0:02

Hey guys, my name's Adam. I'm the head coach at Copper State Fit.

0:07

Our purpose is to educate, entertain, and inspire you to lead a fit and healthy lifestyle.

0:12

We hope that by sharing our client stories and providing you with tools,

0:15

tips, and information that you can apply, that you'll seize the opportunity

0:19

by turning thought into action. Stick around till the end and we'll provide you with the next steps that you

0:25

can take along with helpful links in the show notes.

0:28

That That said, thank you in advance for listening and enjoy the show.

0:38

All right, everybody, welcome back to another episode of the CSF podcast.

0:42

This is episode number 14, and it has been a while.

0:47

And one of the things I want to do this year, keeping with the theme of what

0:51

we do, how our clients do, is what's one thing we want to keep doing,

0:55

stop doing, start doing. And I guess right now I'm going to commit to start

0:59

doing more regular podcast episodes.

1:03

Today's podcast, we have a guest and this is going to be really a case study.

1:09

So we've done a lot of podcasts and where we've got clients on that we invite

1:13

on after they've completed the journey.

1:15

But this one's a little different. This one's going to be kind of a midway point.

1:19

And I think it's neat because our goal will be to follow up at the end of this

1:23

journey to see how things turn out.

1:26

But more importantly, I just really want to hear from our guests today how they

1:31

got to this point because they've made some pretty remarkable changes.

1:35

And we've got Carol Peterson on today.

1:39

Carol, welcome to the CSF podcast. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah.

1:43

And the title of our podcast, just to get a little bit excited about what we're

1:47

going to talk about today is how Carol lost 42 pounds and avoided weight loss

1:54

surgery. So we're going to get into a little bit of that here in a minute.

1:57

But Carol, why don't we start out with you telling us a little bit about yourself?

2:01

Where are you from? What do you do for work? What are some of your hobbies,

2:04

interests? I'll turn it over to you. Well, I'm one of those rare Arizona natives. I'm not a transplant from Ohio,

2:12

like everybody seems to be. Ohio, Iowa, up there, Nebraska, Midwest, our neighbor right down the streets in Nebraska.

2:22

And believe it or not, we've got a ton of clients from the Midwest up there. So shout out to them.

2:27

Great place to live, but there's a lot of you.

2:31

Yeah, for sure. I work for a local credit union here in Arizona in the talent

2:37

acquisition slash human resource department as an operations specialist.

2:43

I simplified down. I pretty much just assist all new hires through their pre-employment

2:49

screening process up to their first day of starting.

2:52

Right on. So what does a typical day look like for you then,

2:56

Carol? You're working from home most of the time?

2:59

Yep. Yep. I work from home remotely

3:01

100%. And I just constantly keeping in contact with our new hires,

3:08

making sure that they're getting through their processes through background

3:12

screenings and answering any questions they might have.

3:16

It allows me a little bit of freedom to work on myself as well,

3:22

too. Yeah, most definitely.

3:26

What would you say when it comes to your job, What are the, what are the biggest

3:31

challenges? What are the biggest hurdles with your job?

3:34

You know, probably employment checks. Yeah.

3:39

Or new hires that, that for some reason can be a, you know, the struggle bus

3:44

for some individuals to really nail down their experience and their work history.

3:50

Gotcha. Well, definitely important to know is this person who they say they are, right?

3:56

So we'll, we'll, we'll say you're the gatekeeper, right? Yes. Yep. Awesome. Awesome.

4:02

What are your hobbies and interests? I know you've gotten into some new hobbies

4:08

since starting on your health and fitness journey, but generally speaking,

4:12

what are your hobbies and interests? You know, really before I started this process, it was more all homebound type

4:19

of hobbies like puzzles, watching TV, going to movies, that type of thing.

4:24

But since I started this process last summer, I did add the outdoor activities

4:30

like kayaking and paddleboarding. I got a paddleboard for Christmas. So paddleboard's on my list too.

4:36

Started doing the hiking, the biking.

4:40

Just trying to eat more outdoors and doing more outdoor activities.

4:44

Oh, man. So I remember when you had told me you'd gotten that and it was like,

4:49

yeah, I'm going this weekend. I'm going here next week. I'm going here.

4:52

And, you know, you've done a couple some runs like the turkey trot.

4:57

And it's like, man, you just like totally, totally, you know,

5:01

the hobbies have now become active hobbies.

5:05

So what makes Carol tick? What motivates you? Like, what's the thing that just,

5:09

man, gives you that zest that you love life?

5:14

Well, in reference to this process, it's really the goals and the lists that get me motivated.

5:20

For me, there's really nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when I take

5:26

off those boxes every single day. Yeah. Just makes me feel like I'm making so much progress.

