I'm Ready To Make A Change

Excuse me. Everyone, welcome to today's Program Yourself Thin podcast. Today we're talking about, I'm ready to make a change, how do I do it? And I think this is really important for you because typically when when you get into that mode that you're ready to make a change, right? Spring's rolling around, it feels brighter, you're just feeling better and you're ready to make a change. You take the wrong path because you try to change everything all at once and you take on too much, and that sets you up to only be able to do it for a little while, then burn out and not be able to continue with it. So what I would love for you to do is to recognize that you can layer how you want to make your changes this time. So I know when you first want to make a change, you want to change everything. So knock yourself out, change everything, but make a simultaneous change that is smaller so you can change everything. You're going to completely cut out carbs and track all your calories, going to go keto, whatever you're going to do, go ahead and do that. But simultaneously say also, I'm going to start drinking a bottle of water every day. I'm going to go to bed and get 8 hours of sleep every night. I'm going to take 2 minutes and meditate every day. Set a small goal as well, because when you start to do this, this is the thing that's going to continue long after you stop doing the perfect thing that you plan on doing. And if you start to approach, approach a change this way, you really set yourself up for much longer-term, bigger results than what you've typically done. Because again, the idea is that if we take, you know, crazy action, we're going to get crazy results. But typically what happens, we take crazy action, we quit doing it because it overwhelms us. So this is an alternative to it. And in addition to, you know, some healthy habits, but you can also work on your eating that way too. Again, you want to change all your eating, knock yourself out, change all of your eating. But you could also make a sub-eating goal, which is, you know, I'm not going to eat— I'm not going to have donuts for breakfast Monday through Friday. I'm going to have an apple in the afternoon, whatever it may be. But let it be a small goal that even when the other one fades away, which I know you believe it's not going to. So you say, okay, if this, you know, the rest of this falls apart, what's one core one that I'm going to keep continuing with? Now, if you do it this way, what's going to happen is that you're going to realize you probably go through this cycle 3, 4 times a year, 3, 4 times a year. Probably you get all fired up and say, that's— I'm going to do this. But if you do what I'm telling you to do here, You're going to go through that same cycle, but the difference is going to be that when you do it the second time, you're still going to have this habit under you where you eat an apple every afternoon. You do it the third time, now you've got the apple habit and you're drinking a bottle of water every day. You do it the fourth time, you've got the apple, the water, and now your sleeping's better. So I hope you can see that it still kind of satisfies that itch to change everything all at once, but it also has a nod towards consistency and forever. And it's the consistency and forever that's truly going to give you the results you're looking for. That's going to give you the body you want, the health, the happiness. All the things you're looking for come from the consistency, the implementation, implementation of habits that sustain long after the willpower fades. And once you start setting it up this way, I think you're going to find that the process is so much different. It's more comfortable, it feels better, and ultimately you get to the point where you stop with the big giant grand gestures of trying to change everything. And you really start to put that energy and focus into sustainable long-term habits. So if you want support with doing this, click the link in my bio, go get the free hypnosis session I give you because it literally sets you up to have the mindset to approach your weight in this way that we just described, where we talk about this as an all-or-something approach, and it'll walk you through that. So go check that out if you're in. Hold on a second. If you're over in YouTube land, I will give you the, the link here. I'll put it in the comments section. Come on, where are you at? There it is. Yes. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask them. Here we are on a Monday, and I know a lot of people— again, the reason I talk about this today is because I do know a lot of people are pretty fired up to make changes. It's, um, first day of— I don't know, it's not the first— I don't know what the first day of spring is, like the 21st, but Come on, boys. The, uh, the time change, right? So I think the time change really— I know it's kind of annoying sometimes we lose an hour and all that stuff, and it kind of messes up your circadian rhythms for a couple days. But, um, it's also kind of a turning point, you know. It's in the ballpark of typically, you know, New Year's and all the rest of it, because it's just lighter now. And I think, you know, it's an opportunity to recognize how much impact light and seasons have on your moods as well. Um, but yeah, if you're feeling fired up and motivated to make changes in how you and you want to feel better, again, take what I'm saying into account. Have your all planned. That's why in Program Yourself Thin, we're all or something, not, not, you know, only something. But again, you can go all in on something, get all fired up and motivated, take action. Um, but you know, underneath it, set things that are going to last long term. And again, I think what you'll find when you start doing that is that it's the long-term things that really make the difference. You know, the sustained long-term shifts to your behaviors and, uh, you know, that continue that really makes the big difference. But yeah, if you have any questions about how to get kickstarted, uh, what your, your plan is, if you're confused, it's a million degrees in here. It's already warmer too. Oh my goodness, thank God. Well, I'm up in New England and it has been freezing cold winter. And, uh, boy, I don't— what's the temperature now? Oh, 54. You know what, hold on, I'm gonna open the windows. Hold on one second. All right, there we go, windows opened. A little fresh air in here, thank goodness. I'm telling you, I don't know, maybe I'm getting older, but this year I've definitely noticed the, the winter. And, uh, I think You know, again, there's reasons and excuses, and maybe the seasons are a bit of both. But I think, yeah, listen, when it's winter, especially if you're like in New England where I am and it's extra cold, there's less light, it's freezing. So when you're— when it's freezing, you're just low-key more anxious, you know, you don't want to go outside. Driving's, you know, just more stressful, intense. You go outside and you're just cold, you're worried about it. And so it's nice when the flip side starts happening, it's warmer, brighter. You just feel— I don't know, I feel lifted. Who doesn't? I'm sure there's some people, Grace. There's a lot of people in the world. But if that's something that affects you, I think it's helpful to notice, you know. Don't let it define you. There's things you can do to help it move along. Now I gotta put my heater on though. 