Ep. 85 What My 20-Year-Old Son Taught Me About Fat Loss, Discipline, and Nutrition

In this episode of The Balanced Hormone Solution Podcast, Tracy welcomes a very special guest: her son, Riley, a college student studying exercise science and nutrition.

Riley shares his personal transformation story — how he went from feeling uncomfortable in his body after the typical college weight gain to losing over 30 pounds, dramatically lowering his body fat, and building a lifestyle around consistent nutrition habits.

This conversation is a reminder that while every body is different, the fundamentals still matter: track, measure, stay consistent, eat enough protein, prioritize whole foods, and trust the process.

In this episode, Tracy and Riley discuss:

• Riley’s motivation to take his health seriously
• What he changed first with his nutrition
• Why tracking food creates awareness and structure
• The hidden calories in oils, sauces, peanut butter, and restaurant meals
• Why “healthy foods” can still stall progress if portions aren’t measured
• The importance of protein for satiety, muscle, recovery, and metabolism
• How to handle social situations, eating out, and meals away from home
• Why consistency matters more than perfection
• What to do when the scale isn’t moving yet
• How discipline with food can spill into every area of life
• Why your body needs to feel safe, nourished, and supported to release weight

Riley’s story is proof that transformation doesn’t require a secret supplement, a special metabolism, or trendy diet hacks. It comes from simple habits repeated consistently over time.

If you’ve felt frustrated by diets that didn’t work, this episode will encourage you to get back to the basics — and believe that change is possible for you too.

Transcript

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Speaker 0:09

Welcome to the Balance Hormone Solution podcast. If you're a woman 35 plus feeling exhausted, struggling to lose weight, and wondering where your libido went, this is for you. I am Tracy Aaron, a functional medicine practitioner who helps women balance their hormones naturally without prescriptions, guesswork, or trendy nonsense. 'Cause here's the truth: your symptoms aren't random. They're signals, and if you know how to listen, you can fix the root cause and start feeling like yourself again. If you're ready for real solutions, let's get to it.

0:49

Welcome back to the Balanced Hormone Solution podcast. Today, I have a very special guest. If you have been a longtime listener, then you have heard from him before. It is my firstborn son, Riley. Here he is. Welcome to the show, Riley. Hey, guys. Riley's been home for the summer and we have, uh, enjoyed all kinds of food adventures and family time, and I cannot wait for this episode today. I want to, uh, interview him, and, uh, the reason why I think this is really appropriate for my audience even though he is a male, definitely not 35 plus, and will never encounter something like perimenopause- um, he is studying exercise science and nutrition, and he has learned quite a bit that I think is useful for my audience. But beyond that, he has undergone his own personal transformation this year, starting earlier this year, where he had asked myself for some nutrition advice, and, uh, I kinda got him started on that road, and he took it and became his own expert and had a massive body transformation and which he's going to tell us about. And, uh- He now has become my own coach. So it's been a fun little turning of the tables. But why, why have him, just a college student, you know, he's only 20, almost 21, to talk about this? Well, he's, he's not a guru and he's not selling anything. He's just a college kid who decided to take his health seriously. He tracked everything. He cr- decided on his goals. He stayed consistent. He lost over 30 pounds this year and got down to around 8% of body fat. If you know what that looks like, that's very, very impressive. People don't do that by accident. There's just no way. So what I love about having him here is that he is the proof of the same principles that I teach in The Balanced Hormone Solution, in the program that I run with all of my clients. It's just applied in a different body. But the beauty of this is that the fundamentals don't really change. We measure, we track, we stay consistent, we trust the process. So he's gonna share what he's learned in the trenches, not from a textbook or his professors, but from doing it every single day for months, and I can't wait to hear, uh, him share his story with you. So Riley, why don't we start at the beginning? Like, tell us where you started. Like, what were you eating before? How did you feel? Um, what made you decide to change? Most college students aren't really interested in eating properly. They're scavenging dorm rooms and bottoms of pantries at their friends' houses. Like, how... What made, motivated you to jump into this? Well, um, I th- that's a really good question. I would f- first say that I, I've kind of always had a, a backing in fitness, playing sports, and, um, personal fitness goals are something that's just been a part of my life for a very long time. So I've always had a little bit of a baseline. Um, and it was about end or middle of sophomore year, after two years in college, and everyone knows about the freshman 15 and just gaining some weight, and that's kind of part of it, and I definitely went through that. But I remember around Christmas time, halfway through my sophomore year, I, um, just felt horrible. I looked horrible. I was really uncontent with how I was feeling, how I was looking, and I thought to myself, "Shoot, why don't I just, like, get in shape for spring break?" And that's what I kinda told myself. So called up my mom. Um, "Hey, make me some macros. I kinda wanna get in shape." And it got me interested, and, um, I started off very, very simple, just eating yogurt all the time and eating four eggs instead of 10 kind of thing. Just, uh, minimizing my portions