How Janet Beat Emotional Eating & Lost Weight Naturally with Slimpod – Life-Changing Transformation

I've got Janet with me today all the way from Canada. Well, she's not here in person, but we're on Zoom and Janet's got an amazing story about her battle with emotional eating and how she has overcome it and how that has meant that she's just shedding— the fat is just leaving her body, which is so wonderful. So, Janet, over to you because This relationship with food kind of started at a young age, didn't it?

It really, really did. And I think one of the things that SlimPod really helped me with was even recognizing that I was emotional eating. And I think when we talk about emotional eating, we sort of imagine that stereotypical, you know, I've had a bad breakup and I'm going to sit down with a carton of Ben Jerry's and just binge eat on ice cream. And I'm like, I'm not that person. I'm not the person to just, you know, I don't sit and eat and eat and eat when I'm feeling sad. But over the course of the program, I began to recognize that emotions were driving my eating when I didn't even really realize it, you know? And one of the very early things that made me go, "Hey, this is working," I think it was in the first week, I started noticing I was having dreams. I was having dreams and I was remembering things. And I would wake up and I would go, that makes me feel angry. And, and I'm like, this is really weird. And different people in the group have said that too, like the first week or two, dreams of things that just upset them or make them feel angry. And after a few weeks it went away. But I realized what was happening was that my subconscious mind, I think, was asking me to recognize things that I'd never really processed— anger, sadness, resentment, guilt, things from the past, and some of them the not so distant past that I just wasn't processing. I was just pushing it down with food. I was just— these negative emotions were wearing away at my self-esteem, wearing away at my confidence, making me feel emotionally dysregulated. And I would cope with that, not even— I would just automatically go to food. I wouldn't sit and go, "Oh, I'm feeling really sad. I think, you know, ice cream will make me feel better." It's just as soon as I had that feeling that I wasn't okay, off I went to food. And I know we talk about this a lot in the group, that a lot of that stems from childhood experiences. I know you talk a lot about um, chocolate and your experience with chocolate. For me, it was cookies, and I had a very loving grandmother who was a wonderful baker, and that's how she showed her affection. And that was also the place I went when things were upsetting me. I went to her and there would be cookies, and that was the comfort food, and that was the, the comforting thing that goes on with me. But I even noticed I was doing it like happy times, exciting times, food, food, food, food was like any emotion that was like not just calm, any excitement, any depression, any anger, food, food, food every time. And I posted about this in the group back in the spring. I really noticed it one day. We had a long, cold winter here in Canada. It stayed cold. Right till June. But right sort of in about the third week of May, we had this, like, beautiful, random summer day. It was hot, it was sunny, it was gorgeous. And we were driving into the city and I thought to myself, "Oh, it's such a beautiful summer day. What can I have? What can I have? What kind of treat can I have today to make this more special?" And I'm driving along and I'm thinking about, you know, the usual things we do— ice cream, ice caps, you know, sugary sweet beverages. And I'm like, "Oh, I don't want that." Oh, I don't want that.

Oh, well.

