January 1, 2024 • 46 mins
It's the new year, witches, and we are diving into all things resolutions, goals, rituals. Since most resolutions tend to fizzle out mid-January, we're going to make sure we arm ourselves with the butt kicking we need to keep going. In this episode, I'll discuss one of the most popular resolutions-- weight loss! As a former personal trainer (surprise! I got all sorts of tricks up my sleeve) I'll tell you my tips, tricks, and journey to a healthier and happier me. I even went all out this time and did something I never thought I'd do-- but you know what? It worked! Listen in as I share the struggle. You and your scale, aren't stuck!
Thank you so much for listening! I hope you enjoyed this podcast. If so, please leave a rating and review so we can spread the word to the women who need it the most. Below you'll find links to my website, social media, and resources for victims. If you believe you're in danger, please seek help immediately. There are people out there who want to help and who truly care. Myself included! You're worth so much more.
Also, some links in my show notes may be affiliate links. This means I earn a tiny amount of money if you buy a product I recommend. You should know, I never recommend crap.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time to wake up witches.
I'm your host, cat Adams, andI'm here to remind you that, no
matter where you're at in life,you're not stuck.
Welcome back to the show.
(00:29):
It feels like it's been foreversince I've recorded, but I
think it's only been like twoweeks.
But I guess just a lot hashappened in the last two weeks.
And like a lot, a lot, becauseevery now and then I get so
restless for a change and I'mlike I'm gonna do my hair, I'm
(00:51):
gonna get a new tattoo, I'mgonna like take a huge trip, I'm
gonna do something crazy.
And this year it hit me and Iwas like I need a new office
because I spend all my time, soI work from home in this office,
and I need something more grownup, because my office was
(01:14):
decorated with like most of myrom-com stuff.
So it was very bright colors,bright pink, funny stuff, and I
was like you know what?
I'm not to be 40.
I need to elevate this.
So now I'm sitting in my brandnew office and it is colored
burgundy from floor to ceiling.
(01:37):
So I have dark wood floors, mywalls are burgundy, I did the
trim and burgundy and theceiling and burgundy, and that's
called color drenching.
It's an actual thing.
And why you do it is because itlike draws your eye up and it
makes the room look larger.
And I already have highceilings in here.
(01:57):
And I found this mirror and itwas super, super tall and I was
like I need that.
But I need it to like fit.
You know what I mean.
Like I need it.
I need everything in here tolook oversized and grand and
luxurious.
And I just do Because I do andbecause I can.
So I'm sitting in here now andI'm looking at it and it is just
(02:18):
so pretty.
I still have a lot to do.
I need to get, I think, getlike some kind of plush wing
back chair or something.
Maybe I would love it if Icould find like a small corner
fireplace, just, you know, likeone of those obviously fake
fireplaces to put in here.
I think that would be awesome.
Don't know if I'm going to dothat, but it's a work in
(02:41):
progress.
But at least I got my mirror upand I got my walls done and
this shit looks to bomb.
Do people say that anymore?
The bomb, the bombcom?
Am I showing my millennial age?
Oh, my goodness.
Well, as I'm recording, it'sactually Christmas Eve and I got
shit to do because I have topack.
I will be on a jet plane to NewYork City here very soon and
(03:06):
that's where I'll be celebratingmy 40th birthday.
And I know I've mentioned itbefore.
I'm just excited so I willmention it again.
I can't freaking wait.
Never been to New York City butI'm trying to give myself
experiences instead of buythings, although I have a
problem because I'm kind ofdoing both lately.
Don't recommend it for yourchecking account.
(03:28):
But yeah, christmas Eve and I'mworking because we celebrated
Christmas actually a couple daysago and we did the crab again,
which I'm going to shout it fromthe rooftops.
If you've never ordered fromGold Belly, do it.
Especially Pikes Place Market,you can order straight from Gold
Belly in the overnight crab.
(03:49):
I got the email Thursday nightthat hey, your crab is on its
way and by noon Friday it was onmy front porch Like four whole
crabs and they were so good.
So highly recommend Gold Bellyfor like a special occasion or
not.
I mean I was on there lookingat Italian cookies, because I'll
(04:10):
get to that in a second.
Italian cookies, like I know,you can order straight from New
York and they weren't thatexpensive and they do like this
points thing, so you can get,you can rack up points, and so
I've got coupons for like $30off and stuff.
And, oh my gosh, one year Iordered a muffa lettu straight
from Central Grocery in NewOrleans and it tasted amazing.
(04:34):
It was just like you're sittingin Central Grocery in New
Orleans and, oh my God, it wasawesome.
Love muffa lettu Although Ithink some people call them
muffa lot, muffa lettu.
I don't know how you'resupposed to pronounce that my
favorite sandwich.
I am huge into New Orleans foodand I'm talking about all this
food because we're about to talkabout weight loss, which I know
(04:58):
is not typical for this podcast.
But I told you we're going todo some.
We're going to do some, likeyou're not stuck in yada, yada,
yada, as it relates to most.
You know New Year's traditionsthat we often hear about.
But first I do want to prep youon the next episode coming out
after this.
It won't be one of the NewYear's resolutions ones, it's
(05:20):
just one I had in my back pocketthat I need to talk about and
it's own accountability andinternalized misogyny.
And it's coming up because Iwas reminded about this
yesterday, like my husband whenwe met he didn't really
understand like from a victim'sperspective, you know, like
violence against women.
(05:40):
He didn't understand feministsat the level that we wish men
did.
And so he learned a lot from me, like a lot.
And now he will be the first tocall out like you know, that's
not right, like that's justgross.
And so when we you know, Italked about this a couple of
weeks ago when we were watchingthat Matt Reif special, and like
(06:00):
the first two, three minutes,he made a joke about someone
punching a man, punching a womanin the eye because she couldn't
cook, or something I don't know.
He was like no, and we bothturned it off, like it wasn't me
saying I'm not watching thisand I'm like, oh, let's give it
a chance.
No, he was like no, oh my gosh.
No.
(06:20):
Well, he got roped in on aconversation on Facebook and I
tell him get off Facebook.
No one gets on Facebook anymore.
This is for old people.
This is the problem.
He got roped into a conversationand he got super disheartened
because he was sticking up forno, we shouldn't be telling
(06:41):
jokes like this and normalizingthe behavior, and so many people
on this public post came downon him in really harsh ways and
a lot of those were women.
And he was asking me like Idon't understand, why would
women accept this behavior?
(07:01):
Why do they defend it?
And I was like, look, buddy, Ijust did a whole podcast episode
on internalized misogyny andand pick my girls.
All right, it's a lot to unpack.
It's it's super fucked up.
It's super fucked up that ourown people, women, support stuff
(07:25):
like this, defend it and evenlike I've seen women at like
those Trump rallies wearingshirts that say I wish Trump
will grab me by the pussy.
First of all, vomit, second ofall.
Come on, dude, come on, likewhat's wrong.
What is wrong with women?
I can talk all day, every day,about what's wrong with men, but
(07:49):
when it comes to talking aboutwomen and why we justify
behavior that's against us andsets us back and doesn't allow
us to move forward, I get soconfused because I don't
understand why you do it either.
I talk about it in the nextepisode, but still to me it's
like I don't get it.
I don't get it.
(08:09):
I don't get how you can be thatway, like whatever.
So he saw that and he was justlike it made him feel like I
feel a lot where it's like youcan talk about it and speak out
about it.
But if you don't have, likethose own people, even like
victims, were coming out andsaying, oh, I'm a victim of
(08:31):
domestic violence, and you know,I think it's funny and it's
like it's a losing battle, it'slike uphill.
But you know what it doesn'tstop me I keep going, I'm still
volunteering, I still work fulltime in this niche, I'm still
podcasting, I'm still writingbooks, I'm still speaking out
because of all it takes, is thatone person who needs to hear it
(08:51):
?
You know, and I know there'splenty of people who are silent
on that subject and who are alsodisheartened, but they're
seeing those posts about itbeing wrong and they're like I'm
breathing a sigh of relief,even if they don't speak out,
because you know it's those loudfuckers that are like the
trouble fuckers, right?
So that's just my two cents andthat's what's coming up in the
(09:13):
next episode all aboutaccountability on where we're at
as women.
But first let's talk about allthings weight loss, because
you're not stuck at the unhappyweight you're at, and I'm not
only going to talk about weight,I'm going to talk about like
(09:34):
healthy eating and stuff too.
So if you're just like.
You know I eat like shit.
Well, stop, we're going to talkabout like, don't eat shit,
right, and before, you're likecat.
Why are you going to talk aboutthis Turn?
Author.
You're a podcaster bitch.
I used to be a personal trainer.
So, yes, I have lots ofexpertise in this area and I am
(10:02):
reminded all the time of likethe basics.
And also also I have PCOS.
If you don't know what PCOS is,it's a bitch.
It's like a hormonal something,another that screws you up.
It makes you easily gain weightand it's hard as hell to get it
(10:23):
all something to do withinsulin.
I don't know the specifics, Iain't a doctor, but I do
struggle with PCOS.
Everyone with PCOS has a bunchof different symptoms.
I don't have all the symptomsthat normally go with it.
So it took me 17 years to bediagnosed.
I'm not going to get on thatsoapbox, but I'm not going to
(10:44):
get on that soapbox.
