SPEAKER_01 0:04

I didn't wasn't aware at the time, but I was developing a very strong habit of eating ice cream, and then when she was born, it was like at the end of the day, when I finally had a break, the ice cream became an emotional crutch. It was my reward for the day.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

That is a snippet of what we're going to be discussing today. Hey there, Maureen Cherna here, founder of the Mindsight Academy, neurocoach to executives, leaders, entrepreneurs, and a neuroleadership trainer using insights from neuroscience to help you deliver results by learning to work smarter, be in control of your brain, manage yours and others' emotions, change behaviors, flourish and exceed expectations. Welcome back to another episode of Lead2 Excel Podcast. I am so thrilled to be with you today because we have a special guest. But before we get into that, remember to subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to it. Because it will help other people find it and give them the opportunity to understand how they can rewire their own brain to enable them to achieve their goals. So without wasting any more time, grab your cup of coffee or your drink or whatever that might be. Put your feet up and listen in. I am excited. Today I have a really, really, really special guest with us, and her name is Jill. Jill Crox. I hope I pronounced that correctly, but you correct me in a second. But Jill is a board certified nutrition. Nutrition. Jill is a board certified nutrition specialist. So take that in for a second. You know what we are going to be talking about with that title. And there's another aspect of Jill which I like a lot, which we're going to really talk about later, which is very similar to what I do. So um, so stay tuned. And guys, this is going to be amazing. So, Jill, welcome to Lead to Excel podcast.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Thank you so much, Maureen, for having me. I'm super excited to be here. And it's Jill Cruz.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

It's Cruz, right? Thank you very much. Yeah. And I knew that's why I said you're going to correct me. I should have asked you that before, but thank you. So, Jill Cruz, yeah, it's really an honor and a privilege to have you with us, Jill. So, can you please introduce yourself and tell us what you do?

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Okay, thank you for having me. So, as Maureen said, I am a board-certified nutrition specialist and my background is in functional medicine. And for many years I worked in a functional medicine practice. And now for the past three years, my focus has been solely on helping women over 40 who have struggled with yo-yo dieting to uh approach the entire weight loss process in a more holistic, healthy, sustainable, and even pleasurable way.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Wow. Weight loss, pleasurable. I can't wait to hear this. So, and and and this is why I really had to get you on here because I definitely need it. I need to know how to wait how to lose weight, you know, and really enjoy the process because it has to be a lifestyle. But we'll come into that in a second. What is functional medicine?

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Oh, great question. So, functional medicine is so the doctor that I was working with is an MD. So we they're true medical doctors. And what they do is they use lab work, a lot of different types of labs, uh, not only the typical blood work, but other types of lab work to dig deeper into root causes of health challenges. So it's not just, oh, okay, I have this set of symptoms, here's your diagnosis, then take this medication. It's it goes much deeper. So there's a lot of focus on lifestyle, diet, um, some supplement uh help as well. So it's if if someone has really complex uh condition, um functional medicine is a good place to go.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

Okay, interesting. Thanks for that. So, how did you go from working in functional medicine to being a nutritional specialist? How did you make that um change, I suppose?

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Well, when I was working with this doctor, I was uh functioning as a nutrition, a board certified nutrition specialist. So my job was to help them implement those diet and lifestyle changes that they needed to do. And uh the clients were very complex with their conditions. And for years, I I mean I learned a ton. I really learned a lot, and it was an amazing experience. But I always deep down wanted to help people lose weight. That was kind of the original reason that I went back to graduate school for nutrition. So after feeling like I really had a lot of knowledge and of and experience, I decided to kind of branch out and start my own practice. Now, the the behind the scenes of all of this is that I myself had uh a lot of challenges with my own eating.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

So uh that's going to hold that thought a second because this that is just an interesting topic you're going to because you told me about this. Now, I'm going to kind of get moved back a bit, and we're going to come to this um that the you know the story you're about to tell. But how so tell us your background. How how did what did you start off doing and how did you then make the transition into um being a nutrition specialist or how you got here? So, how did that come about and why?

