Transcript from the
Love to LiveHealthy Podcast
Josephine (Host)
Hi everyone, welcome to the Love to Live Healthy show. I’m Josephine Fitzpatrick. Today we have a very special guest, Hope from Port Washington, who lost 50 pounds on program. Let’s bring Hope in. Hey, there you are! Hi. you look great.
Hope (Guest)
Thank you. Thank you
Josephine (Host)
Thank you so much for being on. I really appreciate it. You have such a great story. I wanted to share it, so tell everybody how much you’ve lost.
00:59- Hope (Guest)
I have lost a total of 50 pounds.
Josephine (Host)
That’s insane I just can’t even believe it when I hear it.
Hope (Guest)
I can’t either.
Josephine (Host)
I’m so happy, you look so good. I can’t say it enough. I always say you look like Sandra Bullock. You really do.
(Josephine (Host) and Hope (Guest)
Both laughing
Josephine (Host)
So one of the things I love about your story that I feel like so many people would relate to is it’s not the first time that you were on the program.
Hope (Guest)
Right. So I think this is my second, or third time,
Josephine (Host)
it’s your third
Hope (Guest)
Yes, third, right, so, yes. So I remember coming to you years ago and I it worked for the time that I did it, but I was never as committed as I was this time, and I really feel like you need to be in the right frame of mind to really commit to taking care of yourself, which is what I did. So when I came back to you, it was September, it was two years ago, so we’re almost two and a half years ago.
I was in a place in my life where I really needed to make a change. My mother passed away five years ago, just recently, so I had been coming off of mourning from my mom, and then COVID happened and I definitely put on a tremendous amount of weight during COVID, I also think, in relation to losing my mom near the same time. So at that point, two and a half years ago, I got to the place where I was like this is enough, and I wasn’t feeling well. I have three children that I need to be around for for a really long time and I just I had had enough.
So when I came to you, I was determined and really focused on doing this for the last time. I knew, I’m making this truly my lifestyle and now I don’t look at it so much as a diet anymore For me. It’s a new lifestyle for myself and I’ve never felt better. And for anybody thinking about doing it, I can’t recommend it enough. You’re amazing. You’re here every step of the way. I mean having you in my life, on my side and in contact with me. You know, every day, whatever and whenever I texted you is super helpful and, I think, makes a huge difference in the journey.
Josephine (Host)
Thank you, I really appreciate that. I love being there for you. Just seeing you through it. I get the best part because I see you come to my office with such big changes every single time. You know, we just got to numbers we didn’t even know, I mean we knew you wanted to be there but seeing it and being there is a great place.
Hope (Guest)
I’ve never been at this number in my adult life that I can recall, maybe other than on my wedding day.
Josephine (Host)
That’s so great. I love that.
Hope (Guest)
I also think a key thing and something that you know I’m also really proud of is you know, I have genetic high blood pressure. So I was diagnosed with high blood pressure when I was 35 ish and now I’m 47 years old, I’ve always had to be on medication because it’s a genetic thing for me. But I never really understood so much the connection between weight and high blood pressure because you know, when I came to you two and a half years ago, 50 pounds heavier, I was on 40 milligrams of the blood pressure medication that I take and I see my doctor regularly. And now after losing the weight, I’m now on five milligrams, which is a huge change, and it’s all because I took control of my health. There is still this genetic component to my issue, which is why I am still on some level of medication. But there is a definite correlation between weight and health issues. That, as we all know.
Josephine (Host)
Yes. But now you are proof of that
So I remember the first day you came back and I remember you saying to me I just cannot be like this, I have to change, I just have to change. And you were so mentally ready and I tell clients all the time If you’re not mentally ready, it’s very hard to do, it almost has to click and it has to be like, okay, no matter what, I’m doing, this.
