How Megan Gaul Lost 100 Pounds by Fixing Her Mindset First — Not Her Diet

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Welcome everyone to doing business with a servant's heart podcast. I'm your host, Steve Ramona, and I'm thrilled to have you join us today. You're gonna love this guest. This podcast is dedicated to exploring the idea of doing business and living life with a purpose, serving others and yes, achieving success. We believe that when you approach your work and your lives with a servant's heart, we can truly make a difference. We create this show for you because we want everyone to be motivated, inspired, and educated to make an impact in your world. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a community leader, or simply someone looking to bring more purpose into your daily life, this podcast is here to support and uplift. While you listen to this incredible guest today, I want you to think about who you're going to serve today and how and what impact you create today. Let's not wait till tomorrow. And today's sponsor, I want to thank uh Pantheon Alliance. You're an amazing sponsor. Pick at yourself joining an elite community of thriving business owners from a variety of industries, all working together to create a powerful referral marketplace. It's an incredible opportunity to expand your network and elevate your business to new heights. Okay, we got all the business stuff out of the way in the monologue. Impact is powerful, and I'm gonna say this while I'm excited to have her on. Mental health is on the rise. I just read a stat since 2009. 15 to 25-year-olds, uh, females, suicide rate is up 100%. Mental health and all the issues coming on social media. I won't get into all that, but this is a lady you want to listen to because she can help with that. Megan, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Thank you. Thank you, Steve, for having me.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

You're very welcome. Let's jump into mental health and wellness. I know you don't deal with mental health, but what you do is a direct relation to mental health. Talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Yeah. Uh well, to share a little bit about what I do, I help folks with a weight loss goal uh approach that goal and meet that goal, but with authenticity, with kindness to themselves, because we find that that's missing so much in the services that are available to people who want to make that kind of change. And the way you bring mental health into it, I think is very close to my heart because uh the state of your mental health can really make or break your ability to make these small but mighty changes over time that create that health change, um, whether it's weight loss or any other kind of transformation you're trying to make with, you know, with your health. So I found in my personal experience, uh, I needed a ton of mental health tools added to my toolbox in order to change things like emotional eating habits, um, how I was managing stress. So that's something I see a lot with clients. They need to add um mental health skills, they need to add uh experience in coping with stress in different ways before they can make health changes and weight changes that actually stick.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

I love that. And thank you for you do work in mental health and it's the mindset that's the mental health part because it's we've we just talked about before the show how many people go on on, you talk about it, you know, week after week, they don't take action. And you come back and see them, they haven't lost weight, they're not healthier. And let's dive into that because that's a mindset/slash mental health issue. How do you handle that with a client?

SPEAKER_00 4:29

So, uh, folks who are having trouble taking action, um, first we want to make sure that we're clear on the action that is gonna get them to their goal. So um a lot of actions that we work on uh are related to journaling their food, being aware of the meals that they plan for themselves, getting that food into the house, adding movement into the day, um, and then those proactive kind of stress, stress management skills, all of those are actions. But um you do find folks who have a lot of trouble implementing consistently one week to the next. And so what I like to do with a client is every week get really clear on those actions they expected themselves to do. Um, write that down for themselves, and then next week check in what percentage of them, put a number on it, what percentage of those actions did you actually do? So I really like to raise awareness on the action because I think that in the coaching space, when people reach out to a coach, sometimes it can feel like it gets bogged up in the mind. Like I wonder why I can't do it, why can't I do this? It gets bogged up in the story behind why the person can't do it, and that distracts us from actually taking the action. So, one, getting clear on the percentage of the actions that's been taken. And then the next step is looking at what stood in their way and what are the practical ways we can flip that next week. So, for example, if someone um tried to walk every morning, but they were finding that um, you know, between the coffee maker finishing up the coffee and when they had to take their daughter to school, something wasn't working. Um, changing the time of the walk, the intended walk to later in the day might have worked for that person. So there's a couple of strategies that we can use, but I like getting really concrete, uh, especially when the action isn't being taken, you know, week after week.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

I love awareness. I was gonna say that you took the words right out of my mouth because that's what coaching is to make you aware or accountable is another word, which I love. And SOP's processes for business. I've never heard somebody in the wellness space talk about that. You're absolutely right. Hey, your process isn't working, change it. You know, have coffee at five in the morning instead of 5:30. So you can do that, whatever that is the action. I love what you're talking about right now. This is so inspiring. But I do want to inspire the audience even more. Your story about your weight loss is incredible. Can you tell us that?

