Latest / SAY GRACE | Weight Loss + Health for Overwhelmed Women- Stress, Busy, Consistency, Realistic, Motivation, Starting Over, No Restrictions / Weight loss when it can't be perfect with PFN Plus Client, Laura Freeman

Transcript

Weight loss when it can't be perfect with PFN Plus Client, Laura Freeman · SAY GRACE | Weight Loss + Health for Overwhelmed Women- Stress, Busy, Consistency, Realistic, Motivation, Starting Over, No Restrictions

• 0:00
  Music.
• 0:40
  On today's episode of Say Grace Podcast, I have a special treat for y'all.
• 0:44
  We have another PFN Plus client on our show, and I believe that if there is
• 0:49
  anyone that our busy mamas out there can relate to, it's her.
• 0:54
  Laura is down 20 pounds and counting after joining PFN Plus and actually hit
• 0:59
  a huge milestone goal of hers the day after we recorded this episode.
• 1:04
  On this episode, Laura shares how she debated whether to take a GLP-1,
• 1:08
  how she manages her weight loss in this busy season as a full-time working mom
• 1:13
  with three littles, and the real truths about what progress and motivation can
• 1:18
  look like when you are dedicated to this lifestyle change for the long haul.
• 1:22
  She knows she's not perfect in her weight loss efforts, and now she accepts
• 1:27
  that she doesn't have to be.
• 1:28
  And y'all, I believe this is exactly why she is finally seeing the progress that she is.
• 1:33
  Over the past year with Laura and PFN Plus, I have grown to love her so dearly,
• 1:38
  and I can't wait for y'all to see why. Here we go.
• 1:42
  Welcome, Laura. We're so glad to have you with us on the Say Greats podcast.
• 1:48
  Thank you. I'm glad to be here. All right, y'all.
• 1:51
  I have been really excited to share Laura's story with you guys.
• 1:56
  In fact, you know, like midway through her time with us, I was already thinking
• 2:01
  like she's going to be a podcast person for us.
• 2:05
  I really just hope everybody can kind of tune in today and hear her heart and
• 2:10
  just really understand her walk because I think she is so relatable.
• 2:16
  Laura, well, I'm just going to dive in. Laura, tell us a little bit about yourself.
• 2:20
  Tell us, tell us who you are, what you do.
• 2:22
  I am a wife to Erin, who is a teacher.
• 2:27
  I am a mama to three littles.
• 2:31
  I'm set seven, five, and two.
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  And I am a full-time nurse. I'm the pediatric epilepsy care coordinator for
• 2:43
  the Division of Pediatric Neurology at the local children's hospital.
• 2:49
  Okay. And so just with that, like,
• 2:53
  give us the rundown of what a day looks like in your life, because I don't want
• 2:58
  you to, leave any any gaps for people like life is crazy town over there.
• 3:04
  And so I want you to kind of talk about it. Just like you wake up and then what happens?
• 3:09
  It is wild. So I wake up and we get three kids ready where one goes to daycare,
• 3:18
  two go to school in Florence.
• 3:22
  And then, you know, we're just the normal.
• 3:26
  We pack lunches and head to school. And usually I get to work about 730 every
• 3:33
  morning. I love to get there early and be by myself and to get some stuff done before it gets crazy.
• 3:41
  But you don't wake up early, right? Y'all are usually hitting the ground running.
• 3:45
  No, I do not wake up early. That is not my season right now.
• 3:50
  I love to sleep and any opportunity I can, I'm going to sleep.
• 3:55
  So no, I wake up probably 15 minutes before my kids just to like brace myself and then here we go.
• 4:02
  Mm-hmm. So, and then I work at Children's of Mississippi and I say care coordinator,
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  but it's sometimes a bit of chaos coordinator.
• 4:15
  So, I work with our two epileptologists there or seizure doctors and help with
• 4:22
  the unit on the sixth floor where
• 4:25
  we do admissions five days a week for multiple patients who are sick.
• 4:32
  Around with them every day. I go to clinics sometimes. I field a lot of phone
• 4:36
  calls and just in general.
• 4:39
  You're always in the email. You're always on the phone. It feels like people
• 4:42
  are always coming into your office, you know, or that's how it goes with me. Yeah.
• 4:47
  It is a very busy, busy place, which I love it. I love what I do.
• 4:53
  I've been there over 10 years now. So, know that's God's calling for my life
• 4:57
  and I love it so and then after that we man we run to the car and.
• 5:06
  You know, either we're going to jujitsu or dance or church choir or,
• 5:12
  you know, there's always something to do.
• 5:14
  We were very big on we're not putting our kids in extracurricular activities until they ask for it.
• 5:22
  And this has been the year that they have asked for it. And boy, did they.
• 5:27
  So we are going somewhere at least three nights a week now, if not more.
• 5:33
  Okay. And so I think it's important to just pause here and just kind of say,
• 5:38
  like this season of your life, because even when you get home,
• 5:42
  right, you've got a two-year-old under your legs.
• 5:45
  And so at this season of your life, you don't really have like a lot of time
• 5:48
  to yourself, right? No, I do not at all.
• 5:52
  It's maybe a good window after bedtime of like 30 minutes or so.
• 5:58
  But really, I like to go to bed as soon as possible. That's my favorite.
• 6:03
  Any sleep I can get. Yeah. Yeah.
• 6:08
  Okay. So transition in. And then we'll kind of come back to just like how this
• 6:13
  plays on your daily life. Right. But just transition.
• 6:15
  I want to kind of talk about your previous, like any past weight loss struggles.
• 6:21
  And because you've been around, you've been with us for a while.
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  You've been with Perfect Fit through pregnancies and all of the things.
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  And so just kind of talk a little bit about that, what that looked like for you.
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  I originally came to Perfect Fit. I saw, you know, people sharing on Facebook
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  and stuff and several friends from, you know, high school.
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  And even, you know, I saw sharing that they were going to do a challenge.
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  So that's where we all started. I believe it was 2020, the year of COVID.
