Ep 29 - How Jennifer Lost 30 Pounds and Over 25 inches By Getting OFF Weight Watchers For Good

Couture Fitness Client Jennifer is a busy working mother of three boys and was a lifelong member of Weight Watchers.  When Jennifer started Weight Watchers -- before her boys were born (two are now in college) -- it worked like a dream. But then it stopped working and the weight started creeping on. Fast forward to her early 50s, and Jennifer found herself eating only about 1200 calories a day but wanting to lose sixty pounds.

Jennifer started working with Couture Fitness in October 2021. We started things off by slowly increasing Jennifer's calories by an additional 800 calories a day (or up to approximately 2000 calories a day) and giving her structured resistance training workouts and a daily step goal. Jennifer was scared and was certain we had lost our minds by having her eat more food, but her body thrived with the additional nutrition, and she started losing pounds and inches immediately (and she hasn't stopped). We have taken Jennifer through a few dieting cycles, and she has lost almost 30 pounds and more than 25 inches from her waist, hips, thighs. She is loving life and all the energy she has gained by improving her nutrition. She is not stopping anytime soon, so stay tuned as she continues her transformation journey. 

If you are frustrated with your weight and physique but, like Jennifer, feel like you aren't overeating and can't understand why the weight won't budge, take a moment to listen and be inspired by Jennifer's story.  

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Transcript

Unknown: 0:08

Welcome to the Boost Your Metabolism After Age 30 Podcast. I'm Joe. And I'm Allison and we're your co hosts and the founders of Couture Fitness and Lifestyle coaching. We're on a quest to help women design lives they love and bodies they adore. We were fed up with the dieting industry and decided to create something different. We're starting a calories up revolution where women are nourished, their metabolisms are healed and their bodies and brains start working for them in the battle against weight loss. If you feel like your metabolism is wrecked and you want to lose weight once and for all you are in the right place. Well, hello everyone you got show from couture Fitness and Lifestyle coaching. Today I am going to be interviewing our client Jennifer about her weight loss success in our program. But first I want to tell you what is going on over actor Fitness and Lifestyle coach and we are currently enrolling for our metabolic makeover program, we open on the quarters and we will start again with new clients on October 1. So if you are interested in joining us in October, you can do one of two things. One, you can schedule a console call and an Intel, us your concerns. And we can tell you sort of what our strategy and approach would be with you regarding weight loss, there's a link to schedule a call in the show notes where you can just go over to our website, go to our fitness coaching.com Go to the work with us page and sign up for our program there. We have 12 week, six month and one year packages and you can sign up and reserve your spot today. We do usually sell out meaning that all of our coaches fill up and we run out of spots for clients. And so if you know that you want to work with us, like I said, get that console call scheduled or go over and just enroll in the program. So if you hear or listen to today's podcast your Jennifer's story and can relate to what she has to say in her journey, then you might be a great candidate for our metabolic makeover program. Okay, so let's just get to the meat of this. Jennifer, do you want to introduce yourself, sir? Hi, I'm Jennifer. I have three children. I work part time. I'm 54. That's me. Okay. Jennifer has been working with us for about a year. So she joined our October program last year and then has been working with us for a year. So tell us what was going on when you came to us. Sort of what your weight loss and fitness goals were, what you were doing and how it was going? Well, I came to you because I had been doing Weight Watchers for about 20 years. And it got to the point where it just really wasn't working. And I wasn't really motivated to do the Weight Watchers anymore. Also my mother was ill. She was overweight. And I saw her struggling and I just didn't want to be in that situation myself. And I figured this is a time to get started. I happened to see something on Facebook that Ellison had posted. And I was intrigued. I was like, Oh, this sounds like something I could maybe do. And I just I wanted to get the weight off. I wanted to be healthier, stronger and leaner. So that's, I thought I'd give it a try. Did you have a specific amount of weight that you were wanting to lose? Yeah, probably about 60 pounds or so. Okay, so that to me does not sound like vanity weight. I mean, did you really feel like you were 60 pounds or so overweight? Yes. Then I did now being in the program? Not so much. But I mean, I did have that weight to lose. Okay, and so we're not talking about like, you didn't you weren't looking to lose like the last five or 10 pounds to go from like a size six to a size four? No, not at all. Okay, and so I'm just going to cut to the chase with your results because they are so astonishing. I mean, then we'll talk about sort of what we discovered when you started working with us. And then and then the approach we took and working with you. So in the last year you have lost about 10 inches off your waist. Yeah, yes. And then seven inches off your hips and six inches off your thighs. Yes. Okay, that's that's incredible. And we won't even talk about my bra size. I had to change. Oh, well. No, I do want to hear that. How much did that change? Six sizes? Oh my