54 is not hot. I'm feeling that 54 air coming. It's so nice, but now I'm freezing because, uh, anyways, what a mess. What's up, Anita? Anita said, not confused, understand it's a mind shift and it's been working. That's awesome, Anita. Nice job. Yeah, mindset shifts, um, I think are the required, uh, you know, this necessary thing to happen if you're going to change your weight again and program yourself. Then we follow the goal weight pyramid, and so it's a more robust, uh, approach to dealing with your weight, right? So again, we got mindset, lifestyle, eating, um, all going on there. And, um, yeah, when you approach it systematically and you approach the, you know, you focus on the things that you've never focused on, you tend to move forward. What's up, Jackie? Thank you for saying hi. Yeah, so if anyone's got any questions, feel free to ask them. If you're getting ready to get started, if you're looking for motivation strategies, uh, feel free to ask it. I get asked all the time about different strategies of how to lose weight, but mostly are kind of framed in the terms of dieting. Um, and you know, hey, listen, I learned from all the diets. I will look at all the diets and learn things from them. I think every diet's got some pretty legitimate points you know, pretty much. I think the big problem is that no diet has all the points. And I think that it's important that the way you approach diets is, you know, you take what works and discard what doesn't, and you are creating a system and a plan that really is specifically for you. And I think if you approach it that way, it's really transformative because typically with dieting, we kind of been conditioned to just like, okay, here's your diet, now just follow it. And I think that that lacks a sense of individualism, you know, like a uniqueness that you need to figure out what works for you. You're a one-of-a-kind person, one-of-a-kind genetics, preferences, lifestyle, all of these things. And I think that figuring out the right way to eat for you is the journey. I don't think that I, as a stranger to you, could just say, here's your eating plan, eat this. The idea that I could tell you what to eat is in the same ballpark of telling you what kind of music to listen to or what kind of movies to watch or what kind of clothes to wear. And it really just completely disregards your individuality, your unique personality. And so I think that when it comes to weight loss, we need to start with that and really operate out of ourselves. What's going to work for me? And then we can look at the different diets. We say, okay, that piece works, that part doesn't. This part works, that part doesn't. And I think what happens over time is you start to create a one-size-fits-one plan built for you.. And I think that's the path forward that, uh, sets you up for the highest chance of success, my opinion. So Marta, Marta says, having very emotional day today after a fight with my husband. I'm choosing not to numb with food. This is the only control I feel I have today. My food plan is my self-care. Um, that's great, Marta. And I'm going to give you a suggestion to take it a step further. Okay. So I think it's good. I say congrats on the awareness. I think you're aware. And I think that's always the first step, um, to resolving this, but I want to take you a step further. So you're saying I'm choosing not to numb with food. Okay, good awareness, but that's not really the goal we want. So we want to go a level deeper. So typically you would use food to numb yourself from the emotions you feel from a fight with your husband, but we don't want to frame our goal in terms of what we're not going to do. And this comes back to. One of the main rules of your mind is that your subconscious mind does not understand negatives. To prove it to you, I will have you get your willpower gathered up because I want you to not think about what I'm about to say. Get your willpower together. Okay. Don't think about— do not think about a banana. Don't think about a banana. Don't think about a yellow banana. Now, what are you thinking about? Okay. So when we state the goal as I am choosing not to numb with food. We're literally focusing on numbing with food. And so that's not the ultimate goal. Again, it's a step towards it. But the ultimate goal is going to be something like, I want to feel relaxed and grounded today after being really, you know, excited and upset and angry or whatever the words are. We want to describe in terms of what you want to feel. So we know we don't want to numb with food. That's again, kind of a middle step, but we're gonna go a step further and say, what do you want to feel without food? Right? So you might say, I want to feel grounded and calm. So I'm going to go for a walk. I'm going to go to my favorite park and watch the birds so I can relax, you know, reground myself and get perspective on things. Okay. So that's one step further we want to go. And it's a very powerful step because at the end of the day, yes, we are using food for lots of different emotional reasons. And I think that the resolution of that is, is again, starts by saying, I want to stop using food to deal with my anger, my frustration, or my blah, blah, blah, blah. But we want to get to the point with what do you want to feel when you have an argument with your husband? Because you're gonna have more arguments with your husband, you're gonna have more emotional days. So when those days happen, how do you want to feel? How do you want to respond to it? And again, this is a journey. I'm not saying you can