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  I remember the COVID Zoom and everybody being like, are y'all okay? Yes.
• 6:57
  And then everyone was stuck at home. But I'm a nurse.
• 7:01
  I, you know, there was no, no days home for me. So I still had to keep, keep going.
• 7:07
  And it was such a scary and daunting time. But it also led to the,
• 7:12
  like, perfect opportunity of realizing that.
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  Like, to cling tight to our people and to take care of ourselves.
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  And so I started on that journey.
• 7:26
  Was that, had Lily, how old was Lily at that point? Lily was one.
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  Okay. Okay. Or maybe just about to turn one.
• 7:33
  I think I started when I was breastfeeding with Lily and she.
• 7:39
  But that child is a mama she's been she is going to do big things with her strong-willed
• 7:47
  personality she was a mama's baby from birth she that was really I didn't have any time to myself,
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  and because I was the only one she would go to I was the only person that could
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  see her she well and your oldest was a toddler I mean two you know what I mean
• 8:04
  they're 22 months apart yeah So after two years of pregnancy and breastfeeding and just,
• 8:12
  I cried when I got pregnant with Lily because I was like, I don't want to get fat again.
• 8:19
  Aaron was like, Aaron tried not to laugh. He kind of took himself a little bit, hugging me.
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  But yeah, my body was not my own for the longest time. So I finally was like,
• 8:31
  I'm going to do something for myself.
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  And I joined Perfect Fit in 2020 and really hit the ground running.
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  I think I lost probably 20 or 30 pounds that first time with them and with Gall.
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  And then, I mean, I just knew it would be successful.
• 8:51
  I love the community that we have here and the encouragement.
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  And that's what kept me coming back. Even staying through pregnancy and staying
• 9:01
  through breastfeeding and staying through tough times, that's what keeps me coming back.
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  Even if I'm not actively losing a pound every week, I know I can get back on
• 9:13
  track with the accountability that I have here.
• 9:19
  Then the year of our Lord 2021 was one of the hardest years of my life.
• 9:24
  Having two toddlers, we had every illness known to man.
• 9:29
  We had the stomach bug four times. We had COVID. We had flu.
• 9:32
  We had hand, foot, and mouth.
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  My son had his consoles out and had to be readmitted after that for dehydration.
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  And then I had a miscarriage.
• 9:43
  And I had a late miscarriage. So I had already packed on some pounds with that.
• 9:51
  And then also just a traumatic event. You know? Yeah.
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  So I think I just continue to carry that weight on me.
• 10:00
  I mean, after something like that, well, at least I know because,
• 10:04
  you know, I've had a miscarriage as well.
• 10:06
  And like, it's almost like you go numb. Yeah.
• 10:10
  And then you're kind of like, I literally don't care about my,
• 10:13
  like, weight loss. Who gives a rip about it? You know what I mean? Right.
• 10:17
  There's another. And that's why we say here a lot, like, if you're going through
• 10:20
  something traumatic, it's probably not the time to start a new weight loss, like, journey.
• 10:24
  Right. You know what I mean? Right. So anyway, keep going.
• 10:28
  So I think I did, you know, take a lot of time for myself just to heal.
• 10:35
  But obviously, weight loss was not my priority during that time.
• 10:40
  It was to cling to the babies that I had and to be the best mama I could be
• 10:45
  to them and just thank God for my healthy babies.
• 10:51
  And then I think three months later, I ended up getting pregnant with my third child, Sammy.
• 10:58
  And he's our little Sammy Sunshine. He is the happiest kid.
• 11:03
  He was born in November of 2022, which was a year later from my miscarriage.
• 11:11
  And so I always say, you know, everyone talks about the rainbow baby and all that.
• 11:17
  But I know that, you know, that was God showing his faithfulness to me.
• 11:22
  Do you know that? So the baby I was carrying, the due date was in April.
• 11:28
  And I found out I was pregnant with Glory on that day. Wow.
• 11:34
  Isn't that like, God, man, tell me there's not a God. You know what I mean?
• 11:37
  Yeah. Yeah. That's cool.
• 11:40
  Yeah. So, obviously, my boys, being pregnant with my boys did a number on me. Yeah.
• 11:50
  Lily, I gained maybe 30 pounds with her, but my boys, I gained 50 with each of them.
• 11:56
  And after I had Sammy, I did not lose weight breastfeeding like I did with the first two.
• 12:03
  I was 34 years old, you know, coming up on geriatric pregnancy.
• 12:11
  And pregnancy in your 30s hits different than the 20s. Yeah.
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  Also a mom to two already. A little more stress going on.
• 12:21
  Not as much, you know, time to be able to focus on your food choices and all
• 12:26
  the things. Right. For sure.
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  And then, so it just didn't come off like it did with the first two.
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  And so I think I just was like, yeah, I need to get it together.
• 12:41
  I need to get it together. But also So nobody's sleeping through the night.
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  And, you know, I've always, even from joining your program the first time,
• 12:50
  one thing that's always stuck with me or even any motherhood vlog or whatever,
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  it's like, you know, I'm trying to live in my season.
• 12:58
  And at this point, this is probably not my season to wake up at 5 a.m.
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  And do a HIIT workout. I am.
• 13:05
  I am. And your body would probably fight you for that. Like sleep deprived,
• 13:10
  hormones already wrestling because you're breastfeeding, like your body would
• 13:13
  fight that tooth and nail, you know? Right.
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  So I am all and I still am like, let me sleep. That's not my season.
• 13:22
  It's not. A two year old is way different than a five year old.
• 13:27
  And you know that like it's not your season, you know? Yes.
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  So I have always clung to it is better for me to be able to move my body for
• 13:38
  a few minutes during the day and take care of myself and to fuel it properly
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  than to get a workout in or to build muscle and exercise.
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  So I think I just poured into everyone else.
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  My job is to pour into people and like help patients through hard times and
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  help families and was pouring into everyone else.
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  And then in April of 2023, I was at the heaviest I have ever been and went to
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  an annual appointment with the doctor.