and, and eating healthy, whole foods that I already did enjoy, but I, I didn't really know much more about it than that. And then I went on spring break, ate everything that you do on spring break, and came back and was like, "Shoot," like, "I wanna take this farther than just spring break." Like I felt so good, and I did not feel good when I was eating the tacos and all the, uh, crap that you do have on spring break. So I was like, "Shoot, let's, let's keep going on this." Like I, I felt the best I ever felt on that. Um, and it's easy. As a college student, I can-- When I buy my own groceries, it's the things that I need to buy. So, um, I just started to make it a, a lifestyle, and I, I've always been into food. I love cooking amazing food, and it was an outlet for me to have some guidelines about around what I was eating and, um, I just kinda started from there. Okay. So, and you kind of touched on this a little bit, but like think back to those first few weeks. What did they look like for you? Like tell me especially what surprised you. You know, what... Was it hard to make that change in the first few weeks? Uh, definitely. I think it was just surprising the things that I would use without even thinking about it. Example, like peanut butter. Peanut butter is a, a, an amazing fat source, and it's, uh, it, it's quite healthy for you actually. But there's a difference between two tablespoons of peanut butter and five tablespoons of peanut butter. And when you're just kinda living life, you kinda just throw a dollop on there or two dollops, and then suddenly that's a lot more than you originally intended. Or when you're cooking a meal with oil or butter, it's y- you just use a lot naturally. So, uh, I... Definitely surprising the amount of oils and, and sauces too, just like a Chick-fil-A sauce or, um, a barbecue sauce or stuff like that, that, that has just so much added sugar. Um, just kinda cutting that out and realizing, wow, like that's actually a lot of calories that I didn't even think about. Um, and now I wouldn't even look back at that. Okay. So think, so that was what? Eight months ago or so. Like describe what a typical day looks like for you now. Uh, now a typical day is I wake up, I try to get some sun, um, get the circadian rhythm going. I like to eat a little pre-workout kind of meal, some carbs, maybe a little bit of protein. Um, go to the gym, come back, have a little post-workout meal, some carbs, more protein, and then two more meals structured with a, a protein, a fat, and a carb. Um, pretty moderate. I try to get around 180 to 190 grams of protein a day. Which is what? One gram per pound of body fat for you? E- exactly. I mean, not body fat, body weight. Yes. Okay. Body weight or even just body goal. Yeah. And doing that, having around 60, 50, 60 grams of, uh, fats and around 150 to 200 grams of carbs, so. Yeah, and you tracked this entire time? Yes. Every single bite that went into your mouth? Every single bite. And- And I was made fun of, but I was definitely given a hard time at the, at the start, but y- you just stay persistent, and now, you know, it's really done me well, and I'm very, I'm very thankful I did it. You've even been known to carry your kitchen scale to a restaurant, is that right? I, I have carried my kitchen scale to a restaurant. I do not think that that is necessary. But, um, you know, I'm 20, and I, I did that one time. He was very, very, very committed. So tell me, what's the biggest difference between how you used to eat and how you eat now? And I don't just mean the food, but, like, how you think about the food. Um, definitely, um, kind of touched on the oils and stuff, but substituting just having eggs, which we all know eggs to be a healthy food, but eggs are- Um, basically the same ratio. There's seven grams of protein and six grams of fat, and I'm allotted way more protein than I am fat. So just adding things like egg whites into my eggs, just to make it a little more protein dense. Or, um, having two pieces of sourdough instead of four pieces of sourdough, that kind of thing, just to kinda make sure my carbs aren't being used all at one meal kind of thing. Or even, um, measuring, uh, my cooked rice and measuring, um, things that are, uh, uncooked and cooked respectively because things lose or gain water in the cooking process, and I wanna be good about that. Yeah. Okay. Amazing. Um, yeah, tracking is such a powerful tool, right? Like, it provides the structure that we need to stay within some sort of boundary, otherwise we just eat whatever we want. Mm-hmm. And that sometimes is too little and oftentimes is way too much, and we can just go off the guardrails that way. But let's talk about, like, some of the habits that really moved the needle for you. Like, um, what, what happens on days that you didn't really feel like tracking? Did you still do it? Do you still do it? Uh, absolutely. Uh, there are hard days, I, I will admit, especially when you've been doing it for a while. You get tired of tracking, or you just kinda wanna eyeball things, and you just wanna say, "Oh, well, that looks like eight ounces of chicken." Um, and there, there's absolute merit for you just to kinda keep going. Um, you don't always know you wanna be exact about these things, um, especially when it comes to more calorie-dense foods. Uh, you just, you kinda just gotta keep going a little bit. And yeah, it, it gets hard, but, you know, I can do it. Y'all can do it, too. It's a... It's definitely a learning process, but I kinda started to challenge myself and make it a little game to where it was, like, how perfect can I get the scale, you know? When I, I want six ounces of chicken, I'm gonna eyeball it, and if it's 6.1, I'm still gonna chop that little one off, but I'm really trying to play the game and, like, try to get it perfect. But I do always check myself, so that is very important that you do check yourself. But playing little games like that. Um, also just kinda constructing different meals, um, kinda throwing different