[00:00:00] Maggie: Hello, everybody. Welcome to the podcast. I'm really excited for you to hear today's episode because I got the pleasure and honor of interviewing Vibe Club [00:00:10] member, Suzanne. Suzanne was able to lose her last 20 pounds in Vibe Club and is celebrating one year maintaining that weight. But in this conversation, Suzanne shares [00:00:20] how she was able to lose weight in her 50s as someone who had spent her whole life being a caretaker for others.

[00:00:25] Maggie: She works as a nurse, and her story is really inspiring. She is a straight [00:00:30] shooter like me, and I loved getting to talk to her about her story. And I hope it inspires you too. Let's get into the episode.[00:00:40] [00:00:50]

[00:00:50] Maggie: Hello, Suzanne. Welcome to the podcast. Hello, Maggie. I'm so excited to have you here. I know it's so fun to be talking face to face [00:01:00] because did I ever, did I, did I ever coach you face to face? No, never. Not one time. And I think that's amazing. So I'm so excited to get into your story and, and your [00:01:10] everything.

[00:01:10] Maggie: So I want to just hear a little bit about you. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about, about you.

[00:01:16] Susanne: Well, I am Suzanne and I am [00:01:20] from North Carolina and a registered nurse by profession. Been in the field of home health for 27, 28 years. A [00:01:30] mom of 2 grown daughters, 27 and 30. Three grandbabies that are my loves, my life, um, two six year olds and a three year old.

[00:01:38] Susanne: So they are my life. So, [00:01:40] um, pretty simple, pretty simple person with, you know, family oriented kind of values and, um, [00:01:50] A service kind of mentality all my life. So my purpose, I feel like, is to to take care of others to serve others. [00:02:00] And with that being said, a lot of that, that focus has taken me away from myself.

[00:02:07] Susanne: So, I [00:02:10] started this journey with you a little about a year and a half ago.

[00:02:13] Maggie: Yeah, that's such an interesting thing to highlight because I feel like so many women especially find themselves [00:02:20] in this place where they're working, and they have kids, and they have small kids, and then they have medium kids, and then they have grown kids, but over the course of that time, we tend to just put ourselves on the back burner.[00:02:30]

[00:02:30] Maggie: Exactly. And so, when did you get to a point where you were like, okay, And I'm probably skipping around, but like when you were like, okay, like enough, I've got to, I've got to prioritize [00:02:40] me. I've got to put myself, you know, first.

[00:02:44] Susanne: Um, you know, like many people, the, the yo [00:02:50] yo, uh, weights up, weights down over the years, you know, it's just been constant, but the focus constantly has always been [00:03:00] on someone else, whether it was, I wasn't a mom, whether it was, I wasn't.

[00:03:05] Susanne: The nurse taking care of somebody, taking care of my mother before she passed away, my grandmother. So it [00:03:10] was always someone else and always not me. And I think with the pandemic and the pandemic just halting everybody, you stopped. And when, when [00:03:20] you stop and you're just, you're kind of forced to be within yourself and.

[00:03:29] Susanne: I wasn't seeing [00:03:30] my family as much and things were different. I recognized that I had just let myself go and I was [00:03:40] now by myself a lot and that was really uncomfortable because I didn't really like the person in the mirror and [00:03:50] I realized that I didn't even know who I was anymore and I don't think I even loved myself anymore and that's when I was just like, okay, now it's [00:04:00] time for me.

[00:04:00] Susanne: And it's okay to have that time. They've taken me up until, you know, I hit 50 years old to realize that, um, Yeah. [00:04:10] It's now. I need to be, I need to be better now. And that's kind of when that moment hit was two years ago.

[00:04:17] Maggie: I think that was a big wake up call for a lot of people. So [00:04:20] many people's lives, so many people made big changes in their lives too.

[00:04:24] Maggie: Like all of a sudden they were like, wait, they're like their whole life. I talk in vibe club about [00:04:30] like turning the light on and seeing what's there. And sometimes as moms and, you know, business owners and busy women, we. It's noisy. It's so [00:04:40] noisy. So it's dark and we're busy and we're distracted that it feels like the lights are kind of off.

[00:04:45] Maggie: And so I think the pandemic really turned the lights on for a bunch of people and they had to examine their [00:04:50] life and be like, what's working, what's not working. And so many people were like, enough, not anymore. I cannot do this anymore in, in so many different varying spaces. So

[00:04:59] Susanne: it was [00:05:00] like anxiety all the time.

[00:05:02] Susanne: You eat over anxiety.

[00:05:04] Maggie: Yeah.

[00:05:05] Susanne: Yeah. Yeah,

[00:05:06] Maggie: and I started recognizing

[00:05:08] Susanne: that. I saw that, you know, [00:05:10] and I started really soul searching and I realized that I ate over anxiety of being a nurse and the, and the stress of that profession [00:05:20] alone. I ate over worrying about raising my children. I ate over divorce. I ate over, Two years ago, during the beginning of a [00:05:30] pandemic, I bought a house the first time since the divorce, and oh my gosh, I'm responsible for that, and I ate over that, really did that.

[00:05:39] Susanne: Then, you [00:05:40] know, I had a breast cancer scare last year, and I, you know, and all those things, it just, they kind of just kind of, I realized there was a pattern, and that [00:05:50] pattern was, I was using food to, to kind of solve, like you say, for problems, and they, [00:06:00] they weren't solving my problems. I still had to face them, and I really started facing them, you know, two years ago.

[00:06:07] Susanne: I

[00:06:07] Maggie: love that. Okay. So what, tell me [00:06:10] a little bit about your dieting history. Like, do you feel like, has this been something that really hit a peak two years ago? Did you feel like it's something you've been struggling with your whole life? We all kind of have different [00:06:20] histories and, you know, paths with trying to lose weight and trying to like have a healthy relationship with food.

