Episode 535: Cindy Tarshish

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1:04where it begins. Go to app.fastfeastrepeat.com to join, or you can find the Fast Feast Repeat app in the app store that works with your phone. Along with the Eat Like a grown-up, 52 week program, you'll find an ever-growing library of intermittent fasting resources as well. Go to app.fastfeastrepeat.com to join us, or download the Fast Feast Repeat app today. When it comes to magnesium, magnesium breakthrough by bio-automizers is the only brand I recommend. It's been part of my nighttime routine for years, and I love knowing I'm getting multiple forms of magnesium rather than just relying on one. And now they've taken it further, and this is big. They just launched magnesium breakthrough advanced 10. 10. Bio-available forms plus active vitamin B6 and ionic trace minerals to support uptake. And they actually test for bio-accessibility to help ensure the magnesium is available

2:06for absorption. They're most complete formula yet for sleep, recovery, stress, and metabolic support. Here's my challenge to you. Try it, track your sleep, and see how you feel. You've got nothing to lose. Head to bioptimizers.com slash IF Stories, and use the promo code IF Stories 15 for 15% off your order. When you use my Lincoln code, you'll unlock exclusive discounts for friends of the show, plus surprise free bonuses and bigger discounts by optimizers rolls out during certain windows. You can also get free shipping on select orders, and every order is backed by their 365-day money back guarantee. So you can try it with confidence. You won't find this on Amazon in stores or anywhere else. That's bioptimizers.com slash IF Stories, promo code IF Stories 15. Welcome to intermittent fasting stories.

3:06I'm your host, Jen Stevens, author of the New York Times Best Seller, Fast Feast Repeat, as well as the book that started at all. Delay, don't deny. I lost over 80 pounds thanks to intermittent fasting. After learning how to delay my eating, rather than denying myself the delicious foods I want to eat. Now, who's ready to hear an inspirational intermittent fasting story? That's why we're here. So let's get excited to talk to today's guest. Hi, everybody, and welcome to episode 535 of intermittent fasting stories. Today I'm here with Cindy Tarshish. Cindy lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and she is an expert in the Americans with Disabilities Act. She's now working with agencies, employers, and people with disabilities. Welcome, Cindy. Thanks so much for having me. I'm very excited to be here. Well, I'm super excited to talk to you, and you know I like to start by asking what

4:09brought you to intermittent fasting. When was that? Well, you know, we all have the longer version and the shorter version. I've yet to hear one of the stories where somebody was like, oh, it's a very short story. It never is. No. For me, you know, I mean, again, growing up, you know, weight issues, parents that appearances were very, very important, up and down with the weight. But for me, actually starting intermittent fasting and doing, you know, this lifestyle, it was kind of like the third time as the charm. So we were at a family wedding in California, and one of my husband's cousins who, none of his cousins are quite with it. But this one, so she said, oh, no, if they don't get the ceremony going and then the dinner is late, I'm not going to be able to eat because I'm doing intermittent fasting. And I said to my husband, like, what kind of craziness is that that she's not going to eat because the way his family works, everything runs late. Right. So I'm like, well, I wouldn't want any part of something where I wouldn't be able to eat because it's so strict, that would not be good for me.

5:10So I kind of let it go. And then several years later, my neighbor, lovely woman across the street, lost a lot of weight. And I said, what are you doing? Of course, you know, I was getting kind of desperate there. And she said, oh, I'm intermittent fasting with calorie restriction and calorie counting. And I'm like, oh, I don't know. You know, I've gotten myself in trouble with that. I've got my metabolism at a good place. Right. I don't think I want to monkey with that. And at that point, I was on Weight Watchers yet again for the, I don't even know if there's a law by how many times you could be on Weight Watchers, but I'm sure I broke it for sure. For sure. So I was, you know, I'm not. And I'm like, well, good for her. But I cannot do calorie restricting. I didn't do the, yeah, I looked into the intermittent fasting. I'm like, well, it seems like it might be doable. And at that time, we were remodeling our whole kitchen and upstairs. And so we had to move a kitchen kind of a fake dorm style kitchen in the basement. And I'm moving, you know, on the Weight Watchers, I'm moving on my, my, my cup of measuring and all the scales and all that stuff. And we have like a hot plate and an air fryer and a mini fridge and a toaster.

6:12I'm like, well, this is not going to go well because I can't weigh and measure everything. And so then all of a sudden, I'm on that, that connect that social media on the Weight Watchers, which I have not been on for years and years. But and then somebody suggested, Jen Stevens and intermittent fasting. I'm like, all right, now I got to see what this is. And within like a couple days, got the books, read the books, started, did the, I think I did the slow but steady because I was just like always hungry and I didn't know what was wrong. And I was, you know, I had lost some weight on Weight Watchers. I was like 50, probably 50 pounds overweight. I maybe lost maybe 17 or 20 pounds on the Weight Watchers up, but you know, never stuck. Yeah. So I tried it and I said to my husband, oh my God, this is the easiest thing I've ever done. Yeah, I threw out the, the measuring cups and the spoons and, and the home, all that mullerkey as they say. And I didn't have to worry about, you know, we were, it was during the pandemic on top of it. And we were in Minnesota, the restaurants, we were not eating out. So there was no eating out. It was whatever we could figure out how to make it the basement.

7:13So I forgot about that. So you were doing your kitchen remodel. Did you start it before the pandemic hit? Well, it was kind of a five years in the making, but when they actually did that, yeah, it was during the pandemic. So we were stuck in our house. You know, we made the contractors wear masks, right, as much as they could. You know, we were stuck in the basement, trying to figure out what to eat. You know, we were nervous about, well, truly, you couldn't get anything. We're not door dashers. So it was kind of like whatever John could make or I could figure out. So I doing all mad was so much easier. And I was actually, when I think back at that time, I was actually like eating candy. And, you know, a lot of things, maybe that I'm not eating so much now. I still eat candy, but not to that extent. But again, like once I got through that first month, I'm like, oh my God, like that, that diet brain thing, I'm like, for me, that was the, I mean, the best byproduct was getting rid of that diet brain. It does it speaking every so often. Uh huh. It does.

8:13I had posted something on our, on our circle, you know, that all of a sudden, like where it came from, I wasn't sure. And, you know, out of nowhere. But yeah, between the weight loss, how easy it was, I felt so much better. I said to my husband, I'm going to do this for a year, you know, and I also promised him that I wouldn't spend any money on anything because I've gotten so taken for thousands and thousands of dollars in the last one that I got taken on. I was like, it actually made me sick to my stomach. And there was something that a friend, no, no, I mean, like sick that I wasted all that money. Okay. I thought the thing made you sick. What was it? I didn't know. It was a friend of mine that was living in Palm Springs. And it was some specialized program with this woman. And she said, you're eating plan every week with all these foods I'd never even heard of. It was like a scavenger hunt to even find it. It was so complicated. And then you met with this woman. And I mean, honestly, I knew it wasn't going to work. I'm a vegetarian. Uh, the things that she was having me eat are things that I don't eat as a vegetarian. You know, just because your vegetarian doesn't mean that you eat the cookie things.

