Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I won't let my body out be outwait everything that
I'm made, don won't spend my life trying to change.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I'm learning love who I am again.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Stung, I feel free, I know everybody of me. It's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
And that will always out way if you feel it.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
But she'll some love to the food. Why get there?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
The tag go day and did you and die out way?
Happy Saturday, outweigh It's leanne here and what you're about
to hear are real stories from real women who have
faced some of their deepest struggles with food and their
bodies and face their demons and come out on the
other side.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And so these are the raw.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Unfiltered journeys of women just like you, who once felt
trapped in their own mental prisons, caught in that endless
cycle of food obsession, you know, feeling like a failure
in all of that shame. And I'm sharing these with
you because I want you to know that no matter
how stuck or out of control you feel right now,
there is a way out. So if you're feeling broken
(01:13):
or crazy, or like you're the only one who struggles
with this, you are not. You are not alone, and
you are definitely not beyond hope or healing. These stories
are proof that true transformation is possible, and I hope
they inspire you to see what's possible for yourself.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So let's dive on in.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Hello, ladies, we're here in a self I dis solution
with one of my amazing clients, Susan, and she's generously
and graciously donated her time and energy and her story
and testimony to share what's been going on in her
world as she's taken herself from the chains of control
and restriction and judgment and shame to freedom and liberation
from a forty year prison. So first of all, say hello, Hello,
(01:56):
thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
I'm grilte to be here. Thanks for asking me.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Absolutely absolutely, I'd love for you to just kind of
give everyone an idea of, you know, just a few
months ago, where were you before we met, you know,
where was your headspace, what was your relationship.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Like with food?
Speaker 1 (02:14):
But if you want also just kind of tell us
a little bit about you whatever, whatever feels good before
that too, but just kind of give us a little
background information on you and where you were before you
started down this road in this process.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Well, we have three adult children and We're very close
to all of them, which is a huge blessing. And
I have a wonderful husband, Richard. We've been married almost
thirty three years, and he is a rock who has
walked out this journey before knowing you and now has
gotten to go through this experience and he has wanted
(02:46):
to be part of it every step of the way.
So so cool, Yeah, huge for me, That's huge.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, And as you'll share, like, this is a unique
experience because you have I mean a lot of my
client's husbands kind of know the journey they're on, but
they're not like really wanting to take that front row seat.
And he's just been super excited, and like you've been
able to kind of walk through some of this with him,
and your adult daughters have benefited from it. So I
can't wait for you to share that experience too. Of
a unique situation and a blessing.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
I mean, Richard's been praying for freedom for me as
long as I can remember from this journey, so I
guess that that just kind of takes me naturally into
telling you where this was for me. I'm a pretty
busy person. I mean in a good way. I have friends,
I have a lot of work that we do at church.
(03:34):
I work, I'm I'm a therapist. I have a happy life,
I have a full life. But there's kind of been
this dark space that honestly, I don't think most people
would have known about me. And it's just almost haunted me.
That's the biggest word I can use to describe it,
to the point that it had become a despair in
(03:56):
my life that I had to just kind of deal with,
kind of back in the background of my life, sometimes
overshadowing everything, and I didn't I really felt pretty alone
in that I felt like this wasn't something I could
really talk with a lot of people about. In fact,
I haven't so lean. When I called you, I don't
know if you remember, the first thing he said to
you is I'm terrified I do. He said why, and
(04:17):
I said, because I don't talk to people about this.
And I would talk to Richard about it. Although he's
a guy, he doesn't really understand it. And you know,
he could. He hears me, but he didn't understand. And
I just felt really alone. I was afraid of food.
I was afraid of all food, whether it was a
piece of cellery or a chocolate chip cookie. I was afraid,
(04:40):
Am I eating the right kind? Am I eating too much?
Am I eating too little? Am I eating at the
right time of day? Should I be doing this? Should
be doing that? I mean I was almost frantic, I
guess about food and very fearful. So that was a
really dark thing. And as far as you know, body image,
just a lot of shame, blame, comparison to everyone every
(05:03):
time I walk in a room, and then I hated
that about myself because that's really not who I am.