SPEAKER_01 6:19

So, I actually am uh maybe I don't meet a lot of women like me uh these days when I'm meeting various women at networking events and stuff. I actually was a stay-at-home mom for 11 years. So uh my my original uh background was I I lived in Japan for many, many years and I spoke Japanese and I ended up working at Japanese firms. And then after I got married, we basically I became a mom and I was home for 11 years. And you know, from uh your uh passion and and interest in the brain, I think would be interesting here. I became so mentally bored being a stay-at-home mom. I you know, I loved it and I was so appreciative of the of being able to even do that. Uh, but as the years passed, I would get more and more bored, and I felt not that my brain was atrophying, but sometimes I wondered if it was. So I started researching nutrition and getting into cooking homemade foods. Like I learned how to make my own bread and how to make butter and ketchup and all these homemade kind of homesteading type things. And then I I went into um I started to get my master's degree just because I thought, wow, this is where my passion lies. I mean, I couldn't stop talking about the body and nutrition and food and all of those things. So it was an easy transition into going to school because I my brain needed stimulation.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

But that's interesting though, because I was thinking while you're saying that, that if I was at home, I don't think it would be cooking that I would do on nutrition. I'll probably end up just, I'll probably do something, but it would not be food. It won't be cooking because I don't enjoy it at all. So well done for doing that. So, right, so then you went and did your master's, then came back into the workforce. And then why do you focus on weight loss specifically?

SPEAKER_01 8:24

So early on in my uh in while I was getting the degree, I started learning that many, many chronic health problems that many people have in the United States, and I'm sure in the UK and in Europe as well, could be attributed to really just not eating properly, not exercising enough, and a lot of times that would result in excess body fat, and then that would snowball into uh further medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease or cancer. So I see weight, I see and I saw early on, I saw weight loss as one of the most uh powerful preventive measures for preventing other serious conditions. So that was my real motivation to begin with.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Interesting, yeah. Okay, so now let's come to your story because I think it's so powerful. Um you know, I mean let me not say anymore. So tell us, yes, you know, that story.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

So when I was pregnant with my first daughter, Belle, who's now 19, yeah, I started eating ice cream at night or in the day, whenever I wanted. And that just became and and you know, in neural science, right, I was developing a habit. I didn't wasn't aware at the time, but I was developing a very strong habit of eating ice cream. And then when she was born, it was like at the end of the day, when I finally had a break, the ice cream became an emotional crutch. It was my reward for the day. So it was every day, every night, just eating the ice cream and looking forward to it during the day. I was like, oh, I just can't wait till I'm alone and no one's bothering me, and I can just eat this thing that's absolutely delicious. And I discovered this amazing flavor too, that I was really addicted to. So I actually ate, it's it's shocking to say it and hear it, but I ate almost an entire pint of ice cream every night. And what I would do is I would go down, down, down, down, down, and then I would leave just a like a little layer on the bottom of the container and I'd put it away. Okay, well, I didn't eat the whole thing, I ate most of it. And so I did that every night for seven years, which is shocking. And you know, I I did gain weight and and all of that, um, and it really just wasn't good for me. But I I didn't think it was a problem. That that was the interesting thing. I didn't realize that I was basically creating an addiction.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

And and this is even before I entered graduate school for nutrition. And but as I started studying nutrition, I was realizing wait a minute, this is not good for my body, this isn't good for my mind. So I started to substitute. And I think I still to this day believe that substitution is an amazing strategy for changing the habits. Um, but I still had that bad addiction, and that went on for years and years throughout grad school. As I'm working as a functional medicine nutritionist and in a practice, I still have this problem where I would eat dinner and then an hour or two later I knew that I had to eat something. And I started to learn that eating at night is not good for you. Uh, it can affect your hormones, make you gain even more wheat. So there were a lot of problems, and um, I I had many strategies that I learned over the course of that time to overcome it.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