9:16So I got a little bit of that money back. But after that, I said to my husband, I never, I probably should have never going to spend money again. You know, if I buy a book, it's great. If I, if I join, you know, you're what lovely community, that's fine. But I am not doing that ever again. And I really haven't. So it's good. Yeah. I mean, I just think about all the money I spend on crazy things over the years, the doctor programs, the, the shots that we were doing back then, they were HDG different than now. All that stuff, all the money and, yeah, I would just be very interested to know how much it was. I know. Well, even like with the weight watchers, even if I wasn't doing it for some reason in my head on a Sunday night, you know, you go through on a Sunday night, okay, what's my plan? What's my eating plan? What's my diet? What's the right for tomorrow? And so then I'm like, well, I better rejoin weight watchers because at least I know I have a plan. Right. And I wasn't so anxious about it. But the anxiety was coming just from the plan. Yeah. So, and, you know, honestly, my family, you know, they respect the eating window that I

10:17have, but they also like that I, I'm not like buying like the diet bread or like the garbage. It sounds like you can't rid of all the garbage. I'm like, well, I can eat whatever I want. Right. That's the best part. You can absolutely, whatever you want. And then you realize that what you want is different than maybe what you thought you would want. Once you really can have whatever you want, we're like, Oh, do I really actually want that cookie? Right. Maybe I don't. Maybe. Right. And kind of like when I'm, I was out of town for a contract, um, if this resort and I was helping vending at a booth and of course all the other tables had the candy. Everybody likes to hang out the candy. Our booth we don't handle candy. But yeah. And so it was like trick or treat for me every time because I was, I was doing fasting and, you know, when you're fasting, you're going to the bathroom a lot. So every hour I'm drinking my water and my tea and every time I went out to the restroom, I came back and picked up a few more pieces of the candy to put in my bag for the car right home. And I was like, Oh, this is, this is bad. You know, I delayed it, but I still ate it.

11:17Right. Yeah. Yeah. I still like candy. But, you know, but to the point I was still able to fast, you know, my colleagues that were vending the booth with me, I'm like, go eat lunch because I'm not going to eat the lunch. So it, you know, you still can do it, even when you're out of town working. That's great. So you delayed. You took, you're like, well, some of this candy looks like I might like it later. So you put it in your bag. You delayed it. You had it later. And then you're like, Huh, what is good as I thought it was going to be? It was. And then I had it like this week. I kind of had I knew I had this call and I knew I wanted to be in my maintenance weight for this call, which is kind of a silly thing. But I'm competitive with my, I get it with myself, with my swimming, with my pellet on it. I could be myself. I'm like, No, I'm going to, I'm going to weigh that number of my maintenance, ensuring I have my, so it's, I don't care if people know. So my, my maintenance weight and body size is 135. That's what's on my driver's license. That's where my clothes fit. So I weighed myself this morning. It was 135.1. Perfect. Love it. And how tall are you, Cindy? I am. Well, here's something weird. So I was always 5, 4 and a fourth.

12:18And then with intermittent fasting, I'm 5, 4 and a half. That's funny. It's funny. Like I grew and I'm like, this is a fluke. But every doctor I went to after, I'm like, could you see how tall I am? And a fourth of an inch is nothing. But at 65 years old, I'm just getting older. Yeah, you're not sure to get in shrink. I'm my mother's shrink. She's my mom's 94 and she's shrinking. And like, you know, I'm like, where did she go? Yeah. So, um, yeah. So I grew like a quarter of an inch. I don't know if that a tie if she works in that way. But I got, I got taller. So that's so funny. Yeah. Yeah. Love it. So you're, you're maintaining right there in your range. And you started, you said it was during the pandemic. Was it 2020? When you started? I see. Yeah. I started October of 2020. Okay. Yeah. Uh-oh. Um, and I think I had some genders set up in a show sort of. Because Imy How, and actually, wasn't it the award takers? But I have just seen a show called 26 acid hemp spray house. But it's definitely being a high eran Thorough Shan Moises. But I knew there is one other news to know. The great fact, baby part of the world, like a scale,

13:19And you know, when we passed this poll, that was something I had made as the audience focused on kids ever like, earlier in your career. Before we start to make a point that really honest and does really bring somebody home again. The earning started to move, and that's much worse of discriminatory. Um, one, two, three and a half minutes when I'd go out to Patton Mall. I think I'm going to do this in that regard because I'm getting You started in 2020 and you haven't quit. So by the time this episode comes out, it's been almost six years. No, uh, six, it'd be three, four, I'm just four years. So 2020 to 20, 26 is four. Six, it was 20, 26 and I started in 20. Oh, I started in 2022. Oh, okay. Yeah, 2022. Yeah, sorry. I was like, I was like, I promise. No, no, it was 2020. But it didn't start. No, I started. I think if I let that profile on the start, it was like, over 2022. Because I know I'm 20. I think I'm like three and a half years. That works. And that makes up more sense. I'm like, yeah, I feel like that's six, you know, four years. So yeah, four years and you've never quit once you started. No, I really haven't. I'm, you know, because again, it's sometimes better than others.

14:21Yeah. You know, sometimes a little more Lucy. And sometimes it's weird. Like, if I, like, I'm going out of town to, to babysit one of my granddaughters in Denver. And I'm going to be gone for like nine days. And I'm like, uh-oh. But, you know, I, if it'll be a little more Lucy Goosey. But sometimes that works to my advantage. I come home from those trips. And I'm like, oh, maybe my window is longer. Maybe I, you know, ate a few different things. But by shaking it up every so often, that works for me too. I think it's important to shake things up. I think so too. And that's been true for me all, all the time, ever since I started, really. You know, I've never been someone who stuck to a daily five hour window perfectly every day for a month or two months or a year. I mean, I have times when my window ends up longer. It's just this past week. I was traveling myself. Chris and I were at a baseball game. And we ate. Before the baseball game. And we didn't eat at the baseball game. And then the game was over and it was late. And we were both legitimately really hungry.

15:23So we ate. Yeah. Long window. But there are also times that I end up with a two hour window. And it balances out. Yeah. Yeah, I look at my month and I'm kind of like, OK, so I normally don't eat lunch. So I usually, you know, open my window about three, four o'clock in the afternoon. And I closed around seven or eight o'clock. And I do like a 20 slash four, not 24, but a 20 slash four. And so, but I look at it. There's some things that are not negotiable. I myself and another cousin have like a thing called cousins club. And we take out my cousin with who has developmental disabilities. He's older than me. And he very much looks forward to it. And we go to this restaurant called Perkins. And he gets the same thing every time. And we all have to kind of get the same thing. And I think it would be uncomfortable for him if I didn't eat. And it would be, I don't think it would be kind. So I generally have lunch. Should we, you know, around 1230. And then, you know, I've tried to close my window four hours after, but that doesn't always work for me. It kind of seems punitive.

16:23And I don't want anything punitive or dyke, brainy. So that's just a longer window, six hour window, maybe that day. And seven, maybe even if we go out to dinner. And that's okay, because, you know, I don't do it every day. I don't make lunch days. A lot of my friends and colleagues know like Cindy likes to do the early, I call it kind of the early happy hour. So we go like to happy hour, like three o'clock. And that's kind of their late lunch early dinner. And it's, I'm breaking my fast. And we can have the fun inexpensive happy hour treats and I don't really drink anymore. So it's all about the food. That's perfect. It's good food. I like happy hour. Yep. And we can flex as we need to for life if we need to shift it earlier, we can. But we also like me, you and I, we don't close early well. I don't. You know, I don't just that I, then I reopen. I'm like, what is this reopening? Like the whole time when I was losing weight, I never, I just didn't reopen. I mean, it was like your windows closed, your windows closed. That was the rule. But now kind of maintenance. I'm like, oh, maybe I do want a little something like a, maybe I might, tell myself I'm hungry. I'm not. So every so often I reopen the window before I go to bed.

17:25I'm like, well, that's not good. But I figure as long as I'm kind of maintaining, you know, and staying within my, you know, fat burning phase and exactly. Yeah. I can't, you know, if it's going to be forever and I hope it is, you know, my doctor's on board with it. She's like six feet tall and 120 pounds and she'd never heard of it. But she's like, whatever, you know, all the years I, you know, went to her and she's like, why don't know how to help you with this? And, you know, and so then I brought her the book. I brought your book. And I'm like, if you have other patients like me, you need to give them this book, you know, and so she said she would with, you know, I think I think she probably did. So yeah. And she was on board with it. So good. Yeah. I don't know. I've, I have so many different people of this one woman who I adore. Every time I would go to her for service and she, you know, she would say, what are you doing? You know, she said, I'm doing calorie counting. I'm doing this and that. And so I tell her every time what I'm doing. Finally, the last time she's like, what is the book? Give me the information. Yeah.