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Sure, thank you. Uh it I guess I lost weight twice in my life. And the first time did not stick, and the second time did. And I think the big difference in that second time, I had reached a high weight of about 230 pounds. And some of the things that were contributing to that were eating in a way to relax at the end of the day. So I wasn't eating to treat my body well, I was eating really fun restaurant foods. I was eating desserts, snacks to detach from the stress of the day. And so what caused me to want to change that was seeing that escalate to such a level where I felt like I couldn't change it. I felt like it would be an insurmountable barrier to change. And that's what made me knew I had, uh, made me know that I had to change it. So what I did was I reached out for support. In my case, I reached out to a cognitive behavioral therapist. Um, other people might reach out to a coach or a trainer, but I think I sensed I needed help with my relationship with food first. Uh, I didn't expect to lose weight going in, but what I found was as soon as I started proactively planning my food for the day, journaling my food each day, I was able to make changes that were pretty simple, but that were creating weight loss over time. And that I think that taught me that I could do it. And uh it was about a year, about 11 to 12 months, but I did lose a hundred pounds and it's now 2024. So I've been keeping it off since 2018.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

You give a lot of hope because you you you fell the first time, you didn't fail. We're all gonna fall, but we don't want we can fall, but we can't fail. Fail is you're you're giving up. And I appreciate that because that's hope for people out there like, God, I've tried. Oh my god, Megan's done this and it's a hundred pounds. You lost a person. I love saying that when I hear that. Um so with this journey and awareness and the process, what is a big tip you can leave somebody or tell somebody in the audience right now that says, I need to lose weight, whether it's medical reason or just for looking better.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

So I think rather than getting wrapped up in, I think a lot of people want to start with a big why, which can be very helpful. Um, but I don't think it's the most impactful first step. I think the first step is just taking a small action to get the ball rolling. I think that's a much more approachable way to get started. So pick a small step that feels doable for you in relation to your weight loss. So um, for me, it was food journaling. For some people, it might be drinking more water every day because that tends to keep your hunger levels a little more stable. For some people, it might be prepping a lunch every day. Whatever that small action is, I would love to see you do it for two weeks in a row every single day. That kind of gives you a sign. All right, this was a change that that felt possible to me and I stuck to it, gives you the idea that this is a commitment I'm willing to make, and then tack on the next step. So maybe that's understanding your calorie level that you're aiming for, or maybe that's going to the gym three times a week. But start small and make sure that you get that 100% before you uh tack on a new change.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Megan, that's genius. Because I talk about business get better 1% every day. Don't eat the I hate this phrase, but it's true. Don't eat the whole elephant, eat pieces at a time till you get to that 400-pound elephant in the room.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Yes, one bite at a time.

SPEAKER_02 10:49

Yes, thank you. That fits here perfectly. Look at that. It's perfect. One bite at a time. No, I like it. But here's the thing, and and people know me, they've been on my audience knows I was part of a health club for many years. People say, I can't do it. I don't have time, I don't have that. What do you tell those people that are listening going? Sounds great, Megan. Steve, you sounds great, but I can't do it.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Yeah, there's a few reasons why someone might say that. Um, I think one big reason I see is they've done it before and seen regain. So that's a big fear of failure uh or a fear of the restriction that they might have done in the past. Um, so that's one side. Another person might have never done it before and is not sure where to start. Um for people who say, I can't do it. I would challenge them to say, well, prove you can do something. Um so for me, that was proving that I could stick to food journaling. Uh, and that allowed me to see, hey, I can make a change in my life. At that time, I really didn't feel like I could make a change in my life. And I think that's what's behind a lot of people saying I can't do it. Um, they haven't seen the evidence yet. So if you can give yourself some evidence, um, that will go a long way to making it seem more possible. Um yeah, I think that's what I would start with. The other thing is that there are, if a human can do it, you can do it. Uh, there's nothing super special or unique about your body that means you can't reach a healthy weight. Um, some people might find it harder, some people might need to make more change than others. And that's kind of that unfairness that sometimes people feel. Um, but keep using yourself as a comparison, like yourself as someone to beat, not other people. That's another thing that gets in people's way. They see other people and feel they can never live like that person. But you don't need to look at that. Use your own self as a barometer.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

