MRP Living Light Q & A [Dec 15, 2023]

Sam. Good afternoon, friends. Happy Friday. Hope you're all having an amazing day. Welcome, welcome. We'll just wait a few more minutes for our friends to join us and I'm going to just put a reminder here, so. Well, and as we're waiting, if you could all share something in the chat in terms of what you're grateful for today. Go ahead and type in the chat. What are you grateful for today? Welcome, Beverly. Welcome, Carol. Welcome, Alice. Welcome, Annalisa. Now it's the holiday, so people are busy. I find that these last few weeks sometimes are the busiest of the year. So people are doing last minute shopping and all sorts of things. Welcome, Julie. As you're tuning in, let us know what you're grateful for today. Alice says, I'm grateful for the beautiful sunshine this week. Carol says, I'm grateful for joining this community. Awesome. Yeah, I'm grateful for. It's been like unusual, unusually warm for December. It's like such a beautiful day today. Barely need a jacket. It's great. Lots of sunshine. It's been beautiful. Beverly says we got some snow this week. It's been two years since we've seen our last snow.

Wow.

Okay.

Where do you live again, Beverly? Okay, so today I wanted to discuss navigating the holidays. I know we've covered that a little bit, but I do think it's an important topic as we head closer and closer to Christmas here. So, you know, just wanted to give you guys a little bit of guidance in terms of how to navigate the holidays from various standpoints. Right. I think sometimes we always think of food. Right. Which is of course important to help us navigate through the holidays in terms of what we're going to eat. But also when it comes to stress. Right. And sleep as well. Right. Those are important things that I feel like we need to touch on. Right. So of course it's a time of gathering for many people, whether you celebrate or not. Christmas, I think people in general during this time, just because kids are off school, we know, get together with our friends or family members, maybe people we haven't seen in a long time. And you know, of course that is super important for us and for our soul to connect with friends and family members. But we also want to honor our health and our journey that we're on and, you know, listen to our bodies. Right. So as much as possible, you want to try to stay on track with all aspects of your life as best as you can. Right. Of course, if you know there's a gathering on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day or whatever. It might be. You might have a late night, but the rest of the holidays, you know, minus those few days, you want to really try to get back on track with your health and well being, right? So when it comes to sleep, you know, some of the keys of good quality sleep is consistency, right? So once again, of course, we are going to be going into the holiday season where we probably are not going to be sleeping, you know, the way we usually do in terms of bedtimes. But as best as possible on the days when we're, you know, maybe not engaging in any type of social gathering, we want to try to get to bed on a regular schedule. Okay? So really making sure that you get your sleep dialed in on a regular schedule is going to be important. And then also, you know, from a food standpoint, it depends on the person, right? In terms of what phase you're at in your program. Some of you are on maintenance phase, some of you are on release phase. And so there's lots of different ways to navigate the holidays with friends and family, with, you know, when it comes to food, right. So couple things that you want to do when, like, I'll speak to those who are, you know, specifically going to be on the release phase during the holidays is trying to stick to the plan as best as you can, right? It may not be perfect, and that's okay because that's real life, right? In real life, we may not have perfect scenarios all the time, right. And the key is really trying to make the best of those scenarios, right? So just recently I spoke with a client who was referred from another client, and the other client is now on the maintenance or past the maintenance phase. And she did the program back in June and they went out to dinner and she saw that, you know, one of the things that really drew her into the program is like, she saw her eating, you know, quote, unquote, normal food, right? Like, she wasn't depriving herself. She wasn't eating like minimal quantities. She wasn't just eating like a plain salad, like she had a proper meal. And, you know, she's like, oh, if it resulted in, you know, 30 pounds of weight loss for her, she's feeling amazing and she can still go out and enjoy, you know, a regular meal. Then. Then, you know, I want to try this program as well. So that's one thing that really caught her attention is that she was still able to, you know, keep her meal pretty healthy, but not. It didn't look like, you know, she was deprived or anything, right? So that really was a Attractive element of the program for her. Okay. So as best as possible, if you are in the release phase, it might be a little more stringent in terms of trying to stick to the guidelines as best as you can, right? Trying to get your protein, your vegetables, your fruit as best as you can. And then if you are on the maintenance phase, then, you know, it may be your opportunity to experiment with a few things, right? If you want to have a couple of bites of that dessert or whatever it might be, you might choose to do that, right? So, you know, I think the main thing is just really trying to enjoy the social, social connections, right? We don't want to over emphasize food, right? Enjoying, because there's benefits in terms of like, yes, we may not eat quote unquote, perfectly, but you know, being surrounded by loved ones and friends and family is so good for the soul, right? So really try to focus more on those elements and not just the food, right? And sometimes the stress of what, what to eat, what not to eat can really, you know, over overtake our, you know, our, our holidays. And we don't want it to be like that, right? So really trying to make the best choices as possible, really being more in tune with our bodies and how certain things make us feel is going to be key as we navigate the holidays, right. If you are invited to someone's house and you're not sure what's going, you know, you can take a dish with you, you can eat a little bit before you go. So these are all like little tips in terms of how to navigate going to other people's house, right. You can also share with them that at this moment, you know, you're not eating particular foods. And a lot of times I find that friends and family members will accommodate. Right? And eventually, you know, for us, for example, we've been gluten free for almost 13 and our, like, everyone in our, you know, friends and family all know that we're gluten free and all will make special accommodations for us if we are having some sort of family gathering, right? So eventually people will, you know, know what is quote, unquote allowed in your wheelhouse and what's not. Right? And most, I find friends and family members are going to be pretty respectful and accommodating of that. Okay. So I guess I'll just kind of go around the circle here in terms of who I see on the screen and you know, you can kind of share if you have any questions or comments or, you know, what's kind of working for you, what might not Be working for you or where you need some more support. Okay. So Beverly, if you want to go in and go ahead and unmute, you can go first.

