January 21, 2025 • 31 mins
Episode #188
In this week's episode, Terri is joined by TFM Community member, Sooz, who shares her amazing health journey transformation.
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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 a 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 plan
for a health problem.
The use of any other products or
services purchased by you as a result
of this podcast does not create
(00:50):
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 intended
to diagnose, treat, cure, or
(01:11):
prevent any disease.
All right. And now we'll get started with
today's episode.
Welcome back to another episode of The
Fasting Method podcast.
This is Coach Terri Lance and I'm very excited
about this episode because I know how much
people love transformation episodes
and I think this one is going to be a great
(01:32):
one. So I'm very fortunate to have
with me today, Sooz.
Those of you who are in the Community
probably recognize Sooz
from lots of meetings and things.
But I'm really excited because,
even though, Sooz, I get to see you
a lot in meetings, I don't
(01:52):
know a lot about your story.
And so I'm so excited to get to hear more
about you.
So how are you doing today?
I'm doing well, Terri.
Thank you so much for inviting me to your
podcast.
Absolutely.
All right. So tell us
a little bit-- you know, where did this
all begin? I know it's like, "Once
upon a time, in a land far, far away,"
(02:14):
but, kind of, where did your health journey
begin? Where did you start to see that you
needed to do some things differently?
Yeah. Well, so I have had type
two diabetes for quite some time.
Going back to 2006, I was in my early
30s and, you know, I
didn't really know what I didn't know.
(02:34):
Like, there's that saying, "You don't know
what you don't know." I'm going to fast
forward a bunch of years. So that was 2006.
March of 2023,
I was talking to a friend and they asked me if
I'd ever read any of Jason Fung's books, Dr.
Jason Fung.
And I'm like, "Who's Dr. Jason Fung?" I had
never heard of the guy.
A friend recommended that I read the book,
(02:55):
The Diabetes Code.
And I decided, sure, I'll read the book.
I actually listened to the audiobook.
Wow deluxe!
I was both happy and
also frustrated, frankly, because so
many years where I could have made some
changes - lifestyle,
self-care, nutrition -
(03:16):
I just truly didn't know.
I didn't know. For whatever reason, my doctors
were tuned into a different approach.
At that point, March of 2023, I
was on two types of insulin.
I took insulin before meals and
I took insulin at night before I went to
sleep. I was also on metformin.
I've always been overweight.
(03:37):
I've been overweight pretty much my entire
life since, probably, I was ten, 12
at least. And it was really interesting
reading that book. It did-- like I said-- I'm
going to probably say it changed my life a
million times during this discussion, but it
really did change my life.
So March of 2023, I read
the book and then I started, I'd say, dabbling
(03:57):
with intermittent fasting.
I hadn't yet found The Fasting Method
Community. Somehow I had not
yet really gone to the website.
So I did figure out that, oh,
I should do TRE for a while (time-restricted
eating) because I'm on insulin,
and I shouldn't do extended fasting or fasting
more than 14, 16 hours while
I'm still on insulin.
(04:18):
So my project, my first project, was
time-restricted eating, no snacking,
healthier foods, get off the insulin.
So that was basically June
of 2023 through the end of December.
Then, in January,
my A1C got to a low enough point
(04:38):
that my endocrinologist agreed
that I no longer needed to be on insulin.
Woohoo!
Cheers to that!
Yeah.
Yes! I was taking Mounjaro
during that time. I started taking Mounjaro in
November of 2023.
So, as I was about to get off insulin, I
was still taking Mounjaro.
(04:59):
When I got off the insulin in January of 2024,
I said to my endocrinologist, "Hey,
I'm off insulin.
I don't know if I need to be Mounjaro.
I feel like the fasting, the time-restricted
eating, the real, whole foods, no
eating past 7:30.
These things seem to be helping me and
I don't know if I need Mounjaro." Her response
(05:19):
was, "Well, I think you're going to be on it
the rest of your life." And that gave me some
pause.
And in some ways it felt like a challenge,
like, oh! Oh really?
I will need to be on this the rest of my life.
Let's find out.
Let's see.
At that point, January 2024, I started
doing some longer, slightly longer,
fasts. Like, I did a few 24-hour fasts,
(05:41):
then I made my way to 42-hour
fasts.
I did five weeks of alternate-day
fasting of 42 hours,
and now I'm going to do a little more fast
forwarding. June 6th
of 2024, my
A1C was 5.1.
Wow!
Let's see. I have a note here.
My A1C was 10.6 on
(06:02):
January 17th, 2021.
On June 6th of 2024, it
was 5.1.
And I had a meeting with my endocrinologist
and I said, "Hey, about that needing
to take Mounjaro the rest of my life.
What do you think?" I actually thought I was
losing too much weight because
I was doing all the lifestyle, food,
(06:24):
self-care, nutrition changes
on top of taking Mounjaro.
And, you know, I respect everyone
in their choices and what we all need to do to
take care of ourselves.
I can only speak for myself, but
I didn't need it.
Now, 100%, it helped with my appetite
concerns.
(06:44):
When I got off Mounjaro, 100%, on June
6th, those next few months were not easy.
No joke. They were not easy.
But I feel that because of-- now
I'm going to sound like a little bit of a
commercial, but this is not a paid
endorsement.
If it wasn't for The Fasting Method coaches
and Community, it would not have been--
it would have been much harder because I'm
(07:06):
really good at starting things, but
seeing something through for months and months
(and now it's been a year and a half), that's
just unreal for me.
That just doesn't happen.
So I feel like having the Community
and the resources and all of that
was just huge.
So, Sooz, I know that some of our listeners
will understand just
(07:27):
how significant that was,
what you just described.
Hopefully, many people in our community
know that, by and large,
not just in the U.S.
but in many countries, type two
diabetes is thought of as progressive
and chronic, you're never going to change
it, and it's only going to get worse.
(07:48):
But what you just described is that, over
about a three and a half year period of time,
you brought it down into a healthy range
that most medical folks
wouldn't believe would be possible
based on some of the lifestyle
changes you made, that they might
not understand the power of that.
