Behind the Scenes of Steady Progress: How Meg Found Lasting Health

We all hear the success stories, but what we rarely get to see is the journey behind them—the small tweaks and big mindset shifts that make lasting health changes possible. In today’s episode, we have the amazing Meg, a current patient of mine, who’s been on an incredible journey over the past year. Meg was already healthy, but she’s gone above and beyond to maintain her muscle, tweak her routine, and keep pushing forward. It’s not just about losing weight—it’s about maintaining and improving health for the long haul.

Meg shares her firsthand experience on what’s truly been a game changer for her: the powerful role of protein and fiber in her diet, and how small changes have made a big difference in her progress. She discusses the importance of maintaining muscle mass, especially as we age, and the mindset shift necessary to stay consistent, even when progress feels slow.

Tune in for an honest, down-to-earth conversation filled with practical tips from Meg’s journey, like how to balance your nutrition and workouts for sustainable results, and why focusing on the long-term picture really makes all the difference.


References

hardCORE On The Floor

InBody Scale


Audio Stamps

01:20 - Dr. Rentea’s patient, Meg, shares her background and explains how she found Dr. Rentea's practice during a time of personal struggle.

06:07 - Meg explains how focusing on protein and fiber intake has transformed her approach to nutrition, making it more sustainable.

14:55 - We hear the importance of patience and consistency, reminding us that progress, even when it’s slow, is still progress.

17:45 - Meg highlights the importance of tracking muscle mass, not just weight, using tools like the InBody scale, to ensure long-term health and maintain muscle, especially as we age.

22:18 - Meg shares her top tips for those looking to begin or stay on track with their journey.


Quotes

“Especially after menopause hit, I was hungry constantly and no matter how much I ate, I just never seemed to be satisfied.” - Meg

"When our physiology is off, it doesn’t matter how much knowledge we have in our head—we can’t overcome it." - Dr. Rentea

“You have to find a pattern of living that works for you.” - Meg

“One of the things I think about is how I'll feel if I don't exercise. And so in the morning, I might grumble for a second, but I always think of that post exercise feeling.” - Meg

“If you're out there listening and you're not doing anything, imagine if you thought, ‘Hey, can I do 30 minutes once a week?’, you will get places. You will.”

All of the information on this podcast is for general informational purposes only. Please talk to your physician and medical team about what is right for you. No medical advice is being on this podcast.

If you live in Indiana or Illinois and want to work with doctor Matthea Rentea, you can find out more on www.RenteaClinic.com

Premium Season 1 of The Obesity Guide: Behind the Curtain -Dive into real clinical scenarios, from my personal medication journey to tackling weight loss plateaus, understanding insulin resistance, and overcoming challenges with GLP-1s. Plus, get a 40+ page guide packed with protein charts, weight loss formulas, and more.

