March 18, 2025 • 23 mins
Episode #196
In this week's episode, Coach Bethany gets to talk with Melanie Bugg, a client who shares her health and weight-loss journey.
Summary Timestamps:
- Melanie's journey with fasting and weight loss, and became aware of Dr. Fung's work on fasting. (01:51)
- Success with weight loss but regain the following year due to lifestyle changes. (04:54)
- Coaching with Bethany to get back on track. (07:13)
- Analogy about ‘good/bad’ mentality when it comes to fasting and diet. (09:15)
- How Melanie lost 61 pounds. (11:14)
- The importance of a positive mindset around food and fasting, and avoiding the ‘good/bad’ mentality. (14:35)
- How meal prepping and having go-to, default meals helped Melanie stay on track, even when cooking different meals for her son. (17:14)
- Melanie’s top tip for navigating social situations. (21:16)
Chapters:
00:00 Disclaimer
01:51 Melanie’s weight-loss and fasting journey
04:54 Successful weight loss followed by regain
07:13 Coaching to get back on track
09:15 Analogy about ‘good/bad’ mentality
11:14 61-pound weight loss!
14:35 Importance of a positive mindset
17:14 Meal prepping
21:16 Tip for navigating social situations
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Disclaimer
This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before doing any fasting, changing your diet, taking or adjusting any medication or supplements, or adopting any treatment for a health problem. The use of any other products or services purchased by you as a result of this podcast does not create a healthcare provider-patient relationship between you and any of the experts affiliated with this podcast. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
Before we get started with today's
episode I would like to quickly read
you our podcast disclaimer.
This podcast is for educational purposes
only and it is not to
substitute for professional care by a
doctor or other qualified medical
professional.
You should always speak with your physician
(00:27):
or other healthcare professionals before
doing any fasting, changing
your diet in any way, taking or
adjusting any medications or supplements,
or adopting any treatment planned for
a health problem.
The use of any other products or
services purchased by you as a result
(00:47):
of this podcast does not create
a healthcare provider-patient
relationship between you and
any of the experts affiliated with
this podcast.
Any information and statements
regarding dietary supplements have
not been evaluated by the Food and
Drug Administration and are not
(01:08):
intended to diagnose, treat,
cure, or prevent any disease.
Alright, and now we'll get started with
today's episode.
Hi everyone, this is Coach Bethany.
I'm back with another episode of
The Fasting Method podcast and we have a very
special episode today with
(01:29):
one of our members and a coaching client
of mine named Melanie.
I want to talk to Melanie today because she's
experienced great success at
The Fasting Method and, hopefully, learning
about her story is helpful to others.
So welcome, Melanie.
Thank you, Bethany, thank you for having me.
So, Melanie, I would love to hear how
(01:49):
you got into fasting.
Okay, so I had
come across Dr.
Fung's work probably about,
I wanna say like seven or eight years
ago. I cannot recall
where I first heard of him,
but I came across his work and it
really just piqued my interest.
(02:10):
And so probably in maybe
2016, 2017, I started
sort of dabbling in fasting.
I would try skipping a
meal here and there, and then
I just kept learning more.
I would say probably
in 2021 is really where
(02:31):
I said to myself, "Okay, well, I want to
really take this to the next level and see
what I can achieve." And so,
at that time, I
started-- I think that's maybe when I got
his book, The Obesity Code, and
I also just started reading more
and really educating myself and also putting
it into practice.
(02:51):
So that's when I started trying
alternate-day fasting and
doing things like that.
And so what made you interested
in fasting at all?
What was your primary goal at the time?
Let's go back to 2016, 2017,
when you became aware of Dr. Fung and his
work.
My primary goal was weight loss, to be
(03:12):
pretty straightforward.
It's something that I have
always-- I don't want to use the word
'struggle' because I think that kind of
carries a negative connotation, but, pretty
much my entire life since
prior to adolescence, I
was always one of the bigger girls amongst
my peers.
And so body image and weight and
(03:33):
all of that has always been a focus
of mine, I would say.
And so that was really my main goal when
I first started fasting.
And what had you tried prior to
fasting to lose weight, if anything?
I [laughs] tried counting
calories, counting macros,
exercising.
(03:54):
Actually, 11 years ago, I had
gastric sleeve weight-loss surgery
and that actually was very
successful.
I had lost-- all in all, in that experience,
I lost 120 pounds.
I gained about half of it back
by 2017
when I was starting to look at fasting.
