Stop Starving Yourself - Weight Loss for Women over 40 with Amber Shaw

---

March 1, 2023 - Episode #111 - Stop Starving Yourself - Weight Loss for Women over 40 with Amber Shaw

Weight loss.  Sustainable weight loss.  The kind of weight that you lose and it stays gone.  Is that possible and is that likely over the age of 40? Yes, it is my friend! On today’s show, we have body transformation expert Amber Shaw and we are tackling the hot topic of weight loss. Could it be that there is more to weight loss than just eat less and move more? Let’s stop with the bro code and realize that a woman’s body is different.  Listen as we hit on the crucial topics of calorie counting, nutrition, food satisfaction, how to honor your cravings, intuitive eating and the specific types of exercise you need to achieve results.  

Our guest today is Amber Shaw. Amber is a Body Transformation Expert and Founder of The Wellness Revolution. She has extensively coached thousands of women (age 40+) from all across the world to get off the crazy train of dieting and find true food freedom so they can feel empowered, confident and sexy.  You can connect with Amber at www.ambershaw.com
 
Let's get off the hamster wheel of stuffing yourself and then starving yourself and learn how to honor your body to achieve true sustainable weight loss.  It’s all today on the Healthy Harmony podcast 

Oh hey! Before you go, I know you are looking for community.  You are looking for encouragement and accountability on your health journey.  Well, if that’s the case then you need to join the FB group FM for Weight loss - Mind, Body Soul Wellness for Women.  This is a beautiful group just for women.  Join us here https://bit.ly/FMwomenswellness

PS...Remember you cannot go from one extreme to another. I want you to be thinking what is one thing, one small change that I can make today to improve my health tomorrow.  I hope you enjoyed that episode with Amber Shaw.  Join me next time as I continue on the conversation on weight loss and some common obstacles that you need to address to get the weight off.   Yep.  The title of this podcast Poop and Sleep - The 2 Secrets to Weight Loss and Living your Best Life. Until then, take it one change at a time, one day at a time. You’ve got this. 

          SEE BELOW FOR FULL TRANSCRIPT

​Where else to listen:  (note: Google is only available on android devices)

​TRANSCRIPT

​Speaker 1 (00:08):
Weight loss now, sustainable weight loss, the kind of weight that you lose and it stays gone. Is that possible? And is that even likely over the age of 40? Yes, it is. My friend. On today's show, we have Body Transformation expert Amber Shaw, and we are tackling the hot topic of weight loss. Could it be that there's more to weight loss and just eat less and move more? Hey, let's stop with the BRO code and realize that a woman's body is different. Listen, as we hit on the crucial topics of calorie counting, nutrition, food satisfaction, how to honor your cravings, intuitive eating, and the specific types of exercise you need to achieve results. Get off the hamster wheel of stuffing yourself, and then starving yourself and learn how to honor your body to achieve true sustainable weight loss. It's all today on the Healthy Harmony Podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
Hey, friend. Welcome to the Healthy Harmony Podcast. Simple holistic wellness for women. I'm your host, Jennifer Pickett, dietitian turned functional medicine health coach. When it comes to your wellbeing, do you know what to do, but have a hard time actually doing it? Have you sacrificed your own health for the sake of taking care of everyone else? Are you tired and overwhelmed? But also, are you looking for answers? Ready to take a small step? Holistic wellness doesn't have to be time consuming or overly complicated. In this podcast, you will discover simple tips to help you take control of your overall wellness. I want to help you make a shift from knowing what to do to actually doing it. If you are ready to feel better, make healthier decisions, address the obstacles, standing in your way, and live a life of freedom and harmony, my friend. You are in the right place.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Hey, girl, I know you are looking for community. You're looking for encouragement and accountability on your health journey. Well, if that's the case, then you need to join the Facebook group, functional Medicine for Weight Loss, body Mind, soul Wellness for Women. This is a beautiful group just for women. Why don't you join us? Our guest today is Amber Shaw. Amber is a body transformation expert and founder of the Wellness Revolution. She has extensively coached thousands of women, age 40 and up from all across the world to get off the crazy train of dieting and find true food freedom so they can feel empowered, confident, and sexy. Welcome Amber Shaw. I'm really excited to have Amber on the Healthy Harmony Podcast today, and it is a very, very hot topic. So, Amber, thank you for joining us. 

