Ep #367: Believing Success is Possible

Welcome to the Weight Loss for Busy Physicians podcast. I'm your host, master certified life and weight loss coach, Katrina Ubell, M.D. This is the podcast where busy doctors like you come to learn how to lose weight for the last time by harnessing the power of your mind. If you're looking to overcome your stress, eating and exhaustion and move into freedom around food, you're in the right place. Well. Hello there my friend. Welcome to the podcast. I'm so glad you're here with me today. I have something I'm so excited to share with you.

I've actually been hanging on to it for a couple of months because I wanted to give it a try first, every now and then. I haven't done this in a long time. I will let you know about some sort of product or something that I'm using that I'm super loving. This is not sponsored in any way at all. I get zero kickback. I've never been in contact with this company whatsoever, but every now and then I find some product or something that is so incredible and has totally changed my life, and I feel like people need to know about it. And guess what? Today is one of those days. So here's the deal. I got this several months ago, like maybe end of the summer, and I wanted to give it a try first to let you know if it really worked. So you may or may not have this problem, but I do.

[00:01:24] My children like to go to camp. In fact, they really, really like to go to camp. And what happens when they go to camp is they come back and their stuff stinks. Like everything, all of their clothes, sleeping bags, pillows, like everything smells like camp. It smells basically like mildew. It smells bad. And as I've gotten older, they stay at camp for longer and then the smell is just more ingrained. And at first I was like, well, we just need to send old clothes and whatever I have found up until just recently, nothing would get rid of that stuff. I thought, well, lay it out in the sun and let it air dry. Nope.
I bought some special stuff from tide that was supposed to help with stinky stuff. All it did was really just kind of cover up the smell with a very strong chemical fragrance. And I know some people are super big into all the laundry scents and all that stuff. I personally am not. To me, clean smells like nothing, and so I don't like all the kind of additives and stuff. For me, we are a, you know, free and clear kind of a family. We don't use any products that have those scents in it, if at all possible. And so this has been something I've been working on for several years, like figuring out like how to get this smell out.

[00:02:41] I've done lots of internet searches, tried a bunch of different things, vinegar, all kinds of stuff. Nothing ever worked. And then I don't even remember why. I think maybe I was on Rei's website this summer because we were going camping and I don't know, I was poking around there for something and I happened to see this product and I thought, you know what? Why not? I'll give it a try. The ratings, like the reviews on there were really good. I thought, sure, why not? At this point I'll just try it. So the reason why I had the opportunity to even try it recently, because you might think like, well, camp is in summer, our camp, the main camp that my younger two kids like to go to.

They actually have a winter camp too, between Christmas and New Year's, and they all say, all three of my kids say that winter camp is even more fun than summer camp, and they love summer camp. But winter camp is apparently extra, extra fun. And it's just four days, three nights. But it gives them something to do between the holidays. So they're not just sitting there like eating junk and watching shows and whatever. So. So they love it. They love going to winter camp. So I thought, oh great, they'll go to winter camp, I'll get this stuff back, and then I can test this and see if it works. So here's what it's called, because I'm only telling you because it works so well.

[00:03:53] The brand of the company is called Gear Aid. Gear aid then I think their line of this kind of stuff is called revive X. And then this particular product is called Odor Eliminator. So here's the deal. If you think about it, it's like brilliant. Like you know a science geeks like I love this. So what this is, is it's like some special microbes that apparently eat up, like the smell causing junk. Like, what does it say on the back? It says water activated microbes remove odor causing bacteria from mold, mildew, pets and sweat. So it's like deodorize wetsuits, tents, footwear and activewear. Like it's so good.
So what you do is if you have, like, a bunch of stuff that stinks, you use it in the washing machine and you put it in the container where you put in the fabric softener. Like if you use liquid fabric softener, you put it in there and you have to set it so that it, you know, knows to use that. Instead, you put this stuff in there. And so at the very end of the cycle, it rinses this stuff through everything. And then, you know, does the spin and then you don't put it in the dryer because the dryer, I think the heat from the dryer will kill these little microbes. So you have to hang everything up. So I had to do this in kind of like rounds, because I only have so much hanging space, like inside my house.

[00:05:12] But I was able to do all that. And so it takes you a little time to dry. And then when it's dry, the smell is gone. Or like significantly, significantly gone. Like there was a sleeping bag that we've sent many times. I've tried so many things to get the smell out, just never worked at all. And it is very minimal, but I cannot say completely gone in other items in the clothing and stuff. Completely, completely gone. So what's cool too though, is for things that you can't put through the machine, you can dilute it in a spray bottle and you can spray it onto things like think about like really stinky hockey gear or something like you can spray it on there and let it air dry.

