Episode #89: Surpassing Weight Loss Goals with Katie S.

Summary

Discover the transformative journey of Katie S. on this episode of the Unstoppable Mom Brain Podcast, where she shares her incredible story of surpassing weight loss goals. Join us as we dive into Katie's experience, exploring the roller coaster of weight loss and the pivotal moment when she realized that coaching and mindset work were crucial for her success. Listen as Katie openly discusses her thoughts on flour and sugar, her initial resistance, and how she shifted from confusion about her eating plan to building confidence and sustainability in her weight loss journey. Gain insights into the power of small-group coaching programs and the value of investing in oneself. As a physician turned life and weight loss coach, I guide ambitious working moms like Katie through a journey of simplicity, joy, and strategic decisions to achieve their ideal weight. Don't miss out on this inspiring conversation that might just spark your own transformation.

If this podcast resonates with you, make sure you get on the waitlist for my next Unstoppable Group. You can get all the details and join the waitlist over at https://www.theunstoppablemombrain.com/group.  And when you’re on the waitlist for the next enrollment, you’re going to get early access to enroll.

Check out my Advanced Weight Loss Training: for the high achieving professional mom.  Go to https://www.theunstoppablemombrain.com/desire and learn more!

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• We explore Katie's incredible journey, surpassing weight loss goals and embracing mindset work.
• Discover the ups and downs of Katie's roller coaster weight loss journey and the pivotal moment that led her to prioritize coaching and mindset.
• Gain insights into Katie's thoughts on flour and sugar, her initial confusion about her eating plan, and her transformation into a confident and sustainable weight loss achiever.
• Hear Katie's honest reflections on being part of an intimate small-group coaching program and the decision to invest in herself for incredible value.
• I also share some of my experience as a physician turned life and weight loss coach, providing a unique perspective on achieving ideal weight with simplicity, joy, and strategic decisions.

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Full Episode Transcript:

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• Priyanka Venugopal: Hey, this is Dr. Priyanka Venugopal and you're listening to the Unstoppable Mom Brain Podcast, Surpassing Weight Loss Goals with Katie S. I am joined on the Unstoppable Mom Brain Podcast today by one of my amazing clients from the Unstoppable group. Katie shares her story around where she was and what she had experienced when it comes to weight loss before she decided to join Unstoppable.

  She talks about the up and down roller coaster that she had been on for years and what it was that Finally let her to realize that coaching and mindset work had to be a key piece as a part of her weight loss strategy. She also shares the moment that she realized that going up and down the scale didn't have to be her normal and it was possible to actually reach her ideal weight in a different way. She shares openly her thoughts around flour and sugar, which she initially dreaded, how she went from feeling confused about her plan and how she should eat and when she should eat to really creating a lot of confidence and a lot of sustainability in the way that she has been losing weight and blowing past her goals week after week. She also shares her honest thoughts about being in an intimate small group coaching program and how she made the decision to invest in herself and get incredible value along the way. I love Katie's story so much, and I hope that you are inspired by it as much as me. And if Katie's story inspires you, if you have considered the Unstoppable group and you know that mindset is a piece of the puzzle that has been missing for you, I want to invite you to learn more about the Unstoppable group. The next enrollment period is coming up really soon. Head on over to theunstoppablemombrain.com/group. You can get all of the nuts, bolts, dates, details, and client testimonials so that you can get a sense of if this group feels like it might be a best fit for you, spots aren't going to be limited. So I highly encourage that you get yourself ready. Now let's get into my conversation with Katie S. If you want to reach your ideal weight and create lightness for your body, you need to have simplicity, joy, and strategic decisions infused into your life. I'm a physician turned life and weight loss coach for ambitious working moms.

  I've lost over 60 pounds without counting points, calories, or crazy exercise plans. Most importantly, I feel calm and light on the scale and did my life. There's some delicious magic when you learn this work and the skills I'm going to be teaching you. Ready? Let's get to it. Hello, my Unstoppable friends. I am so thrilled to bring on to the podcast today. One of my amazing Unstoppable clients, this is Katie. Katie has been in the Unstoppable group for quite a few months now. She has made incredible progress, not just on the scale, but part of the reason that I love to bring her on to have a conversation is really talking about the impact of coaching in so many different corners of our life and how we get to be humans. Working busy moms, having all the life challenges that come up the way they do and still hit goals, still lose the way that you want to lose. So Katie, I'm going to have you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you and then we'll get into the conversation. 

  Katie S: Okay. Well, my name is Katie. I have two little boys in eight month old and a three year old. I'm a physician assistant and yeah, I've been pretty much struggling with my weight since I was a child. So I'm really excited to be here today. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: I love it. So Katie, can you just like give us a little bit of background around like before Unstoppable, before the Unstoppable group, what was your journey with weight loss? Like, was it something that you had struggled with for your whole life or was it something that came up more later in life? And what were some of the things that you tried to solve 

  Katie S: The problem? Yeah, for sure. So I came from a family that was It's pretty overweight. I started noticing that I was bigger than the other kids when I was in, I don't know, I think third or fourth grade, but I was always very athletic. So I had a lot of confidence and, you know, I just thought that this is who I am. And I just didn't really start to realize there's something I could do about it until I was in high school. And between my junior and senior year, I went on my. First diet and I had a lot of, I had a lot of success with that actually.