[00:06:26] Susanne: Yeah, I think mine is a pretty typical [00:06:30] You know, storyline of a chubby cow, you know, there's a picture of me when I'm five years old and I've got a bowl of M& M's, you know, [00:06:40] I'm eating, you know, it's just, you know, my mother was a beastly eater. Overweight. I mean morbidly. So I lived in that environment, [00:06:50] um, you know, growing up, hit puberty, lose weight.

[00:06:53] Susanne: I started, um, martial arts, stay small, had children, got, got [00:07:00] big again. And I really gained the weight. And then, you know, I, I just, At that point, it was, it was just a, uh, a yo yo of [00:07:10] whether it was, um, Weight Watchers, or, uh, Kenny Craig, or eating 500 calories a day, or just [00:07:20] liquid diet, or just, it was always simple.

[00:07:22] Susanne: Something I was trying and it was a fatty type of situation that never sustained itself and never [00:07:30] worked because I wasn't using food in the right way. So, you know, many years of that food became [00:07:40] something I could control when I was going through a divorce. So therefore I lost a lot of weight, but then.

[00:07:48] Susanne: Then I got, you know, then I started [00:07:50] gaining it back. So everything was around a non healthy relationship. with my food and with myself, not just food, but [00:08:00] with myself.

[00:08:01] Maggie: Yeah. Just these short term solutions that we use that work maybe temporarily. It sounds like your history has been like, yeah, it worked like a little bit.

[00:08:09] Maggie: Like [00:08:10] it worked temporarily. It worked during this specific period or it worked when I was especially stressed out, but it didn't work over the longterm because you weren't, you weren't solving for the root [00:08:20] of the issue. You were just kind of kept changing what you were doing.

[00:08:23] Susanne: Right. Exactly. That's what I, that's exactly, um, my story and it's, uh, and it's not [00:08:30] any different from anyone else that's, you know, wanting to, to change that relationship with, with their, with their diet, with themselves, [00:08:40] um, and, um.

[00:08:42] Susanne: So, when I happened to be on Instagram one day, and I followed somebody that [00:08:50] follows you, and she had a link to you, and I was like, I don't know who this is. Let me just click on it and see. And then, oh, [00:09:00] my word. I started digging deeper into your, your Instagram and your, your mission and your purpose and your, and the [00:09:10] way you were viewing how to.

[00:09:14] Susanne: Learn a new way and a new relationship with food. It was very intriguing to me, especially me being in a [00:09:20] medical field. I just thought this was an aha moment, like something so inherently, basically simple, it's complex [00:09:30] and had not been even registered with me the emotional part of my diet and my eating.

[00:09:38] Susanne: And so, um, then [00:09:40] I started, you know, listening to your podcast and digging into those, those that you say, don't go back and look at, listen to, I, I listened to them. I listened to all of them. You [00:09:50] listened to all of them from the beginning. It doesn't really matter the type of Um, food [00:10:00] choices you make. What I really, what I really started clinging to was, um, the, exactly what your podcast is named [00:10:10] and, um, burning fat with your brain.

[00:10:12] Susanne: And it was my brain that needed help.

[00:10:15] Maggie: Yeah. Yeah. I love that so much. So what, [00:10:20] what, what is some of the diet mentality that you kind of felt like you had to overcome? seeing like coming up on the podcast and stuff like that in this new, cause I think it's fascinating that you say like, [00:10:30] sometimes I feel like people come across the content and the message and they're like, that makes so much sense.

[00:10:35] Maggie: It's so simple, but it's not easy. And it's not easy [00:10:40] because of every, because of the history that we have because of the diet mentality, because of, do you feel like you had that kind of mentality or food rules that you felt were really hard [00:10:50] to break initially when you came upon it?

[00:10:53] Susanne: I do, um, I, you know, my food choices, and I've learned, [00:11:00] especially over the last almost two years that I've been, you know, following and doing this thought work, I've learned foods that [00:11:10] were, that really work well with me and what doesn't, but I didn't even know that.

[00:11:14] Susanne: So, for me, I might go to one extreme. I might try [00:11:20] to be. You know, solo keto and and see if that worked and it just didn't work. And then I might try to, you know, [00:11:30] go to an extreme of. Placing everything in a specific container and measuring out everything and that didn't work. Nothing [00:11:40] was satisfying me where I could keep going.

[00:11:43] Susanne: So that's that was just part of what I was doing. When I was 13. [00:11:50] externally for an answer, internally was really the answer. Yeah.

[00:11:56] Maggie: And if, if we don't deal with that internal stuff, it's going to be just an, [00:12:00] an eternity of start, stop, start, stop, start, stop. I think it worked. I think I need to go back to that.

[00:12:05] Maggie: I remember losing some weight. Maybe I just need to be better at doing that thing that worked in [00:12:10] 2017 and we're constantly like looking in the past and dealing with that. So like what kind of, what kind of shift did you have to make though from where you were at? Yeah. to, [00:12:20] you know, the way that I teach weight loss is like sustainable and eating foods that you want to eat and learning to listen to your body and you know all of that.

[00:12:27] Maggie: How, like, what was that transition like [00:12:30] for you?

[00:12:32] Susanne: It was, um, it was an It was a time that I needed to be completely honest about [00:12:40] myself. What wasn't working? Um, was I happy? Uh, was I willing to, to look [00:12:50] within myself to find those answers? And that was, that was the, the, like, the turning point for me. It was like, okay, [00:13:00] the problem and the solution.

[00:13:03] Susanne: are the same. They're me. Yeah. Good news.

[00:13:07] Maggie: It's the best news and the worst news. You're like, it's so [00:13:10] good because I have control over me.

[00:13:12] Susanne: Yeah. But it's a humbling moment. Like, it's really humbling to, to recognize that, um, and I can't [00:13:20] depend on some bad way of doing things to make changes that I want to make.

