The Power of Keeping Promises to Yourself with Allison Sellner

Paul Salter:

Hey Allison, thank you so much for joining me today. How are you?

Allison Sellner:

Good. I’m happy to be here.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, I’m really happy that you’re here. We’ve been looking forward to this conversation and as you just really clarified for me, you’ve only been in the 5% Community for a hair over four months, but what you’ve accomplished and achieved during this time has been nothing short of incredible, both inside and out. I really look forward to giving you a chance to share more about your story and your experience and wisdom with all our listeners today. So thank you again.

Allison Sellner:

Yeah, for sure.

Paul Salter:

Yeah. So let’s dive in. I’m curious, prior to joining the 5% Community, tell me more about who was that woman? Where was she at in her life?

Allison Sellner:

So prior to joining the 5% Community, I had just graduated from OBGYN residency in May of 2021 or June. Had been into residency for four years prior to that. Medical school, four years prior to that. And in the midst of residency, as we all know, the COVID Pandemic started, which didn’t make training easy on anybody. And I also ended up getting an infertility diagnosis with my husband partway through residency as well. And so by the time I joined the 5% Community, I had done two full IVF cycles in addition to two embryo transfers, one of which resulted in a miscarriage and one of which failed. Didn’t work. And so when I joined, my weight was at an absolute all-time high. And I was just at a place of desperation and honestly, kind of hopelessness and feeling like I needed something to work. I, like so many women who joined the program, have been dieting, honestly, as sad as it sounds, probably since the age of 12 or 13.

My mother is amazing, she’s such a strong woman, but weight was always a preoccupation of hers, despite always maintaining a healthy weight. I don’t think I had the best example of the healthiest way to do that growing up. And while she was always supportive of any weight loss efforts that I had in mind and took me to my first Weight Watchers meeting, bought me whatever I felt like I needed to lose the weight, supported me, all of those things, my weight, over the years, slowly crept up.

And I think the only time that I was able to really lose the weight that I wanted to lose but then not keep it off, was for my wedding. So I got married at age 23 and that was a huge motivating force for me, because I wanted to look a certain way on my wedding day. And so I got really into running before my wedding and interval training in the gym and did Whole30 and lost the weight that I’d been wanting to lose and felt absolutely gorgeous on my wedding day. But literally since my wedding day, which this June is 10 years ago, it had been a constant struggle of losing some weight, gaining even more back, losing some more weight, gaining even more back. So yeah, when we had that call, which I went back and looked, and it was August 22nd, 2021. So just a few months ago, I was kind of at the end of my rope in terms of how to do this.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, I appreciate you sharing that and just for being so vulnerable here. Thank you. And just a quick note, ’cause I know our years are all over the place. 2022 is when you joined, believe it or not, we’re already 2023.

Allison Sellner:

Yes. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, yeah. That’s the pandemic trauma still working. We’re still trying to process 2019 and we’re here in 2023, so.

Paul Salter:

No, it’s crazy. So January 3rd, as we record this episode, I’ve written 2022 on five different things in these three days, so I totally get it. No, you’re A-okay. I just wanted to clarify because what you’ve accomplished since joining, is hard to fathom. Because you were at a place where you used the words like, “Just a place of desperation, hopelessness. You’ve got decades of experience with this lifelong weight loss battle. How can I get to a point where not only the weight stays off, but I start to feel my best?” And what you’ve accomplished, like I said, in these four plus months to get to the point where the weight has stayed off for a long period of time, and as we’re going to get into, it feels easier than ever. But I’m curious, during the last few years, residency, the pandemic and just everyday life, how was this battle with your weight kind of bleeding into other areas of your life?

Allison Sellner:

So it was definitely bleeding into just my overall confidence in myself in general. I think that manifested in kind of confidence within my marriage, confidence that I was being the doctor that I needed to be, as well as just my relationships with friends and family, because it was just an ongoing preoccupation that I had with food. And I joke that labor and delivery in the hospital is just a landmine of temptation and triggering foods in abundance. But it’s so true. And I meant to look up the statistics. I know it’s like 50% of nurses are overweight and obese, but I think it’s like a quarter to a third of doctors are also overweight in obese.

