(upbeat music) Success looks so easy from the outside, but all successful people have had to overcoming enormous obstacles along the way. And in many cases, look failure right in the eye. Most successful people don't focus on the struggle and they rarely talk about it because that's not what creates success. Join us here. We're Will Chat with serial entrepreneurs, both men and women, and share the good, the bad, and the ugly of entrepreneurship. We'll talk about the obstacles we've faced and how to overcome them, to reach the success that you desire. I am your host, Kami Lehman, and this is Cheese Invincible. (upbeat music) Hey everyone, thank you so much for joining us today on Cheese Invincible, and do we have an invincible one to introduce you today? Stacey Avery got sick and tired of being sick and tired. At the age of 50, she got out of her own way with the help of a health coach. An incredible community and a life-changing program, she was able to transform her body and mind and set on a journey of helping others do the same. Oh my gosh, Stacey, welcome to Cheese Invincible. We're so excited to have you with us today. - Thank you so much, I'm so happy to be here. - Oh my gosh, yes, yes, this is so exciting. I love speaking to health coaches. I love to share with women ways that they can live their best life, and I think this is one of the most important ways. So let's jump in, let's get started, let's tell our listeners how in the world did you get where you are today? And what makes you invincible? - Well, I, Jaclyn, first of all, thank you so much for having me, and this is really, this is fun. I enjoy sharing what it is that has changed my entire world. So I really appreciate being able to share it with all of your viewers, and hopefully I can help a couple of people today as well. So I never in a million years would have thought that I would be the person that is sharing this kind of information with others today. I grew up in a household, I was one of four children. My both of my parents always pretty much ate very unhealthy and gave that fabulous traits to myself and my three brothers. My father died at 56 from complications of diabetes. He had triple bypass, high blood pressure, cholesterol, my mother as well, very unhealthy, has a lot of those same issues. I have three brothers that are unfortunately all overweight, even currently, even as they've seen me get healthy and not only overweight, but the diabetes and the blood pressure and all of those terrible things that go along with what the scale says. It's not just that scale, there's so much more. So growing up in that household, we didn't ever had fresh vegetables, we didn't know how to eat properly. I did not want to be that same person. I was six years away, basically when I went on this program from when my father passed away. And I didn't want to do that. I have two daughters myself. I wanted to make sure that we kind of changed the trajectory. I was a yo-yo dieter since I was a teenager and I lost so much weight over the years, so much weight and I gained it all back and then some every single time because I never learned anything. So when I was 50 years old, my best friend from college came to me and she basically, in my college, just so you know, I did go to college. I went to Towson, I was Towson State University back in the day. I got a degree in communications. And I was, I've never been one to be, look at me, look at me, talk, talk, talk, but I've always been very friendly, very positive, very helpful to others. So it was just kind of a natural fit for me in college. And then, you know, kind of took a hiatus of using that until I started coaching. But in the meantime, you know, I decided that I needed to get healthy. And fortunately for me, my best friend wasn't scared of making me feel bad or, or, you know, telling me that I was a lot fluffier than I should have been unhealthy. She knew that that's how I felt. I was very miserable. I was unhappy in my own skin. I hated going out. You know, I felt bad for my girls because, you know, they wanted me to be a fun, you know, fun, fun mom. And I wasn't at the time because I was just really unhappy with myself. So she called me one day and said, look, I have a program for you. I've done all the programs. I know they all work, I get it. But she's like, no, no, this one's different. I'm like, okay, sure it is. So I was like, you know what, why not? But at the time, we unfortunately did not have the funds to be able to do that. But my husband said, you know what, this is important. We need to make this a priority. So we started off and within one week of me doing the program, and I could explain, you know, in a little bit what that program consists of, but I was completely a different person within one week already. My mindset was different. My habits were changing. I felt better in my own skin after one week on the program. And I was like, well, after one week, it must be something. And then I said, you know what? Maybe I need to share this with other people because we're all looking for this. We all, everybody's been on diets, right? Diets, right? What does diet connotate? Nothing positive. And I wanted to be able to change that narrative for people. And I wanted people to see if I could do that. I'm just like everybody else. I mean, I'm just like one of you. And I wanted people to see that they could see themselves in me, so I started to share my journey. And as I started to share my journey, more and more people were asking questions and, you know, going back and forth with me and really enjoying the things that I was sharing with them. And I was starting to help people. And then I was sharing that I was helping people, then more people won. It was a snowball. And four and a half years later, I felt over 2,000 people on this journey. And I finally have learned enough to be able to maintain the weight loss that I accomplished back in September of 20. And I've been able to maintain that for over four years now, which is just a blessing in itself. And then the health factor that I feel now and the energy that I feel now and the passion that I have about helping other people is really what drives me and gets me up every single day. I don't drink coffee. This is just me. OK, I love it. I don't drink coffee either. OK, so tell us what makes you invincible. I think that what makes me invincible is the fact that, again, I never imagined that I could be somebody that people were going to look to for health advice or self-confident advice or, you know, just uplift them to give them, you know, tools and tricks on how to get to and stay healthy. It's just never something that I could have ever imagined. And I'm so super proud of myself. And I wake up every day and I tell myself, you know, I'm doing good for other people. And I do sometimes, I know my name is Stacey, but I do feel like I have an S on my chest sometimes because it's powerful to be able to help change somebody's life for the better. It's extremely, extremely powerful. And it gives me a reason and whoever thought that Monday mornings would be my favorite time of the week, like Monday mornings, people hate Monday mornings. I love Monday mornings. That's what my clients check in with me. And they give me all the fantastic, you know, non-scale victories. That's my first question. What is your non-scale victories for the week? You know, how much weight have they lost? How do they feel? What does that do for them? What do you want to do next? Like, it's just, it's a, and I've met thousands