And so it just became kind of this mess of
eating myself up all the time for comparing and shaming
my I was just it was just crazy. It was
like a chaotic mess in my mind about all this.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
And as you said, on top of it, it was
like your best cap secret. No one knew, YEA, if
anybody ever knew, they'd.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Be shocked because you put on this happy face, I'm successful,
outwardly powerful, contident all that, But this was this in
this prison that you were alone in because it was
like your best cap secret.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Absolutely, it is a prison. That is an exact description. Yeah,
And the most recent thing is I'd gotten to just
restricting food out of fear and using that almost as
a weapon against myself because of what I just didn't
know what else to do. So it was just getting
harder and harder exercise. I'm always been really faithful to
be active and exercise, but it was really just out
(05:59):
of almost punishment and always driving myself harder. Like well,
if you tried harder, if you did more, if you
did it differently, if you had more weights, you know whatever,
the target was always moving for me.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, And you mentioned that your husband, Richard was like
dying for you to get for you from this prison.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
What do you think he was noticing?
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Like what do you think he experienced that he just
wanted you to see or wanted you to know, or
wanted you to be free from Like why was this
so deep on his heart?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Well, he has always loved me unconditionally, and I always
told me I'm beautiful and I and I was enough
the way I was. And he would always say to me,
I don't think you see yourself the way that I see,
the way that the world sees you. I see your heart,
I see your soul, I see your spirit, let alone
(06:45):
your body, and you know who you are on the outside,
but you're not seeing the essence of yourself. You're just
looking at the outside that shell.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
And I don't know if you remember this, but on
our first call I asked you about that.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
I said, are you ready to see yourself? Did I
say yes?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I think that's when you were like, I'm scared but
yet you know? And but I said to you like this.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Because again, obviously all the things that you're talking about
here and the women that are watching this can relate
like not like that part of it is not about
the food. It's like you you free yourself from food,
which we do that too.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
That don't really cover all that other stuff, you know
what I mean. That's that's that's actually where we start,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
So, yeah, a lot of people modalities, whether it's a
food based approach, a therapy based approach, they just leave
that to chance. They leave it off the table. And
it's like, no, like that's the part I mean. I
could go on and on about that. Yeah, that's amazing.
So how would you say that your life has changed
as a result of that?
Speaker 2 (07:41):
What's different about you now? How is life now in
your life?
Speaker 3 (07:45):
In your world? I think it would be easier to say,
how has my life not changed, and I mean that sincerely.
That is the question. This journey has encompassed all of
my life. Of course, you were telling me, it's not
just the food, it's not just your body, and I mean,
I'm saying this for somebody who might be listening, who
needs to hear this. I get that, like, because that's
(08:07):
what you think it is, and that is the least
of the issues. It is so much more than that.
It has encompassed my mindsets. It's it's it's challenged my beliefs.
I mean about everything. You know, it's rocked to me
in a good way and only the best way, at
the foundation of my life. And I didn't see that coming, Honestly,
(08:30):
I just was skeptical that anything could work. And I
watched your what it was it? The five Shifts video,
and for the first time I felt like, Okay, somebody actually,
has Esland been in my head? Has this woman been
reading my mind? Because I really didn't believe that anyone
else could understand what I felt. It was uncanny. And
so when I called you, it was with a mustard
(08:53):
seed of faith, to be honest, and it has been
more than I couldn't have even dreamed of. How this
would change my life. It's overhauled how I respond to
stress one thousand percent. I don't respond to anxiety and
stress at all the way that I used to. I mean,
I feel like that is one of the biggest pieces
(09:16):
because it literally affects every day, all day of my life.
I was also living with this undercurrent of anxiety in
my life all the time. Again probably not shared with
most people. Actually most people, I'm guessing we characterize me
as laid back, pretty chill, and I am. I mean,
that wasn't sincere. But there is always this buzz and
(09:38):
that's the only way I can describe it of anxiety
constantly well as I began to grow and knowledge and
I hate calling it a program for me, it's a journey.
