Robyn Polk - Weight Loss For Women Over 50

In this episode of Wonder Boldly, host Christine Santos is joined by her friend and certified neuroscience weight loss coach, Robyn Polk. 

Robyn shares her inspiring journey of overcoming lifelong weight struggles and finding a path to wellness. 

She introduces her unique approach, the Polk Method, which focuses on mindfulness, self-compassion, and listening to one's body cues to achieve sustainable weight loss. 

Robyn also discusses the challenges many women over 50 face and invites listeners to join her supportive community through her Facebook group and podcast. 

Tune in for an uplifting conversation filled with valuable insights and encouragement to pursue a life of  well-being.

Sweet Freedom Over 50 Podcast:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sweet-freedom-over-50/id1717844484

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robyn.polk/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/788620319379743

Newsletter: https://robynpolk.co/nRajEB

Transcript

Christine Santos [00:00:00]:
Welcome everybody to the Wonder boldly podcast. I'm Christine Santos, bringing to you all of the action steps and knowledge I've learned on my journey to becoming an online business owner, quit my corporate job and now live the life that I desire on my own terms. This podcast is jam packed with all the knowledge I've gained over the past few years growing my online business. I am so passionate about you going after what it is that you want. I want to encourage and motivate you to know that you too can live the life that you desire. Thank you so much for listening. Let's go.

Christine Santos [00:00:46]:
Hello. Hello and welcome to another episode of Wonder Boldly. Today I have with me first and foremost my friend. And yes, if you're in the space, you know that we over the past few years, a lot of us have made friends online and they are true friendships. We support each other, encourage each other. And this person, we have known each other maybe a couple of years, three years, something like that, I can never remember. But watching each other grow in our online space, air quotes guys, if you will, and really supporting each other. And she's just been a great supporter of mine.

Christine Santos [00:01:27]:
I love what you will hear about today, love the work that she is doing and she has been on before on the Wonder boldly show and she has some new news, I'll call it it that I wanted her to share today as well. And just really so proud of this woman in just watching her on and we'll put it all in the show notes on her Instagram account and just following along, she has so much to share. She is highly educated and she's gone through her own journey and education is super fantastic. I love learning new things, education and all that. And coupled with that, she has her own weight loss journey that she'll talk about. So without further ado, I have with me today, Robin Poke. Thank you so much, Robin, for being with us today.

Robyn Polk [00:02:20]:
Thank you, Christine. I'm honored. I just love you so much and I couldn't wait to be here today. So thank you.

Christine Santos [00:02:28]:
Thank you. I feel the same. Such a good person. I'm just going to take a really quick side note in that, you know, when you meet a good person and you just have that connection and that's how I feel about you. So it's so nice to have you here today and in my in air.

Robyn Polk [00:02:45]:
Quotes online life, I feel the same way, Christine. Absolutely.

Christine Santos [00:02:49]:
Thank you. I would like to dive in and talk about your certification. So Robin, when we talk about education, she's also an avid learner and I'll let her share all the details. But recently, she has become a certified neuroscience weight loss coach, which is a mouthful in itself. I had to look at my notes to make sure I said it right, and I'm sure she's going to tell us all what that means. So, with that said, robin, can you tell us about this certification and what that means for your clients?

Robyn Polk [00:03:27]:
Thank you, Christine. Actually, yes. I've been through my own weight loss journey, so that's my mentor, Rachel Luna. She started a program called certified, and she is a master neuroscience based coach. And this is where we started. And when I heard about it, I thought, I don't know. But then I thought, actually, yes. There's so much science behind why we are the way we are.

Robyn Polk [00:03:58]:
And I just feel like weight loss is just not a calories in, calories out, move your body, that type of thing. It's so much more than that. Especially the women that I work with have been probably, like me, addicted to sugar. Their carbs and sugars are everything. So this is how I really brought it into my practice that why do we eat the way we eat, that we can't just eat in moderation. And I've loved this journey so much because I feel like even still, the learning possibilities are endless. So, really, why do we eat so much sugar? Why? Because it's something that when you eat it, you get that dopamine response. So if you're a person that is addicted, somebody who loves sugar, that dinging in your head goes off.