goodness. Okay. And then you have lost about 30 pounds. Yes. A little bit more. Yeah. Okay. I think you know, those those results sort of speak to themselves for themselves. Someone might think like, oh 30 pounds if she's been at this for a year she should have lost more but I think they amazing. I think the inch of those inches though, speak for themselves and that's a lot of interest to come off of your body. I think anyone would love to take 10 inches off their waistline. But I think that the more remarkable thing is that when you came to us, you were eating about 1300 calories a day. And we've gotten you up to eating over 2000 calories a day. So you accomplish all those results, while increasing the amount of food you were eating. For the most part, we did take you we've taken you through some reverse dieting cycles, and then some cycles where we cut your calories down to eight and weight loss. But for the most part, we have increased your calorie consumption over the year. Yeah. And so that, to me, is sort of the most miraculous part of your story. And the most, you know, sure anyone can stop eating and maybe have some of those results. But to increase your calories to that extent, and have those results is amazing. How's your energy and overall strength changed over the last year? Oh, yes, before I started with you guys, I almost got every day, but I felt like I needed a nap most every afternoon really wasn't motivated. I almost felt like I had a brain fog type thing. I just couldn't focus. And I am not even exaggerating. But the first week that my food was increased, all that went away, I had energy, My head started feeling clearer. I couldn't believe it. And I just realized I was probably just my body was doing all it could just to function with the little food that I was eating. And you said 1300 calories. That's what I was eating. And I think it might have even been less than that at some point, too. So the fact that now I am at 19 190 calories today is just, it's so unbelievable to me, I eat so much food, and my weight has stayed stagnant. I mean, it's just right now it's just, I'm just maintaining that weight. So I can't even imagine, I don't even know how I functioned before. Yeah, and I think that that's a really important point to make is that you're kind of having your cake and eating it too, in terms of, you know, it being able to eat that much food. I mean, not to be a glutton, but just to have good energy and to feel good is a real quality of life enhancer, and you're getting that and the major, major body composition changes as well. And, you know, some people would say, Well, wait, and you're 54. So I think if you can do it, probably anyone can do it. It's not you know, it's really as a matter of like lifestyle inputs. Okay, what about have you do you feel like you've gained strength overall? In the last year? Okay. Yeah, totally. So stronger fitter, leaner, more energy and eating a lot more. That's the best part. I would call that a big success story. Okay, so you were doing Weight Watchers when you came to us? And you said you had been doing Weight Watchers for the last 19 years? Yes. And eating around 1300 calories or less throughout that time period? Yes. Okay. When did it stop working for you? Did the Weight Watchers work when you first started doing it? Yeah. So years ago? Yeah. So when I first started Weight Watchers, I lost 70 pounds in 10 months. So that was great. I was like, Okay, this is a lifestyle change. I can maintain this. Okay, well, let's go back then. I did not have any children. It was just my husband and myself. So I could, I could just focus on that stuff. So then, you know, fast forward, having three children, three pregnancies, three pregnancies, and you know, just life, I maintain that weight. I mean, obviously, I got pregnant, and I gained weight and lost weight with that, but I maintained it for many years. And then slowly, the weight started creeping up. And I was like, oh, it's only a couple pounds here, only a couple pounds there. And then all of a sudden, I look and it's 20 pounds or whatever. And then COVID came and like everybody else, you know, we got treats, maybe that we wouldn't have gotten or whatever. We did stuff that we didn't, we weren't getting out as much. We were just not doing normal stuff, I guess and weight crept on. And then my mom got sick. So then I didn't really do anything about taking care of myself. And so that's basically when I got to you guys. Okay? And then, over the years that you were doing Weight Watchers, what were you doing, if anything for exercise, I do spin classes, I did hit classes. I did some lifting. I actually worked out with two personal trainers. And I guess when I worked out with the trainers, that was when I could maintain my weight a little better. But the trainers just deal with your workout. They don't deal with the whole package, which is nutrition, any mindset so that only goes so far. And so I guess do you feel like so some people might ask like, Well, how could someone just eat 1300 calories, you know a day and be overweight? That doesn't even seem possible? She must have not really been eating that or sneaking food or cheating On the weekends, and I will tell you, Jennifer is a rule follower. She's probably the biggest rule follower I've ever met maybe after me. You're a very disciplined, conscientious person. And if someone tells you, you know, like, you have to you just do it. So I guess I mean, what do you think you were eating about 1300 calories all those years, and especially when the weight started creeping on, maybe I don't really know. Because you know, Weight Watchers does point. So I never really looked into calories I was eating like, now I regret that I didn't, because I'm curious to see where I was. But I really don't think I ate