Yeah.

You were talking about being at family gatherings and still being careful and avoiding things you know you shouldn't and that kind of thing. I've been reading labels and avoiding certain foods for years, probably, probably most of my, at least since my mid-20s when I confirmed a walnut allergy.

Okay.

And my sister in law had a really bad bout of diverticulitis and now she is avoiding everything and she said, I understand what you're going through, Bev.

Yeah.

Now they know, right? Yeah. Huh. Okay, good. So I guess they're pretty accommodating if you go over.

Oh yeah, yeah, sometimes. In fact, I have one sister in law whose partner always makes sure there's something gluten free for me. A couple years ago they had put the stuffing in their turkey and so she has her own rotisserie and she wrote history to turkey breast for me. And yeah, it was. So, yeah, I have some pretty very supportive family members.

Okay, good, Excellent. That's great. Do you have any questions about. It doesn't just have to be about the holidays, but about anything in general.

Not at the moment. Okay, I'm sure I'll think of them later.

Okay, awesome. Thank you so much for sharing. Hey, Julie. Julie's next. You can go ahead and unmute.

Hi everyone. I don't talk too much on, on Zoom. So let me think. I, you know, I started the program on the 25th or so of November, so I'm three weeks in. I was not, I mean, I was losing a pound or so here and there and then I gain a little, then I'd lose a little and, but I crossed some paths of like, I went from the, the obesity mark to overweight and I, so I've been stuck at the 180, 170 for so many years of my life since I got married. Okay. And I've crossed that point too. I'm now at like 166.

Wow. Congratulations.

Yeah, yeah. Actually this morning was a good one. I, yeah, it was a good one.

But I, I, that must make you feel really good.

It does. I, I've embraced hunger. You know, it's good to be hungry, it's not good to be over. And I can't tell you all the breakthroughs. I mean, I think I even have eyebrows growing back in.

Amazing.

I haven't, Yeah. I mean if, Yeah, I don't want to take up all the time But I just, I'm not an unhealthy person. But I just think, you know, as I get older, little things show up and those little things are gone. So it's just, I feel amazing. So that's enough to keep me going through the holiday. We don't, I just have my husband, my mother in law and we might go to my relatives this week but, or next week. But I, I, my cousin's also on a path kind of the same way. So I feel like I have some people in my, in my camp.

Yeah, good. Which is very helpful. Right. When you're going through it is, you know, having people who are maybe going through a, some, you know, similar journey or path that understand. Right. That, yeah. So that, that's really important to have that. So that's great that you have that support system because, you know, sometimes we come across certain family members who are trying to sabotage us. Right. Maybe consciously, unconsciously. So it's important to have people that understand the journey you are on, maybe are on a similar journey or path and are supportive.

