Delay Your Diet so It’s Easier and More Effective with Lysette Deshields

Paul Salter:

Hey, I’m registered dietician Paul Salter, and you are listening to Screw the Scale Radio. If you’ve been losing and regaining the same 20 pounds and struggling to have a positive relationship with food and a loving relationship with yourself, you’re in the right place. Ready to get out your own way and truly feel and look your best? Buckle up as I dive deep beyond the nutritional [inaudible 00:00:28] to teach you how to build massive amounts of self-confidence, self-love, and self trust so that you can not only lose the weight you desire and keep it all for good, but truly feel your best.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Screw the Scale Radio. I’m your host, Paul Salter, and delighted that you are not only hanging out yet again with me for another episode, but I am delighted to have the opportunity to share a dear friend with you today, Lysette, who is an outstanding, so incredibly engaged, positive person within our 5% community. She’s become a friend of mine since joining and I am just so freaking proud of her, all that she’s accomplished, how she shows up not only for herself but so many other people. And maybe like you for a while she was only showing up for other people, neglecting her own health and wellbeing. But she’s made some outstanding changes in her life since joining the 5% community and I am excited to share her with you, share her story, triumphs, wins, and progress in today’s episode.

But before we do that, just a quick reminder, I am in the process and getting very close to finishing obtaining my certification in hypnotherapy. And if you are looking for a way to communicate directly with your subconscious mind where your emotions, beliefs, and habits are stored, the ones that are causing manifesting in multiple forms of self-sabotaging behavior and you are sick of getting in your own way and you’re looking for a new tried, proven, effective, fast research backed way, which is hypnotherapy to stop self-sabotage at the source and get out of your own way so you can feel, look and be your best; I would love the chance to work together. So if this is something that interests you, just send me a message on Instagram at Paul Salter coaching. Send me the word “hypno” and that’ll get the conversation started. But without further ado, let me introduce you real quickly to Lysette, who has been dieting since middle school.

Despite being a multi-sport athlete for decades, Lysette operated under the belief that carbohydrates were the antithesis of weight loss, truly the devil. And the result, well, she avoided them like the plague Monday through Friday afternoon only to eat a month’s worth of carbohydrates throughout the entire weekend to follow, before starting this pattern over and over again week after week after week. And this period of intense restriction, interspersed with periods of intense binging led to decades of losing and gaining the same 15 pounds.

And a personal hardship gave Lysette the wake-up call she needed to finally take a different approach. She’d been avoiding carbohydrates for decades with nothing to show for. In fact, she was the heaviest she’d ever been at this point and knew something needed to change if she wanted her results to change. And as a self labeled Instagram stalker, her words not mine, Lysette was attracted to the deep internal work we focus on that yields lasting results in the 5% community. And with absolutely nothing to lose, she took the leap of faith bet on herself, invested in herself. And to this day, well, to say her relationship with herself, food, and that pesky scale have never been better, couldn’t be more true. She’s not only lost double-digit pounds and inches, but her confidence, self-trust, and peace of mind have increased tenfold. So without further ado, please help me in welcoming Lysette to the show.

Really looking forward to putting the spotlight off me for a second and gifting just to connect and have a wonderful conversation with Lysette this evening to hear more about her journey. And I’ll talk us through a little bit more about what that looks like in a minute. Being stared down by three animals at once, right now, all the dogs seem to be glued to me today. It’s been thunderstorms like crazy. So I had to bring all the dog beds into my office just to make everybody happy. But we’re safe and we are sound a couple reminders. Today is the 24th of the month. We need to be getting our monthly challenge commitment done. Remember that is one simple promise to yourself you have committed to doing every day. It takes anywhere from a minute to two minutes to get those 25 repetitions in. So make sure you are getting those done.

And they are due your end of month score a week from today, next Wednesday the 31st, and then Kelly and I have already selected June’s exercise of the month and we will talk about that next Wednesday. Also, we still have, I believe, three spots left for the 5% live event in October down here in beautiful, sunny Florida. I would love to see those three spots filled with all of your smiling faces as soon as possible. So remember, if you are serious about coming, first and foremost, let me know if you have any questions that I can answer to make this feel like a wonderful fit and opportunity. But also you can reserve your spot by the end of month for just $100. And actually I have a call scheduled with Kelly and Mandy. Mandy is our resident event planner who did an extraordinary job really planning almost every single aspect of a last year’s event, which was a tremendous success.

