Intermittent Fasting To Lose Weight – Client Story

Besides my chest pain, I had joint pain and I knew my pain was from carrying around this extra weight. For years. The pain I have now is good pain, and I know what good pain feels like, and it feels good cuz you stretch and you feel it. But the other pain was horrible. Welcome to the imperfectly empowered podcast with DIY healthy lifestyle blogger on a former empower you to transform your life. One imperfect day at a time. Welcome to the podcast. This is so fun having you hear. I love when my faster away clients, not only do I get to work with people like a blast from the past, from all different areas of life, but then chatting about it for people listening and watching Kathy van TA was one of my fast away clients and she’s gonna share her experience and her story because everyone needs these. Encourag. Encouraging stories and real life stories. Exactly. Um, but Kathy and I go way back, I mean, way back, like actually one of my very first jobs ever as a nurse talk about a weird, full circle experience was in the intensive care unit at the hospital that she worked at. And I think you were one of my, like preceptors as first year nurse. Yeah. So you, she worked in the same unit as my mom. They worked together for years in the ICU. Anyway. And then I went on to, I like left. I went to Hopkins, got my master’s, blah, blah, blah. And then I came back and helped Kathy and I both worked on a committee to help start up two stroke programs locally in Lancaster county here. And we spent hours together. and me and Dr. Ammond Dr. Dan Ammond, the three of us spent so many hours talking about things that would put you all to sleep. In a second and we were very excited about it. we were, and we did a fabulous job. Let’s just pat ourselves in the back. We had an incredible thing. Yeah, that’s exactly right. We did. We really, it was an incredible stroke program and then I left you. Yeah. And then we all, and then we all left. Yes. this is real life. Well, Cathy, so tell us a little bit of your story, what you do. And then we’ll kind of enter into how that translated, translated into what you wanted to get out of this particular fitness nutrition program. But tell us a little bit about yourself. So yes, I’m a nurse. Uh, not first on my list, but, uh, married. I have two children. And that has been pretty much my life. Yeah. Um, my two children, but they’re both, both girls, right? Or girl and boy, boy, and a girl. Yeah. CA’s oldest. She is beyond my expectations, a nurse now. Ah, she passed her boards the first time I thought. I was gonna have a heart attack, uh, waiting for the results. It was her whole, I, you know, I went to school again is pretty much what happened. Yeah. Uh, I was involved in her whole schooling and she became a nurse, worked at Penn state Hershey for two years, and now she decided she wanted to live the big city life. She’s down in Jefferson, down in, in Philadelphia and living with her boyfriend in an apartment. And , she’s just wonderful there. My life and my son just graduated from temple. He had a full ride, he got a 3.97 average in actuarial science, which is what is actuarial science sounds very actuaries are, um, people that are hired by all kinds of places. But a lot of insurance companies, they do statistics. They. Figure out how long a person should probably live and what they should pay for life insurance. They do stats for the concussions for NFL. They do stats for the government. You lost me at statistics. The bottom line is he’s very bright. That man’s very bright. This is in kindergarten. He said, I wanna do math for the rest of my life. And he got it. so that’s where he is. Good. He got a great job in Philadelphia working about a block away from where Caitlin lives. They’re very close. Oh. Which is very odd now, uh, you know how siblings are when they’re younger, but yeah. Wonderful. So I hope is what you’re telling me. There’s yes. I always, children will like each other up. I’m like, you know, I just wanna see what they’re gonna be and get them through college and out of the house and see how, and here I. And here you are, and this is, you know, and it’s interesting. The stage of life that you’re in is one that, so I know many, many of my listeners can relate to, you know, because it’s this, like, you literally, what you just said, it’s like your life for so long was this. Yeah. And now you’re entering this new season and it really is sort of this, wait, who am I, what am I doing? Yeah. It’s like for the first time you have time to actually think. You so not to put words into your mouth, but I love that you’re willing to come on here and share because the stage of life that you’re in is relevant to so many people listening. Yeah. It’s getting used to a whole new whole new way and I, we get to spend a lot more time with my husband. Yay. wait, what’s your name again? We’ve been living together for all this time, but I don’t remember. He’s like, remember this, that and the other thing I’m like, no, and I would say, do you remember when the kids did this? He’s like, no. Plus he traveled forever and ever, so he missed a lot of it. So, uh, yeah, it’s, it’s been quite an experience. And, um, you know, as I said to your mom, like I’m heading into the end of my nursing career where Caitlyn is just starting. So it’s. Such a different perspective, but I’m happy where I am. I’m a case manager now. So I help people transition from hospital to home, any help they need. I also work with insurance companies, which is not my favorite part of the job, but it really, I think my experience as an ICU nurse helps me to kind of like see that whole picture. And I’m able to write things up a little bit easier than other people, because I can kind of gauge, well, they’re not gonna be out for three more days. I’m gonna need this, that and the other thing. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah. So I, I like I’m a little people it’s medicine. Yeah. It’s stressful. I tell you what, it’s the least stressful job I’ve ever had as a nurse though. That’s interesting. Yeah, because I think I went through the most stressful first and then kinda getting down, but it, it gets stressful at times. You, you probably saw this in the ER, when you trying to, you know, treat treating street people, how did they live like this. Where you’re like, they can’t possibly be discharged because how, how do people live? And that’s what I’ve found out. Yeah. But they have no admittable diagnosis. And then I’m like, I know they have no admittable diagnosis, but their daughter is here threatening my life if I send her mother home. So, or to, yeah. Discharge because I have five other people I need to see. Yes. Yes. We love case managers. bless you. We need more of you. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, it’s been very interesting. I love who I work with, which is another plus, which helps me to get to work every day. Always a plus. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Now. What, so share a little bit, because we’re talking about this stage of life, share with us a little bit, some of your, your health and wellness journey. And you know, again, this place, I, I was just talking to another client and she was sharing similar, similar stage of life. Not that this is exactly your stage, but. You know, for her, the struggle is that she’s got, she’s got grown children. She has one very young grandchild who she wants. You know, that’s like her life now is being a grandmother, but she’s still working cuz she’s not old enough to retire and she’s taking care of aging parents and she was just sharing like I’m, I’m overwhelmed. And I feel like I have no time for myself and yet I know I need to lose, you know, fill in the number. And um, so this is a really tough, like it’s a good reminder for me cuz at times I feel. I feel the same thing. And yet we’re, you know, almost 30 years difference. And so it’s just, anyways, it’s an encouragement to everyone listening, like women empowering women. exactly. We all have similar struggles, even though the stages are very different. So tell me a little bit about, you know, what made you even want to start the program and, and sort of your health and wellness journey and goals. Well, uh, I guess it was 2015. I had transferred to end, uh, the endo suite from education and I was at work one day and started having chest pain. And of course I’m like, go boo. It don’t go away. It’s just an ingestion, blah, blah, blah. We make the worst patients. That’s so true. So two of the nurses there had come back to the break room and saw me, and I was like bright red in the face. And I was just sitting there clutching the chair, cuz the pain hurt so much and they, they got a wheelchair and forced me down to the ER, which ended up, I had positive troponins, very lightly positive. And um, They admitted me to get a stress the next day or up cath the next day got put on a, he drip, all this stuff ends up. I didn’t have any coronary artery disease, but they diagnosed me with pericarditis. So went home. So for all of you listening, just FYI, that is for all I intents and purposes, basically an inflammation of the heart, but not a heart attack. Right. Sorry. Thank you. And, uh, to translate I know I’m talking to you, so I’m just talking. No worries. Go for it. I’ll translate. . So from then on the pain, never went away, supposed to go away within, you know, six to eight weeks or eight to 12 weeks. Yeah. And then 12 to, you know, three months to six months and never went away. Always there tried to go back to work. Couldn’t go back to work. I was off for almost a year. And then in the meantime, my mother died. Well, she was a very, she was sick person, like not healthy, but she died pretty suddenly. Then they, as soon as, I guess it was about a week before she died, they put me on high dose steroids, which I was on for about three months before I started weaning down. So I was on them for at least six months and it just changed my whole body. I don’t know if anyone’s been on steroids before, but. Filled me up, like all up in my chest area, in my face, everything. The other thing, while I was taking the hydro steroids, I was supposed to sit on the couch and not let my heart rate go over 90. I had trouble walking around the lock with my dog, got very short of breath with any exertion. So it was a horrible year. And