Hello, my vibrant friend. I'm so glad to be here with you today. So we're talking about indecision kills weight loss, but I want to also just tell you that this week it's been beautiful here in Minnesota. And I told you on the last podcast how I'd gotten like a four days' notice to go to my kids. You know, Final senior capstone presentation. Well, my husband and I did get to go and that was a miracle with that short notice, but it was terrific. So we get there. And my kid, who uses they/them pronouns, is doing math, but it's also getting a teaching certificate. So their math professors were there, but also one of their education professors was there. And the interesting thing about this is my kid had taken educational psychology from this professor this school year. And I went to the same college and I had taken educational psychology from her over 30 years ago. So it was super great to see her again. She probably didn't remember me at all because I took that one class from her, but she's been really an important support person for my kid this year as a professor working through the details of the certification as they go through their senior year. And she also helped them with their senior project, a little consulting here and there, some real great emotional support. So it was lovely to see her. And we got a picture of the three of us, the professor, and we both took that same class. So that was just a fun surprise to have while we were there. Alright. So today, we're talking about indecision kills weight loss. We're going to do this in stories today. Just stories. Ok, we're going to talk about coaches in general, we're going to talk about my weight loss journey, we're going to talk about my clients when they show up to work with me, and we're going to talk about your story. Because I want you to find yourself in this and I'm going to help you with that today. So indecision kills weight loss. I was driving down the road one day and I noticed I'm on the highway and I'm heading kind of west and a little bit south. And I look up and there's this other way I can go. I can exit and this branch of the highway goes up north of the city to the north loop. And I looked down at the median in between this and because it's February, there's a lot of brush, you know, normally it would be bushes and there are just a lot of sharp sticks. It's all gray in there. You can't even see the ground. And I was thinking how this makes me think about indecision and decision and how it affects our weight loss journey. So when I'm driving on the path I was on, I could head to the city. I had it a little farther south and I know where I'm going. And I thought, yeah, if I take that exit there, I'm going to go to the north loop right now. And I can see where that goes. And when I looked at that brush of gray sticks, I thought, you know, if my car went in there or if I was standing in there, it would be misery. I wouldn't be able to see where I was going. I wouldn't know if I could get to a destination. And it would feel terrible. So this is what indecision is. It's you standing in the median amongst all these sticks where it's really hard to get through and you aren't really sure where you're going or if you're going to get anywhere. So when we talk about coaches in general, I hang out with a lot of coaches and I look at their marketing because we're all learning from each other to try to have a greater impact and help more people. So when I look at them and I hear their stories, their background story, there's always a moment of decision. It's the business coach who says, you know, my business was just going on and I wasn't really making enough money and I was worried about paying bills. And then all of a sudden I decided I needed to find my way, where I was going to get financial freedom and have this business take off and I could help more people with their businesses. I can always tell there's a turning point where they make a decision to go. And that's part of the thing that propels them forward. Weight loss coaches also they'll say, well, after decades of doing this or that, then I decided I'm going to figure this out, right? You've heard that story before probably. I even have a friend who's a coach, actually. You've heard her on this podcast before I mentioned Stacy Divine, who helps women online thriving after breast cancer. So she was working in her integrative office and people kept saying, oh, can't you, you've helped me after breast cancer, can't you help my cousin who's in a different state, my sister, my friend. And so she spent some time in the brush and the sticks. Like, I hear, you know, I can't really help them, but I want to help them. And then she had to decide she was either going to tell people, I'm sorry, I can only help people who come to my office. Or she was going to get on that other branch of the highway and go to the north loop. And that's what she decided to do. She went online. She helps women thrive after breast cancer now. But she had to decide to go there and build the online course and community and marketing. So you can kind of see where this happens when you're looking at other people's online businesses. Now, second, I want to tell you about my weight loss journey. So as many of you know, I had done pretty well with my weight and then gained a bunch of weight without changing anything in my late forties and found myself at 50, really stuck, had tried a lot of the usual things and had not been able to lose weight. And just was worried