(08:09):
So I hope that all listeners
really hear how significant that was.
It wasn't because we added six more types
of medication.
Actually, in that process, you were getting
rid of medications, you know, by
working with your medical team.
I'm curious to hear a little bit about
what other things were you noticing
(08:31):
during that time as you were bringing
your HbA1C down
so much and as your body
was changing. What kinds of things did you
notice?
The side effect of taking better care of
myself was that I have lost a lot of weight.
I'm not at what you would call the
'maintenance and beyond' stage.
(08:52):
I'm not quite there. I've kind of got like 30
to 40 pounds to go, if we're talking about
weight. I mean, I'm trying to consider other
health factors more than the weight, but we
all understand weight, so it's sometimes just
like a shortcut to talking about our success
with our health, but, yeah, I mean, I feel
like it helped my self-care, mental
health. I was eating better.
(09:12):
I was feeling better.
I did not know when I was-- you know,
back when I had that 10.6%
A1C, I didn't actually
know how bad I felt.
Now, if I decide to
eat something that is not my food,
I'll feel some pain
in my feet, in my legs.
(09:34):
And I've thought about this.
Wow, that was my normal
three and a half, four-plus years ago.
And I just didn't know.
I didn't know because that
was just life, and I thought whatever
I was feeling was just how I felt.
And now that I'm taking better care of myself,
if I ever go off plan a little bit,
(09:54):
it really is pretty remarkable
how I can literally feel it.
If I eat something that is truly
not my food, it will manifest
fairly quickly for me.
I mean, I know that doesn't happen for
everyone. I think some people feel things,
some people don't, but now I have physical
reactions to things that I just didn't notice
(10:15):
before.
You know, as I'm listening to you describe
that, I'm thinking of my
experience with this, and so many people
in our community, and clients that I've worked
with. So I'm curious, for you,
what do you notice about, when you do
make some choices that maybe are off
your normal plan, what's it
(10:35):
like getting back on your plan
again? What's that process like for you now?
It's definitely evolving and it's getting less
and less, I feel, where I have
to get back on it.
Let's see. During fall of 2024,
I reached my lowest weight since, probably,
high school.
(10:55):
I'm 51 years old, so that was a while ago.
And then I was dealing with some life
stuff, we've all got life stuff,
and I gained quite
a bit of weight; I gained 17 pounds.
And I've gained 5 pounds here, maybe even 10
pounds. Then I'd lose it, then I'd keep losing
more, you know, I'd get back on it.
But that 17 was wild.
(11:16):
I was like, "Oh, this is
not what I'm really going
for here." And I just leaned into
doing the work - TRE,
extended fasting, fat fasting,
movement, exercise,
water with electrolytes.
I didn't even know-- before I joined TFM
(11:37):
(The Fasting Method), I didn't know that
hydration was more than water.
I feel a little bit ignorant saying that out
loud, but, yes, indeed, I thought hydration
was just water.
And also January of 2024,
I had alcohol for the last time.
I just decided to take that out.
And I like my cocktails, but there's no more
Soozle in my life.
(11:58):
That's my cocktail that I named after myself!
It also sounds like you like
not being on complicated
medications, you like not
having pain in your joints and
in your body, that there
are payoffs
for making some of those decisions of letting
go of some difficult things for us.
(12:20):
Yeah. And I basically decided that I need to
be all in for the rest of my life.
Like this is-- you know, my mom died
when she was quite young; she was in her
mid-50s.
And I'm approaching my
mid-50s and would like
to keep going.
You know, I do wish that-- everything I've
learned in the past year and a half, I wish
(12:41):
she had that information and knowledge,
but she didn't.
So I'm trying to
live my life as best
I can now with the information I have,
better self-care approach,
and just, you know, see where I can take
this.
I'm curious if, as you talked about,
(13:03):
when you make some decisions differently now,
you can feel it differently.
You can feel joint pain, or pain,
and inflammation and things.
I'm curious if you've noticed any other
changes.
For example, for me, before
I learned about eating better and doing
fasting, I was having a fair
bit of neuropathy pain
(13:24):
in my upper thighs,
and I don't have that anymore.
Again, I thought for sure this meant I'm going
to have this pain forever, and
I read about what comes next.
And what comes next is, eventually,
amputations and things, and it really scared
me. So I'm curious
(13:46):
if you've had any other physiological
changes along the way.
Yeah, the neuropathy is the pain that I was
describing, but that's a good point too.
It it was literally neuropathy, I'm pretty
sure.
On the positive side of the change--
I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea.
I've had that for a long time, but the more
recent test I had that confirmed severe
(14:08):
sleep apnea was sometime in 2020.
Well, after all this weight loss and all the
health transformation I've made, I reached
out to a sleep specialist doctor
and asked if I could have a new sleep test
because I was like, "Hey, I don't know.
Like, I doubt that I still have severe sleep
apnea." And, hey, guess what?
I have mild sleep apnea.
(14:29):
Nice.
And I might not have to use the CPAP machine
forever, which also is amazing.
So that was like a positive thing that's
happened as a result of just
trying to stay the course and do the thing.
I have now kind of pivoted to 'foods
that are not my foods are basically poison'.
(14:50):
I just try to reframe.
Like, "Well, sure, I suppose I could have that
poison, but why would I want to do that"?
So, I mean, I think most of my life,
if not all of my life, I've looked to food
as my companion and for comfort.
And that's good times and bad times.
And I'm trying to find different
(15:10):
friends, friends other than food.
I will always love food.
Food is awesome, we need it to survive.
I just want to change
my approach to how I interact with food,
and I think I've made some progress with that.
As I mentioned in the beginning, one of the
reasons that I was excited
about getting to talk to you today is
(15:31):
because you attend a lot
of meetings, I see you on the screen
often, so I know you're actively
digging in and working on things.
