How Mindset Breaks The Diet Cycle

Diet culture is loud, persuasive, and really good at making you feel like you’re the problem. But what if the problem is the promise of the quick fix, not your willpower? Shelly sits down with master mindset coach Andrea Maxim for a deeper, more honest look at why diets don’t work long term, why “success” can trigger self-sabotage, and how stress and subconscious beliefs can quietly run the show.

We talk about the marketing traps that highlight dramatic seven-day results while ignoring the six- and twelve-month follow-up, plus the emotional reality behind yo-yo dieting. Andrea breaks down the concept of protective weight and why the body can hold on when it doesn’t feel safe. We also get practical about language and mindset, including why the phrase “weight loss” can backfire and how “weight release” changes the direction of your focus.

If the scale controls your mood, you’ll love the reframe: the scale is one tool, not the scorecard for your health. We dig into better metrics like sleep, energy, inches, and body composition, and we connect the dots between stress, high-intensity workouts, undernourishing, and stalled progress. You’ll also hear simple behavior change strategies grounded in neuroscience: stick to one or two changes at a time, build confidence through micro wins, and experiment with the yes game and a 24-hour no-complaining challenge.

If this conversation helps you, subscribe to Words of Wellness, share it with a friend, and leave a rating and review so more people can find a healthier path forward. What’s one small change you’re willing to “prove” for the next 7 days?

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Thank you for listening to the Words of Wellness podcast with Shelly Jefferis. I am honored and so grateful to have you here and it would mean the world to me if you could take a minute to follow, leave a 5-star review and share  the podcast with anyone you love and anyone you feel could benefit from the message.

Thank you and God Bless! And remember to do something for yourself, for your wellness on this day! 
In Health, 

Shelly

Transcript

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Welcome And Wellness Questions

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What we are learning is because of all of the stressors, because of our limiting beliefs, because of our languaging, because we were never taught how to think differently than we do, what works for one doesn't work for everybody.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Do you get confused by all of the information that bombards us every day on ways to improve our overall health and our overall wellness? Do you often feel stuck, unmotivated, or struggle to reach your wellness goals? Do you have questions as to what exercises you should be doing? What foods you should or should not be eating? How to improve your overall emotional and mental well-being? Hello everyone, I am so excited to welcome you to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries, and I will be your host. My goal is to answer these questions and so much more. To share tips, education, and inspiration around all of the components of wellness through solo and guest episodes. With 35 plus years as a health and wellness professional, a retired college professor, a speaker, and a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I certainly have lots to share. However, my biggest goal and inspiration in doing this podcast is to share the wellness stories of others with you. To bring in guests who can share their journeys so that we can all learn together while making an impact on the health, the wellness, and lives of all of you, our listeners. The ultimate hope is that you leave today with even just one nugget that can enhance the quality of your life, and that you will, we all will, now and into the future, live our best quality of lives full of energy, happiness, and joy. Now let's dive into our message for today.

Diet Culture And Why Diets Fail

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Hi, my friends, and welcome back to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly and I will be your host. And this is kind of a part two with my guest, and super excited to have her back. We have more topics we want to dive into today. And she is a master mindset coach. And for those of you who listened to our previous episode, we really talked a lot about mindset. And today we want to dive more into that topic as it relates to dieting and the diet culture that so many are experiencing and faced with this day and age. So, Andrea, Maxim, thank you so much for being back.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Yes, part two. And I loved our part one. So for anyone who missed it, I really want you to go back and listen to that. I'm really excited about today's topic because now we get to get a little bit more polarizing. Um, I'm really looking forward to your stance, Shelly, on our topic today. And like, I just can't wait.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

I can't wait either because I think it's it's always pertinent. I feel like it's always a hot topic, but maybe even more so nowadays. Because I think that more people, and you can correct me if I'm wrong here, I feel like more people are becoming aware of the fact that in a nutshell, diets don't work. But what is the motivating factor behind that? A lot of it has to do with with what's going on in our mind, right? Which we're going to dive into today with you for sure.