cuisines into there, maybe different seasonings. Uh, maybe it's, like, a chili seasoning one day and then a Mexican seasoning the n- next day. Um, kinda just making your food fun and, um, just something that you can look forward to and enjoy every day. That's, that's really my goal. Yeah. What about social situations? You go to a party in college or, um, eating out. Like, how, how do you think about a menu in terms of what you're gonna choose, um, or, you know, what, what might you eat at a friend's house, um, when you're not planning your own meal? How do you make those decisions? They're, uh, definitely tough decisions to be made. So, um, I, I kinda always think about it as there's gonna be f- extra fats that we can't see. That's just kind of a non-negotiable. In every restaurant you'll ever go to, I mean, you can go get a salad, you could go get chicken and vegetables, you can go get any, quote-unquote, "healthy meal," and there's gonna be some butter, there's gonna be some oil, there's gonna be some residue, there's gonna be a marinade, there's gonna be some way to make that, um, recipe special in their kitchen, which, you know, props to them, it is really good food. But there i- there are extra fats and sometimes carbs inside of that. And so when going out to eat or even going to another person's house, um, you just kinda gotta account for that. You say, you know, "Normally this chicken breast, you know, it, it kinda looks around 40 grams of protein, and that would normally be about three grams of fat. I'm just gonna make it 40 grams of protein and 10 grams of fat, and I'm gonna kind of plan earlier in my day just to have some extra fat and maybe a little extra carbs set aside just because they don't show up in places." So kinda Uh, setting yourself up to win is, uh, really important. Just not kinda be in bliss. Um, knowing the things and knowing if you are gonna go out with your friends, or you're gonna go on a date with your husband, or if you're gonna go do something out, like plan for the day, but just don't, we don't act like everything is e- 100% or just like in our own kitchen. Yeah. Yeah. How long did it take before tracking felt like easy or automatic for you? Um, tracking is hard. Um, definitely kinda going back to the game thing. Uh, it's never gotten just purely easy, but I have gotten really good at it, and being able to eyeball things like a tablespoon of butter or eight ounces of chicken. Again, I always do check myself. It's always on the scale to make sure. Like, I never do fail that part. But I'm pretty positive that if you gave me a test right now, I could give you eight separate tablespoons of butter, and they're all gonna be correct, and I've gotten quite good at it. So kinda just sharpening my skills in that way, and then maybe looking at, like, what does six ounces of lettuce look like? Like, I promise you, it's a lot more than you think it is. Um, or even just like an amount of vegetables. It's like wow, like, you're only giving me four ounces of zucchini, and I'm like, well, that four ounces of zucchini is actually a lot of zucchini. So, um, just kinda being able to eyeball things, um, while checking of course. But being able to play those games and make things fun and then challenging yourself. I, I believe your brain's always, um, better and happier when it's being challenged and you're able to learn something through the things that you're doing, and it's not just stale. I, I do believe that if you make it a monotonous situation, then you will start to hate it. So however you can make it fun and interesting in how, in your learning, or maybe there's a game or a, um, situation that works best for you, I would def- I would implore you to kinda go that route. Yeah. It seems like knowing foods and what is in, what each food is made of in terms of its protein- Mm content, fat, carbs, et cetera, makes it easier when you are away from home eating out or in a social situation to actually put something on your plate or to consume what you know your body needs instead of just what you're being served at a restaurant. Uh, sometimes it might be too much, sometimes it might be too little. And so getting really good at eyeballing things seems like a skill, like, once you have it, you have it for the rest of your life really, 'cause the weight of food doesn't change or portion sizes per se, just your own particular macros based on your goal. So this is like a skill you will be able to use for the rest of your life. It's pretty amazing. What's one thing you'd tell somebody who just says, "Look, I don't have time to track"? Uh, it really doesn't take that much time. Um, genuinely, uh, the time you use to track things is the time it takes to get your skillet hot or, you know, get the oven w- up to temperature or even just, like, setting up your air fryer. I mean, it literally does take two to three minutes max. Um, now you could sit there for 10 minutes trying to measure everything, but that would be taking it slow. You really only do need, um, like, two minutes. You gotta weigh your chicken real fast. You gotta weigh your zucchini real fast. You gotta weigh your butter real fast. Done. I mean, I can get that done in under a minute and 30 seconds, and that's gonna be way faster than anything's heating up. Um, that's honestly faster than it would take me to season a meat or a vegetable. So, um, just kind of knowing it doesn't have to take a long time if you don't want it to. And if you're thorough about it and you, you know, you don't... You just, you're thorough. You sit there, you press tare, and you're exact about it. And then the better you get at it, the better you can be like, "That's about eight ounces." You see it, oh, shoot, that's exactly 8.1 ounces. Take that one little ounce off. Done. And then you can get her cooking right there and, and it didn't take me more than 30 seconds to just do that. So, um, it's a skill, something to be learned, but you'll get it down within the first two weeks. And would you say it's worth