Robyn Polk [00:04:50]:
Ding, ding, ding. Yeah, I need more. I need more. I need more. Until you wind up in the spot you're in, like me. And that's why I wanted to bring it into my practice, because I knew it was far beyond just the weight loss.

Christine Santos [00:05:04]:
So, in part of your working with your clients, you have what you call the poke method. And can you describe that to us?

Robyn Polk [00:05:12]:
So the p is to pause for mindfulness. So really pausing before you eat, being mindful while you're eating, taking in the flavor, the smell, really concentrating on the food so you don't have the outside distractions of TV and the phone or working at the same time, really focusing and being mindful of what you're doing. And then the o is to open your mind, to heal your heart, because I think there are a lot of women, especially over 50, we've been overweight for all or most of our lives, and we've struggled. And the things that we say to ourselves, how unkind we are to ourselves, and learning how to really talk nicely to yourself. And then the l is to listen to your body cues, because our bodies really will tell us. They give us signals. I'm sure most of us know that toddlers, babies, when they get full, they just stop. And that's learning how to be intuitive and paying attention.

Robyn Polk [00:06:14]:
So it all goes together. And then the k is to keep going, keep at it, because this may be a lifelong journey for you, because if you've struggled, it's just something you do every day, and you choose it every single day.

Christine Santos [00:06:28]:
And what did you specifically like about the certification program that you were in? What things really stood out for you in the highlights of it?

Robyn Polk [00:06:39]:
I think adding it into already our businesses that we had. So the people that I was in the group with, everybody has their own business, and everybody is the coach. But then integrating the brain piece into it and to make it make more sense how we do what we do and why we do it, and it just made so much sense. I thought I knew as I'd gone through my journey doing so much research, but then getting this on top of it, it really solidified it for me, of, wow, this just makes so much sense. And I can help so many women see that it really makes sense. Why am I like this? Oh, okay. That makes so much sense. Instead of berating ourselves like we have, like, what's wrong with me? Why can't I get this right? And really, hey, we can get this right, and we can do it right.

Christine Santos [00:07:38]:
Yeah, absolutely. And tell us a little bit more in depth about your own journey. How did that start and how have you evolved over the years?

Robyn Polk [00:07:51]:
Thank you. Well, I've been overweight all my life. I started out when I was small. I was always overweight, even through high school. But it wasn't really such a shameful experience, really, until I got a little bit older, more as a child, and then not an adolescent, but then as an adult, too, because I'd gained a lot of weight when I got married and had kids, and life slipped away, and I didn't prioritize myself, and I took care of the kids, and husband was the job, and I let myself slide. And, you know, I think especially women in this generation, that's what we did. And when I was 50, my back went out literally overnight. And this was in October of 2016, and I knew I needed to change, but at the time, I had so much healing to do.

Robyn Polk [00:08:49]:
It was hard. I couldn't go to work. I couldn't clean my house. I couldn't hold my then four month old grandson and literally couldn't hold him at all. One night, my husband had left to go run an errand. It was just going to be a quick errand, and course, he left his phone at home when you need him the most, right? And he had put grandson in the pack and play before he left because he was asleep. And soon after he left, he started crying. And all I could do was really was just pat him on his back.

Robyn Polk [00:09:20]:
I couldn't lift him. I was trying to think of ways I could even get him out. And it's just like, I couldn't risk it because I knew I would just fall. Like, my core had collapsed. So really standing or lying down were my only option. Sitting wasn't an option, and lifting was out of the question. So I'm just going back to the window and back to the pack and play and looking for my husband. And it seemed like an eternity.

Robyn Polk [00:09:47]:
And I'm sure it was just a few minutes, but my grandson started to cry. And I was crying. It just was a horrible situation that I felt like, how did I let myself get this far this bad? I can't even hold him. He doesn't weigh but ten pounds or 15 pounds, and I can't even help him. And Christine, I knew what I needed to do all along, but it took me a few months to really get it together and plan what I wanted to do. I was researching things that I knew about myself. Like I told you, I knew I was a sugar addict. I knew there was so much stuff I would just really needed to obit from my diet.