Yeah. I'll just say this one last thing. So, yeah, my husband and my mother in law do not like how I cook and how I eat typically because I always do try to be healthy. Even prior to this. My mother in law is like from, she's from Spain and she loves to cook. She's getting older and can't really cook as she used to. So you know, of course there's that to live up to. And so, you know, something. Well in the way it's kind of good because then I can just have my little menu and do my little thing. But I told her what I was making for lunch today and ended up sharing with her, so she enjoyed it. We had fish.

Okay, good.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sometimes it's harder to get people who are more stuck in their ways to open up and try something different. And when they finally do, it's, you know, surprisingly they enjoy it. Right. For the most part.

So, yeah. So I think she was shocked.

Yeah. Because, you know, one of the, one of the beliefs that we want people to overcome is that healthy food can taste good. It's just a limiting belief that a lot of people have that healthy food doesn't taste good or whatever it might be. But we want to really instill the belief that healthy food can still taste good because that's just the limiting belief that someone might have.

Yeah, yeah. And I'll just one more thing.

She, yeah, of course.

The way she used to cook, she'll empty the Water out of a can of beans and fill it with olive oil. So olive oil is healthy, but is it that healthy? You know, I mean, hence the 30 pounds I gained when I. When we married.

Yeah. And I think it's. It's all about, you know, I don't want to use this word. Like, sometimes it can have, like, an. Not a negative connotation, but it is all about moderation and the. The right quantities that we eat things in. Right. Even though it's super healthy, a healthy fat, you know, has been touted in the Mediterranean diet. We want to eat the right amounts.

Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, just, you know, when I saw, like, I actually follow recipes because I don't. I'm not much of a cook. And when it says, you know, a tablespoon and a half of olive oil, and I'm not doing olive oil right now, but I use that, I'm thinking, I wonder if that's enough, because I'm watching her make potatoes in, like, half a can of oil anyway.

Yeah, yeah. So it's just a little. Can go a long way when we get used to, you know, using the right amounts.

Yeah. I've always liked to steam food, so, I mean, I do like that very much.

Yeah. And oils, obviously, do add a lot of great flavor to our food, but we can also, you know, really use spices and herbs to flavor our food as well. Right. So. And that's what we really wanted you to get used to in the release phase is, you know, because you're taking up the fats temporarily, is really trying to flavor your food with, you know, healthy herbs and spices. And even, you know, I think there's a book that I read recently called the Salt Fix, and they're using the right types of salt. Right. Because processed table salt is very salty. Right. Even if you put a little bit. But if you use, like, you know, Celtic salt or Himalayan salt or, you know, Redmond sea salt, these salts are not as salty. Right. And are actually very, very good for you because they have a lot of natural minerals and are very hydrating to the body. Right. So some people try to shy away from salt, but I actually encourage salt use, of course, you know, once again, not overdoing any. Any particular food or food group, but having the right amount of salt in our food and our diet is actually, you know, really good for you. Right. So even on the release phase, for many of you, we recommend adding salt, a little bit of, you know, unrefined sea salt to your water. Right. Because as you lose fat and as you lose weight, you. You. You waste a lot of salt. And when we don't have adequate salt levels, then that can cause insulin resistance. So we want to make sure we have the right amount of salt in our body so that you become more sensitive to insulin. Okay. Anything else you wanted to share?

No. Well, I'm sure I'll have more the next time, so I'm good.

Okay. And what day are you on of the program?

I just filled out my paperwork. I. I'm gonna say, well, I'm three weeks in, so this is my three weeks in.

Okay. Wow. So lots of great benefits in just three weeks. Yeah. Okay, good. Excellent. And you're good for, like, Christmas. You got plan sorted out in terms of what you're gonna do?

You know, I mind somehow not being a cook and stressing over meals because when it's my turn to provide dinner, it's a stress. But, yes, I've been able to just. These things have just come together. I just. I do my little grocery shopping for what I want that week, and once I start cooking, it's. I do like. I cook for two or three days or the week, and. And that really helps a lot. So, y. Yeah, I. I also order from a farmer's market. I have.

