Marchelle's Story

Episode 4: Today I'm going to interview my friend and medical assistant, Marchelle, and let her share her weight-loss story and struggle with food.

Raw Transcription Below:

Dr. Angela Zechmann (00:35):

Hey everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm super excited today because I have a co-host with me today and this co-host is my awesome medical assistant. Her name is Marchelle, and Marchelle is going to be popping in frequently on these podcasts and just really, because we both have lots of experience in the world of weight loss and I wanted you all to get to know Marchelle. And so Marchelle, I just want to let you like tell everybody who you are and where you've come from and what your experience has been and everything. Yeah. Could you do that? That would be awesome.

Marchelle (01:19):

I'm Marchelle. Hi everybody. I just wanted to give you guys a little bit of history about where I came from and my relationship with Dr. Zechmann is you guys know her as Angela. So I've been working for Angela for about three years. Did not know what I was getting myself into when I took this job. It's been a great blessing in my life. So I guess I'll just give you a little bit of history with my addiction to sugar. And my struggles with dieting. When I started this job with Angela, I weighed 212 pounds. I was coming out of a very dark place in my life. I was drinking a lot and I had just my, my husband's grandparents who we took care of on hospice that just passed away. And yes, so I was trying to get back out there and get back to work.

Marchelle (02:09):

And, and I ended up doing an interview with Dr. Zechmann. And like I said, I didn't really understand what obesity medicine was all about, but I soon learned that it was something that was going to change my life. So I guess what I can say is I kind of had a rough childhood. I got addicted to candy very quickly. You know, when I was about three or four years old, I can remember going down to the little penny candy store and buying candy every single day. It was sort of instant gratification. There's a joke in my family about my mother used to give us Jell-O bottles that were full of jello, water and sugar. And I used to hide underneath my sister's bed and wait for her to drop that shut sugar bottle. And I would grab and take it over to, to my bed. And my mom used to always find these, these Jell-O sugar bottles in my bed. And, and I just, it just, my sugar addiction goes way back. It's pretty deep. And...

Dr. Angela Zechmann  (03:12):

Can I stop you for a second here? So like, so she would mix jello packets in with the water and put it in bottles. Yes. And that was pretty,

Marchelle (03:25):

I mean, maybe just in my family, but it was, it was common in my family.

Marchelle (03:32):

Like I said, you know what later on in life, when we used to joke around about these Jell-O bottles, I mean, it kind of gave me an idea of where things started out for me and sugar. And like I said, I mean, I learned at a very, very young age that this instant gratification I got eating candy. I mean, it just carried me all through my childhood. And then, and I went into high school with the same attitude about, you know, sugar is instant gratification when I felt like I didn't have that many friends. Cause I used to switch schools quite a bit. We, we moved around, I just started this relationship with food and it was mostly sweets. And I didn't understand why that was. I do understand that now because sugar has this physical addiction and I know that you'll go into this and talk to your audience about that.

Marchelle (04:26):

But anyway, so when I went into high school, I started gaining a lot of weight and about ninth grade. And that's when I started noticing boys too. And I wanted some attention from the boys. And so I am like, what am I going to do? You know, I gained all this weight. And so talking to friends or, you know, how kids talk, we went into these discussions about, you know, if less calories, less weight, if you don't eat, then you don't gain weight, which quickly led to me starving myself. And, and that was super, super hard on my body and super hard on me. And then by my senior year, I started doing some drugs to lose weight quickly, some legal, some not legal. And that was sort of the thing that the cheerleaders were doing. And, you know, in my senior year, then we were all doing it and all starving ourselves in some of them, you know, had developed bulemia and it was just, it was just a very toxic situation, but it was very common.