Robyn Polk [00:10:28]:
And then in July of 2017, so it had been six or seven months that I felt sorry for myself and depressed, but at the same time, trying to heal and figure out, I can do this, because I knew this had to be forever. I couldn't just keep trying and giving up and trying and giving up. This had to be forever. And that's when I started.

Christine Santos [00:10:52]:
Yeah. Wow. What an amazing story. Thank you for sharing that with us. It's really heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

Robyn Polk [00:11:00]:
Thank you. Yeah. Because I want to reach the women who feel like it's over for them. At 50, you think, oh, I can't do this anymore. Because that's the way I was. I was just resolved. I was just going to be the fat girl all my life. I just said it like that, just the way I'm going to be.

Robyn Polk [00:11:20]:
And that's just not true. I had to quit telling myself that, for one thing, quit fixating on the one thing that I knew was my biggest struggle and just keep going.

Christine Santos [00:11:34]:
That's amazing. When you're working with your clients, what do you find is a common challenge for them? Common?

Robyn Polk [00:11:42]:
I think being vulnerable, this is a hard journey we hold so much in and we don't talk about the hard pieces. And why can't I get this right? Because I think when we're 50 and over, we think we should have this together like we have the rest of our lives, maybe that we have everything else together, but the weight is just always that one thing looming in the background.

Christine Santos [00:12:06]:
It's interesting.

Robyn Polk [00:12:07]:
Yeah. I don't know. That's probably the biggest thing that I've noticed.

Christine Santos [00:12:13]:
Yeah, I feel what you just said triggered it for me. Something about that being vulnerable and ashamed. Tell us a little bit about that.

Robyn Polk [00:12:22]:
Most women who've been overweight their whole life have probably been shamed and feel ashamed of how they've let themselves go over the years. That is the one thing that's not together, and that's the one thing that everybody can see. So everybody can see that. It's like you feel like I'm a failure there and everybody can see it, and I can't hide that. And working with them one on one, that's really what we try to bring out, really. And learning to speak kindly to yourself and giving yourself this grace and allowing for yourself to change, it's not an overnight thing. This isn't a take a pill and everything's all better. This is something that takes a long time to work on, and I've shared this, that give yourself a year, because really, I don't know if you'll be done then, but at least you'll be so on your way that it'll feel so much easier in a year.

Christine Santos [00:13:23]:
Yeah, for sure. I understand what you're saying. So for women who are listening and feeling that way, like just being resolved to this is who I am and this is how it's going to be, what would you say to them?

Robyn Polk [00:13:40]:
That it isn't the way it has to be. That let's start talking nicer to yourself. Let's get moving and get an action, because the longer you're fixating on your, you're focusing on the problem, you're just staying there rather than, well, what can I do today to be better each meal at a time? This is my thing. I always say, even if you ate a whole chocolate cake this morning. Let's start over at lunch. What can you do better at lunch? What can you do better at dinner and keep going each time, because we're not perfect. We're going to make mistakes. I made so many mistakes during my journey, but that's what I like to try to teach women now is the mistakes that I made.

Robyn Polk [00:14:26]:
You can keep going. It doesn't have to be like it used to be when you just give up on yourself. Because you can't just give up each time. Pick yourself back up. Let me start at my next meal and do it every single time. Even if you had the chocolate cake, even if you binged last night. All right, let's move on. Today's a new day.

Robyn Polk [00:14:46]:
This is a new meal. Let's start over.

Christine Santos [00:14:50]:
Yeah. I love that.

Robyn Polk [00:14:51]:
It's just, you have to start with, really, if that's not the way you want to be, you really have to get in action. You really have to decide, okay, what do I want to do different? I don't want to feel like this next year. What can I do in the meantime? And really giving yourself that grace, speaking kindly to yourself and just learning how to accept yourself and really learning how to open your mind so you can heal your heart because our hearts are hurt. And really going through this journey so you can heal and really giving yourself the grace every single day. It's so much more than just when you have a lot of weight to lose. It's so much more than just the weight. You're getting rid of the weight of other people's opinions of you, whether it's true or not. Because like I said, we just assume that they're thinking that because we feel so guilty.

