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When her cousin’s wife first told her about Weight Loss by Gina, Liz was at her heaviest weight, had a newborn baby, and a toddler underfoot and was resistant to trying any new diet. Rather than repeat the process of diets that hadn’t worked for her in the past to lose the weight and keep it off, Liz decided to give The Livy Method a try. Over the course of four programs with Gina, Liz lost 75 pounds and continues to see changes in her body, her energy, and the way she thinks about herself. Hers is a story of perseverance through lengthy plateaus of the scale not budging after dropping fat and the liberation Liz felt when she let go of old diet mentalities. In this interview, Liz shares her deep passion for being healthy for her kids and the transformation she underwent to be her best self and mother. Along the way, Liz and Gina talk about some of the challenges and wins that Livy Losers come to celebrate as they stick to finishing all 91 days of the program.
75lbs down in 4 programs. Let’s talk about your history with dieting and how you found The Livy Method.
Liz: I literally did it all before finding you. I found you through my cousin's wife who was in the program and at the time I was resistant.
I had just had my son. I was at the heaviest weight I'd ever been. I believed that my diet history was okay. I thought, ‘Oh, I'll just do Weight Watchers again for the ninth time’. And my cousin was like, “ I really think you should give The Livy Method a chance.”
After I had my son, it was such a dark time. What I was going through and all the postpartum. I thought, ‘You know what, I just need something.’ I knew Weight Watchers and I knew what I had to do. And I knew what I couldn't do. And I just wasn't willing to dabble into something new.
I started seeing the patterns of what I was doing. I was starving myself. I was trying to nurse a baby. Here I was trying to nurse my baby, but I wasn't eating. The concept just seemed so off.
I had another conversation with my cousin and I signed up to join The Livy Method in April of 2022.
With your previous diet experiences, what did you think of no counting, weighing, or measuring your food? What did you think of the program?
L: It felt totally different. Here I was eating all day long versus starving myself all day long. That was the number one thing that I noticed. I also noticed that I was eating healthier. In the past, with Weight Watchers I would convince myself that I could save my points to eat something that I wanted because I thought in my head that I wanted the fast food.
With your program, I was eating different types of foods. Here I was eating vegetables. Something that people who know me would say “Vegetables, Liz? Really?”
I finished the first round, which was a huge accomplishment for me because I was the person who would start and give up and repeat. Really focusing on getting to the end was something that I was super proud of.
"I'VE EXPLAINED IT TO PEOPLE WHO ASK ME: IT'S 91 DAYS. IT'S NOT A LOT OF TIME. IF YOU THINK ABOUT THE TIMES YOU'VE DONE OTHER DIETS, YOU MAY HAVE QUIT."
Let’s talk about finishing the full 91 days of the program. What does that feel like?
L: The way that I've explained it to people when people ask me is, 91 days - it's not a lot of time.
If you think about the times you've done other diets, you may have quit. We signed up for Weight Watchers with no end game with no date, right? We signed up with Weight Watchers and said to ourselves, I'll do it until I lose 50 pounds, but that could have taken you 365 days.I told myself 91 days, I just need to get there. I did it with a newborn. I did it with the craziness of having a toddler. I thought to myself, if I can just get there, I know how proud I'm going to be of getting there. And when I did, I said I can do it again.I knew I needed to do it again because I had more weight to lose.
If you have 90 pounds to lose, it's not 90 pounds at 91 days. It takes time. Take it in the increments that you get it in. If you lose 10 pounds in one group, you’ll get there.
The feeling you get when you finish the program is a real sense of accomplishment and you did it for you. At the end of the day, you showed up.
What would you say is the difference in how you lost weight before compared to now?
L: This time my mindset changed. Before I would lose it for an event or a particular moment that I wanted. Then I would put the scale away and act shocked when I gained it all back. Then I would go back and do it all over again.
Feeding The Metabolism is your favourite tweak. How did you navigate that with such a busy household?
L: I remember the first week of Feeding The Metabolism I thought “Gosh, this is annoying.” I had all of these alarms set and my phone was going off constantly. Not to mention, I had other things going on with the baby,
As much as I initially thought it was annoying, it really pointed out to me that my portion sizes were large. I remember thinking, “I almost never want the second half of my portion.” Why is that? Because I'm satisfied, right? I was satisfied with the size that I had portioned out half of, so it always made me realize that, and that's why it's one of my favourite weeks.
