Celebrating Women: An interview with HLTHYher member Diane

March is Women’s History Month, and at TriadHLTH, we’re all about celebrating, uplifting, and empowering women! This month, we’re featuring stories from women we admire, and next up is HLTHYher member Diane.  

Hi Diane! Tell us a bit about yourself and your health journey? 

I started my health journey in March of 2023. I’ve been on a roller coaster of diets and programs, probably on and off, for most of my adult life. I could lose weight but could never keep the weight off. On my own, I had just started being more mindful. I lost a good amount of weight and was feeling really positive, but in March, I went back to my docto,r and I had gained about 20 pounds. She said, “Well, it’s not that bad. Just be more mindful, at least you didn’t regain all your weight.” I replied, “You don’t understand how hard I’m working, you don’t get this. This isn’t me being lazy; there is something going on here.” 

She suggested I speak with an endocrinologist. They put me on medication, and around the same time, I started working with a health coach. That just really changed everything for me because it was someone holding me accountable and explaining why different food choices were better. I did that for about a year and felt really good, but when I stopped working with a coach, I was lost. That’s when I found HLTHYher, and I was so excited because HLTHYher does two things for me: First, it allows me to continue working with a health coach who helps me stay accountable and reminds me of my successes when I’m really down on myself. And then I love that I have a community of women who are on a similar path, who are using GLP-1s, who have a similar mindset, and share their stories and successes. I love the group coaching sessions; it’s great to have a coach one-on-one too, but sometimes it’s nice to just meet with a group of women and brainstorm.

We are so glad you’re part of the HLTHYher community of women! Now, something you shared, about your experience with going to the doctor after gaining weight, it sounds like that was pretty frustrating for you, to feel dismissed or like your concern wasn’t important. 

Yeah. My answer to her was, you don’t understand, it’s 20 in the wrong direction! And the doctor had offered surgery before but never the medication. I really don’t want to go through surgery, so I asked what other options are out there. Finally, I got a referral to an endocrinologist who was much more understanding. The new doctor really helped me understand this has nothing to do with willpower; I’d have dinner, and then half an hour later, I’d hear the food calling me from the pantry. The endocrinologist said, that’s not you being weak, that’s just how it is for some people. But I always assumed that everybody heard the food noise and they just had more willpower. They could ignore it, or they knew how to work around it. It never dawned on me that some people don’t think about food that way. They eat three meals a day, and that’s it, they don’t think about it. Meanwhile, I spend most of my day thinking about food. 

We’re all wired differently. And it sounds like the medication is helping with this? 

Absolutely. That’s why it’s nice working with other women using GLP-1s too. Because I think there is a stigma around it. I know in other programs, I would have been hesitant to admit I was doing it because, to someone else, maybe that is “cheating” or it shows weakness. And what I’ve learned through HLTHYher and the group coaching is that it’s not a weakness. Asking for help in this way is never weak. If your metabolism and body need medication to help, that’s okay. You wouldn’t tell a diabetic to not take insulin. This medication is what I need to stay on a healthy weight journey. This is what I need to do, and it’s nice to be with women going through similar situations. 

It’s so good to get that community support! What about the app - is there anything in the HLTHYher app that you have found helpful?

I really like the videos, I call them my little thoughts for the day. I can go through and pick a video. Last week I was struggling with negative self-talk, that all-or-nothing mentality. And I scrolled through, and I found a little exercise on the all-or-nothing mentality. I just read through it and thought, yes, you know this stuff. Come on. You can do this! You gotta give yourself a break. It doesn't have to be: I have to eat everything healthy all day, every day. I remind myself, that if I have a hiccup throughout the day, the next opportunity to eat, just stop and ask, am I hungry? Is this a good choice? Just because I made a bad choice an hour ago doesn't mean the rest of the day has to be bad. 

It sounds like you’re making a really powerful mindset shift there, which is hard to do! What else has changed for you since starting HLTHYher? 

The thing I have been so happy about with myself is that I haven’t quit. It’s only March, and I haven’t lost any weight from January, AND I haven’t quit! I keep trying to be mindful and remind myself that I’m at a plateau, and sometimes my body needs to rest where it is. That’s okay. 

You’ve persisted! And you feel like in the past, maybe at this point, you would have thrown in the towel? 

Yes. It would have been like, I’ve been trying since January, and I haven’t lost any weight, why am I doing this to myself. But now, I’m not like that. The things I’ve incorporated into my life are now my lifestyle. It’s not a diet. It’s not a race, and it’s not even a marathon. There’s not a start and end. I used to think dieting was a sprint, where if I just worked really hard, really fast, I could get the weight off, and then I could be done. Then, I started to think of weight loss as a marathon. It will come off slowly, but it will keep coming off, and when I hit my goal in two years, I can stop again. And I realized that the weight loss journey and a healthier attitude, a healthier relationship with food, is just a continuous circle. This is also where my health coach comes in, because there are still days when I’ve felt like, I can’t do it anymore. I hit the wall. And she’ll help me talk through it.  

That’s a really big deal, and such a good way of looking at things! Now, you’ve spoken a few times about being mindful, can you share an example of what that looks like in your daily life? 

Definitely with cravings. If I feel an impulse like, I would love to eat some chocolate, I will ask myself why. Why do you really want that chocolate? Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you tired? And I'll try to take care of one of those other things first and see how I feel. But maybe I’m still thinking about the chocolate so then I’ll ask myself, what kind of chocolate do you want? What's going to really satisfy that chocolate craving? If it's still like, I don't know, I just want chocolate. I'm like, Okay, well, if you don't know what you want, then we're not going to eat anything yet. It might not satisfy it. But if I know what it is, I’ll make a plan to enjoy it.

That sounds like a really mindful approach to eating! Okay, any final thoughts? 

I just want to say again how much I love having a coach. It’s just so nice to have somebody who is supportive, someone who listens to what you have to say and will text you to check in. She reminds me that a health journey is not a straight line.