Marchelle (05:36):

And and so that's, that's sort of how I lost weight was in a very unhealthy way because I just had a very destructive relationship with food, mostly sugar and, and all. And then of course, I mean, I think, think back I have a picture of myself still where I'm about one years old and I'm sitting an old recliner and I have a taco bell soda cup in my hand and I'm drinking out of the, you know, the soda cup. And that's another thing is that I was really addicted to fast food. That that'd be a super important part of my life, you know, like on the go type of food. And so, yeah, I mean, I just think back on how all the bad habits that I've had in my life and just became very normal. And I carried that into my marriages and carried it into my, into my children's eating habits and you know, the fast food on the go type of eating and the sodas and, and all that. But anyway, I don't want to get way off track, but I was just sort of taking a mental,

Dr. Angela Zechmann (06:38):

You and I both know that you're not alone. Right. Like this is, this is how it happens. This is what happens for, right. Yeah.

Marchelle (06:46):

Okay. And then, I mean, I've tried all the diets. I can remember back about 10 years ago, I spent thousands of dollars on Jenny Craig and I lost one pound guys, one pound and I realized that it did not help me out. And I was so disappointed that I'd spent all that money, but but I didn't, you know, when you don't know this information, you don't know it and you're willing to try anything. And, and that was one of, you know, that was one of the more expensive pads that I took and, and I'm trying to think. Let's see. So anyway, yeah, back to the, you know, I spent thousands of dollars on G you know, on Jenny Craig. And that was, that was the last paid dieting program that I did before I got this job. And like I said, it's just been mainly less calories, less weight, you know, if you don't eat as much, then, you know, and then you go to the doctor and they say, Oh, you know, eat, eat less and exercise more. And that's, you know, and that's, that's a huge, yeah, that's a huge bunch of BS. Yeah. So anyway,

Marchelle (07:59):

So I kind of told you like all the, all of the destructive behavior that I had. And then I guess when, you know, when I started working with you, these light bulbs started to kind of go off and I mean, and I came in to working with you with, you know, all these bad habits. And I had a really hard time comprehending what you were telling me about eating the protein and eating three times a day, because that just did not compute in my head. I was like, I cannot eat this much food. I've messed up my metabolism. You know, there's no way that I can eat this much food and lose weight. I was, I, I was very resistant to what you were telling me. And, but I was watching other P other patients come in and becoming very successful at what they were doing.

Marchelle (08:45):

And they made it look so easy. And I was like, how are these, how are these patients coming in and just doing this? And they're losing the weight. And I, and I started to become more concrete in my mind that, okay, maybe this does work. And I still, I still didn't want to give up some things. You know, I was addicted to coffee creamer. I would have a little bit of coffee with my creamer every morning. And, you know, and that would turn into drinking coffee throughout the day. A little bit, I had, I would call it dessert coffee. So that was, that was one thing I didn't want to give up. And that's what kept me from really committing to trying this new way of life, this new way of eating this new lifestyle change. And I didn't realize that it goes so much deeper than just the eating part of it. Like I kinda just needed to wrap my head around just the eating part of it at first. And so that's when I'm, how long has it been that I started doing, because I've worked for you for about two years. Well, you lost some weight weight initially. I think that's just by osmosis. Like it was just from being, being in your presence.

Marchelle (10:00):

I will tell you, when you work for obesity medicine, you don't get to bring pretzels for snacks to lunch. Like I'm used to, because back in the day, you know, when I was working in dermatology, all of us girls, all of the nurses, that's all we did all day long with snack, you know, and I, and you know, me, I love snacks. So I didn't realize, you know, how much weight I was gaining the snacks and all that. And the drinking of course too. Anyways, so just working for you, I think the, for the first two years I was, you know, always getting little bits of things here and there, and it was trying stuff, but I just, there was one thing that I couldn't give up and that was the creamer with my coffee. And I know that I was, you know, and there was, there's a lot of sugar in it and I was still getting that immediate, you know, wake up and the dopamine hit from the sugar in the morning and the caffeine. And so basically, and I could still do the skip breakfast, skip lunch, and then sort of eat whatever, whatever I wanted at dinnertime. And so by no means was I following the lifestyle change or the eating plan that you were giving to the patients, but in some ways, you know,

