For more details on this podcast visit:

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/blog/182

Hey there!

This week on the Keep the Weight Off podcast, Dr. Angela and Marchelle dive deeper into the fascinating world of Cognitive Distortions and how they can secretly derail your weight loss progress. If you tuned in last week, you're already on the path to uncovering those sneaky, irrational thoughts. But we're not stopping there—this episode takes it to the next level! 🌟

Here’s what you’ll learn in this powerful episode: - Why We Think This Way: Discover the origins of cognitive distortions, from early life experiences to cultural influences. - Spotting the Signs: Learn to identify when your mind is playing tricks on you, especially in those moments of stress or negativity. - Breaking the Cycle: Understand how these thought patterns become ingrained and what you can do to change them for good. - Real-Life Examples: Hear personal stories and relatable scenarios that illustrate how pervasive these distortions can be. - Tools for Transformation: Explore practical strategies to reframe your thoughts and break free from distorted thinking.

If you've ever wondered why it’s so hard to keep the weight off, this episode could be the key to unlocking lasting change. 🌟 Tune in and empower yourself with the knowledge to challenge these mental roadblocks!

Episode Highlights:

(08:05) If a child is getting negative feedback or criticism from a parent or caregiver, they will likely develop patterns of negative thinking, such as all-or-nothing thinking, or labeling. Our early experiences are actually really important because they shape our views about ourselves and our view of the world. And these distorted thinking patterns can and do persist into adulthood. (16:34) Cognitive distortions can be the result of a traumatic experience, especially if it happened when you were young. You're trying to make sense of what happened, and you're trying to protect yourself from future harm. And so it's really common to develop cognitive distortions as a result of that experience. (30:18) By recognizing the origins of these patterns of cognitive distortions and having this gentle awareness and repetition of healthier thinking patterns, we can begin to challenge and reframe our thoughts, ultimately, leading to healthier and more balanced thinking. Remember that you can know all there is to know about how to nourish your body well, but unless you address cognitive distortions and develop a new way of thinking, you're likely to regain the weight. So you need so much more than just a food plan and some medications to keep the weight off.

#Weightloss #LastingWeightloss #CognitiveDistortions #BreakingCycles #Transformation #ThinkingPatterns

For more details on this podcast visit:

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/blog/181

🎧 Don't Miss This Episode! In this week’s episode of the Keep the Weight Off Podcast, Dr. Angela and Marchelle dive deep into the fascinating world of Cognitive Distortions—those sneaky, irrational thought patterns that can secretly sabotage your weight loss journey. You'll learn:

• 🔍 What Cognitive Distortions Are: Understand how these tricky thought patterns can derail your progress without you even realizing it.
• ⚖️ The Power of "All-or-None Thinking": Discover how black-and-white thinking might be holding you back and how to embrace the gray areas for long-term success.
• 🔄 Overgeneralization & Mental Filtering: Learn how to avoid the trap of thinking "this always happens" and focus on your true progress.
• 💭 Jumping to Conclusions & Emotional Reasoning: Uncover how these distortions can lead to self-sabotage and how to counteract them effectively.
• 🛠️ Practical Steps to Combat Distorted Thinking: Get actionable strategies to identify, challenge, and reframe distorted thoughts, helping you stay on track.

This episode is packed with insights that can transform the way you think and, more importantly, the way you approach your weight loss journey. Don’t miss out!

🌟 Tune in now and start thinking your way to success!

Episode Highlights:

(05:23) Cognitive distortions are basically the tricks our minds play on us that make us think in negative ways or unrealistic ways; what happens for people is we think that everything that we think that goes through our brains is true, but with cognitive distortions, our thinking is not true. If we're not aware of cognitive distortions, they can really sabotage us.

(12:29) Here you are like "I lost five pounds. It's not enough". You're acknowledging that things are working, but then you're discounting it, you're discounting the positive. That's not a good plan at all, because think about what happens when you minimize your successes. You rob yourself of the motivation and confidence that come from recognizing your hard work.

(16:56) Another cognitive distortion to watch out for is called "emotional reasoning". This is when you believe that because you feel a certain way, it must be true. And this is a tough one for a lot of people. For example, if you feel like a failure, you think you are a failure. But feelings aren't facts. So just because you're having a bad day doesn't mean that your entire journey is doomed.

