She lost 7 lbs with 2 young kids, Living in Thailand.

Hi, this is Negeena Abdullah and I am here with Marlise. I am so excited to talk to you about her results from Spice Yourself Skinny. Marlise, please say hello. Tell us how much weight you lost in Spice Yourself Skinny and tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live and about your family.

Hi, everyone. I lost 3.5 kilos in Spice yourself skinny 6 centimeters from my waist. And I was able to use my pre mommy bras again, which I hadn't told you in the Facebook group, but that was huge for me. And what was the other thing I was supposed to say?

Awesome. Those are such awesome results. Tell me about where you live and about your family.

Well, we're from Argentina, but we're living in Thailand. We've been in Thailand for eight years already. And Spice Yourself Skinny is doable in Thailand, at least in the Bangkok area. I don't know about the other provinces, but it's been a good experience.

Oh, my gosh.

That's so great.

And you have two kids. Tell me about your kids you have.

I have a four year old boy and a two year old girl. Okay.

Awesome. Awesome.

They were born here? Yes.

Oh, my gosh. Well, it's been so amazing seeing you go through the process of Spice Yourself Skinny Thailand with your kids and really doing it and absolutely changing. Like, your face looks so different from before to now. Your belly looks so different from before to now. And just that you did that in Thailand with two small kids is incredible. So, Marlise, we've been talking for so long. When I came up with the concept of Spice Yourself Skinny, I actually asked, you know, would you be interested? And you commented right away and said that that was one of the things you'd be interested in. Tell me, what made you actually decide to join Spice Yourself Skinny? What was the thing that got you to say, I'm going to take this step and I'm going to join?

Well, I've been following you for a while and I tried some of the recipes from the free book and I liked them and my husband liked them. And I had told you before, I'm bored of my own recipes. I want something new, especially if it helps me lose weight. And also, I was frustrated because I hadn't been able to lose all the baby weight from my second pregnancy, and my daughter was about to turn two and I still hadn't lost the weight. I was about to stop breastfeeding because everybody said, well, with breastfeeding you'll lose all the weight. Well, I did with my son, but not with my daughter. And then I went to visit my family. And when I came back to Thailand after having been In Argentina for two months, I was at least 5 kilos heavier on top of. And I was so frustrated. And then right after that, we went with some cousins who came to visit us. We went to the beach, and when I saw myself in the swimsuit, I looked all bloated and fat, and I had never seen myself that way. Like, I'd never really cared about a few extra kids. But at that moment, I said, oh, I want to lose this weight. This can't be like this. And so I started trying on my own, and I lost some weight on my own. But then when Spicer Self Skinny came around, then I convinced my husband, and, well, finally he said yes, especially after a friend had offered me another weight loss program that was, like, at least four times as much money, and it was all about protein powder the whole day and all these weird things. And I. I mean, I really preferred the option of spice yourself Skinny, where you eat real food. And so that's what made me join.

Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. Well, I'm so glad you joined because you have made such a transformation. And I think it's been so interesting, you know, watching you do learn new dish, learn how to eat whole foods in a way that helps you lose weight. Now, how are you. Were you able to find the ingredients where you are? And how are you able to go about, like, cooking and doing that in Thailand? It must have been possible for you. Tell me how that was.

It was possible. No, I could not find all the ingredients, but maybe I could find 85% of them or. Or sometimes 90% of them. But I had to go to, like, three different supermarkets to go with my kids, and we don't live in the city, so I have to take a taxi. It's at least half an hour's drive to every supermarket. But in doing this, I was able to figure out which supermarkets have the best selection and where it's better to go shopping. So I learned a lot. And also the Facebook group helped a lot, because sometimes we would say, oh, I can't find any avocados. What can I do? What can I use instead of this or instead of that? So it was possible to replace ingredients or to just not have them and eat something else?