So it was really just starting to get to me that I wasn’t practicing what I preached. And I think that was a big part of it. And now I always knew that I had the knowledge to be a good doctor and the skills in the operating room and things like that. But I think now I come to it with a confidence that I can support my patients in things like weight loss and just their overall health and nutrition, in a way that I wasn’t able to before, because I was using really unhealthy and unsustainable means to try to reach my goals.

Paul Salter:

And just applaud your self-awareness. And one of, I think, the biggest catalysts for you on your journey, and I’m not oversimplifying this by any means and for everyone listening, I want you to remember, and I think you’ll agree, losing weight and keeping it off is simple. There is a formula and a path to take, but simple is not the same thing as easy. Two drastically different terms that are very similar in definition. But at the end of the day, we are our biggest enemies. We are constantly getting in our own ways. But one of your biggest catalysts, I think Allison, was something that you shared with me that gave me a light bulb moment. It was like, “I started making promises to myself and keeping them.” So tell me more about that morning workout commitment? About specifically where you were with your workout routine and what commitment you made to really help catalyze the results you’ve experienced?

Allison Sellner:

So I definitely worked out fairly consistently throughout residency. It was so hard, because for someone who hasn’t gone through medical training, your schedule changes literally every single calendar month. So every first of the month you’re on a brand new rotation, be that a inpatient rotation where you’re up at the crack of dawn, more of a clinic rotation, where you have normal kind of eight to five hours or even a night float rotation, where you’re literally working Sunday through Thursday night. Not to mention taking weekend call that often involves 24 hour shifts and things like that. So while I worked out consistently throughout residency, it was all over the place. I had no routine. And I think that’s one of the cruelest jokes of medical training is you take a bunch of type A, highly motivated individuals and blow that to smithereens.

And you’re just like, I tell my residents now, now that I’m an attending and working with them, I tell them, “Residency is an impossible task. We set this task for you that you have to learn how to be a doctor and all of that entails in under four years, and you still have to try to keep all of these plates spinning in your personal life, your own self, all of that. And it’s impossible.” Something has to give at some point. At all points, something has to give. So whether that’s your relationship suffering, whether that’s your own personal health suffering, something ends up having to give because there’s only so many hours in a day. But when I joined the 5% and when I started what I like to refer to as my big girl job. So my job now, I’m an attending physician here in Houston and it’s much more consistent. So I don’t have a schedule change every month. My schedule does vary day-to-day, but one thing that I can consistently get in is an early morning workout.

So regardless of what my day looks like, I can make it to a 5:30 or 6:00 AM workout without a problem. And so I knew going into this job and into the program that I wanted to make that part of my life. And so it was hard to begin with, I’m not going to lie. When the alarm goes off at 4:30 in the morning, you don’t want to get up for the first couple weeks of doing that. But I just knew it was important and it’s something that I’ve continued and I missed it over the holidays when I was traveling and out of town, but I’m back at it as of this morning. But that for me has been a really consistent promise that I’ve kept to myself. So yeah, that’s the gist of it.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, I love that, because in my eyes that’s like, I like to use the word as you know, non-negotiable. But it’s one of those keystone habits that for those of you listening, if you’ve never heard that term before, a keystone habit, you know can kind of compare it to the 80/20 rule in that it’s like the one or two habits that are responsible for 80% of your results. They really set the tone for the day, for the week. So in Allison’s case, she knows if she gets that early morning workout in, she is far more likely to eat well during the day, to take care of herself, to slow down, breathe and be in control versus rushing in the morning because she’s hit snooze five times and then trying to go about making her food and her meals for the rest of the day and maybe, or maybe not cram a workout in later on the day.

So getting clarity on what your keystone habit is, is incredibly important. But Allison, what I love that you did to take it a couple steps further, is you connected it to the why behind what you were trying to accomplish. You recognized the importance, and one of the first things you did coming out of the gate when you joined was, you stated it. You told other people that this was your non-negotiable, specifically me in the early days. And you started celebrating it when you did complete it. You started talking about how it was helping you. And I just think that’s one of the missing links people don’t capitalize on is sharing their goals, asking for help or accountability so that we’re more likely to follow through on those one or two keystone habits that move the needle the most.

Allison Sellner:

For sure.