Marketing Hype And The Biggest Loser

SPEAKER_01 3:36

And the first thing that came to my mind when you said diets don't work, the first thing that came to my mind was that it's the marketing around diets that I think set us up for failure. And that, of course, the diet industry is going to show you the quick wins, the people that were successful in seven days, the people that dropped obscene amounts of weight in a short window of time. And the problem with that, because that's what we're seeing, that's what makes us buy into exercise equipment, weight loss programs. We see and hear these amazing testimonials, which I don't doubt are real. However, the question has to be what did that person do before that program or exercise equipment? And what I love hearing the most is where is that testimonial person at six months later, 12 months later? What are they doing now? And the, you know, the biggest scandal that we saw blow up, and there's a documentary about this, was the biggest loser program, where there's a lot of beautiful things that came out of that show. And that was actually one of the first shows my husband and I bonded over. Um, I don't know if you watched The Biggest Loser back in its heyday, right? I think so many of us did. Now, when we would watch it, we would watch it with eating a bag of chips and being like, man, it sucks for those guys. Yet the follow-up for those people, like, what was it? A small, small percentage actually sustained the weight loss that they received on the camp or at wherever they were. And I think that's really what we're talking about here is that the diet culture, this extremism of what we're seeing as results, what we see we have to do in order to get those results, is not what you have to do in order to be successful. So I'd love to hear your take on that.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

Well, and I think that's so key because the bottom line is looking at where are we going to be, like you said, three, six, nine, twelve months from now, a year or two years down the road. And we have become a culture that's so caught up in the here and now we want it now, and we wanted it yesterday, we wanted it last year. And so when they they get enticed by a program, let's say, or a product that is offering that quick, I mean, let's call it what it is, right? A quick fix. It's it's attractive, understandably so. But I think the missing point and the missing piece, like you're saying, is someone like yourself who's going to help them with that mindset piece. Because I know that I've worked with clients as well when it comes to that, because it's not just following a nutrition exercise program. For the majority, it's so much more than that. And I had a really interesting conversation one time with a client, and she was coming back to me for her for a nutrition program and some guidance. And I had worked with her before. And I actually posed the question at one point because she said she keeps falling off the wagon, she keeps gaining the weight back, she keeps yo-yoing, all of the things going back and forth. And I asked her, I said, Well, do you know why that is happening? And you know that she said, I do, but I I'm not comfortable to talk about it just yet. Okay. Right. And I went, uh, okay. We're getting sort of getting somewhere with it. But at least she was honest to say yes, just not ready to divulge what it is. And that really, I mean, I get chills now talking about it because I went, okay, there's much more to this. And I think in most cases there