Okay.

Food delivered to me, so we. I incorporate that into our meals, but now I'm more focused on what. What's for me on that. Okay. And one of the things they have is like, a sheet pan of. Which I can just do by salt. A sheet pan of. Of squash. Different squash. So. And I really. I. Once I eat, I'm great. I mean, the meal is perfect. I'm not stuffed. I don't feel anything negative. And I'm not. I'm satiated. I'm not starving afterwards. I mean, and. And I'm glad we have fruit. There was another diet I want to. I don't want to call it diet, but another program. It was the stupidest program ever saw. And, yes, I wasted money on that. But you could have one meal, and then you had these fuelings or whatever. And I'm like, well, I'd rather have just two regular meals, but the fuelings that they give you, it was not even real food. I was so disgusted. And so I totally. I mean, obviously stop that right away.

Yeah.

But, yeah, it's. This is amazing. I mean, this is exactly. It's amazing.

Good.

Excellent. Awesome. I'm so happy. And I think, you know, that's important that you point that you brought up is like the program. Whatever program we embark on like, whatever strategy we use to lose the weight has to be, you know, maybe not. Like, of course, with the maintenance phase, we add some fats back in and things like that, but for the most part, you know, if we're doing something to release the fate, that fate weight that's not very sustainable, like long term, then it's just not going to work. Right. Where something like this, two meals a day, eating whole foods, lots of fruits, vegetables, protein, you know, and then when we add the fats back in, like it's. It's very sustainable long term. Yeah. Right. Okay, good. Excellent. Nadia, if you want to go ahead and unmute, do you have any questions or any comments that you want to share with the group?

Hi there. Can you hear me?

Yep, we can hear you.

Perfect. At first I didn't have a question, but now when I think about it, I do. I'm just. I'm on my last day of release.

Okay.

Tomorrow I stop the, the. I stopped the spray till Monday. And my question is, as I go into maintenance, from what I read, I understand that it's, let's say one week is fat, so I'll try the olive oil, the avocado and that sort of thing. But I'm also leading into the holidays. So do I also. Can I switch it up where I do one day dairy, one day carbs, one day oils, or does it have to stay within that category?

Not necessarily. You know, you can do it that way, but the key is just trying to reintroduce one new food each day and not like four or five. Right, right. Because the maintenance phase, in my opinion, is more important than the release phase. Because the maintenance phase is where you can really determine what's, you know, working for you and what's not. Right. So let's say you do introduce cheese back in. Right. If you feel like. And. And a reaction to a food can be anything. It can be a skin reaction, it could be a headache, it could be an upset stomach, it could be like feeling really tired after you eat the food. So you really want to, you know, tap into your body and, and how you're feeling immediately after you eat the food. And basically, if you introduce two things on the same day, then you don't know what's causing what. Right. So that's why we try to have you just do one new food. But it doesn't necessarily have to be within that same category.

Okay.

Okay. And if you do experience a reaction, then we say, you know, cut it out for another week or two and then try it again. And if that same reaction occurs, then you kind of know that that food is probably not, you know, working for you.

Okay, it's good to know. Thank you.

Yeah, no worries. No worries. Any other questions? Oh, where is she? Any other questions? Nadia?

Sorry, no, not for me. Thank you.

Okay, good. And how did your release phase go?

The release phase was actually really easy. I lost 13 pounds.

Congratulations.

I had no problems with the meals. I've, I've got a little creative and kind of made my own thing, but within the limits of what was on the list of the approved items.

And I do have more energy.

The only thing is I'm still really focusing on getting my sleep just a little bit better. I'm, I'm still, there's still days. I'm getting five hours or so, but there are more days that's better than none. So it's still in progress. But yes, it's worked so far for me.