(04:16):
So really just your typical methods
of weight loss, I guess - just counting
macros and exercise.
And then, I guess, weight-loss surgery is not
typical, but I also tried that.
Got it. And so you became aware of fasting
and its benefits and
realized it could be a possible solution for
(04:36):
weight loss in 2016, 2017,
began implementing some of what you
had read in Dr. Fung's book in 2021.
And you and I, Melanie, started working
together in 2024.
So can you tell me a bit about what
2021 to 2024 looked like for
you?
Yes. So in 2021, when I started
(04:56):
implementing some of the longer fasts,
I had some success that year
and I lost about 40 pounds during
that year.
So rolling into 2022, I was
feeling very good about myself and
good about the success I had.
Around the time that it started getting sort
of in the warmer months, I had lost weight,
(05:19):
I was wearing shorts for the first time in
several years, my social calendar
filled up, and, you know, I was
drinking and eating a lot more with my
friends, and so I ended up gaining
a lot of the weight back, maybe
even all of it. If I think back,
I think I may have gained all of it that I
had lost.
You know, that's such a common
(05:41):
thing that I hear, that people are
able to hit their goal and have a lot of
trouble with maintenance.
So you had fasted in 2021
and part of 2022.
It sounds like (and I know this from our work
together) you were following, during
that time, mostly a low-carb, high-fat
way of eating.
(06:02):
And then, in 2022,
during the summer months, tell me
what your fasting schedule looked like, if
any, and also kind of how
your eating changed.
Sure. So my fasting schedule
probably was a little more limited.
So during the summer months, I was fasting a
lot less. There was still some fasting,
(06:24):
but it was probably more like
maybe once a week or so.
I will say that I was drinking a lot more
alcohol, which I think has
a huge impact (at least for me)
on weight loss and my ability to
be successful or to make progress.
So I was definitely drinking alcohol
and even some of your higher-carb
(06:46):
alcohol, like beer, things like
that. And I was
eating-- my eating was
just-- like, it was basically whatever
I wanted. I mean, I was out
with friends all the time and it was just
whatever the group was doing, you know, so
that's how I ate.
Okay, excellent.
I wanna return to that, but then I wanna
(07:07):
hear what brought you to
The Fasting Method and coaching in 2024.
Okay, so in 2024--
at this point, I had gained a lot of my
weight back in 2022.
Probably, at this point, I had gained it all
back and maybe even then some.
I
went on a trip to Tennessee with
(07:28):
my family, and I decided
that when I got back home that I
would start to change my
diet. So I did that and I
made the choice to limit alcohol, which
is what it started with, because I was able
to see that that probably had the most impact
on my health at the time.
So I started with that and then, as I
(07:50):
made a little bit of progress there, I
was able to
reflect and recognize that
I would need a little bit of support.
It was not coming as-- the fasting,
I mean, was not coming as easily for
me as it did in 2021.
And if I think back,
(08:11):
there was a lot of mental
tug of war going on there, and
so I signed up for
coaching because I really needed some
help to sort of sort out my
thoughts and my feelings really about
the whole process.
And what was the conflict,
if you don't mind me asking?
(08:33):
Um, oh gosh, well, I think that
it's-- well,
one thing I think many of us can
relate to is the
'good or bad' mentality.
And so having like a one-off
day really would have
a bigger impact on my mental
(08:54):
frame at that time, or my
emotional state of being at that time.
So, I think that was primarily,
at that time, probably the biggest struggle
for me. I just wasn't as--
I think my motivation wasn't up to
where it was prior to that, but I think I
was motivated before that because I
was in the right mindset.
(09:15):
Yeah, you know what you said about the 'good
or bad' mentality (you know, certain
foods are good or bad, or
certain behaviors around foods are
good or bad), I've seen that be
really detrimental for people, and,
more often than not-- and this is just my
anecdotal experience as a coach.
More often than that, what that can lead to
(09:38):
is sort of the equivalent of,
you know, if you're drinking a cup of coffee
in the morning and you accidentally
spill a little bit on your sweater,
and then you just think, "Oh, well, my
sweater's dirty now," so you just pour the
cup of coffee all over your head.
It's sort of like that's what people can do
with eating when they think, "Oh no,
I've ruined it." And the truth
(10:00):
is, no foods are
good or bad, and no food behaviors
are good or bad.
They're just probably more or less supportive
for you, given your goals.
And the idea of 'perfect',
quote-unquote, eating behavior, or perfect
foods, or even clean foods I
think can really mess with people's heads,
(10:21):
and it sounds like it was creating a lot of
mental noise for you.
