Rita Black: Jodie is a successful transformation coach who helps people who are stuck in areas of finance, relationships, and health. Over the years, her weight snuck up, and it wasn't until a doctor said something that she had her own personal realization that maybe she was stuck with her weight. So join me for part two of our exploration about the powerful decisions that Weight Masters make on the road to mastery, where we explore Jodie's powerful decision to create her own transformation in the area of weight and fitness. Jodie not only released 30 pounds, but completely changed her body through weightlifting and exercise and making healthy choices aligned with her vision of where she wanted to be in her life. So you are gonna love Jodie's keen insights into this very internal journey. So take a moment to make your own transformation and come on in.

Rita Black: Did you know that our struggle with weight doesn't start with the food on your plate or get fixed in the gym? 80% of our weight struggle is mental. That's right. The key to unlocking long-term weight release and management begins in your mind. Hi there, I'm Rita Black. I'm a clinical hypnotherapist weight loss expert, bestselling author, and the creator of the Shift Weight Mastery Process. And not only have I helped thousands of people over the past 20 years achieve long-term weight mastery. I am also a former weight struggler, carb addict and binge eater. And after two decades of failed diets and fad weight loss programs, I lost 40 pounds with the help of hypnosis. Not only did I release all that weight, I have kept it off for 25 years. Enter the Thin Thinking Podcast where you too will learn how to remove the mental roadblocks that keep you struggling. I'll give you the thin thinking tools, skills and insights to help you develop the mindset you need, not only to achieve your ideal weight, but to stay there long term and live your best life.

Rita Black: Hello! Hello. Hello everybody. Oh, I hope you're having a great spring. It is so nice here in the middle of April. I mean, my gosh, the roses are blooming. The scent in the air is unbelievable. A couple of weeks ago I gave my son some flowers, some jasmine, which is now kind of petering out unfortunately. But my son, literally, we were taking him back to college. He came home for the weekend and I clip him. Every time he comes, I try to cut him some flowers from our garden 'cause he loves our garden so much and it just is like a little piece of home for him. And so I clipped some jasmine, which was in full bloom at that time, and it literally filled the car with the scent. And he was literally had his nose planted in the jasmine the entire way down.

Rita Black: And he has this teeny tiny little dorm room. And he said the jasmine just completely filled the dorm room with the scent of Jasmine. So that was pretty cool. So I love this time of year. I love the smells in the air and they're connected to all these, you know, how smells just really evoke powerful memories. And I was pregnant with my daughter and her birthday just came and went. And I remember being so pregnant with her, my first baby, walking around our neighborhood, the same neighborhood I had lived into today, and just smelling this particular smell. And every year I smell that smell, I think of walking around nine months pregnant, over pregnant because she was late and just wishing she would come. But just being also so grateful for, you know, everything. So it's a wonderful smell. I love that smell.

Rita Black: You know, sometimes there's joy in life and sometimes there's pain and we have to get in pain sometimes to make powerful decisions in life. Pain can wake us up out of our trance as life as we know it just, you know, how we get in that trance of life. And so, even though we want to change, that trance is so hypnotic, it keeps us in the same behaviors, even though, and in the same amount of pain. But we're just so used to it. It seems harder to get out of it than to stay with it. But every once in a while we get in so much pain or something happens that yanks us and kind of wakes us up where we're actually able to make change. You know, the pain pushes until the vision pulls, right? Heard me say that probably, I don't know, a million times. Well, not a million times, but you know a lot. So one super easy pain-free and easy decision you can make is to come to my free upcoming live masterclass. These are last days folks 'cause it's literally you know, almost full. All of them. There's four masterclasses that are live that I am teaching. I usually only teach two and I decide to teach four. 'cause people get locked out of these.

Rita Black: And we're gonna be exploring not only the subconscious roadblocks that keep us struggling, doing a great hypnosis for weight release that you're gonna love, but we're also going to get your mind primed and ready to expand to a more clear and powerful vision of the you at your ideal weight. Something that you can expand into out of that trance and into that next level. You know, sometimes we can only get so far with weight release, not because it's our fault, but it's, you know, our mind has only gone so far. And sometimes you need to reach deep to expand around a bigger vision, reach around the fear, reach around the resistance to get to that next place. We're gonna look at that. So I want you to join me. 'cause I love exploring it with you all and my beautiful Thin Thinking audience.

Rita Black: I want you there. So go to the show notes and sign up. And like I said, now I sound like I'm in a trance 'cause I keep repeating myself like the link is in the show notes. Okay? Now, enough of that, you know what to do.

Rita Black: Jodie. I wanna bring my Jodie on because you are gonna love her. And this conversation we had, she really digs deep and we're looking at, you know, that transformation from the inside out. When is that moment that you really make that decision to change? And she just kind of articulates that moment for us so clearly in her life. And it all came down to a very insensitive doctor, which we can all probably relate to insensitive doctors. So I think you'll get a kick out of it too. And she reveals some insights into her decision to transform her weight and her body and her life.

