Easy Way Out

Need help? Shoot me a text!

In this podcast episode, we have the pleasure of featuring a guided-interview with Will Martin, founder of edit4social.com and John Oakes, a PhD holder and weight-loss coach who shares how his academic background has helped him not only in his personal weight loss journey but also in helping others achieve their goals. He talks about the cultural delusions and societal pressure that lead individuals to repeated cycles of failure and shame when trying to lose weight. His key advice to anyone who wants to start losing weight immediately is to change their mindset and stop trying to lose weight fast but instead focus on losing it for the last time. He emphasizes the importance of removing shame as a motivator and instead pursuing something that you truly want. Join us in this insightful conversation as we dive deep into the psychology behind weight loss and learn how to create lasting change in our lives.

To inquire about 1 -1 Coaching with John - email John at [email protected]

Buy my book! 75 EASY: the ultimate challenge for personal growth
Amazon US
UK
CA
AU

Weight loss coaching - Join the Weight Loss Freedom Academy today

Join the free "Lose Weight with John" community

Check out the EASY WAY OUT Blog/Newsletter site

Watch the Easy Way Out on Youtube

Need help? Shoot me a text!

In this episode, John sits down with his client, Olevia, who recently completed her 1-1 6-month coaching program. Together, they discuss leaving toxic jobs and families, why slow and steady wins the race (even though it often doesn't feel like progress at all) and why after her huge success, she has decided to join John's new coaching Weight Loss Freedom Academy.

To inquire about 1 -1 Coaching with John - email John at [email protected]

Buy my book! 75 EASY: the ultimate challenge for personal growth
Amazon US
UK
CA
AU

Weight loss coaching - Join the Weight Loss Freedom Academy today

Join the free "Lose Weight with John" community

Check out the EASY WAY OUT Blog/Newsletter site

Watch the Easy Way Out on Youtube

Need help? Shoot me a text!

In this episode, John takes the oncoming new year as opportunity to discuss how eventual failure is often woven into a diet or exercise plan in its inception and what you can do to prevent that.

Points of interest:

• Some thoughts on protein and hunger management 
• Announcing the weight loss freedom framework
• Not letting shame dictate your approach to your weight loss goals in the new year
• What's gonna keep you making changes after the new year
• Shame causes extreme choices
• How shame blinds us
• Don't lose weight quickly, lose it once
• Think long term for sustainable weight loss
• How to make better decisions that set up success
• Why your past holds blueprints for success
• Why we innately know how to lose weight
• How we devalue our progress 
• How we can increase the value of our progress when our focus is sustainability
• How we imbue the scale with harmful meaning and how we can let excess meaning go
• The mistake of "turning your life around" without doing an audit of how you think and treat yourself
• How taking progress one change at a time makes it easier and more likely to eventually see wholesale changes 
• Which foods to remove from your diet first
• What "Taking ground for free" means
• What exercise to do for weight loss. Where to start
• The hack to starting weight loss successfully and free of shame
• Why losing weight doesn't have to be restrictive 
• The power of allowing small changes in your life
• Why we resist big changes
• Why you're an athlete wherever you're starting from
• Why there is no such thing as starting small
• Why baby steps are giant leaps
• How to create significant change from zero effort
• Why you've never lost weight like this before
• Why successful weight loss needs to feel new. If it's not an exploration, its a recreation. If this time feels the same as before, stop
• How we recreate the things we most fear of encountering
• The A/B fork in the road and what it tells you about recreating failure
• Why starting Jan 1st is part of a failed pattern 
• The power of actually doing what we want all the time

To inquire about 1 -1 Coaching with John - email John at [email protected]

Buy my book! 75 EASY: the ultimate challenge for personal growth
Amazon US
UK
CA
AU

Weight loss coaching - Join the Weight Loss Freedom Academy today

Join the free "Lose Weight with John" community

Check out the EASY WAY OUT Blog/Newsletter site

Watch the Easy Way Out on Youtube

Need help? Shoot me a text!

The holidays are a time of celebration and family, but sometimes the spirit of Christmas can cast the reality of family or friend dysfunction in painfully sharp relief. In this episode John discusses the Easy Way Out of valued, long-standing relationships that have grown toxic or always were.
Other topics discussed:

• Why so much pain, anxiety and depression around the holidays emanates from the dichotomy between the values of Christmas and the impoverished reality of our closest relationships.
• Why the religious legacy of Christmas complicates this
• How the ten commandments have given toxic parents unfair and undeserved leverage over their offspring
• How toxic people are eager to use all things of spiritual, divine or religious significance as a way to advance their selfish interests.
• Why guilt and shame are immediate and dominant voices in our heads preventing us from redrawing the boundaries of family relationships
• Why boundaries exist in family relationships whether we ignore them or not.
• If you don't see to your boundaries, no one else will
• Why well-parented children develop autonomy
• Why autonomy allows, nay, demands that children get to choose their level or relationship with their parents.
• When an adult does not feel the freedom to dictate and redraw the boundaries of their most significant relationships, this is a huge indicator that they really need to.
• The levels of increasingly toxic rhetoric and behavior toxic individuals progress through the more you resist their lies, manipulation and violence
• Why you always quit, ending up beaten into submission
• But then seek out unhealthy ways to rebel against the parent
• Why childhood rebellion so often involves food
• While children sand teens may have a desire to rebel as a means of forming self-identity, this does not mean teens MUST rebel with parents.
• Why your growth and healing can massively benefit from taking temporary breaks from family or friends.
• Why you absolutely deserve to put yourself and your health and wellbeing first
• Along with some updates on Oakes Weight Loss' growth as a business and vehicle for effecting change
• And John's vision for how his coaching services can expand their reach in 2023.

To inquire about 1 -1 Coaching with John - email John at [email protected]

Buy my book! 75 EASY: the ultimate challenge for personal growth
Amazon US
UK
CA
AU

Weight loss coaching - Join the Weight Loss Freedom Academy today

Join the free "Lose Weight with John" community

Check out the EASY WAY OUT Blog/Newsletter site

Watch the Easy Way Out on Youtube

Need help? Shoot me a text!

Whether you're just starting out or starting again for the 50th time, this podcast is for you!

In this episode, I give you an inside look at my coaching process. Today we have client, Tina, a very cool gal who jumped in with both feet at the prospect of sharing her journey with you all. Big thanks to Tina!

This episode is Tina's first coaching session with me and second ever conversation. (We spoke once before during her free coaching consultation about a week before recording) 

Disclaimer: Any advice I give in this recording was geared toward Tina and her journey. Your journey will vary, but the principles we discussed will still apply.

In this episode we cover various topics:

• The power of tracking calories, 
  • why many people don't like to do it
  • how to think about it in a motivating way
• The power of tracking scale data in our decision-making, especially when just starting a weight loss journey
  • how weighing in every day actually removes "weigh-in" stress
• Why some clients start off not losing weight while others see fast weight loss, and not a whole lot in between.
  • Why this all tends to even out.
• How to manage work stress and boundaries to free up much needed time, energy and focus to put toward wellbeing and health
• How to manage hunger
• Designing an effective resistance training, cardio or walking regimen while prioritizing stress management and sustainability
• PCOS (Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome) and how its complications could have ended Tina's life.
  • My philosophical approach as a coach when dealing with the psychological weight of medical issues but also the reality of health limitations

If you are interested in joining me in 1-1 coaching, send me an email at [email protected]
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Subscribe to the Podcast!

Join the free FaceBook Group "Lose Weight with John"

Watch the podcast on YouTube

Enroll in John's Life-Changing Weight Loss Course

For all other inquiries, contact John -- [email protected]

To inquire about 1 -1 Coaching with John - email John at [email protected]

Buy my book! 75 EASY: the ultimate challenge for personal growth
Amazon US
UK
CA
AU

Weight loss coaching - Join the Weight Loss Freedom Academy today

Join the free "Lose Weight with John" community

Check out the EASY WAY OUT Blog/Newsletter site

Watch the Easy Way Out on Youtube

Need help? Shoot me a text!

Sign up for the FREE Emotional Eating webinar (upcoming)

In this episode, John gives an account of his weight loss journey from ~423lbs to ~227lbs.

This episodes answers some common questions John gets asked:

• Did you lose weight the way you teach others to? (Hint: no)
• How long did it take you to lose the weight?
• How many calories per day did you eat to lose weight?
• How did you exercise to lose the weight?
• Did you ever have "cheats"?

The story falls into three or four periods:

• Phase 1 - Fall 2018 - the first 40 lbs and the stall at 380lbs
• Phase 2 - Spring 2019 - Getting serious. Adopting the 6/1 strategy and rigid workout plan
• The emergency surgery in Fall 2019 and recovery
• Phase 3 - Early 2020 - Getting from 300 to below goal weight despite pandemic restrictions.

Other points of interest:

• How I flowed with quarantine in order to benefit my weight loss goals.
• What exactly I did to keep strength training and getting cardio without the use of a gym.
• The ten weeks in which I tried not to weight myself once.
• And of course, the time I accidentally mocked an amputee to her face as we entered a Target. Eesh.