Okay, good. Yeah. And, you know, it's like, like you've mentioned a work in progress, a good tool that you might want to consider if, you know, if someone's thinking about, oh, what can I get Nadia for Christmas is a OURA ring. Because the OURA ring can really help with behavior change around sleep because it's going to give you a daily score in terms of how well you slept and give you more insights into your sleep. So it'll, you know, let you know how much REM sleep you had versus deep sleep versus how many times you know, you were awake throughout the night and especially as you go into maintenance. It's nice because let's say you were to introduce like rice, right. Or whatever food it might be. Some of the data points within the OURA ring in terms of what it measures like resting heart rate or heart rate variability. If, for example, you don't react very well to a certain food, then. And there's, you know, obviously no other overt variables that day. But if that's kind of, you know, you have a quote unquote normal day and you do reintroduce rice back in. And then you see the next day your resting heart rate drastically went up and your HRV drastically went down, then, you know, it might be an indication that that food was a stressor on your body. So it gives you like additional data points in terms of not just sleep, but how your body reacts to certain stressors. And, you know, the nice thing I like about it is kind of like, it's kind of like an accountability partner because it gives you a score for Your sleep. And, you know, with that awareness, it's like, okay, I went to bed really late. Look how crappy my score is. Let's see if I go to bed a little bit earlier, if that, you know, makes an impact with my score or not. So just something, you know, to maybe think of is, you know, investing in ordering. Sometimes we have coupon codes, so if you are thinking of getting one, then just reach out to us and we'll let you know if we have a coupon code for. Usually it's like 40 or $50 off.

Right now I use. I have a Samsung Galaxy watch that I track my sleep, so that's where I see the scores and whatnot. But it doesn't do anything in terms of when I eat a meal and what my resting heart rate is at.

Yeah. And yes, the only thing with that is I know from the sleep trackers that are out on the market, the Oura ring is one of the most accurate, number one. And number two, the nice thing about it is you can put it on airplane mode, which can be really helpful because it, you know, sometimes for some people, they're very sensitive to EMFs, and you can turn it on airplane mode so that, you know, it's not emitting the EMFs. Okay.

Okay, good. I'll add it to my list.

Yeah, no worries at all.

Thank you.

You're welcome. Okay, next we have Julie. Julie, if you want to go ahead and unmute, I know you had a comment in the chat. You can go ahead and mute and share. Okay. I think she's driving. So, Julie, I know you were on the program earlier in the year, I think you said since July. So in terms of the maintenance phase, I'm assuming you introduce foods back in, like healthy fats. So I think your comment was about hunger. So a couple of ways to navigate hunger is making sure you're adding enough of the healthy fats back in. And then you can always increase your protein. Especially for those of you who, you know, introduce some activity levels back in after the release phase. Um, you know, we really want to encourage. Of course, on the release phase, we recommend keeping things pretty light, but then on the maintenance phase, at least two to three days of strength training or resistance training, using your own body weight, going for walks, and, you know, staying pretty active. So on those days when you are more active, you can always increase your protein a little bit to like 5 or 6 ounces. So that can really help with making you feel more satiated and not as hungry as well. And then the vegetables in General, you know, we kind of on the release, on the maintenance phase or and beyond the maintenance phase, we usually will say to increase vegetables to about 6 ounces and you don't have to delineate between free and non free. You can, you know, kind of have. Have vegetables, like group them all together and have six ounces total. Okay. So I would say make sure you're having healthy fats, increase your protein and make sure you're getting enough of the vegetables. And sometimes for some people after the maintenance, I think one thing that kind of gets missed sometimes is people forget to have their fruit. So you still want to make sure you're having your fruit after your meal too. Okay. If you are not driving, you can obviously unmute and share with us. But those are just some tips for you based on your comment.

Oh, hi, I am muted.

Okay, awesome. Yep, we can hear you.

Okay, thank you. So I am driving, but I put my phone down. But anyway, so how much oil can you actually have?

So good question. So I would say we. Did you see the beyond maintenance guidelines that we have in the modules?

Yeah, I don't remember.

Okay.

So typically a serving of fat is going to be. I'm just going to pull it up here so I can give you the exact amount and you can have like, I would say at least, obviously you want to have at least one serving. In some cases, you know, you can have like one to two servings. But let me just pull it up here. Okay. So. Alice, if you have it handy, let me know.

And my. Can I go ahead and talk? Is that okay?

Yep, yep, go ahead.