#Weightloss #LastingWeightloss #CognitiveDistortions #MentalFiltering #Mindset

For more details on this podcast visit:

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/blog/180

🎙️ New Episode Alert! This week on the Keep the Weight Off Podcast, Dr. Angela and Marchelle dive into a common yet frustrating scenario: when you're doing everything "right" but the scale isn't budging—or worse, your clothes feel tighter! 😩

🔍 What you'll learn: The Brain's Sneaky Tricks: Discover how cognitive distortions, self-deception, and selective attention can fool you into thinking you're on track when you're not. Understanding Cognitive Distortions: Learn how your thinking might be getting distorted, causing you to miss the reality of your habits. Self-Deception Explained: Find out how your brain might be protecting your ego by filtering out the truth about your eating habits. Selective Attention: Understand how you might be unconsciously focusing on the "good" while overlooking the behaviors that are holding you back. Practical Strategies: Get actionable tips on how to become more aware of these mental traps and start seeing the full picture of your weight loss journey.

Ready to uncover the truth and take control? Tune in now and start making progress you can see and feel! 💪

Episode Highlights:

(11:49) Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort that we experience when we try to hold two conflicting beliefs. Let's say you've held a certain belief for a very long time, for example, if you don't eat, you'll lose weight. And then you learn a new fact; you discover that not eating actually causes weight gain. And so there's this cognitive dissonance. It's really uncomfortable, and the brain tries to protect itself from that discomfort.

(17:50) We can't notice everything. We program our attention in advance with our beliefs, and then we look for data to support our beliefs. So depending on what we've programmed into our brain, the brain is going to pay more attention to some things happening in our lives and ignore other things that are happening.

(25:46) Get accountability. It could be a coach or a support group. It could be someone in our Empowered Weight Loss program. If you want to join our membership, you guys can support each other. Maybe even just some sort of tracking system. Assume that there are deceptions and distortions that you can't see.

Ask someone you trust to show you your blind spots. Others are going to notice things that you habitually overlook, providing a lot of valuable insight for you. You really need this objective feedback.

#Weightloss #LastingWeightloss #CognitiveDistortion #SelectiveAttention #Mindset

For more details on this podcast visit:

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/blog/179

Hey there!

We're busting one of the biggest diet myths out there in this week's episode of the Keep the Weight Off podcast with Dr. Angela and Marchelle! 🎙️✨ 

If you've ever thought you need to feel hungry to burn fat, think again! 

Here's a sneak peek of what you'll learn:

❌Debunking the Hunger Myth: Why starving yourself won't lead to fat loss.

🏋️ The Downside of Overexercise: How too much exercise can actually work against your goals.

🧠Understanding Your Body's Survival Mechanism: Why our brains are wired to store fat and how to work with this.

🥗The Power of Nourishment: How feeding your body properly can help you lose fat.

📋Practical Tips: How to approach food and exercise in a way that supports fat loss without punishing yourself.

Join us as we dive deep into these topics and share personal stories and expert insights. You won't want to miss this enlightening episode! 🎧🌟

Tune in and transform your approach to health and fitness. See you there! 

Episode Highlights:

(11:00) I was born knowing exactly what to do when food was scarce. And so here I was purposefully mimicking that for as many nights as I could stand it and expecting that my body would be willing to let go of what it needed to survive. That makes absolutely no sense!

(18:56) Oftentimes when people start to eat more and exercise less, they will start losing fat. However, you can't know exactly what's happening without body composition testing.

(20:44) Let's work with our brains; let's reassure our brains that there's no famine to worry about. Let's let our primitive brain know that it's okay to release unneeded fat. We do this by nourishing our bodies with plenty of protein. Remember that our ancestors were hunters and gatherers, so protein reassures the brain that it's safe to let go of fat.

Let's not let ourselves go to bed hungry. A well nourished body releases fat, and a starving body holds on to fat for dear life.

#Weightloss #LastingWeightloss #Hunger #Overexercise #Nourishment #EatingHabits 

For more details on this podcast visit:

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/blog/178

Hey there! 🌟

In this week's episode of the Keep the Weight Off Podcast, Dr. Angela and Marchelle dive deep into a fascinating discovery from the past that sheds light on the complex causes of weight gain.

Here's what you'll learn:

4 Key Categories: Understand the fundamental causes of weight gain—Nutrition, Metabolism, Behaviors, and Psychology.

Nutrition Insights: The truth about ultraprocessed foods and their impact on our health.

Metabolic Mysteries: How insulin resistance, PCOS, and sleep apnea contribute to weight gain.

