Journey Beyond Weight Loss Students Speak

Hi there!

Shelly and Lisa share the insights they have gained through their participation in the Journey Beyond Weight Loss that can help us all better understand ourselves and our journey to a more healthy life.

Some of this weeks episode highlights are:
10:42 The greatest thing I've learned: ""I'm not focused on ""weight loss"" - I'm focused on ""Health Gain""
14:49 There are biologic, emotional, and education components you need to understand. You're not going to get that when you just eat something that comes to your porch in a box.
22:23 If you're on the fence... jump off and come on over! It's an investment in yourself. You're worth the investment!

--- Full Raw Transcription of Podcast Below ---

Introduction: (00:00):
You are listening to the, keep the weight off podcast with Dr. Angela episode. Number 14.

New Speaker (00:07):
Welcome to The Keep The Weight Off podcast, where we bust all the dieting myths and discover not just how to lose weight, but more importantly, how to keep it off. We go way beyond the food and we use science and psychology to give you strategies that work. And now your host, Dr. Angela Zechmann.

Dr. Angela (00:27):
So, Hey everybody. Welcome to the podcast today. I am super, super excited. I promised you a really special podcast episode last week, and I am fulfilling on that promise. I have with me today two of our students from Journey Beyond Weight Loss. I have Shelly - say hi.

Shelly (00:44):
Hi everybody.

Dr. Angela (00:45):
And Lisa.

Lisa (00:45):
Hi there.

Dr. Angela (00:47):
We had somebody ask us in the comments if some of our students would talk about what their experience was like in Journey Beyond Weight Loss. So that's why we're here today. I wanted to let them speak in their own words, about what made them decide to join Journey Beyond Weight Loss and what their experience has been. So, Shelly, I'm going to start with you and I'm going to have you just tell us, first of all, like where were you before you, when did you join Journey Beyond Weight Loss?

Shelly (01:22):
By the way I actually joined, I believe it was the fall session, the fall session, so of 2020.

Dr. Angela (01:31):
Okay. So we were in the middle of the pandemic when you joined.

Shelly (01:35):
A perfect time to join something like that. And I had actually been seeing Dr. Angela a few months before that, and she had talked about the program. As a patient. I had been one of your patients and still am. But I was getting the food portion, you know, the leaving the flour and the sugar behind that part was kind of coming under control, but I still recognized that that's only really a small piece of the puzzle and getting healthy and I really needed some help with the emotional side of becoming healthy and forming new habits. And just the information you had available about Journey Beyond Weight Loss, just kind of made me think this could be something that could address maybe what's even the bigger issue in becoming healthy. So, and that's kind of what drew me to it.

Dr. Angela (02:32):
So, that's what I always say. It's like, you know, there's the biochemical piece of this, which is the nutrition piece and then there's all the deeper stuff too - that makes so much difference. So Lisa, tell us what, what had been your experience before, when did you start Journey Beyond Weight Loss?

Lisa (02:55):
I started at the same, the fall of 2020. Okay. I had just found myself not feeling well and I'm tired of not feeling well, sick and tired of being sick and tired. I think they call it. And I just decided that I needed to do something different. And in this case, I happened to see this ad on Facebook, which, you know, there's all sorts of opinions about those things.

Lisa (03:18):
But but it said it was Dr. Angela and it was jJourney Beyond Weight Loss. And I'm like, Hey, sometimes you think about those when you see them and you go, is that actually a doctor? I happened to know it was because I've seen Dr. Angela in the past. So that was years and years ago. I saw Dr. Angela and had a little bit of success there. But of course, if you don't keep following through with the things that, you know, you need to do things don't keep working. So but I found myself just in this place where I went, okay, I know she has something to offer and it looks different than anything I've ever tried and I've tried a lot of things. And so I'm just going to give this a whirl. I said something to my husband and he was totally supportive and, Oh, that's cool. I hopped on board and I don't regret it a bit. I'm very excited.