  And as I went to college, I continued to, you know, lose weight. And I, I think I had lost a total of like 60 or 70 pounds within a couple of years doing that particular strategy. And then for probably 10, 10 years, maybe I just went up and down about 20 pounds, probably like. I don't know, 30 or 40 times. I mean, it was, it was ridiculous. I think I just thought that was normal. And in my mind, I was. I had the idea that well, I already lost 60 pounds. I'm still maintaining. This must just be normal fluctuation. But really, I was restricting and then overeating restricting overeating month to month, basically. And then after I after I had my children, that's when I really when I was pregnant, like, I knew I couldn't. Restrict, so then I just like defaulted to, well, I have to be in this phase, but that's for a whole 9 months. So with both my pregnancies, I gained like 50 pounds and that's where I kind of landed when I found you. Yeah, 

  Priyanka Venugopal: I think this is so common for anyone listening. Anyone that's wanted to lose weight has been on some type of a roller coaster where they, are able to lose the weight. They like have some diet plan in place. Maybe it's counting points or calories or weight watchers or, you know, tracking something on an app or keto or no carb and they're able to lose a lot of weight and it doesn't necessarily feel like a sustainable strategy. What do you think it was for you when you would lose the weight?

  Did you love your strategy while you were losing the way? Did you like it? Or does this something you felt like you were muscling through? Whenever you did have that success on the scale.

  Katie S: Yeah. So I think initially when I, the first time I lost the weight, it was very natural. And it was actually a lot like it was a lot like Unstoppable. But over time, as I got more and more like into the diet. Mentality, it just got more like we talk about where you like, you try to lose it. You feel good because you're having a little bit of success, but then you make a mistake and then you turn around and you're like, well, I got to be extra strict tomorrow and then it just gets stricter and stricter to the point where you can't follow it and then you give up and you say, well, I'm going to start again or you find a new strategy. That was a big one for me as I would always be like looking for the best strategy because that's. I mean, that's what's like kind of amazing about me is I'm looking for the most effective way to do something. But sometimes you just, what I've learned is sometimes you just have to pick a plan and stick with it. Yeah. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: Yeah. You know, and I think what you're talking about is. The high achievers, right? Which makes a lot of sense. Like, who, who would say, no, like, Priyanka, like, let's pick a mediocre strategy. No one is doing that. So it makes a lot of sense. We want the best strategy. And this was, I think somebody even coached on with, like, in other areas of your life, like how we want the best strategy, which is so good.

  I want to touch on that. And then what you were saying, which is so important, I want to highlight it is you would start implementing the plan until you made a mistake. What do you think it was about that experience that would then lead you to swing in the other direction and just be like, screw it, like overindulge and then kind of swing back around?

  Katie S: Well, I think it was a couple of things. I mean, I think one of them was just pure, like, well, I don't know what to do. And so I didn't, and I was completely disconnected from my body. So I don't really think I knew how to eat just To satisfy hunger. Like I just, I had my three meals a day and then I, when I was in a phase of restriction, like it was probably too restrictive. And then, so when I was swinging the other way, I can say like my brain didn't trust me or like my body didn't trust me to. Support itself. So then it was just kind of, you know, trying to make up for that or trying to prepare for the next time I'm going to do that. So it's almost like, let me get it while I can. I'm going to be restricting myself later. I'm not going to allow myself to eat these foods later. So, like, let me get it while I can, which is, this is again, so, so common. So. At what point along the way, because you said this happened 30 or 40 times where you went up and down up and down, it felt almost like the norm for how you were going to be.

  Priyanka Venugopal: What point along the way were you like, you know what? No, this is not the norm. I kind of want to break the cycle. What, what happened for you that led you down 

  Katie S: that road? Well, actually a couple of years ago, I discovered like weight loss coaching, like on the podcast and everything. So I had kind of been flirting with it before even the birth of my second child, but. So I, I kind of was starting to get this inkling that there's like, Oh, there maybe there is another way, but you know what I was really scared of when I heard of it was that there's no flour, no sugar. So in my mind, I was like, there's no way I could do that. I guess that's not a strict role, but that's what the recommendation was from this other podcast I was listening to. And I was like, well, there's no way I can do that and the story, but I still enjoyed listening to it. And I started actually using some of the strategies and I had. I immediately like had more success and more peace. And I was like, oh, okay, there's something to this. And then eventually I came around to it, I guess.

  Priyanka Venugopal: So you got introduced to a podcast that discuss the concept of concepts of coaching as it applies to weight loss and you're like, wait a second, there's something here that that's different than what you had tried in the past. But because you heard about no flour, no sugar, you're like, that's a no, we're not going to do that.

  So what do you think changed for you? And what was it that was like, yes, this is the thing I want to do and I'm ready to do it right now. Yeah. 

  Katie S: Well, you were actually a guest speaker on that podcast and I made like a beeline. To that, to you after I, I think I, all you said was like a few introductory things. Like, oh, I, I work with perfectionists or something. And I was like, oh, wait a second. Sounds right. I went straight over there. And I think, I think what I was. It's really hard for me to put my finger on like what changed my heart, really, but I think what was really attractive to me is that it was more about trusting yourself and compassion towards yourself. And I think that was really the one thing that was true about everything that I had ever tried was that I was so mean to myself. And I think that I was ready to try. Being nice to myself because I had just thinking I was also in this phase where I was like, well, I just had a baby. I think I was maybe 2 or 3 months postpartum at the time. I was like, I just had a baby. I'm not going to be able to be mean to myself right now without negatively affecting him. So I think that was what I was subconsciously kind of thinking about when I became really excited about it. Yeah, 

  Priyanka Venugopal: One of my intentions with high achievers and working moms is exactly what you're talking about is that high achievers and women in particular have a really particular way of thinking about things and you might know that you're a perfectionist or you might be a secret perfectionist like you just are.

  Yeah. Think you're just a high achiever, but you hate making mistakes so much that it just drives you to be mean to yourself, self critical thoughts, and then eventually, no surprise, you end up quitting on your strategy. And I'm curious, I want you to tell me how has it been for you since joining Unstoppable, learning how to change your narrative, how you haven't had to beat yourself up and punish yourself to hit goals, and how have you actually hit goals even better with this new narrative?