So um, I don't know if you want to ask me specifically about I could keep going, but maybe you want to Yeah, no, go on, because uh in terms of how that um you see, because what you just described is what so many people do and don't realize that it's a habit andor that it's an addiction. Because when you said it to me, I went, oh my gosh, that is so true. Because I remember doing something similar. And mine was super malt, and it's an African drink, and it's supposed to be, it's not alcoholic, but I think it's just really high in calories and and I think carbs as well. But it's just wonderful. So it's one of those drinks that you either love or you hate, and I love it. So I was always, every day, I'll be looking forward to having my bottle of super malt at night. And when you said it, I went, wow, that is so true. And it's interesting because I each time you tell you you tell this story about the ice cream, I can't stop laughing. You know, when you when you when you start eating it and just leave a bit at the bottom and telling yourself, well, I'm not having the whole top, I've just you know, I've left some. And it's interesting how we keep lying to ourselves to carry on doing a habit we know that is not good for us. So, you know, on that topic, based on the habits people form, how can people identify or realize that actually this is a habit and it's one that needs to stop or it's having a negative impact? Because, like you said, ice cream, a smart top, just doing it every day, once a day, is it really that bad? And how does it, when do you know it becomes a habit? Um, so yeah, let's talk around that.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Okay, so I think the question around how do you know if it's bad, if you if is this really a problem, whether from a health perspective or an emotional kind of psychological perspective. I have to say that you know, I talk to a lot of women and people know. People usually know. It's it's it's as you were saying, it's it's almost more like you're just kind of brushing that aside, you're pushing it aside. Well, you not wanting to face the reality of the situation. But usually what happens is where people start to gain weight, or maybe they'll get a diagnosis. Oh, you have pre-diabetes. Uh that's a very common one that will trigger people saying, wait a minute, I need to stop. It also could be like, oh, now I'm 50 and I better start to change, and seeing our parents' aging and that sort of thing. So usually people have an idea that it's not good in most cases. Or there another situation is that I've met and worked with people who actually weren't eating sugar or any bad, so-called bad foods, they were just eating too much and they they couldn't lose weight. So it's not only about indulging in these sort of drinks or or ice cream and that sort of thing, it's also about your overall health. And then there's the the emotional relationship because it's interesting that you bring this up because the thing that really got me to want to stop was that I realized that I wasn't in control. Wow. Yeah. That when when that hit me, I was reading a book actually, and and when that hit me, I was like, I don't know why. That was just the thing that pushed me over the edge. And and mind you, I knew this was years into it. I I had already, like I said, I had already started making substitutions. So instead of ice cream, I was eating pretzels for a long time. That was my thing. And um, then I started making homemade treats and trying to just get it healthier. And um so, so I at that point I knew it was bad. I didn't realize it was an addiction, but I knew that eating a lot of ice cream was bad for me. So that was an a sort of nutritional evolution that I did where I learned how to nourish my body properly. And I think this is useful for anybody who's listening. Is if you have a bad habit, that's that's your brain, right? That's your brain wanting you to do X, Y, Z. But there's also a physiological, biochemical, hormonal aspect to eating that if you don't address that first, it's going to be very difficult to change that habit mentally. So, what I actually ended up doing, I didn't even realize it. I look back over my history, there was a journey. The first thing I started doing was nourishing my body properly, eating more nutritious foods, making my own bread instead of buying it at the store, eating less sugar during the day. And that helped me to now make better decisions at night. And then I also learned the importance of enjoying my food. Because what happened in the middle there was all of a sudden I was obsessed with being healthy. And I I was still eating at night, but I was eating homemade crackers and everything was very natural. But I was too concerned with the nutritional value and not concerned enough with the gastronomical side, the taste, the pleasure that is our birthright. We're born with our taste buds and the uh olfactory nerve in our nose. There's a reason that we can taste all these wonderful food foods, and I believe part of it is protection, but part of it is it's pleasurable. Yeah. So I forgot about that, and that was a problem. So that was a part of my journey. And then I was able to kind of start to address the mindset stuff eventually.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

Right. You've really touched on an important point which I want us to kind of dig into. So when we talk a lot about weight loss, we know how a lot of us struggle with our yo-yo dieting, the big the diets that you know, the big ones, the uh just all sorts. What how what is the best way to lose weight? How can we lose weight and sustain it?

