Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I've just seen so many changes happening
with my health, and
in my life in general, since
I really committed to investing
in myself and investing in TFM.
And this program has just made all the
difference. [music]
(00:23):
Welcome to another episode of The Fasting
Method podcast.
This is Coach Terri, and I'm
very excited about this episode because
I am joined by one of our
Community members who has a great story
and great insights to share,
and her name is Kirsten Hopkinson.
Kirsten, how are you doing today?
(00:45):
I'm doing great, Terri.
I'm so excited to be here.
Thanks for having me.
Oh, absolutely.
Absolutely. So excited.
So one of the reasons I was hoping that
you could do this episode is
I've gotten a little window into your journey,
I've gotten to know you for the past few
months and have gotten to see what you've been
working on, and I wanted
(01:07):
others to get to experience that
and see what they can learn from
you and apply that to their own journey.
So, Kirsten, if you would just kind of start
with, where have you been in this journey?
And then, what has that led to for you?
Sure. I started the journey with TFM
in April 2025, so
(01:29):
a few months back, with the goal of losing
80 or 90 pounds.
To date, I'm down 50 pounds and counting.
I've been fasting.
My schedule changes based on a variety
of factors.
I've done 24-hour fasts.
The longest is five days with the Community
Reset.
Some big wins are that, since
(01:50):
April, my A1C has gone from 5.7
(which is pre-diabetic range) to
5.2.
And I've just seen so many
changes happening with my health,
and in my life in
general, since I really committed to
investing in myself and investing
(02:11):
in TFM.
And this program has just made all the
difference.
I'm almost speechless, even though I've
known these things, just because that's such
an amazing amount of progress in a pretty
short period of time, and I know how
dedicated you've been in the journey.
I'm wondering, you know, oftentimes
people come to TFM and this is not their
(02:33):
first time, this is not their first rodeo.
What stands out to you about
what you've been doing since April
that makes this experience different for you?
It's what I've been doing.
But more than that, it's the mindset.
Like many members of TFM,
(02:54):
I have done everything under the
sun before this.
I have lost and gained that same 50
pounds over and over and over again.
Every time I got to the point where I
had to make a change - "I've got to do
something," - it was because I was just
kind of sick of myself.
I couldn't stand being the
(03:15):
size that I was and
living the way that I was anymore.
This time is different because
I have learned that--
so I turned 50 last year.
Just prior to that, the year prior or the
few years prior were very, very stressful
due to caring for some aging family members
(03:36):
that weren't well.
They eventually-- they passed away at the
end of 2023 and beginning of 2024.
But that was a very, very stressful period of
my life and also
very meaningful because I attach a lot of
value to caring for others.
And once they passed away,
I realized that I had really
(03:58):
high cortisol.
I was very, very stressed out and I was in a
fight-or-flight mode
for years.
And then I turned 50.
They were gone, and I was realizing
that I didn't feel that I had
that meaning anymore, and what do I want
the next 50 years to look like?
(04:18):
What do I want 58 to look like?
And 62, and--
you know, and on and on.
So the difference this time is
I wasn't coming from a place of I'm so
disgusted and saying all these gnarly
bad things about myself.
I was thinking about, what do I want the rest
of my life to look like?
(04:39):
I wasn't chasing skinny.
I'm not chasing skinny.
I want to look good, of course I do,
but this time I'm really working to
create habits and create
a life to live my
genuine self, to
live with my genuine purpose,
(05:01):
to live in my own skin, and
experience life in a fuller
way.
So I think I've discovered for
myself, you do have to find the
ultimate WHY, your North Star.
And for me-- professionally,
I work with geriatric patients.
(05:21):
I'm a medical speech language pathologist
working with stroke rehab.
I want to be active,
I want to be fulfilled in my
life, and I wasn't doing the things that I
needed to do to get there.
I discovered that, in order to live
the life that I want, I have to start doing
those things right now, because life
(05:42):
is happening right now.
Connecting to the idea
that, "This is my identity," was brand
new. It wasn't about getting skinny.
It's about living the life that
I want, aging well, and
aging healthily.
