Your New Identity

Today we wanted to talk about a really important facet of lasting weight loss, and that is the identity shift that occurs as we lose weight. It turns out this might be one of the most important, if not THE most important psychological shift that occurs in those who are able to achieve lasting weight loss.

Your identity includes the thoughts that you have about yourself. Often, these thoughts don't change, and this is why people end up regaining weight they lost.

Everything begins with a thought. Join us as we explore this topic… so you can prepare yourself to think differently!

Episode Highlights:

6:39 This takes time. So in order to develop new beliefs about yourself, your brain actually has to watch you doing things that are consistent with the new belief over and over and over again before this belief can become ingrained in your brain.

19:05 So just realize this is a process. And while you're working on this, you want to use what's called a bridge belief. A bridge belief is like a stepping stone or a ladder to the new belief. A bridge belief is a thought that doesn't conflict with the current reality, but leaves room for what's coming.

26:14 You'll want to work at developing that new identity about yourself. And it happens bit by bit and piece by piece. And the more you can say to yourself, I'm learning, I'm in the process. I'm figuring it out, use those kinds of phrases with yourself - that will allow you to feel a lot more hope about the future. A lot more determination about the future. It will allow you to focus on what's happening and what your vision is for the future, as opposed to beating yourself up for your failures.

--- Full Raw Transcription Below ---

Dr. Angela Zechmann (00:00):
You are listening to the Keep The Weight Off podcast with Dr. Angela, episode number 56.

Introduction (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 Zechmann (00:27):
Hey everyone. Welcome to the podcast today. Hey, Marchelle.

Marchelle (00:31):
Well hello everybody.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (00:33):
Hey, how are you doing today? Are you good?

Marchelle (00:35):
I'm doing great. How about yourself?

Dr. Angela Zechmann (00:36):
I'm feeling awesome. I'm feeling really awesome. Okay. Well today I wanted to talk about a really important facet of lasting weight loss, and that is this identity shift that occurs as we lose weight. I actually did like a PowerPoint presentation about it on the Keep the Weight Off Summit. This was way back in December of 2020, but it was really like I had all of these awesome speakers on this summit. And this talk that I did was actually the highest rated one. It was like, wow, that's pretty cool. I had to like pat myself on the back for that.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (01:18):
So it's an important topic because we have to think about ourselves differently. And I just realized I used the word have to, and I had a podcast about how I shouldn't be using the word 'have to' all the time. So you're going to want to think about yourself differently as you go through the weight loss process. And I really want to address this because often this identity shift doesn't occur and that's what causes people to end up regaining the weight that they lost. So think about it like this, almost everyone, when they first start a weight loss journey, they have thoughts about themselves and about what their current reality is like. So for example, Marchelle, when you first started your weight loss journey, what thoughts did you have about yourself? What were you thinking about yourself at that time? Do you remember?

Marchelle (02:14):
Well, there weren't very great thoughts. I know that,

Dr. Angela Zechmann (02:16):
Right? Yeah. That's common.

Marchelle (02:18):
Yeah. I mean, I was thinking that I was miserable in my own skin, that my worth was based on how I looked and that people didn't like me as much as if I was skinny. Even just using the word skinny is a weird word. Because we shouldn't probably using those words, skinny, fat, you shouldn't probably use those words. Yeah. but I, I felt fat and I wanted to be skinny. That's how I felt. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, and I, I mean, I was pretty unhappy with the, the, what I saw in the mirror. Yeah. Basically. I mean, I would just judge myself every time I looked in the mirror, I would say, you know, you, your belly's too big in these pants or, or whatever, you know, your, your chin looks too big or whatever, you know, you know how we all do. We pick ourselves apart and everybody's got their things, you know, that they, they like to pick apart about themselves. But yeah, I pretty much just was unhappy with the way that I looked. And I thought that other people didn't like me because of the way I looked. Yeah. They wanted to feel differently.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (03:25):
Yeah. And I think all of that is like really, really common. Like it's sort of like this feeling of shame almost that's brought on by these thoughts that are like, oh my God, I'm overweight. I've let myself go. Something's wrong with me? Those kinds of thoughts. And so we have this identity that we develop about ourselves and the thinking is I'm overweight and I've gotta lose weight and I'm overweight and I've gotta lose weight.

