Ep #357: Peace & Freedom Around Food for ALL Women Physicians

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. How are you doing today? Welcome to the podcast. I'm so glad you're here with me today. Thank you so much. Wanted to take today's episode as an opportunity to let you know about some adjustments and changes that I'm making to the coaching program.

Weight loss for doctors only that I have been running now for, gosh, six years, seven years, [00:01:00] something like that, a long, long time. And so if you're, you know, someone who's kind of like, yeah, what's it like working with Katrina? Or maybe you're thinking, you know what? That's not for me. I think I know what that program is like, or, you know, I'm saving up. I'm waiting. You're going to want to listen to this one for sure. So when you run something for so many years, well, guess it's not. I shouldn't make the assumption that everybody would approach things this way, but the way I approach it and have always approached it, is that I'm always working to try to improve the program in my mind, not like an excessive level of optimization.

[00:01:33] I think in today's society, the constant optimizing can be a little exhausting. Not to that extent, but more thinking about it from the standpoint of how can I make this easier? How can I make this more effective? How can I make this more focused? More to the point, how can I make this more time efficient? That was something several years ago that I really worked on. Like, how can I make it so that every single thing that you're being taught is to the point and efficient? There's no extra wasted [00:02:00] time so that you feel as a busy doctor that you're getting what you need in that time, that you're investing.

And really, where I've been at more recently is thinking about how to make the program more affordable. This is something that's been on my mind for quite some time, and I'll just kind of give you a little bit of the backstory on that. I have heard from lots and lots and lots and lots of people over the years. You have to remember, when I first started this, I thought there might be like 1 to 2 handfuls worth of people who wanted my help. Okay, like I never went into this thinking it was going to turn into what it has. And it's mean. People say like, oh my gosh, is this a dream come true? I'm like, no, because I never could have even begun to dream of this.

[00:02:43] Like it just was not even on my radar at all. So it's one of those things where it's kind of like, you realize, wait, I've hit a nerve, I'm on to something here, and I want to make this the best thing that it could be. You know, that's kind of where I'm at. So I have heard from so many people over the years. Many [00:03:00] of them telling me that they are in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond, telling me that they really, really, really wish that they had learned this information, had gotten the help that they get in weight loss for doctors only, meaning figuring out how to end the struggle around food and the struggle around weight really create that peace and freedom around food.

Just they feel really sad that they didn't learn it earlier, that they spent so many years and decades of their lives struggling with this and feeling bad about themselves and all of that stuff. So, you know, I always coach them on it. I learned about this stuff when I was 40, and I've just decided that it was the perfect time. I don't think that maybe I would have been as open to it had I learned it when I was younger, you know, just it's the perfect time, because thinking about any other way I don't think really serves me.

[00:03:47] But I have thought then about people who are in, you know, earlier stages of their careers in their lives. And I've heard from a lot of those people, too. And some of those people tell me, hey, you know what? It's my dream to do your [00:04:00] program. I totally want to do that. But it's not possible for me right now because I cannot afford it. I'm still in my training. I'm a new attending. I have a bunch of educational debt. I've heard from many people. My partner and I have decided that we're going to really pay down our debt first before we make any other big investments, so I hope in several years I can do this, you know, just lots and lots of concerns around that.

Like, people want this help and they can't make it work for whatever reason. Like there are definitely a lot of people who are just in lower compensation specialties. I remember one woman being like, look, I'm a general pediatrician. My husband's a teacher. We do not have the money. You know, we got couple of kids in daycare. We don't have the money for this as much as I want to do it. And so that has been on my mind for a while. Like, how can we figure out a way to help more people? Because there are lots of ways to do this.

[00:04:48] It doesn't have to be just this one certain way. And as I have added to the program over the years, the price point had to be adjusted as well, because, you [00:05:00] know, you have to be able to pay the people who are delivering everything and, you know, you can't operate at a loss, right? So the price had gone up gradually over time. And it just started kind of bugging me from an accessibility standpoint. You know, like not everybody wants to spend that kind of money for that kind of help. And maybe they don't even need all the help that's in the highest support kind of program. This was on my mind because many people over the years have reached out and said, I've gotten the most amazing results listening to your podcast.

And so there are lots of people out there, and it might be you who are learning from this podcast and applying it to your lives, and you haven't gotten coached by anybody. You've learned from other people that have spoken on this podcast. You've learned from me and you are that self-starter. You are a good independent learner, and so it wouldn't even make sense for you to be in a program where you were necessarily getting all of the support because you don't really need it. [00:06:00] So this has all been on my mind for quite some time. Another area that has been on my mind is that during the pandemic, we started offering one on one coaching to all of our clients and this was something that we weren't really prepared for.

