Weekly Living Light MRP Q & A [Feb 23, 2024]

Sam. Hello. Hello, ladies. Happy Friday. Hi, Melissa. Lovely to see you.

How's it going?

It's going awesome. How are you doing today?

I'm good. I'm good. Really good.

Good. Good to hear that. Excited about maintenance?

Yeah, you know, I'm a bit timid. I feel just because I've been on. I don't want to say so restricted, but I've been on the release phase that I'm scared to, like, make a mistake. But. But, you know. Yeah. So I'm just trying to slowly explore and just, you know, add things back and really pay attention to how I'm feeling with each of those things. So it's been pretty good so far. Yeah.

Good A. I'm so happy to hear that. And. And we can chat a little bit more about that because I know that those are very common things that come up for a lot of people is like, you know, how. How do I now go into this new phase, but also keep the results from the past phase and be able to maintain that? And, yeah, if you want, we can go all into that. Actually, that was a little bit of my plan today as well. So, you know, I'm. I'm more than happy to. To discuss maintenance because that is really the fun part. And. And going into it, you know, a lot of people have very warranted, kind of like, fears come up of, oh, no, you know, what's going to happen, so we can dive in and kind of reframe all of that.

Perfect. I appreciate that.

Yeah, yeah, it's truly my pleasure. And welcome, Brooke as well. Lovely to have you on the call. I am just going to post a very quick note into our group chat here so that anybody who wants to join can come in. So before we dive in here, And in the meantime, as we're kind of, you know, getting more participants in here, I would love to hear what you are both grateful for today or maybe this week. I always love hearing your voices, seeing your faces. Thank you for turning on your camera book. Lovely to see you. And. And, you know, feel free if you wanted to share either in written format in the comment section if you'd like, or if you'd like to unmute and share something, it is that you are grateful for it.

I'm grateful that this appears to be working.

Good. I know it. It oftentimes. Yeah. And often times, like, initially, you know, people come into the metabolic reset and they're like, are you sure this works? Because this sounds a little too good to be true. And I'm like, it does. It Totally does. You're warranted for thinking that. But what if it does? What if it does work? What if it does work out for you? What if you know you are in control? What if you love, you know, the. The relationship you have with your body and with food? It's two sides of the same coin always. And. And I'm so grateful that you've dove in, Brooke, and you're able to feel that, you know, instead of me trying to convince you of it, you're like, no, it's actually working. I see that it's working with my body, so that's awesome. And it's gonna continue to hopefully blow your socks off if you're wearing any. So. So, you know, the. The release phase, the maintenance phase, and the loading phase, they all are such different parts of the program, and they. They kind of show you a different part of yourself as you're navigating through it. And so, you know, I'm happy to touch on each of those different parts. I know that, Brooke, you're. You're more so getting started right now. You're in week one, I believe. And so it's.

This is what I'm into my second week of release. So Monday will be two weeks.

How has it been so far?

It's.

I have to challenge myself not to get bored. That's the biggest thing. So I have to really look around and try different foods and different recipes because I was getting a little bored. I don't really. I mean, the scale says I lost 15 pounds, but I gained 10 in the week before I got my ring and all of that stuff. So I'm thinking it's more like five, which is still great for me, actually.

Yeah. And. And I mean, so you're saying you gained the 10 during the loading days, or was that even before the loading days?

It was including the loading, but before, when I had. I'd registered and paid and was just kind of waiting for the package to come, and I was just eating, you know, just eating whatever I wanted.

Yeah. Yeah, totally. Because you knew you were going to take action, you know, on the program. So it was almost like this letting go and the surrendering to. Then being able to move in kind of more wholeheartedly. So, you know, that's awesome. I'm grateful that, you know that 15 pounds has mobilized, and it tends to be a lot quicker within the first two weeks. So I say that for you to have that in mind as you continue on into the coming weeks, it's not to say that it still won't be at that same pace because everyone's unique and it really depends on how ready your body is to heal. But oftentimes what I do find for a lot of women is past week two. So maybe past Monday as you're entering or you said you're entering week two on Monday or finish finishing week two on Monday.

Finishing week two on Monday.

Yeah.

So then in that case, that's where things start to kind of switch into more deep fat stores. So that's where it's going to activate more of your brown fat, which is kind of like your secondary, let's say, energy source. So initially it's a lot of the water retention and inflammation that comes down. So I say that for you to keep in mind that on average, women tend to release somewhere around.05 of a pound each day. It's not going to look like 0.5 every day. It could be, you know, one day you're, let's say 150. The next day you're 150. You're like, what the heck? What's happening? Nothing's changing. And then the following day, the third day, it can drop down to 148. So it tends to even out to be about 0.5 pounds each day. So just as a kind of, you know, note to keep in mind. But you very well might supersede that. You're already, you know, your body was ready to release £15, which is very ahead of the mark, I would say, for the second week. So you're already doing a fantastic job. Yeah. Awesome. And Melissa, I know you mentioned maintenance phase and I wanted to kind of get into that. I know a few different people are in different places, but I know a few of my clients right now are tapering off and moving into that maintenance phase and kind of, you know, getting, getting used to everyday life while still maintaining some of the lifestyle found of the reset program. So I wanted to see if you had any specific questions, Melissa, or if you want to just kind of like a broad overview of the maintenance phase.