Marchelle (04:00):
Yep.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (04:01):
And when you start a weight loss journey, when someone starts a weight loss journey, they usually come in with a sense of determination. Like I've gotta fix this problem and I've gotta get this problem fixed right now. Like this is creating havoc in my life. Now those are the people who are ready, they've come into the clinic and they're ready. Right. So there are a lot of people who are struggling with this identity that says I'm overweight. And I know I need to lose weight, but I'm not ready yet. So by the time we see them in the clinic, they're ready. Okay. So let's say that you start this weight loss journey with this thought I'm overweight and I need to lose weight and you are determined and you find a diet plan that you think you can follow and you get to work. And oftentimes there's an exercise plan too. Like maybe you went to a gym and there was a trainer there that gave you some sort of diet Marchelle, I remember when you first started getting really serious about it, like you were at the gym almost every day after work. Do you remember that?

Marchelle (05:12):
I do. I remember you going to the gym with us one day and I did Helping me learn some things about, ah,

Dr. Angela Zechmann (05:20):
We, we talked

Marchelle (05:21):
About yeah,

Dr. Angela Zechmann (05:22):
Yes. We talked about how to make sure you had the proper form and technique and all of that. It was a fun, oh yeah. I enjoyed that.

Marchelle (05:28):
Right. Those were the good old days.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (05:30):
Those were the good old days. So we talked about this a little bit in a previous podcast about how this idea that in order to achieve lasting weight loss, you have to transition your thinking about yourself from this idea that you're someone who's overweight, who needs to lose weight. You have to transition your thinking so that you begin to think about yourself as someone who's vibrant and healthy and living at a normal weight. So as you go through this process, the identity will, will you'll want to get that identity shifted. So the question becomes, how do you do that? Because think about it. If you keep thinking about yourself as someone who's overweight and needs to lose weight, and you don't shift that identity about yourself, then you're always going to see yourself as someone who's overweight and needs to lose weight. And the only question is, am I in the process of trying to lose weight right now or not?

Dr. Angela Zechmann (06:30):
You'll go back to doing the things that overweight people do. Right? Right. So I want you to understand, I want all of our podcast listeners to understand this takes time. So in order to develop new beliefs about yourself, your brain actually has to watch you doing things that are consistent with the new belief over and over and over again, before this belief can become ingrained in your brain. So when I'm teaching this to our students in empowered weight loss, I use the example of me shifting my belief about myself from being a night owl, to being a morning person. So let me explain how this happened up. Until my early forties. I would stay up really late at night and I would get up as late as possible in the morning. And of course, by, by my early forties, I had school age kids.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (07:31):
So I had to be up by 7, 6 30 or seven to get them ready for school. But I hated every minute of my mornings. I just hated it. I wanted my sleep and I like to stay up late and watch TV and stuff. So I definitely did not consider myself to be a morning person. But then one day I decided, okay, I really want to add regular workouts into my schedule. And the only possible time that I can work out regularly is going to be in the morning before the kids go to school. My husband at the time would be home before he went to work. So I would have to get up and get to the gym and then get back before he got up. Right. So what I would have to do would be to set my alarm for 4:45 AM. Now, when you're somebody who will do any thing to sleep in setting an alarm at 4:45 AM, feels like really, really scary.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (08:31):
I was actually petrified and I had absolutely no idea how I was going to do it. So I thought, well, okay, here's what I'm going to tell myself. I'm just going to bribe myself with coffee. So I'm going to drink coffee in the morning and then I'm going to go to the gym and I'm going to come home. And if I discovered that I'm tired later, I'll just take a little nap mid afternoon while the kids are doing their homework or whatever, or before they get home from school, I'll just take a, a little nap. So that's what I did. And so I would get up in the morning, I set my alarm for 4 45. I'd roll myself out of bed, have coffee on my way into the gym, do a workout. I had these pre-planned workouts and I just did it every morning. I just did it. And after a month or, or two of this, I was like, wow.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (09:19):
You know, I actually really like this. I like coming out of the gym early in the morning. And knowing that I got a great workout in, it was like this huge accomplishment, first thing in the morning, like even if nothing else got done that day, I had done my workout and it really helped to boost my self confidence and my sense of I can't think of the right word, like my ability to trust myself that I could accomplish things. I, it, it energized me and go about my days feeling way better. And I would actually be more productive. It was really amazing. And I realized after a few months of this, I'm no longer a night owl. I actually enjoy the mornings. I'm a morning person. Now. I love getting up in the mornings and going to the gym and getting energized for my day. So it took my brain observing me doing these new behaviors for quite some time before I developed this new identity. So for many weeks I was a night owl trying to do something completely foreign by getting up and going to the gym that early in the morning. But then after a while, it was like, I'm a morning person. And I really like this. And I like going to bed early and I like getting up early. So that's how that happens.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (10:48):
So I think that what I want our listeners to understand is that we come into this weight loss journey with certain beliefs about ourselves, whatever they may be. I am over weight. Weight loss is hard. I've never been successful at this. I can do this for a little while, but I always go back to my old habits. Whatever these beliefs might be. It's important to understand what they are because your brain is always going to find evidence to support your new B- well support, the beliefs that you have. So does that make sense, Marchelle?