SPEAKER_01 19:08

That's the million-dollar question, Maurice. We need help. Okay, so the best way to lose weight is first and foremost the thing that you can actually continue doing. So that means that it nourishes your body and your mind, your soul. So I mean, some people love french fries and and ice cream and hot dogs. You may love that, but it's probably not going to help you lose weight to eat those foods all the time. So we have to bring in both factors, the the what's nutritious for your body, and also what you enjoy. You it will not be sustainable if you don't have both of those things. Because when when you nourish your body properly, you have better energy, you sleep better, you're you're in a better mood. So it's it's a I'm I'm really a big fan of the flywheel, uh, for the positive reinforcement of things. So, and this is a biological thing. We have feedback loops in our bodies, right? So I I like to think of it as like a positive feedback loop, which is kind of like a flywheel. I don't know if people are really familiar with the flywheel effect, but you put inputs and it just self-perpetuates, it goes faster and faster and faster. So um, you know, when you start eating better, you start feeling better, which makes you want to eat better again. So without that, without that proper nourishment, uh, you know, you're just not gonna get those health benefits, which aid in the weight loss process. So you could then one could say, well, I'm just gonna eat a perfect diet and I'm gonna be perfect all the time and I'm gonna eat the most nutritious foods. Well, that's all fine and dandy, but dandy, but it's not sustainable if you're not really looking forward to your meals, or if you feel deprived, or you feel like you're missing out on something, or you feel like I I kind of liken it to like I feel like I'm holding my breath. And and when when can this diet be over with so I can breathe again?

SPEAKER_00 21:18

Exactly. Yeah, yeah. And it's true what you said, Ashelle, about the biofeedback and the repetition is so important because it's the continuation, repeating it that creates the new wiring in the brain. And I think the problem is that a lot of people don't continue till it becomes a habit, till it's fully embedded to be a habit for it to be sustained. Because it's not just doing it. And and I think the other part, the other thing you said, which is so important, is that emotional connection. You have to enjoy it because if not, It almost becomes like you're doing something logically with no connection to the emotional brain. And it, you know, the brain doesn't work like that. I always talk about this when we're talking about thoughts that you have or you're setting goals. When you set a goal that doesn't have an emotional connection, you're very likely to stop at some point and go, you know, and just leave it and do something else. So it's interesting how you know you're talking about this in terms of weight loss. Because I've done, you know, I've kind of gone on the journey of weight loss more from the point of perspective of setting goals, but hearing you say it, I'm just it just gladdens my heart because it just means so much. And like you said, it's those two things it's eating well and also that connection, it has to be pleasurable. So for people that have done a lot of, you know, done the dieting, lost the weight, put it back on. What's the what how do they start?

SPEAKER_01 23:48

So I just I do want to talk about, I will answer that, but I also really want to talk about what you are getting at with that emotional connection. Because for me, I see it, there are three parts to this. There's the eating nutritious foods, there's taking pleasure in the eating experience and enjoying the process. And then there is what I call the mindset, which encompasses motivation versus willpower and having that, like you said, that emotional connection. So I want to talk about that. But to start, I always start with like when clients, new clients come to me, we always start with nourishing the body properly first. And that is so understanding first of all, whole foods, not the store, but actually whole foods versus processed foods. Whole foods are nutritionally superior to processed foods. So even if you just looked at what you were eating and you said, okay, and this is not just for weight loss, this is for any health endeavor. What am I eating that's processed that I can eat that's less processed?