5:31

A hundred percent. When you're talking about that, you're like,

5:33

all of your like daily habits and the habit trackers and stuff, right? Right.

5:37

So it feels good to check those off because all those add up over time.

5:41

And it seems like such a small thing, like got my water today check,

5:45

but it's like, you look back over the last six plus months and you're like,

5:49

oh my gosh, like look how many times I've actually done that.

5:52

So let's dig into before CSF. Okay.

5:57

So before you started working with us, what would

6:00

you say are the top top three problems or frustrations that you were feeling

6:03

probably failure motivation and fear wow okay dig into those yeah yeah fear

6:13

or failure with my weight loss attempts at you know,

6:19

every time that i made they stopped working i tried every diet in the book they

6:25

work for a a limited time and eventually,

6:28

you know, the weight loss would stop and stall and I'd give up as soon as it

6:33

stopped working and I would stop the diet and then the weight would return with a vengeance.

6:39

Of course, you know, you lose so much weight and then when you stop it,

6:44

I always seem to gain more than what I lost.

6:48

And then with that, the motivation and, you know, with, with failure came the

6:54

lack of motivation and giving up on myself. I had resigned myself to the fact that I just always be like this.

7:00

And I really had no hope or reason to keep going with the journey just because I kept failing at it.

7:09

And then fear, I knew I was kind of like on a, on a slippery slope being a hundred

7:16

plus pounds overweight. weight. I luckily hadn't had any medical conditions other than my knees grinding every

7:23

time I'd go up and down stairs. But I knew eventually my luck would run out because heart disease and diabetes

7:30

run pretty prevalent in our family and my family history.

7:34

So I knew I had to do something to change the way of life. So I was ready to

7:38

go under the knife and start with the bariatric surgery.

7:41

Dream yeah I remember when we had our initial consultation call you were very

7:46

very open about that with me and

7:48

almost even seeing as this is like a springboard because I know they do,

7:53

want to see people you know adopting good habits and losing a little bit of

7:58

weight before going into that correct me if I'm wrong but you'd already had

8:02

that appointment set yeah I actually had it set.

8:06

And through a conversation that changed my trajectory on all of this, I was able to meet you.

8:14

I changed my bariatric consultation appointment for 30 days later because my,

8:21

trajectory at that time was to have the surgery done by the end of 2023.

8:26

So I just wanted to get get it done and you know start again but when i talked

8:33

to you i i think i told you this is what i was going to do but i still needed

8:38

to learn how to live healthy lifestyle for it to be able to stick and you just

8:42

you had asked me to you know.

8:46

Basically just hold off just for a little bit, see how you like this and then

8:50

make your decision and there's this history. So, yeah.

8:53

Yeah. That's pretty incredible. So you mentioned that you were kind of one of the lucky ones.

8:59

You didn't have any real medical issues besides kind of like,

9:03

you mentioned your knees grinding, but what you saw and kind of

9:08

maybe what might lie ahead for you

9:10

was that family history of like maybe the

9:14

clock was ticking in your mind right so yeah if

9:17

not if nothing changed let's say that you stayed on that

9:20

path i know you said you've you tried many times start

9:23

and stop can you remember how many times or is it like countless

9:26

um it's it's countless my entire life i've struggled with this and tried every

9:32

fad diet that came along yeah and then it would stop and then each time i'd

9:37

gain a little bit more weight a little bit more weight And eventually we're

9:41

now I'm up over or was up over 100 pounds of weight. So, yeah. Yeah.

9:46

And what would you say then physically, mentally, emotionally,

9:51

if everything if you stayed on that path on that trajectory,

9:55

like where did you see yourself go? Well, I most likely would have undergone the bariatric surgery,

10:00

but we know it's only successful for a limited amount of time without the lack

10:05

with the lack of knowledge and skills and motivation.

10:08

I most likely would have started gaining the weight back, you know,

10:12

within the next few years because, you know, bariatric surgery is only a tool and to be able to still adhere to

10:21

a healthy lifestyle, be able to have it successful.

10:24

And with my previous attempts, I didn't know how to be successful at it.

10:32

Let's dig into that. like let's dig into the how

10:34

a little bit more and maybe some of the frameworks or things or

10:38

tools and you know what would you

10:40

say are three of the csf frameworks tools methods things that you feel have

10:48

worked best for you that maybe were new to you new frames of mind new ways to

10:54

look at it like you tell me what maybe let's like i said if we can pick it up

10:57

three things what would those three things be?

11:00

The first one, for sure, is the 4x4x4 framework.

11:07

Because I was nowhere near something like that. And that's the four meals a

11:11

day, four hours apart with, you know, like protein, fat, vegetable carbs.

11:17

Yep. I was more along the lines of a two by two by eight. I would skip breakfast.

11:23

I'd only eat lunch and dinner.