I love that because with downsizing there is so much fear of being hungry, feeling deprived, all of that. When Feeding the Metabolism and having to eat more often, it doesn’t mess with your head the same way and really allows you to get in tune with your portions.
L: When you see it there and you have the token amounts you have, but that hunger that you think you're going to have it's not there. You're not depriving yourself of having the other half because you really don't want it.
Most people are concerned that they will gain their weight back between programs, which they’re not going to do. You lost weight between groups while enjoying your summer. Let’s talk about that.
L: I enjoyed my summer very much. I personalized the plan and I kept that momentum going throughout the summer. In the sense that I had already stopped the habits of the late-night eating, which was something that was really hard for me.
I thought to myself, ‘Okay, it's the summer we're on this break. It doesn't mean that I just let in all those habits that I just stopped doing creep back in.’ I decided personalizing the plan was working for me. While I was on maternity leave it fit my lifestyle and I just kept going. When the Fall Program started back up, I kept the same mindset and didn’t let the bad habits creep in again.
I was the queen of not having breakfast and going all day without eating. Having breakfast was so key for me. I got into that habit in my first program and just continued throughout the summer and into the Fall.
"GET TO THE END, DO THE 91 DAYS, YOU'LL BE REALLY PROUD IF NOTHING ELSE THAT YOU DID IT, THAT YOU STUCK TO IT. TRUST ME!"
What was your experience the second time around following The Livy Method? Did you encounter any issues?
L: I loved it! I had my biggest drop and was down 29.5 pounds.
The second time around, I needed to read the posts again. That's when I started listening to every single Live. And I started taking all the information and really letting it resonate with me.
Not that I didn't do that in the first program, I just didn't go as in-depth as I did in the second program. The first time I read a Science Saturday was definitely in my second group, then I went back and read the ones in the first group thinking, I missed those, and they’re really important.
In my second program, I committed to moving my body and I pulled out the Maximizing Checklist, that's where I always scored really, really low. And I thought to myself, okay “If I want to maximize in this program, what’s the area that I need to really focus on?” I wasn't getting sleep because of my baby and that was the reality that I was living and I needed to find other areas to maximize. I knew that moving my body was the one thing I really needed to address.
How did you factor movement in while navigating your new life with your newborn?
L: He would wake up at 4 AM for a feed and I started to realize that I never got back to sleep properly after that feed. So I decided that would be the time. I’d go downstairs and I’d work out. I’m going to take the time. I joined this 10-week challenge to move my body every day for 40 minutes. So while everyone else in my house was sleeping, I’d go downstairs at 4 AM and move my body.
Did you notice your body changing?
L: Definitely! I noticed a lot of changes between my second program and my third program. I noticed my body was starting to show. I saw changes in my clothing. It was a feeling I had when I would sit in a chair. I thought to myself “Sitting in a chair before was snug and now it wasn’t snug.” I was comfortable getting in and out of my car. Things that some people don’t even think about, but when you really start to feel comfortable, those are the things that you notice.
In your first program, you didn’t lose any weight until week 6. Tell us about that?
L: I just kept saying to myself “I’m going to get to the end of 91 days. I’m going to get there and see what happens. Maybe nothing happens but maybe something happens.”
Even though the scale didn't move for those first 6 weeks when I started the program, I just felt better. My mood was better. I can’t really capture how I felt but I didn’t feel the way I was feeling before I signed up.
Then the weight started dropping in week 6. And then in my second program, I had a 6-week plateau and that was rough. I won’t sugarcoat that. Every day I got on that scale and I’d send a message to my cousins “What’s going on? I’m so angry!”
I lost my weight towards the end of that program. In week 6, it started dropping in little increments. I dropped 3 sizes. I started to think my body seemed to like the back end of the program for whatever reason because then I lost 12 pounds. I thought to myself “I’m in the same situation as last group right?”
So many things are changing about me. I had people who didn’t recognize me recently and I see myself every day. That’s the reality. Your immediate circle will see you every day or they’ll see you often. But the people who don’t see you are the ones who sometimes will have compliments or comments that really take you away.
"SURROUND YOURSELF WITH SUPPORT. WHETHER YOU FIND THAT IN THE GROUP OR WHETHER YOU THAT WITH YOUR FAMILY OR YOUR FRIENDS. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH SUPPORT BECAUSE IT WILL HELP YOU."
Did you use the Livy Method App while following the program?
L: Oh yeah, I used the app! That’s something I can say to people even if you put in your fluids, and your water intake for a week, just commit to doing it for a week. It makes you really realize what you're drinking and how much you are.
