The Feed My Health Podcast
Welcome to the Feed My Health Podcast, where we redefine what it means to thrive as a modern woman over 30.
This is your space to explore sustainable health, balanced nutrition, mindset shifts, and habits that actually fit into real life—kids, careers, and all.
Hosted by Rosalind Tapper, a high-level coach and mentor for women ready to take the lead in their own lives, each episode is packed with expert insights, practical strategies, and inspiring stories to help you feel unstoppable💫
Whether you're navigating perimenopause, balancing family and work, or simply trying to find you again, this podcast will empower you to:
✨ Build a body and mindset you’re proud of
✨ Break free from yo-yo dieting and quick fixes
✨ Balance health with the joys of life, guilt-free
It's time to make yourself a priority without sacrificing what you love. Let's do this together. 💪
🎧 New episodes every week—tune in and take that first step to becoming the leading lady in your life!💫
The Feed My Health Podcast
DIANE: Fat Loss, Food Freedom, and Finding Yourself Again
Diane shares her inspiring journey from struggling with menopause, work stress, and poor body image to achieving remarkable physical and mental transformation with Feed my Health coaching.
• Joined Feed my Health in January 2024 after initially hesitating due to fear of failure
• Previously tried extreme measures like 600-calorie diets but never achieved sustainable results
• Now eats more food than ever before while continuing to lose weight
• Transformed her relationship with exercise from making daily excuses to walking 16,000+ steps daily
• Experiences significantly less pain through consistent movement
• Dropped from size 14-16 to size 10, weighing less than ever before as an adult
• Mental transformation as significant as physical – regained confidence and sense of self
• Improved sleep, energy levels, and intimate relationships
• Learned to fuel her body properly with balanced nutrition
• Believes "you have no idea what's possible" until you commit to the process
• Approach focuses on consistency and sustainable habits rather than quick fixes
• Now views her body with appreciation rather than criticism
If you're struggling with your health journey or feel like you've hit a wall, book a call to discuss how Feed my Health can help you achieve similar results: rosalindfeedmyhealth on Instagram.
If you'd like me and my team to help you improve your daily habits, to lose pounds every week, and keep them off forever...
Apply Here
Welcome everybody to a very special episode of the Feed my Health podcast with your host, rosalind Taffer, and today we are going to be listening to a recording of a recent client spotlight with one of our clients who's been with Feed my Health now since early 2024. We had our initial call together at the back end of 2023 and she became a Feed my Health client in the January of 2024, and in this episode, she is going to talk us through where she was before she joined, what initiated her having that call with me, why she didn't join which you might be surprised to hear why she didn't initially join, and then what was the turning point for her that saw her joining Feed my Health in the January of 2024?. This lady has gone on to lose an incredible amount of weight, eat an incredible amount of food, move her body in a way that she had never imagined she would, and achieve things that she never believed were possible. She was very much driven by a fear of failure and feeling like she needed to accept her body where it was at the time, and her transformation has been absolutely phenomenal, and so I want this episode to be a message to you that anything is possible and what you truly believe you are capable of. Right now, you've got no idea what you are actually capable of is so much more than you would ever believe, and I know that often you are waiting to feel more confident. You're waiting for the right time. You're waiting for the magic pill or the magic you know button to press to get you the body and lifestyle of your dreams.
Speaker 1:But, honestly, listen to her story, listen to her journey and just from this message I want you to take that you, too, are also capable of everything and more that she has spoken about. So I really, really hope you enjoy this episode and, of course, if you have any questions that you would like to ask, feel free to drop me a dm it's rosalindfeedmyhealth on instagram and, of course as well, please share this with somebody who you feel would benefit from it, somebody that potentially is struggling. Maybe they are struggling and they don't really show it, just as this wonderful guest explained in her conversation with me today. You could probably be doing somebody a massive, massive favour, if not changing their life. So, without further ado, please sit back and enjoy this episode. Can you give us a little bit of a brief intro of? I'm going to do a bit of a. What's what she called? Who what you called? Where you? Where'd you come from? Still a black. There we go.
Speaker 2:I still black on blind date. Yes, what's your name and where'd you come from? So I'm Diane, um. I'm from Cheshire, but I live in Devon, in North Devon, um, and I joined Feed my Health on the 1st of January 2024. You did?
Speaker 1:And I'm just completely contradicting what I did actually say about not well, pretending that I didn't know who you are and anything about you, and actually our first conversation together was the 13th of November. Oh, was it 2023.? Yes, yeah, yeah, I wasn't 2023?
Speaker 2:yes, yeah, yeah. So can you tell us a little bit about your relationship status, kids, that sort of thing? Yeah, okay, so, um, I'm, uh, 57. I have been with Jez for almost 18 years. I'm still waiting for him to pop the question. We have five children between us three are mine, two are his. They're all grown up. So the eldest is going to be 30 this year and one of mine got married last week you might have seen that and the youngest one is 23. So it's quite busy. Yeah, it's quite busy. I felt a bit like the Von Trapp family for a long time. Um, my job is I'm an education consultant. I don't work a lot. Um, I have quite a flexible diary.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, do you like to know anything else? I believe as well that when we first chatted you had just left a job, I want to say in a primary school or a school of some kind.
Speaker 2:Yes, I was an acting head teacher in a primary school, so kept it open during COVID and that was a contributing factor to me being at the place that I found myself in when I first spoke to you. Yeah, so I do. It's really hard, I think, looking back, because people say, oh, you know why did you start? What was the trigger? And it is really hard to pinpoint because I feel so different now, but I feel that I had a succession of stuff that life threw at me. So obviously we all went through the global pandemic. That was tough on everybody. My job changed I don't know if anybody else on the call is in education, but schools are a very different place.
Speaker 2:I was subjected to abuse, physical and verbal abuse from children, from parents who had to call the police sometimes because I was at risk, and then we had some family stuff going on as well. And then mother nature threw in the menopause. So I was just in a bit of a mess really. And then I spoke to you. I came off the phone afterwards, rose, do you remember? And I told you quite a long time afterwards that I just absolutely sobbed because I couldn't believe how honest I'd been. Same things that I hadn't verbalized to anybody, because I think I think on the surface I can come across as being very together and just putting on a really big front, making sure that everybody thinks I'm OK, but underneath I was a complete wreck and I was spiraling massively downhill, so it was just opening the can of worms.