And then I had, what can I have to make this day more special? What can I have? And I'm starting to feel a little bit like FOMO here. I'm feeling left out. I can't have something to make the day feel special. And then all of a sudden it was in my head. It was like, wait a minute, you are having a beautiful summer day and a lovely drive through the country. It's already special. We don't need to put food on top of this to make this special. It's already special. And so we're driving, we took the long road home and we came down along the river and we noticed all the goslings were out. And I just made a point, like, and this is something that SlimPod has really helped with, with the tracking of the winds, is looking for those, those, those winds, those glimmers, those bright spots, the things that give you pleasure, the things that stimulate the dopamine. And like just looking around and seeing the spring emerging around me and how beautiful it was. And suddenly it was, "I don't need ice cream to make this day special. The day is already special." So that was just another example of how I saw my connection between emotion and food was starting to separate, that I could have a happy occasion, I could have a special occasion without food getting involved. I can feel I can feel a negative emotion. I can feel angry. Sometimes things happen that make us angry, and that's okay. We can deal with that emotion. We don't need to give it food. So making that separation was really, really, very helpful to me. And then we often talk about, as women, we look to our relationships with our mothers and what they taught us about our bodies and what they taught us about food. Food. And I've known for a very long time that a lot of my self-esteem issues, my, my diet issues, my food issues, that stems from childhood. And I'm not the only one with this story, but the first diet that I know of happened at the age of 9 when my mom put me on Weight Watchers. And I remember that vividly, and I'm like, It wasn't until I was an adult that I looked back at that and went, that, that wasn't okay, that wasn't right. And then there went— when I realized that, there was a lot of resentment towards my mother in terms of why she did that to me. But I also reached a point where I was able to look at that and go, Given the time, given the culture, given her experience and her background and her desire to do the best she could for me, I can forgive that because I see that she was living in a time when being fat was such a social stigma. It still is. But she wanted to prevent me from going through the same suffering that she went through as a fat woman going through life. So coming to terms with that and being able to forgive that and recognize that it came from a place of caring and love was really important for me to let go of that resentment, let go of that anger, let go of that hurt. And I still get emotional talking about it because it's such a big piece of the emotional driver behind our eating. Um, so it, there's, it's always been a strained relationship there with my mom, but I found that the listening to the pods has helped me, um, to sort of calm and regroup. And now I can go and I can spend time with her and we can talk about things that we enjoy, and I don't come home and just feed the hurt. The hurt's not as It's not as intense anymore. You can— I can be there with her, and she knows now that we're not talking about weight or diet or clothing size. Like, I had to set some clear boundaries there that these were things that were difficult for me, and I was not okay discussing them with her. And I think she finally has accepted that we can talk about the garden and we can talk about the cats, and we can talk about lots and lots and lots of things, but she and I can't talk about diets and weight loss and clothing because that's just an area that, that hurts. And having the confidence to set that boundary and say, "We're not having that conversation," was a big game changer in my ability to spend time with her and then not feel the need to come home and comfort Nate because there's nothing to comfort. Conversation was okay, the visit was okay, and I'm okay, and that we don't need to use food to self-medicate anymore. So that was a big part of the emotional journey for me. And it's been, as you said, it's been a little bit over a year and things are— and I know I sound like I'm on the verge of tears. I am on the verge of tears, but not because it's upsetting, just because it's been such a powerful change that when somebody, when somebody reaches that level of healing for you, it's a huge relief. It's a huge relief.

I can imagine. And did you, I mean, when you went on the SlimPod, did you actually think that this might happen?

When I started the SlimPod, I would have I never even said I was an emotional eater. So I didn't realize how deep we were going to get into this. And I would say that tuning into that emotional eating was the first 12 weeks of Slim Pot. It was tuning into that. It was recognizing it. It was acknowledging it. I didn't need to go into a whole lot of analysis and psychological dismantling of, of everything that's ever happened to me. A big part of it was just acknowledging it. You're eating because you're angry. You're eating because you're excited. You're eating because you're sad. And then when I went into Ekstra, we dug a little bit deeper. We went a little bit further into issues around confidence and self-esteem and how we feel about ourselves. And then really getting into that, um, really exploring, um, all the different facets of how, uh, these sort of emotional wounds shape our beliefs about ourselves and what we can do and, and, and how we feel about what we're accomplishing in life.

Yeah, great. Yeah, fabulous. And so, um, how did, um, when this all started unraveling, how did that affect the whole food thing? What was, what was the, um, the response? Because, you know, it's, it is with food, with emotional eating, it's an automatic thing. You, you just, you know, you don't, as you said, you don't put any thought into it, you just go for the food. So how did that all start to unravel? Did you you pause? What was, what was the process that you went through?