a lot. Because even when I started with you guys, just trying to get more food in every day was a challenge. So yeah, and so that's what that's because we have people ask that like, well, that they're, they're probably just, they're probably not telling you the truth that that's all they're eating. These are these, you know, because about 50% of the clients that we have come to us, they have about the same amount of weight that you just said that you wanted to lose, you know, 40 5060 pounds, and they're eating 1200 calories. And so how can that be to explain how that can be I mean, it's it's metabolic adaptation, after time, your body adapts to the amount of calories you give it. And so if you eat over 1300 calories, you know, for a long period of time, your body is then going to adjust its metabolism down to what you're giving it. And so yes, I think also, it can be true that you know, maybe on vacations or holidays, you eat a little more than that. But what happens when you have downregulated, your metabolism to that extent is that your body is just holding on to fat all the time, because it's not getting enough nutrition to function really like as you described earlier that explains that fatigue, just kind of limping along. And then yes, when you do get your body more nutrition, it's going to hold on to it as a fat reserve because it wants to stay alive. That's sort of how our bodies are wired. So I think that's how that can happen. Okay, so when we started out with you, and I guess when did you realize that had stopped working? Like, did you realize that like something was wrong? Or did you blame some people can go one of two ways, and people can be like, well, that's weird that it's not working anymore. I think a lot of women think though, like, I'm just not working it hard enough. I just need to be more disciplined. I just need to work out a little bit more. Maybe if I got the creamer on my coffee in the morning, that'll you know, get the weight loss ball rolling. What was your headspace around that? I mean, I knew it wasn't working as my clothes were getting tighter. But I just chose not to do anything about it. I was like, I'll deal with it later and deal with it later. I'm still I'm not eating, and I just guess kept justifying it because I wasn't eating a lot. Like, I don't know why this is happening. I'm not eating a lot. I'm like, Oh, my prime just not working out enough. Okay, you thought it was just I need to be working out more. Right? Yeah. Okay. So you came to us. And we had to deliver some difficult news to you, which we I guess that we have to deliver to about half of our clients, which is guess what your our number one goal with you is not going to be weight loss. And we're going to work on just getting your nutrition into a normal adequate range, get your body used to that, and then we'll for a while, like three or four months, at least, and then we'll try a weight loss phase with you. Because we don't think your body would respond. We can't really cut you lower than 1300 calories. We have nowhere to go. And so we're going to have to actually have you eat more and do that for a period of months before we even think about weight loss. So what was running through your head when we delivered that news to you? Well, after the initial shock, I was like, they are nuts. They are nuts. If they think I can eat more food, this is not going to work because my goal was to lose weight. And I thought well, they're gonna make me eat more food. So I'm gonna get I'm gonna get them fatter. I don't want this this is not what I want. Like, what did I sign up for? These people have lost their minds. But I did trust the process. And I listened to you. I listened to my coach and really happy that I did. Okay, and so what how did how did that work? I mean, did we just say okay, you have to start eating 2000 calories away a day or how just kind of practically speaking explain how we got your calories up. So my coach reviewed my macros weekly or every so often every couple of weeks she would adjust them and increase them so it was a gradual increase. So it wasn't like one day I'm eating 1300 calories and the next day I'm trying to stuff food and to get 2000 but didn't happen like that. It was gradual. And it was like the best way that I could have done it because it was easy once I figured out you know John God my food so that I could reach my Mac rose, then it would be time to increase it a little bit more. And it wasn't painful at all. It was easy. It was easy for me. But you know, as somebody coming from Weight Watchers, and being a rule follower, I did track and Weight Watchers, up until when I stopped doing it. But when I lost all that weight initially, I was religious about tracking. I mean, I would take one little taste. If I was at a, like a grocery store, and I sampled something, I would track that I mean, like immediately, right, so that part was easy for me, because I'm used to tracking. And so it was just learning a new system to use to track because it wasn't the Weight Watchers program, it was my fitness pal. That was the only challenge and just learning macros, I had no clue about macros. So at first, it was a little bit daunting. But within a couple of weeks, it figured it out, it wasn't a big deal. My coach also gives me a workout. So I follow that, of course, just doing what I was told, again, because I'm a rule follower, it was easy. I had to get through my head that I was, you know, I wasn't going to lose all that weight in the first 12 weeks, you know, because I thought, Oh, well, I'll just join for 12 weeks, and we'll see how it goes. And I know I'm not gonna lose out, but maybe I can figure it out. And I quickly realized that wasn't the case. And I was going to have to invest the time for myself to do it and invest in it long