In this journey, when I began to realize what was
going on is that I was triggering, you know, and
this is something that you teach so beautifully about from
a neurological standpoint. I was triggering always living in a
(10:00):
stressed state physically, mentally, emotionally, even spiritually. Always living in
this stressed state that has one percent change, and so
when that changes, it's it has affected how I make decisions,
my response is to difficult situations. I've had several of those,
(10:22):
which I share with you, Lianne, several difficult situations. Even
in the last week. I'm like, wow, I'm getting to
like develop a lot of muscle around this. But it
has been shocking to me how I haven't had that
sense of panic. I haven't been like hit the anxiety button.
It's like, wow, all right, well no this is not
all right with me, And here are my boundaries. And
(10:43):
I've just been able to totally respond as opposed to react.
So yeah, those are I guess some of the parts
of me that I feel like have changed that I
didn't see coming.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
So basically, what we're hearing is like your emotional home
when you first came to me with like anxiety, fear, worry,
self judgment, self condemnation, shame, what do you feel like
it is now? Because we I mean, your emotional home
is totally shifted. So where are you living now emotionally?
(11:16):
I mean, your emotional home is totally shifted? So where
are you living now emotionally? Obviously there's ebbs and flows
for us. All.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Yeah, some days are not easy still, and yet I
have tools in my toolbox that I never had before
for those moments or for those days. So that is
a joy. I mean I would say I wake up
with peace, I wake up with joy, I wake up
with energy for the day. I wake up with a
plan for how to care for myself. That was a
(11:48):
non issue that was non existent before. I just mean
it was that was always like kind of on the
edges of everything. And if I if I ended up
quote taking care of myself, well that was like an
extra for the day.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, yeah, totally.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
And now it's just like it's brushing your teeth, it's
who you are. Yeah, and you don't have to think
about it.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
It runs much more and you talk about this and
running in the background of your life and it's taken
a while to get there, and it's not a day
I have to be I think it's more mindfulness about
everything in my life. But it's not exhausting at all.
It's in alignment with my heart, with my soul, with
(12:29):
my spiritual life. Is all now aligned.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Yeah, And was it misaligned when you like when we
first started, like it was all of that just kind
of running in people.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Oh gosh, right, you want to speak to that. Yeah,
I mean I've already talked about physically, how it was
just I feel like I was I was doing the
you know, the food stuff, the exercise stuff for all
the reasons, like for the wrong I don't say, well
for the I mean, it.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Was all we knew, but the mentality restrictions move more
hardcast or more like, you know, force yourself, persuade yourself,
hate what you're doing right.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Exactly, And yet it's all I'd ever known, and so
I just kept on keeping on because I didn't know
a different way. And emotionally, I feel like, you know,
the fear of the anxiety. But then I think spiritually,
I just I'm a very devoted Christian, and I feel
like I just really hadn't brought God into this part
(13:26):
of my life. It was like I was ashamed of
this with God, which is crazy, but that's that's what
it was. And I really hadn't brought my relationship with
God into alignment with this whole piece of me. And
that has been a huge shift for me, even you know,
(13:47):
going back to our daily ritual of gratitude and giving
thanks and celebrating. You know, I remember calling you and
saying I can't celebrate myself. I can't do that, Like
that feels very out of alignment with my faith. Yeah,
And immediately within that conversation, I begin to realize, no,
(14:07):
it's very much in alignment with my faith. I'm reading
what God is up to here in this little corner
of the world, and how kids using me for His
work here in this world. That's changed everything.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
And here's the thing, ladies like I obviously don't run
a spiritual based program, but I run a program where
we help you get aligned mentally, physically, social, emotionally, spiritually
all that. And so what happened with you, Susan, is like,
and it's happened with other clients of mine too.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
It's like, wait a minute, I have an.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Idea of the relationship I want with my faith and
my spirit and my soul, and that is interacting and
intersecting with your emotional world, you know. And so what
happens is a lot of programs and modalities we just
ignore that part and we look at it like it's
a food thing, or it's a body thing, or it's
a you know, a mindset thing. Right when we ignore
like the alignment of who you are as a soul
(14:59):
and as a and completely ignore the parts of you
that are important. And so it came up one time
in one of our conversations where you were like, hey,
this feels out of alignment or it feels like I might.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Be going against what I think I know.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
And I was like, cool, let's actually let's integrate it,
let's talk about it, let's make it aligne because instead
of just ignoring it, let's again it's all about that
integration because if you're out of alignment, you're going to
be constantly.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Having a gap. And that gap of out of alignment.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
And this, which is a technical term of course that
I just made up, is going to be what causes
you to go eat or self medicaid or comfort or
judge or criticize or shame or any any of those
things that we all go to.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Right, It's like, no, let's have conversations about it.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Let's integrate it into who you are because it's part
of your life anyways, rather than ignoring it. So what
happened for you is like you were able to have
Now you have a whole new It's not like a
new relationship with God, but it's almost like a new relationship.