Paul Salter:

Now I’m curious because like you mentioned, getting up at 4:30 is simple, but it is not easy. It’s no small task. And to do so day after day, especially when you work a job where you pour yourself into it physically, emotionally, and mentally, what is a step or two you took to ensure that regardless of how you felt, you knew what needed to be done and you were able to consistently execute getting up early for that workout?

Allison Sellner:

Yeah, so I set out my workout clothes the night before in their entirety on my bathroom counter. My husband is an absolute angel and always sets up our coffee for the next morning. And so I’ve kind of trained him to ask me what time I want it to go off. And so if I’m getting up at 4:30, I tell him 4:15. If I’m getting up at 5:00, I tell him 4:45. And so knowing that that coffee is ready when I get downstairs, is a big part of it as well. I book my workouts in advance and my spin studio that I go to, every Sunday evening is when they open up all the bikes. And so I book out the entire week. So I kind of know what that looks like. And especially on really busy days. So I think my busiest days are days where I’m the attending on labor and delivery, so that’s a seven-to-seven kind of day.

That’s the only thing that I really get to do for myself that day. So even though it’s a 5:30 workout that gets done at 6:15, I’m literally jumping off the bike to go to the hospital to shower, to change, and to be in a chair by a few minutes before 7:00 to get sign out. For me, one of the motivating pieces is that’s one of the only things I’m going to do just for me that day. But the laying out of the workout clothes and having everything else ready, having everything ready to just throw into my lunchbox, I literally cut up the apple and put it in a bag to put on top of my overnight oats. Everything is done so that I just, all I have to do is get up, get dressed, brush my teeth, drink the coffee, and then just everything’s ready to go from there. My gym bag is packed to change for the hospital, all of that.

Paul Salter:

Oh, that’s so good. Oh, I want to unpack that. So first and foremost, you asked for help. You communicated with your husband like, “Hey, this would help me be more successful, do what I set out to do.” Which in turn helps you shine your brightest, feel your best, which obviously has a wonderfully positive impact on the relationship with him too. So that’s a win-win situation simply because you communicated. You asked for help. And that’s one of the biggest challenges I hear when talking with other 5%-ers is like, your significant other is not a mind reader. As well as they might know you, they still greatly benefit from knowing what you need. So asking for help and having that conversation is an easy way to drastically change your ability to be successful. So just applaud you for that. I’m so happy you’ve shared that. But then too, look how prepared you are.

You’ve got stuff done the night before, so all you have to do is, you don’t have to think when you get up, it’s all there. All the food is prepped, the clothes out and you just described there’s this three or four step routine that’s done every single morning effortlessly and that allows you to get out of your own way and execute on what you need to do, regardless of how you feel. So that’s really, really good. And then thirdly, I love how you framed that specifically on a 12-hour workday, which you and I both know can sometimes turn into maybe 13 or 14 hours. You viewed your early morning workout at the ass crack of dawn as the only way that you’re prioritizing and caring for you during the day. And that simple mindset shift allows an opportunity to turn what might be dread into excitement. And that is another opportunity to, that goes a long way in setting the tone for the day. So just loved hearing you share that.

Allison Sellner:

Yeah, and-

Paul Salter:

Now-

Allison Sellner:

I mean I think another piece of that too is that my residents now when I’m on labor and delivery, which is normally Wednesdays, which is kind of annoying because it’s why I miss the fire call with an annoying frequency. But my residents like know, because I show up to sign out, still sweating post cold shower. I mean, I take an ice cold shower when I [inaudible 00:15:17], but I’m still sweating and have no makeup on. And they’re like, “Oh, Dr. Sellner, did you go to spin this morning?” And I’m like, “Yep, you bet that I did.” And it’s just nice to be able to set an example for them too, that this job is hard, but you can prioritize yourself.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, that’s such a beautiful point. And it’s almost like a little added form of accountability you didn’t even ask for, because now, you know when they’re asking you, there might be days where you didn’t do it, but they’re going to ask you or you dread doing it, but you’re going to be asked. So it’s a little way to just keep moving the needle forward. So that’s really good. Now, one of your fears during our time together, especially as we got towards the beginning of the actual diet phase, was how were you going to navigate social occasions? Specifically, I remember you shared with me, you and your husband both have demanding long hour jobs and your time on the weekends was your really only time to connect, go out and have those wonderful experience together. So tell us more about what those weekends and dinners used to look like and what your mindset and nutritional strategies look like navigating them now?

