Dieting From The Inside Out
- Oct 4, 2022

How Meagan Transformed Her Life in 90 Days (& how you can too) | Dieting from the Inside Out Ep.236

About this Episode:

In this episode, we talk to Coach Abby and our client, Meagan, who has had an insane 90 days!

I wanted to do this because when you hear from someone who has a life just like you—the same stressors, history, and struggles—you can find hope when you hear how they overcame obstacles that you also experience.

Meagan has been dieting for the past decade, she had zero confidence and zero success. She had tons of bad habits and her struggles bled into other areas of her life, her work, her relationships, and her happiness.

Over the past three months, Meagan’s relationship with food has been completely transformed. She’s happier and is losing inches while feeling better and eating more.

I think you’re really going to love this episode!

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 – Introduction

00:37 – About Meagan

04:01 – Our Sponsors

07:15 – Meagan’s Story

13:35 – The Scale vs Results

23:00 – Psychology and Reality

28:08 – Meagan’s Experience with the Program

37:05 – Impact on Meagan’s Life, Tips from Meagan and Abby

44:55 – Special Offer for Podcast Listeners

Episode Transcript (click to expand)

. 236 Meagan's Transformation

Download 236 MEAGAN'S TRANSFORMATION • 122KB

EP#236: How Meagan Transformed

Her Life in 90 Days (& how you can too)

0:00:12.0 Jared Hamilton: And we are back. What is going on, guys? I hope you are well. Welcome back to another episode of Dieting From the Inside Out. If you are new here, I'm really, really grateful for you. My name is Jared Hamilton, welcome to the show. Whether this is your first time listening, or you've listened to all 236, I think. I think this is 236. 236 episodes of the podcast, either way, I appreciate you. Today is gonna be a really impactful episode for you because I'm not doing most of the talking. So here's the cool thing, today's episode, we are doing a three-way podcast, it's really exciting, I don't do these very often. So today, there's me, but then I'm interviewing basically two other people. One of my coaches, Coach Abby, but then also our client Meagan, because Meagan has had an insane past, I think like 90 days, three months, something like that. It's been crazy, it's been the coolest thing to watch, and the reason I wanted to get Meagan on and tell her story and share that with you is, I want you to know it's possible. I don't want you to sit here and think like, "Oh well, that's their life, I can't do that," or whatever the case is.

0:01:12.1 Jared Hamilton: 'Cause too often what happens is from, let's say the consumer side, someone consuming the contents, the person scrolling Instagram or listening to the podcast or whatever. It's easy to listen to someone like me talk and go like, "Okay, but he's supposed to say that because he's the coach." Right? That's kind of like when my mom tells me I look nice, it's like, "Well, mom, you're supposed to say that." A lot of times people feel the same way when it comes to, like this kind of stuff like... Of course, I'm gonna tell you, "Absolutely, here's what you can do. Here's what's possible for you." And things like that. And it's absolutely true, but sometimes people aren't so quick to believe it because... Let's say I'm the coach, right?

0:01:47.3 Jared Hamilton: Well, here's the thing, it hits different when it's someone just like you, or potentially someone in a worse scenario than you. You know what I mean? Because we all have reasons why. It's, we think like," Oh, we can't do something, or that's not in our reality," or whatever the case is, but when you hear the story of someone who literally has a life just like you, who is just the exact same profile as you. They have the same type of job, the same life stressors, the same issues, the same whatever, the same history, or potentially even worse, and you hear their story, you hear how they overcame, you hear how they did what they did, and now you have hope. Now you have a game plan. Now you have, "Oh, well, maybe if she can do it, I can do it."

0:02:23.4 Jared Hamilton: And that's what I hope to give you in today's episode, because... Just a little bit about Meagan. I'm just gonna just briefly mention this, then we're gonna get right into the meat and potatoes. Because here's the thing, with Meagan, the reason I wanted to get her on here and talk about this is because... To know it's possible for you. In just a little... In short, in Meagan's case, she was dieting literally for the last decade. Not last year or two, I'm talking about the last decade, like if she had a child when she started, that child would be 10 or 11 years old, okay?

0:02:52.3 Jared Hamilton: She had zero confidence, she had zero success, she dieted for 10 years, and had nothing to show for it other than more weight gain and more frustration. She had all the struggles, all the binge eating, all the emotional eating, all the I know what to do, but I'm not doing it. All the... The consistency, all the failures, alright? And then the worst part about this all, this is the true for so many people, and then it was bleeding into other areas in her life, her work, her relationships, her happiness, you see, that's why you gotta be careful.

0:03:20.5 Jared Hamilton: Starving her own self, things like that, horrible relationship with food. That's where she was for the last decade. Okay? But literally she was able to 180 all of it in the past few months with us. It's insane. I have absolutely loved watching this and in being a part of this, and actually to be honest, I have been watching over it all. And Abby has been the one in the trenches with Meagan in our coaching program, and it's been the coolest thing ever. But I want you to take Meagan's story and listen to it and really be able to apply the principles that she's gonna talk about. What has helped her be more successful with all of this stuff and what's changed in the past decade for her, and then apply some of those things to your life.

0:04:00.0 Jared Hamilton: So I'm not gonna take any more of your time, actually, I'm gonna take just a little bit more before we get into the meat and potatoes, because we have to give our wonderful sponsors a big big thank you. Sponsor number one is FlexPro Meals. I love FlexPro, with all of my heart and soul, and they have been so convenient and so good. At the end of the day, guys, our lives are predicated on convenience, so many of ours are. Yours may not. I know mine is, most people I know is. And especially with things like life, travel, family, unpredictable stuff, it makes it hard to, in a lot of cases, and not so convenient to keep things in line.

0:04:34.0 Jared Hamilton: So in my case, having FlexPro in my fridge on deck where I can just grab and go while staying well-fed, while staying satiated while the food tasting amazing, and all the numbers being on point and staying in line for my goals, it's a no-brainer. Hell, I just got back from a Montana trip and we had FlexPro meals out there. Actually, I didn't bring them, a friend of mine brought them and all the restaurants around us were closed, and so we actually snacked on some FlexPro meals, it was pretty cool. But if that's something that is up your alley and you're like, "Man, I just kinda wish I didn't have to cook so much." Or "I wish I had just some stuff where I wouldn't have to go through the drive-through and spend so much money." Like spend $16 a meal or $14 a meal going through a drive-through and then feeling like shit afterwards and all this stuff.