But let's just let me say again, 17 years for a doctor to
finally listen to what I wassaying, that I thought I had
PCOS and actually put me throughall the tests.
So I have PCOS.
They used to just look at me andbe like, no, you don't know.
You know, because you're notoverworked, so I'm not going to
get on that soapbox.
I'm not going to get on thatsoapbox.
(11:06):
So I have PCOS.
They used to just look at meand be like, no, you don't know,
because you're not overweightand you don't have, like this
deep male voice, blah, blah,blah typical symptoms.
And I'm like, yeah, because Iwork my freaking ass off to stay
in shape, like I work myfreaking ass off and it ain't
(11:28):
easy, it ain't easy.
So let me tell you a story aboutmy weight loss journey and
where I'm at now and I think itcan help you if you're
struggling in this area.
If you're not, maybe you knowsomeone who is.
But you know we need to behappy with ourselves and we can
do all this body positivitystuff.
We won't like you should loveyourself no matter what, and I
(11:50):
agree we do.
We need to embrace ourselves.
But I know we also have goalsin mind and that's okay too.
If you want to lose weight,it's okay.
Don't feel like this culturenow, with this like what's it
called toxic positivity, is likeoh girl, you should love
yourself, even if you know youdon't fit in those pants anymore
(12:12):
and it really inside makes youfeel bad.
If it inside it makes you feelbad and I'm talking to myself
here change, lose weight, dosomething about it.
You don't have to be stuck atthe same weight that you aren't
comfortable with.
And that's where I have beenfor the past two years actually
(12:33):
now.
So let's roll this back to, hmm,20 years ago.
Well, holy shit, that's a longtime.
So I've always struggled withmy weight, always struggled with
my weight, and I'm five two andI'm just going to be
transparent with my weights.
I'm five two and I had got upto about 150 and I'm a five two
(13:00):
frame 150.
It was not cute I look like abusted can of biscuits, all
right, but I was going throughfirst like realizing.
That time was when I wasrealizing I was in an abusive
relationship.
So I was going through likelots of emotions and depression
and didn't feel good aboutmyself and using food as a copa
(13:25):
mechanism, you know, likeemotionally eating, and so it
took me to get really, reallybad to fuel my first weight loss
.
Okay, so what am I talkingabout here?
I let me air my dirty laundryand I've talked about how you
(13:47):
can use anger to fuel the fireto get you where you want to go.
And this was my firstexperience with him.
It was when I walked in to abar and found my ex-husband with
another woman and that hurt tosee like him smiling with this
(14:09):
woman when back home he was somean and hateful of me and I
don't know why, because, asalways, you know pretty fucking
good to him.
But that's what abusers do,right, that's what narcissistic
men do, you know, cheater,cheater.
So when I saw that we wentthrough a breakup, obviously we
(14:32):
got back together.
You know, you know thestatistics.
I'm not going there, it's aboutweight loss.
And I used that time my anger,to put on heavy metal with my
whatever I used back then.
What did we use back then?
I think I had one of thoseApple, what is it called and I
(14:57):
put, I don't know.
I went to the gym and I turnedmy heavy metal music up and I
raged out on the elliptical.
During this time I also startedWeight Watchers, because I
didn't know anything about likenutrition and Weight Watchers
has like this point system andit was super easy.
(15:18):
So all I had to do was stayunder, like I don't know, 25
points a day and I wouldcalculate all my little points
up and I would go to the gym andI would just again like rage
out on the elliptical.
I was very, very strict with mydiet and I had no alcohol back
then Like I rarely ever drinkalcohol, which I'm mentioning
(15:38):
because I'm going to get to in asecond.
So this is before.
I had my daughter too, so ofcourse I'm young, it's a little
bit easier.
The weight fell off me Easypeasy right.
Then I got pregnant, shot up to170 and had my baby and was
still like 170 ish and I waslike crap.
(15:59):
I got to get this off again,but at this time I had learned
so much about nutrition.
So I decided that I want tostart bodybuilding, because when
I lost weight the first time,it's like a snowman melting
method.
This is what happens if you'renot weight training, if you're
(16:22):
only doing cardio or you're notworking out at all.
When you lose weight you'regoing to keep the same body
shape.
It's just going to be a smallerversion.
And I didn't want that becauseI really liked the look of a
toned, muscular body and Iwanted that for myself.
So I started researchingbodybuilding and nutrition and I
(16:43):
got into, like thebodybuildingcom forums I don't
even know if they still havethose.
But I got super pumped into allthat stuff and I had books on
like female weight training andyada, yada, yada, and I was like
I'm going to try this.
I tried it and I fell in lovewith it and so I was a
(17:04):
bodybuilder for over 10 years.
I was weight training, I wasbodybuilding, I took
professional photos, I wasripped up, I had a six pack for
a decade.
Okay, like I felt so good aboutmyself and instead of doing the
weight watchers.
So for nutrition and this iswhat all diets come down to it's
(17:27):
calories and calories out.
So I tracked my calories and Itracked my protein, which is
huge you have to have.
I think the statistics are alittle bit lower, but just like
in general, one gram of proteinper one gram of body weight.
So I wanted to get down to 120.
(17:48):
So I'd always track 120 gramsof protein.
And for me to lose weightbecause I'm a shorty and the
suck shot sucks so bad mymaintenance weight, my
maintenance calories is 1500,but my weight loss calories is
1200.
So to lose weight, I could onlyeat 1200 calories a day and I
(18:09):
had to stick with 100 to 120grams of protein to keep muscle.
It was a bitch, but again, backthen I didn't really drink
alcohol, so it was hard, but itwasn't too hard.
I was also breastfeeding at thetime when I started this weight
loss stuff, so that accountsfor like what an extra 500
(18:30):
calories burned.
It wasn't too bad.
But I fell in love withbodybuilding and like the
nutrition stuff so much that Idid get my personal training
license and I opened a littlepersonal training business, got
my live building insurance, Istarted training outside of our,
inside my home, so like I wasworking from home and it just it
(18:51):
was just.
When you're a personal trainer,people think you're a therapist
and so they want to tell youall their problems and I'm like
I don't care, I'm here to helpyou get in shape.
But I didn't like it.
So I quickly realized I loveweight training for myself and
(19:12):
nutrition and all that goodstuff.
I don't like it for otherpeople so much.
So during this time when I waslike best shape of my life, I
got down to 110, which probablywas like not the best, because
there's going to come a point ifyou're really serious about
this weight loss and likekidding, I don't know if you
(19:32):
want to get ripped up or youjust want to lose weight,
whatever.
If you get thin enough with alow body fat percentage, you're
going to have to choose betweenyour face and your body, because
if your body is at a low bodyfat percentage, your face is
going to be too, and especiallyas you get older, you might look
like what's his name the CripKeeper guy, the Crip Keeper or
(19:56):
Skeletor.
You're going to look bad, likeI looked bad my face and I had
to get fillers, and that's awhole other subject.
I love fillers, by the way.
But yeah, it did not look goodat 110, but my body was banging,
I mean like no fat on me,hardly whatsoever.
(20:17):
Now I did struggle still withbody image and it was also going
to a little bit of a dangerousterritory where I did feel guilt
, you know, for like eatingcertain things or whatnot, and
I'm going to get into that in asecond.
But yeah, 110, no, 115 wasstill a little bit for me.
(20:42):
Now, that was very hard for meto get down to those levels,
very, very, very hard.
I'm talking about restrict.
I ate nothing but like chickenand broccoli pretty much, and
eggs it was.
It's horrible.
I don't recommend it.
It is not a long term thing youcan do.
I only did that when I had likeprofessional photos coming up
(21:04):
and I wanted you know my body tobe at like the leanest, but
more like 115 to 120 was myhappy spot, which is where I
want to get now.
So if you want to lose weight,the best thing I can tell you
right now the best way I haveever found I've been told
(21:27):
recently I'm going to give youmy new hack here in a second is
calories in, calories out, and Iam a big fan of if it fits,
your macros diet.
If you don't know what that is,it's basically like your macros
is how much carbs you're goingto get a day, how much protein
you're going to get a day andhow much fat you're going to get
a day.
(21:47):
So I already told you you'regoing to take about if you're
serious about changing your bodyone gram of protein per body
weight goal.
So mine was always 120, because120 is like my goal weight.
If you're doing 120 grams ofprotein, you can use whatever's
(22:08):
left for carbs and fat, althoughI always try to go lower carbs
because I have that insulinthing with a PCOS and carbs just
like I can't process them rightor whatever.
It's so hard for me to loseweight, especially if I'm eating
a lot of carbs.
That's just me.
I don't think carbs are thedevil.
Some people can tolerate them,so you do.
(22:29):
You just make sure you get yourprotein in, but if it fits your
macros, means if you're gettingyour 120 grams of protein and
you're 1200 calories a daybecause I'm using myself as an
example this is what I have todo to lose weight.
You can eat 1200 calories inbroccoli and chicken, or you can
eat 1200 calories inChick-fil-A, it doesn't matter.
It does not matter.
(22:50):
As long as you're hitting thosemacro goals and your calorie
goals, you're going to stilllose weight.
That is what I have used foryears and years and years.
So I would eat sensible all day, very nutritious stuff, and I
would save about 300 caloriesfor my little reward snack at
(23:12):
the end of the day.