I think more of a broad overview. Like I think I posed in the group the other day. I'm like, sushi question mark? Because I've been really wanting to since the release phase. I was like, maybe I can make it. And like, instead of using rice, just use like the seaweed wrap and the other things. So there's just like certain things that I feel like I missed eating from before. So it could be like my mom laughed at me because I'm just like, all I want is Just like French fries or like just, just three fries and it's like just one fry, you know what I mean? So it's kind of like that. Kind of I just need one fry to tie me over for a little bit longer or something like that. But now that I'm in the maintenance phase, I haven't done any of the things that I said I wanted to eat because I don't, I don't want to like, derail myself in a sense. So it's more of just like, yes, I'm slowly phasing in some more fats and I'm actually not using as much oils as I thought I would because I've substituted like the chicken bone broth and the beef bone broth instead of oils to like brown meats and stuff like that. So I'm like, I. My food actually still tastes the same as if it had oil. So it's cool that I'm able to kind of substitute, you know, something that might not have served me as well. But yeah, I think just overall, I want to know, I guess, how to phase things in as the, as I continue to the end of the 10 weeks.

Yeah, no great questions, so I'm happy to go over all of that. So in the maintenance phase and as you're doing right now, you know, it's, it's very much an introductory period of, you know, and, and there's a lot of, you know, kind of thoughts about I don't want to do this wrong or, you know, I don't want to mess up what I've already done. And I'm here to tell you that won't. And, and there is no messing up because this is a playground of trial and error. And, and that even the messing up in quotations gives you insight and it allows you to see what is and what is not working. So I, I would say that there's no way of messing this up. The only way is to not pay attention to yourself and not to, to have that awareness to see how things are reacting. So the, the way I like to recommend introductory for kind of just the most insight because you've done so much of the heavy lifting in release, you've eliminated a lot of inflammatory foods, any processed foods, basically. So you've been on very nutrient dense whole foods this whole time. So now that you're introducing them, you have a clean read because your body has been able to break down any sort of antibodies that were fighting off, let's say, inflammatory food. So initially, first and foremost, it's important to do fats as you've been doing. So one serving does it initially when you first begin because if you add in too much too quick, it kind of can loosen up your stool sometimes. So we like to start with one serving. One serving can look like one tablespoon of oil. It can look like one tablespoon of seeds, a rough handful of nuts if you wanted. You can do 2 ounces of olives, 4 to 5 ounces of, let's say like a fattier protein. So maybe something like a salmon if you tolerate that well, or maybe a piece of lamb or a nicer piece of beef. You're welcome to do that in that section. You can do, you know, coconut milk, coconut cream, half of an avocado. So any and all of those things are great to introduce. Really sticking to one new food each day, that's the, that's the main and most important thing I, I would stress in this maintenance phase period. So there's no length of time that you need to spend, let's say in the release phase. I really say like introduce the food that you interact with the most that you're gonna have on hand, or let's say you when need something quick and you grab something, let's say from like a healthier fast food chain, then you know what those fats are doing to you as well or those foods are doing. So once you've exhausted all the fats that you typically like to have or you know, work with on hand, that's when you can move into the starchy vegetables. So you can start introducing things like potatoes or sweet potatoes, beets, parsnips, turnips. You can even do something like high sugar fruit in this section. So if you wanted to add in some banana or some mango or pineapple, any one of the grapes, even any one of those more sugary fruits, you can introduce them. They are sticking to about half a cup when it comes to those portions. And you can, you know, do that in place of your non free vegetables if you wish, or you can mix them in with your non free vegetables. Moving into the next category is the complex carbs. So that's when you want to do something like your rice, maybe you want to do some quinoa. You can do, you know, lentils and beans. Those are a great thing to introduce in that section. And it's going to be around half a cup cooked. And then lastly is anything miscellaneous that didn't fall into the first three categories. So that tends to be more so of like your packaged products, even healthy packaged Products like a store bought hummus, let's say, you know, checking out to see if the oil is maybe something that is inflammatory or non inflammatory to you, you know, or maybe some of the spices can be, you know, doing something to your system, upsetting your stomach for whatever reason. Because I I that realization with chili powder and it's something I used to use religiously. Like it's I, I love taco seasoning. I made my own at home all the time. So I knew exactly what was in it. And it was only until then where I'm like, oh my gosh, like it's the chili powder. And it was, once I swapped that out, it was a completely different reaction on my body. So sometimes it can even be unsuspecting foods. We don't know. So what this maintenance phase does is it, it gives you the idea, it allows you to know, it allows you to see what those foods are, introducing them one at a time. So even for yourself, I would say like, you're welcome to, to write this into the journals if you so please. But even for yourself, having a separate food journal, like a reintroductory journal to show yourself, like let's say Tuesday I introduced avocado oil and I was great. You know, Wednesday I introduced coconut cream, had loose stool or I found that my mood was kind of, you know, swinging a little bit more up and down. So those are all really great things to know just to again bring more awareness. And most reactions, if they do happen, they're going to happen within the first 24 hours of eating that food. So for some people it can last up until 72 hours. And if you find you have more of a sensitive system, it takes you a little bit longer to get over things, let's say like a cold or you know, a food, you know, inflammatory food or what have you give it 72 hours, most people are going to be fine with 24. So reactions and kind of what to what A reaction is what to look out for. I touched on a little bit of them, but they can be such a wide variety of things. And that's why I say like the most important thing you can do is A, add a new food, but B, be aware to see how your body is responding. So reactions can include physical things. So you know, stomach upset, maybe some loose stool, maybe a skin rash, maybe it could be, you know, brain fog. You find that it's harder to concentrate for the following day. It could be the mood swings. I know that I played around with gluten when I was in that introductory period. And as soon as I introduced gluten back in, I couldn't think straight and I didn't realize how much of an effect it was making on me. Because I grew up Eastern European, bread and potatoes were a part of my lifestyle whether I wanted it or not. And so I was very used to including those staples into my, into my meals. And I, I never would have linked the two together had I not taken that six week break to see that. Oh my gosh, like I've been feeling so fantastic. My energy is great, I'm firing all on all cylinders and now my, my brain is fogged. Like that's interesting. So sometimes you don't expect it. So that's why I say just keep in tune with yourself. Even more subtle ways where you can kind of tune in for anybody that is tracking metrics or does have like a wearable or an aura ring or anything like that in your resting heart rate and your hrv, those are also going to be subtle ways to see if your body is responding in a stressed out state or in a more relaxed state. So if a food is responding well, you're, you're either going to see no change in your resting heart rate and in your hrv. But if your body really needed that food or is really, you know, celebrating that that food's come in, your resting heart rate might lower and then your HRV might be a little bit higher and then the opposite is true as well. So if a food isn't responding well with you, your resting heart rate can go slightly up and then your HRV can go slightly down. So just subtle ways to tune into yourself and then the final kind of like one of the big ways that you will notice, you know, something is really not sitting well, is your weight is going to shift quite a bit from one day to the next. So let's say you had, you know, a scoop of ice cream and you know, you just had one scoop that evening for a dessert, the next day you step on the scale and you're like, oh my gosh, I've gained two pounds. What the heck? And it's not that you ate two pounds of ice cream, it's that you've had two pounds of inflammation as a result of that food. So that's why I like to leave anything with multiple ingredients because you quite, you don't really know what could be interacting with it. And if that is the case, if there is a little bit of weight gain during that time, if you do introduce a food, give yourself two to three days for that inflammation to come down. It typically subsides in three days, and then you can continue adding new foods back in. So that's kind of the way I. I like to do it in terms of what I find to be the cleanest. But there's always different ways to find, you know, what works best for you. But making sure to keep that journal, I find to be very important.

