Breaking Through Plateaus: Reigniting Metabolic Momentum

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I, uh, work with Brianna Loftquist.

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So she posted this in our group and I'm like, I'm jumping on because I love working with her.

Thank you for joining. Yeah, awesome. Just wait a few more minutes to see if anyone decides to join and then we'll dive in.

And together we will go into the mystery.

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Well, why don't we get started? It is officially 5 after 12 here on Eastern Time, so we might as well get started today. Thank you for everyone who's joined me so far, and thank you to everyone who is watching the replay later on. My name is Laura Collis. I'm the health— one of the health coaches here at Living Proof Institute. If I haven't met you yet, just wanted to let you know who I am. And this is our weekly Friday Q&A. So it is a little bit of presentation, a little bit of information, as well as an opportunity to ask any questions you might have about the program in general, or about, you know, the presentation that we went over today. Anything that you like is totally fine. We'll do that after we've gone through the presentation. And if something, you know, is interesting to you in terms of what we talked about today, and you want to listen to it again, this replay is always available. There is a YouTube playlist that we have all our replays recorded in, and you can access that at any time and rewatch anything you're interested in. So just letting you know that that is available to you. So today we're actually gonna be talking about plateaus, and it's a really common a situation that people get into during this kind of a program. And basically what that means is that, you know, you've joined, you want some weight loss, that's what you're looking to have the scale go down, and it starts, you know, you're, you're making progress, especially at the beginning. Everything's new, your body is not fully adjusted yet to your new diet and lifestyle, and You know, you see the scale dropping slowly, slowly, slowly, which is exactly what we want. And then all of a sudden it sort of stops, right? And that regular weight loss that you've experienced isn't happening anymore. And, you know, with that comes a lot of frustration. What am I doing wrong? Or, you know, is my body not responding anymore to the diet? But we're going to cover all of that today because it is a really common situation and there's a reason why that that happens. But there's also a whole bunch of really simple strategies that you can implement to get the scale moving in the right direction again. So I just thought— also, welcome Teresa, welcome Madhukar, nice to see you. Thank you for joining me live today. Also, you know, feel free to put your cameras on if you like. I really like this to be super casual. You can ask questions as we go through. It's not a problem. You can unmute, you can ask questions in the chat, whatever you like. But I wanted to just start today to see if anyone has experienced a plateau, if you've done the reset or done any other kind of program in the past where you've— weight loss has been the goal. And did your body plateau? Did you stall? And what did you do about it? Like, how did you address that? Because it is such a common situation for this kind of a program and would love to hear if anyone has experienced this, if anyone wants to share.

I'll share. I would just say that when I've had that experience and what I've done is kind of take my focus off of it because I felt like I would just get hypervigilant about, oh my God, I got to get back to this expressed weight or just how I feel in my clothes and all that kind of stuff. I— the only practice that I've put in place that really seems to help is just trying to take that hypervigilant focus off of it and, and kind of just go back to the basics of, of where I started and be more mindful of— because I have my issue of having my snacks at nighttime, so catching myself falling into old habits Yep. And just, you know, with kindness, kind of say, yep, absolutely.

Yeah.

