Weekly MRP Q & A with Dipa, Alice & Anna-Lisa [July 14, 2023]

Foreign. Happy Friday. Hope you're all having an amazing day so far. And if you're able to, then I would love if you could turn your video on. Love to see your beautiful face. Hello, Beverly. Hi, Sejal. Hi, Ed. Hi, Kara. Denise, Barb, Anna, Lisa. Welcome.

Welcome.

Okay, so as we get started here, I wanted to start with just a short five minute mindfulness meditation. And of course, as many of you know, the reason why we focus on mindfulness and on meditation is because it plays such an important role in our overall health, right? Helps us regulate our nervous system, helps us to take that pause when we feel overwhelmed and when we may want to gravitate towards poor health choices. So really checking in with ourselves, checking in with our breath is super important, right, for us to become present, for us to make sure that we are not being reactive and that we're being responsive. So I always want to. I always try to start with some sort of mindfulness meditation or breath work. Okay, so I know some of you might be driving, so of course if you're driving, you can just listen. You can always just tune into your breath and, you know, you don't have to close your eyes or anything like that. So I'm just going to share something that I found from YouTube and then we'll get started with our Q and A. Okay, so give me a second here. I'm going to just share the sound from my computer. And it's only about five minutes. Okay? So get comfortable wherever you are. You know, get your feet planted on the ground if you can. And if you want to close your eyes, you can. If you want to turn your cameras off for this part, you can. And then we can always tune back in. Okay.

To begin this mindfulness meditation, just let yourself get into a comfortable position, whatever that looks like for you. When your body feels ready, you may gently close your eyes. With your eyes closed, take a moment to tune inwards. First, simply noticing your body, tuning into the weight of gravity, the points of contact between you and the surface on which you are resting. What else do you notice? What is it like for you to be in your body right now? As you observe this, you simply accept and allow whatever it is you notice. Harboring no judgment, just being mindful, noticing what is with a sense of compassion in your heart and letting it be. Continue to do this now with your breath as well as your body. If you haven't already, begin to tune into the sensations of breathing. What do you notice? Just observe, accept and allow no judgment, just letting everything be how it is. As you stay mindful of your breath and your body, with a sense of compassion in your heart, Keeping your eyes closed, you allow your awareness to expand to include the space around your body. It's as if you can sense the air around you, the objects around you, and you just allow them to be as you simply are. There's nothing to do, there's nothing to judge. If your mind wanders, that's okay, don't judge it. Just return your focus to what is being connected to your breath, your body and your sense of presence in the world around you. You let everything simply be, including yourself. You now begin to let your attention travel back, becoming more and more aware of physical sensations by rolling your shoulders, wiggling your fingers and toes, still being mindful of what is and taking this present moment awareness with you as you slowly begin to open your eyes back to the world around you. Wonderful job doing this practice. We hope you enjoy the rest of your beautiful day.

Hey, so how did everyone feel after that type in the chat? If you feel more relaxed, if you feel more rounded. Many of you should have received copy of my book. And in this book I do have a section on meditation and the benefits of meditation and mindfulness. And there's over, you know, almost 40 benefits listed here.

Right?

Reduces anxiety, depression, cultivates compassion, lowers your blood pressure, heart rate, gives you better focus, heightens intuition, improves your memory, decreases inflammation, improves metabolism, promotes cellular generation, boosts your immune system, teaches you about yourself, helps you be more patient, build self confidence, decreases muscle tension, helps with headaches and migraines, reduces cortisol, increases your emotional intelligence. Right. So that's just a few. So I always try to Recommend at least 5 minutes a day, right. You don't need much, whether it's first thing in the morning, midday before bedtime, and this will practice. It's not just meant for you to, you know, have this practice for five minutes of the day. But then how can you carry that practice into your day to day? Right? How can you become more aware of your breath as you're working, as you're communicating with your loved ones, your children, your spouse? Okay, so that's what we really want you to try to bring forward with. The practice is becoming more present in all areas of your life. Okay, so I know some of you on this call are finishing up, some are just starting. So I, I did want to talk about something today, but I'm going to start with the Q and A part today because I do see some new faces here today. So I want to make sure that we address any questions that you might have. I know some of you have just started your loading days. Some people are, you know, beginning their release phase, some are near the end, some are on maintenance. So wherever you are, let's start with your questions first and then we can of course talk about some other things that I wanted to address today. So you can raise your hand, you can request to be unmuted by raising your hand or you can type it in the chat and we can go from there. Okay. Beverly says she didn't like the music or the voice. Yeah. So you have to find, as Annalisa says, what works for you. Right. For me personally, I don't do a guided meditation. I just, I do a silent meditation where I just like focus on my breath. It's called. That style of meditation is called a vipassana meditation. So if you don't like having music or someone's voice, then you can always do a silent meditation or you can find something that resonates with you. Right. So some people don't like to just sit in one spot. So some people will do a walking meditation. Right. Where we become really present with every step that we take. Okay. So you have to find what works for you because ultimately that's how you're going to be consistent. Right, Kara? So how do you raise your hand? So the bottom. I don't know if you're using your phone or not, but I can request to unmute you and then you should get a notification to unmute yourself.

