. And we want, if anything, we want people to share it even more. So there is two school, there's, there is two camps. There is that you've lost your weight, right? And what always surprises people when they come into the maintenance program, it's more of the same. So your, your body loves, we are trying to protect your progress. So you've gone and lost your weight. Your body doesn't want you to do a whole slew of different things. It wants that routine. So the whole point of that routine is, follow the routine, it was never the thing that you were doing. Downsizing was never about eating less, right? It was about the thoughts and the feels that pop up. So you can have lost your weight, but still have food waste issues, food scarcity issues, still have that inclination to finish your plate,

right? And all of those pull you right back into old habits. And that's what's going to cause you to gain your weight back, right? I'm learning to trust those portions, asking those four sets of mindful eating questions. You want to ask those so much that you don't have to, I don't not have to ask for questions to look at my food and know if that's not, if that's too much, not enough, or just right. Like, I don't have to ask. Just immediately I know. I know the exact moment. If I take one more bite, that's it. I'm walking away feeling I ate too much. And so, so these tweaks each week are designed to help you get even more in tune with your. you rather than food noise. So the fact that you're doing it again in maintenance is really beneficial

because you should fucking know this. It should be like you got this, you know this. The physical part, the routine is so like so familiar. It allows that mental space. Like that's the difference. Weight loss, physical, physical, physical, physical, physical, physical, maintenance is mental, mental, mental, mental, mental, right? But listen, sometimes it's capacity. If you do not have the capacity to do another round of the maintenance pro to do a round of the maintenance program or another round personalize the plan for three months like there's still everything that we're learning is still valid whether you're doing a round of the maintenance program or you're personalizing the plan as your preferred technique there's still so much value in being here you're still part of the conversation

when we're downsizing where are you out with food noise you know what personalizing the plan where there's some thoughts and feels that still pop up even if you're not directly following downsizing just the conversation. Right? So this is where I think the takeaway today is know where you are at in what you need and everything that we're suggesting is just ways to learn more about yourself, right?

Yeah. Because personalizing the plan, I think we can put a big focus on personalizing plan just being the way that we're eating. Oh, I'm not following the structure of the food plan. But personalizing the plan is still following those core principles. It's still starting your day with a high protein breakfast. It's still getting in those snacks.

and understanding where the snacks fit, you know, in your day, which ones do you need in the moment. Maybe it's not in the exact order of the food plan, but they still are there to, with the same purpose, you know, so personalizing the plan is all the four principles. It's just not the structure of the actual food plan. So the conversations we're having are still important. We're still talking about stress and sleep and coping mechanisms. The focus is the same.

Yeah. And trusting in yourself and letting go of limiting. beliefs. That doesn't, it doesn't matter how you're eating. Those conversations still are important to have. Yeah. And in case anyone's watching saying, what is personalized in the plan? Personalize in the plan is still following all the guidelines in the plan. So you're checking in at every single meal and snack time, except you're assessing if you're hungry and need to eat, what's the best thing to eat or if you could eat or should eat because you're going to go too long without eating. That in itself is a lot of work. So here's how it would go ideally. You lose your weight doing the weight loss program, right? Or you've lost

your weight doing another program. You do a round of the maintenance program to solidify your weight. So same things physically, but really opening up space mentally. And then where do you want to go? Do you feel comfortable and confident and trust personalized in the plan? Because that's really, you're you're living your life in maintenance. Just trusting when to eat, what eat, how much to eat. Are you nervous as fuck doing that? Do another round of the maintenance program, right? Like how would I feel personalizing the plan. And that doesn't mean you know it all. And you don't, you don't still have the guidelines that you're following, right? Still beneficial. Protein for breakfast. Don't go too long without eating. Get to your water in. Like all the things you need. Still work. Still work. And then, or do you

not like that? And you just want the routine and the safety net of following the guidelines, right? Like that's where I think it's, that's where this conversation is so helpful. I'm personalizing and still value these conversations. The focus is the same for everybody. What's your preferred technique, right? Is it the tweaks or is it personalizing the plan? It's the same, same, by different. Yeah.

Yeah, it is. I'm glad we figured that out. Yeah. Like, why do we overcomplicate things? Because there is so much. to being able to, the world cannot figure out how to maintain your weight, right? And we figure that out here. But it is complicated and it takes work.