Well, and, and that's such a great point, Shel, because mindset is such a huge part of it. And, you know, when we, when we sort of stress out about it, that in itself creates one of the blocks that prevents the scale from moving, that cortisol response, right? We start to go we start to repeat it over and over in our heads, like, "Why isn't this working? Why isn't it changing? Why isn't the scale moving?" And we're telling ourselves whatever story why that could be. And then what do you know? It sort of creates this stress response. And that is one of the things, as we're going to talk about today, is physically, physiologically preventing the scale from moving. So it's all interconnected. As is everything, right? But that is such a great point. And keeping that just, you know, like, let's go with the flow kind of mindset is really important in this kind of a situation. Yeah. So thank you. Thanks for sharing that. Anyone else care to share if you've reached a plateau, if you stalled, if what you've done about it? I know it can be a very frustrating thing to happen. Well, we can, we can dive into the presentation. If anything comes up for you while I'm talking about some of these things, then I would love to hear it. And again, you can unmute yourself, you can share in the chat, whatever works for you. This is very casual. So let's get started. I'm going to share my screen here. All right. Excellent. So as I said, today we're talking about breaking through plateaus, right? Reigniting that metabolic momentum that we achieve early on in the program or with any kind of diet plan. This is typically when we have the most success. So, You know, it's the same old story. This, this— you feel like you're doing everything right, but the scale is just not budging. You know, you're sticking to plan, you're staying consistent, and then boom, that number just stalls out. And that is what we call a plateau. Typically, that's at least 3 days with no forward momentum in terms of your weight loss. That, that would be considered a stall or a plateau. And it's one of the most common and most misunderstood parts of a metabolic reset. And I think, you know, just as we were— as Chell was saying, mindset is such a big issue. A lot of us can get into this mindset that a plateau means failure. What have we done wrong? But it's not. It's just really feedback, and it's your body's way of saying, you know, I'm adjusting to what you're doing. I'm adjusting to this change. I'm trying to figure it all out. And this is like, I'm working towards this new normal. So You know, give me a little bit of time here because I need to process it and, and figure out what's going to happen next. So what I just really wanted to review today is just to understand what causes these stalls and how to break through them so that we don't fall into that mindset of panic or guilt or, you know, all of a sudden taking on extreme measures because that's going to have the opposite effect, right? We're going to create that stress response and we're going to end up not being able to, to break through that stall. So there are a series of really small strategic tweaks that we can make, you know, really obvious things like hydration and food quality to a little bit more complex areas like hormones and digestion and stress that can all— tweaking all of those things can help reignite our metabolism and get that momentum going again. Again if you do ever find yourself hitting a plateau. So I think it's important to just start with like, why does this happen? You know, you be— when you begin the reset, as I said, you probably found that your body responded beautifully. You're losing pounds, you're losing a little bit every day in ounces, your energy is improving, your inflammation is going down, your, your body composition is changing, and everything seems to be on track, right? But As your metabolism and your body starts to adapt to this, you know, sorry, I just wanna let Tony in here. Your body starts to actually burn fewer calories, your hormones shift, your appetite changes, and your body is just still trying to find balance. And that's totally, totally normal. Sometimes it's not even about calories, it's about stress or poor sleep or lack of hydration or just digestion in general. And all of these things can really affect how efficiently your body burns fuel. And when you think of your metabolism as a thermostat, when you first start making changes, you're like essentially turning up the heat and your body responds. But over time, that thermostat starts to adjust to your new temperature. And if you've ever done this on your actual furnace, you know, you know, your, your house gets to a certain temperature, and at first it really feels like a lot of extra warmth, and all of a sudden you adapt to that new temperature, and you might have to increase the thermostat again just to get to a new place of, of, of warmth or comfort. And it's very similar to a plateau when it comes to weight loss. When the scale stops moving, it doesn't doesn't mean that anything is necessarily wrong or broken. It just means your body needs like a new gentle reset or signal to remind yourself what direction you're supposed to be heading. Now, one of the simplest fixes, and you know, we talk about this in all methods or all aspects of the program, is hydration, right? We talk about making sure you're drinking enough water almost incessantly, but it's such an important part of the, the reset in general, and it does contribute to whether or not you hit a plateau. Even mild dehydration can slow your metabolism by several percentage points because when you're not drinking enough water, your body holds on to the water that it has. Your digestion slows down and your fat burning pathways become less efficient. So also holding on to that water, what does that look like, right? It looks like a different higher number on the scale. Hydration also impacts everything, everything we talk about— energy, focus, detoxification, and, and the way that your hormones signal. So it's just such, such a key, key thing. We always start with that, right? A good goal in terms of what you should be drinking on a regular basis is about half your body weight in ounces per day. So for example, if you weigh 160 pounds, then you want to drink about 80 ounces at a minimum of water daily, more if you are doing any sort of high physical activity that causes a lot of sweating, if you're in a hot climate and you're sweating, or if you're consuming caffeine, because all of those things are going to contribute to, um, losing water out of your body. So you want to make sure you replenish it at all times. I always talk about electrolytes too. Such an important thing to maintain that balance so you're not just eliminating all of that hydration as soon as it comes into your body. Your body is able to utilize it. And, and, you know, electrolytes or, um, uh, this balance just looks like maybe adding a little bit of salt to your water or using an electrolyte powder, like a commercial powder that actually helps your body absorb the water that you're drinking rather than just passing right through. And there's something interesting. When you're fully hydrated, your body is actually better at differentiating hunger from thirst. And that's another most common, common mistake a lot of us make is we think we're hungry when we're actually thirsty. So if you ever feel that, you know, intense hunger and aren't quite sure why, maybe have a glass of water and see if it goes away. It could just be your body, body signaling to you that you're dehydrated and you need, you need some, some water. So drinking more water can also, you know, reduce that desire to snack and, and go in the wrong direction and