0:05:14.5 Jared Hamilton: Definitely check FlexPro out, I think you'll be shocked at what's on their menu, I'll leave all the info below in the description or just go to 'flexpromeals.com' and use my code Hamilton Trained, if you wanna save some money. It saves you like 20% at checkout, which is a lot. Then big thank you to sponsor number two, which is 1st Phorm, as always, I have some of their clothes on, this is actually one of my favorite sweatshirts, it's one of theirs. But 1st Phorm guys is another staple in my life personally, so many of our clients' lives and so many other people, because supplements are not everything, but they definitely have their time and their place, and here's the thing I'm not one to push supplements, they're not a massive game changer, like in your life, like...

0:05:51.4 Jared Hamilton: That kind of thing, but they can be a huge deal when they're filled in the way that they should be. Supplements should never be the main thing, but they have their time and their place. If you struggle to get your protein intake in, having a protein powder or protein bars on deck that work great for you is a game changer, right? I know when I was traveling, I had 1st Phorm bars in my bag and they were game changers when I couldn't find anything at the airport to eat.

0:06:16.2 Jared Hamilton: Things like when your joints are bad, taking things like fish oil, things like joint supplements. Things like that are just game changers. I know I don't eat enough plants, so having a multivitamin helps fill those gaps. It's that kind of stuff 'cause you would be shocked at what that will do and how it'll make you feel over the long haul. It's not like... You don't need to get into test boosters and glucose blockers and all that kind of stuff. That's really not needed, but a lot of the more fundamental things, it can be a game changer. I actually have a video on my YouTube, if you're not sure where to get started with supplements, but my thing is 1st Phorm is a no-brainer because it's just some of the best quality you can get, some of the best customer service you can get, and I know and can feel good when sending all of our clients there that they're gonna get taken care of and get what they need.

0:06:57.9 Jared Hamilton: So a big thank you to them, and I do have a free shipping link in the description if you use that. That link, it'll give you free priority shipping and, yeah, that is it for our sponsors. I appreciate them and you guys, but now, without further ado, let's get into the meat and potatoes of the podcast, and you can hear from Abby and Meagan. I know you'll get a lot out of this and I'll talk to you soon. Well, I appreciate you guys doing this. I know it's like it was totally random and out of nowhere and stuff, but I'm really excited to hop on and do all this, so I appreciate both of you guys doing this, so...

0:07:28.1 Meagan: Absolutely. Happy to be here.

0:07:29.8 Jared Hamilton: Well, 'cause it's funny, I don't know if I told you this, Abby, how it started, was Meagan and I had just had a call, set up, like a normal call, and it was like... And after she just got telling her story a little bit more, I'm like, "Do you wanna just come do this on the podcast 'cause this is way too good to just keep all bottled up inside." [laughter]

0:07:49.7 Abby: And it's incredible, right?

0:07:51.6 Jared Hamilton: Yeah, I love it.

0:07:52.4 Meagan: Thank you, guys.

0:07:52.5 Abby: She's done an amazing job. [chuckle]

0:07:54.5 Jared Hamilton: You're killing it. Like that's the thing, Meagan, is...

0:07:56.5 Abby: No, for real.

0:07:57.8 Jared Hamilton: You're crushing it...

0:07:57.9 Meagan: Thank you.

0:07:58.7 Jared Hamilton: So well, and that's the thing is when someone like Abby or I say to some other person like, "Here's what can happen. Here's how well you can do. Here's like you're not that far from your life change," it's kind of right up there in most people's eyes as your mom telling you you're pretty. Like, "Mom, you're so... " I could have a football growing out in my forehead and my mom would go, "You look nice." My mom was like... When I had grown up, my mom's like, "You're not fat, you're husky." It's like you're designed to say that. So when someone else comes on who's just like these other people, and they're like, "No, no, no, you don't understand. I had this issue, I had that issue, this is going on, this was going on." and I did this, like it opens people's eyes and then it just ends up helping thousands of more people, so I'm really appreciative that you're able... We're even just so willing to do this, so.

0:08:43.2 Meagan: Oh, absolutely. Thank you again for having me on here. This is so cool.

0:08:47.9 Jared Hamilton: Let's do this. Just so everyone's aware, get into a little bit of your story personally about where things were at leading up to coaching starting and kind of like the hell hole you were in and what that stuff looked like, just to really set the tone for where things were.

0:09:04.4 Meagan: Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean, it kind of really started... I've been dealing with this since I was 12 years old. I've been having body image issues and a really, really terrible relationship with food for as long as I can remember, so I was trying to repair that. That's kind of where I was. I wanted to have a better relationship with food. I wanted to take care of my mental health, so leading up to coaching, I was kind of just in a bad place where I didn't know where to go, I didn't know where to start. Yeah, I felt a little hopeless, and yeah, I just feel like this has really been... It's transformed my life, and I don't say that lightly.

0:09:47.3 Jared Hamilton: I love that. That's exactly what we wanna hear. And so when you say you were just feeling hopeless, and this was like since you were a kid, so we're talking about like how many years were you struggling? Like a decade, a decade and half?

0:10:00.4 Meagan: Yeah. Like a decade, yeah.

0:10:03.4 Jared Hamilton: So, had you tried other things before? Leading up to that, it was like when you said this has just been a struggle, it's like you could check every diet off or nothing was working and the binge eating was still happening or whatever. How bad was it?

0:10:16.4 Meagan: It was really bad. When I say it was like a binge-restrict cycle, that's how I felt so hopeless. I was in this never-ending cycle of losing weight, gaining back all of the weight, and then some. Really terrible body image issues, and it was like I was starving myself. I was trying... 'cause I listen to all these other types of people online telling me that I need to be eating less than 1,200 calories a day because I'm short. And so...

0:10:48.4 Jared Hamilton: How tall are you?

0:10:49.1 Meagan: I'm 4'11".

0:10:51.0 Jared Hamilton: Yeah, let's go. [laughter]

0:10:53.8 Meagan: So, they're like, "Well, you're so small, you need to eat like a rabbit." Like who needs to just nibble on a carrot all day and then that's all you can have. And it was like, "No, I can't do this, I just can't."