Like one of the things I remember giving saying to
you one time was like, what if I gave you
permission to just totally like re establish a new writer,
(16:02):
better like more fulfilling relationship with God. And you were like,
I don't think anybody's ever told me I could do that.
And I was like, well, there you go, And it's
just permission slip because the old relationship that you had
was one that you use based on your old self
image goggles right, or maybe you never voted on in
the first place. Somebody else just gave it to you.
You know, no one ever said you get to choose this.
(16:23):
So part of it is like we integrated all the
self imaging work as well as the food and the
body and the physiology and mindset stuff with your scope
of faith and up leveled it to really reflect who
you are today.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Yeah, And I feel like it's just stripped back my
faith in a way to just go to a more
simple place of my faith. You know, I've been a
Christian a long time. There were some things that were
kind of muddled, and I feel like this has stripped
away a lot of you know, messages maybe that weren't
even true, and allowed me to go back to the
essence of my faith and back to Christ truly in
(16:57):
a very sweet way. It's changed my morning routine. I
just start the day in prayer and meditation and celebration
and gratitude, and it's just changed everything. It's such a
peaceful time. I can't wait to get to it in
the morning. And it's that along with all I don't
want to like giveaway some of the exciting things that
(17:18):
you share with people, but like some of our what
we call our mourning rituals, it's just such a beautiful
part of my day and the best part of my day.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Yeah, So I love that because it's so because here's
the thing, ladies, like we've all done those things where
it's like we're forcing ourselves, persuading ourselves, prensing ourselves.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
It never lasts like and you can hear the joys
you're just talking about it.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
And the cool thing about it is the ritualization process
that we take everybody through.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
You get to own it, you get to make it yours.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I'm giving you a framework and a structure, but purposefully
we're making it your words, your language, your truth. So
I can feel the excitement as you're talking about And
so that being said, like all of this is the
foundational stuff. How has your relationship with food changed and transformed?
Speaker 3 (17:56):
It's a non issue. Food can just be sure exactly
what you want. It is nourishment and it's a gift
in our lives, and it tastes.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Good and it's pleasure.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
It's pleasure. It's a non issue. And that is huge.
It's a huge weight. Like talk about the weight of
the weight, like not having to like be afraid of food.
That's all day long, everyday, vacation, celebrations, holidays. I went
on this food tour recently with myally. It was like
(18:31):
two days of we just you know, went to a
city together. It was a kind of a crazy little
vacation we all took and we went on a food
tour of all things to like eat all the fun stuff.
And it was in Philadelphia and we just had a
blast doing it. And I didn't eat, you know, huge
amounts of everything. We just went and found like the
(18:54):
best Philly cheese steak we could find and we tried
it and the we just had a blast and I
didn't It didn't even give it an extra thought to
be afraid of food. It doesn't even occur to me anymore.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Because here's what we don't think about, Like, we have
these once in a lifetime opportunities to go on and
experience with our families, and we're not even present with
our families because we're thinking about them, the calories it had,
or how much it's going to add to our love handles,
and so we completely miss out on the experience and
not to mention, we miss out on the experience of food,
you know.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
So it's like you get to have it all. You
get to be present with.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
The people you love, You get to show up as
your best self, and you get to enjoy food for
what it is.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
And so, speaking of family, like, what do you think, how.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Has this shifted your relationship with your husband and your
daughters and your son? Like what would they say about
you now versus who you were just a few months ago.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
The funniest one was to me when my suddenly put,
oh my Christmas. He's twenty and he said, Mom, my
friends have all noticed that you're different. And I'm like,
a bunch of twenty year old boys have noticed that
I'm different. That just cracks me up. I'm like, wow,
you know that to me was a huge testimony. They
dont really think about what's been going on in my life.
