Rainy's Success Journey From Trapped to Transformed

Jim Hill: Welcome to “Weight Loss And…”, where we delve into the world of weight loss. I'm Jim Hill.

Holly Wyatt: And I'm Holly Wyatt. We're both dedicated to helping you lose weight, keep it off, and live your best life while you're doing it.

Jim Hill: Indeed, we now realize successful weight loss combines the science and art of medicine, knowing what to do and why you will do it.

Holly Wyatt: Yes, the “And” allows us to talk about all the other stuff that makes your journey so much bigger, better, and exciting.

Jim Hill: Ready for the “And” factor?

Holly Wyatt: Let's dive in!

Jim Hill: Here we go. Holly, we have a special episode today. Why don't you tell us about that?

Holly Wyatt: Yes, I am so excited. This is our very first episode where we are going to have a success journey. We talk about success all the time on the show. I think we wanted to do the podcast because we wanted to help people be successful in their weight loss journey. We decided we wanted to talk about the science and the evidence that supports success. Then we try to break it down into things that people can do to be successful. But another way to talk about success and learn about success is to talk to the people who have had it, to study them, to learn from them. I also think to be inspired from them. In addition to the science, we want to start doing these episodes where we can talk to people who have had success and success is there's all different kinds of success. We want to show real life success, all the different types of success, which means we're going to need different people.

One size does not fit all. And today, our very first episode, we have a true rock star, a story to share that I think will be inspiring for so many people. I want to welcome Rainy to our podcast, to our show.

Hello, Rainy. Thank you so much for being here.

Rainy: Thank you.

Holly Wyatt: Yeah. I have known Rainy.. I was thinking about this last night for over eight years.

We met in, I think around 2016, sometime in 2016. When I was thinking about who we could ask to be on the show, I immediately thought about her. She has lost a lot of weight, not going to steal her thunder.

I'm going to let her tell you a little bit about that. And she has been maintaining her weight loss for many years. So she has been a success both in weight loss and in weight loss maintenance. And she has made one of the most complete transformations that I have ever seen. She's changed her body state. She's changed her mind state and she has changed her life state. And now she is paying it forward and helping others transform. So I can't wait to have her share her journey.

So let's just get started, Rainy. Just tell us a little bit about your success journey. When did it start? How much weight have you lost? How long have you been maintaining?

Rainy: Well, thank you again for having me on. This is so exciting. And I must really love you guys because I have not shared a lot of what I'm going to share today with others. I feel like it's important to get it out there. And there's parts that I'm not super proud of on my journey.

And I want everyone to know that things happen in life and that you can still move forward. So the first part, as you mentioned, Holly, I started in 2016. I had been working in an office setting for a lot of years. And the first part of my career, I worked days and then I went to night school.

And in the evening, when I was working on my masters, I would stop on the way to school and get fast food and man, did that pack on the weight. And it led me down a really sad and difficult road in my life. And here I was achieving academic success.

And yet I wasn't happy. And my transformation journey, when it started, I just I had tried so many different diets and done so many different things that I just didn't know, you know, if it would even work. And one of my friends, her name, Sean, she shared with me a success story that one of her neighbors had when they did a program called State of Slim. And she said, Rainy, you should try it. And I recall talking to her and I said, Sean, seriously, I have tried every diet that I can ever think of at least once.

And I said, what the heck? Because she said, I'll sign up too. And then another one of our friends, Kathy, she said, let's all sign up and do it. And I thought, what the heck?

Let's do it and see what happened. So we signed up and I attended really what I thought would be another diet plan. And I didn't share with anyone outside of these three because I had failed so many times before. And so I just felt like I didn't want everyone saying, Rainy, here you did another diet plan and it didn't work. So I originally thought now, the other thing that I thought was I originally thought when I got the weight off that I could go back to eating the way I did. And I didn't realize at that time that I needed a life transformation that my eating was only a component of that plan.

My transformation had to be much greater than my health plan or it never stick. When I had that aha moment, it really changed my life. It helped me to create my new lifestyle who I am today.