So when you came to
The Fasting Method in 2024 you
wanted to lose weight.
What was your WHY at the time?
Well, I feel better
when I am--
(10:41):
I don't want to say when I weigh less because
it's not really about weight, but when
I'm able to move more, when I have more
energy. I guess what I mean to say
is the impact of the fat loss,
how my body feels, and how I feel
mentally and emotionally in that state is
really what I was seeking because,
when I had lost the 40 pounds in 2021,
(11:04):
I really felt so good about myself.
So I just wanted to feel that
again and not mess it
up. [laughter]
I know the feeling.
Okay, so now I want to get into
what I bet everyone is
curious about.
Since starting at The Fasting Method, you,
(11:25):
now, since 2024,
you've lost how much weight, Melanie?
I have lost, since I started
coaching with you, I've lost 61
pounds I believe.
Amazing.
And now I bet people want to hear, okay,
what did you do?
So let's talk about that.
What worked for you?
(11:45):
Well, I found alternate-day fasting is
really-- that is my fasting protocol, that
works well for me.
It's really nice because I
can tell myself-- if I feel
hungry, I can say, "Oh I'll eat tomorrow.
I can eat tomorrow, it's all good." So
it's easy, in that light, to
know that it's just tomorrow I'm going to
(12:05):
eat. With that being said, I don't really
get hungry when I
am consistently fasting and doing the
alternate-day fast.
Typically, I don't get hungry at all
and they're pretty easy for me.
So for those listening who might not know,
an alternate-day fast is when you
fast for an entire calendar day.
(12:26):
So let's take an example.
If you ate dinner on Sunday evening,
you would fast for
the rest of that evening, you would fast
all day Monday, and you would wake up
on Tuesday and either eat breakfast or maybe
wait until lunch.
And that was the majority of what Melanie
did, was some 42-hour
(12:46):
fasts.
And I think, Melanie, you did a mix, if
I recall, of two
or three 42s, and then you would also
just do what we call rolling,
alternate-day fasting, where you would truly
just eat every other day.
Yes, I would say for the majority of
my weight loss, I did three
(13:07):
fasts per week.
So maybe not eating Monday, Wednesday,
Friday, but, most recently,
I have started to
implement a rolling-42 schedule where
I'm just eating every other day.
And so now I bet people are
thinking, "That's really impressive.
I wish I could do that." What helped
you be that consistent?
(13:29):
Okay, number one, the coaching was really
important for me because to
come and even just verbalize
what I'm doing,
whether it's working or not,
and really just having that conversation with
somebody allows me to keep it
in perspective, allows me to keep everything
(13:50):
in perspective. So if it's left up to
me [laughs], I might, you know,
spiral into negative thinking if I've not
done something that I felt I should have
done, or-- I don't know, but it was--
that was really helpful to come and talk to
somebody. There were other things though,
as well.
I think, through the coaching, I
(14:10):
have been able to change
my mindset and
really develop some healthy
emotions around fasting
and eating, and really just
change the language to be more positive.
So, like you said earlier, instead
of 'good or bad', it's 'supportive or
(14:30):
unsupportive'.
So I think that's been really important
for me.
So Melanie was a group coaching
client. I should have mentioned that earlier.
So Melanie, it sounds like just having a
place to come and process
out loud what you did, and
what worked for you, what didn't was helpful.
Is there anything, in terms of
(14:52):
food, and by that I mean specific
food behaviors, a mindset
around food, or specific foods themselves
that were helpful to you?
Yes, absolutely.
So I want to really acknowledge
the mindset around food because
that was huge for me, and I think along
(15:12):
with that is came from me owning
my decisions.
Not to say that owning your decisions means
to beat yourself up because I
have definitely done that, but
really just acknowledging that
when I chose an unsupportive
food, that was a choice.
It was a choice that I made
(15:34):
mindfully and
understood the potential impact
of that, and acknowledged
it and moved on.
I really just didn't hang out
in that space because that
really wasn't-- staying in that
mindset or focusing on
having made a choice where I could have made
(15:55):
different choice, was not helpful.
So it's really owning that choice and
acknowledging it and moving on.
So I would say that was big in
terms of the mindset around food.
Foods themselves, low-carb foods
work for me.
Specifically, I'm finding that
not just low carb, but the higher-fat
(16:16):
foods and the very minimally-carb
foods really are kind of what
work best for me at this time,
and I see the most results
from following that sort of
diet.
