"I Stopped a GLP-1 and the Food Noise Came Back. Now What?" (Client Confessional with Heather)

What happens after you stop a GLP-1? If you're like Heather, you might see 30 of the 45lbs you lost come back, food noise return, and ask yourself repeatedly "Why can't I just eat like a NORMAL person?"

This episode is for anyone who:

• Lost weight on a GLP-1
• Came off it hoping to “maintain naturally”
• And then watched the food noise, binge urges, and weight creep back in

Heather joins me to share her story of:

• Life before GLP-1s
• How she felt on the medication
• And the emotional whiplash that happened when she stopped
• Plus... what she did to stop food noise without going back on the GLP-1.

We talk about the part no one prepares you for:

 👉 GLP-1s can change appetite, but they don’t teach you how to eat, trust yourself, or break all-or-nothing patterns.

BECOME MY NEXT SUCCESS STORY: Nourished & Free®

TOPICS COVERED:

• Heather’s relationship with food before GLP-1s
• What it felt like when food noise disappeared on the medication
• Why the weight and urges came back after stopping
• The emotional toll of regain (and the shame no one talks about)
• Perfectionism, all-or-nothing thinking, and binge cycles
• Why “just eat normally” isn’t actually helpful advice
• How alcohol quietly fueled binge eating
• What finally helped Heather feel calm around food again
• The difference between willpower and effortless self-control
• Why this work isn’t about another plan, diet, or rule set

JUMP TO:

00:00 She stopped a GLP-1… and the food noise came back
02:50 How dieting, work, and motherhood shaped her relationship with food
05:40 What GLP-1s fixed and what they didn’t
08:29 Off the medication: “why can’t I just eat normally?”
11:45 The moment she realized another diet wouldn’t help
13:55 The real issue wasn’t food
16:00 Weight regain, shame, and the emotional fallout
17:12 Perfectionism, all-or-nothing thinking, and binge cycles
18:30 Facing holidays and trigger foods without spiraling
22:48 Uncovering the beliefs driving food noise
23:19 Alcohol and late-night binges
29:05 What eating like a “normal person” looks like now
30:12 What she’d say to anyone coming off a GLP-1 for fixing food noise naturally and learning how to eat normally

Transcript

Michelle Yates (00:00)
Welcome back to the Nourished and Free podcast. I'm your host, Michelle Yates, registered dietitian with my master's in health psychology and certified health mind tech coach. And today I am joined by my wonderful client, Heather. I'm excited for her to share her story. I think that she's got a story that a lot of people will relate to in the age of the GLP-1 being so popular, there's a lot more conversations around how people are doing on them and also how they're doing off of them. Heather has a great perspective because she's been on it, been off it. Now we've done some work and she's able to kind of give you the scoop on what a GLP one is like on and off. So welcome to the show, Heather.

Heather (00:40)
Hello, hi. Yeah.

Michelle Yates (00:42)
Thanks for being here.

Why don't you tell our listeners briefly what your life is like. Just give us a quick 30,000 foot view of who you are.

Heather (00:53)
I am 45 years old, mom to two kids, 14 and 10, married. We have a corgi at home. ⁓ So if you notice, it is important if you notice hair on me, it's from her because she has enough fur for like four dogs. I'm a former pharmacist, former stay at home mom, and now I work in a children's boutique. I'm hitting that kind of age in life where things and weight loss has been hard. It's always been hard, but it seems to be getting harder.

Michelle Yates (01:24)
Well, walk me through your relationship with food and then also like that weight piece, your relationship with your body, you know, what was life like there before Nourish and Free and even before the GLP-1?

Heather (01:38)
Yeah,

Being in the pharmacy I was working eight to 10 hour shifts with maybe five minutes to eat, ⁓ if that, or use the bathroom or whatever. So I would come home either grab fast food on the way, or I worked at one of the pharmacies in a local grocery store here. So you'd go over to the kitchen and you'd grab fried chicken or Chinese, you know, that kind of stuff.

Michelle Yates (01:59)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (02:03)
and then got married.

And then the kids kind of came along, late 20s, early 30s. moved into

different role in pharmacy where it was basically mail order for specialty things and so then I'm sitting at a desk eight hours a day. So I went from being on my feet all the time and tired and crashing on the couch when I get home hungry, probably binging things that I shouldn't be.