Allison Sellner:

Yeah, so the way that this started was, my husband started law school as soon as we graduated from undergrad. I didn’t start medical school until two years after. And so by the time I was a second year med student, he was back here in Houston working as an attorney, which was a really nice change of pace. I mean, we went from having zero money to having more money than we ever had. And it kind of started in med school, but where it really started was in residency where again, like you said, we’d be passing ships, especially on when I was on a night float rotation and he was working really hard law firm hours. They were completely juxtapose. We’d maybe share a bed for a few hours at night.

And so we got in this pattern of making reservations at really, really great restaurants, which if the listeners don’t know, Houston is an amazing restaurant scene, absolutely phenomenal. It’s constantly changing, it’s constantly growing. Houston’s now the most diverse city in America. So there’s just so much to enjoy about living here. And so I would read food blogs and follow Instagram accounts for the Houston restaurant scene as a resident. And I would make reservations. To the point that, I literally have a reputation in the entire program amongst everybody of being the foodie of the program. If you want restaurant recommendation, you go talk to Allison Sellner.

And so then the sky was the limit. We weren’t spending any money on eating out during the week or barely spending any money spending time together during the week. So we would just make a reservation wherever we wanted. We would go, we would dress up, we would order all the cocktails, order anything that we wanted. It didn’t matter. I mean, it didn’t matter what the bill was, which I mean, it’s a privilege to be able to say that, especially when I was a resident. But we just, that’s how we enjoyed our time together. And the same held true for when we traveled and things like that. But I mean, I think it was definitely a contributing force to residency weight gain. And my husband and I kind of enabling each other in that area because we both enjoy it. I mean, it’s still one of my favorite activities, is to go to a new restaurant, have a great cocktail, try some really interesting dishes and things like that.

And so it just became kind of a habit of what we did. And it’s been an adjustment with joining the program, that I can’t go to all of the restaurants with the kind of frequency that I used to go and I have to pick and choose a little bit more. But it does make the times that we go feel more special. And it also feels good to walk away from those dinners out, feeling like I enjoyed myself, but I wasn’t just out of control and I’m leaving feeling so stuffed and then so awful the next morning. And I think I really take inventory now of how I do feel the next morning.

So for instance, we just went out to dinner Saturday night, New Year’s Eve, with a couple of good friends who are also big foodies to a great cocktail bar and then a really great restaurant here in Houston. And I definitely had fun. I enjoyed the drinks, I enjoyed the food, I had a couple of glasses of champagne, et cetera. But I felt every single sip of alcohol in spin class the next morning. And I realized I can’t do this all of the time. It’s contrary to my goals and it impacts my physical performance in my workouts, which have become very important to me. And so I just recognize that it’s not worth it to feel that way every single Saturday or Sunday morning. Here and there is okay, but it just needs to be more of a sometimes thing than an all the time thing.

Paul Salter:

I love how you just connected it back to your keystone habit. If you’re going out and drinking and eating with reckless abandon, it’s going to drastically impair your ability to follow through on what you know to be that one game changing habit you committed to, which is your morning workout. That’s huge awareness there. And then the way you just beautifully articulate, it’s still sometimes a moderation thing. It’s not like you cut it out for good, but you go in with this different mindset now that is very clear on how you want to feel. And I know you’ve heard me say this a million times. Everything we’re chasing is just a feeling. Weight loss goal, relationship goal, a financial goal. It’s just a feeling.

And by you taking the time to plan, like, “Hey, I want to feel this way on Sunday morning or Monday morning.” Like, “Okay, now I can reverse engineer the most important steps to feel that way.” So it means going out and enjoying maybe a couple of drinks in this meal or only doing that once or twice a month versus every single weekend. And just your ability to connect the dots with how you want to feel and the action steps to bring those feelings about has been nothing short of incredible.

Allison Sellner:

Yeah, I mean I think that’s really the key. Like you said at the beginning of the podcast, this is simple, but it’s not easy. And I feel like I really kind of dove in into building all of those foundational habits, which I think is the hardest part. It takes a lot of consistency and habit formation, but then I have been kind of amazed at once you put those in place, how simple it is after that.