Rita Black: So I know you're gonna love it. So welcome me in welcoming the amazing Jodie Transformation coach. Welcome Jodie. It's fantastic to have you on the Thin Thinking Podcast. I'm looking at your poster or not your poster, but what do you call that behind you, where you talk about your transformational coach work, unleash your best self, which seems to be a theme of the topic. Is that a poster or what is that?

Jodie Thalheimer: It's just a wall deco.

Rita Black: It's very cool. I love the design.

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah!

Rita Black: I wish people could see it. It's just this very cool I'd say it looks like a flower, but it's not. It reminds me of those things in the seventies that you would draw with that I forget the name of it. I'm getting off on a tangent already. It's great to have you. I've been wanting to have you on this show for a while. You've been a very powerful force of uplifting a lot of people in our group and with your story as your transformational story.

Rita Black: So tell us a little bit about you. You live in British Columbia, we were just talking about your crazy skiing that you're doing. That sounds amazing.

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah, I'm really lucky where I live, there's really easy access to the outdoors and four really distinct seasons. So we get a beautiful winter with lots of snow and all the way to a 40 degree, although that's Canadian speak, but really hot summers. And it's, it's great. I love where we live, so it's easy for me to get out there and do some fun stuff.

Rita Black: Is it hot and humid or is it hot and dry in the summertime?

Jodie Thalheimer: It's more on the dry side. Hot and dry. Yeah.

Rita Black: Okay. Yeah, I love that. That's, that sounds fantastic. And I know you didn't always live in British Columbia, you lived in Edmonton. Is that where the story of your weight story began? Like your struggle with weight was in Edmonton or when did you start struggling with weight?

Jodie Thalheimer: So, no, that was when I was in Edmonton. That was early teen years and sort of where my story meets yours, where I was struggling with weight prior to finding the shift was, oh, that was just such a different chapter than back in the Edmonton days. So I'll fast forward way ahead to right before, probably about two years before I found the shift is when I had found, I had gotten, I didn't realize it at the time, but I had gotten stuck into that sort of slow slide into just getting old. And, you know, that was actually something that I, I had gone for a follow-up appointment to, to my doctor and I had it on my mind. I thought, I'm gonna tell him that I'm not comfortable with how I just keep on putting on weight. And so I did bring that up and he said, he just looked at my chart and looked up at me and said, well, you're getting old. As if that was like a, just something that I should expect as a normal thing. And it just made me so angry I didn't say anything to him, but I just left that office and I thought, no, I am not just getting old. That is not happening.

Rita Black: Do you mind sharing with us what your age was at the time?

Jodie Thalheimer: Yes. I would like to share that. I think I was probably 45.

Rita Black: What! You're just a child. What are you talking about?

Jodie Thalheimer: Thank you.

Rita Black: I know, but 45 is a big year for women and it's a trans, it definitely, I see it and maybe you can see it as somebody who works with people in the area of transformation. I see the forties are a huge opportunity that the door is opening. I think a lot of people come to the shift and they're going through post menopause or menopause or pre menopause. And I think that kind of batters us a little bit like that word and the whole idea of it. And I don't know, what do you think about that? 'cause you do work with a lot of people.

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah, I think you're right. I think that 45 is a bit of a pivotal time. Of course it is a range. And not everybody hits it right at 45, of course. But that mid forties type of age where, you know, I had never heard a doctor say that to me before. So like, I felt like how I had and he was a lot younger than me. Like he would've been maybe early, early thirties, maybe not even 30. So I did look old to him, I guess. And anyways, I've realized, wow, I'm on this like different end of the spectrum. Like I used to be that age and now I'm, I look old to adults.

Rita Black: Yeah. I know I, I'll just quickly say I remember my practice 'cause I began my practice in my thirties and you know, I'll be 60 this year. And I remember at one point, you know, I would say, well, you know, and I am, you know, x number of years old, it'd be like 47 years old or something, you know, and people would used to say, you look so young, you look so good. Then people stopped saying that.

Jodie Thalheimer: Well I don't even believe you, you still look really, really good.

Rita Black: Oh, well thank you. I have the help of the zoom filter on, but I, but you know what I mean, it's just like, and then, and I cared. And then at a certain point, the great thing about even getting older is he is talking just don't care anymore. You're like, well, whatever you think, I don't care. I think I'm fabulous. So just, you know, have fun. But that is that I could understand how your doctor saying something so flippantly and, you know, being a young 30-year-old guy me off.

Jodie Thalheimer: But you know what I am, I am grateful because it really did sort of like snap me into, no, no, no, I'm doing something about this. Like, I definitely didn't believe him that this was just the end of the road.