just sit there, ask the question, and come up with a clear answer. It's something that you have to kind of keep interfacing with and practicing, but we want to kind of point the direction out, if that makes sense. Yeah, Marta says thank you, I understand. Good, I'm glad, I'm glad. And great work, great work, because again, I think that the awareness piece that you have done, I think, is the hardest part. I think becoming aware of what we just normally— how we normally respond and behave and what we normally think— I think becoming aware of that is one of the biggest challenges of the whole process. But once you become aware of it, that opens the door for you to be able to start resolving it and doing the real work. So great job becoming aware, and then yeah, you get what I'm saying. Now take it forward that way. Jackie says, any suggestions on what to do when you're hungry but out of calories when doing calorie counting deficit? Yeah, when I'm hungry— now again, I think there's different levels of hunger. All right, so I want to be clear about this, and it's a little sticky because it's a little vague, but I'm going to leave it in the general sense. That, um, what is going on? Come on, voice. There's being really, really hungry. If you're really, really hungry, if you're medium hungry to very hungry, my suggestion when you're out of calories is that's fruit, low-calorie territory. So if I'm really hungry and I'm just going to say, we're going to say hunger let's say it's a scale. I'm not hungry at all. I'm super hungry. Let's just say kind of like the last 60%, I'm pretty hungry all the way to I'm starving. We want to be— in my opinion, what you should do is you should eat. I don't think you should ever fight when you're really, really hungry. I think you should eat. But I think you should use your willpower not to fight yourself from eating, but to use your willpower to get yourself to eat something highly nutritious. So if I'm really hungry, fine, I can eat, but it's going to be something really nutritious. Give me fruit, vegetable salad, something, something really solid. That's my rule there. Now, if you're mildly hungry, that's one where I want to sit with it because I'm a big believer that mild hunger is the feeling of weight loss. If you reduce your average calorie consumption, you're going to feel some level of hunger. Your body is a homeostasis machine. It knows when there's less calories coming in and it lets you— makes you aware of that. It biochemically affects you. So we're not going to pretend that we're not hungrier. We're going to realize that we want to be in that sweet spot of a little bit hungry. And again, I'm keeping it vague here. You got to figure out where that line is, where you go from being a little bit hungry to I'm hungry, I'm hungry. And when you're really legitimately hungry, go eat something. Do not fight that. But if you're mildly hungry, I think that's a normal feeling you're going to have. That's literally the feeling of your body getting rid of excess fat, burning excess calories. So, um, Connie says, please comment on spouse interference. Yes, um, spouse interference or— and/or interference, period, is all very similar in a way. Okay, meaning that right off the bat and this is such an important piece of the puzzle, that the people you're regularly around have a huge impact on your eating and your weight. And obviously it can go deeper into a spouse, right? But it can be kids. You know, deep, deep, deep relationships are almost always impacting your weight. So spousal interference comes in a lot of different forms. And so it's hard for me to specifically give you a general solution to it. Um, but what I will say is that you want to go deeper into it yourself. So what are the top 3 ways that your spouse interferes with your eating and weight? What are the top 3 things you might think? Well, they go grocery shopping and they come back with a bunch of junk food. Um, they bring junk food into the house and start eating in front of me and say, and encourage me to eat it, right? So there's different patterns. And so I would suggest, um, Connie, that you go deeper into what those patterns are because To just say, how do you deal with spousal interference? It's so vague. Spousal interference shows up in a million different ways. So we want to know the specific patterns so we can deal with them, come up with specific solutions to them. And the more specific you identify the interference, the more specific it is in your mind, the more your mind naturally starts to go to work on solutions. But if we keep it vague, we're looking for like some big giant solution. Which doesn't exist. There's no, there's no magic solution that's going to all of a sudden now your spouse doesn't interfere with you. Right. It's got to be more specific and contextual. There's specific context with in which the interference happens. Okay. So start to identify those and understand those and then go to work kind of each at a time at resolving them. I hope that makes sense. Um, Casey says the scale is going down, still a long way to go, but I'm finally feeling the confidence coming back. That's great, Casey. And again, remember, the scale is a lagging indicator. In business, we use the terms leading and lagging indicator. Okay. And so when it comes to weight, the scale is a lagging indicator. Your behavior is the leading indicator. Please understand that. And I say that to you because the more you can focus in on your behaviors, the more the, the lagging indicator is going to go the direction you want. But what I want you to do, Casey, is really steep yourself in that feeling of confidence.. And that confidence is directly coming back because you're making better choices, you're doing better things. And so you're starting to feel that confidence. So it's not the scale that's giving you the confidence primarily. It's your behaviors first, and then the scale just makes it even bigger. All right. So again, Casey, focus in on your behaviors and how good that feels, cuz that's the root of the confidence coming back. And then the scale just makes it even bigger. All right. Um, Jane says, what time did you come on? We just switched to daylight savings, so I came on 1 hour early and no Jim. Um, yeah, well, I'm on the same time you are probably, but I was late today, so that's, that's the thing. I think I usually start around noon-ish, noon, noon, 12, 12:30 Eastern time is usually when I'm here. Today I actually started closer to quarter or 1. Nina says, hi, I've