But then when we connect on Wednesday, we’re going to start putting all of the plans together here so we can share more with you. But I can also tell you, I was just talking with Kelly about this on our weekly call this afternoon. I was telling my girlfriend kind of my dream vision this year of where we stay and she’s like an Airbnb whiz and within 30 seconds found like six gigantic properties right on the beach in St. Pete or Treasure Island beaches, which will be a little different than last year’s. We’ll literally be right on the beach. So that’s the vibe we are going for so we can do some incredible or have some incredible experience together. So yeah, many of you, Lysette, Mandy last year played such an integral role and I’m excited to meet more of you and this year. Other reminder of, what did I have?

Let’s see here, Angela. Yeah, very perfect. Let’s just talk about what’s going to happen tonight. I am so excited that Lysette is kind enough to join us to share a little bit more about her journey prior to coming into the 5% community and blessing us with her presence, her outstanding positivity and energy. And then we’re going to pivot the conversation to talking more about all that she has accomplished and experienced in her first, what about six and a half months in Lysette? Give or take, right? Yeah. Outstanding. So the way we’re going to do this is it’s going to be, if you’re familiar with my podcast or any other podcast that has a guest on his or her show, I am going to simply treat it like I would my normal podcast episode, the ones I’ve been able to have with many of you here already actually on this call, on past episodes.

So what I need from you and what I ask from you are couple things. Number one, please go ahead and mute yourselves just so we don’t get any extra dog barking, babies crying, most of which will probably come from my end anyway. Second of all, Lysette has been gracious enough to say Q&A, whatever questions you have, she’s more than happy to answer them. So if you do have questions, what I ask is send them to me. Send to me privately in the chat. And the only reason I say that is that way we don’t see Lysette’s chat box blowing up left and I’ll take those and facilitate. I’ll either work them in organically to the conversation or at the end I’ll kind of open everything up to give anybody who has a question that hasn’t shared it, the opportunity to ask at that time.

I believe that is all I have. So any questions, anybody need any clarification on what we’re doing tonight, the monthly challenge, the live event, before we do dive in? All right. With that said, also big kudos to every single one of you who participated in this Monday’s Mindset Monday prompt question, whatever that we technically call that. Awesome responses. Really love seeing each of you slow down, think, digest, choose something and come out with a response and action step of thought down or whatever it was. So keep up the phenomenal work there. Lysette, are you ready to rock and roll?

Lysette DeShields:

Yep. Ready?

Paul Salter:

Got your water. You’re hydrated. Good?

Lysette DeShields:

Yeah, actually, hold on, let me take one sec.

Paul Salter:

Awesome. So okay, just a reminder of everyone, it looks like you are muted and if you have questions, please again, they are encouraged. Some of you submitted some to me earlier via Slack. Thank you. I have those up on my screen, but like I said, if anything comes up as we begin the conversation, I am here to facilitate that. With that said, Mandy, Angela is coming to answer your question in the chat box. Let’s rock and roll. Lysette, you ready?

Lysette DeShields:

Yep. Ready.

Paul Salter:

Outstanding Lysette. Well thank you so much for joining us live in the 5% community tonight, as well as for another episode of Screw the Scale Radio. How are you tonight?

Lysette DeShields:

Doing good. I’m excited. Really excited to share my experiences and just share some knowledge on what my journey’s been like.

Paul Salter:

And always nice to have some extra Maryland love and presence on the show in the community here. I swear one day for all of my Minnesotans, listen, we will catch up to you one day that is the goal, but I digress. So really to completely said I’m so grateful you’re here because it has been incredible to watch your journey and all that you’ve accomplished these past six months or so as a member of the 5% community. And I thought that the best way to begin our conversation this evening, specifically for all of the ladies and Dave, our resident, Dave of course would be to share more about what your journey in the health and fitness industry looks like prior to joining the 5% community.