of people in the process. Cool people, like you. I mean, like, I would have never met you if I didn't go down this journey. So I think that's what makes me a little invincible. I love that. That's so amazing. Amazing. Let's jump in. We have so much to talk about. Oh, my gosh. This whole weight problem, weight, and, but just not weight, but this unhealthy lifestyle is, and it's just, it's the next pandemic, right? It's not the next. It's here. It's yes. And, you know, it's so scary. You know, I feel like, you know, if you're addicted to something, you can just decide not to do it and go get help. But food is something you can't live without. So that makes it so tricky to be able to navigate that place where you can change your habits, still have it, because you can't just cut it out and, you know, and feel better and, you know, be healthier. So I want to jump in and there's so much to cover. So let's just dive in with this. So my, I would say the first thing I really want to talk about is, and I love, I got to tell you, I love how you refer to yourself as Fluffy, because like nobody wants to talk about fat. Nobody wants to talk about obesity, you know, not that we shouldn't face the truth, but there are gentle ways. And I love that you do that, because Fluffy feels fun and sweet and comfortable and nurturing. And so, you know, when you're referring to Fluffy, anybody can relate to that. And I love that. And we're not shaming ourselves. But let's jump into this situation here about food, about how food has changed over the years. Well, I look at pictures that are like published in magazines and things of people on the beach. There wasn't one overweight person on the beach in the 60s, right? You look at, look at your family pictures of your ancestors, your grandparents and your aunts and uncles, very few. But yet in the world we live in today, there's, what, 80%? Or, I mean, I mean, the emphasis is, I'm guessing. It's, you know, you're pretty much right on, yes. Yeah, so it's flipped, right? We're before maybe 20% we're overweight. Now, 80% are overweight and 20% are with an healthy weight range. What happened that changed that in this world? Well, a lot, you know, society has changed in terms of the activity levels and what everybody's doing. And everybody's go, go, go, go, go, go, all the time. And parents are two parent working households, you know, so everything is what's going to be quick, what's going to be cheap, and what is available to you, right? So everything out there, I mean, people know that we need to eat healthy. People understand that statement, that we need to eat healthy. But number, you know, you say you could just turn it off and not do that. But you can't. There are addictive behaviors. There are, you know, there's society that says that, you know, just go through that drive-through right there and you can have dinner in, you know, in a couple of minutes. The things that if you go to, even currently in the where we are right now, time-wise, if you go to other, if you go to Europe, there are not heavy people in Europe because they're not promoting and advertising and shoving down all of this, I hate to use negative terms, but, you know, the crap that people are eating all day, every day, because it is right there in your face. And that's what the people are spending, that's what companies are spending money on advertising. Sugar is a drug, okay? Sugar, let's just say it, that sugar is a drug. And it has the same addictive facets that drugs, alcohol, all of those things have. Once you have sugar in your body, physiologically, your body requires more sugar. And the more sugar you have, the more sugar your body wants. Now, sugar comes in lots of different forms, right? So you've got candy, you've got complex carbs that turn to sugar in your body, you've got lots and lots of things that are out there. People say, "Oh, I eat yogurt and granola every day." Have you looked at the back of that yogurt and granola container to see how much sugar is in there? Headshot, pasta sauce, everything is just filled. So yes, we know we're not supposed to eat carbs because carbs turn to sugar. But it's all of the other things that are out there that you don't even know that have that turn to sugar or that have the same effects as sugar in your body. So what my program does is in a very, very easy way, we actually detox your body of almost all sugars. It's very hard to do that on your own. If you can do that on your own, I behoove you to try and do it. And you will see within one week how incredible you feel, your energy level will be up, your brain fog is gone, your sleep is better, your inflammation is down, so many different things that happen when we can get sugar out of our body. But that's not what's being promoted right now on our TV screens. And we're promoting medication now to counteract the weight that everybody's putting on. But they're not teaching you what to do while you're on that medication, how you're going to make those healthy changes. They're just saying, here, take this medication, you're going to lose weight. OK, now what? I'm losing muscle along with my weight. I'm not eating, I'm not fueling my body properly. So I believe that the education process has to come along with it. And that's what is so great about my program is you get me, you get all the other thousands and thousands of coaches that we have out in Optovia that help and guide you on a daily basis because we've all done it. I've changed from saying I'm a health coach to a health influencer. And the reason is because an influencer has used a product, has used a program, has been successful in utilizing that. And I think it's really important that when you're trying to help other people that are just like me-- my clients are just like me. It's important to understand where they're coming from. I don't care if you have five pounds to lose. If you have 200 pounds to lose, it's important to meet them where they're at and be there, and find them and help them understand whether they're trying to just detox if sugar or make dinners for your family. Or if they are on one of the weight loss medications, what do I do while I'm on that weight loss medication? So there's a lot of different components to all of that. And that was a really long answer to your question. Well, I want to go back to this to that original question of what is different now. So as you talk about sugar, was it different 70 years ago? Absolutely. I watched this show. It's called "Food That Built America." I don't know if you've ever heard of it. But it's a fantastic show. I think it's on Nat Geo, I believe. And you actually see, from the beginning of everything, how a potato chip came to be, how bread came to be, how milk, how Pepsi, how fast-food restaurants, how everything came to be. And it's fascinating. It was really-- it was about flavor. It was about quickness, right? It was about having food on the table for the families when dad came home, make sure that it's a meal. But again, whatever's going to be quick and easy is what people want to go to. And they don't realize that you can actually eat healthy quick and easy. So it's really our society. It's what's thrown at us all day every day on your computer screens, from your television to your podcast commercials. It's all about quick and easy, and quick and easy doesn't always mean healthy to most of society. So that's really-- it's just the process. And in other countries, as I said, they don't use the same kinds of flowers that we use. They don't use the