Paul Salter:

And for those of you listening, a lot of these foundational changes Allison made came before we actually started trying to lose weight. And if you’ve heard me speak before, I call it the Pre Diet Maintenance Phase. And we make all those changes during this time because change is tough and doing so in the midst of a calorie deficit makes it 10 times tougher. Because a calorie deficit is a major, major stressor. So this is reason number one of 7 billion why I recommend we don’t dive head first into a diet. We get our foundational eating habits and our relationship with food on point first and then we transition to actually adjusting portions to target weight loss. But I think maybe the most important question I’m going to ask you, Allison, is what are some of the best restaurants to visit in Houston?

Allison Sellner:

I can definitely send you a list. They really run the gamut. Some of our favorites are a place called State of Grace. We love oysters. And so they have a great oyster bar and just are, it’s New American Southern, but with a lot of influences from Vietnamese food and Latin food and things that are kind of prominent culinary influences here in Houston. We love a good steakhouse. So there’s a steak restaurant here called Georgia James that we love and kind of the same thing. They let some of those influences permeate some of their dishes, but there’s lots of great hole-in-the wall places too. Those are both kind of more expensive places, but the list is almost innumerable.

Paul Salter:

Good to know. So one of my best friends is moving there in September and he spends a lot of time there now because his brother is a podiatrist in the area. And I said, “Why are you moving there aside from your brother?” His first reason was the food scene. He says the food scene is… He’s eaten all over the world, lived up, grew up near New York City and besides Houston, is just a rare entity of food. So I’m excited to visit, we’ll link up and we’ll have some delicious food and cocktails.

Allison Sellner:

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, it’s really incredible. We travel quite a bit too, and we were in London and New York right before I joined the program actually. And we would just look at each other at some of the meals and be like, “This is fine, but we have food just as good, if not better, in Houston.”

Paul Salter:

Yeah.

Allison Sellner:

I hate to call him out, but we went to one of Gordon Ramsey’s restaurants in London and we were not impressed. And I love Gordon Ramsey, but we were like, “Not worth it.”

Paul Salter:

That’s funny. One more quick question on this topic of just navigating and kind of rebuilding your relationship with dining out and your weekend plans. How did you begin to communicate this with your husband? Because clearly this is, it’s 50%, you 50% him navigating these weekends together, really 100-100. And now all of a sudden you want to make a series of small yet significant changes. What did that communication look like to get him on board?

Allison Sellner:

So I mean, from the very beginning he was very supportive of me joining the program because we started dating, we were 18 and we’re 32 now. So I mean, he knows me and he knows my struggles very well, and he’s had struggles of his own. He was a high school football player, he almost played football for Baylor in the Air Force Academy and ultimately decided he didn’t want to play college sports. And he was a line man. So I mean he went from being able to eat huge volumes of food to put on muscle and things like that in high school, to then in college, he wasn’t doing that kind of rigorous training anymore. So we both struggled with our weight throughout our entire relationship. So he was very supportive of it. And I think, I mean, I had to be a very big motivational force for it.

I mean, I had to prioritize grocery shopping, prioritize meal planning and cooking and all of that. And he is, I mean, he’s fallen right in line and he’s very supportive. He’s never been, we have a very egalitarian relationship because of the nature of our jobs and things like that. It has to be that way. And so he’s never really batted an eye at helping cook meals or things like that. And I think he has seen what a transformation just most… I mean externally, but also internally that I’ve gone through and I’ve shared kind of bits and pieces along the way. And I think I told you he’s been talking about joining this gym to get back into weightlifting for at least a year, if not longer. And he finally joined it like a month ago and has been going pretty regularly and things like that. So I think he’s reaping a lot of the benefits of the program as well. And just by nature of me changing the way that we do things.

Paul Salter:

Oh, I love hearing that. Kudos to him. Tell him to keep up the great work.

Allison Sellner:

Will do.

Paul Salter:

Very good.

Allison Sellner:

He’s my chicken griller for our lunches.

Paul Salter:

Essential component to a weekly meal prep. I’m glad you have that.

Allison Sellner:

Yep.

Paul Salter:

So with someone like yourself who has an extensive diet history, you’re not shy to having tried multiple diets over the years, probably dozens or more, and this past diet was nothing short of incredible. Double digit pounds and inches lost. Tell us more about why was this diet easy and more successful than diets of the past?