18:26So I got her all set on the fast start. She promised she would do it. She texted me a month later. She goes, Oh, no, I lost the book. Please tell me what I do after the 28 days. This is working so well. I'm loving it. I've lost weight. I feel great. Why didn't you tell me to do this sooner? And like, I did. Yeah. She wasn't ready though. She wasn't ready. You gotta be ready. Yeah. You know, people, people are ready when they're ready. Just this morning, we had two different posts in the community about what do I say to someone who told me this? So what do I say to someone who told me that? And like, don't you argue? You've got to excuse me. You just, you just, exactly. Like one of them was someone was saying, well, I heard fasting is bad for your cortisol. What can I tell her? I'm like, you don't need to tell her anything. No, I mean, I bet she doesn't know what her cortisol is. She doesn't even know she's just repeating something. Yeah. Say, hey, well, what's your cortisol last time you hadn't measured and just see what she says. I mean, you should be able to say it anyway. We don't have to defend ourselves.

19:27No, no. And so many people, I have a lovely niece who has been trying it and I think it's been successful for her. And it's kind of a fun thing that we can do together. I adore her. So, yeah. And everybody does it their own way. Right. And if somebody has to break early, that's fine. You know, there's no, no, it's not, it's not a hard and fast rule. No. You know, but if I eat breakfast, I don't, I don't feel good. So, you know, I just, it's, it's, it's what I say to people, I'm just not a breakfast eater. You know, I'll meet you anytime after one. Right. So, yeah. That's how to do it. And you just, you just delay there eating a little bit. Correct. Correct. And they probably already had something earlier. So they help you. Of course. Of course. This is their second meal of the day that they're getting ready. I have at one o'clock. So they can wait until then. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. It's worked for me. So, um, one of the, well, I'll wait till you ask your questions. Well, what were you going to say? Go ahead. Well, I mean, I think I originally got stuck in the mud originally was I was reading about

20:27everybody, you know, if they are, if they hit a plateau and we all hit plate toes, listen, this didn't happen. I was not a fast loser at all, but I didn't care because I figured, giving myself a year, you know, now I'm almost four years, but I'm giving myself the year. I don't care how long it takes, because I'm still, that you're still going to pass, whether I do this or not. So, right. But everybody was like, well, if you're metabolism stalls or you, um, if you're meant to, if it stalls or if you hit a plateau, then you really need to try the ADF. And I knew I'm an, I'm an all or nothing kind of gale. And I knew that if I, um, the update could eat whatever I wanted, I would get the diet brain would sneak in somehow. I'd feel bad about it. And maybe I wouldn't get back on to my regularly scheduled eating window the next day. So, I said to myself, self, you know, if this doesn't work and you, I'm really not able to get to the size you want or the weight you want or how you look, then you can try the ADF, but you don't have to because there's no rule. Jen doesn't say everybody has to do it.

21:28No. And I never did it. And I never tried the ADF. I have to have I done it upish down a shirt just by hook or cricket happens. But I want to just let people know that it works for people and I'm so happy for them that it works. But if you're like me and you're really nervous that it's going to trigger that diet brain because again, I'm an all or nothing kind of gal. I never did the ADF and I between the weight watchers, what I lost there and what I am now from my highest to now, it's like 50 pounds. That's awesome. You know, a no ADF. So you don't have to. And again, it's a great tool for people and who knows down the road, who knows if it hits the fan for me if I have to do it. It's an option. It's a tool, but it's not a tool that you have to use. You don't. It's really a matter of understanding when that tool may be useful and when it may not, like you said, if somebody and it sounds like you are like me in the way that we naturally vary, you know, I talked about the day we were hungry and we opened our window. That was one of the baseball games.

22:28Then another one of the baseball game days, we opened a little earlier, but we ate a lot. And so we ended up closing earlier than we normally do, but we were really full. And so we didn't eat again. And I'm like 25 hours before we opened again. But it was just naturally fluctuating, big eating day, then more in a small window and then a longer fast. And then it just it varies. But the people who get stuck in every day, I eat between five and seven and that is all. And they just eat between five and seven and they do that seven days a week. And they're eating a very similar amount of food. That's when someone is more likely to plateau because our body adapts to that. Anything that we're doing, our body, you could do a lot of it, exercise, the same thing. Right. Right. So, you know, switching things up is good for our bodies. But if you if you can just switch it up naturally, then you're not going to probably stall. But you haven't, you've gotten down to the point where you are and you're at a plateau,

23:29but it's called maintenance. Right. Yeah. You know, I mean, I got a little extra fluffy, flabby. And you know, at my height, I could be less. But again, as you say, do I want to have to do what I have to do to do that? Now in the summer, I usually, you know, my neighbors are they have an outdoor pool and I swim my mile there. Yeah. Outside, it's always a better swim outside than inside. And I generally do drop a couple of pounds just because I'm swimming my mile or I'm doing my peloton or I'm biking outside. I'm far more active. So I might drop a couple pounds this summer. That would be great to have that wiggle room. But my other goal was to just like, I want all the clothes in my closet to fit. I recently had the chance to try shoes from Topo Athletic. That's spelled T-O-P-O. And the first thing I noticed when I put them on was just how comfortable they felt on my feet. Topo Athletic has what they call their signature fit with a roomy toe box that gives your toes space to move naturally, providing better comfort and control. And for me, that comfort really stood out right away.

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25:38vitamin B6 and ionic trice minerals to support uptake. And they actually test for bioaccessibility to help ensure the magnesium is available for absorption. They're most complete formula yet for sleep, recovery, stress and metabolic support. Here's my challenge to you. Try it. Track your sleep and see how you feel. You've got nothing to lose. Head to biooptimizers.com slash I have stories and use the promo code I have stories 15 for 15% off your order. Using my link in my code, you'll unlock exclusive discounts for friends of the show, plus surprise free bonuses and bigger discounts by optimizers rolls out during certain windows. You can also get free shipping on select orders and every order is backed by their 365 day money back guarantee. So you can try it with confidence. You won't find this deal on Amazon and stores or anywhere else. That's biooptimizers.com slash I have stories, promo code I have stories 15.

26:40I don't, you know, I get rid of the big stuff. Get rid of the small stuff. All had to be this particular size and you're so interesting with the size because like I go to the loft. You know what? They get cute clothes. Go to the loft. I'm a size six at the loft of 28, six. Go to another store. I might be an eight. I don't care anymore. Yeah. Did get I get my mom who was always very wait conscious her whole life, which made me who I am. Yeah. Get that. That's the food issues and I love my mom and God God lovers 94. Still worried about her weight, but gained some weight, which she needed to. And so I brought all of my older clothes to her. So she's all excited. She's like, why are you bringing me these clothes? And I know the heart to tell her that they were too big on me because they fit her like a charm and she's so happy with all these new clothes. So it was really a win win made her happy. Got him out of my closet. Also like packing is a dream because I don't have to, oh my God, that anxiety of having to try everything on to see a what fits now for the trip.

27:40And if like we were going to Mexico, whatever. And what's going to fit the last couple days of the trip. Right. You know, so this last time I just threw everything in. I'm like, yeah, this fit last summer. I think it's going to fit. I seem to be the same size and I didn't have to try everything on. So that is nice when you travel. It's true. And also for me traveling kind of ends up being self limiting with how much I can eat. You know, went on the cruise with my family in March. There are 11 of us on the cruise and I opened earlier. I had longer windows. But by day three, I was really full. And so I just shifted what I was eating as far as like, I don't want any more meat, anything heavy on your vegetarian. So that would not even be an impact for you. But for me, I was like, I'm just going to eat. I'm like gravitating towards more vegetables. Then I felt better. I just felt too full with the longer windows. I can't do it. I cannot keep up multiple days of really long windows anymore. Well, I fall asleep. I mean, yeah. So if I had the double day where I took my cousin out and then we went out, I think,

28:42and then I said, oh, my God, I'm not going to make it through to the next meeting thing because I'm falling asleep here. And I generally, I work out when I'm fasted. I do my presentations for work when I'm fasted. I seem to be more with it. But I just, I just calmed out. I'm like, oh, no. And I hadn't done that since the very beginning. Or if I eat wrong, if I eat, you know, and then I noticed because my body seems to be pretty hypersensitive to what I'm eating, if I break my fast, I usually try to break with something healthy, you know, vegetable, something healthy. But if I am with somebody and we're breaking with something like sweet or sugar or like a big thick bagel or something like that, I, my heart starts to race. I'm like, oh, well, either have it a heart attack or I've eaten the wrong thing. Right. I've eaten the wrong thing and something's happening. You know, I just think your body gets more hypersensitive to what you're eating when you're not eating all day long. And you can hear the signal so much better. You know, how often did I have that same slump every single morning and every single afternoon?