same kind of ingredients that we use. They also don't have the same portion sizes that we have here in the United States. And it's just the education is what is going to change. We got to go back, but we have to be educated on an understanding how much-- I had ribs last night for dinner. I'm a health coach. I eat ribs. Yeah, I can eat ribs. It's a protein, but I have to know how to cook it properly, and I have to know how much of it to eat. And that's not what the world is about right now. It's not teaching you anything. Right. It definitely is not teaching you anything. So this is such a great conversation, and I would love to slide over to the top tips. So let's say somebody is wanting to pay more attention, and they want to tighten up what they're eating habits. And they're not on a program. What would you say are like the three top things they need to be looking at or things they can eliminate or switch up? So most people have heard, and if you haven't, I don't know you've been hiding under a rock, that we're supposed to graze, right? You've heard that a million times. We're supposed to graze all day. What does that mean? I can graze all day. I can go into my cabinet. I can get some chips. I can get some nuts. I can get some this. I can get some that. I can graze all day. I can eat all day I want. But what's important is that you really should be eating every two to three hours during the day. High protein, low calories, lots of vitamins and minerals, and nutrients. So if you can-- yes, I'd like to tell you farm to table would be the easiest thing. If you're eating proteins and veggies, that's really where you're going to get the most bang for your buck. But it's about eating consistently throughout the day, high protein, low calories. Because you get that metabolism started first thing in the morning. And then by eating every two to three hours during the day, you keep that metabolism going all day long. By eating things that are low in sugars or no sugars is going to keep you from having those high insulin spikes and then those big, huge crashes during the day where what happens is not only do you get super, super lethargic, but you get super, super hungry because your body wants more sugar. So what are you going to do when you get hungry? You're going to go to whatever's closest to you. So if you can have things in your refrigerator, your cabinets, whatever it is at work, high protein, low calories, eating every two to three hours, drinking. Again, water, water, water, water, minimum of 64 ounces of water a day. Sleep is huge, you know, people, oh, I don't need any sleep. I'm good, I have lots of energy. You know what, there are so many things that happen while your body sleeps that is going to help you in that weight loss that you don't even understand. So it's high protein, eating often, lots of water, and get moving. I'm not saying you have to run five miles. I'm saying just get out in the winter time. I go to the mall, I walk inside the mall. I'm an actual wall, wall, wall, wall, mall walker, I could say, just to get out, just to get some movement, just to get my body going. So it's all really important, but it all works together. And it's about being ready and it's about being intentional. I love that. And I'm sorry, one thing, you can't be fabulous Monday through Friday and then be off on the weekends. You can, I mean, that's a choice that you have, but that's not going to get you to your goals. Yeah, every Monday you start over again, right? That's right. And your detox is going to start Monday. Yeah, exactly, exactly. My gosh, so I have to say what you're saying here about like other countries, I'm totally sold because I saw that myself. I spent a month in Italy and I ate more and drank more than I ever did in my entire life. And I lost seven pounds after a month. Yes. And I think, you know, what is your take on eating the right foods together, like pairing your foods or eating them in the right order? So again, protein and vegetables, protein and vegetables, there's nothing wrong with condiments, there's nothing wrong with things that are going to flavor your food. When I teach a client how to create their meals, you know, I teach them about using condiments, things that are going to flavor their food. But we are so used to, that is like my favorite thing. I'm so used to, you know, just putting on the salt, putting on the, you know, the barbecue sauce and just going on and just, you know, covering all of my food. So it's important to know that you can use those things, but it is important to know that you can also get a lot of flavor from a lot less of those things. So, you know, that's, that's really important for people to know and healthy fats. Bats are not bad for us, we need healthy fats. We also need carbohydrates. I don't, I don't suggest a keto diet because you can get diverticulitis, you can get all these other things from all the fatty things that you're eating on those types of diets. So I'm trying to teach my clients, proteins, vegetables, how to flavor your food and how to make sure that your body's also getting the right amount of carbohydrates and healthy fats. So again, it's hard to do that, trying to figure out what am I going to make for breakfast? What am I going to make for lunch? What am I going to make for dinner? It's a lot of work for someone to do that all at the end, have the mindset to do all of that all day, every day, seven days a week, keep doing it and not feel like you're on a diet because that's not, that's not the goal. We don't want you to feel that you're on a diet. We want you to feel that you're on a health journey that is going to take you through the rest of your life. So I eat healthy now that I'm at my goal every day. Yes, I go to restaurants. Yes, I go on vacations. And yes, my favorite food is french fries. It is my favorite food. And I don't have it often, but I have it. So it's about, you know, give and take, getting to where you want to be before you take, you know, before you do those other things. But it's about balance and it's about mindset. And it's not about what am I not getting to have or what am I missing out on? It's what, how great am I going to feel when I eat this? Yeah, because we always have that negative connotation, right? Of like, I can't have that. If you tell me I can't have something, that's all I can think about. Exactly. Right? It's all I want is whatever you just told me I can't have. And it's done everything. And as I said, last night I had ribs for dinner. I had family come over for myself. I made baby back ribs. I used sugar-free barbecue sauce on my ribs. On everybody else's ribs, they prefer the slathering of, you know, the good barbecue sauce. So I made that for them, but I didn't feel deprived. I was eating everything everybody else was eating. I just changed mine because I have goals and I want to stay true to how I'm feeling. And I, it was delicious. And guess what, I'm having leftovers tonight. Isn't that the benefit, right? So talk to me about, you mentioned this briefly, talk to me about healthy snacks. For someone who's just at home, they're not on a program. What are the top healthy snacks that are your go-to? Again, we're going to say, I'm going to always keep going back to it. Protein, low calories, nutrients, vitamins and minerals, right? So nuts, nuts are a fantastic source of protein. They have good healthy fats in them. The only problem with nuts is that they're addictive. To some, to me, definitely. I definitely, like if I have some nuts in the house, I