Right then. We're... I don't know actually. Oh right. One of the doors is open. Who's door is open? Someone's door is open. What's going on here?
Is it mine or? I don't know. Oh, no. Oh, don't know. Oh, should you want me to shut the bills? No, I don't think. Let's find out. It'll tell us here in a minute. Anyway, welcome to the podcast. We're in a car. I don't know if we're allowed to drive it at this rate. No, we're not driving anywhere. It's a full circle moment, though, isn't it? Because this is where 95% of our podcasts used to come from live from the car. 95%.
What was it though? Wasn't it? How did you more formally use that thing? But I just think about the cars we've been through in the last six years and how many random cars are owned cars. Well as you can tell we're not in my kitchen but we are in my car so we've moved on for life and fortunately you don't have to watch this one. I preferred the kitchen it was warmer. Yes. Well you know I might be able to put the bum warmer on for you if you want that.
Yes. That's how we roll in these podcasts. Welcome to Slimmer or Podcast Time Clear. This is Anna. And today we're talking about that word, journey. Journey. Journey. It always makes you think of Northern Journey. It makes me think about that song, the journey that we always used to be on the X Factor. Don't stop believing. Yes. Yes. I think it's that. But all the X Factor winners would sing the journey. Yeah. Anyway, I digress.
Well, on her side notes, last year in a cold park on a Sunday morning, we got with Mr. Sleek. We didn't get to it, Mr. Sleek. We interviewed Mr. Sleek.
We performed a music video with Mr. Sleek, which is available on our Instagram somewhere. Singing, don't stop believing where. Anna had a variety of speed-free food shakers. My eggs. You had an egg shaker. But yeah, satsuma, apple. And it ended with Mr. Sleek singing into a banana. I mean, that was the epitome of my career. That was the height.
I'd make some of the dock pond in manna parking gloss up. Oh my, the things we do. Have you ever thought back and thought, what the crazy things we've done over the last six years? It's mental when you look back, but what that made us realise is that we've enjoyed the journey of the last six years. I've changed that so well to get us and to know why we're parked up.
Oh in the car because we're not travelling, we're stopping a moment. Oh is that why? We're parked up to stop and appreciate where we've been and how we've got here. You told me it was too rainy. No we weren't going to go for a walk but instead I like the car analogy and also it was warmer.
No, but you know what, we're laughing but the last six years of our podcast, we have enjoyed the roller coaster that it's been. We maybe haven't recognised that while it was happening, but we have what a section. Remember like when we first actually got sponsored by some of those episodes, 61, and we announced it when we're in the toilets.
of Slimming World's sparkly castle. But they're not like any toilet. That is like being in the five-star hotel, but they were seriously good toilets. That was a highlight of our journey. I would also say, like, the fun time when we went to go and get a bra fitting and ended up within a podcast with our boobs out. That was just ridiculous. I've never, ever forgotten.
The day I had the scaggiest bra on the lady said I can't even donate this to... Do you remember she had a bra donation? She was like, that is too manky to go into a bra, didn't it? Yes. I liked some of my career. I dreamed of this when I was a little girl. Yeah, what else has happened along the journey? I mean, like, cooking?
We literally had always dreamed of being a chef on TV and I juiced a lemon with a carving knife and we made an episode about it. I mean, we've had, we've interviewed some incredible people. We didn't make the episode about carving a lemon out with a knife. No, no, we would slim up kitchen. It's just, that was my highlight. We've interviewed some incredible people. Do you know what I think in the other day?
If we totted up all the weight of everyone we've interviewed over the last six years, it'd be a lot of weight they've lost. That was a good start. Do you know where I think it's quite incredible? When I first joined some world and had a lot of weight to lose, I felt an enormous amount of shame and guilt.
I was angry at myself. How could I have let myself get like this? What the heck have I done? I was just mad. And yeah, had I never got to that point in my life and then lost away and joined some world and never would have had all these experiences, never would have met you, never would have started this podcast, never would have done all those crazy things in the last six years. So in the end, it all worked out.
Yeah. Well, I'm just looking at my home and thinking without Slimming World, I wouldn't have my beautiful house that I've got. And I know it's as simple as that, isn't it? Like, so many things have changed for us because of Slimming World. Not only the weight we've lost, but the lives we've gained from it. And I know that might sound very cheesy, but for us, that's very, very true, isn't it? The freedom and the courage it's given us, that if we'd stayed in that unhappy place of hating ourselves and that shame, we might not have had the confidence to achieve.