Rita Black: Right? Oh, absolutely. Anger is a great motivator. So so what happened after that? So what, what kind of clicked in your mind and what, what path did you start to go down?

Jodie Thalheimer: So this is a little bit to understand sort of how my mind works, is to understand a bit about what I do for, for work. So I am a transformation coach and I help people make transformations in whatever area of their life they feel that they're stuck in. And so it can, I always say that, that the three main topics would be relationships. So they're stuck in some type of relationship, interpersonal relationship between them and anyone. Or if they're really sort of self-aware, they'll recognize their relationship with themself is the problem. Or they're having wealth issues, they'd like to make more money. That's pretty common. You may maybe have heard of some people would like to make more money.

Rita Black: No, I don't live in that world.

Jodie Thalheimer: Well, believe it or not. And then the category is health. So if they've got any issue they'd like to feel better essentially, whether that's mental or physical. So the predominant factor is that they have identified that they're stuck and they're kind of feeling like they're on repeat. And so I help them with transformation. And primarily the way I do that is by helping them learn how to integrate trapped emotional energies that they're hanging onto so that they can stop focusing on where they're seeing the issue in their life. Like usually people have pinpointed, I just have to change now this will be your language or much more in your wheelhouse. I just have to change my diet or I just have to change my exercise regimen and then my health will improve. And while that's not been true I understand, and this is where our world started to connect, is that I really believe and understand that emotional charges and a lot of invisible factors are what actually control the behaviors that we do.

Jodie Thalheimer: So in my own world, I had identified with the help of this young doctor that I was stuck. I kind of realized I'm not even stuck in my health journey. I'm sliding downhill. And I was not okay with that. And that it went through that sort of oh no, I'm gonna be exposed as a fraud 'cause I help people transform and I'm not transforming. So I had a miniature panic, panic attack. But in the work that I do, I pay attention to, you know, ask for what you want. So I knew that I wanted to improve my health specifically around my weight, and I just knew that. And so I'm, I already had a meditative practice and I was able to sit with the feelings and such of it. And then at some point I was scrolling Facebook and your ad came onto my feed. And sometimes in life it's so obvious to me what the next step is. It's like it just lights up. And I clicked on your ad, I listen, I can't even tell you anymore what your next step is or like what I would've been exposed.

Rita Black: It was probably a class you probably came to a class or something. Masterclass.

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah. Something like that. And it was just so, like I said, sometimes things just sort of light up and I start, when I start to follow that thread, it just, it just goes ding, ding, ding, ding. That's what it feels like. And it felt that way.

Rita Black: Yes.

Jodie Thalheimer: And so I think this might be one of your next questions, but the thing that really, really dinged for me is that you have the hypnosis piece.

Rita Black: Right.

Jodie Thalheimer: To me, I was hearing this woman specifically goes after the unintegrated ideas, beliefs, charges. And so I was like, yeah, that's what I need. It's complimentary to what I do and I'm in.

Rita Black: So I guess my one question I sometimes ask people, which I doubt you're, I should even ask you, but I will, is that, so you had no fear or no thought of like, hypnosis as wackadoodle or scary or you know, 'cause it, to some people it may seem like a voodoo, somebody emailed me it was just like a very odd oh, I don't know. It was just like black. They said, you know, that's black magic. And I was like, well, that's a different interpretation of it, but it's you know, it gets a lot of bad rap. So you didn't, obviously the kind of work you're in, you're tapped in, tuned into different modalities.

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah. There was no apprehension for, in fact, that was the, that was the piece that I was most excited about. Counting calories sounded like black magic to me at first. Definitely more of that. But yeah, no, I, I I was all, again, I really moved in my life by feel and nothing about anything that I had witnessed in your sales videos or your workshops or anything like that. There was just no red flags going off for me. No. Sort of like, this woman is here to take advantage of me. Like no red flags of any kind. And I, I've learned and know how to follow that. So yeah. Zero apprehension.

Rita Black: That's so cool. That's so cool. So, so you, so you engaged in the program and how, you know as, because you've gone on such a transformational journey with your weight, like walk us through that and walk us through not just the program, but your journey through that with you, you know, your relationship with yourself through that. Did you have a big inner critic and rebel with all your, I mean, 'cause you seem very in tune with yourself.

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah. You know, off all the time on my own journey, whether it's with weight loss or, you know, I have the same three categories as everyone else. So whether I'm trying to adjust something with my three teenagers and inside of our relationships, or whether I'm thinking, okay, I could use more money this month, let's crack some numbers and shovel some things around whatever I'm doing. The sort of dish I'm for to eat the most often is one of being humble and letting go of having to do it all myself and sort of knowing it all. And the same was very true when I just really jumped in with both feet. YUSA told me to do the, you know, we do the first part for 30 days and I was like, I think it took me three days of kind of ripping through the pre-step.