And it worked, and I'm kind ofgoing back to that right now.
So I would always make surethat at the end of the day I had
a little bit of calories leftfor a treat.
Now, of course, if you'rewanting to be a healthier eater
and stop eating like McDonald'sor Chick-fil-A or whatever fried
foods.
Go into the Mexican restaurantevery Friday like I was doing,
(23:37):
then don't do the.
Oh well, if 1200 calories in aburger, I'm still going to lose
weight because I'm eating 1200calories in a burger versus 1200
calories in cabbage same thing,obviously, dude.
If you're trying to behealthier and like not clog your
arteries and shit, go for thebroccoli and cabbage and veggies
.
This isn't rocket science.
Everyone should know this.
(23:58):
I'm not going to sit here andexplain to you like what's a
healthier food versus anon-healthier food.
Everybody should know this.
If you don't get on Google,like I want to talk about
specifically mostly weight losshere, and this works, so check
out the if it fits your macrodiet.
That is like number one, numberone advice.
(24:18):
But sometimes you might getmore stuck because you might be
dealt a shitty hand, like withPCOS, which is what happened to
me.
And as I get older and I don'thave the time to do one hour of
body weight or weight trainingexercises, yada, yada, yada, and
(24:39):
I'm just I'm not as into itanymore.
Things shift.
So I started looking at my.
I use my fitness pal to trackmy calories and I was looking at
it and I noticed I had aproblem About a year ago.
I was just getting tired ofbeating myself up over some
(25:03):
weight gain I had and I'vetalked about this before.
I gained weight when I startedthis job.
I'm working now because I workedfrom home, but it's so
demanding that, like when I'mworking, I mean people are like,
oh, you work from home, you cando whatever.
No, dude, when I'm working, myass is in the chair working for
eight hours.
I am.
I'm drained at the end of theday.
(25:24):
I'm too tired to work out.
I am too tired to properly makeme a proper meal, a nutritious
meal.
I'm too tired to you know, I'mnot going to be baking chicken
and making broccoli, I'm justgoing to be open a box of ramen
noodles or something.
I'm so tired and the pressurewas getting to me so much that
we were doing a Friday nightcomfort Mexican food night,
(25:48):
which also added to it.
And then I was drinking a lot,like not drinking, like oh my
gosh, you got a problem butdrinking enough that it was
obviously adding to the weightgame.
And I had got up these past twoyears to about 15 extra pounds.
(26:09):
And I remember I'm five, twoand I was 122 years ago.
So I got up to around 135.
If I'm being honest, like, Igot up to about 136, 37, 38,
fluctuated.
But I was not happy because Ihad come from someone who, like
(26:30):
I said, six pack ripped up feltamazing.
And if you get to your goalweight you know that feeling I'm
talking about you fit into yourclothes.
You want to go clothes shopping.
You want to go gene shopping Iknow everyone hates gene
shopping unless you're fit andyou're like, oh, I'm gonna buy
10 pairs of jeans.
I look good in this.
Look at this ass, this looksgood, this feels good, this shit
(26:52):
fits me like a glove and youjust feel good about yourself.
And I love dressing up andwearing cute clothes.
And I was not fitting in myclothes anymore and I was
getting so down on myself whichis a problem in and of itself I
was trying to give myself alittle bit of grace.
I'm like, hey, look, you justembarked on a new career.
You're doing this, you're doingthat.
(27:13):
It's okay if you gain thisweight, but it doesn't matter
how much I tell myself that Ididn't feel it and I wanted to
fit back into all my cuteclothes.
So it really came down to thatLike I wanted.
I wanted to feel good aboutmyself again and I just wasn't.
So I got in a bit of a funk andthen I realized well, you know,
(27:37):
while I'm trying to give myselfgrace and understand that it's
okay and I'm working towardsbeing better I noticed on my
fitness pal.
My streak on my fitness pal wasI had logged in for 2,725 days
in a row, that's almost eightyears.
(27:59):
I had been diligent about mydiet and I was so tired of
tracking my macros and mycalories and I was so tired from
work that I just gave up and Irealized like that could also be
not healthy, being that likediligent, that committed.
But then again, maybe it could.
(28:21):
It doesn't have to be a badthing.
I just wasn't feeling it atthat point in my life and I
wanted to eat Mexican food.
I wanted to eat someramanoodles and not feel guilty
about not meeting my protein,cause I didn't want to lose my
muscle, cause I had worked over10 years building this muscle,
didn't want to lose my muscle.
So I got into a funk and it hasbeen hard to get out of this
(28:50):
Now that I'm approaching 40,it's also, you know, the older
you get, it's harder.
So I had been trying all kindsof stuff to get these extra
15-ish pounds off 10, 15,.
I got down to 130 at thebeginning of the year and then
as recently as six weeks ago, Igot back up to 136.
I was so mad at myself y'all,and I'm gonna blame like the
(29:13):
work pressure I felt, you know,and me drinking wine and eating
Mexican food to cope with it.
So I should know how to loseweight.
If anyone knows how to loseweight, it's me.
So what I started to do thesepast two years was go back to
(29:36):
countin' calories and proteinWorking out.
When I came I started.
Six weeks ago I started thisweight loss it's called the Iron
Series with Carolyn Gurvin, Ithink, on YouTube.
It's free.
It's amazing.
I haven't done it in like threeweeks.
I got three weeks through.
I'll pick it back up.
It's only because the holidaysand I know myself I'm obviously
(29:59):
very accountable.
I'll pick it back up.
But I highly recommend that ifyou do wanna start your weight
loss journey with weighttraining, look that up.
It's absolutely free and it'san amazing six-week program.
But anyways, when I startedgettin' serious about this for
two years I was on this hamsterwheel of just not losing, or I
would lose during you know theweek and then I would cheat on
the weekend and or not evencheat.
(30:20):
I started gettin' actuallysuper strict with counting my
calories and macros again andhaving no cheat days, because at
five two you can't really havea cheat day unless it's once
every three weeks, because ittakes.
3,300 calories equals one pound, so you have to be in a deficit
of 3,500 calories every singleweek if you wanna lose one pound
(30:43):
.
And the math just does not addup.
So look at the data, do yourmath.
For me it did not add up.
I could go one cheat meal andthen I'm just gonna destroy my
weight loss for the whole week.
Everything I worked hard onwould go to Mexican on a Friday
night and I just I'd swept itunder the rug.
It's like I didn't do anythingthe previous week.
So that was happening.
(31:03):
But also I was having weekswhere it just wasn't coming off
and I was like tracking mycalories and even if I drank
wine I would account for thosecalories and it just was not
budging and I had hormonalissues.
So I was.
I can tell when, like, my PCOSis really acting up, because
(31:25):
I've got all kinds of differentsymptoms and my body just did
not wanna let go of the weight.
And so this was happening fortwo years.
It was this cycle of bouncingbetween, usually 130, 135, not
getting anywhere under my goalweight of 120, although 118 is
like my sweet spot, because thenI get super, super ripped out.
(31:49):
So I knew all like the thingsI'm supposed to be doing, weight
wasn't coming off, yada, yada,yada.
And we had even startedincorporating walking every day
for four miles, and my husbandand I would take on our little
lunch break twice a day.
We would go and walk two milesin the morning and two miles in
(32:12):
the evening.
Recently switched that up tojust walking for one hour and
that has helped a lot.
So the recent changes I havemade and y'all, the weight is
finally freaking, coming off,and I fought this for so long as
I became sober curious, notcompletely sober Hail, no, no, I
(32:39):
am a big fan of craft cocktailson the patio.
I am a big fan of wine, like Iused to go to a bunch of wine
tasting.
I love learning about thedifferent, the different what is
the word I'm looking for here?
Oh, my gosh, I'm having a brainfart.
The different varietals, like Ilove learning about French wine
(32:59):
and Italian wine and it's just,it's kind of a hobby for me.
So I'm the ritual of it, likeopening a bottle, having a glass
in the hot tub or by the firepit.
I love it, I love it, love it,love it, love it, love it.
Not like a getting smashedparty, you know, frat boy level.
I love enjoying a glass of wine, too unwind, because I need to
(33:24):
be forced to relax.
Unfortunately, that's somethingI need to work on, but I love
it.
I thought it Everyone's like.
You know, once you give upalcohol, the weight starts
falling off.
And I'm like well, I even drinkalcohol and stay under my
calories and the weight's notfalling off.
So I knew if I'm doingeverything right, I need to, I
(33:44):
need to try this, and it'scalled sober curious.
So guess what?
You don't have to go completelysober unless you have problems.
All right, like if you've gotproblems drinking, then you need
to get yourself some help andlearn to become sober.
But there's something calledsober curious and I was like you
know what?
I think I can do that I don'thave to completely give up
(34:05):
alcohol and I can still loseweight because I want to be in
my pretty little sundress thisspring with a cocktail on my
hand and I'm gonna have to turnin and hibernate and do this
internal glow up thing to getthere.
Which is why I was like youknow, I'm going off social media
.
I was so mad when I started this.
Everyone's like, oh, going offalcohol is so amazing.
(34:28):
You have this clarity and youjust can level up and it's
awesome, bullshit, bullshit.
The second you're like I'm notgonna drink anymore.
It kind of sucks, y'all.