  Katie S: Yeah, so that was such an interesting part for me, I think, because I, I definitely identified as a perfectionist and I knew it was a problem. I knew it was something that sometimes held me back from reaching my goals because you're always, you know, when you're a perfectionist, or maybe my flavor of perfectionism is I want to find the best way to do everything. And that stops you from doing anything at times. So I didn't necessarily always. Yeah. Know that I was being mean to myself. But then I noticed throughout the program, like how mean, and it wasn't subtle. I mean it was not subtle. There were times when I especially, 'cause I'm up at night nursing a lot and I feel like that's when like it's very overt. Like, oh my God, you're so terrible. Just really mean, really mean thoughts towards myself. I think there was one time I even caught myself thinking, I hate myself. And I thought that thought and I didn't even if you had asked me, do you hate yourself or do you think that you hate yourself? I'd be like, no, I'm amazing. But I hate think these things sometimes. And I think realizing that and noticing it. Just because I'm monitoring my thoughts more on the program has been so enlightening. Like, wow, we really did think that and it happened more than once. So I'm on the lookout for it now. And I realized, you know, how in those moments of struggle, how that voice comes out and how much that does not help anything. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: That's when I think it is so eye opening like, wow, I had no idea how much I put myself down, how much I sometimes stop believing in myself, how much I'm holding myself back. And I think that that's. What, what, you know, we get to do in coaching is we get to become so aware of those thoughts. So tell us a little bit before you joined Unstoppable, you have an idea of like, what coaching is, what is the Unstoppable group going to be? Tell us what you thought it was going to be before you joined. And then how was it actually? 

  Katie S: That's a good question. I think I had a pretty good idea of what it was, but what I really wasn't expecting was sometimes when you're coaching and I like, there's a moment where like, I'm really feeling pushed where I'm like, I don't know how to answer that question. And of course, like, there's always the option to be like, I'm just not going to, but I think what's important is that you try and I appreciate you. And also dislike you in moments of where you just like, don't I don't know the answer. I kind of try to circumvent it where I'm giving kind of a different answer. And you're like, yeah, but this is the question. Yeah, 

  Priyanka Venugopal: I, Katie, I totally know what is happening to, you know, the first person that has done this. This is like, this is, listen and listen, if you're listening to this, let me tell you as your coach, you're not going to always love me. Like I'm not here. This is the whole point, right? The whole point of having a coach is not to have a BFF that, you know, validates every single thing you say. I'm here to validate your experience and I'm really here to show you how everything you're saying and experiencing makes. Sense and why you're saying it, and also to challenge the most limiting beliefs, and then you get to decide, right? This is something I think I say often in our column, like, you get to totally decide, but at least you know you're choosing. Right. And so when I'm asking questions, I think that this is, you know, the best part of coaching is you're asking questions that you won't ask yourself, right? Like otherwise, otherwise it's like we would just be, we would create results on our own if we were able to do that.

  And that's, I think part of the beauty of coaching is I'm asking you questions if you haven't either wanted to answer or maybe you didn't know to answer, what do you think? What do you think about that moment of like being pushed?

  Katie S: Yeah, that, that's really true. I mean, it's. I, you know, I have this belief on one hand that, like, I could coach myself, but then when I sometimes I do try a little bit using those little strategies that you use. And then when we actually do it, I realize, like, oh, no, I'm an amateur. But I think in. A lot of times in those moments, I, even though it's really a struggle sometimes to come up with the answer, those are really the breakthrough moments that I later really remember. And I have a, I have a very specific one that I'm thinking of where I, in the strategy workshop and, you know, in those introductory periods, we talk a lot about commitment to the plan and how to make it work. Your commitment to the plan. And I was literally like, I'm good. Like, I know, I know how to do this. I'm committed already. I exactly what I'm doing. I've been trying to lose weight for 20 years. If that's not commitment. I don't know what it is. Like, I haven't given up yet. And I just completely, I just completely tuned it out. I mean, I, I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I get that. I'm not that person that just gives up. Come on, you know, so I really ignored that. And then when we were, I remember when we were talking and I think we weren't even talking about commitment to my food plan. We were actually talking about my commitment to my plan for how to get my child who was going through some kind of crazy sleep regression waking. I think I was getting like 2 hours of sleep and I was just like having a very terrible time with that. And I was just like picking like all these different things I was finding online and you were like, you got to commit to the plan. And I just like, it just blew my mind. I was like, oh, that's what we're talking about everywhere. It's not commitment to the goal. It's commitment to the plan. Right. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: Yes. Right. Anyone that has wanted to lose weight is committed to that. Like that's why they keep coming back. Why is it that we're going on the pendulum or the roller coaster? Why do we ever sign up for another ride is because we're like, Oh, I want that goal so much. We are committed to the goal. Tell us about like, what is the difference between that and getting committed to the plan? How did you learn how to do that? And why is it so different? To really experience commitment to the plan. 

  Katie S: Yeah. Well, it comes back to letting go of the perfectionism around the plan, right? So that's, that was what was holding me back was I wanted the perfect plan. I wanted the exact right thing for me and the best thing and the most moral thing. And it was very emotionally charged on all fronts of my life where like, I have to have the best plan and letting go of that has been so. Helpful for every goal that I have also when I'm writing out like my to do is and I'm maybe I'm like starting to get like a little stressed about something. I'm like, oh, I got to figure this thing out. And I'm the 1st thing that I think about is the time limit on how long you're allowed to look for the right answer. So I need to find an answer. A pretty good answer and just stick with it. And I'm thinking specifically also of with my older son who has a lot of, I mean, he's, he's a toddler. He has behavior behaviors that I don't know how to handle. And I just need to find 1 person who I agree with, who speaks to me and just follow her advice. And that's exactly what I did. Instead of going from like, which I would have done in the past is like, Okay. Read every parenting book and try to find the best strategy out of all of them. Like, how exhausting is that? And then you just are confused because you have so many ideas and so many strategies that you could use, but instead finding the one thing that speaks to you may not be the best thing. Even if you try to curate the perfect strategy, it's still never going to be perfect. So there's really no reason to do that.