[00:13:25] Susanne: That will be for here forever for the remainder of my life that I [00:13:30] want to be the best version of myself and none of that was tied around anything other than me and my thought [00:13:40] work and my, my desire to unlearn bad habits. And build on these good ones, these, these [00:13:50] healthy, um, outlines of how to do it. And you had that program, the Vibe Club, that, And I realized, oh my [00:14:00] gosh, this is where I need to be.

[00:14:02] Susanne: And this is what I need to do. And I need to be, I need to break down the walls of myself and the, [00:14:10] and the, the preconceived notions that things are not going to work in there. And that I'm not a problem. It's not me, but it was. And so [00:14:20] I think that's where. You know, yes, see it with Bob club members is when they're on the cusp of of acknowledging.

[00:14:29] Susanne: [00:14:30] Hey, I am the problem, but I also have the control of the problem. And when they get to that point where they like, oh, my gosh, oh, my goodness. [00:14:40] I can make this change and when they get there and they start seeing the small changes that are being made by following the steps and the tools that you teach [00:14:50] and learning the small low hanging fruit changes that make it.

[00:14:56] Susanne: A significant positive impact. It starts [00:15:00] giving you this confidence and this, this feeling like I can do this. And I'm really, really, really like myself in this process. I'm really starting to [00:15:10] realize that. Hey, I'm worth all this little extra effort that I'm making and these, these tools that you teach, [00:15:20] I will never unlearn those tools.

[00:15:23] Susanne: And that's the honest truth, because they are actually, every woman [00:15:30] deserves to have those tools, utilize them, and to, um, and to realize that the outcomes far outweigh that sentiment role that you want, [00:15:40] it really just is. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So you just, yeah, it's, it's, and when you have that light bulb moment, Angel, there's no going back.[00:15:50]

[00:15:50] Susanne: And I had that moment with your program.

[00:15:54] Maggie: I appreciate it. You're making me tear up just because I think there are so many things that you mentioned, [00:16:00] like this desire that we have for someone to tell us exactly what to do. And I think it can be hard for women within Vibe Club when I keep kind of handing the power back to them.

[00:16:09] Maggie: Like I'm [00:16:10] like, don't give it to me. I don't, I don't have the power. I'm not going to tell you what to eat. I'm not going to hold your hand and, you know, drag you like that's where, and that's what's so [00:16:20] exciting because then you're like, it's me. I get to choose this. I have control over this. And another thing you had mentioned is like loving yourself in the process.

[00:16:28] Maggie: Like I like myself. I like [00:16:30] myself. I like what I'm doing. And so many women think they have to hate themselves through the process.

[00:16:35] Susanne: And it's, it's, And it's a moment in your life. If you get to the [00:16:40] point, you're like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to fully commit to these small changes. It's so empowering.

[00:16:47] Susanne: And yes, you are trying to hand it back [00:16:50] to your clients and they're not used to that. So when [00:17:00] they. Growing. Oh, my goodness. Okay. Let me try this one and see what [00:17:10] what. Happens with this and and learning to trust yourself that you can do it. And these, these clients need to know that [00:17:20] they have all the power and they just need to believe it.

[00:17:25] Susanne: And then, in order to believe it, they have to implement it, and when they [00:17:30] implement it, and the changes start having happening, then they start seeing that. Hey, I I've had this all along. I just didn't know I had it. So I feel [00:17:40] like that's your focus, is to empower women in their journey. And the journey is just not just about food, Maggie.

[00:17:49] Susanne: It's about [00:17:50] learning to love yourself. And you really mean that? And I get it, because the first time in my life, and I can honestly say that, [00:18:00] that I truly love myself. And that Kind of bleeds over into all areas of life now, as not just [00:18:10] in my food world, but in other areas that are so very important. And, um, and that confidence has come from me being able to make [00:18:20] some really hard decisions and learn to be very honest and open.

[00:18:25] Susanne: And humble and it, it has the rewards far [00:18:30] outweigh any, any time and effort you put into it. It's just, it's just amazing how you can, how you can totally transform if you're willing to, [00:18:40] to be very honest with yourself.

[00:18:42] Maggie: Yeah. It's so, it's funny how little it is actually about the food, huh? Isn't it surprising that it's, and we're so focused on that.

[00:18:49] Maggie: Like how, but [00:18:50] how many carbs should I eat? And it's like, it's not about that at all. It's about why you're overeating the carbs. It's about why you, you know, are eating, you, [00:19:00] you listed like six things at the beginning of this podcast of all these things that you were eating over. Like it wasn't the carbs.

[00:19:05] Maggie: It wasn't the sugar. Like those are like these, these little details that we can [00:19:10] tinker with, but they're not the root. Cause of what's going on and

[00:19:14] Susanne: you, you highlighted, Oh,

[00:19:16] Maggie: go on.

[00:19:17] Susanne: That's okay. I completely agree. It [00:19:20] is not the root cause I was eating over, um, emotional. Issues and loneliness and anxiety and [00:19:30] nervousness and any other reason you could think of that's negative.

[00:19:34] Susanne: I was eating over those reasons. It wasn't it wasn't [00:19:40] changing the reason and it wasn't changing the outcome with those. Those feelings, none of them resolved because I ate two huge pancakes that [00:19:50] morning and, you know, and then at lunch I had something really fatty and not healthy. None of those three ways.

[00:19:57] Susanne: When I ate those foods. [00:20:00]

[00:20:00] Maggie: Like all those problems are just like waiting for you. Except now you don't feel good. And now you feel sick. And now you know you overdid it. It just kind of compounds it. I liked that you [00:20:10] highlighted, um, small changes. Because that's another thing I see so many women they're like, stop themselves from doing, which is like, no, I don't have time for small changes.[00:20:20]

[00:20:20] Maggie: I have to make big changes because I have a hundred pounds to lose, or I don't have time to go slow. Or like, what are your thoughts about that? Like, do you feel like [00:20:30] that contributed to your success with starting small? Did you try to start big at first? Like, tell me a little bit about how that went.