And so what generally were you
reaching for that was high in fat?
Chicken thighs, I've eaten a lot of chicken
(16:37):
thighs. [laughs] Eggs,
I would make egg salad, I would make tuna
salad, salmon,
olives.
I had a breakfast that I had, probably,
every eating day for months,
and it was cottage cheese, eggs,
olives, bacon.
It was just kind of like a hodgepodge of
(16:57):
those things in a bowl.
I eat some beef, some steak.
It's not something I eat very often, but I
have steak.
I would have taco bowls
when my-- you know, I'd make tacos for my son
and I would have a taco bowl with avocado.
So foods like that.
I just want to jump in here.
Melanie is an extremely
(17:20):
consistent meal prepper.
And I didn't hear you give yourself credit
for that, but you were really
on it when it came to
making and freezing bulk
meals as well.
And I also-- what you said
about, you know, "I had a breakfast that I
ate for months." I think it's really
(17:41):
helpful for people to find default
meals that they really like
and that make them feel really
good, and really satiated, and energized
because life is busy,
and, when we're stressed out
and we don't have time, it
can become really
easy to just eat
(18:03):
kind of whatever is in front of us.
And so having those default meals
at the ready that you know are going to
work for you is something that I think
you've done exceptionally well.
Yes, that has been a major contributing
factor to the success that I've
had.
I definitely have a high-stress job.
(18:25):
I have-- you know, my personal life
can be a little bit stressful at times.
I find that, even now,
even after the success I've had, making a
supportive decision after a stressful
day is challenging.
So it's definitely in
my best interest and has worked for me to
(18:46):
prevent myself from really having to make
that choice because I've already made it when
I was in a good head space.
Excellent. So, Melanie, I know from working
with you, and you mentioned a few minutes
ago, your son.
And your son does not eat the way
you do, you have different nutritional needs.
So can you tell me how you navigated that?
(19:07):
Yes. So I do try to offer
my son some of the foods that I eat, but
usually he just outright rejects
most of that. [laughs] So I find
that I am successful
meal prepping for myself, and then I
typically will cook his food on
those days that I'm fasting, and
(19:29):
he's eating when I'm not, or
when I am eating differently.
And I know it's not really ideal
to cook two different foods but, in my
case, my meal's already prepped
so I don't really have to cook
that, and then I'm really just making his
food for him.
And so do you ever find yourself being
(19:49):
tempted by whatever you're making for him?
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I definitely do.
I mean, I would-- historically, like
I would make his food-- he is
an American child, so he likes chicken
nuggets and tater tots. [laughs] And
I would just-- you know,
it would be easy for me to just eat a chicken
(20:09):
nugget or a tater tot as I'm preparing
his food.
And that's something that I've consciously
decided not to do in those
situations as much as possible.
I'm not perfect, but I
try to keep what I've decided to do at
the forefront of my mind.
So you decide ahead of time before
you are even exposed to anything you're
(20:31):
making for him.
Yes, and then I might even have some
internal dialog with myself while I'm
cooking, and then I just remind myself of
what I really want.
Yes, your WHY.
Yes.
And so I want to ask you-- I said I would
circle back to this when we started,
you mentioned going out to
social events.
(20:52):
And I know from working with you that you're
still quite social.
It's so interesting because you mentioned
that part of your weight gain, or weight
regain, in 2022 was
due to going out, being really social,
and just kind of
going with the group, you know, whatever
they're having, I'm having.
What, if anything, has changed about
(21:13):
how you interact in a social setting now?
A lot.
Well, it felt like a lot, but I'll say it
actually has minimal impact.
I mean, less impact than I think I was
concerned about before.
But really, I just tell my friends
I have a goal.
That's my kind of go-to saying to
them.
(21:34):
And they seem to understand that.
So I'll say, "Oh, I'm not having a cocktail.
I have a goal that I'm working on." And I
sort of just leave it at that.
They might ask for information and I'll
share, you know.
but that is kind of my default
statement to my friends.
"I have a goal."
And so what were you worried about before
you kind of worked yourself up to
(21:55):
saying that?
Well, I-- okay, it was a
couple of things. Number one, I had the fear
of missing out, for sure.
I mean, that was a big thing.
Number two, I don't think I
expected them to pressure me really,
but I was-- I
think I was a little bit afraid of the
conversation leading to having to answer
questions about fasting, which-- I
(22:18):
love fasting, I know it's good
for me, but having those conversations can
be difficult sometimes with people who don't
fast because they just may
not want to understand or,
really-- you know, they may question
or they may have
their own opinions,
and sometimes that can sort of,
(22:40):
in my experience, kind of impact the
way that I'm thinking or feeling about
something. And so I just try to avoid
the topic.