Jodie Thalheimer: And then I just started 30 days later. I was, I had listened to every single, like I hadn't missed a day and it just went off like clockwork. And I, but I did get served an awareness of like a level of arrogance. 'cause I came into it thinking this is gonna be so easy. Like, I'm just gonna, I'm already know it all. And to answer your question more directly, I was really floored by how loud my inner critic was and Rita, how knowledgeable you are specifically in those voices and what they sound like. And I just kept thinking this woman has listened to thousands and thousands and been able to put them into these recordings. It's brilliant. Your product is brilliant. I just can't say enough about it.

Rita Black: Oh, you're so sweet. Well, thank you. Tell me about your teenagers. How old are they?

Jodie Thalheimer: Well, technically one is 20. So she is not a teenager anymore at the -

Rita Black: I understand. I have a 21, 22 going on 22. Yeah. And they, I still see her as a teenager. But yeah, go on.

Jodie Thalheimer: No, I wonder how long that happened, but probably for another 30 years or so. 20-Year-Old daughter, and then my first son turns 18 tomorrow and my baby is 16.

Rita Black: Oh, wow. So this is interesting to me with your journey to weight mastery because a lot of people do have children at home and they're interweaving their meals and self-care with taking care of kids and managing a household and all of that. Like, how did you find that changed and transformed? And, I mean, was there a challenge before you started the shift with meals and eating and all that with the kids or not so much? So I'm just asking on the behalf of other moms who are raising teenagers.

Jodie Thalheimer: I, so the short answer is I found it quite simple because as much like I really expected not to like the tracking tool. And then I, you know, because of the work I do, I recognized, I had no idea. And, and with the service of the voices that you would offer me clarity around, I realized when, when I heard, oh, we're tracking our meals, I didn't take into account that I would have been a, I didn't know at that point unless I tried tracking. I didn't, there was no way for me to know if I liked tracking or not. Even though I had tried tracking three years prior and I hated it. Like I became obsessed with food, et cetera, et cetera. So when I heard you say tracking, of course my mind instantly reminded me, no, remember you hate tracking and at first I listened to that and then I was like, wait, I'm a transformation coach. There's no way I'm the same person I was three years ago. And maybe I do still hate tracking, but unless, unless I try, I'm not gonna know. And then I'd be giving the power to this like gremlin voice that is telling me, don't bother with that. You already know you'll fail. So this time I sort of had, okay, so how this relates to the kids. At first I ignored the family and I just said to them, I'm doing something different. Find your own meals, which I'm -

Rita Black: . That's, I love that.

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah. So I knew it wasn't gonna be forever and they can all fend for, for themselves for the time being. So I got myself under control and realized how much I actually really, genuinely love a plate full of veggies with some protein on it. Like, that is not a sacrifice to me, that is just the most delicious thing. So cutting out carbs and bread or pasta and bread and rice and all of that stuff. It's not, I don't mind. Like, I really just don't mind at all. Yeah. And so it became obvious to me that I could make my salad with protein and then just boil a pot of rice or boil a pot of pasta. And that's how I would accommodate. 'cause you know, I was eating 1200 calories and the teenage boys, I don't, is there a limit to how many calories that you will eat?

Rita Black: Oh my gosh. I don't know. They are a bottomless pit.

Jodie Thalheimer: They are a bottomless pit. So it was a huge range to accommodate. And I found, oh, this is easy. Just throw some past on the plate, just throw some rice on it

Rita Black: Right, right. And I know you could eat pasta. It's not like the shift one isn't a diet. You can eat whatever you need within your body's energy needs. But I think what was different about tracking this time for you, since you were like so against it, which most people are because they do bring with them that old, their old idea, like that sort of diet or PTSD that we have about restriction and deprivation and food obsession that is associated with tracking. But we're using this from a more cognitively correct standpoint with the mind. But like what was your experience? Like, why did you find that you enjoyed it this time?

Jodie Thalheimer: It's hard, honestly. I, the, I would say that it's because of the hypnotic meditations that accompany that. And it's really hard to directly link how that made tracking enjoyable. But it, it didn't just make tracking enjoyable. I also loved working out like at a different level. It was, and I really feel like, Rita, what happens is when you come at a change in your life at the foundational level, which is what is the, what's going on inside of you? What holding you back from just letting something like writing down, like when you think about tracking, what are we even objecting to, especially with our phones doing all the work. Like if you were making me write it on a piece of paper with a track sheet and having to like, forget it, that to me would be doing taxes the old way. Like, we're just not doing it.

Jodie Thalheimer: So when you kind of think of the logic behind objecting to tracking there, I couldn't really find any. It was like, what would I, why not? So when I then, once I got about a week or a week and a half or two weeks of consistent tracking, now you have numbers to play with. And that's when it got fun. Like actually fun. And so it was like, do I want pasta? Well, you'd weigh a bit of it. And it was like, well that's really expensive calorically, and I would way rather have this big bowl of broccoli.