11:26

And, you know, those were probably six to eight hours apart.

11:30

And it was all fats and carbs with very little protein and veggies.

11:34

So I was always wanting to snack, especially in the evenings and following this

11:40

framework, my snacking and piecing, piecing essentially stopped.

11:44

So, you know, what were your like hunger levels like or energy levels when you

11:49

did change to that four by four by four framework and all, like you said,

11:53

you, you, you did a great job of like laying it out.

11:56

But for those who are listening for meals, four ingredients, four hours apart. part.

12:01

So that's breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack.

12:05

That's proteins, veggies, carbs, and fats, and then having those about every four hours.

12:12

But how are your hunger, energy levels, and things like what did you notice

12:16

when you started structuring your day like that? I was never hungry.

12:22

And I was eating so much more food, but still losing weight.

12:27

And I just, it blew my mind. I mean, it didn't make any sense to me from what I thought I knew.

12:33

Yeah. You know, you had to eat, you know, really small portions and,

12:40

you know, like intermittent fasting, you're only eating once or twice within a time frame window.

12:46

And so you're always hungry doing that.

12:50

And it, the hunger, I was never hungry. In fact, I was always full.

12:55

And my piecing, I didn't need a piece anymore. One, I wasn't hungry. I wasn't bored.

13:00

And, you know, with my snacks, if I had a sweet tooth, I'd sneak in like a little,

13:06

you know, like a Yasso bar, you know, that was a version of ice cream,

13:11

which I'm an ice cream addict. So being able to incorporate something like that into a snack, you know,

13:18

how am I able to have this? I've never been able to do this on any other diets

13:21

or, you know, you know, lifestyle. So for sure.

13:24

And I remember early on, you know, like you just brought something up and I'll

13:29

pull it out. Like you said, I was, I felt like I was eating more food.

13:33

And the reality was the volume of food that you're eating probably was more

13:36

than you were accustomed to. Right. The difference being is, you know, the way that we look at food on a plate,

13:42

when it's filled up, filled up is like, we look at it with our eyes and say,

13:45

that's a lot of food, food but it's really our body

13:48

looks at it in terms of how many calories are contained within that

13:51

food so even if we're eating less volume but higher calorie

13:55

foods and things like that too we might think

13:58

we're eating less than we are when we're not and i and i do remember that one

14:03

of the first few weeks in when you're like this is way more food and you're

14:06

even like struggling sometimes to get up to the calories that i even asked do

14:12

i have to eat it all yes and what was my answer Yes.

14:16

Yes, you do. Because really, we kind of had to tank the metabolism, really.

14:21

It wasn't used to just processing that food and eating that much volume.

14:26

So that's awesome. So the four by four by four framework, you said your old

14:31

way of doing things like two by two by eight.

14:33

So two meals with two ingredients, carbs and fats in about every eight hours.

14:37

But you also said in there, you're able to include things like ice cream, right?

14:41

And you said you're an ice cream addict self-proclaimed. I think I am too.

14:46

I love my Halo Top ice cream. So for those out there that enjoy ice cream,

14:51

those are good, high protein, low calorie. And I haven't invested in one yet. I've got to convince Renee,

14:57

but the Ninja Creamy, everybody's making those things out there and they look

15:02

awesome. So I got to try one of those. Do you have one? I don't. My sister-in-law does and And it's amazing.

15:08

Yeah. I don't want to go in. I think that's my next purchase.

15:12

So framework one, you said, what are some more, maybe two more?

15:18

The exercise tool was really helpful for me.

15:21

Being able to see that and have it scheduled was more of a motivator for me.

15:27

I mean, it was, to be honest, it was really hard for me to get to a gym because,

15:32

But because I'm not a gym rat, never have been, never looked forward to going.

15:36

But once I found a gym that worked for me and I learned my way around it,

15:39

each time I went, it became a little bit easier. And I became comfortable because I always felt like all the eyes were on me.

15:45

And it was easier for me to talk myself into going when I saw it on my schedule.

15:51

And the program that you set up for me was really good. it.

15:55

And I'm at a point now where if I miss a day, I feel the urge to want to find

16:01

the time to be able to go so I don't lose my progress because you can see your

16:05

progress on there too with where I started with the weights I am now.

16:10

So being able to visually see that and see the progress that I'm making because

16:14

you go from day to day and you don't really realize it,

16:18

but being able we'll look back into the past it's really

16:21

helpful to be able to know that oh well i was lifting

16:24

you know 10 pounds now i'm

16:27

up to 40 you know it really does make a big difference yeah

16:30

when you can track those workouts in the app and just like you said if you're

16:34

like man i'm doing 40 pounds on this now with you know more reps than when i

16:41

was doing 10 pounds and less repetitions and we even started started you on

16:45

what would be considered kind of a beginner program.