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Transcript

0:28

Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today, we have the absolute amazing privilege of having actually a current patient of mine, Meg. She is absolutely phenomenal. And we were talking the other day and I said, Hey, listen, you are such an example of, as you've been on this journey over the past, you know, over the, over the past year here, Of all the things that you're doing and you were already healthy to begin with, but all the things that we talk about and I was saying, I don't think people ever hear what it takes to maintain your muscle to kind of keep going to keep tweaking things. And so I said, Hey, would you be willing to come on the podcast and kind of, we just talk about this. Cause I feel that. Honestly, I'm motivated when we talk and really hearing how you go through things. So Meg, can we start out, first of all, thank you for coming on and can you just, do you want to introduce yourself a little bit just so people have a little bit of context? Oh, great. Well, thank you so much for having me and I always enjoy our conversations. So I'm looking forward to this one. Yes, I'm a 66 year old and I have a husband and a 30 year old son and I retired a year ago. So this is definitely a lifestyle change, which has been wonderful. And I've had a long career in mental health as a psychiatric social worker and then a manager and also have a certification in mind body medicine. So I come from a place with a lot of education about health and wellness and, but yet found myself in a place where I really continue to struggle. And so that's when I, learned about you and the kind of practice that you had that ended up really meeting my needs. And so that's what brought me here. Well, thank you for sharing that. You know, what, one of the things that you share about with all of your amazing background and all of your knowledge and experiences, it's usually not that people don't know what to do or things like that. Actually when you came in and I know you said you're an open book, you were exercising all the time. You were eating healthy. This is, this is not a story of like, I didn't know what to do. Right. So. One thing I'm wondering is kind of, you know, you embarked on this journey and something that I've always been impressed with you is how, you kind of minimize it sometimes you're like, Oh, I only do 30 minutes of exercise a day. But, but you've really learned how to do the things, rotate what you're doing, really tweak it. Can you tell me, like, when did that even start for you? Like, how did you start to figure that out? Even if it was like well before my clinic. Yes. Well, I've always exercised. I actually grew up with a parents. Like my dad was a physical education teacher coach and my mom was a nurse. So health, my dad was jogging in the 60s before it was popular. So up around that atmosphere. And so I've always done spinning has been kind of my favorite thing to do. I bought a Peloton bike and do that on the regular. And so exercise has always been a part of my life, and my weight, though, has gone up and down, up and down over the years, no matter how much or how little exercise I do. And so that, that has become a part of my life, and it always has been. It just makes me feel really good and strong and, And if that answered your question, yeah, yeah, definitely. It's so basically it was already, it was always just kind of part of, of kind of being brought up with that. And I think it's interesting because I think a lot of who's going to be listening, I know me included, exercise was not intuitive to me, right? Like my parents tried to like, Hey, let's do more. Let's go on the bike in the basement and you know, stuff like that, but it just didn't. Feel intuitive. So it's good to hear. Look, you just always, there was always just joy with it. Cause I think that's achievable actually for people to, to not come at it from a place for weight, but just like I enjoy moving my body. What do you think has been the most helpful thing over the past year that sort of helped you on this, like this, this, let's just call it part two, kind of this, this next section of doing things. Well, the biggest change has been adding the addition of a semi glutide, you know, so that is completely changed my ability to, stop the food noise and not be hungry all the time. I mean, it just seems like, especially after menopause hit, I was, I was hungry constantly and no matter how much I ate or it just never seemed to be satisfied. So I would say that the biggest thing is the medicine. But again, your pillars and you probably, your audience already knows you well enough to know that, you know, the protein, the fiber, the stress management, the exercise, the movement and the sleep. And you know, those five things. I mean, if you have all those down, and obviously I personally with my metabolic issues, I needed the GLP 1 to kind of honestly make all those other things really be easy, not easy to do, but successful to do. Possibly, possible consistently, right? It's like you, it's not that you can't do this stuff, but sometimes like the, Being able to really consistently execute on some of it, right? Because I would say like when the physiology is off, it doesn't, it doesn't matter all the knowledge we have in our head. We can't overcome some of that, right? So, yeah. So that it's so funny because you mentioned like all these different areas, right? So this is something that I think I talked about a lot with you that people They make it sound like you're just going to