Rita Black: Right.

Jodie Thalheimer: So everything became like, and I, I know that sometimes this is why people don't like it, but for me, when everything became a number, it just became so easy. So easy.

Rita Black: Yeah. Well, I think it allows your brain to, like you were saying, put things in perspective for you, not because it's a good food or a bad food, it becomes a choice. It doesn't, you know, you can have pasta, there's no problem with that. It just has, but you found that you would like more food or more volume and, and healthy foods. But I, some people would choose that pasta and it would be perfectly fine for them because that's, you know, if, if we both had a thousand dollars to go buy an outfit for the Oscars, well we would probably need more than a thousand. But if we had a thousand you know, you would probably buy some, you know, something completely different than me. But we both had the thousand dollars. So I I I love that. That makes a lot of sense. And I love your approach. It's so I, it you're so tuned into yourself and your process. That's very, very cool. So as you continued on your journey past the 30 days, because how, how long have you been shifting for now? It's been a while.

Jodie Thalheimer: What, I think it was last March, I think it was March, 2023 that I started.

Rita Black: Right. So a year and through the year, what was that journey? Because you know, a lot of people go on a diet, they lose weight. And I know you released weight pretty quickly upfront, and, and then you've been maintaining your weight for a while. Is that correct?

Jodie Thalheimer: Right. Yeah. Yeah. So it was just this steady decrease to my target weight. Like, just like magic. It felt like magic. And to sort of speak to what you were just saying in terms of if we both had a thousand bucks, we would buy different things. Not to mention if a year later you gave us another thousand bucks, we would not go buy the same dress we would do. So like, so every time you gave us a thousand bucks, we would do something different. So while I was wanting to lose and in that calorie deficit, my meals were pretty consistent. Like, I ate a lot of boiled eggs and a lot of cottage cheese and a lot like, I just wanted, I was very focused on the high protein. It's what and, and what I enjoyed. That was a big important thing. Right. So, but then when I finished the calorie deficit phase, and now it was, it became kind of wide open. I found that I did still wanna have a big old bowl of pasta, but that I could, I I think one of the things that you taught me was to look at the calorie total over a longer span of time instead of just at each meal.

Jodie Thalheimer: So if a Tuesday was heavy in calorie, I knew how to adjust and sort of make up for it to just now stay inside of maintenance for that whole week. And so that was, it's been at least six or eight months of me eating a lot more, less rigid, but I'm still very slowly, like now I'm losing maybe 0.7 of a pound a month, which I'm totally happy to watch the last five-ish pounds come off like that. And anything I want and I don't want, I find I really quickly can tell when I don't want more, like I'm full, I'm on, you know, and I, it's just more of a fluid,

Rita Black: You're more in tune with your body and your needs and how you nourish yourself. Do you find that as you're going through maintenance or this transitionary period, you, you find foods that you used to think you loved and you have a different relationship with them?

Jodie Thalheimer: Yes. I'm trying to think of an example. I, I would still say that like, I do eat carbs sometimes, but I used to really be addicted to feeling really uncomfortably full. One thing about the 1200 calories is I learned how it feels to feel nourished. And, and I started to connect the dots between how energetic I feel when I'm not bogged down with digesting food all the time.. Like, I think my body was in digestion mode 24/7 felt, I think. So I learned that like, feeling hungry is actually quite a pleasant energetic, like I, I used to sort of almost in a panic, I would think, I'm going out for a hike, I better like load up. I'd out there full. And now I, I think, oh, I'm going for a hike. I'm not gonna bother eating until later. 'cause I wanna feel like how I feel when I hike and I move and I do exercise without a belly full of food, it seems. I just can't believe that somebody would have to tell me that. It sounds logical now that I'm saying it, but

Rita Black: Yeah, no, that's a really good point. And, and that light energy that you get when you're fed, when you're nourished, you aren't starving yourself. You aren't depriving yourself, but you're you know, feeding yourself foods that really give you staying power and energy. Yeah. It's interesting when you, when you really start tuning in, feeding yourself and, and tuning into food, and this is a common thing when people go on this journey, because we don't tell you what not to eat. You can eat anything you want, but people start to choose not to eat things because they start, their taste buds change, their preferences change. Not just because of the hypnosis, but because I think you start to equate, you finally, because this pro program, like you said, is really starting at the base of you from the inside out, you start to want to give yourself more food and advocate for your body that making the better choices and then they taste better.

Jodie Thalheimer: You know? And that's to, that's where this felt so synchronistic to me because like I was saying earlier, relationship wealth or health, which is your wheelhouse for sure, it all starts with the relationship you have with yourself.

Rita Black: Right.

Jodie Thalheimer: And if you focus on that, you'll find that you'll just naturally do things that are good for you. Whether that's how you eat, what you're, like, just all the things, including how you save money, how you make money.