Lysette DeShields:

Yeah, sure. So honestly my whole life I’ve been involved in all sorts of fitness from competitive swimming, I did gymnastics, basketball, track and field, and now CrossFit and Olympic weightlifting. So pretty long history of just being really immersed in fitness for the past 36 years of my life. So fitness and nutrition and making sure that I take care of my body has been fully ingrained in my psyche and in my soul really. I think over time, the more that I did competitive sports, there became a really large focus in your physique and what you look like. And that philosophy really started at a really young age. I would say that I really started to become attuned to my weight, weighing myself, how my body looked starting in middle school. So from middle school I would say is when I really started to, I guess diet and really start count counting calories and being more conscientious about what I put in my mouth.

And so from middle school up until most recently joining the 5% community, I was a chronic dieter. I was trying to find every diet, fad diet under the sun to lose weight. I would gain the weight, lose the weight, gain some more. It was just a constant cycle for a very long time. And I tried multiple diet companies, multiple approaches, and just nothing worked. I would lose the weight, but then I would just gain it back. I really didn’t know how to keep the weight off. I thought that something was just wrong with me. How does everybody else able to lose so much weight and keep it it off for years? But I just could not unlock that door for some reason. And eventually I just got fed up and that’s when I saw you on Instagram and I was like, you know what? Let me just try this. I remember you from Renaissance Periodization and so many good reviews, heard so many good things and it felt like your personality really meshed with mine and I just wanted to give you a shot. And so here I am.

Paul Salter:

We are very grateful you took a shot on me. I am very grateful. And I’m curious to know specifically in let’s go middle school and high school timeline. What was that attitude or relationship with towards food? You mentioned counting calories, were there specific diets that you can recall that you were actively trying? Were you weighing your food using an app?

Lysette DeShields:

So, I went to an all girls high school and so you could just imagine what it’s like being around teenage girls at the prime of your youth. And so that’s when it really took hold of me. My diet was no carbs, you don’t eat carbs, carbs make you fat. So my diet consisted of salads all the time and no protein either. So salads and just lots of veggies, salad dressing. And then I would swim for three hours a day after school.

And so I really didn’t have any type of structured eating in high school, I just never was taught that. So I’d be eating my salads sometimes, would I’d protein in it, binge on the weekends and then just start that all over again Monday through Friday. And just looking back on it and the amount of training that I had to put in, I don’t know how I survived eating like that. And I don’t know why I thought that that was okay, because it’s not. If I were to eat like that now I would pass out on the floor. But yeah, carbs back then were not good and were really looked down upon. And so that was my diet of choice back then.

Paul Salter:

Okay, carb free. I can relate to a little bit of that. I had some experience doing what was technically, I guess described as a [inaudible 00:14:50] ketogenic diet that the guy I followed and inevitably went to his graduate school problem hypothesized could be something really good. Shocker. It wasn’t even ever get into ketosis, it didn’t work, it wasn’t sustainable, yada yada yada. But I understand where you’re coming from because since the last 30 to 40 years, it seems one decade, carbs are the enemy, the next decade it’s fat and on and off, vice versa, on and off. So I understand that and I appreciate you sharing that. And as you eventually progressed and navigated into going through school and getting your first full-time job, how was this, and is my word not yours, but “carb phobia” beginning to affect you at work and with your social life?

Lysette DeShields:

Oh my gosh, it was awful. I mean, I lost the weight, it worked in that sense. I lost the weight, it came off fast and I liked the way I looked, but I hated the way that I felt. I felt awful. Brain fog, exhaustion, always constantly thinking about food, obsessing about food. I was planning my cheat, I called it cheat meal back then. I was planning my cheat cheat meal Sunday for that upcoming Friday, because of the fact that I was not fueling my body properly and I was so deprived calorically and deprived from having a very important macronutrients. I honestly could not function very well and that type of restriction is tough. It’s not sustainable. It really was counter to what my goals were with trying to be healthy because you know, restrict Monday through Thursday, but then when you binge Friday through Sunday, what was the point?

So it was really counterproductive and eventually I did gain the weight back once I just had enough and started… People think that when you restrict Monday through Thursday, there’s no negative impact when you binge Friday through Sunday. But there is, and it reached the point when I think my body just had enough and it started to rebel. I noticed that I was, despite the restriction, I was losing muscle tone, I was gaining fat actually, which I think was one of the most surprising negative effects because I was like, how do you gain weight when you’re not eating carbs for four days out the week? How is that scientifically possible? So it didn’t work long term at all.