So you just say, "I have a goal and
I'm not going to have this tonight."
Yes, and they've been really supportive.
That's amazing.
Yes.
Yeah, those are true friends.
You know, when they say, "Oh great, you have
(23:00):
a goal? Cool." We'll just accept that and
move on. That's lovely.
Well, thank you for coming on the
podcast today, Melanie, and it's been so
wonderful working with you, and so much fun
to watch just how
consistent you've been and how passionate
you've been about your own transformation.
(23:20):
So thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
I appreciate it.
All right, all, until next time.
Before we get started with today's
episode I would like to quickly read
you our podcast disclaimer.
This podcast is for educational purposes
only and it is not to
substitute for professional care by a
doctor or other qualified medical
professional.
You should always speak with your physician
(00:27):
or other healthcare professionals before
doing any fasting, changing
your diet in any way, taking or
adjusting any medications or supplements,
or adopting any treatment planned for
a health problem.
The use of any other products or
services purchased by you as a result
(00:47):
of this podcast does not create
a healthcare provider-patient
relationship between you and
any of the experts affiliated with
this podcast.
Any information and statements
regarding dietary supplements have
not been evaluated by the Food and
Drug Administration and are not
(01:08):
intended to diagnose, treat,
cure, or prevent any disease.
Alright, and now we'll get started with
today's episode.
Hi everyone, this is Coach Bethany.
I'm back with another episode of
The Fasting Method podcast and we have a very
special episode today with
(01:29):
one of our members and a coaching client
of mine named Melanie.
I want to talk to Melanie today because she's
experienced great success at
The Fasting Method and, hopefully, learning
about her story is helpful to others.
So welcome, Melanie.
Thank you, Bethany, thank you for having me.
So, Melanie, I would love to hear how
(01:49):
you got into fasting.
Okay, so I had
come across Dr.
Fung's work probably about,
I wanna say like seven or eight years
ago. I cannot recall
where I first heard of him,
but I came across his work and it
really just piqued my interest.
(02:10):
And so probably in maybe
2016, 2017, I started
sort of dabbling in fasting.
I would try skipping a
meal here and there, and then
I just kept learning more.
I would say probably
in 2021 is really where
(02:31):
I said to myself, "Okay, well, I want to
really take this to the next level and see
what I can achieve." And so,
at that time, I
started-- I think that's maybe when I got
his book, The Obesity Code, and
I also just started reading more
and really educating myself and also putting
it into practice.
(02:51):
So that's when I started trying
alternate-day fasting and
doing things like that.
And so what made you interested
in fasting at all?
What was your primary goal at the time?
Let's go back to 2016, 2017,
when you became aware of Dr. Fung and his
work.
My primary goal was weight loss, to be
(03:12):
pretty straightforward.
It's something that I have
always-- I don't want to use the word
'struggle' because I think that kind of
carries a negative connotation, but, pretty
much my entire life since
prior to adolescence, I
was always one of the bigger girls amongst
my peers.
And so body image and weight and
(03:33):
all of that has always been a focus
of mine, I would say.
And so that was really my main goal when
I first started fasting.
And what had you tried prior to
fasting to lose weight, if anything?
I [laughs] tried counting
calories, counting macros,
exercising.
(03:54):
Actually, 11 years ago, I had
gastric sleeve weight-loss surgery
and that actually was very
successful.
I had lost-- all in all, in that experience,
I lost 120 pounds.
I gained about half of it back
by 2017
when I was starting to look at fasting.
(04:16):
So really just your typical methods
of weight loss, I guess - just counting
macros and exercise.
And then, I guess, weight-loss surgery is not
typical, but I also tried that.
Got it. And so you became aware of fasting
and its benefits and
realized it could be a possible solution for
(04:36):
weight loss in 2016, 2017,
began implementing some of what you
had read in Dr. Fung's book in 2021.
And you and I, Melanie, started working
together in 2024.
So can you tell me a bit about what
2021 to 2024 looked like for
you?
Yes. So in 2021, when I started
(04:56):
implementing some of the longer fasts,
I had some success that year
and I lost about 40 pounds during
that year.
So rolling into 2022, I was
feeling very good about myself and
good about the success I had.