I'm just gonna be honest, itkind of sucks.
I was mad about it.
I was like you know what?
I am so good at all this, this,this, this, and I deserve to be
(34:49):
able to unwind with a margaritaand some chips and sauce at the
Mexican restaurant.
But unfortunately, life and mybody is like bitch.
You don't.
You have five to, you'reapproaching 40, you got PCOS.
I don't care If you stick toyour calories, you have that
(35:09):
alcohol in you.
It's not.
You're not gonna lose weight.
I don't understand the signsbehind it.
I think it's like inflammationand your body burns alcohol
before it burns fat.
And this can go on for days andI saw it on the scale, like if
I even stuck to my calories.
But I had wine, like my scalewould go up two pounds and it
would be that way for four daysand then it would only go back
(35:29):
down one pound.
So I knew I had to startbecoming sober, curious to see
if it worked.
It was the last ditch effort andI was in a bad mood, bad mood
for two weeks, cause I'm like,damn it, I want to do my
routines, my rituals.
I have these rituals, like inmy hot tub I'm gonna drink some
wine, or my fire pit I'm gonnadrink some wine, I'm gonna do my
(35:52):
Friday night Mexican thing withmy family.
I love it.
I love it.
I love it.
But guess what?
You can still do that.
It's just like a moderationthing.
But to kick it off, you do needto become sober, curious, and
that for me, in my experience,going at least two weeks without
any alcohol.
And so I did replace it withother little rituals I created
(36:17):
for myself, and one is I likedsome wine at the end of the
night, and so I started doing itwith hot chocolate, still
sticking to my calories.
But guess what bitches.
I've been doing this for amonth and I'm already down six
pounds.
So I have been going upstairsand watching Gilded Age, which
is like one of those low stakesshows.
(36:38):
So it's a very comforting showand it's not cringe.
It's not low stakes cringe likethe Good Witch, it's actually
really good.
And so I will have a cookie.
That's what I was looking forItalian cookies.
I will have some kind of nicefancy cookie and hot chocolate
and I get all cozy and I watchmy Gilded Age and I love it and
I look forward to it every day.
(36:59):
And I haven't, like, after thefirst two weeks let me preface
this after the first two weekshaven't craved alcohol and been
like damn it, I wish I waspouring a glass of wine.
Now you gotta get through thattwo week home.
At least for me it was twoweeks.
It might be longer for you Also.
Just create these littlerituals for yourself, like
having hot chocolate or coffee.
(37:21):
If you really want to drink andyou're fighting it at the end
of the day.
Go to bed early.
I'm telling you it works and Iit sucks.
I'm gonna be honest with you itsucks, it sucks, it sucks, it
sucks.
It's hard, it's hard and it'sno fun, but I will say, not
having hangovers is prettyamazing.
So you after you get throughlike the annoyance of having to
(37:45):
do this and accept this is justyour life, it gets easier.
It truly does.
And so I've also looked intomocktails which they have you
for it drinks.
I think one's called Ken, youfor ricks or something.
Kin They've got like newtropics and stuff I don't know.
It's supposed to like make youCalmer and unwind.
(38:07):
I've never really felt anyeffects from it, but it's nice
because I still get to have myritual of I get a fancy glass
and I'll pour like ice in it andthen I'll pour the little
Mocktail over it, or I'll createmy own mocktail or tea or just
like replacing it with somethingI can sip on while I watch a
movie.
That makes me feel like Fancy.
(38:28):
You know, like I'll get aspecial glass for like a special
tea by yourself, like I've seenI think it's called magic hour
teas on Instagram, a lot thatI'm thinking about to order,
although I have a love-haterelationship with tea, but it
would be great for a littleritual fancy drink and and,
honestly, like I don't feel badabout it, I'm not like I miss
(38:50):
the wine now.
Did I completely give it up?
Hell, no, hell, no.
I had been doing this, like Isaid, for about a month.
I Went in a Mexican food theother day and it didn't put the
weight on me and I had a bigjumbo margarita.
Because I'm more moderatingmyself, I'm not drinking
throughout the week, I'm noteven drinking on a lot of
(39:10):
weekends.
I've completely transformed mymindset with alcohol and I just
don't need it as much and, likeI said, I'm gonna be real with
you.
I see people all the timesaying it's so amazing, I feel
like so great, it's the bestthing ever.
And now those first few weeksit's not.
I was mad, just like this sucks.
(39:34):
Why do I have to not only havePCOS?
You know, have struggle,struggling losing weight, can
only have 1200 calories a day,but now you tell me I have to
give up my wine.
But it worked, it worked.
So if you are struggling, youneed to Look at your calories
and versus calories out.
(39:55):
Go back to tracking yourcalories.
Number one if you want totransform your body with like
body fat, weight training andCounting your protein, and if
none of that is working for you,you Get sober.
Curious, or get sober.
If you've got like issues withit and you can't handle your
(40:16):
alcohol, then get completelysober.
I don't know anything aboutthat, I'm don't have those kind
of issues, but I just havebecome sober, curious, and I
enjoy it.
So you don't have to give upeverything.
You can have your chocolate atthe end of the day.
You can have your wine, youknow, every two or three weeks.
(40:38):
Now I'm about to go to New York.
Am I gonna drink in New York?
Fuck yeah, oh yeah, I'm gonnahave a fancy cocktail.
I'm gonna have some red winewith my steak.
When I have my birthday dinner,I will drink in New York.
But now, since I have been sofully removed from Having it as
much as I was, like at the endof the day and on weekends, I
(41:00):
can control that, because I usedto, couldn't.
I used to feel like, oh, I needto have my wine at the end of a
day because I've had such arough day, or I need to have my
wine, you know, on this weekendbecause I deserve it, or
whatever.
I just had to change my mindsetand I don't have to have it.
I can still have my littlereward at the end of the day.
(41:21):
That is better for me, if youknow what I mean.
So you know it's.
You do get that clarityEventually when you change your
mindset.
With wine, with food, whateverit is.
You know emotional eating.
There are some books out there,for I think it's Alan Carr
(41:42):
writes one about emotionaleating that I keep hearing about
.
If you're struggling with anyof that, take it from me.
As a personal trainer, I know alot about weight loss and this
Was new to me.
This was new to me this yearbecause you know, I used to
never drink and as I Got olderand felt the pressure, I started
(42:06):
to drink more wine and y'all.
That's what was making this fatbooty on me and I'm changing it
.
I'm getting down to my goal way.
It is falling off me now.
I still do the hour walk a day,if I can, even in the cold
weather, I Bundle up, got me aparka.
I got there a walk for an hour.
I try to stick to the weighttraining.
(42:28):
I haven't the past few weeksjust because you know holidays
and stuff, but I'll get back toit in January.
So if you are looking forTransformation on your body and
you're not happy with your bodyand I'm not gonna give you some
toxic positivity bullshit, whichis embrace your body you do
need to do that too, like youneed to.
I Said I'm not gonna give ityou that, but then I said you
(42:50):
need to do it.
You need to know your level ofhappiness.
It's okay if you're not happyat the weight you are and you
want to lose weight.
Don't let anyone tell you whatyou think makes you happy.
You know, like I didn't fit inmy pants and I want to fit in my
pants, it would make me happyto fit in my pants and I didn't
want to embrace my body and belike, oh well, we should just be
(43:11):
positive about how we are andit's okay.
I Am positive and understandyou know my body situation, my
PCOS, things about me.
But I wasn't gonna be happy notfitting my pants and I'm not
gonna settle because that's justnot me and if that's not you
too.
It's okay to want to loseweight.
(43:33):
I feel like people get shamedabout at this day and age or
like, huh, no, we're justsupposed to be happy at whatever
weight we are and that's okaytoo, if you want to do that.
But if you want to lose weight,listen to me, get sober,
curious, track your calories,track your protein and work out
or just walk, and that's myweight loss journey as of
(43:55):
recently.
I hope to give you all anupdate here in February.
Now I am doing a drag January.
So if this is your thing like Iam not drinking at all in
January Because I'm seeingresults and I like it and I do
feel better, you know I do havefinally have that clarity and
yeah, so I'm looking forward todoing this journey with y'all.
If you're out there and you'realso Wondering about how you can
(44:19):
become sober, curious or on aweight loss journey, and you,
you know, have questions, reachout to me.
I love this.
I'm very passionate about thissubject.
I have a lot of experience init.
I believe I can be prettyhelpful here.
So I don't know what the nextpodcast will be after the
accountability, but I'm goingdown the line on New Year's
(44:41):
resolutions and I wanted to kickit off with this one because
I'm going through this now and Isaw some fantastic results.
So you are not stuck at theweight You're unhappy with.
You can take control of this,even if it means giving up
something you dearly love, likeyour evening glass are too of
(45:03):
wine.
So I hate to be the bearer ofbad news, but it's actually good
news in the long run and, yeah,I can't wait to see everyone
spring glow up, with us all onpatios and our sundresses With a
well-deserved cocktail and hand.
Thank you so much for listening.
If you love the show, pleaseleave a rating, a review, and if
(45:26):
you know anyone who also mightlove the show or who could
benefit from this information,please be sure to Share it and
subscribe.
The more we get this out topeople, the more people we can
help, and I truly believethere's so many women who need
to hear these words, because somany women are feeling stuck.