been eating very well using the mantras and listening to the audios day and night, but my body is still only losing half a pound per week or less. Maybe I've had too much fruit. Um, yeah, maybe, but half a pound per week is 2 pounds a month, and 2 pounds a month over a year is, uh, you know, 24 pounds. And remember, the way that you're losing this weight, Nina, is very, very comfortable and sustainable. You're not doing anything crazy. Um, you know, it feels good. You're feeling better. You're feeling like you could do this for a long time. So, you know, use this as an opportunity to kind of reframe your timeframe and celebrate your success. Because not only that, but only losing half a pound per week or less, that's right now, you know. So again, you never know, a month from now, doing the exact same things, you might start losing half a pound to a pound. So, so great job taking changes and doing them in a sustainable way. But simultaneously, great job looking at what you're eating. I would doubt— I don't think the fruit would be my first thing that I would focus in on. I find that interesting, and I think that that's a form— I'm not sure exactly what bias that would be, but I just find that fascinating that when we tend to look at our eating, we say, God, I'm only losing a little bit of weight. What could be the problem? The fruit. Too much fruit. Now, I'm not saying that can't be the problem, but I'm going to assume if I audited all your calories over a week, that the fruit would be the least of the problems. I'm guessing now, I don't know, you know, but, but typically fruit is not going to be the main problem. The problem is going to be something that's a more calorie-dense food, processed food, junk food, you know, but again, so I would look at that. Connie says, yes, food pushing, groceries he cooks, then I want to eat that. Thank you. Yes. So, okay, so, so very specific, Connie. So now we've taken just general interference by our spouse to specific situations, right? So please notice how that, that felt for you. To go from something vague, undefinable, um, feeling like you're never gonna be able to deal with it or change it, to something much more specific. Still big, still hard to deal with, but at least it's more defined. Okay? So remember that because he probably interferes in a multiple multitude of ways. And so you gotta kind of like acknowledge each one, identify them, and then go to work on each one. All right? So now even, um, groceries and he cooks, those are the two big ones. I would separate them. And specifically the cooking. Let's just take cooking for example. We can start with cooking. And now, because even right now, how often does he cook? Is it 7 nights a week? Is it 3 nights a week? Whatever. Because if it's 3 nights a week, that's going to feel more manageable than if it was 7 nights a week. So again, we want to get more and more and more and more specific. That kind of just sets you up, brings you to the solution. So he cooks and I want to eat that, right? That's great. So what we want to do is we, again, we want to be clear on it. So I'm going to give you an example. Let's just say it's 4 nights a week he cooks. He cooks really calorie-dense foods and they're really good and I want to eat them. So now all of a sudden, if it's 4 nights a week, we're going to get extra prepared those 4 nights. How are you going to prepare? I'm just giving you examples. I'm not saying this is the answer, but I want you to notice the process I use to get to it. So let's just say there's 4 nights a week where he typically cooks. He cooks certain things. So on those 4 nights a week, I want to make sure that I'm going into that situation prepared for success. The first thing I would focus on is those days where he's cooking dinner and he cooks really, you know, palatable, delicious food that's calorie dense. I want to make sure I'll probably an hour, 2 hours before dinner, I'm going to eat like an apple or I'm going to have a small, healthy snack. So I don't want to go into that dinner feeling really hungry. That's number 1 I'd probably do. Um, you know, 10 minutes before the meal, I'd probably drink a glass of water, kind of fill my stomach up a bit, right? So when I get into that, I'm sitting in front of that food, I'm not starving, I'm nourished. And the third thing I want to do is I want to prepare and rehearse how I want to behave in that situation. How do you want to feel in that dinner? Um, you, Connie, at your best, the best version of Connie that you can imagine, grounded, calm, motivated, connected to your goals, feeling good. I put you in that situation, calm, grounded, aware. How do you act? I want you to start thinking about that version of Connie. What does that Connie do in the scenario? And so this is the path you take to start to get to better and better solutions, but it's not probably what you've been doing. Okay, you guys, oh my God, I want to eat better, but my husband screws it all up because he just makes all this, this food. I can't say no to it and I keep eating it. Over and done. That, that all done. What can I do? Notice what I did, right? Again, we drill down, drill down, drill down. How can I make it better, right? That's another kind of thing I'll give you is that, um, it doesn't have to be a complete, oh, I overeat everything, now I don't eat any of it. You know, we're looking for the middle gap. Um, so my goal would be not that I don't eat any of it, but that I eat 20% less than I typically do. You know, that, that might be the goal. Um, Connie says that little bit of hunger is ruined in the evening. Apple's great, calm, grounded. Yes, thank you. Yes, very good. You know? Um, yeah. And that's what I mean, Connie. And again, it's not just an apple, you know, an apple might do it and you might be fine just with an apple forever, but realize that an apple might work for a couple of days and you get bored of it. So you might need a couple, um, you need a plan A, B, C, and D, right? So an apple one night, you know, something else the next night, something else, you know, different nights, have a couple of different options as well. Respect your variety needs in addition, but I'm really happy for you to realize, um, that the hunger The hunger is a huge driver of how we eat, obviously, you know. So again, in programming yourself, then we don't fight our hunger, we manage it. And I think that's a very important distinction to make. Anna says, so today I couldn't stop eating. I really don't understand why. Um, okay, that's a