Rita Black: Interesting. How you choose who you wanna hang out with and be around of work. Exactly.

Jodie Thalheimer: You wanna say what, how you wanna focus on the relationship. Like everything you do is after the relationship you have with yourself. But what I see for people is we often skip that. We think if I just lose some weight, I'll feel better about myself. And it's like, no, feel better, feel, feel better about yourself first, and you'll just naturally eat things that, you know, it just, it's, it's, it's a cascade effect.

Rita Black: Yeah. So, so given that, 'cause I, I think one thing I wanted to ask you was that it relationship that you cultivated with your inner coach during the journey. Like, how was that for you, given the fact that you probably were pretty tuned in with yourself? How did that pulling that relationship over into this area with yourself, change or blossom?

Jodie Thalheimer: You know, I'm so grateful to be having this conversation a good eight months after I was so structured because I have sort of forgotten how, how beneficial and how almost intimate that relationship became. And some of your guided hypnosis. Now I honestly, my, my creation in that hypnosis is so vivid. I can't even remember. I feel like you told me to think this but my inner coach had this like persona and this character and she was always on stage doing a presentation, which is something I, you know, would love to do with you know, do an onstage workshop with my own clients at some point. And so I'd always visualize myself there. And she became so clear to me like how she was dressed and what she was saying. And just, it was the first time that I've ever really facilitate or invested so much time and energy into letting her come to life. And, and I've, I am her now, which is just so, like, I look like her. I'm wearing the clothes that she was wearing. Like it's really, I don't know, it's a little bit, I feel a little bit embarrassed sort of admitting that, but it was, hey transmission that's beautiful. I dunno, just feels a little like, ooh, I feel, I can't believe already said that out loud.

Rita Black: You manifested it. You you created it. I mean, for those of you who aren't aware of the process, we do a lot of vision work and in the beginning we vision ourselves at our ideal weight, but past our ideal weight, like this idea of us down the road because that really engages the brain. And, and, and many people go through what you've gone through is like, wow, you wake up one morning and you're like, I am who I envision. And it's so moving and crazy and vulnerable and all of those things.

Jodie Thalheimer: Yes. Like -

Rita Black: It is, it's, we it is, it gets a little embarrassing 'cause it's like who am I to have being able to step into what I could have only dreamed about earlier?

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah, exactly. And as I, like, I'm, I'm getting a wave of, I don't know, that sort of serendipitous feeling because when you asked me to do this interview, it didn't, it did not cry. I didn't really think about, I just knew Yes, of course I would love to like give back to you 'cause of how much I've received from doing a program. And now I feel like, geez, here I am again on the receiving end because what a gift to be reminded. I didn't really realize until we just had this conversation now of I forgot about that memory of her. And now I realize, whoa, that's because, huh. I am her.

Rita Black: It's interesting. And, and that is so beautiful. And I think sometimes too, when we have that epiphany and you were saying it's kind of a little weird you know, and this might not be you, but I think some people feel like they don't deserve it and, and they have to learn how to kind of own that as well. You know, and I'm sure in your work you do a lot of work with worthiness and feeling your worth and stepping into that as well. And I think a lot of what you were talking about how you work with people as well from the inside out. A lot of people, you're exactly right when they're like, let me lose the weight and then I can love myself. Let me lose the weight and then my life is gonna be better. Let me lose the weight and then I'll give myself permission to, you know start a career or do something different.

Rita Black: And and that then they go on a diet, they get to that weight, but they still don't love themselves. So it's not, and then, and then they gain the weight back 'cause it's just like they can't own that place because they didn't start from the root. So so that's so cool that you do that and focus people too on relationships and money. It's all good stuff. Be interesting to talk to you about money. One day I'll have to give they do a podcast with you about money. 'cause I think a lot of people well as you know, struggle with that as well. And it's a very similar journey in a way with money and weight.

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah, it sure is. Yeah. And I definitely wanted, I don't know if I sort of missed the opportunity to say this, but one of the things that was so important to me, so let me just back up a little bit. I was I had, I went to that doctor, he told me I was just getting old, and I said, no way. And then I really did get scared because I felt like I'm supposed to be the expert. I'm not supposed to get stuck. And I really had this like little inner crisis where I felt like, what am I gonna do? Like I can't, I don't, I can't show up as a coach for my clients if I can't kind of crack this nut. And then maybe later that day, for the sake of the story, we'll say, it was later that day I was scrolling on Facebook and your ad really like pinged for me. It really lit up. And as I followed that little light and listened to your webinar and just was like, yes, yes, yes. And signed up, I sort of had a breakthrough. And what I realized is that we do need each other. We need even, it doesn't matter what level of coaching you're at, it doesn't matter sort of how much you have your money thing figured out or your relationship thing or even your health thing.