  Priyanka Venugopal: Yeah. I think what I'm, from what I'm remembering on this coaching, it was like, what if we dropped the idea that there was a perfect plan? And what if we instead shifted to the idea that there's, there's a plan that resonates with you, like your intuition is telling you that this plan, this strategy is going to work for me. And now I have to do the work to make it perfect for me. Now I have to do the work. See, when you decide, when you make a decision, you're committed to the plan. Now you have to do the higher quality work. How am I going to make this the best plan for me? How am I going to troubleshoot when it goes off? How am I going to figure it out? Rather than in my opinion, what's like more like low quality, low quality, low hanging fruit, which is what I think a lot of high achievers do is the minute they hit an obstacle, it's like, see, it's not the right plan. And we jump ship, which is why we are having on off on off results on the scale as moms at work. Right. I'm curious if that's, that's been your experience. 

  Katie S: Yes, I actually forgot that piece of it, too, where, like, it's all about how it feels to you and your intuition and learning to trust your intuition. I feel like that has been so powerful for me on a lot of different areas is like how I've learned to trust my self and just, I mean, trust myself that I am coming up that I'm figuring it out or that I am going to figure it out and that I don't need to go and find the answer that it's really within me already.

  Priyanka Venugopal: Yes. Oh, Katie. I love that. And this kind of kind of leads me to the next question, which is you talked about no flour, no sugar at the very start of this program. And at the very start of like, you're like, I'm not doing that. Right. And that was actually what held you back from even considering coaching for quite a while. So how do you think that This marries this idea of like not having a one size fits all approach. How is it that in Unstoppable, you were able to play with the idea of taking a break from flour and sugar? Why did you consider doing it after like having years of like, there's no way I'm doing it and where you are at now when it comes to flour and sugar specifically.

  Katie S: So I, I can't explain why all of a sudden I was willing to try it. I was slowly. Backing off of it and then I was just like, I'm really okay. I'm okay. It was not one of those things where I was like, well, I only have to do it for 6 to 8 weeks. I was, it was, it was a curiosity of what would it be like if I just tried it? And I don't know if I probably got it from you. Honestly, like one of your podcasts. Oh, yeah, I could just try it and see how it goes. But I, I eventually. Was able to come to a curiosity about that where I was willing to try it knowing that I could always go back. But the way I see it now with flour and sugar is I, I think of them as like seasoning. I know that's a word. Yes. It's just like, it's something to add a little bit of flavor to your meal. So I don't make it the base of the meal. I've never really been into things like pasta. Or rice, like that has never really been my favorite thing, but what I'll sometimes what I'll do, like I'll have, we'll do like chicken or something. And then I'll add like, Oh, some breadcrumbs, like a little bit of seasoning breadcrumbs. And it just adds that little bit of yeah, that little bit of flavor that I'm used to. And I like, and then, but it's not the main part of the meal. And that's how I kind of think of it now. And even with snacks, if I, if I want to do something that's like a little bit sweeter, I try to make the base of the snack. Something that gives my body something that it needs and then add something that it likes. Yes. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: Oh, Katie. You know, this, like the, the sense I'm getting, it's just like the, what, what kind of just came over as you were sharing, this is how different this experience of weight loss is than the restriction that you had been talking about before and the punishing, like doubling down attitude that had led to your successes in the past is this curiosity of, I wonder what it would be like to try this. And I wonder what it would be like to try that. And I think you said something that really hit the nail on the head is you got to a place where you're like, Oh, actually. I'm okay. It turns out I can take a break and I'm actually okay. And actually, I think you even said a couple of times in the coaching cafe, actually feel pretty good.

  My body is feeling absolute. Wow. I actually have more energy. You're actually like my, my gut is feeling so much better. And imagine like you're coming into your decision from that place and not that I have to. I have to give up flour and sugar like that's just not a thing. We do. Right. 

  Katie S: Right. Well, I think the, uh, the biggest thing for me that I noticed when I did cut it back is that I, I did not get as moody. I still get angry even though I I'm, I'm a fat burner. Like I definitely am, but I still get angry, especially between that brunch and dinner phase. Like I was still like, like a low. And I think that is just because of like shifts in blood sugar, but I. I think that was the biggest thing. Like my husband is actually scared of me getting hungry because that's how mean I used to be when I was hungry, I would be. Oh, man, I really struggled with that. I could not function if I was hungry and I've really come to trust that. And I still, I mean, there was actually a moment last week. I got really, really hungry. Like, I was out of town working and I had this plan that I was going to stop and get coffee on my way home because I, okay.

  I was leaving at 2 o'clock and I was like, I had a couple hour drive and I, as I'm getting onto the highway, I see the coffee shop and I was trying to go there, but I missed the turn and I ended up on the highway. And I was like, oh, no, and I was getting so mad. Oh, my gosh. I'm my coffee. I'm starving. And I, I just had all these thoughts about it. And I'm like. Well, I'm not going to turn around. That's going to add like 40 minutes to my drive. But if I see another one, I'll stop. And then I tried to, and I got lost trying to find the actual place. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. So mad. By the time I got back on the highway and I was like, oh my gosh. And by that time I had convinced myself that I needed it. Right. So then I think, okay, well, I guess I'll just try this calm habits stuff, you know? Let me just try that tool that Priyanka talks about literally at every coaching call. Fine. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: Tell us your experience of CalmHabit90. This is a tool for anyone that's listening. This is a tool that I teach my clients in the group that helps you really manage that moment, right? That you're feeling pissed or annoyed or having an urge. 