great one, right? So a lot of people can relate to that. And so when we can't stop eating, what I would suggest you do is you kind of zoom out and look at the big picture. I feel like people have a tendency when they keep eating and they can't stop that they zoom into the moments where they can't stop eating. But a lot of times where the problem shows up is not where the problem was created. So I can't tell you the number of people I've worked with that come in and say, I can't stop eating. And when you really reflect on what they're doing is they're way over-restricting before that. So they'll over-restrict all morning and afternoon, and then by the evening they can't control themselves and then they overeat. So a lot of times what's leading to the overeating is the over-restricting before it. Now, not always, but the process remains the same that we don't want to just look at the overeating. We don't want to zoom in and just see the overeating. Zoom out and look at what the other impacts or the other factors might be. Over-restricting. You're not getting enough sleep. You're dehydrated. You're not nourishing yourself enough. You're overstressed. There's a lot of other factors that might be contributing to the overeating. And once you recognize what those are, again, you can go to work on resolving them. Casey says, do you think drinking 3 liters of water a day genuinely helps weight loss? Because I'll eat through the— I'll eat through the fullness. Um, I think, I think my, my knee-jerk reaction to you wanted to drink 3 liters of water a day is kind of that diet mindset where you're trying to fight against yourself. And I think that trying to pound 3 liters of water a day for most people is a lot of water and it starts to become another responsibility. It just feels out of balance. So I think water absolutely is crucial and really helpful. But I think thinking of it as the one tool that's going to fix everything is a mistake. And so when I hear that, Casey, the first thing comes to my mind is I bet you're stressed. Like you seem kind of, I don't know what to do. I just, I try everything and I get it. And I get a little bit of that, you know. And so now again, I'm projecting. A lot of my clients do that. So what I want to do is, yes, I'll drink water. Maybe I don't have to drink 3 liters. That might add to the stress. That's what I'm trying to say. So yes, I would drink more water, but I would also save some energy to relax, calm, and ground yourself, you know. And so I would use multiple things to deal with it. You know, not just water. That's again, dieting is conditioned. It's just to focus on one thing, like one thing's going to fix everything. I'm going to stop eating for 16 hours. That's going to fix it all. Intermittent fasting fixed everything. Oh, keto. Keto fixed everything. You know, it's like, I don't think one thing's going to fix everything. I think you need a comprehensive, holistic solution to this challenge. You know, I think very, very important. Yeah. And Anna follows up and says, it's true, I've done that, over-restricted last week. Yeah, exactly. And I think once you realize that, I hope you recognize that you see like, oh my God, yeah, did I way over-restrict? And this is why I say don't over-restrict. And this is one of the hardest things for dieters to do because dieters, you've all been conditioned your whole life that when you're going to start losing weight, you're going to— you're going to do it completely. Most dieters will cut 50 to 70% of their normal calories out day one. And expect they're just going to maintain that restriction until they get to their goal weight. And that rarely happens because you can do it for a couple of days, maybe a couple of weeks, and then you kind of have this bounce back thing where you're just way overeating. So my suggestion is that instead of cutting 50%, 70% of your calories out, cut 20%, 25% of them out. Do it in a more comfortable way. Yes, you might lose weight a little bit slower in the beginning, but it's more comfortable and you've got a way higher likelihood you can stick with it. And that's what's going to give you the results you're truly looking for long term, right? So great job becoming aware of that. Um, what's up, Therese? Therese says, I might have sent a message to a recording, sorry. Not weighing every day probably was a contributing factor in my current situation. Uh, daily weighing at least helps me to keep a focus on healthiness. Yeah, again, Therese, I, I agree. I find a lot of— I, I feel like weighing yourself once a week is I just think it's terrible. I think it's ineffective, terrible, cruel, bad, all the bad things. If you want to lose weight, measuring yourself once a week with the scale, I just think is not the best strategy. So I'm glad you said that, Therese. I agree. Um, Nina said, I'm eating very well, but I'm not exercising. I want to try your yoga sessions next. You're right, half pounds a week is okay. I'm still going down and I feel good. I have 20 pounds to go. There you go, Nina. That's perfect. And I'm glad you gave me that context. So what I would love you to do is start thinking of your goal over the next year, and you're right on track to reach your goal within the year. And I want you to really think about that because plus it's, it's diminishing returns, Nina. I'm letting you know this, that 20 pounds now, again, everyone's got different bodies. So 20 pounds shows up different for different bodies. I respect that. But in 4 or 5 months, you're going to be 10, 12 pounds down. You know, and then the difference between 20 pounds to 10 pounds can be significant. Okay. The difference between 10 pounds, the next 10 pounds, it gets less significant typically for most bodies. So there's no— enjoy the journey, Nina, and start to realize that the work you're doing now and the way you're doing it is right on track and perfect. Add some exercising and great. But again, also just take that focus off the fruit. I can't imagine the fruit's the biggest issue. I can almost guarantee you you're bringing more calories in in some other way other than the fruit. Just another point back to that. And it says you're right. Thank you. And I appreciate that. Casey says, when I binge, I restrict, but I'm genuinely afraid to eat like a snack or eat something early in the day. No, I get that, Casey. I get it's scary because you have this, this belief in your mind that if you have a snack, you're going to eat everything. But you have to understand that your experience with that