Dr. Angela Zechmann  (11:08):

I have to let them know something. She called me this later. She told me that she hid the coffee creamer in the back of the refrigerator. You remember that

Marchelle (11:21):

I would bring it in a Mason jar and I would put it in the back of the refrigerator. So he wouldn't find it. I remember doing that. That's so funny. Yeah, that was just that it wasn't like first thing in the morning, I had to have that caffeine and had to have that sugar and, you know, and all was well,

Dr. Angela Zechmann (11:44):

Why? Because your brain was in withdrawal. Yeah. Your brain

Marchelle (11:48):

Definitely. That's why I didn't even know it back then. Seed when you don't know, you don't know. And, and like I said, I was, I had a lot of accountability just from working with you because I was there, you know, every day. And so I didn't get away with, you know, a lot of the snacking behaviors that I would have done, you know, working somewhere else. And so that was helping me lose weight and, you know, and like every once in a while here and there, you know, I would, I would get enough protein in, you know, and I'd say, Oh, I kind of got this, but I never fully committed to it because I thought everyone else could do it. But me, that's what I thought. I thought, well, you know, everybody else makes it look so easy. I don't think I can do this.

Marchelle (12:28):

I don't think I can eat this much food because I've definitely will gain weight. And I remember telling you that quite a bit, that there is no way I eat this much food. And I would, I also remember I would come in and I would, every day I would watch you to see what you would eat to see if you ever strayed from the program. If you ever had like cheat meals, I couldn't believe that you would eat so much food at lunchtime. I could, Oh, I know. I couldn't believe it. I would say, I would say to myself, how, how does she eat that much food and not gain any weight? Because that's like, I was so stuck in my head that the less calories that you consume, the less you weigh, and I just could not get that out of my brain. And so I would always, you know, like sneak, watch you to see if you would ever mess up or you would, you know, you would eat something here or there and you just never did it. And it started to sink in, you know? Wow. Okay. So maybe this is true. Maybe this works. And finally I can't remember what triggered me to just say, okay, I'm ready to change. I'm ready to make this happen. It wasn't, I don't think there was any major event or anything that was,

Dr. Angela Zechmann (13:42):

Oh, I can tell you what you told me was it was the pandemic and Oh yes. Your husband was at, and you told him to buy a bunch of coffee creamer because you were afraid that toilet paper on the coffee creamer was,

Marchelle (13:59):

That'd be so funny. I wasn't doing that. I told them to hoard coffee creamer. I called them on the phone and I don't care about the toilet paper. You just make sure to get all the coffee creamer that you can buy. Cause I do not want to run out. Oh my gosh. And it, yeah. And then I knew I had a real problem because, you know, I mean the COVID and the quarantine brought out a lot of our questionable bull food behaviors. But anyway, yeah. So I remember now thanks for bringing that up. Cause I have a hard time looking back on, you know, what was the catalyst that made me want to change? And so what I had to do first guys is I had to give up the coffee creamer and I knew that that was going to be huge because then that means that I would have to give up coffee. And so then I thought, Oh my gosh, what am I going to do to wake up in the morning? So, well now Marcel,

Dr. Angela Zechmann (14:52):

You didn't have to give up coffee. You just had to drink it.

Marchelle (14:55):

Oh. But I, I would never drink coffee without cream. I don't even like the coffee part of coffee. I just like the creamer. So yeah. So it wasn't, you know, for me, I just might as well give it all, all everything up. And so for a solid week before I even started changing the way that I ate or you know, or eating, eating the 30 grams of protein, you know, three times a day before I did all that, or even before I did the five day sugar and flour detox, that's what it was. I had to go an entire week without the coffee and the creamer first, just to, because I didn't want to kill my family. And I knew that I was going to be a raging bull from not having captain and not having the sugar in the morning. And so I just I knew that it was best if I just took one step at a time and everybody's different, everybody that comes into the clinic and they tell me, you know, how they've changed things or how they've, how their lives have changed.