I can remember one day I was, I had had a visit with my mom, and it was shortly after I had become aware that those visits were a trigger for me. And so before I went, I said to myself, not going to emotionally eat today. And I think I put an apple in the car just because I thought if I do get the urge, it's too easy to drive to the Tim Hortons and get a sweet on the way home. It's just too easy. It's right there. In Canada, there's a Tim Hortons on every corner. You can't drive 5 kilometers without there being— it's everywhere. So I think I put an apple in the car because I thought just in case, just in case. I'm emotionally overwhelmed and feel the need that I really have to do something. So the visit went really well. I was like, not upset at all. We had a great visit and I got in the car and that old habit was there. Let's go get something to eat. It's like, it's almost lunchtime. Let's go get something to eat. And I'm like, nope, I'm not doing it. I had set myself a goal. I had set myself like an intentional win because I thought, I'm going to come home, "And I'm going to go on SlimPod in the Facebook group tonight, and I'm going to tell them that I did not emotionally eat after this visit." That was my goal. So I hop in the car and the first thought in my head was, "Let's go. Let's go get that food." And then I'm like, "Nope. If you do one thing today, the one thing you're doing today is not emotional eating." And I went down again, drove along the river, looked at all the geese, took in all the beautiful the river, the sky, the people walking their dogs, all those things that make me feel happy, make me feel uplifted. And by the time I got home, there was no urge to eat. It was— so there was a little bit of intentional goal setting and mindset around, "This is my new behavior." Didn't even need the apple. The whole need to eat wasn't there. There was a little bit of intentional I want this to be my new behavior. This is my goal. And there was a whole lot of self-conscious— self-conscious— am I saying the right word?

Yes.

There was a whole lot of self-conscious support there that I was okay and I wasn't upset and there was no emotional dysregulation. And so it was a combination of the pod having its effect and keeping me calm. And me setting a goal to change that behavior. And it changed. It did change. And that, and that was an easy change. I wasn't walking around all day going, oh, I want a cookie or something like that. I was like, I was fine. I was completely fine. And it's happened again and again since. And it's becoming my new habit, my new behavior, my new way of being that I can go into an emotionally stressful situation, be completely fine, and come out of this and not feel the need to self-medicate with food. So it's, it's very— like, people talk about all the time the freedom, the freedom that SlimPod gives them. It's not just the freedom to eat as you want to eat, but it's the freedom of functioning without having that crutch of food with you all the time. So yeah, it's a lot of freedom.

Amazing, amazing. Um, it's— what would you— what kind of message would you give to somebody who is an emotional eater who just thinks it's, you know, never-ending and you're never going to find a solution? What kind of, um, message would you give them?

I guess My message would be not to be afraid to explore this. Like, um, I think sometimes when we think about, oh, you know, I've got these issues in my past, it's probably affecting me, maybe I should, maybe I should go to therapy, maybe I should, you know, absolutely those things are all useful, but sometimes we're held back because we don't want to dredge up past hurts. We don't want to confront people about their behavior. We don't want to replay things that were hurtful. But Simpahn makes it easy. It makes it easy to look at those difficult situations and go, hey, that was not okay. But you don't need to dive deep and analyze it and confront people. Like, you do change the way you interact with people. Like, I've gotten more confident about setting those boundaries and saying, "Hey, that's not okay." And I guess that's the support that SlimPod brings to it. It's not a difficult process. It's not a painful process. It's just— just don't be afraid to explore those feelings a little bit and let the pods do their job. Like, like, just let the pods do the job and it's going to be okay. Um, and just trust that you can acknowledge painful feelings, you can acknowledge hurtful things, um, and not become a complete emotional wreck about it. Like, it's a gentle process, I guess, is what I'm trying to say.

Yeah. And, uh, how is your relationship with food, um, changed? Not necessarily on the emotional level, but what are you eating differently, etc.?

You know, I always felt, and this is what was always— oh, I seem to have lagged out. You still there? Okay, good. Internet froze for a sec. It's freezing again. I was always— oh, I think you're frozen. No, here we go again.

I'm okay. I'm just cold. Like, shall I keep on going like this and then you'll know I'm alive?