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  My cholesterol was off the charts, my triglycerides off the charts,
• 14:22
  my weights off the charts, and probably a little bit depressed, just empty.
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  I just felt empty and just so desperate.
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  I wanted help, didn't know what to do.
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  And my doctor offered me a GLP-1.
• 14:44
  This was April 2023 or 2024.
• 14:47
  This was last year. Yeah, it was 2024.
• 14:51
  Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So April 2024, I went to an annual visit. Yeah.
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  And my cholesterol was off the charts. My triglycerides are off the charts.
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  My weight was off the charts. And,
• 15:06
  I felt empty and desperate and just seeking help.
• 15:12
  Going there, I mean, I didn't realize this is what was going to occur.
• 15:17
  But I think she saw in me, too, a different person than she had seen years and years before.
• 15:24
  This doctor has been with me through it all. And I love her dearly.
• 15:29
  But I think she is also good at calling me out and being like, hey.
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  What's going on? You know, I was just not taking care of myself.
• 15:42
  I was taking care of everyone else, work, friends, family, kids, everyone else.
• 15:48
  I mean, this is common, right?
• 15:51
  As mamas, we like, you and I, y'all, one thing about us is we the same. Laura and I are the same.
• 15:59
  And so someday she's counseling me.
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  And we have the same tendency we
• 16:07
  have the same habits to just kind of pour from everybody else to get
• 16:10
  a little like high anxiety like just to you know want to do all the things and
• 16:15
  control all the things and so I relate to that very much right it's like we've
• 16:20
  we've done all we can for everybody around us and we're surviving but like what
• 16:25
  happened to us you know and so it sounds like that doctor's appointment,
• 16:29
  like, what a blessing to have her to just kind of be like,
• 16:33
  what is girl, you know, yeah, I can tell by your, by how your presence that
• 16:39
  you're struggling, but also the, all these numbers, you know, are also indicators.
• 16:44
  Okay. So she presented you with a GLP one.
• 16:47
  Yes. She presented me with a GLP one, April of 2024.
• 16:53
  And I was like, shot. But then also.
• 16:59
  It presented an option to me. Like, okay, you know, yes, I want to get my cholesterol down.
• 17:07
  Yes, I want to get, like, be healthy and lose weight.
• 17:12
  But in the long run, like, one, this medication was not covered by my insurance.
• 17:20
  And I was warned about that in the forefront.
• 17:23
  And it was extremely expensive.
• 17:26
  And I've talked to my husband, he's like, whatever you need to do to be your best. I'll support you.
• 17:33
  You know, we will figure it out. Whatever you want to do. That is a good husband right there.
• 17:39
  He was just like, you know, he doesn't care what my weight is.
• 17:45
  Right. But he cares how you are. Yeah. Yes. How do you feel?
• 17:49
  Yes. And to feel better and feel better about myself. And I just,
• 17:54
  it never sat right with me.
• 17:56
  I just was like, am I really about to do this?
• 18:00
  And it's even talking with a girl at work that has had weight loss struggles.
• 18:06
  She even said, she was like, you know, it doesn't matter how you do it as long
• 18:13
  as you get healthy, you know, and it shouldn't be a shame in how you do it.
• 18:19
  And then I know probably sat on it a day or two.
• 18:23
  I don't even know if I did. I probably spiraled as I do.
• 18:26
  Yeah. And ran to the inbox to you and was like, what do I do?
• 18:31
  Like, what, what do I do?
• 18:34
  And this is when PFN Plus had just started and where it, you know,
• 18:40
  a day to day, like, let's walk you through these things. and I was like,
• 18:44
  well, why are you doing PFN?
• 18:47
  But I need like closer accountability.
• 18:50
  And so PFN plus sounded like what I needed to do.
• 18:54
  And oh Lord, we talked about that GLP one for six months.
• 18:58
  But financially, I didn't feel like it was the right thing to do.
• 19:02
  And it never just sat right with me. It never gave me peace.
• 19:05
  And that's just me personally.
• 19:08
  But I really don't feel like if that's
• 19:11
  what you need to do to get yourself healthy, whatever you need to do.
• 19:17
  Is appropriate, but like also make the lifestyle changes to know how to live like this forever.
• 19:25
  Because I don't think being on a GLP-1 just for weight loss is a forever choice.
• 19:32
  Well, and I think for you, looking back, the struggle, the real struggle,
• 19:36
  I remember what I remember this.
• 19:38
  Listen to your first little audio thing, pulling into Target.
• 19:41
  I don't even know what I was going to Target for, but I remember.
• 19:43
  And it's what it seemed like for you is, right, because you had lost the weight
• 19:48
  with the lifestyle change before, like before the pregnancy.
• 19:51
  But then like, Laura, I think you're probably under, under, what's the word,
• 19:56
  underrepresenting or whatever, maybe the stress and the overwhelm that came
• 20:01
  between those two times, between the time you lost the weight after Lily,
• 20:05
  post COVID, and then April 2024.
• 20:08
  Like there was a lot of stress in between those times, a lot of like kind of
• 20:12
  just chaos, like mom chaos, you know? Yeah.
• 20:15
  And so to you, I feel like you were battling this.
• 20:20
  Well, I've done it before. Right.
• 20:24
  And I felt so good. And, you know, I looked so good. I felt comfortable in my
• 20:28
  skin, like all the things. And I was so motivated.
• 20:30
  And I remember even before you reaching out in April, like you would post and
• 20:35
  you'd be like, well, I tracked on Monday, but like didn't do the rest of the week.
• 20:41
  You know, like you just your struggle was, why can't I get motivated?
• 20:45
  Why can't I get like consistent?
• 20:48
  And in the back of your head, it seemed like you knew you could do it if you
• 20:52
  could just get consistent.
• 20:54
  Right. And so that was really, I think what you were asking of me is like,
• 21:00
  make me, you know, help me be consistent. You know what I'm like?
• 21:02
  Well, baby, let's go. You know what I mean?