0:11:05.4 Jared Hamilton: No, I totally get that. And that's such a big thing that we see all the time, like industry-wide, you hear every... Someone asked on my Instagram Q&A yesterday, they're like, "Hey, I'm a shorter woman. Is losing weight harder?" and I'm like, "I think every short female on the planet should test their upper range." I was just talking to Ashley McKinnon about this. We got her up to 2,400 calories and she's 4'11", I believe. Abby, how tall are you?

0:11:28.5 Abby: Five foot, right on. [laughter]

0:11:32.4 Jared Hamilton: Okay. I think I'm short as fuck, and I'm 5'6". So I would like tower you guys. Like I love standing next to Abby because I feel like such a big person, but that's a stigma, right? It's like, "Oh, you have ovaries and you're short as shit, so you have to eat 1,000 calories a day," but like in your case, you've been able to be completely well-fed, but at the same time you've been dropping inches and fixed your relationship with food, stopped binge eating, and then lost weight on an accident. That almost sounds like too good to be true.

[laughter]

0:12:06.5 Meagan: It is, but that's the thing, that's the most mind-blowing part of all of this. It was like the aha moment. I remember Abby emailed me one day and was like, "Hey, just see that we've increased calories, your weight's going down and losing inches," and I was like, "How is this happening?" It's like how? I don't understand it, but I'm not mad.

0:12:29.1 Jared Hamilton: What's your calories at right now?

0:12:32.3 Meagan: They're 1,600 to 1,800.

0:12:32.9 Jared Hamilton: That's awesome. And you still are like... And are you guys still going up or are you guys stopping around that?

0:12:38.6 Abby: We'll probably work our way up just a little bit more...

0:12:42.3 Jared Hamilton: See how much more? I love that.

0:12:43.5 Abby: As we get comfy.

0:12:46.3 Jared Hamilton: 'Cause that's the thing, is the truth is, if you're losing weight, you're still in a deficit. So that's the thing is a lot of people... It's super funny. We have clients all the time, 'cause everyone knows it's a three-stage process. Dieting from The Inside Out, Fat-Loss Accelerator, Lifestyle Optimization. Well, everyone's so itchy to get into stage two. Everyone's like, it's like half of the people we work with, are like, "Hey, I think I'm ready for stage two, I think I'm ready for fat loss," but they say that while they were at where you're at right now, where you're losing weight. Could you imagine saying like, Abby, I think I'm ready to lose weight. I think we're ready going into fat loss, and she's like, "You're doing it," like, you're literally like inches have fallen off while calories have doubled. You know what I mean?

0:13:25.1 Meagan: Seriously, and it's like I have a pairs of pants that I could wear at the beginning of the summer, but now they're literally just too big and they fit me awkwardly, and I'm like, How did this happen?

0:13:36.6 Jared Hamilton: Now, I'm curious of this, 'cause this is like here nor there, but I'm just curious, 'cause a lot of times messes with people's heads, is your scale going down or is it staying the same because your calories are up, but everything else is dropping. What's that looking like?

0:13:47.8 Meagan: Yeah. It's like staying around the same and I see it every day, it's like, "Okay, maybe up a pound down a pound, right around the same." but I'm physically fitting better in all my clothes.

0:14:00.4 Jared Hamilton: Absolutely. Is that something you struggled with where it's like your brain wants to look over all of the pants that are literally falling off of you, the inches drop the food relationship heal, the binge eating that's not happening. But then on paper, the fat loss that's happened, the inches that have come off, is just part of your brain wanna naturally go, "But the scale hasn't moved." Is that a thing?

0:14:21.5 Meagan: Yes, yes. I think it bothered me more that the scale used to have like a choke-hold on me, it really did. And now not so much, but I still think to myself like, "How is this happening? [chuckle] This doesn't add up."

[laughter]

0:14:37.8 Jared Hamilton: Yeah. Abby, what's your perspective on that? From the coaching end of things.

0:14:41.3 Abby: So my perspective is just understanding that my job is way more important on Sundays, come check in time, [chuckle] you're like, "Hey, hold up 'cause you're doing real well over here right, these things are happening," but I think that we all and I'm 5 feet tall and little, I struggled with this too for sure. Not that only little people deal with scale issues, but there is a choke-hold that it has, especially as you're getting comfortable with it and you have to have somebody who's on the other side of it, who knows the science behind what is happening in the... "Hey, as long as we're seeing inches come down or we're fixing food relationships, this is worth it." Somebody to kinda keep you grounded, because in Meagan's case for sure, I'm thrilled for her that the inches are changing, but if I'm being real, like I could give a shit less about that [laughter] because I know that what was going on inside was so much more important and fixing that and getting her to a space that she was just good was way more important. So knowing that she has somebody that's on that side of the fence to like, "Hey, who cares if the scale is staying the same, who cares if the inches are staying the same? You're eating Chipotle on a regular basis. What more do you want from your life right now?

0:15:58.6 Jared Hamilton: Right.

0:16:00.2 Meagan: I don't need anything else.

0:16:00.2 Abby: So... [laughter]

0:16:00.7 Jared Hamilton: I love that. No, that's super cool. And that's exactly what I love to hear, 'cause that's the thing is it, Meagan, as over time as this is happening, is it like getting better where the scale is like, "Okay, I don't like it, but I'm not gonna ruin all this dope shit that's happening because of it." Is it getting better?

0:16:16.6 Meagan: Oh, absolutely. Oh my gosh! Yeah. Before I started this program, I was one of those people that if I stepped on the scale the next day and it was like a pound up, I would be like, "All right, I'm throwing everything away, how is this possible? I barely ate yesterday and I'm gaining weight and whatever screw it." And now, I'm like, "This is natural. This just happens. This is okay." 'Cause it's like, I know my clothes are fitting better, and I know I have Abby there in my corner. And she's reminding me of this, "This is normal, this is okay." And we almost wanna see it. [laughter] You're gaining muscle.

0:16:55.3 Jared Hamilton: Yeah, absolutely. So much of this game is like... 'cause here's my thing is, we are so cool with so many things, as long as expectations are in check. Like on a really morbid level, like we're way better at handling something like death of a loved one if we expect it. Like when grandma, grandpa dies out of nowhere, "Wow, that's hard." But in my grandpa's case, we knew for a while he was gonna go. It still sucks and no one likes to see their loved ones pass away but when you see it coming because of the expectation, it changes a lot. The other analogy I like to use a lot is... Can you imagine if no one ever taught you what a period was?