Speaker 1:talking to you, really, I think and I think as well a lot of what you had said. I do find this quite a lot is that the thoughts that well, the things that you said out loud, we often think in our head. Sometimes we don't even realize until we say it out loud. But we don't often say things out loud to people, even to our closest people, and so sometimes just having a conversation with somebody can just bring out things in you that, oh actually, yeah, this is, you know, this is a problem or this is a struggle, or this is something to consider. And I do remember as well. Obviously you might want to share this, but when we had our initial conversation, you actually didn't join, and you joined later on, and I remember you saying that the reason why that was was because you felt like you hadn't hit your rock bottom at that point, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So, it's interesting to say that you came off that call and you were. You were upset, obviously, but how? How had things changed from that initial call to then deciding actually? Do you know what? It's time?
Speaker 2:I think, I think, as I, as I just said, it kind of opened a can of worms and once I started talking and being open to Jez about it, my other half, I just because he, he had no idea the sort of dark place that I was in really um, and we, we went to see a concert in Plymouth and we were driving to London the next day and I just started talking and once I started talking, I just couldn't shut up, um, and it just all came flooding out and he was like shit, I had no idea that you were in such a mess, because I'm very good at masking it, I think, as women we often are. Yeah, um, and I didn't want anybody to know, because I felt like I was failing. I felt like I should be able to fix myself. Um, I'm a problem solver, I like fixing things.
Speaker 2:Um, some might say I'm bossy. I think I'm very organized. Um, but I couldn't fix myself and that was driving me mad. Um, and I also felt that that this was my, my place now, that that was what life had dealt me and, because of my age and my hormonal situation, that that I just had to put up with it, that this is, this is how it was going to be, or that? Sorry, that was how it was going to be and I didn't like it. I didn't like myself, I was desperately unhappy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I definitely think a lot of us here could probably relate to that in some stretch. I certainly can relate to that. I'm feeling like you, like I'm very we're very similar, diane, in that we're both fixers and there's always a solution to every problem. And when it comes to yourself, I think sometimes you can't always see what's going on when you're yes, you're in your own head and you're in your own body. But I don't know if you've ever experienced this where you'll have a conversation with somebody and you'll hash it out with a friend and they'll have a completely different perspective on it or a different take on it, and you go ah yeah, I didn't see that and I couldn't do that.
Speaker 2:I couldn't see anybody else's perspective. I was massively defensive as well. I felt like everything was like everything was aimed to get at me. I would you know I'd retaliate. I was a nightmare to live with I was. I was not.
Speaker 1:Not good company at all and so, when we had our initial call, did you feel like, what, what was it? Did you still kind of feel like, oh, I should still be able to fix this?
Speaker 2:um, a little bit, I think I was still. I was still scared I was going to fail. I was still scared. I was thinking is this, is this going to be too much? Am I, am I not going to be able to do it? And am I, am I going to let people down? I've since now come to think actually, the only person that was going to fail was myself. Um, and that because I used to use this phrase, that, um, I felt like my body was letting me down because it was getting older.
Speaker 2:But actually it was me letting my body down, so I wasn't doing the right things at all um, so, so that fear of failure shouldn't have been linked to anybody else, because the only person I was going to fail was me?
Speaker 1:yeah, um what were you struggling with, would you say most from a physical perspective?
Speaker 2:I had no energy. I didn't sleep very well. I had pain because I was carrying too much weight, so I had all sorts of joint pain. I was unhappy. I didn't like the person in the mirror. I was a nightmare. If you tried to take a photo of me because I take have to have 60 million photos of the different angles, because I was really critical about people's ability or inability to take a photo. I now realize there was nothing wrong with anybody's photographing ability at all. I've not criticized any of the photos from Ollie's wedding last week. I absolutely love them. I think it looks fab. So yeah, so I had no energy. I would come up with every excuse in the book as to not do anything. We've got a dog, we live at the beach. I would wake up every morning with another excuse as to why I couldn't walk that morning.
Speaker 2:Um and I did have a lot of pain, but once I started with FMH, the more I moved the less pain I had, so it was just a you know, self-perpetuating problem really it's just having that confidence, isn't it to to do the thing?
Speaker 1:because I think I certainly believed that when I was really tired or achy or whatever, I needed to sit down and rest. And actually it's quite the opposite, and the more you do sit down and rest and indulge yourself in that, the worse it gets. Yeah, yeah, so the opposite, and the more you do sit down and rest and indulge yourself in that, the worse it gets yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So the opposite now is, if I feel like that now I just go for a walk, yeah, just go for another walk.
Speaker 1:Had you tried anything else prior or to?
Speaker 2:lose weight. Yeah, yeah, I had. So I, um, I've done a range of things really. Something that used to work really effectively for me is um sort of like keto type blood sugar diet. I would be um, I love that comment, hazel, I'm the queen of walking um, um. So the blood sugar diet I think they recommend that you do it for about six weeks on 800 calories. I, I, wanted to be even better than that, so I cut it to 600 calories and I'd do it for three months and I did used to lose shed loads of weight.
Speaker 2:I looked awful, I used to look really gaunt and I had every bug known to man. I was constantly ill, I couldn't sleep, I was jittery, I was cold, um, but my body did not look good at all. It just looked like somebody just sucked the life out of it, really. But interestingly, I never got to as light as I am now. So it felt like there was a. There was just a threshold and I could not, no matter how much. I kept cutting and cutting and cutting calories. I mean, you can't survive on 600 calories.
Speaker 1:It's rubbish no, it's very scary to think as well that there are still people doing that right now. It's very, very scary. Do you know what? Honestly, the more you talk, the more I think, jesus, we are literally the same person, because when I did the couch to 5k, I was like I'm not going to do it in three days. Over seven days a week, I'm going to do it every single day, and I did Fast tracking, yeah.