Paul Salter:

So obviously this question hindsight is 2020, but if you could reflect back and put yourself in younger you shoes for a minute, why do you think you continued to go back to that approach despite, again, hindsight being 2020, we know it wasn’t sustainable. What kept calling you to it?

Lysette DeShields:

It was fast weight loss. I knew it worked. I needed something quick at the time. I didn’t want to spend a long time trying to lose weight and watch what I was eating. I needed something, I wanted to look good for the summer. So after the holidays I restricted carbs for a certain amount of time, lost the weight real quick. But like I said, I couldn’t keep it off ever. And I’d start that cycle again after the holidays that following year. So it was just endless and I just got tired of it.

Paul Salter:

Yeah. So tell me more about that. I mean, if we’re 10, 12 plus years kind of falling into the same routine, it’s like every January I’m dieting or every July, May, whatever it may be, I’m dieting again, gaining dieting, gaining dieting. What feelings became the norm there? How did that begin to just shape who you were as a person at that point in your life?

Lysette DeShields:

It was really frustrating and I think that I reached my limit. I reached a point when I was like I’m just done with, this was when my mom passed away suddenly a few years ago. And at that point I felt like a lot was going on at that time. My mom had passed away a week before I was going to take my bar exam. So while I’m studying for the bar exam, I’m planning my mom’s funeral. And I felt that restricting or having, I felt that there was a loss of control in my life at that point. And I was really grasping for something to control and my nutrition was something that I could do. And choosing not to eat carbs, for example, or choosing to restrict in some way was my way of exercising control, and at the time. By doing so though, at that point I felt stressed out, I was overwhelmed, loss of control.

And honestly because of this sick pattern I felt was in that state of desperation, I was desperate to feel good about my body because I was not feeling good about my personal life and losing my mother. I was desperate to no longer be preoccupied with scale and counting calories religiously. I was desperate to not have to be perfect in my fitness and nutrition. I was just really honestly just desperate to finally become free of the chains that I felt like were keeping me bound and preventing me from fully living a life where I just felt mentally free and no longer scared to eat food. And so prior to joining this community, I was at a point when I was just ready to remove any notions or ideas that I thought I knew, for example, no carbs. And just become a person or the woman that I thought that I deserved to be. So I just wanted to trust in something new. And so that’s what I was ready for in that moment of time.

Paul Salter:

And it’s incredible to hear you say that because obviously it’s easier said than done. You only know one way for such a period of time, but you’re right, finally, the pain of staying the same is so great. It’s like you’d rather endure the pain of change and you were willing to just to go through that pain because upon joining the 5% community, despite having all this wonderful inside out success, there was still hardship, challenge, discomfort, and just different.

Different is not good or bad, just neutral in and of itself, it’s different. But there’s still a level of resistance that has to be overcome and for you to acknowledge and have that profound self-awareness that you were ready to put forth, the courage and the commitment, it takes a lot of awareness, reflection, and knowing yourself. So I really admire that. And I guess I’m curious to know, you came to us with this background of not eating carbohydrates and you get your nutrition blueprint and you’re seeing there for the first time, “holy shit, he wants me to eat how many carbohydrates per day?” What was running through your mind?

Lysette DeShields:

Yes, that! Exactly. I’ve never eaten that much before. I mean I wanted to eat that much before in my past life, but I didn’t think that my body could handle it. I literally thought that I was one of those rare people who, if I were to eat that much I would just blow up, but I didn’t. When we first started back in December and I was ready to go to lose the weight, but of course you didn’t let me. But with that blueprint I was excited to find…

I felt like starting this blueprint, I was starting a new life, honestly. I had a sense of hope and feeling fueled for the first time in a long time in my workouts, I felt like a superwoman in my CrossFit classes. I may not have performed like a superwoman, but I felt like a queen in the gym. It felt really great having PRs and not starving in the middle of my workouts or not feeling lightheaded. It was honestly amazing. And that notion that I have that I would blow up by eating that much food, it never happened. So it was great, proving myself wrong and proving that I’m not a rarity out there and I could do this.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, I love that. So it’s great that you mentioned that point because we’re so conditioned when we step in the diet industry that we just need to eat to survive. But when you eat to thrive, you experience this whole nother aspect of how food truly is fuel. And it’s like, I still remember Michaela saying this, shout out to Michaela, one of our former coaches, you don’t know how good you can feel until you do feel that good. And it’s like you were finally putting the fuel in your body that your body had been craving for who knows how long. It’s like, oh damn, this is what everyone’s talking about. This feels good.

