Weekly Living Light MRP Program [Aug 25, 2023]

Foreign.

Hello.

Hello Sheila. Hello Beverly. Hello Kat, Barb, Deepa, Olive, Annalisa. Happy Friday. Good afternoon, good morning. Lovely to see everyone and their beautiful faces today too. Welcome, welcome. Hi Deepa, nice to see you.

Hi Alice.

Awesome. How is everyone's Fridays going? How's everybody's weeks going? You all know the drill by now. So we'd love to start these calls with a little bit of gratitude or maybe something it is that we're really excited to experience or that have experienced as of recent on the program. So I would love if we started with some shares as everybody is tuning in here. Feel free as always to use your voice. I love hearing voices, love seeing your faces. So many cameras on today. So welcome, welcome, welcome everyone. Feel free to write it in the chat if you're unable to respond via voice. But I would love to tune in and hear and receive everybody's energy. What is something that you are grateful for as of today or as of this program? I'm just going to go ahead and write into our metabolic Reset chat here just a quick reminder so everybody can tune in. But I believe I saw Olive's hand go up. Did you want to share something, Olive?

I just wanted to say this is my first video joining I just started.

So I'm just grateful to be here and just making the decision to be here. I'm grateful for. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Thank you for, for showing up today. We're super excited to have you and also to get you started on what is such an amazing journey through the reset program. So buckle up, you're in for an amazing ride and and I'm sure that there's going to be some shares here as well for anybody that is new. Also speaking to somebody that has done around on the program, you know and have a little bit of that share in that breakout. Might be fun to do today as well. Just to kind you familiar with the program and also to connect with the community as well as we like to do here from time to time with questions and exercises. So we will definitely be doing one today. I see in the chat some things have come in. So Deepa is grateful to be in Calgary spending time with some friends. Amazing. I hope the weather is nice while you're there. Enjoy the connection and the family and friend time. Annalisa is grateful for my daughter being able to go to university and play on the varsity soccer team. Congratulations. What a little athlete you've created. That's amazing. So I hope she has an amazing time. Is she going for her first year in university?

No, this is her second year, so she's playing. This is her second year playing varsity soccer as well. So, yeah, it's pretty exciting. I played for Waterloo and she's playing for University, so it's cool.

Oh, that's great. Well, good luck for this coming season, even though she probably doesn't need it. And way to go juggling, you know, sports and also going away to school. So, so, so awesome. Barb is saying, just got home from qigong class. A meaningful practice for me. Yes, I believe we were talking about that a couple weeks ago when we were doing that exercise. When it comes to kind of alleviating your lymph nodes, or I guess energizing them, allowing them to deto. So I know that you do a lot of qigong, Barb, so that's awesome. It's so good at just mobilizing energy through the body and its different forms. So if you ever wanted to. Like I mentioned previously, if you ever wanted to do a simple exercise, I would love to learn. I'm sure people on the call would love to learn. No pressure by any stretch, but I'm grateful that you're enjoying that practice so much. And I am super grateful for. For a beautiful day, honestly. I'm grateful for the rain that we. Last night, even though I was out, I was out at a concert. And so the rain didn't really help that whole situation, but it also cast such a beautiful atmosphere. And sometimes you might, you know, you might not want certain scenarios to happen, like rain at a outdoor concert, but at the same time, it's beautiful to see people accept a situation and work with it and not be upset by it. And people were still able to have a really good time. I was still able to have a really good time. And it just goes to show that mindset is really everything in those kind of situations, scenarios. So I'm super grateful for that lesson from last night. Five times a week in the studio. Amazing. Amazing. How has it felt? How long have you been doing qigong, Barb? And have you noticed any differences?

Okay, let me get up here.

Yes, for sure.

I've been doing it since February, five times a week, most of the time. And I've definitely noticed a difference. I've noticed a difference in the strength of my ankles. I've noticed a difference in my balance. I've noticed a difference in my breathing. I've noticed a difference in my reactivity. I mean, it's a thumbs up all the way.

Four thumbs up, it sounds like.

And it's a practice that I that I can do. I've tried other yoga classes and other things and I usually end up frustrated and in pain and I don't continue with it or I do it erratically. But this, I've been able to be consistent the whole way and I love it.

Awesome. Thank you. Thank you for that, Sharon. And what amazing wins, you know, since February, which is a bit of time ago at this point, but also not a crazy amount of time too, to receive all those wonderful benefits. And such a great compliment actually to this program as well since it's very gentle forms of movement but you're still able to move your body as well. So, so grateful you were able to keep up with that. Awesome. Great work. Great work everyone. Thank you for all of your shares. And as per usual, I would love to. I would love to do some questions, do some Q A period of time. You know, whatever is happening in your journey, it could be food related, it could be how to best get started. It could be, you know, general questions or maybe things that you encountered this week where you wanted a little bit more clarity, maybe a little bit more background as to why or, you know, just curiosity. I have the crush technique, which I wanted to do a live demonstration with everyone today, if you all are down for that. And then I had a little breakout session I wanted to quickly do as well, just to create a little bit of connection, reflection time as well for everyone individually, but then also that share. But of course, as per usual, questions come first. I want to make sure everybody has clarity. All your questions are answered. So feel free to raise your hand if that's the way that you. If you wanted to present your question via voice, feel free to write it in the chat. And there are no wrong or stupid questions, may I add too. So every question matters. Barb, I see you got a question here.