Marchelle (11:26):
Oh, definitely. I just, I mean, I was kind of thinking back about like every day when I was in a really dark place with losing weight, because I've always lost weight the unhealthy way, which would be like, I overate, I overate, I overate. And then I would go on this starvation plan where I wouldn't need anything for, you know, whatever amount of time I can last. Yeah. And then I would, and this, I mean, it's kind of like when I was younger and maybe my body responded to that a little bit better, because that no longer works for me now. But I, I remember and I would just be so miserable in that cycle of feeling like a failure because I could not ever make healthy choices. I would always resort to comfort food. And I would, and I would just gorge, like I would eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted.

Marchelle (12:27):
And I was just like trying to fulfill this, whatever this 'hole' inside myself. And, but I didn't know it at the time. I, I know that now. And then I would say, okay, time's up? And then it was this miserable, you know, state of not feeling good because I didn't have the proper nutrition. I, and I would be like shaming myself the whole time because you know, you really want to go eat that donut, but you're not doing that right now. If you do, you know, then you're going to, you know, be a failure. So it was just always this negative, no matter what I did, there was always this negative self talk because I knew that what I was doing, wasn't the right thing. I knew it wasn't the healthy thing. I knew that it wasn't being kind to myself for my future self, but I didn't know any other way.

Marchelle (13:16):
And I would pray, God, please teach me a way to lose this weight. Because that's what I wanted, you know, lose weight a healthy way because I can't do this forever. I'm I'm going to die from doing this eventually because it's it either, you know, emotionally it, it was killing me basically. It was killing me. And I did it for a lot of, lot of years. I mean, I was even still thinking that way when I first started working for you. Yeah. I was still doing like the skipping. You know, I was trying to hide it because you know, I didn't realize like what I got myself into when I took the job. I, I really had no idea. I was like, oh yeah, I took the job and, and brought my bag of pretzels the next day, stick my drawer. So I had some snacks and I remember you saw that, where did these come from?

Marchelle (14:06):
These? And I was like, oh, they're pretzels. Like, so, and it's so you, I mean, I think you, you were so kind to me though. And I mean, looking back on it now, I just could imagine like me coming in to the clinic and you seeing me and just like, oh, this is a hot mess. And and I would skip meals. Like I wouldn't eat, remember I wouldn't eat breakfast, I wouldn't eat lunch. I know. And then, and I noticed that everybody noticed that I didn't do that, but nobody really said anything. And then I think about, about two o'clock, I would start making mistakes every day. I would forget things. I would sort of be crashing and I would be starving. And then I would know I could go home that night and eat whatever I wanted for dinner. Because I hadn't had any calories all day long.