Also, if you're looking for me,you can usually find me on the
(45:49):
ground at author cat atoms, andbe sure to head over to my
website and that's cat atomsatoms with a double d's Dot com.
Subscribe to my newsletter forthe latest information.
Also, when you subscribe,you're gonna get free novella.
And Just be forewarned, my oron to rom-com is as dirty as my
mouth.
So if that's your thing, go forit.
(46:11):
It's super hilarious.
But thank you again for tuningin.
Until next time, please staysafe and I'll see you on the
other side.
You.
It's time to wake up witches.
I'm your host, cat Adams, andI'm here to remind you that, no
matter where you're at in life,you're not stuck.
Welcome back to the show.
(00:29):
It feels like it's been foreversince I've recorded, but I
think it's only been like twoweeks.
But I guess just a lot hashappened in the last two weeks.
And like a lot, a lot, becauseevery now and then I get so
restless for a change and I'mlike I'm gonna do my hair, I'm
(00:51):
gonna get a new tattoo, I'mgonna like take a huge trip, I'm
gonna do something crazy.
And this year it hit me and Iwas like I need a new office
because I spend all my time, soI work from home in this office,
and I need something more grownup, because my office was
(01:14):
decorated with like most of myrom-com stuff.
So it was very bright colors,bright pink, funny stuff, and I
was like you know what?
I'm not to be 40.
I need to elevate this.
So now I'm sitting in my brandnew office and it is colored
burgundy from floor to ceiling.
(01:37):
So I have dark wood floors, mywalls are burgundy, I did the
trim and burgundy and theceiling and burgundy, and that's
called color drenching.
It's an actual thing.
And why you do it is because itlike draws your eye up and it
makes the room look larger.
And I already have highceilings in here.
(01:57):
And I found this mirror and itwas super, super tall and I was
like I need that.
But I need it to like fit.
You know what I mean.
Like I need it.
I need everything in here tolook oversized and grand and
luxurious.
And I just do Because I do andbecause I can.
So I'm sitting in here now andI'm looking at it and it is just
(02:18):
so pretty.
I still have a lot to do.
I need to get, I think, getlike some kind of plush wing
back chair or something.
Maybe I would love it if Icould find like a small corner
fireplace, just, you know, likeone of those obviously fake
fireplaces to put in here.
I think that would be awesome.
Don't know if I'm going to dothat, but it's a work in
(02:41):
progress.
But at least I got my mirror upand I got my walls done and
this shit looks to bomb.
Do people say that anymore?
The bomb, the bombcom?
Am I showing my millennial age?
Oh, my goodness.
Well, as I'm recording, it'sactually Christmas Eve and I got
shit to do because I have topack.
I will be on a jet plane to NewYork City here very soon and
(03:06):
that's where I'll be celebratingmy 40th birthday.
And I know I've mentioned itbefore.
I'm just excited so I willmention it again.
I can't freaking wait.
Never been to New York City butI'm trying to give myself
experiences instead of buythings, although I have a
problem because I'm kind ofdoing both lately.
Don't recommend it for yourchecking account.
(03:28):
But yeah, christmas Eve and I'mworking because we celebrated
Christmas actually a couple daysago and we did the crab again,
which I'm going to shout it fromthe rooftops.
If you've never ordered fromGold Belly, do it.
Especially Pikes Place Market,you can order straight from Gold
Belly in the overnight crab.
(03:49):
I got the email Thursday nightthat hey, your crab is on its
way and by noon Friday it was onmy front porch Like four whole
crabs and they were so good.
So highly recommend Gold Bellyfor like a special occasion or
not.
I mean I was on there lookingat Italian cookies, because I'll
(04:10):
get to that in a second.
Italian cookies, like I know,you can order straight from New
York and they weren't thatexpensive and they do like this
points thing, so you can get,you can rack up points, and so
I've got coupons for like $30off and stuff.
And, oh my gosh, one year Iordered a muffa lettu straight
from Central Grocery in NewOrleans and it tasted amazing.
(04:34):
It was just like you're sittingin Central Grocery in New
Orleans and, oh my God, it wasawesome.
Love muffa lettu Although Ithink some people call them
muffa lot, muffa lettu.
I don't know how you'resupposed to pronounce that my
favorite sandwich.
I am huge into New Orleans foodand I'm talking about all this
food because we're about to talkabout weight loss, which I know
(04:58):
is not typical for this podcast.
But I told you we're going todo some.
We're going to do some, likeyou're not stuck in yada, yada,
yada, as it relates to most.
You know New Year's traditionsthat we often hear about.
But first I do want to prep youon the next episode coming out
after this.
It won't be one of the NewYear's resolutions ones, it's
(05:20):
just one I had in my back pocketthat I need to talk about and
it's own accountability andinternalized misogyny.
And it's coming up because Iwas reminded about this
yesterday, like my husband whenwe met he didn't really
understand like from a victim'sperspective, you know, like
violence against women.
(05:40):
He didn't understand feministsat the level that we wish men
did.
And so he learned a lot from me, like a lot.
And now he will be the first tocall out like you know, that's
not right, like that's justgross.
And so when we you know, Italked about this a couple of
weeks ago when we were watchingthat Matt Reif special, and like
(06:00):
the first two, three minutes,he made a joke about someone
punching a man, punching a womanin the eye because she couldn't
cook, or something I don't know.
He was like no, and we bothturned it off, like it wasn't me
saying I'm not watching thisand I'm like, oh, let's give it
a chance.
No, he was like no, oh my gosh.
No.
(06:20):
Well, he got roped in on aconversation on Facebook and I
tell him get off Facebook.
No one gets on Facebook anymore.
This is for old people.
This is the problem.
He got roped into a conversationand he got super disheartened
because he was sticking up forno, we shouldn't be telling
(06:41):
jokes like this and normalizingthe behavior, and so many people
on this public post came downon him in really harsh ways and
a lot of those were women.
And he was asking me like Idon't understand, why would
women accept this behavior?
(07:01):
Why do they defend it?
And I was like, look, buddy, Ijust did a whole podcast episode
on internalized misogyny andand pick my girls.
All right, it's a lot to unpack.
It's it's super fucked up.
It's super fucked up that ourown people, women, support stuff
(07:25):
like this, defend it and evenlike I've seen women at like
those Trump rallies wearingshirts that say I wish Trump
will grab me by the pussy.
First of all, vomit, second ofall.
Come on, dude, come on, likewhat's wrong.
What is wrong with women?
I can talk all day, every day,about what's wrong with men, but
(07:49):
when it comes to talking aboutwomen and why we justify
behavior that's against us andsets us back and doesn't allow
us to move forward, I get soconfused because I don't
understand why you do it either.
I talk about it in the nextepisode, but still to me it's
like I don't get it.
I don't get it.
(08:09):
I don't get how you can be thatway, like whatever.
So he saw that and he was justlike it made him feel like I
feel a lot where it's like youcan talk about it and speak out
about it.
But if you don't have, likethose own people, even like
victims, were coming out andsaying, oh, I'm a victim of
(08:31):
domestic violence, and you know,I think it's funny and it's
like it's a losing battle, it'slike uphill.
But you know what it doesn'tstop me I keep going, I'm still
volunteering, I still work fulltime in this niche, I'm still
podcasting, I'm still writingbooks, I'm still speaking out
because of all it takes, is thatone person who needs to hear it
(08:51):
?
You know, and I know there'splenty of people who are silent
on that subject and who are alsodisheartened, but they're
seeing those posts about itbeing wrong and they're like I'm
breathing a sigh of relief,even if they don't speak out,
because you know it's those loudfuckers that are like the
trouble fuckers, right?
So that's just my two cents andthat's what's coming up in the
(09:13):
next episode all aboutaccountability on where we're at
as women.
But first let's talk about allthings weight loss, because
you're not stuck at the unhappyweight you're at, and I'm not
only going to talk about weight,I'm going to talk about like
(09:34):
healthy eating and stuff too.
So if you're just like.
You know I eat like shit.
Well, stop, we're going to talkabout like, don't eat shit,
right, and before, you're likecat.
Why are you going to talk aboutthis Turn?
Author.
You're a podcaster bitch.
I used to be a personal trainer.
So, yes, I have lots ofexpertise in this area and I am
(10:02):
reminded all the time of likethe basics.
And also also I have PCOS.
If you don't know what PCOS is,it's a bitch.
It's like a hormonal something,another that screws you up.
It makes you easily gain weightand it's hard as hell to get it
(10:23):
all something to do withinsulin.
I don't know the specifics, Iain't a doctor, but I do
struggle with PCOS.
Everyone with PCOS has a bunchof different symptoms.
I don't have all the symptomsthat normally go with it.
So it took me 17 years to bediagnosed.
I'm not going to get on thatsoapbox, but I'm not going to
(10:44):
get on that soapbox.
But let's just let me say again, 17 years for a doctor to
finally listen to what I wassaying, that I thought I had
PCOS and actually put me throughall the tests.
So I have PCOS.
They used to just look at me andbe like, no, you don't know.
You know, because you're notoverworked, so I'm not going to
get on that soapbox.
I'm not going to get on thatsoapbox.
(11:06):
So I have PCOS.
They used to just look at meand be like, no, you don't know,
because you're not overweightand you don't have, like this
deep male voice, blah, blah,blah typical symptoms.