• 21:06
  Yeah. And I feel like to, you know, I'm, why can't I just get it together?
• 21:14
  Hello, I'm a mom of three small children that works a full-time job,
• 21:18
  trying to be a wife, a church member, a friend, you know, and I'm like,
• 21:22
  no, and not just trying to be one girl, you trying to be a good one.
• 21:26
  Like you were always, you know, you're trying to be the best one, you know?
• 21:30
  Yeah. And I just was like, why can't I get it together? But my circumstances
• 21:34
  were totally different years ago whenever I, quote unquote, had it together.
• 21:39
  Right. We were still in the aftermath of COVID where like nobody was going anywhere,
• 21:43
  doing hardly anything, you know, and your pace was just slower then, you know. Yes. Yes.
• 21:50
  So you reach out. We talk about PFM Plus.
• 21:54
  Then. Um, so I decided financially, it was smarter for me to sign up for PFM
• 22:01
  plus than it was to pay months and months for a GLP one.
• 22:07
  And I knew I needed the lifestyle changes. Like I knew I needed it.
• 22:15
  The foundation of perfect
• 22:18
  fit to remember how
• 22:22
  to make this like how to make this consistently work for sure I can drop weight
• 22:27
  you know in a couple of months and and be comfortable you know in my own skin
• 22:33
  but it's not gonna last I'm gonna go back to the bad habits that I had before
• 22:37
  unless I work through, why am I doing this?
• 22:41
  What are the, you know, what are the changes I need to make so that this isn't
• 22:46
  consistently a problem?
• 22:50
  And so then I signed up for PFM Plus and Lord, you hadn't gotten rid of me since.
• 22:58
  So it's been a great ride. To you, you know, all week long about good things
• 23:05
  and bad things And, you know, some days we track and some days we don't. That's right.
• 23:11
  But I've consistently lost 20 pounds and kept it all.
• 23:15
  And I still, but the thing I've learned the most is probably to not be so hard on myself.
• 23:27
  Have such high expectations for myself. And I don't know why.
• 23:34
  But I just am super hypercritical of myself and like why you know why can't
• 23:39
  I get it together why did I want that french fry and I want you to have that
• 23:41
  french fry because it was good and I wanted it yeah you know what we're gonna
• 23:44
  move on we're just gonna move on so I do I really want to take a minute and
• 23:48
  like really talk about this like okay we've lost 20 pounds since you started with PFM plus,
• 23:55
  you like,
• 23:56
  It has not looked like, here's your meal plan, Laura.
• 24:01
  Eat this every day and you will lose a pound this week, right?
• 24:04
  Like we, like you cannot do that.
• 24:07
  That cannot be your lifestyle, right? And so I want to talk about this because
• 24:10
  I think it's so important.
• 24:11
  Like over this 20 pounds, you have, first of all, just stuck to it, right?
• 24:17
  Like it wasn't every day, like gung-ho, I'm super healthy,
• 24:22
  like going to be a fitness influence or the
• 24:25
  way like sometimes people when they when they start a
• 24:27
  weight loss journey that's how they think like they're so motivated at
• 24:31
  the beginning that then they're so down
• 24:33
  on themselves two weeks later when they're like all I want to do
• 24:36
  is eat the donuts you know what I mean and so there's no there's they don't
• 24:41
  allow for that gray area and so I think what you and I have really done the
• 24:45
  work on in in this past year is that gray area is the days where you are you
• 24:50
  are so honest with me and you will message me and you'll be like,
• 24:54
  I don't feel like it today. You know what I mean?
• 24:58
  And so, and so, but I think that that is just such a testimony to like,
• 25:03
  it's, we, in our minds, we get, we get this thought of how it's supposed to
• 25:07
  look and supposed to sound and supposed to feel.
• 25:09
  And it doesn't like people who lose weight do not wake up every single day saying
• 25:14
  like, I'm about to get skinny.
• 25:15
  And you know, it's, it's a lot of hard things. And.
• 25:19
  You have been through, first of all, Aaron, I know we said we weren't supposed
• 25:25
  to talk about him, but being, you know, gone during volleyball season every
• 25:28
  night, like for months, it felt like he, right.
• 25:32
  And you were handling all the kids by yourself all night.
• 25:35
  So it was feeding them, getting them to bed, all that on your own. Okay.
• 25:41
  You were enjoying your weekends with your kids, right? Like there are more weekends
• 25:46
  than not that we talked about on Monday.
• 25:49
  Well, I had cinnamon rolls this weekend, you know, you know,
• 25:53
  you were up until recently having, you know, breakfast at the hospital,
• 25:58
  you know, in the mornings, like good full plate breakfast.
• 26:02
  You know what I mean? Let's see what else.
• 26:04
  All the time y'all had. How many times I've been to Disney World since we've been together?
• 26:10
  Three times. Yes, three times to Disney World since we started together,
• 26:14
  y'all, on PFM+. I'm like, can I just, can I go with you next time, you know? Sure.
• 26:19
  And so I just, you're, I want you to kind of talk about what your typical food rhythm looks like.
• 26:29
  Because I think, again, I just think it is priceless for people to hear that
• 26:32
  this chick who chose to not do a GLP-1, but chose to do it like,
• 26:38
  you know, a lifestyle change way.
• 26:42
  Did she just wake up and decide she was going to have, you know,
• 26:46
  a green smoothie for breakfast and a salad for lunch and, you know,
• 26:50
  cook this 12-step, 39-ingredient healthy dinner for, you know,
• 26:54
  for her kids every night?
• 26:54
  Like, no, I want to, let's talk
• 26:55
  about real, like, what are some of your breakfast options every morning?
• 27:00
  So every morning, I usually eat like a Kodiak cake, flapjack,
• 27:06
  but if the Wiser cafeteria has bacon smelling real good, then we're going to
• 27:13
  get bacon, eggs, and biscuits.
• 27:15
  So, and like that's most of it every morning.