perhaps add calories unnecessarily. So a couple of different other things that you can try if you do hit that, that plateau is One of them is green tea and adding green tea to your diet. It's one of the most studied natural metabolism boosters. It has this compound called EGCG, which helps your body burn fat more efficiently. Green tea also supports better blood sugar balance and regulation. That's going to mean fewer cravings. That's going to mean less snacking. It's also going to mean more steady energy throughout the day. So try having 1 or 2 cups of green tea a day if you do hit a stall or a plateau, aiming mid-morning, maybe mid-afternoon, because there is caffeine in green tea. Plus, this is the time of day that typically you're— when your metabolism tends to dip. You can do decaf if you're sensitive to caffeine, or matcha. The matcha— in matcha, the catechins that make up this compound that make green tea so effective are still active, and in fact, are in higher concentrations. Not everyone likes matcha. It has a little bit of a different taste than just a cup of green tea. But in those higher concentrations, it really does give you a calm, sustained energy and boost without the crash of, you know, reaching for regular caffeine or chocolate or sugar when you feel like you're having that energy slump. And as a bonus, green tea also supports our liver health. Which is key for hormone regulation and detoxification, which are really the two main players in metabolism. So you can think of green tea as a strategy and a daily sort of metabolic nudge if you do hit a stall. It is simple, it's gentle, and it is surprisingly powerful. So another thing you can try if you do find that you're stalling is a little bit of apple cider vinegar, and it's one of those old-school remedies that's really just sort of stood the test of time, and for good reason, because it really improves and supports our digestion. So what you want to do with apple cider vinegar is take about 2 tablespoons diluted in water before you're, you're going to have a meal. It's going to help balance your blood sugar postprandial, meaning post-digestion or post-meal. It's going to improve your digestion in general, and it's also going to help you break down your fat. It's because it's increasing stomach acid. It's helping the body make more stomach acid, something that we lose as we age. Our bodies just naturally don't produce as much stomach acid with age. And it also helps improve the absorption of certain nutrients, especially iron and magnesium. And these nutrients play a key role in metabolic— in metabolism and energy production. So if you're one that tends to maybe bloat a little bit after meals or struggle with poor or sluggish digestion, apple cider vinegar is an inexpensive, easy way to make a noticeable difference. My only caveat here is just to tell you to make sure you're diluting it, so you're putting it in about 6 to 8 ounces of water, and then rinse your mouth after you take it just to protect your tooth enamel. It's, it's a little bit acidic, so if you're doing this on a regular basis, you want to make sure you're protecting your teeth. You can actually even make this into a nice tonic for yourself by adding a little bit of lemon juice or maybe a little bit of cinnamon. You could even mix it with a sparkling water and have a little, um, aperitif, pre-digestive aperitif that's also very powerful and helpful in terms of metabolism and digestion. And again, about 15 minutes before your meals, and then just see how you feel. You know, you may find that you're not as gassy after you eat, or you don't have as much bloating. It really can make a big difference. It also helps just to encourage mindfulness while we're eating. You know, thinking about how I feel because I had this apple cider, cider vinegar prior to eating really helps you tune into the whole digestive process and trying to, you know, make sure certain foods are agreeing with you and just Having that mindfulness in general is really, really helpful. Now, shifting gears a little bit, we've talked about a couple of things you can, you know, ingest, and another is obviously this is food related, but it's more about the quality of your food. And this is when we start talking about organic food. When your body's in a plateau, sometimes the issue isn't necessarily what you're eating, it's what else you're eating. So conventional produce and meat can contain a lot of pesticide residues and hormone disruptors that put extra stress on your liver. And since your liver is your main fat-burning and detox organ, we want to keep those pathways as clean as possible, right? So sometimes switching to organic foods for a couple of weeks, especially organic animal protein, greens, and certain fruits, especially berries. If you're eating a lot of berries, as we do recommend during the reset because they're a lower glycemic fruit, these tend to— these can come with a lot of pesticides. So often just this one trick in itself that clients try, they, they notice less bloating, breaking through that plateau, fewer cravings, and better digestion within days of making the switch to organic. And now I understand sometimes this isn't always possible from a budgetary perspective, but if even if you can't go 100% organic in everything, what you can do is turn to the Environmental Working Group's annual list. It's called the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen, and it's a guide that they publish annually because things change from year to year that lists the most, the dirtiest, the dirty dozen, the most pesticide, the produce that the pesticides are used most on. So those are the dirty dozen. And then the ones that are least pesticide contaminated, and those are the clean 15. And then you can just say, okay, well, I'm going to spend my organic budget on the dirty dozen because I know that I'm going to get the most pesticides pesticide residue off of that, those foods versus the clean ones. And I can kind of go conventional more with the Clean 15. So it's a really easy way to use, it's a free guide, and it just helps you prioritize where you want to put your money and have the highest impact swaps on that food that you're eating. Your metabolism really does thrive when your detox pathways are clear, and organic foods can help that happen quickly. Another thing you can talk about is rethinking your protein or your protein rotation, right? We talked about, if you were able to join us last week, how important protein is to metabolism. And it is a thermogenic macronutrient, meaning it takes a lot of energy to digest. So it's actually burning calories while you digest it. But sometimes if you're eating the same type of protein all, you know, every day or too often, especially red meat, it can slow your digestion or trigger inflammation if you're a little bit more sensitive. And while beef is a very, very nutrient-dense food, it's also heavier on our digestive system. So if you are eating red meat or beef daily, cutting back to once or twice a week can help break through that plateau. Try replacing it with fish or poultry or eggs or even a plant-based protein, and you will lighten your digestive load. And, and not only that, but also support your— the, the variety in your gut microbiome with just different nutrients. You will probably notice a little bit less bloating, better energy, and a shift on the scale just from switching out your protein. And again, it's not about removing that kind of food forever. If it, if it's beef, for example, it's just about using variations strategically to keep your metabolism responsive. And then we also can talk about calories, right? Calorie adjustment is misunderstood where we say in one breath, we're not