Behavioral Traps: Discover "Amnesia Calories" and the subtle ways we consume more than we realize.

Psychological Factors: Explore how mental health issues and deep-seated fears can sabotage weight loss efforts.

Join us as we unravel the complexity of obesity, offering compassionate and practical insights to help you on your journey to lasting health.

Don't miss this enlightening episode! 

Episode Highlights: (06:41) Essentially, anyone who has weight gain has some degree of insulin resistance, which just means that the pancreas has to work harder to produce more insulin to keep the blood sugars under control. That's essentially what insulin resistance is. And then eventually the pancreas can't keep up and the blood sugar starts to rise and that's when we get a diagnosis of prediabetes, or diabetes depending on how high the blood sugar goes.

(10:25) Another common metabolic cause of weight gain is medications that are used to treat other illnesses; sometimes the medications that are used to treat depression or schizophrenia can cause weight gain. There are even some blood pressure medications that can cause weight gain. These are all things that we have to keep in mind whenever we have a new patient come in. This is why if you're struggling with your weight you might want to make sure that you see an obesity medicine specialist first because you may have one of these common metabolic causes of weight gain that really needs treatment.

(14:03) We have certain habits that we don't even realize are causing weight gain, like that daily caramel macchiato every morning.  These are all behaviors that we don't even think about that add calories and cause weight gain.

If you think that you might be a victim of amnesia calorie intake, there's a really obvious way to figure it out: The food journal. Get a piece of paper and a pen and anything that goes into your mouth gets written on the paper.

#Weightloss #LastingWeightloss #Metabolism #InsulinResistance #WeightGain #EatingHabits

For more details on this podcast visit:

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/blog/177

Hey there!

This week, Dr. Angela and Marchelle dive into the fascinating concept of "Parallel Eating" – a unique approach to mealtime that can transform your eating habits and relationships. 🎧🍽️ Tune in to learn all about it!

What You'll Discover:

What is Parallel Eating? 🥗: Understand the concept of eating together without eating the same foods and its roots in the world of Special Education.

Mindful Eating Tips 🧘‍♀️: How eating with others can promote more mindful eating habits and why this matters for your health.

Social Benefits🌟: Discover how shared mealtimes can foster a sense of community and improve your overall relationship with food.

Practical Applications🍴: Find out how you can implement Parallel Eating in your own life, whether at home or in public spaces.

Healthy Modeling 🥦: Learn how modeling healthy eating habits can influence your loved ones positively.

Why You Should Listen:

Innovative Approach 🚀: Explore a new, practical way to maintain your healthy eating habits without feeling isolated or pressured by others' food choices.

Expert Insights 🔍: Hear from Dr. Angela and Marchelle as they unpack the concept and share their professional and personal perspectives.

Actionable Tips 📝: Practical advice on how to incorporate Parallel Eating into your daily life, making mealtimes more enjoyable and healthy.

Don't miss this enlightening episode! 

Episode Highlights:

(08:14) The idea in parallel eating in the Special Education world is to pair the special needs children with normal peers; the full lesson includes grocery shopping, preparing the foods together, and they'll finally eat together. And over time, the idea is to teach the children healthy eating, and lots of other life skills and social skills along the way.

That way, the educators will give the families and the students a foundation for how to eat healthy.

(14:59) There are a lot of benefits to this idea of parallel eating. First, if you do it correctly, you can be more mindful. Think about how often we're running through a drive-thru and then we're wolfing down a sandwich all by ourselves in our car … we just grab the food and we eat it really fast and we're not mindful about anything.

When you're with other people, even if you're not exactly eating the same things, the presence of other people will encourage slower, more mindful eating.

(19:51) Studies show that eating with others can influence our food choices and our portion sizes. It's called “social facilitation of eating” For example, sometimes people will actually tend to eat more and not less when they're around other people. Oftentimes marriage means weight gain for women because they end up eating the same amounts of food as their husbands, even though they're smaller and they don't need as much food.

So parallel eating could be really helpful here because each person can choose the type of food and the amount of food based on their own needs and they just eat together for the shared experience and camaraderie.

#Weightloss #LastingWeightloss #ParallelEating #MindfulEating #FoodIndustry

For more details on this podcast visit:

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/blog/176

Hey there!

Are you ready for some real talk about why staying healthy feels like an uphill battle?

This week on the Keep the Weight Off podcast, Dr. Angela and Marchelle dive into the tough realities of maintaining a healthy lifestyle in today's world. Spoiler alert: it's not easy, but it’s definitely worth it! 🌟

🎧 Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:

The Real Struggle: Understand why being healthy requires constant effort and vigilance.