Protective Weight And Self-Sabotage

SPEAKER_02 7:50

is. I'm sure you have found.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Yes. So we talked a little bit about this in part one of the concept of protective weight. And that's the way that I like to describe what women are carrying is none of us want to be overweight or obese or morbidly obese. We just don't. There is something that is driving the behaviors that are creating this outcome of being a larger person. And so that's the layer that we have to be healing while doing the lifestyle stuff. Like we all have a body, we all have cells, we all need to eat the right way and move our body. Like that math maths. It's when we are going up against this protective mechanism that has been put in place however long ago it was. It could have been five years ago, it could have been 10 years ago, it could have been in childhood, where our body is now physically protecting us from our environment. And that's probably where your client didn't want to go, because sometimes, and I'm not saying that this is the case, but there's usually some form of abuse that have happened as a child, some sort of violation of their physical space that's happened as a child, or something traumatic that's happened, where the only way we knew to move through that was to literally create a barrier between our insides and our external environment. And what we're talking about here is while yes, the quick fixes can work. I mean, I have tried the quick fixes, I've seen the results. But here's what I find fascinating, even about me, someone who knows all the things, is I will catch myself being like, oh my God, I feel like I've lost weight. Oh my God, my legs are looking thinner. Oh my goodness, my stomach is looking more flat. And then the very next thing I do is order a pizza or buy a bag of chips, or um literally sabotage my success. And we don't catch it until it's too late. Most of us. I have been using these tools long enough where I'm now seeing how this false identity version of me stays the way she is. I want to grow into my true identity of beautiful health, wealth, and happiness. And I'm starting to see where these old ceilings are starting to creep up. And I just noticed this in enough um with myself like just a few weeks ago, where I got a compliment and I was like, I agree with you. And then what did I do in the very next couple of days? I started eating more carbs and I started doing this. And it's fascinating how our body will hear success, see success, and then completely reject it because of something that's going on beneath the surface. Once we allow ourselves to become aware of this without guilt or shame, without creating a story, I didn't create a story about it. Like no wonder this happens. No wonder I go back to, you know, an extra five or 10 pounds. Once we allow ourselves the awareness to see it, then we can start to catch it. Um, and I have so many stories of identity shifting, even with GLP1 and gastric bypass surgery, where the identity has to come first before the surgery or the tool. And that's what makes those things work. Um so yeah, it's just like it is such a multifactorial thing.

Words, Subconscious, And Weight Release

SPEAKER_01 11:58

And we talked about this on the last call as well, on part one of spell casting and the words that we're using. Do you want to refresh everyone on what that was, just so we can kind of like pick up from there? Because that's a big part of this too. Well, I think yes, and you're so right.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

And I feel like what you're sharing too is so much about these patterns that we get into and these habits. And it all comes back to what we talked about in part one, the mindset shift is shifting the way we're looking at things and the way we're seeing ourselves and the way we're speaking out loud to others and to ourselves, even. And I know we talked about just that word choice and how speaking negatively or positively is going to bring you those results, whatever it is that we might be saying. And so if we're we're we're feeding negative thoughts into our our brain, that's what we're gonna end up with. And I think that's that's what bears repeating. When we talked about that, like you said, on the first on the part one, about what are we telling ourselves and then also what are we speaking out loud? And I know I shared that I have learned that over the years, and I I work on avoiding the word try because I feel like that just means it's probably not gonna happen, whatever it might be. And it's it's like you said, and I always share this as well. It's like what what we focus on, we find. So, what are we what words are we putting out there? And how are we again speaking to ourselves either out loud or in our mind? And again, going back to you sharing on part one, how like 96% of our thoughts are subconscious. And to me, that's so fascinating. So knowing that we can make a shift in that, yeah, I know that you shared that and and you shared some ideas of what we can do. And I think it's important, especially for any of our listeners right now who might be in that struggle with with with weight, with your health, and you're caught up in that that diet, I don't want to say mentality, but and I don't want to be insensitive to those who are going through it. But like you're saying, there's so much more to it. I mean, I think society tries to simplify it, and there's so much more.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

And so let's even break down the term weight loss. At the unconscious level, if we say I want to lose weight, your unconscious mind is gonna say, Well, we don't want to lose stuff. We have to find it. So it will literally start finding weight at the unconscious level. Yet if I were to use marketing language of get healthier, get stronger, get more fit, it doesn't translate nearly as powerfully as lose 10 pounds, lose 30 pounds in 12 weeks. So the marketing around diet culture is actually working against how our unconscious mind needs to shift these healthy changes that we want to make. Yet, even as someone that works with women in the protective weight loss space or protective weight space, um, I still have to use the language that the majority of our culture is using in order to bring women in. Then how I do it is entirely different. So what most women are focused on in diet culture world is the losing of stuff. I need to lose the weight. Everything is focused on how much they weigh. And if the scale doesn't change, well, that means something about me. And the more you learn about the different markers of success, like sure, maybe you've lost a pound on a scale, um, but you have energy now. Sure, maybe you've lost two pounds in the last month, yet you're sleeping better because your sleep apnea is gone. Yeah, maybe you haven't lost any weight yet, but you've lost four inches on your body. And we become so tunnel visioned because everything is based off of that powerful number on the scale. And we're not even taking a step back at looking at all of the data. I had a patient once who did a body scan with me, and then she went to the gym and she was doing like CrossFit classes five or six times a week and came back to me a month or two later and she said, the weight hasn't changed. I'm still at a zero and I don't get it. So we did the scan again. She lost 10 pounds of fat, gained 10 pounds of muscle. So the the net gain is zero. Yet for her, because she was so hyper focused on what the scale read, it completely like mentally made her feel like, well, what's the point? Why would I put in all this effort if nothing is changing, quote unquote? And that was the complete opposite of what was changing. So if we allow more education on the scale, it is literally the worst measurement