And I'm like, yeah, because Iwork my freaking ass off to stay
in shape, like I work myfreaking ass off and it ain't
(11:28):
easy, it ain't easy.
So let me tell you a story aboutmy weight loss journey and
where I'm at now and I think itcan help you if you're
struggling in this area.
If you're not, maybe you knowsomeone who is.
But you know we need to behappy with ourselves and we can
do all this body positivitystuff.
We won't like you should loveyourself no matter what, and I
(11:50):
agree we do.
We need to embrace ourselves.
But I know we also have goalsin mind and that's okay too.
If you want to lose weight,it's okay.
Don't feel like this culturenow, with this like what's it
called toxic positivity, is likeoh girl, you should love
yourself, even if you know youdon't fit in those pants anymore
(12:12):
and it really inside makes youfeel bad.
If it inside it makes you feelbad and I'm talking to myself
here change, lose weight, dosomething about it.
You don't have to be stuck atthe same weight that you aren't
comfortable with.
And that's where I have beenfor the past two years actually
(12:33):
now.
So let's roll this back to, hmm,20 years ago.
Well, holy shit, that's a longtime.
So I've always struggled withmy weight, always struggled with
my weight, and I'm five two andI'm just going to be
transparent with my weights.
I'm five two and I had got upto about 150 and I'm a five two
(13:00):
frame 150.
It was not cute I look like abusted can of biscuits, all
right, but I was going throughfirst like realizing.
That time was when I wasrealizing I was in an abusive
relationship.
So I was going through likelots of emotions and depression
and didn't feel good aboutmyself and using food as a copa
(13:25):
mechanism, you know, likeemotionally eating, and so it
took me to get really, reallybad to fuel my first weight loss
.
Okay, so what am I talkingabout here?
I let me air my dirty laundryand I've talked about how you
(13:47):
can use anger to fuel the fireto get you where you want to go.
And this was my firstexperience with him.
It was when I walked in to abar and found my ex-husband with
another woman and that hurt tosee like him smiling with this
(14:09):
woman when back home he was somean and hateful of me and I
don't know why, because, asalways, you know pretty fucking
good to him.
But that's what abusers do,right, that's what narcissistic
men do, you know, cheater,cheater.
So when I saw that we wentthrough a breakup, obviously we
(14:32):
got back together.
You know, you know thestatistics.
I'm not going there, it's aboutweight loss.
And I used that time my anger,to put on heavy metal with my
whatever I used back then.
What did we use back then?
I think I had one of thoseApple, what is it called and I
(14:57):
put, I don't know.
I went to the gym and I turnedmy heavy metal music up and I
raged out on the elliptical.
During this time I also startedWeight Watchers, because I
didn't know anything about likenutrition and Weight Watchers
has like this point system andit was super easy.
(15:18):
So all I had to do was stayunder, like I don't know, 25
points a day and I wouldcalculate all my little points
up and I would go to the gym andI would just again like rage
out on the elliptical.
I was very, very strict with mydiet and I had no alcohol back
then Like I rarely ever drinkalcohol, which I'm mentioning
(15:38):
because I'm going to get to in asecond.
So this is before.
I had my daughter too, so ofcourse I'm young, it's a little
bit easier.
The weight fell off me Easypeasy right.
Then I got pregnant, shot up to170 and had my baby and was
still like 170 ish and I waslike crap.
(15:59):
I got to get this off again,but at this time I had learned
so much about nutrition.
So I decided that I want tostart bodybuilding, because when
I lost weight the first time,it's like a snowman melting
method.
This is what happens if you'renot weight training, if you're
(16:22):
only doing cardio or you're notworking out at all.
When you lose weight you'regoing to keep the same body
shape.
It's just going to be a smallerversion.
And I didn't want that becauseI really liked the look of a
toned, muscular body and Iwanted that for myself.
So I started researchingbodybuilding and nutrition and I
(16:43):
got into, like thebodybuildingcom forums I don't
even know if they still havethose.
But I got super pumped into allthat stuff and I had books on
like female weight training andyada, yada, yada, and I was like
I'm going to try this.
I tried it and I fell in lovewith it and so I was a
(17:04):
bodybuilder for over 10 years.
I was weight training, I wasbodybuilding, I took
professional photos, I wasripped up, I had a six pack for
a decade.
Okay, like I felt so good aboutmyself and instead of doing the
weight watchers.
So for nutrition and this iswhat all diets come down to it's
(17:27):
calories and calories out.
So I tracked my calories and Itracked my protein, which is
huge you have to have.
I think the statistics are alittle bit lower, but just like
in general, one gram of proteinper one gram of body weight.
So I wanted to get down to 120.
(17:48):
So I'd always track 120 gramsof protein.
And for me to lose weightbecause I'm a shorty and the
suck shot sucks so bad mymaintenance weight, my
maintenance calories is 1500,but my weight loss calories is
1200.
So to lose weight, I could onlyeat 1200 calories a day and I
(18:09):
had to stick with 100 to 120grams of protein to keep muscle.
It was a bitch, but again, backthen I didn't really drink
alcohol, so it was hard, but itwasn't too hard.
I was also breastfeeding at thetime when I started this weight
loss stuff, so that accountsfor like what an extra 500
(18:30):
calories burned.
It wasn't too bad.
But I fell in love withbodybuilding and like the
nutrition stuff so much that Idid get my personal training
license and I opened a littlepersonal training business, got
my live building insurance, Istarted training outside of our,
inside my home, so like I wasworking from home and it just it
(18:51):
was just.
When you're a personal trainer,people think you're a therapist
and so they want to tell youall their problems and I'm like
I don't care, I'm here to helpyou get in shape.
But I didn't like it.
So I quickly realized I loveweight training for myself and
(19:12):
nutrition and all that goodstuff.
I don't like it for otherpeople so much.
So during this time when I waslike best shape of my life, I
got down to 110, which probablywas like not the best, because
there's going to come a point ifyou're really serious about
this weight loss and likekidding, I don't know if you
(19:32):
want to get ripped up or youjust want to lose weight,
whatever.
If you get thin enough with alow body fat percentage, you're
going to have to choose betweenyour face and your body, because
if your body is at a low bodyfat percentage, your face is
going to be too, and especiallyas you get older, you might look
like what's his name the CripKeeper guy, the Crip Keeper or
(19:56):
Skeletor.
You're going to look bad, likeI looked bad my face and I had
to get fillers, and that's awhole other subject.
I love fillers, by the way.
But yeah, it did not look goodat 110, but my body was banging,
I mean like no fat on me,hardly whatsoever.
(20:17):
Now I did struggle still withbody image and it was also going
to a little bit of a dangerousterritory where I did feel guilt
, you know, for like eatingcertain things or whatnot, and
I'm going to get into that in asecond.
But yeah, 110, no, 115 wasstill a little bit for me.
(20:42):
Now, that was very hard for meto get down to those levels,
very, very, very hard.
I'm talking about restrict.
I ate nothing but like chickenand broccoli pretty much, and
eggs it was.
It's horrible.
I don't recommend it.
It is not a long term thing youcan do.
I only did that when I had likeprofessional photos coming up
(21:04):
and I wanted you know my body tobe at like the leanest, but
more like 115 to 120 was myhappy spot, which is where I
want to get now.
So if you want to lose weight,the best thing I can tell you
right now the best way I haveever found I've been told
(21:27):
recently I'm going to give youmy new hack here in a second is
calories in, calories out, and Iam a big fan of if it fits,
your macros diet.
If you don't know what that is,it's basically like your macros
is how much carbs you're goingto get a day, how much protein
you're going to get a day andhow much fat you're going to get
a day.
(21:47):
So I already told you you'regoing to take about if you're
serious about changing your bodyone gram of protein per body
weight goal.
So mine was always 120, because120 is like my goal weight.
If you're doing 120 grams ofprotein, you can use whatever's
(22:08):
left for carbs and fat, althoughI always try to go lower carbs
because I have that insulinthing with a PCOS and carbs just
like I can't process them rightor whatever.
It's so hard for me to loseweight, especially if I'm eating
a lot of carbs.
That's just me.
I don't think carbs are thedevil.
Some people can tolerate them,so you do.
(22:29):
You just make sure you get yourprotein in, but if it fits your
macros, means if you're gettingyour 120 grams of protein and
you're 1200 calories a daybecause I'm using myself as an
example this is what I have todo to lose weight.
You can eat 1200 calories inbroccoli and chicken, or you can
eat 1200 calories inChick-fil-A, it doesn't matter.
It does not matter.
(22:50):
As long as you're hitting thosemacro goals and your calorie
goals, you're going to stilllose weight.
That is what I have used foryears and years and years.
So I would eat sensible all day, very nutritious stuff, and I
would save about 300 caloriesfor my little reward snack at
(23:12):
the end of the day.
And it worked, and I'm kind ofgoing back to that right now.
So I would always make surethat at the end of the day I had
a little bit of calories leftfor a treat.
Now, of course, if you'rewanting to be a healthier eater
and stop eating like McDonald'sor Chick-fil-A or whatever fried
foods.
Go into the Mexican restaurantevery Friday like I was doing,
(23:37):
then don't do the.
Oh well, if 1200 calories in aburger, I'm still going to lose
weight because I'm eating 1200calories in a burger versus 1200
calories in cabbage same thing,obviously, dude.