• 27:20
  Now on the weekends, yes, I make those tip-top
• 27:23
  cinnamon rolls that have the butter and
• 27:26
  the brown sugar and the half and half in
• 27:29
  it and they are delightful and but
• 27:34
  I you know I it's just all about balance I
• 27:37
  know if I'm gonna have cinnamon rolls I'm gonna have probably eggs with it or
• 27:41
  a protein of some sort or a protein bar for snack because I'm not gonna stay
• 27:45
  full and I'm gonna have a major sugar crash and feel terrible yeah but I still
• 27:49
  have the cinnamon rolls and And, like,
• 27:54
  lunch is usually working at the hospital.
• 27:57
  Of course, we have access to Chick-fil-A, so yum. Yeah, that's what I was missing, Chick-fil-A.
• 28:03
  Yeah, so I have had, it's so funny, like, I just always remember your message.
• 28:09
  You're like, do you eat Chick-fil-A every day?
• 28:12
  Like, I was just like, like, girl, you eat so much Chick-fil-A.
• 28:16
  The reality is you were making days work with the Wiser breakfast and the Chick-fil-A lunch.
• 28:23
  You were making that work a lot of days. Okay, so anyway, keep going.
• 28:27
  Because I don't have time to sit here on a Sunday and be like,
• 28:31
  we're roasting vegetables and having chicken strips.
• 28:35
  Gross. I love vegetables, but I don't want baked chicken. That's disgusting.
• 28:39
  And that's just me. And I'm not a meal person.
• 28:44
  Like prepper and we're flying by the seat of our pants over here.
• 28:49
  Usually on Sunday, I sit down and write out, this is what we're doing this week.
• 28:53
  And it's usually we're running somewhere three nights of the week.
• 28:56
  And it is like leftovers, burgers.
• 29:01
  We do cereal for dinner, baby.
• 29:05
  Just making it work. And we have a lot of breakfast for dinner,
• 29:09
  your typical tacos and all that kind of stuff that like you do red beans and
• 29:14
  rice a lot lately i've been she just had red beans and rice yeah but but we
• 29:19
  get on a kick and if it's good it's good hello cowboy casserole.
• 29:24
  Yeah yeah yeah you'll get sick of that cowboy casserole though it ain't today
• 29:29
  um so i don't have the capacity when you walk in the door at five o'clock or
• 29:37
  5 30 and my kids are all just,
• 29:40
  famished from the day, I don't have the capacity to sit there and like,
• 29:45
  well, let's cook something for 30 minutes or an hour.
• 29:47
  No, I'm like, let's dinner, bath, yeah, you know, bath, bedtime,
• 29:53
  like, because I need to sit down.
• 29:57
  So we, you know, it's simple. This is not our season.
• 30:02
  We're living in our season. This is not our season to cook elaborate meals.
• 30:06
  And yeah, on the weekend, If we want to make a steak and potatoes and,
• 30:11
  you know, we'll cook something good and sometimes have leftovers.
• 30:15
  But we will have sheet pan meals or something easy to make it work.
• 30:22
  And you take those for leftovers sometimes, but you also have frozen meals at work.
• 30:28
  Yes, I keep frozen meals at work. And, like, we still order out at work sometimes.
• 30:32
  But it's like my big goal
• 30:36
  for 2024 when starting PFM Plus was
• 30:39
  to not overeat because I felt miserable if
• 30:42
  I overate and I it's just like brought shame you know like in my head oh why
• 30:48
  did I do that you know and that has been a game changer too like sure we're
• 30:53
  going to order out and I'm going to get chicken pad thai but I'm going to eat
• 30:57
  half of it and probably going to have like, you know,
• 31:00
  some, a salad or something green. It's all about balance.
• 31:03
  Yeah. I can have, you know, roosters, French fries with a grilled chicken salad.
• 31:10
  And it's just, you know, it's all about balance and not overeating the good
• 31:16
  stuff to feel miserable and regret after.
• 31:20
  Right. And so I think that like, it's so funny how.
• 31:26
  We can kind of spin that in our brains, right, with weight loss.
• 31:29
  It's like, oh, I overate. I have the shame.
• 31:31
  I have, you know, I'm never going to lose this weight, blah,
• 31:33
  blah, blah. But really what it comes down to is it's like, in my mind,
• 31:37
  I knew I didn't want to overeat and I did it anyway, right? Like,
• 31:41
  and we can say that it doesn't have to be about weight loss.
• 31:43
  In my mind, I knew I didn't want to spend so much money and I did it anyway.
• 31:47
  In my mind, you know, all the things. And so it's about really coming back to
• 31:51
  that, doing what we set out to do and proving to ourselves that we can.
• 31:57
  And then there's a confidence that comes from that. And so now you're able to
• 32:01
  say like, yes, another one I was thinking about is your co-workers are always bringing stuff.
• 32:05
  You know what I mean? And so you're able to say like, yes, I'm going to eat
• 32:09
  the cookie or the cupcake or whatever they're bringing, but like, I'm going to have one.
• 32:14
  I'm going to, I remember a couple months ago, you, I can't remember what it
• 32:17
  was, but like you set it on your desk and it was just one And you were like,
• 32:22
  I ate half of it now and I saved the other half for later when I knew I was
• 32:28
  going to want to go back for a second one.
• 32:31
  So instead of you going back for a second one, you just save that half.
• 32:34
  And so just little stuff like that.
• 32:36
  Oh, excuse me, to prove that we can actually do what we set out to do.
• 32:41
  Right. And in the moments that we don't, in the moments that maybe we just plum
• 32:45
  forget that, oh, not overeating was a goal I had. you know what I mean?
• 32:50
  And I just totally gorged myself and didn't even think about it.
• 32:52
  Like, that's where the grace comes in on the back end.
• 32:55
  Right. And, you know, the biggest thing, a big takeaway from this program for
• 33:02
  me too, is setting small attainable goals.
• 33:05
  Like, why would you set yourself up for failure? Be like, I'm going out and
• 33:08
  losing 20 pounds right now.
• 33:11
  And, you know, even having our new numbers club where you lose 10 pounds,
• 33:15
  you get new numbers. Like.