Well, it's not a question, it's more of a statement. I was away this week and typically when I go away, I pack all my meals, everything. This time I did pack a lot of healthy food and brought it with me. All vegetables, all good stuff. And I also allowed other people to provide some of the meals. And even though they said, look at look, we put extra vegetables in it just for you, Barb. They also put in cheese and stuff that was like, oh my gosh, I can't have this. But I did eat some stuff and I immediately noticed the difference. I do not like it when I have cheese or gluten or whatever. It's like, nope, back, back to. Back to my routine immediately When I'm home again.

Yeah, yeah. And you know what? Sometimes it's even nice to have that scenario happen. So then you have that confidence of this food did not respond with me. I do not want to feel that way. It is not worth me compromising how amazing I do feel for like that five, 10 minutes, whatever, have meal time. So, you know, while I'm not happy your body responded that way in. In underlying way, I kind of am because it's its own motivation at the same time too. So you really get to trade off what. How you want to feel.

It was visibly noticeable to other people. My legs really? Oh, my God. Yeah.

Wow. That was like three days. Yeah, that's a. That's. Yeah, that's a definite tall tale sign that your body's like, yeah, where we can definitely do without this. I'm grateful you had that experience, that it didn't go beyond that point. But now you have that added confidence of I know what I should definitely be sticking away from.

And also because the meal times were different, it's interesting because I noticed we ate later than I would normally eat at home myself. And then the next morning, I was always hungrier when I ate later. I was hungrier the next morning.

Go figure.

You get to learn so much, right? Everybody is built so differently and. Yeah. And then it just, it allows you to stay on track and. And know where you feel your best, know where you're eating time, kind of where you're getting into that later cusp and then into the morning where you're feeling your best, whether it be breakfast or lunch that you're enjoying first. So great insights, Barb. I'm glad that you're paying such mindful attention to your patterns and how you're feeling and how your body is responding in those moments too. So important, especially in the maintenance phase the whole way through. But I find especially in maintenance, when you do have a bit of new things coming in, that novelty of different foods where you don't know how your body is going to respond, it's a really great time to notice different cues that your body is giving you. In that sense. Some might be obvious with your legs, you know, swelling up a little bit, and some might be very subtle in terms of hrv, maybe resting heart rate going into the directions that aren't in your best favor. So thank you for bringing that, that comment up. Beverly. I see you have your hand raised. I would love to answer your question.

Unmute.

Oh, there we go.

Yeah, I was. I really don't have a question. Either. I just had a comment too. I tried making the lentil flatbread. I used a whole pound of lentils and I soaked them for a couple of days before I blended them to make the batter. So I actually, they were actually beginning to sprout. So I literally had sprouted lentils and was pretty good. It's. I probably did it wrong because I didn't because I used the whole pound of lentils and I covered them like 2 or 2 to 4 inches higher in water and it absorbed it all. I didn't know how much more liquid to put in to make the blended stuff. But I have discovered that they make a really, really good pizza crust. Yeah, I just put some, I put some pizza sauce on it and mozzarella cheese and stick them in the oven and it's really good.

That's great. Well, a way to get creative and to find a new way to enjoy pizza. But in a way that's so much better for you and, and so much cleaner when it comes to the ingredients and homemade as well, which is always made with more love.

So.

Thank you. Thank you.

I have to, I have to say I, I've eaten. Been eating gluten free for several years and I have been eating gluten free pizzas for several years and I've tried different crusts making at home. This is the first time I've actually made a decent crust at home rather than buying the ooties or whatever.