Okay.

Oh, there she is.

Yeah, I used to see the hand thing, but it's not showing up on I'm on my phone and it's not.

Oh, that's okay.

I just had a quick question because it's been a while since I did a round but yeah, I can't remember. There was something that was added to the hearts of palm. Is that a non approved or approved for. I'm today's day one of release. I just finished loading.

Okay. Yeah. So heart of palm is a non free vegetable.

Non free. Okay. So.

So you can have 4 ounces.

I was all excited that it was a free vegetable, but that's okay.

Yeah, 4 ounces is still a lot. So you can still like make a like what I do is you can buy heart of palm. Sometimes you can find it at a grocery store, but I just buy it from. If you're in Canada, buy it from this website called Natura Market.

And yeah, I use that one.

Yeah. And you can buy it so that it's in the shape of spaghetti.

Yep, I have that one heart.

Okay. Yep.

Just like spaghetti.

Yep.

And then you can just make a tomato sauce and you can have, like. It kind of feels like you're having a, you know, spaghetti, so to speak.

Yeah, I mixed it. Well, not on this program, but during maintenance or after. I mixed it with a. A little bit of. So I put in it marinara sauce and hearts of palm and then mushrooms. And yes, I put a bit of Parmesan, but not on this program, but. Yeah.

Yeah, but exactly.

Very good. It was. It was really, really good. So I didn't. It just felt like pasta.

Yeah.

It didn't even feel like a vegetable. So I get that it's cans. I forget what it's called. It was from. Well, I think I got mine from. Well, ca. Or maybe it was from. It might have been from Nature Market. I can't remember one of those two, but that's good. I just wanted to see if it was approved or not approved. I couldn't remember the rest of it. I'm pretty clear on. I haven't done it for a little while, so I'm just updating my brain.

Okay, no worries.

I forgot how awful it was to load, but, no, I feel much better today. I just. That loading is so traumatic.

I think when you first start the program, it's like, oh, I get to eat whatever I want. And then you actually go through it and you're like, this was terrible. So it is. It is. Obviously, as you know, Kara, you've done a few rounds before. It is the hardest part of the program, and I think it really helps set you up for the release phase and really, really set you up for the fasting. You just really look forward to fasting the next day. So. Yeah, usually for most people, that is one of the harder parts of the program.

All right, do I shut my camera or my voice off?

Okay, no worries.

The little thing not coming up anymore.

I can mute you. That's fine. Okay. So a couple questions that came in. The chat was about the heart math. So Beverly was asking about the heart math. So we used to use a. You know, in our program, for some of you, if you are in the longevity program, you would have got a OURA ring sizing kit, and you would have received an OURA ring. So I would say probably about four or five years ago, we used to. We didn't include an OURA ring at that time. Four or five years ago, we used to include something called a heart math. So. A heart math. Oh, Beverly is not Even in case I think she got kicked out. She probably wants to hear this answer. Let me just wait for her to join back in. Okay, so, Beverly, I'm answering your question about the heart math. So the reason why we switched from heart math to Oura Ring is because Oura Ring is very passive in terms of collecting data. You just literally wear a ring and you can just check on the app in terms of what your resting heart rate is, what your heart rate variability is, what your rems, you know, it obviously measures more than what the HeartMath does. So the reason why we switched from the heart math to the Oura ring was because we found that we would give our clients a heart math, but people wouldn't really use it. That's why we switched. HeartMath is still an excellent tool. I'm a HeartMath certified trainer for some people. If you're aware of HeartMath what it is, it's a little device that you clip onto your ear and you download an app and it measures something called heart rate variability. Heart rate variability is an excellent measure of how resilient you are to stress. And so the HeartMath tool helps you to increase your heart rate variability, which helps you to become more resilient to stress. When we can increase our heart rate variability, it requires you to be. It measures your heart rate variability in an active state, whereas the Oura ring measures your heart rate variability in a passive state. It is still an excellent tool, very valuable. If you want to learn more about it. I would hope highly encourage it, especially for. I'll just. Let me just show you all the visuals so you can see what it. What it is all about. But especially if you're struggling with things like anxiety or even, you know, depression, it's like a meditation tool, right? So here's some of the stats. There's been over 11,500. There's been a lot of studies conducted with over 11,500 people. And when people use HeartMath and train with HeartMath, within six to nine weeks, they see an improvement in their ability to focus. Sleep improves. They show an improvement in calmness, drop in anxiety, drop in fatigue, drop in depression. So all of this improves with using this HeartMath tool. Okay. So if you are interested in this, like I said, I highly encourage it. So as you can see, it like clips onto your ear and then it syncs to your phone and you open up the app on your phone and it measures something called heart rate variability. Okay. So you can learn more about it on Their website. I can put the link in the chat. Hey, there was a few other questions that came in the chat. So Denise says I'm in second maintenance phase. I do plan to do another round after the four weeks of maintenance. I eventually plan to try to add a breakfast but continue 12 to 14 hour fast. Should I wait until I complete the next release phase to any suggestions for a grab and go breakfast on my work days? Because I get up early, early and work 12 hour shifts. Okay. Where's Denise? Let me unmute you. So if you're doing so, it sounds like you've already done two rounds, Denise, is that correct? Yes, I've done two rounds of the release phase. Okay. And you did them back to back with a four, the four week maintenance phase in between.