Stop Letting The Scale Rule

SPEAKER_01 17:26

of success. It is a measurement, but never to be done on its own. Why don't we start looking at other metrics of health that we are gaining and the weight release will come? And notice how I'm changing the languaging already. The weight release will come. We don't want to focus on weight loss anymore. Yet that is what we do as a culture. Like that's the lingo. And the lingo is actually hurting us too.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

It's so true. And I love that you mentioned weight release because that's something that I learned a few years ago with the nutrition and the wellness company that I've been partnered with. We started using that terminology because, like, when you say weight loss, it's if you've lost something, it sounds like it's going to be coming back, right? And that's kind of probably most people listening. If you're wanting to lose weight, you probably don't want it to come back. So it's the weight release is definitely more accurate. And it's so great that you bring up these other markers because I used to lecture to my students at the college about this very topic. I would say the scale's giving you one measurement, it's one tool. We need to know blood pressure, cholesterol, body fat percentage. And I would make the point to share with them exactly what you're sharing now is the fact that look, our goal here is to hopefully create and build some muscle by the end of the semester. And when that happens, the number on the scale might not shift a lot, or it might show that you've gained a little. And if we can look at your body fat and see that your body fat has gone down, but your lean body mass has gone up, then we have had success. And I love that you you bring this up because again, it's that educational piece. And I have said this till I might have been blue in the face that you don't need the scale. I mean, I get it. Like if you want to know and you kind of want it every few weeks or every few months, jump on it, fine. But we both know people who it'll dictate their day, right? They jump on it every day and it will dictate dictate their mood for the day. And that is not a that's not a healthy place to live. So making that shift and helping people understand and have that awareness around it is is so key.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Yes. And if I were to say anything that I find really helps women from a mindset place that I've seen consistently show up is confidence of success. And it's usually in small micro things. So again, the diet culture place is really feeding into this all or nothing mindset. And we talked about this in part one how when it's all or nothing, like I literally have to drop everything that I do in my routine and do 75 hard coming from nowhere. Yeah. And that's the only way that I can be successful. And then it's day three, and we're like, this shit ain't working. Like it does not work for my lifestyle right now. Then we drop it all. And this all or nothing approach that diet culture is also presenting is incredibly challenging. Now, that's not to say that I'm expecting 100% all in on the goal. All in is very different than uprooting your entire lifestyle and routine because some diet tells you you have to, right? Or some meal planning program says it has to be this way. What I really would love to convey to all of your listeners is that there is some things that have been tried and true around weight release from a physical perspective. And I will stand 10 toes down again that you have to eat well and you have to move your body. Those two things must exist. Yet what we are learning is because of all of the stressors, because of our limiting beliefs, because of our languaging, because we were never taught how to think differently than we do, what works for one doesn't work for everybody.