That's a great point, especially people listening to you like, oh my God, so successful, 100 pounds. I only lose 50. I don't know if I can do it. And the other thing too is when you say I can't, it's a mindset. Literally, any excuse somebody puts out there, I work 80 hours a week. Okay, do this. I don't, you know, I can't walk, I don't have a place to walk, and then run in place. I mean, I'm just taking examples. But this is where if you're thinking of this, I don't usually do this on a podcast, hire Megan. That's what I would do. Because accountability, self-accountability is so hard. I've done it. I've right, talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Yes. And and what what what you're getting at, I think, is the having someone looking at your situation and providing that sounding board to get over the hurdles is invaluable because, like you said, um, if you're stuck in that 80-hour work week, you are used to that way of life. Your brain has almost evolved into like, this is the routine, it's hard to get out of it. There, there's very few avenues. You've already thought through, like, well, if I did this, that would make my life worse in this way, or if I got up earlier, I'd have to go to bed earlier. You've already kind of thought yourself out of a lot of those paths that are actually valid options for you. And what having a coach or anyone outside of yourself can do is to help you be that sounding board to problem solve in that way. Like, well, if you can't get up earlier, could you do it at work at lunchtime? Could you take a shift over here so that you can do this? It helps you become more neutral about your situation and look at it more like a problem, uh project rather than like this this hard feeling, I have never solved this, I can't solve it. All that.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

No, and I like that. I like your attitude about that. And it's not, see, I say coaches, I disagree, you know, tell me if I'm wrong, but I think I'm right. You're not there to say, hey, Steve, you're gonna hire, you know, I'm gonna hire you, Megan, and I gotta be with you the rest of my life. No, that's not what a coach does. It gets you your processes done, your SOP for your weight loss, you're ready to go, and you go, Steve, way, way, boy, way, way, bird. And you know, you'll be available if they have a question or something. See, that's the thing that people go, I don't want to hire a coach, I have to have them the rest of my life. And and I love that you don't do that. Talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Yes, yeah. If someone wants that kind of support that you're describing for the rest of their life, they might be someone who gets someone to write them a meal plan or orders their their dinners, you know, into the house, like HelloFresh or or freshly, that kind of thing. That service exists, and that's a wonderful thing for people who would like that support. But if you are someone who wants to be able to be at a healthy weight without needing to be dependent on those things, that's kind of where coaching is the sweet spot for you because you it's the point is developing that skills, developing your potential at a higher point than it is now.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

So a word that is interesting to me, and I forgot all about it because I talk about serving journal, keep track of everybody's gratitude journals. You talk about food journaling, and and I'm gonna start doing that. So thank you. Talk about that and what you what you do with that, because I think that's a huge component in LS.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Yes, uh, food journaling to me is is one of the most important parts of managing weight because uh it's amazing how much in our lives, how much we eat out of reasons that have nothing to do with hunger. And I don't say that that's all wrong, because I think there are some times where food is a wonderful, fun, relationship-building, comforting thing. So those things are not gonna leave our lives. Like those things are always gonna be part of our lives. But the reality is if you would like to reach a healthier weight that's slower, then some of those non-hunger food moments have to no longer be attached to food, right? So some somewhere you're gonna lessen the frequency of you having foods that have nothing to do with hunger.

SPEAKER_03 16:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Uh so what food journaling does is it lets you dole those out intentionally. That's that's my impression. So in my journey, when I started food journaling, I did it with a calorie app. I've done it many different ways, um, paper, pencil, and everything. But I loved the fact that in every method of food journaling, you can get proactive about putting your plan down in the beginning of the day. So you can get intentional about, well, this week I've got three barbecues. Um, you know, in the past, I might have gone hog wild at every single barbecue and had the pork, the corn of the cob, the pasta salad, and the cake. Um, but maybe for two of these, I'd just like to, you know, have a burger and bring a salad. And then for one of them, I'll go hog wild. So the food journal really lets you get intentional ahead of time about your improvements. So, where do I want the fun food to happen? And uh it lets you plan out the other times where you're you're focusing more on the nutrition and fueling yourself.

SPEAKER_02 18:03

This is such great stuff. This is gold. And get out of my head because I was just gonna ask you, which is the other thing. I've got this, you know, how strict, and people think it's like medically strict and broccoli and corn, and you know, a piece of bread every day, like I hate to say it's prison food. But talk about those, I don't like cheat days, but days where you you miss the boat and have to be strict 100% of the time.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