Okay.

Yeah. Does that help?

Yeah, it does, because I. I guess I was just. I didn't want to introduce too many things too soon, and. And, like, I guess I don't really eat a lot of fat when I'm preparing my own meals, but the fats definitely come when I was eating junk food. Right. And so since I'm not really eating those things anymore, the only thing I really reintroduced was, like, some mixed nuts and peanut butter. And I actually went to my local store and I had them. They grind up the peanuts. Nuts, so there's nothing else added into it other than just the nuts. And I've been fine with that. So I want to move on to adding some. Some. Some, like, sweet potato. But I was just like, I don't know how quickly you introduce these different types of food. So. Yeah, so that's. That is definitely helpful.

Okay, good. Good. Yeah. And if anything else comes up, you know, please let us know. We're happy to support. Because there's different things that come up at different points in times, but showing your, you know, enjoying the process as much as you can, having fun with it, you know, creating a little bit of an allowance to be like, I'm doing this for taste testing. This is for science and for health. So, you know, the process.

Thank you.

My pleasure. Awesome question. And for anybody that is, you know, transitioning to continue on with that maintenance, you know, kind of breakdown. And. And for any additional questions that come in, please raise your hands or write them into the chat. This is not all about maintenance, but this is definitely something important that I wanted to cover today. So moving into maintenance, you know, initially, I like to keep the structure the same because we really want to focus on adding in those new foods and getting a clean reading as to what those foods do. After about, let's say, seven days of consistent fat integration, that's when I would recommend to. To no longer adhere to the 30 minutes of exercise. So you. I wouldn't say to go full throttle into an exercise routine that maybe you were doing previously. I would say start easing back into it, but you're no longer needing to just limit yourself to the 30 minutes of walking or stretching or yoga or whatever that joyful movement was for you. So the kind of ideal goal that I like to keep in mind for everybody is having at least two sessions of 30 minutes where you're focusing on strength training during the day, weight or, sorry, strength training during the exercise. So that is going to enable you to build up a healthy muscle mass. And muscle mass actually burns more energy than, than fat. So you're going to become more metabolically fit and keep that metabolic fitness even after moving from this program. So, so just as a gentle reminder, if you wanted to start even, let's say like two 15 minute sessions to begin and get comfortable with that and start seeding that in, that's a great place to start as well. And you're gonna be adjusting your portions ever so slightly too. So while there isn't an emphasis on weighing, we want you to start, you know, moving away from weighing. But know that you can always come back to it whenever you feel like things aren't looking quite, you know, the way that you remember them to or you wanted that extra, you know, structure in place, you can always go back to it, it. But the, the goal here is to have a good idea of what that eyeball portion looks like because you've spent that six weeks kind of getting into this routine. And there's also really great plates that you can buy that kind of section off the different, you know, areas of the plate. So you don't even need to have a scale involved. I know that they make them a lot for children, but they make them adult, adult sized too, so. And they're really awesome. So if anybody wants to have just like the simpleness of having it taken care of on your plate already, we provide that link in the metabolic reset group. But what you're going to be focusing on is adjusting those portions to account for any additional activity that you're going, you know, and doing throughout the day. So, you know, let's say Monday to Friday, you find that you have more of a sedentary lifestyle or you tend to be kind of more in place. 4 to 5 ounces of protein, 4 to 5 ounces of non free will typically be enough to satiate you throughout those days. If you're including more activity or let's say on the weekend you get out to, you know, let's say do a hike or you're doing more, you know, walking or, you know, sports or whatever have you. That's when I would adjust how much protein you're intaking, maybe increase the fat source from 1 to 2 or even adjusting the ratio of the non free vegetables. So again it's, it's difficult to say what's going to work for each individual person. That's why we have kind of like these flexible parameters so that you can explore to see where your sweet spot is. Because people are going to have different fitness goals, they're going to have different lifestyles and movement routines. So keeping all of that in mind, you know, and if you have any additional, let's say like exercise goals or weight training goals, definitely make sure to contact a personal trainer or join your local gym because they will be the experts in that. So that is typically the range that I like to recommend and keeping with the fasting, but not as tight as 16 hours of fasting, eight hours of eating. So now if you wanted to open up that fasting window to be somewhere around 13 hours, it can now account for a third meal if you feel like you would like it. Some people and, and often times actually a lot of people, they're like, I love the 16, 8. You know, it saves me time, it saves me energy in addition to that. And, and I've just gotten used to it. My body feels really good, I good and if that's where you feel good, great. You know, continue on with that if that's something that you know you feel great on. But to give you again that flexibility, as long as you're keeping around 13 hours of a fast, you're still gaining a lot of the benefits from the fat burning and then additionally from mobilizing excess estrogen from the body too. So you know, feel free to include a breakfast. You do not need to, but let's say you want to grab a snack, you know, or let's say you're, you're out for the day and you want something to kind of, you know, munch on or something just to have on hand in case anytime you are focusing or looking for a snack, focus in on protein and on fat. Those are going to be the two things that are actually going to help keep you satiated and are going to help keep the long lasting energy rather