learning? Absolutely. It's a, um, non-negotiable, d- knowing how to track things, especially when it does come to different weights in waters. Um, just for example, measuring rice cooked versus uncooked. If you think about it, rice cooked has a bunch of water inside of it. That's kinda the process of cooking rice. So, um, being able to just cook it, or being able to measure it uncooked really fast, you know, you pour it out a jar. You're able to see that you need three ounces uncooked rice. Then you pour it in your boiling water. I mean, that's taking you hardly any time at all, and you're able to learn more about the amount of food that you're doing so that later in life, the skill of being able to eyeball, being able to see, like, when you're out, when you're out on a date and you're like, "Oh, shoot, that just, like, looks like three ounces of rice," because I've had three ounces of rice so many times. So, um, you just... The skill kinda carries all throughout your life. Yeah, totally. Well, let's talk about some of the common mistakes that you see. I mean, now that you s- you're studying this in school, you've lived it for sure. You are currently living it. Let's talk about, like, what are some of the things that you see people getting wrong? Like, what's the most common mistake people make when they think they're eating well, but they're just not seeing results? Um, I've kinda touched on it a few times, but weighing things cooked versus uncooked Um, either is fine, just making sure that what you put in your, your macro app or your tracker is the cooked or the uncooked. That is very important. Um, not eyeballing things. And then, uh, a, a thing that I'm very, very good on, and it's, it's hard to learn sometimes for some, but just understanding that, like, if you take a bite of bacon or something, or you take a bite of a Snickers bar, I mean, that's all right. Like, we're not gonna over here and judge you, but you do have to account that in your day. Just because no one saw it, no one heard it, doesn't mean it didn't happen. And those calories are used in your body no matter how early, late, in the middle of the day it is. So just being exact about the things that you do put in your mouth, I think that is extremely important. You can't, you can't hide it from your body. It, it did happen. And again, it's all right. You just have to say, "All right. I'm not gonna let it happen again, and I'm gonna-" L- I'm, I'm just gonna be true about that, that it happened when it did happen. Um, and for someone that maybe isn't seeing it, uh, just it will come with time. Like, the... One of the things that I'm think is really cool, and one of the things that gave me a lot of comfort kinda through my prep is this... It's, it's biological, it's scientific, it's just a whole cold, hard fact of life, just the same as two plus two equals four, and it's if you are in a calorie deficit, you will lose weight. That's just a thing. It's just a, it's a rule, the same as the sun coming up every single day. It just will happen. It's just plain numbers. So, um, when maybe it's prolonged and maybe you haven't lost a lot of weight, also understanding that losing weight isn't always linear. Like, I promise you I did not go down in a straight line. Like, some days I, I'm, I'm 200. Some days I'm 202. Some days I'm 199. Some da- Like, it does, it does come in fluctuations, and that's just part of the beautiful things that are our bodies. But the main thing is if you are eating, if you are consuming less than you are burning, and quote unquote that is what a calorie deficit is, is you're, you're burning more than you're consuming, um, you will lose weight over time. That's just a non-negotiable. What about, uh, your take on healthy foods, right? Like think sweet potatoes, potatoes, chicken thighs, something like that, that, like, can stall progress if you're not measuring them. Even white rice, bananas, anything really, right? Anything in the wrong proportion can be too many calories and knock you out of the calorie deficit, and you think this entire time you're just eating, quote unquote, "healthy foods," but never in a calorie deficit, and you get no progress, and then you think, "Well, healthy food, eating healthy doesn't work for me." So, like, what do, what do you think about- Healthy foods, quote-unquote, that stall progress Well, I, I definitely say that eating healthy foods is absolutely where we wanna start. So eating things like rice, potatoes, lean meats, vegetables, fruits, um, healthy fats, those kind of things, those are absolutely amazing things for your body. And maybe if you're not losing weight just yet, um, your body is getting used to being actually-- it's actually getting nutrition and actually getting the energy it needs for the day. And just with that, you are gonna feel a lot better. Your hormones are gonna feel better. Your sleep is gonna get better, which is gonna help you recover and feel, uh, more alive and more motivated each day. So I mean, if beyond the calorie deficit, that is just e- eating those, quote-unquote, healthy foods are, um, a- amazing. Uh, and I, and I will say healthy food, I would say is something that is, um, either a single ingredient or very near a single ingredient food. Um, like something that maybe you need the nutrition label to see how many grams of carbs, fats or protein on it, but you don't have to wonder what the different ingredients are. Like, when you buy potatoes from the store, it's not potatoes plus this, plus this, plus that. It's just potatoes and the nutrition label of potatoes. So eating, eating those single ingredient foods or near single ingredient foods are definitely the first step. And then just kinda being true about the things that you are eating. So I mean, m- take me for example, I mean, I love rice, I love sweet potatoes, I love potatoes, um, I love chick-- I love all the, all the things, but I didn't just get to eat however many potatoes I wanted each day. I have to eat them in moderation and what fits my