  Katie S: Honestly, when I was mad, it was like tandem. Like, oh my gosh, now I have to do this CalmHabit thing. Yeah. So yeah, it was, it was actually really good. It probably took more like. 10, 15 minutes, but eventually, you know, when I calm myself down and I noticed, okay, yeah, I was really feeling hungry, but now it's now it's tolerable. And I'm still hungry. I still want to eat, but I still want something, but I can make it home an hour and a half now. And I'm going to make it. It's okay. And I think I even got home and didn't even eat right away because by that point I had forgotten that I was that hungry and that mad, you know, it was very interesting experience for me. It was probably the hungriest I've let myself be, but not that I wanted it, but the hungriest I've gotten on the program so far. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: I think this is such a good one for you especially because you've had a lot of thoughts about hunger in the past. We like pre eat because we don't want to get hungry later. So I'm curious what your journey with that has been, because that was an area I think, especially for the first, I think, first few months that we worked together, you're like, I'm not even going to do the hunger and satiety piece of what you teach. But over the last few months, I feel like you've really been delving into your relationship with what hunger feels like in your body. And the sense I get, you tell me, is that you started to change your relationship with that sensation of hunger. So tell us a little bit about where you started and where you're at now with that.

  Katie S: Yeah. So that was one thing that was really, I was feeling really. resistant to dealing because I think I had done so much damage to that mind body connection that I did not like my, my mind would not let me do that.

  It was like, no, you're going to starve to death. That's what's going to happen because of what I had done to it in the past. So I think for me, what was, what the journey was is first, I just built that trust with myself. I am going to eat like, yes, we're changing the way we eat, but this is not, this is not restriction. We're just changing the way we eat. I'm not going to start you. I've. You know, and that was building that trust. And then once I was, well, we, you know, fat adapted, as we say, and I, I was able noticing that I was even able to extend my fast longer than I, I remember I did intermittent fasting when I was in my other phases and I could not make it to like 10 a.m. I would be like, oh, ready to eat now. Sometimes it'll be like three o'clock and I'm like, It's, it's time. Or should I just wait till dinner? I really don't even know. You know what I mean? Right. 'cause it's that it's that neutral to me where I could eat, but that kind of messes me up for the rest of the day if I eat now, you know? Right. So it, it really did. It does work differently if you're fat adapted. But yeah. Anyway, that's an aside. So I got, I got to that point where. Hunger wasn't as much of an issue for me and that's what gave me the I, you know, the idea, the trust that I could start to play with it during my meals as well. And I, and I have, you know, sometimes I still don't really want to do it. I'll be like, you know what? I am kind of, I'm pretty full right now, but I'm just going to finish this. And I think that that's always, and then I, and then what I do is I, I make sure I enjoy that even though I'm overeating. I'm like, I'm still going to enjoy it. I'm not going to be like really grabby with it. And then. Okay. So I'm just going to enjoy it. I'm going to be over full and then I'm just going to watch and see how I feel. And a lot of times the next day, I don't feel like eating as early as I normally do or, You know, I noticed those shifts and I think that's what's powerful about it. Yeah. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: I mean you, this is like such a beautiful example of really shifting your relationship with your body and with the way you eat. It's like never punishing. It's like being conscious of that decision. Right? Why you're choosing it and loving the decision, and then you're like, and you're not regretting it the next day.

  Katie S: And then. Yeah. Or as opposed to even in the moment while you're eating it, like you should stop, you should stop, you should stop. And then you just get more aggressive. That was such a common one for me prior to Unstoppable. Yeah, 

  Priyanka Venugopal: tell me a little bit, because I feel like another kind of question that comes up for people is they get confused about what to eat, how to eat, when to eat, where to eat, like, and I think that this is why, like, we look at, you know, programs to give us downloadable menus and give us a meal plan and you want the nutritionist to, like, tell you how many macros you're allowed to eat at each meal. And there's so much confusion around that. What do you think it is as you joined Unstoppable, like, around the frameworks that I teach? And that you create your own meal plan, you start to customize it. Tell me a little bit about how you felt about that process, whether you felt confused in the beginning and how you might've cleared that up.

  Katie S: I definitely felt confused about it in the beginning. I think it's. It's so different from anything. I mean, we rarely actually talk about the food plan. So it's really, it's really about building the trust with yourself. And it's the focus on what actually makes you feel good to eat. And I think at first I didn't, what builds your trust in it is that you see the result. So you're, so you're eating a certain way and you're like, I don't know, like this is, I don't know if this is the plan or not, or. You're not sure and then you start to see like, okay, this is, this does work. And that's what encourages you that you can figure it out on your own. What you're, what you feel good eating. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: Right. We create your, your custom way of eating would be on day 1 at the strategy workshop. But then because we've built in evaluation and auditing as a weekly part of our process, like, it's a living entity, right? We're humans. And like, we might want to take in the different seasons of our life, or maybe where we're at in our menstrual cycle, or what's happening with our work. You might decide to make tweaks. That's like flexibility, but you have to trust that you You. Can do that in a way that also still helps you get your goal. So tell me a little bit about that piece of like how it felt for you to have that level of support so that you could make tweaks to your plan knowing that you had someone to help you with that.