I think that's really powerful, Kirsten, that,
obviously, in watching your family members
(06:04):
as they were struggling with health in their
later stages in life, and watching
patients that you work with, or clients that
you work with, and really seeing, on
a regular basis, the
quality of life that some
of us reach, and
really then making a conscious decision
(06:24):
about the quality of life you want to
have, as you said, in these next 50
years, rather than just,
you know, "Gosh, I want to fit in this size
jeans," or, "I want to wear a bathing suit
that looks like this." How do I
want to feel in my body?
How do I want my body to
be able to navigate this world,
(06:45):
not just living longer, but thriving,
you know, living a healthy, vibrant
life?
And as I was listening to just the
juxtaposition of what you have witnessed
with who you work with and in supporting
family members, and really then
setting a clear, like you said, that
(07:06):
North Star of how you want your
life to go from here forward.
And I think also it's really
being a part of this community has
been a game changer, absolutely,
because, for the first time-- you
know, I would start a program-- I won't
name a specific program, but I
would toe the company line, you know, I'd
(07:27):
drink the Kool-Aid, and I'd say, "Oh, yeah,
I'm doing this. This is my new lifestyle.
This is the way I do it.
This is my new lifestyle."
And I would say that, but I didn't really
believe it because, to me,
it was just something you were supposed to
say, and then it makes the diet stick, and
then you lose the weight.
(07:48):
But really, with TFM,
the idea that this is
my identity, I'm a healthy person that
makes healthy choices.
I am a person that goes out for a walk
every morning.
I used to tell myself, "I'm not a
morning person." So if I'm
telling myself I'm not a morning person, what
(08:09):
am I going to get up and go for a walk for?
Right.
But if I'm telling myself, "I'm a healthy
person and I want to be
active, and have my joints be
mobile, and feel good in my body,"
then, yes, I'm going to get up and I'm
going to go for that walk.
And what I've discovered along the way is that
(08:30):
I enjoy it.
I enjoy the morning air, I enjoy--
I count the cats that I see along my walk
[laughs] and I make friends.
I see other people walking.
I don't know their names, I've never spoken to
them, but we wave to each other, and
they're a part of my community,
and they motivate me.
(08:51):
So I've learned to tell myself
a different story and I think I'm
rewriting my story
as I'm living it, that I've chosen
to change my narrative
in a big way.
And along with that, I have had to
make some massive changes in
my lifestyle.
(09:11):
And I've seen only
benefits from these major changes.
And I've only been able to do it, I think,
because it was the right time in my life where
I was ready to let that cortisol down,
and I was ready to to
make a change for the better.
And then, with the support of
my one-on-one coach (thank you, Coach
(09:34):
Terri) and the Community.
These meetings with 30, 80,
100, I don't know, 90 people in them -
they're all just like me.
People are so genuine and open and
supportive of one another in these meetings.
The education that I've received,
(09:54):
all of the support - that has made the
difference. That's what's really been
different this time.
Yeah, you're not going this all alone.
You know, you've really kind of wrapped
yourself-- wrapped us around
you and gotten that support.
And I hope it's okay to say this, but I
remember a time in one of my large
Community meetings when you were struggling,
(10:15):
and you came in and you shared that.
And that's hard, with a lot of people, to
share, "I'm struggling with the steps I'm
taking right now," or other things.
You got that support, and then you
have been that voice of inspiring others
in other meetings, being able to support
other people who are struggling at different
times.
And to me, it just really highlights that
(10:36):
we're all in this together.
We don't all succeed every moment
of every day.
We hit some difficulties, we
run into some challenges.
And it was so powerful for me to get to
see you be in different roles,
to, at one point, be someone who was
struggling and needed to share that and
gather some support around you,
(10:58):
and, other times, being the one that can wrap
around someone and offer that support.
So it's been really cool from this side
to also get to watch you and that journey.
yeah, and, Terri, I think the other really
cool thing is I've been able
to connect with other Community members
and they've become-- I consider them close
(11:18):
friends outside of the meetings
and outside of the group.
We text one another daily
sometimes.
Because motivation does fade.
It's all new, brand new and exciting--
and, you know, at first I was doing all the
things (every single thing, every single day),
well aware of the idea that, yes, people
(11:39):
burn out. Oh, no, I'm not going to.
[laughs] This is-- I'm in this.