goals. Um, and a lot of times that's a lot, and I get full on potatoes a lot of the time because they carry a lot of water, and they're a great food for us. But just because it's, quote-unquote, a healthy food, we still gotta watch the amounts. I mean, I still gotta watch the amount too. So, um, just kinda start there at step one, and then step two is watching the amount of the healthy food you consume. And with that, I mean You're, you will lose weight, and you just gotta adjust your macros a little bit and the noodle will be cooking. All right, let's talk about protein specifically. I mean, I find for women in my group, most of them struggle the most with getting enough protein, and my own personal experience is that unless you've weighed ground beef, chicken breast, salmon, egg whites, like, I, there was no way I would have eaten that much ground beef before I knew how much I needed on my plate to actually, you know, surpass 30 grams a meal, and onward and upward to where I'm at now, around 45 grams a meal. I just, I, I wouldn't have thought that I needed that much, and here we are. So- Protein specifically I think is a little bit of a struggle for people, women in particular, right? So how much protein did you say you eat per day, and how do you figure out how to distribute it among your meals? Uh, well, protein is a, is a really good topic. It's kind of the, the golden child of your macronutrients. Everyone kinda understands, like, high protein this, high protein that. There are meats, there are eggs, there are yogurts, there are, um, stuff like that. Um, for me, myself and I, I eat around 180 to 190 grams of protein each day. Um, it does help me to kinda spread that out between four meals. And even, like, the very purpose of protein, um, a complete protein is 22 complete amino acids, and those are the amino acids that, um, are consumed and go into your body and that's what your, your gut and your body use to be able to construct the, the, your own muscle and construct the, just the, the fabric of your being. So definitely under eating protein, it's not just like, oh, you're not, you're not gonna just, like, get a bunch of muscle immediately. Not at all. But it's just a, it's just a complete baseline to make sure that you are, um, y- you're healthy in and of yourself and that your body, um, can repair itself whenever it's sleeping, can repair itself whenever it's resting. Um, just having those, uh, essential, you know, micronutrients is just incredibly important for you. Um, with that, uh, s- kinda spreading it out between the day is kinda the best, um, approach. I like to say that you should never really have under 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal, because you do wanna be stimulating muscle protein synthesis a- at any time you can. Um, and that basically is just your body recognizing that you have protein in your body and y- being able to use it. Having maybe, like, 10 grams in a protein bar really isn't doing that much, 'cause your body probably is just gonna digest it and store it away just 'cause there wasn't enough to activate those muscle protein synthesis receptors So, um, having it kind of spread out between three meals, maybe having 30, 30, 30, eventually 45, 45, 45, maybe like just kind of simple numbers like that. And using things like yogurt. I mean, yogurt's an amazing thing. We can put berries in it, and we can put flavoring in it, and suddenly it's like ice cream. It's like one of the greatest things ever. Or having scrambled eggs every morning. I mean, that's a, an immediate win. Or taking ground beef and making it into tacos or a little burger bowl or little hamburger patties or stuff like that. Or even like, you know, dicing up your chicken and putting it over rice or, um, maybe putting some like a sriracha sauce on top of it or however you may love it. Or even salmon. I mean, salmon's really good. You put it in the oven, and it tastes awesome. So there's just a, a, a million ways to do it, and finding what works best for you is definitely important. Um, and just start with that and kind of just get your foot on having about one-third for every three meals, you know, just kind of breaking it up evenly throughout your day, and you're gonna be doing great. So do you personally subscribe, m- I think, did we say this earlier, one pound? Uh, one gram of protein per pound of body weight, is that what you do now? Yes. I think, and then especially in a calorie deficit, I'd probably, probably move it to, like, one gram to pound of body weight to your goal body weight. Um, that's definitely... Protein's an amazing thing where it, it keeps you satiated. Um, but especially if you have lower calories, um, sometimes we don't need, like, a ton of protein. We just need enough to keep us satiated, to continue building muscle, and then the rest can kinda go towards making sure our hormones are balanced and making sure we have enough energy for the day. Yeah. Awesome. Um, let's talk about, like, the, the mental side of things. Uh, you know, most of the women in my group, they're, they're, they're full smart women who know what to do, but sometimes we just struggle with being consistent. You know, was there a, a point, can you relate to that? Was there a point where you wanted to quit? You know, what kept you going? Um, absolutely. There... Wow, there, there were a lot of points where I wanted to quit, a lot of nights where I was just like, "Man," like, "this is, this is really hard, and I don't, I don't even know what I, like, why am I doing this?" But, um, you kinda just keep going, and it's really important to have people around you that support you in your goals and to know that, like, you're gonna have temptations of other things, and that's all right. I mean, I got them. Other people get them. It's very widely discussed on the internet that people just wanna quit. People wanna cheat on their diet. But it's the people that, um, are smart and realize that they set out for a goal, and that same setting out for a goal is eventually