Marchelle (15:55):

Every single person is unique and individual and whatever works for you personally is just the way that you should do it. So for me, that's what I had to do. And what's so funny about it is every, since I've been talking about this more and more patients come up to me and say, I have that same problem. And the creamer, how just last week, Angela at work, somebody said, Oh, I remember watching your five day sugar flour detox. You're the one that got off the coffee creamer. I had that same issue. So, so it's nice to be able to share these struggles with people and, and be a support system for, for others that sort of struggle with the same.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (16:36):

Wow. I had no idea how addicted that stuff was until you went through it. And we were doing these Facebook lives. And so many people were saying, it's a coffee creamer.

Marchelle (16:49):

It's a top seller. Yeah. Sometimes they're sold out of it at the store. So I know I'm not the only one drink in it. Yeah. So

Marchelle (17:00):

Then then after that week, Angela had given me a five day sugar and flour detox menu. And for me, there was a couple dinners in there that just didn't go, didn't go for me. So what I did is I just used that menu. And if there was something in there that I didn't want to eat, what I would do was just substituted with chicken and vegetables, something simple and something that I could use also for the salad the next day for my protein. So if there is something in there, you know, that don't let a detour you from doing it. If there's something, a dinner in there that you don't like, like let's say you don't like shrimp or something like that, you know, you can always substitute it with something that's equivalent with the protein, because really the, the goal is to detox off the sugar and get the 30 grams of protein three times a day, you know, get enough fiber and vegetables. And so that's the goal. And mostly the goal is, is to detox off of the sugar and the flour. And that was that experience for me looking back on it now, it doesn't really seem like it was that big of a deal, but I do remember making the videos while we were doing it. And like by day three, I was becoming resentful.

Marchelle (18:22):

I was telling myself, what did I get myself into? Oh, I can't, I just eat whatever I want. Why do I have to do this? And, you know, I was, I was just becoming resentful about having to be structured. And, and that's just sort of who I am in general. I don't like to be told what to do. Right. So so that was, that's what I remember back through. Like the five days was that by the third day I started becoming resentful and then like I wanted to eat macaroni and cheese really super bad. Cause that's like something that I love and that's like a family favorite. And so something I was noticing was like some of our family traditions, you know, like I said, you know, making macaroni and cheese once a week or spaghetti or these things, you know, that we're so used to eating when you eliminate that out, you know, it kinda, it puts a rift in, you know, your regular planning.

Marchelle (19:18):

So that was something that I, that we, the whole family had to adjust. And, and also, you know, just to throw this out there, I knew that it was going to be such a huge adjustment adjustment that I had asked Angela to come to my house and help me clean out the cupboards and get all of the crap that was in there out because I knew it was going to be too hard for my husband and I tend to go with it because we had just gone shopping and we didn't want to throw any of that stuff away. So I know that that's, that's the hardest thing. I do hear that from patients as well as when other family members are not doing this with you or they're not on board, then there's kind of that resistance of getting rid of stuff out of the cupboard.

Marchelle (20:02):

So that's, that's a hard one. So yeah, so anyways, we got rid of that stuff and then, you know, I made it through and oddly enough, which I never thought this was going to happen. I lost, what was it? Angela like seven pounds in eight days, just on the scale, I think, cause we also, we did a body company can't remember, I think it was 6.4 pounds of fat that I lost an eight, the first eight days. And I had not, the scale had not moved like that for me in forever. Yeah. Yeah. I was super plateau.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (20:37):

My recollection was like the first week it was like 2.3 pounds. And then the second week it was another two point something. So it came off the, and I'm talking about the fat. So I, cause I, I don't care about weight. I never pay any attention to the meat on the scale. I always want to know how much fat loss there is. And I always want to know how much muscle loss there is. And I'll explain all this in a future podcast episode, what, what parameters you should be watching instead of the scale weight, because that's one thing Marchelle has always been hung up on the scale and it comes from all of these brocades of diet. Like how much weight have I lost? How much weight have I lost? And I'm like, it doesn't matter how much weight you lose as a matter of how much fat you lose. And so, but your body responded so nicely. Like it just released that like crazy. So that was good.