Michelle Yates (02:19)
Hmm.

Heather (02:31)
popcorn, chips, know, kind of whatever's around the house, which isn't, wasn't usually healthy

But exercise was very minimal because I was so tired from work. So I was moving all day at work, not drinking a whole lot, not eating a whole then I'm sitting at my desk

Michelle Yates (02:50)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (02:51)
And so then the kids are around and I'm staying home with them now and everything kind of becomes about your family and you don't take the time for yourself and probably about, mean, know, the keto diet comes, the Atkins diet comes, all these kinds of things come and go, right? And I'm like, well, I know that's not sustainable for me. Like that's not something that I can do, but I tried to take bits and pieces

Michelle Yates (02:58)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Heather (03:16)
kind of from all of those and attempt to move them into my life a little bit. It did get to the point three years ago, I actually went and saw a dietitian I'm like, help me. Please help. Just somebody help give me an idea of what I need to be doing, right? Because I was never taught, I guess, never learned at home in the 80s and 90s how to really eat. ⁓

Michelle Yates (03:25)
Mm-hmm.

Please help.

Yeah,

yeah, you're more taught how to not eat in the 80s and 90s.

Heather (03:42)
Right? Like you just, right. And

so it was like, help me, just tell me what I need to do. And so then we started macros and keeping track of macros. And it actually did show me, you know, I'm really not getting a ton of protein. I'm not, you know, eating very balanced. So then I would do that and.

Michelle Yates (03:52)
Yeah.

Sure. Yeah.

Heather (04:03)
pay more attention to that kind of stuff. And I talked to my primary care provider and was like, you know, it's just being stubborn. I can eat better. can, yeah, I can, yeah. And this was before the GLP ones came out. I'm just like, I'm just, you know, I'm struggling. Here I am getting older. I've been lifting for three years. I went to Jazzercise for quite a while and did that, which is a blast, if anybody.

Michelle Yates (04:11)
weight? or yeah.

So fun.

Heather (04:28)
Everyone says

try jazzercise, please go do it. It's just so much fun.

Michelle Yates (04:31)
This is so fun.

Heather (04:33)
and so things were just really stubborn and I had brought it up to my doctor. She's like, well, you know, keep kind of going with the macros. There's some stuff kind of coming through the pipeline in the next few years. It sounds like maybe you would be a great candidate for. And the pounds just kind of going, right? Because then my kids are super picky and my husband says, well, let's continue eating out because everybody can get what they want.

Michelle Yates (04:56)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (04:56)
⁓

Right? Like, let's get over all the fights at dinner time and let's go out to eat, right? So as often as you try to eat well, you know, you can only eat so many salads and it's all fried. there'd be weeks where I do really, really well. And then I would just.

Michelle Yates (05:02)
Yeah.

Heather (05:12)
go off for weeks. And then the holidays come around too, right? And there's all the good yummy cookies and things that you get any other time of year. And you just kind of eat them and don't let them go to waste. And then you gain more weight. And yeah, mean, so then that kind of led me up to the GLPs came out. My doctor said, you want to try it? And I'm like, sure, let's go for it. Why not?

Michelle Yates (05:13)
Bye.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (05:35)
So I wasn't eating breakfast beforehand, right, before the GLP ones. And all day long, I would just think about, ⁓ I just want to get home and have a snack. I just want to go home and have something to eat because I'm starving. My lunch wasn't enough. Or half time, I didn't even eat lunch

Michelle Yates (05:47)
Hmm.

Yeah.

Heather (05:55)
get home and I would be like, I'm so hungry. I'm going to eat all the popcorn. We're big into homemade Chex Mix at my house. I would eat all the Chex Mix. I don't know. You name it. Chips. Although I'm not a, it's funny because I'm not a huge chip person, but I would eat the chips. ⁓ Ice cream, you know, like whatever. I could just go quick grab. But once I got on the GLP-1, that all went away.

Michelle Yates (06:09)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (06:16)
Like

there was no, hey, I'm bored and just sitting on the couch watching TV, let's snack while we're doing it. Or like, yeah, I'm tired and kind of, you know, maybe a little bit hungry, but not hungry enough to eat anything else. So the food noise went away.