But sure enough, I did find that
there was a point where I was doing too much,
and I needed to prune
out the things that weren't
going to be a great fit for me.
Unfortunately, there is no magic formula.
(12:00):
Everybody has to take a bit of
knowledge from each group that they attend
or each thing that they read.
For myself, I've had to really piece
together what works for me and for my
life.
And that's the only way to make a sustainable,
because this is who I am now.
I'm a person that gets up and goes for a walk.
(12:21):
I have some bone broth on the stove right
now. Who is this girl?
I have no idea. [laughter]
It's a really massive change, but that
accountability with the Community members
has made a tremendous impact on
me. The combination
(with TFM) of the education
and the support and the mindset
(12:42):
focus, that's been the key.
Obviously, I'm biased on that, so I love
hearing that, that it's really--
it's not just one thing, it's not just the
knowledge. The knowledge is super important,
but, without the support, without
the accountability, and without
that mindset shift, all
the knowledge in the world starts to wear
(13:04):
thin, you know, because we run into
challenging times, our brain gets tired of
doing something after a while.
[music]
[coaching support promotion] Are you new tofasting
and just aren't sure how to get started?
Or have you been working on fasting for
a while now and keep running into
obstacles?
We have coaches at TFM that can help
(13:25):
you through this journey.
We can help you learn the necessary skills,
support you, help you create
your plans, and tweak them when
things need to be changed.
We offer health coaching and
accountability coaching, depending on
what you need.
Some of our coaches offer one-on-one
(13:46):
coaching, where each session is specifically
focused on you and what you're working
on to achieve your goals.
We also offer small group coaching.
This option allows you to get the support
with several other clients who are also
working on the things that you're working on.
Either way, you get the specific
(14:09):
help that you are looking for to help
you make your fasting a successful
journey. Whether you're working on weight
loss, improving your health,
increasing your longevity,
you can achieve that in working with
one of our TFM coaches.
All you have to do is sign up for
a FREE intake session to
(14:31):
get to meet with a coach and see
if coaching is the right thing for you.
[music]
So earlier, Kirsten, you mentioned, you
know, you've done various degrees
of fasting, you've done different protocols
and things, and it changes and evolves
depending on what's going on or where you are
in your journey.
Something that I think a lot of people who
(14:53):
first come to TFM, or
listen to the podcast, or
sign up for coaching with us, one
of the things many of them believe
about this process, and struggle with
shifting the belief, is, "Fasting
is so powerful, that's all
I have to do.
I don't need to make other changes.
(15:15):
I can keep eating the way I eat, I can
keep my general
lifestyle the same, but I'll just
fast sometimes and that will do it."
And I know, from what you've already touched
on but also in what I know of you,
that it's been much more than just the
fasting.
I wondered if you could share anything about
(15:36):
how you've kind of navigated that.
What have you had to change in your
lifestyle (obviously, the morning walks being
a big one) around choices, around self-talk?
I think the core thing that had
to shift in my thinking
is that there are parts
of the things that I need to do that are
uncomfortable, and that's okay.
(15:59):
And multiple things can be true at the
same time.
So, yes, I want to lose 10
pounds, yes, I want to eat that thing.
[laughs] I'm not going to eat
that thing. That's going to be uncomfortable.
So I've had to kind
of push through those feelings of
discomfort around letting go
(16:20):
of certain things.
And for me, those things
included things that helped me to numb out.
So watching too much TV,
being sedentary, and eating the wrong
things, and drinking the wrong things, and too
much of everything to
kind of tamp down and keep
those difficult feelings away.
(16:42):
One of the biggest challenges
has been letting go of those things that I was
using to numb out and make
the decision - that is not serving me
so I need to let go of that
and move forward.
And I have only benefited [laughs]
from letting go and putting down some
(17:02):
of those things. I really
immersed myself in listening to
TFM meetings and participating
in them, listening to the podcast,
reading all the books.
Just immersing myself in that information
and putting that in front of me
in my environment as the first
thing that I see and first thought on my mind
(17:25):
has really helped to make this
a lifestyle, make this a transformation
versus just a weight-loss program.
That's not what it is for me.