Marchelle (14:48):
Yeah. And that's just kinda how I thought. I mean, it's just, like I said, this perpetual cycle of or this perpetuating cycle of misery. And so it's, and I, and I know that I'm not the only one that goes through this. Because I talk with people about it all the time, especially when people first come into the clinic and I, so many people feel the same way. It's like, I just want something better, but I don't know what to do. And I want it to be something that is going to be lasting because I'm sick of doing every 30 day quick fix kind of diet program. And that's all I knew. So yeah, I mean, it's just, my life is so different now. Now after working with you for the last four years, I mean you've changed my life, honestly, with, with, with information, with information, when you started to tell me things about, you know, obesity and it being a disease and sugar addiction and identity change and, and all these things that have to happen, it's not just about eating less or eating the right foods. I mean yeah, of course that that's a given, okay. want to eat the right foods, but there's so much more to it than that.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (16:00):
Yeah.

Marchelle (16:00):
If you wanted to be long lasting, if, I mean, of course, if you want to do like a quick fix 30 day thing, because you're prepping for a wedding or something. I mean, I know people do that. Yeah. But if you really, some, some serious changes and you want to really be happy and you don't want to feel like you're starving and you don't want to feel like you're being deprived and you don't want to feel like a failure then really? I mean it like, like I said in the last podcast, I mean this isn't an eating problem or a drinking problem. This is a thinking problem. Right?

Dr. Angela Zechmann (16:31):
Exactly.

Marchelle (16:32):
Yeah. And, and the, the eating and the drinking is the solution right. To those problems. So right. It's just, yeah. It's just takes a lot more work in our work. Yeah. And it's not easy. It doesn't happen, you know, overnight. Yeah. Like I learn, I, I have slips and, or I, I don't know. I do things I know I'm not supposed to do. Because I get resentful. Like, you know what, I can't, I eat like everybody else eats. Yeah.

Marchelle (16:56):
You know, it's funny, like why can't I have that hamburger at, you know, at dinnertime when everybody around me is eating and it's like, I go through like some of these like mental battles. It's it is, it's a journey.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (17:09):
Yeah.

Marchelle (17:10):
It takes, it takes a while to see yourself differently. But the identity change is forever.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (17:18):
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that's just it, like if you really want lasting weight loss, your beliefs about yourself will - it requires a shift in your beliefs about yourself, right? Like you have to develop new beliefs. So, so you're going to going to be practicing new behaviors and you're going to sort of retrain your brain what to think about yourself. So what I recommend that you do in the beginning is to determine for yourself, what beliefs do you want to think about yourself? So I'll just give, like, I'm just going to throw out an example. Let's say your belief, the beliefs that you want to have about yourself are I'm a healthy, vibrant person. And let's say you even are like, I'm a size eight. And let's say I don't use food as an emotional crutch with talked about using food to, to manage our emotions last week in detail. It was a, that was a really good podcast.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (18:16):
By the way, if you didn't hear it, go back and listen to it. It was really good once you're done listening to this one. But so let's say you have - you want to develop these new beliefs about yourself. Well, and then let's say that right now you're a size 18. Let's say, and you have been using food as an emotional crutch. Your brain is going to be like - what? Your brain's going to be like, no, that's not true. You're a size 18. And you have been using food as an emotional crutch. You're not a size eight. And you're not somebody who has learned how not to use food as an emotional crutch. So of not. So your brain is going to be it's, what's called cognitive dissonance. Like, no, we're not going to believe that there's too much evidence to the contrary. So your brain's like take a look at reality, woman, woman, like take a look at this reality.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (19:05):
So just realize this is a process. And while you're working on this, you want to use, what's called a bridge belief. So a bridge belief is kinda like a stepping stone or a ladder to the new belief. So a bridge belief is a thought that doesn't conflict with the current reality, but leaves room for what's coming. Okay. I'm going to say that again because that's really important. A bridge belief does not conflict with current reality, but it also leaves room for what's coming in the new reality. So for example, you say to your brain, look, I'm learning, I'm figuring this out. I have this vision and one day I will figure it out. I'm planning my meal in advance. I'm eating what I've planned to eat. I'm learning how to manage my urges, to eat junk food. I'm learning how to feel my emotions instead of buffering them with food or alcohol, I'm figuring it out. So that's a belief that your brain will go along with. If you're doing all of those things. I love that

