Welcome back to the Flourish podcast, y'all! First episode of 2023. So far so good. I am, I'm liking 2023. I'm liking who I am in 2023, and you know, that's like one of my big intentions is just to like the person that I am and the person that I'm becoming. And I hope you're getting to experience that too.

There's a lot of discourse online about the new year and did y'all see the whole, like, Equinox, you can't join this gym on January 1st thing? And it was a big like boohoo thumbs down to like New Year's resolution-ers. And you know, I, there's probably been times where I've had similar sentiments, but I've been thinking more this year and I've been really, frankly, relishing in the feeling of a fresh start.

And I'm not so sure that there's really a problem with it. Like I said, what I love about this fresh start is the feeling of a fresh start. And again, I don't know that there's anything wrong with that. So I hope you've enjoyed the way that you're feeling in this fresh start moment. I hope that you can generate that feeling ongoingly.

Because, you know, there's actually a thing called the Fresh start effect. So research shows that people are better at attempting their goals when they start on a, what is called a temporal landmark. So that could be the start of the year, the first of the month, even just the beginning, the end of the week. So we're, we're always being given opportunities to start a new, to see things through fresh eyes to again generate new, new patterns, new habits of thinking, feeling, behaving, acting.

And I want you to use that in a way that is supportive of you, not in a way that is harmful to you or that you know is under this assumption that to become acceptable, I need to change. Rather it's, I'm going to change in this direction of my desired future self because I am worthy of that.

And, I know that that's not always the message that we receive around this time of year. I have just been absolutely bombarded with weight loss content on TikTok, and a lot of it is not empowered or empowering and, and what I mean is like approaching weight loss like the body that I'm in right now is unacceptable. It's disgusting, it's gross, it's shameful. But when I change my body at the end of 2023, then it will be acceptable.

I feel like that's the, a lot of the message that I'm seeing on TikTok, not all of it, but it's a lot of it. And in some ways I think it's, it's painful to see because it certainly reminds me, it takes me to a place where I used to be and like I just wanna like reach out through the screen and, and let people know that there's a better way.

And it's not that you can't desire weight loss, but it's more of a belief that you deserve to, to find joy or peace or at least neutrality in the body that you're in today and, and you deserve to enjoy the journey wherever you're going. And honestly, it, it makes me feel very rooted in the work that we're doing in Flourish, where we're focusing not only on healthy eating and healthy habits and healthy behaviors, but also a healthy relationship with food that makes it all sustainable and enjoyable.

And it's not like one of those things over the other. It is like literally those two things shaking hands. Have y'all seen it like when people put like thing A hand shaking emoji thing B, this is where we need a visual, but you get what I'm saying? Because I mean really when it comes down to it, y'all, what is the point of vowing to eat healthier. What is the point of eating healthier if you're going to hate food and hate yourself the whole time? What's the point?

So with all of that in mind, I wanna give you like the real deal behind the scenes look into how we approach things that Flourish and what the first 30 days of a Flourish journey looks and, and also why? Like why do we approach things in this way given the goals of our members? Okay, so I'm gonna take you from top to bottom, inside and out, behind the scenes buckle up. And I want you to be thinking about how this applies to you, whether it's in Flourish or not. If you feel like you've been stuck in a similar cycle year after year, it is really within your power and it is totally up to you whether that continues to be true.

This could very well be the year that you approach your nutrition, your health, your weight, your body image in a totally different way, but you have to decide that for yourself. Okay, so let's, let's talk about how Flourish works. I'm gonna walk you through the process and again, the the why of it all. So it all starts with you downloading the Flourish app.

If this is interesting to you, you can download it in the show notes below. Otherwise, just listen along, and again, I think you'll glean some insights for your own personal journey, even if it doesn't include Flourish. Okay, so you'll download the app. You're gonna get matched to a coach based on some intake questions, and then we're also gonna have you complete a form about what you want to accomplish, in Flourish what hasn't worked for you in the past, and really what you need and want to be successful in reaching your goals.