But I use the app religiously, like from the beginning, I was logging in it every day and putting in my tracking, and looking at those charts. I love it!
What is the difference in how you lost weight before compared to how you lost it following The Livy Method?
L: I think that this time my mind's changed. Before I would lose it for an event or a particular moment that I wanted. Then I would put that scale away for whatever reason. And I would act shocked when I gained it all back. And I realized “Wait a minute. I went back to doing exactly what I was doing before.
Now that I have my scale out, I get on it every day. Sometimes I get on it and have huge fluctuations. Something I’m still dealing with. For example, if I have an indulgence, it does reflect on my scale the next day.
I'm dealing with that and adjusting to knowing that that's something that happens to me, but I don't need to be afraid of the scale. Once I lose the weight, I don't need to put the scale away and go revert back to my old behaviour. This time I've learned the things. For example, I never used to drink water.
Now I walk around with a water bottle. I never did that. I never did any of that. I was the queen of pop. I loved pop, Coke was my thing. Anyone who knows me knows that. So for me, I learned certain things that I take with me and things that I do in my day-to-day life now.
I think that that's the difference. Before I was starving myself, I was literally depriving myself of things that I wanted. Because I believed this concept of fruit was bad for you. I think this time around I've committed to something and I told myself “I'm so proud that I got to this point that I don't want to go back.”
What's your favourite thing about the program?
L: The fact that you can have all the things. You can have all the things, you just need to be mindful to not do it every single day. It's this concept, right? It's like mind-blowing to be like, you want to go to a barbecue and you want to have some chips. Sure. Have the chips. Do you need the chips the next day? Probably not. But if you really want to, okay, fine. I can go to a barbecue and I can eat the food, but I don't need to do it the next day or the day after.
What did you find the most challenging about the program? And what is your why?
L: The most challenging part I found about the program was probably catching up. You know, you have to really dedicate yourself to reading. So at the beginning, it was hard to systematically follow all the things and read all the posts.
I had a hard time with that. Maybe some other people wouldn't have a hard time, but I had a hard time. The other thing is you have to show up every day. Some days you're like, nah, you know, but you gotta show up. You have to do something every day. That was something that I found challenging and my why was definitely my kids. I was at a point where after I had my son I didn't feel good, I was uncomfortable, and I was the heaviest that I'd ever been. I couldn't do simple things with my kids.
So for me, it was about snapping out of that. I have two little ones that need me. They need me to be healthy. They need me to do things with them and all those things. So my why was definitely my kids.
What’s your end goal?
L: I'm about five pounds from goal right now. I have signed up for your Fall program. I'm going to do it again just to solidify what I've lost. And then, I'm also going to join your maintenance group. I do listen to your Lives on Spotify and I hear the Weigh In Wednesdays and I think I would benefit from being a part of that group. So I'm going to sign up for Maintenance.
"FORGIVE YOURSELF FOR THE DAYS THAT YOU JUST SORT OF THROW YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR. JUST MOVE ON."
What tips do you have for members following the program?
L: One of my main tips is to surround yourself with support. Whether you find that in the group or whether you find that with your family or your friends. Surround yourself with support because it will help you.
I would also say, forgive yourself on the days that you just sort of throw your hands up in the air. Just move on.
I think the last one is. Get to the end, do the 91 days, you'll be really proud if nothing else that you did it, that you stuck to it. Trust me!
And, Just for Fun...
How many lbs down are you now and how many programs you have completed?
L: I am down 76 pounds using the Gina Livy Method and I have completed 4 groups .. currently enrolled in my 5th group. I started in April of 2022. I am down 94 pounds from my heaviest weight which was in March of 2022.
If you could give advice to your younger self, what would that be?
L: I would tell my younger self to not attach so much of what she thinks she’s worth to a number on a scale. I used to hide behind layers and layers of clothing because I thought my weight wasn’t socially acceptable.
I would tell her to wear the crop top, to put on a bathing suit and to remember life is about so much more than a number! I would also tell her that you are your biggest cheerleader, you can do anything you put your mind to and you can move mountains as long as you're in the right mental space to do it.
What was your favourite thing to eat while following the program?
L: I loved to eat breakfast.. prior to doing the program I never ate breakfast, instead my first meal was usually a huge unhealthy lunch. Incorporating breakfast was a huge contribution to my success.
Describe what it means to be a Livy Loser in three words.
L: It feels - LIBERATING It feels- CALM And comes with CONFIDENCE.
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