0:17:28.0 Meagan: Oh my God.

0:17:32.4 Jared Hamilton: And it's like, "Why am I bleeding like a wounded animal? Why am I in so much fucking pain? It feels like an alien's crawling through my stomach, and I think I'm gonna die." But now you don't...

0:17:43.3 Jared Hamilton: Again, I'm a man, I don't know what... I have a man, period, I fully own that, but I know it's not the same as what you guys deal with, but it's one of those things where... It's almost a bad thing if you don't get it. You panic if you don't have your period, you're like, "What's going on. Am I pregnant?" [chuckle] But even though you don't like the reality of a period 'cause it hurts and it's uncomfortable, you know it's a biological process and is supposed to happen. This is the same thing with scale fluctuations and so much of the nuts and bolts of proper fat loss. It's like when someone says, "Jared, I haven't seen drastic progress." I'm like, "Good, that means bad." Like drastic progress from day one to day five is bad. That means bad shit's happening. That's when you're throwing up after your meals or you're sick, or you're in a super deficit or whatever. You know what I mean? So like for you, was there any other big eye-openers where it was like, "Oh, this is supposed to happen." Or was the scale the biggest one?

0:18:39.0 Meagan: I think the scale was the biggest one but I also think it was how just increasing the calories and then it was the moderate exercise, the strength, building the focus rather than me running a 10 mile loop every single day and over-exercising, 'cause I think that was something that I was also doing before I started this program and it was like the compensation of like, "Well, I ate a lot yesterday, I'm gonna run a ton today." And it's like I'm just sticking to my workouts as best I can, and I'm seeing this change and it's not like I'm exhausted every single day. It's so manageable.

0:19:24.2 Meagan: I love that. Abby, from your perspective, did you see a lot of that like, "Hey, pre-coaching, a lot of crazy psychopath cardio bunny shit, we gotta rein this in." What was your perspective on that?

0:19:34.8 Abby: Yeah. So my approach is honestly the same with everybody. Where I assume that either... Pre-coaching, you are on one end of the spectrum. Very rarely do people come into coaching with the moderate like, "Oh, I strength train three or four days a week. Totally chill, right?" It is, "I do nothing and I hang out at home all the time." Or "I am working out 14 times a week and if I'm not doing two a day every day, I'm not doing enough." So for everybody... And we kind of chatted about it for sure on our welcome call as well, what things look like beforehand, and just bringing that down to a livable level. Because what exactly, what you're explaining, Meagan, and what so many people are doing with exercise is not survivable. You should not have to not clean your house for two weeks after a workout, you should not have to live on your first floor for two days after a workout, or cry every time you need to go sit down on a toilet, it's insane.

[laughter]

0:20:33.4 Abby: So bringing that down for everybody, super important. Or obviously, if you're on a reverse side of that, just getting to two or three days a week is an awesome place to start.

0:20:45.3 Jared Hamilton: Was that hard... So, Meagan, was that hard at first to wrap your head around? 'Cause we... That's the thing is, this was thrown quite a bit at you where it's like you came from a place of exercising like crazy, eating like a bunny, crazy, crazy rigid protocol, all this stuff. And then we just literally 180'd all of it where it's like, "Alright, we're gonna eat way more because we know you're gonna lose weight. We're gonna dial your workouts way down and you're gonna feel like you're not doing enough. Go." Was that hard to wrap your head around at first?

0:21:14.2 Meagan: It absolutely was, 'cause it made me feel like... 'Cause I was so used to that. Again, I'm in it. I'm in my exercise mode now, I'm in my diet phase or whatever. And it's like I was just going from zero to 60, and then to kind of dial that back and be like, "You don't have to do that, you don't have to restrict and over-exercise every single day and beat yourself up if you don't work out seven days a week." But it's so amazing.

[laughter]

0:21:46.8 Meagan: I can't say enough good things about it because that's what I needed, 'cause it's unsustainable to go so... To exercise so much, eat so little for so long. This is so sustainable, and eating the things that I want to eat has also been huge to me.

0:22:07.1 Jared Hamilton: And so when did the... I know sometimes some people can point to one moment in time and others, it's almost like a slow... Like, when did your hair grow out? And it's like, at some point between then and now. But for you, was there a point where you're like, "Oh shit, this is working." Was there a point where you're like, where it went from, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're having me eat this much and work out this little and eat all my favorite foods." To "Hell yeah, this is what I'm talking about." Was there a defining moment or was it just like, you ended up over here?

0:22:35.5 Meagan: I think it was the time when Abby did reach out to me and say like, "Hey, your weight's trending down and we're increasing calories." And that was the moment where I was like, "Oh, here it is on paper. Here it is, here's the proof right here." And it really was that aha moment where I'm like, "Oh, I actually weigh less than I did when I started this, and I'm eating so much more."

0:23:00.5 Jared Hamilton: Yep, and working out less.

0:23:01.8 Meagan: [laughter] Yeah.

0:23:03.1 Jared Hamilton: Here's what's funny, this is the piece no one understands, and I'm gonna try to explain this in layman's terms as possible for everyone listening. This is literally the moment, this is my favorite moment in coaching. What just happened to you is because, from a psycho... 'Cause we talked about this a little bit on our call the other day, but for everyone listening, this is why the psychology of how things are laid out and why we do things the way we do is because we need... What you just described was irrefutable proof. Because what happens is, our brains are pure... If you study like neuroscience, our brains are only records of the past. So if anytime you've ever been successful losing weight, you've starved and worked out like a maniac and did stupid shit and gave up your favorite foods, and that's the only thing you've ever done. And anytime you worked out less, ate more, ate Oreos, you gained all sorts of weight. Your brain is purely this record of the past. So it's no wonder if that's all it associates with. If you lived in a bunker underground and you've never seen daylight, your brain just knows that as reality, so your brain only saw that as a reality.

0:24:04.5 Jared Hamilton: This is what I call... When people ask, "How do we incorporate inner work and how do we go about this?" I always say, "Inner work is a combination of new information and uncomfortable action." Because I can just say like, would it have done anything if I said, "Yeah, Meagan, here's the science behind reverse dieting. Here's the science of strength training and eating more." Would that have fixed your problems?