[00:20:38] Susanne: Well, I [00:20:40] downloaded and printed off everything in your, in your program. So I made this binder and I'm jumping into it and I thought, Oh, a lot of it, a lot of [00:20:50] stuff here and I'm having to really, um, you know, open up some old wounds and, and, and, you know, it's just not, not that [00:21:00] much. And I agree when you tell your client, hey, start with something small.

[00:21:05] Susanne: So there's some things that still to this day, when [00:21:10] I make a plan and I plan my food every single day, I would tell you. 99 percent of the time, there have been a couple of [00:21:20] times, you know, but overall, no, that is, that is something I can control. And I like having that control, but what [00:21:30] I learned also is there's small steps, the planning that while some people think, oh, well, so what if I put it on [00:21:40] a plan?

[00:21:40] Susanne: It's your beginning point and then the pause, practicing the pause. I never paused for anything. I mean, you're, you're a mom, you [00:21:50] know, you don't pause for much. You know, we go, go, go. We're, we're professionals, you know, I just, I'm always doing something and I never stopped and [00:22:00] why didn't I stop because then I'd have to think and feel and so I wouldn't stop.

[00:22:06] Susanne: I would just eat over it. And keep going and thinking, [00:22:10] well, tomorrow will be different. Well, no, no, it won't be different if you don't start these new tools and try and try them. So, the pause was [00:22:20] really a big 1 for me, the planning, the food really big change. It was just a game changer for me was [00:22:30] planning the food.

[00:22:31] Susanne: And then, yeah, I know the clients want to know and understand and how to, to eat to enough. That [00:22:40] took a little time, but that's another one that, um, I started learning what that felt like in me, in my body, when I ate too enough, [00:22:50] as opposed to when I overate. And so, it was a trial and error. Some days I would overeat, and that's okay, because then I knew how it felt.

[00:22:59] Susanne: Um, [00:23:00] even though I followed my plan, I might have eaten too much at that point. On my plan, so learning how to do that and then learning how to journal with it to write [00:23:10] down, you know, be proud of myself that I that I followed a plan that I am implementing new ways of thinking about food [00:23:20] and how I want to show up when I'm eating.

[00:23:22] Susanne: I'm not just eating just to eat. I'm eating because I love, [00:23:30] I love to eat. I love to cook, but I want to do it in a way that. That's not excessive. So I learned how to do that as well. Um, and those are [00:23:40] some of the big first steps to me.

[00:23:43] Maggie: Yeah. I love that. I like to tell people, I had a question the other day on my Tik Tok, something along the lines of like, but what if you love [00:23:50] food and cooking is something your family does, blah, blah, blah.

[00:23:52] Maggie: And I have strong feelings about that because you. I didn't have to give up my love of food. I just had to give up my love of overeating. [00:24:00] I had to stop completing the two things that loving food is loving stuffing myself to the point where I'm sick. Like those things are not the same. And so now I get to love food and I get to [00:24:10] love cooking and new recipes.

[00:24:12] Maggie: That doesn't have to go away. We think it does have to go away.

[00:24:16] Susanne: No, my goal with this as well is that [00:24:20] my girls, um, and my, To granddaughters that they see a different way to have a relationship with [00:24:30] food and and with life and they see me differently. I show up differently now, you know, and so it hasn't just impacted me.

[00:24:39] Susanne: [00:24:40] It's impacted the people that I care for the very most in my life. Um, and it, it really puts things in perspective really quick when you start changing your [00:24:50] lifestyle and start. Working on yourself, and this is, this, this process has led me to want to heal other [00:25:00] things in my life as well. So, it's not just about the food.

[00:25:04] Maggie: Yeah, I, I feel like the way that it was for me with my weight loss and all that, I always like [00:25:10] to say it, it was like the playground where it was like, you know, you're on the playground and you're figuring out how things work and you use it for your weight loss. And then all of a sudden I started a business, you know, all of a sudden I, [00:25:20] you know, the way I am, I'm mothering all, it just bleeds into everything because ultimately at the base of it, you're learning how to trust yourself.

[00:25:26] Maggie: You're learning how to be confident. Cause that's kind of what I pick up from you is [00:25:30] confidence. Do you feel like that is different than it was two years ago? Totally different. I'm

[00:25:36] Susanne: calm. I'm much calmer. [00:25:40] Uh, I am middle aged and suffer from ADD, ADHD as well. So sitting down very long, it [00:25:50] just, it can be the worst.

[00:25:53] Susanne: But regardless of any situation, that bleeding over, that practicing the pause [00:26:00] is really a big deal. And you can apply a lot of the tools that you teach in other areas of your life, whether it's my [00:26:10] profession. Me being a mom and seeing my girls make decisions I don't want them to make. I practice the pause, you know, with my grandbabies, um, [00:26:20] and it's showing up differently and I want to do that.

[00:26:22] Susanne: Just be that best version of myself. So all those. tools have led into other areas as well. You are correct. Yeah. [00:26:30]

[00:26:30] Maggie: And just to like define that for anyone who isn't familiar with that concept that I teach, it's the ability to put some space in between what I want to do in the moment from a [00:26:40] reactionary place and what I want to do from an intentional, on purpose, adult, confident, place because we're so used to being like, Oh my gosh, it was so stressful at work.

[00:26:49] Maggie: [00:26:50] Eat. Oh my gosh, my kids are stressing me out. Eat. Like if we can't put the pause in between, we're going to live from that default reaction, which is for most of us. And if you're listening to this podcast or you work with me, [00:27:00] food, food to solve it. And instead of being like, listen, we can choose food, but let's make sure we're choosing it.

[00:27:05] Maggie: And the way that we do that is we're just like, give me five minutes. Just eat. 10 minutes. [00:27:10] Just a little bit of space to choose on purpose. And if I choose to overeat, whatever, at least I made that choice. I, I like to help women stop overeating from a reactionary place [00:27:20] where they don't even feel like they're making that choice.