Around the time that it started getting sort
of in the warmer months, I had lost weight,
(05:19):
I was wearing shorts for the first time in
several years, my social calendar
filled up, and, you know, I was
drinking and eating a lot more with my
friends, and so I ended up gaining
a lot of the weight back, maybe
even all of it. If I think back,
I think I may have gained all of it that I
had lost.
You know, that's such a common
(05:41):
thing that I hear, that people are
able to hit their goal and have a lot of
trouble with maintenance.
So you had fasted in 2021
and part of 2022.
It sounds like (and I know this from our work
together) you were following, during
that time, mostly a low-carb, high-fat
way of eating.
(06:02):
And then, in 2022,
during the summer months, tell me
what your fasting schedule looked like, if
any, and also kind of how
your eating changed.
Sure. So my fasting schedule
probably was a little more limited.
So during the summer months, I was fasting a
lot less. There was still some fasting,
(06:24):
but it was probably more like
maybe once a week or so.
I will say that I was drinking a lot more
alcohol, which I think has
a huge impact (at least for me)
on weight loss and my ability to
be successful or to make progress.
So I was definitely drinking alcohol
and even some of your higher-carb
(06:46):
alcohol, like beer, things like
that. And I was
eating-- my eating was
just-- like, it was basically whatever
I wanted. I mean, I was out
with friends all the time and it was just
whatever the group was doing, you know, so
that's how I ate.
Okay, excellent.
I wanna return to that, but then I wanna
(07:07):
hear what brought you to
The Fasting Method and coaching in 2024.
Okay, so in 2024--
at this point, I had gained a lot of my
weight back in 2022.
Probably, at this point, I had gained it all
back and maybe even then some.
I
went on a trip to Tennessee with
(07:28):
my family, and I decided
that when I got back home that I
would start to change my
diet. So I did that and I
made the choice to limit alcohol, which
is what it started with, because I was able
to see that that probably had the most impact
on my health at the time.
So I started with that and then, as I
(07:50):
made a little bit of progress there, I
was able to
reflect and recognize that
I would need a little bit of support.
It was not coming as-- the fasting,
I mean, was not coming as easily for
me as it did in 2021.
And if I think back,
(08:11):
there was a lot of mental
tug of war going on there, and
so I signed up for
coaching because I really needed some
help to sort of sort out my
thoughts and my feelings really about
the whole process.
And what was the conflict,
if you don't mind me asking?
(08:33):
Um, oh gosh, well, I think that
it's-- well,
one thing I think many of us can
relate to is the
'good or bad' mentality.
And so having like a one-off
day really would have
a bigger impact on my mental
(08:54):
frame at that time, or my
emotional state of being at that time.
So, I think that was primarily,
at that time, probably the biggest struggle
for me. I just wasn't as--
I think my motivation wasn't up to
where it was prior to that, but I think I
was motivated before that because I
was in the right mindset.
(09:15):
Yeah, you know what you said about the 'good
or bad' mentality (you know, certain
foods are good or bad, or
certain behaviors around foods are
good or bad), I've seen that be
really detrimental for people, and,
more often than not-- and this is just my
anecdotal experience as a coach.
More often than that, what that can lead to
(09:38):
is sort of the equivalent of,
you know, if you're drinking a cup of coffee
in the morning and you accidentally
spill a little bit on your sweater,
and then you just think, "Oh, well, my
sweater's dirty now," so you just pour the
cup of coffee all over your head.
It's sort of like that's what people can do
with eating when they think, "Oh no,
I've ruined it." And the truth
(10:00):
is, no foods are
good or bad, and no food behaviors
are good or bad.
They're just probably more or less supportive
for you, given your goals.
And the idea of 'perfect',
quote-unquote, eating behavior, or perfect
foods, or even clean foods I
think can really mess with people's heads,
(10:21):
and it sounds like it was creating a lot of
mental noise for you.
So when you came to
The Fasting Method in 2024 you
wanted to lose weight.
What was your WHY at the time?
Well, I feel better
when I am--
(10:41):
I don't want to say when I weigh less because
it's not really about weight, but when
I'm able to move more, when I have more
energy. I guess what I mean to say
is the impact of the fat loss,
how my body feels, and how I feel
mentally and emotionally in that state is
really what I was seeking because,
when I had lost the 40 pounds in 2021,
(11:04):
I really felt so good about myself.
So I just wanted to feel that
again and not mess it
up. [laughter]
I know the feeling.
Okay, so now I want to get into
what I bet everyone is
curious about.
Since starting at The Fasting Method, you,
(11:25):
now, since 2024,
you've lost how much weight, Melanie?