after that I’ve been put on medication, they thought it was an autoimmune disorder. They’ve been working then pretty much. They’re just like a idiopathic. You probably had a virus and it’s just not going away. So I’ve had chest pain pretty much every day since then. Um, with the exception, is, is it worse with exertion generally speaking or is it just no, it’s worse. It’s worse with a deep breath. Okay. But what I. Then tried to do probably about two or three years after that, I tried to start exercising again slowly, just like walking up a ramp would be enough. Yeah. Carrying groceries, anything walking up and down the steps. I gradually started doing more cardio stuff, but every time I got probably like a couple weeks in. Horrible chest pain. Again, I had to stop for a couple weeks, so it’s very intermittent and I was just so aggravated with the way I looked, uh, oh, I saw myself at pictures, as I said, my mom was not the healthiest. She was overweight. So I thought, you know, I looked just like her. Everybody in a chart says now BMI this, and then they add on the bottom, um, elevated BMI, harder to do this, blah, blah, blah. And they, they added on every single note. So every chart I was reading at work, I just elevated BMI. There I am. And it just aggravated me cuz I know this wasn’t me, even though I looked in the mirror, I’m like, who is, I? I don’t know who you. And it was just worse and worse. I couldn’t lose any weight. I tried like, not eating. I tried eating like yogurt and a small meal. So I, I just, it was horrible. I think I starved myself too much and I did a lot of cardio, which I think was just worse for my heart. The way that it, I guess it just stressed me out too much. So. I was reading about your program. I talked to your mom I saw all the videos and I’m just like, yeah, but no one looks as big as me. I think those videos mm-hmm but then on the faster way, like I started seeing more people that were a little bit heavier than. Like you and your sister , you’re like, you know, there’s stomach and what this, and they move to this. And I’m just like, and I’m so glad that you share this because this is why I am so grateful that you’re coming on and I’m gonna stop you just for a second for people listening, because you know what happens is the women who have more to lose are not confident enough to come on here and share. Yeah, that’s the problem. They won’t give me the before and after photos, even though they have so much to be proud of cuz they still have in their head. Well I’m. After yet, I’m not at the place that I want to be yet. Right. And so you are amazing. This is why I am so, so grateful when people come on. This is real life, right? And your worth has nothing to do with what you look like before or after whether you’re ready for the cover of women’s health, you know, or you’re 50 pounds overweight and struggle to sit in the airplane seat. Like you are valuable as you are before and after. It’s all about the transformation. It’s not about definition. So anyway, I say that because thank you for coming on and helping more women feel that they’re safe here. Anyways. Well, I did sign up. I did sign up for the faster way in the end of may, I think. And I gave myself a month because I knew I had all these things to do, but what prompted it was, we went to Italy, the whole family. Um, my son was in temple Rome for his sophomore year and COVID hit. So he got sent home. So we felt like his graduation gift might be, and us too. Cause we were supposed to go visit him, but we decided, you know, we’re all gonna go now. That would be his graduation gift. And then he stayed in Europe for a month, but I could barely get the seatbelt. I said, I’m not getting one of those extensions. And , that was the big pictures. Like I was in every picture and I was just so. And then I came home and I think a week later I signed up to start the end of June. And you’re like, are you sure you don’t wanna wait till the end of June? I’m like, yes, it’s gonna take me that long to figure this out. good for you. That’s what I say. Good for you. You knew yourself and you made it happen. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So when you, and thank you again for sharing all of that, you are gonna encourage so many, so many women, but so you, it took like a month. And then we started, we started the program and, and I always like to ask clients, cuz again, this is real life. I have nothing to hide also for people listening and watching, just to be clear in case you don’t understand, I coach for the faster way to fat loss, it was started by a classmate of mine from college, Amanda truss. I also know her husband, Brandon. We all went to the same school together and I started coaching for it because I am all about science based strategies. Scientific evidence, not societal influence. And, um, the strategies are very, very sound. So I add all my own other insights in the program, but the program is ultimately owned by the faster way. And then I coach my own, my own little posse, if you will, within that overarching. Program, but share with me, it is a lifestyle change and especially some people come in and some of the strategies are not new to