Stress, Movement, And Sustainable Change

SPEAKER_01 21:49

So let me give a beautiful example of what I mean. If I have a woman that's coming in whose diet is pristine and um She she isn't able to release any weight. And I also hear that she's doing intense exercise six times a week at like 4 a.m. Because that's the only time she can get it in. And her job is so incredibly demanding. She's working 12-hour days and then still working at home on the weekends. For her, doing intense exercise and you're shaking your head is an absolute no-go zone because movement and intensity of movement is another stressor. So we're now adding mental stress on top of physical stress, and we're wondering why her body is completely revolting against her. So for her, I would say walking is the only level of movement that you do. And if you walk 10K steps and you feel exhausted by the end of the day, then that's too much for you right now because there's a huge gap between over exertion and undernourishing. And most people choose one camp and they keep going there. So I'm gonna go all in on intense exercise and I'm gonna eat a thousand calories. Or I'm gonna eat what I feel like and exercise a little bit. Right? So more often than not, we have to meet the demand for your day. Now, if you're mostly women that are listening to this, we use a lot more mental energy than men do. And we don't count that as an exertion point. And we need to, because once the body feels safe and supported for the demand, it will start to let go. And that's a big thing that I'm always watching for is if my clients are now meeting their nutrition demand, their supplement demand, their meditation demand, and by meditation I just mean self-care, and the body's starting to release, they've nailed it. Anytime the body is revolting against that release, we're either over pushing our body or we're far undernourishing it. And I'd love to know your thoughts on that too, because that's what I consistently see.

SPEAKER_02 24:18

Well, I it's all so, so spot on, because I think one of the biggest factors that are affecting all of us in this very topic is stress. So when you're using this one example, it is so spot on. If you're already under a ton of stress at work and you're working weekends, and now you're adding that high-intensity workout. Now, high-intensity workout like that, five, six days a week, is really not recommended for anyone. So, especially when you're under a ton of stress. Like I say two times a week, maybe three max. And I just had a conversation, um, my good friend who's an exercise physiologist. We talked about this on an episode recently where yes, it's beneficial to tax and and to to stress the body to a point, not six days a week. And especially if you're under a ton of stress already. And I think that that's that's so key because when I talk about and with my coaching program on longevity, we have the four areas movement, nutrition, sleep, stress. And really, in so many ways, you might have your exercise and your nutrition dialed in, but if your sleep and your stress isn't, oh yes, can't lose weight and sleep at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Like there's no way there's that math maths. Right? So there is math, there is simple physical math that exists. But what I love that you said is about longevity. And I think that's the biggest missing piece here is no one, excuse me, I don't want to say no one, because I'm trying to teach even my daughters. We don't use abstracts that are catch-all words. Rarely are people teaching longevity in the context of weight release. So in my practice, and I'm there right now, I'm telling my women, give me six months, give me 12 months. Prove to me that in that time, if you stay on this program, it won't work. I've yet to see someone who is committed for four months or longer not see success, including myself. And my body is a slow burn. Let me tell you, it takes me six months of effort before I start to see it click. And that's just how my body is. And I think we also need to give ourselves that level of awareness. Some bodies drop fast, some bodies are a slow burn like mine, some are kind of in the middle. And we all know what that level is. We already know, right? We don't want to pretend that we know, but we do know. So when we're being faced with for me, well, dang, if it takes me six months to get results, and I'm seeing someone who's doing it in seven days, well, sure, that's going to be really incentivizing for me to try to get that result. It's working against my biology, it's working against what I what I do in my day. And the intensity may just not be what I can buy into. And so when we're looking at becoming healthy, becoming strong, becoming fit, knowing that that goal will be inevitable if we stick to it. Because now we're looking at weight release through the lens of someone who wants to be healthy, not someone who wants to lose weight, someone who wants to stop being in pain, someone who wants to stop having joint issues, someone who doesn't want sleep apnea anymore. Diet culture really uses the marketing of what we know you don't want. It's called pain over problem. They will position your pains in order to sell their problem or sell their solution. So we know that people are very also trained to focus on what they don't want instead of looking at it through the lens of what they do want. And I know the superficial answer is I want to be healthy until the day that I die. Yet underneath, and what's running in my brain is, well, this needed to happen yesterday. Like you said, this needed to happen last year. I need to lose this weight, I need to do something. And we start using this language of scarcity and of um low vibration versus, you know what? I'm just a person who no longer needs to eat sweets after seven. It just doesn't serve me. Right now, I'm in a transition where I'm realizing how much alcohol is so bad for my body for where I'm at right now, where I love a good white claw on the weekend. And I typically only have two. Like I know my limit, yet my body is now rejecting it where it's creating foot cramps and it's creating such severe dehydration that it isn't even worth it. And so the language I've been using this week, just in my transition now, is that awareness of okay, alcohol isn't working right now for my system. And if I'm looking at it through the lens of the healthiest version of me I can be, I need to listen to that. And let me tell you, Shelby, there are some wonderful de-alcoholized and non-alcoholic drinks that are being produced that are delicious. And they allow me to keep that habit without having the negative byproduct. And no one is really, or or again, not no one, but the diet culture is really not leaning into that dialogue because no one wants to commit to something. And again, I'm so sorry. I need to mentally rewire that. Most women aren't gonna buy a program that says 12 months from now, I'll get you the success that you want. Right. It's just so far out into the future. It's too far out there.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