than something like carbohydrates or sweets that are just going to create that, that crazy spike and then a crack crash. So some examples of that of kind of like healthy snacks to lean on is I personally love making like little protein balls. So I keep a bunch of them in the fridge and, and I try out new recipes. It, it's, it's awesome because you can use whatever you have on hand, you know, whatever kind of nuts or whatever kind of base, whether it's dates, whether it's, you know, gluten free oats, whatever nut butters you have, all of that works with it. It just depends on what your taste bud buds prefer. So having some homemade, let's say protein balls, you can do something like, you know, nuts and seeds and bring that with you. You can do nut butter with a fruit, you can do hummus with some carrots or some, you know, cucumber or celery or peppers. Any and all of those are great snacks. Bringing in some hard boiled eggs, maybe some tuna, all of that would be great to take on route with you. And for anybody that is vegan, you can also do roasted chickpeas and bring those with you as well. The protein balls would be great for that too. So any and all of those options I would definitely recommend. So another important thing is to start taking your omegas again. So now that we are in the maintenance phase, for anybody that is in that maintenance phase, taking omegas to support not only the skin, but also your brain, it's going to be super important for you to fire on all cylinders. So including the omegas back in. And then a lot of people, you know, release quite a bit of weight on this program and they're like, my skin's different, you know, my body is different, I look different. Like, how can I kind of start working on tightening some of this up? And so lymphatic drainage is going to be huge. And there's a few different ways to achieve that. Some more passive, some more active. So what I mean by that is kind of in a passive way. Whenever you're taking a shower, ending it with 30 seconds of a cold burst, that's not only going to help to create more fat burning, it's also going to help to tighten up the skin and it's also going to help protect your skin barrier, your skin moisture barrier. So making sure your showers aren't piping hot, I know that that's difficult if you live in a colder country and it is winter this time of year right now, at least where I am. So, you know, doing a cold burst much easier in the summer when, when your body's more so craving it. But actually oftentimes it's a little bit easier to do it when your body is actually matching the temperature that's outside. Sometimes I find that to be maybe a little bit easier here. So cold burst would be great. 30 seconds and focusing on all of your lymph nodes since that's where it kind of stores all of that sewage. So, you know, if, if cold is something where you're like, absolutely not, I, I don't need to be cold right now. You can start with cool, you know, easing into it. It doesn't have to be a full fledged move, but as long as you're taking steps in the right direction. So that is kind of more. One of the more passive ways. Ways. Some of the more active ways that you can include more lymphatic drainage is doing something like dry brushing. Dry brushing is amazing at speeding up cell turnover so your skin cells regenerate faster. It helps with circulation and it also helps to rebuild your skin as well. And it helps to move the lymph fluid that's in your body. So you want to brush upwards so it can be a little bit energizing because you are obviously improving your blood circulation can create a little bit more energy. So the morning time is ideal for that hobby. And then it's great before a shower because sometimes, you know, obviously as you're, as you're brushing and use as gentle force as, as feels comfortable for you, but nonetheless your body, skin cells obviously are going to brush off and it's going to be microscopic. You won't see this, but it'll just be nice to have a clean body after you've done some brushing and then you can continue on with your day. You can even layer, do the dry brushing, jump into the shower, have a shower and then finish off with 30 seconds and then you're done for the day. In terms of lymphatic drainage, if anybody has, you know, a little trampoline or a rebounder, those are amazing. It helps to use gravity's force to kind of, you know, pull all of that, that fluid down and out of your body. I have this visual and I, I apologize for this, but I have to mention it, I kind of see like the, the rebounder almost like, you know, when, you know, when you've had like a, like a condiment and there's only like a tiny bit left of it, you almost have to like, you know, you have to really shake it to get to the bottom. You're basically doing that with your body and a rebounder, but much gentler. So that's going to help speed up that, that kind of drainage process and then, and then saunaing, you know, making sure that you take some time to really sweat things out helps to kind of mobilize, you know, better hydration and it helps to sweat out some of Those toxins. So those are just a few ways that we can start rebuilding our, you know, elasticity. We can start incorporating habits that are multi pronged, multi beneficial in, in a myriad of ways. So those are kind of the best tips that I have, kind of in, into maintenance and then therefore out of it and all to say, you know, like, like it's going to look a little bit different and, and then that's going to be okay. Things won't look perfect all the time. And what you want to strive for is doing the best that you can in each day and knowing that your best is going to look a little bit different each day depending on what is going on surrounding you and, and you know, the responsibilities or the activities you have going on. Thank you all for listening to my TED Talk. That was such a long winded answer. I could have probably recorded that and made a TED Talk, but you know, here we are. So that's, that's kind of maintenance. That's what, you know, the best practices and that, that I've been able to come up with as I've gone through it. I know many people have also gone through it or they have, you know, different tips and tricks and stuff that they like to use. So if anybody wants to share anything that's worked really well for them or something that you've continued to do, you know, even outside of the maintenance phase, outside of this program or even just life in general role. So, you know, feel free because I love being able to share and I love learning from you guys. You guys have such great ideas as well.