[00:27:21] Maggie: It's so automatic that we have to put some space and that takes practice. Um, I'll give you a couple of

[00:27:27] Susanne: examples. Um, [00:27:30] In my professional world, I worked with a surgeon, and I was his right hand, and one thing he taught me, and it did not, I [00:27:40] did not apply this in my personal life until two years ago, but he taught me to always be, to be proactive [00:27:50] instead of reactive.

[00:27:51] Susanne: So, uh, in, in other words, I needed to anticipate his needs, what he would need when he was going into a procedure, that [00:28:00] sort of thing, and, and think ahead. I apply that with 5 Club and with my, my lifestyle now. I try to be [00:28:10] proactive, and that is doing your journaling and doing your planning, um, and, Not making excuses and being as best [00:28:20] prepared as you can for the day that lies ahead.

[00:28:23] Susanne: Now, granted, not every day is going to be, you know, easy. That's when you, that's when you put in [00:28:30] the practice that pause and learning how to shift and still make good choices, the best choices you can make under certain circumstances. Yesterday, [00:28:40] I have my little Sophie here, she's 3, and she's all into some candy.

[00:28:44] Susanne: She had little Hershey's kisses and she unwraps them. She just [00:28:50] wants to unwrap them. She doesn't want to eat them, and she puts them on the counter. Do you know how easy it would have been for me to take up the challenge? Pick that Hershey kiss up because it's just one bite. I was going to get wasted, [00:29:00] now it's open.

[00:29:01] Susanne: Yeah, all the justifications. Walk through the kitchen, I'm fixing them some stuff to eat. I could have popped it in my mouth and kept on going [00:29:10] doing what I needed to do. I didn't. I stopped, I saw it, I love them, they're great, but it wasn't on my [00:29:20] plan. It wasn't something that was going to serve me. And I recognize that that was a trigger that I was able to not [00:29:30] take that bite.

[00:29:31] Susanne: And those are the tools that you teach. And that's, those small, do you call low hanging fruit that do make a difference? [00:29:40] Those BLTs, they make a difference. And that's a prime example of a real life situation where I could have just caved [00:29:50] and eaten that Hershey Kiss. I like that

[00:29:54] Maggie: you shared that example because I like to keep it [00:30:00] real in the sense that But we're not going to ever get to a place where that stuff doesn't happen.

[00:30:05] Maggie: Like I never want anyone to think that I'm like, I never overeat or even [00:30:10] more so. I never feel those urges and those desires. And that that default, I don't even know if it's a default. I think it's just, we're humans, like there's chocolate on the [00:30:20] counter. And my instinct is she opened it. She doesn't even want to eat it.

[00:30:24] Maggie: What am I going to do? Throw it away. I like, that's the thinking that would come up. And yet you're able to [00:30:30] hear that thinking and make a different choice versus what most people want is the thinking to be gone. Get the thinking gone. Take these thoughts away. That's not realistic. That's not what happens.

[00:30:39] Maggie: We [00:30:40] still have those thoughts. Even being far on into this journey, the thoughts come up and yet because you have the tools. Being resourced is what's important. Feeling like [00:30:50] you have a toolbox that's like, I have tools to use based on the situation. And one of your go tos, it sounds like, is practicing that space.

[00:30:57] Maggie: Practicing the pause and being like, [00:31:00] what do you want to do? And taking that time to negotiate for what you actually want. Not what your primitive brain wants in that moment, because hello, pleasure, dopamine, chocolate on the counter. [00:31:10] Like, okay, that's, that's fine. That's my default. But my higher brain is like, no, it's not on my plan.

[00:31:15] Maggie: I don't want it. That's reroute. And so I [00:31:20] love that you highlighted that because the thoughts are not going to go away. But, but how much easier is it for you now to work that process almost automatically without having in the beginning, you have to put so [00:31:30] much focus and energy onto, onto rerouting your habits.

[00:31:34] Maggie: Do you feel like it's a quicker process for you or an easier process?

[00:31:38] Susanne: Yes. Definitely, [00:31:40] because immediately I remember my wife, you know, you have to have many, many wives. There's not just one and we all don't have just one reason we're doing something. [00:31:50] It's just immediately. And also, I'm confident in myself and my decisions now.

[00:31:58] Susanne: Does that mean that I don't [00:32:00] overeat? Yeah, I mean, I do sometimes. Does that mean I don't? Always make choices that I, I really wish I hadn't made. No, but 9 times out [00:32:10] of 10, I'm going to use those, those tools and I'm going to recognize that that, that piece of chocolate doesn't serve my greater goal and my greater goals are [00:32:20] bigger and my reasons and my whys are bigger than that piece of chocolate.

[00:32:25] Susanne: And it does become easier. The more you practice, the more you [00:32:30] believe in your why's. If you do not believe in the reason you're doing something, you're not going to do it. You will absolutely fail. And it takes time. I mean, it [00:32:40] takes, what, 21 days to create a habit. It's a habit. You've got to learn to be a little bit gracious with yourself, have grace in the process.

[00:32:49] Susanne: [00:32:50] Don't beat yourself up. Be honest. Talk about it. Be a part of a group of people that, that. I have similar [00:33:00] and like situations that can totally relate to a really hard day and you really want to default back to what you're used to doing [00:33:10] and I still have those times, not as much, but I do have them, but my tools are different and how how I manage those days and it's not [00:33:20] with that candy bar.

[00:33:22] Maggie: Yeah, we want to take it from the main tool is eating to that is a tool and we can use it, but it's not the first tool we go to. And we also have [00:33:30] 16 other tools. Like, so before I think we all come with like, Oh, I don't know, I just have this one strategy and it's like, that's fine. We don't even need to get rid of that strategy.