Allison Sellner:

I think it’s really what you said before about the Pre Diet Maintenance Phase and just using that time to build back a lot of habits. And I’m not going to lie, when you first sent me the program and told me that we were going to be in maintenance for a few weeks before losing weight, I was like, “Okay, that’s not why I’m here. What are we doing?” But I was like, “Okay, nothing you’ve been doing is working, Allison. You have to trust this guy and do what he says.” And so I think what was different about this diet is it’s literally, I hate to say easy, because it’s still, the work you put in the maintenance phase, is hard. But when you go into the diet, you’re just cutting the amount of food that you’re eating. You’re just cutting a few macros here and there slowly. You make a few cuts throughout the diet phase.

And so I really didn’t feel like I was super deprived during the diet. I mean, even during the maintenance, you’re eating more food. If you’re a chronic dieter, you’re eating more food than on a daily basis, then you’re used to eating. You’re eating way more protein, way more veggies, things like that. And so I never felt that deprivation, that, “Oh my God, I’m so ravenously hungry and I have all these cravings,” during the diet that I felt during past diets, where looking back, I mean we’re all guilty of this in the past, but I was chronically undereating during the week and things like that. And then that’s why I would also lose it on the weekends and just go bananas, because I was so hungry and under fueling my body, despite doing hard workouts and things like that.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, I appreciate you sharing that. And you’re right, it’s not easy. And I like to describe the journey of Pre Diet Maintenance to Diet and through Post Diet Maintenance phase. It’s like you’re doing all the hard work upfront. The first four to six weeks before the diet are challenging, first and foremost, because you have to get over that, the fact that you came here to diet, and here’s Paul saying, “No, we’re not dieting right now.” So you came here with one goal and I’m telling you, “Yeah, we’ll get to that eventually.” So you do. You do have to trust, put a lot of trust in someone, which I’m so happy that you did that and we created that trusting culture and community for you. But then it’s all of the hard work of taking ownership of like, “Okay, my foundational eating habits need to be unique to me, simple and flexible.”

And if we can do that in the absence of a calorie deficit, it’s hard, but it’s a lot easier than versus diving head first into a diet simultaneously. So then just like you mentioned, you get to the Diet phase, all the hard work’s done. You just have to now execute on something that you already know the back of your hand. It’s unique to you, it’s simple and it’s flexible, but I’m so happy that you highlight it. All that hard work is done upfront. It’s very challenging, but it absolutely pays off when it comes time to lose the weight and then when it comes time to keep it off for good.

Allison Sellner:

Right.

Paul Salter:

So reflecting back, we’re coming up on five total months in the community, what would you say, maybe it’s one thing, two or three things, have been most influential and impactful that you have learned or experienced as a member of the 5% Community?

Allison Sellner:

I think learning that the key to all of this really is consistency and keeping promises to yourself. And as hard as it is to get back into it, meal prep is so, so, so key. Having your meals planned for the week. For me, I prep on Sundays now. A lot of times I just have my groceries delivered. That was something that I did in residency. And even though I technically have more time now, I’m like, “Listen, I can have my groceries delivered to my front door for a small fee, and it’s worth it to me to cut out that time wandering around the grocery store and be feeling stressed by the crowds of the grocery store on the weekend.” So I often have our groceries delivered Sunday morning, and then normally I’ll work out Sunday morning and then Sunday afternoon or evening, I will do our prep.

And so I prep all of my breakfasts, which I’ve been on a really big overnight oats kick, because it’s nice and tailorable to whatever macros I’m using and I can make it protein and carb heavy after an early morning workout. And then I prep my and my husband’s lunches for the week too. So I normally make between 10 and 12 lunches depending on what my schedule looks like, the weekend to come. And finding recipes that kind of fit the Pre Diet Maintenance and then the Diet phase and then the Post Diet Maintenance. And I mean, some of them I make multiple weeks, because we like them and we look forward to eating them, so we just keep repeating them.