SPEAKER_00 25:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:02

So it doesn't necessarily mean you go from buying bread to baking bread. You there's that's a big step. There, maybe you find a bread that has less ingredients that's more wholesome that you buy at the farmer's market. So the Whole Foods piece is a great place to start rather than finding some fancy diet with fancy names. Forget about all that. How can I increase my Whole Foods in my diet? Simple. And the other thing is understanding what I call the macros. Well, I don't call everybody calls them the macros, but the macronutrients are protein, fat, and carbohydrates. And this is where you might find somebody who says, oh, well, the keto diet is the best, or the vegan diet is the best, or you should do low carb. No, you should count your calories. There's so much confusion around that. Part of the reason that there's so much confusion is everybody's trying to sell their way. And part of it is that we were, we weren't really taught to listen to our bodies. As a matter of fact, yeah, Maureen, Maureen should be eating Maureen's diet. Jill should be eating Jill's diet, no one else's. And how do you do that? Well, you pay attention to how much protein, how much fat, how many carbs you're eating, and that's different for everybody. How much protein you need at breakfast is most likely not what I need at breakfast. How will I know? Well, that's I I love that question because that was the next thing I was going to say is so we have to learn how to observe our bodies. And I have six factors that I recommend that people pay attention to. And I have a little um document that lists this. I also have a document that talks about protein, fat, and carb foods like fiber-rich foods. Um, but the there are six factors that I just before you go on.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

These documents, how can people get them? Do they need to, is it part of the how they contact you and get them just so that because we're going to put details later and we're going to talk details anyway, um, your website and all that. So to get these documents, it's is it when people come to work with you, then you give them the documents to work with? Is that how it works?

SPEAKER_01 27:17

No, I mean anybody can access it. I have a page where you just uh click on the link and you can and you'll get an email with with the uh those documents. They're all in come in one email.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Right, okay. Thanks.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

Yeah, so there are those six factors which I can just briefly mention now um energy, mood, mental clarity, hunger, cravings, and gastrointestinal function. If you're paying attention to those six things, your body is giving you lots and lots and lots of clues. And you know, to a certain extent, you have to be a little bit like your uh detective and and um you know kind of pay attention, don't not obsessing about it, but just sort of paying attention. I notice that when I have salad without fish or or some kind of you know meat or or protein source, I notice that I get hungry two hours later. Hmm. I wonder what that means. Oh, maybe I need again, this goes back to the macronutrients. Maybe I need more protein at that meal meal. Maybe I need more fiber. Maybe I need more fat. And so, really, just again, like just almost like a feedback loop, like just paying attention to I when I eat this, I feel this. When I eat that, I feel that. So if you eat and you suddenly get sluggish or tired, or your brain, you feel like you're in a cloud, that's your body sending you an email, a text message. Hey, that thing that you did was probably not the best thing for you. So maybe you should do less of it or or more of it if it if you, you know, a lot of times we feel good, right? We do things that feel good. And GI stuff is very important. I've met people who said, oh, you know, I'm doing a vegan diet and I have a lot of diarrhea. You know, is that bad? I'm like, yeah, that's a message from your body. Don't ignore it. So so that's that's why I call it body wisdom. Really just paying attention to what you're doing and how it's affecting you.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

That's so that's powerful though, because I think a lot of times people don't take the time to pay attention. It's that whole laziness thing about oh, it's work, but that's what pays off in the long run. Wow, no, thanks for that. So, how do people work with you? So, if someone has, you know, wants, because the whole essence of weight loss is for it to be a lifestyle, for it to be sustainable. And the fact is that we need help, and that's the truth, because if we do try to do it ourselves, most of the time, the subconscious brain that is already wired in a particular pattern will keep us, will keep drawing us back to where to what it's familiar with. So this is why we need people like you, Jill. We need Jill. So tell me, tell us how people work with you. So when they come to you, what's the process?

SPEAKER_01 30:26

So if if someone is thinks that they may either be able to benefit from working with me or they just want more clarity on what would be the maybe, maybe that's not the best thing for them. Um, then we start with a phone call, which is I don't charge for it, I call it a clarity call. And that's where I I want to hear what what are your goals, what are your challenges, what are the things standing in your way, and what what's going to get you to move the dial in the right direction. So sometimes that's working with me, sometimes it's not. I've had people call me and I said, what you need is actually a personal trainer right now. So I'm I'm the call is totally a I'm I'm uh in service of what's the best thing for this individual. So uh if if it turns out that that it makes sense for us to work together, then they would either um most most people who come to me now work in a program that I've designed. So it's it's a six-month program, and each week there are um there's things there are things that they I want them to learn and and pay attention to. So we're kind of taking you through this process that I've I've um over years of doing this figured out that there's no one right diet for everybody. So I'm never gonna say, oh, everybody eat this. It's very individualized, but the process of starting off with observing your body, observing what you're eating, and going from there, there's a very specific process that we go through.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

And that's the key for it to be sustainable. It's this early stage, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 32:06

I think it's, you know, I mean, you can start wherever you are, and and no matter what, uh, you know, the the name of my business is work with your nature, weight loss. So why is it called that? Because we most diets are going against our nature.