[00:33:37] Maggie: What we're going to do is add in some other strategies and [00:33:40] let's see how those work so that your go to isn't always the snack. Yeah, so tell me, unless I'm getting this wrong, when you first joined Vibe Club, [00:33:50] you were trying to lose the last of your weight? Wasn't it like the last 15 pounds or something?

[00:33:54] Maggie: Remind me what that was.

[00:33:56] Susanne: I was kind of halfway in between my [00:34:00] weight loss goals. I started doing it by myself and it was working, but I was missing something. You know, there was, there was, there was [00:34:10] something missing that was not I mean, I was only motivating myself. I didn't, uh, you know, I, I just didn't have any other external [00:34:20] motivators, you know, people, that sort of thing.

[00:34:22] Susanne: So I would, I, I'd say probably 15 to 20 pounds I still had to lose when I joined Bob Club.

[00:34:29] Maggie: Okay. [00:34:30] And you were able to lose that amount of weight because there's what's funny is first of all, you're trying to lose the last 15 to 20 pounds and [00:34:40] you have been working on that by yourself and a lot of women will.

[00:34:44] Maggie: also blame it on the age that they are. And so you combine that I'm 50 and [00:34:50] it's the last 15, 20 pounds and lots of excuses will come up for women. And I don't think they're like excuses necessarily, but like what we're fed from the collective, which is like, it's so hard to lose [00:35:00] weight. When you get to this age, everything gets more difficult.

[00:35:02] Maggie: The last of your weight is so much harder than the beginning of your weight. Like, what do you have to say about that in regards to the experience that you had? [00:35:10]

[00:35:10] Susanne: Yeah. Um, I realized that I'm here either way. Uh, as long as I stay, you know, without an illness, it's going to take me out of this world or [00:35:20] something tragic.

[00:35:21] Susanne: I'm here. So, am I going to be here in my best version of myself? Because let's be honest, what's behind me is [00:35:30] a far greater number than what's ahead of me as far as the years I'm here. But what I do have control over is how I am. [00:35:40] The next 20, 30 years of my life. So that was when I realized that even at my age menopause, I am [00:35:50] struggling with.

[00:35:51] Susanne: Is it even worth it? Who cares? Besides me? Those those feelings are still felt like. That [00:36:00] I was not the best version of myself. And so for anyone who thinks in that are in their forties and fifties and sixties and they think, Oh, what does it matter [00:36:10] now? You know, it matters a great deal. I know that from a medical standpoint, you're a nurse, I'm sure you have a special

[00:36:16] Maggie: perspective.

[00:36:18] Susanne: I didn't care to have [00:36:20] diabetes and all the heart diseases and high blood pressure and all those things that, that go along with obesity and poor health. I didn't want any of [00:36:30] that. Um, and I didn't want to know that I inflicted that on myself.

[00:36:38] Maggie: By your lifestyle choices. [00:36:40]

[00:36:41] Susanne: Exactly. There's some things you can't control, but my lifestyle was totally in my control.

[00:36:46] Susanne: And that was an aha moment for me. It doesn't matter [00:36:50] what age you are. So I strongly encourage women. They, they, you know, they may think, you know, Maggie's young and she doesn't know. But [00:37:00] Maggie is, Maggie is young. Maggie does know. And you've got, you've got resources and proof that. What you do [00:37:10] makes a difference and you've put your time and effort invested into the learning of being a life coach and what that looks like for women of [00:37:20] all ages.

[00:37:21] Susanne: So, it doesn't exclude my age group at all. In fact, I would encourage women to feel empowered that they can make [00:37:30] that change and it's never too late. ever too late to make that change. And for me, it wasn't. I decided I was worth it.

[00:37:37] Maggie: Yeah. You're just such a good example of what's possible [00:37:40] because I just, I hear that stuff all the time.

[00:37:42] Maggie: And like, I know I'm going to get to that age. I know that there are going to be things that change for sure. But what I also know is that I know how to support myself and I'm going to figure out how to [00:37:50] do it when I'm 50, beyond, you know, and I, I hate to see women just, we have to know like what's working against us.

[00:37:58] Maggie: And how we are working [00:38:00] against us, like the ways in which we make it harder, the ways in which to the way we think about it and the way we excuse things because, you know, ever since I turned this age, this is impossible, like [00:38:10] that conversation contributes so much to the choices we make to like, I never like to battle people on.

[00:38:15] Maggie: Yes, hormones change. Yes, there are going to be things that are different for everyone. For sure. But at [00:38:20] every stage of that, I feel like there's a way that you can support yourself and you've always highlighted that whenever we've talked about your experience or you've shared your success or your, your ability to, cause you've been able to [00:38:30] maintain your weight loss.

[00:38:31] Maggie: How long after, when did you hit your goal weight? I can't remember.

[00:38:34] Susanne: Um, a year ago. A year ago, April

[00:38:37] Maggie: year.

[00:38:38] Susanne: Mm-Hmm. , oh my gosh. Like, [00:38:40] literally

[00:38:40] Maggie: anniversary, literally

[00:38:42] Susanne: a year ago. Um, and I stay within that three pounds. I'm right at 1 35. I'm happy. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm [00:38:50] just so happy and I feel good. And, and so, and I wasn't involved club in April and [00:39:00] rejoined, so those tools still stayed with me.

[00:39:04] Susanne: even when I wasn't actively a part of Vibe Club.

[00:39:08] Maggie: Yeah, so you were in Vibe Club for like Six [00:39:10] volumes. Yeah, you were in it for about six months, is that right? I was, I was. Okay, so for the six months you were able to lose that 15 to 20 pounds that you were teetering on, you left Vibe [00:39:20] Club, but you came back.

[00:39:21] Susanne: I did.