And you know, and many people here who
are in the Community know, that my
groups tend to be a little more focused on
mindset, behavior,
and emotions.
(15:52):
And so that's where I get to see you the most,
in those topics.
I'm curious if you could talk
at all about what this journey has
been like for you in those areas,
what you've worked on in the mindset category,
or behavior change, or emotionally.
After I read Dr. Fung's book, The Diabetes
(16:12):
Code, I realized that
the knowledge is great and it's helpful to
know what really is possible,
but, without self care, it doesn't matter.
Like, I'm smart, I can figure stuff out.
I can read a lot of books, listen to a lot of
audiobooks, do this, do that,
but it really doesn't matter if I don't care
about myself, if I don't truly care about
(16:34):
myself. And I think that I've always felt
like, "Oh, if I have self confidence and I
care about myself," somehow that's,
"Oh, I have an ego, I'm egotistical," and
that's not it at all.
Like, we have to care about ourselves first.
It's like putting your own oxygen mask
on. So I think that that's something
that I've kind of made my way
to getting better at, and I feel
(16:55):
like I had to start with caring about
myself before I could put in the work
with-- I see it as like, you know, I'm a--
part of my work is project manager.
Anyone can learn the technical
aspect or the skills
of a project manager, like scheduling
meetings, doing planning, timelines,
doing this-- schedule-- you know, doing all
(17:17):
the things that are a part of being a project
manager, but it's the soft skills that
make me an awesome project manager.
Like, you know, my relationship building, and
the things that you cannot really teach
someone. And I feel like that is
what I needed to lean into first
while I was doing TRE and trying
to-- you know, working to get off insulin, I
(17:38):
had to tune into this self-care
stuff because otherwise this will not last.
It just won't.
I've been on a bazillion diets.
When I was a kid (I think I was 14), my mom
took me to Weight Watchers meetings and we had
the weigh ins. That was in the 80s, 1980s.
Like, I've been on all kinds of diets.
I approach this as a lifestyle change.
(18:00):
It's permanent and
it's changed my life.
So cheers to that.
I love that you just highlighted
that necessary step of caring
enough about yourself because
you've used this term a couple of times today.
It's work.
You have to do the work.
And it's really hard to do the work
(18:23):
that's not what everyone else
would have you do.
All of your friends, family, whatever,
they're not like, "Oh, my gosh, you should
just fast some more." They're like, "Why are
you doing that? That's insane.
What do you mean you're not going to eat this?
Oh, just eat some of it." So it
is actually requiring you to
go against the norm and do the
(18:44):
hard work.
And it's really hard, like you said, to ask
ourselves to do that if we don't
care enough about ourselves.
There's not a good payoff, it's unnecessary.
And so I love that you emphasized that
part of the transformation.
Even before you came off medication
(19:04):
and before you lost a significant amount of
weight, you had to start caring about
you.
Absolutely. And one of my-- I don't
know a better way to say it, but one of my
mantras is the number 79.
A couple of months ago, that was my
blood glucose number when I checked in
the morning.
When I got up-- I had three meals the day
(19:25):
before and the next morning
my blood sugar was 79.
That's really good.
That's really, really, really good.
So now-- and it doesn't have to be-- I like to
be under 100 when I wake up, but
79? Sign me up!
So whenever I'm thinking like, "Oh, I want
to have that thing that I don't really eat
anymore, but I really want that thing,"
(19:47):
I just say to myself, "79 Sooz,
79." And that
doesn't always, you know, wipe away the
difficulty of saying no to the thing, but,
I don't know, it's some perspective of like,
"No, I can do this." It's not always easy,
and, you know, the food, the industrial-food
world we live in, certainly, does not make
(20:07):
it easy for us to make good choices.
They do not give us the best food
that we could have.
We have to really make the effort to eat well,
but it's worth it.
And, yeah, cheers to 79!
I love that because it's really one of those
examples of eating that
food, whatever it is-- and I'm not
saying this works every time, like you said,
(20:28):
but eating that food, how I'm going
to feel eating that food, doesn't feel
as good as 79
feels.
Like, you've really been able to hone in
on that WHY and how valuable
that is to you.
Absolutely.
That's fantastic.
All right. So I'm always curious, when someone
comes in and shares their story with
(20:51):
me, to ask about
helping other people in their journey
who might be earlier on in their
journey, who might read
the book and think, "Oh my gosh, that sounds
too hard," or maybe they join
the Community and they they get scared,
what would you do with where
(21:11):
you are now in your journey?
What would you want to have
known in the beginning of your journey?
What advice do you have for you at that
stage?
I think I would like to have known
to lean into the mindfulness aspect.
You know, I didn't know what box breathing was
until I joined TFM, The Fasting Method
(21:31):
Community.
I feel a little silly saying that as well,
that I didn't know, but there's just-- I mean,
we're breathing all the time, right?
I can do box breathing literally any
time, and it does work.
Like, I have a smartwatch and I'll
look at my heart rate on my smartwatch
before I start, especially if I'm a little
agitated or something's going on and I need
to relax a little bit.
(21:52):
I'll look at my watch, I'll see the number,
the heart-rate number, I'll do some box
breathing, I'll look at my watch again, and it
has gone down.
It has, legit, gone down.
So I think just tuning into--
I guess it's really just a lot of just tuning
into the self-care.
I figured that out a year and a half ago.
What I really would have liked to have figured
(22:14):
that out is 20 years ago.
Back in 2006, which is more than 20
years at this point-- I think-- I'm not going
to do the math. Whenever 2006 was,
I wish I had known that
'I'm worth it and, yes, I'm going
to tune into my self-care' because that
makes everything else easy.
Like your mindset and healthy habits
(22:34):
meetings-- lately, I haven't been able to go
to a lot of other meetings, but I try to at
least go to yours. It's easier-- the time of
day is often easier for me, and
just-- you know, there was a recent meeting
and someone talked about how they're really
good at doing something when it's
about their survival.
And that really shook me.