get on a med. This is what I wanted to just talk to you more about. Like people think they're just going to get on a med and then they're like, it's just not happening for me. It's just, it's just not falling off. I'm not at 20 percent weight loss. And when I hear you, you worked on sleep, hydration, protein, fiber, stress management. There's so many areas there, right? It's like you've traveled at different times. You weren't like, and now we're just off for two, three weeks. Now we just don't do it. You continued. So was there an aspect where you feel it was a little bit more sustainable now? Like you could actually stick to these things. Like it wasn't like this, like diet for a week or two. Well, the biggest thing that you helped me understand is the role of protein and fiber. And so I, I knew about that. I even worked with a dietician. Of course, we talked about that, but I don't think I clicked till I got with you and a hundred grand, you know, I started off at a hundred grams of protein for me and 25 grams of fiber. And boy, I mean, that's a, that's a game changer. Because if you're, Working and focusing on the protein, then you're not so hungry so much for the cookies a little bit, you know, after the lunch, you had an amount of fiber and protein in your diet. So just getting, you know, I think I already, I always knew protein was good for you, but for some reason, when we started really having a plan put together and looking at numbers, I used to count calories for God knows how many years. You know, I remember when you came in and I was like, Okay, cool. But really what I care more about is, did the protein and the fiber make it in? Exactly. So, I do use MyNet Diary, which is one of those MyFitnessPal. things. And so what I did was, instead of took the calories off and put the protein and fiber on. And I did, I did, I just, tracked, you know, everything I ate. And I, as I've told you recently, I've just stopped doing that trying to, see how I can do it without tracking. Cause now I'm getting closer to a maintenance stage. But you know, I just tracked it so I could learn how much protein is in foods and fiber is in foods. So that kind of have that working automatic knowledge. I like that you bring that up. There is that learning period, there's like the visual ways, okay, the palm of your hand, 30 grams, things like that. But there is just a period of sometimes it's not about measuring and weighing for life, but just having an understanding, this is actually enough to fuel my body, right? Because otherwise I feel like it's, you know, Really hard to know. I mean, we use InBody, right? So like monthly we can see what's happening with body fat and, a skeletal muscle mass, but otherwise, I, there is this learning period. Have you liked the app that you're using? Like, what did you, did you ever use other ones before that? I may have used my fitness pal before, but I think I back in the calorie days, they had a good macros situation I was going for. So I ended up going. I like the scanner to me. That's the you have to have a scanner to scan your food. Yeah. Okay, perfect. So it makes life easy. Okay. Yeah. If you were talking to someone who they are like, they've been struggling, struggling, struggling, and they're trying on their own to do the diet, the exercise, all the things, what do you think was the thing that made you say, Hey, I want to try this a different way? Like what advice would you give them? You have to find a pattern of living that works for you, which is a big thing. You got to find the protein and fiber that works for you, that you are not going to throw up. I mean, like, I'm not a cantaloupe crutch girl. So, for example. Same. Oh my gosh, it's great. Yeah, you got to find the protein fiber that works for you and I've got some things I've done found there. You've got to find the exercise that works for you and it's like, you know, I love the Peloton, but better than that is I found a Facebook group run by a coach, a fitness coach. For free, she develops programs, and that's what I mostly follow, which, gives you a little schedule of, arms day, legs day, Pilates day, that I follow. So for me, it was bites of exercise. Five minute, 10 minute bites of exercise that equal up to 20 to 30 a day. And so to me, and again, the food plan that works for you, an exercise plan that works for you, and then you've got to figure out your time management. You know, I'm tired now, but I worked all those years and you have to figure out how to fit all of that in and prioritize it. And honestly, my philosophy on that is. I would get up at 530 in the morning and go to a spin class. I mean, and it's because I remember leaving that feeling. I felt so good. Yeah, you know, because I had the dopamine going, but I felt so good. It was one step towards the person I want to be, you know, that saying that one step towards vote for the person I want to be. So I just felt so good physically, but mentally too. Yeah, yeah. What are you, you know, what do you want to do to feel good every day? Oh, I love this. Okay. So it's finding the unique protein and fiber that works for you. I agree because everyone's different, right? So in the, I say, I give the example in our clinic, but I'm not like, you have to eat this. These are the types of things, what, like what I want you to work toward, but everyone is so different. If we said what everyone was eating, it's no one's on the same plan. And the, the figuring out, I like how you said this, this bites of exercise, like it's not too overwhelming. It's not like an hour that I have to do this