Dr. Angela (04:08):
So tell us a little bit about I'll have each of you sort of talk separately about what your experience was like in Journey Beyond Weight Loss and what you discovered as you went through, because it's a 12 week course, but it's six modules worth of content. And we sort of just go through the six modules in 12 weeks and just tell everybody what your experience was.

Shelly (04:34):
Well, I think when you go in and, and you're starting out, you kind of maybe have an idea of, Oh, this is going to teach me about eating right. And getting super, you know, inspired and healthy and all this, which it kind of, it absolutely does that. But what you really find out is a lot of the work in getting healthy is not about food at all. It's really not. It's about getting these new sustainable habits and kind of replacing old habits. And that's a lot of emotional work that you have to do. And what struck me as we went through the different modules is there's about, I want to say there's four or five where you're really concentrating on your identity and setting boundaries and all these things that you kind of have to discover about yourself to really figure out how you're going to become a healthy person. And I think that part was, it's some really difficult emotional work that you go through because you're, you're facing some things and you're learning some things about yourself that actually can affect how you eat, can affect emotional eating and that type of thing. You find these little triggers and things that, that are very important to find. And so I didn't really expect that it was going to be as emotional as it gets.

Shelly (05:59):
I think sometimes in those modules, I know it was hard to do the homework on some of those, cause it's a lot of introspection and, you know, kind of self discovery. So when you get through it, you feel like, wow, I know a different side of myself, so, and I think that helps. Oh yeah, for sure. And you had an emotional scale and I don't want to give away everything that you tell us, but just learning to identify how you feel makes so much difference where you're at and what you're really feeling. I think as women, we sometimes forget to factor in our own emotions and, and how we're handling things and how we're feeling. We just keep going. We just keep going. And I feel like the Journey Beyond Weight Loss really helped me get a little bit more control and kind of just that feeling of, okay, I'm in control of what's going on. I can say no to things. Don't have to be a super woman and say yes to everything. So those were some really important takeaways for me, was setting those boundaries, learning to say no and self care. Yeah. Those were really the key takeaways. And that, that has helped me so much.

Lisa (07:14):
And I think what I hear everything you've just said almost none of it was about food or exercise even. Right. So I think that was what was most surprising to me is in the beginning, the first two or three weeks, you talk about food. Of course, like we need to start getting rid of flour and sugar, right? Belong to the Flour and Sugar Buster Society, Right? And do those things. But that was not the main thrust of what you were heading us toward. And so that was refreshing to me. It was different. I don't have to get all my food perfect. And I don't have to get all my exercise right in line and I don't have to do all of this stuff at the same time because I'm like, it has exhausted me in the past. And so it was refreshing to not have to do those things. But no, I was on a journey. I have learned to be kind to myself through Journey Beyond Weight Loss. And I have not been kind to myself for a long time.

Dr. Angela (08:07):
So many of us just are constantly beating ourselves up in our heads all day. We talked about this on one of the previous podcasts, how, how hard it is. And I like what you said, Shelly, about how, like, we don't even know what we're feeling because we're trained not to pay attention. Right. And so we just carry on. So, and we don't realize how much that impacts our weight loss journey. Right? Yeah. So we have, we have the support calls. I suggest that people buddy up with a partner and you two are buddies.

Shelly and Lisa (08:45):
So we are, we are!

Dr. Angela (08:46):
So talk about that a little bit. So, cause I know a lot of people come into Journey Beyond Weight Loss and they're like, no, no, no, no, I don't want it. I don't want to, I just want to kind of stay in the background and watch that sort of what we do when we have this disease, we kind of hide a lot. And and I'm pretty, you know, like I'm not adamant about it, but I'm really suggesting to people if you want to do well, it's important.

Shelly (09:11):
So how did that work for you guys? Well Lisa and I actually were in a breakout room, which you do during the support calls and we were answering or discussing the topic and you know, finding a buddy and right afterwards, she actually messaged me in the chat and said, do you want to be my buddy?