haul. So that's what I did. Okay, a couple of questions on the nutrition and exercise. So I know the quantity of what you ate changed the what you actually ate change in terms of like, what you were eating, for the most part, I ate pretty healthy, but I had to eat more protein, which that I didn't do before. So that changed and I guess in quantity in a certain way. But again, like I was used to measuring food and stuff. So I just had to, you know, add a little bit more than I normally did. Okay, and then in terms of exercise, what was Was there a change there in terms of what you did? It sounds like you were very kind of cardio focused before when you were exercising? What what was there a change in exercise? Well, it didn't have to do cardio anymore, which is my favorite because I hate cardio. So I lift three times a week and I get my stepson every day. Okay, and do you did you have to join a gym or do anything special to get your Lipson? No, as a matter of fact, my coach and I know all the coaches and to our fitness do the same thing. They work with what you have. So, you know, we had some barbells we had some dumbbells, we had some bands and my coach just use those things plus, you know, my own weight my own body weight, and set up programs for me to do and after doing it for I guess, while in January, my husband and I decided we were just going to get it for our house because I was really enjoying it and I felt like it was time to move to the next level. And so we did and so now I really have no excuse for not working out because I can just go downstairs. Well, that sounds pretty good though being able to do all the workouts from your house. Okay, so tell us about your results. What did your body do when you started giving it this extra food and lifting instead of doing all the cardio? Well, I lost the weight and I lost I think it was about 18 pounds or so eating more food which I was just like, wait a minute, this wasn't supposed to happen. So this is a bonus so ill I felt like the weight Gods threw me a bone so I am not going to stray and I am just going to keep listening to what my coach says and just do what I'm doing. So that he knew about you lost 18 pounds when we were so we went we How long did we six months or so that we just focused on increasing your food and holding you around 2000 calories or so. Okay, so for the first six months that we worked with you we didn't even attempt to our our goal for you was not to lose weight. Losing weight, as you mentioned was just a bonus. But your body used to you did in fact lose pounds and inches during that time period. Yes. I don't remember what the inches were at that point. But it was significant. Yeah, totally helped motivate me to continue, I'm sure. And then you know, that was called what we call a reverse dieting cycle where we're actually adding calories in versus most people think of dieting as like limiting your calories or restricting your calories so we reversed dieted you for six months and then we went into a period where we did cut your calories not down to 1300 calories but went down to 1700 or 1500. Probably. I might have gone as low as four like 14 something, okay. And even then that's still way more than I before. Yeah, and our goal there was actually to, you know, get your body to lose weight. And it did, right, it responded. And so that's how, in total, you know, you lost the 30 pounds. And now we're back to we kind of held you there for as long as we thought was healthy, and now we're we've got your calories back up. And then we'll do another dieting cycle, once we've determined that your body is ready for it. So that's, that's how we do it. We take clients like Jennifer through several dieting cycles until they reach their goal, and then set them up in a place where you're at a sustainable calorie level, you know, you're still working on, you know, improving your body composition, and you can keep that for life. Because I think I think the other thing is people might think like, well, I don't mind any, you might have said this, like, 1300 calories, I'm used to that. I don't, I don't mind eating that. I mean, but the problem is that, like, it really isn't sustainable, long term, if you want to have energy, you know, especially if you throw exercise in there, it's just a very, very hard way to live at 1300 calories a day. So our aim for every client is to get them to their weight loss school, but also get them to a calorie range that's adequate and sustainable. You know, during holidays, parties, travel, all that stuff. So their body isn't holding on to fat when you know, when you do encounter some higher calorie situations. So anyway, we're just working you through those cycles. When I occasion during sorry, I want to mention during that time, I had ice cream like I I was not, you know, nothing is off the table. So if you want that chocolate, I'm gonna have that chocolate. So that's the most important thing. I'm not restricted in any way. It's not, you know, you don't have to buy a special food or eat a special food, you can eat whatever you want. Yeah. And so I think even the people who say like, I don't even care about eating that much more. I don't mind it. Once they do. They're like, I am never going back. And is that how you feel? Oh, yes, yeah. Because at first I was like, Oh, I can live on 1300 killer. I can Yeah, this is not a big deal. And now it's just like, boohoo, I had to my calories had to go down for that cut, which when you cut my calories for, you know, the dieting phase, it's not a significant cut. It's again, it's gradual, it's gradual, when when you bring the calories up, and it's gradual when you bring the calories down. So, you know, I can't even remember what the first cut was maybe like 200 calories, or whatever it was, it was not a big deal. And you