  Katie S: I still struggle with that at times. Just adding back in some of those like more fear foods, I guess things that I've eaten in the past, like cheesecake is something that is, I used to really overeat on and now I feel like, Oh, I can order a piece and. And it's not going to affect my result if I eat it this one week, you know, right. And the beginning you're, I was definitely more like these foods feel safe in their own plan. And then as time went on and I started having like new ideas and noticing, Oh, like I really probably could use a little bit more protein and then adding that stuff back in. And also because I wasn't eating as much processed food. Other foods started to taste a little bit differently to me. And I realized there's some foods that I realized like, Oh, I really like black beans. I don't know. I really liked black beans, but I really liked black beans. And so I've been more of that into my diet as well. So it shifts over time. But honestly, I think the other tools in the program have made it so that even adding in fear foods back into my diet at times that hasn't really affected my results. And I think that's because of the other habits that I have in place. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: Yeah. Tell us a little bit about the other tools that you've particularly leaned on. Like, what do you think created that kind of confidence in terms of the tools that you learned in the Unstoppable group? 

  Katie S: One thing I really appreciated that you would say this a lot. I promised I'm going to eat if I get hungry again. And I think that's what has allowed me to So I don't even know, I don't think this is like a tool that has like a name, but if it's something that we talk about a lot, where like, if you're feeling like you don't want to stop eating and you're like, well, I'm at my, I'm, I'm feeling satisfied, but I'm, I don't want to stop. I tell myself, and this one is really powerful to me. I can eat again. Like, especially this happens to me a lot at dinnertime where I'll, I'll like eat my whole dinner. And I'm like, well, I don't know if I'm satisfied or not. I don't know if I'm full. I don't know if I'm going to make it to lunch. Tomorrow, you know? And I'm like, well, if I get hungry at 1:00 AM like I promise I'm going to eat if I want to. That's, that was so helpful to me to not just eat in preparation, oh, I could get hungry in the night and that's so uncomfortable. Instead, I'm like, oh, like wouldn't it actually be a little bit fun if I got up and ate in the middle of the night? Right? Just because I'm, because I trust myself. I think that shift in perspective has been probably the most. As far as like the eating plan has been the most prevalent for me.

  Priyanka Venugopal: Yeah, this is, this is actually kind of a part of Calm Habit 90. Actually, you know, that moment that you have that fear or that like desire to keep overeating, what you're talking about, what you did is you recognized it in the moment, you validated yourself and then you responded. What we used to do is be like, no, we're not allowed to eat for like reacting to that feeling rather than what we're doing together. It's like, oh, like, if you get hungry, I promise you. I'm going to feed you. I promise. Our nervous system gets to relax. We don't have to store food in the form of fat on our body because I promise you it's okay. I will feed you if we're hungry. I think that that's, it's actually telling yourself that reminding yourself of that and retrains your brain. Out of what used to be diet brain into the sustainability of really loving yourself. As you lose the weight that you want to lose. 

  I know it's so it's such a good tool. So, okay. Tell us a little bit about because you mentioned a lot about mistakes. So what do you think about making mistakes now? Cause listen, I, I still do. I don't know about you. I still don't like making mistakes when I make a mistake. I'm still like, Oh, I, I do, you know, go down like a little mini, you know, self critical moment. But then what is it about the process that you've been learning in Unstoppable with our weekly audits that do that you think might have started to shift your relationship with mistakes, even if you don't love them. 

  Katie S: What happens to me, I think is that when I make a mistake, I start to question. All of my progress, that's where my mind usually goes to when I make a mistake, especially like a bigger mistake. And I think now I've become so immersed in the unstoppable mindset that it doesn't really occur to me to go and do something else. I'm just like, yep, I'm just going to stay the course. And I think that's made the biggest impact. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: Yeah, because a lot of what I've noticed with you, because you're really, you know, consistent with your weekly audits, you share them in the Written Coaching Cafe, you get feedback, you really take the feedback and then you run with it. What I often try to do with everyone in the group is it's normal that your brain, this is all of us, it's not just you, but like we all look at the negative first. So if we don't hit, you know, first of all, you're surpassing your goal every week and sometimes you're like, I still kind of went off off track. It's so fascinating how our brains will look at that first. On where we're not enough on how we messed up on what we could have done differently and what we should have done better. It's a human design. That's how we're like designed to survive. We're so habituated to doing that that we're not able to recognize. Wait a second. I actually surpassed my goal this week. Wait a second. Actually, I'm doing really well. I lost so much weight. I've actually like blown my goal out of the water week after week after week. It's just fascinating to see. Right. And I think when we just at least become, and Kate, this is, I think, so powerful with what you've been doing is you're just becoming aware of those habits.

  Katie S: Yeah. Oh, I have this habit of like really going to the negative or looking at what's not working before really first assessing my progress. Right. And I think what it comes down back to again, this is like my theme is the self trust. So I hitting my goals, everything is really positive for me, but when I'm starting to fall into those old habits, then I start to question my trust in myself in a way I think my brain is just looking for evidence that I am going to not fail and I can get that I get I get why I get why I'm afraid of that of going back to those old habits that I haven't seen for. Six months, you know? Right. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: First of all, and this is something that I, I often like coach everyone on also is like old habits will come back. They will creep back up. And if we stopped making that mean that we are regressing, that we're unlearning skills, that we're not going to figure this out. Imagine if we just got curious about it, like, Oh, this, this old habit is creeping back up. I wonder why. And I wonder what's coming up, I wonder what, have I ignored something or is there something that I haven't addressed? Like, imagine if we came to it from that place, because right now what's happening when we look at those old habits and we're like, Oh, and flashing back to the past, we're trying to just prepare for possible failure. We're trying to like, be like, if I don't prepare for failure, then my disappointment is going to be so huge when I fail. And we're trying to temper that disappointment. Yes. And I'm like, what if we stopped tempering disappointment? If we fail, we fail. Let's just go in all the way and stop looking backwards. Instead, just got curious. Just noticing the habit is how we start making forward progress.