16:48

And we've even advanced you to the next step of the program.

16:51

And I think we're probably pretty soon, Carol, going to be moving you to the

16:54

next step of that as well. But let's talk about why, specifically with the strength training,

17:01

because I think most people who are on a weight loss journey, what do they want to do?

17:05

Cardio, right? Like lots and lots and lots of cardio. Let me get on the elliptical machine.

17:09

Let me get on a rower, a treadmill, go running, et cetera.

17:14

But why is strength training so important? What can you remember from what we've

17:19

taught you? Why was that so important? Why I feel better. Tell me what the metabolism, it's affected.

17:28

And I just feel, I don't know, I just feel so much stronger and more energized to be able to do it.

17:37

And I don't know, If I didn't have the structured program that I have with the

17:44

tools on the tracker, with being able to see it on my calendar, I'd be running amok.

17:49

I'd never do it. I'd never do it.

17:52

But being able to do that, it really does motivate me and check it off the list.

17:56

But yeah, I just really like that.

17:59

I never thought I would say that, but I really do like the exercise part of it.

18:04

And like you said, you weren't necessarily a gym rat. And I think there's a

18:08

lot of people out there probably sitting right where you're at or we're at Carol

18:11

and thinking to themselves. You want me to go to a gym? Like, seriously, like, you know,

18:17

how many people are going to be there and, and looking at me and I'm going to

18:21

feel, you know, embarrassed and not know what to do.

18:24

And, you know, this is as close to holding your hand as we can get of like, here's what to do.

18:31

Here's what days to do it. Here's how, you know, a video that shows you the

18:34

proper form and exercise, like just go put some headphones in, listen to some music.

18:38

And literally we're right there on your app on your phone with

18:41

you we'll walk you through it log the workouts you did

18:44

and you hit the nail on the head like why are we doing the strength

18:47

training and making that the bias of our programming is because the metabolism

18:51

it's really building muscle and building muscle is going to speed up that metabolism

18:56

but the other thing is the strength and the confidence the confidence that you

19:02

get from like you said early on i'm doing 40 pounds and i was doing 10.

19:06

Like there's so much more to it on the psychological

19:09

side of it yeah yeah yeah well

19:12

i was just gonna say i'm keeping that one

19:15

in my back pocket for my vacations and cruises now too nice

19:19

we all have gyms and everything so going back to seeing the progress it's really

19:25

motivated me to make those like non-negotiables for those just because i don't

19:29

want to lose that progress 100 and you've You've got a trip coming up here in a couple of weeks,

19:36

right? Yep. It's awesome. Where are you going?

19:39

It's a cruise out of Miami to Puerto Rico and some of the Caribbean.

19:44

Nice. Yeah. That's incredible.

19:47

Well, what's one more framework that you say has been something you've used

19:52

that's been very helpful and has worked for you? The calorie and goal tracker. Yeah. Being able to see in front of me.

20:03

The calories and the goals and everything that I'm eating keeps me so mindful.

20:08

Before, you know, I had no idea what I was eating when it came to calories and foods.

20:16

And you just forget what you eat throughout the day and then you just eat again.

20:20

And it all adds up really super fast.

20:23

But with being able to visually see it and track it, it's made a huge difference

20:27

and makes you you really realize exactly what, what you're eating and what you're ingesting.

20:33

Yeah, a hundred percent. And like you had mentioned, even before the habit tracker

20:37

of seeing how many days I've hit, you know, like right now you're tracking calories,

20:42

you're tracking protein, you're tracking fiber,

20:46

you know, you water, right?

20:49

Like there's all these layers that we layered on, but we didn't start with those, right?

20:53

No, it's not up to it. Yeah. I think that's one of the biggest mistakes people make too.

20:59

And I'll liken it to like going to the gym.

21:02

Like you said, when you're a beginner, I think we all get and understand,

21:06

like if I'm a beginner going to the gym, like I can't do all the things that are in here.

21:11

I need to build up to those things. Eventually I'll be able to do all these

21:14

machines or all these exercises. And so we kind of like are good at pumping the brakes there.

21:20

But when it comes to nutrition, like we tend to want to start everything right

21:24

now because Cause I want the results yesterday. And so that's one of the biggest mistakes that we find people make is like the

21:30

all or nothing, like doing everything.

21:32

And sometimes people who are working with us are like, you know,

21:37

week one, it's like, cool. This week is like your, your track, your food and hit your water goal.

21:41

And like, we get off that first call and they're like, like,

21:44

that's it. Like, I just hired you and you told me to like track my food and drink my water.

21:48

Right. But now months in, it's like, we're juggling all these things.