29:45And I would just Medicaid it with another latte. Yeah. Right. It was a false sense of feeling better. Yeah. Well, because you keep, you know, I am a lucky person. I have never had a cup of coffee. So all of the stuff with people I can't give up my coffee. I'm like, oh, the smell of it, especially when I was pregnant at the time when people in the office would make the coffee. I'm like, oh, I would be so sick. So I've never had a cup of coffee. So that was easy peasy. But then I'm a tea drinker. So to get used to the black tea, I gave up the stevia. I thought nobody needs that. You know, and then when I'm my fast is broken, then we go out. I'll have an iced tea with lemon. Right. So that's a treat. But thank God, I never had the issues with the coffee that all of your, your folks do. And I feel bad for them because, you know, and I've had people say, oh, I can't give up the coffee. I'm like, just have it in your window. It'll be okay. You know, but yeah. It really is a stumbling block for a lot of people. And it was, it was for me at the beginning until I finally just did it. Right.

30:45I didn't want to. I didn't want to do it. But your taste buds adapt. Yeah. So for sure. I mean, I remember John and I went to the, to the movies when I was kind of starting this and a treat for me as sometimes like a diet repair diet cream soda. And I've got those machines, you know, and you could do whatever you want. So I thought, I'm going to treat myself to the diet repair. And, and I said to John, there's something wrong with this. It tastes like chemicals like, oh, teach this. And he's like, I think it's okay. And he's diabetic. So he's like, it was a sugar phrase. I think it's good. I'm like, I'm going to try the cream dump that I tried the cream soda. I'm like, oh, my God, there's something wrong with this machine. And then he's like, I think something's wrong with you because, you know, it tastes fine. And so I realized I was tasting the sacron or whatever of the stuff is. And so now I don't even do that anymore. If I'm going to have like a repair as a treat, I'm going to, I'll just do a regular one and have half of it and be fine. If I really feel like I need that as a treat, but, you know, I, yeah, you're just, you can taste the chemicals that I could taste it. Yeah. And I don't need the fake, I don't need the fake.

31:45I never did, but like as I've been a vegetarian since I'm 12. Okay. It was a big fight with my, I was for the whole food issue started with my, like, it was, you know, at that, if I, you know, all those years ago, it was not the thing to be a vegetarian. It wasn't that considered healthy. No. And so, you know, and now with all these meat, substitute things, it's all soy based. And that's not good. And the impossible burgers for me, I'm some people love it, but it's made to look and taste like meat. And I'm a vegetarian because meat grosses me out. It's not for any altruistic, you know, I love animals, but I'm, you know, you want to eat an animal and go for it. But, you know, for me, it just grosses me out eating meat. So I don't want the, you're a fake meat that looks like tastes like meat. Does it have the ham, does it have the real meat? It's true. And that's really when I was, you know, experimenting with whole food plant based and all of that. I feel great when I do it, but I don't think I'm done with doing that because I also really like to eat what I want to eat. But I can remember being in a restaurant and they had one of those, I think it was impossible.

32:46It was one of those brands of the fake meat. And I was like, well, I'm just going to try that. I've never had that. And so I got it. And it just, my, like, I don't know, my brain, it tasted greasy and gross. And I'm like, I think I would be a lot better off just having some regular beef than this concoction, whatever it is. And, you know, I understand their reasons why people may choose that that I could not. Well, you know, my beef and that, no pun intended, but my beef is now like all the restaurants that would have homemade veggie burgers, you know, they put black beans or they put other things in it. They've gotten rid of that. And all the vegetarian option are the impossible burgers or the beyond burgers and stuff. I'm like, no, where's your homemade, you know, veggie burger with the grains in the, no. So it's easier for them just to have in the freezer, the impossible burger. So, you know, they've kind of cut out all the good, delicious, you know, vegetarian options because they can say, well, here's your option. You get one, you get one right, vegetarian, you get one option. You get the one option, you know, and if you don't like it, forget it.

33:47Too bad. Well, that's a bummer. I didn't even think about that, but I bet you're right. I love a good veggie burger and not because it's pretending to be something else. It's just good. It's good. I like black beans. I like a black bean burger. But yeah, I didn't even think about that. But you know, I understand people like those cowl and his wife or vegetarian at home. Cowl is not always vegetarian when he's on his own, but his wife is, but they do, they do those meat substitutes, not just, yeah, I don't think so. Especially as a woman. When I realized that I was doing that, that whole menopause thing did not go well for me. I mean, my sister in law breathes through it, she's like, oh, I never had a symptom. I'm like, I had them all. So, but I remember my doctor saying, you know, try to avoid soy because that is not good for anybody, but especially during menopause. I was so I'm kind of sensitive to like, and all of them were like soy based. And so I just get rid of all of them. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's easier. It's a menopause. I mean, I don't know if anybody's a good, like, all the young gals out there that are going through that. I remember once I was a, I was a skier.

34:48I was a skier, but I was a skier. I live in Minnesota. You got to be a skier. And I was on a chairlift with some of my girlfriends and I was freezing. And I had to take off my jacket on the chairlift because I was having such a hot flash. To maneuver the poles, the skis, the coat, everything that I had to get that coat off because I was dying of a hot flash. And in the middle of winter on the chairlift, I took my jacket off. That's so funny. Yeah. And we, you know, the good news is that now there's so much more information for the girls, the women that are going through it, you know, we're getting it out there. So poor gals, but, you know, but I'm glad I got, like, I'm also, I still have the, my middle section is not 100% perfect, but I feel more comfortable. We went to a, like a cocktail kind of event on Saturday night and I got this dress. And, you know, it was, it was advertised as a mini, but for somebody who's six feet tall, you know, if I for, it was not mini on me, but it was above the knee. And I said, my husband, is this too youthful?

35:48Like, can I wear this? You know, and he's like, yeah, you know, you absolutely can. I know what I would worn that 10 years ago. I absolutely would not have. So I'm like, I'm kind of switching up when I'm more comfortable. And because, you know, I got the flabby arms, but they're flabby, whether I wear sleeves or sleeveless, that I'm going to be comfortable. And it, you know, it is what it is. So, well, exactly. And my arms are flabby or now than they were before. I went through menopause. They just, they're just like, they're wrinklier, they're saggy or every part of me is. And that's just what skin does. Yeah. It's what it does. So I'm wearing my sleeveless. No, it is what it is. Right. It's going to wobble on down the beach. We're still, you know, we're, we're may here, but we're still waiting for hot hot weather. So we'll get there. We're getting there. Yeah. Like I said, we're, we're recording this in May. This comes out in September, but we, um, we've had a cold spring. Yeah. Like we'll have a warm day and then it'll be cool. So I'm ready for summer to be to get here by the time, like I said, this air is

36:49it'll be all be a memory. You know, fall. I'll still be swimming in my neighbor's pool. We do it. Tell, um, when you're, we did it, uh, tell our husband turns off the heat, but we did it through October. Awesome. We slam it. We slam in the morning and it's snowed in the afternoon. Wow. So her husband's like, okay, now we're done. It's like, we're done. He's the pool of the snow. Now you go back to the nurse swimming. So, but it's fun. I calculate how many miles I get in and, um, yeah. And, you know, but as, but I don't want to, and people to think that you can, you know, by doing the exercise is going to help you lose weight because you cannot outrun your fork. As they say, that was a one thing that I learned from weight watchers and I think that's about it. But, um, yeah, you cannot run your fork. I tried for years and years, always been athletic. But if you don't combine the healthy eating and for me, the, the intermittent fasting, it's a, you know, it's a tripod for me. I got to have all of the pieces for it to work. Yeah. And exercise is really important for us for maintaining and building muscle. It's good for our mood.