I have lost, since I started
coaching with you, I've lost 61
pounds I believe.
Amazing.
And now I bet people want to hear, okay,
what did you do?
So let's talk about that.
What worked for you?
(11:45):
Well, I found alternate-day fasting is
really-- that is my fasting protocol, that
works well for me.
It's really nice because I
can tell myself-- if I feel
hungry, I can say, "Oh I'll eat tomorrow.
I can eat tomorrow, it's all good." So
it's easy, in that light, to
know that it's just tomorrow I'm going to
(12:05):
eat. With that being said, I don't really
get hungry when I
am consistently fasting and doing the
alternate-day fast.
Typically, I don't get hungry at all
and they're pretty easy for me.
So for those listening who might not know,
an alternate-day fast is when you
fast for an entire calendar day.
(12:26):
So let's take an example.
If you ate dinner on Sunday evening,
you would fast for
the rest of that evening, you would fast
all day Monday, and you would wake up
on Tuesday and either eat breakfast or maybe
wait until lunch.
And that was the majority of what Melanie
did, was some 42-hour
(12:46):
fasts.
And I think, Melanie, you did a mix, if
I recall, of two
or three 42s, and then you would also
just do what we call rolling,
alternate-day fasting, where you would truly
just eat every other day.
Yes, I would say for the majority of
my weight loss, I did three
(13:07):
fasts per week.
So maybe not eating Monday, Wednesday,
Friday, but, most recently,
I have started to
implement a rolling-42 schedule where
I'm just eating every other day.
And so now I bet people are
thinking, "That's really impressive.
I wish I could do that." What helped
you be that consistent?
(13:29):
Okay, number one, the coaching was really
important for me because to
come and even just verbalize
what I'm doing,
whether it's working or not,
and really just having that conversation with
somebody allows me to keep it
in perspective, allows me to keep everything
(13:50):
in perspective. So if it's left up to
me [laughs], I might, you know,
spiral into negative thinking if I've not
done something that I felt I should have
done, or-- I don't know, but it was--
that was really helpful to come and talk to
somebody. There were other things though,
as well.
I think, through the coaching, I
(14:10):
have been able to change
my mindset and
really develop some healthy
emotions around fasting
and eating, and really just
change the language to be more positive.
So, like you said earlier, instead
of 'good or bad', it's 'supportive or
(14:30):
unsupportive'.
So I think that's been really important
for me.
So Melanie was a group coaching
client. I should have mentioned that earlier.
So Melanie, it sounds like just having a
place to come and process
out loud what you did, and
what worked for you, what didn't was helpful.
Is there anything, in terms of
(14:52):
food, and by that I mean specific
food behaviors, a mindset
around food, or specific foods themselves
that were helpful to you?
Yes, absolutely.
So I want to really acknowledge
the mindset around food because
that was huge for me, and I think along
(15:12):
with that is came from me owning
my decisions.
Not to say that owning your decisions means
to beat yourself up because I
have definitely done that, but
really just acknowledging that
when I chose an unsupportive
food, that was a choice.
It was a choice that I made
(15:34):
mindfully and
understood the potential impact
of that, and acknowledged
it and moved on.
I really just didn't hang out
in that space because that
really wasn't-- staying in that
mindset or focusing on
having made a choice where I could have made
(15:55):
different choice, was not helpful.
So it's really owning that choice and
acknowledging it and moving on.
So I would say that was big in
terms of the mindset around food.
Foods themselves, low-carb foods
work for me.
Specifically, I'm finding that
not just low carb, but the higher-fat
(16:16):
foods and the very minimally-carb
foods really are kind of what
work best for me at this time,
and I see the most results
from following that sort of
diet.
And so what generally were you
reaching for that was high in fat?
Chicken thighs, I've eaten a lot of chicken
(16:37):
thighs. [laughs] Eggs,
I would make egg salad, I would make tuna
salad, salmon,
olives.
I had a breakfast that I had, probably,
every eating day for months,
and it was cottage cheese, eggs,
olives, bacon.
It was just kind of like a hodgepodge of
(16:57):
those things in a bowl.
I eat some beef, some steak.
It's not something I eat very often, but I
have steak.
I would have taco bowls
when my-- you know, I'd make tacos for my son
and I would have a taco bowl with avocado.
So foods like that.
I just want to jump in here.
Melanie is an extremely
(17:20):
consistent meal prepper.