Yes, I remember that. You would. I remember avocados a lot, but it was hard for me to find that. And when I. Yeah, I actually ended up revising some of the recipes to make them avocado Optional or changing the avocado, because that was one thing I could see that was harder for you to find. And not just you, a couple other people. So I revised some of those recipes. But I really liked how you would kind of like, you would post in the group and say, I'm going on my shopping trip on this day. What are the things I need to get? And you would just get a lot of things. Like, you would get all the spices in bulk at once, and you planned ahead, and you actually got every. You know, you got most of it. The thing about Spice Yourself Skinny is it's okay if you replace ingredients and you use your things that you have locally. If it calls for a vegetable and you don't have that vegetable, you can use any vegetable, you know, that you might have. So you made it work. And that's amazing. That is awesome. Awesome.

We couldn't get fresh spinach here, but there's this vegetable called bok choy and another one. Bok choy. I don't know the difference, but they both work.

Yeah, exactly. Oh, my gosh. So, okay, Marlise, what do you think? Like, how did Spice Yourself Skinny help you lose weight? Like, what are some of the things that you did differently and that you learned in Spice Yourself Skinny that helped you lose this weight and actually make these changes?

I think the main thing that I learned from Spice Yourself Skin is the importance of being prepared, of planning the prepping, the having the shopping list done and then going shopping and then preparing your food beforehand. These days, now that we've been on our own, I've noticed that if I didn't prep anything, that's when I eat what I shouldn't eat. And so just having the right foods to eat and having them prepared beforehand, I think that was the key. If you can find the time to prep, then I think 85% or 90% of the battle is won. I mean, the rest of the problems are more around, oh, if I'm traveling or, oh, if there's people around, and if I'm eating with other people, what do I do? Those kinds of problems. But if you're at home or if you make your own lunches, if you've got everything prepped, it's done. And the other thing that helped me lose weight is that I was cooking healthy before Spicy Self's Kidney, but I think my carb portions were too big. And also, I wasn't eating enough fresh ingredients because, you know, I was with toddlers, and I thought making a salad was too much work. And now, yes, it is work, but it's so much better to eat a lot of fresh ingredients, salads and smoothies, to take the time to do them. You feel much better, you lose the weight, and so much better for your body.

Yes. Oh, my gosh. So I'm so glad you mentioned all those things. I mean, so prep, it's like, sometimes it doesn't sound exciting. It sounds like a lot of work. But in spite yourself, Skinny, we lay out exactly what to do for prep. You know, we lay out. These are the gross. This is the grocery list. This is what you can do ahead of time. And so that when you come, when it's an actual weeknight, like say it's a Tuesday, there's work, people have been working, tired, everything like that, coming home from childcare or anywhere, then at that moment, you really don't feel like actually cooking, like a big meal, you know, usually. So if things are already prepared and you don't have to think that much at that point, it's so easy to just put things together, you know, and just do the final touches, do the final cooking. So, you know, it's like, I think also the sisterhood group for that has been. I've seen that been a resource. And for you especially, you've really taken advantage of it, where you're talking, asking questions, posting. So you're not doing it alone. It's like you're doing it with a group of people. Right. So tell me about the sisterhood group. How did it help you keep the weight off? How did it help you cook, you know, regularly, keep on track during the program?

It helped a lot. Like, I think maybe around the second week, I was about ready to give up because I couldn't find avocados. And instantly I got a lot of replies. And honestly, I've been in a lot of support groups, maybe for moms or for this or for that, whatever, but I've never been in one that's so friendly and supportive, as friendly supportive as this one. And I'm very thankful for it. Like, I felt like we were in it together, and whenever somebody had a comment, we would reply, or if somebody had a question, we would try to help. And it's really nice. I think the Facebook group is one of the highlights of the program.

Oh, good. Yes. I love how everyone is so nice because they're really there to do it with each other and not do it yourself. Once you feel alone in something, it becomes harder, but once you people, it's fun and then you kind of look forward to doing it.

And sometimes you feel like, well, shall I eat this chocolate? No, because then I might have to tell the sisterhood.

Exactly.

Yes.

Oh, my gosh. So how did your family like eating this food? Like, did your husband enjoy it? And how did you go about doing that? You know, how did you and him go about eating? I know the kids are small, you know, at this time, but how did you go about cooking for, like, you and your husband and the kids? Because, you know, the.