Okay. My other question is I do make a shake and I take it with me now and I put everything in it. I mean it's really low calories. Like, you know, you're talking about hemp seeds, chai seeds, vegetable powder, etc. Is. Is it bad to like just keep mixing a lot of different things together? Like somebody told me you're just putting way too much in there, but I mean, I don't think I'm putting too much as far as calories. But I'm wondering if you don't. If you went through the whole thing and you don't feel like you're allergic to anything. Do you think it's bad just to mix a whole bunch of different proteins and different fruits and vegetables to a shake? I mean, mostly it is a lot of powder, but I do put a lot of other. Well, not a lot because I'm watching the calories, but I do put like a handful of berries And a handful of kale in there and that kind of thing. Is it bad just to have a multitude of different variety of powders and stuff in your shape?

Yeah, I mean, I personally think it's fine in terms of, like, because, you know, I always like to encourage people to, you know, if you're doing something quote unquote healthy, like, I don't want to discourage you from not doing it right. So I think that's a good thing that you're doing. You know, in my morning shake, for example, like, I'll put. I'll do like chocolate protein usually. So I'll do my chocolate protein, a tablespoon of hemp seeds, about a quarter cup of walnuts, maybe a little less. I'll do half a banana, a little bit of cinnamon, and that's usually like my morning smoothie. Right. So I think as long as you're, you know, tolerating it, not having any reactions, then I think it's fine.

Yep.

Thank you.

No worries. Okay. Any other questions or comments, Julie?

And about the oil.

Yes, yes, that's right. I was going to get that for you. So the oil, it's. So there's one fat per meal, and a fat is, you know, depending on the, the type of fat, it's going to be about a tablespoon of nut butter, a tablespoon of oil, 2 tablespoons of salad dressing, 2 ounces of avocado, half an ounce of nuts or seeds, and then two, two ounces of olives. So those are the.

You didn't say anything about the MTC oil. How much, how much of that can you have a day?

That's gonna, that's gonna be a tablespoon as well.

Oh, maybe I'm not having. Having enough oil then. Okay.

Yeah, so try to increase that a little bit and then see how you, how you do with that, because the fats will obviously help you feel more satiated.

Okay, great. Thank you.

Yep, no worries. Okay, next we have Carol. Carol is relatively new to our community, so if everyone can welcome Carol.

Hello.

Hello.

How are you?

Good.

Just reading all the materials and.

Okay.

Trying to get a hold of everything.

Okay, good.

And when do you plan on starting?

The 26th.

Okay, so my loading days are 26. Yep, yep. Okay, that's a good idea to do your loading days as Christmas and Christmas Eve. That'll be good. Oh, so are you going to do loading days, Christmas and Christmas Eve or.

26, Boxing Day and the day after? Because we're doing our family Christmas on the box on the Chris On Boxing Day.

So on the Boxing Day. Okay, perfect.

Yeah.

That's a perfect time.

Start filling up.

Yep.

Question.

Yes.

So I do that. I host the health call with Dr. Bob on Tuesday.

Okay.

Yep.

He. He talks a lot about not combining fruit and other foods. So I'm just wondering why we're putting fruit. Like, I want to know kind of the science behind why we're adding fruit.

Yeah. So great question. So the purpose of fruit in this program is to satisfy all the different taste buds.

Okay.

Fruit has a lot of fiber in it. So when you, like, when you juice fruit, then it's going to be a lot of sugar. But when you eat the whole fruit in its whole food state, the fiber helps to stabilize the sugar. The reason why we have it at the end of the meal is because it also helps to stabilize blood sugars. So if you eat fruit on its own, if you've ever worn, like, a continuous blood glucose monitor, you'll see that the fruit will spike your blood sugars, but if you have it at the end of the meal, generally speaking, it's not going to have that same blood sugar impact. I do know that there is some, you know, stuff that people do with food combining. So I think maybe that's what you're referring to. And for certain people, I think that it can have that effect where if you do have fruit with, like, your proteins or starches, like, it can cause some, you know, extra gas for people. But in general, just for the purpose of this program, because we are kind of focusing on blood sugar balancing for most people. Right. That's one of the big reasons why a lot of people are doing this program is because they have insulin resistance. We typically will, you know, make sure that the fruit is in conjunction. Conjunction with a meal. Any other questions, Carol?

No.