0:24:23.8 Meagan: No.

[laughter]

0:24:25.1 Jared Hamilton: Right, because fear doesn't give a shit about logic and data. I could give you a pamphlet to say, "Here's why you shouldn't be scared to jump out of a plane," but all of our hearts are gonna be racing when that door opens. So fear in the emotional side of us, 'cause we're emotional beings, don't give a fuck about logic and data, but it does give a fuck about irrefutable proof. So this is why, literally from a coaching standpoint, our first goal is to get you to have irrefutable proof, whereas... And this is what this does, is creating a new reality or a new history or a new record of the past. If you have this shitty record of the past, all we have to do is develop what... In the science-y terms is called the neuro pathway of this new record of the past over here, so we got you... So that's when you went through it, you ate your favorite foods, added more calories and worked out less. And then you got this reality over here of the one thing you wanted, which was weight loss. And your brain, literally from a really deeper level, it went, "What the fuck just happened?"

0:25:16.9 Meagan: Yeah, it did. [laughter]

0:25:22.5 Jared Hamilton: It's like everything I've known up to this point has been wrong. Because here's the thing, we can try to force it and go, "No, just push all this information... " But the brain... 'Cause here's the thing people don't understand. The brain only cares about self-preservation, it doesn't care about happiness, so it's just trying to tell you the stove is hot. Well now, we get... That's what this new reality has done, is your brain has gone, "Wait a second, holy shit." And now it's almost like somebody snapped their fingers and snapped you out of this illusion, 'cause that's what happens. It's almost like if you walked into your house and your dog was on the ceiling, your belief of gravity just got shattered. Right? And that's exactly why that happened, and it's everybody's come to Jesus moment where you have this new reality and it's like holy fuck. And it's like your brain just goes, "Okay, we're good. Sorry, I was wrong." [laughter] You know?

0:26:11.4 Meagan: Absolutely.

0:26:11.5 Jared Hamilton: Abby, is that where you see most people, like that spot where they have this new reality that goes against all their old belief systems and the old belief systems get shattered?

0:26:19.5 Abby: No, absolutely, and that's... It's so fricking true. And I like to explain it to people, it's like, eventually we're gonna get you brain buy-in. Eventually something is gonna happen and we're gonna get you brain buy-in, but until then, I just need you to trust me and I need you to understand that you chose to come to this program for a reason, so bear with me. But that's where I can give Meagan all of the credit in the world because from day one with zero brain buy-in, she was like, "Okay, nothing else has worked, so why the fuck not? It's not gonna work any less than anything else has."

0:26:56.3 Abby: And she jumped in, and she did not ever look back, and through... Bless her heart, she's been through some crazy shit the last three months where life has just been chaos. If we had a picture perfect client of progress within chaos, it's this girl. And she's crushed it. And it's never been a, "Hey, my life's a hot wreck right now and I need 10 minutes," or "Hey, my life is chaotic, I'm just gonna take a week off." Her response is, "Hey, my life is fucking crazy, but I owned that nutrition, I got my workouts in, and my boyfriend and I went on some walks together, and I calmed myself down."

0:27:34.1 Abby: So that's where for sure, and we see this with so many clients, but like home girls, the picture perfect group, if you just trust us for five minutes, we will fix your problems. But she jumped in and she had no qualms about, "Okay, everything that you're telling me sounds completely different than what I know, but I'm gonna give it a try," and it's changed absolutely everything, which is super dope, and that's where we absolutely have to get to brain buy-in, but you need to do this stuff first. You need to have just a little bit of faith to get us to your buy-in moment.

0:28:13.1 Jared Hamilton: Meagan, for you... I'm trying to think how to word this... I don't know why my computer's making the obnoxious beep, so... But was it that easy for you just to blind faith? Literally, the people who succeed with any level of mentorship, the most, blind faith. My mentor, I was scared... When I hired my mentor, most amount of money I've ever spent in one transaction in my life, and I was petrified, but I just knew my results weren't what I wanted, and I had blind faith in that motherfucker, and I never looked back. So for you, though, was it always just like... I don't wanna say effortless blind faith, but was it like... Talk about that a little bit.

0:28:54.7 Meagan: I think... Yeah, no, I think that I was at a point where I'm just like, nothing else is working. I am again, like I said, feeling so hopeless and I was like, "I really trust Abby. I trust her judgment," and it kind of was. I was like, "Listen, screw it. I'm just gonna jump in. I'm gonna dive in headfirst because I committed to this and this is what I want, and this is something that can transform my life, and if you're telling me that you can, it's like, I'm gonna believe it, I'm gonna do it." And it really has.

0:29:28.7 Jared Hamilton: I love that so much. And that's the thing is... And so for you, it was almost logical. It wasn't emotional, it sounds like.

0:29:37.0 Meagan: Yeah. I guess it was probably, yeah, more logical.

0:29:39.8 Jared Hamilton: Yeah. 'Cause this is my thing, and this is what I teach my entire team, and the way that I view any sort of... Especially the business side of coaching, I tell... Especially when I'm talking to... Handling the marketing and the sales and all of that kind of stuff, is I tell my people, I'm like, "Hey, I don't want you to do emotional selling at all," 'cause my thing is, everything should be very logically driven. We're emotional beings, we make decisions emotionally, but people make dumb decisions when the driver's seat is emotion. This is why we want everything to be logical. It's why I'll tell people straight up on the phone, like my business-y friends think I'm an idiot for saying this sometimes, but I'll tell people like, "Hey, I don't wanna sell you. I want you to decide this is what you want for yourself." Like, "Cool. If it is, let's lock arms, but if not, and you're not ready, or you're not there yet, dope. Like, I'm always here for you." And that's literally like my business model. Because if you... Otherwise, imagine how hard this would have been for you if you didn't have that logical buy-in, if it was purely emotionally driven. You see what I mean?

0:30:42.6 Meagan: Yeah, absolutely.

0:30:42.7 Jared Hamilton: So I'm curious, I think we were talking about this a little bit on the phone the other day, do you feel like... Is there something in the back of your head that's like when's this hat gonna drop, like when's this fucking... When's this dream gonna wake up 'cause I feel like this is fake?