Yeah, so those days are what kept me. Well, that was part of what kept me from taking action for so long, because I was looking at, you know, uh social media, magazines. It looked like these people never had those days. And that scared me as someone who loved food for comfort. I was like, I can't live without this, this, these fun indulgences, these fun days. Um, but the reality was that those days are still part of my life and they still were every minute that I was losing weight. I was still including those days. But the difference was in how I was approaching them. So rather than going and looking at it like a free-for-all or like I'm uncomfortable socially, so I'm gonna stand by the food table, instead of looking at it that way and then feeling guilty when I came home, instead, I wasn't comparing to other people, but I was comparing to myself in the past. And I would say, what's an improvement that I can make on how I used to handle these parties? And uh the food journal really came in handy because you can when you're doing calories, like I was at the beginning, um, you can really understand, all right, if I have one day that's higher than others, then the rest of the week can be slightly lower and I will be exactly where I would have been, you know, I can I can still work towards weight loss or weight maintenance this way. That's kind of a more numbers-focused way to do it. But what it looks like in a lot of um other people's realities is if there's a day that's gonna be more indulgent, I'm gonna approach it with a little more mindfulness than I usually do. Um, there's a reduction of, you know, the I might have had four plates of food, maybe I'll have two this time, but I'm still gonna go for the foods that I enjoy and the foods that make this a memorable occasion. I'm just gonna kind of change my my approach to it and not make it the whole meaning, the whole reason for this season, so to speak. Uh, so the food journal really comes in handy for that because you can kind of get get intentional about where you want to see those fun foods come in.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

So, here and you lost 100 pounds and you had days where you had cake and ice cream or to say and that's really big because people listening, that that's big. You gotta understand that I do now is you're gonna have those days when you go because you're right. The mindset is you're going to a birthday party, you want to tell everybody because psychological, oh, I can't have that, I'm trying to lose weight. That's which is way wrong. It's more health, it's sad. But go have that small piece of cake and ice cream, but the next day get back and lower the calorie to make up for that. Uh, it makes it so much more fun. Once I learned that, it was like I lost weight right away because you know, my wife likes to go out, and I do too, but she's parties and all these. I'm like, how am I gonna follow this? So I know exactly audience, I know exactly what you're talking about. It works.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Yes, there was a calmness when I realized that you could balance things that way. And it helped me remove this idea of some foods being bad. It really helped me totally eliminate that from my approach. Like I look at foods as nutritious or fun. Those are kind of the choices that I use. Not that, not that some fun foods can't also be nutritious, but I think there's a pretty stark difference between some foods that have nutritional value and some foods that are more like the the reason you eat them is for the experience, not for the fuel. That it gives you. But I think getting real with the calories and with journaling helps you remove that judgment. And for a lot of people who, like we talked about before, people who are scared to start because they don't want to fail, they don't want to regain, they don't want to restrict like they used to. That idea and that skill can be a really nice one for them to develop because you you can approach this in a way that is more moderate rather than cutting out all bread, cutting out all cookies, cutting out all cake. If you had told me that I would have to do that in 2018, I don't think I would have started.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

No, you would have lost the weight. No.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

No.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

And it's just powerful. There's hope there, people. 100 pounds. She lost a person, a small person, but she lost a person.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

And I have to say, I have dessert every day. I don't, I don't think, I think it's a rare day that doesn't go by where I don't have dessert. Um, and that's a purposeful choice on my part because I love sweets and it doesn't make me feel great to have them earlier in the day, but to have a reasonable portion after dinner feels great to me. So, and it's something that I was able to um make work with weight loss purposefully because I knew I would want to live my life with some dessert in it.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

Audience, I uh again, I know a lot of nutrition, nutritionalists, and wellness people, and I'm gonna introduce you to a number of them. This is powerful, what she's telling you. Um, when you lose weight, as you did your confidence rise and all that great stuff. Here's the other thing I like to say don't compare yourself. Magazines, social media, TV shows, I do that or do that, but drop that really quickly. Oh, I like to look like Chris Emsworth. Well, I'll never look like Chris Emmersworth, I'm 62. But I can achieve that or get close to, you know, have that leeway, right? Of that.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

And yeah, and when you compare yourself to someone like that that you've never really met, uh it's easy to kind of uh we don't know what their day looks like. So it's easy to kind of make that up and say, well, I can I could do that. But the reality is to get a six-pack, like what Chris Hemsworth we were saying, uh he had he pays trainers, he pays people to make his meals, he um works out in the gym X amount of hours per day. Uh, that's the price of being lean. And is that if we compare ourselves to that without the true knowledge of what that day looks like, it's uh very unrealistic. But if you compare to yourself and what your life looks like right now, and think about the reasonable improvement you can make, that's such a more powerful place to move forward from. You're moving forward from the real spot you are, not this imaginary spot where you it's kind of fuzzy, you don't know what's involved in that.

SPEAKER_02 24:46

Yeah, no, that's such a great point. Oh my God, this is such a great podcast. Um, and financially too, you know, what's he paying? I mean, I know professional athletes spend $10,000 a month on a chef that cooks at their house. I've seen documentaries, and I know athletes, that's what they did, but they're making millions of dollars a year, too. So it's not it's not feasible for people to do that. We're running out of time, and I could talk to you all day, but we don't have all day, and I give you out to the world. I got a couple uh questions of personally. So who inspires you?