Cultural Challenges: Discover the societal norms that make weight loss and maintenance so difficult in the U.S.

Convenience Culture: Explore how our fast-paced, convenience-focused lifestyle impacts our eating habits.

Social Conditioning: See how social events and pressures contribute to unhealthy eating patterns.

Stress: Understand the role of stress and productivity culture in our health struggles.

Practical Tips: Get actionable advice on navigating these challenges and making healthier choices.

Tune in to gain awareness and strategies to overcome these obstacles.

Trust us, your future self will thank you! 💪

Stay healthy and empowered!

Episode Highlights:

(06:15) People ask me all the time "Am I always going to have to work this hard?" And the answer is, unfortunately, yes. Now it shouldn't be this way. It shouldn't be this hard, but it is. And it gets easier over time, and it doesn't seem like so much work because it just becomes a normal part of your routine.

(11:47) Do you know that portion sizes are much larger in the U. S. compared to other countries? The portion sizes in restaurants, and even in packaged foods are really much larger than what we actually need. And of course, this leads to overeating and overdrinking. All of this becomes a habit over time because we just become accustomed to those sizes.

(17:15) I feel really bad for teenagers these days. For a teen, the peer group is really important to them because they're going through a developmental stage where they're separating from their family of origin and they're learning a lot about themselves. Part of this is an attachment to a peer group. Back in the old days there was pressure to smoke and now it's socially unacceptable to smoke, now it's pressure to drink sugary coffee beverages, to have treats constantly, or to go out for fast food. The temptations just never end.

#Weightloss #LastingWeightloss #CulturalChallenges #StressEating #HealthyHabits #SocialConditioning

For more details on this podcast visit:

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/blog/175

Hey there!

We hope you had a fantastic 4th of July! 🎆 Marchelle is back from vacation and this week's episode of the Keep the Weight Off Podcast is packed with exciting and valuable info you won't want to miss, including how to survive a hurricane!!🌀

Here's what you'll learn: Marchelle's Hurricane Adventure: Hear Marchelle's thrilling story of vacationing at a resort in the Yucatan Peninsula when Hurricane Beryl hit and how she managed to stay safe and make it home on time! Healthy Eating on Vacation: Discover Marchelle's strategies for enjoying an all-inclusive resort without compromising on healthy eating habits🥗 Balancing Cocktails: Get tips on managing alcohol intake, especially important when you are vacationing in the sun! 🍹 Staying Active: Learn why it's essential to mix relaxation with physical activity when you’re on vacation. Mindful Indulgence: Find out why Dr. Angela recommends waiting until the end of your trip to indulge in treats and how to get back on track if you slip up. 🍰

This episode is perfect for anyone planning a summer vacation or looking for tips on maintaining healthy habits while traveling. 🎒✈️

Don't miss out—listen now to get inspired to stay healthy and happy on your next getaway!

Stay cool and hydrated

P.S. We'd love to hear how you stay healthy on vacation! Share your tips and stories with us at [email protected]

Episode Highlights:

(17:02)  I think that I made a lot better decisions than I made in the past. I feel a lot more secure about my trip, I don't have the guilt coming back that I've had in the past. It went really well on the eating part, and it was fun to post some of the beautiful foods that I was eating in the Sugar and Flour Buster Society (Facebook Group). I love that community so much. I feel so connected to other people who are on the same journey as we are. (23:39) Another reminder; if you decide to splurge, I always recommend doing it mindfully and waiting until the end of the trip to do it, so you don't end up splurging for the entire vacation. I say this from experience, because remember what we talked about last week about the power of the addictive potential of ultra processed foods and beverages. They're going to give your brain a powerful hit of dopamine and even opiates. So it's going to be triggering and it's going to be hard to say no later if you indulge early in the trip. (25:19) As soon as you return, remember to set some time out to do that grocery shopping to get back on track, to get off the carbs, make your plan; it's really important to have a really solid plan that you can get right back on track right when you get back, because you're going to be tired!

#Weightloss #LastingWeightloss #HealthyEating #Summer #FoodPlanning #Vacation

For more details on this podcast visit:

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/blog/174

Hey there!