Too many combinations of flavors. So when I cook for them, I have to just make it simple. It was more work because I was learning the recipes for Spicy Tail Skinny, and I was cooking for them. But my husband was very supportive. He gave me the time on Sundays to cook, and I actually felt like I had me time, so it wasn't so bad. And my husband enjoyed the food a lot. He didn't always eat with me because he sometimes has lunches, you know, because of his work, he has lunches with other people. But whenever he could, he would say, pack me some lunch because I'll be in my office that day. And he enjoyed it. We're trying to be vegetarian, so I tried mostly the tofu dishes. And with some of them I had a bit of trouble. Maybe I'm not a good tofu cook, but there were some that we really liked. And now that I've gone through the whole. The whole program, there's so many recipes there that I like that I don't mind the few that didn't work out. And to complete the program, because I wanted to do every recipe. Then I switched to fish for the last few weeks. And yeah, those were very yummy.

Amazing. So you actually did do most of the program with vegetarian recipes with a fish at the end, right?

Yeah, just. Just for the change. But I was very inspired by some of the sisters in the sisterhood, who, some of them are even vegan and they don't eat mushrooms or tofu. I don't know how they did it, but they did it. Yeah. So it is doable. If you're on a plant based diet, this program works too.

Oh, good. Yes, absolutely. Because. And I'm so glad that you were trying that. I mean, it's. That's so good. It's like if you can be vegetarian and you want to be vegetarian, then you should be able to do that. So, I mean, in all of the meals, I have a replacement, like other. Other alternatives. And yeah, there's gonna be. There's gonna be dishes you love, there's gonna be dishes you don't. And then that's what it is. That's what it is for anything. So I love how you actually made everything.

Yeah, that reminds me. Vegetarian replacements. I kept looking for portobello mushrooms all the time, because I know I would have enjoyed the recipes much more. I couldn't find them anywhere, and then just last week, I found them. Now that's how it is here. Like, one week, you find asparagus. Now I can't find asparagus, but I can find portobello mushrooms. Yep, yep, yep.

But you did. You figured it out. You did. You made do with what you had. Now you have to try it.

Yeah. So that's so good.

Oh, my gosh. So, and then what about the spices and the flavors? Like, did you enjoy your. Did you enjoy the process with the spices? Like, did you see how it was kind of making it easier to lose weight with that?

Yeah. It makes the food much tastier. And I mean, if we don't use spices, we need to. We need to flavor our food somehow. And many people do that with butters and oils and sauces and things like that, or those little cubes that are full of msg. So the spices are a much better alternative, and they're so yummy. I'm very happy to have learned about new spices. I mean, I'd never used smoked paprika or lemon pepper or many of the other spices before. And adding spices to desserts, I mean, that's like a whole new universe. It's been so much fun. Yes.

Oh, my gosh. Yes. Oh, good. And you became comfortable with using these different spices, and now that the program is over, is it something that you feel okay about? Like, you feel comfortable with just adding them and using them in your regular foods?

Yeah. Today I just made some grilled vegetables, and I didn't even look at a recipe. I just added.

Awesome. You just added different spices, and you just knew that what you were doing, you were fine.

It's kind of like after Spice Yourself Skinny, you stop being scared of spices, because at least as Westerners, we don't grow up using a lot of spices. Maybe at least Argentinians, oregano, parsley, and not much else. Maybe some pepper. So when you see all these spices, you don't know what to do with them. But with Spice Yourself Skinny, you get so many ideas that it's been really fun.

Awesome. So tell me a little bit about what? Like, you sent a picture that you looking amazing. Amazing in this dress that you were wearing. You went to an event. Tell me a little bit about what you can wear now that you weren't wearing before.

Well, this, I couldn't wear it before because it, well, it fit too tight. I have some white capri pants that I hadn't been able to wear for three years. Actually in the Facebook group I said two years, but then I thought, no, it's been three years actually that I just couldn't wear them because I couldn't finish losing the baby weights. And now I can wear them. The dress, that dress, when I tried it on, my aunt gave it to me and it was beautiful, but I could see my tummy bulging out and now it doesn't. I mean, yes, I still have a bit of a tummy, but with that dress, I look really good in that dress. So even though three and a half kilos doesn't sound like a lot, I feel a big change and I'm really glad I went through the program and I know I will still lose a bit more and it's good. One thing I love about Spice Yourself Skinny is that it's a way of losing weight without feeling deprived and without having to change all your habits. Like if you can get the prep done, then that's the main habit you have to have. And if you can get the prep done, then it's like the rest is almost done for you.