Marchelle (20:15):
That's that is super cool. I love that.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (20:17):
And so little by little, your brain is going to watch you in this process, just like my brain watched me get up every day and drink my coffee and go to the gym and work out and watch the results of that. And eventually developed a whole new identity of as a morning person. The same thing will happen to you if you are giving your brain thoughts that make sense in the moment, but that leave room for what's coming. So your brain's going to watch you plan your meals and eat what you planned. And it's going to watch you going ahead and feeling your uncomfortable emotions instead of eating your way through them. And one day you're going to wake up and you're going to recognize that you have a new belief about yourself, that you're someone who can do hard things and that you can feel your emotions and you can shift your thinking and that you can lose weight and that you're no longer overweight and that you're now vibrant and healthy and happy and proud of who you are. Okay. But it's a process. It's a really fulfilling process it's well worth doing and it's going to bring you great joy. Right. Does that make sense?

Marchelle (21:31):
Yeah, it totally makes sense to me because what I'm seeing in this is that it's taking away the diet mentality of like, yeah, I'm overweight and I need to lose weight. Right. So when you're, when you're trying to lose weight and you're only focusing on this number or this losing weight thing and the journey isn't I don't, you don't I guess I would say something's kind of missed when all you're doing is focusing on that and yeah. You able to get to that, that goal, but all these things, this, this shift, because it's kinda like you've a really, really deep trench with this negative talk. I'm overweight I'm fact. I don't look good. I, my husband doesn't think I'm attractive, you know, these things. And we tell each other that or tell ourselves that every single day day and like several times a day, every day, every day, every day.

Marchelle (22:27):
And so then we know that we want something different. Right. And, and that's where I've always gotten stuck is like, how, how do I, how do I get there? Like, I don't know. I don't know how to like, what do I do? Yeah. And so this, this is so awesome. I love that. You just said this because this just like totally this light bulb went off and I'm sure you told me this before, but I'm struggling right now. And this light bulb just went off like, okay, you're not focusing on losing weight. You're just focusing on these things that you're going to do to make your brain start to trust you and the weight doesn't, it's not even an, it's not even a goal. It's not even an issue. Yeah. And that will just come. That will just come later. Right. So I just love this. I'm going to start doing this.

Marchelle (23:13):
This is great. You might even have to write it down. I might have to like write some things down because yeah, I would, it's hard. It is hard not to get up every morning and look in the mirror and not pick myself apart. I mean, it just, yeah, that comes so naturally for me that I don't even know I'm doing it. And so, yeah. So I might, I have to write these things down and start to tell myself these things I'm going to do and then make little goals. Yeah. And then start doing them because yeah. I mean, for instance, okay. I just joined the YMCA, right. Like we need to start working out. So we went there, we got the membership and we haven't gone yet.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (23:52):
Yeah. That's common

Marchelle (23:54):
Now. We're like, okay, now how do we get there now? Now we to like, how like, when are we going to do it? Are we going to do it together? What do we going to do when we get there? Are we going to like treadmill stuff? Are we going to do weight stuff? Like, what's the goal? How long is it going to be for? And it just became like this and we got so overwhelmed. Yeah. That we haven't gone even gone yet. Yeah. And it's been like three weeks. Yeah. So now, like I said, the light bulb just went on and now I understand like how to get there.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (24:23):
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it might just be a matter of you two picking a time and just going and just saying, okay, we're just going to, we're just going to go to the gym and walk around just to see what's all here.