Correct.

Okay, so you want to do a third one? Yes. Okay. Usually for the third one I will recommend waiting a little bit longer in between. So I usually Recommend waiting about 6 to 8 weeks before you do the third round. Okay. Okay. Just because we don't want your body to go too long without fats. I know you've probably obviously introduced them on the maintenance, but I would still recommend a little bit longer when you're going on to that third round. Okay.

Okay.

And then I know you were asking about breakfast suggestions. So great. Quick breakfast is you could always boil some eggs the night before, have those, you could make a quick smoothie. So I usually recommend trying to get about 20 grams of protein in the morning. So you could have usually about three. Eggs will give you 18 grams of protein. And most protein, you know, shakes will have about 20 grams per scoop. The brand that I really like, which is organic and it's clean and it's been, you know, tested for heavy metals is Sun Warrior. So that's the brand that I will usually recommend when you're on the maintenance phase. Okay, thank you. No worries. Okay, Barb has a question here. So in maintenance, if we add something, for example, a fat with no noticeable reaction, can we keep it in regular rotation? Yes, that is correct. So in maintenance, when you start to add foods back in, for example avocado or olive oil, and you don't really have a reaction to it, then yes, that can become a part of your regular day to day. Okay. In maintenance, do you still recommend only two meals a day? And what if we skip protein for a meal? So in maintenance you can experiment with that third meal. Right. So for some people, because for some people they find the spray really helps with regulating their appetite. So if you're finding that you're feeling hungry with just two meals. I would say add in the third meal. I rather you have the third meal than snack. Right. So have the third meal. But still try to maintain a 12 to 14 hour fasting window. Right. You can always shorten it a little bit. And no, I would not skip the protein. So if you don't want to do like some people don't want to do so much animal protein sometimes. Right. They get burnt out on it. So you can, you can choose like a vegetarian protein if you want to. Right. So you could do 4 ounces of top tofu or 4 ounces of edamame. Or you can do. If you've reintroduced beans or lentils back, you can do 6 ounces of cooked beans or lentils and see how you do with that. Okay. So usually I recommend trying to get at least 20 grams of protein at a minimum per meal. Okay. So try not to skip out on your protein because protein helps to. Helps us to feel satiated. Hey, Beverly, Gail has a question. I know she has her hands up, so I'm gonna address your question, then I'll go back to the chat.

Yeah, I just wanted to say that I. For people that are busy, like in the morning, I bought, I saw it online actually. It's a little blender. It's like a personalized blender. And you charge it. I bought one of those and they're great. I can put my stuff in it in the morning, my protein powder, whatever this is before I started the program and I could just take it with me. And then rather than you take one that you've already made, they get thick and they get kind of loopy and not great. This one is fabulous because I can just blitz it and it's whenever I need to, I can add a bit of water and. Yeah. So I just want to put that out there. That I did buy one and they're fabulous. And I also, as far as the diet, I will be sort of going between the regular and the vegetarian because I don't eat a lot of red meat.

Yep.

I find eating meat really difficult. My most, my main diet is I was a vegetarian. I did eat well vegeta. I ate fish and I eggs.

Okay. Yep. That's totally fine.

Yeah. But I switched between because for me to get the protein from meat, I just, I can't do the meat thing. Especially maybe once in a blue moon. But it's going to be really. Yeah. Awful.

Yep. That's why we have the vegetarian options. We have a lot of vegetarians. That we work with. So if you don't like doing a lot of meat, then you can always do some of the vegetarian proteins as well. Yeah, that's not.

Sorry, can I just ask. So are we limited with regards to. I can't remember. I have my book right here. But as far as melon, like watermelon and cantaloupe, and that we still have to stick to the 4 ounces, correct?

Yeah, correct for the release phase. Yeah.

Okay. So can I. If I have that, because that's a free. Do I have to add in one of the other ones or can I just do. Do you know what I mean? Like, I was doing like 2 ounces of 1 and 2 ounces of something else. Like, I have to mix it.

Yep.

Like a fruit salad. I was doing like an ounce of blueberries, an ounce of raspberries, and just trying to change it up a little bit.

So, yes, as long as the total fruit equals 4 ounces, you can mix and match.

Okay, perfect.

Yep. So you can do, like, you know, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries. As long as it all adds up to 4 ounces, you can do that. And then one thing to also note as we're kind of talking about measurements, is especially for your fruits and. Sorry, for your vegetables and proteins, you want to make sure that you weigh it in whatever state you're going to eat it. Right. So the other day I boiled some green beans, and I was just experimenting, and I weighed out 4 ounces of uncooked green beans. And when I cooked it, it shrinks. Right. Because some of the water comes out. So I could have. Actually, typically we say try to weigh out 5 ounces if you're going to cook something. So even your protein, if you're going to chicken, for example, then weigh out 5 ounces raw, because by the time you cook it, some of that water kind of evaporates. So it ends up being about 4 ounces. So that's for both vegetables and. And animal protein specifically. Okay.