Melissa, I really hope you're being careful while you're driving.

Always.

Okay.

Don't make me worry about you. Okay.

I love how caring our community is. Thank you, Laronda. I'm glad that that was helpful. And yeah, there's, there's really no secret formula in it all. The most important thing is it's okay to make mistakes. Don't even view them as mistakes. You're learning, you're growing, you're going to be better for it and, and that's really all the point is of it all. So I just want you all to, to know that. Give yourself grace. Enjoy this process as much as possible.

This could be during release or maintenance. What is considered like the ideal amount of time for fasting. So I'm up to 18 hours usually.

Yeah. So 16 hours is when it's going to focus on more so fat burning. That's what's going to be your, your most optimal time frame with kind of the most amount of flexibility if you. Because it still leaves you eight hours of an eating window where you can fit in comfortably, either two meals or three meals if need be. But there's a lot of research that suggests 17 hours and above, your body actually starts breaking down your cells and clearing them out. Any cells that are broken or you know, let's say like cancerous or anything along those lines, any cells that aren't necessary, your body beyond 17 hours of a fast has like starts doing a clean sweep, if you will. So it really depends on where you feel your best because a lot of women, especially in menopause, they, they don't have the same hormone balancing that's going to allow them to do the 16,8 intermittent fasting window as easily as other women. So there's times where we do adjust those windows as well. So it's really keeping in tune with what feels good in your body. But 168 is kind of like that ideal where you're still maximizing on all the fat burning potential, you're maximizing on the estrogen release potential, but you're also not feeling super restricted.

Is that recommended really forever to, to try to fast for if you feel way of life?

Yeah, yeah. So yes, it is for a lot of people actually. So we like to give them the option of opening it up to the 13. The 13 is, I like to say, like that would be ideal if you can maintain beyond this program. So if you feel great on 16 though, if you've gotten used to it, your body's adjusted, your energy is great, you can definitely continue with the 16 8.