Marchelle (21:26):

I could not believe it either guys. I could not believe that this was working for me because I absolutely thought that I had messed up my metabolism so bad plus I'm 49 years old, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm not in menopause yet, but you know, after the, you hit 40, it's really hard to lose weight. We, I don't lose weight. Like I used to in my twenties. And so everything inside of me did not think this was going to work. I just was at a point where I just surrendered to it. Even though I didn't think it was gonna work, I just knew I wanted help. And I, I wanted to do something, but my body responded so well to this as does everybody's when they come in and it was, it was like a miracle.

Marchelle (22:13):

And you know what else I felt after like a couple of weeks, I felt like this new clean energy, I felt light the fog, my brain fog lifted. Because I think that even though you have, like, when you're living on coffee and sugar, you know, in the morning times and you were skipping breakfast and breakfast is the hardest meal for me to get in. It's so easy for me to skip breakfast. And when I was running on this like false energy, I did not realize like how foggy my brain was and how I would crash out him. You remember that? I would crash out about what was it about two O'Clock in the afternoon, two o'clock in the afternoon.

Marchelle (22:55):

I've been making mistakes at work. And yeah, I was having a really hard time and I didn't even realize that running on clean energy and protein and you change the fuel that you're feeding your body, your brain becomes lighter and brighter. And I just, I just became on fire. Remember I got all this energy and I was like, so

Dr. Angela Zechmann (23:17):

No, you were, you were like, you have so much energy to start with. I couldn't believe that.

Marchelle (23:26):

I just felt really happy about the fact that it worked for me. Cause like I said, I didn't think it was going to, and I thought it was going to be one another disappointment. Jenny Craig really messed up my brain because when you really devote yourself to a program that does not work, it can make you feel like you're broken inside. Like there's like, there's something wrong with your body that you just can't do it. It's, you know, like I said, I thought my metabolism was broken and that the only way for me to lose weight was to starve myself. And that is absolutely wrong.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (24:01):

So many people say that they they're like I've tried everything and I'm sure that I'm just totally broken now and that this isn't going to work. That happens a lot, but they've seen somebody else who's come in or whatever. And I think it's, I think it's watching other people who have not been successful suddenly become successful and you're like, something's different here. What's wrong. Right. So yeah.

Marchelle (24:27):

So yeah, I mean, and I'm still a work in progress. I my story is not over, I've learned new things every week. I forget things that I have to relearn. I have slips and I have splurges and there's, you know, there's things that come up, you know, such as I'll give you an example, like birthday cakes. Okay. I have a hard time because birthday cakes are super important in my family. One's birthday party without a birthday cake. Right. And so that's just been, you know, that's been a huge struggle of trying to overcome, you know, these, these deeply rooted traditions that are centered in, you know, sugar. And then also, you know, Oh, I have to tell you something so funny. So we didn't get to talk about this after Christmas. But I remember I told you about these big platters of cookies that my mom makes.

Marchelle (25:19):

Because my mom is, you know, she always shows love through sugar. You know, I baked two cookies. I love you. And you know this. And so I knew that this year, I, I didn't know how it was going to deal with that. And because I just can't say no to my mom. Right. So, you know, what I did is I accidentally forgot my cookie platter at my mom's house this year. And yeah. And so she called me and she's like, Hey Rochelle, you forgot your cookie platter. And I was like, Oh, I'm sorry, I'm almost home. I'm not going to be able to turn around and get it. I'll get it next week. And then she never mentioned it again. I was like, whew, I dodged that bullet. I brought the cookie bladder home. I was going to eat them all. So yeah. So that was, yeah, that was the way I dealt with it. But I, but I dodged that bullet this year. And I love my mom, mom, if you're listening to this, I'm so sorry. But anyway, so it's just, you know, there's still a lot to learn and I'm learning every day and I've just felt really honored to be able to share some of my story with everybody. And