Do you know what we also haven't mentioned there? We haven't mentioned how much we've lost. We've talked about all of the other things that we've gained in life and it's actually, it's easy to slip into that, you know, I've only lost half a pound this week or I've had a maintain or I've lost had a gain, but you forget all this other stuff.
that is happening as a result of you going and stepping out and beginning this journey and that's where I think that enjoying the here and now because there's this phrase, isn't that, that's, I recognise them all would have mentioned in the last few weeks this feeling good inside out. We've mentioned this in the last couple of episodes as well and I suppose it's always worth thinking what are the things that make you feel good inside out like
Today I've put a pair of jeans on which I haven't wore in ages and I've realised they probably need a bit of a wash. But I haven't wore these for ages they were shoved at the back of my wardrobe because for ages they just wouldn't fit and now they do and those little things that make me feel good inside out if you know what I mean?
you know i was just thinking about the confidence thing that confidence to walk in the room and go i'm here this is me and that's what this has really helped me with just go yep this is it that acceptance which maybe i didn't have before like losing weight and making the lifestyle changes has allowed me to feel more empowered also i'm a woman in her mid 40s now so i am do you know what i mean feeling like
Safe in my skin does that makes sense like for many years I'd always not quite settled into who I was as a person But now I feel like my body is you know healthy and well as healthy as it can be but I'm looking after it I'm fit I'm the way I want to be and actually I'm confident with who I am and I wasn't when I first started in mud
Yeah, yeah, I think you can enter the weight loss world feeling a bit down and out and almost like you lose faith in yourself to actually stick at something and I know we've talked before where we both had tried many different things before we came to Slim and World where it just taken us down
like even an even darker path than where we started on and actually I'd really lost that belief in myself that I could stick with something and actually achieve something and they're just the kind of monitoring things on a weekly basis allowed me to build some kind of level of steady consistency that then over time it all kind of adds up it's a bit like you know if you've got like a tiny little bit of blue tack
And then you put it on the steering wheel, and then each week you added a bit more little blue tack. Eventually, you'd have like a steering wheel size blue tack, which would be very handy if you were looking to put posters up. I mean, it really, really handy. But that analogy of consistency. Jesus Christ.
We're running out of analogies people. I mean that's that's one to bank and remember. But what if someone's starting out this year right? Every every pound they lose they got a little tiny bit of blue tack and then by the end of the year or you got a little pebble.
If you've got some gravel outside, take a little bit of gravel and put it in a pile. I mean, I was thinking like, yeah, or you could put like beautiful stones or pounds or pennies. I'm like, blue tack gravel, steal some gravel from your neighbour. Get a pound of blue tack for every pound you lose. And by the end of the year, you have a full stone of blue tack. But it's that consistency that I think we've really thrived off, isn't it? And we've been seeking, because
in our worlds if you think about it before swimming world we didn't have much consistency our lives were quite chaotic and actually what our weight loss journey has given us is a sense of achievement by taking things slowly one step at a time and control as well i think hundred percent like taking back control of i felt like food had this kind of invisible power over me
You will eat me and you will eat all of me right now. It was like some kind of monster that spoke to me and I was just like what? I also felt quite similar about alcohol in that I could have a couple of drinks but then it was like the effort button. Yeah I couldn't have a couple it was four bottles or nothing. Yeah and I really feel like for certain foods the trigger foods
there is that element in me where once that packet is open I know it's down a slippery slope and I like to kind of allow me to have a bit of that but learn how to get some control mechanism that is empowering and I've learned that
Actually there are certain things that I don't choose to have in my life because they don't aid who I want to be now but that's been such a process that I've had to learn to accept whereas I would have said I could have never have lived without booze and I could have never have lived without eating sixteen bars of chocolate a day. I don't, I now know that those two things are not something that I choose to have in my life because they don't serve me anymore but that was a journey out to go on of self discovery to understand that.
but so many times I've been trapped in that place of if I've not lost four stone by next Wednesday, this doesn't work and not enjoying the process starving myself, restricting myself, hating myself. The moment I started to see the little glimmers like actually yesterday you had made a really good choice and you did X, Y and Z and celebrated those, the pressure came off.
And pressure is not something that makes things enjoyable, is it? It's something that almost takes the joy out of it. So, recognising what you have the propensity to do as a human being and understanding to enjoy your weight loss journey, whether you've just started, you're in the middle, you're at target.
is understanding how you personally need to navigate it and the things that you maybe need to change up so you can enjoy it. Like, I remember when I first started in potatoes. Potatoes are such a wonderful thing in my life, but allowing myself to have freedom of enjoyment. She's looking at me like, oh, Ellen. But they are, aren't they? Like, for me, potatoes, as stupid as it sounds, unlocked so much for me.
She's just looking at me and where are we going with this? But they did. But they really did because potatoes signify comfort for me. Eating them freely allowed me to make a choice that was not going to stop me losing weight. I could use them, enjoy them, be satisfied and still lose weight. That's what I mean by potatoes.