gonna be the thing to kinda get them through. Um, I know especially the last three, four weeks of, um, my prep kinda into my, um, bodybuilding competition stuff, it got really, really hard. And I remember just wanting to quit and just being like, "I, this sucks. I don't wanna, I don't wanna weigh food anymore. I don't wanna do this anymore." But, um, just keep going on. Know it's hard, but that's honestly the thing that kinda- Gives you the structure and holds you together, and it makes you a better person between that because after you're able to do something like conquer your food and conquer the, uh, the temptation and your mind saying that you can't do it, I mean, wow, it just gives you the most amount of freedom and the most amount of, of drive that, I mean, I've ever felt in my life. I mean, it's just motivated me now afterward to the highest amount because I realize that I can do anything. Because if I can say no to my stomach being hungry, something that's biologically, like, one of the biggest emotional drivers, my stomach, like, I can say no to a lot of other temptational things that we do experience in our lives. So, um, it's a lot of character development that does go into it, but I believe in y'all, and I can do it. A lot of people can do it. I know y'all can do it. And even when it does get hard, just be encouraged that you absolutely can get through it, and it's not too much. Yeah. It's, it's interesting how discipline in nutrition spills over to discipline in other areas of your life. Um, but what, what would you say to somebody who's, like, gung ho, they're super excited, they want to lose weight, they've got a personalized nutrition plan, they learned their macros, started tracking, shopping appropriately at the grocery store, doing all the things, and they're just not seeing the scale move? How, how would you encourage that person? I'll, I'll first say that, um- First, good job. Uh, if that's where you're in, that's the first step, and I did it too. Uh, that is honestly the most important step because now you know within yourself that you do have the right goals, and you do have, um, the mindset that says, "I wanna be a winner, and I wanna, I wanna achieve the things that I value." So first step, that's awesome. Uh, s- kinda to-- kinda answer the second part of the question, um, is it takes a little bit of time to get started, especially if maybe you haven't been working out consistently over the past few years or maybe even ever or, uh, you don't really... You're not very sporty, or that's not really kinda your thing, um, which is totally okay. Your body will take a... It's gonna take a second to be like, "Wait a second," like, "Oh, wait, I'm being, like, fed appropriately." And one of the, one of the best analogies I like to use for myself is that my body is my own best friend, and when I feed it appropriately, then it wants to lose the weight. Like, it's not trying to fight me. It's not... So, like, when I feed it properly, well, we may see it as underfeeding or, like, cutting calories, but your body's actually like, "Oh, thank you. You're actually feeding me appropriately, and these are the foods that make me feel good and make me work properly, and so I can get proper sleep and get proper rest, and I can have energy throughout the day, and I can have less mood swings, and my, uh, hormones become more regular." So, um, just kinda thinking about it as first steps first is we're gonna say, "Hey, body, I'm committed to you, and I'm going to make- the habits that I'm going for in the future, I'm gonna make it so that you feel the best. And the scale might not even move yet. And then after that, your body's gonna be like, it's gonna catch up and be like, "Oh, shoot, so you are taking care of me. I wanna take care of you too. I wanna lose the weight off of you 'cause I don't really need it anymore." Uh, the body is a, a fascinating thing. I mean, it's the thing I chose to study in school, and one of, like, the best phenomenons I, I know is the fact that when you start feeding it, like when you might be saying, "Shoot, I'm so full, I, I have so much food in me," your body actually kinda gets out of this stressful, um, state and this, this biological state that says, um, that I'm starving and I need to scavenge for food and that I need to eat whenever I can eat because I don't know when I'm gonna eat again. And that's purely biological, something from our past, um, that's not our fault, but that's how we were all kind of made. And so when you're-- when you feed it properly for a little bit, your body's gonna be like, "Wow, like, you're actually feeding me. I don't need all this extra poundage. I can just let it go because I know and I'm sec- my body is secure in itself knowing that I'm gonna eat for lunch and I'm gonna eat for dinner and I'm not just gonna skip a meal." Um, so Having that and then once we kinda dial in the macros and we put you in a calorie deficit and you're eating the right foods and you're eating three times a day, I mean, like it's just numbers at that point. You will lose weight over time. That's just part of it. And maybe it's not gonna be five pounds every week, because if it was five pounds every week, your body wouldn't like that very much. But if we go at a nice steady pace of one to one and a half pounds per week, like it's gonna shred off like butter. And, you know, three, four months later, it's already like sh-sh-sh... I mean, that's 12, 15, 20 pounds gone, just like that. Um, just don't think it's all gonna come off at one time, because it did not come off for me at one time. And, um, just kinda nurturing your body through it is the best way to do it. Yeah. Well said. I mean, the whole concept of like making your body feel safe is brand new to people, the idea that your body will release weight when it feels safe enough to do so. You know, in the work that I do, it's like hitting that from cortisol, hitting that from insulin, hitting that from other hormones, lifestyle factors like sleep and protecting