There's a woman on YouTube called Dr. Mindy Pels P? L Z and she is like, she's so enthusiastic. It can, can kind of get on your nerves. Melissa's nodding her head. Do you know what I'm talking about? She's, she's over the top, but she is a doctor and she's so into so many of the things that are on this program. You know, no carbs and that kind of thing, but definitely into the intermittent fasting. And so if anybody needed, needed a little extra background on that, she's all about it.

Yeah. Thank you for that Brooke.

Dr. Mindy.

Mindy Pels. Good to know. Yeah. So intermittent fasting. I know actually a few people recently have asked if you know, if they wanted to do like a 24 hour fast once a week. You know, what's the parameters around that. And I wouldn't encourage that during the release phase because again, obviously we're removing fats and I want you to have that, that sustenance, but beyond going into, let's say, maintenance, towards the end, even beyond maintenance phase, if that's something you wanted to play around with 100%, go for it. I would stick it to one max, two days a week that you would do, let's say like a 24 hour fast. But a lot of people feel great doing that on a Monday, for instance. So if that's something you wanted to play with, we can explore that. Thanks. My pleasure. Thank you for that information. And there's also in the modules as well, we provide obviously a lot of different resources in there, which can get a little bit intimidating because there's about 44, I want to say, different modules, but I say that to say there is one on intermittent fasting. So. And, and you know, it sounds like Mindy has a lot of the same beliefs and a lot of the same perspectives as us. So, you know, if anybod wanted to know more information, there is that module in there you can explore too.

There's. I don't know if I found it through you guys or just happened upon it, but there's an app called Zero and it's so easy. You could get like a fancy version, but the free version is you just press a button when you start your fast and then you press the second button when you end your fast and it gives you those numbers. So, yes, you're not counting or, you know, no math for me. So it's called Zero. So it's really easy to remember if anybody wants to try Zero.

Thank you for that. I'm going to actually write that in app for testing. Perfect. I am. I'm almost certain that was the same app that I used, the Zero app when it came to fasting on the program. Yeah. Because there was some days where, you know, you would miscalculate or you would forget this and that. Whereas the app is just, you know, objective. It doesn't care about your plans. You just click it and go. And sometimes I did find I was going into 17 hours, 18 hours fasting. And it showed me that I was fine to go there because I've made it to this point without even kind of realizing. So it helps to bring awareness to see, you know, how long your body naturally can feel good fasting.

Is that what you use, Melissa?

Sorry. I use fasting tracker on. I have an iPhone and that's a free one as well. And then it actually shows you in the different phases. So for instance, if you're at your 12 hour. It's like during this phase, phase, this, this, this and this is happening. And then when you get to like the 17 hours and it's like, okay, you're still in the fat burning phase, but also this, this, this and this is happening. So it gives you a lot of information as you make it through each phase of, of the fasting. So yeah, I use Fasting Tracker. I dropped it in the chat in case anybody else has an iPhone and they wanted to use it. It's for free as well.

Oh, cool, thanks.

Yeah, I started using, I started listening to Mind before I got on the program and the fasting app. So I actually started fasting before I started the program and so the transition was pretty easy for me. So I, I think even after maintenance, I'll probably still continue something similar to a 16 8. Maybe not every single day. But yeah, for most of the time I'm pretty comfortable with it now.

So.

Yeah, like green tea in the morning helps and just drinking a lot of water. Water during the time of fasting does help, definitely.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, great point. And, and exactly that. Melissa, thank you for bringing that up and, and for sharing that the, the, you know, fasting tracker. When it comes to hunger, a lot of the time is dehydration. You know, and I've mentioned this quite a bit on the calls, but for anybody that's hearing it for the first time, like sometimes we don't have, we. Well, it's not. Sometimes we don't have a separate response system in our body to let us know whether we're dehydrated or when we're actually hungry. And so oftentimes that gets. I love, I see the water coming in from Brooke and from Melissa. Love the, love the subtleness of that. That's awesome. And you know, and, and oftentimes we're like, okay, so we need to go and fuel ourselves with some sort of food. But often it's just because we haven't drank enough water. And that's what our body is craving with that signal. And that's why I always say, you know, grab a glass of glass. It could be a herbal tea as well. If it's before 2pm you can even grab something caffeinated if you wanted to, like a, you know, Earl Gray tea or something like that and drink that first. If after 15, 20 minutes you still feel a little bit peckish, that's where you can go ahead and grab some, some sort of snack or make yourself a meal. Hi, Lena, lovely to see you.

Hi, how are you?

Hi. L. I'm awesome. How are you doing today?

Today I'm doing really well. I'm glad I got to catch that end of the Friday sessions.

Likewise. Likewise. We had a, we had a big chat actually, all about the maintenance phase and kind of like breaking it down. And I know that you are navigating the maintenance phase right now too, so obviously we'll, we'll send this recording out. It was quite in detail, so if you wanted any, any additional info, most likely it should be there. I tried to touch on everything, but is there any questions that you have in regards to what you're experiencing?