He said, you are so much more peaceful. So for
(20:03):
him to even take a moment to say that to me,
and he at that point he didn't know I hadn't
sure really shared with him about this journey. Our girls
and Richard have you know how we're in on it
from the beginning and just have really encouraged me, cared
for me, wanted to hear about it, wanted to process
it with me. All along. On the same trip that
(20:26):
we were on, we were having just a great discussion
about the last year and a lot of things in
our lives, and one of them said, the greatest thing
about this last year is your journey with Liam. And
one of them said, it hasn't just affected you, mom,
it has affected all of us, and we can't wait
to see how else it's going to affect all of
our lives. They will come to me and they will say, Okay,
(20:48):
this is what's going on. What do you like from
this journey that you're on with Leanne? And they're not
asking me about food, you know, They're asking me about
life and decision making and responses to sometimes difficult situations
in their lives. It's just it has affected everything in
our lives.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Gosh, So we see so happy to hear and it's
just that's what happens when you completely shift the paradigm
and you change your brain works and you think differently,
you learn a new language, And yes, we get to
point it in the direction of food, but we also
get to point it in the direction of everything in
our lives because it's not the food. It's who we're
being and how like how we're using food and how
we're feeling that's causing us to run to food for
(21:30):
certain comforts or to use it as a weapon of control,
you know, a restriction, And it's never about the food.
It's all that underneath stuff that we can just again,
when you go to the brain and you just shift
how you're thinking, it gets to affect every area of
your life. So I'm just I'm so excited that that
warms my heart to hear that they're being impact. Yeah,
So what would you say, was was different about this
(21:52):
experience than any other thing that you've done?
Speaker 2 (21:54):
And like why this was more successful than anything else?
Speaker 1 (22:02):
So what would you say was was different about this
experience than any other thing that you've done?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
And like, why this was more successful than anything else.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Because it's not about food. I mean, it's of course,
it's a part of it, and you do speak to it.
I don't even know how far into the program we
get before you start talking about food, which cracked me
up the first week. I'm like, what are we talking
about food? Then you begin to relax into it and realize, hey,
you know, obviously this is much more comprehensive than that.
So it's you know, it's a lot of what we've
(22:32):
talked about. It's about coming into alignment with who you are.
For me, I feel like it's this woman that I
don't know, somehow got buried way back along the way
and got kind of some parts of me kind of
got lost, and I think it's been kind of an
uncovering of that. I think it's been coming, you know,
kind of back into alignment in every way. One of
(22:53):
your favorite things that I feel like, I hear you sayalized,
it's like I've sort of started showing up in my
own life in a different way than I've ever known.
And my family would say the same thing, So why
is this different? I actually wrote out two days ago
all the different programs, all the different things I've tried,
all the different diets, all the it was. It was
(23:15):
a notebook page and a half.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Were some other things like diets, therapy, like programs, oh.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Weight watchers, every you know, keto, low card I've had,
you know, low calorie, I mean on and on, I
mean crazy agea, oh, fitness programs, doctors, on and on
and on, unhealthy, unsafe things to do. And I and
every one of them has come to an end because
(23:43):
who has the will power or would want to have
to live like in a teeny little box and never
enjoy that part of life? And and I will say
now that I know what I know, there's no unknowing this.
You know, there's no turning back. Than there's no time back.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
You can't learn life.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
No, it's things that I've learned about myself. It isn't
just like some again some program. It's not just information
because as you've already talked about Lee and you help
us to personalize it. It's my recipe, it's my language,
it's it's it's personalized to me. I mean, you've given
(24:24):
us the information, you've given us the principles. But it
is the hardest work I've ever done. And I hope
that's okay to say. It is very difficult. And you
asked me more than once. Are you in a thousand percent?