You can spray it into like ski boots or something that's really stinky, or you can dilute it in water and then just dunk the thing in so you could dunk like a whole tent. You could dunk a wetsuit in there like anything that you can dunk in that way but can't be put in the washing machine. Anyway. This stuff really, really works. And so if you have like stinky gear, stinky mildewy whatever from camp or just whatever, maybe gym clothes that smell really bad, check out this brand because this stuff really works. I am devoted to this stuff now.

[00:06:26] It's incredible. So one more time. Gear aid is the main brand and then the line is called revive X Odor Eliminator. Super good. Okay. Secondly, we have a snow day today. I have all the children home. You may hear Taylor Swift blasting and people singing along. I can't control the other humans. You may or may not hear it. It has been happening here. Okay. I want to talk to you today about believing that success is possible. I actually, as I'm recording this, just yesterday I had a new cohort of weight loss doctors only start as well as a new cohort of our updated and new ish newer continuation program, which is called onward. And so I did two orientation calls in one night, talking to them about where they're at and what they want to work on.
And it really kind of inspired me to talk to you about this, because this is something that is so critical and really, really often overlooked. Particularly I think it's important as you're listening to this, it's going to be, you know, toward the end of January. And so if there's anybody listening to this who's been doing like some New Year's resolution type things or just kind of using the momentum of the new year to make some changes, if you're doing that, you may find that this is going to be really impactful for you as well. And of course, anyone who's working with me currently also very, very helpful for you.

[00:07:49] So believing success is possible is important when you start to try to create some sort of new result, but arguably even more important along the way. And I'm going to talk to you a little bit more about that as we continue on. What I think is important to recognize is that you really don't need to believe that you can do it, that you as an individual can necessarily accomplish it, and you definitely don't need to know how you're going to do it. That for sure, you don't need to know. But can you get behind the idea that it is possible for somebody, a human in this world, to create the results that you want to have?

Like, is it possible for some people in this world that I think is very, very important? If you don't believe that success is possible, then as soon as you trip up, stumble, make a mistake. Things just aren't going the way you would hope they would. You will quit because you'll just be evidence to support what you already believe, which is that it's not possible to do this anyway. Now, I think that sometimes, even subconsciously, we will sort of self-sabotage or mess things up for ourselves. Not consciously and not intentional, but like a subconscious intention to prove to ourselves what we believe, which is that nobody can do this and then it just further strengthens our belief.

[00:09:17] And then there we are. So that's what we want to make sure that we're not doing. So you don't even have to believe that you can do it. I think doubt has a place in this work of figuring out how to lose weight, keep it off permanently, and creating peace and freedom around food. I think that that is normal and natural and not a bad thing. But it is important to circle back, particularly in periods of doubt, to ask yourself, do I think it's possible for somebody to figure this out? Has anybody ever figured this out? Is it possible that there are some people who are currently figuring this out and creating this success? If they are doing it, then that's all you need to hang on to.

Right. If it's not possible for you, but it's possible for other people, then what that means is that it could be that there's just a knowledge gap for you right now. There's just things that you don't know they've learned things that you haven't learned yet. You haven't, you know, had that wisdom imparted on you. But maybe they have. Maybe there's some sort of method or plan that they've learned, but you haven't yet. If that's the case, well then success is possible for you. Maybe you just need to learn those things or try those things or get some certain level of support. And then maybe it could become possible for you.

[00:10:44] But if you don't believe it's possible for anybody, like the humans cannot do this. That's the first starting place before we change anything that we eat, before we change any way that we move or any of that kind of stuff, the first thing we have to do is get behind the idea. Is it possible to lose weight and keep it off? Now I will say that if you have doubts about this, I don't blame you, partly because you just look at statistics. It shows that most people aren't doing it. But also you might even find that in your practice. Like if you are seeing a lot of patients day in and day out, you might see people really try and then not have success.

And so that starts to build that evidence and that belief for you as well. Like people who try really hard, like they're not getting it either. Now what I think like my response to that is that, yeah, I mean, those statistics are true. That is very much the experience of a lot of people. But what I also know for sure is that the vast majority of those people are not taking any kind of mindset approach to this. When they're doing this, they're doing it in a much more typical fashion, you know, make some changes that they're not interested in doing long terme at all. But just like means to an end behavior, things that they don't like that are very uncomfortable for them.