Hope (Guest)
Yeah, absolutely. And I feel like, look, I have had ups and downs with my weight. I would say most of my life, and especially most of my adult life, between gaining the freshman 15 and then some in college and just periods throughout my life I have struggled with my weight. But this time it’s like I was determined and it really was in my mind, a do or die moment. And I wasn’t at any risk really health wise, but in my mind it needed to be do or die for me to be so committed and to know that I had to do it, I needed to convince myself that I had no choice but to succeed. And that mentality just has kept me going. And you know, I’m there. I’m in a good place but of course as you know, there are always these five pounds left I want to get off so I can have a little bit of a buffer, but I’m incredibly proud of myself.
Josephine (Host)
You should be, And really, when you talk about those five pounds, I want everybody to understand you’ve reached your goal. I think twice already. Yes, you keep moving it.
Hope (Guest)
(LOL) Yes, exactly. That’s right, my goal keeps getting lower. Yeah, yes, that is very true. So I did. I achieved everything that I set out to, but you know how it gets. You know you want that little bit more.
Josephine (Host)
Absolutely, and you know you can do it now. I think even when we set your initial goal, you know you had quite a bit to go. So you were like this is where I want to be. But as you got closer you were like, oh wait, I’m losing, I’m doing it. And you were like I’m going to move it. And there’s nothing wrong with that, you know
Hope (Guest)
And I think I’ve really learned. You know you’ve taught me so much about it all. You know it’s changed everything. It changed my relationship with food and how I think about my day. You know there were so many years where you know I would joke with my sister that I, just I have an unhealthy relationship with food and I don’t think I have that anymore. You know there were so many years of my life where I think my whole day revolved around what I was eating when I was eating and what was going to be the next thing I got to eat, right, and now I don’t have that. You know I eat because I’m hungry. When I’m hungry, I eat because you know I want to, not because I’m so consumed by it, and that’s been a big shift mentally for me that I’ve noticed, which is great.
Josephine (Host)
I love that. That’s so important. I love these things and I even said it on the last podcast when it comes from clients who’ve, you know, proven the success. It means so much more coming from you, because I can tell everyone everything every day, but like actually hearing it all from someone who did what I said and has had the success that means everything.
And I’ve first hand seen your appetite change. You know, I think majority you would did the innovation, but you did do a five hour fast. I think now you eat more the fasting times only because it’s set. It’s set in your day almost.
Hope (Guest)
Right, I think by by almost, by default or by happenstance, I sort of do the five hour because I don’t really eat until around noon, only because, you know, I get up in the morning, I have a cup of coffee, but I’m not hungry yet. So I feel like I wait for my body to tell me that I’m actually hungry rather than saying to myself well, I’m awake and it’s the morning, so I’m supposed to have breakfast. I don’t feel like I need to have that meal, so I really tend to stick to the way my day just works between, you know, getting my kids to school and getting to work and doing all of my stuff in the morning. Now I really start my day with lunch, then I’ll have a snack, I have dinner and then I typically will have another snack, but I just I’m not eating a lot throughout the day, which is also a big change for me from before. I always felt like, well, I have to eat because it’s time to eat, whereas now I don’t feel that way.
Josephine (Host)
Exactly you are not eating breakfast just because someone said morning is breakfast time, or because 12 is lunch time.
Hope (Guest)
Right, exactly.
Josephine (Host)
And that’s the thing I was going to say you were kind of doing the five hour or just eating in a smaller period of time, because you are overall eating less because your stomach shrunk, and you knew you were really being conscious of like do I need this? Or, you know, am I hungry? Why would I eat if I’m not hungry? And then, of course, we know we’re also saving our food because we want to eat when we are hungry. Not just because it’s a time of day
Hope (Guest)
And I know everybody who does your program says this. But you know, having the cheat day is amazing. You know, knowing all week, that I typically do my cheat day on Saturday. So knowing all week that I have Saturday to look forward to is amazing. And the funny thing is is that it’s never a free for all. You know, I’ll have a bagel in the morning if I want that, because that’s something I love, or I’ll have, you know, a scoop of ice cream in the evening if I want. But I’m not gorging myself all day because I almost can’t, Like, I don’t have the appetite anymore to eat like that, which is also kind of nice. Knowing that I can eat what I want on that day makes the rest of the week, you know, so doable.