(22:55):
That person sharing that
has made it easier, in a way, for
me-- I'm trying to see if I can go--
like, how many days can I go without--
basically staying on track?
And that statement really was just
wild. I'm like, "OMG!
Yes, that is what I've been doing my whole
life." I will do the work if it's about
(23:16):
survival, but we need
to do more than just survive.
So that, I found, you know, just having--
I've just been leaning into that a lot.
And also that idea that it's not just when
we're in crisis mode, that the more
proactive we are with that self
care that you're describing, the
less likely we wind up in those
(23:38):
more crisis moments with our health
and things. So that's really a powerful
piece of feedback.
Yeah, I have real health stuff that I don't
want to get off course anymore.
I mean, there are things that I can't reverse.
I have diabetic retinopathy in my left eye
(I think it's technically in both, but it was
really bad in my left eye.), but
(23:59):
I am kind of curious- like, well, they said
that I couldn't reverse type two diabetes--
I mean, I guess I haven't officially reversed
it per se, but I've got my A1C really
low. My A1C is lower than two of
my doctors', so I'm just kind of
curious, like, well, what
else can I turn around, or at least
stop from progressing further?
(24:20):
That's the other thing. Like, I look at all of
this as an experiment, and that helps
keep me motivated.
I don't know if it's because I'm a nerd (I
like experiments), but I view
everything I'm working on is just
part of an experiment.
Like, okay, let's see if I can
go a month without snacking.
Let's see if I can do X
(24:42):
weeks, months of
not eating past 7:30.
And then it just snowballs and accumulates.
And it's a good snowball.
Like, oh, I did that for a month.
Why don't I just keep going?
You know, think about whoever created
the Apple Watch, or any
kind of tracker of steps,
(25:03):
that, like, revolutionized people's motivation
for movement.
Yeah. And I think someone just made up the
10K. I don't feel like that was really--
and I'm not speaking from fact.
I probably could research that, but I feel
like the 10,000 steps, while it's good,
it's like five ish miles for me, based
on my step, the way I walk.
(25:24):
Five miles is fantastic, but I think it was
just like a number that somebody like in a
marketing department possibly made up.
But I could be wrong, so maybe I shouldn't be
saying that.
And the movement piece of it is also crucial.
When I started exercising,
the fall of 2023, was I
really decided, okay-- I had an exercise
bike, right, that I bought in the early days
(25:44):
of the pandemic in 2020, indoor
exercise bike.
It turned into the cliché - clothes
were on it, stuff was on it.
I was like, "Oh, did that really happen?
Yes, that happened." Then, November of 2023,
I decided, "All right, I've got
to start using this exercise bike.
I have no excuse.
Yes, I live in Boston area.
(26:06):
Yes, it gets really cold in the winter.
It's inside.
No excuse." I started
using it for five minutes.
I could barely go five minutes.
And then, six months later, I was using it for
45 minutes.
So the daily movement is also a part
of it that I feel is really important.
It doesn't have to be 45 minutes on a bike,
(26:27):
but just having some, like, stretching,
bike, or walking.
I think that's really been helpful too, and
that helps my mood and it also helps with
the hunger, I feel.
Like, just being active and exercising,
that's been really, really helpful.
And it helps with your insulin sensitivity,
which you've changed so significantly
(26:49):
in this journey.
I like that you look at it as an experiment
and you seem to be someone who's
motivated by taking on a challenge.
"Well, let's see what I can do in 30
days. Let's see if I can do this." I think
that's great that that drives you and
pushes you to try things.
I love it.
You know, one of the things I'm aware of as
(27:10):
I've been listening to you as we've been
talking, is it really feels to
me like you've tackled this
as a lifestyle change,
a 'turning the ship around
and going on a different course'.
I'm curious, just in your experience, in your
own life and in listening to others,
(27:31):
any thoughts that you want to share
as we close our discussion today
about the long-term nature
of this journey?
It really is a lifestyle change.
In order for this to be lasting, in order for
me not to have to go back on my diabetes
medicine, or have even
other serious complications,
(27:51):
it really does require staying the course,
and doing the thing, and leaning
into the hard.
It's really important to just stay focused
and keep going.
I don't look at food now
as comfort.
I don't use language like 'cheat days'
or, you know, some of the other language that
we often use.
(28:13):
It's a different state of mind.
It's a different approach.
And I'm not on a diet for like six months
or a year and then I'm going to go back
to whatever I was doing before,
this is a new way
for me to take care of myself.
And not being on the medicines
and not having-- it's such a change
(28:34):
and I don't want to go back to how it was,
but that is dependent on my self-care
because I've got to care about myself, like
I've said before.
I have to be true to myself
and take the self-care,
all of the things, not just the, you know, the
fasting, and the TRE, and all the other
stuff. I really-- I guess I'm harping on this
(28:56):
a little bit, but I really feel that
none of this is doable if we don't
truly care about ourselves.
And it's not temporary.
Giving up ultra-processed food and
added sugar, sure, it's not easy,
but it's worth it, and I
want that 79 when I wake up.
(29:16):
Not just this week, but next
week, and next year, and next decade.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, I couldn't have said that any better.
It's such a powerful message that
making this transformation-- that's why I
refer to this as a transformation.
You're not just doing a short-term
(29:36):
plan to reach a goal
and then return to all of your old steps.
You're really transforming how you think
about yourself, how you think about
taking care of yourself, what behaviors
you do to do that.
And it's had a lot of impact.
So I wanted to thank you for being
(29:57):
here with me.
You were so gracious in accepting
my invitation and making this time
work, and I just really appreciate you.
And I know that people are going to appreciate
hearing this because so many of us
need to know that it works.
We need to know that a real life person,
just like me, can do this.
(30:18):
Indeed. Well, I really appreciate you inviting
me for this conversation.
I am super grateful to you and
The Fasting Method.
It's been a wild year and a half.
And it's just the beginning.
It's just going to keep going.
So, very good.
All right, everyone.
I hope that you've enjoyed getting to hear our
conversation today, and I'll
(30:38):
be back soon with another episode.