Yeah. And it's so much better to be able to make it at home because there are amazing brands that are gluten free that you can use and you can have kind of stocked up in your pantry. But when you make it at home, of course there's no added preservatives, there's no added gunk that you don't know about. You can control exactly what you're putting into that food. So the fact that it works as a, as a great pizza crust, that now you have confidence knowing that I can make a great at home pizza that's delicious. That's also still very healthy and nutrient dense. That's awesome. So thank you for that inspiration. I see a couple things coming in here into the chat. I'm just going to tune in here really quickly. So Irina is saying qigong is my fave. I did Tai chi this morning. My question is how much vegetables? Too much vegetable, even the no limit ones. So when it comes to the free vegetables, it is quite literally unlimited. So of course your stomach is going to stop you at some point because you're going to reach a level of fullness. So that'll definitely be cue number one. When it does come to the free vegetables as best as possible, I would say to put a lesser emphasis on finishing the free vegetables that you have when you've created your meals. So you know, let's say for lunch you had 4 ounces of chicken breast, 4 ounces of broccoli, 4 ounces of strawberries and then a big free vegetable salad. Try your best to finish the measured portions of food first before indulging in, I guess the free vegetables. But if you still have space, you can eat to your heart's content. So most people are probably to cap it after about 4 to 6 ounces of those free vegetables. But everyone is different and at the beginning I always say to stock up with more as your body is transitioning, getting used to not having that added fat source with your meals. So there is no too much vegetable. Enjoy all the vegetable that your heart can handle in that one sitting. And I see your question here also lectins. Which vegetables or grains? Lentils. Beans are off limits. So while it's while there are lectins in things like lentils and beans, anyone who is more so on the vegetarian slash, especially vegan side of meal preferences or food preferences, that is a great source of protein that is still coming from a whole food. So you are able to use 6 ounces of any variety of lentils and any variety of beans as your protein source. So as a vegan especially, you know it's, it's better to make sure to soak your beans and lentils first. So it breaks down some of those lectins that are inside of it. So that definitely helps. So a great option to do is just to have a big meal prep or a batch cook, let's say a bunch of lentils. So you have them in the fridge. So you know, soak them ahead of time. Make it three to four day portion that you can have of that, you know, do the next thing with beans or buy it in cans if you can, ideally in water, making sure the cans are also BPA free. So that's a quick and easy way to also have that 6 ounces of lentils or beans as your protein source. So yeah, so the way you can treat them is letting them soak. I believe it's around 8 to 10 hours beforehand before enjoying. Kat is saying hello. I'm excited to be here for the first time. Welcome Kat. Lovely to have you. Welcome, welcome. I plan on beginning the program this weekend. Can you the coaches and the participants provide some guidance and advice for getting off on a good start. So definitely. So I say step number one and something that would be really beneficial to do to get started. And you kind of see the prompts in your modules as well. So we have everything laid out as to kind of best practices before beginning. I think it would be a great idea to do a kitchen clean out. So really before diving into this program knowing that it is a lifestyle commitment that you're making by doing this program. Like while it is, you know, quite rapid results that you're getting on this program, the real, I guess magic, the real silver lining is including these lifestyle tips there, there on after this program. So what you to do is create new space for that new food, for the new way that you're going to be approaching your relationship with food. The new food that you're going to be cooking with that you're going to be stocking your fridge and your pantry with. It's a great moment to then go into your kitchen and do a declutter. Take out any sort of appliances you're no longer using. Check out the expiration dates on maybe some of the pantry items that you have. Have your spices been bought in the last six months to a year? Are they being stored properly to the part that they' still fresh? Is there anything kind of lingering in your deep freeze longer than it's needed to? So going into all those crevices of your kitchen of anything to do with food and any sort of pantry items and stuff like that and do an overhaul. The stuff that is a little bit more indulgent, I say put that off to the side so you can enjoy it in the loading days. I don't like to put anything to waste, let's say. So the foods that you've already purchased are already in your home that are more of that indulgence. Let's say it's a frozen pizza, let's say it's some ice cream you have. Go ahead and use that for your loading days. We recommend of course, doing a clean load as best as possible. But the kind of unclean or let's say more indulgent foods will definitely help get you to that calorie amount for the loading days. Much faster, much more ease. It might be a little bit harder for your body to digest and you might be feeling a little bit more, let's say like negative reactions from it or symptoms from that food. But at the very least you know it served its purpose, you've used it, you don't have to repurchase that item again. And it's out of your sight as you're doing the program. So there's no way of it interacting or kind of creating that temptation. So I would say step number one is, if possible, do a big kitchen, clean out to create space for new healing tools, for new food in your pantries, and of course, a new lifestyle that you can prepare for. Number two would be extending that even to your closet. You know, what are some clothes that you're holding onto that you are saving just in case you get back to this size, let's say, or you get back to this weight? Well, by even having that set of clothes, you're telling yourself subconsciously that there is a possibility I can derail and go all the way back there. This is my safety net. Whereas if you take those clothes and you take clothes that you know don't make you feel amazing, that don't fit your body the way that you want it to fit, that you don't feel great in, and it's not expressing your true self, I say declutter all of that. You know, go into your winter gear, go into any kind of seasonal clothes, any sort of sports stuff, any intimate wear. Make sure to declutter all of that first and spend some time, and spend some time creating space again for the new clothes, for the new wardrobe, for the new way that you're going to be expressing yourself, moving forward and then additionally, really focusing on your. Why I think it's really important to know why it's important for you to complete this program. You know, is it to look a certain way? Is it to release a couple of pounds? Or is it to teach your family skills that are going to help them create health in their home every single day? Is it to add 10 years to your life where you can explore or learn or, you know, fulfill your passions? You know what? Is that true? Why. Why is it so important for you to take this plunge into this program and have success? So I find that that's really helpful because of course it keeps you motivated on the back end, because initially there is that learning curve. Initially you're not going to really know what, how to handle the situation or how to go about the program and how to take on this new identity in a lot of ways, too. So by creating that kind of mental space of knowing that this is the reason I'm committing to this, I am choosing to do this. I am happily here, I am happily on this journey, and I'm doing it for myself. But Something greater than myself as well. So those would kind of be my best practice ways to get started. I know a lot of people here have done rounds, sometimes two rounds, three rounds, and I know we have some coaches on here as well. So if anybody else wants to share kind of how they best got started or what really helped them, I would love to open up the floor because we all know what my voice sounds like. I want to hear some new voices out here. Deepa, do you have any insights in terms of how to best get started?