Dr. Angela Zechmann (26:25):

Yeah, I have to tell you, Marchelle, I'm still learning too. So yeah, I'm still learning. I still struggle. I think it's, I mean, as long as sugar's available and as long as we have a sensitive brain, we're always going to have this, this calling and you know, whenever my birthday comes around, I always have to make a decision. Am I going to, am I going to have the cake or am I going to not because cake is really a powerful problem. So

Marchelle (26:55):

Yeah. And it's sugar in general is just a problem for me. And I know that it always is going to be, it's not like I'm cured of it. There are times when I don't crave it at all and I'm so fortunate for that. And then there's other times when I just crave it all day long and there's the donuts down at Twisters Donuts is talking to me all day and I have to actually take a different route home. So I don't drive by it cause I know I'm too weak. So that's, you know, that's every day of my life. I, I know that there'll be good days and bad days and you know, days that I struggle. And and like I said, days that I splurge or, you know, days that I slip and I just have to talk to myself very nicely, if that happens and be my own best friend and just tell myself, you know, that I can do this and tomorrow's a new day or that next right meal is around the corner. And that's, that's just how I handle things right now. And so looking forward to learning lots of new things and just, just living a better lifestyle, living a better life all. And by the way, I wanted to let everybody know that last Monday. And I know I don't want to dwell too much on the scale, but last Monday was my 50 pound weight loss since I started working furiously. Yes.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (28:12):

Oh my gosh. Congratulations!

Marchelle (28:15):

Yeah. It's 52 pounds actually, because when I started with you, I was 212 pounds. And then I just got on the body comp last week on Monday or Tuesday, excuse me. And I was one 60 and my visceral fat started at probably over 20. It was only measured at 20 on, on the BMI or the, or the body comp report. And now it is at 11, so I'm still shooting for 10, but that's come down significantly since I started working for you. And just significantly since I started eating differently and committed myself to, to the program. So, yeah. Yay.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (28:58):

That's so awesome. So yeah. So if you're those of you who are listening to this, if you're interested in learning what Marchelle has done I have a free course up on the website, a journey beyond weight loss.com and there's a free course there that you can download. And I'll send you installments of the course over the course of a few days, there are four different videos in the free course and I'm teaching you what to do and how to do this so that you can stop all of that crazy dieting and learn the science of this because I love science. I'm a medical doctor. I wouldn't have gotten through medical school unless I loved science. And when you understand science of sugar addiction and how the body handles all of this and the science of weight loss, everything makes so much more sense.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (29:51):

And so I would encourage you to, to go to JourneyBeyondWeightLoss.com and download or sign up for that free course and get on our mailing list too. And, and we want to support you. I've also got a free Facebook group called sugar and flour Buster society. You're welcome to join that. There's so much to know, and there's so much misinformation out there and I kind of am taking it as my mission now to really help educate more and more people about what it actually takes to achieve lasting weight loss, because this isn't easy, it's way easier than you think, but it's not easy when you don't know what you're doing. So I would say it's a very simple plan, but it's not an easy plan. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Marchelle. And I look forward to having you on more of these podcasts to bounce ideas off of, and I'm just super, super excited. So thanks for having me. Yeah. So thank you for listening everybody. And we will see you next time. Take care. Bye-Bye

Close (30:56):

If you really want to lose the weight and keep it off for good, your next step is to check out Journey Beyond Weight Loss, it's Angela's course and membership where you are not just going to listen. You are going to experience what it's really like to go deep with this material and understand it at a whole new level. Dr. Angela's membership is the best way to learn the new skills. You need to finally lose the weight and keep it off. Just head over to Journey Beyond Weight Loss.com forward slash free course and sign up for the free introductory course. Let's get you started on your weight loss journey, the right way. Also, it would be awesome. If you could take a few moments and write a review on iTunes, we really appreciate it.

Thanks again, and we'll see you in Journey Beyond Weight Loss.

Dr. Angela

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