Until then, take good care of you.
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 a 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 plan
for a health problem.
The use of any other products or
services purchased by you as a result
of this podcast does not create
(00:50):
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 intended
to diagnose, treat, cure, or
(01:11):
prevent any disease.
All right. And now we'll get started with
today's episode.
Welcome back to another episode of The
Fasting Method podcast.
This is Coach Terri Lance and I'm very excited
about this episode because I know how much
people love transformation episodes
and I think this one is going to be a great
(01:32):
one. So I'm very fortunate to have
with me today, Sooz.
Those of you who are in the Community
probably recognize Sooz
from lots of meetings and things.
But I'm really excited because,
even though, Sooz, I get to see you
a lot in meetings, I don't
(01:52):
know a lot about your story.
And so I'm so excited to get to hear more
about you.
So how are you doing today?
I'm doing well, Terri.
Thank you so much for inviting me to your
podcast.
Absolutely.
All right. So tell us
a little bit-- you know, where did this
all begin? I know it's like, "Once
upon a time, in a land far, far away,"
(02:14):
but, kind of, where did your health journey
begin? Where did you start to see that you
needed to do some things differently?
Yeah. Well, so I have had type
two diabetes for quite some time.
Going back to 2006, I was in my early
30s and, you know, I
didn't really know what I didn't know.
(02:34):
Like, there's that saying, "You don't know
what you don't know." I'm going to fast
forward a bunch of years. So that was 2006.
March of 2023,
I was talking to a friend and they asked me if
I'd ever read any of Jason Fung's books, Dr.
Jason Fung.
And I'm like, "Who's Dr. Jason Fung?" I had
never heard of the guy.
A friend recommended that I read the book,
(02:55):
The Diabetes Code.
And I decided, sure, I'll read the book.
I actually listened to the audiobook.
Wow deluxe!
I was both happy and
also frustrated, frankly, because so
many years where I could have made some
changes - lifestyle,
self-care, nutrition -
(03:16):
I just truly didn't know.
I didn't know. For whatever reason, my doctors
were tuned into a different approach.
At that point, March of 2023, I
was on two types of insulin.
I took insulin before meals and
I took insulin at night before I went to
sleep. I was also on metformin.
I've always been overweight.
(03:37):
I've been overweight pretty much my entire
life since, probably, I was ten, 12
at least. And it was really interesting
reading that book. It did-- like I said-- I'm
going to probably say it changed my life a
million times during this discussion, but it
really did change my life.
So March of 2023, I read
the book and then I started, I'd say, dabbling
(03:57):
with intermittent fasting.
I hadn't yet found The Fasting Method
Community. Somehow I had not
yet really gone to the website.
So I did figure out that, oh,
I should do TRE for a while (time-restricted
eating) because I'm on insulin,
and I shouldn't do extended fasting or fasting
more than 14, 16 hours while
I'm still on insulin.
(04:18):
So my project, my first project, was
time-restricted eating, no snacking,
healthier foods, get off the insulin.
So that was basically June
of 2023 through the end of December.
Then, in January,
my A1C got to a low enough point
(04:38):
that my endocrinologist agreed
that I no longer needed to be on insulin.
Woohoo!
Cheers to that!
Yeah.
Yes! I was taking Mounjaro
during that time. I started taking Mounjaro in
November of 2023.
So, as I was about to get off insulin, I
was still taking Mounjaro.
(04:59):
When I got off the insulin in January of 2024,
I said to my endocrinologist, "Hey,
I'm off insulin.
I don't know if I need to be Mounjaro.
I feel like the fasting, the time-restricted
eating, the real, whole foods, no
eating past 7:30.
These things seem to be helping me and
I don't know if I need Mounjaro." Her response
(05:19):
was, "Well, I think you're going to be on it
the rest of your life." And that gave me some
pause.
And in some ways it felt like a challenge,
like, oh! Oh really?
I will need to be on this the rest of my life.
Let's find out.
Let's see.
At that point, January 2024, I started
doing some longer, slightly longer,
fasts. Like, I did a few 24-hour fasts,
(05:41):
then I made my way to 42-hour
fasts.
I did five weeks of alternate-day
fasting of 42 hours,
and now I'm going to do a little more fast
forwarding. June 6th
of 2024, my
A1C was 5.1.
Wow!
Let's see. I have a note here.
My A1C was 10.6 on
(06:02):
January 17th, 2021.
On June 6th of 2024, it
was 5.1.
And I had a meeting with my endocrinologist
and I said, "Hey, about that needing
to take Mounjaro the rest of my life.
What do you think?" I actually thought I was
losing too much weight because
I was doing all the lifestyle, food,
(06:24):
self-care, nutrition changes
on top of taking Mounjaro.
And, you know, I respect everyone
in their choices and what we all need to do to
take care of ourselves.
I can only speak for myself, but
I didn't need it.
Now, 100%, it helped with my appetite
concerns.
(06:44):
When I got off Mounjaro, 100%, on June
6th, those next few months were not easy.
No joke. They were not easy.
But I feel that because of-- now
I'm going to sound like a little bit of a
commercial, but this is not a paid
endorsement.
If it wasn't for The Fasting Method coaches
and Community, it would not have been--
it would have been much harder because I'm
(07:06):
really good at starting things, but
seeing something through for months and months
(and now it's been a year and a half), that's
just unreal for me.
That just doesn't happen.
So I feel like having the Community
and the resources and all of that
was just huge.
So, Sooz, I know that some of our listeners
will understand just
(07:27):
how significant that was,
what you just described.
Hopefully, many people in our community
know that, by and large,
not just in the U.S.
but in many countries, type two
diabetes is thought of as progressive
and chronic, you're never going to change
it, and it's only going to get worse.
(07:48):
But what you just described is that, over
about a three and a half year period of time,
you brought it down into a healthy range
that most medical folks
wouldn't believe would be possible
based on some of the lifestyle
changes you made, that they might
not understand the power of that.