Lysette DeShields:

Yes, exactly. I think one of the biggest… Yeah, that’s exactly right. It was an amazing feeling to feel good in the gym and feel that powerful. I think the biggest thing though, in addition to that was for the first time I allowed myself to be open to change and to not resist it. Again, I have a very type A personality, I like to control every aspect of my life. So trust, putting my trust into somebody else is really hard for me.

I like to dictate the terms, not have somebody else tell me what to do. But I think over time, over these past six months since I’ve been with you and everybody else in this group is I’ve realized change is going to happen, it’s inevitable in your life. Growth is optional. So-

Paul Salter:

I like that.

Lysette DeShields:

I chose to grow through this process. I chose to embrace growth and accept it, and not fear change. I also accepted that what may have worked in the past wasn’t the best approach for me right now. So I think that’s been the biggest thing with opening up my heart and my mind to all of this. And I think that’s helped me sustain the philosophies that we talk about.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, that’s great. And I’m curious because that cranky old man wouldn’t let you diet right away and kept you in the pre diet maintenance phase, but did you ever reach a point of frustration or impatience where looking back you’re like, Damn, I was close to just saying screw it in dieting? I’m always curious.

Lysette DeShields:

Oh yeah, 100%. I’m a very impatient person if you can’t guess already I like quick results. I like things to happen really quickly. So it was really hard for me when you told me to slow down. But I appreciate what we did because when I think about previous diet approaches, they were quick fixes, but there was an underlying issue, even at the core of it all.

I had a very unhealthy relationship with food. I had a very unhealthy relationship with the scale. I didn’t know how to navigate social settings or anything really. Even on a diet, I had to be perfect. But I’ve been able to learn that that’s not the way to be. And I think at the end of the day, not addressing those issues before the diet phase, I would’ve been back to where I had been before in that sick pattern. And I think that’s one that’s been one of the biggest things that I learned throughout all of this is that diet is about losing weight, losing inches, becoming lean, all that stuff. But you also have to lose the mental baggage too. So you’re losing the physical baggage, but you have to lose the mental baggage as well to make this a forever thing.

Paul Salter:

So well said. And for those of you listening, a good reminder here is all of the items and the aspects of her relationship with food that Lysette had mentioned she needed to work on would’ve been a hundred times harder if she was barely eating enough to survive. Being already in that calorie deficit, which is why we take this patient approach, it’s much easier to improve your relationship with food, to be kind to yourself and improve your relationship with yourself when you’re actually giving your body the amount of fuel it needs emotionally, physically, and mentally.

But if you jump right into a diet first, you don’t have the energy to actually transform your relationship with food. We have to remember that behavior change, habit formation, they are incredibly energetically costly processes. So it’s important you do that when you are in fact eating enough.

Lysette DeShields:

Absolutely.

Paul Salter:

And Lysette, I’ll never forget, because we had tons of communication every step of the way about the pre-diet maintenance phase, but then roughly, I don’t remember if it was five, maybe six weeks in, you sent me this message that, and I’m paraphrasing here, it was more or less, “I finally get it. I understand why we do the pre-diet maintenance phase.” So looking back, what were some of your biggest takeaways from that period of your journey?

Lysette DeShields:

Yeah, I remember that too. It was definitely a light bulb that went off in my head. And I even think that, I think we had talked about doing a six-week maintenance phase, but I was like, there’s Valentine’s Day in there and so let’s extend this for a little bit longer. I mean, what’s two more weeks? But old Lysette never would’ve done that. I would’ve been ready to go. I would’ve been restricting myself on Valentine’s Day, not been able to make memories and things like that. But getting back to your question, some of my light bulb moments are, you don’t need to be perfect to achieve sustainable weight loss or to have a successful weight loss journey. In fact, in my most recent diet phase, my first one with you, I wasn’t perfect. I had those moments. I had to navigate situations where I either had an eyeball and try my best or there was a planned event. My birthday was in there, and as nervous as I was, all of you reassured me, it’s just one day and it’s just one day out of how many meals.