Speaker 2:Absolute mental. I had a little dabble with fasting as well. That didn't really work either. Nothing, nothing worked. It would work, it would work temporarily, yeah, but none of them were sustainable. None of them were a complete lifestyle. So it was going to be a fix, but what I found was that things that had worked previously like so many people say, it's worked when you're younger. It worked for a while, but it doesn't. It stops working, yeah, and I think when I was younger you know, know, sort of maybe in my 20s I could think okay, I'm going on holiday next week, I'll have three days of not eating bread and my tummy will be really flat for my holiday.
Speaker 1:It doesn't work when you're in your 50s do you ever think as well, though, that what we thought we looked like in our 20s probably wasn't as bad as we thought it was?
Speaker 2:oh god, I wish I'd known. I had no idea why on earth I thought those thighs were fat. Honest to god, it's ridiculous when I look at photos, and so now I just say to all young people you know, you're beautiful, you need to know how beautiful you are yeah, absolutely, yeah, completely if only, if only we'd known then it was yeah, crazy.
Speaker 1:So in terms of how you showed up in your day-to-day life. I know you touched on that already, but how did that affect your relationships and and just your general happiness and confidence?
Speaker 2:well, I wasn't happy. Um, I'd lost all my self-confidence. My self-esteem was really poor and I am quite a bubbly character. I'm probably more shy than people realise, but I love people, love socialising, but I'd lost all of my spark and I thought that that was the menopause and that was the way it was going to be. Um, I did not want um an intimate relationship at all because I didn't like my body. Um, so I would do everything in the the book to avoid that um, which obviously has a massive impact. Um, because I think at times probably we questioned whether our relationship was as solid as it is, just because I just wasn't interested, which is which is sad, really. Jez, now actually I won't actually say what he calls feed my health, but he's got a different definition of FMH and it's something my husband but um, um, because, because it's completely transformed our lives yeah, I've had a few of those comments already from other people.
Speaker 1:Um, it's quite interesting, but it's. It's such a massive part of life and it's it's actually not something that is talked about a lot and I think it's, um, it, it plays a massive role in how you show up as a person and your confidence. Just walking the streets, you know if you, if you go to bed and you're just like you know, hiding in the bathroom and you know all of that sort of stuff, it it really affects.
Speaker 2:It really affects you very, very negatively once you've got that confidence to kind of wander around wearing nothing or just in, you know, doing more progress photos, it's um it's great, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So when you did join, which was in the January, what? What was the thing that made you go right?
Speaker 2:okay, now's the time um, I think I just hit rock bottom. I just something just had to change. Um, I, I couldn't carry on the way that I was. I was doing um, um, I just didn't know what was going to happen to me if I carried on. I I was concerned that sort of going into older age, that my body would be not strong enough, that I'd be at risk of all sorts of different ailments. My mum, as you probably know, is almost 92. So you know, we've got really good genes, but I just thought I'm not playing my bit. So I've got to look after the body I've got really.
Speaker 2:And then, I think I mentioned earlier on, there'd been a few family things.
Speaker 2:And then, I guess, on the other thing, actually the previous summer we'd been away with a group of friends and it was brilliant because that group of friends hadn't seen me until this Christmas just gone and they could not believe when I walked in and that was fantastic. Um, over a year later, and Hazel witnessed my reaction to that, it was absolutely brilliant. But, um, we've been away with them and one of the guys is super fit, um, and he takes it upon himself to evaluate people's health and fitness, and they were always talking about other people and he was saying on this one holiday I'm going to have a word with this guy because, although he's not here with us now, I'm really concerned about him. He's really unfit, he's carrying too much weight. I'm going to take him aside and have a word. And I thought, oh my God, I'm going to be that next person. He's going to talk to me next, and I was so scared that he would take me aside and say, diane, you're really unhealthy.
Speaker 1:And he played a bigger part in that than I realized gosh, there's um, there's a saying that goes something like I don't want to butcher it now, but genetics loads the gun, but your lifestyle will pull the trigger, like that. Yeah, and I do think that we do lean on that a little bit in terms of, you know, genetics and things like that. I always used to blame my side of my mum's side of the family for the fact that I've got a big bum and I'm short, and I always felt like, well, you know, life's stacked against me because I'm small and all the rest of it, and it's so funny how we'll just play into that. But actually we get the opportunity to change the narrative for ourselves, and I think that's really powerful and you've, you've done that. So it's amazing.
Speaker 1:I just thought I was big boned yeah, yes, so we're going to go through the specifics of each kind of individual element of feed, my health, the exercise, things like that. But just as an overview, I want to just talk about life now. So we're just going to kind of fast forward a little bit now. How is your life now different from that person, to who you are now?
Speaker 2:So you struggle to stop me walking.
Speaker 2:So, I walk a lot. I don't know how many steps I've done today. Probably quite a lot About 16,000 today so far. I've not finished yet, so I walk at least two proper walks a day. As I said, I live at the beach. It's quite easy. Recently, when I was up in Cheshire a lot because my mum was ill, I was just walking constantly. That's how I manage my stress now and I get really jittery if I can't. It is just how I clear my head.
Speaker 2:So I love that'm obsessed with food. I eat more than I've ever eaten in my life. I have three to four meals a day. Previously I wouldn't have eaten anywhere near that. Yeah, I go to the gym, which I just still think is hilarious. Well, I don't go to the gym. I'm very lucky in that I have a space here at home, but I did a workout this afternoon and I was just chuckling to myself thinking I just can't believe that. I actually quite like this and as much as I do find it hard to sometimes rev myself up to go, I never, ever regret it and I never thought I would say that because gyms were not a place that I enjoyed at all. I feel more confident, I feel happier. My self-esteem is much better. I like myself now.
Speaker 1:I remember there's three things that come to my mind straight away from our initial call, which was I don't eat breakfast. No, I didn't. I'm a massive foodie and I hate exercise. You've done like quite a lot of um, was it hits. You've done some kind of hit and you've gotten an injury from that um and you'd gone like absolutely crazy in lockdown, if I remember rightly, so it's so funny nothing sort of person.
Speaker 2:I do everything, yeah to to death. So, yeah, yeah, did loads of hit, um, hurt myself, um, and I have been in the past. I've I've been really fit at certain times in my life. I've run three marathons, more half marathons than I can remember, but it just all took its toll because I would just go at it like a bull in a china shop and not ease into it. And Hazel will know that I am definitely an all in.
Speaker 1:So what do you think have been the biggest factors in your success so far?