can't really, I can't keep away from them. So I just, I usually just try to buy a little bit. But, you know, a serving of hummus and some peppers in there. So we're a light cheese stick. Again, like proteins, you got to think of what is going to be those great proteins. You can have egg white cups, if you want to make for yourself ahead of time. You can put chicken in, you know, in anything. I mean, chicken is a wonderful, chicken breast is a fantastic source of protein. Trying to think of the other things that I eat on a daily basis. You got guacamole, another wonderful option for you with vegetables, you can have that. Nothing's coming to mind right this second unfortunately. - No, this is great. This is all I was really like, "Look, Chobani's here." There's lots of different yogurts also. I was never a yogurt person before. So it's important that you know that all yogurts are not creatively equal. I, my two favorite yogurts, if you guys get nothing else from this entire thing, two good yogurt, T-W-O, two good yogurt, or Chobani zero sugar yogurts. They have a bazillion different flavors. They're so smooth. They're so delicious, high protein. I think they're, I don't even know how many calories they are, like 90 calories or something like that for an entire container. And it's filling because of the protein, it keeps you satiated. That's what the protein's doing, just so you all know. Not only is it wonderful for your body and it creates muscles and things in your body and helps to keep your muscle in your body, but it does keep you satiated. - Wow, this is so good, so good. Okay, and you, we talked about water, so that's amazing. Let's talk about the, there's always a common theme, right? So what would you say is the common theme across the board with your clients that either trips them up or put them where they were in the first place. You know, as you talk with them, what you're saying? - There's gonna, there's two. And I'm trying to, I'm going between the two. - Go ahead. - The first one is the, I'm used to that one, you know. I'm used to putting cream and sugar and all the stuff into my coffee. That's what I'm used to doing. - Yeah. - So to get someone from used to, to a new normal, to make it a new habit, which is what we're doing on this program, what I'm trying to help my clients do, a new normal, a new, you know, a new used to, that's gonna be, you know, the, I think that would stop even, well, that would be the one of the two. The other one would be alcohol. - Got it. - It's hard. I get it. I am really, really lucky. I don't like alcohol. I know it's crazy, but I'm not, I don't enjoy it. It's just not something that I like. I was a Dorito eater. That's, to me, Doritos alcohol, I'm going Doritos and pizza every single time. So, you know, the alcohol doesn't do it. So again, like what I say, it's very difficult. All alcohol, not all. Most alcohol has sugar in it. Got a lot of other things, obviously, that's not going to be good for you. The other thing with alcohol is your brain thinks of alcohol almost like, like, like it's fuel. Like it's like gasoline. Like gasoline fuels your car. What happens is when you have alcohol, your body's like, oh, what's this cool fuel that I have? I'm going to use that. I'm going to use that to make your body go. It's only, there's nothing in it to make your body go. So your body uses that up and it's going to store all of the other things that you've been trying to put into your body to keep your body healthy. It's going to store that. And it's not going to use that to run your body, to make you feel good, to make that inflammation go down, to make your sleep better, to make you give you more energy. So that alcohol is going to not only add pounds because it's heavy and all of those things, but it does, it puts the sugar back in. And it's not going to allow your body to use what it really wants to use as fuel. So I think those two things. So in terms of alcohol, if you're going to drink alcohol and you're on a health journey, my suggestion would be to try not to. You can, if you need to, it's going to have to be a sugarless option, potatoes, a really good and high-end tequila. There's a lot of Celsius now that has zero sugar in them. So there are options, but keep in mind that you might not have a weight loss or anything the week that you do have those. And then what happens is you drink, just like I said, on the weekends, and then you have to start all over again on Monday. Yes. And then Monday's not the favorite day of the week, right? When it's starting over. Yeah. And I always tell people in my coaching is if you don't want to have to start over, stop stopping. Exactly. Yeah. Like don't stop. And then you never start over again. So I love that so much. I know it's easier said than done, but I do love that so much. So those are two great things. I love that whole mentality of use too. If you keep doing what you were doing, you're keep getting what you're getting. So until you get rid of that, what you used to do, you're never going to get the result that you want. Exactly. You're going to have the same results, absolutely. Yes. I love that. And I think like when you look at it that way, you could say, well, I say this a lot up until now, right? So like, I used to up until now. Now I do this. Exactly. It's replacing it with my new habits. That's what we're trying to do. When I coach people, I am trying to create new habits. Habits are only formed by doing them day in and day out and day in and day out. And that's how you, that's how something becomes a habit. You can't become a habit if you just do it here and here and there. Every once in a while. Yes, right? For sure. Yeah. That it doesn't work. I consistency, right? Is the key right there? Yeah. Consistency doing it over and over again. I love this so much. So let's talk about this company that you're in because, you know, I know just from what I know about it, that you make this whole process simple for people by providing, like I'm asking you all these questions about like what to eat and how to eat. But you have this program where you don't have to figure that out. That it's already figured out for you and you get to eat brownies and cookies for breakfast, which oh my gosh. So not, yes, yes, which, you know, when I hear that, it makes me think, oh my gosh, how will I ever keep the weight off? If I get used to eating brownies and cookies for breakfast, very good question. Yeah. So I want to talk about that. But I also want you to share about the program. So give us a quick overview of how it works and how you make it simple for your clients. Absolutely. So there are four components to our program. So the first component is the coaching piece. So as I mentioned early on, to have a coach, to have somebody beside you that has done the program, that understands exactly what you're feeling, when you're feeling it, it's really important. I guide my clients. As I said, I meet them where they're at. So, you know, whatever that looks like for you, that's where that coach is going to start your journey. It's not going to be the same for everybody's. So to have somebody be there for you if my clients have questions. Normally, you know, the first week on the program, I talk to my clients a lot. Then we normally do a weekly check-in thereafter. But if they need me in between, I'm available for them. That's my job. That's what I love to do. So you've got the coaching piece. We have an online community. It's a private community that we are invited to once you become