So you don’t have to strive for 100% perfection to be successful. We spoke about the mental health component. That was huge for me, and I think I developed that in the pre-diet maintenance phase. I really made a lot of mental gains. I completed this group the scale challenge. I’ve tried my best to stay on top of all of the assignments, the share your wins, the Monday mindsets, the coaching calls on Wednesday. I’ve been really trying my best to stay engaged. And by being engaged, that has helped me stay on top of it too. And that leads me into my third thing, the community. This community has really helped me be accountable. And in the past, I’ve done this alone or I’ve done this alone in with one coach, but I never had other people to share my struggles, to share my thoughts, to encourage me. There have been moments when I have been tempted to deviate off plan, but I hear Paul in my head or I hear somebody else in my head-

Paul Salter:

I apologize for that.

Lysette DeShields:

No, it’s been great. What would they tell me? Is this a meal that’s actually worth it? Is this a meal that’s worth going off plan? Things like that. So without all of those things, I’m not sure if I would’ve gained the same success as I would have without it.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, I appreciate you sharing that. I’m thrilled you’ve had these learning lessons. And one I want to just rehash and highlight again, I remember when we were navigating your birthday, Valentine’s Day and your fiance had been so creative and kind enough to plan this event and this day for you, and you’re like, “I want to go enjoy it, but at the same time, I’m in the middle of my diet, what do I do?” And it’s like we literally, we got super logical and took a step back. We’re like, okay, you eat four times per day over a week, that’s 28 meals. If you are on track for 27 of them, that is still 96% compliance. How do you feel about that? And we were both like, “Oh shit, that’s pretty good.”

Lysette DeShields:

It’s not that bad. It’s pretty-

Paul Salter:

Not that bad.

Lysette DeShields:

Pretty good.

Paul Salter:

And I think that’s obviously easier said than done, especially when you are that person who’s so close and so invested in this situation. But for everyone out there listening too, it’s just a great reminder of take a step back. One meal is not going to only not define you, but it’s not going to make or break your progress. You have an opportunity a few hours later the next day to just get right back on track in your groove. You’re one meal away from re-accumulating that strong consistency. I was so happy to see you, to really get to have that experience to fully learn and appreciate consistency always trumps perfection.

Lysette DeShields:

Yes. And so do making memories.

Paul Salter:

So yes, a 1000%. Absolutely. So one area, you know, had an incredibly successful dieting phase, the pounds, the inches came off. And from my perspective, and I’m going to let you add onto this, of course, it seemed like it was just the norm. It was chill. There weren’t these emotional highs and lows. How would you describe this most recent diet phase compared to past diet phases?

Lysette DeShields:

This was the easiest one, honestly. I’ve had some extreme diets really extreme. And by extreme, my definition of extreme meant two a days at the gym. So CrossFit class in the morning and then a crazy run in the afternoon, or a cycle class, going down to zero fats, zero carbs for weeks on end. That’s the type of craziness and madness that I was accustomed to. And my calories got really low. But with this, that pre-diet maintenance phase was key. I’m serious that I don’t know what type of magic that was, but it was good, that magic. But it really helped me because honestly, during those eight weeks I figured out what foods I liked. I was able to explore and experiment a little bit. The good thing about me is that I’m a routine type of person, so I cycled through the same types of foods.

So that made things easy. But once I hit my diet phase, it was the same. They were the same foods, it’s just a little bit less. So there really wasn’t a drastic change. I had already established my fitness routine at that point, so I didn’t change that at all. I never had to go to anything too extreme in terms of calorie reductions. I think we only made two adjustments and they weren’t feel crazy at all. I never had those moments when I was always thinking about food. And I think what really defined this one as when you compare it to other diet phases is that after this diet phase, I was not dreaming about food. That the food that I would eat on day one of my maintenance days, previous night, I was planning that meal weeks in advance. I knew exactly what that meal was going to consist of, but that wasn’t the case, I didn’t have strong cravings like that.

The weekend came, I treated myself to something. I didn’t feel sick that Sunday because I knew when to stop. And I started back to business on Sunday and I felt great. And so just constantly reminding myself, I think, how do I want to feel come Sunday? I know I don’t want to feel like crap. I know what that feels like. I am a pro at binging. Trust me, I am that girl who will eat the entire cake, I’m not even joking, I’ve done it before. But I know what that feels like the next day. I knew that I don’t want to feel that way. So those are some major defining moments that differentiated this dieting phase with others.