Josephine (Host)
Yeah, I agree. It’s the light at the end of a hard week.
I also want to touch on the food a little bit because I know you do a lot of the innovation food and I love that because we get questions all the time from people.
Hope (Guest)
And it’s funny because a lot of people in my life will ask me about your food versus regular food, because sometimes people don’t understand that you have this whole store full of amazing foods for anything you could want. I typically place an order if I’m not coming to see you on a Monday, so I have stuff in my refrigerator, in my cabinet, that I can grab throughout the week. I like knowing that I have that, that it’s portioned, I don’t have to think about it, I know what’s a meal, I know what’s a snack, and it just makes it easier and, especially at the beginning, it takes that guesswork out of it when you’re still trying to figure out how much of something to eat, what a portion should look like. It’s really helpful and it’s also delicious.
Josephine (Host)
Thank you. Yes, It’s great too because I know a lot of people just get to that place of really being hungry in the beginning, and if you don’t have something in front of you, it’s when you can just grab and go off so quickly.
Hope (Guest)
Yes, and that’s why all of your snacks are really helpful too, because it’s nice, especially at the beginning, when your body is still going through hungry phases, more so than two and a half years later. Knowing that I could grab something of yours that wasn’t going to affect my weight in a negative way was really helpful.
Josephine (Host)
Right, love that. I know I always say you’re so good at our taste testing, especially when we bring in all the new foods. You’re always giving me those positive feedbacks. You love trying the new.
Hope (Guest)
Oh, I love it. I love when you’re bringing in new foods.
Josephine (Host)
I love that. Yeah, that’s great. So tell me one thing what advice would you give somebody who was like questioning should I do it? Am I going to be hungry? That’s one of, I think, the biggest questions I get when somebody comes in, right? Am I going to be hungry?
Hope (Guest)
So I would say, without question, there is no reason not to do it. It is an incredible thing to do for yourself and it means spending some money on yourself, which I don’t often do. Like I said, I have three kids, so most of my finances and things go to them, but this was something that I needed to do for myself. So I would say, set aside whatever it is you can, if you need to, and to do this for yourself.
Don’t worry about being hungry, because there’s, and this may be weird to say, but there’s a little bit of me that at the beginning, I almost wanted to feel hungry. Because I forgot what that felt like. I forgot what it meant to be eating because I was actually hungry and not because I felt like I was supposed to be eating. So I would tell people not to be afraid of feeling that way and just know that there’s so much to eat, there’s so much variety, there are so many options. You’re never going to be hungry for long. It’s not like that, this isn’t a starvation plan.
In fact, there were times, especially and at the beginning I was doing the menu. You gave me my menu and the menu was three meals, three snacks, and I would plan out my day, and back then there were a lot of days that I was eating everything you gave me, all three meals and three snacks.
So, it’s a lot of food. I have never felt deprived and I’ve never been bothered by feeling hungry. And then, as I went along, like you said my stomach shrank and I was losing weight, I wasn’t as hungry. That’s when I went off of the three meals, three snacks, because I just didn’t need that much food.
Josephine (Host)
Right, exactly. And I really do love what you just said too. I actually should use that on brand new clients when they come in. When you said, .. Don’t you want to feel a little hungry? You’re obviously here because you haven’t had that feeling, and sometimes we forget to embrace that Like OK, that means we’re in the reverse and we are doing the right thing, and taking in less and losing weight.