[00:39:22] Maggie: Oh, and what was the reason for that? You've told me, but

[00:39:25] Susanne: Oh, um, there was, Elizabeth [00:39:30] didn't say, have many reasons. I have many. Yeah. I missed the group. I missed the likeness in the community, the peace [00:39:40] that that people understand one another and and also I'm never going to stop learning. And I'm never gonna [00:39:50] stop learning new ways to look at situations in life.

[00:39:54] Susanne: And so when I listen to the podcast, and when I listen to the coaching [00:40:00] calls, the one on one group coaching calls, I can tell you, I take away some piece of that. Coaching that might initially I thought, maybe [00:40:10] it doesn't apply to me. There's always something that applies to me in my real life. And so I am forever, like, I said, learning new tools [00:40:20] and learning new strategies and being curious about how other people, you know, think about.

[00:40:26] Susanne: Are outlining their life and managing Bob [00:40:30] club, because there's so much to be said about a community of people that come together for the same reason. It doesn't matter where they are [00:40:40] in their journey. It's just they're there together in that journey. And so that I missed and then if I'm also being honest about.[00:40:50]

[00:40:51] Susanne: Why? I, in my weight loss, um, started having some [00:41:00] aversion to, to carbs. And, um, so, not that I was ever fully keto, but I was, [00:41:10] uh, I guess dirty keto. For the most part, you know, so my car intake was very small. I did, but I didn't and I started [00:41:20] recognizing that I was, I was kind of maybe didn't have a good relationship with that.

[00:41:25] Susanne: And when you on your. Your public [00:41:30] podcast, I'm not keto anymore. I was like, oh, thank goodness. I don't think I've ever been fully, [00:41:40] but I could completely relate to the transition. And now, okay, now, I need to learn something new again. How am I going to learn that and [00:41:50] how I'm going to learn to. Trust myself around, um, French fries and how am I going to learn to trust myself around some rice and that's [00:42:00] what I think.

[00:42:00] Susanne: But that's a new tool I need to learn. Even though I've lost weight, I needed to learn it and watching you. Learn it [00:42:10] and your, your freedom and your. Ability to, um, to have that relationship that. Out of your comfort zone, you, [00:42:20] you, that bleeds into your vibe club and how you work with your clients and how you help them with their relationships as well.

[00:42:29] Susanne: So [00:42:30] I'm watching this magical journey of you transforming and changing, and then I'm learning a little bit more about me and what works for me. And in that [00:42:40] same sort of like, and so is it a little bit of a challenge? Yeah, it's a little challenge, but I'm, I'm, I'm up for it. [00:42:50]

[00:42:50] Maggie: I seem ready for it. Yeah. And sometimes it just, you're just looking for a little bit more peace around food and we can all use that.

[00:42:56] Maggie: It just, it takes time to unearth those things, you know, [00:43:00] but you have the cores down of listening to your body. And now it's just, we just kind of bring in, you know, I feel like, like you said, everyone's kind of at different steps and we get to a place where [00:43:10] you just kind of start adding different things in.

[00:43:11] Maggie: And I also love that. You're on a lot of the coaching calls, right? But you, you work during the, yeah, you're always there, but I never coached you one to [00:43:20] one, which I think is fascinating because of course I want to coach everybody and it's so fun and I'm loving being face to face with you. But the fact that [00:43:30] you were able to.

[00:43:31] Maggie: Listen to those coaching calls. Do what I ask people to do at the beginning of the calls, which is please do not tune out if you feel like this doesn't apply to you specifically. It absolutely [00:43:40] does. You just have to come with the intention that you're going to get what you need. And it sounds like that was the way that you approached the program, which is, I'm going to get what I need.

[00:43:47] Maggie: I don't need to be on the call. Like I'm [00:43:50] working or I'm going to hear a replay. I'm going to listen. I'm going to get what I need. I'm not going to let me getting on video stand in the way.

[00:43:57] Susanne: No. And, uh, I came. [00:44:00] With an open mind, so if you come in with preconceived notions, you're only going to get out of it what you put into it.

[00:44:08] Susanne: So, if you're coming in [00:44:10] with with your mindset kind of blocked and not and not being completely honest and open and ready and curious, you use that word a lot. Curious. I'm curious about [00:44:20] this. I'm curious about that. That's a really cool word because that word is actually very empowering to me. It's a very confident word.

[00:44:27] Susanne: It doesn't mean that. Uh, you know, anyone [00:44:30] can necessarily believe everything about what someone else says, but be curious because then when you're curious, your mind opens up [00:44:40] and you start thinking differently. And then you might think, oh, wow, I never thought about things that way, or I never looked at things that way.

[00:44:48] Susanne: And that might really work [00:44:50] for me. And that's what I do when I come to those calls. I'll listen. And I'm curious at how anything that that particular person [00:45:00] that you're coaching is going through, how might I can apply that to my own life? And that's what I do. I love it. It's not just about listening, it's about the [00:45:10] application of what you teach.

[00:45:12] Maggie: Yeah. And that cur curiosity aspect, what the power of curiosity is that it removes the pressure and it removes the [00:45:20] expectations. And those are some of the the two biggest things that get in people's ways. It's like the expectation that it should be going faster, the pressure, this isn't enough, this isn't, I'm not doing enough.

[00:45:28] Maggie: I need to do more. I need to eat [00:45:30] less, I need to push it. It's like we put that pressure on ourselves and we burn out. And then we're done. We're out of fuel because whenever we can slip curiosity to me just feels [00:45:40] like, like wiggling my body out, like I just feel gentle and open and I feel curious and I just feel like, let's see, let's give it a go.

[00:45:46] Maggie: Let's like a kid, you know, versus like, I know the [00:45:50] rules here and I know what's allowed and what's not allowed. And I need to, you know, it's removing that pressure is so helpful to the longevity of the process.

[00:45:58] Susanne: Yeah, it's not [00:46:00] hard. It's not like a hard feeling. That's what I'm saying. Like, when you, you, you come in, you're, you're braced and you're like, I know what to do.