Paul Salter:

That’s wonderful. And I’m curious, what was one of the biggest hurdles you did overcome during your diet phase?

Lysette DeShields:

I think my birthday was one, just recognizing that one meal, that’s nothing, and memories trumps everything. I think also another thing was after I’m so used to being crazy at the gym, the two a days. So you know, reminding myself… Or actually no, not reminding, telling me from the very beginning, no two a days. And so really reigning myself in and exercising that self-control, especially towards the end of the diet was tough. But I did it and my joints are thanking me, my knees are thanking me, I’m getting great sleep. So it really makes me confident that whenever I decide to do another one, it’s just going to be the same thing. It’s the status quo, nothing’s really going to change much.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, it’s a less food on your plate.

Lysette DeShields:

Yeah, less food on my plate.

Paul Salter:

Very good. So you had mentioned in your journey prior to joining us here in the 5% community that you had tried numerous fad diets, coaching programs, et cetera. What do you feel has been one thing that sets the 5% community apart from other approaches or programs you’ve experienced?

Lysette DeShields:

Definitely the community. Oh my goodness. And I think one of the major things that concerned me in the beginning, we talked about it, was there’s so many of us. So how is it possible that one or two people can still be so engaged, but yet you still are able, I don’t know how you do it, but you still are able to do it. There’s never been moments when I haven’t felt like my needs have been addressed either by you, Kelly, or everybody else in this group.

Like I said, previous diets. I never had other people that I could just shoot ideas off of or talk through things or having people vulnerable and sharing their struggles. I mean, we talk about some deep stuff in our group, and I genuinely appreciate how vulnerable people are, and that’s helped me be vulnerable myself and be very committed and remain patient and think more of the long term and really trust and enjoying the journey that I’m on.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, I love hearing that. I’m so glad you said that. I say this all the time when I talk to people, I had high expectations for the culture of our community, but every single person in here has contributed to drastically exceeding those expectations. We just have a community of phenomenal people and we’re thankful you’re a part of it. And everyone here who is on the call live, we’re listening to our replay later, we’re so appreciative of you. And I agree because I might have said this to you when I first met you, selfishly, this community was more for me than anybody else. I mean that because I was at a point in my life where I had been going so fast for so long, but by myself. And I still right to this day, remember a mentor saying, it’s great to go fast, but if you want to go far, you have to go with others. And I was like, oh yeah, that’s wise.

Lysette DeShields:

There is a huge power with having a strong support system. And that’s something that anybody would truly gain within the 5%.

Paul Salter:

And I think the last question I want to ask, and then of course I’ll open it up to any of our live members here if they have any questions, and I’ll check the chat is, for someone listening on the podcast right now, a listener of Screw The Scale Radio, who’s kind of been on the fence maybe like you has followed me on social media for a while, seeing a little bit about the 5% communities kind of teetering back and forth. What would you share with her to help her get off the fence and really commit to making herself a priority by joining?

Lysette DeShields:

Yeah, I think I would say everyone experiences seasons in their lives for those seasons may be seasons of grief, moments of despair, heartache, job transitions, feelings of hopelessness. But to that person who’s on the fence, I would make sure to remind them of the fact that as quickly as our seasons change, that person’s specific season is temporary and also will not last forever. And many women and men like me, they may have entered a season that caused undesired physical changes and loss of confidence. I was there. And it’s really easy during those periods to put on blinders that ultimately prevents you from focusing on your unique path. I know that there were many moments when I would reminisce about those periods in my life when I felt like the most competent, but I want to encourage those people to remind themselves that when those negative thoughts or doubts creep in, just to remind themselves that their path is one of progression and not perfection. That’s something that that person would be reminded about within the five, 5% community.

They will mess up in their journey, but that’s inevitable. But it’s those moments that allow those people to accept their mistakes and just enjoy their unique process. And I think once that person finally allows themselves to just let go of the past and the desire to control everything and letting go of that fear, they will truly be able to succeed in that journey and have the mental space and the space in their hearts to fully embrace the process. So dive in, those people really have nothing to lose, but just to gain, you’ll want to gain so much growth and gain just so much by joining.