would think like, I was being punished, because I got so used to eating those ill higher calories. So yeah, I don't ever want to be, I'll be happy eating 2000 calories all the rest of my life. Yeah, and it's not that we're turning anyone into a glutton, it's just you. It's like the frog boiling. I mean, you don't realize how tired you are how much it affects your energy until you get out of it, you're like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe I lived like that for years. And again, to get no results, you have to make the change to realize that you don't want to go back. And I do want to mention that Jennifer's results are not typical. Like we always tell clients who have to reverse diet, like some people, their weight stays the same, and they don't gain and they don't lose during the time period that we're working on getting those calories calibrated upwards. Some people lose weight, some people's body respond just like Jennifer, where they lose weight and inches, some ladies lose inches, but they might even gain a little bit of weight. And then some women do gain some weight and some inches, it's never as much as anyone thinks that it will be. And a lot of times even when there is weight gain that is attributable to a person spot muscle mass increasing. It's not even necessarily fat gain. But I know that mentally it's really hard when you're staring at losing 3040 5060 pounds to say like we're not even going to start working on that for months. So what's your best advice to someone in that situation? That's, you know, eating 1200 or 1300 calories and maybe you don't know exactly how much you're eating but you're like, I'm not I don't think I'm over eating. But so how is it that or maybe you're doing fasting or keto or something, but you're still you know, staring out a lot of weight to lose and the prospect of No, we're not going to work on that. First we're gonna just work on getting your nutrition oriented in the right direction. What What can you tell that person I would say you have to embrace the journey, right? You're gonna have to take everything that gets thrown at you. For me, I had to be open to change. I had to be willing to listen to my coach and not only listen but do what she said and be accountable and be accountable to yourself and your coach. And I mean my coach is never yelled at me or anything like that. But you have to be willing to put the time in and participate, you have to also realize that you didn't wake up one day with that extra, you know, 3040 50 pounds on your body. And so you can't expect that weight to just come off in a day either or in a month, you have to give your body the chance to work its magic and and trust the science. If you do that, well, you might actually be pleasantly surprised. Mm hmm. Yeah, I think that was my best advice to someone. And I will be honest, I have not been in that situation where I've got that much weight to lose. And it's like, Oh, guess what, you're gonna get to eat a bunch more. And you may gain weight in the process, I have reverse dieting, and I did, I am someone who gains weight on a reverse diet. So I have experienced that, I will say it was totally worth it. It totally changed my body composition, I healed so many injuries that just would not heal because I was not eating enough and was worth it. And you know what I mean? I don't even think it was noticeable. And so I mean, even if you just gonna throw out a number, even if you weigh 200 pounds, and you gain 10 pounds, go up to 10. On a reverse diet, I think most people think like, well, now I've got another 10 pounds to lose it it doesn't it doesn't really work like that, you are probably making positive, like my body fat did not change that much when I reverse diet it. So that means that I was improving my body composition, I was adding muscle to my frame. And it made losing weight ultimately, so much easier. So you can't do the math that way. And the other thing I will say is we're not doing this to torture you or to you know, it's your body is likely not in a spot that it's going to lose weight, like do you think your body do like knowing what you know now and how you've experienced the change in energy? And just how your body has responded to all of this? If we would have said, okay, great, Jennifer, we're going to cut you down to 800 calories a day. Do you think your body would have responded? Absolutely not? Yeah, no. I mean, I think and sometimes you just know, like, if you're, if you are already just eating 12 or 1300 calories a day and are or working very hard or being restrictive in any way. And you're like, well, maybe I just need to cut off the coffee creamer or just work out a little bit harder, your body probably is in a spot where it's I mean, the best way way I can describe it is like when you eat that low calorie, do a lot of cardio or aren't doing any resistance training, it's like your body gets turned into kind of like a fat storage machine is the best way to describe it. And you've got to do something very different to get it out of that space and eating less than doing more cord cardio or not lift, it's just not going to work. And so we're not doing this to torture or punish anyone we're doing it because your body is probably not going to respond to anything else, you have to give it different inputs, so that I want to talk to you about another piece of the program. And that is I think if you are struggling mentally with this, that or you're very feeling a lot of resistance to what your coach is asking you to do, then you probably have a mindset barrier, I would say and you need to deal with the mindset aspects of that. So do you want to talk about that aspect of our program? And if we're how it's helped you? And I think that's something that's probably different about us than maybe