Speaker 2 (03:15):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
This is gonna be a fun conversation because you and I get these questions every single day in our coaching journeys. But I wanna start the conversation by hearing some of your story. And I know that that story involves you hitting rock bottom. So what did your rock bottom look like and what did you do about it?

Speaker 2 (03:37):
You know, I I I thank you for asking. You know, it's so, it's such a, an important part of my story and my healing and what led me to what I'm doing today coaching. And so, you know, I would say that my rock bottom really came to a head when I, just, a few years ago when I was approaching the age of 40. I from the outside looking in, I was a very successful person. I had a, a beautiful marriage. I had two beautiful kids. I had a super successful career in sales that had been amazing for me. But that was from the outside looking in. If you were on the inside, you knew that my life was actually completely crumbling, and I was a very, very sad woman. And that was because it was a culmination of things. It was number one my marriage was falling apart.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
It was absolutely on the rocks. I had lost my father several years prior to cancer, and I was still really disheveled and healing from that. But most importantly I was really, really unhappy. And the way that I was living my life when it came to nutrition and exercise and my body and all of it, you know, I am somebody who really, from the age of about nine years old, had this belief. This belief instilled in me that, that my body wasn't good enough. That I wasn't in the right body. And I was a very athletic kid. I was a, I was always I was tall for my age. I was never super overweight, but just by a lack of awareness from, from females in my life, older females in my life, constantly talking about weight, constantly talking about diet.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
I just got this picture that the body I was in, I was supposed to be smaller. And this was a very, like, detrimental thought. That was, I carried throughout my entire life. At the age of 15, I was on my first calorie restricted diet. I didn't even know what a calorie was, but I just knew I wasn't supposed to eat a lot of 'em. And so I really started to develop this super unhealthy relationship to food, and also this really destructive relationship to my body. And this manifested and really progressed to, in my early twenties I was prra practicing bulimia on the regular. And you know, that time in my life, I was just really, again, really, really unhappy with, with myself and my self-worth. And I had so much value placed on the way I looked, and I just, and it was never good enough.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
The way I looked was never good enough. And once again, from the outside looking in, people would be like, what are you talking about? You were a workout queen and you, you ate so healthy and you were so in shape and all these things. And yeah, I was, but there was a major price I paid to that, what people didn't know going on behind the scenes. And so, as I you know, in my twenties when I really kind of, one of my first rock bottoms of, of being bulimic, I did fortunately have the financial resources to get the help. And I, and I got help through therapy that helped me to stop the physical act of bulimia. But I realized later in life that I never really healed the emotional piece of it. I never healed the relationship to my body. I never healed the relationship to self.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
And so this theme of not be feeling good enough, not loving my body, constantly chasing diets, constantly l trying to lose weight and then gaining it back, like this whole just nightmare that I lived in, which I know is so common for so many women, as you know, they continued to just plague me my whole life. Until early thirties, I got pregnant with, I had both my kids, I gained about 65, 70 pounds with both babies. I was very unhealthy. And it's because I used those nine months as basically a full on binge session. It was like I had, I always say it was like I had a case of the efforts like, like for like, you know, nine months straight, right? <Laugh>, like that was my time. And it's because I had just been living as such a restrictive lifestyle for so long.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
And it, I led to preeclampsia, you know, bedrest. I mean, I was almost two 15 when I delivered both kids. And it was just for me at that time, nothing wrong with being two 15, but that was a lot of weight that I had gained. I mean, it was unhealthy weight. And so fast forward to now, I am getting ready to turn 40 and like everything is just coming to a head. So I'm realizing I'm unhappy with the way I'm showing up in life, and I'm unhappy with my body, and I'm tired. I'm tired of dieting. I'm tired of just overanalyzing. Every morsel of food I put in my body. I'm tired of hating what I see in the mirror. I'm really unhappy in my marriage, and I'm also really unhappy. And my job, it was very unfulfilling. I was crushing it, but I was very unfulfilled.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
And so, you know, to answer your question of what did I do to kind of get, get out of that rock bottom? Well, I started by by getting quiet. I started really exploring my spirituality. I really started exploring like, what does it look like to like, reconnect with myself and get clear on, on how I'm feeling and processing and not ignoring my feelings. I had this, this desire to really figure out what was the purpose and all of this pain. I knew in my core that even though what I was going through was super hard and uncomfortable, and I was devastated and all the things I chose, and I made the act of choice to believe that it was not in vain. That there was a light at the end of the tunnel. And I just had to sit and be quiet and be still and get in touch with how I feel and figure out what, what that purpose is.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
And so all of it really came to a head. I decided for my 40th birthday to go to a, a yoga retreat in Costa Rica by myself, and with the intention of just figuring out what are my next steps. And I walked away from that very just very impactful trip with the, with just the inner knowing that I was supposed to take all of this work I've been doing on myself and, and all of the, this healing that I had started. And I was supposed to share it with other women. And so this just really began the journey for me of healing myself. And, and I immediately came back and enrolled in a, a program to start coaching. And it really just kind of just, just went from there. But it, but it began with reconnecting with myself.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
I love that. And thank you for your vulnerability and sharing that. I think what you said will resonate with so many women because we just had this distorted relationship with food. Yes. We've grown up with other females in our life constantly talking about their weight. And so we do, we have this value associated with certain sizes, and it is so very detrimental. And, and inadvertently we are passing this on to our children. And so I'm also very passionate about that because someone's gotta teach our children about good, healthy nutrition Yes. And good healthy body image. And so, so now you're this body transformation expert, and I love how you work a lot with women over 40 mm-hmm. <Affirmative> to really get them off that crazy diet train. So here's my first question. Why do you think it's so hard to lose weight after the age of 40? What shifts are happening and why is it a little bit more challenging?