them. Some are brand new for some people, all of it is new and it is very, very overwhelming. And just to give people a quick run through there’s four nutritional strategies primarily, and that is whole food nutrition, intermittent fasting. Full food, nutrition, intermittent, fasting, um, tracking macros and carb cycling on top of five days of exercise. So Kathy share with me, what was the hardest transition for you in changing this lifestyle? The hardest thing I think I wrote a couple down. Well, the, uh, no sugar substitute. I think I messaged you a couple times. Well, what about this? Well, what about this? Well, how about this? I’m a big Splenda person. Mm-hmm um, I like things sweet. My coffee had it every day. I had three cups of coffee with Splenda in it, no sugar. nothing added to any meals. That was a big deal. And I’m a milk drinker. I drank an entire glass. Ski milk, but I drank an entire glass of skim milk with dinner, usually cereal, every morning, milk, milk, sugar. And of course bread. I had just been to Italy and had the best bread in the world. Yes. Uh, dipping the bread and all that. So garlic bread. Um, so there was food restrictions, the, uh, The, uh, workouts at five 30 in the morning, did not please me at all either. Cause I mean, kudos to you, but it’s so much better than coming home from work and doing it then. And when you think about why you’re doing it in the morning, like, I don’t even, I don’t even pause to go down. I go, I work out in the basement, so I don’t even pause to go down there. Whereas before, when I was trying the cardio ones, I was like, I don’t wanna go down the basement. I don’t wanna go down there. And it was a horrible place to go. Like it has such a negative. Yeah. But now I’m in the same place and I’m just like, oh, this is great. I love that. The perspective, the perspective that is that’s really, that’s a beautiful. Insight though. And I just wanna also clarify a couple things for people. So one, I am a massive, massive fan of establishing an early morning routine. I have talked about it many times. It has been life changing for me. I won’t go to all that now, but for many clients, that is the one time that they have to get their workout in. So. Kudos to helping yourself establish I, unless I do it at 10 o’clock at night, but no . Yeah. And then there’s so many other issues to that, to that too. So good for you for getting done in the morning from a nutritional standpoint, for people who are like, woo, that sounds like a lot of restrictions to clarify a couple things. We take a hard left in this six weeks and we eliminate two dietary elements to see if they’re contributing to some of your gut problems that is dairy and gluten. I talk about this in my program. Why I believe dairy and gluten in and of themselves are not necessarily the issue. It’s a lot of the other crap that comes with a lot of dairy and gluten products, but for some people there really is a sensitivity. Two dairy and gluten. And by eliminating them, we give the body a chance to be able to have digestive rest and see maybe this is actually causing some of my digestive upset. And then you slowly reintroduce can reintroduce. The elements later to see if your gut really responds negatively to one of those. She never told me that she never told me I could reintroduce her. Now. I’m just kidding. she’s like, what? Wait a minute. What the lo bread I can have a whole loaf of bread right now. Yeah. Um, right. So, and that’s where I shared. Very few things need to be totally eliminated. It’s more learning to eat. Yeah. In balance with the exception of artificial foods. That is the one thing that I am pretty much like it does need to be eliminated within your home. So what she’s talking about with artificial sweeteners, I talk about this in the program. Why I firmly believe they are actually contributing to obesity and disease because of the extreme sweetness. They are like a gazillion times sweeter than just standard cane sugar. And this is a huge mindset shift. And I know we had chatted about this too, but at the end of the day, you will reap more benefits by. Eating all natural cane sugar, then sweetness, cuz you’re gonna retrain your brain to need less sweet. Yes. And I don’t, it’s so crazy. I used to have a bag of her. She kisses and you know, I’m the candy girl. So I had candy in my desk all the time and I handed out to people, but it was always there. And I always crave chocolate, always, always, always. And, and not now I go into work. I don’t even. Think about it. Yeah. And that, you know, we hear that, but you know, to help people listening, hear that it really is possible. I mean, I have literally had people come up and tell me that one, they could never do intermittent fasting cuz they must eat breakfast. And I’m like, yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that a million times. I, and that I have such a sweet tooth and that’ll never change and yes, you might crave some sweets, but part of it is you are programming yourself to crave. Sweets. And it literally needs to be like a, a detox and your body does adjust. And as I share my program, when you get yourself into this cycle, you realize some things you’re