And I love that you bring that up. I as alcohol and just bring all these different topics in and relating what you're going through, you're just personal experience right now. And I think that's key. I love that, you know, when someone can share not just the education, their background, but have that experience, that personal experience and tie it in. You're relatable that way. And it's interesting because I've noticed too, as I'm getting um a different age, let's say, um, I'm in the same boat where I'm thinking, you know, this is not, even though I enjoy it on occasion, but I too have like discovered some like nice sparkling water and some nice flavored sparkling waters and some things that I'm like, this is really good. And making that switch over, and maybe not entirely, it's not, I'm always saying, you know, it's not again, it doesn't have to be that all or nothing, but again, just being more conscious or conscientious maybe of our choices and what what are where do we want to be and what's gonna help us get to that point? And I think that is such, such the key when when we're thinking about all of this. And yeah, I mean, I get it, it's so hard to think in the future in some cases, but if we can take just small amounts of time, let's give ourselves, you know, and a month, where do you want to be? And then we get to that month goal 30 days from now. We can do anything for 30 days. Again, it's having that timeline and what's what's doable, what fills, you know, not biting off a whole 12 months, right? It's uh it's a little bit here and there, and we can do it,

Neuroscience Of Micro Habits

SPEAKER_02 31:52

you know.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

And this is this is circling back to what I said about instilling confidence, is once we feel confident, we often will make better choices. So once we get a little bit of that dopamine reward, like, man, for the last seven days, I did this, and I haven't been able to be that successful. And now we get this like dopamine reward where we're like, well, if I can do that, what's the next thing? And the biggest difference that I'm gonna say about this, and I was talking to a colleague earlier today, is a lot of us are intellectualizing the process and we are not ready to take the action that we need to take. And then the all or nothing part of us says, well, if I'm gonna take action, I'm gonna take all of the action. And then that falls apart really quickly because our neurology can only handle two changes. Our neurology can only handle two changes at a time. So when we go into this massive new program that requires 20 changes, I already know it's not gonna work for you because your brain literally can't handle it. It will fritz. It's kind of like putting 20 plugs into a four-plug outlet, like it just won't compute. And I really hope women hear me when I say that is from a neuroscience perspective, you can only make one to two changes and then hold that. Once that becomes easy and effortless, now we can add in another one or two changes. And that's how it works. And that's how we start developing this lifestyle, which requires some discipline in the beginning. It requires us to stop listening to our inner rebellious teenager who wants to like do a big F you to our changes and why aren't we on the couch to our changes and what's wrong with how we are living? Like that exists, and that is a part of all of us because we don't like change, because now we're moving out of certainty into uncertainty, and we don't like living in uncertainty. So we have to get used to going there because that's the only way we start to grow, right? Um, and I've completely lost my train of thought, is where I was going with that, but I felt like it was on a good run somewhere. It was very good, and I'll I'll go back to what you were saying too.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