I guess I'm getting mixed up with the day. So I think I'm on day 76. I feel like, I mean the maintenance has like an end day, which I believe is. It's 72, unless I'm getting mixed up.

You are 76, that's correct.

Right. But I don't remember exactly when the maintenance phase ends. I have to look back at my book. But I guess my question is like, at this point everything's kind of in and you're just kind of paying attention to how it feels or are there still some things that are cut out?

So I would say the foods that you haven't responded well with or if you noticed like your, your weight has shifted or you've noticed any kind of reaction, those are the foods I wouldn't recommend enjoying constantly. And there obvious reasons for that. You know, you want to make sure that you're feeling your body best, but the rest of the, the foods, as long as you're feeling good and sticking to, let's say 80% plant based or whole foods, you're going to be able to maintain that weight, which I know you do, you know, nearly 100% of the time. So your meals are super regimented, they look awesome. And, and, and that's going to help you maintain the new set point that you're at.

I'm hoping my set point still goes down a little bit, but in time.

Yes, yes. And it has been, I've, I've still been seeing your journals and things have been, you know, still moving in that direction. It's just going to be at a slower pace, but that's.

Yeah, no, I'm okay with that.

Yeah.

All right, thank you.

My pleasure. Awesome. And to your first question, so the maintenance phase goes up until day 72. So beyond day 72, that's when it's officially, you know, let's say complete. And then if there's anything additional though, if you wanted to add or continue to add in, you can still do so. So it doesn't have to end at the 72 days, like your introductory kind of period. It can go as long as you need it to.

Okay. Yeah. No, because I'm still playing around with dairy. I'm going to try to avoid gluten for, obviously, the health benefits, but I'll have it once in a while.

Right?

Yeah. And. And it's really just watching again to see the reactions that you feel and how. How your joints. I know for a lot of people I mentioned this a little bit earlier, gluten for me, created a ton of brain fog, but for a lot of other people, it can create joint pain. That's a very common symptom. Or, you know, like, maybe, like, soreness, or you're just unable to kind of function the same way, really noticing the difference of how you feel from day to day after adding it in.

But I just want to share, like, a short, small win. So this morning I was dropping off my kids at the bus stop and my son forgot something, and I was able to, like, sprint home and run back with it, like, no problem, because you just feel lighter, you feel better. So is just a good feeling. Yeah.

That's huge. That's huge. I'm so happy to hear that. Congratulations. And I wouldn't say that's a small win. I'd say that's a huge win for your body, honestly, to just.

Yeah, it just felt good, right?

Yeah. To just be able to bounce into that and say, like, I did that with so much ease. You know, what else can I do with more ease now?

And this is just like. I mean, everyone here probably doesn't know, but I. I was diagnosed with arthritis early, and so it's like, all in control. So for me, like, yeah, it is huge. It's a big you.

Massive. Massive. Well, congratulations, Lena. I'm so grateful to hear that. May that continue to be a theme that runs in 2024. Pun intended. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing. Any questions coming up for anyone. I know we've spent so much time on maintenance, but you are welcome to ask any and all questions at any and all points. It could be even before beginning. It could be way after you're done. There is no right or wrong to approach when it comes to health, and there's constantly things we like to learn and we like to share.

I have a quick question.

Yes, it's Rosalynn.

Hi.

Hi, Rosalynn.

I, I, I am just wondering. I got turned on. I. I actually used to do the five Tibetan rights years and years ago, and I just kind of stopped doing them at some point. But I, I got turned back on to them through one of the modules where Sachin is talking about them. So I was looking up how to do them again and, and there's all these resources, but they all have like, like slight variations to them. So I'm wondering if, if there's a resource that, that any, anybody could recommend, like, you know, that is a really good representation of what they are.

Thank you, Rosalynn. I personally do not have a resource to share, so I can check in with our team to see if they have any resources on the Tibetan rights so that I can send them your way. But if anybody from the community has any, any resources they're able to share, please put that into the reset group. Or you can, I'm sure, reach out to Rosalind, you know, individually, if you please. So. Thank you. Thank you for that question.

Thank you very much.

Yeah, I hope to come back with, with a good resource for you.

You awesome.

Thank you so much.