I would say, you know, great tips that you gave there, Alice, but obviously preparation is key. Making sure we always have a good amount of vegetables and fruits and our proteins on hand so that, you know, if we're stuck in a pinch, we always have something available. You can always pre chop, you know, certain vegetables and fruits to have in your fridge for a few days. Also staying hydrated is going to be really important. So making sure that you, you know, have a water bottle and you know, like how much capacity it can hold so that you're trying to hit your targets for your water. Making sure that you put a little bit of salt in your water can really help with absorb, absorbing that water and maintaining electrolyte balance. So those are all things that I would say will make your journey a little bit easier. Making sure you get enough sleep, right. Sometimes we over focus on the food part of things, but the sleep component is super important as well as you embark on this journey. So really prioritizing sleep and getting rest, you know, not overdoing it with activity. So of course we want you to be active, but just keeping it really simple, like a 20 minute walk a day is going to be sufficient for this program. So you know, there's other ways that you can recuperate some time with the meal prep by, you know, not having to be in the gym for an hour. Right. So really trying to stack your habits as well. You know we talk a lot about habit stacking, right. So when it comes to sleep, getting morning sunlight is super important. So you can do that with, you know, going out for a walk in the morning, right. So that way you get your walk in and your morning sunlight in. So trying to figure out ways that you can stack your habits as well.

Thanks so much for that, Deepa. You're welcome. And yes, habit stacking is huge. It's kind of in the hack, I guess to adding different habit habits in and what Barb mentioned here and what you mentioned as well, Deepa, the, the preparation and the glass containers. So that was a huge, that, that was just a huge savior on the program in all honesty when I was going through it. Because you can get obviously a container that you know fits 4 ounces. So then you know whatever fits into here is going to be 4 ounces. And I like to prep my fruit that way specifically because I found that I got my dinner prepped, I had all those pieces together and then sometime fruit was off to the wayside or I would forget 20 minutes later I would enjoy it. So this way if you have a few 4oz containers, you could just put it with, you know, berries inside or you could pre cut some apples or whatever and just have it grab and go. So I find that that makes it a lot easier to stay on top. La Rhonda, I would love to hear your share.

Okay. Hi everyone. Hello.

Hello.

So as someone who has gone around and around and around and you know it, I think my biggest takeaway in, in everything that Deepa and Alice have said are key. I just would like to add to that. Just be prepared for your mental game. As someone who has or had over a hundred pounds to lose, I had no idea how many emotional and mental issues that I had all wrapped up in food, eating, hiding, I mean just all kinds of stuff. And it's going to come up. So you know, you can't really be fully prepared for it. But just be prepared to know that things are going to happen in that way. So be prepared. When you have a speed bump, I mean you might hit a plateau or God forbid you might even have a little uptick in the scale. And it's so because the program, you do release the weight so quickly if you go up 0.2 pounds, like if you, it. It can derail your entire day. And my husband's always like, it's not linear.

It's not linear.

But just be prepared for that. Don't get in your head about it and just kind of go off the rails. It, it may happen with the plateaus or this. You may have a slip up. Don't, you know, throw everything away because you have a slip up and say forget it, I'll just start over. Just start over right now and, and move forward and just don't let yourself, yourself, you know, beat yourself up about that either. And mental game, being present, being present. It's so easy for me to find myself eating things that I shouldn't be eating or eating at times when I shouldn't be eating. But if I'm present and, and Alice said something once that was Just so profound to me. Sometimes you might need to just stop and go, okay, today is Friday. It is August 25th. I am in the living room. And just bring yourself into that moment so that you can go, listen, I should not be finding myself doing things. I'm in control of my body. Why am I eating this? And really confront that mental whatever is happening at the moment. And then the last thing under mental game that, that I found is it's really important to. To not only know your why, but be confident. Confident about it and comfortable with it because your loved ones may not understand it and that's okay. But they might. Might say or do things that will kind of. They won't understand. If they don't understand, then they're like, you know, have some ice cream with me. And I can't do that right now. Ah, you know what I mean? Like their reaction, they don't mean anything by it, but it could, you know, it affects you after a while. So just be confident in it. If you can explain it in a way that makes sense to you, that's great. If they don't understand it, that's fine. Just say, I'm doing this for me and it's something that I need to do do. So that's everything. I. My mental thing is my biggest thing.

Yeah.

Yes.

Thanks for bringing that up. Yeah, That's a huge one. Yeah. Because we know, I think we all know here in this room, like, we need to eat better, we need to eat the right amounts, the right foods, sleep, exercise, blah, blah, blah.

Right.

But it's the mindset component that can be a struggle.

Right.

Because sometimes we don't know how to deal with those emotions that come up. So I'm glad you brought that up because that is. That is the key to the maintenance as well in the long run is the mindset component.

Yep, exactly. And it's really doing that extra heavy lifting of. Exactly. Like you said, the Rhonda is such a beautiful share of, you know, what is triggering it me to make that decision right now?

What.

Where do I feel out of control in my own decision making, in my own body, in my cravings. So it really puts the power back into your hands. And I love how you touched on the fact that it's not a linear journey. You know, oftentimes we expect it to be. And you know, because that's what textbook perfect looks like. But textbook perfect doesn't exist. And what re really happens in reality is that your body takes a little bit of time to adjust to the changes that you're making to the different foods you're eating, to the different way you're thinking. So your weight release is going to look more kind of like a staircase because your body is finding that equilibrium every time. There is those shifts in your schedule and in your routine. And it's not that you're doing anything wrong. You're doing everything great. And this is just the way our bodies work. And they show up for us every single day. We don't ever have to tell it to beat our heart or to expand our lungs. It does it all, every single day without us asking. And it will get down to that, to that beautiful new set point that you're aiming for and the journey. All it requires of you is to stay open to it, is to be open, to not judge yourself, to stay curious and enjoy the ride as best as you can. Have fun. Mary, I see you have your hand up here. I would love to hear your share.