a client. Actually, once you learn about the program, you can be on in that group. And it's a wonderful, wonderful feeling of everybody in there is on their own health journey, but we're on a similar trajectory. Like, we all want the best for each other. We're not competing against each other. We all want to help each other and learn from each other. And if we're having a great day, awesome. You're going to have cheerleaders. If you're having a bad day, you're going to have people that are still going to be cheering you on, picking you up, giving you positivity, sharing what they know. We've got hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of recipes. We have a weekly meeting every Monday night for 30 minutes, different speakers, different topics each week, different transformational stories. So it's a wonderful community that we're in. We also have the third part is the habits of health system, which was created by our founder. His name is Dr. Wayne Scott Anderson. He created this program to help you with the non-- not necessarily all the non-nutrition stuff, but the mental side of things, the habit changes, the tools, the tricks that you can use in everyday life, not necessarily with nutrition, but just in general, in life, healthy surroundings and stop, challenge, and choose. That's a huge topic for us, but the habits of health system is meant to really deal with those things that most diets are never going to deal with. We're going to give you the tools, the support. You can listen to them on YouTube. You can read it in a book. You can go to our private page, and you're going to always have somebody there giving you those tools. And then the fourth component is going to be the food component. So with the food component, you do eat our small, mini meal replacements every single day. As you said, it could be cookies and brownies. It could be cereal or chocolate chip pancakes, all of these wonderful things. Again, high protein, low calories, all your vitamins and minerals, all clean, no artificial flavors or colors or anything like that. They're really, really, really good. And they get updated every couple of years to improve the nutrition and the flavor profiles. So those are super simple. As I said, we start certainly early as we get up in the morning and we're eating every two to three hours throughout the day. That's going to be a must. There's very, very little amount of sugar, so your body's really detoxing of that sugar. When you get to that state, you're, as I said, your sleep is better, your inflammation is down, your energy level is like crazy. You have this overall euphoric feeling. And you're doing that all day, every day of the week. You don't change and you can eat chocolate chip pancakes. One time, you can have cinnamon crunches the next time. I can have chocolate pudding. I just got the ninja creamy, which I am so excited about because we can use our meal replacements in there and I can make ice cream for myself and it's just, it's amazing. But then one time a day, you have one main meal that you have to worry about. All the other food is going to come to your door. It's going to come to your door. You just get to pick, what do I want to have today? I want to have some mac and cheese right now. Oh, I want to have some cinnamon oatmeal right now. You can pick those throughout the day. It's easy, it's easy for staying home moms. It's busy, it's easy for doctors and lawyers and people that don't have time, people that are on the road all the time and teachers that are talking, talking, talking. It's so simple, you don't have to worry about it. If you're doing those other, if you're doing those professions normally, you don't have the time to have a quick meal or to create something that's going to be healthy for you. So this is easy, it's brainless. I love it. One time a day, you're going to make your one main meal that I'm going to teach you how to create your protein, your three servings of veggies, your healthy fats, your condiments, all of those things to create a really good overall meal. We've got hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of recipes. I also, which I do on, I have lives that I show people how to do harder recipes. I also have just started a series that's a more simple version of just eating a protein and vegetables, how you can create that in less than 10 minutes for you and your family. And then you're drinking your water, you're eating until you go to sleep at night, your metabolism is going all day long, you're feeling really good. So that's the nutrition part. Once you get to your goal, whatever that might be, is it a number on the scale? Is it how you look or feel? Is it just, you know, okay, I'm really confident when I look in in the mirror and I'm comfortable in my own skin, walking into a room now. And my cholesterol numbers are down and my diabetes has improved. Maybe I'm even off of my medications. I mean, I've seen it time and time and time again. But what happens is when you get to your goal, we then use what I've taught you in that lean and green meal. And it becomes simple. At the beginning, it seems difficult to try to figure out how to pair this and this and this. It's very, very easy, but you're gonna take that and we're gonna use that throughout the rest of your day. So now you're having three equal meals a day where you're having proteins and veggies and then you're having snacks throughout the day or you're gonna replace, you can replace our meal replacements with your own foods or you can continue to eat our, we call them fuelings. You can continue to eat our fuelings forever, which I do because they're amazing and I love them. So I still eat them every single day, along with my other meals. - Love it, awesome, okay. So, and we talked a little bit about how do you keep the weight off, right? So, what do you see even in yourself or in some of your clients, where are they falling short? You know, how hard is it to continue to maintain and how often do you see people come back? - A very good question. I've come back, I've come back many times, but I don't come back in that I've gained all my weight back. You know, I won't let myself go back there again. So if I see myself, you know, maybe I've been really good and I've been eating my three healthy meals and I'm eating my snacks and then all of a sudden I go on vacation and maybe I was a too many french fries that maybe I shouldn't have or a little too much pizza, whatever that might be. I get to come home and I can jump right back on program, reset my body, reset my mindset, reset my habits because that's what we're doing. By doing the same thing day in and day out, that doesn't mean you're eating the same thing every day, but you're eating the same, you know, the same kinds of fuelings every single day. You're making a leaning green every single day. By doing it every single day, your new use too is your new now. So we're creating habits. We're creating the mindset that I can eat and eat and eat and eat these wonderful delicious foods and I can be healthy and I can be happy. So by creating it in a way that it's a mindset that you are powerful, that you have the desire to be a healthy person moving forward is really the goal. So yes, I have clients that want to go to their alcohol, you know, they do it on the weekends. Well, I had some wine this weekend. Okay, look, I'm never going to judge you. You get to choose, right? You're an adult, you get to choose what you want to do. But we're going to have that same conversation. I'm going