0:30:52.9 Meagan: A little bit. [laughter] 'Cause I'm like, "Okay, when am I gonna wake up and be like 20 pounds heavier or something 'cause it's all gonna catch up to me,"but really it's like I'm just gonna keep going. I'm gonna keep going and I'm gonna take what I've learned so far, and I'm gonna continue with Abby's support, just working through whatever is going on in my life and just like kind of... I'm dedicated to this and I'm gonna keep going.

0:31:19.8 Jared Hamilton: Do you feel like from a principle standpoint... Obviously, you're not gonna be tracking calories forever. But do you feel like from a principle standpoint, you could do what you're doing forever?

0:31:28.7 Meagan: Honestly, yeah. [laughter]

0:31:31.1 Jared Hamilton: Is that weird to say?

0:31:31.9 Meagan: It's so weird, but it's like I don't even... I don't know what it is, but I now am just prioritizing protein without thinking about it. I'm exercising 'cause I enjoy it, not because I'm trying to make up for whatever I ate yesterday. I'm eating all of the foods that I love and really just kind of listening to my body if... Say, I don't know how many calories are in something, it's like I don't even have to think about it anymore, and it's incredible to finally come to that point after 10 years.

0:32:06.8 Jared Hamilton: How long have you guys been working together. How long has it been?

0:32:09.5 Abby: Three months.

0:32:09.6 Jared Hamilton: Dear God! [laughter] Dear God. Could you imagine how much hell I would get online if I said... If I said, "Hey, in 90 days or less." Sound like an infomercial, we'll double your calories while losing weight, while stop binge eating, while healing your relationship with food and solving every problem you've had over the last decade. I bet you wouldn't have believed it if I told you that. I bet you wouldn't have believed it.

0:32:39.2 Meagan: No. I would not have.

0:32:41.5 Jared Hamilton: 'Cause I wouldn't. That just sounds like... It sounds spammy and sleazy. But actually, let me ask you this, and I was totally not gonna take this conversation this way. Was there a level of releasing any outcomes for you where you're just like I don't even care anymore? Where like the outcome, you're like, yeah I want these outcomes, but they're gonna happen when they happen, and you were less psycho about the outcomes, would you say there's a level of that?

0:33:00.2 Meagan: Oh, absolutely. I think I used to be so focused on seeing that immediate change and doing things that were so drastic to see that. And again, that's unsustainable, and then at this point, that's when I was really just trusting Abby and I was like... She's telling me I need to eat more. This sounds crazy to me. I'm gonna do it.

0:33:21.3 Jared Hamilton: [laughter] Yeah.

0:33:21.4 Meagan: And it's like, it pays off. So I just kinda let it go and I was like, whatever happens happens, we'll adjust course if needed and... Yeah. It's been freeing.

0:33:31.2 Jared Hamilton: Abby, do you find that's a commonality with everyone who crushes like there's a level of releasing of outcomes?

0:33:37.9 Abby: For sure. And I just pulled up my welcome note from Meagan, because as soon as you asked that question, I was like, she said these fucking words to me on a welcome call, and she did. On her welcome call, she was like, I don't care, 'cause I ask everybody, what are your goals? She's like, I don't care about weight loss. I don't care if I gain a bunch of weight. I just need to be able to eat food. I just need to feel better, and I was like...

0:34:02.4 Jared Hamilton: Well fed.

0:34:03.6 Abby: That's what we're gonna do. And now, look at it.

0:34:06.8 Jared Hamilton: Skadoosh! I love it.

0:34:07.6 Abby: But I think for sure, and honestly, I think that our clients who are successful versus our clients who not aren't successful, but who struggle, who white knuckle kinda through the program on a more consistent basis. The difference is releasing outcomes. The people who struggle through, especially the first few months of this program because it is so fucking different, they are the ones who I have to lose 20 pounds by May. I have to lift this deadlift, I have to... And that's usually never the thing. I have to fit into this dress. I have to do X, Y, and Z. The people who are super successful, and I would even venture to say the people who have the fastest results are the ones who are just letting things happen organically and doing exactly what Meagan said, I'm listening to my body.

0:35:02.5 Abby: I'm eating when I'm hungry, I'm not eating when I'm full. I'm prioritizing proteins and plants. I'm still eating everything that I love, but I'm just trying to do a little bit better for myself and only ask to do things, only ask myself to do things that I know I can do long term. It sounds really simple, but it's not. First of all, we all know that it's hard to get to that point if you've lived on the other side of the world for so long, but that's where magic happens. The sooner you can get to that point that... Instead of weight goals, I just wanna live a normal life. I just wanna do things that I can do forever, like when you have that flip happen, you're gonna succeed, you're gonna absolutely dominate.

0:35:46.7 Jared Hamilton: I love that. This is actually, it's interesting, this is my big thing I'm really leaning into now, that is almost the definition of equanimity, and the opposite of equanimity is anxiety. So equanimity is a level of releasing outcomes and emotional neutrality. Where you're just like, "Yeah, I care, but I don't care." I want that outcome but it'll happen when it gets here. Because then now you're open to all these other things, but too often, if someone had to say, "Jared, what are the traits of the biggest strugglers and the most successful people?" And it's the people who are trying to lose weight, fastest, struggle the longest, and the people who don't give a fuck about how faster when their results happen, get it the fastest. And it almost seems effortless, case in point, Meagan. [laughter]

0:36:32.4 Meagan: Yeah.

0:36:32.5 Jared Hamilton: A lot of people have a hard time with that, 'cause that's the dichotomy of ambition and equanimity is like you have this ambition of like, I want this by this timeline with these goals and da da da da da. But then you got the other side of that, it's like now you have to release outcomes and be okay with not getting it, and it's like, ah, but there's a Venn diagram, that's the middle ground where you have to have both of those. It's literally one of my personal biggest struggles, and anything in the world of achievement is the balance of ambition and equanimity, but it's where all the magic happens is in that balance. It's crazy, but now wrapping up, Meagan, so for you, have you noticed like with these things that are happening, are affecting you, let's say, outside of weight loss and outside of fitness, or is it just strictly you lost weight and you're eating more. Which, that's a big deal. You know what I mean? Is there other areas in your life where it's... That you're noticing it's making a difference as well?