What about, you know what, there are times in my journey where I, if I'm honest and I know, you know, the title of this is about enjoyment, I haven't always enjoyed it. I've got stuck, I've got frustrated, you know, I've just, I've hit a bump and then it's kind of knowing what to do when maybe you're not enjoying it. And there will be people listening saying, yeah, I want to get back there, I'm just not sure how.
I think the first thing that I had to learn was to accept that that was part of the journey. There was no way that I could get to my end point and it'd be smooth sailing because life is not smooth sailing. To understand, accept and be prepared for the bumps. To almost see them before they happened.
but also to have a repertoire of tools, actions, foods that safeguarded me so that I could roll that out if there was a bump. Today this is what I need to do because I'm feeling like this rather than spiral because I'm very good at spiraling. One fall and I would end up quitting.
So, I would say to anybody that's stuck right now, know you've got it in your hands to make a difference and control it and change it. You just need to take the first step. So, for example, my first step would always be if I'd struggled, slimmer more chips in a burger. I know that sounds bizarre or a big pasta dish because they were free foods that I know got me up on the ladder. They got me back to feel excited and really want to eat them and were so different from the kind of stringent rules I'd put in previously.
So understanding why the fall happens, understanding it's going to happen, but knowing that on the other side of that is going to be some joy. Yeah. I suppose also honesty as well, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. 100% being honest with yourself, but the people around you, because if you don't ask for help when you're struggling, you're never going to get through it, are you? We've tried to do things on our own before and it's not worked. We've needed the power, that support of group and people around us.
to help us ride those waves because if it's just you you become stuck in your own head if you hear from other people you understand what it's like to come through it you understand what mechanisms they may use what tools they could kind of give to you and it's knowing that asking for help is not a weakness and I always thought it was I should be able to do this do you know what I mean why can naturally slim people not stress about food whereas it's my every thought but talking about it and asking for help and support and ideas liberated me and lifted that burden
Yeah. Yeah, because I think the thing is that many of us know what it's like to walk away and give up. Yes.
But there's almost like a, but I don't know how I need to stick with it. I don't know how to keep going. I haven't worked that out yet. And it's tough and it's uncomfortable. And it's not always joyful, but when you come through the other side, it gives you that is that feeling good inside out, that control. You know that whatever happens in the future, this is evidence to say, well, I got through that.
And what our subconscious is very good at is pulling out all the evidence of saying, well, Anna, you are rubbish at this. Anna history tells me you did xy and z. And that's why asking for help, not quitting, making your promise to yourself that you're not going to quit. You will then strengthen that message in your subconscious that I can do it.
And actually, it's alright that it's hard sometimes. That's part of what will give you then enjoyment. You can't, like, you can't have sunshine if, you know, it didn't rain and things like that. All those analogies that sound so cheesy sometimes. I'm not sure that ever was an analogy. I may have just made that up. You can't have sunshine if there's no rain. Yeah, that's not, it's something like that. But you get me. What? There's a sunshine, there's no rainbow without... She ain't getting a job in the Met Office.
I think I ate. There's no rainbow without rain. I was thinking of people in the desert, so I got everything thinking, what's happening here then? What I'm trying to say is, you know, it's okay. It has to be rubbish to get better.
Yeah, that's probably a much easier way. But you know, I've always talked about the 1% rule. If you go to bed every night and think I'm going to be 1% better, now 1% better doesn't mean that I've got to be really strict with myself and not have that. But just 1% better to me goes, look, yesterday you fell at that point, how are you not going to fall at that point tomorrow? And just understanding that you are a book that's yet to be written, aren't you? Every day is a new opportunity to go and make a change.
that's going to allow you to bring joy in and make changes that are going to allow you to lose weight. But really, really importantly, be there and stay there and enjoy that slim body that you've created. That's a really important message, I think, to finish January with as well, because often we can...
You know, do everything in January. We're like, right, I'm going to not drink. I'm going to go to the gym every day and I'm going to lose like all my weight. And I'm just going to erase it all in January. Then I can go back to normal life or something. But actually it's a sense of, okay, how have you done in January? What's worked for you? What hasn't worked for you? If you are going to be reintroducing, maybe didn't dry January or something, if you're going to be reintroducing, maybe alcohol or
going out or something like that once payday kicks in the next few days, how are you going to put some maybe some boundaries around that just to have that layer of control? And how are you going to kind of stick with your weight loss? Because it's one thing to kind of lose weight, but actually then to add in the exercise and all the other restrictions that sometimes people do in January.