And I'm down £1 from my loading, which is. That was. I was so sick. I did an extra day because I didn't get enough. I thought I had. I was talking to Sarah and I said, I bet you I'm like, minimum 3, 500. And she helped me and she tallied it up. She goes, you're just barely over 12, so you could do another day. So I did. And my goodness, I was. I wasn't like, vomiting. I didn't have, you know, But I mean, I was up. I just. I felt like I was dying.

Yeah. Yeah. It's not pleasant.

It was probably like. It was. Yeah. A lot worse than I thought it was going to be.

Yeah.

But anyway, so I. From yesterday, I'm like, I know it's a lot of liquid and whatnot, but still the scale read one pound less, so.

Okay, good. Excellent. Congratulations.

I thought, this is gonna be horrific. I'm gonna put 20 pounds on just. I thought, how am I gonna. Oh, my Lord. And trying to find, you know, ingenious ways to get as many fats and calories in one thing. So my husband was bringing me two large McDonald's chocolate shakes, and that helped put me up, but. Oh, my Lord.

Yeah, yeah. Unfortunately, those type of foods definitely help get you to the calorie range, because if you try to stick to just healthy foods, it's hard to get the 5,000.

You'd never do anything but just be shoving food in your mouth.

Yeah.

Anyways, far so good. Thank you.

Okay, awesome. Yeah. Let us know if you have any other questions. Okay. Let's see. Mary's asking, is it okay to continue after the program with 16, 8 fast? Does this impact your metabolism when you stay on this fast? So it depends on the person. Now, for most post menopausal women, a 16, 8 fast, longer term, if that works for you and you feel good, you could probably stay with a 16, 8 ate fast. Okay. And that's why, like, on maintenance, we usually have you play around, right. With adding breakfast in. Like, how does it feel? Right? Play around with maybe a shorter fasting window, right? And if you feel like you're doing two meals a day and you're starting to snack, that's when I would consider adding a third meal in. Because I rather you on maintenance have the three meals, as I said, than snack. Because for most people, especially before they came into this program, you know, most people are eating relatively healthy, right? But it's the snacking that can get us in trouble. Specifically, like evening snacking, right. When we're sitting in front of the TV in the evening and we want to snack on, like, you know, popcorn or chips or ice cream. That's what gets people into trouble. So if you're doing, you know, two meals and you're feeling hungry and you feel like you need a snack, then try adding that third meal in. And it doesn't, you know, and sometimes you. You don't have to do 16, eight every day, right? So you might do 16 eight four or five days out of the week and then have breakfast two or three days out. Of the week. Right. So another helpful tool that I find especially on maintenance is wearing a continuous blood glucose monitor. So I'm actually, I'm actually wearing one right now. You can see it in my arm. And this has, I, this is probably my third time wearing one. But you learn a lot about yourself, right? And about what impacts your blood sugars, right? So normal here in Canada, normal blood glucose is anything between four and six. And we want to stay within that range as much as possible throughout the day. Right. And there are certain foods that are going to take us out of that range. Right. And sometimes we forget. And wearing a continuous blood glucose monitor can really help us to have more awareness how certain foods impact us. And the reason why I'm bringing this up with relation to fasting is because when you're on the release phase, you have the spray which kind of helps support your adrenal glands. But sometimes what can happen is if we fast too much, it can be a stressor on our adrenal glands. So if you are finding that, let's say you did your release phase, you're on maintenance and you've kind of continued the fasting, which like I said, works for some people. But let's say you start waking up at like 2am or 3am sometimes that could be because your blood sugar is crashing. And so the reason why you wake up is because the only way to get your blood sugar back up is to release cortisol. And cortisol is a hormone that's supposed to wake us up, right? So that's what causes that. Nighttime awakening is not for, not all the time, but that is a reason for nighttime awakenings, right? So for me, like I wake up at night a few times and it's kind of been something that I've been struggling with a little bit. And this has really helped me notice why I'm waking up because my blood sugar crashes, right? So for me, like I need adrenal support. Support. Like I'm just in general more of a, I, I'm more of a stressed out type of person. So for me I need that adrenal support along with like doing things like meditation and you know, getting out in nature. Because I tend to get, I mean, I think I'm a lot better, but I can get stressed out more easily than, let's say, you know, my husband Sachin. Okay, so Barb is asking about snacks. So, so snacking, you know, if you feel like you absolutely need a snack. Right. I, I always have people when it comes to snacking is Check in with yourself. Right. Do you really need that snack? Like, are you truly hungry? And if the answer is yes, then for sure you can have a healthy snack. Right. You can have a handful of nuts. You can maybe have, you know, Ashley said a little bit of avocado and some vegetables or a little bit of fruit or, you know, hummus and veggies. A boiled egg. Right. You can have a healthy snack if you truly feel like you're hungry. But for many of us, we snack because we're bored. Right. Or as a distraction. Right. So that's why we do the meditation and the mindfulness, because I want you to be able to take that pause to check in with yourself to determine if you truly need that snack. Right. And if. If the answer is no, then, you know, ask yourself why you wanted that in the first place. Right. So with snacks, that's kind of how I usually navigate it. Okay. Okay. Annalisa, thanks for putting in the links for the blood glucose monitors. So, yeah, there's links there for Canada and the U.S. so, yeah, it's a small little needle that it stays in for two weeks, and then you take it off. And I don't. I don't wear one all the time. Like. Like I said, this is probably the third one that I've worn in the last five years or so. But it's good for maintenance, especially when you're adding foods back in. So you can see from a blood sugar perspective how those are. How those foods are affecting you. Right. So if you're curious about. Some people say, oh, well, can I have oatmeal for breakfast? Try it out. Right. And what I found so far, I've been wearing it for about four days now. I think this is day five for me. I put it in on Monday. Is the sequencing of foods matters sometimes too. Right. So, like yesterday I had some lentils and some rice, and then I had my salad, and my blood sugar went up. Right. Whereas I should have probably had my salad first. So the other day I had a little bit of rice as well, but I had a protein shake first, and then I had a salad, and then I had my rice and veggies. Right. So the sequencing matters too. Right. Whereas yesterday I went straight for the rice and the. The lentils, and then I had my salad after, and then I had a protein shake a little later. So, you know, it's a great opportunity for you to learn more about how your body responds to certain foods. Right. Some people might do well with chickpeas, for example, and some people May not from a blood sugar perspective. Right. So it just helps us to. And then blood sugar is not just about what we eat. Right. If you didn't sleep as well that night or if you, you know, are really stressed or got into, like, a stressful argument with someone, for example, that can increase blood sugar too. Right. So it's not just always the food. So when I refer to adrenal support, I take a supplement for adrenal support. I don't take it all the time. Like, it depends on what's going on in my life. I like to take breaks from certain supplements, too. So the one that I'm taking right now is called Adrenotone by Designs for Health, and it just helps to support my adrenal glands a little bit.