[00:46:08] Susanne: I know that's just so [00:46:10] hard and, you know, and it's not a soft place to allow vulnerability and you have to be vulnerable. You have to, to be willing to, um, to [00:46:20] be, you know, open and honest and curious and, and, and identify what does that mean? That means, okay. Uh, what's worked for [00:46:30] me before hasn't worked now, so let's get curious at what might work if this works.

[00:46:36] Maggie: Did you have any hesitancy? Because this is something, I, I would say I probably don't hear anything more than [00:46:40] I hear this. Did you have any hesitancy in doing another program, doing another thing? So many women are like, I cannot waste another cent on weight loss. [00:46:50] I have spent, like, did that come up for you at all?

[00:46:52] Maggie: Like, oh my God, another thing. It brings up so much doubt for women.

[00:46:59] Susanne: Oh, hell yeah. [00:47:00] I sat and listened to your podcast, your open podcast, I think probably two and a half months. So, [00:47:10] you know, and I'm thinking, do I want to, you know, what, you know, why, you know, why would I do this? And, um, [00:47:20] then It's almost like something's dangling in front of you when you listen to your podcasts that are not Bob Club podcasts.

[00:47:29] Susanne: When you're listening to [00:47:30] those podcasts and you and Ryan were talking, it's like something's dangling in front of you. There's something good there. But you have to, you have to take the next step [00:47:40] to get it. And the next step was to really learn these tools because that's where that program was and it's [00:47:50] worth it.

[00:47:50] Susanne: And, but I recognize that what I was getting out of the podcast just wasn't enough and where that came from was actually. [00:48:00] Understanding when you talk about my program, my vibe club, um, you know, what does that mean? And that means a lot of self work. [00:48:10] And, um, and I didn't recognize that until I got into it.

[00:48:14] Susanne: And then when I got into, I was like, ooh, this is this is where I needed to be all along. [00:48:20] So it's funny how things work out. And that's how it worked out for me.

[00:48:23] Maggie: Yeah. I love it. I love it. I love your story. I just, you're such just an example of what's possible when it comes to being a nurse and having a [00:48:30] job like that and a demanding job like that and everything that you've been through and finding this success at 50.

[00:48:36] Maggie: And you know, I just, I just love your story just because it [00:48:40] shows what's possible where so many people would be like, I can't because my job, I can't because my age, I can't because I failed so many times before, I can't because I just take care of [00:48:50] everybody else. And yet you took each one of those things and were I can, I can, I can figure this out and you did and you did just that and I love having you as part of the community.

[00:48:59] Maggie: You're such an [00:49:00] amazing addition to it and I just love your story so much.

[00:49:04] Susanne: It's such a basic story, but hey, it's mostly everybody's type of story. [00:49:10] If you don't give up though, you

[00:49:12] Maggie: know, like that's, that's how the ending is different for you.

[00:49:15] Susanne: No, Maggie, you don't give up. Even when I was facing a cancer scare [00:49:20] last year, um, I didn't give up.

[00:49:24] Susanne: I didn't quit on myself while I was going through testing and [00:49:30] surgery and that sort of thing. I still showed up for myself every day and did what I wanted to do to help take care of me because I knew if I had a [00:49:40] battle to face that I could either face it, not being healthy. And not implementing what I was learning in [00:49:50] five club, or I could face it, knowing that I had tools in my pocket and I was, I was doing things [00:50:00] that I could control to make me the best The best, healthiest version to fight this health battle.

[00:50:06] Susanne: So there was a choice there. And so people [00:50:10] that have these, these comorbid conditions that are my age, and they think, oh, it's never going to make a difference. I promise you, it will make a difference in [00:50:20] in your conditions and it will change how. These conditions necessarily show up in your life, so don't count yourself out [00:50:30] because you might have, um, health issues that, that might, you might think are standing in the way.

[00:50:36] Susanne: That's even more of a reason to do it for yourself.

[00:50:39] Maggie: For sure. [00:50:40] Well, thank you so much for joining me on this podcast. You inspire me. You inspire me so much. I was so excited that you said yes to come on and chat with me. My third [00:50:50] daughter. Yes, I'm happy. Adopt me. Yeah, I just, I love it. I love hearing your story and your example and the way that you support other women within Vibe Club.

[00:50:59] Maggie: [00:51:00] And, you know, cause I, especially for those of you who like. been in the program for a while, the way I see you support each other. It's like, you know, you can see it in other people. You can see like, you're [00:51:10] so close if you can just like, get over this hump and like, get that belief and get that low hanging fruit.

[00:51:14] Maggie: Like everything we've talked about on this podcast. It's like, if we can just barrel through that, [00:51:20] there's another life waiting for you on the other, on the other side. But it just, it takes that bravery and, and it can be hard. Get in front of that mirror and be honest with

[00:51:27] Susanne: yourself and then get curious.

[00:51:29] Susanne: [00:51:30] And then when you do, possibilities are there. They're there. They're waiting on you. It's just you that's standing in the way. And I, I just, I believe that [00:51:40] anybody can do it if I can do it.

[00:51:42] Maggie: Yeah, for sure. Well, you're an amazing example. Thank you so much. You're welcome. You're welcome. I, [00:51:50] I'm, it's a pleasure knowing you.

[00:51:51] Maggie: I'm humbly honored. So thank you. If you've been trying to lose weight but haven't found a way of eating that you can stick to, you've got to join Vibe Club. [00:52:00] It's my monthly coaching program where I teach you how to lose weight in a way that you actually enjoy so you can stop obsessing over food and your weight forever.

[00:52:07] Maggie: No matter how busy or stressed you are, even if you [00:52:10] feel like now is not the time to lose weight, Vibe Club is for you. All materials and call recordings are stored on the member website. We even have a members only podcast so you can listen to everything on the go. Go to [00:52:20] VibeWithMaggie. com to learn more.

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