like, oh, my word, this is too sweet. Too sweet. Yep. Yeah. I would’ve never, never banana cake. Ooh, it’s too sweet. I had it for one of my treats on sat two Saturdays ago and I’m like, this is so sweet. So that’s so good. See then here’s the other thing I’m all about enjoying your sweets. Like stop, trying to help find my dessert for the love of all things. Delicious. Don’t put kale in my dessert, get that outta here. So I also share some of my favorite sweet treat recipes because we are not all about deprivation. We wanna use food as fuel and there’s an appropriate time to enjoy a sweet treat. So, yes. Anyway, I share some of my favorite sweet treat recipes. My banana cake is. One of them. Oh, but yes, the sweet, the need for sweet. Definitely. And I took it into work, uh, the rest of it and they devoured it. Yeah. Good for you. You have tried it all worried. You will never lose the extra weight or reclaim the energy you once enjoyed. Want to achieve fat loss without spending hours in a gym or eliminating entire food groups from your diet. Well, now you can, in the virtual faster way to fat loss with Anna, my six week fitness nutrition program, you will learn how to pair effective 30 minute workouts with all natural evidence based nutritional strategies to leverage what you eat. And when you eat to reset your metabolism and burn fat fast, even that stubborn belly. I am a dual certified nurse practitioner, passionate about teaching sustainable strategies to promote fat loss and prevent disease. I have cheered on thousands of clients who have done just that with the faster weight program in my six week program, the average client currently sheds seven inches of body fat. 93% report, more energy and 89% state that their mental health has improved 100% of clients report. They feel this program is sustainable. Curious to try the program, but not sure if the strategies will work for you. Try the faster way strategies for free head to www.hammersandhugs.com and sign up for my free seven day fat. Accelerator course today and start your own transformation story. How did intermittent fasting go for you? Talk to me about intermittent fasting. Cause this is one of the number one I have to eat breakfast. I can’t work out without eating breakfast. Well, I was one of those people. I was like, there’s no, I’m gonna pass out downstairs. And I have to take pills in the morning and then I’m gonna hit my head. I’m gonna be bleeding out. And then the ER’s gonna have to come. And then I’m gonna sit in a waiting room for, and my sugar’s gonna be like 20. No. And I had breakfast in the morning, so I could take my pills when I’m gonna take my pills. It’s gonna change my whole life. How am I gonna do this? And then I was so I was like, well, I’m definitely eating by 10 o’clock. I’m definitely doing it at by 10 o’clock. And then I ended. Uh, settling on the 12 to eight. I tried moving it up to 11 to seven and that didn’t work with my husband, cuz he doesn’t like to eat till late. So , I didn’t think I could do it at all. And there was a girl at work, Cindy who sits right in front of me and she’d be like, and I’d be like, oh, I’m getting a little hungry that first week. She’s like, that’s okay. Food. Isn’t good. It tastes horrible. We can do it. And she started doing it with me, even though she wasn’t even in the program. Oh gosh. She goes, I’m gonna fast with you. She’s fasted before she’s done Atkins, all that stuff. So she’s like, I’m fasting till noon with you this week. So it really helped me in that first week. And now like, probably about a half hour before I’m like, oh, what time is it? Oh yeah. I am getting a little hungry before 12 o’clock and it’s amazing. I thought this would never work when your mom was talking about fast. I’m like, no way am I ever joining that? There’s no way I’m joining that. I’d love to help Anna Anna out, but fasting I’d love to help Anna out fasting. No, I would love to help her out, but I don’t anything she says, I know she’s smart and all that. She knows everything, but this is not for me, but it really ended up that just that first week I was just like, wow, I can wait till noon. And then it just gets easier and easier. And now sometimes I’ll be up talking to a patient and I’ll come back down. It’s almost one o’clock and I’m like, yeah. Ooh, I had to eat Yeah, you truly, your body really does adjust. And it is harder for others. Like when my husband and I first did, if found my word probably almost well, five years ago now, when we first started, it was way harder for me. I mean, I felt so nauseous in the morning and I had to force myself to stay out of the kitchen and, you know, the science behind it looked good to me. The reasoning was sound. And so I was like, okay, I really do see the potential benefits of this. And the negatives were so few mm-hmm . So I was like, okay, I’m gonna force myself to, but it was significantly harder for me than it was for Zach. So it really is different for everybody. For me, I found water. Made a huge difference, water and flavored SSTs or waters to at least just be putting something into my mouth and then staying really, really busy. But then I found myself so productive and I was like, oh, this