Yes, a lot of it is along the lines of, of I think mindset I had read. I think it was in the manual or maybe one of these calls that it said it's only 10 weeks. So I kind of kept thinking of that. And I also had an event that I would say, okay, in 10 weeks or in, you know, 15 weeks, I'm going to be going here and this is, you know, it's going to be important for me to look good. So I often thought about that and I did put that, the pamphlet or the big sort of week display on the fridge. And you know, one thing that really surprised me about the program is that I've been able to keep the habits like I don't eat until noon. I still do that every day. And coffee, I used to drink coffee with milk and sugar. Now I just drink black with cinnamon. So I find that's one thing. If you stick with it, then those habits are just going to be there. You're just going to do it naturally. So, yes, Laronda, you had great comments. And I think it's just believing in yourself and just saying to yourself, I can do, do this. That's what helped me.

Yes, exactly. It's thank you for, for all of those shares. It's believing in yourself. It's knowing that I can do this, this is in my hands, this is in my control. And some initially that might be a little scary to kind of take on that responsibility, but then it becomes quickly empowering. And just like you mentioned, Mary, you could do anything in for 10 weeks. While it seems like a long period of Time. It's really that initial period where your mind is getting wrapp the new way that you're going to be, you know, taking on this program, cooking without fats, using the approved food list, you know, doing the spray or the drops every single day. So there's different things that your mental space is getting its kind of bearings around. But the cool thing about it is that they very much become second nature habits because it is a 10 week period. While it's not super long in the sense of, you know, sticking to this program. You can do anything for 10 weeks but it's long enough to then create and instill those habits. Habits and continue to do them because you notice the change. You notice how amazing you feel, you notice how great your sleep is, how amazing your skin is looking, you know, X, Y, Z. And so yeah, it's, it's, it's such a journey emotionally, mentally and that's why I say staying open is just the most important thing. Allowing to meet yourself in different ways and different sides of you too that maybe you didn't have a chance to explore previously. So thank you so much everyone for all of your amazing shares and I hope that that was inspirational to anybody that is beginning, anybody that is starting out on their health journey and wherever it's going to take them. So thank you so much everyone. I'm going to tune into the chat here just to see what has come through. I know a lot of comments are coming through today which I love. So let's see any questions we can cover for today and yes, thanks Deepa. Pressure cooking also really helps lectins break them down. So you can either soak them or you can pressure cook them if you wanted to enjoy them that day. For anybody that wants to use that, that is a vegan of course. Beverly is saying, I discovered I could eat a lot more vegetables when I reduce the fat I get. I can eat maybe six servings of fruit and veg when I have fat. I can get up to 9 to 10 when I don't have fat. Of course sometimes I'm not hungry and just eat the minimum regardless. Well that's great. I mean it's your body needing that extra nutrition and the extra fiber as well to help keep you full. And I'm sure it's just enjoying the vegetables too. So it's craving more. So which is awesome and it's a comment I actually get quite a bit once everybody reaches the end of their journey is I've never eaten this much in my life and you know, they've they've never eaten so much sitting down for both lunch and dinner compared to what they were eating in the past. Because they're eating so much more vegetables, they can eat so much more. The quantity has increased because the calorie amount is quite low, but the nutrient density is high. So people eat a lot more because they reduce their snacking too, which allows them to actually come into a lunch and come into a dinner hungry and actually needing that, that food, needing that nutrition, which is really cool. So I'm grateful you noticed that difference and hopefully playing around with some new vegetables because there's so many to explore out there. Irina is saying, what's the difference between using the coconut oil you suggested than other natural oils for the face and body? So I believe I saw Deepa answer it here. Yep. So it's, it's because it's fractionated, so. And it's also very clean. So it's just one ingredient when it comes to a moisturizer as well, which is helpful because your body is detoxifying quite a lot on this program because of course you're releasing your fat storage stores and anything that's stored inside of them. So we want to make sure we're limiting the toxic overload on your liver as much as humanly possible so that it can continue to detoxify and kind of handle the inflammation, if any, that there is in your body during that period of time. It's also a fabulous moisturizer. I've been using it ever since this program completed it over two years ago now. And it's just a fabulous moisturizer. It's one of the best things I've ever done. And it's great because, uh, if you're somebody that enjoys kind of like multi purpose, I'm very much. I like minimal things. I need them to be multipurpose. And coconut oil is actually one of those things both in its liquid form and in its solid form. So both of them you can use in multiple different ways. And again, it's extremely clean. It's only the one ingredient. So it's a great carrier oil. You can use it as a mouthwash. You can use it for oil pulling. Of course, you can use it as a moisturizer, as a deodorant. You can make a toothpaste out of it. You can make cleaning things out of it. There's, you know, there's no limit to what coconuts can do. They're quite literally superfoods in my opinion. So. Yeah, so it's nice because then it kind of consolidates a lot of different, let's say dirty products that you might have lying around with this one. Clean products that you can do so many different things with. Beverly is saying, I've been putting my garden produce in 4 ounce portions and sticking them in the freezer. Yes, that's also an amazing tip, kind of to prep ahead of time. Buying frozen vegetables too is really great just to have on hand. They have a couple of blends where you can get different cruciferous vegetables that are all on the approved food list or just a solid, you know, frozen broccoli, frozen cauliflower, whatever have you. So that's a great option to have as well. And thank you for that suggestion, Beverly. Barb, I see you have your hand up here. Would love to have you share.