SPEAKER_00 25:19

Uh very inspired by um this wonderful podcaster/slash weight maintainer, Heather Robertson. She is uh she lost 170 pounds in 2012 and has been keeping it off since then. Her approach is so logical, so rational, and so self-compassionate. Um, I learned so much from her about my own, what I wanted my maintenance uh journey to look like. And she's also a coach and she just has inspired me to move towards coaching as well. So she's a big one.

SPEAKER_02 25:56

That's a good one. You can YouTube her, I'm sure. And she's probably got there.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

She's got an amazing set of uh YouTube videos that are almost like an encyclopedia. Any question you could think about weight loss, weight management, she's got an answer to it.

SPEAKER_02 26:11

I'm gonna check that out. Audience Heather Robertson.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

Okay, her her podcast is called Half Size Me.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

Half Size Me.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

And it's interesting. Mark uh size me, uh Mar Marshall Sperlocks his last name, the guy did super size me just passed away.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

Oh, did he?

SPEAKER_02 26:34

Yeah, oh I didn't know that. I didn't either. I was my best friend. I was visiting him. It's just interesting when you say half-size me, it reminds me of the super size, and nothing.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

That's what she's playing off of it.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

Exactly. And nothing against spurlocks. I think what he was trying to do was very uh service and servant heart attitude. Um, last thing is my favorite question. You're gonna go out to have dinner, you've got four seats. Who are the three people you're gonna have dinner with and what kind of food would you be eating?

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Oh, this is a tricky one.

SPEAKER_02 27:05

Three seats.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

I have three seats and me. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 27:10

It kind of fits in this mode of health and wellness, so dinner.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Yeah, yes. Uh, I don't know what I would serve. Maybe the people I would have there would would help me understand what to serve. Um, do they have to be living?

SPEAKER_02 27:23

No, maybe they're not alive or not alive.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

All right, all right. I th I feel like I would pick. Oh, I feel like I would pick just uh different precedents from the past. Just under I I'm a big like history nerd, so I feel like I would pick uh, you know, I might pick FDR, I might pick Lincoln, I might pick Adams.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

Very good choice.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Yes, and uh I guess I would serve them something from a totally different area of the world than they're familiar with and watch them squirm, um, but also pepper them with a lot of good questions.

SPEAKER_02 28:04

And of course, there'll be dessert.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Yes, there would definitely be dessert, absolutely a big plate of brownies, something like that. Yeah, good.

SPEAKER_02 28:11

I was just gonna say what would that be? Okay, brownies it is. Yes, Megan, you are an absolute blessing. I I thank you so much for taking the time to be on the show. How could people reach out to you?

SPEAKER_00 28:22

They can find me. Uh, there's a lot of free tips and a lot of videos and and resources that I put on my Instagram, and that is partake underscore foodie. Um, and you can you can join my free meal planning club on there too. Every Thursday, we get together on a live and we plan all our meals for the following week.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

That's beautiful. And I'll put that in the show notes. And I love that you have a free uh free webinar, whatever you call, you know, what do you call it?

SPEAKER_00 28:50

Yeah, a strategy session for anyone. Yeah, for anyone who really wants to kind of get unstuck, like have an extra set of eyes on their position and understand what their next steps can be. That's a good helpful resource for them.

SPEAKER_02 29:04

This is why she's on the podcast, because if you want to see if somebody has a servant's heart that's an entrepreneur coach or consultant, do they have a free program or not? If they don't, not saying they're not a servant's heart, but more of a servant's heart, because I believe you should give your IP away. Here's my here's what I did, because people are gonna need you, audience. I talk to mentor mentor business owners and entrepreneurs all the time. They're still gonna need you, they're still gonna come, you're gonna still help and change your universe by giving your stuff away free. They'll come and the door will be open for people to purchase your services. Thank you, reminder. Yeah, it's so great. Thank you so much. And don't forget my TV show. It's Friday at 2 p.m. Pacific, 5 p.m. Eastern. Together we serve. It's on Apple, Roku. Just go to your TV, watch your 70th screen and see my lovely face on your big TV just application. But check it out. It's got some great guests like this wonderful guest today. And as always, I want to thank well. I don't want to forget on the YouTube, she's gonna come out in a couple days. Comment on the YouTube if you have any uh you know inkling or something's helped you or something you want to mention, and I'll get it to her if she doesn't know, uh but doesn't see it, and I'll make sure the message gets to her, or reach out to her on Instagram, whatever, and ask her questions and join her little strategy sessions for that. And as always, me and Megan, thank you so much for watching or listening to this podcast. And we'll see you on the next episode of Doing Business with a Serpent Sorry. See y'all.