counting calories, we don't worry about it. But then in another, we say, well, you have to pay attention to how many calories you're eating. So Basically, when it comes to calories, if you have been consistently eating in a deficit, your body is going to adapt to that, right? It's going to say, okay, this is my new normal, and will slow your metabolism just to conserve energy because it doesn't know when it's going to get more fuel. So if that is the case, temporarily increasing your calories for a day or two, maybe just a 10 to 15% increase, can send a signal to your body that it's safe and fed and will allow that boost in fat-burning hormones like leptin and even in the thyroid output. It's going to increase those things. That's what the loading phase of our program is all about. You know, those two high-calorie days, it's just telling— we want you to tell your body that it's safe and it's fed, it's got enough food so that when you go into that calorie deficit during the release phase, it's not in a panic and wanting to hold on to, to excess weight. But on the other hand, post perhaps release phase, if you're in maintenance and you've maybe enjoyed a few more indulgences recently, then, or your portion sizes have crept up, that's another big one to watch out for. A gentle calorie reduction can actually help get things back in motion. And We don't want this to be about strict counting. We're not Weight Watchers. We don't want you to have to go back to those old systems. It's more about just tuning in, you know, as is everything. What's my hunger like? How's my energy, my mood, my sleep? All of these things are going to indicate to you what's happening metabolically in your, in your system, right? And if everything's sort of feeling off or sluggish, maybe your body needs a little bit more nourishment. Maybe it needs less. We have to put our detective hats on here sometimes, and a little experimentation might be in order. But a slight, a caloric adjustment either up or down can often make a big difference to a stall or a plateau. This one is a really sneaky one, and when we are eating a lot of apples, the culprit often in a stall is fruit sugar. Now apples are great for fiber. They are an approved fruit, but they do still contain a lot of natural sugars, and those sugars can raise our insulin levels, especially if we're not eating them with anything else, if we were using them as a snack, for example. The other thing with apples, as you— I'm sure you've noticed if you've shopped for them, is they come in a variety of different sizes, right? So if you are eating an apple once or twice per day with your meals as your 4 ounces of fruit, if you're in the release phase and you're eating a large apple, try cutting back to a smaller apple at first, maybe, or just using apples once a day instead of twice, or even just skip them entirely for a few days and see if that helps break through your stall. If, if it's the crunch of the apple that you enjoy, maybe swap it for celery or cucumber Or if it's just that's the easiest fruit to get into your, your diet, switch to berries. They are much more low on the glycemic scale and are not going to have that same impact in terms of fruit sugar. And sometimes just these like small, tiny carb adjustments can help reignite that fat burning more quickly. And you don't have to remove apples forever. As with everything else, you're just trying to rebalance your sugar intake and support that metabolic flexibility to get the scale moving again. Uh, another very common saboteur that can stall our progress are condiments and packaged foods, even the clean ones. You know, there are a lot of clean brands out there that come in a box or a bottle or a bag. But they often have hidden ingredients in them that are going to stall our progress. Things like, uh, hidden sugars or seed oils, thickening agents like gums and fillers. These all drive inflammation and they stall our progress. So check the labels on things like salad dressings if you're buying those later on again in the maintenance phase, or marinades, sauces, And, you know, bars are a big thing. If we ever sort of default to a protein bar to boost our protein intake, really watch the label and pay attention to the ingredients. You're going to want to choose products with olive oil, avocado oil, good quality vinegars, and just really simple herbs and spices. The fewer ingredients, the better. And avoid anything with canola or soybean or vegetable oils. These really do interfere with insulin sensitivity. And you would be amazed at how often a plateau breaks just from cleaning up some of these hidden ingredients in things like condiments and packaged foods. These really can make a huge difference in, in your metabolism. Of course, movement is something we always encourage when you're in a reset, especially one that's focused on nutrition like ours is. It's easy to overlook though how powerful movement is to the progress on the scale, and you don't need to go hard ever on exercise here. In fact, we discourage that, especially during the release phase, because too much intensity, too hard of a workout can raise your cortisol levels and work against you losing fat. But gentle, consistent movement like walking or yoga, or even just like using your own body weight for strength training actually signals to your body that you're safe and you're not under stress. And that's going to, you know, let your body relax and go into that rest and digest mode. 20 to 30 minutes is perfect. Think of it as active recovery. So if you are at a stall and you're not already doing any kind of light movement, try consider adding 20 to 30 minutes of light exercise. Walk after your meals. This is great for lowering blood sugar as well. It also supports your digestion and helps your body use fuel more efficiently. Movement also helps with mindset, and we were talking about that before. It, it just builds momentum, it reduces anxiety, and it reminds you of your own personal strength. And consistency here is always more important than intensity. Supporting your digestion is also really important. If you are constipated, you are not going to see that scale move. It could look like a plateau, um, and is a real concern when it comes to weight stalls because if you're not eliminating regularly, toxins, hormones, and metabolic waste are going to build up in your system. They also get recirculated and it just kind of slows everything down. So if you're not having at least one healthy bowel movement per day, um, your system can get backlogged. And hydration helps, uh, but so do things like magnesium and gentle supports like senna tea. Magnesium glycinate or citrate are great before bed as they also can help relax your muscles, promote sleep, and get things moving. Fiber is great too, but we recommend you focus on getting that from things like veggies and chia or flaxseeds as opposed to grains. And improving elimination often breaks through— helps break through a plateau faster than any food tweak because it's supporting detoxification and hormone balance directly. Your gut is a key player in metabolism when it's sluggish. And, and when, if that's sluggish, your progress is going to be as well. I'm sorry, Madhukar, I missed a couple of your questions here. A good electrolyte beyond just adding refined sea salt to your, just your water. You can, we have one that we use through Designs for Health. It's just a flavored powder. That's a really good one to, to use because it doesn't have any sort of those bad sugars or hidden ingredients in it like some of the commercial ones do. Happy to give you a link to that if you're interested. And yeah, we'll talk about the— so Madhukar also asked a question about more intense training.