Can you commit a thousand percent? And I was so ready.
I had no idea. But I've gone after it with
(24:46):
everything that I have and my family has supported me,
and I will never be the same. So how is it?
It's different than anything else because it's forever and it's
not just a templet to stick over my life and
like somehow try to fit into it. It is like,
you know, like I feel like it's like a tea
bag and it's like how it infuses into the water.
(25:10):
This has infused into my whole life and I can't
separate myself from this truth.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Yeah, amazing. Yeah, And I'm transparent about that.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
With any woman I talk to you that wants to,
you know, join the program, I'll be flat out. I'll
be like, hey, like, you have to radically commit to
this for twelve weeks, and that's how.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
We are able to get the radical results in twelve weeks.
Because I hear it all the time.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
I mean, how long this has been a forty to
fifty year struggle for you? Right?
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Well? Yeah, I mean I'm I'm fifty four so basically
as long as I can remember, Okay, got it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
So I mean we're talking decades here, and people always
be like, yeah, you're telling me, Leanne, I'm fifty four
years old. I've done everything the under the sun that
hasn't worked. You're telling me in twelve weeks we can
heal this. And I always say, like, well, it depends
if you're a thousand percent committed and you can radically
commit and like helpfully obsess over those for twelve weeks,
we can hit it in the head, you know, rather
(26:00):
than like draw it out like linger it. But yeah,
you're gonna have to work your ass off, and I'm
unapologetic about that. You know, all the things that are
worth it, you have to. But like, it's that kind
of thing that like it reaps rewards for the rest
of your life, because yeah, it's a system of thinking
that grows and evolves as you do. It's a forever
conversation that yeah, now you have the tools and the
pathways and it's not like, oh, here's a piece of
the equation for twelve weeks, like, well, you don't get
(26:22):
the rest over the course of the year. It's like, no,
this is it. This is the system of thinking that
I live my life through. Whenever I have like ebbs
and flows, like I go back to my own innercompass
and my own declarations and all of that, you know.
But yeah, I tell people thought out, I'm like, it's
not gonna work unless you're one thousand percent committed and
you're wholehearted about healing this, not putting dand aids on it,
(26:44):
not dieting away, and difference between weight loss and freedom,
and then you get to bring freedom with you into
the weight loss, and it's a completely different it's just
a completely different paradigm, you know.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
So yeah, I'm unapologetic about it.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
You've got to work your ass off, but once you
have it, then you have it.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
It's totally doable, you know. Like it's not like it's
so overwhelming amounts of work. It's just it's it's hard introspection. Yeah,
and it's a lot of just being willing to be
open and honest and transparent. But I mean the support,
I think that's another thing I've never ever had support.
Like I'm always like alone trying to like make all
(27:22):
the foods and buy all the you know stuff, and
this isn't even about food really, I mean not fully,
but to have you to have all the information you
know that I have, you know at my fingertips. To
then to have a group of women, a drive of
women that are going through the same thing habit ups
and downs, are willing to be open and transparent with
(27:45):
their lives. Like that's been humano goous for me.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
And so why do you feel like it was actually
worth it for you to invest in this type of
transformation and get what you actually needed rather than go
down the like weight loss roller coaster? Because I told
you on our call all right away, I was like,
this is not a program about weight loss, Like a
lot of people do lose weight when they're when they're
going through this process, but this is this is actually
about like ending the short term gratification trap and the
(28:09):
diet mentality which is weight loss, and healing this for good,
getting your freedom and then bringing that with you into
the rest of your life. What was it about it
like that made you decide to actually invest in that
rather than go down those endless roads.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Again, you spoke my language, you understood, So I told
you that when I when I watched that video, I thought,
for the first time in my life, somebody actually seems
to understand my heart in this. So that was huge.