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Well, I think that's actually a two-part question. I absolutely think, or there's two answers to that. I will say not two-part question, but there's two answers to that. And this is what I'll say. Number one, I do think just for the obvious reasons, physically, our body is cha, our bodies are changing, our hormones are shifting. Our, you know, just our, our metabolism is changing. You know, things are not the same when we are in our twenties and thirties. They're just not so physically our bodies are changing. But I think even more, I don't, I don't wanna say more so, but just even like side by side, which also goes along with this as I do think that women 40, 50 and beyond, we, because so many of us have really been dieting our whole life, right? I talk to so many women every day who just, you know, their dieting career last 20, 30, maybe, you know, 40 years, right?

Speaker 2 (12:23):
And so what comes along with that is a very, very unhealthy relationship to food, right? We've got this food, we've got this list in our mind of good foods and, and bad foods, right? And so when, when you have that mentality, right, and you're constantly having anxiety and restricting, you know, having anxiety around food, and you're constantly restricting, which will eventually lead to like falling off the wagon or like that binge mentality, ultimately what that affects is your ability to be consistent with a healthy lifestyle. And what I have found at the end of the day is that nutrition doesn't have to be, and nor should it be that complicated, but it's not. And it's not about being perfect. That's what diets teach you. Diets teach you that you gotta be perfect. Diets teach you that there's no margin for error. You gotta count every calorie count, every macro, you gotta weight every single ounce of food.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
And if you don't do that, you're not gonna get results. And here's the deal when you're trying to, you know, do that within a short amount of time, yes, that's probably true, because it does, there's no room for error. There's no room other than perfection, but true sustainable weight loss, where it is, you're not dieting. There is what I like to call food freedom. It doesn't require perfection, and it's not complicated. It is about being consistent most of the time. Over time, that is what it takes. And it's about focusing on the big dial movers, which for me, I think are you know, just simply eating less stuff out of a box or a package, right? Getting more whole foods as simple as that sounds, eating a more balanced diet. Like, you know, getting your fruits and your vegetables and your good fats, protein complex carbohydrates, all of that.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
Like just eating more. And we all know that that's not news. I think to the listeners that like, that's, that's a hel what is a healthy lifestyle. But I think what a lot of people miss, which creates that inability to be consistent, is you also have to work on satisfaction. You also have, right? You also have to work on actually being satisfied with what you're eating. You know, paying attention to your cravings, your hunger cues, and all of that is super, super important. That is the difference between actually making it a lifestyle versus just following like, basically a diet. Like, you know, you can turn, turn just regular healthy eating into a diet if you're ne if you are ignoring your body's biofeedback, and if you're walking away from meals not feeling satisfied, and you're never allowing yourself indulgences without guilt, like all the things, then, then that is the difference between a diet and an actual lifestyle. And so I think for women over 40, it definitely is both, it is the combination of like a long li, you know, a long life of diet mentality that we just don't know how to get out of. And then it's our changing bodies,