Weight Watchers or just hiring someone to give you your macros. Yeah, so the mindset thing is really, at first I was like, Oh, this is probably a bunch of, well, I'll say who we instead of I probably want to say but I was like what, I don't know if I need this, but you know what? It's part of it. And so I'm just gonna sign on on Sunday and listen to what it's all about a year later. I'm so signing in on Sundays, and I you know, some of the some of the things that is talked about on Sundays, I've heard repeatedly. And it's just so good to have that reinforcement. But now I have what I like to call Joe isms, you know, so your voices in my head telling me, you know, like, trust the science or, you know, stop farting around. Those are things that you say, but it just helps keep me grounded coming from Weight Watchers where the goal of Weight Watchers was basically it was your weight, and it was getting on that scale every single week. And you'd have to psych yourself up to get on the scale. And then you know, pray to God, you know, you didn't gain right. And so when I first started with you guys, I was told to you have to weigh in every day. And I was like, there is no way I'm doing that. So at the beginning, I just started weighing in once a week. And it was okay, because I was just building up my calories. And then I don't even know what it was I just something clicked in my head. I'm like, You know what, it's just a number. It doesn't mean anything. And I know it's just data that they're using to gauge where I am. And I just started weighing in every day. I don't even care anymore. It doesn't matter. It's just a number and at the beginning I thought I had 60 pounds to lose but that's just a number and looking at how I look right now with my body composition, I wish I could go back in time and find a picture of me at my current weight without doing this to see what I looked like maybe you post a picture of yourself on I think it's unusually on, it's on Instagram or probably on Facebook to your this same weight in both pictures. And that's been a really good motivation for me because in the one, you're what you call fluffy, and the other one, you're just like, totally chiseled, right. And that's the same weight. And I was like, Well, you know, you really, that was just a good pic like visual for me that the number on the scale really doesn't matter. I guess that's the big thing, just getting away from the scale. And I wouldn't have been able to do that if we didn't have the mindset portion of this. And you've even done a little like extra class with atomic habits. And you can use that it doesn't have to apply to weight loss. And a lot of the mindset things that we do talk about, you can apply in any aspect of your life. So I'm really grateful that I sucked it up and went to the class on Sundays, and then just kept doing it because it's just invaluable. Yeah, you bring up a good point. And what I always tell people is like, for everyone that comes to us, really, this really is about lifestyle inputs in to a person, like we could look at every client or anyone who isn't a client. So like, okay, here is like your cure by way of new habits that you need to establish, like you had already a great habit of tracking your food, because you had gone to Weight Watchers, that's not a new habit that you had to form. But we had to get you in the habit of looking at a few different things for nutrition, eating more protein, that's a skill, by the way, you have to learn how to do have a you have to form, we have to get you in the habit of doing resistance training and getting to getting a certain number of steps in and so really the mindset classes, the way I think about them is all about how to get yourself to form those new habits. And if you are starting out of the gate, telling yourself, this isn't gonna work, I don't want to do all this stuff. Give me a quick fix that that's you're not going to form those habits. So it really is about how to get yourself to kind of form habits, maybe you don't want to form or form habits that you just haven't formed yet. So yeah, you can apply that to any area of your life. I know that we've had some clients that like, well, I don't need therapy anymore. I've replaced my therapist with a Sunday night meeting. So the other benefit of the Sunday meeting is you get to meet the other members, for people who are listening to this podcast, I'm not in the same state as Joe is, and a lot of us are all over. So weightwatchers used to go to a meeting and you could sit in that meeting and everybody was in that room with you. That was like an important key to weightwatchers because you have the support and the community. So not only getting your mind right on Sundays, you also get to share with other ladies that are on the call and you realize that what you're thinking or you're beating yourself up about, you're not alone in that thought there are other people that are thinking and feeling the same way you are and it makes it a lot easier to get through. Yeah, and sometimes you can see, you can see the absurdity in what someone else is doing or just the commonality. But you know, and so maybe when it comes out of someone else's mouth, you're like, well, that's, that's ridiculous. Oh, wait, I do the same thing. So it's ridiculous for her to do it. It's ridiculous for me. And usually we're talking about main things that we say to ourselves about our weight, or you know, just how mean we have to ourselves, the things that we held, will do or have done in the name of making that scale number change. So and I agree, I mean, it's you know, I know a lot of times we will we have a private Facebook group and we will every Monday we post we share kind of a client's journey or where they are at on their journey and I remember the you know, we posted