that I was going to spend the last half of my life in an unhealthy weight and uncomfortable in my body. You know, like when your clothes don't fit right and when you sit in an airplane chair you're not comfortable, you know, that kind of thing. So aye, sat in that feeling for a while. And then I thought, I've got to figure this out, right? So again, you can see thinking, I want to get on that path to the north loop. So I figured out the biology, but at that point I was kind of standing in the sticks still because I thought, I don't know how I can do this and eat differently if I am a mom and I have this really demanding job as a doctor and I want to be a nice wife. I feel like I'm caring for all these people. How can I just eat my thing and make this work? So I got some coaching. And through that, I learned how to have my own back so that I could eat what I wanted, eat what I chose and still be a great mom, have a fascinating and demanding job as a doctor and be a nice wife and take care of myself and the other people in my life. So I went from standing in the brush and sort of seeing the path because I knew the biology to standing on the path and saying, oh, here we are. I'm on the path. And it got really simple then. And so I started to head toward the north loop, which was permanent weight loss. So I'm going along and going along. It wasn't super fast because I was doing this by myself. But then July came. And this was July, 2021. So if you remember, we still weren't totally out doing all the things yet. So I was still spending a lot of time with my kids. And they wanted to eat ice cream every night in July. So we were buying ice cream. We were going to Dairy Queen. And I thought, oh shoot, this is just not working for me. I need to either decide to stay on the north loop or make a different decision. So I decided at that time, you know what, I want to just have the ice cream every night. So as you can see, I did not go into the brush and the sticks. I got on the other pathway, the other branch of the highway and headed toward the city again. My weight stayed the same in July. I could not actively lose weight while eating ice cream every night, even though the rest of it was very much on protocol. At that point in time, I was basically back to a healthy weight, but not a comfortable weight for me, not a normal weight for me. So I just decided I'm okay getting off the path to the north loop, which was permanent weight loss, and getting back on the path to the city where I just stayed the same. So I did that. And by making the decision, I felt really good about it. It was fine. I'm not trying to lose weight. There was no struggle because I wasn't trying to get through those bushes and sticks. So we get toward the end of the month and I decide, you know what, I do actually want to lose the rest of the weight. So at some point in late July, I quit having ice cream when it came out every night. Aren't you having some, the kids would ask. No, thanks. I was back on the path to the north loop. Can we go to Dairy Queen tonight? Yeah. They're like, but you don't want to have ice cream. I said, yeah, I don't want to have ice cream every night. But I'll drive. And so we went through the Dairy Queen drive-through again, and I didn't have to eat it. Now I want to go on a little tangent for you because some of you are worrying now about me and my kids and restriction. So two things are going on here that I want to point out. At this point in the story, so I ate the ice cream when I wanted it. And then when I didn't want it, I told them, I don't want to eat ice cream every night anymore. And that shows agency. I made no explanations. I didn't talk about weight loss. I didn't talk about restricting. I didn't give them a long lecture about whether I was at a healthy weight or not a healthy weight, what I wanted to do with my body. I just said, we've been eating ice cream every night and I think I'm done. I don't want it like that anymore. So I'm modeling agency. I'm telling them that, by my example, mom eats what she wants. She has ice cream every night when she wants it. And when she doesn't want ice cream every night, she doesn't eat ice cream every night. So I want to tell that part for the people out there who are worrying that I'm restricting and showing a bad example to my teenagers. Okay. The other thing I want to show you is there's an aspiration with our families when we're eating things too. That is that we aspire to have connection. Was that part of the of the eating ice cream every day in the beginning of July? It might be, I didn't know enough about that part at the time to really examine it. It's possible that that's why I decided to eat the ice cream every day, or it's possible that it was July and I love sugar and it was hot out. And I don't know. But here's what I did do. I still sat with the family while the other people ate ice cream at home. I drove us to Dairy Queen, even though I didn't eat any Dairy Queen. So you can still be connected to people when you're not doing the same things. Sometimes I have been at places where we go to maybe an ice cream shop or a candy shop, and I will go with my kids and I don't want to have any. And so I'll say I don't want any and then I take pictures of them in front of the cute sign or in front of the person that's making the fudge or all these things. Connection does not have to mean that you are eating something exactly the same as someone else is eating something. There are other ways to