SPEAKER_00 32:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 32:23

I want to tap into our nature and harness it and use it to our advantage. So we know how habits are developed. It's that's not a mystery. So there's a certain process that we can go through to develop it. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes, if you've made a thousand mistakes, you can always start again. So, you know, I mean, I have the process laid out because I want it to be easier and as painless as possible. But no matter where someone is, they can always start again. And and it and it really isn't starting again because though all the mistakes that we've made, they're helping us now to be where we are, who we are right now. And another piece about working with me that's very, very important is we do ask our clients to enter what they're eating into a diet app. That way, first of all, they the client is seeing, oh, I've had people tell me, can't even tell you how many times, Maureen, I've had people say to me, Oh, I'm actually eating, I didn't, I thought that thing was worse than it is. Yeah. So sometimes it's fun to, you know, you get more freedom. Um, but that way they can learn about nutrition, about their bodies, about the process, and then we can be watching because we're observing that those entries and saying, okay, so how did you feel on Saturday when you had that lunch?

SPEAKER_00 33:48

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

Um, so there's a lot of um reflection. We're using that input, that data to tweak, tweak, tweak, tweak, tweak.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

That's amazing. And that's so important, isn't it? That is uh that is really great because it's that awareness, paying attention, really understanding yourself. And like you said, even if you know you you fail or it stops, you can start again because you've already wired things in, you've already started a process. Oh, I love that. I love that because a lot of times it's a lot of what a lot of us do is just jump in and start. But this process really makes it it just makes it more authentic, it makes it more we are more in control of what we are doing. Um, I love it. There's something I want to touch on before we finish. And you mentioned something about it's not good to eat late. What is late? Um, and what should you eat? Because I'll tell you, I've heard recently where someone said that after a particular time, someone said you shouldn't eat calves in the you know, from about 5 p.m. And then I've heard somebody else say you should eat calves at 5 p.m. but not you know eat protein. Oh god, Jill, it's all over. So what does you know what are we meant? I know in fact now that I'm saying it, I think you've had actually answered it to an extent where it's really paying attention to yourself. So I'm learning. So it's actually paying attention to me and stop listening to what people are saying about eating. So you never ask the question and I've answered it. So it's working.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

Perfect, perfect, perfect. I love it. It's it's beautiful, it was beautiful to see that that the wheels turning. Yeah. And you know, I mean, there are certain truths about nutrition that I can say, and and pretty much I have two, and I've already mentioned them. Whole foods are superior to processed foods. So eat favor whole foods as much as you can and and know and learn the macronutrients that are right for you. So some people they can have a nice, they can have oatmeal with fruit for breakfast, and they feel great. But then at night, they don't they they can't, if they eat a lot of carbs, it it impacts their sleep or their mood or their belly feels bloated. So it's really, really individual.

SPEAKER_00 36:21

My belly does get bloated when I eat granola at night. Does it happen in the morning as well? Or yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:32

Whoa, I love this. Yeah. Okay. So that's that's a sign from your body. Yeah, it's your body is speaking to you. So what happens is the the uh digestive process slows down as the day progresses. So things sit longer in the stomach and the small intestine in the evening than they do in the morning. However, the bacteria are just as excited and happy and active 24-7. So they will will cause more kind of fermentation later in the day. So, you know, you you adjust accordingly. But the goal is not to limit, restrict, oh well, if I eat this, I feel bad, and I can't eat this, and I can't, and all of a sudden you can only eat 20 foods. That's not the goal. If that's the case, then you do need to work with a professional to heal the gut and work on those things because the goal is never how restrictive can I be? No dairy, no gluten, no grains. Yeah, no, I don't want anybody to live like that. The goal is let's push, let's push that to where you can eat as much variety as possible and still, you know, be healthy and reach your goals. I love that. So uh yeah, so I can't give you like a one size fits all answer. Um, you know, there are some biological things that happen in the evening. It's rising, you know, there's there are hormonal influences that that really show us that um we we should probably start you know dialing down the food consumption at least three hours before bedtime. And that's also um uh shown in a lot of sleep research, which we know sleep is absolutely essential for your brain health. Um, so that's one kind of guidepost is maybe you know, starting to at least give yourself two to three hours of not eating a heavy meal, I would say at the at the minimum.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