Marchelle (24:35):
Right.

Marchelle (24:35):
So then we can, we're saying like becoming, you know, a morning person, you know, like the say know, setting the alarm and you know, even though it's really because this isn't easy guys, okay. It's not like Dr. Zechmann Isn't saying like, oh yeah, you just do this and everything's going to be fine. Oh no, this is hard stuff. Like you were, this is doing really, really hard things that go against everything that, that we've probably believed about ourselves because I could not imagine right now getting up at 4:30 in the morning and getting myself to the gym and, and doing, you know, and, and having a good workout. Like what does that even look like? Yeah. And then leaving and getting to work on time. That seems like really overwhelming for me at, at this moment. But I totally understand what you're saying about this, like this mind shift.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (25:22):
Yeah.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (25:23):
Yeah. It's it's just a really in interesting process to go through. And it doesn't, I mean, when you get used to getting up in the morning and doing your workouts in the morning and you know, you'll find that there are other people that are there in the morning, like you're not the only one there in the morning. There are lots of people that enjoy doing their workouts first thing in the morning, there are plenty of people at the gym. At least there were before COVID hit. Now, there's been quite a few less people there. And I personally have not been there in a long time because of COVID. But there are, there's a whole cadre of people who do the things that you want to be doing in order to manage your weight. But you have to, I keep saying, have to see, I catch myself on this all the time.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (26:14):
You'll want to work at developing that new identity about yourself. And it happens bit by bit and piece by piece. And the more you can say to yourself, I'm learning, I'm in the process. I'm figuring it out, use those kinds of phrases with yourself. And that will allow you to feel a lot more hope about the future. A lot more determination about the future. It will allow you to focus on what's happening and what your vision is for the future, as opposed to beating yourself up for your failures. Because that's pretty normal for our brain to want to beat ourselves up. When we feel like we have failed, that's normal. There's nothing wrong with your brain if it's doing that. But it's just not helpful. That's all, it's not going to help you. So you want to work at noticing when your brain is saying, oh geez, look at you now, you know, you're failing at this and you're like, wait a minute, here, I'm working on it.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (27:16):
I'm trying, I'm learning how to do hard things. I've opened myself up to new possibilities. Those are the kinds of things that you can say to yourself that will be really, really supportive in and will help you in the long term. As you make this shift in identity. I want you to know that we always have help. You know, we've got all the support that you need in our membership. And it starts with a 30 Day Done With Dieting Bootcamp and goes on from there. So just head over to JourneyBeyondWeightLoss.com and click the https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/done-with-dieting-30-day-bootcamp-1 tab, if you want to sign up and that's a great way for you to get the support and the accountability that you need, the weekly coaching that you need, the there's private coaching as well. So it's not just group coaching, it's private coaching, which is awesome. Is you can talk to a coach one on one, which is very cool. So and, and they can really help you manage your brain, manage your thinking, oh, that's the goal there. So do you have any last minute comments Marchelle?

Marchelle (28:23):
No. This must be so exciting for you. I was just thinking like for anyone who's listening, Angela has spent so much time and effort creating this 30 Day Done With Dieting Bootcamp. And I'm actually, I'm just, I'm really excited that it just launched.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (28:40):
Yeah.

Marchelle (28:41):
Because you know, I've been waiting for it for a while and you know, you sent me the the preliminary what,

Dr. Angela Zechmann (28:50):
Like the outline book.