is based on you over-restrict and then you have a snack and then it lets the damn loose, you know? So if you have a snack and you start to— if you start to manage your hunger, I don't think dieters manage their hunger. I think they fight against it. And I think if you start to recognize your hunger, start to understand it, start to understand how it flows throughout the day, and then you start to manage it strategically, you can— that's a foundational piece of being able to eat more moderately. But again, I think it's a good job recognizing that fear you have. And start interfacing with that. Because, you know, what was a fear? I remember it's in sales class. Um, fear stands for false ex— false evidence appearing real. So, so don't just believe that fear, Casey. Challenge it. Have a snack, um, when you're not starving and see if it keeps you on track or throws you off track wildly. Who gives a shit? It's a day or two, you know what I mean? Like, it's not the end of the world. Don't be fearful. Fearful of underneath. If we're feeling a lot of fear when it comes to our weight, which most dieters are, folks, honestly, this is really something I think you got to deal with at some point. But, um, we don't want to ignore the fear or just fight against it. I think we want to expose ourselves to it, get comfortable with it, and then move past it. And I think, um, the way we do that is to engage with it, expose ourselves to it. Yeah, Casey weighs herself first thing in the morning. Yeah, I think that's a good thing. Again, I think weighing yourself regularly is good, but I also think it's not just weighing yourself the way you always have. It's also using as an opportunity to, you know, kind of speak to yourself nicely, be encouraging, supportive. You know, I use it as an exercise and technique as well as a measurement and feedback system. Sue says, Jim, you are great. Thank you so much for the daily podcast. I've listened to your podcast during morning and evening walks. My mindset's changed a lot, less stress, and I have seen results, feeling much better mentally. That's awesome, Sue. Thank you for listening. I really appreciate it. Screenshot that because I love my testimonials, people killing it, listening, realizing that when they change their mindset, everything gets better. So thank you for sharing that, Sue. I really appreciate it. And keep up the good work. Yeah, you're just at the beginning. That's the beauty of this approach is it just keeps getting better and better and better and better and better and better. Nina says, yes, maybe rice. I eat it every day even though it's half a cup to a cup a day. Of course, lots of veggies, beans, fish. Um, but rice is my thing, not sugar or junk food. Okay. Again, yeah, I would probably— again, I'm not a dietitian or nutritionist, so, so whatever. But, um, it sounds like you eat very clean. Uh, so you eat so clean. Yeah, if you want to cut the calories down, look at what you typically eat and see which ones are the most calorie dense, and then just cut 10-15% of those out, start exercising more.. And I think, you know, your rate of weight loss might increase a little bit. But please understand, Nina, that another way to look at what you're doing right now is that you're at your goal weight. Now, I know you're like, what? No, I'm not. I'm 20 pounds away from my goal weight. Well, hold on. The way you're living right now, you keep losing on average a half pound a week. So if you keep doing what you're doing, like— so let me put it this way. If you woke up today and you were at your goal weight, eating exactly and living exactly the way that you've been, Would you feel over the moon? If yes, then congrats, you did it. You figured it out. Because from what we know right now, you keep— you're, you're still on a downward trajectory of a half pound a week doing what feels comfortable and feels good and is relatively easy for you. So you're there. And so your weight's just— you got to just give it some time. But if you keep doing what you're doing and it really resonates with you, you really like it, you figured out the hardest part. Now just let the weight do what it's going to do. Don't make the mistake of just, let me cut more, let Let me do more. Let me add more to it. Let me add more. Put your attention into just be more patient because it sounds like you've really figured something out, Nina. Isn't that crazy? We got to draw attention, but we don't— again, with dieting, you never have really a finish line. You have this sense of what the scale says, but in programming yourself thin, the final goal is, do I have a way of thinking, living, and eating that gets me and keeps me at my goal weight that's comfortable and easy for me and runs on near autopilot?. And so it sounds, Nina, like you kind of have that, but it's just you just got to wait for your body to catch up to you. Because what if you just did exactly what you're doing now, but then 10 months from now you're exactly at your goal weight doing exactly what you're doing? And he says, yes, thank you. You're so right. Good. I'm glad you realize that, right? Relax, calm down. And now again, Nina's in the program. Nina, now you're in the optimization phase. So you keep doing what you're doing, but you start asking, how can I do what I'm doing in a more easier and more enjoyable way? And somewhat effective, but not more cutting calories, not making it harder on yourself that way. But how can you optimize what you're doing? How can you make the food more enjoyable? How can you get easier to eat it? How can you add some exercise into your, your plan? So, yeah, great job, though. You've done— you've kind of done the hard work, you know. And so again, don't let the impatience make you feel like you got to do even more cutting and all the rest of it. Sounds like you figured a lot of things out, you know. Yeah. Casey says, thanks for the advice. The last 2 years I've genuinely learned a lot. My mindset has Changed. Yeah, that's great, Casey. And again, it's a work in progress, but please understand that what I'm doing here that's so different than diet mentality is diet— you never learn shit dieting. You're just given a plan and then you try and force yourself to do it. It's the same process over and over. It's never changed for you. The plans have changed, perhaps, right? What you're trying to get yourself to do has changed, but the process is always the same. You trying to do something 100% on day one You do it for a little while and then you quit because your mindset