Speaker 1 (15:22):
Just so many powerful things you said. And we do, I think we are constantly, when it comes to weight loss, we're looking for that bright, shiny magic pill. And we want it fast. We want it right now. So I loved hearing you talk about, hey, it's, instead of this list of eat this, don't eat that. Like, focus on the foods, the real whole foods that don't come in a box, you know? And so I, you know, this is something that I, I preach continually, and it is because we're just looking for that bright, shiny object that's gonna help us lose weight. And it's the, it's those little consistent efforts. I also heard you say. It takes time. And I think that's where we just get very impatient. We are very hard on ourselves, and we've gotta get off that diet train. So you reference counting calories earlier, you, and I know how detrimental that is. But just tell us in a, in a brief summary, like why is, why does counting calories not work?

Speaker 2 (16:18):
Well, I think it's a number of reasons. Number one, it, you know, much unlike diet culture, you know, wants to act like counting calories is like such this perfect science, and it's actually, it's just not, our bodies are way more nuanced than that. So that's number one. I think it's so dangerous trying to, you know, adhere to this like, specific calorie number every day. Number one, just, I don't think it's, you know, it's, it's as accurate as we think we're even more entering all the things into my Fitness pal. But also you know, I do think that just mentally it does, it doesn't work long term because, I mean, I don't know about you, but like, I'm a busy working mom. Like, I don't have the brain space to like count and track calories and say, right, right, right. And so all that does is it just feeds into, again, that diet mentality.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
It's not sustainable long term. Now, I will say, you know, am I saying that you don't have to watch your calories to lose weight? That would be ignorant. No, you obviously do. It's not like you can like weigh overeat, but what, you know, and, and, and still expect to see some results. But what I will say, and what I teach my clients is that when you focus on portion sizes and you focus on eating more whole foods and eating a more balanced diet, I can tell you, and I can promise you that the calories and you, and you're, you're focusing on being satisfied. So you're minimizing your like, binge sessions and kind of that up and down roller coaster of like eating healthy all week and then going all in on the weekend, right? Like, when you can kinda level that out and you do that through more mindfulness and being satisfied and all of that, then you don't have to count or track.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Because really you will just, like, when you start eating less stuff in a box or a package, you will naturally go into a little bit of a calorie deficit. You just, I mean, and you just, you, unless you're like, again, unless you're not focusing on portions and all of that, but when you just kind of make the simple step of like reducing added sugars and just focusing on portions, eating some more just whole natural foods you are gonna find, it's like mind blowing, believe it or not. But you don't have to counter track that really will just kind of take care of itself. Plus, because I come from a more integrative nutrition background, I do believe your body will start responding better. Your inflammation, your inflammation will go down your, you know, your, your hormones will be more balanced. Your gut health will improve. All of these do play a role in your ability to lose weight. You know, this, this bro science of, you know, it's just calories in, calories out. That's all that matters. That's such a, such a lame and stupid way I think of it. It

Speaker 1 (18:59):
Is, it is. And, and it's still being shoved down, my gosh, everyone's throat, you know? And especially when I get these clients that have been like literally brainwashed by whatever, whatever crackhead health coach they've been working with that has been shoving this calorie mentality down their throat. I know. And, you know, making 'em send pictures of the scale and, and then adjusting that day. Like, it, it is absolutely maddening to me. That's

Speaker 2 (19:24):
Maddening.

