How To Stay On Track Through Menopause

Are you tired of starting over every Monday?

In this episode, I'm sharing the story of Kathy — one of my clients who recently finished Positively Healthy You — and the conversation we had when she told me she was ready to fly on her own.

When Kathy first came to me, she was doing all the "right" things: going to the gym, watching what she ate, even taking weight loss medication. And yet she felt defeated, inconsistent, and completely at the mercy of the number on the scales. Sound familiar?

Fast forward a few months, and she's lifting heavier, sleeping better, genuinely enjoying exercise, and — most importantly — she trusts herself. Not because everything went perfectly. But because she finally understood what real transformation actually involves.

In this episode, I walk you through the three lessons I drew from Kathy's journey:

• Why consistency will always beat perfection — and how a tiny course correction early on can change where you land years from now
• Why support isn't a luxury, it's a strategy — and what happens to your progress when you try to white-knuckle change alone
• What it really means to transform — hint: it's not just about the weight, and it doesn't end when the programme does

Whether you're just starting out or you've been stuck in the same loop for years, this episode will help you see that the path forward isn't about doing more — it's about doing the right things, consistently, with the right support around you.

Come and listen. This one might just be the reset you've been waiting for.

Watch Stop Dieting Start Thriving: https://www.drorlena.com/stop-dieting 

Sign up for the Stop Dieting and Start Thriving Video: 

https://www.drorlena.com/stop-dieting

Looking for support? Book a free call with Dr Orlena: 

https://www.drorlena.com/book-a-call-dr-o 

Transcript

 Hello, hello. How to transform your life without starting again every single Monday. Today, I want to try something a little bit different. I want to tell you about one of my clients who recently finished my program, Positively Healthy You. Let's call her Cathy. Now, when I first met her, she was feeling frustrated and stuck.

She was trying really hard to make changes: going to the gym, focusing on what she ate. She was even on weight loss medication, and initially she had lost weight, but that had stopped, which obviously just left her feeling really defeated. She was struggling with consistency, the gym felt like a chore, and to be honest, the scales determined whether she had a good week or a bad week.

In short, she felt like a total failure , like this was taking over her life, and that's not what she wanted. Now, fast-forward a few months and I'm gonna tell you about the conversation [00:01:00] I had with her this week. So now she is enjoying her life. She's genuinely enjoying exercising, and watching herself get stronger, and lifting heavier, and she's even started running, and sleeping better, and has a much better relationship with food.

She has more energy, and she feels like she's got herself back. She said to me, "I know what to do now." Essentially, she trusts herself. She knows that she can deal with what life throws at her, including setbacks. And she told me she's ready to fly by herself, and excited for her journey ahead. So we spent a little bit of time reflecting on her journey, and here are some of the things that she said to me, but I really want to tease out some learning points from this because I think it's re- when you are sat there being, thinking, "Okay, I'm frustrated and I wanna get to this place", it's really important to think about what exactly is involved in that [00:02:00] transformation?

Now, some of the things that she said to me was, "It was easier than I thought it was going to be. Like, everybody says it's gonna be easy, but actually this was easy because I didn't find it restrictive and the weekly meetings really helped me reset." So what are the three points that I have pulled out of this?

Number one: consistency beats perfection. And I am constantly telling my clients this, that her biggest win wasn't really losing loads and loads of weight, it was being consistency. So she said to me, if I have a setback, the next meal I'm on track." And I see so many people trying to create this perfect- System do things perfectly, do this better, do that better.

I have to go to the gym four times instead of two times, and I must never eat chocolate, and I must do all of these things perfectly. And the problem with that is it's [00:03:00] not sustainable, and you beat yourself up if a little thing happens. Whereas really, when you take a step back, what really moves the needle is consistency.

You don't have to do anything perfectly, but you do need to be consistent with what you do. And I think we really underestimate the impact of small changes. And sometimes it doesn't feel like we're doing very much, but it has a big impact. So for example, if you are somebody who turns to food when you are stressed and you learn how to deal with that.

Okay, that one, I don't know, cake or chocolate bar, that's not going to ... That's not the thing that is going to change. But what is that repeated behavior that you aren't constantly eating whatever it is because you're feeling stressed. So I always think of it like this. You're on a [00:04:00] boat. You're flying, you're going from Barcelona to New York.

It's a really long journey, which represents the next 20 or 30 years of your life. And you make a small little change when you're at Barcelona, so it's only like a few degrees, but instead of ending up at New York, you're down in, I don't know, somewhere in the south. You've really made a big change because of that tiny change over a period of time.