21:52

And every once in a while throw a new challenge in there like we started with

21:56

fiber right and we're like whoa what's this something new and it's tough for

22:00

a week or two and then you get it you learn how to adjust and you know before

22:04

you know it you're doing it so that's awesome so,

22:08

with that let's talk real quick what did we do with your calories before the holidays.

22:16

Increase them by quite a bit yeah and and and you know increase them by probably i don't know what,

22:24

four or five hundred calories per day roughly that

22:27

we've gone up and what happened i'm curious

22:30

carol what happened to your weight during that time well i still maintain and

22:34

i even lost a little bit so yeah yeah i think that's a big shocker for people

22:40

when we when we do that right and it's like a magic trick like hey carol watch

22:44

this we're going to raise your calories and watch watch your weight keep going down.

22:47

And because you had done the strength training, you had followed the four by

22:51

four by four framework, you're hitting calorie goals, protein goals,

22:54

you were doing all the things like you're you were a well oiled machine,

22:57

if you would say it that way. And now we're just feeding the machine more and more and more so that it burns

23:05

hotter and hotter and hotter, right. And eventually here in a couple weeks, when you get back from your cruise,

23:09

we'll probably jump back into a little bit more of a steeper deficit.

23:13

But we wanted to give you a little bit bit of a quote diet break

23:16

for a little bit of a while so you could enjoy the holidays have

23:19

some more calories you know you've got your cruise coming

23:22

up and then hey let's let's get back at it because let's talk about the outcomes

23:26

like so far i mean we started this journey of you know having scheduled already

23:32

you know weight loss surgery to like let me build some habits and and everything

23:36

else to you know set myself up for success post weight loss surgery.

23:41

Well, where are we at so far, Carol, after the four by four framework,

23:45

the strength training, the calories, like where are we at now?

23:49

Well, I've lost a little over 40 pounds and I'm still going strong.

23:54

Normally, normally by this time, I, like I said before, I've stalled out and have given up.

24:00

And right now I'm just still as optimistic and enthusiastic as ever for the

24:05

next, what, what's the next portion to come? Yeah.

24:08

Yeah. I think we've like, I know we've set these mile markers and it's like

24:13

every single one you've knocked off and knocked off sooner than we had the date set for.

24:19

And, you know, I remember when we had hit one of them and you saying that to

24:24

me, you're like, just so you know, like, this is the furthest that I've ever been.

24:28

And anytime I've tried this before, I've gotten to this point or just before

24:32

and hit a wall, hit a plateau. And shortly before that, we were at kind of a little plateau.

24:38

Right. And it was like, it was making me nervous.

24:42

Right. I know. And you were nervous. And going back to what you said earlier,

24:47

the, the fear, right. The failure, right. The motivation.

24:52

What do you think kept your head in the game when you were at that little place

24:58

right before where you had given up before,

25:00

like what kept your head in the game, even when we were kind of at a little

25:03

mini plateau at that point in time, just trusting the process,

25:08

just listening to what you had to say and knowing that if I just kept going, that I would be okay.

25:17

Yeah. Sometimes we need that, like the trust fall, you know,

25:21

where it's like those rides cross your arms.

25:23

I will catch you just fall, you know, scary, scary thing to do.

25:27

And like, are you sure? Wait a minute. So, so let's talk about then.

25:33

So we said before, like you were facing the weight loss surgery and we ended

25:38

up canceling that, right? You canceled the appointment, me and cancel the call.

25:42

Like, I don't think I need to do that.

25:45

You were also looking at possibly, you know, family history of,

25:50

of a lot of those health ailments and things like that before.

25:53

Have you had any like lab work, blood work or anything like that done?

25:57

Checkups, physicals, anything like that lately? I haven't.

26:01

I'm due here soon within the next couple of months,

26:04

but But that's actually what motivated me to find a solution is because my last

26:10

my annual physical for the first time ever, I had the high cholesterol and I never had that before.

26:19

Every once in a while, a little bit of high blood pressure, but it would go up and down.

26:23

But the labs came back with a high elevated cholesterol.

26:27

So I knew I had to do something. Otherwise, it was just going to get worse and worse and worse.

26:31

And that's what started the process. But I am anxious to get back into the doctor's

26:37

office first time ever to find out what everything is saying.

26:41

I'm excited to hear the look on the doctor's face when you show up too.

26:46

And they're like, look in your chart. And they're like doing a double take.

26:51

Like, wait a minute, what? Yeah, because she's the one that approved me to go for the appointment.

26:57

She says it's probably time to do it for the bariatric appointment.

27:02

So going back a year later and telling her that I didn't do it and went a different

27:07

route, she's going to be really happily surprised.

27:10

I think so, too. That's awesome. So let's go back to some of those mental,

27:14

emotional, physical stuff. You mentioned some emotions.