37:51We want to be strong, but it may not lead to a lot of weight loss as the math would, you know, calories and calories out. Make you think. Yeah. I've seen research that talks about how there's like a benefit, but then you reach the ceiling where more exercises are not going to give you more fat loss. Again, your body adapts. Right. I mean, I think it's more important for your mental health to be part of what I'm saying too. Yeah. I think I've got anxiety going on. I'm going to jump on that peloton or, you know, go for a walk or something. But, um, yeah, I mean, I just think for your mental health, you got to, you got to, as my little granddaughter who's just so sweet, she says, we got to get the energy out. Yeah. So they should learn it from her parents. I mean, I'm sure. You know, when I'm like, we're at the park, I'm like, oh, we got to go home now for a nap. Oh, no, I got to get the energy out. I love it. Okay. I'll run around with you. I'll get my energy out too. So very sweet. Love it. She's, she's learning early. Yeah. Get the energy out. Yeah. So you became vegetarian when you were 12 and it was just, and no one in your family was, was doing that.

38:51No. What, what, what flipped that switch for you? You just were like, I hate me. The taste of it. It grosses me out. No. I just had to tell you the story. Okay. It started more like when it was eight or nine. We went to California to visit some relatives for a wedding of some sort. And I was younger and I got to sit next to my aunt Bell and she was just glamorous and Hollywood. And so I just loved her. She was just so wonderful. And so I got to sit next to her and she ordered her steak and she said to the server, oh, I like it. I probably can hear my dog. She said, I really want it rare because I really like it bloody. And I'm like, bloody, what if what? What does that mean? And then I saw it. I'm like, oh, no, no. Oh, no. So that was the beginning of the end for me and then there was like a four year battle with my, with my parents and my family and, you know, my brother, the god love him. He would eat. I would leave it like my mom would lift a plate up and under the plate would be a ring of meat. And so my brother, my brother would, I'd run out and get the bus and my wherever we

39:53were going and my brother would, would grab the meat at Eda. I'd put it in the napkin and throw it away in the back and whatever. And so it just wasn't worth the fight anymore. And then my grandmother, who I adored, she told my mom, well, it's just a passing phase. What would there be a low, just be done with it as a passing phase. She'll grow it, which as my mother says now at 94, are you ever going to grow it? And I said, for sure, I'm not. And so we went away to, I went to overnight camp and I came back from overnight camp and I said, that's it. You know, I, you can't, I had peanut butter and jelly every day there because that's what we did in the vegetarians. Now with that camp as salad bars and all wonderful things, I would love to go back to the camp. But and I said, you can't, you can't make somebody eat the meat. So my mom said, that's fine. She goes, I'll make a salad at dinner, but I'm not going to make anything special. And that was fine. You know, I was certainly not malnourished, you know, at any point I had, I had to work it out a little bit. But, but yeah. And so it's just, it's a lifestyle, you know, for like I said to my girlfriend, I'm like, how can you not eat sugar? Like she doesn't eat sugar.

40:53And she says, well, how can you not eat meat? And I'm like, oh, same, same. Well, okay. Yeah, yeah. I recently had the chance to try shoes from Topo Athletic. That's spelled T-O-P-O. And the first thing I noticed when I put them on was just how comfortable they felt on my feet. Topo Athletic has what they call their signature fit with a roomy toe box that gives your toes space to move naturally, providing better comfort and control. And for me, that comfort really stood out right away. I also really like Topo's philosophy of embrace the journey because so much of staying active isn't about some big finish line. It's about all of those everyday moments along the way, getting out there, moving your body and doing something that feels good. Whether you're on your feet for long miles or simply long hours, Topo is designed to keep your feet feeling good. They make shoes for everything from walking and road running to trails, hiking, fitness and recovery. So I also built around their signature Topo Fit to find your pair, visit topoathletic.com

41:58to shop online or use their store locator to find an authorized retailer near you. I got it. Yeah. But that was the beginning of the end of what you should eat, what you shouldn't eat. And so years of diet brain and being high school, I was a cheerleader and they way you know, God forbid you got on weight watch. That was not a good thing. And so I kind of went the opposite direction and lost a lot of weight and went very good and it worked for that phase in my life for sure. But what that does to your metabolism, I don't know. And what it does with your brain, with the diet brain. So you started dieting in high school as a cheerleader. That was the first time you remember dieting. No, actually I came across a note that I had written my very good friend. He was still good friends and note we were like in seventh grade about, oh, I think I look so fat in these pants. I'm going to have to go on a diet. And I showed a tour, I brought a tour.

42:59And I'm like, why at 12 years old was I worried that I looked fat in these pants or whatever? You know, that I'm worried already. It's seventh grade. So, you know, and I looked back in the yearbook. I did not look at it. I should have only looked that good. You know, I was not overweight at any point. But that was the thing. It was, you know, you'd read the magazines and, you know, you had 17 magazine and all of that. And, you know, everybody wanted to look like that. So we remember the commercial if you can pinch an inch. It was a special K serial. Yeah. If you can pinch an inch, it was like around your way, I can pinch an inch right this minute. I for sure can pinch more than it. I could do it. Right. But if you could pinch an inch, then you need to eat special K for breakfast and lunch and then a sensible dinner. Yeah. I mean, it was encouraged at my, in my, the house I grew up, my parents' house and the lovely, I had a wonderful, lovely childhood. I'm not saying I didn't, but like, again, a mother who was incredibly diet conscious. And in fact, my brother and I were laughing that, I mean, it's not funny, but it's kind of funny that in the cabinet for treat, for a treat, you know, because we only had dessert

44:03on dessert night, Friday night. And she had aides. Remember, A-Y-D. The candy. Yeah, diet candy. They're, they're a double diet supplement. They were, they were literally a diet supplement. But then my mom would let me have those as a treat. I'm like, you know, as an adult, I'm like, why would she give a, you know, a, a, a, a preteen or a teenager like diet aides as a, as a candy? But if that's the treat I got, you know, sure. But yeah, look that up and see what was in that. I'm going to Google that. Aides candy. Yeah. A-Y-D. Yeah. Yeah. And when the whole AIDS HIV pandemic came out, it just, yeah. I actually was working at the Minnesota AIDS Project at that time when AIDS pulled the, the item from the market because of the name confusion. So my God, this is, this is awful. I just looked it up. Okay. AIDS diet candy, popular in the 70s and 80s was a fudge like high calorie appetite suppressant, designed to be eaten before meals to curb hunger. The primary active ingredient was benzocaine to numb the taste buds.

45:09What in the head? I know. I know. My gosh, that's whole, I mean, it's sad. It's sad. And I'm sure my mom thought she was in the right vein. Benzocaine. I, I don't know what it was. I ate them because that was the only treat we got. You know, I remember my girlfriend and I would ride our bikes up to this little gas station on the corner, Rogers gas station. And we would buy cookies and hide them in the bushes in the, in the front of our house. Like I would buy the cookies on my bike and, you know, my mom thought I was just getting exercise and then we'd hide the cookies in the bushes. I'm like, that's not normal, but it was normal for me growing up. But again, I had a great childhood. You know, my parents were incredibly supportive of the, of every activity I wanted to do and every sport and was more like the, the cheerleading thing, you know, because girls really weren't encouraged at that point to be in the sports. Any activity I wanted, any youth group, any, you know, was encouraged, but that one piece was not great. No. We can just, we sneak around when we're doing something that we know is perceived as not what we should be doing. Right, right, right.