Today, I realized living has to be more than just my food. And to be open about it at that time, I didn't like myself. I felt so uncomfortable in my own skin. I was embarrassed by my clothes size.

I believe I was in a size 26. And not that that's bad, but for me, it was just so uncomfortable. I couldn't travel. I couldn't do the things I wanted to do. And I just, I cried. I really cried. I just wondered how I could get there. It was just a real change. And it was such an aha for me on.

Holly Wyatt: Well, let's start. Let's go. Let's start at the beginning there, because I think that's a place that a lot of people can relate to. There you were, size 26. Sounds like you weren't happy.

James Hill: Now, wait a minute, Holly. Men don't know what a size 26 means. What the heck does that, is that good, bad? What does that mean?

Holly Wyatt: Rainy, what is the size 26? How do you want to describe that for Jim?

Rainy: So that is like a 3x super size clothes. You have to go to the plus size. And at that time in my life, there wasn't a lot of cute clothes for plus size people to wear. And it just, I didn't match who I felt inside. And I think that's what was really important to me, is I felt like there was more to me than just my clothes size. And I had to get the two to match.

Holly Wyatt: So can you say, were you getting on the scale at that point? Do you know how much you weighed? You gave us your clothes size. How were you thinking about that?

James Hill: Yeah. What happened? How much weight did you lose?

Rainy: All right. So I have never really shared this outside of a few people that I love dearly, including of course Holly knows, but I was going to a doctor. My thyroid wasn't working. I had some other health issues going on. And I recall telling my doctor at that time that if I go over 300, I just didn't even know if I wanted to be here anymore.

And I remember going into his office after I had said that, and I never seen the scale again. I got on it, but they never showed me the number. I know I went over that number.

I know that I've lost 150 pounds. I do know that. And again, here I am sharing this with everybody. And it's something I've not been proud of. I'm proud of my transformation. I'm proud of that part. I'm not proud that I let myself go for all those years.

James Hill: But you turned it around. That's the biggest thing. That's impressive.

Holly Wyatt: And you're helping others.

Rainy: Thank you. It took me time. It wasn't an instant change. It took me time.

Holly Wyatt: So you've lost almost 50% of your body weight. We don't know exactly how high the doctor just, you didn't want to see it. I get it. You didn't want to see it. It was over 300. But you feel, so you've lost almost 50% of your body weight. How many years did it take you to lose that weight, Rainy?

Rainy: I lost, I want to say, I think it was 60 or 70 pounds during my first 16 weeks with State of Slim. And the first year I really struggled after the class, I was so scared I would gain the weight back, you know, that I didn't want to go into maintenance.

I didn't want to take any time off. I was scared to eat anything that wasn't on plan. And it took me a lot of, I call it my little bit of my roller coaster ride in my health journey, that I just had to get comfortable knowing that I had the tools to keep it off.

And the more I practice and stepped out of my comfort zone and tried new foods and did different things, the healthier I felt. And I knew I wasn't going to gain my weight back.

James Hill: So you’re confident now that you keep it off.

Rainy: Yes, it's taken me too long. I haven't come this far, Jim, to only come this far.

Holly Wyatt: But you're not scared, right? You used to be kind of scared. You're not scared.

James Hill: But it doesn't mean that it's easy. You still work at it.

Rainy: I work at it every day. It's part of my life, who I am now.

Holly Wyatt: But Rainy, would you say it's hard and a struggle and you just have to sacrifice or how does this journey now for you?

Rainy: Oh my gosh, no. I used to think that's how it'd be, Holly. When I had that a-ha moment of, this is my new life, my first thought was, man, I'm never going to get to eat the things I love. And then I finally realized that I can have indulgence and I can really eat anything now. And when I go into maintenance, I can be close to probably 70 - 30 and still not gain weight.

Holly Wyatt: What does 70 - 30 mean, Rainy? The listeners may not understand that term.