Speaker 1 (19:25):
And you said something too that I think we need to point out. You know, when it comes to these boxed processed items, they have something in them. They have chemicals and toxins Yes. And stabilizers to make them shelf stable. And that is contributing to our overall toxic load, which is driving inflammation, which is gonna make weight loss extremely difficult. So when our body eats real food, our body goes, okay, I know exactly what this is, this is exactly what I needed. Now, we talked about satisfaction a little bit. You alluded to that. What is your, what are your best tips for, but for truly being satisfied when it comes to real food?

Speaker 2 (20:01):
Absolutely. So I think number one is definitely, you know, my, my intention at every meal is to walk away feeling satisfied. Because what a lot of people miss is that what you eat in the morning for breakfast absolutely impacts what you eat at night. You know, if you're somebody who's ever said to yourself, gosh, I eat all, well, I eat well all day, but then I find myself overdoing it at night. Well, instead of do going to your default, which would be like beating yourself up, feeling guilty about that, like disappointed in yourself, I actually want you to have a little bit of a reframe and think, okay, well wait a minute. Maybe it has nothing to do with, you know, who I am as a person, my ability to stay consistent, my driver, my desire to lose weight, but it actually has everything to do with my nutrition and my, my satisfaction from what I'm eating all day long.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
Or even some of those of you who are listening and you're like, I eat well all week, but I binge on the weekends. I kind of go off the rails. Well, again, let go take out the emotion. There's nothing wrong with you. More than likely, what's happening is that actually what you're eating during the week isn't that satisfying? Maybe you're pushing down cravings. Maybe you're, there's multiple times during the week where you're telling yourself, oh, you know, I, I want that cookie, but I shouldn't have it. I'm trying to lose weight. Right? We all know that internal dialogue, and I gotta tell you, every single time you have that conversation with yourself, you are contributing to a future binge. And when I say binge, I'm not necessarily talking about it in the clinical sense of the word. It doesn't have to be that, but I'm talking more about like that binge mentality.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
And what I define binge mentality as is anytime you lose connection with your body, right? Which is like, like you have thoughts like, wow, well, you know what? I've already been bad. I've already failed. I might as well keep going. I'm gonna eat that fourth cookie because I know I gotta just start over tomorrow. That is a binge, that is binge mentality or eat Yes, yes. Right? Or even if it's, I have a piece of pizza, and you're not even connected with how full you are or how satisfied you are, but you're like, Ooh, I've already been bad. I might as well eat two more pieces, or I might as well just even eat a second piece. And the clinical second sent the word, eating two pieces of pizza is not necessarily a binge, but what the way I'm talking about it is, it's eating without intention, right?