46:10So anyway, yeah, that's, I can't believe we're feeding people Benzocaine. I know, I know. And then when I raised my kids, I have three boys and they're lovely. And I remember thinking there's going to be, and my husband's house was, they had five kids. And he was hungry for all. There was no rhyme or reason. It was like a zoo where he grew up and he loved that. But so I said to him, you know, we're not going to have any good foods or bad foods. You know, if somebody, if they want a piece of fruit or they want, you know, some candy, everything's equal footing in this house. You can have whatever you want. And they, they really navigated more to the healthy eating, but their friends that would come over that I, that were coming from houses like I grew up in, not good. Like they always would go for the snacky chips and, you know, stuff that, you know, so everything was equal footing, you know, and then my husband made sure, because I'm a picky eater being vegetarian, that he exposed my kids to all different types of food. Like they're three years old and they're going for dim sum and mungolli and food. Yeah. Like so my kids are very adventurous and have great eaters and it has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with my husband and he's like, well, I'm not going to have them be picky like you. I'm like, I don't want them to be picky like me.

47:12So they're all very healthy eaters. And I see they're doing the same with their kids. So that's good. Well, what, what that illustrates is when we forbid things and make things, you know, like have this shroud of mystery like the cookies you're hiding in the bushes. Can't believe it. Well, yeah, versus, you know, what do you really want? Your kids chose healthy food. Yeah, good stuff. Yeah, we always said both, you know, and I'm a big baker. My hobby is, is not me, for some of my profession, but my cute little hobby is I'm a cake decorator. And I like to bake. I bake a lot. But I'm a cake decorator. And so there was always cakes and stuff. And of course, my middle child, the one who, who's never had a weight issue, you know, very slender, he doesn't like cake. So I'm like, oh my god, you can have whatever cake you want for your birthday party and your friends would love to have. And so we always made a fun cake, but you never ate cake. Just didn't like cake. Like cake. And then my youngest son would be like, always around me so I could squirt the icing into his mouth, you know. Yeah.

48:12And that was funny. Yeah. And it's like that I made the special cake for them. I mean, I always say to them, you know, our joke was, listen, when you're, when you're adults and you're in therapy and you're believing in everything on your mom, you make sure you tell that therapist that you always had a specialty birthday cake, whatever you wanted. I always made you a nice birthday cake. You let them know that. So that's awesome. Yeah. Oh gosh. So you dieted when you were a cheerleader in high school and you got down to a size that was praised. It what? I remember I'll tell you the weight. I weighed 104. Okay. And I mean, that is, you know, that was way too low. But you know, that is very low. It was very low, but it was a very cool thing that I was doing this in any event. It was a specialty cheerleader thing. And so, um, yeah, I mean, and was I 104 for a day, probably. Yeah. But I wasn't going to get on weight watch or any of that and be humiliated by that or not fit into the costumes or, you know, so yeah, they put, you know, they can put the, the fear in ya. And my mom supported it.

49:14So it was, you know, whatever needed to be done. Yeah. And then of course you go to college and you do the freshman 15. Oh my gosh. It was like such a free for all. I'm like, you know, you go from that and then I remember it was not a good name. But, um, we ordered to hominose pizzas with the boys, the boys from across the, the, the door and pod. And I got the nickname of seven piece Cindy because I ate seven pieces of the pizza one night. And I'm like seven piece Cindy. That's not good. I didn't care because I'm like, oh my god, I was never allowed to eat seven pieces of the pizza. I mean, did I feel well? No, did I ever do it again? No, it was kind of the joke. I'm like, well, how do that happen? I'm like, I just wanted to see. Yeah. And I'm, you know, there was probably drinking involved. I would imagine, but yeah, yeah, I'm sure that there was. And the name didn't, thank God the name didn't stick. But we did get a check a lot about it. I'm like, because, you know, you're in a meal plan or you can order the food. Like you can do whatever you want and I came home Thanksgiving. And I'm sure I put on the freshman 15, you know, I'm sure I did, but, you know, but

50:15then I started, you know, I'm a runner, I was a runner. So I started running there again and I was trying to do something fit. So I got it off, but never 104 again. No, I'm healthy. No, I'm healthy. So really, would you say that that's kind of like when the, the up and down kind of started, but within a range? Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, I was all, yeah, I remember on my wedding, I'm like, oh, I got to get into the specific size wedding dress. I mean, here's what size it is. I looked nice, I was happy, but I think it was like after during pregnancies, you know, I, you know, you gain, you lose, you gain, you lose and then you got kids and then, you know, I still tried to run and exercise and stuff, but your, your life's not really your own, and you know, I threw boys and that was chaotic and very chaotic. So yeah, it was probably not good at that point. And then, you know, and then you get the diet brain and you feel bad about yourself. And, um, yeah, I'm sure I wasn't an easy person to be with because I was, in fact, I was with a friend. Um, yesterday we take our two little grandkids out from music class and lunch and we've

51:19been best friends since high school. So we've been through it all. She had the up and down with the weight too. And we said, you know, gosh, you know, had we not lost the weight, how we did and, you know, would we have gone on the GLP ones? And she said, oh, for sure. I'm like, do you really think I'm afraid of needles? I don't, I'm very leery about trying new things. She said, Cindy, think about it. We were so desperate. We were trying anything. She said, do you really think that you would, I'm like, oh, hands down. I would have, you're right. I said, you're right. I default to you. We would have done it together. We would have found the place. We would have gotten the goods. We would have paid anything. It's true. Yeah. And I'm happy for people that I was working for. I'm incredibly happy that they could be healthy, you know, um, what are the long term effects? I always worry about that, you know, but that's not for me to judge because I, um, know that in my head, I was so desperate at that time. I think I will never be that desperate again because I put my faith in this. I know what works. If I'm up a little bit, I say to myself, Cindy, don't panic. Don't get all crazy. Just go back to what you know, best, you know, rain it, rain in that window.

52:21Like on Mother's Day the other day, my husband's like, oh, do you want me to pick up bagels? I'm like, when is the last time you saw me eat a bagel in the morning? I'm like, do you need bagels from Mother's Day? I'm like, I'm pulling my window. I'm tighten things up here. You know, I'm a little, yeah. I'm up a few pounds here from that trip. I'm tighten when I say to him, I'm tightening my windows a little bit. He knows, don't bring bagels home. Right. Yeah. That's exactly right. But you know, back to the, the weight loss drugs, I would 100% have been trying those 100%. So I have, I have zero negative judgment for people who are doing it because I would have been doing it. I did all that. I did all of it, but thank goodness for intermittent fasting. Oh, intermittent fasting plus real food. Are the most powerful thing you can do because now that I understand the power of real food for satiety and the research on satiety, you know, with my, like, a grown up program and really digging into all of that and the healthier our gut microbiome is, I mean, it all just works together. So healthy, real food plus intermittent fasting.

53:24Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm doing the, the, like, a grown up, I'm enjoying it. I mean, I do, I always do all the homework. I, yeah, good. But I like to listen, I listen to it all. I learn a few new things, you know, the blue zones are kind of interesting to me. And in some of, you know, in some of its common sense, but you just sometimes you need to hear things two or three times, like, like, for me, with the intermittent fasting, I had to hear it three different ways and three different times to even try it. So, you know, good for you for putting that out. I thought, well, that's, so for me, you know, again, I'm very particular on what I'm going to spend money on because I said to my husband and myself, I'm not going to spend but it's reasonable and it's helpful and it's educational. Yeah. And you don't have to keep buying the product over and over or that, you know, so anything educational, I like the books I've read them all and so, yeah, well, the product is food and you buy what you want. Exactly. Exactly wherever you want to get it. Yeah. And then I have you people that I've told about this are like, well, I read this book. I'm like, no, you got to pick your one. You whoever you pick that you're going to follow and understand and do that lifestyle.