never changes. You never think differently about this process. What I'm talking about here is genuine learning. It's kind of like, I don't know. I mean, it's like if you went to plumbing school and became a plumber, even if you were the least mechanical person on the planet, you're going to know how to do plumbing, accounting, playing an instrument. If you just keep interfacing and practicing, doing it over time, you learn how to do it. And I think that's an important thing to remember. So nice job, Casey. Yeah, Wendy says, I just found your podcast and I find them very informative, inspirational. Thank you. Yes, this is a podcast. You can just go to any podcast platform and search Program Yourself. Then there it is. You can listen anytime you want. There's literally, I think, like 700 of them. So go check them out. And I'm here every Monday through Friday, usually around noon Eastern. Um, Jackie says, I've lost and regained several times. How do I maintain the weight loss and not keep going down and up? Well, Jackie, it's because you're a dieter and your whole focus has been on losing weight and getting to your goal weight. And that's the goal of every dieter. The goal of Program Yourself Thin is to get to your goal weight and then live the rest of your life at your goal weight on your autopilot. Two completely different goals. Because as a dieter, your only goal is I want to get to my goal weight and I want to get there as fast as possible. With Program Yourself Thin, I want to get to my goal weight, but I want to live there for the rest of my life. So those are two completely different goals with two completely different strategies. And so what you've done this entire time, Jackie, is you've done these unsustainable, these extreme quick result things, but unsustainable long-term. And so in Program Yourself Then, you can see this, this is the goal weight pyramid, the mindset section. If you can read that word there, it says maintenance. It looks blurry still, so I don't know why you're not— oh, oh, there we go. Maintenance. And so in Program Yourself Then, we start day one with maintenance. The whole goal of programming yourself in is to live at your goal weight. The whole goal of dieting is to get to your goal weight. They're two totally different things. So that'd be my suggestion. So Jackie, if you have not done it yet, and I suggest this to all of you, make sure you click the link in my bio or go to the link I put in the comments. Um, go get the free hypnosis session, watch the training I made. You know, I kind of lay this whole thing out for you. Um, all right, Treece. Treece says, and thank you, Jim, I'm 25% of my— toward my goal weight, moving into the second quadrant slowly. Yeah, that's great. Slowly is great because slowly implies a much firmer foundation. Again, what's your rush, folks? Y'all been— you've all been struggling with this for decades, most of you. So what is your rush? My favorite quote, that most people overestimate how much weight they can lose in a month and underestimate how much weight they can lose in a year. And I think if you slow your mindset down and start doing more sustainable things, it's a completely different process and you get completely different results that are better. So But most people don't even realize that's, um, that's the thing. Casey says, still have a lot of work to do actions-wise, but I do look at things differently and step back. Oh, great job, Casey. That's the process. Sometimes it goes quick, sometimes it goes slow, but if you stay on this path, I promise you're going to get to where you want to go because you're always moving forward. Even when your actions take a step backwards mindset, you're still learning from it, you know. And again, that's the difference between this and dieting. So great job, Casey. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of the resilience. Because I know if you stay resilient, you keep moving forward, you're going to get to where you want to go. Um, Lois says, learning lifetime— learning lifetime is so important. Biggest lesson I learned so far is your ideas of not the all-or-nothing idea. Yeah, exactly. Um, all or nothing really is that dieting mantra of how all dieters approach everything, because they're gonna do everything perfect now until they're not, and then they stop completely. So again, program yourself then. We're all or something. We're always doing something at least.. And that something is really what you find is the thing most responsible for the changes that you're looking for. You know, so I appreciate you changing that. Um, Sue says the diet burnout is real and never works. It's so true, right? You've all experienced it. Um, but you all know that, but the big difference I want you to internalize is that when the diet doesn't work, what most of you do is you blame yourself for not having the ability to follow it. And what I want you to do is I want you to see it as a failing and a shortcoming of the diet. It's not you. The diets just tell you what to do. Tell me that's not true. Your entire life, the weight loss industry is telling you what to do. Here's your diet plan. Here's your workout plan. Here's what to do. But you're left onto your own devices to get yourself to do it. And you don't have the mindset to follow that plan to do it. Right. And so it's, it's like you've never learned how to shift your mindset. And so the diet burnout is real. And you all know that, but you've all been blaming yourself for it. I'm here to tell you, blame the diet. Diets are bullshit, folks. 