some of your before and after pictures with your permission, we don't post pictures without anyone's permission, but I mean there were probably I don't know 20 comments just everyone cheering you on and so so happy for you because they've they know where you've been I mean we you're not on it alone. So that's really the community aspect it is it's hard I think for definitely most women probably a lot of men it is very courageous to like if you if you are looking at losing 5060 pounds to be like No, I'm going to do what's best for my body and actually not worry about weight loss and just get things back to homeostasis. That is a courageous app and people recognize that and are there to support you along the way. Okay, can you just in your words describe what you get with the program like we describe it on our website, but I think it's always helpful to hear from a client you know what it is you when you pay your money to get your fitness what exactly you're getting, I guess accountability, the community for sure, more confidence because I feel better. I'm more kind confident the energy and the strength that I've gotten from the program. What I like about this program is it encompasses everything from before, maybe I was doing Weight Watchers and then getting a personal trainer, those two didn't really like speak to each other. So where this program, you get everything together. So your coach is the one who's monitoring your macros, is monitoring, and not just macros actually your sleep, your measurements, I mean, everything that coach is also monitoring your workouts, changing up your workouts. And then you've got this mindset part. So all three of those components together plus the community makes us such a strong program, like I don't ever want to leave. So I don't know what's going to happen when I get to where my my goal weight in my head is, or whatever it ends up being. Because I really love this program. And it works. It just feels so much better. And I've gotten compliments about how good I look in and yeah, and that's important. Don't get me wrong, and I'm not gonna lie, it is important how it looked. But how I feel is so much more important. Yeah, I mean, you can look great, but if you feel terrible, and you know, your heads full of fog, and you want to need to take a nap every day, that's not a great space to be in either. And eventually, if you're doing that, that way, it's going to start creeping on, it'll get you one of these days or you know, you'll you'll suffer some other consequences from malnourished your body like your bone density will suffer or you'll take your hormones will go crazy. So you'll take a hit somewhere. Okay, so practically speaking, if you sign up with us, you get a one on one coach, when that coach checks in on you, they are the ones that come up with your plan they give you they tell you exactly what to do in the gym. They don't tell you what to eat, but they give you the best way I can describe it as a nutrition budget. Is that how you would describe it? Yeah. And if you're with me, I was kind of stuck at the beginning, like how do I get more protein in? Or how do I do this, and they're great for that too. Well, you know, try this or try this recipe or, you know, it's all you have to do is ask. So you have your coach checking in with you and they proactively check in with you whether you want them to or not every week, every week. And then we have right now a Saturday or coaching call that is just if you have questions, you can either ask for poetry and come to that call. And when I link that, and we talk about everything, whatever anyone needs help with, we talk about and those are all recorded. So if you can't make it, you can always listen to those. And then on Sunday nights, we have a coaching call that is with curated content. And so we talk about a topic every Sunday night, we also have the community which is in this Facebook group. But within that also, we try to provide a lot of education to our clients so that if you want to leave us you're equipped to do so we don't we don't want you to leave either. But you're equipped to go out and sort of an empowered to go and learn how to care for your metabolism and your body in a in a healthy way so that you can age in a way that you want to what am I missing? What else do you get? So you get the cut one on one coach the nutrition plan along with your your coach also creates your exercise program and tells you exactly what to do in the gym and down to like get this many steps every day. Yeah. And they're constantly changing that based on getting you to your goal. So that's what you get with your your one on one coach helps with that. And then there's sort of the group coaching aspect what but also mindless lately, and one of the other coaches has been doing these, like, what does she call on Fridays? Like workout like workout questions? Not flex Fridays? I think, yeah, whatever. But you can ask her questions, or you can even cord yourself doing your workout and send it to her and she'll give you feedback. So like the bottom line with this program is you're never left, like, you're never left by yourself to like figure it out. You're never alone. The resources are there. They're there via social media. I mean, that was another thing. I really didn't want to get into doing all this on social media. But that's how it is. And you know what, it's not a big deal. That's important too. And just the fact that everything that you guys have set up for me, this is something that's easily maintainable for the rest of my life. Like I don't have to worry, like weightwatchers is like, oh, it's December, we're changing the program. So now all those points that you figured out for the past year, we're changing it so now you have to figure it out again. It's not like that