I think that's so true. I'm so glad we were doing this because it's something that I actually started thinking about, uh maybe reduce the amount of carbs that I eat at a particular, you know, especially in the evening. Um, because I I did notice that when I eat, for example, potato in the evening, I my tummy just bloats. And the granola, those are the two that I noticed. But it's interesting because sometimes you notice this thing and just ignore it. So I love the fact that you're saying it because the the book stops with us. It's us really learning to pay attention and knowing what to do. And this is where you come in handy because working with you, then we can actually do it quicker, easier, and it's just you know, understand exactly what our body is saying to us. Um, so no, this is absolutely amazing. Um, so Jill, I'm just gonna. Yeah, go on.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

So I just want to say one thing. So um motivation is very important in all of this because if you have those negative consequences and you ignore them, that means that you're just not motivated to ignore them. So, uh, like you were saying earlier, that emotional connection. Why is it important for you to have feel better at night? And and one thing that I can say about what you're describing is try to create those short-term wins. So I noticed that when I don't eat granola and I don't eat potatoes, my stomach feels, my belly feels flat at night. And I like that. Yeah, that's and that will motivate you to now not do those things. It's a little bit harder to stop things rather than to start. Oh, that was another point I wanted to add. When you're first starting out, focus on adding rather than taking away. Um, but in any case, it's a it's a it's a reinforcement, but it's a it's a feedback loop. When I eat this, I feel bad. So I don't want to eat that anymore. And that is a motivating factor, but we want to find the positive motivators as well. Yeah, because that's it's more powerful.

SPEAKER_00 40:36

Yeah, no, that's so important because it's something I always say that when you you know the break, the subconscious brain doesn't know the difference between the good and bad. So it will, if you say I don't want to, it focuses on that as if you want to, and it confirms what you want. So you're absolutely right. Gosh, yeah, I say these things, I just need to relate it to my diet, to my food, to my lifestyle. Yeah, go on.

SPEAKER_01 41:03

I have an example that I I sometimes talk about. I worked with this client, and when we first started working together, she was eating Cheez-Its every night. You know, Cheez-Its are like these crackery things at night. And uh, they were on her diet, food diarrhea saw it every night, every night. I never said anything to her about it. And what we did was we worked on a better breakfast, better lunch, better dinner. And after a couple of weeks, so we're adding, we're not taking away. And then after a couple of weeks, the Cheez-Its disappeared from her food diary. She did that herself. She did that herself. And I asked her about it, and she said, you know, I just I didn't need them anymore. So that's an example of she knew they were bad. I didn't have to tell her. Exactly. So just just just nourishing your body properly and observing and and also her will, right? That will like she really wanted to, and she successfully lost 50 pounds, and um, you know, just an incredible um uh journey that she was on. But uh it that's an example of how it doesn't have to be as hard as we think it's going to be.

SPEAKER_00 42:10

It doesn't have to be hard at all because, and I think what you said is so true, focusing on what you want, the gain you want is the key because then your brain will help you achieve that thing you want, and that's where the motivation comes from. Actually, I was gonna ask you to give us a case study which you did, you know, someone that works with you and you took them through the process, and you know, so you actually did that, which is absolutely fantastic. But I'm really excited just you know having this conversation with you. And I could go, we could go on and on because it's something we all need so much. But um, so Jay, where can people find you? So if people want to work with you or any information, I'm going to put it in the description as well. But if you just tell us where to find you and also what you offer, what you do.