54:27You have to pick one person. I said for me, it's is Jen Stevens because I the science is the science and it makes sense. And, you know, so for I said, you can do whatever you want. You can find a conflicting thing for anything, but this is what I need to do. And in fact, I, you know, I have a friend in a neighbor who I actually bought the book for. I'm like, no, just please just do this, you know, so. And I think she did and I think she's, I hope she's been successful. I, you know, you try not to ask because you don't want to make anybody feel bad. If it's for anybody, if it's not working out, but people will let, you know, for sure. That's true. Yeah. If they do well, especially they'll let you know, yeah, for sure. Yeah. Or if they have questions, it feels really good to know that you're helping somebody figure it out. Yeah. But you know, it kind of bugs me. So just this one, the last thought. So we were at a, at this cocktail party thing and I have this dress and it was a nice six. I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, for me, that's very exciting. And other people, size six would be big, you know, it would be a big size. But for me, it's a good size. And then my niece just like, you really look like you've lost a lot of weight. Yeah, you know, I'm like, well, I think I'm about the same. But I think again, body recomposition.

55:29And she's like, are you taking those shots? And I'm like, oh, I'm not. And then I think, oh gosh, people that I have not seen for a while, is that what they're thinking? Are they in, and again, that's on them. I don't care. But then I wish they would just ask me, oh, how did you lose weight? So I could say it's intermittent fasting. You should try it. But I think people are, when I do the same thing, when I see somebody that all of a sudden went from kind of heavy to very thin and their legs are very skinny, their face is very thin, I also, I'm sure stereotypical thinking, oh, they're on the shots. You know, and so that's not kind either. So I'm trying to not do that. And people have to do what they have to do. But I don't want people to think that I did it. I know I know exactly what you mean. Yeah. And again, this was easy. I mean, it's not like I, this is again, the easiest thing I've ever done. So what I hear from people who are doing the shots or people that talk about them, you know, people are talking about food noise, right? It quiets the food noise and allows them to eat less because of the food noise. But so does the clean fast plus real food.

56:31Correct. Correct. You know, when I, when I have a day where maybe I'm at a tailgate and the food is not excellent. I have more food noise. It depending on what I eat. But when I eat really high quality food, like last night I had something that was keen on black beans and peppers and onions and avocado and a tortilla. So good. Yeah. I mean, it's so full. Makes a huge difference. I think I've had a side of it. But like on that car right home from that conference that I went to with all the candy in the car. And in my head, snuck in the thought was, well, you better eat up all the candy now. You better get rid of it all now so that you can. I'm like, no, I don't need to eat all the candy now. That's how I used to be. Like my body is not a trash can. I don't have to get it all now. So then I'm not tempted to eat it later. In fact, I brought it home, put it in the drawer of my husband. Oh, he was like, oh, is this the candy for me too? And like, because I tried not to have candy in the house. I'm like, sure, I just get it. And you get it out, you know, which is not great again, because I mentioned these diabetics.

57:31So these type two diabetics and he needs to be careful. But in so I've asked him not to bring the candy and stuff in the house. But when he saw it, it was like a gold mine. He's like, well, there's candy here. You know, so yeah, that's a treat so funny. Yeah. And I get it because it's not something you normally have. But you don't have to finish it. That's just getting half of it. Normally my old self would have been, got it, eat it all up now, get it all out of my car, eat it before I get my driveway. So that's done it over and I can get back to my regularly scheduled program. But no, that's diet brain to me. That's I don't have to go urge myself and make myself sick or binge on it. You know, I didn't need it, you know, at all. So yeah, well, that's that's that empowered thinking. And when you get rid of the diet brain and you're choosing because you don't want to eat it all. Yeah, I know it would be good, but you know, you don't feel good. I did not feel good for a day or two with all that sugar ramping up. I didn't feel good, but was it worth it?

58:31Maybe I mean, I had sticker bar and I even took some Doritos. I don't remember the last time I had, it was just a little snack pack of it, but I don't remember the last time I had Doritos. And I ate them in the cars I'm driving, but all they are delicious. They are good. And that's yeah, they are delicious. And I can never, I really can't ever have them again. I would never have them in my house. Yeah, they had this like tailgating party thing. And I wasn't eating. They had, oh my God, they had grilled pork chops. I'd be honest with you. I've never seen a pork chop close up in my life. And everybody was drooling over these pork chop things. I'm like, ooh, so I kind of nagged toward like the cookies and they had pizza. You know, not the healthiest choices, but the choices that I had. But I did take a little bag of the Doritos because I'm like, well, this might be good in the car ride home when I opened my window. And I waited to open my window. I was in the car. I opened my window. I looked at my fasting app. You know, when I was driving, I probably shouldn't have. But, you know, but I looked at my, oh, I only have 20 more minutes to my window opens. I'll just wait and then I, then I can have the delicious Doritos and candy. So yeah, so funny. So funny. Well, I get it. Candy doesn't appeal to me as much. It's got to be really good quality.

59:32But I have never lost my taste for the nacho cheese store he does. But you may have heard me talk about this in a podcast episode. We had a bag of them after a bowl game in January. Someone left them and I had those, that big bag of Doritos in my pantry for weeks and I just a few at the time. Yeah. Okay. That's a win. It was a win. I wasn't compelled to just eat them all. Yeah. Yeah. Right now I got to get rid of these veggie straws. At first I thought they were happy because they say veggie straw. They're right. No, they're ultra processed. Yeah. They got to go. And when I eat them, I notice like if I get on the scale, I'm up like maybe a pound or something like, oh, they're salty. If I eat things that are too salty, I'm fed too much cottage cheese or I eat those darn veggie straws that I'm up, but then I don't panic. I'm like, Jen said that you can't gain a pound of fat overnight. You can't. I cannot. I say it to people. I said, Jen Stevens says you can't. You can't. You can't. You know, and give yourself a week or two. It will come off.

1:00:33Right. Right. Because I think this is my set point. I put my driver's license at those. That was kind of a big deal. That's awful. Yeah. Yeah, you really can't gain that quickly. And I'm weighing again. You probably see me talking about that. I'm weighing again. And I'm so much better with being disconnected from the number. But I gain a pound when I have chickens. They beat you up. Ever night. So yeah, I'm like, okay. I'm super puffy. But every time I eat it, my weight is going to be up. And I just know it. Yeah. Well, do you feel you're going to continue to do the wing? Because I was kind of thinking of going off of the swing. If it starts to bother me, I'll stop. But I mean, I'm enjoying seeing the feedback. It's interesting. Like we were out. I told you we had the big day out at the football or the baseball game. And I was super puffy. I was out in the sun. Yeah. And I'd eaten heavier. And so I was so thirsty. Like I couldn't get enough water. Like I was just drinking, drinking, drinking. And then the next day I was up four pounds. Yeah. I mean, there's no, but I was like, why drink so much water?

1:01:33And my face is puffy. And I, you know, sunburned. And I can just feel it. But yeah. But it's still sharing. I mean, I think just because of my whole history with the scale and the weight weighing in as a truly in a weigh-in in front of all the other girls. And I mean, it was just, first of all, it was the 70s. So yeah, I give it that. But yeah, so but I'm trying to be okay with it. Like I knew I was a couple of times. I'm like, you know what? But the time I do this interview with Jen, I'm going to get down to that, that one 35. And there I was. There you are. I did like that. But point one, but it was okay. Well, for me, it to me suddenly, it's data. Like it should have been all along, but it wasn't, you know, I had to get all the way on this side of it. Like, you know, almost 10 years. I didn't weigh for about 10 years. And that's amazing. Yeah. That's amazing. And I'm weighing and I'm like, okay, it's information. The day after my weight was up four pounds, I didn't do anything dramatic. I just gave my body good food. And that's just what I'll do. So. But it's good to see that I, oh, I'm up at the upper end of my maintenance range.

1:02:36I mean, I haven't known what those numbers were, but I could tell from the way I fit in my clothes. Now, just like, yep, there it is. Right. Well, I quick ran and tried out when I was up from the trip. I have these white pants that I, I think I posted because my son took a picture of my backside with my granddaughter walking down the hallway and those white pants. I'm like, those are going to be my honesty pants because I have a great shot from the behind that my son decided to take. And so I put them on. I'm like, oh, they button. They're fine. We're good. Exactly. That's how you know. Yeah. And it takes time. We don't heal overnight, especially things that have been brewing since the 70s. Yeah. You know, but we just, it's a process also for sure. But like things that happen, but not every so something is heal and some things don't, you know, like I, my thyroid started to kick in and work again. So they lowered my medication. And then I thought, oh, I'm going to get off all medications. So then I had that calcium test with the heart thing. And it did not come back good. And my doctor's like, oh, you do have a little build up there.