(08:09):
So I hope that all listeners
really hear how significant that was.
It wasn't because we added six more types
of medication.
Actually, in that process, you were getting
rid of medications, you know, by
working with your medical team.
I'm curious to hear a little bit about
what other things were you noticing
(08:31):
during that time as you were bringing
your HbA1C down
so much and as your body
was changing. What kinds of things did you
notice?
The side effect of taking better care of
myself was that I have lost a lot of weight.
I'm not at what you would call the
'maintenance and beyond' stage.
(08:52):
I'm not quite there. I've kind of got like 30
to 40 pounds to go, if we're talking about
weight. I mean, I'm trying to consider other
health factors more than the weight, but we
all understand weight, so it's sometimes just
like a shortcut to talking about our success
with our health, but, yeah, I mean, I feel
like it helped my self-care, mental
health. I was eating better.
(09:12):
I was feeling better.
I did not know when I was-- you know,
back when I had that 10.6%
A1C, I didn't actually
know how bad I felt.
Now, if I decide to
eat something that is not my food,
I'll feel some pain
in my feet, in my legs.
(09:34):
And I've thought about this.
Wow, that was my normal
three and a half, four-plus years ago.
And I just didn't know.
I didn't know because that
was just life, and I thought whatever
I was feeling was just how I felt.
And now that I'm taking better care of myself,
if I ever go off plan a little bit,
(09:54):
it really is pretty remarkable
how I can literally feel it.
If I eat something that is truly
not my food, it will manifest
fairly quickly for me.
I mean, I know that doesn't happen for
everyone. I think some people feel things,
some people don't, but now I have physical
reactions to things that I just didn't notice
(10:15):
before.
You know, as I'm listening to you describe
that, I'm thinking of my
experience with this, and so many people
in our community, and clients that I've worked
with. So I'm curious, for you,
what do you notice about, when you do
make some choices that maybe are off
your normal plan, what's it
(10:35):
like getting back on your plan
again? What's that process like for you now?
It's definitely evolving and it's getting less
and less, I feel, where I have
to get back on it.
Let's see. During fall of 2024,
I reached my lowest weight since, probably,
high school.
(10:55):
I'm 51 years old, so that was a while ago.
And then I was dealing with some life
stuff, we've all got life stuff,
and I gained quite
a bit of weight; I gained 17 pounds.
And I've gained 5 pounds here, maybe even 10
pounds. Then I'd lose it, then I'd keep losing
more, you know, I'd get back on it.
But that 17 was wild.
(11:16):
I was like, "Oh, this is
not what I'm really going
for here." And I just leaned into
doing the work - TRE,
extended fasting, fat fasting,
movement, exercise,
water with electrolytes.
I didn't even know-- before I joined TFM
(11:37):
(The Fasting Method), I didn't know that
hydration was more than water.
I feel a little bit ignorant saying that out
loud, but, yes, indeed, I thought hydration
was just water.
And also January of 2024,
I had alcohol for the last time.
I just decided to take that out.
And I like my cocktails, but there's no more
Soozle in my life.
(11:58):
That's my cocktail that I named after myself!
It also sounds like you like
not being on complicated
medications, you like not
having pain in your joints and
in your body, that there
are payoffs
for making some of those decisions of letting
go of some difficult things for us.
(12:20):
Yeah. And I basically decided that I need to
be all in for the rest of my life.
Like this is-- you know, my mom died
when she was quite young; she was in her
mid-50s.
And I'm approaching my
mid-50s and would like
to keep going.
You know, I do wish that-- everything I've
learned in the past year and a half, I wish
(12:41):
she had that information and knowledge,
but she didn't.
So I'm trying to
live my life as best
I can now with the information I have,
better self-care approach,
and just, you know, see where I can take
this.
I'm curious if, as you talked about,
(13:03):
when you make some decisions differently now,
you can feel it differently.
You can feel joint pain, or pain,
and inflammation and things.
I'm curious if you've noticed any other
changes.
For example, for me, before
I learned about eating better and doing
fasting, I was having a fair
bit of neuropathy pain
(13:24):
in my upper thighs,
and I don't have that anymore.
Again, I thought for sure this meant I'm going
to have this pain forever, and
I read about what comes next.
And what comes next is, eventually,
amputations and things, and it really scared
me. So I'm curious
(13:46):
if you've had any other physiological
changes along the way.
Yeah, the neuropathy is the pain that I was
describing, but that's a good point too.
It it was literally neuropathy, I'm pretty
sure.
On the positive side of the change--
I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea.
I've had that for a long time, but the more
recent test I had that confirmed severe
(14:08):
sleep apnea was sometime in 2020.
Well, after all this weight loss and all the
health transformation I've made, I reached
out to a sleep specialist doctor
and asked if I could have a new sleep test
because I was like, "Hey, I don't know.
Like, I doubt that I still have severe sleep
apnea." And, hey, guess what?
I have mild sleep apnea.
(14:29):
Nice.
And I might not have to use the CPAP machine
forever, which also is amazing.
So that was like a positive thing that's
happened as a result of just
trying to stay the course and do the thing.
I have now kind of pivoted to 'foods
that are not my foods are basically poison'.
(14:50):
I just try to reframe.
Like, "Well, sure, I suppose I could have that
poison, but why would I want to do that"?
So, I mean, I think most of my life,
if not all of my life, I've looked to food
as my companion and for comfort.
And that's good times and bad times.
And I'm trying to find different
(15:10):
friends, friends other than food.
I will always love food.
Food is awesome, we need it to survive.
I just want to change
my approach to how I interact with food,
and I think I've made some progress with that.
As I mentioned in the beginning, one of the
reasons that I was excited
about getting to talk to you today is
(15:31):
because you attend a lot
of meetings, I see you on the screen
often, so I know you're actively
digging in and working on things.
And you know, and many people here who
are in the Community know, that my
groups tend to be a little more focused on
mindset, behavior,
and emotions.