But.

Like I said, I don't take it all the time. I'll take it for a few weeks, and then I'll kind of take a little break, and then I might add it back in if I feel like I need to. So the protein that I recommend is called Sun Warrior, and that's for maintenance. So if you're for Gail, for example, if you're primarily vegetarian, then if you have, for example, 4 ounces of tofu, usually from. From a caloric standpoint, it's going to be a lot less calories than a 4 ounces of chicken. So we usually recommend supplementing. And then not just from the calorie standpoint, but from a protein standpoint, too. It's going to be a lot less than chicken. So we usually will recommend supplementing with a. A pea protein. So on release phase, we recommend just a pure pea if you're going to be more vegetarian. But on maintenance, if you did want to add a protein back in, you can continue with the Pure Pea if you like it, but you can add in a different brand as well. And the brand that I really like, which I feel like tastes a little better than the Pure Pea, is Sun Warrior brand. You put a link. Oh, Annalise already did it. Thanks. You're so fast. Okay. Awesome. Thank you. Okay. What other questions do you all have? How. I know for some of you just started. I know Gail shared her experience. Sage will. Have you started your loading days yet? Yeah. Okay. How did they go? I think you're unmuted now. Okay.

It was hard.

Really hard.

Yeah.

Yeah, it is hard. It is. It's hard to just eat that much. Right. Most of us are not used to.

It was really hard, but I was afraid to eat, like, foods that I was normally eating because I thought about it. To boost up the calories.

Yeah.

So I'll try to do that today so that I can hit like the, the cows. I was, I was short yesterday, but I was so full. Like. Yeah, from morning I was full. I couldn't believe, couldn't believe it. I'm like, I have the whole day to go.

Yeah. Yeah. So for you, you probably won't need to get to like 5,000 per se.

Yeah.

Like getting about 3,500 to 4,000.

Yeah.

Should be. Okay. Just try your best. Right, Because.

Yeah, absolutely. But it was, it was very eye opening because I, I was not hungry and I, I think I ate probably really well compared to. God knows how long in comparison to. And I was not hungry at all.

Okay, good.

So that was, that was good. Just shows that I was eating like crappy for.

Okay, great. Good.