• 33:16
  That's still a smaller goal than being like, oh, I have 50 pounds to lose.
• 33:21
  Yeah, that seems so big. And even like tracking or getting your water in,
• 33:28
  it's like, you know what?
• 33:30
  I tracked breakfast and lunch, but I didn't get dinner. But you know what? I did it.
• 33:34
  And I did part of it.
• 33:37
  And I know I can get dinner tomorrow or drinking your water.
• 33:43
  Well, I still drank more than yesterday. May, even if I didn't get a hundred
• 33:45
  ounces in, I drank more than yesterday.
• 33:47
  You know, it's small attainable goals to build that confidence in yourself and
• 33:51
  to not just get so down on yourself and be like, well, this thing's impossible. I just can't do it.
• 33:59
  Right. Like instead of like, we were talking about the gray area,
• 34:03
  right? Like that's very much the gray area.
• 34:05
  A lot of times weight loss is viewed as, which I feel like maybe when you started
• 34:09
  PFM plus that was some of the mentality is like, it's black or white.
• 34:13
  Like I either eat under my calorie goals for the day or I've screwed up.
• 34:20
  Like there is no, you know, there is no, Laura, you only went over a hundred
• 34:23
  calories and you had, you know, Chick-fil-A and, you know, wiser breakfast this
• 34:27
  morning. Like that's actually a huge win.
• 34:29
  It was shaping that mindset. Like, okay, I didn't do good Monday through Friday. So I suck. No, ma'am.
• 34:36
  Like we did good most of the day and even, or most of the days of the week.
• 34:40
  And even on the days that you felt like you didn't do as great,
• 34:43
  there was always something to pull out of it positively.
• 34:46
  Like you, just your mindset around what was considered a success changed over time.
• 34:54
  And I think that I really, I mean, I believe that's what made you continue on, right?
• 34:59
  I mean, to keep trying to reach for the goals because you saw,
• 35:01
  yeah, I didn't do it perfectly, but I still did it and I'm getting closer to my goal, you know?
• 35:07
  And that takes away some of that heaviness that we can feel around weight loss,
• 35:13
  like some of that just inevitable defeat.
• 35:16
  Because if we go into weight loss thinking, I'm going to be perfect Monday through
• 35:21
  Friday, I have to, to lose 20 pounds.
• 35:23
  Well, you're not going to lose the 20 pounds, right? Like you're going to fail, right?
• 35:27
  And so, yeah, I think that's been a really big shift for you.
• 35:30
  And I see you making it across the board, like not just even in weight loss, right?
• 35:35
  Like with other things in life as well. So I love that.
• 35:40
  Yes. I think that also has helped me,
• 35:45
  like you and I talk about even on hard days when, you know, we don't have it
• 35:49
  all planned out and stuff, like being able to flex those muscles of good decisions.
• 35:55
  Like I need to remember to drink my water because it's going to.
• 36:02
  Be having grace for myself through that. And like,
• 36:05
  you know, life is crazy, but still I remember these foundations that have been
• 36:10
  laid over the last year of work to continue to do well and to have,
• 36:16
  not feel shame about my decisions. You know what?
• 36:19
  We did this and we're going to pick up and do better. The next,
• 36:24
  it's the next right step. Just making the next right step.
• 36:27
  Yes. Yes. And We talked about that on the Zoom a few weeks ago. I love that.
• 36:32
  Okay. So before we move into questions, anything else you feel like the people need to know?
• 36:38
  The only other thing I was going to touch on is like, you know,
• 36:41
  it's wild that you have to sit here.
• 36:45
  And I don't know. Weight loss just seems like it's duh.
• 36:49
  Like you just eat better and you lose weight. But obviously,
• 36:54
  yeah, Erin and I talked about this this weekend.
• 36:56
  And it's just like, obviously, there wouldn't be like so many companies or,
• 37:01
  you know, medicines or things like that if it was that simple.
• 37:06
  And, you know, MLMs and all, you know, whatever. This is such a big business.
• 37:12
  And but it's I don't know.
• 37:17
  I feel like I made the right decision. And this is more of a lifestyle.
• 37:21
  It's so funny, like, talking to people, because I've done this for years.
• 37:26
  They're like, you can have carbs. And I'm like, I love a carb.
• 37:30
  Like, girl, I just buttered a roll for dinner. And so just talking to people
• 37:36
  about how this is, you know, it's not a restriction. We're not eating out of packets.
• 37:41
  We're not, you know, no one is going to hand you a meal plan necessarily or
• 37:46
  hold your hand through this. But this is figuring out how to lose weight while
• 37:51
  still having your busy lifestyle.
• 37:54
  Because if you're going to eat a carb again, ever again, then you're going to
• 37:58
  need to learn how to eat a carb while you're losing weight.
• 38:01
  Right. Like, yeah, or else it's that cycle of weight loss and then weight regain every time. Right.
• 38:06
  Right. And so it's giving you the tools to figure out how we're going to eat
• 38:11
  carbs and protein and, you know, continue to go to Disney World,
• 38:17
  however, you know, and eat a churro and eat a spring roll and, you know, whatever.
• 38:21
  And then we're not going to feel bad about it. And we're going to enjoy the
• 38:25
  food that we enjoy and, you know, pick back up, make the next right decision.
• 38:30
  So that's one thing that I love about this program is because it's taught me
• 38:34
  so much about myself, even mentally over the last year.
• 38:41
  But, you know, like weight loss, it's just, it seems so black and white.
• 38:45
  It's a calorie deficit, but it's not when you have three kids,
• 38:50
  a husband, you know, a full-time job and like life is crazy, but like.
• 38:57
  Learning to take care of myself is so important.
• 39:01
  In the best way you can right now, right? Right. 10 years from now,
• 39:06
  you may be, you know, scratch cooking meals, adding vegetables to everything, right?
• 39:11
  Like it's, it's not a, you know, a hundred percent one way or a hundred percent the other.
• 39:16
  It's like, you just have to do the best you can in the seat.