is also payoffs to this too. I’m more productive cuz I’m not distracted by food. Yeah. I used to sit at my desk till and not see patients until the afternoon. And now I’m like 10 30. I’m up. And by the time I come back down, it’s almost lunchtime. I love that. What would be your number one recommendation to somebody who you know, is, is hearing this who may have similar life situations. Or the same mindset. They’re looking themselves at pictures and they just don’t recognize who they are anymore. And they want the energy. They want maybe the lack of chest pain or fill, fill in the blank. Hopefully people don’t have chest pain all the time. hopefully not, but I mean, people live with these chronic aches and pains, and I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had clients say, I never. I could live without this mm-hmm and it just is a really interesting ongoing case study on, you know, which of these strategies is truly making the difference. I think whole food nutrition is huge. I’m firmly convinced that’s a large part of it, but I’ve had a lot of people that countless people who have struggled with chronic pain in some way, shape or form. And it is relieved after weeks, sometimes months of implementing these strategies. So. Anyway, there’s a lot of people living with pain who may actually not, not need to be. So hopefully yeah. If you have chest pain go to the ER right now. Yes. Yeah. Don’t don’t do that. Yeah. But besides my chest pain, I had, I had joint pain and I knew my pain was from just carrying around this extra weight for years. For years, I can’t believe 2015 was so long ago when all this started. Mm-hmm but you know, knees hurt. Hips hurt. My low back was killing me. I could barely get out of the couch. Like if I sat for a while, watched a show and then got up, it was, I was limping and I’m like, this is ridiculous. And that’s gone now. I do have some bright hip pain, which I have to probably get looked at now, but pretty much everything else. Like I was just having pain in my leg, like my thighs. Yeah. Yeah. Well, all my muscles hurt. Um, yeah, so you are just working extra hard to get around and it’s amazing how now I. Well today I have pain up in here from the arm workout. yes. Amen. You’ll need both. Yeah. How are you doing that? But, um, yeah, I mean like the pain I have now is good pain and I know what good pain feels like, and it feels, feels good cuz you stretch and you feel it. But the other pain, it just was, it was horrible. Horrible pain. Yeah. And I don’t have chest pain. I probably have it maybe once a week now for a couple of hours, when I take a deep breath, I’ll feel it mm-hmm , but it doesn’t, it’s not there all the time. I have not gotten at all. Even during the hit workouts, I have not gotten any chest pain at all. That’s amazing. Yeah, I know. Again, it’s so fascinating that, so we’re both medical minds here and for anyone that has hung out here for any length of time, knows how much I love my research. Tell me why I’m doing what I’m doing. Don’t just tell me what to do. Tell me why I’m doing it. Show me the proof. And what’s so fascinating is just the inflammatory aspect of these nutritional strategies. I mean, that’s ultimately, again, I mentioned earlier, pericarditis is for, and the purpose is in inflammation of a certain portion of the heart and so much pain is inflammatory. So it’s just a really interesting. It’s all about milk. No, I’m just kidding. It’s all about milk. It is all about dairy. It is. So she’s saying that too, because I also sort of make fun of people who are basically like milk is the culprit for everything. I’m like, whoa, there might be some other things. Yeah. I think the, the food I was eating, the chocolate I was consuming. I mean, it was just a lot of, I think a lot of it has to do with the food because I mean, I’ve tried to work out before. I just think I over did. Before, you know, there’s such a thing as too much all the time. Absolutely. Yep. It’s just not the way. Yeah. And ladies, if you are spending. More than an, if you are spending an hour a day, exercising, come sit beside me. You are working out way too much, way, way too much. And the weights. I mean, they’re very intimidating when you see, when you think of it, like, what do you mean you do weights, but I do lower weights. I do the modification. I don’t do my, I don’t do pushups. I do like you don’t chair. Don’t have I do it on a chair. I try the best I can. That’s a pushup push up. It’s just a push up on a chair. You guys, modification is not failure. Modification is personalization to get you results in progress. And I’m, if that means that you do push up on a chair, you do it absolutely good for you. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So they have not been overbearing at all at all. In fact, one day I was just. Maybe I should have done more weight on that one because, you know, and, and you’re like surprised at yourself cuz you can do it. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah. And that, you know, the exercise piece we’ve been talking primarily nutrition, but you know, to touch on the exercise piece, holistic. Movement is essential. What do I mean by that? That means if you are only doing primarily one form of exercise, you are limiting your body’s potential and ultimately it will not thrive. Meaning for my runners, you should still be doing weights for my gym bros. If you will, you should still be running. You know, like it really takes a holistic approach to health and we need to try to avoid the all or nothing mentality. It’s not just cardio. It is not just lifting weights, but body composition change, it does require especially a sustainable body composition change requires just a little bit of everyth. In a balanced manner, but strength training is essential. Absolutely because you are building that lean calorie, burning muscle and shedding, um, shedding fat, which is ultimately what we are concerned about is inches. We talk about inches. My clients hear me take a deeper dive even more so than the faster way does and talk about body fat percentage is what you should be measuring, not weighing yourself. Maybe if someone else did it for me, I could just see my husband where , uh, Where do I pinch this? That video was ridiculous. I was like, who does this? And I was like, Zach, I did it. yeah. Well, we’re actually gonna do a video cuz I’ve had people ask they’re like, can you just send me a video of, of how to do this in the easiest way? So we’re, it’s coming, stay tuned. We’re gonna do a podcast episode on it to actually show people where. To actually measure body fat percentage, but the bottom line is we get so caught up on looking a certain way and weighing a certain amount. And at the end of the day, there’s no science behind it. There’s no physiological benefit to a number on a scale it’s arbitrary. And as you, you know, gain muscle, you’re gonna gain weight and that’s totally fine. Throw at your scale. People ditch your. But that being said, share with us in six weeks, how many inches did you lose? And people, this is like, we’re getting rid of disease, promoting fat. This is what this represents, which is like all the praise hands here. So how many inches did you lose? 14 inches. 14 inches. That is phenomenal in six weeks. I know that’s amazing. Two inches would be phenomenal. I mean, it’s progress. It really is. It’s it’s progress. Yeah. Yeah. It was crazy your before and after pictures will be on the, um, we’ll share those. It’ll be on the, on the show notes, but I mean, you just truly, you, you are amazing. And the fact that you are so generous with your story and being willing to share your journey and, you know, it’s only just begun. You’re gonna have more energy, more joy. Yeah. I used to come home from work every day and take a nap. yeah. Yeah. And now I come home and walk the dog. yeah. Good for you. Yeah. Good for you. And then make dinner and then make more food. And I know food’s a full-time job. Oh, my word. It is like making it, buying it. All of it is a full time. Especially when you’re tracking macros, then it really is a full-time job. Yes. Yeah. That was very, it was hard to get used to that. Yeah. And that’s, you know, and as something that I’ve said too, that is a strategy that for some people they need to track. For months in order to be able to keep themselves accountable and not slide back into old habits, they need to track. But the goal is ultimately that what you are consuming starts to become second nature, that you understand why you’re eating, what you’re eating, how eating this will affect your body and either fuel you, or it will bog you down. So it’s not, you know, tracking macros for those of you that are already overwhelmed by that concept. It is overwhelming. I’m not gonna lie. It’s, it’s a job, but it is an education. I think I pick, I think I started picking it up around week four. Yeah. I think I was like, oh, like a light bulb went off, so it doesn’t do it right away. And, um, speaking of food, if anybody. Wants to join it. You eat a lot of food. There’s so much food. I was having a lot of trouble eating all the food, especially that first week. I was just like, I have to eat again. yes. I have to eat all this by eight o’clock Kathy messaged me and she’s like, um, I’m not hungry. Do I have to eat the rest of ? I’m feeling a little nauseous at this point. so I have to shove this in my mouth. oh, and what did I say? What was my answer? Do you remember? No, don’t eat it. If you don’t, if you can’t, if you don’t, I think it was don’t eat it. I could look back. You said you don’t have to eat the food if you’re not hungry. yeah. So the bottom line is also for a lot of you too. I mean, if you have not been exercising regular, your metabolism is slowed down, you know, and it’s the irony. Here’s like the chicken before the egg conversation too. I mean, some of you actually need to be eating more to improve your metabolism. And some of that also comes with exercising. As well, and, you know, as you are replacing fat with lean muscle, that will actually boost your metabolism as well, which will also enable you to eat. The key is then of course, the quality of what you are putting, putting into your mouth and fueling, fueling your body. So, and I appreciate that feedback cuz it’s very true. Most of my clients that is typical, they actually feel like they’re eating more. Yeah, than