Okay? Your coach will then review this information in preparation for your first coaching session, which is totally free. No credit card required, no strings attached, like we're just not about the shady business. Okay? You know when when we were creating Flourish, when I was designing Flourish, , it was supposed to be the antithesis of dieting in so many different ways.

Of course, in terms of like our methodology and the way that we approach, again, food and, and weight and body image and behavior change. Like duh. But also in terms of just the way that we run our business. Like , we don't do anything and Flourish that I would not want to experience as a, as a customer, right?

So I like to try before I buy, and that is what you get to do  in this free coaching session. You get to see first what is coaching like, because I don't, I, I believe that most people haven't really experienced high quality coaching from credentialed experts. And not all coaches are going to be a fit for you, right?

Like they can have all the credentials, all the right, um, professional experience, the educational experience, even the right lived experience and like the personality match can just be off. You know, trusting your coach is a really big factor. So is liking your coach, and again, we want you to be able to explore whether Flourish is a fit for you and whether this coach that we've matched you with is a right fit for you without feeling like you're already stuck.

You know, you're never, you're never stuck, you're never trapped. I always say, we're here to support you, not trap you. Okay. So with that, your first coaching session is designed to, again, help you get a taste of coaching, to get a deeper understanding of what you want and how perhaps what you've been trying is actually in complete opposition to what you want.

Like, it's, it's so fun. Um, Elizabeth is our head of coaching and she, how she described coaching was so powerful to me. She she speaks in analogy and it's so awesome. She described when people come to coaching, it's like their thoughts are like a tangled ball of yarn, and then you go through coaching and all your yarn gets untangled and you leave with like three nice, neat, gorgeously wrapped balls of yarn.

Like you just get your thoughts straight and you know how to move forward. All right.  and it is a magical thing. Y'all, I have been getting coached personally since, oh my gosh. It's going on two years, once a week for an hour. Okay? So again, I don't prescribe any medicine. I don't take myself.

Um, this is not medical advice. I am not a doctor. I do not prescribe medicine, so on and so forth. You, that was a metaphor. You get what I'm saying? Analogy. Okay. And then again, the, the kind of final and, and very important piece of this free session is, is just, is Flourish a fit for you and is this specific coach a fit for you? Or do you need to, to try some additional coaches on our platform?

And of course we walk you through like what Flourish is and how it works. Again, both like, um, programmatically kind of like theoretically, but then also just like the brass tacks. Like, do you wanna meet with your coach once a week? Do you wanna meet once a month. How much does that cost? Like all that stuff, we make very, very clear on in that first session.

The goal on our end is not that you join Flourish, the goal is that you have all of the information that you need to make the best choice for you. The decision to join Flourish is ultimately up to you. Like there is no hard sell. That's it. Like we give you the information and then you ultimately get to decide.

Now, if you want, um, I've, I've had members in that first session say like, "Hey, do you think I'm a fit?" And I give them an honest answer. I'll say, "Here's why I think you might be a good fit. Here's some areas in which I think you might struggle. Or, you know, actually, I don't think this is gonna be the, the, the best fit for you, but I'd love to refer you to, um, somewhere that I think would be a better fit."

Again, we don't do anything at Flourish that we wouldn't want to receive as, as customers or consumers of, of something, you know, in this space. So what I want for you and, and certainly what I've, um, encouraged all of our coaches leading these sessions to, to, to really strive for is just to facilitate your ability to confidently decide whether it's a yes or a no.

Because I really believe that one of the most painful things is sitting in the middle, right? So you, you know, you may be deciding this year, do I wanna do another whole 30, or do I wanna try this Flourish thing? Should I download my Fitness pal again? Or should I just freaking try Flourish finally? And I think sitting in the middle, sitting in indecision is going to actually create so many more negative emotions, so much more wasted time and energy than actually making a choice and maybe being right or maybe being wrong. But at least if you're wrong and you've done something, you can learn from it and move forward from there. And if you're right, hey, even better.