Oh yes.

I don't think there's any easier program than that. And also you can have a few cheat days and there might be some times where for one reason or other, you don't eat the right way, but then you can go back to it. And in other, like since I'm interested in plant, plant based foods, what you see in those websites, it's more like, kind of like if you eat fish once, okay, then you're not a plant based eater anymore and it's like you don't belong there anymore. And at least with Spice Yourself Skin, it's not that if you eat, I don't know, some sugar, then, okay, you're out. You just, you just have to go back and start again. And I don't know, that's what I really liked about it. You can still have your life and you don't need to make so many changes that it becomes overwhelming.

Oh, I'm so glad you feel like that because it's not realistic. Like when there are those diet programs or there's those weight loss programs and they tell you like, or you feel like you can't eat anything wrong for the whole time and when you do, you just say Forget it. And so that's why Spice Yourself Skinny is more of a lifestyle. It's more. Okay, well, I know that I'm going to go out on the weekend or this night, and that's okay to have that, especially. We actually plan in one cheat day a week where you can eat whatever you want, because we're going to have that anyway. Like, let's just plan it. It actually helps you keep going with your weight loss and make sure that's realistic.

It does.

So you would have your desserts, and you would have your other things, like, you know, whenever you wanted. Right. Like, whenever it was there, you would kind of. You would. You knew that you could have that, and you didn't feel bad, right?

Yeah. And really, you don't feel hungry because you're allowed to have a snack. You're allowed to eat all your meals, and they've already been made beforehand because you prepped.

So.

So it's really good.

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Okay, well, one final question, Marlise, tell me, what was something about Spice Yourself Skinny that really surprised you? You told us a few things already, so you could even, you know, it might be something like that. But tell me something that you didn't realize was going to happen in Spice Yourself Skinny?

It works. Sometimes I wondered, will I really lose weight with this? And, yeah, I did work. And I was also surprised with the Facebook group. I was surprised that it was so helpful and so friendly. And even though right now we're not doing the program officially, we're still communicating there, and we still have that support. And I was surprised at how much raw food I was eating. And another thing that surprised me was that I realized that I'm a mindless eater. Because once I started the program, I noticed how mindlessly I would go to the refrigerator to eat something, and, no, it's not time to eat now. And it started. It got me to thinking, why am I eating? Why do I want to eat? Because I had read your posts on emotional eating and all of that, but I had never felt identified until I did the program. And I realized, oh, I am an emotional eater. So it's been good. The first step to stopping this mindless eating.

Yes. Oh, my gosh. Well, yeah, you do notice, because we have our plans set out. Like, these are the things that we're gonna eat during the day. And then when you want to eat other things. Yeah. Then you realize, oh, am I hungry? Like, am I really hungry? Or why am I eating right now? Yes.

Yes. I'm just tired. Or not. I'M just stressed. Yeah.

Well, congratulations, Marlise. I mean, you look truly amazing. You really. I mean, I guess 3.3 kgs doesn't sound like that much, maybe, but it looks like a lot, you know? And actually, it is like, when you're carrying that extra weight, you can just feel it. I mean, and a lot of. For you, it also came out of your belly. It came out of your face. I mean, that's like. It's uncomfortable to carry around extra weight around your belly. So when that goes away, it's like freedom. I feel like. It feels so. You feel so much lighter. It feels so different.

Yeah.

So congratulations. You look amazing. Thank you so much for telling me your story and telling me your experience. And we'll continue to see each other in the Facebook group. And if you continue to follow it this way. Keeps coming off. I mean, it really just. It falls off. That's what it feels like.

That's the plan. Thank you so much for making this program. Oh, thank you so much for letting us enjoy its benefits.

I'm so glad that you enjoyed it and then. And decided to do it because. Yeah. I love how you said it works. It's surprising.

It works.

And so. Okay. Well, thanks, Marlise. And we'll keep up with you to see your continued progress as well.

Oh, thank you. We'll do. Okay.

Bye.

Bye.