You know, Kirsten, one of the things you just
highlighted that I think is so important (and
sometimes it's one of those things that's very
hard to believe, just hearing
it or reading it,
(17:47):
that you actually have to experience it to
recognize that this is possible and can be
true) is that, some of those decisions
you just described, they get experienced
like a loss.
This food or this beverage that I
have used to numb and comfort,
I'm going to choose not to use it.
And there are some feelings of grief and
(18:09):
loss in that.
And the beauty of it, when people talk about
that in the larger meetings and things, is
we all can say, "Yep, I felt that too
and there's something on the other
side of that loss." And
I think you, again, really exemplify
this. You had to go through those difficult
choices, experience some losses
(18:31):
with those numbing tools,
those ways to kind of escape
what you were feeling or experiencing.
From what you've described, it's opened up
a whole lot more of getting
to live more authentically, and getting to
experience things, and getting to share openly
with others about it.
And so I invite people to leave open
(18:53):
the possibility that, even though
making some of these changes may at
first be experienced as losses or
some grief, there's so much more on the other
side. There's more life, there's
more joy, there's more activity
and ability to do things.
Absolutely.
(19:14):
I couldn't agree more.
As I decided, you know,
"Hey, let's turn off the TV
that's keeping me sedentary, and keeping me
on the couch, and keeping me tuned out,"
I started to pick up some hobbies that
I have really enjoyed in the past.
And it's like all of a sudden I have all this
time and energy.
(19:36):
I think, physically, I have more energy
because of the fasting.
And I think that makes-- you know, that
changes your body and your physiology, so you
have more energy, or I do anyway.
But the mental energy...
I remember listening to a Community member
talk about pushing her feelings down
and eating to kind of cover
them up and hide from those feelings.
(19:59):
And once she put those numbing tools down
(or whatever you want to call them),
she started to feel big things, and
I can so relate to that.
And the fact is, we're humans
and we're meant to feel these things.
We're meant to have these feelings,
and letting them flow instead of
numbing them down feels so much more genuine
(20:20):
to me.
It feels like I'm living in my
body, and living in my emotions,
and in my life, and in a more genuine
way. And that feels so
exciting to me, and uncomfortable
at times, but that's
human.
I also truly believe that
our emotions are in our body.
(20:42):
They're held in our body.
And I think with the weight
loss, those emotions kind of come
out. They have nowhere to hide.
I think that's a part of the healing as
well, and that's a part of the journey
that's really important to make space for.
I'm making intentional choices to shape my
(21:02):
life to be the way I know
it can be.
Absolutely.
And one of the things you're, again,
highlighting is, in my
way of experiencing this journey for myself
and watching everyone else experience
it, success is not just the number
on the scale moving, success is
(21:22):
not just getting into smaller pants or
having a better A1C.
Success is transforming.
You are living your life differently now.
You're experiencing things.
You're experiencing your emotions.
You probably didn't imagine that when you
first signed up to-- "Oh, let me
try out this TFM thing," but
(21:44):
how powerful that is.
And one of the things that I'm also
so excited about is how it's carrying
over into other areas of my life.
It's not just that I've gotten control
over my eating habits.
That's fabulous, yes.
And the weight loss, yes.
(22:04):
And going down in pant size.
That's all tremendous,
but it's carrying over in the
sense that I've discovered
a new power within myself
and a new self agency
that carries over into
my work, how I manage things
(22:25):
around the house, and things
that I would sort of let slide and bury
under the rug. [laughs] And now
I'm out there, I'm cleaning out drawers that I
haven't looked at in five years [laughter]
discovering all kinds
of treasures. So it
really is not just one
area of my life that's been impacted.
(22:47):
I just feel that I am a work in progress
and I think we all are.
And we owe it to ourselves to
be on this journey of discovery
and to help each other along.
And I hope that by my coming
here today and sharing my experience,
somebody out there can connect with something
(23:07):
that I've said and be inspired,
because we can all do
this, and the tools
at TFM helped to make it possible
for me.
Absolutely.
I know for sure you are going to inspire
people in things that you have said today.
And to kind of close
(23:27):
that piece, what I'd like to ask you is,
if you kind of reflect on the beginning
of this part of your journey (so
when you first joined TFM, or when you first
started doing any fasting,
or looking at this process differently),
what advice would you give yourself from
what you know now?