We'll—

can we— if that's okay with you, we'll address it in the Q&A portion. Awesome. Uh, and Rajpa said Boy Bio is also a good brand for electrolytes. I haven't heard of that one, but thank you for sharing. Uh, hormones are obviously a factor as well when it comes to weight loss plateaus or stalls. Um, for women, the menstrual cycle plays a, a huge role in metabolic shifts. You know, during your luteal phase or the week before your period, progesterone levels rise, you retain more water and become more insulin sensitive. These can all lead to bloating, cravings, and temporary scale increases. This is not a fat gain. It's just a hormonal ebb and flow and will go away once your period starts. But I think it's just important to address this because if we're not aware that these things can happen, we, we can wonder why our our weight goes up, or the weight on the scale goes up just prior to our menstrual cycle. And that is why. So it's nice to use this time to focus on self-care, rest, hydration, and just some lighter exercise. Don't push hard during this time, just support your body. Your metabolism will naturally pick up again when you are through your luteal phase. And if you track your cycle, you will start to see predictable patterns here. Understanding these rhythms removes any kind of emotional reaction to fluctuations on the scale and empowers you to work with your body instead of against it. And we cannot talk about scales and stalls and plateaus without addressing sleep and stress, right? Two huge components when it comes to the scale not moving. Chronic stress raises cortisol, that tells your body, hold on to fat, you might need it. You know, this, this fight or flight response that we hear so much about, you know, being chased by the lion, being chased by the tiger. If your body thinks it's in trouble, it's going to hold on to whatever it needs, or it's not going to be doing other functions if it's just in this state of, of panic and like fear, right? So it, it it's definitely going to hold on to fat. It's— you're not going to release water either. You're just going to be in this state of, of high, high cortisol, which is going to have an impact across your entire system, disrupting your sleep, your hunger hormones, your hormones in general, your blood sugar. Everything is going to be out of whack, including your weight. If your stress is high, even perfect nutrition can't compensate for that. Okay, and then, you know, switching to sleep. We talk about in the program that you want to aim for 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep each night. Create a bedtime routine. Lower the lights before you go to bed for a few hours. Avoid screen time at least 2 hours before bed. Maybe sip an herbal tea like a chamomile tea to get you into that nice calm mode before you go to sleep or do some deep breathing. During the day, build small stress release moments into your day, whether that's stepping outside and getting some direct sunlight, journaling, brain dumping, or even just taking a few slow deep breaths before your meals. All of these things can really add to lowering the stress component because when your nervous system feels safe, your metabolism feels safe. And that's when your body is able to let go. And then just finally wrapping up here, breaking through a plateau really isn't about doing more, it's about doing better, right? We talked about a whole bunch of different tweaks and strategies we can use to help ourselves do better when we, when we're faced with something like a stall or a plateau. Hydrate, eat clean, sleep better, move gently, manage your stress, rotate some of your foods to see if that's being creating an issue, and just really support your digestion. If you find yourself at a plateau, choose perhaps 1 or 2 of these things to try and give your body some time to, to respond and really tune in and see what's working for you. It's really important to remember though, this mindset piece, and that is that your metabolism isn't broken, it's just adaptive. It's waiting for the right signal to shift gears again. And plateaus are just part of this transformation process. They're the pause between one chapter of progress and the next. That's all. You will get through it. Uh, just stay consistent, stay curious, and trust in your own body. You, you know, you, you've come a long way before hitting this plateau, and that next breakthrough that's going to be the one, it might just be this one step away. Okay, thank you all for listening, and I know they've got a couple of questions here. Okay, so we talked a little bit about electrolytes. I will pop a link into that for you. And if— so Madhukar also asked, if we're not looking to lose any more weight, is intense training 3 to 4 times a week okay? I would say yes, but pay attention to your body. You know, if you're finding that you're Things are starting to change in the wrong direction. Maybe the intensity is too high and you want to just shift and adjust that. You know, I think it depends. Everybody's level of tolerance is different as well, and it depends on what you're used to. It depends on what you're able to— how your body is able to respond. If you were already really active prior to, then you probably can still maintain that activity level after. Just, just tune in and pay attention and look out for some of those signs. Sherri, what if you're postmenopausal? So you're gonna have a little less unpredictability that way, obviously. You're not going to go through the 4 phases of the menstrual reproductive cycle when you're postmenopausal, but that doesn't mean that your cortisol levels still can't be impacted. Cortisol, insulin are still— they're kind of left a little bit more unchecked when we're in menopause because we've lost— or because our estrogen has declined so much. So we just have to be a little bit more thoughtful about those things as well. So, you know, that would be things like practicing good stress management, and that would also be like watching how much carbohydrates and sugar we eat because insulin is directly related by that. Because we don't have estrogen on our sides anymore in menopause, those things can go unchecked. And that's why a lot of women who are postmenopausal struggle with weight gain, because, uh, we— our bodies just aren't working in the same way anymore. It doesn't mean that it's not possible to have and achieve our ideal weight. It just means we have to be aware of those parts of it a little bit more. Does that make sense? Awesome. Thank you, Teresa. Thanks. Okay, any other questions regarding the presentation or otherwise? Hi, Don. You are on mute. Let me see if I can unmute you. There's a little microphone icon at the bottom. There should be at the bottom of your screen. Just click that and that should unmute you.