thing. Right. But you're super consistent with it as the thing. I can't even think of times when you haven't done it. Right. So it's incredible. And the time management, I can't agree more with you because I have to say it really is a time commitment, right? Like I thought about today, I'm having a particularly long day and I had to get up at six to make the walk work. Right. Like, and I had to say to my husband, Hey, can you please, Handle our kid, right? Like, get into the school bus. I'm going to be over here doing this. Yeah, it's like really being like, this matters. I have to do this. Can you tell us, because everyone's going to want to know, what's the name of this group where you love it? Because they're going to want to know. She, first of all, You know, Peloton is a piece of the puzzle because the exercises she prescribes are in the Peloton group. So if you aren't into the bike, and this is, they have a lot more classes besides the spinning bike. They have Pilates, yoga, strength, meditation, barre, all that. And so, this person is group is called hardcore on the floor. Hardcore is one word on the floor. And actually, if you Google that, I just checked. You can Google it and she's gone off Facebook because not everyone wanted to be on Facebook. So you could go but Peloton you can join and just do the classes for 12. 99 a month. That's not a bad deal. So the Facebook group is free. Nicole asks for donations and I do because I appreciate it so much. It's been perfect for me. Yeah. So she offers a schedule. It's called the calendar and on the calendar, you know, Monday's leg day, Tuesday's arm day. And so, she prescribes 30 minutes of exercise, 10 minutes of core, 20 minutes of legs. On Monday, for example, and so each day is prescribed I tweak it for me to add spinning. And so I do Wednesdays and Saturdays spinning for me. But if you Google that you can get her calendar, you got to ask to join the group. And then if you join Peloton, then you can sync. The calendar with the classes, so they pop right up on your iPad. Oh, I love this. I actually found the website. So we're going to make sure to link this in the show notes. Cause I know when you've been telling me about this, I'm like, everyone loves different communities, right? So I'm like, if we can always provide the full breadth, like I love also that. That there's a free aspect, because everyone's always, oh, the money, the this, the that. I'm like, listen, if there's a will, there's a way. There's free YouTube videos. There's this group. There's, what do you like? How can we do it consistently? I love hearing that you like this. And so we're going to make sure to link this. And I look, it looks great. I'm like, it's kind of nice to have a calendar, right? Like just to kind of, Yeah, and I was thinking you could definitely get YouTube videos up of her, like her ideas, you know, 10 minutes of core, you could YouTube, the way she lays out the plan. So I mean, I suppose you do that, but it's, it's no, I don't have to think that's what I think I told you I'd get up in the morning. When I worked, I went straight downstairs. I didn't don't don't even think about it. Just go straight, straight downstairs and do it before work. I didn't eat. I drank water. Didn't do my coffee, and then afterwards I would do my coffee, protein coffee, and, the rest of my day. But, you know, that's how it worked for me. I was never an afternoon girl, after work exerciser. I tried, I did it sometimes, but I started being consistent just first thing in the morning. Now I'm retired, I have my coffee first, but that's a different situation. I love, I love that you bring this up. I'm the same way. It's like, if it's not happening by lunch or before, forget it. There's no more, steam in the tank by 9 at night. So I like that you bring that up. So, okay, so we've talked about kind of getting started. It's actually finding things where you're not repulsed by the food. You actually like how you're moving. And again, this takes time. I'm sure this all was not overnight that you knew exactly what you liked, right? What do you think, if you had to say with people, like, they're on the road, they think things are going slow, they're not really sure, gosh, what's up or down, you know, because everyone, I think, wants it to go really fast, and, like, your numbers were amazing monthly, but even you were like, well, I don't know, you know, like, you, you kind of lose it in the middle of the forest, right, and so how do you, what did you tell yourself when you're like, you just keep going, like, that's what I, my words that I'm using, but what, what's the kind of language that you think works for people, for you? I remember those days because all my counterparts were losing five pounds a week and I was losing, I've lost a pound a week, till January, I'd say half a year. I, yeah, where this all started. And then I've been like in the last few months, it's been half a pound, a week. So two pounds a month, roughly two to three. But it's been steady and it's been going down. So one thing I think it's going down. That's one thing I say to myself, it's going down. And I, you know, it's a journey. And as you really said, it's a lifestyle change. And, and I lifestyle change that I can keep up with even after, you know, at a maintenance stage. And it's, You got to find again, something that is realistic for you to keep up with. But, you know, the other thing I do is each day, you were mentioning on a, another podcast about, you know, why people exercise. And one of the things I think about is how I'll feel if I don't