Speaker 2:So why has it been successful? So, having you guys, I couldn't have achieved all that I've achieved without the backup of Feed my Health. Absolutely for certain I think it's. I thought I am a real foodie and I thought I already knew quite a lot about food, but I've learned loads and I love that. I love learning. So, for example, carbs and veg never made that connection before at all.
Speaker 2:I, you know, I was definitely thinking carbs are rice, baked potatoes, pasta, that thing. I was stuck in that mindset so I had to unlearn some of that stuff. So, yeah, sort of understanding the food and, I think, having information that comes forward just in enough sort of chunks that you can digest it. I wanted all the information at once because I just like to have everything and then I can work it all out myself. But I think it's good You're not hit with everything all at the same time, just eased in, quite gently, find your feet and then, just as you get to another point, the bar raises. Yeah, and I think why it's successful is because there's no fad, there's nothing restricted. It is just about those daily habits becoming your life, and I think that's why now I'm the way I am now, because I don't question it, it's just what I do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like that a lot. That's exactly what it should be like as well for definite what surprised you the most when you think about why you didn't join and then maybe your reservations whilst joining, because I'm sure there probably were still some. What surprised you the most? Um, that you thought was it maybe going to be challenging or?
Speaker 2:I don't know it was. So nobody said you can't eat this. But equally nobody said you've got to eat this. So it was. You know, you can have whatever you like, you've just got to factor it in. So that was queen of consistency.
Speaker 1:I'm going to read all these at the end, so, um, if you have questions, that was a bit of a because that was one of my things was is somebody going to say to me that this is what I've got to eat?
Speaker 2:um, when I've got to eat it, um, and because I'm a foodie and I like cooking, I was really worried. Worried that I wouldn't be able to sort of fit what was expected. But it was brilliant. So eat what you want to. Nothing was tabooed, nobody told me off.
Speaker 1:I haven't even started on you yet, Diane. I'm being kind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was just. Yeah, that was just mind blowing actually. The yeah, the fact I could just get on with it and it was all like it was all okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's. You know. I've heard that quite a few times before. I think people think they're going to come in and be chastised. You know if they haven't done the thing or you know, and I just don't. I just don't agree with that because at the end of the day, it's your body and it's your life and you know it's not like a swimming world thing where you go and somebody sort of frowns at you when you've gained a pound. You know it's. That's not reality. So yeah, I don't want to be wrong.
Speaker 2:At times I would. I would say you know, I want to know what to do. Tell me what to do. You know I'd want more guidance and more specifics, but I think I think that's really good, because the programme can be tailored to to whatever people need. So at times I wanted more information. I wanted maybe a bit more challenge or a bit more specific detail. Um, but it's not, it's not rammed at you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, yeah yeah, and I think that's that's really important, because obviously everybody's learning levels are very different, aren't they? Some people just want like one new piece of information every couple of weeks. Some people want to know you know why, why is this happening and exactly what I need to do. And and it's important that you kind of learn at your your rate. Otherwise you can feel completely bombarded or just feel like you don't really know why you're doing things and, and ultimately for me, I'm more motivated to do something if I know exactly how it's going to help me and benefit me yeah, I like the fact and I really like the science behind things yeah so I'm.
Speaker 2:I just really want to to know more really. I think the other thing that I was really scared about when I joined was that I did have a lot of pain. I had, um. I've got an ongoing hip injury, which I still have, but everything was just worked around um. So you know, exercises were adjusted, would try something. If it didn't work, there was always an alternative, whereas before I was using as a reason why I couldn't do anything. This showed me that I could.
Speaker 1:I might just have to adapt it yeah so that that was really good and in terms of being a foodie, then do you feel like, in fact, one thing I would love to know, because I think this is really key and really beneficial that you've been through the program, essentially through all the seasons now, the Christmases and the Easter's and everything. I think that a lot of people would think, oh my goodness, how do I navigate this, whilst, you know, still enjoying Easter with the family or going on holiday, and I know that you've gone through lots of situations how did you find that?
Speaker 2:so, um, I had a range of holidays. So I think within three months of joining, I went on a ski holiday. Oh, that was another thing. That was another reason why I wanted to join was because I was invited on this ski trip with the kids, the kids, um, and I was thinking I'm too old, I'm not strong enough, I'm going to hurt myself, um, I'm not fit enough. If I fall, I'm really going to damage myself. And so I thought then this would be a really good opportunity to be as strong as I possibly can. And, yeah, I had an absolutely amazing ski trip with them. It was just such luxury with a grown up family that they wanted to go on holiday with mum, um, and, yeah, it was just absolutely brilliant and I was strong enough.
Speaker 2:But I came back lighter, um, which was a complete head of mash, really, because I didn't take my scales. I did take my food scales with me, even though my coach might have advised me that wasn't necessary. I did. And I didn't take my body scales with me, because that would be crazy. But I came back assuming that I would have put lots of weight on and I hadn't, I'd actually dropped. And then since then, we do like holidays. So I've had a few holidays and I just try and make really sensible choices.
Speaker 2:So my phrase is that I control my controllables. So if I'm going out for dinner I'll think about what it is that I want to eat. I would plan my day ahead of that. So if I knew if we were home and I knew that I was going out in the evening, I would definitely check a menu at a restaurant. I would probably already choose what it is I wanted to eat and then I would work back from that and then tailor my day around it. But also I would be realistic about it and say, okay, well, you know, I might not hit all of my macros on those days, but I'll just make sure I've got my protein. Try and stay within my calorie count.
Speaker 1:And that's pretty much what I did on holiday, as it's probably not the best advice in the world, but one thing that I decided to do was pick one thing that was just. I just wasn't going to give that up, I wasn't going to compromise on it, and for me that was wine. At the time that was a glass of wine and so and again preface this by saying I'm not recommending this and I probably couldn't get away with it now, but I would factor that in first, and then I would build the rest of my day around that and it just meant that I had that thing. Still, I didn't feel restricted, or yeah, you know, and I think, realistically, we try to be too perfect with everything and I think that it doesn't exist. It doesn't exactly. That doesn't exist. Yeah, yeah, um, yeah, absolutely. I agree. What's your go-to breakfast now, from somebody that didn't eat breakfast before, so I absolutely love my breakfast.