Marchelle (28:51):
Yeah.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (28:52):
And the workbook

Marchelle (28:52):
Reading. Yeah. And I'm like, and I'm thinking, you know, what, what, you know, what is she working on? What's going on? I know that, because I kinda know that what journey beyond weight loss was about, which is equally as awesome. But I know that you sort of took that and, and recreated it like in an even more helpful way as you saw it. And I am so excited for anybody who does this program because it it's really, it is a game changer.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (29:22):
It's what's needed…

Marchelle (29:22):
And you yes. And you, and it's not like you just do it and you know, you're cured. Like I've been with you Angela for four years. And like I said, you just said something that you've probably said to me, or I probably heard a hundred times, but it just now clicked in my brain. Because I was just now ready to hear it.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (29:41):
Exactly. Exactly. That's how that happens. That's very normal. Yep.

Marchelle (29:45):
Yeah. Very cool. I would encourage anybody who is, who is struggling just to, just to, I don't know, get, get involved, just do it. You're worth it. Just do it. You're worth it.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (29:55):
You are, you're worth it. That's true. Your health is worth it. And when you are, when you come to your relationships with other people in your life, and you've got your health and your vibrancy and your vitality, and you're not worn out and run down and tired and achy, you can be so much better for everybody else. So this isn't just for you. This is for everyone, everyone that you run into contact with, I mean, you became a much better employee Marchelle when you stopped all the crazy, you know, giving, you know, like not eating all day.

Marchelle (30:23):
You remember that?

Dr. Angela Zechmann (30:24):
Oh yeah.

Marchelle (30:25):
It was so crazy. because I remember how much I changed … like I was like clearheaded, I had this kind of different energy. You're not like totally

Dr. Angela Zechmann (30:32):
Different person.

Marchelle (30:33):
I know. Not like coffee, energy, you know, like, you know, we live on the coffee, caffeine kind of energy. It was like, and I don't even do any caffeine, not at all, none zero. And I mean, I don't even need chocolate that whatever the dark chocolate, because it has caffeine in it now I'm super sensitive to it. But I was, I was like, I had this clean energy, my thoughts were more clear. I was on fire. Like I felt like I wanted to change the world.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (31:00):
Exactly. And

Marchelle (31:00):
Yeah. And I just, I just felt, God, I can't even explain how much better that I felt physically. Yeah. Not just, you know, not just like, oh, you know, I'm going to feel better because I'm losing weight because that's a given. We all feel better when we lose weight. But like the inside, the, the physical like clarity that I had and, and the stamina, like I didn't come right home. I want to go to bed right after I got off work. Right. I didn't feel like completely drained at the end of the day. Right. And and then also I wasn't starving by the end of the day because I started eating properly and giving myself the, you know, the proper fuel and I wasn't starving by the end of the day. And I wasn't making like those desperate food for, I was prepping my meals. That felt so good too. I just felt like when I go to the grocery store, I remember I used to kinda judge other people's carts. I dunno. You guys do that. You look at other people's carts if they have oh yeah, yeah. That guy, right. He's eating Fruit Loops for dinner, you know, at people's I, when I started changing, just, just so many changes happened so quickly. But when I started changing what I was buying at the grocery store and I felt like I had a lot more control and awareness about what I needed to get instead of sort of, you know, meandering and like, oh, that looks good. That looks good. You know, and up with like, you know, $500 worth of crap.

Marchelle (32:25):
Right. And so I, I was kind of proud. Like I would sort of parade my cart down the aisles and hope that people would look in it and see it and go, yeah, that girl, she's got her shit together. Look at her cart.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (32:38):
I love it.

New Speaker (32:39):
And it, yeah, it was like, that is one of the funny things that happens. Yeah. So

Dr. Angela Zechmann (32:45):
Grocery cart pride. I love it know. Right?

Marchelle (32:48):
Yeah.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (32:49):
Yeah. Are you proud of what's in your grocery cart? That's awesome.

Marchelle (32:52):
Yeah.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (32:53):
Very good. All right. Well let's wind this up and we, we will see everybody next… Well, we'll talk to everybody next week. It's been awesome. Thank you, Marchelle. And take care. Everybody have a great week and we'll see you next week. Bye bye.

Marchelle (33:10):
All right. Bye everybody.

Closing (33:11):
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!.

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Dr. Angela

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