Michelle Yates (06:23)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (06:32)
I kind of backed off around Thanksgiving, Christmas, because I wanted to enjoy the holidays, right? Like I didn't want to have to sit there and be like, I can't have whatever so-and-so made because I know it's not going to make me feel good. know, like eating shouldn't make you feel gross, in general.

Michelle Yates (06:38)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Heather (06:53)
And so then came eating the sugar cookies that were frosted by my children. You know, pick one up. They're all sitting on a platter. You pick one up as you walk by. You pick up another one as you walk by. And I'm like, I'm kind of enjoying food again. You know, they taste is kind of back. I don't really want to say it changed my taste, but in a sense, it's like I mean, I love French fries. Who doesn't love French fries? But

Michelle Yates (06:59)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Right?

Heather (07:16)
You know, you put it in your mouth and you're like, oh, this is just not going to make me feel real great. And I'll probably end up feeling bloated and just whatever. And so there was just no fun. Now I was back to the fun and enjoying it. And I lost 45 pounds in those six months. And my doctor was like, well, do you want to bump up again and try to lose more? And I'm like, you know what? I'm at a pretty good weight. I'm, you know, like I don't.

Michelle Yates (07:20)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Hmm. Yeah.

Heather (07:44)
I was just doing it more to feel better, right? Like I wanted to be able to move around better. I wanted just health feel better. And of course it doesn't hurt if you look better either, you know? Like, I mean, I dropped a few sizes in jeans and who likes to shop for jeans anyway? So when I could go and shop for a smaller size, that was great. And it was like, ooh, this is really nice. And it's just this little shot once a week and.

Michelle Yates (07:47)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm

Mm-hmm.

Heather (08:12)
yay, I can

go buy a new wardrobe. But then I was like, I don't really know if I want to do it again. I probably could have done every other week, every third week, once a month. And I'm just like, my insurance didn't cover it either. So it was kind of an out pocket cost. It is expensive.

Michelle Yates (08:26)
expensive.

Yeah.

Heather (08:30)
it was worth it to i mean i'm like great you know i've i've i feel better i'm eating better so now i should be able to maintain it on my own but i didn't actually learn anything i learned that a shot in my stomach can help me not eat and that helped me lose weight so then

Michelle Yates (08:44)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Heather (08:51)
I got super frustrated again. I'm like, why can't I just eat normally and like how other people eat and why is the food noise back? And why can't I stop myself from eating all the cookies or having ice cream after every meal? why can't I even just be comfortable where I'm at? Right? Like why, why is there this preset notion in my head that I have to stay?

Michelle Yates (09:05)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Heather (09:18)
this way and I'm like, I need to find a way to learn to eat. And I think I ran across a comment on a local mom's group in Facebook that recommended you. And I, it maybe took me one day, I think to reach out and like, okay, do you really think you can help me? Like, I just want to learn how to eat. Like how do people eat normally? I don't know.

Michelle Yates (09:22)
Hmm.

Yeah.

Heather (09:45)
I don't really don't know another way to explain it. Like I just...

Michelle Yates (09:47)
No, actually, that's like the perfect way to explain it. think that's I hear it all the time, all the time. Like I

just want to eat like a normal person. And I get it. It's like eat when you're hungry. Stop when you're full. It's not a big deal. You don't spiral. You have a cookie if you want a cookie and then you move on. Like it's just. No drama.

Heather (10:07)
But how do you get there? Right? It just seems, it just, I'm like, don't know where to go. I don't know what to do. I don't know who to talk to. I talked to a dietitian right? There was count macros. Well, that's great till you don't want to count anymore. And the doctor's like, diet and exercise. And my mobility had been kind of limited and I know movement is

Michelle Yates (10:09)
Yeah, right.

Right.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (10:30)
that wasn't happening either at that point in time. So, yeah.

Michelle Yates (10:32)
Yeah. And then you're like, but I don't

want to do a shot either. I'm kind of over that. I just want to eat normal. Please help.

Heather (10:38)
Right?

I think I asked you probably four different times, like, do you really think you can help me? Is this something that, well, an investment. It's an investment in your health I mean, I've bought.

Michelle Yates (10:44)
Hahaha

Yeah.

Heather (10:52)
the shakes and I've bought other things too. And now granted, like I said, I never went full in on anything either to like, cause I know that's not sustainable for me.