Your comment about frozen vegetables made me think of this. Even though some of the ones I use were frozen, some are fresh. Anyway, I made a big soup and I recognized that and, and I'm not in the release phase anymore. I recognize that a lot of the vegetables I was putting in the soup are high in the glycemic index. I had carrots in there. I had butternut squash in there, which I think is high on the glycemic index. I'm not sure I had frozen peas in there. Any comments on the high glycemic vegetables?

Yeah, so I would say you definitely want to make sure to balance it out with lower glycemic index vegetables. So like your cauliflower, your, you know, your broccoli or more water dense vegetables as well. So you can definitely enjoy those because they're still whole foods, you know, they're still great sources of protein, protein and starches and fiber. But just make sure to always balance. Do kind of a half and half. Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. Sorry, I'm just tuning into the chat here. If anybody else has any questions, feel free to raise your hand or any shares. Doesn't have to be questions. I'm loving the commentaries that are coming in today too and hearing it from, from everybody else's perspective. You know, we all have unique journeys. We all go through, you know, different tips and tricks and trials. So it's nice to be able to share and kind of accelerate for everyone. So if there's been any tips that have really helped you on this journey or one of the habits that you really stuck to, you know, really put a solid effort in maintaining or making more consistent and regular, feel free to share that as well. I would love to know what is really working on this program where you're finding it be very easy to kind of implement in your daily routine or something that you've noticed has made a really big difference.

I'll go.

Yes, please.

Well, for me, one of the most important things in the beginning was reducing the overwhelm of all the things we had to learn. And so I just focused on the 4, 4, 4. I have a plate. I'm going to put the 4 ounces of protein, the 4 ounces of fruit, and the 4 ounces of vegetables all on the plate. That's all I have to do every day. And if I cook one meal a day, then I. It's much easier for me to manage the transition from where I am to where I need to be. So it was just making it easy, as simple as possible to make that happen.

Yes. Such a great point. Thanks, Annalisa. And especially towards the first week or two, I say just really get comfortable with weighing, get comfortable with cooking without fats and then using the approved food lists. That's the most important thing to first get started. Everything else you can build on top of in the 10 weeks to come. But the food part, I say, you know, first week, just really focus, feel good about that, feel confident. If all you wanted to do is Chuck, you know, 4 ounces of this, 4 ounces of that, 4 ounces of this. You do not have to follow the recipes. It could be as simple as that. The recipes are, of course, there to create a little bit more interest, a little bit more flavor, you know, some novelty as well. So definitely go ahead and enjoy those when you feel comfortable. And something actually that you reminded me of, Annalisa, is when you said just cooking the one meal a day, a hack that really helped me is anytime I was cooking dinner, I would make a double portion so I know that lunch is taken care of the following day. I don't have to think about it. I could just put it in the fridge. It's all weighed out. It's everything I. I know I want to eat and then repeat for the next dinner. Journaling. Yep. So Deepa mentioned here, journaling is such an important habit, especially if you do find a lot of emotion. Coming up on the program, there's a lot of insights, maybe some things you haven't explored, you know, in some years, because our body, our body stores energy from different points in times in our lives. And so when we're releasing weight, we also release some emotions or maybe some trauma that's been attached to that, that weight. So a lot of things can come up and bubble up to the surface as you're doing this program. It is completely normal. In fact, I encourage, you know, if that does happen, to continue to explore it. Because that's you doing the deep healing. That's you releasing those deep energy centers and creating more flow within your body and creating the space to adopt new mindsets, to adopt new habits and have them be more second nature and have them be more organic. I guess in a better way of describing it, it comes out of a happier place, if that makes sense. Or at least that was my personal experience. I know a few people have had the same experience as well. So journals, even if it's just scribbling it down, just a way to create that outlet, it could be taking a walk in nature. I know a lot of people love doing that. It could be talking to a loved one. It could be sitting in a meditative state, whatever that time is for you, just creating that. That outlet. Yes, the coffee without the milk. I see Sylvia here. I think I might have a hard time giving up coffee with milk. You know, that's a question or that's, I guess a hesitation that comes up a lot. It was definitely a big one for me. And I'm currently sitting here drinking a black coffee, which I would never do two years ago or beyond two years ago before starting the program. And so you tell yourself it's going to taste bad, you can't do it. And that's what ends up being self fulfilling. But if you tell yourself, maybe I will like it, maybe my taste buds will adjust. Maybe it's not only better for my health, you know, for my pocket, but it's also better in flavor and you get to appreciate the coffee in a different way. Or sometimes you might kick it all together. Who knows, maybe you might not even need the coffee. But I would say you never know until you try. And cinnamon in coffee goes up very low long way. I know Mary mentioned it, you know, even now enjoying black coffee with just some cinnamon. And so it's a concern almost everyone has starting this program, they're like, oh my gosh, what am I going to do without my morning, like chai or my morning coffee. But you come to find a new rhythm that works well with you. And don't knock it till you try it because there's some really great alternatives there as well. There's also a blend called Dandy Blend, which is herbal, it's non caffeinated, but it has a very, I want to say it has a similar taste to coffee. It Definitely looks like coffee, but it's basically made from a bunch of dried medicinal roots and it's a great coffee alternative that's caffeine free. So it's something I actually add to my coffee just to kind of boost it and supercharge it because I don't taste it nearly at all, if anything. And it just enhances that coffee taste ever so gently. I'll post a link actually if anybody else is curious on trying it because I personally really like this stuff. And if anybody is looking to wean off of coffee, this is definitely the place that I would recommend starting. Especially if you like the act of having like a warm drink, especially as we go into the cooler months as well. This is a great replacement. So just put it in the chat here. Thanks, Annalisa. It's a great one. It's. It's so tasty in my opinion. Opinion. And it's great if you need even just like that placebo effects. Like there was a day the other day where I'm like, oh, like it's, it's like 4:00pm I don't want to take a nap, but I can use a little pick me up. I'm not going to do a coffee at this hour though. So I brewed myself just a dandy blend and just that mental note of like seeing that I have a coffee like beverage in front of me and drink it actually helped improve my, my energy levels, my brain power in that moment. So, you know, you can mess around with, with yourself too in funny ways.