Speaker 2:I wake up wanting my breakfast. Um, I do go for a walk first, have a cup of tea water and go for a walk and then I have my breakfast. So I tend to alternate, actually. So I struggle with fibre. I believe that from years and years and years of not eating, eating rubbish, eating 600 calories a day, um, I find it really hard to keep going to the loo regularly.
Speaker 2:So I'm sharing everything with everybody today, um, so, um, I have all bran and prunes with protein shake. Um, and then I alternate that every other day I have a really high protein breakfast, um, because obviously when I have an all-brand day, I need to pick up lots of protein elsewhere. Um, so those are the days when I probably have more than three chicken breasts. But, um, my alternate day, um, I have a 57 gram protein breakfast, which is protein, yogurt, protein powder, um, raspberries, blueberries, flax seeds had some prunes on there this morning and a bit of granola. So it's quite a big breakfast. I had that this morning and I've had a really, really busy day and it got to 3, 3, 15 and I still hadn't eaten lunch and I knew I had to eat lunch. Um, but back in the olden days, I wouldn't have had anything because I didn't have a hunger trigger, but I did um just because I know that I'm. I'm feeding, fueling my body. Yeah, but I was. I was so full it lasted for hours brilliant.
Speaker 1:So have has there been things that you've had to kind of unlearn?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, like the breakfast thing, yeah, um, the fact that my body does need fat, um, healthy fat. I was very much of the generation of an, of a low fat, no fat approach. Um, and then, um, you know, realized that my diet doesn't have enough fat in it. Um, I used to think that I could earn things, so I would, um, go for a? Um, not not in recent years, but I used to think, okay, well, I'll go for a run, and, and then, because I've run, then I can have something to eat or drink, or I'd think the next day, well, I can run, and then I can burn it off.
Speaker 1:So that idea of just a bit bonkers, really, I think, every single part, like put your hand up. If you had that mentality at some point in your life, that was literally my entire 20s.
Speaker 2:That was literally my entire 20s, yeah, and I used to think as well that I had to do cardio. I mean, I know I've heard you say this is you know? I used to think it had got to be cardio all the time. Um, and when I have done loads of cardio in the past, um, I might have been slimmer, but I never, ever had the physique that I've got now, and it makes you significantly more hungry as well.
Speaker 2:I found, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think one of the things about what did I unlearn was was that I had to eat a lot more, like a huge amount more. I mean, people can't believe how much I eat. I feel like I never stop eating.
Speaker 1:It's great, love it so let's talk about exercise, because, from one fellow exercise hater to another, for me strength training changed the game, because what I found was I needed to do a lot less. As long as it was considered progressive, tailored to me, I could do a hell of a lot less and get an amazing result, versus five classes a week of random circuits and boot camps and all the rest of it, and I looked exactly the same. So how has your relationship with exercise changed or developed?
Speaker 2:So I do, I do like it. Now, as I said earlier, I do sometimes think, oh, you know, I just don't know if I can be, I wonder if I can do it tomorrow, or you know, come up with all of those excuses. But I never regret going and I do feel bad if ever I change something. So you know, if something crops up and you just think, actually I can't do it today, it's going to have to move to tomorrow. I am naughty that in the past I have doubled up on things when I know that I can't do it. But that is for me.
Speaker 2:So rather than thinking I can't, I can't fit, for example, four workouts in this week, so to make sure I'd done them, I would, I would tag two together. It was a real rare thing. This is where you tell me off. It would be really, really unusual. But for me, psychologically it was much better to do that and it would just, it would just become a big whole body workout rather than doing I wouldn't do like two, two leg workouts on the same day. I wouldn't do that. Not that bad.
Speaker 1:I'll let you off then, thanks. What have been your biggest physical wins, would you say, because I know you came in with an injury, um, physically from exercise. What have been the biggest wins?
Speaker 2:um physically. So I'm much stronger. I know I'm much stronger um, stronger from from a, from a cardiovascular point of view, even though I don't do cardio stuff, um is just walking um constantly. So I do and I'm quite quick. I'm quick when I walk now um, and I'm definitely stronger just moving things around the house, around the garden shopping, um, I know, from a practical point of view, I'm definitely stronger just moving things around the house, around the garden shopping. I know, from a practical point of view, I'm much stronger in the gym. I know I'm much stronger. And then, physically, the difference is that I look different.
Speaker 1:I'm just, I'm just a completely different body yeah yeah and this here's a question, then, because I feel like, initially, when people have weight to lose, the emphasis on being strong for just day-to-day movement in later years is just not even a consideration. Did that? Did you consider that initially, or was it just something that was one of my?
Speaker 2:concerns. Yeah, and I said that I wanted to be the sort of best possible version of myself and the strongest possible version of myself, um, and I didn't feel so. I didn't want to be somebody who'd got to ask somebody else to carry things for me or, um, to undo things. I just wanted to be able to do it myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that that was definitely a factor less, of course, it's like a butler or a somebody like that. I'd be like that. I think, yeah, you can take it, it's fine. And in terms of mindset, because I feel like this is the number one challenge for people. I think most women are looking for the secret answer when it comes to nutrition and movement, but actually I know for a fact that mindset is everything and you have to believe that you're capable of achieving the result that you want to achieve. Um, how has your mindset changed from day one to where you are now?
Speaker 2:I think it's that I believe in myself. Now, um, I I didn't. I just doubted myself. I didn't think that I'd got the the capacity to do what I and I didn't know what I was capable of and I know that was one of the things that you'd said right at the beginning was you have no idea what's possible. And, oh my goodness, is that right? That is just absolute. The gem of it is I had no idea, and that's what I say to people now is you have no idea what's possible, because by doing the right combination of movement and food and exercise, it's just phenomenal. So what was your original question? I'm rambling now.
Speaker 1:Mindset. How did it change?