Okay, so now you kind of know a little bit about what the, the coaching session is like. You know, I've been really wanting to upload, like a mock first coaching session to the podcast, so we may need to work on that. Note to self. Um, cuz I want you to get like the, the real, the real deal of it all. Okay, so let's assume that after your coaching session you decide to become a member. So again, we have two tiers, both include free access to all of our group coaching programs.

You get chat access to your coach, you get a personalized program delivered straight to your app. The main difference is just how often you're meeting with your coach, whether it's once a month or once a. I often recommend that if it's possible, you start with weekly sessions and then step down to monthly sessions.

It's just, you'll make a lot, you'll kind of build a lot of momentum and make a lot of progress that way. But it's not to say that you can't make a lot of progress meeting monthly. So regardless of which tier you choose, the kind of next part of your Flourish journey is this, I like to call it like the info gathering phase.

And you know, this is the first part I will say where you might feel a little bit of tension, a little bit of like, "Hmm, this is different." Because we're so used to downloading an app. I give you my height, I give you my weight, you give me a little pretty little graph. You tell me how many calories to eat and send me on my way.

And oh my gosh, does that not feel so good? It feels so good. It feels so clear. And it's like, okay, I just need to do step one, step two, step three. I'm gonna be great. I'm gonna be all fixed up. Come on. You know that's not gonna work. You know, that's not gonna work. You know that just taking your height and weight does not do you any freaking justice.

You are a complex creature and your needs need to be taken in a into account when we're talking about something as important as the food you put into your body each and every freaking day. When we're talking about the way that you view your body, we need, we need to spend some time info gathering. Okay?

Imagine going to a doctor and they diagnose or prescribe you something without doing any sort of testing or any sort of asking question. In fact, you know, sometimes I hear this happens and it's not good. Spoiler alert, it is not good. We don't want that. Right? Especially if we're talking about, again, things as complex and as important as food, as body image as how we live our lives.

Okay, so let's talk about like what we are exploring in this info gathering phase. So the first thing is really exploring like: what is eating like for you? So not just what you're eating, but also the the frequency and the reason for eating. Like, are you eating because you're stressed or because you're actually hungry? Does that happen in any sort of pattern? That is very interesting and there's lots to dig into there. Okay. How, generally speaking, how are your hunger and fullness cues? Do you not only feel them, but do you also respond to them as well? Because that, you know, sometimes those are two different stories that you're like, yeah, I feel full, and then I just bulldoze right over it.

Okay. And all of this, especially in this phase, there is no judgment whatsoever. One of the core tenants of our coaching is shame free coaching. We are not your drill sergeant. We are on your team. Right? Like the things that bug my members, I always tell, I always tell my members, I don't care if you eat vegetables, but I do care that you eat vegetables because you care that you eat vegetables.

Right? Right. It doesn't actually make a difference to me, but if this is a goal that you want and it's a goal that's, you know, genuinely like, good for you and, and align with, with your values and things like that. Then I care, I care to help you move towards that goal in a way that you enjoy and in a way that you can sustain.

Okay? So there's no judgment here whatsoever. And when, you know, when I'm reviewing this information or when your coach is reviewing it, this information, and, and there's a few ways we gather it and, and we're very intentional about kind of how we gather that information, just depending on like your history and needs, things like that.

What we're looking for is what is the low hanging fruit? How can you create the most, the maximum benefit from the least amount of change? And again, another point of tension may arise here, you're like, no, wait. I wanna do a total life overhaul, sweetie. I know you do. And I understand why. I've done my fair share of overhauls. The problem is that just doesn't work. Okay, you know it, I know it. So let's, let's try it differently this year, 2023, fresh start. We're doing things differently. Okay? So again, that's part one of the info gathering. What is eating like for you?

Part two, what are your food beliefs? What do you believe about food? Do you think carbs are bad? Do you, are you scared of fruit? Are there certain foods that are off limits? Do you have certain food rules? Are there certain foods that you classify as binge foods, right, or bad food? I had, one of my members had a total aha moment today. She says, you know, I, if I eat one cookie, I call it a binge.