If you're trying to behealthier and like not clog your
arteries and shit, go for thebroccoli and cabbage and veggies
.
This isn't rocket science.
Everyone should know this.
(23:58):
I'm not going to sit here andexplain to you like what's a
healthier food versus anon-healthier food.
Everybody should know this.
If you don't get on Google,like I want to talk about
specifically mostly weight losshere, and this works, so check
out the if it fits your macrodiet.
That is like number one, numberone advice.
(24:18):
But sometimes you might getmore stuck because you might be
dealt a shitty hand, like withPCOS, which is what happened to
me.
And as I get older and I don'thave the time to do one hour of
body weight or weight trainingexercises, yada, yada, yada, and
(24:39):
I'm just I'm not as into itanymore.
Things shift.
So I started looking at my.
I use my fitness pal to trackmy calories and I was looking at
it and I noticed I had aproblem About a year ago.
I was just getting tired ofbeating myself up over some
(25:03):
weight gain I had and I'vetalked about this before.
I gained weight when I startedthis job.
I'm working now because I workedfrom home, but it's so
demanding that, like when I'mworking, I mean people are like,
oh, you work from home, you cando whatever.
No, dude, when I'm working, myass is in the chair working for
eight hours.
I am.
I'm drained at the end of theday.
(25:24):
I'm too tired to work out.
I am too tired to properly makeme a proper meal, a nutritious
meal.
I'm too tired to you know, I'mnot going to be baking chicken
and making broccoli, I'm justgoing to be open a box of ramen
noodles or something.
I'm so tired and the pressurewas getting to me so much that
we were doing a Friday nightcomfort Mexican food night,
(25:48):
which also added to it.
And then I was drinking a lot,like not drinking, like oh my
gosh, you got a problem butdrinking enough that it was
obviously adding to the weightgame.
And I had got up these past twoyears to about 15 extra pounds.
(26:09):
And I remember I'm five, twoand I was 122 years ago.
So I got up to around 135.
If I'm being honest, like, Igot up to about 136, 37, 38,
fluctuated.
But I was not happy because Ihad come from someone who, like
(26:30):
I said, six pack ripped up feltamazing.
And if you get to your goalweight you know that feeling I'm
talking about you fit into yourclothes.
You want to go clothes shopping.
You want to go gene shopping Iknow everyone hates gene
shopping unless you're fit andyou're like, oh, I'm gonna buy
10 pairs of jeans.
I look good in this.
Look at this ass, this looksgood, this feels good, this shit
(26:52):
fits me like a glove and youjust feel good about yourself.
And I love dressing up andwearing cute clothes.
And I was not fitting in myclothes anymore and I was
getting so down on myself whichis a problem in and of itself I
was trying to give myself alittle bit of grace.
I'm like, hey, look, you justembarked on a new career.
You're doing this, you're doingthat.
(27:13):
It's okay if you gain thisweight, but it doesn't matter
how much I tell myself that Ididn't feel it and I wanted to
fit back into all my cuteclothes.
So it really came down to thatLike I wanted.
I wanted to feel good aboutmyself again and I just wasn't.
So I got in a bit of a funk andthen I realized well, you know,
(27:37):
while I'm trying to give myselfgrace and understand that it's
okay and I'm working towardsbeing better I noticed on my
fitness pal.
My streak on my fitness pal wasI had logged in for 2,725 days
in a row, that's almost eightyears.
(27:59):
I had been diligent about mydiet and I was so tired of
tracking my macros and mycalories and I was so tired from
work that I just gave up and Irealized like that could also be
not healthy, being that likediligent, that committed.
But then again, maybe it could.
(28:21):
It doesn't have to be a badthing.
I just wasn't feeling it atthat point in my life and I
wanted to eat Mexican food.
I wanted to eat someramanoodles and not feel guilty
about not meeting my protein,cause I didn't want to lose my
muscle, cause I had worked over10 years building this muscle,
didn't want to lose my muscle.
So I got into a funk and it hasbeen hard to get out of this
(28:50):
Now that I'm approaching 40,it's also, you know, the older
you get, it's harder.
So I had been trying all kindsof stuff to get these extra
15-ish pounds off 10, 15,.
I got down to 130 at thebeginning of the year and then
as recently as six weeks ago, Igot back up to 136.
I was so mad at myself y'all,and I'm gonna blame like the
(29:13):
work pressure I felt, you know,and me drinking wine and eating
Mexican food to cope with it.
So I should know how to loseweight.
If anyone knows how to loseweight, it's me.
So what I started to do thesepast two years was go back to
(29:36):
countin' calories and proteinWorking out.
When I came I started.
Six weeks ago I started thisweight loss it's called the Iron
Series with Carolyn Gurvin, Ithink, on YouTube.
It's free.
It's amazing.
I haven't done it in like threeweeks.
I got three weeks through.
I'll pick it back up.
It's only because the holidaysand I know myself I'm obviously
(29:59):
very accountable.
I'll pick it back up.
But I highly recommend that ifyou do wanna start your weight
loss journey with weighttraining, look that up.
It's absolutely free and it'san amazing six-week program.
But anyways, when I startedgettin' serious about this for
two years I was on this hamsterwheel of just not losing, or I
would lose during you know theweek and then I would cheat on
the weekend and or not evencheat.
(30:20):
I started gettin' actuallysuper strict with counting my
calories and macros again andhaving no cheat days, because at
five two you can't really havea cheat day unless it's once
every three weeks, because ittakes.
3,300 calories equals one pound, so you have to be in a deficit
of 3,500 calories every singleweek if you wanna lose one pound
(30:43):
.
And the math just does not addup.
So look at the data, do yourmath.
For me it did not add up.
I could go one cheat meal andthen I'm just gonna destroy my
weight loss for the whole week.
Everything I worked hard onwould go to Mexican on a Friday
night and I just I'd swept itunder the rug.
It's like I didn't do anythingthe previous week.
So that was happening.
(31:03):
But also I was having weekswhere it just wasn't coming off
and I was like tracking mycalories and even if I drank
wine I would account for thosecalories and it just was not
budging and I had hormonalissues.
So I was.
I can tell when, like, my PCOSis really acting up, because
(31:25):
I've got all kinds of differentsymptoms and my body just did
not wanna let go of the weight.
And so this was happening fortwo years.
It was this cycle of bouncingbetween, usually 130, 135, not
getting anywhere under my goalweight of 120, although 118 is
like my sweet spot, because thenI get super, super ripped out.
(31:49):
So I knew all like the thingsI'm supposed to be doing, weight
wasn't coming off, yada, yada,yada.
And we had even startedincorporating walking every day
for four miles, and my husbandand I would take on our little
lunch break twice a day.
We would go and walk two milesin the morning and two miles in
(32:12):
the evening.
Recently switched that up tojust walking for one hour and
that has helped a lot.
So the recent changes I havemade and y'all, the weight is
finally freaking, coming off,and I fought this for so long as
I became sober curious, notcompletely sober Hail, no, no, I
(32:39):
am a big fan of craft cocktailson the patio.
I am a big fan of wine, like Iused to go to a bunch of wine
tasting.
I love learning about thedifferent, the different what is
the word I'm looking for here?
Oh, my gosh, I'm having a brainfart.
The different varietals, like Ilove learning about French wine
(32:59):
and Italian wine and it's just,it's kind of a hobby for me.
So I'm the ritual of it, likeopening a bottle, having a glass
in the hot tub or by the firepit.
I love it, I love it, love it,love it, love it, love it.
Not like a getting smashedparty, you know, frat boy level.
I love enjoying a glass of wine, too unwind, because I need to
(33:24):
be forced to relax.
Unfortunately, that's somethingI need to work on, but I love
it.
I thought it Everyone's like.
You know, once you give upalcohol, the weight starts
falling off.
And I'm like well, I even drinkalcohol and stay under my
calories and the weight's notfalling off.
So I knew if I'm doingeverything right, I need to, I
(33:44):
need to try this, and it'scalled sober curious.
So guess what?
You don't have to go completelysober unless you have problems.
All right, like if you've gotproblems drinking, then you need
to get yourself some help andlearn to become sober.
But there's something calledsober curious and I was like you
know what?
I think I can do that I don'thave to completely give up
(34:05):
alcohol and I can still loseweight because I want to be in
my pretty little sundress thisspring with a cocktail on my
hand and I'm gonna have to turnin and hibernate and do this
internal glow up thing to getthere.
Which is why I was like youknow, I'm going off social media
.
I was so mad when I started this.
Everyone's like, oh, going offalcohol is so amazing.
(34:28):
You have this clarity and youjust can level up and it's
awesome, bullshit, bullshit.
The second you're like I'm notgonna drink anymore.
It kind of sucks, y'all.
I'm just gonna be honest, itkind of sucks.
I was mad about it.
I was like you know what?
I am so good at all this, this,this, this, and I deserve to be
(34:49):
able to unwind with a margaritaand some chips and sauce at the
Mexican restaurant.
But unfortunately, life and mybody is like bitch.
You don't.
You have five to, you'reapproaching 40, you got PCOS.
I don't care If you stick toyour calories, you have that
(35:09):
alcohol in you.
It's not.
You're not gonna lose weight.
I don't understand the signsbehind it.