27:17

You said fear. You said failure.

27:20

With where you're at right now, you've lost 42 plus pounds. You've avoided weight loss surgery.

27:27

What are the emotions you're feeling now? I'm happier.

27:32

Walking has been and seeing that step counter has probably been the biggest

27:37

impact on me emotionally. I've been fairly consistent with keeping those steps up since June.

27:42

And I've never felt better, not only physically, but mentally as well.

27:49

Mentally, I attribute that to the walking part of it. Plus, you know,

27:52

the progress that I see with the weight counter, but just how I feel physically is.

27:58

Has helped my moods and emotions and depression and everything like that.

28:03

And I'm more optimistic on what the future for me is physically than I've ever been.

28:10

Yeah, it's incredible. So happy versus feeling like a failure and having the fear.

28:16

What else? Any other emotions that you can say? Confidence. Confidence.

28:20

I've never had that with weight loss before. And I feel confident confident that

28:25

I'll meet my goals plus more yeah I'm already

28:29

to meet my first goal you know because I cut my

28:32

goal down kind of short because I wasn't confident that

28:35

I'd be able to have such a large goal of 100 plus pounds yep

28:39

so I'm confident I'll meet that and I'm already preparing and ready to go past

28:45

that and I've never felt like that before that's phenomenal I think that like

28:50

that's a bit like the confidence of not only knowing that I can.

28:56

But I'm going to, and it's not an if, but a when, and the fact that you're in

29:02

the driver's seat and your hands are on the wheel and you are in full control of that.

29:06

Whereas before maybe feeling like this is something that controls me and I don't

29:11

control it and whether or not it happens is, is out of my hands when in reality,

29:16

it's a hundred percent in your hands.

29:19

Like you've done such an amazing job. Bob, speaking of like the future,

29:22

you know, where we go from here, let's talk about what would you say are three lessons,

29:29

if we can pull out three lessons that you've learned up to this point that are

29:34

maybe some old broken false beliefs or new beliefs, new mind frames,

29:39

new way of looking at this that you have that you would want someone else to

29:45

know who's right where you're at and listening to this.

29:48

The first one I can think of is I can eat.

29:52

I love to eat, obviously, and that's what got me here in the first place.

29:56

But I've learned that I can eat anything I want to, not just everything,

30:02

as long as I stay within my goals.

30:05

I've never once felt deprived. And I, like we talked about before,

30:09

is, you know, I eat more food than I actually want to eat.

30:15

Isn't that crazy? It really blows my mind that I'm still losing weight and I'm

30:20

able to eat just about anything I want, just not everything at the same time.

30:26

It's like the calorie and goal tracker. It's like going back to that really quick.

30:31

It's like a game of Tetris with meals, you know, just kind of like fitting. I want this item.

30:37

I can go in and adjust for it so I can have it. And I can fit all of the little

30:43

pieces around it so I can have it. That's amazing. I love that you said Tetris, because I've actually said that

30:49

before of how it kind of is like that.

30:51

And if you gamify it and you think of it that way of like, you know,

30:55

I heard somewhere that, you know, sucking at something is the first step to

31:00

actually being kind of good at something.

31:02

And so in the beginning, it's hard and we're going to screw up and mess up.

31:06

And, but we, if we look at it as gamifying it of like, okay,

31:10

I, once I figured this out and you've gotten to that point.

31:14

So like you said, I can eat. What are some other lessons, like you said,

31:17

false beliefs, new mind frames? What are like two more?

31:21

Healthy food doesn't have to be bland. Oh, I mean, throughout the process,

31:27

I've started to replace my standard ingredients, you know, with the healthier options.

31:32

Just for example, pork sausage to turkey sausage, you know, you make spaghetti

31:37

with the turkey sausage and you don't even know the difference.

31:41

Yeah. And your portion sizes are so much bigger because it's a healthier version

31:47

of the same food type and you can have more of it.

31:52

And I just had to find the right brands for me and my taste,

31:57

which can take some time and still learning. But learning to find the healthier versions of those food items,

32:05

it makes a big difference.

32:08

100%. It's funny because I was having a conversation with another client recently about that.

32:13

Like you said, it takes a while to find the things that you like and the brands and what have you. But,

32:18

our tastes are actually acquired. We've heard that before, like acquired tastes

32:22

and our taste buds actually turn over every few weeks as well.

32:26

So if you are eating the same things over and over and you introduce something

32:29

new, oftentimes like it doesn't taste that great.

32:32

But if you just keep at it for a while, you really do acquire a taste.

32:37

And to your point, I mean, you can make things like spaghetti,

32:39

swap out the pork for the turkey, it's leaner, less calories, more volume.

32:44

So that's Again, back to like, oh my God, I'm eating so much.

32:47

I can't even finish what's on my plate, right?