Okay, good. Have you read through the manual and everything? And good there. Okay, awesome. So just feel free to reach out if. If you do have any questions. We're more than happy to. To help you. Okay. And I know Ed joined us and stepped away. Ed, are you there? Oh, I don't see. Oh, there he is. Okay, you can go ahead and unmute. We're just kind of going around seeing if anyone has any questions or needs any advice or support around the holidays. So more than welcome to share.

I think I'm. I went to the eye doctor today.

And.

So the event that triggered my doing the metabolic reset was when I had to have cataract surgery brought on by high blood sugar. So I'm happy to report that's no Longer an issue. Even though I had to have cataract surgery.

So you don't need the cataract surgery anymore?

No, no, I had to have it, but I don't have the high blood sugar anymore.

Okay, good, good. Did you have it in both dyes or just one?

Yes.

Yeah.

Both eyes. Yeah.

Okay. Okay, excellent. Good. So you're maintaining.

I think I'm. I'm good on. I haven't. You know, I've been off of the maintenance. My second round of maintenance now for several weeks, and I don't think you. You were around. And I don't know if Anna passed on the message, but the. There was a little bit of worry from my doctor that perhaps I was. My calorie.

Yes.

Shortfall may have been a problem, and they've ruled that out as a problem, so.

Okay, good.

So I gained a few pounds because they had me eating between 2,500 and 3,000 calories a day.

Okay.

For. For an entire month.

Okay.

But. But it wasn't. I really didn't gain a whole lot. Maybe £5 or so. So I'm. I think I'm going to coast through the holidays, if you will, and then I'll get back to the program. Now that we know that that's not the issue, we can focus on the other stuff.

Okay, excellent, good. I'm glad to hear that. And just reach out to us before you do decide to do another round. How many more pounds are you looking to lose?

Well, I don't know. 60 or 70. No, I don't know. I'm.

I don't think you need to lose that much.

I don't know, maybe net of from my lowest point or from where I'm at now. From my lowest point, maybe another 10 or so. Not a. Not a whole lot.

Not a whole lot. Okay.

Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. So just reach out to us and then we can make sure everything's squared away before you start another round.

Yeah, yeah, before I start, I have to get more spray and more mushroom reishi capsules, so.

Okay.

Yep, Absolutely. We can have that link sent over to you to get that sorted out.

Yeah, no, I have. I have everything. I just need to pull the trigger.

Okay. Okay, good. Excellent. What other questions do you all have? Questions or comments? We will also be doing so next Friday is the 22nd, so we'll still be having our Q A. Just so you know, whoever you know is still available will still be here to support you all. Nadia, is there anything I can do to lose visceral fat? Yeah. So where's Nadia. Let me unmute her. You can go ahead and unmute Nadia.

Yes. So I seem to. That's where the bulk of my weight is. Is it in my midsection?

Yep.

And what you call, I guess, skinny fat? I don't sure, but I've noticed on when I weigh myself for the last six days it stayed exactly the same, even though my BMI index and everything else has all decreased. But that is the one point that kind of stayed the same. Is there anything diet wise that I can do to fix that or is that just I need to work out.

So is it when you did your measurements, did, did that go down at all, any inches?

Not very much.

Okay. And then in terms of the actual number of, you know, in terms of the number on the scale, are you happy in terms of where that's at or do you feel, feel like you want to get that lower?

No, I, I, I need to get that a little bit more lower. I think another 10 more pounds.

Another 10. Okay. So what I would recommend is probably, you know, you, you said you're going into maintenance, right?

Yes.

Yeah. So do the maintenance. And then, you know, for some people, they'll still lose another 8, 10 pounds on maintenance. So let's see how that goes for you if you, you know, but if some people, it does go down a little bit. Some people, they'll stay the same plus or minus two to three pounds. So everything is, everyone's a little bit different. But after the four weeks of maintenance, if you feel like you want to do that extra 10 pounds, I would probably recommend another round, which you know that, I know you said it went down a little bit, but doing another round will help it to get down even more. Now, for some people, sometimes that. So do you feel like it's actual fat or do you just feel like your abdomen sticks out a little bit?

I feel that it's fat. It's fat.

Okay. Yeah. So then I would say probably another round might be a good, you know, idea for you to get that down even a little bit further.

Okay.

All right.