exercise. And so in the morning, you know, I get up and I might grumble for a second, but I always think of that post exercise feeling. And it's. I will feel really like, what if I don't exercise for two, three days in a row, how I'll feel, I'll feel like sick. I'll feel sluggish. I'll feel not strong. And so I, I always think about how I'm going to feel and know I'm going to feel good. If I do it, really carries me through. I love that you bring that up. Cause you know, what it makes me think of it's like, who, once you've, You know, if you, if you think about, okay, let's say three days from now, you've exercised three days in a row. Who's going to be like, you know what? I didn't want to do that. I regret doing that. No one said no one ever. Right. So my thing, it's like Dave Ramsey with debt payoff. He always talks about, look, if the house is paid off and you don't like the feeling of the grass under your feet, when you walk on it, you can always go back and get a mortgage. Right. It's just this thing of like, when you've done the work, you're, you're always grateful to have done it. Right. So I love that you bring that up. That I think is a really good tip because I find exercise to actually be one of the hardest things for people to get on board with, specifically strength training, but also just in general, getting into some type of practice, moving their body daily. So I really liked that thought of, look, how will I feel if I don't do it? What if it's a few days out? I always say like 10 minutes, 10 days, 10 years. And honestly, you'll feel amazing 10 minutes in, 10 days out, 10 years out, it just really compounds. So I got you bringing a lot of good stuff here. One thing I want, I was wondering if you would comment on, I know something we do differently as we use in body, so like we follow the skeletal muscle mass because I'm really concerned always about It's not just about shape shifting that the scale goes down. It's, I actually want you to, to be healthier. I want you to maintain all your good muscle for longevity, for flexibility, for, for metabolism, for all of it. Do you think that that changed at all using this, this time versus other times not, and just having regular. Oh my gosh, well, obviously, I'm sure everyone who knows you knows about the in body because it's something that you're so passionate about. And I so passionate, I got bought one. I finally broke down and bought one because I, this is a long journey for me. And it is, you know, I've just, Regular scales are so misleading. You know, my, some of my friends are, I lost, I gained three pounds. I said, did you, did you gain, you just weight lifted the day before, did you really gain three pounds of fat? No, you did. You probably did not. And so regular scales are so misleading. I mean, it's almost like the BMI, it's a tool that's moderately helpful. And so if you're on the journey, I mean, if you can at least go, I went to a local gym at first, and then I started saw what information you got. It was so helpful. And I'm 66 as you know, and so for me, obviously, as you age, apparently I'm a senior now. And as you age. You, you know, could lose muscle mass if you're not on top, really on top of it. Yeah. The norm is to lose muscle. So even to maintain is amazing, but let alone if you're losing weight, then it can accelerate that. Right. So, yeah. And I just had no idea. But I also, the little things like, you know, if you are a big weightlifting day, my weight will be up like through the week, it'll be up a little bit. And then I'm down three pounds, but you know, on a regular scale, but on the in body, it helps you understand that what's going on more accurately. I love that. I, I sometimes I get people that come into the clinic that are actually already at maintenance, but they lost weight really rapidly. They know they kind of decimated muscle. They can feel how they're weaker. So we actually need to gain muscle. And that's very triggering for people to see the scale go up. But when we have the in body, they see it was two pounds of muscle this past month, because we always associate weight going up as being bad, like we've been conditioned at equals fat, but how do you know if it's muscle and you actually want to go in that direction? So. Yeah. And for you, it was so encouraging to be like, look, all this stuff that you're doing, how much it matters, I mean, yes, you feel good after doing it, but it's also, it's data. Like this is something that's objective. If we have a lot of body dysmorphia or we can't trust the thought distortions that we have, it's something that we can actually grab hold of that can be quite helpful at times. Yeah, and the weightlifting, and the program, the way I do it, I'm honestly weightlifting 40 minutes a week. Yes! Maybe 30, because sometimes I don't do both legs. Yep. So, the rest is Pilates, yoga, spinning, right? Yeah. And so, think about it. Maybe Pilates, you get some strength, but anyway, you know, that's, that's amazing to maintain my skeletal muscle mass with 30 minutes, 40 minutes a week. This is, I'm glad you brought that up. This is what I think people always think. I'll tell you the flip side. So I always tell patients either 30 minutes once a week, 10 minutes, three times a week. Again, we see 99 percent of people, they're going to maintain their muscle, right? But, I'll have people come in that are doing like five hours a week and they think it's a hero move, right? They're like, look at how much I'm doing. And I see their muscle go down, go down, go down. They're too, so the word is catabolic, right? Like