  Katie S: Right, right. Yeah. I just feel so happy where I am right now. I think, yeah, I think the evaluating is really the, the key is that you just keep, you just keep showing up. And even though sometimes it's, it's a little bit, like, it's a little bit hard to admit again and again, like, oh, I. Coached on this last week and I did it again and I don't know why. And it's hard to come back and admit that I just coached on and I had the, I felt like I had the clarity and I'm still doing it. It's really hard to admit that I think, especially like as a high high achiever, as you say, because you want to feel like you, you want to feel like, okay, I addressed this problem and now I'm perfect at, you know, but it's when you've had 20 years of bad habits, sometimes those are complicated than they seem on the surface.

  Priyanka Venugopal: I think, you know, as your coach, like, I'm here to, I'm here to always ask you, like, who said that you were supposed to just figure this out once? Who said that you're supposed to get coaching at once, have some clarity, and then, like, snap your fingers, and all of a sudden the habit's gone? Like, who said that that was the thing? You just came up with this random rule that if I figured it out once That I'm never going to have to deal with the problem again. And I'm like, who, where did that come from? Cause that creates a lot of pressure, right? Like, and I think that this is true for anyone listening just because you had a problem before and maybe you solved it once before, but it didn't stick. All that shows that there was something else underneath that didn't get addressed. Something else was there, a different angle that needed a little bit of attention that didn't get attention. That's all it is. Right, and if I'm just wondering, like, if we took that pressure off, we took that time. It's like. The timeline we talked about this a lot, right? Like, being willing to slow down to speed up. What if we took the timeline away? I just wonder whether that would feel better and allow us to navigate the obstacle a lot more powerfully. Because now we're not using any of our bandwidth to be like, Oh, I have to do this again. I have to coach on this again. It's like, what if we didn't spend any of our time thinking that and be like, Oh yeah, this came up again. Whoa. Okay. Let's get into it. 

  Katie S: Yeah. And then you can also think of it as like, Oh, this, this must be really, this is going to make a big impact when I figure this out because it keeps coming back. I think those are the things, the things that keep coming back are really the things that make the most impact once you do find the underlying issue. And kind of to tie it back to what we were talking about with commitment, that underlying belief that was kind of infiltrated all through my life was commitment to the goal is the, is the way to go, but it's really realizing, oh, it's commitment to the plan that's going to move you forward. So those little tendrils are kind of everywhere, I think. Yeah. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: And can you tell me a little bit about this piece of you come back to the group? It's a small, intimate coaching experience, right? Small, intimate group for hygiene, working moms. How did you feel if you are getting coached on something that maybe you got coached on before? If you felt a moment of vulnerability, how did you feel about being in the group? Like maybe before you might have felt like a nervous about sharing things versus how you feel about the group? 

  Katie S: Now over time you just realize like we all have the we're all there for the same reason I mean are and you see like when other people are sharing you're like, oh, yeah my I think that way sometimes, too You realize that we all have the same struggle and I I don't I've never really been shy to share.

  Priyanka Venugopal: I think what you're saying is so important because this group has physicians and attorneys and now physician assistants and veterinarians and professors like women in every industry. And I think what, you know, what I'm hearing you say, and this is my intention in creating an intimate group for working moms that identifies high achievers is your job title is not the thing that makes you a high achiever. Your mindset, right? The women that really have some of these perfectionist tendencies that really always want to get the A, that really hate getting a B or a C, struggle with making mistakes.

  Those women who are working moms have a lot of similarities in how they Think at work, how they think about their mom life and absolutely how to think about weight loss. Yeah. So I think what you probably started to uncover, and this was part of my intention is I wanted to have a room for women that felt intimate where you felt vulnerable, like you could share vulnerably what's happening for you as a mom, what's happening for you in the workplace, what's happening for you on the scale and know that these other working moms are also high achievers. And they also have these tendencies and you're not alone in navigating that. And then you get to learn from other people's obstacles. Like, I think it was in, it was in Slack yesterday. I just popped on my video and like did a little mini loom video for someone and everyone gets to benefit from that. Yeah. Right. Like, what do you think about somebody else getting coached on something that is affecting their, either their weight loss or maybe something that's coming up in their working mom life? How have you gotten to benefit from the coaching that somebody else has gotten in the group? 

  Katie S: I think that there have been times when I'm hearing someone else being coached and I didn't even know that that was a part of my struggle in the moment, there was, I'll, I'll use a specific example. There was recently someone coaching on not being able to exercise for a, because of an injury. And we were just talking about how you think that if you're missing a piece of your formula, then you're going to fail, even though there's a lot of other pieces of your weight loss formula. Right. And I was realizing that I was holding on to the fact that I'm nursing as like. The main reason I'm losing weight. I really believed that. It wasn't giving me enough credit, right? There's so many things that I'm doing differently that are playing a role. And yes, does the, does the nursing thing create a little buffer for me? Probably, but it doesn't mean that if. If I wean or when I wean that I'm going to start to fail, right? 

  Priyanka Venugopal: And this is, I think, one of those things, you know, you're getting coached on what's coming up for you. So there are things that you didn't even know to get coached on, or maybe things that haven't come up for you yet to get coached on. So when somebody else gets coached in the written coaching cafe or in our live call, it's like, Oh, yeah, that's actually something for me too. And I see this. People will message DM me, but like, you changed the time and the place. And like, that was so relevant for me, which is why my intention with the Unstoppable group is that it feels like a really personal experience. And at the same time, you get to learn from the brains of other obstacles, too. Right. And challenges that come up in the group, too. Yeah. What were you going to say? 