Yeah. So you can still, even on the release phase, like most people will stay satiated with the two meals. Yeah. And some people even have a hard time just eating the 4 ounces of protein, non free vegetables and fruit. Right. Like that already feels like a lot. So if it does feel like a lot, then you can always skip out on the free vegetables. Okay, great. So I wanted to. I know you guys, if you, if questions do come up, please feel free to put them in the chat. But when I. What I wanted to briefly chat about today was just bringing a little bit more, especially as we go into maintenance. Right. Because the release phase, we have a lot of structure, we have a lot of guidance. We're kind of guided in terms of what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat. We get amazing results. And then of course the key is maintenance. Right. That's actually the harder part is how do we maintain the results that we've achieved. So, you know, we've talked a lot about that before in terms of. Progress over perfection. Right. I spoke with a client who did this pro, a client of mine, she's also a friend of mine. I spoke with her just this past week and she did the first round and she got really great results. And then on maintenance she was doing really good. And then she went away on a trip and some bad habits started to kind of trickle back in. And she didn't gain all of her weight back, but she did gain a little bit back. Right. And she really was beating herself up about that. And you know, I reassured her that with everything that happens right. To us or, you know, through this journey, you always want to view it as a learning opportunity. Right. So I really invited her to reflect back on what she learned from that experience. Right. And for her, like, you know, one of the things that I re re emphasized her was that this is not a diet, it's a lifestyle, right. And. And that I think really clicked for her when I re emphasized that. And so she did another round and she lost a bit more weight. And it's been six months since she completed that round and she's been able to maintain her weight, which is a big deal for her. She's gone on trips, you know, she's gone away, she's gone to dinners and she's been able to maintain that weight. Right. And so really. And it's not just about the weight, right? It's about the non scale victories too, right. Like, because she just feels amazing, right? It's, yes, she feels great in her body, but she has more energy, she's sleeping better, right. She's, you know, one of the big things that she noticed is she wasn't drinking enough water, right? And so when we don't drink enough water, then we feel hungry. So one of the number one signs of dehydration is hunger, right? So oftentimes when you're hungry, you know, going back to snacking, check in with yourself and ask yourself, do I need to drink more water? Right? And oftentimes when we drink a glass of water or maybe have a nice herbal tea, you don't feel hungry anymore, right? So that was a big thing for her, was making sure that she stayed hydrated. And you know, as we go into maintenance, just a couple of things to be aware of is, you know, of course, we always emphasize staying as whole food as possible, right? So eating foods in their whole food state, right. So I went to a conference on Wednesday and you know, the speaker was talking a lot about artificial sweeteners. So artificial sweeteners are really hard to get away from, right? They're found in diet sodas, they're found in gum, right. They're found, obviously, sometimes people put it in their coffee and they can really disrupt the bacteria in our gut, right? And the bacteria in our gut, like, I don't even know where to start. But they play such an important role in our health, right? There's important for our immune health. Our gut actually produces a lot of our vitamins and enzymes required to facilitate a lot of the processes that occur in our body. If we don't have the right gut microbiome, then we're going to have cravings. There's a strong connection between the gut and the mind and the brain. So if you have gut imbalances, that can be a huge issue for anxiety and depression and any kind of mental health related issue, right? So sometimes we're told that these artificial or diet products are better for us because they don't have any calories. But then we're not really told about the other flip side, right? Those artificial sweeteners are basically chemicals which are altering all these other processes in our body and they've actually been shown to cause weight gain, right? A lot of people use it because they don't want to gain weight and they don't want to have real sugar. So they have these diet products which actually causes weight gain, right? So just little things sometimes that we may not be aware of, right? Like gum, for example, has artificial sweetener in it, right? Unless you're buying gum that has xylitol or stevia, right? So these are little ways that we might be getting these artificial sweeteners in our body, right? Even, you know, a lot of, compared to even five years ago, we see a lot of these. I'm, I myself am vegetarian. So we see a lot of these factory made foods, right? Something like just egg or the beyond burgers, right? And that when you look at that food, like it's not, is very, very far removed from its original state, right? Even the ingredients, like it doesn't even really, you know, the ingredients are not whole food ingredients, they're processed ingredients, right? So if you do want to have a veggie burger, which we have, you know, occasionally, like we usually try to get the bean burgers, right? So these little foods, sometimes, once again, they're marketed to us as being healthy or being, you know, they're full of protein, right? But it's, it's very processed, right? So just these little things that can, you know, and it's, it's not anyone's fault, right? Because of the way that they're marketed, we think that they're healthy. And if we, if we're not really educated about, you know, how they're not really that healthy for us, then, you know, we don't know any better. So sometimes we'll eat them, right? But always ask yourself, would my grandmother have eaten this? Right? And if the answer is no, then it's likely, you know, going to be processed to a certain degree.

Okay?

So, you know, other things are that can, you know, are very hard to stay away from is something called glyphosate. So glyphosate is a pesticide that's sprayed on, you know, a lot of crops to obviously prevent, you know, pests. But I think it's in the, in the 2005, they started spraying it on wheat. Right. So if you're not buying, first of all. Well, so there's a couple problems with wheats. A lot of people have issues with gluten, so they may not have celiac, but there's a whole spectrum called non celiac gluten sensitivity. And for many people, after they do the release phase, if they try to eat wheat, then they, they discover that they have an issue with it. So you may, it's not that you develop that issue over six weeks. It's. It's probably that you already had an underlying issue with gluten before the program and you know that was your normal. Right. You may have felt bloated, you may have had some constipation, you may have had. Most gluten related issues are not gut related. Right. So gluten affects five main areas of our body. It can affect our digestion and it can affect our, our brain, it can affect our skin, it can affect our joints, and it can affect our thyroid. Right. So it doesn't always have to be digestive. Right. So when we cut it out for a little period of time and really reintroduce it back in, that's when we really discover how gluten impacts us. Right. So some people have an issue with gluten. I would argue that most people do. But now most wheat is also sprayed with glyphosate. So not only are you having an issue of gluten, but then some people also have an issue with glyphosate. Right. And so glyphosate can really cause a lot of issues with our digestion too. So if you feel like you do okay with wheat, then that's fine. But try to buy organic, because organic is not sprayed with glyphosate. But from my experience, I would say 99% of people have some issue with gluten. Okay.