[00:12:04] Maybe they're feeling really deprived or restricted while they're doing it. It's just not a great experience, but they're doing it to get the weight off. And then when they get to whatever place, they basically go back to the old habits because they never intended on continuing what they were doing in the first place. And then besides that, I mean it. I really, really doubt that any kind of meaningful percentage of those people are doing any kind of emotional work, like actually figuring out how food helps them emotionally and then creating a different emotional support system for themselves so that food doesn't need to act in that way for them anymore.
That part is just not addressed at all. So when I was first learning this kind of stuff many years ago, I was also just kind of like, I don't really know what this is or how this is going to have any kind of impact on weight loss, but it definitely is an area I've never addressed and I've never heard anybody else talking about. So that was where my belief came of like, I don't know how to do this for sure, and I didn't really believe that I could do it because I didn't even know what it was yet. And also I just had no experience with it. So it can be hard to believe that you can do something when you just have never even done it before at all.

[00:13:19] I mean, I believed in my ability to keep going, to learn things, to try things, to adapt. Like I believed in all that. But did I really believe, like, I'm going to do this and it's going to work? No, not at all. I didn't, but I did believe that it worked for some people. It did make sense to me that this was a solution for some people in the world. And so if it worked for them, then there's a decent chance it could work for me. I think also, I'm kind of person who's like, oh, tell me I can't do something and then watch me, you know? So I'm like, yep, this is definitely different and something I'm really unfamiliar with.

And also I'm going to go just give it my all and see what happens and be open to the idea that I can do it and that it really will work, and that the how of it all will unfold and become clearer to me as I go along. So I think that it's something that we sometimes allow ourselves to use to hold ourselves back. Like in thinking about talking to the brand new program members yesterday. You know, some of them really are like, I do not believe that this is going to work. Like I'm expecting failure. And I get that. I totally understand that.

[00:14:37] I totally, totally understand that, particularly if that has been your experience for many years. I mean, like, that's what human brains do. We learn and we make inferences and put together our belief system around something like, of course it would make sense. You'd think that. But, you know, somebody who's coming into our program at least has some shred of hope, like, this is something I haven't tried yet, or this is something that I hear or see or know other people where this is working for them. So maybe it is possible, even if I don't believe it's possible. For me, the belief that it's possible for you often comes when you start doing the thing, and then you start seeing results and you're like, oh my gosh, well, I'm doing the thing and I am getting the results.
So I guess I can stop not believing, which means to start believing that I really can have these results because I am getting them. So believing success is possible is something that I want to just kind of mention. This little side note to this. There is a big resistance we have as humans to do anything that will make us feel like we've been taken advantage of, or the result is that we feel foolish. Feeling like a fool feels really bad to a lot of us, right? Like, if you really think about it, right? Like you believe something, you went all in and then come to find out, it was all smoke and mirrors and it wasn't the real deal at all.

[00:16:08] And the losses from doing that, we often will feel like a fool. And that is something that a lot of us really want to avoid. And we don't like that feeling at all like we got had. That I think, is something that's kind of innate in us as humans to want to try to avoid. And so it makes sense that, you know, we come with some level of skepticism. Yeah, I totally, totally accept that. And being a thoughtful consumer is an important thing for sure. But I think if we can recognize, oh, I'm holding myself back or I'm reluctant to believe that the success that's promised here is possible, or that people are even doing this is at least partly. Because I'm afraid that I'll find out.

This was all made up and nonsense and I believed it. And then I'll feel like a fool. I think it's just important to recognize that, like, it doesn't mean that we have to necessarily change anything, but we can just be aware, you know, I'm somebody who just really doesn't want to feel foolish, really doesn't want to feel like she made a very, very, very bad decision. And that's part of my reluctance to believe that this is possible. Because what if I'm wrong? Then I'm going to feel like a fool. And while I totally recognize that, I'm also like, well, what if you're wrong about being wrong? What if you're withholding yourself from having the results that you want? What if everything that you want is totally available to you, but you're unwilling to take advantage of it? I mean, we could argue that that's foolish, too.

[00:17:41] Or not. I mean, I think that can be a bit judgmental, but I like to think of it as like, but if I go in eyes wide open and I'm using my brain and I'm considering everything and I'm thinking it through, you know, compared to just like going all in blinders on, just doing whatever's recommended without ever questioning it, ever asking any questions or pushing back like just all in, no matter what.
Like, you know, I kind of look at it like, I'll probably be okay as long as I keep using my brain, as long as I stay connected to, you know, kind of that compass that we have, which is just like, does this even make scientific sense? How does this feel? To me? I think intuition is a huge part of it. Or gut feeling, you know, if you just kind of have that feeling of like, I don't know, I think I want to keep going a little longer and you keep doing that. Then eventually you start to see, will this work for you? I just wanted to point that out, because I think that many of us even possibly grew up with a big emphasis on not being taken advantage of, not falling for something, you know, like some con artist or snake oil salesman or things like that.