Michelle Yates (11:02)
Well, there's that clinical side of you that can kind of see into the future of having just shakes that I'm not going to do that the rest of my life. So I can see why you're like, I'm not totally bought in on that. I don't want to be bought in on that and do it 100 % because I can see the writing on the wall.

Heather (11:09)
No.

Yeah.

Like maybe I'll be good for a little while So yeah, like I said, I think I asked you probably four or five times.

Michelle Yates (11:26)
Yeah, well and it makes sense.

was there anything in particular that was a moment where you're like, okay, I'm gonna do this, like a conversation, a comment, maybe it was the Facebook group comment or something in particular where you were like pushed over the edge to, okay, I wanna do this.

Heather (11:44)
think it started with the Facebook comment

I'm guessing someone commented you and then I think you maybe popped in as a reply. And I think your Instagram came up. And so then I clicked on the Instagram and then I kind of went down the rabbit hole. I went down the nourished & free rabbit I'm like, you know what? This sounds like something that I've been looking for.

Michelle Yates (11:53)
yeah.

Heather (12:02)
This is something that can help me find out why I have the issues around food that I do, or why, or how, just how to eat normal. Or what's normal enough for me and not having to think about it constantly, not having to think about, well, I had McDonald's for lunch, so now I should probably just have a small salad at home, or.

Michelle Yates (12:02)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Heather (12:30)
Thanksgiving is coming up, so I'm not going to eat for a couple of days. So then that way I can have all the great food then. And so I was like, this sounds kind of legit. And my medical background were no red flags that were thrown up. It wasn't, I mean, you have your certifications, your background.

Michelle Yates (12:35)
Mm-hmm.

Hmm

Heather (12:48)
not just an influencer that's on there and you promoting other like a diet. Like there was no, well, I'm gonna supply you with list of foods you can this is what you're gonna have for breakfast and this is what you're gonna have for lunch and this is what you're gonna have for supper, right? Like, or you can only have a shake and it was just more.

Michelle Yates (12:52)
There's a

Yeah.

Heather (13:09)
manageable, more doable, more... Yes. Yes, that's what I'm looking for. Yeah.

Michelle Yates (13:12)
Realistic. Yeah. Yeah.

So once you got on the inside then, because that's like front facing, OK, this seems like something that I'm looking for seems legit. Do you feel like now that you've been around for a while? Did it like. Meet your expectations, I guess, or. Was it what you were thinking it would be?

Heather (13:34)
Yeah, absolutely.

Well, I didn't know what it would be. Right. I didn't know fully. I mean, I know it was like we're going to go into kind of your mental aspects of things, too, and some different stuff. So there was things that came up that I never thought that would come up, things that were probably holding me back from high school and my 20s. And

Michelle Yates (13:56)
Hmm.

Heather (13:59)
the mom guilt or, you know, hanging out with the cool moms and just social media in general too. there was just, you know, you think you're just going to sit and talk and like, Hey, these are the fun foods and these are the good And, but there was so much more to it that it's just, it was totally worth it. the community helps too.

being able to talk with women going through the same thing. much as you get a light bulb, it's like, ooh, yes. But am I the only person that feels that way? And then you start chatting, and you're like, my god, there's six other women right here who have the exact same thought process as I do, where I feel like I was the only one alone.

I was hesitant to even tell people how I lost the weight because I didn't want it to seem like I was taking the easy way out, which I think that's maybe a little bit of stigma around the GLP ones ⁓ is kind of the easy way out. ⁓

Michelle Yates (14:49)
Hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Heather (14:57)
they are there for the right people.

Michelle Yates (14:59)
Yeah.

Heather (14:59)
you

know, and they do what they're supposed to do. But then putting it back on slowly. I mean, I think I've gained what I say, I lost 40, 45 pounds. I put about 30 back on ⁓ and it came on fairly quickly. ⁓ And so it's like, crap, I just saw all these people over the holidays looking the best I have in all since I had kids, you know, and before that. And now I've put it all back on in just a couple of months.

Michelle Yates (15:09)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (15:25)
and I didn't want to go out I didn't want to see people I saw a photo of myself and I'm like my goodness really that's what I look like now you know I went I went from I went from pre-kids to back to where I was again and it's it's hard and it's it takes a mental toll

Michelle Yates (15:31)
Yeah.