Discussion and Evaluation of my Tactics and Strategy at the time. Pros and cons of:

• Using what I call the "6/1" method
• Planned "cheat days"
• Adopting a rigid workout plan
• Eating the same foods every day
• Not counting calories
• Using the scale but not taking a running average
• Balancing exercise and caloric/nutrient needs while in a deficit (on a diet)
• Flexible dieting (why it would've been a bad idea for me)

If you are a past, current or FUTURE client or a part of John's community at large, you will get aa fascinating look into the near 200 lb weight loss whose successes and failures did so much to inform his philosophies you enjoy today.

Make sure you're subscribed to the EASY WAY OUT. And please take a moment to leave a review.

🦉 John's Resources:

To learn about 1-1 coaching with John, email:   [email protected]

Dive into John's life-changing weight loss course

Join the "Lose Weight with John" Facebook group

Subscribe to the YouTube channel (where you can watch the video version of the podcast)

To inquire about 1 -1 Coaching with John - email John at [email protected]

Buy my book! 75 EASY: the ultimate challenge for personal growth
Amazon US
UK
CA
AU

Weight loss coaching - Join the Weight Loss Freedom Academy today

Join the free "Lose Weight with John" community

Check out the EASY WAY OUT Blog/Newsletter site

Watch the Easy Way Out on Youtube

Need help? Shoot me a text!

In this episode, I give you a guided tour of Delayed Gratification and its empty promises and harmful world view, specifically regarding the extent to which it has become a central tenet of fitness coaching, self-help and personal success coaching.

Delayed Gratification is an impoverished mechanism set up to counteract what society deems to be moral failings that are in most cases actually the result of other impoverished mechanisms born from how our still-rigidly puritanical culture views the self.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Why the popularity of the concept of delayed gratification is rooted in the labor economy
• Why we demand payment even in jobs we enjoy
• How biweekly pay schedules give an indication of how long humans are willing to delay gratification
• The relationship between incentive and outcome and how it is replicated inside our minds
• Why this gets complicated when we are the "boss" and the "employee"
• How fitness gurus use this complication to sell billions of dollars worth of diet and exercise plans that are designed to fail and get away with it
• How this keeps us in the mindset that weight loss is a problem to be solved via higher expectations
• Why you would never do this in any other setting
• How the concept of support is far more effective in weight reduction than expectation

In the direct context of weight management

• Why fit people more easily benefit from the concept of Delayed Gratification, and how this strengthens the errant messaging to severely overweight people
• Why society views obesity as a result of over-gratification
• What the miserable lived experience of overweight people indicates is the larger culprit
• How DG trains us to despise healthy food
• How DG contributes to the unhelpful dichotomy and categorizations between "good food" and "bad food"
• The Do X to Get Y formula
• How this formula drives delusion
• How DG empowers this pairing
• How DG deepens the notion that only outcomes are gratifying and the process is thereby NOT gratifying
• Why the empty experience and results of DG beg the question: Who is being gratified by this arrangement?
• How Visualization done in service of DG contributes to mental fatigue, dissociation, delusion and sell-criticism
• How positioning our wellbeing in the future, creates contexts of peril and fear in the present, further incentivizing our dissociations and dissociation from reality
• How this leads to eventual rebound and binge eating

• How shame, in addition to blinding us, propels us toward extreme "solutions" that result in failure
• Society's bias that takes unhealthy/harmful eating for granted as part of the human condition
• How this prevents us from working toward healing and instead keeps us spinning our wheels, adding stress and expect

To inquire about 1 -1 Coaching with John - email John at [email protected]

Buy my book! 75 EASY: the ultimate challenge for personal growth
Amazon US
UK
CA
AU

Weight loss coaching - Join the Weight Loss Freedom Academy today

Join the free "Lose Weight with John" community

Check out the EASY WAY OUT Blog/Newsletter site

Watch the Easy Way Out on Youtube

Need help? Shoot me a text!

In this episode, I fly solo on a mission to bomb the ever-loving bejeezus out of emotional eating and the complexes of thought that keep you clinging to it. While simply touching the hem of my cloak via the airwaves may not instantly heal you, this primer on the functions of emotional eating and other compulsive behaviors will provide you with vital insight on your inner world.