1:03:36We got to watch that. We got to maybe increase your cholesterol and your blood pressure. And I'm like, oh, no, I did that to get off of it. I wish I hadn't done that. She's like, wish you hadn't done it. This is just good data. This is good. It was good. It's good information. It's nothing life threatening at all. I have no symptoms. You know, she's like, are you fine when you're exercising? I'm like, I can swim a mile, you know, and, you know, I compete with myself all along. It's just like, well, then you're fine. But it's good data to have. But in my head, I'm like, oh, well, now I'm so good. I'm going to get off all my medications, which shouldn't always be the end goal because the medications are there for a reason. You know, and she's sometimes we need them. Yeah. I said, you know, the heart can I call it me? Like, do you want to come in? I'm like, no, my doctor said I'm fine. And then I'm like, but I don't get it. I'm finally at the good weight. I eat healthy. I'm a vegetarian. And my doctor's like, it's just genetics. You know, it could just be genetics. There's nothing that you're doing wrong and nothing you need to change. So yeah, I'll just see what monitor it. That's all. But careful what you wish for. I'm like, I'm going to have that test and prove everybody that I don't need to be on a statin. But if you know, don't do that.

1:04:39I just say don't do that. Yeah. It's really all about figuring out what your body needs, what works for you. And sometimes medication, sometimes not. But the best thing is to have a doctor who understands all the ins and outs. Yes. About you and your family and what you need. Correct. And I've got from the Hashimoto's, which is three fourths of us on your due. I think the thyroid disease thing. And my endocrinologist, I told her about this as well. And she's like, oh, my gosh, I'm going to share this with my other patients. I'm like, well, that was quite a feather in all of our caps that she's right here. This that other people that have thyroid disease, because it certainly helped mine. You know, just like I'm not sure it's because if you lost the weight or if things are, but your thyroid's working a little bit more. So we hear that a lot. We hear that a lot. We get full of the intermittent fasting community. And so there's like some train of thought out there. I don't know who started it or why they say it that fasting is bad for your thyroid. I don't know, but you know, people repeat things over and over again.

1:05:42We find the opposite to be true in the community. People who are fasting clean, nourishing their bodies well, doing intermittent fasting in a responsible way. We're fasting. We're feasting. We're repeating. Yeah. Doing the work. We tend to have improvement. Things like that. We see it over and over. Yeah. It is for sure not an overnight kind of. I tell people like if you're trying to lose weight for your kids wedding in two months, this is not the program for you. But if you want to be healthy in the long run, then you absolutely should try it. And I always say, don't stop. They're like, but I'm so hungry. I'm like, this is the hard work. Don't stop because then you're going to have to start again. And that's what the weight watchers, that was the pain in my existence because I'd start. I'd stop. I'd go. I wouldn't go. I'd wait myself before. And if I wait too much, then I wouldn't go to the meeting and be still to be. So, you know, I don't even know if they're in business anymore. I think they're now doing the the GLP one. They are doing it. I think everybody's doing that now. And like Facebook, my Facebook feed right now is all GLP one, like all of it.

1:06:43And I guess because I clicked on things like some of the ads and like, what are they saying? And like, you don't even have to like qualify based on your weight anymore. You do not. There's all these places that will get it to you online. I'm like, oh my lord. And I don't even know if that's the way I ask my friend about this. I'm like, is that even the real stuff? And she's like, no, it's not the two main ones that you would get from your doctors. So, yeah. Yeah. I would be all over it though. I think thank goodness. Thank goodness. I understand. And understanding satiety is the biggest thing for me. Understanding how real food makes a difference with satiety. And that's the game changer. Intermittent fasting plus real food. And the exercise for me. And the trifix is active. But I always laugh when you ask people to list all the diets. And I'm like, oh, check, check, check, check, check, check. Almost all of them. Maybe one or two. But check, oh, the what fun for me, the slim fast. Slim genics. It was slim genics. I don't know if you guys had slim genics. We had ice agenics.

1:07:45Maybe, you know, was it shakes? No, it was. I don't know. I'm kidding. And then they have these snacks. And the snacks were all soy based. And then I was reading later. Then I got, I did lose weight on it. Then you gain weight. It's low calorie. It's calorie restriction. You buy their products. And you know, when you meet with your counselor and all that, which I did, I got my sister involved in it. I got my friends involved. It wasn't a marketing thing. I didn't get any money out of it. But I just had people, oh, you might want to try this. And then years later, I was reading some Reddit feed of somebody sent me. And the poor staff people, they were under pressure to sell the clients. You know, their paid clients, their patients, their ex amount of product each visit. That's where the money is. So I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, I was a fool because I, you know, my little check sheet. And half the stuff I'd buy and I wouldn't even eat because it was so salty. And I was taken on that as well. Yeah. No more that. No. That's awesome to be able to empower to choose the food that you love. That's delicious. And also satisfying. Unlike that junk they were selling.

1:08:47I know. I can't do the chemical stuff. I can't, I just can't do it. It doesn't, it doesn't sit with me well. And, you know, certain foods don't sit with me well. I don't eat a lot of Asian based food because I don't, again, because I don't eat meat. But every time I've eaten it now, I don't feel well after eating it. And I said to my husband, I just don't think my body can tolerate the, the MSG and the sodium and all the stuff that's in this food. I don't think I can, I don't think I can eat it anymore. I just get sick every time. So what you've got is I'm much better at listening to your body. Yeah. I mean, I'll still go with them, but I'm not getting it. Well, we are almost out of time. What would you tell someone just starting out with intermittent fasting or what do you wish you knew when you first started? Well, I have two things. One, I mentioned that you don't have to do the ADF. You have a toolbox and you can do whatever tools you want that works for you. And if it's working for somebody else, don't, don't compare yourself to them because, you know, it'll just cause you anxiety that you don't need. Because you don't want somebody comparing yourself to you, themselves to you. Right. So that's one thing you can do it however you want to do it.

1:09:49And it will work. I think I had sent it in as a tip, you know, you do the tips or whatever. For fast-faced repeat podcast. Yeah. So I'd like to repeat it here if I could. I made this thing up. Please do. And I'm still doing it, which is I last night. I'm like, oh my gosh, I still do this one. I go to bed. So I have four things that I think about at the end of the day is I lay my head on the pillow. And if I hit three of the four, then it's been a successful day. So the first one is if, you know, have you followed your intermittent fasting plan for the day? Did you hit your eating or your fasting window? Did you do the IF like you wanted to do it? Did you move your body? Did you jump on the peloton? Did you swim or did you just take the dog for a long walk? Did you move your body some way? Right? With exercise. Did you eat healthy and wholesome foods? You know, not everything, but did you break your fast with something healthy? Did you have the healthy food throughout the day? And then my final one is have you been kind to yourself or others? And so if I've done something kind for somebody, then that's a win for me. Or maybe I even did something nice for myself that I've been meaning to do.

1:10:50So I don't hit them all, but if I hit three of the four, then it was a good day. So it's helpful for me. Maybe it'll strike a nerve with somebody else. Well, I love that. I think that's a great way to check in with yourself and see how your day went. Well, Cindy, it has been great to get to know you better here. And thank you so much for sharing your story. Oh, thanks. This has been a treat. I said to myself, you know, when you hit maintenance and you stay there, my treat was that I got to meet you and do this. Awesome. Thank you. Do you have an intermittent fasting story to tell? Email me at gen at intermittent fasting stories dot com. And I'll add you to the lineup. That's GI in at intermittent fasting stories dot com. The world wants to hear your story. That's it for today. Remember, I may have a doctorate, but I'm not a medical doctor. So don't use anything you hear on this podcast as a substitute for medical advice. Please always check with your doctor or health care provider if you have medical questions.

1:11:52I'll talk to you next week fasting family, where we will hear another inspiring story. Have a great week and fast on.