Rainy: Thank you for reminding me that. So that means that I eat on plan 70% of the time and 30% of the time I'm not. And it's not that I'm having huge indulgences.

I may have some different things that aren't on my State of Slim health program. And to me, it's just my lifestyle now. I don't want to say it's easy, but it's part of who I am. And I've incorporated it into all parts of my life, including my workouts.

James Hill: So I want to talk about that because as you probably know, one of the things that I think is so critical is movement. And it's to the point where Holly and I tell people, if you're not prepared to make a permanent change in how much you move, you're not likely going to make a permanent change in your weight. What role did movement and physical activity play for you, Rainy?

Rainy: Well, Dr. Jim, when I first started out, and again, this is something I haven't shared with a lot of people, I couldn't even do three machines at the gym that I was going to.

And it really hurt me because I was struggling to walk stairs and do basic life skills that I needed to have. And when I started doing that and trying new things like I love Zumba, I love AquaSize in the pool, I love weightlifting, I love riding my bike. When I started doing those though, I got to say it wasn't natural for me. It didn't feel comfortable. But the more I did them, the more I had energy and felt excited about the day. And it just changed how I felt about everything. So exercise is a really important part of my day.

James Hill: That's amazing. What was the hardest thing for you, Rainy? I know it may be hard to put that totally in perspective, but a lot of people are like you were in that doctor's office and they're looking at like, it's hopeless. There's no way I'm ever going to get there. What was the hardest and what would you tell those people?

Rainy: I think there's a couple of parts that were the hardest. The first one is admitting I needed to do something and getting started. Just getting off the couch and saying, I've got to try something. And then the second thing I think was, you know, I shared with several folks that I've talked to is my aha moment of realizing it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle. To go on a diet, where you're on a diet for a few weeks and you lose a few pounds, that may be great, but that doesn't sustain you and your life. And that's how I felt. I knew I had it to figure out how to incorporate being healthy into my normal daily life. Yeah.

Holly Wyatt: So what things have changed for you? I've seen so many things change, but we talk about things like your physical environment. We talk about that. Or even your social environment. Have you noticed changes? How has that changed for you over the course of your journey?

Rainy: There have been so many changes, Holly, that we would have to have two hours of Zoom meetings to go room all, but I travel a lot and I always love traveling, but it's something when I was so overweight that was really challenging. So I didn't do it as much. I go to 5Ks. I just do everything that I want to do now and I have a lot more confidence.

I think that alone was worth it for me is just to feel good about myself. My home environment has changed. My office has changed. I brought the program into my team to help them realize the importance of being healthy. I think when you start making changes, at least for me, a lot of things changed.

My social environment, I wanted to be around people that supported me and that loved me and that really wanted to see me be successful. And that was a hard change for me. I think that was probably the hardest.

Holly Wyatt: Yeah. So we talk about how your friends can influence your behaviors a lot of times. We even did a whole episode because I think a lot of times people don't realize how powerful that social environment is. So what are some of the changes that you made maybe not purposefully, but or maybe strategically to your kind of social environment in terms of the people you hang out with?

Rainy: I think the biggest thing was I was really blessed because Kathy and Sean went through the program with me and we used to go out to eat all the time. And so my close friend's circle, we actually changed that right away. We didn't go to eat all the time. We went out every day for lunch and we started helping each other learn new recipes.

And I just changed it from there. I made sure my family was well aware that my eating would change. And it's hard, especially with the family part because you want to go to all the events.

And I just had to learn some new techniques. I still wanted to do the events. I just, I didn't want to always eat the food that wasn't good for my body, that wouldn't fuel my body.

James Hill: Rainy, one of the things that Holly and I talk a lot about is anticipating success and weight loss. And a lot of people just look at the weight. And I think there's this perception, if I could just get the weight off, suddenly my life would be better. I think you experienced a mindset changed on top of that. Can you talk a little bit about how you see that your success is more than just the number on the scale?