Just because it's a cookie eating one cookie does not qualify as a binge. But do you wanna know what happens when you think of one cookie as a binge? You say, "Oh  screw it I've ruined the rest of the day." And then you actually do preempt a binge. So what we're trying to find here again is we're kind of like dissecting your food beliefs is how do your food beliefs contribute or even cause some of the challenges that you're coming to Flourish to solve.

There's a behavioral element to the work that we do at Flourish. Again, there are like specific behaviors we will guide you towards, but there's also a massive unlearning process for you to go through. And those two things, again, work hand in hand. Okay.

The third and final part of the info gathering phase are the identities that you bring here with you. We've, we've talked a lot about identities in the first episode, um, of the new Year Starts Now series, which is, uh, Decisions to Make. So if you're saying things like, well, "I never finish what I start," "I've always been an emotional eater." Those thoughts become things, right?

Those identities have likely become self-fulfilling prophecies about yourself. So we will put those identities in the right place, meaning, we will go from, "I've always been an emotional eater," or "I will always be an emotional eater," or "I'm an emotional eater" to, "I'm working on feeling my feelings", or "I'm learning to trust myself, to feel all my feelings instead of pushing them down with food."

Okay, so this info gathering phase is happening in between that first free session and your second session with your coach. So in that second session, you discuss the findings. Of course, you do some coaching. It's so fun. You like untangle your yarn, and then the output of that session is your first behavioral goal and what sort of like accountability or check-in process is going to most serve you. So I have members where I'll check in with them once a week. I have some where I'll check in, you know, three times a week. I have some that we don't check in at all because we meet once a week and they don't, they don't want more than that.

Right. It is so freaking personalized. Y'all. And I, I, I don't just say it, it's not a marketing word like, it is literally what we, what we strive for. Um, and I believe that our members deserve that. Basically from there again, you, you go first, free session, you decide to join. Awesome. Yay. Celebration. Big deal, awesome. Info gathering phase session two, discuss the findings, if you will, in a really like supportive, curious, kind way, do some coaching and then you set your first goal. And basically this process of coaching or getting coached . Getting that personalized guidance and setting appropriate goals and being held accountable in a very supportive way that just repeats as you progress through your journey. Okay?

And for a lot of our members, the first part of that journey is this process of nutrition stabilization. So making sure that you're eating the right amount for you and that you're also doing it in a way that satisfies you and supports a healthy blood sugar response. And what we find is that actually introducing that earlier in the journey can calm down so much chaotic eating. Um, these patterns that our members come to us struggling with, whether it's like overeating, emotional eating, binge eating, feeling out of control around food.

Like it's almost like, doing this nutrition stabilization, it's, it's like taking an Advil for a headache, right? It's like you take the Advil and then, when your headache is gone, we can like actually have a conversation, right? So when you're in a more stable place nutritionally, when you're not undereating all day and then binge eating half your kitchen at night, you can do some introspection. You can do some self-exploration, you can do some unlearning.

You can do frankly, the real freaking work that you haven't yet done before that, that was not addressed in past solutions. That was in fact like, made worse from counting your calories, tracking your points, eliminating food groups, right? So from there, from a place of stable nutrition, we get to explore why you were eating in that way in the first place.

So why were you undereating? Why were you, um, overthinking every bite? We begin working towards true food neutrality so that no food ever feels like it has some sort of special power over you. Okay. And this allows us to move into intentional nutrition. So eating in a way that helps you feel your best today and, and eating in a way that's also supportive of your long-term health.

All right. Wow, that was a lot. I wanna leave you with one last thing because you may be sitting here thinking like, "Wow, this like, sounds different and cool and supportive," and it is. I feel like it's so easy for me to talk about Flourish because it's just like such a no-brainer to me. I mean, really I think it is like it is a gift to the world.

I mean, I obviously, of course I feel that way cause it's my business. But like even if I didn't start Flourish, if I didn't own Flourish, I would, I would want my friends to join Flourish if they needed it. I would want my sister to join Flourish. I just feel so good about the offering that we're putting out into the world.