SPEAKER_01 43:03

So I think that the best place to start is to go to my website, which is WINWightLoss.com, and that's uh W Y N for it's a kind of a funny acronym for work with your nature weight loss. So it's WINWAIT Loss, and there you you know you can uh that's learn a little bit about me and and uh you know how we work, and then if you if you are interested in learning more, then you would book a call to speak with me. Um I'm I'm also on social media, you know, on Facebook and Instagram, and I make little videos on Instagram um every week. So uh LinkedIn, um I'm out there if you want to learn, you know, get to know me a little bit more. I do uh monthly lunch and learns. So those are free, and we just do information, you know, just talk. It's not a selling endeavor, it's just let's talk about whatever topic we're talking about, kind of like what we're doing here.

SPEAKER_00 44:01

Yeah. So if people want to um join the launch and learn, where would they find that? Is that from Instagram or from your website?

SPEAKER_01 44:09

Probably Instagram would be the best place to find it. I usually I have it in my profile or I post little posts about inviting people to the upcoming ones. So we do it every month. Um, and then when when we work together, uh in 95% of the cases, I I'm recommending that people do six month programs because most of the people who come to me have a history of yo yo dieting, and we want to stop that and really commit. and and and change your relationship with food and also give you time to build that body wisdom and all of that.

SPEAKER_00 44:45

So either people work with me one-on-one or I have two nutritionists who uh who work with me uh who who basically do similar you know they that we meet weekly and uh provide that accountability and checking in on the food and hey how how was it going how how do you feel because it's really about how you feel yeah wow yeah no that's amazing and it's just having someone to talk to or someone to because there are times that you it might be just get so difficult and just having someone that you can rep you know and that's that's what we need as human beings. So no well done what you do. So now that we're at the end what final word of wisdom will you give our listeners something that they can take away and just start thinking I'll start doing I think the concept of the flywheel or the positive feedback loop I think is the is probably really important that if you just can make some tiny change rather than trying to be the perfect eater or the perfect workout person that's that that that doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_01 45:56

Slow gradual change and we know this is how we build habits too so once you do that you can you feel good and you want to do more and then you feel good and you want to do more and it and it's a self-perpetuating positive feedback loop. But if you start with doing too much you probably will get discouraged and then give up so little tiny tiny wins are a great place to start. Instead of coming home and eating crackers or brownies I'm eating carrots and that's all I'm gonna focus on for the next two weeks is come home and eat carrots or celery or something something healthy. And that feels good because you're able to do it. It's doable. If you feel like something's really hard and you and you sometimes you do it sometimes you don't you don't have that same satisfaction. So just starting simple and small and give yourself those little wins to to speed up that wheel and incremental progress and then that fuels your motivation and makes you want to do oh maybe I'll just maybe now I'll I'll take a walk in the morning for five minutes. Great. That is a great place to start a five minute walk low pressure easy to start and you feel good afterwards.

SPEAKER_00 47:18

You want to do it more wow wow no I am so challenged to start to do something now and my biggest takeaway is that focusing on what I'm focusing on what do I want and not what I don't want you know I always say it but it's now relating it to you know my whole healthy lifestyle what I put in my body really focusing on what I want I love that I love that and also the fact that you know when I notice it's paying attention to my body as well I think that's really that really stood out for me because I do notice some things but ignore them and this has really taught me no don't ignore it pay attention to it and you know and it comes back to why do I want to pay attention why do I want to lose weight so yeah no thank you thank you thank you so much Jill and I'm going to leave Jill's details in the description so please contact Jill she's amazing at what she does she truly truly is and we you know this is a podcast so we can't make this too long if not you can tell I would go on and on with this so thank you so much Jill for coming onto this onto the Lead to Excel podcast it's really really been a pleasure. Thanks so much. Thank you I really appreciated it okay three things before we finish today have you subscribed to this podcast if you haven't make sure you click that subscribe button wherever you listen to this podcast because once you subscribe you will not miss an episode. And as usual if you have a topic you would love me to speak about or bring a guest on do let me know by leaving a review. Finally do have a fantastic week and remember that you are limitless. So I look forward to seeing you in our next episode. Bye for now