Jodie Thalheimer: There's always room to accept help from somebody who has more knowledge than you do. And it was really humbling experience for me to be able to just surrender to that. And the way I sort of dealt with it is the way I do all of it. I just came right back to my clients and said, I am working with somebody because I need help too. And it just, I don't know, I didn't mean to do it for these results, but it just, my clients started to pop off and get better results for themselves. So I just realized I, you know, it was just another moment of like, oh geez, we can get in our own way so easily.

Rita Black: Yes. And, and I think being coached, I, I mean I just love being coached. I just love, I'm like, I was, I woke up today and I, you know, I do this little gratitude thing and I was just like, I am so grateful for still having curiosity about stuff and, and really wanting to learn more. Always more, always all the time. You know, and I, you know, in the area of weight. And I will ask you too, because you, you just were telling me about this amazing way of skiing that you were learning. And I think once you get in your body and get healthy and get using, you become a learner about just, you know, past the shift. You start getting more curious about the food you're eating, get more curious about ways you can move your body that feel good. And and that's what I love about my clients is they, they are learners too. And we're kind of all in this learning journey together. But I'm always seeking out people who know more than me in, in lots of areas. And I, I just think it's the best thing about life is learning more. So I love that you were vulnerable with your clients like that because Yeah, I think it helps a lot when they see you are in seeking knowledge as well. I can't help but make them excited.

Jodie Thalheimer: Right. Yeah. It's, yeah, it's really, I mean, it's great to hear you say that as well and it's a good reminder that we always see other people as, I don't know, having it all or have it all together and then you meet them and chat with them and it's like, we're all the same.

Rita Black: We're all the same for sure. We all have our vulnerabilities, we all have our strengths. I, I am sure there are some people who might be interested in what you do. And I will put your information in our show notes. Jodie, I wanted to ask you a question about like these eight months too. How did you kind of get you know, you were just sharing with me this amazing type of skiing that you're doing and you, and you said you engaged in exercise in a new way.

Rita Black: What, tell us a little bit about that, because there's many people who, were you not exercising before? Were you just kind of exercising but not really pushing yourself? Or what, what was that one?

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah, I have a long relationship with exercise and by and large it's fairly healthy. I was a fitness instructor. I loved, loved, loved it. But like most people, the reason I became a fitness instructor is because like most people, it was so easy to not show up for classes or to let things get in the way. And one day I realized if I learn how to teach, I have to go. If I'm the instructor, I have to go.

Rita Black: I love it.

Jodie Thalheimer: That was a long time ago. But not only do I have to go, but they'll always be the kind of class that I like to go to 'cause I'm teaching it. So that worked. That formula worked for a long time. But by the time I met you and be before that, when I met the doctor that told me I was just getting old, I had lost my passion for fitness and my body was starting to show like my knees were getting a bit sore, step aerobics was one of my favorites. So I was just kind of having these repetitive Mm, I don't, that's the story that makes sense. But now that I sort of understand more about health and how the body can heal itself, and it depends, like we keep saying, it's all about the primary relationship between you and yourself once you get that organized.

Jodie Thalheimer: And I do feel like I've aged backwards, like all those aches and pains are gone. But when I started working with you, not only did tracking surprise me by being really, really fun, but my relationship with fitness really shifted. And how did I find it? I don't remember how exactly I got turned on to the idea of heavy lifting, but I did. And I, it was one, it was, it was again sort of like, oh, this looks so appealing. Like it was just lighting up for me. So I tried one class and I found myself the very next day thinking, I can't wait to do that again. And I, I'm, I'm tuned into that. I was like, oh, really? Like finally there's something in fitness that's exciting to me again. And so that was last March, I started just following a girl on YouTube and doing heavy weights.

Jodie Thalheimer: At first I was doing a five day of the week and now I do it three maybe. And I just maintain that way and no, not maintain, I still feel like my body is changing, like I am changing and showing more definition and that kind of stuff. But I just, I think it's, again, it's the same thing when you change the primary, when you get underneath it all and you hit the foundation and you change your relationship with yourself, things that you used to not enjoy 'cause they weren't congruent with a person that loves them. Like a person that doesn't love themself isn't going to enjoy working out for very long because working out is healthy.

Rita Black: Mm-Hmm.

Jodie Thalheimer: So that, it changed my relationship with a, a number of, of behaviors that are actually healthy for me. Like drinking water, I drink a lot more water 'cause it feels good.

Rita Black: Yeah. That's so cool. I love it. And I love the, the way you put all that I heavy you lifting. Good for you. So what can you lift? I'm just curious. I I'm just asking this like a novice, I don't know anything. Yeah.

Jodie Thalheimer: And the term heavy lifting isn't really that there's anything impressive about the level of weight. It's just that it's heavy for me.

Rita Black: Yeah.