to always be honest and I'm always going to tell you how you are going to be the most successful. You get to choose whether you want to listen to what I'm telling you or not. And it's hard. I've had clients that have fallen off and got back on. It's fallen off. I'm talking 30 times that they have fallen off and gotten back on. And then that's 30th time it cuts. And they're like, oh, okay, this is it. I'm ready now. Maybe I thought I was ready, but now I'm really ready. And it works and you can see it and you can feel it and the energy is different. And you just know. And you know that this is going to be, you know, how they're going to go through life. And then maybe I've had clients for sure that have gained a lot of their weight back and said, you know what, I didn't do transition, right? Meaning I didn't go from my goal back to regular life. And I just kind of went from, you know, eating your fuelings and one meal a day to just eating, you know, six times a day, exactly. - Pizza and french fries, right? - That's not the goal. - Never gonna work. - I'm gonna teach them the next time we do this, we're gonna do transition properly. We're gonna add things back in slowly so that your body can adjust to that thing. You know, anything new is going to add to your body. If I just stopped one day and just said, okay, I'm gonna eat all this other stuff now. I'm gonna eat, you know, even if it's healthy stuff, it's a lot more stuff than my body's used to. - Right. - Used to. - I love it. - So this is so good. Okay, last question, then we're gonna move on. What, how are you able to help people who have given in to the shots, right? There's those Zen pick. I don't wanna call out certain ones, but just so people know what we're talking about. You see all the commercials on TV, just take this shot, you can lose weight, you can lose your type two diabetes. How is your program helpful to support people that are actually taking that action? - Great question. And not only are we helping people that are already on medication, but we actually partner with LifeMD, and we connect our clients if that's the way they wanna go. We connect our clients with a virtual doctor that can actually prescribe the medication for them. And we do that because we understand for some people that number one, you know, if you're obese, if you have diabetes, you need to be on, you should be on these medications. There's, I have no issues with that. I also understand the concept of food noise. I don't know if you know what food noise is, but it is a real thing. It is thinking about food all the time. I have food noise. I've been able to manage it, but some people can't. So what the GLP ones do is those semi-glutides, they turn off that food noise, right? So for a lot of people, they do that. And I think that's really important. On the other hand, whether you are doing it because you have diabetes or you have over 100 pounds to lose or because you just wanna lose 20 pounds, the issue is when you're on these medications, you're not hungry, right? You're not hungry. So I'm gonna have a half a bagel. I'm gonna have, you know, this bowl of cereal. I'm gonna have this, you know, whatever it is, I'm gonna have just half of it. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose weight, right? 'Cause I'm not eating very much. But you're also not fueling your body. You're not giving your body any nutrients. You're losing just as much muscle. If not more muscle, then you are fat. If you're not fueling your body properly. So what is so fantastic about our program is that because we have these small, many meal replacements that are 100 to 110 calories, all your protein, all your vitamins and minerals, you can eat our fuelings, have all these wonderful things that are small, they won't take up much room in your belly, but you're getting all the nutrients that you wouldn't otherwise not be getting. Because nobody's teaching you, except for some really good doctors. There are some, but for the most part, most doctors are just like, here, have it. And they're not teaching you anything, they're not giving you any education. So either you're gonna stay on that medication for the rest of your life and lose all the muscle and not, you know, not eat, you know, just eat a little bit. Or you're gonna go off the medication at some point and because you've not changed anything, you're gonna gain all of your weight back. So again, if you do both things at the same time, you've got all the nutrients and you're learning so that when you do get to where you wanna be, you can go off that medication and you now have the tools to keep healthy and move forward. - I love it. And I just wanna do this, I just wanna drop this little mic drop here to caution people. I was at my primary care physician's office and inquired about things that I could do to lose a little bit of weight. And the response was eat less and move more. And that was the worst thing, the worst thing response I could've ever got because it's exactly what you're saying. Okay, I'll just eat a half a bowl of cereal. That's eating less, but it's horrible food. Like we need the education, we need to understand, we need to know what kind of food. I mean, there's better eggs, there's better meat, there's better proteins. You can buy the inexpensive stuff or you can invest in the expensive stuff that has less hormones, doesn't have all these things that are poisoning our bodies. And so sometimes you have to go further than your family doctor and go find somebody who's done it, who's healthy and is here to tell about it and also help you walk that journey too. So Stacey, thank you so much. - You bet. Let's tell our listeners, where can they find you? Where's one best place they can find you right now? - The best thing to do is to find me on Facebook. I know my name is gonna be listed when you post this. My name is spelled a little strangely. It's S-T-A-Y-C-I, last name is Avery. So S-T-A-Y-C-I, Avery, you can follow me on Facebook. You can friend me on Facebook. I do lots and lots of lives, cooking lives, just information, informational lives. I just, I share a lot of my own things that work for me in my family, my activities. So it's very informative. I'm always out just trying to support, stay positive, give a lot of, you know, affirmations, which is I just wanna tell everybody that affirmations and positivity. I know it sounds crazy. It goes so far. If you wake up in the morning with a positive mindset, you're going to have a positive day most of the time. If you wake up with a negative mindset and go into it, oh, what was me? And blah, blah, blah, blah. That's the way your day is gonna go. And it's a hard concept, even if you don't believe in that concept, I would suggest that you try it, try to talk positively to yourself. You know what it feels like when someone smiles at you, just a simple smile, right? It changes you. So that's really important. So Facebook is gonna be your best avenue to reach me. And then I also have on there, you can get a, we have a health form that you can sell out for free. We do a free help assessment with you. So you can find all of that on my Facebook page as well. - Awesome. And all the links to all the other places where Stacey is hanging out are in the show notes. So as you're listening, just click the show notes and hit the link and go find Stacey so you can get some help on your journey to a healthier life. - You have moved from fighting cancer to discovering how to live beyond it. But what now? With so many emotional side effects