Hope (Guest)
Right it was almost like I forgot. I didn’t understand what being hungry really felt like back then. Because then it was, I was just eating all the time, or eating more than I needed, and then I was feeling sick and I was like so disappointed in myself for eating as much as I was eating. And then when you start this and you realize you eat what you need, and that feeling of hunger you’re like, oh right, that’s what it feels like I’m supposed to be hungry through the day. That triggers to tell me I’m supposed to be eating now
Josephine (Host)
Exactly and how much more you enjoy when you are eating. Because you are no longer eating just to eat.
One thing I have to point out, because I love this and I tell clients this all the time, Hope does not exercise. She lost 50 pounds and she doesn’t exercise.. It’s absolutely so motivating for people to hear that because you know people are very busy. And im not talking about moving. You’re so active. You have three very active kids. You’re always on the go. You’re always running here or running there. I’m talking about true gym exercise.
Hope (Guest)
(Laughing). So I know it’s kind of embarrassing, yeah. So look, I’ve never been one to embrace and really enjoy the gym or working out. I don’t like it. I wish I did. I want to like it, I know it’s good for my health. And I keep saying I’m going to start lifting, you know, even light weights, just because, you know, at 47 years old, I kind of need to be doing something. But yes, I did. I managed to lose 50 pounds without, you know, traditional exercise, right, like you said, I am constantly on the move. I am a single parent to three teenagers who have very busy schedules and sports and things, and I work full time. So you know, there’s not a lot of time for me to, you know, to dedicate to exercising, but I’m also running around all the time. So I am, you know, active in that way.
Josephine (Host)
Yes very active. But the reason why I brought that up is because people will use it as an excuse. Like I always tell them as long as you’re moving like not just sitting at a desk from morning until night and then going into bed. As long as you’re moving, that’s enough. But don’t use not being able to get to the gym as an excuse or not a reason to not lose weight.
Hope (Guest)
Right, and that’s something that I love so much about you and this program is that I didn’t have to take on spending hours a week in a gym to make this work, because it’s about the relationship with food, understanding what you’re eating, the right food, the right calorie intake, all of that it works. So, you know, for those who liked exercising can do it, great, but you don’t have to, and that was very that’s really important to me because, like I said, even if I had the time, I probably wouldn’t be doing it because I don’t like it.
Josephine (Host)
(Laughing) I know you don’t, and that’s what I loved about it, and I thought that was so important for people to hear, because sometimes people are so afraid they’re like I don’t have time to exercise, I can’t be doing this if I don’t exercise and i’m not going to lose. Not the case.
Hope (Guest)
But I also love that you are okay with the fact that I don’t exercise and that you tell your clients that that’s not a reason not to do this, because you know I’m sure there are other you know nutritionists and weight advisors out there that say you have to work out like that. I love that you are not like that, that you get that it’s not for everybody, it’s not on everybody’s schedule and it’s hard to do and it shouldn’t prevent anybody from getting healthy and doing this for themselves.
Josephine (Host)
I love that so many people are going to be so inspired by you. I am. Every time you walk in my office, I am inspired by you.
Hope (Guest)
Well you know I couldn’t have done this without you. You know that and for anybody watching, it’s been two and a half years. I still go to see Josephine. I used to go at the beginning it was every two weeks and then it was every three and now I’m coming like once a month. But I love coming to see you sitting in your office for the time that we have together. It just keeps me on track and I said you are like, you’re my therapy and I love it. So I literally could not have done this without you and your support and everything these two and a half years and I’m not going anywhere.
Josephine (Host)
That makes me so happy. Thank you so much. I love you. Thanks, for the beautiful talk and I am wishing you to have the best day. I know you’re running out and I don’t want to hold you.
HOPE (Guest)
Thank you. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.
JOSEPHINE (Host)
Thank you so much. Hope. You are absolutely amazing 50 pounds lighter. What an inspiration to so many people. And thank you all for listening to the love to live healthy show. Thanks for tuning in and I’m wishing everyone a happy, healthy week. Much hugs and love from me to all of you.
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