Yeah,

it can be really defeating.

Heather (15:44)
Yeah, absolutely.

Michelle Yates (15:47)
Yeah. What do you think was like a aha moment or like a switch flipping moment that you needed to really whatever was going on with your relationship with food?

Heather (16:00)
I think there's one sentence that stuck out quite a bit for me going through the modules and then I think you repeated it once or twice in the calls I was on, but it's don't shoot for the A plus, shoot for the B or the B plus. I'm very much a perfectionist. I'm very much, grades were always stressed to me.

school is super important, you gotta get good grades so can get into pharmacy school and then pharmacy school you had to get good grades so you could graduate, right, and get your license and then it's it just keeps piling, right, and then the social media and just everything in general I try to be perfect at and when I can't be I feel like a failure.

So if I can't get that A, A plus, I feel massive shame and I kind of start doom scrolling and sitting on the couch and trying to avoid life and just avoid those feelings. So hearing that it's okay to not go for that A plus with my diet and my exercise.

Michelle Yates (16:49)
Yeah, avoid. Yeah.

Heather (17:02)
and going for the B, B plus was huge. It's like, I don't have to be perfect all the time. And I can give myself grace for not being perfect because life happens. huge.

Michelle Yates (17:04)
Yeah.

How do you think that perfectionism

showed up with your relationship with food specifically?

Heather (17:18)
Well, if I have one cookie, I've ruined it. Ruined it for the day, right? So I might as well have a couple more. Now I've had like five cookies, so why not just eat them all? Or I've got leftover, I don't know, whatever from Thanksgiving or Christmas, or we host a big Fourth of July party every year.

Michelle Yates (17:22)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (17:38)
there's leftovers from there and I'm like wait they can't go to waste because then like the food it's a waste of food and we should be eating it yeah it's just

Michelle Yates (17:46)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah,

it's like a all or nothing. If I can't be all in, then I'll be all out. Because I'll be, it's just, yeah. There gets to be this fatigue of I can't keep up with the perfect. And so you have the one cookie and then it's like, shoot, I wasn't perfect. So I might as well enjoy it now before I start over tomorrow with being perfect again

Heather (17:52)
Yep.

Yeah. Yeah.

yeah.

Michelle Yates (18:14)
So you brought up the cookies a couple of times. remember you talking

about, I don't think we've checked in on this actually, because I remember you talking, I think it was about a month or two ago, about the Christmas sugar cookies and how you were anticipating that and you're like, don't know how this is going to go. Because usually it doesn't go well.

Heather (18:24)
Mm-hmm.

It

doesn't go well. We make gingerbread cookies, we make sugar cookies, and they make like the little peanut butter cookies that have like the Hershey Kiss in the middle too, right? Like we, absolutely. And I spend all the time doing it, right? I mean, it's making memories with my kids.

Michelle Yates (18:39)
of course, classic, classic Christmas cookie.

Heather (18:47)
I'm like, I spent all the time and we made the memories and they're just sitting here and I want to eat them because one, they're good and I don't want them to go to waste.

Michelle Yates (18:52)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (18:59)
So yeah, I know that was one of the things I'm like, I'm scared. I'm scared for Christmas, right? Because that's there. We have not made them yet, I will I am feeling very confident, though. ⁓ We just had Thanksgiving, right? And.

Michelle Yates (19:02)
Yeah.

Good.

Heather (19:13)
I brought a dessert to one place and then we hosted the next day at our place. I still have the whole apple pie from Costco in my fridge that has not been touched. I was walking through Costco and it's like,

Apple pie sounds kind of good. I think my dad would like that too. You know, like let's do it. It's still in my fridge. It has not been touched. And I'm like, well, it's probably not gonna be good for much longer. So it's gonna go in the trash. So I bought it and I forgot about it. And then there's another dessert in there too, as well. have ice cream in my... I would eat it.

Michelle Yates (19:39)
Yeah.

And how would that have gone last year, if this was last

Heather (19:46)
I would have probably had a couple slices a day. One for lunch, one supper.

Michelle Yates (19:50)
Yeah.