And you know, as you're on maintenance, one of the key things I would say when it comes to visceral fat is really making sure that you, you know, of course you can introduce some starchy carbs back in, like sweet potato perhaps, or maybe a bit of wild rice, like the healthier starches. But for sure, when we start to add in, you know, a lot of like white rice and, you know, even breads and pastas, like, that's going to really contribute to that visceral fat. Because when we are in, it contributes to insulin, Insulin resistance. And when we're insulin resistant, that's when we're going to gain fat around the midsection.

So in terms of rice, is brown rice considered a good grain or not?

Yeah, brown rice is not bad. And that's where like on maintenance, you're going to really determine how it impacts you specifically. Right. Because let's say you have, you know, half a cup cooked brown rice with your meal and then the next day you see like the scale went up two pounds. Right. And that was like the only thing that you introduced then, you know, it could be an indication that that food is causing inflammation in your body. Right. And so you might, you know, try it. Let's say that happens, then maybe, you know, a couple weeks later, try it again and see if the same thing happens. Right, okay. Another thing is making sure we sequence our meals properly. Right. So having the protein for. Oh, sorry, having your vegetables first. Right, vegetables first, then proteins and fats. I mean, I'm sure, you know, if you start introducing oils back in, it's going to be everywhere but vegetables, protein, and then our starchy carb and fruit at the end. Right, okay.

And what about when you see pastas that it's gluten free or gluten free products that are out there?

Yeah, so great question. Like, I don't, I wouldn't advocate them on a daily basis, but if you're having them occasionally, then, you know, I think it's fine.

Right.

But you know, see how it impacts you. Right, I do. There's a couple of different ways to look at it. Like gluten free products from a gluten standpoint obviously is going to be better than eating actual gluten. But the problem is some of those gluten free products, if we eat too much of them, they can actually spike our blood sugars more than regular, like wheat bread, for example. Right. So from a blood sugar standpoint, sometimes they're worse. From a gluten standpoint, obviously it's better, which is why we say, like, try to have them in moderation. Okay, thank you. You're very welcome. Okay, any other questions? Anybody has questions, comments? And then obviously another thing in terms of the visceral fat. Sorry, just to go back to that, it's not always just food. Right. So, you know, I know Nadia, you shared a little bit about sleep. So really making sure we dial in our sleep, that's going to help with the visceral fat because that Also helps with our insulin levels. The more better sleep we get, the more insulin sensitive we'll be. So that's going to help. And then also, you know, as we introduce exercise back in, specifically more resistance exercise and strength training. Muscle is like a sponge for glucose. So even if you were to have like a little rice that day, let's say you tolerate it better. If you do like two to three days of, you know, strength training or resistance training and as we kind of build up that muscle, then it's going to, you're going to tolerate those foods a little better. Okay, so adding two to three days of resistance training and then if you can, going for like a short 10 to 15min walk after your meal can really help with regulating your blood glucose levels as well. Okay, thank you.

You're welcome.

Hey, what other questions do you all have? Questions, Comments. Okay, well great. Call everyone if no one has any other questions or comments. I'll let you all enjoy your Friday, the rest of your Friday. And once again, we'll be back next Friday to support you all. And as always, if you have any other questions then please reach out to us. We're more than happy to help. Okay, bye everyone. Have a wonderful weekend. Oh, one question that just came in, Julie said, how do you feel about stevia? So stevia. Certain people I feel like are very sensitive to stevia. It is going to be a better sweetener than you know, your regular table sugar. But it is zero calorie. But our brain is very smart. So sometimes our brain might still produce the same physiological reaction because it tastes the sweet coming in. Right. So it's still for some people might spike their blood sugar but overall it is going to be a better sweetener than like regular table table sugar. Other sweeteners that you might want to consider, I know they're not zero calorie is honey is a great sweetener. So some of those whole food natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup, I typically say to stay away from agave syrup or nectar because it is, it is very high on the glycemic index. So those ones would be okay. But if you know, obviously you wouldn't want to overdo it but a little bit of honey or maple syrup would be okay as well occasionally. Hey, awesome. Well, thank you so much everyone and we'll see you next week and have a wonderful weekend and make sure, you know, over here in Toronto it's nice and sunny. So if you are in the Toronto area, make sure you get out for a nice walk. Hey everyone, have a wonderful day. Bye.