Happy 4th of July! 🎆 We’re excited to bring you a brand-new episode of the Keep the Weight Off Podcast with Dr. Angela and Marchelle. This week, we’re bringing you up to date on a topic that affects us all: Ultraprocessed Food Addiction.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

- 📚 Insights from the First International Food Addiction Consensus Conference: Discover the latest research and consensus on food addiction. - 🍔 What Are Ultraprocessed Foods (UPFs)? Learn about the NOVA classification system and how it helps differentiate between natural and highly processed foods. - 🧠 The Science Behind UPF Addiction: Understand how UPFs hijack our brain’s reward system, similar to addictive drugs. - 🔬 Health Consequences: Explore the impact of UPF addiction, including mental, social and physical health consequences. - 🚫 Breaking Free from UPFs: Get practical tips on how to detox from UPFs and reclaim your health!

Dr. Angela and Marchelle share personal anecdotes and expert knowledge to help you understand the real dangers of UPFs and how to combat this growing public health crisis.

Join us in our mission to fight against UPFs and take control of your health. Listen now and become part of the solution! 💪

Don’t miss out!

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/5-day-detox

Episode Highlights: (04:19) The conference developed a consensus that food addiction should be renamed "ultra processed food addiction" or “UPF addiction.” If you think about it carefully, most people do not have an addictive response to whole food. We don't get addicted to broccoli, we get addicted to ice cream, pizza, sugary beverages and other factory made foods and drinks. (16:04) If you think about ultra processed food addiction, people who are in the midst of this addiction can experience a lot of distress; psychological distress, social distress. They will experience medical complications, including obesity, diabetes, and all of the diseases and disorders that go along with obesity and diabetes. You can compare this with other known addictive substances like nicotine, alcohol or cocaine. The brain chemistry is exactly the same. Ultra processed foods create the same powerful dopamine hit as these other drugs do. (22:48) I predict that in 10 years, and for sure in 20 years, ultra processed foods will have warning labels on them, the same way cigarettes do. And eventually they'll be outrageously expensive in the same way that cigarettes are, and it won't be long before advertising ultra processed foods to children will be against the law. I hope it happens quicker but we have a powerful Big Food lobby that will use every trick in the book to fight against this.

#Weightloss #LastingWeightloss #FoodAddiction #ProcessedFood #UltraProcessedFood #InternationalFoodAddictionConsensusConference

For more details on this podcast visit:

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/blog/173

Hey there!

Are you ready to tackle one of the most relatable challenges in weight loss? This week's episode of "Keep the Weight Off" with Dr. Angela and Marchelle dives into the topic of backsliding in weight loss. 🎧✨

Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode: What is Backsliding? Understanding the common setbacks in your weight loss journey. Stress and Eating: How stress leads to comfort eating and ways to manage it. Consistency Struggles: Why maintaining willpower and motivation can be tough and how to stay on track. Environmental Factors: The impact of your surroundings on your eating habits. Emotional Eating: Recognizing and managing emotional triggers that lead to overeating. Social Pressures: Navigating food choices in social settings without feeling guilty. Plateaus: Understanding weight loss plateaus and how to push through them.

Join us for a heartfelt and informative discussion that offers practical tips and real-life experiences to help you stay committed to your health and well-being! 🌟

Listen now and empower your weight loss journey!

https://www.journeybeyondweightloss.com/5-day-detox

Episode Highlights: (06:30) Another reason that someone might backslide would be a lack of consistency, definitely something I struggle with. We talked about the loss of willpower a couple of weeks ago, and I think that a lack of consistency has a lot to do with losing willpower or motivation. Sometimes we feel really solid in our weight loss journey, but sometimes we feel worn out and tired, which leads to ups and downs. (15:48) I care about what I put in my body; if you can take that attitude, that will serve you really well. You can just say "I care about what goes into my body, because what goes into my body is either healthy, nourishing food, or it's toxic". There's no in betweens, we live in a toxic food environment. The interesting thing is that by 2030, 50% of Americans are going to be struggling with obesity. I don't want to go over that cliff with everyone else, so that's the attitude that will serve you well if you want to have a vibrant, healthy body. (18:48) Plateaus can happen for a lot of reasons, and sometimes it's the biochemistry of the body. Sometimes it's stress or lack of sleep. For example, sometimes people say, "Oh, I had to take on a whole bunch of extra work shifts", well, just expect that you're not going to lose any fat during that time. It’s very difficult to lose fat when you're overworking yourself, or when you're not sleeping.

#Weightloss #LastingWeightloss #Backsliding #EmotionalEating #StressEating #FoodAddiction #EmotionalEating