32:49

That's awesome. So we've got, I can eat. You said healthy food doesn't have to be so bland.

32:56

What's one more maybe new belief, mind frame, or a broken old belief?

33:01

I've learned new ways. I guess it kind of coincides with the healthier foods

33:05

don't have to be bland, but I've learned new ways to cook healthier by using

33:09

the leaner cuts of meats. Yeah. Yeah. And the big one is, you know, learning to read what's on the labels.

33:16

So I get the, again, the healthiest version of a food item.

33:19

I mean, it's just super important for me now to go to the grocery store and look at those labels.

33:26

And know what you're looking at, right? Yeah. And know what I'm looking at,

33:29

know what to look for on that label rather than just looking at it,

33:33

just the calories, for example. I mean, so. So, I mean, now you're looking at calories, protein,

33:38

fiber, and I always say like the front of the package is the marketing.

33:42

That's the one that gets us. It's like, Hey, come by me. I'm bright and I'm shiny.

33:47

And on the front, I say, you know, contains this or doesn't have that,

33:51

you know, and it's like flip over. It's like, okay, what's really inside of here.

33:55

That's huge. Having the knowledge and the confidence and knowing what you're

34:01

looking at. So that's awesome. Awesome. So if you were to give advice, Carol, to someone who's starting this journey,

34:07

starting this process right now, what would the advice be?

34:11

Maybe three tips, three steps, three things that you would tell them?

34:16

Press the process and your coach. Like distressed. I I'm eating more than I've ever had.

34:22

And it really stressed me out at the beginning because I was just like,

34:26

this is not what I've learned from the past.

34:29

And it's just trust the process would be the first, first tip.

34:35

Yeah. So trust the process, even if it feels counterintuitive.

34:40

I heard somewhere before this was actually a coach elsewhere in another realm,

34:46

but it was something to the degree of if it should feel uncomfortable and it should feel,

34:53

contraindicated of what you normally would do, because if you normally would

34:55

do it, it would have worked before. Right.

34:58

And so like a lot of the things that you're going to be coached through,

35:03

through this process are going to feel a little bit like, like you said,

35:07

in the beginning, the four by four by four framework and you feeling like I'm

35:10

eating way more Adam, do I actually have to eat this much? Yes, Carol, we have to eat that much. Then when we get to a certain point before

35:15

for the holidays, Carol, hey, guess what? We're going to increase your calories. You're like, wait a minute. What?

35:21

Like, yeah, we're going to take them up. We're going to take out quite a bit.

35:24

You're still going to lose weight. I promise. Just trust me. So that's a good one. Trust the process is a great, great piece of advice.

35:31

What are maybe two more pieces of advice or steps you would tell somebody starting this process?

35:36

From me, from what happened to me, I would say, I don't get overwhelmed with

35:41

the meal tracking and entering in the foods.

35:44

I started to get a little bit overwhelmed with this piece at first.

35:48

And I think I told you, I was like, this seems to be taking a lot of time.

35:53

But within a couple of weeks, I had it down and now it's just natural.

35:57

And, you know, that's the first thing I want to do is make sure I'm entering

36:02

in all my stuff correctly. And it doesn't take nearly the amount of time. It was just a learning process.

36:09

100%. a big learning curve. I'm glad you stuck it out.

36:13

And I'm sure you've probably shortened that process a lot by saving some favorites

36:17

in the app and some custom foods.

36:20

And you probably can look back over and just bing, bing, bing,

36:23

done. And it probably takes you a matter of minutes, I'm guessing.

36:27

What's the next feature? Say again? The copy and paste feature is really nice. Heck yeah.

36:33

I don't know if you've used this one before. I just showed a client

36:36

recently how they you know planning for the next

36:39

day and day they were they didn't know and you may not know this but you can

36:43

actually log multiple days at once like you can say i want to log for monday

36:47

tuesday wednesday thursday friday breakfast this is what i want to have put

36:51

every all the ingredients in there and hit log and it literally puts that for

36:54

the breakfast for all of those days so,

36:57

definitely speeds up the process yep i typically have the same breakfast every single day yep.

37:05

So what's one last piece of advice that you would give somebody who's either

37:09

at the beginning of this process and starting the journey today or looking from the outside in?

37:15

Just get moving. I was surprised on how much the simple task of just walking improved.

37:23

Like I said earlier, my moods and mood swings.

37:26

I'm the type of person that prefers to work outside or walk outside versus on

37:30

the treadmill, even when it's 100 degrees here, because I'm in Arizona.

37:35

I have so much more of a positive outlook than when I first started,

37:39

but just get moving because Because you're sitting on the couch and you get

37:44

sick and sore and it makes it harder and harder to get up and move.

37:48

But once you start getting up and moving, it just gets easier and easier every time.