• 39:19
  Like you said, in the season you are now.
• 39:22
  And so this is, I mean, you are a beautiful example of taking care of yourself
• 39:27
  literally the best way you can.
• 39:28
  And right now for Laura, that looks like, you know, grabbing a decent breakfast,
• 39:34
  grabbing a decent lunch, like just getting dinners out however which a way so
• 39:39
  that they can have some time as a family and not lose their sanity,
• 39:43
  walking on her lunch break when she can.
• 39:46
  You know, it's like, it's really, it sounds easy, but it's like,
• 39:50
  it's, it's, it's the simple things, I guess, not easy, but so,
• 39:54
  you know, simple things that just doing them consistently, you know,
• 39:58
  10 years from now, you may be a HIIT workout, cardio smoothie queen.
• 40:03
  We all know, you know, but it's just about getting comfortable with where you
• 40:07
  are, finding what works for you right now.
• 40:09
  And then just doing that and not listening to everybody else's suggestions about
• 40:14
  what you should, could, would be doing, right?
• 40:17
  That's how we fail every time, you know? So, yeah.
• 40:21
  Okay. So that leads me into my first question for you. Okay.
• 40:26
  Oh, I lost it. Let's see. Okay. If you had to name one thing that was the most
• 40:33
  impactful after joining PFN Plus, what was it?
• 40:37
  Because I mean, you were with PFN One, you knew with PFN, like what we were about, right?
• 40:43
  And so with PFN Plus, what do
• 40:45
  you think was the game changer that made you finally like get consistent?
• 40:50
  Probably the day-to-day accountability with you.
• 40:55
  And like the Zooms, just seeing you're not alone in all this.
• 41:00
  And I've always been a pretty honest person.
• 41:03
  I'm like, I don't know how I say, honesty is the best policy.
• 41:07
  But I've, you know, if you're going to do something, you're going to pay for something.
• 41:12
  If you're going to do something, like be honest about it
• 41:15
  be honest about where you are and what you're doing and that
• 41:18
  way you can get the best help that you can and i think just
• 41:22
  the accountability day to day even if it's some days with you being like no
• 41:28
  we're not going to do this today you are doing like lord we have cried on messenger
• 41:33
  we have you know just working on my heart working on my head this has been a
• 41:39
  whole like not just weight loss transformation,
• 41:42
  but like a mindset transformation as well.
• 41:45
  I love that. I feel that, I feel that from you a hundred percent,
• 41:50
  you know? Yeah. I'm super proud of it.
• 41:53
  Okay. What is your question? First question for me. What is your favorite dessert?
• 41:59
  Oh, okay. So my favorite dessert probably, which I don't, like,
• 42:06
  I don't make it as often as I wish I would, And, you know, is that Oreo love,
• 42:12
  like, I don't even know. It's like Oreos. Yeah.
• 42:16
  Vanilla pudding, Cool Whip, and you kind of like layer it into a cake and put
• 42:20
  it in the, I think it's the freezer or you can do freezer or refrigerator, but it is,
• 42:25
  there are very few things, you know, like, like you talked about where not overeating,
• 42:30
  you know, like we, I've kind of, I've kind of gotten a grip on that with most
• 42:33
  things, baby, put that in front of me and it all goes out the window.
• 42:37
  You know what I mean? It is. Yes, for sure.
• 42:40
  Okay. Your next one is, I listed five here, and now I'm trying to figure out
• 42:47
  which ones I really want to give you.
• 42:51
  What do you do for stress management? You're so funny. I know.
• 42:59
  I really, so especially if I'm at work, I just take a step away.
• 43:06
  I like to put my got headphones in my ears, turn on my Spotify or turn on a book and go for a walk.
• 43:14
  Like sometimes I just need a little 10 minute walk, 10 minutes to myself, get away.
• 43:20
  And then also now that it's the summertime is getting out of my garden and it
• 43:26
  might, sometimes my kids will come out there, but a lot of times it ends up
• 43:29
  being just a peaceful place to just, those plants don't talk that.
• 43:35
  So, right. Right. That's right. Yeah. Yes.
• 43:40
  Okay. I love that. And my next one for you is if you had one place you could
• 43:48
  travel to right now, where would it be?
• 43:51
  Oh, that's a good one.
• 43:54
  I don't know. I've been thinking about Europe lately.
• 43:59
  Like we've never, yeah, we've never taken in a trip like that and like I don't
• 44:03
  think we really will until the kids are like older right but I just I don't
• 44:08
  know there's something special about like other cultures and like I just I want
• 44:12
  to go to Europe I don't know and then my neighbor's going in like two weeks and I'm like what,
• 44:17
  I guess you'll just have to tell me what it's all about but I
• 44:20
  would say also not travel
• 44:23
  but maybe live we went
• 44:27
  to the mountains over spring break and I just feel like the mountains are calling
• 44:30
  me baby like I just I loved it there it was so wonderful
• 44:33
  and so I really would love to go back there if Jess came
• 44:36
  home and said where do you want to go we're leaving this afternoon that's
• 44:39
  where we would go is to the mountain yes so peaceful
• 44:42
  yes like another level you know
• 44:45
  that we don't I cannot achieve here you
• 44:48
  know I have tried right for sure for sure okay this
• 44:52
  is your last one and it's it's like a different one what is your favorite smell
• 44:57
  that's really funny I know I know and I don't know what mine would I think probably
• 45:06
  it's probably a warm smell though but like like.
• 45:12
  Walking in the hospital and smelling cups first thing in the morning,
• 45:15
  like some caramel, like, or warm cookies or something like that.
• 45:21
  Like, I, that feels so cozy to me and, like, just a warm hug. I love a baked good.
• 45:28
  So, like, that doesn't, that tracks, you know, like it's, yeah.
• 45:32
  So, but, yeah, something like a warm smell. I love it.
• 45:35
  I remember that when I was in the hospital. I would walk in and it would smell
• 45:39
  like coffee as soon as you walked in those doors. It just lures you in, too.