I think you know the fact that I'm I'm an
occupational therapist and one of our things that we say
(28:41):
is I'm not going to hand someone to finish. I'm
going to teach them how to fish. Then you said
that to me, and I thought, wow, and that is
the truth. I have so many tools in my toolbox
now that I didn't have before. I have a whole
recipe to get myself back. I've many times, and you've
(29:01):
been witnessed to many of these, like crack up, I'm
losing my mind. I've left you some voicemails and we
call it a velvet hammer at my house because how
many times has she had to lovingly, with a huge
dose of love, tell me the truth straight up and
it's changed my life. I will let my family listen
(29:25):
to your to your voicemails and they're like, wow, you
know her truth, but her but her side of love
and humor with it has been so different. I mean,
this is an investment in my in the rest of
my life and the rest of my family's life. And
I believe in my in my patients lives. I how
I show up at work, how I show up in
(29:46):
my neighborhood, how I had shoke to my extended family,
how I show up at church like this is amazing.
What other investment could there be that would be greater?
You know, to free me up to be who I
was always to be?
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Wow, what a beautiful way to say that, for you
up to be who are meant to always be, always
meant to be? So on that note, like, I mean, obviously,
as you know, you were in that cycle for years,
like going down the diet route or the weight loss
route or the get quick results route.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
It's very seductive, it's very tempting.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
To want to fall into that trap, right and it
takes a lot of courage to say, no, I am
done with the short term gratification trap. I have to
actually like put in the work and heal this for good.
So what would you say to any woman who's on
that fence right now? But she's tempted to go back
to the weight loss mentality, she's tempted to go through
another diet, she's tempted to ignore that she knows she
has an emotional relationship with food that she knows she's
(30:41):
got like a self critical and self rejecting relationship with herself,
that she knows there's something deeper that she can't heal
with another diet. What would you say to anyone who's
sitting on the fence and is afraid to take that
leap to actually, you know, put in the work and healness.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
To me, this is a no brainer. I was making
some notes of just thinking through some things ahead of time,
and I also write wrote down the word this is
not a band aid. This is healing. This is a
journey of self care. It's the real answer. It is
all that you've been looking for. And you can stop.
You can stop running, you can stop striving. This is
(31:16):
where peace and freedom lie right here. And it's hard,
and it is an investment in all ways. It is
an investment in always, but it is worth everything, you know.
I don't know how many weeks out I am, but
I've tried counseling. I've done a lot of that and
there've been some great gains in that. But that's been
(31:37):
years and years and years and I still hadn't come
to this point. It's like it's like a bomb in
a good way that goes off in your life and
it kind of shakes your it shakes your world in
a good way. But when you begin to put the
pieces back together, that's where freedom is. And I certainly
still have days where i'm you know, it's a hard day,
(31:58):
of course, that's right, But I have a different language.
Now I have a different for myself. Now I have
a different self stuck, I have a different self love.
I actually didn't have any of that. Yeah, yeah, that's
all changed. Wow.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
And just to kind of speak to something that you
just said, like, one of the things that we always
talk about is like, and this is where a lot
of the things fell short for me. It's like, Okay,
let's plan for what's happening when like everything's hunky dory.
But it's like, no, let's plan for what happens when like,
sh it's the fan and we feel off of our rocker.
It's like, no, let's account for that, and let's have
breadcrumbs for that. And so that's one of the things
that we do. But also you said it felt like
(32:40):
a bomb in a good way, and I think, honestly,
like I think that's what women of this world want
when especially with we've been stuck in the diet cycle.