(15:52):
And so that's where I get to see you the most,
in those topics.
I'm curious if you could talk
at all about what this journey has
been like for you in those areas,
what you've worked on in the mindset category,
or behavior change, or emotionally.
After I read Dr. Fung's book, The Diabetes
(16:12):
Code, I realized that
the knowledge is great and it's helpful to
know what really is possible,
but, without self care, it doesn't matter.
Like, I'm smart, I can figure stuff out.
I can read a lot of books, listen to a lot of
audiobooks, do this, do that,
but it really doesn't matter if I don't care
about myself, if I don't truly care about
(16:34):
myself. And I think that I've always felt
like, "Oh, if I have self confidence and I
care about myself," somehow that's,
"Oh, I have an ego, I'm egotistical," and
that's not it at all.
Like, we have to care about ourselves first.
It's like putting your own oxygen mask
on. So I think that that's something
that I've kind of made my way
to getting better at, and I feel
(16:55):
like I had to start with caring about
myself before I could put in the work
with-- I see it as like, you know, I'm a--
part of my work is project manager.
Anyone can learn the technical
aspect or the skills
of a project manager, like scheduling
meetings, doing planning, timelines,
doing this-- schedule-- you know, doing all
(17:17):
the things that are a part of being a project
manager, but it's the soft skills that
make me an awesome project manager.
Like, you know, my relationship building, and
the things that you cannot really teach
someone. And I feel like that is
what I needed to lean into first
while I was doing TRE and trying
to-- you know, working to get off insulin, I
(17:38):
had to tune into this self-care
stuff because otherwise this will not last.
It just won't.
I've been on a bazillion diets.
When I was a kid (I think I was 14), my mom
took me to Weight Watchers meetings and we had
the weigh ins. That was in the 80s, 1980s.
Like, I've been on all kinds of diets.
I approach this as a lifestyle change.
(18:00):
It's permanent and
it's changed my life.
So cheers to that.
I love that you just highlighted
that necessary step of caring
enough about yourself because
you've used this term a couple of times today.
It's work.
You have to do the work.
And it's really hard to do the work
(18:23):
that's not what everyone else
would have you do.
All of your friends, family, whatever,
they're not like, "Oh, my gosh, you should
just fast some more." They're like, "Why are
you doing that? That's insane.
What do you mean you're not going to eat this?
Oh, just eat some of it." So it
is actually requiring you to
go against the norm and do the
(18:44):
hard work.
And it's really hard, like you said, to ask
ourselves to do that if we don't
care enough about ourselves.
There's not a good payoff, it's unnecessary.
And so I love that you emphasized that
part of the transformation.
Even before you came off medication
(19:04):
and before you lost a significant amount of
weight, you had to start caring about
you.
Absolutely. And one of my-- I don't
know a better way to say it, but one of my
mantras is the number 79.
A couple of months ago, that was my
blood glucose number when I checked in
the morning.
When I got up-- I had three meals the day
(19:25):
before and the next morning
my blood sugar was 79.
That's really good.
That's really, really, really good.
So now-- and it doesn't have to be-- I like to
be under 100 when I wake up, but
79? Sign me up!
So whenever I'm thinking like, "Oh, I want
to have that thing that I don't really eat
anymore, but I really want that thing,"
(19:47):
I just say to myself, "79 Sooz,
79." And that
doesn't always, you know, wipe away the
difficulty of saying no to the thing, but,
I don't know, it's some perspective of like,
"No, I can do this." It's not always easy,
and, you know, the food, the industrial-food
world we live in, certainly, does not make
(20:07):
it easy for us to make good choices.
They do not give us the best food
that we could have.
We have to really make the effort to eat well,
but it's worth it.
And, yeah, cheers to 79!
I love that because it's really one of those
examples of eating that
food, whatever it is-- and I'm not
saying this works every time, like you said,
(20:28):
but eating that food, how I'm going
to feel eating that food, doesn't feel
as good as 79
feels.
Like, you've really been able to hone in
on that WHY and how valuable
that is to you.
Absolutely.
That's fantastic.
All right. So I'm always curious, when someone
comes in and shares their story with
(20:51):
me, to ask about
helping other people in their journey
who might be earlier on in their
journey, who might read
the book and think, "Oh my gosh, that sounds
too hard," or maybe they join
the Community and they they get scared,
what would you do with where
(21:11):
you are now in your journey?
What would you want to have
known in the beginning of your journey?
What advice do you have for you at that
stage?
I think I would like to have known
to lean into the mindfulness aspect.
You know, I didn't know what box breathing was
until I joined TFM, The Fasting Method
(21:31):
Community.
I feel a little silly saying that as well,
that I didn't know, but there's just-- I mean,
we're breathing all the time, right?
I can do box breathing literally any
time, and it does work.
Like, I have a smartwatch and I'll
look at my heart rate on my smartwatch
before I start, especially if I'm a little
agitated or something's going on and I need
to relax a little bit.
(21:52):
I'll look at my watch, I'll see the number,
the heart-rate number, I'll do some box
breathing, I'll look at my watch again, and it
has gone down.
It has, legit, gone down.
So I think just tuning into--
I guess it's really just a lot of just tuning
into the self-care.
I figured that out a year and a half ago.
What I really would have liked to have figured
(22:14):
that out is 20 years ago.
Back in 2006, which is more than 20
years at this point-- I think-- I'm not going
to do the math. Whenever 2006 was,
I wish I had known that
'I'm worth it and, yes, I'm going
to tune into my self-care' because that
makes everything else easy.
Like your mindset and healthy habits
(22:34):
meetings-- lately, I haven't been able to go
to a lot of other meetings, but I try to at
least go to yours. It's easier-- the time of
day is often easier for me, and
just-- you know, there was a recent meeting
and someone talked about how they're really
good at doing something when it's
about their survival.
And that really shook me.
(22:55):
That person sharing that
has made it easier, in a way, for
me-- I'm trying to see if I can go--
like, how many days can I go without--
basically staying on track?