That's so good. I never would have thought of that. That's like awesome.

Could trick your mind into thinking anything, right? Like it's, it's all mindset at the end of the day. So if you use it in the ways to help you, you know, just play around and I didn't, I didn't know if it was going to work or not. But hey, you. You def. You really never know until you try.

Yeah, sometimes it's just ritual, just the ritual of practice. And if you can substitute something and keep that practice or that ritual, you'd be surprised. I've been very surprised at the things that I thought that I would not be able to do without. That your taste buds will change and that your desires will change because you learn more and more about what things are doing to you and how your body's really reacting to it. And so you, you'll be surprised what you'll be able to do without.

It's so true. It's so it and it and Then how much ease you're able to kind of like kick things out that were once such staples or that you never thought you would part with or you know, it has such an emotional connection or cultural connection or whatever have you. You can change so much by kind of clearing or lifting the veil in, in what your narrative is right now and adopting a new one. So yeah, thank you so much for that, LaRonda. So I wanted to do. Oh, yeah, sorry, go ahead, Anna. Lisa.

I was just going to say that's the identity shift. Right. You know, if we're, we're really focused on moving our identity, our health, what we believe about ourselves and then the decision to move forward to be more healthy. That's amazing, Laronda. That's an incredible experience. Incredible shift that you've made to take care of yourself.

Yes. And long term take care of yourself. Not just a band aid solution. You're really doing that heavy lifting. So kudos to you. I know, I know you've had such a beautiful journey through this and continue to continue to navigate and it's so awesome to watch. It's so amazing to be a part of that with you, Laronda, and all your insights too. So thank you for always showing up in the ways that you do. I wanted to do a quick exercise if everyone is open to it. Just a quick reflective, you know, maybe five to ten minute exercise and then we're going to do a breakout room. But before I go into all of that, I would love everyone to quickly grab a pen and a piece of paper. Maybe you have a notebook lying around. Ideally I would love it if you can write versus type just because writing is somewhat of a lost art these days are becoming slowly a lost art. So I'm going to give Everybody, you know, 30 seconds to a minute to grab a pen and paper so we can do this quick exercise. Whenever everyone is ready, feel free to kind of show your pen. I'm going to go ahead and demonstrate. Could do something fun with it. I wish I can flip it around in my fingers like some people. People can, can't. It just fell. But a pen. I see Barb, I see Beverly has one. Olive laronda. Beautiful. Awesome. So the question that I want everyone to take a couple of maybe one to two minutes to reflect on is what is your. Describe your current relationship with food. When you think of your relationship of with food, what bubbles up? What initially comes up when you reflect on it a little bit deeper? How do you feel about food? You know, what is your, what is your Approach when creating meals, do you feel like you are in control with food, or do you feel like food tends to have control over you? What is that current relationship of food that you have with food? I'm going to give everybody a minute or two to take some time to reflect. Clicked on that. Awesome. Just 30 more seconds here. I'm going to quickly create some breakout rooms and I'm going to give the next instructions in just a moment. Awesome. So now what we're going to do, I'm going to split everybody up into groups of two. So we're going to do person A and then person B. So you get to assign freely whoever person A person B is. So person A is going to go first and they're going to say what their current relationship with food looks like, how they feel about food, what they're current describing, basically what that relationship looks and feels like. Person B is going to listen and then once person A is done sharing, person B is going to mirror that, that person A's response and say what I hear you saying is your current relationship with food and is this. And then so after we're done, person A sharing, person B is going to share and reflect what their current relationship with food looks like. And then person A is going to reflect that answer back and then we're all going to meet here and do the next set of questions or one more question, I guess. So I'm going to go ahead and open the rooms for everyone here and we're going to go ahead and do a breakout. So we're going to do this for around 3 to 4, 4 minutes with your partners and then we're going to meet back here. So see you all very soon. Everyone.

It.

Welcome back, everyone.

Everyone.

Oh, hello. Oh, everyone's cameras are almost on now. Awesome. I love this. I love this. I hope that you all maybe learned something about yourself, your relationship with food. Maybe you've learned something about somebody else or were inspired. You know, maybe you saw where you were once upon a time and now where you want to be. So I hope that everyone was able to take some time to really reflect and to learn somebody else else's perspective as well. The second parter to this question that I would love to ask everyone is what does your ideal relationship with food look like? How do you want that relationship to look and feel when you create meals? What's the feeling that you want to have? You know, what foods do you want to enjoy or get excited about? What does that ideal relationship relationship look like for you? And some of you might have that going on right now. Some of you might want to optimize what currently already is working. Maybe you want to uproot and overhaul the whole thing. Where is it that you are in that relationship journey? So we're going to take one to two minutes just to take some time to reflect on that. Hello. Hello. Hello.