(23:49):
What would you tell beginning Kirsten?
What would you tell someone who's new at this?
That is a great question.
I don't know. I guess I'm not there yet.
[laughs] It's something
that I'm going to continue to ponder, I think.
[laughs]
It's a tough question.
Yeah.
And I think partly because, as you've already
(24:09):
acknowledged, you're so in touch with,
"I'm in process right now," that it's almost
hard to reflect back as if you're not.
Yes.
One of the things I would say to a
person, maybe early on in this journey,
based on what you've said today,
remain open, remain curious,
and I guess I
(24:31):
would just encourage people to
have faith that
it is possible.
As you said, we can do this.
The people who succeed are not superheroes.
We're all just normal
human beings with lots of struggles and
challenges, but
believe that it's possible
(24:53):
and give yourself the time
to go through the steps.
You learn every step along the
way. And as you said earlier,
you're going to try some things that you
realize, "That doesn't work well for me," or,
"That's not my best strategy.
Even though I heard five people on the meeting
say, that works great for them."
(25:14):
So be open to learning,
"What works best for me?"
"What supports me in this process?"
"What do I need?" Many of us are not
used to asking for what we need.
And so I really just liked, Kirsten, your
statement about remaining curious
and open and in your own journey,
(25:35):
kind of remaining that positive note to
yourself even when you were struggling.
"I know this is possible.
I'm in a tough time right now,
but I'm going to figure out how to get
onto the other side of this."
Yeah, I think it's really important
to think about what can I do
right now?
(25:56):
What can I do today?
Because you can't do all the things.
I mean, you can for a short time, but
it's not going to last, even if
you are determined.
And I think we teach ourselves that lesson
over and over again because we've been on
this journey before, right?
We've lost this same weight and we've gained
back over and over.
(26:16):
So I think giving it
the time that it needs because it's a journey,
it's-- you're changing your entire
life, you're not just changing your physical
appearance.
That's not what it's about.
And it's a big deal.
It's a big deal, so allow
it the time in the space that it needs
(26:36):
because, at the end, it's
truly rewarding to see
the different impact.
It's rewarding to see how your life is
impacted by the small changes
that you make today will impact
how you live your life and who you are five
years from now, and next week.
So I think allowing it the time
(26:57):
that it needs to make these changes.
Yeah, and I think, for many of us, learning
to allow ourselves the time, learning to
give ourselves grace.
We're not going to do everything perfectly.
It's all not going to look perfect while we're
doing it. We're going to struggle sometimes,
and that's okay.
Just keep, you know, as Nemo would
(27:19):
say, just keep swimming.
Like, just keep moving forward
with some faith or trust
that you know where you're going.
Even when it seems kind of murky, you know
where you're headed.
Yeah, I think really taking the time to
picture what you want your life to be
like.
It's not just, "I want to
(27:40):
fit in a certain size jeans,"
it's, "I want to be able to get on an
airplane and feel comfortable in the plane."
Well, why? Because I want to travel.
Why do you want to travel?
Because I'm curious and I want to go to Spain.
I want to go to France.
I want to go to Italy.
I want to experience the culture and
(28:00):
the food and the life, and I want
to be able to do these things in my life.
So I'm going to make choices today that
will allow me to do that.
Well, I think you and I could talk for another
hour or more about this, because I think we're
pretty well aligned on really working
on it to make this an identity, not just
a weight-loss program, not just
(28:20):
a diet.
Certainly, that's not been the focus that
you've taken in the program and
not what we emphasize, so I'm
really enjoying getting to talk to
you about the identity piece.
It's really important to just think about
taking care of yourself.
Taking care of myself has taken
(28:41):
on a new meaning.
And I think really discovering
what self-care is has been important
in this journey and
really transformative.
Yeah, I think that's a great-- going back to
that earlier question, that's a great piece of
advice to give to someone earlier on or
someone who might be struggling.
(29:01):
This weight-loss journey, this health journey,
it's a self-care journey.
It means we're going to learn new
ways of taking good care of ourselves,
but it really is a self-care journey.
I love that focus, Kirsten.
Yeah.
All right, everyone.
Lots of good things in here today.
We'll have another episode for you next
(29:22):
week. Until then, take good care.