still unknown, as a new survivor, you find yourself in a void as you navigate through the isolation, fear, and an uncertain future that can overshadow you and your family for years to come. Instead of focusing on the uncertainty of cancer, consider how strong and determined you are and think of the strength demonstrated by those who stood beside you through it all. Consider this. You now get to choose who you want to be and what your intentional, fulfilled life can look like. You made it through treatment. We can help you define yourself as a survivor. We're here to help you through this moment, to walk beside you as you shift your mindset from counting the days of life to creating a legacy. For more information, visit www.adventuretherapyfoundation.org or contact us at info@adventurefound.org. - Stacey, this has been so great. You know, on She's Invincible, we promise our listeners that we're going to bring them fierce entrepreneurs, that we're going to share their expert zone of genius, which you have done so well today. Thank you, thank you, thank you. For, I mean, I took you all over the place. I had a list. I'm like, this is the benefit of being the interviewer. I get to ask all the questions that I'm curious about and what I think my listeners want to know. So thank you for sticking with me and giving all of that great information. But we're not done because we also promise our listeners that while we're spotlighting these fierce entrepreneurs, we're also going to pull back the curtain. We're going to share authentically the good, the bad and the ugly part of the journey because anybody who sees you, who sees your picture and listens to you speak so confidently, they think, oh, she's so lucky. Look at her, she's not fluffy anymore. She's healthy, she's confident and she's helping these people. And they have no idea the price you paid for the life you live today. So are you ready to tell a few stories to help these people? Here we go. Let's go girl. My favorite thing is the good. Tell us a quick story about the good or the greatest part of your journey so far. So obviously one of the best parts of my journey was getting myself healthy finally, right? After 50 years, I finally said, okay, I'm going to get myself healthy. I was able to get me healthy first, me mindset, me body, like everything is just, that completely changed me. I am a completely different person than I was four and a half years ago. I was not up to all those wonderful things that I am now. I have a very positive mindset. I have a very, I want to help you mindset because I needed the help and I appreciate the fact that I got it and I want to be there to help people. I'll help people in the supermarket, all people like wherever somebody's looking for something, I, you know, oh, boy, my kids think I'm crazy. Like, why are you telling him that? I'm like, well, I don't know, he needed that information. I had the information in my brain. Why did that? Why not share? But I want to share with you, I have. I have lots and lots and lots and lots of clients. But every Monday morning, as I said, I wake up and I get messages from my clients. So, you know, most people think, oh, well, you just, all you care about is how much weight your clients have lost. No, that is not what I care about. I'm the very first question that I ask people are, what did you gain this week? Or what non-scale victories did you have this week? So I have a client, she's about 76 pounds down at this point. But I wanted to read you two of her texts to me, if you don't mind. - I love it. Yeah, a little bit. - So the first one is, good morning, lots of non-scale victories for me. I sat in the Philly Stadium seats and had room to spare, gone down another size in pants, can now comfortably wear my daughter's skinny jeans, been told by my mom that I don't need to lose any more weight. She has been in her own subtle way telling me since I was in sixth grade that I weighed too much. I ran into a mom of one of my kids' friends and hadn't seen her in years and she didn't even recognize me. That's one text. This is her again, she gives me her weight, how much she lost that week. I'm amazed at what I'm achieving. I'm feeling so much better and confident. I love my new job, love the fact that I can go into any store and purchase clothes and I'm not limited to a certain department. I love that I comfortably, if there is such a thing, fit into stadium seats, love that I no longer worry if I can go to an amusement park and ride with my children and not squash them in the seat. I don't know if you can feel the pride and the excitement and the change. This woman literally quit her job a few weeks back because she finally felt confident in herself. She didn't feel that, she didn't feel she was worthy. She didn't feel that she could do something that she wanted to do and she quit her job and she got a new job in it in something that she really, really was passionate about and wanted to do because she felt so good now and she had the tools and that to me is the good. That is why I do what I do. What a beautiful transformation. And I think just listening to that, these are not things we always think about, right? And people that are not overweight don't think about whether the roller coaster arm is gonna shut down on them or if they're gonna not be able to take the ride and be embarrassed getting off, like, these are things. I remember someone who had to get an extender on her seat belt on the airplane and she got excited because she didn't have to do that anymore. Like we don't think of those things unless they are our own everyday normal, like theirs. I don't think it. When I sit on an airplane, I still think it. I'm like, oh, okay, I'm good. I got extra room, right? Yeah. I love that. Okay, so tell us a story about the bad. Well, let's save the ugly for last, but tell us a story about the bad part. All right, so I had mentioned earlier that we have the habits of health system that teaches us and gives us tools on how to make better choices and all those wonderful things that come along with this. And one of those things is healthy surroundings. And we don't realize it, but I'm not just talking about having junk food in your cabinet, but it could be where we spend our time. Are we spending our time at a bar where we maybe shouldn't be spending our time so much? Maybe we can be on the dance floor as opposed to over by the bar. Or maybe it's the people that you surround yourself with. And that's really where my, unfortunately, my bad came in. And yes, it's mostly bad, but it's made me healthier. So, unfortunately, I had to make decisions early on in my journey that I had to take some people out of my life. And there were also people on my journey. I post a lot on Facebook because I shared my journey from day one, and we're talking four years later. And I'm still sharing every day. So there are people that didn't want to friend me, didn't want to be my friend on Facebook anymore, didn't want to be my friend in real life anymore. There were people that were thought I was twofold myself or that were jealous that I was making these healthy choices. And maybe they didn't need to lose weight, but maybe they didn't appreciate that I was making myself happy and they weren't happy. So I did have to make the hard decisions, which has a snowball effect to take some people out of my life. And that has made my life a lot more difficult in many, many ways and it hurts me a lot. But I needed to be healthy. And in order to do that, sometimes you have to do some