And so if it feels like something that would be supportive for you, I just encourage you to give it a try. Again, we've made it really easy for you to do so in a very low risk way. Um, and so I hope that you do, but if you need like a little bit more, again, one little last piece of context, I, I just wanna share just some trends that I've observed in our incoming members to see if any of this resonates with you.

Cuz this can again, give you an idea of like, is this the right fit for. My goal is not that everyone in the world joins Flourish. My goal is that every woman who needs Flourish can join Flourish. Okay, so let's figure out, do you need Flourish? And then come in, download the app, get matched with a coach, and figure out, do you like Flourish?

Do you like the coach? We're, we're here for you. So again, some trends. Um, trend number one is our members, incoming members have, are, are pretty certain that diets haven't worked for them. This is not their first rodeo, but they also have this feeling that like, okay, well just not dieting also isn't working.

A lot of our members have, you know, attempted to go down like intuitive eating journeys on their own, but they don't feel good at the end of it. And they're like, this is just, it's just not right. I'm not, I'm not feeling right. I'm not feeling better. I'm not feeling healthier. This, this isn't exactly it.

Like I'm free from a lot of the, the negative aspects of dieting, but I still haven't figured out how to do this like health thing or this nutrition thing, and I just don't feel good. So there's that tension again, they're kind of like sitting in, in between.

Um, trend or kind of a pattern number two that I've noticed is that there's the desire for weight loss, but I think an important caveat is that it's not weight loss at any cost, right? I think a lot of us, myself included, had like a weight loss at just about any cost, you know, moment where like I was sneaking diet pills that like I definitely shouldn't have been having and eating just so very little and just doing things that like at this point today, I would never do. It is just certainly not worth it.

So again, our, our incoming members, they desire weight loss. Most of them do, at least.  But it's no longer weight loss at any cost. There are just certain things you're no longer willing to do to lose weight because of your history. All right? Because of your, you know what? Because of your wisdom, because of your values, because of what is actually important to you in life right now. And that is so important to take into account when we're crafting your plan, when we're coaching you, things like that.

And then again, the, the last, um, trend, and I could probably honestly come up with like 10 more of these, but I think we'll just leave you with three. This episode is already really long. Wow. Um, the last piece is that our members, our incoming members, they want to eat healthier and have a healthy relationship with food.

Right. They want healthy eating to feel easy. And by that I don't mean like no effort. Like of course there's going to be effort and intention involved. I mean, easy, like mentally, like no more food drama, no more body drama. No more fixating on every bite I eat, like I'm, I'm done with that. I want to eat in a way that nourishes me, that feels good.

I don't wanna have so much drama around food. I'm tired of freaking out around food, but I don't know where to start, especially given the, the, um, you know, earlier factors I mentioned.

Wow. So that my friends is the first 30 days-ish, um, of what a Flourish journey could look like for you. And, and again, I hope that, especially from like the info gathering phase and things that we've talked about, that if, you know, if, if Flourish isn't accessible to you right now, or, or whatever the case may be, if it's not Flourish, I do hope that you got something out of this, even if it's just the decision that Flourish is not the right fit for you. Um, that is an okay decision. I hope you still, of course, continue to enjoy the podcast and get something out of this.

If you do decide to, to check Flourish out, um, as a result of this podcast, like please let me know in the, um, you know, intake forms, the onboarding forms. I would love to to know if there's any other questions that, um, I can answer for you. Of course, feel free to send me a DM on Instagram .

Okay. I've, I've already taken too much of your time. You're awesome. I have a really good feeling about this year for you. I really, really do. 2023 can be an awesome year for you. A lot of it is, is, um, within your power. It's up to you. It's up to your thinking and how you approach it in, in some ways, not in always, but in many ways. And I, and I encourage you if that, um, jives with you, if that feels supportive for you, then let's enjoy who we are and who we're becoming in 2023, and I'll see you next week. Bye y'all.

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