And I think that’s another thing that people struggle with, with this whole process of losing weight and keeping it off, is that a lot of it is kind of monotonous and repetitious, and if you find things that you enjoy eating, that’s okay. It doesn’t matter that you’re eating the same thing over and over again. It doesn’t have to be… Where I bring in the variety is more with the dinners. And so meal prep has been so instrumental in my success, and so I encourage everyone to make that a part of their routine. So just the consistency with meal prep, consistency with workouts, again, just keeping promises to yourself. And I heard a really good quote yesterday, I read a good quote that said, “Confidence comes from keeping promises to yourself.” And I think that that’s so true. The more repetitions that you build in week after week of proving to yourself that you can do this, the easier it gets with time.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, I love that. Thank you so much for sharing that. And I’m curious too, what role has the actual community of wonderful women like yourself played in helping you throughout this journey?

Allison Sellner:

So it’s been so instrumental. I think it was Maria that said in her podcast that the weeks where she misses the live call on Wednesday evenings, she struggles more. And I think that’s very true, and I try to listen to it as soon after as I can, but it’s just not quite the same as checking in with everyone, which I think, it goes back to it’s the reason people can find success on Weight Watchers with in-person meetings and things like that. I mean, you have just the constant accountability. I think as a millennial, being involved in the Slack community comes very easily. Good, bad, or indifferent, because I’m very engaged with a social media platform. And so it comes very naturally to me to kind of check in on that with regularity and comment, whatever.

But we have, every Friday, we celebrate our wins, and on Sundays we have several accountability questions. Then Monday kind of rotates what check-in we have. But just seeing that I’m going through this with other women and a few men. I’m going through the same struggles and seeing what they’re doing to troubleshoot different things, sharing recipes. I know going into Post Diet Maintenance, I was really anxious about what that would look like and just freaking out that I was going to mess it all up. And just individually reached out to a few of the women, Kelly and Janna and Nicole, people that I knew had been in the community for a long time, and just reached out to them and expressed those insecurities and anxieties. And they kind of all talked me off the ledge and were like, “You’ve got this. You’ve put in the work, you’re just reversing your diet just like you went into it at the beginning.” And so just feeling like I can direct DM any of these people and they’ll be supportive, is really great.

Paul Salter:

It makes me so happy hearing that. And I’m so thrilled that you’ve had the experience you’ve had. And the last question I have for you this morning is for somebody listening right now who really resonates with your story, particularly, you’re very long, at a young age, diet history. You’ve tried everything under the sun, nothing is quite stuck and given you the lasting results you desire and deserve. What is one piece of advice you would share with her right now?

Allison Sellner:

I would tell her to find the right coach or the right person to restore her confidence and really invest in herself and go all in. So if it’s the 5% Community, if it’s something similar, go all in from the get-go. Like don’t be… Just trust the process and go all in. Because if you had told me and the person who referred me to the program told me, it was the best money that she’d ever spent on herself. If you had told me far sooner, and I think everything happens for a reason, so I think I found the program when I was supposed to find it. But if you had told me sooner that this was possible and what I’ve been able to achieve with the help of you and the Community and everyone in it in these four months and completely just transformed the way I view food, working out, weight loss, my body, all of that, I would’ve obviously joined so much sooner.

And I’m just so grateful that at age 32 and a half, I’m not going to spend the rest of my life on the same hamster wheel, that I spent the last 18 years running. It just feels really good to be able to move into the rest of my life equipped to not let food and weight loss and my body image dictate how I move through the world and view myself and my role in it.

Paul Salter:

That was so well said. Thank you for sharing that.

Allison Sellner:

You’re welcome. Thank you for everything.

Paul Salter:

Yeah. Yeah. And thank you so much for being here. I just, I can’t thank you enough. Your story is incredible. You articulate it so well, and I’m so proud of all you’ve accomplished and how much you’ve given to other members of the Community. So thank you so much, Allison.

Allison Sellner:

Yeah, thank you.

Paul Salter:

Yeah. And for all of you listening today, thank you for being here, for listening to this episode. If any aspect of Allison’s story resonates with you or you know it would serve and benefit a friend, family member, or loved one, please take the time to share this episode with her. And of course, if you have not already left a genuine rating and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you’re listening to the show, it really would mean a lot to me to help me get inspiring stories such as Allison’s and all of the other episodes we share, in front of the eyes and ears of the women who need to hear this messaging. So they too can not only break the diet hopping cycle, but truly feel, look and be the best version of themselves. Thank you again for listening. Have a wonderful rest of the day. And as always, screw the scale.