I think it's like inflammationand your body burns alcohol
before it burns fat.
And this can go on for days andI saw it on the scale, like if
I even stuck to my calories.
But I had wine, like my scalewould go up two pounds and it
would be that way for four daysand then it would only go back
(35:29):
down one pound.
So I knew I had to startbecoming sober, curious to see
if it worked.
It was the last ditch effort andI was in a bad mood, bad mood
for two weeks, cause I'm like,damn it, I want to do my
routines, my rituals.
I have these rituals, like inmy hot tub I'm gonna drink some
wine, or my fire pit I'm gonnadrink some wine, I'm gonna do my
(35:52):
Friday night Mexican thing withmy family.
I love it.
I love it.
I love it.
But guess what?
You can still do that.
It's just like a moderationthing.
But to kick it off, you do needto become sober, curious, and
that for me, in my experience,going at least two weeks without
any alcohol.
And so I did replace it withother little rituals I created
(36:17):
for myself, and one is I likedsome wine at the end of the
night, and so I started doing itwith hot chocolate, still
sticking to my calories.
But guess what bitches.
I've been doing this for amonth and I'm already down six
pounds.
So I have been going upstairsand watching Gilded Age, which
is like one of those low stakesshows.
(36:38):
So it's a very comforting showand it's not cringe.
It's not low stakes cringe likethe Good Witch, it's actually
really good.
And so I will have a cookie.
That's what I was looking forItalian cookies.
I will have some kind of nicefancy cookie and hot chocolate
and I get all cozy and I watchmy Gilded Age and I love it and
I look forward to it every day.
(36:59):
And I haven't, like, after thefirst two weeks let me preface
this after the first two weekshaven't craved alcohol and been
like damn it, I wish I waspouring a glass of wine.
Now you gotta get through thattwo week home.
At least for me it was twoweeks.
It might be longer for you Also.
Just create these littlerituals for yourself, like
having hot chocolate or coffee.
(37:21):
If you really want to drink andyou're fighting it at the end
of the day.
Go to bed early.
I'm telling you it works and Iit sucks.
I'm gonna be honest with you itsucks, it sucks, it sucks, it
sucks.
It's hard, it's hard and it'sno fun, but I will say, not
having hangovers is prettyamazing.
So you after you get throughlike the annoyance of having to
(37:45):
do this and accept this is justyour life, it gets easier.
It truly does.
And so I've also looked intomocktails which they have you
for it drinks.
I think one's called Ken, youfor ricks or something.
Kin They've got like newtropics and stuff I don't know.
It's supposed to like make youCalmer and unwind.
(38:07):
I've never really felt anyeffects from it, but it's nice
because I still get to have myritual of I get a fancy glass
and I'll pour like ice in it andthen I'll pour the little
Mocktail over it, or I'll createmy own mocktail or tea or just
like replacing it with somethingI can sip on while I watch a
movie.
That makes me feel like Fancy.
(38:28):
You know, like I'll get aspecial glass for like a special
tea by yourself, like I've seenI think it's called magic hour
teas on Instagram, a lot thatI'm thinking about to order,
although I have a love-haterelationship with tea, but it
would be great for a littleritual fancy drink and and,
honestly, like I don't feel badabout it, I'm not like I miss
(38:50):
the wine now.
Did I completely give it up?
Hell, no, hell, no.
I had been doing this, like Isaid, for about a month.
I Went in a Mexican food theother day and it didn't put the
weight on me and I had a bigjumbo margarita.
Because I'm more moderatingmyself, I'm not drinking
throughout the week, I'm noteven drinking on a lot of
(39:10):
weekends.
I've completely transformed mymindset with alcohol and I just
don't need it as much and, likeI said, I'm gonna be real with
you.
I see people all the timesaying it's so amazing, I feel
like so great, it's the bestthing ever.
And now those first few weeksit's not.
I was mad, just like this sucks.
(39:34):
Why do I have to not only havePCOS?
You know, have struggle,struggling losing weight, can
only have 1200 calories a day,but now you tell me I have to
give up my wine.
But it worked, it worked.
So if you are struggling, youneed to Look at your calories
and versus calories out.
(39:55):
Go back to tracking yourcalories.
Number one if you want totransform your body with like
body fat, weight training andCounting your protein, and if
none of that is working for you,you Get sober.
Curious, or get sober.
If you've got like issues withit and you can't handle your
(40:16):
alcohol, then get completelysober.
I don't know anything aboutthat, I'm don't have those kind
of issues, but I just havebecome sober, curious, and I
enjoy it.
So you don't have to give upeverything.
You can have your chocolate atthe end of the day.
You can have your wine, youknow, every two or three weeks.
(40:38):
Now I'm about to go to New York.
Am I gonna drink in New York?
Fuck yeah, oh yeah, I'm gonnahave a fancy cocktail.
I'm gonna have some red winewith my steak.
When I have my birthday dinner,I will drink in New York.
But now, since I have been sofully removed from Having it as
much as I was, like at the endof the day and on weekends, I
(41:00):
can control that, because I usedto, couldn't.
I used to feel like, oh, I needto have my wine at the end of a
day because I've had such arough day, or I need to have my
wine, you know, on this weekendbecause I deserve it, or
whatever.
I just had to change my mindsetand I don't have to have it.
I can still have my littlereward at the end of the day.
(41:21):
That is better for me, if youknow what I mean.
So you know it's.
You do get that clarityEventually when you change your
mindset.
With wine, with food, whateverit is.
You know emotional eating.
There are some books out there,for I think it's Alan Carr
(41:42):
writes one about emotionaleating that I keep hearing about
.
If you're struggling with anyof that, take it from me.
As a personal trainer, I know alot about weight loss and this
Was new to me.
This was new to me this yearbecause you know, I used to
never drink and as I Got olderand felt the pressure, I started
(42:06):
to drink more wine and y'all.
That's what was making this fatbooty on me and I'm changing it
.
I'm getting down to my goal way.
It is falling off me now.
I still do the hour walk a day,if I can, even in the cold
weather, I Bundle up, got me aparka.
I got there a walk for an hour.
I try to stick to the weighttraining.
(42:28):
I haven't the past few weeksjust because you know holidays
and stuff, but I'll get back toit in January.
So if you are looking forTransformation on your body and
you're not happy with your bodyand I'm not gonna give you some
toxic positivity bullshit, whichis embrace your body you do
need to do that too, like youneed to.
I Said I'm not gonna give ityou that, but then I said you
(42:50):
need to do it.
You need to know your level ofhappiness.
It's okay if you're not happyat the weight you are and you
want to lose weight.
Don't let anyone tell you whatyou think makes you happy.
You know, like I didn't fit inmy pants and I want to fit in my
pants, it would make me happyto fit in my pants and I didn't
want to embrace my body and belike, oh well, we should just be
(43:11):
positive about how we are andit's okay.
I Am positive and understandyou know my body situation, my
PCOS, things about me.
But I wasn't gonna be happy notfitting my pants and I'm not
gonna settle because that's justnot me and if that's not you
too.
It's okay to want to loseweight.
(43:33):
I feel like people get shamedabout at this day and age or
like, huh, no, we're justsupposed to be happy at whatever
weight we are and that's okaytoo, if you want to do that.
But if you want to lose weight,listen to me, get sober,
curious, track your calories,track your protein and work out
or just walk, and that's myweight loss journey as of
(43:55):
recently.
I hope to give you all anupdate here in February.
Now I am doing a drag January.
So if this is your thing like Iam not drinking at all in
January Because I'm seeingresults and I like it and I do
feel better, you know I do havefinally have that clarity and
yeah, so I'm looking forward todoing this journey with y'all.
If you're out there and you'realso Wondering about how you can
(44:19):
become sober, curious or on aweight loss journey, and you,
you know, have questions, reachout to me.
I love this.
I'm very passionate about thissubject.
I have a lot of experience init.
I believe I can be prettyhelpful here.
So I don't know what the nextpodcast will be after the
accountability, but I'm goingdown the line on New Year's
(44:41):
resolutions and I wanted to kickit off with this one because
I'm going through this now and Isaw some fantastic results.
So you are not stuck at theweight You're unhappy with.
You can take control of this,even if it means giving up
something you dearly love, likeyour evening glass are too of
(45:03):
wine.
So I hate to be the bearer ofbad news, but it's actually good
news in the long run and, yeah,I can't wait to see everyone
spring glow up, with us all onpatios and our sundresses With a
well-deserved cocktail and hand.
Thank you so much for listening.
If you love the show, pleaseleave a rating, a review, and if
(45:26):
you know anyone who also mightlove the show or who could
benefit from this information,please be sure to Share it and
subscribe.
The more we get this out topeople, the more people we can
help, and I truly believethere's so many women who need
to hear these words, because somany women are feeling stuck.
Also, if you're looking for me,you can usually find me on the
(45:49):
ground at author cat atoms, andbe sure to head over to my
website and that's cat atomsatoms with a double d's Dot com.
Subscribe to my newsletter forthe latest information.
Also, when you subscribe,you're gonna get free novella.
And Just be forewarned, my oron to rom-com is as dirty as my
mouth.
So if that's your thing, go forit.
(46:11):
It's super hilarious.
But thank you again for tuningin.
Until next time, please staysafe and I'll see you on the
other side.
You.
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