connect. Alright. So I really went off on a tangent there, but I know some of you are worrying about restriction and connection there. Alright, back. We're back. So end of July. I'm back on the north loop. I went all the way. I lost the 27 pounds. I felt really comfortable in my body, my clothes fit great. When I sat on an airplane seat, I felt good. And so I was very comfortable again and in a healthy range. So the decision was a very important part of staying on the path. Alright. Now let's talk about my clients. My favorite thing with my clients is when they send me a message on LinkedIn or they reply to an email and they tell me, literally, I get this message. I am ready to go on my final weight loss journey. I know that those people are going to make it. You know, I know that it might be a little bit difficult at first, but they are definitely making the decision to get on that path to the north loop. They want permanent weight loss and they're going to do it. So what happens sometimes? So sometimes it's hard to see the path, right? I've told you when I had figured out the biology part, but how was I going to actually eat that way with a family and a job? Then I could just sort of see that the path was there. And I let a coach help me get to the path. It was like, I'm ready to get on that path. I can sort of see where it is. Can you help me get on the path? I didn't know that that's what I was doing, but that is exactly what I was doing. So I got the coaching and then I was able to get on the path and this happens a lot with my clients. I don't come to their house and make them eat something. I don't tell them exactly what to eat. I show them how their body works. We talk about what kinds of foods they like to eat that will work with that protocol. And I help them with the sticky social parts like their job, the travel, their in-laws, their grown kids, their teenagers, and the neighbor. And we get through that sticky part and then they're on the path and they go, oh, and you know what they say to me? Then they say, this is so simple. Because they've gone through the hard parts. And as long as they have the decision to really go, they're on the path. And it gets really simple. You can have this too. So let's think about you and your story. It doesn't have to be about weight loss. Let's think about you and decisions you have made where you've really got on a path. You know, our listeners are professional women. So you've definitely chosen some paths. You decided to climb the ladder at a certain company. And so you got into maybe a training program that was going to send you there. You were willing to be uncomfortable and go to networking events that were going to push you forward. You bought a business and you were all in because you were going to make it work. Maybe you decided you were going to get your MBA. That was a big commitment of money and time. When I decided to go to medical school, it was a big commitment for me because it had not been my lifelong dream to go to medical school. So when I sat there and thought, am I going to take the test so that I can apply? Am I going to apply? Am I going to go? Am I going to start this marathon? I knew that I was making a big decision and needed to be on the path or don't do it. So I did that. You probably have some similar types of experiences. Maybe you decided you wanted to run a marathon or do a triathlon. And you knew I'm going to have to commit to the training program to get me to that triathlon. So think now about where you got on a path to the north loop to get the thing that you wanted. I want you to know that if weight loss is your north loop because you've done pretty well with your weight, but now at midlife, it's just gone up and up and you can't figure out how to do it, that coaching can help you get there. If you are ready to make the decision, I can show you how it works. I can help you get through the sticky parts. And then all of a sudden, it's going to seem really simple. And you'll get there faster than I did because you'll have me for your accountability and to help you with the hard part. So you can get there faster. Alright. So I want to backpedal just a little bit. So remember at the beginning I said, indecision kills weight loss. Don't be an indecision. Be on one of these two paths. If you don't want to commit to weight loss right now, then commit to just being the same for now. Don't torture yourself, trying to slog your way through the weeds, through the bushes, getting poked by the sharp sticks. Don't spend your time in the median. Commit to the north loop path and get the weight loss that you want. Or stay on the path to the city and be fine and happy with that decision. Alright. So if you made it to the end, thank you so much for being here. Feel free to share this podcast with a friend, maybe someone who is in the median, you know, amongst the sharp sticks and fighting the brush. And if not, please also feel free to review the show that helps me get this message out to more people. You could share this podcast to social media, take a screenshot, and share it somewhere where you think it would help other people. And if you're thinking, I want to get on the north loop for weight loss. I am ready to make my final weight loss journey. You can find me on LinkedIn and you can find me at my website, vibrant-md.com. I'd be happy to talk to you about how we get you clear and free and simple on that north loop path to permanent weight loss. Thanks for being here today. Bye-bye.