Speaker 2:So I think, yeah, my, it's funny because I say to people now how I had a shift of mindset. So I feel very different emotionally, like my own mental health is is massively, massively improved. Nobody at feed my health really directly addressed that, but it happens as a result of everything else. So it isn't like okay, we're going to sit down this week and we're going to work on your mental health. It's not that it just happens. It evolves over time and I think the more that you are working on your own body and your own health, you're also, at the same time, you know your, your brain and your mind is just is just thinking something different about yourself, and that's really powerful.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because I do feel like my head is in a much better place. I don't react to things the same. I pause. I don't think people are getting at me, I can just sort of reflect. I'm just much more I don't know like zen about things. I'm just more chilled, I'm nicer. I, I'm much nicer person. I love that even though I say it myself, but it's, but it is a fact.
Speaker 1:You do like. I can see that in myself. I can see that in so many other other ladies. You know that we've got ladies that have gone for jobs, that they have spent years thinking that they weren't good enough to have. Yeah, and I think you, you said it perfectly. Like with the confidence side of things, you don't sit there and go right. Today I'm going to work on my confidence. You know, confidence comes as a result of you taking action on something you know. So as soon as you just take that first initial step, the confidence starts going like every single person will have joined and in that first week they'll feel in control and that will give you confidence and it just is a snowball effect and you just have that spring in your step because you know, you know you're doing the best thing and you know you're looking better, and so it just yeah, it's just, it just keeps some feeding into the whole thing.
Speaker 2:Really, um, I think I, I am a very driven person. Um, I'm I'm very stubborn if I put my mind to something I want to do. It is why I didn't want to start, because I didn't want to fail. So if I, if I want to do something, I want to succeed in it. So I yeah, I was consistent. My mindset was that once I started, I wanted to see what I could do. I didn't tell anybody. I was doing it, though, for quite a while, until people started to notice what was going on. And then I noticed that when I told people what I was doing, they would just say, oh, I can't do that, I couldn't do that, I'm not strong enough to do that. Say, oh, I can't do that, I couldn't do that, I'm not strong enough to do that, which initially, I found frustrating. But now I just think they're just not ready. They're not ready because actually it's, it's actually, it's actually quite straightforward.
Speaker 1:If you put your mind to it, it's really quite straightforward and it works and do you believe, then, that the people that say they aren't ready, do you think it's because they were potentially a bit like you at the beginning, where you hadn't hit rock bottom?
Speaker 2:or people want a quick fix. Yeah, they want a quick fix. Um, and I think I did as well. When I came into the program, I was thinking, oh, this is going to be too slow. I don't want to lose half a pound a week. I want to lose six pounds in the first week. And you know, that's that's what I'm used to doing when I do these ridiculous crash fatty diets, and I think a lot of people just want a quick fix. They want you to say, oh yeah, I took this pill or maybe had an injection. To say, oh yeah, I took this pill or maybe had an injection. Um, and, and that's how I've done it, when they realize that you've worked hard and you're making changes to your lifestyle, they're not always as keen. No, keep flying flag, though.
Speaker 1:I, um, I came across a before and after, one of my very first before and afters that, crazily, I dared to post on Facebook back in the day. Yeah, yeah and um. The comments were oh my god, have you done that? Oh my god, I need to know what you did. And when I put like, oh, I just, you know, watch what I ate and I exercise they were like forget that it's funny, isn't it?
Speaker 2:because for years, you know, we bought into things like banana diets, pineapple diets, eating this random stuff. But when you say, eat really well, eat loads of food, healthy, but people don't want to do it, they'd rather do some random nonsense.
Speaker 1:Do you think that that's because, deep down, they care more about their look versus their health?
Speaker 2:no, I think I'm a bit cynical. Really, I think it's that they're stuck in that risk of failure trap that I was in they've already. They've already said that I won't be able to do that. Yeah, I decided, they've decided already. Yeah, and I think it's a great shame, but I now I just think, okay, they're not ready. Um, yeah, and that's okay yeah, that's okay.
Speaker 1:So can you give us an idea of what a typical day looks like for you?
Speaker 2:yeah, my alarm goes off at half past six. I'm very spoiled. A cup of tea will be by my bed.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, does everybody want to leave the call now.
Speaker 2:Have a cup of tea, and then you know, cup of tea, glass of water. Go straight for a walk down to the beach, have another cup of tea on the way to the beach actually, in the car I make that one, though and then get back from the walk. Sometimes I'll go straight into the gym. If I'm not going into the gym, I'll have my breakfast. Do some admin do my little, scroll through my social media, catch up on messages and whatnot. Some days I'll be working, some days I'm not. Always lunch usually post a picture of my lunch because I'm proud of my lunches. And another evening walk before we eat in the evening. Yeah, good sleep routine.
Speaker 1:That's been key as well, actually yeah got a really good sleep routine, yeah, although your son's wedding does interfere with that yeah, yeah, yeah, but you get back on track and it doesn't happen every day, right?
Speaker 2:Thank God.
Speaker 1:So what's kind of one piece of advice you would give somebody on this journey, like what's the one golden nugget of advice?
Speaker 2:you would give. I would think it would come back to that idea of believe in yourself, because you don't know what's possible. I'm absolute proof of that. I had no idea I'm not perfect, I don't look perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I am absolutely gobsmacked. What I've achieved, um, I've never, ever, looked like this um, certainly as an adult anyway, and I've not been as small as this as an adult ever.
Speaker 2:And something that I've learned this year was probably fueled a little bit by my daughter, who's 27 um, and that is that when we look in the mirror, I think as women, we are very, very guilty of thinking I don't like that bit. If we've had children, we think that's what children did to my body. You know, that bit there is like that because I've had babies. Or I don't like that bit because I've inherited a big bum or big bones or whatever. And actually I think we need to look in the mirror and just think, bloody hell, my body is incredible, it's got me to this point in my life and I'm still here.
Speaker 2:And for those of us who are parents or have an inherent, inherited big bum, you need to be proud of it and just think that that's what I've been given and I think that's where it stems from to love yourself first is that there's that saying isn't that you can't be loved by anybody unless you love yourself? And it sounds a little bit trite, but actually I think that as women, we really, really beat ourselves up and we're really, really critical. We're probably our worst critics and I think trying to look in the mirror and think, do you know something? That's all right, that's right might not be perfect, and if you're on the FMH journey, it's probably a damn sight better than it was before you started. So learning to love what's there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you're so right about. We are the most critical because I think, just going back to the initial conversation about relationships and being intimate and things like that I remember when I had my first child and having this I don't know if anybody's ever experienced this, but you lie down in the hospital bed and you look down, you go, oh, it's not that bad. And then you stand up and it all just kind of goes south and I remember being incredibly self-conscious about it because I was early 20s, so all of my peers didn't look anything like me. They were all still very, you know, snapped up and ready to go and I was just, yeah, and I remember Mark saying to me something along the lines of it's, it's absolutely amazing, this is the house that you're that the baby grew in.