Hi, Laura.

Hi, Rajpal. How are you?

Good morning or good afternoon. Hello to all. Yeah, lovely presentation as usual. Thank you. That thing I was referring to, the electrolytes.

Yes.

A company called Body Bio. Body Bio. I'm sorry for the typo. I was Doing—

that's okay. Thank you for sharing.

And I have a quick— was somebody asking a question when I bought in? I was on the phone also. I'm sorry.

Dawn was just trying to get herself unmuted, which she is now. Yes. Do you want to go ahead, Rajpal, and then Dawn will come right to you?

Okay, good. Thanks. So I have a quick question. Last week when you did that talk, a nice talk on protein, Yes. Which is quite interesting. And so, by the way, did you guys recommend a protein powder or something off the top of your head, you recall?

No, I did. I did not in the presentation. No. However, we do have one that we recommend. Again, Designs for Health, the pea protein is what we recommend.

Okay.

It's a nice clean powder.

I've seen it on their site.

Yeah.

Thank you, Laura. Let's take Don.

Okay, thank you. Hi, Dawn. I can't— maybe your volume is turned down. You're unmuted now, but I don't hear you. Okay, why don't you put it in the— you can put your question in the chat. Hi Amira, sorry I didn't, I didn't see you come in until a little bit later. Welcome, thank you for joining us.

I just joined. Yeah, I lost track of time and I was making lunch.

Oh, good. How is, how is your meal planning going? It's good.

Actually had a question while we wait for Dawn. Yeah, there's a recipe in the book for a chicken zucchini soup.

Okay.

Is that one serving?

Let me just quickly—

let me get the page.

Thank you.

Um, it's page 55.

That's helpful.

Um, yes, that would be because the, um, the ingredients are based on the, like, the 4 ounces of zucchini, the 5 ounces of cooked chicken, which would be your, the typical requirement for the, um, the release phase, like the amounts, then that would be one serving.

Okay.

I was—

I wasn't sure because I thought it was 4, usually 4 ounces of cooked chicken. Um, and then the 4 cups of chicken broth is just— it's massive.

It's a lot of chicken broth.

Yeah, I don't mind having it all.

I'm excited.

Yeah, I mean, to make sure— satiating for sure. Yes, because everything else are free vegetables. Um, then yeah, that would be it. Uh, yeah, it usually would be the 4 ounces of cooked chicken or 5 ounces of raw, but I just wonder if, um, yeah, I don't know if that's because it's shredded, perhaps if there's like a weight differential.

Yeah.

Go for it.

I'm, I'm enjoying it. It's delicious. I did substitute zucchini for broccoli because that's what I had.

Oh, that's fine. I think it's very good anyways. Yeah, 4 ounces sliced zucchini. Yeah, awesome.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, Dawn, you just finished 2 rounds and lost 57.6 pounds. Wow. Congratulations. What is next for food so I don't gain any back? Oh, yeah. Bye, Rajpal. Okay, so you are in the maintenance phase. Well, yeah, you're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. Okay, so what you really are going to do is really focus on not having a lot of inflammatory foods. So those would be things like gluten, grains, dairy. Obviously, we don't want you to eat a lot of processed foods, refined sugars, those kinds of things. If you can keep to a primarily whole foods diet, you don't have to be as diligent about measuring, but keeping to whole, clean foods as much as possible is the ideal, and then you're not going to gain the weight back. Sorry, you're gonna have to put that back. I don't know why I can't hear you. I'll try to ask you to unmute. Oh, I did that already. It's not working.

I think there's an input on the audio, like in the bottom left corner where it says audio. Yeah, I said click on that, um, and go to the settings. There's like an input and an output because I've had that happen before where my input was muted.

Yeah, so maybe make it— see if like the system says your computer or if you've got it on like a headphone or something. It is, okay. Try a different microphone if there is one available in that audio setting or your volume, maybe you're— okay, okay. Okay. Any other questions or comments while Dawn is gonna sign back in with her phone?

Actually, Laura, just, just want to kind of touch upon digestion and Constipation again. Yeah, because I've noticed as late that some of those, um, issues have kind of trickled back in.

Okay.