If we have one or two things that we we start to implement, right? And then we get that going, and now we add one or two. So it goes back to that, as they say, habit stacking, right? Yeah, where you do one or two, get in. So, so again, it it makes it so it's not so overwhelming for someone. I can go for a five-minute walk, I can add a piece of fruit with my lunch. I mean, whatever it is, like keeping it simple, right? Just the simple, simple, simple things.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

And so what and even when you say small, I can hear the women say, well, that seems ridiculous. My win isn't going to be adding a piece of fruit to my lunch every day. Like that is so small, and it's and and it sounds insignificant. And that's the other battle that we're fighting against with diet culture too, right? Because again, it's all or nothing. It's go big or go home, it's hustle, hustle, hustle, intensity, intensity, intensity. Um, and that's why it's a billion-dollar industry. Right. Because celebrating these little, quote unquote, little wins as massive successes is not part of our neurology. That's not how we've been taught. Like who here listening to this have been taught gratitude and success work from when you were a child? No, it was let me see your report card, why didn't you get more A's? Let me see you on this, you know, sports field, why didn't you get more goals? And I'm not saying parents think that way, but that's being adopted already in school. Like we're not learning to celebrate, we learn to bad mouth and complain and say it's not enough, real easy. And this is where again social media and troll culture, right? You could have a hundred positive comments and one troll comment, and that's what you focus on. Right. That's it. Right. You completely erase all the positive. So what if we were to start a yes game?

The Yes Game And No-Complaint Challenge

SPEAKER_01 36:33

And this is just dropping in right now. So I think this is important for your listeners. What if anytime you would have said no to something, you say yes? Anytime you would have poo-pooed something, you embrace it. Anytime you would have rejected something, you receive it. What if we were to live in a polarized universe for 30 days? See how much your life changes. Where just by simply doing the opposite of what you normally would have done, I remember the story from a training that I did where the woman at the training was like, I can't find a husband, I can't make any money, and I hate my job. And they were like, How about we try this yes game on for size? Where anything you would have said no to, you're now gonna say yes to. And after two months, she comes back and she's like, I'm in a loving relationship. I just moved into my dream home and I got a promotion at work and I've lost 10 pounds. And all that is at its very core is shifting our energy, shifting the lens to which we are looking at our lives and literally rewiring it for the better. Because anytime we say yes to something we would have otherwise said no to, it was probably something that was going to push you out of your comfort zone or made you feel uncomfortable, or made you feel a certain way that you didn't want to. So we go back into safety and certainty, which is why it's really easy to say no. And that's kind of a fun exercise to try on, even if you do it for a day. So inside my community today, I had a 24-hour no-complaining challenge that I presented to my people. I was like, for the next 24 hours, if you want to complain or even think of complaining, or even type or text a complaint, you are no longer allowed to. And instead, you're gonna reframe it to something positive or delete it altogether. And so for 24 hours, that's what I'm encouraging people to do. So imagine if we did the same thing with ourselves and our journey and where we're at today. How different do you think your day would go? And how different do you think you'd feel waking up the next day? Everything that you share, Shelly, and everything that we've talked about, even on these two parts, have all been incredibly simple shifts that are less than five minutes to do. And yet we poo-poo them because it's too easy. Like, I can't tell you how many patients I've said, I just want you to drink three liters of water a day and tell me and show me how different you're feeling after 10 days. And they're like, but it's just water, it's the most free resource we're lucky to have in North America, and it makes a massive difference in how your entire body works. The more I simplify my life, that is success instead of complicate it, which is what our lower ego loves to do. And then we get into traps, right? So I encourage your people to try one of those two experiments and then give you feedback on how it shifted things. For sure.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

And I think that's the big focus I know that I am sharing more and more is the simplicity. I want things to be simple and realizing they don't have to be complex, right? I mean, but again, like you're saying, that's what we've been so used to being ingrained in our in our subconscious that it's you know needs to be complicated. It doesn't need to be. And uh that's really a big thing for me at this stage of my life, too, going, I want things to be simple. And it can be. And I will share this with you and give you some simple steps that you can take. Doesn't have to be complicated, right? Um but again, it's kind of what we've been taught.