Topics discussed:

• Why "emotional eating" isn't really emotional, rather the opposite.
• The vital role shame plays (and it's not what you think)
• How emotional eating begins
• Why kids are more susceptible to it than other substances
• The override system that fight or flight provides
• The time-travel effect of triggers
• Why food is particularly attractive to memory triggers.
• Why childhood psychological development makes us prone to "acting out" and how this dovetails with the ubiquity of food.
• Why the context of danger changes the way we experience memory. 
• How this shuts down large parts of the brain in severe cases.
• Why "calming down" is often less about turning panic/stress "off" and more about turning the rest of the brain back "on."
• Why certain emotions get tagged as "dangerous" in childhood and thereby trip the "alarm bell" in adulthood despite the absence of any significant danger.
• Why you aways seem to care  "way too much" or your reactions are not in balance with the present event that provoked them.
• How you can see these overreactions happening but still can feel powerless to stop them or their severity of feeling.
• How two humans with different conditioning can experience the same event in vastly different ways.
• Why we tend to recreate "triggering" situations in our lives.
• Why overeating or compulsive behavior doesn't respond well to "wanting to change" or "trying hard" or "self-control" and therefore is not a character issue
• How these behaviors cut us off from a sense of greater purpose, true identity, and our deepest values, and make us highly prone to future "triggers" or invalid alarm signals.
  
  How We Heal
• How our survival response, once provoked, convinces us we must overeat to survive.
• Why the brain often HAS to make logical leaps in order to develop survival mechanisms 
• How we can reverse engineer this to our advantage in taking the apparatus apart.
• Why the story telling aspect of our survival mechanisms is so important and how we can use it to our advantage.
• How awareness both gives us increased influence over our conditioning and how we react, but also effectively dissolves structures of compulsion.

If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe and LEAVE A REVIEW.  Come on. Do it.

Other ways I can support you:
-- Inquire about 1-1 Coaching (Open for applications) john@oakesw

To inquire about 1 -1 Coaching with John - email John at [email protected]

Buy my book! 75 EASY: the ultimate challenge for personal growth
Amazon US
UK
CA
AU

Weight loss coaching - Join the Weight Loss Freedom Academy today

Join the free "Lose Weight with John" community

Check out the EASY WAY OUT Blog/Newsletter site

Watch the Easy Way Out on Youtube

Need help? Shoot me a text!

Here is Part 2 of Shae's Incredible weight loss journey of nearly 100 lbs after suffering a stroke during her third bout of COVID.

Our conversation shifts to the issue of Shae's sudden social media growth and how she sees it developing in the future.
 --- How weight issues can cause sever financial strain
 --- How financial strain threatens our integrity
 --- How this perpetuates cycles of unhealthy living
We also talk about the pressures to succeed in weight loss now that she has so much visibilty.
 --- The haters of big bodies
 --- The companies who want to cash in on them
 --- The ways those companies still seem to be missing the mark to their own detriment

On the matter of continuing Shae's weight loss success, John gives his take on the real reason behind many "weight stalls" and "plateaus."
 --- The ways that ADHD affect weight loss
 --- The most common reason why people think they suffer from ADHD in these regards, even if they technically don't


Subscribe to the EASY WAY OUT podcast on any platform

Private Facebook Community: "Lose Weight with John"

Inquire about 1-1 Coaching (Open for applications):  [email protected]

To inquire about 1 -1 Coaching with John - email John at [email protected]

Buy my book! 75 EASY: the ultimate challenge for personal growth
Amazon US
UK
CA
AU

Weight loss coaching - Join the Weight Loss Freedom Academy today

Join the free "Lose Weight with John" community

Check out the EASY WAY OUT Blog/Newsletter site

Watch the Easy Way Out on Youtube

Need help? Shoot me a text!

For Christmas, 2021, Shae McDonald got a third bout of C0VID and a stroke. Despite weighing 422 lbs and without the use of half her body or a functioning immune system, Shae set out to change her life. Six months later, she is much lighter, inside and out, she's recovered from the stroke and illness and is finding success by sharing her story with others. 

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who desires to lose a significant amount of weight.

Episode Contents:

• How Shae gained most of her weight.
• How the pandemic caused BIG weight gain for way more terrible reasons than most people had.
• What it's like to get C0VID so many times the government calls to find out how you're accomplishing it.
• How Shae accidentally went viral on TikTok in her underwear.
• How that led to a new career path and an avenue of service to others.
• The shame big people have about their impending doom, i.e. "Too Many Pallbearers"
• Monica's Secret Closet (from the show FRIENDS) and how it shaped Shae's willingness to do the inner work.
• How weight carried on the body is usually a fraction of the internal weight it represents.
• And more!

Follow Shae on TikTok: @Shaeshowsup
Email her: [email protected]

John's Social Links

•  Inquire bout 1-1 Coaching with John: [email protected]
• Lose Weight with John Facebook Group
• Watch on YouTube
• John’s Life-Changing Weight Loss Course 

To inquire about 1 -1 Coaching with John - email John at [email protected]

Buy my book! 75 EASY: the ultimate challenge for personal growth
Amazon US
UK
CA
AU

Weight loss coaching - Join the Weight Loss Freedom Academy today

Join the free "Lose Weight with John" community

Check out the EASY WAY OUT Blog/Newsletter site

Watch the Easy Way Out on Youtube