Yes.

So Beverly says, I had my husband get some veggie burgers and they all had canola oil, oil, sugar and gluten. Yes. So it's very hard to buy to find healthy food these days. Right. Because you, you may look at the box and be like, oh, this looks healthy. And then you turn it over and it has like a seed oil, like vegetable oil or canola oil or sunflower oil. Right. So it's hard to find something that is pre made that is, you know, 100% clean. Okay. Gail has a question. Go ahead and Unmute.

Yeah, I was just going to say it's true. I mean, I love. I was. I used to eat veggie burgers, too. And then it was like, they're not as healthy. Healthy as I think. And I. I would love to be, if anybody finds one that somewhere on this planet that actually is good for you, that's healthy, that would be wonderful. Let us know. But I just wanted to say, I mean, this is only my second day of my release phase.

Yep.

And I. I have drank more water in the last few days than I have my entire life because I was not a water drinker. And I feel the difference. Just in my second day here of my release phase, I feel much. I don't even have. I just. I just, I feel better. Like, I can't put my finger on what it is, but just like, I have a lot of stomach issues. Like, I have ulcers, but I. I would feel, I don't know, just not bloated, but weighed down. I don't know how to put it. I just, I feel better. In my gut, I feel so much better. And. And I think it's just cutting out, like, a lot of the bread. Like, I didn't eat a lot of bread, but just what I've been eating. And the water, I mean, it's only day two and I just. Yeah, I feel so much better. I can't believe it. But. So I'm anxious to see how much better I feel even tomorrow.

But.

Yeah, I mean, but it is hard to eat healthy because, like, when you. When you're busy.

Yep.

To make healthy food takes time. And if you don't have time, there's nothing really, you know, like, even the. When you get those little vegetable dishes at the grocery store, they have like the raw carrots and whatnot. I don't even like to eat those because I like to wash everything before I eat. So I won't even just take those and eat it on the go because. Or fruit, because it's like, yeah, no, I'm not doing that. But it's really hard to eat healthy.

It is, right? It's hard to.

It's hard when you're not busy, like, to have like, you said, like a veggie burger or something, but when you're busy, it's. Yeah. Like, so I do a lot of smoothies because it's just easiest thing. But it is so hard. So, I mean, if anybody comes up with. And on top of that, we're selling our house, so we have showings all the time.

And it's so you can't use your kitchen much. Right.

Use the kitchen. Right. Everyone says don't cook fish. So it's like, okay, but it's difficult. But when you're busy to try and eat the way we should all be eating regardless, right. The way our ancestors ate when they didn't eat a lot of processed stuff. So. But it is very, very difficult. And so if anybody has any, aside from the, you know, the smoothies on the go, to eat good when you're busy is like someone mentioned about breakfast late or I think you were talking about breakfast. Like it is hard to have time to. Even if you prepare it ahead, right. Like depending on what you. You want to have, you can't. You don't always have time to do that. So, yeah, it shouldn't be this difficult really when you think about it. But life gets in the way of what we should be doing. Maybe silly, but yeah.

Yeah. So a couple, a couple things like and Annalisa and Alice, feel free to chime in as well or anyone else, if you have suggestions, feel free to chime in. But a couple people here are saying I batch cook on the weekends for a couple of days and then you can always freeze some meals. So that. That's helpful. Other things like if you're vegetarian, like some days, like I'll literally open up a can of chickpeas and that'll be my protein. And then cauliflower rice, I find is very convenient. You can get that at Costco and then. Yep. You can make your own food processor.

Took like a minute and a half, two minutes.

Yeah, exactly.

Cauliflower and then it's done.

But yeah, and then you can freeze it too, right? And just keeping meals simple, right? Because sometimes like, like I said, the can of chickpeas, you know, you can even have like a little like a salad and some fruit. Like that doesn't require any cooking. Right. So just like keeping things really simple. Like sometimes I think or even like Kara was bringing up the heart of palms, right. Like sometimes I'll literally take some heart of palms, have Rao's pasta sauce, you know, and throw that in and you know, have some edamame with as my protein and then some fruit. Right. So that's like a really quick meal that I do sometimes too for lunch, especially like in the middle of the day because I work from home. Right. So some of these things can be really quick and fast without over preparing things. Okay. I think Kara put her hand up, go ahead and unmute.