you ever have. And again, it’s that mindset change food is fuel. It’s the opposite of the deprivation mindset. The body was meant to have high quality nutrient density food. It wants a lot of it. The problem is we fill it with all of the junk in the grocery stores. That is the cheaper nutrient intensity carbs that are also cheapest to. And eat most readily accessible. So it is, it is hard. So let me leave you with this, Kathy, what would you say to somebody, your little note of encouragement to them, to your fellow fellow, woman and men are welcome to join this as well, but what would be your word of encouragement? My word of encouragement. I’ve tried a lot of diets. I’ve done it. I tried, uh, well, I don’t know if I wanna put down on anybody specific, but, and I have lost weight before mm-hmm but it is a, it’s not like a diet, it’s just a different way of living. And I have trouble saying no to a lot of people and. It’s almost like I’ve been doing this for a while. It’s weird now that it’s only, it’s only been like eight weeks now, but I think it’s definitely worth it to even try it because once you try it, once you try it, you’re gonna be like, I should have done this so long ago. I feel like I’ve wasted time, but Aw, wasted time. Time is wasted. You’re right where you need to be. Yeah. Yeah. But you feel energy. You feel, um, my clothes fit me and, uh, you can do it too. If I can do it. I know people say that all the time, but if I can do it and fast and work out for God’s sakes you can do it too. Amen. Amen. Yeah. Oh, well you can do it. Just try it. All you have to do is try it. It doesn’t mean that you’ve failed or anything. It just wasn’t for you. But if you try it, I think that anybody who tries this will realize what they’re putting in their mouth was bad and it’s good stuff actually tastes good. The recipes on the thing are amazing and I’m not a good cook. So. I mean, they were very easy to follow and they’re delicious. My husband had a couple of them and he was just like, actually that’s pretty good. Yeah. Hmm. They’re actually eating real food, not just lettuce. He’s like. Yeah. So what Kathy’s referring to is the meal plan that the faster way the meal guide that the faster way gives, you know, one of the things I always like to point out is it, it is a guide for some people it’s easier for them to just strictly follow the guide. But you know, what I’m passionate about is helping people understand that you need to be able to adapt it to your lifestyle. So if you’re cooking for an entire family, you will learn strategies. And concepts that you can implement into whatever you are cooking. It is not one of those programs where you have, again, one of the reasons I’m coaching for this program is it is sustainable. You do not have to just subscribe to their specific meal plan and then cook 5 million other things for the rest of your family. You will learn how to incorporate these into your family in order to actually. Live just like Kathy mentioned it is a lifestyle. Um, well, I do have another round coming up. Kathy has a link. She does get a small commission for anybody who signs up through her link. I mean, if what she said resonated with you and you would like to sign up, I encourage you to use her link and, and honor her with that commission. I am, I am happy. Have her get some of that pick back because she has just done such an incredible job. There is always another round starting. So when you click on her link currently at the time of this recording and the publication, the next round is September 12th. So if you click on the link that is below in the show notes, if you’re watching on YouTube, you can just click right down there in the description. And if you are listening via audio, you can certainly visit the show notes at hammers and hugs. Dot com and sign up for the next round. Like I said, September 12th. For this particular recording, but if you are listening to this even several months from now, you just click on that link and you will see when my next round starts and this beautiful woman right here. I am so grateful for you. You are amazing. And I thank you for all of your work in medicine. I know full well, how much credit you truly deserve. Most people will not be able to appreciate, but I just pray. God’s richest blessing over you and your sweet kiddos and your husband and everything you do in ongoing progress. Thank you and thank you for you for being a, a great coach. You’re very encouraging and you give great speeches. oh, at least I’m good for the speeches. Yeah, she’s good. She is good. You actually makes sense. You have a beginning, a middle and end, and a wrap up is great. I love that. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. What is it? Any good to do something when you don’t know why you’re doing it? That’s what I say. Absolutely science roles. amen. Thanks for listening to this episode of the imperfectly empowered podcast. I would love to hear your thoughts from today. Head to your preferred podcasting platform and give the show an honest review and let me know what you. Remember, you cannot be redefined only redeveloped one imperfect day at a time. Your story matters and you are loved.