things that you otherwise would have never even a million years thought to do. So it's unfortunate. - I say this all the time. You have to let go of the good so you can have the great. And sometimes people need us to play a certain role and when we change, they can't handle it. And I just, I love what you're saying here because it happens no matter what your business is, no matter who the people are, they could be friends, they could be neighbors, they could be relatives, they could be your spouse. Like not everyone is going to be on board when you make a decision to live a different life because that makes them insecure because they needed you to be who you were. That's who they were comfortable with. And I love that you call this out. I think everyone goes through it. I think women especially go through it. - Of course. - And I think this is the price sometimes of a better life. It's a price of success and you have to decide, am I going to stay back there and be that little me or am I going to step into that big me? And I love your courage. I love your confidence. I know it doesn't come overnight. - No. - Like you have to trust the process that you are growing and as you're growing and you're transforming, you will become stronger and you'll be able to make those harder decisions and you will be better for it. And so thank you for sharing that. That is not easy, but it is so authentic. - It's real. - All right, let's go. Like if that's not bad enough, let's go to ugly. Tell us a quick story about the ugly part of the journey. - Ugly, ugly, ugly. So those that know me and my husband know that we have not had it easy. We have a fantastic relationship. I have two incredible daughters. I have cherished every moment of my almost 30 years of marriage and my girls. But monetarily, things have been pretty bad for most of our married life. And to watch my husband struggle to trying to find himself and trying to find a career in a past. And then I started in advertising and once I had children, I took jobs that didn't pay me as much. So monetarily, we were in a pretty bad way, right? And so I felt badly about myself. I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. We didn't have any money. We were in a lot, a lot, a lot of debt. We had to do a short sale on our home. We had to move to a townhouse that we had planned on being in for two years. And 10 years later, we were still in that home. We finally got to a point where I was doing this, right? I started to lose weight and I started to feel good about myself and I was helping others. And I started to make some money doing this. And my husband also, he found his passion. He has a driving school, he's amazing at it. And then COVID hit, okay? My career was okay 'cause I could do this over Zoom and on the telephone. My husband finally found his passion, his career, his everything and COVID hit. And COVID shut down his driving school. And this was at a time when we didn't have any money. We're trying to pay the bills. And now all of a sudden we finally have this up and then, right, a crash. And he found himself one day. We lived across the street from a synagogue and we didn't belong to that synagogue, but it was right across the street. And he went over there just trying to figure out what to do, what's our next step? And I mean, I didn't know how we were gonna pay the rent. I really didn't. I didn't know what we were going to do. And he sat on a bench and he told me about it when he came home and he talked to God. And we're not crazy religious people. It's not, you know, it's just not something that we do, with nothing wrong with it, obviously. But he had a coming to God moment and he spoke to God and he got his frustrations out. And it was a really, really, really hard time in our lives. But just as most things that I've been through, you know, we come out on the other side, better people because of those obstacles that we have, because I'm gonna start crying, so I'm hoping not to, because we're such strong, passionate people that we want the best for ourselves. We want the best for our daughters. We want to, you know, show them that we don't give up, that, you know, we're gonna keep going until, you know, until we can just go on and do more, right? I mean, we're never stopping. So though it was a really, really hard time in our lives. And, you know, I hated to see his, you know, his passions be cut short like that really quickly. You know, he figured it out. He pivoted during COVID. He figured out how to, you know, to get some money in the door so we can pay the rent. And he was able to restart his business when he was allowed to. And we have since, since he got back into his business and has built a really great driving school, since I have built this business, I have not only gotten myself healthy, we have together gotten ourselves out of all that debt. We have built lives for ourselves. We were able to move into a beautiful single home and buy a home for ourselves with a yard for my two dogs. And, you know, my girls are fantastic and my girls have learned from all of these trials and tribulations that you don't give up, that you hard work, nothing comes easy. Whether it's weight loss, whether it's paying the bills or whatever it is that nothing is easy and you have to work for what you want. And there is no other way. And you do it with a smile and you do it with passion and you do it with authenticity. And you do it because you're a good human and that you want to be happy in your own body and in your own lives and be able to give that to other people as well. Oh my gosh, that's like total mic drop. And, you know, you know, I know, it's like boom. And the worst part about it is, or the best news is that if you hadn't endured all of those things, you would not be where you are. You would not be who you are. And you certainly wouldn't be ready to go where you're headed. So, oh my gosh, Stacey Avery, thank you so much for being here. - Thank you for being so authentic, for sharing your heart and these hard experiences with people. There are people all over the world that need to hear in your story, that need hope. And they need something to hold on to and to believe in right now because their world could be crumbling too. - Absolutely. - And I thank you so much for being here and for being invincible and being here to tell the story about it. - Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. It was really, it's always cathartic, when you get to share this kind of way and share with other people and how people understand that they're not alone and that we're all here to help each other. So, I just thank you so much for letting me share today. - Oh my gosh, thank you. Thank you for this gift of the encouragement to these other listeners out here that are just holding on. You guys, I don't know where you are in your life or your business, but if you're face down on the ground right now, get back up. I know it feels like you can do it, but we've done it and we're here to tell you, you can do it, you can do anything. You are invincible. Just get back up, yep. - Move forward, baby steps. - Thank you for joining us today. If you were inspired or learned something new, please follow the show. Submit a rating and review and share us with your friends. If you would like to chat to see if you can attract your ideal client and monetize your business through podcasting, please book a free call with me at cammyleman.com. I can't wait to meet you. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (gentle music)