Rainy: Thanks, Dr. Jim. I think for me, the mindset change was way bigger than the weight loss that I experienced because I started seeing my life more in my possibilities and opportunities instead of just getting through the day before it was, here's my to-do list, just make it through to Rainy. And now I'm excited to see what the day holds. And I'm working to create my new vision. And I want to experience so much more than just what's on my to-do list. And I think that strong foundation of changing my mindset, you know, and sometimes people may say that I have rosy glasses on all the time.

And that's okay. I think how I see the world is so differently now. And maybe I do have them on, but I'm choosing to see all the good in life and all of the opportunities I have instead of just struggling to make it through. And to me, that's the core to my foundation to keeping everything else moving forward.

James Hill: We always talk about people who go through this journey actually having an identity shift, thinking of their identity different. Does that apply to you?

Rainy: Absolutely. I used to even wonder if I would have the opportunity to get to the age I am now. And I'm excited and motivated to do more and accomplish my dreams. And I think before I identified myself as a I definitely was not athletic at any means. I remember in kindergarten, the gym teacher telling my mom that I lacked athletic ability. And I identified with that my entire life.

And now I'm like, you know what? That's not accurate. I can define what kind of athlete I am and how I am. And I just feel differently about myself completely. And I know that I'm strong and capable. And to me, that, yes, the weight loss was really important. But changing how I believed in myself was critical. And I think that's key for me keeping it off.

Holly Wyatt: I think you've really aligned with who you are, who you really are. And that feels really good. And I know you recently did a trip, and I remember you were telling me, you climbed all these stairs, and that's just how you are now. You don't shy away from that. You don't need ... You can do anything. And you've got that physical activity allowing you to live your life the way that you want to. And that's about you. It may not be for someone else, but it really sits well with you.

James Hill: Holly, I remember somebody told us who went through that journey that, finally, the person I am on the outside is now aligned with the person I've always been on the inside.

Holly Wyatt: And I love it. Always been. It's not that you're creating something new. It's just aligning with who you've always been, but maybe you didn't see clearly or believe you could be or show almost.

It's so cool when you see that. You can feel it in a person. One other thing I do want to talk about is motivation.

Because so many times, this has been a long journey for you, and I know there's been some ups and downs. Yes, you've lost 50% of your body weight, but you've done it in chunks. You've had some periods where you've regained. You've had periods where you've maintained. How have you stayed motivated for eight, nine years now? How have you kept that motivation going?

Rainy: Well, I have a strong why. I am worth it. And I know that my journey is important to me, and there's a lot more that I want to accomplish in life.

I think that there's— I use a lot of different tools, Holly, to say motivated. One of the things that I really do is in the morning, I practice my gratitudes. I remember when I first started the program, and I would walk my dogs in the morning, and I struggled to find anything I was grateful for. And I started out by saying, I'm grateful for the grass and the trees and the flowers. And then I said, wow, Rainy, you have a lot in your life to be grateful for. And I'm motivated by gratitude and reflection, and just knowing that I have a lot of possibilities in front of me. I think when you have challenging moments on that journey, and you're so right, Holly, I've had so many.

And I really want to be transparent with the listeners. It was not always easy. There were times— I went through some really rough times during those eight years with life's changes and things like that. And I just— when I went through those times, I would pause, and I would think about my journey and where I wanted to go, and who I was inside, and what I wanted to create. And the more I did that, I just think that awareness helped me to continue to grow and do more and to realize that those moments are key to helping us get stronger. You want to understand and appreciate the really great things that are in life. And so I think those moments really help us to realize our opportunities, and that there's a lot of greatness in our lives.

Holly Wyatt: Sounds like you had a lot of internal gratitude when we've done a show on— internal gratitude, internal motivation. We've done a show on motivation. There's external things outside you that motivate you. You're great. But there's also those internal, and you really focused on those internal things that were really important to you in your journey.

Rainy: And I had a lot of external ones, too. I would rest. I called a friend. I had my State of Slim community. That's, to me, really powerful, is having things surrounded by people that are also on the same journey as you are. So I feel blessed. I've had both in my journey.