Paul Salter:

I love that. So well said. And of course, as I told you when I first met you, I’m a man of many questions. One additional one I’m curious to hear your answer on is, if you could go back in time to younger, say fresh out of college, Lysette, what words of advice would you offer her as she was struggling in that weight loss, weight regain cycle?

Lysette DeShields:

Yeah, I would tell that person, because I was very fearful, to choose courage over comfort. It’s very easy to stay stagnant, but it’s hard to change. It takes courage to change. Change doesn’t happen overnight. You have to be committed to it, you have to take a chance, and you have to start wanting change more than you fear it. And I think the toughest things are those that are worth it. Short term is not always worth it is what I wish that I knew back then. And ultimately, no one can want it more than you do. And I felt like I was very limiting. I was limiting myself. But when you think that you can’t, and I thought that I couldn’t, but when I actually started to do it, starting to do action and being proactive about it, that’s when I finally felt like I stepped into my power. And so I wish that I knew that back then, but it took me a very long time to embrace that. But I feel like I finally have stepped into my power and it’s a really nice feeling.

Paul Salter:

Love it. So a couple questions from members that were submitted earlier. What’s your favorite aspect of the community in particular?

Lysette DeShields:

Oh gosh. I love the share your wins. I love ending my week just reflecting on something that was positive. And I’m not saying that every single week of mine is great because it’s not, that would be a lie. I have some really tough weeks, but I feel like those Friday reflections really forced me to find something to be proud of or something to be grateful, even if it was something small. So I really do enjoy those.

Paul Salter:

That’s fantastic to hear. And is there one member, if you had to shout and single out somebody out whose been most inspirational to watch their journey or that you’ve connected with most, that you’re grateful that’s kind of giving you that fuel to keep putting forth your best foot?

Lysette DeShields:

Gosh, that’s hard. That’s a hard one, guys. Everybody’s amazing here. I think that one person that stands out is Kelly. I really do appreciate her story. I feel like her story is very similar to mine, and I am so impressed with how courageous she was to change careers, but I know that there’s other women who’ve done that too. And that’s that, oh my gosh, that is so courageous. And so I do really do relate to Kelly and she, we’ve had some pretty good conversations where she’s brought me down and provided some objective perspectives about things, and she’s extremely supportive. And so shout out to Kelly.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, Kelly’s a rockstar. I am incredibly indebted and grateful for her and so happy that she is with us, and it’s just stepped up and beyond belief into this new role. She’s a rockstar.

Lysette DeShields:

She is.

Paul Salter:

Also, well, so, Lisa, Laura, Angela, Heather, any questions that you would like to ask Lysette while we have this chance? I’ll give you a moment here. Oh, chat box will be helpful. Yep. Oh, nope. All good? Nope. Nope. All. Okay. Wonderful. Well, Lysette, thank you so much for taking the time to share your story, your learning lessons, and we are just so proud of you. So thank you for doing this.

Lysette DeShields:

Yeah, thank you for inviting me. This was super fun.

Paul Salter:

Yeah, absolutely. So I’m going to go ahead and I’m going to end our recording right here, Lysette. Oh, Lisa says, you are amazing. But yeah, thank you so much, Lysette.

Lysette DeShields:

Thank you. This was awesome, guys. Thanks for listening to me.

Paul Salter:

And thank you for listening to another episode of Screw the Scale Radio. If you found this episode valuable, take a moment to ask yourself, why aren’t you a part of our incredible 5% community where women just like you are doing the work following a proven path that is rooted in uniqueness, simplicity, and flexibility to not only help them achieve sustainable weight loss, but truly to empower them with the tools and strategies to self-love, trust, and belief, to feel, look, and be their best.

And if you want to rebuild your foundational eating habits, rebuild your relationship with food, fall in love with yourself, and develop an abundance of self-trust, love, and belief, all in route to losing the 10, 15, 20 pounds you’ve been working to lose for so long, and keep it all for good. Click the link in the show notes to apply, learn more, and schedule a call with me about joining the 5% community. Thank you so much for listening. One last reminder too, if you are interested in exploring learning more about hypnotherapy, reach out to me via Instagram at Paul Salter coaching. Hypno or coaching gets the conversation started. That’s enough for me. Or see, I’m making up for lost time since I didn’t talk too much at this episode. Have a great rest of the day. I appreciate it. Share this episode if it resonated with you and as always, Screw the Scale.