In this short interview I chat with Thrive Method alumni DeAnn about her experience in the program. You can read the transcript below or watch the video above.

 

Tessa:

Thank you so much for joining me, Diane. I’m very, very grateful to get to chat with any of the ladies that do the Thrive method and are willing to sit down with me and talk about their experience with the program and share their experience with others. So I really appreciate it.

 

DeAnn

You’re very welcome, Tess. It’s been a great journey.

 

Tessa:

I’m very happy to hear that.

 

Tessa:

So tell me, where were you at with your health before you started the Thrive Method?

 

DeAnn

Oh, my goodness. For me, I was at my absolute wits end. I was punishing myself daily with exercise. I was under eating. I was putting on weight, and I pretty much had thought that there was no possible way for me to become healthy again. My gut was just atrocious. I was having to run to the bathroom three, four times a day. And I just thought that’s middle age and that’s who I am now. So yeah, that’s pretty much me in a nutshell. So it was pretty bad, to say the least.

 

Tessa:

Yeah. So you’re not my typical client necessarily because you don’t actually have Hashimoto’s. You’ve had complete thyroid removal. Correct. Still on the thyroid medication and obviously with complications of that. But yeah, you are a bit different from the types of ladies that I usually work with. But I tell you what, the same kinds of things that you were saying to me when we first had a chat is exactly what I hear from them, too. And I can’t tell you how common it is for my clients to stop eating as much to try and restrict calories and to try and manage the weight gain. And they start exercising more and they get very tired. It exacerbates everything that they’re experiencing in an already very stressed out system.

 

DeAnn

Yeah, that was me.

 

Tessa:

So what tangible improvements have you had to your health now after four months on the Thrive method?

 

DeAnn

Oh, goodness me. So everything for me has changed drastically. Well, first and foremost, I’d probably say the effortless weight loss that has occurred without even trying. The food for me, as I did mention, I had been previously under eating. So knowing that I can actually, and I am eating more than I was previously, and I was losing weight has just given me such confidence to know how to navigate my food and what works for me. I’m not running to the bathroom anymore, which is fantastic. I’d suggest my overall complexion has changed. I feel like I’m probably a lot more glowier. What else? I definitely drink more water than I used to.

 

Tessa:

Well, you told me in your first appointment that when you wake up in the morning, you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck. And I actually put that in quotes, I quoted you, which I often do with my clients, because I like to remind them where they’ve been and how far they’ve come. So how’s that inflammation and pain going?

 

DeAnn

I had forgotten about that. That was another thing, yes. I had the belief that that was middle age, and I was now just due to live with pain for the rest of my life. And I thought me, who had worked previously in hospitality and always been quite unkind to my body, that that was just natural. And that was my hospitality body. I don’t have that inflammation and that joint pain. I do if I have a cheeky couple of beers on the weekend, but then it goes away. But look, to be honest with you, I don’t experience anything that I was doing four months ago, and I feel like a completely different person.

 

Tessa:

That’s wonderful. One of the other goals you had was confidence with food and long term plan. What am I going to eat for disease prevention and to feel good for the rest of my life? How’s food going to play a part in my journey? Do you feel like that is something that has been met?

 

DeAnn

Absolutely 100 %. So I feel so confident knowing exactly what works for me, what works for my body. In fact, today actually, and yesterday I mentioned to a couple of my work colleagues at different sites that I’m so happy knowing that I can have my gigantic sandwich that I’m having every day for lunch, and I know that it’s perfect for me, and I know that I’m able to maintain my weight now. And I think that’s a big one for me. My goal was to lose the 13 kilos, and I think I roughly got around about 11, which I’m really happy about. I thought that was absolutely impossible. And to know that my breakfast, lunch, dinner, furthermore, moving forward, I’m confident that I’ll forever be able to maintain this. And I know it works for me. And I think that’s the biggest outcome from this.

 

Tessa:

Yeah, it’s great, isn’t it? And you’re in Darlene. It’s phenomenal. And you’re in Bollywood recently. And how did you go eating the way that you’ve learned through the program in Bollywood?

 

DeAnn

It was effortless. So I was quite stressed going into the holiday thinking that historically, I’d always gone on holidays and put on a couple of kilos, if not five kilos. And I was worried that I was going to have the exact same thing again. And once again, coming back to the food, I knew exactly what worked for me. And I stuck to that. And there was a buffet, but I stuck to what I could eat. And I didn’t deny myself if I wanted a little bit of sushi or a little bit of the duck or something. Actually, I can have duck, so I didn’t really. But there was cheap foods that I would call cheap foods, and I still allowed myself to have one of those here or there. But in fact, I actually ended up coming back from barley lighter than what I went away. That’s amazing. Quite novel.

 

Tessa:

Yeah, that’s amazing. I remember that happening to me the first time I went away after doing MB and I had some chocolate and wine and I was like, What is this? I went out and had pizza, Gluton Free Pizza for me. But what the heck? What is going on here? This is not normal.

 

DeAnn

I know it’s so true. And I think that’s the thing that keeps continually surprising me is that I can still go out and enjoy those sporadic meals with my family. And it’s not like I’m on this restricted diet and I can’t enjoy the good times. I still can. And I can still enjoy life with everybody. But I still, at the end of the day, know what works for me personally. And for that, I will be forever grateful, T ess.

 

Tessa:

That’s wonderful. I’m so happy to hear. How would you describe the Thrive method to your best friend?

 

DeAnn

Well, actually, I didn’t describe the Thrive method to my best friend because I think a lot of us women, I’m 44 this year, we’ve struggled over the years with our weight. And as I said to her, it is that it’s not a diet, it’s a way of life. And it’s a way that you know that you can successfully set yourself up for the rest of your life. And you don’t have to do those yo yo diets. It’s going to make sure that any inflammation that you’ve got in your body is actually going to decrease. It’s a holistic approach to your whole body, not just your diet. It’s a way of being. And I think, well, I know immediately she was very intrigued. I’ve actually even recommended it to a couple of my staff. One of my staff has already taken up and she’s also already seeing improvements in her overall health as well. And I think for those two women in particular, they’ve had a lot of digestive issues where they haven’t been able to go to the bathroom, whereas I was quite the opposite. But I did say to them, this is that approach that you will be able to set yourself up for success, and you’ll know long term that you’re actually going to be okay, which I think is a big thing for us women.

 

Tessa:

Yeah, it’s nice to hear that someone that we know and trust has done something, and it’s worked for them.

 

DeAnn

It’s reassuring. Yeah, absolutely. It is, isn’t it?

 

Tessa:

It is it’s a whole foods program that teaches you antiinflammatory eating. It teaches you about common sense things like meal timing, hydration, really good bio available proteins and all these things. And it makes a huge difference to a very broad range of different areas in your health, including gut and digestion, which, as you know, is one of my favourite areas to work on and something that I do a lot in the Thrive method because it’s super, super important. That’s great. Thank you. Are there any surprising or unexpected benefits you found through doing the Thrive method?

 

DeAnn

Look, first and foremost for me, it was that dramatic weight loss that was effortless. For me, Tess, I have struggled with my weight, I would suggest for probably my whole life, and it was effortless. The food was everything that I would normally eat anyway, but just the way that I was going about it and navigating it. That was the biggest eye opener, I think.

 

If you want to chat about whether The Thrive Method is right for you, make a booking for a free health chat with me here.