100 years of diets, there's not one diet that rises to the top to be the most effective long-term. Isn't that crazy? There's not one single diet long-term that's proven to be effective for people. Now, if you follow the diet long-term, it can be effective. What I'm saying is no one follows any diet long-term. There's not one diet that people follow. You say Weight Watchers is maybe the one exception simply because they have the social component to it. You strip the social component from Weight Watchers, it's the same dumb shit as all the rest of the diets. So literally, there's not a diet out there that teaches you what you truly need to know to live at a lower weight. You've never learned that. So again, the sooner you stop blaming yourself and you start blaming the diet and demand something better, um, the better for you. All right, Linda says Tammy Chica. That is literally the first time I've heard another name. I will look Tammy up. And, um, I hope, I hope, because I'm not gatekeeping. If I find people that had better or similar advice to me mindset-wise, I would send you their way. My main goal is for you to live at your goal weight, you know. But, but I'm telling you, I've been doing this for a long time. I've never seen anyone even close, um, to what I'm talking about here. Not to, not to have delusions of grandeur, but, but I literally, I've never seen anyone have a goal weight pyramid. I created this all out of the own experience my own brain. That's just half the system. The other half is how to program your mind. I've never seen him go into the depth that I think is necessary to really live at your goal weight, but I will check Tammy out for sure. Um, yeah, yeah, Connie. Connie says, I get it now, The Tao of Living. Yes, yes. And what Connie's referring to is my book, The Tao of Living at Your Goal Weight. But let's just think about that, what that title means, because it's very, very intentional and specific. The Tao is kind of a way, the way, um, but it's, it's not just the way, it's the way of flowing. So instead of fighting against yourself and fighting with food and fighting with your weight, you learn to kind of flow with yourself and with your environment, with what's going on in order to live at your goal weight. And again, it's living at your goal weight. It's not the Tao of getting to your goal weight. It's the Tao of living at your goal weight, at the weight you want to live at, as the person you want to live as. And that's what this book is exactly. I get it now. The Tao of Living. Yes. This is about how to live as a thin, healthy person. What you've learned is how to be a dieter for a little while. And then again, what most people do is they trade the excitement and the pleasure of the food for the excitement and the pleasure of the scale going down. So they go into diet mode and now they shift their focus from the excitement of what they're going to eat to the excitement of the scale going down. But what happens when you get to your goal weight? Now you don't have the excitement and the pleasure of the food, and you don't have the excitement and the pleasure of the weight loss. Now you say, yeah, but I'm gonna be so happy I'm at my goal weight that nothing's gonna matter. Well, if that was the case, why'd you ever put weight on in the first place? If being at your goal weight was so amazing and so fulfilling and so perfect, why did you put weight on? Why is it estimated that 85 to 95% of dieters that lose the weight put it back on? If getting to your goal weight and being there is just so incredible and so fulfilling and so perfect, why does anyone put the weight back on? That's a question you'll have to answer. But I'm here to tell you that part of the journey, you know, and thing you need to learn is how to live at your goal weight in the most easy, enjoyable, comfortable way possible. And you've never even scratched the surface of that. You've never asked that question. You've never focused on that. And this is why you have a big blank space in your mind when it comes to How would you live at your goal weight for the rest of your life on your autopilot? Notice I'm accessing the same feeling in your brain and body as if I ask you the question, what's the Chinese word for guitar? Sit with that feeling for a second. Feel, feel that nothingness. What's the Chinese word for guitar? Notice there's nothing there. You've never learned it. You have no clue. It does not exist in your mind or body. Now I want you to think, how do you live as a thin, healthy person for the rest of your life on your autopilot? Feels similar, doesn't it? There's nothing there because you have never ever learned how to live as a thin, healthy person for the rest of your life in a comfortable way on your autopilot. And once you learn it again, the whole process changes, you know. Yes, who says audible version? Can't wait. Yes, the audible version, I'm working on it this week, so I'm hoping next week, um, we should have the audio version for this. So yes, I, I'm right there with you, Sue. I know a lot of people want to listen to this. Again, because each one of these— this book here, um, 40 chapters. Each chapter is a page, 2 pages. Um, each chapter is a hypnotic story, and, um, each story, each chapter is designed to change you as you read it. It's a hypnotic story so that it's enjoyable reading, and it's literally rewiring your brain and how you think and feel about food in real time. Now, again, it takes multiple readings. I would say it's meant to be read repeatedly. Um, but that's the purpose of it. And so to be able to listen to it's going to be great as well. So yes, that's coming. Uh, all right, everyone, I gotta get out of here. Thank you so much. Great questions as usual. I really appreciate it. Uh, if you're not in my world yet, click the link in my bio and go get the free hypnosis session. Um, and or click the link, I'll put it in here one more time if you're in the comments section of YouTube or wherever you may be listening to this— YouTube, Facebook, Instagram. It just popped up there, so go check that out. Um, get the free hypnosis session, watch the training I give you. I give you a bunch of free stuff. Um, and yeah, I'm here every Monday through Friday, usually around noon Eastern, to answer any questions you have. This is my mission in life. I'm here every day to help you out for free. I'm happy to do it, so please take advantage of that. Um, if you can't make the lives and like listening to this, uh, it's also a podcast. You can go to any podcast platform, search Program Yourself Then, and go and listen to it anytime you want. And then again, as I was saying, this book is available over on Amazon. Uh, the Kindle book I think is $2.99 and the physical version is $9.99. Some of the best money you'll ever spend on your weight, I promise you. Um, we're up to, last I checked, 82 reviews, 5 stars. Uh, people loving it. So go check it out and, um, go do it. Yes. Thank you, Connie. I appreciate you saying that. Thank you so much for all your ideas out of the box. I appreciate that. Um, yeah, I'm assuming you mean outside of the box because I do pride myself on bringing some new information or ideas or perspective onto a really well-worn path of weight loss. And if I can, you know, flip a few light bulbs on in your mind by coming at things from a different angle, that's my whole goal. So if that's what you meant, I really appreciate it. So, all right, everyone, have a super duper day and we'll talk soon. Bye.