Prove It, Curiosity, And Next Steps

SPEAKER_02 40:42

So this has just been so fantastic, Andrea. I'm so happy we got to do this, really. And um, I I just want to honor you and thank you for your time. And this has been, I feel, really impactful. I hope that our listeners have really gained a lot from our two episodes together. I'm sure there will be more in the future. Um, any last words of wellness you want to share or inspiration?

SPEAKER_01 41:11

I think the last word I'm gonna say is prove it. If you don't think it's gonna work for you, prove it. Put the work in and prove it to yourself that it isn't. If you think that anything we've shared here is too simple and you can't do it, or whatever's coming up for you, prove it. And I think when we start coming from a place of, well, you know what? I'm curious and I'm just gonna see. Curiosity is probably one of the best vibes and energies you can go into anything in life. I'm just curious to try on this new way of thinking. I'm curious how doing a 24-hour no-complaint day is gonna go for me. Instead of making a decision that it's not gonna work for you. I'd really love it if we try on this idea of prove it. Just I'm gonna prove it to myself that this works or it doesn't work for me. Or I'm gonna prove it to my coach or whoever. But it does therefore presuppose that you're gonna be taking action. And without action, nothing works. So if we can just get you moving in some direction, I think that's gonna be where the success is. And everything is just feedback. There's no failure, it's just feedback.

SPEAKER_02 42:33

Oh, that's so, so good. I love you bringing up curiosity. It's crazy to me because I that's very relatable. I that's what happened for me when I started this nutrition program over 12 years ago. I was just curious. Let me try it, see what I think. Over 12 years later, it's been a part of my life every day. So you never know, right? And I think that's so key. Be curious, be open, try it out. And like you're saying, it's it's just we're just getting feedback. Try it and we we see, right? And see where it takes us.

SPEAKER_01 43:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

Oh my goodness. Thank you, Andrea, so much. Um, I just want to tell all of the listeners, reach out to Andrea, her information in the show notes. And um, this has been just so valuable. And I would love for any of our listeners to reach out to her. And if you're feeling like you're struggling in this stage of the diet culture, or if you're feeling like you could just use some guidance when it comes to your mindset and and just the thought processes that are going on in your brain, she can help you, as you can hear. So reach out and as always, take time for yourself and your wellness on this day. And we will see you next time onwards of wellness. Have a blessed rest every week, everyone. We'll see you next

Coaching Program And Listener Requests

SPEAKER_02 43:52

time. Hi, my friends. Just a quick, quick message for all of you. I wanted to let all of my listeners know that I have an upcoming special Flourish for Life 12-week coaching program, and I couldn't be more excited. It's going to be a one-on-one program. I'm going to be opening up just a select few spots, and the first five to ten moms or women who register will be my founding members. And you will also receive a very special discounted rate. So please reach out to me on Instagram at wellness with Shell AJ or click on the link in the show notes below for more details. And I cannot wait to work alongside you. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope you gained value and enjoyed our time together as much as I did. And if you know someone who could benefit from today's episode, I would love and appreciate it if you could share with a friend or rate and review Words of Wellness so that more can hear this message. I love and appreciate you all. Thank you for listening. And if you have any questions or topics you would like me to share in future episodes, please don't hesitate to reach out to me through my contact information that is shared in the show notes below. Again, thank you for tuning in to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries, and I encourage you to do something for you, for your wellness on this day. Until next time, I hope you all have a healthy, happy, and blessed week.