Shelly (09:29):
And I was like, sure. And it has been so helpful having somebody out there that you know is doing this too. I mean, we know that everybody on the call is working on this, but when you get like a text or, you know, an email or something from your buddy, it's just kind of this little reminder, Oh, there's somebody out here who understands exactly what I'm going through. And that always makes you feel to me, that makes me feel less alone. And then sometimes when I get a little texts from her, we talk about things that are going on in our life, stressful things, happy things, because all of those are extreme emotions and it's not just sad things that can make you go over the edge. Sometimes it's real happy, emotional, celebratory things that can kind of push you over to. So it's just been to me, the support system, I have a very supportive husband and very supportive kids and having a buddy out there to just, you're just building up your support system and you really need one when you're making these kinds of changes. They're not easy changes to make. And I know everybody thinks about they want weight loss. And I think the biggest thing I've learned, and one of the things having a buddy has been is I'm not focused on the weight loss. I'm focused on health gain!

Shelly (10:55):
So, and instead of losing something, which always feels just like loss. But when you're gaining something that feels like a positive and Lisa being my buddy, you know, she's always positive in her little messages to me, even if there's something going on, she always ends it on a positive note. Like I'm going through all these things but I'm feeling pretty good about, you know, about this part. So I feel like she's been like the perfect, she's been the perfect buddy for me, but and I think we all need that connection. I just think you do. I think it's a really important part. And I know we tend to want to shy away and maybe keep this all to ourself, but that's like really the last thing you want to do when you're trying to make changes. Right.

Lisa (11:41):
I think for me, it was I, now that I have done some work, I figured out I didn't want to be accountable. I didn't want to have someone I was accountable to like, I'll be accountable to myself and everything will be fine, but that's such a lie. (Laughing) And so that's what I was pushing against. I'm like, I don't want, I don't really ever need an accountability. I don't want that. And, but, but you really were adamant you're right. You don't like demand it, but you're adamant that it needed to happen. And so the first time you put, broke us into breakout rooms, whoever it was, I just said, I'm going to ask him if there'll be my buddy. And it worked, I'm like, just let Providence take its course. Right. So same thing. Shelly's been the same way. And here's the deal. We don't spend hours on the phone. We just check in with one another on a regular basis and just through text mainly and some emailing and we just kind of check in and make sure they're doing okay. And if not, listen, and then just say, I know, but tomorrow will be better. Right. Right. Tomorrow's a new day. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Angela (12:48):
That's awesome. That is so awesome. I'm so happy for you guys. So you started in September of 2020 it's now May. So you've had this relationship like almost for almost a whole school year, basically. Interesting thing is today's the first time you've actually met in person. That's so cool. We're all vaccinated, so we're able to do this. Yeah. So it's very fun. Cool. Well, so here's my last question for you. Lots of people are considering this. We have opened up the course for our main enrollment. Lots of people are considering this. They're not sure whether they should do it or not. Like what would your advice be to somebody who's sort of on the shelf about this or on the fence, I guess would be the better way to put it?

Shelly (13:37):
What I would say is if you're like me, you've probably tried a bunch of different diets. You've probably tried. I don't know if I can say all the ones, But you know what, you know, all the different crash diets and fads diets. And I probably had tried all of those at some point over the last 25 years of being obese...

Dr. Angela (14:02):
Of having obesity!

Shelly (14:08):
Of HAVING Obesity - having the disease, right. That's one of the things right there is you have a disease that stuff really isn't going to work. It's just not going to work long-term and you have to kind of look beyond that part of it. And that's what I had to do is I had to realize I needed to get rid of some old habits and some old addictions, sugar, and flour and addiction, and they weren't helping you know, the condition, the disease. And so when I made my appointments with Dr. Angela and started getting education, which is another really huge part of this is you need this education that you just don't get in those other programs. You just don't, you don't get these different components that all work together, which is the biological stuff that's happening in your body, the emotional stuff. You're not going to get that when you just eat something that comes to your porch in a box, that's not going to happen.