Oh, I figured out how to do it now? I just had to slide the options across the bottom. I just had a quick question because I didn't have an air fryer the last time I did a round, and I now have one. Now. I know I used to. I usually use the organic chosen foods, avocado oil or whatever for stuff. Obviously we can't use that during the losing phase. But has anybody used an air fryer for. It's just so quick and like, for proteins or my veggies, I've been. I always, in the past for rounds, have sauteed them in broth or water, but I find they're so limp and that I'll eat them because it's food. But it tastes. It still tastes good, but it's still. Sometimes they get a little bit limp. So I wondered about if anybody has used an air fryer or has anybody stayed away from the air fryer? Because you can't use oil because some of the meats, like it says on my chart, you don't need to spray it with anything if it's something like chicken, if you're roasting or not roasting, but if you're grilling, like shrimps, you don't have to spray it. So if. As long as you don't have to spray it, is it still okay?

Yep. I think. I know a lot of people have really, like, the. Their air fryer has been their lifesaver during this program. So it's fast. You know, it. It results in, like, nice texture that people like. Right. So, yeah, I. I think it's fine to use on the release phase. A lot of people will use it with great success for many of the things that they prepare.

Okay. I just have never tried it without a little bit of oil, so I just wanted to make sure that it would turn out as good because I can't live without it now. And I. I just realized as I started today, I was like, hey, wait a second. How do I use my air fryer?

I'm like, wait a second.

I gotta, like, go back now to how not to use sprays in the air fryer.

So.

Okay.

I just wanted to check and see if that's what other people were doing. Thanks.

Alice. Do you have any suggestions for keeping things simple or. Annalisa?

Yeah, I would say the one thing that came up was the language that we sometimes use surrounding certain things. So I heard Gail say it's really hard to eat healthy. It's really hard to stay on top of it. While it is challenging from time to time, I Do believe that we have everything. We have all the time for the things that matter to us the most. So if eating healthy is important to you, we will find that time to do it. And of course, it's going to be a challenge to get your mind around it, but we learned how to cook initially a certain way, and that, I'm sure, was a learning curve. Now it's going to be a little bit more of a learning curve to start using maybe different foods, maybe different spices. Once you get into the flow of that, you're going to realize it actually saves you a lot of time and. Or it takes the same amount of time that you were already using with your previous meals. So I would say to keep an open mind and to use positive language surrounding it, because that is how half the battle. Half the battle, I believe, is usually mental. So once that component gets wrapped around it, slowly, you'll start finding ways that'll make it a lot easier. So I would say to keep your mind open. That would be one of my best suggestions that I've had. And also going through this program and, you know, coming home to a Polish family, they're like, oh, my gosh, you poor thing. Like, are you eating anything? Like, how are you getting satiated from this food?

And.

And, you know, a lot of people struggle with that, that community component, that cultural component of your family being like, you're eating different from us. You know, that's. That's different. You're. You're an other. But to that, I always say, like, I'm choosing to do this happily, I am not without. I get to eat delicious food that nourish me, that are vibrant, that are healthy, that are whole, that are locally grown, organic, whatever you want to slap on there, this is a choice I'm happily making. And. And people realize that, you know, you. You show up different over time. You glow different in a different way. Your body looks different. The way you conduct yourself is more confident and empowered. So that mindset component, I find is really important to then have the lasting change outside of the program.

Yes. And I love. I love that reframe, Alice. It's so important. And, you know, one thing to know. I think what sometimes we get caught up with in terms of difficulty is it is hard to find or challenging sometimes to find things that are perfect. Right. But once again, progress over perfection. Right. So, like, the other day we went, like, a few weeks ago, we went to the cottage, and I. I was like, like, sometimes I'll make my bean burgers from scratch, Right. Most of the time, I will. But, um, obviously, like, I was pressed for time and so I went to Whole Foods and I did find some. They were pretty clean, right? There's maybe one or two ingredients that's not perfect, but like it's going to be better than like the Beyond Burger, right? So there's a spectrum, right, where we have to maybe give a little sometimes, right? Like, even if we go, if we travel, right. It's not going to be perfect. But you know, the benefits of like traveling and being with friends and family outweighs that one thing that's like not perfect, right? So I think we are, we have to kind of always outweigh, like where, you know, there's always a balance, right?

It's.

If we, if we try to be 100%, 100% perfect, yes, it is going to be more challenging, right? But as Alice said, like really reframing the way we. And that comes with time, right? It's not. It initially, when we first start on this journey, like all these things that we talk to you all about, like, it's. It comes with time, right? Like now, you know, not just solely picking on Gail or, you know, any particular person, but most of you probably benefited from what Alice said and have a different reframe now, right? In terms of how you're going to look at making choices, right? So yeah, it takes, you know, it takes time. It's a journey. As I, you know, shared that story of my friend, you know, who went on this program, like sometimes what I like to tell people is like, okay, we, we go on this program, we feel amazing, right? We lose the weight and then we might slip back down a little bit. Maybe not to where we started, right? Maybe we slip a little bit, but then we go back up again, right? And we do this like up and down, up and down, right? It's health is a journey. It's not a destination. It's a day to day journey. Okay, any other questions, Comments? Great call today. Hope you all found it insightful and enjoy your weekends. Get outside, get some sunshine, go for a walk and we'll see you next Friday. Hi everyone.

Everyone. Have a great weekend.

Have a great weekend. Bye.