Heather (19:53)
get my money's worth out of it. I bought it, let's eat it. It's yummy, it's good. And it has apples in it, so it's not complete. That's how I would have justified it, right? There is some fruit in there, so I'm okay. And now I'm just like, I don't care. It's there and if we touch it, we touch it. And if we don't, we don't.

Michelle Yates (20:01)
There's some vitamins in there. There's some vitamins.

Heather (20:14)
my mom made a great pumpkin dessert for Thanksgiving and I had like...

Michelle Yates (20:14)
Yeah.

Heather (20:19)
Well, I wanted to taste it, right? I want to try it. It was a new recipe. I had like three bites. It was good. And then I was done. And I just set it down and walked away. So I have a lot of confidence in myself when it comes to Christmas cookies.

Michelle Yates (20:32)
my favorite part about the pie story and the leftover Thanksgiving desserts is that it's not like, my gosh, I've been thinking about them, but resisting and like my willpower is so awesome.

I am white-knuckling my way through this and I've done it. It's more of like sometimes I say this, like an effortless self-control where you're like, I literally just forgot about it.

Heather (20:56)
It's crazy because normally that would never happen

Michelle Yates (20:59)
it's been cool to see your journey too, because with this work, like as we've talked about, there is surprising elements to our relationship with food and with our bodies that we don't think are impacting it, like high school stuff or the mom friends or whatever it just interpersonal things in our lives. And I know for you, it was

not normal, not your normal to be reflective about stuff. You know, like I remember you being like, I don't ever really talk about or think about how I'm doing or how I'm feeling or what's going on in my mind. And it was cool to see you kind of like cultivate that skill out what is going on in your head so that you could then know what to do with it. How was that experience for you?

Heather (21:26)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Weird. But very much needed. Because again, it was never anything I learned. It was never, I've never done self-reflection and I've never taken the time, especially since becoming a mom and becoming a wife, to take the time and be like, how am I doing? And what?

Michelle Yates (21:48)
Yeah. ⁓

Heather (22:08)
know, what do I need or what is going on with me or what's causing this? So yeah, the core belief identifier that we do was very much an eye-opener, you know, starting with one point where I'm at and

Michelle Yates (22:20)
Yeah.

Heather (22:26)
you know, I'm failing at all these things in life because I'm not eating right. And I'm not exercising and like, okay, but where does that stem from? And to, think I had to work my way through it a couple of times. And I even had to work through it with you on a call, ⁓ to kind of get to where needed to be with that and find out what was going on with myself.

Michelle Yates (22:35)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

Heather (22:49)
and it's funny too because I would say what nine out of ten of us women that are in the group at one time all say it's because we're perfectionists like that's like such a root cause of a lot of things and and that even comes it goes deeper you know too sometimes with that but it's

Michelle Yates (22:59)
Yeah, it's a big thing.

Heather (23:08)
been good because I've even been really tired this last week or so and I'm like, okay, what do I need? And I just need to take time to breathe because I don't usually ever do that either

Michelle Yates (23:18)
Are you comfortable talking about with the weekends and going out and the drinking? I remember that was a big trigger for you too. And that was a big thing that we worked through together. Do you mind speaking to that?

Heather (23:27)
Yeah. Yeah.

So along with being foodies, my husband and I also enjoy beer. And we like craft beer. Here, there was old Chicago, Like tap house, pizza, whatever. And they had a beer tour. And so was for all the beers you drink, however many you got, you could get prizes and whatever. And over the course of...

Michelle Yates (23:39)
Yeah.

Heather (23:52)
quite a few, probably 10 years. I earned my Stein at Old Chicago for finishing 10 world tours, which is like 1,000 in some beers. I don't even know. made friends with bartenders, waitresses. It just kind of became our place. And it was just really nice just kind of However, the alcohol then became

of a necessity for every event that we went to and everywhere we go there is alcohol. And while I was on my GLP one beer did not taste good at all. It would leave me super bloated and I ended up switching to like some vodka and whatever else mixed with it. it just kind of became this huge crutch and I would get almost to the point because

Michelle Yates (24:22)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (24:35)
I'm super shy when you first meet me, believe it or not. If I'm around new people, I don't talk a whole lot. I have to get comfortable. so alcohol led me to kind of let loose and have a little bit more fun and not worry about it and not worry about what other people may be thinking about me. was just kind of there.