Dr. Angela (15:01):
That's a good point right now.

Shelly (15:04):
And you can be real good. I want to, you know, put that in quotes on the finger quote - you can be real good and just eat stuff. And then you can get real bored with that and you can lose a lot of weight with it. And as soon as you stop it and you go back to the way you were before, because that's, what's going to happen. You just gain weight back and you're on this continual yo-yo. And what I've noticed this last year is that roller coaster ride has really leveled out and things feel much more obtainable and they feel much more natural. And like I said, I'm not working to lose weight anymore. I'm much more accepting of my body just as it is and in loving myself and just trying to be kinder to myself and healthier and put good things in me. And that's before I would've just said, I don't care how I do it. I just, I don't care if it's unhealthy, I just want to lose weight. Right. You know, and you get so desperate and this has taken that desperation out and the education and the emotional components of it have just made it more sustainable. And it just makes you feel good that you're taking care of yourself and that you're liking yourself. I've just liked myself so much more.

Dr. Angela (16:14):
That's such a huge key!

Shelly (16:14):
And that changes your life. You know, when you put yourself as a priority and you really practice self care, you can do so much more for everybody else. Oh yeah. It's just amazing. And that's really, I mean, how do you say that that's a program, right? This is so much more than a program. It's a lifestyle change and it affects all components of your life in a, in a positive way. I'm just so thankful that I found it. And I found Dr. Angela. I mean, I'm not...

Dr. Angela (16:47):
I'm practically tearing up here!

Lisa (16:47):
She's awesome.

Shelly (16:53):
You change lives! You do that. And that's what you want to do in your profession. And you definitely do that.

Lisa (16:58):
I think it's a great reminder that we're not, we're more than our body. We are a mind and we're a soul and you address all of those things. So if you're out there feeling sick and tired of being sick and tired this is a great way to address all areas of your life. Because in the past I've only addressed one or two of those things at a time. And this is, this is the place where the only place I have ever addressed all three and, and, and feel like, I mean, I now have a new mantra in my life. I am a healthy person who makes healthy choices. Yeah. That's who I am. It doesn't matter what I weigh. It doesn't matter how big it, none of that matters. I mean, yes it does. Okay. I'll be honest and say, of course it does, but it doesn't matter as much as it used to. What matters is, I'm a healthy person who makes healthy choices. And it doesn't mean I get it right every time, but it means man, every moment is a fresh beginning and I can start over and I don't have to beat up on myself and all of those things. That's, that's what you've taught us in this.

Lisa (18:01):
So if you're, if you're on the fence, if you're like, I don't know... know that this is different than anything you've ever done before and it's worth trying it. And so the cool thing is once you've joined, you can keep with the subscription. You can just keep coming back. So both Shelly and I have gone through two sessions of the 12 weeks and I learned stuff in the second session. I didn't learn or didn't hear in the first one because it's a lot of information, but it's really cool to learn the physiology then to learn how it affects my emotions and then to learn how to just live in life and how to be a healthy person who makes healthy choices.

Shelly (18:40):
Absolutely do it.

Lisa (18:42):
Just do it. Be Nike.

Dr. Angela (18:45):
I love it. I had one gal tell me the other day, she's in the program too. And she just went through it for the first time, this last session. And she sat down to do one of the, I have, I have you do like pretty deep meditation in module five. And she said, she just felt like a stubborn child that she was like, I don't want to do this. I'm not going to do this. This is stupid. But she did it. She was just kept listening and she did it. And she said, the next thing she knew the tears were flowing. And she had just discovered some really amazing things about herself sort of difficult, but yet, but yet released a lot of pain. Yeah. And the tears, I always say the tears are always a good reminder that there's relief. Tears are a sign of relief. Right. And she said, damnit Dr. Angela - you're right! And I had to laugh because I was like, I know! Because I've done this work myself. And I know how important it is to really work at getting to some of the core stuff. And that's what we do. And we do it in such a supportive environment.