It can make it almost over complicated and I think it's a timely period to talk about joy because you can probably quit most things for 30 days but it's after the 30 days where a lot of people start to feel that deprivation and I say that as someone who for five years
always did dry january but then when it came back to february i fell off the wagon in a massive way i think one year i didn't eat meat and i didn't drink because i felt like that was the maximum way for me to lose weight if i really reduced my calories at the end of the month i didn't weigh any different and then that annoyed me and then i just lost it in february
So instead now, I look for those kind of smaller habits of consistency. And you're so true about the 1%. I remember the year that I really nailed it, you know, I joined your group, lost that four stone in that first year. And I didn't do everything called at once. I didn't even really focus on exercise or body magic, really. I focused on less nail the food. And then we'll start to add the next few layers and just work on that because January and winter itself is a hard time.
You don't need to be making this any harder for yourself. Do you know if I could give myself one piece of advice it would to have said slow down. Practice, practice, keep moving but don't feel like you've got to run a race because it was that pressure of that race. Who was on racing against myself? And all I ever learned to do when I was trying to go so fast was to really restrict and then blow out actually the moment I chilled out was when it all fell into place.
I've always said I've came into Slimwood as a yo-yoer. I could actually lose weight and you know what, if you deprive yourself of most things, you probably will lose weight. But then you put it back on and that was exhausting. I was so frustrated because I know how hard it is, how much energy it takes to actually get on the weight loss wagon.
It takes a normal, must courage, strength, determination, you know, it's consistency, it's turning up every week, you know, it's commitment, right? And then to fall off and then be like, just that voice in my head of, oh, you've done it again, that way I berated myself. I just wanted to just say, oh, I do want.
to that little voice in my head. And the only way you're going to say do one to that little voice is to create those habits that you can build on that then build your confidence in yourself. The thing that's really helped me is every night I write down three positives out of the day that are, you know, one in life, two in my journey with food and three in my journey with activity. And it can be the smallest thing like actually picked a carrot over a packet of quests. But again,
is ending with positivity which is something I've really had to work on with my own mental health is that you have to glean positivity out of every single day. Yeah and weight loss can be fun that we're really passionate about this doesn't need to be a chore and punishment so find a way to make it fun. Find your joy, find your excitement and it will become a lot easier.
Yeah next week actually we do a members only podcast every other week so you can listen to all of our podcasts if you're a member on the Slim and World Members app and on those other weeks we're on Apple podcasts and Spotify as well as the members app just for those who aren't members so you get an idea of what is going on in Slim and World it may just give you that kind of window in if you're thinking about joining or you're a lapsed member and
you want to hold on to a bit of the slimming world world if you wish that's absolutely fine that's what we're here for to keep you know keep you motivated and when you're ready to rejoin come do it whatever you need to next we were talking about celebrating free food actually which is really like the focus of the food optimizing plan and that's a with a lead up to what will unfold as free food festival over the next few weeks in group and within the community of slimming world
And free foods really have unlocked so much joy in terms of what we eat. So yeah, we'll be dipping into that. Speaking of free food, Anna, we are parked very near your house. I'd noticed that there was a carrot on your drive that had holes in. Was that leftover from Rudolph or something? No, that was even
Even longer that was them where Daisy had her sparklers on November the 5th. That's how long the carrots been there. And she's left it because I've tried to pick it up about seven times, but apparently the wildlife need the carrot. There you go. This is the story of the carrot. Who put the holes in? Me, I put the sparkle in the carrot. So the children don't burn themselves, so the sparkle goes into the carrot, they have their gloves on.
I mean, that's an alternative way to use free food. Yeah, but the thing that I got told off is the first carrot I started to eat before I put the sparkle in and then she was a bit crossed with me because I ate the sparkle carrot. But you know, needs must when you're hungry, you're going to go for free food.
So anyway, the mystery has solved why Anna has a carrot on her drive. That's the level of nonsense that we can get into. No, that's the level of love for free food, I have. I leave it wherever I can. There's more of that nonsense next week. In the meantime, we're going to continue our journey.
Oh well, yes we are! I'm going to drop you back home. Are you going to catapult me out? I'm going to put a bomb armor on, right? Come on then, whilst the music rolls, the bomb armor's on. Do you want a bomb armor? Do you want to go for 3-2-1? I'm going to go for two, I don't want a sweaty bomb. Middle of the road, is that what you're kind of... Yeah, I've got a synthetic fabric on.
Do you know what I mean? You might feel like you've wet yourself. Yeah, well, I mean, for too much information. Right, whilst only put the sat nav on and she gets a warm bottom, you can go and do something productive with your lives. We're on Instagram, actually, we're on the email, slimmyworldpodcast at gmail.com. Come and see us there. Share what you're up to this year. How are you getting on? Are you having a joyful time? We'd love to hear from you. Tera Rubitt. Bye for now.