everything's breaking down with, with strength training, you actually have to rebuild it. And it's a tricky thing because we need to rebuild the muscle But we're still having you in a deficit. So you're losing weight. So how do you do that? You have to not be overly stressed. So exercise is a big stress on the body, right? So there's this actually like a fine line to it. When you're in maintenance now, you can crank up all the strength training and eat more and do all the things, right? Life can look different, but I don't think people realize sort of what stage they're at, what's needed. And then they get frustrated because they're like, I'm super hungry. The skeletal muscle mass is down. You, I was told this would be a good thing, but not when it's five hours a week For the typical person, let me just say that, like the typical person out there. Right. And all that time, my gosh, you know, I have a lot better. things to do with my time. I know. So I love that you bring that up because I think people don't realize if they, imagine if, if, if you're out there listening and you're not doing anything, imagine if you thought, Hey, can I do 30 minutes once a week? You will get places. You will. It sounds like nothing, but it really will lead to big things. So if you had to say kind of, maybe like your top two, three tips, and maybe it's some of the same of what you already said to kind of get going, but what do you think your top two, three tips would be for someone to either get going, stay on the road. what you've learned, what you think is valuable. What would you tell this person? Well, I front load my protein in the morning. I do a protein coffee. So, I've learned about devotions protein. And, so I'll do, a half a scoop of that with half a cup of fair life milk, which is a little higher protein milk, with 12 ounces of coffee. Sometimes I'll it up with skinny syrups, but, so that automatically gets me. Gets me going, with, with that, number one. And then I'll add my magnesium powder to that. That's always a helpful tip. That's 500 milligrams there. And, I'm a collagen fan for arthritis. It's helped me with arthritis. So I add that and that's some collagen protein. Again, that's a little different, but it's, it helps. For me. You, what brand do you like? I'm just asking because I know people are going to ask. I like the value, not value, be, vital proteins, the blue. The vital protein. Okay. Okay. Amazing. Yep. Yeah. Yep. And then I've been doing the micro ingredients, magnesium. Everyone has to do their thing on that, but that's what I happen to use. in the morning and then I have some more in the evening. I, I might 900 milligrams a day personally. Yep. Then, um, I, uh, play my New York times games and then I exercise. And my other tip is that I have a, um, electrolytes, water, I use ghost personally. I like ghost. And then I add optifiber to that. So that optifiber is I think four grams of fiber. You're having, I guess a tip is anytime you're having liquids, feel free to zhuzh it up and pick your fiber goals or your protein goals. I want to try that. Seek S E E Q. Yes, I tried it. I have several at home. So yes. Well, I'll tell you about that, but I just want to make sure I don't detract from your train of thought before I, yeah. So front loading the fiber and the protein, um, with those two drinks in the morning has helped me get like a start on my day so that I'm still, um, trying to get through the day, getting a hundred grams of protein and 25 grams of fiber and also hydration. And then, um, then I tried to eat protein and fiber with every meal if I can, if I can. Yeah. Oh, listen to all these things, right? I really like how you, thank you for walking us through this, how you kind of front load the protein. You're getting in all kinds of amazingness all over the place between collagen, magnesium, the the different fiber sources. It's funny that you mentioned the ghost electrolytes. I love them as well. They're so tart and tangy or I don't know, maybe I know there's different flavors that they have. I like the Sour Patch Kids one that they have, which one do you, what flavor do you normally like? I have the lemonade one. It's lemon. Lemonade. Okay, I need to try that. But there, yeah, I'm so surprised by that brand. You were mentioning Seek. I have actually tried several of theirs. They're very great. So it's a clear protein powder. It makes basically think a juice, right? So you blend it up. I've tried the blue one is good. I've tried the yellow lemonade. That's good. I think those are the two that I've tried. Here's the only down thing I'm going to say. And again, this is not the case for everyone. The taste is amazing. All the things I get massive heartburn with it. Now that's with doing one scoop. I have found I can do half and be okay, but I'm not sure what it is about this clear protein isolate that they're using, that I don't get that with other things. And to me, I think heartburn is a wretched symptom. So I personally like, I'm I know so many people love it and I'm not saying for everyone out there not to try it and I think you might actually really love it because a clear drink is nice right there's something really nice about it like just to get more stuff in. But for me personally it just long term didn't work out. Yeah, good to know. Yeah, so it, but this is so good I like I like all these things that you brought up. If you had to leave people with one, one thought one motivational comment, what do you think you would leave them with. Back to the exercise. Well, first of all, you have to really. You know, I mean, you