Speaker 2:And I just remember thinking Jesus, like, listen to how I speak about myself and listen to how you speak about me but you know, I think, even even my friends who, who haven't had children, they are still so critical, yeah, of their, of their, of their bodies. And I just think it's such a shame, because I think I think women are fab. I definitely wouldn't want a man's body, um, I just wouldn't. But I just think you know, but I just think you know, women are just lovely, lovely people, and yet we just criticise everything about ourselves. If you look at the Italians and the Spanish and the Brazilian, they don't, they just kind of like suss about with it and they're proud of it. Why aren't we so? I'm on a bit of a mission on that one at the minute. That's a very good question.
Speaker 1:What's been proudest moment for you, would you say, on this journey?
Speaker 2:oh, probably standing in front of that camera, I'd reckon um so proudest moment um photo shoot. Yeah, I mean that that was an incredible thing to do. Um, I was really proud. I was really proud when I saw the photos. Um, I was really proud when Jez saw the photos and just did a complete double take, even though he lived with me. Um, you know, it was that, that whole thing of the, the tan and the poses. Yeah, um, I'm really proud when I get people's reaction who haven't seen me for a long time. Um, so, ollie's wedding last week, that was great. Um, that was really lovely because there were people that haven't seen me for a long time. Um, that's great. Um, how proud the kids are of me. Um, jez is my biggest, my biggest fan. Um, so that makes me proud too.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, lots to be proud of there's quite a lot actually yeah yeah, yeah and I've got one final question, and then if any of you guys have questions it can be absolutely anything, as long as diane's okay with it just pop it in the chat box and I'll read through them. Um, what does obviously I? I think I think I asked you this question way back when, but if I didn't, I apologize. I'm gonna ask you now what does feeding your health mean to you now?
Speaker 1:well, I don't think you ever have asked me that.
Speaker 2:So Feed my Health. For me is fueling my body to optimise its capability. It's making sure that I'm addressing every aspect of my life. So I'm active, I drink gallons of water. I never used to drink water either. Loads of water prioritize sleep. I just look at it from every different angle. So, from movement, from food, from sleep, from rest, having balance, um, making sure, um, yeah, that everything is, um is in place. Really, it's not just one thing, it's everything, it's a lifestyle amazing.
Speaker 1:Thank you for that so let's have a look at. Uh. So hazel said queen of consistency even went away. I would agree. I remember that first ski trip and you were like, like you were on it still, weren't you? Yeah?
Speaker 2:absolutely, and it just goes to show that you can go on holiday and still stick to things. And I didn't feel deprived. I've never, ever felt deprived in the whole time. I've never, um, I've never felt deprived. I've never missed out. Yeah, and I do have, I think. I think your rule is, if it's, if it's not a seven out of ten, it doesn't go on your plate. Um, I'm much more strict. Mine is a nine out of ten.
Speaker 1:Um, if it's not nine, I'm not having it yeah, yeah, one of the biggest challenges I find with that is that if you put something on your plate, they it's the whole. Well, people think that they still have to eat it just because they put it on their plate. But if you eat something and then you don't like it, that's almost a more more challenging to then leave it on your plate, because I was always brought up to eat everything and that's been one of the biggest. It's actually very empowering. If you haven't tried that before I had I would absolutely advise everybody. Try it. It feels incredibly empowering. Yeah, let's have a look at some of the questions. So, ange, you are, and continue to be, an inspiration to me as I go along on this journey. That's nice. Louise, you are an inspiration. If you don't mind me asking, what phase of female health are you in? If you are maintaining? How did you know when you'd reach that target?
Speaker 2:I think I'm playing with maintenance that's what I would say is that life recently has thrown a lot of other stuff at me and so, although I didn't consciously say, okay, this is the point, it has been just stuff going on. So I I do know that I can eat and drink an awful lot more calories and I'm just staying the same. Um, I'm absolutely staying the same. Um, moving forwards. Um, I'm assuming that life is going to calm down shortly. Um, I'm just toying with, with what I'd like to do. There are some bits about me that I'm thinking, oh, actually I might like to to change those a little bit. Um, I don't want to say too much because somebody might change a program for me or something, but um, I, yeah, I'm just, I'm just toying with where I want to go next. Really, I feel like I've got the lifestyle sorted. I know what I'm just. I'm just toying with where I want to go next. Really, I feel like I've got the lifestyle sorted. I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 2:I do track. I don't track all the time anymore, which is a massive, massive leap forward, and I'm sure that Hazel is amazed at that is that I don't. I don't religiously track anymore, but I can now post track and look back at the day and I will have been absolutely spot on. So I just know. I know by looking at what I'm eating whether it's right, the right amounts of things, so I can gauge it really well. And actually I know by how I feel. I know by how my tummy feels, I know how much energy I've got, I know if I'm on target or not. So I don't really know what phase I'm in.
Speaker 1:You're still in the fat loss phase, aren't you? But we've obviously had a bit of a what I like to call like a push-pull phase. Yeah, we've kind of pulled back a little bit with regards to, like, what's been going on with your mom and obviously, the wedding and stuff like that. But I know we've got specific. I've made so many notes, by the way, while you've been chatting about, right, we're going to change this. We're going to do that. Excellent, so just wait till your next check-in. Um, so yeah, you are still very much in the fat loss phase, but, um, yeah, we've been sort of we've pulled back a little, haven't we?
Speaker 1:um, and the last few weeks, and what does a typical day's eating look?
Speaker 2:like for you now? Oh, who's asked that, ange? What does my eating look like? So, breakfast, big on breakfast. As I've said, my go-to lunches I love thing. I do love salad. I my go-to lunches, I love thing. I do love salad, I love salads. But it depends really whether it's a bran flake day or a protein yogurt type day, because I have to. Obviously, bran flakes and prunes is quite high on carbs, so that will knock out a lot of my carbs for the day. So, depending on that which breakfast day is will, I'll tailor my day around it.