James Hill: Rainy, our listeners can't see you, but looking at you right now, you're pretty much glowing. You just seem happy. If I were to ask your friends or coworkers or families, what's the biggest change in Rainy? What do you think they would say?

Rainy: I know they would say my weight loss, but I think they would also say my happiness because they see that I'm— you know, I have friends tell me, I can't believe you're going to all these concerts and traveling and doing all of these amazing things. And it's because I feel I can and I have the body that will support all of that.

Holly Wyatt: Yeah, so it's the life state that's really you love and the body state that's allowed you to fully engage in that life state that's bringing you so much joy. And that's that unique piece.

Rainy: That's the mojo. That's the powerful stuff we all need, right?

James Hill: So what about people out there that are saying, yeah, but Rainy, you're special, you're different. There's no way I could do that. I'm 300 pounds. I've been off the couch in six months to take somebody special to do that. And that isn't me.

Rainy: I think everyone is special. And I think anyone that wants to do it can do it. But I jokingly say I've tried every diet in the world because I know there— I don't know all the diets out there, but I always tell everyone if I could do it, I know you can do it. I had given up on myself and I just felt like this was my lot in life and that girl inside me wasn't going to come out. And I feel if I can find her and I did, I feel like anybody can. I think it's just getting started and believing in yourself.

Holly Wyatt: Is there anything you wish you had known when you started that you would tell the listeners? Like, I didn't know this, but something you wish you had known or realized when you started? Some wisdom maybe that you have in retrospect to give them where they are right now, if they're sitting on the couch, 300 pounds. Don't think of themselves as someone who can exercise, don't really know what to do. What would you say to them?

Rainy: I think I wish I wouldn't know them. The food I was feeding my brain, right? My mind state. The importance of telling myself that I can do it and to believe in myself and to not give up because I told myself all kinds of stories. And to just put those aside and be like, you're worth it, Rainy. You need to do it for you and to change that internal dialogue. I think I wish I wouldn't know that earlier and figure that out a little sooner. I think the other thing I would say is just to start moving. Even if you just do a little walking or something, to me when I started walking, Kathy and I walked around the block. That was what we did. We started on our breaks and we'd walk. And then we started increasing our time and walking more. And just to not give up on yourself.

Holly Wyatt: I think that's a great message because that's where you started. And then look where you are today. But it started with that little simple, let's just walk around the block with a friend.

James Hill: We talk about it being a long-term journey, not a short term. And still too many people want to go out and do anything for six weeks. And then they want to go back to the way they were. And they wonder why the weight came back. And this is a long term. This is forever. And I think what you've said is that you can find a lifestyle that is fulfilling and makes you happy. And that you can stay with forever. Absolutely.

Rainy: And Dr. Jim, I thought that when I started Stay-Dead Slim, I thought, once I get the weight off, it's okay. You can go back to having pizza and burritos and guess what? I still have those things. I just now do them as indulgences and it's in moderation. I don't have those every day and I've learned that balance.

But I think that's a common perception out there that if you just stay on a diet for six or eight weeks and you can go back to eating. And I have that huge aha moment too of when I think I was about halfway through the program. And I realized, Rainy, this is your new lifestyle. You're changing. You don't want to go back to that. I started feeling better and that was huge when I started feeling better. I'm like, I don't want to put that stuff in me anymore. Yeah.

Holly Wyatt: Oh, I love that because you can hear the transformation. She's doing such a great job of trying to explain or describe that transformation. And you don't have to have it all at the beginning. It is a journey. This is why we're calling this a success journey.

And it does happen over time. But yeah, you have your pizza, burritos or whatever. But your life state now is so much better, even though maybe you have less pizza than you did before.

Rainy: It better be really good because if I'm putting calories in me, it better be really good.

Holly Wyatt: Food snob, that's what I say. Become a food snob. I am totally a food snob.

James Hill: So Rainy, you've done an amazing transformation. What's the next chapter of your life look like?