Robyn Polk [00:15:51]:
But maybe you could seek friends that can help or seek a coach or a mentor or groups online that could really help. Those could be the places where you go that somebody could really help you or other like minded women that are like you, that struggle like you. Because there's a lot of us out here.

Christine Santos [00:16:10]:
Yeah. And that's actually a great segue into. So you have a Facebook group. Tell us a little bit about your Facebook group.

Robyn Polk [00:16:18]:
I do. It's called the Sweet Freedom over 50 Facebook group. It's a newer group. I had another Facebook group for a while and I got hacked into. So we're just starting over. And it's okay. I'm excited about it. It's free.

Robyn Polk [00:16:32]:
We talk about recipes, food. We talk about food a lot and then do some polls and things like that. All women over 50 are welcome.

Christine Santos [00:16:44]:
Nice. That's great. And tell us how people can work with you. So if somebody wants to work with you, what type of time frame are they looking at and how can they go about doing that?

Robyn Polk [00:16:56]:
Right now I'm offering the one on one coaching, and it's three months or six. I did a lot of six week one month and coaching, and the women just don't get the results that they need to get, especially. So three months is the low end. And really, six months would be amazing because we really work on the nutrient piece, the beginning, so that you really feel like you're confident in going and then integrating the polk method into the journey. And that's one on one. You can find me on Instagram at Robin Polk. You can email me at Robin at Robin Co. And of course, the Facebook group.

Robyn Polk [00:17:42]:
Come on over.

Christine Santos [00:17:43]:
Yay. Well, thank you so much for being with us today. I really appreciate your time and sharing all of this. Like I said at the beginning, you have so much knowledge, and with that is your own experience. So you can really relate to these women and really help them. So I so appreciate the work that you're doing in the world. I mean, we just touched upon a little bit that kind of got to my heart there, and that's just a little bit. So, people, if you're listening to this and you're feeling, I just need a space where I can take a deep breath and just be me and not worry about hiding or being ashamed, taking that one step, reaching out to Robin could really help.

Christine Santos [00:18:27]:
Watch her on Instagram. I tell her this all the like, it's like watching a show. It's like, not a show. That's not what I'm trying to say. It's like you're sitting, like she says, you're sitting with somebody on a couch, and it's just like, it's just so nice and you're having a conversation. She just has a great way about her. So if you're not familiar with Robin, check her out on Instagram. You will get a good sense and then definitely join our Facebook group.

Christine Santos [00:18:50]:
And if you want some one on one, Robin is there to help with the education and her own experience, and she can really relate to where you're at. Anything else you'd like to add to that, Robin?

Robyn Polk [00:19:02]:
And actually, one last thing. I'd like to thank you, Christine, because I started my sweet freedom over 50 podcast at the beginning of December, and Christine and I, she nudged me for a very long time until I finally said yes because I was still holding back the shame. It's amazing that it's so many years later that it shows up in so many other ways. And she really showed me that I can do this, that people need this, that people want to hear it. And I'm so grateful for you for pushing me, because I really needed the push. I really wanted it deep down, and I'm grateful to you for helping me do that. So check me out also on podcasts, where you can find all podcasts at Sweet Freedom over 50.

Christine Santos [00:19:56]:
Yes. And it is so good. I love it. I love it so much. And it's so helpful, and it's inspiration right in your ear. Pop it in and listen to an episode, and you walk away inspired every single episode. It's so good. You have to listen to it.

Robyn Polk [00:20:15]:
Thank you for that. Thank you, Christine. So if any of you are also looking to start your own podcast, I would suggest. I would highly recommend Christine, because she really walks you through the process. But I'm telling you, if I can do it, really, anybody can. And I feel the same way with weight loss that it might be a little bit cliche, but if I can do it, anybody can do it.

Christine Santos [00:20:40]:
Yeah. Well, thank you for that. Well, this has been a pleasure. Thank you for making the time. It's so nice seeing you.

Robyn Polk [00:20:46]:
Thank you.