Okay. And somebody else said this in the group recently, too. It was never about what was on my plate because I always felt, even when I was eating too much and even when I was comfort eating with things like cookies and ice cream, the vast majority of what was on my plate was healthy foods, in part because I have a lifetime of dieting and I know that, you know, lean meats and vegetables and complex carbs and all that sort of stuff. That's, that's all good for you. And I knew that. Um, so I, I would— and why can't I lose weight? I'm eating all the right foods, right? Um, so what I'm eating hasn't really changed a whole lot, but how much I'm eating, why I'm eating, how frequently I'm eating. Um, I got to about I was about a year into the program and I just realized I had switched over to intermittent fasting. And I had tried to push that issue because I knew it was helpful, and I had tried to push that issue earlier in the program and I was just rebelling against it. I wasn't ready for it. And then I happened to notice one day that it was 11 o'clock and I hadn't eaten any breakfast. And I'm like, oh, okay. And then the next day, same thing happened, and I thought, oh, well, maybe I should just be a little bit more intentional about this and see if this is right for me. And I do need to sometimes be a little intentional because that, that, that habit of getting up and having, you know, a coffee and a muffin or something first thing in the morning, it's very much a habit. And if I just get up and I start my day, I'm not hungry and I don't get hungry until about 11 o'clock in the morning. So I just, I've just been rolling with it. And occasionally I have days where I'm bored and I'm like, or I know what I'm going to have at 11 o'clock. And if there's fresh raspberries in the house, that's all I can think about all morning. But I just, I just, I'm not hungry till 11, so I just wait till 11 and then I can have my raspberries. So what I change, what I have changed in ways of eating hasn't changed a whole ton, but the quantity has changed and the frequency has changed. And I wrote about it in group this week. I just— I did recently have a little backslide with ice cream. It was that whole summer vacation and, you know, it's the time of year to eat ice cream. And yeah, I had a few days with a little too much ice cream, but I'm over it now. I'm over it now.

That's good.

And it's not— It's not the end of the world, but every once in a while you do have to kind of do a little bit of a self-check and say, hmm, maybe I don't have control of this particular food today and maybe I need to be a little bit more intentional. But the pods certainly do help reinforce that intention of changing things up and the pods are there for reinforcement.

Amazing. And last but not least, What about exercise? Have you been doing anything on the exercise front?

So exercise has been very difficult for me because I do have mobility issues. I have an autoimmune disease that causes a great deal of pain and weakness and fatigue. And the past month it's been flaring off and on. So really my exercise has been physiotherapy. And I'm quite good about doing my physiotherapy. And I have a wonderful clinic that I go to. They have a therapy pool where they taught me how to do aquatic therapy. So then I go into the city twice a week to use the big city pool and practice my aquatic therapy. And I do my regular physiotherapy at home. And that's pretty much been the extent of my exercises. When my energy levels are better, I have a recumbent bike and I do about, you know, 15 minutes on the recumbent bike a few times a week. Exercise hasn't— it hasn't needed to be huge for me. Yeah. It's— I have focused on building muscle because that's one of the effects of the disease is that I do get some muscle wasting. So I have been focusing on building muscle and I do have better mobility. I don't need to use my cane as frequently and I can feel that I'm getting stronger. And I'm hoping, right now it's not very nice for walking outside, but I'm hoping that, my goal is that by the cooler weather in the fall, I can go for walks without using my cane. That's my goal., and I feel like I'm on track to achieve that goal. The motivation to exercise is certainly much stronger than it ever was before, but I don't have to push my body hard, which I think is another really important message. There are a lot of people in the program like me. Fibromyalgia is something that a lot of people talk about, autoimmune disease, arthritis, a lot of issues that come when you're getting into those postmenopausal years that are that are chronic and difficult and people can't push their bodies hard. You don't need to push your body hard. You don't need to, you know, be walking 10,000 steps a day. You don't need to be doing that. Strength training, I think, is important, especially— and I'm a big proponent of physiotherapy, especially like I started— when I started this program, I was 385 pounds. On the, on the first day I started. And when you have that kind of weight on your body, exercise can be very difficult. It can be very painful and you are at greater risk of hurting yourself. So my advice would be is get to an expert and help allow them to help you develop a program to move your body in safe ways. Yeah, you don't need to be out there in the scorching heat pushing your body hard, doing things that it's just not ready for. You can get stronger, you can lose weight, just being gentle on yourself. And I think that's important too. Being gentle on yourself is something— being gentle on your emotional self, being gentle on your physical self, getting those cortisol levels down and just having a lot more compassion for yourself. You You don't need to abuse yourself. You've had enough abuse. There's been enough shame and guilt around your supposed bad lifestyle choices that got you here. There's enough of that. Now it's time for compassion. It's time for healing and just being— having a lot more respect for yourself and a lot more self-care. I think those are the important things. To, to really make this happen.