0:37:27.0 Meagan: Yeah, definitely. Just the social aspects, I'm not scared to go out and enjoy myself, so I'm literally happier. I'm doing more with my friends. I feel like I'm living and I'm not being controlled by food anymore, if that makes sense.

0:37:47.3 Jared Hamilton: You have what we call freedom.

0:37:49.2 Meagan: I have freedom. I'm free.

0:37:51.4 Jared Hamilton: For real, though.

0:37:53.8 Meagan: Seriously. And it's like, I feel happier, I feel more energetic probably 'cause I'm actually nourishing my body with adequate amounts of food. But really I just overall feel better, and I know that, Abby, you mentioned this, it's like, these past few months have been pretty crazy in my life. And this has been like an anchor to hold onto and to kinda get me through and keep me grounded, so just in general, I just... It's been the best experience.

0:38:20.8 Jared Hamilton: I love that. That's so cool. 'Cause it's funny, people will say... Because I always wanna know what not being where you wanna be is costing you. 'Cause most people are oblivious and some's like, "Oh, I just don't wanna go out with my friends, or do this or this." And I'm like, "If you had to base a quality of one's life, it's arguably based on the quality of the emotions you experience and the experiences themselves. And if... " Whatever that be, food anxiety, self-deprecative thoughts, not being comfortable, and the quality of your emotions are horrible, and it's causing you to not have experiences, then the entire quality of your life just got flushed down the toilet by something that is relatively simple to fix. You know what I mean?

0:39:04.0 Meagan: Absolutely.

0:39:05.2 Abby: I would add into though reading through, not to project your life story out there. But through things that I have just seen in your check-in and the way that you're carrying yourself and the way that you're navigating through experiences like your confidence is on another level. Your confidence is so much higher, honestly, just in not only how you carry yourself, but also in the way that home girl has boundaries now. She knows what she wants. She's knows what she's not willing to accept and she's standing her ground in that. So for sure, there's so much food freedom that has happened. There's so much just physical change that has happened, but also seeing that person that you have developed into in the last three months who puts herself first, not in an assholey way, but like you're taking care of yourself kind of mind, body, spirit. Right. All three paths of these self, you're taking care of and like you're confident as fuck. You know what you're after, you're going after what you want, and it's just really dope to see that full picture kind of come together just from small tweaks and small changes and conversation, so super cool.

0:40:23.8 Jared Hamilton: Well, the coolest part about that, though, and the half the reason why that shit happens from a psychological perspective is another brand new... How to word it? Another new record of the past is if you've treated yourself like shit for years and not shown up for yourself and break promises, it's no wonder we have no confidence. If someone... I have people in my life who have not shown and kept their word to me, so I view them as less of a person now as we should 'cause that's a character flaw. So you have now a new familiar with yourself where now you show up for yourself. You're now... Now you almost like view yourself as worthy of happiness, I'm assuming. I bet you're like, "Wow, I actually deserve these things. I deserve to be happy. I deserve to be free. I deserve to have boundaries. I deserve to live my life on my terms." Where it's like that's such... That encompasses everything. You know what I mean? Is that pretty well what happened?

0:41:16.1 Meagan: Absolutely, I could almost cry right now, 'cause that's so... It's so like just nail in the head, that is exactly how I'm feeling and... Yeah, it's a new feeling and it's amazing. So I just wanna thank you both just for helping me get to this place.

0:41:36.1 Jared Hamilton: Of course. Absolutely. Here's the thing, you're the one that did the work, you're the one that... You're the one that went all in, invested in yourself and you're coachable and are following through and willing to unlearn. We always say... We always talk about with coaching, if you give me someone who's coachable, someone who's willing to unlearn and someone who's willing to be a student and re-learn, we can literally hand you over a whole new life. But without those three, if you're not a student willing to learn, you're stubborn and not willing to unlearn all your own bullshit, and you're not coachable, willing to take feedback that's uncomfortable, I can't do fucking shit with you. Think about it, think about anything in life. But the fact that you are like the picture, perfect case study for each of those, it's no wonder you have a whole new life and it's been 90 fucking days. [laughter]

0:42:20.2 Meagan: I still can't believe it. [chuckle]

0:42:23.0 Jared Hamilton: That's awesome, that's super cool. This has been cool. Before we call it, is there anything, Meagan from... 'Cause more than likely, people listening and have been in your situation or are where the old you was. Right? You, let's say 90, 120 days ago. Is there anything that is sticking out to you that they could implement right now that would, like that's been most profound to you, that could really help a lot, other than signing up for coaching. Obviously, that's the given but other than that.

0:42:51.8 Meagan: Yeah. I think one of the things that was so grounding and just helped me through this process has been the journaling and the meditating when I can, that whole, like, the psychological aspect is so much more important than I think a lot of people realize. And it's like getting that in check and being really self-aware and just reflecting, that's gonna give you the jumpstart to change your life.

0:43:19.8 Jared Hamilton: That's awesome. What's funny is a lot of people are still like, "Oh, that's froufrou bullshit, it doesn't work." But usually those people do it for two weeks, but that's like, "You could work out every day for two weeks and you'll still be fat." You know what I mean? Two weeks doesn't do shit. You won't be woke as fucking two weeks, so...

0:43:36.9 Meagan: Yeah.

0:43:38.0 Jared Hamilton: I love it. Abby, anything on your end, anything that... Any words of wisdom for... From people starting where Meagan started? Anything to piggyback on that?

0:43:48.5 Abby: Yeah, I think that honestly, the moral of the story here is just that it gets better. If you're willing to invest in yourself, not even necessarily through coaching, but invest through coaching, invest through giving yourself your own time, work through your inner stuff, to sit down and journal and meditate, to start letting yourself have foods that you enjoy again. Start investing in yourself in some aspect and know that it gets better. If you're willing to make some changes, you're willing to give yourself some grace, life is going to improve across the board. And one small change, something that feels like maybe a drop in the bucket can be the thing that ends up overflowing your bucket.

0:44:35.7 Jared Hamilton: I love that so much. Ladies, this has been fucking amazing and way better than... Like not that I thought I was gonna be bad, but it blew away my expectations in general. This has been awesome, and Meagan, you helped a lot of people today. There are thousands of people that listen to this, and there's a lot of other Meagans. So yeah, you helped a lot of people today. So I appreciate your vulnerability, Abby I appreciate you as well. Otherwise guys, I will be getting this out, thank you guys again and I will talk to you soon.