Speaker 2 (22:15):
That to me is binge mentality eating mm-hmm. <Affirmative> without intention. And so it's really important that people realize that when you are, I think when people quote, fall off the wagon more than most of the time, it is like a direct link to not being satisfied. So some of the ways that I teach satisfaction are, number one, always honoring your cravings. And, you know, when you can really, you know, let go of this idea of good food versus bad food, and you can really lead with the, with the idea of, you know what, I'm a grown, I'm a grown woman. I can actually eat what I want, you know, and, and you give yourself permission. It you, it allows you to move outta that primal part of your brain that just keeps telling you, you can't have it. You can't have it, you can't have it.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
Which then when you do that, all you then wanna do is have it, right. It allows you like, move out of that primal part of your brain and move into a more rational part, which is going to allow you to get more curious, which is going to allow you to say, okay, you know what, I want that cookie. I can have that cookie if I want. But now, now you can ask yourself things like, okay, well, you know, do what? Am I really craving? Or is there, is there some a healthier alternative? Or, okay, well, you know what, maybe I'll just have a few bites and then go from there. I don't need to eat three cookies. It just allows you to get curious. So not denying your cravings is a huge one. I think a second one, as far as is definitely not ignoring your hunger cues as well.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
You know, for the longest time because of dieting, I had this idea in my head that if I was hungry, I was doing it right, and it was meaning, it meaning the diet, right? Because like you, you, I was always doing like restrictive diets, and so I just really lost touch with like, my, my hunger, my fullness. It was like, it was either starving or I was like stuffing myself. Like I didn't that in between I wasn't very good at. And so I think it's really important to, if you're hungry, again, it goes back to like the cravings thing. Don't push it down. Don't ignore it. Like, get curious with it. Think about it. Well, hey, did I eat enough at my last meal? Maybe I really am just like hungry. Right? Like honoring your cues. And one of the, one of the other things that, this is a big thing, I think is, you know, really focusing on, again, finding, focusing on satisfaction in your meals.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
And the way that I do that is I do use, let's say like maybe some, I definitely make sure I get a lot of like, good fats at my meals. Those absolutely add to satisfaction. So adding, you know, olives and maybe avocado and like whatever that is using, you know, intuitively, you know using PORs or intuitively building my portions around what I know to be a kind of a just a normal portion. And let me, I didn't explain that very well. I didn't say that very well, but let me tell you what I mean here, is that a lot of women, what I find in my practice is that when I mention the whole, like, you can use, you know, some good fats or you can use cheese or like, as like, as a condiment to just, you know, like get a little bit more satisfaction.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
A lot of women are afraid to do that because they're afraid to overdo it, right? And what I always say to them is I say, okay, listen, if I were to tell you though, like, let's, and that that mistrust of themselves comes from years of dieting, but I say to them, okay, if I were to tell you that you could add some cheese to your salad, and I were to give you permission to do that, right? Intuitively, how much would you add? I'm like, I don't know. I'd probably grab a handful, or probably not whole. I'd probably grab some and just sprinkle it. I'm like, yes, intuitively, would you grab two handfuls and dump it on your side? Right? No. Right, right. They're like, no. And so my point of all that is, is it's just when, so intuitively I know like, what, what kind of normal portions are, and I bet if you're listening to this, if you think about it, you do too.

Speaker 2 (26:06):
And so in the long run, again, if the goal is to stay consistent, most of the time, over time, adding five olives to your salad versus 10 is a, not in the grand scheme of thing, going to make a blip of a difference <laugh> at all. So true. Yes. Like, it's not going to matter. And so, you know, now if you are doing two handfuls of cheese versus a sprinkle, like, yes, that can add up, but intuitively you're not gonna do that. And so that's one of the ways that I, a focus on adding satisfaction is not being afraid and using your intuition to like, make your food a little more satisfying, like through maybe some dairy or maybe some good fats. And and going from there,

Speaker 1 (26:48):
I love that. And it's something that I, that I discuss often is that satisfaction component. Because when we're satisfied, we're not in, in that ravenous just looking for something to grab I, and we're helping to stabilize our blood sugar, which you and I both know is so vitally important Yes. When it comes to our body working efficiently and, and weight loss. So I'm always promoting that. But that food combining including protein and healthy fat Yes. At your meals and, and let's, and we're doing that for satisfaction. Yes. Most importantly. And obviously there's some great scientific reasons, but that satisfaction is so important. Shifting gears a little bit from nutrition to exercise mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, because you brought up earlier, we've got this mentality eat less, move more. And so that's being shoved down our throat exercise is so very important. But tell us what are the best guidelines for someone who really wants to transform their body?

Speaker 2 (27:40):
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I, in fact, I just record a podcast episode on this, I get asked all the time, you know, for women over 40, what are best practices? You know, what's, what's the best way to exercise? And, and I'll say a couple things on that. Number one you absolutely can do the same type of exercise that you did in your twenties as you do in your forties, fifties, and beyond, but it really has to do more about the way you take care of your body. So number one, you know, as we age and, and especially over 40 and beyond, and our hormones are dropping, we do need to be mindful of the balance of exercise that we're doing. You know, this, this is where this move more, less is very dangerous because you know, doing too much high intensity, you know, too much high intensity exercise is absolutely going to put too much stress on your body hormonally.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
And so we do have to find that balance. And so when I coach clients, what I teach them is that I personally the kind of the max of what you should be doing is, is, and it's different for everybody, but kind of a good general guideline is really focusing on a good combination of you know, strength training more, a little bit more high intensity, like strength training and restorative exercise. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, you know, we way underestimate the power of like going for a, a, a walk or a hike. We actually hormonally need those types of days in order to, to really, you know, kind of get the best out of our body and feeling the best. I also recommend stretching at every single workout. Doing a, a good warmup stretch and a cool down stretch is super, super important. And, and again, just really focusing on that, that balance mm-hmm. <Affirmative>