energy and how we wake up in the morning. All these things really influence whether or not our body feels safe. And most women have lived decades in a somewhat of a fight or flight mode, especially as, uh, mothers. You're taking care of so many little people and managing a multitude of tasks at once and all the things that bring them to a breaking point a lotta times, where they've put themselves on the back burner. And now their body is screaming at them. They're no longer okay to be second or last anymore. So it's fascinating, right? That you can eat a bunch of food. Actually, the only way to lose the weight properly is to eat and to eat a lotta food, but to eat the right foods and the right amounts, right? So that's what's... My clients don't believe me. Like, they... When I give them a nutrition plan, they're like, "There's no way I'm gonna lose weight eating all this." And so I o- often have to say like You know, you trust me now, you know, you believe me later. 'Cause it's a process of getting our minds wrapped around it's not low calorie, no calorie, just eat less and move your body more that actually creates health inside. It's feeding our bodies with the proper nutrition. And sometimes that mindset is really difficult for women to, to get their minds around. For example, like carbs. You know, when I was a kid, the whole craze was low fat, so people ate bagels and orange juice for breakfast 'cause there's no fat in those things. You know, eggs and butter was demonized. And now we're sort of coming out of a phase where carbs have been demonized, and so we should just eat eggs and butter and steak. You know, forget all of the carbs because the carbs is what makes us fat. And so it's these sort of transitional, um, cultural lessons over time that shape the way that we all think about food. And so it, it, it just becomes like a little bit of a mental game as well to learn something new. But, uh, you know, honestly, I always tell my clients, like, well, if what you are doing now was working for you, we wouldn't be having this conversation. So might as well try something new and open your minds to it. But with that said, like what's next for you? You've been on this calorie deficit and a, a, a cut, as they call it, of losing body fat. Uh, where do you, where do you go from here? Um, definitely just k- building a lifestyle around it. Um, now my body for a while now has felt safe. My hormones are nice and balanced. I'm getting correct sleep. I wake up and I feel rested and ready to go apart my, my day, and I can transfer that energy and, and use it throughout my day just to make my quality of life a lot better. So my overall health is skyrocketing. Um, it's-- I've felt the best I've ever felt in my life and just being able to use that. And now kind of after I've gone after the cut, I've been able to up my calories a little bit, but it doesn't mean I'm gaining a bunch of weight. It's just meaning I'm not losing as much as I once did, and that's totally all right. But I have the health benefits and the, uh, um, the, the low cortisol and the good sleep and all the, the cor- the hormones that I've been looking for, those are kind of established in my body. So I'm able to carry that out through school and work and the things that I enjoy. Um, and just being able to look at it as not just a prison. It's not something that I have to do forever. It's not something that I need to do as, like, as long. But, like, even afterward, maybe I'm not making sure everything's down to the perfect last gram, but I do have the knowledge of knowing that's roughly, you know, roughly eight ounces of chicken breast, or that's three tablespoons of butter, or that's three ounces of broccoli. And I'm able to kinda like mentally put together my meals so that I know I'm eating healthy and I'm gonna feel amazing like I have for a long time. So just kind of the knowledge and, um, the ability to use, um, k- repetition over time to further your health and further feeling good. And then eventually, like here in the next couple weeks, I could absolutely just hop back on it, start, you know, watching my portion size a little bit, and then st- it's just gonna shred off of me because I've begun to eat, you know, all the amazing whole foods. And, um, that's another thing, is like I don't crave Oreos. I don't crave cake or donuts or anything. I mean, I would say Oreos are like my favorite food in the world, and I've gone to the grocery store twice and passed them both times, and I'm not even interested. And it's not because I don't like them. It's not because they're not a great food. But my body just kinda understands deep down that I'm gonna feel bad after I eat them, so why would I do that to myself? I'm just gonna, you know... I get to go have tacos. I get to go, you know, make a egg sandwich at home with, you know, eggs and egg whites and turkey and maybe some low-fat cheese. And it's like, wow, I get this amazing sandwich, and I feel great afterward. Um, I have no need for just excess sugar and stuff. My body's just completely converted into these are the things I crave, is the good foods and not the things that maybe I felt an emotional attachment to or things that I felt were like comfort foods. But the real foods that made me feel healthy and helped my hormones actually balance and prosper are now the foods that I do crave and I want every day, so. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah, I love how the cravings change and your, what you want o- on your plate changes. And so you think at the beginning you're just gonna be fighting these desires for I don't know, whatever kind of food, but it, it- your body actually adapts with you, which is one of the most amazing things. Well, um, let's just wrap the, wrap this up with, like, I don't know, what, what piece of advice would you give to somebody who doesn't feel great in their skin? They know their clothes don't fit the way that they want to. They feel like they've tried diets. They haven't really worked, and they're really not sure that anything is going to work for them. What, what kind of advice would you say to somebody who wants to lose weight, uh, but, but doesn't really know where to start? Uh, my piece of advice would be to try this out. It worked for me. It's worked for thousands, millions of other people. Um, it's just science. Like, it will happen. It's just a law about life. So, um, there, there will be great high motivational moments, and there will be discouraging moments, and we just gotta take that on the chin. But at the, at the end of the day, we, we have to realize that, uh, we only get this amazing body one time, you know? We- We really just get this one shot and, I mean, for me and myself, and for here my mom, I mean, like I, I wanna maximize that to the fullest potential. I mean, I wanna go to the beach and feel great in my own skin. And honestly, feeling great is just a process away. It's numbers away. You just do it, and you're gonna feel great. And then, like you, you get to carry that for as long as you want. And I, I promise you, like as someone that has done it actively, and as someone who's actively doing it, that no food is as good as feeling as good as you are in your own skin. Um, there's no slice of pizza, no cookie, no Oreo, no hidden bite behind a closed door, 'cause they all do count, um, that is it gonna feel as good as, you know, feeling your best. Um, and I, I do wholeheartedly believe that. I, I would say that from firsthand experience, and even when it comes down to just like doing things about your life, your body will thank you in so many ways. I've already mentioned it a lot of times, but just you're gonna get better sleep. You're gonna have more energy throughout the day. You're gonna be able to spend more time with your kids. You're gonna be able to go and, you know, pick up a hobby like dancing or something. You're gonna be able to go and do things that you genuinely enjoy to do because you feel like you have the energy to do it, and you feel confident in yourself because you know you can do anything you set your mind to. So, I mean, in my personal opinion, it's the best thing you could do for yourself. Um, it's the ultimate form of investing in yourself, and that's really what you wanna do. So- Yeah. Well said that's it. Well said. So, uh, what, what do you think you're gonna end up doing? Uh, you got two more years left of college. gonna graduate with, uh, what's your actual degree name? Uh, my actual degree is, will be a bachelor's in exercise science. Okay. And then minor in nutrition. And where do you think you'll go from there? Um, I've, I've thought about a lot of things. Uh, I've always wanted to go to chiropractic school, always been interested in that realm. But nutrition and diet coaching, bodybuilding kind of things, uh, working with the body is, I mean, really my passion. So if there's a way I can help others and heal others through that, I mean, ultimately, that's the thing I do really wanna do. I feel like I've been given a gift of it, and I wanna be able to use my gift to influence others and help them through their life. Because there's been plenty of times where, you know, I've been in a dark place or I've been in a, a, a place where I felt lost, but ultimately, a lot of that can just come down to your mental. And ultimately, when I can, you know, help you with your mental and then help you with your physical, your physical is just a outward representation of your mental. So, um, just kinda helping people through their struggles and hardships in life, you know, that's kinda like my goal. And I'm not exactly positive how I'm gonna carry that out in a job one day and to have a family one day, but I know that that's the, the gift, the passion that I've been given, so I, I, I just know it's gonna work out, so. Yeah. Well, you're gonna make an amazing coach someday, Ry. I mean, everything that you've done for yourself, all the people you've influenced around you, and that passion you're talking about is clearly so, uh, just palpable. And so, yeah, I can't wait to see what your future looks like. But, um, when you come home next time from college, we'll have to have you on the podcast again, and maybe we'll talk a little bit more about, uh, n- what nutrition looks like for you during the holidays or something. Mm. But, um, anyway, thanks for being here today. I think you have, even though you're, you're young, you're male, I think we, like I mentioned in the beginning, these are principles that we all can apply. And so I loved, uh, you sharing your story, so thank you so much. Of course. I'm glad to be here. Yeah. So ladies, here's the thing. He's 20 and he's figured it out. But you, you're listening to this podcast. I know you're my people, you're my audience. You are smart, capable women who can absolutely do this too. So the difference between where you are and where you want to be doesn't have to be more information, it can just be consistency with the basics. And nobody ever said it was easy, but it definitely is simple. I mean, Riley doesn't have a special metabolism. He didn't have a secret supplement. He wasn't taking injections on the side. He just had a food scale, an app on his phone, and the discipline to keep showing up even when it felt tedious. So this is the work. This is the work that we all can be doing, and I hope you were encouraged by listening to him and his story today, and we'll hear from you next time, Riley. Thank you for being here- Of course on the Balanced Hormone Solution Podcast. See you next time. See ya.

Speaker 2 51:52

That's it for today's episode of The Balanced Hormone Solution podcast. If this resonated, don't just listen, do something about it. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And if you know another woman who's tired of feeling like a stranger in her own body, send her this way. For more support, check out the show notes. I've got resources to help you get started. Just remember, your body isn't broken. You just need the right tools. See you next time