My pleasure. How is everybody celebrating themselves? So, speaking of maintenance and forgetting to mention, what is, in my opinion the most important thing when it comes to this program is finding a way to celebrate yourself. You know, I'm going to say this until I'm blue in the face, but celebration and acknowledgement are so necessary to anchor. Anchor and to feel the, the accomplishment that you've been working on for such a long time. So often we, you know, dream of and we envision ourselves at the finish line, whatever that looks like, and we finally get to it and suddenly we're here and we're like, okay, so what? Where's the next finish line? Instead of realizing that we've just ran a whole marathon and it was hard and there was obstacles and, you know, there was so much, so much strength that you needed, needed to endure that whole marathon. And so celebration just allows you to reflect back. It allows you to anchor in the whole process and show yourself. I set this goal out and I did it. You know, I've made it here and, and the only person that got me here was me. And so it's just a very empowering moment to then, you know, celebrate yourself and start focusing on celebrating non food related because so often as well, you know, we, we go on a specific program where we do certain things and we're like, we celebrate with going out to dinner or, you know, going out for drinks and maybe staying up with our friends. While those are fun activities, it's not necessarily in line with the health that you've just created and spent so much time working on. So I want everybody to start focusing on, you know, what's a way that I like to feel celebrated? How do I feel, you know, that I've. I've been able to feel proud of myself or I've taken the time to, you know, nourish myself in different ways. And so for a lot of people and for myself, actually, I invested in a little portable sauna after I was done with my reset program because I really wanted one and I was kind of like giving myself the gift of further health and it made me super excited to use. So that is something that I chose. A lot of people enjoy something like art or something like maybe a bracelet or another piece of jewelry so that you constantly have it on you and you can constantly interact with it and see it. So then it brings you back to that moment. You could do a getaway somewhere. You can do, you know, let's say even a half day to yourself or taking a day off of, you know, responsibilities for a moment and enjoying, let's say like a hobby or enjoying leisurely time. It doesn't have to be anything crazy epic as long as you're feeling celebrated and acknowledged. That is non food related. Related. So I'd love for everybody to start thinking, you know, what are some ways that I can celebrate myself? What? How can I get excited about achieving this milestone? Has anybody found a way or does anybody have anything that, you know, really brings out that celebratory piece or that you're really excited about? Personally, for me, me, I love additional health tools and I love unplugging. Anytime I can go back into the natural world is something that is deeply celebratory to me and is deeply relaxing. And that shows up immediately in my aura ring scores. It just shoots up anytime I'm in nature when it comes to my HRV and shoots down when it comes to my resting heart rate. And. And if you do have wearables, you know, check into that too. If you're using the 10 tags, see what is spiking, you know, your scores, see what could be kind of tanking your scores at the same time too. It's going to give you so much awesome information.

Can you mention some of the wearables that you. That you use most often?

Yes. So I personally love my aura ring. So that is something that I have an on and off relationship with in complete honesty because I'm very much of the philosophy of. I like to Be intuitive. But I do like to use metrics to kind of keep that objective nature so I can give myself and I can show myself what is actually happening. But another tool that I really love to use is the HeartMath. So the little heart math unit that is compatible with your phone, you can use to actually track your real time hrv. So HRV is a metric, you know, similarly to the Oura ring, it tracks in two separate ways because aura ring is an average of your total HRV throughout the night, whereas the heart math unit is for real time HRV what you're currently experiencing. So those are kind of the two main tools that I use. I also really love my inf. Or it's not an infrared sauna, but it's a, a portable sauna that I have. So I use that religiously. And then I would probably say, say, like there's so many different things. Like my castor oil pack here is technically considered a health tool, like my blue blocking glasses or, you know, a red light bulb. It really can be so many different things. The next thing that's actually on my list that I want to get is one of those inflatable cold tubs so that I can, you know, dip myself in. I don't have to necessarily go out and find a lake in, in Canada here I'm trying to make it as easy as a process as I can. So those are some things that I really love. And, and for instance, a Berkey. So like a water filter, that was one of the first things that I invested in. And then also a good air filter. So I kind of envisioned myself as a plant. And I asked myself, like, where is the most potent place I can make a change? And that's going to be sleep. That's going to be the air that I breathe, that's going to be the water that I drink, and that's going to be the sunlight I have or don't have. So maximizing those and creating those as best as possible and then all the little stuff can seed in through after.

Thank you.

My pleasure. I hope that that's helpful.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

I got the heart math.

Okay, good. Yeah. You have one as well?

Yes, I, I just got it about a week ago.

Go.

Yeah.

Yeah. So I, I'd love to hear how you like it. And I'd love to know also, like, if there's any, any differences in terms of your HRV versus that's calculated. Sorry. Through your aura ring versus the HRV that's calculated in your. In your heart math unit. Because again, they're, they're two different tracking systems. But a lot of people find that they're like averages are quite different. So if you do notice that. I'd love to. I'd love to know.

I'm just curious. I don't, didn't see where to find the HRV with the, with the heart mask because it gives you a coherent score is what I've seen so far. But I have maybe I haven't explored enough.

So that is it. The coherence score is the hrv.

Okay.

Okay, great. Yeah.

Awesome. Thank you for those questions. Any final questions coming in for anyone here before we end off for today? No? Okay, awesome. I know today was quite heavy in terms of the information part of things. One other quick update I did want to mention to everyone is I am taking temporary leave. So I am taking some time off for the next 30 days. So I just wanted to let everybody know that I won't be checking in during that period of time. You are in fabulous hands because Deepa is going to be overseeing all of your amazing journeys. She's going to be there to support you through the rest of your journey. So I just wanted to say, you know, have an amazing Friday, you know, enjoy your weekends. Enjoy and embrace restful periods in your lives. And then also so no, there are no mistakes. There's only learning that you can do. So continue the amazing work everyone. Have a beautiful rest of your Friday and we'll talk very soon. Bye everyone. My pleasure. Melissa.