Great. So lastly, Janet, what would you— what if you met somebody in the street? What would you, um, how would you explain the SlimPod program to them?

Um, I recently explained it to my physiotherapist, and I said— and I know this, this probably isn't very scientific, but the way I think of it is that it's It's a little bit like subliminal messaging. And if we understand that our brains have been subjected to subliminal messaging for years and years, um, getting us to eat things that we shouldn't be eating, then it makes sense that they can be equally suggested to eat things that we should be eating. And that's how I kind of view the Slim Pods. It's giving me that subconscious message to want to do the things that are good for me. And then I want to eat the healthier foods, uh, and I want to make the healthier choices, and I want to address the underlying emotional drivers to solve this problem. Not just to put a Band-Aid solution on it, not just to willpower my way through something, but to really get to the heart of why I was eating the way I was eating and why I was treating my body the way I was treating it. Because you say in all your advertisements, Sandra, you already know. You already know what your body needs. You already know how to take care of your body. So letting your self-conscious have the control and allow you to want what you know is good for you. Um, it's, it's an absolute game changer because it's not about forcing myself to make the healthy choice. I just want to make the healthy choice. And, uh, and that's very— again, it's the freedom.

Sure, absolutely. Amazing. Thank you so much, Janet. This has been It's been a wonderful call and just hearing how the whole emotional— how you're in on top of it all with the whole emotional eating, because that's— that is the big deal. That was what I was doing. It's why I started this 15 years ago. And it's— yeah, it's a powerful, powerful thing. And so I am so pleased Clearly, I mean, you— how many pounds have you lost now, um, since that's been going on?

I honestly don't know. You, you had a live recently where you said something about not wanting to break the spell, and I'm like, that's how I feel. Like, that's the, the, the bathroom scales have been pushed way under the king-size bed and I can't reach them anymore, and, uh, and so I don't check. So just to kind of put this in perspective, I was at a size 26 Canadian in April of 2024. So that's equivalent to a size 30 in the UK. And then on Canada Day, the outfit I'm wearing in the picture is a size 18 Canadian. So that's a size 22. So, you know, it's a significant change in the shape of my body. I've definitely lost fat, especially around the middle and my legs. I can't believe the change in my legs. My legs have never looked this good. And so it's a significant change in size and shape and definitely an increase in muscle mass. I have some muscle definition now, which I haven't had in a very, very long time. And I don't know the number on the scale. So when I go to the doctor's office, they want to know, they don't need to show me. They can keep track of that. I do keep that picture on my phone though, because the conversation came up in a clinic recently about using the weight loss drugs. And I just brought out the picture and I said, "Look, this is what I've done in a year. I don't think I need, I don't want, to use the drugs, and I don't think I need to. So that kind of shut down that conversation, and hopefully that's done for good. So great.

Yeah, fabulous.

All right.

Okay, thank you so much. So lovely talking to you. And yeah, just amazing.

I'm really hoping, and I think I'm on track. I would like to be— I think in another year's time I'm going to be at a healthy point. Like, I'm really impressed with the progress that I've made so far in just a little bit over a year. And I think it's going to take me another year or maybe another 2 years before I can say, "Hey, I'm now at a healthy size and shape. My body is strong and fit." And that's the timeline that I'm dealing with. This isn't quick. But, um, it's effective and it's permanent. So lovely. Take care, Sandra.

Fantastic. Thank you so much.

Bye-bye.

Thank you. Bye.