[00:06:15] But as you remember, doctors were struggling so badly, it was like, okay, we've just got to as a team, figure out how to do this because they need help and we need to help them. That's how we can give back at this time. So for the last three and a half years or so, we've been offering one on one coaching. And I do think that during the pandemic, the first couple of years, I think it was definitely the right thing to do. I think that that support really got a lot of people through that very difficult time. So I don't regret doing that by any stretch.

But what I have noticed gradually over doing it now for many years, is that it's no longer in the best service to the members of our program, and not to say that it's not a good thing, it's just that. There are a few problems that [00:07:00] in particular for humans, we tend to really go into shame, which makes us hide. And it's just something that we really struggle with. And over eating and drinking more alcohol than we'd like are both things that show up in those ways. Let's just say there's a reason why many recovery programs and even eating disorder programs, many of them, are largely or entirely group based.

[00:07:30] The pattern that I've noticed over the last while, and this is not an accusation or a judgment by any stretch of the imagination, is that when you have one on one coaching and a program where there's also all these opportunities for group and none of it's mandatory, what I found is that so many members will go to the one on one calls and not participate fully in the program. They'll hide in those one on ones, sometimes even, [00:08:00] you know, turning their camera off like they really just don't want to be seen. And even that is not necessarily a problem.

But what I've noticed looking at it over the course of time is that it really is holding back the progress of a lot of our members. I see them not actually taking the steps forward that they really need to be taking. They lament that they, you know, someday hope that they can be coached by me. I'm like, what are you talking about? I coach all the time in this program. Like, just raise your hand and come on a call like, let's do it. So I realized by offering one on one coaching, I'm actually helping to facilitate the shame that holds them back and keeps them stuck. And I've sat with that for quite some time and I've realized, you know what? I'm not going to have that as a part of the program anymore because I don't want to facilitate anything that's going to hold people back from getting the results that they've hired me to help them to get.

[00:08:58] So on top [00:09:00] of this, I don't know how much I've shared this on the podcast. I feel like I talk about it a lot, but maybe not here on the podcast. My mission now, like, why am I even doing this? You know, why do I run this company? My mission. Like what I really feel like my calling is, is to change the way the whole medical community approaches weight loss. And that doesn't mean that everyone needs to stop doing the other things that they've been doing for weight loss and only do what I offer.

It's just that what we offer the coaching mindset approach is, in my opinion, woefully missing from how the medical community approaches obesity, or people who struggle with overeating and people who struggle with food. It's just something that is not addressed, it's not spoken about, and I think it's a huge disservice to all of us as doctors. But then even more so, all of the people that we take care of. I think it's a really big problem. So I'm over here just like shouting from the rooftops, yes, you can do [00:10:00] all that stuff. You can take your medications, you can do all your stuff, and you still have to work on your brain.

[00:10:05] That part you can't skip. You just can't skip that part. So if you want to have long term results, I don't think you can skip that part. So if my mission is to change the way the whole medical community approaches weight loss, then it would make sense that I do everything within my power to help the clients that I serve, to get the best possible results that they can have, and to be able to make our help available to more people so that they can then go and help spread the word in their spheres of influence. You know where they are practicing, being able to share it with patients and things like that. I decided it was time for some tweaking. So this is not like a whole program overhaul.

In fact, the actual program itself is staying the same because we know it works. We have done multiple cohorts of studies on our clients, and we know that it works like we're working on trying to get the results published right now. If you want to check that out, you can go to Katrina md.com/results. [00:11:00] So it's not so much the program and what we're helping people with that want to change. It's how it's delivered. And so that is why we're making some changes. So I wanted you to know about these things. So as you're thinking about January 2024, which will be our next time opening up weight loss for doctors only, you can be thinking about whether one of these new ways of taking part in weight loss for doctors only might be the best step for you.

[00:11:28] So one thing that we decided to do is to offer two support tiers. So the program remains the same, but not everybody needs the same level of support or wants the same level of support. So we decided to add a DIY tier for that independent learner. This is for the person who has been listening to this podcast, has lost all their weight or is close to it. Is working everything that I've taught you totally doing all the stuff and wants to know more but doesn't really, for whatever reason, feel called [00:12:00] to a higher support, right? They know they can do it themselves.

They're that self-starter. They know they're going to get through the content, and they do a good job of applying it to themselves. And so I'm really excited about this. In this tier, you get access to our entire program and you get view only access to our written coaching section, which means you aren't able to ask any of your own questions, but you're able to access well over a thousand asked and answered written coaching questions, and it's all searchable and savable. You can save your favorites, so you can totally go in there and learn from all of this coaching.