And that statement really was just
wild. I'm like, "OMG!
Yes, that is what I've been doing my whole
life." I will do the work if it's about
(23:16):
survival, but we need
to do more than just survive.
So that, I found, you know, just having--
I've just been leaning into that a lot.
And also that idea that it's not just when
we're in crisis mode, that the more
proactive we are with that self
care that you're describing, the
less likely we wind up in those
(23:38):
more crisis moments with our health
and things. So that's really a powerful
piece of feedback.
Yeah, I have real health stuff that I don't
want to get off course anymore.
I mean, there are things that I can't reverse.
I have diabetic retinopathy in my left eye
(I think it's technically in both, but it was
really bad in my left eye.), but
(23:59):
I am kind of curious- like, well, they said
that I couldn't reverse type two diabetes--
I mean, I guess I haven't officially reversed
it per se, but I've got my A1C really
low. My A1C is lower than two of
my doctors', so I'm just kind of
curious, like, well, what
else can I turn around, or at least
stop from progressing further?
(24:20):
That's the other thing. Like, I look at all of
this as an experiment, and that helps
keep me motivated.
I don't know if it's because I'm a nerd (I
like experiments), but I view
everything I'm working on is just
part of an experiment.
Like, okay, let's see if I can
go a month without snacking.
Let's see if I can do X
(24:42):
weeks, months of
not eating past 7:30.
And then it just snowballs and accumulates.
And it's a good snowball.
Like, oh, I did that for a month.
Why don't I just keep going?
You know, think about whoever created
the Apple Watch, or any
kind of tracker of steps,
(25:03):
that, like, revolutionized people's motivation
for movement.
Yeah. And I think someone just made up the
10K. I don't feel like that was really--
and I'm not speaking from fact.
I probably could research that, but I feel
like the 10,000 steps, while it's good,
it's like five ish miles for me, based
on my step, the way I walk.
(25:24):
Five miles is fantastic, but I think it was
just like a number that somebody like in a
marketing department possibly made up.
But I could be wrong, so maybe I shouldn't be
saying that.
And the movement piece of it is also crucial.
When I started exercising,
the fall of 2023, was I
really decided, okay-- I had an exercise
bike, right, that I bought in the early days
(25:44):
of the pandemic in 2020, indoor
exercise bike.
It turned into the cliché - clothes
were on it, stuff was on it.
I was like, "Oh, did that really happen?
Yes, that happened." Then, November of 2023,
I decided, "All right, I've got
to start using this exercise bike.
I have no excuse.
Yes, I live in Boston area.
(26:06):
Yes, it gets really cold in the winter.
It's inside.
No excuse." I started
using it for five minutes.
I could barely go five minutes.
And then, six months later, I was using it for
45 minutes.
So the daily movement is also a part
of it that I feel is really important.
It doesn't have to be 45 minutes on a bike,
(26:27):
but just having some, like, stretching,
bike, or walking.
I think that's really been helpful too, and
that helps my mood and it also helps with
the hunger, I feel.
Like, just being active and exercising,
that's been really, really helpful.
And it helps with your insulin sensitivity,
which you've changed so significantly
(26:49):
in this journey.
I like that you look at it as an experiment
and you seem to be someone who's
motivated by taking on a challenge.
"Well, let's see what I can do in 30
days. Let's see if I can do this." I think
that's great that that drives you and
pushes you to try things.
I love it.
You know, one of the things I'm aware of as
(27:10):
I've been listening to you as we've been
talking, is it really feels to
me like you've tackled this
as a lifestyle change,
a 'turning the ship around
and going on a different course'.
I'm curious, just in your experience, in your
own life and in listening to others,
(27:31):
any thoughts that you want to share
as we close our discussion today
about the long-term nature
of this journey?
It really is a lifestyle change.
In order for this to be lasting, in order for
me not to have to go back on my diabetes
medicine, or have even
other serious complications,
(27:51):
it really does require staying the course,
and doing the thing, and leaning
into the hard.
It's really important to just stay focused
and keep going.
I don't look at food now
as comfort.
I don't use language like 'cheat days'
or, you know, some of the other language that
we often use.
(28:13):
It's a different state of mind.
It's a different approach.
And I'm not on a diet for like six months
or a year and then I'm going to go back
to whatever I was doing before,
this is a new way
for me to take care of myself.
And not being on the medicines
and not having-- it's such a change
(28:34):
and I don't want to go back to how it was,
but that is dependent on my self-care
because I've got to care about myself, like
I've said before.
I have to be true to myself
and take the self-care,
all of the things, not just the, you know, the
fasting, and the TRE, and all the other
stuff. I really-- I guess I'm harping on this
(28:56):
a little bit, but I really feel that
none of this is doable if we don't
truly care about ourselves.
And it's not temporary.
Giving up ultra-processed food and
added sugar, sure, it's not easy,
but it's worth it, and I
want that 79 when I wake up.
(29:16):
Not just this week, but next
week, and next year, and next decade.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, I couldn't have said that any better.
It's such a powerful message that
making this transformation-- that's why I
refer to this as a transformation.
You're not just doing a short-term
(29:36):
plan to reach a goal
and then return to all of your old steps.
You're really transforming how you think
about yourself, how you think about
taking care of yourself, what behaviors
you do to do that.
And it's had a lot of impact.
So I wanted to thank you for being
(29:57):
here with me.
You were so gracious in accepting
my invitation and making this time
work, and I just really appreciate you.
And I know that people are going to appreciate
hearing this because so many of us
need to know that it works.
We need to know that a real life person,
just like me, can do this.
(30:18):
Indeed. Well, I really appreciate you inviting
me for this conversation.
I am super grateful to you and
The Fasting Method.
It's been a wild year and a half.
And it's just the beginning.
It's just going to keep going.
So, very good.
All right, everyone.
I hope that you've enjoyed getting to hear our
conversation today, and I'll
(30:38):
be back soon with another episode.
Until then, take good care of you.
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