Rainy: I am so open to possibilities and opportunities. I want to work on my doctorates. I'd like to get a doctorate in leadership. I also have started writing a book actually on my journey. And there's a lot more detail in there on that.

So I'm excited to hopefully get that published one day. I'm trying to learn to speak Spanish. I'm just open. I love traveling. And here's the cool thing, Dr. Jim, is that my health plan is just a part of it now. It's way bigger than just what I'm eating. It's way bigger.

James Hill: Hard Holly, you know what time it is?

Holly Wyatt: Yes. We call this when we get vulnerable. I've renamed it. I'm calling it, let's get real now. So you're going to ask you a question. And then Rainy, you can ask us one too. That's only fair. Jim, you want to start? What's your question? I'll start.

James Hill: So what was your biggest mistake? What's the biggest thing you got wrong?

Rainy: I think my biggest mistake was thinking that I could go back to my old self and that curve of getting out of my comfort zone. I just, I think there's some level of comfort in knowing, in being there. And I think that was a mistake I had in the very beginning was thinking that I wanted to go back there after I start changing. I'm like, why were you ever thinking that girl? Yeah.

Holly Wyatt: What would do, this is along the same lines then, what would you say was your biggest learning, something that you learned maybe by falling down and not succeeding. But then you're like, okay, I learned from that. Any, especially if there was a tip or trick or something that you said, yeah, I learned this in this process.

Rainy: I had lots of challenging times. And I think the biggest learning for me is that I have tools in place. I weigh myself daily. I have a food log. If I'm struggling, I could go back and start looking at what I'm eating.

I have friends I could call. I think I've had so many amazing learning opportunities. I think the biggest one though is probably to not give up on myself and not be myself up when stuff goes wrong. It's to be like, this is a great opportunity to really set yourself up for even additional success. And to me, I look at failures so much differently now. It's not a failure, but it's a learning opportunity.

Holly Wyatt: I just want to point out that you started out not wanting to look at the scale, right? The doctor was weighing you and you said, I'm not going to look at it. And now I hear you, you weigh every day. That's part of your lifestyle. It is.

James Hill: And the scale is a tool. It's not evaluating you. It's simply a tool to help you do what you want to do.

Rainy: And I look at it that way now. I still, I'll be honest, I don't like to see it go up, but it's a data point. I can easily reflect back and say, okay, what made that change, Rainy? You are traveling. Okay. You know what you need to do to get it off? And so I look at it so much differently now than I did.

James Hill: That's a big one is it's not just looking at the scale. When the scale is a number that you're not happy with, you know what to do to get back on track. You've got strategies.

Rainy: And Dr. Jam, I set a five pound range for me because I am smaller frame. So I set five pounds as my take action. I call it weight. And so if I'm out traveling and I see that number, I'm like, okay, you know, you've hit your take action weight. I don't want to go higher than that number. And so then I make immediate changes and start changing my food intake. Okay.

James Hill: Now you get to ask us anything.

Rainy: All right. So Dr. Hill, what was your biggest learning opportunity when you started this program? About people in general?

James Hill: I think my biggest, all my career, I'd worked with helping people change their diet and change their activity. I think the biggest learning for me is the mental part of it, is probably the key part of it. And the idea is, yes, you can weigh less, but that isn't going to make you happier. It's more than weight. It's about your life.

And you can't fix your weight without fixing your life. And this idea of helping people do a transformation or identity change. And I love the idea that we help people become on the outside, who they've always been on the inside. To me, that was my biggest learning.

Rainy: I love that. And I feel that I think that's why sometimes people do have challenges in their weight loss journey, is that connection piece a lot of times isn't there. So I love that. Thank you, Dr. Hill. Dr. Holly, what do you see moving forward in your career? What do you want to still accomplish?

James Hill: Oh, I want to hear this one.

Holly Wyatt: Well, you know, Rainy, I am like you in so many ways that this second half of my career, I see so many possibilities and I don't limit myself as much. And so I want to continue to help others really live their best life.