But I think we've created a way to uncomplicated. Right? Yes, I think we found a complicated way to uncomplicated. No, it's true. And, you know, when we think about weight loss, that's the, those are the, messages we hear, you know, this is how you lose weight. This is how you lose weight. This is how you lose weight. Here's your before and after. Follow this program, follow that program. There's no, then what? Then what? Then, like, you've never heard that messaging before. You don't see those ads on TV for, you know, weight loss programs or

weight loss companies or weight loss food delivery services. They don't tell you, then what? So you've lost it, okay, well, that's the only message you know that you're just, you need to be constantly trying. So this idea of maintaining and staying status quo and not having to be that person that's constantly trying to lose weight, that's a foreign idea. It's a bad business model. Yeah, we've been trying to say it for four years. And we still are learning something new every day. And yeah, it's a bad business model because then how do you sell weight loss if people don't

need to lose weight anymore? It's a bad business model. It's a bad business model. My intention was always, share my weight loss program that I know. that works. Okay, let's help people maintain and sustain their weight so that they can move on. And that's what's happening. It's a bad business model because then what? Right? We create this amazing community and they're paying us money and then they're like, okay, great. I can't even tell you how many people are like, oh, I love your program. Oh, you're still doing it? No, I lost my

weight. I feel fantastic. Like, thanks. Yeah. Okay, well, I didn't think about that. No, I, I, you know, I am thinking about what are the things can I do because the weight loss program works, the maintenance program works. what is the next step for people, right? You go and make change in this kind of way. Now, now what are we doing with our lives? So this is the first time in my life. I kind of didn't know what's next. And so I think our members probably feel like that too.

They lost weight. They maintain their weight. What's next? What's after this? When you made this like your second career or your hobby trying to lose weight, right? No one goes through the lengths to try to, I think about selling out all the time. I think about how much money I could make if it was just a quick fix, make it easy, you know, package it in a way that's like so simple.

But yeah, I like sleeping at night. Although I'm not sleeping at night these days. I don't know if it's the change of season, the situational change in my home. Some things up, but I'm also not sleeping that well. I don't know what's going on. Except for Tony fucking snoring like away. Like he's just having the best sleep ever. Like I feel like I feel like, like I don't know.

in the middle of the night. Like, don't you realize I'm awake still, three o'clock in the morning. And he wakes up refreshed. Hey, time to get up. How are you feeling? Like shit. Thanks. I know.

I'm annoyed that they actually slept. Trying to not let you sleep. I know you wanted to get into to weigh or not way. I mean, I think that's a whole other conversation maybe for another day. Yeah. I do not say we're going to talk about it. Yeah, we're definitely going to talk about it going forward. We know it's a question that so many members that could be just starting out are having.

Should I continue to weigh myself? What's the benefit? What do I do when my weight is fluctuating? I'm not comfortable with those fluctuations yet. What happens when I'm not seeing my lowest low? And that brings up feels. So it is a conversation we are going to have because it's very real. It's very real for people that, you know, we need to change our intention around weighing ourselves.

And we need to be comfortable with those ranges. and those fluctuations. And that is one of the things that can challenge people and can bring up feelings like, oh, my goodness, these fluctuations are more than I thought. Or are they normal for me? Are they normal for everybody? So it is a conversation we are going to have. So I just wanted to bring it up today.

So those that are asking, we're definitely going to talk more about that. Okay. So I know you have a post on this. Yeah. Kind of seeing where people are at and what their thoughts are coming out on Friday. So let's shelve this conversation, I think. Let's just help people get back into the swing of things, figure out where they're at this week, without layering that, you know, should I weigh or not weigh? Go by how you feel. If you don't want to weigh this week, don't weigh. If you want to weigh, if the thoughts and feels pop up, just take notice of them. And we'll get into that conversation next week. Okay, I don't want to give anyone homework because we don't want homework around here. But if there was one takeaway from the conversation today or this week so far, what would it be? I think I would be wherever you are right now is, I don't want to use the word normal. It's normal. It's fine. Wherever you're at right now, if you're feeling inspired, amazing. If you're

not feeling quite inspired, that's okay, that's what this week is for. You're going to work through that. If you still don't have this week figured out, that's okay too. But just keep showing up, keep checking in, keep coming back. Don't just, you know, throw in that towel because you think, I don't have this figured out. I can't do this. I'm just going to keep trying to lose weight for the rest of my life. No, keep checking in, keep listening, and you'll find that that shift will slowly start to happen. This is just about getting comfortable this week, getting back into that mindset of being in a routine and being part of this community and, you know, putting it all out there again. That's what this week is for. So wherever you're at, we're here for it. I think people are

overloaded. You need to quiet the noise and you need to show up and be like, what's, what's for me to learn today? What's the message for me today? What is whatever? And if you show up with that, just really open about, you know what you want. You want to be able to maintain this way that you work so hard to lose. And rather than trying to control that or moderate it or whatever, while you just kind of be open to be like, all right, what are the things that are coming up for me? Pop into the group. Did anything resonate, right? Do you, like, that's, let's like maybe try to change the lens. With weight loss, we show up trying to control and do and make happen and, you know, what's the lens that you want to show up here in maintenance. I love that. Okay, thanks everyone,

joining us live listening, watching. Most people do watch or listen after the fact. So hi. Yes. We appreciate you too. And of course, everyone who shows up live and contributes. Great first week of the program. Great vibes. Are you looking forward to next week, Odette? I guess I will see you then. Yeah. I'll see you on Monday. Okay. Bye, everyone. Have a great. Rest your week.