got to kind of believe the facts. I actually have friends that are like, they just, Oh, do you need all that protein? I mean, it's, I can just tell you, I mean, I'm a textbook person. I have done it all ways but Sunday to lose weight. And this is working. This is working. Protein and fiber. First, we kind of got to drink the Kool Aid. And believe that it works. It does. It works. So number one, that. And then I think the other thing is finding the exercise routine that works for you. I mean, you've got to, and you know, if the things that I've mentioned aren't for you, I mean, if you're a walker, go for it. But whatever it is, it's just think about, What you will feel like if you do this every day, and then what you will feel like if you don't do this every day. Yeah. What's the outcome if in a week from now you've done nothing all week? And then what's the outcome a week from now if you've done a little bit every day? And you're gonna feel so good about yourself. And that's what's more important as the older, as you age. Yeah, you, you shared so much stuff today that is so why you, you said this little throwaway comment, you have to believe the data, right? And I'm like, Oh, you know, cause it's interesting when we talk about protein and fiber, it's actually quite simple, right? We're actually not like overly needing a list or this or that. It's literally like any place you are, any restaurant on any vacation, it's like, is there a protein and fiber on my plate? Period. Right? Like, it's not this like rocket science game of like food lists and weird things. And so you were saying the, the drinking the Kool Aid, believing it, the exercise that actually. That you can actually stick to. Cause I'll say for me, like, I'm a walker. Like, I love my hour walk a day. If I can get more, it's like a heavenly day. I'm like, yes girl, you did it, right? If I could find the time. And for me, like, I like Ally's app because it's in one place. Like, I, there's something about, I don't like searching different places for things. Like when I'm looking on this website, looks amazing. And I, I know a ton of people are going to love this to, for me personally, like I want to have it in one place and just click and be done and know someone else scheduled it for me. And, you know, so it's like, everyone has like their, what they like. And so I really love that. And then the, but the biggest thing you keep talking about too, this visualization of what are you going to feel like? In those days. And just going with that, it's, it's, it's powerful because it can stop you. I'm just going to share one story. I don't know if you ever heard on the podcast, but there was this moment, this was years ago when I first started working on, you know, emotional eating and stuff. This was before GLP ones were a bigger deal. And I remember when we were at the lake one day and. We had got these donuts for the kids and I had actually brought my food already prepared, right? Like I knew, okay, I want to get this protein fiber, whatever. And I want, I, I go there. My instinct is just to grab it and eat it. Right. I'm just like, okay, I'm going to do this. And then I said, well, how would you feel if tomorrow you hadn't done it? And it stopped me, right? It wasn't a hard thing to stop, but it was easy to be like, I don't want to feel bad after I eat this because you kind of don't feel the best necessarily with the doughnut unopposed, right? Like just on its own, you might not feel the best. And I, and I didn't eat it and then I was like, oh, but it was because I saw the next day that I would be grateful if I hadn't done that, right? And so I, you bringing this up several times, it's so incredibly powerful. So I really hope that people can hear that. And there's one more thing, and I think Dr. Allie talks about this, I know for sure, and you probably have too, is, you know, that real estate of your food, I mean, I eat chocolate most every day. So it's really enjoying what you eat. And I'm really kind of really paying attention to I really enjoy this, or I really don't enjoy this and eating what I enjoy. Maybe I want one really good cookie versus a diet cookie, for example. And so, um, I think that's really important to enjoy what you eat. And that way you'll maybe be a little more satisfied. And you're not dreading, Oh, I got to get through this protein. If you don't like the protein shake, don't eat it. You know, that's a hundred percent, a hundred percent. I love what you're saying. Yeah. Like the diet products often they've stripped to strip down the fat. It's like this artificial, they brought down fat, but they actually brought up carbs, so you're not satisfied after you eat it and all the things. And this is why I always say with devotion, it's the only flavor profiles that I could ever stick with years after year after year, because it's There were so many other products that I tried where it was like, I just don't like the taste and I'm not going to do gritty disgusting for life. I'm just not going to do it. Right. So I like what the, you actually have to like what you're eating. And also like, it's actually, if you think about it, it's never the problem a few pieces of chocolate, or if you like like one regular ball bounce, coca date, that's not the thing that's going to do people in. Right. Like it's consistently all the other things. So I love that you bring that up. So Meg, I just want to say thank you so much for coming on. You shared so many tips and tricks and perspectives and just thank you so much for sharing your knowledge today. Thanks for having me.