37:54

And you really took that to heart. I know you had recently an employee challenge

37:59

and whatnot for you guys to move.

38:02

But even still, your step count, 8,000, 10,000 steps a day for you is a regular

38:09

thing, a non-negotiable, but there was days you were getting 15,

38:14

18,000 steps when you were doing that step challenge.

38:17

And, you know, it's like, Carol, that's awesome, but we're going to burn out here.

38:23

Let's tone it back a little bit. Right. Yeah. But still like you getting eight,

38:27

10, 12,000 just on a regular basis, especially because you work from home. I do too.

38:32

I mean, this is my home office right here that I have a walk scheduled when

38:36

we get done with this. so I can go get my steps in for the day too,

38:40

right? It just has to happen. So that's great. You said, trust the process, don't get overwhelmed.

38:46

There's a learning curve involved, so understand that. And then you said, I get moving.

38:51

I think those are great pieces of advice for somebody who's just starting out.

38:54

So is there anything that you would say that you've kind of twisted,

39:00

turned, created, molded your own frameworks from anything that we've done?

39:06

Recipes. There you go. That comes to mind.

39:10

Really, I'm not imaginative at all when it comes to cooking.

39:14

I'm able to follow a recipe and cook good, but I lack imagination when it comes to that.

39:21

So I get all kinds of ideas using the recipes and guides that are provided.

39:26

But then I've also learned, you know, to incorporate my own,

39:31

like what's in my own pantry into those recipes as well

39:34

except that my needs at the time so yeah

39:38

recipes are one of

39:41

the top things that i really take the heart and have

39:44

learned to use and use on my own with my

39:46

own ingredients that's awesome i think you i saw a lot in your food logs that

39:51

pumpkin smoothie the pumpkin pie smoothie that was really good yeah that one

39:58

is is really good yeah well as we kind of wrap things up here Carol,

40:02

what would you say is next? I know you continue to throw out that 100-pound goal.

40:09

Is that the ultimate goal? What is the ultimate goal for you?

40:12

The 100-pound goal is more of a secondary goal.

40:16

It's not necessarily as important to me as just being physically healthy and

40:20

being at a comfortable weight where I can realistically maintain it.

40:26

Ultimate goal, and I don't even know if it's achievable, would be to hike the

40:30

Grand Canyon. in. I've always wanted to do it, but I've never been able to physically.

40:34

Um, I have a long ways to go before I can really become a reality.

40:40

I mean, honestly, I'm not sure if I can with my knees, but when I get down to

40:46

my weight that I want to be at or a physically comfortable weight,

40:50

I may not have that issue anymore. I don't know. I've never been there. So I have no idea. Yeah,

40:54

that is incredible height to grand. Can't listen. Yeah.

40:59

You never know. Like you said, it's you know, you drop some more weight,

41:04

your knees feel a little bit better. We work on some strength in those legs.

41:08

I love that. And the reason I like that too, is because it's not necessarily an outcome goal, right?

41:15

It's, it's like, that's something I just want to do.

41:19

We had a client who wanted to go skydiving. Like that was their thing.

41:22

Like they, they wanted to lose the weight because there was a weight limit it to go skydiving.

41:25

I think that's an incredible one. That's awesome. Well, Carol,

41:29

I want to thank you for coming on here today and sharing your journey to this

41:36

point with us and giving us everything from the frameworks that have helped you,

41:41

to you know, the the mindset shifts that you had the advice that you would give

41:45

to people that starting out right now, anything that we didn't cover today that you wanted to touch on before we sign off?

41:52

Not really. I think we covered everything. Just give it a try.

41:56

I mean, you'd really be surprised how easy it really is. It's always been so hard for me.

42:03

This is the first time it's ever been easy. Wow. That's awesome.

42:07

Well, thank you again for your time, Carol. And we will absolutely have you

42:12

back on when we do hit that goal.

42:15

And hopefully when we have you on, we're talking about either having scheduled

42:19

a trip for a Grand Canyon hike, or maybe have already done that hike the next

42:24

time that we have you on. But Carol, it's been awesome.

42:27

Yes, you said it. You put it out there in the universe, right?

42:32

I heard it. They heard it. Everyone heard it. So the Grand Canyon is calling your name.

42:37

Well, Carol, thank you so much for your time today. Appreciate you.

42:41

Everyone else who's been listening in today, what I'm going to do is I will

42:45

put some of these frameworks, like specifically the four by four by four framework

42:48

in the show notes with a link for you to download if you'd like to pick that up and grab that.

42:53

But Carol, thank you again for your time and let's keep kicking ass.

42:57

We've got more, more to go. Thank you. You betcha.

43:04

Hey guys, this is Adam, head coach at Copper State Fit.

43:07

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