Oct 1, 20214 min read

Episode 78: Mary's Story of Transformation

This episode of Weight Loss for Food-Lovers features Mary, who shares reflections on her experience of Molly’s 12-week course. Although she is grateful to have lost nearly 20 pounds, the real surprise and delight has come from learning about the powerful interplay of thoughts with the desire for food.

Growing up in a Cuban family around the table with 12 kids and lots of raucous opinions, Mary learned little about healthful eating and even less about some of the stressors that later acted as triggers to overeating. Doing her “thought work” with Molly has helped Mary to reframe her relationship with food and recalibrate her desires.

Molly’s plan is about far more than limiting or denying food. To the contrary, as Mary points out, it’s about joyful eating. This is a big differentiator from other highly choreographed programs that Mary has tried in the past. Weight Loss for Food-Lovers treats individuals holistically, exploring over the course of 12 weeks the many facets of our minds, bodies, spirits and habits that contribute to our relationship with food.

Learn how Mary has uncovered a whole new way of being and is loving the changes she sees! Updates about the launch of Molly’s next 12-week course in September can be found here.

If you’re interested in the support or accountability a one-on-one coach provides, you can set up a free discovery call with Molly here.

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Topics Covered

Molly introduces Mary, a current student who has found the 12-week Weight Loss for Food-Lovers course transformational.
Mary starts by describing her upbringing and introduction to food, which was mostly processed and very light on vegetables.
Her first introduction to weight loss, at the age of 15, was through Weight Watchers and focused on calories in/calories out rather than quality.
After she married and began having children, what was a little excess weight escalated and Mary found herself struggling with a merry-go-round of diet programs.
Molly’s program has been a game changer that has set Mary free from the tyranny of counting calories.
The concept of joyful eating altered Mary’s relationship with food and especially refined foods and full fats.
What has differentiated Molly’s program from others that Mary has tried is the commitment to self-awareness and, as highlighted, two core ingredients:
- An emphasis on enjoyment as a means to sustaining food plans.
- A commitment to understanding deeply your relationship with food.
Another differentiator for Molly’s program is its focus on preparing beautiful, healthy meals rather than zapping something in the microwave.
Mary has been surprised by how sated she is and how little sugar appeals to her now that she’s nourishing herself both emotionally and physically with more substantive stuff.
Mary shares tactics that have helped shift her established beliefs around food:
- Tracking and accountability as a motivational tool for reinforcement.
- Bringing mindfulness to emotional triggers.
- Listening to her body and knowing that she doesn’t need to eat unless she’s hungry and can stop when she’s satisfied.
Food is no longer a default retreat for Mary now that she brings awareness to the root source of triggers and alternative ways of responding to them.
Molly deconstructs the importance of meeting emotions in a neutral way, recognizing that they do not have ultimate power and can be redirected.
Through understanding more deeply various triggers that come from childhood experience and perspective, Mary has found new ways of managing reactions rather than using food to “stuff the anxiety.”
People-pleasing cannot be the central goal when entertaining – whether with family, at work or among friends.
Molly’s program is unique for its emphasis on basics like cultivating good sleep habits and drinking enough.
When we pay attention to and honor our needs, everything else improves:
- We feel better.
- We have more energy.
- We’re better able to stay on our food plan.
- Our mood is better.
- Our energy is better.
Molly’s program uses thought work to replace white-knuckled will power as a means to getting through urges and cravings with an entirely new, healthier and more connected perspective.

Key Quotes

“(Molly’s program) has completely changed my mindset around the whole calorie counting thing – and has set me free.” (Mary)
“I love this concept of joyful eating. I try to make every meal a joyful meal.” (Mary)
“It’s not about losing a set amount of weight in a set amount of time. It’s about learning to eat in a way that you’re going to burn fat.” (Mary)
“When we take the joy out of eating and try to restrict or limit what we’re eating or cut out the fat it feels like deprivation.” (Molly)
“The whole concept that you shouldn’t eat unless you’re hungry is a whole new way of looking at my body.” (Mary)
“It’s definitely brain work more than meal plans.” (Mary)
“One of the most powerful things that happens with this process is realizing that there is no emotion that you can’t handle.” (Molly)
“The thought work is all about recognizing that the primitive part of your brain has that default scarcity thinking … and your power to question all of it. What do I want to choose to believe about my life and what I can accomplish?” (Molly)
“(The course) is about figuring out how you can create the life that you want without needing to have all of your pleasure come from food or alcohol.” (Molly)
“When we start to tune in to what our desire is actually about and tune into that need, it has a ripple effect on everything.” (Molly)
“At the beginning there were times when I went to bed at night feeling hungry … but (eventually) I realized, ‘Oh good. I’m burning fat!’ ” (Mary)
“It’s about so much more than getting the weight off. People need to ask themselves, ‘What’s going to need to change for me to create the life I want?’ ” (Molly)