0:45:01.4 Jared Hamilton: And we're back. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of the podcast. I know if you stuck around and you're listening to this right now, you got a lot of value from this. I know that listening to Meagan's story, I'm hoping it opens your eyes a little bit to what's possible for you and how it's not too late. I don't care how shitty your situation is. Like even whether it's just as bad or even maybe worse, or maybe not quite as bad as Meagan's was. But that's how Meagan was able to 180 her life and there's no reason you can't.

0:45:27.1 Jared Hamilton: That's why the podcast is called Dieting From the Inside Out. She dieted from the inside out, and then all of the rest of the stuff kinda takes care of itself. Now, here's the thing, if that resonated with you, if Meagan's story really hit home and you're like, Fuck, I would really like to have that, and you're ready for this and you're ready to go all in on yourself, I have a special opportunity for those of you that are action takers who are ready to invest in yourself and who are ready to have that 180 life. Because you're listening to the podcast, I have a very, very special offer for you. I don't have this anywhere else. This is only for podcast listeners because I'm really, really pouring into the podcast right now, and I really, really, really wanna help you. And let's be honest, if you stuck around this long and you've listened to an episode just like this, you're probably not doing so hot. I'm gonna assume that you probably could use some help, and you've probably been doing this for a really long time. And you may be in a similar spot that Meagan used to be in.

0:46:15.3 Jared Hamilton: So if that's you and you're ready to invest in yourself, I have a special offer, because like I said that you're coming from the podcast. Down in the description I have a Calendly link, and I have a special coaching offer because I would love to lock arms with you with me and my team and our coaching program and do the exact same thing for you that we did for Meagan. Just zoom out for a little bit and see... Like picture for yourself what your life would look like having that 180 transformation internally and then externally. That's how we have to do it. So what's gonna happen is, because you're coming from the podcast for those that get signed up for coaching and ready to go and who are investing with us and ready to rock and roll, I'm basically giving you $4000 worth of stuff. We can get into all the details about that stuff on the call down below, but basically what's happening is for those that are signing up for coaching from the podcast, from this episode, because I value that, I'm basically giving you an additional $4000 worth of extra value, extra stuff, just totally for free. But here's the thing, we only work with those we know we can help.

0:47:11.4 Jared Hamilton: And before we can do anything there's two things that have to happen. I wanna make sure that you're a good fit for the program. I wanna make sure that we actually think we can help you and solve your problems, but then also I wanna make sure that you have all the details. I wanna make sure that you understand what's going on, your expectations are in check, and this gives you a space to ask questions and know how coaching works and what goes on. So now, here's a cool thing though, normally there's a pretty big interview process and application process to become a client of ours, but because you're coming from the podcast I'm already going to assume like you're way more ready for this. Okay, so instead of filling out this big application and things like that, there's a calendar link, a very special calendar link below in the description. You can literally schedule a call with my team right now; It's called an application call, that way we can just talk about applying for coaching, all the details, get to know you more, see if you're a good fit, then answer all your questions. So you can literally get on my team schedule right now. Just go down to the description, hit the special coaching link and you'll get on my team's calendar.

0:48:07.1 Jared Hamilton: You'll be talking to my coaching specialist, Connor. He's my right-hand guy. And then we can go from there and make sure all your questions are answered and make sure you're a good fit, and then you literally can 180 your entire life. So I'm so excited for you. Be sure and check that out. And if you haven't already, be sure and subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform you're listening to this on.

[music fades in]

0:48:24.9 Jared Hamilton: Whether you're watching the video on YouTube or listening to the audio on iTunes or Spotify, or all the other spots the podcast is on. Otherwise, I love you and I will talk to you in the next episode.

Episode Synopsis

Meagan’s Story:

Meagan has had body image issues and struggled with her relationship with food since she was young—around 12 years old. She felt hopeless before starting coaching and was stuck in a binge-restrict cycle for a decade, and she was always told that, because of her height, 4’ 11”, she could only consume a very small number of calories.

Since starting coaching, Meagan has been able to increase her caloric intake while losing weight and inches. Currently, Meagan’s weight has stayed relatively stable, but her clothes are fitting better, and some are even too big now.

The Scale VS Results:

One of Meagan’s biggest obstacles was the number on the scale. The scale used to have a hold on her, but after going through the process of fixing her relationship with food, she has been able to free herself from fear of the scale and regular daily weight fluctuations.

Through her program, Meagan has also come to understand that she was over-exercising and learned what her realistic exercise needs are and the importance of strength training. Abby has worked with Meagan on bringing her exercise down to a manageable level that allows her to live her life and work out moderately.

Meagan’s true realization that dieting from the inside was working came when Abby told her that her weight was trending down while her caloric intake was going up. That proof was Meagan’s “ah-ha” moment.

This realization is the first goal of “Dieting from the Inside Out.” We want to bring clients to the same conclusion that Meagan has reached—that she could eat more, work out less, focus on strength training, and reach her goals.

This is our first goal because our memories of past struggles and successes with weight loss affect our belief of what will work and ultimately create negative food and exercise relationships.

By coming to this new way of thinking, our clients can change their reality and shatter old belief systems that have held them back.

Jared Hamilton recording the Dieting From the Inside Out Podcast with a quote about the brain and self-transformation.

"The brain only cares about self-preservation, it doesn't care about happiness." - Jared Hamilton

The Impact of Dieting from the Inside:

Our program takes a lot of trust from our clients, most of whom are like Meagan, and have only had experiences and advice that are completely different from what we tell them.

Meagan came to us at a point where nothing else was working and she was ready to jump in and completely trust Abby and follow her program. This trust and dedication has allowed Meagan to eat the foods she loves, listen to her body, and enjoy her workouts.

Meagan is also now comfortable knowing that her goals will take time and they will adjust as they go. She has learned to listen to her body and establish a lifestyle that can be maintained long-term.

Meagan has found that by fixing her relationship with food and exercise, she is happier and can go out and enjoy her life. Her energy is higher, and she feels better. Abby has noticed that, over time, Meagan’s confidence has grown, she knows what she wants, and can stand her ground better than before.

Meagan takes care of her mind, body, and spirit now, which has helped her evolve her relationship with food and exercise and completely 180 her life.