Dr. Angela (19:54):
We're all here working together and we've got a Facebook group - there's Sugar and Flour Buster Society, which is the free Facebook group. But then Journey Beyond Weight Loss has its own community of all of us who are working at that, all of the deeper stuff.

Shelly (20:08):
Which is fun because those people, you kind of know their faces and know their stories because they're on the calls with you. Right. And then you get an exchange and postings in that group. So that's also another big support thing that we have. And I think that's, you know, just the quality of the information you're getting, the quality of people that you're working with and you get to hear their stories and it just reminds you, there's so many things that you'll relate to. That's every story, almost every person, when they would say something, you know, you feel that connection. And just be like, I, I felt that I totally get this. And I think that's the amazing thing is you're bringing a group of people together. We all kind of understand each other's struggles. We don't even know necessarily why we have them, but we know that we felt that way. And it's very empathetic, very supportive. Yeah.

Lisa (21:00):
And a great reminder that we're not alone.

Dr. Angela (21:02):
Exactly. I think the weight loss journey, you know, when you just sign up to do a diet plan or get the box delivered to your porch you just feel like it's you against the world and you're all alone. And that just never works long-term. It just doesn't.

Shelly (21:17):
It's so easy to give up when you're in that position. Right. And you feel like you fail and I've never felt like I failed since that in this last year, even when my weight's been up a little bit or when it's gone down drastically, which sometimes it has, or when I've plateaued for a long time, I still feel like I'm going somewhere. Exactly. In a positive way. It's not all about that scale number. It's not. And when you learn that it frees you up to just become healthier. That number is a, is a terrible anchor! It pulls you down and makes you think horrible things about yourself that are not true!

Shelly (22:00):
Nice to get that anchor lifted up and that's really what's happened. And then you're free to explore and experience the world.

Dr. Angela (22:09):
Yeah. Live a new life. Yeah, absolutely. Awesome. All right. Great. Do you guys have any last minute thoughts at all? This has been awesome.

Shelly and Lisa (22:17):
Well first of all, thanks for asking us to come today. We got to meet!

Shelly (22:22):
And to everybody out there who is on the fence. I would just say this time, jump off the fence. Come on over, come on over to this side of the world. It's good. Come over into the weather's great.

Lisa (22:35):
The grass is greener.

Shelly (22:38):
I think you'll be not disappointed at all. It's an investment in yourself and you are worth this investment.

Dr. Angela (22:44):
That's huge.

Lisa (22:45):
Absolutely. And for those, I mean, what's coming to mind right now is people who go, I don't want to feel all those emotions. I want to say it's okay, we're going to hold your hand while you do it. You're not going to have to do it alone. So it's the only way over or through, and you can't avoid them forever. And so, you know, why not today might not get started today, right?

Dr. Angela (23:07):
Don't put off improving your life one more minute. Because the solution is available to you. So that's awesome. Well, thank you guys so much for your time out to talk about your experiences. This has been awesome. We're grateful.

Lisa and Shelly (23:22):
Thank you. Thank you.

New Speaker (23:24):
All right, everybody. So we will be back next week with another podcast episode. If you want to sign up for Journey Beyond Weight Loss, you have until midnight on Friday, May 7th, 2021 to sign up, just go to JourneyBeyondWeightLoss.com/yes. We will put that in the show notes for you so you have easy access to it. And we would love to have you join us and work at getting healthier again and work at improving, not just your body, but your entire life. So very, very exciting. So thanks guys.

All (23:55):
Thank you so much. We'll see you next time guys. Bye.

Speaker 2 (23:59):
Hey, if you really want to lose weight and keep it off for good, your next step is to sign up for Dr. Angela's free weight loss course, where you're going to learn everything you need to get started on your weight loss journey, the right way, just head over to JourneyBeyondWeightLoss.com/freecourse to sign up. Also, it would be awesome if you could take a few moments and write a review on iTunes. Thanks. And we'll see you in Journey Beyond Weight Loss.

- Dr. Angela

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