Michelle Yates (24:45)
Yeah, take it in.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Heather (25:01)
just, would drink and then I would come home.

and I would binge. I was so hungry. I was ravenous. And a lot of times what I'm craving is the carbs and it's three pieces of toast or heating up a frozen pretzel, big puffy pretzel, or eating a whole bunch of popcorn or eating all the cookies. Like I was just ravenous when we would get home ⁓ or after everybody left. And I'm just like, I can't continue the cycle.

Michelle Yates (25:23)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (25:29)
I don't like how I feel in the morning and I know it's contributing to me not feeling well just in general, just the alcohol, but then all the food and yeah, it just really was hard and it scary to think about not having that crutch

Michelle Yates (25:45)
And I remember us kind of talking through that and it feeling like somewhat of an impossible

means I'm going to have to keep binging because that starts the binge. You could forecast it.

Heather (25:51)
Right?

absolutely. I mean, OK, maybe have one, right? Like, how easy does that sound? Let's just have one beer at the hockey game. Well, then my husband goes and buys me one, or a friend goes and buys me one. And it's hard to sometimes just have one. And think I went a weekend without any.

Michelle Yates (26:01)
Hmm.

Heather (26:16)
I went and I ordered just iced tea or water. And I did sneak in a Mio, I think, for my water, because why not have something fun and flavorful, right? Yeah. And I did it. I did it on a Friday night. And I was like, hey, this is kind of cool. I'm waking up on Saturday and I'm feeling OK. And I didn't come home.

Michelle Yates (26:23)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You got to make it like still enjoyable.

Heather (26:40)
eat all the loaves of bread in my pantry. Let's see if I can do this on Saturday. And I did. And then, you know, Sunday was good too. And it's hard with football because we're big football people too. We watch a lot of football and we'd go and sit somewhere and just enjoy the day. But I made it through the whole weekend and I'm like, ⁓

Michelle Yates (26:45)
Yeah.

Heather (27:02)
I can do it. I mean, it was just kind of like, OK, I did it one day, so why not keep trying? But even now, we went out on Sunday and had a couple of drinks, and I've learned to pace myself better.

I think I had two all afternoon, like the whole day. And I came home and I'm like, well, this is really nice. I'm content. I don't want to take a nap on the couch. I don't want to eat. I don't want to go grab the frosted flakes from the pantry and just eat them by the handful.

Michelle Yates (27:21)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (27:34)
once you realize kind of what it is and what's holding you back, because I'm like socially, I just feel so awkward. it was just kind of working through that and being able to reflect on it.

Michelle Yates (27:44)
Yeah.

Right. So reflection and that is like, when we have that gap between what we know we should do, it's like, okay, I know that drinking leads me to binge, but yet I still do it. And there's like something underneath there that we got to pull out and figure out like what is still motivating you at the end of the day, because there's something in there that's being, that is acting as a motivator for you to do the behavior anyway.

Heather (28:04)
Right.

Michelle Yates (28:09)
And sometimes you just gotta have the right tools and the right conversations and poke the right holes to pull those things out. for you, it was like the social piece, which I think a lot of people can absolutely relate to. Like, yeah, I need to relax. And that helps.

Heather (28:20)
Yeah.

we talk about thinking, do I really want this? Or how is it going to make me feel? And I can do that just real quickly even anymore. I don't have to like stop myself. I'm like, OK, these cookies are staring at me. Do I want one?

Michelle Yates (28:28)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Heather (28:39)
I kind of do. kind of want to taste it. So I'll have one because then I've tasted it. I'm satisfied with it. And then I'm done. And I can walk away. Or I walk in and I'm like, do I really want the cookie? No, I think I just want water. like it's just you're actually taking, yeah, you learn to take the time, whether it's the minute to sit and think about it or the evening or.

Michelle Yates (28:46)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

becoming natural.

Heather (29:05)
the quick split second that it becomes then too. So yeah.

Michelle Yates (29:09)
Yeah.

And now you're eating like normal. I mean, that's what that sounds like to me. Yeah, we still got work to do.