I still like to help people lose weight, but it's so much bigger than that now, that transformation. And I like to create things. I'm a creator.

I'm a scientist, but I'm also a creator. And so I am going to continue down that path. I think there's going to be books. I hope there's going to be TV shows.

I can just see so much potential out there creating and helping and making it not just about one thing, but making it bigger. And just like you said, you were talking about you wanted to learn Spanish. You wanted to do this. I just see things opening up and really working on that mind state has made such a big difference in my life that it's opened up what I want to do too. You know, I'll always probably be involved in science at some point. That's a piece of who I am, but that's not all I am, right?

James Hill: Okay. Holly, why don't you do the last segment, which is pie on the plate? But I want to say, Rainy, I've loved this episode in part because Holly and I have a lot of advice for listeners and you've done it. So maybe we aren't so far off on some of the things that we're telling people to do. And I love the fact you've moved and other kinds of things that we talk about being important. But Holly, what are the takeaways do you think from this one?

Holly Wyatt: Yeah. So I'm just thinking through this. Lots of things of good takeaways. One of the things that I would think people need to remember is just get started. I think there's a great message here, how she felt when she first started, didn't think she could do it, didn't want to look at the scale, and she just decided to just try it anyway. You said, what the heck? You got some friends. You said, I'm going to do it. You just went for a walk around the block. So you didn't overthink it, but you took that first step, even if it felt like it might not work. And so I think that inspires someone to believe in that and to do that, I think is a take home because somebody may be sitting there thinking that right now. I also then think we didn't talk as much about it, but you did bring up, you have tools and strategies.

It's not just thinking about it, right? You said, I can do it. I got my mind. I'm working on that always, but I know what to do in terms of I'm moving. I have strategies for my food.

You talked about the 70-30 when you're in weight loss maintenance. You have those strategies. So it is having some evidence-based strategies, not just one strategy, but a host of strategies to bring to the party.

And then I think the third is don't give up. It's a long-term process. We're talking here eight years now and you're still going. Eight years and you're still going. This is a new me. Yeah. The new you and then identity. Jim, don't you think that last time the plate should be identity?

James Hill: Absolutely. And then Rainy, one last question from me. Is life better now than it was before? Immeasurably better.

Rainy: I can't even, I mean, there's no scale of that would ever recognize or be able to calculate how much better it is. I wake up happy and grateful and excited for the day. And to me that, that says it all.

James Hill: Rainy, this has been tremendous. You've inspired me and I hope you've inspired our listeners. Thank you so much for spending time with us and sharing your story, the good and the bad and the ugly. So we're so appreciative of your willingness to share.

Rainy: Thank you again for this opportunity.

Holly Wyatt: And I just want to put out a call to action that we want to start doing these success journeys. Rainy was our first rock star, but success looks different to different people and there's all different kinds of journeys and different journeys inspire different people. So we want to hear from all of you. So if you would like to share your weight loss journey, your success journey on the show, please email us at hello@weightlossand.com or go to our website, www.weightlossand.com and let us know. Tell us what briefly describe your success journey, how you define success. And we are very open to having you on the show as a listener and describing your journey to success. Okay.

James Hill: Thanks everybody. And we will talk to you on the next episode of Weight Loss and Thank you.

Holly Wyatt: Thank you, Rainy. Thank you.

Jim Hill: And that's a wrap for today's episode of “Weight Loss And…”, we hope you enjoy diving into the world of weight loss with us.

Holly Wyatt: If you want to stay connected and continue exploring the “Ands” of weight loss, be sure to follow our podcast on your favorite platform.

Jim Hill: We'd also love to hear from you. Share your thoughts, questions, or topic suggestions by reaching out at weightlossand.com. Your feedback helps us tailor future episodes to your needs.

Holly Wyatt: And remember, the journey doesn't end here. Keep applying the knowledge and strategies you've learned and embrace the power of the “And” in your own weight loss journey.