Okay.

How are you?

We are great.

Okay, who am I with?

Hello.

Hello.

Hi, Reena.

Hi.

Am I with you?

Deepa.

So I'm Alice. I am just an imposter under Deepa's account on Zoom right now. But this is Alice. Okay. Awesome. Are you taking some time to reflect on the questions?

Are you talking to me?

Irina?

Yes.

Okay, well, am I supposed to be with somebody else or am I with you?

So we've stopped the breakout rooms, so we're all in the main room together now.

Got it.

Okay. I didn't.

Sorry.

That's okay.

So what do you want? You want. You want me to share?

I would love if you could share. Yes. I would love to hear what came up for you, you know, on both ends of the question. That was actually going to be my next question is to have somebody to share. So I would love to know what your current relationship with food looks like or I guess what you learned out of that question and what your ideal looks like. Okay.

So what I've learned was very interesting. That yeah, actually food is definitely taking. Taking possession over me. I am, I've learned, you know, to be. I guess I was a teeny child and when I was little, I was overstuffed, you know, with food. And I was not allowed to leave the table until I finished, you know, whatever that was on the table. And so the food was always a prime subject anywhere, everywhere in a family. And so that really drove me nuts and I ended up actually making it myself. My own today craziness with food. And so I'm. I'm a health nut for sure, but overly health nut. So the food actually does drive me. Yeah, for sure.

It's not the.

It's not the other way around. Yeah.

Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. And how would you want your relationship to look like instead? With food?

Just be free. Free from it. Completely free.

Yeah. What does being free look like to you?

I want to be able to listen to my body. And at one point I was. And it was very happy combination. Right now I'm overthinking and it's not where I want to be. I want to listen to the body. I want to be able to just be free of Too much thinking about food, you know, too much upsetting about food, what is right, what is wrong, how much vegetables, how much oil.

Yes, yes. Just having the confidence and the freedom to know where and how to create those healthy meals. And I think that you're in the perfect place for that, because this program really does. Does have a simple structure, and it tells you exactly in what quantities, what types of foods to be having at what certain times. So I think that'll really give you the confidence to create those healthy meals that are very nutrient dense at the same time and also very flavorful. So definitely go to town when it comes to spices, because that's a lot of healing properties in of itself, too. So I'm grateful that you've been able to identify that. And I think that this program is really, really going to help create or help, I guess, guide that relationship with food for you. So thank you so much for sharing.

I hope so. Thank you very much, too.

Anytime. It's my pleasure. I would love to have maybe one other person share, if anybody is open to it, maybe something that they learned about themselves. I see. Sheila, you have your hand up. I would love to hear what came up for you.

When I was talking with Olive, I found that I have a conflict with food. I know it's something that I have to have and I have to eat it, but I am realizing that the underlying issue with it is guilt. I'm afraid to eat because then, of course, it's going to put on weight, and I'm afraid of judgment. And I. And so the. That brings me to my ideal that I want to be able to eat without judging and without constant worry about gaining weight.

Yes. Thank you so much for that. And that is, you know, such a difficult topic to, or I guess, unravel on your own and to even realize that that's kind of underlying and that's been happening. But I am so grateful that you're here, grateful that you've committed to your health, identified what is no longer. Longer working, what you no longer want to feel like. And this program is really going to allow you to enjoy meals again. It's going to allow you to nourish your body in beautiful ways with, again, foods that are just so nourishing to every single cell, every single system in your body. You're doing your body, the gift of nutrition by feeding and nourishing yourself with these foods. So I just want to say thank you for showing up and for being brave and for committing to today, this program and also for taking this reflection so seriously, it's awesome, awesome, awesome to see. I wanted to just check in really quickly. Thank you everyone for your participation in this exercise. And if you find that, you know, you're compelled to share more, please do. I love hearing your shares. Whether it's it be, you know, in our Friday Q and A's, whether it be in the Facebook group. I just love being able to connect and find ways where we're also similar or we're all going through maybe similar challenges that we can help kind of accelerate each other through or at the very least support and encourage. So whenever, you know, whenever we do have the chance to share, I would love that. So feel free to continue this conversation in February, Facebook. Or you can, you know, have it with your partner or a loved one, even if you're curious or somebody that you interact with, maybe you live with where, you know, your eating patterns collide or maybe your relationship with food have to mesh a certain way. So it's a interesting conversation to definitely have. I have one last question here from Barb. When we are not on the release phase, are nuts a good choice for when we want a little something and already, already have had fruit? Yes. So nuts are a great option. They're going to be, of course, high sources of fat, so it's going to help keep you satiated. And it's also going to be, you know, something that's easy to carry with you as a snack. So I would say, yes, definitely go for it. You can grab like a rough handful, I would say. Awesome.

Great.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you so much for your participation for this amazing call, for your comments, for, you know, for your reflections, everything. This has been such an amazing time and I hope to have very many more with all of you. So I am super excited to see you all next week. Have a beautiful Friday, have an amazing weekend ahead and continue to be in your highest self. Continue to love yourself, get curious, have fun, and I will talk to you all very, very soon. Bye, everyone.