Heather (29:13)
Yeah, most of the times. Most of the time. Right? Like, I most of the times. But I give myself grace on

the days, right? Like, there's, I think it's always a work in

Michelle Yates (29:24)
Yeah, well, if somebody, let's say similar to your situation, they came off the GLP one food noises back to binging was back. The weight was back. And maybe they're struggling with perfectionism.

applying that to food, having that all or nothing mentality around it, or maybe none of those things. Maybe just they have a completely different story, but for whatever reason, they're considering joining Nourished and Free. What would you say to that individual? Yeah, they just want to eat. Somebody that wants to just eat like a normal person, they're considering this, what would you say to them now that you've been through it and you can confidently have an opinion about it?

Heather (29:47)
They just want to eat normal.

right? Yeah.

Do it. Just jump right in and do it. It can be done at your own it's so worth it in the end.

Michelle Yates (30:06)
Yeah.

Heather (30:13)
I mean, I'm still working on it, right? But I mean, it's freeing. It's nice to know that you're not alone. To have the kind of contact that we do with the other women in the group and with you and Dani it's like any question, it's there. And everyone's super supportive. And it's just kind of like I found

Michelle Yates (30:16)
Yeah. Yeah.

Heather (30:36)
the group that understands. not just ⁓ all or nothing. It's not a plan or a diet or anything like that that you're like, ⁓ well, I've tried them all, right? Like, is this going to be just like that? It's not just like that. It addresses so much mentally and just

Michelle Yates (30:48)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (30:57)
Yeah, I mean, don't even really think we talk too much truly about food. I mean, we do, right? But it's not until more of the end. then it's not even, here's the pyramid. Eat this and eat this and this, right? The pyramid. Like, that's all I got in health, right? At least that's all I remember taking away. Or follow these rules. I mean,

Michelle Yates (31:09)
The pyramid.

Yeah

Heather (31:20)
It's not what everything else is. This is truly what I needed and I think everybody needs. It's just, it's great. It's worth it.

I mean, if you're like me and have tried the GLP ones and they're not cheap, I put quite a bit of money in on that. And this is so much more worthwhile. It is so much more.

meant for you as an individual. you take the work to get what you want out of it and dig deep. And it's not always comfortable, but that's what I needed. And you're there to open our eyes and to kind of get us to that point. Because like I said, I never self-reflected before. So all of this just never occurred to me. ⁓

Michelle Yates (31:44)
Hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (32:05)
So yeah, it's 100 % worth it.

Michelle Yates (32:07)
I so appreciate you having the courage to talk about it and willing to be vulnerable. I know that anybody listening to this is going to relate to you in one way or another, maybe completely relate to you. And as you know, it is nice to know that you're not alone and

Heather (32:09)
you

Michelle Yates (32:24)
to feel understood when it comes to struggles that we often feel very misunderstood about. it's just been so fun for me to watch your progress and see you. I mean, you do. You've been the one really doing each step along the way. And I've just been having fun cheering you on and being like, wait, watch out for that real quick. OK, keep going. You're good. It's been fun to see you.

Heather (32:42)
You

Michelle Yates (32:49)
Enter into that normalcy with food and experience the joy that can come with that and the joy of being able to have the pretzels with your kids at Disney World and it not send you into a spiral or make you feel disgusting or whatever, you know, and just come home and be like, OK, that was great. Moving on.

Heather (33:02)
great.

That was fun.

now tomorrow I will take or I will eat what my body wants, which is fresh vegetables. Right.

Michelle Yates (33:08)
So.

stuff too is so powerful

to be able to tune in and be like, okay, actually, I genuinely want the vegetables right now. It's not a rule, it's a desire. And that's a world of a difference.

Heather (33:23)
Yeah.

Yeah. You learn to listen to yourself and your body.

Michelle Yates (33:29)
I appreciate you and I appreciate you being here today. I should probably ask the last time I did this with a client, she said this and I was like, I should probably do that every episode actually. Are you being paid to say any of this is my question. Thank you for clarifying for the skeptics out there who are like, she's probably getting paid.

Heather (33:41)
Absolutely not. No. No,

my payment, like you asked me, and I'm like, if I can help even one person who is in the position I was in or feeling the way that I was in, like, that's amazing. I want to be able to...

to share my story and help someone get to the point where I'm at now. That, to me, is more than enough. don't need money to talk to you,

Michelle Yates (34:09)
Thanks, that's so nice.

Michelle Yates (34:12)
Now it's your turn. Head to the show notes and apply for Nourished and Free if you're ready to be my next success