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah. So at first it was literally nothing. Like I'm, I like, I mean literally no weights at all. Just like getting back into the movement patterns of which is, which was heavier than not doing an, an error, I don't know, bicep curl. So now the heaviest I'm using is 30 pound dumbbells, which is pretty heavy.

Rita Black: It is heavy. I'm impressed. So so that is what I -

Jodie Thalheimer: Not for, not for curls. I'm not using 30 pound dumbbells for curls. Just, just to be clear, I don't want anyone to call me out on that. But yeah, the heaviest weight I use for any of the exercises is a 30.

Rita Black: I love it. Well I, this has been so enlightening. Now, if you had, you know, somebody sitting in front of you who is saying, well, what is the first step that I could take, you know, what would, what would that be? You know, like if they wanted get healthier, if they wanted to change where they were, you know?

Jodie Thalheimer: And they've already heard of you.

Rita Black: Oh! I'm not, I'm not fishing for you saying go get the shift program. No, I'm just thinking like, I'm not fishing for that. No, I am. I mean, like if somebody like, because we get in our own way, right? Like we get in our own way. And if somebody was struggling, what would be that first thing that maybe would remove one of those roadblocks that would get them out of their way to move in the right direction?

Jodie Thalheimer: Yeah. Well, in a sort of sentence, the number one thing that a person, no matter what problem is showing up in their life, specifically whichever one or more than one, they're saying, I cannot live with this particular problem anymore. I just would want somebody to understand that that's actually progress. Like, to have put your finger on something that you do not want to live with anymore, that's a sign that you're ready to change. And as quick as they can, I would get them to take their finger off of the thing they're pointing at, that's the problem. And recognize that they just want to put all their focus onto changing their relationship with themself. Like learn how to love themselves more and whatever problem will, it's hard to, for people to believe this, but loving yourself will take care of that problem in one way or another.

Rita Black: Right. Yeah. Absolutely. 'cause You're gonna, if you love yourself, you're gonna trust the decisions you're gonna be making around that. You're gonna start respecting yourself around that, even respecting your relationship, even if you don't have any money in your bank account, you can start to believe that you can generate that, right? Like with, with money and definitely with weight, one of the first parts of the shift process is just changing that relationship with how you even perceive yourself before you even start shifting that identity from weight struggler to weight learner. And, you know, putting yourself in an apprentice role. And that I think for a lot of people, just seeing themselves differently because we're so used to seeing ourselves in such a poor light with shame and, and disconnect from ourselves. So I love that you said that. I love that you said the first step is to just acknowledge that you are pinpointing something that you don't want anymore. And that is awesome. That is great.

Rita Black: So for those of you out there that have pinpointed that you're there, you're good. You're, you're taking that first step already. That's fantastic. Well, Jodie, this has been so wonderful. Thank you for sharing your experience and and also all of your insights. They've been really useful and helpful.

Jodie Thalheimer: Thank you. I'm honored. I'm just so flattered to get to spend some one-on-one time with you and to get to really say thank you because I take, I created posts and that kind of thing, but I'm, you know, there's a lot of crossovers between what we do and I have an understanding, I'm on a different end of the spectrum than you, but I have an understanding of what it takes to be able to, to really package your program in a way that you can serve so many people. It's inspiring, Rita, and -

Rita Black: Oh, well, thank you. Thank you. I'm, wow. Well, thank you. And I'm just grateful that my program touched your heart and helped you, but obviously you helped yourself by taking those first steps and really engaging fully. Well, thank you Jodie, and good luck with everything. And I will definitely post for everybody. We'll be posting Jodie's link if you wanna get a hold of her or hear more about what she does, I'll put her links in the show notes. Thank you, Jodie.

Jodie Thalheimer: Thank you very much. It's been a pleasure.

Rita Black: Oh, wow. Thank you, Jodie. That was a amazing, and please, can you hear how amazing Jodie is? Please, if you're interested in, you know, finding out more about how she works with people, what she does you know, getting people unstuck. I remember we get into those trances in life in the area of finances or relationships or health. I've put the link to her website in the show notes, and while you're in there checking her out, go sign up for my free masterclass on demand. I'm not gonna say much more. I've already said it. Go sign up because seating is limited and I want you to get in. So I would love to see you there again in the show notes. And this is, if it's the last date is April 20th, Saturday 2024. So if you missed it, go to the show notes anyway.

Rita Black: You'll, you'll see something else fun to sign up for. But please get in there. I'd love to see you there. Okay. Have an amazing week. And remember the key and probably the only key to unlocking the door of the weight struggle is inside you. So keep listening and find it.

Rita Black: Do you wanna dive deeper into the mindset of long-term weight release? Head on over to www.shiftweightmastery.com. That's www.shiftweightmastery.com, where you'll find numerous tools and resources to help you unlock your mind for permanent weight release tips, strategies, and more. And be sure to check the show notes to learn more about my book From Fat to Thin Thinking. Unlock Your Mind for Permanent Weight Loss.