[00:12:34] Just like a treasure trove of coaching that others have gotten in the past. And what's so great is we're able to offer this for $2,000 for the six months. So I'm very excited about that. The payment plan is $400 down if you want to hold your spot. Otherwise, when you enroll, you put down $400 and then starting on month two of the program, you pay 400 for four more months. And then that last month of the program you have [00:13:00] free. So I am really excited about that. I think there are a lot of people who are going to be very excited.

This is a much more affordable option, and there are a lot of people who really do a great job on their own. So awesome. Now that we have something for you. And then our other support tier for weight loss for doctors only is called comprehensive. And so this is more similar to what we've always been offering for our program. But what we decided to do to take away the one on one coaching, because we know that that hasn't been serving people, but still knowing that people want some additional focused help for themselves is we decided to change that over to small group coaching. And in doing that, we're able to lower the price by $2,000. So rather than $7,000 for the comprehensive level like it has been, it's now $5,000, which I'm very excited about.

[00:13:51] And so in the small group coaching sessions, you still get all the large group coaching sessions that we've always done. But in those small groups, there's up to ten [00:14:00] people in there. Many of them will be much fewer than that, and you literally get to sign up for whichever small group session you want every week. So you can choose the coach, the day, the time, and you can mix that up every single week for whatever works for you. So we're not going to make you choose something and stick with it. You get a lot of flexibility there in that small group coaching.

If you're someone who likes to get to know other people in the program, you have an opportunity to do that there. You have an opportunity to ask questions, live to your coach. You get to be coached yourself. You get to really dig in in a smaller group, which I think is which I know is actually super powerful. In fact, the group that I did, just in case you're wondering, there was no one on one group that I did that helped me to solve my problems. I did a group and it was group and I'm so grateful for that group. I learned so much from the other people in that program. And yes, I got personal help as well. And that was also super powerful, like in [00:15:00] the group setting.

[00:15:01] But there is something really powerful and special about group. That's how I want to run my program because I know how much it really helps people. What also this does is it frees up time and money for people who do want some one on one work. Or you might realize, you know what? I really need to work with a therapist, particularly a trauma therapist. We've had many clients who've come through. We've realized, you know what? There's some stuff that happened to me in my life and I have not worked through that. And so that's something that you can work on separately and independently.

Or if there's a coach like a specialty coach on a certain subject that you really want help on, like you can do that concurrently. We've had a lot of people have success doing that as well. This frees up, like I said, some funds for that, which is awesome. So what I'm so excited about is being able to offer those two support tiers and to be able to reduce the price, you know, really for both. So I think that group coaching is a modality I believe is the most powerful [00:16:00] way to lose weight permanently and to create peace and freedom around food. And I'm very excited to be able to offer that now. So if you'd like more information about this program, if you're kind of like, yeah, she just rattled all that stuff off, like, what's the deal? What's going on with this? You can check out our information page about this.

[00:16:16] Go to Katrina md.com/info info. And you're going to be able to get all the information you need about the program, including a comparison chart of the two tiers. And we are taking deposits for our January group. Now, because of the small group element to our comprehensive tier, there will be a limited number of people will take in the comprehensive tier. Diy is unlimited. So we're going to be opening this up for general enrollment in December.

But you can start having a look at it now. We also are going to be offering enrollment in our January program as a gift option very soon. So if you'd like to receive admission or enrollment in the program as a gift at the end of the year, [00:17:00] if you have a reason to be receiving a gift at the end of the year, then this could be a great option for you as well. So I'm very excited about this. It's actually something that I'm just delighted to be able to offer. I'm so excited to be able to make this something that is more affordable. You know, when the price was higher, I noticed that there were more people who felt very rushed and pressured and oh my gosh, I'm spending so much money and I have to get this done, and I have to figure this out immediately, and I just do not see how that is helpful.

[00:17:28] I wanted to make this more budget friendly, so that you're able to stay in the program as long as you need to, until you work out what it is you need to work out when it comes to food and weight, so you can get those results that you want, that you're actually hiring me to help you to get, you know, me and my team, and being able to offer it with a lower price is awesome. So we've also transitioned our continuation groups and lower the prices there as well. That's something that's maybe outside the scope of what we talk about on this podcast.

But anybody who might be interested who's been in the program before that is also available [00:18:00] as well. Oh, and we're also going to be opening up weight loss for doctors only every three months now instead of every four. So we're going to make it a little bit easier for people to come and join us in the program. So we'll be running four cohorts throughout the year, six months long. All right. Like I said, check it out. Katrina Ubell md.com/info for all the information you need, and hopefully we'll see you in the program very soon. Take care. Ready to start making progress on your weight loss goals? For lots of free help, go to katrinaubellmd.com and click on Free Resources.