So learning point number one: consistency beats perfection. You don't have to be perfect Number two, support creates success. Sh- what she told me was the thing that she'd really miss out on was the community, the accountability, the encouragement, the weekly check-ins, helping her reset. Now, when you're trying to make changes alone, every setback feels huge.

It feels bigger. When you're supported, you can remember what matters [00:05:00] and keep you on track. And I think about coaching a lot, and think, "Why is coaching such a powerful tool to make changes?" And this is the way I look at it. You are standing wherever you are, let's call it the valley or the cliff of frustrated, overwhelmed, stuck.

And those are the three words that people say to me the most, "I feel overwhelmed, I feel frustrated, I feel stuck." And you want to get to this cliff, which is, it depends what resonates with you, but I have heard confidence, freedom, contentment, balance, that word that resonates with you, where things are just happening automatically.

And the bottom line is this: there needs to be some change. If you carry on doing exactly what you're doing, you're gonna get the same results. So somewhere along the line, you have to make some changes. Now, spoiler, I think one of the biggest changes that you can make is [00:06:00] to your mindset and how you are thinking about things.

Because that and sleep are the linchpins to being able to do all the other things, and to keeping back on track. But when you're making those changes, there's what I call the rickety bridge, and it is scary making changes. For various reasons, our brains do not like to make changes. Our brains like habits.

That's the whole point of habits, is that we keep doing the same stuff. So when you're forcing your body to say, "Okay, we're doing it differently," when you take your eye off the ball, the bo- your body is like, "Oh, remember we do this. We do it like this. This is the old way of doing things." So your default position is to go back to normal.

Plus, on top of that, you've got so many doubts. Your brain is busy going, "What if this doesn't work? I'm not sure this is gonna work. I'm not sure this is the right thing for me. What if?" Worst-case scenario. Now, that is all about your mindset. So if you can have [00:07:00] somebody helping you with your mindset over that rickety bridge- Then you get to the place where you no longer need that support, which brings me onto learning point three.

Real transformation is becoming independent and being able to do it by yourself. So at the end of the program, she said to me, "I feel ready to fly on my own, and I know what to do." So my goal for my clients isn't to need me forever. My goal is for them to become confident and manage their own health by themselves.

I spoke to another client who had done my program just before Christmas, and after Christmas, I checked in with her and said, "Hey, how are things going?" And she said, "You know what? Christmas was a bit of a disaster, but I got back on track by myself." Once you have those tools to be able to be objective about your life and really think, "Okay, am I leading my healthiest life?

What do I need to do? What's the next best step for me? Can I get [00:08:00] back on track? Am I just good?" You have all the tools you need. You're just going from strength to strength to strength instead of down that negative plughole. All know what I mean by the negative plughole. So my three learning points to take away from Cathy are consistency beats perfection.

Always. Support creates success. It is so much easier to make changes with success. Now, obviously, my program is fabulous, and the women who commit to my program, they get amazing transformations. But I'm not the only person who can create transformation. There are other supports you need. You need to find the thing that really resonates for you.

You need to feel, "This is the best choice for me." And I would side-note that with it's, or with whatever you choose, it is always difficult. A lot of people say to me I... what would make it so easy for me to join your program is [00:09:00] knowing what the results would be." And it's yeah, okay, I don't have a crystal ball.

I can tell you that, yes, the people who commit to doing my program, they go from frustrated, overwhelmed, stuck, to feeling in control and knowing what they are doing. That looks different for everybody. So real transformation is becoming independent so that you can do this for yourself. And I think the other thing to add is that- People's goals change.

So for example, what she was really looking for at the beginning was weight loss. And yes, weight loss is a part of the puzzle for a lot of people. By the end of it, she had so much more: better sleep, more energy, better moods, less racing thought, more strength, consistency with food, confidence in herself, and most importantly, she trusts herself now.

So basically, she's gone from frustrated to feeling happy and vibrant and [00:10:00] content with her life, and knowing that if she just keeps going, she will reach that weight loss goal. So if you are tired of starting over every Monday, if you know what to do, but but struggle to stay consistent and you'd love support to building habits that actually last, then...

first of all, watch my video, Stop Dieting, Start Thriving. And if you want to know about my program and how I can support you, then book a free call. If you've already watched the video and you want a call, then either message me or email me at orlena@drorlena.com, and we will arrange a time to chat. It is the last week of June.

I'm away the last week of June, but I have my calendar open for the beginning of July. I'm off to the UK to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday. Happy birthday to my mom. If you want this [00:11:00] transformation and you would like support, then book a call, and I would love to chat to you. Have a lovely day. Goodbye.