at all. This is so sustainable and easy to do, man, you get to eat so much food. Yeah, and again, we're Amazon to turn everyone into gluttons, but I mean to give you a nutrition plan where your body will thrive and that you can you know you don't have to stress out when you go on vacation or say like well, the holidays are coming. That means I'm going again tomorrow. ounces, and it's gonna be impossible to get them off your body is kind of trained to withstand some of those fluctuations because you're already eating a fair amount of calories. And then I mean, the big thing also is the strength training like adding, you know, your body will change drastically just from incorporating resistance training, and that's going to be good for so many things. hormone regulation, bone health, Alzheimer's, I mean, funnily enough, you know, combating insulin resistance, diabetes, all the things that come along with aging. So anyway, okay. Yeah. Any any other advice? I guess, for anyone that might be considering this program, not just that, you know, don't be scared, Mrs. maintainable. We're always going to have weekends, we're always going to have holidays. This is something that you can do. I mean, I've done it for almost a year. So I've gone on vacation. I've had holidays, I've had weekends, and I still lost weight and gain muscle. It's doable. And it's really not that difficult. Yeah. And I guess that's the one thing we're talking about right now is like your you might be thinking, okay, October, I do not want to go on a diet in October because the holidays are coming. That sounds miserable. That our message to you is like, Well hold on here. This is a perfect time to invest in your metabolism, because we can work on investing in your metabolism. And you can make huge strides over the next three months without restricting through the holiday. So what was reverse dieting like for you and spending that time invested in your metabolism? In the months of going through the holidays? Well, for me, it was a win win because it was the holidays, and I had to eat more food so darn. It wasn't really hard at all. Because no. And the good thing is because I started before the holidays, I already had a routine and I already was comfortable with macros and logging that in and logging into my fitness pal, that when the holidays came, it was no brainer. Yeah. Now I want to make clear this is not a free for all, it wasn't just like sitting around eating, you know, nonstop. It was not how we make use those calories strategically through getting your lifts in and everything but it is, I would say a much better approach to you don't have to just write the this time period off of October through December and say like, well, I'll worry about losing weight or working on my health and fitness goals when the new year comes. Because there's no point in doing it during the holidays. That is not true. Can you use those holiday calories strategically and get yourself set up really well that when January comes be in a great position to lose some weight just by doing things a little bit more strategically in the in the next three months. So well. We like to end the show by talking about favorite foods that we're fitting into our macros and anything that you're enjoying, particularly these days, I know that your calories are back up, you think that you're loving? Well, I've been making less protein pudding, chocolate pudding, and then I put fresh strawberries on there. So that's my favorite right now. But I was actually thinking today that fall is coming. So my other favorite snack is going to be coming which is sliced apples with crunchy peanut butter. Oh yeah. Okay, so what goes into protein pudding, I use a premier protein shake for chocolate ones like in the box and low fat fat free pudding mix. So you just use a protein shake as the milk for the pudding make it the same way but make sure that the protein drink is chilled before you mix it in. It's super easy. And so I do the chocolate with a chocolate pudding. So it's just like this decadent chocolate chocolate pudding. And then I just pressed strawberries on there because I like strawberries. Yeah, sounds very weird to people, but I've been enjoying it but I've been having a snack of all mix. I don't always use Greek yogurt but like a strawberry Greek yogurt or maybe just a strawberry, regular yogurt. And then I mix it with cottage cheese and then sprinkle granola over it. So it has about 30 grams of protein and for some it tastes like cheesecake to me it probably if you don't like cottage cheese is pregnant tastes like cottage cheese, but that's what I've been enjoying lately. What's my morning snack because I noticed when I let things not slide but when I'm not super diligent my protein intake goes down. So adding that cottage cheese in really gets my protein intake up, especially in the morning. So that's what I've been enjoying. Okay, well, Thanks, Jennifer. And like I said, we are enrolling for our October metabolic makeover program if you're interested. And if you want to be been inspired by Jennifer, just go schedule a console call with us. I promise that we are we are not high pressure at all. We will tell you we don't think this is the right program for you or just go and sign up directly on our website. Both links are in the show notes. Have a great day. Thanks, everyone. Hi. That's what we've got for you today about how you can invest in your metabolism and start losing weight by eating more and exercising Last, trust us, you aren't too old and it's never too late. If you want to learn more about this topic, head over to our Facebook group, Boost Your Metabolism After Age 30. You can also follow us on Instagram or Facebook at Couture Fitness Coaching. And if you want to work with us, join us for our next 12 weeks session.