  Katie S: Well, sometimes when I'm feeling really motivated, I'll go in with like the past calls and I'll just like exploring a little bit and I'll be like, Oh yeah, that. And then it just gives you something to, to think about and feel motivated to try just, I mean, calls. I mean, these aren't even people I know and I'm still benefiting. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: Yeah. I think you were sharing, you were like listening to one, like a March call from last year. Oh, I just had a little brain exploding moment, which I love.

  Katie S: I did. Yeah, that did happen. It was, that's such a, that's such a fun, I mean, that's just a fun little thing that I do sometimes if I'm walking and I feel inspired.

  Priyanka Venugopal: You know what I love about coaching calls on, you know, when you join the group, you get access to all of the coaching call replays is I really think that coaching while yes, it will be sometimes you feel challenged and pushed when you're the one getting coached when you listen to these coaching call replays, I think you walk away feeling so much more inspired, full of possibility, full of solutions, full of how are we like instead of us stewing and commiserating, we're solving problems. So it's like you come out of a coaching call, listening to a replay with Your brain having gotten more value, right?  Hold on. Hold on. No, no, no. It's not me. It's the women in this group, right? It's the women in this group that are bringing their challenges that are showing a willingness to show up and get coached. Right. So to me, it's actually, it's actually the group, which is what I, I mean, I personally think is so amazing. So Katie, we're going to be wrapping up in just a minute, but I wanted to ask you for anyone listening. That's like, you know what? This, the ensemble group sounds amazing. It's a group. It sounds like it's full of awesome women, which obviously, as you and I both know, it is. Tell me just a little bit about the personal support Worked that you get, do you feel like you get the personal support that you would have wanted to hit your goal to navigate any obstacles come up for you?

  Katie S: I think you get as much attention as you ask for honestly, I think it's very important. If something is on on your, your mind or your heart and you just, you just have to put it out there. And that's how you're going to grow. But my, my experience has been that you, you've always been there for me. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: I love that. And I think that that's part of why, like what I love about the written coaching cafe is that that's always there. Like we have some clients that are not able to attend our live. Weekly coaching calls, but then they'll come to slack and they get personal coaching, right? Like, I'll send you a voice memo or a little video or a little loom or like a written coaching where you're coaching needs. My goal is that your coaching needs feel like they're always being met. So the last thing I want to ask you is, like, someone listening to this might be like, and the investment is a lot. You know, I've never invested in myself like this before, especially I think working moms are used to investing in their homes and in their houses and in vacations and their children. Obviously, when it comes to just investing for something that is just for you, there's sometimes a pause. So how did you feel like that before you invested? And then what was it that led you to make the investment? And what's the value that you feel like you've gotten from that decision? 

  Katie S: That's a really good question. So I I'm I know. This might be a little tangential, but my, I had a grandfather who lived almost 100. He was like 99 and three fourths. And he was very, just a very wise, very strong person. He was like an entrepreneur. He's just like an incredible human. He one time said to me that you, you'll never regret investing in your education. And he was saying to this to me in the context of, like, I had started out in one field of study in college, and then I switched and I was just feeling kind of confused and dejected about wasting money, basically. And he was like, you never know when you're going to use that. You never know when that's going to come back and help you. And I really latched onto that and I found it to be so true. And I think that if you, in the context of this as like, an education, Is kind of how I took it. I'm like, I'm going to learn this skill and then I'm going to, I'm going to have it for the rest of my life. I mean, I've learned more from Unstoppable than I ever did in any semester of college. So that's how I see it. Any skill or self development that you have is going to take you so much farther than. Any home improvement or new kitchen table or anything else, anything that you can buy is nowhere near as valuable as what you what you build within yourself. I think Unstoppable is for anyone who wants to learn how to treat themselves. Well, I think that's my biggest takeaway. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: Katie, thank you so much for being here. It's been such a fun conversation. I feel like you dropped so many nuggets for anyone that's listening. I just love it, Katie. Thank you for coming on.

  Katie S: Yeah. Thank you for having me. 

  Priyanka Venugopal: I loved this conversation. So much, and I'm here to tell you that having success on the scale, just like Katie is possible for you to the Unstoppable group is my intimate small group coaching program. It is a six month experience for high achieving working moms that has been specifically and specially curated with the working mom in mind.High achievers have very common tendencies, and I have folded that into our unstoppable process. In the Unstoppable group. We have live weekly coaching calls. Every Wednesday, we have daily written coaching, personal mentorship, and feedback that you can get on any obstacle that's coming up for you. And the most brand new, amazing on demand video curriculum that you can get access to the minute that you join.

  In this group on day one, you're going to learn how to create your custom fat burning action plan and learn the nutritional tweaks that you need to make to make you become an efficient fat burner. In addition to having science backed strategies on your side, you're going to learn the necessary mindset skills and tools to drive you to not just hit your weight loss goal, but then to maintain it forever. I'm not here to motivate you to lose the weight though. It's been known to happen. I'm here to take you already motivated and help you channel that desire that you have to hit your dream ideal weight into the right strategy. One thing that I know is that high achievers are working really hard to lose the weight, but without proper planning, without really taking real life obstacles into account, without taking your high achiever brain and your common mindset. You're not going to solve this problem. I encourage you to go check out everything about the group over to theunstoppablemombrain.com/group, where you can learn all the details and you'll get an intuitive hit. If you think that this is the group for you, get ready now so you are ready to enroll on day one when enrollment opens, I can't wait to see you next week, guys. Bye. It's been an honor spending this time with you and your brilliant brain. If you want more resources or information from the show, head on over to theunstoppablemombrain.com.