[00:18:54] We really didn't want to be considered foolish or like we did something foolish, or that we are a fool and so will prevent ourselves from having what it is we actually want, just in case it doesn't turn out. I mean, this is now even another side note, or even like a kind of a deeper layer or wrinkle to this. Of course, the way we think about things determines how we feel. And so if we feel foolish, it's also because of our interpretation, the way we think about it. And that's a choice. Sometimes we want to choose to feel that way.

That's, you know, completely fine. I'm not saying no one should ever do that, but I do think that it is something to just recognize. Like, if you really don't want to feel that way, first of all, you can learn to expand your capacity to feel your emotions so that whatever emotion comes, you know you're going to be okay. You'll have your back. It's all something you can process and move through. But even regardless, it's not like being foolish or being a fool is a fact. It really could look at it like, okay, well, there were some things there. I can see where I went wrong. I believe this thing.

[00:19:55] And then I didn't question that. And then it turned into this. Okay, so what's to be learned here so that I can move on in the future? It doesn't mean that we have to beat ourselves up, or be so judgmental toward ourselves with the way that we think moving back to believing success is possible in my mind, you know, there's really no point in trying to achieve anything if we don't think that there's some chance, some possibility of us succeeding, right? Otherwise, you know, probably pointless. Again, because our beliefs, our thoughts that we believe are true. I mean, those will create scenarios where that is the experience that we have. It is hard for us when we believe one thing and create another result.
Sometimes that does happen and we have to reconcile that. But whatever we believe, we will often subconsciously work to justify that or solidify that. Which means if you don't believe it's possible for you to lose weight or create peace and freedom around food, then that will be your experience, right? So however you might be going about it, you know, focusing on that, the first thing to do is to check in with yourself. Do you believe that success is possible for anybody? And I like to sometimes rate belief because, you know, sometimes we're like, well, part of me does, part of me doesn't. You can think about it like, you know, a scale of 0 to 10, ten being like absolute utmost belief and zero being no belief whatsoever.

[00:21:17] You know, like I would say, you know, at least a 7 or 8 would be really nice to get to that place. And sometimes we're like, well, I don't think it's possible because I don't know anybody who has. But that doesn't mean that we can't find out more or ask people questions, learn more, and start to work on building that confidence, building that belief for ourselves. Yeah, it's possible for some people to do this. They're humans. I'm human.

They figured some things out. I know that I'm smart person. I can figure things out too. So maybe this is something to explore or move forward on. All right. I want to just tell you as we wrap up. I believe at a level ten success is possible because I see it every day. See it all the time. It's really incredible. And I had mentioned this belief is important, arguably even more important as you're along the journey. And I do think that that's important. I think it's important to regenerate or re-energize that belief, because sometimes we really are hit with some roadblocks and some obstacles, and it starts to feel hard, and it's easy for our belief to start to waver and we start going. Maybe this isn't actually something that is possible for people, like maybe it really isn't something that ever goes away or whatever.

[00:22:35] And I think that that can be a great opportunity to not, like, gaslight yourself by any stretch, but to look okay. What is the doubt about? What is the lack of belief about and what's the impact of that? And if I want a different result, a different impact, might I want to resolidify my belief that, yes, this is something that people do, I am on the path to creating it as well. So let's move on. And that can sometimes fuel us as we're moving along because, you know, it's ups and downs. It certainly is ups and downs, just like life is ups and downs.
And the more that we can be there for that and be willing to feel it, the better off we tend to do, and the more quickly we tend to move past those obstacles and those difficulties. Okay, well, I could talk about this forever, but I'm not going to keep you forever. So I'm gonna wrap it up here believing success is possible. Rate yourself 0 to 10. Not success for you necessarily, but success for just the humans, and allow that to help you to make some decisions moving forward. Well, I hope you have a great rest of your week. I hope that if you have some need for laundry deodorizer distinctive fire, you'll check out that Odor Eliminator product I told you about. I'm just. Seriously, I could not be more delighted. I'm sure you can tell. t's amazing.

All right, have a great rest of your week. I'll talk to you next time. Bye bye. Ready to start making progress on your weight loss goals? For lots of free help, go to katrinaubellmd.com and click on Free Resources.