So, and I, I mean, I'm, I've been diligent with, uh, like lemon water in the morning and I gargle and I have my feet up and all that good stuff. Um, and then the I guess what I've noticed is with some of— some fruit, and it's just coming to mind because last night, because I had pineapple last night and I haven't had pineapple in a long time, but I felt after— and I had it after supper, so I had a main meal and then I had pineapple. I was gassy after that. So I'm just starting to notice that that's happening a little bit more again. Okay, so to kind of reset that, what would be some suggestions possibly, uh, like just to, to help clear it out, or in terms of, uh, I guess, I guess maybe a little bit of both. Like, I mean, I feel well today, um, and I, you know, sharing with everyone, I, I would have a nice bowel movement. So it was probably— we'll give it an 8-star rating if we have to use the Bristol chart, so we're all good there. Um, but it's just Again, it's, it's kind of hit and miss. So, you know, again, tracking my food, like what's causing this and everything. And I, and I don't know if I need to go a step further, um, with some kind of detox.

Have you done the magnesium route and have you added that regularly?

Yeah, I've been doing magnesium for a long time and I actually upped my magnesium and I started taking— I always take vitamin C, I take it in the morning, but I also take some at like I'm pacing it through the day kind of thing.

The magnesium or the vitamin C?

Vitamin C. Okay.

Okay.

This time of year kind of thing.

Yeah.

Yeah. I do have magnesium. I've done for a long time.

How much are you taking? Do you know? What's the dosage? Glycinate.

I've got to go get it.

Okay. Is that you, Don Marion, on the And which is also muted.

There, can you hear me now?

I can hear you.

Oh my gosh, okay, great. So, um, should I— I'll let, um, Shell—

yeah, real quick, Dawn, thank you. It's 200 mgs per capsule. I'm doing the CanPrep.

Okay. And you're taking 2 of those?

Yeah, 2 at night.

Okay. That's, that's a really good dosage. And it's the glycinate?

Yeah.

You could try switching to the citrate.

Okay.

That does tend to help things get moving a little bit faster. Are you— how much fiber are you eating?

I'm pretty good on the fiber department, like, you know, the 25 to 40 grams per day. I would say I'm hitting that. And I mean flaxes, That's the normal thing in my— I just had my big smoothie and I always have flax in there. And yeah, like veg and, and yeah.

So sometimes if you're not used to a lot of fiber, it can actually have the opposite effect.

Yeah.

So you can play around with that a little bit.

Yeah.

Protein is unchanged. Basically nothing's changed that way.

I'm good there.

So you know what, make sure you're just drinking enough water through the day and then switch to citrate and see if that helps things. It could be just a little bit of a blip if you're not like— is everything else relatively normal sleep-wise, stress-wise? Yeah.

And I mean, I know, like, I know when those things get out of whack.

Yeah.

So yeah, I would say so.

And then have you added— I'm not sure what phase you're in, Shell. Like, are you—

I'm—

you're finished.

Yeah, yeah, I'm way past. I did it in January, so.

Okay, so is there anything—

like, I haven't done a second one. I was thinking of doing it again. Yeah, just to do like a reset, you know, and as we get closer to the end of the year going into the new year. So that's kind of what my plan is. So just getting prepared for that.

And anything else that you've reintroduced that you think found perhaps wasn't Well, you know what I was curious about?

Because I had eliminated eggs for a long, long time, and then I brought them back in. I don't know if it was that or if I had a bug or something, but I did have some pretty yucky stuff going on. Okay. But I took them out again. I haven't had them.

Oh, okay. Okay.

Yeah.

Try the magnesium citrate. You could also try just sipping a little bit of senna tea for a few days and That gets things moving. And then if it's not resolved after you've basically cleared out the issue, then, um, then we need to take another stab at it.

Okay.

And try to figure out what might be causing it.

Okay, beautiful.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dawn.

You're welcome. Can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay. All right, great. Um, I wish I was paying attention to what Chelle was talking about because that's I'll listen to the replay because I really wanted to hear that too.

Okay.

Um, but my, um, my big question is, so incorporating like, um, any types of breads or flour would be really bad?

You know, it's, it's more a product of, well, quality and quantity in this case. You know, if you're eating a really good fermented sourdough A slice a day I don't think is going to be an issue. But if bread was your go-to and you were eating, you know, 2 pieces of toast for breakfast and then a sandwich at lunch and then bread on the side for dinner, then yeah. And, and again, is it, uh, is it a packaged sort of shelf-stable kind of situation, or is it— I was gonna bake it homemade. Okay, so perfect. Um, again, just like being smart about portions and quantities in this case and, and ingredients, right? Yeah, anything fermented is always going to be a better option, which is where sourdough becomes a really good choice, right?

Yeah, I just signed up to learn how to make it, so—

oh great. Um, and, and because I think I have a gluten problem too, so if you have a gluten problem, I would say try to keep it out of your diet if you can. Even like, there's so many gluten-free options on the market, but if you look at the ingredient labels on a lot of them, yeah, they are unrecognizable. There's so much stuff in there to try to recreate and mimic what bread is supposed to look and feel and taste like. Yeah. And all of those ingredients can be really inflammatory.

Yeah, because there's a pizza that has chicken and vegetables and stuff like that on it. Yeah, I tried that one night for like introducing something different, and, um, I, I gained a pound. And I'm sure it had to do with portion, but I don't know. I'm so— I was, I was thinking like, how can I someday have like, you know, a pizza but like a healthy version of a pizza?