Speaker 2:Um, I always work out what we're having for dinner, um, and I pre-plan the whole week. I know exactly what we're having for dinner for the rest of the week and then I will work back from dinner um, and so if, for example, um, I think on friday, um having chili, I will want some rice with it, so that won't be a bran flake morning because I will run out of carbs for the evening. So I'll have my protein yogurt breakfast on Friday. I'm quite obsessive about things like this um, um lunches, um, um eat loads of chicken, loads of smoked salmon, eggs, um, so omelette, um, avocados, probably everything that all you lot are eating loads of chicken, loads of fish, yeah, just really nice, tasty food, and I do all the cooking, so I know exactly what I'm having. Yeah, does that answer your question, ant?
Speaker 1:I've just thought of something that I haven't actually asked you, which is the specifics. What's that? So what results have you specifically achieved physically, mentally, all of that sort of?
Speaker 2:stuff. So mentally I feel like I've got me back. The real Diane is back in the room, so my confidence is just I'm just back. Um, and other people would agree with that. They would say that I'm more like the old version of myself, but probably a better version now, certainly a healthier and fitter and stronger version.
Speaker 2:Um, regards scales, is that what you want to know? Yeah, dress size anything. Yeah, so, um, so, for dress size, I would have said I was a 14. I definitely wasn't um. Last the year, before 23, I'd bought um menopausal size 14s, which were 16s, but actually they weren't very comfy, but I definitely wouldn't go up, I wouldn't have bought a higher size, but now I do have some size 18s. That was a massive thing. That was a really proud moment actually. Yeah, and I have got this strange thing going on, whereas I go into the shop and I just take bigger clothes into the changing rooms and they don't fit, and so I have to keep going out and getting others, because I still can't quite get my head around the fact that I am a size 10, because I've never been.
Speaker 1:I've never been that's a really common challenge. There's another lady I won't I won't name names but there's another lady who does exactly the same thing. It's like a body dysmorphia, but the opposite way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, although you know, I think I did have body dysmorphia because I didn't realize how large I was. I used to think that because I'm tall, I'm five foot ten. I used to think I, because I'm tall, I'm 5'10". I used to think I could carry it off. And now I look at photos and think, oh my God, how did I not know? How did I not know that I looked like that. I just got used to the person in the mirror. But yeah, and the other thing I will just say is this now I'm the lightest female in the family, which is a bit mind blowing really, but I love it.
Speaker 2:Louise has asked is there anything that you miss Having a wardrobe that actually fits me? Because now nothing fits me. But I'm currently 173 pounds up on vintage. In the last three days, I'm now selling all of my things so that I can have a new summer wardrobe, um, so my clothes that fit are quite limited, because I didn't want to buy lots of things when I was on the way down, um, so I've just bought a couple of things, um, but I do need some new clothes now. Do I miss anything? No, no, I don't. I don't miss anything, because I have everything I want with bells on, really, because I eat a lot more than I used to. That's really good.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. Well, thank you so much Pleasure. It's been lovely to chat and see how things are going and share your story with everybody. Has that helped everyone that's been listening? Yeah, anything else you want to know?
Speaker 2:No, I just want to say brilliant. Well done, diane. That was great, oh great, oh. Thanks, hazel, you are amazing. You are instrumental in lots of it, so thank you. Oh, you were a joy, so it's all good amazing.
Speaker 1:Well, I will. I'll let you all get on with your evenings, but yeah, thank you so so much for that, diane. I will share that obviously, with the other ladies as well, because I think you know, sometimes you know as much as we want this new goal and we want to pursue this new healthy us. It's not always easy day to day. Even if you are eating the food you love and you know you are doing things for the better of yourself, it can be difficult sometimes to just kind of remember your why, um, and I think sometimes just hearing somebody else's story can just give you a little bit of a boost. So I really do appreciate you taking the time to chat to us tonight.
Speaker 2:Look back on the progress photos as well. That was the other thing. If ever you're unsure as to how you're progressing is just compare it back. And if you're an Instagram user, just go onto your story and do a side by side and then save it. Don't post it. Whatever you do, don't post it unless you want to, um, but just do a comparison and then zoom in and match them, um, and it's. Yeah, you can do the side by side on the app you know, no, I'm no.
Speaker 2:I mean so that you can actually sort of like stretch it and do it, so that you can kind of put your old back next to your new back and okay, I see what you mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, get very granular about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, but it was because you do get used to how you're looking and then when you look back, you can't believe that that's how you used to look. But you, I think, I think, I mean, it filled me with horror the idea of standing in my bra and pants, um, um, and now the fact it's all over social media just makes me laugh. Now, but, um, um, I don't care. Um. So yeah, I think progress photos are just brilliant. I would never have dreamt that they were a good thing to do, but they really, really were.
Speaker 1:I'm I'm excited, actually, for the moment that I don't want to say this, I feel like I'm going to frighten you off. But the moment when you weigh significantly more than you weigh now, yeah, but you look the same, but if not better, yeah, that would be good. That's when you would be in the second phase, that's what the mastery?
Speaker 1:one. Yes, yeah, that's when things get good. I'll join you all here in a year, yeah, so. So diane is proof. Right, she came in. She didn't think she was capable. She didn't join. She had fear of failure, much like many of us have experienced, probably still do experience, a lot of the time still, and diane is proof that every single one of you can achieve the same. So if you ever have a moment where you're like this is really hard, I just want to drink a bottle of wine and eat a bag of doritos, like that's fine, because, remember, you've always got support and it's just a drop in the ocean. We've all been there.
Speaker 2:But you are capable, and you are all capable of so much more than you believe, I promise you and if you drink the bottle of wine and eat the whole bag of doritos, just get up the next morning and get back on the horse and just do it, don't beat yourself up. Yes, exactly, you're not gonna put all of your weight back on with one bottle of wine and a bag of doritos.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you will not right, well, right, well, have a lovely rest of your night, of what's left of it, and I'll catch you all tomorrow. Brilliant Thanks, bye and see you guys. Bye, nice to see you, bye.