Speaker 2 (29:25):
Of the restorative plus, you know, plus the, the, the, the strength training. If you're somebody that's listening to this, so when you don't do exercise and you're, you're not exercising currently, you don't know how to get started, I honestly recommend like, just start by trying to get some steps in. Start with just getting steps in and, and start to make that a habit. Start to make that a part of your lifestyle, and then you can add on. So I am a huge proponent of the strength training though for, for women. I'm in our demographic, it's good for our bones. It's also just one of the, the best ways to change your body composition, especially since we're losing muscle as we age. But I would say, yeah, for best practices in at this stage in our life, it is absolutely combining restorative with the strength training more higher intensity. We don't need to be doing, you know, these huge long bouts of cardio day in and day out. It's not really serving your body.

Speaker 1 (30:21):
Yeah. I like how you put that. It's just not serving, serving our body. This has been such a just a fantastic conversation just to the point and you know, served with such kindness. So I think this has just been so, so practical, and that's what I absolutely love. So I'm curious for that woman who is just so frustrated on her health journey and she, she knows she needs to lose weight. She's tried very unsuccessfully. What would be your word of encouragement to her?

Speaker 2 (30:51):
I just want you to start small. I want you to, I want you to think of one thing today that you could do to, to take one step closer to a healthy lifestyle and focus on that. You know, change, sustainable change doesn't come from taking drastic measures. It never lasts. It's not sustainable. What is sustainable is figuring out what works for your life and really starting to shift your identity to that healthy future self. And what does sh what does her day look like? What, how does she show up? And start and get really clear on that and start making, taking small steps, baby steps towards that future healthy self. And the reason why that's so important is because once you hit your weight loss goals or your health goals or whatever that looks like, you will be able to maintain her because you already have the foundation in place that supports her. And that's really, really important.

Speaker 1 (31:54):
So, so very valuable. Thank you so much, Amber. This has been such an amazing conversation. So much of what you've said is the same things that I'm saying all the time on the podcast and in my coach, my coaching journey. So I, I really appreciate that. It is, it's sometimes it almost seems a little bit too basic cuz it's not the bright, shiny, big, huge promises, but that's totally ir like unrealistic. And I think that that sustainable change doesn't come from drastic measures. Just such a powerful reminder to us all. So I know that we will have our listeners that wanna connect with you after the show. So please let everyone know how they can find you.

Speaker 2 (32:36):
Yeah, I, I'm, of course I'm on TikTok at Ms. Amber Shaw. But I love, love, love to connect on Instagram, Ms. Amber Shaw. I would love for you to send me a DM if you've got a question about something I said, or if something resonated please find me over there. And of course, you can also listen to my podcast, the Wellness Revolution with Amber Shaw. And that's on you know, podcast or that's on Apple, Spotify, all the things. So I would love to connect.

Speaker 1 (32:59):
Love it. Thank you so much for being with us today.

Speaker 2 (33:02):
Thanks for having me.
​
Speaker 1 (33:04):
I love that reminder that sustainable change doesn't come from drastic measures. Like that's a great reminder. Remember, you can't go from one extreme to another. It doesn't work that way. I want you to be thinking what is one thing, one small change that you can make today to improve your health tomorrow. I hope you enjoy that episode with Amber Shaw. Joining me next time as I continue the conversation on weight loss and some main obstacles that you need to address to get the weight off. Yep. Guess what the title of this one is? It's Poop and Sleep. The Two Secrets to Weight Loss and Living Your Best Life. Yep, I'm going there. That's next time. Until then, take it one day at a time. One change at a time. You've got this, my friend.