Yeah, but the crust I guess is the issue, so Yeah, the crust is typically the issue. I mean, you can— and cheese.

I think cheese affects me.

Those dairy, gluten, and sugar are the most inflammatory foods.

Yeah. And that's— I had inflammatory problems. So going forward, I was listening to you sort of, but I was also trying to get the volume to work. Do I maintain like the 4 to 5 ounces of a protein and then do I incorporate fiber? Is it— is like the sweet potatoes, that like a fiber?

Yes, yes, it's a starchy carb. So carbs are going to increase your blood sugar response. Okay. Um, but it's a healthy carb. It's not eating, you know, um, chocolate candy or something like that. So it's good. And then there's lots of nutrients in that. So I think, you know, it will become a little bit of a process of just figuring out portion sizes for you as well. If that was ever an issue for you, then— oh yeah, trying to reevaluate all of that. But keeping, you know, I have no issue with a really clean starchy carb like that. It's just that you maybe you don't want to eat them every single day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Do you know what I mean?

Like, some of it is Yeah, and then I also want to eliminate more belly fat, and so, um, I'm gonna do another round. And so how long should I be waiting?

Because I've done 2 rounds, so you need at least 4 weeks between rounds, uh, if this is your third round. Um, to be honest, I would, I would like to get back to you on that, Dawn, because I'm not sure if you need to wait a little bit longer for your third round, I think.

Um, Deepa— I asked Deepa about this a long time ago when I was starting the second round, and I almost thought she said 4 months, but she may have, um, like, wait, you know, to really kind of wait a while. Because like, I noticed my hair is, um, like, I ended up cutting my hair because it became very fragile. You know, like, you know, from, I guess, lack of oil and stuff like that.

Yeah. Well, your body's going through a big adjustment, dietary-wise as well. So sometimes, you know, like hair and nails, those are sort of the last things our body prioritizes in terms of getting nutrients to. There's other things happening in your system and healing, etc.

Yeah.

So you could try adding a collagen supplement. That's going to give you a little bit of extra protein, but it's also really good for, for things like hair and skin and nails. And it's just a powder. You can put it in a smoothie or your coffee or water.

What brand do you recommend? Because I know with collagen, it's all over the board.

Yeah. So we do have one in Designs for Health. In that I can recommend. Or Vital Proteins is a good brand that's available at most health food stores or like a Whole Foods. Okay, in the store— I'm just gonna let this lady in here because I think she's waiting for Deepa. Okay, but yeah, that's a good one.

Okay. Yeah, all right, so, and then I, I don't know where everybody else is in their process, but Um, I just wanted to say it— like, this is amazing, you know? Like, I, I'm like a totally different person.

Oh, that's so great.

I'm glad that I lost like 57 pounds.

So good for you.

I feel like I've— I'm cut in half.

Good for you, Dawn. Awesome. Well, then I want you to have the momentum to keep going, and I think it really is just a lot of common sense. And, you know, sticking to a whole food, unprocessed, you know, kind of diet, as well as implementing some portion, you know, being aware at least of portion sizes.

I just didn't know if, like, before I always knew it was 4 ounces of this and 4 ounces of that, or carrots were 3 ounces. I just didn't know if there was like kind of a rule of thumb. Of what you should do?

For the maintenance, not, not so much, simply because that can become very restricting. And then you can kind of get into that, that, that state where we were talking, where I was talking about earlier, where you're like under-consuming.

Okay.

And then your body goes into that holding, holding on mode.

Okay.

All right. Yeah. So I mean, I would probably recommend at least 5 or 6 ounces of protein.

Okay.

But you don't have to be that strict with it.

Okay.

Yeah. As long as you're not eating a lot of inflammatory foods, you know, for the most part, it should— you should be okay. And don't forget, there's also that point where you want your— you want your body to reach its metabolic set point, which is kind of its comfort zone. Yeah. You— I don't know where you're at in terms of that yet because you've done a couple of rounds. But, um, if you're not quite there yet, it's just kind of where your body is, is wants to be. And it might be a few pounds higher than your goal weight, but it's just where your body is, is best suited, basically. Yeah, yeah.

I'm just trying to— I'm just trying— I don't want to hog here, but I'm just trying. I still have belly fat that I'm trying to eliminate.

Yeah, I mean, it's, it's difficult to get rid of. You know, exercise is going to play a role in that as well. And just trying to, to sort of utilize the muscles in the core and the abdomen and the core muscles to try to firm that area too, because it can sometimes just need a little bit of toning. Yeah. So that can help.

Okay.

I don't know how old you are, Dawn, either, but I know like post-menopause, if you're in that category, um, it's just a, like a, an unfortunate side effect for a lot of women. Um, and hormone therapy can help, but you really need to speak to your practitioner about that because there can be, like, it can be not too late, but it, where it's not going to have the same effect as if you started it earlier on. Yeah, yeah.

Okay, thank you so much. This is very good for me too, by the way.

Oh good, I'm glad you enjoyed it. All right everyone, thank you for joining me. I'm gonna wrap it up and, um, the replay will be available if you ever wanted to watch it again. And have a wonderful rest of your day. Bye for now. All right, thank you.