And it's rare that you need a woman that's been
stuck in the diet cycle for a year.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
It's usually decades. Like I know, for I was stuck
in it for decades as.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Well, and I was just like, I need something radically different,
Like this is not like I wanted a bomb to
go off in my life, but I just didn't know
that I wanted a bomb to go off. And that's
the metaphor that you just use, and I'm just picking
up on it. But it's like, we need do something
radically different. We need that complete paradigm shift. We have
got to change our workings or else it's just going
(33:16):
to be a temporary fix and a band aid and
it just it doesn't work. So I love to use
that word bomb because it's kind of like, yeah, we've
got to destroy the things that aren't excellent and go
put back the love and plant the seeds and create
fertile soil for those seeds to grow take some time
and energy, but once you have it, you have the
fertile soil, you have the foundations, and then you have
(33:36):
the seeds that you can sprinkle on anytime you need
to right, Thank.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
You for sharing that.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Before we close out, Is there anything else that's on
your heart, anything else you want to share about, you know,
experiences from your testimony that you think women would want
to hear, Just anything that's on your heart before we
sign out.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
I want to say, I think it's it's not a sprint,
it's marathon. It's your life. And if this sounds good
to you, If freedom, if healing sounds good to you,
if restoration of you back into alignment with who you
really are sounds good, then this is a good place
for you because it's comprehensive. And I just feel like
(34:15):
I've returned to a woman filled with joy and self
respect and freedom in every way. That's exciting. I feel
like I'm just starting out, just on my next chapter
of life, and that's a good place to be. So beautiful, Well,
cheers to.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
The next chapter and the next chap and the next
chapter and back to who you are and getting to
be all of who you are rather than this compartmentalized
version or pretending to be something that you're not.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Like now you just get to be.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
I was always trying to shrink back, you know, I
feel like you know you're trying to you know, quote
diet and like quote get smaller, and I just felt
like I was always stepping back from my life. And ironically, no,
I've needed to step into my life. I needed to
step forward into my life and not step back. I
didn't need to shrink back. That has changed. I'm not
(35:09):
shrinking back anymore, you know, in any area of my life.
So yeah, it's exciting.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Yeah, that is an interesting kind of metaphor that you
just brought up, this idea like we're trying to shrink
our bodies, but what happens by default is we end
up shrinking ourselves.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
And it's like, yeah, that's such an interesting perspective that
you just brought to light, because it really is. It's like,
that's the opposite direction we want to go, and we
want to step into our powerful, confident, beautiful self and
beautiful we know, beautiful is an internal game, you know.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
What I mean.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
And that's why your son's friends said to you, like
something's different about you. And it wasn't about your body
or your weight. It was an energy. Everything shifted and
people respond to that. They see it, they feel it,
they notice it.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Yeah, thank you, well.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Thank you so much for sharing your testimony. Thanks, you know,
as one of the things.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
I want to highlight ladies, like it's not always rainbows
and butterfly. She didn't sit from the beginning to be like, yeah,
it was great, but I just want to be better.
It's like no, like, this is the reality of where
we are, and there's so many women who are not
talking about their shame, just like you weren't. You didn't
even share it with anybody because it was so held
closely to your chest. And the reality is is like
you don't have to keep it a secret and you
don't have to go through it alone.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
You can get the help that you need.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
And you know, thanks for it as being a stand
and sharing your truths because it's not always you know,
easy to share where we were and all that, And
I just want to honor you for that because you know,
we get so much out of hearing other people's journeys
and testimonies, and we all have different circumstances and experiences,
but will you've chosen to me and who you continue
stepping into is just extraordinary and inspiring.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
And we're grateful for you sharing your truths with us and.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
Grateful for you girl, I love you.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Thanks all right, ladies signing out for this little case
study of Susan and we're just grateful for you tuning in.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
We'll catch you next time.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Thank you so much for listening today, and I hope
this story gave you a little more hope and maybe
even some inspira to see what's possible for you. To remember,
you're not broken, you're not crazy, and you're definitely not
alone in this. And if you want to learn more
about how I teach my clients to turn off the
part of their brain that's obsessed with food or obsessed
(37:14):
with their weight and rewire their own brain for peace
and freedom, then head on over to stressless Eating dot
com and sign up to watch the Stressless Eating sneak preview,
where I've literally peeled back the curtain and walked you
through the exact strategy I teach my clients to heal
themselves from the all or nothing diet mentality for good,
(37:35):
but without restricting themselves, punishing their bodies, and definitely without
ever having to use words like macros, low carb or
calorie burn. It's there for you to access over at
stressless Eating dot com and if you like out way
I actually have another podcast here on iHeart where I
talk about all of this self image and body image stuff,
but from the perspective of where brain science intersects faith.
(37:59):
It's called What's God Got to Do With It? And
you can access it here on iHeart or wherever you
get your podcasts. So that's it for today. I'm Leanne
Ellington and we'll be back for more Outweigh, so talk
to you then Bye.