And I didn't hear you give yourself credit
for that, but you were really
on it when it came to
making and freezing bulk
meals as well.
And I also-- what you said
about, you know, "I had a breakfast that I
ate for months." I think it's really
(17:41):
helpful for people to find default
meals that they really like
and that make them feel really
good, and really satiated, and energized
because life is busy,
and, when we're stressed out
and we don't have time, it
can become really
easy to just eat
(18:03):
kind of whatever is in front of us.
And so having those default meals
at the ready that you know are going to
work for you is something that I think
you've done exceptionally well.
Yes, that has been a major contributing
factor to the success that I've
had.
I definitely have a high-stress job.
(18:25):
I have-- you know, my personal life
can be a little bit stressful at times.
I find that, even now,
even after the success I've had, making a
supportive decision after a stressful
day is challenging.
So it's definitely in
my best interest and has worked for me to
(18:46):
prevent myself from really having to make
that choice because I've already made it when
I was in a good head space.
Excellent. So, Melanie, I know from working
with you, and you mentioned a few minutes
ago, your son.
And your son does not eat the way
you do, you have different nutritional needs.
So can you tell me how you navigated that?
(19:07):
Yes. So I do try to offer
my son some of the foods that I eat, but
usually he just outright rejects
most of that. [laughs] So I find
that I am successful
meal prepping for myself, and then I
typically will cook his food on
those days that I'm fasting, and
(19:29):
he's eating when I'm not, or
when I am eating differently.
And I know it's not really ideal
to cook two different foods but, in my
case, my meal's already prepped
so I don't really have to cook
that, and then I'm really just making his
food for him.
And so do you ever find yourself being
(19:49):
tempted by whatever you're making for him?
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I definitely do.
I mean, I would-- historically, like
I would make his food-- he is
an American child, so he likes chicken
nuggets and tater tots. [laughs] And
I would just-- you know,
it would be easy for me to just eat a chicken
(20:09):
nugget or a tater tot as I'm preparing
his food.
And that's something that I've consciously
decided not to do in those
situations as much as possible.
I'm not perfect, but I
try to keep what I've decided to do at
the forefront of my mind.
So you decide ahead of time before
you are even exposed to anything you're
(20:31):
making for him.
Yes, and then I might even have some
internal dialog with myself while I'm
cooking, and then I just remind myself of
what I really want.
Yes, your WHY.
Yes.
And so I want to ask you-- I said I would
circle back to this when we started,
you mentioned going out to
social events.
(20:52):
And I know from working with you that you're
still quite social.
It's so interesting because you mentioned
that part of your weight gain, or weight
regain, in 2022 was
due to going out, being really social,
and just kind of
going with the group, you know, whatever
they're having, I'm having.
What, if anything, has changed about
(21:13):
how you interact in a social setting now?
A lot.
Well, it felt like a lot, but I'll say it
actually has minimal impact.
I mean, less impact than I think I was
concerned about before.
But really, I just tell my friends
I have a goal.
That's my kind of go-to saying to
them.
(21:34):
And they seem to understand that.
So I'll say, "Oh, I'm not having a cocktail.
I have a goal that I'm working on." And I
sort of just leave it at that.
They might ask for information and I'll
share, you know.
but that is kind of my default
statement to my friends.
"I have a goal."
And so what were you worried about before
you kind of worked yourself up to
(21:55):
saying that?
Well, I-- okay, it was a
couple of things. Number one, I had the fear
of missing out, for sure.
I mean, that was a big thing.
Number two, I don't think I
expected them to pressure me really,
but I was-- I
think I was a little bit afraid of the
conversation leading to having to answer
questions about fasting, which-- I
(22:18):
love fasting, I know it's good
for me, but having those conversations can
be difficult sometimes with people who don't
fast because they just may
not want to understand or,
really-- you know, they may question
or they may have
their own opinions,
and sometimes that can sort of,
(22:40):
in my experience, kind of impact the
way that I'm thinking or feeling about
something. And so I just try to avoid
the topic.
So you just say, "I have a goal and
I'm not going to have this tonight."
Yes, and they've been really supportive.
That's amazing.
Yes.
Yeah, those are true friends.
You know, when they say, "Oh great, you have
(23:00):
a goal? Cool." We'll just accept that and
move on. That's lovely.
Well, thank you for coming on the
podcast today, Melanie, and it's been so
wonderful working with you, and so much fun
to watch just how
consistent you've been and how passionate
you've been about your own transformation.
(23:20):
So thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
I appreciate it.
All right, all, until next time.
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