• 45:43
  So, my last one is,
• 45:48
  one thing you asked us, and of course, since I've been here a while,
• 45:51
  I know you've asked this multiple times, and you asked it even recently,
• 45:56
  is one thing that you have learned, done,
• 46:01
  felt as a PFN coach.
• 46:04
  I just, like, what is one thing that PFN has taught you?
• 46:12
  This is good.
• 46:17
  You know, I think, I think, okay, so you know that I'm on this, like, rest mission.
• 46:25
  I'm not going to say I'm, like, really living it out the best it could be, you know.
• 46:30
  But I think I have watched so many women like just maximize themselves like to where they are.
• 46:42
  At the end of the day, it's like they're so tired. They know they need to take time for themselves.
• 46:48
  They know they need to go work out. They know like all the things that the world
• 46:51
  is telling them that they need to do. Right.
• 46:53
  But it's like they are just so worn down and so overstimulated and so worn out
• 46:59
  that it's like I don't have time for that. You know.
• 47:03
  And so I think for me it's because I see it every day.
• 47:08
  Because I'm in count. Like a lot of the time when people leave our program.
• 47:12
  They're like, I just don't have time for this.
• 47:15
  And that breaks my heart because like, man, like if you don't have time to make
• 47:22
  healthy habits, what are you going to be like three years from now,
• 47:26
  five years from now, 20 years from now?
• 47:27
  Like, what is your health going to be like, you know? And so I really think
• 47:32
  like seeing that every day and that like being reinforced in my mind has made
• 47:38
  me so much more want to make sure that I don't say like, I don't have time for that.
• 47:44
  I don't, you know, whatever that we tell ourselves.
• 47:47
  And Laura, that comes with a that comes like with a heavy cost.
• 47:51
  Right. That comes with saying like, no, we're not going to go to that concert
• 47:56
  this weekend with you guys.
• 47:57
  Like, no, we're not going to make that ballgame that y'all last minute asked
• 48:02
  for, you know, like, no, like you called me and asked me if I could come do
• 48:07
  this thing with you this evening.
• 48:08
  No, is the answer, you know, like that it's, it's heavy. And it,
• 48:11
  and it feels like I'm disappointing people when I take that time for myself.
• 48:16
  Like, no, you know, you're proud, you know, because like I made a statement
• 48:20
  a while back, like I'm not working on the weekends and I'm not working after
• 48:23
  five. And then this weekend, right, I text you back on Saturday and you were
• 48:27
  like, why are you working?
• 48:29
  You know, like you called me down on that. And so that's hard.
• 48:34
  But I think, yes, like.
• 48:37
  Choices and, you know, all the food noise that's such a hot topic right now.
• 48:44
  And all that is such is, you know, we have things in our food that makes us want more food.
• 48:49
  Like all that is such a topic in weight loss. But what's not talked about is
• 48:53
  that sometimes women are just so overstimulated and stressed out that they know
• 48:59
  they need to lose weight, but they literally cannot find a gap in their life to fit that in.
• 49:04
  You know what I mean? And then they magnify how much time that's going to take.
• 49:08
  And that's what reverts to like the SOS kind of hand me the GLP one,
• 49:14
  even though I can't afford it. You know what I mean? Right.
• 49:17
  And hand me the GLP one, even though I can't do anything to create new healthy
• 49:23
  habits along the way. I'm just going to take it.
• 49:25
  I'm going to keep going through McDonald's. I'm going to not exercise.
• 49:28
  You know what I mean? And so So I think just for me, it's seeing that so prevalent
• 49:34
  in women and, you know, really trying to like go against that and that stuff.
• 49:40
  Yeah. And you remember the week that I was like real quiet and you're like,
• 49:44
  what is going on with you?
• 49:46
  And I was like, I'm just trying to rest. And I lost three pounds that week.
• 49:50
  And you're like, you're cortisol, Laura.
• 49:53
  Yes. Yes. Isn't that crazy? And that's, you know, I'm joining you in that journey.
• 49:57
  And it's just like trying to find time to take care of yourself because you
• 50:02
  can't pour from an empty cup.
• 50:04
  And it's just we're pouring into so many people all day long,
• 50:09
  even through our work and our family. And like, I love it. I love what I do.
• 50:13
  You love what you do. You know, we love our family.
• 50:16
  But it's, man, you got to take care of yourself, too. Right.
• 50:19
  And that's hard. Like, it's not supposed to be easy to say, you know what?
• 50:23
  But no, mom is not going to pack lunches tonight.
• 50:27
  Mom's going to go like take a bath and don't come in here unless you're dying.
• 50:32
  Right. Right. That's hard. Really hard. Yep.
• 50:37
  But, okay, this was so good. And I'm just, you know, I really do.
• 50:42
  I think our people are going to really resonate with this. Just like,
• 50:45
  you're just like a normal white mom, you know, and you have come such a long way in a year.
• 50:51
  And I can't wait to just continue to see you keep flourishing, literally.
• 50:57
  The Laura that started in April of 2024 is not the Laura that I'm looking at today. Not even close.
• 51:03
  And I think what's really cool is you and I both, right? We're hard on ourselves.
• 51:07
  We have high expectations for ourselves. But so what's really cool is that you
• 51:11
  can say that about yourself, that you have come such a long way. Right.
• 51:15
  Yep. And I am grateful to you for all your help and safety as well.
• 51:20
  And I think we've learned a lot from each other.
• 51:25
  And we'll probably continue to do so. Yeah. All right. Well,
• 51:29
  I'm so glad to have you. Okay. Thank you.
• 51:33
  Music.
• 51:34
  Thank you for listening to today's episode of Say Grace Podcast.
• 51:39
  If you enjoyed it, it would mean the world to me if you left me a five-star review.
• 51:44
  Also, make sure to follow the show so you don't miss another episode.
• 51:48
  Plus, if you're interested in learning more about losing weight and eating the
• 51:52
  foods you love, make sure to subscribe to my email list by going to perfectfitnews.com.
• 51:58
  Music.